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Chen is the founder of an auction house called Guardian and runs the country's fourth largest insurer, Taikang, which has more than 350 billion yuan (£36 billion) in assets.
Their fortune of five billion yuan places them at 242 in an annual rich list by New Fortune magazine.
The quotations in Chairman Mao's Little Red Book do not expressly condemn the accumulation of wealth.
But Mao Xinyu, the Chairman's only grandson, a podgy major general in the People's Liberation Army, had previously promised that "the House of Mao will never engage in business".
Mao Xinyu is Ms Kong's half-brother; his grandmother Yang Kaihui was Chairman Mao's second wife. Both he and Ms Kong have written books about their grandfather.
Ms Kong's fortune is also another embarrassing example of how China is ruled by a "red aristocracy".
The children of China's revolutionary leaders have been among those who profited the most from the Communist party's grip on large swathes of the country's economy, milking their connections to get rich.
There was plenty of criticism of Ms Kong on the Chinese internet for making the rich list, and for having more than one child with her husband.
"The offspring of Chairman Mao, who led us to eradicate private ownership, married a capitalist and violated the family planning policy to give birth to three illegal children," wrote Luo Chongmin, a government advisor in southwest China.
Meanwhile, the top of the list was occupied again by Zong Qinghou, who started as a poor salt harvester in Zhejiang province and who is now worth an estimated 70 billion yuan from founding one of China's largest drinks companies.Part I
The lights of the Seattle skyline suddenly ignite as the city comes alive with the sounds and sights of night. In a run-down bar, a lone man sits beneath the hum of a fluorescent overhead light as he holds his whiskey in shaky hands.
The man is an enigma. He appears at The Spade habitually at 10 PM and leaves just before dawn, ordering the same refreshment each time - a tall glass of Irish whiskey. Never speaking words far from “The usual…” or the occasional grunt or whisper, he is a shadow to everyone. To the passerby, this man is just a nobody. He is merely a bum who went down on his luck and turned to the bottle like many before him. To those who know, however, the man’s name is Robert Elm, and he has a story to tell.
The night was fraught with frigid rain and sleet. The typically lively Spade was deserted, except for Robert. He sat in his usual spot. Back left table, facing the wall, hunched over with his beverage in total silence say for the hum of the light and the drumming of the bartender’s fingers on the metal cash register.
Over the years that Elm had drifted in as the sun dipped below the horizon, the bartender had grown curious of his motives. Though he told his customers the same old “lost his job… wants to unwind” excuse, in his heart, he knew there was something off kilter about the whiskey-loving shadow. Tonight would be different; the bartender bit his lip, took a deep breath, and approached his loyal customer.
The barkeep placed his hand on the table and inquired in the friendliest of tones, “How ya' doin'?” Robert jolted upright as if he had heard a gunshot. He slowly lifted his head and peered deep into the bartender's face with his wide gray eyes. He possessed an unsettling and powerful stare that pierced the air in a way the bartender had never seen before.
His mouth slowly slid open as he grumbled, “Fine… and you?” The bartender was stunned. He had expected the old geezer’s usual response of a few quiet mumbles but was greeted by a question that was startlingly normal.
“I’m… I’m just fine…” the bartender said. “So, Mister… I've been meanin’ to ask ya…” Elm’s slowly graying eyebrows perked with anticipation. “Why do you come here all the time?"
The drunkard chuckled and asked in return, “Why do you care what an old man like me does with his time?”
“Because," the bartender said with a look of confusion, “you have come to my bar at the same time of the night every night for the past twelve years and I am just now hearing you speak… I think that’s reason enough for me to ask.” The old man burst into laughter that lasted nearly a full minute.
Finally, his outburst died off and he asked, “You wanted to know… Why I wasn’t talking?”
“Yes!” yelled the bartender. “It’s been a riddle I’ve been trying to figure out for years!”
Robert sat his drink on the table and said, “Well, well, new friend… honestly… I was waiting for you to ask me that question, and now that we have that elephant out of the room, have a seat across from me.” The bartender obliged, took a seat across from his new acquaintance and, with a look of sheer amazement on his face, he asked:
“So, let me get this straight. You never said a word to anyone in this bar for twelve years because you were waiting for someone to come to you?”
“Yep…” the shade replied as the bartender gave a short laugh and continued.
“Well, sir, what have you been waiting for so long to tell someone?”
Robert Elm looked the bartender square in the eye and said, “My story of course.” The bartender gave a quizzical expression as the drinker went on, never breaking his gaze. “The story of why I ended up here, the story of how I narrowly escaped death itself, and since, well… Since I don’t see anyone else here, you, sir, are going to be the first one in a long time to hear my tale. You’re in for a treat!” The old man cracked a crooked smile.
“Well, let’s hear it then!” the bartender said and Robert chuckled again.
“That’s the spirit, kid! Grab a drink and get comfortable, you’re in for a quite a tale!”
And so, Robert Elm began his story.
"It all began back in November 1962. I was living in a small town in rural Iowa. Back then everybody knew everyone else like family; it was a safe place, that’s why my family settled down there back when the area was a barren patch of farmland. Through the entirety of my teenage years, I was chasing a girl named Elizabeth. I can practically see her now. As time went by, our relationship grew. After high school, we bought her uncle’s house on 4th street and slowly learned to live together as a soon to be married pair. This was a struggle, to say the least. Back when I was a younger man I had a fiery temper that seemed to grow as we became closer to one another.
I remember one specific instance when I heard she had wrecked my dad’s Ford. I… I hit her across the face with a trashcan lid… I had never regretted anything more in my life, it wasn't even her fault. Every morning for the next month I would come downstairs to see the pale, red bruise on her face and immediately get too choked up to speak. It was a wonder she kept me around. One night everything fell apart. I can’t even remember why, but she left me on the side of the road and told me to, 'Find your own way home, you sack o’ crap!' I remember my heart sinking as she pulled away, and I began to wander the side of the empty country road.
I’m unsure of how I got so sidetracked, but after about an hour of hysterical rambling I had ended up halfway into one of the cornfields bordering the only road in and out of town. There I was, sobbing profusely, lashing out at the corn stalks with my fists, and wailing 'Elizabeth!' and 'I’m sorry!' at the top of my lungs with only the birds and the occasional scarecrow bearing witness. I hobbled aimlessly for what felt like hours, screaming and crying over what I had put my beloved fiancée through until I decided to sit down in a barren patch about fifteen feet across to catch my breath and form an apology for my eventual homecoming.
After inspecting the area for any signs of danger, I laid my head down in the soft dirt to rest my eyes. Several hours of blissful tear-free sleep passed before I was pulled awake by rustling in the stalks. My heart skipped a beat and a chill ran down my spine, I bolted upright. Before me, a massive shape garbed in a shimmering black cloak slid out from the rows of crops. It moved towards me slowly, as if it were floating across the ground, though its feet were clearly visible and it appeared to be human. It had pale wrinkled hands that hung at its sides as it drifted closer. It drooped its hooded head and spoke squarely into my face in a dry monotone.
“Good evening, traveler.”
Stunned I got up from the dirt and asked, “Who are you?”
He answered, “Just a man on his way to a meeting.”
I looked at him, bewildered. “Why are you here?” I asked.
He looked up and said, “I enjoy taking the scenic routes, so much more peaceful than the hustle and bustle of the roadsides. Now, what I am wondering is who you are and why are you here.” As I look back I am surprised at how eager I was to reveal so much of myself to a total stranger.
“My name is Robert,” I said sheepishly. “My girlfriend dumped me out here ‘cause we got in a fight and I hit her and she cried and… And...” The tears were welling in my eyes again.
“Say no more, friend,” the man interrupted as he waved his hand. “I offer you a proposition, you may come with me, attend my meeting, my friends and I shall cheer you up, and we will take you back to your home in the morning. How does that sound?”
A smile slowly formed on my face as I thanked the hooded figure. I reached out to shake his hand for his patronage, but he quickly recoiled claiming there was no need to thank him.
Together we made our way through the remainder of the field and into the forest that formed an insulated border between patches of farm land. As we walked, I had more time to examine my new friend’s figure. He was a titan of a man, to say the least. With hands that could easily cover my own twice over. Blending into the trees themselves, he towered over me at what I assume to be well over seven feet.
He moved with surprising agility for someone of his size, darting through the branches and over roots at a speed a tad slower than a jog. I had to walk nearly twice as fast to keep up. His robes still shimmered as they did in the corn field, though the moon was no longer visible. Oddly, no matter how fast the man moved, his hood never failed to conceal his face. Growing bored of silence, I struck up conversation.
“So… What’s your name?” I asked
The man glanced down and told me, “You may call me Lombard; it is one of my many monikers.”
“Okay, Lombard, who are these friends of yours and what is this meeting and… and where are we going?”
“Just a meeting, friend, held here in the woods with some close acquaintances of mine. You needn’t worry about it, Robert. Think of it as more of a party; it will take your mind off of your troubles.”
It was at this moment I realized what I was doing the exact opposite of what society had taught me. I was found lying in field and decided to walk off with some strange hooded man to go and meet his friends in the woods. Heartbreak can drive people to do some crazy things…
It wasn't long before we saw a light in the distance. As we grew nearer, the lights turned out to be a ring of torches lining a circular clearing containing rows of chairs and tables. An altar draped with red cloth sat in the middle of it all. At each of the tables sat groups of people dressed similarly to Lombard, some of them had their faces exposed and hoods down.
“We have arrived!” said Lombard with glee. “Sit down amongst the others and help yourself to some food and drink, the festivities will begin soon!”
I made my way to one of the less talkative groups and grabbed a free seat. As I recall, it was the only seat that wasn’t taken. Next to me sat an old couple and a younger man with his hood up. When I asked each of them why they were here, I got… a less than ideal response. The couple started cackling as if they had just heard the greatest joke of their lives and the hooded man just grunted something I couldn't make out. Seeing no entertainment in the people around me, I decided to try the food. There were the occasional bits of bread surrounded by meats of all shapes and sizes.
Having eaten a filling meal in town a few hours before this all began I was not exactly starving, so I decided to give the wine a try, which was in goblets sitting in front of each chair. I took a small sip and my mind took a kick in the pants. My vision became blurred with color and I began to choke on my own tongue. The old woman told me that it stops hurting after the third glass and burst into sickening laughter. After about five minutes, the effects of the drink finally subsided and I silently poured the rest onto the ground… I didn’t think any of them would notice. Suddenly, a bell rang out and the diners stood up from their chairs in unison and approached the center of the clearing. Lombard made his way over as he walked me towards the center.
“How did you enjoy the refreshments? The guests?” he asked.
I held my tongue about my unpleasant experience at the table and said, “Everything was great! I’ve calmed down quite a bit now! What’s next?”
“Excellent, my friend! I’m sure you will patch things up with that girl after tonight and I’m glad to have been of assistance to you, but now we have business to attend to.”
We found ourselves standing in the center of a circle of the hooded guests, all of them with hoods up and hands folded in front of them. Lombard instructed me to sit in the center of the ring. When I objected, he told me this was just a formality in order for the group to accept my presence amongst them for the night. I knelt as I was told and Lombard took his place at the crimson altar.
As I glanced around me, all of the robed people seemed to be emanating a strange droning sound that rose and fell as the minutes passed. I looked up at my mountainous guide who had turned to face the center of the circle, and to my amazement, had drawn back his hood to reveal a sight I would never forget. On Lombard’s long, broad shoulders sat the head of a goat, jet black save for a stripe of white between its pale green eyes and spiraling ivory colored horns that curled backward behind his ears. The thing that stood in front of me lifted his hands into the air and the droning immediately ceased.
Lombard’s head reeled backward as he shouted into the night, “Ladies and gentlemen of the Black Circle! I present to you: The Pale!”
The crowd roared with cheers and jubilation.
“On this night, we shall end the torment! And bring about a new era of peace for our order!”
The younger man I sat next to earlier approached the orator.
“My lordship,” he whispered as he bowed on one knee, “I witnessed him earlier, he has not accepted the purifier. We cannot continue until he has.” He then retreated back to his place and resumed the stance.
“Is that so?” said Lombard, quizzically. “Well then! I am sorry to delay, my children, but the sacrament must wait!”
The circle answered the statement with boos and howls of disapproval. A large member drew a curved blade from his robes and approached me. I attempted to stand but was pulled down to my knees by an unseen force.
“For the love of Sekra! I’ve waited my whole life for this moment!” the man shouted as he flipped the knife in his hand.
“Stop, you fool! You will undo everything!” Lombard roared as he latched on to the man’s arms.
The last memory I have of that night was of the gargantuan, tree-like form of Lombard grappling with the hooded man until they both crashed to the ground in front of me. In the tangle of limbs, the handle of the man’s knife struck me squarely between the eyes and I lost consciousness.
Part II
I awoke in a small, sparsely furnished room with white walls and dark brown hardwood floor. Based on what I saw around me, I was able to estimate that the building was built in the late 19th century. I attempted to pull my head from the pillow but was met with a crippling pain in my forehead where the knife handle had struck me at the ceremony in the woods. My legs were sore and felt as though they were filled with cement. It made me shiver that I could not figure out what prevented me from standing at the ceremony. Muffled speech resonated from outside my room as the door opened. A goat-headed Lombard strolled into the room and closed the door behind him.
“Good morning, my guest!” he bellowed. “I assume you enjoyed your nap.”
“Yeah, I did…” I answered, “Right after that friend of yours almost broke my nose!”
“You needn’t worry about him, my friend. His foolish actions have cost him his place in the order,” he said with a reassuring tone.
Lombard sat down on the bed next to me, and I instinctively wrenched my legs backward.
“Calm thyself, friend. I am indeed human and this is just a mask, nothing more.”
“What about everything else!? The mumbo jumbo you guys were talking about, the goat head, the ‘Black Circle’!? I want answers. Now.”
“Ah, you have a right to be frightened. All will be explained to you. Let me start from the beginning…” He readjusted himself on the bed to face me. “In the late 1800's, two cousins founded a town not far from here. It was a small farming community, very prosperous, a thriving community until the fever hit. Many died, including the mayor's daughter. In a last ditch effort, the community banded together and stood united against the disease. They burned the village to the ground and moved into the mayor’s farmhouse, the house you are sitting in right now. The plan was a success. With all the medical personnel gathered in one area, it was much easier to treat the sick, and soon the fever was eradicated. Out of habit, the community stayed in this house as a single family to this day, of which I am the patriarch.
"The goat headdress symbolizes the single species of beast that provided us with food and drink during the dark times and for your information, it's permanently adhered to my head. We dubbed ourselves the Black Circle in name of the black table in the dining hall we would gather around to tell stories of hope to inspire one another. The event you were the center of was known as a Neophyte's Sacrament; we give the newcomer a small dose of a hallucinogenic and provoke you to reveal your true feelings to us in order to tell if we can trust you. I was strongly opposed to the Sacrament, but I was pressured by the others and had no choice. The words we used were simply to disguise our discussion due to the Circle’s lack of trust. As for the actions of Alabaster… I sincerely apologize.” Lombard pulled up his massive form and spoke directly to me, “Here I am, Valentine Ambrose Lombard the Second, with nothing to hide, at your service.”
Needless to say, I was awestruck at the volume of information that was imparted onto me.
Before I could respond, Lombard asked, “Any questions?”
I shook my head just as a woman wearing simple brown robes came into the room, dropped to one knee, and said flatly, “You are needed in the infirmary, my lord.”
Lombard turned to her and stated, “I will be there as soon as I can, Alice. Did Stephan have a run in with the thresher again?”
“No,” she laughed with a smile, eyes still trained on the floor, “Pier was picking on Silvia again; she snapped and let him have it with her little fists! I have them both down there waiting for you.”
The leader gave a hearty laugh. “That Pier! Almost as mischievous as I was when I was a little boy!” He turned to me, “I will be back to speak with you later, friend, but now I must deal with this matter first. Get some rest.”
Both the leader and the woman walked out of the room and shut the door on their way out, leaving only silence in their wake. My head felt heavy and I decided to take my new friend's advice and rest my eyes.
I awoke in what looked like early morning to see Lombard sitting at the desk at the edge of my room.
“Morning, friend!” he said joyfully. “Come! Sit! Have something to eat!” He stood up from the chair to reveal a platter of sausage and bread with a glass of juice next to it. I was able to pull myself up from the bed. My legs were sore and my knees locked up but I hobbled my way to the desk and sat down. I began to sample the meal.
“Gather your strength… you will need it for later. I have gotten it approved with The Circle... I shall give you a tour of the house and the grounds around three today. So, try and get those legs working by then.”
Lombard gave a quick wave of his hand as he left the room like wind blowing through the woods. I had finished my odd-tasting dish after a few minutes. I sat for the remainder of the time stretching out my tired legs while looking out of the window. The full day of bed rest and the struggle against whatever held me to the ground had left them aching and weakened. An expanse of farmland spread out in front of me, ending at a dense forest, the single dirt road lined with torches leading up to the house. I assumed that somewhere in the woods there was the picnic table and the altar, and beyond that, the cornfield where I had met my guide and somewhere beyond that was Elizabeth. Home. I sighed.
“Ready?”
I jumped with surprise as Lombard broke the silence in the room. Time had passed faster than I had expected.
“Come… Follow me, friend.”
I made uneasy strides out into a foyer with a painting of another goat-headed man, a massive chandelier lighting the room below and the rows of rooms lining the walls.
“Here is the second floor, used for boarding for our members; the room you are staying in is the guest room. It is not used very often. It overlooks the entrance room, which we will visit later.”
“Is that you in the painting?” I asked.
“Ha! No, that is the founder of The Circle, my great grandfather, Ambrose Garrett Lombard. What a great man! I wish I could have known him in person.”
“So, he started the whole goat head thing?” I laughed rhetorically.
We made our way downstairs, wandering through the entrance room and the living room and the sitting room. Listening to Lombard’s tales of him reading stories to the children by the fireside in the winter and of the old man who was a master of the old grand piano sitting in the living room. I asked him about the double doors at the end of the entrance room only to receive a response that I should not go in there as I do not have high enough clearance to enter yet. We walked outside and we explored the grounds.
From the outside the house was massive. It was clearly some kind of old farmhouse. We made a left turn around the house to find three buildings off in the distance. I asked Lombard what they were for. He said one of them was the chapel, now dilapidated and unused, a small building used for a school, and a smaller concrete building used for storage. I shrugged plainly and we moved on.
I took that moment to ask, “Well, sir, what exactly is your job here?”
Lombard stopped mid-walk to contemplate my question. “I am the headmaster of the order, friend. I am many things… Judge, principal, father, doctor. Lots of things, friend.”
We walked back up to my room and Lombard instructed me that now that I know where I am I can move about the property at will, but only during the day, at night I was confined to my room. Seeing as the sun was descending below the horizon, I went off to bed.
I spent the next few days wandering the grounds while getting my bearings with the area and get a sense of location. After speaking with some of the other followers of Lombard, I noticed a constant theme. They never broke eye contact and they spoke in a very calm manner. Regardless of age, they would find a clever way to avoid any of my questions, specifically ones involving Lombard, the concrete building, or what happens in the grand hall. Seeing that I would never find anything out from the members, I decided to go answer hunting myself. Making my way out to the structure, which was about a football field's length from the house I decided to carefully inspect it. The building had no windows and a single iron door secured with a large padlock. I was going to investigate it further, but before I could find a way to open the lock, the sun began to set and I reluctantly returned to the house.
A couple of weeks of fruitless investigation passed until I was finally returned to my full healthy state. Feeling my strength returning, I began my morning with a quick workout. Lombard entered mid push-up.
“So… I see you are back on your feet again…” he said dryly.
“Yep, feelin’ pretty good,” I returned.
Lombard paced back and forth, “I imagine you will want to go home soon…” he sighed.
I stood up and looked at the tree-like figure, “Yeah, I suppose… I miss Elizabeth quite a bit, and I want to make amends.”
“Good, good…” Lombard paused. “Robert, if you could stay just one more week… We feel like you have become a member of the family around here and… We wish to perform a departure ritual this Sunday… Just to say goodbye… You have been one of the kindest outsiders we have encountered in a long time.”
I walked up to the goat-headed giant, looked him in the eye like he had done to me so many times before, and smiled. “I would be honored, friend.”
That night, just before sundown, Lombard drifted once more into my room. He spoke in a much more serious tone than before, and his posture created an imposing aura about him. “Robert, we are having a ritual in preparation for your departure. I require that you. Do. Not. Disrupt it. Please stay in this room until my return. It is just a kind of rehearsal; I don’t want to ruin any surprises.” I quickly nodded in agreement, trying to ignore the sudden change in the headmaster’s attitude as he sped out of the room.
I had not been truly honest with my host during my stay in the house. For every act of hospitality, he offered there was an event or element that would cause a pang of distrust in my mind. One moment, Lombard would provide me with food and I would see him teaching the children like a loving relative, but the next I would notice the concrete shack or remember what had happened in the woods weeks ago. The loving kindness of the members juxtaposed with their unnervingly smooth speech and piercing stares. Every impulse in my mind told me to run, but I knew I would never make it far before I was captured - or worse. This mysterious decree had brought my curiosity to its breaking point, and that night I made my decision. As soon as the house fell silent I removed my heavy work boots, slid the door open, and stepped into the dark abyss.
I had been climbing trees in my neighborhood park since childhood, and the challenge of scaling the banquet hall’s walls came easily to me. After making my way down the stairs, through the foyer and out of the door without so much as a sound, I was impressed with my sneaking abilities. I ran around to the side of the hall and began my ascension. The climb was easy enough; several chunks were missing from the old bricks, creating excellent handholds. It wasn’t long before I found myself on the roof. From the inside, I could hear the same droning sound that I had heard my night in the woods. I desperately searched for a way inside when I came upon a small hatch that led to a ladder that dropped off in a kind of storage attic. Hunkering in next to some old boxes I was able to hear and see the events unfolding below me with startling clarity. A crooked grin grew across my face as I anticipated the truth.
The droning of the hooded worshippers hushed, and the mammoth Lombard took the stage next to an eerily familiar altar. He raised his hands like the night we first met as he spoke with gusto.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the Black Circle! I gather you once again to bring praise to Sekra! And to celebrate the presence of The Pale, whose life shall meet its beautiful end on the eve of this coming Sunday!” The crowd roared with approval. “My friends, I sincerely apologize for the…” Lombard growled under his breath, “Interruption… a few weeks ago.”
The audience erupted into a shower of boos and shouting. “Now, now, my children! I have planned a… rehearsal of sorts, to show you all how we shall deal with the wretched Pale and drive this scourge from our beautiful order. I present to you, the man who is to blame for the delay, Brother Alabaster!” Each member howled with joy as they pulled a blindfolded man, naked save for a loincloth, with numerous strange tattoos adorning his chiseled torso, into the room and onto the altar. I felt my dinner rise in my throat.
Three men in red cloaks fastened the man’s arms and legs to the altar as Lombard reached into a chest behind him. Alabaster was sobbing with fear and his pleads for help became incoherent screams as his limbs were restrained until one of the men in red wrapped a piece of cloth over his mouth to silence him. Lombard spun around at lightning speed and raised a shimmering dagger above his head.
“Here and now! We give an offering to you, Almighty Sekra! An offering of flesh and blood!” Alabaster was writhing now, the altar glistening with sweat, and blood welling at the corners of his mouth as he struggled to cry out. The crowd lurched forward with anticipation, licking their lips with bloodlust in their eyes.
“Now! For the glory of the Mother, he gives his life.” Lombard pulled away the cloth and Alabaster let out a scream so loud I could have heard it from my room.
“Help m-!” The gag was pulled back and he was struck across the face. They pulled the cloth back again and he cried, “For the glory of the Mother I give my life!”
Without hesitation, Lombard drove the blade into the man’s abdomen as he resumed screaming with pain and fear. The headmaster made a long cut up the stomach. I could hear bones cracking and flesh ripping as the man moaned in agony. Liquid scarlet spattered the headmaster’s hands as it spouted from the gaping wound. Lombard tossed the bloodied knife aside. He then plunged his hands into Alabaster's twitching body and wrenched his arms upward several times until what appeared to be a liver was ripped away. I nearly vomited. Lombard held the dripping organ above his head and shouted, “For the glory of Sekra!” He plunged the hunk of flesh into his mouth like a wild beast. The crowd cheered with jubilation at the unholy sight. The corpse was unbound and dragged off into a side room. I was frozen, unblinking, as my past feelings for my seemingly kind friend shattered. Before I could process what was going on I heard Lombard address the members. “No one is to speak of this to our guest. And regarding the Pale, I’m going to see how our friend is doing," he said with a chuckle as the cloaked men and women overflowed with laughter.
I was back on the roof before Lombard could leave the stage.
Part III
With my heart thundering, I bolted back to the roof as fast as lightning and hurled myself from the roof. Using my prior climbing skills I tucked my legs in and rolled across the grass. I only sustained few minor bruises. I ran around the side of the house, up the stairs, and back into my room just as I heard the great hall open. I heard Lombard’s thundering footsteps as he climbed the stair and approached the door. The door opened and the giant’s eyes met mine.
“Good to see your evening was a relaxing one, friend.”
I shrugged and said, “I’ve had better. I had a strange nightmare. Really messed with my head… How did your ritual go?” playing dumb with him as best I could.
Lombard nodded, “All was well. The congregation is eagerly awaiting this Sunday’s celebration. Enjoy your rest, friend.” I could still see little bits of hastily wiped away viscera clinging to his mask.
Lombard shut the door as I heard the rest of the worshipers coming into the entrance hall. I sat and pondered my situation. I was trapped in this God-forsaken place for one more week until they had decided to kill me... I had one week to discover what was really going on here and seven short days to plan my escape.
The next morning I woke up early and ran off to the library, thinking that would be a good place to learn some information. The place had a wealth of books, everything from “War and Peace” to “Pat the Bunny”. I wandered the endless shelves until I reached the back corner of the room. All that sat on the last dusty shelf was an old book with a leather cover. Nothing about it caught my eye save for the title: “The Book of Sekra”. Remembering the mysterious name from the horror of last night, I snatched up the scripture and scurried out of the library unnoticed.
I sat at the desk in my room and flung open the ancient volume. Before me sprawled mounds of text in old English. Though it was in English it was still difficult to understand as I trudged through chapters of sacrifice and lore. I found not much beyond useless gibberish about ceremonies (a few of which I recognized) the method in which one is to fasten a goat's head to their own and a full page print of a slender woman sitting on a throne with what looked like blood spattered around her mouth. Below, it read “Sekra her Holiness”. I returned the book to the library and decided to scour the grounds.
Seeing as there was no way I could budge the padlock on the concrete shack, I instead made my way to the chapel. The door slid open easily enough, and inside was what appeared to be a graveyard of old boxes and furniture. After searching for a few hours I found nothing of interest amongst the stacks of rotting wood. The school house next door yielded similar results. A few desks sat in simple rows with a teacher’s desk with a plaque bearing the name “Master Lombard” and a chalkboard at the front of the room. Nothing else. Feeling defeated I emerged from the building when something caught my eye. In the grass at the door of the concrete building sat a shining padlock. My heart leaped into my throat and I sprinted toward the shack. I reached for the iron handle of the door when it suddenly sprang open. A short stubby man emerged quickly, shutting the door, he noticed me and pushed his back against the door and spoke.
“Oh, no no no no no, boy, don’t go in there. This place is not for the outsiders! Turn back around, boy! Go back to your room, lest I call for the headmaster!”
I sighed and grudgingly returned to the house. Though I was distraught over this defeat, I returned to my bed and met sleep with open arms.
During the following days, I felt my sanity slipping away as I slowly came to grips with my fate. I stayed in bed most of the days, refusing to eat and trying to relive as many happy memories as I could before Sunday's inevitable bloodletting. Several times during my stay I had seen people running for the woods, but they were almost immediately apprehended by groups of men clad in red cloaks. I feared the same would happen to me, and decided against making a run for it. Eventually pulling myself up on Saturday night, I thought about my situation once more. Clasping my hands together, I contemplated how I could possibly survive. By the time I shut my eyes, I had summoned my last shreds of bravery and constructed a plan with a mental image of the house so I would know my best route out of this place. Shutting my plans away in my head and taking a deep breath, I surrendered to my subconscious.
I rose late on Sunday afternoon. Unfitting for one’s final day on earth, but the inevitability of death weighed on me and kept me in bed. Lombard entered the room around six o’clock.
“Are you ready to leave us, friend? We are making preparations for the ceremony now. When you are ready please approach the painting at the other side of the second floor. Slide the painting to the right and it should reveal a staircase. The staircase leads to my chambers. I need to perform the finishing touches for the farewell.” I quietly nodded as the door closed. For a few moments, I sat and considered my plans. Sitting, sweating, and breathing heavily, I made my decision. I snatched one of the pencils from the desk drawer and slid it into my right boot.
Following the giant’s orders, I climbed the hidden staircase and entered a large circular room. The walls were lined with bookcases with a massive desk resting in the center. On the desk sat piles of papers and a typewriter. Moonlight flooded in from a window above it all. Lombard greeted me with a hearty laugh. He told me to remove all of my
|
uumed the floor".
I was surprised that a simple activity could change the dynamics of a well-established classroom Kristin Layous, UC Riverside
"Before the four weeks, we had each student circle [the names] of students from their classroom who they would like to be in school activities with," explained the lead researcher, Kristin Layous from UC Riverside's department of psychology.
The children were asked to repeat this same "nomination process" at the end of four weeks.
"Both conditions - kindness and comparison - received more nominations from their classmates after the four weeks were over," explained Dr Layous, but students in the kindness [group] gained significantly more nominations than the [other group].
"The most interesting finding to me is that a simple positive activity can promote positive relationships among peers," said Dr Layous.
She suggested that by reinforcing social connections between children in this simple way, schools could help to combat bullying.
"I was not completely surprised that students increased in happiness, because we have found the same effects in adults," said the researcher.
"[But] I was surprised that a simple activity could change the dynamics of a well-established classroom.
"This study was conducted in the spring, so students had already known each other all year. For them to nominate more peers at the end of a four-week activity period is promising."Image copyright AFP
Doctors in Kazakhstan who examined a man complaining he'd lost his appetite have found a surgical clamp lodged inside him, left over from surgery more than a decade ago, it's been reported.
The patient had been walking around with the 20cm (8in) lump of metal in his gut since undergoing an operation in the city of Shakhtinsk 13 years ago, the Novy Vestnik newspaper reports. A surgeon had forgotten to remove the clamp during an abdominal operation, but the man noticed nothing until this summer, when his wife sent him to the local clinic after he went off his food.
Doctors were initially at a loss to explain his symptoms, until they tried an X-ray scan. "I've never seen anything like it - at least not lasting this long," says radiologist Baurzhan Aibayev. "Foreign objects usually cause some sort of medical problem, but in this case he felt nothing for more than 12 years!" The Kazakh Medical and Pharmaceutical Oversight Committee tells Novy Vestnik that it won't take any steps against the absent-minded surgeon, as no one has filed a complaint, a decision echoed by the hospital in question. The patient himself is to undergo another operation to remove the wayward clamp. "It's difficult to imagine someone who's about to go under the knife picking a fight with the doctors," the paper concludes.
Use #NewsfromElsewhere to stay up-to-date with our reports via Twitter.PopChest is a service that allows YouTubers and video producers to earn money from their videos without the need for advertising. Users pay a very small fee in Bitcoin, usually $0.25 (approximately 0.000414 BTC at the time of my writing), to watch the content producer’s video. This directly supports the creator, and also allows users to see exclusive content. PopChest has had limited success, but recently, a YouTuber with 600,000 subscribers signed up for the service, creating a surge in interest.
PopChest
PopChest was founded on 7th May 2015 by Valerian Bennett and James Poole, with the intention of creating “a blockchain-based media distribution platform that allows content creators to get paid directly, in real-time, for every video view” and to give “an engaged audience the smoothest possible video-on-demand experience with no signups, no subscriptions, and no commitment.”
The project launched a private beta that same month, and in June 2015, the general response from the content creator community was very much positive. However, probably down to a combination of the lack of publicity of the project and a lack of understanding of Bitcoin, takeup was semi-limited.
How it works
The requirements for uploading your videos on PopChest are virtually null. They say they are “looking for original content creators with an active, engaged audience. Subject-wise, you don’t have to be bitcoin-related or even that knowledgeable about cryptocurrency.”
Content creators sign up on their website and link their Coinbase account to get started. From there, they then upload their videos. The site provides a preview of about 15 seconds of the video, so users can understand what they’re paying for, before a QR code appears that users scan to send the Bitcoin payment over. One of the main draws for content creators to the site is that, “For every 1 micropayment, [the content creator] generates the same revenue as 50 advertising-supported viewers.” This is particularly important given the rise of ad-blocking software, as views on Youtube don’t always translate to advertising revenue.
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, said this about PopChest on Twitter:
Great proof of concept - bypass paywall in 5 seconds w/ bitcoin to play video. Threat to ads https://t.co/EtpUWjwL3q pic.twitter.com/0CBec1i9qu — Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) February 19, 2016
NurdRage
NurdRage, a YouTube star with over 600,000 subscribers recently signed up on the site, making them by far the biggest content creator on the platform. NurdRage is “a channel run by science nerds for science nerds hailing from the country of Canada.” They “demonstrate science experiment for all levels, from kitchen chemistry to advanced synthesis.”
Their video, titled ‘Dissolve Gold in Poison (Sodium Cyanide)’ has so far had 5,132 views, which translates to $1,283 in Bitcoin transactions to NurdRage. Although NurdRage has promised to release the video on his YouTube channel at a later date, he says he wants to trial releasing his videos on other platforms, including PopChest. The video on PopChest is available below.
Although slightly unrelated, I thought I’d mention one of the quotations that can be seen scrolling by on PopChest’s ‘About Us’ page - “I need access to more money in order to bring more beautiful ideas to the world.” - Kanye West. Although not known for truly insightful thoughts, I do feel here that Kanye’s statement does have some merit. Content creators deserve to earn a fair amount of money for the quality work they provide. This really does all them to ‘bring more beautiful ideas to the world.’- A stray bullet struck a 1-year-old child as it was being held in its mother's arms in Richmond on Friday morning.
After receiving a report of shots fired, officers responded around 10:15 a.m. near Bissell Avenue and Second Street, according to Richmond police Lt. Felix Tan.
While on their way to scene, officers learned a mother had arrived to Kaiser Permanente Richmond Medical Center with her 16-month-old boy who was suffering from a gunshot wound to his lower body, Tan said.
A short while later, officers learned a 25-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound to his upper torso area had also arrived at Kaiser medical center.
Officers determined the two hospital patients were victims of the same shooting near Second Street and Bissell Avenue.
While officers were unable to apprehend the shooter, officers believe the suspect had targeted the 25-year-old victim, Tan said.
The 1-year-old was with his mother at the time of the shooting, about one block north from the scene.
Both victims are expected to survive. Furthermore, the 1-year-old may be released from the hospital sometime today, Tan said.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Richmond police Detective Dan Wellhausen at (510) 620-6860.The conservative activists say they are dedicated to deposing the lawmakers at the risk of losing seats. Their fervor has only grown after some played a role in the elections of Republican Senate mavericks like Rand Paul of Kentucky, Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas over the opposition of party establishment leaders such as Mr. McConnell.
“When you look at the direction Washington, D.C., as a whole is going, when you look at the state of the Republican Party and its decided lack of will to fight, you have to begin looking at the leadership itself,” said Drew Ryun, political director of the Madison Project. The chairman is his father, Jim Ryun, the former Republican congressman and track star from Kansas. “Mitch McConnell is, to me, the essence of the problem in D.C.”
Drew Ryun, who expects the Madison Project to get involved in 14 races in 2014, acknowledged that there were probably easier targets than the Senate Republican leader and two veteran incumbents. “You have to go big or go home,” said Mr. Ryun, who is based in Texas.
The groups do not all jump into the same races. They also have different strategies, with the Senate Conservatives Fund reporting that it has already spent nearly $400,000 on TV and radio advertising in Kentucky. The Madison Project, which has bought fewer ads, is helping with grass-roots organization. FreedomWorks has opened anti-McConnell field offices in Louisville and Lexington.
Republican strategists who have run up against the groups say one of their real strengths is influencing the political dialogue and climate through social media and talk radio, fueling the perception that their targets are in trouble and generating more discussion and news media coverage of their efforts.
The anti-tax Club for Growth, one of the first organizations to take aim at Republican incumbents in an effort to move the party to the right, is not opposing Mr. McConnell. But it has joined the Senate Conservatives Fund, the Madison Project, FreedomWorks and other groups working on Mississippi’s Senate race. They are backing a state lawmaker, Chris McDaniel, in the Republican primary against Senator Thad Cochran, a six-term incumbent and former Appropriations Committee chairman who has showered federal dollars on his state over the years.
The Senate Conservatives Fund and the Madison Project are also supporting Milton Wolf, a physician, in the Republican Senate primary in Kansas against Senator Pat Roberts, who has been in the Senate since 1997 after first being elected to the House in 1980.SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - July 13, 2017) - Tim Draper is at it again. The billionaire VC has bought 10% of all Credo tokens in the initial coin offering (ICO) for Credo, a new cryptocurrency that solves the problems of email spam which costs the global economy an estimated $20 billion per year. Credo's official ICO for the public is taking place on July 26th.
Draper made tidal waves in the investor community last month by investing in both the companies that created Tezos and Bancor, two leading new tokens. He was also the winner of the U.S. Marshall's Bitcoin auction, making him one of the leading owners of Bitcoin. Draper is taking an active interest in tokens as a way to transform society for the better.
"Token offerings allow entrepreneurs a new way to transform society. They are doing everything from banking the unbanked to streamlining how people transact business to helping secure people's identities. Credos solve the SPAM problem, allowing legitimate advertisers to pay to connect, while allowing people to put value on their time and attention," said Draper.
Credos will be transforming email into a market system. Draper previously made multiple investments in Credo's parent company BitBounce. The Credo token will be used via the BitBounce email solution. BitBounce solves spam by charging a fee for emails from email addresses that are not on a whitelist. That fee can be paid for in Credo or Bitcoin. The result of this solution is that your inbox only contains emails from people you know and those emails you've been paid to receive.
BitBounce is quickly gaining traction, with 7,832 active users and a growth rate of 41% Week-over-Week and 293% Month-over-Month. BitBounce is now processing over 42,000 emails per day on behalf of users. Users have also added 654,950 whitelist members. In email marketing, these are positive numbers for a new solution. Transaction volume with the Credo cryptocurrency has been growing steadily with around 100 transactions happening per day.
Credo is built on the Ethereum platform and complies with a standard for tokens called ERC20. Unlike many other token sales, Credo is already live in production and can be used immediately upon purchase. There are over 3.7 billion email users worldwide, and the Credo team aims to bring its innovative spam solution to many of them. Folks in the ad tech world are spinning around in excitement about the possibilities of using blockchain to solve disconnects in the industry. For instance, veteran ad tech marketing expert Tony Winders believes blockchain will solve issues related to the validity in recorded users and preventing ad fraud.
Token sales -- also called ICOs -- have been rising as a new fundraising method for companies. Over $1 billion dollars have been raised via token sales in 2017 alone. Several token sales, such as Bancor and Tezos, have each raised over $100 million dollars. The Credo team is seeking to raise a maximum of $20 million in their token sale. The use of proceeds is described, along with other details of the spam solution, in the Credo white paper.
The Credo team is also seeking to bring back the ancient, cross-cultural tradition of gift giving to demonstrate respect for an elder or superior. This custom has been lost with digital relationships, but now Credo is the modern revival of the honorable custom. The team is establishing this new norm through a marketing campaign that brands Credo as the Token of Respect™ and encourages people to Send the Token of Respect™.
Credo and BitBounce were developed by a husband-and-wife team of Stewart Dennis and Alexis Roizen-Dennis. Stewart is a Stanford Computer Science graduate and leads engineering for the company. Alexis studied art at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and leads design for the company. The team also created the SaaS product suite called Turing Cloud, which gave them significant experience in developing email software.
● Media kit with images: https://bitbounce.io/mediakit
About BitBounce
BitBounce, the cryptocurrency spam solution that uses blockchain technology to allow people to put value on their time and attention, this year celebrates 3 years of bringing innovative software solutions to market. Information about BitBounce, and the Turing Cloud suite created by the same company, can be found at https://bitbounce.io. For ongoing news, please go to https://bitbounce.io/press.A southeastern Minnesota couple have been charged after an underage girl went to police, saying she had been exploited by the pair in their “sex room.”
Michael Lowell Germain, 43, and Heather Laverne Germain, 49, appeared in Goodhue County District Court on Monday on multiple charges of criminal sexual conduct.
The girl contacted Goodhue police in January and said she was being sexually assaulted and exploited by the couple, who she said were “swingers” and have a “sex room” in the attic of their garage, according to the criminal complaint.
The girl told police in an interview that she was brought to the attic of a garage at 504 Fourth Ave., across the street from the Goodhue Public School.
According to the complaint: Law enforcement executed a search warrant at the residence in January and seized multiple electronic devices in the home and garage. Several items tested positive for methamphetamine and cocaine residue.
Investigators found the detached garage had upper and lower levels. The complaint stated that the upper level could be accessed only through a door secured with an electronic lock. Authorities discovered three distinct rooms in the upper level, all separated by secured doors. Officers found a doctor’s examination table and “an open storage unit that contained multiple bottles of lubrication, large containers of disinfectant wipes, along with multiple sex toys.”
Also present in the “sex room” was a large, free-standing wooden structure, estimated to be at least 8 feet tall. Investigators observed that holes drilled in the structure could “easily be used to anchor or tie a person or objects to the structure,” the complaint stated.
When investigators interviewed Michael Germain in January, he acknowledged his “swinger” lifestyle but denied engaging in any type of sexual acts with the girl, the complaint stated.
The Goodhue County sheriff’s office found video and photos of the girl on multiple devices, the report said. Cameras and recording devices were found throughout the garage and residence. Investigators also found numerous photos and videos of Heather and Michael Germain having sex with each other, and separately with different men and women. Related Articles Minnesota man gets 10 years for attacking N.D. priest in dispute over woman
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Arrest warrants for Heather and Michael Germain were executed April 20. Heather Germain is facing three first-degree criminal sexual conduct charges, three third-degree criminal sexual conduct charges, neglect or endangerment of a child, interference of privacy against a minor under the age of 18 and fifth-degree drug possession.
Michael Germain is facing three counts each of first, second, third and fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct and two interfering with privacy charges. The maximum sentence for criminal sexual conduct in the first-degree is 30 years imprisonment, a $40,000 fine or both per charge. Heather and Michael Germain are scheduled to appear in district court June 2, 2017.Fox News host Geraldo Rivera flew to Puerto Rico after the hurricane and — despite grim reports from the devastated island — has not yet witnessed anyone die.
He shook hands with the governor, and no one died. He flew in a big U.S. Marine Corps helicopter. Zero casualties. A week after the hurricane destroyed the island’s infrastructure, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without electricity, desperate for food and drinking water, Rivera met 84-year-old “Aunt Ellie.”
“She had us all worried but she’s doing fine thx,” he wrote.
And so after several days on the island, Rivera decided to weigh in on a debate between President Trump — whose administration has been accused of being slow to help the U.S. territory — and San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto, who famously pleaded, “We are dying, and you are killing us with the inefficiency and the bureaucracy.”
I want to help broker peace between #SanJuanMayor & @realDonaldTrump We are all on the same team to help get storm-stricken PR on its feet — Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) October 1, 2017
[Trump called San Juan’s mayor a weak leader. Here’s what her leadership looks like.]
The official death toll in Puerto Rico stands at 16, but is expected to rise as rescue workers struggle to distribute basic supplies and families prepare to live for weeks or months without power.
A Fox News anchor noted this on Sunday, as he introduced Rivera’s debate with the mayor about death and Donald Trump.
Before he launched into his “exclusive” interview (which it was not), Rivera criticized the U.S. government’s response.
“I don’t know why the skies aren’t filled with relief aircraft,” he said.
But, he went on.
“What I really lament in this politically driven island, where you have a Republican governor and a hard left-wing Democratic mayor, is that the mayor is blaming Donald Trump for the lack of aid.”
Then on to the interview, in which Cruz would point out she is not in fact a Democrat, and explain the nuances of “dying.”
“The aid isn’t getting here as quick as it should be getting here,” the mayor told Rivera, as workers packed boxes behind her. “There are people in all municipalities literally starving, dehydrating.”
There was no electricity in most of the island, and frequent brownouts in the hospitals, she said — and meanwhile the Federal Emergency Management Agency “asks people to register on the phone or Internet.”
As in her past remarks, Cruz praised the federal government’s intentions, while criticizing its performance.
“Common sense has to prevail,” she said.
Rivera nodded.
“Are people dying?” he asked. “I’ve been traveling around. I don’t see people dying.”
“Well, dying is a continuum, right?” Cruz said. “If you don’t get fed for seven to eight days and you’re a child, you are dying. If you have 11 people like they took out of a nursing home, you are dying.”
“Don’t you wish you had characterized that a little more?” Rivera asked, but the mayor cut him off.
Since she first criticized Trump’s government on Friday, the president has called Cruz a weak leader and complained of “politically motivated ingrates” on the island. The mayor has mocked the president’s ire, but otherwise argued that politics have no role in the relief effort.
“I don’t have to characterize anything in any way that’s not reality,” she told Rivera. “He who has eyes will be able to see it. He who has an open heart will be able to feel it.”
Next question: “How much of that is politics, the fact that you and the president are different parties?” Rivera asked. And she corrected him.
Trump had accused Cruz of being controlled by the Democratic Party, and Rivera had erroneously said she belonged to it.
In fact, as The Post reported, the island’s party system is different from the mainland United States. Republicans and Democrats have little bearing on Puerto Rican politics. While Cruz has been friendly with some mainland Democrats, her Popular Democratic Party is defined largely by its stance in Puerto Rico’s independence from the United States.
“I’m not a member of the Democratic Party,” she told Rivera, who did not ask another question in the clip.
“I could find no one dying,” the host summarized after the segment, the second half of which will air on Fox on Sunday night.
Still intent on forging a truce between the mayor and the president, Rivera chided Trump for tweeting about Cruz and ingrates and such.
“Unnecessary,” he said.
But that mayor. “She’s very partisan,” Rivera said. “I think she has a loathing for Donald Trump.”
“I think she needs an open heart and some gratitude,” he concluded.
The mayor had in fact spoken of open hearts in her nonexclusive interview. And Trump had accused her of mislaid gratitude. So in the end, maybe Rivera found common ground after all.
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North Korea madness breaks out on ‘Fox & Friends’Already reeling from corruption scandals and a declining security situation, President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico was accused on Sunday of plagiarizing nearly a third of his law school thesis, according to a report by an investigative journalist.
The journalist, Carmen Aristegui, has reported on several articles that have contributed to the president’s declining public approval ratings, including the disclosure in 2014 of his wife’s questionable real estate dealings with major government contractors.
Image Carmen Aristegui, an investigative journalist, has reported on several articles that have contributed to the president’s declining public approval ratings. Credit Henry Romero/Reuters
Ms. Aristegui lost her job in 2015 after her reporting on the Mexico City mansion built for the president’s wife, Angélica Rivera, by a firm that had received hundreds of millions of dollars in government contracts. Since then, Ms. Aristegui has been publishing her work on her own website.
Her latest article, published on the website aristeguinoticias.com, cited a report by a group of specialists and academics who reviewed Mr. Peña Nieto’s roughly 200-page thesis on the Mexican presidency, which he submitted in 1991 and wrote while studying for his degree at the Panamerican University from 1984 to 1989.Bindiya Rana, president of Pakistan's Gender Interactive Alliance.
Gender identity and transgender issues have come under a renewed focus around the world recently, with a "third gender" option on birth certificates in Germany, Bradley Manning's announcement of his female identity and the fatal beating of a transgender woman in New York City.
In Pakistan, meanwhile, the transgender community has won some victories in obtaining basic civil rights this year.
Pakistan's transgender people, or khawaja seras, have faced abuse and isolation for decades. (The term khawaja sera can refer to transgender people, transvestites, hermaphrodites or eunuchs.) Historically, in South Asia, khawaja seras were respected as caretakers of royal harems, masters of art and culture, and trusted as messengers, watchmen and guardians. Over time, however, their social status diminished significantly. Transgender people now live on the margins of the society as entertainers, beggars and sex workers. Often denied access to education and healthcare, they face extreme discrimination, poverty, abuse and other violations of basic human rights.
But recent gains for Pakistan's transgender community include a ruling by the Supreme Court to allow a third gender category on national identity cards, a legal share of family inheritance, a reserved 2% quota of jobs in all sectors and the right to vote in elections. But not much has changed in practice, and discrimination persists. In a country dealing with overwhelming economic and social ills, Pakistan's transgender community continues to be ignored.
Bindiya Rana is the president of Gender Interactive Alliance, an organization that works for the rights of khawaja seras in Pakistan. Owing to the new right to participate in Pakistan's general elections, Rana is one of the few transgender people who ran for office in 2013. While she didn't secure a seat in the provincial assembly, she believes her victory is in having successfully submitted her nomination papers despite many obstacles. Reflecting on her journey in the run-up to the elections and her work for the rights of transgender people of Pakistan, Rana keeps a cheerful outlook and believes "a new dawn is near."
From her home in Karachi, Rana communicated with Asia Society via Skype.
Tell us a little about yourself and your work for social justice and rights of transgender people in Pakistan.
I have been working to improve the standards of living, providing access to basic health care and well being of transgender people in Pakistan for the past seven years. When we first started doing social work, we were concerned about being able to meet this challenge that we are taking on. At first I thought this was just some sort of junoon ["madness" in Urdu]. Sometimes a person thinks they can do really big things, like playing cricket on a professional level, for example, but when you start doing it, you realize you don't have the capacity to actually do it.
We work for the rights of transgender people and help them with various issues, including health care or larger problems like gang rape and other injustices. In Pakistan, most transgender people are forced to live in slum areas because other people are not prepared to let them live in apartment buildings or houses in nicer areas. When they live in slums, they live among sketchy people including drug sellers and they end up facing a lot of problems. Often we get calls for help late at night to help with health issues, accidents, rape or if someone has been involved in a serious fight. We then go in and take them to public hospitals.
We started by learning first from others who had experience working with social justice and human rights issues on a grassroots level, because I am myself transgender and I have no previous experience of working in this field. In the past, I used to dance with my troupe at weddings and I am proud of that work. People tend to hide their past, but I am proud of it. I am proud of my people who work hard to support themselves, whether they dance for entertainment, beg for money at traffic signals, or even if they are sex workers.
People were skeptical in the beginning about us (transgender people) getting involved in social work and they made fun. Everyone works for the good of their own communities — women have their own organizations to support their rights, as do men. So why shouldn't we work for our community's rights as well? The first step we took was to go to interior Sindh and Balochistan and set up free medical camps for women and children. We believe that if someone is even worse off than you are, you should help them out. We encouraged other people, and organizations as well, to come to these neglected areas. Working there helped us gain experience and confidence in what we were doing.
With the new rights you now have — a National Identity Card recognizing the "third gender" and the ability to vote and run for public office — do you think much has changed in the way society sees and interacts with the transgender community in Pakistan?
We used to think that maybe in 15 or 20 years people will start understanding the needs of transgender people and we will be given more rights. But God answered our prayers much quicker than that, and within two years the Supreme Court announced the decision to allows transgender people to get National Identity Cards, register for elections, be allowed to work and get a share in family inheritance. When the Supreme Court decision came, it seemed to me that now darkness is about to end and we will see a new beginning. That is when our real work began.
It's such a shame that the Supreme Court has announced these decisions, but no laws have been made in our favor, nor has anyone acted on turning the free education, health care benefits, skills training and 2% employment quota into a reality. We were happy with even the 2% quota, and it would mean that some people of our community will be saved from degrading themselves by begging on the streets, dancing, singing and sex work (always at risk of HIV/AIDS). Despite the changes in government leadership since then, none of the Supreme Court orders has been implemented as yet.
As far as Pakistani society is concerned — they don't treat transgender people with respect. Transgender people are capable of doing respectable work as domestic helpers as cooks, cleaners and chauffeurs. It's a pity that no one hires them. They are willing to work in offices, mills and factories as well, but no one is willing to hire them out of prejudice. People don't understand that there is a whole spectrum of transgender identities. They refuse to understand that even if some of us look like men, they do not identify as male. They continue to look down on the transgender people who appear to be men and are forced to beg on roads.
Our society doesn't have the capability to tolerate. We hesitate in giving other people their rights. If I talk about transgender rights, people will shy away from associating with me because they worry about how they will be perceived by others. I'm Muslim, as are many other transgender people, but more than religion we believe in humanity. It doesn't matter what anyone's religion is in the transgender community, we don't ostracize them based on their beliefs. Many people around us use religion as an excuse to discriminate or put limitations on how others can behave. Islam teaches peace, love and oneness with mankind, it doesn't teach you to hate.
Why did you decide to run for office in the 2013 elections? What was your experience like — and would you run in the elections again?
Now that I have had some experience in politics, I run in the elections again in five years. The three months of election campaigning will have an impact on my life for years to come. I had no political experience nor was I passionate about running in the elections. Many political parties reached out to us before the elections and we asked them what they would do for transgender people if we voted for them. They all had their manifestos and after reading their lists of things, we were very angry because they had not even mentioned transgender people. Why should we support and vote for people who had left us out completely? We then decided to participate in the elections ourselves.
During the elections and even now I continue to get death threats. I had to go with a police escort to campaign in my electorate district. I couldn't sleep at my own home for fear of being attacked during the night. After being abandoned by some of my friends and organizations that we had worked with, I finally reached out to the head of the sex workers' group who I call amma ["mother" in Urdu]. She gave me shelter despite the fact that my presence could have been a problem for her as well. So you shouldn't think that a person is beneath you just because they are sex workers or laborers, everyone human being has his own quality. And someone you don't even expect may help you out in your time of need. Even now when I go back to visit my district, I am always afraid for my life. I still get death threats over the phone from public phone booth numbers. The police don't do anything about it, they just ask you to turn your phone off.
We won the day our nomination papers were accepted — my papers were rejected, which I appealed in Election Tribunal of the Sindh High Court. My second win was when Sindh High Court overturned the rejection and accepted my nomination papers. Many of the transgender candidates who were running in the elections were forced to quit the race under pressure from other parties, but a handful of us remained steadfast.
We could see clearly that other candidates and parties were spending large amounts of money on campaigning. And we did not have enough money to spend on campaign materials. We used homemade glue to stick our small posters ourselves on walls and doors of the electoral district. And every time we posted a few of our leaflets around one block, the next day we would see the entire block decorated with endless rows of leaflets in support of our opposing candidates.
I wish [that] rather than spending hundreds of thousands of rupees on banners and stickers, they had spent the money on the welfare of the people of the electoral district. When people are more aware of the fact that you shouldn't vote based on who has the biggest events, and when we have a computerized voting system, the electoral process will be much more transparent.Bitcoin Zug, Switzerland Makes Bitcoin Payments ‘Permanent’
After a few months of experimenting with bitcoin payments for municipal services, the City Council of ‘Crypto Valley’ Zug in Switzerland announced that the pilot program will become a permanent fixture with possible plans to expand.
Bitcoin Payments a ‘Worthwhile Experiment’
Early May this year, Zug City Council decided to place bitcoin payment system on a pilot program to test the feasibility of bitcoin payments for municipal services. At current, the program has been used only by a dozen customers, allowing them to make train ticket payments with bitcoin up to 200 Swiss Francs’ worth.
But despite only about a dozen people using the program in a town of 30,000, Zug City Council was upbeat, explaining that the experience was “worthwhile” and that the program might even be expanded. President Dolfi Müller stated:
It was a worthwhile experience for us to install and test the technology for bitcoin payments. We were able to put up a sign for fintech companies in Zug and express that they are welcome here. This triggered an unprecedented international media echo […]. That is why on Wednesday it was decided to offer payment with bitcoins permanently.
‘With Bitcoin, We’re Sending a Message’ – President
Müller pointed out that even in this digital age, the use of bitcoin is still rare. Nonetheless, the program still has a huge symbolic effect, which could make Switzerland — and ‘Crypto Valley‘ Zug, in particular, synonymous with fintech and innovation.
In Zug, bitcoin payments are available for dentistry services, trustee services, and some government services. As of November 11, 2016, the purchase of bitcoin is available round the clock at the Swiss Federal Railway. This makes Switzerland a country with the densest network of Bitcoin vending machines or ‘Bitcoin ATMs’. Customers can purchase bitcoin between 20 to 500 Swiss Frans’ worth at any train ticketing machines. All that is needed is a local phone number and a bitcoin wallet.
Now, the overall positive experience with bitcoin payments led the City Council to explore other municipal services where bitcoin payment systems can be useful. Back in July, Müller was quoted saying:
With Bitcoin, we’re sending a message: We in Zug want to get out in front of future technologies.
[source: Luzerner Zeitung]
Will Zug, Switzerland soon become the de facto Bitcoin capital? Let us know in the comments below!
Images courtesy of shutterstock, luzernerzeitung.chRabbi Nuchem Rosenberg, the lone whistleblower among the Satmar, a powerful Hasidic sect, who recently was the victim of a bleach attack in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. All photos by Christian Storm.
Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg—who is 63 with a long, graying beard—recently sat down with me to explain what he described as a "child-rape assembly line" among sects of fundamentalist Jews. He cleared his throat. "I'm going to be graphic," he said.
A member of Brooklyn's Satmar Hasidim fundamentalist branch of Orthodox Judaism, Nuchem designs and repairs mikvahs in compliance with Torah Law. The mikvah is a ritual Jewish bathhouse used for purification. Devout Jews are required to cleanse themselves in the mikvah on a variety of occasions: Women must visit following menstruation, and men have to make an appearance before the High Holidays, such as Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Many of the devout also purify themselves before and after the act of sex and before the Sabbath.
On a visit to Jerusalem in 2005, Rabbi Rosenberg entered into a mikvah in one of the holiest neighborhoods in the city, Mea She'arim. "I opened a door that entered into a schvitz," he told me. "Vapors everywhere, I can barely see. My eyes adjust, and I see an old man, my age, long white beard, a holy-looking man, sitting in the vapors. On his lap, facing away from him, is a boy, maybe seven years old. And the old man is having anal sex with this boy."
Rabbi Rosenberg paused, gathered himself, and went on: "This boy was speared on the man like an animal, like a pig, and the boy was saying nothing. But on his face—fear. The old man [looked at me] without any fear, as if this was common practice. He didn't stop. I was so angry, I confronted him. He removed the boy from his penis, and I took the boy aside. I told this man, 'It's a sin before God, a mishkovzucher. What are you doing to this boy's soul? You're destroying this boy!' He had a sponge on a stick to clean his back, and he hit me across the face with it. 'How dare you interrupt me!' he said. I had heard of these things for a long time, but now I had seen."
The child sex abuse crisis in ultra-Orth
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can be connected to smartphones and have the same features as Branto for example.
Google’s launch of the Home product is expected go well, especially because most people are used to Google’s platforms, including search and AI capabilities.
Chromecast is also a famous device amongst consumers, and according to Strategy Analytics, it was the most popular home streaming device in 2015, representing 35% of all 42 million devices sold in 2015.
Google’s Nest has also been a hit with consumers, and it is estimated to be selling between 40,000 to 50,000 units every month.
Interoperability with other home devices has been a pain-point for Echo with users expressing concerns that such integration is not straight forward. Google Home has been designed from scratch to be interoperable with other Google smart home products and devices from other vendors.
In the end, users should opt for the device that best answer their needs taking into consideration how much they are willing to invest. At the moment, Amazon’s Echo is the best solution, yet, this will undoubtedly be challenged by Google’s Home once it is released later this year.PHUKET: Immigration police this morning arrested 45-year-old British man, Stephen Peering, on charges of exceeding his permit to stay by two years, and possession of marijuana.
By Naraporn Tuarob
Monday 13 May 2013, 04:55PM
Peering, front centre, with Phuket Immigration Police.
Pol Capt Angkarn Yasanop told The Phuket News the police received information that a British man was living illegally in Kok Chang Mansion in Tai Na Rd, Karon.
“When we arrived there we found him walking around the mansion so we asked him for his passport. He said it was in his room. But when we got to his room he acted nervously, and told us that he had lost his passport.
“We smelled something like marijuana so we asked him to allow us to search his room and found a bag of marijuana inside a drawer. But it was a tiny bag.” They also found his passport, which had long expired.
Checks showed that Peering arrived in Thailand from Myanmar via the Mae Sai Immigration Checkpoint in Chiang Rai on February 21, 2011. He was granted a two-week tourist visa, which expired on March 7, 2011.
Since then he had not left the country. He was sent to Karon Police Station to be charged.Starting next week, a number of Ubisoft's legitimate PC customers will be unable to play their games because of problems with the titles' digital rights management (DRM) antipiracy schemes.
A handful of Ubisoft games won't be playable while the transition takes place.
The publisher has announced that it is "transitioning the hosting of many of its online services from a third-party data center to a new facility" starting on February 7, and as a result, most of its games will lose online functionality. However, because some of Ubisoft's PC and Mac games feature DRM that require a constant online connection to the publisher's servers, those games will be completely unplayable when the publisher takes those servers down for the transition. Ubisoft's uPlay service will also be down during the transition.
Ubisoft apologized for the downtime, saying, "This move ultimately will help us improve the maintenance of our infrastructure and deliver better uptime and greatly improved services for our customers."
Not all of the publisher's games will be impacted. It is keeping servers running for newer releases like Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Driver: San Francisco, and Just Dance 3. Full lists of the games that won't be impacted and the ones that will be rendered completely unplayable follow below.
Games that will be unplayable during transition
Assassin's Creed--Mac
Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. 2--PC
Might & Magic: Heroes VI--PC
Splinter Cell Conviction--Mac
The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom--PC
The Settlers--Mac
Games that will have online functionality throughout transition
Anno 2070
Assassin's Creed: Revelations
Driver: San Francisco
Just Dance 3
The Settlers OnlineTentative Findings
The Tentative Findings of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission are an interim step in the Commission’s process before the completion of the report in May 2016. They reflect the Commission’s current thinking on the issues it considers to be important and the most cogent evidence relevant to them. They do not contain recommendations.
They are shared with the community as part of the Commission’s commitment to conducting an open process with access to the written submissions, oral evidence and material it considered to be significant.
Comment is sought on the Tentative Findings to better inform and refine the Commission’s thinking before it finalises its findings and makes recommendations.
Commissioner Kevin Scarce released the Tentative Findings document in 15 February, 2016 ahead of a five-week feedback period. The closing date for responses is 5pm, Friday, March 18, 2016. The Commission’s final report will be delivered on 6 May 2016.
The Commission has begun a five-week feedback period, commencing with a week of public presentations to be held across the State. The Commission will visit South Australian cities and towns including Port Pirie, Port Augusta, Whyalla, Port Lincoln, Mt Gambier, Ceduna, Renmark, Oak Valley and Umuwa. Full meeting details here.
NFCRC Tentative Findings
Click here to read the full NFCRC Tentative Findings
Click here to read the Guidelines for your response
Click here to download a copy of the Tentative Findings Response Coversheet
NFCRC summaries of the Independent financial assessment reports.
The following summaries were prepared by the staff of the NFCRC. To view, click on the links below:
Click here to read the Independent financial assessments
Click here to read the NFCRC Media ReleaseBangladesh is a place where social stigma around the idea of women doing great stuff is still very high. Although, head of Bangladesh State is a woman and we have many female representatives in the parliament but still it does not represent the reality. The number of women participating the workforce and taking over important roles or trying to be extra ambitious is still very slim. Moreover, the number of women in technology is even negligible. However, this debate around underrepresentation of women in tech is not a Bangladeshi problem at all. It is even worse in the western world. In recent HBR best-performing CEO ranking, only 2% of world’s top CEOs are women.
In Bangladesh, though, more women are joining workforce and participating in business, corporates, NGOs, Government and more. Here is a list of 6 Women, in no particular order, who have built extraordinary career in technology, founded their own organizations, or running one as chief, and contributing greatly to the society.
Luna Shamsuddoha, Founder and Chairman, Dohatec New Media
Luna Shamsuddoha is the founder and Chairman of the software firm Dohatec New Media. Luna founded Dohatec in 1992 when it was even extremely ambitious for man to start a IT company in Bangladesh. Dohatech provides Software Solutions, Design and Development services to institutions, government agencies and corporations globally and has served global clients like World Bank, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), World Health Organization (WHO) and United States Postal Service (USPS), etc.
Currently, Luna is also the President of BWIT, country’s forum for women in technology. She has received recognition for her path breaking work internationally abd a Member at Council of Global Thought Leaders on Inclusive Growth, Switzerland.
Farhana Rahman, CEO and Chairperson, Upload Yourself Systems Ltd
Originally coming from a health sector background, Nutrition sector to be exact, Farhana Rahman realized in early 2003 that there were more and more opportunities in the IT sector. So she became interested in it and took herself a degree in Graphics and Web Development. When she graduated, she easily found a position as a Graphic Consultant in a Bangladeshi company. However, she always wanted to start her own company and was always actively making connections with clients, and technology people.
Finally, in 2003 Farhana started Upload Yourself Systems as a software development and web-solution providing company. Initially, UYS focused in local market and worked with local companies but most Bangladeshi companies were not interested in its service i.e. IT enabled services. However, it could not stop her. She decided to go abroad, and settled strong business relationships with American and Danish companies. Today, Upload Yourself Systems is a 100% export oriented company and has been able to build multiple sister concerns.
Sonia Bashir Kabir, Managing Director, Microsoft, Bangladesh
Sonia Bashir Kabir is the managing director for Microsoft Bangladesh. She is also the founder president of TiE Dhaka, vice president and co-founder of Bangladesh Women in Technology (BWIT).
Prior to working for Microsoft, Sonia co-founded Syntec, an IT firm, and also served as the country manager of Dell Bangladesh, the director of business development for South East Asian emerging markets at Microsoft and the chief operating officer for Aamra Technologies.
Sonia has an astounding body of work. She is educated and trained in Silicon Valley and lived in Northern California for 20 years. After completing MBA, she worked in Silicon Valley for Fortune 100 companies, such as Sun Microsystems & Oracle, for start-ups and in the financial district.
Ivy Huq Russell, Founder, Maya
Ivy Huq Russell, a former investment banker, Founded Maya with a vision to empower women through giving them access to information and a shared community. After beta launch in September 2011, Maya is now a home to Bangladeshi women seeking community, advice, and support for a better life. Last year, Maya launched Maya Apa, an app where anyone can ask and get personalized solutions for their problems. Born and grew up in Chittagong, Ivy went to Scholastica, Dhaka for her O and A level and then she went off to study in the UK where she worked in Finance.
Maya has its ups and downs but it is solving a very critical problem in Bangladesh. There is a dearth of Bangla content online and there is not many support network out there for women in Bangladesh. Maya has become a home to many women in Bangladesh who could not find a place to seek advice and support otherwise.
Sadequa Rahman Sejuti, Founder, Amar Desh Amar Gram
Sadequa Hassan Sejuti is the founder of Amar Desh Amar Gram (My Village, My Country). Sadequa left her architecture career to build an ecommerce platform that can change the livelihood of people of Bangladesh and help bring them get out of poverty. Amar Desh Amar Gram takes computers and web access to the lowest income group and empower them with a possibility that was not ever previously available to them before.
Amardesheshop now features products produced by rural farmers and makers that consumers can buy directly. For its distinctive approach Sejuti and team Amar Desh Amar Gram has received many national and international awards. However, there has a lot to be done to make ADAG viable as a business.
Maliha M Quadir, Founding Managing Director, Shohoz.com
Maliha is the founding managing director of Shohoz.com, country’s first and fastest growing online ticketing platform. Started back in 2014, Shohoz has received venture funding from Fenox, and Singapore based Sengel Venture and has expanded its service in hotel booking as well. Recently, we have seen few new players in the market posing potential threat to Shohoz. However, Bangladesh market is pretty big to accommodate multiple ticketing companies and Shohoz has been able to position itself strongly in the market.
Maliha has extensive experiences in digital services and investment banking industry. She recently ran Vistaprint’s digital business in global emerging markets out of Singapore. Prior to Shohoz, she worked at Morgan Stanley in New York, Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore, Vistaprint, and Nokia. Shohoz is already doing pretty well so far we know. However, this just the beginning and the startup has a long way to go.
This list is far from complete. Is there anyone you know doing amazing work? Please do mention in the comment.
Note: compiled and edited by Ruhul Kader and Nezam Uddin
Want to write about Bangladeshi women entrepreneurs or women entrepreneurship in Bangladesh? At FS we want to listen to you and then tell your story to the world. Use FS Network and share your story and ideas now.50 Years of Doctor Who – Part One Kevin Sullivan
On November 22nd, 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, TX – an event in history that would change the world as we know it. The very next day, the BBC premiered a television show about an alien with the ability to travel through time. While not nearly the same Earth-shattering event that the sudden death of a beloved world leader was, the introduction of Doctor Who into the popular culture of the U.K. and, eventually, the entire world would still have a massive impact. Creative luminaries such as Steven Spielberg, Neil Gaiman, Douglas Adams, Edgar Wright and Gene Roddenberry have cited the adventures of The Doctor as an influence on their work.
This fall marks the 50th anniversary of the first televised episode of Doctor Who, currently the longest lasting franchise still on television. You thought The Simpsons has been on the air for a long time? The original series of Doctor Who ran from 1963 until 1989. Times and tastes change, like they do, and the BBC took the show off the air – although novels, comic books and radio dramas featuring The Doctor carried on. In 1996, the Fox network produced a Doctor Who TV movie, starring Paul McCann as The Doctor and Eric Roberts (The Dark Knight) as his nemesis, The Master, in the hopes that it would spawn a new series. It didn’t. However, in 2005, the BBC started the series up again, this time with Christopher Eccleston (Destro in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, 28 Days Later, TV’s Heroes) in the lead role.
Flash forward to today. The BBC is currently in the middle of the seventh season of the revised series (now starring Matt Smith as The Doctor, following Scottish actor David Tennant – yeah, look, we know that’s confusing, we’ll get to that later) and after years of American fans having to wait for episodes to re-air on the ScFi Channel (or SyFy or whatever the hell they call it now) months later, BBC America now airs new episodes on the same day as the regular BBC – and it’s by far their highest rated show. And this is the network that airs Top Gear, which has ridiculous people driving fast cars, which are two things Americans love.
Like any convoluted science fiction show involving space travel, aliens, time machines and British people, things can be a little complicated. If you’re familiar with the original series and just remember the terrible special effects (and, yeah, come on, they were pretty awful), you probably weren’t ready to give the new series a chance. And that’s fine – there’s a lot of great TV out there worth watching.
But, if you’re interested, over the next few months, we’ll be going over the history of the show and helping you get somewhat caught up on the mythology of it all. The majority of the show – both the original and the new series as of 2005 – is available on Netflix Instant, and also BBC America runs a marathon of episodes every now and then.
In the coming months we’ll be discussing:
Just who the hell The Doctor is, anyway, as well as who has portrayed him (we promise, we’ll get to why so many people have been able to play the same guy if you don’t already know)
The Doctor’s enemies, including The Master (if the The Doctor was Batman, The Master would be The Joker… sort of), The Cybermen and, of course, The Daleks.
Everything else you need to know to get caught up with the show, and…
Memories of the show from the Nuclear Salad staff and, you, the readers….
Or, if you don’t want to wait, check out this six minute video from the Fine Brothers:
Expect a new article on the 1st and 15th of each month until November! And please share these as much as you can!
Like us on FACEBOOK! Follow us on TWITTER!Al Gore’s “Climate Reality Project” was launched on July 12th with great media fanfare, lots of interviews, and press all over the planet. It is heralded by some of the faithful as Gore 2.0, the second coming.
Only one teensy little problem…on the week I cut back on blogging to work on my business, WUWT still beat Al in global daily reach on the day of the launch, and his trend has been downhill ever since.
It looks like Al is throwing a big expensive party, but nobody is staying beyond the first hour when the Hors d’oeuvre’s run out. Here’s another graph showing daily traffic rank.
Alexa doesn’t plot values below 100,000.
Reality bites manbearpig. My little blog with no big bucks funding from big green and a band of volunteers gets more traffic on the day of the great announcement from Al. Believe me, I was surprised as you are.
Yeah I know, defenders will chatter on about how Alexa is unreliable, blah, blah, but given the blip of press coverage we’ve seen and little follow on afterwards, the numbers do reflect what we see in practice.
Plot the data yourself here:
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/climaterealityproject.org+wattsupwiththat.com
Maybe people are just tired of countdowns to doomsdays that don’t seem to happen.
I’m sure Al got no help from the May 21st end of the world countdown stupidity that never materialized while the world at large uttered a collective “told ya so!”.
There were hundreds of doomsday countdowns all over the web for that. Al has one too:
Al’s countdown message and track record isn’t that different from Harold Camping’s.
In fact, they don’t look that different while delivering their message in these two photos:
With Camping’s failure, rather than admit he’s just whacked and nobody but the gullible believed him, the date is pushed into the future. Al has the same problem, skepticism is on the rise, book sales are down, bookings for $175,000 a pop lectures are drying up, the Chicago Climate Exchange is dead, and Kyoto is effectively dead. Time for Gore 2.0.
But, nobody seems to be buying it now except the faithful. Will anyone actually care on September 14th?
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RedditMuslim supporters gather in front of the Federal Court as they wait for the seven-member bench to decide on the appeal by the Catholic church against a lower court’s decision forbidding it to use the word 'Allah' in its publication. — Picture by Saw Siow Feng
PUTRAJAYA, June 23 — Malaysia’s highest court ruled today that the Catholic newspaper The Herald has no grounds to appeal a lower court decision preventing it from using the word “Allah” to refer to God.
The landmark decision on a divisive issue that has fuelled intense debate and heightened religious tensions in the country, brings to an end the Catholic Church’s challenge in the Malaysian court system.
A seven-member bench at the Federal Court decided by a narrow 4-to-3 majority to deny the Catholic paper the right of appeal.
“The Court of Appeal was right to set aside the High Court Ruling,” Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria told a packed courtroom this morning, upholding the lower court’s decision last year which overturned a high court ruling from 2009 allowing the paper to use the word as a constitutional right.
The legal dispute has been in the courts for the last six years after the Home Ministry banned the publication of the word “Allah” in the Herald’s Bahasa Malaysia section in 2007.
One dissenting judge, the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum told the courtroom that the home minister’s decision in 2007 disallowing the Catholic paper from using the word ‘Allah’ may have been flawed.
“The minister’s power is not entirely subjective. He must give evidence to support the claim of a threat to public order,” he said.
Another dissenting judge, Tan Sri Jeffrey Tan Kok Wah, said the Federal Court would have been the right avenue to answer the important questions raised by the case.
“The applicants raised constitutional questions that should be answered by the Federal Court. The questions are too grave to be answered by any other,” he said.
Last year, the Court of Appeal had ruled that “Allah” was not integral to the Christian faith and could confuse Muslims as well as threaten national security and public order.
The Catholic Church had argued that Christians in Sabah and Sarawak had been using the word for centuries.
The Catholic Church took the case to the Federal Court seeking the right to appeal the decision, culminating in today’s rejection.
They argued that the lower court hadn’t used the right test to reach its decision.
The bid to appeal the appellate court’s October ruling was opposed by nine respondents, namely the Home Ministry, the government, the Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association and the Islamic councils of six states.
Muslims make up roughly 60 per cent of Malaysia’s population and Christians around 10 per centI remember the first time I flashed Sapphire on my DROID. I at that point had basically tried everything out there. I could name them all but you get my point. I ran Sapphire for five minutes and immediately messaged my colleagues (Kellex and Picolas) and just started ranting on how I knew I had found the next big thing. Since then a lot has happened to my friend, cvpcs.
His popularity in the community has grown immensely, and his reputation as a ROM Developer has become unbeatable. A class act, he is always friendly and approachable. One of the coolest guys I’ve had the honor of even interviewing for Droid-Life. So it’s with honor that we can bring you this special message from Austen about the end of GEM ROMs, and the beginning of his new work with the CyanogenMod Team. Read cvpcs’ letter after the jump.
As one era comes to a close another is just beginning!
So many of you have probably heard by now through twitter or the grapevine that I will be halting my work on GEM in order to pursue a new position as a developer for CyanogenMod. Since I first told this to people I have gotten mixed reviews as to whether or not people feel this is for the better, and I just wanted to clear the air, give my reasons, and just lay down everything that brought this about.
First of all, I wanted to address my reasoning for moving to CM. It was a hard decision and as much as I know people think it came out of the blue, I was honestly thinking about it for about a month now. At present I was developing for five devices (Droid1, DroidX, Droid2, Incredible, and Evo), one of which I didn’t even have. Most developers will tell you that they don’t like to maintain more than two devices, as it becomes quite a chore. It was becoming so much work that I wasn’t even getting time to visit with my friends and family anymore, as every moment I took off from developing meant that everything ground to a halt. The problem being that after almost a year at the helm of GEM, I was still (for all intents and purposes) a solitary developer. This put an immense amount of stress on me to make things work in a timely manner, as well as to add new features. Every day I would go to the bug tracker, and for every bug/feature I fixed or implemented five more would pop up in its place. It was becoming so daunting that I didn’t even look forward to doing it anymore, and that was when the red flag shot up.
I have always said that Android Development is a hobby, and as a hobby it should be fun. If it’s not fun then you shouldn’t do it. For anyone out there who thinks that it is for the money (as far as donations are concerned) it is a lie. To give an example, I began working on GEM in March of 2010, and from then to now we have made approximately $1600 in donations. If you consider that I spent roughly three hours a day every week within that time period, with the exception of my three month hiatus from September to November 2010, that totals roughly 33 weeks, which comes to 693 hours, and therefore approximately $2.30/hr. But add into the mix that all of the donations went to purchase devices for development as well as web hosting (there were never any actual payouts to team members in the form of cash), and it becomes easy to see why this is a job that you need to have a passion for to keep working on it. It is for that reason that I decided that I needed to find a way to bring the “fun” back into the equation.
After thinking long and hard about it I decided that I wanted to join the CM team so that I could not only add my skills to the mix to further improve their OS, but as part of their team I no longer would be under the immense amount of stress that I was under with GEM, and will have comrades to assist me if I need it. The whole prospect is very exciting for me and I hope that people will continue to like the work that I do.
I also wanted to clear up something. I have gotten some feedback that people are upset that CM “swallowed up” another independent developer. It should be noted that not once when I was working on GEM did CM contact me about joining them. This was entirely my decision and they simply welcomed me into the fold, which I appreciate immensely. They are an awesome team and I can’t wait to add to that.
So I know that many of you will be sad that GEM is no more, and a part of me is as well. But I don’t like to see it as GEM dying, so much as the best parts of GEM assimilating into the best of CM and producing a truly epic result that will help the vendors out there take notice of what an amazing product this community can turn out.
Now that all of the explanation of my reasons is out of the way, what can you expect moving forward? Well, I have officially signed on to maintain CM7 on the Droid (OG Droid for some, though I prefer just Droid). I will also be doing general work within the CM repo tree, one of the first of which will be to add the scrollable Notification Power Widget from GEM into CM. I also will be looking into porting CM7 over to the DX/D2, but I don’t want to lay down anything concrete on those fronts yet, since I haven’t even begun working on it and therefore don’t know exactly what to expect, but just know that it’ll be looked at in the coming weeks.
The existing GEM source will remain online at my github (github.com/cvpcs), and the wiki will remain online as well but will eventually be moved back to my private server at www.cvpcs.org. All of my work was open source so people are free to take it and build upon it if they wish. I will also be maintaining my IRC chat on freenode at #cvpcs, so if you have any questions you can usually find me there. I thank everyone who supported my work and am extremely appreciative of all of the positive feedback I received.
I hope everyone is as excited about this as I am, and for those who aren’t, I hope I can change your mind!
-cvpcsEarlier this month, TechnoMart, a 39-story skyscraper in Seoul, South Korea was evacuated after its occupants felt the building shake for about 10 minutes. However, there was no seismic activity at the time of the tremors, which left many scientists puzzled for the past two weeks. So, what caused the building to shake so much? Apparently, it was a group of 17 middle-aged people doing Tae Bo.
The group of people doing Tae Bo, which is a mixture of aerobics and Taekwondo made popular by fitness instructor Billy Blanks, caused the top floors to feel the tremors while listening to Snap’s “The Power,” a huge hit from 1990.
Scientists later recreated the event (which makes us chuckle as we imagine lab-coat wearing scientists doing Tae Bo) and found the same result. The gym is on the 12th floor, and Chung Lan, a professor of architectural engineering at Dankook University, said that the “vibration cycle caused by Tae Bo collided with the vertical vibration cycle unique to the building.”
Lee Dong-guen, an architectural professor at Sungkyunkwan University who helped conduct the experiment, said that the upper floors of the building vibrated at ten times the normal level while the scientists were doing upper-cuts and roundhouse kicks. This is apparently a phenomenon called resonance, which always results in a large vibration. The scientists are still examining the issue further, but are confident that the shaking came from the Tae Bo workout
TechnoMart gets about 50,000 visitors daily but was closed for two days after the incident. The building itself is said to be structurally sound, so it seems the only thing necessary is a sign on the gym that says “No Tae Bo.”
via CNN and Wall Street Journal KoreaThe second presidential debate was flooded with tension, insults and snide exchanges between Republican nominee Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. (Published Monday, Oct. 10, 2016)
What to Know By early Monday, the professor's tweet had more than 67,500 RTs
It came in response to Trump answering a question about Islamophobia and his proposed ban on Muslims entering the country
Earlier in the night, Trump had repeatedly insulted and attacked Clinton, calling her the "devil" and a "liar"
The non fly swat and the audience member in a red sweater generated plenty of social media buzz during the second presidential debate Sunday night, but no tweet was more popular than one from a Muslim author and professor at Brooklyn College.
The tweet posted by Moustafa Bayoumi, which had more than 1,260 RTs at 10:44 p.m. Sunday, making it the most retweeted tweet during the debate, according to Twitter, came in response to Donald Trump answering a question about Islamophobia and his proposed ban on Muslims entering the country.
Trump said "people are coming into our country like we have no idea who they are," and called immigration "the great Trojan horse of all time."
He said his "extreme vetting" plan would curb what he described as a problem.
Trump, who earlier unleashed a barrage of attacks and insults on Clinton and continually interrupted her, also called for Muslims in America to step forward when they see illegal activity or bias.
"When they see hatred going on, they have to report it," the Republican presidential nominee said.
So that's what Bayoumi, author of "This Muslim American Life & How Does It Feel To Be a Problem," among other works, according to his Twitter profile, did.
"I'm a Muslim, and I would like to report a crazy man threatening a woman on a stage in Missouri. #debate," Bayoumi wrote.
By early Monday, his tweet had more than 67,500 RTs and nearly 115,000 likes.
The Twitterverse quickly deemed Bayoumi the winner of the debate, with some users calling his comment the "best tweet ever."
Bayoumi said he never expected his tweet to take center stage.
"It was just a tweet," he said, though he added, "I try to make all of my tweets clever."
Bayoumi said he was struck by the way Trump lurked behind Clinton as the former secretary of state answered questions.
“He was very menacing in his body language so I was noticing that -- and then when he started talking about how Muslims have to report things, it just seemed like an ideal time to talk about him being a menacing figure.”
The debate was the culmination of a stunning stretch in the race for the White House, which began with the release of a new video in which Trump is heard bragging about how his fame allowed him to "do anything" to women. Many Republicans rushed to revoke their support, with some calling for him to drop out of the race.
Clinton declared Trump's aggressively vulgar comments about women revealed "exactly who he is" and clearly demonstrated his unsuitability to be president. Firing back, Trump accused Clinton of attacking women involved in her husband's extramarital affairs and declared she would "be in jail" if he were president. He repeatedly called her a "liar," labeled her the "devil" and contended she had "tremendous hate in her heart."
Copyright Associated Press / NBC New YorkThis post is not about design-design, but the internal design of a software system. Such a design has several general characteristics, and Code Complete 2 has a list of these. First, a related quote by R. Buckminster Fuller:
“When I am working on a problem I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.”
Great Software Design would have all these characteristics, but that’s almost never possible. Some of them contradict each other, so often we have to make tradeoffs. Anyway, here’s the list:
Minimal complexity – if your design doesn’t let you safely ignore most other parts of the program when you’re immersed in one specific part, the design isn’t doing its job. This is also known as avoiding complexity.
– if your design doesn’t let you safely ignore most other parts of the program when you’re immersed in one specific part, the design isn’t doing its job. This is also known as avoiding complexity. Ease if maintenance – design the system to be self-explanatory. Wheter it’s yourself or a maintainance programmer that’s going to sit down and fix a bug in a couple of months time it’ll be worth it.
– design the system to be self-explanatory. Wheter it’s yourself or a maintainance programmer that’s going to sit down and fix a bug in a couple of months time it’ll be worth it. Loose coupling – Loose coupling means designing so that you hold connections among different parts of a program to a minimum. This means; encapsulation, and information hiding [read] and good abstractions in class interfaces. This also makes the stuff easier to test, which is a Good Thing.
– Loose coupling means designing so that you hold connections among different parts of a program to a minimum. This means; encapsulation, and information hiding [read] and good abstractions in class interfaces. This also makes the stuff easier to test, which is a Good Thing. Extensibility – You can change a piece of the system without affecting other pieces.
– You can change a piece of the system without affecting other pieces. Reusability – Designing the system so that you can use pieces of it in other systems.
– Designing the system so that you can use pieces of it in other systems. High fan-in – This refers to having a high number of classes that use a given class. This is good, the opposite on the other hand …
– This refers to having a high number of classes that use a given class. This is good, the opposite on the other hand … Low-to-medium fan-out – Refers to how many classes a given class use. If a class have a high fan-out (Code Complete says this is more than 7 classes, I don’t want to be that specific) this is often an indication of that the class may be overly complex. And complexity is bad, remember?
– Refers to how many classes a given class use. If a class have a high fan-out (Code Complete says this is more than 7 classes, I don’t want to be that specific) this is often an indication of that the class may be overly complex. And complexity is bad, remember? Portability – How easy would it be to move the system to another environment?
– How easy would it be to move the system to another environment? Leanness – I guess this could be compared to KISS. Voiltaire said that a book is finished not when nothing more can be added but when nothing more can be taken away. Extra code will have to be developed, reviewed, tested, and considered when the other code is modified.
– I guess this could be compared to KISS. Voiltaire said that a book is finished not when nothing more can be added but when nothing more can be taken away. Extra code will have to be developed, reviewed, tested, and considered when the other code is modified. Stratification – designing “in layers”. Can you view “one layer” of the code without thinking about the underlying layer? An example giving in Code Complete is if you’re writing a modern system that has to use a lot of older, poorly designed code – you would want to write a layer of the new system that is responsible for interfacing with the old code.
– designing “in layers”. Can you view “one layer” of the code without thinking about the underlying layer? An example giving in Code Complete is if you’re writing a modern system that has to use a lot of older, poorly designed code – you would want to write a layer of the new system that is responsible for interfacing with the old code. Standard techniques – this means using design patterns whenever it is appropiate to do so. This way, if you say to another coder “Here I use the Factory pattern” he will instantly know what you’re talking about if he knows the pattern. You do not want to be one of those “valued employees” who only write code that the “valued employee” can understand.
And, whatever you do: DO NOT CONSIDER SPEED! NEVER OPTIMIZE WHILE DESIGNING! (yes, those really needed to be capitalized). If I have one more PHP coder tell me that the MVC solution probably won’t be speedy, I will have to slashdot him physically in public. You don’t want to start off by trading any of the characteristics above for speed.
You design the system with design in mind, and if it turns out to be slow then you optimize. You will know what the bottleneck is, and you will make a sensible and thought-through trade-off. Then you will have your good design, and your speed. You will, rule the entire planet. Hah, kidding, the last part I just made up.
Well, what are you waiting for? Run out in a flowery meadow with your pen and paper and design something beautiful!
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go faster and what new experiments this suggests, why it does not imply time travel or violates causality, and why it is somewhat expected for neutrinos. Now let us focus on what kind of superluminal velocity is indicated.
There are three reasons for expecting extremely high superluminal velocities over short distances. This can be argued looking at three aspects, namely
1) the totality of all neutrino experiments,
2) the expectation from modern emergent relativity, and
3) the small 10 nano second statistical deviation in the OPERA data.
1) Totality of all Neutrino Experiments
The MINOS experiment a few years back already found evidence that neutrinos might move faster than the speed of light c, namely at 1.000051 (+/- 0.000029) c. Supernova1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud 168 thousand light-years away indicated at most a tiny increase over the speed of light. 23 neutrinos were seen over 13 seconds arriving 3 hours earlier than the light. In fact, this time difference is mostly due to the neutrinos carrying most of the nova’s energy (in a type II supernova) through the outer layers of the star while much visible light emerges only after the shock wave from the stellar core collapse reaches the surface of the star. OPERA is reported to indicate a velocity of only one part in 100000 above the speed of light.
Looking at all these experiments, the superluminal speed is going down along with the total distance over which the neutrinos have traveled. This indicates that they just traveled a short distance x faster than light, after which they slowed down and traveled further with a velocity just under the speed of light. The longer they travel afterward, the less the initial short distance x of initial superluminal propagation is noticeable as an increase of the average velocity v. The average v equals total travel time divided by the large total distance D, so it seems as if there is only a small increase over light speed.
2) Expectation from Emergent Relativity
I discussed at great length [see links above and the archive paper http://lanl.arxiv.org/abs/0912.3069] about so called emergent relativity. Einstein relativity has been confirmed to emerge naturally in several condensed state systems (graphene, super fluid helium, crystals’ dislocations). Relativity is an unsurprising symmetry in condensed states of matter. Particle physics (standard model, Higgs condensate, string theory) and gravity (Einstein-ether) look very much like as if they are emergent from an underlying, more fundamental condensate. Now you may hold the opinion that an Einstein-ether is complete nonsense, but even if such is ‘merely a similarity in the mathematical description’, you already agree with everything claimed here!
The limit velocity inside a condensate is the internally valid “light velocity c*”. If you look at the limit velocity in super fluid helium for example, it is the Landau limit that was first estimated to be 58 meters per second (the last measurement I looked at gives 46 m/s for 4HeII). Above this velocity, superfluidity breaks down and heat is dissipated, meaning that sound is generated. Sound travels with a velocity V* much faster than the Landau limit, namely several hundred meters per second or more, depending on pressure. Thus, a high V*= 10 c* is to be expected.
If we look at the limit velocity of fluid helium droplets outside of a superfluid helium bath, it is of course our light velocity c. This means that for this system, the limit velocity inside of it is about c* = 50 meters per second, while velocities outside can go up to V* = 299792458 meters per second, a factor of 10000000 higher!
Thus, if this (namely condensed state physics emergent gravity) is any indication at all; if our universe is describable as a condensed state, you should expect superluminal phenomena with V = 10 c. If for example our universe has some sort of effective outside like extra dimensions (as string theory indeed claims), you should not be entirely surprised if superluminal phenomena with amazing velocities V = 10000000 c are possible! By the way: Such could be involved in the Cosmic ray paradox where protons appear with energies far above the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin Limit.
3) The 10 Nanosecond Uncertainty in the OPERA Data
The third indication of that the phenomenon indicated by OPERA is one that has many times the speed of light (but only for about 20 meters around the neutrino creation) comes straight from the data.
Assuming, as is standard, that neutrinos usually travel at just under the speed of light c, and having T denote the 60 nanoseconds early arrival measured at OPERA, the initial distance over which superluminal propagation with velocity V could have occurred is simply
x = c * T / [ 1 - (c/V) ]
At high superluminal velocity V above 10 c, the approximation x = c * T suffices.
V = 10 c results in x = 20 meters; V = 10000000 c gives x = 18 meters. Note that the two meters of difference here is close to the uncertainty in the data, which is Del T = 10 nanoseconds and thus also corresponds to about three meters. So, depending on the detailed assumptions about the perhaps involved mechanisms, it may be that if for example neutrinos were to splash around with a wide variety of velocities around 1000 c, some maybe 10000 c, some only 100 c, which is obviously a huge difference, x would be, surprise surprise, the same 18 meters!
This is different at low superluminal velocities: V = 1.2 c gives x = 108 meters, while V = 1.1 c gives already almost 200 meters, almost double the distance. Any smaller V leads to rapidly larger results for x. In other words, if you assume any distribution of velocities around a small average V, the standard distribution around x should be very large, namely hundreds of meters, kilometers,....
However, the error in the data is only 10 nanoseconds. At an assumed small average V = 1.2 c for example, if the uncertainty were only due to statistical noise, 10 ns will translate into a standard deviation of merely Del x = 18 meters. Do not get confused by the coincidence of having the same value of 18 m; focus instead on that these 18 meters of uncertainty Del x are much smaller than the difference between 108 meters and 200 meters! The crux is that adding even a small variation of V would spread out the data much more than observed.
At the small superluminal velocities that Cohen and Glashow for example assume, a ridiculously small variation around V is implied. So, basically they "proved" that the OPERA result is a systematic error afflicting a sub-luminal speed by assuming that it is a systematic error afflicting a sub-luminal speed. If you do not assume what you want to prove right from the start, if you take it as the statistical error of a superluminal velocity like the OPERA team's data analysis tells us, the result is radically different.
Thus, depending again on many other assumptions about the details of what is actually going on of course, the relatively small statistical error in the data hints at a very high velocity V around or far above 10 c over a small distance x, consistent with the previous two considerations. This is all more clearly perhaps explained with taking the 25 ns "jitter" of the new OPERA data into account here.
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More from Sascha Topic by TopicMissing voters The number of names removed this year from voter registration rolls in northeast Indiana counties: Adams 1,161 Allen 32,307 DeKalb 2,969 Huntington 1,987 Kosciusko 4,905 Noble 3,013 Steuben 1,475 Wells 1,088 Whitley 859 Source: Indiana secretary of state
Nearly 50,000 names have been removed from voter registration rolls in northeast Indiana since the Nov. 8 general election, including more than 32,000 in Allen County.
That translates to almost 10 percent of the more than 502,000 people who had been registered to vote in nine counties in the most recent election, the same as the state rate.
The Indiana secretary of state's office announced this week that more than 481,000 voter registrations have been nullified statewide in a “voter list maintenance program” funded by the General Assembly. The process is known informally in political circles as “purging.”
The state said it culled from voter registration rolls those Hoosiers who since 2014 failed to update either outdated or inaccurate registration information after two mailings from the Indiana Election Division. Also removed were those people who did not respond to repeated mailings and had not voted in any election after 2013.
The secretary of state's office noted that state and federal laws prevent voter registrations from being “inactivated” for simply failing to vote in elections.
“Updating these records will help us create a more accurate picture of voter turnout for the state, which has been reported as inaccurately low due to the large number of outdated registrations, while protecting the integrity of our elections,” Secretary of State Connie Lawson said in a news release.
Statewide voter turnout in the past decade has ranged from 13 percent in the 2014 primary election to 62 percent in the 2008 general election.
Barry Schust, Republican member of the Allen County Board of Voter Registration, said in a telephone interview that the number of local voter registration cancellations reported by the state – 32,307 – was about the same as that identified by county officials.
Schust said many of the automatic cancellations probably were for people who had moved to another address, city or state and failed to notify election officials of the change. He doubted the Allen County list contained many dead people; the voter registration board works with the local health board to identify registered voters who have died, Schust said.
The purge in Allen County amounted to 11.7 percent of the county's 276,407 residents identified as registered voters for the Nov. 8 general election, compared with roughly 10 percent statewide with Tipton County yet to be counted.
Schust said updating voter registrations “allows us to get a more accurate depiction of the registered voters out there, which allows the election board to hopefully more accurately allot their voting machines in the precincts” during elections.
He said it also might eliminate potential voter fraud and help political candidates and parties better target their campaign efforts, including mailings.
“It hopefully goes a long way to reducing costs for candidates, for parties, for counties, for the state,” Schust said.
Allen County had the highest rate of voter registration cancellations in northeast Indiana. By far the smallest purge in the region was in Whitley County, where 859 names were removed from the voter registration roll, or 3.8 percent of that county's registered voters as of November. Other area rates ranged from 5.6 percent in Wells County to 9.7 percent in Noble County.
Counties with high purge rates included Monroe, home to a large college-student population at Indiana University, 19.6 percent; Crawford, 18.5 percent; Parke, 17.9 percent; and Scott, 17.2 percent.
Angie Nussmeyer, Democratic co-director of the Indiana Election Division, said in an email that she knew of no voter whose registration was canceled by mistake as a result of the voter list maintenance program. She said anyone whose registration might have been erroneously canceled may vote after signing an affidavit confirming they live at their registration address and completing a registration form.
Nussmeyer urged people to contact local voter registration officials to ensure their voting status.
“It's much easier to correct a problem now when there are no regularly scheduled elections rather than in 2018, when it may be too late to update just before the election,” she said.
“Same-day voter registration would alleviate many of these concerns, but the Indiana General Assembly would have to support such a measure, and bills filed over the years have not been given a hearing.”
Indiana Republican Party spokesman Pete Seat said in an email, “The best way to prevent being among those whose names are removed is to get out and vote.”
People who wish to register to vote or update or verify their voter registration information can do so online at www.indianavoters.com.
The state has conducted more mailings to update voter registrations after the 2018 elections.
[email protected] a doubt, ISIS has changed the terrorism game. They’ve leveraged technology to initiate attacks in places that they cannot physically reach. In the past, a terrorist organization in the Middle East would have to recruit, indoctrinate, and train members in the their locale, and then try to sneak them into whatever country they wished to target.
Now with social media and the internet, they can provide propaganda and training materials to millions of people who are already living in Western nations, and convince at least some of them to conduct attacks on their behalf. This way is much safer, easier, and more efficient for terrorist organizations.
And it’s opened the door to a wide variety of terrorist attacks that no one would have considered 20 years ago. Where once terrorist organizations were focused on grand gestures, like hijacking airplanes and blowing up buildings, now they can simply brainwash some dupe over the internet, and he’ll go out and shoot up a nightclub. But that’s just the beginning. The kinds of attacks that these people are pushing now look a lot less like 9/11, and more like the behaviour of a serial killer.
For instance, the latest issue of Rumiyah, an online magazine published by ISIS, is urging Muslims in Western nations to target civilians in a way that has never been discussed before. ISIS is telling them to lure and kill unsuspecting people through false advertisements for jobs and apartments. Several chilling quotes from Rumiyah were recently brought to light by the Middle East Media Research Institute:
As an example, one might advertise a job vacancy that Muslims would not seek, or that may only appeal to men. After garnering a significant amount of applicants, one can then arrange the ‘job interview’ location and times, spacing out the applicants’ appointment times so as to give oneself time to subdue classified sections, or by means of online sites for classified advertising, or by simply writing or printing out ‘For Rent’ advertisement posters which can be stuck on walls, lampposts, or in local store windows within the vicinity of the property in question, leaving a contact number that one can be reached on…
Whoever wrote this, put a frightening amount of forethought and planing into this new terror method.
…In order for the advertisement not to attract large families – thus making it difficult to initiate an attack, especially if one is alone in his operation – the advertisement should be for a small single room or studio apartment. This will help ensure that the viewer comes alone. It might even help to include in the ad that the apartment is ‘ideal for students…’ …Having a room specifically reserved for the disposal of the bodies of the targets is also important for the obvious reason of not alerting those intended victims entering the property after them. One must space out the arrival times of one’s victims, thus granting him the ability to initiate his attack while they are alone. One should not initiate his attack until the target has fully entered the property and is comfortable, so as to avoid any struggle and prevent the chance of him fleeing… …One should ensure that if there are any screams from his victim, they do not result in the operation being compromised. This can be resolved by simply having a background noise that drowns out any other sounds, such as raising the volume of the television, radio, etc…
The article suggests that websites like Craigslist, Gumtree, Loot, and Ebay could also be used to post these ads. The author recommends that terrorists shouldn’t advertise items like cars, which wouldn’t “require the victim to enter one’s property,” and he suggests that the ads shouldn’t low-ball prices, “as this can attract the attention of authorities searching for stolen goods or possibly attract other suspicions.”
As the Islamic State crumbles, these lunatics are clearly doubling down on strategies that will allow their remnants to attack the West in ways that we really can’t defend against. In just goes to show that no matter what happens to ISIS, they’re leaving behind a world where terrorism is lurking behind every corner of society, and the battlefield is literally everywhere. Surely, that will make it even easier for the government to take away our freedoms down the road.Kotaku East East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.
Amirul Rizwan Musa, a 21 year-old entrepreneur from Malaysia, has spent over $41,000 on cosmetic surgery to look like Squall Leonheart, minus the scar. Can you see the resemblance?
Known online as Miyyo RizOne, Amirul works as a model and runs his own cosmetics company. Recently his photos have gone viral online in Malaysia, where he’s even been featured on in the paper.
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Amirul has also been covered by English language sites like AsiaOne, NextShark, SoraNews, and South China Morning Post. In an interview with Malaysian paper Harian Metro, he said that after his photos went viral, there was the inevitable criticism.
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“I have received numerous calls and messages continuously from the public who just aim to curse me,” he told Harian Metro (via AsiaOne). “Worse still, there are those who came to see me face-to-face just to insult me.” That’s not very nice!
A bad case of chicken pox from when he was 16 left marks all over his face, which he said hurt his self-esteem. According to Amirul (via SCMP), “I was obsessed with anime characters and I felt ashamed that I looked the way I did back then so I decided to undergo plastic surgery to boost my confidence.”
AdvertisementImage: Ismo Pekkarinen / AOP
In terms of its economy, some observers have called Finland the "sick man of Europe." One expert said the country's recent economic improvements were merely a "fluke."
New figures from Finland's statistics agency find, however, that -- at least for the time being -- the country's economy continued to grow during the third quarter. And according to the agency's figures, Finland's economy has expanded since the beginning of 2015.
According to Statistics Finland's preliminary figures, the seasonally-adjusted GDP was 3.6 percent higher in 2017's third quarter compared to the same period a year ago.
Compared to last quarter, the agency said, the country's seasonally-adjusted third quarter GDP rose by 1.1 percent.
Jobs numbers also up
Statistics Finland reports that employment numbers are also headed slightly upwards, citing a 0.5 percent increase compared to the same July-September period of 2016.
The agency says that productivity in Finland's economy grew by 3.8 percent in September compared to same month the previous year.
Inflation slowed in October
Statistics Finland also reports that the inflation of consumer goods prices slowed somewhat in October; from September's 0.8 percent to 0.5 percent in October.
The agency said the October inflation rate was kept in check due to fuel prices not rising as precipitously they did in September.
Consumer prices rose due to increased costs of vehicle taxes, prices of electricity and cigarettes, as well as housing rental costs.
Inflation was kept at bay due to lowered prices of mobile phones, used vehicles and lower housing loan interest rates.
Finland's inflation rate is significantly lower than in the rest of the EU, according to the statistics agency.Preacher and choir (Shutterstock)
Failing to heed the call from Southern Baptist leaders to integrate their churches in pursuit of racial justice, two-thirds of evangelicals polled expressed no interest in seeing their congregations become more ethnically diverse, reports the Associated Press.
“In the church, a black Christian and a white Christian are brothers and sisters,” Rev. Russell Moore, who leads the Southern Baptist’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, wrote recently in an appeal for more diversity. “We care what happens to the other, because when one part of the Body hurts, the whole Body hurts. … When we know one another as brothers and sisters, we will start to stand up and speak up for one another.”
The Southern Baptist church is the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, with nonwhite congregations making up 20 percent of the Southern Baptist Convention’s nearly 51,000 congregations, of which only 1 percent are multiethnic.
The vast majority of Southern Baptists attend churches predominantly attended by people of their own race; black, white or Hispanic.
A phone survey of about 1,000 churchgoers by Lifeway Research recently found that only 37 percent of evangelicals wanted to see their churches become more ethnically diverse.
The survey was not broken down by denomination.
“The church lacks the moral authority to address the world about race before we set our own house in order,” said the Rev. Dwight McKissic, a black Southern Baptist pastor in Arlington, Texas.
In 1995 — on the 150th anniversary of the Southern Baptist Convention — membership passed a “Resolution On Racial Reconciliation,” calling racism a “deplorable sin.”
“Therefore, be it RESOLVED, That we, the messengers to the Sesquicentennial meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, assembled in Atlanta, Georgia, June 20-22, 1995, unwaveringly denounce racism, in all its forms, as deplorable sin,” the resolution read, citing Genesis 1:27 and Galatians 3:28, which reads: “There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
The Southern Baptist Church claimed 15.7 million members last year, with church rolls declining for the seventh straight year.
[Correction: The headline on this post previously said “Southern Baptists” instead of “evangelicals,” which misrepresented the polls findings.]I have to say that I was completely blown away by my gifts. I went in not expecting much, and what I ended up getting was more awesome than I could have imagined so wanted to give a big THANK YOU to my secret santa!! I hope your giftee was as good to you as you were to me!
That being said, on to the gifts. My Secret Santa is a US Soldier serving in Alaska, and I asked for something that represented wherever it was that my Secret Santa lives. The first thing I found was a kickass candle that looks exactly like an actual snowball... Neat! Then I pulled out some Blueberry and Cranberry tea from Alaska, something I will definitely be trying at work tomorrow. I also recieved some smoked salmon in a box with a really awesome looking design on it... Something I will be hiding from the relatives to enjoy after Christmas. OH and some blueberry syrup that looks absolutely delicious and has me wanting to make pancakes right now.
The next few gifts were more related to my love of aviation (which he picked up on by reading my posts --a realization I kind of cringed at! (: ) and were quite honestly my favourite part of the gift. Along with the letter included, It was clearly something that a lot of thought was put into. First, a diecast model of an Alaskan 737 (I actually used to collect these- ha!). Also, he included the crests of the Aviation Batallion that reside on his base, who's job it is to rescue people off mountains. Badass. When I thought I had emptied out the box I took one last look and found my last gift - and now probably the COOLEST thing I own - a set of aviation wings from the former USSR that my Secret Santa acquired in Germany. SERIOUSLY? How fucking cool is that?!
Secret Santa- I really appreciate the gifts and the letter, really more than I can easily explain. I hope that life treats you well, and that you find much happiness in the future! BE SAFE out there in Alaska and thanks again!! :)GETTY Muslim women are allegedly locked into marriage by Sharia judges
Judges at the secretive courts in the UK "uphold the theory and practice of the strong hold men have over women", according to a shocking new study. One judge is said to have laughed at a woman who claimed she was being abused by her husband, asking: "Why did you marry such a person?" And several women were reportedly shackled by their husbands' debts being asked for "large sums of money" for their divorce requests.
The claims were made by academic Machteld Zee, who attended 15 hours of divorce hearings at London's Islamic Sharia Council and the Birmingham Central Mosque Sharia. Zee's findings about the controversial courts – also known as councils – will be unveiled in Parliament next month. They cannot overrule regular courts but have come under huge scrutiny in recent years for their alleged mistreatment of women.
GETTY FILE PICTURE The Sharia Council of Britain presiding over marriage cases in 2008
Zee said sharia judges are "not a neutral third party" but are "always in favour of her man" – and sometimes even give custody of children to fathers. She added: "In a toxic mix of religious fundamentalism, culture and tight-knit communities, sharia councils uphold the theory and practice of the strong hold men have over women. "Sharia councils may 'help' women who want a divorce, but it is a solution to a problem that they fuel and one that they seek to preserve. "Moreover, that religious divorces are sharia councils' 'core business' does not in the least bit mean that they are actually willing to help women obtain one. "In fact, they are known to frustrate women in their requests, especially if the husband is unwilling to co-operate."
GETTY FILE PICTURE Activists protesting against Sharia law in London's Hyde ParkPresident Trump’s approval rating has hit a new low in the wake of the GOP’s failure to pass its ObamaCare replacement legislation.
According to Gallup’s job approval tracker, only 36 percent of adults polled approve of the job Trump is doing, against 57 percent who disapprove.
The survey was conducted March 24–26.
The Republican healthcare plan, known as the American Health Care Act, fell apart on Friday, when Speaker Paul Ryan Paul Davis RyanBrexit and exit: A transatlantic comparison Five takeaways from McCabe’s allegations against Trump The Hill's 12:30 Report: Sanders set to shake up 2020 race MORE (R-Wis.) canceled a planned vote in the face of increasing opposition from Republican lawmakers. Trump whipped furiously on behalf of the bill, warning lawmakers that the rest of his agenda would be in peril if it failed to pass.
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Trump’s previous low in the Gallup survey was 37 percent approval, recorded only 10 days ago.The president registered his highest approval rating of 46 percent just days after his Jan. 20 inauguration. He has been underwater on job approval ever since, averaging 42 percent approval over the course of his two months in office.Gallup’s three-day rolling average of 1,500 U.S. adults has a 3 percentage point margin of error.Leisure Suit Larry retrospective: revisiting the original loser
“Ken sent me,” mumbles greasy, sex-starved and balding 80s every-man Leisure Suit Larry. From a monochrome display tied to a grey brick of a PC hummed the most terrible and catchy 8-bit music ever. From this XT desktop I typed furiously into my chunky keyboard as I tried to decipher the clues to this maddening game. I was eight and sex to me meant having my eyes covered by my mom whenever two people started kissing on TV. Larry was the forbidden fruit of my youth.
You may have fond memories of Leisure Suit Larry, but those are all quickly soured when the 80s original is booted up again, care of a US$9.99 purchase from Good Old Games. Not only do you get Larry 1, but 2-6 as well. That’s at least a month’s worth of frustration for less than the price of a pack of peppermint-flavoured lubbers. This article has been inside me since I was a young lad, eager to wrangle digital boobs from green-hued screen of my XT PC. I’ve got the skills to write it, have you got the strength to make it to the end? That’s the question I kept asking myself as I played Leisure Suite Larry: In the Land of the Lounge Lizards.
Does anyone still care about 2D adventure games? That’s what Larry is and that’s what I’m going to discuss. A left-to-right and back again adventure game with impossible logic puzzles and solutions that require not only a leap of faith, but a walkthrough to guide you past even the easiest of sections. This is Larry then, a puerile but lovable game mixed with hard-as-nails puzzles. Suit up.
Toilet humour
Larry, for the uninitiated, is a text-and-graphics adventure from the early era of PC gaming. Before the world went all fancy with mouse-based input (which was later shunted for 3D control), adventure games like Larry, Kings Quest, Police Quest and Zork were controlled by with the arrow keys and by entering text such as “PLACE KEY IN DOOR” or “HIT THE WINDOW, TAKE THE PILLS, GO BACK and UNTIE ROPE” (an actual string of commands you needed to enter to complete a section in Larry). There was no internet, there were no walkthroughs and getting stuck meant coming back to complete a section a few days, even weeks, later. I loved every damn minute of it. While games like Dark Souls are branded as too difficult, Larry might as well come out with a sticker saying “F— you” printed in bright yellow on the box. Here’s the actual walkthrough for Larry. If it looks confusing and convoluted here, imagine how it is to play.
This is what original 1987 Larry looks like in glorious EGA (64 colours to choose from, 16 allowable at any time).
Here’s the VGA (640×480) version with mouse input, released in 1991.
It’s an ugly affair either way, but I didn’t need much in 1987. All I wanted was a PC to play Larry on, because it was 1987 and a Nintendo was all I had. Super Mario was no match for adult humour and risque situations. Larry was a game you played with the lights off as you kept a watchful eye on the door to the computer room (remember when a computer was so mysterious it had to be in an actual room? Pepperidge Farm remembers).
Here’s the crux then: while Larry is now gross to look at and play, it’s still funny, in stupid sort of way. Here’s a key scene and if you care about the game at all, it’s a bit of a spoiler.
Larry’s goal in life, nay his entire reason for being, is to get laid. Larry isn’t Skyrim, so there was only one way to get his groove on, and that was by finding true love, or a hooker in Larry’s case. Finding and bedding said hooker was an exercise in blind luck, trial-and-error and light swearing. This is what needs to happen: Larry needs to go to the toilet, read the graffiti on the wall to learn the password to enter the pimp’s den, enter said pimp’s den with password, distract the pimp with a TV remote you get from a drunk outside the toilet (you give the drunk a bottle of whiskey, makes perfect sense), and finally climb the stairs to have censored sex with an 8-bit hooker. Protip: if you don’t purchase a condom first from the drugstore, Larry explodes. STDs naturally explode their victims, especially in the 80s. It makes more sense if you watch it in context. Barely.
The full walkthrough. Who the hell knew the solution to these puzzles before the net?
The mouth of madness
I look at Larry through rose-tinted glasses. I bitch and moan (often) but back in the 80s Larry was as flawless as The Last of Us. The original Larry, if played now, would be a torturous affair. The controls are too slippery, there’s no context or clue to each puzzle and the humour, plus the obvious sexuality is just plain dumb. The events in Larry are no more risque than an episode of New Girl. As a game, as a fun experience transposed into modern context, Larry falls flat. Now’s the perfect time to mention the brand new, freshly updated Larry which isn’t very… good. At all.
The new look Larry. If you scroll up, you’ll see how it neatly apes the VGA remake
Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded is currently sitting at a cumulative score of 58, according to Metacritic. That’s not good, I’d call that average at best. On the upside, some reviews say that the puzzles are “complex” and that the updated Larry is made for “the true fans”. As for the negative comments, there are many to pick from. “The world doesn’t need this Larry”, “the mechanics are painful”, “a shameless game” and my favourite “it doesn’t deserve to be remade.” But it’s here, it costs US$20 and you can buy it if you so choose.
Lowe expectations
Al Lowe, creator of Leisure Suite Larry was a public school teacher and self-taught developer, back in the day when games still came on cassette tapes and multiple stiffy disks. While Lowe has now been contracted to reproduce the first 6 Larrys in HD (there were seven, but the fourth was never made and is something of an inside joke for Lowe), he first cut his teeth with Sierra which gave him Disney-owned games such as Winnie the Pooh and The Black Cauldron to work on.
In 1982, Lowe knocked out the text-only Softporn Adventures which he described as “primitive”. So Lowe reworked the basic structure of the game and placed it into a graphics-rich environment. The results were initially underwhelming, as due to the adult nature of Larry, Sierra decided not to market it. But of course, the more perverted something is, the quicker it’s shared. From an initial first-month sale of 4 000 copies, Larry rocketed to well over 250 000 sales by the end of the same year, all due to word-of-mouth.
In an interview, Lowe even drops the fact that Larry made it into a top ten list for a few months. By July 1988, it was the third best selling game in America. This is why it sold: it was a game that your friends whispered about, it was how you transitioned from a boy to a man in most pre-teen circles. It was also (in the 80s) the best and the worst way to learn about sex.
But RW Liebenberg and Luqman Achmat, creators of upcoming mobile game Snailboy think that Larry‘s impact on culture and gaming as a whole was much bigger than that.
Liebengerg laughs when we ask for his thoughts on the series. “Larry! That was so long ago and was probably one of the most talked about / controversial games of its era,” he says, “I can’t help but to think that it was one of the games that inspired and fuelled the strategy/Sims genre we know today.”
Luqman meanwhile reckons there was a missed opportunity with the latest Larry. “I remember the old games, pretty fun, pretty funny, and addictive, but I’m quite disappointed that they didn’t remake the game, rather it seems they have just made a sequel in the same style,” he tells us. “Larry’s time came and went and left us with memories, and the tale should’ve stopped there.”
‘TOUCH THIGH’
Controls were faaaan-tastic. Larry moved with direction keys and took commands via text input. Want to wash your hands after using the crudely drawn urinal? “WASH HANDS IN SINK” worked wonders. Getting married? “MARRY GIRLFRIEND” did the trick. There was no mouse pointer to interact with, so object manipulation was done by text only. The VGA remake corrected this, but the game, and the gamer cut their teeth with text input.
What most of us did, well what I did, was to turn up the speed of the game to quickly shunt Larry from screen to screen. Scrolling 2D levels were apparently impossible to recreate in 80s adventure games, so Larry was a screen-by-screen affair. Walk into a new scenario, interact with every object in the room and stress when you’re stuck in a dead end after yet another mugger quickly ends your life.
And that was the thing with Larry — for some reason, most likely because games were still in their infancy and adopted Arcade-like models, the game had a points system. You gained points for every task, but the points meant nothing in 1987 and unlocked sweet bugger-all. There was also constant death for even the slightest mistake. Even walking too far off screen meant insta-kill via a mugger and a cloud of fisticuffs.
So the gameplay was awful — were the graphics and sound any better? For 1987, they were spot on. The Lounge Lizard theme song is as close to iconic as it gets and the chunky, 16-bit graphics soothed the eyes. Behind this ugly mass of pixels was a man in his sexual prime (Larry was 38 years old and balding) who had no time for games, despite the actual casino that existed in most Larrys. Even in his CGA incarnation, Larry looked and moved authentically grimy.
Larry was the seedy underbelly of games, a title that drew its humour from Police Academy and Porky’s. Most importantly, it was a game you could play while sitting on your dad’s lap. Never mind the fact that he would cover your eyes during the very brief moments of digital nudity. The most risque scene, shoved into the end of Larry involved bubbles, side-boob and little else. But this was the 80s man, and we lived dangerously. Just listen to this song, and let the memories wash over you.
Larry is well past his prime and if you add his virtual age to his actual age, he’d be 65 years old. You’re well past your prime Larry and booting up your ageing adventures gave me little to think about. Stick to retirement, it suits you better.
Image via Amazon.comMuhammad bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s deputy crown prince and the country's defence minister, spoke to The Economist on
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ster, the former Miami Dolphins offensive line coach, threatened her to prevent her from talking about his drug use, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Foerster resigned Monday after the video appeared to show him snorting several lines of a white, powdery substance.
In the video, the man widely identified as Foerster said: "Hey, baby, miss you, thinking about you. How about me going into a meeting and doing this before I go?"
WARNING: VIDEO BELOW CONTAINS PROFANITY
“He basically sent me a message saying anything I planned to do or tried to harm him will be turned over to his job’s security team,” Nige said.
MIAMI DOLPHINS COACH RESIGNS AFTER VIDEO APPEARS TO SHOW HIM SNORTING COCAINE
She added: “After he sent the video, he came off his high and low-key kind of threatened me if I ended up exposing the information. Before he could do anything to me, I felt that needed to be exposed. Just in case I somehow pop up dead, that story was still going to get out."
Nige said she had met with Foerster a couple of times for “entertainment” purposes.
“He was calling for entertainment,” Nige said. “He did mention he wanted to party. We met multiple times. Chris Foerster used me as his cocaine platter.”
Nige said the video Foerster sent her was filmed inside his Dolphins office. She also said the coach kept the drug in his office and consumed it in the places the team traveled to for away games, the Miami Herald reported.
“This is a regular habit of his anywhere he goes,” she said. “Doesn’t matter if they’re in Miami or London or New York. I was invited everywhere they went. Everywhere they went he sent me other footage. That is not the only piece of footage. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. He was doing it at his desk. He was at his Miami office."
VIDEO COULD LAND MIAMI DOLPHINS ASSISTANT COACH IN HOT WATER
Nige said in another interview, with Las Vegas’ ABC Action 13 News, she hoped Foerster would seek help following the incriminating video.
"I want him to get help," Nige said. "I want him to go to rehab. I want him to get back to who he's supposed to be. It's not about him getting fired or anything like that."
When asked why she released the footage, Nige told ESPN she wanted to "expose" inequality.
“My motive was to basically expose the inequalities in the system," she said. "It’s not just the NFL. The inequalities that come with being a minority compared with a white privileged person in America in general. This is shining light on the inequalities we have as a country. We don’t get paid the same amount as everyone else."
The model said that, despite the death threats she has received following the video release, she has no regrets.
“What I thought would happen happened,” Nige said. “He will be coaching again next year. I am actually happy...Why do they even question me at all? When Tiger Woods went through his whole situation, did they question the Caucasian women? This is another example where the society is messed up."Image caption Men aged between 30 and 44 were most likely to take their own life in 2011
The number of people taking their own life in the UK rose "significantly" in 2011, latest figures from the Office for National Statistics have shown.
Some 6,045 people killed themselves in 2011, an increase of 437 since 2010.
The highest suicide rate was among men aged between 30 and 44. About 23 men per 100,000 took their own lives.
On average, across both sexes, 11.8 people per 100,000 population killed themselves in 2011, up from 11.1 people the previous year.
The ONS data revealed there were 4,552 suicides by men in 2011, more than three times the number by women and the highest rate since 2002.
The suicide rate among middle-aged men aged 45 to 59 was also high, increasing from 21.7 deaths in 2006 to 22.2 deaths per 100,000 people in 2011.
The figures come after the government's pledge last year to put a further £1.5m towards research into suicide prevention among high-risk groups.
Ministers also announced a new suicide prevention strategy aimed at cutting suicide rates and supporting families affected by suicide.
Male suicide rates increased in the 1980s, with the average rate among all age groups peaking at 21.9 deaths per 100,000 population in 1988.
Fewer men killed themselves between 1988 and 2010, though the average rate rose in 1998 and 1999.
Analysis Suicide statistics provide an indicator of mental health. They are important for monitoring trends in deaths resulting from intentional (and probable) self-harm. The statistics are widely used to inform policy, planning and research and to enable policy makers and support services to target their resources most effectively. Each country making up the UK has a suicide prevention strategy in place which aims to identify risk factors, take action via cross-sector organisations, and ultimately reduce suicide rates. In September 2012 the Department of Health launched "Preventing Suicide in England: a cross-government outcomes strategy to save lives." It aims to reduce the suicide rate and improve support for those affected by suicide. The new strategy outlines six areas for action, including a plan to reduce the risk of suicide in key high-risk groups, reducing access to the means of suicide, and supporting research, data collection and monitoring.
After more than a decade of falling suicide rates in males, the rate increased significantly between 2010 and 2011, from 17 to 18.2 deaths per 100,000 population.
In Wales, the suicide rate has increased by about 30% in two years. Out of 100,000 men, 22.5 killed themselves in 2011 compared to 16.2 in England and 13.2 in London.
Suicides among women in 2011 stood at 1,493, with the average number of deaths across all female age groups falling over the past 31 years.
Among women, those aged between 45 and 59 were the most likely to take their own life, at a rate of 7.3 per 100,000. Suicides rates have been consistently lower in females than in males over the past three decades.
When the ONS began keeping records of deaths by suicide in 1981, some 4,129 men and 2,466 women took their own lives.
Additional guidance was published in 2011 in order to improve the classification of narrative verdicts at inquests in England and Wales.
Narrative verdicts, which are long-form, factual records of the circumstance in which a death occurs, can be used instead of short-form verdicts, including suicide.
Researchers had raised concerns that previous classification rules forced the ONS to record probable suicides as accidents, rather than allowing for the classification of intentional self-harm.
The ONS said changes to the guidance may have led to an increased number of narrative verdicts coded as intentional self-harm in 2011, and therefore could have resulted in an increase in the suicide rate.
The University of Reading's Professor Shirley Reynolds, director of the Charlie Waller Institute of Evidence-Based Psychological Treatment, said: "The rise in suicide of men aged 30 to 45 is deeply worrying. Suicide may be linked to financial and work-related problems, as well as loss of employment and limited emotional, practical and social support from other people."
She added it was "essential that we work to reduce the stigma associated with mental health problems so everyone is able to ask for the help they need".
'Perfect storm'
Samaritans trustee Stephen Platt said: "The most important issue raised by these figures is the urgent need to tackle the many difficulties faced by men in their middle years."
He said disadvantaged men in mid-life were facing a "perfect storm" of challenges, including unemployment and social inclusion.
"It is high time that national suicide prevention strategies address suicide as a health and social inequality at both national and local levels," he said.
Care services minister Norman Lamb said the rise in suicide numbers was a "very real concern" and pledged to tackle the problem "head on".
He said the government's refreshed suicide prevention strategy targeted those most at risk by "providing the right interventions at the right time", but added it needed to "make sure information about treatment and support is available to those who need them, including those who are suffering from bereavement following a suicide".Samsung Electronics has announced that it will begin mass producing the industry’s first 4 GB DRAM package based on the second-generation High Bandwidth Memory (HBM2) interface for use in high-performance computing (HPC), advanced graphics and network systems, as well as enterprise servers.
Also Read : A Study Says That Samsung Mobiles Is The Most Attractive Brand In India
LogBook : Fastest 4GB HBM2 DRAM from Samsung
It calls the industry’s first 4GB DRAM package based on the second-generation High Bandwidth Memory (HBM2) interface.
Samsung said to offer DRAM performance that is “seven times faster than the current DRAM performance limit”.
The new RAM is meant for use in high performance computing (HPC), advanced graphics and network systems, as well as enterprise servers.
“By mass producing next-generation HBM2 DRAM, we can contribute much more to the rapid adoption of next-generation HPC systems by global IT companies,” said Sewon Chun, senior vice president, Memory Marketing, Samsung Electronics in a statement.
Also Read : Samsung Going To Power Next Generation Smartphones With 6GB RAM Chips
Newly introduced 4GB HBM2 DRAM based on the company’s 20-nanometer process.
The new DRAM features 256GBps of bandwidth, which is double that of a HBM1 DRAM package.
Samsung’s 4GB HBM2 also enables enhanced power efficiency by doubling the bandwidth per watt over a 4Gb-GDDR5-based solution, and embeds ECC (error-correcting code) functionality to offer high reliability.
Samsung plans to produce an 8GB HBM2 DRAM package later in 2016, the company disclosed.
By specifying 8GB HBM2 DRAM in graphics cards, designers will be able to enjoy a space savings of more than 95%, compared to using GDDR5 DRAM, offering more optimal solutions for compact devices that require high-level graphics computing capabilities, the company said.
Also Read : LG, Samsung to Supply OLED Display to Apple iPhone 7, Says ReportIn an unprecedented gesture of repentance, Monaco's Prince Albert II apologized Thursday for his country's role in deporting Jews to Nazi camps — seven decades after police rounded up scores of people from the seaside principality, including those who had sought refuge from the Holocaust in what they thought was a safe and neutral land.
"To say this today is to recognize a fact. To say it today, on this day, before you, is to ask forgiveness," Albert said in a poignant speech recounting actions by Monegasque police during the war.
He spoke facing Monaco's chief rabbi and other Jewish figures including Serge and Beate Klarsfeld, renowned Nazi hunters and Holocaust researchers who encouraged Albert's father, Prince Rainier III, to examine Monaco's role during the Second World War.
Albert unveiled a monument at the Monaco cemetery Thursday carved with the names of deported Jews. The date was chosen to mark 73 years since Monegasque authorities, under pressure from Nazi collaborationist leaders in France, rounded up at least 66 Jews on the night of Aug. 27-28, 1942.
We did not protect them. It was our responsibility. - Prince Albert of Monaco
They were among about 90 people deported from Monaco, or Monegasque residents deported from neighbouring France, during the war, according to a government report completed this year.
Only nine survived.
Monaco was officially neutral at the start of the war, and was later occupied by Italian, then German forces. The government reports detail efforts by a Jesuit priest, a surgeon and others to protect Jews in Monaco, then describes how the authorities gradually ceded to increasing pressure from French authorities under Nazi control.
"We committed the irreparable in handing over … women, men and a child who had taken refuge with us to escape the persecutions they had suffered in France," Albert said.
"We did not protect them. It was our responsibility," he said. "In distress, they came specifically to take shelter with us, thinking they would find neutrality."
Trying to shed image
It was the first clear public acknowledgement of Monaco's responsibility for Jewish suffering during the war, according to a palace official who compared it to French President Jacques Chirac's speech in 1997 admitting for the first time the role of the French state in the Holocaust. The palace official wasn't authorized to be named publicly.
Albert's gesture comes amid his broader efforts as Monaco's reigning monarch to shed the principality's long-held reputation as a tax haven and elitist playground for the rich.
He created a commission to aid victims of spoliation, amid criticism that Monaco hadn't done enough to investigate alleged plundering of property of Jews sent to death camps. He said Thursday that nine requests for compensation have been approved so far.
European Jewish Congress president Dr. Moshe Kantor said "we welcome today's event and the desire of the principality to properly examine its role during these dark days of the Nazi occupation."
While Albert's gesture came more than seven decades late, Kantor said in a statement to The Associated Press, "There is no time limit on true introspection and regret."It's not enough for the CEO of Wells Fargo to resign, Sen. Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann WarrenSanders: 'Damn right' I'll make the large corporations pay 'fair share of taxes' House to push back at Trump on border GOP Sen. Tillis to vote for resolution blocking Trump's emergency declaration MORE (D-Mass.) said Wednesday.
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Following news that John Stumpf would retire immediately, Warren demanded he face investigation for a scandal that involved the creation of fake accounts for unwitting customers.
"As I said: @WellsFargo CEO Stumpf should resign, return every nickel he made during the scam, & face DOJ/SEC investigation. He’s 1 for 3," Warren said.
As I said: @WellsFargo CEO Stumpf should resign, return every nickel he made during the scam, & face DOJ/SEC investigation. He’s 1 for 3. — Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) October 12, 2016
In September, the bank struck a settlement with government regulators, paying $185 million to settle claims that it created millions of unwanted accounts to meet sales goals.
The bank has fired over 5,000 employees for the improper activity, which spanned years. But Stumpf was roundly criticized by members of both parties during appearances before Congress last month, where it was made clear that lawmakers believed top executives had to be held responsible for the activity.
In a statement, Stumpf did not reference the scandal but simply said that “it is best for the company that I step aside.”
“I am grateful for the opportunity to have led Wells Fargo,” said Stumpf, who had been with the bank for 34 years.Cops: Man squatted in vacant Sugar Grove mansion 8 months
The Sugar Grove Township house where a homeless man was squatting for eight months until his arrest this week.
Sugar Grove police say a man who took up residence in a vacant, lakeside mansion for eight months apparently had no trouble settling in.
When officers went to arrest him Wednesday, they found the $700,000 house stocked with living room furniture and two big-screen TVs.
"Pretty gutsy," said Sugar Grove Detective John Sizer, who has been on the case for the better part of a year. "He definitely moved up."
Steven Hathorne, 41, formerly of Aurora, is charged with the theft of $1,400 in water from the village of Sugar Grove and criminal damage to government property, both felonies. His bond was set at $250,000.
Sizer said officials have suspected Hathorne was living in the house on the 100 block of North Buckingham Drive in the Prestbury subdivision since last summer, after the home was foreclosed upon, but it took months to get permission from the mortgage company to enter the property. He said Hathorne told neighbors he was in the process of buying the house.
"It was obvious somebody was living in there. But we can't just charge into someone's house without the owner's consent," Sizer said.
In earlier attempts to vacate the house, Sugar Grove public works officials shut off the water meter and put a lock on it - twice. Each time, Hathorne cut off the lock and turned the water back on using a 10-foot tool police found in the home's three-car garage Wednesday, Sizer said.
Officers also found a cloak that had been used to cover the water meter, apparently so village officials could not use a mobile electronic device to take a reading without entering the property.
Eventually, detectives were able get cooperation from the mortgage company, and Kane County Sheriff's deputies served Hathorne with a notice to vacate Wednesday morning. He was arrested at the scene.
Sizer said the house is in unincorporated Sugar Grove Township but receives its water from the village. The gas and power also were turned on.
"There may be more of this going on," Sizer said. "We've got anywhere from 60 to 80 vacant houses in towns that we patrol. It's surprising the number of times we're finding these homes unsecured. It's a concern of ours."
So far, Sizer said, Hathorne has been uncooperative with police.
The theft charge is a Class 2 felony with a standard sentencing range of three to seven years in prison or probation.
Hathorne was being held in the county jail Thursday pending an April 30 court appearance in front of Judge Jordan T. Gallagher.Image copyright Pinter & Martin Image caption Sheila Kitzinger was an advocate of home birth and had her own five children at home
Prolific author and anthropologist Sheila Kitzinger - who wrote more than 25 books on childbirth - has died at her Oxfordshire home at the age of 86.
In the 1960s and 70s she developed the concept of a "birth plan", which aimed to give more choice to pregnant women.
She believed mothers, not clinicians, should be the focus during childbirth.
She came to be seen as a pioneer in her field and received an MBE for her work. Her publisher Pinter & Martin said she died on Saturday after a short illness.
'Freedom and choice'
Born in a thatched cottage in Taunton, Somerset, in 1929, Ms Kitzinger studied social anthropology at the University of Oxford, then taught and carried out research at the University of Edinburgh.
A strong advocate of home birth and natural birth, Ms Kitzinger had her own five children at home and believed midwives played a crucial role.
In her 1962 book The Experience of Childbirth she also argued that birth had the potential to be a "psychosexual experience".
Among her other books were The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Ourselves as Mothers. Her autobiography is due to be published next month.
Her husband Uwe Kitzinger, who she met while studying at Oxford and married in 1952, said she was "a woman of great spunk".
"She was an icon of home birth who decided to have a home death," he said.
Image copyright Uwe Kitzinger Image caption Sheila Kitzinger in 1958 with two of her five children, twins Nell and Tess
"She took to her bed three months ago, but she was drinking Kir Royale and champagne and eating chocolates three days ago, knowing she didn't have long.
"She was great to be married to, and she was a wonderful mother. She and I were married for 63 years. We said goodbye with a prayer."
Her eldest daughter, Celia Kitzinger, said her mother taught her from an early age that "the personal was political".
She said: "As I was growing up I learnt from her campaigns for freedom and choice in childbirth that passionate and committed individuals can create social change.
"She never hesitated to speak truth to power."
'Natural birth guru'
Prof Kitzinger said her mother had campaigned on a wide range of issues including female genital mutilation, prisoners giving birth in handcuffs and human rights in midwifery in Eastern Europe.
She added: "She is so much more than a 'natural birth guru'."
Her publisher Pinter & Martin said her work had had enormous impact on millions of women around the world.
An active writer and campaigner into her eighties, Ms Kitzinger set up the Birth Crisis Network, a helpline for mothers who had experienced a traumatic birth.
Writing on her website, she said: "The romantic image of a radiant mother, a beautiful baby in her arms, her golden hair lit by the sun's rays, displayed on the jackets of many birth books is far removed from reality.
"New mothers are often unhappy. This major life transition is made incredibly difficult by poverty, poor housing, overcrowding, and social isolation.
"But one reason why many women have low self-esteem and cannot enjoy their babies is that care in childbirth often denies them honest information, the possibility of choice, and simple human respect."That’s right, you heard it here first — the Minnesota Twins will win 80 games in the 2017 season. This isn’t a hot take to generate clicks and it isn’t a convoluted stance that’ll end up on Cold Takes Exposed; I genuinely believe with all of my heart that this team is talented enough to win 80 games…this season!
After all, it’s not a drastically different team that won 83 games in 2015. Of course, it’s not a drastically different bunch that won 59 in 2016, either — at least not yet. There’s still some time in the offseason for the new brain trust to add a bat that could alter the look of this offense, but by and large the team looks what it’s going to look like in 2017, barring a re-kindling of the Brian Dozier trade chatter.
So why the big difference in 2015 and ‘16 records when the team was largely the same? After all, the primary swap out was Torii Hunter for Byungho Park. Hunter wasn’t ultra productive on the field — nor was Park — so what was the primary culprit behind the huge slide? It can’t possibly be clubhouse leadership, can it? The most sabermetrically-inclined people may diminish the value of clubhouse leadership, but I’ve come full-circle on it — sort of. Mind you, there’s no way I believe the Twins lost an additional 24 games from one year to the other because Torii wasn’t the central figure during the increasingly infrequent postgame dance parties.
The Twins didn’t lose more games in 2016 because there was less crooning of “Little Red Corvette” before games.
But make no mistake, Hunter mattered. He helped revitalize the clubhouse, if only for a year. He made baseball fun and winning seem easy. Maybe too easy?
What I’ve deduced on my own — with no help from statistics or inside #sources — is that maybe Hunter’s presence eased the burden on some pretty good young players coming up, like Eddie Rosario and Miguel Sano. Both of those guys experienced significant slides as sophomores in 2016 with Hunter not around. Is it possible that both had such an easy go of it in 2015 that they thought they had “arrived” and thus didn’t need to work as hard to maintain their level of performance? I can’t prove it and I can’t say that it’s true — but it’s possible.
The problem is that playing big league baseball is hard. We’re constantly searching for a reason why players succeed and fail, and for me it boils down to this — there’s a winner and a loser on every single play. The pitcher wins, or the hitter wins. The hitter wins, or the fielder wins. It’s an annoying web of events that ultimately spits out a season worth of statistics that may or may not contextualize what exactly happened. But in other words, the game says you’re destined to fail — a lot. The cruel irony of it all is that sometimes a player does something really well on a play — and it goes for naught. An opponent makes an unbelievable play. A ball is hit right at someone. The opponent just so happens to be a superstar like Mike Trout, who makes things look easy.
The game will drive you insane if you let it.
Wright Thompson wrote a brilliant feature last September on Theo Epstein as the Cubs were gearing up for their ultimate World Series win. The entire thing is tremendous from top to bottom, and if you leave this piece to read that one, I’ll never forgive you. That is, because you’ll never read me again after drinking in Thompson’s style. He’s wonderful. Anyway, he breaks down a day in July, and in doing so says this:
“All teams are more fragile than people want to admit to themselves.”
Wow. If that’s the shot, here’s the chaser:
“If we have a horsesh*t month, if we lose this lead, they will be paying attention to what time I come into the office,” Epstein says (in July). “They will be thinking we got complacent. It’s a human phenomenon that there has to be a reason for everything. There almost never is. Inexplicable sh*t, like flipping a coin or the outcome of a baseball game, we need to tell ourselves a story: This team has great chemistry. This team is tough. You know what? That sh*t all matters, but it’s never the full answer that people want it to be. It’s why we have stories about the stars in the sky, and the planets and the seas and gods and mythology. We evolve to a point where we can tell and understand the stories. Some are real and some are not, but we attach meaning to all of them.”
When I read that, it sort of reshaped how I view baseball. Especially since I read it as I was coming down the stretch of covering a record-breaking Twins team — in a dubious fashion.
That doesn’t mean I had to stop wondering why the Twins failed. I felt like it just meant I could write about it without having all the answers. This is liberating.
What players are least likely to handle failure well? Ostensibly, young players. The Twins were littered with young players in 2016. According to BaseballReference.com, the Twins had the second-youngest offense in the American League last year with a weighted average — by plate appearances — age of 27 years. Houston was slightly younger at 26.6. The pitching staff was a bit older, but still below the league-average age (28.6) at 28.3 years old.
In some ways, I think the 0-9 start got into the minds of some of the guys as well. As much as we wanted to make the case that big leaguers lose multiple games in a row and are able to dig deep within to find ways to stop skids, younger players are going to be less apt to have that experience or know-how to fall back on when it comes to that.
Maybe it’s all a cockamamie excuse for a team that drastically underperformed, but I feel like it was a perfect storm of youth, a bad start and a team that was woeful at pulling wins out of the margins.
Wait, pulling wins out of the margins? What does that mean? Let me explain.
I have a theory that I think is sort of backed up by the variance between the two teams in 2015 and ‘16. How else could two similarly talented teams win such a disparate number of games outside of some weird cosmic force? My theory is that there are things in games that teams to steal wins here or there — perhaps more veteran or savvy teams — that the Twins didn’t do in 2016. Some of them may not be easily quantifiable — like stopping the bleeding when a two-run inning becomes a seven-run inning on defense — and some, like pitch framing, are things we’re improving on each and every day to see just how much value it actually provides.
It’s just something I’ve been thinking about, and if I sound like Doc Brown, I totally get it. My basic theory is that I really think WAR is good at giving us a general idea of how many games a team can win over the replacement level — or at least how good a single player is over their replacement in a given season — but I think there are things inside the margins of the game that good managers and intelligent players can do that make a big difference, too.
Make sense?
What it means for me right now is that I think Jason Castro will single-handedly revamp what this pitching staff brings to the table. There is talent on this pitching staff. Kyle Gibson and Phil Hughes were first-round picks who had fairly good seasons recently. Trevor May was interesting before the Twins inexplicably moved him to the bullpen in favor of Mike Pelfrey. Ervin Santana is coming off one of the finest years of his career. It’s a little baffling based on his peripherals, but Hector Santiago has a career ERA that is a quarter-run better than Santana’s. There’s hope in youngsters Jose Berrios and Stephen Gonsalves, and maybe a bit further down the road for Kohl Stewart and Fernando Romero. The bullpen has some guys who throw hard and started finding strikeout stuff last year.
Castro on his own should provide a fair amount of value — especially if used properly. His triple-slash lines since making the All-Star Game won’t make anyone blush — they all start with a 6 if you’re not aware — but in his career he’s hit a passable.247/.328/.424 against righties. Pairing him with right-handed hitting John Ryan Murphy — speaking of people who have something to prove in 2017….– should make for a solid platoon for Paul Molitor. Regardless of if it’s Murphy, Mitch Garver or even recently-signed Chris Gimenez, the Twins did the wise thing and invested heavily on the long side of a potential platoon.
Where Castro, and for that matter Murphy as well, stand to help the team in a less obvious way is in pitch framing. If we’re being slavish to pitch frame values — and it’s not necessarily wise but will at least give us a ballpark here — StatCorner.com lists Juan Centeno as the second-worst framer in MLB in 2016, with Kurt Suzuki markedly better, but still not very good. Together, they provided the Twins with roughly minus-22.0 runs of framing value. On the other end, Castro was fifth in the game at plus-12.8 runs. Again, if we’re slavish to the values, Castro provides a nearly 3.5-win upgrade just in framing pitches.
It helps that Murphy also gets positive marks from BaseballProspectus, which does framing for both the big leagues and the minors. Across the 5,196 pitches Murphy caught in the minors last year, he was worth 20.6 framing runs. Now it’s impossible to make an apples-to-apples comparison because in this case Murphy and Centeno/Suzuki were catching concurrently, but it’s not hard to get excited about how much having competent defensive catchers should aid the starting rotation that finished last in ERA in 2016.
Basically, no team stands to benefit more from good pitch framing than this bunch.
Another benefit is that for the most part, guys will be playing in position this season. Even I, one of the final people to call the Sano-in-right experiment a debacle, can hardly scoff at people who’d suggest that was part of why Miguel had a drop-off in production. No, it didn’t help that Sano showed up to camp heavier than the Twins would have liked according to Patrick Reusse, but we should call a spade a spade. Third base might not be the position Sano was born to play, but he’s clearly better equipped with the lateral quickness and arm — holy hell, the arm — to play the hot corner as opposed to chasing down wicked smashes and odd caroms in the difficult right field corner at Target Field. I remain convinced he can be at least an average defensive third baseman with a plus arm.
It was not a fireable offense to put Sano out right field on its own — and Terry Ryan is a prince of a man who’ll do great things in the Phillies organization — but it would be foolish to say it didn’t hasten the exit.
The keeping of Dozier — at least of this writing — didn’t alter my perception of this team too much. Sure, it’ll lead to more of Jorge Polanco being shoehorned in at shortstop, possibly making for a dubious left-side duo with Sano, but for a team that doesn’t have aspirations other than poking its head above water, that can be lived with. A team whose ceiling is playing relevant baseball in September for just the second time in the decade can spend a season finding out what these two guys are capable of. And again, Polanco at short is nowhere near as egregious as Sano in right. They’re about as far apart as shortstop and right field, really.
Moving Dozier could have cleared up a logjam, but the duo of Derek Falvey and Thad Levine wisely placed a value on the slugging second baseman that has yet to be reached. Maybe nobody ever reaches it, and that’s fine. Dozier playing out the final two years on his deal and at the very worst, being slapped with a Qualifying Offer has value to the Twins. First of all, if you’re at all buying what I’m selling here, you’ll realize the Twins aren’t destined to be horrible in 2017. That’ll make this season a stepping stone to what should be a fairly good 2018.
What Falvey and Levine have wisely done is not treat Dozier like a $5 bill burning a hole in the pocket of a seven-year-old. Dozier’s value to the team — on the field, in the clubhouse and community — is gigantic, and they’ve set the bar there. Hurdle that bar, and he can be yours. Fall short, and risk beating your head into it. It’s a hell of a poker face from a baseball official that has never been down this road, but he’s played it beautifully.
In some ways, 2015 can be the worst thing that could have happened to the Twins. Whatever it did to cause 2016 — and there are a ton of theories that could be cooked up — it still showed that the team overall is talented enough to be fairly good. Again, it also shows how fickle young talent can be, and how prone it can be to go into funks when things aren’t going right.
But it also should show that there is enough high-end talent to see a positive ending here in the near future. Byron Buxton’s blistering September run was like nothing he’d done on the big-league stage before, and should get the wheels in motion for him to reach his potential. Sano has been training hard this offseason to show he can handle third base full-time. A Twins source told Cold Omaha around Christmas that Sano had already lost eight pounds as part of his preparation for the 2017 season. Max Kepler was red-hot before cooling off down the stretch; he looks like a full-time regular — and then some — moving forward.
Basically, it’s like this: an easy case can be made that virtually everyone on the 2016 roster who is returning in 2017 has an untapped ceiling to reach. The only real exceptions are Dozier, Robbie Grossman and maybe Ervin Santana. This isn’t an unwinnable division. Cleveland is going to be extremely good again, but after that it’s a dogfight for second place. Kansas City has done some reshuffling. Detroit has largely stood pat, with all of its key players a year older. Chicago has embarked on a full rebuild, and should be the odds-on favorite to finish in last — especially if they move any of Jose Quintana, Jose Abreu or David Robertson in the near future.
If the Twins come out hungry enough, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be a.500 club.Quick Vote When do you plan to retire? Before age 65
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Internal Revenue Service announced Wednesday that it has reached a deal with the Swiss government, gaining access to thousands of UBS AG accounts that Americans might have used to avoid paying taxes.
"Thousands of taxpayers who avoided paying taxes in the past are being brought into compliance," said IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman in a teleconference with reporters. "As this agreement demonstrates, the world of international taxes has drastically changed."
An IRS press release stated that 4,450 accounts held by rich American investors were included in the settlement.
In the teleconference, Shulman said the IRS expects to gain access to a total of more than 5,000 UBS (UBS) accounts, through the IRS-UBS settlement, combined with a voluntary disclosure program and "other sources." He said these accounts have held $18 billion in assets at one time, though he did not have a current tally for their value.
A UBS spokeswoman would not comment on the value of the accounts and referred questions to a company press release. In the release, UBS Chairman Kaspar Villiger said the settlement "helps to resolve one of UBS' most pressing issues."
"I am confident that the agreement will allow the bank to continue moving forward to rebuild its reputation through solid performance and client service," said Villiger. "UBS welcomes the fact that the information-exchange objectives of the settlement can be achieved in a lawful manner under the existing treaty framework between Switzerland and the United States."
Deterrent: The announcement is the result of a settlement that the IRS and Switzerland-based UBS reached earlier this month to track down and identify wealthy Americans who have avoided paying taxes by hiding their assets in offshore accounts. Shulman said the deal should deter Americans from evading taxes in the future.
Shulman said investors who evaded taxes through UBS can avoid prosecution by reporting their tax activity by the Sept. 23 voluntary disclosure deadline, so long as they meet certain requirements.
"Although the clock is ticking, there is still time for you to come in and get right with your government," said Shulman. "Talk to your tax professional."
Asher Rubinstein, an offshore attorney with New York-based Rubinstein & Rubinstein, said that some of his clients have participated in the voluntary disclosure program. He said that taxpayers have to provide "complete and honest disclosure" and cannot participate if their funds are the proceeds of illegal activity.
"This is a government that is in need of cash, and the IRS is trying
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ties the two stories together. The moment of revelation feels powerful, as if the reader has suddenly understood something new.
Science fiction is a genre that often works well off the page. Spaceships and robots are just as thrilling on screen as in books. But Mr Chiang’s approach is irreplaceable. His stories mirror the process of scientific discovery: complex ideas emerge from the measured, methodical accumulation of information until epiphany strikes.
Hefty scientific principles buttress Mr Chiang’s works, yet he draws from them a startling humanism. "Story of Your Life" (1998), a tale about learning an alien language, came from thinking about Fermat's last theorem; "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" (2007) considers the nature of time. The laws of nature are fixed. But Mr Chiang's stories remind us that the world need not be as it is. Time did not have to be so that we experience it linearly. Consciousness need not have been possible. What we take for granted is often miraculous.
"Exhalation", a short story from 2008, describes a world of sentient mechanical beings. The pressure in their atmosphere allows air to pass through their brains; thoughts emerge from the whirls and patterns of these eddies. But the pressure of this universe is decreasing. When it is gone, consciousness will follow. "The universe began as an enormous breath being held," Mr Chiang writes. "I am glad that it did... until this great exhalation is finished, my thoughts live on."
Alas, Mr Chiang does not write convincing dialogue. Conversation is weighted with exposition, as stilted as in a "Star Trek" film ("Suppose I gave you an hour's worth of recordings; how long would it take you to determine if we need this sound spectrograph or not?"). The genre's typical weakness on this front—together with its reliance on invented realities and creatures—invites critics to scoff that science fiction is childish and un-literary. But this criticism misses the point. The best science fiction inspires awe for the natural properties of the universe; it renders the fundamentals of science poignant and affecting. Mr Chiang's writing manages all of this. He deserves to be more widely read.The Founding Fathers On Christianity, God & Religion
The Founding Fathers of the United States are often referred to as a mixture of anti-clerical Christians (i.e. religious free-thinkers) and deists. In many ways, we might think of them all as laying the groundwork for what is now referred to as the Progressive Christianity movement—for they were leaders who possessed a solid sense of reason that was guided by an understanding of the divine nature of creation and their place in it. As such, they strongly demonstrated all the characteristics of the truly progressive Christian.
In the coming weeks, we will be writing a series of posts on the religion of America’s Founding Fathers, which will feature passages from Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, John Adams, and other early Americans, on the subjects of Christianity, God, and Religion. To get the ball rolling, let’s begin with the following passage from Thomas Jefferson, taken from a letter to Moses Robinson, the governor of the Vermont Republic who helped usher Vermont to statehood.
In this passage we find Jefferson commenting on the Christian clergy, the Church, and the State, comments which still are very relevant today. Jefferson’s hope that “good sense” will prevail among orthodox Christians is unfortunately still waiting to be realized:
The Eastern States will be the last to come over, because of the dominion of the clergy, who had got a smell of union between Church and State, and began to indulge in reveries that can never be realized in the age of science. If, indeed, they could have prevailed on us to view all the advances in science as dangerous innovations, and to look back to the opinions and practices of our forefathers, instead of looking forward, for improvement, a promising groundwork would have been laid.
But I have hopes that their good sense will show them that since the mountain will not come to them, they had better go to the mountain: that they will find it in their interest to acquiesce to the liberty and science of their country, and that the Christian religion, when divested of the rags in which they have enveloped it, and brought to the original purity and simplicity of its benevolent institutor, is a religion most friendly to liberty, science, and the freest expansion of the human mind.
I sincerely wish with you, we could see our government so secured as to depend less on the character of the person in whose hands it is trusted. Bad men will sometimes get in, and with such an immense patronage, may make great progress in corrupting the public mind and principles. This is a subject with which wisdom and patriotism should be occupied.
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Read the next in the series: Benjamin Franklin’s Religion & Jesus of Nazareth.Calling all runners, walkers, crawlers, and beer lovers!
Llywelyn’s Pub has teamed up with Big River Running Company for the best of both worlds – Running and Beer! We are excited to launch the Pub Run series which will be held on the third Wednesday of each month starting in April and lasting until September. The runs will be about 3-4 miles long around various St. Louis locations. When you finish you will receive 15% off of your bill at the Llywelyn’s Pub of choice that evening! For more information please visit Big River Running Company’s website for schedules, details and sign-ups! We look forward to seeing you there!
Dates and Locations:
April 17 - Webster Groves
May 15 - Central West End
June 19 - St. Charles
July 17 - Soulard
August 21 - Winghaven
Spetember 18 - Wildwood
October 16th - Webster groves*
*Goose Island Migration Week Hoppy Hour is in Webster on the same day/time... enjoy one of our awesome limited Goose Island drafts/bottlesUp to now in the book, we’ve been talking about physical characteristics of sound – things that can be measured with equipment. We haven’t thought about what happens from the instant a pressure wave in the air hits the side of your head to the moment you think “I wish that dog in the neighbour’s yard would stop barking” or “Won’t someone please answer that phone!?” This section is about exactly that – how does a change in air pressure get translated into you brain recognizing what and where the sound is and, even further, what you think about the sound.
This process is separable into three different fields of research:
The first, physiological acoustics is the study of how the pressure wave that arrives at the side of your head is modified by the shape and surface characteristics of your body, and how that modified sound wave gets converted into electrical impulses that are sent to your brain.
is the study of how the pressure wave that arrives at the side of your head is modified by the shape and surface characteristics of your body, and how that modified sound wave gets converted into electrical impulses that are sent to your brain. The second, psychoacoustics, is the study of things like hearing thresholds (what is the softest sound you can hear), loudness (i.e. how much louder does a sound have to be when you say that it’s “twice as loud”), just noticeable differences (i.e. how much louder does a sound have to be before you can tell that it’s louder), masking (we’ll talk about this later), and localization (how can you tell where a sound is coming from when you can’t see the source). If any of these things are new to you, don’t worry, we’ll cover them in this chapter.
, is the study of things like hearing thresholds (what is the softest sound you can hear), loudness (i.e. how much louder does a sound have to be when you say that it’s “twice as loud”), just noticeable differences (i.e. how much louder does a sound have to be before you can tell that it’s louder), masking (we’ll talk about this later), and localization (how can you tell where a sound is coming from when you can’t see the source). If any of these things are new to you, don’t worry, we’ll cover them in this chapter. The third, perception is different. This is the study of how you perceive the sound to be – is the stereo mix wider or narrower, is the sound of the harpsichord bright or dark, does the car’s engine sound powerful or wimpy. In some cases, these may not be measurable qualities of the signal coming from the sound source. (For example, you can’t buy an “engine powerfulness” plug-in for a sound pressure level meter – not yet at least.)
It makes sense to think of these three in chronological order – that is to say, we can’t talk about how you perceive the sound until we know what sound is in your brain (psychoacoustics) and we can’t do that until we know what signal your brain is getting (physiological acoustics). Consequently, this chapter is loosely organized so that it deals with physiology, psychoacoustics and perception, in that order.
We have seen that sound is simply a change in air pressure over time, but we have not yet given much thought to how that sound is received and perceived by a human being. The changes in air pressure arrive at the side of your head at what we normally call your “ear.” That wrinkly flap of cartilage and skin on the side of your head is more precisely called your pinna (plural is pinnae). The pinna performs a very important role in that it causes the sound wave to reflect differently for sounds coming from different directions. We’ll talk more about this later.
The sound wave makes its way down the ear canal, a short tube that starts at the pinna and ends at your tympanic membrane, better known as your eardrum. The eardrum is a thin piece of tissue, about 10 mm in diameter, and is shaped a bit like a cone pointing towards inside your head. The eardrum moves back and forth depending on the relative pressures on either side of it. The pressure on the inside of the eardrum cannot change rapidly because your head is relatively sealed, somewhat like an omnidirectional microphone. So, if the pressure wave in the ear canal is high, then the eardrum is pushed into your head. If the pressure wave is low, then the eardrum is pulled out of your head.
Just like in the case of an omnidirectional microphone, there has to be some way of equalizing the pressure on the inside of the eardrum so that large changes in pressure over time (caused by changes in weather or altitude) don’t cause the it to get pushed too far in or out (this would hurt...). To equalize the pressure, you have to have a hole that connects the outside world to the inside of your head. This hole is a connection between the back of your mouth and the inside of your ear called the eustachian tube. When you undergo large changes in barometric pressure (like when you’re sitting in an airplane that’s taking off or landing) you open up your eustachian tube (by yawning) to relieve the pressure difference between the two sides of the eardrum.
We said above that the eardrum is cone-shaped. This is because it’s constantly being pulled inwards by the tensor tympani muscle which keeps it taut. The tension on the eardrum is regulated by that muscle – if a very loud sound hits the eardrum, the muscle tightens to make the eardrum more rigid, preventing it from moving as much, and therefore making the ear less sensitive to protect itself. This is also true when you shout.
Just on the inside of the eardrum are three small bones called the ossicles. The first of these bones, called the malleus (sometimes called the hammer) is connected to the eardrum and is pushed back and forth when the eardrum moves. This, in turn, causes the second bone, the incus (or anvil) to move which, in turn pushes and pulls the third bone, the stapes (or stirrup).
The stapes is a piston that pushes and pulls on a small piece of tissue called the fenestra ovalis (or oval window) which is a membrane that separates the middle ear from something called the cochlea. Looking at Figure 5.2, you’ll see that the cochlea looks a bit like a snail from the outside. On the inside, shown in Figure 5.3, it consists of three adjacent tubes called the perilymphatic ducts called the scala vestibuli, the scala media, and the scala tympani. Separating the scala tympani from the other two is a an important little piece of tissue called the basilar membrane.
When the oval window vibrates back and forth, it causes a pressure wave to travel in the fluid inside the cochlea (called the perilymph in the scala vestibuli and the scala tympani and the endolymph in the scala media), and down the length of the basilar membrane. Sitting on the basilar membrane are something like 30,000 very short hairs. At the end of the basilar membrane near the oval window, the hairs are shorter and stiffer than they are at the opposite end. These hairs can be considered to be tuned resonators: a pressure wave inside the cochlea at given frequency will cause specific hairs on the basilar membrane to vibrate. Different frequencies cause different hairs to resonate.
Just to give you an idea of how much these hairs are vibrating, if you’re listening to a sine wave at 1 kHz at the threshold of hearing, 20x10-6 Pa, the excursion of the hairs as they vibrate back and forth is much less than the diameter of a hydrogen atom. This is not very far...
To prevent standing waves inside the fluid in the cochlea, there is a second tissue called the fenestra rotunda (or round window) at the end of the scala tympani which, like the oval window, separates the middle air from the cochlea. The round window dissipates excess energy, preventing things from getting too loud inside the cochlea.
When the hair cells vibrate back and forth, they generate electrical impulses that are sent through the cochlear nerve to the brain. The brian decodes the pitch or frequency of the sound by determining which hair cells are moving at which location on the basilar membrane. The level of the sound is determined by how many hair cells are moving.
We have already seen that anything that changes a signal can be called a filter – this could mean a device that we normally call a filter (like a high pass filter or a low pass filter) or it could be the result of the combination of an acoustic signal with a reflection, or reverberation. We have also seen that the filter can be described by its transfer function – this doesn’t tell us how a filter does something, but it at least tells us what it does.
Let’s pretend that we have a perfect loudspeaker and a perfect microphone in a perfectly anechoic room exactly 1 m apart. If we do an impulse response measurement of this system, we’ll see a perfect impulse at the output of our microphone, meaning that it and the loudspeaker have perfectly flat frequency and phase responses. Now, we’ll take away the microphone and put you in its place so that you are facing the loudspeaker and that your eardrum is exactly where the microphone diaphragm used to be. If we could magically get an electrical output directly from your eardrum proportional to its excursion, then we could make another impulse response measurement of the signal that arrives at your eardrum. If we could do that, we would see a measurement that looks something very similar to Figure 5.6
You will notice that this is not a perfect impulse, and there are a number of reasons for this. Remember that in between the sound source and your eardrum there are a number of obstructions that cause reflections and absorption. These obstructions include shadowing and boundary effects of the head, reflections off the the pinna and shoulders, and resonance in the ear canal. The signal that reaches your eardrum includes all of the effects caused by these components and more.
The combination of these effects changes with different locations of the sound source (measured by its rotation and its azimuth) and different orientations of the head. The result is that your physical body creates different filter effects for different relationships between the location of the sound source and your two ears. Also, remember that, unless the sound source is on the median plane (see Figure 5.7), then the signals arriving at your two ears will be different.
If we consider the effect of the body on the signal arriving from a given direction and with a given head rotation as a filter, then we can measure the transfer function of that filter. This measurement is called a head-related transfer function or HRTF. Note that typically, an HRTF typically includes the effects of reflections off the shoulders and body and therefore are not just the transfer function of the effects of the head itself.
www.howstuffworks.com
Our ability to perceive things using any of our senses is limited by two things:
physical limitations and
the brain’s ability to process the information.
Physical limitations determine the absolute boundaries of range for things like hearing and sight. For example, there is some maximum frequency (which may or may not be something about 20 kHz, depending on who you ask and how old your are...) above which we cannot hear sound. This ceiling is set by the physical construction of the ear and its internal components.
The brain’s ability to process information is a little tougher to analyze. For example, we’ll talk about a thing called “psychoacoustic masking” which basically says that if you are presented with a loud sound and a soft sound simultaneously, you won’t “hear” the soft sound (for example, if I whisper something to you at a Motorhead concert, chances are you won’t know that I exist...). Your ear is actually receiving both sounds, but your brain is ignoring one of them.
We said earlier that the limits on human frequency response are about 20 Hz in the low frequency range and 20 kHz in the upper end. This has been disputed recently by some people who say that, even though tests show that you cannot hear a single sine wave at, say, 25 kHz, you are able to perceive the effects a 25 kHz harmonic would have on the timbre of a violin. This subject provides audio people with something to argue about when they’ve agreed about everything else...
It’s also important to point out that your hearing doesn’t have a flat frequency response from 20 Hz up to 20 kHz and then stop at 20,001 Hz... As we’ll see later, it’s actually a little more complicated than that.
The dynamic range of your hearing is determined by two limits called the threshold of hearing and the threshold of pain.
The threshold of hearing is the quietest sound that you are able to hear, specified at 1 kHz. This value is 20 μPa or 20*10-6 Pascals. Just to give you an idea of how quiet this is, the sound of blood rushing in your head is louder to you than this. Also, at 20 μPa of sound pressure level, the hair cells inside your inner ear are moving back and forth with a total peak-to-peak displacement that is much less than the diameter of a hydrogen atom [].
Note that the reference for calculating sound pressure level in dBspl is 20 μPa, therefore, a 1 kHz sine tone at the threshold of hearing has a level of 0 dBspl.
One important thing to remember is that the threshold of hearing is not the same sound pressure level at all frequencies, but we’ll talk about this later.
The threshold of pain is a sound pressure level that is so loud that it causes you to be in pain. This level is somewhere around 200 Pa, depending on which book you read, how masochistic you are and how often you go clubbing. This means that the threshold of pain is around 140 dBspl. This is very loud.
So, based on these two numbers, we can calculate that the human hearing system has a total dynamic range (the difference between the maximum – the threshold of pain – and the minimum –the threshold of hearing) of about 140 dB.
In the previous chapter, we said that the threshold of hearing at 1 kHz is 20 μPa or 0 dBspl. If a sine tone is quieter than this, you will not hear it. If you tried to find the threshold of hearing for a frequency lower than 1 kHz, you would find that it’s higher than 20 μPa. In other words, in order to hear a tone at 100 Hz, it will have to be louder than 0 dBspl – in fact, it will be about 25 dBspl. So, in order for a 100 Hz tone to sound the same level as a 1 kHz tone, the 100 Hz tone will have to be higher in measurable level.
Take a look at the red curve in Figure 5.8. This line shows you the threshold of hearing for different frequencies. There are a couple of important characteristics to notice here. Firstly, notice that frequencies higher lower than 1 kHz and higher than about 5 kHz must be higher than 0 dBspl in order to be audible. Secondly, for frequencies lower than 100 kHz, the lower in frequency, the higher the threshold. Thirdly, for frequencies higher than 5 kHz, the higher the frequency the higher the threshold. Finally, notice that there is a dip in the threshold of hearing between 2 kHz and 5 kHz. This means that you are able to hear frequencies in this range even if they are lower than 0 dBspl. This frequency band in which our hearing is most sensitive is an interesting area for two reasons. Firstly, the bulk of our speech (specifically consonant sounds) relies on information in this frequency range (although it’s likely that the speech evolved to capitalize on the sensitive frequency range). Secondly, the anthropologically-minded will be interested to note that the sound of a snapping twig has lots of information which is smack in the middle of the 2 kHz – 5 kHz range. This is a useful characteristic when you look like lunch to a large-toothed animal that’s sneaking up behind you...
One interesting thing to note here is that points along the red curve in this graph all indicate the threshold of hearing, meaning that two sinusoidal tones with sound pressure level indicated by the curve will appear to us to be the same level, even though they aren’t in reality. For example, looking at Figure 5.8, we can see that a tone at 50 Hz and a sound pressure level of 40 dBspl will be on the threshold of hearing, as will a 1 kHz tone at 0 dBspl and a 10 kHz tone at about 5 dBspl. These three tones at these levels will have the same perceived level – they will appear to have equal loudness.
The point that I’m making here is that, if you change the frequency of a sinusoidal tone, you’ll have to change the sound pressure level to keep the perceived level the same. This is true even if you’re not at the threshold of hearing. Take a look at the remaining curves in Figure 5.8. For example, look at the curve that intersects 1 kHz at 20 dBspl. You’ll see that this curve also intersects 100 Hz at about 38 dBspl. This indicates that, in order for a 1 kHz tone at 20 dBspl to sound the same perceived loudness as a 100 Hz tone, the lower frequency will have to be about 38 dBspl. Consequently, the curve that we’re looking at is called an equal loudness contour – it tells us what the actual levels of multiple tones have to be in order to have the same apparent level.
These curves were first documented in 1933, by a couple of researchers by the names of Fletcher and Munson [Fletcher and Munson, 1933]. Consequently, the equal loudness contours are sometimes called the Fletcher and Munson Curves. They were verified and updated in 1956 by Robinson and Dadson [Robinson and Dadson, 1956].
Notice that the curves tend to flatten out when the level goes up. What does this mean? Firstly, when you turn down your stereo, you are less sensitive to low and high frequencies (compared to the mid-range frequencies) than when the stereo was turned up. Therefore the timbral balance changes, particularly in the low end. If the level is low, then you’ll think that you hear less bass. This is why there’s a loudness switch on your stereo. It boosts the bass to compensate for your low-level equal loudness curves. Secondly, things simply sound better when they’re louder. This is because there’s a “better balance” in your hearing perception than when they’re at a lower level. This is why the salesperson at the stereo store will crank up the volume when you’re buying speakers... they sound good that way because a higher level means you hear more bass.
SOME INFORMATION TO GO HERE ABOUT dB HEARING LEVEL, WHAT IT MEANS AND HOW IT WAS CREATED.
Frequency (Hz) dB SPL dB HL 250 15.0 0.0 500 9.0 0.0 1000 3.0 0.0 2000 -3.0 0.0 4000 -4.0 0.0 8000 13.0 0.0
Most of the world measures things in dBspl. This is a good thing because it’s a valid measurement of pressure referenced to some fixed amount of pressure. As Fletcher and Munson discovered, though, those numbers have fairly little to do with how loud things sound to us. So someone decided that it would be a really good idea to come up with a system which was related to dBspl but “fixed” according to how we perceive things.
The system they came up with measures the amplitude of sounds in something called phons.
Here’s how to find a value in phons for a given measured amplitude.
Measure the amplitude of the sound in dBspl Check the frequency of the sound in Hz Plot the intersection of the two values on the chart of the equal loudness contours in Figure 5.8 Find the nearest curve contour and check what the value of that curve is at 1 kHz That value is the amplitude of the sound in phons
The idea is that all sounds along a single equal loudness contour have the same apparent loudness level, and therefore are given the same value in phons. If you look at Figure 5.8 you’ll notice that the black curves are numbered. These numbers match the value of the curve where it intersects 1 kHz, consequently, they indicate the value of a frequency in phons if you know the value in dBspl. For example, if you have a sinusoidal tone at 100 Hz and a level of 70 dBspl, it’s on the 60 phon curve. Therefore that tone will sound the same loudness as a 1 kHz sinuoidal tone with a level of 60 dBspl. Since all the points on this curve will sound the same loudness to us, the curves are called equal loudness contours.
Let’s say that you’re hired to go measure the level of background noise in an office building. So, you wait until everyone has gone home, you set up your band-new and very expensive sound pressure level meter and you’ll find out that the noise level is really high – something like 90 dBspl or more.
This is a very strange number, because it doesn’t sound like the background noise is 90 dBspl... so why is the meter giving you such a high number? The answer lies in the quality of your meter’s microphone. Basically, the meter can hear better than you can – particularly at very low frequencies. You see, the air conditioning system in an office building makes a lot of noise at very low frequencies, but as we saw earlier, you aren’t very good at hearing very low frequencies.
The result is that the sound pressure level meter is giving you a very accurate reading, but it’s pretty useless at representing what you hear. So, how do we fix this? Easy! We just make the meter’s “hearing” as bad as yours.
So, what we have to do is to introduce a filter in between the microphone output and the measuring part of the meter. This filter should simulate your hearing abilities.
There’s a problem, however. As we saw in Section 5.4, the “EQ curve” of your hearing changes with level. Remember, the louder the sound, the flatter your personal frequency response. This means that we’re going to need a different filter in our sound pressure level meter according to the sound pressure of the signal that we’re measuring.
The filter that we use to simulate human hearing is called a weighting filter (sometimes called a weighting network) because it applies different weights (or levels of importance) to different frequencies. The frequency response characteristics of the filter is usually called a weighting curve.
There are three standard weighting curves, although we typically only use two of them in most situations. These three curves are shown in Figure 5.9 and are called the A-weighting, B-weighting, and C-weighting curves.
These curves show the frequency response characteristics of the three weighting filters. The question then is, how do you know which filter to use for a given measurement? As you can see in Figure 5.9, the A-weighting curve has the most attenuation in the low and high frequency bands. Therefore, of the three, it most closely matches your hearing at low levels. The B- and C-weighting curves have less attenuation in high frequencies than the A-weighting curve. The B-weighting curve has more attenuation in the low frequencies than the C-curve. Therefore, if your measuring a sound with a higher sound pressure level, you use the B-weighting curve. Even higher sound pressure levels require the C-weighting curve. Table 5.2 shows a list of suggestions for which weighting curve to use based on the sound pressure level.
Sound Level Weighting Range (dBspl) Network 20 – 55 A 55 – 85 B 85 – 140 C
Notice that the A-weighting curve has a great deal of attenuation in the low and high frequencies. Therefore, if you have a piece of equipment that is noisy, and you want to make its specifications look better than they really are, you can use an A-weighting curve to reduce the noise level. Manufacturers who want to make their gear have better specifications will use an A-weighting curve to improve the looks of their noise specifications.
You may also see instances where people use an A-weighting curve to measure acoustical noise floors even when the sound pressure level of the noise is much higher than 55 dBspl. This really doesn’t make much sense, since the frequency response of your hearing is better than an A-weighting filter at higher levels. Again, this is used to make you believe that things aren’t as loud as they appear to be.
Take a noise signal with a white spectrum and band-limit it with a filter that has a centre frequency of 2 kHz. Play that noise at the same time as you play a sinusoidal tone at 2 kHz and make the tone very quiet relative to the noise. You will not be able to detect the tone because the noise signal will mask it (“mask” is a psychoacoustician’s fancy word that means “drowns out” in everyday speech). This is true even if you would normally be able to hear the tone if the noise wasn’t there. It’s because of the noise that you can’t hear the tone. Now, turn up the level of the tone until you can hear it and write down its level (if there was no masking noise) in dBspl.
Increase the bandwidth of the noise signal (but do not turn up its level) and repeat the experiment. You’ll find that your threshold for detection of the tone will be higher. In other words, if the bandwidth of the masking signal is increased, you have to turn up the tone more in order to be able to hear it.
Increase the bandwidth and do the experiment again. Then do it again. If you keep doing this, you’ll notice that something interesting will happen. As you increase the bandwidth of the masker, the threshold for detection of the tone will increase up to a certain bandwidth. Then it won’t increase any more. This is illustrated in Figure 5.10.
This means that, for a given frequency, once you get far enough away in frequency, the noise does not contribute to the masking of the tone. (As an example, take an extreme case: you cannot mask a tone at 100 Hz with noise centered at 10 kHz.) The tone can only be masked by signals that are near it in frequency – anything outside that frequency range is irrelevant.
The bandwidth at which the threshold for the detection of the tone stops increasing is called the critical bandwidth. So, in the case of the 2 kHz tone illustrated in Figure 5.10, the critical bandwidth is 400 Hz.
If noise outside the critical bandwidth does not help to mask the tone, then we can assume that the auditory system is like a number of bandpass filters connected in parallel. If a tone and a noise are in the same filter (called an auditory filter), then the noise will contribute to the masking of the tone. If they are in different filters, then the noise cannot mask the tone. The width of these filters is measurable for any given centre frequency using the technique described above for measuring critical bandwidth. Consequently, these filters are called critical bands.
So far, we have been talking about a tone being masked by a noise band where the tone has the same frequency as the centre frequency of the masking noise. Let’s look at what happens if we change the frequency of the tone.
Figure 5.11 shows your threshold of hearing contour when you’re in a very quiet environment. As we saw above, if white noise is played, band limited to a critical bandwidth with a centre frequency of 1 kHz, it will mask a 1 kHz tone. In other words, we can say that the threshold of detection of the tone is raised by the masking noise. However, that noise will also be able to mask a tone at other frequencies. The further you get from the centre frequency of the masking noise, the lower the threshold of detection until, if the tone’s frequency is outside the critical band, the threshold of detection is the threshold of hearing.
We can therefore think of a masking noise as raising the threshold of hearing in an area around its centre frequency. Figure 5.12 shows the change in the threshold of detection caused by a masking noise with a centre frequency of 1 kHz and an level of 60 dBspl. As you can see, that threshold is not raised at only 1 kHz, but at surrounding frequencies.
As we discussed earlier, the amount that a masking noise will change the threshold of detection of a tone at its centre frequency depends on the bandwidth of the noise. It is also probably obvious that it will be dependent on the level of the masking noise. Figure 5.13 shows the change in the threshold of detection caused by a masking noise with a bandwidth equal to the critical bandwidth with a centre frequency of 1 kHz and various levels.
Note that everything we’ve discussed in this chapter is known as simultaneous masking – meaning that the masking noise and the tone are presented to the listener simultaneously. You should also know that forwards masking (where the masking noise comes before the tone) and backwards masking (where the masking noise comes after the tone) exist as well. For more information on this, read [Moore, 1989] and [Zwicker and Fastl, 1999].
How do you localize sound? For example, if you close your eyes and you hear a sound and you point and say “the sound came from over there,” how did you know? And, how good are you at doing this?
Well, you have two general things to sort out
Which direction is the sound coming from? How far away is it?
We determine the direction of the sound using a couple of basic components that rely on the fact that we have two ears
Which ear got the sound first? Which ear is the sound louder in? What is the timbre of the sound? How do things change if I turn my head a little bit?
The first thing you rely on is the interaural time difference (or ITD) of the sound. If the right ear hears the sound first, then the sound is on your right, if the left ear hears the sound first, then the sound is on your left. If the two ears get the sound simultaneously, then the sound is directly ahead, or above, or below or behind you.
The next thing you rely on is the interaural amplitude difference (or IAD). If the sound is louder in the right ear, then the sound is probably on your right. Interestingly, if the sound is louder in your right ear, but arrives in your left ear first, then your brain decides that the interaural time of arrival is the more important cue and basically ignores the amplitude information.
You also have these things sticking out of your head which most people call their ears but are really called your pinnae. These things bounce sound around inside them differently depending on which direction the sound is coming from. They tend to block really high frequencies coming from the rear (because they stick out a bit...) so rear sources sound “darker” than front sources. These are of a little more help when you turn your head back and forth a bit (which you do involuntarily anyway).
A long time ago, a guy named Lord Rayleigh wrote a book called “The Theory of Sound”[Rayleigh, 1945a][Rayleigh, 1945b] in which he said that the brain uses the phase difference of low frequencies to sort out where things are, whereas for high frequencies, the amplitude differences between the two ears are used. This is a pretty good estimation, although there’s a couple of people by the names of Wightman and Kistler that have been doing a lot of research in the matter.
Exactly how good are you at the localization of sound sources? Well, if the sound is in front of you, you’ll be accurate to within about 2∘ or so. If the sound is directly to one side, you’ll be up to about 7∘ off, and if the sound is above you, you’re really bad at it... typical errors for localizing sources above your head are about 14∘ – 20∘[Blauert, 1997].
Why? Well, probably because, anthropologically speaking, more stuff was attacking from the ground than from the sky. You’re better equipped if you can hear where the sabre-toothed tiger is rather than the large now-extinct human-eating flying penguin...
If you play a sound for someone on one side of their head
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grew up in heavily-censored Nazi Germany. I belonged to a generation that was politicized at an early age. It so happened that Nazi censorship was only fitfully applied to foreign language newspapers. Since I knew a little Danish a considerable part of my pocket money went to purchasing Politiken and Berlingske Tidende. Thus I was better informed than most of my contemporaries. For a considerable time after, I believed everyone had the right to know everything.
Doubts crept in when, as a historian, I had to confront the issue of arcana imperii (“secrets of state”) — the classical doctrine asserting that governments have certain prerogatives, including the right to keep secrets. I came to realize that the world isn’t a better place for people having access to bomb-making instructions on the Internet. But then the old question arises: Who will guard the guardians? Because, of course, once censorship is introduced it can easily be abused.
According to Western news reports, this is what happened in Poland following the recent elections. And the Polish government does influence the media, by withdrawing advertisements, or banning a play because it is allegedly pornographic for instance. The political opposition alerted its friends in the West.
This is perfectly legitimate, but is it wise?
The next Polish elections will not be won or lost in New York, London or even Brussels. Part of Polish popular opinion has become strongly anti-Western and in particular, anti-German, as a result of what they regard as unwarranted interference. I am told 19th-century patriotic songs have again become fashionable. This is about the last thing we need at a time when Europe faces very serious challenges and needs unity more than ever before.
* * *
Poland threatens Europe's unity
Jiri Pehe is a political analyst, global professor at New York University’s Center for European Mediterranean Studies and director of NYU Prague.
Poland — just like Slovakia during the rule of Vladimír Mečiar and contemporary Hungary — is quickly becoming an illiberal democracy. For the time being it will adhere to basic democratic mechanisms, such as regular elections, but it will continue to violate some basic principles of liberal constitutionalism. All institutions that are by definition independent from governments in liberal democracies — such as public media, the judiciary and central banks — will come under increasing pressure.
Three out of 4 Visegrad countries are now ruled by populists who lack respect for rule of law and liberal democracy.
Developments in Poland show how limited the understanding of democracy still is in most post-communist countries. There are large segments of society in those countries that still desire autocratic leaders and are intolerant of minorities.
Even more than 25 years after the fall of communism, significant parts of those societies have not been able to internalize democratic values. For the most part, these societies react to globalization and further EU integration with fear, which populists easily transform into militant nationalism.
The EU faces a real problem in the post-communist region: Three out of four Visegrad countries are now single-handedly ruled by populist parties that show disrespect for the rule of law and the values of liberal democracy.
It is becoming clear that before enlarging to the politically underdeveloped post-communist region, where the tradition of democracy is weak, the EU should have adopted strong safeguards allowing the Union to suspend the membership of any country whose government chooses not to respect the rule of law and basic human rights.
Existing mechanisms are too rigid because sanctions, like suspending voting rights of a country that violates EU principles, need to be adopted by a unanimous decision in the European Council. Hungary has already indicated that it will veto any such attempt.
The possibility that Western Europe may lose patience with the East and resort to measures outside the current EU treaties cannot be excluded. But there may be no good solutions. If circumventing the current EU framework for dealing with illiberal and undemocratic tendencies in Eastern Europe is problematic, tolerating the countries with authoritarian, potentially even semi-fascist regimes, in its midst may be even more risky for the EU.
* * *
This is not the end of democracy
Tomasz Wróblewski is the editor of Wprost, a weekly magazine in Warsaw.
Journalists at our weekly well remember a summer evening in 2014 when special service officers raided our editorial offices, demanding computers and equipment on which they believed conversations of politicians from the ruling party had been stored.
The recordings given to us by our sources revealed shocking cases of abuse of power, including a conversation between the minister of the interior and the head of the central bank, where in return for interest rate cuts the minister of the interior promised to dismiss the finance minister and increase the central bank governor’s powers.
Our offices were searched and agents of the “politically independent” services physically attacked the former editor-in-chief. Endless interrogations and intimidation of our advertisers followed; the cases were only recently dropped. Our journalists weren’t aware that for many months their private phone conversations were being tapped.
It’s hard for us at Wprost to treat seriously accusations, levelled by politicians from the former ruling party and the radio and television chiefs they nominated, that the new government is attacking our freedom of speech. These are the same people who, hand in hand with disgraced politicians, accused Wprost journalists of a crime, of publishing “illegally” recorded conversations.
For those who eagerly supported the ruling party, losing their jobs will certainly be an unpleasant experience. But that’s not the end of democracy. The media market doesn’t only include the public media. And what’s happening now can in no way be compared to the police harassment previously meted out to right-wing journalists.
Wprost survived a difficult period, thanks in large part to the broad diversity of Polish media. Right-wing journalists fired from public television created new magazines, portals and radio stations.
Neither the government nor any single publisher controls the market. Freedom of speech in Poland is safe.
* * *
Poland's real problem isn't press freedom — it's rule of law
Wojciech Przybylski is editor-in-chief of Eurozine and chairman of Res Publica Foundation in Warsaw.
Our democracy is doing well. But there is a problem with the rule of law. Poland will be in grave danger if the government introduces the bills that are as yet only hypothetical or planned, including the revision of the Constitution.
A law passed in December 2015 limits the powers of the Constitutional Tribunal, obstructing an institution firmly established in the European democratic culture of checks and balances. By doing so, the Law and Justice party (PiS) assumed more power than mandated in the October elections.
PiS did so under false pretenses. Irreversible damage was done by President Andrzej Duda when he refused to accept legally elected judges, swore in new judges in the middle of the night, just hours after their nomination by the new PiS-dominated parliament, and left three previous nominations in limbo. His decision was roundly criticized by the legal community in the country for violating the Constitution.
Now the ruling party wants to strengthen central powers and undermine privacy and human rights through a series of new regulations that will limit the power of the ombudsman and undercut the independence of the prosecutor general. Laws that give police the right to collect private Internet data without substantial judicial supervision and allow PiS to bypass media regulatory bodies established in the Constitution have already passed.
The biggest threat would be a change to the Constitution. It can be adopted by parliament under two scenarios: By a trick, in the absence of the opposition since a two-thirds majority is needed with a minimum half of MPs present; or as a consensual decision taken by the government and the opposition.
The first option would indeed put Polish democracy in danger. Law and Justice politicians claim it's unlikely, but they are already treading down that decidedly Orwellian path.
* * *
The Polish challenge to Europe's post-Berlin order
Harold James is the Claude and Lore Kelly professor of European studies at Princeton University and author of "Europe Reborn" (Routledge, 2003) and "Making the European Monetary Union" (Harvard University Press, 2012).
By overthrowing the constitutional court, purging public media, and threatening to intervene in privately owned media, the Polish government is clearly threatening democratic principles. It also — explicitly and deliberately — poses a threat to a Continent already weakened by a succession of crises, related to debt, migration, security, and energy.
The Law and Justice party’s strategy is striking. Quietly tweaking rules in order to increase chances of winning in the next election is not an uncommon practice in democracies, and some commentators have pointed to other countries (notably Italy) where governments intervene in the media.
Pope John Paul II’s lessons for PiS: ideological neutrality, respect for democratically agreed juridical norms, pluralism in the organization of society.
But the rapid actions the party took after their election victory were clearly intended to get a hostile response from Brussels and from Germany. These responses fit into a compelling narrative that resonates in a country which — justifiably — sees its 20th century history as perverted by foreign interventions. Jarosław Kaczyński makes the link between German criticism today and the Soviet interventions of 1956 and 1968.
The Polish policy has the effect of reinforcing the Western critique that the eastern extension of the EU and NATO were fundamental mistakes. The combined effect of the Polish challenge and the Western response will divide and eventually destroy Europe, making European countries vulnerable to pressure from the outside (and Poland is vulnerable). In reality, the only way of responding effectively to Europe’s multiple challenges is through collective response in which East and West work together.
An effective European response to Poland’s constitutional crisis does not involve judicial sanctions or penalties. What is needed is a new way thinking about why Europe matters, and why important goals cannot be realized by individual countries any more than they can be by individual people.
What better place to start that thinking than with the legacy of the real founder of post-Communist Poland, St. John Paul II, who offered a vision of a “Europe of the spirit”? In the aftermath of the political revolution of 1989, he explained how the political and constitutional dimensions of a new European order should involve “Ideological neutrality, the dignity of the human person as the source of rights, the fact that the person comes before society, respect for democratically agreed juridical norms, pluralism in the organization of society.”
* * *
No cause for hysteria or political bullying
Agnieszka Kołakowska is a journalist and translator who lives in Paris and writes for the Polish and British press.
The world’s press gets its Polish news from the same people who have just lost their power and privileges: The left-wing elites that have been in alliance with the formerly ruling Civic Platform party and who cry fascism at anyone who disagrees with their views or threatens their monopoly on what passes for an enlightened opinion.
PiS is vilified for embracing traditional values, its smidgen of Euroskepticism, and its refusal to submit to bullying by the EU and Germany.
Now they have lost control of the media and public institutions and are howling in outrage. Hence the talk of a fascist dictatorship and the end of democracy, freedom of the press and civil liberties.
It is shocking that this is being taken at face value; it shows just how far-reaching the influence of Poland's left-wing elites and the liberal newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza, has become.
The Law and Justice party (PiS) — which won an absolute majority in both the Parliament and Senate — is vilified for embracing traditional and family values, its smidgen of Euroskepticism, its refusal to submit to bullying by the EU and Germany in particular, its emphasis on national sovereignty and its insistence that Christianity and the Church have a public role to play in Poland. None of this warrants investigation by the European Commission, let alone cries to topple the government.
It was the Civic Platform party that appointed five of its people to the Constitutional Tribunal at the last minute, resulting in 14 out of 15 judges being Civic Platform nominees. At present there are nine Civic Platform appointees. I fail to see how this is less democratic.
When Civic Platform came to power, they purged the media, appointing people who would toe the party line. Neither the foreign press nor the European Commission seemed concerned at the time. The public media were independent only in name. They were in fact controlled by Civil Platform and disseminated an endless stream of virulent anti-PiS propaganda.
Government funding for the arts was similarly partisan. Newspapers loyal to Civic Platform were subsidized under the table through government advertising. The list goes on.
Polish voters have lived through eight years of scandals, spectacular corruption, and public services that did not fulfill their purpose. The media and the judiciary were independent only in name. Voters felt they were treated with arrogance and contempt, and that Poland was too accommodating toward the EU. They were tired of being dictated to. They wanted to be proud to be Polish. They were sick of “patriotism” and “sovereignty” being treated like dirty words.
Voters want an end to cronyism and corruption. They want transparency and the affirmation of their country’s sovereignty. There is no justification whatsoever for the current hysteria over threats to Polish democracy.
* * *
PiS is not strong enough to end Polish democracy
Janusz Bugajski is a policy analyst in Washington who has published 20 books on Europe, Russia, and trans-Atlanticism. His most recent, co-authored with Margarita Assenova, is "Eurasian Disunion: Russia’s Vulnerable Flanks" (Brookings, 2015).
Democracies periodically confront challenges from the “tyranny of the majority.” The threat appears when a party gains a parliamentary majority in one election and seeks to permanently enshrine its agenda using constitutional amendments, new legislation, and personnel appointments, all the while disregarding any opposition.
Poland under the Law and Justice (PiS) government is testing Polish democracy along these lines. The core danger is that PiS leaders believe they have a mandate to create a “new Poland” by imposing a conservative social agenda and a protectionist economic program.
Claiming to be the voice of the majority, the government ignores the fact that different people voted for it for different reasons: Some were protesting the previous government and some believed PiS’s pledges to raise living standards, without accepting its program in its entirety.
In democracies, majority parties can rapidly become minority ones as voters switch allegiances. As this process unfolds in Poland, moves to make PiS policies permanent will increasingly be challenged by a more coherent opposition and a vibrant civil society that has already staged mass protests against the government. After only a few months in office, support for PiS is shrinking and backing for the liberal and centrist opposition is steadily rising.
By trying to reverse the liberalization of Polish society, PiS is risking its own survival.
PiS is simply not strong enough to establish a “partyocracy,” even if its leaders harbor such ambitions. Poland experienced a PiS government that sought to implement an ultra-conservative agenda in 2006. But it ended up alienating the majority of voters and being replaced in the 2007 elections. While PiS currently has a parliamentary majority, splits and defections become more likely if protests over controversial policies such as government control of the media or the introduction of anti-abortion laws accelerate. Political divisions will be compounded by unfulfilled economic promises because serious doubts remain over PiS’ ability to stimulate investment.
By trying to reverse the liberalization of Polish society, PiS is risking its own survival. Its program will polarize globalists and isolationists. Traditionalist revivals in any EU state tap into widespread fears of competition and modernism. Most Western European societies are experiencing a similar phenomenon, as the electoral successes of anti-immigration and Euroskeptic parties demonstrate.
The onus is on liberal, centrist, and free market parties in Poland to convince voters that they offer a more secure and prosperous future. The longer that PiS pushes its agenda, disregards all opposition, and alienates its international allies the more likely it is that Poland will stagnate economically and damage its international reputation.
* * *
Poland's strong position within EU and NATO on the line
David J. Kramer, a former senior official in the Bush Administration and president of Freedom House, is senior director for human rights and democracy at the McCain Institute for International Leadership in Washington.
Every September, Poland hosts the meeting of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), part of the 57-member Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Last year, most of the criticism was focused on Russia, Azerbaijan, Central Asia, Belarus, and Hungary, among others.
I do not recall much mention, if any, of concerns about the meeting’s host, Poland, and the possibility that one of the most successful models of democratic transition — from Soviet-imposed Communism to an influential, democratic member of the European Union and NATO — could backslide. But that was before the parliamentary election that brought the Law and Justice Party (PiS) to power last October.
This summer's NATO summit in Warsaw could be very awkward.
In light of a number of actions taken by the new government, I fear that this year’s ODIHR meeting could be quite different, with Poland much more of a focus. It has taken worrying steps that essentially neuter the Constitutional Tribunal and expand government control over public broadcasters, and made several controversial, high-level appointments, including the head of the secret security services and the defense minister.
In addition to hosting the ODIHR meeting in September, Poland will host this year’s NATO Summit. Should current trends continue, that meeting could become awkward as well. Relations with the European Commission — which holds a special meeting on the state of rule of law in Poland Wednesday — have already become tense.
In a January 7 letter to Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans, the Polish Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs Aleksander Stepkowski wrote, “someone has provided you with misleading information that is biased against the Polish government.”
Whether or not interpretations of the new Polish government’s actions have been unfair or based on “misleading information,” there is no arguing that President Andrzej Duda, Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, and the PiS-led government have made a bad first impression. A meeting last week between PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (not exactly the poster child for liberal democracy) didn’t help.
The new Polish government needs to reassure Euro-Atlantic institutions that it remains deserving of hosting values-based gatherings, for its own sake and the sake of the EU, NATO, and the OSCE/ODIHR.
* * *
The EU needs to formulate a balanced response
Rebecca Harms is the president of the Green Group in the European Parliament.
The populist wind that has been blowing across Europe reached Poland this winter. While it’s no surprise the governing Law and Justice Party has lurched away from democratic norms, the speed and extent of this shift is disturbing.
It’s important to await the precise analysis of the Council of Europe and the European Commission, but there can be no doubt that the laws passed and pending compromise the independence of the media and the judiciary, and are at odds with the basic democratic values to which all EU member states are committed.
There are clear echoes of the previous situation in Hungary, but also in other EU member states like Italy, Bulgaria and Romania. The European response has typically been characterized by dithering from the European Commission and complete inaction from EU governments in Council. The response from Poland's partners in Council must now be more decisive.
The Commission has already indicated it is ready to use a new a framework to safeguard the rule of law in the European Union. While it’s far from perfect, it is nonetheless an important means of filling the vacuum left by the lack of constructive action from EU governments in Council.
Poland is a vital member of the European Union. Simply accepting its rollback of the rule of law would essentially change the rules of the club. It would also seriously undermine the credibility of the Union in promoting its values with partners beyond its borders, notably in accession countries like Turkey and the wider neighborhood.
There is a delicate balance to be struck in the EU’s response. Ultimately, it is only with Polish citizens that this attack on Polish democratic norms can be faced down. Meeting the Polish government's provocative stance with provocation, as some EU politicians have done, is not helpful in this regard, particularly given their inaction in similar cases in the past.
There is clearly wide opposition in Poland to the new government’s plans. The EU has a duty to support this opposition and ensure that one political party does not change the country’s entire democratic architecture and undo it’s hard-won democratic achievements.READER COMMENTS ON
"Top U.S. Scientist Arrested in FBI Sting Attempting to Sell Nuclear Secrets to Israel"
(20 Responses so far...)
COMMENT #1 [Permalink]
... TreeTop007 said on 10/20/2009 @ 2:47 am PT...
A Jew traitor(Ben-Ami Kadish) admitted to giving Yosef Yagur(Jonathan Pollard's very same handler)Nuclear WEAPON, Patriot Missile, and F-15 secrets. He gets a $50,000 fine for selling out the his own country. The traitors reply to the Judge after being fined...'No problem.'
http://abcnews.go.com/im...Law/Kadish_Complaint.pdf
COMMENT #2 [Permalink]
... Ed Encho said on 10/20/2009 @ 3:33 am PT...
I will be impressed when they start hauling in some of the traitors in Congress and the neocons like Perle and Feith. EE
COMMENT #3 [Permalink]
... Erich Gibbs said on 10/20/2009 @ 7:47 am PT...
Brad: Have you seen this:
http://narcosphere.narco...in-part-1990s-pakistan-c
COMMENT #4 [Permalink]
... Erich Gibbs said on 10/20/2009 @ 7:50 am PT...
[ed note: No, Erich, the link works fine, even if it doesn't show the whole long string. --99]
COMMENT #5 [Permalink]
... par4 said on 10/20/2009 @ 8:58 am PT...
Col.Lang has a good suggestion at sic semper tyrannus.
COMMENT #6 [Permalink]
... karen from illinois said on 10/20/2009 @ 9:43 am PT...
so is this a token bust or a step in the right direction? i would love to see carol lam tapped as special prosecutor http://thinkprogress.org...9/carol-lam-white-house/ from the article The media reports this morning that among Lam’s politically powerful targets were former CIA official Kyle “Dusty” Foggo and then-House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA). But there is evidence to believe that the White House may also have been on Lam’s target list. Here are the connections: – Washington D.C. defense contractor Mitchell Wade pled guilty last February to paying then-California Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham more than $1 million in bribes. – Wade’s company MZM Inc. received its first federal contract from the White House. The contract, which ran from July 15 to August 15, 2002, stipulated that Wade be paid $140,000 to “provide office furniture and computers for Vice President Dick Cheney.” – Two weeks later, on August 30, 2002, Wade purchased a yacht for $140,000 for Duke Cunningham. The boat’s name was later changed to the “Duke-Stir.” Said one party to the sale: “I knew then that somebody was going to go to jail for that…Duke looked at the boat, and Wade bought it — all in one day. Then they got on the boat and floated away.” – According to Cunningham’s sentencing memorandum, the purchase price of the boat had been negotiated through a third-party earlier that summer, around the same time the White House contract was signed. T recap, the White House awarded a one-month, $140,000 contract to an individual who never held a federal contract. Two weeks after he got paid, that same contractor used a cashier’s check for exactly that amount to buy a boat for a now-imprisoned congressman at a price that the congressman had pre-negotiated.
COMMENT #7 [Permalink]
... Brad Friedman said on 10/20/2009 @ 1:44 pm PT...
TreeTop007 - "Jew traitor"? Lovely. So in addition to being an unbelievable homophobe (see TT7's obnoxious comment thread beginning here) and teabagger, you're also an anti-Semite? Folks like you never fail to amaze. That's some good hatin' there, chief.
COMMENT #8 [Permalink]
... Leyla said on 10/20/2009 @ 6:20 pm PT...
Brad, you did especially well conveying the outrageousness of the situation here--succinct listing of a set of facts that just do not add up no matter how one looks at it. Thanks for your efforts to keep writing about Sibel against the deafening silence. Is there any way at all to explain this to a semi-rational mind?!?
COMMENT #9 [Permalink]
... Doug said on 10/20/2009 @ 6:52 pm PT...
If someone objects to the racist, apartheid policies of the Jewish State, they are labeled "anti-semitic". If someone notices and mentions discrepancies in the official Holocaust ™ story, such as how the sacred "6 million" number hasn't changed, despite the reduction in Auschwitz official numbers from 4 million to 1-1.5 million, they are labeled "anti-semitic". If someone notices that our supposed friends in the Jewish State are heavily involved in espionage against us and sell our military secrets to China, they are labeled "anti-semitic". So, tell me, what's so wrong with being labeled "anti-semitic"? Sounds like it is a badge of honor in recognition of one's morality and ability to see the obvious.
COMMENT #10 [Permalink]
... fred said on 10/20/2009 @ 8:04 pm PT...
What I find interesting re Edmonds narrative is corroboration with other information about 911 and the NeoCons. There were evidently cells within the U S, British, Israeli and other governments in collusion, having the same effect of overruling their intelligence agencies to get their goals accomplished. It looks as though we had U S, British, Israeli and other agents trying to prevent 911 and the war against Iraq, and agents in these same agencies working to enable them.
COMMENT #11 [Permalink]
... Tommy|ymmoT said on 10/21/2009 @ 9:44 am PT...
{Ed Note: Racist comment deleted. Racist, homophobic wingnut user known as "TreeTop007" and "Tommy|ymmoT" and "IcebergSlim" now banned for repeated violations of BRAD BLOG commenting rules in using multiple names to post. - BF}
COMMENT #12 [Permalink]
... Cascadiance said on 10/21/2009 @ 10:31 am PT...
Karen, Unfortunately, Carol Lam was rather QUICKLY hired on as Qualcomm's Senior Vice President and Legal Counsel right after she left her prosecutor position when she indicted Dusty Foggo and Brent Wilkes. Done right about the time when a few Dems were looking at the idea of hiring her back as an independent contractor to follow up on the prosecutions she was working on. Perhaps coincidentally, or perhaps not so coincidentally, Brent Scowcroft, serves on the board of Qualcomm, as well as the board of the American Turkish Council (ATC). Probably would be difficult to hire her away from that position.
COMMENT #13 [Permalink]
... IcebergSlim said on 10/21/2009 @ 4:01 pm PT...
{Ed Note: Racist comment deleted. Racist, homophobic wingnut user known as "TreeTop007" and "Tommy|ymmoT" and "IcebergSlim" now banned for repeated violations of BRAD BLOG commenting rules in using multiple names to post. - BF}
COMMENT #14 [Permalink]
... Cascadiance said on 10/21/2009 @ 4:19 pm PT...
IcebergSlim, When you and treetop say that Ban-Ami Kadish is a 'Jew traitor', you are implying that he's traitor to the "Jew" religion, which if you want to be more accurate and not slurring it, you would refer to him as a 'JewISH traitor', if you wanted to make him out to be a traitor to his JewISH religion. But no, you are saying that he is a "Jew betraying his country". WHICH country, the U.S., or Israel? THOSE are countries. There is no country named "Jew". Therefore one can only conclude that "Jew" as you and Treetop use it is an ADDITIONAL adjective besides Kadish's country used to denigrate him as a slur on his religion. Now he might be an AMERICAN traitor, which I don't think Brad would have necessarily taken issue with, if you have an honest reason to feel that he's betrayed America, which many here, perhaps including myself might feel. But there's no reason to use religious slurs when none are necessary. It just gives those who are trying to have honest criticism of these foreign country lobbies and those that are abusing their power in our government with them a bad name. You don't call other traitors here like Bush a "Christ-lover" traitor do you? He might be a traitor too, which I feel there's a good argument for saying, but I wouldn't use that terminology if I wanted to get others to hear what I am saying for the RIGHT reasons, and not for other reasons that appeals to other emotions instead of logic.
COMMENT #15 [Permalink]
... IcebergSlim said on 10/21/2009 @ 4:33 pm PT...
{Ed Note: Racist comment deleted. Racist, homophobic wingnut user known as "TreeTop007" and "Tommy|ymmoT" and "IcebergSlim" now banned for repeated violations of BRAD BLOG commenting rules in using multiple names to post. - BF}
COMMENT #16 [Permalink]
... connecticutman1 said on 10/21/2009 @ 6:15 pm PT...
I found some interesting stuff behind Nozette having worked for the Israeli government owned Israel Aerospace Industries for a decade and a possible sale of satellites to Turkey currently being held up by the US government. It may or may not be relevant but I am kicking it in here anyways.
COMMENT #17 [Permalink]
... Brad Friedman said on 10/21/2009 @ 6:36 pm PT...
Great work, Connecticut1. Saw it earlier today, and included links to it (and quote from it), in my story today on the Military.com piece on Edmonds. See end of the article here: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7478
COMMENT #18 [Permalink]
... connecticutman1 said on 10/21/2009 @ 7:04 pm PT...
Thanks kindly! Glad someone found it useful. lol
COMMENT #19 [Permalink]
... Pam Green said on 10/21/2009 @ 9:08 pm PT...
What about the many security secrets sold to Russia, China, et al, by Boeing? I just read about this at http://www.commondreams....rg/headline/2009/10/19-8.
COMMENT #20 [Permalink]
... Mole said on 10/26/2009 @ 10:59 am PT...SONNY Bono, former husband and singing partner of superstar Cher, was clubbed to death by hitmen on the orders of drug and weapons dealers who feared he was going to expose them, a former FBI agent claims.
Ted Gunderson, now a private investigator, has told the US Globe tabloid that Bono, who served as mayor of Palm Springs for four years, did not die after hitting a tree on a Nevada ski slope in January 1998 as everyone believed.
"It's nonsense for anyone to now try to suggest that Bono died after crashing into a tree. There's zero evidence in this autopsy report... to show such an accident happened. Instead, there's powerful proof he was assassinated.
"This was an evil plot that was carried out to almost perfection by ruthless assassins," Mr Gunderson told the paper.
The former agent, who has been researching Bono's accident for the past decade, said top officials linked to an international drug and weapons ring feared the singer-turned-politician was about to expose their crimes - so they had him killed on the slopes.
Bono, an experienced skiier, was ambushed on the slopes by hired hitmen, who beat him to death and then staged a tree collision, Mr Gunderson said.
He called for authorities to dig up Bono's remains and open a homicide investigation.
His claims have reportedly been backed by top forensics experts who fear Nevada authorities were too quick to call the death a skiing accident.
Investigator Bob Fletcher had also confessed he sent evidence of a 10-year study that linked top US government officials to arms and weapons dealers to Bono less than a month before his death, the Globe reported.
"(Bono) was going to make it his No.1 priority... There's no doubt in my mind Sonny was murdered by someone who needed him silenced," Mr Fletcher told the paper.
Originally published as Drug hitmen 'clubbed' Sonny to deathRussell Yates said he hoped his daughters would reach out to him, adding he didn't even know if they knew they had a father. "I hope they get in touch with me. I've been searching for them for 30 years."
SCITUATE, R.I. -- A Warwick woman who fled Rhode Island in 1985 with her two young daughters in a custody dispute with her husband has been arrested in Houston.
Elaine C. Yates is facing charges of child snatching and fugitive from justice while her two daughters, now in their 30s, have an opportunity to speak with their father, Russell, for the first time in 31 years.
Russell Yates came to the door of his duplex in Warwick Tuesday afternoon and acknowledged he was "stunned."
"I always hoped this day would happen," Yates said, "and now I hope they [his daughters] will want to get in touch with me."
State Police Lt. Col. Joseph F. Philbin said an anonymous tip two days before Christmas led detectives to solve a missing child case that had been national news.
Russell Yates filed a missing persons report in August 1985, after his estranged wife disappeared with Kimberly, then 3 1/2 years old, and 10-month-old Kelly.
In 1990 the New York Times said that Russell Yates, did not divorce Elaine Yates because he did not want to give his wife the legal opportunity to change her name and the girls' names.
But she was able to do so anyway, said Philbin. Elaine Yates was living as Liana L. Waldberg, he said, and her two daughters also had new names. He declined to identify the daughters, but said they were living in Houston with families of their own.
The state police had collected sightings of the Yates' family from across the country and around the world, Philbin said.
This time, he said, the anonymous tip on Dec. 23 sent them in the right direction.
State Police Detectives Adam Kennett and Ruth Hernandez used social media postings, court records and other sources to devise that Waldberg was really Elaine Yates.
She was arrested at her Houston home Monday at 12:30 p.m. by Texas rangers and Rhode Island State Police. She was arraigned by a judge in Houston and waived extradition to Rhode Island. She is expected to be arraigned in Kent County Superior Court on Wednesday.
The investigation is ongoing, Philbin said, and it's not known yet how or where the mother and daughters have lived for the last 31 years.
The state police spoke with the daughters and gave them their father's phone number, Philbin said. He declined to say what their reaction was or whether they knew about their true identity.
The state police also called Russell Yates with the news that they'd finally found his two daughters.
Yates said Tuesday that he didn't know how any of the discovery transpired. He said he couldn't believed his ex-wife had gone to this extent to keep the children from him.
Yates said he hoped his daughters would reach out to him, adding he didn't even know if they knew they had a father.
"I hope they get in touch with me. I've been searching for them for 30 years."
-- This report was updated at 12:23 p.m. and 2:08 p.m.
Correction: The alias Elaine Yates was living under in Houston is Liana L. Waldberg. The first name of Yates' alias, as obtained from the R.I. State Police, was incorrect in an earlier version of this story.
Tweets by AmandaMilkovitsBy Stephen Lendman
America has a notorious record of indiscriminately killing civilians in all its wars of aggression - from aerial attacks and ground operations, including special ops.
Since US warplanes began bombing Syrian infrastructure and government targets last year on the phony pretext of combating ISIS, nearly a thousand civilian deaths were reported, likely many more ignored or forgotten in the fog of war.
A September UN report alone said the US-led coalition’s continued “airstrikes against ISIL in Syria on a near-daily basis with reports of some 865 people killed, including 50 civilians, in Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor, Hasakeh, Idlib and Raqqa since strikes began” in September 2014.
Retired US Army Col. Douglas MacGregor called Washington’s campaign completely unsuccessful from the standpoint of destroying ISIS, but it’s an enormous success story for ISIS. It is actually helping the Wahhabist recruit new people - more than a thousand every month from across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
US-led airstrikes claim more civilian casualties daily, nearly always unreported by Western media. Major attacks claiming numerous lives alone at times attract their attention.
These incidents though too grave to ignore still get short shrift coverage at best. The latest one occurred on Monday.
Surprisingly, the pro-Western, London based, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported it, saying US-led “coalition raids struck the village of Al-Khan, which is held by ISIS. But Daesh is only present on the outskirts of the town, which is why all of the deaths were civilians.”
The raid and many others like it provide more evidence of US support for ISIS - claiming they’re combating their forces while targeting Syrian sites along with indiscriminately killing civilians, each incident more proof of horrendous crimes of war and against humanity, how America wages all its wars.
At
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Apia test
* All Blacks coach Steve Hansen made a Samoa chief
Heinz believes the injury may have been a blessing in prolonging his career.
"It's been a long road, I broke my leg back in January and there's another month to go before I'm out on the field but there's light at the end of the tunnel," he said.
"It's been a frustrating year but having this carrot of a new team and challenge gave me something to work towards.
"The timing has been pretty good, the World Cup is on which means the Premiership has been delayed and that works in my favour and I'll be ready for the start of the season.
"While having a broken leg is a disadvantage, it's given my body time to recover. I've had six months off which I wouldn't usually have and providing I get the leg right my body will come back in better nick than ever before."
Heinz likes the feel of the Gloucester set-up and believes he can contribute, saying having rubbed shoulders with greats like Dan Carter, Richie McCaw and Kieran Read means he has picked up plenty of experience.Your voice speaks volumes
With a simple “Ok Google” you can play songs, artists, radio stations, your favorite playlists and more from Google Play Music, Pandora, Spotify, TuneIn and YouTube Music with additional services like iHeartRadio coming soon. You can also play a podcast while making pasta or listen to today’s news while tying your shoes. And if you just want to stream audio directly from your phone, you can cast music to Google Home from 100+ Chromecast-enabled apps on your Android or iOS device.
Google Home’s smart audio design integrates a high-excursion driver with a dual passive radiator design that delivers crystal-clear highs and deep lows for Hi-Fi sound that streams over WiFi. That means a lot of big sound from a small package. Even while you jam out to music, it can easily hear you from across the room, thanks to two omnidirectional microphones and neural beamforming.
Get answers big and small
Google Home taps into the power of Google Search to give you real-time answers to things you want to know. Ask Google Home to translate phrases and do simple math calculations. Kneading pizza dough and need to change ounces to grams? Ask and get unit conversions and nutritional info, too. Getting ready for the day? Get real-time info on the weather, the stock market, the traffic, or your favorite sports team. Google Home can also help you find answers to more obscure questions directly on the web. It’s all the power of Google with a simple voice command.Lesser known Clojure: variants of threading macro
5 min minute read
The threading macros ( -> and ->> ) provide easy to understand and read mechanism of sequential transformation of data in Clojure. I’m pretty sure that you know it, but for the sake of clarity I start this post with a recap.
Thread first ->
The thread first -> macro allows pass the result of the first expression to the next one, that can be passed to another one and so. Previous result is always inserted as the second element of the form. If you think in term of function call, then the previous result is always the first parameter of the next function call. In other words, it’s a pipeline of functions invocation. If this is still not clear for you, let me show you an example:
( -> 5 ( - 2 ) ( * 2 ) ( > 1 ) ) => true
In this example we start with 5 that is passed to the (- 2) form resulting in (- 5 2) expression. The result ( 3 ) is passed to (* 2) which gives 6 and then the comparison is happening (> 6 1). So the final result is true.
We can also use macroexpand-1 to see how this code is transformed by the reader:
( macroexpand-1'( -> 5 ( - 2 ) ( * 2 ) ( > 1 ) ) )
here is result:
( > ( * ( - 5 2 ) 2 ) 1 )
As you can see the thread first macro allows us to read (and write) code from top to bottom instead from the inside out (which usually is harder to read for humans)
Thread last ->>
The thread last ->> macro works almost the same as the -> form. The only difference is that result of the previous call is inserted as the last element of the form (last argument of the function call). This makes that thread last macro is ideal for working with functions operating on collections like: map, filter, reduce and so on, because those functions take collection as the last parameter. I will show you this on an example. Let’s say we have a vector with 5 numbers, we want to multiply every number by 3, then remove numbers that are lower then 10 and as the last step we want to sum them. To do it, we can write such code:
( ->> [ 1 6 3 7 0 ] ( map ( fn [x] ( * 3 x) ) ) ( filter ( fn [x] ( > x 10 ) ) ) ( reduce +) ) => 39
as you can see this makes code nice to read and reason about. As a confirmation of my words, let’s look how this code looks when we transform it with macroexpand-1 :
( macroexpand-1'( ->> [ 1 6 3 7 0 ] ( map ( fn [x] ( * 3 x) ) ) ( filter ( fn [x] ( > x 10 ) ) ) ( reduce +) ) )
the result is:
( reduce + ( filter ( fn [x] ( > x 10 ) ) ( map ( fn [x] ( * 3 x) ) [ 1 6 3 7 0 ] ) ) )
I think you agree that the code with ->> looks much better.
In version 1.5 of Clojure additional functions were added that extend the main idea of -> and ->> macros.
cond->
Let’s start with quoting a documentation:
(cond-> [expr & clauses]) Takes an expression and a set of test/form pairs. Threads expr (via ->) through each form for which the corresponding test expression is true. Note that, unlike cond branching, cond-> threading does not short circuit after the first true test expression.
In other words, this forms allows us to thread previous result only to the next form if its condition is true. Let’s look at such sample:
( defn true-or-false [] ( = 1 ( rand-int 2 ) ) ) ( cond-> 1 true ( - 2 ) false ( * 5 ) ( true-or-false ) ( * 2 ) )
1 is passed to (- 2) because its condition is true, then (* 5) is skipped ( false ) and the last expression (* 2) is executed only if true-or-false function returns true. The final result can be -1 or -2. There are two important things here:
the test part can’t use threaded value
use threaded value if test is false, then the whole expression isn’t aborted, but the next test is evaluated.
For curiosity we can also see how this macro looks after expansion:
( clojure.core/let [G__15268 1 G__15268 ( if true ( clojure.core/-> G__15268 ( - 2 ) ) G__15268) G__15268 ( if false ( clojure.core/-> G__15268 ( * 5 ) ) G__15268) G__15268 ( if ( true-or-false ) ( clojure.core/-> G__15268 ( * 2 ) ) G__15268) ] G__15268)
so this is basically a let form with if forms in in. The G__15268 is auto generated symbol ( gensym function generates such names).
cond->>
The cond->> is conditional variant of ->> form. Same as that form, previous result is inserted as the last element of the next form. Again, it makes ideal fit for working with functions operating on collections.
Here you can see an example of its usage:
( defn process-collection [col use-map? use-filter? sum?] ( cond->> col use-map? ( map ( fn [x] ( * x 5 ) ) ) use-filter? ( filter ( fn [x] ( < x 25 ) ) ) sum? ( reduce +) ) )
We can use clojure.walk/macroexpand-all to expand this function - result are very similar to expanding example with cond-> :
( def process-collection ( fn* ( [col use-map? use-filter? sum?] ( let* [G__15189 col G__15189 ( if use-map? ( map ( fn* ( [x] ( * x 5 ) ) ) G__15189) G__15189) G__15189 ( if use-filter? ( filter ( fn* ( [x] ( < x 25 ) ) ) G__15189) G__15189) G__15189 ( if sum? ( reduce + G__15189) G__15189) ] G__15189) ) ) )
some->
As before, first let’s look at the documentation:
(some-> [expr & forms]) When expr is not nil, threads it into the first form (via ->), and when that result is not nil, through the next etc
this means that some-> allows us threading result of previous expressions as long as none of them evaluate to nil. If one of the results is nil then the whole evaluation is stopped and nil is returned as some-> form result. If every result is not nil then some-> behaves as -> form.
The example:
( defn return-nil [x] nil) ( some-> 5 inc (/ 3 ) return-nil ( * 5 ) )
in this case some-> returns nil because return-nil function returns nil
If we expand this macro, we get such code:
( clojure.core/let [G__15166 5 G__15166 ( if ( clojure.core/nil? G__15166) nil ( clojure.core/-> G__15166 inc) ) G__15166 ( if ( clojure.core/nil? G__15166) nil ( clojure.core/-> G__15166 (/ 3 ) ) ) G__15166 ( if ( clojure.core/nil? G__15166) nil ( clojure.core/-> G__15166 return-nil) ) G__15166 ( if ( clojure.core/nil? G__15166) nil ( clojure.core/-> G__15166 ( * 5 ) ) ) ] G__15166)
Again, nothing special here, it is expanded to the let form with the if expressions.
some->>
I think now it’s obvious what some->> does. So let’s look only at usage example and it’s expansion:
( some->> [ 1 2 3 ] ( map ( partial * 6 ) ) return-nil ( map odd?) )
and it’s transformed into such code:
( clojure.core/let [G__15166 [ 1 2 3 ] G__15166 ( if ( clojure.core/nil? G__15166) nil ( clojure.core/->> G__15166 ( map ( partial * 6 ) ) ) ) G__15166 ( if ( clojure.core/nil? G__15166) nil ( clojure.core/->> G__15166 return-nil) ) G__15166 ( if ( clojure.core/nil? G__15166) nil ( clojure.core/->> G__15166 ( map odd?) ) ) ] G__15166)
as->
The last macro we focus on is as->, its doc string says:
(as-> [expr name & forms]) Binds name to expr, evaluates the first form in the lexical context of that binding, then binds name to that result, repeating for each successive form, returning the result of the last form.
It took me a while before I fully understand how to us this form. The macro provides possibility to bind a given name to results of successive forms. I can find one good use case for this form (if you have more then please let me know in comments) - you have set of functions and you want to pass some data throughout those functions, but their signature differs (the data should be placed in different arguments locations). I think example will better explain this:
( defn f1 [_ n _ _] ( inc n) ) ( defn f2 [n _ _] ( dec n) ) ( defn f3 [_ _ _ n] ( + 5 n) ) ( as-> 1 n ( f1 nil n nil nil) ( f2 n nil nil) ( f3 nil nil nil n) ) => 6
In this example we want to pass value 1 (that is bind to symbol n ) to function f1, then the result should be passed to f2 and this result to f3. As you can see those functions have different signatures and we need to pass n on different positions.
After expanding form with as-> we get such code:
( clojure.core/let [n 1 n ( f1 nil n nil nil) n ( f2 n nil nil) n ( f3 nil nil nil n) ] n)
which is easy to understand (it uses only let form).
I hope you enjoy this overview of threading macros available in Clojure.Last January, on the eve of new disclosures in a book by a former political aide, Mr. Edwards admitted he had fathered a child with the videographer. Soon afterward, he and Mrs. Edwards separated legally.
Mrs. Edwards, a savvy political adviser who took on major roles in her husband’s two campaigns for the White House, learned she had a breast tumor the size of a half-dollar on the day after Election Day 2004, when the Democratic ticket — Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts and Mr. Edwards, his running mate from North Carolina — lost to President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Radiation and chemotherapy appeared to put the cancer into remission. In a best-selling memoir, “Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers” (Broadway Books, 2006), Mrs. Edwards chronicled her fight for survival. But in March 2007, with her husband again chasing a presidential nomination, this time against Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, Mr. and Mrs. Edwards disclosed that her cancer had returned.
They said it was malignant and in an advanced stage, having spread beyond the breast and lymph nodes into her ribs, hip bones and lungs. It was treatable but “no longer curable,” Mr. Edwards explained. But he said he would continue his bid for the presidency, and Mrs. Edwards said that she, too, would go on with the campaign. “I don’t expect my life to be significantly different,” she declared.
Mrs. Edwards had always been a dominant figure in her husband’s political life. Often called his closest adviser and surrogate, she reviewed his television advertisements and major speeches, helped pick his lieutenants, joined internal debates over tactics and strategy, and sometimes dressed down, or even forced out, campaign aides she thought had failed her husband.
A scathing portrait of Mrs. Edwards’s political role, based mainly on unnamed sources, was presented in “Game Change,” a book by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin published last January. “The nearly universal assessment” among campaign aides, they wrote, “was that there was no one on the national stage for whom the disparity between public image and private reality was vaster or more disturbing.”
Mrs. Edwards’s advanced cancer made her a riveting figure, at times overshadowing the candidate himself. In 2007, she was often mobbed by crowds that saw her as courageous. Inevitably, there were questions about putting their marriage on display. People wondered about their values, or whether they were in denial about the cancer. Some accused them of cynically using her illness for political gain.
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But Mr. and Mrs. Edwards were undeterred. While she took a yellow chemotherapy pill once a day, her stamina seemed high, she often carried her own bags and put in 16-hour days, and she showed no signs of the disease: her hair was full, her skin color was robust, and she bustled with energy.
Political consultants said American voters yearned for authenticity and character in a candidate, and thought Mr. Edwards had a singular opportunity. But his aides worried, with some justification, that Mrs. Edwards on a podium was too compelling for his good. At a luncheon in Cleveland, some comments from the audience sounded like paeans to her.
“I came to feel the inspiration you exude,” said a woman bald from months of chemotherapy and radiation. Another cancer patient called Mrs. Edwards “my angel, my idol, my everything.”
Mr. Edwards pitched himself as a populist, up from hardscrabble mill towns to success as lawyer. He stuck to a script of living wages, cuts in greenhouse gases and a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, with health care as a signature issue.
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But many voters were alienated by his 2002 vote for the Iraq war. Falling behind Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton in polls, he lost the primary in South Carolina, where he was born, and quit the race in late January 2008. He later endorsed Mr. Obama.
Any lingering hopes for his political future were shattered in August 2008, when he admitted to ABC News that he had had an affair in 2006 with Rielle Hunter, a 42-year-old woman hired to make campaign videos. He denied being the father of her infant daughter, even offering to take a paternity test, and insisted that the affair had occurred when his wife’s cancer was in remission and that it was over before he announced his presidential campaign on Dec. 28, 2006. He also said he had not given hush money to Ms. Hunter, although his campaign had paid her $114,000 for videos.
Mrs. Edwards at the time issued a statement supporting her husband. “Although John believes he should stand alone and take the consequences of his action now,” she said, “when the door closes behind him, he has his family waiting for him.”
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But in May 2009, she raised the matter again in interviews and television appearances, including one on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” and in a second memoir, “Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life’s Adversities” (Broadway Books, 2009).
In the book, she related his admission of infidelity. By his account, she wrote, “on only one night had he violated his vows to me.” She grew ill and angry and later tried to make herself believe it had lasted only one night. “It turned out that a single time was not all it was,” she said.
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She said that she had urged him to end his campaign, “to protect our family from this woman, from his act,” but that he had refused, and she ended up supporting him, keeping silent about the affair as the campaign continued for a year and a half.
“Being sick meant a number of things to me,” she told Ms. Winfrey. “One is that my life is going to be less long, and I didn’t want to spend it fighting.”
Asked by Ms. Winfrey whether she still loved him, Mrs. Edwards replied, “You know, that’s a complicated question.”
The couple’s separation, and Mr. Edwards’s admission that he had fathered a child with Ms. Hunter, came on the eve of the publication of “The Politician” (Thomas Dunne Books, 2010), a tell-all book by Andrew Young, a former campaign aide who had originally said that he was the father of the child, who was born in 2007.
Mrs. Edwards was born Mary Elizabeth Anania on July 3, 1949, in Jacksonville, Fla., the daughter of Vincent J. and Elizabeth Thweatt Anania. Her father was a Navy pilot, and the family moved often in America and abroad.
She attended Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Va., then transferred to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned a bachelor’s degree in English. She enrolled in the university’s law school, where in 1974 she met Mr. Edwards, four years her junior and the son of a textile worker.
After graduating, they were married in July 1977 and began legal careers. In the next two decades, he became a multimillionaire, mostly by winning medical malpractice cases. Her career was low key, in bankruptcy and public service law. Elizabeth preferred her middle name and used her maiden name professionally.
They were not very interested in politics. After the birth of Wade, in 1979, and Catharine, known as Cate, in 1982, they embraced parenthood, he coaching soccer, she joining parent-teacher groups and arranging her work schedule to spend afternoons with the children.
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But the storybook family was shattered on April 4, 1996, when Wade, a high school junior, was killed in a car accident driving to the Edwardses’ beach house. Devastated, the parents stopped working. For months, Mrs. Edwards read her son’s textbooks aloud at his grave and spent sleepless nights in online bereavement groups or staring at a weather channel.
Eventually, the couple decided to change their lives. In Wade’s name, they established a foundation, created a computer learning lab at his high school and organized scholarships and essay awards. Elizabeth changed her surname to Edwards, began fertility treatments and had two more children — Emma Claire, in 1998, and John, known as Jack, in 2000.
Mr. Edwards went into politics, ran for the Senate in 1998 and handily defeated Lauch Faircloth, the Republican incumbent. Mr. Edwards served one term, deciding to run for president in 2004 rather than for re-election to the Senate. He fell short, but Senator Kerry, who won the nomination, picked him to run for vice president.
Mrs. Edwards soon became her husband’s most valued adviser, a role undiminished by her illness. “I trust her more than I trust anybody in the world,” Mr. Edwards said a month before abandoning his presidential race. “She’s herself, and fearless. I don’t think she’s intimidated by or afraid of anything.”The leading Bitcoin wallet and exchange platform, Coinbase is on a lookout for investors. The cryptocurrency company is said to have embarked on a fundraising mission, with the intention of raising about $100 million.
According to reports, Coinbase’s latest fundraising round is the biggest ever for any cryptocurrency business. Founded by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam, the company has so far raised around $116.5 million from various investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, DFJ, NYSE and other banking and financial institutions.
Coinbase currently commands a valuation of $1 billion, with operation spread across multiple countries. The company’s need for additional funds could have been driven by the dramatic rise in Bitcoin value in the recent months, followed by speculations of a further increase in the coming days, to reach $4000.
In addition to increased need for liquidity, the company is also in the process of expanding its services to different countries. The increasing demand for cryptocurrencies in Asian markets presents an attractive opportunity for Coinbase. With the new round of funding, the cryptocurrency platform could start strengthening its presence in the Japanese, Chinese and South Korean markets.
The recent issues faced by the platform in light of increased activity is also worth notable. Coinbase, like many other platforms, was caught unprepared during the sudden influx of new users and traffic, resulting in frequent outage and disruption of operations. In order to keep up with the growing market, the cryptocurrency platform is also faced with a need to upgrade its infrastructure.
Since Japan legalized Bitcoin, the demand for cryptocurrency is quite high, driving the price upwards in the global markets. Recently, the Chinese cryptocurrency exchanges have started allowing its users to withdraw Bitcoin deposits, indicating their operations’ return to normalcy.
There is no concrete information available at the moment about the upcoming fundraising round or the participating investors, but it could be expected soon.
Ref: CNBC |Yahoo Finance |Image: NewsBTCIt is almost time for the season finale of Survivor: Cambodia, and now it turns out that Vytas Baskauskas will not be allowed to come to the finale. This means you won’t be seeing him on the stage or even in the audience. This all comes out after Vytas was the first one sent home this season. Now Vytas is revealing on social networks that Survivor doesn’t want him back for the finale. Enstarz shared all of the details about what happened and why Vytas Baskauskas won’t be back for the finale on CBS.
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This news came out today when Vytas replied to Jeff Probst on Twitter. Jeff simply posted a random post, but Vytas replied, saying, “Great season through and through. Bummed I’m not invited to participate in the finale with all my castmates!” The fans started to go a bit crazy saying that they want Vytas there and don’t understand it. Most of the people responding to him on Twitter are not okay with the way that things went down and hoped Vytas would be on the show this week.
One person commented that Vytas was actually on social networks and liking things on Instagram before he should have been home yet, which was a huge spoiler and CBS could be upset about this happening. Vytas tried to defend this by saying it was actually his assistant who did it by accident and that he didn’t even have his phone at that point yet. Vytas is insisting that the contract doesn’t say that other people can’t run their social media and that is all that happened in this case.
Vytas Baskauskas shared that he actually went home early so he could spend time with his son. Vytas didn’t leave Survivor, but was actually the first one kicked off. He should have stuck around for a while before heading home, but Vytas didn’t do that and instead wanted to go home and see his child. He made the decision to head back to the United States even though it could end up spoiling part of the game if fans found out.
Normally if you are kicked off before the jury then you shouldn’t be headed back to the United States to be spotted and give out spoilers. Fans of this show know when filming is going on and watch the players every single move. It sounds like Vytas flew home early and this could have been a breech in his contract with CBS. That might be the reason that they do not want him to come back for the reunion show.
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When all of the contestants come on stage, Vytas Baskauskas will not be there at all. Nobody knows what will be said about this or if Jeff Probst will just ignore it. Vytas made it very obvious that he would have been happy just hanging out in the audience and seeing who won the show, but that won’t even be allowed. Vytas realizes that this is his fault for leaving early, but really wanted CBS to reconsider. His son is just one year old, and he wanted to be home with him instead of clear across the country.
Are you shocked to hear that they will not even allow Vytas Baskauskas to come back to the finale? Do you think that CBS is being unfair? It is pretty easy to see that Vytas probably won’t ever be invited back to play another season of the show. Sound off in the comments section below, and don’t miss the Survivor: Cambodia finale when it airs Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS, followed by the live reunion show at 10 p.m.
[Image Via Instagram]House Republican leaders announced plans Monday for congressional investigations into a wide range of issues, from corruption in Afghanistan to Washington's regulation of private industries, using the power of their new majority to launch probes that could embarrass the Obama administration.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who will become chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee when the 112th Congress is sworn in Wednesday, said he would lead six major investigations in the first three months of the year. This is an ambitious undertaking by conventional standards, as congressional investigations often take months to bear fruit.
Issa, who will have power to subpoena government officials to appear before the committee, said he intended to conduct inquiries into the release of classified diplomatic cables by Wikileaks; recalls at the Food and Drug Administration; the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the foreclosure crisis; the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission's failure to identify the origins of the meltdown; as well as business regulations and alleged corruption in Afghanistan.
Other incoming Republican committee chairmen are planning investigations into the Justice Department's civil rights division, the radicalization of Muslims in the United States, homeland security grant money and air cargo and port and chemical plant security.
Every turnover in Congress fuels anticipation about how the new majority will scrutinize the administration. In Issa's case, the combative Republican has tempered his partisan rhetoric recently and appeared to steer clear of undertaking investigations that could be seen as overtly political. But his ambitious agenda sets up a potential early showdown between the White House and emboldened House Republicans.
Issa outlined plans to ask administration officials to testify, including national security adviser Tom Donilon, whom he wants to question about whether the administration has a strategy to stop the dissemination of sensitive information by sites like Wikileaks.
"I've always been fond of the saying that when it comes to oversight and reform, the federal government does two things well: nothing and overreact," Issa said Monday. "Too often, a problem is allowed to fester until it reaches a crisis point....and the American people are left asking the question: what went wrong and why?"
Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), the incoming chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, said he plans to investigate the apparent radicalization of some Muslims in the United States and the extent to which American Muslims are cooperating with law enforcement authorities. He also plans to probe homeland security issues.
"Different from Darrell Issa, I'm not expecting to find significant corruption in the departments," King said in an interview. "To the extent there's disagreement, it will be philosophical disagreement and a question of leadership, whether or not the department is assertive enough."
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), who is taking over the House Judiciary Committee, is planning investigations of the Justice Department, including allegations that the civil rights division is not fairly enforcing voter rights laws, according to a senior aide.
Since Democrats control the Senate, the White House and federal agencies, Republicans can use House oversight hearings to slow down policies and practices they disapprove of.
"The ability to hold hearings is a tool to help shape public opinion, put pressure on the Senate and maybe allow you at the end of the day to get concessions from the administration," said former Republican congressman Vin Weber, a Washington lobbyist.This week has been rife with confusion in Libya as the country’s UN-backed unity government consolidated its power in the capital, Tripoli. These developments add to the complexity of the civil war in Libya, which has seen a myriad of militias and three governments vie for control of the country.
Before the current civil wore broke out in 2014, a short civil war in 2011 ousted Muammar Gaddafi, Libya’s longtime dictator. Gaddafi had been Libya’s dictator for 42 years, and, during that time, the country’s oil wealth increased its standard of living to a level higher than that of any other country in Africa. Yet revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, Libya’s neighbors to the northwest and east, caused a similar revolutionary spirit to take hold in Libya. The Arab Spring had arrived. And with it came a NATO military intervention, the death of Gaddafi, and the installation of a transitional government.
In 2012, elections were held and a body called the General National Congress (GNC) took over from the unelected transitional government. While the government was unified, the country had not yet healed. The 2011 civil had been won by a collection of militant groups united in their desire to overthrow the Gaddafi regime. Once the regime had fallen, their unifying force was gone and some of them turned against each other. At first, the effect of these various militant groups was relatively small compared to what would come. Little occurred besides occasional skirmishes between rival militias. But later, when the country returned to the polls in 2014, they brought about disaster.
Turnout fell from 60% for the 2012 elections to 18% for the 2014 elections. This was mostly due to frustration with the country’s slow recovery, but security concerns also restricted voting in some locations. The elections, for a body that was to be called the Chamber of Deputies (CoD), greatly reduced the number of Islamist Muslim Brotherhood politicians in the legislature. Unwilling to cede power to the secular CoD, militias loyal to the Islamist dominated GNC drove the CoD out of Tripoli to Tobruk, a city in eastern Libya. Thus began Libya’s next civil war.
With two governments, each controlling roughly half the country, law and order broke down in Libya. The CoD in Tobruk has won the support of most western countries, but it has failed to make significant gains in Libya. The chaos of two weak governments has allowed the various militias to take control of cities across the country. A branch of ISIS (or ISIL or IS or Daesh) has carved out its own piece of Libya around the city of Sirte. The collapse of law and order has decimated the country’s oil production and has facilitated the smuggling of migrants across the Mediterranean by human traffickers. Thus the international community has grown more and more concerned with the situation in Libya, fearing that the country will become a breeding ground for terrorists and human traffickers.
The UN’s attempt to solve the problem has been to support the creation of yet another government, called the Government of National Accord (GNA). This government was created as a result of a UN-brokered agreement signed in December, 2015, and it was this government that consolidated its power in Tripoli this week. Last week, the GNA and its leaders arrived in Tripoli by sea from Tunis, Tunisia. With local militias loyal to the GNC, the move can be interpreted as largely symbolic, although the GNA has taken over some government offices. In addition, a statement was released by the GNC this Tuesday stating its intention to disband in favor of the GNA. Since then, the confusion has only grown as the GNC’s prime minister has come out against the decision to cede power to the GNA. On top of it all is the fact that the Tobruk-based CoD has not yet voted to support the GNA.
It is difficult to determine whether the rise of the GNA will improve or escalate the civil war in Libya. With Islamist militias still in control of Tripoli, some fear that the arrival of the GNA will simply provoke more violence and add yet another government to the two that are already fighting for power in Libya. Yet others believe that, if the GNC follows through with its promise to cede power, the GNA has the potential to unify the country. The UN and most western countries support the GNA and see it as the key to ending the war. If the Tobruk government and the GNC both agree to support the GNA, that may well happen. But as has been made painfully clear through the events of the past few years, the actions of violent militias have held greater sway in determining the direction of the country than the actions of a handful government ministers attempting to bring about an end to a civil war through political maneuvering.January 25 2012: The Ontario Government is examining its options to make a prime piece of real estate on Wellesley Street West available for new city green space. The vacant property has been surrounded by navy blue hoarding for years.
More parks for downtown?: City planners and politicians alike have admitted that the central downtown area, and particularly the district between College and Bloor Streets, is woefully deficient in public parks and green space. But at least one new park — and possibly several more — could be in the cards for the city core, according to an Ontario Cabinet minister.
Glen Murray, the MPP for Toronto Centre and Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, says the province is examining its options for making a vacant parcel of property on Wellesley Street West available to the city for redevelopment into green space or a park of some kind. Other provincially-owned lands in the downtown core also might become available for additional parkland, Mr. Murray told the first annual general meeting of the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association (CWNA) last night.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2Arguments that the climate is relatively insensitive to the increased greenhouse effect have become the last best chance for climate contrarians, but a new study from Texas A&M University hammers a big nail in the coffin of that argument.
With overwhelming evidence that humans are the main cause of global warming, and with arguments that modest warming is beneficial falling apart, those who oppose climate solutions are forced to put their eggs in the 'low climate sensitivity' basket. If the Earth's climate is less sensitive to the increased greenhouse effect than most of the available evidence indicates, then perhaps there's not quite as much urgency to tackle the threat of global warming, they argue.
The IPCC shifts on climate sensitivity
The latest IPCC report gave contrarians a glimmer of hope in this area. The fourth IPCC report in 2007 estimated that the planet will warm between 2 and 4.5°C warming in response to a doubling of the amount of CO 2 in the atmosphere, with a best estimate of 3°C. At the time, all of the different approaches to estimate climate sensitivity (using historical data, climate models, and recent instrumental data) were in good agreement.
However, in recent years, a few studies using a combination of instrumental data and simple climate models have arrived at lower estimates. This caused the IPCC in its fifth report in 2014 to reduce the lower end of its estimated climate sensitivity range, back to 1.5 to 4.5°C in response to doubled CO 2 (the same range as its reports estimated prior to 2007). Due
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including the ascendancy of the iPhone as Apple’s profit centre, and more recently Microsoft’s Surface line, which inspired PC OEMs to do a lot better in terms of innovation and quality.
The result of Apple taking its eye of the ball has been the recent release at the end of October 2016 of the new Macbook Pro, with its biggest innovation being the touch bar and the removal of a large number of essential ports, to be replaced with USB-C slots, resulting in the device being famously slated as another example of Apple’s “dongle-hell” obsession.
Now Microsoft ‘s CFO Amy Hood has confirmed that this malaise has resulted in Windows OEMs making gains in Apple’s so far hallowed high margin terrain.
Microsoft CFO Amy Hood tells me that Windows OEM partners took share from Apple at the high-end of PC market last quarter. — Dina Bass (@dinabass) January 26, 2017
@PiotrGoreckiJr that, according to Microsoft, pricy Windows machines are beating out Apple more often than previously — Dina Bass (@dinabass) January 26, 2017
Microsoft’s financial results also confirmed as much, noting that Windows licensing revenue from OEMs for consumer devices grew 5% primarily due to a higher mix of premium devices.
Microsoft famously claimed that with the announcement of the Surface Studio, which caused many to claim Microsoft is more innovative than Apple, and Apple’s announcement of the disappointing MacBook Pro “more and more Mac users were switching to Surface.”
It seems Microsoft’s Surface line was not the only beneficiary, which is good news for OEMs struggling with the slow decline of the PC market.
Hopefully an increased share of the high-end market will also result in greater profits for Windows OEMs, which should lead to better engagement with Microsoft’s direction regarding PCs, laptops, VR headsets, IoT devices and even possible once again smartphones in the future. Either way the news is a celebration for Windows fans who prefer to have both style and function in their computers.Get the latest from TODAY Sign up for our newsletter
Nov. 18, 2017, 11:55 PM GMT / Source: TODAY By Jess Wisloski
What do you do when your 8-year-old daughter asks you to dress up in a frilly costume to join her in dance class? Why, you do it, of course.
And you don't have to be a mom to jump on that invite, as Tennessee dad Thanh Tran proved.
When Tran's daughter, Adriana Cross, asked if he would participate in parent night at her ballet class since her mother, Rebecca Tran, is seven months pregnant, he gave her a little bit of flack at first.
"It's one parent with each kid," Rebecca, who took photos of the unusual class, told TODAY. "Right away when they said that, she picked her dad."
Thanh Tran (r) poses with his daughter Adriana (l) at a ballet class he participated in while wearing a tutu. Rebecca Tran
But Adriana had her caveats – she specifically wanted her ripped, bodybuilding dad to be wear a big, poufy ballerina tutu she remembered her mom wearing one year in her costume as the Black Swan.
Her dad didn't agree right off the bat, Rebecca recalled. "She just told him he wasn't getting out of it. Right away she told him about the tutu, and he was like, 'Oh my gosh.'"
In reality, she said her husband – who is close with Adriana and regularly plays Barbie dolls with her, irons her school uniforms, and attends field trips – wouldn't have missed the opportunity to make his girl laugh for all the world.
Thanh Tran showed up for his daughter's ballet class in full tutu regalia, ready to dance, last week. Rebecca Tran
Rebecca who is due in late January, said her husband tried making up excuses at first, including, "Oh, I think the baby's supposed to be coming that day." He wasn't getting out of it.
When the time came to strut his stuff, Thanh, a health coach for competitive bodybuilders, took it to the next level, waltzing right into the building wearing the tutu.
“He had it on when he walked in the door, he wasn’t very discreet about it,” Rebecca said, and just walked right past the waiting room full of about 40 parents and children.
“Everyone automatically looked at him, and he was trying not to laugh,” she said. “I think he made a lot of people’s days; he just walked in with it right on.”
Thanh shared Rebecca's photos on Instagram afterwards with a message to other parents:
In videos Rebecca posted to her Facebook page, the muscular Thanh attempts to plié and does drills at the bar, while hamming it up for the other folks watching. Adriana, who mostly focuses ahead with a serious expression, looks back at him a few times with a repressed smile.
“That's definitely her personality; she takes her ballet classes really seriously... she's trying really hard to do good,” said Rebecca. “It was nice to see her turn around every few moments and start cracking up.”
Adriana Cross wouldn't let her dad off the hook for her parent-child dance class this year, so her dad, Thanh Tranh, showed up ready to play the part. Rebecca Tran
While Thanh is getting hassled a little bit from clients and friends at the gym, he also relishes the time he spends parenting Adriana, and will soon be a stay-at-home dad when their son is born.
“When the baby comes, he'll be even more involved with both kids. Already that's kind of the role that we play. He packs her lunches. He's often the one that takes her to ballet classes," Rebecca said. "He's amazing when it comes to the dad role.”
Rebecca and Thanh have even discussed a daddy-daughter ballet class redux video to be shot next year, but this time Thanh will be dancing with an infant son strapped to his chest.
“I’ve already got him a few carriers. He’s going to love it, he’s looking forward to it.”New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has agreed to suspend a proposal requiring background checks for ammunition sales in his state in the face of Republican opposition and technical difficulties.
Background checks for ammo sales was part of the Safe Act, a gun control initiative passed in the wake of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school in neighboring Connecticut.
The policy changes were included in a memorandum of understanding between the governor and Republicans in the state Senate.
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The memo cited “lack of adequate technology,” referring to a database state officials had struggled to design to implement the checks.
It states “no expenditures of state monies shall be allocated for the purpose of purchasing and installing software, programming and interface required to transmit any record for the purpose of performing an eligibility check.”
It was signed by Jim Malatras, Cuomo’s director of state operations, and John Flanagan (R), the temporary president of the Senate.
Republicans hailed the move.
"I think it's very significant," said state Sen. James Seward, a Republican from Milford, according to Syracuse.com. "This is a banner day for law-abiding gun owners in New York."
State Democrats, though, blasted the policy retreat.
“I did not participate in this ‘agreement,’ ” Carl Heastie, a state representative from the Bronx, told The New York Times. “The law may not be ‘suspended’ by a memorandum such as this. I believe the law should be followed and implemented as intended.”
Senate Democratic spokesman Mike Murphy called it “outrageous.”
"I guess we don't have the toughest gun laws in the nation anymore," Murphy said in a statement. "This two-way agreement is outrageous. I'm looking forward to the MOUs on the minimum wage, paid family leave, protecting a woman's right to choose and the numerous other things the Senate Republicans are blocking."
Democrats in the legislature, however, had agreed to cut money for the database from the budget.
Cuomo has often spoken of the Safe Act as one of the major accomplishments of his time in office. It expanded the ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.Finnish championships 2013: a journey of twisted fingers and broken hopes (part 2) 15:25 BJJGuardNation 0 Comments
A short story depicting the emotions before and after a competition.
That face you make when you realize somethings fishy.
The butt-ugly force takedown
The realisation
I give my hand out and look away. I feel a pull and almost no pain. "Oh, that's it." I say in surprise. At this point every single friend of mine is shouting "Tape it and continue!" while stomping the ground. First when I walked to the doctor, I was sure that I wasn't able to continue. These shouts however changed my mind. All the noise, commotion and stomping made me feel a rush of adrenaline. I tell the doctor "Tape it". Less than a minute forward I'm walking back to the mat. I stomp the ground a few times before stepping on the mat.
I get back to the center of the mat and the judge signals 2 points for my takedown. The match restarts from standing. We clap hands again. The beginning is a race for grips and I only reach out with my right hand as I'm afraid of using my hurt finger. Less than a minute passes and my opponent pulls guard. I immediately put my base down, get posture and start to work on my passing. Thinking I passed his guard he pulls my leg and catches me in his deep half guard. I start pushing my hips forward and get my leg free. Then turn around to face him in north-south position and start putting pressure on him, but I'm a second too late and he spins on his belly and escapes to turtle guard. In the moment I try to jump on his supportive arm for an armbar; almost catching it, but almost is not enough. Now I'm upside down on my neck, I spin around and recover him in my de la riva guard. In the heat of the moment I forget about my finger and pull on his gi. Only to feel pain, sadness and utter disappointment. I shake these feelings off and try to keep him behind my guard while attempting to pull my finger back in place. After a few failed attempts, my opponent has advanced into my half guard and I'm fighting with just one hand, then I come to the conclusion that I can't keep him in control.
I tap...
The day after.
Story will be continued in part 3, stay tuned!
It's time, I get called behind the mat. The next match will be mine. I loosen up my body one last time and empty my mind.Then it hits me. I'm alone behind the mat. Where is my opponent? The announcer walks over and asks who's missing. He then proceeded to announce my opponent by name a few times, but to no avail. He was nowhere to be seen.I walk back to the warm-up area, a little disappointed. Then I spot my next opponent, I fought against him about a year ago as a blue belt. Back then I won a very close match with only one advantage point. We talk a little and he tells me that his opponent didn't show up either.So here we are in the finals, both winning the first match with a walkover...It's time to prepare. Again... I warm-up, stretch and relax. Sitting in the warm-up area and listening to some calming music. I drift into a meditative state of mind. Watching other people roll and new champions being born, seeing the pure happiness in people is starting to make me restless. I want to roll.I see my name on the screen, it shows I'm fighting on mat 3. I walk behind the mat and know, I'm ready.Walking onto the mat with an empty mind... Actually not empty, but a clear mind, focused on one thing. As a custom and sign of respect, I walk to the corner of the mat and shake hands with a judge who is going to be suggesting scoring on the match, then to the opposite corner to shake hands with the second judge. Lastly there is the mat judge, we shake hands and then I see my opponent. I was so focused that it seems like he appeared out of thin air.We do the customary clap and bump and back off a little bit. The match starts by both staying standing and fighting for grips.After about a minute of furious and speedy grip fighting, I catch my opponent a bit off balance; not much, but just enough. So I start ramming forward and go for a non-technical butt-ugly force takedown.I get the takedown and land in leg drag, "perfect" is the only thing running in my head. We land outside the match area so we are stopped and asked to move to the middle. My opponent rolls over... Then I see it, my middle finger is shaped like a "Z". In a rush of panic, worry and confusion I raise my hand to the judge to show the finger ().He shows me to the corner of the arena and I let out a shout of rage. At the medical spot there's a few guys sitting around a first aid bag. The assistants faces first show amazement, then shock and afterwards sympathy. The on-call doctor rushes to me in his worn-out gray gi, that used to be black. He checks my finger and then looks at me. "I have to pull your finger back in place" he said calmly. My first reaction was to pull my hand a bit away from him and the look of pain overcame my face. Less than a second after that I realized that there isn't any other option.Opposition supporters are accused of plotting the unrest that followed the June election [FARS]
Opposition supporters are accused of plotting the unrest that followed the June election [FARS]
Opposition supporters are accused of plotting the unrest that followed the June election [FARS]
A prosecutor also called on Tuesday for Hajjarian to receive the maximum punishment for charges of acting against national security, the state-run Irna news agency reported.
Al Jazeera's Alireza Ronaghi, reporting from Tehran, said Hajjarian gave the court a written defence apologising for his actions.
"He has called for forgiveness and he has said that he is going to resign from the participation front," Ronaghi reported.
"People outside the prison are saying these confessions don't mean anything, that they happened under pressure. So it's really difficult to judge from the content of whatever the confessions are."
Iran began the hearings earlier this month, putting more than 100 people on trial on charges ranging from rioting to spying and seeking to topple Iran's rulers.
The defendants were among hundreds of protesters, activists and journalists detained in a government crackdown following the unrest, which left at least 20 people dead.
At the first hearing, a number of defendants confessed to organising the violence and said opposition claims that the election was rigged were a pretext for the riots.
The trial has also included televised confessions that rights groups say were probably extracted under pressure.
Disputed election
The June election returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the country's president, to power, but the opposition has disputed the poll, saying it was rigged.
Mir Hossein Mousavi, a reformist presidential candidate in the elections, and Mehdi Karroubi, another opposition candidate, led protests in the wake of the elections, sparking a major crackdown by the police and the detention of hundreds of people.
Reformist leaders and human rights groups have complained that some detainees were abused, tortured and raped.
Senior police and judiciary officials have acknowledged that there has been some mistreatment and have called for those responsible to be punished.
According to Karroubi, a group of people who have been released from jail, are ready to provide testimony that they were sexually abused during their detention.
He said four people are willing to give their accounts to parliament. Parliament will set up a commission to look into the rape claims and provide the accusers protection, he said.
Government strategy
Commenting on the trials, Sadegh Zibakalam, a professor of political science at Tehran University, told Al Jazeera: "It appears that this is a continuation of the government's strategy, which is trying to convey the message that the leadership of the reformist movement deliberately led people to believe that the results were false and that there was [manipulation] by Ahmadinejad.
"[But] it's not a question of ballot rigging - it was a deep-rooted opposition by Iranian youth, students, intellectuals, writers against Ahmadinejad's policies.
"Whether he won those elections or not doesn't matter. The fact [is] that he remains president [and] there are still a large number of Iranians who are against his policies.
"The Iranian government is trying to blame the reformists for what happened after the elections and, at the same time, we are observing new evidence in Tehran of serious atrocities that took place during the demonstrations."Politics and current affairs
The Retreat of Western Liberalism. By Edward Luce. Grove Atlantic; 234 pages; $24. Little Brown; £16.99
Few doubt that something big has happened in Western politics over the past two years, but nobody is sure what. Turmoil in Washington and London contrasts with centrist stability in Paris and (mostly) in Berlin. In this grim diagnosis Edward Luce, a Washington-based commentator, argues that the liberal order cannot be fixed without a clear view of what has gone wrong.
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Refuge: Transforming a Broken Refugee System. By Alexander Betts and Paul Collier. Oxford University Press; 288 pages; $18.95. Allen Lane; £20
Lost in the row over Europe’s migration crisis in 2015 were the millions of refugees who stayed in the developing world, unwilling or unable to journey to richer countries. Growing up in a refugee camp often means little education and no work. Two experts at Oxford University present the first comprehensive attempt in years to rethink from first principles a system that has long been hidebound by hand-wringing and old ideas.
The Road to Somewhere: The Populist Revolt and the Future of Politics. By David Goodhart. Hurst; 278 pages; $24.95 and £20
“Somewheres”, David Goodhart writes, are rooted, socially conservative and suspicious of the constant churn. By contrast, “Anywheres” are cosmopolitan, socially liberal, internationalist and comfortable with change. In creating a new political taxonomy, the British journalist and founder of Prospect magazine provides a useful way to think about new cleavages in Britain and elsewhere in the West. Its influence is visible everywhere.
Ghosts of the Tsunami: Death and Life in Japan’s Disaster Zone. By Richard Lloyd Parry. Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 276 pages; $27. Jonathan Cape; £16.99
Of the 18,500 people who perished in the Japanese tsunami in 2011, 75 were children who died at school. But a single school accounted for 74 of those deaths. This mesmerising account of the 120-foot-high wave and its aftermath, by the Asia editor and Tokyo bureau chief of the Times, explores the uncharacteristicly fierce reaction of the dead children’s parents to official evasion. In the process it tells you more about Japan than any conventional history. The finest work of narrative non-fiction to be published this year.
Biography and memoir
Grant. By Ron Chernow. Penguin Press; 1,104 pages; $40. Head of Zeus; £30
The historian who inspired “Hamilton”, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit musical, argues that America’s most improbable president has been badly misunderstood. Instead of being seen as the overlord of a corrupt administration (though it never touched him personally), he should be lauded for the integration of the union after the civil war and his insistence on naming blacks, Jews and native Americans to federal positions.
The Undoing Project: A Friendship that Changed Our Minds. By Michael Lewis. W.W. Norton; 362 pages; $28.95. Allen Lane; £25
A fascinating intellectual biography of the Israeli psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, two very different men whose work at the intersection of psychology and economics grows more influential by the year.
Ali: A Life. By Jonathan Eig. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 630 pages; $30. Simon & Schuster; £25
Muhammad Ali often claimed to be the greatest boxer of all time, and he was right. Only a handful of athletes reach the pinnacle of their discipline; he was the only one who threw it all away to do what was unpopular but principled. A fine account of why, when Ali died, he was remembered not only as boxing’s most decorated and enthralling heavyweight, but also for his refusal to serve in the Vietnam war as a rebellion against white supremacy.
The Dawn Watch: Joseph Conrad in a Global World. By Maya Jasanoff. Penguin Press; 400 pages; $30. William Collins; £25
Brought up speaking Polish and French, Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski did not learn English until he was 21. But as Joseph Conrad he became one of the finest English writers. “Heart of Darkness” is his most famous book. More important, as Maya Jasanoff shows so well, he was the first novelist of globalisation.
Chief Engineer: Washington Roebling, the Man Who Built the Brooklyn Bridge. By Erica Wagner. Bloomsbury; 365 pages; $28 and £25
A biography about connections and disconnections—about the man who built what, at the time of its opening, was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Roebling also fought all his life to emerge from the shadow of a cold and domineering father. A masterful psychological study about duty and drive.
Toscanini. By Harvey Sachs. W.W. Norton; 944 pages; $39.95 and £29.99
Drawing on a wide range of new evidence, including unknown letters and the archives of many of the opera houses that Arturo Toscanini worked with, including La Scala, Harvey Sachs has written a weighty and highly enjoyable account of one of the greatest conductors, a man still renowned for his pursuit of perfection.
Anthony Powell: Dancing to the Music of Time. By Hilary Spurling. Hamish Hamilton; 528 pages; £25
Anthony Powell came from a brilliant generation of English writers, including George Orwell, Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene—yet he may now be the least read of them all. Hilary Spurling’s long-awaited life of one of Britain’s most perceptive novelists of class, best known for the 12-volume “Dance to the Music of Time”, is an exemplary literary biography. On virtually every page it is colourful, funny and pointedly aphoristic.
The Hate Race: A Memoir. By Maxine Beneba Clarke. Corsair; 261 pages; £18.99
The child of Jamaican/Guyanese parents who left Britain for Australia writes the book she wished she had been able to read when she was growing up in the Sydney suburbs, where “racism was as common as cornflakes”. A bestseller when it first came out in Australia, it deserves to be more widely read.
Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8. By Naoki Higashida. Random House; 206 pages; $27. Sceptre; £14.99
An unorthodox guide by a young Japanese man, who at 13 wrote a heartfelt account of how it feels like to be autistic. David Mitchell, an English novelist, and his wife, Keiko Yoshida, translated the text for their autistic son’s carers and helped get the book published in over 30 languages, making Mr Higashida probably the most widely read Japanese author after the master-novelist, Haruki Murakami.
History
Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine. By Anne Applebaum. Doubleday; 496 pages; $35. Allen Lane; £25
A meticulously researched analysis proving that the famine in Soviet Ukraine in the 1930s was part of a deliberate campaign by Josef Stalin and the Bolshevik leadership to crush Ukrainian political aspirations by starving the actual or potential nationalists into submission to the Soviet order.
The Internationalists: How a Radical Plan to Outlaw War Remade the World. By Oona Hathaway and Scott Shapiro. Simon & Schuster; 608 pages; $30. Allen Lane; £30
The post-war liberal order was underpinned by a movement to make the waging of aggressive war illegal. Two American academics argue that this principle is now seriously under threat.
The Unwomanly Face of War. By Svetlana Alexievich. Random House; 384 pages; $30. Penguin Modern Classics; £12.99
An oral history, first published in 1985 but only now translated into English, as told by women who enlisted in the Soviet army straight from school, learning to kill and die before they learned to live or give life. By one of the most gifted writers of her generation.
Six Minutes in May: How Churchill Unexpectedly Became Prime Minister. By Nicholas Shakespeare. Harvill Secker; 528 pages; £20
It is hard to imagine Britain without the jowly Winston Churchill at the helm during the second world war. Yet in May 1940 Neville Chamberlain’s government, with its majority of 213, seemed virtually unassailable. An eloquent study in how quickly the political landscape can change—and history with it.
Enemies and Neighbours: Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917-2017. By Ian Black. Atlantic Monthly Press; 608 pages; $30. Allen Lane; £25
A well-known British journalist offers a detailed account of how the Israelis and Palestinians are still haunted by their history. The Balfour Declaration was just the start of it.
Belonging: The Story of the Jews, 1492-1900. By Simon Schama. Ecco; 800 pages; $39.99. Bodley Head; £25
The story of the Jews between 1492 and 1900, told as a series of vivid biographies. In the hands of a master colourist, this is history as a portrait gallery. Roll on the final volume in the series.
The House of Government: A Saga of the Russian Revolution. By Yuri Slezkine. Princeton University Press; 1,128 pages; $39.95 and £29.95
The remarkable tale of an enormous block of flats that served as home to communism’s true believers. A story that is as Russian in scope as it is symbolic of what Russia and the Russian revolution eventually became.
Against the Grain. By James Scott. Yale University Press; 336 pages; $26 and £20
An interesting summation of recent research into why the first states did not develop until a long time after humans stopped being nomads and agriculture had become the norm.
Economics and business
The Great Leveller: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century. By Walter Scheidel. Princeton University Press; 528 pages; $35 and £27.95
An Austrian-born historian, now at Stanford University, argues that only catastrophic events really reduce inequality. Depressing and convincing.
Capitalism without Capital: The Rise of the Intangible Economy. By Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake. Princeton University Press; 288 pages; $29.95 and £24.95
Businesses in rich countries are increasingly investing in “intangible” assets, including research and development, branding and public relations, and less in “tangible” ones, such as machinery. The growing importance of intangible assets plays a part in some of the big trends that are gripping rich economies, from rising income inequality to weak growth in productivity.
Black Edge: Inside Information, Dirty Money and the Quest to Bring Down the Most Wanted Man on Wall Street. By Sheelah Kolhatkar. Random House; 344 pages; $28
The rise, fall and rise of Steven Cohen—a brief history of SAC Capital and how its boss inspired Bobby Axelrod of “Billions”.
Janesville: An American Story. By Amy Goldstein. Simon & Schuster; 368 pages; $27 and £18.99
The riveting story of what happened to a company town and the families who lived and worked there when General Motors decided to shut down its assembly plant in a city in southern Wisconsin.
Americana: A 400-Year History of American Capitalism. By Bhu Srinivasan. Penguin Press; 576 pages; $30
A delightful tour through the businesses and industries that turned America into the world’s biggest economy—by a hard-working immigrant who himself became an entrepreneur. A paean to progress.
Clashing over Commerce: A History of US Trade Policy. By Douglas Irwin. University of Chicago Press; 832 pages; $35
Trade-policy wonks are gluttons for punishment. In good times, their pet topic is dismissed as dull. In bad, they find trade being faulted for everything. A Dartmouth College professor sets the record straight, and in the process elegantly debunks a host of trade-policy myths.
Culture
The Souls of China: The Return of Religion after Mao. By Ian Johnson. Pantheon; 448 pages; $30. Allen Lane; £25
As ordinary people (and party leaders) are trying to workout what it means to be Chinese in the modern world, a Canadian- born academic shows how a resurgence of faith is quietly changing the country.
Dream Hoarders: How the American Middle Class is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do About It. By Richard Reeves. Brookings Institution Press; 196 pages; $24
Which of America’s social fault-lines is the most dangerous? Race? Culture? Wealth? This last offers part of an answer. Having grabbed their piece of prosperity, the upper-middle class are fighting to keep it. A British scholar, based in New York, argues in detail why it is this 10%—rather than the 1% of lore���who are the main beneficiaries (and the principal cause) of inequality in America.
Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are. By Seth Stephens-Davidowitz. Dey Street; 288 pages; $27.99. Bloomsbury; £20
Big data, says Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, a former data scientist for Google, provides new sources of information. It captures what people actually do or think, rather than what they choose to tell pollsters; it helps researchers home in on and compare demographic or geographical subsets; and it allows for super fast randomised controlled trials. This book argues that the web will revolutionise social science just as the microscope and telescope transformed the natural sciences.
The Sum of Small Things: A Theory of the Aspirational Class. By Elizabeth Currid- Halkett. Princeton University Press; 254 pages; $29.95 and £24.95
Rather than filling their garages with flashy cars, today’s rich devote their budgets to less visible but more valuable ends: education, domestic services and cultural capital. A professor at the University of Southern California shows why it is so difficult to stop the privileged position of the elites becoming more entrenched.
Nicotine. By Gregor Hens. Translated by Jen Calleja. Other Press; 176 pages; $16.95. Fitzcarraldo Editions; £12.99
Cigarettes function as punctuation for life, argues Gregor Hens, a German author and translator. They make it coherent and add drama, inserting commas, semi-colons and ellipses (and, in the end, an inarguable and often premature full stop). Smoking is bad for you, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun.
The Novel of the Century: The Extraordinary Adventure of “Les Miserables”. By David Bellos. Farrah, Straus and Giroux; 336 pages; $27. Particular Books; £20
From the humane treatment of ex-offenders to the care of street children Victor Hugo’s epic novel, “Les Misérables”, spearheaded calls for reform and contributed to “the future improvement of society”. Few books really change the world. This one did, long before the musical broke box office records.
Science and technology
Inheritors of the Earth: How Nature is Thriving in an Age of Extinction. By Chris Thomas. PublicAffairs; 320 pages; $28. Allen Lane; £20
Humans have consigned species to extinction at an alarming rate. But hybridisation and speciation is happening quickly, too. An ecologist at the University of York shows how humans are bringing about a great new age of biological diversity. Extinctions ain’t what they used to be.
Dawn of the New Everything. By Jaron Lanier. Henry Holt; 351pages; $30. Bodley Head; £20
An eccentric, but visionary, tech pioneer recalls a life spent in virtual reality and reflects on the growing hubris of Silicon Valley.
Tamed: Ten Species that Changed our World. By Alice Roberts. Hutchinson; 368 pages; £20
For lovers of “Guns, Germs and Steel” and “Sapiens” comes a new, deceptively simple book. Alice Roberts, an anatomist and palaeopathologist, uses the story of how apples, cattle, dogs, horses and rice came to be domesticated to tell a wider story about humans’ long history.
Fiction
Lincoln in the Bardo. By George Saunders. Random House; 368 pages; $28. Bloomsbury; £18.99
Abraham Lincoln’s son dies young and enters a multi-chorus Buddhistic underworld. One of the year’s most original and electrifying novels.
White Tears. By Hari Kunzru. Knopf; 288 pages; $26.95. Hamish Hamilton; £14.99
A Londoner now living in New York, Hari Kunzru introduces two unforgettable characters to illustrate how black music came to be imbued with the spirit of the blues. His imagery resonates with the racial politics of modern life.
Austral. By Paul McAuley. Gollancz; 288 pages; £14.99
A chase thriller set in late 21st-century Antarctica that combines elements of Jack London, J.G. Ballard and William Gibson. A significant contribution to writing about the anthropocene.
The Seventh Function of Language. By Laurent Binet. Translated by Sam Taylor. Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 368 pages; $27. Harvill Secker; £16.99
A conspiracy thriller about the death of the French literary theorist, Roland Barthes, that draws on the work of Jacques Derrida and Dan Brown with tongue firmly in cheek—to hilarious effect.
The Golden Legend. By Nadeem Aslam. Knopf; 319 pages; $27.95. Faber & Faber; £16.99
Too much political exposition can be the death of fiction. Not so here. In his fifth novel, a British-Pakistani writer offers a richly imagined lesson in how to make great literature out of despotism.
Stay with Me. By Ayobami Adebayo. Knopf; 272 pages; $25.95. Canongate Books; £14.99
A gut-wrenching tale of how wanting a child can wreck a woman, a marriage and a community. Only 29, Ayobami Adebayo is surely a writer to watch.
Exit West. By Mohsin Hamid. Riverhead; 240 pages; $26. Hamish Hamilton; £14.99
A sharply pointed story about migration that came within a whisker of winning the 2017 Man Booker prize for fiction. The author of “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” has written another novel of our time.
Fever Dream. By Samanta Schweblin. Translated by Megan McDowell. Riverhead; 192 pages; $25. OneWorld; £7.99
A slim novel about environmental disaster and the outer limits of love. Subtle, dreamy and indelibly creepy.
Compass. By Mathias Enard. Translated by Charlotte Mandell. New Directions; 464 pages; $26.95. Fitzcarraldo Editions; £14.99
Over one night a French scholar muses on the differences between West and East. The winner of the 2015 Prix Goncourt on love, longing and otherness.Digital photography is everywhere. William Warby/FLICKR
At Bell Labs in 1969, two scientists were told they had to make progress on a key research project or they would lose their funding. After just an hour of work, they had a breakthrough.
This was a milestone in the invention of digital photography, one of the most exciting inventions of modern times.
It has given mankind access to invaluable information about space and hugely advanced medical science. And it has completely transformed the daily life of millions around the globe. We can — and do — document our lives on a minute-by-minute basis.
Here's how the story unfolded:
In the winter of 1975, Steven Sasson, a young engineer working in the Applied Research Lab at Kodak, tested out a new device for the first time. Now known as the first true digital camera, it was cobbled together using leftover parts he found in the lab. Thirty five years later, President Obama awarded Sasson the National Medal of Technology and Innovation for his invention.
The prototype of the first digital still camera, first constructed at Kodak Labs by Steve Sasson in 1975. Eastman Kodak
The camera was about the size of a breadbox and took 23 seconds to take a single black and white image, which was then stored on a cassette tape (see below). While the invention was far from the digital cameras we now use, it sparked a sea change in the way images are captured. Some argue that Sasson's invention was where digital photography begins. But to say that would be to neglect the most important part of Sasson' rudimentary camera, buried deep inside its scrap parts: the Charge Coupled-Device.
Steven Sasson's first digital camera stored 30 images on a cassette tape. Fast Company
For centuries, scientists and inventors had tried to reproduce images mechanically, attempting to turn light into digital information. Over the years, great strides were taken to achieve this goal, many coming from research into space exploration, as well as spy satellites. Who would have thought that America's Cold War with Russia would, in part, give birth to our digital cameras? But no step was more important than the invention of the Charge-Coupled Device, or CCD.
Willard S. Boyle, left, and George E. Smith pose in the Bell Labs with a camera using their CCD invention, 1974. Lucent Technologies Bell Labs
As the story goes, George E. Smith and Willard
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one official and one physical. Atom/Astro has four. There’s the “official” birthdate in his manga storyline, 7 April 2003. Then there are three physical dates: the date of his debut as a character in manga in 1951, the date of his debut as title character in his own story in 1952, and the date of his anime debut, New Year’s Day 1963.
Yes, Astro Boy turns 50 today – that is, unless we consider his “official” birthday to be the date in June 1963 on which he first appeared as Astro Boy in the US version of the anime series. But in any event, this is his 50th birthday year, his golden anniversary.
It’s also, in a sense, the golden anniversary of anime onTV.
As many people (myself included) have pointed out, Tezuka’s groundbreaking series wasn’t the first domestic animation on Japanese TV. That was an anthology show called Three Tales (3-tsu no hanashi) screened in January 1960. But it was the game-changer, the show that made Japanese children want to race home and switch on the TV every week, the show that convinced other artists and other studios to dive into the uncharted seas of making animation on a shoestring and hoping that merchandise and subsidiary rights would be enough of a lifebelt. By the end of the year, even the mighty Toei, home of top-quality movie animation and previously disdainful of the TV market, had joined the race.
What a year it was for anime! Six more TV series followed Tetsuwan Atom/Astro Boy. Tezuka’s puppet animation Ginga Shonentai (Galaxy Boy Troop) hit the screen in April. Made in collaboration with the Takeda Puppet Troupe, only one complete episode of 92 is known to survive. Sennin Buraku (Hermit Village,) also screened in April, was aimed at adult fans of Ko Kojima’s still-running gag manga. More robot adventures for children appeared in October when Mitsuteru Yokoyama’s mighty Tetsujin 28-go (Gigantor) shook the screens. Kazumasa Hirai and Jiro Kuwata’s Eightman followed in November, with a new take on the idea of the cyborg which would eventually influence Hollywood movies like Robocop. Later that month Toei’s first anime TV series, Okami Shonen Ken (Wolf Boy Ken) seasoned Edgar Rice Burroughs with a dash of Rudyard Kipling, offering an action-packed alternative to robots and cyborgs. Before the year ended, hit manga Ciscorn Oji (Prince Ciscorn) by Fujiko Fujio (A) brought the American West to Japan’s livingrooms through the animated adventures of a perky young Native American hero and his cute friends.
The influence of the manga market was obvious. A series based on a popular comic was more likely to attract audience share and therefore advertising and sponsorship. The other great asset of a regular TV slot, its function as a half-hour advertisement for spinoff merchandise, was also fully exploited. Hit manga were already merchandised heavily and there was no reason for anime to ignore such a clearly signposted goldmine.
Another interesting and often overlooked fact is that late night anime for adult viewers was firmly established as part of the anime mix. Most anime was made for juvenile or family audiences, then as now, because that’s where more money is spent on toys and spinoff goods; but a clear awareness that animation can appeal to all age groups is on record in 1963’s TV schedules.
Theatrical animation also had a good year, with three major movies, all from Toei: Wanpaku Oji no Orochi Taiji (Little Prince Fights The Eight Headed Dragon,) Wanwan Chushingura (WoofWoof 47 Ronin,) and the first of eight theatrical features revamped from the Okami Shonen Ken series, which appeared on 21st December with the others following throughout 1964 and into 1965. This set a lucrative and tempting precedent for future rights-holders with a popular TV franchise to exploit, and others have followed Toei’s lead, all the way up to Hideaki Anno with his constant revamps of Evangelion.
Fifty years ago today, anime lit a joyously inventive and absurdly underfunded rocket under the small screens of Japan. That’s cause for celebration, official birthday or not.
Happy Golden Jubilee, Atom. Happy New Year.
AdvertisementsBannon Boasts of Plans to Oust Top State Department Asia Envoy
White House chief strategist Steve Bannon rocked Washington Wednesday night with an interview that ran the gamut of political bombshells, from economic war with China to the political knife fights dogging the administration. In the midst of this, Bannon said he wanted to sack a career State Department official close to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
Bannon, speaking to the liberal magazine American Prospect in a surprise, off-the-cuff, and potentially accidental interview, boasted of plans to sideline one of Tillerson’s most trusted aides, the current acting envoy for East Asia. “I’m changing out people at East Asian Defense; I’m getting hawks in. I’m getting Susan Thornton [acting head of East Asian and Pacific Affairs] out at State,” Bannon said.
Thornton, a seasoned and nonideological career foreign service officer, has emerged as one of the few officials Tillerson has brought into his inner circle, several State Department sources tell Foreign Policy. Her status in the department has been a source of tension before, with Tillerson reportedly blowing up at White House aides for blocking his plan to make her the permanent assistant secretary of state.
Bannon’s comments shed light on the not-so-secret administration battle over the future of the department. Senior career diplomats worry that the Trump administration is hanging the State Department out to dry as it slashes its budget, pushes through a controversial departmental redesign, and pours money into the military. Money aside, President Donald Trump has yet to appoint scores of senior State Department postings, including key undersecretary and assistant secretary positions, which has left many officials concerned that U.S. diplomacy is withering on the vine.
Bannon’s targeting of Thornton drew private condemnation from current diplomats, who aren’t authorized to comment on such matters publicly, and vocal condemnation from former diplomats.
“Susan is one of the finest diplomats our country has to offer,” said Michael Fuchs, the former deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, who worked closely with Thornton. “The very fact that Steve Bannon would criticize Susan should be a strong validation of Susan’s credentials as a first-rate, nonpartisan public servant.”
“The secretary asked Susan Thornton to lead in a very important role, and he continues to rely on her to lead the State Department’s diplomacy in Asia,” a State Department spokesperson told FP when asked about Bannon’s comments. The spokesperson added that she “continues in her capacity” as acting assistant secretary but declined to comment further.
On Thursday morning, Tillerson made a point to shake Thornton’s hand before a meeting with top Japanese diplomats at the State Department.
Photo credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesVia GEFIRA,
The ‘Free World’ has taken on where the Soviet scientists and psychiatrists left off.
German and American scientists of renowned Universities in Bonn and Lübeck do research on treatment for politically undesirable behaviour like their Soviet colleagues from the infamous Serbsky Central Research Institute in Moscow. In the Soviet Union people who protested the system had to undergo psychiatric treatment.
Vladimir Bukovsky, a world-known dissident survived one and described it.The same will be the fate of the so called Free World’s citizens if they fail to conform to the idea of a multi-cultural society. The powers that be have given a signal, and obliging, complaisant scientists are already busy working on bettering our collective and individual psyche. Apart from homophobia and Islamophobia, xenophobia is another psychiatric condition that needs to undergo therapy...hormonal therapy.
Throughout history, the world has been torn by two opposing factors that face each other with daggers drawn. These are natural biological, and unnatural forces, or reality and dystopia. It is natural for a human being to want to possess things and work as little as possible; to counter it, dystopian socialists, communists or Christian heretics came up with an idea of a society governed by the principle: From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.
It was supposed to work. And it failed miserably everywhere it was installed and implemented, from Cuba to East Germany, to the Soviet Union, to North Korea.
The human being, an evolutionary extension of the animal world, is endowed with certain indelible features at the genetic level. Group loyalty and fear of aliens are among them. Man cannot survive alone. Mankind is not a biologically monolithic, homogeneous family. Rather, it is made up of human groups (clans, tribes, nations, races) that as a result of their long development are moving apart from each other. Biology is the basis on which human communities create culture and ultimately civilization, not the other way round.
Human groups, which have come into being as a result of living separately from each other for ages and so have developed incompatible cultures and religions, compete for resources i.e. for survival. Since man cannot make it through life on his own, he is a part of a group (clan, tribe, nation). In order for the group to function well and safeguard its (and simultaneously its members’ survival success), each group member is equipped with two psychological mechanisms (i) in-group loyalty and (ii) out-group enmity.
Group members collaborate, and support each other even to the point of sacrificing themselves for the whole. That’s the origin of altruism. Defection to another group means weakening one’s own group and strengthening the alien group, which has always been regarded as the gravest mortal sin: treason. (Dante’s hell has Judas Iscariot in its centre, which is the severest punishment for it).Altruism towards members of the out-group is something between in-group loyalty and defection. Its exuberant instances are technically referred to as pathological altruism.
The phenomenon can be compared to the rivalry among soccer teams. The team’s (survival) objective is to win the cup. The prize will be shared by all team members. In order to achieve it, each one of them has to cooperate with the others: no cooperation with members of any other, opposing, team is thinkable. A team’s player may want to sacrifice his personal career for another player from the same team by helping him to score as many goals as possible and thus becoming the team’s star, or by fouling the opposite team’s player and thus risk being sent out of the playground (death), thus enhancing the chances of his team’s win, but the same will not make things easier on the playground for any member of the opposing team. Helping members of the other team means lessening the chances for winning the cup (survival) of one’s own team and, ultimately one’s own chances.
If my well-being and survival depends on that of the group that I am a member of, and, conversely, if my group’s survival is contingent on the cooperation, altruism and self-sacrifice of its members, including me, then in-group loyalty is in high demand whereas out-group (pathological) altruism is detrimental. That’s evolutionary mechanism. That’s game theory. That’s common sense. Everybody knows it. So do social engineers.
Since social engineers have come up with the idea of building new, multi-racial, multi-national, multi-religious, multi-cultural societies, they have encountered the natural barrier: xenophobia, which is another name for in-group loyalty and out-group avoidance. Xenophobia is a biological mechanism imprinted at the genetic level that carries a survival advantage. It tells an individual to create bonds with members of the same group and be on his guard against aliens.To put it in plain language: xenophobia is practised at the very basic personal level each time parents warn their offspring to be wary of strangers: not to open the door to them, not to trust them. So modern social engineers have a problem. They need to overcome this deeply rooted biological barrier.
A sign has been given, most probably followed by substantial grants and other financial incentives, and so scientists got down to work to find a cure for xenophobia. One of the research teams included psychologists and psychiatrists from Bonn, Tulsa, and Lübeck scientific institutions. Urged by the increasing globalization and the mass migration of peoples, as they say, the mentioned scientists, who otherwise dutifully recognize the evolutionary advantage of the in-group loyalty/out-group exclusion, nevertheless set themselves a task of demonstrating whether oxytocin can enforce the acceptance of aliens and reduce xenophobic out-group rejection. To this end they devised experiments in which subjects were asked to donate a certain amount of money to people in need, either compatriots or refugees. Before the experiment the subjects were screened for the level of xenophobia. During the experiment the subjects were either allowed to act on their own, or were exposed to peer pressure or were administered oxytocin intranasally. It turned out that (i) refugee-directed donation among the subjects scoring low on xenophobia were significantly increased by oxytocin, whereas (ii) oxytocin alone was not enough in the case of the subjects scoring high on xenophobia: their out-group avoidance (or parochial, as it is patronizingly named, altruism) could only be overcome by the orchestrated operation of oxytocin and peer pressure.
The conclusions are obvious.
Citizens of host countries must be forced to accept the influx of aliens whether they like it or not. If they do not comply then, in the name of high-flown ideals of universal brotherhood of men, they will be forced either by peer pressure or by oxytocin or by both.
Oxytocin suits this purpose very well as this hormone raises the emotional well-being, it so to say oh-so humane. Like Aldous Huxley’s soma in his book Brave New World. The human being with his biologically-driven likes and dislikes is not to be tolerated, he must be changed. By ideological interaction or by chemistry. He must not be left alone. He must accept what he does not like not merely passively. He must be made to like what he previously disliked.
There was systematic political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union, based on the interpretation of political opposition or dissent as a psychiatric problem. The ‘Free World’ has taken on where the Soviet ‘scientists’ left off.In case you’ve been on Mars (or even just on vacation), here’s a surprising idea that’s been making the rounds lately: there might have been something to Marx’s critiques of capitalism after all.
Now, before you leap into the intertubes, seize me by the arm, perform a citizens’ arrest, and frog-march me into the nearest FBI office, exclaiming “See this suspicious looking brown guy? He’s a card-carrying communist!!” please note: I’m, well, not. I’m a staunch believer in capitalism (hence, the title of my book.)
Yet, I do think — and after reading the dismal, dreary headlines every day, not to mention checking the value of your 401K, house, job, economy, society, and future lately, I’d bet you do too — that prosperity as we know it might be lazily circling the glowing inner rim of the burbling event horizon of a massive supergalactic black hole. And when it comes to doing much about it (wave hello to your new friend, “double-dip”), well, the status quo’s pretty much out of options, out of ideas, and running out of time (hey, is that a Congressional “super-committee” being stalked by lobbyists I see? Who came up with this brain-melter of an idea?).
Hence, indulge me for a paragraph or two. Now, please note: This is a hugely divisive topic, and by “was Marx right?” I don’t mean “Communism is the glorious future of humankind, my brothers in arms!! (And I am your leader — bow!!)”. For, of course, I think we’ve had plenty of compelling demonstrations that it wasn’t. Rather, I mean: “Was there maybe a tiny mote of insight or two hidden in Marx’s diagnoses of the maladies of industrial age capitalism?”
Let’s take Marx’s big critiques of industrial age capitalism, one by one (and with a grain of salt: since I’m far from a Marxist economist, it’s entirely possible my quick, partial descriptions leave much to be desired).
Immiseration. Marx claimed that capitalism would immiserate workers: he meant that labor would be “exploited” — not just in a purely ethical sense, but in a narrower economic one: that real wages would fall, and working conditions would deteriorate. How was Marx doing on this score? I’d say middlingly: wages in many advanced economies — notably, the most purely capitalist in a financialized sense — have failed to keep pace with productivity; not for years, but for decades. (America’s median wage has been stagnant for roughly 40 years.) In macro terms, labor’s share of income has plummeted, while the lion’s share of growth has accrued to those at the very top.
Crisis. As workers were paid less and less, capitalism would be prone to chronic, perpetual crises of overproduction — for they wouldn’t have the means to purchase or invest in enough goods to keep the economy humming. As Marx put it, there was likely to be “poverty in the midst of plenty.” How’s Marx doing on this score? Not bad, I’d say: the last three decades have in fact been characterized by global crises of what you might crudely call overproduction (think: too little demand chasing too many disposable widgets, resulting in a massive global debt crisis, as vanishing middle classes took on more and more debt to compensate for stagnant real wages).
Stagnation. Here’s Marx’s most controversial — and most curious — prediction. That as economies stagnated, real rates of profit would fall. How does this one hold up? On first glance, it seems to have been totally discredited: corporate profits have broken through the roof and into the stratosphere. But think about it again, in economic terms: Marx’s prediction concerned “real profit,” not just the mystery-meat numbers served up by beancounters, and chewed over with gusto by “analysts.” When seen in those terms, Marx might be said to have been onto something: though corporations book nominal profits, I’d suggest a significant component of that “profit” is artificial, earned by transferring value, rather than creating it (just ask mega-banks, Big Energy, or Big Food). I’ve termed this “thin value” and Michael Porter has described it as a failure to create “shared value.” Replace “declining real profit” with “shrinking real value” and it’s analogous to what Tyler Cowen and I have called a Great Stagnation (though our casus belli for it differs significantly from Marx’s).
Alienation. As workers were divorced from the output of their labor, Marx claimed, their sense of self-determination dwindled, alienating them from a sense of meaning, purpose, and fulfillment. How’s Marx doing on this score? I’d say quite well: even the most self-proclaimed humane modern workplaces, for all their creature comforts, are bastions of bone-crushing tedium and soul-sucking mediocrity, filled with dreary meetings, dismal tasks, and pointless objectives that are well, just a little bit alienating. If sweating over the font in a PowerPoint deck for the mega-leveraged buyout of a line of designer diapers is the portrait of modern “work,” then call me — and I’d bet most of you — alienated: disengaged, demoralized, unmotivated, uninspired, and about as fulfilled as a stoic Zen Master forced to watch an endless loop of Cowboys and Aliens.
False consciousness. According to Marx, one of the most pernicious aspects of industrial age capitalism was that the proles wouldn’t even know they were being exploited — and might even celebrate the very factors behind their exploitation, in a kind of ideological Stockholm Syndrome that concealed and misrepresented the relations of power between classes. How’s Marx doing on this score? You tell me. I’ll merely point out: America’s largest private employer is Walmart. America’s second largest employer is McDonald’s.
Commodity fetishism. A fetishized object is one which is more than a symbol: it’s believed to have actually the power the symbol represents (like an idol, or a totem with magical properties). Marx claimed that under industrial age capitalism’s rules, commodities became revered talismans, worshipped through transactional exchanges, imbued with mystical powers that give them inherent value — and obscuring the value of and in the very people who’ve worked labored over them in the first place. It’s one of Marx’s most subtle and nuanced concepts. Does it hold water? Again, I’ll merely pointing to societies in furious pursuit of more, bigger, faster, cheaper, nastier, now, whether it’s the retail temples of America’s mega-malls, or London rioters stealing, not bread, but video games.
Marx’s critiques seem, today, more resonant than we might have guessed. Now, here’s what I’m not suggesting: that Marx’s prescriptions (you know the score: overthrow, communalize, high-five, live happily ever after) for what to do about the maladies above were desirable, good, or just. History, I’d argue, suggests they were anything but. Yet nothing’s black or white — and while Marx’s prescriptions were poor, perhaps, if we’re prepared to think subtly, it’s worthwhile separating his diagnoses from them.
Because the truth might just be that the global economy is in historic, generational trouble, plagued by problems the orthodoxy didn’t expect, didn’t see coming, and doesn’t quite know what to do with. Hence, it might just be that if we’re going to turn this crisis upside down, we’re going to have to think outside the big-box store, the McMansion, the dead-end McJob, the bailout, the super-bonus, and the share price.
The future of plenitude probably won’t be Marxian — but it won’t look like the present. And if we’re going to trace the beginnings of better, more enduring, more authentic, more meaningful, fundamentally more humane paradigm for prosperity, perhaps it’s worthwhile exploring — even when we don’t agree with them — the critiques and prophecies of those who already challenged yesterday’s.
NB: This is a divisive topic. Let’s stay civilized, enlightened, and keep a sense of humor. Let’s discuss the issues and ideas in the comments — not just defend ideologies by pointing fingers and calling one another names.Regrowth 0.9.1 Changelog thephoenixlodge Jan 11th, 2016 655 Never 655Never
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rawdownloadcloneembedreportprint text 1.19 KB 0.9.1 - AKA the "OMFG THINGS BROKE HALP!" bug fix update Mod Changes: - Added Java Version Checker version Java8Checker v2.0 - makes the new requirement for java 8 more apparent - Downgraded AcademyCraft to pre2_1 - Downgraded LambdaLib to 1.0 - Updated Carpenter's Blocks to 3.3.8_dev_r7 Config Changes: - Minetweaker Scripts - Manually set the soil of Water Artichoke to water pads, since that being the default got lost somewhere with agricraft 1.4.6 - Added a mutation to get Garden Stuff's Candelilla seeds - will probably change soil to sand once there isn't a bug preventing me from doing so - Added a missing comma in the agricraft.zs file, the absence of which had screwed up custom soil requirements and mutations. - Added a second copy of the imag seed recipe in the metallurgic infuser, so analyzed, 10/10/10 osmium seeds can be used as input. - Could technically make it work with every single combination of stats, but it would require adding a copy of the recipe for every single possible combination. Quest Changes: - Changed the reward from quest "Meddling with nodes" to not be quite so ridiculously OP/broken. Now also includes a hint as what Growing nodes are capable of.
RAW Paste Data
0.9.1 - AKA the "OMFG THINGS BROKE HALP!" bug fix update Mod Changes: - Added Java Version Checker version Java8Checker v2.0 - makes the new requirement for java 8 more apparent - Downgraded AcademyCraft to pre2_1 - Downgraded LambdaLib to 1.0 - Updated Carpenter's Blocks to 3.3.8_dev_r7 Config Changes: - Minetweaker Scripts - Manually set the soil of Water Artichoke to water pads, since that being the default got lost somewhere with agricraft 1.4.6 - Added a mutation to get Garden Stuff's Candelilla seeds - will probably change soil to sand once there isn't a bug preventing me from doing so - Added a missing comma in the agricraft.zs file, the absence of which had screwed up custom soil requirements and mutations. - Added a second copy of the imag seed recipe in the metallurgic infuser, so analyzed, 10/10/10 osmium seeds can be used as input. - Could technically make it work with every single combination of stats, but it would require adding a copy of the recipe for every single possible combination. Quest Changes: - Changed the reward from quest "Meddling with nodes" to not be quite so ridiculously OP/broken. Now also includes a hint as what Growing nodes are capable of.BEIRUT (Reuters) - Air strikes escalated on Sunday in a rebel-held valley near Damascus containing the Syrian capital’s main water supply, a day after insurgents and the government failed to agree a plan to repair the springs knocked out of service two weeks ago.
A civilian rides a bicycle past a cemetery in the rebel held besieged Douma neighbourhood of Damascus, Syria January 3, 2017. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh
Several rebel groups warned that the escalation effectively meant the collapse of shaky ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey to pave the way for peace talks they hope to convene in Kazakhstan.
The government and allied fighters from the Lebanese group Hezbollah launched an offensive two weeks ago to take back Wadi Barada, a valley overlooked by pro-government military positions where springs provided water to 4 million people in the capital.
The government says it wants to enter the valley to secure the water supply to the capital. Rebels and local activists say pro-government forces are using the water issue to score a political victory weeks after the fall of Aleppo city, using siege and bombardment to force fighters into agreeing to leave.
Through a series of so-called settlement agreements, sieges and army offensives, the Syrian government, backed by Russian air power and Iran-backed militias, has been steadily suppressing armed opposition around the capital.
“There is no longer any point in a ceasefire that is adhered to by one side. I think in the next few hours there will be an important development and a (decision) to freeze (enforcing) the ceasefire,” said Mamoun Haj Musa, spokesman for the Free Syrian Army-affiliated Suqur al Sham rebel group, which is signatory to the ceasefire deal.
Syrian rebel groups said last week they had decided to freeze any talks about their possible participation in the negotiations unless the Syrian government and its Iran-backed allies ended what they said were violations of the ceasefire.
They say Moscow was not putting pressure on the militias or the Syrian army to abide by the ceasefire.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 24 air strikes had hit the valley since Sunday morning, after a lull since Saturday morning during which a new round of negotiations over repairs took place.
DETERIORATING CONDITIONS
A military media unit run by the Hezbollah said on Sunday it was suspending a ceasefire in the Wadi Barada area because rebels were disrupting negotiations and had opened fire on repair teams.
Later they said army tanks had hit Islamist militants near the town of Kafr Zayt in the valley.
The Wadi Barada media office, run by local activists connected to the negotiating team, said it was untrue that any repair team had entered the valley, saying engineers had waited at the area’s border while negotiations went on.
The Hezbollah-affiliated media unit also said it was the Syrian Islamist militia formerly called the Nusra Front that fired on the teams. The Syrian government has said Nusra Front, now called Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, and Islamic State were excluded from a nationwide ceasefire which came into force 10 days ago.
The Wadi Barada media office denied the Nusra fighters were present in the valley.
Rebels in Wadi Barada have allowed government engineers to maintain and operate the valley’s pumping station, which supplies 70 percent of Damascus and its surroundings, since they took control of the area in 2012.
Fighters have, however, cut water supplies several times in the past to put pressure on the army not to overrun the area.
The United Nations said the spring was damaged two weeks ago because “infrastructure was deliberately targeted”, without saying who was responsible, and warned shortages in the capital could lead to waterborne disease outbreaks.
Rebels and activists say the spring was damaged by pro-government force bombardment. The government said rebels polluted the spring with diesel, forcing the state to cut supplies.
Ali Haidar, who as national reconciliation minister has been responsible for negotiating local truce deals which see rebels given safe passage out of areas which the government then moves into, told Sham radio station on Saturday the spring would remain under state control after repairs, “to prevent water again being cut to the capital”.
A U.N. spokesman said this week sabotaging civilian water supplies constituted a war crime.
Activists in the valley warned on Saturday of deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the mountainous valley, which they say has a population of 50,000 of local people and 30,000 internally displaced Syrians.
The United Nations estimates 45,000 people live in the Wadi Barada area, and thinks at least 7,000 people have been displaced form the area in recent fighting.The campaign is over. Now what?
Bookmark our product page: http://shardsonline.com
Make a forum account: http://shardsonline.com/forums
Join us for our Community Roundtable on Friday: http://shardsonline.com/?p=2274
As our campaign comes to a close, the two words that come to mind are gratitude and humility.
We have so much gratitude to our fans for all the support and love we've received. We come out of this campaign even more convinced that Shards Online must be made. As long as I have been in game development I have never seen such a positive response to something I've been a part of. Thank you all for that.
This campaign has also been a humbling experience. We knew we weren't Chris Roberts or Richard Garriott but we truly believed that having 8 months of actual development into the game would make up for that. We also knew that this game is truly unique and offers something to players that is rarely found in traditionally funded games, real player freedom.
We came into this campaign overconfident and having no idea what truly laid in store for us. We learned that game developers are not good at marketing. We learned just how hard it is to reach your audience. You know we had 11,000 email addresses when this thing started and still over 60% of the people who took our survey learned about the game during the campaign?
Even though we did not meet our goal, we at Citadel Studios still consider this campaign a success. It is a success because back in March only a few hundred people knew about Shards Online, now tens of thousands of people do. It's a success because over 1000 people told us that this game needs to be made. It's a success because we have gotten amazing feedback from you, the community, throughout the campaign. It's a success because we now have a community of people who are just as excited about Shards Online as we are.
We will persist. Shards Online will be made. There are lots of options for the future and we invite you to join us at our first community roundtable to discuss it directly with us, the development team. In the immediate future, Citadel Studios has three main focuses:
Funding: We still need funding to get Shards Online to an alpha state. We are exploring multiple avenues and we will be sure to update you guys as we make progress.
Community: We are going to continue to work directly with our community. There are many ways you can help us as we move forward. From showing support, to feedback on our direction and vision, to playtesting and helping us build our knowledge base. We will involve all of you every step of the way.
Development: We are refocusing and working on a plan to get to alpha quicker and more efficiently. We are creating a development roadmap with tighter deliverables and more checkpoints along the way to release. This will actually be the topic of our second community roadmap (stay tuned for details on this)
I want to conclude this message by again saying THANK YOU to everyone who has shown us support this far. Again, this campaign has only further reaffirmed to us that this game must be made. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Together we can make Shards Online a reality.
You want to show even more support?The Inspector General of the Treasury will be a very busy man indeed this year. According to CNN, the IG will launch an investigation to determine how a DHS whistleblower ended up on the IRS’ audit list after testifying before Congress. P. Jeffrey Black tried to fix problems in the federal air marshal service, but had IRS agents at his door the day he appeared in a documentary criticizing the Obama administration’s air security efforts:
He had taken a long list of complaints to lawmakers about how the air marshals service was run, ranging from problems keeping marshals on flights to allegations of ineptitude and favoritism by managers. The same year he retired, he appeared in “Please Remove Your Shoes,” a documentary critical of the airline security measures travelers endure on every trip. Then came the audit, which an Internal Revenue Service agent told him about the same day the movie premiered — “almost to the hour,” he said. The year-long investigation included the placement of a $24,000 lien against his home. In the end, the IRS found out Black owed them $480 — while the government owed him $8,300. Black paid his $480; the government never paid him, saying the statute of limitations had run out. Now, he thinks someone — perhaps the Air Marshal Service, the Department of Homeland Security or elsewhere in the Obama administration — was using the IRS to retaliate against him. “Being a veteran of extensive retaliation in my past, I am not surprised about this,” Black told CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360.” “It is basically the only way they can retaliate against me after I retired.”
The IRS insists that audit decisions come from careerists at the agency, and politics don’t play any role in enforcement. However, that was their position on allegations of targeting Tea Party groups in their applications for tax-exempt status too, until it finally fell apart during an IG audit. After that got exposed, the IRS insisted that the targeting only took place among “low-level employees,” but later testimony showed that to be false.
This sounds more like the case of the National Organization for Marriage. Someone — and we still don’t know who — took information that is supposed to remain confidential by federal statute and leaked it to both the media and NOM’s political opponents. It’s no secret that NOM’s constituency is not closely aligned with the current power structure in Washington, and there seems to be no particular reason NOM would have been singled out for a leak except for political reasons.
These various events, including that of Black’s audit, strongly suggest that political corruption and retaliation are not isolated events at all in the IRS but are part of their organizational culture. The IG needs to investigate this thoroughly, and so does Congress, but the long-term solution has to be to transform the tax code to eliminate the IRS or greatly reduce its power, in order to prevent such abuses from happening in the future.Alignment: Neutral
Hit Dice: 3
Attack: 1
Damage: 1d6, special
Save: M3
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: None
Combat
Translocate: The Sentry Plaque doesn't have a standard movement action, it can teleport to any surface it has line of sight. This movement action doesn't provoke any attacks.
Acidic Tears: Sentry Plaque can generate an acidic tear that can be used as a ranged attack within 90'. Damage is 1d6 acid and continues to burn for one additional round for 1d6.
Disguise: When the Sentry Plaque closes it eye it can appear as an ordinary plaque. While disguised the Sentry Plaque cannot translocate or attack. A disguised Sentry Plaque surprises on 1-4 on a d6 roll.
Vision: Sentry Plaques can see in darknesss and see invisible creatures.
Adventure Seeds
1. The group stumbles upon a room of a thousand plaques. This vast chamber is filled with plaques of all shapes and sizes. With their guard down they are assaulted by acidic tears. A quick glance reveals nothing but tablets of commemoration. 2. Variant Sentry Plaques are not unheard of. A wizard has task you with the quest to retrieve the eye stalks of a floating spherical aberration rumored to have a vast assortment of powers.
110Sentry Plaques are guardians of ancient lore and text. Created by powerful wizards or clerics to protect their vast libraries of arcane lore or scriptures of their sacred patron. A Sentry Plaque appear as ornamental tablets made of wood, metal, or porcelain with an elaborate frame. The center of the plaque has a flesh like texture where a central eye observes. Sentry Plaques are able to follow simple commands and seamlessly blend in their environment.Tuesday’s vote was the second time the Senate had blocked a filibuster of fast-track authority, but this time the bill was shorn of a separate measure to offer enhanced retraining and educational assistance to workers displaced by international trade accords. That measure also faces a crucial vote on Wednesday.
Passage of a stand-alone trade promotion bill will put pressure on House Democrats, who just over a week ago brought down the worker aid provision, known as trade adjustment assistance, when it was linked to the fast-track legislation, in a strategic move they hoped would defeat the entire trade package.
But Republican leaders — with support from the White House — found a parliamentary way to corner the Democratic opponents, by separating the two pieces of the bill. By Wednesday evening, legislation will most likely be on the president’s desk, giving him the power to complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
|
say nothing, just breathe normally, as if to let me know that he was on to me, that I was being watched. After the second or third call in as many days, I yanked the phone jack from its socket. I was beginning to get paranoid.
***
As Election Day 2006 neared, the pressure was simply becoming to be too much to bear. I needed to get away, so I decided to travel to New York to visit my old friend Rafael at Columbia University.
But less than two minutes after landing at LaGuardia, my phone rang. It was a 202 area code. A team of attorneys with the House Ethics Committee was calling to ask if I would mind answering some questions.
Above, Rahm Emanuel, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer celebrate on Election Night 2006. The Democrats narrowly retook majority control of both chambers of Congress. In a poll, 74 percent of voters identified “corruption and scandals” as either “very important” or “extremely important” factors in their votes. | AP Photo
They had an ultimatum: You can willingly participate and answer a few questions for us during a phone call later this week, and your identity will stay private. Or you can choose not to comply, in which case, we’ll subpoena you, and your name will be a matter of public record. I chose the former, and agreed to talk to them on the coming Thursday.
That night, I watched from Rafael's dorm room as election results came in. Democrats retook the House by a large margin, and the Senate by a smaller one. In exit polls, 74 percent of voters named “corruption and scandals in government” as either “very important” or “extremely important” factors in their votes.
The next morning, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld resigned, and Dennis Hastert announced he’d step down from GOP leadership.
***
A day later, I had a phone call with House Ethics committee lawyers. As the call began, I paced around the communal living area outside of Rafael's dorm room. It suddenly occurred to me that some of these attorneys were out of a job because of the change in control of the House.
I answered their questions one by one. The attorneys were polite and professional, asking extensively about how I got the transcripts, why and how I leaked them, the basic facts and timeline of the case. I told them everything they wanted to know, and some things they didn’t want, either.
I mentioned the rumor about the other member of Congress—the story my long-lost classmate had told me. The ruse about the intern party, the empty apartment, the groping. I told them the name of the page who shared this with me, and the name of the member of Congress he spoke about.
After I finished, there was a long pause. Finally, an attorney cleared his throat. “Well,” he sputtered, “we’re really just focused on Congressman Foley here.”
Four weeks later, on December 8, 2006, the House Ethics Committee released its 91-page report on the Foley affair, a compelling account detailing those who knew that something was amiss—not necessarily something sexual, but something—with the way Foley interacted with pages. The report makes note of a late-night incident before 2000, when Foley, drunk, tried to enter the page dorm before being turned away by the U.S. Capitol Police officers who guard it. Staffers who worked intensively with the page program later told investigators that they got a “creepy feeling” from Foley.
More importantly, the report detailed the political concerns that colored the actions of elected officials who were aware of wrongdoing.
The ethics report stated that Rep. Rodney Alexander was first contacted by a reporter on the “creepy emails” story in spring 2006. Alexander told this to Rep. Tom Reynolds, then chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, and John Boehner, then majority leader, both of whom thanked him for the information and said that they’d handle it.
Boehner claimed that within the hour, he approached Hastert on the House floor and told him about the emails. Boehner testified that Hastert assured him that he’d already taken care of it. “More than a day” after Alexander told him about Foley’s emails, the NRCC’s Reynolds claimed also to have spoken with Hastert. In both cases, Hastert testified that he had no recollection of such discussions.
In depicting a culture of soft-pedaling and discretion, the report made a vivid case for major congressional reform. It condemned the “disconcerting unwillingness to take responsibility for resolving issues regarding Rep. Foley's conduct.” Yet the report did not recommend a single disciplinary action for any of the people involved—no staffer, no congressperson, no accountability at all.
It is impossible not to notice that Hastert, a man once universally seen as above reproach, seemed to deny any advance knowledge about Foley’s predatory behavior toward teenage boys. And it is now impossible for me to believe his testimony to the Ethics Committee—testimony that goes against what others told investigators—knowing that Hastert covered up his own decades-old sexual relationship with a boy, which began when Hastert was a high school wrestling coach. That boy was a teenager, a high schooler. He could have just as easily been a page.
Left, Hastert is led into the federal courthouse in Chicago in June 2015 to plead guilty in a case that involved violating banking law and lying to FBI investigators over an allegation of sexual abuse during Hastert's time as a high school wrestling coach. At right, Hastert, top left, observes a wrestling clinic. | AP Photos
Ultimately, aside from Mark Foley, only one entity was held responsible and punished for the Foley scandal: the page program itself.
***
On August 8, 2011, Speaker Boehner and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi sent out a “Dear Colleague” letter to all members of Congress. “Changes in technology have obviated the need for most Page services,” they wrote. “We have jointly directed the Clerk of the House and other House officials to take the steps necessary to conclude the Page Program by August 31, 2011.”
I was stunned. The page program was a tradition more than two centuries old, one that withstood the Civil War, Great Depression and plenty of scandals. It would end in three weeks. In a way, the letter’s statement that “the program’s high costs are difficult to justify” was right—though the cost that concerned them wasn’t monetary; it was political. After all, the Senate program was not discontinued—it lives on to this day. But for House leadership, the risk of another scandal was simply too great.
A few minutes after reading the letter, I sent it out to 60 of my closest friends. They needed to know; it was a death in the family. We shared in our disappointment and shock. “I have a suggested solution,” said one, half-jokingly, “all of us now need to run for Congress, get elected, and relaunch the program. Who is in?” Others suggested a lobbying campaign, or expressed a renewed interest in attending a class reunion.
Ultimately, aside from Mark Foley, only one entity was held responsible and punished for the Foley scandal: the page program itself.
A dozen of us had been planning to meet the following month for a reunion in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to mark 10 years since the September 11 attacks and pay respects to the passengers of United Flight 93, who, as we now know, literally saved our lives with their heroism. Now, we were compelled to pay our respects to the page program that had brought us together. Nobody else in the outside world quite knows what it was like to be page. In the 14 years since, I’ve begun to appreciate how lasting our bond is, how meaningful and rare.
Nowadays when I visit the Capitol, I get the feeling people do when they walk the halls of his old high school. Every sight triggers a memory. Here’s the place where Barney Frank would sit and read the newspaper while chewing on a cigar. Here’s where Jim Traficant gave me a fist bump. Here’s the stairway I ran down when I thought a plane was about to crash into the building. As a page, I’d wander the empty hallways and feel the ghosts of history swirl around me; now, it’s much the same, except I am one of those ghosts and the history is personal. The Capitol, in that sense, is haunted.
Mark Foley now lives in Florida, where he runs a small business, hosts an occasional radio show and has worked as a lobbyist for the Washington Nationals. Years ago, he was a troubled man, but by all accounts, he’s sought treatment for his demons and I sincerely hope he finds happiness and peace of mind.
Nine years after I helped expose the scandal, I have two big regrets from the whole episode.
The first is that my classmate’s name was ever made public. For that, I am sorry. There aren’t words strong enough to convey my remorse over the suffering he must have felt, and the looming specter of the scandal that may follow him for the rest of his life. Joshua still works in politics. We recently met and talked for the first time in nine years. I apologized; he accepted. We talked for hours about Foley—we were, in a sense, two of only three people at the center of this scandal—and we came out with a renewed friendship.
Two former House pages during a 2011 lobbying campaign to save the page program, which was discontinued the following year. | Getty, Tom Williams/Roll Call
The second regret is that the scandal’s furor may have caused the end of the page program. You’ll notice the absence of the pages when you watch the State of the Union. They were never front and center, but always there if you looked to the margins, the tightly-packed scrum of people right next to the door where the president enters—a tangle of kids with outreached arms hoping for a handshake. It’s a sad reality that Congress chose to eliminate the program, and speaks volumes—it was the actions of the congressmen that merited reform and condemnation, not the actions of pages. If Congress can’t seem to trust itself around teenagers, getting rid of them is simply blaming the victims rather than stopping the perpetrators.
Today, the page program exists only in memory, but the people whose lives it changed go on. It’s part of them, deep in their marrow. They’re strewn about across the world, with professions and lives as varied as you can imagine—a truck driver, a filmmaker, attorneys. A few still work in politics. I did for a while, too, but I’ve since moved on.
I used to think it was the art of politics itself that mattered to me. Politics was my secular religion, a way I made sense of the world. I’ve come to believe that it’s ultimately the things we hold on to that define us—people, places, objects, ideas—each one provoking joy or sadness or laughter or guilt.
For a long time, I held on to politics. I worked on campaigns, ran for local office, even returned to Capitol Hill to work as a speechwriter. Now, I’ve let it go. The page program, or at least my memory of it, I hold on to.
*At the author’s request, Joshua and Rafael are pseudonyms, used here out of respect for privacy.
This story has been updated to correct the timeline of Hastert's resignation.4-star 2017 defensive back Jamyest Williams from Lawrenceville, Georgia wil announce his college choice on August 27 at 3 p.m. at Grayson high school according to his Twitter account.
Williams will choose from his final group of schools that include Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
He has early offers from Alabama, Arizona, Auburn, Baylor, Boston College, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Clemson, Colorado, Colorado State, Duke, East Michigan, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Missouri, North Carolina, North Carolina State, North Texas, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Tennessee, Tennessee State, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest and Wisconsin.
Some of the visits for Williams to Clemson was the 2016 Dabo Swinney Football camp, the 2015 spring game, and the 2014 rivalry win against South Carolina.
During his sophomore campaign, he rushed for 700 yard and eight touchdowns, hauled in 35 catches for 452 yards and five more touchdowns. Defensively, he had 60 tackles and two interceptions.
As a freshman, he had 32 tackles, 16 PBU's, and two interceptions. On offense, he had 400 all-purpose yards and a touchdown. The highly coveted prospect was named first team DB MaxPrep's Freshman All-American(2013) and MVP of the Freshman Army All-American game in San Antonio, Texas (2013). He has run a 4.40 in the 40 yard dash at several camps in the last year.
He wants to play defensive back at the college level and the Tigers were the first program to have offered Williams.
Please come out and support as I will be committing August 27 at 3 pm at Grayson high school???????????? pic.twitter.com/oFvqKFNPzX — Jamyest Williams (@Jamy0602) August 10, 2016
Here is my top 5 all glory to God?????????????????????????? @ESPNU pic.twitter.com/nDhjniXfNG — Jamyest Williams (@Jamy0602) July 10, 2016Arming the Left: Is the time now? By Charles Southwell* I hope you didn't open this page to read what we already know: that this is the most rightwing government we have ever had in the US, even far right of Bush I, that our rights are being eroded daily, and that our democratic process is all but gone, if it isn't already gone. I hope you came here to read about tactics for action that will finally have some consequence. I hope you agree that our protests, petitions, letters, and on and on, have been utterly ignored. The fascistas that run our country laugh at us. They believe they can do anything and that we haven't got the guts to revolt, but only to wage a war of words. I have seen the Bush cavalcades, as they drive away, his aids sneering and jeering and laughing and mocking our protests. They think we are a JOKE. Tens of millions of Americans protested the war, but because we posed no REAL THREAT to their power, we were UTTERLY IGNORED. As long as we pose no REAL threat to the powers-that-be, to what is shaping up into a dictatorship, we will continue to be ignored. Right now, we are ignored because we present no organized power to fight this onslaught of anti-democratic, totalitarian government that we are up against. It will take time, but it's time to get more left-leaning liberals and outright leftists to at least POSE a threat, by getting organized and getting ARMED. It's time to get well past this liberal phobia and taboo about weapons and force. After all, our liberalism was won with a REVOLUTIONARY WAR! they used real guns in that war. The French Revolution was also a WAR and they used real weapons there too. Perhaps people believe that since the US federal government has the fire power to blow up the world X times over, that we have no chance, and that the 2nd amendment is therefore moot. I used to think the same thing. In fact, this was the major if not the only lasting upshot of the Cold War! the Cold war wasn't about one opposing ideology against the other; it wasn't about the East vs. the West. In the end, it was about the respective governments against their own peoples. The Cold War resulted in the repression of the peoples in those countries, and likewise, of peoples around the world. But, it is still a myth that the US citizens are powerless against their government, a government that has become tyrannical and has usurped our democratic rights. We are not powerless against it. If we get organized and armed, and form a force of hundreds of thousands, we can overcome this government, or pose enough of a threat to have power. The government cannot drop a nuclear bomb on DC. It cannot risk the lives of whole cities, without revealing its own contradictions that is. Further, there is no guarantee that the military will remain loyal to a government that continually reveals itself as imperialistic and ruthless and having no real concern for its own personnel. The Iraqi occupation is teaching many of them that hard lesson. They are realizing that not Hussein, but the Bush regime, is their real enemy. So I ask you, isn't it time that left-leaning liberals and leftists exercised their 2nd amendment rights and got organized and prepared? Isn't it time, before it's too late? Isn't it time, before another Bush coup and the following four years of increased repression and economic ruin? We should remain committed to the absolute condemnation of individual acts of violence or terrorism. Read Trotsky's essay on terrorism, in the political education section of this website. Our reference to Trotsky does not mean that we are Marxists. I am merely referring to a good argument for any real revolutionaries against terrorism. We want a democratic government, which is not predicated on a Marxist state. In fact, we leave that to the future of the new movement for democracy, given that the future should be democratic and in a democracy, the people will decide. But, our goal is to make a future wherein the people CAN and WILL decide!!!!!! 21 October 2003 Also see CLG's Political Education page To receive breaking news alerts from us, click here or the icon below. Email this page to a friend Permanent URL for this page: http://www.legitgov.org/essay_southwell_arming_the_left_is_the_time_now_102203.html CLG Index *Opinions expressed in CLG's published essays are not necessarily those of the Citizens for Legitimate GovernmentIf automatic Pentagon budget cuts go through as scheduled next week, the Navy is going to grind its major operations practically to a halt. Or at least that's the message it's sending on social media.
The Navy's top public-affairs officer, Rear Adm. John Kirby, tweeted out an updated plan Tuesday for how the Navy absorbs billions of dollars in budget cuts scheduled to take effect on March 1. The deployments of 10 destroyers will be cancelled, including seven tasked with missile defense. Four aircraft-carrier air wings will be "shut down." The Navy will "Reduce Investment in ships, aircraft, weapons, R&D" by $7.75 billion. Should a crisis break out somewhere in the world in 2013, only one aircraft carrier strike group will be available for deployment.
Others in the Navy public-affairs shop took to their own social-media accounts to spread the word. The Navy's official Twitter account retweeted the planning document to its 114,000-plus followers. Consider it a form of public pressure.
Tweeting the expected impact for what's called "sequestration" inside the Beltway fits a recent Navy pattern. The seafaring service has been vocal in advertising how budget cuts will hobble it. Earlier this month, it publicly cancelled the deployment of the USS Harry Truman to the Middle East, leaving the region with only one U.S. aircraft carrier near Iran for the first time in two years, right before a new round of nuclear negotiations with the Iranians. Days later, it said it would delay the years-long refueling and retrofitting of another aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, which saves money by putting additional strain on the other carriers. (And something also prominently tweeted by the Navy.) Air-show attendees will also have to do without the Blue Angels.
Turns out the aircraft carriers are just the beginning of the Navy's expected woes. There will be "immediate coverage gaps" in multiple military commands worldwide, according to the Navy plan. No amphibious ready groups will be prepared to go into crisis zones. The Marines' version of the F-35 stealth fighter won't go into flight testing on the USS Wasp. There won't be any Navy operations in South America. And all of this is on top of the Navy's recent announcement that it expects to build fewer surface ships than it had planned for years.
It's debatable how much this Navy planning is intended to pressure Congress and President Obama to work out a deal averting the cuts ahead of the March 1 deadline. At least one commentator thinks the Navy's public cries of impending penury are inappropriate. "The Navy could have cut back other, less-sensitive deployments or acquisition programs," Ralph Peters wrote in the New York Post last week. "But the Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chose to embarrass the White House and pressure Congress. He should have been fired."
As Sam LaGrone of the U.S. Naval Institute wrote for Danger Room last week, the Navy's making a specific gamble with its deployment cuts and their impact on short-term naval readiness. It's sacrificing what it does in the near-term in order to preserve its long-term, high-budget shipbuilding plans, which take years to come to fruition.
But the Navy's social-media plan already is. It took the unusual step of tweeting its budget documents shortly after sending it to Congress. Congress is out of session this week – indicating that Navy is diving into the blue waters of public opinion to save its money.Update #01
New Goals (summary):
$60,000.00 = Beefed up rewards for everyone who backed $40 or more
$75,000.00 = MORE Beefed up rewards and we go INTERNATIONAL!
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Read this (BELOW) if you have not already....
#YTBP (My YouTube Band Project) explained in words:
Cobus. I have a YouTube channel. I have accumulated more than one hundred million views by playing the drums along to my favorite songs, but now I want to write and record and produce my favorite songs: especially the ones that don't exist yet. My name is. I have accumulated more thanby playing the drums along to my favorite songs, but now I want to write and record and produce my favorite songs: especially the ones that don't exist yet.
The core of this project is to reach out to the masses, accept auditions from completely unknown (but completely epic) musicians, choose and connect with the people that inspire me and that I have chemistry with, fly them to Los Angeles for a few weeks, and write and record an album. I also want to film the whole process, start to finish, involve YOU (the backer) in every step of the process, and clearly show what social media has enabled: that it is now possible to put together a band, make inspired music that comes from a place of freedom, and all of this without ANY pressure from record companies.
$35,000 seems like a lot of money, and that's because it IS. Undoubtedly. But we have kept the cost as low as we possibly could (no 5-star hotels or Hollywood-priced recording studios in the budget..) even though it's as big as flying a group of musicians to Los Angeles (an INSANELY expensive city, let me tell you) and put them up in a hotel for a few weeks - a clean and cheap hotel just down the road from my apartment.
I have been incredibly excited about this project for many months, so the goal for this Kickstarter project is NOT to become a millionaire, but simply to see this idea actually happen.
If you don't know how Kickstarter works: all Kick Starter campaigns are all-or-nothing. That means that if we reach our goal of raising the total amount of money in 30 days, everything is successful and it all goes ahead. But if we only raise 99% of the goal.. your credit card doesn't get charged, you don’t lose a cent, I don’t get a cent, and the project can’t go ahead, unfortunately. So there is absolutely zero risk in donating: you either fund a project that is definitely going ahead (and you become as big a part of this as the band members and I are), or you get your money back.
If you are a musician and you’d like to audition for this project, please head over to the official project website for more details. Also, if you are a songwriter and you’ve written some songs of your own that you’re really proud of, you can submit them too (you will NEVER lose writing credit, and your song might end up on the album, possibly heard by millions). If you want to support this project, there are some epic rewards I put together that you can get your hands on. If you know of ANYbody that might be interested in this project (either as a musician who might want to audition, or somebody who might want to support the project financially) please send them the link to this project so that they can check it out. Speaking about rewards, just check out the rewards on the right. :-)
miles above anything any independent musician has ever tried, and that makes this the most intimidatingly big idea I have ever had. I’ve had this idea for so long, and I am more excited and passionate about this than I have been about almost anything else. I just sincerely and honestly and really believe I have to try this, I can't NOT try it, I can't wuss out and not try this. I have always pursued what I am passionate about, that’s the way I try to live my life and that’s what I am doing here. So if you’ve followed my story and you want to be a part of this next chapter, or if you have no idea I think that the size of this project is possibly, and that makes this the most intimidatingly big idea I have ever had. I’ve had this idea for so long, and I am more excited and passionate about this than I have been about almost anything else. I just sincerely and honestly and really believe I have to try this, I can't NOT try it, I can't wuss out and not try this.So if you’ve followed my story and you want to be a part of this next chapter, or if you have no idea who the flip I am and you just think this is a rad idea, or if you’re at all as excited and passionate about this as I am.. then please contribute as much as you can afford to, and let’s just see what happens.
Much Love,
~Cobus
* Official YTBP Site
*Official YTBP FAQ's
*Official YTBP Facebook
*Official YTBP Twitter
*Official YTBP YouTubeCLOSE One beer company is sending more than 150,000 cans of canned drinking water to communities affected by Harvey, once a Category 4 hurricane. Video provided by Newsy Newslook
Anheuser-Busch switched a line at its Cartersville, Ga. brewery from beer to potable water to produce more than a million cans of emergency drinking water for those in need. Photo by Anheuser-Busch [Via MerlinFTP Drop] (Photo: XXX)
CARTERSVILLE, Ga. — An Anheuser-Busch brewery in Georgia is shipping canned drinking water to the American Red Cross to help Hurricane Harvey relief efforts in Texas and Louisiana.
The St. Louis-based beer giant says a truckload of water from its Cartersville, Ga., brewery arrived in Baton Rouge, La., Monday. More truckloads are scheduled to arrive in Arlington, Texas. More than 155,000 cans of water are being sent in total.
Anheuser-Busch says it periodically stops beer production at times throughout the year in order to can drinking water at the Georgia facility so it can be ready to go in times of need. The company says it has provided more than 76 million cans of drinking water for disaster relief since 1988.
More: Walmart ships 2,000 kayaks to affected area as Harvey rain moves away from Houston — for now
More: Joel Osteen responds to accusations of closing church doors to Harvey evacuees
More: Harvey pounds Texas: What we know now
Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2wPmgFB‘TO START A NEW LIFE’: Secret love affair behind baffling MH370 mystery Malaysian Airlines pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah may have formulated a murderous plot to be with his alleged mistress. It’s now one of the most plausible theories in the unsolved disaster.
TV host breaks down over Kerri-Anne Kerri-Anne Kennerley’s tragic loss became too much for her co-hosts today, with one showing raw emotion live on TV.
Why Pell’s accuser was so compelling Many people can’t believe Cardinal George Pell is guilty of child sex offences but it was this key piece of evidence that sealed his fate.
Trump lawyer makes ominous warning Donald Trump’s former right-hand man Michael Cohen has shared explosive evidence. But he also issued a stark warning for next year.
Map reveals why world is terrified Tensions are flaring to frightening levels between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan. One map shows just how terrified everyone is.
Gruesome discovery in in-flight meal A passenger was left horrified on a Singapore Airlines flight to Melbourne after he realised he’d eaten a human body part.
Star spills on controversial sex session The diver who split from her partner in Rio after reportedly kicking her out of their room to have sex, has broken her silence in a tell-all.
‘Breast’ accident saved porn star’s life Porn star turned sports presenter Mia Khalifa claims a scary ordeal at a hockey game actually ended up saving her life.
‘Holy mother of God’: World in awe You wouldn’t read about it. England and the West Indies just pulled off something special in a crazy match certain to go down in history.
Disgusted Pizza Hut staff quit in protest Pizza Hut workers have resigned in disgust after a franchise owner allegedly served expired food that had been thrown in a skip."I don't think the question is going to be, 'Is he coming back to play this year for the Tampa Bay Lightning?' The question is, 'Is he going to be back (in February) to play for the Canadian Olympic team?' I'm the optimistic coach, but that's how it might turn out."
Originally published in the Tampa Bay Times, the bold predication on Stamkos is exceedingly optimistic. But is it realistic? Recovery time for broken tibia's can rage from 3 - 6 months... If Stamkos, who will not have played in 3 months, makes a return for the Olympics, odds are he'd be a reservist. The worst case scenario is Stamkos returning in May - which could provide a spark if the Bolts are in the playoffs at that time.Oklahoma’s embattled Ten Commandments monument must be taken down by Oct. 12.
Oklahoma state officials voted Tuesday to remove the Ten Commandments monument from the grounds of the State Capitol to comply with a court order.
The Capitol Preservation Commission, which manages the placement of artwork on public property, voted 7-1 to remove the one-ton granite statue, built with private dollars.
The decision to remove the monument follows months of intense debate, with critics arguing that it violates the state constitution's prohibition against using public property to support religion Supporters had argued it serves a historical purpose.
Three plaintiffs represented by the American Civil Liberties Union brought suit challenging its placement on state property. As The Christian Science Monitor reported, early this summer Oklahoma’s Supreme Court ordered its removal citing that the monument indirectly benefits the Jewish and Christian faiths.
The 7-1 state Supreme Court decision cited a clause in the Oklahoma Constitution that states: "No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, or used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary, or sectarian institution as such."
The Supreme Court directed a district court to issue an order to comply. On September 11, Oklahoma County District Judge Thomas Prince gave the state 30 days to remove the monument, according to the Associated Press.
John Estus, a spokesman for the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, told the AP that it was unclear where the statue will go, or what day it will depart.
“We're going to meet with the builder who installed it and figure out the best way to remove it," Estus said.
The monument – a six-foot-tall, three-feet-wide slab of stone shaped like two tablets – was installed in November 2012, three years after a bill authorizing it was passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature and signed into law by then-Gov. Brad Henry (D), and was paid for with private funds through Rep. Mike Ritze, (R) of Broken Arrow, Okla..
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In October 2014, the monument was damaged when a man drove a car across the Capitol lawn and crashed into it. The monument was replaced early this year with an exact replica commissioned by Representative Ritze’s family.
While the Oklahoma statue stood at the capitol, other groups also asked to erect their own monuments on the capitol grounds, including Satanists, an animal rights group, and the "Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster."Posted 5 years ago on Sept. 5, 2013, 3:29 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Tags: anti-war, syria
via UNAC and interoccupy.net:
A collective fierce voice demanding, “Not another war” is resounding across the country and around the world.
Now is the moment to make our voices heard.
Join unified actions this Sat. Sept. 7, in
NEW YORK’s TIMES SQUARE, 42ND STREET AND SEVENTH AVENUE AT 1 PM & in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles
and on
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, IN FRONT OF THE WHITE HOUSE with Syrian American Forum from 10 to 12. Marching to Congress – Upper Senate Park
Click HERE to find an action near you.
Join in to stop the attack on Syria. The coming days provide the last chance to mobilize popular resistance to the military strike. The people fear both the political and economic consequences of another costly war. Millions believe the pretext for the war is another Big Lie like the lies used before the Vietnam, Iraq and Libya wars. We need to join together to loudly oppose this new war.
Poised to launch weapons of mass death on the Syrian people, the administration has called time out to try to win over the population and Congress with a “full-court press” assault of war propaganda. We must meet this with a “full-court press” response.
Along with the dozens of protests held last week in the U.S. and hundreds worldwide, the anti-attack forces have called major actions in the next week and a full week of lobbying and local actions.
Under the slogans of “Hands off Syria! Not another war!” the International Action Center initiated a call for a united regional action of all antiwar forces for September 7 at Times Square at 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue, NYC at 1 p.m.
Other actions on Saturday, September 7 include a protest called by the Answer Coalition in front of the White House at noon. There are also regional coalitions organizing demonstrations in Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, among other cities.
Many groups are also organizing delegations to congressional offices in the coming week before congressional members head back to DC on Sept 9. The delegations range from polite visits to demonstrations to plans for encampments on the doorstep.
Full listings of endorsing organizations and cities where actions are planned can be found at iacenter.org. Click HERE to view an endorsers list. Click HERE to endorse, support or list a local action. Click HERE to find an action near you.
Broad support is also growing for an initiative by the Syrian American Forum to hold its “Hands Off Syria, Don’t bomb Syria” March on Washington on Sept. 9, when Congress is due to reconvene. The group is organizing buses from the Midwest, South New York and other areas for a Monday rally in front of the White House.
Already 50 organizations have endorsed and are mobilizing for these and other actions, including the United National Antiwar Coalition. Among them is “coordinated day of varied actions directed at Congress” on Friday, Sept. 6, from 4-6 p.m. Click HERE to view a full listing of actions. Click HERE to view an endorsers list.
Click HERE to view more endorsers. Click HERE to endorse, support or list a local action. Click HERE to find an action near you.A little less than a year ago, then-candidate Donald Trump made his pitch to black and Latino voters: “What do you have to lose?”
More than six months into his presidency, Trump is giving a very clear answer to that question: quite a lot, actually.
Most recently, the New York Times reported that Trump’s Justice Department is reportedly setting up a team to potentially investigate and sue universities whose affirmative action policies supposedly discriminate against students based on their race. If this leads to schools pulling back affirmative action programs, this will likely hurt both black and Latino students. The research shows that, at least in some states, black and Latino people — who are already generally underrepresented in universities — see their representation further decline if affirmative action is banned.
But this is only the latest thing the Trump administration has done to pull back racial justice and civil rights gains. Here are a few other examples:
Trump set up an “election integrity” commission to investigate, among other issues, voter fraud. The research, however, has shown time and time again that voter fraud is extremely rare to nonexistent. Still, the myth of voter fraud has been used to pass new restrictions on voting, which studies show disproportionately impact black and Latino voters. That seems to be what’s going on here, with Trump voicing his own support for strict voter ID laws and the commission setting the groundwork for voter roll purges.
The Justice Department has pulled back investigations of local and state police forces. The Obama administration aggressively pursued these types of investigations, finding that police departments often discriminated against minority residents and using the findings to push for reforms. Without the investigations, the federal government isn’t going to have as much of a role in reforming police misconduct and discriminatory practices.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions also asked prosecutors to begin enforcing mandatory minimum sentences even for low-level drug offenses, rescinding a memo from the Obama administration that asked law enforcement to lay off harsh punishments for people accused of nonviolent crimes. Historically, the harsh prison sentences have disproportionately impacted black Americans — with statistics showing that black people are more likely to be arrested for drug offenses even though they’re not more likely to use or sell drugs.
When you put this all together, a picture emerges of a Trump administration that is very actively working to roll back the racial justice and civil rights gains of the past several years and, particularly with voting rights and affirmative action, decades.
But here’s the thing: None of this should really be surprising to
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212(w), 001 212(h)","N/A","N/A", "White, Somers","New York, NY","0207, 0207(f), 07","N/A","N/A", "White O'Gara, Victoria","Bellevue, ID","268","@aol.com","N/A", "Whitworth, Alan & Wendy","Cambridge","07(p), 0223(h), 0223(f), 0794(2nd p)","@whitsend.demon.co.u","N/A", "Wial, Jim",,"01 310(w)","N/A","N/A","William Morission Agency" "Wienberg, Anouska and Mark",,"0207(w)","N/A","N/A", "Wiesel, Dr. Eli and Marion",,"001 212","N/A","N/A", "Wigram, Liionel and Lydia","Beverly Hills, CA","011 818(h), 001 818(w)","N/A","N/A", "Williams, Alexandra & Nick","COMPLETELY REDACTED",,"N/A","N/A", "Williams-Ellis, David & Serena","London, England","0207, 0207, 017(office)","N/A","N/A", "Wilmot-Sitwell, Alex & Fi","London, England","0207(h), 0207(w), 00 21(f), 00 21(Home)","N/A","N/A", "Wilson, Carter","New York, NY","001 212","N/A","N/A", "Windisch Grazot, Manfred",,"00 39(h), 00 39(w)","N/A","N/A", "Windsor-Taylor, Tim & Helen","London, England","0207(h), 0207(w)","N/A","N/A", "Winn, Steve",,"702(w), 702(p), 212(h)","N/A","N/A", "Winston, Elizabeth",,"001 979, 001 713(p), 011(f)","@ix.netcom.com","N/A", "Wippie, George",,"001 212",,,"Journalist Fox" "Wolper, Carol","Los Angeles, CA","001 323(h)","@earthlink.n","N/A", "Wong, Andy",,"0777(p)","N/A","N/A", "Wong, Theodore","London, England","01 212(w), 01 212(h), 917(cell)","@tigerfund.com","N/A", "Woodall, Trinny","London, England","0207","N/A","N/A", "Woods, Emily & Carrie",,"001 212(w), 001 212(h), 001 212(w)","N/A","N/A", "Woodward, Alexa",,"001 212, 001 323(h), 001 323(p)","N/A","N/A", "Woodward, Shaun & Camilla","London, England","016(oxf.), 0207, 0773(Hm), 079(shaun p)","N/A","N/A", "Worcester, Marq & Marc","London, England","0207(h), 0454(thecottage), (the cottage), (Avon)","N/A","N/A","Bunter & Tracey" "Wyatt, Jim",,"001 310","N/A","N/A", "Wyatt, Steve & Cate","VA","0207(h), 001 703, 00 33(S Fra), 001 703(h), 001 202(w)","@aol.com","N/A",,,,,, "Y",,,,, "Yamani,Mai","London, England","0207(h)","N/A","N/A", "Yariv, Zghoul",,"917","@synergyventures.com","N/A", "Yates, Andrew (Piggy)",,"0208, 0207(w), 079(p)","N/A","N/A", "Young, Toby","London, England","001 212, 0208(h), 0208(f), 079(m)","@infohouse.com","N/A", "Younger, Tracy & Lee, Greg",,"0207(h)","N/A","N/A", "Yugoslavia, Dmitri","New York, NY","001 212(h),(w), 001 917 (p), 001 561(ph), 001 212(work)","@phillipsny.co","N/A","Phillips" "Yugoslavia, Prince Michel of","New York, NY","001 212(w), 001 212(f), 001 917(p), 001 212(voicemail)","NOT LEGIBLE","N/A","Access International Advisors" "Yugoslavia, Serge de",,"0777, 0039","N/A","N/A",,,,,, "Z",,,,, "Zacks, Gordon",,"001 614",,,"R G Berry Corp" "Zales, Alexi",,"001 917, 001 212",,, "Zangrillo, Paige & Bob","Aspen, CO","001 970",,, "Zawauri, Waleed","London, England","0207",,,"(Illegible) of Oman" "Zecher, Bibi and Adrian(Julia Walters) Executive Assistant",,"00 65(h), 00 65(hf), (Hm KK) 65(w), 00 65 (wf)","@maharesorts.com","N/A", "Zeff, Mark",,"212","@zeffdesign.com",, "Zeller, John","New York, NY","001 212 (h), 0207(h), 001 212(w), 001 212",,, "Zevi, Dino & Rosi","London, England","0207(h), 0207",,, "Zilkha, Bettina","New York, NY","001 917(p), 001 212(h)","@aol.com",, "Zipp, Brian",,"01 212(h), 01 212(w), 0101 203, (portable) 01 917, 0101 212(Home Fax)","@zippcapital.com",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, "MISCELLANEOUS",,,,, "65th Street","New York, NY","1 609(p), 1 212(h), 1 888(p)","N/A","N/A","The Chef","Glen Rock, NJ","001 201(h), 001 917(p) (Hm), 201(h) 917(Howie cell)","@cdiny.com","N/A", "Dionne, Ryan",,"917 (Jp), 917(Fp), 917(Fp)","N/A","N/A", "Geffert, Scott","New York, NY","917(p), 212(h)","@hotmail.com","N/A", "Rueda, Joseph & Florina","NY","845(h,f), 914(p)","N/A","N/A", "Kellen, Sarah","212(voicemail(Password), 212(wf), 212 (JE line3) 212(Gues modem), 371(ResaleNumber), 212(new E-fax), 1800(AT&T World Connect), 917(Joseph p), 917(Florina p), 800(world connect chip SIM), 917(Scott cell), 201(Scott h), 866(Scott w/ Howie), 916(AT&T World Connect(OutsideUS)), 212(GM line 1), 212(GM line 2), 212(hf), 212(JE Line 2), 212(JE line 1), 212(Guest), 212(Staff), 212(w(Line1)), 212(w(Line2)),212(w(Line3)), 212(w(Line 4)) 212(Spare office), 212(71st Street), 212(71st St F), 917(p(try first)), 917(p), 011(GSM#), 917(Tahoe-Line1(521)), 917(Tahoe-Line2), 561(PB Merc), 1 877(Flight options), 212 (Tahoe Garage), 1 888 (Etrieve), (Etrieve Mailbox#),(Etrieve security code), 212(Rich's Security) ",,"@mindspring.com",, "Kelly, Brian","New York, NY","917(p)","@yahoo.com",,"Ballerina" "Maxwell, Ghislaine",,"917, 212",,, "Mitrovich, Andrea","New York, NY","917(Joseph), 917(Florina)",,, "Police Serg Goldberg, Robert Precinct",,"301, 212(George)",,, "Rueda, Joseph & Florena",,,,, "Tahoe, Kinney Garage",,,,,,,,,, "AMERICA (A)",,,,, "Antiques- Resale Number",,"303",,, "Arizona",,,,, "Apen Club",,"800",,, "Au Bar","Los Angeles, CA","310, 310, 310(Reservations Manager Marc)",,, "Avis International","Beverly Hills, CA","310, 310, 310(fax)",,, "Bell Air Hotel General Manager Frank Bowling",,"001 310",,, "Beverly Hills Hotel",,"001 212",,, "Beverly Wilshire",,"0101 212",,, "Bice",,,,, "Bilboquet",,"001 212",,, "Bond Street","New York, NY","001 212(f), 212, 212(Michael), 212(Sharon Kim), 212(Natasha), 0207(bidino), 212(Patrick Cooney), 0207(S.Ken), 0207(St. James), 0370(p Franka Mercati), 0207(h Franka), 212(Carol Magill), 212(Maria Loss-Client Services), 212(Kim Solow), 212(Sarah Charnon)","N/A","N/A","GM's Acct#(redacted), JE's Acct#(redacted)" "Carlyle","New York, NY","212","N/A","N/A", "Christies- New York",,,,, "Cipriani Downtown",,"001 212, 001 212(gym)","@nyc.rt.com","N/A","Polly Gym" "Coffee Shop",,"001 212(h), 001 212","N/A","N/A", "Cohen, Gibby","New York, NY","0101 212","N/A","N/A", "Cook- Henry Meer","New York, NY","212",,,"Rosa/ account under NYSG" "Dawat Haute Cuisine of India",,"001 212","N/A","N/A", "Delmonico's","New York, NY","001 212","N/A","N/A", "Doyle's",,"completely redacted","N/A","N/A", "Elaine",,"212","N/A","N/A", "Electrolysis","New York, NY","212","N/A","N/A", "Elio's Restaurant","New York, NY","completely redacted","N/A","N/A", "Essex House",,"1 212(h KristinMcGee), 1 646(p Kristin McGee), 1 212 (h Magali), 1 917(p Magali), 646(p Jessica Benton ), 212(Jessica Benton h), 781(Jennifer(Ballerina))","N/A","N/A", "Estia",,"212","N/A","N/A", "Excercise-New York",,"57, 212","N/A","N/A", "Four Seasons","New York, NY","212, 212","N/A","N/A", "Four Seasons Hotel","New York, NY","212","N/A","N/A","Pork Pies, Pork Sausages" "Four Seasons Restaurant",,"001 212","N/A","N/A", "Myers of Westwick",,"917, 212","N/A","N/A","Antoine Blech" "Nicolas","Beverly Hills *&* Los Angeles CA","310, 310(f)","N/A","N/A","Mathew Bartle(mgr)" "Opia ","New York, NY","212, 212","N/A","N/A", "Peninsula Hotel","New York, NY","212","N/A","N/A", "Peninsulia Hotel",,"001 212","N/A","N/A", "Pierre Hotel","New York, NY","212","N/A","N/A", "Plaza",,"completely redacted","N/A","N/A", "Plaza Athene Hotel",,"001 212","N/A","N/A", "Province Restaurant",,"212","N/A","N/A", "Ritz Carlton","New York, NY","0101 212","N/A","N/A", "Royalton",,"001 212","N/A","N/A","Shoe Service Plus" "Sette Mezzo","Santa Monica, CA","310 458(f), 310 458(f), 800","N/A","N/A", "Shoes-Repair","New York, NY","001 212, 0207(hm London), 001 212(Sully), 001 212(Sotheby's Real Estate Meredith), 0207(UK), 212(Real Estate-Steve Maguire)","N/A","N/A","Je Acct#, GM Acct#" "Shutters on the Beach","New York, NY","001 212","N/A","N/A", "Sotheby's",,"212","N/A","N/A", "St. Regis Hotel",,"0101 213","N/A","N/A", "Stanhope Hotel",,"001 212","N/A","N/A", "Sunset Marquee",,"001 212","N/A","N/A", "Tao Restaurant","New York, NY","0101 212","N/A","N/A", "Taylor, The",,"0101 212","N/A","N/A", "The Great American Health Bar",,"0101 212","N/A","N/A", "The Lowell",,"212(Premiere Tickets), 212(NYC Concierge/Johanna London)","N/A","N/A","For shows and games" "The Westbury",,"001 212","N/A","N/A", "Tickets",,"0101 619","N/A","N/A", "Tribeca Grill",,"0101 212","N/A","N/A", "Two Bunch Palm",,"212","N/A","N/A", "Waldorf Astoria",,,,, "Westbury Hotel",,,,,,,,,, "BRAZIL",,,,,,,"55(h), 55(f)","N/A","N/A", "`","Sao Paulo, Brazil","0115(w), 0115(f), 011(cell in France)(house in France)","@brasilinvest.com","N/A","BrasilInvest" "Ceciliia Szaiman",,"00 55","N/A","N/A","#1 Polo Player" "Ganero, Mario Sr.",,,,, "Riccardo",,,,,,,,,,,,,,, "ENTERTAINMENT",,,,,,,"07","N/A","N/A",,,"071","N/A","N/A", "Annabels",,"redacted","N/A","N/A", "Aspinals",,"071","N/A","N/A", "Bibendum",,"redacted","N/A","N/A", "Clermont Club",,"redacted","N/A","N/A", "Daphne",,"redacted","N/A","N/A", "Foxtrot Oscar",,"212","N/A","N/A", "Harry's Bar",,"redacted","N/A","N/A", "Marks Club",,"redacted","N/A","N/A", "Nam long",,"0207","N/A","N/A", "Nikitas",,"redacted","N/A","N/A", "Patisserie Valerie",,,,, "San Lorenzo",,,,,,,,,, "FINANCE",,,,,,"New York, NY","001 212","N/A","N/A","Ira Zicherman, acct#",,"1877","N/A","N/A","card #, Expiry date" "Bear Stearns",,"212, 212(Barbara Parsley wire dept.) (Sel bus), (Select 1800)(Stop payment #), 212","N/A","N/A","Vice President James A. Growney" "Centurion","Palm Beach, FL","561(w), 561(f)","N/A","N/A","Cristina Bello, handwritten note Leonor" "Chemical Bank","Oxford","018, 018(f) (hm),(Current Account), (Main number)","www.com (redacted)","N/A","Rob B..(Illegible)(Sharon Mulvany) Personal Accounts Executive Dept)" "Colonial Bank",,"(f)","N/A","N/A", "Nat West",,"001","N/A","N/A","Dorrie Wilson, ck acct#, mm acct#" "NatWest Bank",,,,, "PB National",,,,,,,,,, "FRANCE","Paris, France","00 33","N/A","N/A",,,"0 800","N/A","N/A", "Alaia, Azzedine","Paris, France","011, 331(Jean Marie home), 33(Jeanmarie port)","@hotel-bris","N/A", "ATT Acess",,"redacted","N/A","N/A", "Bristol Hotel",,"redacted","N/A","N/A","Contact Frank" "Cab Blue","St. Tropez","00 33","N/A","N/A","Avis/ St. Tropez, Mr. Baccan" "Cabaret (night club)",,"011, ","N/A","N/A", "Car rental",,"00 33","N/A","N/A", "Chateau de la Messardier","Paris, France","33","N/A","N/A","Femme Lundi & Mardi" "Chez Denise","Paris, France","331, 331(f), (Hm Staff entrance), (Ambassador Car co.), (Jean Marie w), (Jean Marie h), (Jean Marie p), (p Valdson Cotrin), (h Valdson Cotrin), (staff line), (Mr. Cornu/ Garage), (car phone), (Evelyn), (Mr. Coulaux p), (Experton p), (Experton w), (Guest line), (Ms. Guerrin), (Ms. Peres(conc)), (Ms. Peres), (Ms. Peres p), (Mr. Stephanie), (Coulaux), (Mr.Santos)","N/A","N/A", "Chez L'Ami Louis","Paris, France","331, 331(f), (hm), (Ambassador car Co), (Jean Marie@ Bristol), (Jean Marie @home), (Jean Marie cell 06), (011 p Valdson Cotrin), (011 h Valdson Cotrin), (01 Staff line), (01 Mr. Cornu/ Garage), (06 car phone), (Evelyn), (331 guest line), (01 Ms. Peres/ conc), (01 Ms. Peres), (06 Ms. Peres p)(01 Ms. Roule/ kitchen appliances), (01 Mr. Pascal/ cable tv), (06 Mr. Pascal cell), (01 Mr. Karim or Lazno/ stereo), (Mr. Karin or Lazno cell/stereo), (Mr. Tourteau cell/videophone), (Mr. Belistan/ alarm), (Mr. Belstan cell(alarm)), (Mr. Domenichini/ electricity) (Mr. Domenichini cell/ electricity), (Mr. Lafond a/c, heating plumbing), (Mr. Pasquer cell a/c, heating, plumbing) (Mr. Santos)","@wanadoo.Ir","N/A", "Epstein, Jeffrey French Apartment",,"011, 011 (fax), 011(Belgian cellular), 011(French cellular), 0(Berilioz, Franze w), (0 Berlioz, France fax)","@skymet.be","N/A", "Epstein, Jeffrey French Apartment",,"33","N/A","N/A", "Experton, Marie Joseph (Berilos &Co.)","Paris, France","331","N/A","N/A", "Gerard",,"redacted","N/A","N/A", "Hotel Crillon","New York, NY & Paris, France","212(w), 212(wf), (hm), 33(Paris), 33(p), 34(Spain), 34(Spain fax), 34(Spain p), 917(p), 212, 011(portable), 212(York 1)","@aiagroup.com","N/A", "Hotel Raffael",,"redacted","N/A","N/A", "Junot, Phillippe",,"redacted","N/A","N/A", "L'Amijean",,"redacted","N/A","N/A", "L'Arc",,"redacted","N/A","N/A", "L'Arpege",,"redacted","N/A","N/A", "La Merlot","Paris, France","01, 06, 06, 01, 01(f)","N/A","N/A", "La Poste",,"01(Stephanie Coulaux), 06(Stephanie Coulaux), 01(Geraldine Talavera w)","N/A","N/A", "Lagardere, Betty",,"00 Rue Lille","N/A","N/A", "Lawyers",,"00 33(4), 00 33(h)","N/A","N/A", "Le Telegraphe ",,"01 Faiza (Jeanmarie's Butlers), 06(Faiza's cell), 01(Anne-France)","N/A","N/A", "Le Voltaire Madame Lemercier",,"(Claudia St. T), 331(Debbie/Paris), 331(Marie), 331(Rosemary), 336(Alexandria), 336(Carolina), 336(Caroline), 36(Debra), 336(Isabelle), 336(better than Gypsy), 331(Bastien foot massage), 33(Bastien foot massage), 334(Deborah), 336(Francois), 336(Suzanne contact), 336(Corine-thai redacted's contact), 336(Karine redacted contact), (Deborah p), (p Laetitia), (Magidali), (Francos), (Donna), (Donna), (Yelena), (Nadia), (Deborah), (Nadia), (Sonya speak little English), (Tanya speaks no english), (Nadia use this as of 4/9/2003)","N/A","N/A", "Maid",,,,, "Massage Parls",,,,, "Name","Location","Area Code","e-Mail Ending","Affiliations","Notes/Observations" "Quartucci, Alan","Sarasota, FL","001 212 (w), 001 212 (por), 001 516, 001 518, 001 318, 001 407, 001 407 (p)","N/A","N/A", "Quinn, Topper",,"001 212, 0207(h), 001 212","N/A","N/A", "Rachline, Nicholas",,"001 516, 0207, 00 33, 44(0) (uk cell)","N/A","N/A", "Radziwill, Carole","New York, NY","0780 (p), 0207 (temp), 001 917(hm), 001 212","@aol.com","N/A", "Rankin, Mr. Gavin","London, England","0208 (h), 0207 (w), 0207(w)","N/A","N/A", "Rappaport, Don",,"001 908 (w), 845 (h)","N/A","N/A", "Rattazzi, Isabel",,"001 212, 001 917","N/A","N/A", "Raynes, Patty",,"001 212, 001 212 (w), 001 561 (florida)","N/A","N/A", "Reardan, Kate","London, England","0207, 0207 (h), 0207 (w), 0207 (w)","N/A","N/A", "Reynal, Michael",,"00 54 (w), 001 561 (murn)","N/A","N/A", "Reynal, Miguel","Buenos Aires, Argentina","00 54 (h), 00 54 (w)","N/A","N/A", "Reza, Ali","London, England","0207 (h), 0207(w), 001 212 (h), 001 203, 0207 (f), 079 (p) Ali","@freestream.com","N/A", "Ritbiat, Nick Rebecca Willis","London, England","207","N/A","N/A", "Ritson, Thomas Rupert",,"77",,, "Rivers, Joan & Melissa","New York, NY","1 310 (h), 1 212 (w)","N/A","N/A", "Robert, Joseph & Jill","Mclaine, VA","703 (p), 00 703 (w), 00 703 (h), 703(w-fax)","N/A","N/A", "Roberts, Deb",,"001 917","N/A","N/A", "Robilant, Mr. Edmondo dl Maya","London, England","0208 (h), 0207(w), (hm) 04, (mp), 0370 (ep), 0207 (w), 0207 (h)","N/A","N/A", "Robin",,"917 (p)","N/A","N/A", "Robinski, Kasia/Pod","London, England","0207 (h), 0207 (h), 078 (p)","REDACTED","N/A", "Robinson, Jo & Lisa Shields",,"001 631 (h), 001 212 (Jw), 011 (Lw), 001 561 (parents), 001 516, 001 917","N/A","N/A", "Rocksavage, David",,"0207 (w)","N/A","N/A", "Roedy, Bill",,"0207(w), 0207 (w)","N/A","N/A","MTV EUROPE" "Rolfe, Gail","London, England","0207 (h), 0207 (w)","N/A","N/A", "Ronson, Lisa","London, England","0207, 0207 (f), 212 (Lisa's work)","N/A","N/A", "Ronson, Mr. & Mrs. Gerald","Hampstead, London England","077 (Gail P), 0207 (f), 0208 (h), 0207 (w), 083, 00 87 (boat)","N/A","N/A", "Rose, Wendy & Jo",,"001 212 (h), 001 212 (Jo w)","N/A","N/A", "Rose, Charlie & Burder, Amanda","New York, NY","212 (w), 212 (h)","N/A","N/A", "Rosen, Andrew",,"001 212, 001 212, 001 917 (p)","N/A","N/A", "Rosen, Denis & Sylvia",,"0208 (h), 017 (c), 0207 (h)","N/A","N/A", "Rosencrantz, Ms. Claudia","London, England","0207 (h), 0207 (w)","N/A","N/A", "Rosenfeld, Donald","New York, NY","001 212, 001 212, (hm) 001 917, (p)","N/A","N/A", "Rosenstein, Rob",,"001 212 (w), 001 212 (h)","N/A","N/A", "Rosenthal, Jane","New York, NY","(w), 212 (w), 212(w1), 001 516, 212 (h)","N/A","N/A","Tribeca Productions" "Roth, Peter, Thomas & Noreen","New York, NY","(h), 212 (w), 212 (P.(h)), (w), 212 (Parents(h)), 212 (N(h), 917 (p), 212 (wf), 917 N(p), 212 (other office) ","@peterthomasroth.com","N/A","Kambra Co.; Peter Thomas Roth Labs" "Rothchild, Jessica",,"077, 0207",,, "Rothchild, Hannah","London, England","0207 (h), 0207 (w), 0207 (private fax)","N/A","N/A", "Rothenburg, Rich",,"001 212 (w), 001 917 (p), (hm) 001 212 (h), 01 646 (cell)","N/A","N/A", "Rotherwick, Tania & Robin","London, England","0207 (h), 078, 018 (h), 0207 (w), 0207 (Diana( h)), 0207(Dianna(w)), 016 (Country)","@omgroup.co","N/A","One Software Ltd" "Rothschild, Edouard de","Paris, France","00 33 (w), 00 33(h)","N/A","N/A", "Rothschild, Evelyn de","London, England","011 44, 011 44","NA","NA", "Roumugere, Caroline",,"001 212","@pompusere.co (?)","N/A", "Royle, Hon Lucinda","London, England","0207 (h)","N/A","N/A", "Rucellai, Natalie ",,"00 39, 00 39, 00 39 (p), 00 39 (h), 011 39, 00 38, 39 (Natalie's cell)","N/A","N/A","Catherine's friend" "Rudnick, Della",,"001 212 (h), 001 212 (w), 001 407","N/A","N/A", "Russef, Michelle","New York, NY","001 212 (h), 001 212 (w)","N/A","N/A", "Rust, Marina & Ian","New York, NY","212 (h), 001 212 (Ian(w)), 001 917 (Ian(p)), 207 Marina, 212 (Ian work)","@aol.com or @.com","NA","Lazard Frenes" "Rustow, Tim","New York, NY","001 646 (h), 917 (cellular)","N/A","N/A", "Rutalnd Duke and Duch",,"014 (h), 047 (p), 014 (w)","N/A","N/A", "Ruttenberg, Eric & Perri","New York, NY","(h), 001 212 (h), 001 212 (Pw), 001 917, 001 917 (Perri), 001 212 (hf), 001 212 (Ew)","@linicum.com","N/A", "Ryder, Mr. Nicholas","London, England","0207 (h)","N/A","N/A", "Sacco, Amy",,"001 917","@Hot61.com","N/A", "Sachs, Jeffrey",,"001 212(h), 001 212 (w)","N/A","N/A", "Saffra, Edmund",,"001 212(h), 001 212 (w)","N/A","N/A", "Safro, Wayne",,"001 917, 001 212","N/A","N/A","Cute S. African friend (?)" "Said, Wafic",,"00 33 (h), 00 33 (w), 00 93 (h), 00 93 (w)","N/A","N/A", "Sainsbury, Mr. Jamie","London, England","0207 (h)","N/A","N/A", "Salama, Eric",,"1 212 (w), 1 917(p), 07(p), 0207 (main office w), 0207 (w)","@wpp.com","N/A", "Saltzman, Elizabeth",,"0207, 077, 001 212, 001 917 (car), 001 914(p), 001 212 (w), 001 212 (h), 001 212, 001 207 (h), 0771","@vf.com","N/A", "Samuels, Mia",,"001 212 (w)","N/A","N/A","ABC Primetime" "Sandelmar, Jon & Corrie","New York, NY","212","N/A","N/A", "Sangster, Guy & Fi","London, England","0207 (h), 0207 (w)","@sagnet.co.uk","N/A", "Sangster, Mr. Ben","London, England","0207 (h)","N/A","N/A", "Santo Domingo, Julio Mario","Geneva","001 917, 00 41(h), 00 41 (w)","@alphageneva.ch","N/A", "Santo, Mr. & Mrs. M. Espirito","Portugal","0207(h)","N/A","N/A", "Saud Prince Solman",,"703(h), 202(p)","N/A","N/A", "Scerbo, Randall",,"1 212(h), 1 917 (p)","1646 REDACTED","N/A", "Schiatti, Gianmarco",,"00 39(p), 00 39(w), 00 39(h), 00 33(h)","N/A","N/A", "Schifter, Helen & Tim","New York, NY","212, 917(p), 917 (Tim Schiffer( p), 648(Helen(p), 516(2nd home)","N/A","N/A", "Sebag, Motefiroe Simon &Santa",,"0207, 0207","N/A","N/A", "Seilern, Christine","New York, NY","001 212 (h), 001 212 (w)","N/A","N/A", "Sejournet, Isabel de","London, England","0207(h)","N/A","N/A", "Shabtai, Benny",,"001 212, 001 917 (p)","N/A","N/A", "Shad, Brenda",,"212","@verizon.net","N/A", "Shearer, Andre & Angie",,"001 212(h), 001 212(w)","N/A","N/A", "Shore, Chris and Maura","New York, NY","redacted","N/A","N/A", "Shriver, Bobby","New York, NY & Florida","001 212 (h), 001 301 (w), 001 405 (h), 001 619(w), 001 310 (fax)","N/A","N/A","Special Olympics Productions Inc." "Shriver, Maria",,"001 818, 001 818(f)","N/A","N/A", "Shuster, Susie",,"001 212(w), 001 212 (h)","N/A","N/A", "Siegal, Peggy","New York, NY","212(h), 212(h), 212(w), 212(wf), 917 (p), 201(ca)","@aol.com","N/A", "Siegel, William (Bill)","New York, NY","212(w), 212(h), (hm)(h), 917(p), 212(wf)","@chriscraft.net","N/A","Chris Craft Industries" "Sieghart, William","London, England","0208(h)","N/A","N/A", "Silver, Ron",,"001 914, 001 212(h), 001 212(w), 001 212","N/A","N/A", "Silverman, Nancy & Henry","New York, NY","001 212(h), 212(hf), 212(w), 212(wf), 212(wf), 917(o), 917(carphone), 917(boat phone)","@cendant.c",, "Simon, Bran","Indianapolis, IN","001 317(h), 001 317(w), (hm), (h), 001 317(hf), 001 317(wf), 970,","@aol.com","N/A","MBS Associates, LLC" "Simpson,(Caruth) Sophie",,"0207(h)","@artistsindependen",, "Sindi, Rena & Sami","New York, NY","01 212","N/A","N/A", "Slayton, Bobby",,"001 310(p), 001 818(h)","N/A","N/A", "Smith, Osborne","London, England","0208","N/A","N/A", "Smith Peterson, Noona",,"00 392","N/A","N/A", "Smith, James","Nottinghamshire, UK","44(o), 44(f)","@aegistrust.org","N/A","Aegis Trust" "Snyder, Maria","New York, NY","001 212(h), 001 212(h)","N/A","N/A", "Soames, Rupert & Milly","Worcestershire, England","012(h), 020(w), (hm), 00 33(h), 00 33(w), 0208(w direct), 0208(wf), 018(h), 018(hf), 078(p)","@misys.co.uk","N/A","Chief Executive Bank Misys" "Sobrino, Esperanza","New York, NY","001 212(h), 001
|
who said that, so that’s ok, I guess.
“Actually I made up the term ‘object-oriented’, and I can tell you I did not have C++ in mind.” — Alan Kay
“There are only two things wrong with C++: The initial concept and the implementation.” — Bertrand Meyer
“Within C++, there is a much smaller and cleaner language struggling to get out.” — Bjarne Stroustrup
“C++ is history repeated as tragedy. Java is history repeated as farce.” — Scott McKay
“Java, the best argument for Smalltalk since C++.” — Frank Winkler
“If Java had true garbage collection, most programs would delete themselves upon execution.” — Robert Sewell
But perhaps the best blanket condemnation is the following:
“There are only two kinds of languages: the ones people complain about and the ones nobody uses.” — Bjarne Stroustrup
3. Classes
Classes drive me crazy. That might seem strange, so let me explain why.
Clearly classes should be great. Our brain excels at classifying everything around us. So it seems natural to classify everything in OO programs too.
However, in the real world, there are only objects. Classes exist only in our minds. Can you give me a single real-world example of class that is a true, physical entity? No, I didn’t think so.
Now, here’s the problem. Have you ever considered why it is so much harder to understand OO programs than procedural ones?
Well, in procedural programs procedures call other procedures. Procedural source code shows us … procedures calling other procedures. That’s nice and easy, isn’t it?
In OO programs, objects send messages to other objects. OO source code shows us … classes inheriting from classes. Oops. There is a complete disconnect in OOP between the source code and the runtime entities. Our tools don’t help us because our IDEs show us classes, not objects.
I think that’s probably why Smalltalkers like to program in the debugger. The debugger lets us get our hands on the running objects and program them directly.
Here is my message for tool designers: please give us an IDE that shows us objects instead of classes!
4. Methods
To be fair, I hate methods too.
As we have all learned, methods in good OO programs should be short and sweet. Lots of little methods are good for development, understanding, reuse, and so on. Well, what’s the problem with that?
Well, consider that we actually spend more time reading OO code than writing it. This is what is known as productivity. Instead of spending many hours writing a lot of code to add some new functionality, we only have to write a few lines of code to get the new functionality in there, but we spend many hours trying to figure out which few lines of code to write!
One of the reasons it takes us so long is that we spend much of our time bouncing back and forth between … lots of little methods.
This is sometimes known as the Lost in Space syndrome. It has been reported since the early days of OOP. To quote Adele Goldberg, “In Smalltalk, everything happens somewhere else.”
I believe that the code-oriented view of today’s IDEs is largely to blame — given that OO code does not accurately reflect the running application, the IDE gets in our way instead of helping us to bridge the gap. Another reason I believe that Smalltalkers like to develop in the debugger is that it lets them clearly see which objects are communicating with which other objects. I am guessing that one of the reasons that Test-Driven Development is popular is that it also exposes object interactions during development.
It is not OOP that is broken — we just haven’t figured out (after over 40 years) how best to develop with it. We need to ask ourselves: Why should the source code be the dominant view in the IDE?
I want an IDE that lets me jump from the running application to the code and back again. (For a demonstration of this idea, have a look at the Seaside web development platform which allows you to navigate directly from a running web application to the editable source code. [http://seaside.st])
5. Types
OK, I admit it. I am an impatient guy, and I hate having to say everything twice. Types force me to do that.
I’m sure some of you are thinking — “Oh, how could you program in an untyped language. You could never be sure your code is correct.”
Of course there is no such thing as an “untyped” programming language — there are just statically and dynamically typed ones. Static types just prevent you from writing certain kinds of code. There is nothing wrong with that, in principle.
There are several problems, however, with types as we know them. First of all they tend to lead to a false sense of security. Just because your Java program compiles does not mean it has no errors (even type errors).
Second of all, and much more evil, is that type systems assume the world is consistent, but it isn’t! This makes it harder to write certain useful kinds of programs (especially reflective ones). Type systems cannot deal well with the fact that programs change, and that different bits of complex systems may not be consistent.
Finally, type systems don’t cope well with the fact that there are different useful notions of types. There is no one type system to rule them all. Recall the pain we experienced to extend Java with generics. These days there are many interesting and useful type systems being developed, but we cannot extend Java to accommodate them all. Gilad Bracha has proposed that type systems should not only be optional, in the sense that we should be able to run programs even if the type system is unhappy, but that they should be pluggable, meaning that we can plug multiple type systems into different parts of our programs. [http://bracha.org/pluggableTypesPosition.pdf] We need to take this proposal seriously and explore how our languages and development tools can be more easily adapted to diverse type systems.
6. Change
“Change is inevitable — except from a vending machine.” — Robert C. Gallagher
We all hate change, right? So, if everyone hates change, why do we all complain when things don’t get better? We know that useful programs must change, or they degrade over time.
(Incidentally, you know the difference between hardware and software? Hardware degrades if you don’t maintain it.)
Given that real programs must change, you would think that languages and their IDEs would support this. I challenge you, however, to name a single programming language mechanism that supports change. Those mechanisms that do deal with change restrict and control it rather than enable it.
The world is not consistent, but we can cope with that just fine. Context is a great tool for managing change and inconsistency. We are perfectly comfortable adapting our expectations and our behavior in our daily lives depending on the context in which we find ourselves, but the programs we write break immediately if their context changes.
I want to see context as a first-class concept in OO languages and IDEs. Both source code and running software should be able to adapt to changing context. I believe that many design patterns and idioms (such as visitors, and dependency injection) are simply artifacts of the lack of support for context, and would disappear if context were available as a first-class construct.
7. Design Patterns
Patterns. Can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em.
Every single design pattern makes your design more complicated.
Visitors. I rest my case.
8. Methodologies
“All methodologies are based on fear.” — Kent Beck
Evidently some of my students follow the Chuck Norris school of Agile Development:
“Chuck Norris pairs alone.”
“Chuck Norris doesn’t do iterative development. It’s right the first time, every time.”
“Chuck Norris doesn’t do documentation. He stares down the code until it tells him everything he wants to know.”
9. UML
Bertrand Meyer tells this story about always wondering why diagrammatic modeling languages were always so popular, until one day it hit him: “Bubbles don’t crash.” I believe his point is that OO languages are modeling languages. (AKA “All you need is code”)
There similarly appears to be something fundamentally wrong with model-driven development as it is usually understood — instead of generating code from models, the model should be the code.
By analogy, when FORTRAN was invented, it was sold as a high-level language from which source code would be generated. Nowadays we think of the high-level languages as being the source code.
I like to think that one day, when we grow up, perhaps we will think of the model as being the source code.
10. The Next New Thing
Finally, I hate the catchphrase: “Objects are not enough. We need …” Over the years we have needed frameworks, components, aspects, services (which, curiously, seems to bring us back to procedural programming!).
Given the fact that objects clearly never were enough, isn’t it odd that they have served us so well over all these years?
Conclusion?
25 years ago we did not expect object-oriented programming to last as a “new” phenomenon for so long. We thought that OO conferences like ECOOP, OOPSLA and TOOLS would last for 4 or 5 years and then fade into the mainstream. It is too soon to dismiss OOP as just being part of the mainstream. Obviously we cannot feel passionately about something that does not interest us. The fact that academic and industrial research is still continuing suggests that there is something deep and important going on that we do not yet fully understand.
OOP is about taming complexity through modeling, but we have not mastered this yet, possibly because we have difficulty distinguishing real and accidental complexity.
I believe that to make further progress we must focus on change and how OOP can facilitate change. After all these years, we are still in the early days of OOP and understanding what it has to offer us.
Oscar Nierstrasz
[Banquet speech given at ECOOP 2010. Maribor, June 24, 2010]In two studies, we demonstrated that liberals underestimate their similarity to other liberals (i.e., display truly false uniqueness), whereas moderates and conservatives overestimate their similarity to other moderates and conservatives (i.e., display truly false consensus; Studies 1 and 2). We further demonstrated that a fundamental difference between liberals and conservatives in the motivation to feel unique explains this ideological distinction in the accuracy of estimating similarity (Study 2). Implications of the accuracy of consensus estimates for mobilizing liberal and conservative political movements are discussed.
That’s the abstract of a new article in Psychological Science titled “The Liberal Illusion of Uniqueness.” The emphasis is mine.
The findings for liberals reminded me of my favorite neighbor when I lived in North Carolina, who often alluded to Freud’s narcissism of small differences when trying to explain how petty little disputes can quickly become all-out wars in academia.
No related content found.An Engineer’s Point of View: Transitioning Towards a More Transparent Culture
Yohay Barsky Blocked Unblock Follow Following Nov 20, 2017
I’m one of several engineering team leaders at Kik, and over the past six years, I’ve been working with my team to build and provide great mobile products. Many of these years were actually at Rounds, a social communications platform, that Kik acquired earlier this year, which operated pretty much in the same space.
Kik has been undergoing significant change over the past few months, and I want to share a little of my personal perspective. It’s not necessarily the “official” view of the company, but as you’ll see, giving direct access to our engineers is actually an important part of this change.
Kik has been around for eight years. It was originally founded as a private company working on building a chat platform. The target audience is mostly consumers, with code and engineering practices that are mostly closed source and an operation model that the crypto community would label as fully centralized.
Kin is the new vision of Kik, and this vision changes some of these aspects in a very fundamental level. The Kin Foundation can be viewed now as more public — with the eyes of many audiences, including the community, examining its every move. The target audience is shifting towards developers, with code and engineering practices that are open source and an operation model that is striving to be as decentralized as possible.
This is a big change not only in practice, but mostly in culture. It also requires us to change the way we communicate both internally and externally. The practices that we’ve used over the past eight years are not necessarily right for this new vision we’re working to adopt as we move toward decentralization.
The general sentiment is that we don’t just want to act transparent, we want to actually be more transparent. As an engineer and a team leader responsible for several other engineers, I know that cultural changes don’t occur overnight, but I do think that transparency is essential for Kin’s success. We’re building an ecosystem of decentralized digital services. We want the community to be part of it, and we want others outside of Kik to contribute to it.
We’re talking internally a lot about transparency, specifically what’s the correct way to go transparent in a company of over 150 employees that previously wasn’t transparent. This will make an impact on the code we write on a daily basis, on the way we plan and share our roadmap and on the way we communicate externally.
I want to share with you some examples of my personal dilemmas and questions the engineers in my team have been discussing internally. As part of the journey toward becoming transparent, I want to discuss these openly.
Open source projects my team is working on:
The Kin Foundation code is going to be fully open sourced very soon, which is easy to do because there’s no legacy code. But what about legacy projects in the Kik Messenger codebase where there’s lots of proprietary code? Should that be open sourced? Is this a worthwhile investment?
How early should we give external contributors write access to Kin Foundation’s repositories?
What open source licenses should we adopt? The MIT license or the GPL/LGPL family? As we build the Kin Ecosystem, we want to make Kin easily accessible to digital services that aren’t necessarily open source, similar to Kik.
When we work on a new open source project, should it be open from the first commit, or should we wait until “it’s ready” and properly documented?
How do we best incorporate a review process before code goes live? Should we contribute to a private repo first and then merge into the public repos? It’s a bit more cumbersome, but it will reduce risk of accidentally publishing mistakes like private test keys, etc.
Roadmap and planning:
We have many teams (iOS, Android, and backend just to name a few), and each team is responsible for a part of the company’s roadmap. Should we wait until we have a cohesive overview of the entire company roadmap or share the near term roadmaps for specific teams as they’re ready?
Some of our teams are working on Kik-specific roadmaps that aren’t yet directly related to Kin. Should these roadmaps be shared?
What is the best way to involve the community in our roadmap planning? Ideally, as early as possible. However, there are many challenges that remain unsolved, which makes it harder to have a meaningful discussion.
How can we accommodate external contributors in our planning? Let’s say we have a feature that’s excellent for an first time contributor. Should we leave this feature unimplemented to encourage new external contributors to pick it up?
Should we also share our detailed ongoing task planning? What’s the best medium to do so? Internally, we’re working with Jira for development tasks. Switching to project management via GitHub lacks some important features we rely on like time estimates.
As we’re moving forward with this shift in culture and answering these questions, you can expect more information to be placed in our external channels instead of our internal ones. I, for one, am excited to share what my team is working on. Now, it’s time to get everybody else in my team on board.Attention! This news was published on the old version of the website. There may be some problems with news display in specific browser versions.
Thunder League reaches the $40,000 Milestone!
Tens of thousands of players have already become members of
the Thunder League by purchasing a League “Dog Tag”!
Dear players!
Thanks to you the prize fund for the Thunder League has reached the $40.000 milestone, which means that all Dog Tag owners will receive a unique three-coloured aerobatic smoke (the smoke will be added in one of the future updates)!
Now the next milestone is close, a prize pool of $50.000 which guarantees that all “Dog Tag” owners will receive the Panther T-V and the BF109-E7/U2. But don’t forget that unique radio commands are waiting for you at the milestone of $70.000!
Here you can check how the prize fund will be divided!
Bear in mind that 25% of the standard Thunder League “Dog Tag” purchases and 50% of the Golden “Dog Tag” purchases go towards the prize fund of the tournament which means that joining the League Community you all make the achievements real!
The League “Dog Tag" already provides not only unique camos and vehicles, but the owners also receive: A Thunder League decal;
New profile avatars (will be added in one of the future updates);
Unique titles “Thunder League” and “Stormer”;
100% RP gain booster for the duration of the play-off round (from January 23rd to January 31st);
Tickets for Е-100 tournaments with a variety of other fantastic prizes;
Exclusive access to air and tank deathmatch tournaments. We already see that the “Dog Tag” idea appeals to many of our players and we want to add another more unique collectable item for true fans - The League’s Golden “Dog tag”.
The League’s Golden “Dog tag” will additionally give you the following: 1. An opportunity to change the team you selected before the semi-final (only once):
You will be able to see how the teams fight for the finals and bet on the favourite thus increasing your chances to get the main prize - a unique RBT-5 rocket tank! *This additional team selection change will be available before the semi-finals matches, from 07:00 GMT 27th of January till 07:00 GMT 29th of January. 2. NEW TYPE OF ITEM: “Pirate skull” for tank decoration (will be added in one of the future updates)!
'What is a decoration?', you may ask. An opportunity to customize your tank using different decoration items which will be added in one of the future updates! The “Pirate skull” decoration will be available for all the owners of the Golden “Dog Tag” after an incoming update and will be the only “skull” decoration in the game!
So, besides all the available content of the Thunder League you will be the first to try out the new customization option and will receive an exclusive item that will not be presented afterwards.
You may purchase the "Golden Dog Tag” only as a part of the “Thunder League Golden Dog Tag” bundle. If you already own a regular “Dog Tag”, its price will be subtracted from the bundle and you can upgrade your standard dog tag to a gold one for the special price.
50% from “Golden Dog Tag” sales will go to prize fund of the first Thunder League.
This offer is only valid for PC, Mac and Linux users.
Dont forget to keep up to date with all of the Thunder League action over at the War Thunder Pro site!
The War Thunder TeamThe movie Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story invented the concept of an ESPN channel so weird that it would air professional dodgeball. It was called “ESPN8: “The Ocho,” and now that will become a reality for one magical day. Here’s how to watch it:
On Thursday ESPN announced that on Tuesday, Aug. 8, ESPNU would transform into ESPN8: “The Ocho,” and air sports that never, ever get airtime outside of internet streams.
The full lineup so you can call in sick to work:
All times Eastern.
ESPN8: “The Ocho” schedule Time Event Time Event 12 a.m. 2016 American Disc Golf Championship. 2 a.m. 2016 WFTDA Roller Derby Championships. 4 a.m. 2016 Sky Zone Ultimate Trampoline Dodgeball. 5:30 a.m. Firefighters World Challenge XXV. 8 a.m. 2016 Kabaddi World Cup Final. 9 a.m. World Darts Championship. 11:30 a.m. Arm Wrestling: Best of WAL 2016 Championship. 12:30 p.m. 2017 Championship of Bags. 2:30 p.m. EVO 2017 World Championship - Street Fighter 5:00 p.m. Moxie Games. 7:00 p.m. U.S. Open Ultimate Championships
This lineup is a nice reminder that 2004 was so cute. When Dodgeball came out, we all assumed that dodgeball on TV would be a funny joke. How wrong we were. Bold move Cotton. We’ll see if this strategy pays off.Joined: May 02, 2012 AZURA 63 articles May 02, 2012
About author: AZURA Thus the best possible way to shop exciting items at the most comfortable cost is to take advantage of jcpenney coupons.Do look for jcpenney coupon code 30% off on its websites and perform dedicated keyword search on search engines to grab the exciting offer and to purchase one’s favorite brands at fabulous discounts.
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This no doubt sounded a bit overheated to many readers, so I think further explanation is in order. (Warning: Catholic inside baseball below.)
The Catholic Church’s teaching on marriage is often mischaracterized, but here’s a brief, probably-incomplete attempt at explanation. Following the words of Jesus and its own longstanding traditions, the church holds that valid sacramental marriages — that is, between two baptized Christians — are inherently indissoluble, meaning that in such circumstances a second marriage is (from the Catholic perspective) an impossibility, and Catholics who remarry after a civil divorce are actually committing the sin of adultery. This, in turn, has implications for the reception of communion, which is not supposed to take place if an individual is persisting in grave sin: A divorced Catholic can receive communion (so long as they aren’t responsible for abandoning a spouse who wants them to return, or engaged in some other form of grave, unrepented sin), but a divorced-and-remarried Catholic should not, unless they intend to live with their new spouse as brother and sister instead of man and wife.
Now: This strict teaching coexists with a less strict — and potentially much less strict — definition of what constitutes a valid marriage. Historically, Catholic marriages could be annulled (that is, declared to have been invalid from the beginning) for a fairly narrow range of reasons — a failure to consummate the union, consanguinity, the existence of a previous marriage, etc. But in recent decades, especially in the frequently-divorcing West, the range of justifications for annulling a marriage has expanded to include a much larger range of factors, psychological and emotional and intellectual, which might demonstrate that one or both members of a couple entering into a marriage basically didn’t understand what they were getting into, didn’t have a fully Christian understanding of the sacrament or fully Christian intentions to live it out, and thus weren’t capable of the kind of true consent that a true marriage definitionally requires. And the (incorrect, but understandable) popular view of the annulment process as a kind of “Catholic divorce” flows from this more expansive list of reasons why a marriage might be declared null and void, and from the more expansive consequences: The United States, ground zero for the approach, has 6 percent of the world’s Catholics and about 60 percent of the world’s annulments.
Not surprisingly, the wisdom of this expansive approach is vigorously debated within the church. It’s been defended on the grounds that with the weakening of Christianity in Western culture and the apparent failure of Catholic catechesis among the young, modern couples really are much more likely to enter into sacramental marriages without really understanding what they’re doing; it’s been criticized as reflecting a kind of “anthropological pessimism” that understates “the innate human capacity to marry” even in cultural contexts unfriendly to the institution.
But the debate notwithstanding, nobody denies that an annulment process of some kind is compatible with the traditional Catholic view of marriage’s indissolubility, and I think that most critics of the American way of annulment would concede that a form that considers psychological and cultural factors, while prone to practical abuses, doesn’t introduce any inherent logical tensions into the church’s teaching on marriage. (There’s also no question that in a multi-religious society where people move more often between faiths, situations that were once rare — Google “Pauline Privilege” for an example — are likely to become more commonplace, and church rubrics need to become more flexible to deal with them.)
So the church has a certain amount of room to change its policies and practices (whether wisely or not; I’m bracketing that issue) on annulments without necessarily calling doctrine into question. If, for instance, following next year’s synod of bishops (which is focused on family life), Pope Francis were to take steps to expand, alter and streamline the annulment process in ways that might ultimately bring American-style annulment rates to other parts of of the Catholic world — well, there would undoubtedly be criticism and lively argument about the wisdom of the move, but it wouldn’t create a theological crisis for Catholic conservatives, or call into question the authority of his office.
However, what’s being proposed and discussed and debated among some of the church’s bishops and cardinals — with, it would seem, the blessing of the pope — is something significantly different: An official mechanism whereby a divorced and remarried Catholic could, without having their previous marriage declared invalid, do penance for any sins involved in their divorce and then receive communion without their new marriage being a moral impediment to reception of the host. In practice, this would move the church in the direction of Eastern Orthodoxy, which has traditionally allowed pastoral exceptions for second marriages, but it would so in a more ambiguous way — effectively creating a kind of second tier of marital unions for Catholics, whose existence the church would decide to “tolerate” (in the words of Cardinal Walter Kasper, the leading voice making the proposal) but “not accept.”
Now one can debate the practical effects of such a proposal (I have various thoughts, but again, I’ll save them). And one certainly can, as the Orthodox and many Protestant churches do, make reasonable theological and biblical arguments for accepting second marriages in some form. But here’s the crucial problem: The test for changes to Catholic practice isn’t just supposed to be “what practical consequences are likely to ensue?” and the bar that such changes need to clear isn’t just supposed to be “what can be reasonably defended by thoughtful Christians?” Rather, the primary test and crucial bar alike are supposed to be “what can be reasonably defended in the light of what the Roman Catholic Church has historically affirmed and taught?”
Seen in that light, it is very hard for me to understand how this kind of change wouldn’t create some pretty significant internal problems for Catholic doctrine as currently and traditionally understood. Saying, with Cardinal Kasper, that second marriages can be tolerated but not accepted implies a zone of human conduct that one might call “tolerable sinfulness,” which is an idea that church teaching does not currently support. (And which if it did support would have all kinds of moral and doctrinal implications, extending well beyond this particular debate.) And whatever individuals and pastors decide to take upon their own consciences, declaring the reception of communion licit for the remarried-but-not-annulled in any systematic way seems impossible without real changes — each with its own potential doctrinal ripples — to one or more of three theologically-important Catholic ideas: The understanding that people in grave sin should not generally receive the Eucharist, the understanding that adultery is always a grave sin, and/or the understanding that a valid sacramental marriage is indissoluble.
Which in turn would mean that if he actually made this kind of change — and, as I said in the column, I do not think he will, but it is being debated with his apparent encouragement, so the possibility has to be addressed — Pope Francis would be either dissolving important church teachings into what looks to me like incoherence, or else changing those same teachings in a way that many conservative Catholics believe that the pope simply cannot do.
Now I am obviously neither a theologian nor a church historian, so my judgments on an issue like this are hardly (ahem) infallible. But in following the controversy, the arguments that this sort of move would not require a doctrinal change seem fairly weak. There is the claim that it would be a strictly disciplinary change, not a dogmatic one … but unlike many other disciplinary issues (from Friday fasts to priestly celibacy), this seems like a case where the discipline is more or less required by a doctrine or doctrines, and to alter one is to at least strongly imply an alteration in the others. There is also the invocation of practices from the early centuries of the church, when some second marriages may have been handled in this manner, and the suggestion that under such a reform the church would be simply returning to an ancient practice. But the entire theory of the development of dogma, which is central to defenses of continuity in Catholic teaching, would seem to militate against the idea that the consistent witness (and to this layman, it really does look pretty consistent) of the second millennium of Catholic history, complete with martyrs and dogmatic definitions, can safely be set aside because of some highly ambiguous cases from the first millennium.
Now these are not points that would trouble many liberal Catholics, who often reject the intertwined ideas of consistency in Catholic doctrine and papal infallibility, and for whom the idea of a pope willing to alter doctrine might be a consummation devoutly to be wished. But for conservative Catholics, many of whom have spent the John Paul and Benedict eras arguing that on a range of controversial questions the whole issue isn’t just that the church shouldn’t change, but that it can’t … well, if a change like this did happen, however hedged and with however many first millennium antecedents invoked, that conservative argument would at the very least look weaker than it did during the last two pontificates.
And since it isn’t a small argument … since the church’s claim to a constant, non-contradicting authority lies close to the heart of why many conservative Catholics are conservative Catholics … well, that’s why the “schism” possibility seems worth raising, because hard-to-process theological shocks are where institutional fractures often start. It’s one thing for conservative Catholics to serve as a kind of loyal opposition during this pontificate — to learn to doubt a pope, or disagree with his rhetoric or decision-making, while remaining faithful to the office and the church. It’s quite another if one of those papal decisions seriously calls into question the doctrinal continuity that’s the very root of conservative-Catholic loyalty. And there just isn’t a recent model apart from the Lefebvrist schism for how that kind of more-Catholic-than-the-pope dissent would practically work.
But once again, I could be completely wrong, about either the problematic nature of the shift being discussed or the likely conservative reaction to the change. All I can say for certain is that a development like this would leave me more doubtful than before about the consistency of Catholic doctrine and the nature of the church. But I’m not sure what to read into these feelings: While I obviously fall into the conservative camp in the Catholic culture wars I’m also on the less-rigorous, more-latitudinarian end of the conservative-Catholic spectrum, so I tend to expect that what unsettles me should unsettle the more rigorous even more … but it could also be that if I were more rigorous I’d be more trusting and less suspicious, and less likely to see (invent?) discontinuities where they might not actually exist. I’m not sure …
… But I am sure that I’ve said enough here, so I’ll leave off. Interesting times. Ora pro nobis.Another 6 couples from Lakewood have been charged in a massive crackdown on benefit fraud in New Jersey. (Published Thursday, July 6, 2017)
What to Know New Jersey officials will offer a pilot amnesty program for people to admit improperly receiving Medicaid benefits
The program follows the arrest of 26 people in Lakewood earlier this summer for welfare fraud
Religious leaders are backing the program, which will let participants avoid prosecution
State officials faced criticism of a program that allows residents of one New Jersey county who received unwarranted welfare benefits to withdraw without prosecution.
Authorities had hoped Ocean County residents who would benefit from the amnesty program would attend the seminar held Tuesday night in Toms River. But the Asbury Park Press reports about three dozen people showed up and accused officials of going soft on crime.
Resident Molly Hernon says she and other residents grilled state Comptroller Phillip Degnan on the merits of the pilot program. She says people are getting away with taxpayer money.
The 90-day program comes after 26 Lakewood residents in June were accused of wrongfully collecting more than $2 million in public-assistance benefits. They are not eligible for the program.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC New YorkWhen Rex Ryan fired Tony Sparano as offensive coordinator in January, he knew he would have to have an uncomfortable conversation — not with Sparano, but with his son, Tony Sparano Jr.
Sparano Jr. had served under his father with the 2012 Jets as a coaching intern. Now, Ryan was firing Sparano Sr., but he wanted Sparano Jr. to stay with the Jets.
“I’m not going to lie, there was some awkwardness,” Ryan said recently, “but I knew I wanted to keep him.”
The conversation was a success, and Sparano Jr. stayed with the Jets despite his father’s dismissal. The 26-year-old is one of the few reminders around the 2013 Jets of his father’s one year as the team’s offensive coordinator.
The younger Sparano’s title officially is “seasonal intern,” but according to those on the Jets offense, he is the oil for their offensive engine.
“It’s huge,” quarterback Mark Sanchez said of Sparano’s role. “It goes unnoticed, unthanked, but it’s absolutely vital to a team’s success. Just for us to function you need Junior. If Junior gets sick, we’re not in good shape.”
Sparano Jr. declined to be interviewed, saying through a team spokesman that he prefers to remain in the background.
Sparano Sr. is now an assistant head coach and offensive line coach with the Raiders. He remains thankful the Jets could separate the evaluation of his job performance from that of his son.
“I’m glad my situation had nothing to do with him,” Sparano Sr. said by phone. “I’m glad Rex could see Tony’s value was completely different than mine. Tony’s his own man and he’s his own coach. He does a great job at what he does. He’s one of the best I’ve ever been around at what he does. It’s not because he’s my son. He’s just good at what he does. I think they saw his value.”
Sparano Sr. said he started bringing Tony Jr. to work when he was the tight ends coach with the Jaguars under Tom Coughlin.
At age 15, he began to learn how to break down film with his father, a skill that he utilizes with the Jets now.
“He does the job of a ton of guys,” Ryan said.
The job responsibilities for Sparano Jr. include scouting the opponent three weeks in advance. So, he currently is working on games the Jets will play in October. He comp
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The human visual system is able to adapt to these differences by chromatic adaptation. This aspect of the visual system is relatively easy to mislead, and optical illusions relating to color are therefore a common phenomenon. The color circle is a useful tool for examining these illusions.
Arranging spectral colors in a circle to predict admixture of light stems from work by Sir Isaac Newton. Newton's calculation of the resulting color involves three steps: First, mark on the color circle the constituent colors according to their relative weight. Second, find the barycenter of these differently weighted colors. Third, interpret the radial distance (from the center of the circle to the barycenter) as the saturation of the color, and the azimuthal position on the circle as the hue of the color. Thus, Newton's color circle is a predecessor of the modern, horseshoe-shaped CIE color diagram.
The psychophysical theory behind the color circle dates to the early color triangle of Thomas Young, whose work was later extended by James Clerk Maxwell and Hermann von Helmholtz. Young postulated that the eye contains receptors that respond to three different primary sensations, or spectra of light. As Maxwell showed, all hues, but not all colors, can be created from three primary colors such as red, green, and blue, if they are mixed in the right proportions.
Color wheels and paint color mixing [ edit ]
There is no straight-line relationship between colors mixed in pigment, which vary from medium to medium. With a psychophysical color circle, however, the resulting hue of any mixture of two colored light sources can be determined simply by the relative brightness and wavelength of the two lights.[13] A similar calculation cannot be performed with two paints. As such, a painter's color wheel is indicative rather than predictive, being used to compare existing colors rather than calculate exact colors of mixtures. Because of differences relating to the medium, different color wheels can be created according to the type of paint or other medium used, and many artists make their own individual color wheels. These often contain only blocks of color rather than the gradation between tones that is characteristic of the color circle.[14]
Color wheel software [ edit ]
A number of interactive color wheel applications are available both on the Internet and as desktop applications. These programs are used by artists and designers for picking colors for a design.
HSV color wheel [ edit ]
A color wheel based on HSV, labeled with HTML color keywords
The HSL and HSV color spaces are simple geometric transformations of the RGB cube into cylindrical form. The outer top circle of the HSV cylinder – or the outer middle circle of the HSL cylinder – can be thought of as a color wheel. There is no authoritative way of labeling the colors in such a color wheel, but the six colors which fall at corners of the RGB cube are given names in the X11 color list, and are named keywords in HTML.[15]
Color schemes [ edit ]
Color schemes are logical combinations of colors on the color wheel.
The Natural System of Colours (1776), presented this color palette. Complementary colors are two colors directly across from each other; for example, red and green are complementary colors. Tetradic color palettes use four colors, a pair of complementary color pairs. For example, one could use yellow, purple, red, and green. Tetrad colors can be found by putting a square or rectangle on the color wheel. Moses Harris, in his book(1776), presented this color palette. Complementary colors are two colors directly across from each other; for example, red and green are complementary colors. Tetradic color palettes use four colors, a pair of complementary color pairs. For example, one could use yellow, purple, red, and green. Tetrad colors can be found by putting a square or rectangle on the color wheel.
In color theory, a color scheme is the choice of colors used in design for a range of media. For example, the use of a white background with black text is an example of a common default color scheme in web design.
Color schemes are used to create style and appeal. Colors that create an aesthetic feeling together commonly appear together in color schemes. A basic color scheme uses two colors that look appealing together. More advanced color schemes involve several colors in combination, usually based around a single color—for example, text with such colors as red, yellow, orange and light blue arranged together on a black background in a magazine article.
Ignaz Schiffermüller, Versuch eines Farbensystems (Vienna, 1772), plate I. Color wheels can be used to create pleasing color schemes. An analogous color scheme is made up of colors next to each other on the wheel. For example, red, orange, and yellow are analogous colors.
Color schemes can also contain different shades of a single color; for example, a color scheme that mixes different shades of green, ranging from very light (almost white) to very dark.
Analogous colors are colors next to each other on the wheel. For example, yellow and green. Monochromic colors are different shades of the same color. For example, light blue, indigo, and cyan blue. Complementary colors are colors across from each other on a color wheel. For example, blue and orange. Triadic colors are colors that are evenly across from each other, in a triangle over the color wheel. For example, the primary colors red, yellow, and blue are triadic colors.[16]
For a list of ways to construct color schemes, regarding properties such as warmness/achromiticness/complementariness, see color theory.
Analogous color schemes use colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. They usually match well and create serene and comfortable designs. Analogous color schemes are often found in nature and are harmonious and pleasing to the eye.[17]
Gallery [ edit ]
Newton's asymmetric color wheel based on musical intervals. Mixing "rays" in amounts given by the circles yields color "z"
Goethe's symmetric color wheel with'reciprocally evoked colors'
A color circle based on additive combinations of the light spectrum, after Schiffman (1990)
Human Color Wheel based on the hue and light detected on human skins, after Harbisson (2004-2009)
RGB color wheel
RYB color wheel
See also [ edit ]Bowring and Bombay & Co. Inc. had restructured after filing for creditor protection in August, ultimately closing 50 out of 112 stores and letting go of 164 employees.
Ann Sanders worked for Bowring & Co. Inc. for 21 years. When she was let go in January, she walked away with nothing but her wages and vacation pay.
“I received no notice or severance. I was just terminated,” said Sanders, 74, who worked part-time, full-time and as an assistant manager during her long tenure at Bowring.
Sanders received no termination package, and after consulting with a lawyer, she felt she had no reasonable prospect of getting one.
Comark Inc., with 300 stores in Canada operating under three banners — cleo, Ricki’s and Bootlegger — announced in March that it had obtained creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA).
Target Canada, which filed for creditor protection in January, serving notice that it would close 133 stores and put 17,600 people out of work, was simply the largest. Another 1,500 full- and part-time jobs were lost when Best Buy shuttered the Future Shop chain in Canada.
Sanders is one of the tens of thousands of retail workers in Canada left jobless by the series of closures, bankruptcies and insolvencies that have hit the sector over the past year.
“I feel I devoted a lot of time and effort to this company over the years. That’s what hurts more than anything.”
But more often than not, employees of a company that seeks creditor protection or goes into bankruptcy are unsecured creditors. They must line up behind banks and other companies that make being a secured creditor a condition of doing business.
Some terminated employees find themselves in a better situation than others. Target Corp. provided a $90 million fund to pay staff; Future Shop workers received pay in lieu of notice, getting money they would have earned during an expected layoff notification period.
It’s upsetting to Sanders that Fred Benitah, the owner of the Bowring and Bombay stores, was able to buy the company back for $1 million in cash and an agreement to assume all secured debt, including $19 million owed to CIBC; $8 million owed a company called F.B.I., which Benitah also owns, and $20 million to a company called Isaac Bennet Sales Agencies Inc. (IBSA), owned by Benitah’s brother, Isaac Benitah.
“The evidence was put before the courts; it was the best outcome in not a great situation,” said Ira Smith, of Ira Smith Trustee & Receiver Inc., who reviewed the case for the Star. Fred Benitah could not be reached for comment; lawyers for Isaac Benitah relayed a message saying they would not comment.
Should employees be treated as secured creditors? One of Canada’s top labour and employment lawyers says there are no easy answers when it comes to balancing the rights of employees and businesses.
“This is a big economic question. How much do you want to punish a company economically, because if you overdo it, companies will not do business in Ontario because the level of liability is too high,” said Brian Grosman, a pre-eminent labour and employment lawyer, and co-founder of the employment and labour law firm Levitt & Grosman LLP.
“Meanwhile, employees are saying: ‘I’m getting shafted’, and to a certain extent, they’re right.”
A positive development in the years Grosman has been in practice has been the erosion of the stigma associated with losing a job. “Today, there is no stigma to being let go because the economy is going up and down like a yo-yo. You can be fired for reasons that have nothing to do with your competency,” said Grosman.
Unionized employees have more protection than those who are not unionized, said Barry Sawyer, executive assistant to the national president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.
“Could I look you in the eye and say that everyone in a collective agreement will get severance? No. But it’s definitely the strongest leg you have to stand on in terms of severance pay,” said Sawyer.
“Those who don’t have a collective bargaining agreement, all they have is the Employment Standards Act. Yes, it does tell you what pay or pay in lieu of notice should be, but if the employer doesn’t live up to it, you have to follow up yourself.”
When employees do have a claim against a retailer, pursuing it can be an expensive legal endeavour, making it uneconomical for someone who is owed less than $5,000 or even $10,000.
It does help to have leverage, Grosman said. Many companies would rather pay employees severance than risk the negative publicity associated with leaving them in the lurch, or the cost of being taken to court
In Ontario, employers can terminate without providing a reason, but must provide reasonable notice, and the definition of reasonable notice is not always cut and dried, said employment lawyer Andrew Monkhouse. It differs according to the person being terminated, the job and the situation.
“A reasonable amount is how long it would take someone in your specific situation to find a job,” said Monkhouse.
A long-serving employee might get between 18 and 22 months’ notice. Someone who has been working for one day could be eligible for six months.
Under the Employment Standards Act, people who are fired are entitled to one week of notice of termination per year of service, or pay-in-lieu of notice, up to eight weeks. Employees with five years or more of service and who work for a company with a payroll of more than $2.5 million get an extra week of pay a year, up to 26 weeks.
It’s been established in law that pay-in-lieu can climb much higher — up to a month for each year of service or more, depending on the person’s age, job and chance of obtaining similar work, said Jeff Hopkins of Grosman, Grosman & Gale LLP.
Directors of a company are personally liable for employee wages and vacation pay, so those are typically paid even in a bankruptcy, said Hopkins.
“It’s typically the severance where they are left out in the cold.”
Succession rights have also been established in law. When one company takes over another, similar business, the new company can be held responsible for the employees of the old business.
The UFCW union took Target to the labour relations board in B.C. when it wouldn’t keep on Zellers employees. That suit failed.
Some jobs come with employment contracts that limit the right of employees to get more than a minimum of severance, which is why it’s important to have an employment contract reviewed by a lawyer before signing, said Monkhouse.
The problem is, while employers are in a position to do checks on employees, employees don’t engage in the same process to ensure that the company they’re going to work for has a strong balance sheet.
“Employees don’t do credit checks on employers,” said Monkhouse.
Correction – April 7, 2015: This article was edited from a previous version that misspelled Ann Sanders’ surname.posted by Moose
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How does the feature work?
We had a cool and prominent countdown on the top left of the joinDOTA website. Sadly it had to be shrunken and moved to the right side due to its single focus on just one commentator. We needed more space to feature more than just one commentator. We decided to come up with this nifty little tool that shows when joinDOTA commentators (TobiWan & Epi for now) are live as well as all the other talents out there.The "Live & Upcoming" feature tool should be quite easy to use and understand. Below we have listed all key features that explain it briefly. The rest is for you to find out.It´s quite simple: If one or more commentators are assigned to a match, it will appear in this tool. If there are no commentators assigned, you will be able to find the matches in our matchticker as usual, just a little bit further down.Commentators that are known are already set up in our list and in the future, they can assign themselves to a match (if they have rights) by going into our match details. This way, they will automatically appear on our front page all the way at the top. We hope to give all existing and new commentators a greater exposure this way.For now, we have approached commentators personally to give them website rights so that they appear in our livestream list, but in the future, we would like to handle this differently. In the next days we will release comprehensive information on how to apply as a commentator so that you can appear on our front page as well.We hope that this tool will give you much easier access to all our favorite commentators as well as more information to the individual coverages and matches.The tool itself is not 100% finished yet. We will release a few more features around it in the next days (streammer assign button, streamerlist in the overview, streamerlist in the match details etc.).Let us know your thoughts on the tool in the comments below or in our forums. We are always happy to hear what you guys think so we can keep improving it over time.Stay tuned for more features to be released! ;)Hillary Clinton, already seeing an uptick from her strong performance in the first Democratic primary debate, is likely to get another boost following Vice President Joe Biden's announcement on Wednesday that he won't run for president.
Recent polling tells a consistent story: With Biden out of the race, his supporters will disperse -- and that's generally to Clinton's benefit.
In the most recent Economist/YouGov survey, which was conducted earlier this month, one-fifth of Democratic voters named Biden as their preferred candidate. Among that group, 51 percent said Clinton would be their second choice, while just 30 percent named Sanders and the rest were mostly unsure.
Across six October surveys that reported results with and without Biden, Clinton led Sanders by an average of 23 points when Biden was included, and by 29 points when he was not.
Mark Blumenthal
With Biden in the mix, Clinton's share of the vote fell as low as 45 percent; without him, she took a majority of the vote in each case. That's substantially higher than she was polling even during her time as the front-runner in the fall of 2007, leading up to the 2008 Democratic primary.
Biden rose in the polls this summer as Clinton suffered from difficult news stories and declining ratings, and as speculation about his candidacy continued to mount.
Even earlier this month, most Democrats didn't think it was too late for the vice president to jump in. But after his absence from the first primary debate, surveys showed, Biden's numbers were already beginning to slide -- and now that he's decided against a run, the largely moderate Democratic voters who were backing Biden look more inclined to rejoin the Clinton camp.
As a summer Economist/YouGov poll showed, Clinton and Biden are perceived as holding virtually identical political ideologies, and Sanders is seen as a more liberal alternative. In the most recent survey, about two-thirds of Biden's supporters considered themselves political moderates or conservatives, similar to the 61 percent of Clinton supporters who assigned themselves the same labels. In contrast, just one-third of Sanders backers say they're not ideologically liberal.
The primary election remains months away, and there's plenty of time for things to change. But Sanders' and Clinton's other rivals continue to face a formidable challenge in opposing a candidate with a solid majority of support. With Biden stepping aside, the path to victory for another Democrat now looks even steeper.
Also on HuffPost:The Philippine President has signed into law a family-planning bill that was blocked by the Catholic Church for more than a decade.
Presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said that President Benigno Aquino III had signed the law on December 21 and that his administration announced it only on Saturday because of the "sensitivity" of the issue.
"The passage into law of the Responsible Parenthood Act closes a highly divisive chapter of our history - a chapter borne of the convictions of those who argued for, or against this act, whether in the legislative branch or in civil society," Abigail Valte said.
"At the same time, it opens the possibility of cooperation and reconciliation among different sectors in society: engagement and dialogue characterized not by animosity, but by our collective desire to better the welfare of the Filipino people," she said.
The law, which will take effect next month, allows government funding for contraceptives that would be made available especially for poor women.
Argument persists
It promotes responsible parenthood and requires officials to provide information on family planning options as well as education on reproductive health and sexuality.
Both chambers of parliament passed the final version of the act on December 19 after an acrimonious debate pitting non-government organisations and women's groups against the country's dominant church and its lay organisations.
The Catholic Church, which approves only natural forms of birth control, had blocked the legislation for the last 13 years.
The Church and its supporters said the law was immoral and would promote promiscuity.
Asia's largest Catholic country has a population of 94 million and an average annual growth rate of 1.9 percent, one of the fastest in the region.
The Philippines has one of Asia's highest birth rates, with the United Nations estimating that half of the country's 3.4 million pregnancies each year are unplanned.
The government's Commission on Women said that maternal mortality also remains high, with 162 deaths for every 100,000 live births, while 10 women die every day from pregnancy or childbirth-related complications.Along with handling consumer complaints, I also help Star readers get answers to their questions. Here are two recent examples: Ontario Energy Board
( Rene Johnston / Toronto Star )
Alex Wilmot asked me why it was so hard to apply for the Ontario Energy Support Program, which was introduced last fall to subsidize electricity costs for low-income customers. Her two attempts to apply online had failed. Each time, she was told an error had been made, but not what the error was. After three calls and a visit to Toronto Hydro’s office, she obtained an application to send in the mail. Again, she was told it was incomplete — without an explanation of what was missing.
Article Continued Below
She tried to contact the Ontario Energy Board, which runs the program, but an unexpected error at the website wiped out her message. Board spokesman Paul Crawford said the goal was to ensure that consumers could have their applications processed four to six weeks after they are received. Any errors or omissions delay processing. Jordan Cooperman had an experience similar to that of Wilmot. His online application was said to be incomplete, but he didn’t get any details. Several emails later, he learned his utility account number was wrong. His password was reset, which led to problems opening the application to change his utility account number. “I’m technically trained (I build websites for a living), so I can’t imagine how much of a hassle the application is for the average person, he said.
The Ontario Energy Board told me that 550,000 households qualify for the subsidies. The board has received 127,000 applications, 90 per cent being sent online. Just over 61,000 people have been accepted so far. Information is available at www.ontarioelectricitysupport.ca.
Article Continued Below
Dell Government benefits may be subject to delays, but large companies can also drag their feet when it comes to refunds. Fred wrote to me about his online purchase of a Dell computer, which didn’t work properly. He sent it back and was promised a refund in 10 to 12 days. That was in late November. Dell confirmed receipt of his computer when I got involved. But it took a second intervention to get his money back on Feb. 9. “Our general return policy guarantees once their system is returned, customers will receive a refund within 10 days,” said Janet Fabri, corporate communications manager of Dell Canada. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to meet this commitment for Fred, but are happy we were able to resolve the matter recently to the customer’s satisfaction.” BMO Chris Bayards wanted to know why he had to pay a large fee to discharge his mortgage. Before the last payment, he and his wife made several inquiries at their branch. No one could tell them anything. He was annoyed to get a $600 bill only after his mortgage was paid off — and without a congratulatory message of any kind. “While $600 is not a large amount, it’s our money,” he said. “It felt like a kick in the butt for working hard to pay on time for two houses over the last 26 years.” When I forwarded his inquiry to BMO spokesman Ralph Marranca, Bayards received an explanation about the cost of closing off the bank’s lien on the property. He also heard from a vice-president, who promised to train staff to handle such inquiries. “Since our situation was handled so poorly, she offered to cover the discharge fee, which we were happy to accept,” he said. My policy It’s my mission to help readers, but I can’t handle every complaint. Write to me only about companies with well-known names and policy issues that may affect a large group of customers. Keep your emails short, but include key details such as dates, times and phone numbers. If your problem goes back more than a year or two, I probably won’t be able to help. Ellen Roseman’s column appears each Tuesday in Smart Money. You can reach her at [email protected], or send her a message via her website, www.ellenroseman.comLooking for news you can trust?
Subscribe to our free newsletters.
Tim Pawlenty may be boring. He may be the best second-best Republican presidential contender out there. But damn if he ain’t flush, reports The Wall Street Journal:
Mr. Pawlenty’s backers include Bob Perry, the Texas home builder who gave more money than any GOP donor to conservative groups like American Crossroads, which spent heavily in the 2010 election, and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which was active in the 2004 campaign. In 2008, Mr. Perry supported Mr. Romney. Ray Washburne, a Texas real-estate developer and restaurateur who raised money for former President George W. Bush, is backing Mr. Pawlenty because “he’s got a great story to tell.” The Pawlenty campaign held its biggest fund-raiser to date in Dallas on on Tuesday at the home of Tom Hicks, the private-equity and sports investor, who once owned the Texas Rangers baseball team. Co-hosts included heirs to the H.L. Hunt oil fortune, Dean Foods Chief Executive Gregg Engles, billionaire buyout investor Harold Simmons and Excel Communications founder Kenny Troutt. Bill Strong, the Morgan Stanley executive who leads Mr. Pawlenty’s fund-raising efforts, was slated to host an event in Chicago on Thursday that was expected to haul in more money than the Dallas event. The campaign expects to raise $800,000 at the Dallas and Chicago events combined, according to someone familiar with Mr. Pawlenty’s fund-raising.
This is good news for Pawlenty, who’s still contending with yawning enthusiasm and recognition gaps among Republican voters. Even better news? A number of the Pawlenty’s early donors—including Perry, Engles, Simmons, Strong—contributed to Mitt Romney’s campaign in 2008. That’s not to say they’re committed to Pawlenty for the long haul, but it certainly must be encouraging for T-Paw’s camp.
The bad news? Romney spent more than any other GOP primary candidate in 2008, and appears to be well on his way to matching that pace in 2012 (RomneyCare problems, notwithstanding): at fundraisers this week, his fundraisers snagged $1 million in contributions, the Journal reports. Even if he loses a few donors to Pawlenty, chances are he’ll be able to make up for it.
With Haley Barbour sitting out the 2012 race and Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels still undecided, the bundlers are still there for the taking. So despite his recent good fortune, Pawlenty’s got to keep bringing in the bacon.Shia Labeouf was arrested Wednesday night for allegedly assaulting a man who was trolling his "He will not divide us" live stream protest.
"Cops tell us a guy walked in front of the mounted camera and said something -- possibly regarding Trump -- but whatever it was... Shia got pissed," TMZ reports.
"Shia grabbed for the guy's scarf, and allegedly scratched him in the process. As TMZ first told you... NYPD has been posted up at the protest site in Queens since Monday -- so officers quickly moved in and busted Shia."
Video claims to show part of the assault:
Unconfirmed reports from 4chan say it was actually another man who was assaulted off stream:
Since beginning the protest on Friday, Shia has been relentless trolled by memers from /pol/. Rather than respect the memers peaceful protest of his protest, he's chosen to violently assault them -- repeatedly.
As Donald Trump is now president, the era of liberals being permitted to assault "Nazis," aka everyone they disagree with, is now over.
The meme war has now leaped from the internet to real life. Rather than triggering people online and merely causing the rustling of jimmies, people are being triggered in real life and getting arrested.
Follow InformationLiberation on Twitter and Facebook.Ronda Rousey retained her Strikeforce women's bantamweight title last Saturday © Getty Images Enlarge
Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey has told ESPN she "doesn't understand" why Jon Jones turned down the opportunity to fight Chael Sonnen on short notice at UFC 151.
Sonnen had offered to step in for the injured Dan Henderson in the light-heavyweight title fight in Las Vegas next Saturday, but Jones rejected, causing the first cancellation of an entire card in the UFC in 11 years.
Rousey, who says she classes herself as a friend of Jon Jones, was mystified by the decision. She told ESPN: "Mostly, I'd be more bummed with my coach, if I had that situation come up and my coach said anything else other than 'you're the world champion, you could beat anyone, anytime. Go do it', I would think 'why doesn't my coach have any confidence in me?' I don't know what Jon Jones' reasoning is, but I'd have made a different decision."
Rousey, who retained her title last weekend by beating Sarah Kaufman inside a minute with her trademark armbar finish, echoed the sentiments of Chael Sonnen and said she was sympathetic for the other fighters on the card who are no longer being paid to fight next weekend.
"I don't have any kids to provide for, if I come home with a bruised up face and a loss all I have to worry about is my own pride and my cable bill," she added. "When I was first starting out, when I really needed the money, the main event fell through and the whole event was cancelled and I know how that feels. I wouldn't want to do that to anybody else."
Rousey admitted that had she been aware the card was going to be cancelled she would have told UFC president Dana White that she wanted to fight instead.
"If Dana said he wanted me to fight Chris 'Cyborg' Santos with a 40lbs weight disadvantage or wrap our hands with Duck Tape and be there in 40 minutes, I'd say I'd be there in 10 minutes just so I could stretch first. It doesn't matter to me, I consider myself the best in the world. I think if you have that title, you have a responsibility to defend it at anytime against anyone."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.“You should be talking to Fox, OK?” President Donald Trump, March 17, 2017.
Monday’s House Intelligence Committee hearing delivered a trifecta of bad news for President Donald Trump.
FBI Director James Comey confirmed the bureau is investigating whether members of Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia during last year’s election.
Comey confirmed that neither the FBI nor the Department of Justice has any evidence to support Trump’s wayward tweets that claimed former President Barack Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower.
And thirdly, the White House’s wholly unsubstantiated claim that British intelligence had wiretapped Trump at Obama’s request was completely undercut by National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers. “That would be expressly against the construct of the Five Eyes agreement that has been in place for decades,” he said, referencing a decades-old agreement that the U.S. has with Britain and other allies “who share virtually all intelligence -- and pledge not to practice their craft on one another.”
The highly anticipated hearing represented an across-the-board public debunking of Trump. But does the president even care?
Trump might not, simply because he’s shown himself to be allergic to facts. He’s quickly constructed his own alternate reality within the White House and increasingly relies not on U.S. intelligence for guidance, information, and raw data, but instead gets his information from Fox News, Breitbart, Infowars, and talk radio, among others.
It was a Breitbart article about a right-wing radio rant that sparked Trump’s initial fantastic claim about Obama wiretapping Trump Tower. And it was subsequent baseless speculation on Fox News that prompted the White House to push the ridiculous notion that Obama teamed up with the British to undermine Trump.
Tumbling down a rabbit hole filled with baseless conspiracy theories -- and desperately trying to grab onto any stray root to bolster his case -- Trump has replaced rational discourse with debunked assertions. And he’s trying to lead America into the same dark cavern of misinformation where facts are unknowable and the truth represents a constant mirage.
Trump “listens to Fox News and other cable news shows as if they were his advisers,” RealClearPolitics reporter Rebecca Berg noted last week. So yes, this truly has become a Fox News presidency.
The results? A deeply disturbing situation where Trump not only devotes substantial time to watching Fox News, but also bases his official actions (and unsupported allegations) around what he sees on the conservative network.
That’s astounding.
It’s one thing for Trump to use Fox News as a sounding board and pick up the rhetoric its conservative hosts and guests use. The Republican Party has been doing that for close to 20 years now, and Trump’s done it, too. “He is the Fox News president!” Fox host Greg Gutfeld marveled last week about Trump. “Everything that he says, we've said.”
But what’s unfolding now is something else entirely: Trump’s using Fox News and other conservative media as some sort of de facto intelligence gathering agency. In this scenario, Fox and other Trump propagandists have moved beyond their role of cheerleaders and administration defenders and become a trusted source of intel, even when the intel comes in the form of secondhand gossip from a TV analyst who’s a 9/11 truther.
This represents a whole new level of malfeasance for the Republican Party.
If we go back to the last GOP president, of course George W. Bush’s administration used Fox to its advantage and benefited from the network’s around-the-clock, flag-waving support for the Iraq War and its constant attacks on anyone who opposed the invasion.
But Bush didn’t premise the invasion on reports he saw on Fox News about supposed weapons of mass destruction being allegedly stockpiled by Saddam Hussein. And when pressed to defend the invasion, Bush didn’t tell reporters to go talk to Fox News for insights about what led to the war.
That’s simply not what Fox was built for. It’s a propaganda machine, not an information-gathering one.
Today, a befuddled Fox News seems shocked that the president of the United States takes seriously the on-air musings of a Fox commentator. Thrust into an unwanted spotlight over the absurd claim of British involvement in the alleged wiretapping of Trump, Fox has shifted into damage control mode.
Last week, network anchor Shepard Smith tried to put some distance between Fox and the breaking scandal when he announced, “Fox News knows of no evidence of any kind that the now-president of the United States was surveilled at any time in any way, full stop.”
But the explosive story has only escalated since then, culminating in direct and public rebuttals from the NSA and the FBI. So now Fox has taken Napolitano off the air “indefinitely,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
You almost get the feeling that Fox executives want to take Trump aside and remind him it’s all an act, that most of the harebrained schemes promoted on Fox News are just grist for the outrage mill. They’re not really supposed to be taken seriously, and good grief, they’re not supposed to be acted upon by our nation’s commander-in-chief.
But they are.
As Erik Wemple noted at The Washington Post, “There was a time when a guy like Judge Andrew Napolitano could make some marginal remarks on Fox News, and only a large plume of non-White House officials would take him seriously. Perhaps a website or two would pick up on them.”
But today, any passing comment or rant that airs on Fox News, no matter how detached from reality, can conceivably be embraced as White House policy.
As journalist Toure noted, that’s a frightening prospect: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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The Iron Lady just opened in London where, let’s hope, it generates some serious critique. The critical silence in the United States has been astounding, only made worse by the praise, not just for the film but for its subject, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, played in the movie by Meryl Streep. Ad Policy
Newsweek’s holiday double issue slapped Streep as Thatcher on its cover, hailing “The New Thatcher Era.” The feature story in summary reads: “Margaret Thatcher was the infamous Iron Lady the Brits love to hate. This month’s bio starring Meryl Streep proves she was right all along.”
Streep’s already winning awards and accolades, and Oscars are probably on the way. People are saying the film’s no whitewash because it shows the former Prime Minister in her dotage, fighting dementia—three decades after she came to power. Director Phyllida Lloyd has described the treatment as operatic. Streep’s called it revealing. The two collaborated before on the musical Mamma Mia! The truth is, in Lloyd’s hands Thatcher’s iron isn’t just rusty, it’s melted down and depoliticized, made feminist enough to root for and ultimately sad enough for some to sniffle at. The Iron Lady is Thatcher—The ABBA Version. It’s the last thing we need, ever, and especially at this point.
Think of Thatcher and I think of hungry people. Irish hunger strikers, first of all, ten of whom starved to death for status as political prisoners on her watch. Thatcher insisted anti-government rebels in Afghanistan were “resistance fighters,” not terrorists, but it was a different story for the Irish. Indeed, in Thatcher’s time, there was to be no story, no effort to understand the reasons for the conflict in Northern Ireland; certainly there was to be no discussion or consideration in public of why anyone might pick up a gun, or place a bomb or starve themselves to death.
Long before the USA Patriot Act and the 9/11 demonization of asking “why,” Britons were starved of information about the so-called “troubles.” Under an ever-expanding Prevention of Terrorism Act, British journalists were forced to report to police any contact with any “known or suspected terrorist.” Irish parties to the conflict were banned from speaking on radio and TV, yet Thatcher’s government could tell the public any lie it liked. When British secret service snipers shot and killed three
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, the quicker you can return to normal daily living and/or athletic endeavors.
Intensity initially will be low because strength levels are low (pain and inflammation can inhibit strength), but to accomplish your objectives in short order, you must repeat a sufficient stimulus frequently. A volume training routine may fit the bill nicely if it's conducted properly.
The Famous DeLorme Scheme
If I asked what the most popular set/rep scheme in strength training is, most people would respond with 3 sets of 10 reps. It seems to be the universal training prescription.
The idea stems from a 1948 paper by Dr. Thomas DeLorme and Dr. Arthur Watkins where they recommend 3 sets of 10 reps using a progressively heavier weight in the following manner:
Set #1 50% of 10 repetition maximum
Set #2 75% of 10 repetition maximum
Set #3 100% of 10 repetition maximum
In this scheme, only the last set is performed to the limit. The first two sets can be considered warm-ups. A few years later in their 1951 book, Progressive Resistance Exercise, DeLorme & Watkins state: "By advocating three sets of exercise of 10 repetitions per set, the likelihood that other combinations might be just as effective is not overlooked." Still, the majority of trainees today automatically adopt the 3x10 scheme as if it were written in stone.
The Not-So-Famous DeLorme Scheme
Now, let's take a little journey back in time to 1945 when the same Dr. Thomas DeLorme unleashed a powerhouse of a paper titled, "Restoration of muscle power by heavy-resistance exercises," published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Back then, far more than three sets were recommended per exercise with great results.
The clinical observations made on 300 cases showed a "splendid response in muscle hypertrophy and power, together with symptomatic relief," as DeLorme put it.
The 1945 DeLorme method consisted of 7-10 sets of 10 reps per set for a total of 70-100 repetitions each workout. The weight would start off light for the first set and then get progressively heavier until a 10RM load was achieved. The workouts were short (on average about half an hour), but they were repeated frequently during the week.
In GVT, for instance, each body part is trained once in a five-day period. With the 1945 DeLorme system, the injured body part is trained once a day for five days straight! Of course, the difference is due to the direct relationship between intensity and recovery – the greater the intensity, the more recovery is necessary, and vice versa.
If you adopt this approach, you'll be sore initially, but the soreness will subside after a week or so. And after just a few weeks, while others are complaining that they can barely move and are in an extreme amount of pain, you'll be sporting improved hypertrophy, strength, mobility, and function.
Many rehabilitation programs focus on endurance and range of motion instead of strength and hypertrophy. These are the observations made by DeLorme:
On endurance:
"Exercise is essential in restoring function to muscles, weakened and atrophied as a result of injury and disease..."
"Commonly the attempt is made to restore power by exercises to build endurance; this is a mistake..."
"In our method, we employ heavy resistance that calls forth all the potential strength of the muscle. Since the rate and extent of muscle hypertrophy is usually proportional to the resistance the muscle must overcome, strength returns faster than in the low-resistance exercises..."
"Rather than attempt to develop endurance in an atrophied, weakened muscle, it seems more logical to restore muscle strength to normal, and then build endurance by means of low-resistance, high-repetition exercises...."
On range of motion:
"The return of power should accompany return of motion. It is more desirable to have normal power in the existing range of motion than to sacrifice development of power for a wider range of motion...."
"We believe that range of motion increases more rapidly with increasing muscle power, except when a mechanical factor prevents return of motion...."
Now, here's where it is important to read the entire paper and not just the abstract. DeLorme insists that a pulley system (common with most selectorized machines today) must not be used.
Instead, use an iron boot, plate-loaded machine, or simply ankle weights to overload the terminal end of knee extension. This method will increase the overload on the vastus medialis oblique (VMO) muscle, a prime stabilizer of the knee (weakness of this muscle can impair function and cause pain of the knee).
Of course, there are many ways to skin a cat. Terminal knee extension can be performed as a more "functional," closed kinetic chain (CKC) movement (i.e., standing with a band or cable attachment strapped behind the knee or by performing a low amplitude step-up) rather than the seated, open kinetic chain (OKC) option mentioned previously.
However, DeLorme notes that weight-bearing exercises produce symptoms of pain, thickening, and fluid in knee joints that are controlled by weak, atrophied muscles. It may be best to implement CKC movements only after strength is matched in both limbs by non-weight-bearing OKC movements.
Also, many patients are told to stop all activity until the pain goes away. I disagree! If you feel that you should rest the area, get some treatment here and there and everything will return to normal, think again! You can do all the soft tissue work in the world to try to break down fibrotic tissue – the muscle will still be weak, atrophied, and hard!
If you truly want to make progress, stop "pampering" the muscle and start exercising with progressive resistance.
But why the change from as many as ten sets to only three sets?
This is what DeLorme & Watkins (1948) had to say:
"In the initial publications concerning progressive resistance exercise, 70 to 100 repetitions were advocated, the repetitions being performed in 7 to 10 sets with 10 repetitions per set.
"Further experience has shown this figure to be too high and that in most cases a total of 20 to 30 repetitions is far more satisfactory. Fewer repetitions permit exercise with heavier muscle loads, thereby yielding greater and more rapid muscle hypertrophy."
That sounds reasonable, but let's establish two relationships:
There's an inverse relationship between intensity and volume (i.e., the higher the intensity, the lower the volume, and vice versa). There's an inverse relationship between intensity and frequency (i.e., the higher the intensity, the lower the frequency, and vice versa).
If intensity starts to increase yet the frequency stays the same, something has to give!
At a higher intensity, one all-out 10RM set can be performed five days a week – it's really only a total of five sets spread throughout the week. (Remember, the first two sets are merely warm-ups.)
Contrast five sets to as many as fifty sets (although not all fifty sets are taken to the limit), and you can see why the 1948 "3x10" method was considered superior to the 1945 "10x10" method. That original method still has merit and can provide a "more satisfactory" result if it's implemented in a specific manner.
If intensity increases and volume stays the same, the variable that must decrease is frequency to allow for sufficient recovery. Using the 10x10 method might actually be superior if the frequency is altered as follows:
Stage #1: 5 days a week (Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri)
Stage #2: 4 days a week (Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri)
Stage #3: 3 days a week (Mon, Wed, Fri)
Stage #4: 2 days a week (Mon, Thurs)
Stage #5: 1 day in a 5-7 day period
How long each stage will last depends on the individual and their injury, but the key is to make progress each week and once that starts to stagnate, it's time for the next stage. Think of it as progressive resistance meets regressive frequency!
By Stage #5, muscle strength, mass and ROM should be back to normal – this is the frequency used in most volume training routines.
Try this new twist to the original idea introduced by Dr. DeLorme over 60 years ago.
Wrap It Up!
Here are some take-home points:
Read an entire study not just the abstract, and check the references.
The 10 sets of 10 reps method is not a new method, nor is it meant strictly for bodybuilders. This form of volume training may be an excellent way to rehabilitate an injury.
The primary objective during injury rehabilitation is to restore muscle strength, hypertrophy, and range of motion. Endurance training can be counterproductive to these objectives and should only be implemented when strength of the limbs involved are approximately equal.
During injury rehabilitation, pursue active (not passive) treatment with the use of progressive resistance exercises conducted at regular intervals with maximum effort.
ReferencesA man driving down Interstate 40 in Canadian County, Oklahoma killed two and put bullet holes in countless vehicles on Thursday in a shooting spree that lasted more than 10 miles.
The suspected gunman, Jeremy Doss Hardy was chased by police for 25 miles before being arrested.
The two victims who were killed were shot more than 10 miles apart, indicating that the gunman had been shooting at vehicles for at least that long. At least four other vehicles were shot at and bear the bullet holes.
Authorities believe that Hardy’s behavior was motivated by road rage, but that his targets were chosen “randomly.”
Authorities said that they intend to investigate the allegation of road rage, but clearly no case of road rage, a made up term used to describe the anger one may feel when dealing with traffic and bad drivers, justifies the senseless murder of two innocent people.
The simple fact is that Hardy would not have been able to easily kill two people he did not know while driving if he was not driving under the influence with a gun riding shotgun.GETTY The appeal of anti-establishment nationalism has struck a chord with younger voters
All across Europe, the appeal of anti-establishment nationalism has struck a chord with younger voters who are looking for a change from the norm. Youngsters are now moving even further right on the political spectrum than their parents and grandparents, with many expressing distain for the European Union.
Studies have also revealed European youths are highly skeptical of traditional politics and instead are leaning towards more anti-establishment parties. Only five per cent of young voters in Hungary, six per cent in Poland and nine per cent in Slovakia believe that joining a political party would make a difference compared to an average of 12 percent across the EU on average, according to a Eurobarometer poll.
GETTY Youngsters are now moving even further right on the political spectrum
Migrant Crisis: Mass exodus from the migrant camp continues Tue, October 25, 2016 Hundreds of migrants are continuing to arrive in Europe as they flee the scenes of chaos and brutality of the Islamic State in the Middle East. Play slideshow 1 of 224
Hungary has been leading far-right sentiments in Europe, following its national referendum on the EU migrant quotas - which were almost unanimously rejected. While the extreme right and Eurosceptic Jobbik party remains a distant second to the ruling Fidesz - but it hugely popular among university students according to a 2015 poll. András Dániel, a Hungarian college graduate, said: “Under Jobbik, politics would work for the people. We see a future with this party. “We were promised that the standard of living would improve with EU membership … But we are now even more behind Austria than before.”
GETTY Students from Hungary, Poland and Slovakia have veered to the right
GETTY Hungary has been leading far-right sentiments in Europe
Under Jobbik, politics would work for the people. We see a future with this party. András Dániel, a Hungarian college graduate
Speaking after a meeting with the party’s vice-president László Toroczkai, one 18-year-old added: “The other parties don’t deal with young people.” In Poland, ultraconservative and anti-Brussels Law and Justice party garnered a third of votes from young people in last year’s election - as well as being the most popular option for first time voters. Tom Junes, a historian and visiting fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in Sofia, said: “There was always a strong Right current in Poland after 1989. “For more than a decade, Poland has seen a more or less two-party system. Now young people in Poland are voting against the establishment.”
GETTY Ironically, young people in the vicegeral countries are also more likely to fly the nest(Reuters) - U.S. stocks dropped on Wednesday and the Dow Jones industrial average suffered its worst day since February as feeble quarterly reports from Walt Disney, Macy’s and Fossil undermined confidence across the consumer sector.
The consumer discretionary index.SPLRCD fell 1.98 percent, notching its worst day in three months, with all but three of its 88 components losing ground.
The biggest drag on the Dow, Disney (DIS.N) dropped 4.04 percent after it posted a rare earnings miss.
Department store Macy’s (M.N) tumbled 15.17 percent to its lowest since 2011, while watch maker Fossil (FOSL.O) sank as much as 34 percent to a 2009 low after the two companies slashed their full-year forecasts.
Adding to gloom in retail stocks, Office Depot (ODP.O) slumped 40.39 percent and Staples SPLS.O dropped 18.34 percent. The two terminated plans to merge after a U.S. federal judge ordered the deal temporarily halted because of concerns it would reduce competition.
All of the 10 major S&P sectors fell except for utilities.SPLRCU, which gained 0.24 percent.
The S&P 500’s decline undid gains from a rally the day before driven by Amazon.com (AMZN.O), the online seller that has caused so much trouble for Macy’s and other traditional stores in recent years.
“There is no pricing strength, there is no income growth and you have Amazon staring you in the face soaking up a lot of orders,” said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Robert W. Baird & Co in Nashville. “They are getting battered everywhere they look.”
The S&P consumer discretionary index recently traded at about 18 times expected earnings, expensive compared to the S&P 500’s PE of 16, according to Thomson Reuters data.
The past two sessions’ gyrations may be indicative of what is in store for the next several days as the quarterly earnings season winds down and traders focus on macroeconomic data, said Eric Wiegand, senior portfolio manager at U.S. Bank’s Private Client Reserve.
“We could see decent moves in either direction but not necessarily confirming a long-term trend.”
The Dow.DJI slumped 1.21 percent to 17,711.12 points, its biggest one-day drop since February 11. The S&P 500.SPX lost 0.96 percent to 2,064.46.
The Nasdaq Composite.IXIC dropped 1.02 percent to 4,760.69.
About 7.0 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, just below the 7.2 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.
First-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies have mostly beaten analysts’ expectations, but are estimated to have fallen 5.4 percent from a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Other retailers slammed on Wednesday included Kohl’s (KSS.N), Nordstrom (JWN.N) and Dillard’s (DDS.N), all down more than 6 percent.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., May 9, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,895 to 1,092. On the Nasdaq, 1,994 issues fell and 821 advanced.
The S&P 500 index showed 38 new 52-week highs and seven new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 51 new highs and 57 new lows.Editor's note: The following column originally appeared on the website of the Erick Erickson Show.
ISIS did not exist when George W. Bush left the White House. ISIS did not exist in the first few years of Barack Obama’s time in the White House. ISIS only became a thing when the White House, out of pride and arrogance, decided it was better to placate the left by withdrawing all troops from Iraq rather than help the Iraqis maintain their stability.
A young boy has died, washed up on the shores of Europe. His picture has shocked the world and his death is direct result of Barack Obama fleeing the Middle East, tail tucked between his leg, so he could pridefully say he ended a war he never wanted.
The boy is dead because Barack Obama chose to abdicate American leadership in the world.
The boy is dead because Barack Obama chose to abdicate American leadership in the world.
To be sure, the direct blame lies with those who failed to see the boy to safety. And blame lies with ISIS for creating a situation where people had to flee.
But none of that would have happened if Barack Obama had kept Americans in Iraq to see the country through to stability. We know, from Iraqi leaders and American personnel, that they all knew Iraq would destabilize without us there. We know that Barack Obama and his Administration worked very hard to create a situation where he could say we had to leave Iraq.
That little boy would not have died had Barack Obama stood strong in Iraq. Crisis and war were all predicted when Barack Obama decided to flee Iraq. All the predictions came true and the humanitarian crisis is a direct result of what he did.
That dead child is Barack Obama’s fault.A few weeks ago, Roger Blench gave a talk at the MPI entitled ‘New mathematical methods’ in linguistics constitute the greatest intellectual fraud in the discipline since Chomsky. The title is controversial, to say the least! The talk argued, amongst other things, that phylogenetic methods are less transparent and less replicatable than traditional historical reconstruction. Here are I argue against those points.
I felt like I should respond online, because Roger Blench made the talk slides available online (a similar set of arguments are more fully expressed by here).
Having attended the talk, the title is clearly tongue-in-cheek. The talk was quite light-hearted and he was very easy to talk to. He certainly didn’t accuse any particular researcher of actual fraud (“fraud” only appears in the title, not in the actual talk). By “fraud”, he seems to mean “overblown claims not supported by evidence” (and he is not alone in this view of phylogenetics). However, I was surprised to find the talk slides were made public, where things can be taken out of context.
It was a fun talk to be at, because it made clear to me why some people distrust phylogenetic methods. Roger Blench made 3 basic points (the points were made in detail with examples, but I will summarise them here). He argued that phylogenetic methods were useless because they (1) were not replicatable and (2) were not transparent. Regarding (1), he argued that changes to parameters or data can lead to differences in results (though, to me, this might be better characterised as a lack of robustness rather than a lack of replicatability), and it’s impossible to tell which are better. Furthermore, the method itself is opaque and mysterious, because it relies on cognacy judgements which are quite subjective (he gave an example of one historical linguist who claimed that it was much easier to find cognates after lunch!). That is, garbage in, garbage out.
He also argued that many phylogenetic studies don’t try to validate their trees by aligning them with anthropological or archaelological data (and I agree than several studies could be improved by doing such validation). That is, the graphs look pretty, but to an expert linguist they don’t reveal anything new. More specifically, they offer limited falsifiability. Worse, they may actually mislead the reader if the visualisations do not reflect actual processes of change etc. Blench argued that the pretty graphs have ‘bamboozled’ the editors and reviewers of high-impact journals (who do not have expertise in linguistics) into accepting the studies.
Blench stressed that he is not anti-quantitative (nor a Luddite, indeed, I talked with him afterwords about a quantitative method for tracing borrowings for which he had several good insights), but suggested that he feels like he hasn’t learned anything from phylogenetics.
In my mind, transparency and replicatability are the strong points of phylogenetic techniques. Statistical methods require precise definitions. This includes defining the assumptions behind the analysis, defining the measurements and defining how the assumptions and measures lead to the conclusion (the method). Therefore, another researcher should be able to reproduce the precise results of a study given the same data, assumptions and method. For example, given the same data and parameter settings (and random starting seeds) two researchers could produce precisely the same phylogenetic tree using a Bayesian phylogenetic approach. This means the results can be replicated, an important step in any science.
Furthermore, while some statistical methods may seem opaque without a knowledge of mathematics, they can be precisely communicated. They are arguably more transparent than analyses which were the result of an individual researcher combining deep knowledge of several domains without fully explaining the process. For example, cognacy judgements often rely on a deep knowledge of the language as well as its history and culture and the surrounding geopolitical landscape. These judgements are invaluable for subsequent quantitative work, yet the data and assumptions that go into the judgements are often left implicit. This obscures the research method and also makes it difficult to reproduce the same results. This can lead to disagreements that focus on the skill or authority of the researcher, which is not productive.
In contrast, when assumptions, measures, methods and results are precisely defined, researchers can focus on them directly. For example, if a researcher takes an issue with one of the assumptions, they can make a different assumption, then use the same measures and methods to produce alternative results. The two results can be directly compared to determine whether the assumption has a crucial impact on the results, or whether the alternative assumption leads to better results (e.g. a better ‘fit’ to the data or a more efficient explanation). Researchers can also directly test the impact of certain data or steps in the method. That is, arguments can focus on core scientific elements rather than on opinion or prestige of researchers. In this way, quantitative methods can achieve better transparency and replication in a productive way.
However, this is not to say that qualitative judgements cannot achieve this potential. All that is required is that that the assumptions, methods and underlying measures are precisely defined. For example, while there is a large amount of disagreement in the classification of languages into historical trees, the Glottolog classification has a rigidly defined sequence of judgements that decide how to place a language or dialect on a tree. If you accept the assumptions behind this process, then you should accept the classification. If you disagree with the classification, you should be able to identify either an assumption or a specific judgement that you don’t agree with. You can then bring evidence against this particular assumption or judgement and determine how the classification should change – there is no need to reject the entire tree, nor necessarily any other classification.
In a similar way, the decisions that go into seemingly more subjective measures such as cognacy judgements could be explicitly stated. For example, the LexStat method (List, 2012) is a computational method for identifying cognates based on linguistic criteria and a set of assumptions (implemented in LingPy). It produces replicable judgements which are derived in a transparent way. It’s probable that expert historical linguists would disagree with the results obtained, but rather than dismissing the method, they should be able to define an additional set of data and assumptions which would produce more agreeable results. This might include coding archaeological or anthropological evidence that certain languages were or were not in contact, known population movements or knowledge about certain semantic domains that refer to items that were traded. This is essentially quantifying the knowledge in a way that could be used with the statistical methods. Historical linguists have a wealth of critical knowledge about language, and this could find much broader impact if it were combined with the transparency and reproducibility of quantitative methods.
Having said this, the talk by Blench makes it clear that this kind of synergy is not taking place. Those using mathematical models may have to spend more time justifying and clarifying their work. At the same time, learning the mathematical principles is not so hard. As we argued in our paper on correlational studies, understanding the mathematical methods in linguistics is becoming more relevant not only to conduct research, but engage in debate.
On a positive note, I understand that Blench is working together with an evolutionary biologist to work out a mathematical model which reflects their assumptions and theories about how languages change and diversify. I look forward to seeing this model and how it compares to phylogenetic models.
The talk slides are quite easy to follow if you’d like more detail on Blench’s arguments.
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PrintDidn't she realise Uber's surge pricing is well known? Besides, it's simple supply and demand. The $720 fare for a 40-minute ride. Congratulations on your recall of high school economics. But here's a thought: we don't live in a textbook, or a weird anarcho-capitalist fever dream. Quite the contrary.
Australian society is built on the principle of protecting consumers from making disastrous choices against their own self-interest, even when they choose to. The app requires people to acknowledge surge pricing - in this case 7.9. Want to take out a small loan? A lot more companies would offer one if they could charge 500 per cent. But regulators have capped rates at one-tenth that amount, even if you want to sign for a worse deal. Illustration: Matt Golding.
Many said that this unfortunate passenger was told explicitly that she was in for a gouging on December 31 and so deserves no sympathy. The app does require people to acknowledge they will pay a higher surge price. Specifically, they must type in the number by which their regular fare will be multiplied. In this case, this required keying in the number 7.9. That is consent, sure. But could it be clearer? Certainly. Uber's app can already provide customers with an estimate of the cost of their fare on a separate screen. Why didn't they ask this woman to sign off on a screen that told her the fare would cost between $600-$700 instead of the more abstract concept of a multiplier?
My guess is Uber makes more money that way. You can say buyer beware. And it's easy to if you caught your first Uber five years ago on holiday in Brooklyn before anyone here had heard of it. (They call corner stores bodegas there by the way). But the people who invariably get stung, like our hapless protagonist, are using the app for the first time. And, yes, they might have had a few drinks too. You can say she should have done the sums herself. But who can't relate to blithely agreeing to pages of terms and conditions before later feeling aggrieved when we find out we've granted Mark Zuckerberg the right to remotely access our camera phones when we're in the bath? But the big question about surge pricing is whether it serves the purpose for which it is intended, which is putting more cars on the road.
Some recent research suggests that it doesn't. One found that surge pricing mostly has the effect of moving cars around, not bringing more onto the road. It can also draw drivers away from areas where prices are rising, because they expect fewer people to buy rides at exorbitant prices. This may have the effect of making cars less available. Would the service really be undermined if we capped surges at, say, 400 per cent? For now it's impossible to say what the effect might be, because like so much of its operations, the way Uber's surge pricing mechanism works is not transparent. And, as the company has expanded into new markets, it's kept squeezing to its advantage. Its commission has grown in new markets in US cities and admitted to effectively sabotaging their competitors by bombarding them with fake orders.
This happens with pricing, too. In San Diego the company was caught boasting it had not hired new drivers to keep the supply of drivers down and trigger a surge. It seems inevitable now that Uber will at least decimate or even kill the taxi industry. You'd need a heart of stone not to feel a tinge of schadenfreude about that, given how unsatisfying encounters with a Sydney cab can be. But cabs are regulated and provide something that can function like an essential public service, with a certain number reserved by law for people with disabilities or children needing a car seat.
Ordering an Uber does not make you a participant in guerilla war against the establishment. It makes you a client of a $63 billion global monolith backed by venture capital. Its triumph is going to give it freer rein to set the price of our rides and determine the way in which that happens. It's worth thinking again whether that's something we ought to be so glib about.Copyright by WKRG - All rights reserved Photo of Baby Axel courtesy of GoFundMe.
Copyright by WKRG - All rights reserved Photo of Baby Axel courtesy of GoFundMe.
(WFLA) – When a Colorado baby was born prematurely, a local police force sprang into action and formed a "cuddle watch" to help look over him, according to TODAY.
Copyright by WKRG - All rights reserved Baby Axel. Photo courtesy of GoFundMe.
Copyright by WKRG - All rights reserved Baby Axel. Photo courtesy of GoFundMe.
Axle Winch came into the world with health problems that may have left him blind, deaf and with skeletal problems. He weighed only two pounds and 12 ounces. His family was told he might not make it.
"There were many times we didn't think he was going to live. He would die in our arms and the nurses would scramble to revive him," his father, Adam, 45, told TODAY.
Axel spent a week in the neonatal intensive care unit in Grand Junction, Colorado, before he was airlifted, with his mother Melissa, 38, almost 200 miles to Aurora, Colorado.
In Aurora, the newborn underwent multiple surgeries to help his underdeveloped lungs and brain.
Copyright by WKRG - All rights reserved A police officer holds Baby Axel. Photo courtesy of the Aurora Police Department.
Copyright by WKRG - All rights reserved A police officer holds Baby Axel. Photo courtesy of the Aurora Police Department.
Melissa, a uniformed police officer, and Adam, a former police officer, took extra time off from work to be by his side.
When one of Melissa's colleagues reached out to the Aurora Police Department and explained the family's situation, the agency sprang into action to help the couple.
"We were in a city where we didn't know anyone, but the local cops started showing up to check in on us," Adam told BBC News.
The agency started raising money and one officer even offered her mother-in-law's suite to the couple as a place to stay.
"There was enough money for us to pay our bills for over a month," Adam said. "We know we have cops from Aurora showing up out of the blue … Just literally coming in there hugging us, telling us stories, cooing and hugging Axel."
After a few months, the couple had to go back to work, but Axel still wasn't strong enough to leave the hospital.
"We were afraid he was going to die while we were gone," Adam said.
Copyright by WKRG - All rights reserved A police officer holds Baby Axel. Photo courtesy of the Aurora Police Department.
Copyright by WKRG - All rights reserved A police officer holds Baby Axel. Photo courtesy of the Aurora Police Department.
Sargent Mike Pitrusu, head of the employee support and wellness unit learned of their worries and came up with the idea to form a "cuddle watch."
About 20 officers volunteered to visit in shifts to cuddle with Axel.
"We wanted to provide more support for Axel," Pitrusu said. "I put a schedule out to our group. It filled pretty quickly."
They would take pictures of their visit and send them to the Winches. The agency said officers held him so much that they were scolded by nurses.
"He is so spoiled now he just wants to be held," said Pitrusu.
Copyright by WKRG - All rights reserved A police officer holds Baby Axel. Photo courtesy of the Aurora Police Department.
Copyright by WKRG - All rights reserved A police officer holds Baby Axel. Photo courtesy of the Aurora Police Department.
"The officers got a ton out of it," he continued. "It offered quite a bit to their mental health."
The Winches felt overwhelmed by the support.
"This meant the world to us," Adam said.
Axel returned home in mid-November. He is able to see and hear better and is learning to breastfeed.
"Multiple doctors and nurses have said ‘This is a miracle. This kid wasn't supposed to live,'" said Adam, whose family receiving help via GoFundMe. "He is a fighter."Shi-min Fang
Voice of America/Wikimedia Commons.
Shi-min Fang has held research posts at the University of Rochester in New York and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif. He is now a freelance science writer. He just won the inaugural Maddox Prize for exposing scientific misconduct in his native China.
Jon White: You’ve just won the inaugural Maddox Prize, awarded for your continuing work exposing scientific misconduct in China despite the threats you face. How does that feel?
Shi-min Fang: I am thrilled and honored. There are many people who are supporting me and fighting with me, so I consider this award as an acknowledgement of all our efforts, not just mine.
JW: What prompted you to start challenging dubious pseudoscientific claims in China?
SF: In 1998, after eight years studying in the United States, I returned to China and was shocked to see it was deluged with pseudoscience, superstitions, and scientific misconduct.
JW: What action did you decide to take?
SF: I had created a Chinese website called New Threads in 1994 when I was a graduate student at Michigan State University as a forum for sharing Chinese classics and literature. From 2000, I started to publish articles on the site fighting scientific misconduct and fraud. Eventually, New Threads became a flagship for those fighting pseudoscience, misconduct, fraud, and corruption among the Chinese science community.
JW: Are dubious claims a big problem in China?
SF: The majority of cases exposed are plagiarism, the exaggeration of academic credentials, and faked research papers, which are endemic in China.
JW: Tell me about some of them.
SF: A typical case was the nucleic acid “nutrition” scheme—supplements promoted to boost energy levels in the tired, pregnant, and old. It involved more than a dozen Chinese biochemists and was the first that brought wide media coverage, both domestically and internationally. New Threads has exposed more than 1,000 cases of scientific fraud.
JW: Why is science fraud such a problem in China?
SF: It is the result of interactions between totalitarianism; the lack of freedom of speech, press, and academic research; extreme capitalism that tries to commercialize everything including science and education; traditional culture; the lack of scientific spirit; the culture of saving face, and so on. It’s also because there is not a credible official channel to report, investigate, and punish academic misconduct. The cheaters don’t have to worry they will someday be caught and punished.
JW: What have been the worst moments?
SF: I have been sued more than 10 times. Because the Chinese legal system is very corrupt and a ruling is not always made according to the evidence, it is not surprising that I have lost some libel cases even though I did nothing wrong. In one of these, a local court at Wuhan ordered me to pay 40,000 yuan (about $6,400) in compensation and transferred the money from my wife’s account. I have also narrowly escaped from an attack with pepper spray and a hammer.
JW: Has it been worth it?
SF: Yes. I fully understand the risk I am facing and am willing to take it. What troubles me most is that my wife and my young daughter also have to endure vituperation and personal attacks.
This article originally appeared in New Scientist.PARIS — There is a global backlash against rising inequality, stagnant middle-class incomes, politicians for sale, social exclusion, offshoring of jobs, free trade, mass immigration, tax systems skewed for giant corporations and their bosses, and what Pope Francis has lambasted as the “unfettered pursuit of money.”
The backlash takes various forms. In the United States it has produced an angry election campaign. The success of both Donald Trump on the right and Bernie Sanders on the left owes a lot to the thirst for radical candidates who break the mold. Trump is unserious and incoherent; Sanders is neither of those things. But they both draw support from constituencies that feel stuck, reject politics as usual, and perceive a system rigged against them.
Hillary Clinton’s chief predicament, apart from the trust issue, is that she represents the past in a world where the post-cold-war optimism that accompanied her husband’s arrival in the White House almost a quarter-century ago has vanished. To embody continuity these days is political suicide.
In an interesting essay in the journal STIR, Jonna Ivin writes: “People want to be heard. They want to believe their voices matter. A January 2016 survey by the Rand Corporation reported that Republican primary voters are 86.5 percent more likely to favor Donald Trump if they ‘somewhat agree or ‘strongly agree’ with the statement, ‘People like me don’t have any say about what the government does.”’About This Game The Wire Loop Game VR brings this traditional well known game into virtual reality. It requires the HTC Vive and one motion controller to play it.
The aim of the game is to guide the metal hoop along the length of the wire without it touching. If it touches the wire, then the buzzer will sound and you will fail. In this version of the game there is also a time limit to complete the wire in. You can adjust the height of the wire by sliding a control on the table, in order to accommodate different player heights and preferences.
This game will require extreme concentration, focus and dexterity in order to complete all the wires. There are 50 wires to complete and when you have completed them
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.[52] King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden arrived to follow the event and a record 450 reporters were present.[53] Audi took a one-two with its factory drivers Hannu Mikkola and Stig Blomqvist.[54] The 1983 rally featured a field of 180 cars, over a hundred of which failed to make it to the finish.[55] Mikkola edged out Blomqvist to extend the event record to a still-standing seven wins. Mikkola's time on the 24.5-kilometre (15.2 mi) Ouninpohja stage was 11:56; 52 seconds faster than his time just four years ago.[56] In 1984, over half a million spectators were expected and about 5,000 marshals were appointed.[57] Vatanen won the event and Peugeot continued their success in the last two Group B years, as Timo Salonen drove to victory in 1985 and 1986.
The 1985 event marked the first time the drivers' world championship had been decided in Finland; Salonen captured the title with three rallies to go.[58] In 1986, the route was modified to bring the average speeds closer to the FISA limit of 110 km/h.[59] The top drivers exceeded the limit almost regularly, but FISA had given the organisers a 10 percent flexibility.[59] Combined with their dislike for the slower Group A cars, drivers were highly critical of the organisers for artificially slowing the rally in 1987.[60] A record 214 drivers signed up for the 1988 event and 200 were qualified to start by the organisers.[61] Albert II, Prince of Monaco arrived to follow the event and was scheduled to drive a few stages in an ex-Alén Lancia.[62] In one of the tightest duels in the event's history, Toyota's Juha Kankkunen led Lancia's Markku Alén by just two seconds after 33 of the 39 stages.[63] Kankkunen's engine failed on the next stage,[63] and Alén became the first driver to win the same WRC round six times. As a taste of what was to come, only two Finnish drivers made it into top ten.[63] In 1989, Mikael Ericsson of Sweden drove to victory as the first non-Finn in 18 years.[64]
1990s [ edit ]
Carlos Sainz, the first non-Nordic winner behind the wheel of an Gr.A Escort RS Cosworth in 1996
The 40th anniversary event in 1990 featured a route stretching to Tampere and gathered a large audience, roughly estimated at 450,000–500,000.[65] Toyota's Spanish driver Carlos Sainz became the first competitor outside Finland and Sweden to win the rally.[66] He had been slightly injured earlier during the week, when he crashed during a night-time practice run in the Vesala stage.[67] Sainz's feat was soon repeated; Didier Auriol, who had become the first Frenchman on the podium in his debut in 1988,[68] beat his Lancia teammate Kankkunen to the win in 1992.[69] Kankkunen took his second win in three years in 1993. In 1994, the rally was renamed to Neste 1000 Lakes Rally as Neste became the title sponsor.[70] A new super special stage was built at a slope of the Himos ski centre in Jämsä and it quickly proved popular among spectators.[71]
Kankkunen behind the wheel of an Escort WRC #6 in 1997
Due to the WRC round rotation from 1994 to 1996, the 1995 Rally Finland was only part of the 2-litre World Cup (better known as Formula 2). As a result, audience numbers dropped.[72] The event was also overshadowed by a fatal accident.[73] During the rainy and windy Hassi stage, a 20-year-old spectator did not hear the zero car driven by Bruno Thiry coming.[73] Although Thiry was able to dodge into a ditch, his car bounced back on the road and hit the woman at 100–120 kilometres per hour (62–75 mph).[73] She flew 50 metres (160 ft) down the road and succumbed to her injuries within minutes.[73] Next year in Harju, Danish driver Karsten Richardt carried far too much speed into a right-hander.[74] After hitting a bump and getting airborne, he missed the curve and went straight, hitting a road sign and a concrete barrier.[74] Uncontrollably airborne, his car eventually plunged into the crowd 70 metres (230 ft) off the course.[74] 29 spectators were brought to the hospital.[75] 45-year-old Belgian tourist Ludo Briers was operated on within 38 minutes, but his injuries soon proved fatal.[75] Before being hit, Briers had pushed one spectator to safety and protected another with his body.[76] In a subdued celebration, drivers from Central Finland manned the podium; Tommi Mäkinen took his third win in a row, ahead of Kankkunen and Jarmo Kytölehto.[77]
In 1997, AKK Sports, the marketing company of AKK-Motorsport, took over as the organiser and the WRC teams awarded the event for its safety efforts.[78] A new super special stage was built at Hippos, along with a VIP village for 1,600 people.[79] In the following year, teams voted the event as the Rally of the Year.[78] On his way to a record third consecutive title, Mäkinen set a record with his fifth Rally Finland win in a row.[80] Entry lists included ice hockey star and auto racing enthusiast Teemu Selänne, who finished 33rd in 1997 and 24th in 1998.[81][82] The event also attracted environmental criticism throughout the decade; protests gathered about a hundred participants in 1997 and two hundred in 1998.[83][84] In a 1997 study by the University of Jyväskylä, partly funded by AKK, Jyväskylä and Rally Finland, the environmental impact was estimated to be small; the noise from the rally cars, helicopters and speakers was considered the biggest harm.[85] In 1999, Harju was dropped from the route and extra points were awarded to the three fastest drivers of the Ruuhimäki stage, which was televised live by Yle to millions around the world.[86][87]
2000s [ edit ]
After years of rumours of the rally moving from Jyväskylä to Southern Finland for better accommodations, Tampere announced its intention to host the event after 1999.[88] Jyväskylä retained the event but the headquarters were relocated to the large newly built Paviljonki congress and trade fair centre.[89] Previously, Laajavuori had served as the competition centre for 30 years.[89] The Hippos super special was dropped in favour of a similar stage at the Killeri harness racing track by the lake Killerjärvi, where the audience had better visibility of the competing cars.[90] The 50th running of the Rally Finland in 2000 was won by Peugeot's Marcus Grönholm, who would go on to dominate the event. In 2002, Englishman Richard Burns challenged teammate Grönholm to become the third non-Nordic competitor to win the rally, but broke his car on a jump in Ouninpohja while leading the event.[91] The next foreign winner was Ford's Estonian driver Markko Märtin in the following year. For the first time in the history of the event, no Finnish driver made it onto the podium.[92]
Rally Finland was chosen the "Rally of the Year" for the third year in a row in 2004.[93] Despite Lahti entering the race,[94] a unanimous decision was made to keep Jyväskylä as the rally headquarters.[95] In 2005, Grönholm set the still-standing record for the highest average speed in a world rally; 122.86 kilometres per hour (76.34 mph).[96] In the 2007 Rally Finland, Grönholm equalled Mikkola's win record and became the first driver to win the same WRC event seven times.[97] At the 2008 rally, Sébastien Loeb added his name to the list of non-Nordic winners. This also marked Citroën's first win since 1962.
As the World Rally Championship reintroduced round rotation in 2009, Rally Finland signed a five-year contract with WRC promoter International Sportsworld Communicators (ISC), insuring that the event stays in the calendar annually.[98] The 2010 event saw a major change; the rally was run in two days instead of three and finished on Saturday.[99] Ford's Finns Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala took their debut home wins in 2009 and 2010, respectively. At the 2011 Rally Finland, Loeb made history by becoming the first non-Finn to win the event twice.[100] The event expanded to Lahti in the south and brought classic rally cars to the route, as some of the stages were also part of the Lahti Historic Rally.[101]
Characteristics [ edit ]
Geographic features [ edit ]
Rally Finland is known for its smooth and wide gravel roads, numerous big jumps (or yumps) and blind crests.[102]
It is the highest-speed rally in the World Rally Championship, having averaged 125.4 km/h in 2015. Of the nine fastest-ever WRC rallies by average speed, eight are editions of the Rally Finland.[102] As a result, it has become known as the "Grand Prix of rallying", "Finnish Grand Prix" and "Gravel Grand Prix".[103][104][105]
The high number of jumps led to the nickname "The Rally of the Thousand Jumps".[106] Formula One world champion Kimi Räikkönen said that "[the event] is probably the closest to asphalt driving as you can get on gravel."[107] According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the roads are considered the best in the world championship.[108] As the high-speed corners are often surrounded by trees, carefully crafted pacenotes and correct racing lines are necessary to survive the event; small errors easily lead to big crashes.[102]
Popularity [ edit ]
Although Rally Finland has traditionally been a difficult event for non-Nordic competitors, it is popular among drivers as well as fans. The rally attracts hundreds of thousands of spectators each year,[109] and only Monte Carlo Rally and Wales Rally GB have ever attracted more starters.[110] Along with the Wales Rally GB, it is the only event to have featured in all but one WRC season.[111] The WRC teams voted Rally Finland the "Rally of the Year" in 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2004.[93] The official website of the World Rally Championship lists the event as one of the "undoubted highlights" of a season.[102]
Ouninpohja stage [ edit ]
The most famous competitive section of the rally is Ouninpohja. Well known for its high-speed jumps and sweeping corners, it ranks among the most prestigious special stages in the world. At one jump located 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the start line, close to a landmark yellow house, spectators measure the length of the jumps and mark the distance by the roadside. In 2003, Markko Märtin set the record for the longest jump, travelling 57 metres (187 ft) in the air at a speed of 171 kilometres per hour (106 mph).[112]
The Ouninpohja stage was split into two parts for the 2005 and 2006 events, as Petter Solberg had exceeded the FIA's maximum average speed (130 km/h) in 2004.[113] The rule was changed for 2007 and Ouninpohja returned as a 33 km (21 mi) version, although the organisers added three chicanes. However, the stage was left out of the route in 2008. Jarmo Mahonen, managing director of AKK Sports, stated that "the matter was discussed with the FIA already last year, and at the time we were able to keep Ouninpohja as a part of our route. This year we have to leave it out for safety reasons."[114] In 2012, the Ouninpohja stage returned and also served as the power stage.[115] The stage ranges from 97 m to a maximum of 180 m in elevation.
Winners [ edit ]
Kalpala brothers with their 1954 trophies
Multiple winners [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]
References [ edit ]Details
Orient Bambino Classic Automatic ER2400MW Men's Watch
The Orient Bambino is all about unique components, finessed into proportional and seamless, retro-aesthetic. You can talk a lot about its design and making, starting from the case and ending at the crystal, covering everything in between. If you are a casual wearer, that is; for real enthusiasts, it is a genuine in-house marvel without any stock component into it, including those of the movement.Unless it was Orient, it would be costing a pretty penny.
Features:
Stainless Steel Case
Leather Strap
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Caliber 48743
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Date Display
Buckle Clasp
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Approximate Case Diameter 40.50mm
Approximate Case Thickness 11.8mm
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Information Brand: Orient Series: Bambino Classic Model: ER2400MW Gender: Men's Watch Label: Japan Made Movement: Automatic Movement Engine: Caliber 48743
Case Case Size: 40.5 mm Case Thickness: 11.8 mm Case Material: Stainless Steel Case Shape: Round Case Back: Screwed Case Back Bezel: Fixed Bezel
Dial Dial Type: Analog Dial Color: White Dial Crystal: Convex Crystal Dial Markers: Index
Features Calendar: Date Display Functions: "Date, Hour, Minute, Second" Features: Analog Display, Date Display, 30M Water Resistance
Band Band Type: Strap Band Material: Leather Strap Clasp: Buckle ClaspGlyndwr Cennydd Jones is the chief executive of a UK-wide charity, having previously held a senior position at an international examinations board for over eleven years. He is an advocate for greater cross-party consensus in Wales.
In a fortnight when Gordon Brown proposed a federal settlement for Scotland within the UK, Nicola Sturgeon launched a new conversation about the support for independence north of the border and David Davis offered little in terms of detail on possible ‘Brexit’ arrangements to leave the European Union, it is important that Wales does not lag behind in engaging with ongoing debates about appropriate constitutional arrangements for these isles. This is because the economic difficulties and social challenges facing today’s Wales contrast considerably with the UK generally. Growth along the M4 corridor has brought real benefits, but has led to over development in some areas and increased the exclusion of already disadvantaged communities in others. Much of the rest of Wales is encountering low wages, poverty and out-migration of young people. Meanwhile, the UK’s financial policies have led to a gradual shift of resources away from Wales. This, along with collapse of the traditional industries over time, has led to our GDP lingering behind the UK average. The proportion of older people has also increased with obvious impact on demands for health and social services.
However, our health service is enduring the effects of under-funding with staff morale undermined by bureaucracy. The artificial distinction made between nursing and personal care has been particularly unhelpful, as it has delayed early medical intervention to prevent ill health. This situation is compounded by the Barnett formula not taking account of Wales’ ageing population, deprivation levels and the longstanding illnesses caused by lack of employment opportunities in some communities. Not only are the poorest the sickest members of society but illness itself is a key generator of poverty. Also, too many live in housing of unacceptable condition.
Wales is now at a juncture where an objective, realistic view of these challenges from a constitutional and global perspective is required for the longer-term. This is particularly relevant after June’s referendum result to leave the EU, as Wales is/was a net beneficiary of European funding to the tune of approximately £245 million annually. It is not enough to continue using the present ungainly legislative arrangements. As explained in my previous article, the establishment of a federal structure for the UK within the next five years is essential for our economy and public services to function with strengthened accountability, innovation and transparency—underpinned by policy platforms shaped on a Wales-wide basis, enacted regionally—so as to create a secure and successful future for all who live within our nation.
This strategically-focused agenda with the needs of people at its heart must support the wellbeing of all whether they are young, old or vulnerable; in education or seeking work; in good health or not; have dependents or are unattached; are employed or unwaged; and whether they were born in these isles or elsewhere. It is people’s ambitions and talents made real through actions that drive a nation’s advancement, so government has a key social responsibility in facilitating success, particularly empowering those who have been caring for others or unemployed to return to education and work.
Industries that have growth potential demand support including technology, tourism and renewable energy. Targeted investment along with improved transport links will help steer Wales towards a better economic robustness and social coherence. And since small businesses comprise the vast majority of all firms in Wales, our labour market strategy must address the needs of entrepreneurs and promote meaningful employer engagement in the design of vocational training across further and higher education. This in turn will facilitate strengthened progression opportunities for career enhancement.
Education creates a better future. It encourages people to understand themselves and their communities including culture, history, languages, career prospects and relationships. Our curriculum should place an emphasis on key global issues, transferable skills, employability and subject specialism, as well as Welsh and British citizenship. And since the modern world is constantly evolving, these various aspects must be delivered within a strong ethos of lifelong learning and continuous professional development if we are to succeed in staying one step ahead of our international competitors.
This aspiration is of a society where individuals understand their responsibilities to others and themselves. An empowered government with clear jurisdiction in Wales would be ideally positioned to be more imaginative in its attempts to prevent crime and reform offenders whilst placing a greater weight on the needs of victims and their families. Regretfully, we have seen significant amounts of public money directed by the UK government towards wealthy institutions which through unchecked practices have brought on financial hardships to many. These instances often have been progressed without the introduction of adequate prevention measures for the future, leading to significant public insistence for greater scrutiny and concerns about whether multinational companies pay their reasonable share of tax.
So we need a more balanced constitutional relationship within these isles. The Welsh emphasis on equality, fairness and opportunity for all has historically inspired many significant political developments as in England, Ireland and Scotland. This is a tradition that we should rightfully be proud of. An exploration of a federal settlement for Wales within the UK is therefore a natural step at this time so that we can move forward with still even greater aspiration and address our challenges. It is important that we engage with the presently thriving debate…Ben Shapiro, a good friend of the show (see Socialism SUCKS! Guest Ben Shapiro and LOGIC IS SEXIST! Ben Shapiro and Paul Joseph Watson), was having a discussion with leftists about freedom, and whether people should be free to refuse service on religious grounds. You know, basic constitutionalism.
One of the panelists said Ben’s idea of freedom was “cute,” implying we need government to force tolerance on us. You know, basic leftism.
This is where Shapiro dropped the mic…
State governments were the source of segregation in the first place. People who think “Jim Crow” was just a voluntary system where people just decided they wanted to segregate their business were incorrect. There were Jim Crow LAWS on the books. The law in the state of Alabama was that you needed a seven foot high wall in your restaurant. This idea that government always has clean hands and that it’s individuals who are the problem, and that capitalism in the absence of government compulsion is not the solution to discrimination, must have missed the last fifty years of history in this country.
Yes, it should be that simple. Upset a florist or a pizza place doesn’t want to cater your gay wedding? Go somewhere which does. Or, business opportunity: open a catering business that ONLY caters to gay weddings. It’d be the most fabulous catering company in the country. Call it Giant Pink Sausages. Just a suggestion. Oops, sorry, trigger warning.
Alternatively the company refusing service? They might go out of business, as Ben says. If a business wants to refuse service to someone, that’s their business. If the business suffers from that choice via bad-word-of-mouth, or poor customer reviews, so be it. The business made a choice, the market reacted. Capitalism.
Now, when government steps in and dictates what a business may or may not do, who it can and cannot serve? Communism. Not freedom. Which is exactly what leftist twits like the glowing jewel of suck above, are calling for. Why? Glad you asked. Leftists do not believe in freedom, they believe in the state. For a leftist, an individual cannot be trusted to make choices for his or her own life. For a leftist, the state (elected by the body politic) must make those choices for every individual. Leftists believe in collectives. Read Dear Liberals: Your Cult-like Faith in Government is Disturbing…
Ben Shapiro put these dunderheads on full display. Leftists want the government to force YOU to do what THEY believe is right. Notice that? The angels of government should be the ones to decide right and wrong. Then impose it on you. Especially you intolerant Christians. How dare you.
But no, that’s not how America works. America was founded on the idea that God, not government, granted rights to people. America.
Freedom. What a concept!
NOT SUBSCRIBED TO THE PODCAST? FIX THAT! IT’S COMPLETELY FREE ON BOTH ITUNES HERE AND SOUNDCLOUD HERE.The North Carolina Democratic Party criticized comments made by a Republican state senator urging people to "fight to keep our state straight."
"Go home, tell your friends and family who had to work today what this is all about and how hard we must fight to keep our state straight," state Sen. Buck Newton (R) said Monday, according to The Associated Press.
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Newton, the state's Republican nominee for attorney general, was speaking at a demonstration in support of the state's new law that requires transgender people to use bathrooms designated for the biological sex listed on their birth certificate. The law also restricts cities from passing nondiscrimination laws more broadly.
The state's Democratic Party on Tuesday called Newton's comments hateful and discriminatory toward the LGBT community and called on him to apologize. It also urged Gov. Pat McCrory (R) to denounce Newton's comments.
On Monday, North Carolina House Democrats filed legislation to repeal the law, while dozens were arrested for demonstrations both supporting and opposing the law.
Senate leader Phil Berger (R) said he doesn't know if the protests will "change anybody's mind."
"I certainly would prefer that we not have this sort of protest,” he said. “But you know, people have a right to express their opinion if they’re upset about something we’ve done or disagree with something we’ve done.”
The controversial bathroom law has recently been talked about on the campaign trail, with Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz Rafael (Ted) Edward CruzTrump unleashing digital juggernaut ahead of 2020 Inviting Kim Jong Un to Washington Trump endorses Cornyn for reelection as O'Rourke mulls challenge MORE criticizing rival Donald Trump Donald John TrumpHouse committee believes it has evidence Trump requested putting ally in charge of Cohen probe: report Vietnamese airline takes steps to open flights to US on sidelines of Trump-Kim summit Manafort's attorneys say he should get less than 10 years in prison MORE for saying the state is paying a "big price" for the law and noting that transgender people should use whatever bathroom they want.
Cruz slammed the front-runner for being "politically correct," saying the law is necessary to protect children from predators.A woman has stormed, wailing, from a Sydney court after a youth who doused her with petrol and set her alight in an inner-city alley was sentenced to a minimum of three years' jail.
The woman, a Korean national known as "Miss K", suffered burns to 45 per cent of her body on March 22, 2012, when the youth forced her to the ground, doused her with a milk carton full of petrol, and then set her alight as she tried to flee.
The woman being taken to hospital after being set alight in Chippendale in 2012. Credit:Channel Ten
Miss K, a student in her 30s, has had five operations, including one to remove her upper lip, which was undertaken in a bid to treat the severe burns to her face.
The youth cannot be named because he was 17 at the time of the attack, but is referred to as "MF".In his most extensive remarks about feminism, President Obama wrote an essay for Glamour magazine in which he reflected on American women’s long fight for equality and called on men to fight sexism and create equal relationships.
In the 1,500-word essay, which was published online Thursday and will appear in the September print magazine, the president argued that “when everybody is equal, we are all more free.” He praised the progress of American women over the past century while pledging to work on securing equal pay and reproductive rights. The president also warned against “dated assumptions about gender roles.”
The president said that it was important to his daughters that he be a feminist, “because now that’s what they expect of all men.”
“We need to keep changing the attitude that raises our girls to be demure and our boys to be assertive, that criticizes our daughters for speaking out and our sons for shedding a tear,” he wrote. “We need to keep changing the attitude that punishes women for their sexuality and rewards men for theirs.NIMH Funds 3 ‘Zero Suicide’ Grants
September 16, 2016 • Science Update
“Zero Suicide” is a commitment, a goal, and a campaign led by the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention and its partners – including NIMH. Recently, NIMH funded three new grants that support the Zero Suicide commitment to preventing suicide attempts and deaths among individuals receiving treatment within health care systems.
The Zero Suicide campaign seeks to improve health care systems’ ability to identify who is at risk, and to identify and implement effective treatments for at-risk individuals. The campaign is also targeting ways to improve health care systems through provider training and systemic changes.
To support Zero Suicide efforts, NIMH issued a request for applications (RFA) in November 2015. This RFA was designed to help NIMH fund research
On practices that lead to safer health care outcomes for at-risk individuals.
On suicide prevention strategies that would work across a variety of settings. These settings include clinics, emergency departments, hospitals, and primary care programs.
On the most effective approaches for health care systems. These include: examining a variety of ways to detect suicide risk, the best ways to document risk and follow-up care, effective ways to deliver services, and effective policies and practices.
Today, NIMH is pleased to announce that it is funding three studies submitted during the first round of applications. These studies include:
1. Improving Behavioral Health Care
The first study will be the largest NIH has ever supported on improving the quality of behavioral health care to reduce suicide risk. To look at quality, Dr. Barbara Stanley of Columbia University and her colleagues, will partner with the New York State Office of Mental Health. The researchers will compare quality improvements in suicide prevention practice across 145 outpatient state licensed clinics, which represent 85 New York state agencies, and include 1,490 clinical providers that reach over 80,000 adult clients.
New York has already begun improving suicide prevention efforts in behavioral health care, and this study capitalizes on the state’s roll out plan. The study team will randomly assign some clinics to additional training, tracking, and other infrastructure support, to learn of the best ways to improve suicide screening and safety planning.
Dr. Stanley has been developing and studying safety planning with NIMH grantee Greg Brown within the Veterans Health Care (VA) system. The New York state effort will build on previous VA implementation and training programs. The knowledge gained about the potential benefits of focused implementation efforts will be valuable information for other behavioral health systems planning improvements to reduce suicide risk in their clients.
2. System of Safety (SOS) in Multiple Types of Care Settings
The second study—System of Safety (SOS)—builds off what was learned from the recently completed NIMH ED-SAFE study. ED-SAFE focused on adults who were at risk for suicide and went to an emergency department (ED) for care. The study examined the benefits of improved brief suicide-risk screening, providing outpatient suicide prevention discharge resources, and follow-up telephone counseling for the patient and a significant other. The ED-SAFE, and its follow-up study the ED-SAFE 2, relied on a continuous quality improvement (CQI) approach to implement, monitor, and enhance the interventions during routine clinical care.
Through SOS, Drs. Edwin Boudreaux and Catarina Kiefe of the University of Massachusetts Medical School will lead a multi-disciplinary team to extend the ED-SAFE CQI approach to additional care settings in the UMass Memorial Health Care system. SOS will include 6 ED units, 25 inpatient units, and 8 primary care clinics. The researchers estimate that they will reach 310,000 patients aged 12 and older.
Like the ED-SAFE studies, SOS will first examine standard treatment in these settings. Using an innovative phased roll-out study design, SOS will test the effectiveness of its suicide prevention approach while implementing the approach across an entire health care system. Effectiveness will be measured in terms of suicide-risk detection, safety planning, and follow-up care, as well as patient outcomes such as suicide-related events. The researchers will also analyze the cost effectiveness of SOS, to guide future efforts to plan for costs associated with the program’s benefits.
3. ‘Stepped’ Care for Youth Suicide Prevention
The third funded Zero Suicide study focuses on youth at risk for suicidal behavior within the Kaiser Permanente Northwest (KPNW) health system. While the number of effective suicide prevention interventions for adults has grown, there are fewer proven approaches for at-risk youth. Although there are fewer youth than adults who die by suicide, suicidal thoughts and behaviors often begin in early adolescence, when effective intervention could vastly improve their lives and reduce suicide deaths.
This study, led by Dr. Joan Asarnow of UCLA, and Dr. Greg Clarke of Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, will examine outcomes for approximately 300 at-risk youth, ages 12 to 24. The participants will be in one of two groups: either part of the KPNW system’s Zero Suicide practices, or part of a stepped care treatment approach, which includes Zero Suicide practices, but then also matches intensity of treatment to severity of risk. Researchers will explore which group benefits more in terms of reduced suicide attempts and other patient outcomes. This study builds on prior NIMH-funded research on dialectal behavior therapy for suicidal youth, cognitive-behavioral family-centered treatment for youths after a suicide attempt, and internet cognitive behavior therapy for individuals with depression. The KPNW effort will also include a cost effectiveness component.
Future Research
A second round of requests for applications for Zero Suicide is set for November, 2016. NIMH hopes to fund additional studies in order to learn more about health care practices that reduce suicide risk.Raikkonen is returning to F1 after two years in rallying
Former world champion Kimi Raikkonen has injured his hand in a crash in a snowmobile race but his Lotus team say the Finn is not seriously hurt.
The 32-year-old is returning to Formula 1 with Lotus in 2012 after two years in the world rally championship.
The team, who raced as Renault in 2011, said on Twitter: "Kimi is absolutely fine. There's nothing to worry about, he only has a sore wrist.
"He might have it checked again on Monday, but that's all."
Raikkonen's return to F1 with Lotus was announced less than two weeks ago, and team boss Eric Boullier has said that signing the 2007 world champion should be taken as a mark of their ambition.
Boullier said the team's aim was to win the world championship "within the next two or three years".
RAIKKONEN F1 FACT FILE Born: 17 October 1979
17 October 1979 F1 debut: 2001 Australian GP
2001 Australian GP Former teams: Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari
Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari Titles: 1
1 Wins: 18
18 Podiums: 62
62 Career points: 579
579 Poles: 16
16 Fastest laps: 35
Raikkonen, who will be partnered by Swiss novice Romain Grosjean, is effectively a replacement for Robert Kubica, the team's former lead driver, who missed the entire 2011 season after being badly injured in a rallying accident in February.
The team were heavily criticised for allowing Kubica to race in a different form of motorsport close to the beginning of the season.
Kubica suffered a partially severed right hand and serious arm and leg fractures.
It is still not known when - or if - the 27-year-old Pole will be fit enough to return to F1.
But if he does, it looks increasingly unlikely to be with his former team.
They have been trying to set up talks with him to discuss his comeback, and will let him use their facilities - including their simulator and old F1 cars - if he makes a long-term commitment to them.
But on Friday, Boullier said Lotus Renault's relationship with Kubica was at "point zero".Google Street View offers panoramic views of more or less any city street in much of the developed world, as well as views along countless footpaths, inside shopping malls, and around museums and art galleries. It is an extraordinary feat of modern engineering that is changing the way we think about the world around us.
But while Street View can show us what distant places look like, it does not show what the process of traveling or exploring would be like. It’s easy to come up with a fix: simply play a sequence of Street View Images one after the other to create a movie.
But that doesn’t work as well as you might imagine. Running these images at 25 frames per second or thereabouts makes the scenery run ridiculously quickly. That may be acceptable when the scenery does not change, perhaps along freeways and motorways or through unchanging landscapes. But it is entirely unacceptable for busy street views or inside an art gallery.
So Google has come up with a solution: add additional frames between the ones recorded by the Street View cameras. But what should these frames look like?
Today, John Flynn and buddies at Google reveal how they have used the company’s vast machine learning know-how to work out what these missing frames should look like, just be studying the frames on either side. The result is a computational movie machine that can turn more or less any sequence of images into smooth running film by interpolating the missing the frames.
The challenge Flynn and co set themselves is straightforward. Given a set of images of a particular place, the goal is to synthesize a new image of the same area from a different angle of view.
That’s not easy. “An exact solution would require full 3-D knowledge of all visible geometry in the unseen view which is in general not available due to occluders,” say Flynn and co.
Indeed, it’s a problem that computer scientists have been scratching their heads over for decades and one that is closely related to the problem of estimating the 3-D shape of a scene given two or more images of it.
Computer scientists have developed various ways of solving this problem but all suffer from similar problems, particularly where information is lacking due to one object occluding another. This leads to “tearing,” where there is not enough information, and to the disappearance of fine detail. A particular challenge is objects that contain fine detail and are also self-occluding, such as trees.
Flynn and co’s new approach is to train a machine vision algorithm to work out what the new image should look like having been trained on a vast dataset of sequential images.
The task for the computer is to treat each image as a set of pixels and to determine the depth and color of each pixel given the depth and color of the corresponding pixels in the images that will appear before and after it in the movie.
They trained their algorithm, called DeepStereo, using “images of street scenes captured by a moving vehicle.” Indeed, they use 100,000 of these sequences as a training data set.
They then tested it by removing one frame from a sequence of Street View images and asking it to reproduce it by looking only at the other images in the sequence. Finally, they compare the synthesized image with the one that was removed, giving them a kind of gold standard to contrast it with.
The results are impressive. “Overall, our model produces plausible outputs that are difficult to immediately distinguish from the original imagery,” say Flynn and co.
It successfully reproduces difficult subjects such as trees and grass. And when it does fail, such as with specular reflections, it does so gracefully rather than by “tearing.”
In particular, it handles moving objects well. “They appear blurred in a manner that evokes motion blur,” they say.
The method isn’t perfect, however. “Noticeable artifacts in our results include a slight loss of resolution and the disappearance of thin foreground structures,” say the Google team. And partially occluded subjects tend to be overblurred in the output.
It is also computationally intensive. Flynn and co say it takes 12 minutes on a multicore workstation to produce a single newly synthesized image. So these images cannot be produced on the fly. However, the team expects to improve this in future by optimizing the image generation
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content makes such a difference to the message you are sending out.
To help you with creating a slicker and more polished video, I have shot my own. I’ve demonstrated some quick concepts that can easily be applied to give your video content a professional sheen. You don’t need particularly fancy equipment, and you don’t need an advanced film or design education, to see the very real benefits of these simple tips.
Below is a transcript of the video for reference.
Lighting
If you have no light, you have no image. This is why it is the most important concept to grasp. The more light you have, the better your image will also look:
I can change the setting on the camera to make it more sensitive to light, but it changes how the image looks…
...or I can change the setting so it allows light in for longer, but then I will get too much motion blur.
Composition and framing (the rule of thirds).
You know that weird little grid you can see on your phone camera? That grid is setting up the rule of thirds. The easiest composition in the rule of thirds is to align things on the lines of the grid:
Or at the intersecting points on the grid.
It might be an interesting thing to look at the photos you enjoy, and see where they would lie on the grid- and see how many actually fall into the rule of thirds…
Manually lock your camera, if you can
By manually locking, you avoid any of the weird little changes that will happen when you use autofunctions. If you are forced to use autofunctions on your camera, the more light you have and the less contrast in that light, the less autofunctions you will see fluctuate in your image.
180 degree rule
If I were to draw an imaginary line from the nose of the hockey player to the nose of the wolf, the 180 degree rule would state that I would never cross that line while shooting- so I can shoot within 180 degrees of that straight line:
What this does is present the same special relationship so that my hockey player always appears on the right side of my frame, and the wolf always appears on the left side of the frame.
If I were to cross that axis, you can see the spatial relationship has changed:
This makes it harder to cut between, and for the viewer to make sense of where the hockey player is in the scene in relationship to the wolf.
Montage theory
The very basic of montage theory is a + b = c. In other words, by adding two things together, you get something else that is neither those two things at the end. The easiest montage is to think of a sequential montage. By using a linear action sequence, and a shooting sequence that uses a wide shot, a medium shot, and a close up…
...you can accomplish montages that make sense and still capture the emotional space that connects a viewer to the intricacies of a larger picture.
Depth of field
There’s a whole lot of science to this, but all you really need to know is that if you want that background to go out of focus, take a step back with the camera, use your zoom, zoom in, and voila: that background is out of focus.
So there you have it. Those are my quick and dirty tricks. Always remember, google things, learn things, search things, do things. The more you actually get your hands dirty and do stuff, the more you are going to learn about what each of those things actually does and how you can use it.
For those whose interest has really been piqued: We have created an e-book to on how to shoot great videos, to provide you with some easy-to-follow steps for producing your own beautiful content. Click on the image and fill in the form to access the e-book, and to equip yourself with the skills to be able to create high quality video that really captures people’s attention.A man who wore a t-shirt with hand-written offensive comments about the murders of PC Fiona Bone and PC Nicola Hughes on it just hours after their killings has been sentenced.
Barry Thew (17/01/1973), of Wolsey Street, Radcliffe, admitted a Section 4A Public Order Offence (displaying writing or other visible representation with intention of causing harassment, alarm or distress).
At Minshull Street Crown Court today, Thursday 11 October 2012, he was sentenced to a total of eight months in prison.
At about 2.15pm on Tuesday 18 September 2012, less than three-and-a-half hours after PCs Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone were shot dead, Thew was seen wearing the offensive t-shirt in Radcliffe town centre.
He was arrested and taken into custody.
Inspector Bryn Williams, of the Radcliffe Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: "While officers on the ground were just learning of and trying to come to terms with the devastating news that two colleagues had been murdered, Thew thought nothing of going out in public with a t-shirt daubed with appalling hand written comments on.
"Thankfully the overwhelming response from the public - who have inundated us with messages of support and condolence - prove that Thew is the exception and not the rule and our communities were right behind us at our darkest hour.
"To mock or joke about the tragic events of that morning is morally reprehensible and Thew has rightly been convicted and sentenced for his actions."
The following hand written comments were on Thew's t-shirt.
On the front: "One less pig; perfect justice".
On the back: "Killacopforfun.com haha".Nothing seems to irritate Glenn Beck quite like people who mock or dismiss his self-proclaimed prophetic ability to predict the future. Whenever anyone dares to do so, Beck is quick to respond with a rundown off all of the things he claims to have predicted years before they came to fruition, ranging from 9/11, to the 2008 economic crisis, to the rise of “the Caliphate.”
Just last weekend, Beck fumed on Facebook that if someone was able to predict the stock market as accurately as he has been able to predict the future, that person would he hailed as “an oracle”:
I can tell you what happens in the next five years. But no one has asked me. Wouldn’t someone who nailed the stock market this accurately be called an oracle even if he was wrong on other things? If he predicted the 08 market crash (which by the way I did beginning in 04), wouldn’t someone want to know what he says is coming next?
Beck could tell us “what happens in the next five years,” he says, if we would just be willing to ask.
That is an interesting boast, especially since today marks the second anniversary of a screaming meltdown in which Beck warned that America was “definitely” two years away from a time when he would be forced out of business as the nation descended into a dystopian nightmare.
“I think a year from now, definitely two, most Americans are going to be working part-time,” Beck said on October 15, 2013. “There will be some IMF global tax that will add an extra 10 percent on everything and people like me will be out of business.”
The elite, Beck went on to warn, would have access to things like Google glasses while the rest of society would be reduced to “little worker bees” who, through Common Core, would be trained to serve as nothing more than cogs for the corporations.
“This isn’t science fiction, this is science fact!” Beck screamed. “You pieces of garbage, you people in the press, open your damn eyes!”
Somehow, none of that has happened despite Beck’s prophecy that it was all “definitely” just two years away, which is difficult for us to comprehend, especially since Beck has also assured us that he is always two years ahead of everyone else in knowing what is coming just around the corner.Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images. Justin Sullivan-Getty Images
Most weeks, New York Magazine writer-at-large Frank Rich speaks with contributor Alex Carp about the biggest stories in politics and culture. This week: the Trump outrage train keeps chugging, National Review writer David French’s potential third-party candidacy, and what Peter Thiel means for journalism.
Since Donald Trump lashed out at the press over questions about his fundraising for veterans, his week has only gotten worse, with former staffers at his Trump University calling the school a fraud and “a total lie.” Do either of these criticisms have a chance of swaying Trump supporters?
By any civilized standard, Trump has had about the worst week a presidential candidate could have. He was caught trying to cheat America’s veterans out of the $6 million he had promised them. He nastily assailed the press for daring to question his bogus philanthropy. He not only attacked the legitimacy of the U.S. district judge presiding over the Trump University case, but tried to denigrate him as “Mexican.” (The judge, Gonzalo Curiel, was born in Indiana.) Then there’s Trump U itself: a scam worthy of Bernie Madoff that preyed on victims far more vulnerable than most of Madoff’s clients. And the week is not over. There’s still time for more Trump outrage. Maybe he’ll slap a baby instead of kissing one at a campaign event.
The question remains, however, whether any of it matters to those voters who see Trump as their champion and have stood steadfastly by him even after he previously insulted one of America’s most famous veterans, mocked a disabled member of the press, slimed Mexicans as rapists, and all the rest. We won’t know until November, I’m afraid, if anything will shake their loyalty.
The more fluid question is whether Hillary Clinton can vanquish him. It was a positive step that she wasted no time in decrying Trump University in unequivocal language (“scam … fraud”). This is a refreshing change from her default mode with Trump — trying to stay above the fray — which has showed few signs of working. It would also be a good idea for her to make her own peace with the press, which she hates as much as Trump does. She hasn’t held a press conference since last December. Last week the Washington Post reported that she had not given the paper “a single interview” in the 13 months since she announced her candidacy. By contrast, Trump, for all his detestation of the press, will talk to almost anyone; he would give an interview to Highlights for Children if asked. He will keep getting “free media” because he makes himself available and keeps making news, even if in the ugliest ways imaginable. It’s time for Clinton to get in that arena with him. Today Clinton will give a serious speech assailing Trump’s so-called foreign policy, but if she keeps speaking and playing by Washington’s established rules, he’ll once again find a way to drown her out.
Over the weekend, Bill Kristol announced that he was recruiting a third-party candidate “with a strong team and a real chance,” and it’s now looking likely to be constitutional lawyer David French. Does French fit the bill?
I’d say “constitutional lawyer” is a bit grandiose for this guy, a National Review blogger whose writings include homophobic screeds (gay people “redefine sin as freedom” in his formulation) and who is also known for forbidding his wife (a Sarah Palin ghostwriter) to exchange emails with any men while he was serving in Iraq. Despite Kristol’s claims, French has no team and no chance. Nor is he, as Kristol also promised, “impressive” — unless you count Kristol’s past political protégés, Palin and Dan Quayle, as such.
Nonetheless, Mitt Romney immediately tweeted that he took Kristol’s nominee seriously as “an honorable, intelligent and patriotic person.” Romney, you may recall, has been vocally #NeverTrump for a while now — the most prominent #NeverTrump Republican by far — and last week gave an interview to The Wall Street Journal congratulating himself for his heroic stand: “I wanted my grandkids to see that I simply couldn’t ignore what Mr. Trump was saying and doing, which revealed a character and temperament unfit for the leader of the free world.”
How self-deluded can Romney be? What his grandkids will see is that he did nothing to stop Trump except blather. He waited until very late (too late) in the Republican primary to take a stand in the first place. Then he refused to endorse a single candidate in the remaining presidential field who might have theoretically rallied the anti-Trump forces in his party. Then he refused to marshal either funds or troops to stage a serious third-party challenge when it was still doable. (State deadlines for getting on the ballot are passing rapidly.) Now he is lending at least 140 characters of credence to a crackpot Kristol scheme that seems about as real as Trump University. Like many of the GOP elites who have railed against Trump but done nothing other than tweet, give speeches, or write op-eds to stop him, Romney will look quite silly in the judgment of history and possibly that of his grandkids. He thinks of himself as Charles de Gaulle, but he’s actually Marshal Pétain.
The David French “candidacy” and Romney’s lame reaction to it were not the only examples of the impotence of the withered GOP elites this week. Let’s not forget “Little Marco” Rubio. You may recall that Rubio once accurately called Trump a “con artist,” but now he has capitulated to Trump at the very moment we’re learning all of the details about the Trump U con. Is Vegas taking bets on how many more weeks it will take Paul Ryan to fold?
Some journalists worry that the lawsuits Peter Thiel is pursuing against Gawker could threaten the way the press works for years to come. Is it time for reporters and publishers to be, in Nicholas Lemann’s words, “arming themselves for a protracted war”?
Journalism is already at war, doing battle daily with the heavy-handed tactics of the Obama administration and the ticking time bomb of economic survival in a day when nearly every news organization worthy of the name is cutting costs and coverage. Thiel adds another and particularly insidious peril. You don’t have to like Gawker to believe it’s a threat to the First Amendment when billionaires deploy their fortunes to destroy any press outlet that they despise. As the lawyer Stuart Karle pointed out in the Washington Post, Thiel’s tactics “resemble nothing so much as the legal maneuvers white racists used to threaten the national press with ruin” when it covered militant resistance to desegregation in the South of the 1950s and 1960s. Indeed, the landmark 9–0 1964 Supreme Court decision in New York Times v. Sullivan that raised the bar for defining libel grew directly out of the Times’ battle with Alabama racists out to punish the paper’s civil-rights coverage with costly litigation. And Thiel, unlike his antebellum predecessors, tried to pull off his scheme under the veil of secrecy.
It’s not happenstance that Thiel is a California Trump delegate. Trump has the same views and has already pledged to “open up” libel laws and to sue the press for “negative” articles with the hope of costing them “lots of money.” This is surely the tactic that he would use on the Post, to take one example: It was the insistent prodding of that paper’s reporter David Fahrenthold that finally shamed Trump into writing his promised $1 million check to veterans’ groups last week. The Post, owned by a billionaire (Jeff Bezos) who actually has the kind of wealth Trump claims to have, could handle the assault. Many, if not most, others can’t.
Worse, Thiel is the longest-sitting board member of Facebook after Mark Zuckerberg. Sheryl Sandberg, the company’s chief operating officer, has said Thiel will remain on the board — a curious signal to send at a time when Facebook, arguably now the world’s most powerful distributor of news, is rightly being asked for more transparency in how it guarantees freedom of expression in its vast digital realm.East Room
10:58 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) Good morning, everybody.
AUDIENCE: Good morning, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Secretary Napolitano, Director Mayorkas, distinguished guests, family and friends -- welcome to the White House. Happy Fourth of July. What a perfect way to celebrate America’s birthday -- the world’s oldest democracy, with some of our newest citizens.
I have to tell you, just personally, this is one of my favorite things to do. It brings me great joy and inspiration because it reminds us that we are a country that is bound together not simply by ethnicity or bloodlines, but by fidelity to a set of ideas. And as members of our military, you raised your hand and took an oath of service. It is an honor for me to serve as your Commander-in-Chief. Today, you raised your hand and have taken an oath of citizenship. And I could not be prouder to be among the first to greet you as "my fellow Americans."
Looking back, it was an act of extraordinary audacity -- a few dozen delegates, in that hall in Philadelphia, daring to defy the mightiest empire in the world, declaring "that these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States."
Two hundred and thirty-six years later, we marvel at America’s story. From a string of 13 colonies to 50 states from sea to shining sea. From a fragile experiment in democracy to a beacon of freedom that still lights the world. From a society of farmers and merchants to the largest, most dynamic economy in the world. From a ragtag army of militias and regulars to you -- the finest military that the world has ever known. From a population of some 3 million -- free and slave -- to more than 300 million Americans of every color and every creed.
With this ceremony today -- and ceremonies like it across our country -- we affirm another truth: Our American journey, our success, would simply not be possible without the generations of immigrants who have come to our shores from every corner of the globe. We say it so often, we sometimes forget what it means -- we are a nation of immigrants. Unless you are one of the first Americans, a Native American, we are all descended from folks who came from someplace else -- whether they arrived on the Mayflower or on a slave ship, whether they came through Ellis Island or crossed the Rio Grande.
Immigrants signed their names to our Declaration and helped win our independence. Immigrants helped lay the railroads and build our cities, calloused hand by calloused hand. Immigrants took up arms to preserve our union, to defeat fascism, and to win a Cold War. Immigrants and their descendants helped pioneer new industries and fuel our Information Age, from Google to the iPhone. So the story of immigrants in America isn’t a story of "them," it’s a story of "us." It’s who we are. And now, all of you get to write the next chapter.
Each of you have traveled your own path to this moment -- from Cameroon and the Philippines, Russia and Palau and places in between. Some of you came here as children, brought by parents who dreamed of giving you the opportunities that they had never had. Others of you came as adults, finding your way through a new country and a new culture and a new language.
All of you did something profound: You chose to serve. You put on the uniform of a country that was not yet fully your own. In a time of war, some of you deployed into harm’s way. You displayed the values that we celebrate every Fourth of July -- duty, responsibility, and patriotism.
We salute a husband and father, originally from Mexico, now a United States Marine, joined today by his wife Silvia and daughter Juliett. Becoming a citizen, he says, is "another step in the right direction for my family." So today we congratulate Francisco Ballesteros De La Rosa. Where’s Francisco? (Applause.)
We salute a young woman from El Salvador, who came here when she was just six, grew up in America, who says she "always had a desire to serve" and who dreamed of becoming -- who dreams of becoming an Army medic. So we congratulate Luisa Childers. Luisa. (Applause.)
We salute a young man from Nigeria who came here as a child. "I left Nigeria," he says, "with the dream that we all have a destiny in life and we are all born with the resources to make a difference." We are confident he will make a difference. We congratulate Oluwatosin Akinduro. (Applause.)
We salute a young man from Bolivia, who came to America, enlisted in our military and has volunteered to help care for our veterans. He’s becoming a citizen, he says, to be a "part of the freedom that everybody is looking for." And so we congratulate Javier Beltran. (Applause.)
It has taken these men and women -- these Americans -- years, even decades, to realize their dream. And this, too, reminds us of a lesson of the Fourth. On that July day, our Founders declared their independence. But they only declared it; it would take another seven years to win the war. Fifteen years to forge a Constitution and a Bill of Rights. Nearly 90 years, and a great Civil War, to abolish slavery. Nearly 150 years for women to win the right to vote. Nearly 190 years to enshrine voting rights. And even now, we’re still perfecting our union, still extending the promise of America.
That includes making sure the American dream endures for all those -- like these men and women -- who are willing to work hard, play by the rules and meet their responsibilities. For just as we remain a nation of laws, we have to remain a nation of immigrants. And that’s why, as another step forward, we’re lifting the shadow of deportation from serving -- from deserving young people who were brought to this country as children. It’s why we still need a DREAM Act -- to keep talented young people who want to contribute to our society and serve our country. It’s why we need -- why America’s success demands -- comprehensive immigration reform.
Because the lesson of these 236 years is clear -- immigration makes America stronger. Immigration makes us more prosperous. And immigration positions America to lead in the 21st century. And these young men and women are testaments to that. No other nation in the world welcomes so many new arrivals. No other nation constantly renews itself, refreshes itself with the hopes, and the drive, and the optimism, and the dynamism of each new generation of immigrants. You are all one of the reasons that America is exceptional. You’re one of the reasons why, even after two centuries, America is always young, always looking to the future, always confident that our greatest days are still to come.
So, to all of you, I want to wish you the happiest Fourth of July. God bless you all. God bless our men and women in uniform and your families. And God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)
And with that, I want you to join me in welcoming onto the stage one of America’s newest citizens. Born in Guatemala, he enlisted in the Marine Corps, served with honor in Afghanistan. And I know he’s especially proud because, in a few days, his father Walter -- who’s also here today -- will become a naturalized American citizen as well. Where’s Walter? There he is over there. (Laughter.) Good to see you, Walter. (Applause.) Please welcome, Lance Corporal Byron Acevedo to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Right here.
MR. ACEVEDO: I’m nervous. (Laughter.)
(The Pledge of Allegiance is said.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody. Have a great Fourth of July. Congratulations to our newest citizens. Yay! (Applause.)
END
11:09 A.M. EDTThere’s a sense that Jake Arrieta isn’t quite what he’s been before. It’s not entirely untrue — a season ago, Arrieta put together a historic campaign. He set the bar so high for himself that it would be next to impossible to meet the updated expectations. But, you know, Arrieta’s still been terrific. Last year, opponents batted.185. This year they’ve batted.183. He ranks fourth among qualified starting pitchers in ERA, and even since his ERA dipped under 1 around the beginning of May, it’s been just a little over 3. Last year’s National League Cy Young came down to Arrieta, Zack Greinke, and Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw’s hurt. Greinke’s already allowed 19 more runs than he did a season ago. Arrieta is doing just fine.
He simply seems a wee bit less automatic. From the perspective of an observer, he’s made it more difficult to take outs for granted. From the perspective of an analyst, Arrieta’s command has wobbled. And what’s maybe most interesting here: Arrieta apparently doesn’t have a feel for his slider. Or cutter. Or whatever. You know what I mean. Arrieta has managed a low ERA while, underneath, he’s had trouble finding what had been one of the truly elite pitches in the game.
For all the elements that went into Arrieta’s maturation and emergence, one of the very biggest keys was his unlocking his slider. They hadn’t let him use it too much in Baltimore, but in Chicago, he came to embrace it. For so many reasons, it’s not an easy thing to objectively rate individual pitches. But we can get a lot of the way there just making use of our pitch-type run values. So: Between 2014 – 2015, Arrieta’s slider was worth about 39 runs above average. The only pitches with higher values were Clayton Kershaw’s fastball, Johnny Cueto’s fastball, and Tyson Ross‘ slider. It’s not perfect, but you can agree with it. All of those pitches were great. They were thrown with great frequency.
So when you look at Arrieta now, his nerd numbers are jarring. For the season, his slider has a negative run value. And he’s thrown the slider far less often, picking up the use of his heater. This plot traces the course of things. Included below are Arrieta’s rolling slider rates, and slider values, over 15-game spans.
It’s very easy to spot when Arrieta arrived in Chicago and got comfortable. He folded the slider in heavily, and the pitch itself improved, which is reflected by the sharp increase in the blue line. For the most part, the two lines hold pretty steady. And then there’s the drop-off. The reduction in usage has picked up. The run value has plummeted. Between 2014 – 2015, Arrieta had 23 starts in which his slider was at least a run better than average. This year, he’s had three such starts, the last one coming on May 3. I don’t know that there’s anything special about that particular date, but the slider hasn’t looked like itself since. And the usage, in turn, has come down.
It’s a fascinating change in Arrieta’s profile. And it’s not an easy thing to figure out. The slider is a little slower than it was a year ago, but it’s right where it was in 2014. And, by movement, the shape hasn’t changed. It looks like the same slider, but hitters are seeing it a little better, laying off of some tough pitches. It’s not hard to connect the taken sliders with Arrieta’s increase in walks. If I had to speculate, I’d go with this. According to Brooks Baseball, Arrieta’s arm slot has slightly risen:
That’s given him a more vertical angle, or plane, and that might be contributing to Arrieta throwing more sliders below the zone instead of in it or beside it. The relevant slider heat maps:
A few years ago, Arrieta threw 24% of his sliders no more than a foot and a half off the ground. Last year’s rate was 18%. This year he’s up to 32%. Now, usually, pitchers want to bury their sliders, as opposed to hang them, but maybe something about Arrieta’s slider makes it easier to identify when it’s dropping. Maybe it really is best when it’s around the knees, instead of the shins. That’s what the numbers would indicate. If Arrieta still believed in the pitch as much as he used to, you’d figure he’d still throw it. It’s around, but maybe half as often as it used to be. That slider just isn’t the same kind of weapon, after a couple years of hitters having no answer. Either they’ve adjusted to it, or it simply looks different, even though it’s breaking the same.
This is where we go back to the fact that Arrieta has an ERA around the mid-2s. And this is where we talk about why Arrieta isn’t just some flash in the pan. Arrieta didn’t ride one pitch to greatness. Arrieta, more broadly, just figured out pitching, and he figured out how to make the necessary adjustments. He throws, occasionally, a changeup. He throws, more commonly, a curveball. And there’s the fastball. Used to be, by run value, Arrieta’s slider was one of the best pitches in the game. Now, via the current leaderboards, Arrieta’s fastball rates as the top pitch in the game. It’s picked up the slack, and it’s possible the changes that made the slider worse have made the fastball more effective. Not that I think Arrieta wants to be without his best slider, but, he’s compensating. That’s what the best ones do.
One takeaway would be that, in 2016, Jake Arrieta has seemingly lost his signature slider. Another takeaway would be that Jake Arrieta has seemingly lost his signature slider, and still he’s an ace. You’re free to take from this whatever you want.A militia supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, called the National Defense Forces (NDF) published a video on Friday that shows its people training in Syria. The training exercise depicts a scenario in which the militia manages to commandeer an IDF post: With dramatic music playing in the background, the soldiers manage to reach the Israeli post, identified by the Israeli flag. After overtaking it, the militia infantry places their own flag and the Hezbollah flag in its stead.
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The NDF is a militia established by Assad during the civil war to deal with the weakness of the Syrian army. Only a few weeks ago, this militia claimed that an Israeli drone had assassinated one of its operatives, Yasser a-Sayyid, while he was driving in a car on the road between Khan Arnabeh, on the outskirts of Quneitra, and Damascus.
The NDF militia training to commandeer an Israeli post
X
After the post falls into the militia's hands, one of the commanders praises his soldiers for their performance. "It is very good that you are moving toward the post under a cover of fire. This is an achievement. "
Militia soliders simulating taking over an Israeli post
Later, soldiers from the militia are interviewed. They state that they feel good with their training: "The course was very good," says one of them. "We have benefited from the knowledge of our friends, we have received new information and we have formulated a new tactic, a new method, better than what we had in the past." At the end of the video, the soldiers who participated in the exercise yell out, "In the spirit and blood we will redeem you, Bashar" while waving their weapons.
Raising their guns in salute to AssadA Beaumont police officer convicted of official oppression in a 2007 traffic stop was sentenced today to 90 days of probation.James Cody Guedry was convicted by a jury in December. He had stunned unarmed passenger Derrick Newman twice with a Taser in an Aug. 24, 2007, traffic stop on a South End street.Guedry could have received up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.His attorney, Mitch Adams, asked Judge John Stevens to sentence Guedry to only a $1 fine.Former officer David Todd Burke, who was also found guilty of official oppression in September for repeatedly striking Newman with a baton during the same traffic stop, was sentenced to one year's probation. Burke, who is no longer employed with Beaumont police, is appealing his case.Adams told the court that Guedry led a fine upstanding life as a productive member of society. "He did at the time what he believed was proper to do and based on orders given," he said.Standing before the bench in a dark suit, Guedry remained silent.Before pronouncing sentence, Stevens read aloud from a sentencing memorandum he had prepared.Stevens said Guedry, a rookie officer, was in a "no-win" situation the night he was ordered by his superior officers to shock Newman with the Taser."Cody Guedry was required to follow orders of his superiors," Stevens said. "He is convicted because, in following orders, illegal force was used."While the judge pointed out the jury verdict "clearly states that the degree of force used against Newman in the particular circumstances of this case was unnecessary and constituted unlawful mistreatment," he also said "few rookie officers, if any, in this situation would have acted differently."Stevens also said, "Of course, this does not satisfy Derrick Newman, who wonders what he did to deserve repeated strikes with a club by one officer, and a double tasing by another officer."Several law enforcement members and supporters, including Chief Frank Coffin and ministers with the Clergy Police Partnership, attended today's sentencing.After the proceeding, the chief said he agreed with everything the judge said except for the fact that Coffin doesn't believe Guedry is guilty of official oppression.Coffin emphasized that police officers are out in the community every day doing the best job they can to protect the people.John Tory is right to be skeptical about using a legal sledgehammer on Uber, the car-summoning service.
When city officials announced on Tuesday they were seeking a court injunction against the company, the mayor-elect was quick to issue a statement. "Uber, and services like it, are here to stay," he said. "It is time our regulatory system got in line with evolving consumer demands in the 21st century."
That put it nicely. The city should be encouraging competition and innovation, not suppressing it. Uber and similar services such as Sidecar and Lyft promise to help change the way many people get around cities. By signing up for a smartphone app, users can summon a car with the touch of a screen, monitor its approach and pay automatically and electronically without fumbling for a wallet. Many regular customers find it a quick and easy alternative to calling a cab.
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Understandably, this drives some cabbies mad. They have demonstrated against Uber and its like from London to Taiwan. Many of them pay heavy licensing and insurance costs, only to see unlicenced drivers without any of those burdens come along and snatch a share of their business.
Toronto officials say the city has to enforce regulations. Their job, they say, is to make sure consumers are riding in safe, insured and well-maintained cars, and are protected from price gouging or reckless drivers.
They don't buy Uber's dubious argument that it is a mere ride-sharing service. The way they see it, Uber drivers are charging people for rides and should be covered by the same rules as taxi-company drivers. If they aren't, it is the Wild West.
But there should be a way to let Uber and its rivals roam the streets without turning Toronto into Tombstone. Cities around the world are struggling with this issue. Taxi regulators did not anticipate the new technologies that simplify communications and payments, bypassing taxi dispatchers and metered cabs. Confused about how to respond, many city governments in Europe and North America have taken the same route Toronto officials are pursuing and tried to clamp down on the new services.
As Mr. Tory suggests, the effort seems futile. Like Airbnb, the online service that matches travellers with beds, car-summoning services are popular precisely because they connect consumers directly with providers. That can cut costs and hassles. It is the way the world is moving, and moving fast.
Rather than stand in the way, cities should find ways to let these services thrive while protecting consumers and being fair to established providers like cab companies. In California, birthplace of Uber, regulators have brought in rules that permit the car-summoning companies to operate as long as they take steps such as meeting insurance requirements and having background checks for drivers. Officials are still jousting with the companies over how it will work, but it is a start.
It will be a tricky business, no doubt. To suffocate the new services in regulation would be a mistake. Strict standards on car maintenance, equipment and driver training don't make sense for an informal exchange such as this. Competition and the lash of consumer reviews should help keep the new companies from using clunkers or sketchy drivers.
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Authorities shouldn't over-regulate pricing, either. The practice of "surge pricing" – hiking the cost of rides at busy times – is a legitimate and promising way to get the supply of cars and drivers to meet the demand from passengers.
We don't want the roads to devolve into a free-for-all, but we don't want to stifle a new, popular and innovative business either. Mr. Tory is right to want to seek that balance.by
The long-shot United States Democratic Party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has been telling the large crowds attending his rallies that American workers put in the longest hours in the industrialized world. He’s on solid ground. According to the International Labor Organization, “Americans work 137 more hours per year than Japanese workers, 260 more hours per year than British workers, and 499 more hours per year than French workers.”
Eighty-six percent of employed U.S. males and 66 percent of employed U.S. females work more than 40 hours per week. In many U.S. professional sectors, work weeks of 60 to 70 hours and more are not uncommon. Add in brutal commutes and extensive car travel related to the nation’s sprawled-out residential and shopping patterns and it’s no surprise that hundreds of millions of U.S. citizens face a critical shortage of free time.
It’s nothing new. Workers in the U.S. overtook their Japanese counterparts in total annual employment hours back in the early 1990s.
Why is this a problem? Overwork appears only briefly in Sanders’ stump speech. He cites it as an indication of the nation’s savage economic unfairness: more and more wealth and income has been flowing out of ordinary working people’s households and into the hands of the wealthy few in
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ed at under a microscope, it's essentially a bundle of straw-like fibers filled with juice. As these fibers are heated, they begin to shrink, squeezing that juice out. Despite government warnings to cook chicken to an unthinkable 165°F, in reality, above 150°F or so, muscle fibers are almost completely collapsed. Your chicken is now officially cardboard. On the other hand... Leg meat must be cooked to at least 170°F. OK, that's a bit of an overstatement. It'll still be perfectly edible at around 160°F (any lower than that and the abundant connective tissue will remain tough), but the juices will still be pink or red, and it will not have yet reached optimal tenderness. Unlike breast meat, leg meat contains plenty of collagen. Given a high enough temperature (say 160°F and above), and a long enough time (say, the 10 minutes it takes the legs to get from 160°F to 170°F), this collagen will begin to convert into rich gelatin, keeping the meat moist and juicy, even after the muscle fibers have shed most of their liquid.
So the question is, how do you cook legs to 170°F without taking the breasts beyond 150°F? I'm going to go ahead and give away the answer here: Butterflying.
Why does this work better than any other method? Well let's first take a look at some of the other "fixes" I've experimented with in the past:
Brining the bird (which we've already discussed in relation to turkey) by placing it in a salt water bath for a few hours helps a bit. It loosens up muscle fibers, allowing them to retain more moisture as they cook, and giving you a slightly expanded moist temperature range for the breasts.
The problem? Well, first off, it's fussy. Secondly, it soaks the skin right through to the skin* ruining its chances of attaining crispness (and let's face it, what's a roast chicken without crisp skin?). It also tends to dilute the flavor of the bird. Not so bad for robust turkey, but mild chicken needs all the flavor it can muster.
*Bonus points for anyone who can name that reference. Hint: classic 1960s comedy.
Salting (or "dry-brining") the chicken is a better solution. It works much like brining does, but rather than use a water and salt solution, you instead rub salt directly onto the meat and and skin of the bird and let it rest uncovered in the fridge for a few hours (or overnight).
Initially, the salt draws moisture out through the process of osmosis. It then dissolves in this liquid, creating a concentrated brine, which eventually gets reabsorbed. So you get the benefits of the brine, without watering down the flavor of the chicken. It also doesn't saturate the skin the way a wet brine does. Sounds great, but it's at best a buffer, keeping the breast meat a little moister, but still far from optimal.
I've seen it mistakenly suggested that barding or basting by draping the chicken with a fatty meat like bacon or spooning melted butter or pan juices over the top as it cooks will help it stay moist. The theory is that some of the fat will get absorbed into the breast meat. Poppycock. That breast is shrinking, and it ain't absorbing nothing!
As much as I love most things wrapped in bacon (yes dear, I'm talking about you), bacon makes the chicken taste like, well, bacon. And if I wanted bacon, I'd cook bacon. It also precludes the possibility of crisp skin.
Basting with hot pan juices not only increases the rate at which it cooks, exacerbating the dryness, the moisture content in it (or in melted butter, for that matter—about 18%) also keeps the skin from crisping properly. It's much better to brush it occasionally with oil (or rendered duck or chicken fat if you want to get fancy) as it cooks, which can help the skin brown more evenly, but does nothing for the moistness issues.
At the very least, if you're going to cook a whole chicken, you ought to truss it, like the chicken in the photo at the top. What's the point there? Well, it plumps up the breast meat a bit, making it thicker. Thicker food takes longer to cook, so that keeps the temperature of the breast meat down a bit. It's the method Thomas Keller recommends, and was my go-to method for a while. But it's still not perfect, and I found myself often having to choose the lesser of two evils between dry breast meat or chewy thighs.
So far, all these methods are at best Band-Aids. They don't address the root of the problem. In order to perfectly cook chicken, you must find a way to cook it such that the breast meat comes to 150°F just as the legs reach 170°F. Performing fancy acrobatics in a roasting pan, flipping the bird (both figuratively and literally when you get splattered with hot chicken juice) three or four times so that the legs get exposed to the bulk of the oven's heat works, but there just has to be an easier way, right?
I've since switched over to butterflying the bird, and have always been impressed with the results, but it never occurred to me why it works so well until I accidentally burnt a tray full of breadcrumbs the other day. This is what they looked like:
Turns out that as the hot air rises from the bottom of the oven, the wide sheet pan creates eddies in the convection currents, causing whatever's at the edge of the pans to cook a little faster than the center. Now with a quick cooking item like, say, a cookie, this isn't much of a problem. But leave your breadcrumbs in the oven for a full thirty minutes, and you see it beginning to express itself.
Notice the center of the pan is much blonder than the dark, burnt edges? And notice how that blond spot is suspiciously breast-shaped?
Butterflying the chicken allows you to take advantage of this uneven cooking. By cutting out the spine of the chicken (perfect for making quick jus as the chicken roasts!) and flattening the carcass, you can arrange it in the pan such that the breasts lie right in the cooler center, while the legs sit closer to the edge of the pan, where they are exposed to more energy.
The result is a bird that cooks exactly the way you want it. Blast it in a hot oven (I'm talking 450 to 500°F here), and you'll find that miraculously, the breast will reach 150°F just as the legs reach 170°F and the skin reaches delicious. No brining, no salting, no flipping, no problem.
Of course you do lose the prettiness of brining a whole trussed bird to the table for carving, but you gain the vastly preferable prettiness of perfectly cooked meat instead, and that's a trade-off I'll take any day.
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+ 6
This project actually holds some similarities to the never completed Colònia Güell church, which is located nearby in the suburbs of Barcelona. In the roadways, Gaudí employs similar structural systems and materials as those in the crypt of Colònia Güell. Curved stone columns are used, as well as local brick and stone to preserve the natural feeling of the landscape. Most importantly, Gaudí mixes his flamboyant style with nature to come up with structures that rise from the ground like trees but are identifiable as built elements never-the-less. The simultaneous accommodation of and respect for nature is one of the most beautiful qualities of this work, where Gaudí is said to make visual jokes, experimenting with the relationship between nature and architecture.
Parc Güell's largest attraction is a terrace that overlooks the city of Barcelona, contained by a curved bench flowing around it. Mosaics, ceramic shards, and iron balustrades are all used to create this space, and the comfort of the rigid bench is remarkable. Throughout the project colorful tiling is used as well as playful mosaics and surface treatments. The architecture elegantly accommodates the qualities of the existing landscape, becoming an extension of the landscape itself.Four campaigners have lodged a complaint with an official watchdog, alleging that they felt intimidated by covert police officers who were trying to persuade them to spy on their political colleagues.
They say that coercive and at times repeated police approaches caused them to abandon their political campaigning, or left them stressed and paranoid.
They also say that the clandestine manoeuvres to spy on students, environmentalists, anti-fascists and other campaigners erode free speech and the freedom to protest.
One of the quartet, a 23-year-old single mother, said she stopped campaigning against racism after police threatened to prosecute her if she told anyone, including her mother, about the attempt to recruit her as an informer.
She said she was left "feeling violated, isolated, vulnerable and paranoid" as she worried that any prosecution would imperil her young son, her place at university and her opportunities to work in the future. She said that at one point, police were calling her daily and sometimes twice a day to try to recruit her.
Their lawyer, Jules Carey from the civil liberties firm Bindmans, said : "It is not only right but imperative for the health of our democracy that police forces are challenged when they use spy tactics that undermine freedom of speech and rights to protest without the strongest of justifications."
Their submission to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) comes as controversy increases about the police's undercover infiltration of political groups that campaigners insist are engaging in legitimate protest.
Undercover police have been criticised for spying on grieving families and using sexual relationships with women to gather information.
Police are believed to be running hundreds of informers in political groups across the country, but little is known about them.
The IPCC complaint centres on a unit within Cambridgeshire police that tried, without success, to recruit the four campaigners who do not want to be named in public.
Cambridgeshire police did not wish to comment before a response from the IPCC. The force has previously accepted that it tried to enlist the four, but has denied, without going into detail, some of the conduct alleged by them.
It said that its officers had used "covert tactics to gather intelligence, in accordance with the law, to assist in the prevention and detection of criminal activity".
One of the activists, an environmentalist in his 20s, had covertly recorded a police officer trying to persuade him to pass on information in return for cash about the political activities of Cambridge students, Unite Against Fascism and UK Uncut, the anti-tax avoidance campaign.
The secret footage, broadcast by the Guardian last November, revealed how the police wanted him to name students who were going on protests, describe the vehicles they used and identify leaders. In the complaint, he describes how the attempted recruitment made him stressed, and left him worried that he was "marked out" by the police because he had refused to sign up as an informant.
A third campaigner, also an environmentalist, said he had been left "paranoid and mistrustful of people" after police tried to persuade him to spy on his colleagues.
He said that a police officer made two unannounced visits to his home and later followed him and his four-year-old daughter to a supermarket where he tried to thrust an envelope stuffed with cash into his hands.
He said he felt "intimidated as he felt he had been deliberately targeted because of his political activities".
The fourth campaigner, a Cambridge University student, said he had called the police to report suspected burglars.
He said police invited him to the station to discuss his suspicions, but during the meeting they tried to recruit him as a paid informer to spy on leftwing students.
He says he "consequently suffered from paranoia and completely dropped out of protest activity in Cambridge".
The four complain that the police have intruded into their lives and used personal information to lure them into becoming part of their espionage operation.*Offer valid in J.Crew Factory stores from February 27, 2015, through March 1, 2015. Discounts as advertised. Offer not valid in J.Crew stores, at jcrewfactory.com, jcrew.com or on phone orders. Offer cannot be applied to previous purchases or the purchase of gift cards and cannot be redeemed for cash. Offer not valid on women's and kids' third-party branded merchandise. Offer can only be used in combination with the 10% off Factory First member offer. Present this email at the time of purchase to redeem. Offer valid in the U.S. and Canada only. Terms of offer are subject to change.
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A FESTIVAL BOOST
Vodafone UK reveals an innovation in festival gadgets - the Booster Brolly
Vodafone UK has unveiled the latest innovation in mobile communications with its multi-purpose Booster Brolly. The unique prototype has been created in partnership with University College London (UCL) to ensure that festival goers stay connected with their friends during this summer's biggest outdoor events.
The concept umbrella has been designed to function as an eco-friendly mobile phone charger, powered by a series of flexible solar panels within the canopy. The electrical current generated from the panels also powers a micro antenna, boosting a phone's 3G signal wirelessly. The innovative gadget, which will be trialled at the Isle of Wight Festival next weekend, also boasts an LED torch for night time navigation and a 'hands free' smart phone cradle.
The Booster Brolly works with a wide range of mobile devices, charging a smartphone battery in under three hours. The design allows for one handset to charge through a USB port in the brolly handle. However, any friends making calls from under thecanopy could also benefit from the umbrella's signal boosting functionality, as the 3G signal is wireless. Underpinning the pioneering technology of the Booster Brolly is a durable carbon fibre skeleton, which houses the electrical circuitry and a double layer wind and waterproof canopy that protects festivalgoers from the worst the British weather can throw at them – whilst doubling as a sunshade during sunny times.
Danielle Crook, Director of Brand Marketing at Vodafone said:"We wanted to create a practical but high tech innovation that could genuinely improve a festivalgoers experience. The concept Booster Brolly does just that by merging cutting edge technology with a trusted and reliable British umbrella."
Dr Kenneth Tong PhD, Lecturer in Electronic & Electrical Engineering at UCL explains the technology involved: "The custom canopy has been fitted with 12 lightweight amorphous silicon triple junction solar cells that have the ability to convert light into electricity, through a series of highly sensitive photovoltaic semiconductors. The current generated is then transferred, via a voltage regulator, to the handle of the umbrella where it is stored safely in high capacity rechargeable batteries, or used to directly charge a mobile device through a USB port.
The antenna concealed at the top of the umbrella's central pole uses the same power source to obtain a low strength network signal. The in-built low noise booster then amplifies this signal, within a 1-metre radius of the canopy, allowing smartphone users around the Booster Brolly to make and receive calls, exchange text messages and even browse the Internet with maximum signal strength."For the first time since 2011, Canadian businesses pulled their money out of tax havens, ending a five-year run when more than $120 billion was stashed in the 10 most popular low-tax or no-tax countries. The newly released Statistics Canada numbers provide the most concrete evidence yet that the Panama Papers may have had a chilling effect on the use of tax havens to minimize corporate taxes.
According to the government’s official foreign direct investment statistics, Canadian businesses reduced their holdings in the top 10 tax havens from $272.4 billion in 2015 to $261 billion at the end of last year, bringing home $11.4 billion. ( Graeme Roy / THE CANADIAN PRESS File Photo )
“This could be a sign that global efforts to curb corporate profit shifting to tax havens may be paying off,” said Dennis Howlett, executive director of Canadians for Tax Fairness, a group that lobbies for the closure of loopholes that encourage the use of offshore tax havens. According to the government’s official foreign direct investment statistics, Canadian businesses reduced their holdings in the top 10 tax havens from $272.4 billion in 2015 to $261 billion at the end of last year, bringing home $11.4 billion. This reversal could be due to a number of different factors, including reforms in Ireland that make it harder to exploit that country to avoid taxes, Howlett said. But investment reductions in Luxembourg and Bermuda point to a wider trend.
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According to the government’s official foreign direct investment statistics, Canadian businesses reduced their holdings in the top 10 tax havens from $272.4 billion in 2015 to $261 billion at the end of last year. ( Canadians for Tax Fairness )
“We know that public attention to this has affected calculation of risk, so companies are being more cautious now because of the potential for a public relations backlash,” Howlett said. Allan Lanthier, a retired senior partner at Ernst & Young and former chair of the Canadian Tax Foundation, cautions against reading too much into the numbers, as the majority of the reduction in foreign holdings in 2016 can be attributed to the fact that the Canadian dollar rose against the U.S. dollar, the currency in which most international investments are made. “The cumulative amount of Canadian investment in these countries is significant, but the amounts appear to have been fairly stable for the last couple of years,” Lanthier said. “And there’s been no substantive Canadian legislative change to address corporate tax base erosion that would account for a change in the behaviour of Canadian multinationals.” After the U.S. and U.K. the most popular destinations for Canadian foreign investment are Barbados, Luxembourg, the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, all of which have very low or no taxes. “It’s still shocking that the top destinations for Canadian foreign direct investment abroad are tax havens,” said Toby Sanger, an economist with the public sector union CUPE who has been tracking the foreign investment numbers for the last five years.
Sanger said that the billions that flow into tax havens “are robbing government of money needed for public services.” “There’s less economic activity happening in Canada as well,” he added.
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The numbers made public this week capture only a fraction of tax haven use. For example, Howlett said, the official figures don’t reflect “the secret money.” “Roughly two thirds of the problem is corporate abuse of tax havens, most of which is done legally,” he said. “And one third of the problem is wealthy individuals, most of which is done illegally.” The Panama Papers investigation, based on a massive leak of tax haven records, revealed the kind of illicit activities that go on behind the closed doors of law offices and banks in tax havens like Panama, Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands. Other than massive tax fraud, the international collaboration of more than 100 news organizations, including the Star, exposed how tax havens have facilitated the payment of bribes to obtain foreign contracts, provided cover for shady deals in African diamond mining, allowed corrupt politicians to hide their pilfered wealth and arms dealers to circumvent trade embargoes. Partners in the journalistic collaboration have received more than a dozen international media honours for their work. The International Consortium of Investigative journalists, which coordinated the Panama Papers investigation, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize earlier this month. Just before the release of the Panama Papers, tax havens had been on a roll. 2015 was a bumper year for Canadian investment in tax havens, with more than $40 billion transferred offshore during those 12 months alone. But 2016 stopped those offshore flows, and even reversed them slightly. “It’s a dip for this year. If the trend continues, I would say that public attention on this is making a difference,” said Howlett. But because of treaties Canada signed with these tax havens, it’s unlikely that any of the $11.4 billion that came home was subject to tax. Canada’s Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs), which were created to encourage tax havens to lift their veils of financial secrecy and share investment information with Canadian tax authorities, have facilitated the use of tax havens by creating a conduit for corporations and individuals to move money back and forth tax-free. Since 2011, when the first TIEAs came into force, Canadian investment in tax havens more than doubled. Even during 2016’s reversal, $6.1 billion still went to Barbados, where major Canadian corporations like Barrick Gold, Petro-Canada and Gildan have offshore subsidiaries. “Tax treaties actually facilitate money being sent to Barbados and other islands and brought back to Canada tax free,” Howlett said. “Those agreements don’t have a net benefit to Canada and need to be renegotiated.”Unfortunately, it doesn't take a lot of digging into most of these stories to find out they've been, well, inflated a bit. And sometimes, they're complete bullshit.
Everyone likes a good "rags to riches" story. After all, if some dude can go from living in a cardboard box to being the CEO of a major corporation, we can do it too!
6 Bill Gates
The Rags to Riches Story:
Bill was a college dropout who finessed his way into the upper echelons of IBM to sell his operating system. Now he sleeps on a bed made of solid gold. According to the media, Bill Gates is the Rocky Balboa of the business world. They've compared him to other college dropouts; from Kanye West to some guy who runs the IT Department at Bradley College. Gates proved that if you're smart and willing to work hard, you can build an empire! And you don't even have to go to college! Yay!
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Why it's a Load of Crap:
First of all, the college Gates left was Harvard, not the community college that most of the people who cite his story are thinking of leaving. He entered Harvard by scoring 1590 out of 1600 on his SAT--the man was, and still is, a genetically mutated genius. But one with the type of parents who could afford Harvard.
Luxury office, giant window. Just your average college dropout.
In fact, Gates's parents have a lot to do with his success, and even why he was able to drop out of school. At a very young age, Bill was staying up all night experimenting with computer programming. Keep in mind, this was the late 60s and early 70s, so having access to a computer was like having access to a helicopter. He gained incredible amounts of experience because his upper class parents were able to enroll him in an exclusive prep school that had a computer available. This was only possible because Bill's father was a prominent attorney, and his mother's side of the family wasn't exactly poor either.
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Later, Gates left college because it didn't provide the training in computer programming that he needed for the software business he was running on the side. It wasn't that Gates couldn't keep up at Harvard; Harvard couldn't keep up with Gates. Again, this is the kind of risk you can take when you have well-to-do parents who can get you right back into school if things don't work out. If the dude scraping by on student loans and corn dogs tries the same thing, he's probably going to wind up bussing tables at Chili's the rest of his life.
Of course here is where Gates used his genius and creativity to invent the modern operating system...
Oh, wait, no. It turns out he bought the program that would later become MS-DOS from another programmer, for a one-time fee of $50,000. He then took it to IBM and other PC manufacturers and made a pile of money big enough to ski down it.
Now, we're not saying Bill Gates isn't a smart guy or that he didn't work hard. By all accounts he puts in more hours working than most people put into being awake. But, an "Upper Middle Class Guy With an Extraordinarily Fortunate Background to Riches" story is a completely different deal than a "Rags to Riches." The dude wasn't exactly an orphan begging for scraps. And it's not like he was turning tricks as a male whore to put his start-up capital together, the way Steve Jobs did [citation needed].In the mid 1980s, Joey Cramer was a preteen Disney star, with a lead role in 1986’s Flight of the Navigator. He also appeared in TV movies and two episodes of Murder She Wrote before leaving acting.
Now, Cramer is getting a different kind of attention.
The 42-year-old has been arrested and charged with robbing a Scotiabank in British Columbia.
According to the RCMP, Cramer was wearing a shoulder-length wig, bandana, and dark jacket when he allegedly robbed the bank of an undisclosed amount of cash.
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Cramer in Flight of the Navigator in 1986. (Photo: Everett Collection)
“Despite the fact that a disguise was used during the robbery, the suspect was quickly identified by some of our officers, who had recently dealt with him on an unrelated matter,” RCMP Constable Harrison Mohr told The Coast Reporter. “We hope that the community feels safer now that the suspect has been apprehended.”
Cramer was arrested on Sunday and charged with robbery, disguise with the intent to commit an indictable offense. He was also charged with failing to stop for a peace officer and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.
Constable Mohr tells the CBC that it’s unclear whether Cramer used a weapon.
It’s not the first time that the actor has had legal trouble. In 2011, the RCMP asked the public to help find Cramer when he was wanted for allegedly “altering the name and/or the amount of cheques before cashing them at local financial institutions.” He was later convicted for using a forged document and given a six-month sentence, and 18 months probation, the National Post reports.
Cramer remains in custody. It’s unclear whether he has hired an attorney.Labrador named Boogie ran 13.1 miles and beat more than half the 2,000 participants at Evansville Half-Marathon; it had escaped from owner the night before
A chocolate Labrador named Boogie in Indiana was awarded a medal on Tuesday for what it did over the weekend. It ran the YMCA Evansville Half-Marathon on its own without any human assistance. Just as the race with 2,000 runners and walkers began at Reitz Hill, Boogie, who had escaped from its owner the night before (for the fourth time), started running the 13.1-mile race with all the others. NBC WFIE 14 has the humorous story:
14 News, WFIE, Evansville, Henderson, Owensboro
"The dog managed to complete the entire course without assistance," the Evansville Police Department said on its Facebook page. "After crossing the finish line, he was picked up by animal control and taken to their shelter for some much-needed rest.
"Because he did not officially enter the race, we do not have his race times. However, we are confident he set a new course record for an unassisted dog."
According to the Associated Press, Boogie finished the course in 2 hours, 15 minutes and beat the times of 1,128 race participants.
The dog's owner, Jerry Butts, was finally reunited with his dog when he went to animal control looking for his 8-year-old, 100-pound Lab.
"I could hear him barking soon as I got out of the car," Butts told AP. "Right then [a woman at animal control] said, 'Your dog is an Internet celebrity.'"
And it was a tired Internet celebrity. Butts said on Facebook that when he got Boogie home, the dog went straight to bed.
"I'm sure he enjoyed all of the company," he added. "Sorry about the late registration!"By Armstrong Vas / The Peninsula
Youthful Qatar aims to finish the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign on a high note as they hope to upset China’s slim chances of qualifying for the finals in Russia.
The 2022 World Cup hosts, who have all but ended their qualification hopes, take on coach Marcello Lippi’s side today.
Coach Felilx Sanchez’s side had a lean patch in the final round of qualification registering just two wins.
The match will be the first international to be played at the Khalifa International Stadium which will host games of the 2022 World Cup finals. The Stadium was reconstructed and declared open in May this year during the Emir Cup final.
“We know it is our last option and we cannot go anywhere (cannot qualify). In this situation, the players are motivated for the game. Hopefully we play a good game as a competitive team for 90 minutes,” said the Spanish coach of the Qatar team, for whom this is only his second match in charge since replacing Jorge Fossati.
“We aim to improve and get better and finish on a high note,” he added.
Qatar coach Felix Sanchez speaking at a press conference held at the Khalifa International Stadium yesterday. Picture: Kammutty VP
Sanchez, who was in charge of the youth teams of Qatar and has since graduated to the senior team, said he will continue with the bunch of young players who made their debut against Syria in the last match of the qualifiers which they lost 3-1 in the away match in Malaysia.
“We will go into the match with the mentality to win the match and have a good result. We will retain the same block of players who played against Syria.”
Asked about his opponents, Sanchez said: “ They have good individuals players and good as a team which is their strength and we aim to match them with a good performance.”
“We could not qualify this time, but it’s not the end of the road. We have several promising players and we can build a quality side for the 2022 World Cup added Sanchez.
The Spaniard, who is also the coach of Olympic side, said Qatar must look to the future.
“We have the 2019 Asian Cup and other assignments in our plans. We need to work really hard to develop a strong squad for the 2022 tournament,” he added.We'ere not exactly sure how someone goes about concocting an apple-infused horse semen shot, but apparently they are all the rage at Green Man Pub in Wellington, New Zealand. The shots were created as the pub's entry in the 14th annual Monteith's Beer & Wild Food Challenge.
The horse semen is proving more popular with women, although "a couple of them were worried they might bear children with long faces," chef Jason Varley told The Dominion. Men have been less enthusiastic about the beverage, though one brave male described the semen to be "like custard."
Horse semen isn't new to New Zealanders. This past March, the Hokitika Wild Foods Festival offered the drink as it came, or in cherry, licorice or banoffee pie flavors. "It is sort of quirky, I suppose," a festival organizer told AOL News.
The pub pays $300 for 20 vials of semen, which could be a pricey investment if people keep wanting to sample the drink. "No one's addicted to it, lets put it that way," said Varley.Click the image to see it in its full glory. Pop Chart Labs
Pop Chart Lab, master of the infographic poster, has a new offering showing every major combat system of the U.S. Military. The comprehensive poster shows 180 different vehicles used by the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, squeezing them all into a 24" x 36" poster.
The vehicles are sorted into air, land and sea categories, and then into sub-classes such as bombers, main battle tanks, and littoral operations ships. The poster is very accurate, with fourteen different models of HUMVEE, from gun trucks to ambulances. It even has two versions of the venerable M1 Abrams main battle tank, including the most recent M1A2 SEPv2 version. This is a smart decision as the Army and Marine Corps field a wide variety of M1 variants, with the latest SEPv2 optimized for urban combat.
Go ahead, try and find an omission or mistake. It's hard. Pop Chart even included lesser-known vehicles as the M1117 Guardian military police armored car, the M7 Bradley FIST fire support vehicle, and the Cyclone-class coastal patrol ship.
Of course, with 180 major vehicles fielded, something is always falling off or being added to that inventory. The OH-58 Kiowa scout helicopter was just retired a few weeks ago. The UH-72 Lakota utility helicopter isn't depicted but then again the little-known gunship version of the Blackhawk helicopter, the Direct Action Penetrator is, so you really can't complain.
An accurate picture of something as monolithic as the U.S. Military is always a moving target, and Pop Chart Lab does an admirable job of hitting its mark. Available for your wall starting at $35.Canada's economy added 59,000 jobs last month, but the jobless rate stayed the same at 6.8 per cent because more people were looking for work.
Statistics Canada reported Friday that employment increased in Ontario, British Columbia and Nova Scotia, while it declined in Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba and New Brunswick.
The rest of the country's labour force was just about unchanged.
Most of the jobs were in the private sector, fairly evenly distributed between full-time and part-time jobs. The ranks of the self-employed stay the same, while the public sector shrank.
Two sectors — manufacturing and health care — were responsible for most of the gains, with 22,000 jobs added in the former and 21,000 in the latter.
"With the U.S. economy showing clear signs of improvement, this is perhaps a sign that the Canadian non-energy economy is finally beginning to shift into a higher gear, aided by the lower Canadian dollar," said David Madani, an economist with Capital Economics in Toronto.
"We still think that the worst effects of this aren't over, and still expect the economy to grow at a fairly unspectacular pace over the rest of the year," he said.
The 59,000 figure is much stronger than the 10,000 new jobs expected by a consensus of economists polled by Bloomberg."We're curious just like everyone else to see where the two companies go with all this," says Evan Silverman, senior vice president for Digital Media at A&E Networks.
He's talking about Monday's announcement that Nielsen's NM Incite acquired SocialGuide, a company that measures the Social Media buzz around television shows.
Silverman's quote perfectly summarizes Social TV's pivotal year. A year when every record for social buzz around television was eclipsed by manyfold. A year when most networks have fully integrated measurements around the buzz into their data. A year when big brands jumped into the field and more apps than can be named got launched or seriously upgraded and refocused. It's been a big year for Social TV indeed, but its primary result is sentiments like Silverman's: curiosity.
Still, a little bit of fog lifted last week. It's safer to say that Social TV metrics are here to stay, now that Nielsen has acquired its way into the space. Will that change TV? It should, but maybe not in the way you think. It doesn't automatically make Nielsen ready to mix ratings with buzz for something completely new. It doesn't immediately give consumers greater power (though it might help get us there). It certainly doesn't mean all the other Social TV metrics companies are done fighting.
Then who are the winners?
One is obvious: SG founder Sean Casey and his small staff, whose scrappy can-do business minds got an (undisclosed) payday and a chance to build the SocialGuide Intelligence platform to its full potential.
"Now we have the resources to really deliver on what our clients are asking for," Casey told me last week. "I'm a product guy at heart and this was attractive to me, because it's going to allow me to focus on product."
Nielsen surprised some observers by acquiring SocialGuide, although many both on and off the record speculated Casey was a key reason.
Andrew Somosi, CEO of NM Incite, said he was excited to have Casey on board. He also said the company was looking for the right blend of comprehensiveness (SGI covers more than 230 networks in English and Spanish) and accuracy.
"When it came down to thinking about who was out there, one of the first considerations for us was what our NM Incite and Nielsen clients were interested in," Somosi says, "and they tend to be metrics oriented like we are.... But a couple of things that kept coming back was let's make sure we're capturing the right numbers,
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law in 1986, Japan has insisted it is pursuing whaling for scientific research, while killing at least hundreds of whales annually.
Japan does not typically fish in North Korea waters, but Pyongyang said that Japanese fishermen set out to the South Pacific annually between November and April to capture numerous whales, while "fooling the eyes of the international community." North Korea also said Japan's claims to "scientific research" was "nothing more than a smokescreen to hide its commercial objectives."
In June 2010, Australia presented Japan's whaling practices before the International Court of Justice, and had said Asia's second-largest economy "has breached and is continuing to breach obligations under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling," according to Whale and Dolphin Conservation.
Japan's nationalists, however, said they could no longer tolerate foreign meddling with an industry borne out of the country's tradition, Jiji Press reported.
During a rally on Saturday, the conservative activists called an anti-whaling group "environmental terrorists," and told a crowd to "protect Japanese food culture from Western hypocritical values."
Consumption of whales in Japan, however, is decreasing. According to Greenpeace, the Japanese whaling industry is struggling with debt while threatening Japanese activists with jail time.– It appears former NFL player Shawne Merriman, who has had some Twitter beef with CM Punk in the past, is training with WWE. Bill DeMott noted on Twitter that Merriman was at the WWE Performance Center training this week. Merriman posted the following on Twitter after his first day at the Performance Center:
A hard days work 1 down 364 to go #PainWhatPain #LightsOut http://t.co/Alnd8XRZf3 — Shawne Merriman (@shawnemerriman) October 23, 2013
– WWE has been quietly purchasing items for a physical Hall of Fame. They were recently in negotiations with Charlie Thesz, the widow of wrestling legend Lou Thesz, over a number of his one-of-a-kind items. If the deals went through, WWE would likely induct Thesz into the Hall of Fame.
(Partial source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)Final Fantasy Dimensions Is An iOS Game, Coming This Summer [Update]
By Ishaan. May 30, 2012. 10:30am
Remember Square Enix’s Final Fantasy Dimensions trademark? We speculated that it may end up being the western title for Bravely Default: Flying Fairy. However, this morning, Square Enix revealed that Dimensions is actually an iOS and Android title. The game’s official website went live this morning, and you can view it here.
Square Enix USA will be bringing Final Fantasy Dimensions to E3. Here’s how they describe the game:
“Drawing upon the roots of the series with such features as beautiful 2D pixel art, job-driven character growth, additional scenarios in which to inherit the jobs of your adventuring companions, and a classic story of light, darkness, and crystals, Final Fantasy Dimensions delivers the best of Final Fantasy, retro and fresh alike, directly to your smartphone.”
Final Fantasy Dimensions will be released for iOS platforms this summer.
Update: Siliconera reader, Pete, points out that the logo for Final Fantasy Dimensions looks very similar to the one for Final Fantasy Legends: Warrior of Light and Darkness, an episodic 2010 cell phone game. Perhaps this is a port of that game? Thanks, Pete!
Update 2: Square Enix say that Dimensions will also be on Android.Some quick updates on the latest scuttlebutt surrounding NBA free agency:
— The Cavaliers are talking to several teams about potential trades, as they try to tinker with and add size to the roster, sources told FOX Sports Ohio on Monday. It is believed the Cavs are exploring deals they feel would benefit them with or without LeBron James.
— Naturally, only a few deals could actually be pulled off before learning of James’ next move. One of those deals, as reported by FOX Sports Ohio, would involve sending Jarrett Jack to the Nets. LeBron or no, the Cavs expect to trade Jack.
— One Cavs source stated simply: "We are going to make some moves, soon." Beyond that, the source would only say the Cavs are "busy."
— The Cavs sense they will know of James’ decision on where he will sign by Wednesday, sources said. Right now, the Cavs do not have a solid feel for what James will do.
— All-Star guard Kyrie Irving has reached out in effort to recruit James to the Cavs, sources said. ESPN reported Irving as telling LeBron the Cavs will get him all the help he needs in Cleveland.
— As for their own moves, the Cavs are standing firm in trying to upgrade the roster and not dealing assets "just to deal," said one source. The Cavs have specific targets, sources said, but aren’t "just jumping into anything," said a source with knowledge of the talks.
— Meanwhile, the Heat announced agreements with free-agent forwards Josh McRoberts (Hornets) and Danny Granger (Clippers) on Monday. While McRoberts is no All-Star, sources say his signing might actually appeal to LeBron. McRoberts plays power forward and it’s widely known James does not like to defend that position.
— The Heat may announce another signing of a free agent outside their own by the end of the day, sources said. "Get ready," said one source, indicating another move is on the way.
— That said, it is believed bigger name free agents such as Paul Gasol (Lakers), Trevor Ariza (Wizards) and Luol Deng (Cavs) are not interested in the reduced salaries the Heat are offering, just to possibly play alongside James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade.
— James and Bosh reportedly connected over the weekend, and sources said Bosh is now contemplating a contract offer of four years and $88 million made by the Rockets on Monday.
— One interesting note from an NBA source: If James returned to Cleveland, he would wear No. 32. He wore No. 23 with the Cavs before and No. 6 with the Heat. The source also indicated James is close to announcing his decision.
— One Western Conference general manager told FOX Sports Ohio a lot of people around the league are actually hoping the Heat’s Big 3 returns intact. "One thing (Miami has) proven the past four years is they can’t add any real talent around those guys," the GM said. "Their run will be over in two years, and it may already be. I’d be considerably more scared of LeBron in Cleveland or Phoenix."
— The GM laughed and added, "And what how will Pat Riley answer when he meets with LeBron and LeBron asks who the starting at point guard is?"
— Las Vegas sports books have improved the Cavs’ odds of winning the NBA championship from 60-1 to 12-1.SF vintage clothier gets probation for selling items made from endangered species
Cicely Hansen, 68, walks with her attorney Bill Fazio outside court at the San Francisco Hall of Justice on Monday. Hansen pleaded guilty to two counts of possession for sale of an endangered species after fish and wildlife agents raided her Haight Street vintage clothing boutique last year. less Cicely Hansen, 68, walks with her attorney Bill Fazio outside court at the San Francisco Hall of Justice on Monday. Hansen pleaded guilty to two counts of possession for sale of an endangered species after fish... more Photo: Evan Sernoffsky, The Chronicle / / Photo: Evan Sernoffsky, The Chronicle / / Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close SF vintage clothier gets probation for selling items made from endangered species 1 / 9 Back to Gallery
The owner of a vintage-clothing boutique on San Francisco’s Haight Street copped to misdemeanor charges Monday that she sold clothes made from the fur of cheetahs, leopards and other protected species.
Dressed in a yellow 1960s dress, an overcoat and a matching chicken feather hat, Cicely Hansen, owner of Decades of Fashion, pleaded no contest to two counts of possession for sale of a product made from endangered species. Superior Court Judge Tracie Brown sentenced her to three years of probation, 500 hours of community service and penalties totaling $3,599.
The 68-year-old business owner and fashion maven saw her store raided in February 2016 by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, which reported seizing more than 150 items, including those made from sea turtles, ocelots, jaguars, seals, pythons and snow leopards after being tipped off by a shop employee.
Though she pleaded no contest in a deal with prosecutors, Hansen defended her actions, saying all of the seized items were vintage, some more than 100 years old, and that she never dealt in new furs or imported products from overseas.
“We are in a recycling mecca,” she said outside court. “Why would we fill up a landfill with a 100-year-old leopard coat?”
Hansen was initially charged with nine misdemeanor counts of illegal possession for sale of an endangered species and surrendered in March 2016 to the Sheriff’s Department.
The clothier and local personality, known for the elaborate and precise vintage outfits she wears to balls and festivals, has maintained that she doesn’t condone poaching and loves animals.
“If anything, this is just ignorance of a change in the law and unintentional,” she said. “It’s not like I’m a poacher. I have no interest in newer pieces. I have no interest in importing fur from China. I don’t like the way the animals are killed or treated.”
She said agents seized pieces in her personal collection that were never intended to be sold, after a “disgruntled employee” called authorities.
But early last year, two Department of Fish and Wildlife wardens went undercover and said they tried on a jaguar coat and an ocelot coat, priced at $4,500 and $850, respectively. Two weeks later, agents served a search warrant at Decades of Fashion and seized a haul of clothes and accessories.
“Individuals who traffic in these goods must be held accountable to eliminate a market that contributes to these species’ demise,” District Attorney George Gascón said after charging Hansen. “There’s no second chance once these animals are gone.”
Hansen said that despite the case against her, business is thriving.
“People can’t understand why, when there’s people selling heroin down the street, why they’re not being disrupted, but I am,” she said.
Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @EvanSernoffskyWho knew that the Windy City has become so green? As Co.Exist reported, Chicago is quietly becoming the country's urban agriculture capital with 821 growing sites across the city, from small community gardens to multimillion dollar indoor farms, according to the Chicago Urban Agriculture Mapping Project. Even O'Hare's Terminal 3 is home to the world's first airport aeroponic garden.
Farmed Here is the first organically-certified indoor vertical aquaponic farm in Illinois. Photo credit: Farmed Here
Chicago’s "urban farming renaissance" has been led by a burgeoning indoor farm market, Co.Exist writes. This includes FarmedHere, a 90,000-square-foot space in Bedford Park that is not only the first organically-certified indoor vertical aquaponic farm in Illinois, it’s also the largest indoor farm in North America. FarmedHere’s two-story farming facility currently sits on the site of a formerly abandoned warehouse in the outskirts of Chicago.
FarmedHere’s produce is grown in a sustainable environment where 97 percent of fresh water is reused and plants are grown without the use of herbicides or pesticides. The farm’s LED lighting system mimics outdoor conditions, meaning plants don’t need natural sunlight to grow.
EcoWatch previously mentioned how urban farming has really made a comeback in the U.S. in recent years. Cities around the world are developing and expanding their local food systems to create a more sustainable method of food production and distribution, which will become increasingly necessary as cities adapt to climate change.
Farmed Here CEO Nate Laurell also mentioned to Co.Exist that investors are becoming increasingly interested in indoor farming as LED lighting and solar energy drive operation costs "cheaper and cheaper." Incidentally, Chicago has relatively cheap electricity, with Chicago area households paying 15.4 cents per kilowatt hour versus the New York metro area average of 18.2 cents per kilowatt hour.
Projections show that the global vertical farming market is expected reach $3.88 billion by 2020, a figure that Laurell says is lower than what it actually might be.
"The greens market for Chicagoland alone is $400 million dollars," Laurell said. "Given the market is so big, and it’s so top of mind for people where their food came from and how it was grown, even if only some fraction of that food grew in an indoor environment, when you extrapolate to other cities in the U.S. and abroad, you’d easily reach $4 billion; $4 billion seems light."
Laurell explained that vertical farming is ideal compared to outdoor agriculture as it produces local food year-round, has a small geographic footprint, a high yield per cubic foot ratio and slashes food miles.
"On the consumer side, there is a large demand for local food, food grown close to the city. People want to know where their food comes from and cut out transportation miles to get more freshness," he added.
Farmed Here plans to expand to up to 15 cities within the next decade, Laurell said.
Urban Till is another indoor hydroponic farm. Located on the west side of Chicago, the company offers herbs and microgreens to more than 200 clients in the area, the Chicago Tribune reported last year.
CEO Brock Leach told the publication that Urban Till will expand nationally and internationally with its proprietary hydroponics this year.
“We have an intellectual property to produce more water from the air than what we use in the farm at no additional cost of electricity, and we’re able to produce agricultural goods without water supply to do so,” Leach said.
Chicago’s Pullman Park district also hosts the largest rooftop greenhouse in the world, a behemoth 75,000 square foot green space, built and opened by Gotham Greens in 2015.
"Our Pullman facility annually grows up to 10 million heads of leafy greens and herbs, year-round, for the finest retailers and restaurants across the greater Chicagoland area," the venture boasts.
The climate controlled greenhouse facility also sits on top of an already environmentally friendly factory occupied by eco-soap company Method.
Gotham Greens has three existing greenhouses in New York. "Chicago was a logical expansion because it is a large city—by market the third largest—a cold weather place with a short growing season and a limited supply of year-round local produce," Viraj Puri, CEO and cofounder of Gotham Greens, told Co.Exist.
"The traditional farmer in Illinois turns a head of lettuce twice a year, every 60 days—maybe a third turn if they’re lucky. We do 25 crop turns per year, and a lot of that has to do with controlling climate, temperature, humidity, light and carbon dioxide," Puri added.
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Nation’s First Urban Farming School Teaches Kids to Grow and Cook Their Own FoodAmazon might have just spoiled one of the biggest announcements Sony could possibly make next week at E3. The online retailer has a new listing for the long-delayed game, The Last Guardian.
First revealed by Sony and Team Ico at E3 in 2009, The Last Guardian has been in sort of a limbo state since. It hasn't been canceled, but it's been on hiatus for quite a while now. Sony has maintained that The Last Guardian is "absolutely in the mix" at Sony Worldwide Studios, and news of it undergoing "re-engineering" has sparked rumors that it could be released for PS4.
Amazon's listing for The Last Guardian seems to contradict the PS4 rumors, as the retailer lists it as coming to PS3 on December 31, 2014, though the date is likely a placeholder. So it's possible that the platform could be a placeholder as well. Amazon's product listing pretty much falls in line with what was first revealed to us in 2009:
"The Last Guardian is the third game by the acclaimed development staff behind ICO and Shadow of the Colossus. In the game, a young boy and a bizarre, gigantic creature form a heartfelt bond as they attempt to maneuver their way through an unfriendly world."
This is the second time that Amazon has potentially spoiled an E3 announcement with one of its product listings. Last month, the retailer had a placeholder listing for a "Bethesda E3 2014" game. Though the game wasn't actually spoiled, rumors has it that it could be for the new DOOM game or perhaps a new Fallout.Iran acknowledged its attempt to send a live monkey into space last month was a failure. Iran space program pursues human spaceflight capability within a decade
Iran acknowledged its attempt to send a live monkey into space last month was a failure. Iran space program pursues human spaceflight capability within a decade.
Tehran / NationalTurk – “The Kavoshgar-5 rocket carrying a capsule with a live animal (a monkey) was launched during Shahrivar,” the Iranian muslim calendar month spanning August 23 to September 22, Deputy Science Minister Mohammad Mehdinejad-Nouri has declared according to the ISNA news agency.
“However, the launch was not publicised as all of its anticipated objectives were not accomplished,” Mehdinejad-Nouri stated.
Sadly, those unfulfilled objectives cost the life of the test subject, the monkey. When the capsule failed to reach its destination, the Iranian space monkey perished.
Space Monkey Launches since Cold War Era
The idea of launching monkeys into space is not new. During the Cold War, both the U.S. and Soviet Union used animals, including chimpanzees and dogs, in rocket launches in order to test their abilities to blast a living thing into space and bring it back alive
Iranian Deputy Science Minister stated the launch of a live animal into space was “strategic, and a priority,” and expressed hope that future launches would attain more of the objectives set. On October 3, Iran indefinitely postponed plans to send a live monkey into space, without giving any reasons.
“One cannot give a set date for this project and as soon as our nation’s scientists announce the readiness (of the project) it will be announced,” said Hamid Fazeli, head of Iran’s Space Organisation.
The project envisaged launching a capsule with life support using the Kavoshgar-5 rocket to an altitude of 120 kilometres (75 miles) for a 20-minute sub-orbital flight. The project was unveiled in February by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
At the time, Hamid Fazeli named the launch of a large animal as the first step towards sending a man into space, which Tehran says is scheduled for 2020.
In mid-March, Iran announced the successful launch of an earlier version of the rocket, Kavoshgar-4, carrying a test capsule designed to house a monkey during the time in the space.
Iran Space Program : Science for science or military ambitions?
Iran has already sent small animals into space — a rat, turtles and worms — aboard a capsule carried by its Kavoshgar-3 rocket in 2010.
The Islamic republic, which first put a satellite into orbit in 2009, has outlined an ambitious space programme amid Western concerns the rocket technology may be linked to developing ballistic missiles that could deliver nuclear warheads.
Tehran has repeatedly denied that its nuclear and scientific programmes mask military ambitions.Iran’s space program has sparked some concerns from the West over the possibility that Iranian space capabilities could be turned into potential ballistic missiles for nuclear warheads. The Islamic republic has denied military motives for its space program.
But Iranian officials say Iran is hoping to launch a human into space by 2020 and land an astronaut on the moon by 2025.Band Of The Year 2011
Black Veil Brides
“They just rock overall!” – Sydni Jackson, Kirkwood, MO
Frontman Andy Biersack commented on the win: “It won’t surprise anyone to hear that I believe that we should be band of the world – if not band of the universe – every year. [Laughs.] But it’s an honor. We worked very hard this year, and if anything, I’m proud of our fans for believing in what they believe in and showing it so adamantly. An accolade like this really lets you know that the people you’re connecting with are behind you and want others to know that, and to have the opportunity to mean that much to such a large number of people is really cool. And to have the opportunity to piss that many people off just by doing what you’re doing is also fun!”
Runners-up:
2. Yellowcard
“They had such a strong comeback and a spectacular new album.” – Rachel Marroquin, McFarland, CA
3. Falling In Reverse
“The lyrics actually mean something.” – Katy Monty, Skandia, MI
4. Asking Alexandria
“Awesome sound, lyrics, full of heart! These guys really changed my life with their music.” – Dan Valencia, Suwanee, GA
5. Panic! At The Disco
“They are my favorite band, so creative.” – Lin Da, Amsterdam, Netherlands
AP Readers Poll HomeWe’re excited to announce that the entire 10 hours of talks by our amazing speakers are now available to watch online. If you were lucky enough to be there, we hope you enjoy reliving the day. If you weren’t able to make it, we’re glad we can make these available, and we hope to see you next year :)
Nicole Sullivan - Opening Keynote The story of how CSSConf came to be, how you can be involved, the intersection of design and development, carpentry and dance dance revolution, and why you should follow your heart (and f*ck your career).
Chris Wright - Surprise and delight: CSS + SVG How to use SVG and CSS to bring elements of storytelling into your designs, avoiding mistakes from the past (”Animate all the things!“), and tricks for cross-browser animation.
Nicolas Gallagher - Adaptation and Components The importance of adapatibility over reusability, what makes a component, organising components, and how to apply the component model using tools such as React, Component and SUIT.
Connor Sears - Better Production Decisions with HTML & CSS How to bring your design process closer to the code, how it helps to elevate design conversations, and experiences at Twitter and Github for using web-based tools (such as Ratchet, Framer, and [to be named]) to design native applications.
Christopher Giffard - Test Your CSS with CSS Using CSS as a declarative language for code quality analysis, uptime monitoring, and accessibility testing using Behaviour Assertion Sheets, and ideas and techniques for building your own declarative CSS-based tools.
Lea Verou - The Chroma Zone An in-depth look at how colour works on screen, sub-pixels, the history of HTML and CSS colour (orange!), filters, blend modes, colour perception, currentColor, and up-coming CSS Level 4 features.
Simurai - Styling with Strings Designing HTML components directly in the browser (without a preprocessor) using CSS properties such as currentColor, EMs, REMs, and flexbox.
Chris Eppstein - What makes Sass so Syntactically Awesome? Reflections on the success of Sass, how it evolved, useful abstractions, the importance of allowing hand-crafted output, listening to community feedback, attention to error cases, features that don’t belong in Sass, and how you can contribute.Anthropology of Social Behavior in BioShock
While playing BioShock, we are conducting an anthropological investigation that has a direct effect on how we interact with the narrative and the choices we make. Similar to Fallout 3, as discussed in Trevor’s post, we are given the chance to explore a world, make our interpretations about what it means, and directly apply these to the game. Just like the analysis of an archaeological site, BioShock is an unknown world which requires careful examination from multiple viewpoints. Since Trevor has already acknowledged that archaeology can be done on alternative history video games, I won’t discuss the way that the player will engage with the world to create their interpretation. Instead, I want to look at the different levels of narrative operating and how we can use an anthropological viewpoint to further analyze them and how they affect the player.
What makes anthropology so fascinating is that there are multiple levels at which people operate. These become apparent either in living populations by comparing behavior and folk explanations, or in the past through the artifacts, excavations, and texts. Bronislaw Malinowski noted when conducting an anthropological investigation of social behavior one must assess what people do, what they say they do, and the guiding laws and ideals. First, there are the actual behaviors of people. This means how they are acting and what they are doing, which can be measured by the use, disuse, creation, and movement of actual people or artifacts. Second, there is what people say they are doing. This is what people perceive their actions to be, whether it is an accurate reflection or not. This is measured by talking with people, or by reading diaries, inscriptions or firsthand accounts. Third, there are the written rules and ideals of the society. These ideals shape the way that people act, and the way that their reality is structured. These can be taken from the laws and religious texts of modern or past societies.
By comparing these three interpretative levels of the past, anthropologists can better grasp what is occurring in the present or past. When playing BioShock, the player engages with these three levels of behavior whether they are aware or not, and it effects the actual choices one makes. By looking closely at these levels, we can see the depth of the world created by 2k Boston, and why the story is so engaging.
Most obvious to the player is the first level, what people are actually doing. Splicers are trying to kill you, Atlas is trying to convince you to kill the Little Sisters, and Ryan is doing his best to sabotage you at every turn. Even when we aren’t actually engaging with Houdini splicers or Big Daddies, you can see the remains of past actions everywhere. Broken glass, bloody floors, various artifacts strewn across tables, the bodies of splicers and non-plasmid enhanced individuals found in corners, and the ever present vending machines all tell us about what people were doing. From these behaviors and remains we know that there has been extended turmoil in this world, regardless of our interactions with Atlas or Ryan. Much of the game play is at this level as we directly interact with people and things.
Second, the player actively engages with a number of personalities through a radio, including Atlas, Ryan, Brigid and Sander. Each has a distinct set of goals which they hope to achieve either by aiding or impeding Jack. These conflicting perspective are further complicated by the presence of diaries found scattered throughout the world. The conflict between words and actions can clearly be seen in the Medical Pavilion. Dr. Steinman’s tapes discuss his creativity, his desire to make people beautiful and perfect. However, we can see throughout the pavilion and in Steinman’s own actions to kill us that his desires and actions aren’t necessarily clear reflections of one another. Unlike the first level where the player must engage with behavior, the extent to which the player pays attention to the radio or diaries is their choice, and has a major effect on how much they get from the game.
Third, there is the ideal of the society: objectivism. We can see the ideal from a number of ways. The first is through Andrew Ryan, the creator of Rapture. Watching the introductory cut scene reveals Ryan’s reasons for creating Rapture, a city that espouses Ayn Rand’s philosophy of objectivism. Rand’s objectivism is based on the idea that the individual is the central powerful force in the world, as opposed to being constrained by governments or supreme beings. As Ryan says during your introduction to Rapture, he sought a world where men weren’t bound to a government, to a god, or to each other, but a “city where the great are not constrained by the small, and by the sweat from your brow Rapture can become your city”. Throughout the game we can see how this idea permeates at all levels. The actions of the characters throughout this world reflect this self-focused individuality, their words reveal how they are both seeking to achieve this ideal, like Dr. Steinman, or how they are actively trying to oppose it, like Dr. Tenebaum. This is a level that the player may not directly engage in or notice, but may have an unconscious effect on game play. The developers hoped that the game would force players to make the decision to follow the objectivist philosophy or not, primarily played out in the decision to harvest or save little sisters. However, it plays out more in how the player interprets the actions of Ryan and others.
It is these levels of interaction which create such a complex world. Further, it directly affects the way that the player chooses to act. How we interpret these layers, how we deal with conflicting narratives, and what actions we choose to take are all intimately tied to one another. True, we could easily play through the game without actually noting the levels of interaction, but we would lose much of what makes this game so engaging.Congratulations! This has been chosen to be a Featured Article, making it an article of interest.
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U (大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズ for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, Great Fray Smash Brothers for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U) unofficially reffered to as Super Smash Bros. 4 (SSB4, Smash 4, Sm4sh), is a Nintendo 3DS and Wii U game. It was developed by Namco Bandai Games Inc. and Sora, and was published by Nintendo. Both games are officially considered the fourth and fifth installments in the Super Smash Bros. series.[1]
Contents show]
Intro
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U - Opening
Characters
Main article: Characters
Both games feature identical character rosters. The roster contains a total of 58 characters, 34 of which return from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, 3 of which return after being cut in the transition from Super Smash Bros. Melee to Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Dr. Mario,along with Mewtwo and Roy as DLC), and 19 of which are new to the series (21 if all three Mii Fighters are considered separate characters), making it the game with the most playable characters until Super Smash Bros. Ultimate which has 78 characters.
It should be noted, however, that four unlockable characters (Ness, Jigglypuff, Ganondorf, and Bowser Jr.) in the Nintendo 3DS version are starter characters in the Wii U version. This was a personal choice of Masahiro Sakurai, who opted with his team to make said characters starters as they were unlockable in the Nintendo 3DS to save players who already had this version to take extra time to unlock all, but still have fun unlocking hidden content.
Bold denotes unlockable characters in both versions. Bolded italics denote characters that are unlockable in the 3DS version, but default in the Wii U version.
amiibo
Main article: amiibo
amiibo are part of a new system introduced in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, that uses near field communication (NFC) through special figurines of the respective characters, that can be bought separately. Through this, players bring the characters to the game as FPs (Figure Players), which can level up and be customized, learning more as they improve and interact with the Human Player, Computer Player, and other Figure Players. amiibo level up and learn faster by;
Having it play on someonelse's Nintendo 3DS and/or Wii U system.
Losing in Stock Battles.
Playing against different fighters
Making it fight against other amiibo
Use the same fighter as the amiibo you're playing against.
Stages
Main article: Stage
The two games feature considerably different stage selections, which is one of the primary differences between the two games. The two versions share 12 stages. The Nintendo 3DS version features more stages based on handheld console games, while the Wii U version features more stages based on home console games. Several stages in both games, however, ignore this distinction.
In addition to new stages, several Past Stages, known now as "Familiar Stages", reappear in both versions of the game. Three Familiar Stages are shared between the two games, and all are DLC.
Also, all stages can also be played as Omega Stages, which changes them into flat platforms similar to Final Destination.
The Nintendo 3DS version features a total of 42 stages with 7 unlockable stages and 8 DLC stages, 30 of which are new and 12 of which are familiar. The Wii U version features a total of 55 stages with 6 unlockable stages and 9 DLC stages, consisting of 34 new stages and 21 familiar ones.
Nintendo 3DS Version
Bold denotes unlockable stages.
Wii U Version
Bold denotes unlockable stages.
Items
Main article: Item
New Items
*The Hocotate Bomb (similar to Olimar's Final Smash) and the POW Block (once a stage hazard) return as items.
Returning Items
Pokémon
In order to increase the rate of rare Pokémon appearing in battle, there are now two types of Poké Balls: the traditional red and white Poké Ball, which summons any Pokémon, and the Master Ball, which summons only rare and legendary Pokémon. However, Goldeen may still be summoned from a Master Ball as a gag reward.
New Pokémon
Returning Pokémon
Assist Trophies
Main article: Assist Trophy
New Assist Trophies
Returning Assist Trophies
Modes
Much like previous installations, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U have different modes. However, some are exclusive to each version of the game. Unlike the previous game is there also no official story mode.
Also known as "VS Mode", it is the traditional 4-player battle that can be done with either Human players, CPUs, and Figure Players. Additionally, the Wii U version has the exclusive 8-Player Smash, which allow, as the name suggests, up to 8 players to play simultaneously, however the range of maps is smaller, meaning not all stages can be played with 8 players.
Classic Mode
Nintendo 3DS version
In the new, modified version of Classic Mode, players choose different paths as they progress through a "World Map" to fight against waiting CPU opponents.
Other than battling the usual fighters in one-on-one fights, there is also the possibility of fighting giant or metal fighters, team battles with CPU players both aiding and against the player, and matches where the player must defeat opponents one after another or in groups.
Players are able to alter their "Fighter Balance": a system where gold is spent to adjust the intensity level. The higher the intensity, the smarter opponents will be, and the greater a player's rewards will be when victorious. Among those rewards are gold, trophies and items for character customization.
Before the player starts a level, a roller appears and determines the player's rewards. Rewards in red are for customization, green ones are trophies, and yellow means gold.
Wii U version
In the Wii U version, the trophy of the player's character is put in an arena along with other characters' trophies. The player can move their trophy around the arena, and if it touches a group of trophies, it will be tossed into a battle with those characters (a faint image of the stage will be under the base of the trophies). After the fight, all the defeated characters' trophies will be launched out of the arena, and the remaining trophies will organize in new groups.
Along with normal and 8-player matches, intruders may appear randomly before matches, being either metal or giants characters. In team battles, instead of a random CPU companion, a partner is chosen from the fighters defeated in previous battles. There is also a rival that can be challenged anytime; the longer they aren't battled, more powerful they will be, but it will also give more rewards when defeated.
The Fighter Balance and Reward Roller are kept from the Nintendo 3DS version.
This is also the first Smash Bros. game where Classic Mode allows two-player mode.
Stadium Mode
A mode comprised of the Multi-Man Smash, the new Target Blast and the Home-run Contest.
The score for these games effect the player's Global Smash Power, by either increasing or decreasing it, making each time count.
In Multi-Man Smash the player fights against all three types of Miis, with randomly generated appearances. Like in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it offers a two-player mode.
Target Blast is played similarly to Home-Run Contest. However, players will be presented with a giant bomb instead of the Sandbag, and must inflict it enough damage to create the biggest explosion possible by racking up points from obstacles and targets waiting to be destroyed. Much like in Home-Run Contest, there is a 10-second timer, and after it expires the bomb will explode. Getting a good score depends on launching the bomb to areas rich with targets, getting the timing of the explosion just right, and using the explosive blocks found around the stage to maximum effect. It also allows two players together, however in form of a versus battle: each player get its turn to launch the bomb, rather than both players racking up damage against the bomb simultaneously. The player with the most points wins.
Home-Run Contest now features a strong barrier in the arena, allowing players to rack up damage for longer time. Like in Smash Bros. Brawl, it allows two-player mode.
For Fun and For Glory
Online gameplay has been completely reworked, where players can choose between two new modes:
For Fun: stage select is random (Final Destination is excluded from this), all items available, Smash battles only (free for all up to 4 players), and only wins are recorded.
For Glory: stage select is restricted to Omega Stages (Final Destination-type variant of existing stages), no items available, 1-1 battles possible, and both wins and losses are recorded. Additionally, players can freely customize those rules when playing with friends.
Smash Run
Main article: Smash Run
An mode exclusive to the Nintendo 3DS, where up to four players (3 other CPU players or 3 other Human players) can compete in two separate instances: one where they collect power-ups in a large maze-like stage, and another one where they fight each other in a normal stage
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withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement during a meeting at the White House on Tuesday, according to multiple people familiar with the meeting.
The meeting comes as the threat of a possible U.S. withdrawal hangs over ongoing negotiations with Canada and Mexico over the pact. U.S. officials have taken a hard line in the latest round of talks that just wrapped up in Mexico, raising concerns that the negotiations could collapse and Trump could pull out.
Story Continued Below
Six senators are slated to attend the Tuesday afternoon lunch with the president, according to a list provided by a White House official: Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
Chief of staff John Kelly, United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, National Economic Council director Gary Cohn and legislative affairs director Marc Short are also scheduled to attend the meeting.
Sign up for Morning Trade A speed read on global trade news — weekday mornings, in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.
The senators are expected to tout the benefits of NAFTA directly to the president, while warning that withdrawing could have dire economic consequences for the United States, according to one person involved in planning the meeting.
A White House spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump vowed as far back as the presidential campaign to withdraw from NAFTA if he couldn’t get a better deal. The president almost signed an executive order in April that would have pulled the United States out of the pact, but Republican lawmakers and senior members of his administration persuaded him to back off, warning of consequences for the U.S. agriculture and manufacturing sectors.
But as negotiations over NAFTA have floundered, the president has maintained that he could jump-start the talks by beginning the process of withdrawing.
This article tagged under: CongressBlack Lives Matter.
Those three seemingly simple words have catapulted the U.S. into a modern-day civil rights movement. It's a movement that has become a household name, creating and proposing tangible policy change, as well as spurring intense social debate.
And it started with a hashtag.
Activists who have been are the forefront of the Black Lives Matter movement came together Sunday at the 2016 Social Good Summit in New York City to discuss racial justice and the ongoing struggle for racial equality.
The panel — moderated by Wesley Lowery, national reporter covering law enforcement, justice, race and politics at The Washington Post — turned its attention to the evolution of the movement, tackling where it's been, where it is and where it needs to go.
Black Lives Matter was created in 2012 by by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch coordinator who shot and killed unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin in February of that year. The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter mobilized the online community into action around racial justice issues, morphing that three-word tag into a massive movement.
"We've forced mainstream media to cover things that they've previously ignored."
On Sunday's panel, writer and activist Luvvie Ajayi said this evolution from momentary hashtag to full-blown force has created immeasurable change for the black community. She said it all stemmed from something often labeled by society as non impactful: "hashtivism."
"We've forced mainstream media to cover things that they've previously ignored, and things that they previously thought weren't worth their time," she said. "It created some sort of respect and credibility to the activist work being done on social media."
"We aren't just sitting and playing on the computer all say," she later added. "We are actually doing things that matter."
Taking on that work takes constant effort, maintenance and evaluation. Brittany Packnett, Campaign Zero organizer, Black Lives Matter activist and member of the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing, said the movement is currently in a place of maintaining momentum created over the past few years, galvanizing both the public and policymakers into action.
"We are in a state of maturation," Packnett said. "We are in a place where we are figuring out how we can take the more nuanced conversation and the more truthful narratives to a place of real change."
But shifts in social attitudes are often extremely slow — and for a community needing change now, that unfortunate reality can be exhausting to face.
Shaun King, a senior justice writer at the New York Daily News and noted racial justice activist, said he believes it may take almost a decade more to make a dent in some of the most massive racial justice issues of our time. That crawl to a more livable future, he admits, can be both infuriating and disheartening.
"There's a part of me that's frustrated every single day because the things that anger us are still happening," King said. "It's like our house is on fire, and we are still talking about fire codes and fire departments."
But he added that this isn't unique, with precedent in the United States making patience — however frustrating — almost required for activists.
"I guarantee you we are more tired of dealing with racism than you are talking about it."
"It's slow in how it unfolds, but it requires us to be immediate in our heart and our concern," King said.
The activists also discussed the public's seeming fatigue or — at times — annoyance with the Black Lives Matter movement as a whole. Along with the staying power of the movement, Packnett said, comes those wishing it would simply fade away, allowing them to remain comfortable and unchallenged with their privilege intact.
"I hear that complaint all the time, that people are tired of hearing about racism and tired of talking about racism," Packnett said. "I guarantee you we are more tired of dealing with racism than you are talking about it."
the iconic image from when @blmla shut down Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. #BLM2Years #WeRememberTrayvon pic.twitter.com/nC6kUdn7WR — Black Lives Matter (@Blklivesmatter) July 13, 2015
Media stories of black deaths stemming from racism can seem never-ending. King, for instance, pointed to several instances this week alone of families losing their loved ones to police violence. For those families, he said, the realities of racial inequality are anything but old.
"If not now, when? We cannot give up."
"There was a man who was killed in Tulsa Oklahoma just two days ago," King said. "To his family, this isn't old. It's fresh. They are thinking about caskets and what they are going to dress him in."
Though the constant fight for equity is exhausting, Packnett said the resilience and perseverance of the black community to continue the fight toward racial justice boils down to one thing.
"If not now, when?" she asked. "We cannot give up."
About Social Good Summit
The Social Good Summit is a two-day conference examining the impact of technology and new media on social good initiatives around the world. Held during U.N. Week on Sept. 18 and 19, the Social Good Summit unites a dynamic community of global leaders and grassroots activists to discuss solutions for the greatest challenges of our time. You can watch the event live at socialgoodsummit.com.
This year's summit is brought to you by Mashable, the United Nations Foundation, the United Nations Development Programme and the 92nd Street Y. For complete event details, visit http://mashable.com/sgs.For the second year in a row, California students have tested relatively low in a series of statewide physical fitness tests, the state Department of Education announced Thursday.
About 31% of students received healthy scores in all six of the tested areas, State Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said in a statement.
"When we can call fewer than one out of three of our kids physically fit, we know we have a tremendous public health challenge on our hands," said Torlakson, a longtime cross-country coach. "It affects more than their health — study after study has demonstrated the very clear link between physical fitness and academic achievement."
The fitness score dropped to 31% last year, after years of steady improvement, the study’s results showed. About 1.3 million fifth-, seventh- and ninth-graders were tested. Of those, only 31% were able to score in what state officials call a "healthy fitness zone."
"While I am glad their fitness levels improve as they make their way through school, we owe it to California’s kids to give them more opportunities for exercise, along with better access to healthy foods and clean, fresh water," Torlakson said.
Torlakson’s office is continuing to push a year-old initiative to promote healthy choices in schools.
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Reader photos: Southern California Moments, Day 320
Trains running again at reopened Union Station; delays expected
Sheriff's deputy charged with murder brought handcuffed to court
-- Dalina Castellanos
Photo: Sixth-graders stretch at Van Nuys Middle School in 2006. Credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles TimesImproving our well-being and the future we can have is within our reach: We can take action to improve well-being through specific actions that can produce short term results. This is a key message encapsulated in the concept of climate-compatible development, reflected in many presentations and discussions that I heard at Planet Under Pressure. Even though others were not calling it “climate-compatible development,” the essence and the meaning behind the research was the same – small concrete discrete steps are possible, and taking action on population dynamics is one of them. Population is on the agenda: Population issues – growth, density, distribution, aging, gender – were a constant at Planet Under Pressure – and in more ways than just looking at population as a driver. It is clear that there is interest, and a need, to address population as a key component of climate-compatible development. But those concerns and issues must be location specific, and must be contextualized for the policy and programmatic environment: Population issues must be framed in the appropriate context – and must move beyond academic exploration. I attended one session where a paper presented an academic supposition of whether we should invest in consumption versus fertility reduction to produce short-term returns for climate, but the analysis was completely devoid of any political, policy, or programmatic truth-testing. We must factor in those considerations when making recommendations, if ultimately we are really looking to make the difference that we can. Continue reading on CDKN.
Photo Credit: “Urbanization in Asia,” courtesy of United Nations Photo.
In late May, I presented research on population and climate dynamics in hotspots at the Planet Under Pressure conference in London, in a session organized by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network. As we prepare for the Rio+20 Earth Summit in June, I reflect on the roles of population dynamics and climate-compatible development for ensuring a future where we can increase the resilience of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.To mark the historic occasion of Hillary Clinton accepting the Democratic nomination for president on Thursday, Stephen Colbert welcomed Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer from Comedy Central’s Broad City to his special post-DNC live show. But first, he shared the news with two female delegates from the Second Continental Congress, appearing live via satellite from July 4, 1776.
When he told them that the United States finally has its first female presidential nominee from a major party, Jacobson’s character said, “Well, butter my bonnet! That is incredible! I’m going to celebrate by making a meal for my husband, and then cleaning it up immediately!
“You hear that, Ben Franklin? Women are on top! And not just your French whores!” Glazer’s added.
But when Jacobson excitedly said, “I can’t believe that in the year 1816 we finally have a female president!” Colbert corrected her. As he explained, it’s actually the year 2016. “Get the butter out of the barn!” Glazer said. “Are you telling me it takes us 240 years to get a female president?” Well, no, Colbert corrected them again, she’s only the nominee.
Quoting the “All men are created equal” section of the Declaration of Independence, they quickly realized their mistake. “You knew that was supposed to mean ‘all people,’ right?” Glazer asked.
“Well, we figured it out eventually,” Colbert said.
Back in May, Clinton herself appeared on an episode of Broad City in an unsubtle attempt to reach the show’s young demographic, which were Feeling the Bern during the primaries.
“Regardless of where we stand—and we love Hillary—Hillary is such an iconic figure,” Jacobson said at the time. When the pair appeared as themselves in the next segment of The Late Show, she added, “I don’t think you could watch tonight and this week full of these amazing speeches and not feel she is just the best candidate.”
“We don’t support hillary just because she’s a woman and if you don’t support hillary, that doesn’t mean you’re not a feminist either,” Glazer told Colbert.
But personally, she said, “I’m heading for the Hills.”I was in Prague for a few days and wanted to visit a nearby German town. So, I decided that it had to be either Dresden or Nuremberg as both cities can be visited on a day trip from Prague. I decided to document the whole trip and see if any of those two cities would help me with my project. To my surprise, Nuremberg tourism got back to me faster than Dresden and my destination was set.
Now, Nuremberg or Nürnberg as they dearly call it in German, historically speaking, is more significant than Dresden. The city walls are still intact since the war and it still has some traditional German feel to it. Around 5am, my companion and myself started walking toward Prague Florenc bus station. Flixbus seemed to be the best choice for Nuremberg as the commute takes only three hours…while trains usually take close to 4.5 hours. (FYI: Flixbus has toilets inside so one less headache for you) The driver scanned the QR code on our ticket stub and took a quick look at our US passports (he didnt even open it or verify the photos!) The bus started on time and stopped briefly by a Mc Donalds about an hour later.
We kept looking around through our windows to locate ourselves and around 8am the street signs began to appear in German. The bus arrived right on time at 9:30 at Willy Brandt Platz in downtown Nuremberg. We started heading to the Tourism Office to pick up our media kit as prearranged with their tourism board. In less than 5 mins of walk, we finally arrived at the Tourist Information center where we received our press kit. I take the opportunity here to thank Tourismus-Zentrale Nurnberg to make this all possible. They have been absoultely amazing in helping this trip happen…
The best part about Nuremberg is than you can visit most of their landmarks without having to take any transportation at all. However, we did take U-Bahn a couple of times just to see how it works and also to visit Reichsparteigelande (Nazi Party Rally Grounds, bus/tram stop: Doku-Zentrum). This is a must see because the walls are still intact and you will learn a ton about Nazi politics and realize that Germany has really come a long way since the war). The exhibition hall has documents from the Nazi era and several smaller rooms have video projectors showing bits from Hitler era… There’s a small cafetaria inside if you’re looking to grab something to eat.
After spending a good couple hours there, we decided to grab something to eat…Bratwursthäusle bei St. Sebald at Rathausplatz was our choice as it was right next to about everything else that we wanted to see. First off, the place was extremely crowded and even if there was a patio, it was just too cold for anyone to sit outside. We were asked to sit at a table where there were people already eating…(don’t worry, it’s not rude…it’s the German way of doing things as the restaurant is extremely tight on space) Personally I thought it was fun as you get to interact with others…I understand this would be unheard of in America, but, while in Germany, do like the Germans do! Please order the 9 piece sausage links with potatoe dumplings + some Lederer beer. You will absolutely love it!!
After a much needed lunch, we decided to visit the Toy Museum (Spielzeugmuseum, Karlstraße 13-15) which has some of the oldest of dolls and doll houses. After spending a little more than an hour there, I realized than I now knew more about how Germans contributed to the toy industry as we know it. While most of the tags and information cards along the displays are in German, you can always download Google Translate for free and scan whatever you’re trying to read. Created in 1971, the museum is considered one of the best toy museums in the world. It was culturally enriching to say the least. At the reception hall, you can even buy some fun toys and games on your way out, most of them costing under 10 dollars.
The main Christmasmarket is located right in front of Frauenkirche church at Hauptmarkt. This Gothic structure is absolutely stunning and was completed in 1361. It’s truly an architectural wonder from the Holy Roman Empire. As I walked through the market, I realized I had to try some Nürnberger Rostbratwurst or traditional bavarian sausages. This product gained the protection of “Protected Geographic Indication (PGI)” which was achieved in the EU by the especially founded Schutzverband Nürnberger Bratwürste e.V (Incorporated society for the protection of the Nuremberg Bratwurst), in 2003 (Source: bavaria.by) A three piece links on a bun would cost you around $7.
It’s at this Christmasmarket that we spent most of our time. Most of the products sold here are handmade Christmas ornaments and decorations but you will also find amazing gourmet sausages, gingerbread cookies and miniature toys. There was a lady selling organic pesto made in Würzberg. The sample was absolutely delicious!! As we stopped at the stalls, the vendors explained to us the origin of the products and how they were made…sometimes in broken English. Folks here are truly proud of their culture and they should be!
I have to tell you…as I type this, I realize that this trip made me fall in love with Germany. It’s truly a great nation full of great people and great food (which is underrated!)…The country is full of history and even though we all love those half-timbered houses, Germany is so much more than that.
As it started to get chilly, we started heading back closer to the bus stop and found a small Dunkin Donuts location on our way. Yes, they have Dunkin in Nuremberg. My phone battery running low, I grabbed a coffee and needed to charge my phone…Our bus back to Prague was at 9pm sharp.31-year veteran Detective Jay Poggi, just weeks away from his planned retirement, signed out of the 75th Precinct in Brooklyn claiming that he and his partner were going to investigate a robbery. Ultimately, the cops went for drinks at The Wharf Bar & Grill.
As a general rule of thumb, alcohol and firearms don’t mix. Despite the allegedly superior trustworthiness, ethics and training that permits Poggi and other officers special firearms privileges in the eyes of New York law, after hopping back in the unmarked patrol car, Poggi decided to throw caution into the wind and show his partner a Smith & Wesson.38-caliber revolver.
According to reports, the gun “suddenly discharged,” and Poggi’s partner, Matthew Sullivan, was shot in the wrist.
Poggi drove Sullivan to the hospital, where he was met with an NYPD Internal Affairs officer who smelled alcohol on Poggi’s breath. About 90 minutes after the shooting Poggi was given a field breathalyzer test, which showed that he had a BAC of.11, well over the legal driving limit of.08. According to prosecutors, Poggi later refused to take a full breathalyzer test.
Poggi was charged with driving while intoxicated and has been suspended without pay, but was released without bail.Ian Cathro: Former Valencia assistant set to join Newcastle's coaching staff
Ian Cathro is set to be appointed assistant manager to Newcastle boss Steve McClaren, according to Sky sources.
The highly-rated 28-year-old resigned from the same position at La Liga side Valencia just two weeks ago citing family reasons.
He had been linked with the vacant manager’s job at Rangers before Mark Warburton was named as the new man in charge at Ibrox on June 15.
Now he is poised to take up a role on Tyneside instead and add to what is already an impressive CV given his young age.
Cathro has never played professionally and only played youth football for Scottish lower-league sides Forfar Athletic and Brechin City.
He has, however, built a solid reputation as a coach and became the head of Dundee United’s academy at just 22.
Among the players he mentored was Scotland U21 international Ryan Gauld, who was transferred to Sporting Lisbon from Tannadice a year ago for a fee of around £3m.
By then, Cathro too had also gone to Portugal having been named as assistant manager at Rio Ave under Nuno Espirito Santo.
He then followed Santo to the Mestalla last summer and helped Valencia to a fourth-place finish with a sequence of results which included wins over Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Sevilla.
Cathro has come up against Newcastle before and oversaw a 3-1 friendly win against them with Santo’s Rio Ave team two years ago.
Now he is set to move to the city as part of McClaren’s backroom team before pre-season starts next Wednesday.SAN ANTONIO -- Spurs coach Gregg Popovich at first attempted to exercise restraint in discussing President Donald Trump's comments on sports and protests on Monday, but he ultimately let loose, saying "our country is an embarrassment to the world" during the team's media day event Monday.
Popovich mentioned that his players "have the right to say what they would like to say" and "act the way they'd like to act," adding that "they have our full support" and "it is important to them to be respected by us, and there is no recrimination, no matter what might take place, unless it's ridiculously egregious."
As Popovich expounded, his criticisms of the president -- whom he never called by name -- became more biting.
Editor's Picks Why President Trump ignites Gregg Popovich The Spurs' longtime coach has made a career out of deflecting media attention. But when it comes to President Trump, Gregg Popovich just can't stay silent.
The 68-year-old Popovich, a graduate of the Air Force Academy who served five years in the military, ripped Trump's decision to rescind an invitation to the Golden State Warriors to visit the White House, calling it "disgusting" and "comical it was rescinded because they weren't going anyway."
"Our country is an embarrassment in the world," Popovich said. "This is an individual that when people held arms during games, [he thought] that they were doing it to honor the flag. That's delusional. But it's what we have to live with. You've got a choice: We can continue to bounce our heads off the walls with his conduct, or we can decide the institutions of our country are more important, people are more important, [the] decent America we all have and want is more important -- get down to business at the grassroots level and do what we have to do."
Dating back to the the 2016 presidential election campaign, Popovich has on several occasions voiced strong opinions regarding Trump, saying he was "still sick to my stomach" in the wake of the election.
Early in his almost 21-minute news conference on Monday, Popovich said it wouldn't "do a whole lot of good" to continue to criticize the president, but the coach persisted and even threw NASCAR and its respective owners into the mix.
"We do live in a difficult time. We all know why [and] where the source is, where a lot of the division comes from," Popovich said. "To dwell on that is the wrong way to go. [It's] so obvious now, it is boring. The childishness, the gratuitous fear-mongering and race baiting has been so consistent. It's almost expected. [The] bar has been lowered so far, I think it's more important to be thinking about what to do, more organic, [grass]roots-based level.
"Think about the efforts to restrict voter registration, comments that demean cultures, ethnic groups, races, women. What can be done in an organic way to fight that? We know where the power is. We know the racism that exists. It has gone beyond that to the point where I'm more worried and confused by the people around the president.
"These are intelligent people who know exactly what is going on, who were basically very negative about his actions. But now it's condoned. We saw it this weekend about people who should be fired [for protesting during the national anthem]. I wonder what the people think about who voted for him, where their line is. Where does the morality and decency kick in?
"I understand very well, they didn't like their choice economically. A lot of people had a problem. He was the right guy at the right time to tap into that mood. People overlooked one hell of a lot to pull that trigger in that direction. They wanted change, they felt ignored. But at what price? One wonders what is in their heads. Have they come to the conclusion they had the wrong vehicle? Might have had good ideas, but someone else had a little bit more decency about how they approach other people and other groups might have [been] served better.
"That's what I worry about in the country, wonder about if you live here. I just heard a comment this morning from a NASCAR owner and Mr. [Richard] Petty that blew me away, just blew me away. I think these people have been enabled by an example that we've all been given."
Popovich said the country needs to hold frank discussions regarding race, saying that "people have to be made to feel uncomfortable" to spark change, while downplaying the notion of having a responsibility to speak out on issues because of his position and the NBA platform.
"I'm an individual. I live in this country. I have a right to say and do what I want. It has nothing to do with my position," Popovich said. "Obviously, race is the elephant in the room, and we all understand that unless it is talked about constantly, it is not going to get better. People get bored, 'Oh, is it that again? They are pulling the race card.' Because it's uncomfortable, there has be an uncomfortable element in the discourse for anything to change. Whether it is LGBT, women's suffrage, race, [it] doesn't matter. People have to be made to feel uncomfortable; especially white people. We still have no clue what being born white means.
"If you read some of the recent literature, there is no such thing as whiteness. But we made it up. Not my original thought, but it's true. Because you were born white, you have advantages systemically, culturally, psychology there. They have been built up for hundreds of years. Many people can't look at it. [It] can't be something on their plate on a daily basis. People want their status quo. People don't want to give it up. Until it's given up, it's not going to be fixed."Forget charging batteries, or even whipping out a solar panel. Toshiba says its first fuel cell powered gadgets will be launched in just a few short months!
The company says its direct methanol fuel cell will hit shelves before March 31 2009. There’s no word on which gadget it’ll turn up in first, but the firm showed off a mobile phone powered by the technology in Japan last week, and we’ve seen MP3 players packing it too.
It should mean much more power, for a longer period of time, with the fuel cell giving off a small amount of water vapor and carbon dioxide as it cranks away, generating power on the go.
Re-charging fuel cell gadgets is also much faster than using gadgets, since the cell can simply be swapped for a new one.
As well as shoving fuel cells inside brand new gadgets, Toshiba’s working on re-chargers for existing kit, using a fuel cell to generate power for whatever’s plugged in.
Keep it here for news of the first products as soon as they’re available.
Out 2009 | £TBC | Toshiba (via MacWorld)The longstanding focus of Manhattan federal prosecutors on Albany corruption appeared to be expanding with the issuance of grand jury subpoenas seeking records related to one of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s signature upstate economic development programs.
The subpoenas, from the office of Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, sought documents related to the bidding process on some projects that are part of the development program, known as the Buffalo Billion, according to officials who were briefed on the matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about it publicly.
The subpoenas were served this summer on the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute, whose president, Alain E. Kaloyeros, is a central player in the program, which was intended to create thousands of jobs upstate, the officials said. Dr. Kaloyeros is one of the state’s highest-paid employees.
The subpoenas and the investigation were reported in The New York Post on Friday.
A SUNY Polytechnic spokesman said in a statement that the institute was “confident that all processes regarding SUNY Poly projects in Buffalo were done appropriately,” adding, “To our knowledge, neither SUNY Poly nor any of its employees are the target of any investigation.”Under the Gun director Stephanie Soechtig has proven time and again that she’s both arrogant and intentionally dishonest, but now she’s apparently volunteered that she’s a criminal as well.
It turns out that Ms. Soechtig enticed one of her employees to break federal gun laws.
Our friends over at Ammoland have the details of this self-admitted felony crime.
In February, The Lip TV interviewed the film’s director, Stephanie Soechtig, prior to the film’s release. During this interview, Ms. Soechtig openly discussed how she sent a producer of the film, who resides in Colorado, to Arizona to purchase firearms (including three pistols) privately. [original video marker 1.27] According to Ms. Soechtig, the producer met a private seller in a parking lot of a local Wendy’s, and in less than four hours and without a background check, obtained a Bushmaster rifle and three handguns. It is unknown what happened to these firearms and whether or not they returned with the producer to Colorado. Presumably, this crime was committed in order to highlight what the film’s proponents believe to be current inadequacies federal firearm laws, and to educate viewers on the process for obtaining a firearm. As Ms. Soechtig stated, all of the film’s content was “news to me.” Apparently, existing federal law prohibiting private interstate firearms transfers is also something that will also come as “news” to Ms. Soechtig and her staff. Under current federal law it is a violation for any person to transfer, sell, trade, give, transport, or deliver any firearm to any person who the transferor knows or has reasonable cause to believe does not reside in the state in which the transferor resides. (18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(5).) Thus, by asking a private party in Arizona to sell the Colorado producer firearms, Ms. Soechtig and her staff induced an otherwise law abiding citizen to commit a federal crime. There was nothing legal about what Ms. Soechtig and her staff did, despite their slanted attempt to portray in their documentary the private sale of firearms as unregulated and legal. It is also unlawful for any person other than a dealer to transport into or receive in the state where they reside any firearm purchased or otherwise obtained outside that State. (18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(3).) Violations of these laws results in a hefty fine and a felony conviction of up to five years. (18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(1)(D).) Further, if two or more persons conspire to commit any offense, and at least one person commits an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy, each party to the conspiracy can also face an additional fine and imprisonment for up to five years. (18 U.S.C. § 371.)
Director Soechtig and Under the Gun executive producer and narrator Katie Couric have already admitted on camera fraudulently editing the responses of members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, which has opened them to the possibility of a civil lawsuits which could cost them dearly.
Public admitting that they’ve broken federal gun laws now opens the possibility of felony criminal prosecution as well.
Were all the lies worth it, ladies?A Perth man accused of parking his new plane with the ignition on and propeller running outside his local pub has been charged with endangering lives.
The 37-year-old man, who doesn't hold a pilot's licence, was taxiing his newly purchased two-seater Beechcraft aircraft, minus the wings, through Newman's streets on his way home when he decided to stop at the local pub.
However, on stopping the plane he left the ignition on and propeller running, potentially causing danger to people, West Australian police say.
This was about 2pm on October 31 while roads were busy with cars and pedestrians.
An examination of the plane found an exposed fuel line hanging from the side of the plane attached to an insecure jerry can inside the cabin to enable the engine to run, police said.
Newman Police sergeant Mark McKenzie said earlier on Monday that he was stunned by the man's actions.
"It was a pretty stupid thing to do," Sgt McKenzie told AAP.
"Kids were coming home from school. It could have been very ugly.
"All he needed was one gust of wind... because without the wings, it's not stable.
"People think it was a bit of a laugh, but it was very dangerous and we're not very happy with it."
The man has been charged with endangering life, health or safety of a person and is due to appear at the Newman Magistrates' Court on November 18.
© AAP 2019Donald Trump Donald John TrumpHouse committee believes it has evidence Trump requested putting ally in charge of Cohen probe: report Vietnamese airline takes steps to open flights to US on sidelines of Trump-Kim summit Manafort's attorneys say he should get less than 10 years in prison MORE had a very different view on deporting undocumented immigrants three years before he announced his presidential bid.
In a June 2012 interview with CNBC’s "Squawk Box," Trump said he didn’t believe in deporting immigrants who “had done a great job,” according to CNN’s KFile.
Trump said he was “probably down the middle” when asked about his views on immigrant labor.
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“Because I also understand how, as an example, you have people in this country for 20 years, they've done a great job, they've done wonderfully, they've gone to school, they've gotten good marks, they're productive — now we're supposed to send them out of the country. I don't believe in that, Michelle, and you understand that,” he told the host. “I don't believe in a lot things that are being said."
According to CNN, the Supreme Court’s decision on Arizona’s controversial immigration law came a day prior to Trump’s comments.
“Both sides lost,” Trump said about the ruling in Arizona v. United States that allowed police to check a person’s immigration status while enforcing other laws.
Throughout his campaign, Trump has promised to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and has said he would deport all of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country.
"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best," Trump said as he kicked off his presidential campaign in June 2015.
"They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."This past weekend as a guest at DragonCon in Atlanta, Burn Gorman confirmed he will be returning to Game of Thrones as mutinous Night’s Watchman Karl. The actor fielded several questions at a press conference captured on video by ScienceFiction.com, but the Thrones discussion starts at the very beginning.
After revealing he’s headed to the set soon after leaving the convention, Gorman professes to be a huge fan of Game of Thrones and later, around the 7-minute mark, chats about filming in Ireland…and the endless quantities of pig manure involved.
Ours is the Fury: Great to have Gorman confirmed! His role in season 3 was too brief, and he’s a wonderful actor. I’m looking forward to having him back and seeing some resolution to the storyline of the mutineers. Thanks to Carne for finding the video!Browse > Home Vatican / Ringling Bros. Circus And Its Subsidiary The Vatican To Shut Down In May
Ringling Bros. Circus And Its Subsidiary The Vatican To Shut Down In May
After more than 140 years, the curtain is coming down on “The Greatest Show on Earth,” Roman Curia and Ringling Bros. Circus and Barnum & Bailey Circus board member Bishop Antonio Scarlatti said early Monday morning.
The iconic Roman spectacle and its principle Ringling Bros. Circus explained that declining attendance combined with high payroll for most members of the clergy in the curia contributed to its fall.
“There isn’t any one thing,” said chairman and CEO Ken Fields. “Actually, yes there is. The amount we pay for the curia is outrageous. But there is nothing we could do about it because they truly are the greatest show on earth.”
Ringling Bros. has two touring circuses this season and will perform 30 shows between now and May, while the Vatican has one stationary circus performing every day through May.
The Vatican, with its exotic bishops, less-than-flashy vestments, and death-defying theology, has been a staple of entertainment in the Catholic Church for decades, wowing parishioners with its sheer scale of entertainment. But several lawsuits over its treatment of traditionalists led to public scrutiny of the Curia in the past few years.
After a long and costly legal battle in 2016, the Vatican removed liturgical traditionalists from its shows and sent them to Malta to live on a conservation farm
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what will follow through. Is it offensive? Is it insulting? Is it abusive? It all hinges on that."
INCIDENT: West Ham are awarded a penalty in the 84th minute when Wes Morgan is penalised for holding onto Winston Reid.
Morgan conceded a penalty for tugging Reid
GALLAGHER'S VIEW: Correct decision.
GALLAGHER SAYS: "I think he has got to give it and the reason is because he has made such a big point just beforehand with both Morgan and Huth, saying 'I'm watching you'.
"It's quite perverse to be sat here today. One of the things we've talked about over and over again is everybody wanting referees to be more proactive and to give more penalties - but when suddenly a referee gives a penalty, we don't like it. It's a double jeopardy."
INCIDENT: In the 90th minute, Robert Huth goes down in the penalty area after being held by Ogbonna. It looks similar to West Ham's penalty, but the referee doesn't award a spot kick.
Huth was not given a penalty for this incident
GALLAGHER'S VIEW: Correct decision
GALLAGHER SAYS: "It's what he sees. I think he sees Huth foul as well. When the ball comes in, Ulloa had his arm on somebody and there's so much going on in the game, it was unbelievable. Both penalty areas were littered with people pushing and shoving and I think there comes a point where the referee has got to step in. When he stepped in, he pulled out Huth and Morgan and said 'I have got to do you for the next one'.
"I can 100% see the frustration of the fans, but I can also understand why it's so difficult for the referee because he's got to pick the right one."
INCIDENT: Five minutes into injury time, Jeff Schlupp goes down under slight contact from Andy Carroll and this time, Jon Moss does point to the spot to give Leicester the chance to snatch a late draw.
Watch the moment Leicester were awarded an injury-time penalty and make up your own mind Watch the moment Leicester were awarded an injury-time penalty and make up your own mind
GALLAGHER'S VIEW: Wrong decision.
GALLAGHER SAYS: "It's not a penalty. One thing I am is consistent. I sat here last week and watched Damien Delaney go into Matt Jarvis and I said it wasn't a penalty - and this one is nowhere near. Carroll has been strong, his arm is by his side and Schlupp has seen him coming and knows there's going to be contact. It's what I'd call 'a coming-together' and the minute he has touched him, he has gone down."A look at the unknown actors who were plucked from obscurity and achieved cinematic greatness
It's release day for Haywire, Steven Soderbergh's uncommonly smart, disarmingly taut, ridiculously entertaining action/spy picture, an unexpectedly frisky exception to the rule that January releases are generally terrible.
The reason for its creation—and a big part of its success—is the leading performance of MMA fighter Gina Carano (more on her later). Though she had a minor role in one previous film, Gina's terrific starring turn got us thinking about other non-actors who made a big splash in their debuts.
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This post also appears on Flavorpill, an Atlantic partner site.
Image credit: Alluvial Film Co.
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to [email protected] Text: FIGHT FOR THE RIGHT TO PARTY: The young women from north London who are taking on DSTRKT. Zalika Miller (far left) with friends Reisha and Tasha
THE HEAD of marketing at DSTRKT nightclub says he has "nothing to apologise for" after the award-winning West End venue was accused of racism for reportedly turning away a group of black girls for being "too dark" and "too fat".
At a last-minute demonstration outside the high-end club yesterday evening (Sept 29), over 60 protesters demanded answers from management following Saturday night's incident.
Addressing the crowd, head of marketing Doug Wendel said the company would not be held responsible for comments made by bar staff and doormen.
"I don't speak for the club, I speak for myself," he told the group, largely made up of black women.
His comments came moments before Karrueche Tran, the model of ex-girlfriend of R&B singer Chris Brown, arrived for her scheduled appearance.
Tran, who is half black, attempted to slide into the club through a side entrance before she was spotted by protesters.
Footage of the incident shows Tran being swarmed by vocal campaigners who had pleaded with the star to snub the appearance in a sign of solidarity.
Prior to her appearance, the 27-year-old expressed disappointment at the situation but remained committed to her plans to attend.
Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton is also said to have made a quick entrance through a side door to avoid the angst of protesters.
Former EastEnders actress Bunmi Mojekwu shared how her own personal experience inspired her to take part in the public demonstration.
The 26-year-old revealed how she too had been turned away at the doors of another popular West End nightclub because she did not fit the standard.
BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL: One protestor defiant placard at the protest last night (Sept 29) [PIC CREDIT: Ade Onibada]
As club goers trickled in to the venue, protesters, who stood on the opposite side of the road dubbed the “reject wall”, chanted “beauty has no colour” and “shame on DSTRKT”.
The peaceful protest was organised by up-and-coming actress Zalika Miller, who was one of four black girls turned away from the high end venue on Saturday night, claiming race played a major factor.
Earlier in the day, she issued an open invite on social media to other people to join the protest.
She said: "Come and peacefully make a stand with us [on September 29] along the'rejects wall' outside DSTRKT Nightclub at 10pm. Let us unite. All the so called 'uglies' and 'fatties' come dressed to kill. Bring banners/sheets, write on anything #doilookdstrkt."
Read the background to the story here.
Details of Saturday's incident, first reported in The Voice newspaper, have been shared widely on social media supported by the hashtag #DoILookDstrkt, challenging the criteria standard to enter the high end venue and prompted other black women to come forward with their own stories of discriminatory treatment at the hands of door staff.
Miller and group of young women were met with applause as they arrived in their best attire - including heels - and maintained the demonstration was to be peaceful and constructive.
Despite the peaceful protest, the police presence grew as the night wore on and became particularly active when protesters boldly stormed the venue doorstep.
Wendel addressed Lin Mei, who was also in the party that was tuned away on Saturday night (Sept 26), and engaged in a heated conversation with Brooke Norton, the DSTRKT promoter who spoke on social media about the experience of her black friends who she had invited to the venue.
Wendel dismissed Norton as a third party promoter and not a DSTRKT employee. The same response appeared readily available for anyone culpable.
SUPPORT: Former Eastenders actress Bunmi Mojekwu [PIC CREDIT: Ade Onibada]
When questioned by The Voice on why the club had failed to address the allegations including multiple statement requests from The Voice, Wendel bluntly responded: “Because the allegations are false, there’s no proof that we have refused a guest because of race or discrimination.”
Referring to the incident that sparked the protest, Wendel again dismissed the matter as “rumours” with no substantiation despite exchange of messages between Mei and a promoter shared on social media.
“The messages from who? They’re not members of staff, they don’t work for DSTRKT. I cannot be responsible for the words of third parties, they do not work for the venue, they provide a service for the venue,” he said.
When asked whether he believed it was important that members of society felt welcome at the establishment, he responded, “yes,” and appeared to agree that the present circumstance had left particular groups uncomfortable and unwelcome.
Wendel insists that nothing wrong had been done directly on the part of the club and made clear that he personally would not be apologising because he “hadn’t done anything wrong.”
He said the club would handle the matter internally.Melt, Common House, Slag Heap Brewery and Edgar's Bakery are among the first businesses to sign on to be a part of the revitalization of downtown Trussville.
Developer Coby Lake, who recently sold Avondale Brewery and other properties in Birmingham's Avondale neighborhood, said he is purchasing 13 parcels in downtown and plans to open a 22,000-square-foot brewery in Trussville. He said he is in talks with seven other businesses about locating downtown.
Trussville Mayor Buddy Choat spoke about the master plan for downtown during a Trussville Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Thursday.
He said it will be 12 to 24 months before the project is completed.
Through a public-private partnership, Choat said downtown is being redeveloped into a walkable, more attractive and family-friendly entertainment destination. The first phase will take place in the Morrow Avenue and Beech Street corridors.
"This is really what the community has been lacking," he said. "We have the big box shopping. We have restaurants. We have interstate access. We did not have a walkable downtown, shopping and entertainment area for our residents and guests who want to come from other parts of the Birmingham area."
He said the city is investing in the infrastructure, including the installation of sidewalks and new lighting. The intersection at Highway 11 and Chalkville Road in downtown Trussville will be realigned to ease traffic congestion, Choat said.
The city also plans to build a pavilion and stage tentatively called Pinchgut Pavilion (after Pinchgut Creek) at the end of Morrow Avenue.
Nearby will be Common House restaurant and another brewery off Morrow Avenue, he said.
Choat said construction is expected to start soon on an Edgar's Bakery in the former location of the Sticks and Stuff furniture store at 156 Main Street.
Another 2,000 square feet of adjacent retail space will also be constructed, he said.
The former Braden's Furniture location on Main Street will be redeveloped as part of the project.
Slag Heap Brewery is preparing to open in the former ice plant at 227 Main Street, said co-owner Joe Meadows.
"It is a perfect fit for us," he said, of downtown Trussville. He said he and his business partner want to be a part of the growth of the city.
Lake said he wanted to be a part of creating a walkable, urban center in Trussville.
"My passion is to take underdeveloped or forgotten areas and turn them into something that the community can be proud of," he said.
Lake said the city of Trussville contacted him about investing in downtown.
"I will be able to achieve more, I think, in Trussville then I was in Avondale just because of my working relationship with the city, mayor and city council," he said.HurriKeynesianism: Broken-Window Economics With Formulas
Reality Check (Nov. 27, 2012)
The fallacy of the broken window was first exposed by Frederic Bastiat in 1850, the year of his death. He argued that when someone breaks a window, this makes the victim poorer. So, it makes the community poorer.
But there was a false economic idea common in his era. The broken window will be repaired. The owner will spend money to repair it. This will stimulate the economy. There will be new jobs, new orders for glass, and profits for all.
This argument violates the fundamental principle of economics: there are no free lunches.
This argument is the central argument of Keynesianism. It was the central argument of Keynes himself. Everything else is jargon: "Putting the shuck on the rubes."
What is wrong with the argument? It ignores the things unseen. The new window can be seen. The workers installing it can be seen. What is not seen is the thing that the store owner would have bought if the window had not been broken. He might have bought inventory. He might have bought gifts for his family. He might have invested in a business. But he would have spent the money on what he wanted most. That is not seen. This video explains it very well.
After every natural disaster, we see articles on how the disaster is good for the economy. This video provides examples. Then it shows that these examples are bogus.
Lew Rockwell of the Ludwig von Mises Institute in 2008 reported this.
After every natural disaster, we at the Mises Institute start what we call the "Broken Window Watch." After hurricane Katrina, the Labor Secretary said, "[W]hat will happen -- and I have seen this in previous catastrophes and hurricanes -- there is a bright spot in that new jobs do get created." And The Economist said, "While big hurricanes like Katrina destroy wealth, they often have a net positive effect on GDP growth, as the temporary downturn immediately after the storm is more than made up for by the burst of economic activity that takes place when the rebuilding begins." And the New York Times said, "Economists point out that although Katrina has destroyed a lot of accumulated wealth, it ultimately will probably have a positive effect on growth data over the next few months as resources are channeled into rebuilding." After last year's California fires, we heard this from Alan Gin, a University of San Diego economist: "In the odd nature of economic accounting, this will probably be a stimulus. There will be a huge amount of rebuilding in the next couple of years, financed by insurance payments." And CBS Marketwatch said, "Economists have noted the perverse reality that in the wake of disasters, reconstruction spending helps the economy, even as people are still struggling to recover from their personal losses."
UNDERSTANDING SANDY
Sadly, the economic experts are Keynesians. They filter new information in terms of the economics they learned in college. Here is a recent article, published on Bloomberg News. I will quote from it verbatim, so that you will know that I am not making this up.
Cataneo's experience shows how the storm is giving the U.S. Northeast -- and the rest of the country -- an economic boost that may eventually surpass the loss of business it caused. Reconstruction and related purchases and hiring may range from $140 billion to $240 billion and increase U.S. economic growth by 0.5 percentage point next year, assuming $50 billion in losses, according to Economic Outlook Group LLC, a Princeton, New Jersey-based forecasting firm.
There is a huge multiplier here. A $50 billion loss will produce between $140 billion and $240 billion in new wealth.
Implicit conclusion: What a shame that the losses were not $100 billion. Then think of the new wealth that would be rolling down on us in 2013.
Bastiat was writing in a pre-Keynesian era. There was no idea of a Keynesian multiplier in 1850. Keynes did not come up with this in 1936. Richard Kahn did in 1931. Wikipedia's article on Kahn says:
Kahn's most notable contribution to economics was his principle of the multiplier. The multiplier is the relation between the increase in aggregate expenditure and the increase in net national product (output). It is the increase in aggregate expenditure (for example government spending) that causes the increase in output (or income). His findings on the multiplier were first published in his seminal 1931 article, The Relation of Home Investment to Unemployment. Kahn was one of the five members of Keynes' Cambridge Circus. Kahn was also one of Keynes' closest collaborators on the creation of Keynes' General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money.
What is the multiplier? The Wikipedia article on "Keynesian Economics" tells us.
Two aspects of Keynes's model has implications for policy: First, there is the "Keynesian multiplier", first developed by Richard F. Kahn in 1931. Exogenous increases in spending, such as an increase in government outlays, increases total spending by a multiple of that increase. A government could stimulate a great deal of new production with a modest outlay if: 1.The people who receive this money then spend most on consumption goods and save the rest. 2.This extra spending allows businesses to hire more people and pay them, which in turn allows a further increase in consumer spending. This process continues. At each step, the increase in spending is smaller than in the previous step, so that the multiplier process tapers off and allows the attainment of an equilibrium. This story is modified and moderated if we move beyond a "closed economy" and bring in the role of taxation: The rise in imports and tax payments at each step reduces the amount of induced consumer spending and the size of the multiplier effect.
Let us return to the article on Bloomberg.
"Construction costs to rebuild all that was lost will be more than simply replacement because a lot of the work will also involve fortifying structures," said Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at Economic Outlook. "We'll see construction ramped up, and that's going to bring in jobs and an increase in demand for material of all sorts, and that's going to further stimulate the economy."
Hurricane Sandy did impose loss. How much loss? Already, the experts are there with estimates. It "may reduce economic growth by 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter after it disrupted industrial production, retail sales and employment, according to economists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Most of the reconstruction will take place in the first quarter of 2013, adding as much as half a point to growth, according to a Nov. 21 note to clients."
How long will the stimulus last? Years!
The stimulus is likely to last longer. Insurance claims payments and government funds typically boost the economy for 18 to 36 months after a natural disaster like Sandy, said Jeff Burchill, chief financial officer of FM Global in Johnston, Rhode Island, a policyholder-owned insurer that writes coverage for businesses. "You get a lot of reconstruction and construction that otherwise would not have occurred," Burchill said in a phone interview.
This is surely good news for all.
Here is the Keynesian rule: Always ask the barber if you need a haircut.
Economic benefits of the storm will come as homes are repaired, rebuilt and refurnished, according to David Crowe, chief economist for the Washington-based National Association of Home Builders. Buyers of new homes spend an average of $8,000 on furniture, appliances and landscaping, he said.
Why is he so sure? Because he knows economic history. He saw what happened after Hurricane Katrina.
The economic boost from housing construction "would take place over several years," Crowe said, based on the experience of Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast in 2005. "And it wouldn't start until sometime next year out of the need to plan for what remodeling and construction the homeowner wants to make."
SHUCK-PUTTING
You, being a complete rube, do not believe that government spending or insurance company spending or washed-out owner spending will create wealth. You think hurricanes are bad.
You need help. You just do not understand. You do not understand the Master, who wrote in The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money (1936):
It follows, therefore, that, if the consumption psychology of the community is such that they will choose to consume e.g., nine-tenths of an increment of income, then the multiplier kis 10; and the total employment caused by (e.g.) increased public works will be ten times the primary employment provided by the public works themselves, assuming no reduction of investment in other directions (pp. 116-17).
Pay no attention to the phrase, "assuming no reduction of investment in other directions." Yes, yes, I know: this is what Bastiat had in mind: other directions. But he was old fashioned. He was a free marketer. Worse: he had no formulas.
What you need is some formulas. A Keynesian economist has got some for you.
Got that, rube? So, sit there and shut up. It's time for the government to come to the rescue.
Yours is not to reason why. Yours is but to pay and die.
CONCLUSION
The Keynesians are dominant. Theirs is the economics of incoherence. Theirs is the economics of shuck and jive. They are the tailors of the Emperor, who is dressed in all the finery that formulas can provide.
The public is expected to enjoy the parade. "Doesn't the Emperor look grand?"
The public is paying for his wardrobe. If the public were to admit the truth about the Emperor's wardrobe, they would conclude, "we've been shucked." They might be peeved. They might be more than peeved.
There is going to come a day when the public finally figures out they have been shucked. That will be a great opportunity for those few economists who sat on the sidelines and pointed out the transparent nature of the formulas.Margaret Miller has been working as a volunteer and site coordinator at Chapter 510, an Oakland literacy and writing project, for the past year. Photo by Kate Nevé
A group of 10th grade students gather in a room at MetWest High School, located in East Oakland. “Independent work time” is in session. Students are huddled together, or off alone in the corner as they work on writing assignments that range from book reports to critical responses. However, due to Chapter 510, no student truly works alone.
In January of 2014, Chapter 510 project director and founder Janet Heller, and her team of 16 volunteers, began offering one-on-one writing tutoring to MetWest’s freshman class. Now, after a year’s worth of growing in volunteers and resources, Chapter 510 has volunteered a total of 1,000 hours with MetWest’s freshman class.
The summer prior to Chapter 510’s beginning, Heller said she sensed a vital need for a youth-oriented writing organization in Oakland – something that teaches youth how to empower themselves through writing, providing them with resources, such as experienced writers, to enhance their literary skills.
Heller followed her instincts, rallied up a staff and volunteers, and launched Chapter 510.
In addition to tutoring at MetWest, Chapter 510 offers free creative writing and poetry workshops throughout the year to students, ages 5 to 18.
Heller said Chapter 510 is the most ambitious project she has ever ran.
“I feel a strong sense of satisfaction, people are excited about Chapter 510,” Heller says.
Heller chose the name Chapter 510 because the organization is rooted in Oakland, and is considered a chapter of 826 Valencia, a nonprofit organization in the Mission that offers tutoring and writing workshops to youth ages 6 through 18. The program’s funding comes from private donors and partnerships with other foundations, such as the Oakland Public Library and the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation.
Heller decided to partner with MetWest because she was already involved with the school’s mentoring program. When Heller questioned the school’s staff about what areas needed improvement, they said the ninth graders needed the most assistance with writing.
Volunteer Margaret Miller, a recent graduate of Mills College’s Master of Fine Arts program, tutors twice a week at MetWest. In the large sunlit classroom, Miller walks over to one her favorite groups, three 15-year-old girls, and brainstorms with them, helping them discover what they want to write about for their next response paper. The trio decide to write analytical responses to two articles written by feminist authors Roxane Gay and Clementine Ford.
Miller scans the responses for run-on sentences, removes unnecessary commas, and points out when the student’s voice changes from third person to first person. Her advice is taken with no offense by the students, because after a year of volunteering, Miller is no stranger to the class.
“Janet and Margaret are my two favorite volunteers. I like their attitudes and they’re really encouraging,” says Kayla Keith, a 15-year-old sophomore at MetWest.
Miller said tutoring at MetWest presented her with the opportunity to see MetWest students mature as writers, and as individuals. However, gaining the students’ trust took time and consistency.
“I think those first couple of weeks are the hardest,” she said, recalling her first tutoring experiences, “Because they need to know you and know that you’re actually going to continue to show up.”
Laurie Loftus, 47, began volunteering in the fall of 2014. She compared the moment of waiting for a student to choose a volunteer to a girl waiting for a boy to ask her onto the floor at a high school dance.
“You’re just waiting for someone to pick you, you have to drop your ego at the door and not take anything personally,” Loftus says.
Miller said that the combination of race differences and being a stranger also affected students’ decision to open up and trust her. Standing at 5’2″ with light brown eyes, cropped bleach-blonde hair and a light complexion, Miller is the minority at Metwest. Of the 136 students, half are Latino, 30 percent are African-American, 13 percent are Asian-American, and 7 percent are white.
“Students are typically more scared off or skittish at first because they are like, ‘Are you just doing this because you’re white and feel bad?’” Miller says. “And it’s like, ‘No, I actually really like working with you and I’m doing this out of my free time, but not because I feel sorry for you.”
Kayla Keith said that at first she was hesitant to work with the volunteers. Reaching almost 5’10, with brown, shoulder length hair, light brown skin, and brown almond eyes, Keith felt wary about creating a relationship with Miller.
“I was like, ‘Oh great, now I’m going to have other people hounding me to do my work, and now I’m going to actually be productive,” Keith said.
Yet her decision led to her success. After deciding to open up to Heller and Miller, Keith said that her writing abilities and confidence rose. When it was time to complete the writing portion of the California High School Examination Test, Keith was prepared.
“I was like, ‘Oh my god, I am so thankful I have people other than my teacher to help me get ready for this essay. I was on top of the world because I know I did everything right,” Keith says. “I know how to use commas, I know all of these things, and that was all because of Chapter 510 and working with them for a year and a half.”
According to the Chapter 510 first semester evaluation report, 80 percent of students reported feeling more confident with their writing abilities, and 92 percent reported overall improvement in their school work.
Besides advancing MetWest students’ writing, creating mentor-like relationships between the volunteers and students is another byproduct of Chapter 510.
One of Miller’s favorite moments when volunteering was when she explained reverse racism to two male students.
“They were really frustrated how white police officers treated them and they had an adult tell them at some point that they were being racists, and I thought that was a great moment to talk to them about how there’s no such thing as reverse racism,” said Miller.
Miller concedes to the certain advantages she had as a white woman, and in response to her honesty the students opened up.
“They were just totally blown away by the fact that I was willing to have that conversation and acknowledge my own privilege in front of them, not only as a volunteer but as someone that’s white,” said Miller.
Chapter 510’s next move is to reach out and work with an Oakland middle school, but according to Heller the decision on which middle school is still in the works. Another goal of Chapter 510 is to secure a permanent location with programs such as homework assistance for kids K-12. Until then, Chapter 510 will continue to partner with Oakland schools like MetWest, and offer students academic support and mentor-like relationships.
“It really isn’t about some form of resource like a laptop or scholarship that will make the student do the work or walk through an opportunity. It’s about feeling confident, and that’s what we’re bringing to kids,” Heller says.Daniel Cormier was questioning himself at UFC 200.
Moments before walking to the Octagon at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Cormier was wondering if he had put the preparation to get the job done against Anderson Silva, his late fill-in opponent.
"I was like worried," Cormier told Ariel Helwani on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour. "Like, man did I run enough? Did I put enough miles in? Did I spar enough rounds? And you don't want to be questioning yourself. That was supposed to be Jon Jones."
Cormier ended up dominating Silva en route to a unanimous decision victory. Still, he wasn't happy with his performance and his training leading up to the fight.
The UFC light heavyweight champion said for the first time he was worried more about staying healthy and making the bout than doing everything in his power to be the best fighter he could be on that night.
Cormier's American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) gym had been criticized for a rash of injuries, forcing fighters to pull out of big events. "DC" didn't want that to happen to him and AKA was trying to make changes to reduce athletes getting hurt.
He didn't like the feeling.
"For me, I felt a little bit off," Cormier said. "I felt like I didn't do as much as I needed to do and it really messed with me mentally. Now, I spar a lot and I run a lot and I train a lot. It's the only way that I feel secure in my own mind."
And perhaps, going full force is what led Cormier to his latest injury, a torn right adductor (near the groin) muscle. He had to withdraw from his title defense against Anthony Johnson, scheduled for UFC 206 on Dec. 10 in Toronto, last week. Cormier told Helwani that he's still contemplating having surgery. He's hoping to be back by February or March.
Cormier said he's upset about the injury and wants to get back as soon as possible. But he also doesn't have any regrets about his training regimen.
"How can you train if you're constantly worried about getting injured?" Cormier said. "Guys play basketball and get hurt and that's probably the easiest sport on the planet. We're actually fighting every day. We're wrestling, we're grappling."
AKA has been ground zero for injury withdrawals in the UFC, especially in the minds of fans and pundits. Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold recently pulled out of a main event fight with Ronaldo Souza and former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez has had a history of surgeries and other injury issues.
Of course, it also happens to be one of the best — if not the best — training camp in all of MMA. Cormier said not to blame the gym or coach Javier Mendez for fighters getting hurt.
"It's not Javier's fault," Cormier said. "This isn't college. We're not high-school athletes. Javier can tell me not to spar and I'll be like, ‘Yeah sure, Jav.' And then I'll go spar.
"People always get confused. They talk about coaches. The reality is, these coaches and managers that everybody thinks are in so much control, they work for us. They're our employees."
If people want to point fingers, Cormier said, they should start with him.
"The decisions are mine," he said. "If I got hurt, it was my fault."
And Cormier doesn't plan on doing anything differently from here on out. After that odd feeling at UFC 200, one in which he just wasn't sure if he was ready, Cormier doesn't plan on taking any chances. Not when he's fighting the best guys in the world at 205 pounds every bout.
"It was a huge mistake and I didn't like it," Cormier said of UFC 200.... "It's unfair to think that we can do what we do with the intensity that we do it and expect injuries to not happen."CLOSE Rep. Clay Higgins addressed the rumor that he's still sleeping on the floor of his Congressional office in Washington D.C. during a recent visit to The Daily Advertiser. Caitlin Jacob
Rep. Clay Higgins, a freshman Republican from Louisiana, is still settling into his Washington, D.C., office. (Photo: Deborah Barfield Berry, USA TODAY)
There are ways in which Clay Higgins says he's getting attention in Washington, and few of them have much to do with the swashbuckling, tough guy, "street cop" image that helped to send him to Congress.
The freshman House member, a Republican from Port Barre, pointed to 62 bills he's co-sponsored since going to Washington in January, 12 he's sponsored and four he's pushed through the House of Representatives. Higgins spokesman Andrew David said he's built a formidable early record of accomplishment — second among some 60 freshmen lawmakers for bills passed, third for bills introduced.
More: Clay Higgins, Indivisible Acadiana agree: Political violence hurts both sides
More: Clay Higgins' bill clears House panel
"If you're squared away, you're going to do well," Higgins said in a visit to The Daily Advertiser on Thursday. By squared away, he meant getting to work early, reading legislation carefully and completely, being respectful to fellow House members and dressing the part on Capitol Hill.
"I need to be a gentleman of consequence," he said. "I have to be respected among my colleagues."
More sides to the man
That means putting his best boot forward but keeping the cowboy hat in the office.
"Some voters know me one-dimensionally," Higgins said in reference to his two years as a Crime Stoppers spokesman for the St. Landry Sheriff's Office. His video and Facebook work in the position landed him national exposure and social media attention measured in the tens of millions.
More: Higgins adjusts to life as a Louisiana congressman
More: Meet the veteran who gives a special salute at the VA clinic
There were ups and downs to that when he sought office in 2016, he said. Some voters didn't see him as a serious candidate, judging him to have more flash than substance. Most big donors shied away, and he was outspent by huge amounts.
But Higgins, a self-described "constitutionalist" and political conservative, said his colleagues as well as more constituents are "giving him a chance" these days to show what he's got. U.S. Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, put Higgins on important panels and handed him serious legislation to handle.
Strong focus on service
His office staff — in the 3rd Congressional District and in Washington — has been vigorous in serving constituents; through last week, they'd completed 406 constituent cases, he said. He describes his staff, which includes many people with law enforcement and military backgrounds, as "respectful, involved, informed and proactive."
Higgins has held four town hall meetings since taking office — he was in Youngsville on Thursday night — three telephone town hall meetings, met 5,200 constituents and his office has sent out 15,000 constituent letters, he said. He's made 438 roll call votes, held 352 official meetings and attended 90 committee hearings.
In Washington, he said he's tended to his office within the framework of the existing political structure. He described Congress as "an ancient, powerful, fraternity" and said he heeds its traditions to get things accomplished. Legislation, he said, goes through the chairmen — he doesn't upstage any chairman — and relationships matter.
Among big achievements that included his participation was co-sponsoring the Veterans Administration Accountability Bill, signed into law in June. Higgins, who served five-plus years in the Army, serves on the Veterans Affairs committee.
He's also done the type of dutiful work that sometimes escapes public notice. He said he secured an additional $10 million to dredge the Calcasieu Channel, something he touted on the campaign trail. The Port of Lake Charles is one of the nation's busiest ports; exports include chemicals, petrochemicals, and liquefied natural gas.
Read or Share this story: https://www.theadvertiser.com/story/news/2017/08/04/higgins-colleagues-voters-appreciate-his-substance/540262001/To love a girl who wanders, you must know that her soul yearns for movement.
The beat of a drum, the whistle of a train and the summit of a mountain are all the same language to her, urging her to move.
Your voice and your touch, too, can speak the language of movement. That is the second thing you must know. If a girl who wanders loves you, her soul will sway to the cadence of your words.
A girl who wanders sees poetry in everything, from the magnificence of the stars to the dance of a blade of grass.
If you love her, you must realize that you are poetry as well. Write her haikus in kisses and limericks in tiny gestures.
She will understand what you mean.
If you love a girl who wanders, run beside her. Not ahead of her or behind her, for both of these will quickly try her patience, but beside her. Do not follow or lead her to the highest peak or the tastiest food truck in sight; rather, join your paths and walk with her. Match your stride to her, and she just might do the same.
This is a girl, a woman, a being who is accustomed to following her instincts and making her own way. She probably travels alone, makes friends easily on the road (bidding them farewell just as easily), and ignores the ‘Do Not Enter’ sign.
Compromise does not come naturally to her. Be patient. The constant give and take of a relationship will take time for her to learn, but when she does, you will find her more generous, more compassionate than you could have imagined. For a girl who wanders has made a study of empathy.
She is made of water. She knows fluidity and change.
If you love a girl like this, you must discover the secret of holding her in your eyelashes, for she will slip through your fingers.
Sometimes the water in her will spill over. You don’t have to ask why. Your presence is enough.
To love a girl who wanders, realize that wanderlust is a true affliction.
When her gaze is unfocused and her thoughts far away, know that she dreams not of other people, but of other worlds. Dream with her of caravans in the desert and of sea journeys centuries ago. Help her plan road trips, buy plane tickets, or even build a tent in the living room when there are
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principals can be essential to improving schools, experts say. A 2013 survey by the National Center for Education Statistics found that principals who receive professional development are more likely to remain at their school and continue working as principals than those who don't.
That's what first led Oakland Unified to look at the role of principal supervisors and to partner with New Leaders, which has worked with 10 districts to develop principal supervisors, including Cleveland, Los Angeles, and Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Chief of Schools Smith says the district's superintendents didn't initially welcome the training.
“There was a little pushback,” Smith said. “‘Why do we have to do this? This is going to take a large chunk of our time. We could be in a school.’ And now, they look forward to it.”
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Re: Is all this manipulation good for Bitcoin? September 02, 2014, 01:23:36 PM #9 Quote from: Cream on September 02, 2014, 09:56:05 AM Quote from: jjacob on September 02, 2014, 01:16:22 AM
This probably gives newbies a chance to enter the market at attractive valuations.
Yeah it does,I have bought a coin while it went down to 475 today.Might be it could have gone below that??
You could get it lower than that, if you wait for it to drop.... I was impatient... Last week I snagged one at $493+5 = $498
then when it dropped to $490...i bought another one for $495...only to have the market hit $470.... so Yeah....
Im gonna wait for it tank further or just sit tight! You could get it lower than that, if you wait for it to drop.... I was impatient... Last week I snagged one at $493+5 = $498then when it dropped to $490...i bought another one for $495...only to have the market hit $470.... so Yeah....Im gonna wait for it tank further or just sit tight!Three tiny islands off the coast of WA have resulted in the Commonwealth relinquishing $2 billion worth of gas royalties to the state government.
The "islands" are simply rocky outcrops in the Browse Basin that sit only a metre above sea level at high tide, however their discovery during a satellite sweep of the area last year has led to a redraw of the Australian Marine boundaries which means most of the Scott and Seringapatam Reefs belongs to WA.
The discovery has led to the Commonwealth signing over 65 per cent of royalties to the WA government.
Federal minister for industry Ian Mcfarlane signed over the signific ant portion of the gas fields to WA Mines and Petroleum minister Bill Marmion at a ceremony in Perth this week.
"Congratulations to you and for the diligence of my department, Geoscience Australia, in discovering you were entitled to 65 per cent of this gas," McFarlane said.
"This was an oversight by the previous government [which] failed to recognise these rocks, and therefore this area, as being rightfully in the possession of the West Australian Government."
It is expected the Browse Basin gas field will net the WA government $2 billion over the life of the project.
Marmion said the WA government had only expected to make a small percentage of royalties from the project.
"It is a bit like winning lotto, $1.5 billion that you didn't expect you were going to get," he said.
"We were seriously looking at getting about 5 per cent of the Torosa field, so it is really great to say we have got 65 per cent, you got 35 per cent.
"Whilst we probably won't get it for five to 10 years, it is something you can look forward to – the Treasurer will be looking forward to it coming into his coffers."
Royalties earnings in WA have plummeted in the past 18 months due to the significant fall in the price of iron ore.The other day, we notice a terrible burning smell coming out of the server room. Long story short, it ended up being one of the battery modules that was burning up in the UPS unit, but it took a good couple of hours before we were able to figure it out. The main reason we were able to figure it out is that the UPS display finally showed that the module needed to be replaced.
Here was the problem: the whole room was filled with the smell. Doing a sniff test was very difficult because the smell had infiltrated everything (not to mention it made us light headed). We almost mistakenly took our production database server down because it's where the smell was the strongest. The vitals appeared to be ok (CPU temps showed 60 degrees C, and fan speeds ok), but we weren't sure. It just so happened that the battery module that burnt up was about the same height as the server on the rack and only 3 ft away. Had this been a real emergency, we would have failed miserably.
Realistically, the chances that actual server hardware is burning up is a fairly rare occurrence and most of the time we'll be looking at the UPS the culprit. But with several racks with several pieces of equipment, it can quickly become a guessing game. How does one quickly and accurately determine what piece of equipment is actually burning up? I realize this question is highly dependent on the environment variables such as room size, ventilation, location, etc, but any input would be appreciated.What is AGI?
Peter Voss Blocked Unblock Follow Following Feb 21, 2017
Let’s start at the beginning. Why do we even need this term?
60 years ago when the term ‘AI’ was coined, the ambition was to build machines that can learn and reason like humans. Over several decades of trying and failing (badly), the original vision was largely abandoned. Nowadays almost all AI work relates to narrow, domain-specific, human-designed capabilities. Powerful as these current applications may be, they are limited to their specific target domain, and have very narrow (if any) adaptation or interactive learning ability. Most computer scientists graduating after the mid 80’s only know AI from that much watered-down perspective.
However, just after 2000 several of us felt that hardware, software, and cognitive theory had advanced sufficiently to rekindle the original dream. At that time we found about a dozen people actively doing research in this area, and willing to contribute to a book to share ideas and approaches. After some deliberation, three of us (Shane Legg, Ben Goertzel and myself) decided that ‘Artificial General Intelligence’, or AGI, best described our shared approach. We felt that we wanted to give our community a distinctive identity, to differentiate our work from mainstream AI which is unlikely to lead to general intelligence.
The term ‘AGI’ gave a name to this emerging group of researchers, scientists, and engineers who were actually getting back to trying to develop ‘real AI’. This ‘movement’ was officially launched with the publication of the book Artificial General Intelligence, and has since gathered momentum with additional publications and annual AGI conferences. By now, the term has become quite widely used to refer to machines with human, or super-human level capabilities.
Some people have suggested using ‘AGI’ for any work that is generally in the area of autonomous learning, ‘model-free’, adaptive, unsupervised or some such approach or methodology. I don’t think this is justified, as many clearly narrow AI projects use such methods. One can certainly assert that some approach or technology will likely help achieve AGI, but I think it is reasonable to judge projects by whether they are explicitly on a path (however far away it may be) to achieving the grand vision: a single system that can learn incrementally, reason abstractly, and act effectively over a wide range of domains — just like humans can.
Elsewhere I’ve elaborated on what human intelligence entails; here I want to take a slightly different angle and ask “What would it take for us to say we’ve achieved AGI?”. This is my proposed descriptive definition, followed by some elaboration:
A computer system that matches or exceeds the real time cognitive (not physical) abilities of a smart, well-educated human.
Cognitive abilities include, but are not limited to: holding productive conversations; learning new commercial and scientific domains in real time through reading, coaching, experimentation, etc.; applying existing knowledge and skills to new domains. For example, learning new professional skills, a new language (including computer languages), or even novel games.
Acceptable limitations include: very limited sense acuity and dexterity.
Alternative suggestions, and their merits
“Machines that can learn to do any job that humans currently do” — I think this fits quite well, except that it seems unnecessarily ambitious. Machines that can do most jobs, especially mentally challenging ones would get us to our overall goal of having machines that can help us solve difficult problems like ageing, energy, pollution, and help us think through political and moral issues, etc. Naturally, they would also help to build machines that will handle remaining jobs we want to automate.
“Machines that pass the Turing Test” — The current Turing Test asks too much (potentially having to dumb itself down to fool judges that it is human), and too little (limited conversation time). A much better test would be to see if the AI can learn a broad range of new complex human-level cognitive skills via autonomous learning and coaching.
“Machines that are self-aware/ can learn autonomously/ do autonomous reduction/ etc.” — These definition grossly underspecify AGI. One could build narrow systems that have these characteristics (and probably have already), but are nowhere near AGI (and may not be on the path at all).
“A machine with the ability to learn from its experience and to work with insufficient knowledge and resources.” — Important requirements but lacking specification of the level skill one expects. Again, systems already exist that have these qualities but are nowhere near AGI.
Some objections
Why specify AGI in terms of human abilities? — While we’d expect AGI cognition to be quite different (instant access to Internet, photographic memory, logical thinking, etc.), the goal is still to free us from most work. In order to do that it must be able to operate in our environment, and learn interactively via natural language and human interaction.
Why not require full sense acuity, dexterity, and embodiment? — I think that a reasonable relaxation of requirements is to initially exclude tasks that require high dexterity & sense acuity. The reason is that initial focus should be on cognitive ability — ie. a “Helen Hawking” (Helen Keller/ Stephen Hawking)” The core problem is building the brain, the intelligence engine. It can’t be totally disconnected from the world, but its senses/ actuators do not need to be very elaborate, as long as it can operate other machines (tool use).One day after the University of Oregon released a
in response to media inquiries about what it got for paying a football recruiting consultant $25,000, Oregon officials released more documents but did not respond to specific questions.
Instead, spokesman Dave Williford released a short statement:
"As we have previously stated, we have and will continue to work with the NCAA on this matter. Until this is resolved, we will offer no further comment."
In the end, it's difficult to tell what Oregon got for its money. The printed materials Willie Lyles provided Oregon as part of his "2011 National Package" included information on prospects in just six states. It is not known how much video Lyles provided Oregon -- his invoice promised video from 22 states -- because Oregon officials said that they couldn't retrieve it.
When the news surfaced in March that Oregon
shortly after Temple, Texas, star Lache Seastrunk signed with the Ducks, media outlets and the NCAA began questioning UO officials about the school's interactions with Lyles.
At the time, Oregon officials said they followed NCAA rules and that the payment was for a legitimate recruiting service. In comments that surfaced Tuesday in a
, Lyles denied wrongdoing.
At about 6:20 p.m. Tuesday, Oregon's office of public records released two e-mails from consultant Lyles to Josh Gibson, an employee on Oregon's football staff: one sent Feb. 17 and one sent March 3. Attached to the e-mails were documents including contact information for prospects in Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina and South Carolina. The attachments totaled 131 PDF pages with prospect information and two spreadsheets with 157 names.
The e-mails are dated about one year after Oregon paid Lyles for his "2011 National Package," and around the time Yahoo! Sports was investigating Oregon's payment to Lyles. Yahoo's story appeared March 3, the same date on one of Lyles' e-mails.
Lyles' more recent recruiting reports appear to be more current and comprehensive than an
. Of the 140 prospect bios in that packet, nearly all of the players had finished high school. Oregon officials have not said when they received the packet from Lyles, or whether they challenged Lyles when much of the information in it turned out to be useless.
Among the documents released Monday in response to requests under state open-records law -- including e-mails from head coach Chip Kelly and running backs coach Gary Campbell -- there was no evidence of an arrangement for Lyles to steer players to Oregon in exchange for payment. It is against NCAA rules for a school to pay someone to direct a player to sign with its team.
But a big question remains: How much video did Oregon receive from Lyles? In a Feb. 22, 2010 invoice to Oregon, he promised to deliver game and highlight film from prospects in 22 states. Yet Oregon issued no video to media outlets despite requests to see any and all materials Lyles included in his recruiting package.
Williford said Tuesday evening that during the recruitment process, Oregon receives video clips of players from many sources and sorts them by player. That process makes it very difficult to tell which videos came from Lyles, Williford said.
In a recording that also surfaced Tuesday, Lyles
with a Houston radio station Sunday, a day before the documents were released. In the interview, Lyles said of his dealings with Oregon, "I didn't do anything wrong."
The controversy surrounding him exploded after
felt they lost out on Seastrunk, Lyles said.
"When I didn't want to steer kids their way, that's when the relationship became strained," Lyles said. "So that's when they began the issue or, in a sense, almost, vendetta against me personally."
The radio program host asked Lyles to explain what he meant by "steer."
"No, this isn't what I'm doing," Lyles said. "I'm providing kids opportunity. I don't tell them where to go to school. They make those decisions themselves with their families. And it's not my decision to make for them."
Lyles told the host that he did a better job than most recruiting consultants in finding film of players that a given school would be interested in, rather than just producing numerous videos.
Lyles has declined interview requests from The Oregonian.
On Tuesday, UO public-records official Liz Denecke called the delayed release of the documents "just an omission, an oversight. I apologize." She added that to her knowledge, Oregon had addressed all records requests it had received about Lyles.
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Ducks Recruiting Inquiry - Documents
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•The Madison, Wisconsin, police officer who fatally shot a 19-year-old will not be criminally charged for the shooting since the district attorney announced today that it was a "lawful use of deadly police force."Officer Matt Kenny fatally shot Robinson on March 6 after police received a disturbance call. Robinson had allegedly been running in traffic and Kenny forced himself into an apartment that Robinson had run into. Robinson and Kenny got into an altercation inside the home and Kenny shot Robinson in his head, torso and right arm, authorities said."My decision is not based on emotion. Rather this decision is based on the facts as they have been investigated and reported to me," Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne said at a news conference this afternoon.Ozanne detailed the evidence that he reviewed before making his decision and then described the three 911 calls that were made prior to police being called to the scene. He described how the callers said that Robinson was "tweaking, chasing everybody" and, in another, the caller said that he had been punched in the face by Robinson.Ozanne said that it was understood that Robinson was believed to be unarmed when he broke into the apartment building, though they believed at the time that Robinson had taken hallucinogenic mushrooms or some other drug. Toxicology tests determined that he had mushrooms, THC or marijuana and Xanax in his bloodstream, Ozanne said.During Kenny's interview with investigators, he said that he began to lose his balance when he came face to face with Robinson in the building's stairwell, and he feared that "his firearm would be taken and used to shoot him and possibly the other person in the apartment," Ozanne said.He also noted that Kenny called in the shooting on his radio and began administering aid because Robinson was still breathing.Some of Robinson's relatives spoke out about an hour after the decision was announced, expressing their dissatisfaction."This is politics, not justice," Robinson's grandmother Sharon Irwin said.A family spokesman said that while they "fully support the community to express frustration if there is frustration," they "feel strongly that protests should not be violent."Robinson's death sparked statewide protests in March and some crowds have already gathered in Madison this evening.The decision not to charge Kenny comes after officers in two other states are facing charges for other fatal altercations.The South Carolina police officer who killed Walter Scott was charged with first-degree murder and the six police officers connected to the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore are all facing multiple criminal charges, the most serious of which was one count of second-degree depraved heart murder.Officers in other high-profile cases such as the deaths of Michael Brown in Missouri and Eric Garner in New York City were not charged, and the decision whether or not to charge the officers who fatally shot Tamir Rice in Cleveland has not yet been determined.Making friends was so easy when we were kids. Or at least that’s how my nostalgia remembers it (successful counseling sessions blocking my freshman and sophomore years of high school).
You tackled a kid at recess. Partnered with someone for Bio Lab. Played a pick up basketball game at the park. Got cast in a play. Moved into a dorm.
Then bam, you had a friend.
Lots of them.
Like the kid who’s dad worked for Nintendo — friends just waiting at your doorstep.
And then college happened — the height of friend-mania.
And then college ended.
You sang “…friends are friends forever…” arm to arm with your best friend for life you swore you’d never forget right there beside you her name coming to you shortly…
….SamanaaaThereseeEileeen….
Where Did All The Friendships Go????
Then you entered the abyss — the friend-abyss.
Your 20s and 30s are deep, uncharted waters were friends are dumped in black bags never to be seen again.
All those friends-are-friends-forever friends, gone – the apparent expiration date on “forever” lasting about two and half years.
Because you move. Get married. Have kids. Work a 60 hour a week job. As I wrote in 101 Secrets For Your Twenties:
Keeping friendships in your 20s is harder than Ryan Gosling’s Abs. Because no longer do you have any shared experiences.
So after a couple back-and- forths on voicemail, then a couple texts, then a couple Facebook messages — next thing you know your friendship has been reduced to throwing out the once-a-year “Happy B-Day!!!!” Facebook wall post, giving it four “!!!!” to show just how really excited you are about your “friend.” (Without of course spending the time to actually write out the entire word “birthday“, let alone give them a call).
Making New Friends
If keeping up with old friends is Chuck-Norris’-Abs-hard, making new ones is Chuck-Norris’-Fists-of-Destruction-harder.
A two year old who can’t count could count all the new friends I have made post-college.
Between work, wife, baby, work outside of work, and then those silly things like the need to sleep, who has time to go meet new people? And then actually go through the long, awkward process of developing a friendship?
And the only thing harder than finding new friends post-college? Finding new couple friends post-college – now four people to toss into the Compatibility-Blender.
And the only thing harder than finding couple friends post college? Finding couple married friends with young babies who:
A. Aren’t on the fast track to divorce. So that by the time you finally go through all the awkward lunches, meet-and-greets, and you seal the friendship deal, one of them isn’t off with their secretary… (wish this was hypothetical…)
B. All four adults like each other, but the baby keeps slapping yours in the face and throwing temper tantrums like an Orange-County-Teenager who gets a KIA for her first car instead of BMW.
This friend-shoot ain’t easy…
That’s why for the second post of this series I’ve written about three keys to making and keeping friends post-college. Stay glued to the screen.
But what say you? Has it been difficult for you to make or keep friends since college? If so, here’s the follow up post with three strategic tips on how to make and keep friends post college.Sir Geoff Hurst nearly quit football four years before he won the World Cup for England - to play cricket.
Sir Geoff, 72, was on the verge of hanging up his footie boots to become a wicket-keeper and batsman, he has revealed.
He says he loved cricket so much he used to regularly miss pre-season training with West Ham at a young age to bat and bowl.
Bat and ball: England World Cup hero Sir Geoff Hurst almost gave up football because of his passion for cricket
1966: Captain Bobby Moore, carried shoulder high by his team mates, holding aloft the World Cup trophy. England defeated Germany 4-2 in the final, played at London's Wembley Stadium
Sir Geoff, the only man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup Final, says his heroes as a boy weren't footballers - but cricket legends like Denis Compton.
He says he was good enough to play for the Essex Second XI and even for the full county - until West Ham boss Ron Greenwood moved him from midfielder to a striker.
The star went on to score hundreds of goals including 228 for his club, and key strikes at the World Cup against West Germany and Argentina.
Sir Geoff, who now lives in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, said: 'I was detrimental to both sports playing football and cricket.
'At the top level to be good enough to play the sport you have to be dedicated to doing that thing.
'I enjoyed playing football and cricket and it came to a time in my late teens and early 20s when I say I was "messing about with both sports".
'Four years before the 1966 World Cup I was still playing more cricket than football. I thought my future probably lay with cricket'
'It was the end of an era where people like Denis Compton and Willy Watson were playing football and cricket internationally for England. How does that work?
'Playing cricket was to the detriment of my football. I was playing cricket until September, even October each year while it was still light in the evenings.
'Then I was coming back to West Ham having missed all the pre-season training and half-a-dozen league games and I was struggling as a footballer.
'Then Ron Greenwood decided that he would move me from midfield to playing up front. I came back from playing cricket and on the first Monday we played Shrewsbury Reserves.
'I wasn't fit and as I was struggling in the middle of the park then Ron put me up front. We played Liverpool and won 1-0 in my first game up there.
'I came off the pitch and it was like my shorts had been dipped in water because I was that unfit.
'But it worked out and in that first season I played 27 games and scored 14 goals from a standing start.
'Nowadays if you pay £50million and someone gets 14 goals in 27 games it's seen as the best buy you've ever seen.
'I look back on my career and appreciate how quickly and how dramatically it rose, once I decided to fully commit to football.
'Four years before the 1966 World Cup I was still playing more cricket than football. I thought my future probably lay with cricket.
'In 1962 I decided to stay behind while West Ham went on a tour to Africa to play cricket for Essex seconds - that was just four years before the World Cup final
'There wasn't a decision to choose between the two sports. It's just that the football took off at a senior level quicker than the cricket.
'Had I played more games for Essex in the first team than I did - I played one but never really had more of a chance - I may have ended up choosing cricket. I never officially made that decision.
'The next season I was the top scorer, then in '64 we won the FA Cup, in '65 we won the Cup Winners' Cup and then everyone knows what happened in '66.
Sir Geoff Hurst the hat-trick scoring hero of the 1966 World Cup final and the other goal scorer Martin Peters
Sir Geoff also began playing sports with another footballer - Sir Bobby Moore - but rather than football, the first competitive game they took part in was cricket.
Luckily for England though, Moore decided much earlier on in life that he would solely focus on football, going on to win the World Cup on that fateful night in 1966.
'Bobby was the best I ever played with,' Hurst said. 'He had such a great football brain and was so determined and focused.
'He was so composed in the big games and big moments. He was able to be as relaxed playing in a World Cup final as he was playing in a five-aside on a Sunday morning.
'His ability to read the game was fantastic. His ability to take on and pass the ball out of defence was excellent. My third goal in the final showed that.No, CM punk will not be rated an 85 overall on the new EA Sports UFC game.
The former WWE superstar, whose real name is Phil Brooks, will actually be the lowest-rated fighter in the game until, ya know, he actually fights. EA Sports UFC 2 creative director Brian Hayes confirmed the news during a livestream on Twitch with Demetrious Johnson early Wednesday.
"CM Punk in the beta right now is an 85, which is just placeholder." Hayes told Johnson. "But the Internet just lost it’s mind over CM Punk having an 85 rating. That’s not what his rating is going to be when the game comes out.
Article continues below...
"I’m pretty sure CM Punk, when the game locks in, is going to have the lowest overall rating in the game. But when he does have his first fight, if he just lights it up and looks like a prodigy, we’ll have to go into the servers [and bump him up].
So the MMA community can collectively let out a sigh of relief that CM Punk isn’t rated higher than guys like Tim Means and Erik Perez.
Here are some additional welterweight rankings from the beta stream:
Robbie Lawler — 93
Rory MacDonald — 92
Hector Lombard — 90
Neil Magny — 88
Rick Story — 88
Tim Means — 84
You can watch the entire livestream below. It’s more than two hours long and there’s a lot to take in but Johnson and Hayes do a great job of breaking down all the features, including a roster of over 250 fighters.
Watch live video from EASPORTSUFC on www.twitch.tv
(h/t Attack of the Fanboy)Paul Singer, Jennifer Yachnin and Casey Hynes
Roll Call Staff
September 23, 2008
Everything that you are about to read might be wrong.
Roll Call’s annual attempt to rank the riches of Members of Congress is hampered by one fundamental flaw: It is based on the lawmakers’ financial disclosure forms, which are extraordinarily unreliable sources of information.
The disclosure rules allow Members to report assets in broad categories, so there is no way to tell the difference between a $20 million investment and a $5 million investment. The top category on the Members’ forms is “over $50 million,” so it is impossible to accurately account for anything worth more than that — like a professional sports team, for example. There is also a gaping loophole for assets owned by the Members’ spouse or dependent children; anything worth more than $1 million in value can be reported as “over $1 million.” There is no way to tell whether that is $1.2 million or $1.2 billion.
The rules also don’t require reporting things of value that are not used to produce income — most notably any primary residence or other home that is not used for rentals. That loophole removes from most Members’ portfolios hundreds of thousands of dollars and in come cases millions of dollars worth of assets. Airplanes, fancy cars, antiques or other valuable items are not reported.
In filing a detailed disclosure form on behalf of Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), his accountants added this editorial note, which sums up the problem: The form is meant to comply with Senate disclosure rules but “is not intended to be a complete presentation of Senator Corker’s financial position.”
Beyond all of these flaws, there remains the fact that many, many financial disclosure forms filed by Members of Congress are simply inaccurate. A check mark placed in the wrong box can inflate or deflate a Member’s apparent net worth by millions of dollars, and misunderstandings of the rules have led Members to understate some assets, overstate others and claim additional assets they no longer own.
Where the errors are obvious or have created noticeable discrepancies from prior-year filings, Roll Call has attempted to contact the offices to get a proper understanding of the actual value of the asset or assets in question.
What remains below is a ranking of the 50 wealthiest Members of Congress based on the minimum net worth reported on their financial disclosure forms. To achieve these numbers, Roll Call totaled the assets listed on financial disclosure forms filed in 2008 (covering calendar year 2007) using the lowest number in the ranges in which Members are required to report. An asset from $500,000 to $1 million is counted as being worth $500,000, unless the Member has provided a brokerage statement or other documentation that offers more specific detail.
Liabilities, which are also reported in ranges, are calculated based on the minimum value, and are subtracted from total minimum assets to establish total net worth.
Assets that are not included on the forms but have values that have been established by Roll Call or other publications are not included for the purposes of assembling this ranking, because the Members are not required to report these numbers. This ranking is based only on what is reported on the annual disclosure forms.
1. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.)
$230.98 million
The Massachusetts Senator claims the mantel of richest Member in the 110th Congress. Kerry’s actual holdings, however — including those of wife Teresa Heinz Kerry, widow to ketchup heir Sen. John Heinz (R-Pa.) — are likely much greater.
In an April 2008 article, Forbes.com estimated Heinz Kerry’s net worth at $1 billion.
Kerry’s disclosure forms list the value of more than 180 assets — including Heinz family trusts and investment funds — only as “over $1 million,” rather than the more specific ranges including $1 million to $5 million. Senators are allowed to list assets in the “over $1 million” category only if the items are held independently by a spouse or dependent child.
2. Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.)
$225.96 million
The wealthy Californian, who remains heavily invested in Harman International Industries, has seen her wealth increase nearly $10 million since filing her 2006 report.
Harman’s report lists three accounts, including one held solely by her husband, totaling a combined minimum of $125 million in stock and options in the company. Harman’s spouse founded the company, which manufactures electronics under the brand names AKG Acoustics, Harman Kardon, Infinity and JBL, among others.
3. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.)
$160.62 million
The Golden State lawmaker added $2 million to his bottom line in 2007, increasing his fortune by a little more than 1 percent.
Issa, founder of the Vista, Calif.-based Directed Electronics, which manufactures car alarms, claims an investment worth at least $50 million in DEI and $25 million to $50 million in Greene Properties Inc. Both corporations own and operate office and industrial properties in California.
4. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.)
$80.40 million
A descendant of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, the West Virginian’s vast assets remained stable in 2007, as his net worth increased by a little more than 1 percent.
Rockefeller’s fortunes are stored primarily in three blind trusts with JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wachovia Corp. and United National Bank, valued at more than $50 million, $25 million to $50 million, and $5 million to $25 million, respectively.
Another family trust is listed at simply “over $1 million.”
The Senator lists at least $5.5 million in debt on two loans, down from $6.5 million in 2006, when he listed an additional $1 million loan from United National Bank in Charleston, W.Va.
5. Rep. Robin Hayes (R-N.C.)
$78.96 million
The Tar Heel State lawmaker’s wealth more than doubled since 2006, when he identified about $36 million in assets. According to Hayes’ office, the increase, including more than $36 million in new trust funds, is the result of an inheritance. Hayes’ mother passed away in 2007.
Among the holdings in Hayes’ numerous trust funds are a mix of stocks and bonds, as well as properties including land in Lake County, Minn., and Sheldon, S.C., valued at least $5 million and $1 million, respectively.
The funds include at least $1 million in stock in corporations such as Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Merck, Pfizer, General Electric and Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris USA.
The North Carolinian also lists a commercial loan of at least $1 million to finance his private airplane.
6. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.)
$65.49 million
Buchanan, the owner of several car dealerships, watched his wealth dip slightly in the past year, dropping $1.74 million, or more than 2 percent below his 2006 total.
While the Florida lawmaker’s empire — comprising several automobile dealerships, an aircraft charter business, real estate holdings and investment accounts — amounts to $102.34 million, it carries with it nearly $37 million in debt.
7. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.)
$55.33 million
Lautenberg, who made millions from the payroll processing company he created five decades ago, reported that his total minimum assets jumped about 24 percent, from $45 million in 2006, but that number is still not very revealing. Lautenberg’s two biggest assets are two blind trusts that he set up for himself, each worth $5 million to $25 million. Together they count for $10 million of his assets for this list, though they could be worth five times that amount.
8. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)
$52.34 million
Together with her husband, financier Richard Blum, Feinstein claims a diversified portfolio that grew by $1.8 million, or an increase of just under 4 percent, since 2006.
The Californian lists assets with her husband that include ownership of all or part of numerous limited partnerships.
Among those, the Blum Family Partners, owned entirely by Blum, claims “over $1 million” in stock in RAE Systems, a manufacturer of chemical and radiation detection equipment. The fund also includes “over $1 million” in a real estate investment trust.
In addition, Feinstein lists a $5 million to $25 million investment in Carlton Hotel Properties in San Francisco and owns condos in both Tahoe City, Calif., and on Kauai in Hawaii, both valued at $1 million to $5 million.
Feinstein also lists at least $2 million in debt to Bank of America for two loans made to Blum Capital Partners.
9. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.)
$47.62 million
Much of Kennedy’s wealth stems from family trusts, and the Massachusetts Senator reported almost no change in 2007, with an increase of less than 1 percent.
Kennedy lists one family trust valued from $25 million to $50 million, as well as four trusts worth at least $5 million each and a blind trust totaling at least $1 million.
The Bay State lawmaker also owns a rental property in Hyannisport, Mass., valued at at least $1 million and lists a plot of undeveloped land in Lafayette, La., owned by his wife, worth from $500,000 to $1 million.
Kennedy lists $1 million in mortgage debt from Northern Trust Co. for his Hyannisport property.
10. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.)
$28.65 million
If you take financial disclosure forms seriously (never a good idea), you might be led to believe that Smith’s net worth tripled last year. His 2006 financial disclosure form disclosed net assets of about $8.5 million.
But Smith’s worth is largely derived from Smith Food Sales, a purveyor of frozen vegetables. In 2006 he listed that asset as being worth $5 million to $25 million. In 2007, the value has jumped to the next category, $25 million to $50 million, so even if the value of the asset rose from just under to just more than $25 million.
11. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas)
$23.93 million
The Lone Star State lawmaker saw his wealth increase by more than $6 million in 2007, largely thanks to his wife’s investment in a San Antonio real estate partnership.
Together with his wife and family, McCaul also invests at least $12.1 million in Clear Channel Communications, the company founded by his father-in-law, Lowry Mays. The McCauls also list nearly $1 million invested in Live Nation, a Clear Channel spinoff.
12. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.)
$22.41 million
He lists an investment of at least
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. That’s how SMB 3 works. That means it’s a good idea to pay attention to the network design so that you’re not surprised by the route your backup traffic flows. Mind you that this could be a good surprise, but you might want to plan for it.
I’ll share a quick lab setup where SMB 3 Multichannel kicks in. Please don’t consider this a reference guide for your backup architectural design but as a demo of how SMB multichannel can be leveraged to your advantage.
Proving Veeam Backup & Replication leverages SMB Multichannel
Here’s a figure of a quick lab setup I threw together.
There are a couple of significant things to note here when it comes to the automatic selection of the best possible network path.
SMB 3 Multichannel picks the best solution based on its logic. You can read more about that here. I’ve included the figure with the overview below.
The figure nicely show the capabilities of the NIC situation. To select the best possible network path SMB 3 uses the following logic:
1. RDMA capable NICs (rNICs) are preferred and chosen first. rNICs combine the highest throughput, the lowest latency and bring CPU offloading. on the processor when pushing through large amounts of data.
2. RSS capable NICs: NIcs with Receive Side Scaling (RSS) improve scalability by not being limited to core zero on the server. Configured correctly RSS offers the second-best capabilities.
3. The speed of the NICs is the 3rd evaluation criteria: a 10 Gbps NIC offers way more throughput than a 1 Gbps NIC.
Following this logic it is clear that Multichannel will select our 2 RDMA capable 10Gbps NICs over the management LBFO interface which does not support RDMA and while supporting RSS can only deliver 2Gbps throughput at best. That’s exactly what you see in the screenshot below.
Conclusion
So yes, Veeam Backup & Replication leverages SMB Multichannel! Please note that this did not require us to set SMB 3 Multichannel constraints or a preferred network for backups in Veeam Backup & Replication. It’s possible to do so when needed but ideally you design your solution to have no need for this and let automatic detection chose the best network path correctly. This is the case in our little lab setup. The backup traffic flows over 10.1.0.0/16 network even when our Veeam Backup & Replication VM, the Hyper-V host and the backup target have 10.10.0.0/16 as their management subnet. That’s the one they exist on the Active Directory domain they belong to for standard functionality. But as both the source and the target can be reached via 2*10Gbps RDMA capable NICs on the 10.1.0.0/16 subnet SMB3 will select those according to its selection criteria. No intervention needed.
SMB Direct Support
Now that we have shown that Veeam Backup & Replication backups in certain configurations can and will leverage SMB Multichannel to your benefit another question pops up. Can and does Veeam Backup & Replication leverage SMB Direct? The answer to that is also, yes. If SMB Direct is correctly configured on all the hosts and switches their networks paths in between it will. Multichannel is the mechanism used to detect SMB Direct capabilities, so if multichannel works and sees SMB Direct is possible it will leverage that. That’s why when SMB Direct or RDMA is enabled on your NICs it’s important that it is configured correctly throughout the entire network path used. Badly configured SMB Direct leads to very bad experiences.
Now think about that. High throughput, low latency and CPU offloading, minimizing the CPU impact on your Hyper-V hosts, SOFS nodes, S2D nodes and backup targets. Not bad at all, especially not since you’re probably already implementing SMB Direct in many of these deployments. It’s certainly something that could and should be considered when design solutions or optimizing existing ones.
More SMB3 and Windows Server 2016 Goodness
When you put your SMB3 file share continuously available on a Windows 2012 (R2) or Windows Server 2016 cluster (it doesn’t need to be on a CSV disk) you’ll gain high availability trough transparent failover with SMB3 and except for a short pause your backups will keep running even when the backup target node reboots or crashes after the File Server role has failed over. Now, start combing that with ReFSv3 in Windows Server 2016 and the Veeam Backup & Replication v9.5 support of this and you can see a lot of potential here to optimize many aspects of your backup design delivering effective and efficient solutions.
Things to investigate further
One question that pops up in my mind is what happens if we configure a preferred back-up network in Veeam Backup & Replication. Will this affect the operation of SMB multichannel at all? By that I means would enabling a preferred network in Veeam prevent multichannel from using more than one NIC?
I my opinion it should allow for multiple scenarios actually. When you have equally capable NICs that are on different subnets you might want to make sure it uses only one. After all, Veeam uses the subnet to configure a preferred path, or multiple subnets for that matter. Now multichannel will kick in with multiple equally capable NICs whether they are on the same subnet or not and if they are on the same subnet you might want them both to be leveraged even when setting a preferred path in Veeam. Remember that 1 IP / NIC is used to set up an SMB session and then it detects capabilities available, i.e. multiple paths, SMB Direct, RSS, speed, within 1 or across multiple subnets.
I’ll leave the combination of Veeam Backup & Replication and SMB multichannel for a future blog post.
Like this: Like Loading...Prepare for Change Network
was created in May of 2013 to support a popular movement for peaceful change during the “Planetary Shift” called ‘The Event’
Our Vision- Beautiful and holistic changes are occurring everywhere on Earth! All people are invited to Participate as a New Society is being born into the Light of Truth. A massive surge of positive feelings is powering a deep shift worldwide. Optimism and joy are creating peace in everyone as they are filled with an instinctive knowing of truth and humanity’s potential for loving change.
The unfolding of love and truth has been written about and spoken of by the great prophets, sages and mystics of all cultures for thousands of years, it is THE EVENT
Prepare For Change is here to connect all people, particularly those who have experienced the Light of Truth, together in loving, peaceful support of a prosperous New Society. Those who have experienced the Light of Truth know more from that brief interlude than they could learn from any teacher alive today. You, who already have this knowing, are called to action.
Assisting the awakened as they seek the presence of other lighted beings is our first job, so that we can then share the awareness that is our unique gift. Call all who know the Light of Truth! Ask them to join you in meditation and prayer to increase the energy of peace in your community! Organize to lift the spirits of everyone by sharing your special gifts in true love and openness. Every village, town and city needs loving leadership to embrace change as never before in human history. Join us to know the truth of our history and origins and share the loving intention of our Galaxy. We are one.
What is the ‘Event’?
The ‘Event’ is when the rising of the planetary frequencies will be accompanied by the planned mass arrests of the worldwide criminal cabal, politicians, big bankers and others who have committed numerous crimes against humanity. This will happen in a legal manner, and the accused will be given fair trials. As a result of this legal action there will be a worldwide reset of our financial system, of our energy and food production, our media, and the whole structure of society in general. Clean technologies which had been previously suppressed by big corporations will be released, the natural abundance of this planet will be distributed for everybody, our eco-systems cleaned and this planet, along with all its inhabitants, finally healed and liberated. Click here to read more about the ‘Event’
Please be aware that at the time of “The Event” this site will be getting perhaps millions of hits and sign up for groups will increase tremendously. We hope you will be active and take your role seriously and be a force for peace, truth and understanding at the time of “The Event”. The PFC Team Thanks you!For the snake genus, see Platyplectrurus
Wallia or Walha (in Spanish: Walia, in Portuguese Vália), ( c. 385 – 418) was king of the Visigoths from 415 to 418, earning a reputation as a great warrior and prudent ruler. He was elected to the throne after Athaulf and then Sigeric were assassinated in 415.
Early on, Wallia made peace with Emperor Honorius and accepted a treaty with the Roman Empire. He also returned Honorius' sister Galla Placidia to him. As gains from these arrangements, Wallia was granted Aquitaine in 417 as a region where the Visigoths would be based as official allies or foederati. He established his court in Toulouse, which became the Visigothic capital for the rest of the fifth century.
In 418 he honored the alliance by invading Hispania, where his army destroyed the Siling Vandals and so reduced the numbers of Alans living there that the survivors placed themselves under the rule of Gunderic, king of the Asding Vandals.
Some historical sources say that he was related to Alaric only by marriage. He was succeeded by Alaric's illegitimate son or son in law Theodoric. Wallia's daughter married Rechila, King of the Suevi, and was the mother of Ricimer and the mother in law of Gundowech, King of the Burgundians.
Wallia is sometimes assumed to have been the historical model for the legendary figure of Walter of Aquitaine.A new year means striving for new goals, and Twitter user @_DATBO1WOODY decided to make his goal to beat Chad Johnson in FIFA 16.
Calling out @ochocinco in a Fifa match,on Xbox one, my gammer tag is IIXxWEEZYxXII — Rodney (@_DATBO1WOODY) January 2, 2016
This is actually a rather difficult challenge. Johnson is a big soccer fan and takes pride in how well he plays in FIFA. Last year, you may recall, he showed up at someone's house in Norfolk and lost a closely contested game.
After taking the L last year, Johnson was ready to redeem himself at this stranger's house:
You're calling me out just to lose? RT @_DATBO1WOODY: Calling out @ochocinco in a Fifa match,on Xbox one, my gammer tag is IIXxWEEZYxXII — Chad Johnson (@ochocinco) January 2, 2016
Why would he want to start the new year off w/ a loss... #FIFA16KING — Chad Johnson (@ochocinco) January 2, 2016
Can someone please inform @_DATBO1WOODY that I will not hesitate to come in his place of residence & whoop his ass in FIFA16... — Chad Johnson (@ochocinco) January 2, 2016
He was so eager about the chance to redeem himself he stopped everything he was doing to set up the match:
@_DATBO1WOODY My flight is 42 minutes from the Bahamas, you will lose approximately 2 hours & 8 minutes after I send this tweet.... — Chad Johnson (@ochocinco) January 2, 2016
No, like seriously, he really wanted this:
I really left my luggage, fuck it, those outfits were so 2015, new year, new cheap clothing to buy... — Chad Johnson (@ochocinco) January 2, 2016
To review: Chad Johnson was so excited about playing a stranger in FIFA he ABANDONED HIS CLOTHING AT AN AIRPORT. #YOLO
Just in case you thought he was merely talking trash, here's video of him showing up at @_DATBO1WOODY's house for the game.
Just pulled up to @_DATBO1WOODY crib, I don't play about FIFA16... pic.twitter.com/sd9jeddykD — Chad Johnson (@ochocinco) January 2, 2016
It didn't take long for Chad Johnson to vindicate himself against this person he met just minutes before playing him:
The score against @_DATBO1WOODY is 3-nil in the 30th minute... #FIFA16KING — Chad Johnson (@ochocinco) January 2, 2016
Moral of the story: Be careful what you wish for, especially if you have a wish to play Chad Johnson in FIFA.
* * *
SB Nation presents: The best sports moments of 2015India's first semi-high speed train, christened Gatimaan Express, capable of running at a maximum speed of 160 km per hour will be flagged off tomorrow (5 April) from Delhi's Hazarat Nizammuddin railway station. The train will run between Nizammuddin station and Agra Cantonment Station from Tuesday onwards after it is flagged off by railway minister Suresh Prabu in the presence of several other dignitaries. Railway minister has been emphasising on increasing the speed of both passenger and goods train in his budget speeches and the launch of this train will herald a new era of high speed rail travel in India. Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will handle on board catering on this train and IRCTC has made arrangement for deploying train hostesses also on board the train. This train will see improved catering and will have options of different kinds of cuisines. This train will provide free of cost on board entertainment facility through an agency MyFreeTv.in. Passengers can view various entertaining videos during travel on their smart phone, tablets or laptops even without internet connection through WiFi. The coaches to be used in Gatiman Express are new LHB coaches manufactured by Rail Coach Factory (RCF), Kapurthala. These coaches have been fitted with bio-toilets and are fit to run at 160 kmph. These coaches have also been fitted with balanced draft gear couplers for smooth ride. The passenger amenities have been enhanced by provision of soap dispenser and autogenitors (perfume dispensers) in the toilets of trains. For making the coaches free microburst system has also been fitted in the compartments. The insides of the coaches have been pasted with beautiful sceneries for better aesthetics. The exteriors of these coaches have also been given a new look by different colour scheme. The flooring of the coaches has been given marathon shine treatment for cleaning and also given flooring a bright and shiny look. The train will be hauled by an electrical engine WAP 5 with horse power of 5,500 HP. In conjunction with this train, IRCTC has also arranged two different Agra Guided Tour Packages to coincide with the time table of this Gatimaan Express. One package is for the full day while the other package is for two days, the details of which are available at the IRCTC website. The Gatimaan Express will run six days a week except Friday and will carry the numbers 12050/12049 in its regular trips. On the day of inauguration on 5 April 2016, one inaugural trip the train will run as special train with a number 02050 between H Nizammuddin and Agra Cantt station. In its inaugural run the train No 02050 H Nizamuddin-Agra Cantt 'Gatiman' Express train will depart from H Nizamuddin at 10.00 am on 5 April and reach Agra Cantt at 11.40 am the same day. After the inaugural run in the morning of 5 April 2016 the 12049/12050 'Gatimaan' Express will pick up its regular/schedule run on the same evening, with the 12049 AgraCantt-H Nizamuddin Gatimaan Express starting its first regular run from Agra Cantt Railway station at 17:50 hrs to reach H Nizamuddin at 19:30 hrs on 5 April. The regular run of train No 12050 H. Nizamuddin-Agra Cantt Gatimaan will start from H Nizamuddin station at 08.10 am from 6 April 2016 to reach Agra Cantt at 09.50 am the same day. 'Gatiman' Express train will have two executive AC chair car and eight AC chair car coaches. The fare for AC chair car is Rs750 whereas it is Rs1,500 for executive AC chair car. No concessions are admissible in this train. The booking of Gatimaan Express, including inaugural run (ie, train No 02050) and for its further regular/scheduled runs (ie, train no. 12049/12050) has opened from 8:00 am of 2 April 2016.The Midtown outpost of soup dumpling mecca Joe's Shanghai was shut down a couple of days ago by the Department of Health, after racking up 70 violation points in an inspection. According to the report on the DOH's website, those violations included roaches, improperly washed surfaces, and cold food held above a safe temperature.
Perusing the DOH records, it also seems that Joe's has not had a very good track record of late. It's held a B since June, after getting a C on an ungraded inspection in May. And last month it racked up 51 points on an ungraded inspection.
All this aside, employees are still answering phones at the restaurant, and tell Eater the restaurant hopes to be open again by the weekend. It remains to be seen whether this will actually happen.On Thursday a German newspaper reported that Volkswagen Group "assumes it will have to buy back about 115,000 cars in the United States," according to Reuters.
Volkswagen officials have been working with US regulators to come to an agreement about how best to fix the nearly 600,000 diesel vehicles in the US that were discovered to illegally include software—generically called a defeat device—that thwarts the emissions control system. Defeat devices helped some of Volkswagen Group’s cars pass emissions tests in a lab but allowed the cars to pollute more heavily when driving under normal conditions. In the 2.0-liter engine diesel cars especially, models were found to give off 40 times the amount of nitrogen oxide (NO x ) as is permitted by federal law.
The scandal eventually extended to Europe and then to global Volkswagen markets, with the company admitting that 11 million diesel passenger cars could have defeat devices on them. In Europe, at least, fixing the cheat was relatively easy for Volkswagen Group, with the approved fix taking under half an hour in most Volkswagen and Audi models.
But getting a fix approved by regulators in the US to bring the offending cars in line with the rules has proved much more difficult for Volkswagen due to stricter rules about NO x emissions in the US. On Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, VW Brand Chief Herbert Diess told Reuters that bringing older cars into compliance with emissions standards would be very difficult and costly for the company. "The intrusion into the car will be quite significant,” Diess said.
That statement seems to support what the German paper, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, reported Thursday morning local time. The paper wrote that Volkswagen might either refund the owner’s purchase price, "or offer a new car at a significant discount,” Reuters said. The paper added that Volkswagen Group vehicles that are not eligible for a buyback might have to get “major refits” to reduce the amount of NO x they emit.
The Environmental Protection Agency said earlier this week that it has not yet seen an “acceptable way forward” from Volkswagen in talks regarding how to recall the automaker’s affected vehicles. Also earlier this week, the US Department of Justice officially sued Volkswagen for violations of the Clean Air Act, asking for billions of dollars in fines.The recession gripping Alberta is likely to go down in history as one of the most severe the province has ever endured, according to a report.
The report released Monday by TD Economics says by the end of this year, Alberta's GDP is anticipated to have posted a three per cent contraction in 2016, adding up to a 6.5 per cent loss since the downturn started in 2014.
That's twice the magnitude of the average of the past four recessions to hit Alberta.
"Alberta's economy can't catch a break," says the report, which was written by deputy chief economist Derek Burleton and economists Diana Petramala and Warren Kirkland.
"The economic fallout from last year's oil price plunge has continued to reverberate through the province so far this year. And just as the global oil market has provided a decent whiff of recovery, the northern part of the province was hit by the outbreak of wildfires in May."
The current downturn — coming on the heels of the one in 2008-09 — is reminiscent of the two recessions Alberta weathered in 1982-83 and 1986, according to the authors.
"In each of these eras, the first of the two recessions … was part of a global economic crisis whereas the second … was more specifically attributable to weakness in the global oil market that delivered a nasty blow to the Alberta economy," the report says.
The current recession is also expected to last roughly two years, which would match the 1982-83 downturn as the longest in the post-war period.
Labour market stronger than in 1980s
However, when the current recession is considered in terms of its impact on labour markets, it is much milder than the one in the early 1980s, the report says.
The authors predict a three per cent drop in employment from its 2015 peak to the end of this year, when the losses are expected to bottom out.
By contrast, the job losses in 1982-83 were twice the magnitude and the combined effect of that decade's two downturns kept Alberta's unemployment rate near 10 per cent until almost 1990.
Home prices have also taken a much lighter hit in the current recession than they did in the recessions of the 1980s, the report says.
That's partly because Alberta already experienced a market correction in 2010, along with the rest of North America.
"Home prices in the major Alberta markets have shifted into reverse in recent quarters, but the expected drop is likely to pale in comparison to that suffered in 1982-83," the report says.
From 1981 to 1985, home prices in Alberta dropped 20 per cent.
Had it not been for low interest rates, a relatively weak Canadian dollar and economic growth in the United States, Alberta's recession could have been worse, the report says.
"That said … the recovery anticipated in Alberta starting next year is likely to lack the typical punch that has characterized those in the past," it says.
TD Economics is forecasting annual average real GDP gains of about 2.3 per cent for 2017-18.
Alberta still leads country in per capita GDP
Even in recession, after so many years of country-leading growth figures, Alberta is still poised to have much higher GDP per capita than any other province. It's expected to drop this year to $77,000, but that compares with $53,000 in the rest of Canada.
The authors say the strength of Alberta's economic recovery will hinge on how well it tackles the challenges of budget deficits, inadequate pipeline capacity and addressing climate change, among others.
But the province continues to have a competitive tax regime and a young, highly educated workforce "more oriented towards science and engineering than most economies — ingredients that tend to go hand in hand with innovation and diversification," the report says.
"As such, we remain confident that Alberta can retain its status as a leading growth area not just in Canada, but within North America."At KW, we pride ourselves on doing insurance different. Because at the end of the day, the insurance business isn’t about the agency — it’s about our neighbors, our community, and of course our loyal customers whom we often call “family”.
We like to think our Twitter and Facebook pages reflect this. Head to @KWsays on Twitter or to our Facebook page to watch how we’re constantly shaking things up, supporting our community, and building relationships… sometimes in under 140 characters! And, as part of our #KWshakeitup contest, if you like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter between April 13 and June 14, you’ll automatically be entered to win a $10 gift certificate to the new Shake Shack in Legacy Place! (Can you say #YUM?)
So, what’ll you use that $10 for? A ShackBurger and Wicked Crunchie? A Shack-cago Dog and Strawberry Shake? The options are endless… just like our love for insurance. *drops mic*
Contest Rules/Fine Print:
Contest is valid for new followers on Twitter or new fans who “Like” us on Facebook. A winner will be chosen at random one time each week during the contest period, 4/13/15 – 6/14/15. Each Shake Shack gift certificate is valued at $10.00. Gift cards that are lost or stolen cannot be replaced.Getty The U.S. Senate reached a milestone early Saturday when it overcame partisan gridlock to approve its first budget resolution in four years, setting up a political duel with the Republican-held House.
The sweeping plan for fiscal year 2014, the first budget blueprint passed by the Democrat-led Senate under President Barack Obama since 2009, squeaked by by the narrowest of margins, 50-49.
"Doing this has been a Herculean feat," said Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid, noting the 100 amendments that were voted on in a marathon, 13-hour session known in the Senate as a "vote-a-rama."
The plan, shepherded by Senate Budget Committee chair Patty Murray, seeks nearly $1 trillion in new revenue over the next decade, mostly through the closure of tax loopholes that favor the wealthy, and an equal amount in reductions to government spending.
The House of Representatives on Thursday adopted its own budget resolution, which seeks to reach balance within 10 years through significant reductions in federal spending, the overhaul of entitlements like Medicare and the repeal of Obama's health care law.
The glaring partisanship of Congress ensures that neither plan will be enacted into law. Instead they will serve as the starting points for a broader debate this year over budget policy.
Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell praised the comprehensive debate on the floor that allowed lawmakers to eventually reach their objective of voting on a fiscal blueprint.
"You may not feel it at the moment, but this is one of the Senate's finest days in recent years," he said.
Leaders in the Senate and House are now expected to bring the chambers to conference as lawmakers head into what is increasingly likely to be a summer showdown over the US federal borrowing limit.
Republican House Speaker John Boehner has said he wants a dollar in spending cuts for every dollar rise in the debt ceiling, but Obama opposes such an approach.
Obama has courted Republicans in recent weeks in a bid to draw mutually acceptable outlines for deficit reduction. The president wants new revenues as part of a deal, but Boehner has stressed that the $600 billion in tax hikes from a year-end pact were the last new taxes he wanted to see.
"I realize there are serious differences between the parties," Murray told the chamber.
"We have presented very different visions for how our country should work and who it should work for, but I am hopeful that we can bridge this divide."
Senators worked feverishly through the entire day Friday and into Saturday, as the parties' leaders contended with more than 560 filed amendments.
Most fell by the wayside and were not voted on, but there were key amendments that were approved, including a repeal of an unpopular tax on medical devices that was enacted as part of "Obamacare."
Senators also went on record in support of the Keystone Pipeline, which the Obama administration has delayed due to environment concerns, and backed the withholding of wages for top White House budget staff for every day Obama fails to produce his budget plan.
Obama was supposed to lay out his budget in February, but the White House now says he will do so in April.MARQUETTE, Mich. - Family and friends are saying their final goodbyes Tuesday to an 11-year-old Michigan boy who killed himself after a social media prank.
Tysen Benz, from Marquette, died last week from injuries he sustained from a suicide attempt in March.
A funeral will be held Tuesday afternoon at Swanson-Lundquist Funeral Home in Marquette, Michigan.
A juvenile was charged last week in connection to the suicide.
Tysen's mother, Katrina Goss told the Associated Press that her son was found hanging by the neck in his room after seeing social media posts and texts that his 13-year-old girlfriend killed herself. Goss says the girl and some friends orchestrated the prank and that Tysen replied over social media that he was going to kill himself.
The juvenile was charged with malicious use of telecommunication services and using computers to commit a crime. Police will not release the name of the suspect due to their status as a juvenile or comment on what relationship the person had with the boy.
Here is Tysen's obituary:
MARQUETTE, MI - William Wallace once said, "Every man dies. Not every man really lives." Tysen Jade Benz, who came into this world August 30, 2005, at Marquette, Michigan, passed away at CS Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, in the loving, comforting care of his family and family friend, Joana Duquette. An all too brief eleven years which is honored and celebrated more for its quality than for its heartbreaking quantity.
Tysen was beloved by everyone who ever met him. He possessed a contagious smile and a personality which you couldn't help but absolutely love. You could tell by his nature that everything he did was done with heart and passion, showing great strength, determination, and courage. He was extremely kind, fun, hilarious, sweet, smart, strong, adventurous, and charismatic...and, he never ever gave up! Being in his presence was a joy and you never forgot how kind and engaging this phenomenal young person was.
Tysen was extremely athletic, excelling in his favorite sports, MSA travel soccer, MJH hockey, MJG golf, MMSR skiing and snowboarding, performing flips, tricks and rails. Summers were especially filled with displays of his athletic prowess. He loved doing daring flips and jumps off the Black Rocks Cliffs, AuTrain bridge, sand walls/dunes, Lower Harbor dock wall, and at Peak Gym and many other places. He truly had no fear which was obvious in everything he accomplished.
Tysen was also very creative at fixing, making, and building things, while also being an excellent helper. He helped create and plan the building project for a huge all season ski ramp, complete with rails, for the backyard with his Papa Chris.
He was never idle, always active each and every day.
Tysen's years may have been brief on this earth, but every single one was filled with so many joyous and eventful activities that he "lived more" in his short life than most do in a full lifetime. He was simply excited about the pure joy and wonder of life itself!
We, as his family, are so blessed and honored to have been gifted with Tysen as our family member and we will forever hold him in our hearts and never ever forget him. We will honor his memory each and every day and relish the blessing he, himself, had brought us by just being him. We love you so very much sweet Tysen, always in our minds and hearts and never ever forgotten.
Tysen is survived by his mother, Katrina Goss of Marquette; his father, Raymond Benz;
two brothers, Julian Greason and Aundraes Benz both of Marquette; paternal half brother & paternal half sister, Jordan Benz of Marquette and Kayleonna Solberg of Baraga; maternal grandparents, Al and Jayne Hauptman of Marquette and Christopher Goss of Deerton; paternal grandparents, Marcella and Lee Hadden of Mt. Pleasant and Thomas Armiga of Marquette; maternal great-grandmother, Vivian Rousseau; aunt and uncle, Carlye (Guy) Bryan of Portland, OR; and many other family and friends.
"Good night sweet prince: and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest! (from Hamlet by William Shakespeare).
Tysen's life will be honored and celebrated at the Swanson-Lundquist Funeral Home on Tuesday, April 11, beginning at 4:00 pm until the time of service at 7:00 pm. Rev. Leon Jarvis will preside and refreshments will be served during visitation.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the family.
Condolences may be expressed online at swansonlundquistfuneralhome.com
To send flowers or a remembrance gift to the family of Tysen Jade Benz, please visit our Tribute Store. Or, if you would like to donate to the family, please visit Tysen's Tribute Fund.
Copyright 2017 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.It’s ironic that perhaps the best commentary on the technology industry is a line written 160 years ago by the Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier: “For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: ‘It might have been!’”
Despite the success of AT&T’s Unix operating system, Sony's PlayStation, the Apple Macintosh and a host of other products that brought real innovation to the masses, the relatively short history of digital computing is littered with superior software and hardware that for varying reasons died out in the marketplace or in some cases -- the Xerox Alto comes to mind -- never reached the mass market at all. Some of these products, like Amiga-compatibles, still live on in some fashion or another as diehards and nostalgic geeks work to keep the software and hardware they fell in love with in their younger years alive in the 21st century.
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Occasionally, innovations of yore that are kept from oblivion by digital preservationists get a second lease on life. The explosive growth of retro gaming in recent years is a great example. Children of the 2000s and even later are coming to appreciate and experience classics like Super Mario Brothers, Pac-Man or Galaga.
More often than not, however, innovative software and hardware that perished in the marketplace live on only through imitation -- as successful competitors copy ideas from the products they defeated.
The Amiga computers produced by Commodore, for instance, sold well in Europe but never really caught on in America. This was partly because computing in this country was extremely business-focused in the 1980s and few people understood what could be done with a device capable of advanced sound, graphics and video. Nowadays, everyone takes such things for granted.
Almost no one today knows what RISC OS is, but its “anti-aliasing” technique of displaying fonts on a monitor is used in pretty much every other operating system. BlackBerry’s concept of instantaneous mobile email delivery is universal, even though the company no longer has any significant marketshare.
Steve Jobs’ NeXT computing company was a commercial failure, but its focus on taking the complex and powerful Unix operating system and making it usable for non-computer scientists was the fundamental advance that powers today's macOS and iPhones. The NeXT software environment enabled Tim Berners-Lee to create the World Wide Web in 1990 as well.
Jobs’ NeXT legacy is still impacting the world today. In the case of smartphones, as influential as the iPhone was, the truth is that we’re living in a WebOS world, even if most people don’t realize it.
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Released in 2009 by Palm — the same company that popularized the PDA in the 1990s — WebOS pioneered a number of innovations, including multiple synchronized calendars, unified social media and contact management, curved displays, wireless charging, integrated text and Web messaging, and unintrusive notifications.
The operating system, built on top of a Linux kernel, was also legendary for how easily it could be upgraded by users with programming skills. WebOS was also special in that it used native internet technologies like JavaScript for local applications. That was a huge part of why it was able to do so much integration with Web services, something its competitors at the time simply couldn’t match.
Apple’s upcoming iOS 11 once again demonstrates how far ahead of its time WebOS really was. The yet-to-be-released Apple mobile system has essentially copied the WebOS model for switching apps by having the user swipe upward from the bottom to reveal several “cards” that represent background applications.
While Apple’s decision to remove its massively overworked Home button is an improvement, it is still an inferior way of switching apps, compared to what you could do on WebOS eight years ago.
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https://youtu.be/9pAgJ9x-2IA?t=30
Despite WebOS' many innovations, some of which still remain unsurpassed today, the mobile operating system was hobbled by the fact that Palm had nowhere near the amount of money and connections to phone companies that Google and Apple did. Not having as much cash also meant that Palm's hardware lagged behind competitors whose bigger budgets enabled them to release hardware quicker.
"webOS was brilliant. Much better than the hardware," veteran technology journalist Walt Mossberg noted on Twitter Aug. 30.
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But WebOS also died because of some bad decisions. Despite assembling a fantastic team of innovators, Palm CEO Jon Rubenstein didn't understand that getting the full internet on your phone meant that people wanted bigger devices, not smaller ones. They also were tired of having to peck away at tiny keyboards. Without the funds to offer multiple form factors (as Samsung did with its original Galaxy series), Rubenstein's bet on tiny Pre and Pixi phones didn't pay off. Eventually, seeking greater resources, Palm sold out to Hewlett-Packard. Within months of the sale's execution, the dream of mobile WebOS was ended, largely thanks to the unexpected ouster of HP's chief executive Mark Hurd. (The full details of what happened are in Chris Ziegler's definitive Palm retrospective for The Verge.)
WebOS is still sold today, albeit in a very different form. After HP decided to kill its WebOS mobile hardware, it sold the rights to the software to Korean hardware maker LG, which is still using it to power its smart televisions. Much of the software behind WebOS has also been
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it’s beyond what I thought,” Bernard says.
Initially, Joe’s Place hours will be Monday–Thursday, 8 a.m.–7 p.m. and Friday–Saturday, 8 a.m.–until.
CommentsBrown Acid: The Second Trip.
Today I have the great pleasure of bringing to your ears a Dangerous Minds exclusive - a full album stream of the second compilation full of rare and gritty fuzz from the 1970s curated by RidingEasy Records and L.A. retailer Permanent Records, Brown Acid: The Second Trip.
As with RidingEasy’s first Brown Acid release, The Second Trip contains a stellar collection of rare heavy-hitting, proto-metal psychedelically tinged rock tracks from bands so obscure, most flew far under most rock and roll radars back in the 1970s. In fact, one track by Spiny Norman (who sound like Jethro Tull only heavier and tripping balls on acid), “Bell Park Loon” was never physically released, and languished in a collectors archive on reel to reel for 38 years until Lance Barresi of Permanent Records joined forces with Daniel Hall of RidingEasy, and reached an agreement so “Bell Park Loon” could finally see the light of day on Brown Acid: The Second Trip.
An ad for the Iron Knowledge single, ‘Show-Stopper,’ 1972.
I’ve no doubt that DM’s legions of readers are going to deeply dig kicking back and turning up tracks from bands they have likely never heard of before. Like Youngstown, Ohio band Iron Knowledge and their out-of-sight squealing-jam “Show-Stopper,” or the Sabbath-like grind of Australian psyche-rock band Ash, and the throbbing prod that makes up their 1971 track “Midnight Witch.”
Pre-order info can be found here.
You can listen to the entire album stream of Brown Acid: The Second Trip, below. I’ve also included a video of the aforementioned Ash performing “Midnight Witch” on the Aussie weekly music show, Hit Scene that was recorded at the Melbourne International Motor Show in the early 70s.
H/T to Dave Clifford of US / Them for the exclusive stream!
Iron Knowledge performing ‘Midnight Witch’ on Australian music TV show, ‘Hit Scene,’ early 70s.
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
‘Bacteria Cult’: Stream the new album by Mike Patton and John Kaada exclusively on Dangerous MindsThe first is the ZenFone 4. It features a design very similar to the Honor 8 with the glass panels on the front and back and a dual camera system on the top left side. The listing reveals some impressive specs, including a 5.5-inch 1080p AMOLED display, Snapdragon 630 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage with expandability and a 3,300mAh battery. The camera system consists of a 12MP on the back and an 8MP camera up front. It will be available for 499€ ($587).
Asus is primarily known as a computer maker, but it also makes smartphones its the ZenFone line. Most recently it released the ZenFone AR and 3 Zoom. Not much was known about what devices it would release in the future, but an accidental posting on its French website revealed that it has three brand new devices in the works.
The second device is the ZenFone 4 Selfie. It falls in the budget phone category with its specs and price, but it appears to still be a solid phone nonetheless. The ZenFone 4 Selfie comes with a 5.5-inch 720p LCD display, Snapdragon 430 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, 16MP main camera and a 3,000mAh battery. But as you probably guessed by the name of the phone, its specialty is focused on selfies. It features a dual camera system of 20MP and 8MP along with a flash on the front side.
Lastly, comes the ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro. It looks identical to its brother, with the differences coming in specs. Outside it features an aluminum body the brings to mind the HTC M9 of a few years ago. Where it stands apart from the regular version is a better processor (Snapdragon 625), display (1080p AMOLED panel) and front cameras (24MP and 5MP).
The ZenFone 4 Selfie will retail for 299€ ($352) and the ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro for 399€ ($469). Each of the devices will come with Android Nougat 7.0 out of the box.
Asus has scheduled an event for August 19, so it would seem we’re not too far away from the official unveiling of these devices.By PTI
GANDHINAGAR: Amid an atmosphere of anxiety among citizens following detection of Zika virus in Ahmedabad, the Gujarat government today said all the three cases were isolated and currently no such threat exists.
Gujarat Chief Secretary J N Singh claimed ample steps have been taken after the National Institute of Virology, Pune, confirmed that three persons from Ahmedabad were infected with Zika between January and February, 2017.
"There is nothing to worry about at present. Out of the three patients found to be infected with Zika, two were pregnant women while one was a 64-year-old man. All the three cases were isolated, and no new case was found since February, when the third and last case emerged," Singh told reporters.
State authorities had sent blood samples of these three patients to NIV for final confirmation after the laboratory attached with B J Medical College in Ahmedabad found presence of Zika virus in primary screening of blood samples, he added.
Among these, two pregnant women belonged to Bapunagar area of the city while the elderly man was from western part of Ahmedabad, Singh said.
According to him, the two women later gave birth to healthy children having no sign of Zika infection or any other deficiency due to the infection to their mothers.
"After we came to know about these cases, health authorities had launched a massive drive in those areas during those months and collected thousands of sample from the patients who were having fever. However, not a single positive case was found," said Singh.
Yesterday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that three positive cases of Zika virus have been reported in Ahmedabad city between January and February.
Asked why the Gujarat government had not announced the same at that time, Singh said it was not a secret, as the Union Health Ministry had already announced it during the last Parliament session in March.
"While responding to a question in Parliament in March, Union Minister of State for Health had announced that three cases of Zika were found in Ahmedabad. This was also reported by some newspapers at that time. Thus, there was no secrecy from the government's side," claimed Singh.
He also said it is still unclear how this virus entered Gujarat, as none of the patients had gone abroad.
"Zika can spread locally through mosquitoes or it can enter India if the infected person comes back from a foreign country. All the three Zika patients never went abroad in their life. Thus, it is still unclear how they got infected," said Singh.
According to Gujarat Health Commissioner J P Gupta, around 350 health teams have screened 25,000 houses in Bapunagar area during January and February, however, no positive case of Zika infection was found.
"Apart from mosquito bite, this virus also spreads through sexual transmission. When the first sample was tested positive for Zika by NIV, we had launched a massive drive to find other cases through 350 teams. But, no new case was found," said Gupta.
Asked about the allegation of secrecy maintained by the state government, Gupta also said the issue was very much public as the Centre had already announced it in Parliament.
"It was Centre which informed WHO about the virus. WHO had not announced from their side. There was no immediate public health scare. All these cases were random and not linked. We only did primary tests while final confirmation came from the NIV," said Gupta.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has assured citizens that Zika poses no immediate threat at present.
"All the three cases were old. As soon as our government learned about it, we have taken decisive steps. It is my appeal not to panic, as no new case has emerged since then. My government is taking all steps to stop the spread of Zika virus," he said at a function in Kheda district.
Meanwhile, Dr Atul Patel, an expert and an advisor to state government on health issues, said there is no specific cure for Zika and it is a non-fatal virus unlike that of dengue.
"Zika virus belongs to the same family of malaria and chikungunya. If it infects a pregnant woman, then it may infect the brain of the newborn. Otherwise, this is not life threatening. Since there is no specific cure, patients can take paracetamol and take rest till he revives with time," he added.The JavaScript Event Loop [Presentation]
I gave a talk this morning on the JavaScript Event Loop at Penguicon 2013. Even though I had used JavaScript for several years, I didn't completely comprehend how the Event Loop works until a few months ago. When the opportunity came to present at Penguicon, I figured this was as good of a topic as any. You can download the presentation below (or view it in your browser), and I'll throw all the individual slides and the gist of what I said about them on this page.
Download as a Keynote, Powerpoint, or HTML presentation.
Slide 1/14: Introduction
The JavaScript Event Loop: Introduction
Slide 2/14: Credibility
The JavaScript Event Loop: Thomas Hunter Credibility
I've been a web developer for a while, starting at some smaller mom and pop shops (not listed), to a couple fortune 50's, before finally ending up at smaller and smaller (and quicker and more advanced) companies. For most of that time I was doing procedural PHP and MySQL programming, before eventually moving to mostly JavaScript (both frontend and backend).
I'm currently working with Packt to get a book on Backbone.js published (which is a frontend JavaScript framework for building Single Page Applications). Be sure to keep an eye out for it and purchase several copies, even if you don't intend on reading them.
Slide 3/14: MultiThreaded
The JavaScript Event Loop: MultiThreaded
Let me first begin the presentation by talking about something mostly unrelated to JavaScript; MultiThreaded programming. If an application is built to be MultiThreaded, it will make use of several of your CPU cores simultaneously. This means it can do number crunching in different places at the same time and we refer to this as Concurrency. An application built in this manner can be a single process within the Operating System. The Operating System itself usually gets to choose which cores an application will run on (even which core a single threaded application will run on).
One way to fake MultiThreaded-ness in SingleThreaded languages is to simply run several different processes and have them communicate with each other.
For the longest time, CPUs were getting faster and faster, but then Moore's Law caught up, and we sorta hit a wall with how fast our CPUs can get. So, to make hardware faster, we now throw more CPU cores at the computer. In order to truly scale and use the hardware to its fullest, one needs to build applications which make use of all CPU cores.
MultiThreading isn't all butterflies and puppy tails though. There can be some big issues with this type of code, particularly Deadlocks and Race Conditions. One such example of these kinds of issues is that if an application is running on two separate threads, both threads reads a variable from memory at the same time, and both attempt to update the value by adding 2 to it. If the existing value is 10, and thread A adds 2, it does so by writing 12 to the memory location. If thread B also wants to add 2, it still thinks the value is 10, and writes 12. The programmer would expect it to be 14 and ends up with 12, and there are no errors. This type of bug can be very hard to track down, and the worst part is that it will happen in an unpredictable way.
Slide 4/14: SingleThreaded
The JavaScript Event Loop: SingleThreaded
Now that you know what MultiThreaded means, lets talk about how JavaScript is not MultiThreaded. A JavaScript engine exists in a single OS process, and consumes a single thread. This means that when your application is running, CPU execution is never performed in parallel. By running the JavaScript engine in this method, it is impossible for users to get the Deadlocks and Race Conditions which plague MultiThreaded applications.
Developers often refer to their callbacks running in an unexpected order as a Race Condition, however it is not the same thing that happens to MultiThreaded applications, and can usually be solved and tracked down easily enough (e.g., use another callback).
Slide 5/14: Implementation
The JavaScript Event Loop: Implementation
There are three important features of a JavaScript engine that deserve mention. These are the Stack, the Heap, and the Queue. Now, different browsers have different JavaScript engines (e.g. Chrome has V8, Firefox has OdinMonkey, and IE has something written in BASIC called Chakra (just kidding!)) and each browser will implement these features differently, but this explanation should work for all of them.
Heap: The simplest part of this is the Heap. This is a bunch of memory where your objects live (e.g. variables and functions and all those things you instantiate). In the presentation I refer to this as Chaotic, only because the order doesn't really matter and there's no guarantee with how they will live. In this heap, different browsers will perform different optimizations, e.g., if an object is duplicated many times, it may only exist in memory once, until a change needs to happen, at which point the object is copied.
Stack: This is where the currently running functions get added. If function A() runs function B(), well you're two levels deep in the stack. Each time one of these functions is added to the stack, it is called a frame. These frames contain pointers to the functions in the heap, as well as the objects available to the function depending on its current scope, and of course the arguments to the function itself. Different JavaScript engines likely have different maximum stack sizes, and unless you have a runaway recursive function, you've probably never hit this limit. Once a function call is complete, it gets removed from the stack. Once the stack is empty, we're ready for the next item in the Queue.
Queue: This is where function calls which are queued up for the future go. If you perform a setTimeout(function() { console.log('hi'); }, 10);, that anonymous function is living in the next available queue slot. No items in the queue will be run until the current stack is complete. So, if you have some work that might be slow that you want to run after you get your data, try a setTimeout() with a delay of 0ms. Future items which rely on I/O to complete, or a long running timer, are somehow in that queue as well, although I'm not exactly sure how that is implemented.
It's worth mentioning Garbage Collection here as well. In JavaScript it's easy to create tons of objects all willy nilly like. These get added to the Heap. But, once there is no scope remaining that needs those objects, it's safe to throw them away. JavaScript can keep an eye on the current stack and the items in the Queue, and see what objects in the Heap are being pointed to. If an object no longer has pointers to it, it is safe to assume that object can be thrown away. If you aren't careful with how you manage your code, it's easy to not have those pointers disappear, and we call this wasted memory a Memory Leak.
Slide 6/14: Implementation Example
The JavaScript Event Loop: Implementation Example
This code-run is an example of the previous slide. So, the very first thing that happens is that function a() and b() are “hoisted” to the top of the script, and are added to the heap. We then run the first message log “Adding code to the queue” in the current stack. After that we run a setTimeout, and the anonymous function in there is added to the Queue. Then we do another log, and run the a() function with an argument of 42. We are now one level deep in the stack, and that frame knows about the a() function, the b() function, and its argument of 42. Within a() we run b(), and we are now two levels deep in our stack. We print more messages, leave b(), leave a(), and print a final message. At that point, our stack is empty and we've run all of our code, and are now ready for the next item in the queue.
Once we're in the next queue item, we run the anonymous function (which exists in the Heap somewhere), and display our message.
At first glance, one might assume the message “Running next code from queue” could have been run earlier, perhaps after the first message. If this were a MultiThreaded application, that message could have been run at any point in time, randomly placed between any of the outputted messages. But, since this is JavaScript, it is guaranteed to run after the current stack has completed.
Slide 7/14: Sleeping
The JavaScript Event Loop: Sleeping
I come from a background in writing PHP/MySQL applications. When a PHP script runs, it performs a bunch of work, and then probably runs a MySQL query. Once that call is made to the external server, the application falls asleep. It literally halts everything it is doing and waits for a response from the database server. Once the result comes back, it does some further processing, and then it might perform another I/O function, such as calling an RSS feed. And, as you might guess, it falls asleep again.
Now, what if the call to the RSS feed doesn't require any of the data we gain from the database call? Then the order of the two calls might not have mattered. But, more importantly, the two calls could have been run simultaneously! The application is as slow as the two calls combined, instead of being as slow as the slowest of the two.
Node.js does something pretty cool, where every I/O request it makes is a non blocking call. This means that the call can end the current stack, and the callback can be called later on in a separate Queue. If we're performing a bunch of I/O operations, they can be run in parallel. The application will still sleep, but it won't be blocking.
The web browser is the same. Most of the time it is doing nothing, perhaps waiting for a user to click on something, or waiting for an AJAX request to finish up.
Slide 8/14: Sequential vs Parallel I/O
The JavaScript Event Loop: Sequential vs Parallel I/O
This is a great graphic I adapted from the CodeSchool Real-Time Web with Node.js course. It shows how the I/O operations for sequential I/O compares to parallel I/O. The sequential graph represents calls make in a more traditional language such as PHP, whereas the parallel graph represents calls made in an EventLoop driven language with non blocking I/O, or even MultiThreaded applications. Notice that the application is only as slow as the slowest I/O operation, instead of as slow as all I/O operations combined.
Slide 9/14: Other Language Event Loops
The JavaScript Event Loop: Other Language Event Loops
JavaScript isn't the only language that can have an Event Loop. They can be implemented in the more traditional procedural languages as well. However, by having it built into the language, it'll surely be quicker and have a nicer syntax.
Also, when it is implemented in another language, you lose out on the special features if your I/O is blocking, so you'll have to be careful with which libraries you choose.
Some examples of Event Loops in other languages include Ruby's EventMachine, Python's Twisted and Tornado, and PHP's ReactPHP.
Slide 10/14: Other Language Event Loop Example
The JavaScript Event Loop: Other Language Event Loop Example
Here's an apples to oranges comparison of the Event Loop working in Node.js to perform a simple TCP echo example, and the (I'm assuming) same application working in Ruby's EventMachine. I took the Node example from the homepage of nodejs.org, and the EventMachine example from their GitHub readme. They've been altered slightly to use the same text and hopefully perform the same function (I honestly don't know Ruby though).
Notice that the syntax for JavaScript is less terse.
Slide 11/14: Event Loops are Awesome
The JavaScript Event Loop: Event Loops are Awesome
There you have it folks, Event Loops are awesome. They don't have the race conditions or deadlock issues that MultiThreaded applications have. Most web applications waste time waiting on I/O, and this is a good way around it. There is no special syntax for it to work in JavaScript; it is built in. It's pretty easy to build stateful web applications (whereas if this were PHP you'd need a database to store shared data, in JS you could just use a local variable).
Slide 12/14: Event Loops aren't Awesome
The JavaScript Event Loop: Event Loops aren't Awesome
There you have it folks, Event Loops aren't awesome. If you perform a bunch of CPU intensive work, it will block your process and only use one core. Unless, of course, you use Node.js and offload work to another process. Or, if you're in a browser, read the next slide. Memory leaks are also possible, as you're running an application for a long time instead of temporarily. Unless, of course, you program cleanly and are able to avoid those issues.
Slide 13/14: Web Workers
The JavaScript Event Loop: Web Workers
Well, now that I spent this whole time telling you how JavaScript is a SingleThreaded application and you can't make use of multiple cores, I'll apologize for being a liar. The core of JavaScript is single threaded, and it's been that way for many years. However, there's this cool new thing that came out in the last few years called Web Workers. It will allow your browser (doesn't exist in Node) to offload work to a separate thread. This feature is available in every modern web browser, so feel free to offload your work today.
How it works is you create a script, and throw some specifically formatted code in there. The main script loads it with var worker = new Worker('task.js');, where task.js is an existing JavaScript file. You also attach a bunch of event handlers to the created worker object, and interact with the worker that way. The script will run in its own instance of the JavaScript engine, and cannot share memory with the main thread (which has the nice side effect of preventing those race conditions).
When you want to pass information to and from the worker, you use something called message passing. This allows you to pass simple JSON objects around, but not complex objects that contain functions or anything referencing the DOM. A great use-case for Web Workers would be calculating a SHA1 hash or performing some map/reduce computations. Basically, anything that involves a ton of number crunching and isn't all DOM operations.
Slide 14/14: Conclusion
The JavaScript Event Loop: Conclusion
There you have it, the JavaScript Event Loop. It is great for I/O bound applications, and horrible for CPU bound applications. Many people think the engine is MultiThreaded, or at least that it can do things in parallel. Turns out it can do I/O in parallel, but not CPU computations (unless using a separate process with Node.js or a Web Worker in the browser).Today’s government shutdown is only one act in a budget brinkmanship drama that includes America’s next debt ceiling deadline, scheduled to arrive by Oct. 17. While some Republicans reportedly see the debt ceiling as their strongest leverage, some legal scholars have argued that President Obama could simply refuse to participate, wielding his legal authority – or obligation – to keep paying the bills even if no debt ceiling increase is passed.
The president has said White House lawyers “are not persuaded that that is a winning argument” – a position a White House official recently reaffirmed to NBC. But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi last week told reporters she “would never have taken that off the table.” Sens. Barbara Boxer, Tom Harkin, Bernie Sanders have urged the president to exercise his 14th Amendment option in the 2011 debt ceiling fight; former President Bill Clinton said he would have done it “without hesitation, and force the courts to stop me.”
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To parse the law, politics and history in play, Salon talked to Garrett Epps, a legal scholar and former Washington Post staff writer who teaches constitutional law at the University of Baltimore. A condensed and edited version of our conversation follows.
If Congress refuses to raise the debt ceiling, what’s the strongest legal case for the president to ignore it?
There are two provisions of the Constitution that speak to this issue. One is the clause that gives the president the duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. And the other is the 14th Amendment, which imposes a duty on the government not to question the public debt of the United States authorized by law. So the combination of those two with some other statutes -- particularly appropriations statutes, in which Congress directs the president to spend money -- means that the president is supposed to try to follow all of the laws. And that includes the Constitution.
The Constitution doesn’t say Congress shall pay the debt -- it says the public debt shall not be questioned. And that means that all three branches of government are bound by this -- that’s the way I read it -- and if Congress declines to act, then the president arguably has not simply the power, but the duty to act in order to honor that norm.
Some people have said the president can deal with that by just paying the debt, and not spending money on anything else, because probably there will be enough cash on hand to pay the interest on the debt. But the problem with that is there are other laws providing that the president shall see to it that certain things are paid -- whether they’re entitlements like Social Security, or appropriated items like the military budget. Those are laws, and they are directed to the president to carry out. So the president is in a very difficult situation. He cannot avoid breaking the law by simply refusing to pay anything except the debt. He still will be violating the law and violating his duty that the laws be faithfully executed.
So the argument is that when you have dueling laws, you try to obey as many of them as you can. And the president can obey the command of the 14th Amendment and also obey the command of these appropriations and entitlement provisions by ignoring the statutory debt ceiling. And I think that is a fairly strong argument, coupled with a historic fact and that is that since the time of Washington, there has been a school of constitutional interpretation, which is quite powerful, which says that when the federal government has a power and that power is not explicitly given to Congress, then the president can exercise it.
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We have the command to honor the debt in Section 4. That is not directed at any branch. That authority arguably can be claimed by the president. It’s no stranger, it’s no more of a leap, than some of the other claims that have been made successfully on behalf of the president over the years, such as the power to abrogate treaties. That’s not provided for in the Constitution. The president assumed that power fairly early in the republic, and subsequently there was a court challenge, and the court said we’re not going to stop this. That’s an example of how the executive gets power, gets authority, out of basically constitutional ambiguity or silence.
If the president moved forward in this way, what would the legal fight over it look like?
It would look like what is called impeachment. I can’t imagine any other way that the matter would be resolved. I may be missing something. [But] if the president is paying the debts, and he’s paying the appropriations, then I don’t see what individual has the power to sue him. And Congress does not have the power to sue the president and say we don’t like what you’re doing. So the remedy Congress has would be to bring articles of impeachment in the House.
When you’re dealing with the Supreme Court generally, and this Supreme Court in particular, you cannot rule out the possibility that they’ll inject themselves into it. But at present I don’t see the path by which they would.
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What historical parallel comes to mind for this kind of constitutional confrontation?
The very first constitutional confrontation between the executive and the Congress occurred when Washington was president, and he proclaimed American neutrality between England and France after they went to war. The Jeffersonians were outraged by that. They made a stink to the effect that the president didn’t have this power, and Washington said he did, and basically in the end Congress acquiesced. And I can imagine that being the circumstance here.
The really interesting example is the reaction when Obama went to Congress to ask for authority to bomb Syria, and a number of members of Congress reacted very negatively and said, “What are you doing? You have the authority as commander in chief.” People have come to expect president to act unilaterally when they say there’s a threat to the national security interests of the United States.
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Suppose the Venezuelan army invades Florida. But meanwhile Congress has passed a statute that says, “You can’t go into battle with Venezuela because of the ‘Venezuelan Battle Ceiling.’ We won’t let you defend Florida unless you repeal Obamacare.” Well, I think it’s pretty clear the president would be entirely legally justified in saying, “I’m the commander in chief. The armed forces and the nation are under attack. And so regardless of whether I’m authorized by Congress to use military force, by practice, custom and the necessity of the case I can.” Now I think you can argue this is precisely the same thing -- that the damage to the country is analogous to permitting an invasion to take place without being resisted by the armed forces. The president is not commander in chief of the Treasury, but he does have the duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed.
I don’t say it’s a slam dunk. There are people who say this is wrong, and their arguments are not laughable. We don’t know whether the president has the authority to do this or not. If Obama were to do it and he was not impeached or removed from office, then the president would have that power and we would never have another debt ceiling crisis again.
I’m just saying the Constitution’s kind of ambiguous, and under certain circumstances where there’s virtually an existential threat to the nation, the president has acted in the past and gotten away with it.
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How does this executive authority question compare to Obama’s approach to the use of force in Syria, Libya and Pakistan?
There have been many times, going back hundreds of years, when presidents have used military force without seeking congressional authorization beforehand, and in all of those cases there was a circumstance that made it in some sense an emergency. In Syria, you don’t have anything like that, and therefore if there’s going to be war, you can argue the president needs to ask Congress. Now compare that with what happens if the Congress refuses to raise the debt ceiling, and we’re preparing to default on our debt. If that happens, it is a very severe immediate emergency threat to the nation. Not simply to the economy -- although that in itself is apocalyptic -- but to the country’s full faith and credit, to its ability to function in the international plane. So the president, it seems to me, would have much more justification for saying this is a genuine emergency, I can’t wait for Congress to decide.
The Pakistan drone war has been carried out under the rubric of the Authorization for Use of Military Force, which says the president has the authority to use military force against al-Qaida and forces associated with it wherever they may be found. Libya is a more difficult question. The [administration’s] argument was twofold. One is that our forces were not really going into hostilities, and so the War Powers Resolution -- and, arguably, the war power itself -- was not triggered. And the other is that we were doing it pursuant to a multinational treaty, and had to do that to honor our obligations as members of NATO.With PSNI barred from probe into 1972 killing of Jean, family hoping for justice at long last BelfastTelegraph.co.uk The family of a young mother shot dead in 1972 say they are delighted by a court ruling ordering a new investigation into her death that will not involve the PSNI. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/with-psni-barred-from-probe-into-1972-killing-of-jean-family-hoping-for-justice-at-long-last-35548685.html https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/article35548683.ece/d722f/AUTOCROP/h342/2017-03-21_new_29613932_I3.JPG
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The family of a young mother shot dead in 1972 say they are delighted by a court ruling ordering a new investigation into her death that will not involve the PSNI.
Jean Smyth-Campbell (24) had a six-year-old daughter when she was shot while in a car on the Glen Road in Andersonstown, west Belfast, on the night of June 8, 1972.
She died shortly after being shot.
Questions remain to this day over who was responsible for the slaying.
The IRA was initially blamed by police. But it was suspected that the Military Reaction Force (MRF), a shadowy undercover Army unit, killed Jean.
With a new investigation imminent, her brother Gerry Campbell and sister Ann Silcock told the Belfast Telegraph: "Now we hope we can get the final justice for Jean."
The RUC originally stated that the IRA had killed her.
And the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) reached the same conclusion in 2008.
In 1973 a report in this newspaper said it was likely she was shot by accident, but also asked if the MRF could have been responsible.
Just weeks ago the matter was in the public eye again in Belfast High Court.
Jean's sister Margaret McQuillan made an application for a judicial review into the case following new information coming to light in 2014.
Researcher Ciaran MacAirt, who also investigated the 1971 McGurk's bar bombing, found military documents at the National Archive in London which showed the "MRF claim a hit" on the night of the shooting.
On March 3 this year Mr Justice Paul Maguire concluded that both the RUC and HET investigations were fatally flawed.
The court also ruled that the PSNI's Legacy Investigation Branch (LIB) "lacks the requisite independence" needed for a proper investigation in line with Article Two of the European Convention of Human Rights, which states every life must be protected by law.
At present the LIB is engaged in a wider investigation into allegations that the MRF carried out random and unjustified killings during the Troubles.
After criticising the HET investigation, Mr Justice Maguire further raised the possibility of perceived bias and a culture of preferential treatment for soldiers linked to civilian deaths during the Troubles.
He also called Jean a wholly innocent person who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
He said: "The system for investigating serious crime has let her and her family down over a period of decades now."
Madden and Finucane, the Belfast law firm representing the family, said the judgment could have huge significance for other families seeking independent investigations into the killing of their loved ones.
Mr Campbell said the judgment had given the family hope of getting justice for his sister.
"We didn't think we would get it," he said.
"Now we hope we can get the final justice for Jean. I always knew there was something wrong about that night."
A deep regret for the family is that Jean's parents died before knowing the full story.
"My mother used to say for years: 'No one ever found out what happened to my Jean'," explained Mr Campbell.
He expects the next step to be the selection of an independent investigation team with no links to the PSNI.
He added he was "not worried" about prosecutions, but wanted the truth acknowledged by those responsible.
"I want people to know that Jean was a lovely girl who would have done anything for you. For her to die the way she did was wrong," he said.
"At the time there was an awful lot of deaths in 1972, nearly 500.
"She was forgotten, we were yesterday's news very quick."
Today Jean's daughter Sharon McVicar lives in Sydney with her four sons, working as a manager for furniture giant Ikea.
"Any memory of her mother comes from us," said Mr Campbell.
"Sharon is a lovely girl, just like her mother."
Mrs Silcock also welcomed the court ruling on her sister "after more than 40 years of being lied to".
"I was 21 when Jean died. Even now we think of her, she was like another mummy to me," she said.
"For someone to be convicted would be a dream come true, but I don't think that would happen.
"I'd like the Government to hold their hands up and have a public apology.
"We all loved Jean dearly, she was a beautiful young girl, but we also want justice for other families in the same situation."
Belfast Telegraph\(
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Self-Replicating Functions
Tyler Neylon
These are notes I’m creating for myself as I explore functions \(f\) that can be written as a sum \(f = g_1 + g_2\) where \(g_1\) and \(g_2\) are shifted and possibly reflected versions of each other, both strongly resembling the original function \(f\). When a function \(f\) has these properties, I informally call it a self-replicating function.
Like the word fractal, this term is not rigorously defined — in particular, it depends on the ambiguous notion of “strong resemblance” — although I plan to investigate more precise requirements below.
[These notes are available in several formats: html | standard pdf | kindle-friendly pdf. The source files, in LaTeX/markdown format, are available on github.]
1 Motivation
I became interested in self-replicating functions by working on algorithms to procedurally generate 3d models of natural-looking trees. When algorithmically making trees, it makes sense to start from the idea of an L-system, which can be visualized as a kind of fractal in which a trunk forks into branches that themselves fork into smaller subranches, this process repeating infinitely.
I noticed that tree-like L-systems can have a large amount of “branch overlap” concentrated around a central area of their apparent surface. For example, consider the two images in figure
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more aware. The competition keeps getting better and more cognizant of putting themselves in those dangerous spots, so it gets tougher to find those spots to finish."
"Submissions are harder and harder to come by now, and I wish people would appreciate them more," said heavyweight Brendan Schaub, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt. "Obviously everyone loves a knockout, but the art of submission is just so damn tough to pull off at this level. You have to take guys down, and everyone has good takedown defense these days. The day of the one-dimensional striker is over. So for you to go in there, take a guy down and set up a submission, I wish people could realize what goes into all that. It’s a little bit different than knocking a guy out."
When they actually occur, submissions are mostly the culmination of a series of offensive actions and defensive mistakes, a strategic battle that plays out in often slight body movements. Action, reaction, adjustment, repeat until one escapes or the other finishes.
For the offensive fighter, it’s an attempt to pass guard until reaching favored positions, aided by muscle memory and opportunity. For the defensive fighter, it can be like drowning in quicksand, or getting suffocated by an anaconda, where everything you do results in the escalation of danger.
But that is also where the real cat-and-mouse of the whole situation plays out. As major fight teams have focused more on BJJ and brought in specialists to shore up defense, the obvious moves that won fights in years past are no longer working with the same efficacy. The mistakes that used to be common are now rare. Traps that used to bait a limb free or a neck open often come up empty.
I like to say jiu-jitsu is like mathematics. It has to be exact otherwise you don’t have it. Raphael Assuncao
"Nowadays it’s not even easy to pass the guard anymore," said No. 9 ranked flyweight Zach Makovsky. "The way I look at it, when I’m attacking for submission, and I get to a position where I can attack your arm or a neck or something, at this point everyone knows what you’re going for. So you have to give yourself options. I try to have multiple options so if they defend one way, I can go to the neck, and if they defend another way I can go to the arm. You have to give yourself options and make them choose what they’re going to give you so you can keep advancing."
Some fighters try to create those options through ground strikes, which can either end a fight or open opportunities to sink in a submission or pass to a better position.
Passing the guard has become an art unto itself due to the implementation of various strategies. Several years ago, grounded fighters were likely to use a closed guard as their primary defensive position. But as advances have been made in opening up that guard and passing, it became obvious that mastering one guard position wouldn’t be enough to compete at the elite level. In the ensuing years, we’ve seen the proliferation of several more styles, many of which were once thought to be too risky for mixed martial arts. Among them, the butterfly guard, rubber guard, and even the X-guard.
With many more tools at their disposal, the defending fighter has the capability of keeping his opponent off-balance, creating space to escape, and threatening a counter-attack of his or her own.
Often, these types of counters will cancel out or nullify the attempts made by the fighter on top. Since they also offer danger, they are bound to lead to more conservative offensive approaches than times past. And therein lies the rub; if you get overly aggressive, you put yourself in jeopardy of losing your position or even being finished.
"A lof of times in the past I was too aggressive in trying to finish fights," admits No.7 middleweight Gegard Mousasi, who submitted Mark Munoz his last time out. "Maybe I was younger, but now I’m fighting smarter and taking less chances. Maybe that [finishing] rate is going to go down, but I always want to finish the fight. I’m just smarter now. Back then I was just trying to overwhelm opponents, but coming to this level — the highest level — it’s all about details. You can’t just think you’re going to run over your opponent. So it’s a different approach."
Patience is a key in closing out a submission, fighters stressed, but there’s a complicating factor: they’re often up against the clock. It has always been a referee’s discretion to stand up grounded fighters who are locked in a stalemate, but the uncertainty of that official’s internal clock can bring frustration to the ground game. During the TUF 18 Finale, for instance, Peggy Morgan was trailing on the scorecards in the third when she worked into Jessamyn Duke’s half-guard. Referee Kim Winslow let her work in the dominant position for only 50 seconds before standing them up. More recently, at the UFC Fight Night show in Albuquerque over the weekend, Jon Tuck was stood up by referee Raul Porrata from half-guard after just 20 seconds, a call Tuck called "bogus."
It’s a situation many fighters have dealt with. Go through the effort of a grueling takedown, diligently labor to pass, and then have all that work wiped out by a quick standup.
Submissions are becoming so rare that even Ronda Rousey’s streak ended with a TKO win last time out.
"The matter of them standing the guys up in those cases, it’s just them being uneducated," said Schaub. "If, for example, you have a fight with Fabricio Werdum and me, he’s the best grappling technician in the heavyweight division, bar none. If me and him fight and it goes to the ground, that ref should be educated enough to know we’re both very good grapplers and we’re going to spend some time there. I mean, listen, if it’s Tank Abbott and Kimbo Slice fighting and it goes to the ground, stand those two jackasses up right away. But the world-class fighters in the UFC? Let them work, man."
"I don’t like standups," added Makovsky. "I don’t think they should happen but I also understand the entertainment part, and that there are times the action is low so it’s necessary. But you shouldn’t gain an advantage for trying to stall the fight. it’s always tricky because you give the refs that discretion and some make better calls than others."
Tuck’s finishing sequence was actually an example of how difficult it is to tap someone in the UFC of today. He ended up doing so, but due to heel strikes to the body, a UFC first.
Late in the fight, Tuck was on Jake Lindsey’s back and attempting to sink in his choking arm. To do so, first he tried misdirection with heel kicks to the body, then he tried to trap Lindsey’s arm with his leg. But Lindsey continued to hand fight to keep his neck free, so Lindsey went back to the body with heel strikes that were hardly intended to end his opponent’s night.
I mean, listen, if it’s Tank Abbott and Kimbo Slice fighting and it goes to the ground, stand those two jackasses up right away. But the world-class fighters in the UFC? Let them work, man. Brendan Schaub on referee standup's
"I wanted to hit his ribs so he could be in shock and drop his hand and I could sleep him with the choke," Tuck said of his original plan.
As that finish showed, improvisation remains a key skill for catching any kind of win in the octagon, even in the most unexpected of ways. That’s proven out in the variety of submissions used to finish fights in 2014. A bulldog choke. A Von Flue choke. A Ninja choke. None of those are common attacks in this day and age, which might be exactly why they worked. The element of surprise was on the side of the winners, Niklas Backstrom, Ovince St. Preux and Ilir Latifi, respectively.
"If a person, an athlete is not versed in something, their first reaction when there is a bad situation is not a good feeling. It’s panic," said Assuncao. "It’s like when you’re first learning jiu-jitsu and a guy mounts you or catches your back. You feel weak. You end up using the wrong muscle groups, and you get tired and vulnerable because you don’t know how to react."
That’s why so many defending fighters will do whatever is necessary to survive, even if that means stalling. Stalemates are a primary cause for referee standups as many many fighters simply attempt to tie up an opponent and wait for a restart. Others are good at creating small openings to return to their feet.
"People are getting really good at using the cage and keeping their back against the cage to get up," Makovsky said. "You see people get taken down and they’ll scoot to the cage. If you keep your back secured against cage, nobody can get to your back to finish a submission, and generally it’s pretty hard to just catch a submission out of nothing. You have to be in pretty good control of the other person before you can isolate the arm or neck to go for the kill. You can try to catch them in transition, but they’re not as controlled so they’re better able to escape those situations."
Then there are the fighters who are perfectly content to compete from the bottom. Though those numbers are dwindling, fighters like Werdum, Frank Mir and Nate Diaz have invited action from their guards, only to rebuffed by opponents hellbent on avoiding the ground with them altogether.
With percentages going down, an evolution of submissions may be in the offing. Usage of the De La Riva guard and the Berimbolo are all the rage in sport jiu-jitsu and are slowly starting to seep into MMA, albeit in modified forms. Variations of the head-and-arm chokes are also growing in popularity, which may be game-changers for long-limbed athletes. Until then, numbers may stay depressed.
Because most fighters naturally prefer the striking arts, the standup game will always draw the lion’s share of attention. There’s also no better way to set up a submission than a good old-fashioned knockdown shot, but as long as bouts remain standing, there’s always the belief that any fight can turn on any single given blow, intended or otherwise, and that brings with it extra risk. Submissions are different. As a general rule, they are not attributable to luck or chance; they are earned through sweat and superiority.
In that way, they are perhaps the ultimate confirmation of winning and losing. With a few taps, your opponent willfully surrenders his chance at victory and signals his own defeat. With that, there is nothing else to debate. All you have to do is get there.
"The mental approach always makes the difference," Mousasi said. "When you’re young, you think you’re going to destroy everybody, but as you get older you realize you have to be patient to make it happen. Submissions are now so difficult to get because everyone knows submission defense. Everyone knows wrestling. Everyone knows jiu-jitsu. It’s not like the old days."Bombardier is slashing six per cent of its workforce in the Aerospace division.
The Montreal-based company told employees on Tuesday that cuts are required due to delays in the launch of new planes and tough market conditions.
Out of the 1,700 employees who will lose their jobs, 1,100 are in the Montreal region and 600 are in the U.S., mostly in Wichita, Kansas.
According to a company spokesperson, the layoffs will affect temporary and permanent staff in manufacturing, assembly, engineering, and sales.
The company said it needs to preserve cash amid delays in the CSeries commercial jet and Learjet 85 business jet, as well as due to tough market conditions.
The announcement follows several recent setbacks for Bombardier, which is one of the world's largest aircraft manufacturers.
It announced last week that its new CSeries commercial jet won't be ready for service until the second half of 2015, several months later than its already delayed previous goal.
On Monday, Bombardier said it received 19 per cent fewer new orders for commercial and business aircraft last year than in 2012.
The company's stock price fell seven cents to $4.04.Also known as "social word-of-mouth marketing" It works by getting popular influencers promoting your social media accounts, videos or other shareable content (that they actually like), to their targeted, loyal followers. You're able to quickly gain genuine exposure to your target audience and potentially spark a viral sharing spree.
The Powers of Social Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Strengthen Social Reputation Immediately
Your business reputation makes its way into every facet of your business’s existence. It both impacts and is impacted by the way people read your emails, interpret your social media posts, talk to others about your business, and more. This is why reputation is so important in business, and why it is your responsibility to exercise the aspects of reputation building that are in your control.
Increase Brand / Company Awareness
One of the top concerns among many small businesses is a lack of brand awareness. They have so many great things to offer, but no one seems to know they exist. Sound familiar? When building brand awareness, your greatest weapon is repetitive exposure. You want your business name to show up where your target audience hangs out online so it becomes familiar.
Attract Genuine Followers Naturally
Your leads and customers care more about what other customers have to say over anything else. This is known as social proof, and it’s one of the most powerful ways to influence and persuade people, especially when it comes to landing clients and closing more sales.
Company Page followers engage with your updates and share content with their own networks, earning you recurring viral reach – in fact, it’s clear that 64% of followers would follow companies indefinitely.
Attract New Clients or Customers
In order to grow, every company needs to acquire new customers and sustain the ones they have. This is particularly hard for many small business owners since they are usually afraid of sales and marketing. They are also bad at keeping their customers since they are so focused on getting new ones in the front door, the existing ones leave dissatisfied out the back door.
A Company should instead proactively get referrals by asking customers and encouraging them to share their experience on social media.
Attract More Talent / Candidates
Too many recruiters underestimate the power of social media marketing, especially as a hiring tool. Almost three-quarters of your potential recruits are among the passive candidate base, people who aren’t actively searching for a change but open to it if they see a good opportunity.
When you regularly publish updates and job posts on social media pages you’re more likely to catch their attention and encourage them to contact you. This gives you a larger inbound talent pool, which is useful even if you aren’t actively recruiting right now.
" Nothing Draws a Crowd Quite Like a Crowd "For Danilo Petrucci, 2017 is a long-awaited year in which it will be fundamental not to make mistakes. “Three years ago I was fighting not to finish last and now I have a bike that can win races, if not the championship”, he breaks the tension. Today he unveiled his GP17, a factory bike identical to the one ridden by Lorenzo and Dovizioso.
“On days like today it’s easy to say that I have a great opportunity and it is the greatest one of my career, or to make proclamations, but I am starting this season with the intention of improving my results from 2015. Not 2016, because that was a complicated year - he reflects - So, I would like to pick up where I had left off then, from the Assen and Sachsenring races, where I was ahead, but I hadn’t closed the deal.”
Do you feel the responsibility of the factory bike?
“A lot. That’s normal. Now I have no more excuses (he laughs). And I will be compared directly with two of the best riders in MotoGP. Lorenzo and Dovizioso have won races and titles. I have not yet done one or the other.”
So how do you react?
“The pressure does not disappear. I am working to be able to be closer to them and it will not be easy. I want to become a mainstay for Ducati and I would like the two of them to be able to count on me. I want to deserve this opportunity.”
In a certain sense, you will also be a sort of tester in the races…
“That is normal. I knew what I was getting into and it is fair, because at the moment I am the slowest of the three riders who have factory Ducati machines. In the tests, I am the one who did the fewest laps because I had things to test. I see it in a positive light. I have a bike that lets me finish on the podium, if not win.”
Ducati also has another very particular tester: Stoner.
“He has a unique style and no one else uses his settings. His characteristics are too different from those of a normal rider. And he certainly has not forgotten how to ride (he laughs).”
In fact, he was ahead of many of the others…
“Looking at only one day of tests can be misleading, but he did not surprise me. I am lucky to be able to see him on the track and look at his data. He is a phenomenon, like Maradona. It doesn’t matter whether he trains or not.”
But what does a rider think when he finds him ahead in the rankings even if he is only a part-timer now?
“It pisses you off (he laughs) like when any other rider who has your same bike is ahead of you. It’s normal, because every rider thinks he is the fastest, or he wouldn’t have arrived in MotoGP. But the fact that you have to think about a year of races and he doesn’t gives you a bit of an excuse.”
Can you learn from Stoner?
“I have a great relationship with Casey. My dad worked with him and I have known him since I was young. The problem is that he rides without using the front brake and puts everything into acceleration, whereas I do the opposite. However, following his advice has helped me. I am happy to have been able to put it into practice.”
Another measuring stick for you is Lorenzo. What do you think of his start with Ducati?
“He has only done a few tests, so he can’t have a clear idea of the situation. I think that Jorge has not expressed his full potential. I noticed that watching him ride.”
Did you also notice other things?
“He still needs to adapt to the Ducati, a bike that lets you go fast, but has to be ridden a certain way. You have to fight your instinct and be methodical, which is a quality that Jorge is not lacking. It is just a question of time. Viñales, on the other hand, got on a bike that is already well sorted.”
You mentioned Viñales. Will he be a big fish for Rossi to fry?
“I have my own problems to think of (he laughs). I spoke with Valentino on the telephone and even he was surprised at how fast Maverick went, but Vale comes out during the race and I see him in the running for the Championship.”
What are your goals, on the other hand?
“Finishing in the top 10, that’s the first. I am working hard. For example, in these tests, I spent a lot of time looking at other riders’ data, looking for the details and I always found something that helped me.”
You are no longer an ‘uneducated’ rider?
“I am still a bad person (he laughs). All joking aside, you don’t need instinct in MotoGP. I am always an aggressive rider, a characteristic that I have carried with me from cross. I use my weight! Every now and then I go overboard, but fortunately there is respect between myself and all the other riders and they forgive me.”An American Nun Responds To Vatican Criticism
Enlarge this image toggle caption LCWR LCWR
In April, the Vatican announced that three American bishops (one archbishop and two bishops) would be sent to oversee the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, a member organization founded in 1956 that represents 80 percent of Catholic sisters in the United States, to get them to conform with the teachings of the Church.
In its assessment of the group, the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said the leadership conference is undermining Roman Catholic teachings on homosexuality and birth control and promoting "radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith." It also reprimanded the nuns for hosting speakers who "often contradict or ignore" church teachings and for making public statements that "disagree with or challenge the bishops, who are the church's authentic teachers of faith and morals."
In their own statement, the nuns said the Vatican's doctrinal assessment of the group was based on "unsubstantiated accusations" and may "compromise" the ability of female nuns to "fulfill their mission."
"I would say the mandate is more critical of positions we haven't taken than those we have taken," says Sister Pat Farrell, the president of the Leadership Conference. "As I read that document, the concern is the issues we tend to be more silent about when the bishops are speaking out very clearly about some things. There are issues about which we think there's a need for a genuine dialogue, and there doesn't seem to be a climate of that in the church right now."
Farrell tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross that the leadership organization is currently gathering the perspectives of all of its members in preparation for its national assembly in August.
"We're hoping to come out of that assembly with a much clearer direction about [the Vatican's decision], and that's when the national board and presidency can proceed," she says.
Among the options on the table, she says, are fully complying with the mandate, not complying with the mandate or seeing if the Vatican will negotiate with them.
"In my mind, [I want] to see if we can somehow, in a spirited, nonviolent strategizing, look for maybe a third way that refuses to define the mandate and the issues in such black and white terms," she says.
Interview Highlights
On questioning doctrine within the Catholic Church
"The question is, 'Can you be Catholic and have a questioning mind?' That's what we're asking.... I think one of our deepest hopes is that in the way we manage the balancing beam in the position we're in, if we can make any headways in helping to create a safe and respectful environment where church leaders along with rank-and-file members can raise questions openly and search for truth freely, with very complex and swiftly changing issues in our day, that would be our hope. But the climate is not there. And this mandate coming from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith putting us in a position of being under the control of certain bishops, that is not a dialogue. If anything, it appears to be shutting down dialogue."
On their options
"We're not talking about the risk of excommunication or leaving the church. That's not our intent. We're talking about the Vatican's dealing with a national organization, not with specific religious congregations or individual religious. The one and only underlying option for us is to respond with integrity with however we proceed. That is our absolute bottom line in this. Some of the options would be to just comply with the mandate that's been given to us. Or to say we can't comply with this and see what the Vatican does with that. Or to remove ourselves and form a separate organization."
And this mandate coming from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith putting us in a position of being under the control of certain bishops, that is not a dialogue. If anything, it appears to be shutting down dialogue.
On the criticism from the Vatican regarding human sexuality
"We have been, in good faith, raising concerns about some of the church's teachings on sexuality. The problem being that the teaching and interpretation of the faith can't remain static and really needs to be reformulated, rethought in light of the world we live in. And new questions and new realities [need to be addressed] as they arise. And if those issues become points of conflict, it's because Women Religious stand in very close proximity to people at the margins, to people with very painful, difficult situations in their lives. That is our gift to the church. Our gift to the church is to be with those who have been made poorer, with those on the margins. Questions there are much less black and white because human realities are much less black and white. That's where we spend our days."
On roles within the church
"A bishop, for instance, can't be on the street working with the homeless. He has other tasks. But we can be. So if there is a climate of open and trusting and adequate dialogue among us, we can bring together some of those conversations, and that's what I hope we can help develop in a deeper way."
On women's ordination
"The position we took in favor of women's ordination in 1977 was before there was a Vatican letter saying that there is a definitive church position against the ordination of women. So it's interesting to me that the document [just released by the church] goes back 30 years to talk about our position on the ordination of women. There has, in fact, been an official opinion from the church that that topic should not be discussed. When that declaration came out, the response of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious was to call for a nationwide time of prayer and fasting for all Women Religious in response to that. Because our deep desire for places of leadership of women in the church be open. It remains a desire. Since then, the Leadership Conference has not spoken publicly about the ordination of women. Imposing a silence doesn't necessarily change people's thinking, but we are in a position to continue to be very concerned that the position of women in the church be recognized."
On the phrase "radical feminist themes"
"Sincerely, what I hear in the phrasing... is fear — a fear of women's positions in the church. Now, that's just my interpretation. I have no idea what was in the mind of the congregation, of the doctrine of the faith, when they wrote that. But women theologians around the world have been seriously looking at the question of: How have the church's interpretations of how we talk about God, interpret Scripture, organize life in the church — how have they been tainted by a culture that minimizes the value and the place of women?"
On abortion
Our gift to the church is to be with those who have been made poorer, with those on the margins. Questions there are much less black and white because human realities are much less black and white. That's where we spend our days.
"I think the criticism of what we're not talking about seems to me to be unfair. Because [Women] Religious have clearly given our lives to supporting life, to supporting the dignity of human persons. Our works are very much pro-life. We would question, however, any policy that is more pro-fetus than actually pro-life. If the rights of the unborn trump all of the rights of all of those who are already born, that is a distortion, too — if there's such an emphasis on that. However, we have sisters who work in right-to-life issues. We also have many, many ministries that support life. We dedicate to our lives to those on the margins of society, many of whom are considered throwaway people: the impaired, the chronically mentally ill, the elderly, the incarcerated, to the people on death row. We have strongly spoken out against the death penalty, against war, hunger. All of those are right-to-life issues. There's so much being said about abortion that is often phrased in such extreme and such polarizing terms that to choose not to enter into a debate that is so widely covered by other sectors of the Catholic Church — and we have been giving voice to other issues that are less covered but are equally as important.
"Our concern is that right-to-life issues be seen across a whole spectrum and are not narrowly defined.... To single out one right-to-life issue and to say that that's the only issue that defines Catholic identity, I think, is really a distortion."Kashmir remained tense on Wednesday as one more youth was killed in fresh clashes between protesters and security forces in the Valley amid curfew-like restrictions imposed in view of the disquiet following the death of three civilians in firing by Army yesterday.
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The crisis was sparked after allegations emerged that an Armyman had molested a girl in the Valley.
Read Also: Budding cricketer among those killed in Army firing in Kashmir
The girl, however, has denied she was molested and accused two local youths of hatching a conspiracy. The Army has released a video statement of the girl’s statement in which she is saying that she simply went to nearby washroom along with her friend and suddenly a youth appeared before her and took her bag away.
As per her statement in the video, the boy then resisted her to come to nearby police station. In the meantime, the other youth shouted slogans and instigated violence.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has sought from Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar a “time-bound inquiry” into the Handwara firing.
Mehbooba, who is on her maiden visit after assuming post of Chief Minister, met Parrikar and Union Minister for Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu separately.
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In her meeting with Parrikar, she sought a time bound probe saying it will will act as a deterrent against such incidents in future.Film and Fork is a cookbook written by a group of film-buff foodies. You know how when you're watching a movie on an empty stomach and your mind begins to wander? If you're like us, before you know it, you're thinking about food. We still can't watch that scene in Inglourious Basterds where Hans Landa orders the strudel ("Wait for the cream") without wanting one for ourselves. Instead of pushing those thoughts aside, we rolled with them. Often, it's easy to create a recipe for what the characters are eating on-screen, such as when Clemenza is teaching Michael how to make sauce in The Godfather. Sometimes it's tricky. Predator, for instance, a movie about a bunch of soldiers being hunted by a killer alien, doesn't readily supply too many culinary inspirations. It wasn't until the 50th time that we heard the iconic line, "Get to the choppa!" as "Get to the 'lamb-choppa'!" Then, voilà! A delicious lamb chop dinner with a blood orange salad was created. It's truly an amazing feeling when you create a recipe that captures the essence of your inspiration.
Part cookbook, part entertainment, the book features cocktails, main dishes, and desserts inspired by iconic scenes, characters, and memorable moments from 46 of our favorite films. The recipes are easy-to-follow, elegantly plated, and most importantly, taste-tested (we really enjoyed that part). We hope that our book will help you become a star in your own kitchen!In 1912, a nurse named Margaret Sanger was dreaming about pills — The Pill, to be exact.
“She had this thing in her mind, like a fantasy,” says Jonathan Eig, author of "The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution." What if there was some miracle tablet that would let women turn on and off their reproductive systems?
The problem wasn't necessarily the science — it was the scientists. Finding people willing to work on a “women’s issue” was no easy task, especially one especially one as controversial — and illegal, in many states — as birth control.
"This was just such a neglected area of science," Eig says. “Men were interested in the atom bomb, and they weren’t interested in The Pill. Men were calling the shots."
But men weren’t the only ones with cash, as Sanger soon found out. Her idea resonated with Katharine Dexter McCormick, a wealthy suffragette, who agreed to finance the project. “[McCormick] really believed, after working in the suffrage movement, that the next step for women’s equality was being able to control the number of children they had,” Eig explains.
The next step was finding a scientist — a hormone expert, to be exact. “By the late 1940s and early 1950s, we’re beginning to understand hormones,” Eig says. Scientists were realizing it was possible to regulate the body’s functions by supplying it with additional hormones.
In 1951, Sanger and McCormick met their man. His name was Gregory Pincus, a physiologist with a serious chip on his shoulder. He'd been fired by Harvard and was running a small lab out of Worcester, Massachusetts.
"When Sanger met him, he says, ‘Of course I can make a birth control pill. Why would that be difficult?'" Eig says.
Pincus’s concept for the drug was simple: When a woman is pregnant, her body releases a hormone called progesterone that stops her from ovulating. Pincus developed a pill made of progesterone, and tested it successfully on animals in the lab.
Then came the hard part: finding human subjects. This is where the group had to get devious, Eig says. Even talking about birth control in Massachusetts was illegal at the time.
Together with John Rock, a gynecologist, the group identified women being treated by doctors for infertility. They gave them high doses of The Pill, calling it “a rest for their reproductive systems,” and tracked their ovulation.
“It convinced Pincus this was safe,” Eig says. “They weren’t dropping dead, and they weren’t growing third arms."
That's not to say it was all smooth. "They were suffering some serious side effects, like nausea and dizziness," Eig says. "But [Pincus] didn’t really care about that because they weren’t getting pregnant.” He also tested the drug in insane asylums — on both women and men. “It wasn’t pretty,” Eig admits.
At this point, Pincus was convinced the drug worked, but they still needed thousands more test subjects before they could submit it for approval. That’s when they decided to go to Puerto Rico.
In the slums of San Juan, Puerto Rico's capital city, Pincus and Rock found willing candidates and a government more amenable to new methods of “population control,” as they saw it.
They began dispensing very high doses of The Pill, dismissing patients' complaints of severe side effects. While the methods were controversial, the Puerto Rican trials made one thing clear to the two doctors – The Pill worked.
By the time they were ready to submit the drug to the FDA in 1957, momentum for the Pill was already off the charts. When the FDA approved it for menstrual regulation later that year, “women were lining up for it,” says Eig. “Doctors were prescribing it, knowing what it really did, and the horse was out of the barn.” Opponents simply couldn't catch up.
Women began using their new freedom to get college degrees, delay marriage and childbearing, and reimagine the balance of power between genders.
“It reinvented what it means to be a woman, what it means to be in a relationship and what it means to be human on this planet, in many fundamental ways," Eig argues. “I don’t think we’d have women on the Supreme Court today without The Pill."
This story first aired as an interview on PRI's Innovation Hub with Kara Miller.Angry Scientist Finds Uneducated Internet Comment and Delivers Badass Response*. With a title like this how could I resist clicking on the link that a friend sent me recently? The aforementioned Internet comment was in fact a Tumblr post that implied that vaccinating children is ‘child endangerment and abuse’ and encouraged the reader to ‘rethink vaccines’. Reading this familiar anti-vax rhetoric I was already looking forward to the ‘badass’ scientist’s comeback, but within the first few lines of their response I was disappointed and angry. It read:
You are the worst person.
So far so good, I thought. I understand resorting to hyperbole when it comes to defending children’s health and science.
You can be a vegan and whine at people, that’s hurting nobody but when you tell people to stop taking vaccines you endanger public health…
What followed was a list of the ingredients in vaccines with a brief explanation of what they do, why they are not a harmful and a plea for people to act responsibly and trust science over the fear-mongering tactics of anti-vaxxers. The scientist’s response is admittedly ‘rage filled and alcohol induced’, which is probably why it is so entertaining and vehement, but I couldn’t excuse the two references to veganism which seemed completely superfluous since the anti-vax post did not reference veganism at all.
Why don’t YOU educate yourself instead of subscribing to the notion that all scientists are evil and want to poison you and your natural, vegan lifestyle.
Why drag us vegans into this? I felt offended that the scientist equated vegans with anti-vaxxers and was publicly tarnishing our movement… Then I took a step back, and a breath, and I realised that this scientist’s perception of vegans is illustrative of a much larger problem, and though it may seem unreasonable to me it is in fact completely understandable.
Anti-vax sentiment does seem to be rife within the vegan community. I have been handed leaflets warning me of the ‘dangers of vaccines’ at vegan events and I have friends with children who have been harassed by fellow vegans for vaccinating their children. One father was accused of abusing his child when he mentioned on a vegan forum that his daughter was vaccinated. It is unsurprising that a drunk immunologist would link vegans and anti-vaxxers. Rather than get offended with someone for recognising a correlation perhaps a more appropriate response would be to combat anti-vax pseudo-science within my community.
So here goes.
What are vaccines?
A vaccine is a biological preparation usually administered by intramuscular injection. It typically contains an inactive form of pathogen which stimulates the immune system into producing antibodies to fight the pathogen. A vaccination immunises the person against the targeted disease by preparing their immune system to recognise and destroy active pathogens*. Vaccinations have been incredibly successful in combating disease. One of the most dramatic victories has been the eradication of smallpox, a horrific infectious disease which in its more aggressive strain killed 30-35 percent of those infected. A vaccination was developed for smallpox in 1796 and on the 8th of May 1980 the World Health Organisation certified the global eradication of smallpox in this landmark announcement:
The world and its peoples have won freedom from smallpox, which was a most devastating disease sweeping in epidemic form through many countries since earliest time, leaving death, blindness and disfigurement in its wake and which only a decade ago was rampant in Africa, Asia and South America*.
The polio vaccine is another success story which has reduced poliomyelitis from a worldwide epidemic
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group. […] But it may be the case that the very things that make us want to change the influence of corporate money on politics will make it essentially inconceivable that Congress would propose that amendment to the states. Now, if we get that kind of lockdown, […] then I think we’re at least in the territory where I think there’s perhaps a plausible systemic case for a limited purpose convention […]. (for full quote, see chart below)
Common Cause goes on to list questions that the professor mentions are left unanswered regarding the convention, but they conveniently leave out this part of Tribe’s stated position at that very same conference: “I would also object very much to someone who said that because I don’t know the answers to all of the questions about an Article V convention I would be opposed to ever having one, and that’s why I’ve made very clear that I don’t take that view” (8). (for full quote, see chart below)
This obviously does not align with Common Cause’s claim that “his doubts about a convention overcome his desire to experiment with the Constitution.” This type of spin doctoring in order to present their position in a way that makes us come to the conclusion they want us to is why people are losing trust in the media and political parties. We recognize that Professor Tribe has questions when it comes to an Article V Convention, but his position is clearly more nuanced than Common Cause would like for us to believe.
There is too much at stake for half-truths. The reality is that there is a wealth of knowledge and scholarly research done around the subject of an Article V Convention, the majority of which has concluded that the states have every right to call a convention limited to a single subject, and that mechanisms are in place for that limitation to be enforced (9).
As citizens, we must hold not only our elected officials to a higher standard, but also the organizations that influence them, whether that be corporations, unions, or non-profits. As reformers, we must hold ourselves to these same ideals and practice them at every opportunity. If we’re going to move our country towards a better tomorrow and address the overwhelming amount of corruption taking place in our nation’s capitol, we must insist on high-level discussions that exude transparency, intellectual integrity, and a level of trust in the audience. To do this, we will need to lead with courage and reject all deceptive tactics meant to keep us content with the status quo, and we must always demand truth.
For more on this topic: The Logical Path to End Corruption
Sign our petition: Progressives for Real Change
Bennett, PhD, Bob, (2012, February). Logically Fallacious: The Ultimate Collection of over 300 Logical Fallacies. Retrieved from https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/tools/lp/Bo/LogicalFallacies/65/Cherry_Picking.
2. Common Cause (2013, June 17). Common Cause Questions Scalia’s Speech to Political Group. Retrieved from http://www.commoncause.org/press/press-releases/common-cause-questions-scalias-speech-to-political-group.html
3. Common Cause (2011, February 28). Letter to the Honorable Antonin Scalia. Retrieved from http://www.commoncause.org/policy-and-litigation/letters-to-government-officials/letter-to-the-honorable-antonin-scalia.html
4. Common Cause (2014, June 23). Koch-backed Groups Linked to Scalia Trip, Speech Last Summer. Retrieved from http://www.commoncause.org/democracy-wire/koch-backed-groups-linked-to-Scalia.html
5. Common Cause. The Dangerous Path: Big Money’s Plan to Shred the Constitution. Retrieved from http://www.commoncause.org/issues/more-democracy-reforms/constitutional-convention/conclusion.html
6. Daly, John Charles (1979, May 23). A Constitutional Convention: How Well Would it Work? Edited Transcript of The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 22–23, 38
7. The National Press Club (2014, April 17). The Kalb Report — Ruth Bader Ginsberg & Antonin Scalia [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0utJAu_iG4
8. Harvard Law School (2011, October 6). Conference on the Constitutional Convention: Legal Panel [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbJ7NOF3HRU
9. Meese III, Edwin (1987, September 10). Limited Constitutional Conventions under Article V of the United States Constitution. The Department of Justice, Appendix iv.Bilingual speaking contest participants smile onstage at Seoul National University of Education in southern Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education
Multicultural background is an asset
By Choi Ha-young
Being multicultural in Korean society used to be an obstacle to equality but not so much now. A recent conversation between a multicultural child and her Korean mother went like this.
"Mom, am I a Korean or Russian?" Eight-year-old Diana Jeon, born to a Korean mother and a Russian father, asked her mother.
The answer her mother, Jeon Young-hee, gave her was this, "You are both. How cool is that! Try to be a nice Earthian."
This is the story Diana shared with participants during a bilingual contest for children of multiracial families organized by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) at Seoul National University of Education in southern Seoul, Tuesday.
Like Diana, multicultural children in Korea, a perceived racially-homogenous society, face identity issues. They also often face discrimination in their daily lives because of their unique looks.
"Diana's older sister once said during her daycare center days that, ‘The mother of a boy whom I liked told him not to marry a mixed blood girl,'" Jeon said. "So I told my daughter: ‘The boy's mom is wrong. You can marry anyone on earth, except an outer space creature.'"
Despite such difficulties, students and teachers who participated in the contest voiced that bilingual ability is a competitive advantage in a globalizing society. A total of 40 elementary, middle and high school students who have Chinese, Japanese, Russian and Vietnamese backgrounds shared their stories about settlement, identity, school life and their future hopes in both Korean and other languages.
"Even a few years ago," the Japanese mother of 13-year-old Ahn So-hyun said after the contest, "parents in multicultural families used to have their children focus on the Korean language rather than a foreign language, but these days it's changing. I hope my daughter does not forget her Japanese. Others pay money to learn a second language, she doesn't have to."
Choi Subin, 14, who has a Russian name, Nicole, is learning her mother's language at a private academy. Her parents installed Russian satellite TV at home to encourage her to study Russian.
Choo Ji-won, 17, born to a Korean mother and Chinese father, said she wants to be an international lawyer to solve the conflicts between Seoul and Beijing. She won first place in the contest.
Her mother said, "It's a recent trend that students from wealthy families enter a Chinese school to learn Chinese and prepare to study abroad. I want my daughter to be a global leader."
Diana's mother Jeon boasted that a multicultural background helps children have balanced views, in the "Americanized Korean society."
"Many Korean media reports about THAAD or the territorial dispute between Russia and Ukraine are biased. My children can listen to various opinions thanks to their multicultural background," Jeon said.
Students dream about various careers: interpreter, translator, journalist, tour guide, application developer, chef and historian.
"I want to be a historian to bridge the historical awareness between Korea and Japan," said Mori Saran from Seonjung High School, who is interested in making a joint history textbook among Koreans, Japanese and Chinese.
Interestingly, Saran knew nothing about Korea until her parents encouraged her to go to Korea to experience the broader world.
"As we saw today, multicultural students can develop positive, confident identities," said Won Jin-sook, director of the Institute for Multicultural Education at the university.
"Recently, anti-multiculturalism is growing all over the world as seen by the refugee issue in Europe and Brexit. Education for Korean students to gain sensible and humane views on their multicultural peers is also necessary. Korea, which has a low birthrate, cannot maintain itself without immigrants," Won added.Tonight, Minnesota United will find out its opponent in the team's first match of the US Open Cup. The Des Moines Menace and Real Colorado Foxes, two teams from the fourth-division Premier Development League, play tonight in Des Moines. If Des Moines wins, United will travel to Iowa on May 28th; if Colorado wins, Minnesota will host the Foxes on the same day.
A third-round game against Des Moines would be a rematch from last year, when Minnesota hit one of the low points of their season by losing to the Menace 1-0 at home, a game so bad that both head coach Manny Lagos and team president Nick Rogers publicly apologized to fans afterwards.
The real prize remains a win in the third round, as it means that United would be matched up against an MLS side. US Soccer is pairing the teams geographically, meaning that - depending on the teams left at that point - Minnesota would almost certainly play Kansas City, Chicago, or Salt Lake in the fourth round.
It's worth remembering that, to the guys on the field, games against MLS teams are probably only second in importance to playoff games. This is especially true for American players, who feel a great need to prove themselves against the first-division teams that have turned them down.
MLS, like the NASL, is taking a break during the beginning of the World Cup in June - offering the opportunity for clubs to play US Open Cup games on the open weekends. The fourth round would likely be the weekend of June 14 and 15. If Minnesota is drawn for a home game in the fourth round, it will also give United a chance to play another summertime game, and given that the team's attendance dramatically increases in the summer month, there's no doubt that the front office is crossing its collective fingers for this to happen.The following list of publications by Richard Dawkins is a chronological list of papers, articles, essays and books published by British ethologist and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.
He also wrote many book reviews and newspaper articles which are not listed on this page.
Books [ edit ]
Popular articles [ edit ]
Academic papers [ edit ]
1960s [ edit ]
1970s [ edit ]
1980s [ edit ]
Dawkins, R. (1980). "Good strategy or evolutionarily stable strategy". In Barlow, G.W.; Silverberg, J. Sociobiology: Beyond Nature/Nurture?. Colorado: Westview Press. pp. 331–337. ISBN 978-0-89158-960-0.
Dawkins, Richard; Brockmann, H.J. (1980). "Do digger wasps commit the concorde fallacy?". Animal Behaviour. 28 (3): 892–896. doi:10.1016/S0003-3472(80)80149-7.
Dawkins, Richard (1981). "In defence of selfish genes". Philosophy. 56 (218): 556–573. doi:10.1017/S0031819100050580.
Krebs, J.R.; Dawkins, R. (1984). "Animal signals: mind-reading and manipulation". In Krebs, J. R.; Davies, N.B. Behavioural Ecology: An Evolutionary Approach. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications. pp. 380–402. ISBN 978-0-632-02702-6.
1990s [ edit ]
2000s [ edit ]
Forewords [ edit ]
Richard Dawkins also wrote forewords to books, including:[1]Feline meds delivery
If you’ve ever tried to give a pill to a cat, you know it’s not only not fun, it can be downright dangerous. Dogs will eat anything. Cats, not so much.
I had a cat that was on medication for years, and every day it was the same struggle to get a pill down her throat. Now, I have a semi-feral, and very strong, older cat who needs thyroid medication every day. I would probably have lost a finger or two if I hadn’t found these things. You just fold the pill up into the little pocket, drop it in front of the cat, and it’s gone, like magic. Everyone’s happy, especially the cat. And you don’t need the asbestos gloves anymore.
-- Charles RichardsonIt has been nearly 20 years since I officially practiced medicine, but my friends and family consider me their frontline medical adviser. In an age when it is hard to get a doctor on the phone and can be pricey to see one, I remain really good at screening symptoms. The vast majority of the time, I can assure people that their anxiety is unfounded. Of course, every once in a while, my advice is “Yikes, worry more!” Here are some common medical worries you can set aside—along with a little guidance on when you should indulge them.
Don’t worry about: A single elevated blood-pressure reading
The human body is constantly changing in response to an array of factors: stress, medications, what you eat, how you sleep. This is definitely true of blood pressure, particularly the top number in the blood-pressure measurement, the systolic blood pressure. In fact, there is a phenomenon called “white coat hypertension,” in which blood pressure goes up when the measurement is taken at the doctor’s office because you’re nervous about having it checked! A friend of mine was recently in the hospital, hooked up to a display that checked his blood pressure every 15 minutes, with tremendous variation. It nearly drove him crazy.
When to worry: If you get a high reading several times in a month, talk to your doctor; untreated high blood pressure can lead to heart disease and stroke. Extremely elevated blood pressure (systolic pressure over 180 or diastolic pressure over 110) is a medical emergency.
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Health.com: 27 Mistakes Healthy People Make
Don’t worry about: A blood-test result that’s a little high or low
Even if the lab report says the number is out of normal range, that value is most likely normal for you. For his entire life, my husband has had a slightly low platelet count, but he has never had bleeding problems (platelets help with clot formation). No problem, no disease. Part of the reason a new doctor does routine blood work when you’re feeling good is so that she can learn what is typical for you.
Don’t worry about: Low blood pressure
You know the saying “You can never be too rich or too thin”? Low blood pressure is kind of like that. It puts less stress on your organs, so it’s generally considered a good thing.
When to worry: If low blood pressure leaves you feeling lightheaded or faint, or if you feel your heart fluttering, then you need to see a doctor.
Don’t worry about: A couple days of nausea, vomiting or diarrhea
People want to know if it’s food poisoning or a virus, but in terms of healing, it doesn’t really matter. If there is no intense abdominal pain, high fever or blood in your stool, your body will take care of it. The important thing is not to get dehydrated. I prefer that old favorite, flat ginger ale, but any clear liquid, like water or Gatorade, will do.
When to worry: If you feel faint or are vomiting up blood, get to the doctor.
Health.com: 15 Signs You May Have an Iron Deficiency
Don’t worry about: Painless lumps
As bodies age, they develop a wide variety of lumps. The overwhelming majority of them are not cancerous. The causes of lumps are so numerous that it is impossible to give a complete list here, but they range from benign cysts to fatty deposits under the skin (called lipomas). Make sure you show them to your doctor on your next visit, but try not to be too alarmed.
When to worry: Some lumps should be evaluated as soon as possible. Breast lumps should never be ignored. Lumps that are tender, warm and red could be from underlying infections that need treatment. Hard or fast-growing lumps should also be seen promptly.
Don’t worry about: Bleeding
In terms of species survival, it’s probably good that the sight of blood provokes panic. But most of us panic more than we should. Cuts on certain parts of the body, like the scalp, can bleed profusely, but that shouldn’t necessarily cause alarm. Put pressure on a cut for 5 to 10 minutes to see if you can get it to stop bleeding. If you can’t, or if the two sides of the slice seem widely separated, you may need stitches to help healing.
When to worry: If you’re not sure whether a cut needs stitches, it’s not wise to wait and see. Wounds need to be stitched within 24 hours or the risk of infection rises markedly.
Don’t worry about: A little rectal bleeding
The most embarrassed call I receive concerns blood on toilet paper or in the bowl. It is almost always related to hemorrhoids or small cuts in the rectal area rather than a sign of an ulcer or cancer. Try taking a stool softener, or eat more fruits and vegetables to do the same trick.
When to worry: If the bleeding persists for more than two or three days or is painful, head to the doctor.
Health.com: 18 Reasons Why Your Stomach Hurts
Don’t worry about: Sharp, localized chest pain
We tend to associate the chest with the heart, but there are lungs, bones, muscles and digestive organs in there, too. Sometimes chest pain that’s worse with a cough, a deep breath or movements of the torso, like lifting or twisting, can be caused by strains or irritation in the small muscles and ligaments that surround the ribs. These can be due to injury or a viral infection and generally resolve themselves; a nonsteroidal medicine like ibuprofen may help in the meantime.
When to worry: If you are also short of breath or have a fever, see a doctor. In that case, sharp, localized pain could be a sign of a lung problem. And if you have any doubt about whether you should get medical help for chest pain, it’s always better to err on the side of caution.
Don’t worry about: Rashes
During my medical training, I had an itchy rash on my arms and legs. It lasted two weeks and went away. I still have no idea what it was. Minor rashes are part of life, and no cause will be found for many of them. Use common sense to treat symptoms—taking an antihistamine or applying hydrocortisone cream can help with itching, for example—and think about new products or foods you’ve come in contact with so you can try to avoid a recurrence. Have you used any new shampoos? Is the rash only on the legs (in that case, think plant allergy)? Only on areas exposed to the sun? Only on areas under clothing?
When to worry: If an itchy rash comes on suddenly while taking a medicine (particularly an antibiotic) or eating a new food, seek immediate medical attention, especially if you also have shortness of breath or difficulty swallowing. It could be the start of a life-threatening allergic reaction. Also, if the itching is unbearable despite over-the-counter treatment, you might need something stronger, like a short course of steroids.
Health.com: 19 Signs Your Thyroid Isn’t Working Right
Should you worry more?
As I said, usually my advice involves calming unneeded anxiety. Most of my friends are worriers. But there is another type of patient—the denier—and those people should worry more. That group would include my own husband. So if you’re one of them, here are a few things that should always prompt an urgent medical visit: chest pain or pressure that you can’t localize with one finger and comes back every time you exercise; the worst headache of your life; intense abdominal pain, particularly if accompanied by fever; and shortness of breath severe enough that you have trouble finishing a sentence. This list is by no means complete, but these symptoms should set off immediate alarms. Put down this magazine and see a real doctor!
Elisabeth Rosenthal is a correspondent for The New York Times and a graduate of Harvard Medical School.
This article originally appeared on Health.com.
Contact us at [email protected] One is now over! Click HERE to head to Round Two to vote!
Presenting the winners of Round One...
Everything Burrito & Blue Milk
Mabel Juice & Freddy Fazbear's Pizza
Sea Salt Ice Cream & Ambrosia
Golden Apple & Lembas
Butterbeer & Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls
Krusty Burger & Croquettes
Ramen Ichiraku & Nightlock Berries
Dauntless Chocolate Cake & Fish Fingers and Custard
Greedy Milk & Lemon Cakes
Cookie Cat & Chu Jelly
Krabby Patty & Hot Cocoa with Cinnamon
Poké Puffs & Oversized Chocolate Pudding
Slurm & Sweetroll
Ratatouille & Death Sandwich
Nuka-Cola & Marco's Super Awesome Nachos
Zap Apple Jam & Aunt May's Wheatcakes
Round One
It's time for the THIRD annual Battle of the Fantasy Foods, and we couldn't be more excited. We've had two incredibly successful years of the Fantasy Food Bracket Tournament, with SpongeBob's Krabby Patty and Gravity Falls' Smile Dip taking the crowns. This year, we are expecting the competition to be bigger than ever!
With over one thousand entries, we gathered 64 fantasy foods from communities all across Wikia. The top two winners in each of the following polls will move on to Round Two on August 5.
Let the voting BEGIN!
Spread the word! Share this tournament.
Round One Polls
The top two winners in each of the above polls will move on to Round Two on August 5! Click HERE to read more about the tournament and to track all of the rounds.
Spread the word! Share this tournament.Sir Richard Branson is a successful businessman, billionaire, founder and chairman of Virgin Group of 400+ companies. He is the 4th richest person in the UK.
Tomorrow he sits with Peter Cashmore of Mashable for a “Fly like a boss chat” Google+ hangout to discuss how technology has changed business.
Here is information about the hangout (according to the event page)
Sir Richard Branson will join Mashable CEO & Founder Pete Cashmore, local flyers and area partners including students from the KIPP school for a pre-flight Google+ “Fly Like a Boss” hangout to discuss how technology is changing business and travel.
When?
April 9th at 7.30 AM – 8.00 AM Pacific time or 10:30am ET (Tomorrow)
How to join?
RSVP here in the Virgin America event page
Interested in asking a Question?
Submit your questions through comments in this Virgin America page
This is your opportunity to learn from a business icon the inner secret of what it takes to get there, Enjoy!
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The Pocket Stand was developed to be a compact multi-tool for the minimalist. It is what Q would have told Bond not to forget before he left on a mission. The Pocket Stand is both (1) a speaker amplifier and (2) a stand that props your iPad in countless configurations. It assists you in making the most of your iPad without sacrificing mobility.
No more awkwardly propping your iPad against another notebook or bag and watching it slowly fall down, with the Pocket Stand you're in control! Clip on the Pocket Stand and in less than a second, it makes doing anything on your iPad much, much easier.
The most unique feature of the Pocket Stand is the ability to amplify sound via a hidden acoustic cavity. The optimal form of the acoustic cavity was the result of countless tests and prototypes. (Prototypes were created using the latest in FDM 3D printing methods, thereby giving us a precise representation of our digital designs) Form following function, the Pocket Stand was shaped around this acoustic cavity that allowed for an approximate audio increase of 7-10 decibels!
The Pocket Stand was developed to be a super portable multi-tool for the iPad. As a stand, there are other competitors, but in total functionality and design, there is nothing like it.
We've been going through R&D for the last couple months and now the Pocket Stand is finally ready for production. We intend to use a manufacturing process called "injection molding" to create the Pocket Stand. This enables us to manufacture at a low-cost while maintaining superb quality.
We are hoping to mobilize the collective power of Kickstarters like you to help us get this project off the ground. By pledging at least $20, you are essentially pre-ordering a Pocket Stand and helping make this project a reality! So click the green button and make a pledge for your Pocket Stand today!The story of a seventeenth-century fornication trial in Massachusetts Bay
One of the worst nights of Sarah Crouch’s life began with an innocent request. Her mother asked her to go out into the fields and fetch Thomas Jones for supper. It was a quiet June evening during the pea harvest of 1668, and the sun had just begun to set over the Crouch family’s homestead in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Though Crouch, 20, had just woken from an early-evening nap, she gladly agreed to wrangle him in. Jones, who worked for her father, was a common presence in their household. Crouch liked him. As to how well, it depended on whom one asked.
Charlestown’s lively gossip mill buzzed with rumors of the couple’s intimacy — likely based upon the claim made by the Crouches’ neighbors, Joseph Bacheler and Paul Wilson, that they had seen Crouch in bed with Jones at the home of Theophilus Marches during the “last election day at Boston.” Another rumor claimed that Crouch and the twenty-three-year-old bricklayer were not only intimate but also secretly engaged.
This latter rumor was of particular interest to another regular visitor to the Crouch homestead: Middlesex County’s own resident Lothario, Christopher Grant, Jr. Crouch knew Grant, 24, through mutual friends. That same evening, he and his brother, Joshua, had dropped by for an unannounced visit. As Crouch made her way outside to find Jones, Christopher rushed toward Crouch’s mother. “Might I go forth with her,” he asked; to which she responded, “As long as you stay within hearing.”
Crouch’s account of the evening, written one year later as a court deposition, does not reveal her thoughts on Grant’s insistence, nor does it explain the excuse he had given to her parents to explain his presence at their house that evening. It is very likely, however, that she knew Grant’s intentions. In her own words, he had “made use” of her body at least twice over the past few months. The first of these encounters occurred on March 28 in “an olde house upon the wharfe.” There, Grant seduced her with a Falstaffian marriage proposal. “If she was not good enough to make her his wife she was not good enough to make his whore,” he said. When Sarah responded that they should wait, “he said I need not fear for it would not be known if he married me soon after.” Amid a second sexual encounter in April, Crouch had told Grant that she feared the first had resulted in a pregnancy. “How long afore [you’ve] had the sines of a maid,” Grant asked her. “Three days before the first time [you’d] had to do with me,” she responded.
Testimony of Sarah Crouch. MA Supreme Judicial Court, division of Archives and Records. MA State Archives, Boston.
Grant, desiring either sex or updates on her condition, and angered by the unconfirmed rumor of her engagement to Jones, kept close to her in the months to follow. This June night would prove no different. Sarah soon trekked out into her father’s fields to search for her rumored fiancée, trailed by the “heartless rogue” who may have gotten her pregnant.
In the mid-seventeenth century, Massachusetts Bay found itself amid a spiritual identity crisis. Many first- and second-generation settlers believed their children and grandchildren had lost touch with the colony’s original mission. This new generation was materialistic and greedy. Worse, it was becoming increasingly sexual. Though pregnancies out of wedlock were far rarer in Massachusetts Bay than in England or its other colonies, records show that by 1665, County Court officials saw premarital sex as “a shameful Sin, much increasing amongst us.”
The original fornication law published in The General Laws and Liberties of the Massachusetts Colony.
Contrary to modern perception, Puritans were not ashamed of sex itself. As the historian Edmund Morgan put it, the New England Clergy, “the most Puritanical of the Puritans,” believed that so long as a healthy sex life did not interfere with a married couple’s relationship with God, they were welcome, and indeed encouraged, to discuss and explore its boundaries. Premarital sex, however, remained illegal. Massachusetts’ first published fornication law, written in 1642, stated that guilty parties should be “punished, either by enjoyning Marriage, or Fine, or [whipping].” Two decades later, they added excommunication to the list. When caught in the act, or when exposed through pregnancy, “fornicators” were indicted and scheduled to appear before a group of magistrates during one of four annual meetings of a local county court. The historian Roger Thompson reports roughly 125 of these trials occurred between 1649 and 1680. Most were cut and dry. The accused mother, if pregnant, named a father. Magistrates then doled out punishments and made provisions for the resultant child.
Cases involving disputed paternity were far more complicated. Such was the case with Sarah Crouch and Christopher Grant Jr. The Crouch v. Grant case file, found in Folio 52 of the Middlesex County Court Records, contains 26 documents. Dated Feb. 2, 1669, these papers — which recount everything from rape allegations to a late-night orgy — tell the story of a love triangle involving the exact sort of rebellious twenty-somethings whom elderly colonists resented. Crouch came from subversive stock. One year earlier, the Charlestown Church had formally censured her father for “the scandalous sin of Drunkness” and his “not manifesting repentance for it.” Grant too came from a controversial family. Before his own indictment for fornication, the Court had already convicted two of his sisters for the same crime.
Colonial courts relied heavily upon written depositions. Defendants and witnesses prepared these documents in the months before proceedings began. Shortly after her indictment, Crouch could expect everyone she knew — her family, her neighbors, her enemies — to commit to paper their private thoughts about her, her reputation, and her behavior. Through these accounts, one can begin to imagine what it must have felt like to be young, libidinous, and malcontented while living in seventeenth-century New England.
Like thousands of other ordinary colonists, most of Sarah Crouch’s life exists within an elementary outline culled from official records: birth, baptism, marriage, death. Church logs suggest she was strong-willed and impetuous. Officials lamented that at the time of her indictment, Crouch was not “in full communion.” Although she had been baptized as an infant, she had yet to fully devote herself to the Church, nor had she shown any desire to do so.
Record of Sarah’s censuring from the Official Records of the Charlestown Church. Reprinted in Records of the First Church in Charlestown, 1632–1789, David Clapp and Son, Boston, 1880. This entry references her treatment by the Church two months after the birth of her daughter. This spiritual inquiry was independent from her criminal trial.
Still, as Crouch went to trial, she had support. Depositions written in her defense — principally those by Thomas Jones and her sister, Mary — suggest a coordinated effort. As colonial courts only met four times a year, she and her friends had months to get their stories straight. Crouch’s pregnancy made it impossible to deny guilt. She therefore devoted her efforts to proving Grant, rather than Thomas Jones, had fathered her child. She and her peers focused on the man’s persistent and at times violent history with women. Crouch’s sister suggested he had once propositioned her by promising to marry her if she had consented to sex. When she refused, Grant had attempted to “meddell” with her, allegedly taking her “coates up,” boxing one of her ears, and calling her a “dirty slot.”
Testimony of Mary Crouch. MA Supreme Judicial Court, division of Archives and Records. MA State Archives, Boston.
Though it had been the first of two consensual encounters that had resulted in pregnancy, Crouch committed the bulk of her testimony to a third and comparably violent run-in with Grant: the night he followed her into her father’s fields to find Jones. According to Crouch, he immediately revealed himself as a jealous mess. The rumor about her engagement to Jones — which she never confirmed in her own testimony — had sent him into a fury. One witness claimed that a few weeks earlier, Grant had been so worked up over it that he confronted Sarah’s father, who confessed ignorance. That night in June, Grant’s frustration boiled over.
“I have more right to you than he does,” Grant told Crouch. “[Jones] can maintenance you about as well as a dirt dauber.”
Crouch testified that things soon turned violent. “He took me by my [two] hands,” she wrote, “[and pulled] me along and under the fence.” There, Grant allegedly raped her.
At some point, the pair was interrupted by none other than Thomas Jones. He had been hiding in a barn within eye and earshot of the whole affair. Per his own brief testimony — a deposition that mimicked Crouch’s nearly to the word — he had been searching for a friend earlier that evening when he had heard the Grant brothers enter the Crouch family property. By the time Crouch had begun to call for him, he had already taken his place in the barn. It is not clear whether Jones knew of Crouch’s history with Grant. Regardless, he had seen enough.
Testimony of Thomas Jones. MA Supreme Judicial Court, division of Archives and Records. MA State Archives, Boston.
“Henceforth,” Jones told Crouch, “I will have nothing to say to you anymore.”
Grant took the opportunity to rub salt in Jones’ wound.
“Shall I kiss your garle, Thomas?”
“You have more right to her than I have,” Jones replied. “Take her if you will.”
What happened next eludes the historical record. The story picks up a few weeks later when Crouch confirmed to Grant she was indeed pregnant. She claimed that they spent the next few weeks weighing their options. Finally, Grant put his foot down. He told her he would only marry her if she ended the pregnancy. Crouch refused, and Grant failed to propose.
Heading into trial, Grant faced an uphill battle. The burden of proof in Puritan paternity cases typically fell on would-be fathers. Most magistrates reasoned it was a greater sin to force an infant and its mother into pecuniary uncertainty than it was to compel a man to financially support someone else’s child. Defendants needed to provide overwhelming exculpatory evidence, otherwise the Court would deem the accused legally responsible “notwithstanding his denial.”
Grant put together a much better case than most. Numerous friends, neighbors, and family members wrote depositions in his defense. Just as Crouch and Jones seem to have straightened their stories before committing them to paper, it is clear Grant conducted his own private investigation into what, exactly, people were saying about the events leading up to Sarah’s pregnancy. In his testimony, he urged the magistrates to pay close attention to the depositions written by his brothers; another one penned by a man named Samuel Church; and, especially, the testimony of a woman named Sarah Largin.
Testimony of Sarah Largin. MA Supreme Judicial Court, division of Archives and Records. MA State Archives, Boston.
These documents tell a radically different story from the one narrated by Crouch and Jones. Not only did Grant deny any intimacy with Crouch, but he and his supporters also hinted at conspiracy. Grant’s brother, Joseph, testified that Crouch was obsessed with Christopher, who “gave her no cause to love him.” Even more pointedly, Church implied that Crouch knew she was pregnant and chose to pin the paternity on Grant because he was “rich at the time” and thereby better suited to support her child than was Thomas Jones (presumably the true father).
Charlestown resident Ursula Cole claimed that shortly after Crouch’s pregnancy became public knowledge, Jones had described to her a recent encounter with Crouch, in which she implied Jones was the father. “[Jones] told [Crouch] that she showeth as if she [was] bigg with childe,” Cole wrote, “and [Crouch] answered [if I am with child] you shall provide blanketts for it.” Jones then allegedly assured Crouch if she were pregnant with his baby, he would do his part to support the child. Cole added that Jones even bought her a symbolic blanket. By July of 1668 — one month after the confrontation outside the Crouch home — Cole had heard that the couple had split up. She said Crouch told her that Jones had dumped her because he was “jealous of Christopher Grant,” even though “he had no occasion at all” to feel threatened.
Largin claimed she was with Crouch during the alleged night of conception “at which time Christopher was not there.” Months later, when Largin noticed Crouch’s belly, she asked her about the identity of the father. Crouch quickly named Grant. Soon thereafter, Largin confronted her on the inconsistencies. Crouch’s response to this confrontation remains lost, but she clearly panicked. According to Largin, a few weeks before trial, Crouch “sent to her that she should not appear at Court to testify against her but that she should abide at Boston.” Largin concluded her deposition by admitting that although she had seen Crouch “very often” in Grant’s company, “she never saw Christopher with her [around the time] she saith he got her with child.”
Largin’s testimony carried a great deal of weight, not only because she was close to both parties, but because she herself had
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and gives us no reusable components. An alternate approach is to use higher-order functions and composition.
// main.js function vowelOccurrences ( file ) { return map ( words => map ( vowelCount, words ), listOfWordsByLine ( read ( file ))) } function vowelCount ( word ) { return reduce (( prev, char ) => { if ( 'a' === char || 'e' === char || 'i' === char || 'o' === char || 'u' === char ) return ++ prev else return prev }, 0, word ) } function listOfWordsByLine ( string ) { return map ( line => split ( / \s +/, line ), split ('\ n', string )) } // reusable utils in util.js function reduce ( fn, accumulator, list ) { return []. reduce. call ( list, fn, accumulator ) } function map ( fn, list ) { return []. map. call ( list, fn ) } function split ( splitOn, string ) { return string. split ( splitOn ) }
listOfWordsByLine returns an array of arrays where each element corresponds to an array of words that make up a line. For example:
let input = 'line one \ nline two' listOfWordsByLine ( input ) // [['line','one'],['line','two']]
In the code above, vowelCount counts the number of vowels in a word. vowelOccurrences uses vowelCount on the output of listOfWordsByLine to calculate the vowel count per line per word.
The second approach results in a few reusable functions that we can employ throughout our codebase and compose together to solve bigger problems. Thus higher-order functions and composition promote a bottom-up approach which can lead to succint and modular code.
Lazy evaluation
So what is lazy evaluation?
Lazy evaluation is a strategy where the evaluation of a piece of code is deferred until its results are needed.
In this article I’m going to focus on lazily consuming data and building lazy pipelines that have to be manually drained. I am not going to talk about how lazy evaluation is implemented at a language level (no graph reduction, normal form, etc.).
Let’s look at an example. Given a list of integers, square the elements of this list, and print the sum of the first four squared elements. To write a lazy implementation for this, we must first figure out when do we need to compute something. In our case, only when we want to sum the first four squared elements do we need to provide the squared elements. Therefore we can defer the squaring operation until we actually start summing. Armed with this knowledge, let’s implement a lazy solution.
let squareAndSum = ( iterator, n ) => { let result = 0 while ( n > 0 ) { try { result += Math. pow ( iterator. next (), 2 ) n -- } catch ( _ ) { // length of list was lesser than `n` hence // iterator.next threw to signal it's out of values break } } return result } let getIterator = ( arr ) => { let i = 0 return { next : function () { if ( i < arr. length ) return arr [ i ++ ] else throw new Error ( 'Iteration done' ) } } } let squareAndSumFirst4 = ( arr ) => { let iterator = getIterator ( arr ) return squareAndSum ( iterator, 4 ) }
In the implementation, we start squaring elements only when the summing starts. Therefore, only those elements that are being summed are squared. This is achieved by controlling iteration and how values are yielded. A custom iteration protocol is implemented that yields elements one by one and signals when we have no more elements to yield. It is quite similar to what a lot of languages use. This protocol is encapsulated in an iterator object. The iterator object contains one function, next, which takes zero parameters. It yields the next element if there is one and throws otherwise.
The squareAndSum function takes as input an iterator object and n, the number of elements to sum. It pulls n values out of the iterator (by calling.next() n-times), squares and then sums them. getIterator gives us an iterator that wraps our list (which we call an iterable since we can iterate over it). squareAndSumFirst4 then uses getIterator and squareAndSum to give us the sum of first four numbers of the input list squared lazily. A nice side effect of using iterators is that it enables us to implement data structures that can yield infinite values.
Having to implement all of the above each time we require an iterator can be painful. Luckily, ES6 has introduced a simple way of writing iterators. They are called generators.
A generator is a pausable function that can yield values to its caller using the yield keyword multiple times during its execution. Generators, when invoked, return a Generator object. We can call next on the Generator object to get the next value. In JavaScript we create generators by defining a function with a *. Here’s an example.
// a generator that returns an infinite list of sequential // integers starting from 0 // notice the "*" to tell the parser that this is a generator function * numbers () { let i = 0 yield'starting infinite list of numbers' while ( true ) yield i ++ } let n = numbers () // get an iterator from the generator n. next () // {value: "starting infinite list of numbers", done: false} n. next () // {value: 0, done: false} n. next () // {value: 1, done: false} // and so on..
A Generator object conforms to both the iterator and the iterable protocol. Hence it can be used with for-of to access the values it yields.
for ( let n of numbers ()) console. log ( n ) // will print infinite list of numbers
Now that we know a bit about lazy evaluation, higher-order functions, and function composition, let’s implement something to see how using these three approaches cleans up our code.
The problem
We are given a file that contains a username on each line. The file may potentially be larger than the RAM available. We are given a function that reads the next chunk from disk and gives us a chunk that ends with a newline. We are to get the usernames that start with “A” or “E” or “M.” We are then supposed to make requests with the usernames to http://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users?username=<username>. After this, we are to run a given set of four functions on the query response for the first four requests.
Sample file contents:
Bret Antonette Samantha Karianne Kamren Leopoldo_Corkery Elwyn.Skiles Maxime_Nienow Delphine Moriah.Stanton
Let’s break up the problem into smaller chunks that we can write separate functions for. One approach would be to use the following functions:
one that returns each username ( getNextUsername )
) one to filter out usernames that begin with an “A”, “E” or “M” ( filterIfStartsWithAEOrM )
) one that makes network requests and returns a promise ( makeRequest )
The functions above operate on values. We need a way of applying these functions to a list of values. We need higher-order functions that do the following:
one that filters items from a list based on a predicate ( filter )
) one that applies a function to every item in a list ( map )
) one that applies functions from one iterable to data from another iterable ( zipWith with a zipping function)
This whole approach can benefit by being lazy so that we dont make network requests for all of the usernames that match our criteria, but only for the first n where n is the number of functions that we have to run on the query responses.
We are given an array of functions that are to be run on the final responses and a function that gives us the next chunk lazily. We need a function that gives us usernames one by one lazily. To preserve laziness by controlling when values are yielded, let’s build our solutions using generators.
// functions that are run on the query response let fnsToRunOnResponse = [ f1, f2, f3, f4 ] // mocks yielding the next chunk of data read from file // the * denotes that this function is a generator in JavaScript function * getNextChunk () { yield 'Bret \ nAntonette \ nSamantha \ nKarianne \ nKamren \ nLeopoldo_Corkery \ nElwyn.Skiles \ nMaxime_Nienow \ nDelphine \ nMoriah.Stanton \ n' } // getNextUsername takes an iterator that yields the next chunk ending with a newline // It itself returns an iterator that yields the usernames one at a time function * getNextUsername ( getNextChunk ) { for ( let chunk of getNextChunk ()) { let lines = chunk. split ('\ n' ) for ( let l of lines ) if ( l!== '' ) yield l } }
Before writing the next bit of our solution, let’s have a look at ES6 Promises. A Promise is a placeholder for a future value of an incomplete operation. The ES6 Promise interface lets us define what should execute once the operation completes or fails. If the operation is successful, it invokes the success handler with the value of the operation. Otherwise, it invokes the failure handler with the error.
Coming back to our solution, let’s write the functions that operate on values. We need a function that returns true if a value meets our filter criteria and false otherwise. We also need a function that returns a URL when given a username. Lastly, we need a function that, when given a URL, makes a request and returns a promise for that request.
// this function returns true if the username meets our criteria // and false otherwise let filterIfStartsWithAEOrM = username => { let firstChar = username [ 0 ] return 'A' === firstChar || 'E' === firstChar || 'M' === firstChar } // makeRequest makes an ajax request to the URL and returns a promise // it uses the new fetch api and fat arrows from ES6 // it's a normal function and not a generator let makeRequest = url => fetch ( url ). then ( response => response. json ()) // makeUrl takes a username and generates a URL that we want to query let makeUrl = username => 'http://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users?username=' + username
Now that we have functions that operate on values, we need functions that can apply these values to lazy lists of data. These are going to be higher-order functions. They should be lazy and should defer execution until they are explicitly asked to execute. This sounds like a good place to use generators, since we need values on demand.
// filter accepts a function (the predicate) that takes a value and returns a // boolean and an iterator filter itself returns an that iterator yields the // value iff the function when applied to the value returns true function * filter ( p, a ) { for ( let x of a ) if ( p ( x )) yield x } // map takes a function and an iterator // it returns a new iterator that yields the result of applying the function to each value // in the iterator that was given to it originally function * map ( f, a ) { for ( let x of a ) yield f ( x ) } // zipWith takes a binary function and two iterators as input // it returns an iterator which in turn applies the given function to values from each of // iterators and yields the result. function * zipWith ( f, a, b ) { let aIterator = a [ Symbol. iterator ]() let bIterator = b [ Symbol. iterator ]() let aObj, bObj while ( true ) { aObj = aIterator. next () if ( aObj. done ) break bObj = bIterator. next () if ( bObj. done ) break yield f ( aObj. value, bObj. value ) } } // execute makes a deferred iterator begin execution // it basically calls `.next` on the iterator repeatedly // till the iterator is done function execute ( iterator ) { for ( x of iterator ) ;; // drain the iterator }
So now that we have the functions that we would need, let’s compose them to build our solution.
let filteredUsernames = filter ( filterIfStartsWithAEOrM, getNextUsername ( getNextChunk ) let urls = map ( makeUrl, filteredUsernames ) let requestPromises = map ( makeRequest, urls ) let applyFnToPromiseResponse = ( fn, promise ) => promise. then ( response => fn ( response )) let lazyComposedResult = zipWith ( applyFnToPromiseResponse, fnsToRunOnResponse, requestPromises ) execute ( lazyComposedResult )
lazyComposedResult is a lazy pipeline of composed function applications. No step in our pipeline will execute until we call execute on the final composed piece i.e., lazyComposedResult to start the process. Therefore, we will make only four network calls even though our result set post filtering might contain more than four values.
As a result we now have reusable functions that operate on values, reusable higher-order functions, and a way to compose all these together to write a succinct solution.
Epilogue
In this article, we defined higher-order functions, function composition and lazy evaluation. We then went through examples of each. Finally, we combined all the three approaches to write a lazy, modular and composable solution to a given problem.
Further readingBy Patrick Metzger
John Oliver’s recent piece on corporate consolidation is a fantastic rundown of recent mergers and acquisitions and the troubling implications that they have for our daily lives. This article seeks to note some additional consolidations of economic power that were not included in his thorough analysis.
First, a rundown of the high-level shocker statistics that Oliver mentioned in the Last Week Tonight episode:
U.S. Airline Industry: There were 10 large airlines in 2000, but only four large airlines today, which make up 83% of the U.S. airline market. Due to airline consolidation, baggage fee revenue skyrocketed from $543 million in 2007 to $4.2 billion in 2016.
U.S. Rental Car Industry: 90% dominated by 3 companies (AVIS, Hertz, and Enterprise)
U.S. Beer Industry: 70% dominated by 2 companies (Anheuser-Busch InBev and Molson Coors)
U.S. Banking Industry: 4 banks dominate the market (J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citibank, and Bank of America). They collectively capture 75% of large corporate banking in the U.S.
75% of large corporate banking U.S. Health Insurance Industry: 5 companies dominate (Anthem, United Healthcare, Cigna, Aetna, and BlueCross BlueShield)
Online Search: 77% of all global searches are Google searches
77% of all global searches Luxottica (with a 14% share of the global eyewear market) is merging with Essilor (with a 13% share of the global eyewear market).
is merging with A Time Warner / AT&T merger is in the advanced stages of review by the Justice Department.
in the advanced stages of review U.S. Casket Industry: Dominated by 3 companies (Hillenbrand, Matthews International, Aurora)
With these statistics in mind, let’s examine a few more examples of extreme consolidation of ownership and power within the United States and the world at large.
The Bayer / Monsanto Merger
Bayer and Monsanto are the latest seed and agrochemical companies to attempt a merger. The EU is now scrutinizing this merger, which, if it were allowed to proceed, would form the world’s largest integrated pesticides and seed company. All this comes as Dow Chemical and DuPont merged earlier this year, and ChemChina acquired Syngenta.
This is problematic, because every seed that Monsanto (or any of these companies) genetically engineers is, by our current legal system, the intellectual property of Monsanto. Since seeds and pollen travel through the wind and are carried by insects and animals without a care for property lines (and since so many farmers use Monsanto seeds), there’s real potential for the nearby crops of small farmers to be inadvertently mixed with Monsanto’s seeds. Ever since the farmer Vernon Bowman lost a court case with Monsanto and was forced to pay them for having grown seeds that he simply acquired from a kind of “mixed bag” grain silo from other nearby farmers, a dangerous precedent has been set that blurs the lines of who owns the plants that become our food. Monsanto investigates roughly 500 farmers every year.
In addition, Monsanto manufactures the very weedkiller (Roundup) that their seeds are genetically resistant to. This improves the yield of farmers growing Monsanto crops to be sure, but it also makes farmers more intimately dependent on Monsanto, further increasing Monsanto’s control over the cost and profit margin for every aspect of food production.
There simply has never been such complete control over the supply of the planet’s food. It hearkens back to the days of fiefs, lords, and serfdom, but of course the world was less populated then. Even if about 90% of people in Medieval Europe lived the life of an impoverished peasant, the sheer magnitude was so much smaller. In 2009, 93% of soy beans and 80% of corn grown in the United states contained Monsanto-patented genes. As of 2013, 40% of all United States crop acreage contained Monsanto crops. Worldwide that year, Monsanto crops were grown on 282 million acres of farmland. The boldness of this most recent attempt to own and control the subsistence of so many humans is really unprecedented.
So the trouble with GMOs is not that they present a health risk (there is currently no evidence of adverse effects on health), but rather that their propagation could result in our enslavement to a corporate system that can literally own our source of sustenance.
Walgreens Purchases Rite Aid Stores
As of September 2017, Walgreens has acquired roughly 43% of Rite Aid’s stores. Remember that Duane Reade is also owned by Walgreens, so this really leaves CVS as Walgreens’ only major competitor in the entire national market.
Walgreens now owns the most pharmacies in the United States, raising serious concerns (including from FTC Commissioner Terrell McSweeney) about the potential for generic drugs to get more expensive now that Walgreens has so many fewer competitor stores to contend with.
One might make the argument that corporations like Walgreens are creating jobs, and thus contributing to the economy, and thus contributing to the overall wellbeing of American citizens. However, mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical industry have led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs in recent years. This brings up the human impact of corporate ownership and price gouging, which deserves its own distinct section.
Slave Wages and the Prison Industrial Complex
As discussed above, pharmaceutical mergers lead to major layoffs in the workforce. This is a fairly well-understood effect of mergers and acquisitions in general. Meanwhile, research shows that both the acquired and the acquiring company tend to benefit from mergers, with profits increasing at the expense of both producers and consumers.
If companies crowd out enough of their competitors, an oligopoly can result. The cousin of a monopoly, an oligopoly is a situation in which an extremely small number of companies control an entire market. After reading the examples above, this situation should sound frighteningly familiar.
When a market is entirely controlled in this manner, the price of goods can be set almost arbitrarily, and new competitors can be kept from entering the market. This gets especially dangerous when government regulation does not intervene. There have been no major oligopoly-busting cases in the U.S. since the 1970s. Barry Lynn points out in his book, Cornered, that this kind of market domination by only a few companies has been increasing rapidly since the 1980s.
Meanwhile, the purchasing power of the minimum wage has decreased over the past 50 years—adjusting for inflation, the minimum wage peaked in 1968. This means that millions of restaurant workers, grocery store clerks, and construction workers with a family of 3 who were briefly able to keep their family above the federal poverty line in 1968 have been forced back below it for half a century.
All of this while CEOs earn between 300 and 400 times more than workers (a ratio that is drastically underestimated by Americans). This gap in pay has been getting worse every year.
One might suggest that a worker in this situation can still put in some elbow grease and follow the “American dream” of social mobility to rise up out of their poverty. Unfortunately, this is all but impossible in the America of today. 43% of Americans raised in the bottom quintile of family income stay there their whole lives, and only 4% go from the bottom quintile to the top. And since the 1980’s, social mobility has only gotten more difficult.
This degree of wage slavery severely limits the agency that workers have. If someone can’t even buy food for their family, they can hardly be expected to become socially or politically active, or advocate for their own rights in opposition to the policies of their employer.
So corporate power effectively keeps workers enslaved in jobs they hate, taken away from the family for whom they are working so diligently. This is one way that humans are owned by this system of oppression. Another way is through the American prison system, which plays out a legalized version of slavery every day in this supposed “land of the free.” Ava DuVernay’s documentary, 13th, popularized what is now a growing awareness in this country: that when the 13th Amendment to the constitution outlawed slavery “except as punishment for a crime,” a loophole was left open that allowed for slavery to persist in the United States. Couple this with the facts that one in three black men can expect to be incarcerated in their lifetime, and that African Americans and Hispanics make up 56% of all incarcerated people in the U.S., despite comprising only 32% of the country’s population, and it becomes clear that the enslavement of people through the prison system is a legacy of America’s racist, genocidal roots.
Remember the social mobility numbers discussed above? They showed how difficult it was for Americans to get out of the bottom quintile of family income. Well, that was the average across all races. Whites have a leg-up, with only 33% stuck in the bottom quintile, while 53% of blacks get trapped at the bottom. Due to generations of systematic disenfranchisement, the median net worth of whites is 10 times the size of blacks’, blacks and hispanics are more likely to have lower credit scores than whites and Asians, and many banks have operational tactics that evade people of color seeking loans. Even computer algorithms, because they are built by humans, can have a racial bias. One algorithm—used by judges, police forces, and parole officers across the country—was meant to calculate the risk of recidivism for defendants, but it turns out it mistakenly labeled white reoffenders as “low risk” twice as often as black reoffenders.
People of color face a daunting school to prison pipeline, and companies profit off of it. Private prisons—where the largest 3 firms provide over 96% of all private prison beds—house 8% of the total prison population in the United States. The two largest firms together make over $3.3 billion dollars in annual revenue. In addition, many adjacent private industries profit off of the private, federal, and state prison systems, like the prison phone industry that makes $1.2 billion dollars every year.
Even if one doesn’t consider prison to be a form of slavery, there are still 60,000 slaves living in the United States—30 million slaves worldwide. That means 1 out of every 250 people on the planet is a slave, in the most medieval sense of the word. Right now. In 2017.
So humans are owned in more ways than one by private interests across the globe.
Control of Nature and Its Resources
Fundamentally, humans need natural resources like plants and water in order to survive. It’s safe to say that if one or a few profit-driven companies owned all natural materials and could control their dispensation, that would be very frightening indeed.
It should cause some concern, then, that as much as 90% of the global grain trade is controlled by just four traders. Or that 10 companies control most of the food and drinks found at the average grocery store (with companies like Kraft Heinz putting out feelers for further consolidation). Or that water companies utilize public-private partnerships to reap profits from somewhere between 2% and 12% of the world’s population—a $600 billion dollar market.
11% of the world (815 million people) is chronically food-insecure. Earlier this year, as food rationing brought extreme hunger to Venezuela, the country’s military was given complete control of the food supply. This resulted in extreme price gouging, with government officials and black marketeers alike profiting from the starvation of citizens. In 2015, Oxfam published a report detailing how French banks had, despite promises to the contrary, continued to engage in speculative agricultural commodity trading, which drove up food prices and contributed to the food insecurity of developing countries.
10% of the world (700 million people) suffer from water scarcity. In 2015, the water crisis in Flint, Michigan brought this issue home for many Americans as serious levels of lead were found in the drinking water. The effects of that crisis continue to this day, while just outside town Nestlé continues to pump 150 gallons per minute from the ground for a $200 yearly fee that translates into millions of dollars in profit. Similarly, in 2016, during California’s five-year drought, Nestlé extracted 36 million gallons of water from a national forest in order to sell it as bottled water. In the United States, for-profit water companies charge an average of 58% more than public water utilities (sometimes as much as 84% more). In India, Delhi has been facing a water crisis for years, which came to a head this year as treatment plants ran far below capacity and briefly delivered 80 million fewer gallons per day than the legal share of water allocated to Delhi. Many Indian citizens across the country are outraged by water privatization efforts and the false promises of companies in this industry.
All of this while megadroughts from climate change are likely to have a devastating impact on the aquifer and agriculture of the American Southwest along with other parts of the globe by the year 2100.
As the global population grows and resources become more constrained, we should expect more conundrums of this variety in our future.
The Top 0.1%
So far, this article has discussed the control that large entities wield over citizens, through the social construct of ownership. However, behind and inside of every imagined community—such as corporations or governments—one finds human beings. Individual people are ultimately the agents who choose to permit or constrain the freedoms of others, to provide for the common good or to plunder citizens’ wellbeing for their own profit. Since we have decided to bestow value on fiat money in a market economy, those with the highest dollar amount of net worth wield an incredible amount of power. So it becomes very important to know just how much power is wielded by the wealthiest people in the world and what their motives might be.
Wealth inequality in the United States is the worst it’s been since the Great Depression, and the divide has been widening at an accelerating rate in recent years. Workers’ wages have been essentially stagnant since the 1970s, despite increased productivity, while the after-tax incomes of the top 1% have increased by 192% since 1979. The top 1% in the United States wield a great deal of power, but it’s nothing compared to the concentration of wealth in the top 0.1%. The 160,000 families in the top 0.1% now own as much wealth as 90% of the rest of the country. This increase in inequality is mirrored across the world in the wealthiest nations in the G20.
The net worth of Forbes’ 2017 list of the The World’s Billionaires is $7.67 trillion. If these 2,043 people were a country and their net worth was their country’s net national wealth, they would be the 3rd wealthiest nation in the world. The eight wealthiest people in the world own as much wealth as the poorest half of the entire global population.
A recent Princeton study showed that “the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically nonsignificant impact upon public policy.” Meanwhile, the interests of economic elites have been a near-perfect predictor for U.S. policy since 1981. This is because corruption is legal in the United States—a situation that organizations like Represent.Us are trying desperately to remedy.
In 2015, The New York Times published an in-depth profile of the 158 families that contributed nearly half of the early money for the 2016 U.S. presidential campaigns. All but 20 of these families contributed to Republican campaigns.
“Not since before Watergate have so few people and businesses provided so much early money in a campaign, most of it through channels legalized by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision five years ago.” —Nicholas Confessore, Sarah Cohen and Karen Yourish
An anonymous investment manager wrote in 2011 about the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, “Most of the serious economic damage the U.S. is struggling with today was done by the top 0.1% and they benefited greatly from it.” This is borne out by research at U.C. Berkeley, which showed that the wealth held by households in the top 10% recovered quickly after the financial crisis due to asset diversification, while those in the bottom 80% lost a large part of their wealth and have not recovered.
Redistribution
The more power that private corporations have, the more civic welfare is in danger. After all, corporations are legally obligated (due to a weak precedent set by Dodge v. Ford and reaffirmed by eBay v. Newmark) to maximize wealth for shareholders regardless of the impact to the planet and the people on it. Governments, nonprofits, and civic organizations are the entities that have the greatest capacity for improving the quality of life for citizens without a conflict of interest, but they have been weakened by corruption and the influence of money on every aspect of life on this planet.
The 19th Century economist Henry George pointed out how capitalist landlords profit from the increased value of land, even though they don’t generate anything new or contribute to the wealth of society the way that labor and capital do. Michael Kinsley, analyzing Henry George in Vanity Fair, extends the metaphor of “land” to include all unproductive forms of capitalism. He specifically critiques finance, where money can be moved from one place to another in order to generate more money, but without creating anything of value in the physical world.
Henry George suggested hefty taxes to decrease the power of landlords and return the value of the land back to public benefit. Bernie Sanders is not the first to suggest taxing the 0.1%, and hopefully the discussion above illustrates why. Wealth redistribution is not some cheap attempt to take rich people down a peg. Workers are starving and underpaid and overworked, and it’s not because there aren’t enough resources to go around. The wealthy in this country are simply not being taken to task for draining labor from impoverished people at slave wages. This is what tyranny looks like, and democracies were invented to protect citizens from this degree of abuse.
The only things historically that have reliably led to a decrease in inequality are: war, revolution, state collapse, or catastrophic epidemics. Either we’ll have the foresight this time to avoid violence, or suffer the consequences when that violence inevitably comes.
If we’re going to keep this country from catastrophe, we need to break up and regulate oligopolies, we need to invest in infrastructure in order to retain resources like water as public utilities, we need to get money out of politics, we need to restrict gerrymandering that so effectively rigs elections, we need to close corporate tax loopholes, we need to raise the minimum wage, we need to close the gender pay gap, we need to make reparations to black families whose labor and wealth has been stolen for centuries. Oh, and we should tax carbon emissions because climate change is killing us.
Simple enough, right? Let’s get started.New Horizons captured a trove of images and data during the flyby, but it will take a year for it to send all that information across the solar system for scientists to study. In August, the spacecraft sent back data from two instruments measuring the dance of charged particles around Pluto and a student experiment that counted dust particles.
The scientists working with the charged particles data say they do not yet understand what they have found. “Because, as you might expect from a first flyby, they found really puzzling things,” Dr. Stern said. “They know they got good data, and they see signatures from the Pluto system, but they’re not anything like they predicted.”
Image A jumbled, chaotic terrain in the middle of this 300-mile-wide swath of Pluto lies to the left of icy plains known as Sputnik Planum. Credit NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute
Last Friday, the mission team resumed the retrieval of images from New Horizons; it plans to release them weekly. Other photographs in this week’s batch show multiple haze layers in Pluto’s atmosphere, glacierlike flows of ice and what Dr. Stern described as “a very disorganized region hundreds of miles across where the mountains appear to be chaotically jumbled.”
Similar jumbled landscapes have been seen on Jupiter’s moon Europa, where the flow of water in an underground ocean may have destabilized the surface.
Dr. Stern said that on Pluto, it is possible that liquid nitrogen below the surface caused the mountains to collapse.127.0.0.1 — An IP address of the local machine, generally a system’s loopback address. It is used to access a local machine’s TCP/IP resources. A message directed to the 127.0.0.1 will routinely reroute the message into the machines network adapter within the TCP/IP stack.
3GP — A container format for multimedia files created by the 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) for 3G mobile phones. The 3GP uses the.3gp file extension, and is a general video format that makes the file smaller and more accessible for mobile phones.
8VSB — (8-Level Vestigial Sideband) – A method of modulation implemented for terrestrial propagation of ATSC digital broadcasting. 8VSB requires a smaller amount of power to coverage on small areas. 8VSB employs Nyquist sift to attain the required broadcast.
Abandonware — A term used for obsolete software applications or programs that are no longer supported or sold. These types of applications are not accessible in public domains.
ACH (Automated Clearing House) — An electronic system used for financial transactions within the US. It processes huge volumes of debit and credit transactions. It includes express vendor payments and deposit payroll.
ActiveX — A group of item-oriented tools and programming languages. It uses COM (Component Object Model) as its chief technology. It uses an independent program that can operate within the ActiveX network when creating a program that executes in ActiveX environment. Its component is identified as ActiveX Control.
Address Munging — A way for users and groups to exchange or publish email addresses online while avoiding them being leeched by bots. Address munging is done by generating email addresses that cannot be recognized by a leecher or a bot. For example, instead of writing [email protected], it should be written as address at lycos dot com to avoid detection.
Adium — A free IM client for Mac OS X which supports multitudes of protocols. It is programmed using the Mac OS X Cocoa API. Adium was created by Adam Iser, a college student. Adium v1.0 was released in September, 2001.
Adobe Acrobat — A compilation of programs designed to create, manage, access and organize Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format) files. It was created by Adobe Systems.
AdSense — An advertising platform managed by Google. It allows web owners to integrate image, text, as well as video ads in their websites to generate income when visitors click or view those ads.
Adware — An application that can display banners and advertisements while an application is running. Its author incorporates code that sends pop-up advertisement simultaneously. Adware may also track vital information about the user and deliver it to a remote server.
AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) — A standard protocol for encryption founded by the US government. It employs the standard ciphers AES-256, AES-128, and AES-192. All AES ciphers are 128-bit in size. It is recognized as the algorithm used for symmetric cryptography. The NIST announced the AES as FIPS PUB 197 standard on 2001.
AFS (Andrew File System) — A network system distributed to facilitate information from various AFS systems. AFS is a compiled cell that represents a section of the file space that can be managed independently. The cells link to a UNIX system using an AFS root directory.
AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) — A messaging service that uses the OSCAR IM protocol as well as TOC protocol which permits authorized users to connect real time. The application is accessible for Mac OS, Windows OS, and Linux. The application was created and managed by AOL (America Online).
AIM Express — The next generation messaging service that does not oblige the user to download messaging applications. It uses the Windows browser to run and send messages. It establishes a new window that includes file link with IM software. AIM Express can initiate chat rooms, access the address list, as well as “view profiles”.
AIX — A 64-bit UNIX that communicates with the TCSEC C2. It operates on 32-bit and 64-bit programs. The AIX can support JAVA, NIS+, and other applications handling extreme graphic models.
ALG.exe (Application Layer Gateway) — Allows certain applications such as RTSP, SIP, FTP, etc. to be executed. This permits accessing software from another computer, even those with firewalls. Security protocols are blocked without the executable ALG.
Algorithm — A set of fixed protocols used for data processing and calculation. It is a calculable group of instructions used to achieve a preferred result. An alteration from a single condition to another is not essentially the rule. This is because some algorithms utilize randomness.
AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System) — An analog mobile technology created by Bell Laboratory. It became the principal analog mobile technology within North America. AMPS use separate frequencies for every conversation, which requires larger bandwidth for users. It is identical to the “OG” system.
Anchor Text (Link Label) — The text of a hyperlink within a web page, which typically identifies the content of the page the hyperlink links to. The words enclosed in the Anchor Text inform web page visitors of what they may expect on a linked page, and search engines about the contents of the linked page. Anchor Text also factors into the terms under which the search engine will rank the linked page.
Anonymous Proxy — A server that stands between an internet user and the rest of the internet, acting
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’t get it,” Bell said, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “I get it now. There is no place for that kind of stuff on my show. I will be more mindful. I hope I can be a better talk show host and better person. This has been an eye-opening experience.”As longtime readers of this column know, voters in one-party states sometimes elect the nominee of the “wrong” party as governor. Today's question is whether state Sen. Wendy Davis, a Democrat, has a fighting chance to win next year’s gubernatorial election in Texas, which remains a rock-solid Republican state.
Davis was elected to the Fort Worth City Council in 1999 and was re-elected four times. She defeated an incumbent Republican state senator in 2008, and four years later she squeezed out re-election, 51.1 percent to 48.9 percent, against a Republican member of the state House who challenged her in what the Star-Telegram termed a “brawl.”
In June, Davis filibustered Senate Bill 5, which would have banned abortions after 20 weeks and imposed new regulations on doctors and clinics performing abortions in Texas. The Fort Worth Democrat was successful in blocking a vote at the end of the special session, but Gov. Rick Perry called a second special session and the bill passed. It was signed into law on July 18.
Davis’ filibuster drew national attention, and she was heralded as a hero by liberals, Democrats and supporters of legal abortion. Early in October, she announced that she would run for governor.
The state senator’s admirers often note her compelling personal story. She and her siblings were raised by a single mother. She became a single mother herself, living in a trailer park. She graduated from Texas Christian University and then earned a law degree from Harvard.
But even with a good story, Davis obviously has an uphill run in difficult political terrain. Still, others have succeeded.
The list of “wrong” party winners includes Linda Lingle, a Republican who won two terms as governor of very Democratic Hawaii, which has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 1970. It also includes Republicans Lincoln Almond and Don Carcieri, who together won four straight gubernatorial elections in Rhode Island, which hasn’t gone Republican in a presidential election since 1984.
On the other side of the aisle, Democrat Dave Freudenthal was elected governor twice (in 2002 and 2006) in Wyoming, one of the reddest states in the country. In 2006, he drew almost 70 percent of the vote — 50 points better than Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry did in the state in the 2004 presidential race.
And although Kansas has voted Democratic for president only once since the end of World War II, in 1964, and the state has not sent a Democrat to the Senate since George McGill in the 1930s, Democrat Kathleen Sebelius won two gubernatorial elections (2002 and 2006), and Democratic nominees have won nine of the state’s past 14 gubernatorial races.
So merely dismissing Davis’ prospects because she is a Democrat in a Republican state is shortsighted.
Davis might be able to be the next Lingle, Freudenthal or Brad Henry (a Democrat who was elected governor in Oklahoma in 2002 and 2006) if she could convince voters that she is a moderate who is more in-step with her state than with her national party. But that seems unlikely, even though her initial campaign video sought to steer clear of ideology and her record in favor of pretty pictures and testimonials. But Wendy Davis isn't a blank slate.
Sebelius, who served as state insurance commissioner and has a very restrained personal style, ran as a moderate Democrat to win her first term in 2002, and she benefited from a deep ideological split in the state’s Republican Party. Lingle was a moderate who ran as one, emphasizing her success as mayor of Maui and her differences with her party on abortion.
Davis apparently will try to put distance between her legislative record and her candidacy by emphasizing broadly appealing themes, but Republicans have plenty of ammunition to use against her, including enthusiastic support for the state senator from the political left.
Feminist writer Katha Pollitt, a regular contributor to The Nation, wrote about “Wendy Davis, Superhero” shortly after the Texas state senator finished her filibuster. And at Salon.com, editor-at-large Joan Walsh’s ode to Davis was titled “Wendy Davis, Feminist Superhero.”
With friends like these, and others at places such as MSNBC, Davis will find it hard to remake herself. And, as veteran Los Angeles Times political reporter Mark Z. Barabak pointed out in an Oct. 8 piece, though Davis did not include her party in her initial video, Republicans will make sure during the campaign that voters know Davis and President Barack Obama are members of the Democratic Party.
At the Rothenberg Political Report, we rate the contest as Safe Republican. The Cook Political Report has it as Solid Republican, and Nate Cohn wrote in late September in The New Republic that Davis “is doomed” in her bid for governor.
Of course, EMILY’s List has already “recommended” Davis, and the Lone Star Project, the aggressive Democratic group run by former Martin Frost operative Matt Angle, is promoting Davis heavily.
But they have reasons to do so, even though the Democratic state senator looks like a loser. Democrats and liberals believe that long-term demographic trends will turn Texas purple, and Davis’ effort could speed up that process, they hope. Moreover, she could well be a national fundraising machine for liberal groups, no matter how realistic her prospects.
Texas may turn purple, but not in 2014. And not with Wendy Davis or a nominee like her.The California Democratic Party chair race turned into a closely contested race between establishment candidate and corporate lobbyist Eric Bauman, who currently serves as vice chair, and Kimberly Ellis, a San Francisco activist backed by the National Nurses Union and Our Revolution. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom endorsed both candidates ahead of the election on May 20, though Sanders supporters rallied behind Ellis, who acknowledges the Democratic Party has lost its way and focused on progressive issues like single payer health care despite supporting Clinton in the primaries.
Bauman, a Democratic Party insider whose election was initially viewed as a sure thing, has lived up to his description by the LA Weekly in 2011 as “a professional Democrat and behind-the-scenes power player who has a reputation for playing hard-ball politics and not always being a nice guy.” On May 20, his tactics paid off as he managed to fend off Ellis’ surge, capturing 60 more delegate votes out of nearly 3,000 cast. Ellis has not yet conceded and is consulting with attorneys on how to push for a recount.
On May 7, the Los Angeles Times reported Bauman sent an email to California Democrats alleging he is being falsely targeted with rumors that he engages in “inappropriate behavior with 14- and 16-year-old boys.” Bauman didn’t cite or provide evidence of the rumors. Instead, he cited that a few people within his campaign had heard them. He told the Los Angeles Times that by addressing the rumor, “I sort of in a way spread the thing.” He claimed he wasn’t accusing his opponent of being behind it.
The email sent out implies otherwise. “The members of party cannot go around acting like Donald Trump and his alt-right gang of thugs and expect voters to see us differently,” he wrote in the email. He continued:
I want to say plainly: we Democrats cannot, must not accept or tolerate the spreading of despicable lies like this. It means we are no better than Trump with his character assassination tactics. WE MUST REFUSE TO ALLOW PEOPLE WHO CLAIM TO BE DEMOCRATS TO GET AWAY WITH THIS TYPE OF HEINOUS AND OBNOXIOUS BEHAVIOR!”
His opponent’s campaign denounced the rumors shortly after the email was sent out. California State Party delegate Greg Diamond alleged in a blog post that Bauman fabricated the existence of the rumors for political gain. It’s unclear if political motives inspired the email, but it is strange that Bauman felt obligated to defend rumors that can’t be traced on the internet other than from what publications have covered in his defense against them.
As the California Democratic Party Chair race unfolded, several Bernie Sanders supporters denounced Eric Bauman for his divisive rhetoric and behavior toward progressives within the party. On May 16, Los Angeles activist Lauren Steiner reshared a video from 2015 of a dinner with several California Democratic Party organizers during which Bauman angrily confronted Steiner for asking a couple political questions. She wrote in a Facebook post after the incident occurred, “He left his seat, moved directly in front of me, jabbed his finger in my face, yelled and cursed at me, talked over me when I tried to defend myself, called me ‘honey’ twice and accused me of ‘bully tactics.’ When my friend stood in between to create some distance, he said, ‘I’m not going to hit her.’ Two men had to intervene to pull him away.”
On May 17, Sanders supporter and activist Yolanda Varela Gonzalez openly denounced Bauman in a Facebook live stream over similar altercations with him. “That was my first experience with Eric Bauman, to be told to sit down and shut up,” Gonzalez said in reference to a Democratic Party summit in Fall 2015 at which she called out a speaker for alleging that all of Sanders’ supporters are old, white men. She also noted that Clinton was repeatedly referred to as the Democratic presidential nominee at the time by party leadership. Tearing up, Gonzalez recalled that Bauman intimidatingly poked her in the chest during a conversation at the same event.
Bauman’s consulting firm has a recent record of fighting progressive causes. The San Francisco Chronicle reported in June 2016 that Bauman was receiving $12,500 a month from the pharmaceutical industry to lobby against a proposition that would “cap the price that any state agency or care program could spend on prescription drugs at what the federal Department of Veterans Affairs pays.” Bauman received these payments while earning a six figure salary as an adviser to the California Assembly Speaker, Anthony Rendon.
The Democratic establishment’s failure to fully support that proposition further inspired Sanders supporters, already enthused to get involved in politics by Sanders’ campaign, to take over a majority of the California Democratic Party’s delegates in January 2017. The race for the State Party chair became an extension of that battle, and the party establishment is pulling the same dirty tricks and manipulations it became known for in the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries.The
-- a four-star recruit at St. Peter's Prep in Jersey City -- became official today when the 6-1, 200-pounder was a non-contact participant at the Scarlet Knights' practice. Royster, who will sit out this year per transfer rules, will have three seasons of eligibility.
MORE COVERAGE OF RUTGERS FOOTBALL
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"We're excited to add Sheldon Royster to our team and get him out here practicing with us," Rutgers coach Kyle Flood said following today's practice, held in the school's indoor facility. "Sheldon is somebody we spent a lot of time with during the recruiting process and we're glad to welcome him back to New Jersey." Flood said he was unsure whether Royster, a Woodbridge native, would play safety or corner. "We always felt he was a dynamic player and somebody who could play corner or safety," Flood said. "We don't know which one he will ultimately become, but we thought he would be an excellent player for us." Royster, who had a helmet on during practice but was held out of drills, is "going through an acclimatization period for us right now," Flood said. "He's not even on the scout team yet," he added. "Today he just had a helmet on and he'll do the same tomorrow. By next week we'll progress him into pads. I don't want to put him out there the first day. He needs to learn a little bit how we practice and how we do things or I don't know if it would work the way we want it to." Royster joins a St. Peter's Prep heavy Rutgers roster that includes running back Savon Huggins and offensive tackle Keith Lumpkin, both classmates. Though Royster was rated the nation's No. 7 safety nationally by Scout.com and No. 12 by Rivals.com as a high school senior, Flood isn't sure yet whether he will be tried at corner or safety. "It could be one or the other," said Flood. "I don't know that yet. Until you get a player live in your program it's hard to tell which one. We thought on film in high school that he could do either."
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Defensive lineman Max Issaka, who missed the entire preseason while attending a funeral in Ghana, returned to practice today. The redshirt freshman was in pads for the first time. "He looked good," Flood said. A decision on whether Issaka will see any time in Saturday's home opener against Howard will probably be made Wednesday, Flood said.
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Mixed news on the injury front. Starting tight end Paul Carrezola (high ankle sprain) "ran around pretty good" at practice, Flood said. Carrezola missed the opener because of the injury. "We don't have him doing any football stuff, just what we call'metabolics,'" Flood said. "But we're encouraged. We'll see how he kind of recuperates from that and we'll check him out tomorrow." WR/DB/KR Jeremy deering "turned his ankle," and left practice early, but Flood said the injury did not appear to be serious. Nose tackle Al Page (ankle and leg injury) and DE Marvin Booker (lower leg) remain out. Flood termed Page "questionable for this week for sure," and said Booker remains "day to day."
Tom Luicci: [email protected]; twitter.com/tomluicciRate this article Sending User Review 5 ( 2 votes)
What the GOP can learn from the story of Andrew Jackson in 1824
The Tribune Papers.com
By Andrew Saunders- America has never seen a presidential candidate like this before. Detractors point to his lack of political experience, his poor grasp of policy, his alleged autocratic leanings and his shady past. They believe this man without much of a political platform (but with interesting hair) has neither the qualifications nor the temperament to be president. Yet in defiance of conventional wisdom, he is leading his three main rivals in the race for the White House, and party bigwigs are at a loss how to respond.
No, it’s not Donald Trump. His name is Andrew Jackson, and the year is 1824.
Andrew Jackson was one of America’s first political outsiders. Born to impoverished immigrants in the backwoods of the South, he was tough, thin-skinned and fiercely confrontational—a brawling Jackson once took a musket ball in the chest before killing a rival in a duel. Resolute and strategically brilliant, Jackson rose through the ranks to become the greatest war hero of his generation. Known by his supporters as Old Hickory, Jackson stirred passions in the American people that his presidential rivals John Quincy Adams, William Crawford and Henry Clay could only dream of. Tens of thousands flocked to the charismatic outsider who positioned himself as a steadfast defender of the Republic. Jackson’s rallies dwarfed those of his rivals. Yet he had little political experience and plenty of baggage. Jackson was, his rivals believed, more of a celebrity than a serious candidate.
In many ways the general election of 1824 mirrors the Republican primary today. Following the collapse of the Federalist Party some years earlier, America was effectively under single-party rule, and all four candidates were members of the same political party, the Democratic-Republicans. In that way, 1824 was more like an extended primary campaign than a general election—a primary that would determine not just the direction of the nation, but also the fate of the party. And, as is the case in the GOP today, voters in 1824 appeared restless for change, and the most popular candidate was viewed as unacceptable by many in the party establishment.
In the election, held in December 1824, Jackson stunned his rivals to win a clear plurality in the popular vote and Electoral College. With 99 Electoral College votes to Adams’ 84, Crawford’s 41 and Clay’s 37, Jackson was short of an outright majority, but undoubtedly had the strongest claim to the White House. However, with no overall winner, the decision was put to the House of Representatives, which was then under the speakership of failed candidate Henry Clay. Clay threw his support not to Jackson but to second-placed John Quincy Adams. When Adams became America’s sixth president he returned the favor, appointing Clay his secretary of state.
To Jackson’s many detractors this was a legitimate move. The old general, who Clay referred to condescendingly as a “military chieftain”, was a polarizing figure who had fallen short of an outright majority. Adams, meanwhile, was a highly capable politician—indeed in the words of historian Daniel Feller he was “probably the most qualified man to be president the United States has ever produced.” Clay and his allies believed Adams could be a consensus choice, a man with the integrity and experience to unite the nation. A furious Jackson, however, blasted the deal as a “Corrupt Bargain.” From his perspective, Clay and Adams had conspired against him, putting their own interests above of the will of the people.
Whatever the truth, the deal backfired. The snub steeled Jackson for revenge and allowed him to paint the administration as corrupt and out of touch. What’s more, it fired up Jackson’s supporters and united a broad coalition of politicians and voters including many who had not supported him the first time round. This coalition would grow into a brand new political entity—the Democratic Party. It would also catapult Jackson to the White House just four years later, where he became one of America’s most consequential and controversial presidents. John Quincy Adams, however, would serve one unremarkable term, hamstrung by his minority status and dogged by claims of illegitimacy.
After the controversy of 1824, the election of 1828 was surely the most ill-tempered presidential campaign in history. Jackson’s supporters slammed Adams as effete and elitist. In an assault that puts Trump’s insults to shame, they claimed, falsely, that as minister to Russia, Adams procured an American virgin for the Czar. They were, in effect, calling the president a pimp. Meanwhile Adams and his allies hit back, attacking Jackson as barely literate, as a bigamist and as a murderer who had executed several of his own soldiers for minor infractions. Astonishingly, all these accusations were true, and yet—in a sign that should worry Trump’s antagonists—none of them stuck. Instead, they seemed to make Old Hickory even more popular, underscoring the fact that he was quite unlike most politicians. Jackson won the 1828 election in a landslide.
Back in 2016, and Donald Trump is well on his way to the Republican nomination, having solidified his delegate lead with clear wins in Tuesday’s primaries in Michigan, Mississippi and Hawaii. (And he’s ahead in the polls in the two big winner-take-all states of Ohio and Florida.) Yet signs suggest that some Republicans are planning to follow the Adams-Clay playbook and do all they can to deny him the nomination. Establishment favorites Mitt Romney and candidate Marco Rubio have suggested that primary voters should vote tactically to deny Trump a majority of delegates. Meanwhile, other party leaders are dreaming of a brokered convention in Cleveland in July.
At this point, the best Trump’s detractors can hope for is to deny him the 1,237 delegates needed for outright victory, and then pressure delegates to dump him and unify behind an anti-Trump at a contested convention. While such an approach is perfectly legitimate, the same was true of the disastrous deal struck between Clay and Adams in the general election in 1824. What matters is perception. An aggrieved Trump would likely—and with some justification—denounce it as a “Corrupt Bargain” for the 21st century.
The 1824 election has been called “a political turning point in which none of the old rules applied.”
According to historian Timothy Naftali, “the shift that occurs … is that the American people don’t want their representatives to choose presidents anymore. They want to choose presidents themselves.” For GOP insiders, it’s worth remembering this. Whatever you think of Trump’s politics or his temperament, like Jackson, the candidate has energized a significant section of the electorate. As Trump said in Thursday’s Republican debate, “Millions and millions of people are going out to the polls and they’re voting. … Some of these people, frankly, have never voted before.” The facts appear to bear this out with combined turnout at the Republican primaries higher than any year since 1980.
If the lessons of 1824 are to apply today, denying Trump the nomination if he remains the front-runner will likely make his supporters angrier and more determined. It might even position Trump as the leader of an even broader coalition of America’s disaffected and marginalized, as it did for Jackson—propelling him to the nomination or even the White House four years from now.We've known about 20th Century Fox's plan to remake John Carpenter's ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK for some time, but it appears that the project is slowly moving forward as the studio narrows down their search for a director. Per Jeff Sneider of The Tracking Board, it seems that Robert Rodriguez will be the man for the job.
Robert Rodriguez recently wrapped up principal photography on ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL for Fox and the studio seems keen to continue their relationship. A deal has yet to have been reached, so take this with a grain of salt for now. John Carpenter will be on-board to executive produce the upcoming remake as well as lay down the law when it comes to the movie's tone, but the studio is also hoping to reinvent the series and follow the formula of their rebooted PLANET OF THE APES franchise. According to Variety, Fox is looking to get production started on the remake this summer.
Does ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK really need to be remade? Certainly not, but as the project has been in the works for nearly a decade under the umbrella of several different studios before 20th Century Fox snagged the rights, it seems to be an inevitability we can't avoid. I'm not sure I'm convinced that Robert Rodriguez and Fox actually can successfully reinvent the franchise, but if they're able to do so in a way which sets it apart from the original, have at it. Good luck finding someone to replace Kurt Russell though.
What do you folks think about Robert Rodriguez stepping into the director's chair for a ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK remake?Having a hard day at the office? The Calming Technology Lab at Stanford University has a prescription: ride a bike to work. They used the data from Spire breathing monitors, a wearable health tracker that measures breathing patterns and heart rate over the day, from over 20,000 commutes by 1,000 commuters.
Not only did cyclists arrive at work less stressed, but an hour later were still more relaxed than those who came by transit or car. They are also in better shape when they reverse the commute and go home; Neema Moraveji, head of the Calming Lab and cofounder of Spire, told BikeBiz:
It’s particularly interesting to see that many people don’t transition back into the home after a long day of work very well. By biking to work we know that the physical nature of cycling and physical exertion will engender a more calm and focused state of mind. So while being good for us physically, we also see lots of psychological and emotional benefits.
The positive psychological wellbeing effects identified in this study should be considered in cost–benefit assessments of interventions seeking to promote active travel.
The results aren’t really surprising; there have been lots of studies that show how exercise reduces stress and anxiety. All our listicles like 7 ways to reduce stress for the long haul and 8 natural remedies for anxiety include exercise along with lavender and meditation. Adele Peters of Fast Company points to a British study that tracked almost 18,000 commuters and found that “ significant associations were observed between overall psychological wellbeing and active travel when compared to car travel.” And that’s in Britain, where cycling is not exactly stress-free. Their conclusion, which should be read by highway-mad politicians everywhere:
Those same politicians who would spend untold millions on highways and next to nothing on bike infrastructure should note yet another study out of Copenhagen which compares the costs and benefits of investing in bike vs car infrastructure.
In this framework, costs and benefits of car and bicycle, the two major urban transport modes, have been assessed and are compared across accidents, climate change, health, and travel time. The analysis reveals that each km travelled by car or bike incurs a cost to society, though the cost of car driving is more than six times higher (Euro 0.50/km) than cycling (Euro 0.08/km). Moreover, while the cost of car driving is likely to increase in the future, the cost of cycling appears to be declining.
So much data, so much evidence that investing in cycling infrastructure and active commuting pays serious long-term dividends on a very small investment. All pretty much ignored.Julia Budd vs Ronda Rousey, Slated for Strikeforce Event in November
A female bout was added to Strikeforce's November event, as Julia Budd and Ronda Rousey will meet at the rumored Strikeforce Challengers 20.
Although there are negotiations arising with regards to the future of women’s MMA, Strikeforce still continues to add female bouts into its upcoming events.
All set for a November show, Canadian-based – Julia Budd – will be facing Judo fighter — Ronda Rousey. The promotion hasn’t announced the exact name of the card, but it will likely be the Strikeforce Challengers 20 and it is expected to be held at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.
A fitness model and a personal trainer at the same time, Julia Budd will be making her fourth bout under the Strikeforce where she currently boasts a record of 2-1. Budd made her official debut last October 2010 with a TKO victory over Shana Olsen. In her most recent fight, “The Jewell” defeated her fellow Muay Thai fighter, Germaine de Randamie, by a unanimous decision.
Ronda Rousey (3-0 MMA, 1-0 SF), on the other hand, is looking forward to remaining on the win column. The former Olympic bronze medalist made her Strikeforce debut last August with a submission victory over Sarah D’Alelio. Rousey currently holds a record of six MMA bouts, each of which ended through an armbar in less than a minute.
For the finalized date and fight card for November’s event, stay tuned to Fighting Insider.At NerdWallet, we adhere to strict standards of editorial integrity to help you make decisions with confidence. Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners. Here’s how we make money
This offer is no longer available The Chase Slate® is no longer available on NerdWallet. See NerdWallet’s best balance transfer credit cards
With the U.S. transition to EMV credit cards underway, many issuers are starting to embed smart chips in their plastic. One of our favorite balance transfer credit cards, the Chase Slate®, recently got a flashy new chip.
Ready to learn more, including some of the features the card has to offer? Let’s dig in.
The Chase Slate® now comes EMV chip-enabled
Beginning in November 2014, the Chase Slate® will be issued to customers with an EMV chip. It’s one of several credit cards from Chase that now offer chip-and-signature capability. The purpose of the chip is to allow for more secure credit card transactions; this technology is already widely used in other parts of the world.
It’s important to remember that you won’t be able to use the chip-and-signature function with your Chase Slate® until U.S. merchants begin installing EMV-capable payment terminals. Some already have, but wide acceptance of chip cards isn’t expected until we get closer to the October 2015 EMV deadline.
Why we love the Chase Slate®
It’s great news that the Chase Slate® is now coming chip-enabled, but there’s so much more to love about the card. If you’re trying to pay off high-interest debt on another credit card, the Chase Slate® is one of the best balance transfer options on the market.
With it, you’ll get an APR of 0% on Purchases and Balance Transfers for 15 months, and then the ongoing APR of 16.49% - 25.24% Variable APR. That’s over a year at 0% to make your balance disappear faster. But what’s more, the card also waives its balance transfer fee if you move your debt onto it within 60 days of opening your account. This is a very hard deal to come by and could save you big bucks if you’re transferring a large balance.
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Nerd note: If you decide to do a balance transfer, it’s critical that you make your payments on time. Missing one could cause your 0% deal to be canceled, which means you’d have to start paying interest on your balance right away.
Looking for rewards? Here two other chip-enabled cards to consider
The Chase Slate® is great if you’re planning to do a balance transfer, but it doesn’t offer any other type of rewards program. If you’re looking to rack up points or cash back, here are two other chip-enabled cards from Chase to consider:
Chase Freedom®
The Chase Freedom® is one of the best cash-back cards on the market. With it, you’ll earn 5% cash back in rotating quarterly bonus categories (up to $1,500 spent per quarter) and unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases. In recent years, 5% categories have included popular retailers such as Amazon.com, grocery stores, gas stations and wholesale clubs. This means that the Chase Freedom® has something to offer nearly every type of shopper!
To sweeten the pot a little bit, the card will also get you started with a signup bonus: Earn a $150 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. Since it charges an annual fee of $0, it’s definitely a good one to keep around.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
If you’re more interested in travel rewards, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a great pick. With it, you’ll earn 2 points for every dollar you spend on travel and dining out and 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases. Generally, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card points are worth $.01 apiece, but if you redeem them for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, that value goes up by 25%.
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EMV credit card image via Shutterstock
Information about the Chase Slate® has been collected independently by NerdWallet and has not been provided or reviewed by the issuer of this card.Instrumental progressive masters Exivious have held out on us long enough for a second record, but the wait is over. They're streaming their new album, Liminal, due out November 8 via Seasons of Mist, right now.
Instrumental music is so easy to make boring. Think about it- a few minutes of actual, good riffs strewn about a whole mess of aimless noodling and ridiculously long solos nobody cares about. Who the hell has time? Fortunately Liminal is the exact opposite of that and totally rocks in every single way possible. There's a whole lot of jazzy influence throughout the album, an obvious aim to every riff the band plays, and the solos downright shred if not add something a little extra to the music. Jam!
[via Got Djent]
Related PostsFor those of you unfamiliar with the premise of Civil War II, The Avengers have been divided after an Inhuman named Ulysses emerged with the ability to see the future. One group of Earth's Mightiest Heroes - led by Captain Marvel - want to arrest the "guilty" before they commit the crime, while Iron Man's faction just aren't on board with that. So yeah, the whole thing is a Minority Report ripoff!
In today's issue #5, it was revealed that an adult Miles Morales ultimately ends up killing Captain America. There's no context here or explanation as to why he would take out the star spangled superhero, but this explains why solicitations have mentiioned Spider-Man being on the run. We don't even know for sure if Miles is in the costume, but that doesn't stop Carol from trying to arrest him!
What do you think about this latest Civil War II plot development? Could Spider-Man really be capable of killing Captain America? As always, share your thoughts on that and more in the comments section.Milenio Digital
Miguel Ángel Covarrubias Cervantes, ex alcalde del municipio de San Damián Texoloc, Tlaxcala, ha sido criticado en redes sociales tras difundir un video en el que ofrece un discurso político que al parecer le copió a Frank Underwood. Sí, leíste bien, al protagonista de la serie House of Cards. Usuarios de Facebook, que son amantes de la serie de Netflix, se dieron cuenta de las grandes coincidencias entre un discurso y otro, incluso aseguran que el político utilizó la misma música y copió el lenguaje corporal de Underwood.
Aquí algunas citas de ambos discursos:
Covarrubias Cervantes:
"Dicen que tenemos el gobierno que merecemos y pienso que México merece algo más grande, una persona que no tema mirarte a los ojos y decir lo que piensa"
Frank Underwood:
"Dicen que tenemos los líderes que merecemos. Bueno, creo Estados Unidos se merece un líder que no teme mirarte a los ojos y decirte lo que cree".
Covarrubias Cervantes:
"Creo en poner primero a la gente. Creo en mejores leyes para los ciudadanos. Creo en abrir puertas y romper paradigmas".
Frank Underwood:
"Creo en poner primero a la gente. Creo en encauzar de nuevo a Estados Unidos. Creo en abrir puertas".
Covarrubias Cervantes:
"Estoy dispuesto a trabajar con quien sea necesario, para lograr lo que queremos".
Frank Underwood:
"Y estoy dispuesto a trabajar con ambos lados para lograr lo que queremos".
Covarrubias Cervantes:
"Me han criticado y sin embargo me he ganado tu confianza".
Frank Underwood:
"Me han criticado, pero nunca di por sentado tu apoyo".
AERWhen nearly everyone on board a cruise ship dies from a mysterious illness, the CDC team follows clues to an island inhabited by a cult.
1. San Jose 42m When all but one of the passengers on The Mist of Avalon succumb to a deadly microbe, Peter, Sarah and Kyle explore a mysterious island to learn more.
2. Reunion 43m On the island, the inexplicable recovery of a sick child raises Sarah's suspicions. Caleb and Julia unearth secrets when they dig up Alan's grave.
3. Scion 40m Jordan and Peter leave safety behind as they venture into the woods to gather specimens. Sister Amy hatches a plan to get rid of them permanently.
4. Densho 42m A worker develops the disease after being stung by a bee. Peter seeks help for dealing with Alan. In the future, Julia attempts a risky escape.
5. Oubliette 43m Peter exposes Alan's secret. Kyle meets with opposition when he attempts to quarantine the orchard and the infected hive.
6. M. Domestica 43m When the abbey is endangered by a new outbreak, the CDC team is forced to work together. In Paris, Julia searches for answers.
7. Cross-Pollination 43m The island becomes a hell on earth for Alan and Sarah. News about Brother Michael sends Julia to St. Germain.
8. Vade in Pace 42m The Coast Guard arrives on the island with bad news for the CDC team. Sister Amy grapples with Brother Michael's intentions and plays her hand.
9. Ectogenesis 42m Julia and Sergio arrive at the abbey. Winger joins Alan and Kyle on a hunt in the woods for a possible antidote to the pathogen.
10. Mother 42m As Kyle's illness worsens, the team races to find the Bleeding Tree. Sister Amy barters with Julia for immortality. Peter makes a shocking discovery.
11. Plan B 43m As Julia prepares to transplant the fetus from Jordan into Amy, a last-ditch plan ensures that the pathogen will never leave the island.
12. The Ascendant 43m Alan and Julia search for the Mother Tree and try to foil a deadly plot. Kyle and Jordan try to escape from the island. Peter takes over the abbey.Federal data released Aug. 9 shows that Americans’ wages are dropping again, seven years after President Barack Obama declared the economy had recovered from the property-bubble — and three months before the 2016 election.
The dramatic drop was buried in an Aug. 9 report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which said that officials have radically revised their prior claim that wages grew 4.2 percent in the first quarter, from January to March.
“Real hourly compensation decreased 0.4 percent after revision, rather than the previously-published increase of 4.2 percent,” the BLS admitted. Compensation also fell another 1.4 percent in the second quarter, from April to June, the BLS admitted in the same report. That’s 2 percent drop in wages since December.
Pay shrank 0.3 percent in 2013, rose a mere 1.1 percent in 2014, but rose a promising 2.7 percent in 2015, according to the BLS.
The wage drop is a potential p.r. problem for Obama, who has been touting the
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ucous one, and host Jon Venegoni does a great job corralling all that energy into a great show.
Best Comedy Contest
DANNO’S OPEN MIC, every Monday (10:30 PM)
Yeah, I know the RFT has its own comedy contest every year. It’s not bad, though everyone always complains that the first round is on Twitter, not on stage. The Funny Bone does a huge contest every May and June, and it is an awesome opportunity to get a great video of your set. However, the best contest in the area happens every week at Danno’s Pub on Watson. Every week, host Sam McNett announces the contest. After everyone’s set, he finds some excuse to disqualify them. Inevitably he crowns himself the winner. It sounds stupid, because it is, but it is hilarious and will never grow old.
Best Open Mic Gimmick that Needs to Come Back
SUNDAY PUNDAY, at the LATENICKS open mic at NICK’S PUB
The weekly open mic at Nick’s Pub, run by Kenny Kinds, deserves to be in any discussion of the best open mics in the area. Over the past couple years, Kenny has introduced a number of weird gimmicks to keep things fresh, but none of them can compare to “Sunday Punday.” Every comic has to do puns as part of their sets. The DJ plays excessive sound effects. That’s it. It’s two hours of dumb fun, and it hasn’t happened in awhile and I miss it.
Most Innovative Open Mic
WILDCARD WEDNESDAYS, was at Blind Tiger, but moving elsewhere because that closed (Currently at: THE CROW’S NEST)
For the last few months, comedians JC Sibala and Chris Cyr have been running a weekly exercise in controlled insanity. They concocted a rotating set of rules, loosely inspired by drinking games like Circle of Death, and applied them to standup comedy. Depending on what card you pull, you might have to imitate a famous comedian telling your jokes, deal with a crowd encouraged to heckle you, restructure your jokes so they would work in a kindergarten classroom, or even perform while inhaling helium. It really messes up the flow of the show, but no other show in the area so consistently creates unique, memorable moments.
Best Weird Tradition for Starting off a Show
CHAD WALLACE DANCING TO HIS PHONE
The Comedy Shipwreck open mic, which happens twice a month at The Heavy Anchor, is a fun show that easily could have been recognized as Open Mic with the Biggest Audience Attendance. However, I’d rather point out one of my favorite weird little quirks of our comedy scene. The sound guy plays intro music as host Chad Wallace walks onto the stage. Then, when that music stops, Chad plays a different intro song into the microphone with his phone and dances to it. It doesn’t make any sense, but it is weird and it makes me so happy every time it happens.
Best Monthly Open Mic
BOMBSHELL, every first Monday of the month
This is a great mic for a number of reasons: 1.Host Brian Emuge understands his mic is on the same night as a bunch of other shows, and so he accomodates other comics trying to make it to all them. 2. It’s the only comedy-specific mic left in St Charles County. 3. They have really good food, and a supportive audience. 4. Etc.
Open Mic that Died in the Past Year and I Don’t Care
R&B CLUB
The owner refused to turn off the TVs, even if there wasn’t a game on. Then he insisted for months that it was impossible to turn the background music ALL the way off on their “complicated” sound board. Since this show died, I’ve enjoyed not driving to O’Fallon every Thursday evening.
Showcase Most Important to the Scene Right Now
CONTRACEPTIVE COMEDY, last Saturday of the month at SHAMELESS GROUNDS
Why is this show so important? It’s the only showcase in town right now that lets relatively new comics do 7-10 minutes in front of a real crowd. It’s also a great place for more experienced comics to do 20 minutes for the first time. Host Stryker Spurlock works really hard to put together a list of deserving, hard working comedians, and keep things fresh and interesting every month. Also there’s plaster vaginas on the wall.
Best Showcase to Die in the Past 12 Months
JILLY’S
I don’t know how Bobby Jaycox gets so many people to come to his shows. There has to be magic involved. Jilly’s was such a great show because it was always packed full of people excited to see comedy. Maybe it helped that there aren’t a lot of well run comedy shows out in Jefferson County. Either way, it’s dead now. I don’t exactly know what happened, but I do know that if Bobby Jaycox is running a show at your venue, you should not take him for granted. Speaking of which…
Best New Show that I’m Really Excited About
STUPID BRAIN, at THE IMPROV SHOP, monthly
It took him awhile, but Bobby Jaycox was finally able to convince The Improv Shop to host a little standup. This show, cohosted by Jaycox and Steve Raines, mixed standup, improv, and a bunch of weirdness. I was a part of the first show, and it was one of the best audiences I’ve ever had. Also, they gave an audience member a lifetime pass to get into the show for free: a tree that he has to take care of and bring with him to get into shows. If you don’t think that’s funny, stop reading this because I don’t want you coming to comedy shows.
Best Standup Showcase I Wish Would Live Up to its Billing as a Sketch Show
BARE KNUCKLE COMEDY, at the ELVIS ROOM, monthly
Bare Knuckle Comedy, which used to be called Punch Drunk Comedy, is the origin from which the alt comedy scene in St Louis grew. It is an institution. When co-founder Kevin White left for Chicago, nobody thought it would survive. Other co-founder Christian Lawrence continued bringing great standups to town, recruited a diverse team of sketch writers and performers, and today the show is as good as ever. However, I feel it could be so much more. Some of the funniest people I know write for the show, and yet the sketches always take a back seat to standup. With all the talent involved, this show is poised to take a big leap forward.
Best Show for Getting Wine Drunk
O’FALLON OUT LOUD, at RENDEZVOUS WINE BAR and CAFE in O’Fallon, every other month
Awesome comedy show in a nice wine bar with a packed audience. You’d be an idiot not to buy a bottle of wine. This show is also another great opportunity for a comic to do 20 minutes for the first time, since host Shaun Arredondo is good about giving deserving comics a shot.
Best Show that is an Unstoppable Comedy Machine
STL UP LATE
Frankly, I was surprised the RFT Best Of didn’t swoon over STL Up Late this year. They’ve had a hell of a year, taking the show on tour and growing into a massive institution in the scene. More than any other show in the area, these guys really have their shit together. They put on a quality show on back to back weeks and don’t seem to even break a sweat in the process.
Best Game Show
LOSER, monthly at THE HEAVY ANCHOR
This is actually the only game show I know of in the area, so it wins by default, but it is so fun I doubt anybody could have beaten it. Cohosted by professional comedian Jeremy Essig and local internet personality Chris Ward, this show manages to embody it’s creators’ personalities better than any show or standup routine in town. There’s singalong songs, video games, trivia, and often free pizza rolls. Come for a good time and leave with a free KDHX sticker or used bra.
Worst Name of a Comedy Show (Recurring)
TOO HIP (FOR A COMEDY CLUB) HILARIOUS SHOWCASE SPECTACULAR, at FOAM, monthly
Kris Wernowsky, founder of this show, told me that the name was meant as a placeholder until he thought of something better. Well, now it’s stuck, and it’s hilariously terrible. I run a show called Sorry, Please Continue… that is technically a spinoff of this show. Somebody promoted my show on facebook, calling it “Too Hip (For a Comedy Club) Hilarious Showcase Spectacular Storytelling Showcase Sorry… Please Continue” and I cringed so much it hurt. It was like a not self aware version of the full title of the Borat movie. Awful name aside, this show takes place in possibly the best comedy venue in town and showcases some of the best up and coming national comics to pass through St Louis.
Worst Name of a Comedy Show (One Time)
SPOOKS AND KOOKS
This is a show happening this month, and I guess the name is Halloween themed. I assumed when I first saw it that “Kooks” was supposed to say ”kikes” or “gooks,” because why stop at only one racial slur? Here’s a tip for any show promoters out there: avoid racial slurs in your show’s name.
Best Comedy Show Day Trip
AS YET UNNAMED COMEDY SHOW, Tuesdays at EASTSIDE TAVERN, Columbia MO
This is a consistently great show with a consistently amazing audience. It’s a great place for a comic to get a confidence boost and a great place for comedy fans to go pretend they can still drink like college students. Runner up: MEMPHIS ON MAIN, CHAMPAIGN IL. is the bizarro Illinois version of the Eastside show, with a great audience but a little less of the crazy dive-bar energy.
Comedy Club it is Most Pleasant to Be Inside
HEY GUYS, Fairview Heights
This is sort of a victory by attrition. The Valley Park Funny Bone has really high ceilings, and therefore poor sound. Also, a train runs by sometimes. Westport Funny Bone is the only club in the country you can still smoke inside, which is just unpleasant. Hey Guys, which recently opened in Fairview Heights just down the road from the now dead Comedy Etc. 2, is a normal building with good sound, decent food, and a light system for ordering drinks without interrupting the show. The Funny Bones might still book the best comedians, but if you don’t mind the drive, you should check out Hey Guys.
Best New Comedy Club
THE IMPROV SHOP
Hey Guys just opened a couple months ago, and Valley Park Funny Bone still feels like Westport’s little brother. The Improv Shop’s new theatre means so much more for the area. It is the center of a vibrant community of performers. The Improv scene in St Louis is suddenly undeniably legit. Don’t be surprised when it keeps growing.
Best Comeback After Disappearing for Awhile
ANDREW TOPPING
One weird thing about doing standup is that often some of the funniest, hardest working comics just stop coming out. Some of them get burned out by the grind. Some of them suddenly get busy at work. Some of them get a teenage girl pregnant, lose their job, have their car impounded, go to prison, or have some other life disaster derail their dreams. Sometimes I wonder how much better the scene would be if certain people were still around, if some of them suddenly came back and were as funny as before. Anyway, after an extended hiatus to work on filmmaking, Andrew Topping is once again a regular at shows. After years of the local clubs refusing to hire him, he’s suddenly a regular at Valley Park and starting to get in at Westport. I’m happy for the guy.
Best Joke that is Basically a Miracle
CHARLIE WINFREY’S STORY ABOUT POOPING HIS PANTS
The favoritest of the “Funny Bone favorites,” Charlie Winfrey has a joke about shitting his pants on the way to have sex with “some fat tittied whore.” It sounds terrible, but it’s actually hilarious. Even more impressive, Charlie actually goes through a hero’s journey in the story. I promise you Charlie has never studied Joseph Campbell, and so this is entirely by accident. In other words, this joke is the real life embodiment of the infinite monkeys on infinite typewriters creating Shakespeare. It’s amazing.
Best Joke Writers
BEN JOHNSON, AMY MILTON
It’s weird and awkward to give my friends a real superlative in this article. I don’t care. They’re great.
Best Comic so Prolific it Makes Other Comics Have Unrealistic Expectations of Themselves
ANDREW FRANK
Every goddamn time I see Andrew Frank, he’s trying out a new joke I’ve never seen. Newer comics are dumb and don’t know that makes him a freak of nature. They feel bad for not keeping up. They should stop worrying and figure out their own process.
Best Answer for an Annoying Question
COMEDYINTHELOU.COM
I don’t think I’ve heard any question asked more often in the past three years than “when are all the open mics?” Now I have an 8 syllable answer. You can also see a calendar of other shows in town.
Best Comedy Blog
THIS IS CLICKBAIT, by JEREMY HELLWIG at comedyinthelou.com (for now?)
Yeah, I picked myself. Fuck you I’m allowed to do that. I also probably pick my podcast, Comedy Vs Everything as Best Comedy Podcast (Runners up: Straight Outta Lo Cash and Beginner’s Guide to Interplanetary Destruction). Anyway, I write the only eligible blog by a local standup: Emily Hickner’s fantastic More Like Okay Stupid series was too short, Brandon Judd and Ryan Dalton just recently began writing their CITL blogs, and Lisa Rimmert’s vegan blog can’t win because she lives in Denver now. Anyway, This is Clickbait takes stupid titles from real clickbait lists and reimagines them as better and funnier and written by me. It might sound like I’m ripping off Clickhole, but I was doing this months before that was even announced. Read it, please and thank you.
Weirdest Thing To Happen Online
VLEVEL COMIC, COMEDIAN FROM NIGERIA
There’s this lady that goes by Comedian Ms Woody, and she runs some kind of failed scam/pyramid scheme called “Midwest $10,000 Comedy Competition” or something. She added a bunch of random comedians to the St Louis Comedians Facebook group that have no connection to the area. One of them was from Nigeria, and he spammed the group with nonsense for awhile, and it was really amusing. This is kind of an inside joke, but I don’t care. This is my list, not yours!
Worst Trend That Is Probably a National Thing
PEOPLE GOING BY “COMEDIAN (SOMETHING)”
If your Facebook name includes the word “Comedian,” then I don’t respect you and neither should anyone else. It’s stupid. I saw a poster for a show where every one of the comics had “Comedian” before or after their names. It was hilariously redundant. We get it, you tell jokes. I could spend this whole article explaining why this is dumb, but I’ll just assume it is blatantly obvious what is wrong with it.
Best List of Comedy Things in St Louis
THIS ONE, THE ONE YOU JUST READ (OR SKIMMED)
Thanks for reading. Please go see a show.
***I messaged the few people I know in the Improv scene to have them suggest improv superlatives, but Lisa Rimmert was the only one to respond. 1. I wasn’t going to make proclamations about the best of STL improv based on one respondant, and 2. She lives in Denver now anyway. Still, thank you Lisa for being a good friend and answering my dumb questions, even if I didn’t use them.Should you ever find yourself hosting a TV show, remember that the basic tools of the format—cameras, lights, make-up—exist for the sole purpose of turning you into a character, and that said character is, by default, a prick. What no amount of coaching and tech rehearsal will teach you—what you end up discovering only when seeing the first broadcast—is that the person on screen is always someone else. You can’t “be yourself” on TV. Either you invent a character, or somebody invents the character for you, and you find yourself—week in, week out—playing this smarmy other who has your name, your voice, and a face that looks a lot like yours, only smoother and cleaner.
This is television in the primitive sense, as practiced by talk shows and newscasts—TV as a transmitter, with information relayed by video clips, faces, and occasional flashes of text. Inside this type of TV is a sort of theater, and this theater prizes readability: the quality of being easily and quickly interpreted by the viewer, who is really more of a listener.
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Writing for teleprompter is a workout, especially if you’re the kind of writer who considers em dashes, parentheses, and semicolons to be invaluable tools. Dependent clauses and homophones are out; the tricks that writers use to engage readers with an idea supposedly don’t work on the listener-viewer. A writer aspires to trap the reader in a text; in broadcast, the goal is to minimize the number of steps the listener-viewer has to take to get from a statement to its putative meaning.
Believe it or not, TV producers talk a lot of theory—mostly semantics and pragmatics—though they couch it in the soft, slippery language of viewer feelings. They learn, though trial and error, what does and doesn’t read on camera: how to gesticulate, how not to smile, how to use body language to focus a point instead of distracting the viewer. The whole business of readability, which treats the show as text, smacks of unwitting academia.
Roger Ebert was very conscious of himself as a performer and a voice, and of the idea that he was transmitting something to his readers and viewers. His mature writing—which became more speech-like after he lost the ability to speak—is laid out like crisp teleprompter copy, so that readers who’d grown up watching him on TV couldn’t help but hear his speaking voice in every review.
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In his final years, he would communicate mostly through gestures, learned during his three-decade TV career. He was like a silent comedian. He wore a prosthetic chin on Ebert Presents: At The Movies—the final iteration of the dueling critics format that had made him and Gene Siskel into household names—because that was the character he felt he needed to play: The familiar Ebert, dressed in a natty black suit, still sitting at his desk, typing reviews in his office. It was pure theater; his real office was his living room, where he slumped in a big recliner, his Macbook on a laptop tray.
Watch an episode of Siskel & Ebert, and pay attention to the hosts’ hands, how they grip their knees for emphasis and raise their arms to exaggerate shrugs. Occasionally, they will perform a cutting or sawing motion using a rigid open palm, which signals disagreement or an interjection. These are invented habits, which were honed over the course of the three shows—Opening Soon At A Theater Near You, Sneak Previews, and At The Movies—that preceded the duo’s most famous program.
By the time Siskel & Ebert (initially billed as Siskel & Ebert & The Movies) hit the air in 1986, its hosts had been making TV together for over a decade. The format had been refined. The notoriously snoozy Opening Soon At A Theater Near You had started with Siskel and Ebert sitting in fold-up director’s chair in front of a movie screen, with their notes in their laps—a set-up that recalled prepared remarks given at an emptied-out, post-screening film fest Q&A. By Sneak Previews, their first syndicated show, the notes were completely replaced by teleprompters, and Siskel and Ebert had switched to sitting in movie theater seats—slightly angled, 18 inches apart—to a mock balcony, a kind of belvedere from which they could surveil all of moviedom.
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This created a narrative frame for the reviews. They were critics playing moviegoers, who discussed films as they were shown to them; it gave the show its sitcom quality, which became a central part of its appeal, and a major sticking point for its detractors.
In order to sustain the illusion, Siskel and Ebert would turn their heads in the direction of the screen after introducing a clip, as though they were watching it alongside the viewer. A wide shot of the “theater”—with a clip superimposed on screen, and the hosts’ heads in the bottom of the frame—served as an interstice. The color scheme changed over the years, from red to gold to blue, but the basic design elements of the set remained the same. It read as inclusive; the camera always positioned the viewer either in a seat close to the hosts, or in an impossible spot just leaning over the balcony railing.
Then there was the “thumbs up, thumbs down” system, Siskel & Ebert’s big contribution to American media, which reduced the critical function to an easily legible movement of the hand. Producer Thea Flaum—the true architect of the format—first introduced it for Sneak Previews, because she felt that the newspaper-style star system they were using up to that point took too long to read in a viewer’s mind, requiring a half-second of unconscious math. Initially, they gave a yes or no vote; later, it was reduced to something even simpler: a single familiar gesture.
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Engineered for simplicity and legibility, the format penetrated the American public imagination, shaping its perception of what it meant to have an opinion about a movie. It spawned knock-offs and spin-offs; for many years, Siskel & Ebert ran concurrently with its stars’ previous shows, Sneak Previews and At The Movies, which carried on with different hosts.
Sure, it was over-simplified; the consumer guide do-or-don’t approach downplayed the middle ground where much of the most interesting film criticism happens. But it also introduced millions of viewers to movies they’d never know about otherwise, and many of those viewers became exposed to an even wider range of films through Ebert’s writing. (From 1986 on, Siskel’s main gig was TV.)
The dueling critics format outlived Siskel, the more natural on-air presence of the two. So why didn’t it outlive Ebert?
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In 2008, Ebert and Richard Roeper, who had replaced Gene Siskel, parted ways with Disney-ABC, the producer of their show, which had by this point reverted to the name of the third Siskel & Ebert program, At The Movies. They were replaced by Ben Mankiewicz and Ben Lyons, whose failure to appeal to longtime viewers and to entice new ones has usually been attributed to youth and inexperience. The truth, however, is that the two Bens came into the format with more on-air experience than any hosts before or since. Mankiewicz—who was 41 at the time, but looked younger—had been on TV since the mid-’90s. Lyons was a broadcasting wunderkind who’d grown up around the format; his father, Jeffrey Lyons, co-hosted Sneak Previews from 1982 to 1996.
They were hosts, but they weren’t film critics, which defeated the purpose of the show—to transmit the ideas and debates of the newspaper reviewing tradition using legible, bite-size chunks of TV time. Disney-ABC’s tweaks didn’t help. The thumbs up, a registered trademark, left with Ebert. It was replaced by a non-visual three-way system where every option (“see it,” “skip it,” “rent it”) sounded similar enough to create that unconscious extra step in the listener’s mind—the exact thing Flaum had tried to erase back in the late ’70s.
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And then there was the set. The balcony was scrapped in favor of a home theater set-up, which resembled a very boring rich person’s basement rec room. The hosts sat in oversized, angular arm chairs, and spent most of each episode with their backs to the screen. Changing the geometry of the space changed the relationship between the hosts and the camera, the viewers’ proxy; it now occupied an awkward, mid-level crouching position. The narrative frame, which had provided the show with a sense of urgency, was gone. If Siskel & Ebert was a sitcom, then the Bens’ At The Movies was a morning talk show. Eventually, Disney-ABC replaced Lyons and Mankiewicz with Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune and A.O. Scott of The New York Times. They were the right men for the job, but they were given a show whose clumsy design and eroded ratings all but guaranteed cancellation.
In September of 2010, just a little after the Disney-ABC version of At The Movies went off the air for good, Roger Ebert announced that he was reviving the dueling critics format—complete with the “thumbs up, thumbs down” system—on PBS. A short pilot for Roger Ebert Presents: At The Movies (later shortened to Ebert Presents: At The Movies) was shot and shown. There was a sparse mock-up of a balcony set. Christy Lemire, then chief critic for The Associated Press, sat in the front row alongside the peripatetic Elvis Mitchell.
I have no idea why Mitchell left after the pilot. The producers of Ebert Presents told me that it was best I not know, so I’d never have to lie about it. Regardless, in the fall of 2010, it became necessary to find a replacement—and that replacement was me.
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The balcony set (ours was in the original Sneak Previews studio, WTTW) is much smaller than it looks, designed around the old principle of forced perspective. Freeze-frame a vintage episode of Siskel & Ebert or Ebert & Roeper, and look closely at the background; you’ll discover either a simple trompe-l’œil effect, or curved walls designed to confuse the eye.
The screen is actually a green screen. Siskel and Ebert’s first shows experimented with projecting clips live on set, but this proved to be time-consuming and technically difficult. (The Disney-ABC reboot’s decision to use live video projection was one of its more baffling design changes.) The wide shot of the screen is recorded separately, since the cameras usually sit in the space where the lower level of the theater (actually a digital matte) is supposed to go. A taping—it takes about 45 minutes to make a 29 minute show—warms up with the hosts doing turns from the screen, which will be banked and used when necessary by the editor.
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The director is Don DuPree, a seemingly ageless Southerner with a taste for bespoke shirts and chunky wristwatches; he has been directing these shows since the early ’90s. Despite having overseen hundreds of episodes of Siskel & Ebert and Ebert & Roeper, Don is not a movie buff, which makes him the team’s ultimate authority on what is and isn’t engaging. Crosstalks—the unscripted back-and-forths which are the core of the show—are judged on their ability to pique non-moviegoer Don’s interest. He works from the control room, along with Chaz Ebert, who effectively runs the show.
Everything, in other words, is designed to sustain the narrative frame, and to reinforce the show’s relationship to its viewers—everything except the reality of hosting the show, a fragmented process full of teleprompter reads, booming intercoms, and white-hot lights. One inevitably develops an appreciation for Siskel, Ebert, and Roeper as actors, able to remain in-character despite flubs and technical snafus, and to read the teleprompter and then improvise an argument in the same voice.
I never master these skills, because I am the wrong man for the job. When Ebert Presents: At The Movies goes on the air in January of 2011, I am 24, far and away the youngest host in the format’s history. I have improbably beaten out smarter, more qualified candidates (one of whom will win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism) after several rounds of auditions. I’d like to believe that I’m a strong critic and writer and a capable speaker, but I can’t seem to figure out a way to get ideas into broadcast without coming off as a shill or a dick. Frustrated, I fall back on cliches I’d never use in conversation or writing. Christy Lemire, who has extensive TV experience and a more easygoing writing style, is a natural, and I’m the kid who keeps interrupting her.
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I get better over time, but the show is doomed—partly because of me, partly because it’s so hard to fund a PBS show, and partly because the medium of television is changing. In 2011—the year Ebert Presents: At The Movies goes on and off the air—a weekly show about new releases is always a week behind the pop-cultural zeitgeist.
One afternoon in November 2010, in the aisle of a screening room, Roger Ebert passed me a note asking for my phone number. His wife, Chaz, called me that evening, and asked whether I’d come meet them at their house, a Lincoln Park brownstone where the curtains were always drawn, and which seemed significantly bigger on the inside than the outside. I’d never talked to either of them before.
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The next morning, I flew out with them to Palm Springs, and breathed desert air for the first time. I met Christy Lemire in the hotel restaurant. She was small, slightly freckled, razor sharp, and intimidating. I liked her immediately. The next morning, I was in a hotel ballroom, doing screen tests along with other critics and bloggers the Eberts had picked out as possible guest segment contributors for their new show. And then I went back to Chicago, expecting to never hear from them again, and thinking of the trip as little more than a good story and much-needed free vacation.
Over the next month-and-a-half, I would get called back again and again. I learned to read from a teleprompter, and to move my hands instead of keeping them in my lap. On New Year’s Eve, a few days after the final round of auditions, Chaz Ebert invited me over to offer the co-hosting position, which I probably shouldn’t have accepted, but did, because the night before my girlfriend and I had decided to get married, and I felt rash and confident. I got married the day before tech rehearsals started, in the basement of the county courthouse; it was lunch-time, and the judge ended the ceremony by opening her desk drawer and taking out a foil-wrapped Chipotle burrito.
The big worry from day one was chemistry. There was a general feeling on the production end that Christy and I got along too well; we spent our downtime making dumb jokes, translating the show into Russian (which Christy had taken in college), and generally dicking around. This made us reluctant to argue, even when we disagreed severely. After we’d gotten over the awkwardness of the first fifteen or so episodes—during which a substantial number of viewers were driven away by my alternately manic and smug presence, the result of nervous over-compensation—and settled into a rhythm, we weren’t producing compelling discussions. We didn’t have the crackle necessary to sustain a dueling critics show.
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The producers’ solution was to focus more and more on the guest segments—we did at least one per episode, plus a review from Roger. Needless to say, Christy and I didn’t have any input into their selection; some were very good, some very boring, and some just confounding. (I’m not sure whose idea it was to put a middle-school-age “kid critic” on the show. He was very polite, but neither Christy nor I could introduce him with a straight face.)
I don’t know whether the Eberts ever figured out that Christy and I were conspiring. Having realized that the crosstalks were too blasé, we did something that we were expressly forbidden from doing: We started discussing them beforehand.
The rule of the show was that the hosts were not allowed to know each other’s opinions (or even whether the other critic was giving a thumbs up or a thumbs down) until it came time to tape the episode. Because Christy lived in Los Angeles, and the show was taped in Chicago, we would do two episodes back-to-back, once every two weeks. So, the night before each taping session, Christy and I would meet for a meal or a drink, often near her hotel in the Loop, and share our opinions, like two spies, giving each other time to create stronger arguments and counter-arguments.
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Siskel and Ebert had years to master the crosstalk before anyone started paying attention. The show grew slowly, its hosts’ personas developing alongside the format. We had months, so we cheated a little. It made a substantially better and more compelling show, but it was already too late. By the summer of 2011, it became clear that Ebert Presents wouldn’t survive to see 2012.
The theory goes that, in order to hook a TV viewer, they must be convinced that they’re in on the show. You continually summarize and re-cap. The secret to hooking an online reader is to make them think that they’re being left out of some larger phenomenon, and the only way to rectify this is to click right here, right now.
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The two media work off social anxiety; TV cools it, and the click cycle stokes it. Searching through my inbox for production emails from the show, I come across a long list of notes sent in by Thea Flaum, Siskel & Ebert’s original producer, about an early episode. She tears into me and Christy—well, mostly me—for peppering our crosstalks with too many specialized references, a “serious viewer turnoff.” Among other things, she points out the fact that we reviewed a documentary about poetry slams without bothering to explain what a poetry slam was.
When I first read that email, it made me angry. (Frankly, I don’t think I could stomach being the dude who explained what a poetry slam was on broadcast TV in 2011.) By the middle of that year, I got it. She was right: Ebert Presents: At The Movies was the kind of show where you would explain what a poetry slam was, just in case some portion of the viewership didn’t know.
This was the format that Flaum had perfected with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and which had dominated the film media cycle for a couple of decades—a format which cooled viewer anxieties, telling them what to see and what not to see, and which created the illusion that, by tuning in, they were privy to the most important discussion possible. The attitude was ingrained into the design of the show, from the narrative frame to the easily legible gestures. I had been cast in the story of the dueling critics.
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Stupid as it sounds, I miss it, and, sometimes, when I’m stuck on a review, I imagine myself back on the balcony set, debating the movie with Christy. There was a certain high that came with the crosstalks. I learned over time what kinds of arguments could and couldn’t be squeezed into an edgewise sentence. I came into the show as a detail-oriented critic, but learned with practice to suppress the urge to make extraneous asides, in order to build a stronger case, pro or con. I wish it were still on. “I’d be so much better,” I think. “And more like myself.”
The irony is that it was Siskel & Ebert that doomed Ebert Presents. The dueling critics format sped up the film media cycle, until it couldn’t keep up anymore.Earlier today at the Values Voter Summit Bill Bennett called on speakers not to “give voice to bigotry,” Bryan Fischer however did not get the memo. As part of a much longer speech against the supposed “threat” of “the homosexual agenda,” Fischer said that “we must choose as a nation between homosexuality and liberty, because we cannot have both.”
Watch:
Fischer: I believe we need a president who understands that just as Islam represents the greatest long term threat to our liberty so the homosexual agenda represents the greatest immediate threat to every freedom and right that is enshrined in the First Amendment, it’s a particularly threat to religious liberty…. We need a president who understands that every advance of the homosexual agenda comes at the expense of religious liberty. We need a president who understands that we must choose as a nation between homosexuality and liberty, because we cannot have both. A president who understands that we must choose between homosexuality and liberty, and who will choose liberty every time.Innovation is critical for business success, so we're constantly trying to build tools that enable our customers to do more. Starting today, you can use Natural Language Processing (NLP) and other new and improved features in Drive search on web to find files easier and faster. You'll also see a couple of highly-requested Google Docs features that have been added based on your feedback (thank you!).
Search faster and with ease
Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a fancy way of saying “search like you talk.” You can type things like “find my budget spreadsheet from last December” or “show me presentations from Anissa.” Drive will understand what you mean and give you the option to click for those specific search results. Drive NLP will get better with each query — so keep on searching. ;)A 61 year old man was stabbed in the arms and abdomen during an argument with another man in Viamão, the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Enraged, the man started up his car and used it to repeatedly run over the 51 year old attacker. Military police were on the scene and chased after vehicular manslaughterist, but he was way too determined to get his revenge to care.After the
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that there are some crimes so horrendous that the passage of time can do nothing to diminish them. So when a 90-year-old man said to be a former concentration camp guard called John Demjanuck was sentenced to life, Lord Janner expressed grim satisfaction.
Demjanuck was convicted on the testimony of 11 concentration camp survivors who identified him after 70 years. Surely the testimony of the remaining 20 of Janner’s — alleged — victims, after 20 years, are just as credible.
Perhaps the last words should go to an alleged victim. This young man told the Sunday Mirror “They say he can’t stand trial because he can’t defend himself and he will not understand what is happening. As children, we could not defend ourselves and did not understand what was happening. It did not stop us from being abused.”
Go to Francis Carr Begbie’s “The Friends of Greville Janner“Capcom has revealed that the PC version of Resident Evil 7 will support both 4K resolutions and HDR.
In addition, Resident Evil 7 will support cross-saving between the PC and Xbox One, and will be also available for purchase via Microsoft's Windows Store. The game will also be released on Steam, and it appears that this version won’t support cross-saves between PC and Xbox One.
MINIMUM
OS: WINDOWS 7,8,8.1,10 64-BIT
Processor: Intel Core i5-4460, 2.70GHz or AMD FX-6300 or better
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 or AMD Radeon R7 260x
DirectX: Version 11
Additional Notes: 1080P CPU/GPU at 30FPS Players will have to either lower texture or set streaming textures to OFF in order to optimize performance. *Internet connection required for game activation. The game is still undergoing development, so all PC requirements are subject to change.
RECOMMENDED
OS: WINDOWS 7,8,8.1,10 64-BIT
Processor: Intel Core i7 3770 3.4GHz or AMD or better
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 or AMD Radeon R9 280X or better
DirectX: Version 11
Additional Notes: "1080P CPU/GPU at 60FPS *Internet connection required for game activation. The game is still undergoing development, so all PC requirements are subject to change."
RE7 will be powered by the new RE Engine, will feature a first-person perspective, and promises to embody the series’ signature gameplay elements of exploration and tense atmosphere.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is a survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom. The game is slated for release on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with the PlayStation 4 version including full PlayStation VR support. The game will be the eleventh entry into the main Resident Evil series, and the first main series installment to be played from a first-person perspective. It will be released worldwide the 24th of January 2017.Today seems to be the day for Short Story Collections! Not only did The “What If…” Project add an entire 4-chapter mini-story, Nick Wilde: Ace Attorney, but Forty Glimpses also added a new short to their collection! Add to that The Masked Fox, Firewatch, Closed Doors, The Translation of Dawn Bellwether, Dusted, and Love’s Tales, and you have a lot of great stories to choose from today!
Updated Stories:
Nick Wilde, Ace Attorney (Part of the “What If” Collaboration Project) by Berserker88, Mind Jack
Love’s Tales by MinscLovesBoo
Forty Glimpses by CDNCrow
Closed Doors by HawkTooth
Zootopia: Firewatch by BlueLighthouse
The Translation of Dawn Bellwether by Gabriel LaVedier
Dusted by DrekkDeina
The Masked Fox by Cimar of Turalis WildeHopps
New chapters after the break!
Nick Wilde, Ace Attorney (Part of the “What If” Collaboration Project) by Berserker88, Mind Jack
Love’s Tales by MinscLovesBoo
Forty Glimpses by CDNCrow
Closed Doors by HawkTooth
Zootopia: Firewatch by BlueLighthouse
The Translation of Dawn Bellwether by Gabriel LaVedier
Dusted by DrekkDeinaThe product in question here is a pesticide Bayer markets under the name Belt, though it’s referred to in documents by its generic name: flubendiamide. It’s a newish variety of pesticide, first approved by the EPA in 2008, that’s used to combat all kinds of different pests, including worms, moths, and beetles.
Back in 2008, the EPA granted Bayer the registration of flubendiamide, with a few stipulations. The EPA’s studies found that the pesticide is easier on the environment, on workers, and on crops than many alternatives, but voiced some distinct concern that it could have nasty effects on aquatic invertebrates, including extremely important creatures like freshwater mussels (which clean the water in addition to serving as food sources for other animals).
Due to that concern, the EPA gave Bayer not a full registration, but what’s known as a conditional registration. The EPA gave Bayer five years to prove to them that flubendiamide is safe for aquatic invertebrates. If the EPA’s concerns were not assuaged by then, Bayer was to accept voluntary cancellation of the product.
It’s now been seven years since that conditional registration was granted, two more than Bayer was even supposed to have. On January 29th, the EPA issued a letter to Bayer reminding them of that contract, stating that recent studies have indicated that flubendiamide is toxic to aquatic invertebrates, and thus asking for that voluntary cancellation as laid out in the conditional registration.
Bayer said no.
Instead of canceling the product, Bayer issued a press release stating that the company is refusing the EPA’s request, and that it “instead will seek a review of the product’s registration in an administrative law hearing.” Bayer insists that the product is safe, that the EPA’s studies are based more on theory than on actual damage reports from the past seven years. (This is not entirely true; one survey of studies found that two groups of aquatic invertebrates are extremely sensitive to the pesticide, and other studies have been more like low-level, inconclusive warnings. Certainly there haven’t been studies claiming it’s entirely safe for all aquatic invertebrates.)
Bayer can, apparently, do this. The Center for Food Safety issued an outraged release calling out the EPA for this system of conditional registration that allows companies to, basically, defy the authority of the EPA and do whatever they want. From here, the EPA will take the matter to the “Special Review Process,” which allows them to study and consider in more depth whether the pesticide should be banned. To the Center for Food Safety, this is ridiculous; this process can take many more years, during which time Bayer will be allowed to sell the pesticide.
Why, given the option, would a company like Bayer ever simply accept the EPA’s request to cancel the product? By saying no, Bayer gets another layer of reviews, gets to keep selling a profitable product, and puts the onus of proving the product is unsafe on the EPA, rather than proving to the EPA that it is safe.
“If the recipients of conditional registrations arrogantly treat EPA’s conditions as having no legal force, then the practice of issuing conditional registrations must be suspended, as they are not reliable,” says Peter T. Jenkins, an attorney with the Center for Food Safety, in the Center’s release. These conditional registrations have been the subject of scrutiny before; the government’s own General Accounting Office, the agency responsible for making sure the government is working efficiently, said in 2013 that the conditional registrations are, basically, worthless. And yet here they are again: Bayer, in its ballsy refusal to listen to the EPA, is proving just how bad these things are.Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease that affects motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord, resulting in paralysis of voluntary skeletal muscles and eventually death, usually within 2~3 years of symptom onset. The pathophysiology mechanism underlying ALS is not yet clearly understood. Moreover the available medication for treating ALS, riluzole, only modestly improves neurological symptoms and increases survival by a few months. Therefore, improved therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. In the present study, we investigated whether rosmarinic acid has a therapeutic potential to alleviate neurological deterioration in the G93A-SOD1 transgenic mouse model of ALS. Treatment of G93A-SOD1 transgenic mice with rosmarinic acid from 7 weeks of age at the dose of 400 mg/kg/day significantly extended survival, and relieved motor function deficits. Specifically, disease onset and symptom progression were delayed by more than one month. These symptomatic improvements were correlated with decreased oxidative stress and reduced neuronal loss in the ventral horns of G93A-SOD1 mice. These results support that rosmarinic acid is a potentially useful supplement for relieving ALS symptoms.Is It English or Engelsk?—part 1
Jul 15, 2014 by Asya Pereltsvaig
[This post was originally published on GeoCurrents in January 2013]
When it comes to matters of language and linguistics, the popular media’s “scientific” reporting typically sensationalizes studies that make outlandish (and often unsupported) claims, while ignoring other work on the same topic. In the next few posts we will look at several articles on specific Indo-European languages that have recently received much attention in the press and the blogosphere, starting with a revisionist history and classification of the English language.
In the last decade or so, renewed attention has been paid to the history of English in academic circles, leading to the publication of several new textbooks by principal academic presses. Cambridge University Press came out with A History of the English Language, edited by Richard Hogg and David Denison, as well as a much more accessible The English Language. A Historical Introduction by Charles Barber, Joan C. Beal and Philip A. Shaw. Oxford University Press countered with The Oxford History of English, edited by Lynda Mugglestone. Scholarly monographs and trade books in the field have been published in large numbers as well. Yet none of them has received as much public attention as a yet-unpublished manuscript by Jan Terje Faarlund of the University of Oslo and Joseph Emonds, visiting professor from Palacký University in the Czech Republic, who claim that English is a Scandinavian language. The story was originally broken by ScienceDaily, which justly characterized the claims made in the paper as “sensational”. Other media outlets in the English-speaking world, such as The Economist and Business Insider (which reposted the piece from The Economist under a different headline), were more tempered, formulating the headlines as questions or using the modal may. But Scandinavian websites as well as several English-language blogs came out with resolute headlines. ScienceNordic went so far as to illustrate their piece with a picture of prince William and Kate Middleton wearing traditional Scandinavian sweaters, and Aftenposten, a leading Norwegian daily, simply affirmed that “English is a Scandinavian language”. The title of the k2p blog post is more detailed but equally firm: “Modern English derives from Scandinavian rather than from Old English”.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to get hold of this semi-mythical paper, as it has not yet been published. According to media reports and a detailed interview with Jan Terje Faarlund, the two scholars deny the received wisdom that Modern English descends primarily from Old English, or Anglo-Saxon, which was a West Germanic language, most closely related to Old Frisian.* Instead, they propose to classify (Modern) English as belonging to the Scandinavian (or North Germanic) group, together with Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, and Faroese. Faarlund is cited in ScienceDaily as saying:
“Modern English is a direct descendant of the language of Scandinavians who settled in the British Isles in the course of many centuries, before the French-speaking Normans conquered the country in 1066. […] We believe it is because Old English quite simply died out while Scandinavian survived, albeit strongly influenced of course by Old English.” [this latter statement is contradicted by another statement quoted from Faarlund, as we shall see below]
As a result, the authors contend, Modern English is quite different from Old English, and also from modern West Germanic languages, such as German, Dutch, Frisian, Afrikaans, and Yiddish. As is well known, many English words do not match their German (or Dutch) counterparts: compare the English die and German sterben, or the English ill and the German übel. These English words derive from Old Norse deyja and illr, which replaced the Old English words steorfan and yfel. (The Old English words did not die completely, however, but survived as starve and evil.) It is well-known that the Norse-speaking Vikings gave the English many words which they took and still use, whether that seems both odd and wrong to some fellows (the boldfaced words in this sentence are all Norse contributions). In a sentence like The guests cut the rotten cake with a knife, only the articles the and a are not traceable to Scandinavian sources.** Among Norse loanwords in English are basic kinship terms (sister, husband), body parts (leg, neck, skin), other common nouns (dirt, sky, window), adjectives (flat, loose, ugly), and verbs (drag, get, smile). Northern English dialects, spoken in areas that once constituted the Viking-dominated Danelaw, contain even more words from Old Norse, such as fell ‘hill, mountain’ (compare with Norwegian fjell) and kenning ‘knowledge’ (compare with Swedish kännedom ‘understanding, cognizance’). In northern English cities like Leeds and York, toponyms with -gate like Briggate and Kirkgate translate as ‘Bridge Street’ and ‘Church Street’, because in Scandinavian gate means ‘street’ (in contrast, in London places such as Aldgate and Newgate actually refer to former gates in the city wall).
But Faarlund and Emonds place emphasis not so much on words that have been borrowed from Old Norse but on English grammatical structures that do not exist in German or Dutch. Their claim is that “wherever English differs syntactically from the other Western Germanic languages—German, Dutch, Frisian—it has the same structure as the Scandinavian languages”. Four examples have been cited to bear on this issue:
1) Word order: Both English and Scandinavian place the object (underlined) after the verb (boldfaced), whereas German and Dutch put the verb at the end.
English: I have read the book.
Norwegian: Jeg har lest boken.
German: Ich habe das Buch gelesen.
2) Preposition stranding: In both English and Scandinavian the preposition (boldfaced) can appear at the end of the sentence, with its related noun or pronoun (underlined) placed in the beginning.*** This structure is much more restricted in German or Dutch.
English: This we have talked about.
Norwegian: Dette har vi snakket om.
[split_infinitive.jpg]
3) Split Infinitive: In both English and Scandinavian we can insert a word such as an adverb (boldfaced) between the infinitive marker to and the verb (underlined). This structure is also highly restricted in German and Dutch.
English: I promise to never do it again.
Norwegian: Jeg lover å ikke gjøre det igjen.
4) Phrasal (or “Group”) Genitive: The possessive marker in both English (‘s) and Scandinavian (s) can appear after a whole phrase like the Queen of England, not after the main word (i.e. head) of that phrase (here, Queen).
English: the Queen of England’s hat / Mom and Dad’s only child
Norwegian: Dronningen av Englands hatt / mor og fars eneste barn
But Faarlund and Emonds go further than to simply note the similarity between the English and Scandinavian constructions: they claim that the English grammatical morphemes and structures were adopted from Scandinavian and survived to this day, while “Old English quite simply died out”. They seek further support for their theory in geography, noting that “the East Midlands region, where the spoken language later developed into Modern English, coincides almost exactly with the densely populated, southern part of the Danelaw”. Indeed, Matthew Townend provides the following description of the linguistic situation in medieval Britain in his chapter in The Oxford History of English:
“Spoken Norse appears to have been both geographically widespread and surprisingly long-lived, no doubt because it formed the first language of a substantial immigrant community. Settled Norse speakers were to be found in England from the 870s onwards, following the Viking wars of the time of King Alfred (who reigned over Wessex 871-99) and the establishment of the so-called Danelaw; that is, the area to the north and east of the old Roman road known as Watling Street […] Norse continued to be spoken in the north of England certainly into the eleventh century, and quite possibly into the twelfth in some places.”
While the influence of Norse-speaking Vikings on the English language is undeniable, there is no solid evidence for the claim that English is a Scandinavian language. The first thing to note is that by comparing Modern English with Modern German and Norwegian (which perhaps was done to get the point across to the general public), Faarlund has committed the cardinal sin of historical linguistics: examining more recent forms of language rather than the oldest available forms. A much more convincing comparison would be between Old English, Old High German, and Old Norse. Such historical investigations show the close affinity of all West Germanic languages, including both Old English and Old High German, as reflected in a number of phonological innovations, such as the development of numerous diphthongs in positions where North Germanic languages have a pure vowel and a consonant. For example, the Old Norse hoggva (and Modern Swedish hugga) correspond to the Old English verb hēawan ‘to cut, hew’ (the diphthong is also evident in the modern German hauen); similarly, Old English brēowan ‘to brew’ corresponds to Old Swedish bryggja, Modern Swedish brygga (and the diphthong is retained in German brauen). A number of lexical items also point in the same direction. According to Barber, Beal and Shaw,
“one lexical form found only in West Germanic is the word sheep (Dutch schaap, German Schaf, Old Frisian skēp), which has no known cognate elsewhere. […] the Old Norse word was fār (Old Swedish) or fǽr (Old Icelandic): the Faores are the ‘Sheep Islands’ (Old Icelandic Fǽreyjar)” [p. 90]
But could Faarlund and Emonds be correct in identifying the four syntactic structures listed above as Scandinavian loans? Curiously, R.L.G., the author of the language blog in The Economist, notes that two of the four patterns mentioned above—namely, split infinitives and preposition stranding—“are controversial in some usage circles”. While most people use these patterns in natural speech and English writers have done so for centuries, some “traditional but half-informed pedants claim that you can’t split an infinitive or end a sentence with a preposition”. Just how pervasive such “incorrect” structures can be is seen from the fact that a leading prescriptivist of his time Robert Lowth, who penned A Short Introduction to English Grammar in 1762, committed the very sin of preposition stranding as he was criticizing it:
“The Preposition is often separated from the Relative which it governs and joined the verb at the end of the Sentence … as, ‘Horace is an author, whom I am much delighted with.’ … This is an Idiom which our language is strongly inclined to; it prevails in common conversations, and suits very well with the familiar style if writing; but the placing of the Preposition before the Relative is more graceful, as well as more perspicuous; and agrees much better with the solemn and elevated style.”
The long-established explanation is that prescriptivists thought that English should imitate Latin (or Ancient Greek), where such structures were impossible, but maybe, R.L.G. ruminates, they “rub some people the wrong way because they are bad Anglo-Saxon, not bad Latin”. As tempting as this explanation would be, it does not work. First, not all presumed Scandinavian grammatical imports are problematic for prescriptivists: while the Queen of England’s hat may sound strange to some people, the Queen’s of England hat is much worse. Moreover, there is nothing remotely questionable about the VO order in Modern English; in fact, if you say I have the book read, you are likely to get funny stares. But more importantly, Old English already had the seeds of all four of these constructions. For instance, preposition stranding is attested in a restricted set of contexts such as with personal pronouns (in the following example, ‘me’):
Þa wendon hi me heora bæc to then turned they me their back to ‘Then they turned their backs on me.’
So the change from Old English to Middle (and hence, Modern) English was not in the introduction of a completely novel structure, but in a change in the range of contexts where it is possible. The Old English option of separating a personal pronoun from its preposition, as in the above example, died out soon after 1200. Around the same time, preposition stranding became possible with passives (as in ‘dealt so cruelly with’), and later extended to relative clauses (e.g. ‘the book which we have talked about’) and questions (e.g., ‘Who did you talk to?’).
In the following post, we will consider the other syntactic structures presumed to be of Nordic origin, as well as the more general issue of whether languages borrow grammar.
________
*The Gray-Atkinson model (see the image on the left from Bouckaert et al. 2012) incorrectly classifies Frisian as most closely related to Dutch, not to English.
**The word with existed in Old English in the form of wið meaning ‘against, opposite, toward’; this older meaning is preserved in compounds such as withhold, withdraw, withstand. The influence of the Old Norse vidh is responsible for the meaning shift in Middle English to denote association, combination, and union. In this meaning, with replaced the Old English mid ‘with’, which survives only as a prefix, as in midwife, literally ‘woman who is ‘with’’ (the mother at birth). The original sense of wife ‘woman’ (regardless of marital status) is also preserved in the expression old wives’ tale.
***When it comes to preposition stranding, one has to be careful at distinguishing true prepositions (which can be stranded) from particles (whose syntax is quite different, as evident from the humorous hypercorrection This is nonsense up with which I will not put, attributed to Winston Churchill, or alternatively to Bernard Shaw).
Like this post? Please pass it on: TweetThe Egyptian Museum in Cairo is learning a painful lesson after a quick fix left King Tut's burial mask with irreparable damage.
Three museum conservators gave the Associated Press differing accounts of exactly when the beard was removed and whether it was knocked off accidentally during a routine cleaning or removed intentionally because it was loose. What they do agree upon, however, is that they received orders to fix it quickly -- and whoever fixed it decided to use an epoxy-based adhesive, which proved unsuitable for such a restoration. The mask is now permanently damaged.
"Unfortunately, he used a very irreversible material. Epoxy has a very high property for attaching and is used on metal or stone, but I think it wasn't suitable for an outstanding object like Tutankhamun's golden mask," one of the conservators told AP. "The mask should have been taken to the conservation lab, but they were in a rush to get it displayed quickly again and used this quick-drying, irreversible material."
The epoxy left a visible gap of yellow between the mask and the beard. Worse still is that whoever reattached the beard got some epoxy on the face of the mask and then hastily tried to use a spatula to get it off. The spatula got rid of the epoxy, but left a series of scratches on the face.
An investigation into the botched restoration is under way, but the damage has been done. The whole story is a reminder that when you have items that are incredibly old and of tremendous historical significance, you should always take the time needed to maintain and repair it appropriately.VirtacoinPlus (XVP) is a digital asset or currency like Bitcoin (BTC), since both tokens use similar blockchain technology and concept of decentralization. However, XVP aims to create a balance between ease of business and investment opportunities. This means while VirtacoinPlus aims at becoming one of the most acceptable cryptocurrency for ease of business across the world, it also aims at ensuring no one is left behind from benefiting from the ever growing and evolving cryptocurrency economy. In other words, whether you are interested in using XVP for financial transactions, or basically as a store of value, XVP is your best opportunity.
Hello and Welcome to VirtacoinPlus UK,this a combination of a VirtacoinPlus (XVP) information,business directory and social network
VirtacoinPlus UK’s main purpose is to provide a platform to assist in promoting the building of a strong and vibrant community
This website is based in the UK but is open for anyone around the entire globe to use and hopefully register and join the VirtacoinPlus community and utilise it’s features
Donations (XVP) for the upkeep of this site would be gratefully received. address – VLQTKhpMQKD8uBjxwmAwLfU9uks66uc5Vz – Thank you.Get the biggest Everton FC stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
Everton transfer speculation today sees Roberto Martinez deny there is any notion of a pre-contract with Aiden McGeady, whilst insisting they are "close" to making their first few moves of the transfer window.
When asked about the pre-contract and medical speculation, said: "I don't think so, unless I've not been told! The situation is that he is still registered with another football club and, as you know, I'll never be disrespectful to another club and speak about a player registered with another club. Aiden fits into that category."
Everton will make a move in January for FC Twente attacker Dusan Tadic according to Dutch newspaper Tubantia.
The talented Serbian has scored 11 goals for club and country and 2 assists and only moved to Twente one year ago from FC Groningen for £6.8m. The player has two and a half years left on his contract and it is believed that a bid of around €12m would secure his signature.
Meanwhile, Everton and Arsenal may struggle to strike a deal with Standard Liege for £8million-rated striker Michy Batshuayi after the Belgian club issued a withering statement regarding the player's agent.
Finally, Ross Barkley is a doubt for the Blues game against Norwich this weekend.
* Please remember, these are internet rumours, gathered in one place for your convenience, not Liverpool Echo stories.
Rumour One
Roberto Martinez denied there is any notion of a pre-contract with Aiden McGeady, whilst insisting they are "close" to making their first few moves of the transfer window.
McGeady has long been linked with swapping Spartak Moscow for the blue half of Merseyside, and that speculation took a fresh turn yesterday.
However, Everton manager Roberto Martinez, who had previously tried signing McGeady when at Wigan Athletic, rejected there was any deal imminent.
When asked about the pre-contract and medical speculation, Martinez said: "I don't think so, unless I've not been told! The situation is that he is still registered with another football club and, as you know, I'll never be disrespectful to another club and speak about a player registered with another club. Aiden fits into that category."
Rumour Two
Everton will make a move in January for FC Twente attacker Dusan Tadic according to Dutch newspaper Tubantia.
The talented Serbian has scored 11 goals for club and country and 2 assists and only moved to Twente one year ago from FC Groningen for £6.8m. The player has two and a half years left on his contract and it is believed that a bid of around €12m would secure his signature.
Everton gaffer Roberto Martinez will have to make moves on a top striker should Nikica Jelavic decide that he needs to move elsewhere to secure first team football in a World Cup year and if this happens then Tadic will make the move to Merseyside.
Tadic scored 13 goals in 17 starts last season in the Eriedivisie and this season has 7 goals in 14 games.
Rumour Three
Everton and Arsenal may struggle to strike a deal with Standard Liege for £8million-rated striker Michy Batshuayi after the Belgian club issued a withering statement regarding the player's agent.
Liege say they intend to take up the issue with FIFA after Christophe Henrotay was quoted earlier this week about Batshuayi, revealing that a number of clubs were keen to sign him.
Borussia Dortmund have also been linked with the 20-year-old Belgium U21 international and Henrotay told Sudpresse: 'There are Premier League clubs that are following him closely, but that's all. The interest from other big leagues is more serious.
'I'm still surprised by the way Standard communicates about Michy. The situation is very simple: if a club triggers his release clause, he can start negotiating with a club. I've the mandate to negotiate a transfer.
'At this moment there are no clubs that offered the full amount to trigger the clause. My player is still happy at Standard. For sure. But there's a lot of interest in him. It's getting hot. When a club decides to trigger his clause, it's up to Michy to decide.'
Rumour Four
Roberto Martinez has revealed Ross Barkley is a doubt for the game with Norwich at Goodison this weekend.
Martinez will also assess defensive trio Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin ahead of the clash against the Canaries.
Martinez said: “We have got a few doubts but we still have two training sessions before the important game on Saturday.
“We are going to assess Sylvain Distin, Phil Jagielka and Leighton Baines and Ross Barkley who got a knock against Queens Park Rangers. Those four players are the ones that we have got a question mark over.
“Ross had a knock on the toe in his right foot. It’s a bit swollen but we are hoping that he is going to be fine for the weekend.
“Everyone else is fine.”For the original film, see Dawn of the Dead
Dawn of the Dead is a 2004 horror film remake of George A. Romero's 1978 film of the same name. The remake and original both depict a handful of human survivors living in a shopping mall surrounded by swarms of zombies, but the details differ significantly. Directed by Zack Snyder, the film was released by Universal Studios and stars Ving Rhames, Sarah Polley, and Jake Weber with cameos from original cast members Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger and Tom Savini. It was released in the United States on March 19, 2004, and in the United Kingdom on March 26, 2004.
Contents show]
Plot
The story concerns a rapidly-spreading contagion which turns its infected hosts into reanimated flesh-eating ghouls. While the source and exact nature of this plague remain unexplained, it is confirmed that it is spread when a victim is bitten by an infected person.
Ana, a nurse, finishes a long shift at her Milwaukee County hospital and returns to her peaceful suburban home. She and her waiting husband, Louis, make love and go to sleep, missing warnings trickling through the local media. The next morning they are awoken by their now-zombified neighbor, a little girl, who bites Louis in the throat when he goes to help her. Ana locks the zombie out of the room, but despite her frantic efforts, Louis dies, immediately reanimates as a zombie, and chases Ana into the bathroom. Ana escapes out the window and flees from her now chaos-torn neighborhood in her car, before a failed hijacking attempt sends her crashing into a tree. The opening credits roll, showing the worldwide collapse of human civilization.
Ana meets Kenneth, a grim police sergeant and former Marine traveling to meet his brother at Fort Pastor, a nearby US Army base. With the route to the base blocked by zombies, they join three others - jack-of-all-trades Michael, petty criminal Andre and his pregnant wife Luda - and break into the nearby Crossroads Shopping Mall. A scuffle with a zombified mall security guard results in Luda getting a minor bite-wound. They then confront three living security guards (C.J., Bart and Terry), and give up their weapons in exchange for refuge. After the group secures the mall, they head up to the mall's roof to dispose of bodies and paint SOS signs. While there, they "meet" another survivor, Andy, who is stranded alone in his gun store, across the mall's zombie-infested parking lot.
A delivery truck arrives at the mall, carrying the driver Norma, jerkish Steve, working man Tucker, elderly Glen, trampy Monica, bitten Frank and his teen daughter Nicole, and a severely-injured obese woman. These newcomers bring word that Fort Pastor has been overrun by zombies and no help will be coming. The obese woman dies, reanimates and is killed by Ana, who thrusts a fireplace poker into her eye. The group determines that bites are how the zombies multiply their numbers; after Ana and Michael argue about what to do with the rapidly-deteriorating Frank, the man is put in a store with Kenneth guarding him, where he is allowed "every last second" before dying. Michael and Ana achieve an awkward reconciliation, which is interrupted by Kenneth's shotgun blast as he destroys Frank's reanimated body.
Though the mall provides many material distractions and Ana edges into a romance with Michael, the undead surround the refuge in ever-increasing numbers. Finally the mall’s power goes out and Michael, C.J., Bart and Kenneth enter the underground parking garage to turn on the emergency generator. After they meet an unaffected dog, a zombie swarm kills Bart and traps the others in the generator compartment, where they douse the zombies with gasoline and set them ablaze with C.J.'s cigarette lighter. Andre, faced with the fact that Luda -the aforementioned victim of a zombie's bite wound that the rest of the group didn't know about -will soon die, sinks totally into denial, and has his heavily-pregnant and heavily-infected wife tied to a bed in the mall's children's store. Even as Luda gives birth, she dies and reanimates. Norma checks on the couple, discovering the zombie-Luda and the demented Andre clutching a small bundle of blankets. Norma shoots Luda in the head, causing Andre to snap completely. They exchange more gunfire, mortally wounding each other. Ana arrives onscene and opens the bundle to reveal a zombie baby. She pulls her revolver and a single shot rings through the mall.
At an impromptu memorial, Kenneth says anything is better than "sitting around waiting to die". The remaining mall-dwellers thus plot to fight their way to the local marina, and from there travel out on Steve's small yacht to an island in Lake Michigan. They reinforce two small shuttle buses from the parking garage in preparation for their escape, welding on a snowplow, metal bars, and barbed wire, boarding up the windows with shelving, and cutting slits through the sides for the deployment of weapons. Chainsaws, propane tanks, and other supplies are also loaded onboard. Meanwhile, Andy is starving, and will not have the strength to join the escape (and contribute much-needed ammunition), so the survivors in the mall strap a pack of food on the dog from the basement, and lower him into the parking lot in a sling. Unfortunately, while "Chips" makes it safely to the gun-shop, a zombie gets in as well and badly injures Andy -he is unaware of the nature of the zombie bites and the mall-dwellers helplessly listen to him over their newly-established radio communication, deciding not to tell him about his ultimate fate. Nicole, nearly insane with grief over the recent loss of both of her parents and distraught over losing Chips (which she now desperately clings to like a security blanket), takes the delivery truck and barges her way into the gun store, where a now-zombified Andy traps her in a storage closet.
Kenneth, Michael, C.J., Terry, and Tucker gather their meager weapon supply and go into the sewers, while Steve is assigned guard-duty on their exit door. They reach the gun store, where Kenneth reluctantly kills Andy, and the group rescues Nicole and stocks up on weapons and ammunition. A detonated propane tank is used to clear a path back to the sewers, but the zombies pursue them, Tucker is killed and (thanks to Steve's negligence) the zombies swarm in through the exit door. Mall security is breached, and the remaining survivors pile into the buses and smash through the parking garage's front gates, where another propane tank is used to clear a path through the parking-lot horde. When Glen moves to take out a last hitchhiking zombie with a chainsaw, a sudden swerve sends the weapon slashing into Monica's shoulder instead and through her body. The resulting splatter of blood covers the windshield, causing driver Kenneth to lose control and crash into an alley. Glen and Monica are killed, while Steve flees the toppled bus and is attacked by the hitchhiking zombie.
The others scramble for the second bus, meeting zombie-Steve en route. Ana shoots him dead, then must linger long enough to get the boat keys off his corpse, allowing more zombies to catch up with them. Ana flees back to the bus, where Michael grabs her and pulls her in. After a few moments struggle, they pull away from the zombies and speed to the marina dock, where they crash the bus and dash for the boat. C.J. stays at the bus
|
the drywall near the dessert table. (Read more from “”DUMPED ON PROM NIGHT”: Reports Coming in of Hillary’s Stunning Election Night Meltdown” HERE)
Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.Donald Trump Jr. said he was being “fully transparent” yesterday by releasing the emails that led to his meeting with a Russian lawyer that has caused a media uproar.
It was not a pretty picture, and it confirmed the latest New York Times story on the controversy.
The move temporarily put Don Jr. back in control of the narrative rather than playing catchup after each newspaper story. The president applauded his “transparency” in a terse statement. But that transparency wasn’t entirely voluntary: the Times says he posted the emails after being told that the paper was about to publish them.
The 2016 meeting with Natalia Veselnitskaya, which apparently led nowhere, may indeed turn out to be a blip. But Trump supporters who are denouncing it as fake news are missing the point. Most of what we now know about the matter—now including the emails--comes from the president’s son.
And while there’s plenty of room to debate whether this is a “nothing-burger,” as Reince Preibus put it, some on the right would be screaming if Chelsea Clinton had had taken such a meeting with a Russian lawyer supposedly offering dirt on Trump. Politics is built on selective outrage.
I get the Russia fatigue after months of coverage with little payoff, but Don Jr., who has since hired a criminal lawyer, is obviously taking it seriously. That’s why he appeared with Sean Hannity last night.
That email was from Rob Goldstone, a British PR guy and ex-tabloid reporter who does business with Russia and helped broker the meeting (adding to the colorful characters in this saga).
Goldstone said “the Crown prosecutor of Russia” had met with a Russian real estate magnate who was the father of one of his clients, pop star Emil Agalarov. The email said the prosecutor “offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father.”
Goldstone added: “This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”
That’s critical because Trump Jr. was explicitly told that the Putin government was behind this.
His quick reply is making headlines everywhere: “If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer.”
Goldstone later said the meeting would be with a “Russian government attorney,” which Veselnitskaya is not, but she is close to Russia’s prosecutor general, according to the Times.
Veselnitskaya told NBC News she doesn’t know why Trump Jr. believed she was bringing oppo research on Hillary: “It’s quite possible that maybe they were looking for such information. They wanted it so badly.”
Before posting the emails, Don Jr. tweeted this, in a tone reminiscent of his father: “Media & Dems are extremely invested in the Russia story. If this nonsense meeting is all they have after a yr, I understand the desperation!”
So what are we to make of this—and the partisan reaction on both sides?
National Review’s Jonah Goldberg finds “the whole feeding frenzy [over Russia] unappealing. The Democrats are clearly in full partisan mode, framing every inconvenient, benign, or even potentially exculpatory detail as a smoking gun.”
At the same time, he says, “what I just don’t understand is how conservatives can mock, scoff at, and ridicule the idea there might be some legs to this story when Donald Trump does everything he can to make it look like there might be a there there.”
The Weekly Standard ties the controversy to the Senate’s 98-2 vote turning U.S. sanctions against Moscow into law:
“Whether the media has unfairly targeted the president and his advisers over their dealings with Russian officials is now beside the point. By a series of unforced errors—omissions of financial dealings with Russian companies, unaccountably faulty memories on meetings with Kremlin-connected operatives—the Trump team has lost all credibility on the question of Russia.”
My own take is that two things are not mutually exclusive. The coverage of the Russian “collusion” question has generally been overheated, and this particular meeting, touted as providing information from the Russian government, is important. Just how important depends on whether prosecutors and the press find that it fits into a larger pattern.Chief Justice John Roberts’ surprise swing vote to uphold President Obama’s health care law left more than a few conservatives scratching their heads. Some scratched especially hard. Some just let their heads explode. Here are the best right-wing freak outs to Roberts’ decision.On his radio show Thursday, conservative talk radio firebrand Michael Savage wondered whether Roberts’ epilepsy medication affected the chief justice’s cognition. “I’m going to tell you something that you’re not going to hear anywhere else, that you must pay attention to,” Savage said. “It’s well known that Roberts, unfortunately for him, has suffered from epileptic seizures. Therefore he has been on medication. Therefore neurologists will tell you that medication used for seizure disorders, such as epilepsy, can introduce mental slowing, forgetfulness and other cognitive problems. And if you look at Roberts’ writings you can see the cognitive dissociation in what he is saying,”
In a closed door meeting with House Republicans, Rep. Mike Pence likened the health care ruling to Sept. 11, Politico reported. Why? Who knows. “My remarks at the Republican Conference following the Supreme Court decision were thoughtless. I certainly did not intend to minimize any tragedy our nation has faced and I apologize,” the congressman said later in a statement to Politico.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who many consider to be on Mitt Romney’s short list for potential VP picks, told Fox News that Roberts did it for the column inches. “I don’t know whether he was just playing to the editorial pages of The Washington Post and The New York Times,” Jindal said, calling the decision “extremely disappointing.”
Geraldo Rivera didn’t criticize Roberts as much as call him a mad genius. On Fox and Friends Friday morning, Geraldo said: “(Roberts) has gifted President Obama a poison pill. Republicans now can remember, unless something is done, that the Bush tax cuts also lapse at the end of the year. So here you have the largest tax increase and the increase coming from the expiration of the Bush tax cuts – he taxed us, he said he wouldn’t tax us, he taxed us. I think the Obama presidency hangs by a thread right now.”
Saying the Supreme Court decision “destroys Bush’s legacy,” dimmed conservative star Glenn Beck put his rhetoric where his online store is. He is selling screen-printed Roberts “coward” t-shirts for $30 a pop.
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) told Salon that Roberts made clear he believes Obama is a liar and he’s sorry the chief justice has become so cynical. “It’s a sad day for America,” he said.
Breitbart troublemaker Ben Shaprio had a few choice tweets for the chief justice:
Chief Justice Roberts was the worst part of the Bush legacy. — benshapiro (@benshapiro) June 28, 2012
For his next magic trick, John Roberts will turn Obamacare into a butterfly, so President Obama won’t have to worry about tax questions. — benshapiro (@benshapiro) June 28, 2012
Conservative shock jock Bryan Fischer followed suit: Roberts “is going down in history as the justice that shredded the Constitution and turned it into a worthless piece of parchment,” he told BuzzFeed’s Rosie Gray. Roberts acted “more like a demolitions expert” than an “umpire,” he added.
Rep. Jack Kingston took the news personally:
With #Obamacare ruling, I feel like I just lost two great friends: America and Justice Roberts. — Jack Kingston (@JackKingston) June 28, 2012
Conservative radio host Mark Levin said he doesn’t think much of the “five lawyers in robes” who ruled for “Obamacare.” The court’s majority held the American people in contempt on Thursday, he said, calling the court’s decision “absolutely lawless.”
“Roberts’ activism is now firmly evident,” he added.The going rate for a “thought”—a probe into the thinking of another—was once quite a bargain. Today, more than four centuries since the phrase “A penny for your thoughts?” was first recorded, inflationary accounting makes that ancient penny worth more than $40. Even with the sliding value of the dollar, this still seems quite the bargain. Of course, times haven’t changed much in one sense, considering the buyer still can’t be sure of the veracity of his purchase.
How much would you pay to know what thoughts are swimming around in someone else’s head? And if you could really know their truthfulness how much more would you pay?
Such fantastical questions have long been the bread and butter of fiction. From the Twilight Zone to Minority Report, the idea of reading minds—of seeing the private intentions of another, and the possibility of intervening in those plans—has always been highly attractive.
Not long ago science was satisfied with outlining the areas of the brain responsible for various functions and the processing of sensations: frontal lobe for “higher thought,” optic lobe for vision, etc. Not so today. As Martha J. Farah, director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania, puts it, “For the first time it may be possible to breach the privacy of the human mind, and judge people not only by their actions, but also by their thoughts and predilections”.
Penalizing and controlling those once private thoughts may eventually become de rigueur. Science fiction writer Michael Crichton imagined more than 35 years ago that understanding the neural origin of our thoughts and motivations will water the seeds of our desire to intervene. At first interventions will be for medical reasons, to control seizures and epileptic “brainstorms” that incapacitate their victims. In Terminal Man (1972), Crichton presaged this concept as a computer “that will monitor electrical activity of the brain, and when it sees an attack starting, will transmit a shock to the correct brain area. This computer is about the size of a postage stamp and weighs a tenth of an ounce. It will be implanted in the skin of the patient’s neck.”
In Crichton’s story, Benson, a brain-damaged accident victim, suffers blackouts during which he becomes violently psychotic. Certainly this seems a humanitarian reason to intervene, but it evolves into the sort of “could we, should we” question that is the foundation of many of Crichton’s novels. The conclusion is not surprising. The feedback loop between computer and brain becomes positive rather than negative. The stimulus pathway that was meant to negate the deviant thoughts becomes the pathway to encourage those actions. The sensation created within Benson’s brain becomes pleasurable; more violence is fed with more pleasure.
“It feels so good,” Benson said, still smiling. “That feeling, it feels so good. Nothing feels as good as that. I could just swim in that feeling forever and ever.”
In electronically countering Benson’s seizure, the computer’s input has been reinterpreted as a positive; a good feeling is perceived. This experience drives the seizure forward and, as the story continues, drives Benson to greater and more frequent bouts of violence. His brain molds itself to the new conditions created by the computer’s sensory input.
In a no longer unusual case of fiction becoming fact, Crichton was writing of neural plasticity 35 years ago. With penetrating insight he mused:
Our brains were the sum total of past experiences—long after the experiences were gone. That meant that cause and cure weren’t the same thing.... As the Development people said, “A match may start a fire, but once the fire is burning, putting out the match won’t stop it. The problem is no longer the match. It’s the fire."
As for Benson, he had had more than twenty-four hours of intense stimulation by his implanted computer. That stimulation had affected his brain by providing new experiences and new expectations. A new environment was being incorporated. Pretty soon, it would be impossible to predict how the brain would react. Because it wasn’t Benson’s old brain anymore—it was a new brain, the product of new experiences.
In light of recent news concerning remarkable ways to image and bloodlessly dissect the human brain, much of Terminal Man seems medically quaint and naïve. Still, knowledge about the mind is a terrible thing to waste. As the linked articles below bear out, with every passing day we are learning more about the brain and how to manipulate and stimulate it.
This is all meant to be for the good; neurologists are not aiming at mind control. Clearly, however, as Crichton writes above, new experiences create new expectations. New feedback loops come into existence; new stimuli bring about new responses. A penny for your thoughts?Blog Archive February (3) January (6) December (4) November (8) October (8) September (7) August (3) July (5) June (4) May (3) April (10) March (4) February (3) December (4) November (12) October (13) August (3) April (3) March (4) November (1) September (2) August (2) July (1) April (1) February (2) January (1) December (2) November (3) August (1) June (1) February (3) January (7) December (1) November (2) October (2) September (7) August (3) June (2) March (1) February (1) January (1) December (4) November (4) September (1) August (3) July (6) June (5) May (12) April (6) March (5) February (12) January (7) December (4) November (3) October (8) September (9) August (12) July (4) June (2) May (10) April (8) March (3) February (6) January (5) December (5) November (10) October (11) September (8) August (10) July (10) June (15) May (4) April (8) March (15) February (15) January (2) December (13) November (2)Donald Trump will release “very, very specific” results of a physical examination soon, the Republican presidential candidate said on Monday, a day after the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, was revealed to have pneumonia.
Hillary Clinton cancels California trip after pneumonia forces departure from 9/11 ceremony Read more
“This last week I took a physical and I’ll be releasing when the numbers come in,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News.
Trump has so far released only a short letter from his personal physician, which the doctor in question subsequently said had been rushed. Clinton last year released a longer doctor’s note, written by the same physician who on Sunday released a statement saying that the nominee had been diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday.
“I hope she gets well soon,” Trump said. “I really don’t know what’s going on. Like you, I say what I see. [Clinton’s] coughing fit was a week ago” – at a Labor Day rally in Cleveland – “so that was pneumonia also, I think it would have been, so something’s going on. I hope she gets well and gets back on the trail and we’ll be seeing her at the debate.”
Asked if he thought the Democratic National Committee was preparing a replacement for Clinton, and whether he was ready to contest an election against Clinton running mate Tim Kaine, Trump said: “No, I don’t think they’ll replace her. We have to see what’s wrong, we have to see what’s wrong. But whatever it is, I’m ready.
“I think it’s an issue. In fact, this last week I took a physical and I’ll be releasing when the numbers come in. Hopefully they’re going to be good, I think they’re going to be good, I feel great, but when the numbers come in I’ll be releasing very, very specific numbers.
“I’ve already done it but the report should be finished this week.”
Trump chose to focus his political fire on Clinton’s remark at a Friday fundraiser in New York that “to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables”.
Trump said he had initially thought “it was not within the realm of possibility that she said it” and called the remark “the biggest mistake of the political season”. “It was said with such anger,” he added.
Clinton issued a statement over the remark on Saturday, in which she repeated that she had been being “grossly generalistic” but said she had been wrong to say a “half”.
On Sunday, Clinton left 9/11 commemorations in New York after an hour and a half, and was later seen in video shot by a bystander stumbling as she was supported into a car. Amid press confusion and reports of a “medical episode”, she went to her daughter’s Manhattan apartment to rest. Her campaign initially said she had been “feeling overheated”; Clinton emerged from the apartment to say she was “feeling great”.
“Secretary Clinton has been experiencing a cough related to allergies,” Dr Lisa R Bardack said in a subsequent statement, having examined Clinton at her home in Chappaqua. “On Friday, during follow-up evaluation of her prolonged cough, she was diagnosed with pneumonia. She was put on antibiotics, and advised to rest and modify her schedule.
“While at this morning’s event, she became overheated and dehydrated. I have just examined her and she is now rehydrated and recovering nicely.”
Poor communication on pneumonia is symptom of Hillary Clinton's press problems Read more
Clinton was ordered to rest and subsequently canceled a Monday trip to a fundraiser in California, although the campaign said she planned to appear by video instead.
Trump is due to appear on the Dr Oz television show this week, to discuss the health of both presidential candidates. The candidate himself and his campaign surrogates have cast doubt on Clinton’s health and fitness for the Oval Office, based on a 2012 incident in which Clinton fell, a mishap attributed to a stomach virus, and suffered a concussion and a blood clot in the brain. Later testing showed the clot to have cleared completely.
The release of health records – like the release of tax returns, which Trump has not done – is traditional rather than mandatory. In 2008, Barack Obama, then 47, released a 276-word report about his health. His opponent, John McCain, then 71, made available more than 1,000 pages related to his own medical history.
A spokesman for Gary Johnson, the Libertarian nominee, said in a statement to the Guardian on Sunday: “Given Governor Johnson’s level of fitness and exercise, his medical records haven’t been much of an issue. We will discuss with him how and what information to release.”“What do you think I should do?”
Hmm… Zayne stroked his beard gently as he considered the cook’s question.
He was still getting used to being the one everyone in the kitchen turned to for advice. It was a bit of a scary change from what he’d been used to… But a good one too. It was so easy to get frustrated with Greg calling the shots about pretty much everything else — advertising, prices, decor… But the kitchen was still his domain. And Zayne loved it.
“Try garlic instead.” He replied at last, smiling. “You can never go wrong with garlic, right?”
The young woman nodded. “Sounds good to me!”
Zayne watched with a smile as she got back to work preparing the customer’s meal. He took a moment to appreciate just how smoothly the kitchen was running that afternoon. Three weeks since opening day, and they’d finally developed a good rhythm. He just hoped the momentum stayed as good when his shift ended.
He’d been working on not stressing as much when he handed control of the kitchen over to Felix… But he still found himself spending most of his days off wondering how things were going and resisting the urge to call and check in. Zayne took a moment to promise himself that after his appointment with Dr. Hall, he’d spend the rest of his evening relaxing instead of worrying.
“Um, Zayne?” A soft voice interrupted his thoughts, calling him back to the present.
“What’s up, Bec?”
“I know you’re out in like, twenty minutes, but do you think you could help with this order?” Her voice was almost apologetic. “The customer was very… specific.”
He raised an eyebrow at her “Oh?”
Becca nodded as she began reading the complicated order from the paper in front of her. “She wants a Monte Cristo sandwich — all turkey, no ham, extra mustard, light on the mayo, cooked ‘extra crispy’?”
Zayne’s eyes widened at her words. Oh my God. Had he heard her correctly? Could it just be a coincidence?
“Thanks…I’ll take care of it.” He replied at last as he got to work retrieving the ingredients.
Zayne could feel the eyes of the rest of the kitchen staff on him as he began preparing the meal with the utmost care. He did his best to ignore them, instead focusing on making sure he got every detail of the recipe correct.
“Hey, Felix?” He called across the kitchen when he’d finally finished. “I’m leaving a few minutes early… Do you mind taking the reigns for me?”
The other man shrugged. “Sure, that’s fine.”
“Great, thank you!”
Zayne lifted the plate from the counter and began heading out toward the dining room. “Aren’t you gonna let the waitstaff take care of that…?” A voice called out after him.
He ignored them completely.
“Surprise.” Hope smiled gently at him as he finally reached the table.
Zayne felt his breath catch in his throat at the sight of her. He’d seen Hope’s face countless times on billboards and magazine covers over the past year… but nothing compared to seeing her sitting there in front of him. It was almost too much to take. How could she possibly be even more beautiful than he’d remembered?
A small smile came to his lips as he set the plate down in front of her. “I knew it. There’s only one person in the entire world who’d have the audacity to ruin a perfectly good Monte Cristo like this.” He teased.
“I know. You always loved to remind me of that.” Hope laughed softly. “I had a feeling my order would be a dead giveaway… Actually, that’s kind of what I was hoping for.” She confessed.
Zayne still couldn’t believe she was actually there in the flesh. He wanted nothing more than to reach down and take one of her soft hands in his. Or lift her into his arms and press his lips against hers.
Instead, he pulled out the chair across from her and took a seat. “It’s great to see you… You look amazing.” For a moment, he paused, his eyes drinking in the sight of her once more.
“Thanks! You too.” The way she looked at him sent a pleasant shiver up his spine. “I’m digging the new beard.” Hope added with a little laugh. “It suits you.”
“You think?” Zayne reached up, stroking the coarse hair on his chin for a moment. “I decided to try something new.”
“Well, I like it. It looks great!”
He smiled gently at her for a moment as they fell into a brief silence. But it was not like the usual easy silences they often shared when they were together. There was so much tension in the air between them… It was a bit awkward and uncomfortable, but not entirely unpleasant either. It was difficult to describe.
Zayne cleared his throat softly. “You should probably eat your sandwich before it gets cold… I know how much you hate it when the cheese starts to harden again…”
“Oh! Right… Yeah…” Hope laughed almost nervously for a moment before lifting the sandwich to her lips. “Mmm… Oh my God. I think this is even better than I remember.”
Zayne smiled playfully at her. “Couldn’t miss the opportunity to try my cooking again, huh?”
“You think I’m just here for the food?” Hope shook her head, smiling. “I wasn’t about to pass up the chance to see your restaurant in person! And see you…” She paused for a moment before speaking again. Zayne would have given anything to know what she was thinking. “I had a shoot in Falkenburg yesterday, and I knew I had to make it down here while I had the chance. I wanted to surprise you.”
“You succeeded.” He chuckled to himself. “And I’m really happy you made it.”
“Me too… This is incredible.” The way she smiled at him sent a flurry of butterflies through his stomach. “I just knew you’d do amazing things.”
“Thanks. But I didn’t get here on my own, y’know… I had a lot of help.” Zayne paused. “I never really got the chance to tell you… But I don’t think I could have made it this far without you.”
Hope shook her head. “Oh, I don’t know about that.” She said simply. For a moment, it looked as though she wanted to say more. Instead, she took another bite of her sandwich. “This place is so nice, Zayne.” She continued, changing the subject. “It’s beautiful. I guess it’s just a little different than what I was imagining…” Hope admitted.
Me too. He almost said. “My business partner had a lot of new ideas.” Zayne chose his words carefully. “And some of my tastes might’ve changed a little, I guess.” He shrugged slightly as he spoke.
“I get that.” Hope smiled. “It’s crazy how much time can change things, huh? And change people too…”
“It is.” Zayne agreed. “But… I think there are some things that never change.”
It was amazing how easy and effortless talking to Hope turned out to be… For a while, it almost felt like nothing had changed between them at all.
Zayne kept her updated on everything going on with his family, and how everyone was moving forward after Mari’s death. Hope was so supportive and understanding when their conversation touched upon his grief, which he was extremely thankful for. Still, it was a relief to move on and tell her all about the restaurant too, and how things had been going since they’d opened. He was very careful to only focus on the positives, of course. Why ruin their conversation by bringing up the bad stuff? The last thing he wanted was for Hope to worry about anything… Least of all him.
He had fun sharing his triumphs with her, and watching the way her eyes lit up at some of the stories he told.
In turn, Hope told him all about her adventures traveling the world and meeting so many famous photographers, designers, and fellow models — including some fun and rather scandalous gossip that left Zayne in stitches. She also told him every detail of the day she finally brushed elbows with her favorite member of the Fangs cast (and what a skirt-chasing douchebag he turned out to be).
Zayne loved hearing her laugh, and he loved listening to all of her stories (which proved to be a lot more entertaining when told in person, rather than through text messages).
They spent nearly an hour chatting together before Zayne noticed the time. “Fuck.” He muttered.
“What?”
“I have an appointment with Dr. Hall at five… And I still need to go home and change first…”
Hope eyed him curiously for a moment, and Zayne realized his slip-up. He’d never actually mentioned to Hope that he was seeing a therapist. Should he tell her? What would she think of him if she knew? Would she be weirded-out? Would it make him look weak?
He was too afraid to find out the answer.
“That’s okay… I need to catch my train back to Falkenburg anyway. My flight home leaves in the morning…”
Zayne felt a slight heaviness in his chest as he watched her rise to her feet. Was it already time to say goodbye?
Hope looked around uncertainly for a moment. “I’m sure the waitress gave up on us a long time ago.” She almost laughed. “But I need to get my bill…”
He shook his head, rising from the table as well. “It’s on me, don’t worry.”
“Are you sure?”
“I insist.”
“Well, thank you.” She smiled warmly at him. “I’m so happy I got to see you, Zayne.” Hope said softly. “And I promise that next time I’m in town, I’ll give you a little more warning before I show up, okay?”
He let out a small laugh. “As long as you don’t force me to butcher another recipe again.” Zayne teased.
“Hmm… No promises there.” She gave him another beautiful smile before closing the distance between them and pulling Zayne into a tight embrace.
He closed his eyes, relishing in the warm feeling of her body pressed against his. The sound of her soft breaths, the smell of her hair… It was killing him.
“I miss you.” The words left his lips before he even realized what he was saying. “So much.”
Her soft breath tickled against his ear as she whispered her reply.
“I miss you too.”
AdvertisementsFirst, the most important detail: Mario Ducheine is safe. He was able to contact his Quebec-based cousin, Marie-Lourdes Ducheine, and assure her of that.
Unfortunately, Hurricane Matthew cut a wide swath of destruction after it struck Haiti earlier this week. The country’s interior minister said Thursday that at least 108 deaths had been reported and more than 28,000 homes had been damaged.
It was yet another tragic blow for a country where a 2010 earthquake left more than 200,000 dead and tens of thousands living in tents and makeshift dwellings. Many were still living in shelters when Hurricane Matthew struck, media reports said.
“It’s just a matter to see, once things calm down, just how bad it really is,” said Jean-Marc Edmé, Marie-Lourdes’ son, “but it doesn’t look good.”
Jean-Marc Edmé has a job that couldn’t possibly be more removed from the current situation facing relatives and others in Haiti. He’s player-personnel co-ordinator of the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League, and being both secure and isolated from the hurricane has left him with a wide range of emotions.
“All of the above,” the Montreal native said in an interview at TD Place stadium. “I will be confident that the people (of Haiti) will move forward, that the country will get back to what it was before, and also you’re frustrated that this is another catastrophe that happened in Haiti, especially the (2010) earthquake and now this.
“But you have to stay positive and you have to give back. I want to go back and I want to do my part. And, yes, I kind of feel helpless that I’m here and I’m really fortunate to be here, but it’s really, really devastating, what’s going on.”
Edmé said he had tried to visit Haiti every other year or so, and he was in the hurricane-damaged city of Saint-Marc in 2015 as part of a trip that also took him to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. He hopes to return to Haiti in December to help rebuild houses and other structures.
The 36-year-old described his handyman skills as “not bad, but, hey, I can lift and I can do whatever people ask me to do.”
Edmé is completing his first season on the Redblacks’ staff and spending eight years with the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes, including stints as a coaching assistant and scout. Before that, he spent one year as a football-operations intern with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, where he first worked with Marcel Desjardins, now the Redblacks’ general manager.
[email protected]
Twitter.com/HolderGordBEREA, Ohio -- Browns quarterback Josh McCown showed up in the locker room Monday with a swollen right hand, a gash on the top of it and a wrapped ring finger.
But he said he's fine and won't miss any practice time.
"Rub a little dirt on it," he kidded. "It's swollen. It'll be all right."
McCown said he's not sure when he suffered the injury but his best guess was the third quarter of Sunday's 27-20 loss to the Raiders.
"I think it was stepped on,'' he said. "But I don't know when. If I was guessing, seems like I remember it after a sack or something in the third quarter. but I don't know.''
McCown said he "came to the sideline, it was bleeding and they patched it up and I was looking at pictures while they were doing it and so I don't... wish I could tell you.''
He underwent X-Rays after the game, which were negative. He said he didn't undergo further exams today.
"No, everything feels good."
McCown said he doesn't think the hand impact his deep ball to Travis Benjamin at the end of the game that was picked off by Charles Woodson with 38 seconds remaining. The pick prevented the Browns from cashing in on a 98-yard drive and tying the game. McCown also underthrew Benjamin on the first play of that drive, a deep ball down the left side that came up short and was broken up.
"I don't think so,'' he said. "I don't think so because I made throws up until that point, too. So I don't feel like it did."
Coach Mike Pettine agreed.
"I knew he got hit, but it didn't appear to any of us that it had a significant impact,'' he said.
When Pettine rattled off the injury report Monday, he didn't mention McCown, which means they're also not expecting him to miss any practice time.
What's more Pettine hasn't entertained the notion of starting Johnny Manziel Sunday against the Chargers, despite the fact McCown got off to a slow start and has slipped to 0-2, including a loss to the Jets during which he got knocked out of the game after the first drive with a concussion.
Asked point blank about that, he said unequivocally "No.''
McCown also jammed his right ring finger in the second preseason game against the Bills, but never missed any time. X-rays were negative then too.You’ve no doubt heard that TV ratings for NFL broadcasts are down double digits. So are English Premier League ratings, on both sides of the pond.
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As of last month, Sky Sports—which shows about three quarters of the Premier League games available in England—was seeing ratings declines of 19 percent compared to last year. The ratings for Sky’s flagship Sunday afternoon game is actually in a five-year free fall. On BT Sport, Champions League ratings are down, too. (Europa League ratings are up, possibly because the most popular English team, Manchester United, are playing in the latter competition.) Last year, Sky and BT combined to pay a record £5.14 billion for three years of domestic Premier League rights.
It is a similar story in the U.S. NBC Sports’s Premier League ratings are down 17 percent, and ratings for games on NBC seem down as well, though comparisons to last year are tough to make. This comes after three years of record viewership, and a year after NBC Sports plunked down a billion dollars to retain Premier League rights for six years, at double the annual cost they’d paid previously.
The NFL ratings slump is alternatively explained as people watching election coverage instead, cord cutting, bad match-ups, a lack of stars, too many games, and/or viewers fed up with “non-football” issues like concussions, domestic violence, and anthem protests. From what I’ve read and the data I’ve seen the election explanation is most compelling, but nobody really knows.
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The election explanation also works for NBC Sports’s ratings, but not Sky’s or BT’s. Though I don’t agree, a credible argument could be made that it’s just a down Premier League year. There aren’t any standout teams, and there still hasn’t been a class of English stars to replace the nearly-gone generation of Lampard, Gerrard, Ferdinand, Terry, and Rooney. The Premier League has also expanded past its traditional Saturday and Sunday game windows, increasingly showing matches on Monday and offering a Friday night slate this year for the first time ever, possibly increasing viewer fatigue.
In the near term, falling ratings won’t have any impact on you, the sports viewer, and you can choose not to care one bit. The games will still be broadcast, and you can still choose to watch or not to watch whatever you want. But if sports ratings are falling broadly—and given the election explanations and NBA and MLB ratings generally being up, maybe they aren’t—that will eventually mean that rights fees fall, which will mean that league revenues fall. If that happens, leagues built on the assumption that revenues will grow in perpetuity will, one way or another, be in for a reckoning.Baum is of course an Australian brand of handmade bikes, manufactured in Geelong by framebuilder extraordinaire Darren Baum, but the Baum Corretto featured in today's Bikes of the Bunch made its way to Californian owner Jason via the Above Category bike shop Sausalito, just outside San Francisco. Jason wrote the following about why he chose this particular bike, how it rides, and more.
I came across Baum several years ago on the web. I had always wanted a bike that would be unique to me and also something that I could keep for many years to come. I have owned and ridden other Ti and carbon frames, but I knew that this frame would be a full custom frame. Add to that the amazing paint schemes they offer and I knew Baum was it. More importantly, my wife approved.
Funny and true story: while in the Above Category shop, I was looking to ‘settle’ with another Ti frame when my wife nudged and encouraged me to go for the Baum as she knew I would regret it later! Yes, I have the best wife ever.
In hindsight, the process of getting the frame built was actually great. Chad and Todd at Above Category were very helpful every step of the way. With a custom geometry I expressed my needs and concerns and we worked through the dimensions until it was good for me. Ordering a new bike can never be fast enough, but from the first shop visit to delivery was around four months.
I have to note regarding the paint: my (young) daughters always make their mark on my frames with stickers of their choice (usually Hello Kitty or something similar). I asked Chad about this and we worked with Baum to see what they could do instead of stickers. I sent them some artwork of what I was looking for and they were able to replicate the drawings on the top tube exactly as I wanted. Totally blown away. It has made
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cowardly. It was a silly lie because so easily disproved. Miss Lawrence was not even in a street car accident, is in the best of health, will continue to appear in “Imp” films, and very shortly some of the best work in her career is to be released.
A few weeks after placing the ad, Carl Laemmle, the head of IMP (Independent Motion Picture Company), brought Florence Lawrence to St. Louis to prove she was alive (and, of course, to advertise his movie company).
Ever since the ad appeared, there have been unanswered questions: who or what was behind the rumors of Florence Lawrence’s death? Did these rumors start because the fans of her Biograph films noticed that she was no longer in them, as the IMP films were much less popular than the Biograph films? Were these rumors concocted by Carl Laemmle to promote his new star? Most writers have assumed the latter, though no one has known for sure.
A second question that I have had concerns her appearance in St. Louis. Why did Carl Laemmle choose St. Louis, of all places? Why not cities with a larger population and more fervent movie-going fans, such as New York or Chicago (which happens to be the home of IMP).
A post in Bright Lights goes with the “Carl Laemmle as puppet master” theory. This post states: “Laemmle promptly came up with a classic piece of disinformation, planting the fictitious story that his leading lady had been killed in a street-car accident. The press swallowed it whole, which then allowed Laemmle to take out a full-page announcement in the March 12, 1910 edition of Moving Picture World, indignantly headlined “We Nail a Lie.”
The story contributes greatly to the legend of Carl Laemmle. But I have a different theory, with a different villain. And some proof to back it up.
TIMELINE
The basically accepted timeline is this:
Early 1909: Florence Lawrence is the biggest movie star in America. In those early days, the actors in the movies were uncredited, so the public does not know her name. She is known as the “Biograph Girl,” after the studio where she makes her films.
Mid-1909: Biograph learns that Florence Lawrence has been trying to get a better deal with a different studio. They fire her. Late 1909: IMP hires Florence Lawrence. The owner of IMP is Carl Laemmle (who would later found Universal Studios). Early 1910: There are rumors floating around that Florence Lawrence has died. Carl Laemmle hears these rumors (or perhaps he starts these rumors, as a way of publicizing his new star). March 1910: Carl Laemmle addresses these rumors by placing the famous “We Nail a Lie” ad. While this ad is not the first to mention a movie star by name, it is certainly the boldest. Carl Laemmle brings Florence Lawrence to St. Louis, in the first-ever-publicized appearance by a movie star in America.
The third point is in bold, as that is the step that I wish to rewrite.
NOT CARL LAEMLLE
No one has ever been able to satisfactorily account for the rumors of Florence Lawrence’s death. Her biographer, Kelly R. Brown, stated, “Film history has been very quick to say that Laemmle was probably the source for any rumors about Florence that were circulated.” Carl Laemmle’s biographer, John Drinkwater, stated, “A rumor was released from ill-disposed quarters that she had been killed in St. Louis.”
The assumption of all theories is that Florence Lawrence’s “death” was either wholly made up by Laemmle, or else was published honestly (but incorrectly) in a newspaper somewhere prior to the placement of the ad (Florence Lawrence herself claimed several years after the placement of the ad that she had seen her obituary in a New York newspaper). No one, as far as I know, has examined these assumptions in the age of the Internet, with its easy access to all major newspapers and the ability to search on keywords. I searched newspapers and trade magazines for stories published about Florence Lawrence’s death in the months prior to the “We Nail a Lie” advertisement. I used only “Florence Lawrence” as my search term, so as not to limit what I might find. Surprisingly I found only two articles that referenced her “death,” from a newspaper in St. Louis and a newspaper in Louisville. But I believe these two articles provide the key to the source of the rumors of Florence’s death. And that source was not Carl Laemmle. Instead, it was a showman from St. Louis named Frank Talbot.
ST. LOUIS STAR AND TIMES, FEBRUARY 21, 1910: FLORENCE LAWRENCE IS NOT DEAD
I found the following article in the St. Louis Star and Times, on February 21, 2010 (approximately three weeks before the “We Nail a Lie” ad). I believe this is the first article to ever address Florence Lawrence’s “death.”
The article states: “Miss Lawrence lives in New York and her death by automobile was widely published... Frank L. Talbot, manager of the Gem Theater [emphasis mine], telegraphed to the Independent Moving Picture Company Monday asking if Miss Lawrence was dead. He received this answer: “Report is silly. Miss Lawrence in perfect health and turning out picture today.”
In that very same newspaper was this advertisement for Frank Talbot’s Gem Theater:
LOUISVILLE COURIER JOURNAL MARCH 6: A SECOND ARTICLE STATES THAT FLORENCE LAWRENCE IS NOT DEAD
The only other article I could find on Florence Lawrence’s “death” appeared in the Louisville Courier Journal on March 6, six days prior to the “We Nail a Lie” advertisement. Here is that article.
This article is interesting because of its similarity to the St. Louis article. Both reference a telegram sent to the IMP company inquiring about Florence Lawrence’s death, and the IMP company replies that the “report is silly” or “report absolutely silly.” Both articles appeared before the “We Nail a Lie” ad.
But here is the most important thing: The article in the St. Louis paper references the Gem Theater. The article in the Louisville Theater references the Hopkins Theater. Both theaters were supplied films by the Wagner Film Company. In fact, the Wagner Film Company supplied films to only three theaters (the Gem, the Hopkins, and the Lyric theater in St. Louis), and two of them are mentioned in two separate but practically identical articles two weeks apart.
It follows that, almost certainly, the telegram in the second article is made up, in that the people associated with the Hopkins Theater would have known already the Florence Lawrence was alive. Therefore, almost certainly, the two newspaper articles originated from the same source.
MY THEORY
Based on these two newspaper articles (and the fact that I could find no other reference to Florence Lawrence’s “death” in any other newspaper or trade magazine), I believe that Frank Talbot, manager of the Gem Theater, originated the rumor of Florence Lawrence’s death, as a way of advertising his theater (“Florence Lawrence Not Dead”). Talbot is quoted in the first newspaper article, and is also named in the ad from the Wagner Film Company.
I don’t know if he made up the rumor, or whether a customer of the Gem Theater, noticing that the “Biograph Girl” was no longer appearing in Biograph films, asked Frank if she had died. Regardless, I think Talbot did what all good showmen do ˗ he saw an opportunity and exploited it. He sent a telegram to IMP, and Carl Laemmle replied. And Frank made certain that that reply appeared in the newspaper, weeks before the “We Nail a Lie” advertisement.
It is possible that, rather than Frank, some unnamed person at the Wagner Film Company was the brains behind the rumor that Florence Lawrence was dead. But my research into the Wagner Film Company found little or no indication that it was advertising or trying to influence the general public. The Wagner Film Company was a business-to-business company, and all its advertisements were the same kind of dull ads as shown above. Nothing of the showman’s art about them. So I think that Frank Talbot originated the rumors and convinced someone at Wagner to plant a similar story in a Louisville paper.
Now, Carl Laemmle certainly did his part. He or someone on his staff responded to the telegram by creating a fantastic advertisement. And so it was two great showmen, Frank Talbot and Carl Laemmle, playing off each other and amplifying the “rumors” of Florence’s Lawrence’s death, then dispelling those rumors with an indignant ad and a personal appearance in St. Louis.
FURTHER PROOF: THE ST. LOUIS APPEARANCE
And when Florence Lawrence appeared in St. Louis a few weeks later to dispel the rumors, where did she appear? At Frank Talbot’s Gem Theater, of course:
The Gem Theater seated 2,000 people. The Grand Opera House (which was also leased for the occasion, according to the advertisement) seated 2,300 people. I don’t know if both places sold out for the Saturday and Sunday appearances, but if they did, that would be 9,200 total tickets. At ten cents each, that would be a take of $920, or approximately $23,000 in today’s dollars. A nice take for a bit of showmanship.
MODIFIED TIMELINE
Here is what I believe is the actual timeline (with modifications in bold) behind the ad and Florence Lawrence’s triumphant appearance in St. Louis:
Early 1909: Florence Lawrence is the biggest movie star in America. In those early days, the actors in the movies were uncredited, so the public does not know her name. She is known as the “Biograph Girl,” after the studio where she makes her films. Mid 1909: Biograph learns the Florence Lawrence has been trying to get a better deal with a different studio. They fire her. Late 1909: IMP hires Florence Lawrence. The owner of IMP is Carl Laemmle (who would later found Universal Studios). Early 1910: Either a customer asks Frank Talbot (manager of Gem Theater in St. Louis) if the Biograph Girl has died, or Frank just decides on his own to create a rumor about Florence Lawrence’s death. February 1910: Frank Talbot sends a telegram to Carl Laemmle, asking if the rumors are true. Carl Laemmle replies by telegram, and Frank arranges for the telegram to be placed in a St. Louis newspaper as a publicity stunt. Late Feb, early March 1910: Carl Laemmle prepares the “We Nail a Lie” ad. Almost certainly, he has alerted Frank Talbot of his plans. Early March 1910: Frank Talbot arranges to have a story placed in the Louisville Courier Times that is almost an exact replica of the earlier St. Louis story. March 1910: Carl Laemmle places the famous “We Nail a Lie” ad. While this ad is not the first to mention a movie star by name, it is certainly the boldest. Carl Laemmle brings Florence Lawrence to St. Louis, in the first-ever-publicized appearance by a movie star in America. She makes a personal appearance at Frank Talbot’s Gem Theater.
In summary, all evidence suggests the rumor of Florence Lawrence’s death was a ploy by Frank Talbot to increase attendance at the Gem Theater. Carl Laemmle used the rumor for his own ends to promote Florence Lawrence and the IMP Company. The two goals converged with Florence Lawrence’s historical appearance in St. Louis.
Works Cited
Brown, Kelly R. (2007). Florence Lawrence, the Biograph Girl: America’s First Movie Star. McFarland and Company.
Drinkwater, John (1931). Life and Adventures of Carl Laemmle. Ayer Co Publishers.This article is over 1 year old
Don’t Be a Sucker, a 17-minute film made in 1947 by the US war department to warn against fascism, was retweeted over 130,000 times last weekend
How a 1947 US government anti-Nazi film went viral after Charlottesville
An anti-fascist film produced in the wake of the second world war has gone viral in the wake of the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville that culminated in one person being killed and 19 injured this weekend.
Don’t Be a Sucker was released in 1947 by the US war department, building on an earlier wartime version made in 1943. The 17-minute film depicts a man lamenting African Americans and “foreigners” taking jobs, before drawing parallels between such white nationalism and the rise of the Nazi party in Germany.
A clip was shared widely on Twitter and elsewhere on Sunday, as people drew parallels between the scene depicted in the film and the current climate in the US.
Michael (@OmanReagan) 1947 anti-fascist video made by US military to teach citizens how to avoid falling for people like Trump is relevant again. pic.twitter.com/vkTDD1Tplh
Michael Oman-Reagan of the Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada was among the first to share Don’t Be a Sucker.
“1947 anti-fascist video made by US military to teach citizens how to avoid falling for people like Trump is relevant again,” Oman-Reagan wrote, in a tweet that has since been retweeted more than 130,000 times.
Keith Ellison, a US congressman from Minnesota and the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee, was among others to share the film.
It’s easy to see why Don’t Be a Sucker has had such an impact.
The clip opens with a man on a soap box declaring himself “an American American” and railing against people “holding jobs that belong to me” to a seemingly appreciative crowd.
“I’ve heard this kind of talk before but I never expected to hear it in America,” says a man with a European accent.
He is standing next to a man in a grey trilby, who seems to be being won over by the message from the soap box – until the speaker says that the US also needs to rid itself of masons.
“What’s wrong with the masons? I’m a mason. Hey, that fellow’s talking about me,” says the man in the grey hat.
“And that makes a difference, doesn’t it?” says the man with the European accent.
He explains that he grew up in Hungary before becoming a university professor in Berlin.
In Germany, the man with the European accent says, “I heard the same words we heard today”.
“But I was a fool then. I thought Nazis were crazy people, stupid fanatics. But unfortunately it was not so,” he continues. “You see, they knew that they were not strong enough to conquer a unified country.
“So they split Germany into small groups. They used prejudice as a practical weapon to cripple the nation.”
• This article was amended on 16 August 2017 to clarify that a version of the film was made in 1943.100 years of change in Australian industry
As the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) celebrates its centenary of operations, an examination of the changes in Australian industry over the past 100 years is an appropriate way to mark this significant milestone. An analysis of an entire century of Australian industry presents a perspective not usually available in ABS publications, and it provides an interesting and informative view on how the nation's economy has developed over a long period of time.
The key economic measure chosen for the analysis is industry shares of gross domestic product (GDP). Unlike dollar values, industry shares of GDP are relatively unaffected by changes in the value of money over time. The Australian national accounts, the source of such data, only exist in their current comprehensive form from 1948-49 onwards. To provide data for the entire 100 years, the national accounts data have been supplemented with data external to the ABS. Estimates of value added by major industry groups compiled by NG Butlin for the period 1900-01 to 1938-39 have been used. While this leaves a gap in the industry series from 1939-40 to 1947-48, the time series created nevertheless provides an interesting view of the changes in industry composition and contribution to national production over most of the 20th century.
The estimates by Butlin are not official statistics. The ABS has not undertaken an analysis of the quality of these estimates and there may be other estimates of Australia's historical performance that differ from Butlin's. However, for the purposes of this article, Butlin's estimates provide a perspective on industry in the earlier part of the 20th century not covered by official statistics.
The concepts and classifications underlying ABS data collections and the national accounts have changed from time to time to reflect changes in industries, the economy and in international standards. While ABS makes every effort to maintain comparable industry definitions and consistent national accounts data sets over time, there is a limit to which this can be done over a long time span. Even data available from 1948-49 to the present are not strictly comparable over the entire length of the series (see Notes on the series ).
The individual industries covered in the analysis are: agriculture, forestry and fishing; mining; manufacturing; construction; government administration and defence; finance, distribution and other services (referred to as the services industry for the purposes of this article); dwelling rent; and the remaining, or other industries combined.
Industry composition in 1900-01, 1950-51 and 2000-01 - a snapshot
As an introduction to the 100-year series, graph S13.1 shows data from the three key years 1900-01, 1950-51 and 2000-01. The graph highlights the major contribution of the services industry to GDP at all three time points, and the fall in agriculture's share of GDP between 1950-51 and 2000-01. Importantly, an industry's share of GDP should not be seen as an indicator of an industry's performance, but rather as a relative indication of how significant an industry is to the economy at a particular point in time.
1900-01
At the time of Federation, Australia's largest single industry was agriculture, forestry and fishing, which contributed 19.4% to GDP. Distribution services (within the services industry) was the next largest contributor, with just over 15% of GDP. The manufacturing, mining and dwelling rent industries each contributed between 10% and 12%, while construction and other industries each contributed 7% to GDP. Government administration and defence contributed 3.4% to GDP, while the services group contributed a combined total of 31% to GDP.
1950-51
Industry comparisons are a little distorted in 1950-51 as the value of agricultural output was inflated by high prices during the Korean War. Agriculture contributed just over 30% to GDP in 1950-51. Agriculture also contributed over 30% to GDP in 1916-17 and 1917-18, corresponding to the later years of World War I.
Manufacturing's contribution to GDP almost doubled to 22.4% between 1900-01 and 1950-51, reflecting the development of manufacturing during World War II as well as post-war efforts to promote manufacturing in Australia. Mining's share of GDP declined to 2.6% of GDP in 1950-51, mainly reflecting declining gold production since 1900-01. Dwelling rents' contribution to GDP fell to 2.6%.
Contributions of the construction and government administration industries were about the same as in 1900-01, while the contribution of services had declined, partly reflecting the abnormally large share of GDP claimed by agriculture in 1950-51.
2000-01
Services contributed almost half (48.4%) to GDP in 2000-01. Manufacturing, the next largest industry, contributed 11.9%, slightly less than its 12.2% contribution in 1900-01, but half of its contribution of 22.4% in 1950-51. Dwelling rent contributed 9.8% to GDP, only slightly less than its contribution in 1900-01, but almost four times as much as its contribution 1951. Both the mining and construction industries contributed 5.6% in 2000-01. Mining's share had more than doubled since 1950-51, but was still only around half its share of GDP in 1900-01.
Agriculture, the largest individual industry in 1900-01 and 1950-51, was only 3.7% of GDP. Government administration increased its contribution to 4.1%, slightly higher than in 1900-01 and 1950-51.
Contribution of individual industries
Agriculture, forestry and fishing
The story of agriculture in Australia is a story told in two halves. For the first half of the 20th century, agriculture's contribution to GDP generally hovered between 20% to 30% of GDP. In the second half, starting with the Korean War peak in 1950-51, agriculture's relative contribution to GDP declined fairly consistently to between 4% and 5% of GDP from the 1980s onward (graph S13.2). Drought and other climatic events influence agricultural output more than output from other industries. For example, the recent drought was largely the reason for the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry's share of GDP dropping from 4.2% in 2001-02 to 2.9% in 2002-03. (footnote 1)
Two million hectares (ha) of land were devoted to the production of wheat for grain during 1901-02, producing over 1 million tonnes of wheat at an average yield of 0.51 tonnes per ha. By the early-1950s wheat for grain was grown on over 4 million ha producing an average yield of 1.2 tonnes per ha. In 2000-01 wheat for grain was grown on 12 million ha, producing 22 million tonnes at an average yield of 1.82 tonnes per ha, over three times the average yield in 1901-02. The effect of drought on agriculture is evident in 2002-03, where the average yield decreased to just 0.90 tonnes per ha.
The nation's livestock herds have also increased. Where 72 million sheep and 8.5 million cattle were farmed in 1901-02, 106 million sheep and 27.9 million cattle were farmed in 2001-02. The 1970s saw the nation's herds at their peak levels with over 179 million sheep farmed in 1970 and over 31 million cattle farmed in 1976.
Mining
The value of Australia's mining output in 1900-01 (10% of GDP) was dominated by gold production with smaller contributions from copper, lead and coal. The value and contribution to GDP from the mining industry declined through to 1930-31 as the amount of gold extracted declined. Gold production declined from 103 tonnes in 1901 to 77 tonnes in 1911, 24 tonnes in 1921 and 19 tonnes in 1931. Lead and zinc production increased substantially during this period, but not enough to offset the declining value of gold production (graph S13.3).
By 1930-31 the mining industry contributed only 2% of GDP. Gold production increased again through the 1930s, along with large increases in lead, zinc and coal production, so that mining's contribution to GDP was just over 3% in 1938-39.
Mining's share of GDP began to increase again in the late-1960s as the scale of iron ore production increased. In 1961 Australia produced 5 million tonnes of iron ore. In 1971 production of iron ore had increased to 57 million tonnes. Production of coal increased from 41 million tonnes in 1961 to 73 million tonnes in 1971. Production of iron ore and coal continued to grow through the 1980s, principally driven by export demand. Mining's contribution to GDP has generally been around 5% since the mid-1980s.
Manufacturing
The manufacturing industry's contribution to GDP reflects the prominence of the industry for almost 60 years, peaking at just under 30% of GDP in the late-1950s and early-1960s, before a long period of decline in its share of GDP to 11% of GDP in 2000-01. The missing time series, from 1939-40 to 1947-48, corresponds with what is probably the period of fastest growth in Australia's manufacturing industry. The manufacturing industries developed during World War II were supported and encouraged by government policy in the post-war years, but ultimately began to decline in importance. As for agriculture, the value of output of manufacturing has not diminished, rather the output of other industries has grown more consistently since the early-1960s (graph S13.4).
Construction
Construction's contribution to GDP fluctuated significantly in the period up to World War II, with the low levels of the 1930s corresponding with the Depression (graph S13.5).
The immediate post-World War II period was a time of fairly constant increase in the construction industry's share of GDP, corresponding with post-war building and reconstruction, including major developments such as the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme. Construction's contribution to GDP peaked in the period from the mid-1960s to mid-1970s, averaging around 9.5% of GDP. Since then, construction's relative share of GDP declined fairly steadily to 6% in the early-1990s, where it has since remained.
Government administration and defence
The contribution of the government administration and defence industry to GDP has been relatively consistent at around 3.5% to 4.5% of GDP for most of the period covered. Government's contribution peaked at 5.8% in 1930-31, around the start of the Depression (although data are not available for the World War II years where it can be expected to be higher still). Government's share rose steadily from 3.4% in 1960-61 to over 5% in the period 1973-74 to 1982-83. From 1983-84 the government administration and defence industry's share of GDP fell consistently to 4.0% in 1988-89. It has since remained in a narrow band between 4.1% and 4.5% (graph S13.6).
Services
The services industry group contributed around 30% to GDP from 1900-01 to the early-1960s (graph S13.7). Since then, its contribution has steadily increased to just under 50% of GDP in 2002-03. This industry group embraces a wide range of services including: wholesale trade; retail trade; accommodation, cafes and restaurants; communication services; finance and insurance; property and business services; education; health and community services; cultural and recreational services; and personal and other services.
From 1985-86, the period for which more complete industry data are available, the most significant increases in contributions to GDP have been in property and business services (6.6% in 1985-86 to 11.6% in 2002-03), and finance and insurance (3.6% in 1985-86 to 8.1% in 2002-03) industries. Distribution services (the wholesale and retail trade industries) contributed about the same to total GDP in both 1900-01 (15%) and 2002-03 (14%).
Dwelling rent
Dwelling rent's share of GDP was around 10% in both 1900-01 and 2002-03 (graph S13.8).
The concept of dwelling rent as an 'industry' is explained in Notes on the series. However, it is worth noting that dwelling rent comprises actual rent, as paid by tenants to landlords, and an imputed rent to owner occupiers.
In 1900-01 the dwelling rent industry contributed around 10% to GDP. Housing rents were generally high as demand for housing exceeded supply. In the early-20th century, states introduced legislation to provide public rental housing for low income earners, followed by Commonwealth Government moves to provide financial assistance for access to home ownership to medium to low-income groups. These actions led to an increase in the supply of more affordable housing with a consequent decline in rent's share of GDP to around 7% in the mid-1920s. From that time, rent's contribution increased sharply to 11% in 1931-32. The increased share through this later period is due to contraction in other industries through the Depression, rather than an increase in the value of dwelling rent. The rent share of GDP fell from the mid-1930s as the rest of the economy picked up while the value of the rent industry stayed more or less constant.
In the post-World War II period, the dwelling rent industry's share of GDP increased from a low of 2.6% in 1951-52 to peak at 10% in 1999-2000. Some doubt remains over the consistency of the data available for dwelling rent for the first half of the century compared with the second half and, therefore, trends over the whole of the 100-year period should be interpreted with caution.
Other industries
Changes in the combined contribution of the remaining, or other industries to GDP since the mid-1980s were chiefly driven by changes in the communication services component (separately identified from 1985-86 onwards). Communication services contributed 2.4% to GDP in 1985-86, increasing to 3.3% in 1997-98 and 1998-99, before falling away slightly to 2.9% in 2002-03. Transport and storage services contributed 6.8% in 1985-86, falling fairly steadily to 5.3% in 2002-03. Electricity, water and gas increased its share from 1.9% in 1949-50 to 3.9% in the late-1980s, before falling away fairly steadily to 2.5% of GDP in 2002-03 (graph S13.9).
Notes on the series
In creating the historical time series, limitations arise which may result in some inconsistencies.
Time series for 1948-49 to 2002-03 were compiled from estimates published in various editions of Australia's official national accounts, most recently in Australian System of National Accounts, 2002-03 (5204.0). Time series for 1900-01 to 1938-39 were compiled by NG Butlin from a combination of official and other statistical material. Estimates of industry-based GDP are not available for the period 1939-40 to 1947-48, though estimates of Australia's national income and expenditure were compiled by the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics (the predecessor of the ABS) for this period.
While every effort has been made to ensure the consistency and comparability of the time series, there are some differences in scope that should be noted.
Estimates from 1989-90 to 2002-03 are for industry gross value added at basic prices, consistent with the recommendations of the System of National Accounts 1993 (SNA93). Those for 1948-49 to 1988-89 are for industry gross value at factor cost and are consistent with the recommendations of the System of National Accounts 1968. The Butlin series are simply described as industry shares of gross domestic product, but can also be presumed to be at factor cost and be broadly consistent with SNA68. The difference between estimates at basic prices and factor cost is relatively minor in the context of these series.
The Butlin series, covering the period 1900-01 to 1938-39, were produced from data that are likely to be less comprehensive and of lesser quality than the series available from official estimates for the second half of the century. Data for services in particular are expected to be relatively weak compared with that available from 1948-49. Also, the Butlin series are not subject to the same integrated national accounts estimation process as the later series.
The industry classification used in Australia's national accounts, and more widely in economic statistics, has also changed from time to time to reflect changes in the composition and importance of various industries, as well as to align more closely with international standards.
While these factors should be borne in mind, it is considered unlikely they will significantly impact on the broad overview of the changing nature of the Australian economy presented in this article.
The first five industries: agriculture, forestry and fishing; mining; manufacturing; construction; and government administration are relatively well known and require little further explanation. Finance, distribution and other services, represents something of a 'catch-all' for a diverse range of services including: wholesale trade; retail trade; accommodation, cafes and restaurants; finance and insurance; property and business services; education; health and community services; cultural and recreational services; and personal and other services. While it would be desirable to produce separate time series for the major components in this group, the level of detail available prior to 1985-86 prevents this. For example, from 1948-49 to 1985-86, 'Trade' includes wholesale and retail distribution services, accommodation services, cafes and restaurants. Butlin's 'Distribution' series covers wholesale and retail trade while accommodation, cafes and restaurants is part, though not all, of his 'Other services' series. Therefore, a wholesale and retail trade series (including accommodation, etc.), cannot be identified for the full time series.
The value of housing services, whether provided by rented dwellings or owner-occupied dwellings, have always been included in the national accounts measure of GDP. The ratio of owner-occupied to rented dwellings can vary significantly between countries and even over short periods of time, so that both international and intertemporal comparisons of the production and consumption of housing services could be distorted if no imputation were made for the value of own-account housing services. A separate industry, 'ownership of dwellings' is created in the Australian national accounts to record the value added by all housing services. This industry is represented by the series 'dwelling rent' in this article.
The final series shown is for the remaining, or other industries combined, which mainly comprises the electricity, water and gas, and the transport, storage and communication industries, with some unallocated elements in the Butlin series.
Endnote
1 In this article, annual figures of industry gross value added and gross domestic product are based on prices in each reference period (i.e. in current prices) rather than chain volume measures. Consequently, the individual industry shares of GDP in 2002-03, for example, shown in this article differ somewhat from those obtained from table 13.1 and shown in graph 13.2, and cited generally in this publication. (Back)
References
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics), Australian System of National Accounts, 2002-03, cat. no. 5204.0, ABS, Canberra.
NG Butlin, Australian National University Source Papers in Economic History No. 6, November 1985: Australian National Accounts 1788-1983, NG Butlin, Department of Economic History.GOP 'discouraged' at lack of telecom donations to reward immunity support Nick Juliano
Published: Thursday February 28, 2008
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Print This Email This Congressional Republicans have been among the most vocal proponents of a plan that would spare telecommunications companies from paying millions -- perhaps billions -- of dollars in litigation costs and potential penalties for their participation in President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program, which critics say was illegal. One might think that those expected savings would find their way into GOP campaign coffers, but party aides are griping to Roll Call that a surge in donations from telephone and Internet providers has failed to materialize. "It's quite discouraging," one Republican aide laments to the subscription-only Capitol Hill newspaper. Since Democrats took over Congress last year, donations from telecoms have followed those from several other business sectors into the campaign coffers of the new majority party. House Democrats have refused to blink in their showdown with President Bush over his demand for retroactive telecom immunity as part of an updated surveillance law, but those companies have done little to boost the fortunes of the GOP as it continues to push Democrats to approve the immunity plan. These companies just wont do anything, the GOP aide told Roll Call's Tory Newmyer and Lauren W. Whittington. Even when you have the Democrats working against their bottom line. No Republicans would speak to the reporters on the record, wary of the impression that their immunity support is little more than a legislative shake-down for campaign donations. But plenty proffered private complaints about the telco's shifting support. While Democrats often benefit from heavy outside spending and advocacy campaigns from labor unions and other ideologically aligned groups, telecoms and others in the business community are wary to mount such a similarly partisan effort because they need to maintain good relationships with both parties. Theres no question that from time to time staff, and maybe some Members, say to fellow travelers: Are you giving us some air cover? Are you helping us help you? one Republican lobbyist told Newmyer and Whittington. Another lobbyist told them of a "growing frustration" among Republicans "that a lot of these guys getting screwed by Democratic leadership are continuing to load their coffers. Although the telecoms have not inserted themselves into the immunity debate, some interest groups have tried to push Democrats on the issue, which has been before Congress for months as it works to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. One ostensibly bipartisan group, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, is running an ad targeting 15 House Democrats, but the tone of the 24-themed ad caused several Democrats to leave the group, as TPM Muckraker reported this week. Pro-war activists at Freedom's Watch also are lobbying for telecom immunity. The House Republican conference has produced its own FISA ad, as well. Newmyer and Whittington trace the shift of telecom dollars: Of the four major phone companies, only Sprint is now favoring Democrats overall, giving the majority party about 57 percent of their PAC contributions, according to CQ MoneyLine. The other three companies, AT&T, Verizon and Qwest, still give a majority to Republicans but by slimmer margins than in years past. AT&T gave Democrats 38 percent of their PAC dollars last year, up 8 percentage points from the 2006 cycle; Verizon gave them 47 percent, up 10 percentage points from the last cycle; and Qwest gave them 49 percent, a 22 percentage-point boost over 2006, according to records from the FEC and CQ MoneyLine. The griping over telco dollars comes as the GOP finds itself struggling to keep up with Democratic fundraising before this year's elections,
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the possibility of a two-state solution. He is also playing to the minority of American Jews who support neoconservative positions, especially the notion that Iran having a bomb would be somehow different, and more threatening, than Pakistan having a bomb–the idea that Iran is run by mad mullahs, who behave irrationally.
In truth, the Iranian factions that want to resume the bomb program are behaving with utmost rationality. The single fact on the ground that makes an Iranian bomb extremely likely, if not inevitable, is the existence of Israel’s bomb. As long as the Israeli Prime Minister goes around threatening to attack Iran, the Mullahs are going to want some way to counter that.Blackpool's manager Ian Holloway today blasted the football authorities for allowing the situation involving Wayne Rooney to develop.
Holloway believes the Bosman ruling of 1995, which allows players over the age of 24 to move for free at the end of their contracts, unfairly penalises clubs.
The Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson this week confirmed Rooney has told the club he will not sign a new contract, meaning he can walk away for nothing when his current deal expires in the summer of 2012.
An impassioned Holloway said: "I've got big problems with the people who are running football. I know the reasons I not have a Bosman ruling they've got at the moment.
"Manchester United have helped Wayne Rooney's career massively on and off the field. The manager, the club itself has invested in him. They bought him for massive amounts of money as a young man and they're helping him blossom into the player that he is.
"He's one of the best centre-forwards in the world. And if he sees his contract out he's going to be able to walk out of there for nothing. That's the people at the very top of the game's fault.
"Our rules were brilliant. If he was offered the same amount of money again, they could hold his registration and someone would have to pay the fair amount of money for him.
"Just because you're 24, what on earth has that got to do with it? It's just ludicrous. They have the power to change this straight away.
"What if he sits there for 18 months, throws tantrums, doesn't try, doesn't play, and someone's already said to him: 'We'll take you and we'll pay you some of that money we should have paid Manchester United because you can walk out on a free'?
"Do you want to sign a person like that? Do you want to play for a club that says that to you? How do we know it hasn't already happened? The game is wrong. The people in charge of the game are wrong. They are so wrong this is frightening.
"If Alex Ferguson is being bullied by a player and his agent, how wrong is the game? When are you [Fifa and Uefa] going to listen to the people who are involved in the game?
"They say it's not fair on the player. Rubbish. The player has had his wages every week. They bought him, they worked with him, he belongs to them. It's so obvious. The world should change if it's wrong and football should look at itself.
"I'm looking at Alex Ferguson and thinking: 'What a magnificent manager. How can he handle this?' How he feels about Manchester United, how proud he is. Yet Wayne Rooney or his agent can now manufacture a situation like this."
It was Holloway's second rant about the rules of the game in a week after the Tangerines manager used his post-match press conference on Sunday to call for the introduction of video technology.
Holloway, who was serving a touchline ban and watched the game from the stand, was unhappy with a number of decisions in the 3-2 defeat by Manchester City that went against his side.
But he praised Phil Dowd after revealing the referee had phoned him on Monday to discuss the decisions involved.
"The conversation I had with him, I've got so much respect for him now," said Holloway. "But, at the time, it's affected the result. I'm not against them [referees], I'm against the people who are deciding they're not allowed to use the technology."A year after Bristol detectives finally started to unravel the ring of paedophiles who had been abusing children there for up to 20 years, they found an informant with an alarming story. The man, whom we will call Terry, had a long history of sexually abusing boys. He did not come from Bristol but, by chance, he had come across some of the paedophiles the detectives were investigating - in Amsterdam, where he said they had become involved with a group of exiled British child abusers who had succeeded in commercialising their sexual obsession.
The exiled paedophiles were trafficking boys from other countries; running legitimate gay brothels and selling under-aged boys "under the counter"; they had branched out into the production of child pornography. And they had killed some of them. One boy had simply been shot through the head, Terry said: he had been causing trouble and had been executed in front of several pae dophiles. Another, he believed, had been thrown into one of the canals. But the one about whom he spoke the most was a boy who had been tortured and killed in the most painful fashion in the course of producing a pornographic video.
Terry said he had seen most of the video himself and had vomited before he could reach the end. The few detectives who specialise in the investigation of child abuse invariably say the same thing about "snuff" movies: they have often heard of them, sometimes pursued them but never found one. The videos remain one of the great unsolved mysteries of the burgeoning underworld of international sexual exploitation.
Twice told tale
Terry's account was so hideous as to invite disbelief. It was clearly possible that he was inventing the story in an attempt to curry favour with the detectives as they turned over Bristol's paedophile subculture. And yet the detectives discovered that the allegation had been made before.
Not just once but repeatedly, evidence had come to the attention of police in England and the Netherlands, that, for pleasure and profit, some of the exiled paedophiles in Amsterdam had mur dered boys in front of the camera. Some of the evidence had been pursued. Some of it had been ignored. None of it had led to a murder charge. For a short while, the Bristol detectives thought they might be able to make progress in tracking down the truth; but when two of them flew to Amsterdam in the autumn of 1998 to pass on their information to Dutch officers, they hit a wall.
Terry had described the flat in Amsterdam where he had seen the video; he had named the owner of the flat who was, by implication, also owner of the video; he had provided the name of the man who carried out the killing; he had described events on the video in detail; he had provided the approximate age and the first name of the dead boy.
Dutch police said it was not enough: without the full name of a victim, they would not begin an investigation. Having fought their way through the swamp of inertia which surrounds British policing and prosecution of child abuse, the Bristol detectives had now hit the deeper swamp of virtual paralysis that afflicts its international policing. Within their own jurisdictions, there are now specialist paedophilia detectives - for example, in London and Amsterdam - who will work relentlessly to lock up predatory child abusers.
But when they try to move abroad, the potentially powerful machine starts to misfire. The result is that there is now a flourishing underground trade in boys who are being exported from the economic chaos of eastern Europe, as well as from the streets of London, to be put to work in the sex industry of western Europe. And no effective police operation to deal with it.
Predatory paedophiles cross whatever borders they like in order to pursue their obsessions; the police who might follow them are almost always trapped within their own narrow jurisdictions, partly by differences in law and procedure, partly because they lack the manpower and money to work internationally. There is an exception to this rule of parochialism, in the highly funded war against drugs, but in the perverse world of modern policing, the trafficking, rape and alleged murder of children has a far lower priority.
We have uncovered an international paedophile ring whose roots spring from Amsterdam, where, in the late 1980s, a group of British paedophiles set up a colony, exploiting the freedom of the city's gay community as cover to make a business of their fantasies.
Legal front
One of the first to do so was Alan Williams, the "Welsh Witch", who already had a vicious history of abusing boys in south Wales. Williams arrived in Amsterdam in 1988, aged 21, and soon set himself up as the manager of a gay brothel called Boys Club 21 at 21 Spuistraat, near the central station. Across the road at number 44, another British paedophile, a chubby Londoner named Warwick Spinks, then aged 25, was running a similar club called the Gay Palace. Both clubs had a legal business, running a bar and offering the services of adult male prostitutes.
But Williams and Spinks had much crueller interests. Williams had fled to the Netherlands after being convicted in Britain of indecent assaults on boys. In Amsterdam, he boasted of the day in south Wales when he had seen a 10-year-old boy on his bike, grabbed him, raped him, and, when he cried, strangled him. From Boys Clubs 21, he organised the importing of boys from Cardiff and London, inflicting intense violence on any who defied him.
Spinks had been running a mail order pornography business from Brighton, before he moved to Amsterdam, where he pioneered the trafficking of boys as young as 10 - first, from the streets of London, and, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, from the poverty of eastern Europe. Having brought them to Amsterdam, he used these "chickens" himself, sold them into the brothels or through escort agencies and put them in front of the camera. Some resisted, some ran away, but most were made to comply through the removal of their passports and doses of drugs and violence.
By 1990, these two clubs on Spuistraat, together with Boys for Men, De Boys, the Blue Boy and the Why Not, had become the busiest watering holes in the international paedophile jungle. Dutch police estimated there were 250 paedophiles involved in the production of child pornography in Amsterdam with an unknown floating population of child sex tourists from all over the world - and it was the British who formed the hard core consumers: Stephen Smith, who had helped to found the Paedophile Information Exchange, fled there when police in England prosecuted the organisation; Russell Tricker, now 58, a former private school teacher who was convicted of child sex offences in the UK, used his job as a coach driver to ferry suitable boys from London; John Broomhall opened a porn shop on Spuistraat and was caught with more than 1,000 copies of videos of under-aged boys; Mark Enfield, now 41, sold a video of himself abusing a drugged boy.
Alan Williams introduced two paedophile friends from Wales, John Gay and Lee Tucker, both of whom were to become central targets for Bristol detectives. The two men found they could sell Welsh boys into the clubs on Spuistraat and then make more money by investing in child pornography. They bought video equipment, set up TAG Films, and visited Amsterdam regularly to make films, which they sold through distributors in the US and Germany. At the time, Dutch law punished production of child pornography with a maximum sentence of only three months.
By October 1990, detectives on the old obscene publications squad at Scotland Yard were picking up worrying signals. An informant told them that someone called Alan Williams was trafficking boys into Amsterdam and that Williams had asked him to smuggle a child porn video back into the UK. Another informant told how he had smuggled a dozen tapes in the opposite direction: they had been produced, he believed, in north London, equipped with a bondage room for boys. He had delivered the tapes in Amsterdam to "Alan from Cardiff" at Boys Club 21. The informant said he had visited the Gay Palace across the road, where he watched videos of boys in bondage, aged 11 to 14, being buggered by masked men.
Soon, other informants were offering more detail. One man said he had seen Warwick Spinks selling a special video for £4,000. It showed a boy whom he thought was only eight or nine being sexually abused and tortured by two men. But the most startling allegations came from a gay man, "Frank", who had gone to Amsterdam in July 1990 and found himself caught up in this paedophile underworld. In 1993, he spoke to the same officers at Scotland Yard.
Frank told police that Warwick Spinks had invited him to come on a trip to the Canaries, where he had suggested Frank should help him sell videos and showed him a sample. Frank said he watched in growing horror as the video played out a murder - a boy who seemed to be no older than 12 was beaten and attacked with needles, before being castrated and cut open with a knife. The video seemed to have been shot in a barn, and detectives later learned that Williams and his friends had been talking about making a video in a barn that belonged to a German from one of the Spuistraat clubs.
Scotland Yard was in a difficult position: the informants were British and so was Spinks, who by this time had left Amsterdam and was living in Hastings, East Sussex. But everything else in the story was scattered round Europe. After long negotiations within Scotland Yard and with their counterparts in the Netherlands, the detectives set up Operation Framework, and, as the Guardian reported in 1997, they recruited an undercover officer to pose as a child abuser and befriend Warwick Spinks in England.
In a series of meetings, Spinks described how he picked up boys in Dresden, in Bratislava in the Czech Republic, and in Poland, where, he claimed, they cost only 10p. The undercover officer asked Spinks if he could get him a sado-masochistic video featuring boys as young as 10, and Spinks replied that he knew people in Amsterdam who could: "I know, well I knew, some people who were involved in making snuff movies and how they did it was, they only sold them in limited editions, made 10 copies or something, 10 very rich customers in America, who paid $5,000 each or something like that".
Spinks divulged no more about the video and failed to produce a copy of it. Without more evidence, Scotland Yard could not justify the expense of keeping the undercover officer or of sending officers to Amsterdam, where, in any event, they lacked police powers. They arrested Spinks in Hastings and charged him with adbucting and raping two homeless boys from the streets of London and selling one of them into a Spuistraat brothel. He was jailed for five years. But the allegation of murder would not go away. As the Guardian reported in 1997, another gay man, Edward, claimed to have seen five Amsterdam videos, each featuring the sexual torture and death of a boy. Dutch police investigated and said they could find no evidence.
Now, Terry had offered the Bristol detectives more evidence about life on Spuistraat. He explained how John Gay and Lee Tucker set themselves up as video pornographers, first taking a group of boys to an isolated farmhouse in France, and then making visits to Amsterdam to film with the boys there. And dealing with snuff movies he told how, in 1989, he had been alone in a flat which belonged to one of the key figures in the Amsterdam paedophile scene, whom he named; he had found a video and watched as it played out a murder - a boy was beaten before being castrated and cut open with a knife.
At first sight, Terry might have been describing the video Frank saw but its details differ: Frank described a video shot in a barn; Terry says his was shot in a flat. Frank described the abuse and murder of one boy; Terry says there was a second boy, who was also being abused and who was alive at the point he turned off the tape. And yet, the overlap is striking: the specific nature of the violence is identical; and Terry names the man who actually committed the killing - he is the same German whose barn was allegedly picked as a porn studio by the child porngraphers.
Terry, Frank, Edward and Spinks certainly mixed with the paedophile colony in Amsterdam in 1989/90 and all four separately claim at least one boy was killed on video. Spinks told the undercover officer that a German boy was killed; Frank says Spinks once hinted to him that a German boy named Manny had been murdered; we have confirmed from talking to boys who worked in Spuistraat at the time that a boy of that name and nationality, then 14, did disappear. Terry, however, says he thinks the victim of the video which he saw was Dutch, named Marco and probably 16.
Currying favour
At one end of the scale of possibility, every one of these men may be lying in an attempt to score favours with the police or to cause trouble for others on the Amsterdam scene, and certainly it was not unusual for boys to disappear from Spuistraat simply because they had had enough of being exploited.
At the other end of the scale, the truth is that one or more boys was killed in a snuff movie - and the murderers have got away with it.
The Bristol detectives can get no further. The Dutch say they will not investigate, and Avon and Somerset police have neither the funds nor the legal power to run their own inquiry in the Netherlands.
There have been successful paedophilia operations between British and European police. Scotland Yard detectives recently have twice arrested wanted men and extradited them to the Netherlands for trial on child sex offences. Within their borders, the Dutch paedophilia unit have arrested several of the key British paedophiles, and, since January 1996, the Netherlands has introduced a tougher law, which threatens up to six years for production of child pornography. The clubs on Spuistraat are no longer the paedophile playground they were. But the wider picture is of police trapped within their borders with the result that the European trade in boys for sexual exploitation has been allowed to grow without restraint.
A couple of years ago, I sat in the Blue Boy club on Spuistraat, amid the dry ice and the boys in thongs, and flicked through the catalogue on the bar, offering "truly the best boys in town", and watched a Japanese businessman make his purchase. In search of their origins, I went to Berlin, to the Bahnhof Am Zoo, where the trains arrive from all over eastern Europe, bringing the destitute in search of a dream. A specialist social worker there, Wolfgang Werner, told me there were some 700 east European boys, aged from 11 to 17, who had ended up in the sex industry in Berlin. But, to his knowledge, many hundreds of others had been taken off on a kind of underground railroad which fanned out to Zurich and Hamburg and Frankfurt, and, most of all, to Rotterdam and Amsterdam.
Werner told me, for example, about the Romanian boys who had been sold by their parents to a wandering Polish criminal, who had paid cash for some and a bottle of vodka for another, before putting them on to the streets of Berlin.
I followed the trail of two men, Peter Goetjes and Lutz Edelman, identified as traffickers in the Berlin press. Eventually, I spoke to a friend of theirs, who said that, of course, they had been trafficking. They must have sold 150 between them, before Goetjes was caught on the Polish border in the summer of 1992 with a boy in his boot. Goetjes was charged with smuggling, released on bail and then drove away and never came back for his trial. About that time, he and Edelman stopped trafficking, not so much because of Goetjes's arrest but because they had been told some of the boys were being used in snuff movies. Plenty of others carried on.
Unheeded warning
In May 1995, Bjorn Eriksson, then president of Interpol and chief of the Swedish police, told a conference on cross-border crime that organised paedophile networks were operating across European frontiers and as many as 30,000 paedophiles were believed to be linked to organisations or publications throughout Europe. His warning went unheeded.
In the late 1990s, trafficking of boys from Berlin to the Netherlands hit the north European press when police belatedly tried to find out what had happened to a 12-year-old Berliner, Manuel Schadwald, who went missing in July 1993. The Berlin police had simply listed him as a runaway. By 1997, however, Dutch journalists had dug out a history of sightings which suggested he had been put to work in a brothel in Rotterdam, run by a German, Lothar Glandorf, now 36. After ignoring complaints for 18 months, Rotterdam police targeted him and found he had been selling hundreds of boys. Of those they could trace, nearly half were under 16.
The Guardian has obtained an extraordinary report which was produced by Rotterdam police. It captures some of the ruthlessness of life in the city's boy brothels: "Even if Glandorf knew the perversions of a customer, he would still send a boy to a customer who had a preference for sado-masochism."
In the midst of all this, Rotterdam police were looking for Manuel Schadwald. Their report reveals three boys had run away from Glandorf's world and reported sighting the missing Berliner. Police logs leaked to a Dutch TV programme, Netwerk, reveal that one night, three Rotterdam surveillance officers saw Glandorf with a boy all three believed to be Manuel Schadwald but they failed to rescue him: they were reluctant to break cover for fear of jeopardising their operation. With the Dutch and German press baying for action, police in the two countries set about trying to find him - four years after his disappearance. They failed.
The same cross-border weakness persists. Investigating Glandorf, the Rotterdam police found that British paedophiles were routinely using his brothels, but they never sent a copy of their report to Scotland Yard. Glandorf had little fear of international policing. When a senior Dutch civil servant phoned him from Poland to say he was bringing back a boy, police phone taps recorded Glandorf saying: "When you get to the bridge at the border, let him out so he can go on foot so they can't catch you." That was all it took.
Within their borders, the Dutch did finally jail Glandorf for five and a half years, and yet the Amsterdam paedophiles remain relaxed. Some have resettled in Prague, where the law is lax. The trains still pull into the Bahnhof Am Zoo with their consignments of vulnerable children. The international boy business is alive and well, and, quite possibly, getting away with murder.
Identities of all police informants have been disguised.The United Nations announcement on Sunday that it would demand a record-shattering $6.5bn to fund humanitarian efforts in Syria – as much as it will spend in response everywhere else in the world, combined – underscored the scale of the humanitarian tragedy in Syria.
The same day, the International Rescue Committee released a statement detailing the humanitarian challenge inside Syria: the cost of bread has risen 500%, nearly four-in-five communities are struggling to access food, one in two communities is concerned about clean water, and a shortage of medical supplies is pervasive.
In March 2014, when the Syrian civil war hits the three year anniversary mark, the UN will be supporting roughly three out of four of Syria's 20 million citizens: including 2.5 million Syrians in what the UN designates as "hard-to-reach" areas – areas within Syria largely under rebel control – and 2.3 million who have fled the nation entirely.
But no effort will receive more scrutiny than the UN's push to prevent a polio epidemic. The UN has repeatedly exhorted Syria to allow humanitarian access across conflict lines for immunization campaigns, but is still legally obligated to coordinate with the government.
As the United States and its western partners fret over a perceived lack-of-options in Syria – scared of arming increasingly extremist Islamist rebel groups or legitimizing President Bashar al-Assad four months after chemical weapons attacks killed 1,400 – it is crucial that these nations bring all pressure available on the Syrian government to allow the UN humanitarian access across conflict zones.
By ensuring that Assad's government allows the UN to distribute polio vaccinations in rebel-held or contested areas, the international community can prevent another senseless humanitarian tragedy.
A Reuters report last week alleged that the eastern, contested province of Deir e-Zor, where the disease was first detected, had been purposefully excluded by the Syrian government in a 2012 campaign, citing the region's depopulation. Less than a year later, in October of this year, the World Health Organization documented the first 15 cases of the heavily contagious disease in Syria since 1999 in Deir e-Zor, and the outbreak has since spread to largely rebel-controlled Aleppo and the Damascus suburbs.
Once it appears, the incurable disease, which can paralyze children under five in a matter of hours, is very challenging to contain: only 1-in-200 children carrying polio actually show symptoms. Immunization rates of Syrian children have plummeted to 70%, from pre-war levels near 90%.
"By the time we find a single case, the horse is out of the barn, so to speak," said Oliver Rosenbauer, a spokesperson with the World Health Organization's Global Polio Eradication Unit in Geneva.
Peter Kessler, a spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Amman, Jordan said:
For a polio campaign to be effective, roughly 90% or more of the population needs to be vaccinated to stamp the disease out.
Immediately after the outbreak, Unicef and the WHO launched a campaign to vaccinate 23 million children across the Middle East, scrambling to reach 1.6 million children inside Syria.
But the campaign's success will depend on its ability to vaccinate children in rebel-held areas, where the Syrian government has long-prevented the entry of food and medicine and where healthcare systems have continued to crumble.
In November, the United Nations airlifted 538,000 polio vaccinations from its headquarters in Damascus to a field-office in the northeastern city of al-Hasakeh. Those vaccinations, later distributed overland throughout eastern Syria, nevertheless bypassed villages blockaded by government forces just a dozen miles from the UN headquarters in Damascus, where polio has already been detected.
"We in East Ghouta are not included in vaccination campaigns," said Majed Abu Ali, who works at the United Medical Office in the East Ghouta suburbs of Damascus, subjected to more than a year of a crippling government blockade. As the battle for Ghouta continues, the Syrian government has not allowed the distribution of food or medicines, only the evacuation of starving citizens.
I live in Jordan, home to more than 570,000 Syrian refugees. Here, the UN will use some of its $6.5bn request to immunize every Syrian child who arrives, and all who have already crossed the border.
Every day, I learn of the myriad ways in which war can senselessly destroy lives. Certainly among the most senseless is a child being paralyzed by a disease for which an immunization was found in 1955. In 2014, let us hope that the United States and its allies can use their influence to ensure that the Syrian government allows humanitarian agencies to distribute polio vaccines throughout Syria, even in rebel-controlled areas.Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET
Anonymous continues to target North Korea with its latest round of exploits.
Citing the threat posed by the North Korean government, the "hacktivist" group defaced the country's official Twitter and Flickr accounts yesterday.
The North Korean Twitter feed now displays a series of tweets with links that poke fun at the country's leader Kim Jong-un. One linked image portrays Kim Jong-un in a less than flattering light and criticizes him for "threatening world peace with ICBMs and nuclear weapons" and "wasting money while his people starve." The country's Flickr account shows the same image as well as a graphic displaying the words "We are Anonymous."
Anonymous also has reportedly hacked North Korean news and information Web site Uriminzokkiri.com. The site is currently unavailable, which could be due to distributed denial of service attacks from Anonymous, the group's favorite method of taking down a site.
In a posting on Pastebin yesterday, Anonymous took credit for stealing account information from Uriminzokkiri.com and explained how it was able to get inside Kwangmyong, North Korean's countrywide Intranet:
We have a few guys on the ground who managed to bring the real internet into the country using a chain of long distance WiFi repeaters with proprietary frequencies, so they're not jammed (yet). We also have access to some N.K. phone landlines which are connected to Kwangmyong through dial-ups. Last missing peace of puzzle was to interconnect the two networks, which those guys finally managed to do.
This is the second most recent attack purportedly launched by Anonymous against North Korea. Last week, the group leaked account information from Uriminzokkiri.com and posted a few snippets on Pastebin. Anonymous claimed to have hacked more than 15,000 membership records from the site and threatened to wipe out all of that data.
The hacking attempts could continue as North Korea isn't likely to concede to the demands of Anonymous:
We demand: - N.K. government to stop making nukes and nuke-threats - Kim Jong-un to resign - it's time to install a free direct democracy in North Korea - uncensored internet access for all the citizens!
The North Korean government has ratcheted up international tensions lately by declaring a "state of war" against South Korea and threatening to launch nuclear weapons against the United States.
(Via The Next Web)Abigail Hanna, a former babysitter from Topsfield, has pleaded guilty to numerous charges following her kidnapping and abuse of a Hamilton toddler last November.
Essex County District Attorney spokesperson Carrie Kimball Monahan said Hanna changed her plea on Friday, Oct. 14, at Salem Superior Court.
Hanna, 22, pled guilty to: breaking and entering in the nighttime for a felony kidnapping, assault and battery on a child causing bodily harm, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a child under 14.
She was sentenced to five to seven years in state prison followed by 10 years of probation.
Hanna broke into the home of a Hamilton family she had previously babysat for in the early morning hours of Nov. 24, 2015, and abducted a then 2-year-old girl she previously had taken care of.
The girl was found later that morning on the side of Newbury Street in Rowley with “her head shaved and had sustained burns from what appeared to be a cigarette,” according to a police report.
In recommending a 10- to 15-year state prison sentence, Essex Assistant District Attorney Kristen Buxton told the court that the family's pain and suffering has not abated in the time since the incident.
"This is a parent's worst nightmare; a person comes into your home in the middle of the night and takes your child," Buxton said. "This defendant's appearance today is not consistent with the horror she inflicted on this family and this community."
"This defendant caused immeasurable harm to a young, defenseless child and her family," said District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett. "Her actions warrant a state prison sentence and my only hope is that this provides the family with a reprieve during which they can re-build their sense of security."
Hamilton Police Chief Russell Stevens also spoke with harsh words about the impact Hanna has had in Hamilton.
"This incident inflicted damage not only on a young child and her family but an entire community," Stevens said. "I remain grateful to all of the first responders and the passersby who found the child alive that day."
While on probation, Hanna must stay 100 yards away from the victim and her family, is banned from entering the town of Hamilton, must stay 50 yards away from schools and playgrounds, may not have unsupervised contact with children under 16, must obtain mental health treatment and take all medication as prescribed, must remain alcohol and marijuana free and submit to random screens.
During the first two years of her probation, she will be monitored by a GPS device and she is required by statute to register as a sex offender. The status of a sex offender is only applied due to the fact she kidnapped a child and not because of any sexual component to the crime.
Hanna was returned to custody at MCI Framingham with 328 days of credit. She was represented by Attorney Susan McNeil.MODERATE Labour MPs are taking 24 hour minders to their own party conference to protect them from physical attack, The Sun can reveal.
Others are hiring extra security at fringe events in Liverpool next week to guard against trouble from hard left activists.
Getty Images 4 Many Labour MPs lay blame for the intimidation at Jeremy Corbyn's feet and say the atmosphere within the party is ugly
The party’s annual gathering begins on Sunday, the day after Jeremy Corbyn is expected to be re-crowned leader again in the city.
Labour MPs who spoke out against the veteran Socialist fear they will be targeted for revenge attacks by Mr Cobyn’s militant followers, which could turn violent.
The Sun’s revelation marks a new low for the deeply troubled party.
Jewish Labour MP Ruth Smeeth spoke out tonight to reveal she has asked a burly member of staff to accompany her at all times.
Getty Images 4 Security stood guard last year as Jeremy Corbyn was mobbed by supporters. This year Labour MPs are employing staff to protect themselves
4 Ruth Smeeth says she is taking a minder to the Labour Party conference because she fears she will be attacked
Ms Smeeth – who was targeted by sick gallows death threats from a diehard Corbyn supporter – told The Sun: “I will have someone with me.
“I haven’t felt the need to do this before, but it is a sensible security precaution for obvious reasons at the moment.
“But I’ve been to conference every year since 1999, and I’m not going to stop going now”.
Another senior female Labour MP who wanted to remain anonymous told The Sun: “Nobody is looking forward to going to Liverpool, it’s going to be totally horrendous.
"It wouldn’t surprise me at all if someone got hurt. I have never known the atmosphere to be this ugly.”
RELATED STORIES Video BRIBING VOTERS WITH CAKE Jeremy Corbyn makes bizarre pledge to nationalise the Bake Off at rally TROT TOTS Jeremy Corbyn-backing activist group Momentum mocked for launching'sinister' children’s wing ROD LIDDLE The Labour Party's finished thanks to Corbyn - so it's time for me to leave Brexit blunder Labour party bosses accused of shunning Europe after key issue left out of party conference programme THE SUN SAYS Britain needs a competent Opposition, there is a gaping hole where the Labour Party once stood
Former leader Ed Miliband’s special adviser Ayesha Hazarika added: “I know many people who are very anxious about what will happen next week, particularly some of the women MPs and activists.
“That it has got to this at our party conference is terribly sad.”
Many Labour MPs lay blame for the intimidation at Mr Corbyn’s feet.
In recent months, on top of the death threats some have suffered bricks through constituency office windows and others have been forced to bolster their own home security.
News Group Newspapers Ltd 4 The Labour Party is a lot more split than it was at last year's conference where they all joined in a rendition of the Red Flag at the end of the event
The anonymous female MP added: “Jeremy is 100% to blame for doing nothing to stop this.
“He could have reined in the thugs but he has not wanted to.”
Many other moderate Labour MPs are simply staying away from conference this year altogether rather than risk aggro.
Left wing pressure group Momentum has been blamed for stirring up potential trouble by running a series of events for militant activists alongside the main conference.
It has also emerged that the number of conference goers is well down this year, with money-spinning corporates largely staying away.Chevy Bolt Sales Could Reach 30,000–80,000 During First Year, Says Kelly Blue Book Analyst
May 5th, 2016 by James Ayre
How high will Chevy Bolt sales numbers go during the first year of being offered? Is 30,000 a reasonable guess? Or is that low-balling or high-balling it?
How much of an effect will the recent unveiling of the Tesla Model 3 have on sales? Will those previously interested in the Chevy Bolt now choose to wait for the Model 3?
It’s a bit hard at this point to gauge what the answers to these questions might be. Though, I suppose that we’ll know soon enough, as the Chevy Bolt should begin hitting the market less than a year from now. On that note, a senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book by the name of Karl Brauer recently estimated a first-year sales volume of 30,000–80,000 for the Chevy Bolt — meaning that his expectation is that 30,000 is the expected floor for first-year sales.
Brauer commented: “Tesla has made a lot of noise and created passion. But Chevy and GM will crack the real-world electric vehicle first. Theirs will be available not just months, but years, before Tesla’s.” (Author’s note: A single year, or year-and-a-half, head start seems most likely.)
Barron’s provides more:
Bolts may start trickling into dealerships in late 2016, although GM CEO Mary Barra recently told Barron’s that they won’t be widely available until early 2017. The Bolt will list for $37,500, before federal tax credits worth $7,500.
…Given Tesla’s history, Brauer thinks the first big batch of Model 3 shipments could slip into 2018 or later. As those buyers wait, he says, Chevy could easily capture 10% of the Model 3 preorder base. He forecasts first-year Bolt sales of between 30,000 and 80,000, “and the low end of that is still a win for Chevrolet.”
My personal guess for the beginning of mass Tesla Model 3 deliveries is early to mid 2018 — I remain skeptical that the company will be unable to meet that rough deadline as some have implied.
That still leaves a fairly long period when the Chevy Bolt will be the only 200+ mile electric car out there in the relevant pricing bracket, though. Despite that, I’m not quite sure that I see Bolt sales climbing over 50,000 in the first year…. 80,000 would be great, and really show that interest
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defenders said its gunmen nevertheless killed at least 14 civilians under 18. The Rojava Human Rights Organization listed a child as young as 3 among the dead. At least 67 of the dead civilians were women, according to the Violations Documentation Center. At least 18 of the dead were 55 or over, according to the Rojava group.
Zarga, 41, from Barkh Botan village, told Human Rights Watch that an ISIS sniper targeted her and her niece after they ran to the street after being awakened before dawn by a series of noises in quick succession: dogs barking, a girl shouting and crying, then shooting:
I was talking with my niece about the girl. We did not know what happened. Then suddenly we noticed a laser beam. We looked toward the light and saw two snipers aiming their guns at us. We began to run. My niece fell and hid behind a wall. I kept running, I was running zig-zag to try to avoid the gunmen. Then I felt a pain in my neck.
The bullet traveled from between my shoulder blades through the right side of my neck. They fired at me five times but only one bullet hit me. I fell down. I thought, “I will die before they even have time to capture me.” Then I lost consciousness.
When she regained consciousness, Zarga said, her niece had found her and they reached a car with their relatives about 250 meters away. “I was dragging myself to the car and calling for help,” she said. Braving bullets, the family members took her to a local hospital and later to Turkey. “We never learned what happened to the screaming girl,” Zarga said.
Attackers Posed as Friendly Force
Witnesses said the armed militants wore uniforms that resembled those of YPG and the Free Syrian Army. In some cases, they said, ISIS members even called out in Kurdish, “Let us in, we are YPG,” in an attempt to enter homes.
One militant in a YPG uniform shot dead Sheiko Atto, 65, when he ran out of his house to greet the gunman, a relative told Human Rights Watch.
“I hope Daesh is not here!” Atto exclaimed, according to the relative, Sheikh Nabi. The gunman shouted, “Get Back!” in Arabic, followed Atto into his house and shot him in the leg and his wife in the side, killing them both, and then shot and wounded the couple’s daughter, Sheikh Nabi said.
Shooting Rescuers
Witnesses said ISIS also shot at civilians trying to rescue wounded relatives or YPG fighters. Three witnesses said the gunmen also shot at civilians from a four-story former school building near Mishta Nur Mountain that was being refurbished as a hospital. News reports said the armed militants holed up in the building and that it was heavily damaged in fighting with Kurdish forces.
“My brother has a car; he went to help some injured people who called for help,” said one wounded resident, who asked not to be named. “On the way Daesh shot and killed him. I called my brother twice. He didn’t answer. I knew something was wrong. I went to find him but when I approached his car they shot me in the side. I lay in the street from 7 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon playing dead.”
Khalil, 40, said he was shot in the neck while driving to the hospital with a wounded Kurdish fighter he had found bleeding on the street outside his front door:
I saw groups of Daesh in YPG uniforms hiding in corners. We were just 20 meters to safety when they shot me in the neck. I saw blood splatter on the windshield in front of me. I kept driving with one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the back of my neck.
Hammoudi, the wounded 28-year-old, and an uncle said one of their relatives was shot and wounded by the armed militants while rescuing his brother, a teenage boy, whom the gunmen had also shot. Hammoudi said the shooting took place near the city’s Agriculture Bank, one of the bloodiest scenes of the attack.
“My 15-year-old cousin, when he heard the shooting in the early morning, he went to the doorway,” Hammoudi said. “Daesh shot him in front of the bank and killed him. When my other cousin ran out to pull his brother’s body back, Daesh shot him and wounded him in the arm.”
Ibrahim, a 58-year-old baker, said a sniper firing from the former school building shot him in the wrist and chest in the early morning as he rushed to his bakery after receiving a call that a worker was wounded:
When I got to the bakery I heard a lot of shooting. When I got out of my car a sniper shot me in my left hand. I saw the ISIS fighters up high on the roof of the [former school] building. My hand was dangling from my wrist. I grabbed my dangling hand and ran inside the bakery. We were about 30 people inside. Some workers made holes in the bakery. We escaped to [nearby] Al-Amal hospital, crawling along the wall.
Sheihk Nabi said the attackers who shot his relative Sheiko Atto and Atto’s wife in their home then shot the cellphone out of the hand of the couple’s daughter, Dilishan, 23, as she called him for help. The gunmen then shot the daughter in the torso, injuring her spleen, one lung, and one kidney, he said. Sheikh, who is Dilishan’s brother-in-law, said he received the woman’s frantic cellphone call around 4:45 a.m.
“She was crying and saying, ‘They shot my father, they shot my mother.’ Then the line dropped,’” he said. Bleeding heavily, Dilishan took her father’s cellphone and dragged herself to the Syria-Turkish border, about 150 meters from her home in the northeastern sector of Kobani, with Sheikh on the phone line, Sheikh said. Meters from border she became too weak to proceed or to talk, but a passerby from Kobani took the phone, found Sheikh on the other end of the line, and the two men helped alert Turkish border authorities to get her into Turkey, Sheikh said.
Killing Civilians as They Fled
The militants pursued panicked civilians as they fled by foot and in cars, firing at them with assault rifles, machine guns, and even rocket-propelled grenades, witnesses told Human Rights Watch. Lezgin, 24, said he was among about 60 civilians who ran onto the street around 5:15 a.m. when he was awakened by a loud explosion at the Murshid [Murşitpınar] Gate, near his home in northeastern Kobani, that he later learned was a car bomb. When he realized the group of armed men facing him were not YPG, he warned the crowd to run:
I shouted, “People, escape! They are going to kill us! My friend Hamoudi was running behind me. He was 13. He was screaming, “They burned me!” When I looked back at him I saw he had a big hole in his stomach.
When Lezgin reached the street in front of his house, which was 30 meters long, he saw nine corpses on the ground. “They included my cousin, my brother-in-law, and my neighbors,” he said.
Outside the Haj Rashad mosque, next to his house, Lezgin said he and two relatives saw a dead man lying face down whom he recognized as an Armenian. “We carried him off the road,” he said, then pointed to a dark stain covering the left thigh of his trousers. “This is his blood.”
Lezgin spoke to Human Rights Watch two days after the attack, outside a hospital in Şanliurfa where his sister Aya, 8, was receiving intensive care for shrapnel in her head. His said his brother Jangin, 14, was shot in the leg and recovering in a hospital 60 kilometers west, in Suruç.
Detaining Civilians
Witnesses and local human rights groups provided detailed accounts of the attackers detaining civilians in at least four buildings in and near Kobani.
Two witnesses described being held by the armed militants in homes in Maqtala on the southeast edge of Kobani, as Kurdish forces began their counterattacks on June 25. One wounded man who spoke to Human Rights Watch from his hospital bed said he was one of 55 detainees – most of them women – held in two homes in the Maqtala for two hours until Kurdish forces attacked armed militant guards outside, creating an opening for them to flee.
Another Kobani resident, Rihab, 23, said two gunmen held her, her father, three nieces and nephews, and two friends at a house in Maqtala for about a half-hour. The gunmen detained them after firing on the car in which she and relatives were fleeing, shooting her sister-in-law and a family friend, and killing her brother in a separate car, she said. Rihab said one of her captors used the relatives as shields by making the entire group of civilians walk with him past a Kurdish fighter and into a house in Maqtala where an ISIS emir was holed up. She said the Kurdish fighter had his gun trained on the group.
“We were frozen. We didn’t know what would happen,” Ribad said. “We had two relatives already dead, there was shooting everywhere, we were terrified.” Kurdish forces rescued the detainees, she said, adding that she thought the fighters had killed the ISIS captors.
The Rojava Human Rights Organization said the armed militants held 30 to 40 people inside the former school building near Mishta Nur Mountain.
A Kobani-based activist, Walat, told Human Rights Watch that ISIS held 80 people, including several children, in a store on Express Street in the city center. He said one hostage told him that ISIS jumped over the wall of his house to capture him, his wife, and their four children and took them to the center, where six gunmen guarded the group. Five of the gunmen fled when clashes began nearby, leaving one ISIS guard at the doorway. He later also fled after the hostages shut the door on him. YPG forces freed the detainees 12 hours later, the activist said some of the detainees told him.
The laws of war prohibit belligerents from using civilians to keep military forces or areas immune from attack.The NRL also took a shot at the $5 million the union will require to run its operations, which will expand to include the costs of being involved with integrity and agent accreditation matters. Rugby League Central claims the figure is a 537 per cent increase, three times that secured by the Australian Cricketers' Association and twice that of the AFLPA. The RLPA strongly refutes it is holding the game to ransom and believes the NRL is misrepresenting its position in an attempt to drive a wedge between the union and the clubs. The association feels they should have been consulted directly for clarification of contentious matters rather than having a head office spin put on its first proposal. The union believes not all revenue streams have been included in the NRL's calculations and that, contrary to the governing body's opinion, the players are prepared to share in the upside and downside of the game's financial performance over the term. The document highlights how far the parties are apart and raises the prospect of a fiery meeting when the parties return to the negotiating table on June 5. Several of the game's biggest stars will be in attendance to represent a playing group that believes the NRL is doing a poor job of managing the game. Unless concessions are made on both sides, the prospect of industrial action will loom large ahead of the 2018 season. The RLPA is seeking a base salary cap of $9.1 million for next season, which would increase by $200,000 a year to $9.9 million by 2022. The NRL claims clubs will be slugged at least a further $450,000 a year under such a scenario. The union claims the NRL's figure doesn't reflect the sharing of welfare and educations costs and still includes club funding of the RLPA, which will no longer be a requirement.
Under the RLPA proposal, the traditional top-30 player list for clubs will be replaced by a top 26, who are entitled to a minimum salary of $120,000 (up from $85,000). There will also be 14 additional "supplementary" players who can be called upon throughout the course of the season. There would be no restrictions on how much players under the age of 20 are paid. The biggest sticking point between the parties relates to revenue sharing. The union wants players to get a guaranteed 29 per cent share of total revenue during the next five years. The NRL claims its offer is equivalent to 26 per cent – or nearly $900 million – with the parties arguing which revenue streams are included and how many players it will cover. The RLPA is also pushing for more time off, during and after the season. The players are seeking eight weeks off a year, in line with their AFL counterparts. They also want two mandatory days off each week, compared to the one day they are currently allowed, plus an extra half-day off in season for personal development. The NRL argues the players will be getting more for doing less. Another point of contention is the proposed introduction of a "Player Marketing Contract" spend, to the tune of $1 million. The NRL claims the clubs will be out of pocket as the players get paid for performing club and sponsorship appearances. The union refutes this, stating the money will come out of the players' share of revenue and that the initiative will provide a stricter framework for services than the controversial third-party agreement system. Some clubs, particularly those struggling financially, haven't spent up to the salary cap limit. However, the RLPA wants every dollar to reach the intended recipients during the course of the agreement.
The players are also seeking a 64 per cent increase in representative payments, an increase to $34 million. The NRL only wants this to go up to $26.5 million. One big boost for the players could be the ownership of their intellectual property. The RLPA wants its members to control their images, signatures and performance data, as is the case with many Australian and overseas sports. The clubs and the NRL will still be able to use their IP, although the stars of the game will have a new, lucrative revenue stream. It remains to be seen whether the NRL will budge on the issue. Even if a CBA is signed off, there is conflict over the mechanisms to review it mid stream. The players' union wants to be able to request a variation should forecasts change or unforeseen consequences arise. The NRL argues this will leave it "in a perpetual state of negotiation and renegotiation with … no certainty that what is agreed to would persist for any part of the five-year CBA". Cronulla and NSW playmaker James Maloney, an RLPA board member, reacted angrily to the NRL's negotiating tact from Origin camp during the week. It is expected other stars will voice their displeasure after they learn how the NRL has portrayed their demands. KEY POINTS
The RLPA wants a 29 per cent guaranteed share of revenue – the NRL's almost $900 million offer is equivalent to about 26 per cent;
The initial NRL and RLPA offers are estimated at least $200 million apart;
The RLPA is seeking a 10 per cent salary cap discount for developing players, as well as a 10 per cent discount for those who have been at one club for eight years or more. Clubs to bear the cost;
The NRL wants a salary cap of $8.84 million for 2018. The RLPA is pushing for it to be $9.1 million, rising to $9.9 million by the end of the five-year CBA;
The RLPA wants players to own their intellectual property, including image rights. Also wants a reduction in protected sponsorships;
RLPA pushing for the traditional top-30 list to be replaced by a top 26, plus 14 "supplementary" players that can be called upon;
NRL wants rep payments to go up to $26.5 million. The RLPA wants the figure to be $34 million.U.S. retail sales fell 2.7% in December
Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close U.S. retail sales fell 2.7% in December 1 / 3 Back to Gallery
Retail carnage continued as government figures released Wednesday showed a record six months of sales declines, and December turned out even worse than analysts had predicted.
Sales fell by 2.7 percent in December from the previous month on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Commerce Department. Economists had predicted a 1.2 percent sales decline for December, but consumers held onto their wallets even tighter during the holiday season due to job losses and the credit crunch.
Also on Wednesday, two companies - including Gottschalks Inc. of Fresno - added to the growing number of companies filing for bankruptcy protection or going out of business.
Gottschalks, which operates 58 stores in six Western states, filed for bankruptcy with the hope of finding a buyer. Goody's Inc., a Tennessee clothing store chain that has no California stores, resorted to total liquidation in its second filing.
"The reality is this is the long, cold winter following a holiday season that didn't appear for retailers," said Greg Segall, a partner with Versa Capital Management, a private-equity firm that specializes in distressed sectors.
Reorganization experts predict the number of retailers that will file for bankruptcy will accelerate in the coming months, and many of these companies will be unable to survive and ultimately just go out of business. Companies typically file for bankruptcy protection with the hopes of emerging smaller, but solvent.
Shoppers have already seen the demise of such well-known retailers as Shoe Pavilion Inc., Mervyns LLC and Linens 'n Things. Circuit City Stores Inc., which filed for bankruptcy protection, is considering liquidation if it can't find a buyer within days. Other retailers are shuttering stores and reducing staff. Cost Plus Inc. of Oakland said last week it will close 26 stores and cut jobs at its distribution center and home office by 18 percent as part of a plan to save $21 million annually starting in fiscal 2009.
Luxury department store operator Neiman Marcus Group Inc., which posted a 27.5 percent drop in same-store sales for December, said this week that it is cutting about 375 jobs. Last week, Macy's Inc. said it will close 11 underperforming stores, which will affect about 960 employees.
Retail experts took Macy's closures in stride, saying shedding less profitable locations is a smart business move for such a large national chain. But they said some companies won't be able to stave off bankruptcy even if they close stores and employ other cost-cutting measures. And they expect smaller, regional chains like Gottschalks to have a tough time emerging from bankruptcy proceedings.
"In this economic environment, it will be very difficult for Gottschalks to be successful," said Helen Bulwik, managing director of New Market Solutions, a retail consulting firm in Oakland. "It is very difficult for a regional retailer today to survive. They just do not have the buying power of a large national retailer like Macy's or Kohl's or Target."
Thirty-eight of Gottschalks' 58 stores are in California. The bulk are concentrated in the Central Valley, a region that has been hit particularly hard by the housing crisis and the credit crunch.
The company, founded in 1904 by German immigrant Emil Gottschalk, said in a statement that it had negotiated a $125 million debtor-in-possession financing arrangement with a group of lenders and is looking for a buyer. Gottschalks said last week that its same-store sales, those at stores open at least a year, dropped 9.6 percent in December compared with the same month in 2007.
Harlan Platt, a turnaround expert and finance professor at Northeastern University College of Business Administration in Boston, said a growing number of Chapter 11 filings will turn into what he calls a Chapter 22 filing: a second bankruptcy that results in liquidation.
"The retail sector has always been one of the most problematic to reorganize because they are lacking in hard assets," he said. "Retailers have stores they lease, have merchandise sold on credit and they have a lot of debt. That's not a healthy combination."
While some retail losses are considered good for the overall economy - most experts say the United States is "over stored" - the expected closures are likely to have a ripple affect, hitting suppliers hard and leading to additional empty storefronts and shuttered malls.
Local retail expert Bulwik said she expects the central Bay Area, particularly San Francisco's Union Square, to weather the retail fallout better than many other parts of the state and country.
"However, as you get further out into more suburban locations where there has been a lot of building of malls, strip malls... that's where we're going to see a lot of store closures," said Bulwik, referring to such areas as Antioch, Fairfield and Brentwood.
Platt, of Northeastern University, said a government bailout is not likely to be an option for U.S. retailers, who have to wait behind the financial and auto industries. "The line is so long, when they get to the front of the line, there won't be any money left," he said.Ardor the open source multiple blockchain system created by the Nxt development team, has had its beta version released for the public to test. Anyone can now download and try out Ardor, and interact with blockchain applications for free without the risk of losing cryptocurrencies.
Ardor was designed by Jelurida BV developers, whose first project was the pioneering ‘second generation’ blockchain platform Nxt, which has been running successfully since 2013.
Expectations within the blockchain industry for Ardor are high as it solves a number of issues currently affecting the sector. Ardor incorporates a novel multiple blockchain architecture, allowing users to create their own, customized subsidiary blockchains, secured by the main chain. Transactions from these blockchains, knowns as child chains, are removed from the main transaction ledger approximately every 24 hours, though special dedicated nodes, known as archival nodes, can keep all information if so desired. This approach enables Ardor to scale up global transaction loads, without requiring extensive knowledge of scripting or coding from participants.
Travin Keith, Board Member at the Nxt Foundation, said: “Blockchain technology is increasingly entering the mainstream consciousness. The developers at Jelurida BV have created a platform that makes blockchain technology more accessible and delivers scalable solutions for retail and institutional participants. Its potential applications extend to a number of industries burdened with legacy issues and antiquated transaction processing systems.”
The Ardor blockchain platform, like Nxt, has been designed to address issues that impede the blockchain sector. The proof-of-work model incorporated by Bitcoin requires large volumes of energy to “mine” coins and is biased towards participants with the largest number of computers. Ardor and Nxt by contrast operates on a proof-of-stake model that can handle higher transaction volumes at a fraction of the energy cost and at ten times the speed. In addition, Ardor solves the blockchain bloat issue with its prunable child chain infrastructure, which side chains do not solve.Jack Eichel is back from his injury. Back to putting pucks in the net. Now he's on to the next goal: Spearheading a winning streak during a jam-packed schedule for the Buffalo Sabres.
The Sabres host the Boston Bruins Saturday at 1 in KeyBank Center, and are just four points behind Boston for third place in the Atlantic Division. They're also four out of the last wild-card slot in the Eastern Conference. That's not where most people would have figured them to be after Eichel missed the first 21 games due to his high ankle sprain.
But Buffalo has won two straight with Eichel, Tuesday's 5-4 win in Ottawa and Thursday's 4-3 thriller over the New York Rangers, and is suddenly 4-1-1 in its last six games.
"As a group we know where we can get to if we have a bit of a charge," Eichel said after Friday's practice in HarborCenter. "We've talked to each other and as a team about it. These are the times where you need to rattle off a few wins in a row and put yourself in the picture. This is what good teams do.
"The teams that are in the playoffs year in and year out don't win two in a row. They rattle off five or six in a row. I think that would be huge for us if we were able to do that."
The Sabres have won both games since Eichel returned, and he has three goals in the process. After playing Boston, the Sabres play Monday in Washington, host Connor McDavid-led Edmonton here Tuesday and meet the Caps downtown on Friday.
They were averaging 1.81 goals per game with Eichel out. They've scored nine in two games with him.
"I don't think we anticipate every game being five goals," coach Dan Bylsma said. "We're certainly not going out to try to outgun the other team in terms of trying to get to five first. I just think there's a confidence and an excitement brewing about us being able to score goals and how we're able to play."
Bylsma said Robin Lehner, who left Tuesday's game early and sat out Thursday's win with a slight hip problem, will start against the Bruins so Linus Ullmark was returned to Rochester after serving as the backup here Thursday.
Defenseman Josh Gorges skated on his own before practice and left to have his foot re-examined after he was struck by a shot during Thursday's game. If Gorges can't play, Bylsma said a recall from Rochester would be made. Casey Nelson would be the likely candidate.• Ajax’s Joel Veltman and Kenny Tete of interest to Frank de Boer • Palace intend to spend £30m Sakho asking price on up to five players
Crystal Palace have been priced out of a move for Mamadou Sakho with the club’s new manager, Frank de Boer, confident he can recruit up to five players for a combined outlay close to Liverpool’s £30m asking price for the France defender.
There had been initial optimism within the Palace hierarchy that Sakho’s loan move, which was so key to Sam Allardyce’s team securing their top-flight survival last season, could be made into a permanent transfer. Yet Liverpool, who have welcomed the centre-back to Melwood of late to continue fitness work after a knee ligament injury curtailed his eight-game spell at Palace, have as yet refused to drop their valuation of the player.
Transfer window 2017 – every deal in Europe's top five leagues Read more
That has prompted the London club, who appointed De Boer last week, to cast the net wider. There is interest in the Ajax and Holland defenders Joel Veltman and Kenny Tete, with the latter having been granted permission to miss the Dutch team’s pre-season training camp in Zillertal to hold talks with other clubs. Veltman is with the 25-man Ajax party in Austria, where they will play Werder Bremen in a friendly on Saturday. That pair would cost in excess of £10m.
Palace have lost Fraizer Campbell, Joe Ledley, Mathieu Flamini, Jonathan Benteke and Zeki Fryers under freedom of contract – the left-back has since joined Barnsley – and an option to make Loïc Rémy’s loan from Chelsea a permanent deal was not taken up after his injury-wrecked campaign. Their departures have left the squad distinctly thinner, in particular in central midfield and up front, though De Boer is determined to assess those he has inherited before deciding where else to strengthen.
The club are in the process of confirming the make-up of his backroom staff, with at least two coaches expected to join and Sammy Lee, Martyn Margetson and Ryland Morgans, recruited under Allardyce, to begin the campaign under the new regime. Their presence would assist the transition though, if all parties click, that arrangement would be extended for the longer-term.
The manager has spoken at length with Jason Puncheon, who ended last season as captain, and been hands-on around the club’s Beckenham training centre since his arrival last Monday. Players such as Scott Dann and James McArthur may seek reassurances over their futures after both endured frustrating seasons, albeit largely because of injury, last time round.Last week, we announced our plans for “Junto March Madness 2014” – a bracket tournament pitting our readers’ favorite early American history books published since 2000 against each other. Today, we begin the Call for Nominations. Check out the rules below and then add your nominations and seconds in the Comments section. Then, by the power of The Junto‘s bracketologists, we’ll compile the tournament brackets, and open it up for your votes starting next Monday.
The Rules
1) All books whose first edition was published on or after January 1, 2000 are eligible.
2) All nominations must be made in the Comments section of this post.
3) We ask you nominate a maximum of three books that have not yet been nominated. You may also “second” the nomination of three other books that have already been nominated. If you were going to nominate books already mentioned you may do so and they will be tallied as seconds. Self-nominations are allowed.
NB: Essentially, each voter can nominate and second up to six books but only three can be new nominations. Given the number of comments posted last year, it would be helpful if you explicitly stated which of your books count as nominations, and which count as seconds. (To see if one of your choices has already been nominated, go to Edit->Find in your browser and type in the name of the book.)
4) Nominations will close at 5pm on Thursday (March 13th). The first-round brackets will go up on Friday, March 14th, and readers will have the weekend to think about their picks before first-round voting begins on Monday, March 17th.
The Disclaimer
Like last year’s tournament, this is all meant to be taken in a spirit of fun. This tournament is not meant to bestow any kind of value judgment on individual works. If anything, it may be a reflection of the “favorite” books of our readers; but that should not be thought of as implying that it reflects what our readers or this blog think is the “best” book published since 2000. Last year’s competition inspired lots of interesting and entertaining conversations, and this year we’re hoping to introduce our readers to more recent literature, especially in areas that might be outside of their direct attention.
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Some Juntoists have helped kick off the nominating process with the following nominations. To be clear, this is not a definitive list of our three favorite books since 2000, but rather a means of getting the nomination process rolling.
Ken: Max Edling, A Revolution In Favor Of Government; Douglas Bradburn, The Citizenship Revolution; Pekka Hämäläinen, The Comanche Empire
Ben: Eric Slauter, The State As A Work Of Art; Trish Loughran, The Republic In Print; Catherine Brekus, Sarah Osborn’s World
Rachel: Michael A. LaCombe, Political Gastronomy: Food and Authority in the English Atlantic World; Edward Andrews, Native Apostles; John Grenier, The First Way of War: American War Making on the Frontier, 1607-1814
Michael H.: T.H. Breen, The Marketplace of Revolution; Brendan McConville, The King’s Three Faces; Benjamin Irvin, Clothed In The Robes of Sovereignty
Tom: Holly Brewer, By Birth Or Consent; Terry Bouton, Taming Democracy; Patrick Griffin, American Leviathan.
Jonathan: Joanne Freeman, Affairs of Honor; Alan Taylor, The Civil War of 1812; Peter Silver, Our Savage Neighbors© AP A statue of Uncle Sam stands outside a tax preparation office in Queens, New York, as the annual April 15 deadline to file federal taxes approaches. Some states are looking to end the “double deduction” of state and local taxes from their state income taxes. (AP)
A quirky “double deduction” tax break that benefits mostly higher-income taxpayers is halfway to extinction in Vermont, and other states may follow suit in their pursuit of revenue to plug budget gaps or fund priorities.
In Vermont and six other states – Oklahoma, Arizona, Hawaii, Louisiana, North Dakota and Georgia – taxpayers who itemize their deductions are allowed to deduct what they paid in state and local taxes on their state income tax returns, just as they can on their federal tax returns.
But since the starting point for state income tax calculations usually is the lower federal adjusted income that already takes the deduction into account, taxpayers in those states get the extra benefit of essentially deducting their state and local taxes twice. Thus, the “double deduction.” Hawaii and Vermont limit the deduction, but still allow it.
It works out to a nice extra tax break, especially for higher income taxpayers who are more likely to itemize their deductions and more likely to have paid higher state and local taxes.
No one is sure how and where the tax break originated. It’s not like many other kinds of deductions, which were prompted by particular public policy goals, such as the home mortgage interest deduction that was instituted to encourage home ownership.
“I think it’s a strange and pointless deduction,” said Carl Davis, a senior analyst with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a non-partisan research organization. “It’s basically an accident. It exists because states coupled their taxes to the federal. The vast majority of states don’t allow the (second) state and local tax deduction.”
There was a flurry of efforts to repeal the double deduction at the beginning of the recession in 2009 and 2010, when states were looking for additional revenue. New Mexico and Rhode Island repealed it in 2010, Vermont put a $5,000 cap on the deduction in 2009, and Hawaii imposed an income limit in 2011. Since then, the deduction has largely remained.
This year, however, the Vermont Legislature, in search of revenue to cover a $113 million budget hole for fiscal 2016, is looking to possibly scrap the deduction and cap itemized deductions. The House already has passed it.
Rep. Janet Ancel, who heads the Vermont House Ways and Means Committee, said the move would raise $14 million for the state treasury. Higher income taxpayers would be hit hardest, she said, but middle-income taxpayers also would be affected.
“As for a policy argument for retaining the deduction, I don’t think I could make one,” said Ancel, a Democrat. “But … the impact of eliminating falls more heavily on middle-income taxpayers than I am comfortable with.” Nonetheless, she voted for the measure.
The Senate has yet to take action. But eliminating the deduction has the support of Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin, who called the elimination “progressive and principled.” He said in his budget message that it would cost Vermont taxpayers who itemize their deductions an average of $175, though upper-income taxpayers would take a $450 hit.
Pros and Cons
Those who favor eliminating it say the double deduction is an oddity that serves little public purpose.
“Allowing the deduction for state and local taxes is odd and does not make sense from a good tax policy perspective,” said David Brunori, deputy publisher of Tax Analysts, a trade publication. “It makes no sense for federal tax policy and even less so for state policy. The deduction is basically a way of subsidizing other governments. There are better, more transparent ways of doing that.”
Former Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie made a similar argument in 2011 when calling for the repeal of the extra state tax deduction in his State of the State address. Abercrombie, a Democrat, said it was an “absurdity in the tax code, the elimination of which is long overdue.”
But those who oppose doing away with it, including Tom Yamachika, president of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, a non-partisan tax analysis organization, say doing so is just a roundabout way of increasing taxes.
He said dropping the state and local tax deduction “leads to a severe discontinuity when you reach $100,000 of income.” He said eliminating the deduction could cost a Hawaii taxpayer making $100,000 a year an additional $3,600 in state tax compared to one making $99,999.
In testimony before the legislature in 2011, Yamachika’s group called on the state to raise taxes directly if that’s what it wanted to do, and give voters a chance to more straightforwardly evaluate the action.
Instead, the Hawaii Legislature partially repealed the deduction, getting rid of it for couples making more than $200,000 a year and individuals with incomes over $100,000. Those with incomes under that amount can still take the deduction.
The state estimated that repeal, along with capping other tax deductions, would result in an extra $63.7 million in revenue for fiscal 2012, $79.0 million for fiscal 2013, and 94.4 million for fiscal 2014 and thereafter.
No Constituency
The issue comes up frequently in some of the states, largely because it has no built-in constituency. Homebuilders protest any suggested elimination of the home mortgage interest deduction, for example. Charities protest any attempt to curb deductions for donations. But the same cannot be said for the deduction of state and local taxes.
Louisiana is engaged in a pitched battle over the budget and taxes, as the state faces a $1.6 billion deficit and the legislature seems uninterested in Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal’s recommendations to balance the budget without tax increases. Earlier this year, a tax study commission recommended eliminating the deduction on state returns, saying it would put the state more in line with much of the country. Estimates show that about $350 million could be raised by eliminating the deduction, a bit more than 20 percent of what is needed to close the budget shortfall.
Oklahoma has flirted with eliminating the deduction, and some think it would be a good place to look this year as the state tries to fill a $611 million budget hole.
In 2012, abolishing the deduction was part of an agreement between the governor and legislative leadership, but that bill failed to pass. Last year, two repeal measures in the Senate Finance Committee didn’t survive.
David Blatt, executive director of the Oklahoma Policy Institute, a non-partisan think tank, suggests that doing away with the deduction would be a good place to again look for revenue.
According to Blatt, the deduction primarily benefits higher-income Oklahomans. Taxpayers with incomes above $200,000 a year represent less than 3 percent of all Oklahoma households, he said, yet they claimed a full 75.4 percent of the deduction for state income taxes.
On the other side, almost two-thirds of Oklahoma households (65.7 percent) have income under $50,000, yet this population accounted for just
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Puppetrolliansha E Puppets E Race O E Rachag E Racoid E Racore E Racorp E Raiel E Rain D E Rainit E Rainsu E Raithi E Rate T E Ratili E Sex Goddess P E Sex Livingolo E Simulanetassi E Simulansylvan E Simulariansyl E Tak Tam E Taklari E Tamamand Kod E Tamauto E Tamazir E The Cup E The Foralfli E Theadle E Things E Thraddashta E Unians Anterrakirians O E Unians Oxidans Of Antat E Unianshalkathiansformic E Wardirdia E Wardirdian E Wards Or E Warrians A E Watch Mas E Watch Turi E Watch Turn E Watchicke E Watchidia E Watcho-cho E Watedeans E Watedesson Eaaamarks Eaaamarms Eaaamasitess'ri Eaaamautonurian Ead Lor Ead Loran Ead Lorda Ead Lordas Ead Loree Ead Loren Ead Lorian Ead Lorns Ead Lorwe Eadcrabs Eadcragol Eadcransha Eadcrate T Eadcrater Eadicofal Eadiconia Eadie-nen Eadifer Eadiposle Eadlehe Eadlehead Eadleheads Eadleranea Eadleri Eadlerilax Ealsapien Ealsapier Ealsapies Eans An Eans And Eans And E Eans Anderkens Eans Ando's Eans Andosh Eans Andr Eans Angea Eans Ann Eans Ante Eans Anth Eans Of Eans Of B Eans Of Ch Eans Orians Eans Oxi Eans Oxia Eans Oxis Eansfor Eansford Eansfordas Eansfores Eansforesti Eansform Eansforme Eansformenov Eansformers Eansforms Eanshad Eanshaks Eanshalie Eanshalo Eanshans A Eanshans And Eanshape Eanshaper Eanshaperile Eansharn Eansharrh Eanshawan Eanshawandi Eansylv Eansylva Eansylvan Eansylvans Of Spators Eantarian Eantatess Eanteers Eanteri Eanthals Eanthua Eanthul Eanthulhi Eantians Andai Techkn Eanticon Eanti-m Eantisma Eantitani Eantitia Eants Eapelac Eapelan Eapelia Eapelin Eapelon Eapelot Eaperia Eaperil Eaperis Eaperse Eapersn Eape-sh Earsc Eat Carrh Eate Tama Eatedest Eatekai Eatersergeansforeseans Eatess'rithe Genei Eatoids Eatonehea Eatoniang Eatons Eatony Eatorians Eatorians Of Chick Eatorsia Eatorsian Eatorsian Kodoshaw Eatorsian Mazoids Eatorsians Oxis Eatorsiansfore Homenia Eatorsianshaks Eatorsiansylvanianshap Ebace Ebace C Ebace Duc Ebace O Ebace P Ebace W Ebacean Ebaceans Ebanderse Ebando Ebandr Ebanet Ma Ebanetass Ebania Ebanians Ebanic Ki Ebanit Ebanns Ebantak Ebantap Ebantit Ebaria Ebarial S Ebarian Ebariansh Ebaris Ebarka Ebarza Ebarzanta Ebarzok Eberi Eberm Ebermerun Ebero Eberons Ebertrome Ebesa Ebesalast Ebesalids Ebesalien Ebesal-ka Ebesal-kr Ebesi Ebesiansh Ebhutineansfore Ebhutineerarcea Ebian'sh Ebians An Ebiansfor Ebianshad Ebianshan Ebiansylv Eblebace Wards Ebleband Eblebari Eblebarzoids Eblebarzok Eblebroc Eblebroo Eblebrox Eblerserathana Eblersnatch Tu Eblersoroks Eblobste Eblons Eblookia Ebriansforeens Ebriansyl Ebriconiansylvanic Ebriconidersergean Ebriconitessis Ebrionian Ebriorsians Andoan Ebrocrust Ebroodtra Ebroodtrathing Ebroxian Kzer- Ebroxians Ebroxidan Ebroxider Ebroxis Ebugger Ebugs F Ebugs Fr Ebulanea Ebulani Ebulans Ebulant Ebulanx Ebulari Ebuloni Ebulrat Ebulrath Ecaperseek Ecaperseia Ecapersnat Ecapodites Ecapods Ecat Cattl Ecat Peopl Ecatasomor Ecatbugg Ecathano Ecatorsi Ecats Ecelactonu Ecelanthul Ecelaritess Ecelectons Ecelectors Ecelerians Ecelersnak Eceletonite Ecepticoid Ecepticonct Ecepticonia Eceptilien Eceptilikan Eceptunnera Ech Masarturians Ech Masterranciens Ech Maz Ech Turi Echalaco Echamaze M Echanabism Echanacans Echaos Echarnagatorsians O Echeble Echeelysians Andi Echelians Andoshape Echelons Echelots Echevas Echnides Echnitor Echnoid Echo-cho Echo-chometroviless Echoix Echons Echonuri Echoungo Echoungs Echozo Econds Ecreape Ecreato Ecresc Ecresea Ecrewh Ecrewhead Ecrewhean Ecrino Ecrinoids Ecrisa Ecrishta Ecrite Ecroma Ecromansf Ecromes Ecrone Ecroni Ecroninio Ecronn Ecrons Ecrontapo Ecros O Ecrossa Ectoids Ectones Ectons Ectony Ectorian Ectorsian Ectroid Ectroids Ectrol Me Ectrolp Ectrom Ectrom Ka Ectrom Kav Ectroma Ectrosa Ectroviltr Ecurson Do Ecurson'a Ecurson's Ecursontac Ecursontar Ecursoral Ecursornam Edai T Edai Tec Edai Techagonkies Edaic Edaic Ki Edaic Me Edaran Edaridia Edarja Edarka Edarl- Edarlo Edarlocu Edarlocustatorsia Edarlord Edarza Edatha Edathe Edathi Edatho Edathu Edatly Edatlynoids Edator Edatorsi Eddorians Ant Makaars Eddoriansylvanids Eddoriansylvansforerse Eddorion Rigelf Eddornamekiansylvansyl Eddorns Eddororomastekai Edeans Or Edeansfor Edeansylv Edeansylvan Edearscal Edearscan Edearscar Edeem Edeenites Edeepient Edeepinkunk Edess Pup Edess Vol Edesson'a Edessorns Edessorsi Edess'rit Edess'ritia Edesterso Edestivanik Edestshof Edrians And Things Edriansforauntedea Edriansforeenimbul Edusan'Edusan B Edusanti Edusaria Edusarie Edusaris Eeaaamadoriak Eeaaamamaritess Eeaaamanshalaco Eeaaamariansfor Eeaaamarmonites Eeaaamarriak Eeaaamazzarburi Eebhutineerkeront Eebhutts Eeblebace Peop Eeblebroot Eeblerarctuskens Eeblerisaurians Eeblerserks Eebley Eebloodie-nen Rog Eebloodtradie-nen Eebloodtranage Eebloovoo Eecape- Eecapel Eecapod Eecapods Eecatbug Eecathu Eecatian Eech Ma Eech Mas Eech Tu Eechaet Eechaeth Eecheec Eechka Eechnia Eecho-ch Eechozo Eedai Eedaic Eedaic Pr Eedaic Privallat C Eedari Eedarr Eedarz Eedath Eedathasc Eedatl Eedato Eedria Eedrial S Eedriansf Eedriansh Eehoofon Eehoolan Eehoolar Eehoon A Eehoon F Eeians Of Eeians Or Eeians Oxi Eeiansform Eeianshado Eeianshans Eekeron Eekeroniansf Eekerons Eekeror Eekerse Eekerseedria Eekerseians Eekerseiansf Eekersn Eekerso Eekrode Eekrogs Eekrogu Eekrogues Eekrollarian Eekrom Eekrome Eekromi Eekromu Eekrons Eekrood Eekroot Eelack Eelactu Eelane Eelani Ee'lanii Eelans Ee'lans Ang's Pu Eelant Eelard Eelare Eelari Eelaria Eelat Eelati Eelatia Eelay Ee'lay Eelysi Eelysia Eenian Eeniansylva Eenimb Eenini Eenino Eenite Eenitesses Eenito Eep Khund Eep Khunt Eep Khura Eep Khurt Eep One A Eep One Alites Eep Oneheadico Eep Onese Eep Oneseans A Eepidonknoids Eepinkunk Eer Go Eer Godde Eer Menit Eer Menom Eer Ske Eer Sur Eer Surfe Eer Th Eer Thi Eera N Eeransformenov Eerarc Eerarcarriansh Eerathasc Eerathi Eerkers Eerks Eerkuh Eerkuhr Eerseekro Eerseia Eerser Eersna Eersnak Eersnatorsiansforms Eersor Eersora Eeshin/g Eeshingo Eeshings Eeshinnr Eeshivan Eeshiver Eetalancia Eetalaxian Eetalols Eetalonian Eetalytent Eetanitess Eetasoths Eevians Eeviath Eevilan Eeviles Eevils Eeviltr Eeviluk Efectonurian Efectorsians Efiancie Efians A Efians O Efiansfo Efiansha Efiansyl Egaforahvinee Egaforeru Egaformic Egawhatis Egawhatte Egawhattenctl Egawhattleila Egetalaag Egethe Myst Egethe Rath Egethe Unia Egethead Lo Egetheradia Egets Egnaalien Egnaalies Egnaalisk Egnaalons Egnaarjak Egnaarsca Ego The Grunassiansfo Ego Thern Alien Rogue Ego Thing Ghidopterew Ehati Ehatt Ehead Lor Ehead Lord Eheadcrago Eheadie-ne Eheadipose Eheadlehe Eheadleri Eheads Eheans An Eheans Of Eheans Ox Eheansfor Eheansylv Eheansylva Eheanteer Ehoofono Ehookess Ehoolian Ehoon Al Ehoon Ca Ehoon Fa Eian Bloov Eians Ando Eians Angh Eians Ango Eians Anno Eians Of Eians Oxi Eians Oxid Eiansford Eiansfores Eiansform Eianshala Eianshans Eianshape- Eianshapel Eiansylva Eiansylvan Eilaag Eilaaknaa Eilaaks Eilackons Eilacturi Eilanet Eilansylv Eilargum Eilarians Eilaxons Eilians A Eiliansf Eiliansha Eiliansy Eiliens Eilikans Eilikansh Eilimisha Eilimisht Eilimists Ekerono Ekerons Ekeroro Ekersee Ekerseeaaama Ekerseians O Ekerser Ekersna Ekersor Ekgol B Ekgol M Ekgolia Ekgolit Ekgolog Ekgolom Ekgolon Ekgoloo Ekgolor Ekgolou Ekhon Tec Ekhoniac Ekhonians Ekhonites Ekhons Ekhonunio Ekiancer Ekians A Ekians O Ekiansfo Ekiansha Ek'ihrin Eklack Eklacto Eklaest Eklakpa Eklaria Eklaxha Eklaxia Eklaxid Eklaxoi Ekroder Ekrodie Ekrodit Ekromes Ekromet Ekronom Ekroodt E-kullanciansf E-kullaxons E-kulls El Fishape-sh El Fisharr El Fishnarks El Fishta El Fishta Ner El Fishtarsca El Mechoix El Menians El Meninit El Midgethe L Elack Elack Arm Elack C Elack O Elack Oi Elackens Elacko Elackon Elaco Elacto Elance Of Andarzo Elancien Eland Elandaran Elanductip Elani Elaniac Elanid E'lanidersnators Elannian E'lannihilaneads Elansfor Elansh Elansha Elanshawan Elansyl Elant Elanterido Elanth Elanx Elareoni Elargr Elari Elaria Elarians Andi Elarisc Elarit Elaritessa Elarona Elarot Elarotheru Elarsc Elatalols Elatharial Elathi Elati Elatil Elatilie Elatisa El-aurians El-auronit El-aursora El-aursorn E'lay Elconduck Elconians Elcontaria Elcontaris Eldahl Eldan Eldancerarc Eldanians Eldar Eldaransyl Eldarasked Eldarks Eldarl-cta Eldarl-ctar Eldarl-gan Eldarlocu Eldarlora Eldarrh Eldarzant Elder Elder God Elderseeds Elderseian Elderseians Elderserk Eldersnake Eldersnat Eldersora Eldor Eldoralaag Eldoralsa Eldorians Eldorns Electoids Electons Electorsians Electrol Electronian Electrovit Eleracturia Eleranshad Eleraphila Eleratasoth Elerians Andron Eleridassia Elerions Elerseianik Elerseians Elerserge Nov Elerson' Elersorn Eless Pe Eless Vong Elesses Elessis Elest Of B Elestial B Elestiansforme Elestivali Elestivanrynoid Elestivater Elestrolp Eletone Aliest Eletonia Eletons Eletonunitessia Eletony Elgamekla Elgameks Elgamily Elgamites Elgamorpo Elgarbine Elgarbini Elgardians Elgardrag Elgarians Elgaritess Eliak Elian K Elian P Elian Von Eliange Elians Elians An Elians Of Eliansf Eliansfor Eliansh Elianshans Elianshar Eliansy Eliansylv Eliansylva Eliar Z Elinead Lo Elineans A Elineansy Elinecr Elinesean Eling Pla Elingonzo Elingooli Elingos Elingosiqu Elingoszu Elings Elinitess' Elinus Elinus Of Elinus Or Elinus Oxi Elkaria Elkarik Elkaris Elkarit Elkatha Elkathi Elkathu Ellandarl Ellanetal Ellansform Ellansha Ellanthal Ellantica Ellapathia Ellapum' Ellapum'ti Ellarial Ellarians Ellasian Ellasiansf Ellasothe Ellast Of Ellasterr Ellasterse Ellatili Elliak Ellian K Elliancerser Elliancor Ellians Ellians A Ellians An Ellians O Ellians Of Elliansfo Elliansfor Elliansha Ellianshak Ellianshan Ellianshanon Elliansyl Elliansylv Elliansylvan Ellien S Elliens Ellientor Ellife Fo Elliferel Ellimandw Ellimango Ellimax Ellimists Ellinecris Elling An Elling Pl Elling Rac Ellingons Ellingosi Ellings Ellion Liv Ellion Ra Ellionans Ellionarc Ellionarid Ellionian Ellionians Ellions Elliralsa Elmachimer Elmacrabel Elmaramanh Elmaransfo El'nagar El'nagat El'nage El'nagli El'naiid El'nairl El'nairn Elnormen Elnormic Elnorms Elnoths Elnotlin Elonesean Eloneseansylvana Elonian Elonians Elonians A Eloniansf Eloniansfo Elonide Elonider Elonidesti Elonists Elonite Elonitrov Elons Elotian Elotians Anthulh Elotiansha Elots Elphod B Elphodan Elphons Elphonur Elphoria Elphorks Elphorwe Elphostr Eltang Eltans Or Eltarem Eltarno Eltikwa Eltikwand Eltikwanga Eltikwank Eltikwanka Eltikwankh Elver Elversee Elves Elvia Elvians Elviansf Elviathu Elvis Elvisian Elvisite Elysian K Elysians Elysiansf Elysiansy Emalia Emalians Emalib Emalibanno Emalid Emalids Emalie Emaliest Emalit Emalitess Emanhu Emanhunte Emania Emanic Ki Emanid Emante Emanterse Emarac Emaria Emarid Emaril Pe Emarkans Emarmo Emarra Emarzo Emdom Grude Emdom Thead Emdomanics Emdominaris Emeni Emenia E-menia Emenians Emeniarf E-menim Emeno E-menob E-menom Emenom K Emenov Ement E-menti Ementors E-mentr Emera Emerac Emeranik Emerap Emerarca Emerel Emers Emerse Emersnak Emeta E-metal E-metas Emeth E-methe Emethi E-methi Emetho E-metho Emetr E-metra E-metro Emetrone Emetros Em'hada O Em'hadora Em'hardia Em'harith Em'harrio Eminar Eminat Eminato Eminbit Eming Eminit Eminoid Eminos Eminot Emiurg Emon Ca Emonduc Emoniansylv Emonide Emonids Emonogg Emonoids Emork-b Emoroks Emorphs En Race O En Raceans En Rachniderseians En Rainskiss Vong En Rategn En Rathia En Rigellingo En Rigels En Rigelth En Rigeltikwankalee En Rogerseiansylvan En Rogooma En Rogue Sex En Rogues En Seeker En Seekrobothe Alif En Sex Go En Sex God En Sex Li En Sex Lizansylvani Enans Enans Ox Enansfor Enansylv Enant Enantarn Enanthua Enants Enarammi Enarc Enari Enark Enarnans Enarnorm Enars Enarscar Enctlareon Enctoids Enctons Endahudin Endai Te Endalebrocr Endalee Endalie Endalisk Endalitesse Endarans Endarjakr Endarjakrits Endarkia Endarl- Endarl-c Endarl-ctar Endarl-ctat Endarres Endarza Endarzoids Endathinati Endathuan K Endatoria Endlehea Endleheads Endleheansf Endleheansforestrol Endleheants Endlerians Endlers Endlersna Endoans Of Endoansy Endoshak Endoshaname Endoshan-th Enean Eneans Eneans An Eneans Or Eneansha Eneansy Eneansylvaniansfore Eneanth Eneantr Enebace Enebian Enebian K Enebr Enebrice Enebrocrus Enebrocrustarisites Enebroo Enebrood Enebroot Enebroxis Enebugg Enebugs Enebugs Fromangeans Enebulo E-nen Sex Lizaremans Anns E-nenobulratorsianshaks Enerans Eneri Enerisc Enermat Enermen Enermentr Enerments Enese Enesean Eneseans Eneseansy Enet Ma Eneta Enetalarg Enetalles Enetalons Enetassis Enexi Enexian Enexians Enexiansf Enexiansh Enexiansha Enexiansy Enginea Engineadc Engineads Engineans Engineant Enginec Enginecri Enginecro Enginee Engineer Engineers Engines Enginesea Eniac Enian Eniancereel Enianciansha Eniancien Enians Enians An Enians Andos Enians Of Enians Of S Enians Or Eniansforen Enianshado Enianshal Enianshan- Enianshangs Enianshar-g Eniansharr Eniansylva Eniansylvana Enimbu Enimbularge Eninia Eninio Eninit Eninitessa Eninitesso Eninosede Eninostriles Enites Enitess V Enitessalien Enitessanga Enitessoraun Enitess'r Enitess'rith Enitorsia Enitorsian Enitronds Enity Enjarian Enjarik Enjaron Enjesu Enkethe C Enkethe P Enkethe U Enkethe W Enkethead Enkethean Enketheem Enketheru Enkethian Enkething Ennians An Enniansylv Enniea Ennietzschim Ennietzschni 'ennih 'enn-l Enn-lavian Enn-laviango Enn-lavos Enoboank Enobos Enobot Enobulan Enom And Enom Ant Enom G Enom Kav Enom Kaval Enom Kavali Enom Kavasu Enomad Enomadoria Enomans Of Enomasta Enomeninosiansha Enomeskl Enomesklini Enometroni Enommo Enomys Enomysterew Enomysteri Enomysterra Enomysterre Enons Enopte Enopter Therubim Enopterr Enoptrack Enoptral E Enoptrammin Enovan Enovanae Enovans Enovelli Enovellien Enovenarcar Enover Enovusarisa Ent Kero Ent Keroni Ent Kerons Ent Kers Ent Kersei Ent Kerser Ent Kersn Ent Kersna Ent Manh Ent Mas Ent Mast Ent Mechni Entachni Entacian Entacula Entacultu Entaglio Entagorloc Entagurso Entagursor Entak T Entaks Entapodi Entapods Entarellia Entareon Entareonia Entarggi Entarian Entarians Entark Menitesses Entarl-c Entarl-g Entarloc Entatal Entaters Entator Entauria Entauro Ential S Entialli Entialsa Entians Entiansf Entican Enticoi Enticoids Enticonia Enticorior Enti-mon Enti-mork Entisan Entisan Bl Entisma Entismo Entismo Th Entismol Entitansyl Entitia Entorian Entorior Entorsia Entorsians Entrabelat Entradi Entral Sh Entranet Entrans Entranx Entrat P Entratil Entrians Entribbl Entricontr Entrigels Entrills Entrisau Entroll Entrom G Entrom U Entroni Entros O Entrosap Envickens Envickersn Envicktori Envicktors Envid/inba Envid/inbi Envidiansh Envidiansy Envidiians En-whoberell En-whoboanni Enzites Eocheedriansfore Eocherlocks Eochevanacamauto Eochevansharrids Eochevashlairlin Eodrogansyl Eodrogue Si Eodronducti Eodrophenta Eoladi Eola-g Eolama Eolane Eolani Eolans Eolard Eolarg Eolars Eoniansha Eonidess Eonids Eonogglen Eonoids Eonom Kav Eonommo Eonosians Eonostsho Eople Alientar Eople Anda Eople Antedeepiens Eople Cole Eople Cupc Eople Cupcakem Eople Form Eople Graskeds Eople Guys Eople Of B Eople Of Baltark Elders Eople Of C Eople Of Galva Eorna Eorns Eosapien Eosapies Eoxys Ep Khufan Ep Khundo Ep Khunte Ep Khuran Ep Khur'q Ep Khurta Ep One Al Ep One Aliu Ep Onehead Ep Onesea Ep Oneseant Ephibian Ephilat Ephilimi Ephill M Ephime L Ephimera Ephimere Ephimesk Ep-hogene Ep-hogeni Ep-hoger Ep-hogers Ep-hoggle Ep-hoggoy Epidons Epidopterra S Epidoptrassian Epidorians Epidoridashta Epidornamily Epidornans Epien Rige Epientrisau-b Epiestiansfor Epiestrosa Eping Annenons Eping Ghid Eping Rach Epings Epinkunz Eplicaleks Eplixson's Epticansyl Epticassian Epticone Al Epticonian Epticonider Eptics Eptiliak Eptilians Eptilicans Eptiliconi Eptilienta Eptilientap Eptils Eptuniansy Eptuninite Eptunitesso Eptuniverv Eptunnerapt Eptunnesean Equenians Equeniansf Equeniansh Equenimbul Equeninito Equenitess Equenitors Er Godancersee Er Gods Er Mechnar Er Mechonur Er Meninitess'r Er Menovel Er Skedaic Er Skedarks Er Skeds Er Skeleri Er Skelest Er Sken G Er Skens Er Sui Gelnorm Er Sui Gene Er Sui Geni Er Suransfores Er The Guys Er Theedarl Er Theenino Er Theronia Er Theroro Er Thing A Era Ne Era Nerisi Era Su Era Sui Era Suran Erachn Erachnoids Erack Cl Erack Oil Erada Of An Eradarl Eraddashta Eraddasi Eraddasian Eraddasians Eradipos Eral Bra Eral Dorat Eral Ent Eralaaks Eralar Eralbattentri Eralbattl Eralfa Eralhanae Eralsapie Erandi Eranetaz Erans Or Erans Oxia Eransfor Eransforeru Eransh Eranshan Eransylvani Eranx Eraphos Eraps Erapton Eraptonianicatkines Eraptons Eraptonu Erarcadi Erarcean Erarceans Erarch Erarchy Erarcturi Erarctus Eratevs Eratha Erathal Erealsapi Ereansh Ereapelac Ereaperseianshadar Ereape-sh Ereat Pe Ereat Pel Ereat Ra Ereator Erebric Erebrocru Erebroot Erebuloid Erebulrath Ereecats Ereeds Ereens Ereetasom Erelay Erelgamily Erelgari Erellia Erellian Erelliang Erelliani Erellians Erellioni Erellira Erendari Erendarja Erenian Ererson Ererubim Ererubs Ererunari Ererunds Erewhea Erewhead Erewheans Erewifs Erewifsh Erewifshni Erewifshniderion C Erge Novans Oxi Ergeans Antians Andro Ergeansford Priest Of Ergeansforestrol Bior Ergeansforms Ergeanshaks Ergeansylvaniac Ergeanticontria Ergeantrinsunggoy Ergeants Eriak Erialsapiens Erianganiansylva Erians Erians An Erians And E Erians Anderseed Erians O Erians Of Erians Orian Erians Ox Eriansfor Eriansfore H Eriansforendorians Anda Eriansforms Eriansh Erianshaks Erianshan Erianshap Erianshapers Erianshardra Eriansy Eriansyl Eriansylv Eriansylvan Eridanc Eridancer Eridantar Eridashtarl- Eriderseian Eridiansh Eridiansylvannih Eridiians Eridonkie Eridopter Eridorice Do Eridoroid Erids Erileptun Erill Mec Eriloni Erings Erinitesses Erinobula Erinoids Erintarkanac Erinticaan'urith Erionark Erionians Erionider Erions Erioriansfo Erioroks Eriorsian Erisanga Erisau- Erisaurelliansylvanians Erishnito Erishta Nermenons Erishta Nosi Erishtagu Erisian Erisitess Erisito Erisitors Erken G Erken Rogs Erkens Erkero Erkerse Erkersn Erkerso Erkuhr Erl-ctare Erl-ctari Erl-ctarl Erl-ctatans A Erl-ctato Erl-gans Anno Erl-ganshanag Erl-gansy Erlocks Erlocusta Erloks Ermads Ermancie Ermand Ermani Ermansha Ermat Ermeni Ermenian Ermeno Ermenoboa Ermenom Ermenomys Ermenons Ermenopt Ermentis Ermera Ermerelli Ermerser Ern Alianshawan Ern Alientarnor Ern Alifrey Ali Ern Alishan Peo Eronan Éronan Eronar Éronar Eronarklackens Eronarn Éronat Erond K Érondo Éroneh Érones Eroneseantakans Eronia Éronia Eronian Eronianshalnorm Eronid Éronid Eronids Éronin Eronis Eronistsholings Eronit Éronit Éronn Eronog Éronog Eronoi Éronoi Eronoid Erons Érons Éronta Erontr Érontr Eroroi Eroroid Erorok Eroroks Eroror Erororo Errakeds Errakeronito Erraki Erranacamp Errand Errand Edd Errandali Errandca Erranian Errans Errans And Errans Anger Errans O Errans Of Errans Ox Erransfo Erransfor Erransha Erransyl Erransylva Erransylvana Erransylvansf Erranus Erranx Erread L Erreans Erreategnaar Errelay Erreli Errelians Errell Errellarsc Errellia Errendle Errenian Errens Errescene Erreseans Errest Errestia Errestri Errestric Errestros Errians Errionarka Errionit Errions Errona Erronator Erronduc Errone Ae Erronese Erroni Erronianshaperseeaaamazzarikanacans Oxis Erronn Errons Erseeaaam Erseeaaamarkl Erseeaaamarr Erseedarzoids Erseedria Erseedriansha Erseekero Erseekerson Alishnitessis Erseekerson's Erseekroderserrellia Erseians Erseians Andr Erseians O Erseians Of Balmaciansfor Erseians Oxians Ando Erseiansf Erseiansh Erseianshape Erseianshawa Erseiansyl Erseiansylva Erseiansylvan Erseraptorsia Erserge Nosiridanian Ersergean Ersergeans Erserrioriansforerubs Ersnakedai Ersnatiansylv Erson Cal Erson Carpets Erson Draithermenti- Erson'a Erson's P Ersornage Ersoroids Ertromagorna Ertros Oxian Erubel Erubel F Erubela Erubelan Erubelati Erubelay Erubellas Erubellasi Erubellaxi Erubim Erubs Erunari Erunark Erunarnorm Erundoa Erundoric Erundos Erundosha Erundoshad Erunds Erunner Erunnerat Erunneri Erunnerm Erunnerman Erunnese Ervoids Er-za Esalaman Esalanth Esalians Esaliens Esalient Esaliest Esal-kad Esal-kri Escenek Escenes Escenta Escenti Escento Escentr Escheni Eschent Esching Eseans Of Eseans Or Eseansfor Eseanshal Eseansylv Eseant Ma Eseants Eshi'ar Eshiff Eshifter E-shin/grotossariansfordashtagorgoids Eshinatc Eshing A Eshing R Eshingal Eshingol E-shingoomadorion Lizantiansylvanrynn E-shinniansforerunds Eshivann Eshive A Esians An Esians Anda Esians Andc Esians Ande Esians Ando Esians Ango Esians Of B Esians Or Esians Ox Esiansforah Esiansforal Esiansfores Esianshad Esianshan Esianshargg Esiansylv Eskling Ang Eskling Ghi Eskling Pla Esklinganym Esmera Esmere Esmers Esmeru Esperi Esperions Esperisau Espers Esperseek Espibb Espibbler Espidons Espidoric Espira Espiri Espirians Ess Peopl Ess Puppet Ess Vong Essangeans Essantics Essariansf Essariansh Essarilot Esses Essians Essians Of Essiansfo Essiansfor Essiansylvansy Essis Esson's Ca Essontap Essontra Essorahvi Essoralsa Essorathia Essoraunte Essoroids Ess'rites Ess'ritesses Ess'rities Est Majat Est Makan Est Masa Est Masterrelgamorp Est Of Ba Est Of Ga Est Of Y Est Of Yit Esterisha Esteronia Esteroniansylvansha Esterson'a Estial Living Rack Estial S Estialleebley Estiallimanicat Estian Kzer-za Estians Estians A Estians And Thenjesu Estians
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olog prediction is an imperfect science. In the example of the SAGA group, although both the individual genes and the overall protein complexes are conserved at the sequence and functional level between yeast, mice, and humans, we were not able to identify putative C. elegans orthologs for any of the RLS-extending SAGA deletions. We do not know whether this is due to sequence divergence, complete loss of this functionality from C. elegans, or other reasons, but it may offer an additional explanation for the fact that not every pathway we have uncovered in yeast is represented in the smaller subset of identified conserved genes.
Taken in context, the highly significant overlap between the final results of our screen of viable yeast deletions and published C. elegans genes suggests a high degree of general conservation in lifespan genotype-phenotype relationships between very distantly related species. This leaves open the possibility that these genes may be enriched for orthologs that can alter lifespan and aging in other organisms, such as humans.So if these bastards in DC decide to ruin the internet, here’s how to access your favorite sites in the event of a DNS takedown
tumblr.com 174.121.194.34
wikipedia.org 208.80.152.201
# News
bbc.co.uk 212.58.241.131
aljazeera.com 198.78.201.252
# Social media
reddit.com 72.247.244.88
imgur.com 173.231.140.219
google.com 74.125.157.99
youtube.com 74.125.65.91
yahoo.com 98.137.149.56
hotmail.com 65.55.72.135
bing.com 65.55.175.254
digg.com 64.191.203.30
theonion.com 97.107.137.164
hush.com 65.39.178.43
gamespot.com 216.239.113.172
ign.com 69.10.25.46
cracked.com 98.124.248.77
sidereel.com 144.198.29.112
github.com 207.97.227.239
# Torrent sites
thepiratebay.org 194.71.107.15
mininova.com 80.94.76.5
btjunkie.com 93.158.65.211
demonoid.com 62.149.24.66
demonoid.me 62.149.24.67
# Social networking
facebook.com 69.171.224.11
twitter.com 199.59.149.230
tumblr.com 174.121.194.34
livejournal.com 209.200.154.225
dreamwidth.org 69.174.244.50
# Live Streaming Content
stickam.com 67.201.54.151
blogtv.com 84.22.170.149
justin.tv 199.9.249.21
chatroulette.com 184.173.141.231
omegle.com 97.107.132.144
own3d.tv 208.94.146.80
megavideo.com 174.140.154.32
# Television
gorillavid.com 178.17.165.74
videoweed.com 91.220.176.248
novamov.com 91.220.176.248
tvlinks.com 208.223.219.206
1channel.com 208.87.33.151
# Shopping
amazon.com 72.21.211.176
newegg.com 216.52.208.187
frys.com 209.31.22.39
# File Sharing
mediafire.com 205.196.120.13
megaupload.com 174.140.154.20
fileshare.com 208.87.33.151
multiupload.com 95.211.149.7
uploading.com 195.191.207.40
warez-bb.org 31.7.57.13
hotfile.com 199.7.177.218
gamespy.com 69.10.25.46
what.cd 67.21.232.223
warez.ag 178.162.238.136
putlocker.com 89.238.130.247
uploaded.to 95.211.143.200
dropbox.com 199.47.217.179
pastebin.com 69.65.13.216
Here’s a tip for the do-it-yourself crowd: Go to your computer’s Start menu, and either go to “run” or just search for “cmd.” Open it up, and type in “ping [website address],”
Once you have the IP for a website, all you really need to do is enter it like you would a normal URL and hit enter/press go. Typing in “208.85.240.231” should bring you to the front page of AO3, for example, just as typing “174.121.194.34/dashboard” should bring you straight to your Tumblr dashboard. Since we’re obviously bracing for the worst case scenario which would involve you not being able to access the internet regularly, you should, save this list.When erecting skyscrapers in the desert, why not build out of the most plentiful material around? That’s the idea behind a new proposal for a group of 3-D printed sand skyscrapers, a scientific research facility called “ Sand Babel.” The speculative design earned an honorable mention in eVolo magazine’s 2014 Skyscraper Competition, a contest that recognizes novel ideas for vertical living.
Chinese designers Qiu Song, Kang Pengfei, Bai Ying, Ren Nuoya, and Guo Shen envisioned Saharan towers built from sand using a solar-powered 3-D printer. The twisted tower shape is based on the look of a mushroom rock, a naturally occurring desert rock formation.
The buildings would extend below ground, like the roots of a tree, offering living spaces for the scientists working in the labs above. The designers suggest the towers would also be tourist attractions, offering expansive views across the desert. Water would be harvested from the condensation on the upper net of the structure, where it fans out into a kind of mushroom cap. Solar and wind energy would power the complex and help it achieve a neutral carbon footprint.
Though this design is purely theoretical, and features plenty of futuristic idealism, it plays to a few key points architects will need to grapple with in the coming years. Climate change may exacerbate desertification–the process by which fertile land becomes desert–giving us even more arid land in the coming years. And with skyscraper building booms already underway in water-scarce, sand-rich places like Dubai, there’s clearly a need for more sustainable techniques of desert building.
[H/T: eVolo via Inhabitat]For ladies who don’t have the patience for coy flirtation, here’s something that gets the job done quickly: a sensor-enabled cocktail dress that flashes a whole lot of skin the more excited you get.
So say you meet some guy who sends your heart aflutter. The dress responds to your elevated pulse by growing transparent around the (already plenty skimpy) plunging neckline. Conversely, if he’s such a snooze that you’re about two seconds away from flat-lining, the dress stays opaque, sending an instant “no, thanks!”
Intimacy 2.0 is latest in a series of hyper-sexy e-dresses from the techie Dutch designers Studio Roosegaarde in collaboration with V2_Lab and fashion designer Anouk Wipprecht. Each dress combines embedded sensors and conductive “smart foils” that become see-through when zapped by electricity. But whereas previous iterations would’ve landed you in jail for indecent exposure (one dress went transparent simply by being around other people and covered less than a pastie), Intimacy 2.0 is designed to be flaunted outside of the bedroom. It’s still pretty damned racy, though. Big up to anyone who’s daring enough to wear it. The rest of us will have to stick to batting our eyelashes.
Dresses are available in black or white on custom order through Studio Roosegaarde. More info here.
[Images courtesy of Studio Roosegaarde; hat tip to Fashioning Tech]Following behind-the-scenes maneuvering and a public relations blitz by Democratic leaders, the California state legislature on Thursday evening, April 6, approved a $52 billion transportation funding package that raises the gas tax and imposes new vehicle fees to fix the state’s crumbling roads.
SB 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, passed the senate by a 27-11 vote, barely clearing the two-thirds hurdle needed to pass tax increases. After 10:30 p.m. the Assembly OK’d the bill on a 54-26 vote.
Going into the day, it wasn’t clear whether Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature’s Democratic leadership had enough support despite a sustained lobbying effort leading up to Thursday’s self-imposed deadline for a vote.
Failure to pass SB 1 would have been an embarrassing setback for the Democratic majority in Sacramento. Thursday’s deadline stemmed from the idea that opposition to the bill would harden during the legislative recess, which starts Friday.
Closed-door talks sought to convince reluctant Democrats to come on board. Particular focus was on Sen. Richard Roth and Assemblywoman Sabrina Cervantes, both D-Riverside. According to published reports, those lawmakers were being wooed with the promise of hundreds of millions of dollars in funding ticketed for Riverside County through a budget trailer bill.
Roth and another undecided Democrat, Connie Leyva of Chino, voted yes. The only Republican senator to vote for the bill was Anthony Cannella of Modesto.
Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, voted no. But the two-thirds threshold was cleared with Canella’s ‘yes’ vote.
Representatives of Cervantes and Roth could not be reached for comment. Going into Thursday, Roth said he did not support the bill while Cervantes was undecided.
Sponsored by Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, SB 1 will raise $52.4 billion over 10 years for transportation by raising California’s gas excise tax 12 cents to 30 cents a gallon, with annual adjustments for inflation. Also, the diesel excise tax will go up 20 cents to 36 cents a gallon and the diesel sales tax will rise from 1.75 percent to 5.75 percent.
Money also will come from a new fee on vehicles – those worth $5,000 or less will pay $25 a year while owners of vehicles worth $60,000 or more will pay $175 annually – and a $100 annual fee on zero-emission vehicles.
A constitutional amendment will require money raised through SB 1 to be spent solely on transportation.
Supporters said SB 1 was desperately needed to address a mounting backlog of road repairs in excess of $130 billion. They argued the tax hikes and new fees were cheaper than repair bills drivers faced driving on crumbling, pothole-strewn roads and that if lawmakers didn’t act now, the price tag for road work would only go up.
SB 1 also will spur economic activity by improving goods movement and supporting construction jobs that spend money locally, the bill’s backers said.
“If we can have better-maintained roads, we will prevent accidents and deaths and (it will) help us have a better outcome for traffic and congestion,” Beall said on the Senate floor.
Critics include GOP lawmakers and taxpayer advocates, who said new taxes and fees aren’t necessary to fix the roads and will add to the cost of driving in a state that pays among the highest gas prices in the nation. They added the state has squandered transportation funds and spent that money elsewhere.
The bill hurts the very people Democrats claim to champion, said Sen. Jeff Stone, R-Temecula. “I have a lot of folks at home and throughout this state that have to choose between gasoline and food,” he told his colleagues.
Environmentalists objected to a provision that will have loosened clean-air requirements for trucks. The South Coast Air Quality Management District, which is tasked with reducing air pollution, said that provision would “severely impact (the district’s) ability to implement its recently-adopted air quality management plan for ozone and fine particulates.”
The bill marked the first real test of Democratic power this legislative session. Democrats regained their supermajority last November, but just barely in the Senate.
Assuming every Republican voted no, a single ‘no’ vote from a Democratic senator would have sunk SB 1. The bill also would have failed if two of the Assembly’s 55 Democrats were opposed.
Going into the new year, Democratic leaders declared transportation to be a top priority. But while GOP power has waned in recent years, a bloc of moderate Democrats backed by business interests has been a barrier to liberal goals, including climate change legislation.
The moderates, who tend to represent inland areas, have been reluctant to sign on to tax hikes, fearing the potential wrath from blue-collar constituents who spent a lot on gas while driving long distances to work.
The governor, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount and Senate President pro Tem Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, made several joint public appearances on behalf of SB 1, including a rally with local elected leaders Tuesday in Riverside in a veiled appeal to Roth. The senator was not there.
Staff Writer David Danelski contributed to this report.Vintage Garage celebrates 1986!
Vintage Garage celebrates the 1980's! If you were born in 1986 you won't remember, but if you graduated High School in the 1980's you can't forget. Madonna was hot. Van Halen was huge. Our 80's theme give us an era to highlight. The outfits you would see (shoulder pads) and great 80's music, Madonna, Prince, English bands. Our resident vinyl spinning DJ promises a huge variety of 80’s classics. "Being a teenager in the 1980’s alway makes the August show my favorite, " Vintage Garage owner Melissa Sands says. "Now if I could just get all my friends from high school to show up, the day would be perfect!" The Vintage Garage has all the vintage you can handle, not just the 80's. All categories are represented, with 100 vendors each month. This all vintage flea market in Chicago rocks!PoliZette LA County Trains Poll Workers to Bypass State Election Law Training video tells roster clerks to let voters choose who they are from list of registered voters
A training video for poll workers in Los Angeles County appears to contradict California law requiring voters to identify themselves and their addresses before getting ballots — and sets up conditions that could help illegal voters cast ballots.
The election-integrity group True the Vote learned about the video from a Los Angeles poll inspector who reported concerns using the organization’s voter-fraud phone app, VoteStand.
“You may allow the voter to look for his or her name if you have trouble finding it.”
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The video describes how roster clerks can assist voters. It instructs the roster clerk to ask the voter’s name and address and then locate the voter in the roster or the blue supplemental roster page attached to the back cover.
“You may allow the voter to look for his or her name if you have trouble finding it,” the narrator says as a voter in the video points to a name on the voter registration sheet.
Catherine Engelbrecht, founder of True the Vote, said the practice runs counter to state law and invites fraudulent voting. Unlike many states, California does not require voters to show identification at the polls. That means the only safeguard is requiring voters to provide a name and address.
“All — all — that California is asking is to come in and say your name and your address,” she told LifeZette. “That’s why these front-end safeguards are so important.”
[lz_third_party align=center includes=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWO70Y6369w&feature=youtu.be”]
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True the Vote has sent a letter to officials but so far has not received a response.
Brenda Duran, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles Register-Recorder’s Office, told LifeZette that officials believe their training complies with the law. She wrote in an email that the roster of voters is publicly available for review and can be seen by anybody requesting to do so on Election Day.
“Further, anyone signing the roster is attesting to their qualifications and compliance with voting regulations under penalty of perjury,” she wrote.
Engelbrecht noted that Election Day is next week and that Los Angeles has 5.1 million registered voters.
“Time is of the essence,” she said, noting that Election Day is next week and that Los Angeles has 5.1 million registered voters. “It’s the largest voting bloc in the country … Our goal is just to get the problem fixed.”
Here is the regulation governing voting in California:
“Any person desiring to vote shall announce his or her name and address in an audible tone of voice, and when one of the precinct officers finds the name in the index, the officer shall in a like manner repeat the name and address. The voter shall then write his or her name and residence address or, if the voter is unable to write, shall have the name and residence address written by another person on a roster of voters provided for that purpose, whereupon a challenge may be interposed as provided in this article.”
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The proper procedure for a voter who cannot provide a name and address that match the rolls is to provide that person with a provisional ballot that is counted separately if his eligibility can be verified later.
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“But that’s not what they’re training for in LA County,” Engelbrecht said.
But Duran wrote: “The referenced requirement for voters to audibly state their name and address without viewing the roster is not a requirement for voting that our counsel deems enforceable.”
True the Vote officials said they compared training materials on the subject from other counties, including San Diego, Fresno, and Alameda, and found no allowance for voters to “assist” poll workers in finding their voter registration.
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Letting someone pick a name from a list not only could result in a fraudulent vote but cause major headaches for a genuine voter who already has been marked as voted.Introducing: Schematic Cards! By The Senate on 2015-09-22 22:44:00 The first Schematic Card is available now in the Cantina. The odds and card counts are as follows.
GREY: Available for the next several months in the Resource Base Pack at 1:20 odds. NOTE: These are the odds of pulling a GREY Schematic card in the Resource Base Pack, not the odds of pulling this specific card.
BLUE: Available for the next week in the Schematic Base Pack at 1:25 odds. NOTE: These are the odds of pulling a BLUE Schematic card in the Schematic Base Pack, not the odds of pulling this specific card.
PINK: Available for the next 24 hours in the Resource Master Pack at 1:40 odds. NOTE: These are the odds of pulling a PINK Schematic card in the Resource Base Pack, not the odds of pulling this specific card.
GREEN: Available in the Resource Master Pack at 1:100 odds, 500 count.
Once you pull your Schematic, search for the Slave I Build Card in the Smuggler's Den and find out what other resources and characters you'll need in order to build your very own Slave I! storeThis weekend, beleaguered British Prime Minister Theresa May was photographed tentatively extending her thumb and pinkie in the “Shaka” sign with a group of less-than-enthusiastic-looking teens at a U.K. music festival. May looked vaguely confused as she flashed the hand gesture, which translates to “hang loose” and is best known as sign language for surfers (as in, “sick cutback, brah”).
The photograph captured May’s attempt to bond with youth volunteers from the state-sponsored National Citizens Service program, one of whom told a local paper he was “just gassing we got the PM to do that.” The irony of a decidedly uncool May signaling a “cool” hand gesture was evidently not lost on him.
But using popular culture to boost political appeal has increasingly become an important strategy for politicians. This weekend’s photo-op shows May embracing that strategy, knowing that appearing cool or hip can transform a politician’s persona.
No one has mastered this more effectively than Barack Obama. As a presidential candidate, he translated his political campaign into a hip brand, selling himself as the (literal) poster boy of “Hope” to enthusiastic and digitally engaged young voters. In 2009, he became the first sitting president to appear on a late night talk show (Jay Leno’s); in 2012, the first sitting president to appear on a daytime talk show (The View), and the first to be interviewed on a podcast (WTF with Marc Maron) in 2015.
Obama appeared on Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show seven times, five of them while he was in office and two times before he became POTUS, including in 2005 when he was still a freshman senator for Illinois. He slow-jammed the news with Jimmy Fallon, delivered the “Decree” on The Colbert Report, and landed jokes in Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.” He and former first lady Michelle Obama were on Ellen DeGeneres’ daytime chat show so many times that she made a highlight reel on the last day of his presidency.
The art of translating political messages to popular media has long been referred to as “showbiz politics”—not always in a positive light.
Running against Obama in 2008, Arizona Sen. John McCain released an ad that suggesting that while Obama’s charisma and ability to entertain had made him popular, he was no more fit to run the country than Britney Spears or Paris Hilton.
“He’s the biggest celebrity in the world,” the ad warned. “But is he ready to lead?” Meanwhile, Mitt Romney was making a fool of himself during a Martin Luther King Day parade in Jacksonville, Florida, breaking into a bizarre rendition of the Baha Men’s “Who Let the Dogs Out?” while posing for a photograph with a group of young black people.
Long before Obama came along, Franklin Roosevelt was criticized for mixing “politics and glamor” as a way of wooing voters during his presidential campaign.
Yet the tactic benefited Harry Truman, who succeeded Roosevelt as president two months after he played piano with Lauren Bacall perched atop the instrument for the National Press Club in 1945. Three years later, Bacall and her husband Humphrey Bogart were vocal Truman supporters during his successful campaign for re-election.
John F. Kennedy also used pop culture to woo to voters, both during the primaries (Frank Sinatra reworked “High Hopes” for a JFK ad campaign) and throughout his presidency.
On the other side of the pond, the Harold Wilson cozied up to the Beatles to promote the Labour Party’s political agenda while campaigning to be prime minister in the 1964 general elections. Twenty years later, Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock was criticized by fellow politicians (and hailed by fans) when he appeared in a Tracey Ullman music video.
In the mid-’90s, Geri Halliwell of the Spice Girls controversially declared former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher “the pioneer of our ideology—girl power.” When he assumed power Tony Blair held a “Cool Britannia” reception at 10 Downing Street.
Blair later appeared with comedian Catherine Tate in a 2007 sketch for charity telethon Comic Relief, with Tate playing her most famous character, mouthy schoolgirl Lauren, whose refrain “Am I bovvered?” entered the national argot.
Blair’s successor Gordon Brown said he liked the band Arctic Monkeys but couldn’t remember, when asked by GQ, the names of any of their songs. “They’re very loud,” Brown said.
In the U.S., Ronald Reagan’s critics derided his background in Hollywood when he ran for president, but Nancy Reagan’s 1983 appearance on the sitcom Diff’rent Strokes was considered a big moment for her “Just Say No” anti-drug abuse campaign.
Bill Clinton’s 1992 saxophone performance on The Arsenio Hall Show, and later performances on Larry King Live and MTV, were more assured than the Reagans’ faltering embrace of youth culture.
After Obama’s embrace of youth and pop culture worked so well for him, the presidential candidates in the 2016 election desperately attempted to emulate his strategy.
Bernie Sanders surpassed Obama in some respects with his grassroots campaign and calls for “revolution,” landing him the center of a “Berniemania” political youth movement unlike anything America had seen since the 1960s. While many millennials turned their noses up at Hillary Clinton, whose attempts to win youth voters by appearing “cool” and “hip” frequently backfired, they adored Sanders and perceived him authentic.
As with Obama, showbiz strategies—an appearance on Ellen in which he said “Burn, Bernie, Burn” would be an appropriate ice-cream flavor named after him, as well as appearances on Bill Maher and Jimmy Fallon’s shows—worked for Sanders. While one interview between Sanders and his surrogate Killer Mike was criticized by many in the black community, his efforts to maintain his hold on the youth vote were never too try-hard.
The opposite was true for Hillary Clinton (recall her attempts to explain student debt in emoji on Twitter, and her “colored people joke” with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio). However, her October 2015 appearance on Saturday Night Live as Val the barmaid opposite Kate McKinnon as Clinton herself won plaudits.
Generally, despite the support of the likes of Katy Perry and Lena Dunham, pundits and columnists frequently implored Clinton to stick to what she was good at rather than waste energy trying to appeal to millennial voters and the creative class.
Even with Sanders out of the race and stars like Beyoncé and JAY-Z hosting fundraisers for Clinton, cultural heavyweights and the Democratic-majority millennial vote weren’t enough to defeat Donald Trump in the general election. (Trump’s best-known young advocate, Milo Yiannopoulos, is as divisive as he is.)
As for Theresa May’s “Shaka” photo-op this weekend, even the teens making the gesture in a huddle around her did so half-heartedly. This won’t be a transformative moment for the British PM—not unless she reveals to the U.K. tomorrow that she plays drums and is a big David Bowie fan.In light of Brookfield Properties' highly publicized bike confiscation scandal last week ("Bikegate,") and the same company's manhandling of a busker, councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam is asking the city to look at the possibility of marking the often invisible line between public and private property.
If you recall, Brookfield Properties, the owner of the Hudson's Bay Centre at Yonge and Bloor, removed a bike that was legally chained to a street fixture on public property and placed it in storage--no note of explanation. The incident was, of course, a PR disaster.
There's some precedent for demarcating public and private: New York City property owners occasionally mark such lines with metal plaques or discreet strips etched into the pavement. Toronto property owners sometimes do the same, but there are no rules requiring boundary markers.
Confusion tends to arise when buildings are set back from the street, Wong-Tam writes in her city council motion. At the Hudson's Bay Centre there is a portion of sidewalk in front of the building, which is technically private property. Brookfield staff wrongly assumed--perhaps because there's no clear marker--that their portion of the sidewalk was larger (it's also possible the security detail saw itself as unofficial by-law officers).
Late last month, the city unveiled the first in a series of privately owned publicly-accessible space (POPS) markers at CityPlace. The little plaques, which are the brainchild of councillor Josh Matlow, label spaces that are not owned by the city but are still freely accessible, in effect blurring the line between public and private.
The motion, which is backed by cllr. Matlow, is up for debate at next week's city council meeting.
Should the city draw a line in the sand, so to speak, between public and private space?
Photo by marina~ in the blogTO Flickr pool.
Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.Clouds of coal dust and petroleum coke, a waste product from the refining of tar-sands oil, have been enveloping neighborhoods on Chicago’s southeast side. Federal, state, and city officials are finally moving to temper the dangerous air pollution.
The villains: KCBX Terminals (a division of Koch Industries) and Beemsterboer Slag Co.
The villainous acts: The companies own three terminals along the Calamut River that are storing huge piles of coal and petroleum coke, aka petcoke, which is coming from a nearby BP refinery. But they aren’t bothering to cover all that gunk to make sure it stays on site, so it’s being picked up by winds and blown over neighboring homes, forcing residents to stay indoors.
The plot: The piles of petcoke are expected to grow in Chicago and elsewhere around the country as refineries switch to processing tar-sands oil from Canada. Detroit suffered a similar problem (also courtesy of the Kochs) until city, state, and federal officials banded together to chase it away with lawsuits and legislation.
The victims: Residents of Chicago’s East Side and South Deering neighborhoods.
What the victims want: “Move the piles!” That was the chant that went up Thursday evening at a community meeting to discuss the problem. Another obvious solution: Cover the damned things. That’s what California law requires.
The latest twists: The U.S. EPA on Friday ordered the terminal owners to install pollution monitors, part of an effort to determine whether they are violating the Clean Air Act. That followed lawsuits filed last month by Illinois. On Monday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) joined the fray, as the Chicago Tribune reports:
The mayor’s office announced in an email that Emanuel is ordering the Department of Public Health to adopt “strict regulations on the maintenance and storage” of petroleum coke stored in massive uncovered piles along the Calumet River just south of the Chicago Skyway bridge. The email was short on specifics but promised that three storage terminals will be required to take more aggressive action to tamp down thick black dust that blows into surrounding neighborhoods and washes into the river.
Here’s hoping that Chicago, the state of Illinois, and the EPA can step up the pressure and close out this story as heroes.
(Memo to Obama: Approving Keystone XL would help flood the country with more tar-sands oil, leading to more petcoke piles and more air pollution.)First, let me just say that the format of tonight's debate was a disservice to American democracy because NBC and Gallup went out of their way to fill their ersatz "town hall" with the most checked-out, uninformed and disengaged "citizens" who remain "undecided" after eight years of George W. Bush, two foreign quagmires, and the worst economic meltdown in 70 years. Usually "town hall" meetings are made up of the most engaged and active citizens in the community. Not tonight. In October 2008, if you are still "undecided" -- I'm sorry -- you are either a cretin or a beast. Having said that, I believe it was clear tonight that Barack Obama has a far superior understanding of the moving parts of government and American society than John McCain ever had.
Obama's responses were substantive and grounded in a philosophy of governance that respects the rights of all American citizens and not just the privileged few. McCain is obviously wedded to the same old Milton Friedmanesque laissez-faire failed policies the Republicans have been ramming down the nation's throat for three decades as evidenced by his prescriptions on health care, energy, and "entitlement reform." McCain proved, once again, that he is running for Bush's third term. McCain accusing Obama of having "cronies" and "friends" on the board of Freddie and Fannie who are responsible for the current financial crisis is hypocritical and dishonest. McCain talks about American workers being "the best in the world," which is interesting since he has one of the worst voting records on labor union issues in the U.S. Senate. Again, hypocrisy and dishonesty. McCain used the same tired old Republican euphemisms for privatizing Social Security and health care. Nothing Obama said tonight was either hypocritical or dishonest.
It was brilliant of Obama to point out that even the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has denounced McCain's health care scheme to tax benefit payments. Obama was the first to mention 9/11 and spoke eloquently and passionately about the unity of purpose the nation felt in those early months after the attacks and how we must regain that sense of purpose. McCain only offered his warmed over platitudes about "fighting" for this, and "fighting" for that, and "America is Great" and "David Petraeus" and "victory and honor" in Iraq and "earmarks" and blah, blah, blah.
McCain used the annoying term, "my friends," 21 times. He referred to the "Afghan freedom fighters," which, unfortunately included Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban. His "spending freeze" (other than defense and veterans benefits) is the most regressive proposal of any candidate since Steve Forbes was hawking his "flat tax." McCain has stolen all of his material either from Hillary Clinton or from Obama.
But the really terrible part of this whole night was what was not said. Sarah Palin and John McCain have been using slurs and smears against Obama that are sliding very close to being racist or at least white supremacist. Sean Hannity has Andy Martin, a vicious anti-Semite, on his show slamming Obama. They are trying to turn up the heat and resurrect the idea that Obama is some kind of terrifying "Other," but McCain tonight dialed it down to appear "presidential," which he is not. McCain is NOT the "steady hand on the tiller" that he talked about twice during the debate. He is a shaky warmongering hand who has bad judgment: bad judgment on picking Sarah Palin, bad judgment on helping Charles Keating (and that's according to a Senate committee), bad judgment on the war in Iraq, and bad judgment on how to deal with the economic crisis.Brewer Jon Cross prepares to add ingredients to a brew of White Rascal. Avery Brewing Co. plans to build what would be the largest brewery in Boulder. (CLIFF GRASSMICK)
"Awesome."
That's the way Avery Brewing Co. president Adam Avery described feeling when his company received Boulder Planning Board approval Thursday night to build a brewery, restaurant and tap room at 4910 Nautilus Court.
The $27 million, 95,922-square-foot project, which will also include a gift shop and offices, has been in the planning stages for nearly a year and a half, Avery said. It will be the largest brewery in a city well known for its craft brewers.
"It's been a long time coming," Avery said.
The Planning Board unanimously approved the project, which Avery officials say is necessary because their production needs have outgrown the building at 5763 Arapahoe Ave.
Board members praised the project while offering input on details such as landscaping and architectural design for the building's entryway.
Members including Sam Weaver said the entryway, with its high archway, looked too grandiose for the building's character. They offered the comments as pointers instead of making a change to the entryway a condition of the plan's approval.
"The project is so much better than anything out there right now," Weaver said. "We're just talking about the final tweaks on what's already a really, really good plan."
Joe Brooker, trustee for the Boulder Country Day School, which neighbors the 5.2-acre Avery site, spoke at the meeting. After clearing up concerns about Avery delivery trucks traveling down Nautilus Drive -- they will instead access the brewery via 63rd Street -- Brooker said the company has been a pleasure to deal with.
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"They have done a tremendous job of addressing the concerns we have," Brooker said.
He did ask that the brewing company refrain from using its eastern parking lot for special events in an effort to keep alcohol consumption as far from the school as possible. With Adam Avery's support, that request became a condition of the plan's approval.
No one commented on the height of the brewery's fermentation tanks, which, at nearly 55 feet tall, did require a zoning variance.
Company officials will now begin working out the finer points of the plan, Avery said, and the project could break ground as soon as August.For the first time ever, scientists have sequenced the genome of the world’s tallest land species, the giraffe. Surprisingly, this majestic creature required only a small handful of mutations to attain its remarkable physical stature and physiology—but these mutations packed an evolutionary punch.
With their long necks and elegant strides, giraffes have captivated humanity for thousands of years. But there’s more to these animals than their height, which can reach upwards of 19 feet (6 meters).
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Giraffes are surprisingly swift runners, capable of sprinting 37 miles per hour (60 km/h). They also need to pump blood nearly seven feet (two meters) straight up in order to supply their brains with an ample oxygen supply. To that end, giraffes have evolved a rather large left ventricle, and a blood pressure that’s about twice as high as other mammals. They’re also capable of digesting acacia leaves and seedpods—highly nutritious foods that are poisonous to most other animals.
The reasons for the giraffe’s long legs and neck are fairly obvious, and have been discussed since before the time of Darwin. Biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck famously argued that giraffe necks needed to get longer so they could reach food way up high (i.e. “Lamarckian evolution”). He was almost correct. As Darwin later pointed out, their necks were the result of selectional processes; only those animals with necks long enough to reach the tallest branches thrived and survived.
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This much we knew, but scientists weren’t sure about the exact biology involved, and how giraffes, from a genetic perspective, evolved their panoply of characteristics. Its closest living relative, the okapi, looks more like a zebra than its lanky cousin, so there aren’t other “intermediate” species to go by.
In an effort to learn more about the genetic constitution of the giraffe—and to paint a clearer picture of its evolutionary history—scientists from Penn State University sequenced the entire giraffe
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happy to announce that Halo: The Master Chief Collection will be released
on November 11 for the majority of our fans around world!
There are still a few countries that will see a slight delay
due to public holidays. In Europe, Belgium will release on November 12 and
France will release on November 14 as part of their typical Friday release
schedule. Our fans in Japan will see a
release of November 13. Given the social
aspects of the experience, we were really happy to get it as close to a simultaneous
worldwide release as possible so that we can all celebrate on November 11 and
start playing together.
This is literally going to be the biggest Halo experience so
far
That is to say, the sheer size and scope of the content. To
recap, Halo: The Master Chief Collection contains four complete Halo games,
every multiplayer map ever released (including DLC from console and PC) across
each game, a complete remaster of Halo 2 with all-new audio and Blur’s
mind-blowing cinematics, and all of this is tied together with (and enhanced
by) a revolutionary user interface.
From the start, our philosophy has been to give Halo fans
the best possible experience and not compromise the quality or features of the
collection. The result is that Halo: The
Master Chief Collection will take up almost all of the usable space of a single
Blu-ray (45 GB), and we will also issue a content update at launch that is
estimated to be 20 GB. You’ll be able to
start playing Campaign and more as the content is installing, with some
features and multiplayer content being added via the update. Yes, the update is
large, but we weren’t about to cut corners to save disc space. This ensures that you are getting every bit
of Halo goodness we can fit in. Our work
is not done, however, as we continue to tune, tweak and optimize the online
experience to ensure a smooth multiplayer launch. This will continue right up until launch day.
One caveat we wanted to share is that Spartan Ops, our
episodic co-op experience from Halo 4, will now release in December. In the meantime, we’re making some technical
enhancements to that experience to make sure it’s smoother and even better than
before. All ten episodes will be available at the same time, so we’re working
to make an event out of it with our Community teams.
26 more sleeps!
Lastly, I’d like to extend my heartfelt thanks to you, our
fans. Development of a game is always hard, but Halo: The Master Chief
Collection has been the most challenging of my career. No team has really
attempted a project like this, and the number of moving pieces has been
staggering. The development team at 343 Industries has been working hard
alongside our partners to make this happen and, at every step, you have been
there for us. Whether it’s with encouraging words at events, or via messages on
Twitter, I can tell you that your feedback is crucial and fuels our drive to
make Halo: The Master Chief Collection the best it can be.
I’d like to thank you all for your continued enthusiasm,
excitement and support for this game. See you on Xbox Live!
-DanStory highlights Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has reportedly told advisers to work on plans for an independent campaign for president
A source familiar with Bloomberg's thinking said aides to the three-term mayor are looking at ballot access issues
Washington (CNN) Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is seriously considering a possible independent presidential run and is looking at making a decision sometime in March, two sources familiar with Bloomberg's thinking told CNN on Saturday.
One source said aides to the three-term mayor are looking at ballot access issues, but the source refused to speak specifically about what Bloomberg, 73, asked to be done.
The source added that Bloomberg sees the Republican and Democratic presidential races as becoming increasingly polarized, and neither fits Bloomberg's views. But Bloomberg, who has flirted with Oval Office aspirations in the past, is serious about a possible candidacy, the source insisted.
A decision will have to be made by the first week of March, likely before it's clear who the Democratic and Republican nominees are, because of the process to get on ballots for the November election.
A spokesman for the former mayor declined to comment.
Read MoreDemand response markets are taking off in Europe, writes Jeff St John of the US energy website Greentech Media. For example, Belgian demand response specialist REstore, with more than 1 GW of peak load under management from large industrial customers, is set to expand into the UK and France. Pieter-Jan Mermans of REstore explains his strategy and tells why Germany is such a difficult market. Article courtesy of Greentech Media.
The opportunities for demand response in Europe are growing — and REstore is raising money to grow with them.
On Thursday, the Antwerp, Belgium-based startup announced a €7 million ($7.5 million) Series C capital round, to expand operations from its home country and the U.K. to France and Germany, and beef up its data analysis and control platform for the industrial and commercial customers it’s tapping for flexible electricity load.
In the past four years, REstore has grown from a few megawatts of industrial load to more than 1 gigawatt of peak load under management, serving more than 80 industrial customers including Arcelor Mittal, Praxair, Sappi and Barclays. Its revenues grew 700 percent from 2013 to 2014, and since the end of last year it’s increased its share of “95 percent reliable” load from 250 to 350 megawatts — a measure of how much can offer equal or better certainty than natural gas-fired power plants of being there for grid needs.
REstore’s new round, led by existing investors LRM, Axe Investments, Ark Angel Fund and other individuals, brings its total capital raised to €11 million ($12.5 million), according to Thursday’s announcement. REstore wants to grow its always-available portfolio to more than 2 gigawatts by 2018, and “that’s steep growth, and that requires some capital,” co-CEO Jan-Willem Rombouts said in a Thursday interview.
It’s also seeking to expand to “a European-wide scale,” he said, to match an expanding set of opportunities for turning flexible loads like steel smelters, freezers, pumps, fans and manufacturing lines into grid resources.
Europe’s demand response needs aren’t driven by summertime peak loads, like they are in the United States. Europe does have some wintertime electric heating loads — but the bigger drivers are the system-wide effects of the continent’s growing share of intermittent wind and solar power, REstore co-founder Pieter-Jan Mermans said.
First of all, “our power plants are increasingly being mothballed. That’s a trend that’s crystal clear, and will not be reversed any time soon,” he said. “Secondly, the penetration of intermittent renewables continues to grow, which means real-time volatility on the grid.”
Capacity markets bring US-style demand response to Belgium, UK, France
Capacity markets are one way to solve the issue of power plants being shut down, he said. That’s the form of demand response pioneered in the United States by companies like EnerNOC and Comverge, in which these aggregators bid alongside power plant operators to commit to meeting future peaks in grid energy demand, and then deliver on them years later.
While the majority of U.S. demand response is through capacity markets, Europe has just started to create the structures that allow demand-side resources to participate. Belgian transmission system operator Elia got the ball rolling last year by opening up market bids for 2 gigawatts of capacity to meet winter power shortfalls.
The next big capacity market to open up is France
The U.K. held its first capacity auction in December, and while the lion’s share of the 45 gigawatts or so of winning bids went to power plants instead of demand response, REstore also won some of them, Mermans said. REstore also competes against a host of demand response companies in the U.K., including EnerNOC, Kiwi Power, Flexitricity, and Honeywell and partner Stor Generation.
The next big capacity market to open up is France, Mermans said. Starting in 2016, French grid operator RTE and other transmission system operators (TSOs) will start asking the country’s power suppliers, i.e. power plant owners, to offer capacity certificates to qualified parties on an over-the-counter market.
Out of France’s entire 90 to 100-gigawatt wintertime peak load, about 6 gigawatts of capacity is expected to be needed to fill in gaps that can’t be met by the country’s nuclear and fossil fuel-fired generator fleet, “and that’s obviously where demand response can compete,” he said. Competitors in this market are Actility, Voltalis, and Energy Pool, the demand response aggregator majority-owned by French grid giant Schneider Electric, which has a big presence in France’s existing capacity programs.
Wind and solar power create demand for fast-reacting building controls
The second opportunity lies in primary reserves markets, he said. These correspond to frequency regulation or ancillary services markets in the U.S., which operate on a minute-by-minute — or second-by-second — basis for generation or load reduction that can help balance grid imbalances.
In the United States, companies like Enbala Networks, Powerit Solutions, Demansys and Viridity Energy are providing this kind of fast-acting load control. It’s a pretty cost-effective way to give the grid the flexibility and reliability it needs to run amidst more complex and variable conditions, compared to building energy storage systems or tapping power plants.
Back in 2013, REstore was the first European company to network and control building loads for primary reserves markets run by Belgian TSO Elia. Since then, it’s started to apply the same technology to similar programs, like the Firm Frequency Response program started by U.K. grid operator National Grid early this year, which opens up roughly 1,000 megawatts for qualified participants, Mermans said.
“In Germany you have four big integrated utilities that prefer to run their power plants in a profitable fashion, and prefer to shut the market from substitutes that are much cheaper”
France is the latest market to allow demand-side resources to participate in primary reserves markets, which opens up the opportunity to compete for a share of about 600 megawatts of fast-acting grid resources, he said. That market is “worth several hundred million Euros per year,” according to RTE’s web site.
Still, that’s only a slice of what Mermans estimated is a Western European-wide primary reserve market of some 3,000 megawatts. A lot of that remainder lies in Germany, the country at the epicenter of the continent’s energy market disruptions.
German utilities like RWE and E.ON are marking multi-billion dollar annual losses from power plants that can’t generate power at prices competitive with government-supported solar and wind power. E.ON announced in December that it’s planning to split its business into one unit managing its traditional power assets, and another focused exclusively on renewable power, efficiency and distributed, customer-sited energy activities.
Data to prove out demand response’s capabilities for regulators
Advanced demand response capabilities could be a natural fit for this new grid-edge utility business model, as could virtual power plants, microgrids and other ways to organize distributed, demand-side grid resources as grid assets and energy market participants. But so far, Germany’s regulatory structures haven’t moved as quickly to create markets to allow third-party demand response providers like REstore to play a role in that transition, Mermans said.
“The big question is, how the regulatory landscape will evolve,” he said. “Germany has been the country that has not been very welcoming for demand response. It’s very simple — it’s all about the fact that you have four big integrated utilities that prefer to run their power plants in a profitable fashion, and prefer to shut the market from substitutes that are much cheaper.”
At the same time, European demand response companies are working on opening those markets, he said. One important player in Germany is Entelios, a startup that brought the first demand-based capacity to Germany’s secondary reserves market, and was bought by EnerNOC last year. Here’s a map from the Smart Energy Demand Coalition industry group that ranks different countries’ openness to European Commission directives to include demand-side resources in broader energy efficiency and carbon reduction goals.
One of the big questions for European grid operators is how reliable, flexible and scalable demand-side resources can be in meeting grid needs. After all, electricity isn’t just a commodity to be traded for grid needs for factories, warehouses, data centers, office buildings and other end customers – it’s the lifeblood of keeping their businesses running smoothly and profitably.
That’s why REstore is going to spend some of its new funding on expanding the capabilities of its Flexpond software platform, Rombouts said. In particular, it will be boosting its data analytics capabilities, to put the immense amounts of data it’s pulling from its customer sites to new uses.
That could open up new possibilities for REstore’s customers to put fast, automated power controls to use in managing exposure to risk on spot energy markets, or predicting and mitigating peaks in energy consumption that trigger high demand charges, he said.
“As an aggregator, we believe we are uniquely positioned, as we log massive amounts of this behind-the-meter data,” he said. “We are really looking for patterns in the way that power is consumed. We want to learn what power is truly flexible.
Editor’s Note
This article was first published on Greentech Media on 8 May and is republished with permission here.The al-Qa'ida leader Osama bin Laden called for jihad (holy struggle) over the Israeli offensive in Gaza in a new audio tape that appeared on Islamist websites today.
The Saudi-born militant said the global financial crisis had exposed the waning US influence in world affairs and would in turn weaken its ally Israel.
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 $0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.
"Our brothers in Palestine, you have suffered a lot.... the Muslims sympathise with you in what they see and hear. We, the mujahideen, sympathise with you also..." bin Laden said in the tape entitled 'A Call for Jihad to Stop the Aggression against Gaza'.
"We are with you and we will not let you down. Our fate is tied to yours in fighting the Crusader-Zionist coalition, in fighting until victory or martyrdom."
The Palestinian death toll from a 19-day-old Israeli offensive to crush the Islamist Hamas movement in Gaza has risen to 971, causing widespread anger among ordinary Arabs and Muslims. Israel says 13 Israelis have been killed by rockets or mortars from Gaza.
In the 22-minute tape, bin Laden said that the United States was losing its dominant position in the world and that this was due to al-Qa'ida's campaign.
"The jihad of your sons against the Crusader-Zionist coalition is one of the key reasons for these destructive effects among our enemies," bin Laden said in the tape that was dated in the current Islamic month.
"God has bestowed us with the patience to continue the path of jihad for another seven years, and seven and seven... The question is, can America continue its war with us for several more decades to come? Reports and evidence would suggest otherwise."
The authenticity of the tape, produced by al-Qa'ida's media arm As-Sahab, could not immediately be verified but the voice sounded like that of bin Laden.
Bin Laden last appeared in an audio tape in May and also focused on Gaza, calling on Muslims to try to help end the blockade of the area.
The al-Qa'ida leader has placed growing emphasis on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in recent years and Wednesday's audio tape was accompanied by a still of bin Laden and a picture of al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, Islam's third holiest shrine.
Behind the September 11, 2001 attack on US cities, al-Qa'ida has regularly called for attacks on the Jewish state.
Al Qaeda is widely blamed for a suicide attack on an Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya and a simultaneous failed attempt to shoot down an Israeli charter jet near Mombasa airport in 2002.
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.
At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads.
Subscribe nowPosted on: September 7, 2015
We caught up with photographer Jason Gebauer when he was passing through Winter Park, Colo., while scouting landscape to shoot this coming winter.
A resident of Golden, Colo., Gebauer is on the road two months a year but gets out climbing and photographing about three days a week. "I mostly shoot climbing and climbing lifestyle, but I've been getting into skiing and ski mountaineering," he tells us.
One image, Wyatt Payne freesoloing Eldorado State Park's 5.10c "Outer Space," piqued our interest and we wanted to know more. "I have this personal stance on freesoloing," he said. "I don't care if someone wants to do it. I block it out that they're [ropeless]. I can have someone redo a shot when they use a rope, but when it comes to [soloing], I stay silent and let them do their thing. I've witnessed quite a few freesolos, from easy stuff in Eldo to sandbagged routes like Pat Kingsbury on The Umph Slot in Boulder Canyon, which is 5.8++ or 5.12."
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Below Gebauer walks us through some of his work. —Chris Van Leuven
Country Club Crack
It was a cold spring day and after deciding to shoot the night before, we ended up on the Country Club Crack (McCarty-Rouillard, 1956; FFA: 5.11c Ament-Stults-Rutwitch, 1967) in Boulder Canyon. I've always been intrigued by the history of climbing and how it has evolved over the years. This route definitely holds a place in the history of climbing. With the FFA in 1967, it once held the title of hardest crack climb in the US. Climber: Eric Jesse; belayer: Ilana Jesse.
Kelso Ridge, Torreys Peak
July 4, 2014 was spent on an early morning climb of Colorado's Kelso Ridge (2,000'). While not a technical route, Kelso Ridge offers dramatic views of the valley below and gives off a big mountain vibe. Heather Porpiglia, James Johnson and I enjoyed a moment of reflection while taking in the dramatic views from the knife-edge portion of the route.
The Needles
I always knew about the Needles in the Black Hills, but it was never high on my tick list until moving out West. With ground-up hand drilling and old school spire rappels, you leave with a sense of untouched wilderness and remoteness. We set out in late May to escape the rain in Colorado, only to arrive to the threat of more rain in South Dakota. Undeterred, we took a quick drive to Custer State Park and tried to get a few climbs in before the rain fell. I captured Patrick Gensel topping out on The Hitching Post (5.3) just before dark.
Five Year Plan
Located in the Flatirons just outside of Boulder, Colorado, Five Year Plan (5.13 a/b) is considered one of the hardest Front Range cracks. Pat Kingsbury hit me up for an early morning rally—some people just want to get on routes that most don't want to even attempt. It's great being around someone who is that motivated.
Outer Space Freesolo
Climbing 5.10 in Eldorado Canyon is one thing. Freesoloing a two-pitch 5.10c is a whole different game. Wyatt Payne is one of those people who when you meet them, you know there is something different going on there. I soloed up the Whale's Tail formation across the canyon to get the shot. I had the best seat in the house for a beautiful display of mind over body.
Hraundrangi, Iceland
When researching my trip to Iceland, this spire was one of the first images to catch my eye. In Iceland the weather can change at a moment's notice. After nearly a week of wind, rain and snow, the night became calm and the skies cleared. The morning was warm and we got an extremely late start on our climb. I captured this shot of Patrick Gensel heading toward Hraundrangi as Heather Porpiglia and I followed. As we made the approach, two wet slab avalanches ripped past us, one on our left and the other on the right. After that we bailed.
Birth, Indian Creek
Snow, sleet, and rain turned what is usually a six-hour drive to Indian Creek into a nine-hour drive. I rolled into camp around 11 p.m. just in time for a quick hello before everyone was out. I awoke to pouring rain and people packing up to head home. Pamela Shanti Pack and Pat Kingsbury stayed warm in their tents. They didn't have anywhere to be for at least another three weeks. The next day the rock was dry. I jugged up over an empty Indian Creek and squeezed into the offwidth. I couldn't move, let alone look through the camera. I held my lens below me and fired off six shots. This was number three.
Alpinist, our small editorial staff works hard to create in-depth stories that are thoughtfully edited, thoroughly fact-checked and beautifully designed. Please consider supporting our efforts by Here at, our small editorial staff works hard to create in-depth stories that are thoughtfully edited, thoroughly fact-checked and beautifully designed. Please consider supporting our efforts by subscribing
advertisementMedia playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Mr Putin stood up to greet Mr Trump
US President Donald Trump said he had "good discussions" with Russian leader Vladimir Putin when they met briefly at an Asia-Pacific summit in Vietnam.
On Twitter, he blasted "haters and fools", who, he said, do not encourage good relations between the countries.
Earlier he said Mr Putin told him he was insulted by allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US election.
The US intelligence community has previously concluded that Russia tried to sway the poll in Mr Trump's favour.
"He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election," the US president said.
However, after intense criticism, Mr Trump clarified that he supported US intelligence agencies in their conclusion. "As to whether or not I believe it or not, I'm with our agencies. I believe in our... intelligence agencies," he said.
"What he believes, he believes," he added, of Mr Putin's belief that Russia did not meddle.
The two leaders had no formal bilateral talks during the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) event, but meet in passing on three occasions. They spoke about the Syria crisis and the election allegations, according to Mr Trump.
Republican Senator John McCain, a vehement critic of Mr Trump, called him naive for "taking the word of a KGB colonel over that of the American intelligence community".
A CIA statement passed to US media said: "The intelligence assessment with regard to Russian election meddling has not changed."
In his tweets, Mr Trump also said his predecessor, Barack Obama lacked "chemistry" with President Putin.
The US justice department has appointed special investigator Robert Mueller to examine any possible collusion involving Mr Trump's team, and legal action has already been taken against several former aides.
What are the allegations against Russia?
President Trump has refused to acknowledge a reported assessment by the CIA and other intelligence agencies that Russia was behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in the run-up to last year's presidential election.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption The presidential campaign was fiercely contested
The contents of the emails, passed to Wikileaks and posted online, were embarrassing to the Democrats and shook up the presidential campaign, which ended in defeat for Hillary Clinton.
In addition to the Mueller inquiry, congressional committees have been set up to carry out their own investigations.
Relations between the US and Russia have been strained for years, with the Kremlin long accusing Washington of seeking to sway elections in Russia and other ex-Soviet states including Ukraine and Georgia.
While Russian hackers are widely suspected of involvement, there has been no conclusive link to the Kremlin.
Denying that Russia had tried to interfere last year by fostering contacts with Mr Trump's campaign, Mr Putin told reporters in Vietnam: "Everything about the so-called Russian dossier in the US is a manifestation of a continuing domestic political struggle."
What does Mr Trump say to the allegations?
He said he believed Mr Putin had been "very insulted by" the allegations and that was "not a good thing" for America.
"He [Putin] said he didn't meddle," he added. "I asked him again."
Asked if he believed Mr Putin, he replied, "He is very, very strong in the fact that he didn't do it. You have President Putin very strongly, vehemently says he has nothing to do with that. Now, you are not going to get into an argument, you are going to start talking about Syria and the Ukraine."
Trump out on a limb again
Aleem Maqbool, BBC News, Da Nang
Donald Trump once again goes against the findings of his own intelligence agencies.
Because although the US justice department is investigating the scale and nature of Russian interference in the election of 2016 (and any links to the Trump campaign), the American intelligence community has already long determined that Russia did, indeed, interfere.
Yet Mr Trump suggested this story was not only entirely fabricated by his political opponents, it might even be costing lives in Syria, because it is getting in the way of his relationship with the Russian president and hampering their ability to help solve the conflict together.
"People will die because of it, and it's a pure hit job, and it's artificially induced and that's a shame," he said.
It is hard to know what the president hopes to achieve with this type of rhetoric. The investigation goes on.
How did the two presidents get on in Vietnam?
Mr Trump and Mr Putin met for the first time in July at a G20 summit in the German city of Hamburg. In Da Nang they were seen chatting briefly on three occasions within 24 hours during the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit.
However, they had no formal bilateral meeting, with Mr Putin blaming it on scheduling and protocol.
Image copyright AFP Image caption Mr Putin said he regretted that his talks with Mr Trump were too brief
They had warm words for each other, with the US president talking of their mutual "very good feeling" and the Russian leader describing his counterpart as "well-mannered... and comfortable to deal with".
They did manage to sign off a statement vowing to continue the battle against so-called Islamic State in Syria until the militants are defeated and calling for a political solution to the conflict.
How far has US justice department investigation progressed?
Last month, former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to having lied to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about the timing of meetings with alleged go-betweens for Russia.
He testified that Russian nationals had contacted him in an attempt to gain influence with the Trump campaign, offering "dirt" in the form of "thousands of emails" on Mrs Clinton in April 2016 - two months before the DNC emails were leaked.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption The two leaders had three brief conversations in Vietnam
Mr Trump has played down the importance of Mr Papadopoulos, calling him a "low-level volunteer" and "liar".
On Saturday, Mr Putin brushed aside US media reports that a woman wrongly identified by Mr Papadopoulos as the Russian president's niece had offered to help broker meetings with Kremlin officials.
"I do not know anything about it and I think it is just some fantasies," Mr Putin said.
Mr Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and an associate were also placed under house arrest on charges of money laundering as a result of the Mueller inquiry, but the charges do not relate to the election.Despite the president’s threats, Mexico City also has leverage when it comes to immigration and border security.
The Mexican border police officer hung from the back of the truck rumbling through the streets of Tapachula, near the border with Guatemala, one hand on the overhead roll bar and the other on his AR-15 rifle. Made in the USA, he said. So was his bullet-proof vest. And much of his training.
His unit is meant to help migrants, but his gear underscored the close relationship — and direct assistance — that Mexican security forces have with their counterparts in the United States, a relationship that’s matured in recent years to reach unprecedented cooperation combating drugs, transnational crime and migration.
That’s the reality that Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will confront in Mexico this week, as they make the hard sell to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and other officials on President Donald Trump’s tough new immigration directives.
Released publicly on Tuesday, the new orders rescind most all of President Barack Obama’s orders and guidance on immigration, staking out a much tougher line on undocumented migrants in the United States. They make it easier for U.S. officials to deport huge numbers of immigrants simply for having entered illegally. They also expand “expedited removal” without a hearing for those caught within two years of entering and anywhere the U.S., a clear break with the Obama administration, which only used the practice for those apprehended within two weeks of entering and within 100 miles of the U.S. border. The directives would even deport foreign nationals to countries other than their own. (Read the orders here and here.)
“There’s a misperception that because the U.S. is much bigger and in many ways more powerful, that Mexico lacks leverage,” Chris Wilson, the deputy director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, told Foreign Policy. “Right now Mexico is deporting more Central Americans than the U.S., so many would say Mexico is doing some of the United States’s dirty work … all of that — and Mexico has basically stated as much — is on the line if the cooperative framework of the relationship is lost.”
On Wednesday ahead of meetings with Kelly and Tillerson, Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said Mexico will not accept “unilateral” U.S. immigration proposals, the main topic on the agenda for discussions into Thursday.
Under Obama, exceptions were made for immigrants brought to the United States as children and some of their parents. Despite reports of people under these programs being detained under the administration’s on-going crackdown, the White House says that for now, the new directives maintain that exception. Last week, Trump said he’d “show great heart” in determining the fate of some 750,000 offered work permits under the program known as DACA.
But the White House hasn’t helped allay fears. While saying immigrants who pose a threat to public safety are the priority for deportations, spokesman Sean Spicer noted Tuesday “everybody who is here illegally is subject to removal at any time.”
DHS insists its goal is not “mass deportation” of the estimated roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. “We don’t need a sense of panic,” a DHS official said on a background call Tuesday to explain the new directives.
Trump has seriously strained U.S.-Mexico relations since before he took office, threatening trade wars, working on a border wall, and even talking of sending the U.S. military across the border to confront “bad hombres.” (Peña Nieto cancelled a trip to Washington last month.) On Tuesday, Mexico’s incoming ambassador to the United States said Trump’s treatment of Mexico is “unacceptable.”
It’s left to Kelly to do the difficult work of translating the new president’s bluster into policy guidance for the frontline border patrol agents who have to implement it — and the alarmed heads of state they need to make it work.
That’s especially important because the biggest immigration headache for the United States doesn’t originate in Mexico — but requires Mexico’s help to tackle.
Illegal crossings into the United States from Mexico have sunk to their lowest levels in four decades, and among Mexican immigrants, the flow has in fact reversed since 2009, at the tail end of the Great Recession. Rather, it’s the violence-ridden countries of the “Golden Triangle” — Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador — that have been the primary drivers of migration through Mexico to the United States in recent years, as seen in spikes of unaccompanied minors at the border. And it’s not just Central Americans. Global migration — from Haiti and Cuba to Cameroon and Somalia — has pushed more people to use the dangerous land route to the United States.As President Donald Trump promises a crackdown on immigrants living here illegally, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is pressing ahead with a municipal ID plan, a concept that's drawn fire from both sides of the issue.
Some immigrant allies worry federal agents could use applicants' personal information from such a program to deport undocumented immigrants, while critics say the IDs constitute a national security risk.
Experiences in two other big cities could prove instructive to Chicago. A lawsuit challenging New York's ID program shows the potential pitfalls as cities try to balance personal safety and security, while San Francisco provides a path forward that immigrant advocates could embrace but likely wouldn't appease those who say card applicants should face tougher screenings.
Emanuel has backed the identification program as a step to give Chicagoans who don't have driver's licenses or Social Security numbers a way to prove who they are so they can pay bills, make police reports or gain access to public buildings.
Offering such an ID also allows Emanuel to plant a high-profile flag in his campaign to position himself in opposition to Trump as a defender of immigrants' rights and Chicago as a safe haven for those living here without legal permission.
The mayor's handpicked city clerk, Anna Valencia, is heading up the ID initiative. Valencia's office insists applicants' information will be secure and those who apply will be properly vetted, though Valencia has offered no specifics on how the city will achieve those goals or when the program will launch. She declined to be interviewed.
New York case
The New York case over the fate of the private information of applicants there is leading pro-immigrant mayors in Democratic-leaning cities to consider ways the process could have unintended consequences.
In December, two Republican state lawmakers who represent Staten Island sued in state court to block the destruction of the supporting documentation presented by applicants for the IDNYC card on the grounds that doing so would threaten national security and violate the state's open records law.
The lawyer for the pair, Jeffrey Alfano, said it makes no sense to get rid of the information from the roughly 1 million holders of the New York cards, which allow them to get city services and act much like driver's licenses or other official forms of identification. "To think these things can be used for nefarious means, it's not such a stretch," he said of the IDs.
In addition, Alfano said there are serious questions about whether New York is doing enough to properly train city employees to know if applicants are providing honest personal information to get their cards. Applicants can use expired foreign passports or foreign birth certificates to help prove their identities in New York, which he said makes it extremely tough to know whether they are being truthful.
"You have to put the trust that the application is filled out properly, that the applicant is being honest," Alfano said.
New York's ID program, which started in 2015, called for supporting information presented by applicants to be kept for two years and then destroyed. After Trump's election, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio promised to protect cardholders' personal information, including deleting the supporting documents to stop federal immigration agents from trying to use them to track down people in the country illegally. But while the case plays out, the judge in the lawsuit has blocked de Blasio from getting rid of the documents already in city files.
The New York ordinance also allowed officials at the end of 2016 to decide whether to keep holding onto any such information going forward, and the city human resources administrator announced in December that supporting documents from new applicants would not be retained. De Blasio's office did not respond to questions about the ID program and the lawsuit.
The New York case prompted Philadelphia last month to put its proposed municipal ID program on hold amid concerns that immigration agents could use such data to try to track down undocumented immigrants who are cardholders.
"The situation in New York reinforces the importance of making sure appropriate measures are taken to protect the data collection of sensitive information related to our residents," Miriam Enriquez, director of Philadelphia's Office of Immigrant Affairs, said in an email.
Fred Tsao, senior policy counsel at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said his group has been working with the Emanuel administration to help avoid the "fundamental flaw" New York made in crafting its ordinance.
"Our allies warned" New York officials not to hold onto so much information from applicants, Tsao said.
Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has backed a municipal identification program as a step to give Chicagoans who don't have driver's licenses or Social Security numbers a way to prove who they are so they can pay bills or make police reports. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has backed a municipal identification program as a step to give Chicagoans who don't have driver's licenses or Social Security numbers a way to prove who they are so they can pay bills or make police reports. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune) (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Emanuel spokeswoman Jennifer Martinez said the administration "will take every precaution it can to protect each applicant's data, and will oppose any effort to force the city to disclose that information."
"This will be done by drawing upon the best practices of other cities, which includes capturing minimal information from applicants," Martinez said in an email.
The city hopes to make the Chicago ID useful to a wide array of residents by allowing people who have them to get discounts, possibly at museums, sports stadiums and pharmacies, according to the clerk's office. That could help broaden the pool of cardholders and make it harder for immigration agents to hone in on those living here illegally.
Asked whether the city will urge banks to accept the cards to allow people to open accounts and perform other banking business, clerk spokeswoman Kate LeFurgy said the city is "working on several partnerships, including financial institutions." And asked whether the discounts might include lower CTA fares on weekends, LeFurgy responded, "We are open to suggestions and are exploring all potential partnerships."
Tsao said keeping even names and addresses of a huge group of cardholders could still put immigrants at risk by allowing agents to focus on neighborhoods like Little Village that have large immigrant populations.
"In a city like Chicago, where many people have surnames that one could, fairly or not, interpret as being of foreign origin, there is a concern that someone who was not well-intentioned who
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and the next president will be a Ninja Turtles fan."
The cheesiness practically dripped off the stage, but that's what everybody paid to see and hear. The costumed Turtles joined the Iceman on the stage for the inevitable performance of "Ninja Rap." The energy in the room clearly showed they didn't care how gimmicky it was, especially since more than half of them were dressed up in every '80s and '90s referential T-shirt and costume you could remember. I personally would like to know where the guy who wore Bill Murray's "Don't Hassle Me, I'm Local" tee from What About Bob? got his shirt.
They were all there to run back to their childhood, even if their aching legs and back would remind them that nothing can turn back time.
"This is like a dream," Guynes said. "I can't believe it's happening. The cool thing is if you have a stupid idea, you can put it on the Internet, too."
See also: -The Top Ten All Time Best Replacement Lead Singers in Rock and Roll -Songs That Have Hidden Messages When Played in Reverse -The Ten Best Music Videos Banned by MTV
Keep up with DC9 at Night on Twitter or Facebook.For decades, Robert Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe in a ruthless, even reckless manner. Over nearly 40 years, he turned the “jewel of Africa” into an economic basket case that’s seen inflation of up to 800 percent.
Then, late in the night of Nov. 14, the country’s security services detained and put Zimbabwe’s 93-year-old president under house arrest in what appeared to be a military coup. The whereabouts of his powerful wife, Grace, are unconfirmed.
Much remains unclear at this early stage. Will violence erupt? Is this really the end of the Mugabe era?
I don’t know the answers to those questions yet. I’m not sure even Vice President Emerson Mnangagwa, who appears to have orchestrated Mugabe’s overthrow, knows how his gambit will turn out.
But with each passing hour, it is increasingly evident that Zimbabwe – a country whose politics I spent uncountable hours grappling with as a State Department official – is poised to see its first real leadership transition since 1980.
Setting the stage for Zimbabwe’s coup
For decades, Mugabe’s grip on Zimbabwe was iron-clad. Even when challenged by an invigorated opposition in 2008, he kept the presidency by entering into a nominal power-sharing agreement. After a decisive electoral victory in 2013, though, he cast the coalition aside.
But as the elderly president grew increasingly frail this year, the power struggle to succeed him became frenzied. Two major camps were vying for power.
Vice President Emerson Mnangagwa, who as a soldier fighting for Zimbabwe’s liberation earned the nickname “the crocodile,” represented the old guard. The 75-year-old enjoyed strong military backing, particularly from the veterans’ association, a powerful coalition of former combatants from Zimbabwe’s independence struggle which began in 1964 and ended in 1979.
Philimon Bulawayo/Reuters
Last year, the group broke with Mugabe in a public letter, declaring that he had “presided over unbridled corruption and downright mismanagement of the economy, leading to national economic ruin.” Many believed that Vice President Mnangagwa orchestrated the group’s letter as a shot across the bow to warn would-be rivals.
The second camp jockeying to control Zimbabwe before the coup was led by Mugabe’s current wife, Grace Mugabe. At a relatively spry 53, she represented the younger generation, drawing significant support from the ruling party’s loyalist Youth League and from an informal grouping of emerging leaders known as “Generation 40.”
But Grace Mugabe was deeply unpopular among ordinary Zimbabweans, who called her “Gucci Grace” because of her extravagant spending. Plus, she had a reputation for cruelty. Earlier this year, the president’s wife faced accusations of beating a 20-year old South African model with an electric cable.
In September, after Vice President Mnangagwa was emergency airlifted to South Africa due to a strange illness, Grace Mugabe had to publicly deny, on state TV, that she had poisoned her rival.
As recently as early November, it appeared that Grace’s camp had prevailed. President Mugabe sacked Mnangagwa, who fled to South Africa. Mnangagwa, it seems, had a different plan. While in exile, he stayed in touch with his military allies.
On Nov. 14, Mnangagwa’s camp struck back. By the next morning, Mugabe was under house arrest, his wife had reportedly fled to Namibia seeking asylum and Mnangagwa’s cohort appeared to control the country.
Democracy or dictatorship?
At least, that’s the picture right now. Events have moved swiftly in the last 24 hours, and some big questions remain unanswered.
If Mnangagwa officially takes power, the first unknown is whether he will rule by fiat or cobble together a transitional government. It’s unclear whether Mnanangwa and his allies have any real interest in introducing democracy to Zimbabwe. To do so, they would need to hold an election within a reasonable period of time, say six months.
Military coups don’t have a promising track record of ushering in democracy. Recent scholarship finds that while “democratization coups” have become more frequent worldwide, their most common outcome is to replace an incumbent dictatorship with a “different group of autocrats.”
AP Photo
Signals in Zimbabwe are mixed so far. Experts generally describe the latest developments as “an internecine fight” among inner-circle elites and ask two key questions: Which side will prevail, and will violence break out?
In my assessment, the answers hinge on Mnangagwa, a hard-nosed realist and survivor who was critical in securing Mugabe’s four-decade rule. Mnangagwa has an appalling human rights record. Many consider him responsible for overseeing a series of massacres between 1982 and 1986 known as the “Gukurahundi,” in which an estimated 20,000 civilians from the Ndebele ethnic group perished.
More recently, in 2008, civil society groups accused Mnangagwa of orchestrating electoral violence against the political opposition and rigging polls in Mugabe’s favor.
It is also true that Mnangagwa is massively invested in ensuring his continued and unfettered access to power, which has proven highly lucrative for him. The vice president is “reputed” to be one of Zimbabwe’s richest people. All of this suggests he might become yet another dictator.
‘Unity’ for Zimbabwe?
Nonetheless, reports indicate that Mnangagwa is currently talking to several opposition parties about potentially forming a transitional government.
A key stakeholder in any such arrangement would be Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change, who served as prime minister to Mugabe as part of the 2009 power-sharing agreement.
That coalition achieved some success on economic matters, but Mugabe’s party never relinquished any real authority. Mnangagwa was among those who clung to power back then, but I believe he might play things differently now. Mnangagwa is no reformer, but he does need to find ways to bolster his legitimacy. Not to mention he will quickly need to confront Zimbabwe’s massive economic woes.
The choices that Zimbabwe’s political leadership makes in the coming weeks will have immense consequences for the future of a country whose development has stagnated under 40 years of authoritarian rule.
Real transitions in Zimbabwe are all too rare. Mugabe led the country to independence in March 1980, assumed the presidency and never left. His demise represents a chance for a political reset.Unless something drastically changes with his recovery when he is reevaluated on Wednesday, sophomore quarterback Jeff Driskel will be on the bench for the Florida Gators on Saturday against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. In his place will be classmate Jacoby Brissett, who may have lost the quarterback competition at the start of the season but was apparently never far behind.
“Of course it’s hard because mentally you built yourself up, even as a young kid, to be the starter and play,” said offensive coordinator Brent Pease on Tuesday. “I’ve said this every week: Jacoby’s handled it professionally; he’s handled it like he’s mature about the situation. I’m sure he didn’t like it. I wouldn’t want him to like it.
“He’s been admirable about what he’s done. It shows because, to step in a situation like that to have to make some plays as opposed to taking reps to end the game, it shows he’s prepared every week. He’s prepped himself and he’s been ready for that situation rather than a full game situation. Now he’s got an opportunity for a full game situation.”
Driskel, who is currently in a boot and using crutches in order to keep pressure off his sprained ankle and aid the healing process, may very well return in two weeks against Florida State. For now, it is Brissett getting almost all of the work in practice in preparation for Saturday’s game (redshirt sophomore Tyler Murphy is the temporary second-string signal caller).
And that means Brissett will have the chance to do what he wanted to do all offseason long, lead the Gators’ offense and prove that he deserves to be the starter.
“Jacoby’s got a great opportunity. What he does to improve us and do a good job for himself as well as his teammates, hey, it’s his stage for this game. Step up and do what you’ve got to do. Your number is called. Go carry the flag,” Pease said.
“I’m so proud of the kid to step in, in a tough situation, and make the plays he did when he did [last Saturday]. … He’s made the plays in practice, too. It’s not like they’re new plays and he hasn’t done them. He made the plays that he’s made in practice. The same play he hit Jordan [Reed] on, he’s hit Jordan on before, he’s hit “Frankie [Hammond] on before, he’s hit [Quinton] Dunbar on before.
“It all kind of just fits into a practice system. We’ll see. He obviously puts things out there that we will try to do things that benefit him a little bit more in a game plan. Yet he’s still going to have to do some things that are our base offense to execute.”
After a surprisingly rough showing for the offense against Louisiana-Lafayette, Florida is looking to get things going against Jacksonville State. Whether Driskel is out one week or misses significant time is no matter at this point, Brissett’s focus must be on making the most out of his latest opportunity.EDGEWATER — A seven-story apartment building filled with small units that would rent for "serious money" could replace a car wash between the Jimmy John's and Le Pita on North Broadway in Edgewater.
At a community meeting Thursday night, Ald. Harry Osterman (48th) and representatives from City Pads LLC and Catapult Real Estate Solutions LLC spoke with residents at the Edgewater Library about the 187-unit planned development.
The building at 6145 N. Broadway would cost approximately $27 million and could be built in about a year if approved, developers said. The property is now home to Superior Hand Car Wash & Detail Center.
The majority of the units in the building, more than 80 percent, would be studios renting from $1,250-$1,300 a month. One-bedrooms would be leased starting at $1,650 and two-bedrooms would rent for $2,100 said Andy Ahitow, a partner at City Pads and founder of Chicago Apartment Finders.
Sizes would average around 400 square feet, and 10 percent of apartments would be rented at discounted prices in accordance with Chicago's affordable housing laws, said Paul Dincin, a managing member at Catapult.
The building also would include 60 parking spaces that would rent for about $125 per month.
A 4,000-square-foot ground-floor retail space could go to a single retailer or be split in half, but would likely be leased to a fast food chain, developers said.
Dincin said his group was aiming to market to a younger crowd who prefer privacy and less space, and possibly work a Downtown job and commute — similar to other transit-oriented developments that have sprouted up along the Blue Line in Logan Square and Bucktown.
Dincin emphasized high-density, transit-oriented developments — which are allowed to have far fewer parking spaces than normally required by city law — were "all the rage" in popular areas across the city.
He called Edgewater "stable, the real deal," and added it wasn't a "flash-in-the-pan kind of neighborhood."
But some at the packed meeting Thursday expressed concern that the combination of high rents with small units was unrealistic for renters looking to plant roots in Edgewater.
One woman said people tend to look at the Far North Side or other fringe areas to maximize their dollar and pay less for more space.
Dincin acknowledged the apartments would cost renters "serious money," but said he was confident they would be filled with tenants and the building was a reflection of current market demands.
"The question is: Is Edgewater ready for this high of rent? We believe the answer is yes," Dincin said.
Osterman said generally speaking he has noticed the trend of smaller units for higher prices that seem to appeal to renters in their 20s and 30s around the city.
"More projects like this are coming down the line," Osterman said. "There is a market out there for this that is finding our community."
Dincin said his experiences and research showed that young professionals are looking for a personal "sanctuary" who "don't want roommates in any way, shape or form."
A rendering of the building's front facade, including a set back seventh floor. [DNAinfo/Linze Rice]
Amenities include outdoor grilling stations, a hot tub and fire pit, as well as an indoor community party room that contains a kitchen and pool table. Dincin likened the area to an "Italian private piazza," though some worried its location behind one building and at the bottom of another might block it from sunlight.
A fitness center would also be available to residents.
Each unit will have its own washer and dryer as well as individual climate control with personal furnaces and air conditioners.
Though the original plan was to include only about 30 parking spaces, Dincin said he took Osterman's recommendation to include more. Each unit would have a space for put a bike, as well as personal storage.
Some community members said they were concerned more renters who had cars than developers expected could cause problems with parking on already congested nearby streets, while others said parking spaces not used by tenants should be leased to the public.
The building would also likely prohibit tenants from renting out their units as Airbnb locations, Dincin said.
Developers said they'd also not yet decided on a pet policy, and said someone would be working a door or lobby station around the clock.
The L-shaped building would be made of dark brick and special concrete panels that imitate the look of wood, with its entrance nearly hidden to the public.
Each apartment would receive ample natural light because of the structure's shape, Dincin said.
The building is also set back from Broadway as to not "overpower" the street, Dincin said.
Because of the size of the project, community meetings must be held on it. Another informational meeting will be announced and held before a more formal meeting is held where Osterman will gauge community support with a vote.
A rendering of the hot tub and outdoor recreation area. [DNAinfo/Linze Rice]
Ald. Harry Osterman (48th) said it was too early for him to take a stance on the project yet, but he had noticed many other similar developments happening throughout the city. [DNAinfo/Linze Rice]
A typical studio unit. [DNAinfo/Linze Rice]
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:Russia denied entry to Polish Senate Speaker Bogdan Borusewicz to attend the funeral of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who died instantly Friday after several shots hit him, making him the most prominent opposition figure murdered during President Vladimir Putin's 15-year rule.
"I wanted to pay respect to the slain Boris Nemtsov and to all Russians who think like him," said Borusewicz, a key Solidarity dissident during Poland's years yoked to Soviet-style communism. Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, also a Solidarity figure, called "difficult to understand and accept" Russia's decision to deny Borusewicz entry.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius will attend Nemtsov's funeral. Former Foreign Minister Sandra Kalniete will represent Latvia. However, a Latvian member of the European Parliament said on Monday that she, too, had been denied entry to Russia for the funeral. Since the end of Soviet communism, the two nations and Poland have joined both the European Union and NATO, and officials from the three countries have vocally criticized Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.
Putin says he has taken control of the investigation into the murder of the former deputy prime minister. The United States has called for an independent inquiry in the wake of the murder.
‘Difficult psychological position'
On Monday, the Ukrainian fashion model Anna Duritskaya said she had little recollection of what happened in the moments after the unknown assailant shot Nemtsov dead on Friday night. She told the online news channel Dozhd that she had not noticed anything suspicious as the couple had dined at a restaurant overlooking Red Square just before Nemtsov's murder. It had not occurred to her that someone might follow them as they headed across the river toward Nemtsov's apartment.
"I saw no one," Duritskaya said. "I don't know where he came from. He was behind my back." She added that Russian officials had questioned her without a lawyer and continuously monitored her since the 55-year-old opposition activists death: "They are physically not allowing me to go anywhere without them."
Duritskaya was later allowed to leave Russia, arriving in Ukraine shortly after midnight on Tuesday.
Putin, who considers the killing a "provocation," will not attend the funeral. On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that the opposition must not try to score points over the murder.
"The attempt to use the heinous killing of Boris Nemtsov for political purposes is a sacrilege," Lavrov said on Monday. "We must prevent any politicization of the human rights agenda, or worse allowing it to be used as a tool for fueling confrontation," he added, addressing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
On Sunday, activists marched in Moscow to protest the murder.
mkg/jil (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)The sexual assault accusations against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein and now actor Kevin Spacey have Hollywood bracing for a “flood” of abused actors to come forward in the coming days and name the predators who targeted them, a scandal that one activist says will reach epic proportions.
“This is big. [T]his is going to be worse for Hollywood than the church scandal was for the Vatican,” said Matt Valentinas, one of the executive producers behind the 2015 documentary “An Open Secret,” which pulled back the curtain on the sexual abuse of children in Hollywood and named many producers, agents and other figures who work with kids in show business.
The effort to unmask the predators gained even more steam Sunday, when actor Anthony Rapp accused Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey of making sexual advances toward him three decades ago, when Spacey was 26 years old and Rapp was just 14.
Spacey said he does not remember the alleged incident but suggested in a statement that alcohol would have been a factor if something did happen. Spacey also used the statement to confirm that he is homosexual.
Valentinas told WND and Radio America that, for those in the know, the allegations against Spacey did not come as a shock. He said Spacey’s name came up in the research for “An Open Secret.”
“Yes, it did, in the sense that he’s very close friends with Bryan Singer,” Valentinas said. “Bryan Singer is the director of ‘X-Men’ and is currently shooting the movie on (the rock band) Queen. That’s how we came upon some of these rumors about Kevin Spacey. It wasn’t really the focus of our investigation, but his name was definitely brought up all the time for sure.”
Listen to the WND/Radio America interview with Matt Valentinas:
In addition to directing “X-Men” and its five sequels, Singer also directed “The Usual Suspects,” “Valkyrie,” “Star Trek: Nemesis” and “Superman Returns,” among many other films. In recent days, Singer has been accused of sexual abuse.
In a series of Twitter posts on Nov. 1, actor Justin Smith accused Singer of repeatedly inviting Smith to expose himself and inviting him to parties with his “posse” with an obvious purpose.
“This was always him, 2-3 older 50-70 year old men who were obviously on drugs but still wearing their dress shirts & pants (he introduced them as producers) and at least 5 to sometimes 10 young men. I should really say boys, none of them could’ve been older than 16 or 17,” tweeted Smith.
“They were all aspiring models/actors who were always doped up & partially naked. Bryan always made a point to tell me they were going to his place for a ‘private party’ & asked me to come with them. I said no every time,” added Smith.
Smith said Singer eventually thrust his hands down Smith’s pants and violated him. In 2014, two other actors accused Singer of similar predatory behavior when they were child actors. Even on set, underage extras say Singer forced them to strip naked and remain that way for hours while shooting the 1998 film “Apt Pupil.”
Valentinas believes Rapp and Smith will only be the beginning of an avalanche of current and former child actors coming forward to name their abusers.
“We’re already getting calls from many other survivors, so I think we’re going to start seeing floods of survivors coming out in the next couple of weeks or even days with stories,” Valentinas said. “The truth cannot be kept back.”
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High-profile Hollywood child talent agent Tyler Grasham is also under the microscope, accused of sodomy by former child actor Tyler Cornell.
“Just last week, one of the largest child actor agents in Hollywood, named Tyler Grasham at APA Agency, was fired for inappropriate behavior,” Valentinas said. “He represents some of the biggest child actors out there today who are currently starring in things like ‘It,’ which was just the biggest horror movie possibly ever, and ‘Stranger Things,’ which is now on NetFlix.”
“Stranger Things” star Finn Wolfhard severed ties with APA upon learning of the Grasham news.
Grasham is not the only figure supposedly devoted to looking out for child actors to be involved in allegedly abusing their clients. “An Open Secret” features an interview with Michael Harrah, a former child actor who spent decades leading the Screen Actors Guild’s Young Performers Committee. That conversation took an unexpected twist.
“You had an accused pedophile running that operation. We did an interview with him in March 2014 at SAG headquarters,” Valentinas said. “This guy admits he was molested and was recalling how he might have tried to molest one of the survivors in our film. It’s a jaw-dropping interview.”
What was the response from the Screen Actors Guild?
“Instead of SAG saying, ‘Oh my God, that’s a problem. How can we help you?’ they sent us threatening letters to take out the interview from the movie, take out all mention of SAG from the movie. It might have been the first instance of a creative guild trying to go after a director and a producer and censor content. It was unprecedented,” Valentinas said.
In a Guardian story from Oct. 31, actor and director Alex Winter, best known as Bill from “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” said he was abused as a child actor and claimed it’s virtually unavoidable for boys in Hollywood.
“I don’t know of any boys in any pocket of the entertainment industry that do not encounter some form of predatory behavior,” Winter said. “It’s really not a safe environment.”
Valentinas said that is no exaggeration.
“There’s that many predators in Hollywood,” Valentinas said. “He’s speaking the truth.”
Worse yet, Valentinas said the abuse epidemic in Hollywood is not just a bunch of random, independent predators.
“It’s not just a lone pedophile. This is a highly organized group of people who all run in the same circles with a hierarchy, from people who scout for new talent to inviting kids to parties and grooming them there, to them picking who they want to be with.
“They entice these poor kids with a television role, or a role in a movie, or an invite to a premiere, or a writing job on one of their shows,” said Valentinas, who noted that the perpetrators are usually careful not to abuse the children on set or in public.
It’s away from the formal business of Hollywood that the attacks take place.
“A lot of Hollywood is very casual and non-corporate in the sense that a lot of the grooming and the groups that are in these pedophile operations, a lot of that stuff happens at private residences off the sets through unspoken words, through actions where you have to participate in these parties,” Valentinas said. “Then once you’re in, you’re in.”
Watch a trailer of the eye-opening documentary “An Open Secret”:
And while most survivors featured in “An Open Secret” are boys, Valentinas said little girls are preyed upon just as much.
“I can’t give you an exact percentage number, but of course it happens quite often to women as well,” said Valentinas, who estimates half of Hollywood’s sexual abuse victims are female.
While predatory behavior toward kids in Hollywood is a major crisis, Valentinas is quick to point out that the aggressors make up a rather small percentage of people in the industry. The problem, he said, is that many of the villains in this real-life horror show wield a lot of power.
“I’m not saying that this is a large part of Hollywood, but the one or two percent of pedophiles that are out there are at a high level,” Valentinas said. “If they get involved in a project, that effects so many other people that they might not want to choose to believe the rumors that they’re hearing.”
He said a scandal involving one director or leading actor can create havoc on a project.
“One person’s bad behavior on a major film can affect the careers of hundreds if not thousands of people, tens of thousands of hours of time and tens of millions of dollars,” Valentinas explained.
“That’s why they really need to start getting a handle on this, because no other business is run in the way that Hollywood is right now. I think they’re going to be bleeding money for a long time the more they act this way,” he said.
Until the Weinstein scandal broke, he said, few in Hollywood were interested in determining whether the rumors about alleged pedophiles were true.
“It might not be happening on the set, but somebody might be hearing about, ‘Oh, this guy might be having inappropriate relations with a minor,’ and then they say, ‘Oh that’s just gossip. Let’s not talk about it because you don’t want it to effect your film,” Valentinas said.
Hollywood studio executives are largely focused on creating successful movies and television shows and may not be deliberately looking to bury allegations against their employees, but Valentinas said the lack of interest in finding answers is deeply troubling.
“They’re not really interested in combating pedophilia in the industry. They’re focused on getting films out and being competitive and making money for the company,” he said. “At the end of the day, it comes down to they don’t want to lose money.
“It’s not maybe that they’re intentionally covering this stuff up, but they’re definitely intentionally not looking into it. And that’s the problem.”
Get the hottest, most important news stories on the Internet – delivered FREE to your inbox as soon as they break! Take just 30 seconds and sign up for WND’s Email News Alerts!Like anything else in Scientology, how children are treated is governed by a huge number of policies and reports, and in this series we’re looking documents that show how children were treated under the ideas of L. Ron Hubbard. We’re fortunate that one man has done so much to collect huge numbers of such documents — Mark “Warrior” Plummer, who left Scientology in 1983, and is pretty legendary for the collection of church materials he’s amassed. Also helping us is Sunny Pereira, who for several weeks has been working with Mark to pull out key documents for us to discuss.
The Bunker: Sunny, today’s document dates from 1979, and it’s about the setting up of a “Sea Org school” for children at the Los Angeles headquarters. Help us navigate it.
Sunny: This document explains how schooling of children was successful on the ship Apollo with L. Ron Hubbard, where the children were all together with stable nannies and tutors, from 1967 to 1975.
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The Bunker: And where kids were stuck in the chain locker for days at a time if they misbehaved.
Sunny: The school was run on Flag Orders, issued by Hubbard. And the AB checksheet is mentioned, which is the Able Bodied Seaman checksheet, which taught sea basics to all Sea Org members. The children were put through this training as a first step into becoming full Sea Org members. So that’s what’s happening here, they want to make this school turn out little Sea Org members.
The Bunker: And how do they plan to do that?
Sunny: In the Cadet Org, we were taught that Scientology was the only road out. We learned that society was on its way out. We were made to believe the outside world was a dangerous place. And that if you could not make it in the Sea Org, you would be cast out into that dangerous world. Also, the fact that you could not make the grade into the Sea Org, that made you a degraded being, and not only would you be close to last to being salvaged, but it would either take a long time to salvage you, or you might be stuck here for eternity. We learned early on that family ties were temporary, in this lifetime only, and the future of our planet was far more important than who our parents were.
The Bunker: So how are they going to accomplish this?
Sunny: This project names two people who are given a couple of weeks to accomplish a large number of steps. The first major target indicates that the school must be run per “WIAC” — the policy “What Is A Course.” In other words, the school they are setting up must be set up like a standard Scientology courseroom with dictionaries, demo kits, clay, course supervisors, and word clearers. There is no indication anywhere that the school must be set up under government regulations at all. Another major target is to get all the children, even under 6 years old, to apply Sea Org tech to all areas of their lives.
The Bunker: Yeah, that doesn’t sound like something that would be in county or state regulations.
Sunny: One of the things this document instructs them to do as they set up the school is to have two people sit across from each other, and read aloud Hubbard references about schooling to each other. Any time they flub a word, they must find a word they don’t understand, clear it up using a dictionary, then reread the text flawlessly. Each issue can take a few hours. So this part may have taken quite some time, with M9, a tedious type of word clearing.
The Bunker: Doesn’t sound like what you would usually find at a school board meeting.
Sunny: This document also echoes something we saw this week on Leah Remini’s show — that it’s against Scientology policy to be “reasonable” when you’re trying to meet goals. You can’t be reasonable in Scientology and accept that something can’t be done the way it’s written. An example is if any of these steps violate city or county codes for setting up a school. Well, that is being reasonable and a huge no-no. You follow your project orders as written. Make it work, make it go right. End of story.
The Bunker: There are a lot of additional steps listed. What’s the overall point of this exercise?
Sunny: This is the machine they want to have set up for the children: Get them able to read. Teach them LRH study tech. Teach them the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic (on Delphi checksheets). Make the children Scientologists by having them do the HAS Course (now the HQS course). Groom them into Sea Org members with the AB checksheet. Then have them do Staff Status courses, which teach them the basics on what an org is and does, and where and how they fit in. This is where they learn early on to “Make it go right.” Then have them do courses that train them for whatever post they have been assigned to. Nowhere in here are county codes, guidance for teachers, curricula, grades, or even parents. We take your children, make them into soldiers and pass them onto the Sea Org.
The Bunker: Thank you, Sunny. Here’s the document itself.
SEA ORGANIZATION CADET ESTATES ORG ED #6 2 August 1979
ALL CEO CREW
MCEE MSN OPS (CMO) PROJECT S.O.S. (SEA ORG SCHOOL) PROGRAM PERSONNEL: Patti LaMarr I/C, David Sund 2nd PROGRAM INFO: After spending almost a year on the school curriculum and part of this year on setting up the school, there is no product (i.e. child who has gotten a school grade from this work or even child who fully applies study tech and Sea Org basics. The pjts. done so far to get the school set up have been largely organize, not production. The LRH intention for the Cadets as regards their training is “The little shavers on Flag did wonderfully with stable nannies and tutors and really only when they had an Sea Org school as a special part of this action that ran on FO’s. They loved it and could then be persuaded over to the three R’s. They all made an AB and were pleased with themselves and felt superior. Even little four year olds. Their school room was all decorated with Sea Org and AB type of items.” Consultant We have been operating way off purpose on the school. The important thing is to get the training going on Sea Org basics and if not already done at school, the 3 R’s. Of course, a lot of Word Clearing goes along with the above, especially since the children have accumulated a lot of MU’s at school already. This pgm. is designed to carry out Consultant intention. Advertisement PROJECT PURPOSE: Competent, well trained children who are assets to the Sea Org and are resources. MAJOR TARGETS: 1) A school run totally per WIAC. [“What is a course.”]
2) Children cleaned up on past MU’s. [Misunderstood words.]
3) Basic SO [Sea Org] tech being taught and applied by children and Cadets. PRIMARY TARGETS: 1) Accept responsibility for this pjt. and postulate its full success.
2) *rate these pjt. orders.
3) M9 *rate the LRH orders relevant to setting up a school including the transcript just gotten from Flag.
4) Do a large clay demo on LRH’s intention re the children training with a checkout on this by MCEE I/O.
5) Study the key W/C issues including W/C Series 60R, W/C Series 61, HCO PL 26 Jan 72 I, LRH ED 302, 302-1, HCO PL Cope and Organise and HCO PL Courses, Their Ideal Scene.
6) M9 *rate WIAC. Demo out what you have to have in, in order to have this PL in.
7) Clay demo the Pjt Purpose. VITAL TARGETS: 1) Done get reasonable with any reasons why this pgm can’t be done.
2) “You will find MU’s behind every slowed or bugged target…”
3) Establish the school as top priority.
4) Apply policy and tech to the hilt always and don’t give verbal tech ever.
5) Make the school into a super efficient, high producing high morale team.
6) Get WIAC in in the school fully.
7) Hold the form of the School once established and don’t let anything out across it.
8) Ensure you stay on 50 percent production, 50 percent organize.
9) Keep in excellent liaison with CEO recruiter on prospects for your school. OPERATING TARGETS: Advertisement 0) Get Trina Falston
A) Through her conditions
B) Through her crashing MJ handling in area of supervision
C) Through W/C and starrate of LRH orders on the school
D) Posted as Course Sup 00) Get Debbie Radstrom
a) Through Crashing MU handling in the area of the school
b) Through W/C and starrate of LRH orders on the school
c) Posted as Course Sup/Word Clearer 1) Quickly go over the space in the Singer building and plan out where you are going to have 1) your courseroom for children who can’t yet read 2) your courseroom for children who can read 3) your W/Cing space 4) your practical courseroom 5) course admin space. Get this approved (handroute) by CO 2) Mock up the courserooms and W/C space with all available materials in the Singer, in the Fountain and on the 3rd floor parking structure. Use Cadets to help. 3) Quickly go over the Delphian basic reading, writing and arithmetic checksheets and qual them for in-techness. If ok get enough copies made up for the courseroom. If not, correct them, get I/A and then run off copies. 4) Check to see if there is a checksheet made up for the GO study booklet. If so, do the qual cycle as in #3 and run off. If no checksheet exists make one up fast and get it ok’d and run off 5) Get copies of the children’s HAS course and the AB checksheet. Have enough copies made up. 6) Work out a schedule for the school. Put this out in issue form and groove
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is now entering its 4th month. Thanks to many of you, the release have made good process. At this point, an April release is /a possibility/ - *however*, it implies that we all roll up our sleeves and squash those remaining bugs. I will follow up with a dd-list of packages with RC bugs affecting unstable and testing to debian-devel shortly. Known blockers ============== The RC bug list (according to UDD): * 55 RC bugs open, affecting key packages in sid AND jessie[1] - Want to help the release? Help us fix the remaining issues by triaging those bugs and uploading NMU's with targeted fixes. We will start tagging some of these bugs jessie-ignore. That means we will still accept fixes for them (if they are not invasive), but we will /not/ delay the release for them. * 17 RC bugs affecting non-key packages. We will remove these packages from jessie if these bugs are not fixed. If you want to keep them, now is the time to upload an NMU. * The release-notes still need some improvements. In particular, a recovery section for systemd is needed. - It could most likely also do with a "best practise" and a "do this before rebooting after the systemd migration" section (among others). - If you want to help with this, please follow up to #773386. Requests for Help ================= * The Debian GRUB team requested help with the Grub2 RC bugs. Please consider helping with triaging one or more of: - #756253 Upgrade from 2.02~beta2-10 to 2.02~beta2-11 left grub [...] - #778810 grub-efi-amd64-bin: boot/bootx86.efi problems - #689266 grub-pc: graphics mode sends VGA signal out of range [...] - #741464 grub-pc-bin: freezes after "terminal_input at_keyboard" - #777191 grub-efi-amd64 on Debian Jessie cannot boot zfs native...] - #778810 grub-efi-amd64-bin: boot/bootx86.efi problems - #735932 [grub2-common] Computer does not boot News ==== * Part of our buildd infrastructure need to be upgraded to Jessie prior to the release. Here, DSA and the wanna-build admins have migrated servers from about 5 out of 10 architectures. The rest will hopefully follow soon. * We have had numerous issues with upgrades due to trigger cycles. Unfortunately, we had to request a revert of the trigger cycle checks in dpkg for Jessie and the trigger cycles are now handled as they were in Wheezy (i.e. silently ignored). * There have a bit of progress on existing "jessie-is-blocker" bugs. - #759530, we suspect the problem being corrupted aux-caches and ldconfig simply not doing any validation of the cache before using it. Aurelien Jarno is currently reviewing the proposed patch and plans to discuss it with upstream. - #779048, we need a upgrade path from libjpeg-progs to libjpeg-turbo-progs for Jessie. Most likely, it is just a question of adding a versioned Breaks in libjpeg62-turbo on libjpeg-progs, some upgrade testing and a dupload. * We were made aware of a upgrade issue due to the old dependency cycle between perl and perl-modules. The maintainers and the perl team have already patched the affected packages and the last of them have already migrated to testing. * Cyril Brulebois suggested that the debian-installer RC2 release is steady approaching. Kudos ===== * A big thanks to Ansgar Burchardt for backporting patches from the debian-specific buildd version of sbuild. This allowed us to start the upgrade of the buildd infrastructure to Jessie. Also many thanks to the people involved on the buildd and DSA side their fast and dedicated work on migrating the hosts so far. * Thanks to the security team for reviewing some of the current security bugs and proposing removals, severity adjustments etc. * Thanks to the Perl Team for their efficient resolution of the perl dependency cycle. Thanks, Niels, on behalf of the Debian Release Team. [1] https://udd.debian.org/bugs/?release=jessie_and_sid&merged=ign&keypackages=only&fnewerval=7&flastmodval=7&rc=1&chints=1&ctags=1&cdeferred=1&crttags=1&sortby=id&sorto=asc&format=html#results [2] https://udd.debian.org/bugs/?release=jessie_and_sid&merged=ign&keypackages=ign&fnewerval=7&flastmodval=7&rc=1&chints=1&ctags=1&cdeferred=1&crttags=1&sortby=id&sorto=asc&format=html#results -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1 iQIcBAEBCAAGBQJU/B5dAAoJEAVLu599gGRCtB0P/jIoFhc1ywYk1DwyPAaAwzh9 OwWYEqCIN+1D4DiJnA/7iAr5tomFt6g0Y/Gbk7pmYG3P6K8nmDJaX/FKQxhY28hw yBXr7ByLn/9PTsP6EyQjXHIyXtprgipXVWwXk7PYHSSJJD00O7HStncLXTE39g36 d0fgIDrR4f52Yd/9AV/ruVebqAGJrqlcaVa3NjwxmlEXc3hdzuU2YJqFNheie3FQ TeZ1CBovL8su1l21QcxqtC7B2zTSsMwy6azrGLoKUxwxSoI2YaBNVKAruTQ3BdzT Ei+UvZDr7ZqjftEpLliE3/11IS7445BZnZAcviHXZU0Ot4Bd1kjLb4bBlqN3wn6b GSjJUIFrwAL7wgAwlygR+O7Ct7MNbdN4chBd7sknlCyoUEQAU+YtDAw3Ca/l9yzx VE1IK0WvkMKRQnGiGWD/SpRwhIvLnMyZksdXN0KCEI2IDWSWJkpJ1A3h0vw3fQEQ rpTgmccXweDqjxQ7mnAHX2+H5RGFFuOk3VpAmJggMI6K6Kye0aEr+6Hg+waOP6ln 5BU4LRaq977e0uIov/q8JJjEYVDesYfHFGNP5HM1ogY1D0gDxikPeANLMzd21PJv itXfd6T++n3hWy078qnp3iAST3EzGdtVUIahJAbB93PJMc/b0VMJGpMvWL/jTZbQ OM6by1jN5FHy+tdWtXB6 =kkRT -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----Do you feel as though you haven’t completely gotten over some things in your past?
Do you find yourself in relationships that don’t bring you joy? Are you looking for answers and ways to overcome your past, to let go of non-working relationships, and to create your own unique life?
You may have heard of Men Going Their Own Way or Women Going Their Own Way. Well in this video I am addressing PEOPLE going their own way.
You have the power to create a good life for yourself. You can overcome the past and stop the past from defining you. You can be powerful in your belief of self.
Watch my video and get the answers and information to make going your own way more defined with less headache. You are a unique being with amazing gifts, it’s up to you to tap into YOU and find those gifts and find the love you have for yourself and let that love radiate out for all to feel.
—
Photo: Getty ImagesThis article is about the television series. For the movie character, see Leonard Lawrence
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.[fn 1] is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spin-off of The Andy Griffith Show, and the pilot episode was aired as the season finale of the fourth season of its parent series on May 18, 1964. The show ran for a total of 150 half-hour episodes spanning over five seasons, first in black-and-white for the first season, and then in color for the remaining four seasons. In 2006, CBS Home Entertainment (distributed by Paramount) began releasing the series on DVD. The final season was released in November 2008.
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. was a hit, never placing lower than tenth in the Nielsen ratings, and ended its run as the second-highest-rated series in the United States. It has enjoyed continued popularity through reruns and DVD releases. The series was created by Aaron Ruben, who also produced the show with Sheldon Leonard and Ronald Jacobs. Filmed and set in California (originally set in North Carolina), it stars Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle, a naive but good-natured gas station attendant from the town of Mayberry, North Carolina, who enlists in the United States Marine Corps.[1] Frank Sutton plays Gomer's high-octane, short-fused Gunnery Sergeant Vince Carter, and Ronnie Schell plays Gomer's friend Duke Slater. Roy Stuart portrayed Corporal Chuck Boyle, GySgt. Carter's good-natured sidekick. Allan Melvin played in the recurring role of Gunnery Sergeant Carter's rival, Staff Sergeant Charley Hacker.
History [ edit ]
Everett Greenbaum and Jim Fritzell, writers for The Andy Griffith Show, are credited with creating the character of Gomer Pyle. The character was based on an "incompetent" gas station attendant whom Greenbaum met and named after Gomer Cool (a writer) and Denver Pyle (an actor on The Andy Griffith Show).[2] Jim Nabors was cast to play Gomer; he had been performing for a Santa Monica nightclub, The Horn, when Andy Griffith discovered him.[3][4] Though originally intended to appear in only one episode, Gomer proved popular, and after appearing in seasons 3 and 4, Nabors was given his own spin-off produced by Aaron Ruben. The pilot episode of Gomer Pyle was filmed in 1963 as part of The Andy Griffith Show, but was not aired until 1964, as the finale of The Andy Griffith Show's fourth season.[5]
I had recently driven into a gas station with motor trouble. The attendant could think of no cure except to add more gas to the tank. We decided to write such an incompetent into the script. Everett Greenbaum on the creation of the character Gomer Pyle[2]
The 1960s saw a return to "the more mundane sensibilities of comedy," due to viewers' wishes for television programming to be a "cultural antidepressant." Thus, fantasy- and rurally-oriented comedies gained popularity and dominated the Nielsen ratings.[6][7] Like other comedies at the time, Gomer Pyle was a "deep escapist" show; it avoided political commentary and offered viewers a distraction from the social changes of the 1960s.[8][9] Despite being a military-themed show and airing during the peak of the Vietnam War, the show never discussed the war.[10][11] Instead, the show was founded on "Gomer's innocent simplicity [and] Sergeant Carter's frustration and later concern for Gomer's well-being." This, compounded with the popularity of rural comedies in the 1960s, made the show popular.[10] Frank Sutton, who played Carter, ascribed the show's popularity to its concentration on its two main characters, and the plots being built around their respective personalities.[12] The program remained in the top 10 of the ratings throughout its run—in the top three for all but its third season when CBS moved it from Fridays to Wednesdays.[13][14] Nabors quit because he desired to move to something else,'reach for another rung on the ladder, either up or down'.[15]
After Gomer Pyle left the air, Jim Nabors hosted his own variety show, The Jim Nabors Hour, from 1969 to 1971. As well as showcasing Nabors' singing and rich baritone voice, the show included comedy sketches that featured Nabors's Gomer Pyle co-stars Frank Sutton and Ronnie Schell.[16] Though told that he should not leave Gomer Pyle, Nabors felt that the show would still be exciting and noted that every character he portrayed in his sketches "turn[ed] out to be Gomer."[17]
Production [ edit ]
Filming was done at the U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) San Diego, California – pictured in the photograph from left to right: Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors); USMC Representative / MCRD Technical On-Site Advisor (Drill Instructor Edwin J. Kues, USMC); and, Gunnery Sergeant Vince Carter (Frank Sutton). This photo was taken in between filming of the comedy production at MCRD San Diego, California in 1964.
The show was produced by creator Aaron Ruben, Andy Griffith Show producer Sheldon Leonard (in partnership with Griffith), and Ronald Jacobs; it was co-produced by Bruce Bayley Johnson and Duke Vincent.[18] Among the writers were Sam Bobrick, Harvey Miller, Aaron Ruben, Jack Elinson, and Bill Idelson; Andy Griffith Show writers Everett Greenbaum and Jim Fritzell also wrote episodes. Coby Ruskin was the primary director in the first four seasons, before John Rich took over the role for the fifth season; other directors included Gary Nelson, Peter Baldwin, and Alan Rafkin. Ruth Burch was in charge of the casting, and John Finger directed the cinematography.[18] The theme song was composed by Earle Hagen, who also composed the themes for shows such as The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and That Girl.[19] The show was filmed at Camp Pendleton, Desilu Studios's Desilu-Cahuenga, and RKO Forty Acres backlot, where The Andy Griffith Show was filmed.[20][21][22][23] Though Ruben preferred the use of a multiple-camera setup for comedy programs, Gomer Pyle used a single-camera setup because much of the shooting was conducted outdoors.[24] In his book And The Show Goes On, Sheldon Leonard explained that the armed forces offer levels of "cooperation" with filmmakers. Because the Marines felt that the show would be good for the branch's image, Gomer Pyle was given "total cooperation," meaning that the show was allowed unlimited access to military equipment.[21]
The vehicles in the show were provided by the Chrysler Corporation, as opposed to the parent series' vehicles that came from the Ford Motor Company. Although Jeeps are also prominent in the show, the brand itself would not become a part of Chrysler until the AMC buyout that occurred in 1987.
Nabors and Sutton were the only actors credited in every episode (however, Sutton did not appear in every episode).[fn 2] Ronnie Schell (who played Duke Slater) left after the third season to star in Good Morning, World, though he returned for the fifth season, promoted to corporal, after graduating from non-commissioned officer training. Roy Stuart, who played Corporal Chuck Boyle, made his debut in the second season and left after the fourth. Andy Griffith, Frances Bavier, Ron Howard, and George Lindsey made guest appearances on the series reprising their respective roles from The Andy Griffith Show.[fn 3] Denver Pyle and Allan Melvin, who both had roles on The Andy Griffith Show, appeared in Gomer Pyle, but did not reprise their original roles. Denver Pyle, who had played Briscoe Darling in six episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, played tomato farmer Titus Purcell in the Gomer Pyle episode "The Price of Tomatoes." Allan Melvin, who had played Clarence "Doc" Malloy and other antagonists on The Andy Griffith Show, played Sergeant Carter's rival, Staff Sergeant Hacker, for four seasons. Nabors also carried the Gomer Pyle character to fellow CBS series The Lucy Show, in which he made a cameo appearance in a 1966 episode.
Episodes [ edit ]
Premise [ edit ]
The premise of Gomer Pyle is similar to and perhaps inspired by Andy Griffith's movie No Time for Sergeants, which was based on the Mac Hyman novel of the same title.[30][31][32] Like Leonard's other shows, Gomer Pyle was character-driven; the main characters were "accessible" and "engaging," and the supporting characters were often eccentric.[33] In the show's pilot episode, Gomer, a gas-station attendant from Mayberry, joins the Marines. Gomer's naivete immediately exasperates his drill instructor, Gunnery Sergeant Carter (Frank Sutton). Originally situated in Camp Wilson in North Carolina, the setting was moved to the fictional Camp Henderson in California.[34] The show was a fish-out-of-water piece, which, like its contemporary The Beverly Hillbillies, featured rural characters out of their normal settings.[35][36] Like other comedies of the 1960s, the show avoided political commentary (especially concerning the Vietnam War) and focused instead on the predicaments that ensued from Gomer's unintentional breaking of the rules or sticking his foot in his mouth.[37][38]
Among the themes explored were the honesty and "strong family values supposedly inherent in small town life"; according to author Gerard Jones, Gomer Pyle's basic message was "far simpler than any corporate suburban sitcoms with their lessons in compromise and role-following [...] It said merely that the oldest, most basic, least sophisticated sort of sweetness could redeem even the toughest modern types".[1][39] Author Elizabeth Hirschman noted that Gomer represented a "uniquely American archetype"—a "large, powerful man physically" with the "simple, honest nature of a child or animal". She also noted that, like stories with characters of such an archetype, Gomer's trusting nature was often taken advantage of, though in the end he "reaps happiness" because of his innocence.[40] In his book Watching M*A*S*H, Watching America, media and communications scholar James Wittebols said that Gomer Pyle illustrated how class differences "supposedly negated or diminished by military training" made themselves apparent in the military world.[41]
Characters [ edit ]
Gomer's personality might best be summed up by the words "Aw, shucks." The Andy Griffith Show Book[42]
Gomer Pyle (played by Jim Nabors), from Mayberry, North Carolina, is a good-natured and innocent private whose naïvete constantly annoys his drill instructor, Sergeant Carter. Eventually, however, his "unquestioning love and trust of the world"[1] lead those in his platoon to befriend him. His good nature attracts the friendship of women; meanwhile, in so far as Carter's abrasiveness repels women, Gomer is in the position of salvaging numerous social occasions by charming the women whose opinions are important to officers at the Marine base. Gomer was created as a stereotype of a rural American; according to Time, he "wears a gee-whiz expression, spouts homilies out of a lopsided mouth and lopes around uncertainly like a plowboy stepping through a field of cow dung. He is a walking disaster area."[43] Though never promoted beyond private first class during the show's run, Jim Nabors (who played Gomer) was given an honorary promotion to lance corporal in 2001 and again to corporal in 2007 by the Marines.[44][45][46]
Gomer Pyle's birthday was February 26.
Gomer: I'm gonna be a fighting fool, you'll see.
Sergeant Carter: Well, you're halfway there. "The Feudin' Pyles"[47]
Vince Carter (played by Frank Sutton), a gunnery sergeant from Kansas, is Gomer's irritable, abrasive, and socially inept drill instructor (later his platoon sergeant) who is constantly annoyed by Gomer's well-intentioned mistakes.[48] Carter disdains Gomer's country idiosyncrasies ("golly!" "Shazam!" "surprise, surprise, surprise!"). He is also put off by Gomer's expectation that the platoon should be a family, of which Carter is the father figure: As much as Carter wants their working relationship to be temporary, as is common in the military, Gomer expects a life-long friendship, which exasperates Carter. Due to the audience's demand for more family-oriented programming, he eventually revealed his softer side: Carter became a father figure to Gomer as well as his best friend.[1][10][34] Sutton stated that his character was created "out of whole cloth for the show" and, as the actor played him "by ear," Carter greatly changed during the first season.[12] Barbara Stuart played his girlfriend "Miss Bunny" for three seasons.
Mark Slade appeared in eight episodes in 1964 in the role of "Eddie" though in the first of those appearances he was billed as "Private Swanson."[49]
Duke Slater (played by Ronnie Schell) is Gomer's friend and platoon-mate. Schell left the show in the fourth season to star in the short-lived show Good Morning, World but returned in the final season as the corporal of Gomer's platoon.[50][51]
Chuck Boyle (played by Roy Stuart) is Gomer's corporal. He often serves as Carter's conscience and sticks up for Gomer when Sergeant Carter is annoyed over his mistakes. Stuart debuted in the second season and left the show after the fourth season; Boyle was replaced by Duke Slater as corporal for the final season.
Lou-Ann Poovie (played by Elizabeth MacRae) is Gomer's girlfriend. She debuts in the third season as a singer for a nightclub, but leaves the job at Gomer's urging to return home to Turtle Creek, North Carolina, and marry her beau Monroe Efford. In a later episode in the same season, she returns to California and reveals that she called the wedding off. At the end of the episode, she reveals that she wants Gomer to be her boyfriend, to the dismay of Carter and Duke. After she loses her job at the nightclub, Gomer finds her a job as a salesclerk at a record shop.
Ratings and timeslots [ edit ]
Season Timeslot Rank Rating 1) 1964–65 Friday at 9:30 pm #3 30.7 2) 1965–66 Friday at 9:00 pm #2 27.8 3) 1966–67 Wednesday at 9:30 pm #10 22.8 4) 1967–68 Friday at 8:30 pm #3 25.6 5) 1968–69 #2 27.2
Legacy [ edit ]
In 1987, some 18 years after Gomer Pyle finished its broadcast run, Stanley Kubrick's film Full Metal Jacket was released. In it, the nickname "Gomer Pyle" is derogatorily given to Private Leonard Lawrence (played by Vincent D'Onofrio) during boot camp, after incurring the drill instructor's wrath (Gunnery Sergeant Hartman played by R. Lee Ermey) for being unable to turn off his idiot's grin and his perceived incompetence.[52][53]
A brief clip of the show airing on American Forces Vietnam Network television appears during the military hospital scene in the 1994 film Forrest Gump.[54]
Media [ edit ]
E. Kitzes Knox wrote a novel based on the series, also titled Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. The paperback was published by Pyramid and released in 1966.[55] Jim Nabors recorded Shazam!, the official soundtrack of the show, and released it on the Columbia Records label.[56]
Home media [ edit ]
CBS DVD (distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment) has released all five seasons of Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. on DVD in Region 1. All episodes have been fully restored and digitally remastered in full-color, but due to clearance issues, some episodes that feature Nabors (and other cast members) singing have been edited to remove those performances.
On March 10, 2015, CBS DVD released Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.- The Complete series on DVD in Region 1.[57]
In Region 4, Shock Entertainment has released all five seasons on DVD in Australia.
DVD Name Ep # Release dates Region 1 Region 4 The Complete First Season 30 December 12, 2006[58] November 12, 2009[59] The Complete Second Season 30 June 26, 2007[60] March 10, 2010[61] The Complete Third Season 30 December 11, 2007[62] May 12, 2010[63] The Complete Fourth Season 30 May 20, 2008[64] August 11, 2010[65] The Complete Fifth and Final Season 30 November 25, 2008[66] April 13, 2011[67] The Complete Series 150 March 10, 2015 N/A
References [ edit ]
Bibliography [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ]UPDATE: CNN AXES HOST WHO CALLED TRUMP ‘PIECE OF SH*T’
Is CNN down with promoting rape culture?
CNN’s Reza Aslan was recently forced to issue an apology after he called the President of the United States a “piece of shit.”
I should not have used a profanity to describe the President when responding to his shocking reaction to the #LondonAttacks. My statement: pic.twitter.com/pW69jjpoZy — Reza Aslan (@rezaaslan) June 4, 2017
“That’s not like me,” Aslan said on Sunday, however, previous tweets from the Believer host prove he regularly spouts vile obscenities, at one time also wishing for the rape of a US congressman.
Back in 2012 Aslan targeted former Missouri representative Todd Akin, clarifying, “Just to be clear I was indeed wishing someone would rape congressman Todd Akin. I’d hate to be misunderstood.”
Just to be clear I was indeed wishing someone would rape congressman Todd Akin. I'd hate to be misunderstood. — Reza Aslan (@rezaaslan) August 21, 2012
The 2012 “rape” message is under renewed scrutiny following Aslan’s controversial tweet aimed at the president.
CNN quickly distanced itself from Aslan following his Trump POS tweet, claiming he’s “not a CNN employee, but does host a series on the network.”
“We are pleased that he has apologized for his tweets. That kind of discourse is never appropriate,” a CNN representative said in a statement.
Neither Aslan, nor CNN, however, have addressed his pro-rape tweet.
The latest controversy for the embattled network follows an ill-thought photo shoot in which CNN New Year’s Eve co-host Kathy Griffin was fired from her gig for posing with a bloody head made in the likeness of President Trump.
On Monday, CNN also found itself fending off accusations that it manipulated and staged a Muslim Anti-ISIS protest for propaganda purposes.David and Brendan Creato By: Tanya Malhotra
(Scroll down for video) A father was arrested on a charge of murder after allegedly killing his son because his teenage girlfriend does not like children, police in New Jersey said.
Camden police said that they have arrested 22-year-old David Creato Jr., after being accused of killing 3-year-old Brendan Creato.
David Creato was charged with murder and endangering the welfare of a child. He was booked into jail, and his bail was set $750,000.
If convicted, David Creato faces up to life in prison.
According to the police investigation, David Creato was afraid of losing his 17-year-old girlfriend to another man because she does not like children.
David Creato who was afraid that his son Brendan would come between himself and his girlfriend, decided to kill his child and dump his body in a river.
David Creato describes the area as spiritual.
David Creato’s girlfriend told investigators that she and her boyfriend visited the river around 25 times before the boy’s body was found.Fox News personality Bill O’Reilly has decided to get even more specific in his attack on people who voted for President Obama.
O’Reilly claims “entitlements buy votes.” He says, “it is a stone cold fact that lower income Americans largely re-elected President Obama.”
Here’s his explanation:
“20 percent of those who voted on Election Day make under $30,000 a year. Those folks are either poor or close to it. Many of those voters receive entitlements – food stamps, housing subsidies, that kind of thing. And of course, they don’t want those programs cut or reorganized. Among Americans making less than $30,000 bucks a year, 63 percent, 63 percent voted for Barack Obama. Just 35 percent voted for Mitt Romney.”
First, O’Reilly’s ascribing a pretty selfish motive to millions of Americans. He’s saying the poor cast their votes in exchange for entitlements without considering President Obama’s tax policies, foreign policy or financial plan in a record-breaking recession.
O’Reilly apparently doesn’t believe that someone could vote Democrat based on the issues. Just because you’re poor doesn’t mean you can’t think carefully about the political options.
And O’Reilly’s silent on the middle-class vote: 31% of the voters made $50,000 - $99,999 in 2011. 52% of them voted for Mitt Romney. Did the 46% who voted for Obama want “entitlements” like their impoverished fellow citizens? What does O’Reilly think motivated the 44% of people making $100,000-$199,999 to vote for Obama?
In fact, O’Reilly’s own argument reveals two reasons the Republicans lost the election:
1. Alienating the poor. Apparently, disparaging the 47% wasn’t enough. O’Reilly’s getting a head start on the next election.
2. The Republicans must be using entitlements to “buy votes” from the wealthy. I’ll use O’Reilly’s own words (from above):
4 percent of those who voted on Election Day make over $250,000 a year. Those folks are either rich or close to it. Many of those voters receive entitlements – corporate tax breaks, subsidies, that kind of thing. And of course, they don’t want those programs cut or reorganized. Among Americans making more than $250,000 bucks a year, 55 percent, 55 percent voted for Mitt Romney. Just 42 percent voted for President Obama.
Ironically, O’Reilly advises his fellow Republicans, “you can’t disparage poor people.” He will probably continue to do so.LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With nine starters returning from last season's top-25 defense, a true freshman cracking the starting lineup didn't seem likely.
However, after nine days of camp, rookie Dorian Etheridge is the front-runner for one of the starting linebacker positions.
The Charleston, W.Va., native, Etheridge has been extremely impressive on the practice field.
"Dorian is someone I'm very excited about," inside linebackers coach Cort Dennison said after Tuesday's practice. "He's very natural. He has great instincts and his knowledge of the game is advanced. He's always in his notebook and continuously asks a lot of questions. He's very mature and will only get better."
Entering the system in June after graduation, the 6-foot-3, 230-pound linebacker, has advanced mentally and has picked up defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon's scheme quickly.
"Anytime you have a freshman in the room, who is one of the most vocal ones, you understand he's very advanced and has a knowledge of the game," Dennison said. "He takes great pride in what he does, and he has a love for the game."
An imposing figure with his size and speed, Etheridge will not be shown up physically. However, he has noticed a major difference in the mental aspect of the game, with all the different concepts and terminology.
"Physically, I know I can compete," Etheridge said after his first interview as a collegiate football player. "However, mentally it's taken a lot of time. There is just so much. I've learned more in one day than I learned during my entire high school career."
Being heavily recruited out of Capital High, Etheridge had an idea that he could come in and compete like he has thus far, but it's hard to imagine anyone thinking he could have this type of impact heading into the second week of practice.
"Everything I've accomplished so far I owe to my coaches," Etheridge said. "We have a lot of great freshmen here. I'm enjoying it and just continuing to just work hard."
Growing up in West Virginia, not many elite high school athletes leave the state, but Louisville is more than please that Etheridge snuck out of town.
"I fell in love with the school when I came here," Etheridge said. "It's a great school and they always have great defenses. Last year, the defense was great and I just wanted to be a part of it. Louisville was one of my later offers and I just feel in love with the coaching staff."
After losing Keith Kelsey – the team's top tackler last season -- to graduation, the coaching staff is grateful that Etheridge, the two-time all-state performer, chose the Cardinals over a number of Power 5 offers.
"It's definitely a grind," Etheridge said. "Every day you have to give it you're all, and that's definitely what I've done. This is just the first week of camp, but we are still working to get better."
The grind continues on Wednesday with practice No. 9, which begins at 9 a.m.The Pre-War Japanese Left: A Survey and Critique
Derek Ide I Social Movement Studies I History I May 18th, 2013
The 2009 upheaval in Japanese politics, manifested in the ouster of the Liberal Democratic Party and their decades-long rule, signaled a significant shift to the left on the part of Japanese masses. Despite the caricature of Japanese society as one dominated by traditionally conservative and reactionary currents, Japanese leftists from the nineteenth century onward have articulated and maintained a diverse line of political thought that has played a vital role in challenging, both theoretically and materially, the dominant ideology and the capitalist economic structure which maintains it. Early leftist thought was originally rooted in Christian Humanism, only later developing an emphasis on socialist currents represented by reformism, anarchism, and Marxism. Popular forms of organization that struggled against the oppressive economic, political, and social institutions which constitute Japanese society have historically aligned themselves with a variety of leftist political thought.
Ultimately, however, two primary variables have existed in a dynamic interrelationship which has assured the dominance of the Japanese ruling class and excluded popular leftists elements from restructuring Japanese society along lines of social justice, equality, and democratic control over the economic sphere: intense state repression and the failures of the Japanese left to articulate a consistent praxis to achieve fundamental change. These two variables, important to varying degrees in different periods of recent Japanese history, provide a framework in which the weaknesses of the Japanese left can be critically assessed and allow for the synthesis of a new revolutionary praxis to emerge.
Modern leftist political thought has only been a material possibility within the last century and a half in Japan. Japanese society, from the mid-seventh to the mid-nineteenth century, was dominated by a conservative feudal system of extreme hierarchy. This top-down administration consisted of a ruling Shogun who presided over nearly 250 regional Daimyo Lords and maintained a semblance of ideological legitimacy through a mandate from the relatively powerless monarch, referred to as the Heavenly Sovereign, and a unique borrowing of Chinese Confucianism which strictly defined social roles and was utilized to legitimate strict political, social, and economic stratification.
Changing Social Relations in the Tokugawa Period (1603-1868)
An urban revolution under the rule of the House of Tokugawa was facilitated by the development of new agricultural techniques which, from 1550 to 1650, nearly doubled the amount of land under cultivation. This allowed for the rapid influx of ex-farmers into urban areas that were clustered primarily around castles used in the past by the Daimyo as military centers. This demographic shift from an agrarian to urban society fostered the growth of new markets, especially around luxury items associated with the nobility such as silk, which augmented the size of the urban proletariat.
The transformation under the Tokugawa period from a largely agricultural, semi-feudal society to an early industrial society brought with it the burgeoning of new social classes. Namely, the bourgeoisie, both large and small, which bought up labor to extract surplus from the relatively nascent modern working class, a class which sold its labor and produced valuable commodities for the market. The development of these new social classes, demarcated by their relation to the means of production, were a result of a complex array of factors including centralization of political power, agricultural improvements driven by military competition, technological advancements spurred by the fact that fewer farmers were needed, and the rapid urbanization resulting from these processes. Yet, despite all this economic development Japan remained within the ossified class structure of a feudal society.
The rigid social hierarchy of Neo-Confucian ideology was maintained as official dogma and a multitude of social, political, and economic benefits were assigned to the nobility. Merchants and artisans often lived precariously, some enjoying exponential success and others failing miserably under the heel of the emerging capitalist machine. For laborers and the poor, dangerous, onerous work earned them paltry wages, forced consumption restrictions, hereditary occupational status, and atrocious housing. It was, however, these economic conditions which foresaw the emergence in Japan of an entirely new economic order, one dominated not so much by military generals but by capitalists and bureaucrats in
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wobbling and trailing a cloud. At that distance the airplane looked just a few inches long. It disappeared over a tree line and into the forests beyond. No dust or smoke rose into the sky. Some seconds later came the thunder. The workers ran to find their boss, who hurried to a radio and made the first call. That night people at the farm had a hard time sleeping. Riebero had a long night as well. The Brazilian Air Force called asking to use Fazenda Jarinã for rescue and recovery operations once the airplane was found. Riebero acquiesced because the ranch had the facilities to handle a crowd. God willing, the crowd would include survivors. At 11 p.m. a four-engine Hercules lumbered overhead and began searching through the darkness to the east, ultimately without success: the Boeing’s emergency locator transmitter had apparently failed, because no homing signal was received. The air force kept calling Riebero to keep him abreast. Riebero finally switched off the radiophone to catch some rest. He got up at dawn. For a while the morning was calm, but at 8:30 another Hercules flew low overhead, equipped with a magnetometer of use in detecting metal masses. At nine a.m., Riebero heard that the wreckage had been found. It lay in heavy forest on Caiapó territory, and was almost impossible to see from above. Air-force helicopters began to settle onto the ranch’s soccer field. A rescue team went out, rappelled down to the crash site, and came back with the news that there would be no survivors. The scene was grim. One hundred and fifty-four people had died. They were innocent men, women, and children. People are insignificant blips on the scale of history, but these had not died peacefully, as one might wish. They had endured a period of absolute terror, and had been torn apart by the force of the impact. It was the worst accident in Brazil’s long aviation history. The recovery operation began with the clearing of a helipad in the forest. When word came to the Caiapós that the Boeing lay on their land, Megaron mobilized 22 men—warriors all—and drove to Fazenda Jarinã, where they launched two aluminum boats into the Jarinã River and set off downstream, a full day’s travel to the site. The Caiapós wanted to help. Their shaman was with them. The heavens had rained ruin into their trees. They did not believe that people are insignificant blips in history. They believed that in a parallel world in the forest 154 tortured souls were crying out for tending. The Takeoff A thousand miles to the south on the afternoon of September 29, a few hours before the Boeing’s impact, two American pilots were preparing to fly home in a brand-new business jet made by the Brazilian manufacturer Embraer. The airplane stood gleaming in the sunshine at the Embraer plant in São José dos Campos, near São Paulo. It was a Legacy 600, an imposing $25 million beauty capable of accommodating 13 passengers in luxury at 41,000 feet, at more than 500 miles an hour, and, with a reduced passenger load, of flying 3,700 miles between stops. The Legacy occupies a position toward the high end of private jets—among airplanes like Gulfstreams, Challengers, and Falcons—which by political, ethical, and environmental measures are abhorrent creations, but which nonetheless are masterworks of personal transportation. The Legacy weighs 50,000 pounds fully loaded, and is powered by twin Rolls-Royce turbofan engines mounted aft against the fuselage, delivering a total of 16,000 pounds of thrust at a price to the atmosphere and global oil reserves of about 300 gallons an hour. It has a high T-tail and thin swept-back wings which span 69 feet and turn upward at the tips into graceful winglets—six-foot vertical extensions meant to tame the airflow and improve efficiency (entirely in relative terms). It has a cockpit with the latest in electronics and instrumentation, including a Flight Management System computer, ultra-accurate G.P.S. receivers, strong radios, a superb autopilot, and the ultimate in onboard collision-avoidance devices. It has a cabin equipped with a full galley (personal flight attendant suggested), an entertainment system, a satellite phone, a large lavatory, and three distinct seating areas, including one in the back that can be converted into a private bedroom. If you insist on treating yourself really well, and at considerable cost, flying in a Legacy comes highly recommended. This one had been bought by a Long Island–based aircraft-management company called ExcelAire, which planned to charter it out as a global air taxi. It had been given an American registration, N600XL, which in radio phonetics would become November Six Hundred X-ray Lima. The “XL” referred to ExcelAire. Over the days preceding the homeward flight, four company employees had inspected the airplane before consummating the purchase. The employees included two ExcelAire vice presidents and the flight crew—the captain, Joseph Lepore, aged 42, and his co-pilot, Jan Paul Paladino, aged 34. Lepore had a reputation for being a pleasant man who had always wanted only to fly; Paladino was said to be more articulate and perhaps to have a quicker mind. Neither pilot spoke Portuguese or demonstrated much enthusiasm for Brazil beyond the standard stuff about Rio de Janeiro. Judging from the cockpit voice recordings captured by the Legacy’s black box and later recovered by investigators, their English was New York–accented—and no less so when they enunciated for the locals. In the recordings, they didn’t enunciate often. But so what—English is aviation’s lingua franca, controllers everywhere are required to speak it to non-native pilots, air-traffic procedures are much the same globally, and Lepore and Paladino had signed on to fly airplanes, not wander around contemplating cultural nuances. These were the same pilots later pilloried in the press for having dropped off the radar to stunt-fly over the Amazon—an accusation that was ridiculous from the start and was soon disproved by the records of their flight. Lepore and Paladino were not the joyriding type. In fact, quite the opposite. Beneath their cockpit banter, they come across in the voice recordings as almost childishly dutiful toward their superiors and their job. In that sense they represented the industry ideal. They were also experienced pilots and officially qualified to handle an airplane of this kind. In the United States they had recently completed Legacy training at FlightSafety International, the world’s best-known private-jet flight school, where they had demonstrated proficiency in the various check-box categories. FlightSafety training is classroom- and simulator-based. It is also stilted and formalistic—designed to impress bureaucracies as much as to impart knowledge to pilots—and is therefore less useful than it pretends to be. It is not, however, without value, and ExcelAire had gone still further, arranging for both men to fly a Legacy twice before sending them off to Brazil for the purchase. Additionally, during the inspection-and-acceptance process in São José dos Campos, they had test-flown the new airplane under the guidance of Embraer factory pilots and engineers, who had briefed them on the cockpit systems and provided practical tips. Furthermore, the co-pilot, Paladino, had previously flown a similar Embraer regional jet during a stint at American Airlines. And these jets are easy to fly. There was no reason to doubt that Lepore and Paladino would bring N600XL safely home.
Ot was not a fun stay in Brazil. São José dos Campos is a dull town, and there were repeated delays as the ExcelAire team found small problems with the airplane, and Embraer technicians struggled to resolve them. Particularly difficult was a problem with flickering L.E.D. cabin lights, which nearly caused the purchase to fall through. Embraer treated the Americans well, and insisted on sending a staffer along for the first leg of the homeward flight, apparently to ease their exit from the country. Things didn’t work out that way, but the plan was to fly 1,725 miles north to Manaus, where they would spend the night in a good hotel and take a boat ride on the Amazon, before heading to the United States later in the day. Also along for the flight was Embraer’s North American sales representative Henry Yandle and a New York Times contributor named Joe Sharkey, who writes a business-travel column for the newspaper and was doing a story for a U.S. magazine called Business Jet Traveler. Sharkey was the outsider among them, and potentially an influential one. It was unusual to have invited him on a maiden voyage with a freshly trained crew. But this was to be a rare run without a client aboard, or the shyness that typically accompanies the use of such airplanes. Embraer and ExcelAire welcomed the publicity. A description of the Legacy in Business Jet Traveler might help persuade someone to buy or charter one. It was hard to know what Sharkey could write of genuine content—that riding in a Legacy is comfortable? That the cabin offers legroom, desk space, and a walk-in luggage compartment? That the cabin lighting does not flicker? At $25 million it had better not. Anyway, Sharkey seemed a decent sort, and unlikely to delve into the airplane’s dark side—the fuel burn per passenger-mile, the expense to company shareholders, the disproportionate use of public resources like air-traffic control and landing slots. No, it was a safe bet that Business Jet Traveler would not be publishing that. Nonetheless, Sharkey’s presence placed additional pressure on the pilots as they taxied the unfamiliar airplane toward the runway. It was just before three p.m. on Friday, September 29. Embraer had submitted a computer-generated flight plan to Air Traffic Control for the run north to Manaus. Flight plans are trip requests, or advance notices of an imminent flight. This one was for a routing that would take N600XL over Brasília, where, after a slight left turn, an airway would lead the airplane 1,200 miles to Manaus. That airway is called UZ6. It passes over Caiapó Indian territory and Fazenda Jarinã, but of course the flight-planning computer did not know this, or even of the Amazon’s existence. On the basis of forecasted winds and the Legacy’s performance, it requested a climb to 37,000 feet, or Flight Level 370, an altitude appropriate for the initial direction of flight. Until Brasília, that direction was slightly to the east side of magnetic north. Airplanes cruising on such easterly headings are usually assigned “odd” altitudes (35,000, 37,000, 39,000), while airplanes cruising on westerly headings are given “even” altitudes (36,000, 38,000, 40,000). This is basic stuff, the vertical equivalent of drive-on-the-right highway rules. Virtuoso air-traffic controllers sometimes allow exceptions to be made when traffic is light (and exceptions are systemic along certain one-way routes), but generally these cruising rules dictate the altitudes at which airplanes fly worldwide. The flight-planning computer knew it, and since the airway to Manaus required a westerly turn over Brasília, it proposed a descent to 36,000 feet at that point. Lepore and Paladino had a printout of the flight plan in the cockpit, with the route highlighted in yellow, and the altitudes shown. But a flight plan is merely a proposal, and it becomes something of an artifact after Air Traffic Control mulls it over and issues a formal clearance into controlled airspace, assigning a route and altitude according to its own needs. Afterward the original flight plan becomes operational only in narrow circumstances related to communications failure. Lepore and Paladino received their clearance by radio from the control tower at São José dos Campos prior to taxiing. The local controller spoke the bare minimum of English. Lepore and Paladino eventually gleaned the essential: they were cleared to Manaus via a standard departure procedure and then the flight-plan route, at an initial cruising altitude of 37,000 feet. They were assigned a unique transponder code, which they set. The transponder is a radio beacon which responds to Air Traffic Control radar, enhancing the display on the controllers’ screens and automatically transmitting the aircraft’s altitude in flight. Like most of the Legacy’s electronics, this one was made by the American company Honeywell. At 2:51 p.m., with Lepore in the left seat and at the controls, N600XL accelerated smoothly down the runway and lifted off. I presume that Sharkey was pleased. He was embarking on a trip in the style of a latter-day pasha. Neither he nor the pilots could have known that at the same time, in the humble world 1,725 miles to the north, the ordinary passengers of Gol Flight 1907 were crowded around the gate at the airline terminal in Manaus, preparing to board a Boeing 737 for their flight south. Failure to Communicate The Legacy’s cockpit voice recordings are closed loops two hours long. The one recovered from N600XL opens 42 minutes into the flight like a curtain rising on a scene of normalcy, but with the Devil lurking just out of sight. It was 3:33 in the afternoon. The airplane was cruising on autopilot, about 150 miles south of Brasília, at the assigned altitude of 37,000 feet. Paladino, as co-pilot, was working the radio, checking into a new Air Traffic Control sector. The sector was a subdivision within Brasília Center’s airspace. Brasília Center is a radar facility that controls traffic across a huge expanse of central Brazil, approximately to the northern boundary of Mato Grosso State. Paladino keyed a transmitter and said, “N600XL level, Flight Level 370.” The controller’s response was garbled and incomprehensible. Paladino tried again, and this time the controller’s transmission was only slightly more clear. Lepore said, “I think he just said ‘radar contact.’” Paladino took the captain on faith and radioed, “Roger, radar contact.” To Lepore he added, “I have no idea what the hell he said.” Lepore made no comment. Radio communications in cruise are largely routine, the necessary exchange had occurred, and pilots don’t tend to get excited. Back home in the United States they might have pushed the issue, alerted the controller to the poor quality of his transmissions, and tried to get him to switch to a better frequency or a closer antenna. They did none of that here. Was it cultural arrogance? Probably not. Was it linguistic timidity? Possibly, and perhaps compounded by the mental inertia that can lull pilots in flight. All was well for now, but in retrospect the crew’s lack of follow-up was not a good sign. To pass the time, they explored the airplane’s Flight Management System and the related flat-panel displays, as well as a stand-alone laptop computer loaded with Legacy flight-planning software provided by the Embraer factory. Paladino had the laptop. A passenger came forward. It may have been Sharkey, because he asked about the altitude as if he couldn’t simply read the instrument panel, as one would expect the others to have done. Whoever it was, Paladino greeted him with an overbright tone. “Hello! How ya doin’?” “Good. You?” “Very good. We’re just, ah, playin’. Trying to get used to the airplane.” “She’s flying nice, no?” The use of the feminine was awkward, but Paladino went along. “Yeah! She’s flying real nice!” They spoke about the weather, which for the moment was nice, too. The passenger left. Paladino got back to poking at the laptop. Speaking of the screen, he said, “Aw shit, I lost it … ” Lepore said, “What’s the matter?” Paladino said, “I lost a page. Where’d it go? I musta hit something.” Lepore said, “Aw, it’s all right.” With nothing better to do, Lepore and Paladino kept fiddling with the computer. There was little reason to look outside. The earth lay far below as an irrelevant concern, and the surrounding sky was huge. Traffic at those altitudes was under radar control, and though other airplanes could be heard on the radio, the Legacy’s collision-avoidance system would warn of any that might stray near should the controllers make a mistake. That was the nature of the flight then under way. The cockpit was a cocoon. Lepore and Paladino were operating an inherently simple jet that had been stuffed with electronic capabilities—most of them nested, and therefore hidden from immediate view. The nesting of flight information, much of it non-essential, is a development now several decades old and somewhat out of control. It is driven on the one hand by market pressures to create clean cockpit displays, and on the other hand by the technical possibilities offered to overly enthusiastic designers and engineers. The problem for pilots is the idiosyncratic architecture of the systems that are created, the need to fathom the logic that has been applied, and the reliance on manuals laced with invented terminology to which practitioners are expected to submit their minds. In principle a pilot with sufficient time and patience can figure it all out in advance, but such pilots are rare, and Lepore and Paladino were not among them. They were stick-and-rudder men, confident in their control of the jet itself and comfortable with the first rule of aerial navigation, which is to point the airplane in the right direction and let it fly. In the Legacy, with its refined autopilot and its navigational systems, they had no problem doing that. The record shows that they remained at exactly 37,000 feet along the perfect centerline of the route they had been assigned. Meanwhile, they set about learning the airplane, as pilots must, through trial and error and practical use. The North American sales rep, Henry Yandle, came forward to visit. He had a hail-fellow manner that some passengers adopt in the company of pilots. Radio transmissions can be heard in the background, most in Portuguese, some from other airplanes, some from Air Traffic Control. Yandle emphasized the need to give Sharkey a good flight. Eventually he said, “All right. How much longer, guys?” Lepore said, “Aw shit, good question,” and laughed. Paladino said, “It’s fair enough.” Yandle said, “We were wondering because … “ Lepore apologized. “We didn’t have it loaded up till after we got up here.” Paladino may have tried to pull up a clock. Speaking of the flight-planned duration, he said, “It’s three hours and twenty-three minutes from takeoff, so it’s gonna be, uh … ” Lepore said, “Hour and … ” He began to finger his keypad, hoping to extract the answer from the Flight Management System. He said, “Still working out the kinks on how to work this stuff. This F.M.S.” It now seems sad and even tragic, the reach for automation by these working pilots, their button-pushing response. They must have known at what time they had taken off. They had been in the air for 45 minutes, give or take. The winds were not significant. With an additional 10 minutes tacked on for arrival turns, this meant they probably had about two hours and 45 minutes to go. It was the simplest sort of mental calculation and would have been accurate enough. Yandle tried to let it slide. He said, “Not a problem.” But the question had been raised. Duty Time, Block Time, Local Time, Push Time, Release Time, Time Off, Time en Route, Time of Arrival, Fuel-Remaining Time, Void Time, Expect-This-or-That Time. There is also Coordinated Universal Time, called Zulu Time, which rolls nicely off the tongue. Lepore said, “Where’s the one that gives us Total Time?” Paladino said, “The Current, right?” “Current” is the one you get from an ordinary watch. Lepore said, “Landing—that ain’t it.” He kept fingering the keypad. “The arrival, the arrival, the arrival.” He wasn’t giving up on the quest. But it was Paladino who had success. He said, “Here we go! Two hours and forty-seven minutes.” He had unearthed Time Remaining. Yandle said, “Two forty-seven.” The electronics had made it official. And so it went. This was an interval which might have been better spent in quiet concentration on the flight, but in private jets you don’t shut the door on the passengers. Yandle was a colleague, and Sharkey was important. The conversation continued as Lepore and Paladino tried to pull up weather information on the Flight Management System. They had a hard time finding it. They had similar trouble with the laptop. Their uncertainties were not to their discredit, and did not mean that they were reckless even to be flying that airplane, as has since been claimed. In retrospect they were perhaps too active in the cockpit. However, in this they were not alone. The best pilots are masters of minimalism who rely less on the equipment and more on their brains, but such pilots are rare. Airplane salesmen are different, because they profit from the add-ons. Yandle returned to the cabin and his guest. Alone in the cockpit, Lepore and Paladino kept fussing with the buttons as they approached the turn point over Brasília. The controller gave them a frequency change as they entered a new Brasília Center sector. That sector is large, stretching nearly 500 miles north to the edge of Brasília’s airspace, just beyond the Caiapós’ skies, where Manaus assumes control. In the new sector the first frequency was 125.05 megahertz, which normally would be functional for about the next 250 miles. Paladino acknowledged the handoff, set the new frequency, and checked in with a standard call. “Brasília, N600XL, level, Flight Level 370. Good afternoon.” The controller’s response was fast and strong. He said, “N600XL, squawk ident. Radar surveillance.” Paladino answered, “Roger.” Though the airplane had the entire large sector still to traverse, and all the radios were fine, this was the crew’s last full exchange with Brasília Center.
Air-traffic control in Brazil is a military function for historical reasons, none of them good. In the new sector, the controller on duty was an air-force sergeant, aged 38, named Jomarcelo Fernandes dos Santos. His instruction to the Legacy to “squawk ident” was a request for the crew to push a button associated with the transponder, which would highlight the airplane’s electronic symbol on the control-room console, making it easier for dos Santos to distinguish N600XL from other targets in flight. Why dos Santos felt the need is not clear, since the sector was particularly quiet at the time. In any event, high above Brasília, Paladino briefly neglected to comply. When he caught his error, he said, “Oh fuck, I forgot to do that.” The ident button was on the Radio Management Unit, a control screen for the radios and transponder. Paladino pushed it. Belatedly, Lepore said, “ID’s right there.” Paladino said, “I think I did it, yeah.” Then he said, “I think you see that … ” He didn’t finish the thought. He said, “Oh shit!” On the same device, the communications frequency had suddenly disappeared. But Paladino knew the number. He said, “Twenty-five-oh-five. That’s why I write it down.” It was a good practice. Despite what engineers may think, there is no cockpit tool as solid as a pen. Paladino reset the frequency. Lepore said, “Yeah.” Between the two men a subtle change was under way, and Paladino was ascending. Together they got back to the electronic maze, trying to calculate landing distance at Manaus, and takeoff performance for the following day. In the midst of this, the Legacy arrived over Brasília and was turned by the autopilot to track the airway, UZ6, on a course 24 degrees to the west of north. The Current Time was 3:55 p.m. The pilots made no mention of the turn that the airplane had just made. That in itself is not surprising. But the Legacy was now cruising at 37,000 feet, in contradiction to the convention that would have shifted it to an “even” flight level in the new direction. This was not illegal—and operationally it did not matter that the original flight plan had proposed a descent here to 36,000 feet. Indeed, the rules are very clear. Lepore and Paladino had been assigned 37,000 feet, and barring an emergency they were obligated to remain there until Air Traffic Control approved a change. There had been no such instruction. They may have assumed that with so little traffic in the air the controller was doing them a favor and allowing an exception, as sometimes occurs in the United States. They certainly knew that they were in radio and radar contact with Brasília Center, and that their transponder was transmitting their altitude and showing it accurately on the radar screens. Nonetheless, 1,200 miles of airway now lay straight ahead—a long stretch to fly against convention—and it is odd that they did not comment on the unusual flight level or bother to verify it with the controller, all the more so in a Latin-American system that felt loose to them and that they had reason to distrust. Their failure to speak up may never be fully explained. But it seems to have been a human thing, a slap-your-head lapse of the sort that invites the familiar question “How could I have been so dumb?” A Raw Metal Mass Explanations are harder for the performance of Sergeant dos Santos. His tasks as a high-altitude controller were similar to those faced by Internet gamers, but significantly slower and less complex, and although the consequences of his errors were potentially grave, the dimensions of the airspace overhead provided him with large margins for safety, even discounting cockpit-based collision-avoidance systems and the fact that some pilots do still look outside. In the United States a controller doing simulation research once mentioned to me the difficulty of directing two airplanes into each other even if you try. I answered that I was not surprised. Even the largest airplanes are small, and the starting point of collision avoidance has traditionally been a reality known as the theory of “the big sky.” Dos Santos may not have thought about it as such, but his actions indicate a faith that airplanes left alone just naturally don’t collide. He sat at an electronic display that was as crisp and capable as any in the world. When the Legacy first checked in, just south of Brasília, it appeared on the screen as an encircled cross indicating an enhanced transponder return, with a vector line showing its direction of flight and a data block displaying its call sign and two altitudes. The first altitude was the transponder’s report of the Legacy’s current altitude, 37,000 feet, which Paladino had just confirmed by radio. It was followed by an equal sign (=) indicating a functioning transponder in level flight. This in turn was followed by the second displayed altitude, whose function is unique to the Brazilian system and operationally awkward. Elsewhere in the world that second altitude is the flight level to which an airplane has been cleared, a number entered manually by controllers when they call for a descent or climb. In Brazil it may be the same, but if no manual entry has been performed, automation takes over and the second altitude displayed becomes the one proposed by the original (archival) flight plan for the segment of the route. Dos Santos must have known of the distinction. He was a working controller, and the nature of the second altitude is not difficult to understand. Nonetheless, on this particular day he seems to have become confused. When N600XL first entered his sector, just south of Brasília, the two altitudes were the same, both showing 37,000 feet with the equal sign between them, and the nature of the second altitude did not matter. But five minutes later, when the Legacy crossed overhead Brasília and turned left to track the airway, the second altitude display automatically switched to 36,000 feet, the original flight plan’s proposal, and a conventional level for the new direction of flight. Apparently dos Santos took this to mean that the Legacy had been instructed to descend, though he was the controller in charge and had made no such request. Mysteriously, he then ignored the indicator of the Legacy’s actual altitude—the transponder return, which showed the airplane still level at 37,000 feet. Against solid indications to the contrary, he believed that the Legacy had descended to 36,000 feet. I have tried to understand why. It may be that dos Santos would have so expected the Legacy pilots to speak up about flying at a nonstandard altitude that their radio silence got him to believe they were doing the conventional thing. But as errors go, this one was more than a head slapper. Furthermore, it was sustained, and it turned out to be contagious.
For 50 miles beyond Brasília, the symbol for the Legacy showed a clear transponder return at 37,000 feet, and dos Santos did nothing about it. Then the Devil stepped onto the stage. It happened at 4:02 p.m., when the Legacy’s transponder stopped transmitting. The loss was apparent in two ways on dos Santos’s screen: the circle surrounding the cross that marked the airplane’s position disappeared, and the sign between the two displayed flight levels (FL370 and FL360) changed from an equal sign to a “Z.” The Legacy now existed as an unenhanced “primary” target, a raw metal mass reflecting radar beams, with no altitude-reporting capacity. In the militarized environment of Brasília Center, however, an air-force radar kicked in with a crude height-finding function intended to help fighter jets intercept hostile intruders who would naturally try to penetrate Mother Brazil with their transponders turned off. Because the Legacy was still close to the radar dish on the ground, the height finder was able to calculate the altitude correctly, and briefly showed it on the screen as 37,000 feet. Be that as it may, the loss of the transponder should have been no big deal. Indeed, transponder failures are fairly routine, and because they normally elicit a reaction from controllers (generally a request to the pilots to reboot the unit), this one might have gotten the two sides at least to talk. The transponder problem would have been sorted out, and with it the question of altitude. Dos Santos, however, did not bother to call. It is as if he never noticed that the transponder had quit. Fifteen minutes later dos Santos went off duty. His replacement was another sergeant, aged 27, named Lucivando Tibúrcio de Alencar. Dos Santos briefed him on the sector’s traffic, including a Legacy headed for Manaus—at Flight Level 360, he said. By then the Legacy was about 150 miles past Brasília, still within effective communication distance on the frequency assigned, but moving beyond the accuracy range of the military height-finding radar, which began to show the airplane’s altitude erroneously—coincidentally first at 36,000 feet, and then at variations so large that the Legacy would have had to zoom wildly to achieve them. This explains the later reports that the pilots had been stunting. Belatedly, de Alencar realized that the Legacy showed as a “primary” target only, unenhanced by transponder and altitude reporting—but at soonest this appears to have been a full 10 minutes after he came on duty, when he bothered for the first time to make a call. It was 4:27 p.m., about a half-hour shy of Caiapó territory. The Legacy by then had flown for 36 minutes since the last communication with Air Traffic Control, and for fully 25 minutes since the transponder had failed. It was roughly 250 miles north of Brasília, and already beyond the range of reliable two-way communication on the assigned frequency. When de Alencar called, the Legacy did not answer, because the transmission was not heard in the cockpit. De Alencar called again, to the same effect. One might expect that de Alencar would have risen to the occasion. He now knew that he had a jet without a transponder, unresponsive to the radio, that was flying fast toward the boundary of his electronic vision and moving against possible opposing traffic as yet unseen. Closing speeds between jets in cruise may exceed 1,000 miles an hour, which can make a speck glimpsed in the distance very quickly fill the windshield. Admittedly, de Alencar believed that N600XL was at 36,000 feet, and that any opposing traffic would be 1,000 feet higher or lower—but even if correct, these were self-evidently unverified assumptions. Furthermore, until recent years a 2,000-foot vertical separation was the minimum considered safe between airplanes at those altitudes, and though a 1,000-foot separation is now the norm, it is based on the mandatory use of a new generation of precision equipment, including advanced autopilots and altimeters, and closely calibrated transponders. Until communications with the Legacy could be re-established, and the transponder problem resolved, N600XL for all its expense and elaboration was a rogue airplane, precisely flown but inadequately equipped for the tight tolerances of the airspace. There was no reason for panic, but by procedure and common sense de Alencar should have consulted with the Manaus sector, which adjoined his airspace ahead, and made a special effort to keep any traffic there far away. Instead, over the next 26 minutes he did little but call five times to the Legacy, in the unhurried hope that the crew might hear him and answer. All but the last call were on the same line-of-sight frequency that had already proved unavailing. De Alencar could have tried to relay a message through other airplanes in flight—this would have been normal—but perhaps because of the language barrier he did not. Through much of that time he had another controller by his side to assist him. Toward the end, as the Legacy approached the limits of Brasília’s airspace, the assistant called Manaus and advised a controller there that the airplane was coming at him at 36,000 feet. He neglected to mention that there had been no communications for 500 miles, and that by the way the Legacy’s transponder had failed. It was nearly five p.m. Gol Flight 1907 was speeding steadily south. Unseen in the jungle below, two Caiapó women had gone down to a stream to wash. “Calma!” Back to 50 miles north of Brasília—and back nearly an hour in time, to the moment of the Legacy’s transponder failure. At that time, the transponder did not power off but switched from “Altitude” to “Standby.” It did this either by itself or because one of the pilots unknowingly pushed a button. Though both are possible, and the latter seems likely, the distinction does not really matter. Pilots no less than controllers are expected to notice such events. Far to the north and near Manaus, the southbound Boeing had just leveled at 37,000 feet. In the northbound Legacy at the very same altitude, and on the very same flight path, Lepore and Paladino were alone in the cockpit, continuing to plan the next day’s trip, and relying on electronic elaborations for help. Co-pilot Paladino said, “Naw, we can do 48, eight eight four.” Captain Lepore said, “If we do, uh … A.T.O.? That’s basically, uh, full fuel, isn’t it?” At that moment, 4:02 p.m., the transponder quit. No chime sounded in the cockpit. Instead, a small warning silently appeared on each of the two Radio Management Units, showing an abbreviation for “Standby.” The understated warnings must have made good sense to Honeywell’s engineers, who inhabit offices in Arizona, but they were not helpful to the pilots far away in flight, who were drowning in their products. For the next 500 miles the “Standby” warnings remained in view but unseen. The pilots were occupied with other things: their automated flight-performance calculations, fraternal visits from the passengers in the cabin, offers of water and soft drinks. The runway at Manaus was a particular concern—it had been shortened because of construction. At one point Lepore said, “We can do the landing, all right. Just have to get on it.” He was not acutely worried. He laughed wryly. “Nothin’ like banging the first flight of the friggin’ airplane.” Bang it, prang it, really fuck it up. But first you have to screw the pooch in your mind. Paladino matched Lepore’s tone. He said, “We couldn’t get a nice long runway, you know? You get stuck in a fucking place in the middle of the Amazon Unknown.” He glanced out at the brown-green expanses below. He said, “Aw, beautiful. But it don’t look so Amazonish.” Lepore said, “Nah, it doesn’t either.” It didn’t because it wasn’t yet. Later, for a while, it still wouldn’t, because that part of the forest has been cut down. Aw, beautiful. A few clouds floated ahead. Paladino considered a turn to smooth the ride. He said, “I guess we’ll have to deviate.” It was a proposition. He thought again. He said, “Aw, maybe we’ll be all right.” They were doing 500 miles an hour. It seemed slow because the clouds were large, and they could see them far ahead. Lepore said, “Aw, probably will.” He dropped something on the cockpit floor. “Aw, goddamn it.”
Navigational precision poses dangers not immediately apparent. In the Legacy, it was based on three systems. The first was an ultra-accurate altimeter, capable of measuring the atmosphere with such finesse that at Flight Level 370 it could distinguish the Legacy’s altitude within perhaps five feet. The second was almost as accurate. It was the airplane’s satellite-based G.P.S. receiver, a positioning system that kept track of the airplane’s geographic location within a distance of half of its wingspan, and that, linked to a navigational database, defined the assigned airway with equal precision. The third was an autopilot that flew better than its human masters, and, however mindlessly, worked with the altimeter and G.P.S. to keep the airplane spot-on. Such capability is relatively new. Until recently, head-on airplanes mistakenly assigned the same altitude and route by Air Traffic Control
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break down is as follows:
A BBC spokesperson told The Commentator: “The BBC’s engagement with the major UK wide political parties is fairly similar and the overall yearly spend would therefore be broadly the same for each party. The figures in this FOI only show the direct spend with parties themselves, not with any third parties who run events and collect fees on their behalf. As the Conservative Party conference is routinely contracted out to a third party supplier, the BBC’s payments to them would not be shown in this FOI.”
The information will cause a new headache for the BBC which is currently mired in scandal surrounding the late presenter Jimmy Savile.
Previously, the BBC has also refused to release information pertaining to its Middle East coverage, which campaigners have urged the disclosure of due to repeated allegations of inherent bias within the organisation. The BBC has spent over £330,000 of licence fee payers' money in order to stop the Balen Report being released.
Mark Thompson, the previous director general of the BBC stated in 2010, "In the BBC I joined 30 years ago, there was, in much of current affairs, in terms of people's personal politics, which were quite vocal, a massive bias to the left. The organisation did struggle then with impartiality."
Former Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Margaret Thatcher once said: "I have fought three elections against the BBC and don't want to fight another against it."
In 2006, the Conservative Party grandee Lord Tebbit remarked: "The BBC was always against Lady Thatcher."
It appears now that the BBC did not simply once hold an anti-Thatcher bias, but rather holds an inherent anti-Conservative bias. The figures, already hard enough to defend against, shows the Liberal Democrats getting more financing and more attention from the BBC, despite the fact that the party is now the 3rd or 4th largest party in Britain, while the Conservatives hold the majority of the seats in government.
The Liberal Democrats hold just a fraction of the seats in Parliament compared to Labour and the Conservatives.
The BBC has noted in the freedom of information release, "political parties can, and do, enter into agreements with 3rd parties to run their events and collect all fees on their behalf. For example, the organisation of the Conservative Party conference is routinely contracted out to a third party supplier."Arsenal's 2-0 defeat at Sunderland said so much about so many aspects of their play – their mental strength, their level of confidence, their raw quality.
The nature of the defeat, signalling the end of their last genuine chance of silverware this season, inevitably leads to grand conclusions based around small or simple incidents. ITV highlighted Sébastien Squillaci walking straight down the tunnel having being replaced, supposedly indicative of the lack of team spirit, while Roy Keane was outraged by so many players wearing gloves, an example of the lack of fight.
Tucked away was a smaller tactical point that can also be twisted into a microcosm of Arsenal's season. There are broadly two strategies a side can take when they do not have the ball. They can push up high and pressurise their opponents, or they can drop very deep, allow the opposition time on the ball in deep positions, but concentrate on remaining tight in their own third. This is the principal tactical debate in modern football – Barcelona have become the dominant side in Europe by pressing heavily, but the only side to deny Pep Guardiola three consecutive European Cups is Inter, who won the tournament by sitting deep in the 2009-10 season.
Of course, it is entirely possible to combine the approaches, which is basically what Martin O'Neill did this weekend. In the league meeting between the sides a week before, Sunderland sat very deep – they played fewer passes in the opposition half than any other side that weekend, and they allowed Mikel Arteta to play 100 passes, more than any Arsenal player had managed this season. It was an exaggerated form of standing off. But though they frustrated Arsène Wenger's side for long periods, Arsenal eventually found a way through. Aaron Ramsey steered in a shot from outside the box, while Thierry Henry found himself on the end of a cross to flick in the winner.
With that in mind, Sunderland used a hybrid approach. They often replicated that caution, but combined this with tenacity higher up the pitch when Arsenal were attempting to build attacks. A key part of Sunderland's gameplan was pressing the three Arsenal central midfielders when they received a forward pass, forcing Arteta, Ramsey and Alex Song to return the ball to where it came from. Arsenal's momentum was killed and they had to start again. When the away side did enjoy long periods on the ball and moved higher up the pitch, then Sunderland reverted to their deeper positions and packed the penalty box.
And this is the puzzle of Arsenal's current style – they are not good enough to overcome either problem. They conceded the first goal after midfield pressure, when Craig Gardner closed down Johan Djourou and forced a free-kick. They conceded the second when Sunderland sat deep, then broke quickly.
Arsenal have long struggled with deep and narrow defences. Stylistically, this should not be as much of a problem as in previous years – they no longer incessantly try to thread the ball through the middle, as they did with Cesc Fábregas the focal point with Samir Nasri and Andriy Arshavin coming inside from the flank. Instead, they play with width and pace, with Theo Walcott, Gervinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain options out wide.
This naturally lends itself to playing against narrow sides, but Arsenal move the ball too slowly into wide zones, allowing the opposition to retreat into deep positions where going around the back four results in running out of space. Gervinho, for example, may frequently lose all sense of direction when in the penalty box, but he showed with one good bit of play in this game, when forcing a save from Simon Mignolet, that he can be effective when given the ball quickly and able to run in behind. Against Milan, Arsenal surely had to target the defensively poor Milan full-backs, but the ball never arrived at the wingers in potential one-on-one situations. Pitch-related concerns notwithstanding, it was simply a failure to maximise the area they were stronger in.
Now, they also struggle with pressure in midfield. Physical problems are a key factor; Arteta is too lightweight, as shown by how easily he was shoved off the ball by Stéphane Sessègnon for Sunderland's second goal. Ramsey is a fine competitor at his best, especially considering the severity of the injury he suffered at Stoke two years ago. But he has looked exhausted for weeks, and is currently the equivalent of a dying battery that has been shaken to squeeze more life out of it, when a fresh replacement is sorely needed. Song should be a fine physical force in front of the back four, but the insistence upon midfield rotation means he often ends up ahead of his two midfield colleagues, and is in no position to help.
In Wenger's glory days, Arsenal could deal with that physical attention. They were at their best with two imposing players in the centre – first Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit, then later Vieira and Gilberto Silva. If the opposition tried to rough them up, Arsenal could overpower them. Even Mathieu Flamini was a decent solution. He was a smaller player, but fierce and combative. Much more talented players have left the club in the past few years, but Flamini's decision not to sign a new contract in the summer of 2008 was a significant blow.
The other option for getting around close attention in the centre is a sudden burst of pace and directness. The significance of Jack Wilshere's absence should not be overstated, but that is exactly what he brought to the side last season, and that is partly why he was appreciated by Arsenal fans, to an even greater extent than his fine performances would justify.
It is currently unclear what style of football Arsenal would want to play against. They are not good at dealing with sides pressuring them, and they are not good at dealing with sides who stand off and sit back. The only possible combination that works for them is a side foolish enough to play a high defensive line yet not close down sufficiently in midfield. It is no coincidence that Arsenal's only good performance against a top side this season, as Daniel Taylor notes, was away at Chelsea, who employed those tactics when they and André Villas-Boas were figuring each other out.
Maybe they still are – you half-expect that from a young manager trying to revolutionise a side's style of play. But the main benefit of Wenger's long-term reign has been consistency of approach, familiarity of ideals. For the first time since he joined the club, it is difficult to pinpoint precisely what Arsenal are good at.
Walcott fails to fire through the middle
The other interesting feature of Arsenal's game was Walcott's brief spell as a striker – he has frequently stated his desire to be fielded as a centre-forward, and here he finally got his chance. But the timing was wrong – late on Sunderland were sitting deeper and deeper, and though quick players are often used as super-subs because the opposition have tired, it often emerges that the player has no space to exploit. Walcott was desperate to run past the defence to use his pace, but his most significant contribution was being caught offside twice.
Three's company for Tottenham
Harry Redknapp switched to a 3-4-1-2 system for Tottenham's trip to Stevenage, with Gareth Bale used in a roaming role behind Louis Saha and Jermain Defoe. This was the first time Spurs had started a game under Redknapp with a back three, though he did switch to that system with relative success away at Stoke earlier in the season.
The obvious common theme between Stevenage and Stoke is their old-fashioned threat from set-pieces and high balls, and the primary reason for playing that system was probably simply to get extra height in at the back – it allowed Redknapp to play Younès Kaboul, Ryan Nelsen and Michael Dawson at the back. Maybe not the most radical decision you will see this season, but it shows that Redknapp thinks about the opposition before selecting his formation, and is not quite the tactical nihilist often portrayed.Autumn: when the falling leaves drift by the window, and the days dwindle down to a precious few, and songwriters wax especially melancholic. It makes sense that we celebrate our spookiest holidays, Halloween and the Day of the Dead, when the newly crisp air carries with it premonitions of loss and mortality. But autumn is also a time of renewal and harvest — and of reckoning, as in Judaism’s Days of Awe. It is our subtlest season, our bittersweet season, one that can prompt feelings of deep yearning. C. S. Lewis wrote about this in “Surprised by Joy,” when he recalled reading Beatrix Potter’s “The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin” as a boy: “It troubled me with what I can only describe as the idea of Autumn. It sounds fantastic to say that one can be enamored of a season, but that is something like what happened … the experience was one of intense desire.” For me, fall evokes a kind of present-tense nostalgia — a wallow in fleetingness, perhaps.
I hope “Wee Sister Strange” reaches a large enough audience to trouble an entirely new generation with the idea of autumn. Its eeriness will merit repeat Halloween readings, as you may have guessed from the title, but it also echoes with deeper seasonal resonance. The story begins:
They say there’s a girl
Who lives by the woods
In a crooked old house
With no garden but gloom.
She doesn’t have parents.
No one knows her name.
But the people in town
Call her Wee Sister Strange.
One thing I admire about Holly Grant’s verse is its pluck: Sometimes it rhymes and sometimes it doesn’t; it goes where it wants, but always seems to scan. Wee Sister Strange turns out to be as independent-minded as her creator. She is very much an autumnal creature, an October forest sprite with yellow eyes and a garland of red, orange and yellow leaves in her auburn hair. She cavorts with owls and bears, enjoys a wary détente with wolves and is equally at home in the bog where “she swims oh so deep / And she walks on the slime / Where the bog creatures creep.” K.G. Campbell’s illustrations are both gorgeous and mysterious — again, seasonally appropriate — and he manages to make even that slime and those bog creatures alluring. But he saves his best for first: The book’s initial spreads, before night falls and Sister’s adventures begin, are masterpieces of waning yellow-orange light and lengthening purple-grey shadows.
We eventually discover that Sister is searching for something. What that is, and where and how she finds it, involves a leap into bedtime metafiction that could have felt forced, or cute; instead, the ending strikes emotional chords that are hard to articulate but should be familiar to anyone who has felt the pull of October’s shifting moods, its sorrow and comfort. I love “Wee Sister Strange.” I think it would have sent C. S. Lewis over the moon (a harvest moon, preferably).
“The Call of the Swamp” is more of a November tale. In Marco Somà’s illustrations, the brown leaves have mostly fallen, the skies are cold and gray, and nearly every spread features a light but steady rain. The emotional temperature is also grayer, sadder. Like “Wee Sister Strange,” Davide Cali’s narrative unfolds with the matter-of-fact oddness of a centuries-old fairy tale. It begins, as so many such stories do, with a childless couple. When they find a newborn at the edge of the swamp, “it seemed like a gift from heaven, and they paid no attention to the fact that he had gills like a fish.” They don’t worry if he has parents either, “because he had found a new mom and dad now.” They name him Boris.
Boris. That made me laugh. “The Call of the Swamp” pulls off the rare trick of blending whimsy with genuine ache. Boris has a good life with his parents. He goes to school, rides a bike, plays with friends, is loved. But his three pairs of wavy external gills mark Boris as an outsider, and one day “a salty smell” borne on the wind — “the scent of the swamp” — stirs a longing for old haunts. He runs away … but from home or to home?With the North American qualifier having concluded yesterday, we now know the full lineup of teams who will be competing at the Intel Extreme Masters World Championship CS:GO tournament. Twelve teams from around the world will travel to Katowice, Poland to battle it out for the coveted Intel Extreme Masters trophy in the legendary Spodek arena, with the full team lineup being as follows:
Invitees
Team EnVyUs
Virtus.pro
Natus Vincere
Fnatic
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Astralis
Luminosity Gaming
FaZe Clan
Winner of Intel Extreme Masters Taipei
The MongolZ
European qualifier winners
E-Frag
mousesports
North American qualifier winner
Tempo Storm
Brazilian squad Tempo Storm went through the qualifiers only dropping one map, defeating teams like Team Liquid and Counter Logic Gaming along the way as well as Cloud9 in the qualifier final. This result means that the Intel Extreme Masters World Championship is now without a North American representative.
See you in Katowice!
The CS:GO tournament at the Intel Extreme Masters World Championship promises to be both stacked and thrilling, and we're looking forward to all of the exciting matches to come. Make sure not to miss any of the action by joining us live at the Spodek arena - entry is free of charge!
Remember to follow IEM on Twitter and Facebook to stay update to date with all the important information about the event.So today was my first attempt at stuffing around with Windows 8.1. What comic did I decide to go with? Batman, as only David Finch and Frank Miller could draw him 🙂
Saw a couple guys had the new 8.1 software, so I figured I’d try it out. Doesn’t look as good on static images, so I created a Vine which should show you how the parallax scroll and transparency effects work. Overall, I think it looks pretty slick.
For some reason I think the simple version actually works best in this particular case:
As always, if you want to check out the original images I used, just click here.
If you guys have any ideas about what I should do next, throw your suggestions in the box below.Far left Minnesota lawmaker Keith Ellison warned fellow Muslims that Trump will fry you up like chicken.
Rep. Ellison was sworn into Congress by taking the oath with a Koran.
WDAZ reported, via Religion of Peace:
The only two Muslims in the U.S. congress are slamming fellow Muslims who support Donald Trump.
Representatives Keith Ellison and Andre Carson spoke about what they consider anti-Muslim rhetoric and growing Islamophobia in Washington on Tuesday. Ellison made his point using a reference to kentucky fried chicken.
“Muslims who support Trump is, like, you know, chickens for Colonel Sanders, you know what I mean? You think that you’re gonna be the chicken that doesn’t get fried up? Well, I think you better guess again.”
Trump has proposed a temporary ban on all Muslims entering the U.S., but he later said it was really just a suggestion.Reporter Annoyed To Discover He Doesn't Own Facts; Suggests 'Global Paywall' For Reporters Like Himself
from the good-luck-with-that dept
A story I did, like this, gets repackaged, like this (with a reference to the original reporting deep in the second page), and finally reaches you, like this:
Solution: A Global Pay Wall Across All Sites.
All cooperating media outlets agree to the same pay wall appearing on their sites, with revenue divided behind the scenes.
No fear of a loss of eyeballs to competitors: everyone is behind the pay wall.
Every so often we see this kind of thing: a reporter (who may very well do amazingly good work) gets upset to realize that other news sites and aggregators pick up on some of his stories and write about them -- potentially even getting more attention than the original. In this case, it's reporter Matthew Taub, who is annoyed that other sites got the glory for his investigative reporting on... on a guy dressing up as a clown and running around a Brooklyn cemetary Hey, we've all been there. I've had plenty of stories that I've written get rewritten and repurposed by other, much bigger sites and then watched those sites get all the traffic. It happens. Of course, sometimes it's happened the other way as well, in which we get traffic that we probably don't deserve after we write about a story that originated elsewhere, but for reasons unknown, the world bestowed the traffic to our story first.Taub takes the silly line that, because of things like this, "original reporting" (as he defines it) "willin about five to ten years." Of course, we've been hearing this refrain for longer than five to ten years and it never really changes. And it's silly and somewhat meaningless. First of all, reporters don't own facts. Period. It's something that's kind of important to learn if you're going to report on stuff. Hell, for the cemetary clown story, is Taub paying the clown? Of course not, but the storyoriginates with that guy, not Taub, right?Furthermore, the idea that original reporting will go away is just silly. In fact, if you look at sites that often start out doing the kind of aggregating and rewriting that Taub complains about, many of themdo plenty of original reporting, and that role keeps growing over time as they realize how important that can be. Just look at the prototypical example of a site that got big by "aggregating" information from elsewhere: BuzzFeed. Yet these days, it has a large and growing "original reporting" staff that often does amazing work. Many people don't realize it yet because they're still focused on the other junk the site produces, but the idea that original reporting goes away is just silly.But Taub thinks the answer is a "global paywall" where all "real" publications can all team up:Except, no. Not everyone is behind the paywall, because any even halfway entrepreneurial journalist will look at Taub's global paywall and leap for joy over the fact that Taub justfor competition by taking all those papers out of the open internet. And it's not like this idea hasn't been discussed before Taub compares his solution to Spotify and iTunes -- but, again, the industry tried to set up an "iTunes for news" five years ago and it hasn't worked out particularly well. It's just been a bunch of paywalls that haven't really helped. Music and news are very different products. Not realizing the difference in how they're consumed (and what the substitutes are) dooms this particular analogy.But the real problem here is that Taub is overvaluing the reporter and undervaluing the audience. We've tried to make this point for years, but the whole reason that newspaper businesses were viable in the first place was that they brought together a, and then were able to sell advertisements against that. That "community" was often local. But the problem today is that there are so many competing communities, made possible by the internet, that newspapers no longer have that kind of monopolistic control on attention.But the problem with a paywall is that it's actually a. It'sthe community and. Consumers of news today want to be able to share it with others and discuss it. And a paywall gets in the way of that. Thus, you're making the news significantly less valuable, yet expecting people to pay more for it and devaluing the community value that the publication itself needs. Economically, it's stupid.Here's a better idea: if other sites are getting all the traffic for your stories, maybe look atthe traffic is going to them and see whatto get that traffic directly. There's a reason people went to those other sites rather than the original, and maybe instead of just blaming the evils of the open internet, it's because you or your publication could be doing a better job attracting and keeping a community of interest.
Filed Under: aggregation, antitrust, community, global paywall, journalism, matthew taub, paywall, sharing"I adore plants, seeing their progress of growing, the way the colors change"
Tell us about yourself.
I am 26 years old, from Germany, Berlin. For a living, I help out in my mother´s business and work on my own projects.
When and how did the film journey begin for you?
Around 8 years ago. My dad who was a passionate analogue photographer who took amazing care of his equipment showed me his photographs - which is when I fell in love. So I became more and more interested in taking pictures myself, always being fascinated by nature in all its beauty.
What Could we always find in your gear bag?
Minolta SRT 303, at least 2 lenses (35mm & 50mm)and a couple of different films, depending on where I´m going, but I really like Tudor
What camera makes you click?
Minolta SRT 303, Canon AE 1, Bauer, Olympus
Who are your models? How do you interact with them before shooting?
Currently, my main models are family and friends. I love to shoot animals, but I also actively look for models. Before a shooting, I imagine what I want to capture, search for details and items I could use. I have a look at the person I am going to shoot and try to feel and relate to who they are. Once I look through the finder and I feel the right moment - click.
What inspires you most?
A huge passion are flora and fauna. I love nature. I adore plants, seeing their progress of growing, the way the colors change... emerging into thin air. This is why I like to go outside and take pictures of nature as often as I can.
Do you have any advice for film photographers out there?
"try to see more than you allow yourself to see"
You can find Anna Hermann here:
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say-annalogue.wix.comKim Novak
She was the accidental superstar. Fifties and Sixties film icon Kim Novak rarely grants interviews these days but she gave a doozy to Turner Classic Movies' Robert Osborne for Kim Novak: Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival. The hour-long chat, filmed before a live audience, will air Wednesday at 8/7c, followed by four of the star's top films: Picnic (1955), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), Bell, Book and Candle (1958) and Of Human Bondage (1964). Novak, still fantastically gorgeous at 80, had a meteoric rise in the business: She went from being a Chicago refrigerator model known as "Miss Deepfreeze" in 1953 to major film star in two short years. By 1956, she was considered the top box-office star in the world. Novak gave it all up just as quickly, moving from Hollywood to Oregon where she now paints up a storm — she works mostly in watercolors — and lives with her husband of 37 years, veterinarian Robert Malloy. Though Osborne is, as always, the consummate gentleman, no topic is off limits in his gab session with Novak — not even her alleged affair with Sammy Davis, Jr. that scandalized Hollywood — and the result is one of the most poignant, cathartic, tearful confessionals ever. TV Guide Magazine had a follow-up talk with Novak to find out what triggered the waterworks.
TV Guide Magazine: We've watched a million stars be interviewed on TV but don't recall any becoming as emotional as you did during your talk with Osborne. At one point you almost have a mini-breakdown. What brought that on?
Novak: I'm an emotional person. I haven't done that many interviews over the years and, I figure, if I'm going to do it, I better give it my all — or don't do it at all. I guess I broke down a bit when we touched on something that feels rather incomplete in my life. Unfinished business, perhaps.
TV Guide Magazine: You admit to having regrets about the way you retreated from Hollywood, that maybe you should have stayed and battled for quality roles the way other stars did. Are those regrets occasional and fleeting, or do they really haunt you?
Novak: I feel my life is complete because of my art, my painting. But, by the same token, I think I owed my fans more than I gave them. Perhaps I cheated the people who appreciated me and supported me by not sharing more of myself. But what can I say? I took the path that was before me. I'm not the type to clear the trees to make a path. [Laughs] I'm a tree lover! I guess the sad part for me is that the longer I've been out of the business, the better prepared I am to be an actress. I have been so fully living my life, learning the lessons of life, and growing so much as a person and as an artist, that I would be a much better actress now. But I did what I did. I thought I was doing it the right way.
TV Guide Magazine: Yet you left your fans with so many terrific films. Do you find some consolation in that?
Novak: I do. Still, I don't feel I ever reached my potential as an actress. I certainly didn't try to promote myself. I'm not a pushy person so there's always that turmoil for me — do you wait for something to happen or do you make something happen? I've always believed that if something is meant to be, it just works out. Yet I would see other actors fighting for themselves, fighting for the great roles. Which is right? Are you supposed to push the door open or do you wait for an open door? My choice was to move away from Hollywood but I always thought that if a role was really right for me, it would somehow come to me wherever I was.
TV Guide Magazine: Would you do it differently if you could go back in a time machine?
Novak: [Laughs] Probably not! I never intended to be an actress. I never dreamed of it, never even thought about it. I became one because I was discovered. It literally just happened, as if by magic. I was still in junior college when I visited a movie studio in Hollywood with a friend — we'd both been in San Francisco on a summer modeling job — and I was asked to do a walk-on in the Jane Russell movie The French Line. Soon after, I was placed under contract at Columbia and given starring roles. So it all seemed like destiny, but then my destiny changed when [Columbia chief] Harry Cohn died and the roles coming to me were no longer good ones. They were silly roles in stupid scripts of no value. Beach movies! Or the same-old-same-old glamour parts that offered little that was interesting in the way of character. I left and went into the real world to paint characters that were far more fascinating and satisfying than the ones I was being asked to play.
TV Guide Magazine: Which of your films do you think shows your greatest potential?
Novak: The early ones with the great scripts. Harry Cohn knew how to buy the most wonderful material. Perhaps Picnic is the one. The work of [playwright] William Inge brought out the best in me. The problem was, Harry Cohn was a dictator. He did everything at that studio! And when he died, it was like the head was cut off. The people who were left behind didn't know how to find a good script. I didn't want to go down the drain, so I ventured out on my own. And, after a while, I had to physically remove myself from town. Nowadays, you can live out of town — anywhere in the world, really — and your team will keep you in the game and make sure you survive. That wasn't the case back then.
TV Guide Magazine: What were your thoughts when you heard your movie Vertigo was picked as the greatest film of all time in Sight & Sound's poll of international film critics? It dethroned Citizen Kane!
Novak: [Laughs] I was just so grateful to be alive to witness it! And, of course, I was wishing Jimmy Stewart and Alfred Hitchcock could have been around, as well. They were both such magnificent men. How much that would have meant to both of them! Back when we made the film, none of us could have imagined it would have such longevity or acclaim. For all my misgivings about my life and choices in Hollywood, seeing Vertigo voted No. 1 made me think that maybe my trip was really worth it. Maybe I did have a certain amount of value.
TV Guide Magazine: Seriously? You really needed convincing?
Novak: Oh, sometimes I do. Sure. Sometimes I'll catch a movie on TV — something that's beautifully acted and directed — and I'll cry my eyes out thinking, "I wish I'd done that one!" But then it passes. The next day I'll go out in nature and paint a picture and be truly excited.
TV Guide Magazine: What's the perfect day for Kim Novak?
Novak: It would include painting, of course, and riding my horse and being with animals. I would be outdoors exploring new territory, experiencing the camaraderie of creatures that know you, that let you in and share their appreciation of life. Then there's more joy in taking all that and expressing it in imagery on canvas. I'm lucky enough to live on a river, where there's always something wonderful and new coming along with the flow. Sure, I have my regrets sometimes, but when I look at life, and the river flowing, I feel nothing but joy in knowing that I've chosen the right path — and I didn't need to cut down any trees to do it
Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!The CP of Bohemia-Moravia organized an International Conference in Prague on the 23-24 of May 2015, to which the KKE was invited and took part in. Communist and Workers Parties were not the only ones invited to this international activity. Other forces were also invited, which wear the mantle of the "left", like the German Die Linke that for many years has been participating in the attempts to sow illusions amongst the workers about the "humanization" of capital and the EU, while they often play a leading role in the EU's anti-communist, anti-soviet campaign. And this alone, the entirely different character of the forces that participated, would make it impossible for the KKE to sign a joint statement on serious ideological-political issues on which there are known to be divergent positions.
The comrades of the CP Bohemia-Moravia, who prepared a draft joint declaration, stated that the representatives of the parties would have until the end of May to inform them if they support the statement. At the same time however, they sent this text to Solidnet, where it was published on 26/5, without the signatures of the parties, leaving it open to misinterpretation as to which parties sign it.
On the part of the KKE, we would like to make a brief and codified statement as regards why our party can not sign the 'Prague Declaration":
1/ The meaning of imperialism at several points in the text is limited, mistakenly in our view, to being an "expansionist" aggressive foreign policy.
The KKE consistently supports the position of Lenin that imperialism is monopoly capitalism, with all the significant characteristics described by the leader of the October Revolution in his writings.
2/ The text contains, in our estimation, mistaken views in relation to the issue of cooperation and promotes the deeply futile "unity of the left and progressive forces", which has been used as vehicle for the management of capitalism and implementation of anti-people policies in several countries.
The KKE in opposition to this view promotes the need for the social alliance of the working class and the other urban and rural popular strata against the monopolies and capitalism.
3/ The text notes the aim of the USA and EU to distort history and revise the results of the 2nd World war.
However, the USA and EU are not the only forces that participate in this attempt at revision. And this is because, in our opinion, the most important outcome of the 2nd World War was the emergence of socialist states in Central and Eastern Europe and the further strengthening of the USSR. Social-political forces that are now in power in these countries and which earlier had led the counterrevolution and capitalist restoration in the USSR and the other countries of Eastern Europe contributed to this revision along wιth the USA and EU. The current leadership of Russia alsο participates in the distortion of history and actively takes part in the unacceptable anti-communist campaign around the Katyn massacre, despite all the publications about the falsification that began in the Yeltsin period, following in the footsteps of Goebbels.
4/ The text treats the issue of war from a pacifist standpoint, with vague "wishes" for peace.
In the opinion of the KKE on this issue, Lenin's approach is completely valid. Lenin noted that "War is no chance happening, no "sin" as is thought by Christian priests (who are no whit behind the opportunists in preaching patriotism, humanity and peace), but an inevitable stage of capitalism, just as legitimate a form of the capitalist way of life as peace is.» The imperialist wars, the wars for the conquest of markets, territories, direct political control, are characteristic of the contemporary era of capitalism and express the need for a new division of markets, for new peace "agreements", on the basis of the development of uneven capitalist development. All the bourgeois classes are responsible for the imperialist wars and not just those that have allied in the framework of NATO and the EU.
The issue for the labour-people's movement in each capitalist state is not to choose which group of imperialists to ally with, but to choose to conduct its own struggle against the war of the bourgeoisies, so that the people's blood is not shed for interests alien to them and for the enrichment of the exploiters. The struggle against imperialist war can not be detached from the struggle to overthrow capital's power.
5/ The opportunist-socialdemocratic forces, such as Die Linke, also bear responsibility for the imperialist wars, as well as other parties of the so-called Party of the European Left (PEL), which support them, e.g. as happened in the case of the war in Libya, in the Central African Republic, in Syria etc.
6/ The text maintains an "aphoristic" stance towards violence, without examining what kind of violence, what type of war, by what class, for what purpose. And this at a time when it is very well-known that the bourgeois want the people to completely reject revolutionary violence, so that they can exert capital's violence on them unimpeded.
The KKE and the communist movement in general condemn the violence and war caused by the bourgeois classes, in all its forms. Whether it be a clear military expansionist intervention or in the form of the bourgeois political line in the period of peace, which includes the violence of the class exploitation of the working class and paves the way for new imperialist wars.
In addition, we consider that the revolutionary labour movement must acquire the ability to counter capital's violence with its own violence. Georgi Dimitrov, in relation to this question at his trial in Liepzig used a quote from the German poet Goethe " Yes, he who does not want to be an anvil, must be a hammer." While K. Marx and F. Engels noted in the Communist Manifesto: "The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions.»
7/ The text calls for a world with "no wars, no violence, no misery" for the "society's democratic development", without mentioning which society we should struggle for. In this way it leaves room for confusion that war and misery, the attack on social and democratic rights can cease inside the conditions of capitalism.
The KKE and many other communist and workers parties declare that our era is the era of the passage from capitalism to socialism. Capitalism can not solve the problems of the workers, it can only causes crises and imperialist wars, the suppression of democratic and social rights, fascism, the relative and absolute destitution of the working class and other popular strata. The only alternative solution for the peoples is socialism.
It is obvious for the above reasons that the KKE can not sign the "Prague Declaration".
International Relations Section of the CC of the KKEAltar of Bones takes the reader via a flashback into the bleak, frozen world of the Gulag
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into a beautiful thing does not automatically dehumanize her.
All you have to do is look at the long history of the gay male world, beginning in classical Athens. No gay man has ever said when gazing at a beautiful young man with a perfect body, "I am making him passive beneath my gaze." That would be stupid beyond belief. Every gay man knows that youth and beauty are supreme principles that deserve our admiration and veneration. When we worship beauty, we are worshipping life itself.
Camille Paglia's seventh book, Free Women, Free Men: Sex, Gender, Feminism, was published earlier this year by Pantheon Books.Two common causes of death for contemporary Russians are heart attacks and falling to one’s end from great heights. In some cases, these fatal tendencies even have something to do with high cholesterol or tragic mishaps.
In 2008, a clothing salesman called Semyon Korobeinikov lost his footing on a balcony somehow and tumbled to his demise.
A year later, Korobeinikov was named as the purchaser of Universal Savings Bank, a dubious financial institution that had been fingered by investigators as a way-station for stolen Russian money. Only he didn’t buy the bank. It was part of a government ruse to exonerate the true owner, an ex-convict called Dmitry Klyuev, a reputed mob boss implicated in a series of massive tax frauds that cost Russian citizens $1 billion.
Korobeinikov might have therefore borne witness against Klyuev, if he wasn’t conveniently already 6 feet under.
In 2009, in a related case, Russian tax attorney Sergei Magnitsky was beaten to death by eight prison guards, according to a report published by then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s own human rights commission. The Kremlin claimed he died of a coronary. Then it put him on trial posthumously for tax evasion.
The case prompted U.S. anti-corruption and human rights legislation, known as the Magnitsky Law, which put the Russian government under Vladimir Putin on notice that it could not always get away with such abuses.
Magnitsky was killed by a hybridized state-mafia organization for unearthing a $230 million tax fraud perpetrated against the Russian people. The mob had colluded with the same cops supposed to investigate the crime, tax officials who processed it, and a host of compromised judges in various jurisdictions tasked with covering it up. They were all members of the Klyuev Group, and many are now sanctioned under the Magnitsky Law.
In 2012, Alexander Perepilichny, a former member of the Klyuev Group, dropped dead while jogging in his adoptive home of Surrey, England. There was no cause of death stated, but the assumption by the British coroner’s initial finding was that nothing looked suspicious, even though Perepilichny was a healthy 44-year-old with no known chronic or debilitating ailments.
Then Monique Simmonds, a researcher at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, hired by the coroner at the behest of Perepilichny’s life insurance company, uncovered traces of a rare and toxic plant, gelsemium, in the victim’s stomach.
Gelsemium, as it turns out, does not grow in the verdant climes of Surrey. It is only found in China, where it is a favored poison of assassins. Russian hitmen, too, have been known to access the flower’s quiet, lethal capability.
At the time of his death, Perepilichny had been helping the Swiss government locate and freeze chunks of the missing $230 million, some of which, the U.S. government concluded, wound up in Manhattan real estate and American banks.
In an ongoing asset forfeiture and money-laundering case initiated by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the alleged vehicle by which these dirty assets were washed clean was a Cyprus-registered company called Prevezon Holdings Ltd. (The U.S. attorney behind the case was Preet Bharara, fired by the Trump administration after refusing to resign.)
The Daily Beast has published half a dozen stories about United States v. Prevezon, including its star-studded and ever-evolving cast of characters.
So, now we come to the case of Nikolai Gorokhov, a lawyer entangled in the Prevezon case as a verification witness for the Justice Department who can expertly identify and authenticate Russian financial documents.
Gorokhov had intimate knowledge of the literature connected with the Magnitsky affair because he has represented the murdered lawyer’s justice-seeking wife and mother for six years.
On Wednesday, he was due to testify in the Moscow City Appeals Court to argue against another court’s refusal to re-investigate the conspiracy that Magnitsky uncovered, based on new evidence. That evidence suggested a former investigative head of the Russian Interior Ministry was fabricating or revising old files related to the case, and doing so at the behest of the Klyuev Group.
But on Tuesday, the 53-year-old Gorokhov plummeted from the fourth floor of his apartment building in Moscow. He was trying to move a bathtub to an apartment at the top of the building, according to the Russian press.
Curiously, first on the scene to report this as an accident involving a renovation gone wrong was LifeNews, a Russian outlet closely connected to the Russian security services and famous for inventing false news stories about the war in Ukraine and the murder of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.
“There’s still a lot of missing pieces to the whole story, but what we know for sure is that he was onto some of the most sensitive issues that the Russian government cares about in relation to the Magnitsky case,” Bill Browder, Magnitsky’s former client, told The Daily Beast in a phone call from London. “A lot of people weren’t happy with what he was doing in the Prevezon case.”
Gorokhov, Browder said, is currently in the intensive-care unit at Botkin Hospital with severe head trauma, although his injuries no longer appear life threatening.
So, we may yet learn if he fell or was pushed. Or if he will get his day in court as a witness for the U.S. government.<a href="http://gizmodo.com/5590327/windows-phone-7-in-depth-a-fresh-start">Gizmodo</a> We were at the Windows Phone "Mango" big reveal today, and we came away impressed.
Click here to see images illustrating our favorite Mango features >
Mango offers tons of delightful new features that improve upon the ideas of its competitors, and some features that are completely brand new.
But will these new features be enough to detract attention from the gigantically successful Android and iOS?
Microsoft says Mango, which will be released "this Fall," puts a huge emphasis on social. Mango integrates Facebook with almost every aspect of the Windows Phone experience, and also packs in Twitter and LinkedIn integration as well.
Microsoft will also be releasing Windows Phone 7 devices capable of 4G speeds. Perhaps Nokia's first Windows Phone 7 device will be.
Here are some bullet points of some things we liked today.
Visual voicemail will be a part of Mango.
Enterprise features like Information Rights Mgmt. You can protect messages, disable people from forwarding certain messages.
When you're out of reach (like while you're driving), the phone will announce the a text message or caller and enable you to respond (even to texts) hands-free.
Uploading pictures to Facebook will work out of the box, as will Facebook chat.
Office 365 and SkyDrive will be great collaboration and cloud storage tools.
Internet Explorer 9 is blazingly fast, and is exactly the same as the desktop browser
App Shortcuts let your web browser hand-off information to apps. Looking up a movie in your web browser? Tap to view the same movie in your IMDB app.
Quick Cards use Bing to aggregate information about entertainment venues. There are even maps for malls around the country.
New hardware partners Acer, Fujitsu, and ZTE will be providing handsets soon. 4G handsets also coming soon.
Windows Phone 7 Mango's Internet Explorer 9 clobbers Android and iOS (current iterations) in HTML 5 speed tests.
Hold down the back button to multitask.What do we call it when an Education Secretary has no public school experience and seeks to supplant public schools with voucherized Christian charter schools to “build God’s kingdom”?
What do we call it when a nominee for the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator is suing the EPA for regulations on carbon emissions and water pollution?
What do we call a nominee for Labor Secretary who opposes unions, minimum wage, and worker protection laws such as mandatory breaks?
What do we call a nominee for Energy Secretary who once vowed to eliminate the Energy Department when he ran for president, and had no clue until after his nomination the Energy Department’s role as a steward for the nation’s nuclear arsenal?
What do we call a Department of Housing and Urban Development director whose only HUD experience is growing up in low-income housing in Detroit, who stated individual effort, not government programs, are the key to overcoming poverty?
What do we call a Health and Human Services Secretary who feels healthcare is a privilege, not a right, seeks to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and, as a congressman, benefited from health industry stock trades?
What do we call a Secretary of State with no government experience but is “qualified” for his business acumen?
What about a Treasury Secretary with no government experience but is “qualified” for his business acumen?
And a Commerce Secretary with, you guessed it, no government experience but is “qualified” for his what? Business acumen.
Three words: STARVE THE BEAST.
“Starving the beast” is a political strategy coined by former Reagan budget director David Stockman. Basically, the goal is to eliminate government spending (the “beast”) by defunding vital government departments so those departments collapse under their own weight. Republican lawmakers can then return to their constituents and report that, just as predicted all along, those government agencies were a waste of taxpayers’ money.
Since it’s been around since Reagan, it’s hardly new. But make no mistake, Republicans have been hard at work at it for the past three and a half decades. Now they have a President, a businessman, who promises to enact a pro-business agenda complete with privatizing our nation’s most indispensable agencies. Public education could fail under an administration that works to undermine it in favor of corporate charter schools not required to adhere the same academic and professional standards like state teacher certification, gender and cultural diversity, and curricular oversight. We will not be able to confront the imminent dangers of climate change without a vigorous Energy Department advocating for alternative energy. We will not keep our lakes, rivers, and coastlines free of industrial waste without a robust EPA. We can forget about workers’ rights with a Labor Secretary beholden strictly to profit at the detriment to workers’ safety, security, and sovereignty.
It is no accident Donald Trump appointed Betsy DeVos, Rick Perry, Scott Pruitt, Andrew Puzder, Rex Tillerson, Ben Carson, Tom Price, Jeff Sessions, and Steven Mnuchin, among others, to man the country’s most important posts. If there’s one thing we hear most from the business milieu, it’s that “Regulations are killing jobs. If we just get government out of the way, all will be right with the world.”
That’s the mantra of the political party bought and paid for wholesale by special interests. Republicans love to tout “smaller government”, but have no problem with government when it works to protect their lobbyists. They cry about eliminating welfare programs when those programs benefit the underprivileged and minorities, but will fight tooth and nail against their elimination when it comes to corporate welfare. The Walton family, heirs to the Walmart fortune, in 2015 received $7.8 billion in government subsidies; McDonald’s: $1.2 billion; Goldman-Sachs: $207.7 billion; JP Morgan Chase: $485.6 billion; Morgan Stanley: $115.9 billion; Bank of America: $457.1 billion; Boeing: $8.3 billion; General Electric: $2.6 billion. This is what you and I are handing to these companies despite their record profits and what they are–or are not–paying their employees.
Trump’s cabinet symbolizes what Ronald Reagan said in his first inaugural address in 1981: “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”
And present-day Republicans LOVE Saint Reagan. They love him so much (maybe more than Libertarians love Ayn Rand), they have adopted Reagan’s slogan as their business model.
Yes, regulations can be onerous at times, causing enormous headaches. Why should you obtain that building permit before construction of your new deck? Why should you get your car inspected each year? Why should doctors and teachers have licenses? Why should lawyers and doctors be held to ethics codes? Why not permit gas station owners to gouge their prices and water-down their fuel? Why not allow that chemical company to dump its industrial waste into the river? Why shouldn’t the pharmaceutical industry release untested drugs? Why shouldn’t health insurance companies be able to drop someone’s coverage if he or she gets seriously ill? Why should we stop for stopped school buses? Why pay taxes? With regulations out of the way, wouldn’t life be easier? We can trust people to do the right thing, right?
Perhaps occasionally. Regulations keep people honest and safe. Maybe I sound a bit naive, but I actually believe most people will do the right thing when given the chance. However, corporations are not people, contrary to what the Supreme Court says, and when there are obscene amounts of money to be made and loopholes to exploit, can we really trust corporations to protect us from being poisoned, sick, or poor?
The anti-government wave on which Trump rode into the White House has the potential to unravel the very system delineated in those immortal words in the Preamble to the Constitution: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity…”.
Call your senators, especially if they are Republicans, and express your disapproval to Trump’s cabinet picks. Yes, they’re getting confirmed, but if the historic tie-breaking vote of Vice President Pence in the confirmation of Betsy DeVos is any indication, our outcry is not falling on deaf ears. If it were, VP Pence would not have had to step in to break a tie vote for a cabinet confirmation for the first time in history, especially for a position as traditionally ignominious as Education Secretary.MONTREAL—No party leader — with the notable exception of Elizabeth May, who presumably does not have to worry about dissent within her one-person Green caucus — will really like the private member’s bill Wellington—Halton Hills MP Michael Chong is scheduled to table on Tuesday. Under his proposed Reform Act, MPs would reportedly have the legal right to vote out their leader on the basis of a simple majority, and a minority of them (15 per cent) could force a party review of his or her leadership.
MPs might think twice about supporting Conservative MP Michael Chong's bill, for if it were adopted the buck that they are often content to pass to their leaders would stop with them. ( TOM HANSON / The Canadian Press file photo )
Looking back on the three prime ministers who I mainly covered — Brian Mulroney, Jean Chrétien and Stephen Harper — I can think of circumstances that could have set each of them on a collision course with enough caucus members to trigger a leadership review vote. Think of Harper’s unilateral 2006 decision to spring a Quebec nation resolution on the House of Commons, or his ongoing efforts to keep the social conservative faction of his caucus at bay over abortion rights. Think of Mulroney’s efforts to strike a middle course on the same issue in the face of opposition from some of his leading ministers in the late 1980s. or his determination to promote official bilingualism against the will of a vocal minority of Tory MPs who would rather have done away with the Liberal policy.
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Or consider Chrétien’s vulnerability at the hands of the so-called “Nervous Nellies” within his opposition caucus, who doubted that he could beat Kim Campbell in the 1993 election or — a decade later — of his run-ins with the Paul Martin clan within his government. As unsettling as the prospect of a caucus-induced leadership review or removal might be for a sitting prime minister, it could actually be even more threatening to an opposition leader devoid of access to the range of perks a head of government can dispense on docile MPs. But MPs might also think twice about supporting Chong’s bill for if it were adopted the buck that they are often content to pass to their leaders would stop with them. As it happens, MPs already have the moral right to withdraw their confidence in a leader and — if enough of them do so — the capacity to precipitate his or her demise but they rarely have the backbone to put it to the test. The bill would force them to be more accountable for that lack of fortitude.
If Harper’s fellow MPs had had the legal power to vote him out over the Senate scandal or — alternatively — if two dozen of them could have forced a leadership review this fall, they almost certainly would not have used that prerogative. But they might have sought a more comprehensive accounting of the prime minister’s actions for how could they have served the thin gruel that Harper has so far dished out up as a justification to their constituents for not challenging his leadership?
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Harper, under a regime that empowers his caucus, might have felt compelled to offer more forthrightness and less obfuscation. There is little doubt that Chong’s bill could empower single-issue factions to pursue their pet cause, at the risk of profoundly dividing their party. It might provide another vehicle to advance the frustrated ambitions of talent-challenged MPs. But the bill would keep in place some pretty fundamental safeguards against abuses — including the capacity by a majority in caucus to turf out MPs who systematically seek to undermine party unity for their own purposes. MPs ultimately sink or swim based on their party’s buoyancy in public opinion and no reform bill will change that reality. Rocking the boat through serial leadership challenges and/or removals could only bring about a political shipwreck. A word in closing: Chong’s bill would not take effect until after the 2015 election. As such, it is not a direct challenge to Harper’s leadership but the impetus for it can be traced back to a growing deficit between this prime minister’s moral authority and the heavy-handed control he seeks to exert on his government and on Parliament. Chantal Hébert is a national affairs writer. Her column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Read more about:A Newfield tattoo artist has taken his passion for body piercing and technology to a new level, gadget-loving websites such as DigitalTrends.com are reporting.
Dave Hurban of Dynasty Tattoo in Newfield, Gloucester County embedded four magnets in his wrist in order to wear his iPod Nano — without any straps.
The project, called iDermal, has caught the attention of media outlets all over the country.
Hurban told Digital Trends how the the procedure he did to implant the magnets — yep, he did it himself — is pretty common in the world of body piercing.
“Those magnets are actually called micro-dermal anchors,” Dave explained, “and in body piercing they are very common. The tops are actually just 5 millimeter magnetic tops.”
“I took the ends of magnets and actually adhered them to the back of the iPod, and that’s how they click into my skin,” he told Digital Trends.
Hurban then put the magnets to the test. He said he is able to swing his arm and the iPod doesn’t move a bit.
“I can go for a run and it won’t come off. I’ve already taken it to the gym and jogged with it on,” he told Digital Trends.
Check out the video below. Be warned — there's a little bit of blood.
Read more about Dave Hurban and his new trend:
• Guy Gets Magnets Implanted in His Arm To Hold His iPod, Forgets There’s a New Design Every Year
• Extreme tech: Magnets implanted into wrist to hold iPod nano
• Guy implants magnets in his arm to hold iPod
• 'iDermal' by Dave Hurban Uses a Lot of Bloody Effort to Strap on a WatchWhen Uncharted 4 first entered into development, there was a different team of writers in charge of the game’s story. The writers, Amy Hennig and Justin Richmond, left the company in 2014. They were replaced by the series’ originators Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley, who wrote the first two games and The Last of Us.
Speaking to the Associated Press, Druckmann revealed that they completely scrapped the story in place to create an entirely new one once they came onboard the project. GameInformer reported that Druckmann and Straley were named co-directors of Uncharted 4 in June 2014.
Amy Hennig was reportedly forced out of the company after she found fault with Naughty Dog’s increased focus on pandering to the social justice “movement” during the development of The Last of Us‘ only single-player DLC, which had a strong focus on Ellie’s sexuality as a queer teenager. Naughty Dog has since denied these allegations, though they did not elaborate on why Hennig had left the studio. Hennig is currently co-developing a Star Wars game with Assassin’s Creed producer and former Ubisoft studio director Jade Raymond at Electronic Arts.
Last year, Nathan Drake’s voice actor Nolan North stated that eight months of work had been completely scrapped when Amy Hennig left the studio. “Amy is still a very dear friend of mine and she’s brilliant. But the Last of Us guys were the next team there, so they took over and they just wanted their own flavor. They got rid of some of the other people that were involved and just redid their thing,” he said at the time.
In the AP interview, Druckmann did not elaborate on what changes they made to the game’s story, or what the original story penned by Hennig and Richmond was actually like. He did however call their new story the “biggest, most ambitious” tale that the studio had ever conceived.
“We want to do this justice,” he said. “We want it to be a mind-blowing, eye-popping, sweaty-palms adventure. Everybody is bleeding out of their eye sockets to make it come together. We want to make sure Drake is sent off properly.”
“It’s time,” Druckmann said of ending the series. “Sometimes, a character just lets you know it’s time to move on. For me, that was part of the intrigue of coming back to this world. You never see something successful in the industry end. It usually just fizzles out.”When President Obama told David Remnick last week that he "would not let [his] son play pro football," conservatives jumped at the chance to fit that reluctance to let children play violent sports into their narrative that Obama is a weak president and a weak man afraid to engage in the kind of messy, violent acts men should take part in.
On Friday's "Real Time," Bill Maher found this whole idea very odd. "I don't know where Republicans get the weird delusion that they're the party of manliness," he said.
He pointed out that Republicans, who count their own fair share of "non-serving chickenhawks," are often more likely to push for war, and often silence critics by painting them as ineffectual and feminine.
But he did not let Democrats off the hook for buying into Republicans' tactics. "Democrats have to start being the party that redefines toughness into restraint," he said.
"It's not toughness Republicans love, it's bullying," he continued. The governor of New Jersey was one example of such a Republican, according to Maher. "Somehow we've gone from Teddy Roosevelt's'speak softly and carry a big stick,' to Chris Christie's'speak loudly and be a big dick.'"
As for Obama, Maher did not understand why his less hawkish stances on war than his predecessors was painted as negative in the new memoir by former defense secretary Robert Gates.
"Gates said George W. Bush was a good president, because he had no second thoughts about Iraq," Maher said. "That's because to have second thoughts, you have to have first thoughts."WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue as secretary of agriculture, leaving all but one of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet positions filled.
Lawmakers voted 87 to 11 in favor of Perdue, who takes office as the agricultural community grapples with the key issues of trade and immigration.
The nomination earlier passed the Senate Agriculture Committee with only one vote in opposition, although some Midwestern senators raised concerns that Perdue was not from a major agricultural production state.
Trump nominated Perdue, 70, in January but progress on his confirmation was slow, with media reports suggesting that undoing his various business entanglements caused delays in the ethics filings.
Perdue did not file his disclosure forms until mid-March, and the Senate panel backed him later that month.
Trade is seen as critical to reviving a moribund farm economy, where incomes have been falling with lower grain prices. Farm incomes in 2016 are expected to have hit their lowest levels since 2009.
Agriculture relies heavily on seasonal and casual labor, and farmers are concerned tough immigration rules could make it harder to find workers while raising costs. Trump has raised tensions on immigration with his pledge to build a wall at the Mexican-U.S. border.
Perdue, who holds a doctorate in veterinary medicine and was raised on a dairy farm, is the first agriculture secretary from a southern state since Mike Espy of Mississippi, who served from January 1993 to December 1994. Perdue’s home state of Georgia accounted for just 2 percent of total U.S. agriculture exports in 2015.Transport Minister Marc Garneau wants to give more rights to airline passengers. While my readers haven’t been dragged off a plane after refusing to give up a seat on an overbooked flight, they do run into problems that complicate their lives.
Though compensation may arrive, it’s the long waits for a response from Air Canada that makes customers angry. ( ADRIAN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO )
Christine Oluwole-Aina, for example, found her baby’s stroller was damaged by Air Canada after a flight from Munich, Germany, to Toronto on March 25. “Since filing a complaint with a baggage associate at the airport, I’ve had the unpleasant experience of not having a functional stroller and having to carry my five-month-old daughter around for any errands we need to run,” she said. “The call centre in India has been useless. I have begged and pleaded to speak to someone in Canada to resolve the issue, but they are unwilling to provide any contact information to me.”
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She had an expensive Bugaboo Bee 3 stroller, a $650 (U.S.) gift from her brother at a baby shower. The call centre sent her to two stroller shops in Toronto, both of which were not authorized to do repairs and could make her warranty invalid. After I forwarded her email to Air Canada, she received an apology the next day from a baggage claims representative in Dorval, Quebec, asking her to visit a repair facility of her choice, authorized by the manufacturer. “As previously discussed with the call centre supervisors in India, Bugaboo does not have any authorized repair centres,” the customer replied on March 31, attaching an email from the manufacturer as confirmation. She wanted to buy a replacement Bugaboo Bee3 stroller as soon as possible. Her young daughter needed something larger and sturdier than an umbrella stroller designed for infant use. On April 11, the Air Canada rep authorized her to spend up to $900 (Canadian) for a new stroller, along with $200 for a temporary stroller.
On April 20, she emailed her invoices. By May 3, having not received a response, she asked for one last assist in flagging the issue with my media contacts. On May 5, she finally got an email confirming that a cheque for the full cost of both strollers would be mailed to her. It arrived on May 17.
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A two-month wait for compensation is not unreasonable, in my view. But it’s the long waits for a response from Air Canada that makes customers angry. Here’s another example of a possibly life-changing mistake. A Toronto man booked a trip to the west coast to propose to his girlfriend of three years. (He didn’t want his name used.) “We are avid travellers and have visited most of Canada together. We’ve never been to Vancouver and I’ve spent a lot of time and money to ensure a perfect experience,” he said. “Little did I know that Air Canada had other plans for me.” He booked flights for May 17 and 21, but had a nasty surprise when trying to change the return date on May 3. A telephone agent said his tickets were invalid and he would have been refused boarding if he had showed up at the airport. How was this possible? Air Canada’s computer system recognized his booking reference number, had the passenger information on file and charged a payment to his credit card, he pointed out. “I specifically asked the agent not to cancel my reservation or send a refund until a resolution was reached,” the man said. “Less than half hour later, I received two emails from Air Canada, refunding both of our tickets. “Frustrated, I called again and was on hold for an extremely long time before an agent picked up my call and hung up on me shortly afterward.” The suitor’s lament must have struck a chord with the airline. It reached out within minutes of my email and rectified its mistake. “We apologize for the stresses this may have caused,” a manager told him. “We have rebooked your flights on your desired dates and with complimentary seating. As a further gesture of goodwill, we are pleased to provide you with an Air Canada e-coupon in the amount of $100.” The couple flew to Vancouver on May 17, as planned. A crisis averted and a proposal accepted. Instead of being grounded at the gate, harmony ensued. The British consultancy Skytrax, which ranks the world’s top 100 airlines, lists Air Canada at 31st (down from 27th in 2015). Calgary-based rival WestJet is 50th (down from 47th). The top five airlines are Emirates, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and ANAs (All Nippon Airways of Japan). Skytrax also has hundreds of customer reviews, where Air Canada scores 5 out of 10 overall and Air Canada Rouge (the discount airline) scores 3 out of 10. Bottom line: I’d like to see Air Canada train customer service staff to communicate more professionally and not leave passengers hanging after promising to help. Ellen Roseman appears in Smart Money ([email protected] ).
Read more about:This weekend, the top Magic players from around the world will be gathering in Atlanta for Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatch. Featuring the Modern format, this Pro Tour will have live coverage at twitch.tv/magic on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!
But what about you? Wouldn't you like a chance to play like the pros and try one of their decks out before getting the cards together? Would you like to relive epic matches between some of the best players on the planet?
Now you can, with the new Pro Tour Gauntlet events on Magic Online, a new play style that will allow players to "test drive" top decks from the Pro Tour!
Once you join with your entry option and the eight-player queue fires, you'll get to use a random deck from the Gauntlet. You'll get to look over your deck and sideboard for a few minutes, then you can hit the Submit button when you're ready to start playing. After this, you'll play three Swiss rounds with the deck, and you can earn prizes based on how many matches you win.
All of the decks in the Gauntlet will be Modern decks with a strong finish in the Pro Tour and selected for the Pro Tour Gauntlet by Magic R&D. The Pro Tour Gauntlet events will be up for one week (from the downtime on the Wednesday following the Pro Tour through the following Wednesday's downtime).
If you're worried you didn't learn enough about the decks during the Pro Tour, do not fear. Magic Online streamer Kenji Egashira will be recording himself playing a match with decks from the Pro Tour Gauntlet and talking through his plays! These videos will be available on DailyMTG and MTGO.com next week.
Below are the full event details. There's also an FAQ, as we expect players will have questions about this new event type.
Visions of Brutality | Art by Jama Jurabaev
PRO TOUR GAUNTLET EVENT DETAILS
Start Time: Fire on demand
Location: Play Lobby -> Constructed Tournaments -> Queues
Entry Options:
6 Event Tickets
60 Play Points
Size: Eight players
Play Style: Swiss
Duration: Three minutes of deck review. Three rounds, each lasting up to 50 minutes.
Prizes:
3 match wins: 90 Play Points + 1 QP
2 match wins: 60 Play Points
1 match win: 20 Play Points
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: Do I get the cards in the deck added to my collection?
A: Pro Tour Gauntlet is a way to "test drive" the deck, so it doesn't provide you with the cards at the end. However, if you had fun playing the deck, you can trade for the cards you need and play the deck in normal Constructed events on Magic Online! The event details link in the program will allow you to download any of the decklists to your computer.
Q: Why can't I choose my deck?
A: This is done to make the event more about trying things out than normal Constructed Magic. Additionally, if players could choose their decks, the Pro Tour Gauntlet could be reduced to just the decks perceived to be the best and players would face a large number of mirror matches.
Q: I played it once and the deck I got wasn't really my style. Can I join again?
A: You certainly can! It's random, so it's possible you could get the same deck again, but you can play as many times as you want during the week the Pro Tour Gauntlet is available.
Q: How many decks will be in the Pro Tour Gauntlet? Can we see the decklists beforehand?
A: Magic R&D will determine the number of decks and which decks are used based on the results of the Pro Tour. The full decklists (including the name and finish of the player who played the deck in the Pro Tour) will be posted to MTGO.com on Tuesday. We'll also make sure you can see the decklists through the event details link within Magic Online.
Q: Are you planning on doing this for each Pro Tour going forward?
A: We'll want to see if the event is doing what it's supposed to be doing before we commit to it, but assuming everything goes well, we certainly are able to continue it for future Pro Tours!
Q: During the deck review period, can I change which cards are in the main deck and the sideboard? Can I add basic lands?
A: Yes, but we strongly recommend using the decklist the way it loads, which will be how it was used during the Pro Tour. If you do decide to change it, that configuration will be used for the first game in all three of your matches. Your main deck must be always at least 60 cards.
Q: I have some feedback on the Pro Tour Gauntlet. Where should I send it?
A: You can direct feedback to the official Magic Online Twitter account, my personal Twitter account, the Magic Online Tumblr, or through email at [email protected].
We are excited to help give everyone an opportunity to play like the pros, and we hope all of you are excited as well!
—Lee Sharpe
Digital Product Manager, Magic Online Events"Now we have to find a good pro to come in and support him, and we'll do that," Babcock said at development camp.
The Maple Leafs need someone to play behind Frederik Andersen, who was acquired by Toronto in a trade with Anaheim on June 20.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the market for a backup goalie after trading Jonathan Bernier to the Anaheim Ducks, Toronto coach Mike Babcock said Saturday.
Babcock did not name any possibilities.
Garret Sparks is the only other goalie in the Toronto organization with NHL experience. The 23-year-old played 17 games last season, going 6-9-1 with a 3.02 goals-against average and.893 save percentage.
Video: Mike Babcock after Saturday's scrimmage
Video courtesy of Leafs TV
Toronto traded goalie James Reimer to the San Jose Sharks on Feb. 27 for goalie Alex Stalock, who then joined the Minnesota Wild on July 1 as a free agent.
Bernier was traded for a conditional draft pick after going 12-21-3 with a 2.88 GAA and.908 save percentage making 36 starts last season. Reimer made 29 starts for Toronto (11-12-7, 2.49,.918).
"A good opportunity for [Bernier], a new start, sometimes those are real good things," Babcock said. "[Bernier] did a real good job for us in the second half last year. [He] struggled at the start and really dug in and was a good pro and helped our team. We wish him luck."
The Maple Leafs sent two draft picks to the Ducks for Andersen, who then signed a five-year, $25 million contract with Toronto.
"Acquiring [Andersen] was a big deal for our team," Babcock said. "We think it gives us a top-flight goaltender, gives us a starter."
Andersen is 77-26-12 with a 2.33 GAA and.918 save percentage in 125 NHL games. He won 35 games two seasons ago.
"You're always looking for top-notch goaltending," Babcock said. "It makes the coach better, it makes the players better, it gives you confidence.
"We paid a price to do this. Obviously, we felt that we had done our work, and this is a good opportunity for us. I think he's excited to come and we look forward to him."BALTIMORE -- Aiming to ensure that NFL rules are enforced the same way from game to game, the league will consider making about 10 officials full-time employees next season.
As of now, all game officials are part-time employees.
Responding to a question about
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Monday.
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IN THE KNOW: Election details
Early voting starts: Monday
Election Day: Nov. 6
For more information:
Election office Phone Online Dallas County 214-637-7937 dalcoelections.org Collin County 972-424-1460 co.collin.tx.us/elections Tarrant County 817-831-8683 tarrantcounty.com/eVote Denton County 940-349-3200 elections.dentoncounty.com Rockwall County 972-204-6200 rockwallcountytexas.com/elections
For more help, including how to check your registration status, contact the Texas secretary of state at 1-800-252-8683 or visit votetexas.gov.
More online: How did candidates in your district answer our questionnaire? Compare their responses in our Voter Guide. dallasnews.com/voterguideI really like your top most interchange, well done and nice looking.Here is an interchange in my regions second Residential city. The river to the south kinda hindered my original plans for the interchange between the two RHW-10's, and I really didn't want the East-West RHW-10 to go down to a RHW-6 in this area since the N-S RHW-10 heads directly into the heart of the industrial city to the North, but traffic is still heavy heading to the East into the second commercial city(The growth in this Res city is to the south well away from these RHW's right now) so I came up with this due to space constraints and having plans for the area near the riverUnfortunately, after 5 game years, that entire interchange was blood red in both directions(even with a subway route directly underneath the RHW's), so I had to modify it to thiswith the other ramp all the way down the highwaySo far after 25 game years, it seems to be working, but if it gets congested again I intend to build a bypass RHW-4 nearby to feed into the N-S RHW-10 to try and get some of the traffic to split off that interchange and connect farther down the line, and also add another mass transit option with HSR to go down the middle of the N-S RHW-10RENTON – Earl Thomas is attempting to reinvent the way he plays safety.
Thomas, a Pro Bowl free safety, has been called aggressive, explosive, fearless, competitive and a ball hawk. Now, in his fourth season, he’s trying to add a new layer, although slapping a one-word label on what he’s doing is more difficult.
“I’m challenging quarterbacks more as far as redefining how you can come up and play almost as a linebacker but still be playing middle field,” Thomas said.
Thomas is Seattle’s firefighter, a safety who eliminates big plays because of his presence deep in Seattle’s secondary. But through the years he thought doing so also exposed a soft underbelly in the middle.
So this year, with a cornerback unit led by Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner (when healthy), Thomas decided to play closer to the line of scrimmage.
“It’s about being real aggressive in the middle instead of baby-sitting the corners,” Thomas said. “Why should you baby-sit corners when you have good corners like that? My first three years, I left a lot of plays out there in the middle just because I was so worried about getting over there for Sherm or BB. But now that’s not the case.”
There’s no way Thomas could play closer to the line if he didn’t trust his corners. Sherman, Browner and Walter Thurmond have shown they can hold their own against receivers outside.
In Sunday’s win over San Francisco, for example, Sherman lined up against hulking tight end Vernon Davis. He tracked Davis down the sideline, then beat him in the air for a jump-ball interception.
That trust gives Thomas the freedom to focus on the middle of the field instead of paying so much attention outside.
He’s still responsible for controlling and eliminating big plays, which the Seahawks have done. Seattle ranks first in the league in passing yards allowed (113 per game), and it’s not really close. The longest pass play against Seattle in the first two games went for 27 yards.
“I would just love to play with the corners they have in Seattle,” said NFL Network analyst Darren Sharper, a five-time Pro Bowl safety. “A safety who has great recognition skills and great instincts, like Earl has, if they throw the ball in the middle of the field, he should be right there anticipating where they’re going now. Those corners pretty much take away two-thirds of the field.
“He should lick his chops and start playing games with offenses daring them to throw the ball over the middle.”
The change in Thomas’ positioning is noticeable, although it doesn’t exactly jump out. It’s a few steps here or there, but those few steps can be the difference in getting to a crossing route over the middle.
“If you’re looking at the TV copy of the game,” Thomas said, “you can probably always see me in the frame now.”
And last year?
“You’d never see me.”
Thomas can play that way for two reasons. First, he’s one of Seattle’s fastest players, and he thinks his speed can get him to where he needs to go. The other reason? He thinks seam routes — the ones he’s most responsible for eliminating, deep down the middle of the field — are thrown in a way that allows him to still defend them.
“I’m always going to be around the ball,” Thomas said. “I can get in the running game and also take away the seams. When you look at how quarterbacks in this league throw seams, it’s not up in the air, it’s always on the dart. And I think I have the speed to get there.”
In the first quarter against Carolina, quarterback Cam Newton fired a pass to tight end Greg Olsen in the seam. It looked like Olsen was going to make the catch, but Thomas came flying in and jarred the ball loose. The Panthers punted.
“That’s because he was playing closer,” Sherman said of Thomas. “You can’t fit those little passes in there.”
Said Thomas, “Cam tried me a couple times, and it didn’t work out.”
Thomas’ positioning also allows him to be more involved in stopping the run. He pointed to one read-option play against San Francisco in which he stopped quarterback Colin Kaepernick for a modest gain. A year ago, Thomas said, that might have gone for a big play.
“Shoot, as you can see, the more the NFL has gotten pass-friendly, the more safeties back off,” Sherman said. “But he’s challenging himself. That’s a great asset for our team.”
Jayson Jenks: 206-464-8277 or [email protected] SPRINGS, Colo. - A pilot was forced to land with the plane's landing gear up at the Colorado Springs Airport Thursday morning.
The scanner traffic came in right before 9 a.m. saying: "All companies are responding to the jet center. We've got a caller calling on 911 saying a craft came in and crashed upon arrival."
The pilot of the P-51 Mustang 3/4 replica was not injured. He made the call for help after he was unable to extend the wheels. They did eventually come out, but collapsed when the plane touched the ground.
The FAA and NTSB are still in the early stages of the investigation, so it's unclear how exactly the pilot was able to make it out safe.
"We're very fortunate for the pilot and the aircraft to have landed without a serious incident here at the airport. He did a great job making sure the aircraft landed safely," said Lavin.
The airport says the plane experienced a landing gear malfunction which only damaged the bottom of the plane.
The west runway was closed for about two hours until the plane was removed.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Tim Cook, CEO, Apple: "It's maddening and disappointing"
Apple chief executive Tim Cook says the European Commission ruling that Apple should pay billions of euros in back taxes to the Republic of Ireland is "maddening" and "political".
He told Irish broadcaster RTE that Apple had not been given preferential tax breaks in Ireland.
The EU ruling said Apple had been given €13bn of "illegal" tax benefits.
Mr Cook said he was "very confident" the ruling would be overturned on appeal.
'Outrage'
On Tuesday, the European Commission said Ireland had granted undue tax benefits of up to €13bn (£11bn) to Apple.
Speaking about the ruling, Mr Cook told RTE: "It's maddening, it's disappointing, it's clear that this comes from a political place, it has no basis in fact or in law, and unfortunately it's one of those things we have to work through."
"When you're accused of doing something that is so foreign to your values, it brings out an outrage in you, and that's how we feel. Apple has always been about doing the right thing.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The European Commission rejects Apple's "politics" claim
"We haven't done anything wrong, and the Irish government hasn't done anything wrong."
Mr Cook disputed the Commission's finding that Apple had effectively paid a corporate tax rate of just 0.005%, or €50 out of every €1m, from one of its Ireland-based subsidiaries in 2014.
"It's a false number. I have no idea where the number came from. It is not true. Here is the truth. In that year, we paid $400m to Ireland, and that amount of money was based on the statutory Irish income tax rate of 12.5%."
Bite of the Apple
However, the European Commission said the rate of 0.005% applied to one of Apple's subsidiaries.
Apple Sales International made research payments totalling $2bn to its parent, Apple Inc, in 2011, which significantly increased in 2014, the Commission said.
"Apple paid an effective tax rate of 0.005% in 2014 on the profits of Apple Sales International.
"Apple has more subsidiaries in Ireland, as indicated in the Commission's decision to open an investigation.
"The tax affairs of other Apple subsidiaries, be it in Ireland or elsewhere, have not been the focus of this investigation," it said.
Image copyright Getty Images
Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said: "This is a decision based on the facts of the case, looking into Apple Sales International, how they are arranged within Ireland, and with the profit recorded there, how they're taxed."
But Apple said it was the largest corporate taxpayer in Ireland in 2014.
He said Apple paid income tax on products sold in different European countries to those countries, and an additional income taxes on profits in the US at a rate of 35%.
In addition, Apple has provisioned "several billion dollars" from its profits in 2014 to be repatriated to the US, he said.
"Right now I would forecast that repatriation to occur next year. It's not true that we paid just $400m or even just $800m [to Ireland and the US combined] - the number is materially larger."
"In 2014 our worldwide income tax rate was 26.1%," Mr Cook added.
Image copyright PA
Analysis: Simon Jack, BBC business editor
It was a skilful and very nuanced performance [by Mr Cook on RTE], but one which obscured a few key truths.
He claimed that Apple paid tax at a rate of 26% around the world, that isn't the whole story.
Apple works out its tax rate as if it had paid taxes due in the US at a rate of 35%.
But the actual payment of those taxes is deferred - till when, nobody knows.
Maybe until US taxes come down or some special tax amnesty is agreed to repatriate hundreds of billions that Apple and others keep off US shores in the tax equivalent of outer space.
In fact, the scramble to avoid paying tax at 35% is the reason the whole structure exists in the first place.
Read Simon's blog in fullTim Cook's tax claims examined
'Illegal deal'
On Tuesday, the European Commission ruled that Apple's Irish tax benefits were illegal.
After a three-year investigation, the Commission said Ireland had enabled Apple to pay substantially less than other businesses, in effect paying a corporate tax rate of no more than 1%.
Apple said on Tuesday that the decision would be harmful for jobs.
"The European Commission has launched an effort to rewrite Apple's history in Europe, ignore Ireland's tax laws and upend the international tax system in the process," the company said.
The Irish cabinet met on Wednesday to discuss the tax ruling. But it failed to agree a position, and will meet again on Friday to decide whether to appeal against the Commission's decision.Marc Dos Santos, the current Head Coach of the Ottawa Fury and most famously known for guiding the Montreal Impact (at that time in the North American second division) to the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League, recently granted an interview to Northern Starting XI where he spoke about his coaching dreams.
While he admitted that his ambition of coaching in the English Premier League, although not impossible, may be unrealistic due to the numerous factors involved in landing such a job, a more realistic dream of his is to manage Canada’s men’s national team. “People ask me ‘Why Canada?’” he says, but he is eager to give back to his country of birth that handed him every opportunity to be a coach: “Without those Canadian people who helped me, I would never be a coach.”
Dos Santos feels he would bring a different flavour to the Canadian set up, because he believes he has a different outlook than most of his contemporaries. As he explains: “I think I’m a different Canadian coach. I feel that a lot of Canadian coaches like comfort, they’re like a lot of Canadian players. I was always a guy who didn’t like comfort. When I left Montreal, I didn’t go work in a region (one of Quebec’s coaching districts), I (wasn’t afraid) to go six months without a job. I’m always looking for a challenge, not a guy who stays in his comfort zone, so I’m not a typical other coach in Canada”.
His patience in finding the right opportunity for his next coaching move paid off, as Dos Santos was able to go coach the Palmeiras u-15 squad. Having performed beyond expectations there, he moved on to become Technical Director at Desportivo Brasil. Bring up Brazil to Dos Santos and he becomes wistful: “Brazil was…Brazil was Brazil. Brazil is football. I was able to grow there.”
Although he loved his time in Brazil, the siren’s call to come back home was too tempting to pass up. The lure of building his own squad from scratch in Ottawa brought him back to Canada. He has since gone on to turn numerous heads with how quickly he has built a championship-contending club in the capital. The Fury are currently in second place in the overall NASL standings with 10 matches to go.
Dos Santos speaks with pride when asked about the number of Canadians in his Fury squad: “I get a little bit upset when asked about (Canadian players getting playing time on Canadian clubs), but here it is: if Canada wants to move and be serious about one day having a chance to make it back to the World Cup, we have to take being a Canadian club and playing Canadian players seriously. I take a lot of pride in that because at the end of the day when you analyze your career, when I’ll be 65 and playing cards in Miami, you’ll look back and wonder ‘What have you done for the country where you were born?’. We’re proud of the fact that when Julian (de Guzman) leaves us (to play for Canada), we can bring in Mauro (Eustaquio), who is Canadian, and seeing what he does. Same goes for Carl (Haworth) and Mason (Trafford): we feel we’re playing our part and we’re very serious about it. You have to balance that with the fact that you have (demands from) fans, media, owners, and you want to win. You look at the Montreal Impact, (who drew) 60,000 fans for the CONCACAF Champions League final, but not one Canadian in the lineup. We have to find that balance.”
The topic of whether to play Canadians based on the country on their passport is one that ignites the passions of Canadian soccer fans across the country. As he does on any topic, Marc Dos Santos is unequivocal in where he stands in that debate. It also makes him an interesting candidate for the role of head coach and technical director for Les Rouges, whenever that position becomes vacant.
As he told Northern Starting XI: “I think Canada can do something and I want to coach the national team of the country where my wife, my kids and I were born. My wife, sometimes when we’re speaking, she’ll ask me: ‘Marc, where are we going to live when you’re coaching Canada?’. That’s how she speaks of it with me. I would tell you it’s part of my dream.”
Photo courtesy of Ottawa Fury.
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Theo Gauthier Théo Gauthier was born in Kapuskasing, Ontario, which has zero footballing heritage. It is only upon moving to Ottawa that he was able to plug into the global energy generated by the Beautiful Game.
Like this: Like Loading...Holding himself in high regard, the First Doctor was prone to criticising those who he felt were naive or primitive compared to his intellect. However, after he began taking on companions, he developed a compassion, warmth, and wit that made up for his egocentric nature, serving to act as a mentor and guardian figure in his final years. Originally a very difficult and curmudgeonly person, the First Doctor matured from an apparent selfishness and became more inviting. His happier, kinder characteristics were fostered when he began to acquire an entourage of companions to accompany him throughout the wonders of the fourth dimension and learned to be a caregiver with a sense of justice in a universe afflicted by evils.
Beginning after he fled his home world of Gallifrey, his travels through time and space were mostly random owing to faulty components in his TARDIS. Initially, he travelled only with his granddaughter Susan Foreman. They settled for a time on Earth in 1963, where Susan was a student at Coal Hill School. He was forced to abruptly depart from Earth with Susan's teachers, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, kidnapping them from their own time after they went to investigate their unusual pupil. After much travel with Ian and Barbara, he bade Susan farewell to allow her to live a happier life with a man with whom she had fallen in love.
Following Susan's departure, the Doctor travelled for a short time with Ian and Barbara, before landing upon the planet Dido, where he invited a new travelling companion to join him, Vicki. She reminded him of Susan, and the Doctor saw her as a surrogate to fill her spot in his travels with Ian and Barbara. Later, during a confrontation with the Daleks, the Doctor used one of their time machines to return Ian and Barbara to their proper time - something he had been unable to manage with his TARDIS.
Soon after the departure of Ian and Barbara, the Doctor and Vicki had gained a new companion in Steven Taylor, with whom the Doctor had a relatively uneasy relationship. Vicki eventually left the Doctor's company as well, also after falling in love with a man she met in Ancient Troy. After a lengthy fight with the Daleks, Steven soon became bitter towards the Doctor, blaming him for the deaths of their travelling companions Katarina and Sara Kingdom, but eventually forgave him. They were then joined by Dodo Chaplet. Ultimately, Steven decided to stay to help a civilisation they had encountered, while Dodo was later injured in an adventure and decided to remain home in her own time, while the Doctor found himself joined by Ben Jackson and Polly Wright, to whom he was much more kind; he hoped to prevent them from leaving as Steven had.
The First Doctor met his end after his battle with the Cybermen in Antarctica caused a loss of strength to maintain his ancient body due to Mondas draining a large portion of his life force. Initially, he refused to go through with the change until an encounter with a future incarnation also refusing to regenerate caused the Doctor to witness the type of person he would soon become. As a result, his fear of the change was turned to reassurance for his future, causing him to accept his regeneration into his next body.
Contents show]
Biography Edit
Life on Gallifrey Edit
Due to his travels through time, what really transpired to the Doctor during his time on Gallifrey was hard to decipher from the various altercations to his timeline that he caused. (PROSE: Celestial Intervention — A Gallifreyan Noir)
Youth and upbringing Edit
The Doctor was born on Gallifrey, home planet of the Time Lords, (TV: The War Games, The Time Warrior, Death in Heaven) "the oldest and most mighty race in the universe", (TV: The Sound of Drums) on the Holiday of Otherstide (AUDIO: Cold Fusion) under a name that he concealed in despair. (TV: The Shakespeare Code) He was born under the sign of Crossed Computers, the symbol of the maternity service. (TV: The Creature from the Pit) He was "a high born Gallifreyan", (TV: Hell Bent) born "into wealth and privilege". (TV: Robot of Sherwood)
According to one account, the Doctor was a genetic reincarnation of the Other, and was loomed into the House of Lungbarrow (PROSE: Lungbarrow) in the form of a small child. (PROSE: Human Nature) The Fifth Doctor recounted his birth to Patience, telling her that he was "born at Otherstide through the Loom of the House of Lungbarrow in Southern Gallifrey." (AUDIO: Cold Fusion) As the Eleventh Doctor told Amy Pond and Rory Williams, he slept in a cot as an infant. (TV: A Good Man Goes to War)
The Doctor stated he had a mother and father, (TV: Doctor Who) as well as a family (TV: The Tomb of the Cybermen) and childhood, (TV: The Sound of Drums) but also confessed his uncertainty on whether his family was real or a dream. (PROSE: Unnatural History) He had at least one brother, Irving Braxiatel, (PROSE: Tears of the Oracle) an uncle, (TV: Time and the Rani) sisters, (TV: Arachnids in the UK) and seven grandmothers. (TV: It Takes You Away)
The Eighth Doctor claimed many times that he was half-human on his mother's side, (TV: Doctor Who; PROSE: Alien Bodies, The Infinity Doctors, The Scarlet Empress, Unnatural History, The Shadows of Avalon, Grimm Reality) though he also questioned the accuracy of these statements, (PROSE: Autumn Mist) once claiming his statement to be a ruse to trick the Master, (COMIC: The Forgotten) with his eleventh incarnation identifying his mother as a Time Lord. (COMIC: The Comfort of the Good) Ashildr would also speculate the Doctor was a half-human half-Time Lord hybrid, something the Twelfth Doctor neither confirmed or denied. (TV: Hell Bent)
According to his third incarnation, the Doctor lived in a "house that was perched halfway up the top of a mountain" in the mountains of South Gallifrey. (TV: The Time Monster, Planet of the Spiders) Known as the House of Lungbarrow, this house was one of the Ancient Oldblood Houses and overlooked the Cadonflood River. (PROSE: Lungbarrow) He grew up in Lungbarrow with his family. (PROSE: Lungbarrow, Unnatural History) A lonely and depressed youth, the Doctor did not get along with his family, being bullied by many of his cousins, who would call him cruel names to reflect the fact that the Doctor had been loomed with a belly button. (PROSE: Lungbarrow)
As a Time Tot, the Doctor played hide and seek with the Rani, with his ninth incarnation recalling that his skill at finding her "drove [her] nuts". He held the Time-Tot hide and seek championship for forty-two years in a row. (COMIC: Weapons of Past Destruction) He also believed humans to be a myth as a Time Tot. (PROSE: The Shining Man)
As a child, the Doctor would play conkers. (TV: The Highlanders) He also toyed with trains, (TV: The Evil of the Daleks) and had a dream to one day drive one. (TV: Black Orchid) Amongst his favourite bedtime stories were The Three Little Sontarans, The Emperor Dalek's New Clothes and Snow White and the Seven Keys to Doomsday. (TV: Night Terrors) He played in the tunnels under the Panopticon as a child. (AUDIO: Order of the Daleks) He also watched a meteor storm on Gallifrey with his father. (TV: Doctor Who)
When he was just a "small child", the Doctor's mother told him the story of Grandfather Paradox, a story which scared the Doctor so much that he worried that Grandfather Paradox was hiding in his wardrobe or under his bed. (PROSE: The Gallifrey Chronicles) Granny Five, the Doctor's favourite among his seven grandmothers, told him bedtime stories about the Solitract, at night when he couldn't sleep. (TV: It Takes You Away) The Doctor, as a child, was frightened by the "mythological horror" stories about the Fendahl, (TV: Image of the Fendahl) looked to Omega as his people's greatest hero, (TV: The Three Doctors) and was told stories of the Pantheon of Discord. (TV: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith) He drew crayon sketches of the Solvers, based on the stories, which the Eighth Doctor later suggested did not do the real thing justice. (AUDIO: The Doomsday Chronometer)
The Doctor also had nightmares for years about an elderly lady who had been covered in veils after she died on a hot day, with the heat causing flies to swarm around her corpse. (TV: Heaven Sent) The Doctor spent a lot of time by the sea as a boy, where he believed the dead were out there, whispering to him from the waves. (PROSE: Matrix)
During his formative years, the Doctor was "brain-buffed" at his home by his Avatroid Tutor, Badger. During this time, the Doctor was forced to learn by rote and was taught about the Legacy of Rassilon and the story of Otherstide. The young Doctor disliked this form of learning and would often cause distractions and try to escape his lessons. (PROSE: Lungbarrow)
During his childhood, before joining the Academy, the Doctor would leave his house, going to sleep in a barn (TV: Listen) in the Drylands. (TV: Hell Bent) A Gallifreyan boy was told that the Doctor lived there for a time. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords) The Doctor wept over his fears in the barn, (TV: Listen) and was the "only child left out in the cold". (TV: The Empty Child) When Madame de Pompadour read the Tenth Doctor's mind, she said he had been "such a lonely little boy." (TV: The Girl in the Fireplace) He had at least two imaginary friends, named Binker (AUDIO: The Abandoned) and Mandrake. (AUDIO: The Widow's Assassin)
Education Edit
Like all Time Lords, the Doctor was taken from his family at the age of eight for the selection process. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords) Staring into the Untempered Schism as part of a Time Lord initiation rite, he reacted by running away. (TV: The Sound of Drums)
The Doctor attended the Time Lord Academy as a member of the Prydonian Chapter, and received tutelage from Borusa, (TV: The Deadly Assassin) and Azmael. (TV: The Twin Dilemma) While the Tenth Doctor claimed that he spent "centuries" at the Academy, (COMIC: Mortal Beloved) Maris also found evidence that his time at the Academy had only been twenty years. (PROSE: Celestial Intervention — A Gallifreyan Noir)
On his first day at the Academy, (TV: World Enough and Time) the Doctor formed strong friendships with both the Master and the War Chief. (PROSE: Divided Loyalties) The Master soon became the Doctor's "man crush", and the two friends formed a pact to see every star in the universe together. (TV: World Enough and Time) While he was "little", the Doctor and his friend, the Master, ran together (TV: Death in Heaven) across the fields of the Master's estates by Mount Perdition. (TV: The End of Time) The Master would often hypnotise others, and the Doctor would un-hypnotise them, having learnt hypnotism from the Master. (PROSE: The Dark Path) Alongside other friends, the Doctor would ride a skimmer. (AUDIO: The Paradise of Death)
While at the Time Lord Academy, the Doctor spent four days in the Cloisters, where he talked to the Cloister Wraiths, who told him of the prophecy of "the Hybrid," and showed him a secret passage out. According to his twelfth incarnation, the experience drove him "completely mad," and he was "never right in the head again" afterwards. (TV: Hell Bent)
Missy claimed that while growing up, the Doctor started calling himself "Doctor Who" to "sound mysterious", but "dropped the 'Who' when he realised it was a tiny bit on the nose." (TV: World Enough and Time) In choosing the name of "the Doctor", he also made a promise to himself to "never [be] cruel or cowardly" and to "never give up, [and] never give in." (TV: The Day of the Doctor) He also received the nickname "Theta Sigma", or "Thete" for short, from his friends at the Academy, (TV: The Armageddon Factor, The Happiness Patrol) using it to identify him uniquely amongst other Time Lords. (PROSE: Falls the Shadow)
During his first year at the Academy, the Doctor gained a troublesome reputation by trapping his teacher in a time-loop for a day, (PROSE: Island of Death) and "mucking about" with space-time portals, something the Tenth Doctor indicated were easy to create. (PROSE: Made of Steel) He also frequently played "truant" to drink with the Shobogans, visit the hermit on his mountain, and venture into Low Town with the Master. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors)
At the age of ten, the Doctor was "caught skinny-dipping with a pretty female cousin of [an] acquaintance". (PROSE: Unnatural History)
Genniploritreludar taught the Doctor Stellar Engineering at the Academy, once asking him to recite the fifteen stages in the life cycle of the main sequence sun. (PROSE: Original Sin)
On "the blackest day of his life," he went to visit a hermit on the side of the mountain his family's house rested on in South Gallifrey. While climbing the mountain, the young Doctor saw only dull coloured rocks and weeds. However, the Hermit gave no words of advice when he heard the Doctor tell him all his troubles, but instead pointed at a flower, which the Doctor had dismissed as a weed. As he descended the mountain, the world no longer seemed so grim to him and the Doctor noticed the colours of the rocks and the vibrancy of life in the flowers. (TV: The Time Monster) The Doctor spent what he felt where some of the finest hours of his life with his guru, being taught how to look into his own mind and being told ghost stories about the King Vampire. (TV: Planet of the Spiders, State of Decay)
At the age of thirty, the Doctor asked K'anpo Rimpoche the name of the mountain on which he dwelled. He had been told by Old Lady Nine Teeth that it was called Plutarch, where his cousins called it Lung, and his friends at the Academy called it Mount Cadon. His mentor told him that the mountain had all three names, and told him that whatever he called it would determine the way in which it was climbed. (PROSE: The Three Paths)
The Doctor left the Gallifreyan equivalent of primary school aged forty-five. (PROSE: Shroud of Sorrow)
Still a "small boy", the Doctor wrote a treatise on the chromosomal origins of love. His tutor said that he missed the point entirely and gave him a "rubbish" grade. (AUDIO: The Wormery) When he was "just a kid" of ninety, he visited the Medusa Cascade. (TV: The Stolen Earth) The Eighth Doctor stated that he was a terror until the age of one-hundred-and-twenty, claiming that he was a late developer. (AUDIO: The Next Life) As his fourth incarnation recalled, the Doctor was a "spotty teenager" for fifty years. (COMIC: Doctor Who and the Time Witch)
When the Doctor was a young boy, Borusa told him off for his attitude, and that he would be lucky to receive a Class Three Doctorate. Borusa taught him to be seen to respect tradition, even though he did not, (COMIC: Vortex Butterflies) and also gave him a lecture on regeneration, telling the Doctor; "You will walk into a storm and a stranger will walk back out. And that stranger will be you." Borusa also told him to "never break eye contact with a shape-shifter", as he would "see it everywhere [he] look[ed], and [would] never be able to trust anyone again". (PROSE: The Day of the Doctor)
At the Academy, he and the Master joined the "Gallifrey Academy Hot Five" band, with the Doctor playing the lead perigosto. (PROSE: Deadly Reunion) He once attended a party on the Moon of Korpal, and met fellow academy student, Rummas, but was too drunk to remember. Soon after, he and Rummas began sharing Borusa as a tutor. (PROSE: Spiral Scratch) He was also part of the same zero-grav hyperball team as Padrac. (AUDIO: The Eleven) At some point in his youth, the Doctor became addicted to using vortex manipulators. The Eleventh Doctor once described his past self as "40-a-day man". (COMIC: Space in Dimension Relative and Time)
He and the Master also enjoyed building "time flow analogues" to disrupt each other's experiments. (TV: The Time Monster) At the Academy, the Doctor would often skip classes to practice yo-yos and juggling. (PROSE: Match of the Day)
The Doctor was taught at the Academy that "the universe [was] nothing but a functional chain of causality at every level, governed by the oldest and simplest laws," by a tutor the Eighth Doctor would later describe as "the most attractive person [he'd] ever seen", but the First Doctor retorted that, however much people tried to take the mystery out of things, they could not "diminish wonder, beauty and discovery." (PROSE: Longest Day) He also rode Vortisaurs bareback at the Academy, (AUDIO: Storm Warning) and played games with the principle of transmigration. (PROSE: Interference: Shock Tactic)
At the Academy, the Doctor conducted an experiment in which he created a bacteria known as the Ablative, with the ensuing scandal nearly getting him expelled until it was covered up by the Academy, who believed that all of the samples had been destroyed. (AUDIO: Planet of the Rani)
In his fiftieth year at the Academy, the Doctor made an enemy of his fellow student, Valyes, after he fed a snapping wart fowl to Valyes' summer project. (AUDIO: The Next Life)
The Doctor didn't attend his time-travel proficiency lesson, which made him unqualified to operate a TARDIS, and rejected an offer to retake the lesson. (PROSE: Festival of Death) The Doctor also failed practical theology, but was highly commended for landscape gardening, (PROSE: All-Consuming Fire) and received a poor grade in Time Lord philosophy. (PROSE: Infinite Requiem) He received training in emotional detachment, (TV: The Invasion of Time) and was on the tech course with Drax. (TV: The Armageddon Factor)
The Doctor and the Master were bullied as children by Torvic and the Doctor was forced to kill Torvic to save his friend's life. He was later confronted by Death, who insisted he become her disciple. The Doctor refused and asked for Death to take away his guilt, causing her to transfer the memory of committing the crime to the Master instead. (AUDIO: Master)
The Doctor was also bullied by Anzor, who used a torture device called "the galvaniser" on his classmates to ensure that they did as he said. He particularly bullied the Doctor, forcing him to do his navigational homework as he was "too stupid to do it himself". He used the galvaniser on the Doctor at least once, as he later threatened to "revive your memory of my galvaniser" to terrify the Sixth Doctor. (AUDIO: Mission to Magnus)
On one occasion, he and the Master travelled into Gallifrey's history in search of Valdemar, a dark mass of life created by the Old Ones in the higher dimensions, which swept across creation and wiped out the Old Ones. They met a surviving Old One, who warned them of Valdermar's powers. The Doctor was shaken and was horrified that the Master seemed fascinated by its power. (PROSE: Tomb of Valdemar)
According to a nightmare the Fifth Doctor had under the Celestial Toymaker's influence, the Doctor first learned of the Toymaker when he was a youth at the Prydonian Academy. The Time Lords' data banks described him only as a vague legend. The Doctor and his friends Rallon and Millennia investigated the legend, travelling to the Toyroom in a stolen TARDIS. The Toymaker was in a dormant, disembodied state, but on their arrival, he possessed Rallon and made Millennia one of his living toys. The Doctor defeated him, and the Toymaker allowed him to leave, knowing that he would become an even more worthy opponent given time to mature. (PROSE: Divided Loyalties)
The Doctor wanted to be
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the president.
“Once you send this permissive agenda to agencies, you can’t control it,” Professor Light said. “You want them to toe the line, but they may innovate.”
For example, he noted, when Mr. Bush first took office, his top political aides, including Mr. Rove, began briefing political appointees in agencies throughout the executive branch about coming elections and how policy decisions might affect the outcome of crucial races, according to several news reports.
In January 2007, a deputy to Mr. Rove conducted such a briefing for top managers of the General Services Administration, which handles more than $50 billion in annual contracts. At the end of the briefing, according to a Congressional investigation, the chief of the agency, Lurita A. Doan, encouraged agency officials to think about helping “our candidates” in the next election.
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The accusations against Ms. Doan, who later resigned under pressure, dovetailed with ones leveled by David Kuo, the former deputy director of Mr. Bush’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
In a 2006 book, Mr. Kuo wrote that the office used taxpayer money to host events in 20 areas where motivating religious voters could swing the outcome of important Congressional races.
And the inspector general for the Department of Housing and Urban Development found that its secretary, Alphonso R. Jackson, had urged his staff to favor companies that were friendly to Mr. Bush when awarding contracts. Mr. Jackson resigned in the spring.
But nowhere have the charges of politicization been as intense as at the Justice Department, where the investigations into personnel practices began with the firing of nine United States attorneys in 2006.
The overlapping investigations have already led to the resignation of several top department officials, including Ms. Goodling and former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. And Democrats show no sign of easing up.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said the Justice Department reports had made clear that “the problems of injecting politics” into decisions that are supposed to be nonpartisan “are rooted deeper than just the actions of a handful of individuals.”
On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee voted on party lines, 20 to 14, to recommend that Mr. Rove be cited for contempt for ignoring a subpoena and not appearing at a hearing to discuss the accusations of political interference by the White House into hiring practices at the Justice Department.BBC Cymru Wales has announced that Brian Minchin is to be the new Executive Producer of Doctor Who, alongside showrunner Steven Moffat.
Brian Minchin is an Executive Producer in BBC Wales drama, currently working on The Game, a new Cold War spy thriller from Toby Whithouse for BBC One, and Wizards Vs Aliens, Russell T Davies’ hit show for CBBC. He has also worked as BBC Executive Producer on Dirk Gently and Being Human.
Brian produced the RTS award-winning and BAFTA nominated series The Sarah Jane Adventures, as well as the UK sections of Torchwood: Miracle Day and was Assistant Producer on Torchwood: Children of Earth.
Brian, who grew up in Aberystwyth, joined the department in Cardiff in 2005 as a Script Editor working on BBC One Wales drama Belonging, before moving on to network dramas Doctor Who and Torchwood in the same role.
Brian says: “I'm thrilled and excited to be joining Steven Moffat on a show that has meant so much to me over the years. I've watched in awe as Steven has taken Doctor Who to wild and imaginative places and I can't wait to get started on many more adventures with the Doctor.”
Faith Penhale, Head of Drama Wales, says: “I've no doubt Doctor Who will enjoy a very exciting time with Brian at the helm working alongside Steven. Since joining BBC Wales in 2005, he’s proved he has a fantastic eye for story and a sharp awareness of what makes a drama like Doctor Who unmissable."
Steven Moffat, Lead Writer and Executive Producer, adds: "When I first took over Doctor Who, Brian was there as script editor, and in the most difficult time of a new Doctor and a new era, was completely brilliant. We lost him to producing The Sarah Jane Adventures at the end of our first run. Rising talent keeps rising, is how I comforted myself back then - but now I am beyond happy that Brian has risen all the way back to Doctor Who, in his new role of Executive Producer. I look forward to getting hopelessly lost in space and time with him."A Kentfield woman was arrested Tuesday after investigators discovered more than 130 bicycles and bicycle frames in her possession, according to the Marin County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities said they believe Rebecca Hammett, 50, had been part of a major bicycle theft ring, purchasing bikes from thieves who had taken them from all over the county.
Dozens of high-end mountain and road bicycles were among those recovered from a home on the 1100 block of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Kentfield, a storage facility on Industrial Way in Greenbrae and a motor home in Corte Madera, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office said.
One recovered bicycle’s serial number has since been matched to a bicycle stolen from a student at Sir Francis Drake High School in San Anselmo. It was returned to its rightful owner. Investigators are still processing each of the bicycles in hopes of returning them to owners.
The Sheriff’s Office will also be posting photos of the bicycles for review.
Anyone with information or questions about the stolen bicycles is asked to call the Marin County Sheriff’s Office at (415) 479-2311. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Bay Area Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.4.7
Oct 21, 2014 1:13 pm
http://www.vg247.com/2014/10/21/dedicated-servers-confirmed-for-call-of-duty-advanced-warfare/
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare will support dedicated servers, developer Sledgehammer Games has confirmed.In an interview with Stevivor from earlier this month, Sledgehammer Games’ Michael Condrey answered the question of whether or not dedicated servers will be supported by Advanced Warfare.“We’ve got some announcements coming. Yes, we will be supporting dedicated servers and there will be announcements soon on which providers and platforms. I can’t answer just yet, but you can let your community know that it’s coming,” he said.Advanced Warfare will be the second game to support the technology after Ghosts.Dedicated servers present arguably the best way to experience online multiplayer games. Rather than relying on the quality of users’ internet connection (peer-to-peer), dedicated servers let everyone connect to a server close to their location, providing a much more stable and level playing field.The Battlefield series has been utilising this feature for years on consoles, and it’s certainly nothing new for PC. Battlefield even lets users rent servers and have better control over which maps or modes they want to run. Call of Duty has always relied on the ‘playlist’ model, so dedicated servers would generally be handled by the developers.Advanced Warfare is out November 4 worldwide for PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.Every release the Fedora Design team collaborates with the Fedora community to release a set of 16 additional backgrounds to install and use on Fedora. The Fedora Design team takes submissions from the wider Fedora Community, then votes on the top 16 for inclusion in the next release. You can check out the backgrounds chosen for Fedora 23 lower down in this post.
Installing and using the additional backgrounds on Workstation
To install the additional backgrounds on Fedora 23 Workstation, simply install the package with the following command in the terminal:
$ sudo dnf install f23-backgrounds-extras-gnome
Once that is installed, simply open up the background chooser in Fedora Workstation, and the glorious new Fedora 23 backgrounds will be in the list to choose from:
Installing on a Fedora Spin
If you are using one of the Fedora Spins, you can also download these backgrounds in a package specifically tailored to your spin, so the backgrounds show up in your preferred desktop environment. For the KDE Spin, install the
f23-backgrounds-extras-kde
package. For the XFCE Spin, install the
f23-backgrounds-extras-xfce
package. For the MATE spin, install the
f23-backgrounds-extras-mate
package.
The backgrounds in Fedora 23The most up to date version of the content of this blog post can be found in our documentation.
Version management with git makes branching and merging much easier than older versioning systems such as SVN. This allows a wide variety of branching strategies and workflows. Almost all of these are an improvement over the methods used before git. But many organizations end up with a workflow that is not clearly defined, overly complex or not integrated with issue tracking systems. Therefore we propose the GitLab flow as clearly defined set of best practices. It combines feature driven development and feature branches with issue tracking.
Organizations coming to git from other version control systems frequently find it hard to develop an effective workflow. This article describes the GitLab flow that integrates the git workflow with an issue tracking system. It offers a simple, transparent and effective way to work with git.
When converting to git you have to get used to the fact that there are three steps before a commit is shared with colleagues. Most version control systems have only step, committing from the working copy to a shared server. In git you add files from the working copy to the staging area. After that you commit them to the local repo. The third step is pushing to a shared remote repository. After getting used to these three steps the branching model becomes the challenge.
Since many organizations new to git have no conventions how to work with it, it can quickly become a mess. The biggest problem they run into is that many long running branches that each contain part of the changes are around. People have a hard time figuring out which branch they should develop on or deploy to production. Frequently the reaction to this problem is to adopt a standardized pattern such as git flow and GitHub flow We think there is still room for improvement and will detail a set of practices we call GitLab flow.
Git flow and its problems
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Git flow was one of the first proposals to use git branches and it has gotten a lot of attention. It advocates a master branch and a separate develop branch as well as supporting branches for features, releases and hotfixes. The development happens on the develop branch, moves to a release branch and is finally merged into the master branch. Git flow is a well defined standard but its complexity introduces two problems. The first problem is that developers must use the develop branch and not master, master is reserved for code that is released to production. It is a convention to call your default branch master and to mostly branch from and merge to this. Since most tools automatically make the master branch the default one and display that one by default it is annoying to have to switch to another one. The second problem of git flow is the complexity introduced by the hotfix and release branches. These branches can be a good idea for some organizations but are overkill for the vast majority of them. Nowadays most organizations practice continuous delivery which means that your default branch can be deployed. This means that hotfixed and release branches can be prevented including all the ceremony they introduce. An example of this ceremony is the merging back of release branches. Though specialized tools do exist to solve this, they require documentation and add complexity. Frequently developers make a mistake and for example changes are only merged into master and not into the develop branch. The root cause of these errors is that git flow is too complex for most of the use cases. And doing releases doesn't automatically mean also doing hotfixes.
GitHub flow as a simpler alternative
In reaction to git flow a simpler alternative was detailed, GitHub flow. This flow has only feature branches and a master branch. This is very simple and clean, many organizations have adopted it with great success. Atlassian recommends a similar strategy although they rebase feature branches. Merging everything into the master branch and deploying often means you minimize the amount of code in 'inventory' which is in line with the lean and continuous delivery best practices. But this flow still leaves a lot of questions unanswered regarding deployments, environments, releases and integrations with issues. With GitLab flow we offer additional guidance for these questions.
Production branch with GitLab flow
GitHub flow does assume you are able to deploy to production every time you merge a feature branch. This is possible for SaaS applications but there are many cases where this is not possible. One would be a situation where you are not in control of the exact release moment, for example an iOS application that needs to pass AppStore validation. Another example is when you have deployment windows (workdays from 10am to 4pm when the operations team is at full capacity) but you also merge code at other times. In these cases you can make a production branch that reflects the deployed code. You can deploy a new version by merging in master to the production branch. If you need to know what code is in production you can just checkout the production branch to see. The approximate time of deployment is easily visible as the merge commit in the version control system. This time is pretty accurate if you automatically deploy your production branch. If you need a more exact time you can have your deployment script create a tag on each deployment. This flow prevents the overhead of releasing, tagging and merging that is common to git flow.
Environment branches with GitLab flow
It might be a good idea to have an environment that is automatically updated to the master branch. Only in this case, the name of this environment might differ from the branch name. Suppose you have a staging environment, a pre-production environment and a production environment. In this case the master branch is deployed on staging. When someone wants to deploy to pre-production they create a merge request from the master branch to the pre-production branch. And going live with code happens by merging the pre-production branch into the production branch. This workflow where commits only flow downstream ensures that everything has been tested on all environments. If you need to cherry-pick a commit with a hotfix it is common to develop it on a feature branch and merge it into master with a merge request, do not delete the feature branch. If master is good to go (it should be if you a practicing continuous delivery) you then merge it to the other branches. If this is not possible because more manual testing is required you can send merge requests from the feature branch to the downstream branches. An 'extreme' version of environment branches are setting up an environment for each feature branch as done by Teatro.
Release branches with GitLab flow
Only in case you need to release software to the outside world you need to work with release branches. In this case, each branch contains a minor version (2-3-stable, 2-4-stable, etc.). The stable branch uses master as a starting point and is created as late as possible. By branching as late as possible you minimize the time you have to apply bugfixes to multiple branches. After a release branch is announced, only serious bug fixes are included in the release branch. If possible these bug fixes are first merged into master and then cherry-picked into the release branch. This way you can't forget to cherry-pick them into master and encounter the same bug on subsequent releases. This is called an 'upstream first' policy that is also practiced by Google and Red Hat. Every time a bug-fix is included in a release branch the patch version is raised (to comply with Semantic Versioning) by setting a new tag. Some projects also have a stable branch that points to the same commit as the latest released branch. In this flow it is not common to have a production branch (or git flow master branch).
Merge/pull requests with GitLab flow
Merge or pull requests are created in a git management application and ask an assigned person to merge two branches. Tools such as GitHub and Bitbucket choose the name pull request since the first manual action would be to pull the feature branch. Tools such as GitLab and Gitorious choose the name merge request since that is the final action that is requested of the assignee. In this article we'll refer to them as merge requests.
If you work on a feature branch for more than a few hours it is good to share the intermediate result with the rest of the team. This can be done by creating a merge request without assigning it to anyone, instead you mention people in the description or a comment (/cc @mark @susan). This means it is not ready to be merged but feedback is welcome. Your team members can comment on the merge request in general or on specific lines with line comments. The merge requests serves as a code review tool and no separate tools such as Gerrit and reviewboard should be needed. If the review reveals shortcomings anyone can commit and push a fix. Commonly the person to do this is the creator of the merge/pull request. The diff in the merge/pull requests automatically updates when new commits are pushed on the branch.
When you feel comfortable with it to be merged you assign it to the person that knows most about the codebase you are changing and mention any other people you would like feedback from. There is room for more feedback and after the assigned person feels comfortable with the result the branch is merged. If the assigned person does not feel comfortable they can close the merge request without merging.
In GitLab it is common to protect the long-lived branches (e.g. the master branch) so that normal developers can't modify these protected branches. So if you want to merge it into a protected branch you assign it to someone with master authorizations.
Issues with GitLab flow
GitLab flow is a way to make the relation between the code and the issue tracker more transparent.
Any significant change to the code should start with an issue where the goal is described. Having a reason for every code change is important to inform everyone on the team and to help people keep the scope of a feature branch small. In GitLab each change to the codebase starts with an issue in the issue tracking system. If there is no issue yet it should be created first provided there is significant work involved (more than 1 hour). For many organizations this will be natural since the issue will have to be estimated for the sprint. Issue titles should describe the desired state of the system, e.g. "As an administrator I want to remove users without receiving an error" instead of "Admin can't remove users.".
When you are ready to code you start a branch for the issue from the master branch. The name of this branch should start with the issue number, for example '15-require-a-password-to-change-it'.
When you are done or want to discuss the code you open a merge request. This is an online place to discuss the change and review the code. Creating a branch is a manual action since you do not always want to merge a new branch you push, it could be a long-running environment or release branch. If you create the merge request but do not assign it to anyone it is a 'work-in-process' merge request. These are used to discuss the proposed implementation but are not ready for inclusion in the master branch yet.
When the author thinks the code is ready the merge request is assigned to reviewer. The reviewer presses the merge button when they think the code is ready for inclusion in the master branch. In this case the code is merged and a merge commit is generated that makes this event easily visible later on. Merge requests always create a merge commit even when the commit could be added without one. This merge strategy is called 'no fast-forward' in git. After the merge the feature branch is deleted since it is no longer needed, in GitLab this deletion is an option when merging.
Suppose that a branch is merged but a problem occurs and the issue is reopened. In this case it is no problem to reuse the same branch name since it was deleted when the branch was merged. At any time there is at most one branch for every issue. It is possible that one feature branch solves more than one issue.
Linking and closing issues from merge requests
Linking to the issue can happen by mentioning them from commit messages (fixes #14, closes #67, etc.) or from the merge request description. In GitLab this creates a comment in the issue that the merge requests mentions the issue. And the merge request shows the linked issues. These issues are closed once code is merged into the default branch.
If you only want to make the reference without closing the issue you can also just mention it: "Ducktyping is preferred. #12".
If you have an issue that spans across multiple repositories, the best thing is to create an issue for each repository and link all issues to a parent issue.
Squashing commits with rebase
With git you can use an interactive rebase (rebase -i) to squash multiple commits into one and reorder them. This functionality is useful if you made a couple of commits for small changes during development and want to replace them with a single commit or if you want to make the order more logical. However you should never rebase commits you have pushed to a remote server. Somebody can have referred to the commits or cherry-picked them. When you rebase you change the identifier (SHA1) of the commit and this is confusing. If you do that the same change will be known under multiple identifiers and this can cause much confusion. If people already reviewed your code it will be hard for them to review only the improvements you made since then if you have rebased everything into one commit.
People are encouraged to commit often and to frequently push to the remote repository so other people are aware what everyone is working on. This will lead to many commits per change which makes the history harder to understand. But the advantages of having stable identifiers outweigh this drawback. And to understand a change in context one can always look at the merge commit that groups all the commits together when the code is merged into the master branch.
After you merge multiple commits from a feature branch into the master branch this is harder to undo. If you would have squashed all the commits into one you could have just reverted this commit but as we indicated you should not rebase commits after they are pushed. Fortunately reverting a merge made some time ago can be done with git. This however, requires having specific merge commits for the commits your want to revert. If you revert a merge and you change your mind, revert the revert instead of merging again since git will not allow you to merge the code again otherwise.
Being able to revert a merge is a good reason always to create a merge commit when you merge manually with the --no-ff option. Git management software will always create a merge commit when you accept a merge request.
Do not order commits with rebase
With git you can also rebase your feature branch commits to order them after the commits on the master branch. This prevents creating a merge commit when merging master into your feature branch and creates a nice linear history. However, just like with squashing you should never rebase commits you have pushed to a remote server. This makes it impossible to rebase work in progress that you already shared with your team which is something we recommend. When using rebase to keep your feature branch updated you need to resolve similar conflicts again and again. You can reuse recorded resolutions (rerere) sometimes, but without rebasing you only have to solve the conflicts one time and you’re set. There has to be a better way to avoid many merge commits.
The way to prevent creating many merge commits is to not frequently merge master into the feature branch. We'll discuss the three reasons to merge in master: leveraging code, solving merge conflicts and long running branches. If you need to leverage some code that was introduced in master after you created the feature branch you can sometimes solve this by just cherry-picking a commit. If your feature branch has a merge conflict, creating a merge commit is a normal way of solving this. You should aim to prevent merge conflicts where they are likely to occur. One example is the CHANGELOG file where each significant change in the codebase is documented under a version header. Instead of everyone adding their change at the bottom of the list for the current version it is better to randomly insert it in the current list for that version. This it is likely that multiple feature branches that add to the CHANGELOG can be merged before a conflict occurs. The last reason for creating merge commits is having long lived branches that you want to keep up to date with the latest state of the project. Martin Fowler, in his article about feature branches talks about this Continuous Integration (CI). At GitLab we are guilty of confusing CI with branch testing. Quoting Martin Fowler: "I've heard people say they are doing CI because they are running builds, perhaps using a CI server, on every branch with every commit. That's continuous building, and a Good Thing, but there's no integration, so it's not CI.". The solution to prevent many merge commits is to keep your feature branches shortlived, the vast majority should take less than one day of work. If your feature branches commenly take more than a day of work, look into ways to create smaller units of work and/or use feature toggles. As for the long running branches that take more than one day there are two strategies. In a CI strategy you can merge in master at the start of the day to prevent painful merges at a later time. In a synchronization point strategy you only merge in from well defined points in time, for example a tagged release. This strategy is advocated by Linus Torvalds because the state of the code at these points is better known.
In conclusion, we can say that you should try to prevent merge commits, but not eliminate them. Your codebase should be clean but your history should represent what actually happened. Developing software happen in small messy steps and it is OK to have your history reflect this. You can use tools to view the network graphs of commits and understand the messy history that created your code. If you rebase code the history is incorrect, and there is no way for tools to remedy this because they can't deal with changing commit identifiers.
Voting on merge requests
It is common to voice approval or disapproval by using +1 or -1 emoticons. In GitLab the +1 and -1 are aggregated and shown at the top of the merge request. As a rule of thumb anything that doesn't have two times more +1's than -1's is suspect and should not be merged yet.
Pushing and removing branches
We recommend that people push their feature branches frequently, even when they are not ready for review yet. By doing this you prevent team members from accidentally starting to work on the same issue. Of course this situation should already be prevented by assigning someone to the issue in the issue tracking software. However sometimes one of the two parties forgets to assign someone in the issue tracking software. After a branch is merged it should be removed from the source control software. In GitLab and similar systems this is an option when merging. This ensures that the branch overview in the repository management software shows only work in progress. This also ensures that when someone reopens the issue a new branch with the same name can be used without problem. When you reopen an issue you need to create a new merge request.
Committing often and with the right message
We recommend to commit early and often. Each time you have a functioning set of tests and code a commit can be made. The advantage is that when an extension or refactor goes wrong it is easy to revert to a working version. This is quite a change for programmers that used SVN before, they used to commit when their work was ready to share. The trick is to use the merge/pull request with multiple commits when your work is ready to share. The commit message should reflect your intention, not the contents of the commit. The contents of the commit can be easily seen anyway, the question is why you did it. An example of a good commit message is: "Combine templates to dry up the user views.". Some words that are bad commit messages because they don't contain munch information are: change, improve and refactor. The word fix or fixes is also a red flag, unless it comes after the commit sentence and references an issue number. To see more information about the formatting of commit messages please see this great blog post by Tim Pope.
Testing before merging
In old workflows the Continuous Integration (CI) server commonly ran tests on the master branch only. Developers had to ensure their code did not break the master branch. When using GitLab flow developers create their branches from this master branch so it is essential it is green. Therefore each merge request must be tested before it is accepted. CI software like Travis and GitLab CI show the build results right in the merge request itself to make this easy. One drawback is that they are testing the feature branch itself and not the merged result. What one can do to improve this is to test the merged result itself. The problem is that the merge result changes every time something is merged into master. Retesting on every commit to master is computationally expensive and means you are more frequently waiting for test results. If there are no merge conflicts and the feature branches are short lived the risk is acceptable. If there are merge conflicts you merge the master branch into the feature branch and the CI server will rerun the tests. If you have long lived feature branches that last for more than a few days you should make your issues smaller.
Merging in other code
When initiating a feature branch, always start with an up to date master to branch off from. If you know beforehand that your work absolutely depends on another branch you can also branch from there. If you need to merge in another branch after starting explain the reason in the merge commit. If you have not pushed your commits to a shared location yet you can also rebase on master or another feature branch. Do not merge in upstream if your code will work and merge cleanly without doing so, Linus even says that you should never merge in upstream at random points, only at major releases. Merging only when needed prevents creating merge commits in your feature branch that later end up littering the master history.
ReferencesFox News resident psychiatrist and Medical A-Team member Dr. Keith Ablow used an active shooting situation at an Oregon high school to pre-emptively attack “anti-gun nuts” for wanting to talk about gun saftey laws.
As the news was breaking of a shooting at Reynolds High School in Troutdale that reportedly left at least one person dead, Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle asked Ablow to talk about what could have led to the shooting.
“So often we see people are making these choices, some of it is premeditated,” Guilfoyle explained. “There are thoughts that they’ve recorded in a diary, online, in YouTube videos. Perhaps they’ve been seeking the help from a mental help professional — like yourself — troubled individuals, maybe problems at home. We have to try and unravel it to find out how it happened.”
“I think Americans may finally be getting the idea that the first thing they should think about is mental health gone awry in this system we have that’s so fractured that let’s people slip through the cracks,” Ablow opined.
“But the anti-gun nuts, they will be out in force, saying it’s all the guns,” he continued. “I predict that we’ll find again that yet another person who used a gun was compromised by one or more psychological or psychiatric illnesses that could have been detected.”
Ablow said that he never questioned why shootings happened because he worked as a psychiatrist.
He added: “And I see and get these calls from ERs where they say, ‘We want to send this person home, he threatened his mother and his family last night. But now he’s promising he’s fine. And we’ve got to get him out of here because the insurance company is on our back.’ That’s our system. That’s why this is happening.”
Watch the video below from Fox News’ Out Numbered, broadcast June 10, 2104.An amazing video has been circulating since late last week claiming to show a new augmented-reality product by Magic Leap. The “cinematic reality” company raised $542 million in October from Google corporate and others to take a stab at replacing all of the world’s screens with some sort of virtual reality blend. The company’s latest splash started with a tweet:
Just another day in the office at Magic Leap: https://t.co/lIzc4fU2i9 via @YouTube — Magic Leap (@magicleap) March 19, 2015
The video is facinating. It shows a seamless and effortless interaction between our digital and physical lives. And since Magic Leap has tons of money to work on exactly this type of thing, it could be coming soon, right? Unfortunately, skeptics say no.
First of all, Magic Leap originally planned to present at a TED conference in Vancouver, but backed out at the last minute and posted the video online instead. The company also indicates that what you see in the video is technology that actually exists in its office, but we haven’t gotten to see any hardware yet. Additionally, the video has a prominent watermark from Weta Workshop in its upper right corner. As CNET notes (in a podcast titled “That cool Magic Leap AR demo is probably fake, but we love it anyway”), Weta Workshop is known for doing special effects on projects like, oh you know, the Lord of the Rings trilogy. As Eric Johnson of Re/code wrote, “This is probably fake.”
Similar questions came up about the video Microsoft showed when it unveiled its HoloLens augmented-reality headset in January. The difference was that Microsoft had at least showed off some hardware and let journalists demo it. So far Magic Leap hasn’t announced anything tangible.
It’s disappointing to watch the video and then realize that we’re probably not really there yet, but at least there’s progress. Don’t worry, you’ll be scrolling through your email in thin air before you know it.Fifty years ago, on 16 May 1966 Communist leader Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution. Badiou's apparently "unrepentant" Maoism has been one of the most controversial, if misinterpreted, elements of his thought. Badiou is interviewed on the question by an anonymous Chinese philosopher, maintaining that Mao continues to provide a model for dialectical thought, if not for a historical project. Visit LEAP to read the original piece in full.
ILLUSTRATION / Wang Buke
A Dialogue Between a Chinese Philosopher and a French Philosopher
Some time ago, French philosopher (and venerable Maoist) Alain Badiou traveled to China to speak to a Chinese philosopher. Though his or her name appears to have been lost in the ashes of time, the transcript of this alleged meeting remains, and bears a noted resemblance to a series of conversations Badiou had with Lu Xinghua, a contentious proponent of the theorization of Chinese contemporary art. A restaging of this dialogue this past December in New York, with an actress as the skeptical interlocutor, provided a window into Continental philosophy’s most ardent Orientalist fantasies—and an hour or two of solid dialectical entertainment.
The Infinite Leader
THE CHINESE PHILOSOPHER When and under what conditions did you begin to read Mao Zedong’s writing? Mao Zedong is pretty unusual reading material for a French philosopher, after all.
BADIOU I started reading Mao’s writing in the early 1960s, because of the global situation. I had never been tempted by Stalinist communism, the USSR, or Khrushchev’s revisionism. I’ve never been a member of the French Communist Party. Right from the start, the content and style of the Chinese polemic against the Soviet revisionists gave a precise form to my doubts about both the USSR and the French Communist Party. You might say that what I first saw in Mao and the Chinese Communist Party was a “left” critique of Soviet politics. Mao’s major grievance was as follows: Stalin’s vision isn’t dialectical. He represents congealed, immobilized state socialism, whereas Mao, as is clear in all his great texts, thinks in an almost infinite way.
THE CHINESE PHILOSOPHER Possibly, but the infinity you’re talking about may well be at odds with the solidity and pragmatism of a real political agenda. It is to my mind very surprising, moreover, that Mao was on the side of the infinite dialectic! Thinking infinitely might do a lot of damage in the short life of men and women on this earth. So let me ask you: wasn’t Mao a philosopher of the infinite gone astray in his political struggles?
BADIOU It’s a tricky issue. On the one hand, there is no doubt that two fundamental episodes of Mao’s political struggle can be regarded as grave failures, which took a high toll in human lives: the Great Leap Forward and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. And you’re right in seeing in both of them a passion for the infinite real movement. But, on the other hand, these two episodes proved Mao’s determination to find new ways to really move toward communism. Mao wanted a communist revolution in a socialist state. So he had to keep creating something new, keep forging ahead, keep trying, because communism is precisely the infinite that the finitude of the state, including with its brutality, is incapable of by itself.
Specters of the Socialist State
THE CHINESE PHILOSOPHER Your Maoism seems almost incomprehensible today, at any rate in the western democratic world you live in. How on earth can anyone be a Maoist in the strict sense of the term in 2014? Doesn’t it make you seem like an old veteran or even a ghost?
BADIOU You’re right, “Maoist” doesn’t mean anything today. In the 1960s and 70s, saying you were a Maoist—as thousands and thousands of militants from all over did between 1966 and 1976, during what I call the “red years”—meant precisely this: we think that the fundamental experience for pursuing communist politics is the Cultural Revolution and not the Soviet state. Today, Russia and China are both capitalist states, which as such are of no interest at all to me as regards political thought. Mao is, for the time being, the proper name associated with the last great historical experiment, the one that attempted to gear the situation in a revolutionary way toward communism, by means of mass action within the socialist state. He is the first to have thought that the state is not the communist solution, but only a new context for that revolution.
THE CHINESE PHILOSOPHER Are you really serious, or are you being provocative when you say that, despite the terrible destruction inflicted on China by the Cultural Revolution, it should be considered as a source of thought and not as a disaster?
BADIOU One could claim that the Paris Commune in 1871 was a complete “disaster”—20,000 workers shot to death in the streets of Paris—nevertheless, it was by reflecting on the Paris Commune that Lenin developed the means for a victorious revolution in 1917. Likewise, it is only by reflecting on the Cultural Revolution that we can prepare for the future of the communist political movement. Why? Because the Cultural Revolution was the sole example of a revolution under the conditions of state socialism. It is no coincidence that the most important creation
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, immigrants are filling in roles where native-born workers have retired, or they are finding work in occupations that aren’t as appealing to U.S.-born workers, who typically have the means to find more job opportunities than illegal immigrants. Not surprisingly, unauthorized immigrants tend to work in low-skilled occupations, which is likely due to a lack of education as well as language barriers and the difficulty in finding other work because of their legal status.
Pew Research Center
So where are unauthorized immigrants coming from? Mexicans make up the biggest slice of the pie, despite their declining numbers. About 5.85 million unauthorized immigrants are from Mexico, compared with 700,000 from El Salvador, which is the second most likely country of birth for unauthorized immigrants. The country representing the biggest increase in unauthorized immigrants since 2009 is India, Pew found earlier this year. Since 2009, there has been an increase in unauthorized immigrants coming from China, Guatemala, and, lastly, Canada.
The ranks of unauthorized workers declined in eight U.S. states from 2009 to 2014, including California, Georgia and South Carolina, while seven states witnessed increases in the number of unauthorized immigrants in their labor forces, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Pew found.
Below are the 10 occupations with the highest share of unauthorized immigrant workers in 2014, according to Pew’s analysis of the latest available data.
1. Drywall installers (31 percent of drywall installers are unauthorized immigrants)
2. Miscellaneous agricultural workers (30 percent)
3. Roofers (29 percent)
4. Painters, construction and maintenance (26 percent)
5. Brickmasons, block masons and stonemasons (25 percent)
6. Maids, housekeepers and cleaners (24 percent)
7. Carpet, floor and tile installers and finishers (24 percent)
8. Sewing machine operators (23 percent)
9. Construction laborers (21 percent)
10. Grounds maintenance workers (20 percent)HUMANS need blood to survive. Without blood we are weak and we die.
Right? Well don’t be too sure about that.
Researchers in the US are about to change the definition of dead.
Surgeons at the UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh will start the world’s first human trial this month of a technique dubbed ‘suspended animation’.
They will take 10 people with knife and gunshot wounds too risky to operate on and remove their blood in order to buy time to fix their wounds. Yes, remove their blood.
The surgeons will then replace the patients’ blood with a chilled saline solution that would cool the body, slow down bodily functions and delay death from blood loss.
‘Suspended animation’ sounds like something out of a sci-fi flick, which is why researches prefer the term ‘preservation’.
“We are suspending life, but we don’t like to call it suspended animation because it sounds like science fiction,” Dr Samuel Tisherman, a surgeon at the hospital who is leading the trial, told New Scientist.
”We call it emergency preservation and resuscitation.”
The technique was first trialled on pigs in 2000. The pigs heart usually started beating again by itself, although some pigs needed a jump-start.
The technique does have time restrictions. The preservation state can only be prolonged for about four hours.
“If a patient comes to us two hours after dying you can’t bring them back to life. But if they’re dying and you suspend them, you have a chance to bring them back after their structural problems have been fixed,” said surgeon Peter Rhee at the University of Arizona in Tucson, who helped develop the technique.Available: November 25th, 2016
Lee Hazlewood spent a good part of the late 1960s traveling the globe, cutting records and inking business deals. A string of hits with Nancy Sinatra enabled Lee to build a mini media empire Lee Hazlewood Industries and afforded him nearly unlimited resources…for a time. By the end of the decade LHI Records had burned piles of cash, gone through a half dozen distributors and failed to achieve the kind of chart success “Boots" had promised.
Fortunately for Lee there was a land where he was still on the top of the charts, a place where women flowed like Brannvin…Sweden was calling.
While on an LHI promotional tour in Stockholm, Lee crossed paths with Swedish director Torbjörn Axelman. “I met Lee through my script girl, in Stockholm in 1969,” remembers Axelman. "We noticed we had very many similarities, interests, and the same backgrounds. It led to many productions during our 38 years of close partnership and friendship.” The partnership showed Lee the way forward and allowed him an easy exit strategy from the LHI house of cards that was crumbling in Los Angeles.
Light In The Attic Records is proud to continue its Lee Hazlewood Archival Series with this expanded reissue of Cowboy in Sweden. Released as the last LHI LP, Cowboy in Sweden was a soundtrack to the 1970 cult classic film of the same name starring Lee Hazlewood. The film was a surreal psychedelic account of Lee’s journey to his new homeland, while the soundtrack was a perfect compilation of Hazlewood’s strongest songs recorded over a prolific globe trotting three year period. The production scope of the album was the most ambitious of his career, recorded in Paris, London, Los Angeles and Stockholm with a slew of talented session musicians, producers and arrangers.
Cowboy in Sweden is quite possibly the purest distillation of the Hazlewood sound; lush melancholy country pop with a pinch of humor (“Pray Them Bars Away”), a dash of bummer (“Cold Hard Times”), some beautiful ladies to sing with (“Leather & Lace” & “Hey Cowboy”) and even a couple anti-war protest songs to be topical (”No Train to Stockholm” & “For A Day Like Today”). The David “Bitter Sweet Symphony” Whitaker arranged orchestral pop of “What’s More I Don’t Need Her” and the stone cold Hazlewood classic “The Night Before” cement the album as Lee’s peak on LHI Records and ironically the label’s swan song.It's not only TeamSESH's music that strikes a chord with me, it's also the ethos.
There's something about the timeless originality; refusing to sign a deal. A constant output of high quality original material, all produced and made in-house. It's purely for the love.
They also have a tireless work rate. You can expect to see and hear something new almost every day from SESH. The music output is so steady and so strong, yet it still maintains a really high level of freedom and unpredictability. As a result it truly keeps people intrigued. In the danger zone. It takes calculated risks to try something new. Something any individual would want and that forges some type of empowerment within them.
The effort is undeniably pure and honest. Something that is a rare entity in this day and age. To see someone gain success while only abiding to their own rules is something truly inspirational.
The world of music as we see it somewhat fucked, more often than not seen as an industry to make money rather than anything else. Music's true purpose is love and, ultimately to form a connection. Many other sacred things — sex and art, for instance — have been churned into money-making endeavours. As a result, it can be hard to define what true feelings are being represented by what you listen to. I think the majority of people find themselves marginalised by what they listen to and how it represents them. SESH may be able to change this for you.
I believe in self empowerment and fulfilling your dreams for the sake of your heart; not just for a cheque or a record deal. I recognise how SESH haven't given a part of themselves away to anyone. They are their own entity; passionate, strong, original and uncompromising.
This mix is a potent, 50min swig from the TeamSESH brew. Some of the tracks can be found buried on releases from years ago; others were made within the last few weeks and one in particular is an unheard gift from Bones. The quotes that bookend the mix sum up SESH in a very literal way.
Their recognition and consequent success is proof that a pure and independent approach to music is possible, and it has truly inspired me to conquer my own dreams. As I said, it's self-empowerment at its finest.The House voted Thursday to impose new sanctions on entities that help supply Iran's ballistic missile program.
The bill sailed through the House with the help of 323 cosponsors. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., wrote the bill as a way to pressure an aspect of the regime's military program that has long troubled western officials but was not addressed directly by the nuclear deal negotiated by former President Barack Obama's team.
"America will not be weak any longer," House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Wednesday when the bill was being debated. He said the bill would undermine Iran's ballistic missile program, as well as "the terrorist warriors of Hezbollah whose pockets are filled with Iranian money just as their hands are covered with American blood. This is an important part of our nation's new Iran strategy."
Iran's ballistic missile program is a crucial factor in President Trump's recent formal denunciation of the nuclear deal. His team, along with allies in Congress, hope that the threat of renewed sanctions will induce Iran to agree to new restrictions on the missile program. Iranian leaders have stressed that they will never agree to such terms.
"West has no right to ask why Iran is present in region, or why Iran has missiles," Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said last week. "Not their business! Why do you have missiles?"
In state-run media, he added the question, "Why do you have atomic bombs?"
Royce structured the legislation to put pressure on the program, regardless of Iran's attitude. "It requires a comprehensive investigation to identify and designate the companies and the banks and the individuals, both inside and outside of Iran, which supply the regime's missiles and conventional weapons programs," he said. "And it sanctions those entities."
The legislation was included in a tranche of bills that passed Wednesday, and targeted Hezbollah, a terrorist organization based in Lebanon that is funded and armed by Iran. The anti-Hezbollah bills were designed to stiffen world opposition to the terrorist group, in part by cutting off international funding.
"We know that Iran will again get caught up in this dragnet—and this bill doesn't run afoul of our obligations under the nuclear deal or any other deal. After all, Iran's support for Hezbollah is outside the scope of the [the nuclear deal]," New York Rep. Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said during Wednesday's floor debate.
"But, it's not just Iran," Engel added. "In recent years, we've seen Moscow step up its support of Hezbollah, particularly on the battlefields of Syria, where Russia has reportedly supplied Hezbollah with weapons. It's really outrageous."
The various proposals are consistent with Trump's goal of counteracting the flu range of Iranian aggression, after former Secretary of State John Kerry negotiated a deal that focused on the nuclear threat. Royce emphasized that his sanctions bill didn't require Democrats and Republicans to come to agreement about the Obama administration's signature foreign policy agreement.
"I appreciate members' concerns regarding the future of the Iran deal on both sides; this isn't an easy issue," Royce said during the hearing. "This bill is not and should not be a referendum on the nuclear deal."US marines on a beach landing exercise in the Philippines yesterday. President Duterte said such exercises must stop GETTY IMAGES
President Duterte of the Philippines has taken the first concrete steps towards dissolving his country’s 65-year-old military alliance with the United States, halting joint military patrols and ordering American troops to withdraw from the country.
Mr Duterte’s defence minister, Delfin Lorenzana, said that patrols involving Philippines and US navy vessels had ended in the South China Sea, where Manila has been engaged in a tense dispute with China over the islands.
He added that more than 100 American troops flying surveillance drones against Islamic extremists on the south of the country would soon leave, once Philippines soldiers were equipped to take over their duties.
Mr Duterte has repeatedly expressed anger towards the US, European Union and United Nations following criticism of his anti-drug campaign, which…Feb 14, 2014 - DeeJ
This week at Bungie, each of us focused all our attention on “a thousand tiny things.”
Those words belong to a fresh face named Leif Johansen. As one of our newer gameplay designers, he brings a nova hot passion for player-versus-player encounters to our team. When you shoot a fellow Guardian in the face and taunt them with a friendly wave while they fume in the deadbox, you’ll understand where he applied his personal elbow grease to polishing Destiny.
To get better acquainted with his meticulous attention to detail, I took him away from the studio for a New Hire Lunch. It’s an old Bungie tradition: When we dine with a Newbie, it’s on the house. It’s a great way to get to know our reinforcements and (you know) eat foods. On the day of our planned activity, a surprise meeting about website enhancements made me late for our encounter.
Lars Bakken caught me snooping around the design corner of the dev maze, looking for my date. “Leif got tired of waiting,” he said, sensing me on his six. “He went to play.”
I bounded up the stairs to the mezzanine and found my meal ticket in his lab. We have many dens of science at Bungie. In the Gauntlet, for instance, we test for Bugs. In the Laboratorium, we test for Usability – among other things. In Reef, we test for Fun. It’s there, in that glass vault, that Designers like Leif butt heads against the unique breed of testers we hire to kick their ass. He was locked in a game of cat and mouse on the Moon - at the same time evading and hunting the army of trained and highly educated killers sworn to keep him honest.
As his Hunter rode waves of Light from rooftop to rooftop, he wrestled with the same details that you might contemplate as you play your own favorite game. The only difference is that he’s responsible for those details. It’s his job to own them, to be married to them and make them perfect.
“The rate of fire on this weapon is too high,” he observed as he emptied an entire magazine into an unsuspecting Titan in the blink of an eye.
Moments later, that same Titan ambushed him from above, sending him into the black void before he could land his final killshot. “Yeah,” he sighed as the game ended. “I think I’m gonna talk to Hamrick about that assault rifle.”
A confab about firing patterns would have to wait. First, there would be lunch. Over a pepperoni pizza (not bad for West Coast standards) two veterans of the shooter wars explored common ground. We swapped dozens of war stories from a bunch of virtual fields of battle that we had stained with our own blood. Halo. Battlefield. Call of Duty. Each of them had their own moments. Each of them had their own flavor.
“Destiny is shaping up to be its own game,” he mused. “It’s hard to make a difference in this space.”
That’s Leif’s challenge – both his and ours. At Bungie, we want to make a game that matters – to break new ground in your imagination. We don’t want to make something that’s just good enough to ship. Our goal is to change the way you think about all the games you play. We want to redefine what you come to expect when you have a weapon in your hands and your own hunt and evade scenarios are afoot. To do that, a designer needs to be intimate with the product.
“You can’t just flirt with your better ideas,” Leif told me. “You gotta put a ring on it.”
Every day, we delve deep into those details. According to Leif, striking the right mood in an action game “takes a thousand tiny things that need to be well made.” His Bungie colleagues would agree with him. That’s why we play our own games during every spare moment – to gain an intimate understanding of them.
We immerse ourselves in this brave new world every day. Each of us has our own thousand tiny things to marry, whether we’re tuning a rifle, creating a sound effect, perfecting a cluster of code, or making beautiful art that will tempt heroes to explore the treacherous landscape that awaits them.
Once more unto the breach, dear friends.
New hire lunches aren’t the only way we forge new bonds of teamwork at Bungie. Playtest Labs aren’t the only arenas where we play games. Sometimes, in beautiful storied moments, we clear the development floor to make room for a legendary battle. All work is set aside, and our place of business becomes a bloody coliseum.
The Pentathlon is an orgy of celebration and competition. We celebrate games. We battle each other. Our team morphs into four dueling schools, all struggling to claim glory and honor for themselves.
The Pentathlon is an orgy of celebration and competition. We celebrate games. We battle each other. Our team morphs into four dueling schools, all struggling to claim glory and honor for themselves.
Now, if you’re waiting for Destiny, you might think that this is a poor use of our time. If you could access the public address system in our compound and broadcast your voice over the speakers hung from our lofty ceiling, you might compel us to get back to work like an angry god. Allow me to assure you, impatient Guardians in waiting: This year, the Pentathlon is in your most anxious interests. To find out which school is bravest, we’ll use Destiny as the proving grounds. At this very moment, our team is sprinting to complete a new build of the game. During the Pentathlon, we’ll abuse it as fiercely as we abuse each other.
To understand how this moment in time will shape the game we’re making, we’ll hear from two faithful stewards on the Exalted Winter Pentathlon Committee. When Matt Priestley isn’t operating as a Senior Producer for Bungie, he’s planning a full day of events across various activities in Destiny. When Charlie Gough isn’t overseeing the smartest guys in the room, he’s keeping the spirit of the Grizzled Ancients alive.
Let us come to order, Gentlemen. Traditionally, why is the Pentathlon so crucial to Bungie culture?
Matt: It keeps us in touch with our roots, playing games at LAN parties, eating bad food, and talking trash with friends.
Charlie: It’s how the old guard puts the young revolutionaries in their place! Way of the sword. Boot on the neck. That is the Bungie Way.
I have come to know this. Tell us what makes this Pentathlon a critical milestone in the march to launching Destiny.
Matt: When it hits you that your work is about to be played by your friends, it makes you put in that extra effort. It’s one of the surefire ways we have to motivate the team – a great way to start a new year together.
Charlie: More importantly, it allows everyone to vent all the frustration and pent up resentment that comes from the development process. Personally, I can’t wait to kick Priestley’s ass to get him back for all the times he’s talked back to me over the last year, when he knows I’m in charge!
Aside from the pecking order hidden in our org chart, what do you hope to learn about Destiny?
Matt: Pentathlon competitions are all about winning. The knives come out. Nobody’s above dirty tricks. It’s hilarious to see all the ways people bend the rules to get an advantage. That’s actually great testing for Destiny. We stop being polite and play the game hard.
Charlie: All I hope to learn is how gracefully everyone loses to my team, the Grizzled Ancients!
In either victory or death, how might these events change the way we work as we reassemble as one team in the coming weeks and months?
Matt: The stone keeps rolling. This build is just the first in a long line of playtests from here until 9/9/2014. We’re going to feed off the excitement from Pentathlon and plow it right into the next test.
Charlie: Every bug, every feature triage, every contentious discussion I have with Priestley will be accompanied by the delicious taste of victory in my mouth, and the sour taste of annihilation in his. Like a beaten dog with his tail between his legs, I expect him to acquiesce to my every whim.
The Fist is watching, and waiting. Its judgment will be harsh and unflinching. It will hold the glorious in its grasp, and cast the damned into the chasm of their shame.
Tune in next week to witness the lightning strike in real time.
Fear My Laser Face!
Earlier in this Weekly Update, we mentioned the Laboratorium. It’s the research facility where we gain a fresh perspective on what we’re creating here at Bungie. To see our work through eyes not tainted by insider information, we lure gamers (just like you) in off the street to lay hands on a controller connected to a fresh build of Destiny. Of course, the selection process is much more calculating than that.
The mad scientists from Bungie User Research are very deliberate about choosing the best mice to run a specific maze. Different test subjects are recruited to satisfy different curiosities. We need every breed of gamer to represent the diversity of our community – from the most casual to the hardest of the core. It’s another way we work with our community to better understand our games from every angle. We even took the name for the Laboratorium from Bungie.net user Zaphog (your prize will be in the mail soon, by the way).
Very recently, brave test subjects were sent on a mission to face a dreaded enemy in Destiny. We committed them to an engagement with very little to prepare them for the slaughter that we knew would ensue. Once the fighting and dying was over, we interrogated the survivors. A crucial part of science is feedback, especially when the data we seek is an emotional reaction to a good skirmish. On this day, the electronic systems we use to collect thoughts and opinions were out of commission, so a good old-fashioned paper questionnaire satisfied our appetite for information.
Here is how one very creative infantryman answered the question:
“Do you have more comments about this enemy?”
Wherever you are, soldier, we thank you for your service. Next time, work with your Fireteam to draw his fire. It always helps.
That poor, huddled mass grumbling about his fate from behind cover could be you. Are you registered as a willing participant in the Bungie User Research database? We need more unsuspecting souls to enter our lab and show us if we’re as smart as we think we are. Join up!
Questions between Bungie and Community flow both ways. We don’t need to don white lab coats to talk with you about games. Sometimes (every week, if you’re counting) all we need to do is open the Sack. Check out what people asked last week, while me and Urk flew through the air like a bird.
Th3 Trave1er First.
Dude, please…
Hobbs Second.
Seriously? Does anyone have a question?
raveun2me What kind of LOOKS do you get when you pull out prop guns like THORN. Do the Agents look at you funny? Do they recognize what it is that they are looking at? Has there ever been an awkward moment with Customs Agents?
For the under-informed, that’s a shot taken during our travels from last week. We went to London to entertain some “strategic partners.” To help us dress for the occasion, Bungie dev Sloan Hood loaned us his Hollywood-grade Halloween costume. If you’re wondering what was in the bullet-proof case we lugged across the ocean, and back again, now you know. What could be more entertaining than costumes and props?
To answer your question, there was one Customs Agent in New York who didn’t quite understand what we were up to. He thought I was toting merchandise through his port, and demanded paperwork that I just didn’t have. Before I was released to breathe the free air, I was literally defining the word “cosplay” for him.
Feroces Spiritus Will we be able to view our collection of weapons like an armoury in our space ship.
What if I told you that you could inspect and admire and show off your inventory wherever real life found you?
BobSaget38 Any word on what month the beta will be coming out?!? I can't wait to play it.
We still see this question a lot. What we’ve been saying is: This Summer. Pass it on!
And those are all the questions that we dared answer. One or two even got cut upon final review! You may let your anger flow. It gives you focus.
It’s not that we don’t love you. It’s not that we didn’t read your questions. We drink deeply your curiosities. You want to know about your armor, your weapons, your Ghost, and a thousand other tiny things. You’re right where we want you – well ahead of the curve. Perhaps you even know too much! While we work to catch the rest of the world up to what you know about Destiny, we can only beg of your patience.
All your questions will be answered in time. If not next week, each week that passes brings us closer to Beta.Activists ask Mark Zuckerberg in open letter to alter dealings with police after video stream of woman’s confrontation with police was cut off
A consortium of activist groups has sent an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg asking him to implement an “anti-censorship policy” at Facebook in its dealings with law enforcement officials in the wake of the death of Baltimore woman Korryn Gaines.
Gaines, killed just after her Instagram account was cut off at the request of police, was being served an arrest warrant after failing to appear in court for a traffic violation. She was shot dead by police and her five-year-old son, whom she was holding at the time, was wounded.
The archived video from the stream was briefly unavailable. Police officers said they had asked Facebook to turn off Gaines’s video stream; Facebook, which owns Instagram, later confirmed this.
Earlier this year, 32-year-old Philando Castile was killed by police; his girlfriend broadcast his death on Facebook Live, but the video was removed in what Facebook called “a glitch.” The “glitch” explanation was disputed. “If your company agrees to censor people’s accounts at the request of police – thereby allowing the police to control what the public sees on Facebook – then it is part of the problem,” they wrote.
Among the organizations represented in the letter are Color of Change, a political advocacy group that focuses on the rights of African Americans, Demand Progress, MoveOn.org, and Free Press.
“We know that you personally have taken a strong stand in support of the Movement for Black Lives,” the authors said. “Just last month, you hung a massive #blacklivesmatter banner on Facebook’s campus. And we hope that you will ensure that Facebook implements an anti-censorship policy that honors and respects black lives.”
A Facebook staffer said the company had received the letter and was reviewing it. Some of Gaines’s videos remain offline.
Gaines is the ninth black woman to be killed by US police in 2016 and the first of the summer, according to The Counted, the Guardian’s ongoing record of police killings in the United States. Since her death, 10 other black people have been killed by police.Updated 10:45 PM EDT: ESPN New York’s Wallace Matthews has the moving parts of the Jeffrey Loria/Randy Levine conversations that kicked off the trade talk between the Marlins and Yankees about Alex Rodriguez.
According to the source, Loria said in his conversation about A-Rod with Levine, “Alex is Mr. Miami; it would be great if he played here for us.” To which Levine is said to have replied, “You can have him.”
Included in there is the bombshell detail that explains the unfortunate Brian Cashman’s denial this afternoon. He might be the Senior Vice President/General Manager of the Yankees, but he doesn’t make all the deals and some of them they don’t even give him a much of a heads-up on.
Updated 4:04 PM EDT: Yankees’ Senior Vice President Brian Cashman has denied to MLB.Com’s Yankees’ beat reporter Bryan Hoch that there have been any A-Rod trade talks with the Marlins.
Cash – whom I like – is, say, incorrect.
I’d also like to point out that the last time Brian Cashman denied something involving me, it was to tell me and a crowd of reporters that my tweet showing Rodriguez receiving post-pitch detail signals from the stands on Opening Day in 2011 was not an issue for the ballclub and the team was just fine with me and had no problem and everything was just fine.
Three months later they threw me out as Bob Wolff’s assistant at the P.A. microphone for Old Timers’ Day and leaked it to The New York Post.
UPDATE 4:19 PM EDT: I’d also point out that Cashman may not know about any of this – yet. Not two years ago ownership – by his own admission – essentially signed a free agent without telling him. Cashman said the other 29 GMs would have loved to have “their owner force Rafael Soriano down their throat.”
Original Post:
The New York Yankees have held discussions with the Miami Marlins about a trade involving their third baseman in crisis, Alex Rodriguez.
Sources close to both organizations confirm the Yankees would pay all – or virtually all – of the $114,000,000 Rodriguez is owed in a contract that runs through the rest of this season and the next five. One alternative scenario has also been discussed in which the Yankees would pay less of Rodriguez’s salary, but would obtain the troubled Marlins’ reliever Heath Bell and pay what remains of the three-year, $27,000,000 deal Bell signed last winter.
None of the sources could give an indication as to how serious the discussions have already gotten, but one of them close to the Marlins’ ownership said he believed the trade made sense for both sides, and would eventually be made in some form.
Not only are the Yankees one loss away from elimination in the American League Championship Series (and as of this writing, one loss away from an ignominious sweep), but in the post-season Rodriguez is just 3-for-23 with twelve strikeouts, has been pinch-hit for twice, and was left out of one of the Division Series games against Baltimore entirely. He last homered on September 14, and has only one extra base-hit and six RBI in the 24 games since that date.
Rodriguez has become a Gordian Knot for the Yankees. As the roster grows old and the farm system is in a fallow period for position players, the Steinbrenner family wants to reduce payroll, not increase it. And while the precise salary numbers are not known, Rodriguez is scheduled to earn approximately $28 million next year, $23 million in 2014, $22 million in 2015, $21 million in 2016, and $20 million in 2017 – when he will be 42 years old. His physical fragility and declining power now make him just slightly less valuable than the average American League third baseman (by one calculation, Rodriguez’s WAR number – “wins above replacement player” – was 2.0, seventeenth best among Major League third basemen, just behind obscure rookie Luis Cruz of the Dodgers).
Nevertheless, paying Rodriguez $114 million not to play for them would seem to be against the new – cheaper – thinking at Yankee Stadium.
But to a Marlins’ franchise facing financial calamity after the failure of its combination of splashy free agent signings, a high-profile new manager, and a brand new downtown stadium, a “free” Alex Rodriguez has serious upside. He grew up in the community, owns an incredibly high-priced home there that he has been unable to move, and might be refreshed by both the release from the New York cauldron, and a possible move from third base to first base with his new club. Such a position change would be blocked in New York by the presence of first baseman Mark Teixeira and the club’s self-perceived need to rotate the aging Yankee regulars in the Designated Hitter spot.
The degree to which the cauldron was heating up was underscored by a dubious story in Tuesday’s New York Post, which claimed Rodriguez was trying to get the phone numbers of two women seated behind the Yankee dugout during Saturday’s American League Championship Series opener by utilizing the age-old athlete trick of having autographed baseballs delivered to them.
This followed last week’s episode in which tv game show host Donald Trump – tweeting last Wednesday from a team-provided freebie seat in a Yankee Stadium suite – also heated up the cauldron by resuming his online attacks on Rodriguez. Trump invoked Rodriguez’s admission of steroid use during his time with the Texas Rangers by using the more generic and damning word “drugs,” and admitted he had a personal animus towards Rodriguez dating back to what had also tweeted were “dishonorable dealings with me on an apartment deal.”
Trump was sitting in the team suite at Yankee Stadium – on the ballclub’s dime as usual – when he tweeted this:
But the “drugs” tweet was only the culmination of a day of off-and-on attacks on Rodriguez by Trump.
Before the same game:
For more than a year the club has been aggressively retaliatory towards those – like Trump – who have invoked Rodriguez’s admission of steroid use, and others who have been critical of him in any other way. Over the past summer the team suspended team Advisor and Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson for questioning what impact Rodriguez’s confession would have on the legitimacy of his career statistics. Later in the season, a Yankees’ media relations staffer bypassed a new formal appeal procedure and was heard shouting at an official scorer who had given an error to an opposing player rather than a base hit to Rodriguez. Yankees’ media relations director Jason Zillo was described in a 2011 book as being “close” to Rodriguez. In the same book Rodriguez called Zillo a “friend.” In 2011, Zillo and the Yankees had similarly tried to squelch stories about the seeming deterioration of the play of Derek Jeter.
Trump’s call for the Yankees to “terminate” Rodriguez’s contract for “misrepresentation” is not a practical solution in a time with a strong players’ union, and given the fact that in the off-season of 2007-08 the Yankees happily kept Rodriguez from leaving for free agency by giving him a new ten-year contract that ensured that his pursuit of the career home run record would come while wearing their uniform. More over, the confession came in February, 2009, and if any claim to void the contract could ever have been made, it would have been then, and not now.
The Yankees presumably are not happy with Trump’s tweets. But they are less so with Rodriguez’s vanishing adequacy. And if the Marlins provide an escape hatch – even an escape hatch costing them either $96,000,000 (if they were to swap Rodriguez for Bell) or $114,000,000 (if they just give him away, or obtain low-cost players or prospects in return for him) – the Yankees are prepared to ignore the business consequences to offload a formerly great player who with each week seems to turn into simply a more and more painful headache.The ex-Blaugrana boss is expected to be announced as the successor to Alejandro Sabella, who stepped down despite leading the Albiceleste to this summer's World Cup final
Former Barcelona coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino is on the verge of being confirmed as Argentina’s new coach, according to the general secretary of the country's football association (AFA).
Martino left Camp Nou following a disappointing 2013-14 season that saw Barca miss out on the Primera Division title and fail to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2007.
However, Tata is set to be named as Alejandro Sabella’s successor in the coming days, with AFA general secretary Miguel Silva admitting that there are only small details to be sorted out before an announcement is made.
“Our first candidate is Martino. If we agree with the economic issue and the agreements that everyone seeks, Martino will be the new coach,” said Silva.
“We have one outstanding point, and we'll either agree or we will not agree.”
Sabella quit as coach of the Albiceleste following the national team’s 1-0 defeat to Germany in July’s World Cup final, and Martino was all set to replace him before AFA president Julio Grondona’s death on July 30.
Luis Segura was confirmed on Wednesday as Grondona’s replacement, paving the way for talks with Martino to be completed.- A teacher at Cox Mill High School is accused of having an inappropriate consensual relationship with a student.
Katherine Ross Ridenhour, of Concord, is charged with two counts of indecent liberties with a student. According to Concord police, the 23-year-old was engaged in a relationship with a 17-year-old male student.
The inappropriate contact between the teacher and student happened multiple times during the last month and a half at Cox Mill High School, according to police.
Ridenhour started working for the district in August 2016 as a family consumer and science teacher at Cox Mill High School. According to Ridenhour's bio on the Cabarrus County Schools' website, which appears to have been written just before the start of school this year, she's married and served as a junior varsity cheerleading coach in addition to her teaching responsibilities. She resigned from Cabarrus County Schools on November 14, 2017, according to district officials. Her bio has since been taken down.
"They need to come up with something more severe and strict in cases like this. I don’t know what but something needs to be done because it’s happening everywhere daily," said parent Lavonne Strickland.
"I think it’s appalling, and I don’t understand why this keeps happening. It’s being reported a lot and I don’t understand why teachers think it’s ok to mess around with students," said parent Daisy Rawlins.
Ridenhour is due in court Thursday morning.YEKATERINBURG, Russia — The noise inside the arena is deafening. Thousands of Russians in off-brand tracksuits and snow pants are shouting and beating inflatable foil batons together as Diana Taurasi, perhaps the greatest women’s basketball player in the world, dribbles across the court.
It’s a March evening in this mining city, which straddles the border of Europe and Asia, and 4,000 locals have come to see Taurasi’s team, U.M.M.C. Yekaterinburg, play Orenburg Nadezhda in the quarterfinals of the EuroLeague, the top
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] => 1 [is_twisted_treeline] => 0 [is_howling_abyss] => 0 [is_crystal_scar] => 0 [is_classic] => 0 [is_dominion] => 0 [available_in] => [tier] => Legendary [description] => [recipe_cost] => 625 [total_cost] => 3000 [sell_value] => 2100 [category] => Health,Damage [health] => 250 [health_regeneration] => 0 [health_multiplier] => 0 [dodge] => 0 [armor] => 0 [magic_resistance] => 0 [attack_damage] => 55 [attack_speed] => 0 [critical_strike] => 0 [critical_strike_chance] => 0 [critical_strike_damage] => 0 [life_steal] => 0 [spell_vamp] => 0 [tenacity] => 0 [mana] => 0 [mana_regeneration] => 0 [ability_power] => 0 [armor_penetration] => 0 [lethality] => 0 [magic_penetration] => 0 [cooldown_reduction] => 0 [attack_range] => 0 [gold_generation] => 0 [movement_speed_multiplier] => 0 [movement_speed_rank] => 0 [energy] => 0 [energy_regeneration] => 0 [experience] => 0 [unique_movement_speed_rank] => 0 [unique_movement_speed_multiplier] => 0 [unique_armor] => 0 [unique_magic_resistance] => 0 [unique_attack_damage] => 0 [unique_health_regeneration] => 0 [unique_mana] => 0 [unique_mana_regeneration] => 0 [unique_magic_penetration] => 0 [unique_armor_penetration] => 0 [unique_lethality] => 0 [unique_life_steal] => 0 [unique_spell_vamp] => 0 [unique_tenacity] => 0 [unique_attack_speed] => 0 [unique_cooldown_reduction] => 0 [unique_ability_power] => 0 [unique_critical_strike_chance] => 0 [unique_critical_strike_damage] => 0 [unique_dodge] => 0 [unique_gold_generation] => 0 [unique_health] => 0 [unique_death_time_reduction] => 0 [unique_energy] => 0 [unique_energy_regeneration] => 0 [unique_experience] => 0 [unique_health_multiplier] => 0 [aura] => [passive] => [unique_passive] => +18 Lethality (11-18 armor penetration based on your level) [consume] => [active] => [unique_active] => Channels for 1 second to gain a spell shield that blocks the next enemy ability within the next 7 seconds (40 second cooldown). Damage from an enemy champion will interrupt the channel. You can move while channeling. If the channel is interrupted, the item is put on a reduced 5 second cooldown. [is_deprecated] => 0 [is_deleted] => 0 [is_buildable] => 1 [is_published] => 1 [comment_count] => 1 [last_comment_ts] => 2018-03-01 17:25:22 ) [6] => Array ( [item_id] => 288 [display_name] => Sterak's Gage [url] => steraks-gage [client_id] => 3053 [icon] => [is_consumable] => 0 [is_summoners_rift] => 1 [is_twisted_treeline] => 1 [is_howling_abyss] => 1 [is_crystal_scar] => 0 [is_classic] => 0 [is_dominion] => 0 [available_in] => [tier] => Legendary [description] => [recipe_cost] => 725 [total_cost] => 3200 [sell_value] => 2240 [category] => Health,Damage [health] => 450 [health_regeneration] => 0 [health_multiplier] => 0 [dodge] => 0 [armor] => 0 [magic_resistance] => 0 [attack_damage] => 0 [attack_speed] => 0 [critical_strike] => 0 [critical_strike_chance] => 0 [critical_strike_damage] => 0 [life_steal] => 0 [spell_vamp] => 0 [tenacity] => 0 [mana] => 0 [mana_regeneration] => 0 [ability_power] => 0 [armor_penetration] => 0 [lethality] => 0 [magic_penetration] => 0 [cooldown_reduction] => 0 [attack_range] => 0 [gold_generation] => 0 [movement_speed_multiplier] => 0 [movement_speed_rank] => 0 [energy] => 0 [energy_regeneration] => 0 [experience] => 0 [unique_movement_speed_rank] => 0 [unique_movement_speed_multiplier] => 0 [unique_armor] => 0 [unique_magic_resistance] => 0 [unique_attack_damage] => 0 [unique_health_regeneration] => 0 [unique_mana] => 0 [unique_mana_regeneration] => 0 [unique_magic_penetration] => 0 [unique_armor_penetration] => 0 [unique_lethality] => 0 [unique_life_steal] => 0 [unique_spell_vamp] => 0 [unique_tenacity] => 0 [unique_attack_speed] => 0 [unique_cooldown_reduction] => 0 [unique_ability_power] => 0 [unique_critical_strike_chance] => 0 [unique_critical_strike_damage] => 0 [unique_dodge] => 0 [unique_gold_generation] => 0 [unique_health] => 0 [unique_death_time_reduction] => 0 [unique_energy] => 0 [unique_energy_regeneration] => 0 [unique_experience] => 0 [unique_health_multiplier] => 0 [aura] => [passive] => Grants 50% base attack damage as bonus attack damage. [unique_passive] => Lifeline: Grants Sterak's Fury upon taking 400 - 1800 (based on level) damage within 5 seconds (60 second cooldown). Sterak's Fury: For 8 seconds, grants increased size, +30% Tenacity, and a shield that starts decaying after 0.75 seconds based of 75% bonus health. [i]Can only be purchased by melee champions. Form-swapping champions only benefit from the base attack damage bonus while in melee form. Shield persists through form-swapping from melee to ranged.[/i] [consume] => [active] => [unique_active] => [is_deprecated] => 0 [is_deleted] => 0 [is_buildable] => 1 [is_published] => 1 [comment_count] => 5 [last_comment_ts] => 2016-01-17 03:32:52 ) ) ) [4] => Array ( [display_name] => If you're fed [item_ids] => Array ( [0] => 63 [1] => 384 [2] => 169 ) [description] => Trinity is insanely strong after core items if you're ahead. It smoothens out Kha's kit and lets him take objectives with increased attack speed and on hit passive from sheen. Stormrazor + Statikk is a little troll, so only take it if you're having some fun. [display_order] => 5 [is_grouped] => 1 [is_core] => 0 [group_display_name] => Situational Items [items] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [item_id] => 63 [display_name] => Trinity Force [url] => trinity-force [client_id] => 3078 [icon] => /content/item/312e302e302e37302d33303738.gif [is_consumable] => 0 [is_summoners_rift] => 1 [is_twisted_treeline] => 1 [is_howling_abyss] => 1 [is_crystal_scar] => 0 [is_classic] => 1 [is_dominion] => 1 [available_in] => Classic,Dominion [tier] => Legendary [description] => +20 Damage, +30 Ability Power, +25% Attack Speed, +12% Crit Chance, +12% Move Speed, +300 Health, +300 Mana, UNIQUE Passive: 25% chance on hit to slow the target by 50% for 2.5 seconds; on cast, increases your base Attack Damage by 150% for one attack. [recipe_cost] => 333 [total_cost] => 3733 [sell_value] => 2613 [category] => Health,Damage,Attack Speed,Cooldown Reduction,Mana,Movement [health] => 250 [health_regeneration] => 0 [health_multiplier] => 0 [dodge] => 0 [armor] => 0 [magic_resistance] => 0 [attack_damage] => 25 [attack_speed] => 40 [critical_strike] => 12 [critical_strike_chance] => 0 [critical_strike_damage] => 0 [life_steal] => 0 [spell_vamp] => 0 [tenacity] => 0 [mana] => 250 [mana_regeneration] => 0 [ability_power] => 0 [armor_penetration] => 0 [lethality] => 0 [magic_penetration] => 0 [cooldown_reduction] => 20 [attack_range] => 0 [gold_generation] => 0 [movement_speed_multiplier] => 5 [movement_speed_rank] => 0 [energy] => 0 [energy_regeneration] => 0 [experience] => 0 [unique_movement_speed_rank] => 0 [unique_movement_speed_multiplier] => 0 [unique_armor] => 0 [unique_magic_resistance] => 0 [unique_attack_damage] => 0 [unique_health_regeneration] => 0 [unique_mana] => 0 [unique_mana_regeneration] => 0 [unique_magic_penetration] => 0 [unique_armor_penetration] => 0 [unique_lethality] => 0 [unique_life_steal] => 0 [unique_spell_vamp] => 0 [unique_tenacity] => 0 [unique_attack_speed] => 0 [unique_cooldown_reduction] => 0 [unique_ability_power] => 0 [unique_critical_strike_chance] => 0 [unique_critical_strike_damage] => 0 [unique_dodge] => 0 [unique_gold_generation] => 0 [unique_health] => 0 [unique_death_time_reduction] => 0 [unique_energy] => 0 [unique_energy_regeneration] => 0 [unique_experience] => 0 [unique_health_multiplier] => 0 [aura] => [passive] => [unique_passive] => Rage: Basic attacks grant 20 Movement Speed for 2 seconds on hit. Minion, monster, and champion kills grant 60 (half for ranged champions) Movement Speed for 2 seconds. UNIQUE Passive: Spellblade: After using an ability, your next basic attack deals bonus physical damage equal to 200% of your base Attack Damage. 1.5 second cooldown. Does not stack with Sheen or Lich Bane. [consume] => [active] => [unique_active] => [is_deprecated] => 0 [is_deleted] => 0 [is_buildable] => 1 [is_published] => 1 [comment_count] => 35 [last_comment_ts] => 2018-07-30 03:06:13 ) [1] => Array ( [item_id] => 384 [display_name] => Stormrazor [url] => stormrazor [client_id] => 3095 [icon] => [is_consumable] => 0 [is_summoners_rift] => 1 [is_twisted_treeline] => 1 [is_howling_abyss] => 1 [is_crystal_scar] => 0 [is_classic] => 0 [is_dominion] => 0 [available_in] => [tier] => Legendary [description] => [recipe_cost] => 850 [total_cost] => 3100 [sell_value] => 2170 [category] => Damage,Attack Speed [health] => 0 [health_regeneration] => 0 [health_multiplier] => 0 [dodge] => 0 [armor] => 0 [magic_resistance] => 0 [attack_damage] => 55 [attack_speed] => 25 [critical_strike] => 0 [critical_strike_chance] => 0 [critical_strike_damage] => 0 [life_steal] => 0 [spell_vamp] => 0 [tenacity] => 0 [mana] => 0 [mana_regeneration] => 0 [ability_power] => 0 [armor_penetration] => 0 [lethality] => 0 [magic_penetration] => 0 [cooldown_reduction] => 0 [attack_range] => 0 [gold_generation] => 0 [movement_speed_multiplier] => 0 [movement_speed_rank] => 0 [energy] => 0 [energy_regeneration] => 0 [experience] => 0 [unique_movement_speed_rank] => 0 [unique_movement_speed_multiplier] => 0 [unique_armor] => 0 [unique_magic_resistance] => 0 [unique_attack_damage] => 0 [unique_health_regeneration] => 0 [unique_mana] => 0 [unique_mana_regeneration] => 0 [unique_magic_penetration] => 0 [unique_armor_penetration] => 0 [unique_lethality] => 0 [unique_life_steal] => 0 [unique_spell_vamp] => 0 [unique_tenacity] => 0 [unique_attack_speed] => 0 [unique_cooldown_reduction] => 0 [unique_ability_power] => 0 [unique_critical_strike_chance] => 0 [unique_critical_strike_damage] => 0 [unique_dodge] => 0 [unique_gold_generation] => 0 [unique_health] => 0 [unique_death_time_reduction] => 0 [unique_energy] => 0 [unique_energy_regeneration] => 0 [unique_experience] => 0 [unique_health_multiplier] => 0 [aura] => [passive] => Moving and attacking generates Energize stacks, up to 100. When fully Energized, your next basic attack gains Storm. [unique_passive] => Storm: Your next basic attack deals 50 bonus magic damage on-hit. UNIQUE Passive: Your Energized effects have all of their respective effects increased by 30% and also slow for 40% decaying over 1 second. [consume] => [active] => [unique_active] => [is_deprecated] => 0 [is_deleted] => 0 [is_buildable] => 1 [is_published] => 1 [comment_count] => 0 [last_comment_ts] => 0000-00-00 00:00:00 ) [2] => Array ( [item_id] => 169 [display_name] => Statikk Shiv [url] => statikk-shiv [client_id] => 3087 [icon] => [is_consumable] => 0 [is_summoners_rift] => 1 [is_twisted_treeline] => 1 [is_howling_abyss] => 1 [is_crystal_scar] => 0 [is_classic] => 0 [is_dominion] => 0 [available_in] => [tier] => Legendary [description] => [recipe_cost] => 800 [total_cost] => 2600 [sell_value] => 1820 [category] => Critical Strike,Attack Speed,Movement [health] => 0 [health_regeneration] => 0 [health_multiplier] => 0 [dodge] => 0 [armor] => 0 [magic_resistance] => 0 [attack_damage] => 0 [attack_speed] => 40 [critical_strike] => 0 [critical_strike_chance] => 25 [critical_strike_damage] => 0 [life_steal] => 0 [spell_vamp] => 0 [tenacity] => 0 [mana] => 0 [mana_regeneration] => 0 [ability_power] => 0 [armor_penetration] => 0 [lethality] => 0 [magic_penetration] => 0 [cooldown_reduction] => 0 [attack_range] => 0 [gold_generation] => 0 [movement_speed_multiplier] => 5 [movement_speed_rank] => 0 [energy] => 0 [energy_regeneration] => 0 [experience] => 0 [unique_movement_speed_rank] => 0 [unique_movement_speed_multiplier] => 0 [unique_armor] => 0 [unique_magic_resistance] => 0 [unique_attack_damage] => 0 [unique_health_regeneration] => 0 [unique_mana] => 0 [unique_mana_regeneration] => 0 [unique_magic_penetration] => 0 [unique_armor_penetration] => 0 [unique_lethality] => 0 [unique_life_steal] => 0 [unique_spell_vamp] => 0 [unique_tenacity] => 0 [unique_attack_speed] => 0 [unique_cooldown_reduction] => 0 [unique_ability_power] => 0 [unique_critical_strike_chance] => 0 [unique_critical_strike_damage] => 0 [unique_dodge] => 0 [unique_gold_generation] => 0 [unique_health] => 0 [unique_death_time_reduction] => 0 [unique_energy] => 0 [unique_energy_regeneration] => 0 [unique_experience] => 0 [unique_health_multiplier] => 0 [aura] => [passive] => [unique_passive] => Moving and attacking builds Static Charges. At 100 charges, your next attack expends the charges to deal 60-140 magic damage (at levels 1-18) to up to 5 targets. This effect will critically strike if your initial attack also did. [consume] => [active] => [unique_active] => [is_deprecated] => 0 [is_deleted] => 0 [is_buildable] => 1 [is_published] => 1 [comment_count] => 14 [last_comment_ts] => 2015-09-28 11:13:41 ) ) ) [5] => Array ( [display_name] => Preference Item [item_ids] => Array ( [0] => 62 [1] => 159 ) [description] => Tiamat/Ravenous Hydra is a personal preference item, meaning if you like to buy it, then buy it. Tiamat is effective at increasing Kha'Zix's clear speed and provides a bit of extra burst for your combo. It can be cast mid air to chain double jumps and add burst. If you want to use it, buy it after either warrior or duskblade. [display_order] => 6 [is_grouped] => 1 [is_core] => 0 [group_display_name] => Situational Items [items] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [item_id] => 62 [display_name] => Tiamat [url] => tiamat [client_id] => 3077 [icon] => /content/item/312e302e302e37302d33303737.gif [is_consumable] => 0 [is_summoners_rift] => 1 [is_twisted_treeline] => 1 [is_howling_abyss] => 1 [is_crystal_scar] => 0 [is_classic] => 1 [is_dominion] => 1 [available_in] => Classic,Dominion [tier] => Advanced [description] => +42 Attack Damage +15 Health Regen per 5 sec +4 Mana Regen per 5 sec Passive: Your attacks Splash, dealing Physical Damage in a small area around the target. [recipe_cost] => 475 [total_cost] => 1325 [sell_value] => 928 [category] => Health Regen,Damage [health] => 0 [health_regeneration] => 50 [health_multiplier] => 0 [dodge] => 0 [armor] => 0 [magic_resistance] => 0 [attack_damage] => 25 [attack_speed] => 0 [critical_strike] => 0 [critical_strike_chance] => 0 [critical_strike_damage] => 0 [life_steal] => 0 [spell_vamp] => 0 [tenacity] => 0 [mana] => 0 [mana_regeneration] => 0 [ability_power] => 0 [armor_penetration] => 0 [lethality] => 0 [magic_penetration] => 0 [cooldown_reduction] => 0 [attack_range] => 0 [gold_generation] => 0 [movement_speed_multiplier] => 0 [movement_speed_rank] => 0 [energy] => 0 [energy_regeneration] => 0 [experience] => 0 [unique_movement_speed_rank] => 0 [unique_movement_speed_multiplier] => 0 [unique_armor] => 0 [unique_magic_resistance] => 0 [unique_attack_damage] => 0 [unique_health_regeneration] => 0 [unique_mana] => 0 [unique_mana_regeneration] => 0 [unique_magic_penetration] => 0 [unique_armor_penetration] => 0 [unique_lethality] => 0 [unique_life_steal] => 0 [unique_spell_vamp] => 0 [unique_tenacity] => 0 [unique_attack_speed] => 0 [unique_cooldown_reduction] => 0 [unique_ability_power] => 0 [unique_critical_strike_chance] => 0 [unique_critical_strike_damage] => 0 [unique_dodge] => 0 [unique_gold_generation] => 0 [unique_health] => 0 [unique_death_time_reduction] => 0 [unique_energy] => 0 [unique_energy_regeneration] => 0 [unique_experience] => 0 [unique_health_multiplier] => 0 [aura] => [passive] => [unique_passive] => Cleave: Your attacks deal physical damage up to 60% of your Attack Damage to units around your target, decaying down to 20% near the edge. [consume] => [active] => [unique_active] => Crescent (Melee Only): Deals up to 100% of your Attack Damage to units around you - decaying down to 60% near the edge (10 second cooldown) [is_deprecated] => 0 [is_deleted] => 0 [is_buildable] => 1 [is_published] => 1 [comment_count] => 39 [last_comment_ts] => 2013-05-08 03:33:51 ) [1] => Array ( [item_id] => 159 [display_name] => Ravenous Hydra [url] => ravenous-hydra [client_id] => 3074 [icon] => [is_consumable] => 0 [is_summoners_rift] => 1 [is_twisted_treeline] => 1 [is_howling_abyss] => 1 [is_crystal_scar] => 0 [is_classic] => 0 [is_dominion] => 0 [available_in] => [tier] => Legendary [description] => [recipe_cost] => 400 [total_cost] => 3500 [sell_value] => 2450 [category] => Health Regen,Damage,Life Steal [health] => 0 [health_regeneration] => 100 [health_multiplier] => 0 [dodge] => 0 [armor] => 0 [magic_resistance] => 0 [attack_damage] => 80 [attack_speed] => 0 [critical_strike] => 0 [critical_strike_chance] => 0 [critical_strike_damage] => 0 [life_steal] => 12 [spell_vamp] => 0 [tenacity] => 0 [mana] => 0 [mana_regeneration] => 0 [ability_power] => 0 [armor_penetration] => 0 [lethality] => 0 [magic_penetration] => 0 [cooldown_reduction] => 0 [attack_range] => 0 [gold_generation] => 0 [movement_speed_multiplier] => 0 [movement_speed_rank] => 0 [energy] => 0 [energy_regeneration] => 0 [experience] => 0 [unique_movement_speed_rank] => 0 [unique_movement_speed_multiplier] => 0 [unique_armor] => 0 [unique_magic_resistance] => 0 [unique_attack_damage] => 0 [unique_health_regeneration] => 0 [unique_mana] => 0 [unique_mana_regeneration] => 0 [unique_magic_penetration] => 0 [unique_armor_penetration] => 0 [unique_lethality] => 0 [unique_life_steal] => 0 [unique_spell_vamp] => 0 [unique_tenacity] => 0 [unique_attack_speed] => 0 [unique_cooldown_reduction] => 0 [unique_ability_power] => 0 [unique_critical_strike_chance] => 0 [unique_critical_strike_damage] => 0 [unique_dodge] => 0 [unique_gold_generation] => 0 [unique_health] => 0 [unique_death_time_reduction] => 0 [unique_energy] => 0 [unique_energy_regeneration] => 0 [unique_experience] => 0 [unique_health_multiplier] => 0 [aura] => [passive] => Damage dealt by this item benefits from life steal (melee only). [unique_passive] => Cleave: Your attacks deal physical damage up to 60% of your Attack Damage to units around your target, decaying down to 20% near the edge. [consume] => [active] => [unique_active] => Crescent: Deals physical damage up to 100% of your Attack Damage to units around you, decaying down to 60% near the edge. (10 second cooldown) [is_deprecated] => 0 [is_deleted] => 0 [is_buildable] => 1 [is_published] => 1 [comment_count] => 19 [last_comment_ts] => 2017-05-10 22:12:50 ) ) ) [6] => Array ( [display_name] => Standard Assassin [item_ids] => Array ( [0] => 277 [1] => 53 [2] => 322 [3] => 101 [4] => 296 [5] => 43 ) [description] => Basic assassin build, great for killing squishies [display_order] => 7 [is_grouped] => 1 [is_core] => 0 [group_display_name] => Example Builds [items] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [item_id] => 277 [display_name] => Stalker's Blade - Warrior [url] => stalkers-blade-warrior [client_id] => 3707 [icon] => [is_consumable] => 0 [is_summoners_rift] => 1 [is_twisted_treeline] => 1 [is_howling_abyss] => 0 [is_crystal_scar] => 0 [is_classic] => 0 [is_dominion] => 0 [available_in] => [tier] => Advanced [description] => [recipe_cost] => 525 [total_cost] => 2625 [sell_value] => 1837 [category] => Damage,Cooldown Reduction,Enchantments [health] => 0 [health_regeneration] => 0 [health_multiplier] => 0 [dodge] => 0 [armor] => 0 [magic_resistance] => 0 [attack_damage] => 60 [attack_speed] => 0 [critical_strike] => 0 [critical_strike_chance] => 0 [critical_strike_damage] => 0 [life_steal] => 0 [spell_vamp] => 0 [tenacity] => 0 [mana] => 0 [mana_regeneration] => 0 [ability_power] => 0 [armor_penetration] => 0 [lethality] => 0 [magic_penetration] => 0 [cooldown_reduction] => 10 [attack_range] => 0 [gold_generation] => 0 [movement_speed_multiplier] => 0 [movement_speed_rank] => 0 [energy] => 0 [energy_regeneration] => 0 [experience] => 0 [unique_movement_speed_rank] => 0 [unique_movement_speed_multiplier] => 0 [unique_armor] => 0 [unique_magic_resistance] => 0 [unique_attack_damage] => 0 [unique_health_regeneration] => 0 [unique_mana] => 0 [unique_mana_regeneration] => 0 [unique_magic_penetration] => 0 [unique_armor_penetration] => 0 [unique_lethality] => 0 [unique_life_steal] => 0 [unique_spell_vamp] => 0 [unique_tenacity] => 0 [unique_attack_speed] => 0 [unique_cooldown_reduction] => 0 [unique_ability_power] => 0 [unique_critical_strike_chance] => 0 [unique_critical_strike_damage] => 0 [unique_dodge] => 0 [unique_gold_generation] => 0 [unique_health] => 0 [unique_death_time_reduction] => 0 [unique_energy] => 0 [unique_energy_regeneration] => 0 [unique_experience] => 0 [unique_health_multiplier] => 0 [aura] => [passive] => Grants 10% Lifesteal vs monsters. Passive: Restores up to 40 mana per 5 seconds based on missing mana while in the jungle or river. [unique_passive] => Chilling Smite: Smite can be cast on enemy champions, dealing 28-164 true damage and stealing 20% of the target's movement speed for 2 seconds. UNIQUE Passive: Tooth / Nail: Basic attacks against monsters deal 40 bonus physical damage. Damaging a monster burns it for 80 magic damage and heals you for 30 health over 5 seconds. Killing large monsters grants 50 bonus experience gain +50 bonus experience for each level higher the monster is than you. [i]Limited to one Jungle item.[/i] [consume] => [active] => [unique_active] => [is_deprecated] => 0 [is_deleted] => 0 [is_buildable] => 1 [is_published] => 1 [comment_count] => 1 [last_comment_ts] => 2014-11-21 10:22:06 ) [1] => Array ( [item_id] => 53 [display_name] => Ninja Tabi [url] => ninja-tabi [client_id] => 3047 [icon] => /content/item/312e302e302e37302d33303437.gif [is_consumable] => 0 [is_summoners_rift] => 1 [is_twisted_treeline] => 1 [is_howling_abyss] => 1 [is_crystal_scar] => 0 [is_classic] => 1 [is_dominion] => 1 [available_in] => Classic,Dominion [tier] => Advanced [description] => +23 Armor +11% Dodge Chance UNIQUE Passive: Enhanced Movement 2 [recipe_cost] => 500 [total_cost] => 1100 [sell_value] => 770 [category] => Armor,Movement,Boots [health] => 0 [health_regeneration] => 0 [health_multiplier] => 0 [dodge] => 0 [armor] => 20 [magic_resistance] => 0 [attack_damage] => 0 [attack_speed] => 0 [critical_strike] => 0 [critical_strike_chance] => 0 [critical_strike_damage] => 0 [life_steal] => 0 [spell_vamp] => 0 [tenacity] => 0 [mana] => 0 [mana_regeneration] => 0 [ability_power] => 0 [armor_penetration] => 0 [lethality] => 0 [magic_penetration] => 0 [cooldown_reduction] => 0 [attack_range] => 0 [gold_generation] => 0 [movement_speed_multiplier] => 0 [movement_speed_rank] => 0 [energy] => 0 [energy_regeneration] => 0 [experience] => 0 [unique_movement_speed_rank] => 2 [unique_movement_speed_multiplier] => 0 [unique_armor] => 0 [unique_magic_resistance] => 0 [unique_attack_damage] => 0 [unique_health_regeneration] => 0 [unique_mana] => 0 [unique_mana_regeneration] => 0 [unique_magic_penetration] => 0 [unique_armor_penetration] => 0 [unique_lethality] => 0 [unique_life_steal] => 0 [unique_spell_vamp] => 0 [unique_tenacity] => 0 [unique_attack_speed] => 0 [unique_cooldown_reduction] => 0 [unique_ability_power] => 0 [unique_critical_strike_chance] => 0 [unique_critical_strike_damage] => 0 [unique_dodge] => 0 [unique_gold_generation] => 0 [unique_health] => 0 [unique_death_time_reduction] => 0 [unique_energy] => 0 [unique_energy_regeneration] => 0 [unique_experience] => 0 [unique_health_multiplier] => 0 [aura] => [passive] => [unique_passive] => Enhanced Movement: +45 Movement Speed. UNIQUE Passive: Blocks 12% of the damage from basic attacks. [consume] => [active] => [unique_active] => [is_deprecated] => 0 [is_deleted] => 0 [is_buildable] => 1 [is_published] => 1 [comment_count] => 13 [last_comment_ts] => 2017-05-11 12:30:20 ) [2] => Array ( [item_id] => 322 [display_name] => Duskblade of Draktharr [url] => duskblade-of-draktharr [client_id] => 3147 [icon] => [is_consumable] => 0 [is_summoners_rift] => 1 [is_twisted_treeline] => 1 [is_howling_abyss] => 1 [is_crystal_scar] => 0 [is_classic] => 0 [is_dominion] => 0 [available_in] => [tier] => Legendary [description] => [recipe_cost] => 700 [total_cost] => 2900 [sell_value] => 2030 [category] => Damage,Cooldown Reduction [health] => 0 [health_regeneration] => 0 [health_multiplier] => 0 [dodge] => 0 [armor] => 0 [magic_resistance] => 0 [attack_damage] => 55 [attack_speed] => 0 [critical_strike] => 0 [critical_strike_chance] => 0 [critical_strike_damage] => 0 [life_steal] => 0 [spell_vamp] => 0 [tenacity] => 0 [mana] => 0 [mana_regeneration] => 0 [ability_power] => 0 [armor_penetration] => 0 [lethality] => 0 [magic_penetration] => 0 [cooldown_reduction] => 10 [attack_range] => 0 [gold_generation] => 0 [movement_speed_multiplier] => 0 [movement_speed_rank] => 0 [energy] => 0 [energy_regeneration] => 0 [experience] => 0 [unique_movement_speed_rank] => 0 [unique_movement_speed_multiplier] => 0 [unique_armor] => 0 [unique_magic_resistance] => 0 [unique_attack_damage] => 0 [unique_health_regeneration] => 0 [unique_mana] => 0 [unique_mana_regeneration] => 0 [unique_magic_penetration] => 0 [unique_armor_penetration] => 0 [unique_lethality] => 0 [unique_life_steal] => 0 [unique_spell_vamp] => 0 [unique_tenacity] => 0 [unique_attack_speed] => 0 [unique_cooldown_reduction] => 0 [unique_ability_power] => 0 [unique_critical_strike_chance] => 0 [unique_critical_strike_damage] => 0 [unique_dodge] => 0 [unique_gold_generation] => 0 [unique_health] => 0 [unique_death_time_reduction] => 0 [unique_energy] => 0 [unique_energy_regeneration] => 0 [unique_experience] => 0 [unique_health_multiplier] => 0 [aura] => [passive] => [unique_passive] => +21 Lethality (13-21 armor penetration based on your level) UNIQUE Passive: Nightstalker: After being unseen for at least 1 second, your next basic attack will deal 30-150 (at levels 1-18) bonus physical damage. Melee champions will also slow the target by 99% for 0.25 seconds. UNIQUE Passive: Blackout: Disable nearby enemy wards for 8 seconds after being spotted by one (90 second cooldown). Melee basic attacks instantly kill traps/wards that are disabled by Blackout. [consume] => [active] => [unique_active] => [is_deprecated] => 0 [is_deleted] => 0 [is_buildable] => 1 [is_published] => 1 [comment_count] => 9 [last_comment_ts] => 2018-01-21 16:10:30 ) [3] => Array ( [item_id] => 101 [display_name] => Youmuu's Ghostblade [url] => youmuus-ghostblade [client_id] => 3142 [icon] => [is_consumable] => 0 [is_summoners_rift] => 1 [is_twisted_treeline] => 1 [is_howling_abyss] => 1 [is_crystal_scar] => 0 [is
|
cookies in Volley is a bit more involed process and not very straight forward.
Here is a modified version of the getRequestQueue() method of our ApplicationController class shown above, also contains the rough code required to set a cookie:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 // http client instance private DefaultHttpClient mHttpClient ; public RequestQueue getRequestQueue () { // lazy initialize the request queue, the queue instance will be // created when it is accessed for the first time if ( mRequestQueue == null ) { // Create an instance of the Http client. // We need this in order to access the cookie store mHttpClient = new DefaultHttpClient (); // create the request queue mRequestQueue = Volley. newRequestQueue ( this, new HttpClientStack ( mHttpClient )); } return mRequestQueue ; } /** * Method to set a cookie */ public void setCookie () { CookieStore cs = mHttpClient. getCookieStore (); // create a cookie cs. addCookie ( new BasicClientCookie2 ( "cookie", "spooky" )); } // add the cookie before adding the request to the queue setCookie (); // add the request to the queue mRequestQueue. add ( request );
Error Handling
As you have seen in the above code examples when you create a request object in Volley you need to specify an error listener, Volley invokes the onErrorResponse callback method of that listener passing an instance of the VolleyError object when there is an error while performing the request.
The following is the list of exceptions in Volley:
AuthFailureError — If you are trying to do Http Basic authentication then this error is most likely to come.
— If you are trying to do Http Basic authentication then this error is most likely to come. NetworkError — Socket disconnection, server down, DNS issues might result in this error.
— Socket disconnection, server down, DNS issues might result in this error. NoConnectionError — Similar to NetworkError, but fires when device does not have internet connection, your error handling logic can club NetworkError and NoConnectionError together and treat them similarly.
— Similar to NetworkError, but fires when device does not have internet connection, your error handling logic can club and together and treat them similarly. ParseError — While using JsonObjectRequest or JsonArrayRequest if the received JSON is malformed then this exception will be generated. If you get this error then it is a problem that should be fixed instead of being handled.
— While using or if the received JSON is malformed then this exception will be generated. If you get this error then it is a problem that should be fixed instead of being handled. ServerError — The server responded with an error, most likely with 4xx or 5xx HTTP status codes.
— The server responded with an error, most likely with 4xx or 5xx HTTP status codes. TimeoutError — Socket timeout, either server is too busy to handle the request or there is some network latency issue. By default Volley times out the request after 2.5 seconds, use a RetryPolicy if you are consistently getting this error.
You can use a simple helper like the following to display appropriate message when one of these exceptions occurs:
VolleyErrorHelper.java 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 public class VolleyErrorHelper { /** * Returns appropriate message which is to be displayed to the user * against the specified error object. * * @param error * @param context * @return */ public static String getMessage ( Object error, Context context ) { if ( error instanceof TimeoutError ) { return context. getResources (). getString ( R. string. generic_server_down ); } else if ( isServerProblem ( error )) { return handleServerError ( error, context ); } else if ( isNetworkProblem ( error )) { return context. getResources (). getString ( R. string. no_internet ); } return context. getResources (). getString ( R. string. generic_error ); } /** * Determines whether the error is related to network * @param error * @return */ private static boolean isNetworkProblem ( Object error ) { return ( error instanceof NetworkError ) || ( error instanceof NoConnectionError ); } /** * Determines whether the error is related to server * @param error * @return */ private static boolean isServerProblem ( Object error ) { return ( error instanceof ServerError ) || ( error instanceof AuthFailureError ); } /** * Handles the server error, tries to determine whether to show a stock message or to * show a message retrieved from the server. * * @param err * @param context * @return */ private static String handleServerError ( Object err, Context context ) { VolleyError error = ( VolleyError ) err ; NetworkResponse response = error. networkResponse ; if ( response!= null ) { switch ( response. statusCode ) { case 404 : case 422 : case 401 : try { // server might return error like this { "error": "Some error occured" } // Use "Gson" to parse the result HashMap < String, String > result = new Gson (). fromJson ( new String ( response. data ), new TypeToken < Map < String, String >>() { }. getType ()); if ( result!= null && result. containsKey ( "error" )) { return result. get ( "error" ); } } catch ( Exception e ) { e. printStackTrace (); } // invalid request return error. getMessage (); default : return context. getResources (). getString ( R. string. generic_server_down ); } } return context. getResources (). getString ( R. string. generic_error ); } }
Conclusion
Volley is really a nice library and you should seriously consider giving this a try. It will help you simplify your network requests and also add a ton of additional benefits.
I understand that it’s a tl;dr post, actually I tried to be as comprehensive as possible, I am planning to come up with another post about image loading using Volley and some gotchas that I noticed while using the library in one of my projects, till then stay tuned.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this :–)
ReferencesLOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers' remaining 17 games are about clinching their division as quickly as possible and turning their attention to fielding the best playoff team they can from the players at their disposal.
They have a surprising array of decisions to make, but one aspect of the puzzle -- a big one -- has been handed to them at an unusually early stage in the process. Barring some kind of historic collapse from one of the two teams, the Dodgers will be playing the New York Mets in the first round.
Among the key decisions to be made is whether they use Clayton Kershaw on three days' rest, as they did in each of the previous two Octobers, or give a potential Game 4 start to Alex Wood, the young left-hander they landed from the Atlanta Braves shortly before the trade deadline.
That decision hasn't yet been made, sources indicate, and it's a good thing too, because on Wednesday morning it would have looked like Kershaw would be a lock to go on short rest. By 9:20 p.m. PT Wednesday, the vibe was "not so fast."
Wood bounced back from the worst start of his career to completely stymie the Colorado Rockies in the Dodgers' 2-0 win at Dodger Stadium Wednesday night. Wood (11-10) allowed just one hit over eight innings, needed just 78 pitches to do so and had a ground-ball rate of 68 percent, comparable to the best sinkerball pitchers in baseball history.
The result wasn't just a win for the Dodgers, it was a restoration of their sanity after the 16-inning game that had dragged into early Wednesday morning. Wood's game lasted 128 minutes, or 3 hours, 15 minutes shorter than the previous one.
"His stuff matched up really well. It just came down to executing," catcher A.J. Ellis said. "He was phenomenal tonight, as good as I've caught him."
It took Alex Wood just 78 pitches to get through eight innings Wednesday, allowing just one hit while striking out five without a walk. AP Photo/Danny Moloshok
The overall numbers suggest Wood is a solid choice to get a start in the postseason. He has done it before, pitching in relief for the Atlanta Braves against the Dodgers two years ago. He has a 3.63 ERA this season and using him against the Mets could line the Dodgers up in the best possible order for a match in the National League Championship Series with one of the powerhouses of the NL Central.
On the other hand, he is 0-3 with a 4.35 ERA in seven career starts against the Mets.
The Dodgers will crunch all of those numbers and dozens if not hundreds of others before spitting out a decision on that question. In the meantime, they reduced their magic number to clinch the NL West to 10 thanks to Wood's mastery and a couple little bursts of offense from a funky lineup necessitated by the late-night baseball from the game before.
The other aspect of all this is they learn a little more about Wood every time he takes the mound and he's one of only two pitchers in their current rotation that they're pretty confident they'll have with them on Opening Day 2016.
They're learning he's a pretty fiery guy, maybe even feisty, despite his less-than-intimidating fastball. When Dodgers manager Don Mattingly went to intercept him in the dugout after the eighth inning to tell him that, no matter what he said, he wouldn't be going out for the ninth inning, Wood refused to shake his hand at first.
"He looked at me kind of funny," Mattingly said. "I just said, ‘That's it. Don't even ask.'"
The Dodgers had Kenley Jansen standing by on two days' rest and they have an open date on Thursday, so barring a four-run lead, they were going to take the ball from Wood at that point and give it to their hard-throwing closer. After the requisite cooling-off period, Wood said he had no problem with the decision and seemed a little embarrassed he pulled back his hand when Mattingly went in for the shake.
"I've always said all I want to do is win," Wood said. "As long as we come out on top, I'm all about it."
Wood called the four days in between starts "long" and said he didn't get a lot of sleep. When he was at the ballpark, he worked with pitching coach Rick Honeycutt on getting his hands to a better position. The results were startlingly different. The previous Friday in Arizona, he had needed 62 pitches to get five outs and he allowed eight runs on eight hits.
He needed 15 pitches to get his first five outs Wednesday.
"My last start, I didn't command my fastball, I couldn't throw my changeup and, obviously, I threw some pretty bad breaking balls," Wood said. "Usually, you have at least one, even on your worst days. Tonight, my fastball was moving in and out, I commanded my changeup and threw breaking balls. It was a good night."
If he can say that a few more times in the coming weeks, who knows, maybe he'll be saying it again amid the mist of champagne in the air.Those who bother to delve into the science behind water fluoridation will inevitably come to see that there’s an abysmal lack of evidence supporting this routine practice, and an awful lot of evidence stacked against it.
Water fluoridation began in 1945. Today, the United States adds fluoride to more than two-thirds of the municipal water supplies reaching nearly 211 million Americans.
As of 2012, more than 67 percent of Americans receive fluoridated water,1 up from 66 percent in 2010. Of those, more than 11 million people receive fluoride at or above what has been deemed the “optimal” level, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Most likely, your dentist—along with countless government and public health officials—has praised and promoted the use of fluoride, both in toothpaste and drinking water, calling it a “necessary” part of your oral health regimen.
But let’s make this point clear: fluoride is not an essential nutrient needed for your health—dental or otherwise. There is not one single metabolic process in your body that requires fluoride. On the contrary, fluoride is a cumulative poison.
Fluoride—A Cumulative Poison
Approximately 98 percent of the fluoride you ingest in water is absorbed into your blood through your gastrointestinal tract. From there, it enters your body’s cellular tissues. On average, about 50 percent of the fluoride you ingest each day gets excreted through your kidneys.
The remainder accumulates in your teeth and bones, pineal gland, and other tissues—including your blood vessels, where it can contribute to calcification. According to a 2012 study published in the journal Nuclear Medicine Communications:
“Fluoride uptake in vascular walls was demonstrated in 361 sites of 54 (96 percent) patients, whereas calcification was observed in 317 sites of 49 (88 percent) patients.
Significant correlation between fluoride uptake and calcification was observed in most of the arterial walls, except in those of the abdominal aorta.
Fluoride uptake in coronary arteries was demonstrated in 28 (46 percent) patients and coronary calcifications were observed in 34 (56 percent) patients.”
Health Hazards Linked to Fluoride Over-Exposure
As the number of studies into the toxic effects of fluoride has increased, there is now support for a rather long list of potential health problems related to fluoride accumulation in your body.
For example, according to one 500-page long scientific review,6 fluoride is an endocrine disruptor that can affect your bones, brain, thyroid gland, pineal gland, and even your blood sugar levels.
Forty-two human studies7 have also linked moderately high fluoride exposures with reduced intelligence, and over 100 animal studies have shown that fluoride exposure can cause brain damage.
Most striking among these are 30 (out of a total of 32 investigations) that have shown that fluoride lowered the ability of animals to learn and remember. The following list contains 20 of the most commonly mentioned health hazards and diseases associated with fluoride exposure:
Lowers IQ
Brain damage
Bone fractures
Disrupts immune system
Increases tumor and cancer rate
Hyperactivity and/or lethargy
Dementia
Bone cancer (osteosarcoma)
Inhibits formation of antibodies
Increases aging process
Increased lead absorption
Muscle disorders
Dental fluorosis (staining and pitting of teeth)
Genetic damage and cell death
Reduces melatonin production and leads to earlier onset of puberty
Disrupts synthesis of collagen Arthritis
Thyroid disease and lowered thyroid function
Inactivates 62 enzymes
Damages sperm, increases infertility
The Sordid History of Water Fluoridation
The video above features an interview with Christopher Bryson, author of the book: The Fluoride Deception. Both the book and this interview were published 10 years ago, in 2004. Bryson is an award-winning journalist and former radio producer at the BBC.
The book is based on nearly a decade’s worth of research, and it reveals the shocking details of how fluoride—a toxic byproduct of the aluminum industry—ended up being added to drinking water as a dental prophylactic.
The commonly repeated history of how water fluoridation came to be states that the practice was spurred on by research from the 1930s, which found that people who drank water containing higher levels of naturally-occurring fluoride tended to have less severe tooth decay.
On the surface, it would appear as though it was a successful government intervention on your behalf. More than 60 years later, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared community water fluoridation one of the 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century.
However, the real story reveals it was little more than a well-orchestrated PR stunt – a glowing example of the art of disseminating “adjustable truths” to sell an inconveniently toxic reality to an unsuspecting public.
In his book, Bryson describes the deeply intertwined interests that existed in the 1940s and 50s between the aluminum industry, the US nuclear weapons program, and the dental industry, which resulted in fluoride being declared not only safe, but beneficial to human health.
Prior to 1945 when communal water fluoridation in the US took effect, fluoride was actually a known toxin. A 1936 issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association stated that fluoride at the 1 part per million (ppm) concentration is as toxic as arsenic and lead.
The Journal of the American Medical Association stated in their September 18, 1943 issue that fluorides are general protoplasmic poisons that change the permeability of the cell membrane by certain enzymes.15 And, an editorial published in the Journal of the American Dental Association, October 1, 1944, stated: “Drinking water containing as little as 1.2 ppm fluoride will cause developmental disturbances. We cannot run the risk of producing such serious systemic disturbances. The potentialities for harm outweigh those for good.”
Science for Hire…
Due to the massive amounts of fluoride required to produce bomb-grade uranium and plutonium for nuclear weapons, the Manhattan Project conducted various experiments to determine its toxic effects in 1946. There were already several instances on record of fluoride being toxic to crops, livestock, and people living downwind from the polluters, so the public concern over fluoride emissions needed to be quelled in order to avoid potentially crippling lawsuits.
The brainchild of water fluoridation was Gerald Cox, a researcher with the Mellon Institute in Pittsburg. He received the suggestion to look at fluoride’s effects on teeth from Francis C. Frary, then director of the aluminum laboratory for the Aluminum Company of America. Frary was very concerned about the mounting lawsuits over the fluoride pollution his plant produced. Disposing of fluoride – the toxic waste product from aluminum plants — was quickly turning into a very costly problem. Gerald Cox also had reasons to figure out a solution to the fluoride-waste problem.
The Mellon Institute had been the leading defender of the asbestos industry, producing research showing that asbestos was harmless, and that workers’ health problems were due to other causes, in an effort to save the asbestos industry from financial catastrophe. The aluminum industry was quickly realizing that fluoride could generate lawsuits of a similar magnitude as asbestos. Cox’s connection to the Mellon Institute — and their history of offering “science-based” protection to industry — makes his recommendation to turn toxic waste material into a usable “health product” something that cannot be viewed as a mere coincidence.
Water Fluoridation—A Case of Successful Social Engineering
The ultimate driving force behind fluoridation gaining public acceptance, cementing the perception of fluoride as a healthy and, most importantly, safe additive to your drinking water, was a man named Harold Hodge. Within the now declassified files of the Manhattan Project and the Atomic Energy Commission, Christopher Bryson found that the toxicology department at the University of Rochester, under the direction of Harold Hodge, was asked to produce medical information about fluoride that could help defend the government against lawsuits over fluoride pollution. Back in 1957, Harold Hodge was the nation’s leading, most trusted scientist, and when he declared that fluoride was “absolutely safe” at 1 ppm, everyone believed him.
Much later, it was publicly revealed that Hodge directed the human radiation experiments—a black spot in American medical history in which citizens were injected with plutonium and uranium without their knowledge or consent… So, the endorsement of fluoride as a dental health prophylactic was actually born from the need to address increasingly debilitating political and industrial problems relating to fluoride pollution. The rest, as they say, is history. In his 2012 article “Poison is Treatment—Edward Bernays and the Campaign to Fluoridate America,”16 James F. Tracy boldly reveals the PR campaign that created this fake public health measure:
“The wide-scale US acceptance of fluoride-related compounds in drinking water and a wide variety of consumer products over the past half century is a textbook case of social engineering orchestrated by Sigmund Freud’s nephew and the ‘father of public relations’ Edward L. Bernays,” he writes. “The episode is instructive, for it suggests the tremendous capacity of powerful interests to reshape the social environment, thereby prompting individuals to unwarily think and act in ways that are often harmful to themselves and their loved ones.”
What’s Really Added to Your Water Supply?
It’s also important to understand that the “fluoride” added to your drinking water is NOT the naturally-occurring mineral, nor a pharmaceutical grade fluoride. There are three basic compounds that can be used for fluoridating water supplies:
Sodium fluoride (NaF)
Sodium silicofluoride
Hydrofluorosilicic acid
The first of these, sodium fluoride, was the first of the fluoride waste materials to be used for fluoridation, but now is rarely used. It’s the most well known, as this is the compound used as pharmaceutical grade in toxicology studies and other research into the potential health dangers of fluoride. The other two, sodium silicofluoride and hydrofluorosilicic acid, are the compounds actually used for water fluoridation, with hydrofluorosilicic acid being the most commonly used additive, according to the CDC.18
Sodium silicofluoride and hydrofluorosilicic acid are the waste products from the wet scrubber systems of the fertilizer industry, and are classified as hazardous wastes. Contamination with various impurities such as arsenic is also common in these products. Hydrofluorosilicic acid is one of the most reactive chemicals known to man, and its toxicity is well known in chemical circles.
It will eat through metal and plastic pipes, and corrode stainless steel and other materials. It will dissolve rubber tires and melt concrete.19 This is what is added to your water—all in the name of saving children from cavities! But even the less reactive sodium fluoride is a deadly poison, even in small quantities, and in the form used for fluoridation also contains additional impurities. Other common uses for sodium fluoride include:
Rat and cockroach poisons
Anesthetics
Hypnotics and psychiatric drugs
The Way Forward: Shifting the Burden of Proof
Despite all the evidence, getting fluoride out of American water supplies has been exceedingly difficult. And it’s no wonder, really, when you factor in the considerable liability the US government could face were they to suddenly admit that water fluoridation was a way to hide toxic pollution, and there are detrimental health effects associated with drinking these pollutants… Fortunately, there is a way forward. According to Jeff Green, National Director of Citizens for Safe Drinking Water, a repeated theme in some of the recent cases where communities successfully removed fluoride from their water supply is the shifting of the burden of proof.
Rather than citizens taking on the burden of proving that fluoride is harmful and shouldn’t be added, a more successful strategy has been to hold those making claims, and the elected officials who rely on them, accountable for delivering proof that the specific fluoridation chemical being used fulfills their health and safety claims, and is in compliance with all regulations, laws, and risk assessments already required for safe drinking water.
For example, a couple of years ago, a Tennessee town stopped adding the hydrofluosilicic acid fluoride product they had been using, while still keeping its resolution to fluoridate its water supplies intact (meaning they didn’t make a decision on whether it might be harmful). They just haven’t been able to find a replacement product that is compliant with existing laws, regulations and safe-water requirements, and they will not add any fluoride product that is not in compliance. To learn more, please see this previous article, which discusses these strategies more in-depth.After a strange and ultimately disappointing regular season followed by a definitively successful offseason, the Utah Jazz enter perhaps the toughest leap spot for an up-and-coming team. Now, it’s time to make the jump from “next up” to actual contention.
Besieged by injuries and depth concerns for much of the 2015-16 season, the Jazz could be in for a stark contrast during the upcoming campaign. Trades for George Hill and Boris Diaw plus the free agent signing of Joe Johnson suddenly add three players to their rotation without subtracting anyone of consequence. Also, Alec Burks and Dante Exum are set to return after missing most or all of last season, respectively. A team stuck relying on fringe NBA talent for important minutes last year could turn around and find themselves with more quality rotation options than they know what to do with in a big hurry.
While it’s pretty safe to assume an overall improvement from the Jazz – possibly a large one – precisely forecasting this team involves more variables than nearly any other group in the NBA. So many of Utah’s projected rotation pieces are still young enough to have some level of development left in them, and even guys squarely in their primes like Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors will be playing alongside real veteran savvy and depth elsewhere on the roster for the first time since they emerged as team leaders. The baseline is higher for this group, but exactly how high it can get will depend in large part on how each detail shakes out.
With that in mind, let’s preview the 2016-17 season for the Jazz.
FIVE GUYS THINK
The Jazz missed the playoffs last season, but there is plenty of reason to be optimistic about this team. The Jazz already feature a strong core of young players that has grown together for a few seasons and is now more familiar with head coach Quin Snyder’s offensive and defensive systems. I really like the additions of solid veterans like George Hill, Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw, all of whom address a specific need and should help take this team to another level. Let’s hope the Jazz have better luck with injuries this year and can display just how much talent and versatility they have. The Northwest Division is up for grabs, but I think the Jazz have as good a shot as anyone at taking one of the top two spots this upcoming season.
2nd Place – Northwest Division
– Jesse Blancarte
It’s difficult to imagine the Jazz not improving this season after adding a nice trio of veterans in Joe Johnson, George Hill and Boris Diaw. Individually, none of the three are going to be competing for an All-Star berth, but with them added to a core that features a ton of nice players, the present seems fairly bright in Utah. With Kevin Durant gone to Oakland, I really believe that the Northwest Division will be a three-horse race. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Portland Trail Blazers will battle for supremacy at the top, while the Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves engage in an exciting battle of the new teams on the block. I think the Jazz finish up third in the division and will have a legitimate shot of qualifying for the playoffs. The other reason these guys will be worth watching this season? Dante Exum. I have long been enamored with his potential and am interested to see how he bounces back after missing the entire 2015-16 season.
3rd Place – Northwest Division
– Moke Hamilton
The time is now in Utah. Period. Now, we’re not talking title contention, but this is the year where a playoff appearance should be viewed as the bare minimum when it comes to evaluating this team’s success. The Jazz bolstered their roster with veterans such as Joe Johnson, George Hill and Boris Diaw this summer in order to navigate the rough patches that typically ail younger teams (which led to the Jazz missing out on a playoff trip by one game last season). Utah is led by promising forwards Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors, with an emerging center in Rudy Gobert anchoring the interior defensively. All aboard the Jazz playoff train!
2nd Place – Northwest Division
– Lang Greene
Many of Utah’s young players have already have established themselves as talented NBA players, which isn’t always the case with up-and-coming teams. Gordon Hayward, Rudy Gobert, Derrick Favors, Rodney Hood, Alec Burks, Trey Lyles and Dante Exum represent an incredibly exciting core that is now being supplemented with veterans George Hill, Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw. That’s an insanely deep and experienced team that mixes youth with experience about as beautifully as any team in the NBA. These guys are going to be a pain in the tail for every team they play, and while they may be ranked here behind Portland and Oklahoma City, it’s hard to see those deficits being particularly large ones.
3rd Place – Northwest Division
– Joel Brigham
The Northwest Division is one of the tougher to predict in the NBA. I believe that the Jazz, Thunder and Blazers will finish within a few games of each other, which means unpredictable factors (such as injuries) may ultimately determine the order of the top three teams. I love Utah’s core and they had a very strong offseason that wasn’t talked about enough. With that said, I have the Jazz ranked third behind Oklahoma City and Portland. But, like I said, I believe all three teams will make the playoffs and finish very close in terms of win total.
3rd Place – Northwest Division
– Alex Kennedy
TOP OF THE LIST
Top Offensive Player: Gordon Hayward
The team’s unquestioned face and leader, Hayward is among the most versatile offensive wings in the league. He runs frequent pick-and-rolls, can isolate any defender in the game and is an above-average jump shooter both off the bounce and in spot-up situations. He easily led yearlong Jazz rotation players in percentage of possessions used while on the floor last season, even within a Quin Snyder system that calls for lots of ball sharing.
Utah’s depth infusion, particularly ball-handlers like Hill and Johnson, could easily lead to the double positive for Hayward this season: A slight reduction in overall workload, but a potential uptick in efficiency. Hayward no longer has to be the every-possession safety valve for an offense that was often helpless when he wasn’t directly involved in the play last season. He’ll see more open looks generated by others, and hopefully far fewer instances where the onus is purely on him to create a chance as the shot clock winds down.
Make no mistake, though: Hayward remains Utah’s go-to guy offensively. He’ll vie for the team lead in field goal attempts, free throw attempts, points and assists once again after leading each category comfortably last year. He and Rodney Hood form a devastating one-two punch on the wing, forcing all but the few teams with multiple high-level perimeter defenders to live with at least one of them in a plus matchup. Combine this with an overall improvement from his supporting cast, and all the groundwork is there for Hayward’s most productive season yet.
Top Defensive Player: Rudy Gobert
Like many on this roster, 2015-16 was a strange year for the Stifle Tower. He logged just 14 games before being sidelined over a month with an MCL sprain, and spent several weeks or more visibly working himself back to full speed with a notoriously finicky injury (think Steph Curry in the playoffs after his own sprain, only Gobert’s was classified as a more serious Grade 2 compared to Curry’s Grade 1). His absence overlapped with Derrick Favors’ own injury, so the Jazz were without at least one of their frontcourt starters for nearly two consecutive months.
The comings and goings around him were important for a player who relies on at least adequate play from teammates to function optimally. Gobert had an uneven season offensively, with higher turnover numbers and diminishing shooting efficiency, but at least some of this can be chalked up to generally poor team spacing and even worse guard play. Athletic but with a limited offensive skill set, Gobert needs the ball in the right places – and with the right spacing and timing – to make his impact offensively, and this often wasn’t happening last year.
Just like Hayward but in different ways, Gobert could be in for a mini-resurgence with so much more talent and depth now surrounding him on the floor. His chemistry with returning point guard Exum was a real thing when both were last healthy, and Hill becomes easily the most qualified passing point guard that Gobert has ever played alongside. Improved team shooting will trickle down to improved spacing, so look for far more frequent lobs to the rim too.
On the other end, the few weak links in Utah’s defense who occasionally forced Gobert to over-extend himself and cover for mistakes are mostly gone. SportVU metrics have consistently painted him as one of the NBA’s most impactful rim protectors, and flanking him will now be more length than any other team in the league plus strong defenders at the point of attack. He’ll anchor a unit with a legitimate chance to lead the league in defensive efficiency, and he could be a Defensive Player of the Year candidate.
Top Playmaker: George Hill
Hayward could also be mentioned here, and could easily still lead the Jazz in raw creation since “playmaking” is more than just assists. Hill, though, adds a new dimension the Jazz have been without for at least a couple years (excepting brief flashes from Shelvin Mack late last season): A point guard truly capable of captaining an offensive attack, both as a threat to set up teammates and to score for himself when circumstance demands it.
He won’t need to function this way all the time, of course, which is part of the beauty of Utah’s newfound depth. Hayward and Hood will handle their share of the load, Favors will eat the occasional possession in the post and guys like Johnson, Burks, Diaw and Lyles will all be involved.
While these other guys are doing their thing, Hill will be the most capable off-ball shooter the Jazz have employed at the point in years. He sank 44.9 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes last season, per SportVU figures, which was 10th in the NBA among 174 guys who attempted at least 100 of these shots. But he’s more than that, and the other stuff might be even more important. He can ease the burden on Hood and especially Hayward, function as a more talented lob feeder for Favors and Gobert, and perhaps most importantly remove any pressure whatsoever on Exum to play a huge role immediately after returning from ACL surgery. Hill really was the perfect offseason get for this Jazz team.
Top Clutch Playmaker: Rodney Hood
There could be several good answers here: Hayward makes sense for obvious reasons, Johnson has been a consistent clutch performer throughout his career and Favors was quietly Utah’s most consistent option down the stretch when healthy last season (he averaged nearly 18 points and 10 rebounds in clutch minutes on 52.4 percent shooting). One could even make a case for “team defense” as the non-traditional answer, as Utah allowed the third-most per-possession points in the league during clutch time last year (better than only the Suns and 76ers).
Hood began to earn Snyder’s trust in big moments last year, though. Only Hayward appeared in more clutch minutes on the year, and Hood attempted the most per-minute shots on the team during these periods among guys who played most of a full season. He might be even more skilled than Hayward as an individual shot creator, with masterful body control and the height to get his shot off over virtually any defender. Add in the fact that Hayward typically draws the more skilled wing defender while both are on the floor and it stands to reason that Hood could be increasingly featured in the late-game offense.
The team-friendly approach will remain, to be sure, and Hood won’t boast some gaudy clutch usage rate. But he’ll be on the floor – those assuming Johnson immediately steps in and steals his crunch time spot are jumping the gun by several paces – and he could be Utah’s most reliable option to get a much-needed bucket.
The Unheralded Player: Derrick Favors
It’s somewhat understandable with so much else going on within a small-market franchise, but Derrick Favors doesn’t get anywhere near enough attention. He’s fresh off his second consecutive year averaging over 16 points and eight rebounds a night while making over half his shots, all while playing near-elite level defense. Favors’ stat sheet reads like that of a basketball robot; it’s hard to find many players in league history who have improved by such steady, similar increments every single year for their first six seasons.
It’s not just raw stats either, with team metrics consistently marking Favors as one of Utah’s most impactful on-court presences. There are few roll men in the league more lethal once you get them the ball, an element that opens up scoring opportunities all over the floor. He’s made a habit of quietly outplaying more heralded names like Anthony Davis and Blake Griffin in head-to-head matchups over the last couple years. Favors spent long stretches as Utah’s flat-out best player last season, and it will shock no one if he does so again this year.
Top New Addition: George Hill
Much of Hill’s impact was covered above, and he gets the nod here despite two other smart summer pickups. Johnson is a career 37 percent three-point shooter with the size to play both forward positions, and he’ll add shot creation and marksmanship to a second unit that badly needed it while also mixing in with the starters at times. Diaw has shown signs of aging in San Antonio recently, but he’s a crafty and creative reserve big who should function both as a mentor for similarly-talented Trey Lyles and as insurance should Lyles falter in his development.
Johnson isn’t a lock for huge minutes, though, and Diaw even less so if Lyles continues what’s been a speedy pace of improvement. Both will have their moments, and could perhaps be key cogs if injury or bad play strikes, but Hill is a presumed starter who should consistently approach the 30-minute mark.
– Ben Dowsett
WHO WE LIKE
Dante Exum
Already one of the most intriguing and potentially divisive point guard prospects in the league during his rookie season, Exum’s ACL tear and resulting missed season only added to the murkiness. Exum is a lengthy athletic specimen who had surprising success as a rookie in certain areas (defense and playmaking) along with distinct struggles in others (shooting and overall offensive comfort). His ceiling remains sky high if these latter elements come together, but his floor remains scarily low coming off injury with a full
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implies is incredibly reactionary: all straight cisgender people must wear gender-appropriate clothes in their leisure time. Anything else is offensive to minorities. Let's look at why that is unworkable:
1) What is cross-dressing, anyway?
Here's a confession: I cross-dress at least once a week. I wear jeans, and flat shoes, a V-neck jumper and no make-up to work quite regularly. Sometimes I come in wearing exactly the same clothes as my male colleagues. If I tottered in wearing skyscraper heels, a perfect beehive and a bandage dress, they would assumed that I had lost a bet. Equally, for other women, dressing like I do would make them feel unfeminine and uncomfortable. Life is a rich tapestry.
So what counts as cross-dressing here? Under this glorious new dawn, are men allowed to wear black lipstick and nail polish, or is that now verboten (sorry, goths)? What about long hair (sorry, computer science students)? What about skirts (sorry, Scottish men at Every Bloody Opportunity, Burns Night is cancelled)?
2) All dress is fancy dress.
This motion pre-supposes that cross-dressing is easy to identify. But one of the beautiful things about clothing as a system of signification - as a language, essentially - is how unstable and contextual it is. I appreciate this is a real bummer when you are trying to write a law, or a conference motion, but drawing the line between cross-dressing and, er, straight-dressing is hugely complicated. How about men wearing sarongs? What if they are from a country where men traditionally wear sarongs? The motion also assumes that you can differentiate between someone cross-dressing for the "right" reasons and the wrong ones. Good luck with that.
3) Intent isn't magic - but that doesn't matter.
Cross-dressing is always an exploration of queer identity - because it makes obvious the fact that gender is a performance. The motion suggests that as long as the cross-dressing is not done for "shock value", it is OK. But the whole point of cross-dressing is shock value. It is jarring to see categories we assume to be stable so obviously undermined and that makes it attractive to experimental, iconoclastic people. It's why performing artists from kd lang to Conchita Wurst have made gender non-conformity part of their artistic expression.
When I was at university, we had cross-dressing nights of the type now deemed repressive by the NUS. The atmosphere always seemed (at least to me), very queer-friendly; because even the manliest men were being shown quite how much of their gender role was a performance. I'm not claiming that it magically cured homophobia, but it did suggest that people were open to the idea that the unspoken gender conformity of "real life" was, objectively, really weird. If you can accept that there's no real reason women wear skirts and men wear ties, that gets you closer to acknowledging there's no real reason that women are expected to be carers and men are expected to be cabinet ministers.
4) Drag is liberating and playful.
A few months ago, a radical lesbian feminist pulled me up short by suggesting that drag was offensive in the way that blackface is. Her rationale was that it involves a dominant group (men), appropriating outward signs of the group deemed inferior (women) as a costume. In addition, some drag performers rely on misogynistic stereotypes of women: that they are screechy, bitchy, gold-digging shrews.
The counter-weight to this is that drag can also be incredibly playful and subversive: it has often allowed camp gay men an outlet to express themselves in a way that would get their heads kicked in if they attempted it in the outside world. Regimes which have tried to repress gender non-conformity in dress do not have, shall we say, the best record of being tolerant in other areas. (Cabaret springs to mind.) Frankly, we should be encouraging more manly men to loosen up a little. Get a skirt on. You have nothing to lose but quite a lot of warmth around your calves.
5) Even straight, cisgender people have a complicated relationship with gender.
The oddest part of the motion is the idea that outside of trans or queer circles, cross-dressing must always be appropriative and oppressive. This smacks of implying that straight, cisgender people don't ever have a complicated relationship with their own gender identity and expression. The motion effectively says: oi, straight, cis people, dress in the way our current culture, at this period in time, deems appropriate to you. As I said above, it's conservative. It's also incredibly essentialist. It also makes no sense when you compare it with the condemnation of Julie Bindel's opposition of the niqab, which rests on the assumption that "choice" makes any action empowered and feminist. What about the rugby players who choose to wear tutus? Why are we denying them their "agency"? You can't say: "Oh, cross-dressing is liberating when I do it, but you boring squares are not allowed!"
***
I'm sorry if it feels I have wasted a very long blog post on a very short motion by a small group of students. However, it's important to explore how seemingly progressive positions can reflect an underlying conservativism. I understand - and support - the rationale behind the motion, which is that boorish dominant groups should not intimidate other students, particularly ones who already feel marginalised or vulnerable. If students feel bullied or intimidated, then we need to tackle the mechanisms by which that is happening.
But even well-meaning actions can have unintended consequences and any kind of crackdown on cross-dressing is something I feel compelled to object to. The motion's hamfisted attempt to police clothing standards also shows we need more nuance and empathy in conversations about "cultural appropriation", because culture is fluid, chaotic and promiscuous. It absolutely resists being captured and codified. Today's cross-dressing is tomorrow's banal casualwear.FILE - This Jan. 17, 2012 file photo shows celebrity chef Paula Deen posing for a portrait in New York. It was revealed that Deen admitted during questioning in a lawsuit that she had slurred blacks in the past. It's the second time the queen of comfort food's mouth has gotten her into big trouble. She revealed in 2012 that for three years she hid her Type 2 diabetes while continuing to cook the calorie-laden food that's bad for people like her. (AP Photo/Carlo Allegri, File)
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The Food Network said Friday it's dumping Paula Deen, barely an hour after the celebrity cook posted the first of two videotaped apologies online begging forgiveness from fans and critics troubled by her admission to having used racial slurs in the past.
The 66-year-old Savannah kitchen celebrity has been swamped in controversy since court documents filed this week revealed Deen told an attorney questioning her under oath last month that she has used the N-word. "Yes, of course," Deen said, though she added, "It's been a very long time."
The Food Network, which made Deen a star with "Paula's Home Cooking" in 2002 and later "Paula's Home Cooking" in 2008, weighed in with a terse statement Friday afternoon.
"Food Network will not renew Paula Deen's contract when it expires at the end of this month," the statement said. Network representatives declined further comment. A representative for Deen did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment on the decision.
The news came as Deen worked to repair the damage to her image, which has spawned a vast empire of cookbooks, a bimonthly cooking magazine, a full line of cookware, food items like spices and even furniture.
She abruptly canceled a scheduled interview on NBC's "Today" show Friday morning, instead opting for a direct appeal via online video — one that allowed her and her staff complete control of what she said and how she said it.
"Inappropriate, hurtful language is totally, totally unacceptable," Deen said in the first 45-second video posted on YouTube. "I've made plenty of mistakes along the way but I beg you, my children, my team, my fans, my partners - I beg for your forgiveness."
Deen adopted a solemn tone as she looked straight into the camera. Still, her recorded apology featured three obvious edits — with the picture quickly fading out between splices — during a statement just five sentences long.
It was soon scrapped and replaced with a second video of Deen talking unedited for nearly two minutes as she insists: "Your color of your skin, your religion, your sexual preference does not matter to me."
"''I want people to understand that my family and I are not the kind of people that the press is wanting to say we are," Deen says in the later video. "The pain has been tremendous that I have caused to myself and to others."
Deen never mentions Food Network or its decision to drop her in either of her online videos.
Deen initially planned to give her first interview on the controversy Friday to the "Today" show, which promoted her scheduled appearance as a live exclusive. Instead, host Matt Lauer ended up telling viewers that Deen's representatives pulled the plug because she was exhausted after her flight to New York. Deen said in her video she was "physically not able" to appear.
Court records show Deen sat down for a deposition May 17 in a discrimination lawsuit filed last year by a former employee who managed Uncle Bubba's Seafood and Oyster House, a Savannah restaurant owned by Deen and her brother, Bubba Hiers. The ex-employee, Lisa Jackson, says she was sexually harassed and worked in a hostile environment rife with innuendo and racial slurs.
During the deposition, Deen was peppered with questions about her racial attitudes. At one point she's asked if she thinks jokes using the N-word are "mean." Deen says jokes often target minority groups and "I can't, myself, determine what offends another person."
Deen also acknowledged she briefly considered hiring all black waiters for her brother's 2007 wedding, an idea inspired by the staff at a restaurant she had visited with her husband. She insisted she quickly dismissed the idea.
But she also insisted she and her brother have no tolerance for bigotry.
"Bubba and I, neither one of us, care what the color of your skin is" or what gender a person is, Deen said. "It's what's in your heart and in your head that matters to us."
___
AP Television Writer David Bauder contributed to this story from New York.A young woman has started an online campaign to help prove that she is a United States citizen.
A young woman has started an online campaign to help prove that she is a United States citizen.
US judge says there is not'sufficient proof’ of 19-year-old girl's birth
Alecia Pennington (19) has been left in a bureaucratic nightmare after a US Judge refused to grant her a delayed birth certificate.
The court decided there was ‘not sufficient proof’ of her birth, let alone of her claim of being an American citizen.
The problem the young woman is facing is that while she was born in rural Texas, her parents never got her a birth certificate or a social security number.
Having been home-schooled her whole life and never having set foot in a hospital, there are virtually no records of Alecia being alive.
Even more oddly, her parents are refusing to help sort out her problem despite the fact that without help, the 19-year-old will be unable to get a job, go to college or even vote.
Alecia has released a video hoping that someone who has been a similar situation can provide her with some advice on how to escape it.
It has already been viewed almost 400,000 times and has received over 2,000 comments on reddit.com.
Online EditorsSen. Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann WarrenWoman to undecided Biden: 'Just say yes' to 2020 bid Raising taxes on the wealthy is 'extremely popular,' says Dem pollster 64 percent say Democratic Party supports socialism, says poll MORE (D-Mass.) is vowing to defeat the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the rest of the gun lobby in the escalating fight over gun control.
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“The NRA can be defeated, and the NRA will be defeated,” Warren said in a press call Wednesday on the topic of gun violence.
“I am ready to have that fight for gun reform right here, right now,” she added.
She said President Obama’s executive order closing the gun-show loophole was justified because Congress had numerous opportunities to pass gun control legislation but failed to act.
“The Republicans who control Congress have had all the time in the world to do something about gun violence, but every time Democrats try to get even the smallest reforms passed, the Republicans have flatly refused,” she said.
“If the Republican Party would rather work for the NRA than for the American people, and if they won’t do their jobs to keep our children safe, then somebody else has to step up.”
The first-term senator said the executive order should serve as an example to the American people that change is possible, but added that Congress still has work to do.
“The president has shown that change is possible,” she said. “Now it’s our job in Congress to show that there are millions of us who are willing to fight. And that’s how you get sensible gun reforms. We will get it.”Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a “victory” for democracy and his ruling party today as police continued to attack protesters, but in smaller numbers than had showed up in recent weeks.
It doesn’t seem as though the rallies are over, and the resentment is likely to last years, but Erdogan wasted no time in pushing his advantage, as police raided the homes of opposition figures believed to be involved in demonstrations against his rule.
Erdogan also promised to dramatically expand police powers in Turkey, saying that riot police had acted with “restraint” in beating and gassing the protesters across the nation and it was clear that they needed more leeway in crushing future rallies.
Erdogan insisted that police have a “natural right” to fire tear gas into crowds, and that he is working on new legislation to heavily regulate the use of Twitter in the future, insisting that dissent of Twitter was a big part of the uprising.
Last 5 posts by Jason DitzBERLIN (Reuters) - Senior German politicians on Wednesday accused U.S. President Donald Trump of trivializing violence by white supremacists in Virginia and called for a clear rejection of their ideology.
German Justice Minister Heiko Maas attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, August 16, 2017. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt
Governments could only win the fight against hatred, racism and anti-Semitism by rejecting such ideology and the willingness to use violence, said Martin Schulz, the center-left candidate for chancellor, adding that this applies to Germany and the United States.
“The trivialization of Nazi violence by the confused utterances of Donald Trump is highly dangerous,” said Schulz, leader of the Social Democrats (SPD).
“We should not tolerate the monstrosities coming out of the president’s mouth,” he told the RND newspaper group in an interview.
Republican leaders criticized Trump for saying leftist counter-protesters were also to blame for violence last Saturday in Charlottesville that left one person dead and several injured. His comments won praise from white far-right groups.
Schulz is the main challenger to Chancellor Angela Merkel at a Sept. 24 election. The SPD, junior partner in Merkel’s grand coalition, trails Merkel’s conservatives in polls.
Schulz’s comments were echoed by Justice Minister Heiko Maas, another senior member of the SPD.
“It is unbearable how Trump is now glossing over the violence of the right-wing hordes from Charlottesville,” Maas said in a statement, reflecting concern across the German political spectrum about the Trump presidency.
“No one should trivialize anti-Semitism and racism by neo-Nazis,” said Maas, senior member of the co-governing SPD.
Schulz and Maas are the highest-ranking German politicians to criticize Trump’s rhetoric about the violence.
The country has tough laws against hate speech and any symbols linked to Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, who ruled from 1933 until their defeat in 1945.
Merkel told broadcaster Phoenix on Monday that clear and forceful action was required to combat right-wing extremism, noting that Germans had also seen a rise in anti-Semitism and had “quite a lot to do at home ourselves”.
Trump has come under increasing pressure over his stance on the violence, with many members of his own Republican party and U.S. business executives distancing themselves from him.
Trump on Tuesday said his original reaction was based on facts he had at the time and said both sides were to blame.
The violence erupted during a protest by white nationalists against plans to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee, commander of the pro-slavery Confederate army during the American Civil War.
Protesters and counter-protesters clashed in scattered street brawls before a car ploughed into the rally’s opponents, killing one woman and injuring 19 other people.House Democrats have shelved a last-ditch effort to broker a compromise between phone, cable and Internet companies on rules that would prohibit broadband providers from blocking or degrading online traffic flowing over their networks.
House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., abandoned the effort late Wednesday in the face of Republican opposition to his proposed “network neutrality” rules. Those rules were intended to prevent broadband providers from becoming online gatekeepers by playing favorites with traffic.
The battle over net neutrality has pitted public interest groups and Internet companies such as Google Inc. and Skype against the nation’s big phone and cable companies, including AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp.
Public interest groups and Internet companies say regulations are needed to prevent phone and cable operators from slowing or blocking Internet phone calls, online video and other Web services that compete with their core businesses. They also want rules to ensure that broadband companies cannot favor their own online traffic or the traffic of business partners that can pay for priority access.
FULL AP STORY FOLLOWS BELOWIn November 2018 OSHA will implement new standards for fixed ladders. See OpenSesame’s updated guide, “Six Guidelines for OSHA ladder safety 2018” for a summary of new ladder safety standards.
Ladders, when used effectively, make large-scale jobs easier. Anyone in construction understands the advantages of this tool. Workers gain access to hard to reach spots with light and portable equipment. Set up and take down is quick and easy. But when used carelessly, the aforementioned benefits are overshadowed by the potential hazards.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) provides guidelines for ladder use. We’ve distilled their rules into their simplest parts: a list of 15 OSHA safety rules and considerations that will help you begin to understand the tedious OSHA guidelines, so that you can minimize the risk of an expensive incident.
Rule 1: Use common sense. Many of the OSHA Ladder Safety Requirements are ones that are necessary to list, but only because people on the site – because they’re hot and tired and think they can manage – will disregard their common sense to get things done.
Examples of common sense standards from OSHA Ladder Requirements:
1926.1053(b)(13) – The top or top step of a stepladder shall not be used as a step.
1926.1053(b)(4) – Ladders shall be used only for the purpose for which they were designed.
1926.1053(b)(16 – 17) – Portable/fixed ladders with structural defects shall either be immediately marked in a manner that readily identifies them as defective, or be tagged with “Do Not Use” or similar language. Defective portable/fixed ladders shall be withdrawn from service until repaired.
Rule 2: Take care of your equipment. This means frequently checking to make sure that your ladder and ladder add-ons are clean, sturdy, and functioning properly.
Example of equipment care standards from OSHA Ladder Safety Regulations:
1926.1053(b)(2) – Ladders shall be maintained free of oil, grease, and other slipping hazards.
1926.1053(b)(15) – Ladders shall be inspected by a competent person for visible defects on a periodic basis and after any situation that could affect their safe use.
1926.1053(b)(18) – Ladder repairs shall restore the ladder to a condition meeting its original design criteria before the ladder is returned to use.
Rule 3: Understand the limits of the equipment. Ladders are useful tools, certainly, but they’re simple tools with limitations. Knowing where your ladder is strong, where it is weak, and how much weight it can handle goes a long way towards preventing an accident.
Examples of understanding equipment limits from OSHA Ladder Regulations:
1926.1053(b)(3) – Ladders must not be loaded beyond the maximum intended load for which they were built, nor beyond their manufacturer’s rated capacity.
1926.1053(b)(13) – The top or top step of a stepladder shall not be used as a step.
1926.1053(a)(7) – Do not tie or fasten together ladders to create longer sections unless the ladders are specifically designed for such use.
1926.1053(b)(6) – Ladders shall be used only on stable and level surfaces unless they are secured to prevent accidental displacement.
1926.1053(b)(11) – Ladders shall not be moved, shifted, or extended while occupied.
Rule 4: Understand the limits of your employees. Don’t let someone’s bad habits cost you. Make sure your employees understand what constitutes risky, unsafe practices, and do your best to eliminate these behaviors.
1926.1053(b)(20) – When ascending or descending a ladder, the user shall face the ladder.
1926.1053(b)(21) – Each employee shall use at least one hand to grasp the ladder when progressing up and/or down the ladder.
1926.1053(b)(22) – An employee shall not carry any object or load that could cause the employee to lose balance and fall.
Rule 5: Know the numbers. Angles, measurements and weight limits are extremely important when it comes to ladders. Setting up a ladder too close to a building or failing to note the minimum clear distance between side rungs can be a costly mistake to make. Taking the time to understand these figures before using a ladder in your project will save you the time spent on damage control down the line.
Examples of important calculations from OSHA Ladder Standards:
1926.1053(b)(1) – When portable ladders are used for access to an upper landing surface, the ladder side rails shall extend at least 3 feet (.9 m) above the upper landing surface to which the ladder is used to gain access; or, when such an extension is not possible because of the ladder’s length, then the ladder shall be secured at its top to a rigid support that will not deflect, and a grasping device, such as a grab rail, shall be provided to assist employees in mounting and dismounting the ladder. In no case shall the extension be such that ladder deflection under a load would, by itself, cause the ladder to slip off its support.
1926.1053(b)(5)(iii) – Fixed ladders shall be used at a pitch no greater than 90 degrees from the horizontal, as measured to the back side of the ladder.
1926.1053(a)(1) – Ladders must be able to support the following weights without failure:
Ladder Type Non-Self-Supporting Portable Ladders Self-Supporting Portable Ladders: Extra Heavy Duty Type 1A Plastic or Metal Ladders Fixed Ladders Weight 4 times the maximum intended load 4 times the maximum intended load 3.3 times the maximum intended load Every rung must be capable of supporting a concentrated load of 250 pounds at the center of the rung. Any two rungs must be capable of supporting 2 loads of 250 pounds simultaneously plus anticipated loads caused by ice buildup, winds, rigging, and impact loads resulting from the use of ladder safety devices.
1926.1053(a)(3)(i – iii) – Rungs, cleats and steps must be spaced between 10 inches (25cm) and 14 inches (36cm) apart, measured from the center lines. Exceptions to the rule (all measurements from center lines):
Ladder Type Step Stools Base of Extension Trestle Ladders Extension Section of Trestle Ladders Minimum Spacing 8in (20cm) 8in (20cm) 6in (15cm) Maximum Spacing 12in (31cm) 18in (31cm) 12in (31cm)
1926.1053(a)(4)(i – ii) – Minimum clear distance between side rails for different ladder types:
Ladder Type Individual-Rung/Step Ladders Fixed Ladders Portable Ladders Minimum Clear Distance 16in (41cm) 16in (41cm) 11.5in (29cm)
1926.1053(a)(13 – 15) – The minimum perpendicular clearance between the centerline of rungs and an obstruction:
Ladder Type Fixed Ladder (obstruction behind ladder) Elevator Pit Ladder Fixed Ladder Rungs (obstruction on climbing side) Minimum Perpendicular Clearance 7in (18cm) 4.5in (11cm) 30in (76cm)
If unavoidable obstructions are encountered, the minimum perpendicular clearance may be reduced to 24 inches (61 cm), provided that a deflection device is installed to guide employees around the obstruction
1926.1053(a)(16) – Through fixed ladders at their point of access/egress shall have a step-across distance of not less than 7 inches (18 cm) nor more than 12 inches (30 cm) as measured from the centerline of the steps or rungs to the nearest edge of the landing area. If the normal step-across distance exceeds 12 inches (30 cm), a landing platform shall be provided to reduce the distance to the specified limit.
With OpenSesame’s collection of Ladder Safety Courses, you can easily deploy safety training to ensure your employees know how to work safely with ladders. For the full list of the official OSHA ladder safety regulations, visit the Standard 1926.1053 site site.Rapper Tauheed Epps, better known by his stage name 2 chainz, is apparently mulling a run for mayor of his hometown, College Park, Ga. In an interview with the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Epps—whose hits include “I Luv Dem Strippers” and “No Lie”—Epps said that he was seriously considering a run.
“I am looking forward to running at the end of this year or next year. [I’m] waiting to see if I meet all of the qualifications!” the Grammy-nominated artist told the paper.
Interest in Epps’ political ambitions peaked earlier this week after he told XXL Magazine about his potential run.
“I’m supposed to be running for mayor in College Park. I got everybody wishing,” Epps said. “I’m really gonna do this little mayor thing in College Park. I’m just trying to make sure I have the right qualifications.”
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2 chainz wouldn’t be the first rapper to dabble in local politics. In 2011, Luther Campbell, formerly known by his rap name “Uncle Luke” of the 2 Live Crew ran for mayor of Miami-Dade County in South Florida. Campbell lost.
Though Epp is known musically for rhyming booty with itself and rapping about selling crack (though the author is particularly partial to the line “Pull up to the scene with my roof gone/when I leave the scene bet your boo gone”), Epps knows about more than just money, women and clothes.
The 37-year-old attended Alabama State University on a basketball scholarship and reportedly received high marks while he was there. Though a convicted felon, Epps is a champion for restoring felons’ voting rights. He also recently made headway for going toe-to-toe with HLN host Nancy Grace over the legalization of marijuana, and arguably, besting her in a fierce debate.
If qualified to run for office, Epps could prove a worthy contender for incumbent College Park mayor Jack Longino. Longino, however, isn’t worried. The 20-year mayor told the Daily Beast recently he doesn’t believe Epps is a College Park resident. But if he does and decides to run, Longino said, “we’ll let the people decide.”
Contact us at [email protected] third of the population don't, according to a new survey. But look on the bright side - one in three of us has actually read it
A third of the UK population has no idea who wrote Great Expectations, fretted the Daily Mail, as the results of "a worrying survey" of adult reading habits in the UK were revealed yesterday.
Who's worried? Certainly not me, and particularly when the survey went on to reveal that a different 30% not only knew who had written Great Expectations, but had read the novel.
Surely that's not a worrying result, but an accolade for the comprehensive education system. A straw poll of the Guardian office revealed that nearly all of us had read it at school.
Some of the findings of the nationwide survey of 2,000 people, conducted by Opinium Research, are more surprising still. Twelve per cent of us have, apparently, read Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Really?
If I were to survey my friends and relations, I very much doubt that one in ten could swear to having read Much Ado About Nothing, even if most of them will have seen it performed at least once.
So what is going on here? One thing, I suspect, is a bit of'misremembering'. More than a thousand fibbers swarmed out of the woodwork earlier this month when we blogged about another survey revealing how many of us have lied about our reading. And, surprise, surprise, the third most lied about book was Great Expectations by - who's the author again? - Charles Dickens.
If you take into account the 8% who admit to having lied about reading Pride and Prejudice (the seventh most read title in the Opinium survey) and the 15% who have lied about Catcher in the Rye (ninth most read), the picture becomes a bit more worrying.
What is clear is that all the good work that is done at school is undone as soon as people emerge into the adult world.
Nearly a quarter of all adults (24%) have read fewer than five books in the last year, while one in seven (15%) admitted that they had not read a single one in that time. (That's 10% of women and 21% of men.)
But nine per cent of us claim to have read more than 50 books in the last year, which is surely cause for celebration – no matter whether those books are thrillers (favoured by 30%), crime novels (26%) or romance (16%).
The truly depressing discovery is possibly the most predictable: the most widely read work of contemporary "literature" is The Da Vinci Code. Unfortunately, it's unlikely anybody would lie about that.
Proportion who've read the classics
Animal Farm - 36%
Romeo and Juliet - 33%
Great Expectations - 30%
Macbeth - 29%
To Kill a Mockingbird - 28%
Lord of the Flies - 28%
Pride and Prejudice - 26%
Of Mice and Men - 25%
Catcher in the Rye - 18%
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - 15%
Much Ado about Nothing - 12%
None of the above - 28%The postal service in Canada is SO fast that I just received this now, a few weeks after it shipped (/s). I received 2 books from my Santa, who must have seen that I love to read. The first book is "On Writing" by Stephen King. I love to write, and would love to publish a novel one day, so this should help me on my way.
The second book is called "The Diamond Age" by Neal Stephenson. I have not read this author yet, so I am excited to try something new.
UPDATE: Got another book! "Under the Dome" by Stephen King. I am so excited to read this because I want to watch the new series based on the book. Thanks again Santa, this was unexpected.
Thanks Santa for the gifts!NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N), the No. 3 U.S. mobile service, posted a third-quarter loss and a 12 percent drop in revenue as customers fled to rival services.
Dan Hesse, president and CEO of Sprint Nextel, speaks during a keynote address at the CTIA Wireless convention in Las Vegas, Nevada April 1, 2008. REUTERS/Steve Marcus
The shares fell 13 percent by midday on Friday, although analysts said Sprint’s announcement that it had restructured its credit agreements helped to soothe worries about bankruptcy.
Bernstein Research analyst Craig Moffett called the amended credit facility “a spoonful of sugar... but the medicine is bitter indeed.”
“Sprint’s subscriber losses were significantly worse than consensus expectations... which is saying something, by the way, because expectations had already gotten progressively worse in recent days,” he said.
Sprint lost 1.1 million customers who pay monthly bills, known as postpaid subscribers. The average expectation was for a loss of 1.0 million postpaid users, according to five analysts surveyed by Reuters. Their estimates ranged from losses of 950,000 to 1.1 million.
Including postpaid and prepaid customers, who pay for calls in advance and do not commit to monthly contracts, Sprint lost 1.3 million customers in the quarter.
The company has struggled in the past year to stem customer losses amid service problems, weak marketing and an economic downturn that especially hurt its low-credit customers.
“We have yet to turn the corner,” Chief Executive Dan Hesse told analysts on a conference call.
WEAKER THAN EXPECTED
The company posted a net loss for the fourth-straight quarter. The loss totaled of $326 million, or 11 cents a share, compared with a profit of $64 million, or 2 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.
Excluding items and amortization, Sprint broke even, compared with Wall Street’s average forecast of 3 cents in earnings per share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Revenue fell 12 percent to $8.81 billion, slightly below the average estimate of $8.86 billion.
Wireless post-paid average revenue per user (ARPU) was $56, down nearly 6 percent from a year earlier.
Sprint said it expects continued pressure on post-paid subscribers and “slight downward pressure” on post-paid ARPU in the fourth quarter.
Its shares fell 47 cents to $3.21 by mid-morning trade, and S&P Equity Research cut its price target to $5. They have fallen around 60 percent over the past six months on worries about customer losses to rivals AT&T Inc (T.N) and Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications (VZ.N) and Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L).
AT&T shares rose 4.5 percent to $27.15, while Verizon shares rose 2.3 percent to $29.93.
Sprint said late last month that it had given up efforts to sell its iDen network, which has been seeing heavy customer losses, after it failed to find a buyer.
There have also been concerns about its debt. Sprint announced earlier on Friday that it renegotiated the terms of its revolving credit facility, a move that gives it more breathing space against financial covenants.
The company also paid down $1.0 billion of the outstanding loan amount under the amended credit agreement.
Stifel Nicolaus analyst Christopher King said the move helps takes bankruptcy concerns off the table until the credit facility expires in 2010, but noted it will be paying higher interest.
Sprint said it would pay interest of LIBOR plus a margin between 2.50 percent to 3.00 percent depending on debt ratings, compared to a previous 0.75 percent.Michaela Bradshaw was an immediate fan favorite when she played on Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X. But don’t expect her new castmates to fall head over heels in love with her when Survivor: Game Changers kicks off March 8 on CBS. That’s because they know nothing about her going into the game (since her season had not aired yet when Game Changers began filming) and nothing is scarier in Survivor than the unknown.
We spoke to Michaela in Fiji before the game began and asked how hard it was to come back with only a short break, how she plans to make her opponents comfortable, and whom she is looking to align with. Watch the video above and read the Q&A below to find out more. (Also make sure to follow @thedaltonross on Instagram to see exclusive on-location photos, including one of Michaela casting her pre-game vote for whom she’d like to vote off first.)
Robert Voets/CBS
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How hard is it to come right back and play?
MICHAELA BRADSHAW: How hard is it to come back out here immediately? I think it’s a benefit to come back immediately ‘cause I remember the things I need to adjust. But it’s hard because all these people have seen each other play so I’m one of the big question marks and that may work against me. So more than anything, it’s a double-edged sword.
So is it an advantage or disadvantage to be in your position?
I think the people here knowing nothing about me could be a disadvantage, especially with a season titled Game Changers, because they’re going to inflate everything about me, and it might make me look scary. Another thing is because there is someone else here that played with me, Zeke. And anything that Zeke says can be taken as truth. So I’m kind of in a strange predicament.
Mentally, I’m ready to be here from a mental perspective. I forgot how much being out here can suck. That is very easy to forget, but the waves are bringing it back to me now. Emotionally, it’s fine. I’ve become numb to certain things that you have to do in this game. Physically, losing all that weight and then gaining it back in a span of a couple of weeks and now I’m about to lose it again — my body’s about to go crazy, but I’m ready for it as far as the game goes.
Whom do you want to work with out there?
I want to
|
legitimate argument for a full-blown controversy in Rex Ryan's office.
When looking at the game film, analyzing Vick's 80-yard touchdown drive and Smith's ill-advised horizontal throw across the field, the idea of the veteran emerging as the best option for the Jets isn't hard to imagine.
Yet, Vick won't allow fans or the media to create a narrative out of thin air. Over the course of a roller-coaster career, Vick has been labeled in many different ways. From superstar to lazy to convict to redemption story, headlines write themselves around the former No. 1 overall pick.
It's now time to add two more to the list: outstanding teammate and perfect backup quarterback.
If Smith falters, it's clear that Vick has enough in the tank to play. If he doesn't, however, don't expect the veteran to cause a stir or do anything but support the young second-year signal caller.
The Jets didn't sign a circus act or create a controversy when landing Vick off the free-agent market. Instead, they found the perfect quarterback to push, guide and mold Smith into a viable long-term option at the most important position on the field.
What did you think of Smith and Vick on Thursday night? Sound off below in the comments section with your thoughts on the Jets quarterback situation.
Joe Giglio may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoeGiglioSports. Find NJ.com on Facebook.Republicans aren't happy with the Federal Communications Commission's plan to regulate the Internet like telephone service, and they're going out of their way to make sure people know it.
FCC
The latest broadside comes from within the FCC itself, with Republican commissioner Ajit Pai using a press conference Tuesday to lay into Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposal on Net neutrality, or the idea that all Internet traffic should be treated equally. Pai argues that the proposed new regulations would give the government too much power over the Internet.
"The American people are being misled about President Obama's plan to regulate the Internet," Pai said, suggesting that the White House exerted undue influence over the agency.
Michael O'Rielly, the only other Republican commissioner on the five-member FCC, echoed Pai's statement, adding that the information the FCC has offered publicly about its Net neutrality proposal is not the full truth.
The comments by Pai and O'Rielly are part of an increasingly vocal attack on the FCC's proposal, an attack that includes questions about whether President Barack Obama pushed his own beliefs onto the independent agency. The opposition stems from the fear that added regulation will result in higher broadband prices for consumers and strip incentives for broadband companies to invest in upgrading their networks. The moves signify a last-ditch effort by Republicans to stop the FCC from adopting Net neutrality rules.
See also: Net Fix -- making sense of the Net neutrality debate
While nearly everyone agrees that some rules are needed to protect the Internet, they don't agree on the legal basis for making these rules. At the crux of the current debate is Title II, a provision that reclassifies broadband as a telecommunications service that falls under telephonelike regulations. Obama, most Democrats and Wheeler favor Title II, while Republicans and broadband providers like Comcast and Verizon are vehemently against it.
It's highly likely that the proposal will make it through the FCC. Republicans on the commission and in Congress will continue making noise until the FCC's final vote on February 26. But Wheeler, a Democrat appointed by Obama, has the three Democratic votes needed to pass the measure. Congress could push through new legislation it has been working on as an alternative, but Obama could veto the law.
Under the influence?
As part of the assault on the proposal, Congressional Republicans have questioned the impact Obama had on the FCC's plan. On Monday, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) sent a letter to Wheeler demanding a written explanation of what led Wheeler to conclude that an earlier proposal he considered was "no longer appropriate."
"Since the FCC is an independent agency that derives its authority from Congress and not the White House, it is highly concerning that the White House would seek to take on this level of involvement in the regulatory process of the FCC, or attempt to supplant completely the agency's decision-making apparatus," Johnson said, demanding that the agency send him documents by February 23.
Last week, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee also opened an inquiry and demanded records of communications between the FCC and the White House pertaining to how the rules were developed.
Pai, along with Congressional Republicans who oppose broadband reclassification, have questioned the influence of the White House. In November, Obama issued a statement urging the FCC to adopt strong rules based on treating the Internet as a public utility. In January, Wheeler, speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show, indicated for the first time publicly that his proposal would indeed follow those public utility rules.
Republicans believe that Obama's statement, along with other influence from Obama's staff, may have interfered with the FCC's process for developing rules.
Wheeler has said repeatedly that he was already considering broadband reclassification even before Obama weighed in on the issue. His staff reiterated his thinking Tuesday in a statement.
"Chairman Wheeler welcomed the president's point of view, as he welcomed the millions of Americans who made their views known," a spokesman for the FCC said in an email. "After a yearlong process, Chairman Wheeler put forward a proposal that uses every tool in the toolbox to make sure the Internet stays fast, fair, and open for all Americans.
Wheeler's initial proposal, introduced last May, did not include broadband reclassification. In fact, Wheeler had said that such an action would be a last resort for the FCC in drafting rules meant to reinstate regulation.
But the chairman has explained that over the course of the past year, and after reading some of the 4 million public comments filed in response to his original proposal, his thinking changed. He realized his rules didn't go far enough to preserve true Net neutrality.
Skepticism over light touch
To assuage the concerns over some potential heavy-handed effects of Title II, Wheeler has said that the agency plans to strip out the onerous requirements meant for the telephone network, a process known in legal circles as "forbearance." He called the light-touch approach to Title II his idea of "regulation for the 21st century."
But Pai and O'Rielly, who say they have read through the 332-page proposal, claim Wheeler's assurances that these new rules will not result in rate regulation and additional taxes are not valid.
"The promised forbearance amounts to fauxbearance," O'Rielly said.
Pai said the FCC's use of Title II to regulate broadband is an invitation to allow the government to "micromanage the Internet." And he said he worries that future iterations of the FCC would use the agency's expanded authority to implement new taxes or regulate rates, in spite of Wheeler's assurances that the agency won't take such action.
"Expect regulation to ratchet up and forbearance to fade," he said. "The FCC is going to be deciding prices."
In addition to finding fault with the content of the FCC's proposal, Pai has also been critical of the agency's process for imposing the new rules. On Tuesday, he called on the commission to make its proposal public before the vote.
But the FCC generally does not make draft proposals public until after the full commission votes. Pai argued that the proposal's potential impact on the public interest justifies an exception. Still, he said he would not release the document to the public without the chairman's permission.
This story is part of a CNET special report looking at the challenges of Net neutrality, and what rules -- if any -- are needed to fuel innovation and protect US consumers.The Cubs did not tender contracts to right-hander Ryan Cook and lefty Jack Leathersich. All but Leathersich were arbitration-eligible. Teams had until 10:59 p.m. CT Wednesday to tender 2016 contracts, and if they did not, the players would become free agents.
CHICAGO -- As expected, the Cubs tendered offers to Jake Arrieta, Travis Wood, Pedro Strop, Hector Rondon, Justin Grimm and Chris Coghlan on Wednesday, and also agreed to terms with left-handed relievers Rex Brothers and Clayton Richard on 2016 contracts.
CHICAGO -- As expected, the Cubs tendered offers to Jake Arrieta, Travis Wood, Pedro Strop, Hector Rondon, Justin Grimm and Chris Coghlan on Wednesday, and also agreed to terms with left-handed relievers Rex Brothers and Clayton Richard on 2016 contracts.
The Cubs did not tender contracts to right-hander Ryan Cook and lefty Jack Leathersich. All but Leathersich were arbitration-eligible. Teams had until 10:59 p.m. CT Wednesday to tender 2016 contracts, and if they did not, the players would become free agents.
• Hot Stove Tracker
In addition to Brothers and Richard, 26 players from the 40-man roster were tendered 2016 contracts. That includes 20 who were not yet eligible for arbitration.
Arrieta, the National League Cy Young Award winner, who led the Major Leagues with 22 wins, is in line for a significant raise. He made $3.63 million last season, and MLBTradeRumors.com projects he could receive $10.6 million in arbitration.
The Cubs have had some talks with Arrieta's agent regarding a possible long-term deal. He will be a free agent after the 2017 season.
Wood, who began the year in the rotation and made a successful switch to the bullpen, made $5.685 million last season. Strop was paid $2.525 million, Rondon $544,000, Grimm $531,500 and Coghlan $2.505 million. This is the first year Rondon and Grimm are arbitration-eligible.
Rondon set a personal high with 34 saves and compiled his best ERA (1.67), appearing in a career-high 72 games. MLBTradeRumors.com projects he would receive $3.6 million in 2016. Strop also set career highs in games (76) and innings pitched (68), and Grimm posted a 1.99 ERA in 62 games.
Brothers, traded to the Cubs on Nov. 25 for Minor League lefty Wander Cabrera, agreed to a one-year, $1.42 million contract. The lefty, who turns 28 on Dec. 18, split the 2015 season between the Rockies and Triple-A Albuquerque, and posted a 1.74 ERA in 17 big league relief appearances.
Richard, acquired in a trade with the Pirates in July, signed a one-year, $2 million deal. He appeared in 23 games, making three spot starts, and became the prime lefty in the postseason, giving up three hits over 4 2/3 scoreless innings.
With all the moves, the 40-man roster is now at 36.NORTH CATASAUQUA — After Tom Newhart's orange tabby, Sugar, slipped out of the house last month, he frantically searched for her — unsuccessfully — and then called police.
That's when he learned a borough officer had shot and killed Sugar, dumping her body in a trash container, Newhart said.
In the weeks following the cat's killing, Newhart hired a lawyer to get answers from the borough about the shooting and an overflow crowd packed a Borough Council meeting to discuss their concerns about Sugar's shooting. An online petition posted by Newhart's attorney that demands the officer's firing has gotten more than 2,000 signatures.
The Northampton County district attorney has now assigned a detective to the case to see if the shooting merits animal cruelty charges against Officer Leighton Pursell.
"This is a place I've lived all my life and it's a tight-knit community," Newhart said. "I find myself now being embarrassed to say I live in North Catasauqua. I can't believe it's come to this."
PHOTO GALLERY: A North Catasauqua police officer has been found not guilty in the December 2015 shooting and killing of Sugar the cat. (APRIL BARTHOLOMEW / THE MORNING CALL ) (APRIL BARTHOLOMEW / THE MORNING CALL )
District Attorney John Morganelli said his office is investigating Newhart's claim that Pursell shot and killed the cat Dec. 6 after she had escaped Newhart's home.
Repeated calls to the borough's police department have not been returned and the borough office referred all calls to solicitor Steven Goudsouzian. He has not returned calls.
Bethlehem attorney Jenna Fliszar, who represents Newhart, said she's pleased that the district attorney's office is looking into the matter. She said an online petition asking that Pursell face criminal charges is gaining supporters each day.
PHOTO COURTESY OF TOM NEWHART / THE MORNING CALL Tom Newhart says his cat, a 6-year-old tabby named Sugar, was needlessly shot by a North Catasauqua police officer. Tom Newhart says his cat, a 6-year-old tabby named Sugar, was needlessly shot by a North Catasauqua police officer. (PHOTO COURTESY OF TOM NEWHART / THE MORNING CALL)
At the borough's Jan. 4 borough council meeting, Fliszar said so many people attended that the meeting room doors were locked and others were turned away. Fliszar said she and Newhart made comments to the council and members said they would "cooperate with the district attorney's investigation," she said.
"This is a small community where everyone knows each other and for the police department to do absolutely nothing is a disgrace," Fliszar said. "At a minimum, Officer Pursell should be on desk duty while there's an ongoing investigation."
Fliszar sent a letter to the council, police Chief Kim Moyer and Morganelli's office about the cat's killing.
According to her letter:
After Sugar slipped out of Newhart's house, the cat wandered several houses away to the home of Mike Lienert, Newhart's neighbor. Lienert tried to capture the cat, but was unsuccessful and called police for help.
Pursell was the responding officer and told Lienert, "It may not be politically correct, if it's wounded, I'm going to have to put it down."
Pursell made no attempt to capture the cat or call for an animal control officer and shot the cat, according to Fliszar's letter. Lienert said Sugar didn't appear to be injured and had not been acting aggressively, but the cat hissed at Pursell when he tried to poke at Sugar to get her out of a hiding spot beneath a grill.
After the shooting, Pursell made no attempt to find the cat's owner and tossed the dead cat in a garbage container.
In the meantime, Newhart was frantically searching for Sugar. When he called the police department's non-emergency number, he was told that Pursell had shot and killed the animal.
Newhart said he spoke with Moyer, who said Pursell had "made a judgment call" to put down the animal because it was injured.
But, Newhart said, Sugar was examined by a veterinary clinic for cremation and the staff said they found no injuries on the animal other than the gunshot wound.
"[Sugar] was not a danger to Officer Pursell or the public at large," the letter states. "There is absolutely no justification for this shooting."
Fliszar said she also questions Pursell's choice to fire a weapon in a residential neighborhood where homes are close together. She said the shot could have injured a resident or children outside playing and noted several people came out of their homes after hearing the gunshot.
"Failure to act in this case sends a signal to the community that they are not safe and that they cannot trust the police department to protect them," Fliszar's letter states. "It would tell the public that police are above the law."
[email protected]
Twitter @pamelalehman
610-820-6790When the Lee Jung-hee Scandal broke I thought it seemed strange and sure enough it was all as expected a hoax. This just shows how these campaigns passed around on social media I have little faith in because they are mostly not true and this scandal is just another example:
As we know now, this was all a hoax. The monstrous former husband, who was supposedly blocking the police investigation because he was so well-connected with powerful people, was no more than an old pizza delivery man living in a crappy studio apartment. Lee led to the journalists to a rural village, claiming that her perpetrators lived there–not just one or two of the perpetrators, but according to Lee, the whole village was a sex colony that raped her and her sons. (But why would these allegedly rich and powerful men who assaulted her and her sons live in a crappy rural village?) The police did investigate the former husband when Lee initially claimed sexual assault to the police. After four months of investigation, the police did not find any nefarious orgy picture or video, nor did they find any sign of drug use from the former husband.
The real story was simpler and made much more sense. Lee and the former husband were indeed married, and were in the process of divorce. The former husband did beat Lee and the children, which resulted in a favorable divorce for Lee. It was when the husband appealed the decision by the divorce court that Lee began claiming sexual assault. Her story fell apart as soon as the more serious Korean media began their investigation. Earlier this month, Lee was arrested on the charges of malicious litigation and child abuse; Lee’s children were separated from their mother and were placed in protective services. [Ask A Korean]Brandon Harris leads LSU’s quarterback corps into battle this year, and we’re predicting Harris will finish as an All-SEC performer in our 2016 LSU quarterback breakdown.
According to legendary NFL head coach Bill Walsh, the position of quarterback is the most important one on a football field. Walsh said that a QB is simultaneously head engineer and manager of a team.
Quarterbacks have also been called extensions of the coach and likened to battlefield generals, commodities traders, and head surgeons. Regardless of what occupation one may associate with them, both casual fans and experts recognize that having a great player under center is integral to a team’s success.
Thus—it is only fitting to begin positional previews of the upcoming 2016 LSU Tigers season by analyzing the current quarterback corps.Jentezen Franklin accepted a position on Donald Trump's Faith Advisory Board. ( Facebook/Jentezen Franklin )
Donald Trump's campaign announced its new evangelical advisory board Tuesday (June 21) as the presumptive presidential nominee met with nearly 1,000 conservative Christians.
The Evangelical Executive Advisory Board will convene regularly to "provide advisory support to Mr. Trump on those issues important to Evangelicals and other people of the faith in America," the campaign said in a statement.
It also will lead a Faith and Cultural Advisory Committee that will be announced later in June.
First on the list is former Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. Shortly before announcing her own bid for the presidency in 2012, Bachmann withdrew from Salem Lutheran Church after 10 years as a member and moved to a nearby evangelical church.
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The list also includes Johnnie Moore—national spokesperson for My Faith Votes, one of the organizers of Tuesday's largely evangelical meeting—and the Rev. Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University. Falwell had hailed Trump in the meeting: "Mr. Trump is a bold and fearless leader who will take the fight to our enemies and to the radical Islamic terrorists."
The full list of board members is as follows:
• Michele Bachmann—former U.S. House member
• A.R. Bernard—senior pastor and CEO, Christian Cultural Center
• Mark Burns—pastor, Harvest Praise and Worship Center
• Tim Clinton—president, American Association of Christian Counselors
• Kenneth and Gloria Copeland—founders, Kenneth Copeland Ministries
• James Dobson—author, psychologist and host, "Family Talk With Dr. James Dobson"
• Jerry Falwell Jr.—president, Liberty University
• Ronnie Floyd—senior pastor, Cross Church
• Jentezen Franklin—senior pastor, Free Chapel
• Jack Graham—senior pastor, Prestonwood Baptist Church
• Harry Jackson—senior pastor, Hope Christian Church
• Robert Jeffress—senior pastor, First Baptist Church of Dallas
• David Jeremiah—senior pastor, Shadow Mountain Community Church
• Richard Land—president, Southern Evangelical Seminary
• James MacDonald—founder and senior pastor, Harvest Bible Chapel
• Johnnie Moore—author, president of The KAIROS Company
• Robert Morris—senior pastor, Gateway Church
• Tom Mullins—senior pastor, Christ Fellowship
• Ralph Reed—founder, Faith and Freedom Coalition
• James Robison—founder, Life OUTREACH International
• Tony Suarez—executive vice president, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference
• Jay Strack—president, Student Leadership University
• Paula White—senior pastor, New Destiny Christian Center
• Tom Winters—attorney, Winters and King Inc.
• Sealy Yates—attorney, Yates and Yates
© 2016 Religion News Service. All rights reserved.
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Great Resources to help you excel in 2019! #1 John Eckhardt's "Prayers That..." 6-Book Bundle. Prayer helps you overcome anything life throws at you. Get a FREE Bonus with this bundle. #2 Learn to walk in the fullness of your purpose and destiny by living each day with Holy Spirit. Buy a set of Life in the Spirit, get a second set FREE.
See an error in this article? Send us a correctionWhen The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror started welcoming guests at Disney’s Hollywood Studios back in July 1994, dark and stormy nights became the norm around the Hollywood Tower Hotel. And all these years later, guests still get a scream out of their daily visits. Here’s a look at the lobby under construction in May 1994.
While four Disney Parks (Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney California Adventure park, Walt Disney Studios Park, and Tokyo DisneySea) have their own versions of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, the attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is the original. This striking landmark at Walt Disney World Resort was constructed with 1,500 tons of steel, 145,800 cubic feet of concrete, and 27,000 roof tiles, and it stands 199 feet tall.
Still to this day inside The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, guests can’t wait to enter an episode that is somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction.
The Twilight Zone® is a registered trademark of CBS, Inc. and is used with permission pursuant to a license from CBS, Inc. ©Disney/CBS, Inc.
Check out these other posts about the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror:The Israeli military said Thursday that militants in the Gaza Strip have test-fired rockets into the Mediterranean Sea, in an apparent attempt to show off their capabilities amid increased tensions in the wake of this week's deadly synagogue attack.
Four rockets were fired in the past 24 hours, the military said, without elaborating on the test or type of rockets fired. There was no immediate confirmation from Palestinian officials in Gaza.
Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers fought a 50-day war over the summer that claimed more than 2,100 Palestinian and 70 Israeli lives.
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At the time, Israel said it launched the operation to halt Hamas' rocket attacks from Gaza — rockets that now have the ability to reach Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other Israeli cities. And though the rocket fire continued throughout the war, it was largely neutralized by Israel's "Iron Dome" aerial defence system.
Tensions in the region have spiked in recent weeks, largely over a disputed holy site in Jerusalem sacred to both Muslims and Jews. Palestinian attackers have killed 11 people in five separate incidents, including Tuesday's storming of a Jerusalem synagogue that killed four worshippers and an Israeli policeman. At least five Palestinians involved in the attacks were killed.
The violence has prompted anti-Arab demonstrations by Israeli right-wingers. On Wednesday, Mayor Itamar Shimoni of the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon suspended Israeli Arab labourers from work. They were renovating bomb shelters at local day-care centres.
The move drew criticism on Thursday, including from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who said "there is no place for discrimination against Israeli Arabs." Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, who anchors the far right wing of Netanyahu's coalition, insisted that "99 per cent of Israeli Arabs are completely loyal" to Israel.
Arab Israelis make up about 20 per cent of Israel's population of 8 million people. Tensions over the Jerusalem holy site have infiltrated into their community as well, prompting angry demonstrations and in one case, the fatal police shooting of an Arab Israeli man who approached a police car wielding a knife.I’ve been thinking lately about some of the challenges of blogging. (Millennial Star recently had a really interesting discussion about Bloggernacle dynamics here, and I’ve also been thinking about some of the issues regarding audience that Eve raised several years ago in this post. Additionally, T&S recently had a conversation about the boundaries of the “Bloggernacle”, and its relationship to LDS blogs more generally.) And one particular question I’ve been contemplating goes back to a much-debated question: what are the issues at stake when we publicly discuss more difficult aspects of the church? (As long as I’m linking, I’m pretty sure that Kaimi had a post several years ago, which I can’t seem to find, on the question of whether we should ever say anything negative about the church when non-members might be listening.)
Over the years, I’ve seen more than one commenter explain their comments in terms of the need for balance—strikingly, not as a virtue in and of itself, but specifically because non-Mormons might be reading. (I’m not sure “balance” is the best term here, because I haven’t observed that blogs which emphasize the more traditional kind of faith-promoting material are particularly concerned about balancing out their own views, either.) But in any case, I do have some sympathy for this view. I can appreciate the desire to represent the church fairly. I get annoyed when people make negative generalizations about all Mormons (we’re a bunch of sheeple who don’t have the ability to think critically, etc.)
I can also respect that different blogs are aimed at different audiences. Where I find myself disagreeing, however, is with any assertion that it’s the responsibility of all blogs which classify themselves in the believing category to stay focused on the positive, because of the concern that non-members might get a bad impression of the church. I find this problematic for several reasons:
1) I think this approach potentially undermines our ability to have genuine conversations with each other. If one (or more) participants in a discussion are always talking with an eye toward missionary work and/or public relations, they can’t really be said to be engaging the others who are actually participating in the conversation. And it’s frustrating to talk to people who are aren’t actually talking to you, but to an imagined non-member audience who might happen to be watching.
2) I think this approach can actually detract from the positive potential of the Bloggernacle. If hordes of non-Mormons are indeed hanging around, I think there’s value in giving them a chance to see real Mormons talking about their various questions and perspectives on things. I would be quickly bored if I encountered another religious blogging community whose members made sure all their posts and comments were sufficiently faith-promoting. I did my master’s in theology at a Catholic school, and I loved getting to hear Catholics discussing and debating and sometimes critiquing their tradition. I enjoyed the opportunity to eavesdrop on people who were working to make sense of their faith, rather than being careful with what they said because I was there. It didn’t at all make me think less of Catholicism; in fact, it made me appreciate its richness and complexity.
3) I see the Bloggernacle as actually challenging some common stereotypes of Mormons. For example, people sometimes get the impression that we’re a homogeneous cult that all thinks the same and marches in lockstep. Fifteen minutes on the bloggernacle, seeing people arguing at length about topics from caffeinated beverages to polygamy, is likely to quickly disabuse them of this notion. Even the feminist blogs, which are sometimes dismissed as simply apostate, implicitly send the message that there are a wider variety of Mormon women than one might initially assume. When I’ve talked to non-members about the existence of Mormon feminism, they’ve generally been fascinated, and excited to hear about it.
4) When people have concerns about the church, I think that attempting to come up with clear answers isn’t always that effective. In my experience, at least, seeing that there people who have difficult questions who still stick around is much more helpful. It actually testifies to the power of the church. My close non-LDS friends know a whole lot about what I think is problematic about my religion (just as I know a lot about their relationship to their churches). And several have told me that the fact that I stay despite all that is something that actually gives them a positive view of Mormonism.
You might point out that the Bloggernacle isn’t exactly representative of the population of the church, and I would certainly agree. But I’d note that potential converts aren’t homogeneous any more than are Mormons. Some of them may be drawn to the lds.org vision of the church. But others may be drawn to the kinds of discussions found elsewhere.
5) I have concerns about saving discussions of difficult issues for private settings in which only insiders are participating. One problem is that of people who feel that they were deceived when they only find out some of the skeletons in the closet after they join the church. I also don’t think we should pressure people to frame all their experiences into a faith-promoting narrative; I’d hope we have room as a church to allow for a variety of experiences, including difficult ones. I actually think that this can make testimonies more credible, not less.
6) I suspect that people are most likely to get a negative impression of the church not from the content discussed, but from the way we treat each other. When we’re busy calling each other to repentance and generally acting obnoxious, I imagine that doesn’t speak very well to our character as a people. (I say “we”, because I’m not claiming to have a stellar record on this one.)
I’m not saying, just to clarify, that blogs whose primary focus is on the positive aspects of the church, are necessarily being disingenuous—my impression is that they’re usually quite sincere. I see different blogs as aimed at different audiences, and I respect that. What I’m critiquing here is the notion that discussing negatives is somehow a betrayal, or makes a blog less faithful.
In my own blogging, I think the best I can do is talk honestly about my experience of the church, which is complex and messy and involves both faith and doubt. And when it comes to ZD, I won’t presume to speak for my co-bloggers, but I hope to be part of creating a space where people who might feel marginalized and un-heard at church can have a voice. Of course, we aren’t limited to feminist or other controversial topics, and some of what we do is just downright silliness. (What can I say? That’s the family culture in which I grew up.) But at its best, I really do believe that Bloggernacle-style blogging, with all its questioning and craziness, actually has much of value to offer.Bundit Thanachaisetthawut of the Arom Phong Pha-ngan Foundation said problems arising from foreign labour do not constitute “an emergency situation [for which a Royal Decree] is utmost necessary and unavoidable”, and thus there was no need for the Decree on the Management of Foreign Workers Act 2017 that came into effect on June 17.
Bundit pointed out that a formal decree allows the government to promulgate or amend a law without first seeking public comment, as is otherwise required.
He also noted that entrepreneurs and employers have expressed concern the hefty fines outlined in the act could result in corruption in the form of officials seeking and accepting bribes.
Anyone employing an undocumented foreign worker faces a fine of Bt400,000-Bt800,000.
The Cabinet approved the decree in principle in March and quickly submitted it for Council of State consideration. It essentially merges two existing laws – the Working of Aliens Act 2008 and the Royal Decree on the Placement of Aliens for Work with Employers in Thailand 2016.
Bundit last month participated in a seminar and public consultation on the decree organised by the Migrant Working Group and Solidary Centre, as did representatives of state and private agencies.
He said it was noted that the decree’s drafting process might violate Section 77 of the Constitution requiring all proposed laws to be subject to stakeholder input.
Seminar participants also criticised the proposed punitive measures and other aspects of the decree and recommended changes.
The decree prescribes that employers be fined Bt4,000 for every foreign employee doing a job other than what is designated in his or her work permit. A foreigner caught doing so could be fined up to Bt100,000.
Employers face five years in jail and/or a fine of Bt2,000-Bt10,000 if a foreign employee has no work permit or is working in one of 39 professions reserved for Thais.
They face a fine of up to Bt100,000 if a foreign employee’s rights are violated or essential documents are withheld, and 3-10 years in prison and/or a fine of Bt600,000-Bt1 million per worker for making false claims about finding foreigners a job in Thailand.Pineapple is not related to the pines, nor is it an apple. In fact, it isn’t even a single fruit. This tropical fruit is actually a group of berries. How, then, did it get its name?
Based on its resemblance to pine cones, the Spanish called it “the pine of the Indies”, whereas the English found it to be as sweet as an apple. Therefore, the joint name. Speaking of joint, pineapple is actually a group of berries fused together (coalesced fruit). They grow together on the central, fleshy stalk, and as each flower develops into fruit, the mass of individual berries comes together.
This unique fruit is a favorite for food and dessert the world over. It has multiple benefits for the skin, the hair, and overall health. Its manganese content strengthens the bones, the antioxidant content keeps you looking young, and its bromelain helps prevent sinusitis. Pineapple is also known to have anti-cancer properties. Not to forget, it tastes delicious. So the next time you eat pineapple, remember that you’re really eating a bunch of berries.
Read More:
Detox Juice With Pineapple And Turmeric
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Healthy Dessert Recipe: Lemon-Pineapple SorbetUS considers splitting immigrant children from parents in immigration jails
By Eric London
23 December 2017
The Washington Post, citing unnamed government officials, reported Friday that the Trump administration is considering a proposal to tear immigrant children from their parents when families are captured crossing the US-Mexico border. A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official told the Post that “People aren’t going to stop coming unless there are consequences to illegal entry.”
According to the newspaper, the proposal to separate children from their parents is one of a series of measures under consideration targeting, in particular, Central American families and unaccompanied children entering the country. They include a crackdown on undocumented immigrants living in the US who send for their children. Data collected by the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is to be used to deport parents who seek to regain custody of their children from child internment facilities operated by HHS.
The Post writes: “The proposals, which have been presented for approval to new DHS (Department of Homeland Security) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, were developed by career officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other DHS agencies, administration officials said.”
The proposal comes as the number of young people and families crossing from Mexico into the US increases, with 7,018 families arrested attempting to cross the border in November, up 45 percent from October. The Post reports that the number of children crossing on their own (labeled “unaccompanied alien children” in government newspeak) was also up 26 percent. Tens of thousands of immigrants will spend Christmas in immigration jail, with DHS officials reporting that detention centers for both adults and children are at near maximum capacity.
The Trump administration has also implemented a number of other cruel measures against immigrants in recent weeks. Immigration officials fought to deny a young pregnant immigrant’s request for an abortion after she was raped while crossing the border, though a court forced the government to honor her request for medical attention. Eighty percent of women immigrants crossing the US-Mexico border are raped along the way.
The Trump administration has quietly rounded up hundreds of Cambodian refugees, including many who fled the Khmer Rouge and who have lived in the United States since they were children. DHS transported many immigrants and moved them to remote detention facilities thousands of miles away from their families and lawyers in an attempt to intimidate them and prevent them from receiving legal representation.
Some 1,400 Iraqi immigrants arrested this summer remain locked up in detention centers across Michigan and Ohio, even though federal judges have repeatedly blocked their deportation on the grounds that many prospective deportees will be killed upon removal to Iraq.
All the while, the Trump administration is fanning the flames of far-right anti-immigrant chauvinism by portraying them as dangerous criminals. On Thursday, the Department of Justice and DHS published a report asserting that one fifth of federal prisoners are immigrants, of which more than 90 percent are undocumented. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said, “At the border and in communities across America, our citizens are being victimized by illegal aliens who commit crimes.”
A number of university and non-profit studies show that immigrants are far less likely to commit crimes than non-immigrants. Fifty percent of all federal criminal arrests are for immigration-related crimes, mostly for merely attempting to cross the border, which can mean years in prison. In 2004, only 28 percent of federal criminal arrests were for immigration offenses, but such prosecutions increased dramatically under the Bush and Obama administrations.
As the Trump administration ramps up its attacks on immigrants, opposition is growing to the Democratic Party’s agreement to postpone debate on protecting 800,000 recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The Democrats have pledged their willingness to provide added funding for “border security,” which Republican leadership has accepted as the framework for negotiating an extension of the DACA program, which will expire in March per Trump’s decision in September.
DACA recipients voiced their anger that the Democratic Party is using immigrant youth as
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They don't want to contact us. They don't want to know about it, basically. You cannot ring Facebook."
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More troubling are the explanations the paper received. The Sydney PR firm that represents Facebook in Australia directed the SMH to its usage policy, which states that users should be 13 years or older and asserts its commitment to user-safety. The police, says the mother, have been similarly unhelpful, claiming they are unable to shut down a Facebook account. As she tells the paper,"They said Facebook won't co-operate with the police." Police, meanwhile, say they have "commenced inquiries."
Of course, much of this story is based on hearsay and it's hard to condemn either party based on one account. However, this would not be the first time Facebook's privacy policy has been called into question - or the Police have invoked red tape when asked to deal with a Facebook-related matter. And given the site's unwillingness to restrict the freedoms of offensive pages and now accused child-harassers, we're left wondering...what exactly do you have to do to get kicked off the site? (Oh, that's right: Breastfeeding pictures.)
Mother's Worst Nightmare: Facebook Won't Shut Down Stalker [Sydney Morning Herald]
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Image via Shutterstock/Icons JewelryLocal councillors from France’s far-right Front National (FN) this week refused to back a call to name a square after Nelson Mandela, objecting to his “terrorist past”.
The six Front National members on Toulon city council abstained when mayor Hubert Falco, of the mainstream right-wing UMP, proposed that the esplanade in front of the southern French seaport’s new railway station bear the late South African president and anti-apartheid leader’s name.
The far-right councillors objected to the city “accepting all Mandela’s history, from his terrorist past to his reconciliation policy”, contrasting it to the change in a street name chosen by one of their supporters.
In 2000 then-mayor Jean-Marie Le Chevallier, who had been elected with the FN's endorsement, named a crossroads “Général Raoul Salan” after a World War II resistance fighter, known as the “liberator of Toulon”.
But Salan was also one of the cofounders of the Organisation de l’Armée Secrète (OAS), which carried on a campaign of bombings and assassinations, including an attempt on the life of president Charles de Gaulle, against Algerian independence.
In 2005, in response to protests by human-rights campaigners, the council voted to change the crossroads’ name to “Colonel Raoul Salan”, his rank at the time of the liberation of Toulon.
Socialist councillors congratulated the mayor on his initiative, describing Mandela as an “exceptional man”.
After Mandela’s death last December FN members of the regional council, including former leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, failed to take part in a minute’s silence for the South African leader.
They claimed that they were in a meeting and did not hear the bell announcing the tribute.
The party’s current leader, Marine Le Pen, who has tried to revamp its image, hailed Mandela’s “patriotism” and efforts at “reconciliation” but her rival for the leadership, Bruno Gollnisch, struck a different note, commenting that the “Afrikaner [apartheid] regime was far from the lesser evil”.As much as Supreme's been arguably the most consistent streetwear brand during their illustrious 20 year history, they have changed. They've grown, they've become more popular, and they've even lost a bit of their skateboarding roots. But all of that is okay because, at the end of the day, the one thing they haven't lost is customers. Every Thursday at Supreme is a sort of a mini-holiday, as fans line up for whatever new T-shirt, hoodie or sneaker is dropping, but when a new collection is released it's a full-blown celebration.
The question everyone always has when they see the long lines, starting on Lafayette St., often wrapped around two corners onto Crosby, is: Who the hell are all these people and why aren't they at work? We wanted delve into that more than anything, so we posted up outside the store yesterday during the S/S 14 collection release and turned the camera on those who make up the cult of Supreme.President Obama’s health care reform is prompting employers to hire more part-time and temporary workers to escape paying benefits under a mandate that goes into effect next year, amplifying a trend toward transient employment that took hold during the recession, according to a growing number of economic indicators.
Hardest hit by the move toward cutting work hours and increasing temporary hiring are lower-income workers, millions of whom already lack health insurance and are afflicted with constant turnover in jobs at fast-food restaurants, big-box retailers and other businesses with large numbers of low-paid staff.
Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest employer, is leading the trend, having increased the share of its temporary staff to 10 percent this year from between 1 percent and 2 percent last year, according to a Reuters survey of 52 Wal-Mart stores last month. It found that half of the stores were hiring only temporary workers — something Wal-Mart previously did only during the Christmas shopping season.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. CEO Bill Simon conceded that the company is hiring more “flex-time” workers to hold down costs, though the company denied that it was trying to escape benefit payments under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, often dubbed “Obamacare.” But business analysts say most of the temporary workers at Wal-Mart are unlikely to ever get insurance through the company because it could take up to a year to become eligible and the workforce has a high turnover rate.
Monthly reports from the Labor Department show a rising trend of temporary hiring and still-elevated levels of part-time workers, though the recession officially ended four years ago this month. Economists say the looming Jan. 1 deadline for providing health insurance to all full-time workers may be the reason why. The mandate applies to companies employing more than 50 people who work 30 or more hours per week.
“The increased use of temp workers may lead to more permanent hiring, but there is also the possibility that employers are taking on more temp workers to keep payrolls under the threshold of 50 workers and thus to remain free from the requirements of the Affordable Care Act,” said Sophia Koropeckyj, managing director at Moody’s Analytics.
Temporary jobs have grown far faster than the overall job market, with the total temporary workforce reaching pre-recession levels of more than 26 million this year and surging noticeably in recent months. Meanwhile, the number of people working part time because they couldn’t find full-time jobs remains elevated at 7.9 million, nearly twice pre-recession levels.
Low-income workers hit hard
Ball State University economist Michael Hicks said the trend to reduce hours is hurting the same uneducated and unskilled workers who suffered the most during the recession and have been getting an ever-smaller piece of the income and benefits pie for decades. More educated, higher-income workers already have health care benefits from their employers, by and large, and the law is not expected to have as much effect on them, he said.
“The incentives shift to hire higher-income workers full time and low-income workers part time” because health care costs are largely the same per person but constitute a much smaller share of compensation costs with workers earning higher wages, he said. “Employment opportunities for college graduates will continue to expand, but the share of part-time employment will also grow” among the most hard-pressed workers with less education, he said.
“Right now there’s a great deal of anecdotal evidence the ACA is promoting a shift from full- to part-time employment,” he said. “At some point in the coming months, we’ll have more certainty from the data” as employers who are cutting work hours to escape the mandate will do so in a mass rush before the Jan. 1 deadline, he said.
The Ball State economist has been tracking the share of workers who have part-time jobs, and it has stayed at the same high level of one for every 15 full-time workers since the recession — up from one per 26.4 full-time workers before the recession began in December 2007.
Many workers take part-time jobs only because nothing else is available and may have to find two or more part-time jobs to bring in the income of the one full-time job they seek, he said.
More than a quarter of part-time workers are holding down two or more jobs to make ends meet. Many of those workers bide their time in those temporary positions for months or years, hoping that a full-time position will open up. But those workers are likely to be increasingly disappointed, Mr. Hicks said.
“We are turning into a nation of part-time workers in search of full-time jobs,” he said.
Wave of the future?
Crown Financial Ministries CEO Chuck Bentley argues that less than full-time work is the wave of the future for America. “Given the pressures of Obamacare, many will be forced to combine part-time jobs for a full-time salary,” he said.
Although the trend is just starting to emerge in the government’s official employment statistics, and businesses are loath to acknowledge that they may be avoiding full-time hires because of the law, many people who hire regularly or work in human resources jobs say the trend is unmistakable.
The pressures are cutting the hours even of those who already work part time. Officials in Floyd County, Ind., announced last week plans to pare back the hours of part-time county workers who now work 34 hours a week to get them under the 30-hour-a-week Obamacare mandate. The Southern Lehigh School District in Pennsylvania voted to cut the hours of 51 part-time secretaries, custodians and cafeteria workers to avoid the health care mandate.
“We are always looking to meet our obligations to students, the community, taxpayers, our employees and our staff, and this vote will have a direct impact on some of our employees,” South Lehigh School Board President Jeffrey Dimmig told the Lehigh Valley Morning Call, saying he was “troubled” by having to make the move.
Staffing firms that supply temporary and contingent workers are reporting brisk business this year, with temporary jobs increasing significantly faster than full-time jobs. The American Staffing Association reports a 7.6 percent jump in temporary workers in the past year, while Freelancer.com, the world’s largest outsourcing marketplace, reported triple-digit growth and a doubling of revenue in the past year.
A Sage North America survey of small businesses, which do the most hiring in the U.S., found that 82 percent intend to hire full-time staff this year, while nearly 60 percent also are hiring part-time, seasonal, contract and temporary workers.
“Flexible staffing solutions are an important tool” in an environment of moderate economic growth and growing regulatory burdens, said Richard Wahlquist, president of the staffing association. “American businesses continue to be very strategic about when and how to increase the size of their workforces.”
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Dec 30, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders tight end Jace Amaro (22) is tackled by Arizona State Sun Devils defensive back Damarious Randall (3) after a reception during the first half in the Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 30, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders tight end Jace Amaro (22) is tackled by Arizona State Sun Devils defensive back Damarious Randall (3) after a reception during the first half in the Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium.
Texas Tech's Jace Amaro will forego his senior season and enter the NFL draft, the standout tight end announced shortly after his Red Raiders upset Arizona State, 37-23, Monday night in the Holiday Bowl.
Amaro capped off the greatest statistical season by a tight end in NCAA history, finishing with a record 1,352 yards receiving this year.
He surpassed Rice's Jame Casey, who had 1,329 yards in 2008.
Amaro Said he hates to leave his team, but opportunity was too good to pass up. "Can't believe it's all over for me."
- Don Williams (@AJ_DonWilliams) December 31, 2013
MORE HOLIDAY BOWL CONTENT:
Prosper product tosses four TDs as Texas Tech upsets Arizona State in Holiday Bowl
Four keys to victory for Texas A&M, Duke in Chick-fil-A Bowl and final predictionIn yet another twitlonger goodbye post, Yunktis, the former #1 PC team, disbands after barely not making finals. I spoke to Sixquatre to get a bit more information on why the team disbanded and here's what he had to say
We gave everything in season 2 to go from zero to hero, and I've asked so much from my teammates. We arrived at some point in S2 where we were even unhappy when we were not winning 5 - 0 (just watch our face in the VOD finals after beating FlipSid3 in semi...).
Perfectionism is good, but also has a huge drawback : you remove one of the essence of the game, which is to have fun. You can put that "fun aspect" away for a bit while focusing on being the best team in the world. But what happen then? When you've won? I don't really remember me appreciating what we'd just achieved (the fact that there is almost no break between Pro League seasons doesn't help...). I remember me, 2 days after the finals, already saying to my mate "Well guys, this is our new practice calendar". Where is the fun in that? But we found what was needed during the 3 first matches of the season (our only 3 victories).
Then well, some decisions poorly taken by ESL, a meta changing patch mid-season by Ubisoft and a failed Summer cup (NDLR : French championship) final (were we finished second) really broke the last pieces of motivation that Yunktis players were giving to the team / the pro league / the game. Then we just played to play, and the less motivation my mates were showing, the more severe I was. This was endless. So I decided to go with the flow and see what will happen in the end. This is the end. "Yunktis Captain" was written in the back of my shirt. So "Why did Yunktis disband"? I'll take that responsibility.About a month ago, the Obama administration released its enrollment totals for the Affordable Care Act, offering data that covered just the first month of the open-enrollment period. Given the systemic problems with healthcare.gov, the figures were expected to fall far short of projections, and they did – 106,185 consumers signed up for health insurance through an exchange in October, and only about a quarter of that total signed up by way of the federal marketplace.
The totals were vastly improved in November. Sarah Kliff reports this morning:
Just about 1.2 million people have gained health coverage through Obamacare, according to new federal data released Wednesday morning. Approximately 365,000 of those people have purchased private insurance and 803,000 have been determined to be eligible for the public Medicaid program. These numbers count data from both October and November, and show an especially quick growth in HealthCare.gov enrollment…. Enrollment through the federal exchange grew from about 27,000 people in October to 137,000 through the end of November. […] In the 14 states running their own exchanges, sign-ups went from 79,000 in the first month up to 227,000 for the two months together.
The full HHS report is available to the public here (pdf). Note that the enrollment totals do not include 1.9 million Americans who have not yet selected a plan, but who’ve gone through the eligibility process. Also note, these totals include the period before the darn website got fixed.
The Affordable Care Act’s detractors will, of course, be quick to note that the administration’s projected enrollment numbers, released before consumers could sign up, expected to be further along by now. That’s true. That said, (a) website troubles got the process off to a slow start; (b) this is what always happens with the rollout of a federal project of this scope; (c) growth from October to November was tremendous, and December is likely to be even better; and (d) the White House expected enrollment to start slow and then pick up speed, and that’s what’s happening.
For that matter, let’s also not forget the contradictory nature of the right’s complaints. About 1.2 million people have now gotten coverage through “Obamacare,” but for Republicans, that number is both too high and too low – it’s too high because conservatives would prefer that total to be zero, and it’s too low because the right expects the administration to meet its pre-launch targets. For those interested in a serious debate, the criticism is hard to take seriously.
Finally, as the enrollment figure grows more quickly, the GOP’s repeal crusade dies more quickly, too. As we discussed last week, the fight over health care is no longer an abstraction over hypothetical benefits. There’s a profound difference between “Republicans are voting to deny you a benefit you don’t yet enjoy” and “Republicans are voting to take away your health insurance and replace it with nothing.” The former struck GOP officials as plausible; the latter is politically suicidal.The Google Store keeps running promos on the Chromecast, Chromecast Audio, and sometimes the Google Home, but this has to be one of the best we've seen yet. For the past few weeks, you could get $15 off when buying a Google Home and Chromecast, but that deal wasn't even good enough for us to post. Now, however, you can take $35 off the combo, essentially making the Chromecast free.
When you head over to the US Google Store, you'll be able to add a Google Home ($129) and either a Chromecast ($35) or Chromecast Audio ($35 - the $30 price only applies if you purchase the Audio by itself) to your cart. The $35 discount will be applied automatically, so your total will amount to $129, i.e. the price of Home alone. Ha!
The offer is valid from today, February 26, 2017 12am PT until March 18, 2017 at 11:59pm PT. So you have a few weeks to make up your mind and bring some smarts into your home or business. And remember, since anyone can order from the US Google Store (even if they live overseas), all you need is a friend or an address in the US to benefit from the deal.Overall, she has won 37 WTA Titles, 13 in singles and 24 in doubles. In singles, she reached a career-high ranking of world No. 3 in May 2006, and reached the semifinals of the French Open in 2003 and 2005, and won Tier I tournaments: Charleston 2006, Berlin 2006 as well as Tokyo 2012. In doubles, Petrova won the year-ending WTA Championships in 2004 with Meghann Shaughnessy, and in 2012 with Maria Kirilenko. With Kirilenko, she also won the bronze medal in the women's doubles at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Petrova is an all-court aggressive player who is capable of hitting winners off both wings, but particularly off her back-hand and which she hits flat and with slice. Petrova's serve is considered her biggest asset and one of the best serves in the women's game. In 2010, she hit the most aces on the tour with 306. She had an impressive 70% of first serve points won and also won over 74% of her service games. As an accomplished doubles player, Petrova's volleying skills are considered exceptional and she is not afraid to come into the net to finish off points. Petrova's main weakness is her movement around the court as she is often slow to retrieve balls and can sometimes struggle to defend well during rallies. Also, her forehand is sometimes erratic and can produce many unforced errors. Petrova states hard courts as her preferred surface, however, she has been most successful on clay courts where she can dictate play easier because it gives her more time on the ball. She is known for her unpredictability and inconsistency.
Petrova was born in Moscow. Her parents were both very athletic: her father Viktor was a leading hammer thrower, while her mother Nadezhda Ilyina won a bronze medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics in the 400 meter relay. Her father is still an athletics coach, and her mother was an athletics coach until her death in 2013. As a child, Nadia did a lot of travelling around the world with her parents. She eventually settled in Egypt, where she trained with Mohammed Saif and her parents.
Early career Edit
As a junior, Petrova won the 1998 French Open, beating Jelena Dokić in the final.[1] The same year she finished runner-up at the Orange Bowl to Elena Dementieva and she also finished runner-up at the junior 1999 US Open to Lina Krasnoroutskaya. In May 1998, she played her first WTA tournament at the J&S Cup as a wildcard entrant. She also received a wildcard for her home event in Moscow, the Kremlin Cup, where she picked up her first top twenty win over Iva Majoli. By the end of 1999, Petrova had reached the top 100.
In 2000, she reached the third round of the Australian Open and the quarterfinals of the Ericsson Open, beating Julie Halard-Decugis for her first top ten win before losing to Lindsay Davenport. She finished the season at No. 50. She reached the fourth round of both French Open and the US Open in 2001 and her ranking hit a high of No. 38 during the season. However, her 2002 season was marred by injuries causing her ranking to drop out of the top 100.
2003–2004: First Grand Slam Semi-Final and Top 10 Ranking Edit
At the 2003 Australian Open, Petrova defeated Gréta Arn 6–2, 6–1 and then defeated 21st seed Ai Sugiyama 6–4, 6–4 in the second round. Petrova then lost to world No. 15 Patty Schnyder 2–6, 6–4, 3–6 in the third round.
Petrova was ranked world No. 76 going into the French Open. In the first round she beat the three-time champion and world No. 12 Monica Seles 6–4, 6–0, on what was to be Seles' last professional match. She then defeated Silvija Talaja 6–1, 6–1 and Marissa Irvin 6–1, 6–1 to reach the fourth round. Here, Petrova stunned 7th seed Jennifer Capriati 6–3, 4–6, 6–3. In the quarterfinals, Petrova won again in three sets over 21st seed Vera Zvonareva 6–1, 4–6, 6–3 to reach her first ever Grand Slam semifinal. Petrova faced world No. 2, Kim Clijsters, and despite having a set point in the first set, Petrova was beaton in straight sets 7–5, 6–1. Despite this, Petrova's ranking increased to world No. 30.
Petrova reached the semifinals of S'Hertogenbosch, defeating Elena Dementieva en route but lost to world No. 3 Justine Henin in three sets. At the Wimbledon Championships, Petrova was seeded 29th and made it to the third round before losing to Venus Williams 1–6, 2–6.
Petrova was seeded 19th at the US Open and defeated 14th seed Amanda Coetzer 6–0, 6–1 in the third round. In the fourth round, Petrova lost to 3rd seed Lindsay Davenport 0–6, 7–6(6), 2–6. Petrova continued her success by reaching the semifinals of Zurich, beating world No. 8 and US Open finalist before losing to Henin 4–6, 4–6.
The following week in Linz, Petrova beat Paola Suárez and Patty Schnyder to reach her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour final. However, she fell to Ai Sugiyama 5–7, 4–6. Petrova ended 2003 ranked world No. 12 with a 45–23 singles record.
Petrova reached her second WTA final at Gold Coast, losing once again to Ai Sugiyama 6–1, 1–6, 4–6. She was upset in the first round of the 2004 Australian Open to Anikó Kapros, losing 3–6, 3–6.
In March 2004, she hit the top ten at No. 9 after reaching the semifinals of the Tier 1 NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami. She reached the semifinals at the Bausch & Lomb Championships, beating second-seeded Serena Williams before losing to Lindsay Davenport. After this, her ranking elevated to a career high of No. 7. However, she failed to defend her semifinal points from the 2003 French Open, losing to Marlene Weingärtner in the third round 3–6, 2–6.
At the US Open, she pulled off the biggest win of her career by defeating world No. 1 and defending champion Justine Henin 6–3, 6–2 in the fourth round. It was Petrova's first victory over a world No. 1. She lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–7, 3–6.
Petrova reached the semifinals of Linz, losing to Elena Bovina in three sets. She also reached the semifinals of Philadelphia, losing to Vera Zvonareva. She finished the year ranked world No. 12 with a 40–25 singles record.
2005: First Career Title and Top 10 Finish Edit
Petrova reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, losing to the eventual champion Serena Williams, in three sets. She reached her third career final at the Qatar Total German Open in May, beating Mary Pierce, Amélie Mauresmo and Jelena Janković, before losing to Justine Henin. Her ranking rose to No. 9, where she stayed for the next two years before dropping out in May 2007.
At the French Open, Petrova defeated 17-year-old Ana Ivanovic in the quarterfinals before losing to Henin-Hardenne 6–2, 6–3 in the semifinals; her performance at the tournament saw her ranking rise to world No. 8. A few weeks later at Wimbledon, she reached the quarterfinals before losing to defending champion Maria Sharapova 6–7, 3–6. After Wimbledon, she reached five straight quarterfinals at Los Angeles, Toronto, the US Open, Luxembourg, and Filderstadt.
Petrova finally won her first title at the Generali Ladies Linz held in Linz, Austria. She beat Patty Schnyder in the final. Her successful season meant she qualified for the Sony Ericsson Championships in Los Angeles. She ended 2005 ranked world No. 9, her first top ten finish.
2006: Top-3 ranking Edit
At the Australian Open, Petrova was seeded sixth and defeated Sophie Ferguson, Martina Müller, Maria Elena Camerin, and Elena Vesnina on her way to her first quarterfinal at the Australian Open. She lost to fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova, 6–7(4), 4–6 in the quarterfinals.
At the Qatar Total Open, Petrova picked up her first title of the year and second overall by beating second-ranked and top-seeded Amélie Mauresmo, 6–3, 7–5, in the final. The victory took her ranking to No. 7. She followed it with a quarterfinal showing at the NASDAQ-100 Open, losing to Mauresmo, 3–6, 1–6.
Petrova then began a run that would take her to three titles, winning fifteen straight matches. At the Bausch & Lomb Championships, she defeated Francesca Schiavone in the final to pick up her third title in the past six months. One week later, she won her second straight title and fourth overall at the Family Circle Cup with a victory over Patty Schnyder.[2]
She next entered the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, defeating Justine Henin.[3] With this win, she ascended to her career-high ranking of No. 3.
However, Petrova was defeated in the first round of the French Open by Akiko Morigami, 2–6, 2–6. This may have been caused by an ankle injury Petrova suffered during training for the tournament. She then withdrew from Wimbledon and did not win a match in the US Open Series, going 0–3. At the US Open, Petrova was upset in the third round by Tatiana Golovin.
At the Stuttgart, Petrova won her first tournament title since the Qatar Telecom German Open in May 2006. She then continued her return to form by reaching the final of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, losing to Russian Anna Chakvetadze.
At the Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid in November 2006, her lone victory was over top-ranked Amélie Mauresmo, 6–2, 6–2. She finished the year at No. 6.
2007 Edit
At the Australian Open, she reached the third round, before falling to Serena Williams, the eventual champion, after holding a 5–3 lead in the second set.
Nadia Petrova at the 2007 Australian Open
At the Open Gaz de France in Paris, Petrova picked up her seventh tour title and first of the season by beating Lucie Šafářová. Petrova reached the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, losing to Justine Henin. Petrova then reached the final in Amelia Island, losing to Tatiana Golovin.
She was the eleventh-seeded player at the French Open, but lost to Květa Peschke, 5–7, 7–5, 0–6. After the loss, she claimed that the lower-back pain had been bothering her. It was her second consecutive first-round loss at the French Open because of injury. At Wimbledon, Petrova lost to Ana Ivanovic 1–6, 6–2, 4–6 in the fourth round.
In the 2007 Fed Cup tie against the USA in July, Petrova played a pivotal role in securing the victory for her team. While losing on the first day against Venus Williams, she won her singles match against Meilen Tu on the second day, and then teamed with Elena Vesnina to beat Williams and Lisa Raymond in the decisive doubles rubber.[4]
At the JPMorgan Chase Open, Petrova reached her third final of the year, losing to Ana Ivanovic in straight sets. At the US Open, Petrova was seeded seventh, but lost to Ágnes Szávay, 4–6, 4–6. The loss meant that she had not gone past the fourth round of any Grand Slam tournament all year, the first time since 2002.
She finished 2007 ranked No. 14, her lowest year-end ranking in five years.
2008 Edit
Petrova started her 2008 season on a two-match losing streak going into the Australian Open, losing in the first round in Gold Coast as the second seed to Tathiana Garbin, 7–5, 5–7, 3–6, and in Sydney 5–7, 3–6 to Sybille Bammer. She still managed to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open though as the 14th seed with wins over Nicole Pratt, Anne Kremer, and Ekaterina Makarova, all in straight sets. There she played Agnieszka Radwańska of Poland, who beat her 6–1, 5–7, 0–6. Petrova held a 6–1, 3–0 lead and looked to be on her way to an easy victory. In the third set, she won just four points.
At the Open Gaz de France in Paris, Petrova was the defending champion and seeded fifth, but lost in the first round to Kateryna Bondarenko, 6–7(4), 6–3, 4–6. Petrova retired in her first–round match at the 2008 Qatar Total Open against Anabel Medina Garrigues due to an upset stomach while trailing 2–6, 2–1. At Dubai, she lost 4–6, 4–6 to Katarina Srebotnik.
Petrova's injuries continued to strike -when she was forced to retire in the second round of Miami with a right quad strain while trailing 1–2 in the first set against Zheng Jie.
At the German Open in Berlin, Petrova returned to action as the 16th seed and defeated Katarina Srebotnik, 7–6(5), 3–6, 7–6(2), in the first round, before losing in the second round to Maria Kirilenko, 3–6, 3–6. Petrova was once again defeated by Kirilenko in the first round of Rome, but this time in three sets, 6–3, 5–7, 4–6. At her final warm-up tournament in Istanbul, Nadia was seeded third and got past Lilia Osterloh- in the first round and Marta Domachowska- in the second round. She lost to Akgul Amanmuradova, 6–7(0), 6–1, 4–6, in the quarterfinals.
Petrova won the 2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open beating Nathalie Dechy in the final
These losses put Petrova in poor stead going into the French Open. As the 25th seed, she beat Aravane Rezaï and Alisa Kleybanova in straight sets, before being thrashed by Svetlana Kuznetsova, 2–6, 1–6.
Petrova's grass season began at Eastbourne, where she reached her first final of the year showing good form. She was beaten in a close match by Pole Agnieszka Radwańska, 4–6, 7–6(11), 4–6.
At Wimbledon, Petrova was 21st seed and was on track after wins over Olga Govortsova and Mara Santangelo. Petrova then pulled off an excellent win over the in-form teenager and 16th seed Victoria Azarenka in the third round. In the fourth round, she faced unseeded Alla Kudrayatseva who just came off a win over third seed Maria Sharapova; Petrova won to reach her second quarterfinal at Wimbledon. This was also the first time that Petrova had reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal since the 2006 Australian Open. She lost a cracker two and a half hour marathon match against the fifth seed Elena Dementieva, 1–6, 7–6(6), 3–6. Petrova rallied from 6–1, 5–2 down and saved match points throughout the second set, but eventually lost the match in the third set. Her ranking improved to world No. 17 after the tournament.
Bouncing back from a first-round defeat at Stanford to Dominika Cibulková, Petrova reached the quarterfinals at Los Angeles, defeating fifth seed Vera Zvonareva en route, before losing to Jelena Janković, 5–7, 4–6. At Montreal, she again suffered a surprise defeat by Cibulková in the third round, this time losing 6–7(2), 2–6.
Nadia then played in Cincinnati, as she did not gain entry into the Olympics because she was not in the top-four ranked Russian players at the time. After easy wins over Galina Voskoboeva, Julie Ditty, and Lilia Osterloh, Petrova once again found herself up against Maria Kirilenko for a place in the final. This time though, Petrova was victorious, coming back from a set down to win, 1–6, 6–2, 6–1. Petrova then thrashed Nathalie Dechy, 6–2, 6–1, in the final to win her first title of the year and the eighth of her career.
Petrova was in good form heading into the final Grand Slam tournament of the year at the US Open. Petrova was seeded 19th and beat Olivia Sanchez in the first round and Hsieh Su-wei in the second. Petrova was ousted, 4–6, 6–4, 6–3, by the 16th seed Flavia Pennetta in the third round.
Petrova bounced back to good form at the Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic. Seeded fourth, Nadia defeated fifth seed Francesca Schiavone in the quarterfinals, but she lost in the semifinals to second seed and eventual champion Patty Schnyder, 5–7, 1–6.
At the Toray Pan Pacific Open, Petrova was unseeded, but beat two top–10 players, Ana Ivanovic, the second seed in the second round and Agnieszka Radwańska to reach the semifinals, where she lost 1–6, 0–6 to Dinara Safina, the eventual champion. At Stuttgart, she reached her third final of the season, after an impressive run, beating Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, Patty Schnyder, Li Na, and Victoria Azarenka in straight sets. She failed to win the title, this time losing to Jelena Janković, the world No. 2, 4–6, 3–6. Despite not winning the title, Petrova's ranking moved back into the
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center of the record is much smaller it would a higher resolution than the outer groove, unfortunately, this extra precision goes to waste because the printer has constant DPI across the entire surface of the record. Eventually, I hope to decrease the angular sampling rate of the inner grooves to save storage space and pack as much audio into the STL file as possible.A DUP MP has been barred for speaking in the Northern Assembly for two days after he ridiculed the Irish language for the second time in less than six months.
Gregory Campbell is no stranger to controversy surrounding the Irish language.
Last November he made headlines after poking fun at it during a debate in the Northern Assembly.
He said “Curry my yoghurt can coca coalyer” when asked to speak, mocking the Irish phrase “Go raibh maith agat, Ceann Comhairle” which means “thank you, chairperson”.
This also led to a two-day speaking ban in the Assembly. However, Campbell was in Westminster at the time so it had no effect on him.
Yesterday he was again denied his speaking rights for two days after he yawned loudly twice when Sinn Féin MLA Caitríona Ruane spoke in Irish on March 16.
Ruane lodged a complaint last week after she had used Irish to answer a question put by Campbell.
Campbell said, “I think this complaint is absurd. An attempt is being made to censor me for yawning!
The Speaker has every right to make decisions regarding order in the Chamber however if he is going to enforce when and how people yawn, his workload will increase significantly.
“Given the allegations about Sinn Fein’s lack of leadership when it comes to exposing murder and sexual abuse, it is strange that her main concern is my yawning. This shows where SF’s priorities really lie.”
The MPs actions are being criticised by many on social media:
Whoops! We couldn't find this Tweet
what doesn't Gregory Campbell go the whole schoolboy hog and fart every time someone speaks in Irish? He operates at that level. — demonson (@mortfest) March 24, 2015 Source: demonson /Twitter
What nobody has asked is did Gregory Campbell yawn in Irish or English? Surely that's the real issue here. — Jake O'Kane (@JakeOKane) March 24, 2015 Source: Jake O'Kane /Twitter
Gregory Campbell has previously said that he’d treat an Irish Language Act as “toilet paper.”
The MP received a death threat two days after he provoked the anger of some republicans with remarks about the Irish language last November.IDEAS Gary Hart is a former United States senator
Four qualities have distinguished republican government from ancient Athens forward: the sovereignty of the people; a sense of the common good; government dedicated to the commonwealth; and resistance to corruption. Measured against the standards established for republics from ancient times, the American Republic is massively corrupt.
From Plato and Aristotle forward, corruption was meant to describe actions and decisions that put a narrow, special, or personal interest ahead of the interest of the public or commonwealth. Corruption did not have to stoop to money under the table, vote buying, or even renting out the Lincoln bedroom. In the governing of a republic, corruption was self-interest placed above the interest of all—the public interest.
By that standard, can anyone seriously doubt that our republic, our government, is corrupt? There have been Teapot Domes and financial scandals of one kind or another throughout our nation’s history. There has never been a time, however, when the government of the United States was so perversely and systematically dedicated to special interests, earmarks, side deals, log-rolling, vote-trading, and sweetheart deals of one kind or another.
What brought us to this? A sinister system combining staggering campaign costs, political contributions, political action committees, special interest payments for access, and, most of all, the rise of the lobbying class.
Worst of all, the army of lobbyists that started relatively small in the mid-twentieth century has now grown to big battalions of law firms and lobbying firms of the right, left, and an amalgam of both. And that gargantuan, if not reptilian, industry now takes on board former members of the House and the Senate and their personal and committee staffs. And they are all getting fabulously rich.
This development in recent years has been so insidious that it now goes without notice. The key word is not quid-pro-quo bribery, the key word is access. In exchange for a few moments of the senator’s time and many more moments of her committee staff’s time, fund-raising events with the promise of tens, even hundreds, of thousands of dollars are delivered.
Corruption in a federated republic such as ours operates vertically as well as horizontally. Seeing how business is conducted in Washington, it did not take long for governors of both parties across the country to subscribe to the special-interest state. Both the Republican and Democratic governors’ associations formed “social welfare” organizations composed of wealthy interests and corporate executives to raise money for their respective parties in exchange for close, personal access to individual governors, governors who almost surely could render executive decisions favorable to those corporate interests. A series of judicial decisions enabled these “social welfare” groups, supposedly barred from political activity, to channel virtually unlimited amounts of money to governors in exchange for access, the political coin of the realm in the corrupted republic, and to do so out of sight of the American people. Editorially, the New York Times commented that “the stealthy form of political corruption known as ‘dark money’ now fully permeates governor’s offices around the country, allowing corporations to push past legal barriers and gather enormous influence.”
Frustrated, irate discussions of this legalized corruption are met in the Washington media with a shrug. So what? Didn’t we just have dinner with that lobbyist for the banking industry, or the teachers’ union, or the airline industry at that well-known journalist’s house only two nights ago? Fine lady, and she used to be the chairman of one of those powerful committees. I gather she is using her Rolodex rather skillfully on behalf of her new clients. Illegal? Not at all. Just smart... and so charming.
There is little wonder that Americans of the right and many in the middle are apoplectic at their government and absolutely, and rightly, convinced that the game of government is rigged in favor of the elite and the powerful. Occupiers see even more wealth rising to the top at the expense of the poor and the middle class. And Tea Partiers believe their tax dollars are going to well-organized welfare parasites and government bureaucrats.
Recent months have seen, in effect, the legalization of Watergate. Who would have thought, forty years after the greatest political scandal and presidential abuse of power in U.S. history, that the Supreme Court of the United States would rule the practices that financed that scandal were now legal?
That is essentially the effect of the Citizens United decision. Bets may be taken as to the length of time that will expire before this tsunami of political money ends up in the pockets of break-in burglars, wiretap experts, surveillance magicians, and cyberpunks. Given the power and money at stake in presidential and congressional elections, it is inevitable that candidates or their operatives with larceny in their hearts will tap into the hundreds of millions of dollars that their campaigns are awash in to game the system in highly illegal ways.
And, of course, the ultimate victims of the corruption of the democratic process are not defeated candidates and parties but America’s citizens. Perhaps Supreme Court justices should have to experience a corrupted election process firsthand to recognize a hollowed-out democracy. As one who experienced Watergate in its multi-tentacled form, I know it is not pleasant to be placed under surveillance, to have your taxes audited, and to experience dirty tricks. All this happened to me, among a number of others, simply because we worked for an honest presidential candidate who dared challenge the authority and power of a president who had long since forgotten the integrity the democratic process requires.
The advent of legalized corruption launched by the Supreme Court empowers the superrich to fund their own presidential and congressional campaigns as pet projects, to foster pet policies, and to represent pet political enclaves. You have a billion, or even several hundred million, then purchase a candidate from the endless reserve bench of minor politicians and make him or her a star, a mouthpiece for any cause or purpose however questionable, and that candidate will mouth your script in endless political debates and through as many television spots as you are willing to pay for. All legal now.
To compound the political felony, much, if not most, campaign financing is now carried out in secret, so that everyday citizens have a decreasing ability to determine to whom their elected officials are beholden and to whom they must now give special access. As recently as the 2014 election, the facts documented this government of influence by secrecy: “More than half of the general election advertising aired by outside groups in the battle for control of Congress,” according to the New York Times, “has come from organizations that disclose little or nothing about their donors, a flood of secret money that is now at the center of a debate over the line between free speech and corruption.”
The five prevailing Supreme Court justices, holding that a legal entity called a corporation has First Amendment rights of free speech, might at least have required the bought-and-paid-for candidates to wear sponsor labels on their suits as stock-car drivers do. Though, for the time being, sponsored candidates will not be openly promoted by Exxon-Mobil or the Stardust Resort and Casino but by phony “committees for good government” smokescreens.
To add to the profound misdirection of American politics by the Supreme Court, we now have what might be called convergence in the garden of government influence.
Back in the 1960s Flannery O’Connor wrote the short story “Everything That Rises Must Converge.” It had to do with generational insensitivity between a mother and son, and between generations on the issue of race in society. In reading a piece by Thomas B. Edsall (“The Lobbyist in the Gray Flannel Suit,” New York Times, May 14, 2012), this title came to mind in a totally different context. The context is the lobbying maze in Washington and the convergence of dozens of noxious weeds in the garden of government into a handful of giant predator thornbushes now devouring that garden.
Of this handful, the largest by far is WPP (originally called Wire and Plastic Products; is there a metaphor here?), which has its headquarters in London and more than 150,000 employees in 2,500 offices spread around 107 countries. It, together with one or two conglomerating competitors, represents a fourth branch of government, vacuuming up former senators and House members and their spouses and families, key committee staff, former senior administration officials of both parties and several administrations, and ambassadors, diplomats, and retired senior military officers.
WPP has swallowed giant public relations, advertising, and lobbying outfits such as Hill & Knowlton and BursonMarsteller, along with dozens of smaller members of the highly lucrative special interest and influence-manipulation world. Close behind WPP is the Orwellian-named Omnicom Group and another converger vaguely called the Interpublic Group of Companies. According to Mr. Edsall, WPP had billings last year of $72.3 billion, larger than the budgets of quite a number of countries.
With a budget so astronomical, think how much good WPP can do in the campaign finance arena, especially since the Citizens United decision. The possibilities are almost limitless. Why pay for a senator or congresswoman here or there when you can buy an entire committee? Think of the banks that can be bailed out, the range of elaborate weapons systems that can be sold to the government, the protection from congressional scrutiny that can be paid for, the economic policies that can be manipulated.
The lobbying business is no longer about votes up or down on particular measures that may emerge in Congress or policies made in the White House. It is about setting agendas, deciding what should and should not be brought up for hearings and legislation. We have gone way beyond mere vote buying now. The converging Influence World represents nothing less than an unofficial but enormously powerful fourth branch of government.
To whom is this branch of government accountable? Who sets the agenda for its rising army of influence marketers? How easy will it be to not only go from office to a lucrative lobbying job but, more important, from lucrative lobbying job to holding office? Where are its loyalties if it is manipulating and influencing governments around the world? Other than as a trough of money of gigantic proportions, how does it view the government of the United States?
America’s founders knew one thing: The republics of history all died when narrow interests overwhelmed the common good and the interests of the commonwealth.
O’Connor took her story title from a belief of the French Jesuit philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Teilhard de Chardin believed that all good would rise and that all that rose would eventually converge. We pray that he was right for, at the present moment, we have only prayer and no evidence. In the realm of twenty-first-century American politics, the opposite is surely coming true.
Welcome to the Age of Vanity politics and campaigns-for-hire featuring candidates who repeat their sponsored messages like ice-cream-truck vendors passing through the neighborhood. If the current Supreme Court had been sitting during Watergate in 1974, it would not have voted 9–0 to require the president to turn over legally incriminating tapes but instead would have voted to support the use of illegal campaign contributions to finance criminal cover-ups as an exercise in “free speech.”
What would our founders make of this nightmare of corruption? We only know, in Thomas Jefferson’s case, for example, that his distrust of central government had to do with the well-founded and prescient suspicion that its largesse would go to powerful and influential interests, especially financiers, who knew how to manipulate both the government and the financial markets. In particular, Jefferson envisioned sophisticated bankers speculating in public-debt issues with some if not all the interest incurred going into their pockets.
He was way ahead of his time. The limits of his imagination would not have encompassed the early twenty-first-century financial world where vast sums of money are manipulated like the world’s greatest three-card-monte game and nothing tangible is being produced—except fees and more money. Even the titans ruling over this game confessed, after the 2008 financial collapse, that they did not know what collateralized debt obligations, bundled derivatives, and other tricky instruments devised by clever twenty-eight-year-olds were about. All they knew was how to respond to their industry lobbyists’ requests for very large contributions to compliant members of congressional finance committees and to do so quickly and often. And they did get their money’s worth.
The scope and scale of this genuine scandal (as distinguished from vastly more mundane behavior that passes for scandal in the media) is the single greatest threat to our form of government. It is absolutely incompatible with the principles and ideals upon which America was founded. At the very least, we Americans cannot hold ourselves up to the world as the beacon of democracy so long as we permit, as long as we acquiesce in, corruption so far beyond the standards of the true republic that our government cannot be proclaimed an ideal for other aspiring nations.
On a more personal level, how can public service be promoted as an ideal to young people when this sewer corrupts our Republic? At this point in early twenty-first-century America, the greatest service our nation’s young people could provide is to lead an army of outraged young Americans armed with brooms on a crusade to sweep out the rascals and rid our capital of the money changers, rent seekers, revolving door dancers, and special interest deal makers and power brokers and send them back home to make an honest living, that is, if they still remember how to do so.
What angers truly patriotic Americans is that this entire Augean stable is legal. Even worse, recent Supreme Court decisions placing corporations under the First Amendment protection of free speech for political purposes compounds the tragedy of American democracy. For all practical political purposes, the government of the United States is for sale to the highest bidder.
A harsh judgment? Indeed. But it is impossible to claim to love one’s country and not be outraged at how corrupt it has become. For former senators and representatives to trade a title given them by the voters of their respective states and districts for cash is beyond shameful. It is outrageous.
“I tremble for my country when I contemplate that God is just.” Those words of Thomas Jefferson, enshrined on the walls of his memorial, referred to the institution of slavery. Today he might readily render the same judgment about corruption in and of the American Republic.
Imagine if you will the response of George Washington, James Madison, Jefferson, John Adams, and even the financial pragmatist Alexander Hamilton were they to observe today’s lobbyists at work, especially former government officials, organizing fund-raising events and delivering bundles of checks. They would be appalled. Even more, they would be ashamed.
Can this bazaar of special interest stalls in the halls of Congress, the money changers in the temple of democracy, be justified by the realities of modern times? If so, it is not readily apparent how. America can be a mass democracy of 330 million people. It is engaged commercially, diplomatically, and militarily all over the world. We live in an age of instant communication and international travel. The amounts of money involved in administering our government are staggering, with appreciably more zeros than even in the 1970s and ’80s. But none of these facts lift the burden of ethics in public life, what the founders called virtue, from the shoulders of public servants.
It is an error of serious proportion to dismiss corruption in twenty-first-century American democracy on the grounds that this has all been going on from the beginning, that boys will be boys, that politicians are always on the take. Past incidents of the violation of public ethics provide no argument for accepting the systemic and cancerous commercialization of modern American politics.
For that is what it is. Political office, public service, and engagement in governance must not be monetized. Even if no laws are broken, even if a public servant can walk out the door one day and cash in his or her experience and title for cash the next, that does not make it right. Everything strictly legal is not therefore ethical. When the founders discussed virtue, they were harking back to ancient Athens and the ideal of the republic. And, as scholars of ancient Greek and Roman political texts, they knew in their minds and in their hearts that a republic with leaders who lacked virtue would not long survive.
That is the issue. With the dubious endorsement by the Supreme Court of the United States, which will have its own history to answer to, using First Amendment protection of free speech to legitimize the most egregious violations of the principles of the republic is to invite the eventual erosion of the ideal of the American Republic, to reduce this great nation and its heritage to the worst kind of mundane governance, to prostitute a noble experiment on the altar of expediency and greed, and to leave coming generations to ponder what went wrong.
“Just because it is legal doesn’t make it right” should be carved above every congressional doorway, every cabinet department, and even the White House itself. Contrast the fact that upon returning to Independence, Missouri, in 1953, Harry Truman refused to take even a pencil from the White House (“It didn’t belong to me,” he said, by way of explanation) with modern presidents whose political networks have graciously waited until they departed the White House to make them rich.
Though quaintly used in recent times to denote proper behavior for ladies, virtue as applied to public service is a powerful standard. It genuinely does require having no personal interest in the public’s business, not only at the time one is involved in decision making but also thereafter. The fact that many former presidents and prime ministers of European democracies have enriched themselves in questionable ways after leaving office does not justify similar behavior on the part of American politicians. We hold ourselves to a higher standard.
Our ancestors did not depart Europe and elsewhere to seek freedom and self-government alone. They came to these shores to escape social and political systems that were corrosive and corrupt. Two and a quarter centuries later, we are returning to those European practices. We are in danger of becoming a different kind of nation, one our founders would not recognize and would deplore.
Even as politicians and pundits alike pummel the fiscal deficit, we are developing an integrity deficit of mounting proportions. And one is not disconnected from the other. Because of the erosion of the integrity of our governing system, and the principles and ideals underlying it, the fiscal deficit increases. The government spending so many conservatives claim to abhor includes not only the social safety net of Roosevelt and Johnson, but also the war-making excursions of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. It is all government spending. And it includes favorite pork-barrel projects of every member of both houses of Congress of both political parties, and every one of those most loudly condemning “wasteful government spending.” Those projects are produced by the lobbying interests that raise money for those members of Congress in direct proportion to their effectiveness at bringing government-financed projects to their states and districts. By definition, if it is a project in my state or district, it is not wasteful.
Restoration of the Republic of Conscience requires reduction and eventual elimination of the integrity deficit. Virtue, the disinterestedness of our elected officials, must replace political careerism and special interests. The national interest, what is best for our country and coming generations, must replace struggles for power, bitter partisanship, and ideological rigidity. This is not dreamy idealism; it is an idealism rooted in the original purpose of this nation.
We were not created to be like other nations. We were created as an alternative to monarchy, aristocracy, oligarchy, and corrupt political systems. The more we follow the easy path, the one paved for the benefit of the wealthy and powerful, the more we stray from our originally intended purpose and the more we lose our unique purpose for existence.
Will America continue to offer a comfortable life for many? I hope so. Will we continue to have a strong army? If we are willing to pay for it, yes. Will we continue to provide the world’s entertainment? I presume so. But these are not the real questions.
The question is: By adhering to its highest principles and ideals, will America continue to have the moral authority to lead all people of goodwill? The answer remains to be seen. And that answer will have much to do with whether we have the courage to drive the money changers from the temple of democracy and recapture government of the people, for the people, and by the people.
In addition to the rise of the national security state, and the concentration of wealth and power in America, no development in modern times sets us apart more from the nation originally bequeathed to us than the rise of the special interest state. There is a Gresham’s law related to the republican ideal. Bad politics drives out good politics. Legalized corruption drives men and women of stature, honor, and dignity out of the halls of government. Self-respecting individuals cannot long tolerate a system of election and reelection so dependent on cultivating the favor of those known to expect access in return. Such a system is corrosive to the soul.
Some years back a prominent senator was fond of saying with regard to the relatively modest lobbying influence of the day: “If I can’t take their money and drink their whiskey, and then vote against them, I shouldn’t be here.” That was then. And then campaigns cost much less than they do today. Few if any can now claim to take their money and drink their whiskey and vote against them. Anyone who does will soon find closed wallets and fleeing contributors.
Campaign funds now go to feed an army of consultants (or “strategists” in the coinage of the day), media advisors, media producers, television-time buyers, speechwriters, schedulers, advance specialists, crowd raisers, and more specialized campaign bells and whistles than everyday citizens can imagine. Campaigning is a major industry now that consumes hundreds of millions of dollars and, in national campaigns, billions of dollars. Almost all of it goes to the media, the same media whose commentators regularly deplore the costs of campaigns.
The headquarters of the permanent campaign industry in Washington are but a stone’s throw, if that, from the offices of the lobbying firms. The treasurers of most campaigns have only to funnel the checks from lobbyist-bundlers (those who collect bundles of checks) into the accounts of the campaign management companies. It is a great hydra-headed monster, one that is rapidly devouring American democracy.
The significant issue is the effect of this relatively recent conversion of a democratic process to a major industry that devours money. That industry and all it represents is a departure from the American ideal that is different not only in scale but also in kind.
We are not the same country we started out to be. We cannot conduct our political process the way we are doing in the twenty-first century and claim to adhere to our earliest principles. We must decide who we are. And if that decision is to restore our highest ideals, then major changes must be made in the way we elect our presidents and our members of Congress.
Gary Hart is a former United States senator and presidential candidate and the author of 21 books.
From THE REPUBLIC OF CONSCIENCE by Gary Hart. Published by arrangement with Blue Rider Press, a member of Penguin Group USA. Copyright © 2015 by GaryHart.
Contact us at [email protected]’s not news to savvy real estate developers, young artists looking for affordable housing, commuters pushed out by Toronto’s bonkers housing market, or Angelo Mosca, but Hamilton might finally be ready for its close up. Although regarded, at least by down-the-nose Torontonians, as a greaser with a knife in its cuff — a sentiment blithely echoed by Hamilton legend Tom Wilson, who has said that his city was punk rock before punk existed — Lake Ontario’s steeltown finds itself rounding into a vanguard of new expression. Despite — or perhaps, because of — its woolly downtown, rheumatic shoreline and pockmarked history, Hamilton is vastly interesting; Toronto with a fever and the sweats. While the works of Salvatore DiFalco, David Collier and others have mined these veins, it’s still a place largely unwritten about in Canadian letters. Another artist who has identified the city’s narrative protein is Trevor Cole, whose recent book, The Whisky King: The remarkable true story of Canada’s most infamous bootlegger and the undercover Mountie on his trail, dives into an era when Hamilton was a bootlegging hub, filled with rounders, ghouls and thugs.
( Brian Hughes / Toronto Star ) The Whisky King: The remarkable true story of Canada's most infamous bootlegger and the undercover Mountie on his trail, by Trevor Cole, HarperCollins, 512 pages, $34.99. ( HarperCollins ) Trevor Cole, author of The Whisky King: The remarkable true story of Canada's most infamous bootlegger and the undercover Mountie on his trail, HarperCollins. ( Fehn Foss )
Cole tells the story of ambitious mobster and bootlegger Rocco Perri — small, stocky, social and quietly fearsome — and the man who pursued him, a resolute and self-hating Italian immigrant named Frank Zaneth, regarded as the RCMP’s first undercover operative. Both men came to North America from opposite regions in Italy — Perri from the South; Zaneth from the North — and Cole’s portraiture details their upbringing, home life and struggles in the new world alongside the civic evolution of Canada, taking us through the rise of prostitution, crime, gambling and the dance of sin and alcohol, the latter propelling Perri into one of Canada’s most opportunistic, and combative, rum runners. One of The Whisky Kings’s best moments comes when Cole takes us on a spin through Ontario’s prohibition years between 1916 and 1919, and how the Temperance movement created a gin-soaked underground, yielding the blind pigs upon which Perri built his fortune. In Zaneth’s storyline, we find the Mountie going undercover as a union militant during the Winnipeg General strike, an episode that illuminates Canada’s difficult birth as a nation. Both men assumed several alternative identities as a way of concealing their shadow activities; that Cole has deftly charted their ghostly paths is a major achievement here.
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Part of the trick of deeply historical writing is the ability to soar above the story while knowing when to stop and twist the lens so that a detailed view can rise from the surface; a kind of literary Google mapping. Cole’s book provides a vast and officious sweep of Canada at the turn of the century and beyond, and he’s a good lens twister, but it’s not as if you leave the book feeling covered in Hamilton’s factory soot or drowning in the blood of the city’s organized crime. For readers who want their history ably documented, this may be a sturdy point, but I prefer something a bit more fantastic and wild in the storytelling. Nonetheless, the tale — and the times — are compelling enough that you’re hitched once the story gains momentum with the rise of both Perri and the man entrusted to bring him down. While Perri and Zaneth are the main trunks of the story, the book is branched with characters from a John Huston epic: piano-playing wharf rats; Mafia reprobates; fusty councillors; and a handful of cops who can’t shoot straight. It’s a compelling gallery, and the author does his best to tile them into the narrative, yet the book rests with its two principals, who, in the end, come to represent the yin and yang of Southern Ontario, and, perhaps, Canada: one who feels the desire to step across the tracks for whatever awaits him, and one who tugs the other back by their suspenders. And all around them: a sea of drink. Dave Bidini is rhythm guitarist for the Rheostatics; his book, Baseballissimo: My Summer in the Italian Minor Leagues, is being developed for the screen.From around 2006 to 2014, being an Alan Moore fan meant mostly re-reading old comics. Moore wound down his ABC Comics line circa 2005, and more-or-less retired from writing comics. He did some League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comics, Neonomicon, a one-off God Is Dead, and, in non-comics output Moore wrote 25,000 Years of Erotic Freedom and published and contributed to eight issues of Dodgem Logic magazine. There are probably a few things I missed, but during those semi-retirement years, it seems like new Moore material would appear sporadically around once a year, and much of it was not comics.
From 2014 to 2015, Moore’s comics output picked back up with Crossed+100 (Moore’s six-issue run was 2014-2015, and he contributed the series outline for two subsequent Si Spurrier arcs), Big Nemo (2015), and Providence (2015-ongoing.)
Now, 2016 has seen plenty of Alan Moore output. Outside of comics, there have been the Show Pieces DVD, the Unearthing performance film (view trailer), and the 1,300-page novel Jerusalem. In 2016 in Moore comics appeared regularly: Moore-outlined Crossed+100 finished, Providence continued, and Cinema Purgatorio got underway.
But none of that is what I was planning to write about. 2016 has also been a good year for picking up some reprints of hard-to-find early Alan Moore stories. Many of these have been out of print since they appeared in the 1980s. I was lucky enough to have picked up Moore’s long out-of-print Miracleman/Marvelman series when it was first printed in the U.S., then enjoyed additional materials as it was re-printed in 2013-2014. This year I’ve enjoyed my first reading of 1980s-1990s Moore rarities: The Spirit, The Puma Blues, and Monster. I review each of these briefly below.
Will Eisner’s The Spirit: The New Adventures collects issues 1-8 of the 1990s Kitchen Sink comics revival of the famous Will Eisner hero The Spirit. Eisner is one of comics early greats, alongside Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Neal Adams, and others. Eisner did The Spirit for a dozen years, and went on to more-or-less invent the “graphic novel” and contribute to understanding how comics work (work that Scott McCloud subsequently built on.) Eisner allowed for other folks to create Spirit stories in the 1990s, which I missed at the time. Dark Horse apparently collected these in 2009, which I also missed. This year they released a second edition, with some additional newly collected material.
There are four Alan Moore The Spirit stories, all of them very good. Moore is, of course, lovingly referential in following various great Eisner conventions: spelling out The Spirit on splash pages, having The Spirit somewhat tangential to the action, etc.
Three of the Moore stories are essentially one interconnected multi-viewpoint story drawn by Moore’s Watchmen collaborator Dave Gibbons. The story is told in three interconnected pieces, each focuses on different characters who have cameos in other stories. The full flow of the plot is only clear after reading all three stories. I am not sure who originated this storytelling technique; it may be an Alan Moore innovation, or it may be borrowed from other comics, literature or film. This sort of technique has now been used in other comics, including Daniel Clowes in Ice Haven (2005) and Seth Wimbledon Green (2005.) Moore arguably uses somewhat similar convergent multi-viewpoint storytelling in Voice of the Fire, Big Numbers, and Jerusalem (though those are all a little different technique-wise and Tor calls VOTF a “mosaic” novel.)
The fourth Moore story “Last Night I Dreamed of Dr. Cobra.” is a gem, probably the best Alan Moore that I have read this year. It features beautiful artwork by Daniel Torres. It is the story of a now immortal Denny Colt (the secret identity of the The Spirit) revisiting The Spirit’s Central City circa 2050. The 10-page story is a sweet nostalgic love letter to Eisner and early comics, and also about how stories are told and how they change over time. Themes Moore explored in “Cobra” resurface in Crossed+100 and even Jerusalem.
The Spirit collection features plenty of other worthwhile creators: Neil Gaiman, Eddie Campbell, David Lloyd, Brian Bolland, Paul Chadwick and more. Though these new Spirit stories (including later ones by Darwyn Cooke) are mostly good, they often make me want to read more of the original Eisner classics.
Two other 2015-16 Moore obscurities back in print are not quite as worthwhile, but, in the words of Thomas Wolk, “[even Alan Moore’s] most minor and slapdash pieces almost always inform the way I understand his major work.”
The Puma Blues was out of print since the late 1980s, then was recently collected by Dover. (The new collected edition came out in late 2015, I got it early this year and am lumping it in with other 2016 Moore rarities.) It is a 500-page comic saga written by Stephen Murphy and drawn by Michael Zulli. It is a very good comic, both in its overall arc and lush artwork (reminiscent of Barry Smith.) Moore’s contribution is a 4-page 1988 side story entitled “Act of Faith” illustrated by Michael Zulli and Stephen Bissette. The story is sweet and wonderful – an extended analogy for the risks we humans take to mate and love. Probably only Alan Moore completists will purchase a $30 hardback to get their hands on a 4-page story, but it is really worth tracking down.
Monster is another early Moore story (1984) that I hadn’t encountered until it was reissued by 2000AD in July 2016. It is also just one 4-page story, which kicks off the worthwhile 200-page saga. Moore’s story feels a little wordy, especially in contrast to John Wagner chapters that follow, but it is sort of a forerunner of wonderfully wordy comics that followed, including Swamp Thing. Similar to Puma Blues, Monster is worth tracking down, but just don’t expect too many pages of Moore.
I am looking forward to another 2016 book, a collection titled Brighter Than You Think (due in November), that includes ten rare Moore short pieces, though I have already collected nearly all of the stories that are included there.
While I am at it, I’ll just mention some other Moore rarities that I would love to see back in print: various uncollected early UK work including Star Wars stories, uncollected Wildstorm (Youngblood, Violator, Violator vs. Badrock), Real War Stories, American Flagg (see 1985 here), and his work in Meat Cake, Hate, and Honk. These are probably not that difficult to find on eBay, but I am an old-school comics hunter who still likes to sift through sale bins hoping that I will come across a gem now and then.
Moore probably cringes at some of these early works, but reading them for the first time is a still a treat for us die-hard Moore fans.
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Tags: Alan_Moore, comics, Crossed_Plus_One_Hundred, Jerusalem, Monster, Providence, The_Puma_Blues, The_Spirit, Will_EisnerBut that didn't stop Mr Limbaugh "confusing" the two men during a radio diatribe about free market economics, in which he sarcastically referred to the Zimbabwean leader as "Barack Ogabe".
Aside from their similar skin tone, little unites the US president and his Zimbabwean counterpart. One is a democratically elected leader with a 64 per cent approval rating, while the other is a murderous thug.
Conservative political commentator Rush Limbaugh, no stranger to controversy, has come under fire for appearing to compare Barack Obama with brutal African dictator Robert Mugabe.
Click here for an audio recording of Mr Limbaugh's tirade
The pundit's ill-fated economics lecture began: "The standard of living around the world has increased in places where there are basic free markets.
"Where there aren't, of course, the standard of living has declined, such as Zimbabwe... now run by Robert Ogabe. Ah, eh - Mugabe. I was confusing him with a well-known Kenyan named Barack Ogabe. This is Robert Mugabe."
Clearly aware of the maelstrom that his remarks would whip up, the outspoken Republican was mindful to issue a faux apology.
"Please forgive me," Mr Limbaugh chuckled, before aiming another jab at the US president. "Barack Ogabe [and] Robert Mug
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hit fairly well last year:.263/.321/.403 overall, with most of that coming at Double-A. This included a solid.296/.348/.408 showing after he joined the Dodgers organization in June.
He was even better in 2014, when he actually stayed with one organization — the Astros — for a full season. He slashed.298/.345/.376 with 12 steals as a 22-year-old shortstop in Triple-A. Most impressive of all was his minuscule 5% strikeout rate. Dude’s a contact machine.
KATOH loves Torreyes. It pegged him for 5.2 WAR over the next six years headed into the season, which landed him at #52 on KATOH’s top 100. To put some faces to Torreyes’ unusual statistical profile, let’s go ahead and generate some statistical comps for the undersized infielder. I calculated a weighted Mahalanobis Distance between Torreyes’ 2015 season and every Double-A and Triple-A season since 1990 in which a middle infielder recorded at least 400 plate appearances. In the table below, you’ll find the 10 most similar seasons, ranked from most to least similar.
His Mahalanobis comps are a bit of a mixed bag, but there are some interesting players in there, including Aaron Hill, Rey Sanchez and Chuck Knoblauch. Those guys may not feel like great comps for Torreyes, but they had somewhat similar minor-league numbers and had success in the big leagues. Take that for what it’s worth. Luis Rodriguez feels a bit more like Torreyes, and put up solid numbers as a part-time player in his rookie season.
Torreyes is perhaps the most pronounced example of my math vehemently disagreeing with the scouting consensus. I’ll concede that Torreyes feels like the type of prospect who might break KATOH due to his lack of physicality relative to his performance. But even if he falls short of his KATOH forecast, I still believe he can be a useful player — even if only as a utility infielder. It blows my mind that so many teams let him go for approximately nothing.
Not only did Torreyes hold his own in Triple-A at a young age, but he did so while making loads of contact, especially on pitches in the zone. Hitters like that tend to have relatively smooth transitions to the big leagues. There’s only one way to find out if Torreyes’ unusual profile will work at the highest level, and the Yankees are willing to run that experiment. We’re still looking at a teeny tiny sample, but thus far, the Bombers been rewarded handsomely.Turns out that the Verizon and AT&T variants of the Samsung Galaxy S5 have Download Booster after all, it has simply been hidden, just like Big Red used to do with Blocking Mode on its Galaxy phones. All it takes to find the setting is a 3rd party launcher (like Nova) that can add system shortcuts. Once discovered, you can actually toggle it on or off and find a new icon in the status bar that represents the setting.
Unfortunately, the good news stops there. Even though you can toggle it off or on, it doesn’t appear that Download Booster works to increase your download speeds. There may be another system-level toggle that has been turned to “off” that can’t be turned back on unless you have root access. So for now, we can turn it on and enjoy the new icon, but the speeds won’t come until later or until someone finds that extra setting that needs to be tweaked.
For those not familiar with Download Booster, the feature was on display during the Galaxy S5 event as one of the new flagship ideas that Samsung had included. Using a combination of WiFi and LTE, Download Booster allows a user to substantially increase download speeds on files larger than 30MB. Shortly before the phone launched here in the States, a report confirmed through carriers that the feature had been removed on Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T models.
There is always a chance that a future update will fully enable the feature, but that appears to be up to the carriers.
To find the setting, install Nova Launcher, long-press on your home screen, choose Shortcuts>Activities>Settings>Download Booster.
Cheers Joey!Editorial note: We will be publishing complete transcripts of the presentations given at the International Conference on Men’s Issues, 2014 for those who wish to read instead of listen, and want to be able to search for remarks, and for posterity from this historic event. Our thanks to Rick Westlake for providing these transcripts. The “committee” referred to here by Anne Cools, and her friend Roger Gallaway, was a joint committee of the Canadian Parliament to try to reform Canadian family law. Cools was our first speaker on the first official day of our conference, 27 June 2014.–DE
(Introduction by The Honorable Roger Gallaway, former Member of the Canadian Parliament)
… At the end of 1998 I happened to present, to the House of Commons, the final report of the Committee. It recommended some very revolutionary ideas, such as shared parenting. It recommended that if you’re going to allege domestic violence, you’d better be prepared to prove it. And, of course, none of this has come, in Canada, to fruition. Here I am, sixteen years later and nothing has changed in Canada. In fact, if anything, it’s backed up.
But the one constant in all of this is Anne Cools. Here we are, sixteen years later, Anne – older, too; yes, your hair is grey, I still don’t have any. Here we are, sixteen years later, in the center of North America, as I like to think of it as being, talking about the same things. But I detect that there’s more determination, I detect there’s a greater perspective, and I detect that Anne Cools has something important to say this morning.
So it gives me great pleasure to join with you this morning in welcoming my friend, and I think our friend, Senator Anne Cools.
I would like to say that this is something of a special moment for me today, because I am in the presence of several of you – but two people, both of whom mean a great deal to me. And one of them is my dear friend who just introduced me, Roger Gallaway. And Roger Gallaway, I would love to thank you publicly for your work for your work and contribution on this file. And I would also like to say to many of you that Roger and I – the two of us – were a multitude, in politics, on the floor of the House.
I would also like to acknowledge again my dear friend, Erin Pizzey …as I said before, my soul-sister my soul-mate, as we came to similar conclusions and did similar work on two sides of the Atlantic. We’ve been very close friends now for many years, but we always knew of each other’s existence before we met. And she and I have traveled a few miles together in Canada, as well…
I would just like to say that the cause that is before you and the things that you fight for are valid and just, and you should pursue your work at all times. I am seventy years of age, and I am on the home stretch of my public career. So you, and younger soldiers, must come. So I encourage soldiers to arm themselves, and to put on battle gear, because it is a fight.
I want to do a few things, but one of the first things I want to do is to offer Roger a little bit of support in respect of what he just said. And the important thing about that committee, and I’ll come back to that in a moment, was the enormity of the public support of fathers. And this is not easily understood by many today, who will still find themselves in desolate conditions. And we must remember at all times that no Divorce Act, and no Act of Parliament, ever intended or legislated the dispossession of fathers of their children, or the dispossession of children of their fathers. Somewhere in the idea of the administration of the law, that has been happening and has happened.
But, in respect of what Roger had just said about the enormous support that that committee’s work enjoyed, I’d like to quote a poll that was published November 23rd, 1998 in the Ottawa Citizen, in an article actually written by a journalist called Chris Collum, I think it was. I just happened to have it here, inside of another speech. And, the front-page article was headlined – quote: “Public Backs Fathers’ Rights: Astonishing Majority Wants Change to Laws on Access to Children, Compass Poll Shows.” Compass was the polling company that had done it.
The pollster, Dr. Wynn, was quoted in the article saying – quote – “I cannot find an adjective to describe the intensity of public dismay over family issues and the unfulfilled rights of fathers and children. I am surprised, because these issues haven’t been on the agenda of Canadian politics for a very long time. The most astonishing thing is the absolute consensus among men and women about how the rights and obligations of fathers and children are being ignored.”
So yes, the Committee was a tough go, and we won the issues, and we won public opinion. But the Act still has not been changed.
But we fought on. There were two future amendments to the Act, two future bills, and we worked, Roger and I, and buried them both. We got them well-buried. And so, we’re still waiting.
But there has been a lot of change on the ground, and–because I stay in touch with many people on the ground. Last summer I visited a particular jurisdiction in Canada, and it made me very proud and happy of the work that we had done, because I sat in the courts and I heard what the judges were saying and doing. And there was one particular instance where a particular party was seeking to have the other party – it was a wife seeking to have the husband, or the ex-husband, deprived of access. And I actually heard that judge say, “Don’t even ask for it. I do not deny any father access to his children without strong and good reasons.”
So – there’s that happening. So let me just move on to say – Let us look to try to understand how we’ve got here and why we are here, and so on. So I thought I could take a little quick stroll through a look at some of the law, in respect of wives and husbands, and in respect of mutual obligations and expectations and entitlements.
So let us begin, for example – some of this is going to surprise some of you – let us begin with William Blackstone, as I mentioned before, and his work on the common law. In his book, Chapter 15, called “Of Persons,
he writes a whole section on relations between husband and wife.
So when women refer to “hundreds of years of oppression,” it’s not quite accurate. Not quite accurate. And I would like to make the point that the law views marriage as a civil contract between a husband and a wife – agreements agreed upon, voluntary unions agreed upon. But they left the holiness of the union entirely to the ecclesiastical law; many people do not realize that, now. So the Church’s canon law used to look after that whole area. And the law, in its civil aspect, treated it as and like a contract. Agreements made, agreements honored. And to dishonor the contract was viewed as a violation of things holy, and things legal.
So … I want to put this quotation out to you, for your own thoughts. And he says, quote – because yesterday, I made the point that men have been the protectors of women for centuries. And all of a sudden, men became the ‘enemies’ of women. So really, it’s a staggering, staggering thing.
So, let me read how Mr. Blackstone concluded that chapter – quote: “These are the chief legal effects of marriage, joint or coverture, upon which we may observe that even the disabilities which the wife lies under are, for the most part, intended for her protection and benefit; so great a favorite is the female sex of the laws of England.”
Remember, all a woman had to do is go to a store and charge any amount of goods, and husband was just expected to pay. And they did, dutifully, you know. So let us understand the position of the law. I have searched Blackstone, looking for that “Rule of Thumb.” It doesn’t exist. It’s not there. It’s not there. So I just want us to set our minds thinking about the protection–you see, because I still wonder, how could we allow such violation of human beings as what we’re seeing today?
So I’d like to cite you the old – you wouldn’t know this, unless you’re from Ontario–Roger would know of this–the old Deserted Wives and Children’s Maintenance Act. This was the predecessor to the Family Law Reform Act of 1978. Quote – Remember, “Deserted Wives” so you’re going to be interested to learn the definition of “desertion.” Obviously if a man leaves and abandons the home, it’s a desertion. But there’s another kind of desertion, which I shall quote:
“Section 2, sub 2: A married woman shall be deemed to have been deserted within the meaning of this section when she is living apart from her husband because of his acts of cruelty; or of his refusal or neglect, without sufficient cause, to supply her with food and other necessaries, when able so to do; or of the husband having been guilty of adultery that has not been condoned and that is duly proved, notwithstanding the existence of a separation agreement.”
Here again you see the law protecting women; constant protection. And I knew that act like the back of my hand, because when I was building shelters and assisting women and children in difficulty, that was the Act by which those women were sustained by endowments and payments from Government. That’s a very complicated system under the general Welfare system – very complicated, but we don’t have to go there.
Just to give you another example, the old Married Women’s Property Act of 1859. In that era, women started to be able to own property separately from their husbands. And so let’s look at the — And this Married Women’s Property Act was still in force, I believe, up until the Family Law Reform Act, I think – Roger’s nodding, so it was in force.
So we look at Section 13, and we find that protection, and look at the extent of protection. So, “Section 13, sub 1: Any married woman –” this, having a judgment for alimony, who lives apart from her husband, whose husband is mentally incompetent, and on and on and on – listen to this: “– may obtain an order of protection, entitling her, notwithstanding her coverture, to have and to enjoy all the earnings of her minor children, and any acquisitions therefrom, free from the debts and obligations of her husband and from his control or disposition, and without his consent, in as full and ample a manner as if she were continued sole and unmarried.”
So I’m just trying to show you how the Law has always protected women. And, in the context of social Society, of Society and how it was structured in those days, it made perfect sense. And remember, you know, these laws were made in a time when jobs weren’t plentiful. And besides, all the classes of the community did not marry. Marriage was for those who could afford – could afford – to do these things. I mean, we keep forgetting that. And the vast numbers of – in the British Territories, the vast numbers of persons who were unmarried depended on the Common Law. Therefore you get the expression, “common-law relationships,” to which and from which flowed many benefits.
I also want to show you another kind, a different kind of protection than these, but in respect of protection from criminal prosecution; to diminish responsibility. So I shall go to the Criminal Code, Section 233: Infanticide. Most of us think that the term “infanticide” means the killing of a child, but it does not. It means the killing of a child by a female person. And very few people are aware of this distinction, but it diminishes responsibility. So I shall read you the Section–and I do all of this so you can see I didn’t make any of this up. The idea’s not pulled out of the sky, or out of my pleasure or of my will. I have grounded myself at all times in the Law of the Country, the Law that we are supposed to and have abided by.
So quote Section 233 of the Criminal code, currently: “A female person commits infanticide when by a willful act or omission she causes the death of her newly born child, if at the time of the act or omission she is not fully recovered from the effects of giving birth to the child and by reason thereof or of the effect of lactation consequent on the birth of the child her mind is then disturbed.”
This is contemporary law.
So — I collect these things, and as I have said before, I have made it my business to try to grasp, to understand, the sources and the origins of what Erin Pizzey calls “the Evil Empire.”
I would like to go to the Muses, now. We’re leaving the Law, and we’re going to the Muses, and the poets, and in today’s community, the song writers. So, I’m going to introduce you to a dear old song called “Frankie and Johnny.” I’m not a singer, I’ve never been able to sing. But you remember, Frankie and Johnny were lovers – oh lordy, how they could love, and on and on. Well, we must remember, that everybody forgets that Frankie murdered Johnny – Frankie is the woman; Frankie murdered Johnny, everybody forgets that! And – I’m not wearing my glasses, but let me see if I can read this – so, Johnny had gone out and he was coming on to a very pretty girl named Nellie Bly, a high brown – I mean, this is America – high brown Nellie Bly, let me read this for you:
So it says here, Frankie got out – that’s right, she goes home — oh, that’s right, she goes to somebody and she says, have you seen Johnny? And the fellow says, “Ain’t gonna tell you no lie; Johnny went by ‘bout an hour ago with a girl named Nellie Bly.” And forward to the refrain, “He was your man, but he done you wrong.” This goes through the whole song – “He was your man, but he done you wrong.”
Anyway, so Frankie goes home and gets Johnny’s gun, and comes back and looks up, and in the window “so high” – and let me quote the poem, “saw her Johnny man a’ lovin-up that high brown Nellie Bly … He was her man, but he done her wrong … Then Johnny saw Frankie a’coming; out the back door he did scout – but Frankie took aim with her pistol, and the gun went root-a-toot-toot-toot!” That’s the end of Johnny.
So, the Muses include this in a lot of their work. And finally, in this layer, a group of quotations; I come to the Greek tragedy, and Euripides, and Medea. Medea. And this is all stuff I’ve read, myself, for years. Somewhere around 431, Euripides writes his famous Greek tragedy, Medea, about Medea and Jason and Medea’s murder of their two sons. Medea was a Greek enchantress who had helped Jason to obtain the Golden Fleece. When Jason deserted her for another woman, she planned and carried out the murder of their two sons. So I am going to read to you from Medea, from an older version that matches the one I would have read in school many years ago. And this is what Medea has to say:
“Let no man think that I am a feeble, frail-hearted woman, who sits with folded hands. No, let them know me for the opposite of that.”
Continuing: “One who knows how to hurt her enemies.”
Her maid is very distressed about the act that she’s about to commit — and if time allowed, I’d read more of it, because it really is very insightful. But she looks at the maid and pledges the female to silence in the following words:
“Say nothing of the plans I have prepared. Don’t say a word, if you are loyal to your mistress, and loyal to the race of woman.”
So I just put that out to you, just to inform us of our cultural norms, and to remind us of the standards that we expect to abide by.
So having said all that, I want to come directly to a few of the issues that we canvassed yesterday, and to one of my pet points, which is that violence, divorce, and all of these issues are all about the most vulnerable of all relationships – intimate – intimate love relationships, where vulnerability is the order of the day, and intimacy. So I want to say that my perspective has always been that a balance of fairness and equilibrium, grounded in the notion that human beings and human relationships are extremely complex, and that intimate family relationships involve personal vulnerabilities, elusive dynamics, and multiple emotions.
Managing human relations and human dynamics is challenging, even for the well-equipped personality. For the not-so-well equipped, managing human relations is daunting and sometimes nearly impossible.
Life and human intimacy is a difficult road for many. Human emotions such as love, anger, expectations, and disappointments are driving forces. Human needs and human emotions are compelling. Human complexities, further complicated by the fact that human beings frequently have little or no understanding of what and why they feel, and little or no insight into the effects of their own behavior on those with whom they live.
I wish to quote a very famous theological type. His name was Jacques Gillet, and he wrote a lot on personal discernment. And Gillet – and I got this in a book written by a priest named Father Greene, quoting Gillet saying, “We all work in darkness, in a way.” And Gillet says, “There’s the darkness in man himself” – in us – “who is incapable of seeing his own heart clearly; incapable of grasping completely the seriousness of his actions and the results deriving from them.”
I’ve counseled couples – and you know, they could be two countries they are so far apart – trying to bring some reconciliation between them. And if you can persevere, and if they trust you, you can do it.
So, on observing human behavior, the inescapable conclusion is that human beings, both men and women, are afflicted by their own imperfections, frailties and woundedness, and this condition seems to govern a lot of human behavior. It appears that the more imperfect and wounded a person is, the less tolerant that person is of others’ imperfection and woundedness. Human capacity for misunderstanding is great.
Men and women are equally capable of vice and virtue. Vice and virtue are human characteristics, not gendered ones. I have politically repudiated the two prevalent notions introduced into the public discourse by radical gender feminist ideology: that women are morally superior to men, that men are morally inferior to women, and that somehow men are just plain naturally ‘morally defective.’
The false proposition of women’s inherent virtue and men’s inherent vice has dominated and deformed family and criminal law policy for the past several decades. Much public policy on domestic violence, particularly arrest, charging, and prosecution policy, has been founded on this deformity, wreaking havoc in the lives of people, many of whom are ill [sound issue]
Is that better? … Okay, good. At any event, I was saying that many human beings are ill-prepared and ill-equipped to handle such havoc. And there have been many, large numbers of suicides on these matters. And the empirical evidence on violence within intimate-partner relationships and within families, confirms that domestic violence has been falsely framed as violence against women, and as a gendered issue, and as a woman’s question.
I just want to lay out again, that is my position. And I think that I have been speaking with great balance, and fairness, and equilibrium, which is all I’ve ever strived to attain in the Law.
I want to touch, very briefly, the whole business of The Patriarchy, because this was raised yesterday. And there’s another concept that has wreaked havoc on us.
I believe I said, yesterday, that we are not ever to underestimate the sense of protection that men feel for women, because I can tell you I’ve seen bill after bill being passed, with all the men agreeing, because they were told “this bill was needed to protect women.” And so there has been explanation why so many people would vote so willingly on many of these issues.
But let’s get to “Patriarchy,” to show you the extent to which this — this wrong-headed, misinformed, uninformed, ill-informed point of view has seeped into the entire system.
So, around 1990, the Government of Canada sponsored a multi-million-dollar project. It was called the Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women. Its 1993 report was named, “Changing the Landscape: Ending Violence, Achieving Equality.” Its titles and sub-titles were steeped in radical gender feminist nomenclature. Part I was called “The Context.” Chapter 1 was entitled “The Feminist Lens.” Chapter 1 also called a section called “Looking Through A Feminist Lens.” Another section was called, “Patriarchy and Violence,” while another was entitled “Heterosexism.” Heterosexism!
We panned it in caucus this year – as it came up, the liberal caucus panned it.
The report informed that the concept of “Patriarchy” was essential to the Panel’s analysis of the nature of gender inequality and violence against women – I’m speaking about a report of a very respectable panel! The report explained “Patriarchy” thus – quote: “Patriarchy is not just a central concept in feminist analysis. For many women, it is also a daily reality. The most violent and profound expression of patriarchal power sits at their dinner tables every evening, and sleeps in their beds at night.”
The report described “Heterosexism” – quote: “Heterosexism is the assumption that a woman’s life will be organized around, and defined in relationship, in relation to a man.” The report also told that Canadian society is organized around “compulsory heterosexuality,” and that “heterosexism” is embedded in all State institutions that women are likely to call upon: the police, the justice system, religious institutions, et cetera.
Colleagues – friends, here – distinguished guests – these concepts had more to do with constructing an ideological framework, and less to do with assisting families in crisis. Nothing to do with assisting families in crisis. And if you have worked with these families, as Erin and I have, you really see people who are begging for help. And I don’t know if some of you know a lot about crisis intervention, but there’s a point in person’s lives – if, at that critical moment, you reach out and give them that help and make that intervention, you’re capable of causing them to transform themselves; and they even transform their behavior.
And none of this matches anything that I’ve ever seen or worked with.
But – anyway, I just wanted to say that by this time I was already well distancing myself from this thing that was being called “Feminism.” And the one statement that really took me entirely over the edge was one made by a feminist, an American feminist, whose name is Sally Miller Gearhart. And she wrote an article called, ‘The Future, If There Is One, Is Female.’ And it was published in her 1982 book, Reweaving the Web of Life: Feminism and Nonviolence. Hold that – “Feminism and Nonviolence.” Quote: “To secure a world of female values and female freedom, we must, I believe, add one more element to the structure of the future… (Laugh) …The ratio of men to women must be radically reduced, so that men approximate only ten percent of the total population.”
I mean, this is – I mean, how can you take that seriously? I mean – can you take somebody like that seriously? Anyway, for me, that was the end. That was the end! Thereafter, I never described myself, any more, as a feminist.
I want to come, now, to the old phenomena of false allegations and prosecution, and so on, and this, again, has been a great distress and a great set of problems within the system itself. And the practices were developed by certain feminist lawyers, and it seemed to be to make these accusations in the body of civil proceedings. And, as you know, there’s a difference between civil proceedings and criminal proceedings; the standard is much higher and heftier in criminal ones. But this became so rampant that if you – and I actually recorded, on the floor of the House, of the Senate, 52 instances of men who were falsely accused of abusing their own children. And the cases that I put were proven; the accusations were proven to be false. And the judges were quite tough and hard in their descriptions. So I only put cases before the House – 52, I just recorded them one after the other, and quoted them because I figure another soldier will come along, at some point in time, and just pick up that work.
But I want to give you, to read to you, from the mind of some of the judges, to see what they were saying at the time. And one of them makes the following statement: it was a case where husband and wife – she had accused him of hitting her; turns out he was nowhere near her, at the time the event was supposed to have happened. But this is what the judge says, and I’ll read that to you. Paragraph 19, in acquitting – It was a criminal proceeding, so in acquitting the husband, he made the following statement, the judge made the following statement about the wife – quote: “I find the evidence of the complainant and her mother to be contradictory, confusing, contrary, conflicting, irreconcilable, and quite frankly, false.” He also continued and expressed an opinion; it’s the only one I’ve been able to find, in years, about Zero Tolerance policy. And he said the following:
“I want to make two further comments, because one is curious as to how a man could be falsely accused in these circumstances, right up to and including a trial. The reasons are quite clear to me, and disturbing: First, the police apparently have a policy of zero tolerance in domestic-assault cases. Any zero-tolerance policy is dangerous. It is especially dangerous when it is not properly applied.”
So that was re: the false accusations between two spouses, by a wife as against a husband.
But I can tell you, in the cases of children, if you want to see men reduced to pulp, is to watch a man who will talk to you about him being accused of sexually abusing his — his little children. And there’s something in the hearts of most men and fathers that find that so soul-destroying – not only repugnant, but soul-destroying – that they can be accused of it. I remember one time Roger and I had a particular guy who actually said to him, “Accuse me of murder, but don’t accuse me of hurting my child like this!”
So I just want to tell you — any day of the week, we had twenty of these cases coming to our attention. But there’s a few judges, more than a few actually, who were taking notice. And I want to take note of another particular judge in a case – and I’m looking for the exact words where he says, he quotes: “There are far too many prosecutors declining to make the hard decision –” This is Justice Saunderson – “There are far too many prosecutors declining to make the hard decisions, lest they offend some interest-group, or incur the displeasure of their superiors who themselves are subjected to pressure from the same groups. The result can be made to work hardship in individual cases.”
He’s going to continue … he talks about the wife, because he says, the wife herself testified that she was drunk and in an out-of-control rampage against–because she was upset by something the husband’s ex-wife had said to her. So the judge continued, and he criticized the Crown for not charging her for her assaults! It’s very interesting, saying it created a double standard. And his exact words are, here, quote: “The mere fact of this prosecution sends a very clear message: A woman in a relationship with a man can provoke him, degrade him, strike him, and throw objects at him with impunity; but if he offers the least physical response, he will be charged with assault.”
So, having said it, I just threw this out for you.
I’m coming to my last subject matter now, and — and the whole business of the best interests of the child. Because we saw in this period of time, the last many years, where men were treated as observers in their children’s lives. And there’s one particular judge who actually – a female judge who actually created, said that, in a case: They’re observers. The non-custodial parents are “observers” in their children’s lives, which of course is now something we reject.
The power of Governments and the State in respect of children and custody is infinite power, and it is never time-dated. And I want to explain to you a little bit, to those who are interested — I searched for about two years, trying to find the origin of the term “the best interests of the child.” And I found it; and it was introduced into Canada’s divorce law in – Roger, you’d be interested – in 1984, Minister MacGuigan’s changes. That government – that bill never saw the light of day, because it died on the old paper as liberals were defeated, Mr. Trudeau’s people were defeated in the general election, September 1984. But I remember that bill very well, and the Minister’s intention at the time was that by putting that phrase into the bill in respect of custody and access – because his policy was that children of divorce should have maximum access to other siblings, to both parents, to grandparents. And you find this in all of his policy papers, which were distributed across the country, and conferences that he summoned, of people in the field, and I was one of them, at one point. And very clearly — he had been a law professor, so he was a lawyer’s lawyer — and he sincerely believed that that term would come on the ground, would transform itself into shared parenting.
And that would have happened if the ground didn’t change suddenly.
Let me just come back to where that term comes from. That term comes out of those great powers of the King. The American Constitution no longer – Americans no longer appreciate the sense of the King, in the Constitution, that perpetual sovereign ever-present in the Constitution; but in Canada, it is still alive in our Constitution. And these are the powers of the King. In England, the Lord Chancellor was the most powerful man after the King. He was so powerful he could even cancel the King’s letters-patent. And the term, the business, of child welfare, developed out of the King’s protection of children, that was owed to the knights and all those individuals who fought for him. That’s where you got terms like “wards.”
If you remember, when you were children there was a childhood thing called Robin Hood. Remember, Maid Marian was the ward of the King.
So, if the King had knights who left orphaned children, infants–and it was a very sophisticated and complete system–that he owed that child protection, and the lands of that child protection. And that when that child became of age, all those properties were expected to be delivered to that child, who hopefully would fight for the next King. And at one point, they developed their own separate Courts of Wards, and liveries, to do that. But as time went by, the Lord Chancellor’s Court took over those matters. And even to this day, you call the “Law of Equity” – all that, the Lord Chancellor’s Courts dealt in what they call the Law of Equity, which is the Law that grants justice, not just Law. The Common Law Courts grant justice according to the Law; the Courts of Equity grant justice which might have been neglected in the administration of the laws. It’s a very, very interesting system.
So, in Canada, the Common Law Courts and the Equity Courts merged in 1881. So now every Superior Court judge of Canada has that inherent power to protect children. And the doctrine was called “parens patriae.” And this is why something like custody is never final; so they can award custody; if something goes wrong, they can change that custody. But the protection over a child is – protection is eternal. And it’s an enormous power; and — well, that’s another story for another day. But somehow or the other, the interests of the child and the interests of the child’s mother have got confused in the last many years.
So I wanted to say to you that that term, “best interests of the child,” was intended to be a ground for greater sharing in the relationship, and a greater sharing in children; because 1984 was a time when all this nonsense was coming to an end, and men were picking up children and taking them for walks – and it’s a beautiful thing. I’m a bicycle rider, on Saturday mornings, and – I’m not a good bicycle rider, I have a bad back, but I still do it – and you’ll watch these young families, Mum and Dad and two or three little children on bicycles. And it’s a beautiful delight to watch. And they don’t stop to debate who should stop and change the little one’s diaper; somebody just does it. It’s a wonderful thing to watch, and it’s how couples should relate, and it’s how most couples do relate.
But in any event, that is the origin of the term, “the best interests of the child.” And I think it’s a worthy term, I think it’s a worthy concept. It’s an ancient concept that can be defended by hundreds of years, now, of jurisprudence. And I would suggest that we would uphold it and defend it, and continue to challenge the orthodoxy in the name of “the best interests of the child.”
Now, I hope I’ve left a few minutes for questions, and I hope that we have a few questions, but that in — a quick summary — is a statement on the state of the Law, on the state of Society, in respect; and a lot of this other stuff about men is
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ells when it gets wet. The deformation is called Vegard strain.
Both Vegard strain and standard thermal expansion affect the vibration of the material, but in different ways. If the vibrations were like musical notes, the thermally-induced Vegard strain is like a harmonic overtone, ringing one octave higher than the note being played, Li explained.
The device identifies the Vegard strain-induced vibrations and can extrapolate the concentration of ions and electronic defects near the probe tip. The approach has advantages over other types of atomic microscopy that use voltage perturbations to generate a response, since voltage can produce many different kinds of responses, and it is difficult to isolate the part of the response related to shifts in ionic and electronic defect concentration. Thermal responses are easier to identify, although one disadvantage of the new system is that it can only probe rates slower than the heat transfer processes in the vicinity of the tip.
Still, the team believes the new method will offer researchers a valuable tool for studying electrochemical material properties at the nanoscale. They tested it by measuring the concentration of charged species in Sm-doped ceria and LiFePO4, important materials in solid oxide fuel cells and lithium batteries, respectively.
"The concentration of ionic and electronic species are often tied to important rate properties of electrochemical materials -- such as surface reactions, interfacial charge transfer, and bulk and surface diffusion -- that govern the device performance," Li said. "By measuring these properties locally on the nanoscale, we can build a much better understanding of how electrochemical systems really work, and thus how to develop new materials with much higher performance."Getting There: I-5 express lanes are never open in my direction
Question: Kathleen Brave could use a little help from the traffic gods. Anytime she's on Interstate 5 with passengers, the reversible express lanes are never open in her direction. "My son is convinced that it's because he's in the car with me," she says.
During a recent trip from Seatac to the University District, the I-5 express lanes were open to southbound cars when she arrived in the U-District after 9:30 a.m. Two hours later, they had opened to northbound traffic as she drove home in the opposite direction. A few days later, the lanes were carrying soutbound vehicles at 11:30 a.m. as she drove north to Lynnwood. And when she departed Lynnwood at 1 p.m. -- still no luck.
"Is there any rhyme or reason whatsoever to when the express lanes are open in any one direction?" she asks.
Answer:
For anyone curious about the science behind express-lane traffic flow, the state Department of Transportation answers general questions here, here, and here.
"We study traffic patterns and congestion data to determine when the express lanes should switch directions to benefit the most people in the overall transportation system," WSDOT says on the agency's Web site. "We know that on the weekends and during some special events traffic patterns change and so the express lane schedules also need to be adjusted."
Based on my reading of the express-lane schedule, it appears Brave's return trips were during the switchover hour. Here's the schedule:
Monday-Friday
Southbound - 5 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
Northbound - Noon to 11 p.m.
Closed: 11:00 p.m. - 5 a.m.
Saturday- Sunday (Saturday schedules are adjusted by 30 minutes for Husky football games)
Southbound - 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Northbound - 2 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Closed: 11:00 p.m. - 7 a.m.
For are a few more express-lane questions:
Why are the express lanes closed at night? Communities around the Ship Canal Bridge asked WSDOT to keep the express lanes closed at night to reduce noise. Studies showed express lanes could be closed at 11:00 p.m., since most large events are over by 10:00 p.m., according WSDOT.
What about during big events on weekdays? WSDOT does not adjust express-lane schedules during sporting events and concerts on weekdays. While they bring large amounts of traffic into Seattle while commuters are leaving the city, traffic studies show the number of commuters leaving Seattle on a typical workday exceeds the number of sports and music fans coming into the city for even the biggest events.
How are weekend hours decided? A traffic study found that the weekend I-5 express lanes schedule should be adjusted to allow the express lanes to operate southbound until 1 p.m. to more evenly distribute delays experienced by drivers traveling into Seattle on I-5 in both directions
WSDOT occasionally closes the express lanes without advance warning due to collisions or the need for emergency repairs.
Question:
A reader warns about several close calls at the intersection at Aurora Avenue North and North 145th Street near the Seattle-Shoreline boundary. "The westbound to southbound turn lane regularly has people that run the red light. Maybe the yellow is too short. I make the northbound to westbound turn every evening and even when west-south turn light is red, cars are entering the intersection," the reader writes.
"This is an accident waiting to happen. Why isn't this busy intersection a priority for law enforcement? Is it perhaps because it sits on the Shoreline/Seattle boundary and has fallen through the cracks?"
Answer:
Peg Nielsen, a spokeswoman for the Seattle Department of Transportation, says the yellow light is timed for the speed limit and is not "too short." "Cars running the red and/or blocking the intersection are enforcement issues," she said.
The reader's concerns were forwarded to the Seattle Police Department's traffic enforcement division, said Sgt. Sean Whitcomb, a department spokesman. "Thanks for bringing it to our attention!" he said.Ras Al Khaimah: An Emirati woman who saved an Indian truck driver from flames following a recent road crash will be honoured by Ras Al Khaimah Police on Sunday.
Gulf News reported the accident that took place on September 19 on Martyr’s Road in Ras Al Khaimah involving a collision between two trucks.
As the two trucks went up in flames, the driver of a truck whose clothes were burning jumped out of the cabin and was lying on the road battling the fire.
In a heroic act, Jawaher Saif Al Kumaiti, who happened to drive past, pulled over her car and came to the Indian driver’s rescue.
Al Kumaiti, who has been hailed a heroine for her quick action, used her friend’s abaya to cover the truck driver and put out the fire.
In an interview with Gulf News on Saturday, Al Kumaiti, who hails from Ajman, said that she was returning from visiting a friend at Khalifa Hospital in Ras Al Khaimah when she spotted the two trucks in flames and a man lying on the ground, with his clothes on fire.
“He was lying down. He was on fire... I took out my friend’s abaya and left the car. I went to cover the guy because there were no clothes on him. He looked at me and said, ‘I’m dying. I’m afraid to die’,” she said, adding that she tried to talk to him and calm him down.
She added that she left the area when the police and paramedics arrived.
Al Kumaiti said she did not hesitate a moment when she spotted the fire, and did not think about herself, or that her clothes might catch fire — or that the truck in flames nearby might explode.
“I just thought about saving the man’s life,” said Al Kumaiti, who works at Adnoc Oasis in Sharjah.
Viral valiant act
Al Kumaiti’s valiant act went viral on social media after Major Tareq Al Sharhan, Head of the Emergency Department at Ras Al Khaimah Police, posted a video on his Instagram account asking his followers to help track down the woman.
The police got to know about Al Kumaiti’s bravery when the Indian truck driver, Harkirit Singh, told them about her act after he was taken to hospital.
The driver told police that the woman covered his body using an abaya to put out the flames.
An Emirati man who was at the scene and reported the incident to Ras Al Khaimah Police operation room also told officers about the woman’s heroic act, Maj. Al Sharhan said.
On Saturday, Maj. Al Sharhan posted the woman’s picture on his Instagram account hailing her as “The bravest woman in UAE”.
Ealier on Friday, Al Kumaiti, along with her mother and sister, went to Saqr hospital and visited the driver, who according to the medical staff has suffered 40 to 50 per cent burns.
According to the staff, when the driver saw her, he cried out: ‘You’re the woman who saved my life! Thank you for your brave job. Your image did not go from my mind for a moment.”
Al Kumaiti’s mother said: “I am proud of my daughter and what she did... I always encourage my children to help people if they see anyone is in need of help.”
Invited by Indian Embassy
The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi will also honour Al Kumaiti.
"We have invited her to our Gandhi Jayanti (birthday of Mahatma Gandhi) event on October 2 to honour her, " Navdeep Singh Suri, the Indian Ambassador to the UAE, told Gulf News on Saturday.
The embassy and Gandhi Sahitya Vedi, a community organisation promoting Gandhi's teachings, are jointly organising the programme at 7.15pm on Monday at the embassy auditorium.
— With inputs by Binsal Abdul Kader, Senior ReporterThe NSW Baird government’s assault on your ‘right to know” shows no sign of abating, writes Greens MP Dr Mehreen Faruqi.
Critical habitat of the last Little Penguin colony on mainland NSW was cleared late last year, near the Quarantine Station’s Boilerhouse restaurant at North Head, Manly.
Trying to reveal ‘whodunit’, and why, has yet again shown up the absurd lengths the government will go to to keep information from the public.
After being alerted of this in June and having no joy in finding any publicly available details by the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) or any media reporting, I submitted a freedom of information application for the results of any investigation that may have been conducted about the clearing.
Simple enough, right? Wrong.
Despite the GIPA (Government Information Public Access) application being refined to a three-month period, restricted to only one office within National Parks and related to just one specific incident of clearing, I was told to agree to an extension of time for up to three months. I was also asked to significantly reduce the scope of the request to such an extent that it probably would have excluded the very information I was seeking. I was told if I didn’t agree, they would refuse to deal with the application. And refuse the application they did, a decision upheld even after my appeal to internal review.
A media story following recent parliamentary budget estimates finally revealed that OEH had undertaken a special investigation into the clearing, and replanting had also taken place though there was apparently insufficient evidence to take any action against the restaurant. Surely, this information could have been supplied in response to the GIPA. Why go to such lengths to keep information secret?
Increasingly, avenues for accessing information which should be public anyway end in closed doors. More often than not, due dates for receiving GIPAs are delayed at the last minute, no matter which government department you are dealing with. One of the reasons often given for refusal is a lack of resources and the high number of requests.
Even if an application is accepted, it rarely yields useful information. I suspect this is a familiar story for many who have tried to get documents of public importance out of the Government. Often enough it ends in unwarranted bills of hundreds of dollars or being forced to significantly amend the request so it looks nothing like the original. At best you end up with a highly redacted document, or reams of emails and meeting requests missing the vital attachments.
The purpose of the GIPA Act is to make government information more accessible to the public, but one gets the feeling that slowing down the system by starving it of resources is a strategy the Baird Government is using to keep information secret from public, in the hope they will just give up in frustration.
If you really want to get the information you’re after, be prepared to bring in the lawyers and head to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal. This begs the question; why should information only be the domain of the well-resourced or the well-lawyered?
The latest report on the operations of the GIPA Act covering 2013-2014 looks glowing from the outside but things get complicated as you lift the lid. Only one-third of applications (or applicants) were granted access to the information in full, and a further 40 per cent received it in part. There are no measures to assess whether the applicant got what they wanted – or whether they simply accepted the outcome and filed away the useless documents they were granted, as I have had to do a few times.
It also showed the total number of applications for information slumped to the lowest number since the enactment of the GIPA Act. The proportion of applications made by members of the public (as opposed to the media, NGOs or even members of parliament) has halved since 2010.
I doubt that this is because the people of NSW trust the government more, or don’t want this information. It is more likely a reflection of a growing disenchantment with the process.
In the face of secrecy and a refusal to provide information becoming the norm (some would argue even an art form!), communities have to rely more and more on whistle blowers, activist investigators, and investigative journalists to be the information conduits.
So while we still wait to hear the full story of what actually happened to the last remaining critical habitat of Little Penguins on the NSW mainland, we must not give up on this notion that the public has a right to know what their governments are up to.
Freedom of information is the cornerstone of our democracy, not the liability it is being treated as currently.Select a class.
What Did The Pros Say – Sea Giant
Dog - Miracle
Eversiction - Miracle
Firebat - Hunter
Strelzik - Hunter
Counter Deck Talk - Sea Giant
I’m sure everyone at this point is extremely tired of dealing with bots and Sea Giant
Miracle Rogue probably has the better matchup over Hunter, but Miracle Rogue does need to tech in a little AoE against the Shaman to beat it more effectively. Luckily, having multiple Blade Flurries is beneficial to a meta with a lot of Zoo. The focus in this matchup is to keep the board clear of minions and slowly work your opponent down until you can burst them. You absolutely don’t want to leave a Spell Power on the board before you drop a Conceal Lightning Storm Sea Giant
Hunter is one that I have significantly more experience with and can make the Shaman feel a ton of pressure throughout the game. Hero Power puts them on a clock and your minions -- like Undertaker Mad Scientist Explosive Trap Unleash the Hounds Freezing Trap Flametongue Totem Undertaker
Dog - MiracleEversiction - MiracleFirebat - HunterStrelzik - HunterI’m sure everyone at this point is extremely tired of dealing with bots andShaman. That said, here are two really great choices to combat it. The key to this matchup is to keep the board state to be in your favor. This means that the more totems and minions they have the worse of a position you are in.Miracle Rogue probably has the better matchup over Hunter, but Miracle Rogue does need to tech in a little AoE against the Shaman to beat it more effectively. Luckily, having multiple Blade Flurries is beneficial to a meta with a lot of Zoo. The focus in this matchup is to keep the board clear of minions and slowly work your opponent down until you can burst them. You absolutely don’t want to leave a Spell Power on the board before you drop aed Auctioneer because it has a pretty high chance of dying to a. The early game is all about keeping the Shaman down on board so that you can start the cycle. You also want to keep the minion count down so thatwont be a factor throughout the game. Generally Shamans don’t have any healing in their deck, so if you can keep the board state in your favor this matchup should be a great one.Hunter is one that I have significantly more experience with and can make the Shaman feel a ton of pressure throughout the game. Hero Power puts them on a clock and your minions -- likeand-- can help search for the answers you need. In this matchup, it might be worth it to make sure that you haves in order to keep the Shaman in check.in this matchup will end up either finishing off the Shaman, or keeping the board state in your favor. The worst part of this matchup is that cards likeare often wasted and get very little value ascan trigger it with any minion totem. Mulliganing for early minions in this matchup is crucial as you need them to keep the pressure on. If you can get an unanswered, this matchup is easily yours. By keeping up pressure throughout the game with smaller minions and your Hero Power, you should be able to take the Shaman out by turn six or seven with a decent draw.
What The Pros Say – Control Warrior
Dog - Fast/Midrange Druid
Eversiction - A Good Shaman Player
Firebat - Fast Druid
Strelzik - Druid Midrange
Counter Deck Talk - Control Warrior
Druid has many threats early in the game and a Warriors weakest point is dealing with a lot of small minions effectively. Fast Druid builds put out a lot of low -- yet greater than one -- Health minions that can stick around through the game and last for a Force of Nature Savage Roar Shield Block Alexstraza Big Game Hunter Innervate Armorsmith
Shaman is also very powerful against Warrior as long as you do not walk too hard into Brawl Flametongue Totem Hex Lightning Storm Lightning Storm Hex Cairne Ragnaros Lightning Bolt Doomhammer Alexstraza
Dog - Fast/Midrange DruidEversiction - A Good Shaman PlayerFirebat - Fast DruidStrelzik - Druid MidrangeDruid has many threats early in the game and a Warriors weakest point is dealing with a lot of small minions effectively. Fast Druid builds put out a lot of low -- yet greater than one -- Health minions that can stick around through the game and last for aandcombo. The key to this matchup for the Druid is to put on pressure quickly and keeping up the pressure throughout the game. Getting them to the sweet spot of 12-16 Health is really the goal here since the only card that can really heal out of that is. You also want to keep them around this range because ancould mess up your plans. It is worth noting that if Control Warrior is a lot of what you are seeing, it might be useful to substitute in afor the Warrior's powerful minions. Mulligan for early game threats ands. You may be tempted to take the easy kill off of an, but generally that isn't the right move when you have to trade inefficiently to do so. Focus on being the aggressor here and keeping the armor low. Force the Warrior to deal with your threats.Shaman is also very powerful against Warrior as long as you do not walk too hard into. Totems are the most beneficial thing in this matchup and it is important that you build up your totems quickly. By doing so, they will be forced to use removal extremely ineffectively against a Hero Power. Cards likecan help you trade your totems in with great value and with the Hero Power you have a constant supply of minions that allow you to keep the pressure on. Make sure that you are selective on the minions that you use your hard removal () on and do not be afraid to use aif it means that you will deal with a big threat. The nature of Control Warrior makes it such that you are not likely to get the same value out of athat you would against a quicker deck like Zoo. Most of the time ashould be saved for things likeor Sylvannas and use minions instead to kill off the bigger minions likeand Sylvannas.will also be your friend here.is also another card that can help in this matchup by putting a ton of pressure on as well as turning your health into a resource to kill minions. A lot of the time a Warrior will take your health down withso getting to around 15 Health won’t matter much. This matchup is all about using your removal as effectively as possible; if you do that, winning shouldn’t be a problem.
Ol’ Reliable is still here and won’t be leaving anytime soon. Fast Druid and Ramp Druid are the decks of choice at this point in the meta.
What Did The Pros Say – Midrange Druid
Dog - Midrange Hunter
Eversiction - Undertaker
Firebat - Hunter/Priest/Zoo/Paladin
Strelzik - Hunter
Counter Deck Talk - Midrange Druid
Midrange Hunter has commonly been a tough deck for Druid to beat and it remains that way. Savannah Highmane Keeper of the Grove Highmane Mad Scientist Savannah Highmane
Undertaker Dark Cultist Swipe Wrath Undertaker Harvest Golem Cabal Shadow Priest Force of Nature Savage Roar
Firebat gave plenty of decks that he felt had a favorable matchup against a Midrange Druid, but the one that stands out the most recently is Zoo Warlock. In the World Championship Qualifier, we saw Zoolock dominating but it truly trounced Midrange Druid unless they were able to deal with the pressure quickly. This match up boils down to whether or not the Druid gets an Innervate Innervate Innervate Swipe
What Did The Pros Say – Ramp Druid
Dog - Miracle/Handlock
Eversiction - Miracle/Handlock
Firebat - Miracle
Strelzik - Handlock
Counter Deck Talk - Ramp Druid
Pro consensus was that two decks had a really favorable matchup against Ramp Druid: Handlock and Miracle. Handlock vs Ramp Druid is essentially a match of who has the bigger dudes and Handlock generally wins that if the Ramp Druid isn't playing multiple Big Game Hunter The Black Knight Ancient Watcher Twilight Drake
Miracle wins this matchup simply because Druids cannot kill a Conceal Gadgetzan Auctioneer
Ol’ Reliable is still here and won’t be leaving anytime soon. Fast Druid and Ramp Druid are the decks of choice at this point in the meta.Dog - Midrange HunterEversiction -PriestFirebat - Hunter/Priest/Zoo/PaladinStrelzik - HunterMidrange Hunter has commonly been a tough deck for Druid to beat and it remains that way.is extremely tough for any class to deal with but even more so for Druid: Druid has no hard removal and only theircan combat it.is the key to this matchup, but as a Midrange Hunter you have a lot of great tools.and any of your beasts early can help put the pressure on and keep the Druid responding. With the few Taunts that a midrange Druid has, the you shouldn't have any problems as you can put out significant pressure without the Druid being able to handle it. Mulliganing is important in this matchup for the Hunter -- and if your curve is looking decent already -- it could definitely be right to keep aearly. Aggressively mulligan for your one and two drops to keep the pressure on and this is a pretty easy matchup. More often than not you will be pressuring them too much, but keep in mind your Health at all times because on nine mana your opponent can easily kill you.Priest acts similar to Midrange Hunter here but focuses more on minion control than set up. With the ability to heal your minions, and minions that are extremely hearty and difficult to remove, Druid starts to fall behind very quickly.has a Health that many of the Druid minions can’t effectively deal with and is only really killed by a. Over the course of the game, a few things generally get out of control for the Druid and can only be stopped by an early. If you can get an earlythat isn't answered, the Druid won’t have a chance unless they get a silence: but even then it might be too late. If they don’t get an innervate start early, your curve will generally significantly out pressure them. Druids also don’t have a full board clear so it is generally safe to have many minions out. Midrange Druids are also known to runwhich is an extremely goodtarget. There are really just a lot of things that go against the Druid and are beneficial for the Priest. Mulliganing is pretty straightforward for this matchup, aggressively search for one mana minions and if you get them, it could be okay to keep a two or three mana minion. This is especially true with the coin. Priest also gets an advantage over other classes against Druid because they can heal out of range of thecombo and can worry less about Health.Firebat gave plenty of decks that he felt had a favorable matchup against a Midrange Druid, but the one that stands out the most recently is Zoo Warlock. In the World Championship Qualifier, we saw Zoolock dominating but it truly trounced Midrange Druid unless they were able to deal with the pressure quickly. This match up boils down to whether or not the Druid gets anor not. If they don’t have an, it is very unlikely that they will be able to stop the pressure in time; and even with an, they need a ton of removal quickly to deal with everything from the Zoolock. Just keep the pressure up and don’t run intotoo hard.Dog - Miracle/HandlockEversiction - Miracle/HandlockFirebat - MiracleStrelzik - HandlockPro consensus was that two decks had a really favorable matchup against Ramp Druid: Handlock and Miracle. Handlock vs Ramp Druid is essentially a match of who has the bigger dudes and Handlock generally wins that if the Ramp Druid isn't playing multiples. The Handlock gets significantly stronger minions earlier and has board wipe which the Druid does not. It’s straightforward here, Handlock's ideal curve is simply better than yours. The Handlock also has single target removal in addition to its board clears. It is important in this matchup to play around. It can be a huge tempo swing that could lose you the game, so it is important to put Taunts on minions likeorwhich would be less devastating if they were to get destroyed.Miracle wins this matchup simply because Druids cannot kill aed Auctioneer. If you get a concealed Auctioneer before the Ramp Druid can get a threat to stick, then the game is pretty much over. The key to this matchup is the mulligan. You are looking for cycle cards and Auctioneer. If you get Auctioneer it will significantly help the cycle of the deck and get you close to saps and conceal. This matchup is did you or did you not get an Auctioneer. If you are good at drawing, Ramp Druid shouldn't be a problem for you
What Did The Pros Say – Freeze Mage
Dog - Aggro Hunter
Eversiction - Aggro Hunter/Control Warrior
Firebat - A deck with Loatheb
Strelzik - Aggro Hunter
Counter Deck Talk - Freeze Mage
Control Warrior still has a laughably easy matchup against this deck. As Warrior is the only class that can effectively go above 30 Health, it naturally has a good matchup against the deck that strives to have multiple lives and kill you with Alexstraza Shield Block
Of course many of us said that Aggro Hunter is a great deck to use against Freeze Mage purely because of Flare Steady Shot Mad Scientist
As Firebat said, Loatheb Loatheb Alexstraza Loatheb
What Did The Pros Say – Aggro Mage
Dog - Ramp Druid with Zombie Chow
Eversiction - Control Warrior
Firebat - Zoo
Strelzik - Control Warrior/Zoo
Counter Deck Talk - Aggro Mage
Zoo can be very powerful, and against an aggro deck it is no different. The nature of aggro is to put a ton of damage out agaisnt their opponent with cheap and quick minions. Zoo has the ability to build a strong board that an Aggro Mage just cannot deal with quickly. Over the course of the game, Zoo can build up minions, trade efficiently, and overpower Mage to easily take the game. The key here is to get minions that allow you to trade up and to not play into secrets effectively. By giving them poor minions with Mirror Entity
Control Warrior comes in as one of the decks that can do well against Aggro Mage for the pure fact that a deck with limited damage can have a very tough time against a class with the ability to go above the max amount of health. Control Warrior really treats any Mage matchup the same by building Armor, keeping the board clear, and outlasting. Mulliganing aggressively for cards like Shield Block
Ramp Druid also has a favorable against this deck because Druid has the ability to get large taunt creatures out quickly which makes it extremely difficult for the Mage to deal a decent amount of damage, despite direct damage spells. The same concept as the Control Warrior is used here, but instead of increasing the hero's Health with Armor, you are effectively increasing health by using ramp cards to play minion threats that absolutely must be dealt with. Key cards in this matchup are Innervate Wild Growth
Dog - Aggro HunterEversiction - Aggro Hunter/Control WarriorFirebat - A deck withStrelzik - Aggro HunterControl Warrior still has a laughably easy matchup against this deck. As Warrior is the only class that can effectively go above 30 Health, it naturally has a good matchup against the deck that strives to have multiple lives and kill you with. The key to this matchup is to make sure to build up as much Armor as you can while you curve into your late-game minions. Although Freeze Mage can be strong, it has a limited amount of damage which makes it very weak against classes or decks that can recover damage done. The key here is to mulligan for early drops ands, Armor Up constantly, and you shouldn't lose at all. As Trump said, he lost 100% of the time as Freze Mage to Control Warrior.Of course many of us said that Aggro Hunter is a great deck to use against Freeze Mage purely because of. In addition, Aggro Hunter puts out direct damage every turn withand is not affected by the Freeze mechanic like other classes. Because most of the damage is instant with charge or direct damage spells, a lot of Freeze Mage’s cards are useless. In this matchup awill be much less useful as it is rare that a Freeze Mage will have a minion out to trigger the traps. Hero powering in this matchup is the most important and should be prioritized a lot of the time.As Firebat said,is a powerful card against this deck. With a well timed(possibly after) you can interrupt the damage that would otherwise kill you and launch a counterattack.is one of the strongest cards coming from Naxxramas and it is extremely important that you learn how to use it effectively.Dog - Ramp Druid withEversiction - Control WarriorFirebat - ZooStrelzik - Control Warrior/ZooZoo can be very powerful, and against an aggro deck it is no different. The nature of aggro is to put a ton of damage out agaisnt their opponent with cheap and quick minions. Zoo has the ability to build a strong board that an Aggro Mage just cannot deal with quickly. Over the course of the game, Zoo can build up minions, trade efficiently, and overpower Mage to easily take the game. The key here is to get minions that allow you to trade up and to not play into secrets effectively. By giving them poor minions withand having few spells, you effectively nullify a lot of the secrets in the deck. The strategy for Zoo is the standard Zoo gameplan, but be sure you know the secrets and check for each of them first.Control Warrior comes in as one of the decks that can do well against Aggro Mage for the pure fact that a deck with limited damage can have a very tough time against a class with the ability to go above the max amount of health. Control Warrior really treats any Mage matchup the same by building Armor, keeping the board clear, and outlasting. Mulliganing aggressively for cards likeand Amorsmith can be very useful for the Warrior and help build up a ton of Armor. Weapons can help keep the Mage's minions down while sidestepping secrets, as they do not trigger anything except on minion death.Ramp Druid also has a favorable against this deck because Druid has the ability to get large taunt creatures out quickly which makes it extremely difficult for the Mage to deal a decent amount of damage, despite direct damage spells. The same concept as the Control Warrior is used here, but instead of increasing the hero's Health with Armor, you are effectively increasing health by using ramp cards to play minion threats that absolutely must be dealt with. Key cards in this matchup ares ands as well as early spells to get rid of pressure.Podcast Recap
Sean and Ryan give their way too early predictions for the NFL Win Totals this year. How do you see the NFL shaking out this year? Will the Eagles off season be a disaster? Is Rex Ryan the difference maker in Buffalo? Will Deflategate affect the Patriots total wins?
NFL Win Totals 2015
Odds courtesy of Westgate LV Superbook
CARDINALS 8.5 OVER -115 UNDER -115
FALCONS 8.0 OVER -135 UNDER +115
RAVENS 9.0 OVER +105 UNDER -125
BILLS 8.5 OVER -110 UNDER -110
PANTHERS 8.5 OVER +115 UNDER -135
BEARS 7.0 OVER +130 UNDER -150
BENGALS 8.5 OVER -110 UNDER -110
BROWNS 6.5 OVER -110 UNDER -110
COWBOYS 9.5 OVER +120 UNDER -140
BRONCOS 10.0 OVER -130 UNDER +110
LIONS 8.5 OVER +120 UNDER -140
PACKERS 11.0 OVER +130 UNDER -150
TEXANS 8.5 OVER -120 UNDER EVEN
COLTS 10.5 OVER -170 UNDER +150
JAGUARS 5.5 OVER -170 UNDER +150
CHIEFS 8.5 OVER -110 UNDER -110
DOLPHINS 9.0 OVER +110 UNDER -130
VIKINGS 7.0 OVER -130 UNDER +110
PATRIOTS 10.5 OVER -130 UNDER +110
SAINTS 9.0 OVER +120 UNDER -140
GIANTS 8.0 OVER -140 UNDER +120
JETS 7.0 OVER -140 UNDER +120
RAIDERS 5.5 OVER +120 UNDER -140
EAGLES 9.5 OVER +120 UNDER -140
STEELERS 8.5 OVER +110 UNDER -130
CHARGERS 8.0 OVER -120 UNDER EVEN
49ERS 7.5 OVER +120 UNDER -140
SEAHAWKS 11.0 OVER +110 UNDER -130
RAMS 8.0 OVER -110 UNDER -110
BUCS 6.0 OVER +120 UNDER -140
TITANS 5.5 OVER EVEN UNDER -120
REDSKINS 6.0 OVER -110 UNDER -110What's in a Name? So we discovered yesterday that, through the wonders of common-law trademark, we're going to need to ditch my wife's brand identity. She's fine in LA - but there's an existing business in Seattle whose logo and name are like a shitty version of hers. Unfortunately they've been in practice long enough to have earned the rights to their shitty logo and shitty name, and should my wife move her business (a $2500 process, just for the tax documents) without coming up with a new corporate identity, we are "diluting" their brand. So that sucks. It's entirely possible I'd seen them and subconsciously modeled our shit on theirs. It's just begging for improvement, which is pretty much what my wife's brand is. She's good enough that if you google (common noun) (common verb) you get her business. Whereas theirs is (common noun) (adjective) (adjective) (noun) (adjective) (noun) but two of those five words are synonyms for my wife's noun'n'verb so we're pretty much fucked. To be clear - I'm delighted that "common law trademark" is a thing. It's protective of all the right things. I just wish I'd discovered it myself (I did an exhaustive trademark search and found nothing and assumed we were okay). And to be clear - this is an opportunity to retrench, reconfigure and rebrand. Kind of a bummer that all we're taking north is an EIN, though. So in pursuit of new identities, we went hunting last night. Birth centers want to be welcoming - so "sanctuary" or "refuge" or "haven" are great choices, and all COMPLETELY taken. So then you start looking for synonyms of "house" and they're all awesome. - "The Birth Hole" - "Birth Shanty" - "The Birth Shack"...all of which go very well with the logo our (extremely talented and witty) web designer suggested. So then you go down the list of north-westy things. Trillium Birth. Taken. Cedars birth. taken. Puget Sound anything. Taken. So you start leafing through plant spotting guides for the Pacific Northwest and you discover that this beautiful and unassuming little plant, all 5 centimeters of it:...is called NAKED BROOMRAPE. (someone hates the fuck out of that plant) And that's about where you try on "Naked broomrape birth center" for fun, roll off the couch, recognize that there aren't many combinations of words more likely to grenade one's business than "Naked Broomrape (anything)" and decide you should go to bed, it's midnight, you're drunk. And then your daughter wakes you up at 6am.On May 3, 2017 the Department of Homeland Security released the most detailed files to date on the 1979-1983 Richard Kelly Smyth/Arnon Milchan/Benjamin Netanyahu krytron smuggling ring. The 100-page dossier (PDF) answers important questions about how highly sensitive US nuclear weapons technologies were smuggled out of the country in the early 1980s. The pages leave two key questions unanswered. The first is why Arnon Milchan was not indicted alongside his co-conspirator Richard Kelly Smyth. The second is why in 2016 Secretary of State John Kerry granted Milchan a long-term visa to reside in the United States even after career Department of State officials initially refused.
The files, originally scheduled to be declassified in the year 2037, reveal that on December 6, 1979 the Israeli Ministry of Defense suddenly developed a need "of the
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function <function D.f at 0x1014021e0> >>> D.f # Get from a class becomes an unbound method... NOT! <function D.f at 0x1014021e0> >>> d.f # Get from an instance becomes a bound method <bound method D.f of <__main__.D object at 0x10123cf28>>
Also explained in the documentation is the fact that both bound and unbound methods are backed by the same C implementation, except for the value of their im_self attribute, which is NULL when unbound. So I am guessing that instancemethod is creating a new instance of the function object at runtime in 2 regardless of whether it is bound or unbound, while in 3 the instantiation only happens when bound, given that the unbound s don’t exist. This would make sense, as the function must be executed each time you access it.
If that were the case, we would expect that calling b on an instance on A would always return a different object, regardless of which Python runtime we’re on, as they are always bound: # Python 2&3 >>> a = A() >>> a.b is a.b False >>> hex(id(a.b)) '0x1003bf988' >>> hex(id(a.b)) '0x1003f1448'
So, the reason why A.b is A.b in Python 3, and not Python 2 is this whole bound/unbound story. Seems like the Descriptor Protocol is responsible for this sorcery! Magic is just technology we don’t understand, yet.
If you have more insight into the inner workings of this, I’d love to hear about it.
Update (4/26/16): Jake VanderPlas replied to my tweet, and pointed to a 2009 post by Guido describing the behavior. Apparently, the bound/unbound distinction was introduced as a way to achieve “first-class everything,” which methods didn’t quite fit into. Python 3’s undoing of unbound methods is just a further expression of the idea.
Update 2 (4/29/16): Today I received an email from Todd Jennings, who pointed me to the bug that tracks the out-of-date documentation for Python 3. Sadly, it is marked as still waiting.
Update 3 (8/22/16): After attending PyBay, Wesley Chun pointed out that the definition of A was that of a classic 2.x class, while the rest of the article used new-style classes. Changing the class definition to inherit from object (as in, class A(object): ) doesn’t change the behavior that I describe above, for either Python 2.x or 3.x. To remain true to the original tweet, I have kept the class definition without explicit inheritance, but the distinction is important.
Image: “The Witch No. 1” by Baker, Joseph E. - Licensed under Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons Related posts If you made it all the way to the end of this, you might be interested in these other posts: Notes from Pycon 2017 15 Jun 2017
Wolfram's automata, a simple implementation with Python 23 Jan 2017
Want to see more articles like this? Sign up below:Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has promised to review legal advice that led to a retiree being threatened with court action unless he pulls down his "save Medicare" website as intellectual property experts questioned the strength of the government's position.
Sydney grandfather Mark Rogers has drawn a wave of support from across Australia after Fairfax Media revealed his David and Goliath battle against the Department of Human Services, which has threatened to sue him for "injunctive relief, damages and costs" for what it claims is the unauthorised use of Medicare's green and yellow logo.
Mr Rogers has so far defied the Department's demand, delivered by the Australian Government Solicitor, to shut down his website within 48 hours and agree to never use Medicare branding again.
Mr Turnbull was asked for a second time on Thursday why his government was targeting a retiree with a little-visited website that campaigns against cuts to Medicare.Since the recent ban on mephedrone,1 2several alternative products have been introduced on internet websites. One of the most prominently discussed second generation products is Energy 1 (NRG-1), also advertised as naphyrone (naphthylpyrovalerone, O-2482), which originated from a group of compounds previously described in the medicinal chemistry literature.3
These products are offered as legal substitutes for the recently criminalised “legal highs,” the mephedrone derivatives. One of the earlier studies exploring the motivation for using these drugs suggested that consumers think that they are more likely to be of higher purity than street drugs, carry a lower risk of physical harm, and not be liable for the criminal sanctions associated with drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act.4
To obtain an initial snapshot of the post-ban situation, we purchased 17 products online from 12 UK based websites over the six weeks after the ban on mephedrone in mid-April 2010. Chemical analysis was carried out by established procedures (table 1⇓).5
NRG-1 and NRG-2 products purchased online from UK based websites in the 6 weeks after the ban on mephedrone View this table:
Most of the NRG-type products were recently banned cathinones that just carried a new label; this suggests that both consumers and online sellers are, most likely without knowledge, at risk of criminalisation and potential harm. This has important health and criminal justice consequences that will require carefully thought out responses and further investigation.Aleppo, Syria - On the surface, life appears normal in opposition-held districts in Aleppo, Syria's war-torn commercial capital. Bustling crowds pack markets, and traffic congests its main streets.
But the scene of ordinary life is dangerously deceptive, as at any given moment a Syrian fighter jet or artillery shell could strike the urban centre and incinerate the precarious normality.
Few Syrians, however, complain about shelling and air strikes here these days. Their main concern is providing their families with food.
"We can't find bread and when we do, we can't afford to pay for it. The price has increased at least three-fold," resident Mohammed Ali told Al Jazeera.
He blamed the rebels for his misery. "They promised that they would make sure that basic commodities are available. They aren't able to do that. They don't even subsidise the prices," he said. "The rebels should get rid of the corruption in the city before they fight battles elsewhere."
"Our country is being destroyed. If this is the revolution, I don't want it." - Mohammed Zein, Aleppo fruit seller
Many residents of the city feel the same way, with little criticism against the Syrian government now overheard in conversations on the streets. Indeed, public anger now is firmly directed towards the rebel forces.
Once a thriving financial centre, Aleppo is that no longer. Rebels stormed the city in mid-July and were able to set up bases in the poorer, mainly Sunni neighbourhoods. Syria's opposition is mainly made up of Sunnis, but Aleppo's multi-ethnic and multi-class make-up hasn't always worked to the benefit rebel fighters.
Aleppo stalemate
The city is now carved up into government- and opposition-controlled districts, with battle lines in some quarters drawn only metres apart. For weeks there has been a stalemate with both sides unable to make any major territorial advances.
The deadlock has led many Aleppo residents to complain about how their lives have deteriorated, with some questioning whether the war is worth its consequences.
"It will end when the war in Iraq ends, and they have been at war for ten years now," says Mohammed Zein, a 64-year-old vegetable vendor.
"Our country is being destroyed. If this is the revolution, I don't want it. I have to stress that I am not a supporter of the regime, because they used to oppress us. But now, we are being oppressed 100 times more."
Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr on Aleppo situation
The opposition has acknowledged some of its fighters have profited from the war, but said it is tackling corruption among its ranks and blamed the government for the people's lack of basic necessities.
"We are doing our best, but the regime has laid siege to the city. They don't allow supplies to get in. They stop people at checkpoints and confiscate their goods if they are trying to enter Aleppo," said Abdul Raouf Sabouni, an opposition fighter.
Sabouni is a member of a brigade operating under the Free Syrian Army (FSA) command. But the FSA - considered to be the mainstream rebel group in the country - is fast losing influence and support here.
"The FSA are thieves … We don't want them. We want Jubhat al-Nusra to rule," a crowd chanted during a demonstration following Friday's midday prayers, referring to a hardline Islamist group - one the United States has linked to al-Qaeda.
Rise of hardline Islamists
Fighters from Jubhat al-Nusra appear to be the dominant force, not only in Aleppo, but on other battle fronts across Syria.
Some say Jubhat al-Nusra's members are doing the hard fighting on the frontlines, and are viewed to be more disciplined and less corrupt than the Free Syrian Army, with which it works independently.
One of the demonstrators even accused some FSA fighters of collaborating with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
"The rebels promised to bring freedom but there is no safety. They promised us better lives, but we aren't even able to afford to buy bread." - Mohammed Ali, Aleppo resident
"The Free Syrian Army needs to cleansed from bad elements who are working with the regime. They are kidnapping, robbing. This has to stop," Abu Hamze said.
It is hard to gauge how much influence Jubhat al-Nusra wields with Aleppo's population, but what is unambiguous is FSA's declining popularity here.
"This is always the case in cities," a Syrian from Damascus, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, told Al Jazeera. "The people of Aleppo are businessmen. All they care about is making money. They don't want to be involved in any war. They may not like the regime, but they want others to do the fighting … others to suffer."
Aleppo was long immune from the fighting in the countryside. Unlike other areas in Syria, its people didn't rise up en masse when rebels brought the fight here. At the time, this failure disappointed many opposing Assad's regime. But now, it seems, it is the opposition to Assad that is disappointed with Aleppo.
"We used to work and have jobs. We just want to live in peace," Mohammed Ali said. "The rebels promised to bring freedom but there is no safety. They promised us better lives, but we aren't even able to afford to buy bread."
Follow Zeina Khodr on Twitter: @ZeinakhodrAljazORO VALLEY, Ariz.— It turns out that some types of wildlife like to go over a state highway, others tend to go under it and still others can go either way.
Those are initial results of a survey of camera-monitored usage of a new $9.5 million wildlife crossing of State Route 77 near Oro Valley in northeastern Pima County.
Deer overwhelmingly preferred the crossing’s overpass while bobcats and javelin — pig-like mammals found in the southwest — preferred the underpass, with only a few going for the overpass.
Roughly two-thirds of the coyotes went for the underpass while the remaining third opted for the overpass.
The crossing project is a partnership of the Arizona Department of Transportation and the Regional Transportation Authority.
It’s an attempt to reduce roadkill and to promote wildlife connectivity between the Santa Catalina and Tortolita mountains.Jack Russell Weinstein, a UND philosophy professor of 16 years, is the only North Dakota professor on the Professor Watchlist, an online list that “exposes and documents college professors who discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom,” the website states. The professor hosts “Why? Radio,” a public broadcasting program that features discussions about philosophy.
“The irony, of course, is that a website that is calling other people anti-American, is being anti-American by suggesting other (people on its list) are wrong to have an opinion,” he said, adding the website is intimidating professors who make the list.
The list refers to an article posted by CampusReform.com, which links to Weinstein’s blog post titled “How should people respond to open-carry gun-rights activists.” The blog, which Weinstein said millions of people have read, was published in June 2014 and addresses how to acknowledge the fear of being in a business with those who carry weapons and respect the rights of gun activists. It suggests people who fear being shot should leave the business, even if it means not paying the bill.
“Stopping to pay in the presence of a person with a gun means risking your and your loved ones’ lives; money shouldn’t trump this,” Weinstein wrote in the post. “If the business loses money, so be it. They can make the activists pay.”
List of professors
The watchlist is produced by Turning Point USA, a nonprofit founded to promote fiscal responsibility, free markets and limited government to college students, according to the Turning Point website.
The long list includes Melissa Click, a former University of Missouri communications professor who was fired after a video showed her confronting a college journalist who was covering protests at the campus. Click attracted national attention after she asked protesters for “muscle” to remove the reporter.
The watchlist also has received media attention in recent weeks.
The list states Weinstein “vehemently opposes those whom he calls ‘open-carry activists.’ He believes their rights are not protected under the Constitution and he encourages people to avoid those who open carry.”
Weinstein said his bio on the watchlist, particularly about him opposing open carry rights, is inaccurate. He said in an August 2014 interview with Fox News gun rights activists are not a protected group in the sense they have been oppressed for centuries like African Americans. Groups that are protected have been defined by the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The most controversial thing I said was, If someone scares you, you should run away,” he told the Herald, adding he is frustrated people will believe the information on the website. “If you are going to call attention to someone’s work, and if you are going to call them all sorts of names, the least you can do is be honest.”
‘Worry about crazy people’
The website does not explicitly promote physical harm, with its founders saying Turning Point “will continue to fight for free speech and the right for professors to say whatever they wish; however students, parents and alumni deserve to know the specific incidents and names of professors that advance a radical agenda in lecture halls.”
The watchlist takes its information from third-party news sites, Turning Point spokesman Charlie Kirk wrote in an email to the Herald Saturday.
“If there are any differences between what was reported on, we haven't been approached with that information,” he wrote.
Weinstein said he doesn’t feel threatened by the list itself, but he is concerned people who take the list seriously may act on it.
“The fact that we are living in a time and place where a watchlist could be effective is even more problematic than the fact that there is a watchlist,” he said.
He pointed to a letter he received from a listener after he re-aired an interview discussing “How to think about antisemitism.” Weinstein, who is Jewish, said the letter suggests Jews deserve to be discriminated against because of their ancestors’ actions, with the writer pointing to the death of Jesus.
Weinstein responded to a letter in a post, saying the Romans ordered Jesus’ death and the writer’s insinuation was antisemitic.
The letter may have not caused Weinstein to be named to the list, but he feels the two incidents are reflective of the political climate in the U.S. He added giving permission to hate gives people permission to attack others verbally and physically.
“I don’t worry too much about the watchlist. I do worry about crazy people,” he said. “I worry about people who feel they can attack me, attack my family and do damage to my property to create mayhem to advance their bigotry.”
When asked if Turning Point may promote violence against professors on the list, Kirk replied “absolutely not.”
“Consolidating a list of cited examples of bias does not encourage violence or retaliation,” he wrote. “Every single example we have in our database was previously reported on by third party news sites. We find that question to be completely unsupported by evidence or any factual basis.”
UND administration is aware that Weinstein is on the watchlist, spokesman Peter Johnson wrote in an email to the Herald. He added the website doesn’t encourage physical harm but the safety of UND’s students, faculty and staff is the school’s top priority, and “that includes Jack.”
“All faculty members have a right to express their opinions, though we encourage them to explore a diversity of opinions in the classroom,” Johnson wrote. “Jack has made it clear that the opinions that he expresses on the show and in the blog are his own.”
Making the list is, in some ways, a compliment, because someone has noticed his work and feels threatened by it, Weinstein said. He said he hasn’t received any threats but has seen emails of support, adding he feels UND is supportive of his free speech rights and is concerned for his safety.
“What this watchlist says I matter, my research matters,” he said.We’re happy to announce the release of Kotlin 1.1.3, a new bugfix and tooling update for Kotlin 1.1. The update brings a number of new IDE features, performance improvements in the compiler and IDE, efficiency improvements for generated bytecode, and lots of bugfixes. The update is compatible with all versions of IntelliJ IDEA from 2016.2 until 2017.2, as well as with Android Studio 2.3 and 3.0 Canary.
Note: There is an issue with Android Studio 3.0 Canary 4 which prevents correct loading of Kotlin plugin updates, so you won’t be able to install this update into Canary 4. Kotlin 1.1.3 will be bundled into Android Studio 3.0 Canary 5.
The complete list of changes in this release can be found in the changelog.
We’d like to thank our external contributors whose pull requests were included in this release: AJ Alt, Chris Horner, Gaetan Zoritchak, Jonathan Leitschuh, Kirill Rakhman, Marek Langiewicz, Nadia Humbert-Labeaumaz, Shaun Reich, Yoshinori Isogai, and last but not least Yuli Fiterman (who contributed an initial implementation of one of the major new features in this release, parameter/type hints). Thanks to everyone who tried the EAP builds and sent us feedback, too!
JDK 9 Support
This release adds initial support of compiling Kotlin code against a Java 9 JDK. Note that module-based visibility checks will be supported in future 1.1.x updates; as of 1.1.3, Kotlin doesn’t use information from module-info.java in any way.
Maven Parallel Builds
The Kotlin Maven plugin now supports parallel builds, so if you run Maven with the -T option, it will now be able to compile multiple Kotlin modules in parallel.
kapt Incremental Compilation
kapt now builds Java stubs incrementally, which makes builds using annotation processing significantly faster.
TODO Highlighting
Usages of the TODO() method are now highlighted in the editor as TODOs and shown in the TODO view.
Semantic Highlighting
If you enable semantic highlighting in the Colors & Fonts settings, Kotlin will highlight the definition and all occurrences of every local variable and parameter with a distinct color.
Parameter Name Hints
Following the lead of IntelliJ IDEA’s Java support, Kotlin now supports showing editor hints for parameter names in calls where the meaning of the arguments may not be clear from the context. This is particularly useful for calling Java code from Kotlin – in pure Kotlin code, such situations should be resolved through the use of named arguments.
Type Hints
Similarly to the previous feature, the Kotlin plugin now supports showing inferred types of variables, functions and parameters in editor hints. This functionality is disabled by default; you can enable it in the editor appearance settings.
How to update
To update the plugin, use Tools | Kotlin | Configure Kotlin Plugin Updates and press the “Check for updates now” button. Also, don’t forget to update the compiler and standard library version in your Maven and Gradle build scripts.
As usual, if you run into any problems with the new release, you’re welcome to ask for help on the forums, on Slack (get an invite here), or to report issues in the issue tracker.
Let’s Kotlin!The United States and Japan moved Thursday to modernize and expand their defense alliance to counter new 21st century challenges including the continuing threat from nuclear-armed North Korea and potential aggression from China over disputed territory.
Revamping the guidelines of their defense partnership for the first time in 16 years, the allies agreed to position a second early-warning radar in Japan within the next year to help protect against North Korea. And by next spring, they will deploy new long-range surveillance drones to help monitor disputed islands in the East China Sea, a move that may well raise tensions with Beijing.
The foreign and defense ministers of the two countries also, for the first time, put a price on what Japan will contribute to the relocation of Marines out of Okinawa to Guam and other locations in the Asia-Pacific region. Japan will pay up to $3.1 billion of the move, which includes development of new facilities in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel met with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera and afterward laid out the details of the session. The talks, ahead of President Barack Obama's visits to Indonesia and Brunei next week, were aimed at modernizing the American-Japanese alliance that both sides maintain is a cornerstone of peace and stability in North Asia.
"Japan is changing and so is its neighborhood," Kerry told reporters at a press conference after the meeting. "So we're coming together now to modernize our deep cooperation, through both our military alliances and our diplomatic partnerships, and that is so we can better prevent and respond to the ever-changing threats of the 21st century."
The deep neighborhood divisions were underscored, even as the meeting went on, when a new naval exercise between the U.S., Japan and South Korea scheduled for next week was disclosed, provoking a swift response from North Korea. In a statement, the National Peace Committee of Korea condemned the exercise, which will include the USS George Washington aircraft carrier and its strike group, as reckless saber-rattling.
The new X-band radar system, in fact, is designed to protect the region against the North Korean threat, boosting Japan's ability to track and intercept missiles from across the Sea of Japan. Officials have stressed it is not directed at China. Kerry acknowledged the threat from Pyongyang, but also said the U.S. was willing to sign a non-aggression pact with North Korea if it gives up its nuclear weapons and complies with international demands.
The drones, meanwhile, are designed in part to help step up surveillance around the Senkaku islands, a source of heated debate between Japan and China. Under the plan, two or three will fly out of a U.S. base. While the U.S. has operated unmanned aircraft over Japan in the past, for example during the 2011 tsunami, this would be the first time that drones would be based in Japan.
More broadly, the documents agreed to on Thursday contain no direct mention of the Senkakus, easily one of the most contentious issues affecting security in the Pacific. Despite that, the territorial dispute over the remote, uninhabited islands was a prime topic during the meeting and of the statements by the leaders afterward.
Hagel said the U.S. reiterated that while Washington takes no side on the question of the islands' sovereignty, it recognizes Japan's administration of them and has responsibilities to protect Japanese territory under a mutual defense treaty.
"We strongly oppose any unilateral or coercive action that seeks to undermine Japan's administrative control," he said.
China's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday, which is part of a weeklong national holiday. Beijing has criticized the installation of the first military radar system, as announced last month, to monitor Pyongyang's military activities. Foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei then said the plans could affect regional stability and upset the strategic balance.
The U.S. has watched warily as tensions between Japan and China have heated up over the Senkakus, badly souring their relations and leading to bellicose talk and actions from both sides. China has increased patrols near the Japanese-administered islands that it calls Diaoyu.
Successive U.S. administrations have held to the position that the two nations must sort out their differences over the Senkakus peacefully, and that remains the case. U.S. officials said the position was so well known that there was no need to address it in the agreements.
Kishida, referring to the island dispute as well as the ongoing North Korea threat, said the security environment "has become increasingly severe." He added, "We are decidedly opposed to the attempt to change the status quo through coercion. Rule of law is critically important."
A senior administration official said the U.S. continues to believe that the most effective policy is to continue to make those points publicly and privately while encouraging the two sides to tone down rhetoric and refrain from actions that may be seen by the other as provocative. It is not in U.S. interests, nor those of Japan or China, for the chill between Tokyo and Beijing to be prolonged, the official said.
Kerry said the U.S. continues to have frank discussions with China, laying out "lines that shouldn't be crossed." He added that "a rising China is welcome as long as that China wants to engage according to international standards."
The islands, also claimed by Taiwan, stir a depth of nationalist passion that belies their size and remoteness. They are located roughly midway between Taiwan and the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, and cover a total area of just 2.3 square miles.
The senior official said the new radar, which was initially announced by then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta about a year ago, will provide better coverage in the event of a North Korean attack. There already is one of the X-band radar systems in the northern part of Japan, but the official said the second one, to be located in the Kyoto Prefecture, will fill gaps in coverage.
The official said details about the deployment of the U.S. Global Hawk drones were still being worked out. The plans also included deployment of F-35 jet fighters for the Marines around 2017. And, for the first time, the U.S. will deploy Navy P-8 anti-submarine aircraft outside the U.S., sending them to Japan later this year.
More broadly, the 10-page statement signed by Kerry and Hagel was designed to improve military and diplomatic relations with Japan, while working to reduce America's troop footprint on the island.
The U.S. force of 50,000, particularly troops in Okinawa, has increased tensions between the two nations, over the military's land use, crimes committed by service members and disruptions by military flights in the heavily-populated region.
Under plans announced last year, about 9,000 Marines stationed on Okinawa will be moved out. The decision also reflects the Obama administration's effort to focus greater attention on the Asia-Pacific, and spread troops more widely across the region.
About 5,000 Marines will go to Guam. The total cost of the relocation is about $8.6 billion.
Earlier Thursday Kerry and Hagel visited the secular Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery, where the remains of more than 350,000 unidentified war dead from World War II are laid to rest.
They did not go to the nearby Yasukuni Shrine, a controversial monument that honors 2.5 million Japanese soldiers who died in wars from the late 1800s until 1945, including convicted war criminals.
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Associated Press writer Didi Tang in Beijing contributed to this report.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.A Rs 25,000-crore mega internal security scheme was approved by the today to strengthen the country's and order mechanism, mordernise police forces and effectively fight against terrorism, Home Minister said.
The key Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), headed by Prime Minister Modi, gave its approval for implementation of the umbrella scheme -- Modernisation of Police Forces (MPF) -- for 2017-18 to 2019-20.
"This is the biggest ever internal security scheme in the country. The financial outlay for the scheme over the three years period is Rs 25,060 crore, out of which the central share will be Rs 18,636 crore and the states' share will be Rs 6,424 crore," Singh said at a press conference here.
Special provisions have been made under the scheme for internal security, and order, women security, availability of modern weapons, mobility of police forces, logistical support, hiring of helicopters, upgradation of police wireless, national satellite network, crime and criminal tracking network and systems, e-prison, etc.
The home minister said that under the umbrella scheme, a central budget outlay of Rs 10,132 crore has been earmarked for internal security-related expenditure for Jammu and Kashmir, northeastern states and those affected by the left wing extremism (LWE).
A scheme for special central assistance (SCA) for 35 districts worst hit by LWE has been introduced with an outlay of Rs 3,000 crore to tackle the issue of underdevelopment.
An outlay of Rs 100 crore has been earmarked for police infrastructure upgradation, training institutes, investigation facilities, etc. in the northeastern states.
Singh said the implementation of the scheme would bolster the government's ability to address challenges faced in different theatres such as areas affected by LWE, Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast effectively.
Besides, the scheme will help undertake development interventions which will catalyse in improving the quality of life in these areas and help combat these challenges effectively at the same time.
The new initiatives are being introduced to provide assistance to states for upgradation of police infrastructure, forensic science laboratories, institutions and the equipment available with them to plug critical gaps in the criminal justice system.
Police stations will be integrated to set up a national data base of crime and criminal records. It will be linked with other pillars of criminal justice system such as prisons, forensic science laboratories and prosecution offices.
The umbrella scheme also provides for setting up of a state-of-the-art forensic science laboratory in Amravati and upgradation of Sardar Patel Global Centre for Security, Counter and Anti Insurgency in Jaipur and Gujarat Forensic Science University in Gandhinagar.
"It is expected that the umbrella scheme,'modernisation of police forces', will go a long way to boost the capability and efficiency of central and state police forces by modernising them," Singh said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)CTV Montreal
MONTREAL—With motorcycles hitting the road this spring, the SAAQ has a motorcycle safety campaign ready to help reduce accidents. The automotive safety board is also planning to change the way drivers earn a license.
Francois Gutras loves to get out on his motorcycle. But last August he was sideswiped by a car running a red light.
“I had four fractures. I'm really lucky to be here,” said Gutras. “At the beginning of the season, like right now, cars don't see us so it’s really dangerous.”
The motorcycle driver now wears reflective clothing, especially when riders are more at risk during the spring. The SAAQ is now asking riders to be more visible and minding motorists to be cautious.
The SAAQ is also recommending that any driver with four demerit points on their license be denied the chance to take the test.
“We plan to teach more emergency motorcycle driving techniques to new riders,” said Mario Vaillancourt, a spokesman for the SAAQ.
The agency is recommending that eye protection be made mandatory and is changing some rules on how to get a licence.
Under current Quebec law, motorcyclists with a learners permit can only ride with another fully-licenced rider while they prepare for their road test. The SAAQ is recommending doing away with the rule, saying many driving instructors told them the program wasn't working.
The SAAQ also recommends not allowing any driver with four demerit points on their drivers license from taking the test.
Joe Italiano has been a motorcycle and driving instructor for 36 years. He agrees with the SAAQ’s recommendation to eliminate the accompanying rider for learners. He says it should be replaced with more mandatory training hours.
“I would increase the four hours on the road maybe to six hours, maybe even eight hours before they attempt a road test,” said Italiano.
There is no timeline for implementing all the changes, but it seems certain that they won’t be in effect for this season.It’s been over 10 years since the first iPhone appeared on the market. Users immediately appreciated its square ios app icon design with rounded corners. The icons were easy to click and gave a nice, neat orderliness to the screen. Only iOS icon designers were unhappy with the standard square icons – those square shapes limited the freedom for creative design. However, some experts decided to think out of the box. No squares would stop their creativity! In fact, the shape seemed to explode their creative thinking, and some true masterpieces began to appear in the AppStore.
This is the best ios app icon design collection we have gathered here for you.
Most of them have existed for years, but continue to inspire us with their unusual style. Others are relatively new, and have not been duly appreciated yet. The fact is that finding new icon masterpieces becomes harder every year, since everyone is in a rush to post an application in the AppStore as soon as possible and earn quick money. They don’t want to spend time and money on an IOS designer.
That’s why the so-called “flat” design came into fashion. It’s quick, easy, practical and has nothing in excess. A lot of people support this trend, but others are against it. But fashion still has the upper hand, and a lot of world-famous brands started using icons with few colors and a “flat” design – and others soon joined them.
However, there’s no use trying to limit artistic people with frames and trends. They will always find a creative way to get around them. This is why this collection holds present-day flat ios app icon design along with magnificent 3D masterpieces. Look – and be inspired!
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http://iconsfeed.com/icon/r8rp-ookujira-giant-whale-rampage
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As imprudent as it may seem, we also decided to make our own contribution to this collection. Here are some of icons designed by our studio that were selected for inclusion in the best iOS icon collections.
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P.S. If you like the icons we created and want to keep up to date on the latest design, marketing and IT news, please subscribe to our newsletter and Facebook page.
No spam. We promise!The Diet Games
I love contests. I love competing. It’s the fiber of my being.
I started playing sports as a young man. I still compete in 5Ks, 10Ks, ultra bike racing, skeet shooting, and trap.
No one would ever say I would shy away from a competition.
But there is one kind that I find deplorable. It’s when people compete to lose weight.
A prime example of this would be the biggest loser, and shows like it.
Inadvertently, I found myself in the middle of a weight loss competition. The funny thing is, I didn’t know I was in it. It just kind of happened.
Let me explain. Ian Smith was pushing some crappy diet plan on the Opie and Anthony Show, a nationally-syndicated program.
To prove that his diet works, he got two producers to compete with each other for one month for a prize of $500.
All these gentlemen had to do was live on his pre-packaged food for thirty days. The one who lost the most weight would win.
Ian Smith predicted they would each lose at least twenty pounds.
Within one week, both felt like the Ian Smith plan was impossible to follow. It was based on calorie in, calorie out. The food was crappy, and the exercise program wasn’t suitable for such overweight guys.
One contestant, Roland Campos, happened to grab my book after hearing comedian Bobby Kelly rave about the weight he lost upon reading Fitness Confidential.
Roland realized he should abandon the competition and start eating right.
You can only imagine how upset Ian Smith was about this, literally going on the show and bashing me…a guy he’s never met.
So, laughingly, Ian told the guy if he continued on my diet, he would only gain weight.
The contest ended on Friday. The guy who followed the advice from Fitness Confidential lost 24 pounds (doing little exercise and not feeling hungry once). The producer following Ian’s diet only lost 11 pounds and admitted to struggling to stay on the diet, claiming he was starving all the time and felt perfectly miserable.
That didn’t stop Ian from bashing me again, along with a lot of backpedaling.
I’m happy that Roland lost weight, and I hope he continues to eat right. To be perfectly honest, I don’t give a shit about winning the competition. As I said, I don’t believe in it.
Here’s what I’m offering you. Anyone who buys a copy of Fitness Confidential over the next 14 days and leaves a review on Amazon will be eligible for a prize. I will pick my favorite review and offer that person a one-hour phone consultation…no weight loss contest involved.Presented by
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as you might expect, it’s fake.
The original tweet posted on February 2.
This selfie of a Palestinian supposedly outrunning two Israeli military personnel has spread like wildfire on social networking sites. It’s easy to understand why: Anyone who has the time to take a selfie while being chased by gun-toting soldiers has to be fairly gutsy. But, as you might expect, it’s fake.
It was first posted on the Twitter account of a Palestinian rapper and then retweeted a whopping 12,000 times. Internet users called it ‘priceless’, and most who shared seemed pretty convinced it was real.Congrats to the 2018 Players
Final Results are in!
Announcing Operation Sting 2018!
Operation Sting, the annual Bolt Action Grand Tournament, will be back on November 3-4, 2018 at the Crowne Plaza in Northbrook! Registration will officially begin on May 1, 2018. The exact time will be announced closer to the end of April. Registration for Operation Sting Bolt Action tournament will be $53 (The event cost is $50 but PayPal takes ~$3 off the top of each of our orders)
Do you want to secure a spot in the Operation Sting Bolt Action tournament? We need your help with providing HIGH QUALITY gaming tables for our tournament. You can reserve one spot in the Operation Sting tournament for each table you commit to bring. If you are interested in taking advantage of this opportunity, send us an email at our brand new email address: [email protected]. Important notes, you will still be required to pay your registration fees for Operation Sting, however your spot will be secured until Aug 31. If you take us up on this offer and aren’t able to deliver an acceptable table, you will not be able to take advantage of this deal in future years.
and Frostgrave too?!?
In addition to the two day Bolt Action tournament, Operation Sting is excited to announce that we are adding an official second event to the weekend! We will be running a “Friendly” Frostgrave Campaign that will be played over the course of two evenings – Friday Nov 3 and Saturday Nov 4. The Frostgrave Campaign will have a separate entry fee ($10 entry). Anyone is eligible to join and you do not have to be registered to play in the Operation Sting Bolt Action tournament to take place! Registration for the Frostgrave event will be handled offline via direct PayPal payments wherever possible. Send us an email to [email protected] if you are interested in the Frostgrave campaign event to get our our waitlist. We will confirm details on registration in a few weeks after we gauge the interest. The total number of slots will be limited based on table space availability!
The Results
Congratulations to all the players for another Successful Operation Sting! The final results are posted here and photos of the event coverage are posted here.
Special thanks to all our generous sponsors. Please check them out and tell them you heard about them from Operation Sting!
Hello, gamers!
Many of you have submitted your army lists for review, most have been approved, and a few are currently being reviewed. Please note the deadline for submitting army lists is this Saturday, October 28th. So please, if you have not already done so, submit your list for review. Use the “Contact” tab for information, noting that email is the preferred method of submittal due to the list-checker’s somewhat Neanderthal skill level with social media. The list of registrants will be updated soon with a note for those who have had their lists approved, so don’t be “that guy” without a list in.
Commendations to those who have submitted their lists for having eschewed typical, more “gamey” lists. Your embracing of the theme and ‘friendly gaming community’ aesthetic is very admirable, and has prevented neck-beard irritation. This is looking to be one of the best Operation Sting experiences yet! High fives all around.
Also, as a friendly reminder, you’re required to have an objective marker for your army that both factors into your army theme and is mandatory for at least one Scenario.
There is a grudge match or two taking place Friday evening, as well as some fantastic games in a frozen type of city (bone darts optional). Get your lists in, get that painting wrapped up, and spend your Friday evening rolling dice rather than basing in your hotel room!
Weekend General Resident Neckbeard and List Approver
Operation Sting Sold Out!
Operation Sting has sold out for the second consecutive years. However, as is usually the case we have openings from time to time due to other commitments from registered players. If you are interested in joining the waitlist, please use the “Contact” tab and let us know.
Operation Sting Registration Opens on April 28, 2017 at 1pm (CT)
Operation Sting will be officially open for registration on April 28 at 1pm. We expect this event to sell out very quickly! Please use the Registration tab on our page to follow the PayPal registration Process. After check-out, please email or contact (using the contact tab) to select a faction – Axis or Allies. We will have 15 slots available for each side. These will be filled on a first come/first serve basis. You can register as “undecided” but know that if one faction fills up, you will have to select the opposite faction!
2016 Final Results
Thanks to all the players for coming out for the 3rd Annual Operation Sting! Here’s a recap of the full results. Photos coming soon!
Generic Platoon Update:
Please see below… I’ve updated the ruling on the use of Generic Platoon selectors. You may choose to use a Generic Platoon from Version 2 of the rulebook or select a Generic Platoon from the appropriate “Armies of XXXX” Supplement.
Operation Sting, Version 2.0 Updates:
Yes, version 2.0 of the rules has finally arrived. I’m confirming now that we will be using Version 2.0 for Operation Sting. I appreciate that these rules will be new so we’ll allow a little flexibility during the tournament for games to go a bit longer if necessary. With the new rules are likely to come a bit of disagreement on how to interpret the rules. I’ll warn you now that I’ll be no more of an expert than any of you with these new rules so I’ll remind everyone to play like adults and remember that we are all there to have fun.
House Rules
I’ll be eliminated the house rules for Operation Sting this year. With the new rules, we will let it play “as written”. The only house rule that will remain for now is no flame thrower vehicles still. I’ve heard that the new rules have softened these rolling beasts but I’m still not comfortable with these for tournament play just yet.
Generic Platoons
If you chose to bring an army using a Generic platoon for one of the factions in the new rule book. This Generic Platoon will take precedence over the one from the corresponding Armies of.. book. [Note: I haven’t checked yet to see how different these Generic platoons are between the new and old rules] Updated: Generic Platoons can be selected from either the Version 2 Rulebook or the Appropriate “Armies of XXX” Supplement. [Update on 9/30/16]
German National Rules
We will be using the updated German National rules as described in the new rule book. These rules will be extended to the Theatre selector army lists if you choose to bring an army from the Armies of Germany rule book.
Axis vs Allies Confirmed!
We’ve been able to manage to have 15 Axis and 15 Allied Players. So we are going to run Operation Sting as an Axis vs Allies event. Please check the registration page and make sure you are correctly assigned to the Axis or Allied side. If you need to switch Axis or Allied please let me know ASAP!
Bolt Action, Version 2.0 UPDATE
We are pleased to announce that based on the expected release of Bolt Action, Version 2.0 in Mid-September that Operation Sting WILL be using the v2.0 of the Bolt Action rules. A No final decision has been reached on the “Armies of Germany” update rules yet as we haven’t received official confirmation of the release date for this updated army supplement.
Bolt Action, Version 2.0
In case you missed the news, Warlord has confirmed that Version 2 of the Bolt Action Rules and Armies of Germany Army Book are set to be published in “Autumn” of 2016. This could pose some interesting challenges for Operation Sting. At this time, we are planning on running the tournament using the Version 1 of both the main rules and the Armies of Germany Army Supplement. A final decision on which version of the rules will be used later this summer when (hopefully) more information is available.
Operation Sting – 2016 is SOLD OUT!
Wow, that didn’t take long. We didn’t even officially advertise that Operation Sting was taking registrations and through word of mouth it completely sold out during the course of Adepticon! If you know anyone that missed the event and would like to get added to the wait list – please use the “Contact” form on the blog here.
We’ve got some exciting things planned for the 2016 Tournament! Please note that we changed the points limit/order dice cap for the tournament. You will now be able to bring an army up to 1250 points and 16 order dice. Full army building requirements are on the “Rules” section of the site.
Welcome to Operation Sting
Operation Sting returns for its third year! The exciting Bolt Action tournament returns to the north Chicagoland area on November 5-6, 2016. Operation Sting has expanded to a larger playing field and will be hosted at the Crown Point Hotel in Northbrook, IL. It will continue to be a two-day Grand Tournament style event.
Registration is officially open – register today and don’t miss out!
AdvertisementsEarly this morning, Streetlight Manifesto announced the second leg of their Last Good Fight tour, which will reach across the East Coast of the United States and into Canada. A Boston date has been set for Tuesday, October 20th at the House of Blues, and tickets can be purchased this Friday (6/5) at 10am via Livenation. Opening for Streetlight on all dates will be the always reliable Dan Potthast and folk act Sycamore Smith, who have both toured and collaborated with Streetlight’s writer/guitarist/vocalist Thomas Kalnoky’s solo side project Toh Kay. These Eastern dates will be in response to the tour’s West Coast leg, which ended earlier this week. This will be the third October in a row that Streetlight has played at Boston’s House of Blues, with last year’s date being one of the just six shows the band played that year. Check Streetlight’s website and Facebook page for more info.
This is the third announced tour since Streetlight announced they would stop touring in order to focus on writing and recording new material, which surely unearths some skepticism about how well those plans are working out. However, it could be (and probably is) the case that the band is using these dates to test out new material, or even raise funds for further recording. Below, check out the full tour dates, as well as the tour announcement poster designed by Jakub Rebelka and both volumes of “You by Me”, a series of EPs in which Toh Kay covers (and is covered by) tour openers Dan Potthast and Sycamore Smith.
Check out our Boston Ska event calendar for more upcoming shows in the area.
Streetlight Manifesto “Last Good Fight, Leg Two” October East Coast Tour:
Friday, 10/16: Toronto, ON
Saturday, 10/17: Montreal, QC
Sunday, 10/18: Philadelphia, PA
Monday, 10/19: New York, NY
Tuesday, 10/20: Boston, MA
Wednesday, 10/21: Washington, DC
Friday, 10/23: Norfolk, VA
Saturday, 10/24: Atlanta, GA
Sunday, 10/25: Orlando, FL
Monday, 10/26: St. Petersburg, FL
Tuesday, 10/27: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Friday, 10/30: Sayresville, NJ
Saturday, 10/31: Sayresville, NJReview on ASICS Women's GEL-Kayano 20 Running Shoe.
When you find you may think that I an athlete, but I am not by any means a runner, yet I do run as much as I can normally around 1.5 miles every day at whatever point it is decent outside. I experience running shoes more regularly than I truly ought to on the grounds that I am unfathomably hard on them.
See Product Details: ASICS Women's GEL-Kayano 20 Running Shoe
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I've additionally broken my feet severally, so the best shoe for my feet continues evolving. I used to wear New Balances, then Brooks, and now Asics. I am currently on my third match of Asics, and have discovered the great shoe is the Asics Women’s GEL-Kayano 20 Running Shoe. It is perfect.
The GEL-Kayano 20 Running Shoe has Fluid fit which is made of a multi-directional stretch work that fits the foot like a glove. Its mid-sole cushioning Fluid ride gives padding and ricochet again to make the shoe both proficient and agreeable. It is very strong, but at the same time is overall padded, with sexual orientation particular padding, including a 3mm expansion of cushioning to assuage Achilles' tendon strain, and mid-sole packing. What I like most about this type of shoes is that is light. Most of the shoes that I had used earlier were heavier than Asics Women's Gel-Kayano 20 and that is the reason why I had my legs broken.
They are to a great degree delightful and they do fit my legs as gloves. Amid the time you are running there are no risks that they may get off. Its gimmicks are great as contrasted with different shoes and that is the motivation behind why I will never go back to the past shoes that I used to wear. The shoes are a bit lavish yet the expense is equal to the nature of the shoes, it is commendable it. I accept that this item I am getting from Amazon are the best as I have never had any protest from the utilization of the items.
Not an unquestionable requirement that you turn into a competitor for you to purchase this sort of shoes, you have to procure the reason for general activities to make your body solid and fit. Constant running empowers you top break down the calories in your body diminishing the shots of being attacked by numerous sicknesses identified with fat. You can request Asics Women's GEL-Kayano 20 Running Shoe on Shopping Online and get the shoes inside hours. I trust you will get the best and have it help you in your day by day running activities.Want to see what kind of work goes into turning a masterful photograph into an iconic print? Pablo Inirio, the master darkroom printer who works at Magnum Photos‘ New York headquarters, has personally worked on some of the cooperative’s best-known images. A number of his marked-up darkroom prints have appeared online, revealing the enormous amount of attention Inirio gives photos in the darkroom.
Sarah Coleman of The Literate Lens writes that Inirio’s tiny darkroom has many of these squiggle- and number-filled prints just casually lying around. Not just any ol’ prints, mind you, but some of history’s most well-known images.
The comparison images above show photographer Dennis Stock’s iconic portrait of James Dean in Times Square. The test print on the left shows all the work Inirio put into making the final photo look the way it does. The lines and circles you see reveal Inirio’s strategies for dodging and burning the image under the enlarger, with numbers scattered throughout the image to note different exposure times.
Coleman wonders whether the magic of seeing this process will carry over at all into our new digital age:
Over the last fifteen years, almost every photographer I’ve interviewed has waxed poetic about that “magical” experience of seeing an image develop in chemicals for the first time. You have to wonder whether today’s young photographers will rhapsodize as much about the first time they color-calibrated their monitors.
Here’s a similar comparison photo of a portrait of Muhammad Ali, captured by Thomas Hoepker in 1966:
A portrait of photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, captured by Bob Henriques during Martin Luther King’s march on Washington:
Finally, a portrait of Audrey Hepburn, captured by photographer Dennis Stock:
Back in 2009, Magnum Photos tweeted two photographs showing Inirio at work in his darkroom. “Pablo Inirio, our Dark Room Printer at work,” the captions say:
You should definitely give Coleman’s original 2012 piece a read. It’s an interesting look into the mind of a darkroom master as he works in a rapidly changing industry.
(via POTB via Gizmodo via Fstoppers)
Image credits: Photographs by Magnum PhotosThe hack and eventual release of a decade’s worth of Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonSanders: 'I fully expect' fair treatment by DNC in 2020 after 'not quite even handed' 2016 primary Sanders: 'Damn right' I'll make the large corporations pay 'fair share of taxes' Former Sanders campaign spokesman: Clinton staff are 'biggest a--holes in American politics' MORE campaign chairman John Podesta’s emails may have been caused by a typo, The New York Times reported Tuesday in an in-depth piece on Russian cyberattacks.
Last March, Podesta received an email purportedly from Google saying hackers had tried to infiltrate his Gmail account. When an aide emailed the campaign’s IT staff to ask if the notice was real, Clinton campaign aide Charles Delavan replied that it was “a legitimate email" and that Podesta should “change his password immediately.”
Instead of telling the aide that the email was a threat and that a good response would be to change his password directly through Google’s website, he had inadvertently told the aide to click on the fraudulent email and give the attackers access to the account.
Delavan told the Times he had intended to type "illegitimate,” a typo he still has not forgiven himself for making.
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The email was a phishing scam that ultimately revealed Podesta’s password to hackers. Soon after, WikiLeaks began releasing 10 years of his emails.
In late October the firm SecureWorks identified a Bit.ly account and WikiLeaks-released email that appeared to have been used to attack Podesta’s account.
The Bit.ly service shortens web addresses, which can make them easier to share — and less likely to set off malicious website alarms.
SecureWorks found a Bit.ly account being used by hackers containing links to a spate of phishing sites with victim information encoded in the web address.
SecureWorks soon found the email, and Delavan’s response, in the WikiLeaks archive.
The Podesta leaks dominated the news cycle toward the end of the presidential campaign. The leaked material brought to light the fact that then-CNN contributor and now-interim Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairwoman Donna Brazile gave the Clinton camp advance warning of questions that would be asked during primary debates.
Reports emerged Friday that the CIA had told lawmakers it believed the Russian hackers who infiltrated the DNC and other Democratic political organizations did so to defeat Clinton and elect Donald Trump Donald John TrumpHouse committee believes it has evidence Trump requested putting ally in charge of Cohen probe: report Vietnamese airline takes steps to open flights to US on sidelines of Trump-Kim summit Manafort's attorneys say he should get less than 10 years in prison MORE.I woke up to a knock at my door. Puzzled and dazed, after completing my first exam of the semester, I threw myself out of bed to answer the visitors. Far from a stressed out friend or friendly Residence Assistant, I was greeted by the manager of Residence Life and the director of the Student Resource Centre. I was being evicted without notice. Their phrasing, that I was “being asked to leave,” hardly comforted me.
I had been suffering through a severe bout of anxiety and depression, unfortunately all too common among university students. At Acadia we are no different. Most of us are touched by mental illness in some way; even those of us free of it often witness the struggle of friends and loved ones. Tragically, sometimes an illness becomes horribly dangerous, resulting in the serious harm or even death of someone we hold dear. Suicide is not an issue Acadia is unfamiliar with, but it remains difficult to understand.
Why would someone choose to end her life? In my case, I felt worthless. Sometimes I even felt as if life were no longer real. I was lonely and isolated even in the midst of friends, lacking the energy, motivation, and appetite to enjoy the things I once did. My classes gave me purpose and something to keep my mind occupied, but I felt hopelessly cloaked in darkness and I lacked the means to lift the veil. Depression insidiously warped my very identity and view of the world. There was only so much I could do myself: I reached out for help.
At first I spoke only to peers, but when I realized the severity of the situation, I decided to contact a Residence Life don to be directed to mental health resources. After some email correspondence, I met with the don in person, and we ended up discussing my serious thoughts and intentions of suicide. The don made me feel as safe as possible given the situation, and got me an appointment with a counsellor at the Student Resource Centre.
I felt supported. I felt hopeful. I felt like I could get through this and focus on recovery after exams. I was reminded that I have a life ahead of me, that it didn’t have to all end here. Two days later, I heard the knock. My visitors had just come back from a safety and security meeting where my situation was discussed. I was told I wasn’t safe and was being “asked to leave”. They assured me I would still be given the opportunity to complete my exams. My home was less than an hour away, so my mother was contacted at work to retrieve me. On her way to Dennis, I was given time to pack my bags and talk to the director of the Student Resource Centre, who is a counsellor.
We discussed her theoretical background. I was told I was essentially experiencing a fight-or-flight response and thus my thoughts were not important. I needed to evaluate my emotions, but I didn’t feel anything. I didn’t know what to feel at the time. My thoughts ran in loops. I felt helpless and hopeless. I thought I would receive help, but instead lost my privilege to even live at Acadia. I was expelled from the residence community. I lost the social support of my friends. I no longer had the opportunity to go to the counselling appointment I had the next day.
It was profoundly painful. They would allow me to die, as long as it was off-campus. There was no warning and no opportunity to advocate for myself: I was disappeared from residence. The following day, I went to the hospital. I spoke to a psychiatrist who I still see now. On our second meeting, he qualified Residence Life’s actions as the worst case of discrimination he has ever seen. My case is not unique. Though he would not provide a number, the manager admitted that on a case-by-case basis, suicidal students are evicted from residence just as I was. My parents and I succeeded in organizing a talk with the manager of Residence Life, director of the Student Resource Centre, and executive director of Student Resources for discussion and clarification.
At this appointment, I was expecting to be informed of the reasoning behind my eviction and to be somewhat appeased, but it turned out to be a disciplinary meeting.
I was suspended from residence until September or until such time that I could prove I was mentally well enough to return. There was no opportunity for appeal; the Residence Life manager’s decision was final. I would have to sign a release to have my private medical information shared with the Student Resource Centre director. The Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission informed us that only a letter from my psychiatrist would’ve been enough to see my return, but Residence Life is not too familiar with human rights, as you will see.
Like an informal criminal proceeding, Residence Life’s manager quoted passages from my emails with the don as evidence against me, evidence that I was an unacceptable threat to the safety of other students and to myself. With life-threatening physical illnesses, you receive support, are sent to the hospital, and then reintegrated into school life if possible, if you wish to return. With life-threatening mental illnesses, Residence Life’s management labels you a threat and ejects you, separates you from the population of students under their care so you can’t harm them by harming yourself. You have to prove you are no longer a “threat” to get back in. If this seems like a double standard, that’s because it is – a common sign of mental health stigma and prejudice.
The specious reasoning behind maintaining this double standard is to minimize the psychological effect of a student’s suicide, something profoundly distressing, more so than the death of a student by, say, cancer (though try telling that to the people that have lost a loved one to that horrible affliction). Residence Life’s strategy is hopelessly ineffectual. If someone you knew committed suicide, would you be comforted by the fact that it didn’t happen on campus and instead she was sent off in time to die somewhere else? Suspending students for being at risk of suicide does not protect others from the effect a possible suicide would have, it only protects suicidal students from a supportive community.
The manager, with a two-day suicide detection course under his belt, saw my overt suicidal ideation and acted quickly to surgically remove the cancer to the student community before I could metastasize. I was not, and will likely not be, the only tumour removed. This manager, on a case-by-case basis, makes decisions with his colleagues to suspend students from residence who are at an arbitrarily high risk of suicide, instead of doing what they can to help them. They have not told students this because we may be anxious to seek help. We should be anxious to seek help through them. Mental illness stigma has very clearly influenced Residence Life’s management. So many resources have been dedicated to fighting the stigma, but we still have a long way to go. There is still prejudice against those of us with mental illness.
During our meeting, the manager brought up the notion that Residence Life’s staff is essentially composed of landlords and thus ought not be expected to care for students with mental illnesses like mine. I’m currently living in a house off-campus to continue my studies. My landlady cannot legally evict me without notice and certainly not for the reasons Residence Life did. They are not landlords; they are caretakers of a community. One could easily argue that there should be a limit to what kind of burden should be imposed on them by students, but a discussion about this should be public, involving students, not between a few people in the upper echelons of Students Services’ management, and the burden certainly does not justify treating people such as myself like second-class citizens.
Had I committed a crime even as abhorrent as rape, had I actually broken clearly expressed rules, or otherwise willingly threatened the safety of other students, I would have been afforded due process through Non-Academic Judicial, perhaps involving the RCMP. But suffering from a life-threatening mental illness is apparently seen as such an egregious crime and so dangerous that Student Services’ executive director, in charge of counselling, accessibility services, Residence Life, etc., found it acceptable that I was promptly ejected from campus without warning.
My parents and I asked that the manager of Residence Life give us his decision and the reasoning behind it in writing. The letter I received had a completely shifted narrative from that of the meeting. I was not evicted because I was a threat to other students or because they shouldn’t have to deal with me, I was evicted because Residence Life required time to evaluate its ability “… to provide a safe and supportive housing option for [me].”
“We are all pleased that you have been able to access positive support this past week and hear that you have a plan to move forward. Acadia University is committed to student success for all students living on and off-campus and provides access to resources and staff supports on an ongoing basis.”
I tried to access these resources and instead encountered an institution seemingly far more concerned with its own protection than that of my life. The absurdly transparent bureaucratic rhetoric in the letter did little to alleviate my concerns. It did include an offer to answer my questions and provide clarification, but I had completely lost faith in Residence Life as a supportive institution, at least with regard to mental health.
Following an alcohol-related death on campus in 2011, Acadia launched a comprehensive reform of its alcohol management policy in order to help ensure safe drinking habits. “A number of dedicated and committed people from students, faculty and staff, to parents and community leaders, to health care professionals and policy makers helped Acadia develop this comprehensive strategy and I am grateful for their important contribution,” proclaimed Ray Ivany, President of Acadia University. A report by Dr. Robert Strong, our province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, included many references to mental health as a major concern in developing a policy, likely because substance abuse is a key contributing factor to mental illness and significantly increases the risk of suicide. Residence Life was involved in Acadia’s updated strategy and its policy can be found in the Residence Life Handbook. Unfortunately, it includes no reference to mental health.
Does Residence Life believe it’s not important enough to discuss? Why is it that they are so open about alcohol policies but not mental health policies? I and likely all the other suicidal students suspended from residence had no idea this could happen to us. Why the timidity in discussing such an important issue and making sure that the most vulnerable students are properly informed? Why not inform the general population of students and parents how they deal with us “threats”? Why the opacity with this issue but not dangerous alcohol use? If Student Services’ management is confident this is the best posture they can adopt, why is it not public when this posture could greatly impact the choice of students to live in residence? It may be because it’s a disgraceful posture to adopt.
In the far more litigious nation of the United States, some students evicted for attempting suicide as early as 2004 have successfully sued their schools for human rights violation, specifically discrimination on the basis of mental disability. This, along with some court rulings and bad national press, led many American universities to seek better means of caring for students in danger of harming themselves. It seems most universities in Canada have not adopted that regressive and aggressive posture of evicting suicidal students. Though, apparently some have.
In a recent investigative report by CTV’s W5, it’s revealed that the mental health activist Erin Hodgson of jack.org who graduated from the University of Toronto was evicted by a vote of her peers several years ago after attempting to end her life. It was an experience likely far more traumatic than mine, but the same would have happened to her had she gone to Acadia, by the decision of the Residence Life manager instead of her peers.
There are universities that have treated life-threatening mental illness in outrageously callous ways, and one would hope at least most of them have changed. Why is Residence Life so far behind with mental health, yet so up-to-date with alcohol safety? As an institution, it is a crucial part of the mental health support puzzle, while every other relevant institution at Acadia seems to play its role better. The Counselling Centre is fantastic, in my experience, and the Mental Health Society has made significant contributions to the mental well-being of the student body. For instance, they organize things like Mental Health Week, they provide a personal support line, they have a safe space in the Student Union Building that anyone can visit, and they’re providing mental health training to many students that will surely save lives.
How could Residence Life possibly save the lives of those that went through what I did? If anything, they significantly increased my risk of suicide. This has happened to other students, and it will continue happening until someone dies after being evicted or until Residence Life is forced to change. I for one would prefer the latter. I have depressed friends that are now seriously concerned about their ability to stay in residence. In writing this, I’m afraid of instilling this anxiety in other students living on campus, which is why included in this issue of the Athenaeum is a list of mental health resources you can access confidentially.
I cannot stand for Residence Life’s odious actions behind closed doors and do not believe opacity does anything to help students: it serves only to protect public image. As of January 6, the Equity Officer has been conducting an investigation into Residence Life, but she agreed with their unofficial policy of simply barring students like me from living on campus. A Canadian Mental Health Association representative I spoke to found Residence Life’s actions appalling and a clear case of discrimination; I was given valuable advice on how to handle the situation. But why should severely depressed students need to go to outside institutions to get any kind of effectual advocacy? Why should they ever feel the need for advocacy? I’m grateful that I’ve been able to receive counselling this term through the Student Resource Centre, but I can safely say Residence Life has been the greatest threat to my mental health. It should not have been that way and should not be that way for other students that ever find themselves in a similar situation. The go-die-somewhere-else attitude of Residence Life’s management is absolutely reprehensible and has to change.
If you would like to speak to a professional counsellor, please email [email protected] to book an appointment. For a mental health emergency, please call the NS mental health crisis line at 902-429-8167 or 1-888-429-8167 (toll free).With a seemingly endless amount of marketing dollars at their disposal, Samsung has long been the reigning king of Android. Nobody else comes close on a global scale. This isn’t so much because Samsung has always built the best-looking devices, or even developed the most intuitive software. It’s because Samsung discovered early on that if they threw enough ad dollars into something, it would guarantee success. And for the most part, they were right.
But as we saw with last year’s Samsung Galaxy S5, it was clear people were wising up. The device failed to resonate with consumers and in the end, failed to meet Samsung’s lofty sales goals. Sure it had lots of “me too” features (fingerprint reader, heart rate sensor, loads of software enhancements), but it was a jack of all trades and master of none.
With the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, Samsung has finally seen the error of their ways. The new handsets aren’t so much a deviation from Samsung’s traditional Galaxy line as they are a very necessary evolution. The good kind. But is it all roses? Let’s jump into our review.
Design / Build quality
I’ve always been pretty vocal about my disgust strong distaste for last year’s Samsung Galaxy S5. In a world where smaller OEMs like HTC and Motorola were focusing sleek designs and more premium build materials, Samsung was content in selling yet another plastic flagship with the same tired, uninspired design. Needless to say, the Galaxy S5 left a lot to be desired and plenty of room for improvement in the Galaxy S6.
At first glance, it’s clear the Galaxy S6 is unlike any other Samsung devices before it. But we’d be lying if we said the phone didn’t appear to take a few design cues from a certain other competitor. Not so much the new aluminum sides. One could easily argue Samsung adopted that design from their ATIV S Windows Phone. Yet we still feel like some additional work could have been done to avoid obvious similarities with the iPhone 6.
Instead of avoiding similarities with the iPhone 6, Samsung seems to have wholly embraced them. It feels blatantly intentional. The 3.5mm headphone jack has now moved from top — where it has been since the original Samsung Galaxy S — to an all new position at the bottom of the S6. Sure a few phones have a similar setup, but it’s even placed to the left of the charging port just like on the iPhone 6.
On the opposite side, we now find billet drilled holes where the speaker has, wouldn’t you know it, also been moved from the back to the bottom. We know. It’s entirely possible this is all just one big, silly coincidence. Perhaps Samsung designers never once laid eyes on the iPhone 6 when adding the final touches on the Galaxy S6. Somehow we doubt that.
The good part is that’s where the similarities end. From head-on, the S6 is classic Galaxy. Samsung’s all too familiar chrome earpiece makes yet another appearance, along with their now trademark oval home button. Coloring on the device is handled by luminescent chrome slipped underneath smooth Gorilla Glass 4 that now covers the entire front and back of the device.
According to Corning, it’s supposed to be less prone to surface scratches and shattering than Gorilla Glass 3 which was found on the previous Galaxy S5. We’ve seen enough drop tests to know that the phone isn’t immune to shattering, so we’d still recommend buying a nice tempered glass screen protector and/or case just in case.
Speaking of the glass, unlike the Galaxy S5 which was completely recessed, it is now slightly beveled and sits almost completely flush with the frame edges (more so on the sides than the top and bottom). This means when grabbing UI elements from the sides of the display — like those slide out app menus — your finger gracefully glides over the edges of the display, making for a smooth and silky experience. It’s not quite as pronounced as the 2.5D glass on the iPhone 6, but a little closer to what we’ve seen on the Moto X (2nd Gen) or DROID Turbo.
Once again we find Samsung opting for their traditional home button setup along with recents and back capacitive buttons on each side. I can’t begin to tell you how frustrating it is that they still don’t use stock Android’s setup (back on the left, home center, recents on the right), but those coming from a previous Galaxy device will feel right at home. Everyone else, well, you should adjust in no time.
A design area
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it is the hydrodynamic equation of continuity. In our approximation, which is the incompressible fluid approximation, $\rho$ is a constant, and the equation of continuity is simply \begin{equation} \label{Eq:II:40:3} \FLPdiv{\FLPv}=0. \end{equation} The fluid velocity $\FLPv$—like the magnetic field $\FLPB$—has zero divergence. (The hydrodynamic equations are often closely analogous to the electrodynamic equations; that’s why we studied electrodynamics first. Some people argue the other way; they think that one should study hydrodynamics first so that it will be easier to understand electricity afterwards. But electrodynamics is really much easier than hydrodynamics.)
We will get our next equation from Newton’s law which tells us how the velocity changes because of the forces. The mass of an element of volume of the fluid times its acceleration must be equal to the force on the element. Taking an element of unit volume, and writing the force per unit volume as $\FLPf$, we have \begin{equation*} \rho\times(\text{acceleration})=\FLPf. \end{equation*} We will write the force density as the sum of three terms. We have already considered the pressure force per unit volume, $-\FLPgrad{p}$. Then there are the “external” forces which act at a distance—like gravity or electricity. When they are conservative forces with a potential per unit mass, $\phi$, they give a force density $-\rho\,\FLPgrad{\phi}$. (If the external forces are not conservative, we would have to write $\FLPf_{\text{ext}}$ for the external force per unit volume.) Then there is another “internal” force per unit volume, which is due to the fact that in a flowing fluid there can also be a shearing stress. This is called the viscous force, which we will write $\FLPf_{\text{visc}}$. Our equation of motion is \begin{equation} \label{Eq:II:40:4} \rho\times(\text{acceleration})= -\FLPgrad{p}-\rho\,\FLPgrad{\phi}+\FLPf_{\text{visc}}. \end{equation}
For this chapter we are going to suppose that the liquid is “thin” in the sense that the viscosity is unimportant, so we will omit $\FLPf_{\text{visc}}$. When we drop the viscosity term, we will be making an approximation which describes some ideal stuff rather than real water. John von Neumann was well aware of the tremendous difference between what happens when you don’t have the viscous terms and when you do, and he was also aware that, during most of the development of hydrodynamics until about 1900, almost the main interest was in solving beautiful mathematical problems with this approximation which had almost nothing to do with real fluids. He characterized the theorist who made such analyses as a man who studied “dry water.” Such analyses leave out an essential property of the fluid. It is because we are leaving this property out of our calculations in this chapter that we have given it the title “The Flow of Dry Water.” We are postponing a discussion of real water to the next chapter.
If we leave out $\FLPf_{\text{visc}}$, we have in Eq. (40.4) everything we need except an expression for the acceleration. You might think that the formula for the acceleration of a fluid particle would be very simple, for it seems obvious that if $\FLPv$ is the velocity of a fluid particle at some place in the fluid, the acceleration would just be $\ddpl{\FLPv}{t}$. It is not—and for a rather subtle reason. The derivative $\ddpl{\FLPv}{t}$, is the rate at which the velocity $\FLPv(x,y,z,t)$ changes at a fixed point in space. What we need is how fast the velocity changes for a particular piece of fluid. Imagine that we mark one of the drops of water with a colored speck so we can watch it. In a small interval of time $\Delta t$, this drop will move to a different location. If the drop is moving along some path as sketched in Fig. 40-4, it might in $\Delta t$ move from $P_1$ to $P_2$. In fact, it will move in the $x$-direction by an amount $v_x\,\Delta t$, in the $y$-direction by the amount $v_y\,\Delta t$, and in the $z$-direction by the amount $v_z\,\Delta t$. We see that, if $\FLPv(x,y,z,t)$ is the velocity of the fluid particle which is at $(x,y,z)$ at the time $t$, then the velocity of the same particle, at the time $t+\Delta t$ is given by $\FLPv(x+\Delta x,y+\Delta y,z+\Delta z,t+\Delta t)$—with \begin{equation*} \Delta x=v_x\,\Delta t,\quad \Delta y=v_y\,\Delta t,\quad \text{and}\quad \Delta z=v_z\,\Delta t. \end{equation*} From the definition of the partial derivatives—recall Eq. (2.7)—we have, to first order, that \begin{align*} \FLPv(x+\;&v_x\,\Delta t,y+v_y\,\Delta t,z+v_z\,\Delta t,t+\Delta t)\\[2pt] &=\FLPv(x,y,z,t)+ \ddp{\FLPv}{x}\,v_x\,\Delta t+ \ddp{\FLPv}{y}\,v_y\,\Delta t+ \ddp{\FLPv}{z}\,v_z\,\Delta t+ \ddp{\FLPv}{t}\,\Delta t. \end{align*} \begin{gather*} \FLPv(x+v_x\Delta t,\,y+v_y\Delta t,\,z+v_z\Delta t,\,t+\Delta t)=\\[1.5ex] \FLPv(x,y,z,t)\!+\! \ddp{\FLPv}{x}\,v_x\Delta t+\! \ddp{\FLPv}{y}\,v_y\Delta t+\! \ddp{\FLPv}{z}\,v_z\Delta t+\! \ddp{\FLPv}{t}\,\Delta t. \end{gather*} The acceleration $\Delta\FLPv/\Delta t$ is \begin{equation*} v_x\,\ddp{\FLPv}{x}+v_y\,\ddp{\FLPv}{y}+v_z\,\ddp{\FLPv}{z}+\ddp{\FLPv}{t}. \end{equation*} We can write this symbolically—treating $\FLPnabla$ as a vector—as \begin{equation} \label{Eq:II:40:5} (\FLPv\cdot\FLPnabla)\FLPv+\ddp{\FLPv}{t}. \end{equation} Note that there can be an acceleration even though $\ddpl{\FLPv}{t}=\FLPzero$ so that velocity at a given point is not changing. As an example, water flowing in a circle at a constant speed is accelerating even though the velocity at a given point is not changing. The reason is, of course, that the velocity of a particular piece of water which is initially at one point on the circle has a different direction a moment later; there is a centripetal acceleration.
The rest of our theory is just mathematical—finding solutions of the equation of motion we get by putting the acceleration (40.5) into Eq. (40.4). We get \begin{equation} \label{Eq:II:40:6} \ddp{\FLPv}{t}+(\FLPv\cdot\FLPnabla)\FLPv= -\frac{\FLPgrad{p}}{\rho}-\FLPgrad{\phi}, \end{equation} where viscosity has been omitted. We can rearrange this equation by using the following identity from vector analysis: \begin{equation*} (\FLPv\cdot\FLPnabla)\FLPv=(\FLPcurl{\FLPv})\times\FLPv+ \tfrac{1}{2}\FLPgrad{(\FLPv\cdot\FLPv)}. \end{equation*} If we now define a new vector field $\FLPOmega$, as the curl of $\FLPv$, \begin{equation} \label{Eq:II:40:7} \FLPOmega=\FLPcurl{\FLPv}, \end{equation} the vector identity can be written as \begin{equation*} (\FLPv\cdot\FLPnabla)\FLPv=\FLPOmega\times\FLPv+ \tfrac{1}{2}\FLPgrad{v^2}, \end{equation*} and our equation of motion (40.6) becomes \begin{equation} \label{Eq:II:40:8} \ddp{\FLPv}{t}+\FLPOmega\times\FLPv+ \frac{1}{2}\,\FLPgrad{v^2}= -\frac{\FLPgrad{p}}{\rho}-\FLPgrad{\phi}. \end{equation} You can verify that Eqs. (40.6) and (40.8) are equivalent by checking that the components of the two sides of the equation are equal—and making use of (40.7).
The vector field $\FLPOmega$ is called the vorticity. If the vorticity is zero everywhere, we say that the flow is irrotational. We have already defined in Section 3-5 a thing called the circulation of a vector field. The circulation around any closed loop in a fluid is the line integral of the fluid velocity, at a given instant of time, around that loop: \begin{equation*} (\text{Circulation})=\oint\FLPv\cdot d\FLPs. \end{equation*} The circulation per unit area for an infinitesimal loop is then—using Stokes’ theorem—equal to $\FLPcurl{\FLPv}$. So the vorticity $\FLPOmega$ is the circulation around a unit area (perpendicular to the direction of $\FLPOmega$). It also follows that if you put a little piece of dirt—not an infinitesimal point—at any place in the liquid it will rotate with the angular velocity $\FLPOmega/2$. Try to see if you can prove that. You can also check it out that for a bucket of water on a turntable, $\FLPOmega$ is equal to twice the local angular velocity of the water.
If we are interested only in the velocity field, we can eliminate the pressure from our equations. Taking the curl of both sides of Eq. (40.8), remembering that $\rho$ is a constant and that the curl of any gradient is zero, and using Eq. (40.3), we get \begin{equation} \label{Eq:II:40:9} \ddp{\FLPOmega}{t}+\FLPcurl{(\FLPOmega\times\FLPv)}=\FLPzero. \end{equation} This equation, together with the equations \begin{equation} \label{Eq:II:40:10} \FLPOmega=\FLPcurl{\FLPv} \end{equation} and \begin{equation} \label{Eq:II:40:11} \FLPdiv{\FLPv}=0, \end{equation} describes completely the velocity field $\FLPv$. Mathematically speaking, if we know $\FLPOmega$ at some time, then we know the curl of the velocity vector, and we also know that its divergence is zero, so given the physical situation we have all we need to determine $\FLPv$ everywhere. (It is just like the situation in magnetism where we had $\FLPdiv{\FLPB}=0$ and $\FLPcurl{\FLPB}=\FLPj/\epsO c^2$.) Thus, a given $\FLPOmega$ determines $\FLPv$ just as a given $\FLPj$ determines $\FLPB$. Then, knowing $\FLPv$, Eq. (40.9) tells us the rate of change of $\FLPOmega$ from which we can get the new $\FLPOmega$ for the next instant. Using Eq. (40.10), again we find the new $\FLPv$, and so on. You see how these equations contain all the machinery for calculating the flow. Note, however, that this procedure gives the velocity field only; we have lost all information about the pressure.Photo
ISTANBUL — “How happy is the one who says ‘I am a Turk,’” said Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, speaking in an emotional finale of a speech in 1933 — a time when Turkey was still trying to forge a national identity out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. The notion seemed simple enough: If you think you’re Turkish, then you are.
Of course, it’s not that straightforward. On the one hand, Article 66 of the 1982 Constitution defines a Turk as someone who feels the bonds and benefits of citizenship rather than in terms of ethnicity or race. On the other hand, Article 3 states that Turkish is the country’s sole official language, and Article 24 makes religious education compulsory. Throughout the document, as well as in political discourse and popular parlance, the notion of “Turkishness” is both ill-defined and staunchly defended.
This is a problem especially because the 1982 Constitution, written while Turkey was under martial law, is infamously a charter for authoritarianism: It is designed to defend the ideological core of the state, not individual rights.
Turkish officialdom has found it almost impossible to accept that non-Muslims like Armenians and Jews could be loyal to the state. But with non-Muslims accounting for just 0.5 percent Turkey’s population, discrimination against them has been, in effect, a minor issue. The real problem is the Kurds. They are Muslim, yes, but many insist on an identity of their own, and there are too many of them — 18 percent of the population, according to one estimate — to ignore.
During the last election the government pledged to change this, and it is now hammering out a new Constitution. The stakes are high: This is happening as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan tries to end a long campaign by Kurdish nationalists, sometimes peaceful and sometimes not, calling for a devolution of power and the right to think of themselves not as Turks but as Kurds.
The Kurds, reasonably, are asking that the expression of their cultural difference no longer be interpreted as an attack on the integrity of the state. So the Constitution’s protections for “Turkishness” have to go.
But this push leaves many who are happy to call themselves Turks otherwise miserable. Some 300 prominent intellectuals have signed a declaration protesting any attempt to expunge reference to the republic’s Turkish character. They claim the deletion would threaten the nation-state founded by Ataturk, “which represents the uninterrupted sovereignty of the Turkish nation in Anatolia beginning with the Seljuks and continuing under the Ottomans.” This is an old guard defending an outdated national myth, but they represent a powerful force — some journalists have likened them to the 300 Spartans holding out at Thermopylae.
Even pro-government columnists who support revisions to the Constitution are complaining about an ambient “allergy to Turkishness.” If we can “make reference to Kurdish intellectuals, Kurdish people and Kurdish issue, why should we avoid using the notion of Turk?” This makes logical sense, but a more sympathetic and perhaps more historically minded view is that Kurdish nationalism, its excesses included, was a response to Turkish nationalism.
Ataturk, in short, did too good a job of unifying his young republic around the idea of Turkishness. The country today needs another rallying cry.
President Abdullah Gul recently suggested a sensible approach. Although he sits in an office whose symbol is an emblem with 16 stars, each representing one historic Turkish kingdom — arguably an expression of Turkishness that teeters on the hubristic — he said that it wasn’t the business of a constitution to define the identity of its citizens.
The Ottoman Empire may have been a Turkish state, he said, “but that didn’t mean every single one of its citizens was a Turk.” Taking pride in your country is a good thing, but it is something you do out of choice.ADVERTISEMENT
One century ago this year, Russia was undergoing its Marxist revolution, an attempt to create a more just nation that instead led to one of the most brutal tyrannies of all time.
So what happened? It's a debate that's becoming important again thanks to the rise of American socialist organizations and publications. Centrist liberals, who thought the fundamental badness of socialism was permanently established decades ago, have been rather wrong-footed by this development. For instance, New York magazine's Jonathan Chait has been writing repeatedly against socialist publications, especially Jacobin, arguing that the repression of the Soviet Union was a foregone conclusion of Marxist ideology. He asserts that Marxism is a "theory of class justice," which only protects political rights for the "oppressed class." By this view, the October revolution led automatically to the gulags because "repression is woven into Marxism's ideological fabric."
It's a popular reading of the revolution. But it's also wrong about Marxism, Lenin's mistakes, and the revolution in general.
In fact, as China Mieville writes in his new book October, there wasn't just one Russian revolution, but two. The first, in February 1917, abolished the Tsarist monarchy. The second, in October of the same year, led to the Communist Soviet Union. And as Mieville argues, nothing about either of them or their aftermath was foreordained.
To understand why, it's important to first realize that Marxism at root is a theory of economic history, not "class justice." Marx outlined several stages of economic development, moving from feudalism to bourgeois capitalism and, eventually, to socialism. The inevitability of socialism, Marx claimed, was that capitalist development would lead to a decreasing rate of profit and increasing conflict between workers and large business owners, ending up with a state in which the workers control the means of production.
All this gobbledygook is important because it explains one of the key features of the Russian revolution: the extreme reluctance of most Russian socialists to take power.
Now, socialists in Russia were not monolithic. The most famous faction today was, of course, the Bolsheviks, a political party created as a result of a schism in the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party in 1903. This more left-wing faction, led by Lenin, advocated a membership of professional revolutionaries, but there was also a more moderate faction, led by Juliy Martov, which advocated a more open format. After some wrangling, Lenin won a narrow majority (thus Bolshevik, or "one of the majority,") while Martov's faction became Mensheviks ("one of the minority"). But those two parties were only one of several left-wing ones around during these days. The Socialist Revolutionary Party, led by Viktor Chernov, was larger than either at some points, and it had its own schisms as well.
But one thing most of the different socialist factions had in common was a resistance to taking power. Even the Bolsheviks were hesitant before Lenin, with his tremendous energy and organizational talents, returned in person. Most socialists thought that by Marxist lights, Russia — then a largely agrarian, non-industrialized country — was not ready for socialism. Instead, they needed to step back and let the bourgeoisie go through its historical phase (perhaps with some assistance from socialists), after which it could be a fully socialist nation.
This turned out to be simply untenable. The Russian bourgeoisie was too weak to govern; the Provisional Government set up after the staggeringly incompetent Tsar Nicholas II abdicated never had anything like full popular legitimacy. Instead it governed in concert with the system of soviets that organically sprang up around the country. ("Soviet" is another important term to be clear on; at this point they were simply councils of workers, soldiers, and peasants.) The Soviet of St. Petersburg (then called Petrograd) in particular, energized by fervent left-wing radicalism in what was then the Russian capital, was the real power behind the throne, so to speak.
Worse, the Provisional Government quickly bungled away what little legitimacy and power it had. The First World War had laid waste to Russia, and led to a severe morale crisis in the army. Yet in July, Alexander Kerensky, then the minister of war of the Provisional Government, ordered a large offensive that failed spectacularly. Many soldiers became deeply radicalized, many more deserted en masse, and armed rebellion briefly broke out in St. Petersburg and elsewhere.
Despite the fact that they already basically had it, the Soviet leadership would not take power in the pinch. In early July, workers surrounded the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of Soviets, demanding in the words of one worker who shouted at Chernov, "take power, you son of a bitch, when it is handed to you!" They were so furious that Chernov might have been lynched if not for a courageous intervention by Leon Trotsky. But still the Soviet leadership refused, strengthening Lenin's and other Bolsheviks' conviction that they would have to do it.
An increasingly erratic Kerensky later took full leadership of the Provisional Government, where he made a second disastrous error: appointing General Lavr Kornilov, a right-wing extremist, to be commander-in-chief of the army. Kornilov was quickly involved in an attempted coup d'etat, which was fended off only with massive Soviet — and especially Bolshevik — help. After that, Kerensky's regime began to collapse.
The great error of Marxist ideology during the revolution was not primarily a lack of concern for rights, at which they were far ahead of their liberal contemporaries. Instead, it was far too much concern about events in the far-off future, which led to hesitation and an inability to reason more practically. Over-intellectualized Marxists were totally wrong-footed by the level of organic left-wing uprising among the masses during the revolution — even the Bolsheviks often struggled to stay ahead of them.
Lenin's signature intellectual idea, by contrast, was a rejection of traditional Marxist history. He argued that you did not have to first progress through bourgeois capitalism to get to socialism; instead the workers could directly seize power through a revolutionary vanguard. This idea was so wild at the time that convincing even most of the Bolsheviks was a steep uphill battle.
In retrospect this was pretty clearly reverse-engineered to justify taking political power now (instead of having to wait 50 years or whatever), but on at least one level it was correct. Russian leftists simply could not sit on their hands while the bourgeois regime collapsed of its own accord — the result would be utter chaos or a bloody right-wing dictatorship, as Kornilov showed. (During this period extreme right militias called the Black Hundreds were regularly running around conducting horrific anti-Jewish pogroms.)
However, Lenin also made a similar error of overconfidence in predicting the future. He was totally convinced that socialist revolutions were about to spring up in other countries, particularly Germany. That did not even come close to happening. Worse, he was far too cavalier, at best, about democracy. Seizing power by force is always liable to turn out badly, and the Bolsheviks did not properly anticipate the fight that might ensue, nor properly protect democratic rights, especially later. Martov and his Mensheviks were right that attempting to leapfrog straight to a socialist state by force was highly dangerous.
Lenin's signature organizational concept of "democratic centralism," in which a party position is figured out through debate, after which all members of the party are to accept it without question, is also highly suspect. That was partly the root of the abusive, dogmatic manipulation of Western Communist parties by Moscow all through the Cold War years.
But both these are distinctively Leninist additions to Marxism.
You could, I suppose, try to pin some blame for later Stalinist atrocities on the Marxist labor theory of value, which asserts that all capitalist profit is in a sense stolen from workers. If that is true we should be on the lookout for a revolutionary vanguard of libertarians who think taxation is theft.
But it is simply not the case that Marxism — an arid and over-elaborate doctrine, very interesting in some ways and clearly mistaken in others — is some turn-crank formula for purges and dictatorship. All the European labor parties were officially Marxist for decades, which led only to generous welfare states and some experimentation with government-owned industry. The Nordic countries became the most decent nations that have ever existed through policies that have direct roots in an early 20th century socialist movement that was fervently Marxist.
So if Marxism didn't doom the Russian revolution, what did?
The obvious culprit is the incomprehensible chaos and brutality of its circumstances. Immediately before the revolution, something like three million Russians had died in the First World War. The rapid collapse of Tsarism and the Provisional Government empowered the most hardline and radical factions on all sides. Immediately after the revolution, the Bolsheviks had to fight a civil war against virtually every other faction in Russia, many of them murderous reactionaries armed by Western powers. Winning required yet more brutal tactics and fighting, killing roughly 10 million more people in the process. It's at that point when truly awful authoritarianism started to set in.
But again, none of this was written in the stars. At many points during the revolution history was balanced on a knife edge. If the Soviets had declared themselves the only power in the land in July 1917, when they were still bottom-up, democratic institutions, it's possible Russia would have turned out as merely a left-wing democratic republic with some unusual governmental structures. If Kerensky hadn't called for his offensive and put a far-right reactionary in charge of the army, the Provisional Government might easily have held on long enough to establish an ordinary parliamentary democracy. Without Lenin — who was nearly captured multiple times during 1917 — it's unlikely the Bolsheviks would have managed to take power. And so on.
So a century from those heady revolutionary days, let us remember the necessity of political action to deal with problems as they arise, but also the necessity of humility and preservation of democracy at all costs. Utopian visions should not be rammed through by force — but neither should we fear bold activism simply because it is tinged with Marxian ideas. A better world is possible.The product tanker Toan Thang 68 Alci exploded at the dry dock in Hai Phong, Vietnam. The accident was caused by hot steel cutting works in non-ventilated compartment, which inflamed fuel gasses and caused explosion. Six of the workers into the compartment were seriously injured and suffered from bad burns. The people were evacuated from the tanker and injured ones were transported to the local hospital for medical treatment but in stable condition and without life-threatening injuries. The local authorities started investigation for the root cause of the accident and will follow safety inspection of the ship repair yard.
The six injured workers were cleaning one of the cargo tanks, but nearby were performed hot steel cutting works, which inflamed some fuel gasses and they exploded, causing burns to the workers. The safety teams at the ship repair yard immediately evacuated all the workers from the product tanker and made first aid for the injured ones. The emergency arrived in a few minutes and transported all injured people to the hospital.
The product tanker Toan Thang 68 Alci (IMO: 8669010) is state-owned and managed by Vietnam’s Dong Nam A Petroluem. The vessel has overall length of 88.00 m, moulded beam of 13 m and maximum draft of 4.00 m. The deadweight of the ship is 2,794 DWT and the gross tonnage is 1,740 GRT.FILE PHOTO: A man walks by a bank machine at the Wells Fargo & Co. bank in downtown Denver, Colorado, U.S. April 13, 2016. REUTERS/Rick Wilking/File Photo
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co’s (WFC.N) management ejected an unruly shareholder from the bank’s contentious annual meeting on Tuesday after an extended period of argument and what the chairman characterized as a “physical approach” to a director.
Multiple shareholders stood and yelled at the board of directors and Chief Executive Tim Sloan. The shareholders were angry about the bank’s creation of as many as 2.1 million phony accounts in customers’ names.
“You’re saying we’re out of order. Wells Fargo has been out of order for years!” the ejected shareholder said. Sloan and Chairman Stephen Sanger repeatedly asked him to sit down because he was out of order, and then called a recess, only to have other shareholders stand and yell.We've just gotten confirmation that Mortal Kombat has been Refused Classification in Australia.
After speaking with the Classification Board we can confirm that the rumours currently flying around the internet are correct - Mortal Kombat has been refused classification in Australia.
We've just received a statement from Warner Brothers which states the following.
The highly anticipated video game Mortal Kombat, published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE) in Australia, has been refused classification by the Australian Classification Board and will not release in Australia. We are extremely disappointed that Mortal Kombat, one of the world's oldest and most successful video games franchises, will not be available to mature Australian gamers. WBIE would not market mature content where it is not appropriate for the audience. We understand that not all content is for every audience, but there is an audience for mature gaming content and it would make more sense to have the R18+ classification in Australia. As a member of the iGEA, WBIE is reviewing all options available at this time.
Ron Curry, CEO of the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association had this to say:
The granting of another RC to a video game clearly designed and targeted at ADULTS again highlights the shortcomings of the current classification scheme. In particular, the absence of an adult classification. As with many other forms of media, there is a demand and place for an adult themed narrative. We trust adults with this material in other media forms, yet deny them similar access simply because it’s a ‘game’. We would not accept the argument that because it’s “unsuitable for a minor to see or play” that it should therefore be banned in any other media form, so why video games? When a highly anticipated game receives an RC we can expect two things to happen; interest in obtaining the game will actually increase and people will still get the game either through importing (ordering online) or pirating; the latter an encouragement to commit a crime in order to perpetuate the crime of accessing illegal content. Ironically, the game is then widely available in Australia without any identifiable classification markings. How is this informing parents and protecting children? It is the industry position that an adult classification sends a clear message to the public that the content is not suitable for minors and is the most effective means of guiding access to mature content. Refusing classification of titles that meet adult rating criteria in every other Western country in our digital age is ineffective and naïve. It is also important to highlight that content that exceeds the guidelines of an R18+ classification, should it be introduced, would still be refused classification and banned in Australia.
More news as we get it. For more information on the R18+ situation in Australia click here.By WizardCrab
Greetings Summoners!
Here are this week's free champions:
Akali - the Fist of Shadow Attack Defense Ability Difficulty Primary Role Assassin
Annie - the Dark Child Attack Defense Ability Difficulty Primary Role Mage
Darius - the Hand of Noxus Attack Defense Ability Difficulty Primary Role Fighter Secondary Role Tank
Graves - the Outlaw Attack Defense Ability Difficulty Primary Role Marksman
Leona - the Radiant Dawn Attack Defense Ability Difficulty Primary Role Tank Secondary Role Support
Nautilus - the Titan of the Depths Attack Defense Ability Difficulty Primary Role Tank Secondary Role Fighter
Nunu - the Yeti Rider Attack Defense Ability Difficulty Primary Role Support Secondary Role Fighter
Quinn - Demacia's Wings Attack Defense Ability Difficulty Primary Role Marksman Secondary Role Fighter
Taric - the Gem Knight Attack Defense Ability Difficulty Primary Role Support Secondary Role Fighter
Vladimir - the Crimson Reaper Attack Defense Ability Difficulty Primary Role Mage Secondary Role Tank
Wondering how we picked this week's free champions? Read up on it HERE.
See you on the Fields of Justice!“Fucky fucky fucky
fuckiest in town
fucky, fucky, fucky
(a 3-sec virtuoso Shrapnel-like guitar solo here)
fucky fucky fucky
fuckiest in town
fucky fucky fuckyyyyyyyyyy!”
Holy Motheeeeeeeer! Run away… and fast! Or rather stay; and have the time of your everlasting life…
To begin with, such a song doesn’t exist, not yet anyway; but I’m planning to dedicate a voluminous portion of my time in the days to come in order to compose it, very meticulously at that, with all the relevant romantic details. Cause, as you can very well see, there’ll be a lot of romance and lyricism pouring from this 15, maximum 20-word composition which I’m planning to send to our Chilean friends here… cause one, not very long at that, “penis metal” released over ten years ago can’t possibly keep billions of aroused, expectant mademoiselles around the world satisfied… it’s a shame, real shame.
An old, recently dug out of the arid Atacama desert, legend says that if you listen to this effort here five times in a row, in a cold (all right cool) darkened room, time unspecified, you will have a second penis grown, very similar to your current one only made of metal; in other words, all the Manowars’ holiest dream will become a very tangible one soon, no kidding… So this second appendage will greatly ease your way through life and especially through this sex/porno industry that we’re all heading to one way or another. But please, make sure not to miss this special part of the ritual which controls the place where you want this grown. Cause man, if it grows in about the same area as your other penis, I can tell you you will have some serious problems handling both your girlfriend and this always present, in a strangely insistent kinky way, cousin of hers at the same time. The “Kama Sutra for the New Penis Metal-Bred Generation” manual hasn’t come out yet so God, or rather Satan, help you…
So how can we possibly use these vital 15-min as an accompaniment to the guided meditation to this coveted second-dick growth process? Easy; simply indulge in this wild frenetic musical carnival, ignoring for a while all the sacred tunes from the Iron Maiden, Accept, and Judas Priest repertoire in your head, and pretend that the blasting early Impaled Nazarene worship “The Stench (Cadaver in the Cross)” is your most favourite song. Don’t forget to try and imitate from time to time these apocalyptic animalistic vocals, though, as this will also help you develop bigger tolerance towards what follows as the initially served primal death/black/thrashing outrage gets elongated, your original penis along with it as well, on “Gloria Rex Infernvs”, a nearly progressive-like material with its gigantic 3.5-min length and the several more laid-back escapades, but still built around the already introduced pristine cacophonic madness that only a scary place, full of sinister Sarcofagi and not so dormant Vulcanoes, like the Amazon Jungle can produce.
Back to chastity and monastic simplicity with the ultimate spearheader that is the short bursting title-track which alone can get a whole town pregnant so it’s highly advisable to put a condom (where?! on the cd player!?) if you don’t want to prematurely expose your young innocent girlfriend to throes and other similar torments. And it’s far from over yet with “Dignitas” violating the speakers in a similar unbridled fashion soaking, or rather flooding every maiden’s dream with myriad exploding and erupting penises all around, the shadow of the mentioned Finnish psychos becoming even more tangible, including on “Objeto”, a most objective orgy-inducing hyper-blaster, the (un)needed semblance of normality eventually arriving at the end in the form of a Sodom cover, “Equinox” from “Obsessed by Cruelty”, surprisingly served relatively faithfully, probably more fitting for the foreplay if there could ever be any foreplay in the first place with this metal penis eagerly buzzing around, perforating g-strings and other similar annoying obstructions along the way with all the genuine, lubricant-free passion it has mustered…
Yeah, our Chilean brethren had to take the torch from the renowned “motorpennis” inventors, Impaled Nazarene time and again, who unleashed this very erective… sorry, effective invention of theirs in the distant 1996, and once they made sure it produced the desired results, they lent it to their South American colleagues to assemble their own version of it. And here we go, “Penis Metal” to the bone(r), an explosive (literally) debut that also very enthusiastically brought the aroused audience back to the mid-80’s when quite a bit of (dis)organized noise was generated east of the Chilean border, when acts like Sarcofago, Vulcano, and Holocausto were destroying the non-true’s ears, allowing no one to entry their realm, totally oblivious of the love and romantic interpretations that would be ascribed to their infernal creations later.
A very brief, not very adroitly produced black/death/thrash metal outrage this effort is, no more no less, that largely attracted the fanbase due to the sex-promising title upon release, but once the “metal penis” was up and running, victoriously shagging left and right as well, there was no need the guys to carry on bashing in the same pristine, chaotic manner; their style later acquired much more ambitious, more serious proportions on the subsequent full-lengths with the unbridled
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afford to upgrade the units to hotel standards. And, they say, the money they make from renting to tourists and short-term visitors is vital to their livelihood.
‘LOW-HANGING FRUIT’
The regulation of short-term rentals – part of the increasingly popular yet controversial shared-economy, along with services like taxi alternative Uber – is a conversation happening all over the world, and now Portland.
The City Council’s Housing and Community Development Committee took up the issue at a meeting last month and will continue the discussion Wednesday. Potential regulations posited by city staff include requiring registration with the city, limiting the number of days a unit can be rented and only allowing hosts to rent their primary residence.
Even if some regulations are adopted, Field might not be affected.
She only rents out her fully furnished, one-bedroom apartment during the summer, then leases it to a single tenant for the other nine months of the year.
Still, she’s concerned about the effect eliminating short-term rentals could have.
“It’s sort of limiting how one could experience Portland, which would be kind of a bummer,” she said, noting that her guests prefer staying in homes to hotels.
She and her husband, Chris Korzen, who also has an apartment he owns on Grant Street that he lists on Airbnb, said they believe there are better ways to address the city’s housing crunch, such as pushing forward with a long-delayed housing project in Bayside that would add hundreds of units to the city.
Commercial real estate broker Joe Malone sees it differently. Although he doesn’t believe banning short-term rentals would solve the city’s housing problem, he said it’s “low-hanging fruit” for getting more apartments onto the market.
He said he knows landlords who have stopped leasing apartments because they make more money on Airbnb and renters who’ve been kicked out of their apartments for the same reason – including his yoga teacher, who had to move to Falmouth.
“We have to have places for people who work in Portland to live,” he said.
HOTELS LOBBY FOR RENTAL RULES
Renters aren’t the only ones affected by the growth of short-term rentals.
Greg Dugal, executive director of the Maine Innkeepers Association, said there’s been a notable increase in the number of people who are choosing Airbnb rentals for stays of more than a couple of days.
Because they don’t have to comply with state regulations, he said, those property owners can charge much less than licensed lodgings. The association has supported bills in front of the Legislature that would have required short-term rentals to meet the same standards.
As for Portland, Dugal said, he would support a ban on short-term rentals, but doesn’t believe it’s politically feasible and thinks at least some regulations, such as the ones being discussed, would be a reasonable compromise.
“Regardless, there needs to be some form of oversight or there should be a ban based on National Life Safety Code violations alone,” he said.
Some Maine cities and towns have already taken action toward regulating short-term rentals.
Before Airbnb became popular, Cape Elizabeth began requiring permits in 2012 for rentals of fewer than 30 days, after the town received complaints about loud parties and cars parked along the streets as a result of short-term rentals.
Bar Harbor requires vacation homes rented for between five and 30 days to register with the town, get an inspection and pay a one-time $50 fee.
The Rockland City Council is taking up a proposal Wednesday that would require annual permits for short-term rentals, along with insurance, on-site parking and, for multifamily homes, an inspection.
Nationally, other cities are cracking down on short-term rentals as well. The city of Santa Monica, California, adopted regulations in June requiring short-term rentals to have a business license, pay a 14 percent occupancy tax and require hosts to live on the property while it’s being rented. In November, voters in San Francisco, the birthplace of Airbnb, will decide whether to limit short-term rentals to 75 days a year.
THE PERSONAL TOUCH
There’s no way to tell how many of the online listings in Portland are homes that are being rented out when residents leave, spare bedrooms no longer occupied by grown children or furnished apartments that would otherwise be rented to year-round Portland residents.
Some property owners who did take apartments off the year-round rental market report that while Airbnb is more lucrative than renting long-term, it’s also a lot of work to clean the apartments and wash linens between renters, as well as add the personal touches that garner good reviews and move more people to choose their place.
But owners also say they enjoy meeting new people from around the world and introducing them to Portland, providing a more personal perspective on the city than a concierge at a hotel would in recommending restaurants and worthwhile sights.
Korzen said he has even taken guests sailing with him.
Gary Wagner provides champagne and fresh strawberries for short-term guests who pay to stay in half of his two-family home on Brackett Street in the West End.
Days after he listed the newly renovated space on Airbnb in July for $199 a night, it was 90 percent booked for the next two months, with guests coming to town for everything from weddings to concerts to business conferences. He ended up booking the space every day in August, September and October, charging as much as $499 a night on the weekend of the Beach to Beacon.
“There’s a clear demand,” said Wagner, a Westbrook fire lieutenant who was inspired to try it out after seeing the success of his neighbors.
One of them, Ralph Baldwin, a retired English teacher, doesn’t even own the four West End apartments he lists on Airbnb. He rents them from the building owners. Although the rental income has not yet offset the upfront costs of furnishing the apartments, which he started listing in March, Baldwin expects to be in the black by the winter.
“It is strenuous, especially if you have a lot of laundry one day or three houses to clean,” said Baldwin, who hasn’t figured out what he’s making per hour.
“I’m anticipating this will enhance my bottom line,” which he said was hurt by the recent recession and the state cut to teacher retirement.
As to whether it’s helping to drive up city rents by taking apartments out of an already tight market, Baldwin said, two of his units hadn’t been rented out for years.
Plus, he believes the money his guests spend in the city more than makes up for it.
“I think one of the remarkable things about Airbnb is that it brings people into the city that might not come here,” he said, whether it’s because an Airbnb rental is more affordable than a hotel or more suitable to the guests to have an apartment where they “have space to gather instead of everyone sitting on the edge of a bed.”
Field said that in her five years of hosting guests through Airbnb, she knows at least five of them decided to move to Portland afterward.
Wagner thinks such good will has a lot to do with the depth of knowledge and personal touch that the hosts can offer.
On Thursday, Wagner cleaned up after the departure of a group of men from Germany who had come for the area’s restaurants, and stocked the fridge with local craft beers and cookies from Standard Baking for a couple from Texas arriving that night for their honeymoon.
“We’re selling Portland,” he said.
ShareI will always remember being interviewed by a young Singaporean startup founder and asked about the average salary for bilingual content writers in Indonesia. When I mentioned the average amount for the job role he required, he was (acted) really surprised and jokingly said, "Wow, you can live like a royalty with that salary here!" He laughed, but I didn't. He obviously hadn't done his research and only considered the fresh graduate talents. The average amount I mentioned to him was even less than half of my current salary. I ended up declining the offer from this popular (but probably poor) startup because I didn't like the way he 'insulted' the skill of bilingual talents in Indonesia as if those talents in Singapore are 100x better than the local talents. The truth is, a lot Indonesians have proven to be competitive skilled workers in Singapore.
It is true that Jakarta has a limited pool of skilled workers, compared to Singapore and other big capitals around the world. You would be amazed to find a 30 year-old manager in a multinational company who has a salary of a fresh graduate in Singapore. But then again, if you check out some regional job vacancy sites, you would also notice that countries like Malaysia and Thailand have a similar problem.
IMHO, the problems are the education quality in Indonesia and a lack of confidence. Unless you graduated from Universitas Indonesia or Institut Teknologi Bandung, not many international companies appreciate the value of education in Indonesia. Once an Indonesian mentions that he or she is an overseas graduate, his or her value would increase.
After working with many startups in an incubator, I can also see that the confidence level of Indonesians who have a local university degree and Indonesians who have an international degree are usually different. The local graduates had not practiced the "art of promoting oneself", how to deal with arguments, how to carry oneself in a meeting, etc. One has to learn all those themselves by participating in networking events, traveling to other countries, perfecting English, and so on.
In the contrary, I have found many young expats in Indonesia are really good public speakers, even though they speak limited English (e.g. European expats) and have the same skill set like the local talents. So, I would say we should change this phenomenon and demand for a parity of wages or, at least, a significant increase. The moment companies can find talents with similar skills who are willing to get paid for less, of course they will go for that option (like competing with low-paying Indian freelancers at freelancing sites who are willing to write articles for <10 cent a word). We should never compete among ourselves for a lower wage.For executives in the BBC's Future Media and Technology (FMT) department – who, still flushed with the success of the iPlayer, tend to see themselves as gatekeepers to the BBC's digital future – last week was not a good one. First they copped most of the blame for the £100m failure of the BBC's Digital Media Initiative: the pan-BBC, end-to-end digital production and archive system that never actually worked. At the public accounts committee on Monday, even senior managers who had once been ardent supporters of the project coalesced around the view that the technology had failed to deliver effectively. In terms of internal BBC politics, it was clear that there had been a lengthy bureaucratic battle, and the outcome was widely seen as the technologists (those eager apostles of the "new"), losing out to television and its producers – in other words the "old".
But then there were two other pieces of news – both understandably less noticed than the DMI debacle but with at least as much longer-term significance. Again, there were clear signs in both cases that the BBC's technology division was on the wrong end of a strategic tussle. First there was the BBC Trust-commissioned review of the BBC's distribution arrangements. That is the transmission systems for both traditional television viewing via digital terrestrial, satellite and cable on the one hand, and non-traditional online and on-demand viewing via the iPlayer, YouView, connected TVs, mobile phones and tablets on the other. It was an exhaustive review that broadly supported the BBC's efforts to remain universally available and free at the point of use, with the same array of services across all platforms and devices and representing good value for money and so on.
But look a little closer and something else becomes apparent. It's all written in the code of cautious "don't upset the customer" language, of course, but the report paints a picture of an organisation that has perhaps given too much prominence to its online/on-demand offerings – run by the technology division – and not paid enough attention, or given as much prominence, to its more traditional broadcasting operations. Whereas the online distribution bit has a seat on the board, the traditional bit doesn't. In similar vein, not all of online distribution's costs are applied to it when they are reported in public. The report goes on to suggest that data about emerging trends in consumer behaviour should be better shared around the organisation.
This last point is particularly significant given the balance the BBC inevitably needs to strike between traditional and online distribution, and the fact that the vast majority of BBC content is still consumed via traditional means. Some iPlayer numbers for hit shows such as Top Gear and Sherlock are eye-wateringly large, but ultimately it currently represents around just 2.3% of BBC hours viewed. When all the costs are taken into account, roughly 12% of total distribution costs (£30m of £233m) delivers just over 2% of viewing.
So online television delivery might be the future but it's a) much more expensive than broadcasting over the airwaves, and b) hasn't happened yet. Hence the overall sense of the trust's review that online and traditional distribution need to be considered together and given more equal weighting. That's not something that will have gone down well in the court of FMT, where the addition of a +1 broadcast service for BBC1 was seen by some as undermining the case for the iPlayer.
Then there is what may be the biggest blow of all. The news that the BBC (along with ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5) are going to cease funding further development of YouView and shift the focus to developing and nurturing a new-generation Freeview service. YouView was originally the baby of Erik Huggers, the BBC's former FMT director. It was his belief – and in the wake of the iPlayer's huge success the BBC's most senior management got right behind it – that on-demand delivery of television via the internet was the future and that YouView could be the way to deliver it, universally and free at the point of use. It was to "revolutionise the living room" and be the upgrade path Freeview needed to compete with cable and satellite. But currently 97% of YouView boxes are there as part of pay-TV contracts with BT and TalkTalk, and the failings of YouView technology (which is out of date and not supported elsewhere) mean that unlike Freeview it is not integrated into new TVs. So it is not universal and it is not free. And while it might suit BT to have a system based primarily on internet delivery – broadband is its core business, after all – it really doesn't suit the broadcasters, most of whose viewers still get their television programmes over the airwaves.
Which explains why the BBC and the other broadcasters have just opted to develop a new Freeview Connect service instead. Still based on digital terrestrial transmission of linear channels, the new boxes (or built-in tuners) will feature internet connections – thus enabling viewers to access on-demand services, but via a system that will still have the potential to be universal and free at the point of use.You care so much that you're denying it even happened
I'm not denying it happened, it didn't happened. That's a fact. I mean, I know you've told this lie so often that you believe it, but it's not true.
what you actually should be shamed of is your hateful and vicuous campaign
Gee maybe if you didn't stalk and cyberbully the same handful of users no one would have ever lashed out in a negative way in the first place.
Gee maybe if you didn't hang out in nazi, bigoted and Stormfronter-type subreddits for years, you wouldn't be associated with being one of them in the first place.
But I'm sure you did nothing wrong. I mean how dare some talk badly about you on Reddit after you stalked and harassed them for years? What jerks. Won't someone think of NoLube's feelings? He needs to be able to cyberbully people and be left alone.Overview (4)
Mini Bio (1)
Spouse (3)
Trade Mark (1)
Deep, gruff voice and demeanor
Trivia (21)
Parents were Thomas and Doreen Shaw. He had three sisters and one brother.
Twice played a villain opposite a hero played by Sean Connery. The first was that of SPECTRE killer Donald Grant in From Russia with Love (1963) opposite Connery as secret agent James Bond 007. The second was the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin and Marian (1976) opposite Connery as aging forest archer Robin Hood.
Many of Captain Quint's ramblings in Jaws (1975) were actually Shaw's improvisations, and he is considered one of many authors of the famous USS Indianapolis scene.
In the town of Westhoughton in England, there is a pub called The Robert Shaw.
Uncle of author, actor and filmmaker Scott Shaw
Allegedly didn't get along with Richard Dreyfuss while filming Jaws (1975).
Was nominated for Broadway's 1969 Tony Award as author of best play nominee The Man in the Glass Booth.
His performance as Captain Quint in Jaws (1975) is ranked #28 on "Premiere" Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
One of three actors to have been Oscar-nominated for playing King Henry VIII of England. The other two are Charles Laughton and Richard Burton, but Laughton is the only one of the three to have won (in 1933).
A keen sportsman, he played rugby for London Wasps. In 1957 his school quarter-mile record still stood. He was an expert swordsman and a squash enthusiast.
After his TV role in The Buccaneers (1956), he changed track and joined the London Old Vic Company,playing in many Shakespearean dramas which then took him to the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-on-Avon, England.
Father of film editor, Penelope Shaw
In the novel "The Taking of Pelham 123", one of the characters liked to walk off nervous energy, and Shaw played the villain in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974); he tried to walk off chest pains and wound up dying of a heart attack.
Was made to wear lifts when filming From Russia with Love (1963) to appear physically threatening to Sean Connery. Connery was about four inches taller than Shaw. He also dyed his hair blonde.
Wrote a draft of The Ipcress File (1965) that wasn't used.
Marvel Comics villain Sebastian Shaw was named and modeled after him.
Was considered for the role of Peter Janeway in Marathon Man (1976).
Although he had been paid $350,000 for his role in The Battle of the Bulge (1965)--in those days, roughly £125,000 and more than he had made in his entire career up to that point--he was prepared to reduce his fee to £12,000 for his next film, "A Man For All Seasons", which he regarded as a film of much higher quality.
Personal Quotes (9)
I drink too much. Will you tell me one great actor who doesn't drink?
[to Nick Nolte, when the two were discussing how badly their film, The Deep (1977), was going] It's a treasure picture, Nick, it's a treasure picture.
What I try to achieve in acting--flamboyance--would be self-indulgence if I tried it as a writer.
Writing is where the real center of my integrity lies. I never write for money. I only act for money, but not invariably, of course. I would never write certain sentences that I say in films, or even that I write in films, because I often fix up my lines.
[in March 1978] Being 50 years old and having ten children... the youngest is 13 months... creates the economic necessity that forces me into all those big-budget movies in which I often don't have a single realistic line.
Acting is instant enjoyment and childlike. As an actor, Lord God, I can take an audience in a theatre and throw them in any direction. I can't do that as a writer. Writing is painful, it's lonely and you suffer and there's no immediate feedback.
I still don't think of myself as a star. Success lasts only three seconds. After that you're the same as you were before you had it. I'm not a true artist anyway because I refuse to shrug off my family. To support them I must work in commercial films. My taxes alone keep eight lawyers busy, and when I finally get my money, it's only one-third of what I earn. With the kids in school and my other responsibilities, I get no change back from the first million dollars. The money flows out like water.
[in 1977] I'm the happiest I've been in a long time. I have my new marriage. I have my new baby, my tenth child. I don't have to work in third-rate movies anymore, and I'm in great physical shape.
[on working underground in the subway tunnels for The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)] I found myself in "Dante's Inferno". It was the middle of winter and the freezing weather and dirty conditions took its toll on my mental and physical state.
Salary (4)The Miami Dolphins will have some big cuts to make at every position on their roster but none will be as difficult as those coming to the wide-receiver position. As of today, 13 players are listed on the Dolphins roster at the position and three of those players will make the final 53 barring any sort of injury that puts them on the injured list. Mike Wallace, Brian Hartline, and rookie 2nd round pick Jarvis Landry.
With three roster spots all but officially guaranteed, 10 other players are vying for what could be one spot. Last season the Dolphins entered the season with four wide-receivers on the roster. Wallace, Hartline, Brandon Gibson, and Rishard Mathews. The team may have carried five had Armon Binns stayed healthy but we can’t be certain.
We can trim some of the fat off those remaining ten though. Players who stand little to no chance of making the final 53 are Kevin Cone, Gerald Ford, Ryan Spadola, Stephen Williams, and Rantavious Wooten. Those five players make the race for the final one or two slots a six man race and rookie Matt Hazel likely should be on that list as well despite being drafted in the 6th round. That leaves four players.
Brandon Gibson has returned from his season ending knee injury of year ago but was unable to complete the teams first contact practice on Sunday. Armon Binns is trying to return from his pre-season injury last year that shelved the wide-out for the entire 2014 season. Rishard Matthews is returning this year but there was speculation in the off-season that he was not being eyed favorably by head coach Joe Philbin and that rumor extended to Matthews a possible cut this year. The final remaining wide-receiver is Damian Williams who was added during this off-season’s free agency period. Williams enters his fifth season in the NFL after playing with the Tennessee Titans.
The final four players will battle throughout camp for one or possibly two positions. Gibson and Binn’s chances rely heavily on their recovery from last years injuries while Damian Williams is hoping that he can be more than just a security receiver should another go down with injury. Rishard Matthews has to prove it 100%. He played well last year but apparently not well enough to guarantee his spot this season. Tough decision will be coming for the Dolphins at the position this year which makes every practice and every practice rep count more and more.
Teams will not face mandatory cuts until later in August.Madidi National Park in Northwest Bolivia May be Most Biologically Diverse Place on Earth
Photo: Mileniusz Spanowicz/WCS
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) says a remote park in northwest Bolivia may be the most biologically diverse place on earth. A list of species that reside in the Bolivian park, Madidi National Park, was was released at the IUCN World Conservation Congress. The creatures living in Madidi include the excited looking parrot snake pictured above. The parrot snake is one of at least 50 different snake species in Madidi. The park contains cloud forests between 3,280 and 9,842 feet. Scientists say two thirds of Madidi's total biodiversity has yet to be formally registered or observed by scientists.Madidi is home to 11% of the world's birds, more than 200 species of mammals, almost 300 types of fish, and 12,000 plant varieties. The resulting compendium estimates 1,868 vertebrates for Madidi, including 1,088 species of birds. Only eleven countries have more bird species than Madidi National Park. The entire U.S. contains less than 900 bird species. Mammals range from the 661-pound lowland tapir, an Amazonian herbivore, to the tiny insectivorous Spix's disk-winged bat that weighs just 4 grams. There are 60 species of hummingbird in the park.WCS's Madidi Landscape Program Director Dr. Robert Wallace said in a statement, "With Madidi's almost 6,000-meter (19,685 feet) altitudinal range, no other protected area captures the diversity of South American habitats that pushes these numbers through the ceiling. All the scientists who contributed to this compendium feel privileged to work in Madidi, and we are all very happy to help SERNAP promote the national and international conservation importance of the area."Courtesy 247Sports
For Marlon Humphrey, playing college football is a family affair. His father, Bobby, played at Alabama and eventually in the NFL. His brother, Maudrecus, is a wide receiver at Arkansas.
And now Marlon will play his college ball with the Crimson Tide.
Humphrey confirmed the news on his Twitter account:
Humphrey is one of the top recruits in the nation. 247Sports' composite rankings have him listed as a 5-star recruit, the top prospect from the state of Alabama, the third-best cornerback prospect in the country and the 12th-ranked recruit overall.
Unlike his father and brother, however, Humphrey will make his mark on the defensive side of the ball, either as a corner or possibly at safety down the line.
ESPN Insider (subscription required) offered the following scouting report on Humphrey:
Humphrey is a fast and instinctive lockdown corner with coveted aggressiveness and play-making ability out on the perimeter. The rangy and fast closing Humphrey is well-versed in schemes and could develop as a man or zone corner at the next level, or potentially develop into a safety with added size.
Standing 6'1" and weighing 175 pounds per his 247Sports profile, Humphrey already has the ideal size to be a lengthy corner who can get a good jam off the line. He also has the top-end speed to recover if a receiver gets a clean release. And he may not be done growing.
During his three seasons at Hoover High, Humphrey totaled 13 interceptions (and returned three of those for touchdowns), broke up 24 passes and recovered two fumbles.
Humphrey's bloodlines suggests he should hit the college game as a well-adjusted young man. He's learned many lessons from his father—who had his fair share of legal troubles in the NFL—about how to behave as a young athlete.
And his athleticism is unquestioned, as he is one of the best hurdlers in the country. There's a lot to like about this kid; there are no two ways about that.
He might not make an impact in his freshman season, but learn the name Marlon Humphrey now; you'll be hearing it soon enough on Saturdays.Count bird lovers among the outraged following the Army Corps of Engineers' decimation of 80 acres of wildlife refuge last week.
The L.A. Daily News reports the corps ripped up trees and stripped shrubbery from the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve — an action they say was meant to help police an area known for homeless camps and lewd behavior.
They say the move was part of a multiyear restoration initiave that includes removing non-native plants and trees.
San Fernando Audubon Society officials say the public wasn't throughly informed of the plan, and that the "cleanup" removed native plants, utterly devastating an area that attracts many local and migratory birds.
Notes the L.A. Daily News:
Where there had been three decades of coyote bushes, mulefat and elderberry tree growth, there were now stumps and a field of twisted branches. Where there was once a smooth hiking path through an area called the South Reserve was now a mud-filled road scarred by thick tire tracks. Where a forest of brush and tall trees stood in the center of the San Fernando Valley was now an unobstructed view of the Sepulveda Dam and the nearby Ventura (101) Freeway. And where there were once warblers and least bell's vireos - not to forget the scissortail flycatchers, broadwing hawks and rose-breasted grossbeaks favored by birders across the state - there was hardly a bird in sight.
"It's going to be very tough for local wildlife," Muriel Kotin, one of four Audubon members to review the devastation, told the newspaper.
The society alerted Rep. Brad Sherman, whose office plans to talk with both sides.
A 61-page vegetation management plan for part of the Sepulveda flood basin was published last August by the Army Corps but reportedly wasn't shown to local environmental groups or Basin stakeholders.
The Audubon discovered the plan in early Dec. and expressed environmental concerns to the Corps. A Corps spokesman said they would make "a better effort" in the future to notify residents and be aware of concerns.Neil deGrasse Tyson, Feist, Fleet Foxes, a talking wolf named Nick Offerman, and more join us on an audio odyssey designed to reacquaint you with the wonders of nature! Hosts Brendan and Rico — two city slickers — stumble their way through the great outdoors (and outer space!), gleaning wisdom from unexpected sources. This hour is best experienced OUTSIDE, so pack a night picnic, lay out a blanket… and look up and listen.
(“Look Up And Listen!” is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.)
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A History Lesson With Booze ®
This week, back in 1930, Pluto was officially named. And of course we don’t mean the Disney character.The essence of my complaints with Python boils down to two things:
Much of the language consists of special cases rather than general features that combine in orthogonal ways. This results in infelicities and weird corner cases.
Guido van Rossum has a history of getting the language design really wrong (e.g., http://neopythonic.blogspot.com/...
Some examples:
Python has perpetual scope confusion. As far as I can tell, this is because van Rossum didn't understand lexical scope initially, so he got it wrong. (This isn't a problem unique to Python. It seems pretty common among early versions of scripting languages.) Originally, Python was dynamically scoped, which everyone but RMS agrees is wrong. Then they did away with the dynamic scope, but made it so that inner scopes couldn't even see variables from outer scopes, which is bizarre in a supposedly block-structured language. Now inner scopes can see outer scopes but can't mutate them, which is bizarre in a supposedly object-oriented language. Some may claim this is a feature, but it's an accident of implementation. I'm sure when he fixes that, he'll break something else.
but RMS agrees is wrong. Then they did away with the dynamic scope, but made it so that inner scopes couldn't even see variables from outer scopes, which is bizarre in a supposedly block-structured language. Now inner scopes can see outer scopes but can't mutate them, which is bizarre in a supposedly object-oriented language. Some may claim this is a feature, but it's an accident of implementation. I'm sure when he fixes that, he'll break something else. David Parnas invented information hiding more than three decades ago, but it's "unPythonic," so Python is missing probably the biggest advance in programming since FORTRAN 2.
eval breaks alpha-equivalence — that is, you can't arbitrarily change the names of variables, because some variable occurrences can hide in strings, which makes the binding structure of Python undecidable.
breaks alpha-equivalence — that is, you can't arbitrarily change the names of variables, because some variable occurrences can hide in strings, which makes the binding structure of Python undecidable. Python is untyped, which means that a whole bunch of errors that are easily detected ahead of time aren't detected in Python until they happen. Some people like it that way — and more power to them! — but it's always worth considering whether it's a misfeature for your particular application
Syntactic whitespace can be nice, but it makes code generation harder than it has to be. This isn't a difficult problem to solve. Haskell lets you use either syntactic whitespace or an equivalent syntax involving curly braces and semicolons. One is good for people and the other for metaprogramming, and there's no good reason not to support both. It doesn't help that when people have requested this, Python's implementors have been really snotty about it. (Try from __future__ import braces.)
.) Limiting the bodies of lambda s to be expressions rather than statements is arbitrary and annoying. That variable declarations and assignments are statements rather than expressions is arbitrary and annoying. The statement/expression distinction is arbitrary and annoying.
s to be expressions rather than statements is arbitrary and annoying. That variable declarations and assignments are statements rather than expressions is arbitrary and annoying. The statement/expression distinction is arbitrary and annoying. "The [hash table] is a stark data structure." Python, like the other table-based languages, encourages you to use "mappings" for many things where sum-of-products (algebraic) datatypes would be more appropriate. This is inefficient, but more importantly, it's error-prone. To continue quoting Perlis, "Programmers are not to be measured by their ingenuity and their logic but by the completeness of their case analysis." Python's lack of support for appropriate data structures encourages program structure that hides case analysis. Correction: Andrew Cooke points out that named tuples ( http://docs.python.org/library/c...
All that said, I'd still rather work with Python than PHP. But that's like saying I'd rather eat Jack in the Box than McDonald's. It might be slightly more palatable, but it's still pretty bad.So you've landed in Copenhagen and you find yourself in the envious position of living in the world's happiest country. Consistently ranked high in various studies, its claims to fame include being, among other things, a smart and green city, one with the best work-life balance, one of the best cities for foodies and the city with the best reputation. And another distinction that's not so great: one of the most expensive cities to live in
What you are probably also discovering is how hard it is to find a place to live despite your readiness to shell out big money. So, here's a little primer on what you need to know about renting a home in Copenhagen.
1. Timing is everything:
In Copenhagen, it's hardly ever easy to find a place to rent, but there are two periods when it's doubly difficult: January and September. A large number of international professionals who come to Denmark on expat contracts begin work on the first day of the year, meaning there are more people looking for a place to live. Some of them have a relocation agency helping out, giving them an advantage over those who don't.
“The city of Copenhagen grows by approximately 1,000 people every month, but it has not been able to build new properties to accommodate this growth. There is no doubt, however, that the busiest period in Copenhagen's rental market is around September 1st, when there is an influx of students heading to Copenhagen to study at the universities”, says Henrik Løvig, the CEO of BoligPortal.dk, one of Denmark's largest rental housing portals.
Are there any periods when the market eases a bit?
“There are no easy periods in Copenhagen because of the massive demand for housing. But, relatively and statistically, you have the best possibilities in February, March and April”, he adds.
2. A long wait:
Brace yourself for a long waiting period. On average, it takes about three months to find an apartment or house that meets your expectations, not to mention your budget. You will end up sending emails to several prospective landlords and estate agencies. Be prepared not to receive replies from a large number of them.
“I've been looking for an apartment for over a month. Most landlords don't respond. I sent nearly 50 emails, but so far I've had only three viewings,” says Andriy Tevelyev, a game developer who moved to Copenhagen from Ukraine.
The sheer demand for housing means that available properties go off the market quickly and often landlords don't feel obliged to let you know that the listing is no longer available.
3. Network:
Put your network to good use and spread the word around among colleagues, friends and acquaintances. Several apartments and houses get leased purely through word of mouth. Being the first to know about a prospective availability increases your chances of securing it. If you are new to the city and don't have a social network yet, scour the bulletin board and intranet of your company or university for listings from your colleagues.
And don't limit your search to empty apartments. Renting with a roommate not only saves you money, it can be a great way to meet new people.
4. Make an effort to impress:
The demand for good apartments and houses far exceeds the supply. This means you have be to fairly serious about your search and make an effort to convince a landlord that you would make a good tenant.
“Use every chance you get to make a good first impression on a landlord. Remember, you usually have only one chance to make a good impression, and some landlords receive a lot of applications. So provide relevant details about yourself and present yourself in a manner that helps you stand out from the crowd”, says Løvig.
5. Where to look:
Above all use your common sense at all times. Never sign a contract or put down a deposit for a place you have not seen yourself or if you have not met the landlord in person. Once you move into your home, you have 14 days to report any defects or problems you notice. This is to ensure that the landlord does not ask you to pay for their repairs when you move out.
Good luck in
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other appointments and with the Fed. Is it any wonder 75% of Americans want the Fed audited and investigated. That said, the present set of circumstances cannot be allowed to go on indefinitely. We cannot keep insurance, Wall Street and banking on life support forever. Not when we finance two occupations and an ongoing war, never mind our unfunded liabilities of Medicare, Social Security, etc. most all of these problems are being financed by debt to be paid by our great, great grandchildren. We just created $12.7 trillion for bailouts and the Inspector General tells us we are presently on the hook for $23.7 trillion. What happens if all the recipients need another $20 trillion?The situation is still dire and the solution is temporary and unworkable and Washington and New York are well aware of this. The game will play out over the next few years. In the meantime the dollar will move lower and inflation, gold and silver higher.Economics is not complex; it is very simple. Professors and economists would like to have you believe it is complicated when in fact they make it opaque, so you cannot understand it. The same is true with banking. In normal times through the century’s bankers using the fractional banking system usually lent 8 times their assets, or deposits. It was only until recently that the privately owned Federal Reserve told banks within the system to lend 40 times assets or more in order to accommodate the system.All this is to cover to confuse and hide the truth of fractional banking. Bankers’ indebt borrowers with money they made up out of thin air. Debt is enslavement by the bankers upon the people by buying almost everyone off. In the final analysis banking is a fraud unless money is interest free. The Fed, and all the other banks are a fraud.The game as we know it today began in 1694 when the Rothschild’s formed the privately owned Bank of England and the production of bank notes began and circulated along with sterling silver coins. The end result has been that the bankers own the world. The system today is based on confidence and trust, something that has been worn thin. A reflection of the loss of trust and confidence is that 75% to 80% of Americans want HR1207 and S604 passed by Congress, so that the Fed can be audited and investigated. The public no longer trusts the Fed and the banks. As a result the con game may well be coming to an end. Fifty years ago we and a handful of other conservative warriors set out to inform the public of the giant scam that the Fed really was. It has been a long hard road. Gary Allen and Alan Stang are gone and of the originals all that are left are G. Edward Griffin, Stan Monteith, Anthony Hilder and us. During our lifetimes we now probably will see the end of the Fed. Because the people have finally been awakened. It was a long hard battle that may soon come to fruition.The final step will be the termination of the Federal Reserve and its monopoly on financial theft. Unfortunately it will mean the demise of the only financial system we have known for 315 years. We do not know as yet what the new system will be like, but the con game is over and most of the world’s inhabitants are broke. The debt that is owed simply cannot be repaid. Japan, the US, the UK and Europe will be the first to go followed by most of the rest of the world.You ask who will be the big winners? Gold and silver of course. Just as we have been telling you they would for 9-1/2 years, since gold was $252.00 and silver $3.80. Look at the gains for those who listened. And, we still have a long, long way to go to preserve our wealth. Over all those years the gold suppression cartel fought to hold down gold prices by selling gold, using derivatives and futures and in collaboration with good producers such as Barrick Gold and others. Hopefully HR3996 (HR-1207) will now pass unchanged and we can take a look at what the Fed and the Treasury were doing and who aided them.What we are witnessing in the US and world economy is the result of the greed of central banks to make as much money as possible before they have to collapse the system to bring about World Government.Manufacturing activity in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's district improved in November.The bank's production index for November versus a month ago moved to 17 from 6 in October. In November 2008, it stood at -31, from -40 in the previous month. On a monthly comparison, the November shipments index hit 11 from 1 in October, while on a year ago basis it was -28, from -40.The November new orders index on a monthly basis was 14 versus 11 the prior month, while on a year ago basis it stood at -16 from -37.Hiring was mixed, with the monthly employment index at 2 in November, from 0 the month before, while on a year ago basis it was -49, from -47.Inflation was mixed, with the November prices paid index at 29, from 18, while the prices received index stood at 4, from -4The Kansas City Fed district includes Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, northern New Mexico and western Missouri.U.S. consumer sentiment levels fell in November, a report Wednesday said.The University of Michigan/Reuters final consumer sentiment index moved to 67.4 from 70.6 in October. It was expected to come in at 66.8, and it stood at 66.0 in the preliminary reading.The current conditions index was 68.8, from 73.7 in October, while the final expectations index hit 66.5, from 68.6.Consumers' final one-year inflation expectations forecast was 2.7%, from 2.9% the month before, while the five-year outlook was 3.0%, after 2.9%.New-home sales unexpectedly climbed in October despite bad weather and uncertainty over a big tax credit for first-time buyers.Sales of single-family homes increased 6.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 430,000, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires estimated a 1.0% drop to a 398,000 annual rate.Some analysts thought the looming expiration of an $8,000 tax credit for homebuyers would scare off buyers in October. New-home sales, unlike sales of existing homes, are recorded with the signing of a sales contract and not the closing. There was also unseasonable cool and wetness in parts of the U.S. last month.The tax credit has since been extended by Congress through April, a move made earlier this month that is seen helping the housing market.Wednesday's report said sales in September fell 2.4% to 405,000. Year over year, sales were up 5.1% since October 2008.The median price for a new home fell in October, but not by much, dropping 0.5% to $212,200.Inventories shrank some more. There were an estimated 239,000 homes for sale at the end of October. That represented a 6.7 months' supply at the current sales rate. An estimated 250,000 homes were for sale at the end of September, a 7.4 months' inventory.Commerce's report Wednesday showed October new-home sales fell in most regions but were up in the South.In a glimmer of hope for the labor market, the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits last week fell to the lowest level since September of 2008.Total claims lasting more than one week, meanwhile, also decreased.Initial claims for jobless benefits declined by 35,000 to 466,000 in the week ended Nov. 21, the Labor Department said in its weekly report Wednesday. The previous week's level was revised to 501,000 from 505,000. This represents the lowest figure for claims since September 13, 2008 and it is the first time initial claims have fallen below the 500,000 mark since early January, according to Labor Department data.Last week's initial claims fell by more than economists expected. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had predicted a decrease of 10,000 claims.The four-week moving average of new claims, which aims to smooth volatility in the data, also fell by 16,500 to 496,500 from the previous week's revised average of 513,000. That is the lowest figure since November 8, 2008.Economists widely expected initial claims would fall in Wednesday's report, and some believe that this the break away from the 500,000 mark will be sustained in the weeks to come."Taken as a whole, the labor market data for the US is suggesting we are in a gradual, steady improvement towards job growth at some point over the next three to six months and the decline in jobless claims is consistent with that," said Zach Pandl, an economist at Nomura Global Economics. "The trend has been very persistent since the end of August and we are expecting that to continue."In the Labor Department's Wednesday report, the number of continuing claims -- those drawn by workers for more than one week in the week ended Nov. 14 -- declined by 190,000 to 5,423,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 5,613,000.The unemployment rate for workers with unemployment insurance for the week ended Nov. 14 was 4.1%, a decrease of a 0.2 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate of 4.3%.The largest increase in initial claims for the week ended Nov. 14 was in Florida due to layoffs in the construction, trade, service and manufacturing sectors. The largest decrease in initial claims occurred in California.Spending by Americans bounced back in October as their incomes rose slightly more than expected and inflation remained low, boding well for economic growth in the fourth quarter.Commerce Department data Wednesday showed spending last month rose by 0.7% compared with a September decline of 0.6%, while personal income rose by 0.2% for the second straight month.Meantime, a key gauge of prices that is closely watched by the U.S. Federal Reserve to set monetary policy reiterated inflation wasn't a threat as the economy recovers slowly.The core price index for personal consumption expenditures, which excludes volatile food and energy, rose a monthly 0.2% in October and by 1.4% year-on-year.Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast consumer spending would rise by 0.6% in October while income would increase by 0.1%. The core PCE index was seen rising by a monthly 0.1%.The U.S. economy's rebound was softer than originally thought in the third quarter, the government said Tuesday in a revision to its gross domestic product estimate which showed less consumer spending than initially estimated.U.S. GDP - the broadest measure of output of goods and services - grew at a 2.8% annual rate during the July to September period, less than the 3.5% rate calculated by the Commerce Department a month ago.Consumer spending, which accounts for 70% of U.S. economic output, increased at a 2.9% annual rate during the third quarter - less than the 3.4% estimated previously.Wednesday's report was an encouraging sign for growth in the fourth quarter, since both consumer spending and incomes rose by more than expected in October.Economists currently expect slightly better economic growth in the fourth quarter compared to the previous three months. One prominent forecaster, Macroeconomic Advisers, predicts GDP growth of 3.1%.Personal income data for the previous months was revised up slightly. It rose by 0.2% in September and by 0.3% in August, the report showed, compared to previous estimates of a flat reading in September and a 0.1% increase the previous month.Still, with more than 10% of the U.S. labor force out of work, the rise in incomes remains moderate.Federal Reserve officials earlier this month raised their expectations for growth this year and in 2010, but predicted the recovery will be so slow that unemployment will remain high and inflation low until the end of next year.As for price gauges in Wednesday's report, the price index for personal consumption expenditures excluding food and energy, year over year, rose 1.4%. The year-over-year gain in September was 1.3%.The Fed watches this core PCE index closely for signs of inflation pressures. Fed officials see core inflation around 1.45% in 2009, 1.25% in 2010, and 1.3% in 2011.On a monthly basis, Wednesday's report showed the core PCE index increased 0.2% in October compared to a 0.1% increase in September.The PCE price index including food and energy prices rose 0.3% in October compared to September. It rose a monthly 0.1% in September. Year over year, the PCE price index was up 0.2% in October after falling 0.6% in September.Demand for long-lasting goods unexpectedly fell in October, brought down by the defense sector, and a barometer of capital spending by businesses tumbled in another sign of the recovery's sluggishness.Manufacturers' orders for durable goods decreased 0.6% to a seasonally adjusted $166.17 billion, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.Military goods demand plunged. Excluding defense, all other durables increased by 0.4% in October, after going 1.8% higher in September.Still, if not for a jump in commercial airpline bookings, the drop in overall durables would have been much greater.While generally negative, the report Wednesday had a few bright spots. September durables were revised way up, for instance.A key number in the monthly data, orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, fell, by 2.9%, after increasing 2.6% in September. The orders are seen as a proxy for capital spending by businesses.While the economy stopped shrinking last summer, the recovery is expected to be slow, because unemployment has topped 10%. Last week, the government said U.S. home construction fell sharply in October, an unexpected drop that erased months of gains.Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had projected overall durable goods orders would climb 0.5% in October. Some manufacturers have boosted orders to slow their inventory liquidation and rebuild depleted stockpiles of goods. The Wednesday data showed manufacturers' inventories of durable goods were unchanged in October, ending a string of declines. The last three reports on the sector by the influential research group the Institute for Supply Management have showed manufacturing expanding.Cars, radios, and coffee makers are durables, goods meant to last at least three years. Coming out of the severe recession, durables year to date were down 23%, in unadjusted terms, from the same 10-month period in 2008. Overall durables in September rose 2.0%, adjusted from a previously revised 1.4% increase.US Airways (LCC) said this week it plans to defer the delivery of 54 Airbus jets, in a bid to improve liquidity and ease its strained finances. The deferral will reduce the company's aircraft capital expenditure by about $2.5 billion over the next three years. The economy has hurt airline revenues.A sign within Wednesday's data of future demand for durables, unfilled manufacturers' orders, fell, by 0.4%, the 13th drop in a row.Durable-goods shipments of manufacturers fell 0.2% last month.Orders for transportation-related goods climbed 1.5%, pushed by a 50.8% jump in non-defense planes. Motor vehicle orders dipped 0.1%, despite the success of the government's incentive program "cash for clunkers" last summer.Excluding the transportation sector, orders for all other durables decreased 1.3% in October. Demand ex-transportation had climbed 1.8% in September.Orders last month for metals and electrical equipment rose. Computers and machinery fell.October capital goods orders decreased 2.0%. Non-defense capital goods - items meant to last 10 years or longer - rose 1.2%. Defense-related capital goods orders went down by 18.4%.MBA Mortgage Applications decline by 4.5% in Nov. 20 week.Negative interest rates are back. Yields on short-term US government debt have fallen into negative territory as banks and investors park their cash in havens before the end of the year.Ted Wieseman, economist at Morgan Stanley, says: “There has been a regular pattern during this crisis of bills being badly squeezed around quarter ends, but it’s happening a lot earlier than normal this time around. “Even last year when the financial crisis was nintensifying so far ahead of the actual calendar turn.”Q3 GDP clearly demonstrates that US bean-counters are manufacturing unreasonable economic data. First, the initial 3.5% gain was reduced to 2.8%. But the revised Q3 GDP is hokey because it ‘estimates’ that ‘real gross domestic purchases’ increased 3.5%. This is preposterous given the huge declines in sales taxes that have been reported nationally!Q3 GDP would have been revised even lower if not for the.25 decline in the GDP price adjustment. We have moaned about the understating of inflation in order to overstate economic (GDP) strength for years.And then there is the bogus jobs and income that inflates GDP. Given the decline in income taxes according to federal, state and municipal taxing agencies, how did income increase in Q3?Real government spending increased 8.3%... Auto production, due to ‘Cash for Clunkers’, contributed 1.45 to GDP…GDI increased 2.0%.The price index for gross domestic purchases, which measures prices paid by U.S. residents, increased 1.4 percent in the third quarter, 0.2 percentage point less than in the advance estimate; this index increased 0.5 percent in the second quarter. Excluding food and energy prices, the price index for gross domestic purchases increased 0.4 percent in the third quarter, compared with an increase of 0.8 percent in the second.Here’s something else from the GDP report that caught our eye: Profits from current production (corporate profits with inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments) increased $130.0 billion in the third quarter, compared with an increase of $43.8 billion in the second quarter.Taxes on corporate income increased $6.7 billion in the third quarter, compared with an increase of $35.6 billion in the second.How do profits increase $130B while taxes only increase $6.7B?Here’s the possible answer: Domestic profits of financial corporations increased $97.0 billion in the third quarter, compared with an increase of $28.5 billion in the second. Domestic profits of nonfinancial corporations increased $12.9 billion in the third quarter, compared with an increase of $29.8 billion in the second. [Why would non-financial corporations make far less money in Q3 than Q2 if the economy was better in Q3? How much of financial earnings are of market-to-model quality?]“The weakness in the non-financials tells you how limited this recovery is at this point,” said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors Inc. in Holland, Pennsylvania. “Businesses are going to be very cautious in increasing the cost side and the biggest part of the cost side is labor. They aren’t going to rush out and hire.”In the first three quarters of 2009, profits at financial institutions soared 198 percent, the biggest nine- month gain since records began in 1948. Earnings were down 65 percent in the nine months ended in December 2008, the biggest such decrease on record.A House bill still being drafted aims to raise $150 billion each year to pay for new jobs.Under a bill being drafted by Democratic Reps. Peter DeFazio (Ore.) and Ed Perlmutter (Colo.), the sale and purchase of financial instruments such as stocks, options, derivatives and futures would face a 0.25 percent tax.The bill, a copy of which was obtained by The Hill, is titled the “Let Wall Street Pay for the Restoration of Main Street Act of 2009.”Banks have spent the past year dealing with a mountain of bad assets. Now attention is turning to trillions of dollars of debt they have maturing over the next few years.Banks unable to maneuver around the challenge could be forced to refinance their debt at sharply higher costs.Citigroup has about $30 billion in 2010 of debt coming due next year, with an additional $39.5 billion in 2011 and $59.3 billion in 2012. Bank of America must deal with debts totaling about $55.4 billion in 2010, $35.3 billion in 2011 and $58.4 billion in 2012. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. faces about $130 billion maturing through 2012.Rising borrowing costs for banks could spill into the broader economy at a time when consumer and corporate borrowers already are under stress. Banks could pass on the costs in the form of higher interest rates.The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 27% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-two percent (42%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -15. This is the lowest Approval Index rating yet measured for President Obama.Overall, 45% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. That matches the lowest level of total approval yet measured for this president. Eighty-one percent (81%) ofDemocrats approve as do 33% of unaffiliated voters. Eighty-three percent (83%) of Republicans disapprove. Among all voters, 54% now disapprove.Support for the health care plan proposed by the President and Congressional Democrats has fallen to a new low of 38%. Sixty percent (60%) of voters believe passage of the bill will lead to higher health care costs. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/.. U.S. banks are earning money again, but they're writing fewer business loans, threatening a fragile economic recovery.The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported Tuesday that U.S. bank loans fell by $210.4 billion or 2.8% during the third quarter – the biggest drop since the FDIC started keeping records in 1984. Banks booked $2.8 billion in third-quarter profits, reversing a second-quarter loss of $4.3 billion. "We need to see banks making more loans to their business customers," says FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair. "This is especially true for small businesses."Loans to businesses fell 6.5%, and real estate loans plummeted 8.1%."Until small businesses are able to borrow, we can't have a robust economy, because that's your largest source of jobs," says Richard Posner, a law professor at the University of Chicago and a federal circuit judge. The Small Business Administration has said that small businesses created 64% of new jobs in the past 15 years.Banks are reluctant to make new loans until they've cleared off the bad ones they made during the housing boom. Back then, they paid "insufficient attention to certain kinds of risky loans," says Edward Kane, finance professor at Boston College. "You can't expect them to turn around and turn the lending machine back on."Non-current loans rose more than 10% during the quarter to $366.6 billion or nearly 5% of all loans, the highest rate on record. Banks charged off nearly $51 billion in bad loans last quarter, the 11th straight quarterly increase and up more than 80% from a year earlier. "Loan losses will continue to climb as long as foreclosures keep rising and homeowners, builders and developers continue to hurt," says Kate Monahan, banking analyst at Aite Group.Banks don't expect things to get better anytime soon: Two out of three banks set aside more reserves for losses during the quarter, reserving a total of $62.5 billion, 22% higher than last year. Banks are hoarding money in super-safe Treasury securities, and, "Businesses were not as eager to take on debt," says FDIC chief economist Richard Brown.Increasing bank failures are feeding the worries: 124 banks have failed this year, up from 25 in all of 2008, draining the FDIC's deposit insurance fund, which fell below zero (to minus $8.2 billion) in the third quarter. But the FDIC had earlier set aside $38.9 billion to cover losses, giving it total reserves of $30.7 billion to protect depositors in failed banks. The FDIC has another $23.3 billion in cash. The agency expects to collect another $45 billion at the end of the year when banks pay three years of deposit insurance premiums in advance.Bair warns not to read too much into one quarter's results, noting that banks won't return to full health until the economy improves. "It really is all about the economy at this point," she says. "I don't want to make any predictions."The International Monetary Fund said it will have access to a credit line of up to $600 billion to make loans during financial crises after contributing countries agreed to fold commitments into one pool.The agreement, yet to be approved by the IMF board, adds as many as 13 members from the current 26 to the so-called New Arrangements to Borrow, including emerging nations China, Russia, Brazil and India, the IMF said in an e-mailed statement.The decision “marks an important moment for multilateralism and the fund, which will help the IMF’s effectiveness in its response to crises,” Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in yesterday’s statement.The deal goes beyond a pledge by leaders of the Group of 20 nations to contribute up to $500 billion to a credit arrangement that’s currently worth $54 billion, the IMF said. The worst financial crisis since the Great Depression prompted more nations to seek aid from the fund, created after World War II to help ensure the stability of the global monetary system.Connecticut plans to join Ohio in suing credit-rating companies for “negligent, reckless and incompetent work” in grading debt purchased by state pension funds, according to Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.Connecticut and “a number of other states” are preparing legal action against Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Corp. and Fitch Ratings, Blumenthal said today in a Bloomberg Television interview. Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray sued the debt raters this month on behalf of five Ohio public employee retirement funds, saying “improper” ratings cost the funds more than $457 million.The state actions come amid criticism of the ratings services by investors and lawmakers including Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, who has said the companies wrongly assigned top credit rankings to U.S. subprime-mortgage bonds just before that market collapsed in 2007. Defaults on the debt ignited a credit crisis that has led to more than $1.7 trillion in writedowns and losses since the start of 2007.“We want money back for our taxpayers as a consequence of these mis-ratings,” Blumenthal said. “They gave AAAs to financial instruments that deserved much, much less. They were the enablers to this structured finance debacle.”Blumenthal also sued the credit-rating companies last year, saying they unfairly gave municipal bonds lower ratings than comparable corporate or structured debt.Dubai World, with $59 billion of liabilities, is seeking to delay debt payments, sending contracts to protect the emirate against default surging by the most since they began trading in January.The state-controlled company will ask all creditors for a “standstill” agreement as it negotiates to extend maturities, including $3.52 billion of Islamic bonds due on Dec. 14 from its property unit Nakheel PJSC, the builder of palm tree-shaped islands, Dubai’s Department of Finance said in an e-mailed statement. Moody’s Investors Service said it would consider the plan a default should bondholders be forced to accept the terms.A Long Island couple is home free after an outraged judge gave them an amazing Thanksgiving present -- canceling their debt to ruthless bankers trying to toss them out on the street.Suffolk Judge Jeffrey Spinner wiped out $525,000 in mortgage payments demanded by a California bank, blasting its "harsh, repugnant, shocking and repulsive" acts.The bombshell decision leaves Diane Yano-Horoski and her husband, Greg Horoski, owing absolutely no money on their ranch house in East Patchogue.Spinner pulled no punches as he smacked down the bankers at OneWest -- who took an $814.2 million federal bailout but have a record of coldbloodedly foreclosing on any homeowner owing money."The bank was so intransigent that he [the judge] decided to punish them," Greg Horoski, 55, said about Spinner's scathing ruling last Thursday against OneWest and its IndyMac mortgage division.It erased up to $291,000 in principal and $235,000 in interest and penalties.The Horoskis -- who had been paying only interest on their mortgage -- had no equity in the home.Horoski, who had begged the bankers to let him restructure the loan, said, "I think the judge felt it was almost a personal vendetta." Dealing with the bank, he said, was "like dealing with organized crime."OneWest said, "We respectfully disagree with the lower court's unprecedented ruling and we expect that it will be overturned on appeal."It claimed it "has been extremely active in working with consumers on home loan modifications through the Obama administration's Home Affordable Modification Program and other loan modification initiatives."The bank is owned by a private equity group that purchased the failed IndyMac bank.Yano-Horoski, a college professor of English and cognitive reason, and Horoski, who sells collectible dolls online, bought their 3,400-square-foot, one-level house 15 years ago for less than $200,000.In 2004, court records show, they refinanced, paying off their original mortgage with part of a $292,500 sub-prime loan from Deutsche Bank. They used what was left for health care and for his business.The loan carried an initial adjustable interest rate of 10.375 percent, which soared to 12.375 percent.It eventually ended up being either owned or serviced by IndyMac, and the bank sued the couple in July 2005 when they began having trouble making payments because of Horoski's health problems.After a foreclosure was approved last January, Yano-Haroski successfully asked for a court settlement conference.Spinner excoriated OneWest for repeatedly refusing to work out a deal, for misleading him about the dollar amounts at stake in the case, and for its treatment of the couple over months of hearings.OneWest's conduct was "inequitable, unconscionable, vexatious and opprobrious," Spinner wrote.He canceled the debt because the bank "must be appropriately sanctioned so as to deter it from imposing further mortifying abuse against [the couple]."The bank is involved in a similar case in California, where it's trying to foreclose on an 89-year-old woman, despite two court orders telling it to stop.Rates for 30-year fixed U.S. home loans fell for a fourth straight week, matching a record low of 4.78 percent set in April.The rate dropped from 4.83 percent last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac of McLean, Virginia, said today in a statement. The average 15-year rate was 4.29 percent.Low mortgage costs and a tax credit for first-time homebuyers helped increase demand for property, putting existing home sales on pace to hit 6.1 million this year. Reduced inventory of unsold homes is beginning to stabilize prices. The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index rose 0.27 percent in September from August, the fourth consecutive month-to-month gain.Federal Reserve bond purchases from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, which package home loans into securities, brought yields on the bonds down, allowing lenders to reduce rates on new loans while still selling the securities backed by them at a profit.The central bank pledged to buy up to $1.25 trillion in mortgage-backed securities in a program scheduled to end the first quarter of next year.Yields on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage securities fell to the lowest in more than six months yesterday.Fed officials have agreed to gradually slow the central banks buying to promote a smooth transition in markets as the announced purchases are completed, according to minutes of their Nov. 3-4 meeting released yesterday.President Barack Obama signed legislation this month to extend and expand a home buying tax credit, which may further boost property sales.The tax credit for first-time buyers was set to expire Nov. 30 and may have sparked an increase in existing home sales in October. Purchases of existing homes rose 10.1 percent to the highest level since February 2007.Spending by U.S. consumers rebounded in October more than anticipated, an indication that mounting unemployment has yet to stifle Americans willingness to buy.The 0.7 percent increase in purchases was larger than the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News and followed a 0.6 percent September drop, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Incomes climbed 0.2 percent, also exceeding expectations.Not since Henry Kissinger fled a team of LaRouche organizers, in the back of a delivery truck in New York City's Central Park in the early 1980s, has an obese fascist moved so fast to escape an angry crowd, as Al Gore did today in Chicago. Appearing at a bookstore in the downtown Loop, Gore was confronted by a team of demonstrators from a grass roots group called "We Are Change," as he was signing his latest fascist screed on the global warming swindle. Gore bolted from the bookstore, raced down an alley, jumped into a waiting car, and tried to speed off, with protesters chasing after him and banging on the car. Midwest LYM organizers, who were also on the scene to confront the global warming swindler, provided an eyewitness account of Fat Albert's flight of fear.Make no mistake about it. This little encounter is typical of the kinds of things going on all over the country, as the fascists who brought you the near-destruction of the United States and an onrushing global Dark Age, are no longer walking the streets, smug in the belief that they are literally getting away with murder. The mass strike dynamic is playing out in thousands of ways, every day, and the recent revelations about the "smoking gun" emails from the East Anglia University global warming propaganda center, have made Al Gore's life a little more miserable.As Percy Shelley wrote in "The Mask of Anarchy," "We are many, they are few."U.S. building permits for October were revised to down 4.2% from September to a seasonally adjusted rate of 551,000, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.October building permits were originally reported as being down 4.0% at a seasonally adjusted rate of 552,000.The Federal Reserve's latest weekly money supply report Friday shows seasonally adjusted M1 fell by $27.5 billion to $1.691 trillion, while M2 rose $2.7 billion to $8.392 trillion.Dubai’s debt woes may worsen to become a “major sovereign default” that roils developing nations and cuts off capital flows to emerging markets, Bank of America Corp. said.“One cannot rule out -- as a tail risk -- a case where this would escalate into a major sovereign default problem, which would then resonate across global emerging markets in the same way that Argentina did in the early 2000s or Russia in the late 1990s,” Bank of America strategists Benoit Anne and Daniel Tenengauzer wrote in a report.A default would lead to a “sudden stop of capital flows into emerging markets” and be a “major step back” in the recovery from the global financial crisis, they wrote. [It is said that Dubai’s total debt burden is about $90 billion, because of sizable off-balance sheet liabilities. That means like European, British and US banks, they are running two sets of books. Bob]Average rates for 30-year fixed mortgages fell this week, matching a record low set last spring and more than a full percentage point below what they were a year ago, Freddie Mac said Wednesday.Rates for 30-year mortgages averaged 4.78 percent this week, down from 4.83 percent last week and equaling the record low reached the week of April 30.Freddie Mac has been tracking rates on 30-year fixed mortgages since 1971. Last year at this time, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 5.97 percent.Interest rates began dropping last November, when the Federal Reserve began spending $1.25 trillion to buy up mortgage-backed securities in an effort to lower rates, loosen credit availability and bolster the long-suffering housing market.Since April, rates have hovered near 5 percent, spurring refinance activity. However, credit standards remain stringent, so the best rates usually are available only to borrowers with solid credit and a 20 percent down payment.Rates for 30-year fixed mortgages are now 0.8 percentage points below this year's peak set in mid-June. Refinancing at the current rate shaves roughly $100 off monthly payments on a $200,000 mortgage, said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist.Freddie Mac collects mortgage rates on Monday through Wednesday of each week from lenders around the country. Rates often fluctuate significantly, even within a given day, frequently in line with long-term Treasury bonds.The average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 4.29 percent, down from 4.32 percent last week, according to Freddie Mac. The 15-year rate hasn't been this low since Freddie Mac started tracking it in 1991.Rates on five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.18 percent, down from last week's 4.25 percent. Rates on one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages were 4.35 percent for the second consecutive week.The rates do not include add-on fees known as points. The nationwide fee for loans in Freddie Mac's survey averaged 0.7 point for 30-year and one-year loans. The fee averaged 0.6 point for 15-year and five-year mortgages.Commercial paper contracted for the third week in four, falling $10.7 billion to $1.257 trillion.We should remind you that the runs in stocks and bonds have been almost completely driven by liquidity. Now with Dubai’s sovereign debt problems more liquidity could be lost and these markets could be in deep trouble.
Theinternationalforcaster.com
Global Research Articles by Bob Chapman
© Copyright Bob Chapman, Global Research, 2009
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
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irrelevant to Western interests, so who cares). LEV basically means voting for Clinton since she's slightly less abominable than Trump. Chomsky, who leans toward anarchism, supports this.
Even before the coinage, it was subject to passionate denunciation in the U.S. The Des Moines Register warned: Don't vote your fears by voting for the lesser of two evils. The left-wing site, Counterpunch, was more agitated: "Lesser of Two Evils Vote is Counterproductive and Morally Corrupt."
So LEV hits a raw nerve, especially among progressives. Chomsky lays out eight points for it. The rebuttals -- too mild a word -- divide along two lines.
There's the Not a Dime's Worth of Difference argument, which shades into Hillary Might Even Be Worse. On, for instance, opposing trade deals, such as NAFTA or TPP, or not invading Muslim countries, Trump may have a better position than Hillary. In fact, he I think he does. But he immediately vitiates that by aiming to destroy unions, which was also a chief goal of those trade deals; and by his readiness to use or disperse nuclear weapons in the Mideast and elsewhere.
Chomsky also notes Trump denies climate change, would deport 11 million Mexicans, ban all Muslims, cut taxes on the rich, and encourages violence by supporters. Add in Trump's impulsive, four-year-old's personality (sorry, four-year-olds). Even so, Chomsky is cautious, saying the damage to the poor and marginalized under a president Trump has "a high probability of being significantly greater" than under Hillary. He's not exactly burbling about her.
But the real juice in the anti-LEV position comes from a less rational, more visceral source: a sense of self-betrayal and guilt over voting for the lesser evil. Right is right and evil isn't. Jeffrey St. Clair of Counterpunch says LEV voters think they'll escape blame for "the deaths caused" by Hillary as president, although they voted for her.
Meanwhile "Greens, anarchists, socialists and anti-war libertarians who recoil" from her and either don't vote, or vote for some worthy but hopeless candidate, face being guilted "for the carnage caused" by Trump, yet they didn't even vote for him. This is weirdly fascinating.
It treats voting as a test of moral worth rather than a strategic exercise in making the best of a bad set of choices. When you get to Heaven, you'll be able to say: I voted my conscience. You'd just better hope the gatekeeper doesn't respond (invoking Madeleine Albright's pro-Hillary argument): There's a special place in Hell reserved for people who vote their conscience, down you go.
This is conscience in its meagrest sense, the Freudian superego at its crassest, like a mean old man sitting in your head, barking the equivalent of Get Off My Lawn: "Vote for what you know is right, never mind the consequences."
Some anti-LEVers yearn for a third party to supplant the corrupt ones we now have and fear LEV will postpone its coming. That suggests a surprising faith in the current political system -- what Chomsky calls our "weak form of democracy" -- as if all that's needed is another, better party. But third parties have shown themselves susceptible to corruption with impressive speed, where they've got off the ground. And, to my shock anyway, Sanders in the U.S. and Corbyn in the U.K. have proven you can mount fairly significant challenges within the decaying corpses of the old parties.
We had our own LEV experience last fall, with Stephen Harper in the Trump role and earnest voters agonizing over whether to back the lesser evil in Trudeau or Mulcair. I've met people who voted NDP in the morning, then went to another riding to canvass for a Liberal in the afternoon. It's kind of inspirational.
A teenager I know who won't get to vote till next election thinks it's a matter of learning to treat parties as adverbs rather than nouns: you vote Liberal or NDP. See, it's about how you vote, not what you are.
This column was first published in the Toronto Star.
Image: Andrew Comings/flickr
Like this article? rabble is reader-supported journalism. Chip in to keep stories like these coming.TV’s celebration this week of everything sharky comes during a summer with a record-high number of shark bites to swimmers in North Carolina. But that does not mean the risk of getting bitten by a shark is getting worse in North Carolina or anywhere else in the world. In fact, a new study suggests the risk might be dropping globally, just as it has off the California coast.
Visitors there are now 91 percent less likely to be bitten by a great white than they were in 1950, researchers report in a paper set to be published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment in the next few weeks. That is despite the fact that actual shark bites have increased, from 0.9 per year in the 1950s to 1.5 per year in the decade from 2004 to 2013.
How does that work? There are now a lot more people in the water. "Even if the number of attacks has increased since the 1950s, the number of people engaging in ocean activities has increased much faster over the same period of time, resulting in a reduction of the individual probability of suffering an attack," says Francesco Ferretti, a researcher at Stanford University Hopkins Marine Station in California and lead author of the study.
And that's the same pattern playing out in North Carolina. "The population has been going up and the number of people going in the water is always increasing," says Chuck Bangley, a shark researcher at East Carolina University. He says North Carolina is setting near-record numbers for people at the beach this year, in part due to a heat wave that coincided with schools letting out for the summer. According to Visit North Carolina, the state tourism office, more than 6.5 million people visited the state’s coast in 2014, an 18 percent increase in visitation since 2010.
The risk of any shark bite is already incredibly low—far less likely than drowning or many other rare risks, Bangley says. But, “the more people you have going into the water, the better the odds are that something bad is going to happen, whether it's a shark bite or getting pulled under on a riptide.”
Although Ferretti's paper focuses on California, the basic conclusions almost certainly apply throughout the world, given the increase in world population and the even greater increase in commercial and recreational use of the ocean, he says. In their analysis he and his co-authors focused on white sharks because the damage inflicted by their bites is nearly always significant enough to require medical attention, making it more likely that the reporting of bites remained constant from 1950 to 2013.
Meanwhile a 2013 study found, based on global catches and shark mortality, that humans kill an average of 100 million sharks annually across the world.
The researchers used data from the Global Shark Attack File (GSAF), a large, comprehensive active surveillance organization for shark bites across the world. The GSAF, dating back to the 1930s, relies on an interdisciplinary team of on-site researchers, including historians, shark researchers, archaeologists, ER doctors, plastic surgeons and other types of researchers, to gather information on local incidents, investigate them to be sure the incident involved a shark and analyze the factors and species involved.
The scientists also assumed that the likelihood a shark bit a person it encountered remained constant, so it was a matter of analyzing the abundance of humans, the estimated number of sharks and the spatial overlap of both. Ferretti’s team used annual California surfing events and other published data, along with the number of annual diving days of certified scuba divers, to estimate the change in surfers and divers over the years. They used published data about beach tourism and population increases in California coastal communities to extrapolate an estimate of beach visitors and swimmers over the past six decades.
Much research has documented the decline of shark populations across the world, although it's unclear whether that's the case for white sharks in California. But the number of scuba divers, surfers and beachgoers has exploded there over the past six decades.
Ferretti and his team estimate surfers increased by a factor of 125, from 7,000 in 1950 to 872,000 in 2013. Scuba divers increased more than 200-fold, and the number of overall beachgoers tripled, from 53 million in the 1950s to 165 million today. Given the far more modest increase in shark bites over that time, the authors went on to calculate the actual risk of an attack. The rate dropped 2.4 percent per year, translating to a 91.2 percent drop over the full time period.
The risk varies by activities. For swimmers, the risk of a bite in 2013 was one per 738 million beach visits, a drop of 81.5 percent since 1950. For scuba divers, the risk was one in 1.44 million in 2013, a drop of 99.7 percent since 1962. Although the risk for surfers didn’t drop, their likelihood of a shark bite has remained steady at one in 17 million.
The mechanism behind the reduction in shark attacks remains unclear. It’s likely relevant that many species have declined between 50 percent and more than 90 percent over the past several decades worldwide, primarily due to overfishing. In California the recovery of elephant seal colonies that sharks feast on may play a role. (The seals are thought to draw predators away from humans.)
Any focus on shark bites that result in human injury or death should also be viewed in the context of humans’ massive impact on sharks worldwide, largely driven by consumer demand for shark fins. "If you put it in perspective, we're killing 10 million sharks for every one that kills us," says George Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research and curator of the International Shark Attack File.
Still, Burgess and Bangley both acknowledged that North Carolina's eight attacks in two months is exceptional given the previous record of five in 2001, the same year as the last fatal shark bite. The spike likely occurred because of a confluence of factors. The same heat wave that brought more humans into the water may also have condensed the normal seasonal migration of sea life that passes through North Carolina waters each summer, Bangley says. For example, he explains, the annual migration of menhaden fish, a favorite shark food, appears linked to water temperature, which jumped 10 degrees in a week during the heat wave.
Understanding the factors influencing shark behavior can help humans adjust our behavior to avoid bites, Burgess says. "We're the animals with the brains, they're the ones with the teeth, and we're in their house," he says. "So it's incumbent upon us to adjust our behavioral patterns and not to expect the animals, be they sharks, jellyfish or whatever, to adjust theirs."
A smart practice for humans in the sea includes keeping a wide berth from seal and sea lion colonies and from fishing piers, which tend to attract populations of sharks hanging around for scraps. Avoiding schools of fish can also reduce the risk of a shark bite, especially at times that fish dart quickly or sea birds dive at the surface. "If you see predator–prey interactions in front of you, get out of the water," Bangley says. "When you're in the ocean, that's where the shark is supposed to be. It's a wilderness experience just like walking in the woods where you might encounter a bear."
An attitude of awareness is certainly ecologically wiser than shark culls—such as a $22-million elimination endeavor implemented in 2014 in Western Australia—which end up being destructive for both sharks and humans, Ferretti says. For example, a century-old fishery for bay scallops in North Carolina collapsed when rapid declines in sharks no longer kept a local population of cownose rays in check, thereby leading to an increase in rays that fed on the scallops. No evidence exists to demonstrate that culls actually reduce attacks, Bangley says. But changing human behavior does: Ferretti’s paper found that surfing in Mendocino County in March instead of October and November reduces the risk of an attack 24-fold. And surfers’ risk of a shark bite drops more than 1,500 times if they surf between San Diego and Los Angeles instead of the coast off Mendocino County. In addition, most bites are cases of mistaken identity: Surfers look similar to the pinnipeds that great whites primarily feed on. In North Carolina bull and blacktip sharks are most likely mistaking an errant foot or hand for the foot-long bait fish they usually go after.
More studies conducted elsewhere in the world would help researchers identify patterns of shark bites, learn the preference and behavior of local shark populations and use that knowledge to tweak human behavior. "Our results indicate that investing in increasing and communicating our understanding of the behavior, distribution and ecological role of sharks as well as the factors influencing the risk of shark bites, may ultimately be the most effective way to increase safety of people," Ferretti says. If people learn to avoid being near shark food during feeding times, we become far less likely to end up an as accidental appetizer.ESPN's Outside The Lines is reporting today that the head of security for the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2001 has at the same time continued working as a high-ranking law enforcement officer in the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office. This sure looks like a potential conflict of interest, and ESPN's Steve Fainaru and Mark Fainaru-Wada lay out several detailed examples where that seemed to happen. It also might explain why Lt. Jack Kearney's nickname in certain circles, ESPN reports, is "The Cleaner."
One example is Kearney's involvement after Steelers offensive tackle Mike Adams was stabbed last year outside a Colombian Cambodian restaurant in Pittsburgh. One officer on the scene, Sgt. Stephen Matakovich, tried multiple times to contact Kearney until he reached him on his home phone. Kearney would later testify that he thought he was the first person contacted by police.
Shortly after he was stabbed, Adams told police he had been minding his own business, standing near his truck on the crowded street after eating a sandwich, when three men surrounded him. One asked if the truck belonged to him, Adams said. Another remarked: "I should shoot you." When he turned around, Adams said, one of the men stabbed him in the stomach. After his two-hour meeting with Kearney at the hospital, Adams' story changed. When detectives investigating the case arrived that afternoon, Adams said one of the men had pulled a gun out of his waistband, pointed it at his head and said, "I want your car or I will shoot you in the face and kill you in front of all these people." Another man punched him in the face, Adams told the detectives. A third man stabbed him before all three men fled.
That change meant the crime happened inside the truck, which Kearney had moved to the Steelers' practice facility. Kearney later became an active part of the case because he also leads the sheriff's fugitive squads and pursued one of the three men charged (though he was later captured in Florida by the U.S. Marshals). The three men charged were acquitted of all major charges, ESPN reported, and one of the men, Dquay Means, is suing Adams for "malicious prosecution." Means spent 11 months in jail awaiting his trial.
Then there's the time the U.S. Marshals asked for help arresting a Steelers player. In 2007, investigators had an arrest warrant for linebacker Richard Seigler, who was suspected of running a Las Vegas prostitution ring (charges were later dropped).
The marshals contacted the Steelers to arrange Seigler's arrest at the team's training facility, Gallagher said. A team public relations staffer notified Kearney, even though the marshals had advised that staffer "not to disclose this information to anyone," [Allegheny County Sheriff William P.] Mullen wrote to "Outside the Lines," citing the marshals' arrest report. The following morning — despite the arrangement — Seigler was nowhere to be found. Kearney gave the marshals Seigler's address, Mullen wrote, but a daylong stakeout yielded nothing. Kearney then provided the marshals with another address in the same apartment complex and Seigler — with Kearney present — was taken into custody. Gallagher said some marshals believed the Steelers, instead of following the agreement, had tipped off Seigler, turning what was lined up to be an easy arrest into a daylong search that required additional resources and manpower. "Initially, we reached out to the Steelers organization and we just wanted to pick him up over at the training facility or whatever was easiest, just arrange the arrest," said Gallagher. "Someone within the organization contacted Seigler, and he never reported over to the organization on that day."... A Sheriff's Office investigation "found that Lieutenant Kearney did not give preferential treatment to Richard Seigler," Mullen wrote.
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In 2008, Kearney gave advice to Steelers wide receiver Cedrick Wilson when his girlfriend fired two shots into a wall and had a standoff with police. Wilson wasn't home at the time. He told ESPN, "Jack pretty much advised me to come back, like this was an issue of mine that needed to be dealt with." Kearney got involved again, two months later, when Wilson confronted the woman at a Mexican restaurant.
Police said he punched her off of a barstool; she later said she was merely pushed. The Steelers cut him within hours of the incident. That night, according to two sources, Kearney tried to contain the damage by asking people familiar with the incident not to divulge that Wilson had been with other Steelers players before the incident occurred. Attorney Michael DeRiso, who represented Wilson's girlfriend, confirmed that Kearney contacted him between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m., but declined to say what they discussed.
He also has expedited weapon's permits for players, cutting down their wait time from two weeks to 15 minutes, ESPN reports. As described by Gail Carter, a retired deputy who oversaw the permitting process for the sheriff's office for several years, the expedited process for Steelers players shows the advantages they gained by being aligned with a lieutenant.
By calling ahead and ushering the players through, Kearney would reduce their wait times from as much as two weeks to about 15 minutes, Carter said, adding that she still conducted background checks on the players, who paid for the permits. The presence of Steelers players stirred up excitement around the office, but Carter said she and her colleagues were also sometimes resentful because the players usually arrived at the end of their shift, forcing them to stay longer. "Jack was a lieutenant, so if he told me to do something, I wasn't gonna say no," Carter said. "You did what he told you to do."
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Sheriff's deputies are prohibited from holding off-duty jobs with "any potential conflict-of-interest," according to ESPN. And these sound like conflicts of interest, right? Not according to Kearney's boss, Sheriff William P. Mullen: "Unless facts and circumstances exist to the contrary, which are completely unknown to me, there is no reason for me to believe Lieutenant Kearney permits his secondary employment to affect his performance as an Allegheny County Sheriff's Office employee."
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello didn't address the issue, saying "team security resources are a team matter." The Steelers declined to let president Art Rooney II be interviewed, saying in a statement: "We are not aware of any conflicts in regard to his time on Steelers matters, nor are we aware of any conflicts of interest." Kearney declined to comment.
The rank and file might feel differently. One veteran deputy, who asked he not be named for fear of retribution, called Kearney "a guy who comes and goes as he pleased." The deputy added: "He'll tell people to handle something, then disappear on Steeler business."
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Image via Associated PressJuly 16, 1970
Opening Day of the Three Rivers Stadium era.
August 14, 1971
The Cardinals’ Bob Gibson becomes the first opposing pitcher in history to no-hit the Pirates in Pittsburgh.
October 13, 1971
In the first night World Series game ever, the Bucs defeat the Orioles, 4-3.
September 30, 1972
Roberto Clemente doubles off the Mets’ Jon Matlack and records his 3,000th major league hit.
December 23, 1972
Franco Harris’ “Immaculate Reception” of a Terry Bradshaw pass edges Oakland, 13-7, for the Steelers’ first playoff win.
July 23, 1974
The stadium’s first All-Star Game; Pirate Ken Brett gets the win in a National League victory.
January 4, 1976
The Steelers capture their second straight AFC crown, again eliminating Oakland, 16-10.
August 9, 1976
John Candelaria shuts down the Dodgers, 2-0, to become the first Pirate to pitch a no-hitter in Pittsburgh since 1907.
January 7, 1979
The Steelers clinch a third appearance in the Super Bowl with a 34-5 blowout of Houston.
October 14, 1979
Down three games to one in the World Series, the Pirates start their winning comeback behind veteran Jim Rooker with a 7-1 defeat of Baltimore.
January 6, 1980
The Steelers make it four AFC Championships in four tries with a 27-13 victory over Houston.
May 3, 1985
Long-time Pirates’ voice Bob Prince returns to the microphone to call a nine-run inning as the Bucs bounce the Dodgers, 16-2.
August 11, 1985
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band draw the largest concert audience in the city’s history – 65,935.
October 7, 1990
A statue honoring Steelers founder Arthur J. Rooney is dedicated outside Gate D.
September 27, 1991
The Pirates clinch their third consecutive division crown by defeating the Mets, 4-2.
July 12, 1994
The National League ends a string of All-Star Game losses with a 10-inning victory at Three Rivers Stadium. A statue of Roberto Clemente is dedicated outside Gate A.
January 14, 1996
The Steelers survive a last second Hail Mary pass to beat the Indianapolis Colts 16-14 in the AFC Championship Game and advance to their fifth Super Bowl appearance.
July 12, 1997
Francisco Cordova and Ricardo Rincon pitch the first extra-inning, combined no-hitter in major league baseball history, in a 3-0, 10th inning win over the Houston Astros.After many grueling bouts in the Arenas and Battlegrounds, the time has nearly come to see who will reign supreme in this action-packed PvP season. Prepare to fight your last battles, and remember—to the victors go the spoils!
Arena and Rated Battleground Season 15 will be coming to an end October 14. Once the season wraps, we'll begin an approximately two week process to determine end-of-season reward eligibility.
Qualified players should note the following in order to ensure you receive your just rewards:
Please refrain from transferring your characters to another realm or faction until after PvP Season 15 has ended.
PvP Season 15 titles and mounts will be awarded approximately two weeks after the season ends.
Conquest Points will be converted to Honor Points at the end of the season, and any Honor above 4,000 will be converted to in-game currency at a rate of 35 silver per point. A few other things to keep in mind once the season has ended:
The Honor cap will remain at 4,000.
Season 15 items with rating requirements will no longer be available for purchase.
Rated Battleground and Arena matches will not be available during the break between seasons.
Best of luck, gladiators!Walmart's greenwash Walmart’s promised green product rankings fall off the radar
In 2009, Walmart created a stir when it announced that it would develop a Sustainability Index to assess the environmental impacts of every item on its shelves and provide an easy rating system to help shoppers make greener choices. CEO Mike Duke described [PDF] the index as “a simple tool that informs consumers about the sustainability of products” and helps them “consume in a more sustainable way.” This, in turn, would induce Walmart’s 100,000 suppliers to shrink their footprints.
The company set a five-year timetable. Many commentators gushed. The New York Times found the news so momentous that it dedicated an editorial to it, noting, “Given Wal-Mart’s huge purchasing power, if it is done right it could promote both much-needed transparency and more environmentally sensitive practices.”
More than two years on, this ambitious project doesn’t have much to show for itself. A consumer label “is really far off and maybe not a reality,” according to Elizabeth Sturcken, a managing director at Environmental Defense Fund, which has partnered with Walmart on its sustainability initiatives. “This information is really complex. Getting it reduced into a simple label for consumers is very challenging.”
Still, Sturcken thinks the project could produce valuable information for Walmart and manufacturers, and drive product improvements behind the scenes. “I think getting it into a system that product buyers and suppliers could use is much more attainable,” she said.
But even that seems to be proving elusive.
To do the necessary product analysis, Walmart founded the Sustainability Consortium, a university-hosted group. It has since attracted 75 corporate members, including Monsanto and McDonald’s, each of which must contribute at least $100,000 to the effort. To run the consortium, Walmart chose two academic institutions with which it has close ties: the Applied Sustainability Center, which is part of the University of Arkansas’ Sam M. Walton College of Business and was established in 2007 with a grant from the Walmart Foundation, and Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability, whose board of directors is co-chaired by Rob Walton, son of Walmart founder Sam Walton and chair of Walmart’s own board.
Barbara Kyle, director of the Electronics TakeBack Coalition, is skeptical that such an industry-dominated endeavor could produce a meaningful rating scheme. “You end up with manufacturers voting only for criteria that they already meet,” she said, adding that many critical issues, such as the durability of products and the impact of toxic inputs on factory workers, are excluded when corporations define sustainability. Kyle, who was on the task force that developed the EPEAT environmental rating system for computers, volunteered to take part in a Sustainability Consortium meeting on electronics last year, but was rebuffed. “They have all this stuff on their website about transparency and accountability, but they are anything but,” she said.
In the first year or two after its founding in July 2009, the Sustainability Consortium was close-lipped about its progress. In the last few months, the consortium has finally said that it is not in fact developing a rating system or even product-specific information. It is assembling general lifecycle data for types of products — a typical environmental footprint for orange juice or detergent, say, but not for specific brands within those categories. Spokesperson Jon Nicol says this data could be a starting point for a rating system should a company wish to develop one. So far, the consortium has finished just 10 assessments. A Walmart supercenter carries roughly 140,000 items across thousands of product types.
Was Walmart woefully naive about what it would take to create the kind of Sustainability Index it promised? Was it a miscalculation to have corporations play a big role in developing environmental standards for their own products? Should Walmart have put its efforts instead into refining and adapting an existing rating system, one not controlled by industry, such as GoodGuide? Was the index just a PR ploy from the start?
Raising questions about Walmart’s sustainability questionnaire
Although the Sustainability Index may never materialize, Walmart has been taking environmental issues to manufacturers in other ways. The company sent all of its suppliers a “sustainability assessment” [PDF] last year, asking them to answer 15 questions about their practices. But that survey has been criticized by some sustainable business experts. Joel Makower, a green business strategist, described the questions as “superficial at best, voluntary in nature, and the answers are largely yes-or-no, self-reported, and unverified.” Some suppliers privately grumbled that the survey was merely a tool for Walmart to better understand their cost structures and use that knowledge against them.
In China, where Walmart sources roughly 70 percent of everything it sells, the company has been undertaking other efforts. In 2008, Walmart organized a Sustainability Summit for its Chinese suppliers. Both outgoing CEO Lee Scott and incoming CEO Mike Duke gave speeches to the more than 1,000 attendees. Much of the coverage of the event framed it as Walmart getting tough with suppliers: You had better dramatically reduce the environmental impact of your factory or we’ll stop buying your goods.
What the company’s executives actually said was that Walmart had two main environmental goals [PDF] for its Chinese suppliers. The first: “we will require all our suppliers here to clearly demonstrate their compliance with Chinese environmental laws and regulations.” In other words, Walmart will no longer look the other way when its suppliers violate water-pollution and air-pollution laws. It’s good that Walmart is now on the side of the law, but then what are we to make of the company’s previous assertions over the years that its sourcing practices were ethical?
Walmart’s second stated objective was: “By 2012, our goal is for the top 200 factories we source from directly in China to achieve 20 percent greater energy efficiency.” There is plenty of low-hanging fruit when it comes to energy efficiency in China’s industrial sector and Walmart seems to be picking some of it. It has a clear financial incentive: Reducing energy use cuts costs, which presumably could result in Walmart paying suppliers less. Last December, the Environmental Defense Fund, which, at the time, was working in China to help Walmart achieve these reductions, reported that the company was on track to meet this goal by next year. Among the success stories that Walmart likes to highlight is the towel-maker Loftex, which has cut its electricity use by 25 percent and water use by 35 percent.
But the top 200 factories in China constitute less than 1 percent of the 30,000 factories in the country supplying Walmart, so a key question going forward is whether the others will follow in large numbers and in a way that can be verified. “[E]nergy efficiency in supplier factories still seems to be viewed as extracurricular by Walmart managers. It is not, in the lexicon of the Walmart world, seen as a ‘core activity,'” wrote Andrew Hutson, a project manager for corporate partnerships at EDF, in a blog post last December. Hutson said the program lacked mandates for supplier participation and a solid system for measuring progress. “For the program to be impactful and meet its potential, it needs to up its game. Dedicating sufficient resources to get the job done would be a good place to start,” he wrote.
So far, there’s no evidence that Walmart’s purchasing patterns have been changed at all by the answers it’s received to its questionnaire, by its energy-efficiency efforts with Chinese suppliers, or by the Sustainability Index program. Aside from a handful of examples like concentrated laundry detergent and CFL bulbs, it doesn’t appear that greener products are edging out more damaging ones on Walmart’s shelves. The company has not established incentives for its buyers to favor more environmentally friendly products; their performance continues to be measured on sales volume and profit margins. Walmart also refuses to make longer-term purchasing commitments to its suppliers, which leaves many wary of investing in new technologies that may take years to pay off.
While Walmart may have made sustainability part of its conversation with manufacturers, so far this has done little to alter business as usual.
Next up: Walmart’s impact on our landscape may well be its most serious environmental legacy, but it’s one the company refuses to talk about.Fantasy basketball is really fun. However, what really puts the sport over the top is all of the pun possibilites for your team’s name. In no other sport do you have such a wide array of diverse and unique names among the superstars of the league. I mean, the best player in the league is named LeBron for Moses’ sake. So the rule is, take a player on your team, find a great pun, and you have a world class fantasy basketball team name.
So with that in mind, we put the Bat Signal to the sky and a Pun Creating Super Team was formed, featuring Will Purvis, Shane Diesel JJ Pontes, Michael Emerson, Michael Robinson, and myself. We are burdened with the task of compiling a list of some of the best puns in the league, organized by player’s last name.
Note: Only players who are owned in 90% or more of Yahoo leagues were considered
A
Aldridge, LaMarcus
– Ruffles Have Ald-Ridges
– Water Under the Aldridge
Anderson, Ryan
– Get Rich or Die Ryan
– Goodbye Mr. Anderson
Anthony, Carmelo
– A Simple Melo-dy
– Don’t Harsh My Melo
– Melo Yellow
B
Batum, Nicolas
– Batum Raider
– Batum Bitch
Bosh, Chris
– Bosh Soph
– Like a Bosh
Bryant, Kobe
– Kobe-wan Kinobe
– Ko-Behave
C
Chandler, Tyson
– United States Tyson-tennial
– The Tyson Zone
Cousins, DeMarcus
– Boogie Nights
– Kissing Cousins
Curry, Steph
– Curry Spice
– Curry-Up Offense
D
Davis, Anthony
– D-Avis Rent a Car
– Alien Ant-thony Farm
Dragic, Goran
– My Heart Will Goran
– Can’t Goran Much Longer
Duncan, Tim
– Duncan Donuts
– America Runs on Duncan
– Duncan Public
Durant, Kevin
– Stairway to Kevin
– Duran Durant
– Du-Ranting and Raving
E
Ellis, Monta
– If All Ellis Fails
– The Full Monta
G
Garnett, Kevin
– Stairway to Kevin
– Nothing But Gar-Nett
– Gar-Nett Worth
Gasol, Marc
– Zero Marc Thirty
– Are You Afraid Of The Marc?
– X Marc’s the Spot
Gasol, Pau
– Paulowing the Leader
– Pau, Right in the Kisser
Gay, Rudy
– A Rude-y Awakening
– Rudy To Rumble
George, Paul
– Curious Paul George
– The Summer of George
Gortat, Marcin
– Hakuna Gortata
– Embrace the Marcin
Griffin, Blake
– Frosted Blakes
– Blake Superior
– My Achy Blakey Heart
H
Harden, James
– Harden the Interruption
– Ball So Harden
Holiday, Jrue
– Jrue or False
– Jrueblood
– Jrue Détat
Horford, Al
– Al-ifornia Love
– Built Hor-Ford Tough
– This is Hor-Forty
Howard, Dwight
– All Dwight Moves
– Don’t Matter If You Black or Dwight
– Dwight Men Can’t Jump
I
Ibaka, Serge
– Ibaka Flocka Flame
– Serge Protector
– Serge I-Block-Ya
Iguodala, Andre
– Iguo-Dolla, Dolla, Bill Ya’ll
– That Shit Dre
– Iggy Pop
Irving, Kyrie
– The Kyrie Cyrus Show
– Cobra Kyrie
– Sw-Irving Side To Side
J,
James, LeBron
– LB James and The Giant Peach
– Lebronosaurus Rex
Jefferson, Al
– Al-ifornia Love
– The Jefferson’s
– Mr. Jefferson
Jennings, Brandon
– Cool Jennings Mon
– Jennings-ration X
Johnson, Joe
– Not Your Average Joe
– Cup of Joe
L
Lawson, Ty
– Breaking the Lawson
– Lawson and Order
Lee, David
– Do You BeLEEve In Miracles?
– LEEn On Me
M
Monroe, Greg
– Monroe Row Row Your Boat
– Monroe-Sham-Bow
N
Nash, Steve
– Please use the Nash Tray
– Straight Nashty
– It Was A Monster Nash
Noah, Joakim
– Noah’s Ark
– Check Yes or Noah
– Noah Constrictor
Nowitzki, Dirk
– Circle Dirk
– Knee Dirk Reaction
P
Parker, Tony
– Walk in the Parker
– Magic Parker
Paul, Chris
– Free-for-Paul
– Mr. Know-it-Paul
Pierce, Paul
– You Can’t Handle the Truth!
– Sasha Pierce
R
Randolph, Zach
– Zach 2 The Future
– Return of the Zach
– Randolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Rondo, Rajon
– Rajon Valjean
– Tae-Rondo
– The Rajon Cajun
S
Smith, Josh
– The Smith Element
– The Man, the Smith, the Legend
W
Wade, Dwayne
– Wade in Full
– Dwayne’s World
– Dwayneing Buckets
Westbrook, Russell
– Wild Wild Westbrook
– North By Northwestbrook
– Russell and Flow
Williams, Deron
– Deron Trouble Now
– Double Dog DeronPhoto: NBC
For a comedy writer, having even one sketch make it to air on Saturday Night Live is a dream come true. On the other hand, trying to get a scene to go from page to screen can be a living nightmare for the staff scribes. As current employee Mike O’Brien and former writers Emily Spivey and Simon Rich reveal, what often seems hilarious on paper can lead to hellish shoots or, thanks to constant rewrites and last-minute hiccups, a disaster that plays out in real time. With the documentary Live From New York coming out today and presenting the show as a rosy place to work, Vulture asked the trio to pick the sketches that gave them the most trouble and lasting agita, and explain how it all went down.
Emily Spivey, SNL 2001–2010, creator Up All Night, co-executive producer The Last Man on Earth
Sketch: 2009’s “The Today Show With Kathie Lee and Hoda: The Black Eyed Peas and Animals”
I want to preface this by saying sometimes the funniest moments from SNL are the
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nine goals in 11 games. His brace against Andorra last time out secured World Cup qualification, while his own place in history has been improving all the time.
Those nine qualification goals have taken him to 38 for his country, helping him overtake some of the true greats of Dutch football in the all-time scorers list: Johan Cruyff, Abe Lenstra (both 33); Ruud van Nistelrooy, Faas Wilkes (both 35) and Dennis Bergkamp (37). Now only Patrick Kluivert stands in his way – and Van Persie is two away from equalling his record.
Kluivert, now Van Gaal's assistant, managed 40 goals from 79 games; Van Persie's next appearance will be his 80th cap. "It's really great that Patrick is now one of my coaches," Van Persie told De Telegraaf. "He helps me, wants me to surpass him in terms of goals. After each game we sit together to watch DVDs: he wants to correct my mistakes and we talk about the details."
Van Persie is expected to lead the Dutch line at next summer's World Cup – a role he also undertook at the last one. Despite starting every game in the South Africa campaign as Oranje reached the final, he finished the tournament with just one goal.
Van Persie celebrating yet another Oranje goal
"However hard I find it to accept, I wasn't on top of my game," he told Henk Spaan in FT Magazine. "In the whole World Cup, I was only put [through] in front of the keeper four or five times." Public opinion turned on him, with calls for No.9 duties to be handed to Klaas-Jan Huntelaar; despite playing a peripheral role, the younger man scored the same amount as Van Persie in South Africa.
Huntelaar or Van Persie turned into a debate that divided the nation. Newspapers ran polls in the lead-up to Euro 2012; some went for Huntelaar by a landslide. However, the only opinion that mattered belonged to manager Bert van Marwijk, whose mind was already made up.
He opted for Van Persie off the back of a breathless season for Arsenal (30 goals in 38 games), even if Huntelaar matched him stride for stride at Schalke (29 goals in 32 games). Each man won his league's Golden Boot.
"Of course I'm angry and disappointed," Huntelaar said after learning of the news from Van Marwijk, following a training session days before the tournament. He had every right to be: going into Euro 2012, he had scored 15 goals in his last 17 games, while Van Persie – who had made his debut in June 2005 – had only managed that amount in his last 26 matches, spanning three years.
Huntelaar's overall record for Oranje is 34 goals in 60 caps, an impressive return for a player never considered first choice in all of his seven years as an international. But ultimately Van Persie is seen by Van Gaal as best suited to getting the best out of his system.
Huntelaar has always been behind in the pecking order despite his exploits for Schalke
Since the disappointment of Johannesburg he's unleashed the world class player in him – and defying common wisdom in the process, according to his manager. "He's getting better and better - it's incredible," Van Gaal said last December. "I have never seen any player reach Robin's age and still improve as a footballer."
Van Persie has been reliabily prolific at club level, with 95 goals in 138 games. He has a similar goal-to-game ratio with Oranje: 19 goals in 28 games.
"Van Persie goes to where the ball will be, before anyone knows it will be there, and that's a mysterious gift to have," says David Winner, author of the critically acclaimed Brilliant Orange. "[Dennis] Bergkamp never had that, and nor did [Marco] van Basten. It reminds me of Gerd Müller, the way he checks a run, finds space, and finishes so efficiently with that perfect technique."
His left foot is like Roger Federer's forehand: technically perfect and costs minimal strength to execute. Everything he does is measured - Former coach René Meulensteen
Another trait Van Persie shares with Müller is the uncanny ability to score just about every type of goal, often in the most unlikely of situations; whether creating for himself or finishing a team effort, being acrobatic and dominant in the air makes the difficult look easy.
"Robin possesses a photographic memory for football situations," said René Meulensteen last season, while coaching him at Old Trafford. "His left foot is like Roger Federer's forehand: technically perfect and costs minimal strength to execute. Everything he does is measured."
It comes as no surprise to learn the player who made the greatest impact on him was compatriot and former Arsenal team-mate Dennis Bergkamp; after witnessing a 'passing exercise' in training, Van Persie would later comment. "I thought it was art. It gave me the answers I was looking for. His drive and concentration opened my eyes. I knew I had a long way to go if I ever wanted to reach that level."
Master and protégé share a joke during the 2006 Champions League final Van Persie's game – awareness, vision, movement, creativity and link-up play – is rightfully lauded. He is essentially a quasi-playmaker/forward. "In Holland we call positions by their numbers," he explains. "No.9 is the main striker and No.10 is the one just behind. I prefer to call myself nine-and-a-half. I like to drop off sometimes and be part of the game. I'm still a bit of a behind-the-striker player when possible."
On the eve of Euro 2012, Tonny Bruins Slot – a respected analytical Dutch coach who managed Ajax to the title in 1985 before becoming Johan Cruyff's right-hand man at Barcelona – anointed Van Persie by announcing he could play a similar role to that played in 1974 by the iconic Cruyff.
"Johan always started as the team's forward," Bruins Slot explained, "and then dropped a bit deeper to direct play. That created space for wingers like Rob Rensenbrink and John Rep, and midfielders such as Wim van Hanegem and Johan Neeskens."
Although it never came to fruition, there's a better chance of it happening under Van Gaal, whose approach is essentially the 'Ajax model': creativity and cleverness inside a proactive and fluid 4-3-3, with wingers providing natural width – as well as support in the middle – supplying Van Persie, who is supported by two advanced midfield playmakers anchored by a single pivot.
After what has been a slow start for his club, Van Persie can turn his attention back to Oranje. If he can shake off a minor injury, he could face Hungary in Amsterdam on Friday and Turkey in Istanbul on Tuesday; if he scores three goals, he can etch his name into Holland's history. And it will be well deserved.• Armed hooligans burst into Novi Pazar dressing-room • Zarko Udovicic has gun held to his head by fans
A player with the Serbian top-flight club Novi Pazar has been threatened by the team’s own supporters at gunpoint after missing a penalty.
Describing the incident as “a new low in Serbian professional football”, the world players’ union Fifpro said that Novi Pazar’s Zarko Udovicic sent his penalty over the crossbar in the 85th minute of last Saturday’s game at FK Rad, who won 1-0.
Two days later, several hooligans burst into the dressing-room at the club’s training ground, drew a gun and held it in Udovicic’s face, Fifpro said. The player has since left the club.
Mirko Poledica, president of the Serbian professional footballers’ association Nezavisnost, said neither the Serbian Football Association nor the league had taken any action.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Zarko Udovici’s spot-kick goes awry.
He said: “Must we wait until some hooligan actually kills one of our players? What worries me is that there is no reaction from the football association. They remain quiet.
“They must do something to guarantee the safety of the players. But they don’t. Next time a player could be murdered.
“The only positive thing from this situation is that our deputy prime minister [Rasim Ljajic] has spoken out and acknowledged the serious problems we are facing.
“In Serbia, no fan has ever been prosecuted or convicted after violent behaviour against a football player. That’s why players are afraid.
“Each day they hope that there will be nobody knocking on their door to beat them up, that there will be no person setting their car on fire, or that there will be no hooligan putting a gun to their head.”
Fifpro said: “Like every professional workman, each professional footballer is entitled to a safe working environment. It is up to the football and national authorities to provide such safe environment.”You can now use an Xbox One controller with your computer wirelessly, even if you haven't yet upgraded to Windows 10.
Microsoft has officially introduced Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 support for the Xbox Wireless Adapter. This dongle allows an Xbox One controller to be used wirelessly with a PC or tablet. Prior to its release, Xbox One controllers could only be used on PC by plugging them in with a USB cable.
Puzzlingly, the adapter's functionality was limited to Windows 10 users when it first launched in October. There was seemingly no technical reason for this, raising questions of whether Microsoft was limiting support in order to encourage Windows 10 upgrades. The operating system is currently free for Windows 7 and 8 users, though there are those who are nonetheless uninterested in updating.
The Xbox Wireless Adapter is currently available for $25.New Media Player With DLNA Announced for PS4, Coming Tonight
Giuseppe Nelva June 15, 2015 8:57:39 PM EST
During the pre-show of Sony’s press conference, the house of PlayStation announced that DLNA is coming to the PS4, alongside a new Media Player.
The feature is actually going to be released tonight, and supports video, music and photos.
If you’re one of the few that don’t know what DLNA is, you can check out a handy explanation here.
We’ll finally be able to stream our media across our home network. Considering how much the feature was requested by the fans, this is definitely a step in the right direction.
Below you can find a list of supported formats:
MKV
Visual: H.264/MPEG-4 AVC High Profile Level4.2
Audio: MP3, AAC LC, AC-3(Dolby Digital)
AVI
Visual: MPEG4 ASP, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC High Profile Level4.2
Audio: MP3, AAC LC, AC-3(Dolby Digital)
MP4
Visual: H.264/MPEG-4 AVC High Profile Level4.2
Audio: AAC LC, AC-3(Dolby Digital)
MPEG-2 TS
Visual: H.264/MPEG-4 AVC High Profile Level4.2, MPEG2 Visual
Audio: MP2(MPEG2 Audio Layer 2), AAC LC, AC-3(Dolby Digital)
AVCHD: (.m2ts,.mts)
Photo
JPEG (based on DCF 2.0/Exif 2.21)
BMP
PNG
Music
MP3
AAC (M4A)Everyone knows Halloween is the best time of year, so what better day is there to get married than October 31st? We grabbed a few words with Martin and Alli Hutcheon, who got married on Halloween in 2015; their thoughts and photos should provide some inspiration for anyone planning a wedding around Halloween this year!
Can you please introduce yourselves?
We’re Martin and Alli Hutcheon.
Alli is a former pole fitness instructor and now full time mum to our two wonderful children Shen and Hagan, and one husky Jed. Martin is a former addictions/mental health Social Worker who now works for a front line homeless charity.
In our spare time we like to create little adventures for our children and we love to take our gorgeous Siberian Husky on long walks.
We both have an almost obsessive love of horror movies and hauntings so will take any opportunity to binge watch horror films and take part in paranormal investigations of reportedly haunted locations.
But our absolute favourite thing to do is indulge our love of zombies, or the undead in general, by taking part in zombie related games such as 2.8 Hours Later or Generation of Z where we can get our adrenaline pumping as we flee for our lives.
We were married on October 31st 2015. Our favourite day of the year, Halloween, at Thainstone House Hotel, Aberdeenshire.
How/why did you decide on a Halloween Wedding?
We always knew we wouldn’t have a traditional wedding and Alli always knew she wouldn’t be wearing white on our big day.
So when it came to our wedding date there was no question. It had to be Halloween.
It was the perfect time to do things a little differently, indulge our passion for all things horror related, and allow our guests to channel their ghoulish sides whilst giving us freedom to have a few little surprises for them throughout the day.
We both love anything to do with the sinister side of Halloween and thought the theme would be easy for everyone to get behind and allow everyone to have a little bit of fun with how they dressed for the evening, once the formal part of the day was past.
Did all your guests embrace the theme?
Absolutely! We were just over the moon with how every got right behind our theme for the reception. From age 2 to 92 the effort was outstanding.
Face painters/makeup artists were on hand to help transform our guests into whatever creature they wished to transform in to for the evening.
Just in case people weren’t able to bring a costume we provided some accessories and props but fortunately these were barely used as everyone came very well prepared for a spooky evening.
We were amazed that it wasn’t just the guests who embraced the theme. Our venue, and all their staff, got right in to the swing of things with custom decorations, lighting, costumes and some very lovely little Halloween treats for our guests.
Your outfits are fantastic, could you tell us a bit about how you put them together?
Alli knew she wouldn’t be wearing white and always wanted to have a black dress and rock the Gothic Princess look for the day.
Unfortunately a black dress wasn’t something easily obtainable from the high street so after doing a lot of research online she came across the amazing designer Tova Marc from Wedding Dress Fantasy.
They had a fantastic range of alternative styles and as soon as Alli saw her dress she knew it was the one. When it arrived it was perfect and Alli chose to add a few little finishing touches like a custom brooch and home-made fascinator to complete the look.
The shoes had to be the Iron Fist Party Monster heels that Martin had bought her for Valentine’s day a year or so earlier.
Alli’s flowers were custom made by the very talented Angel K Weddings to the Gothic Princess brief and really completed Alli’s vision of the perfect alternative bouquet.
Martin wanted a restrained Gothic look for his outfit. For over a year had been longingly gazing at the Cavalier Vests from Shrine of Hollywood and no matter what else he looked at he always came back to that same black tapestry vest.
To complement the vest he went with simple black trousers with black and grey shirt and shoes. This was finished off with a custom and subtly flamboyant gothic button-hole by Angel K Weddings.
How about the bridesmaids outfits?
For the bridemaids Alli had a vision of a goth rockabilly look and searched high and low for the perfect dress to complement each of the bridesmaids.
Alli stumbled across Pretty Kitty Fashion and spotted the Flock Swing dresses which she thought the bridemaids would love and fortunately the colour matched exactly what she pictured. All three bridesmaids found the dress extremely comfortable to wear and rocked the look on the big day.
The shoes had to be something unusual, something with a little quirk, TUK cat shoes seemed the perfect choice as it wouldn’t be Halloween without black cats making an appearance somewhere.
Their flowers were of course made by the fabulous Angel K Weddings and closely matched Alli’s own.
The bridesmaids' hair was finished off by spooky skeleton hand and black rose hair clips.
Your cake looks out of this world, who made it?
We had a pretty clear vision for what we wanted from our cake. It had to be black, with gothic detailing, and it had to be red velvet as Martin’s a bit of a cake fiend.
Fortunately a good friend is a very talented cake maker who offered to make this for us and did a fantastic job. We’ve got to say it was one of the most delicious cakes we’ve ever tasted and it certainly got a lot of attention on the night. Our guests absolutely loved it and by the end of the night there were only a few crumbs left.
Where did your rings come from? (as you may know, we love black wedding rings)
Martin had a clear idea of what he thought Alli would love when it came to her wedding ring.
Having already sourced a Vintage style 14k black gold engagement ring with pink sapphires he knew he’d need something to match in perfectly. He contacted the designer of the original engagement ring, Art Masters, and requested they make a ring to match, which of course they were delighted to do.
Alli loves how unique her rings are and feels the pink sapphires coupled with the black gold give an alternative edge to the traditional engagement/wedding ring.
Alli loves showing off the rings and pointing out that the centre stone setting on her engagement appears to be an ‘M’ within an ‘A’ to match our initials.
Martin’s brushed palladium ring came from local jeweller John Park whose reputation in Aberdeen is second to none.
You just wouldn’t believe how difficult it is to find tiny coffins on the high street so our coffin ring box was another Etsy find, from Sugary Skulls Boutique.
There are some great shots of your first dance, we'd love to know what the song was. Also, was your whole playlist Halloween themed?
Our first dance was accompanied by Quivver’s – All Fall Down, one of Alli’s all time favourites for a number of years so it was her first choice of song when it came to picking a song for our first dance.
We had taken some dance lessons on the run up to the big day and the song fitted perfectly with a few of the moves we had learned.
It was a great first dance song as it was upbeat but had a lovely haunting feel to it.
It certainly set the mood for the rest of the evening’s dancing and started off our reception perfectly.
For our reception's playlist we decided to sit down and choose 20 songs each from our list of favourites, this quickly grew to 30, then 40 and continued from there.
We share extremely similar tastes in music so there was a lot of crossover in our playlists, with each of us choosing a mix of classic Halloween songs, John Carpenter-esque film scores and various goth, metal, electro and industrial artists. There wasn't a single traditional wedding song played that night but everything from Felix da Housecat through Gary Numan to Skinny Puppy and Ministry featured.
Our DJ, another good friend, works at Aberdeen’s tiki dive bar, Krakatoa, so was well versed in tying together what we requested be played with songs adhering to our theme but guaranteed to keep every guest up on the dance floor until the early hours of the morning.
The photos of your day are beautiful, you definitely made a good choice of photographer...
Jonathan Addie has a fantastic reputation and his work is unparalleled. We knew we wouldn’t trust anyone else but him capture our day, and all the little moments that came with it.
From our pre-wedding photo shoot he made us feel so comfortable and at ease and really got on board with our wedding theme.
For the big day Jonathan was everywhere all at once but in a completely unobtrusive manner and we feel it’s a credit to him just how many spontaneous and candid moments he captured.
When he published the initial photos on his blog we must have spent days looking over each and every photo, even more so when he gave us the full set. He captured everything perfectly and every time we see the photos we can relive the day.
Through his blog and Facebook page we certainly got a fair bit of attention and some wonderful comments from people far and wide.
We have to ask, because they're so cool, who carved the pumpkins?! :D
Our pumpkins were carved by the hotel staff and were a completely unexpected surprise. They really went above and beyond with their preparation for our wedding adding so many touches throughout the entire hotel.
Was your wedding difficult to plan? Would you do anything differently if you did it again?
We wouldn’t say it was difficult to plan as we had so much help from family, close friends and the venue itself but it did become all-consuming in the run up to the big day.
There were the usual blips along the way but fortunately despite a few minor setbacks there was nothing that derailed us or put a dampener on the day.
I don’t think we’d do anything any differently and we’re very blessed that the day went so smoothly and the atmosphere was electric from start to finish!
Thanks Martin and Alli for sharing your day with us. Congratulations on getting married and for pulling off such a fantastic wedding!
Thanks also to the extremely talented Jonathan Addie for being kind enough to share his photographs with us. To see more of Jonathan's work, please take a look at his website.When Sally Yates was questioned by the Senate Judiciary Committee before her appointment as Deputy Attorney General, Mr. Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, III asked her a key question.
"Well, you have to watch out because people will be asking you to do things and you have to say no," Sessions admonished. "Do you think the Attorney General has the responsibility to say no to the President if he asks for something that's improper?"
He went on to use the Lynch nomination as an example of what he meant. "He appointed somebody who's going to execute his views. What's wrong with that?"
But, "If the views the president wants to execute are unlawful, should the Attorney General or the Deputy Attorney General say no?"
"Senator, I believe that the Attorney General or Deputy Attorney General has an obligation to follow the law and the Constitution, and to give their independent legal advice to the President," she answered.
Tonight she made good on that answer, and was fired for it. Video is below.
Amazing. Sally Yates at her confirmation hearing answering her job-ending Q. Look who's asking. Via @charles_gaba pic.twitter.com/3Vsf9UugIu — T. R. Ramachandran (@yottapoint) January 31, 2017
Meanwhile, the new Acting Attorney General bows before Hair Trump:Undercover policewoman Lynn Watson seen helping to set up 'clown checkpoint' in Leeds as uniformed officers looked on
Footage has emerged showing an undercover police officer tasked with monitoring so-called "domestic extremists" running around Leeds city centre dressed as a clown.
The video of Lynn Watson, who lived as an environmental activist in Leeds for five years, shows her wiggling her bottom outside an MP's office, playing cricket with a feather duster and chanting "tickle the tree".
The images from the good-natured anti-war protest are likely to further undermine claims by police chiefs that their multimillion-pound operation to deploy spies against activists has been proportionate.
The operation has been carried out by a secretive unit belonging to the Association of Chief Police Officers. Today the acting commissioner of the Metropolitan police, Tim Godwin, said his force would take over the spy agency - the National Public Order Intelligence Unit - on Monday. It will come under the Met's counter-terrorism command.
There are now three formal inquiries into undercover policing prompted by revelations in the Guardian about Mark Kennedy, an officer who lived among protesters for seven years.
The Guardian has since identified three more undercover police officers, including Watson, who friends say played a crucial role in organising the first Climate Camp protest in 2005 while living in Leeds.
Senior police officers accept that most environmental campaigners are lawful protesters who cause minimal, if any, disruption. However, they argue that a minority pose a serious threat to the national infrastructure and deserve long-term surveillance.
The footage of Watson, which has been purchased by Channel 4 News and is expected to be broadcast tonight, shows a demonstration in Leeds on 3 July 2004 against the war in Iraq.
Watson, a member of the theatrical collective known as the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army, can be seen taking part in a game of "let's play tangle", in which clowns join hands and wrap their arms around each other in a circle.
She is then seen helping to set up what activists refer to as a "clown checkpoint" in the middle of the road. The protest appeared to attract only a small presence of uniformed police officers, some of whom can be seen apparently smirking at the antics.
Confronting the camera, Watson says: "We are checking for clowns, we need more clowns in this country - more clowns."
Another shot shows an activist strumming a guitar while Watson is sat in a tree. She then appears to stroke the tree, adding: "Tickle the tree, tickle the tree."
The person who shot the footage said the activists had targeted a military recruitment office in the centre of Leeds, but were moved on by police. Earlier in the day, they had marched into the MP Hilary Benn's office. The footage shows Watson and the activists bending over in a line to shake their bottoms at the building in unison.
A voice – believed to be a staff member in the constituency office – can be heard saying: "They're friendly enough. There's nothing hostile or threatening about them."For anyone who paid even passing attention to the U.S. housing crisis in 2008, the term “jingle mail” will be familiar.
Widespread financial shenanigans during the run-up in house prices in the early 2000s—like subprime lending and dodgy approvals—resulted in a very painful housing crash and recession. Suddenly millions of Americans could no longer keep up with their payments, and as the value of their homes dropped, they slipped ‘underwater’ on their mortgages. In other words, they owed more than their homes were worth. But since certain American states have so-called “no recourse” legislation, which restricts mortgage lenders from suing borrowers to recover their losses, homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages can simply walk away from their homes.
And many did. Hence the term jingle mail, the (albeit rare) practice of people mailing their house keys back to the bank.
In the wake of the U.S. crash, a lot of questions have been asked about the strength and stability of Canada’s housing market, with its sky-high prices and deeply indebted households. And the matter of whether Canadians could also walk away from their homes has frequently been raised. But as is often pointed out, Canada isn’t America. While mortgage rules in Canada differ by province, all are full recourse with the sole exceptions being Alberta and Saskatchewan in situations where borrowers have not purchased mortgage default insurance (such as from CMHC). Where full recourse rules apply across Canada, lenders are entitled to pursue mortgage shortfalls in civil court under normal lawsuit provisions. So lenders file a statement of claim against a delinquent borrower, obtain a judgment, and then get an execution order to enforce the judgement to recover their losses. Case closed, lender made as whole as possible.
Indeed the legal risk faced by borrowers who try to walk away from their loans is so great, it’s been frequently held up as an argument for why Canada won’t see anything like a U.S.-style housing crash and its repercussions for the economy. (Never mind that a 2010 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond found that several states hit hardest by the U.S. housing crash—such as Florida, Nevada, Illinois and Michigan—had some element of recourse for lenders.) That’s certainly the position now widely held by Canadians, as well as people who invest in Canada, such as big international institutions, mutual funds, sovereign funds, hedge funds.
WATCH: 5 signs Canada is in the grips of real estate mania
Only it’s not that straightforward.
What is far less known is the fact that insolvency legislation in Canada supersedes a lender’s right to sue a homeowner for a shortfall. In other words: if a homeowner who is unable to make mortgage payments files either a personal bankruptcy or a proposal in Canada, the shortfall (now unsecured) is included in the insolvency proceeding and fully dischargeable.
It’s the Canadian insolvency version of America’s jingle mail.
Let’s step back for a moment. A mortgage is, of course, a secured debt. The lender has the security of the asset in case of default. But in the event of a shortfall (and default), that secured debt becomes unsecured—just like any credit card or unsecured line of credit—and the lender must then rely on civil court to collect on the loss (shortfall).
But a lender cannot take court action when a Canadian insolvency proceeding is underway, nor afterward as the debts are then legally discharged.
Therefore, you can essentially walk away from your home in Canada, no matter the amount of the shortfall, if you file a bankruptcy or a proposal with a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. The estimated shortfall gets included as a normal unsecured debt for which the lender files a proof of claim, and it is discharged. No other recourse is available in the courts to the lender.
In my experience, this is a very little-known fact, even among those who are quite financially sophisticated.
Our firm has filed insolvencies for many people in these types of situations. Often, there is a triggering event: a job loss, an illness of a primary income-earner in a family or a divorce. Mortgage payments become simply too much to handle (often after many months of doing everything possible to continue staying current), and the homeowner either defaults or just informs the bank that he or she can no longer maintain the mortgage payments.
But in the event of a housing market drop or crash, those who bought most recently with high-leveraged mortgages will be underwater quickly. A 10 per cent down payment goes underwater with anything more than a 10 per cent drop in prices. And that doesn’t even factor in selling costs and other outlays, which are much higher than most people realize. Insurers in Canada routinely report average severities (i.e. losses on seized properties) in excess of 25 per cent. There’s nowhere in Canada where prices are down that much from their peak, however in the GTA the average price for a detached home is down more than 16 per cent since the high in April.
If that situation persists, many may decide that the financial burden of keeping up with monthly payments on a mega-mortgage for an asset that is declining in value is simply not worth it.
Let’s look at an example. Say a homebuyer put $100,000 down on a $700,000 semi-detached home earlier this year. Perhaps that down payment came from years of saving, or as is more common these days, the Bank of Mom and Dad coughed up the money. Either way, they took out a $600,000 mortgage.
Four months later, the value of the house has fallen 20 per cent ($140,000), so the house is now worth $560,000. Suddenly the homeowner’s mortgage is at least $40,000 underwater (plus cost of sale, etc. again).
Now to be clear, there’s no shortfall simply by virtue of dropping house prices. If there’s no default, there’s no actual shortfall. No harm, no foul. If that homeowner keeps making her regular mortgage payments, she keeps her house.
Also, banks don’t want to be homeowners, even if they have the right to in the event of a default. They will usually work with you within their own parameters (and always within any statutory rules) to see that you satisfy any deficiency and maintain your mortgage standing.
But a ‘shortfall’ occurs when there’s a default sufficient to trigger a power of sale, to use the Ontario example. (Legislation differs from province to province, with some using power of sale proceedings and others relying on a foreclosure process, but both achieve the same end via different courses of action.) In such circumstances, not only is the home worth less than the value of the mortgage, the homeowner has stopped making payments. The lender is then facing a loss and has full recourse to force the borrower to repay her debt.
WATCH: What the average Toronto house price can buy around the world
So how does this legal route out of recourse work?
Simply put: file a legal insolvency, either a personal bankruptcy or a consumer proposal. Both provide the same stay of proceedings on creditors. That means any existing lawsuits are stayed, as are any potential ones. Both achieve the same end: eliminating all unsecured debt—including taxes owing—with a full legal release. But the two processes unfold differently.
If your house is underwater and you file bankruptcy, the Trustee won’t seize the house and sell it because there is no equity for the estate. Indeed, there isn’t even enough value to make the mortgage lender whole. It’s more technical than that, but that’s the gist. The bank is stayed from taking legal action (power of sale or foreclosure, depending on the province) to get what it can. The bankruptcy fully discharges the shortfall as a (now) unsecured debt, just like all other debts dischargeable in bankruptcy: credit cards, unsecured lines of credit, income tax arrears, older student loans, etc.
(CMHC, the federal mortgage insurer, can only pursue you for the difference between the sale price and the insured price if the mortgage default occurred after the date of bankruptcy – but nobody in such a situation defaults after they file, so this never really happens. Even if they somehow didn’t have notice of the bankruptcy, they may commence action to recover the shortfall but it’s stayed by the bankruptcy anyway.)
In a proposal, the same effect is achieved: the full legal release of the mortgage shortfall. Also, the same protections as in bankruptcy (a legal stay) are provided. But in this situation the mortgage borrower is ‘proposing’ terms—a single monthly payment of principle only (zero per cent interest) over 60 months or less. The creditors will usually accept much less than the total debt owing. The terms are set to provide a greater return than the creditors would have received if a bankruptcy had been filed instead. Also, the credit rating carried afterwards is better than that of a bankruptcy.
But in a proposal the creditors as a group get to vote on the terms proposed. A basic majority (51 per cent) of proven claims carries the proposal. So if a person had $50,000 in various credit card debts and tax arrears, and another $50,000 in a shortfall on a mortgage, the total unsecured debt is $100,000, for which creditor votes totalling $51,000 would carry the proposal. Creditors voting against cannot opt out, either: they participate in the proposal’s dividends if they prove a claim, even if their vote was against. All of this can only be administered by a licensed insolvency trustee. The mortgage lender who suffered the shortfall would then recoup a percentage of its losses via the proposal dividends.
So, to recap: in both a bankruptcy and a proposal the mortgage shortfall is fully discharged but you do not keep your house. You are walking away. I emphasize this because normally a proposal allows one to keep their house (and all other assets) if there is equity. In fact, most people will file proposals for exactly that reason. Obviously in a shortfall situation, there is no equity. Both filings allow you to walk away from an otherwise full recourse mortgage if they choose. Jingle, jingle.
Full recourse on mortgages in Canada, then? Absolutely. But not when filing a bankruptcy or a proposal. And a proposal may be a very realistic option for many Canadians on the wrong end of a bursting real estate bubble.
Scott Terrio is Manager, Consumer Insolvency at Hoyes Michalos & Associates Inc., Licensed Insolvency Trustees at Hoyes.com. Follow him on Twitter @ScottTerrioHMA
MORE ABOUT REAL ESTATE:A Russian weather satellite and nearly 20 micro-satellites from various nations, including Canada, failed to enter their designated orbits Tuesday following the launch from Russia's new cosmodrome, another blow to the nation's space program.
The Roscosmos space agency said it has failed to establish communications with the Meteor M 2-1 satellite that was launched atop a Soyuz-2 booster rocket Tuesday from Russia's new Vostochny launch pad in the Far East. The agency says it's trying to determine what happened.
Russian news agencies reported the likely cause was the failure of the booster's final stage, the Fregat, possibly caused by a software flaw.
The booster also carried 18 micro satellites built in Canada, Germany, Japan, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States.
The rocket carrying the satellites had been programmed with bearings for take-off from a different cosmodrome — Baikonur — rather than the Vostochny cosmodrome that it actually launched from. (Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)
Among them was the LEO Vantage 2 satellite from Ottawa-based Telesat. The satellite was built by Space Systems Loral in Palo Alto, Calif., and the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies Space Flight Laboratory.
Following the launch mishap Tuesday, Telesat confirmed the loss of the satellite, but said in a statement that its plans "remain on track."
It added that a second LEO test satellite will be launched in coming weeks aboard the Indian Space Research Organisation's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from ISRO's Sriharikota launch site. ISRO says its next PSLV launch is scheduled for the second half of December.
It's the first test satellite of a constellation of 120 that Telesat aims to have running in 2021, providing "fiber-like broadband" worldwide to commercial and government markets, the company said in a release earlier this month. And its launch was described as a "key step" in reaching the company's goal.
The company planned to use the test satellite to ensure its motion could be properly tracked from ground stations and it could be pointed the right way to send and receive signals from Earth. It also planned to test the speed and quality of the satellite's broadband communications, and had hoped to open testing to customers in 2018.
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in the DOE thus joined with the White House legal arm, the DOJ, and sent a letter which they represented should serve as “significant guidance” with regard to the gender fluidity issue.
After the federal judge issued the order blocking the implementation of the federally-mandated policy, Texas AG Ken Paxton sent the schools his own guidance letter. He explained that they do not need to change their policies on “intimate facilities to comply with the unenforceable federal guidelines.”
“My office brought this lawsuit to stop the Obama Administration from rewriting the laws that have been enacted by the elected representatives of the people—and to stop his administrative agencies from threatening to take away federal funding from schools to force them to conform,” AG Paxton wrote in the letter to schools obtained by Breitbart Texas. “The injunction granted does precisely that.”
As reported by Breitbart Texas in mid-August, Texas AG Paxton led the 12-state coalition and went to court to fight the Obama Administration’s executive dictate that Texas schools must let transgender students, or those who identify with the other sex on a given day, to use the bathroom and other intimate facilities of the opposite sex. Paxton went to court on August 12th and argued for a preliminary injunction to stop the federal government overreach.
Lana Shadwick is a contributing writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as a prosecutor and an associate judge. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2.
Texas AG to Schools – Significant Guidance LetterRAQQA, Syria (Reuters) - U.S.-backed militias expect to push all Islamic State fighters out of their former Syrian headquarters of Raqqa in less than a month, a Kurdish commander told Reuters on Monday.
A fighter from Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stands next to debris of damaged buildings in Raqqa, Syria September 25, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said
Under the banner of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the militias have hemmed the jihadists into a few districts in the north of the city.
The Kurdish and Arab militias pushed into the city in June after fighting for months to encircle it with the help of U.S.-led jets and special forces.
“As the noose tightens, the reaction of Daesh gets fiercer,” said Jihan Sheikh Ahmed, spokeswoman for the Raqqa offensive, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State. “In the coming days, the battles will be at their most intense...
“We expect, under our plan, that we will be able to liberate Raqqa in less than a month.”
Islamic State has lost much of its territory in Syria this year under separate offensives by the SDF and the Russia-backed Syrian military. Its fighters have fallen back to its last major footholds, the cities and towns in the fertile strip along the Euphrates river downstream of Raqqa.
The SDF said last week that, after seizing 80 percent of Raqqa, the battle for the city had entered its final stages.
With the Kurdish YPG militia at its forefront, the SDF has closed in from three directions. Islamic State militants put up tough resistance, planting scores of mines around their districts, Ahmed said.
SDF forces sought to “meet up from several axes” to squeeze the Islamic State enclave, said a field commander in the northeast of Raqqa. Shefkar Hemo said his fighters had faced fewer mortar shells and car bombs recently, with the jihadists relying more heavily on snipers.
“The breach of enemy lines is clear on the ground... Daesh are hiding behind civilians,” he said.
Another field commander in the city said the latest phase of the battle had proved difficult.
SDF officials estimate that 700-1,000 Islamic State fighters are holed up in a pocket in the city. Ahmed said she did not expect them to surrender and the SDF would never allow them passage out.
Thousands of civilians remain trapped there too, and Ahmed accused Islamic State snipers of targeting them.
“Daesh is also entrenched in the National Hospital, which they consider a main position,” she said. “Our forces besieged the hospital,” but were being cautious to avoid damaging it, she said.
Slideshow (7 Images)
Earlier this month, Physicians for Human Rights said that poorly-equipped hospital was the last medical facility operating in the city.
The New York-based group said intense bombing by the U.S.-led coalition had hit civilian facilities. The coalition says it is careful to avoid civilian casualties during bombing runs in Syria and neighboring Iraq.
The “caliphate” that Islamic State declared in 2014, spanning both countries, lost its de-facto Iraqi capital of Mosul in July when Iraqi forces took the city.Keystone is getting all the attention, but the brewing battle over coal exports in the Pacific Northwest is, from a pure carbon standpoint, far more significant. Right now one of the main problems for climate hawks is that all the decisions about new coal trains and coal export terminals are being made locally, one at a time, as rail and coal companies bribe this town and that town with promises of economic development. There’s no global assessment being done and no real plan in place.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has refused thus far to do a comprehensive assessment, which is absurd — something to rally behind after the Keystone thing is resolved, perhaps. But most of the real authority lies in the hands of state lawmakers. So climate hawks have been watching new Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) and Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) like, um, hawks.
Kitzhaber, who has called for a federal review of coal ports before, had some interesting things to say yesterday at a summit of the American Wind Energy Association. Here’s a short clip:
It’s great to hear this kind of informed skepticism about coal ports. But beyond that, Kitzhaber is deploying one of the most crucial weapons of the climate hawk: perspective.
The closer in you get on a given decision, the more you exclude large-scale and long-term questions, the more able you are to justify the one-after-another little decisions that lock us into a disastrous carbon trajectory. This one little town will get this one chunk of money if they allow this one coal rail track through. It’s hard, in that town, facing that decision, to resist.
To have a basis for resisting, you have to pull the camera back. What’s the environmental effect of dozens of new trains and ports? What’s the effect on the region’s long-term economic development? What’s the effect on climate emissions? What’s the plan, the bigger picture, into which this little decision is supposed to fit?
Decisions that make sense in the micro often don’t in the macro. (Like Keystone!) So that’s what Kitzhaber is trying to do: pull the camera back. He’s asking whether we want to stumble into all this new coal-export infrastructure with no national energy plan and no sense of how it will affect emissions or prices.
It’s a good question.Rochester, N.Y. - A father and his two sons were arrested in connection with a drug trafficking case, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Rochester.
Investigators announced Monday that Blake Rivera, 31, of Greece, Chayanne Rivera, 25, of Gates, and Victor Rivera, 51, were arrested after they seized large amounts of heroin, 8.3 kilograms of cocaine, 14 guns and more than $375,000 in cash.
"If you are in a gang committing crime or trafficking in anyone of these commodities, your days are surely numbered," said U.S. Attorney William Hochul.
Prosecutors said Rochester Police and the DEA have been investigating the Riveras for nine months.
State Police intercepted a suspicious FedEx package on December 4, 2015 that was addressed to a fictitious person at 164 Curtis Street. The package contained 612 grams of heroin.
On February 17, 2016, investigators executed four search warrants at the Riveras' homes and a storage unit.
Investigators raided Blake Rivera's house on Woodsmoke Lane and found an assault-style rifle with a loaded 30-round magazine, as well as $346,460 in cash.
Investigators later executed a search warrant at a house on Curtis Street, where Victor Rivera lived. They found 1.5 kilos of cocaine and 533 grams of crack cocaine.
A mother of a small child living on that street said she's stunned this kind of activity was taking place down the street from her home.
"I am shocked because this street is like the quietest ever," said Lokeeda Brison. "It's not something you would expect to happen on my street."
Officers also seized a.357 Magnum revolver, a 9mm handgun, an AK-47 rifle, two 12 gauge shotguns, ammunition and $3,924 in cash.
"The fact that the investigators seized so much cash and drugs indicates the size and scope of this investigation," said Andy Rodriguez of the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Authorities are calling this drug trafficking ring one of the larger organizations in Rochester.
"All it takes is somebody to get ticked off at something that's part of a dispute or anything. They have an arsenal at their disposal," said Deputy Chief Scott Peters. "I mean everybody in the county should be able to sleep a little bit better. That this amount of guns is off the streets."
Officers raided Chayanne Rivera's house on Colwick Road and seized an AK-47-style weapon, along with other evidence. Investigators did not specify what that evidence might have been.
A storage unit used by the three was also searched with a warrant on Brighton-Henrietta Townline Road. Inside, officers found a 1998 BMW sedan with 6.8 kilos of cocaine in the trunk and seven firearms.
Those firearms included:
A loaded SKS-style firearm
Two handguns
Two AK-47 style firearms
A shotgun
Several loaded magazines and loose ammunition
On June 3, 2015, authorities say Victor Rivera plead guilty to felony Criminal Possession of Controlled Substances with the intent to sell. He has yet to be sentenced on that conviction. He also has several misdemeanor convictions for Petit Larceny and Criminal Possession of Stolen Property.
His son, Blake, also has a prior felony conviction for Criminal Possession of Controlled Substances, with the intent to sell in January 2005.
Blake Rivera was in court Monday morning. Victor and Chayanne Rivera appeared in court Monday afternoon.Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn announced a new indictment of Sen. John Sampson on Monday. It alleges he lied to the FBI concerning questions about directing members of his Senate staff to take actions to benefit a Brooklyn liquor store in which Sampson secretly held an ownership interest.
Jimmy Vielkind, now of Capital NY, first reported on Sampson’s involvement with the retailer for the TU last May.
He already was facing charges of embezzlement and making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The former leader of the the Democratic Conference allegedly stole money to fund a bid to become Brooklyn’s top state prosecutor, then engaged in an elaborate obstruction scheme to hide his illegal conduct, going so far as to counsel lies and the hiding of evidence, according to the announcement.
Here is the indictment:
Sampson.superseding.indictment.scanned[1]The theme for this year’s Write a Game (WAG) Challenge was announced to be “Down the Rabbit Hole” earlier this week. They’ve also selected the three optional subthemes: empathy, mistaken identity, and birth. Overall, this is a really solid topic with plenty of room to work with and I think I have an idea that will both appeal to my target audience (gamers and industry professionals) as well as anyone that happens across it.
The Basic Summary
The quick and dirty of it is that it’s an exaggerated and sarcastic parody game about the life of a small-time independent game journalist as he covers a large gaming convention. Instead of E3, I called it G3 (Global Gaming Gala) among other such clever stupid puns. Things will eventually start to escalate and get more and more out of hand on this journey and build up to some type of big conclusion at the end…that I haven’t really decided yet.
It can only be a 10-20 minute long game, so that puts a pretty hefty limitation on what I can really do with the story, but it’s an enticing challenge that I’m excited to tackle.
I Have Art!
And one of the more exciting developments is that a super-talented artist friend of mine has agreed to help me out with this. She will not only be checking out the story as it progresses and offering feedback, but producing artwork that can be used as still-images to accompany and enhance the story.
This Challenge is judged 100% on the story and writing alone, but going beyond the scope of this challenge, this will help make this short little Twine story stand out more as a portfolio piece.
Twine is Pretty Awesome
Growing up, I always really loved Choose Your Adventure books. I especially remember reading a few of the Goosebumps series that had that feature and loving how immersive it was to actually choose what happened. Twine lets me create a digital version of that, except it automatically tracks things like variables and decisions so I don’t have to. Once you learn the syntax and formulas, it’s super easy to put something together. Of course, there are tons of things you can learn to make it even more customized, but the basics are fine for me right now.
Has anyone reading this ever made something in Twine? If so, I’d love to check it out!
AdvertisementsCLOSE USA TODAY Sports' Dan Wolken breaks down Clemson's thrilling win over Alabama in the national championship game. USA TODAY Sports
Mercedes-Benz of Music City to open within a year at Interstate 40 and Briley Parkway near Hotel Preston.
Alabama football coach Nick Saban and his wife will be co-owners of Mercedes-Benz of Music City. (Photo: File / AP) Story Highlights Saban business partner Joe Agresti cites Nashville as being a thriving city with high growth expectations.
Nick Saban and his wife, Terry, also own 50 percent stake in the property at Interstate 40 and Briley Parkway.
The couple also own half of BIJ Motors TN LLC, which will own the operating entity for Mercedes-Benz of Music City.
University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban and his wife will own a 50 percent stake in the new Mercedes-Benz of Music City dealership planned at Interstate 40 and Briley Parkway.
Construction should begin this summer on the 60,000-square-foot dealership, which is expected to open in a year at 734 Envious Lane.
Joe Agresti, who will own the other 50 percent stake, said he and the Sabans picked Nashville for the expansion because it's a thriving city with high growth expectations.
"It will be convenient for customers," Agresti said about the 4.14-acre location on which the dealership is planned near boutique Hotel Preston. "It will be close to the airport."
Agresti, along with Nick and Terry Saban, already co-owns the Mercedes-Benz of Birmingham and Infiniti of Birmingham car dealerships in Hoover, Ala.
Agresti is CEO of The Woodlands, Texas-based Dream Motor Group, which separately is the sole owner of Mercedes-Benz of Baton Rouge in Louisiana and Mercedes-Benz of The Woodlands in Texas.
The New Mercedes C-Class Cabriolet is shown during the press day at the 86th Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 1. (Photo: Sandro Campardo, EPA)
The Sabans also own a 50 percent stake in BIJ Motors TN LLC, the owner of the operating entity for the planned Mercedes-Benz of Music City.
BIJ Motors TN LLC will lease the 60,000-square-foot dealership building from property ownership entity JJA Properties TN LLC, in which the Alabama football coach and his wife also own a 50 percent stake.
In the summer, JJA Properties TN paid $1.7 million for the 4.14 acres at 734 Envious Lane where Mercedes-Benz of Music City is planned.
On April 28, the Metro Planning Commission is expected to consider a request for final plat approval to abandon an easement on that property, which is east of Dabbs Avenue. Engineering firm Littlejohn requested the approval on JJA Properties TN's behalf.
Sonic Automotive's Mercedes-Benz of Nashville in Franklin is the only known Mercedes-Benz dealership in the immediate Nashville area.
Reach Getahn Ward at 615-726-5968 and on Twitter @getahn.
Read or Share this story: http://tnne.ws/1RoIptPA New Way Of Thinking
By Mike Kaulbars
“Is the climate change movement splintering?” asks the Guardian headline. Really it’s just a rhetorical device for reporting on the soul searching that has been going on within the movement as to how to move forward after Copenhagen. It is a much needed discussion given the disappointment of Copenhagen and the subsequent success of the right wing Denial machine. Even if it were not so, the discussion of strategy within the environmental movement, indeed the entire social justice movement, is fraught with challenges that may well be unique to our age.
First there is the subtle difference between the question of whether “they” are succeeding, or whether it is “we” who are failing. The two are not interchangeable in that two sides can both pursue effective strategies and yet only one will be the victor, at least at a given moment. For the movement the question is whether we are trying to do the right things and failing, or are we not on the right track at all? Do we need to try harder? Do better? Or try a different tack entirely?
It is a difficult question because so much of what the movement is able to do has been shaped by the same forces that have driven the entire social justice movement for several decades now. As society has become more mobile groups have been plagued by transience of their volunteers and membership. The tenure of both volunteers and staff has dropped from decades to years, to less than a year for most volunteers.
As a result groups lack both the leadership and experience which makes every kind of project that is long term and/or complex pretty much impossible. Not surprisingly we have seen the movements’ array of actions shrink to become little more than speaker nights and protests. Compare that to the 198 types of action described by Sharpe in his Politics of Nonviolent Action.
If our tactics are limited, our strategy may be even more so. Not only is there the limitations mentioned above, there is the lack of experience and knowledge about what the complexities and stages of political organizing even are. How many activists are familiar with or have even heard of the Movement Action Plan?
Not that there are not experienced people around, but in a diffuse grassroots movement you need broad experience across the board, not just pockets of wisdom here and there.
Granted the internet has given us the ability to potentially reach many more people, but the evidence is that the potential is not being realised. For the most part the internet is a passive medium that depends on people to go to a particular website and act on what they find. Those not already onside are unlikely to even go to these websites in the first place, and even many of those who may be counted among the “converted” do not do so either.
As a consequence the internet as proven to be a generally more effective at disseminating disinformation than information. Because it works within existing networks it can strengthen and facilitate the actions of a healthy progressive movement, but not substitute for it, nor create it.
A less obvious consequence of public mobility is that people are not bonded to place. It is one thing to stand up for the forest or neighbourhood you have known all of your life, but one is less motivated to do so for one you have only known for a few years. Understandable, but nonetheless limiting in terms of the types of actions that a group can reasonably hope to undertake.
This phenomenon was predicted and discussed by Paul Virilio in his 1978 “Popular Defense and Ecological Struggles”. What Virilio was seeing was a militarization of society in the emphasis on movement and speed.
Movement in that people are always on the move and interchangeable. They do not bond to place or one another, but rather move between increasingly uniform jobs, neighbourhoods and social circles to which they feel no particular allegiance. Speed in that the value is placed on doing everything faster, more efficiently. Natural, human values are slow and take time. Sex can be done quickly and efficiently, love cannot.
For Virilio the danger lay in that these values made society vulnerable to de facto dominance by the military industrial complex. I would argue that the values themselves are the danger in that once society has embraced them, which we clearly have, there is an accelerating slide towards increasing disintegration of the natural and the human. Not that this is inevitable any more than any of the ongoing destruction is, but it is the default outcome if we do not work to oppose it.
All of which is to say that when we say that we are “discussing strategy” we can be referring to two very different things. The facile and most common practice is to talk about how we operate within the confines of the current narrative choosing from a very limited number of possible actions given our current situation. In it’s most simplistic form it is a discussion about whether to work within or outside “the system.”
While not without value this discussion cannot strike deeply enough to actually solve any of the problems we currently face. It pretends to be a radical discussion, but it is not. It is framed entirely within the language and ideas of the status quo even while claiming to seek it’s demise. As such it cannnot get us out of that system, but rather merely shift who plays what role within that system.
The second possibility is difficult even if we understand it, and for the most part we do not. In seeking solutions we usually look for culprits in the forms of institutions and individuals, when they are entirely interchangeable and the real culprit is the entire value set and our way of understanding how we can and should live.
It is not enough to pick from the tactics and strategies that we know. We need to educate ourselves about the possibilities that we have not even conceived and begin to build the structures and processes that will allow us to implement the broader range strategies and tactics that will get us where we want to go.
The former discussion may buy the time necessary for the latter, but without the latter we are not going to be able to deal with the core issues that brought us to this point in the first place. Indeed, they will keep us on this path until we do deal with them. To paraphrase Anshin Thomas, we cannot think our way to a new way of living, we must live our way to a new way of thinking.High levels of fluoride in Ethiopian water considered "optimal" by U.S. government
Naturally occurring fluoride isn't the same as the fluoride added to U.S. water supplies
(NaturalNews) It's a prolific disease that's ravaging some areas of Africa and causing permanent health damage among residents. No, we're not talking about malaria or AIDS -- fluorosis, a health condition triggered by exposure to fluoride, is damaging people's teeth and skeletal structures throughout Ethiopia, so much so that health authorities there are working feverishly to get it out of the water supplies to protect public health.Unlike in the U.S., where dentists, industry lobbyists and corrupt government workers still erroneously insist that fluoride is a "nutrient" that prevents cavities, Ethiopia has a much different view of the chemical. Naturally occurring fluoride, it turns out, has been seeping into water supplies, causing an epidemic of oral and skeletal health problems.Tens of millions of Ethiopians, according to reports, are right now suffering the ill effects of fluoride exposure, which in addition to destroying teeth also deforms bones and increases the risk of osteoporosis. Locals are developing severe mottling in their teeth, their bones are becoming weak, and their teeth are literally turning brown as a result of fluoride exposure."Fluoride-tainted teeth begin to show after one cuts his or her milk teeth and when the permanent teeth grow," stated Fitsum Agza, a resident of Adama City, located about 62 miles east of the capital city of Addis Ababa, to. Agza is one of many whose teeth have been destroyed by exposure to fluoride."People think we smoke, looking at our tarnished teeth."In case you were wondering, Ethiopia doesn't intentionally contaminate its water with fluoride chemicals. They come naturally from magma and other volcanic matter beneath the earth's crust, rising to the surface via hot springs and other surface water that's eventually drunk by local people groups.And the amounts of fluoride found in the water aren't any higher than the maximum "safe" limit established by the U.S. government for American water supplies. Reports indicate that fluoride levels in Ethiopian water range from about 1.5 to 4 milligrams per liter (or parts per million), which falls within the range considered "safe" by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) -- the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it's important to note, now recommends an "optimal" fluoride level of 0.7 ppm, after recently revising the maximum amount of 1.2 ppm."Fluoride... causes bone deformities and fractures," stated Dr. Aweke Kebede, a nutrition researcher at the Ethiopian Public Health Institute, to. "Sometimes, excessive intake of fluoride-mix water causes nerve problems, though not directly.Sadly, the type of fluoride Dr. Kebede is talking about here isn't even as harmful as the kind intentionally added to U.S. water supplies. Naturally occurring calcium fluoride, which is what Ethiopia is currently dealing with, is an actual mineral; sodium fluoride, hexafluorosilicic acid and various other synthetic fluoride chemicals, on the other hand, are flat-out industrial waste.Naturally occurring fluoride, it turns out, isn't very water-soluble, meaning it lacks some of the ionic configurations necessary for toxic uptake by humans and animals. The synthetic kind, which American taxpayers actually pay to have laced into their tap water, is highly soluble, hence its dual use as an insecticide and rodenticide."The main source of fluoride are [] the basaltic rocks in the Rift Valley [of Ethiopia], which have both elevated fluoride content and low soluble calcium concentrations," explains a Water Resource Quality report on the fluoride epidemic in Ethiopia, the purpose of which was to find a solution to effectively remove this contaminant.Meanwhile, Americans are being forced to guzzle down, shower in and breathe the fumes from fluoride-laced water which corrupt health authorities claim is "good for teeth." The contrast between how Ethiopia, a supposedly "Third World" nation, sees fluoride -- as a clear and present toxin! -- and how the U.S. sees fluoride -- as a nutrient that corrupt politicians continue to force on the public -- is absolutely striking.Act of robbery or criminal violence at sea
This article is about maritime piracy. For unauthorized use, copying, modification or distribution of content, see Copyright infringement
"Pirate" redirects here. For other uses, see Pirate (disambiguation)
"Pirate ship" redirects here. For the amusement ride, see Pirate ship (ride)
British sailors boarding an Algerine pirate ship and battling the pirates; colored engraving by John Fairburn (1793–1832)
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable items or properties. Those who engage in acts of piracy are called pirates. The earliest documented instances of piracy were in the 14th century BC, when the Sea Peoples, a group of ocean raiders, attacked the ships of the Aegean and Mediterranean civilizations. Narrow channels which funnel shipping into predictable routes have long created opportunities for piracy,[1] as well as for privateering and commerce raiding. Historic examples include the waters of Gibraltar, the Strait of Malacca, Madagascar, the Gulf of Aden, and the English Channel, whose geographic structures facilitated pirate attacks.[2] A land-based parallel is the ambushing of travelers by bandits and brigands in highways and mountain passes.[3] Privateering uses similar methods to piracy, but the captain acts under orders of the state authorizing the capture of merchant ships belonging to an enemy nation, making it a legitimate form of war-like activity by non-state actors.[4]
While the term can include acts committed in the air, on land (especially across national borders or in connection with taking over and robbing a car or train), or in other major bodies of water or on a shore, this article focuses on maritime piracy. It does not normally include crimes committed against people traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator (e.g. one passenger stealing from others on the same vessel). Piracy or pirating is the name of a specific crime under customary international law and also the name of a number of crimes under the municipal law of a number of states. In the early 21st century, seaborne piracy against transport vessels remains a significant issue (with estimated worldwide losses of US$16 billion per year in 2004),[5] particularly in the waters between the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, off the Somali coast, and also in the Strait of Malacca and Singapore.
Today, pirates armed with automatic weapons, such as assault rifles, and machine guns, grenades and rocket propelled grenades use small motorboats to attack and board ships, a tactic that takes advantage of the small number of crew members on modern cargo vessels and transport ships. They also use larger vessels, known as "mother ships", to supply the smaller motorboats. The international community is facing many challenges in bringing modern pirates to justice, as these attacks often occur in international waters.[6] Some nations have used their naval forces to protect private ships from pirate attacks and to pursue pirates, and some private vessels use armed security guards, high-pressure water cannons, or sound cannons to repel boarders, and use radar to avoid potential threats.
Etymology
The English word "pirate" comes from the Latin term purateivitia ("sailor, corsair, sea robber")[citation needed] and that from Greek πειρατής (peiratēs), "brigand",[7] in turn from πειράομαι (peiráomai), "I attempt", from πεῖρα (peîra), "attempt, experience".[8] The meaning of the Greek word peiratēs literally is "one who attacks (ships)".[9] The word is also cognate to peril.[9] The term first appeared in English c. 1300.[9] Spelling did not become standardised until the eighteenth century, and spellings such as "pirrot", "pyrate" and "pyrat" occurred until this period.[10][11]
History
It may be reasonable to assume that piracy has existed for as long as the oceans were plied for commerce.[12]
Europe
As early as 258 AD, the Gothic-Herulic fleet ravaged towns on the coasts of the Black Sea and Sea of Marmara. The Aegean coast suffered similar attacks a few years later. In 264, the Goths reached Galatia and Cappadocia, and Gothic pirates landed on Cyprus and Crete. In the process, the Goths seized enormous booty and took thousands into captivity.[citation needed] In 286 AD, Carausius, a Roman military commander of Gaulish origins, was appointed to command the Classis Britannica, and given the responsibility of eliminating Frankish and Saxon pirates who had been raiding the coasts of Armorica and Belgic Gaul. In the Roman province of Britannia, Saint Patrick was captured and enslaved by Irish pirates.
Middle Ages
A fleet of Vikings, painted mid-12th century
The most widely known and far-reaching pirates in medieval Europe were the Vikings, seaborne warriors from Scandinavia who raided and looted mainly between the 8th and 12th centuries, during the Viking Age in the Early Middle Ages. They raided the coasts, rivers and inland cities of all Western Europe as far as Seville, which was attacked by the Norse in 844. Vikings also attacked the coasts of North Africa and Italy and plundered all the coasts of the Baltic Sea. Some Vikings ascending the rivers of Eastern Europe as far as the Black Sea and Persia. The lack of centralized powers all over Europe during the Middle Ages enabled pirates to attack ships and coastal areas all over the continent.[vague][citation needed]
In the Late Middle Ages, the Frisian pirates known as Arumer Zwarte Hoop led by Pier Gerlofs Donia and Wijerd Jelckama, fought against the troops of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V with some success.
Toward the end of the 9th century, Moorish pirate havens were established along the coast of southern France and northern Italy.[13] In 846 Moor raiders sacked the extra muros Basilicas of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Rome. In 911, the bishop of Narbonne was unable to return to France from Rome because the Moors from Fraxinet controlled all the passes in the Alps. Moor pirates operated out of the Balearic Islands in the 10th century. From 824 to 961 Arab pirates in the Emirate of Crete raided the entire Mediterranean. In the 14th century, raids by Moor pirates forced the Venetian Duke of Crete to ask Venice to keep its fleet on constant guard.[citation needed]
After the Slavic invasions of the former Roman province of Dalmatia in the 5th and 6th centuries, a tribe called the Narentines revived the old Illyrian piratical habits and often raided the Adriatic Sea starting in the 7th century. By 642 they invaded southern Italy and assaulted Siponto. Their raids in the Adriatic increased rapidly, until the whole Sea was no longer safe for travel.
The Narentines took more liberties in their raiding quests while the Venetian Navy was abroad, as when it was campaigning in Sicilian waters in 827–882. As soon as the Venetian fleet would return to the Adriatic, the Narentines temporarily abandoned their habits again, even signing a Treaty in Venice and baptising their Slavic pagan leader into Christianity. In 834 or 835 they broke the treaty and again they raided Venetian traders returning from Benevento, and all of Venice's military attempts to punish them in 839 and 840 utterly failed. Later, they raided the Venetians more often, together with the Arabs. In 846, the Narentines broke through to Venice itself and raided its lagoon city of Caorle. In the middle of March 870 they kidnapped the Roman Bishop's emissaries that were returning from the Ecclesiastical Council in Constantinople. This caused a Byzantine military action against them that finally brought Christianity to them. After the Arab raids on the Adriatic coast circa 872 and the retreat of the Imperial Navy, the Narentines continued their raids of Venetian waters, causing new conflicts with the Italians in 887–888. The Venetians futilely continued to fight them throughout the 10th and 11th centuries.
In 937, Irish pirates sided with the Scots, Vikings, Picts, and Welsh in their invasion of England. Athelstan drove them back.
The Slavic piracy in the Baltic Sea ended with the Danish conquest of the Rani stronghold of Arkona in 1168. In the 12th century the coasts of western Scandinavia were plundered by Curonians and Oeselians from the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. In the 13th and 14th century, pirates threatened the Hanseatic routes and nearly brought sea trade to the brink of extinction. The Victual Brothers of Gotland were a companionship of privateers who later turned to piracy as the Likedeelers. They were especially noted for their leaders Klaus Störtebeker and Gödeke Michels. Until about 1440, maritime trade in both the North Sea and the Baltic Sea was seriously in danger of attack by the pirates.
H. Thomas Milhorn mentions a certain Englishman named William Maurice, convicted of piracy in 1241, as the first person known to have been hanged, drawn and quartered,[14] which would indicate that the then-ruling King Henry III took an especially severe view of this crime.
The ushkuiniks were Novgorodian pirates who looted the cities on the Volga and Kama Rivers in the 14th century.
As early as Byzantine times, the Maniots (one of Greece's toughest populations) were known as pirates. The Maniots considered piracy as a legitimate response to the fact that their land was poor and it became their main source of income. The main victims of Maniot pirates were the Ottomans but the Maniots also targeted ships of European countries.
Zaporizhian Sich was a pirate republic in Europe from the 16th through to the 18th century. Situated in Cossack territory in the remote steppe of Eastern Europe, it was populated with Ukrainian peasants that had run away from their feudal masters, outlaws, destitute gentry, run-away slaves from Turkish galleys, etc. The remoteness of the place and the rapids at the Dnepr river effectively guarded the place from invasions of vengeful powers. The main target of the inhabitants of Zaporizhian Sich who called themselves "Cossacks" were rich settlements at the Black Sea shores of Ottoman Empire and Crimean Khanate.[citation needed] By 1615 and 1625, Zaporozhian Cossacks had even managed to raze townships on the outskirts of Istanbul, forcing the Ottoman Sultan to flee his palace.[citation needed] Don Cossacks under Stenka Razin even ravaged the Persian coasts.[15][unreliable source?]
Mediterranean
Antiquity
The earliest documented instances of piracy are the exploits of the Sea Peoples who threatened the ships sailing in the Aegean and Mediterranean waters in the 14th century BC. In classical antiquity, the Phoenicians, Illyrians and Tyrrhenians were known as pirates. In the pre-classical era, the ancient Greeks condoned piracy as a viable profession; it apparently was widespread and "regarded as an entirely honourable way of making a living".[16] References are made to its perfectly normal occurrence many texts including in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, and abduction of women and children to be sold into slavery was common. By the era of Classical Greece, piracy was looked upon as a "disgrace" to have as a profession.[16][17]
In the 3rd century BC, pirate attacks on Olympos (city in Anatolia) brought impoverishment. Among some of the most famous ancient pirateering peoples were the Illyrians, a people populating the western Balkan peninsula. Constantly raiding the Adriatic Sea, the Illyrians caused many conflicts with the Roman Republic. It was not until 229 BC when the Romans finally decisively beat the Illyrian fleets
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at low-voltage chips for use in cellphones and computers. Intel also has a low-power-chip research unit.
Designing a low-voltage chip is complicated, because transistors – the bases of chips – use voltage changes to switch on and off. Increase the voltage to the system, and the transistor eventually hits its threshold and switches on. Decrease it, and the transistor switches off. That ability is what allows it to store the binary information – the 1's and 0's – that forms the basis of computing.
But at low voltages, variations introduced during transistor production can cause errors.
"When you scale voltages, the first thing to break is memory on a chip," Chandrakasan said. "You have to redesign the memory and logic so you can handle the variation."
Working with scalable energy voltages, he said, required a whole suite of design techniques, including a fundamental change in the memory cell from six transistors to eight.
The researchers think medical devices like pacemakers and various military applications could use the new chip within five years.
Decreasing power consumption is the key to unleashing medical technologies on the battlefield, said Barry Perlman, associate director for technology at the Army's Communications Electronics Research and Development Center at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.
"Sensors that are involved in monitoring the soldier's health, managing blood flow or heart rate, or measuring the thermal profile of the soldier – there's no question all of this is very, very important," Perlman said. "But it's not realistic unless the power requirement associated with them is really low."
The power requirements for sensors attached to the body could be reduced to near zero, Chandrakasan said. The body's heat and movement could generate the microwattage necessary to power the devices.
MIT graduate student Joyce Kwong will discuss the new chip at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday. The researchers designed their proof-of-concept chip with researchers at Texas Instruments, using a standard semiconductor-fabrication process.
The major trade-off for the lower power usage is raw speed, said Connie Brown, spokeswoman for Intel's mobile platforms. Intel's newest mobile platform, SilverThorne, cuts power consumption to less than 2 watts. That's less than one-fifth of any previous offerings and one-eighth the power draw of ballyhooed products like the MacBook Air's new chip, which draws 17 watts. The MIT team's chip uses between 1 and 100 microwatts.
While a couple of watts in energy savings might not be a big deal to consumers with access to the power grid, Perlman said soldiers often have to carry all the power for their battlefield communications devices – which are about 10 times bigger than typical cellphones.
"You can start to imagine how power becomes a very, very important parameter to the soldier," he said.Share this Shit:
BREAKING. This could be the tell that Darren Wilson is going to be cleared. We can now confirm that Special Operations Contractors, former military personnel, have now been hired by the media to “assist in security” for Ferguson Missouri. Contractors from Asymmetric Solutions have been hired:
SOME OF THIS “CONFIRMED” CLAIM FROM THE SOURCE http://theconservativetreehouse.com/ TURNS OUT TO BE BULLSHIT.
It was NOT the DHS according to representatives at Asymmetric, it was but a single media reporter whom they had worked with in the past requesting a private security escort. Here is the update from Asymmetric’s Facebook Page:
In response to more inquiry:
“We were recently contacted by a professional investigative journalist that some of our ranks have previously escorted into highly dangerous combat zones. This individual requested that we escort their small group into Ferguson, Missouri to view the ongoing issues for future commentary. We took this individual in and out of the area safely without incident.
We were not hired to work for the state, for the police, to work as peacekeepers, mercenaries, cops for hire, etc. We have done similar personal bodyguard and high risk logistics work with journalists who are interested in reporting from hostile areas all over the world.
We normally do not comment on this side of our work. At suggestion of our client who felt our position was unique, our public message was one of frustration that someone who would typically call upon us to escort them to Baghdad, Kabul, etc. would feel the need to ask us to take them into a suburb of St. Louis, our own wonderful city. It is tragic that things have degenerated to this point. The metro area is our home and we believe the coverage of St. Louis and this incident by major media is fueling the issue unnecessarily for their own benefit.
In our time inside the Ferguson area, we came into ancillary contact with numerous demonstrators and protestors who did not seem to have any commitment to violence or chaos, but only wanted to peacefully have their opinion heard or report on the matters at hand. It seems a few bad actors are being treated as the whole.
We strongly support The US Constitution and have sworn an oath to it. The First Amendment Rights to assemble and speak and print are not limited to only pretty, popular, or mainstream opinions. They are among the most sacred things that are to be protected by Government. A free society is not always a convenient or easy society.
Law and order is important. Rioters and looters should be arrested and prosecuted. They cannot be used an excuse for the Governor to unnecessarily detain or arrest a peaceful press or lawful demonstrators. The Government has a duty to defend those liberties with the same vigor in which they defend private property from theft and destruction.
Our brief venture into the Ferguson area was to make our resources and experience available to help ensure that necessary liberties could be practiced by the press without threat of incidental violence or misguided repression.
We hope the situation resolves soon.”
ST. LOUIS August 20, 2014 Missouri-based private security contractor Asymmetric Solutions, which employs elite former U.S. military special operators, tweeted Tuesday afternoon that the company is deploying a “high threat team in our own city”.
The highly specialized unit should be in place by tomorrow 8/21/14.
Here is a statement from the Asymmetric Facebook page:
“We have staff working to augment an outside security detail of an individual who is visiting the Ferguson, MO area from outside the state. We are not working to protect the state, police, individuals who are exercising their right to speak and assemble, or to keep peace in any way.
Normally our security services group is needed only in the most high threat of environments. We are saddened that they are required in the area. This incident is not representative of what is normally a peaceful and harmonious city full of good people. We hope it is resolved quickly.
We’ve been to Baghdad, Kabul, KL, Peshwar, etc. never would have thought we would deploy a high threat team in out own backyard.”
Asymmetric Solutions is capable of deploying highly qualified former special operations personnel with a variety of subject matter expertise, anywhere on the globe in a moments notice.
Our teams are capable of providing:
High Threat Personnel or Site Security
When responding via Twitter to a request for information, a spokesperson said “we cannot professionally hand out that information, regardless of client or location. We put a security team of former SOF personnel into the STL area at the request of a client.”
Initial sourceFor decades the consensus among wildlife biologists was that black bears and people can’t coexist. North Carolina’s largest mountain city is proving them wrong.
To hear locals in Asheville tell it, and to read numbers being amassed by a five-year study, bears are as common as buskers on Haywood Street, and usually less annoying.
As riverside factories became art studios and Asheville earned a name for craft beer, bears began moving in or passing through the city. They were part of a bear population boom since the state created sanctuaries to boost their low numbers four decades ago.
An estimated 20,000 bears now roam more than half of North Carolina’s land area.
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A study that is unique in the Southeast will help biologists understand how bears live, move about and disperse from Asheville. The study, which involves trapping and tracking of radio-collared animals, is at its midway point.
Researchers have already learned this: Bears can thrive in a city of 90,000 people.
Official records log growing numbers of people-bear “interactions” in mountain counties, such as complaints of bears raiding trash cans.
But personal contacts during the study revealed another side: City residents are warily tolerant of the powerful omnivores that can reach 500 pounds, sport inch-long claws and sprint at 35 mph.
Caroline York was afraid of bears before moving from Texas with her husband, Matthew, three years ago. Within days, her heart pounded as a bear and cubs walked across her driveway in heavily wooded Webb Cove.
Now, after a learning curve that involved keeping a safe distance and taking special care around mothers with cubs, the family cherishes their bears.
“You have to have a little fear,” York said, “but it’s really all about respect.”
Bears, in turn, “seem to be very tolerant of people,” said biologist Mike Carraway of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, which partnered with N.C. State University on the study. “We generally think of that as a bad thing, but it could be the opposite. It could be we’re habituated in both ways.”
That’s important to know because more of us are likely to be living among bears, as many already do with white-tailed deer and coyotes. Bear range is creeping from the state’s western and eastern ends toward the populous center. Breeding bears already live within two counties of Mecklenburg.
Black bears aren’t considered predators and normally shy away from humans, but neither are they cuddly pets frolicking in the rhododendron. Bears attacked and killed a 6-year-old girl in Tennessee in 2006 and a woman in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2000.
Asheville tourists aren’t likely to see a bear this spring, yet it’s possible. The best bear habitat is in the woodsy northeastern and southwestern parts of the city, but the 76 bears collared since 2014 have wandered throughout the city.
“They’re everywhere,” said Nick Gould, the N.C. State doctoral student who is the project lead for the $600,000 bear study.
The study findings will help biologists predict where bears will establish new territories in the state. Experts hope people elsewhere will follow Asheville’s cues: Take caution among bears, especially mamas with cubs, and keep out of reach the trash cans and bird feeders that lure bears toward homes.
Hunting, which killed 3,000 bears last year, is the state’s main tool to keep their numbers in check.
“There will eventually be a tolerance level where we have to take action,” such as by increased hunting, said Brad Howard, the wildlife commission’s private lands coordinator. “Our goal across the state is a stable bear population.”
A bear sanctuary
A key question the bear study hopes to answer is whether bears are being attracted to Asheville, and stay there, or produce cubs that wander away from sanctuary in the city.
In either case, bears find a good living there. Hunting is off limits in town, and spreading development around its perimeter has effectively created more safe habitat.
“For all practical purposes, within the city limits of Asheville has become a bear sanctuary,” Carraway said.
Biologists believe that bears travel through the city to reach dense forest on its outskirts, including Asheville’s 22,000-acre watershed to the northeast and national forest to the southwest. The Blue Ridge Parkway runs between those areas.
Bears follow natural corridors, such as the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, but they’ve also become adept at navigating busy interstates. Two bears have spent winters denned in a small thicket between Interstate 240 and two ramps to the highway.
While most bear studies focus on public lands such as national forests, the Asheville research is taking place entirely on private property.
“We live with bears on a daily basis,” said Carol Boone, who lives on Town Mountain 4 miles from downtown and allowed researchers to install a trap at her home. “It’s something you think about when you go outside your home, or even open the garage doors.”
Boone has a collection of memories, mostly warm, from her decade on the mountain:
The bear that ate three bags of cat food and drank a bottle of beer from a refrigerator in the caretaker’s cottage. Two bears on their backs, chugging nectar from her hummingbird feeders (she’s taken them down). A bear pushing a roll-out garbage container out of her garage like a shopping cart. Bears splashing in her goldfish ponds and playfully swinging each other in a hammock.
New to the house, she discovered that bears would climb the steps to her deck. One decided to come through her screened doors as she rushed to close them, then pawed at her open kitchen windows. “Nobody died,” she said quietly.
Boone, who lives part of the year in Montana, said she’s not afraid of black bears because they’re not grizzlies. She finds them inquisitive and endlessly inventive in finding food. Birthday cake and doughnuts lured a bear into a researcher’s trap at her house two years ago.
“People have gotten used to bears in their environment, and the bears have gotten used to us,” she said. “As long as you pay them their due, you can get along.”
Her neighbors have similar stories, but Boone knows of no mishaps. “It says something about the people, and the bears too,” she said.
Bear cubs and dogs
Early settlers routinely killed bears, as they did wolves and mountain lions, to protect their families, crops and livestock. By the early 1900s, bears were found only in the state’s remotest mountains and coastal swamps.
Their numbers began rebounding in the 1970s, when the state created sanctuaries, mostly on national forests, where bears could not be hunted and their young could disperse.
As the population boomed, so did the “interactions” with people, as the wildlife agency terms bear complaints and sightings. The Wildlife Resources Commission logged 465 complaints about bears in 12 western counties, including Buncombe, in 2013. The number plunged to 272 in 2014, when a heavy mast crop limited bears’ scavenging for food.
More than half of North Carolina’s bears live in the coastal plain, where wildlife refuges and cropland produce males weighing more than 800 pounds. But those counties have fewer people and generate far fewer complaints.
Bear encounters that go awry in and around Asheville often involve the volatile mix of mother bears, cubs, excited dogs and owners who try to save their dogs, biologists say.
A state survey in 2005 hinted that a growing familiarity with bears in the Asheville area would challenge the old consensus that bears can’t live among people. People got smarter about bears, it found, and alarm turned to caution.
When native Tom Noblett took part in a bear study at Mount Pisgah, southwest of the city, in the 1980s, he said, “we weren’t seeing any bears around Asheville at the time.”
Last year, when bear researchers placed a trap on his property east of Asheville, “we caught six bears basically in my front yard.”
Noblett lives in a log cabin beside a rushing stream on 50 acres below Rice Knob, just below the Blue Ridge Parkway northeast of Asheville. Bears are as much part of his life as a dark night sky.
“Some people are scared to death of bears,” he said. “Others seem to enjoy having them around, and that seems to be the majority opinion.”
The goodwill can go too far – one of Noblett’s neighbors fed a loaf of bread a day to bears, a foolhardy practice that makes the animals quickly associate people with food.
“The big day for bears is Wednesday,” he said. “Trash day.”Poll finds twice as many saying they’ll vote tactically
The above poll by BMG for the Electoral Reform Society, is striking because when exactly the same question was asked by the same pollster before GE2015 just 9% said they were ready to vote tactically.
The total of 200% seems high but could reflect partly UKIP not standing in many seats and also the situation facing the LDs is nothing like it was at the end of the coalition. Far fewer LAB voters were ready to switch to the yellows to stop the blues which made it easier for Cameron’s Tories to pick up 27 LD held seats.
Quite what the impact will be like this time is hard to guess like all matters in relation to this election. It is in these final few days that many decisions like his will be made. We might see vote swapping which is what I did last time and will do so on Thursday. My vote will be in Twickenham while I’ll be voting in Bedford according to what the person there wants me to do.
My overall sense is that there’s no great desire out there to give TMay the landslide that looked likely just a couple of weeks ago.
Tactical voting looks set to take place in all sorts of ways. In the 56 seats the SNP is defending in Scotland the unionist party that looks best able to win might benefit. Elsewhere it could the the standard anti-CON or anti LAB factors that determine the votes.
Lots of polls due out overnight and I’ll put a thread up later.
Mike Smithson
Follow @MSmithsonPB
TweetNew York City photographer Efrain John Gonzalez says he's "not a professional photographer, just OCD." He describes his work as telling "a story of people finding the path to their souls, finding their bliss with piercings, branding, cuttings, tattoos, latex, implants, leather, and a whole lot of radical sex and sexuality." Throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, while working various jobs (including driving a cab), Gonzalez took thousands of photographs of New York's seedier nightlife, at bars, restaurants, and sex clubs in the Meatpacking District and the West Village.
"These were abandoned areas," he told us, "There was nothing there. You could photograph it and make interesting pictures. All the places and people and organizations that I used to photograph are all gone, so what I'm trying to do now is find some way to use, and make public, these images." Gothamist is proud to publish a small selection of Gonzalez' photographs, alongside his reminiscences of what he photographed. For more images (many NSFW), and books for sale, visit his website.Credit Photo
Tomcee
credit Lulzbot/Alphobjects
Credit Nick Wilson
Slic3r
MendelMax is a new Open Source RepRap 3d printer designed by Maxbots and based on the Prusa Mendel. It is a true reprap, using printed brackets, but instead of using threaded rod for the structural elements it uses inexpensive aluminum extrusions. This gives a huge increase in rigidity for a minimal extra cost (Self sourcing will cost about $80 more than a standard Prusa when purchased from the recommended suppliers). The required extrusions are available world wide from a variety of suppliers.MendelMax costs a bit more, weighs a good bit more, but the frame is much physically tougher, and looks 500 times sexier. I have yet to see any parts for MendelMax go on Ebay/Emakershop, but Lulzbot is selling the parts. They also took a pretty cool pic showing how strong the frame is.One other must share image, what happens when you mix Makerslide, & MendelMaxWINNING!Printrbot is a a smaller scale Reprap design, very similar in size to the Emaker Huxley, but the standard "Mendel" design has been dropped in favor of a very simplified base frame and a floating y stage (The Y axis is supported only in the middle). The core team of Printrbot where nice enough to let me have the files pre-release (I think release will be in late December) to help out in the Openscad conversion.As you can see, I did not get the chance to finish the bot over the weekend, so I hate to review it. Plan is to have review of the bot after I get a 1st print (should be later this week (I hope)). But I can tell you they are for real, and the parts will go together into a functional machine. How well it prints in the real world, and whether the Axis's are as robust as Prusa, I will fill you in on that later.For the last 3 weeks now my go to Gcode generation program has been Slic3r (Found very few things it does not slice, but if it does not I just use Sfact). This slicing engine is a complete ground up rethink of Gcode generation, and honestly I have never had anything that is this easy to set up. Only things you need to give it are nozzle & filament diameter, packing density (if your E step/mm is dead on this should be 1), your requested extrusion width/height, and your set up. Generating Gcode is about 10 times faster on big things and 2-3 times faster on small things. It's definitely worth checking out.A serving of beef chislic at a restaurant in Sioux Falls, SD.
Chislic (or sometimes chislick) is a traditional dish of cubed red meat most commonly localized to the state of South Dakota (United States) and it is the official state food or “nosh”.
Etymology [ edit ]
The word chislic is arguably derived from the Turkic word of shashlik or shashlyk, which is cubed meat or liver grilled on a skewer with tomatoes, peppers, and onions. The origin of the word shashlyk is rooted in shish kebab, the Turkish and Arabic words for skewered meats.[1] According to some sources, chislic was possibly introduced into the United States by John Hoellwarth, who immigrated from Crimea to Hutchinson County, South Dakota in the 1870s. However, it is highly debated as to why other German and Russian immigrants aren’t credited for bringing Chislic to the state of South Dakota.[2]
Preparation [ edit ]
Chislic is traditionally prepared very simply. Cubed mutton or lamb (or alternately beef or venison), generally no bigger than a half-inch, are cooked in a deep fryer. Generally, chislic is served medium-rare to medium—i.e. warm pink inside. After cooking, while the meat cools on a paper towel, it is flavored with garlic salt, or other varieties of seasoned salts. The cubes are eaten hot, using toothpicks.
Regional differences [ edit ]
Chislic may vary slightly in preparation from region to region.
In the southeastern South Dakota communities of Freeman and Menno chislic is generally prepared deep-fried in restaurants. The meat is almost invariably lamb, but wild game chislic, such as venison, may appear when in season. It is traditionally seasoned with garlic salt and eaten with soda crackers. The small, blunt skewer - or sometimes a toothpick – usually holds five or six cubes of meat. The same dish is also served grilled when prepared for large groups, such as gatherings at community organization fund-raisers or baseball games during the Fourth of July. The grilled variety is sometimes cooked with a brushing of barbecue sauce.
Annually in Freeman, at the heart of the Chislic Circle, the South Dakota Chislic Festival is held. Chislic can be found in Scotland, as well as other southeastern South Dakota towns. The local bars sometimes hold chislic feasts where more than a dozen sticks of chislic may be consumed.[citation needed]
In the Brookings area, chislic is deep-fried mutton. In more recent times, it has been common to prepare chislic using lamb meat, which is typically more tender and approachable in flavor. In keeping with tradition, it is seasoned with garlic salt and served with soda crackers and bleu cheese dressing (hot sauce optional). It is thought of as casual bar, café, or family-function fare and is usually eaten using toothpicks and paired with beer. Other innovations or variations of chislic are specified, i.e. "beef chislic."
In the Pierre area, chislic is a marinated meat, dipped in batter and deep-fat fried. It has been offered as an alternative to Rocky Mountain oysters. The marinades vary and are often family secrets.
In the Sioux Falls area, chislic, usually deep fried mutton, is a popular bar food to accompany cold beer. It is often served with garlic salt, soda crackers and hot sauce.[3]
In the Watertown area, chislic, usually deep fried beef, is found on most appetizer menus. Most often served with a side of Ranch dressing.
In the Redfield area, chislic is deep fried beef with a side of toast and Lawry's Seasoned Salt.
In Omaha, former South Dakota residents have developed a southern variation using a combination of taco seasoning, cayenne pepper and garlic. The southern style dish has been served in appetizer form at the Annual Omaha Police Officers Association Gala since 2014.The Blue Jays were fresh off signing Josh Donaldson and Russell Martin in the offseason and everything looked to be rolling for the team when Marcus Stroman tore his left ACL in a bunting drill during Spring Training. It was just another routine play but a rare freak incident sidelined Marcus Stroman for majority of the season. A legendary comeback later and Marcus Stroman was starting Game 2 of the ALDS against the Rangers to a packed crowd at the Rogers Centre.
What happened in between usually would be irrelevant at this point but it speaks volumes to who exactly the young kid wearing number 6 is. Marcus Stroman was coming off an impressive rookie season where he pitched to a 3.29 ERA and was looking to further prove himself for a full season. Expectations were certainly running high and Marcus Stroman was prepared to be a big part of a potential run at the postseason after over 20 years.
It’s not often where a pitcher returns 6 months after tearing his ACL. In fact it is very rare.
As much as Marcus Stroman wanted to be competing with his teammates and cheering them on, he took to Duke University to heal and start his rehab treatments. It was a long and enduring process but Stroman was ready to do whatever it took to make it back for September baseball. He pushed himself to new heights throughout this process and even after all the long tiring days of rehab, he was able to complete his degree.
So what did this tell us about Marcus Stroman? Stroman recognized that coming back from such an injury would be a challenge, but one that he was willing to fight for. Stroman finally got a taste of the majors and was the Jays best pitcher at the end of his rookie season. His attitude was more than just winning but something more fierce and hesitant. Stroman wanted to prove to everyone that he was the real deal. It was the legendary comeback that made his performance at the end of the season even sweeter.
Chris Archer has been tremendous ever since he became a full time starter in 2013 for the Tampa Bay Rays. In fact ever since, Archer has improved his innings pitched and strikeouts, to numbers that are as good as some of the top pitchers in the majors. Archer doesn’t have a huge arsenal of pitches like Stroman but his hard slider compliments his fastball and changeup and leads to lot of his strikeouts. How hard is his slider? Well last season, Archer’s slider went from an average of 87mph in April to 89mph in June. Against righties, Archer likes to throw his slider away and outside to batters and he does the exact opposite against lefties, low and inside.
You see Marcus Stroman and Chris Archer both come from good roots in life. At the age of 20, Marcus Stroman lost his grandmother who was his biggest supporter. She would try and come to every game he played in high school and when she fought her battle with cancer Stroman was making his final push to make it to the majors. Unfortunately, when his big day came and Stroman made his major league debut she wasn’t watching him in the stands but rather from above. As part of his pregame ritual, Stroman looks up to the sky and says a special prayer remembering his grandma. He will be the very first to tell you everything he has been through has been for her. The New York native has a chip on his shoulder standing tall at 5’8 but always plays with heart and relishes the opportunity to be the best.
Chris Archer follows a very similar story that has the very same meaning with regards to what Chris Archer has become today. At the age of 2, Archer’s grandparents became his adoptive parents. While this could take a lot of getting used to for Archer and the people around him, Archer credits his success to many people including his grandfather Ron who was also his junior varsity coach but ultimately the man who he calls his dad. Of course his grandparents didn’t have to take on such a responsibility but they did and Archer says he owes the world to them. “I feel like I was given this blessing. Now it’s my turn to pass that on.” Archer is a clubhouse leader who has been brought up to lead by example and care for others. Archer is recognized for his initiative to make a long lasting impact in the local community as well.
Marcus Stroman and Chris Archer also share something else quite significant. After being traded by the Cleveland Indians, Chris Archer was brought in as a rookie behind one the top aces in baseball, David Price. The two developed a very fun and loving relationship in Tampa Bay. David Price is recognized around the league for being a competitor and a true professional who respects the game. As David Price was a mentor to Chris Archer, Archer has recently followed his footsteps to become a mentor to the young pitching staff in Tampa Bay. “Hopefully, I can be that influence on some younger guys who aren’t even here yet. … He’s everything I wanted to be” Archer said. In 2015, when the Blue Jays acquired David Price at the trade deadline, Marcus Stroman not only made his miraculous comeback, but lead the rotation with David Price. Stroman felt the same way as Archer did about Price calling him a big brother and someone who was the “glue that keeps everyone going.”
It is worth noting that for many years it seemed like the Rays had developed an interesting system that allowed them to compete year after year. After developing James Shields through their system, James Shields became the ace of their rotation and had his best years with Tampa Bay before being traded. It was in this trade, where the Rays acquired Will Myers and Jake Odorrizi. Myers had a promising stint is his first season with the Rays but dealt with injury issues that ultimately landed him in San Diego two years later. That trade brought back Steven Souza Jr. whom along with Odorrizi are both impact players going into the 2016 season. David Price’s career with Tampa Bay is well documented including an appearance in the 2008 ALCS. When it was all said and done, the Rays who weren’t going to be competing for the AL East title, had an opportunity to trade Price with two years left on his contract and a chance to get a good haul of prospects in return and so they did. Drew Smyly who was also a part of that deal is another big impact player going into this season. That is not to suggest that the Rays will trade Archer, but the Rays continue to develop and build the strongest rotations in baseball and with pitching always being in high demand you never know if Rays will be contenders or sellers at the deadline.
Chris Archer and Marcus Stroman are great friends themselves away from the game of baseball. While they might be the rising stars who compete for the same title, Stroman and Archer have been known for exchanging Snapchats over their stories mocking each other to hit the gym and train hard early in the mornings.
In fact, the two are arguably the best social media personalities in the MLB. Marcus Stroman who lives by the motto Height Doesn’t Measure Heart has been a true inspiration to baseball fans worldwide and fans got to see exactly his ACL comeback first hand. Along with that Marcus Stroman often shares his passion for hip hop music in his car rides to the gym or the ball park. Archer on the other hand takes a different approach to his social media using a more intelligent and wise way to connect with his fans that is still interactive. He shares funny insight about his teammates and even shares a couple good books to read here and there. It was Archer who beat out Stroman to win the 2015 Social Media Personality Award.
When these two young kids are on their game they can be virtually unstoppable. Chris Archer made a very strong case for CY Young last season at the age of 26. In fact, Archer became the first pitcher to have three straight starts with double-digit strikeouts and no walks in the last 100 years. With a great strikeout to walk ratio and a ERA just above 3 Chris Archer has become the face of a rotation that continues to be one of the most underrated in the majors. Going into the 2016 season, Chris Archer feels like the Rays are just as capable to contend as anyone else. Despite losing a couple of their strong arms in their bullpen, the Rays have certainly improved offensively with the addition of power hitting outfielder Corey Dickerson. The Rays can be the real underdog team if their rotation stays healthy and if Archer continues to pitch like an CY Young candidate, the Rays will be giving the big dogs of the AL East a run for their money.
Marcus Stroman is entering the 2016 season as the ace of the Blue Jays rotation. After a great end to the 2015 season that featured a very impressive postseason, Marcus Stroman is looking to build on his success. With the Jays losing David Price to free agency in the offseason, the Jays rotation may not look as strong on paper but don’t tell this to Marcus Stroman. A full season of Marcus Stroman to go along with the best lineup in baseball and lock down defence means the Blue Jays are poised for another run at the World Series. In fact the all time great, Pedro Martinez went as far as to say that Stroman reminded him of a younger Pedro, but one who has the potential to be even better.
Chris Archer has had the Blue Jays number his whole career but what happens when these two young studs faceoff? Well let’s just say the season opener on April 3rd is going to be something to watch.
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ADAM VIRANI
APRIL 3RD, 2016
AdvertisementsSince July 2011, the US Treasury and State Departments have repeatedly stated that the Iranian regime allows al Qaeda to maintain a key facilitation network on its soil. This formerly clandestine network is the result of a specific “agreement” between the Iranian government and al Qaeda’s leadership.
On July 19, the State Department once again pointed to the relationship. “Since at least 2009,” State’s Country Reports on Terrorism 2016 reads, “Iran has allowed AQ facilitators to operate a core facilitation pipeline through the country, enabling AQ to move funds and fighters to South Asia and Syria.”
Iran also “remained unwilling to bring to justice senior al-Qa’ida (AQ) members it continued to detain and has refused to publicly identify the members in its custody,” Foggy Bottom said, echoing language found in previous reports.
In its terrorism reports for 2015 and 2014, the State Department implied that al Qaeda’s Iran-based network was a thing of the past, saying the Iranian government “previously allowed AQ facilitators to operate.” But Country Reports on Terrorism 2016, released last week, subtly revised that language.
It is often assumed that the two sides can’t cooperate because of theological differences. However, the relationship has been repeatedly documented by official sources, such as the 9/11 Commission, US courts, intelligence agencies and various others. At times, al Qaeda itself has conceded that there is a level of collusion, despite the group’s blistering anti-Iranian rhetoric. A key al Qaeda defector offered his own explanation of the arrangement in a newsletter published by the Islamic State. After the Islamic State and al Qaeda became bitter rivals, the so-called caliphate even accused al Qaeda of prohibiting terrorist attacks inside Iran.
A document presumably authored by Osama bin Laden in 2007 refers to Iran as al Qaeda’s “main artery for funds, personnel, and communication.” That same letter referred to the “hostages” held by Iran, meaning those al Qaeda figures who were held in some form of detention and not allowed to freely operate. Bin Laden was not against attacking Iran in principle; he simply did not think the costs of such action were worth it.
Iran’s relationship with al Qaeda has survived for years, despite numerous disagreements and conflicts between the two. For instance, one file recovered in bin Laden’s Abbottabad lair shows that he was troubled by Iran’s attempt to expand across the Middle East and he conceived of a plan to combat the Shiite jihadists’ growing footprint. Al Qaeda has also kidnapped Iranian diplomats in order force hostage exchanges. Several high-level al Qaeda leaders were reportedly released as part of one such exchange in 2015, although their status beforehand inside Iran was murky.
Most importantly, the two sides are clearly at odds in Syria and Yemen, where they have fought each other and affiliated proxies for several years.
Yet, throughout all of this, Iran has allowed al Qaeda to maintain a key facilitation hub.
In July 2016, for instance, the US Treasury Department sanctioned three senior al Qaeda leaders “located in Iran.” One of them, Faisal Jassim Mohammed Al Amri Al Khalidi (a.k.a. Abu Hamza al Khalidi), has served as al Qaeda’s “Military Commission Chief” — meaning he was one of the most important figures in the group’s international network. Al Khalidi was identified in Osama bin Laden’s files as part of a “new generation” of leadership al Qaeda groomed to replace their fallen comrades. As Treasury’s July 2016 designations made clear, some of al Qaeda’s most important men continued to operate inside Iran. [See FDD’s Long War Journal report, Treasury designates 3 senior al Qaeda members in Iran.]
Previous designations and other statements by Treasury and State Departments
The State Department’s Country Reports on Terrorism 2016 is the latest instance in which a branch of the US government has officially recognized al Qaeda’s “core facilitation pipeline” inside Iran, or other dealings between the two. In 2009, Treasury acknowledged that several al Qaeda operatives were living inside Iran. Then, beginning in July 2011, both the Treasury and State Departments repeatedly targeted the Iran-based network, saying it operated as part of a formerly “secret deal” between Iran and al Qaeda’s leadership.
Below is a brief timeline of designations and other official statements by the US government.
Jan. 2009: Treasury designated four al Qaeda members in Iran, including Osama bin Laden’s son Saad, who
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in OgreMain. Therefore we introduce the newoption. Setting this, Ogre core objects – most notably Resource – are not thread-safe. However the DefaultWorkQueuethreaded. This allows the Terrain and MeshLOD Components to be multi-threaded without the locking overhead in OgreMain. See #454 for details
OGRE_USE_STD11
Setting this option, the custom SharedPtr and AtomicScalar types become merely aliases for std::shared_ptr and std::atomic which are both more portable and higher performance alternatives.
Also std::thread is used as the default threading provider.
OGRE_NODE_STORAGE_LEGACY
Traditionally Ogre uses (hash-)maps to store everything by name, including sub-nodes and attached MovableObjects. While this gives you O(log(N)) lookup, iteration performance is terrible as maps are spread all over the memory and thus trash the CPU caches.
However with rendering the most common operation is iterating (for e.g culling) over all children while lookup is only done for changing the state. Furthermore high-frequency lookups can be easily avoided by just storing the returned pointer.
OGRE_NODE_STORAGE_LEGACY=0 will use the cache friendly std::vector instead of maps. Naturally lookup by name becomes O(N) instead of O(log(N)) and the API changes. However this improves rendering performance by about 20% – bringing Ogre 1.x into 2.0 range when only a few nodes need updates. Settingwill use the cache friendlyinstead of maps. Naturally lookup by name becomesinstead ofand the API changes. However this improves rendering performance by about 20% – bringing Ogre 1.x into 2.0 range when only a few nodes need updates. See #440 for details
An outlook on Ogre 1.11
As the amount of possible configurations explodes with each switch we introduce, we are going to only allow one setting with Ogre 1.11 to keep things maintainable.
So rather think about the switches in terms of feature previews and not so much as options.
With Ogre 1.11 we will choose the following configuration:This was the final gift for my exchange. I had been out and I arrive home to see this HUUUUUGE box sitting at my front step. I get crazy excited it's going to be AWESOME!
I manage to get through the door with the box and slowly begin the fun process of opening it. At first I see a "hand written" note from my Santa! Sweet!
Next I start pulling out the packing paper... and I see BUBBLE WRAP! YES! I GOT BUBBLE WRAP! oh... that bubble wrap is protecting something... this is getting even more exciting!
OH AWESOME IT'S A CANVAS PRINT! AWESOME! now wait a second.... who is this person on the print? that's definitely not me... o.O is my Santa just screwing with me? What's going on here?
I message my Santa (his wife, actually, since she's active and he's not so much) and let them know I received the package. After a few messages back and forth I casually ask'soooo who's the guy in the glasses?' and she think I'm joking with her... nope... definitely not my picture. We figure out that I had posted a picture of me and my daughter that was our first picture of me holding her as a comment to somebody else's similar post. I have now arranged to mail that print on to him since it'd be a little odd hanging that picture in my house lol.
The thought was awesome, and the mixup made it that much more fun. Who would think a mistake could be so fun?Sony Corporation will work together with FIFA at the 2014 FIFA World Cup to test coverage in the lasted 4K Ultra HD technology. The footage recorded will be used as promotional tools to showcase the new 4K Ultra HD television and monitor resolution after the event. Sony plans to further expand 4K content in the upcoming year and is using the FIFA World Cup as a way to display the start of it to the world.
Three games, including the final game, will be filmed in 4K Ultra HD. The Sony Corporation will then use that footage towards an Official FIFA film. The film will be released online through FIFA. Shorter presentations will be sent to electronic stores around the world to display on 4K televisions and monitors. At the event, Sony will have booths set up so that fans can view other 4K presentations. Sony’s presence at the 2014 FIFA World Cup will be for promotion as well as a way to test filming sports in 4K Ultra HD.
The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be the testing ground for Sony Corporation products. Sony released a list of the products they plan to test on the field while filming. Those products include the Sony “PMW-F55” CineAlta 4K Digital Cinema Camera, the Sony “PVMX300” 30-inch 4K TRIMASTER™ LCD professional monitor, the Sony “PWS4400” Multi Port AV Storage Unit, and the Sony “MVS7000X” Multi- Format Production Switcher Processor. That list of the latest Sony technology is about to make television and sports as close to true-life as possible. The Sony products on the list can be purchased through premium sound and video stores.
Viewers at home will not notice any difference while watching the coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The footage is meant as a testing ground for future Sony 4K content. Television stations such as the BBC are still testing and looking forward to the higher resolution and frame rate possibilities. It will not be long before viewers at home get to see their favorite sports and television shows at 4K Ultra HD.
Current resolutions offer sharp images and vivid color when viewing at 1080p. Delivering content at 4K further improves on presentation of television content. A higher resolution can reveal details that viewers may not realize they are missing. Clearly seeing player’s expressions can bring further emotion to matches. A sharper image can also mean seeing further into the background than what viewers are used to. Now fans in the stands can look as clear as the close-ups of the players on the field. Even small details such as grass will bring an astonishing realism to television.
With all new technology, there is no forward movement without content. The Sony Corporation and FIFA working together to test coverage of the 2014 World Cup in 4K Ultra HD makes perfect sense. The coverage of the world’s most beloved sport can usher fans into the 4K craze. Sony as a brand, as well as their new technology will be able to reach audiences worldwide. Just as HD television took over the Standard Definition television sets, 4K Ultra HD is looking as though it will become the new standard. The 2014 World Cup is a great place to start letting viewers that the next generation of television has arrived.
By Raul Hernandez
Sources:
FIFA
Goal
T3A grim-faced Curtis, 30, was released on bail pending Justice Lucy McCallum's decision on sentence. He faces the prospect of up to five years in prison. Oliver Curtis departs after a Supreme Court jury found him guilty of insider trading. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer The insider trading trial of the decade pitted former school friends against each other as John Hartman, Curtis' former best friend and the son of wealthy Sydney obstetrician Keith Hartman, appeared as the prosecution's star witness. Curtis opted not to give evidence. But Fairfax Media can now reveal his legal team fought tooth and nail to halt the trial, including an application to have the case shut down on the basis he had no case to answer. Justice McCallum threw out the application, heard in the absence of the jury, on the ninth day of the 12-day trial. The defence had also launched an aborted attempt to have Mr Hartman's evidence withdrawn, a move that would have scuttled the trial.
Ms Jacenko, the founder of public relations agency Sweaty Betty, appeared by her husband's side in court throughout the trial and garnered headlines for posting her courtside fashion on Instagram. Roxy Jacenko leaves the Supreme Court after the guilty verdict was handed down. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Justice McCallum noted Ms Jacenko's profile in the early stages of the trial and suggested to the defence team that she should avoid posting about the trial on social media. But the real drama unfolded inside the courtroom. Mr Hartman told the court he struck an illegal deal with Mr Curtis in 2007, when the pair were in their early 20s, to use inside information Mr Hartman acquired in the course of his job as an equities dealer at Orion Asset Management, a boutique investment firm near Circular Quay. The St Ignatius' College, Riverview, old boys made $1.43 million in a year betting on the share market and spent the proceeds on lavish expenses including a $3000-a-week Bondi apartment, a $60,000 Mini Cooper, a $20,000 Ducati motorbike and a luxury holiday to Whistler and Las Vegas.
The profits made by the men were "crazy, it's sick," Mr Hartman told the court during a three-day stint in the witness box. It was "the easiest money we could have possibly made". Taped telephone calls played in court revealed Curtis placing the trades at the centre of the case. "Good little afternoon," he quipped after making almost $70,000 in a day. On another occasion, the men made a $200,000 profit. In another call, recorded in April 2008, he said of a relatively insignificant trade: "It's f--k all. Made a couple of grand." Mr Hartman said the men covered their tracks using BlackBerry mobile phones to communicate using a technique known as "PIN-to-PIN messaging" because the content of texts were not recorded by telecommunications providers.
But Curtis' legal team had argued their client only received legitimate trading tips from Mr Hartman. They also contended Curtis was simply "generous" and had bought Mr Hartman a motorbike for his birthday rather than paying for it out of the proceeds of their secret deal. Mr Hartman served 15 months behind bars after pleading guilty to a string of insider trading offences, most of which related to his own trading. He also pleaded guilty to a small number of offences relating to tips he passed on to Mr Curtis. The court heard his sentence was reduced after he agreed to give evidence against his former best friend. The defence had attacked his credibility on the basis he was motivated by a desire to save his own skin. Justice Lucy McCallum will hear sentencing submissions from the parties on June 17. Chris Savundra, senior executive leader of markets enforcement at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, said the watchdog welcomed the jury's decision.
"It reinforces ASIC's commitment to pursue complex market misconducts such as these, no matter how long they may take or how vigorously they are defended," Mr Savundra said.Preacher fans are getting very excited about the premiere on Sunday night. So excited, they are shelling out big bucks for a near mint copy of the first edition. On Thursday, May 19th, 2016 a Preacher #1 CGC 9.6 Signature Series (SS) sold for $715. Just two months ago, Preacher #1 CGC 9.6 copies were selling for $400. The signature may increase the value a bit, but not more than 10%. Even if we knock off 10% the Preacher #1 CGC 9.6 would have sold for $643.50.
This is very close to in line with the acceleration of prices over the last week. Prices seem to be going up $25 to $50 every single day with a Preacher #1 CGC 9.6 selling for $625 of May 17th, 2016. How high will the prices go? Slate recently published an article stating that Preacher “deserves to become as big a hit as The Walking Dead.” If this is the case, look for Preacher #1 CGC 9.6 copies to jump to $1500 or more. If you own a Preacher #1 CGC 9.8 you could be sitting on $2500 to $3000.The key questions about the ISM that the CHIPS mission will seek to answer are: What type of electromagnetic radiation is emitted most by local hot gas?
By which physical processes does the hot interstellar gas of the Local Bubble cool?
What is the shape of the Local Bubble?
What is the physical history of the Local Bubble?
How can this knowledge be applied to other hot and diffuse regions in the Universe? Review Questions and Problems The nearest large spiral galaxy to us is the Andromeda Galaxy, which is visible to the naked eye in the constellation of Andromeda. Andromeda is slightly larger than the Milky Way; it is 135,000 light-years in diameter. It has roughly twice the number of stars as the Milky Way, which has around 100 billion stars. Assume that the shape of the galaxy is a simple disk with a thickness of 1,000 light years and that stars are evenly distributed throughout it.
Show all work and for your unit of distance use light-years. Calculate the number of stars per unit volume (called number density) in Andromeda. (HINT: The units of length given are light-years, thus your units of volume should come out to be light-years3 and the units of number density would be # of stars/light-year3) Next, calculate the volume of empty space surrounding every star. (HINT: what would the units of this quantity be and what mathematical operation will give those units given the calculation in part a.?) Finally, calculate the average separation between stars in Andromeda. (HINT: the separation between stars is a linear measurement, not a cubic one). Calculate the volume of interstellar space in an average part of the Galaxy that would hold the same number of gas particles as a coffee mug sitting on your desk on Earth. (HINT: Set up a ratio and let units be your guide) The law of conservation of matter states that matter cannot be created nor destroyed; it can only change form. Explain how the matter in the ISM demonstrates this concept. Name at least two ways the ISM can be heated. What is the Local Bubble, and what are some possibilities for how it formed? Classroom Activities
Why is the sky blue and sunsets red?
In this activity students will experience a demonstration of light scattering that explains the appearance of the sky on Earth, the Sun during sunsets, the blue colors in ISM nebulae, and the reddening of stars viewed through the ISM. Obtain a fishbowl, pitcher, or beaker made of transparent glass or plastic. Fill it with water and place it on an overhead projector. Darken the room as much as possible and turn on the overhead projector lamp. Light should now be passing through the container of water and the silhouetted outlines of it should be visible on the projector screen. Ask students to comment on the appearance of the container itself and on its image on the screen. The water in the container should be clear and the image of it on the projector should be white. Next you will add some drops of whole milk into the water. Before you do, have students predict what will happen to the appearance of the water in the container and the image on the screen. Make sure they write down their predictions and give their reasoning. Then add the drops into the water and stir. Add enough to make the water cloudy but not opaque (3-4 drops). Now ask students to observe the appearance of the water. They should see that the water has taken on a pale blue color. Have them attempt to explain this color. The blue color is a result of the light scattering off fat and protein molecules from the dissolved milk. Students may have a hard time telling that the milky-water is glowing bluish. Place a piece of white poster board behind the fishbowl. The water is more obviously bluish when contrasted with the pure white board. Next draw the students’ attention to the image on the screen. They should now see the water in the container appearing red. Again ask students to explain this. Because much of the bluer wavelengths of light have been scattered out of the light passing through the milky water mostly redder colors have made it through. The color may initially appear more yellowish, but if you slowly add more milk the color will grow more red and dim. This is what happens to light of stars passing through the ISM. Starlight experiences reddening and extinction. Lastly ask students to draw connections between light passing through the milky water and the colors seen in the sky on Earth, sunsets, nebulae, and stars viewed through lots of ISM. Be sure to make clear that the red color seen in nebulae is not reddening. That is red light emitted by the gas itself whereas the blue color is light reflected by nearby stars. The color of the stars themselves is reddened from their normal color due to their light passing through the ISM. What is the difference between Heat and Temperature?
The Heat of a substance is the sum total of the energy of all the particles within it. The Temperature is a measure of the average energy of each particle. The rate of transfer of heat from one substance (or system of particles) to another depends upon the density of the substances. A substance may have a very high temperature but such a low density that it transfers heat very slowly. Have students carry out the following experiments to explore the difference between Heat and Temperature. These experiments may be done at home or in the classroom. Drinking glasses can be used at home instead of glass beakers. Set an oven to 400° F. Allow it time to reach the desired temperature. Use an oven thermometer if you can to verify the temperature inside the oven. Gather several identical ice cubes. Place one ice cube in the oven (in an oven safe glass) and time with a stopwatch how long it takes for the cube to completely melt. Repeat 5 times and calculate the average amount of time it takes an ice cube to melt in an oven at 400° F. Prepare a pot of boiling water on the stovetop. At standard sea level pressure water boils at 212° F (nearly half the temperature of the oven). Carefully drop an ice cube in the boiling water and time how long it takes for the ice cube to completely melt. Repeat 5 times and again calculate the average length of time it takes for an ice cube to melt in water at 212° F. In which substance does the ice cube melt faster? Which substance has a higher temperature? Which substance has a higher density, water or air? Now gather two identical glasses. Fill one with water. Let the two glasses sit side by side for a while. Using a thermometer in each glass measure the temperatures. When the temperature of the water and the air in the empty glass are the same drop an identical ice cube in each at the same time. Time how long it takes for each ice cube to completely melt. Repeat the experiment 5 times and calculate the average times for each glass. In which glass did the ice melt fastest? In which substance is heat flow faster, water or air? Does this make sense given that they were both at the same temperature? Why? If you were an astronaut in a space ship out in the Local Bubble, would your hand heat up if you stuck it outside the spacecraft unprotected? Why or why not? (Ask this question after a classroom discussion about the ISM.) Answers to Problems Orders of Magnitude Key 1a) The volume of the Andromeda galaxy is calculated like a cylinder: area of a circle times the height: V = πr2h
= π x (135,000 light-years/ 2)2 x 1,000 light-years
= 1.43 x 1013 light-years3 The average number density, n, of stars is the total number of stars divided by the total volume.
n = N/V
= 2 x 1011 stars / 1.43 x 1013 light-years3
= 0.014 stars/ light-years3
1b) The volume of empty space surrounding each star is the inverse of the number density.
Volume per star = 1/n = 72 light-years3/star
1c)The average distance between stars is the cube-root of the volume of empty space surrounding each star
d = (1/n)1/3 = 4.2 light-years
2) The number of particles in an empty mug on a desk is about 1,500 Quintillion (1.5 Sextillion = 1.5 x 1021) and the average number density, n, of interstellar space is: n = 1 atom/cm3. To calculate how much volume would contain 1.5 sextillion atoms set up a ratio.
1 atom/cm3 = 1.5 x 1021 atoms/V
Therefore, solving for V gives:
V = 1.5 x 1021 cm3 x (1 km /105 cm)3
= 1.5 x 106 km3 = (114 km)3
Thus, the density in interstellar space is like taking a mug full of air and spreading out that air into a cubic volume that is 114 kilometers (71 miles) on each side. Name Number Power Decillion 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 1033 Nonillion 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 1030 Octillion 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 1027 Septillion 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 1024 Sextillion 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 1021 Quintillion 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 1018 Quadrillion 1 000 000 000 000 000 1015 Trillion 1 000 000 000 000 1012 Billion 1 000 000 000 109 Million 1 000 000 106 Thousand 1 000 103 Hundred 100 102 Ten 10 101 One 1 100 Tenth 0.1 10-1 Hundredth 0.01 10-2 Thousandth 0.001 10-3 Millionth 0.000 001 10-6 Billionth 0.000 000 001 10-9 Trillionth 0.000 000 000 001 10-12 Quadrillionth 0.000 000 000 000 001 10-15 Quintillionth 0.000 000 000 000 000 001 10-18 Sextillionth 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001 10-21 Septillionth 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001 10-24 Octillionth 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001 10-27 Nonillionth 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001 10-30 Decillionth 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001 10-33ARON GUNNARSSON, the Iceland skipper whose long-throw led to England’s downfall in France this summer, is a wanted man again.
Championship rivals Norwich City and Derby County are ready to go toe-to-toe to sign the 27-year-old Cardiff City midfielder, after both clubs agreed to meet the Bluebirds’ £2million valuation.
PA:Press Association 5 Cardiff City's Iceland hero Aron Gunnarsson and AFC Bournemouth's Jordan Green battle for the ball during the pre-season friendly match at the Vitality stadium
Reuters 5 Aron Gunnarsson was a fans' favourite at Euro 2016 in France and enjoyed incredible celebrations with fans after knocking England out of the competition
Tough-tackling Gunarsson has clocked up almost 200 appearances for Cardiff since Malky Mackay signed him from Coventry City in 2011.
The warrior-like midfielder will go down in Cardiff folklore as the man who scored the Welsh club’s historic first-ever Premier League goal, in a 3-2 win against Manchester City in August, 2013.
However Gunnarsson fell out of favour with manager Russell Slade last season and made just 28 appearances – 11 from the bench.
He was absent again as Cardiff kicked off the new season with a goalless draw under new head coach Paul Trollope at Birmingham on Saturday.
Getty Images 5 Aron Gunnarsson's giant throw will be a brilliant addition for any of the clubs trying to sign him in the current summer transfer window
Getty Images 5 The bearded Iceland star is able to turn any throw-in in the opponents half into a virtual corner as he can hurl the ball straight into the box for his team-mates to attack
Getty Images 5 Aron Gunnarsson of Iceland takes a selfie photographs with supporters to celebrate his team's 2-1 win over Austria at Stade de France
A parting of the ways now seems inevitable, with youngster Joe Ralls, Stuart O’Keefe and Peter Whittingham all ahead of Gunnarsson in the pecking order..
That has alerted Rams boss Nigel Pearson and his Canaries’ counterpart Alex Neil, who both believe they could use the inspirational skipper who led Iceland’s incredible march to the Euro quarter-finals this summer.
They are now locking horns as they try to persuade the bearded Viking midfielder to join their promotion push as they battle to make the Premier League.
They believe Gunnarsson’s drive and huge experience will enhance their chances - while his specialist long-throw, which set up Ragnar Sigurdsson’s equaliser against England, is a more-than-useful additional bonus.One US soldier was killed and a further two were wounded in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, according to US military command in Kabul and NATO. According to NATO, the incident occurred in the southern Helmand Province, a traditional stronghold of Taliban militants.
"We are deeply saddened by this loss," said NATO spokesman Brigadier General Wilson A. Shoffner. "Our heartfelt sympathies go out to the families and friends of those involved."
Several Afghan troops were also wounded at the scene when a military helicopter carrying out a medical evacuation experienced "mechanical problems" after being grounded due to a nearby mortar explosion.
"It was not shot down," clarified Colonel Michael Lawhorn, another NATO spokesman with the mission in Afghanistan. Unconfirmed initial reports suggested the helicopter in question was a UH-60 Black Hawk.
According to US media, a group of US special operations troops came under mortar and small-arms fire during a counterterrorism mission and then the helicopter, a medical transport, was hit by mortar fire while it was on the ground.
The past six months in Helmand have featured increasing skirmishes between a resurgent Taliban and security forces. The deputy governor of the restive region warned in December that without further assistance the province could fall to the insurgents.
More than 2,000 US troops have been killed since NATO-led forces invaded Afghanistan in late 2001 following the September 11 attacks. After a protracted conflict that saw the Taliban give way to a democratic government of limited stability, foreign troops largely withdrew from the country in 2014.
Around 12,000 foreign servicemembers remain in the country however, largely in an advisory capacity. In the absence of NATO troops on regular combat missions, the Taliban has begun to reassert itself.
es/msh (AFP, Reuters)Nothing to fear but fear itself?
‘It is not clear that the US economy has suffered much from terrorism, even from the enormity of 9/11’
This article was published before the November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris.
On a long-haul flight recently, I was jerked from the usual concerns over legroom and a power socket by a memory. I recalled the flight I had taken a few weeks after watching the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center collapse on television. It was an eerily quiet journey from London to Cape Town. I was in a state of mortal fear. But despite occasional grim reminders that terrorists can kill, my dread then seems foolish to me now.
Every violent death is an awful thing but there are many other ways to die a violent death, even in a rich country. Each year, one in 8,000 Americans kill themselves — and each year an American citizen has a one in 9,000 chance of dying in a motor vehicle accident, and a one in 20,000 chance of being a victim of murder or manslaughter. Even in 2001, the chance of an American being killed by a terrorist was less than one in 100,000. In more typical years the figure is one in 10 million. For Americans, terrorists are about as dangerous as lightning strikes.
These dry statistics do not diminish the anguish of those who have lost a loved one to a terrorist attack. Terrorism is no trivial thing; but losing a daughter to suicide or a son in a motorcycle accident is not trivial either, and it is something many more people must endure.
There are other costs to terrorism, deftly surveyed in Alan Krueger’s 2007 book, What Makes a Terrorist. In 2003, economists Alberto Abadie and Javier Gardeazabal published an estimate of what Eta’s terrorist campaign — which at the time had killed 800 people — might be doing to the economy of the Basque Country. Abadie and Gardeazabal estimated that the attacks had, over time, reduced the gross domestic product of the region by 10 per cent. A year later, Zvi Eckstein and Daniel Tsiddon applied a different method to a different country — Israel — but produced the same estimate of the costs: GDP down by 10 per cent because of terrorist attacks. If correct, these are very large costs. (Even the suspicion of an attack on a Russian passenger plane over Egypt — still unconfirmed as I write — is damaging the tourism industry in Sharm el-Sheikh.)
But it is less clear that the US economy has suffered much from terrorism, even from the enormity of 9/11. Official estimates were that the attack on Manhattan destroyed more than $13bn of office space and damaged almost $17bn more. Perhaps 75,000-100,000 jobs were lost in the immediate wake of the attack, particularly in travel and tourism. Yet the received wisdom — summarised in a 2005 book, Resilient City — is that New York bounced back rapidly, recovering the obvious economic losses within about a year. Rebuilding physical infrastructure took longer but in a city such as New York, buildings are demolished and replaced all the time. In the interim, people squeezed into tighter spaces, or companies rented space in suddenly empty hotels while things were sorted out. New York adapted.
This is encouraging and should not be entirely surprising. Natural disasters such as earthquakes can do far more damage, and economies recover from them, too. The classic study here is economist George Horwich’s analysis of the impact of the earthquake that devastated Kobe, Japan, in 1995. The earthquake destroyed 100,000 homes and made 300,000 people homeless. Yet 15 months after the disaster, Kobe’s manufacturing output was back to 98 per cent of pre-quake levels.
The recovery was not complete: there was no serious effort to resurrect industries that were already under pressure from foreign competition, such as the plastic shoe business. But many of the industries that were flourishing before the disaster were flourishing again in time.
Perhaps the true impact of terrorism is psychological — the clue is in the name. A few months after 9/11, a small plane flew into the Pirelli Tower in Milan. The news that this was not a terrorist attack provoked widespread relief. That relief (which I shared) is strange. The Pirelli crash killed three people; knowing that the crash was an accident does not make them any less dead. But it makes their deaths less unsettling.
...
There have been attempts to measure the psychological impact of terrorism. One plausible finding, from a team led by psychologist Roxane Cohen Silver, is that 60 per cent of Americans suffered some symptoms of anxiety in the weeks immediately following the 9/11 attacks — but that figure soon ebbed to 30 per cent within two months and 10 per cent within half a year. The attack seems to have had the same effect on the American psyche as it did on the New York economy: a severe but transitory impact.
Despite all the evidence that even the most grotesque acts of terrorism have a transitory effect, it remains a popular tactic. The reason for that is perhaps best summarised in Eric Frank Russell’s 1957 novel, Wasp, about a terrorist. The title refers to the tale of a tiny wasp, armed with a sting it does not even use, causing the deaths of four people. They’re in a car; the driver, agitated by the wasp, crashes and kills them all.
The terrorists’ best hope lies in provoking an overreaction. Too often, they succeed.
Written for and first published at ft.com.Image: Yosemite National Park Facebook
Yosemite National Park raised a few eyebrows this weekend when park officials suggested—using some pretty dubious legal framework—that flying hobby drones in the park is illegal. But the park isn’t the first to try to make up the rules as it goes along: Nearly three years ago, a famous drone pilot was illegally fined and had his property confiscated for flying a drone over the Grand Canyon, in what has become an important free speech issue.
The incident underscores a larger national problem being played out between entrepreneurs, model aircraft enthusiasts, and state, local, and federal governments. People like flying drones, for both leisurely and commercial purposes, and often the most interesting places to fly them are in big cities or pristine nature.
The Federal Aviation Administration isn’t keen to allow drone operators unfettered access to the skies, but doesn’t have the proper legislation or regulations to stop drones from flying under guidance similar to model aircraft. Instead, the FAA tried to finagle existing aircraft regulations to apply to drones, even when they clearly don't.
It's a situation where technology and the hobbies of the people have far outpaced government rules, and, rather than actually legislate or go through the proper channels and procedures to ban or limit drone use, authorities confiscate and fine first, then attempt to apply regulation later.
Long before Raphael Pirker became the first person to be fined by (and to subsequently beat) the FAA, he ran into trouble with rangers at Grand Canyon National Park. In December 2011, the Swiss drone pilot, one of the most well-known in the world, was taking footage of the Grand Canyon using a small, Styrofoam drone.
Park rangers approached him, demanded he ground the drone and that he delete any footage he took. Pirker turned over his drone’s memory card, but only after rangers threatened to obtain a search warrant to seize it, according to a citation report. Pirker was fined $325 and issued a ticket for violating a federal code that prohibits “delivery or retrieving a person or object by parachute, helicopter, or other airborne means, except in emergencies involving public safety or serious property loss, or pursuant to the terms and conditions of a permit.”
What's happened to that footage, which Pirker planned to blast out to his tens of thousands of YouTube subscribers, is anyone's guess. But it's clear from the citation report that US government officials wanted it deleted to make sure it never hit the internet, where it would "invite additional individuals to replicate these prohibited flight maneuvers within Grand Canyon National Park," according to the citation report.
In short, park management confiscated Pirker's footage, not because it was explicitly illegal, but because authorities were concerned that sharing the footage would inspire more people to fly drones.
An excerpt from the citation report suggests that US District Attorney Patrick Schneider was worried about aerial footage of the Grand Canyon hitting the internet.
Pirker took this footage on the day after his memory card was confiscated, except this time, he flew from a Native American reservation, standing off of Grand Canyon National Park grounds.
The problem with Pirker's incident, and the subsequent drone-prohibiting rule that Yosemite National Park has just announced, is that it's based on a bunch of nonsense, as law professor Greg McNeal explains over at Forbes.
For one, the National Park Service specifically defines “aircraft” as “a device that is used or intended to be used for human flight in the air, including powerless flight.” Then, there’s the “delivery” bit.
Yosemite argues that the drone is delivering the drone. Image: Facebook
“Did the drafters really intend to regulate delivery, where the thing being delivered is the delivery vehicle itself?” McNeal wrote.
But that’s how the park is arguing it: In a Facebook post, the national park wrote that “the drone itself is the object being delivered.” McNeal suggests the argument is “ridiculous.”
Charles Warren, an environmental law attorney at KramerLevin who has studied the statute, said the rule is almost certainly legally invalid.
“Certainly the park service wants to protect the park, but without additional regulation or law, it’s difficult to rely on this and not have it overturned when challenged,” Warren told me. “I don’t see a regulation like this being effective in prohibiting drones. There’s no apparent legal basis for it.”
That’s the sense Pirker got as well. The Swiss native fought the National Parks Service in a series of emails he shared with me after being initially being cited. Months after Pirker was initially ticketed, the Grand Canyon National Park changed its rules to expressly mention that “operated an unmanned aircraft, including radio controlled aircraft, model aircraft, and aircraft operated by first person video is prohibited in Grand Canyon National Park.”
The fact that the park rules were changed after Pirker’s incident, as well as the emails exchanged between Pirker and US District Attorney Patrick Schneider (who was assigned to Pirker's case and initially told the park ranger to seize the footage) suggest that the park knew that, at the time, Pirker violated no regulations.
The emails and initial citation also show a district attorney who admits that Pirker’s property was improperly held as “evidence of a crime,” but who shows reticence to return it because of the possibility that it would encourage others to fly in national parks—an implication that pretty clearly becomes a free speech issue.
After handing over the SD card and leaving the park, Pirker started emailing Phillips and Schneider in an attempt to get his memory card back. In one email, Schneider says that if Pirker returned to the United States to fight the $325 ticket, he would face a possible conviction subject to six months in jail, a $5,000 fine, and would also consider trying to charge Pirker with disorderly conduct and lying to a park ranger, who Schneider says warned him a
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ival Grab’s Fundraising Values It at $6 Billion (W.S.J)
It’s a Vasectomy Party! Snips, Chips, and Dips With Your Closest Friends (W.S.J)Former senator Richard Lugar offered a scathing critique on Tuesday of President Trump's foreign policy. (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP)
WASHINGTON — Former U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar, who personifies the measured approach to U.S. foreign policy, on Tuesday offered his first comprehensive critique of President Donald Trump’s forays into world affairs.
It wasn’t pretty.
The Indiana Republican, during a lecture hosted by the Foreign Policy Association, called Trump’s foreign policy goals “simplistic, prosaic and reactive," according to prepared remarks.
They are characteristic of “a selfish, inward-looking nation that is being motivated by fear, not a great superpower with capacity to shape global affairs.”
Lugar, who represented Indiana in the Senate for 36 years, was the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a leading proponent of an active role for the U.S. in foreign affairs.
Conversely, Trump’s campaign was based on his pledge to put “America first” in all aspects of his administration, including foreign affairs. He questioned the U.S. role in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and had rocky early conversations with the leaders of longtime allies.
LAWMAKERS: No sanctuary campuses in Indiana
HARSH WORKING CONDITIONS:The unexpected abuse of Indy's ambulance workers — and what’s being done about it
Lugar said U.S. leadership has been key to global stability since World War II and said the rejection of that role by Trump and some of his aides would have dangerous results.
“It is my contention today that if a strong and comprehensive American leadership is withdrawn from the global stage, broader efforts at conflict prevention will fail,” he said. “The people of the United States and most countries of the world will become poorer and will have to endure more frequent conflict.”
He criticized Trump’s proposal to build a wall along the southern border and to make large cuts to the budget of the State Department.
Trump’s decision to attack Syria with cruise missiles was a complete reversal of his position against military involvement during the campaign, Lugar points out. He cautions against relying too much on military force to achieve foreign policy goals.
“We cannot bomb our way to security,” Lugar said.
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Lugar said U.S. involvement in world affairs is a “heroic tradition.”
“But it has to be maintained, “ Lugar concluded. “Once it is gone, it is very difficult to retrieve. Other power structures will occupy the void, and many of them are not sympathetic to American values and interests.”
Read or Share this story: http://indy.st/2oq9VCxPixar’s “Finding Dory” has crossed $1 billion at the global box office to become the fifth highest-grossing animated film of all time.
The film is Pixar’s second billion-dollar grossing release, joining “Toy Story 3,” and the 12th Walt Disney release to hit that mark. It is also the fourth film by Disney to reach that milestone in the past 12 months, joining “Captain America: Civil War,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” and “Zootopia.” “The Jungle Book” fell just short, earning $966.2 million globally.
“Finding Dory” is the year’s highest-grossing domestic release with $485 million. It earned an additional $517 million internationally. The sequel to 2003’s “Finding Nemo” brought back original cast members Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks, and earned strong critical reviews. It follows Dory, a Pacific blue tang with short-term memory loss, as she tries to reunite with her family.
Disney is on a roll. The company owns Marvel and Lucasfilm, in addition to Pixar, giving it the rights to popular franchises such as “Star Wars” and “The Avengers.” The studio is first in domestic market share, commanding nearly 25% of box office revenues. The company has had a few flops, chief among them “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” which earned $300 million, but cost $177 million to produce along with tens of millions in marketing expenses.alcoholbob said: This is due to CDPR's decision to force double buffering in 1.0.7 in full screen mode (it was always the cause in borderless fullscreen mode) Click to expand...
alcoholbob said: This caused Xbox One to go from 30fps to 20fps in CPU bottlenecked areas like Novigrad, and also the PC version now is locked at 40fps when framerate drops below 60fps refresh rate. Click to expand...
alcoholbob said: game no longer scales with additional GPUs with any sort of vsync to prevent screen tearing Click to expand...
Shatterbrain said: Deleting all config files to reset to default does nothing either, btw. Click to expand...
so much wtf:unless you want screen tearing, i suggest you keep it on (for most people anyways, unless you can maintain constant 60fps+), you guys are in the 1-3%... ie: nobody cares about your problems ;pA. no double-buffer means the system has to wait to render each scene before displaying it... you don't want that... horrible flicker and performance...B. you do mean borderless windowed mode.A. uh no, double-buffering implementations are not done via cpu these days... not since... 2003...B. consoles just suck. ps4 has a 7870 ghz in it, pretty much... which is what i have in this pc... and if i dip to 25fps in some scenes (high settings), it means consoles will dip to 20 (not sure if they have a settings option, most console games don't)... which might explain it... they need to be running on low/medium to get 30 fps constant.C. it doesn't lock fps at 40, that seems to be an SLI issue. currently, SLI is supposedly'supported' but many users report no fps gain, or even loss. something with kepler gpus? no idea, i'd never buy nvidia...is broken (fixed it for you).this just makes no sense, according to your previous statements:single buffer: both fps above and below refresh will cause stuttering effect, since display has to wait for current buffer to be drawn. this is 1990s stuff...double-buffer, fps above refresh no need for vsync. fps below refresh, tearing without vsync.triple-buffering, introduces extra input+video lag, and is inferior to current double-buffered (page flipping) techniques (although, it may smooth out hiccups of 1 extra frame, at the mentioned cost). technically it's the same as the page flipped method (modern implementations anyways), shouldn't add lag, but it does for some reason... ask game devs why that is, no idea. maybe it's just not supported that well by gpus/drivers, and in that case triple-buffer implementation probably use the copy method.----no, this is most likely due to your SLI setup... may want to search for some threads in that regard. some people have it working, others don't.as for OP's 970... well, those have issues too... even in other games (i've browsed forums)... blame nvidia...if you're using steam cloud, it will put them back. you have to turn cloud sync off, delete them, load game to create defaults, exit, then re-enable cloud sync.save games are more of a problem, you have to clear steam's offline cache.vdf file, etc... or it will keep putting them back... honestly, steam cloud sync is annoying :\TORONTO—From bumps and bruises to amputations and even death, data suggests elevators in Canada are proving increasingly dangerous. In the past six years, six people have been killed and 1,225 people have been injured, including 69 permanently, in elevator mishaps in Ontario — which accounts for close to half of Canada’s elevators — according to the Technical Standards and Safety Authority, which regulates the devices in the province.
Data indicates that many elevator mishaps in Ontario relate to levelling issues: when an elevator fails to stop flush to the floor. ( Chris Young / The Canadian Press )
The TSSA data shows the number of incidents more than doubled between 2011 and 2016, rising at an average rate of about 14 per cent a year. Serious injuries have been increasing annually by eight per cent. To be sure, the thousands of residential and office elevators in service are generally safe, and deaths and serious injuries related to their use are relatively rare. Still, data obtained by The Canadian Press paints a disturbing picture of what can go wrong when people use a device most take for granted. Many mishaps, data indicates, relate to levelling issues: when an elevator fails to stop flush with the floor despite TSSA stipulations that elevators should display “stopping accuracy.”
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“Out of level: Lady cracked her toes when she tripped into elevator,” one TSSA investigation report states. “Member of public watched four people within 15 minutes trip,” states another. “Lady tripped going in elevator; broken nose, broken thumb,” according to another. The authority identifies numerous causes for the problems, including shoddy maintenance and failure to follow the rules. However, the bulk of incidents — 75 per cent — are blamed on “user behaviour.” “The most prevalent occurrences are related to doors, either by impact when entering or exiting the elevator or while trying to prevent elevator doors from closing,” the TSSA says in its annual report. “Factors such as distracted users are identified as primary causes for such occurrences.” Whatever the reasons, some incidents might be categorized as truly terrifying. In March 2015, an 86-year-old Ottawa man had his legs amputated after a faulty elevator crushed them in a seniors’ co-op building. He died a short while later. “Man got legs pinned between car and hall sill, amputation of legs,” the report states. What caused the mishap was never clear, the TSSA said.
Other incidents range from toddlers getting fingers and hands trapped, and electrical fires erupting, to devices that drop and stop suddenly and unexplained losses of critical hydraulic oil. “Day-care: Five children on a tethered nylon strap. Two got in elevator, three outside elevator. People rescued them. No injuries,” one report states. “Man with dog tried to kick dog leash into elevator and caught foot between doors and fell broke his arm.”
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In another case, an elderly woman got into the elevator at her seniors’ residence. “(She) was in there for 20 hours before they found her,” according to the report. Sometimes, parts aren’t secured properly: “Position-indicator panel in the car came loose and swung down and hit tenant in the face; cut to face.” Or: “Ceiling fell on passengers; little girl got a goose egg, and mother two-centimetre cut on finger.” Electrical fires originating in circuit and controller boards are not unusual, the reports show. “Bottom right side of controller had flames that melted wires,” one report states. Between 2008 and 2016, TSSA inspectors examined 2,942 occurrences across Ontario. Given that some incidents go unreported — potentially in violation of regulations — the number is likely higher. Still, the odds of being killed are 800 times higher in a car — 35 times higher in an airplane — than in an elevator, according to the TSSA. That might come as cold comfort to those hurt in elevators or the thousands of Canadians trapped in one every year due to a malfunction. Sometimes, reports show, vandalism gets the blame. “Someone tampered with controller; beer sprayed over it causing it to short out and caused contaminated parts,” one inspection report notes. Other recorded incidents stray into the bizarre or even comical: “Male leaving elevator tripped while carrying pies, hit the hall wall; various body parts sore,” and “Valet retrieving car left it in gear. When he got out, it crashed into door. It bent and came off track.”These people are disgusting
You knew right wingers were digging frantically for something to smear Khizr Khan with, right? It’s what they do. They’d never let this father of a Muslim war hero get away with criticizing their god emperor Donald Trump, and if you’ve paid attention to how they do these smear jobs you probably expected them to try to paint Khan as a secret radical Islamic agent. I know I certainly did.
And sure enough, here it is, from the website of Walid Shoebat — one of those far right “anti-jihad” nutcases who has actually weaseled his way into numerous TV appearances as a “terrorism expert.”
What The Media Is Not Telling You About The Muslim Who Attacked Donald Trump: He Is A Muslim Brotherhood Agent Who Wants To Advance Sharia Law And Bring Muslims Into The United States | Walid Shoebat
That’s the illustration they’re using for this ludicrous post above, juxtaposing a photo of Khan with a Muslim Brotherhood logo. Subtle.
I won’t bother quoting from this mess. Again, if you know how these people work you already know what you’ll find — Khan once wrote a paper on shariah, and that’s all it takes. They’re off, smearing Khizr Khan as a Muslim Brotherhood “plant” working with the Clinton campaign to convert the whole country to radical Islam. In this weird right wing fantasy, Khan’s son — who was killed in Iraq warning fellow US soldiers away from an exploding vehicle — was also a secret Muslim agent who died before he could stage a jihad attack.
I wish I were just kidding, but that’s actually what the post says. This post is credited to “Ted,” by the way, who I believe is Walid’s even crazier son Theodore.
You can expect this line of attack to be all over the right wing blogs and media in a few hours, and don’t be surprised if Trump or one of his cronies uses it soon.
A white supremacist who’s been retweeted by Donald Trump and linked to Donald Trump Jr. is already pushing this ugly line of attack:
One of Trump’s white supremacist followers is already pushing Walid Shoebat’s vile smear https://t.co/2t3PAshaKE pic.twitter.com/MKVcpWx3Wa — Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) July 31, 2016
Right wing Twitter is already going wild over the post at Walid Shoebat’s site.
And there it is. Donald Trump crony @RogerJStoneJr is the first to retweet the ugly Walid Shoebat smear.
Mr. Khan more than an aggrieved father of a Muslim son- he’s Muslim Brotherhood agent helping Hillary https://t.co/mJuUYw60nK — Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) August 1, 2016
And now, Fox Business anchor Lou Dobbs is also pushing the Shoebat smear, linking to Trump crony Roger Stone’s tweet calling Clinton aide Huma Abedin a “radical Muslim.”WE DON'T know where to begin with the latest mess that has ensnared Sen. Roland W. Burris (D-Ill.). No, "ensnared" isn't the right word. That would imply that he's blameless for his troubles, which isn't the case. Phone conversations taped by federal prosecutors that were released May 26 between Mr. Burris and the brother of then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich belie the senator's repeated assertions that there was no quid pro quo for his appointment to the seat vacated by President Obama.
Robert Blagojevich called Mr. Burris on Nov. 13 to talk about raising money for the governor. But it was Mr. Burris who started the conversation by saying, "I, I know you're calling telling me that you're gonna make me king of the world...." Throughout the conversation, Mr. Burris was very concerned about the appearance of his raising money for Mr. Blagojevich's reelection while seeking to be considered for the Senate seat. Yet, that didn't stop him from trying to figure out ways to get around it.
Mr. Burris suggested hiding behind his lawyer: "I might be able to do this in the name of Tim Wright." He suggested obscuring his involvement by linking into one of 18 upcoming events. "Maybe I can join in on one of those events, too," he said. "What, what, do you have any going with the people that I know?" At the end of the call, Mr. Burris reassured Mr. Blagojevich: "I will personally do something, okay."
He never followed through. Then again, he didn't have to. The governor was arrested Dec. 9 in part because of his apparent efforts to auction the Senate appointment to the highest bidder.
Mr. Burris was tapped by Mr. Blagojevich on Dec. 30. Ever since, Mr. Burris's entanglements with the disgraced ex-governor have been revealed in a political striptease that continues to embarrass the people of Illinois. In January, Mr. Burris said, "There was certainly no pay-to-play involved because I don't have no money." In February, he admitted that he did try to raise money for Mr. Blagojevich. Now we have the audiotapes of him trying to pay to play without looking like it.
We warned that anyone who accepted the appointment from Mr. Blagojevich to fill Mr. Obama's Senate seat would be suspect. With each passing month, Mr. Burris proves us right. He proves why the power to fill Senate vacancies should rest with voters at the ballot box in a special election. And he proves why he should resign.So I think by now you have gotten the picture that we love living in Mexico. It resonates with our souls. It matches with our spirits.
We were ‘supposed’ to be all the way to Ecuador by now but Mexico gripped our hearts from the start and we have no desire to make “home base” anywhere else.
So, plans for the future for us include gaining residency in Mexico (no not changing our citizenship—yet!) and possible adopting again. We had a breakthrough in the tedious process of residency when Paul connected with a lawyer who is part of a location independent family here in Mexico who gave us some invaluable tips.
Apparently there is one immigration office that give residency to retirees. That office is at the border in Laredo, TX. In order to be considered ‘retired’ for the purposes of residency you have to want to live in Mexico but not have any job here (thus not taking jobs away from Mexicans). WOO HOO! That’s us!!
So, suddenly a plan started to form since we were already planning to be traveling through Laredo (to San Antonio) for our next visa run in November. We have documents to gather and a few more questions to be answered (do the kids get residency automatically as well?) and then we are on our way north to TX next month. If all goes well we will be returning to San Miguel de Allende with some supplies that re hard to come by down here and new residency papers!
We will then have to go to the immigration office here in SMA and file the papers and wait for them to process and produce our Mexican Residency cards (approx 1 month).
This is so exciting to us and we are praying that it isn’t “too good to be true’!
If this all works according to plan then we will have our residency cards by the first of the year. Once we have our residency cards we can apply at the DIF office (Mexican Social Services) to adopt. They match our desires with a child in an orphanage. Apparently (we will find out if this is true later), Mexican citizens and residents are permitted to adopt FOR FREE since the child will be staying in Mexico and being raised in their home country.
Again praying hard that it isn’t “too good to be true’!!
Were are obviously excited for all these possibilities! We will keep you posted as we move though the steps and learn more.
We are still planning to leave SMA on Dec. 10th. It will take us about 4 days to get over to the Yucatan and we plan to spend 10 days surrounding Christmas in a beach house we rented on the coast NW of Merida. After the first of the year we will be traveling down the Gulf Coast of Yucatan and possibly into Belize (for a short visit).
We are also looking forward to attending the Worldschooling Summit in Merida in April.
So that’s the latest from the Kortmans!
Safe and Happy Travels to You All!I want to test a React website from a device on my local network. It works on other PCs but not on my phone.
Do you guys have any ideas what might cause this? Here's how my config file looks:
const webpack = require('webpack'); const path = require('path'); module.exports = { entry: { mainFeedPage: [ 'webpack/hot/only-dev-server', './src/mainFeedPage.js' ], venues: [ 'webpack/hot/only-dev-server', './src/venues.js' ], artists: [ 'webpack/hot/only-dev-server', './src/artists.js' ] }, output: { path: path.resolve(__dirname, 'public'), filename: 'js/[name].js', publicPath: '/public/' }, devServer: { inline:true, port: 4000, hot: true, colors: true, progress: true, host: '0.0.0.0' }, module: { loaders: [ { test: /\.jsx?$/, exclude: /node_modules/, loaders: ['react-hot', 'babel?presets[]=react,presets[]=es2015' ] } ] }, plugins: [ new webpack.HotModuleReplacementPlugin(), new webpack.NoErrorsPlugin(), new webpack.optimize.CommonsChunkPlugin({ // Export bundles for each entry and one for code they share name: "shared", filename: "js/shared.js", chunks: ["mainFeedPage", "venues"] }) ], resolve: { modulesDirectories: ['node_modules','src', 'components','stores'], extensions: ['', '.js', '.scss'], root: [path.join(__dirname, './src')], } };
UPDATE Tried this, but couldn't get it to work: https://github.com/gaearon/react-hot-loader/issues/107#issuecomment-85712166A lot has been written about The Astronauts' use of photogrammetry technology to create Ethan Carter's environments. Their artists take thousands of photos of an object, like a rock or a bridge, then feed it into software that turns it into a minutely detailed 3D model. The results are remarkable, but what about the game itself? I've seen an early build in action—roughly the first hour of the game—and it has some interesting ideas to go alongside those handsome visuals.
You are Paul Prospero, a private detective with supernatural powers. When you'sense' parts of a crime scene, whether it's a pool of blood, a body part, or something more innocuous like a rock, shimmering portals will appear and reveal clues and past events that you then piece together to solve the mystery. The Astronauts say they trust players, and clues won't be obvious. You'll actually have to do some legwork to find them, then connect them to the rest of the scene.
The setting is Red Creek Valley, a vast stretch of countryside in the midwest of the United States. In my demo I see Prospero explore a misty wood, before emerging into the sunlight of a vibrant, forested valley. The dense, natural-looking foliage is particularly good, swaying realistically in the wind. It's an open world, so anything you see in the distance can be explored, and the scale is dizzying. Exploration is a big part of the game, and The Astronauts are littering their environments with optional clues and story elements to reward players who take the time to poke around this amazing landscape.
When you find a clue, Prospero won't do the old adventure game thing of announcing what it is. Instead of a VO saying “Hmm, looks like a blood stain”, words will pop up visualising his thought process: fresh, animal, clean ground, few days, accident. His powers can also be used to locate items that will help solve the case. In one example he notices a divot where a rock used to be. He sense it, and a portal shows him its location. When he finds it, it's covered in blood and explains what was used to fracture the skull of a murder victim he'd found earlier. The visions only show a small area of where these objects are, so you'll have to study their immediate surroundings to track them down in-game.
It doesn't feel completely organic, but it's a better approximation of being a detective than most games manage. Once a scene has been investigated, you have to order your clues chronologically to solve the murder. This is done through a menu, which jars a little with how elegant the contextual interaction in the world is, but the demo I saw wasn't even pre-alpha, so I'm sure they'll tweak it. Even so, the progress they've made, especially for a small indie team, is really impressive.
Despite the weird paranormal bits, the game is nicely understated. It's clear the developers are trying to create something slow and thoughtful, and the atmosphere is palpable. They say it's a game to play in the dark with headphones.. The open world means you can explore at your own pace, with no pressure to solve the crimes and advance the story. They've even considered making it so that you can walk from the start of the game to the end without ever solving anything. They want you to take your time and savour the world, but you don't have to if you'd rather just pursue the story.
There are definite hints of Alan Wake in Ethan Carter, with its marriage of idyllic American scenery and the supernatural. But The Astronauts say their biggest inspiration is weird fiction – a subgenre of speculative fiction made famous by H.P. Lovecraft and his dark, bizarre Cthulhu mythos. The game's name, in fact, is inspired by Weird Tales magazine, to which Lovecraft was a frequent contributor, and whose stories' titles used a similar format: The Affair of the Man in Scarlet, The Extraordinary Experiment of Dr. Calgroni, etc. This literary influence extends to the narration, which uses a familiar noir detective-style voiceover, and documents scattered around the environments.
Other facets of Prospero's powers are explored briefly in my demo. One moment sees him wandering through a forest as vicious-looking traps spring up. Each one he senses reveals more pieces of a portal that eventually transports him to what seems to be an alternate dimension. This all relates, somehow, to Ethan Carter, a boy with his own powers whose disappearance brings Prospero to Red Creek. Honestly, I was deeply confused by it all, but I think that's the idea. There's a deep mystery here waiting to be unravelled, and I'm looking forward to finding out more as I explore this beautiful, atmospheric world.The former deputy director of the National Security Agency has taken issue with Oliver Stone’s biopic of one-time NSA employee Edward Snowden.
Speaking to National Public Radio, Chris Inglis, who retired in 2014 after 28 years at the agency, said the film’s narrative “was a gross mischaracterisation of what NSA’s purposes are. And a gross exaggeration of Edward Snowden’s own particular role in that. To the point where you could come away from looking at that movie, saying, ‘Why are 50,000 people at the NSA dead wrong? And one is absolutely correct?’”
An NSA deputy director does feature in the film, played by Patrick Joseph Byrnes, and commissions Snowden to lead an important project in Hawaii.
Snowden review: Oliver Stone turns true thrills into dated Hollywood fodder Read more
Inglis says he and Snowden never met and such a scene is “preposterous … for many reasons”. “That a deputy director would reach down to a contractor – who’s performing an important but relatively low-level function – and ask them to take on a Jason Bourne-like activity? It simply exceeds all propriety.”
Inglis told NPR he was concerned about what viewers would take from the film about the motives of the NSA and its employees, and expressed concern with its billing as “a dramatisation of actual events”.
“Dramatisation to me means you add the occasional exclamation point,” said Inglis. “You bring in a musician to perhaps add some background music. But you don’t tell a story that is fiction.”
Inglis pointed to a scene in which Snowden completes an aptitude test that usually takes five hours in 38 minutes.
“Clearly [he’s] a clever person. But NSA makes a habit of hiring smart people. Extremely smart people. Also principled people. So he was clearly the former; turns out he wasn’t the latter.”
The former deputy director does concede that Snowden’s own motive may not have been wholly self-serving, although it is unclear whether Stone’s film contributed to any reassessment.
“I do see him as a more nuanced character,” Inglis said. “Somewhere, there was an attempt or perhaps an intent on his part to do something noble.”
However, he cast scorn on Snowden’s own suggestion – when the first trailer was released in April – that “[f]or two minutes and 39 seconds, everybody at NSA just stopped working”.
“I don’t think that’s true,” said Inglis. “I think Edward Snowden wants to be important. Who doesn’t? Who doesn’t want to matter?”
Snowden opened in the US a week and a half ago, to mixed reviews and slightly disappointing box office returns, taking $8m on its first weekend of release.Image: Emanuel Maiberg
Here's Motherboard's super simple guide to building your first gaming PC:
Step 1: Have an unreasonable amount of disposable income.
Step 2: Have an unreasonable amount of time to research, shop around, and assemble parts for your computer.
Step 3: Get used to the idea that this is something you're going to have to keep investing time and money in as long as you want to stay at the cutting edge or recommended specifications range for new PC games.
The details, of course, are much more complicated, but that's the gist of what it takes to enter the holy kingdom of PC gaming. If it sounds like a bad deal, I agree, which is why the majority of people are better off with an Xbox One or PlayStation 4, despite why the awfully self-titled "PC Master Race" might tell you.
I know this because I've recently built a new gaming PC, and while I'm very happy with the final product, it was a first-hand lesson as to why the best place to play games is not where most people play games. From picking parts to putting them together, building a PC is too damn hard, even in 2016.
I decided to build my PC now because I finally saved up enough money to afford it, and because Nvidia just released its new GeForce 10 series of video cards, which have been getting great reviews. There's the GeForce GTX 1080, which at $700 is simply the most powerful GPU on the market, and the GeForce GTX 1070, which at $450 is stronger than what was the most powerful GPU prior to the 1080, the Geforce GTX Titan X, but at half the price. Nvidia also recently announced the GeForce GTX 1060, which is even less powerful but only costs $300.
The computer science of what makes a video card great is very complicated, but all the average user should care about is getting the best bang for their buck. I wanted to spend enough money so whatever component I bought lasted for a while and potentially played well with future upgrades, but not too much.
This makes the 1070 a no-brainer, and its release is a good excuse to build a new PC, but I wasn't going to spend time researching other PC parts. PC hardware companies like Intel and Nvidia are always in the process of introducing new chips while phasing out older ones, and doing enough research to say with authority that I got the right CPU at the right time is a full time job.
Luckily, that's someone's job at PC Gamer, which has an excellent, frequently updated high-end build guide. I asked PC Gamer editor Wes Fenlon if that build would do right by my 1070 and he said yes, so that was good enough for me to start putting money down.
You'll notice that parts on that list link out to online stores which often offer the cheapest price you could get from a major retailer in the United States. Sometimes a CPU is cheaper from Amazon, while RAM is cheaper from Newegg, while a power supply is cheaper from Walmart.
Image: Emanuel Maiberg.
I could have saved a significant amount of money bargain hunting, but this was an inconvenience I was happy to avoid for a price. I ordered everything from Amazon because it delivers quickly, allows me to keep track of all shipments in one place, and because I trust it to take care of me if something got damaged in transit. Overall, I paid around an extra $100 to buy everything from one store. Another change I made to the PC Gamer build in the name of convenience is buy one, slightly slower 1TB solid state drive instead of one smaller but faster solid state drive and another smaller, cheaper one. I just didn't want to manage storage across multiple drives. I also got a MasterCase Maker 5 Mid-Tower Case instead of a Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5 because that's what was readily available on Amazon and all PC cases are ugly anyway.
By this point, the process was expensive, but not that frustrating. I ordered the parts on a Wednesday, and by next Monday everything was delivered and ready to build. Overall, I spent just under $2,000, though keep in mind that I already had a monitor, mouse, and keyboard.
Then came the hardest, most nerve-wracking part: building the damn thing. To prepare, I rolled up the carpet (static electricity can damage PC parts), cleared off my desk and pulled my coffee table near so I had a lot of surface area to work with. The only tools I needed were a screwdriver and a laptop open to PC Gamer's How to build a gaming PC: a beginner's guide, which got me through most of the process. There were some things about my build that were different from the guide, like my CPU Corsair Hydro Series H100i water cooling system, which, unlike a standard heatsink, doesn't require applying thermal paste. When I wasn't sure what to do, a little bit of Googling and a lot of time watching YouTube videos of people more experienced than me solved the problem.
One thing is for sure: Online resources from publications like PC Gamer and videos from experienced users are far more helpful than any manual that came with any component.
For example, it would be nice if the instructions on my Intel i7 processor said that it might sound like I'm crushing the delicate pins that connect this $300 piece of equipment to another $250 piece of equipment, but not to worry. It would be nice if the instructions for my MasterCase Maker 5 PC case, which unfold to a single, four-foot long sheet of paper, made it clear that I had to run a SATA cable behind the motherboard to a separate card so the fans could get power, but it didn't. Every part came with its own manual, which sometimes contained conflicting information, and all were badly written.
Image: Emanuel Maiberg.
Let's take for example the manual for my—brace yourself—"ASUS Republic of Gamers Maximus VIII Hero" motherboard. As you can tell by its ridiculous name, this thing is being marketed specifically to people who are building PCs to play games, but there's no easy-to-find "quick setup guide." Instead, there's an inscrutable 160-page manual that didn't help me find out where to plug in anything.
The process of physically building a PC is filled with little frustrations like this, and mistakes can be costly and time consuming. I have big, dumb, sausage fingers, so mounting the motherboard into the case, and screwing in nine (!) tiny screws to keep it in place in a cramped space, in weird angles, where dropping the screwdriver can easily break something expensive—it's just not what I'd call "consumer-friendly."
This is why people buy from Apple. It designs everything from the trackpad to the box the computer comes in, which unfolds neatly to reveal everything you need. Apple reduces friction to the point where even my mom could upgrade the RAM on her iMac, and it can do this because it controls everything that goes in that box.
There isn't a company in the PC space that's been able to corral all the different components manufacturers to deliver a comparable experience.
I could have paid a site like CyberPower or Falcon Northwest for a pre-built PC, but buying parts of equal power from them would have cost me an extra $300-$500 before taxes and shipping. Also, their websites are atrocious, and offer no help in picking parts. It's just not worth it, and why PC gamers always recommend building over buying in the first place.
That's why I recommend Apple products to people who aren't tech savvy. They just work. When I'm pushing a water cooler down on the CPU while twisting its radiator into place and screwing it into place at the same time, it becomes clear that PCs don't just work.
Beginning to end, the whole process of building the computer took me almost five hours, and I had to make two emergency calls to PC Gamer's Fenlon during the process: once when I couldn't figure out why the case fans weren't spinning, and again when the computer didn't recognize an ethernet cable. I was literally bleeding from a cut on my hand by the end of it, which my YouTube guides said was common. I bled for this fucking thing.
Eventually, I got it working, and the PC is awesome. Just Cause 3, which didn't work on my old PC and which runs so poorly on the Xbox One it probably shouldn't have been published there in the first place, runs beautifully.
Image: Emanuel Maiberg.
But getting there was a nightmare. It is by far the most difficult product I've ever bought and put together.
Really, there is no good way to do this.
"There are so many competing products, wading through that stuff to get the ones you think are right
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type="button" class="yotpo-default-button write-question-button write-first-question-button" value="be the first to ask a question"/> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div>Enlarge AP file photo The Supreme Court has struck down Washington's gun ban. Here, a collection of guns confiscated by Washington's local police department is seen. GUN DECISION GUN DECISION LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SECOND AMENDMENT LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SECOND AMENDMENT National Rifle Association: In favor of gun rights Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence: Supports gun control Enlarge By Jason Reed, Reuters Dick Anthony Heller, an armed security guard, sued the District of Columbia after it rejected his application to keep a handgun at his home. WASHINGTON The Supreme Court's historic decision Thursday carving out an individual right to gun ownership immediately cast doubt on gun restrictions nationwide, as firearms-rights advocates prepared to file a new round of lawsuits testing the scope of the ruling. Hours after the momentous 5-4 ruling that struck down a ban on handguns in Washington, D.C., gun rights supporters signaled they will challenge gun restrictions in cities and suburbs across the nation. The majority opinion, written by Justice Antonin Scalia, established for the first time in U.S. history that the Constitution's Second Amendment gives individuals the right to keep guns at home for self-defense. Yet Scalia noted that a person's right to gun ownership is not unlimited. He said it would not likely override bans on concealed weapons; laws that prohibit felons and the mentally ill from possessing firearms; or those that ban firearms in government buildings and schools. Beyond that, the court did not address what types of regulations would survive legal challenges. It did not say, for example, whether people have a right to carry guns in their neighborhoods, or keep them in their cars on the way to and from work. Nevertheless, Thursday's ruling by the conservative-majority court represented a huge breakthrough for gun rights advocates who have long wanted the high court's confirmation that the Second Amendment guarantees individuals — and not just government militias — the right to bear arms. "This is big," said Wayne LaPierre, the National Rifle Association's executive vice president, who cast the ruling as "the opening salvo" in a series of planned legal challenges aimed at ensuring individual gun rights. POLITICS BLOG: Candidates weigh in on decision VIDEO: High court strikes down D.C. gun ban Within days, he said, the NRA will file lawsuits against handgun restrictions in at least six cities: San Francisco, Chicago and the Illinois communities of Wilmette, Evanston, Oak Park and Morton Grove. San Francisco bans guns in public housing. The other five cities ban handgun ownership, with a few exceptions for police and other public safety officials. Wilmette, Ill., officials said Thursday that they would suspend the village's 19-year-old handgun ban until the village council could review the court's ruling. Wilmette counsel Timothy Frenzer said the last time a case was brought under the ordinance was in 2004. In Chicago, which has had a freeze on handgun registrations since 1982, officials vowed to continue enforcing one of the nation's strictest ordinances beyond the D.C. law the high court rejected. "We do expect these legal challenges," said Benna Ruth Solomon, Chicago's deputy corporation counsel. "But we will vigorously defend our ordinance." In announcing the court majority's decision before rows of rapt spectators, Scalia stressed an inherent right of self-defense. The ruling was signed by the court's most conservative justices — Scalia, Chief Justice John Roberts, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito — and vehemently protested by the court's more liberal members — John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. The decision bucked a trend among lower-court judges, who for decades have said the right "to bear arms" related to service in a militia and did not cover individuals. At issue was the not-so-clear language of the Second Amendment: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." In his opinion, Scalia wrote, "The enshrinement of constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy choices off the table. Those include the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home." Scalia noted that "handguns are the most popular weapon chosen by Americans for self-defense in the home, and a complete prohibition of their use is invalid." ON DEADLINE: Latest developments in case D.C. GUN BAN: Read the court's decision The dissenting justices, led by Stevens, scoffed at the majority's historical analysis of the Second Amendment. "There is no indication that (the amendment's drafters) intended to enshrine the common-law right of self-defense in the Constitution," wrote Stevens, who took the rare step of reading from the bench. He listed eight specific grounds on which he believed the majority was wrong. Stevens warned the ruling would launch new judicial involvement in an issue he said should be left to legislators. "I fear that the district's policy choice may well be just the first of an unknown number of dominoes to be knocked off the table," he wrote. Disappointment in D.C. From D.C.'s city hall to the presidential campaign trail, the ruling stirred emotional responses from both sides of the gun debate. A somber D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty said the decision would have consequences for "the entire country." He said that "more handguns in the District of Columbia will only lead to more handgun violence." Fenty said he was directing Police Chief Cathy Lanier to establish new regulations for handgun registration in anticipation of a wave of new gun purchases. "We will continue vigorously enforcing the District's other gun-control laws and are considering other ways to protect … citizens against the scourge of gun violence," Lanier said. The city also bans automatic and semi-automatic weapons; laws that don't appear to be affected by the ruling. A short distance down Pennsylvania Avenue, President Bush issued a statement lauding the "historic" decision as "confirming what has always been clear in the Constitution: The Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear firearms." The Justice Department was "also pleased that the court recognized that, like other constitutional rights, that individual right is 'not unlimited,' " spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said. The presidential candidates also quickly issued statements supporting the court decision. Yet both Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama had to deal with past comments that have put them at odds with gun owners. McCain upbraided Obama for comments the Democrat made during the primary campaign. "Unlike the elitist view that believes Americans cling to guns out of bitterness, today's ruling recognizes that gun ownership is a fundamental right — sacred, just as the right to free speech and assembly," McCain said. Obama said he had "always believed that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to bear arms." However, he added: "I also identify with the need for crime-ravaged communities to save their children from the violence that plagues our streets through common-sense, effective safety measures." The McCain campaign called Obama's position a flip-flop, distributing a long memo that included statements from him and his campaign in which Obama backed some gun-control measures and called the D.C. law constitutional. In the past, however, McCain also has defied the NRA and other gun advocacy groups by lobbying for legislation that would have required background checks for buyers at gun shows. Gun rights is a big issue in several key election states, including West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan. Democrat Al Gore's support of gun control in 2000 was widely seen as a reason he did not win West Virginia, Arkansas or his home state of Tennessee. A broad view of'militia' The debate over gun rights — a topic that, like abortion and capital punishment, ignites passions — has long been waged in politics, public opinion and lower courts. The Supreme Court last considered the reach of the Second Amendment in a 1939 case. It did not rule definitively, but its decision was interpreted by a wide swath of lower-court judges to bar an individual right to guns. Yet the popular notion of a right to arms persisted, as did gun rights advocates' efforts to change the landscape as more conservative jurists took the federal bench. Thursday's case was brought by Dick Heller, a security guard who wanted a handgun in his Washington, D.C., home for self-defense. Heller had been turned down by D.C. officials under the city's 1976 ban on handguns in the home. Breaking with most past lower-court rulings, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last year sided with Heller and definitively declared an individual right to own guns. Judge Laurence Silberman, a Ronald Reagan appointee, wrote the decision. In affirming the D.C. Circuit's ruling, the Scalia majority homed in on key words in the two parts of the Second Amendment: the preface that refers to "a well regulated militia" and the clause "the right of the people to keep and bear arms." One key to his ruling was Scalia's interpretation of a "militia," which traditionally is a unit outside the regular army and that today could be compared with state National Guard units. He said it covered all able-bodied males acting for the common defense. "The conception of the militia at the time of the Second Amendment's ratification," Scalia wrote, "was the body of all citizens capable of military service, who would bring the sorts of lawful weapons that they possessed at home to militia duty." He stressed that people carried arms outside of organized militias. Beyond that, Scalia said, the preface puts no limits on the second clause referring to the right of the people to bear arms. The dissenting justices complained about Scalia's reasoning and the myriad questions left open by the ruling. Stevens rejected the idea that the Second Amendment's drafters wanted to limit legislative "authority to regulate private civilian uses of firearms" or intended to "enshrine the common-law right of self-defense in the Constitution." In a separate dissent, Breyer attacked the majority opinion for its lack of standards and its hurdles for officials trying to fight crime. Breyer noted that handguns are involved in most firearms deaths and injuries in the United States. "I cannot understand how one can take from the elected branches of government the right to decide whether to insist upon a handgun-free urban populace in the city now facing a serious crime problem," he wrote, criticizing the majority for casting uncertainty over what gun regulations would be permissible. Scalia said the high court wasn't providing the last word in the Second Amendment's reach. "Since this case represents this court's first in-depth examination of the Second Amendment, one should not expect it to clarify the entire field," he said. Contributing: Susan Page, David Jackson and Andrea Stone Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read moreThe FBI has taken a Louisiana man into custody in connection with the slaying of his parents who were found mutilated in their West Knox County house.
Joel Michael Guy Jr., 28, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the death of Lisa and Joel Guy Sr.
"Both suffered multiple, vicious stab wounds as well as dismemberment," said Michael MacLean, a major with the Knox County Sheriff's Office.
It's believed Guy came home for Thanksgiving last week and that an argument broke out over money.
MacLean called the crime scene "gruesome" and said remains were found throughout the house. He added that some remains were placed in a homemade acid-based solution, that included bleach and sewer cleaners, in an attempt to get rid of the evidence.
"It would be described as horrific - a very gruesome crime scene," said MacLean, adding that there was no indication why the remains were scattered.
The parents were last seen on Friday. Signs indicate that they did put up a struggle, said MacLean.
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He added that officials believe Guy stayed in the house after the bodies were dismembered.
FBI agents in Baton Rouge, La., arrested Guy about 3:45 p.m. Tuesday in a coordinated effort with Louisiana authorities, according to the FBI.
The Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office is currently holding Guy. He's listed there as a fugitive out of Knox County.
Investigators spent much of Monday going through the couple's Goldenview Lane home near Lovell Road after they were told the mother didn't show up for work. A patrol unit "say some things that didn't look right, so they entered," officials said.
MacLean said authorities with the FBI, KCSO and the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office placed surveillance on Guy during the past few days and apprehended him at his Baton Rouge apartment on Tuesday when he tried to get into his 2006 Hyundai Sonata.
MacLean said Guy, who is a college student in Baton Rouge, hasn't said why he allegedly killed his parents but he needed money and he met with his parents on Thanksgiving to talk about it.
Guy, who does not have a prior criminal record, declined to talk with authorities, MacLean said.
The major said Guy has twin sisters in Maryville and an older sister in Kingsport. The Sheriff's Office spoke with the siblings who told them that Guy didn't give them any indication that anything was wrong.
Authorities are checking on whether there was a life insurance policy he could collect but they don't believe there is.
Officials expect to bring him back to Knox County in the next couple of days.
Neighbors on Goldenview Lane watched outside Monday afternoon and evening as KCSO deputies and investigators went in and out of the crime scene.
"Just horrifying thinking that the quiet neighborhood where everyone waves at each other and willing to help each other, this could happen our street," he said. "It's just hard to believe that could happen."
Nizinski said the street is usually very quiet, and he remembers seeing the Guy's outside walking their dog.
"Everyone just needs to come together and pray for the family," he said. "Everyone that knows them and give support in any way possible.Home sales across the Greater Toronto Area continued sliding into the middle of August, pushing prices into bear-market territory.
Purchases sank 35.6 per cent year-over-year in the first 14 days of August, according to Toronto Real Estate Board data obtained by BNN.
That marked a slight moderation from July, when full-month sales plummeted 40.4 per cent. Meanwhile, new listings fell 10 per cent year-over-year in the first half of August, according to the data released on Wednesday.
The average selling price at mid-month was $731,614, marking a 20-per-cent decline from the April peak of $920,791.
Toronto's housing market has been in the grips of a summer chill in the wake of government intervention after the provincial Liberals implemented a 16-point plan in late April in a bid to improve affordability amid rampant bubble fears early in the year.How I Saved My Own Life?
I am in my 89th Year
because I discovered how to take advantage of vaccine shots and radium treatments I received as a child.. avoiding the downside
This tale of woe had a great ending in spite of the Navy submariners and Air Force members including myself (at 14) who had radium tipped rods inserted into their nasal cavities to treat hearing problems, ear infections, sinus trouble and shrink adenoids. However, decades later serious health problems developed including thyroid cancer and head and neck tumors!
As a result, I went to the Choate School Wallingford, Conn. where an old chemistry book inspired me to release the measurable energy in water to 30 TIMES the energy in ordinary water and save my own life (JohnEllis.com videos)! A child in Chemistry class also proved that! Thousands were treated near the submarine base in New London, Conn. I tried to help these people 40 years ago with my health course and free water machine with this new-found energy (13 International Patents, 332 FDA Tests) but after Vietnam, they didn’t want to help veterans and it continues today as Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) also discovered as late as 1994 … even after ONE MILLION CIVILIAN RADIUM TREATMENTS, there was little interest in helping even Agent Orange victims.
Instead of helping them—like a Jan. 27, 1992 Washington Post article: “10,000 people per day say this water cures anything including cancer!” (we are allowed to quote)—“News and Health” magazines use fringe MDs to sell products that cause cancer! Editor and Health Pioneer: “I feel wonderful taking 70 vitamins a day!” before dying on TV while another overdosed on iodine (both from Toxic Overload!) like the Anabolic Steroid inventor who died at 63 (below)
… which is why I gave up the discus! Your body knows what it wants. Change water properties and your blood (94% water) will reject what the body doesn’t want, like the chart with disease markers, aging Deuterium and ingredients needed to get a lifesaving Immune Reaction! At $300 per bottle, ordinary Deuterium Depleted Water can’t treat wells, Municipal Waste Lagoons or produce HUGE amounts of Hydrogen (A. Szentgyorgy Nobel Prize: “The Fuel of Life!”) Proof: I survived an inadvertent “bad drug” vaccine shot in my 80s (using my protocol) while an acquaintance in his 50s was dead in two days! Watch JohnEllis.com Video’s … famous Oncologist (30 years at Sloan)!
This reminds me of American Red Cross Founder CLARA BARTON: “We nursed you back to health and now we need your help!” but her counterparts made sure help never came!! LIKE THE ABOVE: Google “Nursing Sisters Port Dover” about my grandmother’s heroic sisters in WWI. One sister received only a certificate from King George V (in spite of her “valor in the face of the enemy” she was ineligible to receive the Victoria Cross simply because she was a woman!). As a result, my grandmother moved to Rochester, New York and befriended SUSAN B. ANTHONY and her cousin CLARA BARTON before moving to New Rochelle, New York. Her friend CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT moved around the corner. (Catt’s Congressional speech resulted in the 19th Amendment to the Constitution that gave women the right to vote in 1920.) The book has hundreds of letters and pictures including one of the ambulances my grandmother donated before we entered WWII.
Read MoreFormula E confirmed months of rumors on Friday when the all-electric series announced the cancellation of an upcoming second season race in Moscow. For fans of the young series, it sounds like bad news, especially because there are only 11 races in a season. But it likely won't hurt the series for a few reasons.
The biggest is that, before the cancellation, the series' second season has been fantastic. It's featured some incredible races, wonderful drama, and even some controversy. (And nothing legitimizes a racing series like controversy.) But the best part is that losing Moscow turns an already good championship race into an even greater one.
There's a silver lining here
Axing the race in Russia has all but assured that each of the title competitions (driver and team) will be a two-horse race. And at first glance that seems bad for business. Who wouldn't want multiple competitors in the running going into the final race?
But even before before Moscow was dropped, the Dragon Racing (3rd place) and DS Virgin (4th place) teams needed nothing short of a miracle to erase their respective 53- and 59-point deficits. The same goes for the individual championship: Virgin's Sam Bird sits third in the drivers' standings, and is 44 points back of the lead and 33 behind second place. Shortening the remaining schedule seals those fates. But it also turns the heat way up on the heavyweight fights happening between the top two contenders for each trophy; contenders that all happen to be connected.
In the team championship fight, the Renault e.Dams team absolutely dominated in the first half of the season after winning the season one trophy. Between its two drivers, Renault captured two poles, two wins, and six top-five finishes in the first five races alone. Some of this domination seemed to come from the cars themselves — after forcing the teams to run the same spec car in season one, the series allowed teams to develop their own drivetrains for the second season. Renault reportedly dumped around $10 million into its two-gear solution, including the development of a carbon fiber gearbox that helps make the teams' cars the lightest on the grid.
Renault and Buemi dominated early, but ABT and di Grassi caught back up
But Renault ran into troubles in the last few races, especially in qualifying. Issues with the brake systems forced the team to strip the cars down before the most recent race in Paris so they could diagnose what was going wrong. In the meantime, ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport has pulled within seven points. That should (and likely does) have Renault worried, because ABT has what is probably the second-best car and maybe the fastest driver: Lucas di Grassi.
Renault also owes its good start to driver Sebastian Buemi, who was running away with the points through the first five races, but now finds himself 11 points behind — you guessed it — di Grassi.
The two men now appear destined for a spectacular race to the finish, and the added pressure of one less race makes it all the more interesting — not just because of how close they are in the points, or because they're often the fastest drivers on the track, but because drama has followed both of them in the early going of Formula E.
Buemi lost last season's drivers championship by a single point and, after dominating earlier this season, has seen his luck turn sour once again. The aforementioned brake issues, along with whatever mental games they might have played with his head, have plagued his recent qualifying efforts. That was fine in Buenos Aires, where Buemi started in the back but fought all the way up through the field to finish second — a feat that made for the best race of the season so far. But he finished outside the points in Long Beach after wrecking during a similar charge through the field, and in Paris he settled for a third-place finish after starting eighth.
Meanwhile, di Grassi won both of those last two races. The win in Long Beach moved di Grassi past Buemi into the championship lead, and the win in Paris extended his lead to 11 points. But he's had to fight a fair share of turmoil, too. Di Grassi also fell just shy of last year's drivers championship, losing by just 11 points and finishing third. And while he's won three races this season, he should have won a fourth — he actually took the checkered flag in Mexico City but was disqualified after the race because his car was 1.8kg under the 888kg minimum. Amazingly, that wasn't even the first time di Grassi was stripped of a win — the same thing happened to him last season in Berlin when he was found running a modified front wing.
Both drivers narrowly missed winning the trophy last season
Excellent season aside, Formula E fans shouldn't read too much into losing the race in Russia. Cancellations happen, especially when you're dealing with races on street circuits in city centers. There are so many cooks in the kitchen when it comes to making them happen — series organizers, promoters, representatives for the city, the contractors that build the course, and more — that it's hard to make everyone happy.
This is partly why other open-wheel series like IndyCar and Formula One fill out their schedules with races at purpose-built race tracks. But even established series like those aren't immune to cancellations — IndyCar, for example, recently had to cancel this year's Labor Day race in Boston, and last year the season opener in Brazil was axed at the last minute.
A replacement race would have been welcome, and Formula E was apparently working very hard at securing one. The series' organizers reportedly met a couple of times with Prince Albert II and the Automobile Club de Monaco to try to move the race to Monte Carlo. (Formula E raced there last year in its inaugural season, but a major crash on the first lap wiped out most of the field, resulting in a particularly dull race.)
Unfortunately there was not enough time to pull all the strings required to make something like that happen. For one, other events have apparently left the principality's hotels booked up. But the biggest barrier may be Formula E's own doing — in the name of keeping things green, the series meticulously plans out its calendar in order to keep the shipping routes of the cars and equipment as short as possible between races.
With the news of the Moscow cancellation now behind it, the series heads to Berlin — the site of di Grassi's season one disqualification — for a race on May 21st. After that, the battle between Buemi, di Grassi, and their respective teams will reach its conclusion during two races on July 2nd and 3rd at London's Battersea Park, where the trophies will be waiting.Architects have a unique insight into Donald Trump’s mind. A real estate mogul who amassed his fortune by building gilded towers, hotels, and casinos, many big-name architects have first hand experience with the president-elect’s methods and menace.
To the dismay of its members, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) immediately declared its blanket support for the incoming administration, hours after the results of the elections were confirmed. One of Trump’s few proposals to receive bipartisan support calls for a round of public investment in construction to boost growth and create jobs—including for architects.
“During the campaign, President-elect Trump called for committing at least $500 billion to infrastructure spending over five years. We stand ready to work with him and with the incoming 115th Congress to ensure that investments in schools, hospitals and other public infrastructure continue to be a major priority,” wrote AIA CEO Robert Ivy, committing its 89,000 professional members to work with the president-elect.
Many AIA members rejected Ivy’s agreeable statement on their behalf, calling it “craven,” “spineless” and “feckless”.
Ivy, in defense, said he simply echoed president Obama’s call for acceptance and solidarity with the incoming administrations. But architects and designers argue that such uncritical support for ethically questionable leadership is dangerous. In particular, many rejected Trump’s main architecture priority: Build a wall along the US southern border.
Editors of the Architect’s Newspaper, declared their position in a strongly worded statement:
It is anathema to this editorial board to fathom the positive impact of such a work of infrastructure as the proposed border wall or its attendant detention centers, federal and private prisons, and militarized infrastructure that would be necessary in order to achieve the President-Elect’s stated deportation policy goals. To ignore the role design and designers could play in instituting and perpetuating the inequality inherent in the racist patriarchy Trump’s ideology embodies is irresponsible and reprehensible.
In a powerful, call-to-arms called “Architecture Against Trump,” published on Nov. 12, architect-urbanist Michael Sorkin also rejected AIA’s offer for unconditional cooperation, and encouraged fellow architects to be discerning of the motivations behind Trump’s infrastructure projects.
We do not welcome Donald Trump to the White House and will revile and oppose him until he can conclusively demonstrate that the hideous pronouncements and proposals of his campaign have demonstrably been set aside and in favor of positions and actions that genuinely seek to serve our national cause and purpose—to build a better America rooted in the principles of justice, equity, and human dignity.
Working with architect Michael Murphy, the lead designer for a lynching memorial in Alabama on the statement, Sorkin called for architects to rally against proposals that institutionalize racial discrimination and anti-immigrant priorities.
“We call upon the AIA to stand up for something beyond a place at the table where Trump’s cannibal feast will be served,” he wrote. ”Let us not be complicit in building Trump’s wall but band together to take it down!”© DMV/LAPD/AP This California Department of Motor Vehicles photo, released by the Los Angeles Police Department, shows Henry Gevorgyan The owner of a car that spun out of control at a Los Angeles street race and crashed last week, killing two spectators, was charged on Tuesday with murder although prosecutors do not believe he was behind the wheel at the time of the crash.
Henry Michael Gevorgyan, 21, was also charged with engaging in a motor vehicle speed contest causing injury for his role in the race on Thursday when his Ford Mustang struck three people, killing two, in the suburb of Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley.
"We do not believe he was the driver, but he was involved in participating in the race," said Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for the District Attorney's Office.
The two deaths highlighted the dangers associated with street racing, an underground practice that has for years been a sometimes deadly occurrence on Los Angeles streets.
Gevorgyan turned himself into police on Saturday after they publicly named him and said he was sought in connection with the racing deaths.
He pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and engaging in street racing at a court appearance on Tuesday and was held on bail of just over $2 million, Santiago said. He is due back in court on March 11.
Gevorgyan's attorney, Katherine Hardie, told local television station KTLA on Monday that her client was not the driver of the Mustang.
She pointed to a video taken at the scene that she said showed Gevorgyan standing at the starting line as the two cars took off. The darkly lit video appeared to show a man turning on a flashlight as the two drivers began their race, and according to KTLA, Gevorgyan's attorneys say he is that man and was signaling the start of the contest.
Hardie did not immediately return a call or email seeking comment on Tuesday.
Los Angeles police spokesman Officer Jack Richter said investigators are still seeking other people in connection with the deadly incident. The two spectators who were killed have been identified as Eric Siguenza, 26, and Wilson Thomas Wong, 50. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Eric Walsh)The openSUSE project has released the first development milestone for the next release, version 12.3 of their Linux distribution. The developers point out that the schedule for the final release has not been confirmed yet and will likely be decided at their upcoming developer conference in Prague at the end of this month.
The release includes updates to all major parts of the distribution, incorporating version 3.6.0-rc7 of the Linux kernel, KDE 4.9.1, version
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a top-10 team, before this latest tailslide -- then Minnesota can't get up for anyone and we might as well consider the Gophers cooked. The burden of proof rests with them.
No. 8 Florida at Tennessee, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN
While the Gophers have been trending one way, Tennessee has quietly been heading the other. This happened last year, too. After an otherwise forgettable first two months, the Vols won eight of their last nine and finished 10-6 in SEC play.
It's too early to argue that we're seeing a similar push this season -- the Vols have merely won their past five, over mostly unimpressive opponents -- but after a season spent grinding it out on the offensive end, Tennessee is suddenly scoring with abandon: 88 points in 65 possessions against Kentucky, 82 in 63 on LSU, a 93-point four-OT game at Texas A&M.
None of which is Florida, of course. The Gators are still among the nation's best five teams -- you could make the argument they're the nation's second-best team, based on efficiency performance to date -- and it's more than a little bit tough to imagine UT going off against UF's stingy perimeter defense. But when Florida has been beatable this season -- Arizona, Kansas State, Arkansas, Missouri -- it has been beatable on the road, and usually thanks to late spurts. It is not unfathomable to think the Vols could swing this upset; if Arkansas can do it, why can't Tennessee? And if it happens, that late-season tournament push will be official.
Elsewhere: Don't rub your eyes: No. 19 Memphis is indeed taking its show on the road to Xavier on Tuesday night for a little rare, late-February nonconference action. Relative to its usual A-10 dominance, Xavier is in a down year. But that doesn't make the Cintas Center any easier of a road environment, and it doesn't make this chance to see the Tigers perform outside the comfy, mostly incapable confines of Conference USA any less interesting. Nebraska travels to No. 17 Wisconsin. Auburn plays at Alabama, which should induce some fun stuff from Charles Barkley on Thursday night. And did you ever think Towson, which won just one game last season, would lead George Mason by one game in the CAA standings? I did not.History Edit
Theory and design of aircraft propellers Edit
Lowry[26] quotes a propeller efficiency of about 73.5% at cruise for a Cessna 172. This is derived from his "Bootstrap approach" for analyzing the performance of light general aviation aircraft using fixed pitch or constant speed propellers. The efficiency of the propeller is influenced by the angle of attack (α). This is defined as α = Φ - θ,[27] where θ is the helix angle (the angle between the resultant relative velocity and the blade rotation direction) and Φ is the blade pitch angle. Very small pitch and helix angles give a good performance against resistance but provide little thrust, while larger angles have the opposite effect. The best helix angle is when the blade is acting as a wing producing much more lift than drag. However, 'lift-and-drag' is only one way to express the aerodynamic force on the blades. To explain aircraft and engine performance the same force is expressed slightly differently in terms of thrust and torque[28] since the required output of the propeller is thrust. Thrust and torque are the basis of the definition for the efficiency of the propeller as shown below. The advance ratio of a propeller is similar to the angle of attack of a wing. A propeller's efficiency is determined by[29] η = propulsive power out shaft power in = thrust ⋅ axial speed resistance torque ⋅ rotational speed. {\displaystyle \eta ={\frac {\hbox{propulsive power out}}{\hbox{shaft power in}}}={\frac {{\hbox{thrust}}\cdot {\hbox{axial speed}}}{{\hbox{resistance torque}}\cdot {\hbox{rotational speed}}}}.} Propellers are similar in aerofoil section to a low-drag wing and as such are poor in operation when at other than their optimum angle of attack. Therefore, most propellers use a variable pitch mechanism to alter the blades' pitch angle as engine speed and aircraft velocity are changed. The three-bladed propeller of a light aircraft: the Vans RV-7A A further consideration is the number and the shape of the blades used. Increasing the aspect ratio of the blades reduces drag but the amount of thrust produced depends on blade area, so using high-aspect blades can result in an excessive propeller diameter. A further balance is that using a smaller number of blades reduces interference effects between the blades, but to have sufficient blade area to transmit the available power within a set diameter means a compromise is needed. Increasing the number of blades also decreases the amount of work each blade is required to perform, limiting the local Mach number – a significant performance limit on propellers. The performance of a propeller suffers when transonic flow first appears on the tips of the blades. As the relative air speed at any section of a propeller is a vector sum of the aircraft speed and the tangential speed due to rotation, the flow over the blade tip will reach transonic speed well before the aircraft does. When the airflow over the tip of the blade reaches its critical speed, drag and torque resistance increase rapidly and shock waves form creating a sharp increase in noise. Aircraft with conventional propellers, therefore, do not usually fly faster than Mach 0.6. There have been propeller aircraft which attained up to the Mach 0.8 range, but the low propeller efficiency at this speed makes such applications rare. There have been efforts to develop propellers for aircraft at high subsonic speeds.[30] The 'fix' is similar to that of transonic wing design. The maximum relative velocity is kept as low as possible by careful control of pitch to allow the blades to have large helix angles; thin blade sections are used and the blades are swept back in a scimitar shape (Scimitar propeller); a large number of blades are used to reduce work per blade and so circulation strength; contra-rotation is used. The propellers designed are more efficient than turbo-fans and their cruising speed (Mach 0.7–0.85) is suitable for airliners, but the noise generated is tremendous (see the Antonov An-70 and Tupolev Tu-95 for examples of such a design). Forces acting on a propeller Edit Forces acting on the blades of an aircraft propeller include the following. Some of these forces can be arranged to counteract each other, reducing the overall mechanical stresses imposed.[31][1] Thrust bending Thrust loads on the blades, in reaction to the force pushing the air backwards, act to bend the blades forward. Blades are therefore often raked forwards, such that the outward centrifugal force of rotation acts to bend them backwards, thus balancing out the bending effects. Centrifugal and aerodynamic twisting A centrifugal twisting force is experienced by any asymmetrical spinning object. In the propeller it acts to twist the blades to a fine pitch. The aerodynamic centre of pressure is therefore usually arranged to be slightly forward of its mechanical centreline, creating a twisting moment towards coarse pitch and counteracting the centrifugal moment. However in a high-speed dive the aerodynamic force can change significantly and the moments can become unbalanced. Centrifugal The force felt by the blades acting to pull them away from the hub when turning. It can be arranged to help counteract the thrust bending force, as described above. Torque bending Air resistance acting against the blades, combined with inertial effects causes propeller blades to bend away from the direction of rotation. Vibratory Many types of disturbance set up vibratory forces in blades. These include aerodynamic excitation as the blades pass close to the wing and fuselage. Piston engines introduce torque impulses which may excite vibratory modes of the blades and cause fatigue failures.[32] Torque impulses are not present when driven by a gas turbine engine. Curved propeller blades Edit Since the 1940s, propellers and propfans with swept tips or curved "scimitar-shaped" blades have been studied for use in high-speed applications so as to delay the onset of shockwaves, in similar manner to wing sweepback, where the blade tips approach the speed of sound.
Varying pitch Edit
Counter-rotating propellers Edit
Main article: Counter-rotating propellers Counter-rotating propellers Counter-rotating propellers are sometimes used on twin-engine and multi-engine aircraft with wing-mounted engines. These propellers turn in opposite directions from their counterpart on the other wing to balance out the torque and p-factor effects. They are sometimes referred to as "handed" propellers since there are left hand and right hand versions of each prop. Generally, the propellers on both engines of most conventional twin-engined aircraft spin clockwise (as viewed from the rear of the aircraft). To eliminate the critical engine problem, counter-rotating propellers usually spin "inwards" towards the fuselage – clockwise on the left engine and counter-clockwise on the right – but there are exceptions such as the P-38 Lightning which spun "outwards" away from the fuselage, and the Airbus A400 whose inboard and outboard engines turn in opposite directions even on the same wing.
Contra-rotating propeller Edit
Main article: Contra-rotating propellers Contra-rotating propellers of a modified North American P-51 Mustang fitted with a Rolls-Royce Griffon engine. A contra-rotating propeller or contra-prop places two counter-rotating propellers on concentric drive shafts so that one sits immediately 'downstream' of the other propeller. This provides the benefits of counter-rotating propellers for a single powerplant. The forward propeller provides the majority of the thrust, while the rear propeller also recovers energy lost in the swirling motion of the air in the propeller slipstream. Contra-rotation also increases the ability of a propeller to absorb power from a given engine, without increasing propeller diameter. However the added cost, complexity, weight and noise of the system rarely make it worthwhile and it is only used on high-performance types where ultimate performance is more important than efficiency.
Aircraft fans Edit
Main articles: Propfan and Ducted fan A fan is a propeller with a large number of blades. A fan therefore produces a lot of thrust for a given diameter but the closeness of the blades means that each strongly affects the flow around the others. If the flow is supersonic, this interference can be beneficial if the flow can be compressed through a series of shock waves rather than one. By placing the fan within a shaped duct, specific flow patterns can be created depending on flight speed and engine performance. As air enters the duct, its speed is reduced while its pressure and temperature increase. If the aircraft is at a high subsonic speed this creates two advantages: the air enters the fan at a lower Mach speed; and the higher temperature increases the local speed of sound. While there is a loss in efficiency as the fan is drawing on a smaller area of the free stream and so using less air, this is balanced by the ducted fan retaining efficiency at higher speeds where conventional propeller efficiency would be poor. A ducted fan or propeller also has certain benefits at lower speeds but the duct needs to be shaped in a different manner than one for higher speed flight. More air is taken in and the fan therefore operates at an efficiency equivalent to a larger un-ducted propeller. Noise is also reduced by the ducting and should a blade become detached the duct would help contain the damage. However the duct adds weight, cost, complexity and (to a certain degree) drag.
See also EditPerceived Extinction - Some context
Perl is tired, old, crusty, and ready for the farm where its spirit can run free with the likes of COBOL and Fortran.
Or at least that's what some people outside the community say.
We know this couldn't be farther from the truth: Perl 5 is alive, "Modern Perl" is buzzing on everyone's lips, Moose has brought Perl OO into the 21st century, frameworks like Catalyst and Mojolicious tame monstrous web projects, and ORM libraries like DBIx::Class make database interaction fun again!
A widely held view of Perl in the realm of large-scale software development, however, is that the language and community are dying. Despite the obvious absurdity of this to those of us in the Perl trenches every day, the perception of Perl can and will become self-fulfilling. Perception is -- or at least begets -- reality.
The Future of Perl Documentation:
This is the first of three posts where I will be discussing how a focus on revamping our documentation can help to revitalize and grow the Perl community.
The extinction of Perl? Aren't you taking this a bit far?
If your experiences have been to the contrary, that's great news! You should skip this post and move along to part 2. This first part merely serves as a backdrop on the stage - a bit of context to explain the story that follows. The changes I would like to propose in the following posts can be worth discussing no matter how strong the future of Perl might be.
And while we are framing the argument, allow me to make something perfectly clear. My experiences and frame of reference are primarily with Perl as a tool for large-scale software development. Aristotle Pagaltzis made a comment on the p5p list recently reminding us that there are multiple strata in which Perl is used. It might be safe to say that people still, and increasingly turn to Perl in other strata, such as writing glue code, data munging utilities, one-off sysadmin scripts, and the like. Especially those tasks in which limited experience with large frameworks and best, modern practices are (arguably) lesser concerns.
That being said, let's turn our focus back to large-scale software development.
Where is this coming from?
After 13 years of working with Perl, and the better part of a decade interviewing more developers for Perl jobs than I care to remember, I've noticed an alarming trend. The majority of people I've spoken with either:
haven't had the opportunity to use Perl for large projects due to constraints placed on them by their employers, or haven't taken the opportunity to use Perl for large projects because they view the language as one only suitable for small monolithic scripts and glue code.
If you've ever conducted jobs interviews, you've likely run across countless candidates who fall into the first category. They once wrote a Perl script to convert a CSV file to XML, but "don't get to use Perl much" because every place they've worked has been a /java|ruby|python/c(?:\+\+)?/ shop. For each tool or technology you listed in the job posting, in addition to Perl, the number of these candidates increased exponentially. They assumed $other_listed_tool was the primary development environment, and that Perl was merely required for occasional data munging. In short, Perl is a tool that many use a little, and few use a lot.
The latter category - those who undervalue Perl - is a little harder to spot in the wild if you're working mostly in Perl and hiring for such a position. Who is going to be foolish enough to walk into an interview and deride the development team's chosen tool? It happens, but is rare. We recently had a gentleman come in and take every opportunity to preach the virtues of Ruby and Rails, and denigrate Perl as a "mess" and a "nightmare" for anything but small scripts. This continued after he even admitted, when asked, he has no knowledge of Catalyst, Moose, or other modern tools and best practices. This situation is rare though.
Typically to find these Perl naysayers, you have to travel outside your immediate sphere of influence (unless you're already working in a role other than Perl development). I spent 5 years working for a large university and interviewed a great many students looking for practical experience in various undergrad and graduate student jobs involving work on some large, OO Perl software. In all, I probably talked with between 100 and 150 students over the years (university student jobs have a high turnover).
It did not take long to notice a trend. Not only did the majority of students have no significant experience with Perl (which was expected), they had no desire to learn it and questioned the wisdom of choosing it for anything but the simplest of scripts. My own curiosity had me digging and probing with each of these encounters, especially after the umpteenth time hearing that backend systems should always be written in Java or C++, all modern web software should be done with Ruby and RoR, and other generalities that leave Perl by the wayside.
When pressed why they felt this way, a common reason emerged: Perl is old, and fading fast. These young, budding technologists had come under the impression that few people are making improvements in the Perl ecosystem. They worried it would be foolish to board a sinking ship, and that their time would be better spent with the shiny and trendy (Ruby) and the pillars of "enterprise" (Java and C++).
It was during this time that I started becoming increasingly concerned with the future of Perl, and began to seriously contemplate the power of perception.
Perception begets reality
This is an admittedly subjective and highly experiential take on things, from my own little corner of the world. For every each developer I have seen turn away from Perl, there may be only 1, or as many as 10,000 others. Either way it is a loss, it concerns me, and it should concern you.
Each developer who chooses not to consider Perl as a serious contender for large-scale software development actually results in a bigger loss to the community. Each loss contributes to the perception of a shrinking community, which in turn drives away even more potential Perl users. The perception becomes self-fulfilling.
You might be asking "why should I care?" You use Perl. You work with Perl. Your friends and coworkers use Perl. None of this affects you.
I push back on this assertion and challenge you to examine the bigger picture. A growing negative perception of Perl, or worse, a shrinking a pool of Perl developers has two devastating consequences.
First, with each passing year there will be fewer and fewer experienced and highly qualified developers to hire. Empty seats on your team will remain vacant for longer, or will be filled with less qualified hires.
Second, and more importantly, as the perception of Perl as a tool for large-scale software development diminishes, so too do the number of companies and departments willing to undertake new development with it. The opportunity to write in a great language, all day every day, dries up.
Perhaps I am being too pessimistic, or putting undue weight on my own unique experiences. Perhaps my concerns are founded, but the time it takes for them to be realized will exceed the lifetime of Perl 5, and Perl 6 will renew and reinvigorate the community. I concede that either or both of these may be the case.
Regardless, this is just context for my plan and proposal (part 3). Whether or not you agree with my assessments, I hope you can agree to this:
We need to correct the negative perceptions of Perl and attract more new developers to our community.
What does this have to do with documentation?
I believe there are two general ways to improve peoples' perceptions of Perl:
Active public relations
Passive changes to the appearance of Perl and its community
I see a lot of momentum in the public relations realm. Initiatives like distributing Perl flyers and the Iron Man blogging challenge (and countless others) can have some amazing results. I fully support these worthwhile efforts, and hope to jump in and help in whatever ways I can.
What I see lacking, though, and have begun investing significant time and effort into, is a similar renewal of documentation efforts - or the passive aspect of Perl's reinvigoration. Looking at perldocs and perusing search.cpan.org is how new (and even experienced) Perl programmers spend a sizable chunk of their time. When somebody comes and sees Unix man -style API documentation with little context or explanation, finds few tie-ins between libraries, frameworks and modules, and has difficulties finding the answer to "how do I...." on CPAN, this leaves a bad taste.
We have great documentation; Don't get me wrong. And a wealth of it. But I think we can do better. Much better.
I'll hash out specific ways our current documentation practices might be improved in Part 2, The Power of Shine, and Harnessing the Web (coming soon), and propose a possible new future for Perl and CPAN documentation in Part 3, An Evolution in Perl and CPAN Documentation (coming soon).• ‘I still think success is linked with talent and cohesion’ • Mikel Arteta could be a coach at Arsenal, says Wenger
Arsène Wenger says the climate in Premier League football is “more destabilising than ever before” and, when the Arsenal manager looks around at England’s other big clubs, the point is strongly reinforced.
Premier League: 10 things to look out for this Boxing Day Read more
Louis van Gaal is on the edge at Manchester United, Manuel Pellegrini must contend with the spectre of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, and Chelsea and Liverpool have sacked their managers this season. There will be a further change at Chelsea next summer when the caretaker, Guus Hiddink, is replaced by a permanent appointment.
Wenger and Arsenal are the exception. Wenger has been in situ since 1996 and there have been no dramas surrounding his position for some time. He appears the epitome of stability and that impression extends to his squad.
There was plenty of angst attached to Wenger’s decision to stick with what he had last summer and sign no new outfield players. But he has always felt slow and steady could win this title race and that unsexy values such as continuity, trust and incremental improvement may hold the key.
The approach is looking good before the Boxing Day visit to Southampton. As others have lost their heads Arsenal have generally kept theirs and they are now the favourites for the title, even though they must still visit the Manchester clubs, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.
“The society today always wants something new,” Wenger said. “We have news every half an hour or every minute. You need to announce something new. But let’s not forget that football is as well about cohesion, about stability. That goes a little bit against the demand of what people want but I still think success is linked with talent and cohesion. Cohesion is an under-rated factor in our society because there is always a demand for something new.
“It’s more difficult today because people are better informed. They know more straight away. When a team loses a game everybody has an opinion and the environment is more destabilising than it ever was before. So maybe inside the clubs this kind of cohesion and resistance to that destabilising factor becomes more important.”
Arsenal have been the form club over this calendar year and Wenger noted one of the reasons had been their defensive improvement for which Petr Cech, the goalkeeper who arrived last summer from Chelsea, can take some of the credit.
Wenger talked about why he did not sign another striker, for example, because in his view Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott, Alexis Sánchez and Danny Welbeck each represented a “world-class” pick. Giroud has 12 goals in his past 14 appearances for Arsenal.
Wenger said: “When I looked at the market there were players you had to spend a huge amount of money on and were they better than those four players? I don’t know. Firstly [the demand for new signings] is most of the time to calm anxiety for the fans. It is reassuring to have a big name come in and, secondly, the media put you under pressure to get a new name.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Mikel Arteta could ‘be a coach in the future and certainly here’ at Arsenal, according to Arsène Wenger. Photograph: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
“You need competition and competition exists if the numbers are not too short or not too big. When the number is too big, there is no competition any more and it goes against the interests of the team. If a player is No26 in the squad, he needs three players to die before he has a real chance to play.
“That has an impact when he comes in every morning. He is down and he takes something away from the team. When the number is too short, he thinks: ‘No matter how I am, I play.’ And that is not good as well. I felt we have the right number.”
To further the theme of continuity, Wenger said that Mikel Arteta, the club captain, could “be a coach in the future and certainly here” at Arsenal. Arteta has not played since the 2-1 defeat at West Bromwich Albion on 21 November because of a calf problem that Wenger said was similar to the one the midfielder suffered last season, which eventually needed surgery.
Arteta was ruled out from late November of last year for the rest of the season. It is hoped the 33-year-old, who is out of contract in the summer, could be back in two to three weeks’ time.
“Could he join my coaching staff? I don’t rule that out,” Wenger said. “He has to be a youth-team coach first and, after, come up. At the moment I don’t have a real need although the average age is quite high on my staff! I am happy with all my staff. I think Mikel can be a coach in the future and certainly here.
“He has the same injury. He was close [last season] to be back but every time I took a gamble and put him back in he had a setback. So this time I want to be a little more cautious and get him to play one or two games in the reserves before he comes back and plays.”
Wenger believes that Jamie Vardy, the Leicester City striker, is worth the £30m fee that has been talked about. Leicester are determined not to lose him in January but they could receive bids.
“Without a doubt he is worth that money today,” Wenger said. “If you put that in the context of the financial power today of the top clubs, £30m is not that massive for a striker. He is the best goalscorer in the league and you have many players under him who have been paid much more and who don’t score that number of goals.”Arsenal U18s staged an impressive comeback to eventually beat their Tottenham Hotspur counterparts 5-3 at London Colney today.
The young Gunners found themselves two goals down after just seven minutes after Marcus Edwards and Kaziah Sterling found the net, but Yassin Fortune’s header from Nathan Tella’s cross reduced the deficit.
In an enthralling encounter Edwards then scored his second goal of the game to make it 3-1 to Tottenham, but Arsenal subsequently found the net again from the penalty spot through Reiss Nelson.
Tottenham had goalkeeper Thomas McDermott to thank for preventing Arsenal from inflicting further damage late in the first-half, but he was powerless to prevent the dangerous Tyrell Robinson from scoring a brace in the second period, which swung the game in Arsenal’s favour.
Arsenal weren’t finished there, however, with Edward Nketiah continuing his excellent start to the season as he made it 5-3 late on.
AdvertisementsAn Air National Guard decision to relocate military firefighting systems from North Carolina to Nevada instead of Montana has rankled lawmakers from the Treasure State.
Both Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Rep. Ryan Zinke Ryan Keith ZinkeInterior looking to rely on staffers with less training for park law enforcement: report DOJ investigation into former Interior chief goes to grand jury Overnight Energy: Zinke joins Trump-tied lobbying firm | Senators highlight threat from invasive species | Top Republican calls for Green New Deal vote in House MORE (R-Mont.) have sent letters to Air Force officials asking why the modular airborne fire fighting systems, or MAFFS, were sent to Reno, Nevada, when Montana and surrounding states suffer from more wildfires.
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"I am incredibly disappointed with this decision as it denies a vital wildland fire suppression mission to the State of Montana, where almost three times as many wildland fires occurred last year compared to Nevada," Daines, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, wrote in a letter last week to Air Force Secretary Deborah James.
"The ability to reach a catastrophic forest fire quickly can not only save millions in fire suppression costs, it can save structures, and most importantly, lives," Zinke wrote in an April 6 letter to Air Mobility Command commander Gen. Carlton D. Everhart II.
In his letter, Daines asked the following questions:
— "What metrics and scoring criteria did the Air Force, in consultation with the National Guard, use to determine the 152 Airlift Wing in Reno, Nevada would be the most cost effective and fire suppression effective location for the MAFFs from North Carolina?"
— "The MAFFs located in North Carolina previously deployed multiple fire seasons to Montana. Will the MAFFs, once located in Nevada, still deploy to Montana each summer?"
— "What will the Air Force do to ensure Montana has the aerial fire suppression capabilities it needs to combat devastating wildland fires?"
Currently, eight MAFFs exist in the U.S. and are operated by four C-130 units: the 153rd Airlift Wing of the Wyoming Air National Guard in Cheyenne, Wyo.; the 145th Airlift Wing of the North Carolina Air National Guard in Charlotte, N.C.; the 146th Airlift Wing of the California Air National Guard in Port Hueneme, Calif.; and the 302nd Airlift Wing of the Air Force Reserve at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Washington, Idaho and Montana suffered one of the deadliest and costliest summers of forest fires last year, and moving the systems to Nevada will leave those states without quick air support, according to Zinke, a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
“I look at the decision to move the firefighting systems to a state that ranks dead last in forested land, versus Montana, which has more than 20 million acres of dense forest, and it just doesn't add up,” he told The Hill on Monday.
“The notion that Reno, Nevada, is a better place for the firefighting systems does not add up. Neighboring California already has these systems. To fly from Reno to Washington or Montana will take more than two hours. That could mean the difference between a fire being contained quickly or growing out of control and turning deadly,” he said.Media playback is not supported on this device Zebre end Ulster's winning start in Pro14
Pro14: Zebre v Ulster Zebre (6) 27 Tries: Licata, Bellini, Giammarioli Cons: Canna, Violi 2 Pens: Canna 2 Ulster (13) 23 Tries: Trimble, Cave Cons: Cooney, Cave Pens: Cooney 3
Ulster's winning start to the Pro14 came to an end as Zebre earned a shock but deserved win in Parma.
Andrew Trimble's try helped Ulster lead 7-3 before two John Cooney kicks pushed on the advantage to 13-6 by the break.
However, Zebre were ahead within 13 minutes of the restart after tries from Giovanni Licata and Mattia Bellini.
After Ulster's Wiehahn Herbst had a try disallowed, Renato Giammarioli's intercept score extend Zebre's lead before Darren Cave's late reply.
The victory was another notable result for recently-appointed Zebre coach Michael Bradley after the former Connacht and Edinburgh boss guided the Italians to an away victory over the Southern Kings in South Africa last weekend.
Media playback is not supported on this device Les Kiss says his Ulster's team 'didn't work hard enough' in shock Zebre defeat
Ulster may look back on Herbst's 68th-minute disallowed try, which was followed within three minutes by number eight Giammarioli's length-of-the-field score after he stole Christian Lealiifano's attempted pass to Iain Henderson as the visitors were threatening to score.
Herbst's score, after an apparently well-executed rolling maul, was ruled out as the television match official judged there had been an obstruction as Zebre attempted to defend.
But while Ulster may have a legitimate gripe about that incident, Zebre's energetic display meant their victory was warranted.
The visitors were fortunate to be 13-6 up at the break with Trimble's 16th-minute score the difference between the teams after Carlo Canna's two early penalties for Zebre.
Media playback is not supported on this device Zebre victory 'fully deserved' say BBC Sport NI pundits Stephen Ferris and Andy Ward
The home side were on terms by the 47th minute as Canna's superb crosskick set up flanker Licata to score, with Canna adding the extras.
Exciting young wing Bellini edged Zebre ahead six minutes later after being set up by full-back Matteo Minozzi's superb break and off-load.
After Cooney's third successful penalty cut the margin to 20-16, then came Herbst's disallowed score and while Cave did respond to Giammarioli's interception try with an Ulster touchdown, which he himself converted, the visitors had to be content with a losing bonus point.
Zebre: M Minozzi; G Bisegni, T Boni, T Castello (capt), M Bellini; C Canna, M Violi; A Lovotti, O Fabiani, D Chistolini; D Sisi, G Biagi; G Licata, J Meyer, R Giammarioli.
Replacements: L Luus, S Panico, E Bello, L Krumow, J Sarto, G Palazzani, S Bordoli, G Venditti.
Ulster: C Piutau; A Trimble (capt), D Cave, L Marshall, L Ludik; C Lealiffano, J Cooney; C Black, J Andrew, R Ah You; P Browne, I Henderson; M Rea, S Reidy, J Deysel.
Replacements: A McBurney, A Warwick, W Herbst, K Treadwell, N Timoney, D Shanahan, P Nelson, R Lyttle.USB Type C, Android, and You – A New Standard for All
Android has seen its share of charging ports and data transfer technologies: the original HTC Dream released with a Mini USB port instead of the Micro USB variant that we are so used to today, and along the way there have been some OEMs trying to stir up new things as well. The current Micro USB standard that we so commonly use to charge our phones works perfectly fine for most of us, but with an increasingly connected world full of cloud services and increasingly higher speed internet connections, some don’t transfer data through the old plug-it-in method.
At the same time, wireless charging standards have begun expanding into many popular Android flagships, and most offer the option to incorporate it be it through receiver kits or cases anyway. This seemingly futuristic way of charging up phones means that, for convenience’s sake, messy cables can take a back seat. There’s plenty of businesses integrating wireless charging in lounges and tables, and given the fact that there’s just a few standards going around and merging, you are bound to be covered. But even if you are not, the Micro USB format is so popular that you most likely will be able to borrow a cable if you didn’t bring one, wherever.
This last bit is something that makes huge transitions to a new standard quite of a lousy procedure, and the USB Type C that is approaching like a tempest in the horizon is bound to shake things up. There’s been plenty of buzz surrounding this technology given the news that Apple’s new “Macbook” thinner-than-life computer would feature that for a port – and just that. As ridiculous as having a dongle with multiple cables attached to a laptop might sound, Apple fans will have to get used to their octopus computers if they want to attach more than two things to this laptop.
But what is perhaps more thought-provoking is the that, while Apple grabbed most headlines with their USB-C incursion, Google is up-to-par on the adoption process. Chromebooks are Google’s vision of a laptop, and there’s many great options out there. The OS is typically criticized for its connection-dependent software functionality, but as far as hardware goes, the Chromebook Pixel packs a great punch. And this one comes touting this new USB standard too (and two, at that!), ready to go.
What should be noted here is that the Chromebooks are very much like their Nexus line in Mobile. They represent the pure Google OS experience, as the people at Mountain View intend it to be. Both the Pixel and Nexus devices feature extremely good performance, and they are known to feature hints of software vanguard. The Nexus line is particularly loved at XDA due to its developer-centric nature, as well as the immaculate Android experience the stock software provides. With the Nexus line, Google advanced what developers ought to expect from software. What about hardware?
As far as USB-C goes, it is bound to hit Android, and Google wants it to do so very soon. They recently released a video touting the capabilities of the new standard, and informing us that both Chromebooks and Android will begin proper adoption of the new port really soon. Many tech websites think that their statement regarding the proximity of the release implies that a Google sanctioned device or even a Nexus is coming up with the standard. The latest bit is, in my eyes, a guarantee.
What makes USB Type C so special? The aspect that could impact people’s daily lives the most is the fact that the port is symmetrical, and thus the plug is reversible. I’m willing to bet that most of you have heard of someone – friends, family, you – having a malfunctioning port in their phone. Both USB and Micro USB cables are notoriously known for confusing the casual consumer – sometimes dozy XDA members too – and forcing the plug the wrong way can damage the internal teeth that make the electric magic happen to get your phone ready for the day. Apple’s obsession with reversible ports is a detail consumers already love, so this will be a great selling point for the tech in Android as well.
Then there’s the fact that Type C plugs will come equipped with speeds rivaling the USB 3.1 standard for fast data transfers of up to 10 Gbps. This means it can easily sustain over 800MBps for both read and write without breaking a sweat – if you are into typical XDA shenanigans, this should sound very enticing. This speed is twice what the previous standard, USB 3.0, used to see. I personally owned a Note 3,
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is willing to do anything to get what he wants. This drive might be impressive, but it is not a product of the kind of self-awareness required to gain real self-confidence. A parasitic tick is not necessarily self-confident when he digs into the flesh of a dog; all he knows is that he desperately wants the blood underneath.
A Kingdom Of Psychopaths
In his collected writings entitled “The Undiscovered Self,” Jung theorized according to his work with hundreds of patients that some 10 percent of the human population at any given time has latent psychopathic characteristics, with a much smaller percentage living as full-fledged psychopaths. He surmised that this latent psychopathy will often stay hidden or unconscious for most people, unless their social environment becomes unstable enough to bring out their darker side.
The purges in the early days of communist Russia and Stalinism, for example, brought out the very worst in many normally harmless citizens. Neighbor turned against neighbor, and betrayal for personal gain became the norm. The collectivist hive became an incubator for psychopaths. What Dutton’s psychopathic success theory does not take into account is the fact that America, and much of the world today, is becoming a breeding ground for morally bankrupt people. That is to say, our society is now designed by psychopaths for psychopaths, and only psychopaths could succeed in such an environment. We are all being encouraged to become more psychopathic, more evil, in order to survive and thrive.
The destruction unleashed by the psychopathy of elitism far outweighs any potential benefits that might arise from their uncompromising brand of ingenuity. Anything these freaks of the psyche might accomplish can be accomplished with far less physical and moral cost by those with self-discipline and a love of their fellow man. I would be willing to wager any power monger that if he and his miscreant organizations were to disappear, humanity would leap forward in strides never before seen. Ultimately, those who embrace evil and those who elevate psychopathy are not the key to the betterment of the world; they are obstacles to the betterment of the world.
Alt-Market is an organization designed to help you find like-minded activists and preppers in your local area so that you can network and construct communities for mutual aid and defense. Join Alt-Market.com today and learn what it means to step away from the system and build something better.
To contribute to the growth of the Safe Haven Project, and to help us help others in relocating, or to support the creation of barter networks across the country, visit our donate page here: http://www.alt-market.com/donate• Benitez’s wife had joked that her husband tidies up Mourinho’s ‘messes’ • Chelsea manager: she should take care of her husband’s diet and speak less
José Mourinho found time in his post-match press conference to attack Rafael Benítez, the Real Madrid coach, after Benítez’s wife teased Mourinho by saying he left a mess at the Bernabéu that her husband will have to clean up.
Chelsea 2-2 Barcelona (Chelsea win 4-2 on penalties) | Match report Read more
There is little love lost between Mourinho and Benítez, and the dislike will only fester even further after the Chelsea manager launched a withering riposte following his side’s 4-2 penalty shootout victory over Barcelona in Washington.
Benítez has coached Mourinho’s former teams three times: at Inter, Chelsea, and now Real Madrid, and Montserrat Seara, Benítez’s wife, poked fun at the Portuguese coach in the Galician newspaper La Region.
“Real are the third of José Mourinho’s old teams [that] Rafa has coached,” she joked. “We tidy up his messes! If you think about it, of course you end up crossing paths. There are only a few world-class clubs out there.”
But Mourinho said: “The lady is a bit confused, with all respect. I’m not laughing, because her husband went to Chelsea to replace Roberto Di Matteo and he went to Real Madrid and replaced Carlo Ancelotti.
“The only club where her husband replaced me was at Inter Milan, where in six months he destroyed the best team in Europe at the time.
“And for her also to think about me and to speak about me, I think she needs to occupy her time, and if she takes care of her husband’s diet she will have less time to speak about me.”Hawaiian Airlines (Hawaiian: Hui Mokulele ʻo Hawaiʻi)[5][6] is the flag carrier and the largest airline in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is the tenth-largest commercial airline in the US, and is based in Honolulu, Hawaii.[7][8] The airline operates its main hub at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport on the island of Oahu and a secondary hub out of Kahului Airport on the island of Maui.[2] Hawaiian Airlines operates flights to Asia, American Samoa, Australia, Hawaii, New Zealand, and the United States mainland. Hawaiian Airlines is owned by Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. of which Peter R. Ingram is the current President and Chief Executive Officer.[9]
Hawaiian is the oldest US carrier that has never had a fatal accident or a hull loss throughout its history, and frequently tops the on-time carrier list in the United States, as well as the fewest cancellations, oversales and baggage handling issues.[10][11][12][13] It has also rated as the best carrier serving Hawaii by Travel + Leisure, Zagat and Condé Nast Traveler.[14][15]
History [ edit ]
Early years (1929–1984) [ edit ]
Hawaiian Airlines initiated air service in 1929 as Inter-Island Airways with this Bellanca CH-300, restored in 2009 by Hawaiian to flying condition
Convair 640 turboprop airliner of Hawaiian at Honolulu in 1971. The airline operated Convairs from 1952 until 1974
Inter-Island Airways (Hawaiian: Hui Mokulele Piliʻāina), the forerunner of the airline which is now known as Hawaiian Airlines, was incorporated on January 30, 1929. Inter-Island Airways, a subsidiary of Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company, began operations on October 6, 1929, with a Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker, providing short sightseeing flights over Oʽahu.[16][17] Scheduled service began a month later on November 11 using Sikorsky S-38s with a flight from Honolulu to Hilo, via intermediary stops on Moloka'i and Maui.[18]
On October 1, 1941, the name was changed to Hawaiian Airlines[19] when the company phased out the older Sikorsky S-38 and Sikorsky S-43 flying boats. The first Douglas DC-3s were added to the fleet in August 1941, some examples remaining in operation until final retirement in November 1968.[20]
Modern pressurised equipment was introduced from 1952 in the form of the Convair 340. Further Convair 440s were added in 1959-60, most of the Convairs being converted to turbine propellor power in 1965-67. The last were sold in 1974.[21]
Hawaiian Airlines started to offer jet service in 1966 with the acquisition of Douglas DC-9-10 aircraft, which cut travel times in half on most of its routes.
Hawaiian grows outside Hawaii (1984–1994) [ edit ]
Hawaiian Airlines began to expand its footprint throughout the 1980s, as the result of intense competition on inter-island routes created by the entrance of Mid Pacific Air into the market. In 1985 the company began its first foray outside the inter-island market through charter services to the South Pacific and then throughout the rest of the Pacific using Douglas DC-8 aircraft. Despite the early successes of this new business, Hawaiian was forced to curtail its charter services when the Federal Government banned all DC-8 and B707 aircraft without hush kits from operating within the US. Hawaiian did, however, manage to gain a short exemption for its South Pacific services.
Soon after in early-1985 the company received the first two of its leased Lockheed L-1011 aircraft. One aircraft was used to launch Hawaliian's first scheduled operation out of Hawaii, daily Honolulu-Los Angeles services. This new service put Hawaiian in direct competition with the major US air carriers for the first time in its history.[22] Throughout 1985 and 1986 Hawaiian Airlines added additional L-1011s to its fleet and used them to open up services to other West Coast gateway cities such as San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Las Vegas and Anchorage, which placed Hawaiian in further competition against the major US airlines.[23]
Meanwhile, Hawaiian Airlines also entered the new international markets of Australia and New Zealand in 1986 with one-stop services through Pago Pago International Airport. Hawaiian also aggressively grew its international charter business and pursued military transport contracts. This led to a large growth in the company's revenues and caused its inter-island service's share of revenues to shrink to just about a third of the company's total.[24]
During the 1980s, Hawaiian also embarked on the development and construction of Kapalua Airport on west side of Maui. Opened in 1987 the airport was designed with a 3,000 ft runway, which constrained its ability to handle large aircraft.[25] As a result, when the airport first opened Hawaiian Airlines was the only inter-island carrier with aircraft capable of serving the airport. With its de Havilland Canada DHC-7 Dash 7 turboprops, Hawaiian had a distinct competitive advantage in the Maui market.[22][23]
Heading into the 1990s Hawaiian Airlines faced financial difficulties, racking up millions of dollars in losses throughout the previous three years. Due to the airline's increasingly unprofitable operations it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 1993. During this time the company reduced many of its costs: reorganizing its debt, wrestling concessions from employees, cutting overcapacity and streamlining its fleet by disposing many of the planes it had added to its fleet just a few years earlier.[26]
As part of Hawaiian's restructuring it sold Kapalua Airport to the State of Hawaii in 1993. Hawaiian soon after discontinued service to the airport as it retired its Dash 7 fleet.[26] The retirement of the Dash 7 in 1994 also resulted in the airline operating a more streamlined all-jet fleet as it exited bankruptcy in September 1994.[27]
All Jet Fleet (1994–2003) [ edit ]
To replace its retired DC-8s and L-1011s Hawaiian Airlines leased six DC-10s from American Airlines, who continued to provide maintenance on the aircraft. An agreement with American also included participation in American's SABRE reservation system and participation in American Airlines' AAdvantage frequent flyer program.[27] The DC-10s were subsequently retired between 2002 and 2003.[10] The company replaced these leased DC-10s with 14 leased Boeing 767 aircraft during a fleet modernization program that also replaced its DC-9s with new Boeing 717 aircraft. The Boeing aircraft featured an updated rendition of the company's "Pualani" tail art, which had appeared on its Douglas aircraft since the 1970s.
Second Bankruptcy and Reorganization (2003–2005) [ edit ]
In March 2003, Hawaiian Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in its history. The airline continued its normal operations and at the time was overdue for $4.5 million worth of payments to the pilots' pension plan. Within the company, it was suggested that the plan be terminated. As of May 2005, Hawaiian Airlines had received court approval of its reorganization plan. The company emerged from bankruptcy protection on June 2, 2005, with reduced operating costs through renegotiated contracts with its union work groups; restructured aircraft leases; and investment from RC Aviation, a unit of San Diego-based Ranch Capital, which bought a majority share in parent company Hawaiian Holdings Inc in 2004.
On October 1, 2005, Hawaiian Airlines began nonstop daily flights from Honolulu to San Jose, California. This made San Jose the fifth gateway city in California to be serviced by Hawaiian; the others were Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, and San Francisco.[29]
On May 4, 2006, Hawaiian Airlines expanded service between the U.S. mainland and Hawaii in anticipation of the induction of four additional Boeing 767-300 aircraft, primarily focused on expanding non-stop service to Kahului Airport from San Diego, Seattle, and Portland. Additional flights were also added between Honolulu and the cities of Sacramento, Seattle, and Los Angeles.
On July 24, 2007, Hawaiian Airlines and Air New Zealand signed a $45 million contract for Air New Zealand to perform heavy maintenance on Hawaiian's Boeing 767 aircraft. This contract lasted for five years. Air New Zealand stated that this opportunity will also give a chance for them to build their expertise working on 767s.[30]
In March 2008, the airline launched nonstop flights to Manila in the Philippines, the first major international expansion since it emerged from bankruptcy protection in June 2005.[31][32] In response to the closure of ATA Airlines and Aloha Airlines, the airline began flights to Oakland on May 1, 2008.[33]
In August 2007 the Seattle Seahawks became the second sports team to begin using Hawaiian Airlines to travel to games. The Oakland Raiders, also of the NFL, have been flying Hawaiian Airlines since the 1990s. The two teams fly on Hawaiian's Boeing 767s to and from all their games. Two of Hawaiian's Boeing 767 aircraft have been fitted with decals of logos from the Seahawks and the Raiders.
In late 2009 Hawaiian airlines began to install winglets on their 767-300s to cut fuel costs.
On February 16, 2010, Hawaiian Airlines sought approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation to begin nonstop flights from its hub at Honolulu to Tokyo-Haneda sometime in 2010. The airline was one of 5 US carriers — the others being Delta, Continental, United, and American — seeking approval to serve Haneda as part of the U.S.-Japan OpenSkies agreement.[34] Approval was granted from USDOT to begin nonstop service to Haneda, Japan. The flight began service on November 18, 2010.[35] In addition, the airline is planning to establish a codeshare agreement with All Nippon Airways.[36] On January 12, 2011, Hawaiian Airlines began nonstop service to Seoul-Incheon, South Korea.[37] On July 12, 2011, Hawaiian added Osaka, Japan to its network.[38]
On March 31, 2011, Hawaiian announced that they will be renovating the check-in lobby of the inter-island terminal at the Honolulu International Airport (Hawaiian's main hub). Hawaiian, the only occupant of the inter-island terminal, will be removing the traditional check-in counter, to install six circular check-in islands in the middle of the lobbies. Those check-in islands can be used for inter-island, mainland, and international flights.[39]
On June 4, 2012, Hawaiian expanded to the east coast with daily flights to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.[40]
A Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A330-200 Moana logojet landing at McCarran Airport in 2016.
On November 17, 2011, Hawaiian ordered five additional Airbus A330-200 aircraft.[41]
On August 30, 2012, Hawaiian filed an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation for a nonstop route between Kona and Tokyo-Haneda.[42] This would fill a void that Japan Airlines left when it ceased service to Kona nearly two years earlier.[42] However, the US Department of Transportation rejected the airline's application to begin service.[43]
On December 3, 2012, the airline unveiled plans to begin flights to Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China) beginning July 9, 2013 as part of its aggressive expansion plans.[44]
Further fleet expansion and new subsidiary carrier (2013–present) [ edit ]
On February 11, 2013, the airline announced a new venture in the turboprop interisland business, "Ohana by Hawaiian". Service is operated by Empire Airlines using ATR 42-500 turboprop airplanes. Service began on March 11, 2014, to Moloka'i and Lana'i.[45] The airline expanded more "Ohana by Hawaiian" routes between Kahului, Kailua-Kona & Hilo during the summer of 2014.
On April 10, 2013, the airline announced its first destination in China, with service to Beijing expected to start on April 16, 2014, pending government approval. At the same time, the airline announced that it would end service to Manila in the Philippines on July 31, 2013.[46]
On July 11, 2013, the airline signed a codeshare agreement with China Airlines.[47]
On March 12, 2014, Hawaiian announced that it would begin daily service between Kahului and Los Angeles on May 2, adding a second flight from June 30 to September 8 in response to passenger demand. It would also begin nonstop summer service between Los Angeles and both Lihue, Kauai and Kona, Hawaii.[48]
On August 14, 2014, the airline announced direct service between Kahului and San Francisco beginning in November.[49]
On January 5, 2015, Hawaiian refiled its previously rejected application with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for the Kona-Haneda route with service, if approved, to begin in June. The request was prompted by a DOT decision in December 2014 to review the public interest in Delta Air Lines' Seattle-Tokyo route after Delta reduced the frequency of those flights from daily to seasonal.[50] On March 31, DOT again denied the request, opting instead to allow Delta to continue operating the route, with American Airlines taking over if Delta's planned service continued to fail.[51]
On May 1, 2017, the airline revealed a new logo and livery for its aircraft.[52]
On March 6, 2018, the airline announced an order for 10 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners with options for an additional ten; selecting GE GEnx engines.[53]
Hawaiian Holdings [ edit ]
Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HA) is the parent company of Hawaiian Airlines, Inc.[54]
Previously listed on the American Stock Exchange, the company moved to NASDAQ on June 2, 2008.[55] Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. is a holding company whose primary asset is the sole ownership of all issued and outstanding shares of common stock of Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. On June 30, 2008, the company announced that it had been added to the Russell 3000 Index.[56]
ʻOhana by Hawaiian [ edit ]
ʻOhana by Hawaiian is a regional subsidiary carrier of Hawaiian Airlines. The service is operated using three ATR 42 turboprop airplanes owned by Hawaiian and operated under contract by Empire Airlines. The new service was slated to begin in summer 2013 initially flying to Moloka'i and Lana'i, however the airline was unable to begin during that period due to Federal Aviation Administration delays in certifying ʻOhana's operation.[57] ʻOhana by Hawaiian is fully integrated into the Hawaiian Airlines network.[45]
Destinations [ edit ]
Hawaiian Airlines serves destinations in several Asia-Pacific countries and territories. The airline added its sixth international destination, Incheon International Airport near Seoul, South Korea on January 12, 2011.[37] It also has daily and weekly direct, non-stop international flights from Honolulu to Tahiti, Australia, South Korea, Japan, and New Zealand.
Codeshare agreements [ edit ]
Hawaiian Airlines codeshares with the following airlines:[58]
Interline agreement [ edit ]
Hawaiian Airlines has an interline agreement with the following airlines:
Fleet [ edit ]
As of January 2019, the Hawaiian Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:[60][61][62]
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes F S Y Total Airbus A321neo 11 7 16 44 129 189 Deliveries through 2020;[63][64] Airbus A330-200 24 — 18 68 192 278 Boeing 717-200 20 — 8 — 120 128 Boeing 787-9 — 10 TBA Deliveries start in 2021[65]
Options for 10 additional aircraft.[66] Total 55 17
The airline names its individual aircraft after birds found in Polynesia as well as Polynesian constellations historically used to navigate to the Hawaiian islands.[67]
Interisland fleet [ edit ]
Boeing 717 [ edit ]
Hawaiian began acquiring Boeing 717 aircraft for operation on the Neighbor Island network in February 2001.[68] On June 4, 2008, the airline announced that it had agreed to lease an additional four 717 airplanes to meet demand due to the shutdown of Aloha Airlines' passenger operations and the closing of ATA Airlines, with deliveries between September and the end of 2008.[69]
ATR 42 (as 'Ohana by Hawaiian) [ edit ]
Hawaiian Holdings revealed on July 17, 2012, that it had signed a Letter of Intent to acquire turboprop ATR 42 aircraft with the aim of establishing a subsidiary carrier to serve routes not currently in Hawaiian's neighbor island system.[70] In December 2012 it was announced that Empire Airlines would operate the aircraft on behalf of Hawaiian.[71] A fourth ATR 42 aircraft was acquired in June 2018.[72]
Medium and long-haul fleet [ edit ]
On November 27, 2007, Hawaiian Airlines signed a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Airbus for 24 long-range jets priced at $4.4 billion. The order included six Airbus A330-200s with a further six purchase rights and six Airbus A350-800s with a further six purchase rights - plans to fly to Paris and London were discussed. Deliveries for the A330s began in 2010 while the first A350 was to be delivered in 2017.[73]
On October 27, 2008, Hawaiian announced that prior to the arrival of its new A330s, it would lease two additional Airbus A330-200 aircraft, beginning in 2011, at the same time extending the leases of two Boeing 767-300ER aircraft to 2011 (to be withdrawn from service coincident with the delivery of the A330s).[74] Two weeks later, the airline announced the lease of an additional A330-200 for delivery in the second quarter of 2010, along with negotiating for delivery of one aircraft from the earlier lease agreement to be moved up to the same quarter.[75] In December 2010 Hawaiian ordered an additional six A330-200 aircraft, bringing the fleet total to 15.[76] Further lease agreements were signed with Air Lease Corporation (one aircraft),[77] and three aircraft each from Hong Kong Aviation Capital,[78] and Jackson Square Aviation[79], bringing the A330-200 fleet to 22. In July 2015, Hawaiian announced the lease of an A330-200 from Air Lease Corporation.[80] The purchase of another A330-200 was announced in December 2016.[64]
A321neo [ edit ]
In January 2013, Hawaiian signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Airbus for an order of 16 A321neo aircraft plus up to 9 options. The aircraft is operated in a 2-class, 189 seat configuration.[81] Following the completion of labor agreements relating to the operation of the aircraft with the airline's pilot and flight attendant unions, the airline finalized the order in March 2013.[82] In December 2016, Hawaiian announced their intention of leasing two additional A321neo aircraft, bringing their total fleet of the type to 18. The first flight took place on January 17 from Kahului to Oakland.[64]
Boeing 787-9 [ edit ]
In February 2018, Hawaiian was rumored to be canceling its order for six A330-800s and replacing them with 787-9s.[83] It was reported that Boeing priced the aircraft at less than $115 million, and possibly less than $100 million, each; the production cost of a 787-9 is between $80 million and $90 million. Boeing Capital also released Hawaiian from three 767-300ER leases in advance; these aircraft were to be transferred to United Airlines. Initially, Hawaiian refuted it cancelled its A330-800 order, but did not dismiss a new deal with Boeing.[84] However, on March 6, 2018, Hawaiian Airlines confirmed the cancellation of the A330-800 order and the signing of a Letter of Intent with Boeing to purchase ten 787-9 aircraft, with options for an additional ten planes;[85] the deal was finalized at the Farnborough Air Show in July 2018.[86]
Retired fleet [ edit ]
Throughout its history, Hawaiian Airlines has operated a diverse range of aircraft including the following:[28][page needed][87][16][17][88][89]
HawaiianMiles [ edit ]
HawaiianMiles logo
Hawaiian Airlines started HawaiianMiles, their frequent-flyer program, in 1983. Miles accumulated in the program allow members to redeem tickets, upgrade service class or obtain free or discounted car rentals, hotel stays, merchandise, or other products and services through partners. The most active members, based on the amount and price of travel booked, are designated Pualani Gold (fly 30 Segments or fly 20,000 Flight Miles) and Pualani Platinum (fly 60 Segments or fly 40,000 Flight Miles), with privileges such as separate check-in, Premier Club Lounge access in Honolulu, Hilo, Kona, Kahului and Lihue, priority upgrade and standby processing, or complimentary upgrades.[91] Travel award redemption from the HawaiianMiles program account for 5% of total revenue passengers.
Hawaiian also has frequent-flyer partnerships with several other airlines, allowing HawaiianMiles members to earn credit for flying partner airlines and/or members of partner airline frequent flyer programs to earn credit for Hawaiian flights. Some partnerships restrict credit to only certain flights, such as inter-island flights or to code-share flights booked through Hawaiian.
HawaiianMiles airline partnerships[92] Airline Program Earn HawaiianMiles
on partner flights Redeem HawaiianMiles
for partner flights China Airlines Dynasty Flyer Yes N/A Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank Select flights N/A JetBlue Airways TrueBlue Yes Yes Korean Air SKYPASS Select flights Yes Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Yes Yes Virgin Australia Velocity Rewards Yes Yes
HawaiianMiles allows one-way redemption on Hawaiian Airlines flights only. Currently, the lowest-priced one-way economy class ticket is an inter-island coach saver flight for 7,500 miles.[93] HawaiianMiles accounts with no activity for 18 months automatically expire.[94]
In flight service [ edit ]
Catering [ edit ]
Hawaiian provides complimentary and paid beverage service on all of its flights. Meals are not provided on interisland flights due to their short length (30–45 minutes). On its U.S. mainland flights, Hawaiian is one of the only major U.S. airlines to still provide complimentary meals in its main cabin (coach class); each meal is made with no preservatives, all-natural ingredients and packaged with recyclable materials.[95] In 2009, Hawaiian introduced premium meals in its main cabin, giving passengers the option of having the complimentary meal or paying to upgrade to a premium meal. The premium meals consisted of a variety of high end Asian cuisine, but were later discontinued.[95][96]
In March 2007, Hawaiian introduced a "tasting menu" or "tapas menu" for its first class passengers on its U.S. mainland and international flights. The menu consists of twenty entrees set on a rotation, with five available on any given flight. Passengers are provided information on the available entrees for their flight when they board, or shortly after takeoff and may choose up to three entrees as part of their inflight meal.[96][97]
Starting December 1, 2017, guests in the main cabin on Hawaiian flights between Hawaii and Western U.S. gateway cities will be treated to complimentary meal service exclusively created for the airline’s new Pau Hāna Café brand. The Pau Hāna Café, branded meals made exclusively for the airline, consists of a continental breakfast box for brunch and hot sandwich and side for lunch. Pau Hāna, a Hawaiian term for “finished work,” is a time to relax and unwind after a long workday.[98] The meal service will be followed by coffee and a sweet treat for dessert. A parting Mahalo service features the carrier’s popular Koloa Breeze cocktail, featuring Koloa Rum from the Island of Kauaʻi, and the airline's signature Pau Hāna snack mix.
Entertainment [ edit ]
On Airbus A321 aircraft, Hawaiian offers iPad mini tablet computers for rent,[99] in addition to movies shown on overhead projection screens. Prior to September 1, 2013, Hawaiian offered DigEplayer portable video players for rent. Airbus A330 aircraft are equipped with on-demand units built into every seatback. The new Airbus A321neo will be equipped with personal device entertainment via app.
In August 2012, Hawaiian announced an upgrade to its economy-class inflight U.S. mainland service. Among the upgrades were a new menu, a complimentary glass of wine on lunch/dinner flights and a free tropical cocktail before landing on breakfast flights. This was in contrast to other airlines cutting back on meal service.[100] According to Hawaiian's CEO Mark Dunkerley:
"In today's competitive world you cannot justify providing complimentary meals on a traditional business model. It simply does not pay for itself... which explains why essentially everybody has taken all that free food off the airplane. We're being illogical by actually investing heavily in this area... It's part of who we are, and it's what makes us different from everybody else."[100]
Cabin [ edit ]
In late 2014, Hawaiian Airlines began offering Extra Comfort seating, as a new service class on its Airbus A330-200 aircraft. The Economy Comfort seating offered seating space upgrades for passengers, along with improved soft-product offerings for passengers on international routes.[101]
In October 2015, Hawaiian Airlines announced that they will be upgrading their business class seats from the standard cradle seats to a 180-degree lie-flat seats on their A330 fleet in a 2-2-2 configuration. The new seats will be installed starting the second quarter of 2016. In addition to the new business class seats upgrade, the airline will add 28 additional Extra Comfort seating.[102]
In the new Airbus A321neo that Hawaiian ordered, the cabin used Hawaiian styles and used a 3-3 configuration in regular seating and a 2-2 configuration in first class.
See also [ edit ]
Bibliography [ edit ]
Gradidge, J.M. The Convairliners story. 1997. Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd ISBN 0-85130-243-2.
. 1997. Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd ISBN 0-85130-243-2. Gradidge, Jennifer. DC-1, DC-2, DC-3 - The First Seventy Years. 2006. Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-332-3.
References [ edit ]
Media related to Hawaiian Airlines at Wikimedia CommonsBuy Photo Rep. Susan Lynn’s proposal to define “no-go zones” and outlaw them makes one local Muslim advocacy group nervous the bill will spread misinformation and incite more anti-Muslim sentiment in Tennessee. (Photo: Samuel M. Simpkins / File / The Tennessean)Buy Photo
There's no mention of Islam or Muslims in a new state proposal that would allow the Tennessee Attorney General to break up "no-go zones."
But the charged connotations, and misinformation, associated with that phrase has a local Muslim advocacy group afraid the proposal could incite more anti-Muslim sentiment in Tennessee.
"She's not writing this without targeting anyone," said Paul Galloway, executive director of the advocacy group American Center for Outreach.
"It could be anti-immigrant. It could be anti-Muslim," he said. "It seems to be a combination of both."
Galloway is referencing one of the bill's sponsors, Rep. Susan Lynn. The Mt. Juliet Republican proposes defining the concept of a "no-go zone" as "a contiguous geographical area consisting of public space or privately owned public space where community organizing efforts systematically intimidate or exclude the general public or public workers from entering or being present within the area."
Lynn said Galloway's statements are inaccurate. She argues her bill doesn't necessarily have anything to do with Muslims. She said banning such zones will combat systemic problems and protect commerce.
"You might find it with gang activity, you might find it with organized crime, and of course we have heard that there were some places where it is happening with certain religious groups," Lynn said.
She never specifically mentioned which religious groups, but there has been a recent international fervor over the concept of Muslims allegedly banning people from going to certain areas. Fox News eventually apologized and acknowledged it made factual errors in allowing an on-air interviewee to claim that entire cities, like Birmingham, England, were off limits to anyone who isn't Muslim, as the Washington Post reported.
The report is one of several that include well-known leaders like Louisiana's GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal making allegations of "no-go zones" based on little more than anecdotal evidence. Lynn provided similar justification for her bill. She said she's never experienced anything first hand but argued some believe such zones exist in Tennessee.
"There are some people who claim that there are some areas of Tennessee where they feel this is happening. And as you know, when there's activity happening where people sort of feel intimidated, there's not exactly a sign up on the wall," Lynn said in a recent interview. "But its just an overall feeling of intimidation."
Lynn said that the senate sponsor of the bill, Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, had told her he'd visited Europe and "he saw it with his own eyes. He experienced it himself."
Asked about the bill, Ketron said he didn't think the bill targets anyone in particular. Like Lynn, Ketron argued the bill gives definition to a term that doesn't exist in the law right now, but also provides "protection of commerce."
Pointing to Nolensville Pike, an area in Nashville that's home to many immigrants, Galloway said the zones simply don't exist in Tennessee or anywhere else.
"It's not a no-go zone," Galloway said. "It's a very welcoming, come-eat-our-food, celebrate-our-culture zone."
There are already laws that prevent gangs, or anyone else, from harassing people in public spaces. Lynn argued those laws might help prevent one-time events, but they're no use for "a systemic" problem. She said the federal government intervening to force public universities to allow black students to attend during the Civil Rights era is "really the same sort of thing."
"People were prevented from getting an education. Do you call the police for that? Well no, that's not the right mechanism. They had to call the Department of Justice," Lynn said.
Galloway's organization was created after Ketron introduced a bill in 2011 that proposed potentially making it a crime to contribute money to some "Sharia organizations," or organization following components of the Islamic code of Sharia law. That track record, and the buzz associated with the phrase Lynn chose for the bill, make Galloway skeptical the plan's motivation is solely based on creating a framework or protecting business.
"It just adds to a really tense climate where patriotic American Muslims are being targeted by guilt by association by people they have nothing to do with," Galloway said.
The legislation isn't scheduled for discussion in any committee yet.
Note: This story has been updated to clarify the ramifications of legislation proposed in 2011 if the legislation had become law.
Read or Share this story: http://tnne.ws/1EyMF4oJalen Hurts led the team in carries last season. Through two weeks this season, Jalen Hurts leads the team in both carries and rushing yards. In fact, go ahead and remove his rushing yards from the Florida State game; and he still has 49 more yards than second place Damien Harris.
Hurts has run the ball a lot, and he’s done it well. The Fresno State defense had no answer for him as he racked up 154 yards on the ground while adding another 124 yards through the air.
1st and 10: Hurts has just completed his first pass to a wide receiver not named Calvin Ridley on a quick screen to Cam Sims. The team gets set up in the shotgun again with Damien Harris a yard back and to his right. Hale Hentges is at H-back on the left, and Cam Sims and Robert Foster are wide right.
It’s a simple option with Hentges coming back across the line. The defensive end, Tobenna Okeke, is left unblocked; and he cheats in. Hurts keeps in and takes off. Hentges moves up and easily blocks the linebacker, driving him towards the sideline. Foster and Sims both got to the inside of the defensive backs and wall them out. Hurts sees the hole, cuts upfield, and hits the boost. He steps out of a tackle around the 20 yard line and just beats the safety to score.
3rd and 10: Hurts faces his first third down of the game, and it’s third and long. Damien Harris is on his left hip, and Irv Smith has his hand in the dirt on the right side of the line. Ridley is to the left, and Sims and Foster are to the right.
Hurts takes a three step drop and sees his first read, Ridley, is smothered by the defensive back. He then looks to the middle of the field and takes off. Both linebackers have blitzed, so there’s some green space. Hurts shoots through the line and gets some help from Irv Smith, who made the heads-up play to begin blocking. There’s enough of a lane, and Hurts easily picks up the first and then some.
2nd and 3: The formation is similar to the first gif
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all, who now remembers the annihilation of the Armenians?” As the centenary of the Armenian genocide approaches – it began on 24 April 1915, with the rounding up and subsequent “disappearance” of intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople – remembrance of the destruction of more than half of the Armenian people is more important than ever. Although, as Hitler recognised in 1939 (and it is still the case today), the crime against humanity committed by the Ottoman Turks by killing the major part of this ancient Christian race has never been requited, or, in the case of Turkey, been the subject of apology or reparation.
The “Young Turks” who ran the Ottoman government did not use gas ovens, but they did massacre the men, and sent the women, children and elders on death marches through the desert to places we only hear of now because they are overrun by Isis. They died en route in their hundreds of thousands from starvation or attack, and many survivors died of typhus in concentration camps at the end of the line. The government ordered these forced deportations in 1915, and then passed laws to seize their lands and homes and churches on the pretext that they had been “abandoned”.
The destruction of more than 1 million Armenians was declared a “crime against humanity” by Britain, France and Russia in 1915, and these allies formally promised punishment for what a US inquiry at the end of the war described as “a colossal crime – the wholesale attempt on a race”. But the Treaty of Sèvres, designed to punish the Young Turks for this “colossal crime” – now called “genocide” – was never implemented. Modern Turkey reportedly funds a massive genocide denial campaign, claiming that the death marches were merely “relocations” required by military necessity and that the massacres (the Euphrates was so packed with bodies that it altered its course) were the work of a few “unruly’ officials. In Turkey, today, you can go to jail – and some do – for affirming that there was a genocide in 1915; this counts as the crime of “insulting Turkishness” under Section 301 of its criminal code.
Conversely, in some European countries, it counts as a crime to deny the Armenian genocide. The parliaments of many democracies – France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Russia, Greece and Canada, for example, recognise it explicitly, as do 43 states of the US. The problem is that Turkey – “neuralgic” on the subject (the word used privately by the British Foreign Office to describe its attitude) – has threatened reprisals and is too important geopolitically to provoke by affirming the genocide, lest it carry out threats to close its airbases to Nato and its borders to refugees. Thus Barack Obama, who roundly condemned the Armenian genocide in 2008 and promised to do so when elected president, dares not utter the “g” word. Instead, he calls it Meds Yeghern (Armenian for “the great crime”) and asserts that his opinion has not changed, although you must Google his 2008 campaign speech to discover his opinion that it was genocide.
As for Britain, the story is even stranger. No nation, in 1915, was more determined to expose and punish what it termed a “crime against humanity”. The evidence of the atrocities collected in Arnold Toynbee’s Blue Book, although published by the government for propaganda purposes, has withstood all attempts to discredit it. Winston Churchill condemned the “infamous general massacre and deportation of Armenians … in one administrative Holocaust”, and Britain even attempted to put some of the perpetrators on trial in Malta, only to find that there was no international criminal law at the time to punish government officials for killing their own people. However, in recent years, the FCO has briefed ministers to call the events a “tragedy” but to deny genocide because “the evidence is not sufficiently unequivocal” – an oxymoronic term (something is either unequivocal or it is not).
The FCO certainly knew that this “genocide equivocation” was dodgy: one internal memo obtained under the Freedom of Information Act admits that “HMG is open to criticism in terms of the ethical dimension. But given the importance of our relations (political, strategic and commercial) with Turkey … the current line is the only feasible option.” Ministers were also advised to avoid attendance at any commemoration of the Armenian genocide, and to avoid any mention of it at Holocaust Day memorials.
This position could not hold, especially after the International Court of Justice declared the Bosnian Serbs guilty of genocide at Srebrenica, for killing 8,000 men and deporting up to 25,000 women and children. The claim that the evidence is “not sufficiently unequivocal” was then abandoned by the FCO (although the Turkish government website claims that this is still the UK’s position), and the search began for a formula that could answer the question: “Will HMG recognise the Armenian genocide?” without answering the question.
Now, the FCO claims to empathise with the “suffering” of the Armenian people in the “tragedy” of 1915, and says it is not for governments to decide a “complex legal question”. It has thus moved the “line” from genocide equivocation to genocide avoidance – a move slightly in the right direction. Last year there was even talk at the FCO of giving to the Armenian Genocide Museum copies of some files in the National Archives attesting to the Ottoman atrocities: this was turned down, ostensibly because the photocopying costs of £431.20 could not be afforded, but probably because the Turks would go ballistic.
The FCO files recently recorded ministerial approval for “more active participation” in centenary events, but there has, as yet, been no lifting of the ban on reference to the Armenian genocide on Holocaust Memorial Day. The real test of this government’s willingness to accept historical truth will be whether it sends a senior minister – or any minister at all – to the genocide commemoration in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, on 24 April. Ministers will be present at Gallipoli for the centenary of the ill-fated British-Anzac Dardanelles landing on 25 April, and it would be simple for them to fly there from Yerevan, were it not for the certainty that Turkey would deny them entry.
The Dardanelles landings were in fact the trigger for the commencement of the genocide, and (together with Russian military activity on Turkey’s eastern front) were used as an excuse for the destruction of the Armenians, on the pretext that they might support the allied invasion. But the evidence of the government’s genocidal intent is overwhelming, coming as it does from appalled German and Italian diplomats and neutral Americans, to whom the Young Turk leaders admitted that they were going to eliminate “the Armenian problem” by eliminating the Armenians.
There can never be justification for genocide. This was understood by Raphael Lemkin, the Polish lawyer who coined the word and worked tirelessly to have the annihilation of the Armenians recognised as an international crime. In 1948 the UN’s Genocide Convention achieved Lemkin’s objective. Its definition of the crime includes the destruction of part of a racial or religious group by, for example, inflicting on it life-threatening conditions (such as death marches). Applied to 1915, this produces a verdict of guilt, beyond reasonable doubt.
It was, of course, a century ago: does it still matter? A century is just within living memory: last year a 103-year-old woman, once a small child carried by her mother across burning sands, took tea with Obama and the world’s most famous Armenian descendant (Kim Kardashian!). The mental scars and psychological trauma for the children and grandchildren of survivors throughout the diaspora will continue until Turkey acknowledges the crime, and offers an apology.
International law may provide some assistance: there are assets expropriated in 1915 that can still be traced, and many ruined churches that can be restored and returned. Armenians want restoration of their historic lands in eastern Turkey, which is asking too much (although I have suggested that the majestic Mount Ararat, overlooking Yerevan, might be handed over by Turkey as an act of reconciliation). But what they want most is what they are plainly entitled to have: an acknowledgment from Turkey, and for that matter from the UK, that what happened to their people in 1915 was not a tragedy but a crime. A crime against humanity – as Britain said in 1915, and should, in 2015, repeat.
• Geoffrey Robertson’s An Inconvenient Genocide: Who Now Remembers the Armenians? is published by Random House.Why didn't I stick with Ralvex's Xfce 4.10 once I got it installed?
Ralvex's build omits Thunar. With all the other libraries and base packages pre-built, it is no trouble at all to build Thunar from source. However, I think this fact alone will make it unsuitable for users looking for a pre-made solution.
It has a screwed up desktop. My desktop background isn't shown, and the file manager doesn't handle putting up file and folder icons. I didn't investigate the cause of this one too thoroughly, but I imagine Xfce-desktop is missing. That's another non-trivial omission.
It seems to rely on Qt widgets even to the point that Xfce's settings manager doesn't change their theme but KDE's does. This one has me totally befuddled. Part of why I feel so at home in Xfce is that it uses the GTK+2 widgets. I've never been a fan of the Qt look-and-feel. To add to that insult the (resource) injury of starting KDE services just to change the appearance of my controls totally defeats the two main purposes of running Xfce (namely the familiar looks and light memory/CPU needs).
VLC
Kernel 3.x
gtkmm compatibility fixes
I like the alliterative title too much to get rid of it. Also, this is a blog for. If you don't like that my Friday blog took til Sunday night, maybe you're not a true Slacker.This week, I've done plenty of complaining about my attempts to get Xfce 4.10 running, but I'm not done yet. I also complained about my inability to compile the GIMP 2.8. I'm not done trying there either. But that doesn't adequately sum up all the Slackware-related things I've tried at and royally screwed up this week.Also, hey, success!Believe it or not, I've had a great deal of fun at all this, in spite of the failure. Aside from the freedoms using Linux affords me, the thing I love most about it is the feeling of exploration. All this hands-on time is as good as it gets. I'm learning more about Linux than I have since those first few months. I doubt that any Windows or Mac user can claim to know their computer's brain so well.I can't get Xfce 4.10 to build and after a little more experimentation with Ralvex's builds, I reverted to Pat's 4.6 build. I stuck with Xfce for a few days, and during that time, I preferred it to my usual Gnome setup, but Gnome has and probably always will draw me back in the end.In spite of Gnome Shell's alien appearances, there is a distinct Gnome feeling that ties it to Gnome 1, where I started out almost ten years ago. Someday I may try to articulate precisely what that is.That said, the parts of the Xfce 4.10 desktop I used were promising. I can't wait to try it once Pat's official packages come out. There's been a lot of activity in Slackware-current's changelogs lately, with KDE on pace with the latest 4.8.x software set and the entire X stack being upgraded Saturday. It sure feels like there's been a great push forward on the Slackware desktop front and I can't help but be hopeful that Xfce is next.One striking quirk I've noticed due to my recent desktop hopping is that Alien's VLC 2.0.1 looks better in GTK+ environments (Gnome and Xfce) than it does in a Qt environment (KDE). For those who don't know, VLC is most commonly seen in its Qt4 form. That is, it is built from Qt widgets and should look most at home and integrated on a desktop that's also built on Qt. Instead, running VLC on KDE in fullscreen mode leaves the controls looking a right mess.In this case, I'm glad I'm a Gnome user.One big complaint I've had since switching to Slackware is that I was having daily crashes. On average, it had been once a day. Sometimes it wouldn't happen at all; sometimes it would be two or three times a day. The kernel panic message onscreen indicated a problem with the wifi driver. Also, there seemed to be a correlation with heavy wifi traffic and the crashes. That is, the longer I ran Deluge, the more problems I would see.How did I fix it?First, I tried upgrading to the 2.6.38 kernel from /testing on the Slackware64-13.37 servers. In my use over about two weeks, that didn't seem any different from 2.6.37. Failing a fix when I reinstalled my card's microcode, I tried building the latest kernel myself.Kernel 3.3.4 builds, installs, and boots using Pat's configuration from the 2.6.37/38 series. Most everything works but I have to turn off the firewall to use the Web (yes, it's configured properly for normal use). It feels faster than 2.6.3x, but the interference with the firewall is a showstopping bug and I would worry about other troubles in the future.Finally, I decided to grab the kernel from Slackware-current (3.2.13), and I've been running that for a couple days without any trouble at all. Best of all, there are no more panics. However, I don't feel the improvement in speed I saw from 3.3.4. That said, keeping all the functionality from previous kernels and adding in the stability they were missing is more than good enough.If I feel it necessary, I'll try building the latest kernel again. This time, though, I'll use the configuration from the 3.2 kernel. It will probably work better.Goodbye, crashes. Hello, famous Slackware stability.This item will be of interest to Gnome Slackbuild users who also use packages from Salix or SlackBuilds.org. For those who don't know, gtkmm is the C++ binding to GTK+.Earlier, I had complained that I had to choose between gtkmm2 and gtkmm3 programs, as installing the GSB package kept other programs working and installing gtkmm2 kept gtkmm3 programs, including Gnome's System Monitor, from running. I've found a workaround.Since the files in GSB's packages are fully separate from Salix's package's files, there are two ways of going about it.(1) You can alter one of the packages' names to trick your package manager into installing both. Ordinarily, it will see gtkmm3 as an upgrade when in reality it is no more an upgrade than GTK+3 is over GTK+2. As with GTK itself, most users will want both versions side-by-side. Simply unzip gtkmm2's txz, change the slack-desc file, zip it back up, and instal it.(2) Alternatively, you could repackage both gtkmm2 and gtkmm3 into one file. I chose the first option for its simplicity, but this is just as viable. Just keep your eyes open for upgrades upstream.For maximum fun, and since at least one Slacker is a fellow Deadhead, I'm going to name a Grateful Dead performance of the week. I've really been enjoying the concert captured onthis week. I hope you will, too."Meanwhile: 39 shootings in Chicago this weekend, 9 deaths. No national media outrage. Why is that?"
It's true, there were many shootings in Chicago over the weekend. It was 30, not 39, according to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times. Nine people died. But this is more about who Trump chose to retweet.
Posobiec is a well-known figure on Twitter -- he has more than 181,000 followers -- thanks to his vociferous defenses of Trump and his willingness to promote conspiracy theories.
He is, to put it kindly, an unreliable source. He peddles falsehoods. He is a provocateur, more interested in making headlines than adhering to established facts.
So why the hell would Trump retweet Posobiec?
JUST WATCHED Why Trump's words were encouraging to racists Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Why Trump's words were encouraging to racists 02:00
It's possible that Trump didn't know who Posobiec was/is and simply liked the point about high number of murders in Chicago that he was making. That seems unlikely, however, given that Posobiec was a major advocate for Trump during the campaign and has kept a high profile since Trump entered the White House. (Worth noting: Posobiec was given access to the White House press briefing by the Trump administration, suggesting they were aware of him.)
What's FAR more likely is that Trump knew Posobiec was an ally and liked the counter-narrative to Charlottesville offered by the murders in Chicago.
Remember this: In Trump's world, there isn't really right and wrong. There are people who love him/work for his interest and people who hate him/work against his interests. There is no gray area between those two poles.
If you are in the love category, you are, by definition, good. The reverse is true for those Trump puts in the hate column.
Posobiec likes Trump and supports Trump. That's all Trump cares about. That Posobiec has pushed conspiracy theories and is a card-carrying member of the alt-right doesn't matter to Trump. Those are Posobiec's issues! Not Trump's! All Trump is doing is retweeting someone making a good point!
JUST WATCHED Trump on hate groups: They've been condemned Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Trump on hate groups: They've been condemned 03:00
Of course, Trump himself saw his candidacy born in a conspiracy theory -- Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States -- and has continued to peddle false conspiracy theories (Ted Cruz's father was involved in the JFK assassination, Muslims were celebrating on New Jersey roofs on 9/11, Barack Obama wiretapped phones in Trump Tower) throughout his candidacy and presidency.
There's one other piece of this Posobiec retweet. Not only does Trump divide the world between those who love him and those who hate him, he loves the people that love him.
I always come back to Trump's quote about Russian president Vladimir Putin during an interview with NBC's Matt Lauer in September 2016. "If he says great things about me, I'm going to say great things about him," Trump told Lauer of Putin. "I've already said, he is really very much of a leader."
If you are nice to Trump, Trump will be nice to you. It's as simple as that. That's why Trump retweeted something from a known conspiracy theorist. And why he'll do it again. And again.
UPDATE: This post has been updated to add context about the shootings in Chicago.So I have missed a few weeks of meal plans, my bad. But I am going to make it up to you! If you been sticking to your resolutions, I have a treat for you--egg nog pancakes and bourbon-maple syrup! Just in case you didn't hear me, egg nog pancakes AND bourbon-maple syrup. You can thank me now!
Monday: Baked tofu and a side of seared brussel sprouts with Gouda sauce
Tuesday: Red lentil and sweet potato curry
Wednesday: Spicy kale pizza
Thursday: Vegan udon noodle soup
Friday: Corn bread and broccoli rabe strata
Saturday: Seasonal vegetable stew
Sunday Brunch: Egg Nog Pancakes with Bourbon-Maple Syrup
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Baked tofu and a side of seared brussel sprouts with Gouda sauce
1 pkg. firm tofu, drained
1/4 cup sodium-reduced soy sauce
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp Asian chili paste or hot pepper sauce
1 1/2 pound brussels sprouts
Smoked gouda sauce
Fresh horseradish
Chopped parsley, chives, or other herbs.
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup medium diced onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon champagne vinegar (any light vinegar could work)
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded smoked gouda
Red lentil and sweet potato curry
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
Coarse sea salt or kosher salt
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
1 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 large or 2 small garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp curry powder1 bay leaf
1 ½ cups red lentils
Spicy kale pizza
4 cups of kale, ribs removed and torn into small pieces
1 ½ cup mozzarella or a mix of asiago, parmesan, fontina and provolone
½ cup of pizza sauce
1 package of wheat pizza dough, or make your own
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
½ tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp ground cumin
2 cloves garlic, crushed
salt and pepper to taste
grated parmesan for garnish
Vegan udon noodle soup
3 or 4 large dried shiitaké mushrooms
3 cups water
11/2 ounces daikon tops, kale, or other leafy greens, loosely tied in a bundle with kitchen twine
3 sheets thin fried tōfu
4 ounces fresh mushrooms, preferably maitaké, trimmed and hand shredded into 1/2-inch lengths
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon saké
1 slender carrot, about 2 ounces, scraped and cut into matchsticks
2 ounces daikon, scraped and cut into matchsticks
1 tablespoon mirin
1 tablespoon light-colored soy sauce
2 sheets hoshi yuba, softened and coarsely shredded, or 1/4 cup finely broken hoshi yuba (1/4-inch bits)
11/2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water
Cooked udon noodles, for serving hot
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
Corn bread and broccoli rabe strata
1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, more for the pan
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 pound broccoli rabe, outer leaves and thick stems removed; florets and tender stems coarsely chopped (about 3 cups)
1 tsp kosher salt1/4 cup chopped roasted red pepper
1/4 cup chopped pitted calamata olives
8 large eggs
4 cups half and half or whole milk
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 pounds homemade or purchased corn bread, cut into 2 inch cubes (about 8 cups)
1 cup fresh ricotta cheese6 ounces grated Gruyere cheese (about 1 1/2 cups)
Seasonal vegetable stew
Veggies leftover from the week
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup sliced red onions
4 cloves chopped garlic
3 pounds shredded mixed greens
2 quarts vegetable stock
2 cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 15‑ounce can chopped tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of cayenne
Pinch of ground thyme
Egg Nog Pancakes with Bourbon-Maple SyrupKUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - VX nerve agent, a chemical the United Nations classifies as a weapon of mass destruction, was used to kill the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in a bizarre murder in Malaysia last week, police said on Friday.
Kim Jong Nam was killed on Feb. 13, shortly after being assaulted at the airport in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, by two women who wiped the chemical on his face as he prepared to board a flight to the Chinese territory of Macau.
South Korean and U.S. officials have said they believe North Korean agents assassinated Kim Jong Nam. He had been living with his family in Macau under Beijing’s protection and had spoken out against the North Korean regime.
Malaysian police were investigating whether the VX - which is believed to be the most toxic known nerve agent and is banned globally except for research - was brought into the country or made there.
“If the amount of the chemical brought in was small, it would be difficult for us to detect,” police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters.
The two women suspects - one Vietnamese and the other Indonesian - are in police detention along with a North Korean man. Seven other North Koreans are wanted in connection with the case, including a diplomat at the embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia has repeatedly urged the victim’s family to come forward to help with the inquiry, while North Korea has demanded the body be handed over to its embassy directly, sparking tension between the two usually friendly countries.
Malaysia’s chemical weapons analysis unit found traces of VX, or S-2 Diisopropylaminoethyl methylphosphonothioate, on swabs taken from the eye and face of the victim, according to police.
“Other exhibits are under analysis,” Khalid said in a statement, citing a preliminary report.
Police have said the two women were paid to carry out the assault and had been told to wash their hands before fleeing from the airport. They had rehearsed the attack in shopping malls before carrying it out on Kim.
One of the women had suffered from the effects of the chemical and had been vomiting, Khalid said.
Airport camera footage released on Monday by Japanese broadcaster Fuji TV shows the moment they assaulted Kim Jong Nam.
In later clips he is seen asking airport officials for medical help, and rubbing his eyes and stumbling as he entered an airport clinic. Authorities said he complained of dizziness and died on the way to hospital.
Authorities raided an apartment in an upscale Kuala Lumpur suburb on Wednesday in connection with the killing, but no chemicals were found, said an official with direct knowledge of the matter.
FATAL IN MINUTES
VX is tasteless and odorless, and is outlawed under the Chemical Weapons Convention, except for “research, medical or pharmaceutical purposes”. It can be manufactured as a liquid, cream or aerosol.
Experts say it has no commercial uses.
“This is not something you make in a kitchen lab. This is something that is made in a very sophisticated chemicals weapons lab,” said Bruce Bennet, a senior defense researcher at the California-based RAND Corporation.
North Korea is believed to have the world’s third-largest stockpile of chemical weapons, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative project, which analyses weapons of mass destruction.
South Korean analysts have identified sarin and VX as the focus of the North Korean chemical weapons program.
VX in liquid form can be absorbed into the body through skin or eye contact and does not evaporate easily.
After giddiness and nausea, exposure to VX quickly progresses to convulsions and respiratory failure before death, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
It can be fatal after 15 minutes, according to the U.S. Army’s Edgewood Chemical Biological Center.
Police chief Khalid said authorities intended to sweep Kuala Lumpur airport, and other locations the suspects had visited, for “radioactive” material.
VX is not known to contain radioactive elements and Reuters calls to police for clarification went unanswered.
Malaysian authorities on Thursday requested Interpol to put an alert out to apprehend four North Korean suspects who are believed to have fled from Malaysia on the day of the attack.
They also want to question the second secretary at the North Korean embassy, though he has diplomatic immunity.
The murder has strained relations between North Korea, which has been increasingly isolated in response to its nuclear and missile programs, and Malaysia.
People watch a TV screen broadcasting a news report on the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the older half brother of the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, February 14, 2017. Lim Se-young/News1 via REUTERS
North Korea has said Malaysia should be held responsible for the killing of one of its citizens, though it has not acknowledged that the victim is the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Malaysia has recalled its ambassador from Pyongyang for consultations.HEY FOLKS I’m sorry for being the most terrible blogger ever but to be fair I did spend the last few weeks working in excess of ten hours a day (weekends included) to get a brand new rooftop greenhouse up and running and I’m not really superwoman or anything so my brain was kinda dead for a while BUT NOW I’M BACK to bring you some delicious tunes. Today I’ve got an artist I’m REALLY REALLY excited about: swelo, and his debut album Escalator Music. Like Philadelphian synth-punk Atom & His Package, swelo (pronounced sway-low) is a high school teacher from New Orleans (though very much not a punk) who pumped out genre-bending Escalator Music in his free time (i.e. instead of grading).
I found swelo while browsing Reddit one day, which happened to be the day he blew up on r/music. I was hooked within the first 15 seconds of “Like That (Intro)” and then listened to the entire album repeatedly pretty much any time I got the chance, especially while playing mario kart obsessively (to this day the first track tirelessly reminds me of bowser’s castle). Using only Logic Pro, an M-Audio KeyRig 49, and a Blue Snowball mic, swelo (who prefers to keep his teacher alter-ego separate from his music, for what will soon be obvious reasons) created Escalator Music entirely himself, aided only on one song by brilliant spoken-word poet Jose Cotto.
Escalator Music caught my aural attention not only because swelo’s story is so damn cool, but also because the album overall took me completely by surprise. It was refreshing to find a young artist making awesome electronic music that doesn’t take itself way too seriously; it was clearly made for a specific bracket of young people (kids in their early-mid twenties, many of whom probably enjoy certain illicit substances), by someone in that group, who doesn’t give us a bad name. This is definitely not to say that only kids in their early-mid twenties who may or may not partake can enjoy swelo’s music. Quite the contrary, in fact, I think this is an album that most people can enjoy on one level or another, because it weaves through so many different styles and genres and, despite any messages, the music is straight up GOOD SHIT. swelo’s got serious talent.
There’s music for people who like a more blues-rock feel (“Country Road“), or for people who lean towards the pop-persuasion (“Brighton“), or for those into the club scene (“IDGAF“). Not to mention, swelo has a wicked sense of humour, as evidenced by my favourite track, “Trust Me Dude, You’ll Get It.” The beat in this song is sick, the synths are goofy and are difficult not to groove to, and I can’t help but smile to myself every time I hear it due to its sheer silliness.:
Then there’s my second favourite track, “This Step (ft. Jose Cotto),” which is on a totally different plane than “Trust Me, Dude.” It sends chills down my spine, I’m physically incapable of preventing myself from singing along to the chorus, and the spoken-word poem by Jose Cotto featured on the track is absolutely gorgeous. Taking a step back from humour and hype-itude, but continuing to lay down excellent beats, swelo shows his sweet side here with subtle high-hats and spacious harmonies. Plus, who’s heart doesn’t melt a little with Cotto’s opening line “your heart is a therapeutic mattress I wanna rest my soul on”?
I think that at least a small part of the reason I was so late on this post was because I couldn’t figure out how to do justice to swelo, and I spent a lot of time worrying about whether I could or not. But the fact of the matter is that swelo is a talented musician/math teacher who makes fun, feel-good music. If you can’t dig it, you’re missing out.
AdvertisementsABOVE: Knitting Nanna Against Gas Anne Thompson on the Shitsville Express.
ABOVE: Knitting Nanna Against Gas Anne Thompson on the Shitsville Express.
SYDNEY columnist Joe Hildebrand's comedic take on the coal seam gas issue on ABC2's Shitsville Express has had a very mixed reception in the Northern Rivers.
Hildebrand and his group of four aspiring politicians visited Lismore and the Nimbin MardiGrass during the episode, interviewing locals on two sides of the CSG debate and participating in a protester training day run by local activism author Aidan Ricketts.
Social media anticipation of the show was excited, but the mood turned against the show less than halfway through, with a barrage of negative commentary.
The Shitsville Express driving through the Northern Rivers. Contributed
One Facebook post by Michael McDougall summed up the prevailing attitude: "Hard to believe they showed this 'Shit' on Aunty. It was so cynical, sad and one-sided. I'd give it 5 Sorbents."
See the program and judge for yourself
Knitting Nanna Against Gas Anne Thompson, who was interviewed for the show didn't have high expectations so "wasn't quite so disappointed" as others.
"He's deliberately facetious, and one has to recognise that's his humour," Ms Thompson said.
But Mr Ricketts described the show as "condescending of the local community" and "a very manipulated portrayal".
"When he came to Lismore he was always on about how everyone was a hippie," Mr Ricketts said.
Mr Hildebrand sought signatures for a fake pro-nuclear power group he set up during MardiGrass and this received angry reactions from some of Nimbin's eccentric characters.
"He obviously came with his own preset definitions," Mr Ricketts said.
"He ignored farmers against CSG and he didn't touch local scientists who have researched the issue."
Lismore Mayor Jenny Dowell said Hildebrand revealed a clear bias in favour of coal seam gas: "You wouldn't ever call it a piece of journalism," she said.
His coverage of CSG in Queensland has come under fire from Tara resident and anti-CSG campaigner Brian Monk, who was interviewed for the show.
"At the time I felt he was a puppet, just the way he was trying to provoke us," Mr Monk wrote on Facebook yesterday.Welcome to Girls week here at FLARE! We are celebrating the groundbreaking show in advance of its final season, premiering this Sunday, Feb. 12. Stay tuned for more great behind-the-scenes stories, a Q&A with creator and star Lena Dunham and an argument for why this show, more than any other, has changed sex on television forever.
Zosia Mamet (Shoshanna):
“The day we shot the scene where Shoshanna loses her virginity, I was really sick and basically had no voice and Alex had thrown his back out. It’s also one of the reasons we were in that position, because he couldn’t be in any other position because he basically couldn’t walk. And he had a heat pack under the blanket strapped to his stomach because he was in so much pain.”
Alison Williams (Marnie):
“I hold the title for most sex scenes on Girls! The most satisfied and ecstatic for Marnie was when she was bent over the counter with Desi, and it was also just like, oh, so Marnie is in a different place now. That was her best weird sex scene. Her worst was probably Elijah, because it didn’t work out—and Marnie likes to finish things. That must have bothered her very, very much. It ruined her ego in a big way.”
Alex Karpovsky (Ray):
“There is a sex scene with Ray and Marnie in season six, that is, for Ray, really disturbing and unusual, in a position that I didn’t even think his body could contort to. That was fun, just from a flexibility point of view.”
Lena Dunham (Hannah):
“The most iconic ones to me will always be the sex scenes with Adam in the first season, where we introduced the complex nature of their dynamic. Those really spoke to my experience of sex in my twenties and were very therapeutic for me, not to film, but to put on-screen and to have other women respond and go, ‘that’s my reality and it helped me to keep growing and developing.’”
Jemima Kirke (Jessa):
“The early ones were the more uncomfortable ones, but the most fun ones to shoot, the best ones were with Adam [Driver] because they were so easy—because Lena broke him in for the four seasons before! So by the time he got to me he was, you know, a man. He was a professional, and I really didn’t have to do much.”
Judd Apatow (executive producer): “Good sex isn’t funny. You can’t make someone laugh if they have an erection—that’s the comedy rule. Like that intercutting of different people having sex; it featured Chris Abbott and Alison Williams and it was just really awkward and out of sync. That, I thought, was really simple and funny, just jumping to each person’s [bad] sex.”
Jenni Konner (executive producer): “I loved the way we opened the second episode of the show ever, which was Adam just pounding on Hannah and it opened it like we were Betty Blue, but unsexy. It was like a weird foreign film with bad sex. And it really was shocking and weird and she’s kind of going, “uhh uhh,” Like, bad faking it sounds. I loved that one.”
Related:
10 Lies Movie Sex Scenes Tell Us
Lena Dunham on Aggressive Dieting and Sexual Aggression
12 Hot Movies + the Best Wines to Pair Them WithI’ve been working on a third person exploration and adventure game called ‘The Nomad’ for the past 6 months, and I wanted to share some of the techniques I had learned in this time.
Something that can dramatically affect the final look of your scene
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online! View it here: https://go.nasa.gov/2GNyYddThe Cavaliers will work out free agent center Larry Sanders on Wednesday, and the sides will start talking contract if the Cavs like what they see, league sources told Amico Hoops early Wednesday.
Sanders, 28, is 6-foot-11 and last played with Milwaukee during the 2014-15 season.
He was scheduled to work out in front of Cavs coach Tyronn Lue and assistant Larry Drew following an interview/meeting and a physical.
Sources say Sanders looks better physically than he did 6-8 weeks ago. He has been on a “protein binge” to add some weight and strength.
Sources said there is no deal yet between the Cavs and Sanders, but Sanders has made it known he would prefer to play for the Cavs over the other teams showing interest. More than 15 teams have explored signing Sanders so far this season, sources said.
The Cavs want to take a good look at Sanders and will have him conduct a solo workout Wednesday at their practice facility.
Pictures of Sanders arriving in Cleveland were posted to social media Tuesday. He recently held a workout for teams in Miami, although it is not known if the Cavs were in attendance.
Sanders averaged 7.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocked shots in nearly five seasons, all with the Bucks. He suddenly and surprisingly walked away from the game, offering no concrete reason.
However, he made his intentions to return to the NBA clear over the summer.
Bell told a Wisconsin-based reporter last week that Sanders has an offer and will likely sign with a playoff contender soon, but did not provide specifics.Goa is all set to hold its first ever LGBT parade – Goa Rainbow Pride Walk 2017- on October 28 here. According to an organiser, the initiative is aimed at raising awareness about the rights of the LGBT community. In the parade that will be taken out from the Old Secretariat to Miramar beach (approximately five kms), members of the LGBT community and general public are expected to take part.
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“It is happening for the first time in Goa. We want to create awareness about the rights of the LGBT community. There are several wrong notions about the community, which need to be addressed through this event,” Alexander Fernandes, one of the organisers of this event, said.
A film festival will also be held in the state capital, in which 4-5 movies on the struggles of the LGBT community, will be screened. A party will also been organised in one of the beach villages, he said. According to Fernandes, 80 per cent of the LGBT members are not ready to openly speak about their preferences fearing backlash from the society, friends or family.
“People are skeptical about admitting that they belong to the LGBT community…We want to tell the world that it is absolutely okay to be an LGBT. They are not the people, who harm others as is presumed,” he said.
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The organiser claimed that attacks on transgenders in the state is common and it is sad that they have to face people’s wrath. The parade will pass without causing any hindrance to the traffic movement, the organisers said adding, the participants have been allowed to use masks, if they want to hide their identity. However, they have forbidden the participants from wearing costumes that are linked to religious and political personalities. Fernandes said that after Goa, similar parades will be organised in Bengaluru and Delhi soon.The 2014 season wasn't all bad for Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo and the Cubs. (USATSI)
The Chicago Cubs' 2014 season was mathematically concluded recently. As we do in these parts, let us eulogize the season that was for the North Siders.
What went right
For a team set to finish fifth for the fourth consecutive season, a lot.
First of all, one of the main things the Cubs needed to see this season was progress from their younger players, specifically Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro -- who were coming off down seasons. Both were All-Stars this year and are among the best at their respective positions in the NL, in this their age-24 season. With both locked up to club-friendly, long-term contracts, the bounce-back seasons were huge for the Cubs.
How about Jake Arrieta? He was long a high-upside bust for the Orioles, but this year for the Cubs he's been excellent. He was joined in the rotation by rookie Kyle Hendricks, who went 6-2 with a 2.38 ERA (162 ERA+) and 1.09 WHIP. Felix Doubront and Tsuyoshi Wada also threw well when in the rotation.
Several young arms in the bullpen showed great promise, too, especially Neil Ramirez and Hector Rondon.
With the progress from so many young players, the first year of manager Rick Renteria has to be considered a success.
The Cubs did trade Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzija in early July, but they got back Addison Russell and Billy McKinney. Both were great after the trade and Russell is considered a top-five prospect in baseball. Given the direction of the franchise, that trade was a huge plus. Throw in the exploits of top 2014 pick Kyle Schwarber and several others, and the farm system is considered by many among the best in baseball.
And then there are the kids that saw the bigs. Twenty-one-year-old Javier Baez has plenty of issues at the plate, but he's shown his power is real. Arismendy Alcantara has shown flashes of his all-around ability and Jorge Soler has wowed from the start.
Finally, Kris Bryant -- the No. 2 overall pick in 2013 -- was the best player in the minors this year, hitting.325/.438/.661 with 34 doubles, 43 homers, 110 RBI and 15 steals in 138 games between Double-A (68 games) and Triple-A (70 games).
What went wrong
The Cubs are destined to finish last again, so that's obviously first and foremost here. In looking at season-long league ranks, it's not difficult to see why. The Cubs rank 12th in the NL in runs, despite being second in homers, in part because they are 13th in average and 14th in on-base percentage. The team ERA is 13th, too.
Individually, it wasn't all positive from the younger guys. Junior Lake and Mike Olt were real bad, for the most part, in the majors and both required demotions to the minors. He's 27, so he's not part of the prospect wave, but Welington Castillo took a step back.
On the mound, it was the veterans that let the Cubs down. Specifically, Edwin Jackson (6-14, 6.09) was awful and Travis Wood (8-12, 5.03) was wildly disappointing. Going back to the beginning of the season, we can't forget how badly the Jose Veras signing tanked.
MVP: Rizzo. If not for a back injury a few weeks ago, he might well have flirted with 40 homers this year. He's still second in the NL to Giancarlo Stanton while also ranking in the top 10 in on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
Co-LVPs: Wood and Jackson. Wood was an All-Star last year. Jackson was the Cubs' highest-paid player this year. Among the 45 pitchers qualified for the NL ERA title, Wood ranks dead last. Jackson is over a run worse, but he's spared the list due to his injury and falling short of being qualified. Had the Cubs gotten what they paid for from Jackson and what Wood gave last year (which would've been a stretch anyway, but work with me here), they could have flirted with.500 for a while. Instead, the two combined for 55 starts and 1.4 fWAR, compared to Hendricks' 1.3 fWAR over just 11 starts.
Free agents to be: RP/SP Carlos Villanueva; also note that Alfonso Soriano's contract comes off the books
Gameplan heading into the offseason
This is a big offseason for Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer and company. The Cubs have just over $30 million in payroll committed to next season. Even with the arbitration raises and pre-arbitration salaries factored in, the payroll would only be around $60 million (and that's without subtractions to the roster, which are likely coming). Now, it's only been $66.9 million this season, but the Cubs have repeatedly made it known that they have money to spend this winter for several reasons.
Atop the wish list is a frontline starting pitcher. Max Scherzer, Jon Lester and James Shields fit the bill. With the Epstein and Hoyer administration having strong ties to Lester, the connection there makes sense and many rumors have indicated that there is mutual interest.
Beyond that, it's possible the Cubs grab another starter, this one likely coming from the group that includes Justin Masterson, Brandon McCarthy, Francisco Liriano et al.
Further, the Cubs have also indicated a preference to find a leadoff man this offseason to put in front of their young firepower. If the Nationals don't pick up Denard Span's option, he'd be intriguing, but the bet is they do. What about Nick Markakis? He's not a prototypical leadoff man, but the Cubs just want someone to get on base. Markakis would fit nicely atop an NL lineup that isn't overly concerned with stolen bases and has a $17.5 million option for next year.
Finally, there is the glut of middle infielders that makes everyone think the Cubs have to trade someone for pitching. As I've pointed out numerous times before, they don't have to. Shortstops in the minors frequently are moved to other positions in the majors. The notion that Starlin Castro and his club-friendly deal are gone for less than a stellar package (start with Matt Harvey, Mets fans, and work from there) are laughable. I could see Javier Baez or even Addison Russell dealt, but the Cubs' return would have to be huge.
Mostly, the feeling is the Cubs look to add a few pieces in free agency and see how everything progresses with the youngsters in 2015. This will be one of the most fun teams to monitor in the offseason.
Ridiculously premature prediction for 2015
They'll get Lester while Bryant wins the NL Rookie of the Year and the Cubs finish with a winning record for the first time since 2009. At least one of the hot-shot youngsters struggles, though, and a serious playoff run will have to wait another year. Still, they'll head into next offseason with many reasons for optimism for 2016 and beyond.Until now there hasn't been a lot of data to help law enforcement and policymakers better understand the economics of the illegal sex trade and trafficking.
But a study released Wednesday by the Urban Institute's Justice Policy Center analyzes the size and structure of the underground commercial sex economies in eight major cities: San Diego, Seattle, Dallas, Denver, Washington, D.C., Miami, Atlanta and Kansas City, Missouri.
The three-year effort, which began in 2010, was funded by a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, which supports research that can aid in the prevention, detection and prosecution of human trafficking.
Researchers interviewed pimps, traffickers, sex workers and child pornography offenders, as well as local and federal law enforcement officers.
Of the eight cities studied, Atlanta had the largest cash-based underground sex economy at $290 million a year and Denver the smallest at $40 million, based on 2007 data. (There was insufficient data available for Kansas City, so it was dropped from the estimation analysis.)
The way in: Often pimps and prostitutes get into the business because they had a relative who worked in it or a friend who encouraged them. Neighborhood influence, poor job prospects and childhood trauma also played a role.
Coercion: It's often assumed that sex workers are physically coerced to work for and stay with a pimp. But researchers found that psychological manipulation played a major role, too -- whether it was the promise of attention from the pimp or more tangible incentives.
Likewise coercion through psychological or emotional abuse was used as a form of punishment to keep employees in line.
Related: Pimps hit social networks to recruit underage sex workers
The report recommends that states should include coercion -- not just physical but also the more subtle, non-physical forms -- in their definition of sex trafficking.
Gang involvement: Gangs are increasingly involved in prostitution and sex trafficking, especially in San Diego.
Often rival gangs will temporarily put aside their differences to work cooperatively to maximize their profits -- for instance, by sharing the same hotel out of which their prostitutes work.
Pimp circuits: Some pimps form networks across cities and regions, operating more as a brotherhood than as rivals. When transporting their sex workers to another city, their networks keep them apprised of law enforcement activities and offer advice on finding clients.
Pimps interviewed also indicated that they thought pimping was a less risky crime than others, such as drug trafficking.
And many felt that "no one actually gets locked up for pimping," according to the report.
Role of the Internet: The cash-based sex trade has traditionally been street-based. But now the street is just one part of the trade, which has been greatly expanded by the online sex market. Participants told researchers they perceived the Internet to be less risky in terms of detection by law enforcement and it let them vet potential clients more easily.
Family, friends and legal businesses as facilitators: The underground sex economy is aided by above-board businesses. For example, a hotel's employees may look the other way when a pimp does business out of that hotel, and may even accept payment for doing so.
Meanwhile a pimp's friends or family may serve as drivers or security detail for his prostitutes.
No profit in child porn: Researchers found that there's an increasing amount of child pornography being produced in the United States, and it's increasingly graphic and violent.
But it's often available for free and offenders interviewed said they were part of online child pornography communities.
"Why pay?" one respondent told researchers. "I guess I just assumed that anyone asking for money was a sting."
Those incarcerated for non-contact child porn offenses -- such as possession and distribution -- said they consider it a victimless crime since they weren't producing the pornography.
Offenders did, however, indicate that they want treatment but said there are few options for it in prison.
Among the report's recommendations: Laws should hold criminally responsible anyone who facilitates or hosts online child pornography content and communities.The first China-Africa summit since 2006 provides clues about the future of China’s role on the continent.
This week, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) convened its first summit since 2006. Chinese President Xi Jinping joined more than 40 leaders of African countries for the massive meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The typical highlights of FOCAC are all about the numbers: how much in aid and loans China pledges to the African continent (this year, Xi announced the jaw-dropping figure of $60 billion, although as usual there’s no timetable and no clarity on whether that includes projects already previously announced). But it’s also worth acknowledging that China and African countries have changed greatly in the nine years since the last summit. These new realities, both locally and globally, are changing the way they cooperate. With that in mind, here are four areas that have blossomed in the past few years — four trends to watch that may end up defining the future of China-Africa relations.
Industrialization
The stereotypical image of China-Africa relations goes something like this: China imports natural and energy resources from the continent, while exporting its cheap manufactured goods. There are definite limits to the accuracy of that perception (see Deborah Brautigam’s myth-busting article in Foreign Policy for more), and whatever truth there was to the commodities trade driving China-Africa relations is already fading.
China’s economic fortunes for the last 30 years have been largely based on exports, but that’s something Beijing wants to move away from as it restructures the country’s economy. Instead, China’s grand plan is to move up the value chain – which involves not only upgrading China’s capabilities to make high-tech products, but also building up lower-end industrialization capacities in other countries. Doing so will also help Chinese companies in their attempts to “go global” as they set up factories in other countries. That’s an often overlooked part of China’s “Belt and Road” strategy, which emphasizes industrialization in addition to infrastructure.
Industrialization just happens to be exactly what many African countries are aiming for as well. With global demand for commodities shrinking (in part due to China’s economic slowdown), African countries that formally relied on exporting their natural resources are looking to make the transition to industrialized economies. And China has already offered its help, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi calling Beijing “a most desirable and reliable long-term partner for Africa to achieve industrialization.”
On Friday, in his speech at the opening of FOCAC, Xi announced a “China-Africa industrialization program,” the first of 10 new initiatives designed to boost China-Africa cooperation. According to Xinhua, the program will include “Chinese investment, building and upgrading industrial parks in Africa, as well as helping further educate 200,000 African specialists and a quota of 40,000 trainees in China.”
To coincide with the FOCAC summit, China released its first updated policy paper on Africa this weekend, updating the 2006 version. The new policy paper had industrialization listed first under the section on “deepening economic and trade cooperation.” “China will make prioritizing support for Africa’s industrialization a key area and a main focus in its cooperation with Africa in the new era,” the paper pledges. By contract, the term “industrialization” was not mentioned in the 2006 policy paper and “industry” appeared only once.
According to the policy paper, China will support industrialization in Africa by supporting the creation of industrial parks and “economic and trade cooperation zones.” Beijing also pledged to continue to build up industrial capacity by addressing the “two major bottlenecks impeding development, namely, backward infrastructure and inadequate professional and skilled personnel.”
Security and Military Cooperation
Trade and investment are the first things that come to mind when thinking about China-Africa relations, but China’s approach to the continent increasingly involves the security dimension as well. The need for a more active Chinese approach has been driven home in the past five years by crises that threatened Chinese citizens and assets in Sudan and Libya, and more recently by the terrorist attack in Mali that cost the lives of three Chinese citizens. It’s no coincidence that China’s first overseas military facility will be in Djibouti — China-Africa security cooperation is ready to move to the next stage.
China’s new Africa policy paper confirms that Beijing will play a larger role (“with Chinese characteristics” of course) “in resolving hot-button issues in Africa.” That confirms a trend we’ve already seen in recent years. Beijing has taken a more hands-on approach to mediation in the Sudan-South Sudan conflict than it has anywhere else in the world. China also deployed its first-ever battalion to the UN peacekeeping forces in South Sudan, another sign of how seriously China takes that conflict. China’s pledge to increase support to UN peacekeepers came alongside a promise to provide financial and military assistance to the African Union’s army, another move that will necessarily increase China-Africa security cooperation.
China is also specifically seeking to upgrade counterterrorism cooperation with African countries, given the continent’s struggle with militants including Boko Haram in Nigeria, al-Shabab in Somalia, and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in northwestern Africa. China’s security assistance to the AU and national militaries is in part designed to boost their capacity to counter these and other terrorist groups, which threaten Chinese as well as African lives (as evidenced by the recent deadly attack on the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako).
Xi outlined the “China-Africa peace and security program” on Friday, repeating an earlier pledge that “China will provide 60 million U.S. dollars in free assistance to the African Union to build and maintain its army, both its regular army and crisis response, as well as support UN peacekeeping in Africa.”
The policy paper also pledged more military cooperation, including technological cooperation, joint exercises, personnel training, and intelligence sharing. China’s goal is to build up African capabilities so that the countries on the continent – as well as organizations like the African Union – can ensure their own stability.
Media Cooperation and Educational Exchanges
China-Africa declarations on people-to-people exchanges are often sidelined by flashier announcements about billions of dollars’ worth of investments. But China has been increasing cooperation and exchanges with Africa on the cultural front, particularly when it comes to the media and education spheres. China’s investments in these areas are a sign of the political importance it attaches to Africa – Beijing clearly values its positive image in Africa, and wants to make sure African countries continue to see China in the best possible light.
Chinese media outlets – envisioned as a way of “telling China’s story” and “spreading China’s voice” to the world, according to Xinhua head Cai Mingzhao – have seen rapid growth in Africa. The China-Africa Project has a run-down on the recent entries to the African market, from China Radio International setting up shop in Nairobi in 2006 to CCTV and China Daily unveiling dedicated Africa editions in 2012. Meanwhile, Chinese companies are gaining market share in telecoms and satellite television as well. “In less than 10 years, the PRC’s media presence on the continent now extends across all major platforms, including satellite TV, newspapers, magazines, news wire services, radio, online, mobile, and continent-wide pay TV cable/satellite services,” the China-Africa Project notes.
Meanwhile, China is also sponsoring educational activities to help Africans understand China – which in China is often a euphemism for accepting Beijing’s policies, both at home and on the world stage. The single-most visible sign of this project are China’s Confucius Institutes. The University of Kenya became home to Africa’s first CI in 2005; today, the continent hosts 46 CIs and another 23 Confucius Classrooms.
China paints these educational initiatives as victories for China-African cooperation and mutual understanding. Others see something more sinister. Sishuwa Sishuwa, writing for New African magazine, worries that the CIs could have a particularly marked effect “for African cultures already beleaguered by centuries of Western domination and operating within the imperial supremacist economic and social structures which make Africa fertile ground for neo-colonialism.”
But African governments still seem to welcome the idea of more Chinese investment in the media and educational sectors. According to Xinhua, Xi pledged on Friday to build five cultural centers in Africa, as well as providing funding for 200 African scholars and 500 African students to visit China each year. China will also “provide 2,000 education places and 30,000 government scholarship places for the continent.”
China is also pursuing greater relationships with African think tanks. The policy paper spoke of increased exchanges and joint projects, noting that “priority support will be given to joint researches and result sharing in areas that are conducive to promoting China-Africa friendly cooperation, such as governance, development paths, industrial capacity cooperation, and comparison of cultures and laws.”
On the media front, Xi said that China will provide training for 1,000 African media practitioners per year, and will set up satellite TV programs in 10,000 African villages. The policy paper also called for more government dialogues on media cooperation as well as cooperation between media outlets (including content exchanges, joint reporting, and personnel training).
Environmental Protection
China’s new emphasis on environmental issues, both at home and abroad, is fully reflected in the latest evolution of Beijing’s Africa policy. We saw an early hint of this just before FOCAC, when Xi made wildlife protection a major theme of his trip to Zimbabwe. After years of being accused of contributing to wildlife decimation in Africa, China is stepping up to combat the issue. Its new policy paper promised that:
China will engage in dialogue and cooperation on the conservation of endangered species of wild fauna and flora, step up intelligence sharing and capacity building in law enforcement, and crack down on transnational organized crimes related to endangered wildlife trafficking.
Alongside a new commitment to ban the ivory trade, that’s a major boon for African wildlife. The China-Africa Wildlife Conservation Council agreed, saying in a statement that it “strongly commends and supports” the steps taken to preserve wildlife at FOCAC. “This year’s FOCAC specifically addresses the need for China to proactively and collaboratively work with African Governments to conserve the continent’s unique wildlife,” the group noted.
Beyond wildlife, China also pledged increased cooperation with Africa to fight climate change. Another of the 10 new programs announced by Xi was the “China-Africa green development cooperation project,” which Xi said “will see China support Africa in enhancing its green, low-carbon and sustainable development ability, and help implement 100 programs on clean energy, wildlife protection, environmentally friendly agriculture and smart city construction.”
China’s policy paper had more details, saying it would increase cooperation with Africa “in the development of renewable energy and low-carbon, green energy such as wind power, solar power and hydropower.” China is the world’s leading investor in renewables energies, and wants to establish itself as a leader in the field; exporting those technologies to Africa are a great way to start. Underpinning these promises are a commitment to make sure that Africa’s industrialization process incorporates renewable energy and follow a path of “rational development.”
Or, as Xi put it in his Friday speech, “China-Africa cooperation will not be realized at the cost of Africa’s ecosystem and long-term interests.”Share. A-List creators line up to take a crack at Skinner Sweet and friends. A-List creators line up to take a crack at Skinner Sweet and friends.
We're just as broken up as anyone about the hiatus of American Vampire, but Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque, and Vertigo are certainly making it an easy wait to endure.
First, American Vampire: The Long Road to Hell will help pass the time in June, and now, Vertigo has announced the American Vampire Anthology, set for release in August.
The 80-page one-shot special will hit on August 7 for $7.99 and feature new short stories in the world of American Vampire by the likes of (deep breath) Greg Rucka, Jeff Lemire, Gail Simone, Fabio Moon, Gabriel Ba, Becky Cloonan, Ray Fawkes, Declan Shalvey, and Francesco Francavilla. The stories will feature new and familiar characters alike.
American Vampire proper is still planned for a return later this year.
Via LA Times
Joey is a Senior Editor at IGN and a comic book creator. Follow Joey on Twitter @JoeyEsposito, or find him on IGN at Joey-IGN. After Man of Steel comes out, his life will lose all sense of direction and purpose.Listening to yet another politically liberal atheist podcast, a local atheist is amazed how many of his godless peers more or less buy into the myth that people are rational beings. An annoyingly large percentage of the godless assume humans choose their leaders based on a careful cost-benefit analysis. This mythical analysis involves thorough study of relevant facts from trusted sources and several spreadsheets to analyze tax plans.
However, such a model of decision making is the stuff of fairytales.
Behavioral economics is showing how people really make their decisions. The jury is in, and the verdict is people suck at thinking. Humanity likes glittery things, and they will buy/vote for/consume shiny things even when the glitter is known to cause genital warts.
It’s been months after the election of Donald Trump, and countless atheist leaders are still wondering Why did working-class Americans vote against their own interests? It doesn’t make sense! The local atheist reflects on this point as he takes another bite of his Taco Loco. The Taco Loco is pumped with transfats, saturated fats, and possibly some fats developed specifically for this particular taco by NASA. It has negative nutritional value. But he loves his Taco Loco. It tastes good and tells him it’s going to make America great again.
While he wouldn’t vote for President Loco, he totally understands why many Americans did.
Because Loco just feels awesome. In a world where healthcare costs are skyrocketing, wages are stagnant, and American society is changing awfully fast, Loco is reassuring. Pro-Loco people just want to feel good. Damn the calories, thinly veiled racism, and policies that will just make matters worse.
It doesn’t help that the Democrats’ happy meal is anything but happy. Very few people get amped up about eating nutritious food that tastes like cardboard.
After finishing his taco, the local atheist drives off to the gym. And to many people that doesn’t make sense. Those who don’t understand why someone eats Taco Loco and then heads to the gym don’t know how people work.
I have a Patreon account just in case you wish to show your appreciation for my work here on Laughing in Disbelief.
Andrew Hall is the author of Laughing in Disbelief. Besides writing a blog, co-hosting the Naked Diner, he wrote two books, Vampires, Lovers, and Other Strangers and God’s Diary: January 2017. Andrew is reading through the Bible and making videos about his journey on YouTube. He is a talented stand-up comedian. You can find him on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Stay in touch! Like Laughing in Disbelief on Facebook:The following is a cross-post from Tradeology, the official blog of the International Trade Administration
By John Andersen, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Western Hemisphere
On May 18th, the Administration formally notified Congress of its intent to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). As provided by the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015, this notification triggers a 90-day period before negotiations with Canada and Mexico can begin. As part of the 90-day process – and in an effort to hear from you – the Administration has published a Federal Register Notice (FRN) soliciting public comments on the renegotiation. Per the FRN, the Administration seeks comments on general and product-specific negotiating objectives, as well as comments on specific provisions. Following the comment period, a public hearing will be held at the U.S. International Trade Commission.
The FRN seeks comments on a total of seventeen topics that will help inform the direction, focus, and content of the NAFTA negotiations. These include digital trade, intellectual property rights, regulatory practices, state-owned enterprises, services, customs procedures, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, labor, environment, and small and medium-sized enterprises. Written comments must be submitted to the U.S. Trade Representative no later than Monday, June 12, 2017. To access the FRN for more detailed information and submission instructions, please click here.
Stakeholder consultation is crucial to ensuring our trade agreements are reflective of what the U.S. economy needs to thrive and grow. This is a great opportunity for your voice to be heard. I hope your organization will take the time to submit input that provides the U.S. government with actionable recommendations that will generate meaningful outcomes for U.S. businesses, workers, consumers, farmers, and ranchers.UPDATE: Claire McCaskill on Monday announced she will not run for governor of Missouri in 2016.
The 2014 Republican rout left just five red-state Democrats in the Senate — and three of them are thinking about an early exit, decisions that could complicate Democrats’ plans to take back the chamber in 2016 and beyond.
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Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Claire McCaskill of Missouri, all of whom are up for reelection in 2018, are flirting with bids for governor next year instead. If they follow through and win, Democrats fear they’ll open up seats that could favor the GOP. And if they lose, their chance for reelection to the Senate could plunge too.
A McCaskill spokesman said the two-term senator is deciding which office would give her the greatest platform to deliver for Missourians, as well as how it might affect her family. Heitkamp’s office won’t address the gubernatorial rumors, but wary North Dakota Republicans are considering a plan to tinker with the state’s Senate vacancy law. Manchin has said that if the partisan fever in Washington doesn’t break soon, he’ll consider running for governor again.
( Also on POLITICO: Running or not, Harry Reid ramps up fundraising)
All three have had gubernatorial ambitions for years: Manchin was elected to two terms as West Virginia’s governor before choosing to run in a 2010 special election to replace longtime Sen. Robert Byrd after Byrd’s death. Heitkamp was defeated in the 2000 governor’s race by Republican John Hoeven, with whom she now serves in the Senate. McCaskill lost narrowly to Matt Blunt in the 2004 gubernatorial contest and now serves alongside Blunt’s father, GOP Sen. Roy Blunt.
The three senators will weigh gubernatorial bids in 2016 against staying in the Senate and facing voters in the 2018 midterms. The past two midterms were disastrous for Democrats, though a new president in 2017 and an improving economy could scramble that dynamic. Still, the loss of up to three proven candidates — who represent states increasingly hostile to Democrats — would be, at minimum, a setback for the party.
“It’s definitely a little bit disconcerting that folks like this who can get reelected in red states may be thinking about running for governor instead,” said Jim Manley, a former adviser to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. “They’ve shown an ability to win in states that are pretty tough for Democrats right now.”
( Also on POLITICO: Villaraigosa ‘seriously’ considering run for Boxer’s Senate seat)
Any decision to return to state politics may have been nudged further by Democrats’ miserable showing in November’s midterm elections. The party lost all seven seats it held in states Mitt Romney won in 2012 — with longtime Democratic incumbents resoundingly rejected in red states like Arkansas and Louisiana — and the party’s prospects in West Virginia, Kentucky and Georgia were easily defeated.
Democrats need to win at least four seats — perhaps five — to retake the Senate next year, an achievable-but-difficult prospect based on the number of Republicans up for reelection in blue states. But if Manchin, Heitkamp and McCaskill depart, Democrats may need to run up a higher margin to protect their majority beyond 2016.
“The magic number becomes that much higher if you’re going to look ahead,” said Brian Walsh, a Republican strategist and former communications director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Under current state laws, if they run and win, each would have the opportunity to appoint a Senate replacement until the next election. The three Democrats could also lose, rendering them damaged goods if they try to run for reelection to the Senate.
For the senators themselves, the allure of the world’s greatest deliberative body may have waned. They’re facing at least two years in the minority of a chamber already wracked by gridlock and partisanship. The most exciting policymaking in the nation has been at the state level, and the thought of executive control may have more appeal than lawmaking.
( Also on POLITICO: Marco Rubio’s ‘American Dreams’: 10 key quotes)
“For Claire, this is a tough decision that will ultimately come down to two things — where can she make the biggest impact on behalf of Missourians, and how her decision will impact her family,” said McCaskill spokesman John LaBombard.
Caitlin Legacki, a former McCaskill aide who is now a principal at the Democratic consulting firm Precision Strategies, says her former boss would’ve rejected a gubernatorial bid by now if it weren’t a serious consideration.
“If Claire wasn’t at all interested, she would have ruled it out by now. She’s a pretty direct person,” said Legacki, who was McCaskill’s communications director on her successful 2012 reelection campaign and worked with the Missouri Democratic Party. “I think if she did run, she’d immediately be the best candidate in the race.”
Attorney General Chris Koster has also been considering a run to succeed Gov. Jay Nixon, a fellow Democrat, and he’s been amassing a war chest that could make him a formidable candidate. But at least one Democratic strategist familiar with high-level conversations about the 2016 gubernatorial field said Koster would consider deferring to McCaskill if she decided to get into the race. He’s also taken a beating in the press lately, following a New York Times story this past fall that detailed his relationship with lobbyists.
In West Virginia, Manchin has said his decision about running for governor or Senate will come down to whether the new Congress moves away from brinkmanship and polarization. “If he doesn’t see improvements in discarding partisan rhetoric and moving toward bipartisan efforts to tackle many of the challenges that West Virginia and the United States face today, then he would consider a move back [to] West Virginia,” said Manchin spokeswoman Katie Longo.
That decision is likely to come by April or May, she added.
Mike Plante, a West Virginia Democratic strategist, said that if Manchin heads back into state politics, there’s a decent stable of rising West Virginia Democratic stars who could succeed him, including Ralph Baxter, a wealthy businessman from Wheeling, and U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin, cousin of former interim Sen. Carte Goodwin.
But North Dakota, one of the nation’s most conservative states, doesn’t have a ready-made bench for Democrats. That Heitkamp won at all in 2012 was viewed as a minor miracle: the result of a well-run campaign combined with a miserable one by her opponent, then-GOP Rep. Rick Berg, who lost by less than a percentage point. Although Heitkamp hasn’t explicitly ruled out a run for governor, she’s not denying interest, either.
“Sen. Heitkamp is focused on her work to fight for North Dakotans in the U.S. Senate,” said Heitkamp spokeswoman Abbie McDonough in a statement, when asked about the senator’s interest in a gubernatorial bid.
Amid the rumors that she’ll run for governor, though, North Dakota Republicans are mulling a change to state law that could discourage her. State Rep. Roscoe Streyle told local new outlets that he wants to change the way Senate vacancies are filled, sharply curtailing the governor’s appointment power — and he admitted he had Heitkamp in mind when he crafted his legislation.
Under current law, the governor may appoint anyone to fill a Senate vacancy until the next biennial election. Streyle’s proposal would require the governor to call a special election within 60 days of a vacancy.
In a phone interview, Streyle said his effort wasn’t intended to be partisan.
“I don’t know how you argue that the people shouldn’t decide,” he said, adding that
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lin,prf> void) var r = resource_new() var r2 = resource_new() prval (pf, pff) = __borrow(view@ r) prval (pf2, pff2) = __borrow(view@ r2) val () = do_something(callback, llam () => let val () = resource_use(r) val () = resource_use(r2) prval () = pff(pf) prval () = pff2(pf2) in () end) val () = resource_free(r2) val () = resource_free(r) in () end
In this code the actual callback is a function that takes as an argument another callback which takes no arguments and calls it. This new callback is a closure. The code closes over the value of r and r2 and calls resource_use on them. As r and r2 are linear resources I can't use an ordinary closure to close over them. I use a 'linear closure containing linear types' type of closure, identified by the <lincloptr1> tag in:
viewtypedef func = () -<lincloptr1> void
This tells the type system that this closure can contain references to linear resources in the enclosing scope. The other thing I have to do is use the proof system to explicitly 'borrow' the linear object from the enclosing scope. This is done using this code:
extern prfun __borrow {l:addr} (pf:! resource1 @ l): (resource1 @ l, resource1 @ l -<lin,prf> void)... prval (pf, pff) = __borrow(view@ r)
The __borrow proof function takes a view to the resource and returns a new proof variable for this view along with a proof function that we need to call to return the borrowed resource. Inside the closure we call this proof function, passing it the new proof variable we got, to say that we have finished borrowing the resource. This is what this code does:
prval () = pff(pf)
If the code doesn't __borrow the resource then the type system expects the linear resources in the closure to be consumed. In this example we don't want to do that as we consume them later, outside of the closure, using resource_free. Think of __borrow as "Dear type system, I'm borrowing this resource temporarily in another function, I'll let you know when I'm done with it".
When using closures memory has to be allocated to store the enclosed environment. I discuss this in my Closures in ATS post. A linear closure has that memory automatically freed by the caller. In this case however the caller is a function implemented in C so ATS can't insert the call to free the memory. This results in a type check failure if I don't manually free the memory which is what the call to cloptr_free is doing in this code. If I was calling the callback from ATS code then I wouldn't need it and no type check error would occur. I wrote more about linear closures around linear resource in lin and llam with closures.
This example works and is flexible in that I can pass any objects along, captured within the closure. Complications arise when there are objects that need to be consumed.
Using a container dataviewtype
If I want to consume the resources I pass to the callback I can use a dataviewtype to hold the resources I pass. The code for this is in callback3.dats (pretty-printed html). The changed parts of this code are:
dataviewtype container = Container of (resource1, resource1) typedef callback = (container) -<fun1> void extern fun do_something(f: callback, arg: container):void = "mac#do_something" fun mycallback(c: container): void = let val ~Container (r,r2) = c val () = resource_use(r) val () = resource_use(r2) val () = resource_free(r) val () = resource_free(r2) in () end implement main() = let val r = resource_new() val r2 = resource_new() val c = Container(r, r2) val () = do_something(mycallback, c) in () end
In this code the Container dataviewtype holds the two resources. Ownership of r and r2 are passed to the Container. The argument for the callback is Container rather than!Container to indicate that the container itself gets destroyed. The following line does a deconstructing bind of the objects in the container to r and r2 and destroys the container (The ~ is the notation that does this):
val ~Container (r,r2) = c
Hopefully that code is easier to understand than the linear closure example previously. The next approach is how to deal with passing objects where some are to be consumed and some aren't.
Using call-by-reference
The approach here is to create a record containing the resources I want to share. I pass this record around using call by reference. The equivalent of the container example above, but using call-by-reference, is in callback4.dats (pretty-printed html). The changed code is:
viewtypedef env (l1:addr, l2:addr) = @{r1= resource l1, r2= resource l2} viewtypedef env = [l1,l2:agz] env(l1, l2) typedef callback = (&env) -<fun1> void extern fun do_something(f: callback, arg: &env):void = "mac#do_something" fun mycallback(e: &env): void = let val () = resource_use(e.r1) val () = resource_use(e.r2) in () end implement main() = let var env: env(null, null) val () = env.r1 := resource_new() val () = env.r2 := resource_new() val () = do_something(mycallback, env) val () = resource_free(env.r1) val () = resource_free(env.r2) in () end
The &env syntax in the argument to a function means pass that argument by reference. In this example the linear resources are owned by the env instance and a reference to that is passed around. env is a flat record (the { says it's a record, the @ says it's flat vs'for boxed). A flat record is like a struct in C. In fact the generated C code from ATS uses a C struct allocated on the stack.
Consuming only some resources
Extending the previous 'call-by-reference' example I show how to consume some of the resources but not others. See callback5.dats (pretty-printed html) for the full code with the changed bits below:
viewtypedef env (l1:addr) = @{r1= resource l1, r2= Option_vt (resource1)} viewtypedef env = [l1:agz] env(l1) typedef callback = (&env) -<fun1> void extern fun do_something(f: callback, arg: &env):void = "mac#do_something" fun mycallback (e: &env): void = let val () = resource_use(e.r1) val () = case+ e.r2 of | ~Some_vt(x) => let val () = resource_use(x) val () = resource_free(x) val () = e.r2 := None_vt in () end | ~None_vt () => let val () = e.r2 := None_vt in () end in () end implement main() = let var env: env(null) val () = env.r1 := resource_new() val () = env.r2 := Some_vt (resource_new()) val () = do_something(mycallback, env) val () = resource_free(env.r1) val () = case+ env.r2 of | ~Some_vt (x) => resource_free(x) | ~None_vt () => () in () end
For resources that can be consumed I use the Option_vt viewtype defined in the ATS prelude. This has constructors Some_vt and None_vt. The former holds a value and the latter means no value is contained. The _vt suffix is the prelude's naming standard to say that this is a viewtype. There also exists an equivalent to Option for datatypes (garbage collectable objects). We use a viewtype here since we a holding on to values that are viewtypes.
The callback uses case to check if a value is held by the record. if it is Some_vt I use the the resource, free it, and assign None_vt back to say there is no longer a resource being held. In the main body I do the same to free the resource if a resource is being held. Note the use of the ~ in the patterns to consume and free the Option_vt resources.
Summary
This final example most closely follows the way some C programs work, allocating a context object to hold semi-global objects. And passing that around as needed. What ATS buys us is the checking at compile time that these objects are correctly destroyed and not used again.“Don’t be boring” Holmes tells a witness in A Scandal in Belgravia, the first episode of Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ second three-part BBC series. That seems to have been the mantra adopted by Sherlock’s creators in this massively-anticipated follow-up to series one, because boring it is not.
Clever, funny, cheeky, dark, complex, and visually imaginative yes, but boring? Not for a minute.
A Scandal in Belgravia is what happens when an already great show gets a well-deserved confidence boost. Working on series one, Moffat and Gattiss must have had the inkling that they had something special on their hands, but no idea how warmly Sherlock would be welcomed by the viewing public, or how eagerly awaited a follow-up would be.
Last time around, Sherlock was something of a punt. This time, Moffat and Gattiss have their audience, and they don't half know it. If that sounds cocky, it’s because it is, and that’s no criticism. Cockiness is so typical a Holmesian trait the character practically wrote the monograph on it, so what better approach could the show’s creators take?
Take the dramatic cliffhanger ending of series one, which had Sherlock viewers baying for more and venting their delighted frustration online. A Scandal in Belgravia provides an audacious resolution, there’s no other word for it. Bold, and more than likely to prod some viewing trolls into online fury, the sheer confidence exhibited by the move is applause-worthy. And tonight, people did applaud it, as well you might when you see it unfurl.
The fearlessness doesn’t stop there. Just look at the story choices for the three episodes of series two: first up is Irene Adler kicking things off, then the turn of The Hound of the Baskervilles, followed by the final problem of the Reichenbach Falls. The three best-known entries in Holmes’ case book, tackled head-on. Why delay the gratification, is Moffat’s argument, and amen to that.
Gratification is something of a speciality in A Scandal in Belgravia, not just thematically, but in terms of giving the audience what they want. While suspense and action are still present and correct, Sherlock knows there are plenty of other places to go for TV car chases and alleyway fistfights, but only one combining them with high camp, humour, and the sort of verbal speed and agility that makes you wish Aaron Sorkin screenplays would get a move on.
The 90 minute duration of each episode means there’s room for several swift changes in tone, which ensures the drama doesn’t outstay its welcome, the comedy never grates, and the camp is never cringeworthy. It’s a devil of a balance they’ve achieved, but achieve it they have.
To the story then. Staying spoiler-free is something of an odd task when your subject has been in the public domain since the late nineteenth century, but here goes.
Once the small matter of the swimming pool confrontation has been tidied away, things move off at a fair whack. Holmes is beset by a parade of potential clients and cases, most of whom he dismisses, the rest he solves without breaking so much as a sweat. The reason he’s in-demand? Watson’s blog, of course, which happens to be getting more hits than Sherlock’s, not that he minds of course…
Soon a more interesting case is brought to Holmes’ attention, and one involving a matter of national security. Cue the entrance of one Irene Adler, a woman in possession of some rare incriminating evidence and something even rarer: the wits to outsmart Sherlock Holmes.
The novelty of this story and of choosing Adler as counterpart is that it gives the opportunity to show Holmes being bested. We’re presented with Holmes the buffoon, Holmes the baffled, Holmes having rings run around him, temporarily at least. It’s a chance to up the comedy, and make good use of Cumberbatch’s clowning skills. If none of that sounds very attractive to you, not to worry, it’s by no means a permanent shift, but it is a strangely enjoyable one while it lasts.
One of the great things about the BBC’s Sherlock is that it’s the first adaptation to underscore quite how annoying Sherlock Holmes would be to live with. The character’s cavalier arrogance and dismissal of lesser mortals such as foreigners, women, and the constabulary of Greater London are well documented in Conan Doyle’s stories, but until now, nobody’s made it quite so clear how punch-able Holmes is. That’s where the enjoyment at seeing him temporarily flummoxed comes in.
There’s also plenty of cheekbone-y deductive goodness for Cumberbatch fans, including one fairly special appearance from a bed sheet (I’ll say no more).
Holmes’ relationships with Watson, his brother Mycroft, and Mrs Hudson are all developed pleasingly, but the most tantalising relationship in A Scandal in Belgravia is that between Holmes and the woman: Irene Adler.
Lara Pulver turns in a game performance as Irene Adler, proving a great addition to the already wonderful cast of Cumberbatch, Freeman, Gatiss and Stubbs (oh yes, and Andrew Scott of course making an appearance which is not to be his last in the series...). It’s a fairly saucy role for Pulver, and she slots in very nicely indeed.
Adler’s inclusion makes for the raunchiest episode of Sherlock to date, in which Holmes’ attitude to sex and the heart come under scrutiny. Again, if you’re afeard of seeing the great rationalist brought mawkishly to his knees by love, don’t worry, it’s nothing so gauche or simple. Everything’s much more satisfyingly difficult than that. As Mark Gatiss specifies, the episode isn’t about Sherlock Holmes in love, but Sherlock Holmes and love. There’s quite a distinction.
Story-wise, A Scandal in Belgravia isn’t as self-contained as series one’s A Study in Pink or The Blind Banker, but more akin to The Great Game for the number of plot threads running through it. Without revealing too much, it’s fair to say that there are plenty of surprises and treats in store even for those familiar with A Scandal in Bohemia, which episode 2.1 is based upon.
Any talk of Sherlock’s treats and surprises would be remiss not to mention Paul McGuigan’s creative direction, which is, if anything better exploited in this episode than in any of the previous three. The now-characteristic text on screen is still being used to good effect, but in addition are some great visual ideas executed well.
McGuigan’s camera spins, cranes, tilts the horizon, and pulls some other nifty effects tricks which I won’t spoil save to say that they’re inventive and lots of fun. What that distinctive visual style does for Sherlock is beautifully disguise the fact that a large proportion of the show is just people sat in chairs, talking. The long monologues and quick-fire explanations are illustrated by fluid camerawork and imaginative editing, cleaving once again to that mantra: “Don’t be boring”.
If I were forced at gunpoint to have to have a quibble with A Scandal in Belgravia, then it’s this: the phrase ‘camera phone’ is used repeatedly in the episode, a phrase not to my knowledge in common use since 2002. If that’s all that’s wrong with this hugely funny, clever, entertaining series, then I expect Moffat, Gatiss and co. don’t have too many sleepless nights before them.
A welcome return then, to a tremendous show firing on every cylinder. In short, fabulous stuff.
Sherlock series 2 is set for transmission in January 2012.
Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.I was in D.C. around this time last year for a screening of our TV pilot. We (my now wife and I) drove down from Pittsburgh that day, and made it to town at around five. Since the screening was at 7:30, we had a couple hours to spare, so we stopped somewhere on U Street to grab something to eat, and eventually met up with our homegirl to walk to Busboys and Poets (where the screening was held) together.
It was a 15-20 minute walk from where we were to Busboys. During the trip, I received a text I needed to reply to, so I slowed my stride and stopped for a few moments. They slowed too, but I told them to keep going and I'd just catch up.
I was done replying a minute or so later. By this time, they were 50 feet ahead of me, totally engrossed in their own conversation. Instead of trying to catch up, I kept my pace and stayed behind them, figuring we were all going to the same place anyway.
So I watched as these two close friends — one Black, one Afro-Latina; both dressed like women who'd gone to work that day and were attending a screening that evening — walked while talking to each other; laughing and enjoying the weather.
And I watched as they had their conversation interrupted at least three or four times by guys attempting to talk to them.
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"Hey sexy ladies" I heard one say.
"Where y'all going? I want to come" said another.
One even started following them. It wasn't a close follow — he was maybe 25 feet behind them, and they probably didn't even know he was there — but he definitely got up from where he was sitting and started walking in their direction when they walked past him.
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And this is when I decided to catch back up to them.
This is just one story about a mundane fall day in D.C. In a vacuum, each of those actions were (relatively) innocuous. Harmless, even. My wife has other stories. One about a time several years ago when a guy spit at her and called her a bitch after she politely declined to give him her number. Another about a time a couple weeks ago when she was in Chicago on a business trip. She was supposed to meet someone at some location, but needed to walk up and down the block a couple times because she had some trouble finding the building. While doing this, a guy followed her around for 10 minutes — turning every time she turned, circling back every time she circled back — until she got scared, walked back to her car, locked the doors, and drove away.
The term microaggression was created in 1970 by Harvard professor Chester Pierce to describe "social exchanges in which a member of a dominant culture says or does something, often accidentally, and without intended malice, that belittles and alienates a member of a marginalized group." We have no trouble understanding how this is applied in a racial context. Most Black Americans can name instances where a non-Black person did or said something that, in a vacuum, might have been harmless. A woman on the train touching your hair. A coworker asking where the best fried chicken in the city is. A sales clerk asking to see your ID after you hand them a debit card. A cop car following you for a block. Again, in a vacuum, these are not particularly bothersome acts. But a lifetime full of them can be exhausting, demoralizing, even. You also don't know when the microaggression turns major. It's rare. Very rare. But it's happened before. You remember the time the sales clerk asked to see ID on the day you left your driver's license at home, and you had to spend an hour convincing mall security the card you just used to buy a $8 pack of socks is actually yours. You remember the time you were followed for a block…and then stopped…and then forced to get out of your car at gunpoint…and then had your car ransacked…and then found out you fit a description of someone they're looking for…and then watched them leave without as much as an apology. So, you're understandably sensitive to these "innocent" acts.
I've been following the discussion prompted by the video Hollaback! and Rob Bliss Creative created cataloging the 100+ times a woman was harassed while walking through Manhattan. I'm also aware that, as many have pointed out, the video itself has some problematic flaws. Quoting Roxane Gay, "…the racial politics of the video are fucked up. Like, she didn't walk through any white neighborhoods?"
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As fucked up as that was, focusing on the racial politics of the tape instead of what happens on the tape obscures what has been the most disappointing takeaway from all this. It's not the harassment. Although startling to watch on film — especially the guy who follows her for several minutes — I've heard and read enough testimony to know it exists. I already knew it was a real thing. What has surprised and disappointed me are the men who've seen this tape, who've heard women express how unsafe this can make them feel, who are aware of stories like the murder of Mary “Unique” Spears — who was shot and killed by a man after refusing to give him her number — and still say things like "What? We can't holla at chicks anymore?" and "It's a man's nature to approach women. You can't stop nature." and "I bet if it was Idris Elba following her she wouldn't be saying that harassment shit." Basically, women feeling safe and protected — people who could very well be a friend, a girlfriend, a daughter, a mother, or a sister to one of these men — is less important than the right to say "Hey sexy" every time one walks past.
It's even more disappointing — and mind-boggling — that some of these men, who are very aware of how a barrage of innocent racial microaggressions can affect your entire being, don't see the connection between those and how a daily avalanche of "Hey beautiful. Lemme talk to you." and "Why don't you smile for me?" can add up and create a general sense of danger. There are few analogies more perfect than that one — this is seriously some Fisher-Price, My First Analogy type shit — but they're still unable or unwilling to see it.
If you are one of those people, and you're reading this equipped with the "So, you're saying I should just never approach a woman?" rebuttal, let me answer that question for you: Yes. I can't speak for everyone, but that's exactly what I'm saying. If you're not trolling — you are, but I'll play along — and you honestly don't know how and when to approach a woman without making her feel unsafe, you shouldn't approach any women until you figure that out. The world will be fine with your (hopefully temporary) removal from the dating game.
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And, while you're sitting at home, I suggest you listen to some stories. My wife has some. As does my cousin. You can find others on Twitter and Facebook and Tumblr and the comments section here. If that doesn't work, ask a friend or family member. Maybe a coworker you're cool with. And, if so inclined, ask me, and I'll tell you about the time I walked behind my wife and our friend for three minutes and became so disturbed by all of the unsolicited attention they received that I jogged to catch up to them because I didn't want to have to fight someone.Back in 2009, in the wake of Shepard Fairey's debacle with the AP over the rights to the image he used as reference/inspiration for his wildly popular Obama poster, it made me want to share a list of Public Domain Licensed images, in this case, astronomy. Fairey's situation should hit home with all pixel junkies out there and remind us that we have to pay close attention to the licenses associated with the images we use in our design work. I've compiled a list of beautiful, inspiring astronomy images that all have a Public Domain License.
When it comes to the small specific details, high-resolution images are always in demand. Every industry needs the high-resolution images to discover and take the in-depth analysis of the emerging trends. These high-resolution images offer us to draw a comparison, do analysis on minute details and do much more with the different minute details. These high-resolution images are colorful, offer a high degree of contrast between the similar colors and each small detail can be differentiated easily and clearly. The textures extracted from these images can be used in different applications of photography. These pictures hold a huge value in the world of astronomy as they can be used to predict the future of earth and other planets in terms of geographical and ecosystem variations. They can also be used to present the present situation of the ecosystem and environment. All of these images have been shot with adequate light, perfect placement, quality resolution and at the most appropriate time of the day. So, you can consider these images as the masterpiece in all aspects.
Astronomy intrigues me. I'm a regular APOD surfer. I love reading about space, and the images of the universe, I find inspiring. Here's a list of “Public Domain” astronomy images that I put together, all of which I found on Wikimedia. If you aren't familiar with Wikimedia, it doesn't have a stellar (pun intended) selection, but it's a very good source of Public Domain and GNU licensed images. So here we go, let's start off the list with none other than our very own blue marble.
Earth
Full resolution: 3,000 × 3,075 pixels
This image is surreal to me. Since I've obviously not been to space, it's hard to imagine that this is really what our planet looks like! I love how clear and pristine the visible continents are. This is one of the most popular images of the outlook view of earth and we will have pretty much more to discover on the other side of the globe.
Full resolution: 2,048 × 2,048 pixels
Full resolution: 2,048 × 2,048 pixels
Full resolution: 3,000 × 3,002 pixels
Full resolution: 1,696 × 2,074 pixels
You never realize how big (or small) something is until you see it compared to another thing. In this high-res picture of Earth and the moon, it's clear that Earth is huge in comparison. (Earth weighs 81 times more than the moon, to be exact.)
.
Full resolution: 2,458 × 2,458 pixels
Full resolution: 2,400 × 2,400 pixels
The Moon
Full resolution: 1,280 × 978 pixels
Full resolution: 2,560 × 1,920 pixels
Full resolution: 1,986 × 1,986 pixels
I love how many textures are visible in the picture of the moon. I've always pictured the moon to just be a cratered, white, round thing – but this awesome image shows the many textures, colors, and details of the moon. This image brings in a lot of curiosity to the astronomy professionals and common people because this image has got so much to reveal to the audience.
Mars
Full resolution: 2,000 × 2,000 pixels
Full resolution: 1,552 × 1,552 pixels
Like in the picture above, I've always pictured Mars to have a true red color. In the image below, Mars isn't red! In this picture, there are channels on Mars that run up to 3000km long and 8km deep.
Mars' moon Phobos
Full resolution: 3,374 × 3,300 pixels
I love this distinct shape of Phobos. It's large craters and not-so-round overall shape makes it really stand out. This is a really awesome picture. The border lines of the globe are clearly visible and every detail on the lateral side of the globe is also clearly defined.
Saturn
With all three of these images of Saturn, I have to say, don't even look real to me. That's what is so mesmerizing about these gorgeous pictures of Saturn. Some images are so beautiful and captured precisely that they do not even look to be the real ones.
Full resolution: 2,766 × 1,364 pixels
Full resolution: 4,000 × 2,527 pixels
Full resolution: 8,888 × 4,544 pixels
Saturn's moon Rhea
Full resolution: 4,920 × 4,820 pixels
Venus
Full resolution: 4,096 × 4,096 pixels
I absolutely love the coloring of Venus. The dark amber spots and different textures really stand out in this high-res photo.
Jupiter
Full resolution: 2,260 × 3,207 pixels
I think this may be one of my favorite pictures in this post. The many colors of Jupiter in this picture almost look they have a watercolor-like feel to them.
Galaxies
Similar to what I said about the images in this post about Saturn, these pictures of galaxies are so gorgeous, they hardly seem real. I love looking through each one of these high-resolution galaxy images.
Full resolution: 6,200 × 6,200 pixels
Full resolution: 1,730 × 1,428 pixels
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Nebulae
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All of the colors in this picture of the Orion Nebula are breathtaking. This photo was taken in 1976 by the Hubble Space Telescope – how cool is that?!
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These astronomy images can prove to be a useful resource for all the aspiring astronomy students. These images may seem to blur when magnified but they can offer a huge value when magnified with any telescopic device.
I hope you've enjoyed browsing through each one of these out-of-this-world public domain astronomy images. This is a post I could scroll through every day – feel free to do the same!President Barack Obama signed Thursday a new law that bars suspected Nazi war criminals from receiving US Social Security benefits. The legislation came in response to reports that suspects continued to receive benefits long after losing citizenship.
The No Social Security for Nazis Act lowers the threshold for which the United States can cease Social Security payments to suspects. In the past, the US demanded a final order of deportation to finally terminate a person's benefits. Now, denaturalization, or loss of American citizenship, is all that is required.
The law stemmed from an Associated Press investigative report in October that found at least 38 of 66 suspected Nazis ordered to leave the United States since 1979 continued receiving Social Security benefits. Many, the AP said, entered the US after World War II by lying about their pasts and becoming US citizens.
READ MORE:‘Anti-Nazi’ tracker app launched to fight far-right rallies in Berlin
Recipients included SS guards who worked within the Third Reich’s concentration camps and a rocket scientist who was instrumental in producing the V-2 rocket used to attack London.
Two camp guards featured in the AP’s investigation - Jakob Denzinger, who was stationed at Auschwitz, and Martin Hartmann, at Sachsenhausen - will lose their benefits. Denzinger owned a plastics business in Akron, Ohio before leaving the US in 1989, just as the US Department of Justice was about to strip him of citizenship. The AP found him in Croatia, where he still collected about $1,500 in Social Security each month. Hartmann, living in Berlin, was receiving Social Security after leaving the US in 2007 before a federal court ordered a revocation of his citizenship.
READ MORE:93-yo ‘Auschwitz guard’ to stand trial in 2015 – court
AP’s investigation struck a nerve on Capitol Hill, as the US House unanimously approved the bill on Dec. 2, and the Senate approved two days later.
The Justice Department, according to AP, was not as cocksure about closing the loophole, as it gave the department leverage to expel aging Nazi suspects from the US to countries where they could be prosecuted.
Yet only 10 suspects have been prosecuted after being expelled from the US, according to the Justice Department.
The department denied that it used Social Security payments to purge Nazi suspects.
The Justice Department "supports the goal of terminating federal public benefits to individuals based upon a finding that they participated in Nazi-sponsored acts of persecution,” Peter Carr, a department spokesman, told AP.The Ultimaker 3 3D printer came out yesterday. Today we’re at Lay3rs, the 3D printer shop in Eindhoven, to do the first unboxing and hands on review of the Ultimaker 3. Together with Albert and the other 3D printing maestros of Lay3rs we’ll unbox, install and put the Ultimaker 3 through its paces for the first hands on review of this new printer. We’ll even throw in some of our own photos for you! We’ll run you through the mayor new features and improvements show you the new Ultimaker 3.
The 3 is an incremental but significant improvement over the Ultimaker 2 and Ultimaker 2+. The printer has the same general appearance but the important improvements are under the hood. Ultimakers were already known for their reliability and repeatability over other desktop systems. Rather than lots of whizz bang new features the team has focused on further increases to the overall reliability and results on the machine. Print quality straight out of the box is the mayor step up. Dual extrusion that works is also a very important feature for this printer. This printer comes in at a significantly higher price point than the previous Ultimakers selling for 2995 Euros for the Ultimaker 3 and 3695 Euros for the Ultimaker 3 extended. The machine is positioned in the Pro 3D printer segment and aimed at businesses.
Specs
The Ultimaker 3 has a 20 micron layer resolution and an increased print temperature of 280 C. The increased resolution should provide for smoother parts and more detail on prints. The higher temperature should cater to people wanting to print materials such as Nylon. Sadly no 350+ temperatures for exotics such as PEEK.
Ultimaker 3 Nozzle and Print head.
The major visible improvement is that the printer has dual nozzles for the first time giving it a dual extrusion capability. This lets you print two materials simultaneously or 3D print support material alongside your build material. Ultimaker calls these AA materials for build materials and BB materials for support materials. The use of PVA supports will make many more geometries printable for users and this is a significant improvement.
The print head is ingenious and a Swiss watch of a thing. Beautiful inside and out. Nozzles can be removed at a click of a button. You simply pull down the print head fan bracket and click out the core. New cores will be detected by the machine but must be calibrated. This will let the community make custom interchangeable nozzles for particular materials. The print cores as Ultimaker calls them now can also be exchanged. The print core (nozzle plus nozzle assembly) is a consumable and we’ll have to see how long they last. Replacement cores cost 99 Euros and come in the types AA cores and BB cores. The AA core is for Nylon, PLA, ABS and CPE with the BB core being optimized for PVA. The AA core goes in Print slot 1 on the printer. Future wider availability of custom print cores should engender the printing of more exotics such as carbon filled, flexible, conductive or other materials. 3D printing flexible materials has traditionally been difficult on Ultimakers because of issues with the bowden tube and feeder. Whereas TPE (TPU) flexible materials will become available they are not launched now in conjunction with the machine. The TPE/TPU material will be important for the Ultimaker 3 since so many new applications are being found for these flexibles. PC (polycarbonate) will also be added later. The dual nozzle lifting is ingenious well executed. As is retraction on both nozzles. This should let one mix colors and materials well in prints. It should also help with the surface quality of models and with rounded edges. The nozzles themselves are 0.4mm. Nozzle heat up time has been reduced to two minutes. The cooling fans have been upgraded and there are now two cooling shrouds surrounding the nozzle. There are also LED indicator lights on the nozzles which indicate if there are any problems with the nozzles themselves.
Build Plate and Build Volume
The build plate of the machine is a heated borosilicate glass bed and there is automated bed leveling. The system has both active bed leveling which compensates for slight bed inaccuracies during your print or a bed leveling procedure that is part manual, to calibrate the bed. So for the first time one still has to put a piece of paper below the nozzle to do a pull test. The build plate heat up time has been improved and now takes up to four minutes. This reduces wait time when starting prints and is a great feature to make living with the printer easier. The maximum build plate temperature is 100 C which gives us a broad range to play with for new materials. The Ultimaker 3 has a build volume of 215 x 215 x 200 mm and the Ultimaker 3 has a build of 215 x 215 x 300 mm. Both build volumes are reduced when using dual extrusion to 197 x
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Oct 6th | Minneapolis, MN | Neither Bar
Oct 8th | Cedar Rapids, IA | VFW HALL
Oct 9th | St. Louis, MO | Firebird
Oct 10th | Lawrence, KS | Jackpot Music Hall
Oct 11th | Denver, CO 7th | Circe Music Collective
Oct 12th | Salt Lake City, UT | Salt Haus
Oct 13th | Boise, ID | The Shredder
Oct 15th | Seattle, WA | Vera Project
Oct 16th | Portland, OR | Backspace
Oct 17th | Oakland, CA | Oakland Metro
Oct 18th | San Diego, CA | House of Blues Side Room
Oct 19th | Anaheim, CA | Chain Reaction
Oct 20th | Los Angeles | Cobalt
Oct 22nd | Mesa, AZ | Nile Underground
Oct 23rd | El Paso, TX | Ernie’s Live
Oct 24th | Dallas, TX | Hailey’s Club
Oct 25th | Austin, TX | Mohawk
Oct 26th | San Antonio, TX | The Ten Eleven
Oct 28th | Decatur. AL | Excalibur Vintage Vinyl
Oct 29th | Douglasvile, GA | Seven Venue
Oct 30th | Orlando, FL | Backbooth
Oct 31st | Odessa, FL | Goat House
Nov 1st | Gainsville, FL | FEST 12
Nov 2nd |Gainsville, FL | FEST 12
Nov 3rd | West Columbia, SC | New Brookland Tavern
Nov 5th | Richmond, VA | The Camel
Nov 6th | New York, NY | Studio at Webster Hall
Nov 7th | Boston, MA | The Middle East
Nov 8th | Philly, PA | Barbary
Nov 9th | Freehold NJ | GameChanger WorldRobyn Williams: On Catalyst next Thursday, if you can tear yourself away from the peak wedding, is a very important feature on peak oil. The news is astounding. Just listen to oil consultant Chris Skrebowski in London.
Chris Skrebowski: The decline is now pretty terrifying. To give you an idea, at the moment the global oil supply is losing the equivalent of losing the entire North Sea in about 15 months or the entire production of Iran, which is OPEC's second biggest producer, in about 11 months.
Jonica Newby: That's hard to even get your head around.
Chris Skrebowski: It's extremely hard to get your head around, and that shows the enormity of the challenge of even maintaining supply.
Jonica Newby: And with the deep sea oil, there will be delays obviously in drilling now. Are we going to intercept the decline?
Chris Skrebowski: At the moment the most probable date for the intersection is still 2014, but that depends on OPEC being prepared to use all the spare capacity it is sitting on and all that spare capacity working. If either of those conditions don't happen, then of course the date comes back towards you. And if countries elect not to supply, as the perception gets around that this is tight and valuable, it would be fully understandable if sovereign governments started saying, well, we will look after our folks first and we will export less, and offsetting that with a higher price, then again, that brings it back towards you.
Jonica Newby: So you're saying that the oil crunch, depending on what OPEC does, could even be sooner than 2014?
Chris Skrebowski: Yes.
Jonica Newby: What does that mean for a place like Australia that doesn't produce most of its own oil?
Chris Skrebowski: Australia is a well-equipped in the sense that you have large coal exports and you have large gas exports. Both those energy forms are going to be in great demand and you're going to be getting a very good price for them, which means you as a country can go into the market and bid quite aggressively for the 40% of oil consumption that you don't produce yourself. So in that sense you won't be too badly hit, you will remain the lucky country.
Jonica Newby: Okay, but we will be paying a lot more. And what do you think of the IEA's latest projections?
Chris Skrebowski: The IEA in its latest world energy outlook has really covered every base. What they seem to have done, because they used three scenarios, is they seemed to have ruled out the possibility of business as usual, they feel they can get it to add up with a scenario which involves governments delivering on all their assorted promises, which seems a pretty unlikely outcome. And then they have another scenario which is the one to keep global warming to a minimum which, again, they appear to be indicating is not a very probable outcome, that it just couldn't be done. So yes, the red lights may not be flashing but the orange lights are certainly flashing from the IEA. And from private information we know that they are saying rather more dramatic things behind closed doors to government than they are putting into the public print. So it's one of those reports you have to read with great care and a certain amount of understanding to see what they are really saying as opposed to what they appear to be saying.
Jonica Newby: What do you mean?
Chris Skrebowski: What I mean is you don't have to read too much between the lines to see that what they are saying is that future supply is likely to be difficult, and as they have been steadily revising their demand figures up, literally all year in their monthly reports...you see, already we are back to the point where the world is using more oil than it was even in the middle of 2008 last time we were booming crazily. We are producing more, but only a little bit more. So already we have caught that up. In oil demand terms the recession is behind us, and demand is powering up, driven by the Chinas and the Indias where their growth is being fuelled by oil.
Robyn Williams: Chris Skrebowski, formerly of BP and the Institute of Petroleum in London, now an oil consultant, with Jonica Newby of Catalyst, who managed to score an exclusive with the man himself in Paris. Fatih Birol is the chief economist of the International Energy Agency.
Fatih Birol: The news is not very bright. On the one hand we see that the global oil demand will increase substantially, mainly driven by the transportation sector, cars, and also by China as a country. Today in China 30 people out of 1,000 people owns a car, and in the United States 700 people out of 1,000 people owns a car. And the Chinese, with the increasing income levels, they are going to buy cars, which is justified, and therefore the demand for oil will increase substantially.
On the one hand we have this pressure on the demand side, but when we look at the production side the prospects are a little bleak. We think that the crude oil production has already peaked in 2006, but we expect oil to come from the natural gas liquids, the type of liquid we have through the production of gas, and also a bit from the oil sands. But in any case it will be very challenging to see an increase in the production to meet the growth in the demand, and as a result of that one of the major conclusions we have from our recent work in the energy outlook is that the age of cheap oil is over. We all have to prepare ourselves, as governments, as industry, or as a private car driver, for higher oil prices.
Jonica Newby: Do you think governments, including my own, have been in denial on this?
Fatih Birol: I think governments in general are not well prepared for the difficulties we are going to face in the oil markets, because the bulk of the growth is coming from the transportation sector, and if we have to find the solution to the oil problems, we have to find a way to change our mobility habits. The only way I see, and it is well documented in our book, is that to move from an oil-based to an electricity-based mobility system we should lower the oil demand growth and therefore comfort the oil markets. But it will be too optimistic to say that any of the governments, yours or mine, or many of the oeCD governments are ready to face this challenge.
Jonica Newby: How urgent is it?
Fatih Birol: I think the important thing here is the prices, prices may go up substantially...
Jonica Newby: How much?
Fatih Birol: Today we have about $90, which is still a significant amount of money we are paying. For example, in Europe we are facing this financial crisis. The amount of increase in the oil import bill in Europe, it is only the increase in the oil import bill in Europe, is equal to the government budget deficit of Greece plus Portugal put together. So only the increase where we have $90. If it increases further, which we believe it will, at least 20%, 30% higher than now in the next few years to come, and this would mean additional pressure on the financing of many governments who are the oil importers.
Jonica Newby: Again, how close is that? How soon might we get that..?
Fatih Birol: Increase in the prices?
Jonica Newby: Yes.
Fatih Birol: It will depend on the economic recovery. If the economic recovery starts to happen sooner rather than later we can see difficulties in markets in two, three years time, and this in turn may mean strangling the economic recovery efforts because higher oil prices means putting your pressure on the trade balance, and through the economic recovery efforts it can be well strangled. So this is a big challenge.
Jonica Newby: Just five years ago your organisation was saying no peak oil in sight, and we will get up to 120 million barrels of oil a day by 2030. You've revised those estimates down substantially. Has there been a real change of opinion here?
Fatih Birol: No, what we have done is in the year 2008 we had a look at 800 oil fields on a field by field basis. It is the most detailed study ever carried out in the world, and we have seen that the decline rate, the decline in the existing fields, are very, very deep. And since four or five years we are underlining one message, namely the existing fields are declining so sharply that in order to stay where we are in terms of production levels, in the next 25 years we have to find and develop four new Saudi Arabias. It is a huge, huge challenge that we continue to underline. And on top of that, this would mean that the world's reliance in terms of oil supply would be on a very few number of countries in the Middle East. So you have both the financial aspect, you have the geological aspect, and you have the geopolitical aspect of the growing reliance on oil.
Jonica Newby: Dr Birol, are you personally worried?
Fatih Birol: I am personally worried because of the general picture. There are different levels of my worry. The first one is that I see that in the next years to come oil and geopolitics will be more and more interwoven...
Jonica Newby: You mean war?
Fatih Birol: It can be different types of that and I do not like it. I would like to see oil industries remain as a business, as a part of the economic structure, but I am afraid that there will be more and more intersection between oil and geopolitics. This is the first worry. The second worry is the sudden increase in the oil prices. This is not good news for anybody. I myself, I never bought a car, and I will never buy a car, but it is for different reasons because I thought if you want to give recommendations of a sustainable way of life, we should first do ourselves what we believe is the truth. I will not be affected that way directly but there will be other ways which will affect my personal life through perhaps some implications on economic growth, the way of life, and others. Yes, I am personally worried about those developments.
Robyn Williams: Now the remarkable thing about that interview is that senior officials never normally talk like that. Fatih Birol is the chief economist of the International Energy Agency in Paris. Finally, Dr Jeremy Leggett, author of Half Gone about peak oil, on their latest risk report done by UK Industries.
Jeremy Leggett: Three years ago a few companies got together in a sort of ad hoc way because we had concerns about the high oil price, and we decided to do a sort of business risk assessment of the peak oil issue. And going into that exercise the companies that were spread pretty much across British industry were not all of the view that there was definitely a problem, but the thinking was this is a very high consequence issue and is it a high probability issue as well. I thought it was and one or two of the others did as well.
But by the end of the exercise, a year of looking at the risk assessment, we were all of the view that this is a very high consequence and very high risk issue, and that we need to respond to it proactively; governments, companies, communities. And that was our message in our first report in 2008, reiterated in our second report in 2010. And we think that this problem is actually as bad, if not worse, than the credit crunch. We say this in the foreword, the chief executives and the chairman of the companies, to our second report because it's going to come down on a world economy that is oil dependent, nay, oil addicted, as a great surprise when oil supply begins to descend, maybe even collapse. This is a huge whistle that we are trying to blow.
Jonica Newby: And it's not just the usual suspects in this group, is it. What sort of members have you got?
Jeremy Leggett: No, this is a pan-industry task force. It is chaired by Virgin, the coordination is done by Arap, the big engineering company, Scottish and Southern, one of our big six energy companies are on it, Kingfisher, a massive retailer, Stagecoach, transport company, one or two others, my own company Solarcentury. So we spread across British industry. And the thing about this is that whereas in the run-up to the credit crunch the whistles were being blown by a handful of maverick economists and one or two farsighted journalists like Gillian Tett at the Financial Times, this time you've got a cadre of people in and around the oil industry itself, generally individuals, but also a number of companies who have looked in depth at the problem, and we are saying, Houston, this is a problem. We need to be doing something about this, we need to be acting ahead of the crunch to buy ourselves time and soften the landing. And I have to say we are not having very much success with getting anyone's attention.
Jonica Newby: Why not?
Jeremy Leggett: Well, it's a risk assessment exercise, so there is a view that there isn't a problem here. If you talk to BP and many of the other oil companies, that's the view that you will get, and the government has been told this. But also I think very definitely there is a sort of desperation to believe the comforting narrative if your choice is the uncomfortable narrative and the comforting one. And I personally find that everywhere, in government, in industry, people do not want to believe that there is a problem with the life blood of modern economies. They just don't.
Jonica Newby: It can't be true.
Jeremy Leggett: It can't be true, exactly so.
Jonica Newby: That syndrome. So what is the oil crunch?
Jeremy Leggett: The oil crunch is when global supply fails to meet demand and starts to drop, and arguably we fear starts to drop so fast that you would almost call it a collapse. What our economies are locked into is the inherent assumption that actually demand keeps growing, as it does, fed primarily these days by India, China and the Middle East, and it will just go right on growing, and somehow we will be able to keep the supply track growing with demand.
And this is what we are saying, we are saying that that narrative is no longer believable. There are so many problems with conventional oil and unconventional oil that on the massive balance of probabilities, by 2015 at the latest in the view of the industry task force, there will be a descent of global oil production. That will cause a crunch, it will cause the price to go through the roof, it will cause price volatility and all the downsides that come with a fabulously expensive and, in some cases, simply unavailable oil.
Robyn Williams: Dr Jeremy Leggett, who once worked in the oil industry as a geologist, now he is head of Solarcentury in Britain. And that report on peak oil by Jonica Newby, whose full Catalyst story is on Thursday 28th April ABC1 at 8pm.DURBAN, South Africa, June 5, 2014 (ENS) – A global strategy to prevent extinction and promote recovery of sawfishes, devastated worldwide by overfishing and habitat loss, was introduced today by the Shark Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN.
Sawfishes – warm water, shark-like rays characterized by long, toothed snouts, or rostra – are the largest of the rays, reaching over seven meters in length.
Once found in the coastal waters and rivers of more than 90 tropical and subtropical countries, all five species are today classified as Endangered or Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
The strategy is being launched at the Sharks International conference in Durban and coincides with announcements that two West Africa countries – Guinea and Guinea Bissau – are proposing the listing of sawfishes under the Convention on Migratory Species in November, an action that could boost protections.
“The sawfishes, revered for millennia by coastal cultures around the world, now face greater extinction risk than any other family of marine fish,” said strategy co-author, Dr. Nick Dulvy, who serves as IUCN SSG Co-Chair and Canada Research Chair at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.
“With this comprehensive strategy, we aim to reignite sawfish reverence and spark conservation action in time to bring these iconic species back from the brink,” said Dulvy.
Mortality from targeted and incidental fishing is the main threat to sawfish. Their rostra, which they use to detect and wound prey, are easily entangled in many types of fishing gear, particularly trawls and gillnets.
The destruction of key habitats, such as mangroves, also poses a threat to sawfish survival.
“Although these species are perilously close to extinction in many regions, there are some fairly simple ways to help populations recover. For example, we know that sawfish can actually survive capture quite well if handled properly, and hence, basic education of commercial, subsistence, and recreational fishers is central to our conservation strategy,” said Dr. Colin Simpfendorfer, IUCN SSG Co-Chair, Professor of Environmental Science at James Cook University in Queensland.
Dr. Simpfendorfer led the development of the U.S. recovery plan that has improved the status of smalltooth sawfish in Florida.
To complement an existing ban on commercial international sawfish trade, the new strategy calls for national and regional actions to prohibit intentional killing of sawfish, minimize mortality of accidental catches, protect sawfish habitats, and ensure effective enforcement of such safeguards.
The document also sets forth actions associated with effective communications, capacity building, strategic research, and responsible husbandry, as well as fundraising to ensure implementation.
“Over the last decade, sawfish conservation policies have greatly improved in several countries and globally, but much more action is urgently needed to safeguard these magnificent animals,” said Sonja Fordham, IUCN SSG Deputy Chair and president of the Washington, DC-based Shark Advocates International, a project of The Ocean Foundation.
“We are extremely pleased that Guinea Bissau and Guinea will propose sawfish for listing under the Convention on Migratory Species, as this treaty offers an excellent framework for prompting national protection in many priority sawfish range states and for implementing our global strategy on a regional basis,” she said.
The strategy is the result of a 2012 Shark Specialist Group workshop where the world’s sawfish experts developed a global sawfish conservation vision, goals, and prioritized actions.
The document also includes information on sawfish biology, distribution, cultural value, history of exploitation, current threats, regional status accounts, and conservation policies compiled by leading authorities.
The Sharks International Conference is being hosted by Kwa-Zulu Natal Sharks Board and will feature multiple presentations on sawfish biology and conservation by experts from around the world.
Sawfish feature prominently in folklore from places such as Panama, Papua New Guinea, and Borneo. They have been particularly important to West African cultures, where they symbolize justice and appear on regional currency.
Sawfish rostra are universally valued as curios and have been used in traditional medicine in many countries including Mexico, Brazil, Kenya, Iran, India, and China. The rostral teeth are prized as cockfighting spurs in Latin America and the Caribbean. Sawfish meat is consumed in some places; sawfish fins are exceptionally valuable for shark fin soup in Asia. The species also serve as popular aquarium attractions.
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2014. All rights reserved.Currently there are a few ways to dump Active Directory and local password hashes. Until recently, the techniques I had seen used to get the hashes either relied on injecting code in to LSASS or using the Volume Shadow Copy service to obtain copies of the files which contain the hashes. I have created a PowerShell script called Invoke-NinjaCopy that allows any file (including NTDS.dit) to be copied without starting suspicious services, injecting in to processes, or elevating to SYSTEM. But first, a little background.
A few months back I saw this awesome blog post: http://www.josho.org/blog/blog/2013/03/07/samex/. Rather than attempting to read files using the Win32 API (which enforces things such as read handle locks, SACL, DACL, etc.), the author wrote a tool that obtains a read handle to the C volume (something an administrator account can do). This gives him the ability to read the raw bytes of the entire volume. The tool then parses the NTFS structures on the C volume, determines where on the volume the bytes for a particular file reside, scans to the location and copies the files bytes. This allows the tool to get access to files even though LSASS has the file locked, and doesn’t require starting the Volume Shadow Copy service (which might look suspicious if it isn’t normally used).
I wanted something a little more generic (SAMex only dumps files related to password hashes on the C volume): a tool that allows me to copy any file on any volume. I want to be able to make copies of NTDS.dit and registry hives, but also any other file (such as a file protected by a SACL). I also want the tool to be written in PowerShell so it can be run remotely without writing hacker tools to disk.
Initially, I was going to write a parser in PowerShell, but then I realized there are already NTFS parsers written in C++ such as this one: http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/81456/An-NTFS-Parser-Lib. Rather than write an NTFS parser in PowerShell, it made a lot more sense to compile an existing NTFS parser as a DLL and load it up in Invoke-ReflectivePEInjection.
I was able to get the NTFS parser loaded up in PowerShell in several hours, which goes to show how easy and fast it is to turn existing native code applications in to sneaky PowerShell tools.
The result is Invoke-NinjaCopy. A PowerShell script capable of copying NTDS.dit, Registry hives, and any other file sitting on an NTFS volume by obtaining a read handle to the volume and parsing NTFS. This does not require elevating to SYSTEM, injecting in to SYSTEM processes, or starting new services/suspicious programs.
Demo:
.\Invoke-NinjaCopy.ps1 -path c:\windows\system32\config\system -localdestination c:\test\system -verbose -computername workstationvm VERBOSE: PowerShell ProcessID: 3196 VERBOSE: Copied 5242880 bytes. 6553600 Bytes remaining VERBOSE: Copied 10485760 bytes. 1310720 Bytes remaining VERBOSE: Copied 11796480 bytes. 0 Bytes remaining
Source Code:
https://github.com/clymb3r/PowerShell/tree/master/Invoke-NinjaCopy
References:
AdvertisementsI direct your attention to two rather provocative essays. The first is by Sam Rocha: “Francis’s Radical Realism: Performance v. Ideology,” which attempts to interpret Pope Francis’ statement in Evangelii Gaudium “realities are more important than ideas.” It is a challenging read and a controversial one, but no less than the statement of Pope Francis.
As a Franciscan and a Scotist any attempt within Catholic orthodoxy to give adequate accounting for the concrete and personal is of interest to me. I also find it interesting that in the essay the concrete is set against ideology, not philosophy or theology per se, but the subordination of realities and especially persons to ideas. I do believe that this is exactly what is happening today, especially on the fringes, where progressivist dogmas and appeals to supossed doctrinal purity seem to narrow the gospel to obsessions over only part of the message. This sectarian reduction of the gospel ends by instrumentalizing persons.
The second piece is by C.C. Pecknold: “On Monastic Papacies,” and reminds of the post that I wrote comparing the Benedictine and Franciscan papacies. Pecknold writes:
Pope Benedict and Pope Francis are not divided by philosophical outlooks, as helpful as they may find them. They enjoy a deeper unity, not only as they share in the same Petrine ministry, but as they are conformed to Christ. Like those sainted monks who stand at the ancient and medieval roots of western civilization, they not only keep open the trails between the cloister and the city, but they descend and ascend alike on the same ladder of Christ whose sacrifice manifests God’s love and mercy on a Roman cross.
With the ascendency of the mendicants, the Church was presented with a new kind of monasticism, which from the point of view of the old monks was no monasticism at all. The mendicants, especially the Franciscans, had a hard time finding the equilibrium neccessary to be effective as the reform movement their orders were meant to be. It was a potentially powerful and at the same time dangerous postconciliar movement (post Lateran IV) that needed to find it’s way. It shed many of the monastic customs, most notably stability, in the interests of evangelical dynamism. Unfortunately, like a good number of postconciliarists of our day, many of its adherents were utopian a caused a great deal of trouble.
In the end, however, today as then, both the monks and mendicants are necessary, the Bendictines and Franciscans. Pope Benedict has argued for centers of liturgical renewal where the liturgy could be preserved and developed prayerfully (without imposing a top down solution on the whole Church)—the option of the old monasticism. Francis for his part is encouraging the Church to reach to the frontiers in a bold new effort at evangelization—the new mendicant option. Both are necessary. Neither contradicts the other. Together they provide balance.
Pope Emeritus Benedict has again recently attempted to dismiss the media hype about opposition between the two papacies. I think both Rocha and Pecknold have the right spirit.
AdvertisementsEnglish FA pledges its support for men’s and women’s teams for GamesWelsh FA unhappy over the lack of consultation
The English FA has pledged to enter men’s and women’s British teams for the Rio 2016 Olympics, despite opposition from the Welsh FA.
The FA’s decision to try to qualify a men’s under-23 team as well as a women’s team for Rio has provoked a backlash from its Welsh counterpart, which believes it has not been fully consulted.
It had been assumed that the entry of a GB men’s team into the London 2012 Games was a one-off designed to capitalise on a home Olympics.
On his final day in the job, the former FA general secretary Alex Horne is understood to have written to the other home nations to inform them the FA would enter a team in the Rio Games. Horne had said, after London 2012, the FA would not seek to enter a men’s side in 2016 but would keep the matter under review for the women’s team. In order to qualify, England must finish in the top four of the men’s under-21 tournament in the summer, while for the women’s competition the top three European teams in the 2015 World Cup in Canada will qualify.
The English FA holds the final say over whether to enter a British team because it acts as the national governing body representative for the British Olympic Association, having been a founder member in 1908. Before the London Games, which featured a combined team for the first time since 1960, there were fears from some of the other home nations that entering a British side could open the door for Fifa to challenge the idea of having separate sides.
But following written confirmation from Fifa president Sepp Blatter that there was no risk to the privileges enjoyed by the home nations, eventually the Welsh and Scottish FAs grudgingly accepted there was little they could do.
Stuart Pearce’s 18-man squad, which exited to South Korea in the quarter-finals, ultimately contained five Welsh players - Ryan Giggs, Joe Allen, Aaron Ramsey, Craig Bellamy, Neil Taylor - but none from Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Under Olympic rules, the under-23 squad can be augmented with three over age players. Alongside well as Giggs and Bellamy, Micah Richards was included in 2012 at the expense of David Beckham.
One intriguing sub-plot may surround whether or not the manager of the side, most likely to be Gareth Southgate if they qualify, would opt to pick Gareth Bale or other overage players that may cause issues with their clubs.
Some clubs may also have concerns over releasing players due to commitments with close season overseas tours.
Previously, it had been assumed that while efforts would be made to again qualify a women’s team given the boost in exposure that an Olympics would bring, the notion of entering a men’s side was off the agenda.
But FA technical director Dan Ashworth and under 21 coach Gareth Southgate were understood to be enthusiastic about the idea of trying to qualify, believing it will give young players valuable tournament experience.
England’s coach Roy Hodgson has pledged to work with Southgate to make players available if selected, even if they have already progressed to the senior squad.
The Olympics football tournament has always been taken seriously by many other nations, particularly in South America and Africa, and the feeling at St George’s Park was that it will be a useful extra element of ongoing efforts to better co-ordinate the England development sides and senior team.
It is part of a plan that also includes staging the European under-17 championships in 2018 and efforts under Ashworth and Southgate to introduce a common footballing philosophy across all England teams.
A BOA spokesman said: “We have received confirmation from the FA of their intention to enter into the qualification process for Rio 2016 for both men and women’s tournaments.”
While the men’s side limped out of the London 2012 tournament on penalties, the competition was seen as a major staging post in promoting the women’s game. The British side beat Brazil at Wembley in front of more than 70,000 fans before also going out in the quarter-finals to Canada.
The Welsh FA’s disgruntlement with its English counterparts – for taking the decision without its approval – is compounded by changes to the way in which the seat on the Fifa executive committee, formerly reserved for the home nations, will be filled.
Under the old system, it was filled on a rotational basis and it would have been the turn of Wales next. But now the position is voted on by the Uefa executive and David Gill, the former Manchester United chief executive, has been persuaded to stand.shadow
ROMA - Permessi temporanei ai richiedenti asilo per consentire loro di varcare la frontiera e circolare in Europa. Avvio di una trattativa con alcuni Stati dell’Unione per un’operazione di polizia contro gli scafisti in Libia provando anche a coinvolgere l’Egitto. Obbligo per le navi straniere che soccorrono i migranti in acque internazionali di trasferirli nei propri Paesi, vietando l’attracco nei nostri porti. Quello che il presidente del Consiglio Matteo Renzi ha definito nell’intervista di ieri al Corriere della Sera «il “piano B” se l’Europa non sceglierà la strada della solidarietà», è in realtà un ventaglio di possibili interventi, qualora l’Italia non ottenesse cooperazione effettiva da parte della Ue nella gestione dei migranti. Azioni dure di diplomazia internazionale da affiancare agli interventi tecnici già pianificati per fronteggiare l’emergenza negli scali ferroviari e ai valichi, causata dalla decisione della Germania di sospendere Schengen per il G7 e della Francia di bloccare la «porta» di Ventimiglia. Ma anche in vista di possibili nuovi sbarchi nei prossimi giorni. Palazzo Chigi esclude «atteggiamenti ritorsivi» su altri dossier come era stato ipotizzato riferendosi alle sanzioni contro la Russia di Putin. Ma all’attività già avviata per siglare accordi di polizia con Paesi africani e Bangladesh e ottenere rimpatri veloci e per allestire subito i centri di smistamento dove sistemare i profughi, si affianca un negoziato più riservato che si spera possa essere più efficace.
I charter Se la Francia continuerà a tenere il valico chiuso, l’ipotesi è quella di concedere i permessi provvisori d’identità anche consentendo il transito su altre rotte. Più strutturata invece l’azione dei funzionari che si muoveranno sul modello dell’intesa siglata con il Gambia due settimane fa dal capo della polizia Alessandro Pansa. Prevede la concessione di mezzi e apparecchiature (fuoristrada, computer), l’organizzazione di corsi di formazione per le forze dell’ordine locali in cambio dei rimpatri effettuati con i voli charter e con procedura d’urgenza. Gia pronta la lista dei Paesi con i quali avviare i negoziati: Costa D’Avorio, Senegal e Bangladesh, Mali e Sudan, tenendo conto che questi ultimi due Paesi hanno già fatto sapere di non essere disponibili, dunque servirà un’azione diplomatica per provare a sbloccare la situazione. La scelta di percorrere con gli altri la strada dell’intesa tecnica serve non soltanto ad accelerare la procedura, ma anche ad evitare implicazioni di tipo politico per gli Stati esteri. I rimpatri verrebbero così effettuati seguendo lo schema già attuato con Egitto, Tunisia e Marocco, dunque facendo partire dall’Italia i charter con gli stranieri “irregolari” identificati grazie alla collaborazione con i consolati.
La Libia La convinzione è che difficilmente l’Onu autorizzerà un intervento in Libia, ancor più difficile che l’inviato Bernardino Leon riesca a formare un governo. Ecco perché torna a farsi strada l’ipotesi di intervenire in maniera meno convenzionale. Su questo pesa però il giudizio del capo dello Stato Sergio Mattarella che ha sempre escluso l’ipotesi che l’Italia si sganci dalle Nazioni Unite. Più plausibile l’eventualità di impedire alle navi straniere che soccorrono i migranti in acque internazionali di approdare sulle nostre coste visto che il diritto della navigazione equipara il natante al territorio dello Stato di bandiera.
Le caserme Urgente è riuscire a trovare un’intesa con le Regioni: alla riunione convocata per questa mattina con i prefetti del Veneto e con il governatore Luca Zaia parteciperà anche il prefetto Mario Morcone, capo del Dipartimento Immigrazione del Viminale. Di fronte a un atteggiamento di resistenza, la linea è quella di utilizzare almeno tre caserme al nord e due al sud. Per il settentrione oltre a due in Veneto, la scelta potrebbe cadere su quella di Montichiari, nel bresciano. Nel meridione si punta invece su Civitavecchia e Messina. I lavori di ristrutturazione sono avviati, in attesa del completamento si pensa di allestire le tendopoli in modo da garantire assistenza ai profughi e soprattutto prepararsi all’accoglienza di chi arriverà nelle prossime settimane. Molto più avanzati sono i lavori per i centri di smistamento che dovrebbero contenere massimo 400 persone. A quelli di Settimo Torinese e Bologna, si pensa di affiancare Civitavecchia e Messina. Il timore dei responsabili dell’Ordine Pubblico del Viminale è che la situazione ai valichi e nelle stazioni possa degenerare anche tenendo conto della convivenza forzata di stranieri di diversa nazionalità. Per questo sono stati inviati 100 uomini in più a Roma e Milano, 60 a Ventimiglia e 50 al Brennero.Please select your country: United States Argentina Australia Austria Belarus Belgium
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paralegal without portfolio, helping his lawyers write legal documents and file Freedom of Information Act requests.
But the documents they sought did not surface until Nov. 6, 2014, when Assistant U.S. Attorney André Espinosa provided a letter from McDavid to “Anna” and a series of emails between them to McDavid’s appellate attorneys. For weeks afterward, the two sides sought a resolution to the issues raised by the delays in disclosing the material to McDavid’s defense.
McDavid’s lawyers contend the letter and emails prove that the government entrapped him, implying a future romance if he would agree to her suggestions for attacks on government properties.
“I think you and I could be great, but we have LOTS of little kinks to work out …,” the informant wrote in a June 27, 2005, email to McDavid.
“I hope in Indiana we can spend more quality time together, and really chat about our life and our things. I think it will be better there – more space, better atmosphere, less restrictive. I’m looking forward to it. :)”
The federal prosecutors maintain that producing the materials before trial would not have changed the outcome.
Still unresolved is the question of why the letter and emails between “Anna” and McDavid were not produced until November.
In U.S. District Court in Sacramento on Jan. 8, prosecutors told U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. that the documents had been in a file in the Sacramento FBI office. They provided no specifics about what led to that discovery, although federal officials said the two trial prosecutors had been interviewed and knew nothing about the documents.
The U.S. attorney at the time, McGregor Scott, who is now in private practice in Sacramento, said he learned of their existence when he read a story about the recent developments in The Bee.
“The first I learned of the existence of the letters was when I read of the court hearing…,” Scott said. “From all outward appearances, which is all I have available to me at this point, the letters should have been provided (to the defense) as discovery.
“However, the mere existence of the letters does not undermine my confidence in the case that was brought or the conviction that was gained at the time. Irrespective of the letters, Mr. McDavid and his confederates developed an elaborate plan and took multiple steps to effectuate it.”
Today, McDavid says he still is grappling with ideas rather than concrete plans for his future.
He hopes to complete an associate’s degree he started at Sierra College, and muses about becoming a yoga instructor, a pursuit he took up in prison.
He says he picked up other valuable skills during his prison stint, which started at a federal facility in Victorville and ended in Terminal Island federal prison in San Pedro, three days shy of nine years. He acquired some knowledge of Spanish and Mandarin, learned how to repair bicycles and wheelchairs, was boss of the commissary, and spent time as a kitchen apprentice.
“I can bake,” he said. “If you need bread for a thousand guys, or cakes or cookies or turnovers or doughnuts.”
That doesn’t make him resent any less what he said was a trumped-up case. His distrust of the government, he said, is only stronger than it was before he was arrested.
“Nobody could ever get me my nine years back,” he said. “Nobody could do that. What was taken in those nine years, you can’t get that back. That’s impossible.”PM moves vote forward shortly after Malcolm Turnbull emphasises the importance of keeping it on Tuesday, angering numerous MPs
Tony Abbott has brought forward the party room vote on his leadership by one day, shortly after his possible rival Malcolm Turnbull emphasised the importance of keeping it on Tuesday.
Malcolm Turnbull says PM has made 'captain's call' to bring forward leadership spill – politics live Read more
The decision to rush the vote on the spill motion angered numerous MPs, including New South Wales senator Arthur Sinodinos, a former assistant treasurer and chief of staff to former prime minister John Howard.
Whether he survives the leadership spill or not, Tony Abbott's time is up Read more
The backbench MP for Brisbane, Teresa Gambaro, warned against an “internal climate of fear and intimidation” and said: “We cannot govern the country through belligerence and hubris.”
The prime minister announced he had asked the chief government whip, Philip Ruddock, to call a special party room meeting for 9am on Monday to consider the spill motion.
How the Liberal party machine swallowed the real Tony Abbott alive Read more
The spill motion brought by two West Australian backbenchers was originally expected to be considered at Tuesday’s regular party room meeting, the first of the year.
Abbott said it was “important to end the uncertainty at the very beginning of the parliamentary sitting week” and deal with the spill motion and “put it behind us”.
“The normal party room meeting scheduled for Tuesday morning will also go ahead in the usual way,” he said.
“The only question – the only question – for our party is do we want to reduce ourselves to the level of the Labor party in dragging down a first-term prime minister,” he told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.
“Obviously, I’ve been talking to many colleagues over the last few days and my very strong sense is that we are determined to do what we were elected to do, to clean up Labor’s mess and to give our people the economic security and the national security that they need and deserve.”
Abbott left the media conference without taking any questions from reporters.
Bringing the vote on early raised the possibility of some people not being able to make it to Canberra in time. Ruddock said 101 of the 102 Liberal party room members were confirmed to attend, while he was checking the status of the final person.
Earlier on Sunday, Turnbull said Abbott had “shown great respect for the party room by saying that the meeting will be on Tuesday” rather than rushing it forward to Monday.
“He knows members coming to Canberra who will have been getting lots of phone calls and talking to their constituents, many of which will be uncertain, will want to have the opportunity to sit down and talk to each other in the nation’s capital in the course of that Monday leading up to the Tuesday,” the communications minister and former Liberal leader said.
Turnbull’s supporters have indicated he is likely to run for the top job if the party room passes the initial spill motion declaring open the leadership positions.
Turnbull said on Sunday he would vote against the spill motion because that was what was expected of all cabinet members, but refused to rule out being a contender if the motion succeeded.
“It’s very important to remember that the leadership of the Liberal party is, as John Howard said, the unique gift of the party room,” he said. “Now, what that means is that members of the party room have got to have the time to talk to each other, backbenchers talking to each other, backbenchers talking to frontbenchers, frontbenchers talking to frontbenchers and so forth.”
In an apparent reference to Abbott supporters fronting the media to push their case, Turnbull said it was important to talk to colleagues directly “rather than, you know, giving them advice or lecturing them or trying to communicate with them through the media, through the megaphone of the media”.
Turnbull also praised Abbott for suggesting the spill motion would be voted on through a secret ballot, saying this would allow the party room “to make its own decisions without any pressure, without people feeling that if they go one way or another, they’ll be subject to some sort of recrimination or vindictiveness or something like that”.
Gambaro issued a strongly worded statement after Abbott’s announcement.
“We cannot govern ourselves in an internal climate of fear and intimidation,” the Brisbane MP said. “And that is the unacceptable situation we have endured for the past five years.
“Equally we cannot govern the country through belligerence and hubris. In our parliamentary democracy, MPs, as elected officials, have the individual honour to serve the people of their respective electorates and as such deserve to have their voices heard. This is the path to good government.”
The manoeuvring came as a new poll suggested a leadership change would boost the Coalition’s standing with voters, but not would not place the government in an election-winning position.
The Galaxy poll for News Corp showed Labor was leading the Coalition 57% to 43% after preferences. Labor’s lead would shrink to 51% to 49% under Turnbull, the poll suggested.
In another scenario put to respondents, with the Coalition led by Julie Bishop, Labor’s lead would be 53% to 47%.
The Galaxy poll also asked whether Abbott should stand down, with 55% of respondents saying that he should and 35% disagreeing.
Senior ministers moved on Sunday to quash speculation Abbott could strike a peace deal by dumping Joe Hockey as treasurer and placing Turnbull in the key economic role.
News Corp reported that several cabinet ministers had urged Abbott to replace Hockey in the role. But the finance minister, Mathias Cormann, told the ABC’s Insiders program: “Joe Hockey has the full and complete support of the prime minister. That story is wrong.”
The Coalition’s Senate leader, Eric Abetz, emphatically rejected claims he had suggested the treasurer should be replaced. “I continue to support the leadership team and I continue to support all of my ministerial colleagues, including the treasurer,” he said.
The News Corp executive chairman Rupert Murdoch called on the Liberal party not to change leaders. Murdoch tweeted on Sunday: “Abbott, good guy, not perfect but no case for rebellion. Remember last one gave us Gillard disaster. Country still paying for it.”
Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) Abbott, good guy, not perfect but no case for rebellion. Remember last one gave us Gillard disaster. Country still paying for it.
Abbott has brought forward the spill motion to Monday but said the normal party room meeting scheduled for Tuesday morning would also go ahead in the usual way.A plan to split California into three separate states has cleared its first hurdle. Supporters are set to begin collecting signatures to qualify for next year's ballot.The plan is being funded by Bay Area tech billionaire Tim Draper, who previously funded a similar proposal back in 2014 to divide the state up into sections.That plan failed.Draper argues that citizens would be better served by three smaller state governments, rather than one large one.The three-way split goes like this: Northern California would include the Bay Area all the way to the Oregon border, Southern California would begin in Fresno and cover most of the southern state.A new California would begin in Los Angeles county and cover most of the coastal areas.Opponents say the plan would create chaos."Creating three new governments three new legislatures, three new governors and then having to disrupt what we have as a state all our prison systems, our higher education systems," said political analyst Steven Maviglio. "I think diversity is what makes California great and this would actually ruin it."If the measure were to make it on the ballot and be approved by voters it would also still need permission from Congress.YANAGAWA, Japan (CNN) -- Wearing a Nashville School of Law T-shirt, Christopher Savoie walked into a second-floor police interrogation room. In one corner, a stopwatch was running to hold him to the 15 minutes allotted for the interview.
A Tennessee court awarded Christopher Savoie custody of his son, Isaac, and daughter, Rebecca.
"I'm so scared," he said.
Savoie chose his words carefully, lest police Officer Toshihiro Tanaka cut short the rare interview Savoie was granted with CNN on Thursday. There were so many rules: No recording devices. No tough questions. Speak only in Japanese.
"I want Americans to know what's happening to me," Savoie continued in Japanese. "I didn't do anything wrong. Children have the right to see both parents. It's very important for my children to know both parents."
But Japanese authorities disagree.
They have charged Savoie, 38, a Tennessee native and naturalized Japanese citizen, with kidnapping his two children -- 8-year-old Isaac and 6-year-old Rebecca -- as his estranged wife, Noriko, was walking them to school Monday in Yanagawa, a rural town in southern Japan. Watch what else Savoie had to say »
He headed for the nearest U.S. consulate, in the city of Fukuoka, to try to obtain passports for the children, screaming at the guards to let him in the compound. He was steps away from the front gate but still standing on Japanese soil.
Japanese police, alerted by his estranged wife, arrested him.
The Savoies were divorced in Tennessee in January after 14 years of marriage.
Christopher Savoie had visitation rights with his children, but after he returned from a short summer trip, his estranged wife fled to Japan with the children, according to court documents. A United States court then granted sole custody to Savoie. Watch why the case is complicated »
Japanese law, however, recognizes Noriko Savoie as the primary custodian, regardless of the U.S. court order. The law there also follows a tradition of sole custody divorces. When the couple splits, one parent typically makes a complete and lifelong break from the children.
Complicating the matter further is the fact that the couple is still considered married in Japan, because they never divorced there, police said Wednesday. And, police said, the children are Japanese and have Japanese passports.
A 1980 Hague Convention standardized laws on international child abduction. But Japan is not a party to that agreement. Savoie was out of luck.
If a child in Japan is taken against the wishes of the recognized Japanese parent, the person who took the child is considered an abductor.
"Japanese people think she's the victim here," Savoie said. "In the States, my ex-wife is the one who's in the wrong."
U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley recognized this case as a difficult one. Even though the United States has strong ties with Japan, on this particular issue, the two nations' points of view could not differ more, he said.
In Yanagawa, those who have heard about the abduction case tend to side with the woman.
"They belong with their real mother," said one woman, herself a mother of two children.
But most have not heard of the case, because it has not been reported in local newspapers or on television.
Savoie's attorney, Tadashi Yoshino, knows the cultural divide will be hard to overcome.
"He technically may have committed a crime according to Japanese law but he shouldn't be indicted," Yoshino said. "He did it for the love of his children."
Savoie, a law student who already has a Ph.D. and a M.D., will spend 10 days in jail while Japanese prosecutors sort out the details of the case.
In the interrogation room, Savoie appeared exhausted. Tears welled in his eyes. He glanced over at the police officer, then paused to regain composure.
"I love you, Isaac, Rebecca," he said. "Your daddy loves you forever. I'll be patient and strong until the day comes that I can see you both again. I am very sorry that I can't be with you."
He was grateful be able to get the words out. Moments earlier, the interview had almost ended after Savoie blurted out in English: "I love you," a message intended for his current wife, Amy, in Nashville.
Then, as is Japanese custom, he bowed. And from the other side of the glass barrier, he gave a thumbs up, mouthing the words, "Thank you."
All About Japan • Tennessee • Child CustodyIt's a sunny morning as three scientists drive out from the Ecuadorian capital of Quito to Molinuco, a hiking spot on the Pita River. Armed with nets, headlamps, and high rubber boots, they head to a stream flowing through the forest.
This small team from the Balsa de los Sapos amphibian conservation facility are on a mission to save the Quito rocket frog - a species that, not long ago, was believed to have been lost forever.
Within minutes of arriving at their spot on the stream, Pol Pintanel, a PhD biology student, has caught his first tadpole.
Half an inch long, its tail flailing, this tiny creature could help secure the future of its species.
A species on the edge
The Quito rocket frog was once common across the Ecuadorian Andes. But a combination of disease and the impacts of climate change hit the species hard, and by the 1990s it was believed to be extinct.
Then, in 2008 scientists discovered the rocket frog, alive and well, at a spot on the Pita River, ten miles from the Cotopaxi volcano.
Andrés Merino-Viteri searches for rocket frogs by the Pita River
But last year, news that Cotopaxi might erupt put the future of the little brown frog in jeopardy once more.
Scientists warned that a flow of lava down the Pita River could destroy the rocket frog's last remaining habitat - wiping the species off the face of the planet once and for all.
Crowdsourcing for conservation
With Cotopaxi belching steam and ash, scientists at Balsa de los Sapos knew they had to act fast.
They launched a crowdfunding campaign asking the public to "adopt a tadpole" to help towards the costs of their rescue mission.
Andrés Merino-Viteri, director of Balsa de los Sapos, says the operation is an important opportunity to learn more about a species teetering on the brink of extinction.
"Practically no one has studied the rocket frog, it is full of potential," he told DW. "Research in Ecuador hasn't been very advanced, and especially not in the 80s, when this frog disappeared for a while. So we're very hopeful."
The terrarium room in Balsa de los Sapos, where rocket frogs are being held in case of a Cotopaxi eruption
Fishing for tadpoles
As Merino-Viteri's team peer into the water in search of tadpoles, he ponders what is special about this peaceful stretch of river that gave the frog the chance of a future.
"Everyone asks us why the rocket frog has survived in this specific spot," says Merino-Viteri. "The answer is, we really don't know. But it's possible that it's because there's fresh and clean water here without too much sun."
Pintanel - the first of the team to bag a tadpole - is an expert frog catcher. In less than an hour, he has caught six more.
"The frogs, I've heard, are always hiding underneath the rocks above us somewhere. I haven't been able to get to them. But the tadpoles are easy," he explains, sharing his technique with the rest of the team.
"They are in the quieter parts of the river, avoiding the current. So I go looking for them one by one, in the corners and under the rocks."
Merino-Viteri has a trick up his sleeve to entice the elusive adult frogs out of hiding. Suddenly, the quiet of the forest clearing is broken by the noise of rocket frogs. They are actually coming from a recorder in his pocket.
Perhaps the frogs aren't fooled by the pre-recorded calls. In any case, nothing happens.
The first adult frog
But after a couple more hours fishing for tadpoles, Pintanel suddenly lets out a whoop of delight. In his hand, the first adult rocket frog they have caught since 2011.
Pintanel pops the frightened amphibian into a recycled plastic bottle, which the three biologists pass around admiringly.
The first adult rocket frog caught by the team of biologists near the Cotopaxi volcano
The team head back to the Balsa de los Sapos facility, in the basement of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, where the adult frog will be given his own terrarium, alongside those containing dozens of other rare and endangered amphibians.
"We give them the best conditions," says facility manager Freddy Almeida. "These frogs are sitting in glass boxes with about two centimeters of water and some dirt, a plant, and a piece of a coconut shell where they can hide, as well as plenty of filtered water."
It will take a few weeks for the adult rocket frog to get used to its new home. If Cotopaxi erupts, he will stay there indefinitely. If not, Merino-Viteri and the others hope he can be returned to the idyllic spot where his species has made its last bid for survival.Dan Girardi #5 and Ryan McDonagh #27 of the New York Rangers celebrate the game-winning goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on April 24, 2015. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) Dan Girardi #5 and Ryan McDonagh #27 of the New York Rangers celebrate the game-winning goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on April 24, 2015. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
The New York Rangers know exactly what to expect from the Washington Capitals in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
It’s going to be physical, and it’s going to take another big defensive effort such as the one the Rangers got against Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round. This time around though, the task will be stopping Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.
It is the fifth time since 2009 that the teams will meet in the playoffs. The Rangers eliminated Washington from the 2012 and 2013 playoffs — in Game 7 each time.
“There are always a lot of memories,” Rangers defenseman Marc Staal said, recalling a number of overtime games, including a 2-1 win in Game 3 in 2012 in three overtimes. “We have played them a ton so definitely a team we are familiar with.”
The Rangers had their first full practice Tuesday in preparation for the series, working out for roughly an hour at their Westchester training facility.
Game 1 will be Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Capitals advanced Monday night, eliminating the Islanders in seven games, and keeping the Rangers away from a backyard series that was bound to have lots of local distractions.
It was a series that New York fans wanted. The Rangers insisted that they did not have a preference, although some admitted an Islanders’ matchup would have been interesting.
“I don’t think there is ever a normal playoff series in the Stanley Cup,” Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh said. “You see some pretty intense hockey, tight-checking games and you never know what type of what kind of play will be the difference.”
The Rangers won three of their four regular-season games against the Capitals. The last three were played from March 11 on, with the last one being a 4-2 New York win in Washington on the final day of the regular season.
It temporarily denied Washington home-ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs, but they got it when the Islanders lost in a shootout to Columbus later that night.
Most of the Rangers watched the Islanders-Capitals game on TV on Monday night and they were impressed with what they did on defense, limiting New York to 11 shots on goal.
The Rangers will enter the series coming off a big rest. They finished off the Penguins on Friday and then had three days to rest, even though most of the team took part in the optional skate on Monday.
The rest has allowed defenseman Kevin Klein to be ready to return to the lineup after sitting out since March 11 with a broken arm. Defenseman Keith Yandle was banged up in the Penguins’ series and he has not practiced since Game 2, although he has played in games.
Forward Mats Zuccarello is out indefinitely after being hit in the head with a shot by McDonagh on Friday night. Martin St. Louis will replace him on the line with Rick Nash and Derick Brassard.
While the rest was good, goaltender Henrik Lundqvist noted the Rangers overcame playing six games in nine days last season in reaching the Stanley Cup finals.
“I don’t think it is going to make a huge difference,” Lundqvist said. “We just have to make sure we practice really well and have a lot of intensity when we are out there. Hopefully, play for a while, that’s our goal, then I think it is going to help us.”
McDonagh and defense partner Dan Girardi will draw the assignment on Ovechkin in the games at Madison Square Garden. That has been a constant for years.
“It’s pretty tough out there,” Girardi said. “He is a pretty big guy and he plays hard, especially at this time of year. It really doesn’t matter who we are playing. It’s always tough on the top guys. It’s always hard to try to shut that down.
“We’ll do the best we can, but their second and third lines score goals, and the fourth line chips in. It’s a team we are going to have to be prepared every shift to beat. It will be physical.
“We have to make sure we’re ready for that and have some pushback and have some checks of our own. We have to play hard. There is no secret to the series. It will be a hard and physical series.”
(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)Neuro-Linguistic Programming is a name that encompasses the three most influential components involved in producing human experience: neurology, language and programming. The neurological system regulates how our bodies function, language determines how we interface and communicate with other people and our programming determines the kinds of models of the world we create. Neuro-Linguistic Programming describes the fundamental dynamics between mind (neuro) and language (linguistic) and how their interplay affects our body and behavior (programming).
NLP is a pragmatic school of thought - an 'epistemology' - that addresses the many levels involved in being human. NLP is a multi-dimensional process that involves the development of behavioral competence and flexibility, but also involves strategic thinking and an understanding of the mental and cognitive processes behind behavior. NLP provides tools and skills for the development of states of individual excellence, but it also establishes a system of empowering beliefs and presuppositions about what human beings are, what communication is and what the process of change is all about. At another level, NLP is about self-discovery, exploring identity and mission. It also provides a framework for understanding and relating to the'spiritual' part of human experience that reaches beyond us as individuals to our family, community and global systems. NLP is not only about competence and excellence, it is about wisdom and vision.
In essence, all of NLP is founded on two fundamental presuppositions:
1. The Map is Not the Territory. As human beings, we can never know reality. We can only know our perceptions of reality. We experience and respond to the world around us primarily through our sensory representational systems. It is our 'neuro-linguistic' maps of reality that determine how we behave and that give those behaviors meaning, not reality itself. It is generally not reality that limits us or empowers us, but rather our map of reality.
2. Life and 'Mind' are Systemic Processes. The processes that take place within a human being and between human beings and their environment are systemic. Our bodies, our societies, and our universe form an ecology of complex systems and sub-systems all of which interact with and mutually influence each other. It is not possible to completely isolate any part of the system from the rest of the system. Such systems are based on certain'self-organizing' principles and naturally seek optimal states of balance or homeostasis. [21]A British lawmaker is considering blocking a pro-Palestinian London event because of alleged support by the organizers for terror organizations, including Hamas and Hezbollah.
According to a report in The Guardian on Sunday, Community Secretary Sajid Javid informed Friends of Al-Aqsa earlier this month that he was considering canceling their two-day summit over “concerns that your organization and those connected with it have expressed public support for a proscribed organization, namely Hamas, and that you have supported events at which Hamas and Hezbollah — also proscribed — have been praised.”
The organization’s Palestine Expo, which is due to begin on July 8, was to have been one of the biggest pro-Palestinian events in Europe. It is planned to be held in the QE2 Centre, which is managed by Javid’s department.
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Javid was expected to make a final decision on the matter on Friday, but his office said the lawmaker was busy attending events in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire disaster.
Ismail Patel, the founder of Friends of Al-Aqsa and organizer of the expo, accused Javid of giving in to Israeli pressure. “They have failed to provide any satisfactory reason as to why they have chosen to cancel an event which seeks to celebrate Palestinian culture and heritage,” he said.
The two-day event on five floors of the exhibition center was slated to have speakers talk about the “facts” of “Israeli occupation of Palestine” and events as well as food, shopping and activities connected to the Palestinians.
Although organizers said they expected some 10,000 people to attend the expo, so far they have only sold some 2,000 tickets, partly due to the threat of cancellation, according to The Guardian.
Patel threatened legal action if the event doesn’t go ahead.
“Despite the threat… we will make further efforts to hold Palestine Expo and will seek a judicial review of this unfair and unjust decision,” he said.
The organizers have set up a crowdfunding site to pay for their legal fees in challenging the “false accusations,” and raised over £30,000 ($38,000) of their £50,000 ($64,000) target.
Friends of Al-Aqsa is described by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center as “a pro-Hamas British organization based in Leicester which advocates Israel’s elimination.”
Read: How Hamas is winning hearts and minds in Europe
Javid has said in the past that his family has Muslim heritage, but he does not identify with any religion. At a Conservative Friends of Israel lunch in 2012, the Jewish Chronicle quoted him as saying that “if he had to leave Britain to live in the Middle East, then he would choose Israel as home. Only there, he said, would his children feel the ‘warm embrace of freedom and liberty.'”Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo (1478-1557) is best known nowadays as the author of the Historia general y natural de las Indias (1535, second edition 1547), a pioneering account of the history and natural history of the Americas.
He is also of interest as a writer and courtier whose career spanned the Atlantic. He was also obviously something of a dog-lover.
The focus of today’s blog is the Libro de la cámara del príncipe don Juan. This is a very full account of the personnel and activities of the court of Prince John (born 1478), son of the Catholic Monarchs. John died young in 1497 at the age of 18. The Libro (first manuscript version 1547-48, revised a year later) was prepared by Oviedo for the guidance of Prince Philip (later King Philip II).
One detail which Oviedo added in the second version was this account of Bruto (Brutus), the prince’s greyhound.
He had black and white patches. He was not a handsome beast, as his father must have been a mastiff, and so he did not have a pretty head, but he was strongly built and not very tall. But he was clever, as dogged as could be and marvellously quick at the attack.
A contemporary greyhound. No stain of the mastiff here (British Library Royal MS 16 F II)
When on the road or hunting, the prince would deliberately drop a glove or handkerchief and once they had gone on a league or so, would say, “Bruto, bring me my glove.” And the dog brought it to him in his mouth, as pristine and clean of dribble as if a man had brought it; and this regardlesss of whether the terrain was open or thickly covered in trees.
A number of men could be fifteen, twenty or thirty paces away, and the prince would say, “Bruto, bring me that man.” And he would go and take him by the arm, very gently and without sinking his teeth. And when the prince said, “Not him,” Bruto left him and fetched another. And when he said, “Not him, but the one with the green, or grey cape,” as he was commanded so he did, in such as way that it seemed he knew his colours, like a person of good judgment. He was a marvellous tracker.
When the prince was buried at dawn on 5 October 1497 in the Cathedral of Salamanca, Bruto lay down at the head of the tomb, and whenever they took him away he returned to his place; so that finally they supplied him with a cushion to lie on, day and night, and they fed and watered him there, and when he went out to perform his necessities, he returned to his cushion. When the King and Queen left for their daughter’s weddding in Portugal, on their return they found him there still.
The prince’s final resting place was at Avila.
The tomb of Prince John at Avila (Image from Wikimedia Commons)
Writing in 1549 of events of 1497, Oviedo obviously found Brutus as admrable as Greyfriars Bobby was to be four and a half centuries later, an exemplar of canine loyalty above the bestial standards of the late medieval court.
Barry Taylor, Curator Romance Studies
References
Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo, Libro de la cámara del príncipe don Juan, ed. Santiago Fabregat Barrios (Valencia, 2006), pp. 135-37.
Libro de la Cámara real del Príncipe Don Juan, é officios de su casa é seruiçio ordinario, ed. J. M. Escudero de la Peña (Madrid, 1870) Ac.8886/7.
Angel Alcalá and Jacobo Sanz, Vida y muerte del Príncipe Don Juan : historia y literatura (Valladolid, 1999) YA.2002.a.11935President Donald Trump hinted that the television host had undergone a facelift. In an attempt to take a jab at the “Morning Joe” co-host, Trump described a meeting with Ms. Brzezinski in which, he said, “she was bleeding badly from a face-lift.” To get to the bottom of it, RadarOnline.com spoke exclusively to two of the nation's leading plastic surgeons to ask what work they think she has had done. Mika Brzezinski made headlines on Thursday afterhinted that the television host had undergone a facelift. In an attempt to take a jab at the “Morning Joe” co-host, Trump described a meeting with Ms. Brzezinski in which, he said, “she was bleeding badly from a face-lift.” To get to the bottom of it, RadarOnline.com spoke exclusively to two of the nation's leading plastic surgeons to ask what work they think she has had done. Photo credit: Getty Images
"It's definitely possible that she's had a facelift. Her jawline looks tighter and her cheeks look smoother and more defined," plastic surgeon to the stars, Dr. Anthony Youn, told Radar. "These are potential signs of a facelift. Photo credit: INSTAR Images
Although a facelift is real surgery, it's not common to be 'bleeding badly' after one," Dr. Youn, who has not treated Mika, said. "There can be some oozing for a day, but this typically stops within 24 hours." Photo credit: INSTAR Images
Dr. Adam Schaffner, agreed with Dr. Youn and added, “She has had some facial rejuvenation procedures. This may include BOTOX and/or the use of injectable fillers. It may also include skin resurfacing procedures such as laser resurfacing or chemical peels." Triple board certified, fellowship-trained plastic surgeon,, agreed with Dr. Youn and added, “She has had some facial rejuvenation procedures. This may include BOTOX and/or the use of injectable fillers. It may also include skin resurfacing procedures such as laser resurfacing or chemical peels." Photo credit: Getty ImagesView Photos Michael Simari and The Manufacturer
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Our feelings about the CR-Z have been generally mixed: It looks cool and triggers feelings of nostalgia for those of us old enough to remember Honda’s fun and thrifty two-seat CR-X from the ’80s, but the CR-Z’s performance and fuel economy never delivered on the promise implied by its flyweight design and racy looks. So when we stumbled upon this Supercharged CR-Z concept powered by an enhanced version of the supercharged 1.5-liter CR-Z engine concept displayed at last year’s SEMA show, it made us feel all tingly inside.
Created by Honda Performance Development (HPD), the car’s mission is to explore the performance potential of the CR-Z, with HPD making numerous performance enhancements to improve acceleration, braking, and handling. Key engine mods include a centrifugal supercharger and intercooler, HDP high-flow injectors, a new air filter, and a sport-exhaust system with a center outlet. In this state of tune, Honda is quoting 185 hp and 169 lb-ft of torque, numbers that easily slay the 122 hp and 123 ft-lb of the stock CR-Z.
For reference, Japanese tuner Mugen offers a supercharged CR-Z in Japan that produces comparable numbers, and the European-market CR-Z received several upgrades for the 2013 model year, several of which Honda has hinted will arrive stateside some time soon.
What Honda didn’t address at SEMA is how the additional ponies affect the CR-Z’s mileage. We’re of the school that any bump in power is a good thing, and we’ll gladly pay for it in diminished economical performance; thrift-master generals seeking economy over cheap thrills may not see things the same way.
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View Photos Michael Simari and The ManufacturerImage caption There has been an increase in rebel attacks this summer
Turkish jets bombed Kurdish
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focus on a particular methodological approach is an extension of philosophers' traditional engagement in areas of controversy in which philosophical analysis might make a difference. Philip Kitcher's (1985) which took on sociobiology and Elliott Sober and David Sloan Wilson's (1998), an extensive argument for group level selection, are examples that focus on content and methodology of extensions of evolutionary theory.
Climate change research has provoked several quite different kinds of analysis. As a complex interdisciplinary field, its evidential structure leaves it vulnerable to challenge. Opponents of limits to carbon pollutants have exploited those vulnerabilities to sow public doubts about the reality and/or causes of climate change (Oreskes and Conway 2011). Parker 2006, Lloyd 2010, Parker 2010, Winsberg 2012 have, respectively, investigated strategies for reconciling apparent inconsistencies among climate models, the differences between model-based projections and strictly inductive projections, methods for assessing and communicating the uncertainties inherent in climate models. Philosophers have also considered how to interpret the (American) public’s susceptibility to the climate change deniers. Philip Kitcher (2012) interprets it as lack of information amid a plethora of misinformation and proposes methods for more effective communication of reputable science to the public. Anderson (2011), on the contrary, contends that members of the public are perfectly able to evaluate the reliability of contradictory assessments by following citation trails, etc., whether on the internet or in hard copies of journals. Her view is that the reluctance to accept the reality of climate change is a reluctance to abandon familiar ways of life, which is what averting climate-caused disaster requires all to do. Finally, there is an ethical and political question once the inevitability of climate change is accepted: how should the burdens of taking action be distributed? The industrialized West is responsible for most of the carbon pollution up to the end of the 20th century, but developing nations trying to industrialize have contributed an increasing share, and will continue to do so, in the 21st century. Who bears the burden? And if the effects will only be felt by generations in the future, why should present generations take actions whose harms will be felt now and whose benefits lie in the future and will not be experienced by those bearing the costs? Broome (2008) explores the intergenerational issues, while Raina (forthcoming) explores the global dimensions.
Two additional areas of ongoing scientific controversy are the biological reality (or not) of race and the biology of gender differences. Developments in genetics, and documented racial differences in health, have thrown doubt on earlier anti-realist views of race, such as those articulated by Stephen J. Gould (1981) and Richard Lewontin (Lewontin, Rose, and Kamin 1984). Spencer (2012, 2014) argues for a sophisticated form of biological racial realism. Gannett (2003) argues that biological populations are not independent objects that can provide data relevant to racial realism, while Kaplan and Winther (2013) argue that no claims about race can be read from biological theory or data. The reality and basis of observed gender differences were the subject of much debate in the late 20th century(See Fausto-Sterling 1992). These issues have crystallized in the early 21st century in debates about the brain and cognition drawing the attention of philosophers of biology and cognitive scientists. Rebecca Jordan-Young (2010), Cordelia Fine (2010), and Bluhn, Jacobson and Maibom, eds. (2012) all explore, with an aim of debunking, claims of gendered brains.
Kuhn's critique of logical empiricism included a strong naturalism. Scientific rationality was to be understood by studying actual episodes in the history of science, not by formal analyses developed from a priori concepts of knowledge and reason (Kuhn 1962, 1977). Sociologists and sociologically inclined historians of science took this as a mandate for the examination of the full spectrum of scientists' practices without any prior prejudice as to which were epistemically legitimate and which not. That very distinction came under suspicion from the new social scholars, often labeled “social constructivists.” They urged that understanding the production of scientific knowledge required looking at all the factors causally relevant to the acceptance of a scientific idea, not just at those the researcher thinks should be relevant.
A wide range of approaches in social and cultural studies of science has come under the umbrella label of “social constructivism.” Both terms in the label are understood differently in different programs of research. While constructivists agree in holding that those factors treated as evidential, or as rationally justifying acceptance, should not be privileged at the expense of other causally relevant factors, they differ in their view of which factors are causal or worth examination. Macro-analytic approaches, such as those associated with the so-called Strong Programme in the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge, treat social relations as an external, independent factor and scientific judgment and content as a dependent outcome. Micro-analyses or laboratory studies, on the other hand, abjure the implied separation of social context and scientific practice and focus on the social relations within scientific research programs and communities and on those that bind research-productive and research-receptive communities together.
Researchers also differ in the degree to which they treat the social and the cognitive dimensions of inquiry as independent or interactive. The researchers associated with the macro-analytic Strong Programme in the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge (Barry Barnes, David Bloor, Harry Collins, Donald MacKenzie, Andrew Pickering, Steve Shapin) were particularly interested in the role of large scale social phenomena, whether widely held social/political ideologies or group professional interests, on the settlement of scientific controversies. Some landmark studies in this genre include Andrew Pickering's (1984) study of competing professional interests in the interpretation of high energy particle physics experiments, and Steven Shapin and Simon Shaffer's (1985) study of the controversy between Robert Boyle and Thomas Hobbes about the epistemological relevance of experiments with vacuum pumps.
The micro-sociological or laboratory studies approach features ethnographic study of particular research groups, tracing the myriad activities and interactions that eventuate in the production and acceptance of a scientific fact or datum. Karin Knorr Cetina's (1981) reports her year-long study of a plant science laboratory at UC Berkeley. Bruno Latour and Steven Woolgar's (1986) study of Roger Guillemin's neuroendocrinology laboratory at the Salk Institute is another classic in this genre. These scholars argued in subsequent work that their form of study showed that philosophical analyses of rationality, of evidence, of truth and knowledge, were irrelevant to understanding scientific knowledge. Sharon Traweek's (1988) comparative study of the cultures of Japanese and North American high energy physics communities pointed to the parallels between cosmology and social organization but abstained from making extravagant or provocative epistemological claims. The efforts of philosophers of science to articulate norms of scientific reasoning and judgment were, in the view of both macro- and micro-oriented scholars, misdirected, because actual scientists relied on quite different kinds of considerations in the practice of science.
Until recently, apart from a few anomalous figures like Caroline Herschel, Barbara McClintock, and Marie Curie, the sciences were a male preserve. Feminist scholars have asked what bearing the masculinity of the scientific profession has had on the content of science and on conceptions of scientific knowledge and practice. Drawing both on work by feminist scientists that exposed and critiqued gender biased science and on theories of gender, feminist historians and philosophers of science have offered a variety of models of scientific knowledge and reasoning intended to accommodate the criticism of accepted science and the concomitant proposal and advocacy of alternatives. Evelyn Keller (1985) proposed a psycho-dynamic model of knowledge and objectivity, arguing that a certain psychological profile, facilitated by typical patterns of masculine psychological development, associated knowledge and objectivity with domination. The association of knowledge and control continues to be a topic of concern for feminist thinkers as it is also for environmentally concerned critics of the sciences. In this connection, see especially Lacey's (2005) study of the controversy concerning transgenic crops. Other feminists turned to Marxist models of social relations and developed versions of standpoint theory, which holds that the beliefs held by a group reflect the social interests of that group. As a consequence, the scientific theories accepted in a context marked by divisions of power such as gender will reflect the interests of those in power. Alternative theoretical perspectives can be expected from those systematically excluded from power. (Harding 1986; Rose 1983; Haraway 1978).
Still other feminists have argued that some standard philosophical approaches to the sciences can be used to express feminist concerns. Nelson (1990) adopts Quine's holism and naturalism to analyze debates in recent biology. Elizabeth Potter (2001) adapts Mary Hesse's network theory of scientific inference to analyse gendered aspects of 17th century physics. Helen Longino (1990) develops a contextual empiricism to analyze research in human evolution and in neuroendocrinology. In addition to the direct role played by gender bias, scholars have attended to the ways shared values in the context of reception can confer an a priori implausibility on certain ideas. Keller (1983) argued that this was the fate of Barbara McClintock's unorthodox proposals of genetic transposition. Stephen Kellert (1993) makes a similar suggestion regarding the resistance to so-called chaos theory.
What the feminist and empirical sociological analyses have in common is the view that the social organization of the scientific community has a bearing on the knowledge produced by that community. There are deep differences, however, in their views as to what features of that social organization are deemed relevant and how they are expressed in the theories and models accepted by a given community. The gender relations focused on by feminists went unrecognized by sociologists pursuing macro- or microsociological research programs. The feminist scientists and scholars further differ from the scholars in empirical social and cultural studies of science in their call for alternative theories and approaches in the sciences. These calls imply that philosophical concerns with truth and justification are not only legitimate but useful tools in advancing feminist transformative goals for the sciences. As can be seen in their varying treatments of objectivity, however, philosophical concepts are often reworked in order to be made applicable to the content or episodes of interest (See Anderson 2004, Haraway 1988, Harding 1993, Keller 1985, Longino 1990, Nelson 1990, Wylie 2005)
In addition to differences in analysis of philosophical concepts like objectivity, rationality, truth, feminist philosophers of science have also debated the proper role of contextual (sometimes called, “external” or “social”) values. Some feminists argue that, given that values do play a role in scientific inquiry, socially progressive values ought to shape not only decisions about what to investigate but also the processes of justification. Philosophers of science should incorporate exemplification of the right values in their accounts of confirmation or justification. Others are less certain about the identification of the values that should and those that should not inform the conduct of science. These philosophers are dubious that a consensus exists, or is even possible in a pluralistic society, on what constitute the values that ought to guide inquiry. In an exchange with Ronald Giere, Kourany (2003a, 2003b) argues that not only science, but philosophy of science ought to be concerned with the promotion of socially progressive values. Giere (2003) replies that what counts as socially progressive will vary among philosophers, and that in a democracy, it is unlikely that a unanimous or near unanimous consensus regarding the values to inform philosophical analysis or scientific inquiry could be achieved either in the larger society or in the smaller social subset of philosophers of science.
Since 1980, interest in developing philosophical accounts of scientific knowledge that incorporate the social dimensions of scientific practice has been on the increase. Some philosophers see attention to the social as a straightforward extension of already developed approaches in epistemology. Others, inclined toward some form of naturalism, have taken the work in empirical social studies of science discussed above seriously. They have, however, diverged quite considerably in their treatment of the social. Some understand the social as biasing or distorting, and hence see the social as opposed to or competing with the cognitive or epistemic. These philosophers see the sociologists' disdain for normative philosophical concerns as part of a general debunking of science that demands a response. They attempt either to rebut the claims of the sociologists or to reconcile the demonstration of the role of interests in science with its ultimate rationality. Others treat the social as instead constitutive of rationality. This division parallels to some degree the division between macro-analyses and micro-analyses in the sociology of science described above.
At least four issues have been discussed in the course of proposing models of the social character of scientific knowledge: how to represent and understand the division of cognitive labor in the sciences; whether scientific rationality and objectivity can be fully described independently of the social relations in the sciences; whether the ultimate goal of scientific inquiry should be a single account of phenomena; and what the locus of scientific knowledge is on a fully social account of science.
Division of cognitive labor. For philosophers who treat the individual knower as the primary locus of inquiry, rationality, and knowledge, the phenomena of the coexistence, however uneasy, of difference (even dissent) and of the ascendance of new ideas are the most salient features of a social community. But, it seems hard to account for that diversity if the goal of science is understood to be the achieving of a single encompassing and true theory. How can it be rational to adopt a research strategy other than the one deemed at the time most likely of success? Philip Kitcher in his (1993) was concerned to offer an alternative to the strong programme’s proposal that controversy and the persistence of alternative research programs were a function of the varying social or ideological commitments of researchers. However, he also acknowledged that if researchers followed only the strategy judged at the time most likely to lead to truth, they would not pursue unorthodox strategies that might lead to new discoveries. He therefore labeled the observed fact that researchers pursued different approaches to the same problem as the division of cognitive labor and proposed a decision model that attributed the pursuit of a nonorthodox (maverick) research strategy to a rational calculation about the chances of a positive payoff. This chance was calculated on the basis of the likelihood of the maverick strategy being successful (or more successful than the orthodox approach), the numbers of peers pursuing orthodox or other maverick strategies, and the anticipated reward of success. A community can allocate research resources in such a way as to maintain the balance of orthodox and maverick scientists most likely to facilitate progress. Thus, scientific progress can tolerate and indeed benefits from a certain amount of “impure” motivation. Michael Strevens (2003) argued that the pursuit of maverick research strategies was to be expected as a consequence of the priority rule. The priority rule refers to the practice of referring to a law or object with the name of the first individual to articulate or perceive and identify it. Think of Boyle’s Law, Halley’s comet, the Planck constant, Avogadro’s number, etc. There’s no such reward attached to pursuing a research strategy devised by another and “merely” adding to what that individual has already discovered. The rewards of research come from being first. And to be first requires pursuing a novel problem or strategy. The division of cognitive labor, understood as different researchers pursuing different research strategies, is a simple effect of the priority rule. Muldoon and Weisberg (2011) reject both Kitcher’s and Strevens’s accounts as presupposing unrealistically uniform and ideal agents. In reality, they observe, scientists have at best imperfect knowledge of the entire research situation, do not know the entirety of the research landscape, and when they do know, know different things. They do not have sufficient information to employ the decision methods Kitcher and Strevens attribute to them. Muldoon and Weisberg propose agent-based modeling as a means to represent the imperfect, non-overlapping, and partial knowledge of the agents deciding what research problems and strategies to pursue. Solomon’s advocacy of dissensus discussed below can be understood as rejecting the premises of the problem. From that point of view the aim of scientific organization ought to be to promote disagreement.
Sociality, rationality, and objectivity. Philosophers who treat the social as biasing or distorting tend to focus on the constructivists' view that there are no universal principles of rationality or principles of evidence that can be used to identify in any context-independent way which factors are evidential and which not. Reconciliationists tend to argue that what is correct in the sociologists' accounts can be accomodated in orthodox accounts of scientific knowledge. The key is sifting the correct from the exaggerated or misguided. Integrationists read the relevance of the sociologists' accounts as supporting new accounts of rationality or objectivity, rather than as grounds for rejecting the cogency of such normative ideals.
Philosophers concerned to defend the rationality of science against sociological misrepresentations include Larry Laudan (1984) James Brown (1989, 1994), Alvin Goldman (1987, 1995) and Susan Haack (1996). The details of these philosophers' approaches differ, but they agree in holding that scientists are persuaded by what they regard as the best evidence or argument, the evidence most indicative of the truth by their lights, and in holding that arguments and evidence are the appropriate focus of attention for understanding the production of scientific knowledge. When evidential considerations have not trumped non-evidential considerations, we have an instance of bad science. They read the sociologists as arguing that a principled distinction between evidential and nonevidential considerations cannot be drawn and devote considerable effort to refuting those arguments. In their positive proposals for accomodating the social character of science, sociality is understood as a matter of the aggregation of individuals, not their interactions, and public knowledge as simply the additive outcome of many individuals making sound epistemic judgments. Individual rationality and individual knowledge are thus the proper focus of philosophers of science. Exhibiting principles of rationality applicable to individual reasoning is sufficient to demonstrate the rationality of science, at least in its ideal form.
Reconciliationists include Ronald Giere, Mary Hesse, and Philip Kitcher. Giere (1988) models scientific judgment using decision theory. This permits incorporating scientists' interests as one of the parameters of the decision matrix. He also advocates a satisficing, rather than optimizing, approach to modeling the decision situation, thus enabling different interests interacting with the same empirical base to support different selections as long as they are consistent with that base. Mary Hesse (1980) employs a network model of scientific inference that resembles W.V.O. Quine's web of belief in that its constituents are heterogeneous in character, but all subject to revision in relation to changes elsewhere in the network. She understands the social factors as coherence conditions operating in tandem with logical constraints to determine the relative plausibility of beliefs in the network.
The most elaborate reconciliationist position is that developed in Philip Kitcher's (1993). In addition to modeling relations of authority and the division of cognitive labor as described above, he offers what he terms a compromise between extreme rationalists and sociological debunkers. The compromise model appeals to a principle of rationality, which Kitcher calls the External Standard. It is deemed external because it is proposed as holding independently of any particular historical, cultural or social context. Thus, not only is it external, but it is also universal. The principle applies to change of belief (or shift from one practice to another, in Kitcher's broader locution), not to belief. It treats a shift (in practice or belief) as rational if and only “the process through which the shift was made has a success ratio at least as high as that of any other process used by human beings (ever)...” (Kitcher 1993, 303). Kitcher's compromise proposes that scientific ideas develop over time and benefit from the contributions of many differently motivated researchers. This is the concession to the sociologically oriented scholars. In the end, however, those theories that get accepted are those that satisfy Kitcher's External Standard. Kitcher thus joins Goldman, Haack, and Laudan in the view that it is possible to articulate a priori conditions of rationality or of epistemic warrant that operate independently of, or, perhaps one might say, orthogonally to, the social relations of science.
A third set of models is integrationist in character. Integrationists use the observations of sociologists of science to develop alternative account of scientific rationality and objectivity. Nelson (1990) focuses on a slightly different aspect of Quine's holism than does Hesse. Nelson uses Quine's arguments against the independently foundational status of observation statements as the basis for what she calls a feminist empiricism. According to Nelson, no principled distinction can be made between the theories, observations, or values of a community. What counts as evidence, in her view, is fixed by the entire complex of a community's theories, value commitments, and observations. There is neither knowledge nor evidence apart from such a shared complex. The community is the primary knower on this view and individual knowledge is dependent on the knowledge and values of the community.
Miriam Solomon's social empiricism is focused on scientific rationality (Solomon 2001). It, too, involves denying a universal principled distinction among the causes of belief. Solomon draws on contemporary cognitive science literature to argue that what are traditionally called biases are simply among the kinds of “decision vector” that influence belief. They are not necessarily undesirable elements from which science needs to be protected, and can be productive of insight and rational belief. Salience and availability (of data, of measurement technologies), also called cold biases, are decision vectors as much as social ideologies or other motivational factors, “hot biases.” The distinctive feature of Solomon's social empiricism is her contrast between individual and community rationality. Her (2001) urges the pluralistic view that a community is rational when the theories it accepts are those that have unique empirical successes. Individuals can persist in beliefs that are (from a panoptic perspective) less well supported than others on this view, if the totality of available evidence (or empirical data) is not available to them, or when their favored theory accounts for phenomena not accounted for other theories, even when those may have a greater quantity of empirical successes. What matters to science, however, is that the aggregated judgments of a community be rational. A community is rational when the theories it accepts are those with all or with unique empirical successes. It is collectively irrational to jettison a theory with unique empirical successes. Thus, the community can be rational even when its members are, as judged by traditional epistemic standards, individually irrational. Indeed, individual irrationality can contribute to community rationality in that individuals committed to a theory that accounts for their data keep that data in the range of phenomena any theory accepted by the entire community must eventually explain. In addition to empirical success, Solomon proposes an additional normative criterion. In order to secure appropriate distribution of scientific effort, biases must be appropriately distributed in the community. Solomon proposes a scheme for ascertaining when a distribution is normatively appropriate. Thus, for Solomon, a scientific community is rational when biases are appropriately distributed and it accepts only a theory with all or theories with unique empirical successes as the normative epistemological condition. Rationality accrues only to a community, and not to the individuals constituting the community.
Finally, in Longino's critical contextual empiricism, the cognitive processes that eventuate in scientific knowledge are themselves social (Longino 1990, 2002). Longino's starting point is a version of the underdetermination argument: the semantic gap between statements describing data and statements expressing hypotheses or theories to be confirmed or disconfirmed by that data. This gap, created by the difference in descriptive terms used in the description of data and in the expression of hypotheses, means that evidential relations cannot be formally specified and that data cannot support one theory or hypothesis to the exclusion of all alternatives. Instead, such relations are mediated by background assumptions. Eventually, in the chain of justification, one reaches assumptions for which no evidence is available. If these are the context in which evidential relations are constituted, questions arise concerning how the acceptance of such assumptions can be legitimated. According to Longino, the only check against the arbitrary dominance of subjective (metaphysical, political, aesthetic) preference in such cases is critical interaction among the members of the scientific community or among members of different communities. There is no higher authority or transcendent aperspectival position from which it is possible to adjudicate among foundational assumptions. Longino takes the underdetermination argument to express in logical terms the point made by the sociologically oriented researchers: the individuals participating in the production of scientific knowledge are historically, geographically, and socially situated and their observations and reasoning reflect their situations. This fact does not undermine the normative enterprise of philosophy, but requires its expansion to include within its scope the social interactions within and between scientific communities. What counts as knowledge is determined by such interactions.
Longino claims that scientific communities do institutionalize some critical practices (for example, peer review), but argues that such practices and institutions must satisfy conditions of effectiveness in order to qualify as objective. She argues, therefore, for the expansion of scientific norms to include norms that apply to communities. These are (1) the provision of venues in which critical interaction can take place, (2) the uptake of critical intervention as demonstrated in change of belief distribution in the community over time in a way that is sensitive to the cirtical discourse taking place within that community, (3) public accessibility of the standards that regulate discourse, and (4) tempered equality of intellectual authority. By this latter condition, perhaps the most controversial of her proposed norms, Longino means that any perspective has a prima facie capacity to contribute to the critical interactions of a community, though equal standing can be lost owing to failure to engage or to respond to criticism. In her 2002, Longino argues that the cognitive processes of science, such as observation and reasoning, are themselves social processes. Thus the interactions subject to community norms extend not only to discussion of assumptions in finished research, but to the constructive processes of research as well.
Solomon and Longino differ on where they locate normativity and on the role and effectiveness of deliberative processes in actual scientific inquiry. Solomon attends to the patterns of acceptance and to the distribution of decision vectors, regardless of the interactions among community members, while Longino attends to deliberative processes and interactions. They may also differ in their views of what constitutes scientific success.
One set of issues that has yet to give rise to extended philosophical reflection is the question how civilizational differences are expressed in scientific work (See Bala 2008). Here, too, there is a micro- and a macro- version. At the micro level, one might ask how the interactional culture of individual laboratories or theoretical subcommunities is or is not expressed in the outcome of their research. While at the macro level one might be asking how large scale cultural features are reflected in the content and practice of science in a given cultural formation. For example, Joseph Needham argued that features of the culture of ancient China directed their technical and intellectual ingenuity into channels that foreclosed the development of anything like the science that developed in Western Europe in the 14th through the 17th centuries. Other cultures developed some aspects of what we now think of as a cosmopolitan or global scientific culture (for example, the mathematics and astronomy of 10th through 14th century Islamic and South Asian scholars) without the theoretical content of early modern physics, as that developed in Western and Central Europe. The papers in Habib and Raina (2001) address aspects of these questions with respect to the history of science in India.
Unity, Plurality and the Aims of Inquiry. The variety of views on the degree of sociality assignable to the epistemological concepts of science lead to different views concerning the ultimate character of the outcome of inquiry. This difference can be summarized as the difference between monism and pluralism. Monism, as characterized in Kellert, Longino, and Waters (2006), holds that the goal of inquiry is and should be a unified, comprehensive, and complete account of phenomena (whether all phenomena, or the phenomena specific to a particular domain of inquiry). If this is so, then the norms of assessment should be informed by this goal and there should be one standard by which theories, models, and hypotheses in the sciences are assessed. Deviation from an accepted theoretical framework is problematic and requires explanation, such as the explanations offered for the division of cognitive labor. Monism, with its commitment to ultimate unity, requires ways to reconcile competing theories or to adjudicate controversy so as to eliminate competition in favor of the one true or best theory. Pluralism, on the other hand, holds that the observed plurality of approaches within a science is no flaw but rather reflects the complexity of the phenomena under investigation in interaction with the limitations of human cognitive capacities and the variety of human cognitive as well as pragmatic interests in representations of those phenomena.
Among pluralists, a diversity of views is to be found. Suppes (1978) emphasized the mutual untranslatability of the descriptive terms developed in the course of scientific specialization. Such incommensurability will resist evaluation by a common measure. Cartwright’s (1999) invocation of a dappled world emphasizes the complexity and diversity of the natural (and social) world. Scientific theories and models are representations of varying degrees of abstraction that manage to apply at best partially to whatever phenomena they purport to represent. To the extent they are taken to represent actual process in the real world, they must be hedged by ceteris paribus clauses. Scientific laws and models attach to patches of the world, but not to a seamlessly law-governed whole. Mitchell’s (2002, 2009) integrative pluralism is a rejection of the goal of unification by either reduction to a single (fundamental) level of explanation or abstraction to a single theoretical representation, in favor of a more pragmatically inflected set of explanatory strategies. The success for any particular investigation is answerable to the goals of the investigation, but there may be multiple compatible accounts reflecting both the contingency and partiality of the laws/generalizations that can figure in explanations and the different goals one may bring to investigation of the same phenomenon. The explanations sought in any particular explanatory situation will draw on these multiple accounts as appropriate for the level of representation adequate to achieve its pragmatic ends. Mitchell’s defense of integrative pluralism rests on both the partiality of representation and the complexity of the phenomena to be explained.
Kellert, Longino, and Waters advance a pluralism that sees multiplicity not only among but within levels of analysis. Furthermore they see no reason to require that the multiple accounts be compatible. The multiplicity of noncongruent empirically adequate accounts helps us appreciate the complexity of a phenomenon without being in a position to generate a single account of that complexity. They do not hold that all phenomena will support ineliminable pluralism, but that there are some phenomena that will require mutually irreducible or incompatible models. Which these are is determined by examining the phenomena, the models, and the match between phenomena and models. Like Mitchell, Kellert, Longino, and Waters hold that pragmatic considerations (broadly understood) will govern the choice of model to be used in particular circumstances. Both forms of pluralism (compatibilist and noncompatibilist) abandon the notion that there is a set of natural kinds whose causal interactions are the basis for fundamental explanations of natural processes. The noncompatibilist is open to multiple classification schemes answerable to different pragmatic interests in classifying. To this extent the noncompatibilist pluralist embraces a view close to the promiscuous realism articulated by John Dupré (1993). The compatibilist, or integrative pluralist, on the other hand, must hold that there is a way that different classification schemes can be reconciled to support the envisioned integration of explanatory models.
Pluralism receives support from several additional approaches. Giere (2006) uses the phenomenon of color vision to support a position he calls perspectival realism. Like the colors of objects, scientific representations are the result of interactions between human cognitive faculties and the world. Other species have different visual equipment and perceive the world differently. Our human cognitive faculties, then, constitute perspectives. We could have been built differently and hence perceived the world differently. Perspectival realism leads to pluralism, because perspectives are partial. While van Fraassen's (2008) does not take a position on pluralism vs. monism (and as an empiricist and antirealist van Fraassen would not have to), its emphasis on the partiality and perspective dependence of measurement provides a complementary point of entry to such diversity. Solomon (2006) urges a yet more welcoming attitude towards multiplicity. In her view, dissensus is a necessary component of well-functioning scientific communities and consensus can be epistemologically pernicious. In an extension of the arguments in Solomon (2001) she argues that different models and theoretical representations will be associated with particular insights or specific data that are likely to be lost if the aim is to integrate or otherwise combine the models to achieve a consensus understanding. The activity of integrating two or more models is different from the process of one of a set coming eventually to have all the empirical successes possessed independently by the individual models. In her examination of consensus conferences called by the United States National Institutes of Health (Solomon 2011), Solomon finds that such conferences do not resolve existing dissent in the scientific community. Instead, they tend to take place after a consensus has emerged in the research community and are directed more to the communication of such consensus to outside communities (such as clinicians, insurers, health policy experts, and the public) than to the assessment of evidence that might warrant consensus.
Researchers committed to a monist or unified science will see plurality as a problem to be overcome, while researchers already committed to a deeply social view of science will see plurality as a resource of communities rather than a problem. The diversity and partiality that characterizes both local and the global scientific community characterize the products of those communities as well as the producers. Universalism and unification require the elimination of epistemologically relevant diversity, while a pluralist stance promotes it and the deeply social conception of knowledge that follows.
Sociality and the structure of scientific knowledge. Attention to the social dimensions of scientific knowledge and the consequent potential for plurality has prompted philosophers to rethink the structure of scientific knowledge. Many philosophers (including Giere, Kitcher, and Longino) who advocate forms of pluralism invoke the metaphor of maps to explain how scientific representations can be both partial and adequate. Maps only represent those features of the territory mapped that are relevant for the purpose for which the map is drawn. Some maps may represent the physical area bounded by state boundaries, others may represent the population size, or the relative abundance/poverty of natural resources. But the map metaphor is only one of several ways to rethink the structure of scientific knowledge.
Other philosophers draw more heavily on cognitive science to represent the sociality of cognitive agents. Giere (2002) takes a naturalist approach to modeling, not so much the distribution of cognitive labor, but the distribution of cognition. This approach takes a system or interactive community as the locus of cognition, rather than the individual agent. Nersessian (2006) extends distributed cognition to model-based reasoning in the sciences. Models are artifacts that focus the cognitive activity of multiple individuals in particular settings. Knowledge is distributed across the minds interacting about the artifacts in that setting. Paul Thagard draws on the increasingly interdisciplinary (and hence social) nature of cognitive science itself to argue that not only does cognitive science (or certain lines of analysis in cognitive science) support a conception of cognition as distributed among interacting agents, but that this conception can be turned back upon cognitive science itself. (Thagard 2012). Finally Alexander Bird (2010) reflects on the sense of knowledge required for attributions such as: “the biomedical community now knows that peptic ulcers are often caused by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori.” Or “There was an explosive growth in scientific knowledge in the twentieth century.” Bird faults other social epistemologists for still making such collective knowledge supervenient on the states of individuals. Instead, he argues, we should understand social knowing as a functional analogue of individual knowing. Both are dependent on the existence and proper functioning of the relevant structures: reasoning and perception for individuals; libraries and journals and other social structures, for collectivities.
Modern science has been regarded as both a model of democratic self-governance and an activity requiring and facilitating democratic practices in its supporting social context (Popper 1950, Bronowski 1956). In this perspective, science is seen as embedded in and dependent on its supporting social context, but insulated in its practices from the influence of that context. As the reach of science and science-based technologies has extended further and further into the economy and daily life of industrialized societies, new attention is paid to the governance of science. Regardless of one's views about the social character of knowledge, there are further questions concerning what research to pursue, what social resources to devote to it, who should make such decisions, and how they should be made.
Philip Kitcher (2001) has opened these questions to philosophical scrutiny. While Kitcher largely endorses the epistemological views of his (1993), in this work he argues that there is no absolute standard of the significance (practical or epistemic) of research projects, nor any standard of the good apart from subjective preferences. The only non-arbitrary way to defend judgments concerning research agendas in the absence of absolute standards is through democratic means of establishing collective preferences. Kitcher, thus, attempts to spell out procedures by which decisions concerning what research directions to pursue can be made in a democratic manner. The result, which he calls well-ordered science, is a system in which the decisions actually made track the decisions that would be a made by a suitably constituted representative body collectively deliberating with the assistance of relevant information (concerning, e.g., cost and feasibility) supplied by experts.
Kitcher's “well-ordered science” has attracted attention from other philosophers, from scientists, and from scholars of public policy. Winning praise as a first step, it has also elicited a variety of criticisms and further questions. The criticisms of his proposal range from worries about the excessive idealism of the conception to worries that it will enshrine the preferences of a much smaller group than those who will be affected by research decisions. Kitcher's proposal at best works for a system in which all or most scientific research is publicly funded. But the proportion of private, corporate, funding of science compared to that of public funding has been increasing, thus calling into question the effectiveness of a model that presupposes largely public control (Mirowski and Sent 2002, Krimsky 2003). Kitcher's model, it should be noted, still effects a significant separation between the actual conduct of research and decisions concerning the direction of research and scholars who see a more intimate relation between social processes and values in the context and those in the
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(through Aug. 8). Not coincidentally, in four of the past five seasons, the Rays finished first or second in the American League in ERA. This season the team won 21 of 26 July games and overtook Boston for first place in the always difficult American League East, thanks to a staff that posted a scintillating 2.54 ERA (more than half a run better than the next closest AL team) and got seven complete games (most in one month since the '99 Phillies) from a baby-faced homegrown rotation that will earn a combined $15.5 million this year, or almost $8 million less than the Yanks' CC Sabathia. Make no mistake: With a middling offense that ranks sixth in the AL in runs scored and a slumping slugger -- Evan Longoria's.635 OPS in July was the lowest of any month in his career -- it's the Rays arms shouldering the load. The man behind the mound men? Hickey, the unheralded less-is-more coach who knows that by letting his young hurlers lose a battle, like Archer lost that Friday in August, he's helping the Rays win the war.
Ask Tampa's hurlers what makes Hickey so good at his job and you'll hear the same words over and over again. Communication. Trust. Patience. It's as if they're reading from a script for a neighborhood bank commercial. "Honestly," says David Price, the 2012 Cy Young winner, "what's special about Hick is his ability to communicate." That's right: On a club run by three former Wall Street analysts -- owner Stuart Sternberg, GM Andrew Friedman and president Matthew Silverman -- and renowned for its innovative, statistically minded analysis, Tampa's secret sauce is a pitcher who barely made it past Double-A who's really good at... human interaction.
Knowing how (and when) to talk to people might not matter on a club that's laden with veteran pitchers. But in a market like Tampa, where the Rays rely on promoting affordable young talent in order to keep pace in the AL East arms race, it's an indispensable gift. "At this level, it's all mental," says 25-year-old starter Alex Cobb, now in his third season with the Rays. "Hick just has a way of settling you down when things get sticky."
"There are three kinds of pitching coaches," says 1988 NL Cy Young winner and current ESPN analyst Orel Hershiser, who served as the Rangers pitching coach from 2002 through 2005. "The least-common-denominator coach tells you what you're doing wrong. The second-level coach tells you what you need to do differently but only addresses the symptom. Then there's the master, who watches you and understands you and gives you one tweak that fixes five things."
Which class is Hickey? Well, take the first time he laid eyes on Archer, in February 2011. Hickey saw a kid who delivered 98 mph cheese and a filthy slider. He also saw someone whose relatively short stride made for an inconsistent release point. Even though Hickey knew he wanted Archer to lengthen his stride, he held his tongue. He held his tongue through Archer's stop at Double-A Montgomery and Triple-A Durham. He held his tongue when Archer appeared at spring training. He even held his tongue after Archer's call-up in June, watching the kid labor through his first four 2013 starts, when he walked 14 hitters in 19 innings, making it past the fifth inning only once and losing three of four games. At last, Hickey intervened.
"Do you wanna be the four-inning, 100-pitch guy," the coach asked his righthander during batting practice at Yankee Stadium, "or do you wanna be the dominant elite guy?" Moments later, Archer stood atop the bullpen mound in the Bronx with Hickey by his side, the two of them working on adding an extra two or three inches to the starter's stride. "It was a minor thing," says Hickey, whose rule of thumb is to give his pitchers six starts before offering any kind of adjustments, "but I thought it would help Archie out." Three days after the intervention, Archer beat the Yankees, and he went undefeated in his next seven outings, in which he threw two shutouts, averaged nearly seven innings per start and walked a grand total of 11 batters.
"That," Hershiser says upon hearing the story, "is master-class coaching."
THE ABILITY TO get through to his team is hardly surprising given Hickey's upbringing. Growing up on Chicago's South Side, James J. Hickey IV learned early how to relate to people. He was the fourth of six children. His mother was a special-needs teacher. His father was a Korean War vet and former prizefighter (he once battled Joe Louis) who could sell anything and did, driving door-to-door all over the Midwest convincing folks that they really and truly needed all-natural sausage casing made of pig intestines.
A Cubs fan by birth, Hickey told his parents at 5 that he would be a major league baseball player. At Texas-Pan American, he threw 16 complete games his senior season. The success didn't translate to the pros, though. "I was an average minor league pitcher at best," says the 1983 13th-round draft pick. In 1989, after seven years toiling in the depths of the White Sox, Dodgers and Astros farm systems, Hickey decided it was time to swap cleats for commissions and follow his old man into the sales world. "I never had any intention of coaching," he says. Then Fred Gladding, the former big league hurler who'd been Hickey's pitching coach at Double-A Columbus, told Hickey he had the smarts and, more important, people skills to excel at it.
In 1991 Hickey got his first job as a pitching coach, working for the Astros' Class-A affiliate in Burlington, Iowa. Combining the listening skills of a salesman and the patience of a teacher, he was a natural. Nevertheless, 13 years later, he was still stuck in the minors, still working two jobs in the offseason. (To feed his wife and three kids, he drove a UPS truck; to feed his passion, he was a substitute teacher.) Despite sending the big club a steady stream of overachieving arms who'd outperformed their draft status -- guys like Roy Oswalt (23rd round) and Carlos Hernandez (undrafted) -- he couldn't break through the glass ceiling installed by Gerry Hunsicker, the old-school Astros GM who believed that to be a big league pitching coach, you needed big league experience. But in 2004, after firing coach Burt Hooton as part of a midseason housecleaning, Hunsicker broke his rule and gave Hickey a try. The following season, Hickey helped Houston's hurlers post a 3.51 ERA, second best in MLB, and lead the Astros to the first World Series appearance in franchise history.
Nearly a decade later, the Rays' young staff couldn't care less that Hickey is one of seven current pitching coaches who never played in the majors. Instead, they see a meticulous game planner who spends up to six hours prepping for a series by watching video and compiling stats on opposing hitters. They see an everyman who speaks fluent Spanish and frequently catches his starters' bullpen sessions, traits so rare that reliever Jamey Wright, who has played for 10 teams, can't recall ever having a pitching coach who did either. Most important, they see an open-minded teacher who gives them space to find themselves. "The X-factor with Hick," Wright says, "is that he didn't pitch 15 years in the bigs, so he's not set in his ways." Adds Alex Cobb: "He lets us learn from our mistakes." Maybe that's because he's learned from his own.
On Sept. 30, 2007, Hickey was arrested on DUI charges, the same day he finished his first season with Tampa Bay, one in which the Rays posted an MLB-worst 5.53 ERA. Given his résumé at the time, it would've been easy for the Rays to ax Hickey, who admits he was "prepared to be dismissed." Instead, the club re-signed him to another one-year deal. "I'm a big believer that you don't abandon someone just because they made a mistake," manager Joe Maddon says. "We saw a lotof talent in Hick."
Today, it's hard not to draw a parallel between the Rays' success -- they've won at least 90 games four of the past five years and are on pace to win 90 again this season -- and Hickey. But the coach is quick to downplay his role. "Not too much credit, not too much blame," he says.
Adds the grizzled vet Wright: "Could they bring somebody else in here to do what Hick's done? Maybe. "But you'd sure have a lot of pissed-off pitchers."
Follow The Mag on Twitter (@ESPNmag) and like us on Facebook.We’ve reached the end of another college basketball season. And that means that Tom Izzo, head coach of the Michigan State Spartans, is facing another round of questions about whether or not he will leave East Lansing for the NBA. He seems to have deflected the talk for another year with his recent comments. But we created a list of why this annual tradition of questioning him at the conclusion of every season should end. Here are the eight reasons why he will never leave the Michigan State. That is, until he retires from the game altogether.
8. His Roots In The State Of Michigan:
Izzo is a born and raised Michigander and hails from Iron Mountain. He played D-II college basketball at Northern Michigan University and roomed with fellow Michigan native Steve Mariucci. Izzo played guard and was named a D-II All-American in his senior season. He then took an assistant coaching job with Northern Michigan before becoming a young part-time assistant coach for Michigan State. Izzo briefly left the state of Michigan for two months to be an assistant coach for Tulsa University before coming back to Michigan State to be an assistant coach. He then replaced Jud Heathcote as the Spartans’ head coach in the 1995-96 season and has been there ever since.
As you can see, his roots in the state of Michigan run incredibly deep. Why would he build an entire life and career in Michigan just to bail and leave after building Michigan State into one of the top and most consistent programs in the nation?
7. His Love Of The Rivalries:
In the NBA, true rivalries between teams are rare and rivalries between coaches are even rarer. Izzo undoubtedly appreciates the continued rivalries he has with Wisconsin’s Bo Ryan, Michigan’s John Beilein, Ohio State’s Thad Matta and his former assistant coach – Indiana’s Tom Crean. These in-conference rivalries don’t just get the fans going, they get the coaches going. Imagine how empty Izzo would feel as his hypothetical NBA team spends an entire 82-game schedule facing no coaches that he has an extensive history with. That potential regret will keep Izzo in East Lansing until he decides that he’s had enough of coaching basketball.
Mike Garland, a former assistant coach for Michigan State, spoke on Izzo’s relationship with his biggest rival. “It’s just like Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier,” Garland said of Izzo and Ryan’s rivalry. “You know, they fought, they went through a time period when they probably couldn’t stay in the same room with each other long enough for the lights to come on. But after a while, you gain a respect.”
6. His Relationship With The Program and City:
There might not be a coach in the nation more beloved by a community as much East Lansing loves Izzo. This is evidenced by Michigan State’s famed student section, the “Izzone,” being affectionately named after him. If you polled children from central Michigan about which sports figure they would most like to meet, odds are Izzo would be the top candidate in most circumstances.
Izzo is the Michigan State Spartans. Both his identity and the identity of the program are dependent on each other. In the NBA, he’d just be another head coach in a random city. Remember his emotional speech following the tragic passing of Lacey Holsworth? That’s what he means to his community.
5. His Current Salary:
Izzo is the fourth-highest paid coach in all of college basketball with a base salary of $3.2 million. And that salary inflated to $3.7 million with bonuses this year. Brad Stevens, who left Butler University to coach the Boston Celtics, received a salary of $3.6 million upon entering the NBA. That’s not exactly the type of raise that pulls someone away from a job that they absolutely love.
Could Izzo pull in a bit more that Stevens? It’s certainly possible; his resume is stronger than Stevens’. But then again, Stevens was considered a hot commodity because of his relative young age. Plus, is money really something that Izzo would look for at this stage of his career? He’s stashed more than enough of it away for many lifetimes by now.
4. His Knowledge Of History:
Not many successful college coaches have fared well in the NBA; Izzo knows this. Besides Larry Brown, no other coaches have had overwhelming success in both college basketball and in the NBA. Some absolutely great college coaches like John Calipari and Rick Pitino were bounced from the NBA without hesitation. Would Izzo risk being the next?
PJ Carlesimo may be the second most “successful” coach in terms of relative success in both the college ranks and in the NBA. That says it all. Not to mention, the average coaching tenure in the NBA is only 2.3 years. Izzo has the greatest job security in the world in his job in East Lansing and he is 59 years old. Why play with that sort of fire?
3. His Love Of Student-Athletes:
At the professional level, Izzo would be coaching paid players who are already molded into the type of basketball players that they will be. Izzo loves crafting young men into unselfish players and leaders more than he would ever admit. Izzo is often seen getting emotional and hugging his players during and after games. That is something that happens much less in the NBA with professional players. He gets to pick these players when they are teenagers, bring them into his program and mold them exactly how he sees fit.
There is no equal gratification in the professional game. In the NBA, there is less personal development, less unadulterated passion and subsequently less to be proud of when and if success does happen. This is not to say NBA coaches don’t feel satisfaction when winning at the professional level — it’s just a different feeling altogether. A feeling that Izzo has to know that he would definitely miss.
2. His Pursuit Of Becoming The Big Ten’s Winningest Coach:
Izzo has a real chance to become the winningest coach in the history of the Big Ten. Indiana’s Bob Knight holds the all-time mark with 662 wins as a Big Ten head coach. Purdue’s Gene Keady is in second place with 512 wins and Izzo sits in third with 468 victories. Izzo is about eight seasons away from surpassing Knight That is, if his Spartans continue to win as many games as they’ve averaged over the previous 15 years (roughly 25 per-year).
Doesn’t that sound better than being second or third all-time on the Big Ten history win list but then jumping to the NBA where success is not guaranteed?
1. His Legacy:
He could be one of the few all-time greats to be the head coach at just one school. Izzo has no shortage of accomplishments. He has led his Spartans to being ranked in the AP top-10 in 15 different seasons, he’s won seven conference championships, he’s been to six Final Fours and won a National Championship. The only thing he’s missing from being included with these famous coaches is the lifelong commitment to a single program.
If Izzo chooses to coach the Spartans for the rest of his career, he will forever be one of the few immortal coaches in Big Ten and NCAA history to have such longstanding success with one university. That legacy will stand the test of time.
So maybe we should stop speculating after every college basketball season if he’ll go pro and just let the man enjoy his off seasons in peace. Face it – he’s a Spartan and Michigander for life.Unmatched
When the government asked the private sector to step up to help solve the SSA problem in 2013, we did. We knew we already had the best SSA products that we’ve been building since 1989. But we didn’t just use our products, we rebuilt them … better. The most experienced product builders with the best SSA products went back to the drawing board and created the capability that others dream about.
The result is a very robust system with software processing prowess not capable even with the combination of other tools. Designed for ultimate flexibility, we are not limited to specific data formats nor specific sensor types. This fusion of optical, passive RF, active RF, and radar into a single process creates the most exquisite satellite data possible.When I moved back home in 2012 after living in Washington, D.C., as a federal consultant for IBM, finding a place to live in Detroit was relatively easy. The city’s rebirth was just beginning and very few people were asking about the best places to live in Detroit. If you really wanted to live downtown, you could handpick your favorite spot.
To give you some perspective, I shared my first apartment when I moved back with a guy named Jacob Smith (who I didn’t know at the time). Jacob and I ended up working together at Ambassador, a Detroit-area startup, and he now works at Castle, a real estate tech company (which, cough cough, is on the re:purpose platform).
If you’re like Jacob and looking to join an amazing startup – signup on our platform today.
Our apartment was on the 25th floor of a building downtown and our rent — for a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom loft — was $580 per person, but we also got a $250 stipend from the city to live downtown. Oh, and that building — it was less than 50% occupied.
Today, renting an apartment and living in downtown Detroit is a different story.
Just three years after signing our initial lease, there’s a 6-month waiting list to get into that same building. Even more incredibly, downtown Detroit is at near 100% occupancy and rent in some buildings has increased by more than 150%.
In other words, the city is experiencing a full-blown renaissance. And now, I’m regularly asked (including at a re:purpose event in NYC this weekend): “Where are the best places to live in Detroit?”
So, I decided to curate a list of what I think are the best downtown Detroit apartments.
Here’s our curated list of the best for living in downtown Detroit:
Best Places to Live – Downtown Detroit
The Malcomson – my current residence
Features: Exposed bricks, brand new appliances, and overlooks Capital Park
Lofts of Merchants Row
Features: Loft with open floor plans, valet parking and located in central downtown
The Albert
Features: Recently renovated apartments, fitness center, retail on ground floor
Broderick Tower
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David Whitney
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Pro Tip: Late night stop by Cafe D’Mongo’s. Great music and atmosphere!
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Graphic Arts Lofts
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Pro Tip: Grab a pizza at Jolly Pumpkins. Sit outside and enjoy the scene on Canfield St.
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Pro Tip: Grab a flight of beers and homemade pretzel at Atwater Brewery
Get access to the best startup companies in Detroit.The Savannah City Council on Thursday got an update from Savannah-Chatham Police Chief Joseph Lumpkin on the latest crime statistics and initiatives, as well as officer recruitment efforts.
The mayor and aldermen also offered their suggestions for increasing public safety and filling officer vacancies during the three-hour morning workshop.
Lumpkin reported that violent crime was up through Aug. 31 by 109 incidents compared to the same period last year. In addition, property crime was up by 494 incidents.
"The numbers - we don't like them," Lumpkin said. "Just like the citizens."
To counteract the trend, Lumpkin outlined a number of initiatives and tools the department had launched or were expected to be implemented.
He said the department was planning on purchasing license-plate readers that would help identify stolen vehicles and reduce auto thefts, which he said are often used while committing burglaries.
The amount of auto thefts has increased by 253 incidents so far this year.
Lumpkin also said the department was going to hire additional civilian officers that could take reports for low-level crimes, such as bike thefts, who would not come with the high price tag attached to equipment and training, while allowing sworn officers to remain on patrol.
To help keep violent offenders off the streets, Chatham County District Attorney Meg Heap has also agreed to not drop gun charges in drug cases as part of plea deals, Lumpkin said.
Other crime reduction initiatives already underway include a street-level drug unit that has made 109 felony arrests since January and a focused presence on chronic hot spots where 50 percent of violent crimes occur.
The number of officer vacancies has continued to increase, despite recently implemented pay increases and stepped up marketing efforts.
As of Sept. 11, there were 83 vacancies compared to 77 in January.
"It moved the wrong way," Lumpkin said. "We're still having to dismiss people."
However, Lumpkin said there was good news: The number of applications increased from 20 in January to 181 so far in September. There are currently 46 new hires being trained who have not yet started working.
To help speed up the process of filling vacancies and getting officers on the street, Alderman Tony Thomas suggested implementing a $10,000 sign-on bonus, in addition to a $2,500 bonus for three years to experienced officers who join the department.
Lumpkin, as well as Alderman Van Johnson, said they had some concerns, however, about whether such bonuses were fair to officers already employed with the department.
At Thomas' direction, City Manager Stephanie Cutter said she would have a report on the suggestion in 30 days.
She added that there was already some discretion in the amount of starting pay for new hires with more experience and qualifications.
The City Council also emphasized its desire to staffers for the need to enforce a youth curfew and parental responsibility ordinance to deter crime, which Johnson has repeatedly raised during past meetings.
In addition, Johnson suggested the city hire a private security agency to provide surveillance services in high-crime areas, until officer vacancies are filled.
The discussion regarding additional resources spurred Cutter to raise the subject of the police merger with Chatham County.
The council needs to make a decision on whether to keep the department together, Cutter said, after the county stripped out a provision that related to the shared funding of the police salary increases. That version was approved by the county commission Friday in a 5-4 vote.
"We want to do a lot of great things, but as a merged department, I don't know if we are on the same page," Cutter said.
The merger was not on Thursday's council agenda because the mayor and alderman needed more time to review the county's version of the agreement, said city spokesman Bret Bell.
In other action
During the regular meeting Thursday, the City Council:
• Approved the purchase of the 68-acre Coastal Empire Fair site on Meding Street from the Exchange Club of Savannah for about $3 million.
The city plans to partner with nonprofit agencies and private investors to use the site for a mixed residential and commercial development that will include parks and recreational components.
• Approved an amendment to Kimley-Horn & Associates for Project DeRenne in the increased amount of $92,523 to cover professional services not included in the original contract associated with development and refinement of the frontage road concept along Hampstead Avenue.
• Approved additional consulting services from Nelson/Nygaard at a cost of up to $75,000 to study potential parking improvements within various areas including Indian Street, 41st Street, Tybee Depot site and the Liberty Street Municipal Building site. The additional services were not in the scope of the overall $250,000 parking study, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Savannah-Chatham crime statistics through Aug. 31
2014/2015
Homicide: 20/25
Rape: 47/42
Commercial robbery: 40/47
Street robbery: 208/207
Residential robbery: 28/34
Agg assault w/gun: 115/184
Agg assault w/o gun: 115/143
Total violent: 573/682
Commercial burglary: 133/163
Residential burglary: 920/1058
Sudden snatching: 54/59
Shoplifting: 1164/1137
Theft from vehicle: 1319/1446
Theft from yard: 620/583
Theft from building: 775/780
Other larceny: 89/89
Auto theft: 479/732
Total property: 5553/6047
Total: 6126/6729A month ago, an eight-inch Acer tablet running Windows 8 mysteriously showed up on Amazon, only to be removed from the site a few hours later. Well, today Acer is finally making the diminutive Iconia W3 official. The company is confirming that all of the specs listed on Amazon were correct: it weighs 1.10 pounds, measures 0.45 inches thick, features an 8.1-inch 1280 x 800 LCD display, and is powered by an Intel Atom Z2760 Clover Trail CPU. Storage is handled by 32GB and 64GB of flash memory, which is further expandable thanks to the W3's microSD slot. A $79.99 full-sized keyboard can also turn the device into a tiny Windows 8 laptop (sans mouse, although one can be added) that can run all of your classic Windows apps, making it an intriguing option for students and others looking for a small dual-purpose device. Even more so with the complementary bundled copy of MS Office.
Acer points out that the W3 is actually the first eight-inch tablet to run the full version of Windows 8, but with a full week of announcements at Computex in Taiwan, and Microsoft reportedly planning to announce a 7-inch Surface tablet shortly thereafter, it likely won’t be the only one with that distinction for long. The suggested retail price for the W3 is $379, and while Acer isn't saying exactly when this month it will start shipping, pre-orders begin on Tuesday.New sanctions against Russia approved by the US House of Representatives on Tuesday could result in counter-sanctions, warns the German economy minister, adding that a trade war between the EU and the US would be "very bad."
Speaking to ARD television, Brigitte Zypries warned of a trade war between the European Union and the United States.
"There is a possibility of counter-sanctions because this is envisaged by the WTO (World Trade Organization)," she said, adding that a trade war would be "very bad."
Read more
She also said that new US sanctions may harm German companies and hamper Berlin's ties with Washington.
"The US has left the common line it had with Europe for sanctions against Russia," Zypries told ARD on Thursday. She added that the lack of coordination with the EU may affect German companies.
On Wednesday, the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) said that new sanctions against Russia may have a negative impact on Europe’s energy security and hurt the German economy, adding that they appear to favor American firms.
DIHK's chief economist of the German business lobby, Volker Treier, has urged the EU to address the issue.
“The European Commission now must make efforts to shed light on the current situation, as well as resist the exterritorial effect of new US penalties. We get the impression the US pursues their own economiс interests,” he told TASS.
“If German firms are banned from participating in gas pipeline enterprises, very important projects in the energy supply security sector can be halted. In that case, the German economy will be discernibly influenced,” Treier said.
German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer also told a news conference on Wednesday that the sanctions bill "concerns not only German industry...sanctions against Russia should not become a tool of industrial policy [pursued] in the US interests."
“In our opinion, it is not in the Americans’ right to judge or stipulate which way European companies may engage in cooperation with any third parties – particularly with Russian energy companies,” Schaefer said.
Speaking at the same briefing, government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer added that Berlin believes “the European industry should not become the target of US sanctions.”
The French foreign ministry echoed the German sentiments, objecting to the law on the grounds that it affected American companies outside the United States, which it says is outside the scope of US law. In a statement the ministry warned that "[t]o protect ourselves against the extraterritorial effects of US legislation, we will have to work on adjusting our French and European laws."
Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern on Wednesday called the US measures unacceptable. "I consider the US sanctions against Russia absolutely unacceptable. Political interests should not be mixed up with the economical ones, to the detriment of employment in the European Union," Kern wrote on his Facebook page.
Italy is also likely to back countermeasures as the country's largest energy company, Eni, plans to begin drilling in the Russian sections of the Barents Sea and the Black Sea. According to the company website, "Approximately 30% of Eni's natural gas is supplied by Russia. These supplies are out of the reach of current sanctions."
The bill was also harshly criticized by the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, who said that “'America first' cannot mean that Europe's interests come last.”The Digital Millennium Copyright Act's so-called "safe harbor" defense to infringement is under fire from a paparazzi photo agency. A new court ruling says the defense may not always be available to websites that host content submitted by third parties.
The safe harbor provision is what has given rise to sites like YouTube and various social media platforms. In essence, safe harbor was baked into the DMCA to allow websites to be free from legal liability for infringing content posted by their users—so long as the website timely removes that content at the request of the rights holder.
But a San Francisco-based federal appeals court is ruling that, if a website uses moderators to review content posted by third parties, the safe harbor privilege may not apply. That's according to a Friday decision in a dispute brought by Mavrix Photographs against LiveJournal, which hosts the popular celebrity fan forum "Oh No they Didn't." The site hosted Mavrix-owned photos of Beyonce Knowles, Katy Perry, and other stars without authorization.
LiveJournal claimed it was immune from copyright liability because it removed the photos. Mavrix claimed that the site's use of voluntary moderators removed the safe-harbor provision. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Mavrix to a degree, but the court wants to know how much influence the moderators had on what was and was not published. With that, the court sent the case back to a lower court in Los Angeles to figure that out, perhaps in a trial.
"Posts are at the direction of the user if the service provider played no role in posting them on its site or if the service provider carried out activities that were 'narrowly directed' toward enhancing the accessibility of the posts," wrote Judge Richard Paez for the three-judge unanimous court decision (PDF). "The ONTD moderators manually review submissions and publicly post only about one-third of submissions. The moderators review the substance of posts; only those posts relevant to new and exciting celebrity gossip are approved. The question for the fact finder is whether the moderators’ acts were merely accessibility-enhancing activities or whether instead their extensive, manual, and substantive activities went beyond the automatic and limited manual activities we have approved as accessibility-enhancing."
The highly nuanced decision overturned a lower court ruling that said LiveJournal was protected by safe harbor. The lower court said LiveJournal does not solicit any specific infringing material from its users or edit the content of its users' posts.
Etsy, Kickstarter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, in urging the appeals panel not to rule as it did, told the court that “under Mavrix’s approach, service providers could not moderate content, attempt to screen out objectionable material, or organize the information that their users submit without putting their safe harbor at risk."
The Electronic Frontier Foundation said the decision is of great concern, as countless websites that benefit from the safe harbor provision employ moderators.
The fact that moderators reviewed those submissions shouldn’t change the analysis. The DMCA does not forbid service providers from using moderators. Indeed, as we explained in the amicus brief (PDF) we filed with CCIA and several library associations, many online services have employees (or volunteers) who review content posted on their services, to determine (for example) whether the content violates community guidelines or terms of service. Others lack the technical or human resources to do so. Access to DMCA protections does not and should not turn on this choice.
The Motion Picture Association of America took a neutral stance in a friend-of-the-court brief.
The MPAA takes no position on the facts of this case. If the record supports Mavrix’s allegations that LiveJournal solicited and actively curated posts for the purpose of adding, rather than removing, content that was owned by third parties in order to draw traffic to its site, LiveJournal would not be entitled to summary judgment on the basis of the safe harbor for the reasons we explain below. If, however, the record does not support Mavrix’s allegations, this Court can and should resolve this case without upsetting any of the following well-settled principles.
No new court date has been set.Stalk Spaceman via Email
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© OoTUS — All Right Reserved. Reblogging, Tweeting and other Sharing is allowed, so long as attribution to the original author is maintained. Content from this blog may not be reproduced except where express permission has been obtained in writing from the author.Introduction
You send data in a JSON format between different parts of your system. API results are often returned in JSON format, for example. JSON is a lightweight format which makes for easy reading if you're even the least bit familiar with JavaScript.
What does it look like?
{ "movie": { "name": "drive", "year": "2011", "people": { "actors": [ { "name": "ryan gosling" }, { "name": "cary mulligan" }, { "name": "bryan cranston" } ] } } }
There we go, that's JSON my friend. Now, when it looks like this, it's not the prettiest thing in the world but you'll rarely be working with raw JSON. You might be using PHP's json_decode() function or JavaScript's JSON.parse() to bring it into a more readable (we all prefer reading array outputs and console logged objects, right?) format for us to manipulate with our application code.
Using PHP
PHP has a couple of functions to handle JSON; json_decode() and json_encode(). The latter will take an array as a parameter and output valid JSON, for example:
$array = array( 'name' => 'ben', 'age' => 23,'skills' => array( 'php', 'css', 'javascript' ) ); $json = json_encode($array); print_r($json);
Will produce:
{"name":"ben","age":23,"skills":["php","css","javascript"]}
Similarly, json_decode() works like so:
$json = '{"name":"ben","age":23,"skills":["php","css","javascript"]}'; print_r(json_decode($json));
and output:
stdClass Object ( [name] => ben [age] => 23 [skills] => Array ( [0] => php [1] => css [2] => javascript ) )
The nice thing about json_decode() is that it takes an optional second parameter to return the JSON as an array, instead of an object, like so:
$json = '{"name":"ben","age":23,"skills":["php","css","javascript"]}'; print_r(json_decode($json, true));
And output:
Array ( [name] => ben [age] => 23 [skills] => Array ( [0] => php [1] => css [2] => javascript ) )
Much better. (I prefer working with arrays, but hey, that's just me)
Using JavaScript
Ok, so JSON works nicely with JavaScript because browsers natively
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who may never have come into direct contact with operatives in their supposed "caliphate" in northern Iraq and Syria. These attackers did not give the Islamic State notice that they would be acting in its name. Instead, some of them self-radicalized and left behind recordings offering oaths of allegiance.
[Normandy church attacker was on watch list and wore electronic tag, French officials say]
By reading the language in the Islamic State's claims on attacks, one can see which of them were heavily directed, as in Paris and Brussels, and which were simply inspired by the group's ideology. There is a clear difference between claims made after attacks that Islamic State leaders knew about beforehand, and attacks they didn't know about.
In the case of Paris, for instance, highly detailed news releases were distributed right after the carnage, complete with videos and pictures. On the other hand, Amaq, the Islamic State's media arm, claims responsibility for "inspired" attacks only once it gets credible information of a link, either from a source of its own or from the news media. The Islamic State, also known as ISIS, does not always have its own inside source.
"What has evolved is that they are doing much the same thing that we do as analysts, which is watch these attacks and try and figure out if it is ISIS-inspired," said J.M. Berger, a fellow with George Washington University's Program on Extremism and the co-author of "ISIS: The State of Terror."
After a man blew himself up in Ansbach, Germany, on Sunday, it took Amaq 19 hours to claim that the Islamic State inspired the attack. After a 17-year-old ax-wielding Afghan went on a rampage on a train, also in Germany, it took nine hours to issue such a claim. After Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel mowed down dozens in Nice with a truck, it took a full day and a half.
“For these inspired attacks, it's important to know that [the media people in Syria] don’t even know of these guys. They have nothing to do with them. They aren’t in contact with them directly," said Amarnath Amarasingam, a fellow studying extremism at Dalhousie University in Canada and the co-director of a study of Western fighters for the Islamic State, based at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.
The lag time in claiming an attack reflects a need to establish a credible link between the attacker and the Islamic State. Many have lampooned the Islamic State as an organization keen to claim each and every terrorist attack around the world, but analysts say it has a vested interest in being accurate.
"They’re careful about it. They couch their terms a bit," said Berger. "If they can credibly insert themselves into the narrative around an attack, they win, essentially."
In other cases, though, it has proved effective for ISIS to claim attacks in which the link is far sketchier. For instance, in the San Bernardino, Calif., attack last December, the media widely reported that the couple who carried out the attack had posted an oath of allegiance to ISIS on Facebook. Amaq then proclaimed them "soldiers of the caliphate." But the FBI never confirmed that the Facebook post was ever written, and Director James B. Comey said at the time, "I’ve seen some reporting on that, and that’s a garble." San Bernardino nonetheless gave ISIS the chance to claim its first "inspired" attack on American soil.
Beyond credibility issues, the hesitance to immediately claim the attacks such as the most recent ones in Germany and France may also reflect embarrassment the group felt after associating with particular lone-wolf attackers. In the weeks following their attacks, news reports indicated that Bouhlel, the attacker in Nice, and Omar Mateen, who killed 49 people at an Orlando nightclub in June, may have had sexual relationships with other men. Mateen and Bouhlel were each embraced by ISIS before that became public, and homosexuality is punished through gruesome death penalties in the "caliphate."
In cases like those, attackers unvetted by the Islamic State may still be at worst a double-edged sword for the organization. After all, despite bad publicity, ISIS can still claim that it inspired those attacks. And the greater the perceived threat from the group becomes, the more it may stir calls for larger-scale retaliation or anti-Muslim policies, leading to the radicalization of others.
[How the Islamic State exploits America’s mass shooting problem]
Tuesday's killing of an octogenarian priest in France yielded a relatively quick claim. Between "directed" and "inspired" attacks, it seems that this one lies somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. News reports quickly uncovered one of the attackers' attempts last year to travel to Syria. Amaq's statement, pictured above, called the men "executors" and "soldiers of the Islamic State," but more or less acknowledged that ISIS had not directed the attack. Instead, as in other "inspired" attacks, Amaq said the men had responded to a call for attacks to be carried out in countries participating in the coalition fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
But it attributed its claim to an "insider source," whom Amarasingam said was likely to be someone the attacker was in touch with during his failed "hijra," or migration, to Syria last year. The seemingly part-directed, part-inspired nature of the attack poses a dilemma for law enforcement in the West: Does preventing people from traveling to Syria increase the likelihood of an attack at home?
"That’s been part of ISIS's propaganda," said Amarasingam. "You either pack your bags or sharpen your knives. And if you’re unable to travel here and join the caliphate, either because you can't afford it or law enforcement is watching you, you do have another recourse, which is to defend us wherever you are."
Read More:
Attacker in Nice is said to have radicalized ‘very rapidly’
Afghan official says major offensive against ISIS underway
An airstrike in Syria killed entire families instead of ISIS fighters
Brazilian extremist group uses Telegram to pledge allegiance to ISIS ahead of Olympics
Inside ISIS: Quietly preparing for the loss of the ‘caliphate’The chapter on series is notorious for making calculus students want to hurl their textbooks into a fire, curl up into a fetal position, and sob uncontrollably the night before the exam (I've been there myself).
Honestly, its not that series are so difficult as much as it requires you to remember a lot of rules, how to apply them, and most importantly, in what order to apply them. And most calculus courses just don't do all that great a job of explaining this - they just hurl a bunch of theorems at you, a few tests, and tell you to sort it all out yourself. To help with this, I've created a flowchart that explains how to approach solving a mathematical series. The important things to keep in mind are:
There is a BIG difference between finite and infinite series. Look at the problem carefully before you decide how to approach it.
Many tests are inconclusive about whether an infinite series converges/diverges. In that case, you must try another test.
Just because we can prove that an infinite series converges, doesn't mean we can actually find the value that it converges to. You will only be expected to actually find the value of a relatively few convergent series - most notably, the infinite geometric series.
Some times, the form of a series isn't quite apparent at first. You may need to use some nifty algebraic techniques, such as partial fractions, to get your series into a form you can work with.
Without further ado, here is the flowchart (click to enlarge). For more details on each type of series, consult your textbook or one of the many other fine resources available online.ADVERTISEMENT
The legislator said he was seeking an individual exemption from the mandate, according to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, not a blanket ruling against it.
“I see abortion-inducing drugs as intrinsically evil, and I cannot in good conscience preach one thing to my kids and then just go with the flow on our insurance,” Wieland, who has three daughters, told the Post Dispatch. “This is a moral conundrum for me. Do I just cancel the coverage and put my family at risk? I don’t believe in what the government is doing.”
The suit names the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Treasury Department and the Labor Department.
Wieland’s suit is one of many filed against the contraception mandate nationwide.
A federal appeals court ruled last month that the owners of Conestoga, a private cabinet-making company, could not challenge the mandate because of their personal religious beliefs.
The decision conflicts with an earlier federal appeals court’s ruling, increasing the likelihood that the debate will reach the Supreme Court.Rockies rookie catcher Tony Wolters was removed from the fifth inning Thursday in a game against the Reds after suffering what may be a concussion.
Wolters started in a battery with Eddie Butler, as the Rockies got routed by the Reds, 11-4. But Cristhian Adames pinch-hit for him in the fifth.
“Too many signs that he was a little woozy, so I pulled him out of the game,” Colorado manager Walt Weiss said. “So we’ll put him through the protocol.”
Wolters was meeting with club athletic trainers after the game.
Rockies starting catcher Nick Hundley, who missed time earlier this season after a concussion, is currently with Triple-A Albuquerque on a rehab assignment. He’s on the disabled list with an oblique strain. He went 1-for-6 with a double and three strikeouts in a doubleheader against Fresno on Thursday.
Hundley could join the Rockies as soon as Friday in San Diego before a series against the Padres.Some people are fans of the Chicago Bears. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the Chicago Bears. This 2012 Deadspin NFL team preview is for those in the latter group. Read the other Why Your Team Sucks 2012 previews here.
1. Lovie. Lovie Smith belongs on the bizarro Mount Rushmore of active NFL head coaches (Reid, Turner, Lewis) who are seemingly impervious to unemployment despite their best efforts to fuck their own team in the ass on a regular basis. Part of me would like to see the NFL give each team five timeouts per half just so I could see how Lovie wastes them. No one is better at taking a timeout to figure out whether or not he wants to throw a challenge flag on a four-yard completion than Lovie Smith.
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I root for a team that has a rich history of terrible coaching, and yet whenever they play the Bears, I still take solace in the fact that, at least once a game, Lovie Smith will offer the Vikings an undeserved chance to seize victory (Leslie Frazier usually takes that opportunity and immediately reciprocates). The Bears could start an Avenger at every position on defense and Lovie Smith would still find a way not to win a championship. Remember, Lovie Smith once challenged a Marty Booker incompletion that already came with a pass interference flag attached to it. I swear that happened. Lovie Smith is fucking horrible. And he's virtually unkillable! Thirty years from now, he'll still be coaching this team, consulting into his mouthpiece with a red flag gripped firmly in his hand.
2. Cutlerfucker. Remember, he's not actually a human being. He's a housecat in disguise. Jay Cutler makes McKayla Maroney look enthusiastic. His joylessness actually shows up on meteorological charts. You'll notice that no one has ever said of Jay Cutler: "Oh, he's a great guy once you get to know him. He's not sulky like that in real life!" Cutler is the rare public figure whose true identity perfectly matches his perceived identity: pouty, mopey, indifferent, shitty. He leads this team with all the excitement of an eighth grader stuck in study hall. I remain convinced that the Bears never do anything to shore up their offensive line specifically because they want to see Cutler get sacked 90 times a season. He's like Jeff George made from distillate. Sack him enough times and he'll just openly quit. He'll bring an XBox out onto the field and start playing it. WHATEVER, PFFT. I BANG FAMOUS PEOPLE.
3. Mike Ditka is a fucking idiot. Do you realize that ESPN still employs Mike Ditka? To talk? Have they actually heard this man speak? It's like having a cinder block occupy one of the chairs on your set. DURRRRR I LIKE THE TOUGHNESS OF THESE BEARS DURRR I DENY EVERYTHING UNFLATTERING SAID ABOUT SWEETNESS DURRRR. No one—not even the average Bears fan—has suckled off the tit of 1985 quite like this man. Every time I hear Ditka speak, I become convinced that the 1985 Bears were really coached by Buddy Ryan and a rotating group of drunken team captains. Ditka is a fucking buttsteak, and it galls me to think that he serves as a kind of unofficial ambassador for the city of Chicago. It's one of the greatest cities in the world, and here's Andy Reid's drunk uncle representing it. He's less a football legend than a hilarious caricature of one.
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Drew Magary writes for Deadspin and Gawker. He's also a correspondent for GQ. Follow him on Twitter @drewmagary and email him at [email protected].
I guess I should expect Ditka worship from Bears fans, a group of people who still think shouting "DA BEARS" is funny (it isn't), a group of people who happily ignore anything Bears-related any time the Cubs come within a sniff of playoff baseball, a group of fatties who secretly loathe the idea of hauling ass to Soldier Field from their relatively cushy digs on the North Side, a group of people who routinely insist that their rivalry with the Packers is the greatest in sport when the rest of the world knows it's just another stupid divisional game now. A lot of Bears fans remind me of Mike Wilbon, which makes sense because Mike Wilbon is a fucking fartsniffer.
4. Brandon Marshall will hit you with a fucking brick. I think it's cute that the Bears want to recreate the '08 Broncos—a team that went 8-8—by trading two third-round picks (!) for Brandon Marshall. Just as a refresher, here's a snippet from Brandon Marshall's timeline (yes, timeline) of horrible, awful acts:
Watley told police that Marshall did indeed cut her thigh with a kitchen knife during a fight earlier that evening and that he later returned to the condo and continued to assault Watley by punching her in the forehead.
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What a guy. Only Lovie Smith will be shocked when Marshall gets six DUIs before Week 8. When Marshall was accused of hitting another lady during the offseason, linebacker and Jenny McCarthy seminal outlet Brian Urlacher said, "The only thing I worry about is him getting suspended." One thing that won't worry him: whether or not that woman will need facial reconstruction surgery after getting fisted in the mouth. Also, Alshon Jeffery is fat.
5. Hear it from Bears fans!
Nick:
A current Bears player can't get a sack or a first down without being compared to a member of the 1985 squad. Never before in the history of sports has a group of players and a coach been so idolized nearly 30 years after winning a championship. Every member of that team is still paid a pretty penny for autograph shows. Want to wait in line for 30 minutes for a Kevin Butler autograph? Bears fans do!
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Steve:
Growing up we would play football in a field near my house. We had a play called 'the Cade McNown'. After the snap, the QB would run to the sideline as quick as possible and throw up an awful side arm pass as far as he could. I wish I was joking. For Christmas one year (circa '05-'06 ish), I asked my brother which Bear's jersey I should get him. That turned into a very sad conversation. He eventually settled on Mike Brown.
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Jon:
You wanna know why the Bears will suck this year? Lovie Smith challenges. If you need a coach to just blow a challenge and waste an important, and most likely 2nd half, timeout for you, I can't think of a better candidate. Devin Hester fumbled and it's recovered by Green Bay in a pile that's impossible to determine who picked up the ball first? THROW THAT RED FLAG!!!! 4th and goal on the 1-yard line and Matt Forte didn't break the plane on the 4th straight run up the middle? CHALLENGE THAT SPOT!!!!! Calvin Johnson makes a catch along the sidelines where both feet are clearly inbounds? YOU BETTER BELIEVE THAT'S A CHALLENGIN'!!!!
Andrew:
I recently watched a video of Jay Cutler singing 'take me out to the ball game' at a Cubs game. He looked like he would rather be in a nightclub washroom with Ben Roethlisberger than to have the attention of thousands at Wrigley Field. It seems as if the Bears PR team summoned Cutler from his summer dungeon for some natural light to remind Chicago of what they are in for this fall.
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Nick:
If any Bears fan looks you in the face and tells you that they actually root for Jay Cutler to succeed, tell them to go fuck themselves because they're dirty liars.
Bob:
The Bears are the only team that matters to Chicago and they bring out the absolute worst in this city. People still talk about the '85 Bears as if they cured polio, including the 25-year-olds with their ironic block letter sweaters who weren't even alive then.
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Ray:
By far, the most frustrating part of being a Bears fan during the Lovie Smith era has been Lovie's stubborness/inability to check out of a Tampa 2 coverage when necessary. If you're good enough to even get a look at an NFL practice squad, and you have an offensive coordinator that has watched 10 minutes of Bears defensive game film from the past 8 years, then your team has a 100% chance of driving the ball 90 yards up the Bears ass on every GD offensive possession. Sometimes your team will shit the bed and give us an unearned turnover, or sometimes your own shitty team will miss a wide open receiver in the endzone, but your team will almost always be guaranteed a field goal on every GD offensive possesion. All of this because Lovie Smith has never, ever, not once, in 8 fucking years of coaching the Bears sought it necessary to play anything but a zone defense, where the middle 20 yards of the field are wide fucking open for every Joe Webb, Tyler Palko, and, gulp, Tim fucking Tebow, to pad his QB rating. Oh, and our starting linebackers have fathered 1/4 of Chicago's toddlers.
Chady:
Deep down, Bears fans know that their team sucks, that for all of their Bill Swerski Superfan blustering, Mike Ditka slurping, and "Defense Wins Championships" panegyrics, the best Bears football teams played in the pre-Super Bowl era, which no one besides sports writers gives a shit about. Only a Bears fan would look you straight in the face and try to tell you that the Bears have the most "overall" championships in football history and that the "dominance" of the Decatur Staley's should somehow be measured against the dynasties of the 70's Steelers or 80's 49ers. Bears fans can't go more than five minutes without shoehorning it into any conversation-regardless of topic. In fact, I'm pretty sure that failing to reference the 1985 season in casual conversation warrants a fine in the Chicagoland area. In the minds of delusional Bears fans, 1985 represents the Fukyama-esque End of (Football) History. Everything up to 1985 was pretext. Everything after it has been vanity. In the nearly three decades after 1985, rife with the capitalist decadence of downfield passing and offset formations, only the Bears and their fans toil away in deference to George Halas' dialectic of over-hyped defense and plodding, nihilistic offense. Like the Marxist, who holds out the eschatological hope that the Crisis of Capitalism will one day result in a Proletarian revolution, the Bears fan similarly believes that his own team will one day win out against the trite cynicism of competent offensive scheming.
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Ryan:
Soldier Field is a shithole. The field turf looks like the aftermath of a hurricane. The Raiders have better turf and half of it is fucking sand.
Todd:
Despite having an OL that has given up the most sacks in the NFL over the last two seasons (105) we selected zero OL in the draft. ZERO! And don't think that's because we picked up a stud OL via free agency because that didn't happen either. And get this: Mike Tice, the OL coach responsible for the worst OL in football the past two years, just got PROMOTED to Offensive Coordinator. You can't make this shit up.
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Aaron:
It is physically impossible to have a good statistical season at WR in Chicago. Would you care to guess who the top WR in Bears history is from a fantasy standpoint? RICKY FUCKING PROEHL, who only played 15 games for the team. Marshall's pet goldfish will die in Week 4, his PTSD will flare up, and he'll get put on the restricted list after punching Staley on the sidelines.
Brando:
The Bears patented overrated white players. Ditka coined the term "Grabowski." Tom Waddle has a broadcasting career in the Chicago sports media because he was too slow to avoid taking concussion-inducing hits on seven-yard slants over the middle, which was also as far as his starting quarterbacks could throw without generating an interception. South-siders would gladly let Brian Urlacher impregnate their common-law wives (but not that darkie Lance Briggs). When excessive drinking and syphilis undoubtedly take their toll on Rob Gronkowski's career, he could play his last season in Chicago before successfully running for mayor as long as he caught a TD against the Packers during a season finale where Green Bay was resting their starters.
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Joe:
Despite the clamoring over the first competent receiving core in recent memory, and despite hope recently being sprung eternal over new GM Phil Emery's penchant for NOT drafting unathletic failed abortions in the first round, everyone in Chicago secretly knows this "promising" season is riding on the broken, battered knee of war-torn Brian Urlacher. Also, note to Jay Cutler: do not let Devin Hester anywhere near that newborn. It'll slip out of his hands faster than it takes Chicagoland to realize our heightened expectations were the product a sausage-induced delirium.
Turner:
For some reason, people think Brandon Marshall will thrive in the "professional atmosphere" in Chicago, which is a joke. Under Lovie's watch, Tank Johnson amassed an arsenal that many small countries would envy and Sam Hurd attempted to become Tony Montana. When Marshall is inevitably killed by his wife or suspended for stabbing a Chicago cab driver for saying "State Street" the wrong way, the Bears will be left with Hester (can't catch), Dane Sanzenbacher ("gritty" slow white guy who can't catch), Johnny Knox (BackAIDS), and Alshon Jeffery (fat rookie). Hooray!
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Mark:
1) The fans are RAYCESS! Anyone who has lived in Chicago knows the city (parts of the South Side in particular) might as well be 1960s Birmingham, Alabama. I've heard plenty of racial epithets dropped in the stands, but one exchange in particular postgame stands out: My girlfriend and I are walking back to the car after a game (that they won, mind you) and some larger white gentlemen wearing Devin Hester jersey is complaining about some boneheaded play Devin Hester made (as he is wont to do) and posits the following: "I'll wear that n*****r's jersey, but he's dumb as hell". 2) Holy hell, whoever decided to move forward with the current remodeling of Soldier Field should be sodomized with Jay Cutler's Ray-Bans and flip flops. There's a shitload of wasted space, there's like 2 bathrooms in the entire grandstand and it takes 45 minutes to get into the god damn stadium because they force the majority of the 62,000 fans through one entrance. It's a beautiful lakefront plot of land that some developers poured a big bucket of shiny futuristic diarrhea onto. 3) There's a large majority of Bears that feel have to live out the lives of that Superfans sketch from SNL 20 years ago. We get it. You're a fat dude from Calumet City that eats Italian sausage and drinks beer and likes the Bears. It was OK when Chris Farley did it (who is from Wisconsin and a Packers fan, btw). It's not OK when that's your actual life. Please turn off that horrible, horrible, fake Chicago accent and start acting like a grown up.
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Phil:
Their offensive line couldn't stop a determined troop of girls scouts.
Brandon:
1. This is a fan base that wanted to run the first decent QB we have had since WW2 out of town because he couldn't come back into the NFC Championship Game after he shredded his MCL. I guess Jay Cutler permanently injuring his knee while being completely ineffective would have been worth it in order for Cutler to prove he is "Chicago tough". They then clamored for Caleb Hanie to get a shot at the starting QB job (I'll give you a minute to let that sink in). Then turned around and complained about how bad Hanie was last year and wondered why anyone would put him on an NFL roster. 2. This offseason everyone I talked to wanted to give Matt Forte a Chris Johnson-like contract even though Forte had very little leverage, crumbles in goalline situations, and spent the last four weeks of the season with a major knee injury. Despite rampant unemployment and a massive budget deficit in Illinois, apparently Matt Forte only being offered 14 mil guaranteed was the most depressing fiscal issue this summer in the Land of Lincoln. Hopefully now that Forte got $18 million guaranteed he can quit delivering pizzas during the summer. 3. Last year our offensive line sucked. It still sucks. 4. Even though Lovie Smith has one of the best winning percentages among active head coaches, apparently he doesn't yell enough. So even when the team has a winning record, he should be fired and replaced with Bill Cowher, Bill Parcells, or a homless schizophrenic....anyone who yells A LOT! 5. Bear fans will wax poetically about vague concepts that don't exist, like "Bear Weather".
OOOOHHH, wait till Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady come to Chicago and have to play outside, in the cold, near a large body of water!!!!!!
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Tony:
FUCK this team. The most obnoxious thing about the Bears is the myth of "Bear Weather." We as fans are led to believe that our players relish playing in 60 mph winds, driving snowstorms, or just plain frigid days. However, since we are in the free agency era, these players don't give a shit about Bear Weather... Brian Urlacher, Charles Tillman, Julius Peppers... all of these players are from the South. How in the fuck would they rationalize to themselves that this shitty weather gives them a team advantage in some bullshit intangible way that affects only them? Bear Weather is stupid as fuck, and the fans who believe in it also probably thought it was a good idea to pick up any Bear player for fantasy football. Have you ever done that? It sucks. Find me a Bears player that puts up consistent fantasy points each week, and I'll show you a picture of Erik fucking Kramer.
Patrick:
Soldier Field sucks. On the outside, it looks like a toilet bowl with bad CGI. Heaven forbid the Bears catch up with the 21st century and build a modern, domed stadium. And they were going to! But we can't build a dome, because HERP DERP DERP SNOW IS BEAR WEATHER HERP DERP! Jesus, just do what Indy did. I'm sure they're REAL pissed they get to host Super Bowls and Final Fours every 5 years from now until eternity. On the inside, Soldier Field looks like your neighborhood retention pond.
Gus:
1. The Fans... are basically what you see when you're subjected to sitting through another Cubs loss at Wrigley. Suburban, rich, clueless and delusional. Bears games are their annually prescribed visit to the city where they can talk about how they are "from Chicago" while they're busy getting lost walking from Union Station to Soldier Field. 2. The Ownership... is it a symptom of the fans or are the fans a symptom of the ownership? Wrong, they're both plagues. They never have to really worry about making the team good again because they can sell the 'history' and 'tradition' of the team to its massive legion of super wealthy fans who populate the decades long season ticket waiting list. The Bears are an institution, and Chicago is so obsessed with preserving a unique identity we'll stick with by our institutions no matter how much they try and rip us off. Now a buy personal seat license, you fucking pawn! Sound like any other Chicago team we know? 3. The Lovie Smith... just the most recent and surprisingly long tenured company yes-man they have hired to lead the team in the most inoffensive way possible. The Bears actually managed to luck into a pretty good roster the past few years and have gladly given it to Lovie for demolition. The best part will be when he's fired at the end of this year and find ourselves on the hunt for the next Dick Jauron, Dave Wannstedt, Lovie Smith whatever-the-fuck excuse for a football coach. Like we ever stand a real chance at hiring someone competent. The Bears are essentially Chicago's football version of the Cubs. Hope springs eternal every year via Tribune and Sun Times fluff pieces that by virtue of Chicago's print-media presence with the Tribune Co. work their way to the national circuit where the rest of the country gets conned into thinking that this could be the Bears year.
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RAB:
It's like the clock stopped on January 26, 1986 and no one has moved on.
Eric:
#1- Lovie Smith. He has a replay challenge win rate of.0005%, he actually said last year that he didn't challenge an obvious bad call because he had just used a challenge unsuccessfully on a play that he never should've challenged because it was obviously a correct call, but he did the old "that was a big play against us so I want it to come back" and threw a red flag with no hope of winning it. #2- Lovie Smith. He turned the Bears most dangerous offensive weapon into a horrible receiver and Hester has never recovered since. He was the most dominant player on the field for his few couple years, then the Bears had the brilliant idea that he should be more involved. Well after watching him struggle to line up properly, never run the correct route and generally not be open, the Bears decided last year he needs to go back to focusing on returns. Whoa, what do you know, he returned a few kicks for TDs. Way to waste the best weapon in special team history for a couple years. #3- Lovie Smith. He fired Ron Rivera because too many people liked him and he wanted to blitz more, hired his buddy to run exactly what Lovie told him too, then it failed and Lovie fired him, replaced him with himself, the defense sucked again, Lovie fired himself from D coordinator and hired a new D coordinator to run what he wanted. He's teflon. Lovie is the ultimate square peg into a round hole, he never uses a guy's talent, he fits a guys talent into his system, no matter what. Despite the entire league catching onto the holes in the cover 2, Lovie insists on running it, especially in crunch time. In the final 2 minutes of a game, any team at any time can find wide open receivers 15-20 yards downfield on the sideline wide open in the holes there. #4- Lovie Smith. He brings in Mike Martz because no one else wants a job for a lame duck coach. The greatest show on turf is coming to Chicago, wonderful. Except the Bears play on the shittiest turf in pro football and if too many people walk out for the coin toss the middle of the field in torn up and looks like the Gotham Rogues field after the explosion. Oh and Bear fans hate passing because they only like smash mouth run football, passing is too new school for Chicago. So they fire Martz because he's a moron, and hire Mike Tice, an even bigger moron who's never called a play. Jay Cutler was instantly the best QB in team history before suiting up for a game, and they are bungling the only franchise QB they've ever had. #6- Lovie Smith is NFC Marvin Lewis. And he's an arrogant asshat in press conferences. When asked about having losing records in 4 of the last 5 seasons, he said "well, I look at it as we have had 1 winning season in our last two." Hmm, wonderful, nothing like being able to sweep failures under the rug. Gee, mom and dad, I didn't have 5 out of 6 Ds, I had 1 B in phys ed. #7- The defense is old and overrated. The offensive line is beyond horrible, they keep trying to tell us Jemarcus Webb has all the talent to be a LT, unfortunately he has never played like it. Instead of committing to Matt Forte and paying him money, or cutting him loose and getting a new RB, they did both. They got Michael Bush and sort of paid Forte. What? Oh and Brandon Marshall seems like a real safe bet to stay out of trouble, the Bears didn't even know he was arrested the day before they traded for him. Nobody wondered why Miami wanted to settle on 2 pennies for a dollar and nobody picked up a newspaper. Good solid front office work all around as always. #8- Chicago fans are just as dumb, annoying and mouthbreathing as anyone. And the Chicago accent makes you sound every bit as dumb as anyone from Boston or New Jersey.
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Paul:
Because Soldier Field is the smallest stadium in the NFL, it is impossible for the casual fan to get a ticket unless he wants to go on stubhub and drop $200 per ticket for some shitty upper deck seat where you will have to sit with the shirtless fat guys who ate a few too many Italian Beefs during their lifetimes.
Rob:
1. With the opportunity to build a brand-spanking new stadium, largely funded by the public, the Bears built...the smallest stadium in the NFL. The second largest media market in the NFL, with the chance to host Final Fours, Super Bowls, and the like, and we get the smallest stadium in the NFL with the worst grass this side of the Sahara. This summer I have been to Wrigley Field, US Cellular Field, and now Soldier Field for the Bears first pre-season game. How is it possible that the baseball fields are pristine, having been stomped on all summer, and the Soldier Field turf is coming up in chunks already? And why do we still have a grass field, despite its crappiness? So we can have international soccer friendlies! Chicago-the only NFL city in which soccer concerns outweigh logical football decisions. 2. The forward pass is important. Some parts of the Bears fan base would argue that the forward pass is just a fad that will eventually phase out. THEN WE CAN RUN AND HIT PEOPLE LIKE THE GOOD OLD DAYS!!! BRONKO NAGURSKI!!! The signing of Brandon Marshall is not big news because the Bears added a great wide receiver, it's big news because for the first time since ever, the Bears HAVE a #1 wide receiver. 3. Our team president is an accountant. The accountant hires all the football personnel. The accountant reports to the daughter of the Bears first-ever coach, who founded the freakin NFL. This may explain why the forward pass has not been emphasized for so long. 4. No one in Chicago—and I repeat no one—says "Da Bears." It was a great SNL skit...really funny stuff. Yet we pretend it is reality.
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Wanna be part of the Deadspin NFL previews? It's simple. Just email me and give me ample evidence of why your team sucks. I'll throw any good material into the post and give you proper credit. Next team up: THE LIONS.An intro from the arena-filled audience by opening comedian Martin Moreno sets off thunderous applause and loud screams while the crane camera swoops and pans only to land on Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias. He takes to the stage like a rock star emerging from a cloud of smoke in front of his now iconic silhouette logo. He is a comedic god amongst his faithful which he rewards with high fives before he even speaks a word in his new Netflix special, Gabriel Iglesias: I’m Sorry For What I Said When I Was Hungry.
The special plays like credits up top as Iglesias thanks his friends, his staff, and introduces the crowd to former NFL player turned coach, Ron Rivera, who handed him the mic but moments before. Iglesias pays tribute to the former Chicago Bear by delivering the classic Saturday Night Live line, “da bears,” made famous by the sketch “Bill Swerski’s Super Fans.”
Iglesias then continues pandering the local Chicago crowd letting them know he’s been coming there for 19 years. His opener is about his first ever eating experience in Chicago, which took place at Portillo’s, a long standing Chi-town establishment filled with mid-west classics. The next twenty minutes include conversations about Mexican food trucks, elevator voices, and his very own death hoax. Iglesias has solidified himself as a story teller versus delivering rapid fire back-to-back jokes. A variety of voices, sound effects, and a very loud shirt hold this latest effort together.
Gabriel Iglesias: I’m Sorry For What I Said When I Was Hungry does eventually get off the ground a bit. Bathroom stories, observing drunks, and more impressions of his friends fill up the back end of the 1hour 20min session that feels at points like a commercial for his brand more than a stand-up show, most notably when the camera cuts to a fan decked out in a Fluffy Breaks Even t-shirt. One nice touch and testament to his popularity is showcased during the end credits
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several-hour long get-together. Citrus should be at room temperature. Syrups will be fine for a few hours without chilling. If you plan to use vermouth, I recommend pouring large bottles into several smaller bottles and topping with inert gas so the whole bottle doesn't oxidize after you open it. Then, just keep one small bottle on the bar during your party, no refrigeration needed.
With those out of the way, I find that fragile garnishes like cucumber are what you really need to keep cool. For cucumbers, I keep a small cooler full of ice underneath my bar (right next to the dump bucket). I scoop ice out of it for mixing drinks*, and I keep my fragile garnishes wrapped in a layer of plastic wrap, resting just on top of the ice.
*Yes, ice held at room temperature will dilute more than ice straight from the freezer due to surface melt. I haven't found a good way to avoid this without keeping a freezer close to the bar.
#6: Juice Ahead
This might be blasphemy for some of you, but taste tests show that lime juice that's been rested for a few hours at room temperature is just as good, if not better, than freshly-squeezed juice. I've done my own trials (admittedly, not very scientific) and found that lime and lemon juices taste great from 3 to 10 hours after squeezing, and grapefruit juice was fine for up to a day (keep refrigerated). Only orange juice suffered; orange juice is best squeezed right when you need it.
To significantly streamline your drink-making, juice your lemons, limes, and grapefruits a few hours ahead of time and store the juice in easy-to-pour from bottles on or just below your bar. Keep just a few fruits around for decoration and garnishes. See 8 more tips and tricks for using citrus.
#7: Get a good shaker and practice with it.
On separate occasions, I've: (1) broken a Boston shaker glass into dozen tiny pieces while slamming it on bar to open it (2) cut a gash in my hand trying to free the top from an all-stainless shaker. Not conducive to having a good time.
If you're going to shake drinks for guests, first learn the proper technique for opening a boston shaker. Then, make sure to practice shaking (and straining and serving) with some cheap vodka before you make a fool of yourself, as I did. Chilling alcohol in a shaker makes both the shaker and the air inside the shaker super-cold, which can cause a vacuum that glues the pieces together.
Practice doesn't just address safety issues; it's also important to get your timing down right.
#8: Respect the towel.
Keep no fewer than 5 dishtowels on hand at all times. You may have no idea how important this is. Here's what I use them for:
Place under a small cutting board (used for slicing citrus). The towel stabilizes the board and catches drips. You can also prestage the citrus on the towel. Keep one on your shoulder or in your apron for quick access. Wipe your bar surface constantly. If you find yourself bored, wipe something. Keep several backups folded beneath the bar for dropped glasses and substantial spills. If you've used them to wipe up a spilled drink, toss the used right into the bucket with used rinsing water that you plan to discard.
#9: Don't be afraid to pour from a handle
Back in my first apartment, I kept a few handles (1.75L containers) of my most-used spirits in the bar. These included white rum, vodka, and bourbon. You would think that pouring from these heavy bottles would be anything but ergonomic, but it's easier than you might think. More importantly, most large bottles come with a nifty little aerator that breaks up the flow of the alcohol and prevents that annoying last drip of liquid down the side of the bottle.
To pour expertly from a large bottle, store the bottle on the shelf just below counter height (it should be about 16" off the ground). Don't lift the bottle to the bar; make a space near the bottle where you can rest a jigger and use the leverage of the shelf to tilt the large bottle with one hand.
#10: Put your guests to work
The last thing you want at your next cocktail party is to be overwhelmed and overworked, unable to chat with the friends you've invited over. So even if you've figured the perfect workflow and design for your home bar, don't neglect what happens after guests finish their drinks. Should they leave everything in the sink? Load the dishwasher? What about trash and garnishes?
Since I normally have people I like over at my house, I'm not afraid to ask them to grab a new glass from the cupboard. If we're out of glasses, then I ask people to wash a glass in the sink before I make them a drink. Most people are more than happy to do a dish or two, especially while they're looking forward to a cocktail.
#11: If everything is a priority, then nothing is
One more broad principle to always keep in mind. If you're hosting a party at home, don't even begin to pretend that you can duplicate the experience of a professional bar, or offer anywhere near as many different drinks. If you're going to be shaking/stirring cocktails, offer guests no more than four or five choices. Even that is a lot. Don't let a custom order send you scrabbling to the back of the fridge, searching for the last of your maraschino cherries.
And keep the beer and wine away from the cocktail bar area. People are more than capable of pouring their own beer and wine.
Do you have a home bar? Any organizational tips to share?
This post may contain links to Amazon or other partners; your purchases via these links can benefit Serious Eats. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.What does Easter look like? More like a silly YouTube video of Stephen Colbert and a flash mob in Macy’s than the picture to the left.
Perhaps I’m jaded by over-exposure to religious art, but I really don’t think that the main thing Jesus did after the resurrection was glow, wear a toga, and stare off vaguely at heaven. The image at the top of the post is the illustration for the Wikipedia page on Easter, and is about standard for the genre (plus obligatory angels). Given the option, I’d prefer an icon of the Resurrection, with Jesus standing over the gates of Hell, which he has thrown down, pulling Adam and Eve up from their tombs (and there are, of course, still angels).
The Gospels actually don’t get tied up in trying to tell us what Easter looked like. Mostly, they tell us the tomb was empty, and when the risen Jesus does show up, people tend to have trouble recognizing him — they figure it out when they feel their hearts “burning within them.” So maybe the question we should be asking about Easter is not “what did it look like?” but instead “how should it affect us?”
Easter “looks like” us recognizing Jesus as risen and beginning to respond in joy. Let me suggest two less-than-reverent images to help drive that point home. Easter looks as outrageously joyful as this, and it calls for a response as fully engaged as this.
Outrageously joyful: Stephen Colbert dancing, ridiculously, to “The King of Glory Comes.” Now, I admit it, Colbert looks extraordinarily (and, of course, deliberately) goofy in this video. But while we’re laughing, let’s also ask the question: if Christ is raised, if death is dead, shouldn’t I be joyful enough to be dancing too?
Fully engaged: a flash mob of choristers in Macy’s, breaking out into the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah. “The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of the Lord” — and shouldn’t we be singing about it? Isn’t that what the Easter “Alleluia” is for? Look at what happens to the faces in the crowd as Macy’s is transformed, even briefly, into an image of the kingdom of God.
Easter looks like joy that can’t be contained; Easter looks like the transformation of the world into worship, a moment — still to be hoped for, and already on its way — when every created voice sings “Alleluia” together, and not just for the sake of a YouTube moment.All right, college football fans, the time has finally come for the anticipation to give way to action, and man, the action in Week 1 -- that's going to be worth the wait.
Not sure if you've heard, but No. 1 Alabama and No. 3 Florida State are headlining this thing from Atlanta on Saturday night (8 ET, ABC) in a clash that is already being hyped as "the game of the decade." But that's not the only big game on the docket. From No. 2 Ohio State versus Indiana on Thursday (8 p.m., ESPN) to No. 25 Tennessee against Georgia Tech on Monday (8 p.m., ESPN), here's your illustrated roadmap to Week 1.
Ohio State vs. Indiana: It's the unofficial, official kickoff to the 2017 season. Yeah, last weekend was fun, but when the Buckeyes run out onto the field Thursday at Memorial Stadium with the Hoosiers, the world will truly usher in the 2017 college football season. Ohio State is a heavy favorite to win the Big Ten and make it to the College Football Playoff with former Heisman Trophy candidate J.T. Barrett and a loaded roster that has an unlockable defensive line and an impenetrable offensive line.
Florida Atlantic vs. Navy (Friday, 8 p.m. ET, ESPNU): How fascinating and enigmatic is Lane Kiffin? People will be glued to FAU football to start the season. The former Alabama offensive coordinator had an unceremonious exit from Tuscaloosa, but with his offensive genius combined with his Last Chance roster in Boca Raton, the Owls have become relevant. Navy comes off a nine-win season, but the Midshipmen are trying to erase the stench of getting swept by service academy rivals by showcasing that frustratingly fun triple-option offense.
Alabama vs. Florida State: Could this be The Game before The Game in the exact same spot in five months? Alabama and FSU should register a 10.0 on the college football Richter scale this weekend, as both are equipped with the elite talent to meet back in the newly constructed Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. Jimbo Fisher has built this Seminoles team in the mold of a classic Nick Saban-coached Alabama team, meaning there's going to be a lot of punishment in Atlanta.
The debuts of Riley and Herman: The Big 12 head-coaching debuts for these two should begin relatively drama-free. Lincoln Riley and his No. 7 Oklahoma Sooners host a UTEP team (Saturday, 3:30 p.m., Fox) that went 4-8 last year, while Tom Herman and the No. 23 Texas Longhorns host a Maryland team (Saturday, noon, FS1) that squeaked into bowl season in 2016. Riley hopes to iron out all the kinks this weekend because his second act takes place at Columbus in a week. As for Herman, he'll get a little more time to mold this team, but if he doesn't come out swinging, Texas faithful will let him know.
UCLA vs. Texas A&M (Sunday, 7:30 p.m. ET, Fox): Just call it the Hot Seat Bowl. Well, at least that's how a lot of people will classify this one with two coaches in Kevin Sumlin and Jim Mora who are coming off disappointing 2016 seasons. There are also a lot of unknowns for both teams. Quarterback Josh Rosen is the face of the Bruins, but can he line up on defense, too, to help a unit that lost NFL talent at all three levels? A&M has had a three-way QB battle for months and will have to come up with a way to replace No. 1 pick Myles Garrett on defense.
Tennessee vs. Georgia Tech: Greatly overshadowed by that other game in town, Tennessee and Georgia Tech should play a sneaky good game in Atlanta to cap a tremendous first weekend. Both teams will be breaking in new quarterbacks in front of the masses, but what should really be a treat to everyone is watching Tennessee's defense -- which fell flat last year -- battling that Yellow Jackets triple-option running game.Now he’s the one getting the kiss-off.
A cabby who claimed he had a “no-kissing policy” in his yellow taxi was hit with $15,000 in fines for ordering two female passengers to stop smooching — and then shouting vulgar epithets at them when they got out.
TV producer Christina Spitzer and her actress girlfriend, Kassie Thornton, said they barely exchanged a peck in the back seat early into their ride when hack Mohammed Dahbi became enraged.
“Keep that for the bedroom or get out of the cab,” Dahbi shouted during the trip from Columbus Circle to Brooklyn’s Sunset Park.
Unnerved, the couple said they got out of the cab in Chelsea, confronted Dahbi about his comment, then got into a fight about paying the fare.
That’s when he called them “bitches,” “c- -ts” and “whores,” according to official documents.
At a hearing last month, Dahbi told an unsympathetic administrative-law judge that Spitzer and Thornton were doing more than just G-rated canoodling.
He said they were kissing “heavily” and “touching all over each other” — including “on the chest and the breast.”
But Spitzer testified that she had just had oral surgery and was tentative about even kissing her girlfriend that day. They also had a dog and a pet carrier stuffed into the back seat with them during the ride on Sept. 18, 2011.
The couple, who have now set a June wedding date, flew from California to testify at the administrative trial in the city — which for unknown reasons took more than three years to schedule.
“Most people would just stop and not consume their lives with this anymore. But for us, it affected our entire relationship,” Thornton told The Post.
“We had just started dating, and we wanted to follow through. If everyone backed out of doing what was right, nothing would change.”
Each woman was awarded $5,000 for emotional distress, in addition to a $5,000 fine Dahbi was ordered to pay the city.
Dahbi was found guilty of denying them a “public accommodation due to their sexual orientation.”
His lawyer, Ali Najmi, told The Post that his client has also told heterosexual couples in his cab to knock it off when their makeout sessions become too much of a distraction.
He noted that Dahbi has been volunteering at a food pantry that serves gay, low-income clients, and that he plans to appeal the hearing officer’s ruling.
“My client never once mentioned anything about their sexuality and never threw them out of the taxi,” Najmi said.
“In fact, the complaint doesn’t even allege that he said anything about their sexuality, and the two women testified that they are the ones who decided to exit the taxi.”
The city’s Human Rights Commission, which brought the case, has the final say on the size of the fine.
But since it had recommended an even higher figure, it’s not likely to agree to less than the judge recommended.
A spokeswoman for the agency did not respond to questions about the delay in the case.
Additional reporting by Sophia RosenbaumBETWEEN THE LINES Syndicated Radio Newsmagazine
Corporate Media "Embedded" with Wall Street as Economic Crisis HitInterview with Danny Schechter, media critic and filmmaker, conducted by Scott HarrisAs widespread anger still lingers about $165 million in bonuses paid to employees at the failed insurance giant AIG -- bailed out by more than $170 billion in taxpayer funds -- another, larger set of bonuses is being investigated. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Democrat of Ohio, chairman of the domestic policy subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform panel, has opened an inquiry into about $3.6 billion in bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch employees, 22 times larger than bonuses paid by AIG. The bonuses were set in December, after the government allocated $10 billion in bailout funds to help save the firm from collapse by brokering its sale to Bank of America.Americans generally were taken by surprise when the economic collapse struck last fall. Much of the blame, critics say, can be placed on Congress, which deregulated the industry then turned a blind eye to reckless casino games played with subprime mortgages and credit default swaps. But the corporate media also played a pivotal role with its decision not to aggressively report on these dodgy financial practices, which triggered the current economic meltdown.The business media's cozy relationship with Wall Street movers and shakers was briefly exposed when the Daily Show's Jon Stewart skewered the CNBC business cable channel. Stewart bluntly criticized CNBC's Jim Cramer, Rick Santelli and others for their uncritical reporting of Wall Street's dangerous scams and fawning coverage of corporate billionaires. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with filmmaker and author Danny Schechter, who examines the corporate media's failure to investigate Wall Street's irresponsible schemes, which brought on the economic collapse.Danny Schechter, co-founder of MediaChannel.org is the author of, "Plunder: Investigating our Economic Calamity and the Sub Prime Scandal." Read Danny's News Dissector Blog online at http://www.mediachannel.org Related links:* "In Debt We Trust" film documentary at http://www.Indebtwetrust.com * "Credit Crisis: How Did We Miss It?", British Journalism Review, March 2009RealAudio:MP3:LISTEN to this week's half-hour program of Between The Lines by clicking on one of the links below:RealAudio:DOWNLOAD the MP3 by visiting:VIEW the Between the Lines website by clicking on the link below:***********************************"Between The Lines" is a half-hour syndicated radio news magazine that each week features a summary of under-reported news stories and interviews with activists and journalists who offer progressive perspectives on international, national and regional political, economic and social issues. Because "Between The Lines" is independent of all publications, media networks or political parties, we are able to bring a diversity of voices to the airwaves generally ignored or marginalized by the major media. For more information on this week's topics and to check out our text archive listing topics and guests presented in previous programs visit: http://www.btlonline.org "Between the Lines," WPKN 89.5 FM's weekly radio news magazine can be heard Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m. ET; Wednesdays at 8 a.m. ET and Saturdays at 2 p.m. ET (Wednesday's show airs at 7:30 a.m. ET during fundraising months of April and October).For an email subscription of "Between The Lines Weekly Summary" which features a RealAudio link to the week's program for Between The Lines, send an email to btlsummary-subscribe [at] lists.riseup.net For an email subscription of "Between The Lines Q&A" which features a RealAudio link and weekly transcript to one of the interviews featured on Between The Lines, send an email to btlqa-subscribe [at] lists.riseup.net Distributed by Squeaky Wheel Productions©2009 Between The Lines. All Rights Reserved.Minutes after the crowd that was assembled at an Americans for Prosperity-backed Tea Party rally on Capitol Hill on Wednesday broke out into chants of “shut it down,” Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) claimed that the Tea Party doesn’t want the government to shut down and that Democrats would unfairly blame the movement if it did.“They want to blame it on you,” Bachmann said. But there was a large part of the crowd willing to step up and take the blame.
There was John Oltesuig — the guy decked out in colonial gear holding a sign that read “SHUT ‘ER DOWN” — who despite his sign said in an interview that he would “prefer not to shut it down.”
“However, the Heritage has done some research on shutting the government down and they found out it isn’t the extreme kind of situation that the Democrats make it out to be,” Oltesuig said. Still, said Oltesuig, “I’d rather have our politicians act like adults and make some real cuts because they should realize we can’t continue.”
Here’s video of some of our tea party interviews on whether or not the government should shut down, and if it does, who should be blamed.Lincoln Ross Hall OAM (19 December 1955 – 20 March 2012) was a veteran Australian mountain climber, adventurer, author and philanthropist. Hall was part of the first Australian expedition to climb Mount Everest in 1984, which successfully forged a new route, and he reached the summit of the mountain on his second attempt in 2006, surviving the night at 8,700 m (28,543 ft) on descent.
Hall was the author of seven books, a founding member of the philanthropic organisation the Australian Himalayan Foundation and a speaker, sharing his experiences with audiences around the world.[1]
In 1987 Hall was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to mountaineering and in 2010 he won the Australian Geographic Society's Lifetime of Adventure award.[2] He was a life member of the Australian National University Mountaineering Club. He died of mesothelioma aged 56 on 20 March 2012.
Early life [ edit ]
Hall was born in Canberra, Australia, and went to Telopea Park High School. He studied Zoology at the Australian National University and learned to climb at climbing crags in the Australian Capital Territory, most notably Booroomba Rocks (where he pioneered a number of classic routes). He developed his ice climbing skills in the Snowy Mountains at Blue Lake and trained to climb by traversing the walls of buildings at his university campus.[3]
Career [ edit ]
Hall had his real start with mountaineering when he participated in the Australian National University Mountaineering Club expeditions to New Zealand from 1975 to 1978. This culminated in the ANUMC 1978 expedition to the Himalayan peak Dunagiri (7066m) in India. Hall and his climbing partner Tim Macartney-Snape (Australia) were invited by Expedition Leader Peter Cocker to join him at Col Camp so the pair could force through a route through to the summit ridge. They did so then made an audacious push for the summit after spending a night out on the mountain. Hall was pivotal in the successful summit bid by Macartney-Snape.
The pair descended through an electrical storm, however Hall spent another night out on the mountain. Cocker ascended during the night and met him at the top of the fixed ropes and accompanied him back to Col Camp. The ANUMC team then raced Hall down to Base Camp where he was helicoptered to a Military Hospital near Delhi. This was at the time possibly the highest helicopter rescue in the Himalayas.
The successful Dunagiri trip by the ANUMC forged the Hall and Macartney-Snape partnership, setting the stage for their Himalayan mountaineering careers including their 1984 Mount Everest Expedition.[4]
After Dunagiri, Hall's mountaineering career went from strength to strength as he participated in and led numerous climbing adventures around the world, including many first ascents by Australian climbers. Amongst these were two expeditions to climb Mount Everest in Nepal (including the first Australian ascent in 1984); the first ascent of Mt Minto in the Admiralty Mountains of Antarctica (1998); and ascents of other notable peaks including Annapurna II (7963m) in Nepal, Makalu (8481m) on the China-Nepal border, and Carstensz Pyramid in Irian Jaya, Indonesia.[5]
Rescue on Everest [ edit ]
Hall narrowly survived after his ascent of Mount Everest in 2006. He was left for dead at an altitude of 8700m while descending from the summit on 25 May 2006. He had fallen ill from a form of altitude sickness, probably cerebral edema, that caused him to hallucinate and become confused. According to reports, Hall's Sherpa guides attempted to rescue him for hours. However, as night began to fall their oxygen supplies diminished and snow blindness set in. Expedition leader Alexander Abramov eventually ordered the guides to leave the apparently dead Hall on the mountain and return to camp. A statement was later released announcing his death to his friends and family.[6]
However, the next morning, 12 hours later, Hall was found still alive by a team making a summit attempt. The team consisted of team leader Daniel Mazur (U.S.), Andrew Brash (Canada), Myles Osborne (UK), and Jangbu Sherpa (Nepal). Osborne described the scene just below the Second Step:
"Sitting to our left, about two feet from a 10,000 foot drop, was a man. Not dead, not sleeping, but sitting cross legged, in the process of changing his shirt. He had his down suit unzipped to the waist, his arms out of the sleeves, was wearing no hat, no gloves, no sunglasses, had no oxygen mask, regulator, ice axe, oxygen, no sleeping bag, no mattress, no food nor water bottle. 'I imagine you're surprised to see me here', he said. Now, this was a moment of total disbelief to us all. Here was a gentleman, apparently lucid, who had spent the night without oxygen at 8600m, without proper equipment and barely clothed. And ALIVE."[7]
A rescue effort that mountain observers described as "unprecedented in scale" then swung into action. Mazur and his team abandoned their summit attempt to stay with Hall, who was badly frostbitten and delusional from the effects of severe cerebral edema. At the same time, Abramov dispatched a rescue team of 12 Sherpas guides from the base camp. The rescue team comprised Nima Wangde Sherpa, Passang Sherpa, Furba Rushakj Sherpa, Dawa Tenzing Sherpa, Dorjee Sherpa, Mingma Sherpa, Mingma Dorjee Sherpa, Pemba Sherpa, Pemba Nuru Sherpa, Passang Gaylgen Sherpa, and Lakcha Sherpa.
Hall was brought down the mountain, walking the last part of the way to Everest's North Col where he was treated by a Russian doctor. He arrived at Advanced Base Camp the next day in reasonably good health although suffering from frostbite and the lingering effects of cerebral edema. He lost the tips of his fingers and a toe to frostbite.[8]
Hall's survival and rescue came shortly after the death of UK climber David Sharp on the mountain. No attempt was made to rescue Sharp. While he was unconscious but still alive, other climbers passed him and continued on their own ascents. However, unlike David Sharp, Hall was conscious and able to walk, two factors that allowed for his rescue. The case had raised concerns, including comments from Sir Edmund Hillary.[citation needed] Dan Mazur said of his team abandoning their summit attempt, "The summit is still there and we can go back. Lincoln only has one life."[This quote needs a citation]
After Everest [ edit ]
He remained close with Myles Osborne, who sacrificed his only attempt on Everest to aid Hall. Osborne says Hall was "a great guy, really laid back, with a penchant for bad jokes.”[9]
NBC Dateline aired Left for Dead on Mount Everest, an Emmy Award-nominated documentary special, in 2006.
Hall wrote two books about his experience: Dead Lucky: Life after death on Mount Everest (2007) and Alive In The Death Zone: Mount Everest Survival (2008).
A second documentary, Miracle on Everest, based on his book Dead Lucky, premiered in 2008 on National Geographic Channel in the USA and on ABC1 in Australia.
Hall's story was later featured on the American television program I Shouldn't Be Alive in the episode "Left for Dead on Everest" (16 February 2011.)[10]
Death [ edit ]
Hall died on 20 March 2012 at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney after suffering from mesothelioma.[11][12] He had been exposed to asbestos while building[clarification needed] in the 1960s.
Friend and fellow mountaineer Greg Mortimer, who was with Lincoln at the end, said: "It was very peaceful in the end, around 11:45 last night. Lincoln got into quiet, rhythmic breathing—it was almost meditative—and then he quietly slipped away".[13] Hall lived in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales with his wife and two sons, who survived him.
Bibliography [ edit ]
White Limbo: The First Australian Climb of Mt Everest (1985) Kevin Weldon, Sydney.
(1985) Kevin Weldon, Sydney. The Loneliest Mountain: The Dramatic Story of the First Expedition to Climb Mt Minto, Antarctica (1989) Simon & Schuster, Sydney.
(1989) Simon & Schuster, Sydney. Blood on the Lotus (fiction) (1990) Simon & Schuster, Sydney.
(fiction) (1990) Simon & Schuster, Sydney. First Ascent: The Life and Climbs of Greg Mortimer (1996) Simon & Schuster, Sydney.
(1996) Simon & Schuster, Sydney. Douglas Mawson: The Life of an Explorer (2000) New Holland, Sydney.
(2000) New Holland, Sydney. Fear No Boundary: The Road to Everest and Beyond (with Sue Fear) (2005) Lothian Books, Melbourne.
(with Sue Fear) (2005) Lothian Books, Melbourne. Dead Lucky: Life after death on Mount Everest (2007) Random House, Sydney.
(2007) Random House, Sydney. Alive In The Death Zone: Mount Everest Survival (2008) Random House, Australia.
See also [ edit ]
Beck Weathers, American climber who was left for dead on Mount Everest in 1996.
References [ edit ]Book Review by Ed Sears
edited by Johannes Lehmann and Stephen Joseph
(2009), Earthscan Books.
Biochar is an idea that has recently gained prominence as it holds out the possibility of tackling soil improvement, energy production, mitigation of climate change, and disposal of organic waste. Biochar is organic material which has been heated (to between 350 and 700 degrees C) in the absence or restricted supply of oxygen. It is therefore similar to charcoal, although intended specifically for application to farmland for environmental improvement.
Biochar for Environmental Management, edited by Johannes Lehmann and Stephen Joseph, two biochar researchers from Cornell University in the USA and the University of New South Wales, Australia, is a summary of the current state of scientific knowledge on this technology. There has been localised interest in charred woody material or plant waste for some time, but it was the growing awareness triggered by the discovery of pockets of dark, carbon-rich, fertile soils known as Terra Pretta de Indio in the Amazon and the realization that these soils were the result of human activity hundreds or thousands of years ago, that has led to increased interest in its properties and potential.
This book covers the background to biochar (1 chapter), production systems both ancient and modern (3 chapters), and some of the economic and climate change implications (6 chapters), but concentrates on properties of biochar in itself and when added to soils (12 chapters).
When organic material is heated in the absence of oxygen, it breaks down into solid, liquid and gas components. Charcoal production tends to be inefficient and polluting, and only makes use of the solid component, but modern methods such as pyrolysis and gasification harness the liquid and gas fractions for energy production and can accommodate a wider variety of inputs such as crop wastes. Case studies are presented for domestic to industrial-scale production and subsistence-farming to high-tech processes, although experience is limited in the UK, so this book is not really a practical how-to guide for producing biochar for domestic horticulture.
The interesting feature of biochar is that it can persist in soils for hundreds of years, and produces a fertilisation effect without breaking down itself. Its characteristics can be categorized as physical, biological and chemical, and like compost it varies enormously in composition depending on the feedstock and production method. I recently reviewed the latest UK biochar research to compare results in this country to the experience in the book, mostly derived from experiments in the USA, Australia, Japan and developing countries in Africa and Latin America. With UK soils, the most obvious effects are an increase in soil pH (a similar effect to liming on acid soils) and improving drainage by increasing it in clay soils and reducing it in free-draining sandy soils. There are a host of other impacts that are more or less certain to occur, such as creating micro-sites for mineral retention and improving root formation.
Apart from benefits to agriculture, biochar is a carbon-negative technology if produced from waste material or sustainable cropping, as carbon drawn from the atmosphere by photosynthesis to fuel plant growth is then stored in the soil for thousands of years. Biochar use, if scaled up, could then provide a proportion of the emissions reductions needed to mitigate climate change, while also addressing the need for increased sustainable food production.
For further information, try the International Biochar Initiative (http://www.biochar-international.org/), the UK Biochar Research Centre (http://www.biochar.org.uk/) or the Biochar website (http://www.biochar.org/joomla/). The large-scale use of biomass for any purpose is a contentious issue as demand outweighs supply, so you can find criticisms of the push for biochar from Biofuelwatch and George Monbiot, among others, although as yet it is nowhere near being adopted on a wide enough scale to have a global impact. Any experiments you try at home will definitely be adding to the sum of knowledge on the subject, so you could consider participating in biochar trials lead by Oxford Biochar (http://oxfordbiochar.com/) and Earthwatch.
In summary, this book provides a detailed technical resource, loads of references, and an outline of the applications and implications of biochar, both locally and for the global climate.
Ed Sears
Ed Sears is Energy Consultant at T4 Sustainability, Honorary Research Assistant at the University of Exeter, and Trustee at the Permaculture Association and Plants For A Future.SURREY, B.C. — Alex Bazzie wanted to make sure he had shaken his NFL hangover.
The defensive lineman signed a contract with the BC Lions through the rest of the season earlier this week, rejoining the CFL club where played from 2014 to 2016 before bouncing between three teams south of the border over a nine-month span.
Some players who leave Canada in hopes of catching on in the NFL have a tough time readjusting when they return — be it spite, disinterest, having a chip on their shoulder or something else — but Bazzie believes his mind is in the right place after getting cut by the Arizona Cardinals earlier this month.
"I'm most definitely past that point," the 27-year-old said following his first practice with the Lions in 2017. "That's what might have took so long as far as coming back.
"It was just making sure I got over that, leaving it back in the States and not coming over here holding onto grudges."
Bazzie registered 29 sacks in 50 games for the Lions, including 11 last season, to earn a contract with the Indianapolis Colts in January.
After getting cut in May, he latched on with the Carolina Panthers and then the Cardinals, who released him at the end of training camp 2 1/2 weeks ago.
"(The) B.C. Lions organization had nothing to do with what went on with me down south," said Bazzie, a CFL West Division all-star last season. "I wanted to come over here with a clear mind and be ready work. That was the biggest thing.
"So yes, I'm completely over that."
An outside linebacker rather than a defensive end in the NFL because of his stature, the six-foot-one, 228-pound Marshall University product said he learned a lot of technique from Cardinals counterparts Chandler Jones, who has 50 sacks in five-plus seasons, and Markus Golden, the owner of 16.5 sacks in his first two years.
"Timing up the hands, setting up your man and when to do your counter move," Bazzie explained. "Those little things that I didn't quite have a good feel for. They helped me advance and become a better player."
He also got a harsh introduction to realities of the game's business side.
"It's crazy," said Bazzie, who also had 83 defensive tackles during his first stint with the Lions. "One thing I did learn, and it's universal all over, is no matter how good of a player you are, when it comes down to needing a certain position or having no depth at a (different) position, they've got to be able to do what's best for the team, not what's best for that one player.
"You've just got to take that under the chin and say, 'I did what I was supposed to do.' That's just the business aspect of it. You can't let that bring you down."
The Silver Spring, Md., native — who tied for fourth in the CFL in sacks last season, but had just one over his last nine games including the playoffs — joins a team that has just 18 quarterback takedowns and 62 pressures, good for second-last in the league in both categories.
"Alex was very candid about wanting to return," said Lions head coach and general manager Wally Buono. "We felt he could give us a shot in the arm defensively.
"One thing we can do is put more pressure on the quarterback, and he can do that for us. Alex knows the system. He fits in right away."
Bazzie, who had offers from other CFL teams, returns at a critical juncture for the Lions (6-6) ahead of Friday's home game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2-9) with BC in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 1996 in the ultra-competitive West.
"They're a great group of men to be around," Bazzie said. "I wanted to go somewhere where I was comfortable, somewhere where I was familiar with everything around the organization and within the scheme.
"I've got better with my craft. I just can't wait to put it to the test."
---
Follow @JClipperton_CP on Twitter“Avengers: Age of Ultron” may feature more superheroes aside from the usual Avengers team with the addition of the Maximoff twins and
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, we review the role and application of five commonly used dietary spices including saffron turmeric, pepper family, zingiber, and cinnamon. Besides suppressing inflammatory pathways, these spices may act as antioxidant and inhibit acetyl cholinesterase and amyloid β aggregation. We summarized how spice-derived nutraceuticals mediate such different effects and what their molecular targets might be. Finally, some directions for future research are briefly discussed.Consider this hypothetical situation: You, a wealthy socialite, want to make friends over the internet, but without encountering any of the riff-raff that hangs out on traditional social networking sites. What do you do?
If you’re former Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra conductor James Touchi-Peters, then you would have resolved this dilemma by launching Netropolitan — an “online country club for people with more money than time.”
And for everyone else “Seeking a place to talk about fine wine, fancy cars and lucrative business decisions without judgment,” then Touchi-Peters’ new project may be the perfect place — his social networking site began accepting members on Tuesday this week. In order to get involved, however, you’ll first have to write a $9,000 check for membership in the web’s newest, and likely most exclusive, online club.
“James and others have mentioned feeling judged for talking about certain topics on other social media outlets. Like they were bragging and met with a little ill will,” messaging specialist Michelle Lawless at Media Minefield told the Los Angeles Times this week. “Netropolitan is designed to be the place to talk about your last European vacation or new car without the backlash.”
"I saw a need for an environment where you could talk about the finer things in life without backlash -- an environment where people could share similar likes and experiences," Touchi-Peters, 48, explained to CNN recently. "This is 100 percent real, and I believe there is a need and an audience for this service.”
According to Lawless, that demand does indeed exist — in an email sent to RT on Wednesday, she said that interest in Netropolitan was so significant that the website crashed on Tuesday during its official launch due to an abundance of traffic that prompted the company upgrade its servers.
That isn’t to say that every visitor to the Netropolitan website is signing up, however. Memberships begin with a $6,000 sign-up fee and another $3,000 for the first year of service. Lawless told RT that the social network is refraining from giving specific numbers about the number of users, citing security and privacy reasons, but said “dozens” are already a part of the club despite the hefty price tag — far from the estimated 1.34 billion active users who use Facebook for free each month.
“Obviously not everyone can afford that, and that’s partly the point,” Touchi-Peters told the New York Post of Netropolitan’s sign-up fees. “The point is that it’s supposed to be a private and secure environment.”
“It was important that it be an amount substantial enough to vet members, as we will never ask for our members’ banking information,” he explained to Nextshark. “If you can pay that fee and behave appropriately in Netropolitan, you are more than welcome in our club.”
The site’s terms of service suggest it isn’t all that similar to competing sites like Facebook, however. For starters, the $9,000 price of admissions allows the company to avoid subjecting users to third-party advertisements of any sorts, and for now the site requires that all public posts be made in English — and attributed to actual people.
“All members of Netropolitan must use their real names, and must be truthful about their cities of residence and their background,” the rules read in part.
"We're going to create the service and let the members decide what to do with it," Touchi-Peters told ABC News last week. "We expect most of the activity will be on the discussion boards."
But with discussion boards and other parts of the site only available to registered users, a significant chunk of change is required to see what kind of conversations are actually occurring behind Netropolitan’s velvet rope.
On the company’s public Facebook profile, users of the free alternative have already questioned whether it would be worth it at all to pay substantially for access to an online community.
“It is just my opinion, but does anyone else think that this is either a really bad scam or just really sad?” one person posted on the Netropolitan Facebook page.
“$9000 for a crappy Wordpress Social Network. Must say a great scam and I can't stop laughing - I hope this guy make a bundle off of these suckers,” added another.
So far, Netropolitan is taking the critique in stride.
“Some news outlets are having a good time poking fun at us, our goals, and how we live. We're okay with that. That's what the public internet is all about,” the company wrote online.Among other things...
Illegal immigrant students at Columbia University demand free health care, housing, and sensitivity training for staff
If you illegally enter someone’s house, refuse to leave, and hand them a list of 13 demands, a few things will happen. If you aren’t immediately shot for breaking and entering, you’ll be told to get the hell out. Then, your demands will be mocked, ridiculed, and refused. Finally, the police will be called and you’ll be forcibly removed. You won’t be coddled, indulged, or comforted. You’ll be jettisoned with extreme prejudice. On the other hand, if you illegally enter the United States, you’ll find an army of liberals who are willing to forgive your initial crime, confiscate the wealth of others to support you, and scream “racist” at anyone who would dare point out that your very presence violates the most basic of laws. Then, you can enroll in a left-wing taxpayer-funded college, hand them your list of demands, and they’ll actually take your nonsense seriously.
UndoCU’s list of “demands” That’s what’s happening at Columbia University, where a group of illegal students called “UndocU” presented the school with a list of ridiculous demands. As they posted on their Facebook page, it’s no fun being an illegal alien - so they want their bastion of higher learning to make life easier for them: “This past year, the year of UndoCU’s conception, we have consistently faced issues and problems that the university has, at best, responded to sparingly. Our daily lived experiences are shaped by national and federal forces that we must face with bravery, but the collective university administration’s inaction has worsened these issues. Some of us were on the verge of homelessness. Some, including their families, are at high risk of deportation. That the university is not active in aiding and ameliorating these problems demonstrates Columbia’s lack of intrinsic interest in its undocumented students. We therefore present this list of demands upon which we expect the university to act.” Yes, yes. they’re very “brave” to be in the country illegally, and we’re sure that lefty hearts bleed for their predicament. However, their “demands” are utter nonsense. The list reads more like a hijacker’s note than anything that should be taken seriously.
As Campus Reform writes: One of the more audacious demands calls for “full reimbursement of the health insurance fees,” complaining that the university’s International Students and Scholars Office only refunds “portions of these fees.” Columbia requires all students to be covered by health care while enrolled, which costs roughly $3,000 per year in addition to co-pays and deductibles. UndoCU also demands “specialized fundraising for undocumented students,” in order to create “undocumented student[-]specific scholarships and grants” for illegal immigrant students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. “Need[-]based funding must be available for undocumented students at all Columbia University and affiliate schools,” the ultimatum continues, referring to affiliates such as Barnard College and Union Theological Seminary.
They want cash for housing, cash for healthcare, and the elimination of fees that apply to legal foreign students In other words, “give us money.” They want cash for housing, cash for healthcare, and the elimination of fees that apply to legal foreign students - because they’re “international students only by technical designation.”...Never mind that the “technical designation” is that they’re “technically” not supposed to be in the United States at all. -International student designation
We are international students only by technical designation, so we are all subject to pay the semesterly $70.00 international services fee. Further, classifying us as international students puts us at risk of having our information exposed to Homeland Security. We want the university to respect and recognize us as domestic students, be clear about the implications of our student status, and have these fee charges refunded to us. We also demand full reimbursement of the health insurance fees. ISSO refunded portions of these fees, but the calculations are inaccurate and leaves graduating students with exorbitant amounts of account balances which potentially hinders their request for academic transcripts and degrees. -Specialized fundraising for undocumented students
We want the university as a whole and individual schools to raise funding to specifically support undocumented students in both undergrad and grad schools with the objective of creating undocumented student specific scholarships and grants. Need based funding must be available for undocumented students at all Columbia University and affiliate schools. Oh, and by the way, they don’t like being called illegals. Such accurate labels hurt their feelings. So they want Columbia to train their employees to...not be meanies.
In other words, don’t tell them to stop breaking the law. It upsets them “-Sensitivity training for faculty and staff
During the spring semester we published an op-ed in the Columbia Spectator asking that the university provide sensitivity training for professors, TA, and all other staff in terms of immigration language and rhetoric. Much like sexual health training, it is imperative that immigration subjects be treated with the proper language and information. It is unacceptable for students to be called “illegal” in their own classrooms or for professors to tell us to “get legal.”” In other words, don’t tell them to stop breaking the law. It upsets them. In a sane world, the only response this list would generate is a visit from ICE agents. Since we live in a world gone mad, Columbia staff will probably listen to each demand, run an expensive cost-benefit analysis, hold a series of outreach meetings, weigh the merits of each bullet point, and then recommend the University give in to all of it. This is a school which spent millions of taxpayer dollars on fake voicemails from people “dying of climate change,” so we’re sure they’re willing to pony up for this. Since there’s not sign of the gravy train stopping, there’s always more federal cash on the way. Remember, you can view the complete list of demands on the group’s Facebook page here
UndocU | Basic Rules & Vocabulary for Applying to College as an Undocumented Student
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The state-owned airline said the move was a reaction to weak sales, not because of the isolated regime’s increasingly bellicose behavior.
“We will schedule flights on this route based on passenger demand,” a rep for the carrier told CNN.
But the suspension comes as nutjob dictator Kim Jong Un has threatened to stage another nuke or missile test despite US threats to retaliate — possibly even with a military strike.
President Trump wants the rogue nation to stop testing weapons and missiles and curtail its nuclear weapons program.
North Korea threatened a “merciless” response to any hostile military, economic or political moves by the “reckless” Trump administration, according to a statement from a North Korean spokesman, the network reported.In the early hours of Nov. 9, Americans found out that their next president is Donald Trump; they also learned that marijuana’s slow drive to nationwide legality had shifted into the next gear.
These two facts may seem incongruous, but that’s only if you’re stuck in 20th-century politics. In 2016, marijuana has become one of the least contentious matters in US partisan politics, and is likely the issue on which most liberals find Trump to be least offensive.
On Nov. 8, which included not only presidential and congressional elections but ballot initiatives in 35 states, voters in Arkansas, Florida, and North Dakota made it legal for doctors to prescribe medical marijuana to their patients. Montana voted to ease recent restrictions on its decade-old medical marijuana law. That, for the first time, means smoking weed is legal, at least for medical and in some cases for recreational purposes, in 30 states.
Perhaps more importantly, four states voted to pass new laws that make marijuana use equivalent to liquor consumption. In California, Massachusetts, Maine, and Nevada, it is now legal for anyone over 21 years old to smoke pot.
Those states join Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and the District of Columbia in a sort of loose coalition strongly challenging the federal government, which still classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, meaning it has “no currently accepted medical use” and a “high potential for abuse.” The Nov. 8 votes create a strong western bloc—the entire Pacific coastline is now on board with legal weed—and establishes a stronghold in the northeast, where Massachusetts could set the agenda for other liberal states.
Of the nine states where weed was on the ballot, eight made access to the plant easier. Only in Arizona—where medical marijuana is already legal, and which was considering legalizing recreational use—did a new law not pass.
That’s less surprising than it seems at first glance. Legalization of marijuana is one of the few issues on which Republicans and Democrats appear to be coming together. While Democrats and Independents are still far more likely than Republicans to favor legalizing recreational use, support in both parties is increasing sharply:
This shift is due largely to growing research into marijuana and awareness that it can have health benefits and few risks. But it’s also in part due to a growing recognition that legalizing a robust underground pot industry could provide serious fuel for local economies.
Just last month, the Marijuana Policy Group published a report (pdf) crediting legal weed in Colorado with creating some 18,000 full-time jobs and adding about $2.4 billion to the state’s economy in 2015. The five states that just legalized weed could therefore be in for a financial windfall. All of the new laws passed on Nov. 8 include state taxes on retail marijuana sales: 15% in California and Nevada, 10% in Maine, and 3.5% in Massachusetts.
It’s not entirely clear where president-elect Donald Trump stands on the issue. He has said he believes “100%” in the medical value of marijuana, and has also made clear that he wouldn’t interfere with states’ rights to set their own marijuana-related laws and agendas.
But what about the federal restrictions? The CARERS Act, introduced in the Senate in March 2015, would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II, allowing doctors to prescribe it, but it has been stuck in committee. Since the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is part of the executive branch of government, a Trump appointee as DEA head could bypass the legislative branch and make the schedule change directly. But Trump hasn’t made made his drug policy (or many others) clear yet.
Even moving marijuana to Schedule II would still be a far cry from allowing it for recreational use, though. And it would still trail behind changing public opinion. According to Pew Research, in 2015, 53% of Americans supported legalizing marijuana for medical or recreational use, and 44% were opposed.
The bipartisan support for legal recreational weed may make its continued federal criminalization untenable. On Nov. 4, President Barack Obama explained on TV the challenges the new legalization laws would create for federal regulators:
“You’ll now have a fifth of the country that’s operating under one set of laws and four-fifths in another. The Justice Department, DEA, FBI, for them to try to straddle and figure out how they’re supposed to enforce laws in some places and not in others, they’re going to guard against transporting these drugs across state lines—you’ve got the entire Pacific Corridor where this is legal. That is not going to be tenable.”
Given the financial incentives, and the fact that over 21% of Americans now live in a state that says they have the legal right to get high for fun, it’s likely now a question of when, and not if, the rest of the country will follow suit.
Meanwhile, all nine states and districts where weed is is now legal—California, Massachusetts, Maine, Nevada, Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and DC—voted for the losing candidate, Hillary Clinton, last night. At least they will now have a way to ease the anxiety of life under Republican leadership.
Correction: An earlier version of this item omitted Ohio as a medical marijuana state.The canning of Infinity Ward founders Jason West and Vince Zampella was not a decision that Activision took lightly, says big boss Bobby Kotick, saying that the pair's conduct was a disappointing "compromise of our friendship."
The man at the top of one of the world's biggest video game publishers laid out Activision's side of the Infinity Ward drama during an investor call earlier today. Kotick attempted to calm his investors' concerns about the turmoil surrounding the employee exodus at the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare developer, saying that Activision is "focused on growing our Call of Duty franchise [and] broadening its reach."
That includes the still remaining talent at Infinity Ward he said, who are "working hard on the next title." Activision's Thomas Tippl later said, vaguely, that IW is "working on a Call of Duty title."
"We have long term, well thought through plans in place," Kotick stressed, adding "There's nothing accidental about the continued success of the Call of Duty brand."
Here's Kotick's statement on the "change and dislocation" at Infinity Ward.On the Backgrounds of the Pacific War
Noam Chomsky
Liberation, September-October, 1967
Introductory Comment
The title and subtitle of this essay may seem unrelated; hence a word of explanation may be useful. The essay was written for a memorial number of Liberation which, as the editor expressed it, “gathered together a series of articles that deal with some of the problems with which A. J. struggled.” I think that Muste’s revolutionary pacifism was, and is, a profoundly important doctrine, both in the political analysis and the moral conviction that it expresses. The circumstances of the antifascist war subjected it to the most severe of tests. Does it survive this test? When I began working on this article I was not at all sure. I still feel quite ambivalent about the matter. There are several points that seem to me fairly clear, however. The American reaction to Japan’s aggressiveness was, in a substantial measure, quite hypocritical. Worse still, there are very striking, quite distressing similarities between Japan’s escapades and our own — both in character and in rationalization — with the fundamental difference that Japan’s appeal to national interest, which was not totally without merit, becomes merely ludicrous when translated into a justification for American conquests in Asia.
This essay touches on all of these questions: on Muste’s revolutionary pacifism and his interpretation of it in connection with the Second World War; on the backgrounds of Japan’s imperial ventures; on the Western reaction and responsibility; and, by implication, on the relevance of these matters to the problems of contemporary imperialism in Asia. No doubt the essay would be more coherent were it limited to one or two of these themes. I am sure that it would be more clear if it advocated a particular “political line.” After exploring these themes, I can suggest nothing more than the tentative remarks of the final paragraph.
Essay
In a crucial essay written forty years ago,1 A. J. Muste explained the concept of revolutionary nonviolence that was the guiding principle of an extraordinary life. “In a world built on violence, one must be a revolutionary before one can be a pacifist.” “There is a certain indolence in us, a wish not to be disturbed, which tempts us to think that when things are quiet, all is well. Subconsciously, we tend to give the preference to ‘social peace,’ though it be only apparent, because our lives and possessions seem then secure. Actually, human beings acquiesce too easily in evil conditions; they rebel far too little and too seldom. There is nothing noble about acquiescence in a cramped life or mere submission to superior force.” Muste was insistent that pacifists “get our thinking focussed.” Their foremost task “is to denounce the violence on which the present system is based, and all the evil — material and spiritual — this entails for the masses of men throughout the world…. So long as we are not dealing honestly and adequately with this ninety percent of our problem, there is something ludicrous, and perhaps hypocritical, about our concern over the ten percent of violence employed by the rebels against oppression.” Never in American history have these thoughts been so tragically appropriate as today.
The task of the revolutionary pacifist is spelled out more fully in the final paragraph of the essay.
Those who can bring themselves to renounce wealth, position and power accruing from a social system based on violence and putting a premium on acquisitiveness, and to identify themselves in some real fashion with the struggle of the masses toward the light, may help in a measure — more, doubtless, by life than by words — to devise a more excellent way, a technique of social progress less crude, brutal, costly and slow than mankind has yet evolved.
It is a remarkable tribute to A. J. Muste that his life’s work can be measured by such standards as these. His essays are invariably thoughtful and provocative; his life, however, is an inspiration with hardly a parallel in twentieth-century America. Muste believed, with Gandhi, that “unjust laws and practices survive because men obey them and conform to them. This they do out of fear. There are things they dread more than the continuance of the evil.” He enriched half a century of American history with a personal commitment to these simple truths. His efforts began in a time when “men believed that a better human order, a classless and warless world, a socialist society, if you please, could be achieved,” a time when the labor movement could be described as “that remarkable combination of mass power, prophetic idealism and utopian hope.” They continued through the general disillusionment of war and depression and antiradical hysteria, to the days when American sociologists could proclaim that “the realization that escapes no one is that the egalitarian and socially mobile society which the ‘free-floating intellectuals’ associated with the Marxist tradition have been calling for during the last hundred years has finally emerged in the form of our cumbersome, bureaucratic mass society, and has in turn engulfed the heretics.”2 And finally, still not “engulfed,” he persisted in his refusal to be one of the obedient, docile men who are the terror of our time, to the moment when our “egalitarian and socially mobile society” is facing a virtual rebellion from the lower depths, when young men are being faced every day with the questions posed at Nuremberg as their country devotes itself to enforcing the “stability” of the graveyard and the bulldozed village, and when the realization that escapes no one is that something is drastically wrong in American society.
In one of his last published essays, Muste describes himself as an “unrepentant unilateralist, on political as well as moral grounds.”3 In part, he bases his position on an absolute moral commitment that one may accept or reject, but that cannot be profitably debated. In part, he defends it on grounds that seem to me not very persuasive, a psychological principle that “like produces like, kindness provokes kindness,” hence an appeal to “the essential humanity of the enemy.”4 It is very difficult to retain a faith in the “essential humanity” of the SS trooper or the commissar or the racist blinded with hate and fear, or, for that matter, the insensate victim of a lifetime of anti-Communist indoctrination. When the enemy is a remote technician programming B-52 raids or “pacification,” there is no possibility for a human confrontation and the psychological basis for nonviolent tactics, whatever it may be, simply evaporates. A society that is capable of producing concepts like “un-American” and “peacenik” — of turning “peace” into a dirty word — has advanced a long way towards immunizing the individual against any human appeal. American society has reached the stage of near total immersion in ideology. The commitment has vanished from consciousness — what else can a right-thinking person possibly believe? Americans are simply “pragmatic,” and they must bring others to this happy state. Thus an official of the Agency for International Development can write, with no trace of irony, that our goal is to move nations “from doctrinaire reliance on state enterprise to a pragmatic support of private initiative,”5 and a headline in the New York Times can refer to Indian capitulation to American demands concerning the conditions of foreign investment as India’s “drift from socialism to pragmatism.” With this narrowing of the range of the thinkable comes an inability to comprehend how the weak and dispossessed can resist our benevolent manipulation of their lives, an incapacity to react in human terms to the misery that we impose.
The only useful way to evaluate the program of unilateral revolutionary pacifism is to consider what it implies in concrete historical circumstances. As a prescription for the United States in the mid-sixties, it is much too easy to defend. There is no particular merit in being more reasonable than a lunatic; correspondingly, almost any policy is more rational than one that accepts repeated risk of nuclear war, hence a near guarantee of nuclear war in the long run — a “long run” that is unlikely to be very long, given the risks that policy makers are willing to accept. Thus in the Cuban missile crisis, Kennedy was willing (according to Sorensen’s memoirs) to accept a probability of 1/3 to 1/2 of nuclear war, in order to establish that the United States alone has the right to maintain missiles on the borders of a potential enemy.6 And who knows what “probabilities” the CIA is now providing to the Rostows and the Wheelers who are trying to save something from their Vietnam fiasco by bombing at the Chinese border? Furthermore, it does not require an unusual political intelligence to urge world-wide de-escalation on the great power that by any objective standard is the most aggressive in the world — as measured by the number of governments maintained by force or subverted by intrigue, by troops and bases on foreign soil, by willingness to use the most awesome “killing machine” in history to enforce its concept of world order.
It would be more enlightening to consider the program of revolutionary pacifism in the context of a decade ago, when international gangsterism was more widely distributed, with the British engaged in murderous repression in Kenya, the French fighting the last of their dirty colonial wars, and the Soviet Union consolidating its Eastern European empire with brutality and deceit. But it is the international situation of December 1941 that provides the most severe test for Muste’s doctrine. There is a great deal to be learned from a study of the events that led up to an armed attack, by a competing imperialism, on American possessions and the forces defending them, and even more from a consideration of the varying reactions to these events and their aftermath. If Muste’s revolutionary pacifism is defensible as a general political program, then it must be defensible in these extreme circumstances. By arguing that it was, Muste isolated himself not only from any mass base, but also from all but a marginal fringe of American intellectuals. Writing in 1941, Muste saw the war as
a conflict between two groups of powers for survival and domination. One set of powers, which includes Britain and the United States, and perhaps “free” France, controls some 70% of the earth’s resources and thirty million square miles of territory. The imperialistic status quo thus to their advantage was achieved by a series of wars including the last one. All they ask now is to be left at peace, and if so they are disposed to make their rule mild though firm…. On the other hand stands a group of powers, such as Germany, Italy, Hungary, Japan, controlling about 15% of the earth’s resources and one million square miles of territory, equally determined to alter the situation in their own favor, to impose their ideas of “order,” and armed to the teeth to do that, even if it means plunging the whole world into war.7
He foresaw that an Allied victory would yield “a new American empire” incorporating a subservient Britain, “that we shall be the next nation to seek world domination — in other words, to do what we condemn Hitler for trying to do.” In the disordered postwar world, we shall be told, he predicts, that “our only safety lies in making or keeping ourselves ‘impregnable.’ But that…means being able to decide by preponderance of military might any international issue that may arise — which would put us in the position in which Hitler is trying to put Germany.” In a later essay, he quotes this remark: “The problem after a war is with the victor. He thinks he has just proved that war and violence pay. Who will now teach him a lesson?”8
The prediction that the United States would emerge as the world-dominant power was political realism; to forecast that it would act accordingly, having achieved this status by force, was no less realistic. This tragedy might be averted, Muste urged, by a serious attempt at peaceful reconciliation with no attempt to fasten sole war-guilt on any nation, assurance to all peoples of equitable access to markets and essential materials, armament reduction, massive economic rehabilitation, and moves towards international federation. To the American ideologist of 1941 such a recommendation seemed as senseless as the proposal, today, that we support popular revolution. And at that moment, events and policy were taking a very different direction.
Since nothing of the sort was ever attempted, one can only speculate as to the possible outcome of such a course. The accuracy of Muste’s forecast unfortunately requires little comment. Furthermore, a plausible case can be made for his analysis of the then existing situation, a matter of more than academic interest in view of developments in Asia since that time.
As I mentioned, the point of view that Muste expressed was a rather isolated one. To see how little the intellectual climate has changed, it is enough to consider the lengthy debate over the decision to drop the bomb. What has been at issue is the question whether this constituted the last act of World War II or the first phase of American postwar diplomacy; or whether it was justified as a means of bringing the war to a quick conclusion. Only rarely has the question been raised whether there was any justification for American victory in the Pacific war; and this issue, where faced at all, has been posed in the context of the Cold War — that is, was it wise to have removed a counterweight to growing Chinese power, soon to become “Communist” power?
A fairly typical American view is probably that expressed by historian Louis Morton:
In the late summer and autumn of 1945 the American people had every reason to rejoice. Germany and Japan had been defeated, and American troops, victorious everywhere, would soon be returning home. Unprecedented evil had been overcome by the greatest display of force ever marshaled in the cause of human freedom….9
It is remarkable that such an attitude should be so blandly expressed and easily accepted. Is it true that in August 1945 the American people “had every reason to rejoice” — at the sight of a Japanese countryside devastated by conventional bombing in which tens of thousands of civilians had been massacred, not to speak of the horrifying toll of two atom bombs (the second being, so it appears, history’s most abominable experiment); or at the news of a final gratuitous act of barbarism, trivial in the context of what had just taken place, a thousand-plane raid launched after the Japanese surrender had been announced but, technically, before it was officially received?10 To Secretary of War Stimson it seemed “appalling that there had been no protest over the air strikes we were conducting against Japan which led to such extraordinarily heavy losses of life”; he felt that “there was something wrong with a country where no one questioned that.” What then are we to say of a country that still, twenty years later, is incapable of facing the question of war guilt?
It is not, of course, that the question of war guilt has gone out of fashion. No trip to Germany is complete, even today, without a ritual sigh and wringing of hands over the failure of the German people to face up to the sins of the Nazi era, or the German school texts which glide so easily over the Nazi atrocities and the question of war guilt. This is a sure sign of the corruption of their nature. Just recently, a group of American liberal intellectuals gave their impressions of a tour of West Germany in the Atlantic Monthly (May 1967). None failed to raise the question of war guilt. One comments that “however disparate our temperaments or our political emphases, we were plainly a group made coherent by our shared suspicions of Germany’s capacity for political health … we had not forgotten, nor could we forget, that we were in the country which had been able to devise, and implement, Nazism.” The same commentator is impressed with the “dignity and fortitude” with which young Germans “carry an emotional and moral burden unmatched in history: they have to live with the knowledge that their parent generation, and often their own parents, perpetrated the worst atrocities on the record of mankind.” Another, a fervent apologist for the American war in Vietnam, asks, “How does a human being ‘come to terms’ with the fact that his father was a soulless murderer, or an accomplice to soulless murder?” Several “were offended by the way the camp [Dachau] had been fixed up, prettified.” (Does the “prettification” of Hiroshima — or, to take a closer analogue, the prettification of Los Alamos — provoke the same response?) To their credit, a few refer to Vietnam; but not once is a question raised — even to be dismissed — as to American conduct in the Second World War, or the “emotional and moral burden” carried by those whose “parent generation” stood by while two atom bombs were used against a beaten and virtually defenseless enemy.
To free ourselves from the conformism and moral blindness that have become a national scandal, it is a good idea occasionally to read the measured reactions of conservative Asians to some of our own exploits. Consider, for example, the words of the Indian justice Radhabinod Pal, the leading Asian voice at the Tokyo Tribunal that assessed the war guilt of the Japanese. In his carefully argued (and largely ignored) dissenting opinion to the decision of the tribunal, he has the following remarks to make:
The Kaiser Wilhelm II was credited with a letter to the Austrian Kaiser Franz Joseph in the early days of that war, wherein he stated as follows: “My soul is torn, but everything must be put to fire and sword; men, women and children and old men must be slaughtered and not a tree or house be left standing. With these methods of terrorism, which are alone capable of affecting a people as degenerate as the French, the war will be over in two months, whereas if I admit considerations of humanity it will be prolonged for years. In spite of my repugnance I have therefore been obliged to choose the former system.” This showed his ruthless policy, and this policy of indiscriminate murder to shorten the war was considered to be a crime. In the Pacific war under our consideration, if there was anything approaching what is indicated in the above letter of the German Emperor, it is the decision coming from the allied powers to use the atom bomb. Future generations will judge this dire decision. History will say whether any outburst of popular sentiment against usage of such a weapon is irrational and only sentimental and whether it has become legitimate by such indiscriminate slaughter to win the victory by breaking the will of the whole nation to continue to fight. We need not stop here to consider whether or not “the atom bomb comes to force a more fundamental searching of the nature of warfare and of the legitimate means for the pursuit of military objectives.” It would be sufficient for my present purpose to say that if any indiscriminate destruction of civilian life and property is still illegitimate in warfare, then, in the Pacific war, this decision to use the atom bomb is the only near approach to the directives of the German Emperor during the first World War and of the Nazi leaders during the second World War. Nothing like this could be traced to the credit of the present accused.11
When we lament over the German conscience, we are demanding of them a display of self-hatred — a good thing, no doubt. But for us the matter is infinitely more serious. It is not a matter of self-hatred regarding the sins of the past
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zippiness of the what happens at Moe’s Tavern… there’s so much stupidly silly stuff I can’t get enough of. The NASA gag, the awesome visual gag of Moe in his crawl space, and Barney’s wonder at the flickering lights are some of my favorite parts of this episode, so I can’t help but rank this one high up.
7 – MCDONALDS VS KRUSTY BURGER
Out of any part of this episode, the cops’ discussion of McDonalds is dated the most (though today’s young adults have watched Pulp Fiction… right?!), but this brief discussion is so much more than a Tarantino joke. There’s the unexpected acknowledgment of a real-world entity and a batch of new gags that provide fresh fast food parody. Arnold Schwarzenegger being a character in The Simpsons Movie is a step into reality I always hated. This, on the other hand is a wonderful examination of the bubble Springfield exists within.
6 – THE TOMFOOLERY OF PROFESSOR FRINK
Could Frink have been anywhere but the credits of the episode? Any longer and he’d wear out his welcome, and his failure is always a nice trait to play off of. There’s a sad title card, a sadder jingle and a oft-referenced monkey due for some comeuppance; I can’t think of a single extra element Frink needed.
5 – VERY TALL MAN’S REVENGE
Nelson never really got what was coming to him for seven long years. His initial bullying was settled with an unsatisfying truce. Sometimes he was a fill-in friend for Bart but he’d just as often be a jerk to those around him. For as long as fans waited, getting pantsed in front of the entire town and getting a taste of his own catchphrase was the best perfect level of revenge. When you add in the fact that this scene gave us our first real introduction to the Very Tall Man and included an old lady falling into a garbage pail, it stands among the very best parts of one of the very best episodes.
4 – SMITHERS’ ALLERGY
Mr. Burns using early 1900s slang always makes for a funny skit, and dude is on point during this underrated part of the episode. Stuperous funker? Mephitic clodhopper? TUTTLE’S SUNDAY TROUSERS. Did I even get the drift of that possibly too obscure Burns dialogue? I didn’t, but I loved hearing it!
3 – MILHOUSE BUYS A COMIC
Here’s my sentimental favorite, based on my favorite joke of the episode – The Hamburgular Comic. The price, the premise, the jumble – everything about it makes me want to know more. How did Comic Book Guy come into possession of it? How did the writers come up with such a pitch-perfect choice for “cheapest comic book store” item? I love that comic, and seeing Milhouse’s bathroom gambit fail is a cherry on top of this brief-but-wonderful slice of hilarity.
2 – CLETUS THE SLACK-JAWED YOKEL
What is going on on this side, indeed. I feel like the concept of “22 Short Films” does the most by Cletus than any other character. Previously relegated to capping off select scenes with a bit of absurdity, this was far more than an episode should focus on Springfield’s lowest-income family, but the Hee-Haw level gag works perfectly as a mini-show within a show. The story itself is a fun one, but Cletus’ great post-jingle tags put this one over the top.
1 – SKINNER AND THE SUPERINTENDENT
Is there a greater scene in the 25-year history of The Simpsons than this one? Outside of Homer’s chili trip or one of the unforgettable musical segments, nothing really stands up to the escalation of Skinner’s stupid-yet-slightly plausable fibs that turn a clambake into a hamburger feast that burns downs his mother’s house. Chalmers’ continued deconstruction of Skinner’s steamed hams are wonderful, but the dynamic of their relationship that allows the superintendent to be just gullible enough to believe Aurora Borealis is happening within the principal’s kitchen is mixture of sweet and silly that I love on The Simpsons.
—
There you have it! Some 1700 words later, I’ve dissected one of my favorite Simpsons episodes to the point that I’ll probably never want to watch it ever again. Oh well. Cheer me up by commenting below with your picks for the best and worst of “22 Short Films About Springfield!”
GET SOME SIMPSONS AND SUPPORT LASER TIME!!
.RECENT NEWS
(14/10/2015) Robin Hood Day Official Game!
Hitpoint Games has been commisioned by Nottingham City Council and GameCity to produce a unique one of a kind social game for this year's Robin Hood Day! Help us out and together we'll fire an arrow around the WORLD.
(10/09/2015) Hashtag Dungeon 1.0 Release Date!
We're releasing the 1.0 version of Hashtag Dungeon during November! It'll be available on itch.io and The Official Website! More details can be found on Sean's personal blog!
(02/03/2015) Sean's On The Indie Haven Podcast!
Sean talks about Utopian, Hashtag Dungeon and LUST on the Indie Haven Podcast. Prepare yourself for an hour of insanity that only Sean could serve up! You can listen to it here:
(17/02/2015) Scratch Your Nose 2015!
Sean has been invited along to represent Hitpoint Games at the 'Scratch Your Nose' teaching event in Birmingham. He will be showing children how to make games in Scratch and provide them with more insight into what it's like to be a game developer! The event will also raise money for the Red Nose Day charity. You can find out more about Scratch Your Nose on their website!
(16/02/2015) London Anime & Gaming Con!
We had the pleasure of being invited down to London to show off our upcoming games Utopian, The Wiki Islands, Nectar Collector and of course our flagship title: Hashtag Dungeon.
We also had a brief but awesome interview with Shehzaan Abdulla about our games, you can read their report about our company on AUTOMATON.
(29/12/2014) Hashtag Dungeon Greenlit!
We are ridiculously pleased to announce that Hashtag Dungeon has been greenlit on Steam! We shall be working hard to get the game in a state ready to release on Steam in the early half of 2015! For now you can get your hands on Hashtag Dungeon via the excellent indie game marketplace called itch.io, buying it on there will get you a free key on Steam once it's out!
(09/12/2014) Sean's VideoBrains Talk!
Sean did a talk entitled "Using APIs For Completely Insane Reasons" and it's now on YouTube for your viewing pleasure!
(30/10/2014) Hitpoint Games @ GameCity!
Hashtag Dungeon was shown all week over on the second floor of the soon to be named 'National Video Game Arcade' - it recieved some really great feedback, being played by loads of other developers including the crazy William Pugh and the awesome Chris Avellone from Obsidian.
We were also lucky enough to get the chance to run part of the grand 'Live Text Adventures' night over in Nottingham's Public Library, Sean designed and developed a game where players had to solve riddles whilst avoiding ghosts in a creepy real-life enviroment! Kieran used iBeacons to develop a mobile app that would ping when the ghosts were nearby.
ABOUT US
Hitpoint Games was founded on the 15th of May, 2014 in order for us to release our first title Hashtag Dungeon. Our goals are simple: make interesting games that do things in weird and wonderful ways, do research based around these weird and wonderful games and entertain people in the process!
Sean Oxspring is the managing director of Hitpoint Games and one of the founding members of the company. Aside from doing all the admin and finance stuff that a company needs to survive, he does pixel art, sound design, game design and programming on a variety of our titles.
Kieran Hicks is the creative director of Hitpoint Games and one of the founding members of the company. Kieran is the lead developer for Hashtag Dungeon. He is in charge of server management, back-end coding and games design on our projects.
We work with a great deal of awesome people who are developing games with us. We work closely with third and forth year students at the University Of Lincoln. Everyone we work with bring their own special flair to the company and this makes our games far richer.
Alex Saye is an extraordinarily skilled programmer and the lead designer/programmer on Utopian. He is essentially the super-intelligent 'Spock' of the team.
Amelia George is one of our very talented 2D/3D artists, she is currently working on creating assets for Nectar Collector.
Andrew Deathridge is the hivemind behind Nectar Collector. He is also a big fan of bee-related puns, much to Kieran's annoyance. He is also in charge of keeping contact with our friends at the Bee-Cause charity drive.
Kieran Wagg is a programmer/designer developing the experimental game called The Wiki Islands. His field of expertise is in creating procedurally generated stories using artificial intelligence.
Jordan Bird is creating a game based on procedurally generated birds from trending Twitter data. He is also working on coding our DOOM-Style First Person Shooter that sources all it's data from porn websites.
TK Kirby is developing a multiplayer rock-paper-scissors style game that allows people to challenge their friends anytime, anywhere. We will provide more information about this game in the future!
Sam Silvers is our exotic American artist! She is currently doing conceptual art for our DOOM-Style First Person Shooter!
Ashley Blake-Hood is currently working on "Yes Mlord?!", a medieval peasant simulator that uses real-time weather data to make life harder for the player!
CONTACT US
Want to ask a question? Get more info on a project? Want to hire us? Send us an email!
You can also follow Sean and Kieran on Twitter: @OxyOxspring and @Kieran_HicksNote: By submitting this form, you agree to Third Door Media's terms. We respect your privacy.
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One of the most frequently asked questions we get while speaking on social media marketing at conferences is “How can something boring be successful in social media?”
Well, there is really no product, service, or topic that cannot be successful in social media marketing if you are willing to be creative. To prove the point I have found four really boring products that rocked in social media.
Blenders – Outside of a few geeky modification articles, there was not a whole lot that had been done with the household blender in social media. That was until “Will It Blend” videos ripped onto the scene. Blendtec, a blender company, had been putting their blenders through some extreme tests to validate the quality and durability. One employee was impressed by the tests and decided to video tape a few different tests and put them on the internet. The result was one of the most viral campaigns to date. Later a “Will It Blend” website was created and they have been blending just about every new gadget that comes out on the market, continuing to stay fresh and with the current trends. Here is what might be the first “Will It Blend” video:
Taxes – My god, taxes are about as boring of a topic as it gets. It is topics like these that make you want to reach deep into that creative side of your brain and come up with something out of the box… like H&R Block did. Meet Truman Greene, who is “down with the Block.” Truman infiltrated social media sites like Facebook and Myspace with sites dedicate to H&R Block. He even shot numerous videos that were published on YouTube. Truman’s amassed about 900 Facebook friends and over 3000 on Myspace, all connected to his pro-Block message. Check out the “Ode to Block” video by Truman Greene: Milk – About the only really memorable advertising campaign that worked for milk was the various stars with their “Got Milk” mustaches, until White Gold came forth to rock you milk drinkers out of your seats.White Gold, an interactive social media campaign launched by Got Milk, shows us that if your product is too boring, you can spend a ton of money and succeed in social communities. Targeted at the teenage audience on social community pages like Myspace, Facebook, and YouTube, the White Gold campaign has amassed 1,000’s of friends on each site. Some of White Gold’s video have received almost 500,000 views, like this one:
Urinals – Bathroom fixtures are just dripping with boredom, unless you happen to be lucky enough to use one of the world’s craziest urinals.One very smart marketer from Germany decided to put together a post with all of the weirdest and craziest urinals from all over the world. The result was over 5,000 Diggs after it hit the front page, http://digg.com/design/Pictures_of_the_Craziest_Urinals_From_Around_the_World So hopefully the above examples show that no matter what you are trying to push in social media, there is a way to make your really boring topic exciting and fun.
Brent Csutoras is an internet marketing consultant, who specializes in social media, viral and search engine marketing. The Let’s Get Social column appears Tuesdays at Search Engine Land.
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.AP/Julie Jacobson Cloud seeding may be the next frontier for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), more commonly known as drones, with potential global implications.
The state of Nevada was one of six selected test sites by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in December 2013. One of the state's focuses is how UAS can make cloud seeding an easier, more economical process.
Cloud seeding is the attempt to modify the amount of precipitation from clouds, done mostly in an attempt to alleviate drought by creating precipitation. Presently it is done by launching silver iodide into the clouds from the ground or by flying over top of the clouds and dropping the chemicals into the cloud formations.
There is still necessary research to be done before cloud seeding can be proven as an effective tool according to AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Jesse Ferrell.
"It's hard to prove if it works or not because we don't know what would happen if we hadn't seeded," he said. Still, he sees how drones could assist the technology once more concrete evidence is gathered.
Cloud seeding is a more common practice internationally than within the United States. China is known to use the technique frequently. The Nevada government is hoping to break into the global weather modification market by working with this new technology.
Director of Weather Modification Activities at the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada, Jeff Tilley said that using drones for cloud seeding will offer a more cost-effective alternative to the controversial process.
Ground-based cloud seeding and manned airborne aircraft seeding are the two procedures currently used. While ground-based is the more common approach, it does not provide as much reach as the more expensive airborne. UAS could bridge the gap between the two and offer an alternative that is inexpensive, yet covers more area.
Fuel is one of the factors that drives up the price of airborne seeding and Tilley sees that as the area where the UAS could provide the most difference.
"You can very quickly go through a budget for a year's supply of fuel during one storm if you're not careful," he said. By using smaller, lighter drones, which weigh less than a typical seeding aircraft, the fuel cost difference would be substantial.
"Fuel is expensive, pilots are expensive and often in a storm you have to go up and down multiple trips," he said.
Using drones, especially in areas with mountainous terrain, could be a safer way to reach the clouds that sit close to the terrain itself. Manned aircraft cannot presently reach such clouds due to FAA regulations on the proximity of aircraft and terrain.
"The smaller size of the drones, and the fact they are not manned, provides potential opportunities for drones to fly below cloud base and seed there as well as at cloud top," said Tilley.
The process of the seeding itself will not drastically change, Tilley explained. Some changes will have to be made to the size of the flares due to the compact size of the drone versus a manned aircraft.
In order to measure the effectiveness of cloud seeding, they hope to use multiple aircrafts to gather simultaneous measurements.
Tilley and his team are working closely with the FAA to operate as a test facility for the cloud-seeding operations as well as researching other weather technologies to "increase the observational net," he said.
"The potential market for the technology is substantial bigger than the current cloud-seeding operational community," Tilley said. Entities within the U.S. and other countries would use the technology for whatever precipitation they need who currently cannot afford to use the laborious, aging technology available now.
The Nevada state government recognizes how quickly the UAS industry is developing and has a goal to become the global leader according to Thomas Wilczek, Defense and Aerospace Industry liaison at the Nevada Governor's Office of Economic Development.
"From the state perspective, there's that potential to capture a percentage of a $90 billion revenue-producing industry," he said.
Wilczek said that support has been strong from local government all the way up to state level and that there is an understanding as to how important this industry can be for Nevada.
"The industry was developed here," Wilczek said. "That subject matter expertise resides here in the state."MCX is now open to supporting both NFC and Bluetooth Low Energy for payments and is in conversation with credit card issuers about opening up its CurrentC mobile wallet to payment cards, CEO Dekkers Davidson and COO Scott Rankin have told reporters.
Member retailers who want to accept Apple Pay, meanwhile, won’t be fined but must leave MCX if they wish to accept the new payments service — although MCX member Meijer is adamant that it won’t be shutting down its NFC terminals and has yet to be barred from the consortium.
Information on the potential change of direction came during a conference call in which journalists were invited to put questions to Davidson. The call was then followed by individual interviews with Rankin. NFC World+ was not invited to take part in either and no recording is available, MCX’s press office says, adding that “no news was announced” during the call.
Various news articles produced by those who were invited on to the call, however, paint an interesting picture of how the team is reacting to the success of Apple Pay and the criticisms it has faced following the decision by Rite Aid and CVS to shut down Apple Pay.
“We’re agnostic about technology,” Davidson said during the call, Techcrunch reports. “We started with QR code-based technology that allows us to go to market broadly. If we need, we can pivot to NFC.”
CurrentC was built on QR because that was seen as the fastest way to get the app in consumers’ hands, Davidson added, the New York Times reports. “He noted that people in the industry had largely written off near field communication as a mobile payment option — until, that is, Apple incorporated it,” the article says.
“It’s ironic in a way that we’re talking about a really old technology being employed here,” Davidson said. “Way before Apple Pay, merchants hadn’t enabled it or planned on using it.”
“We started with a cloud-based QR code because it allows us to go to market right away on any phone,” he said, PC World adds. “If we need, we can pivot to NFC at any time. There are also opportunities to work with low-energy Bluetooth.”
That move to supporting both NFC and Bluetooth is already in progress, according to a BostInno interview with MCX technology provider Paydiant co-founder Chris Gardner.
“When CurrentC launches in 2015 it won’t be QR codes exclusively,” Gardner told the publication. “We are very strong advocates of using the right technology to solve the right problem,” he explained. “NFC can do point-of-sale payments well, he said, but it can’t do coupons (QR codes) and it can’t initiate a transaction from the parking lot (Bluetooth).”
“This isn’t just about payments,” Gardner added. “It’s about marketing and loyalty and being able to get offers. You have to get that mix right. It may or may not include credit cards.” Paydiant also declined an interview with NFC World+ at this time.
Payments cards
That MCX is even considering accepting payment cards in its mobile wallet is a major U-turn as it could defeat the original reason for creating the consortium — to cut transaction fees by cutting out the payments networks.
MCX would not be the first to be forced into a pivot of this kind, however. Softcard, originally formed as Isis in 2010 by US carriers AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, also originally planned to develop its own mobile payments service in competition with the existing payments networks and to recruit its own merchants for the new service.
It was forced to pivot in 2011, however, so that instead of competing with incumbent banks and payments networks, it partnered with them to enable US card issuers, brands and merchants to offer NFC-based services to the subscribers of Isis’ founder mobile network operators.
It is not clear exactly where MCX stands on accepting payment cards at this time, however. Davidson said during the press call that MCX was in talks with credit card companies that would allow consumers to load payment cards into CurrentC, PC World reports, while Re/Code says that MCX executives “did give themselves some wiggle room, saying CurrentC will eventually be open to all credit and debit cards, but they didn’t say when that will happen, or which specific cards will be supported.”
Exclusivity
Asked during the call about a New York Times article which reported that retailers would face penalties if they accepted Apple Pay, Davidson replied that “there are no fines to MCX merchants,” Business Insider says. “There’s nothing in the structure that would have us do that,” he said. “It’s simply not true. There are no fines.”
Could MCX and Apple Pay ever be used side by side? “In the future, that could be entirely possible,” Davidson said, according to Techcrunch. “There will need to be two to three strong players in the ecosystem. One won’t simply build the market.”
“Merchants make their own choices about their commitment to MCX,” Davidson added, PC World says. “They make their own choice about other forms of payment.”
In an interview following the press call, COO Scott Rankin explained that “despite what has been reported, MCX retailers were allowed to use Apple Pay without suffering any sort of penalty,” Business Insider reports. “However, MCX retailers will have to leave MCX if they want to accept Apple Pay.”
In an interview with Re/Code, when asked about Meijer — a grocery chain that is continuing to accept Apple Pay despite being a member of MCX — Rankin gave what the publication called “a non-answer”, saying that “I think if they want to go forward and continue to accept Apple Pay, down the road at some point if they want to be a customer of MCX and roll out CurrentC and offer it to customers that’s great.”
“In the future I think there will be multiple platforms available not just at MCX merchants but everywhere,” he added.
“Rankin admitted part of the reason why MCX is banning Apple Pay right now is to help get CurrentC off the ground, even though it won’t launch till next year,” Re/Code adds. MCX retailers “want breathing space to get this business off the ground and nurture it,” Rankin explained.
In the meantime, Meijer has no intention of ceasing support for Apple Pay, the merchant told local publication MLive. “We have had the technology in our stores to accept mobile wallets for several years now,” spokesperson Frank Guglielmi explained. “If a customer has Apple Pay capability, our hardware works with it… We don’t plan to remove or disable these systems.
What’s next for MCX?
Officially, MCX is all about cutting transaction fees. In private, however, NFC World+ understands that there is a bigger goal to generate new revenues for members beyond cutting costs.
That will be achieved, we understand, by providing customers with a credit account which functions like a single store card account that works across all MCX merchants so that customers have one credit balance available to them that they can use at any merchant that accepts CurrentC.
This would enable the lucrative interest income currently earned by credit card issuers on outstanding balances to be captured instead by MCX member merchants via a single giant store card scheme.
The catch, though, is that the concept is less likely to scale if MCX is not the only way to get credit for a mobile payment in a participating store — as soon as a customer’s preferred credit card is also available in the wallet, both MCX’s ability to cut costs and its opportunity to generate revenues are at risk.Bigstock photo
The pentatonic scale is an awesome scale. It’s a fairly easy scale and it can be used for almost every style of music: blues, country, pop, rock and more.
That’s why most guitar players use it most of the time. Great nothing wrong with that.
But wouldn’t it be nice if you could add a few notes to the minor pentatonic scale to give it more flavor and spice up your playing?
Well today we’re going to add the major third to the minor pentatonic scale. The major third will bring some happy, fresh and lively color to the table. Adding extra notes to the pentatonic scale is a common thing in soloing and will make your playing a lot more fun and interesting to listen to.
I’ll show you how to play the 5 pentatonic scales shapes / positions adding the major third and 5 licks to spice up your playing.
THEORY
The major third is a musical interval and is the distance between the root and the third note of the major scale. It also consists of four semitones (4 frets).
For example:
A major scale = A B C# D E F# G#
Major scale formula = 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
If “A” is your root note then “C#” is the major third.
Now let’s take the A minor pentatonic scale to add the major third.
Pentatonic scale formula = 1 b3 4 5 b7
A pentatonic scale = A C D E G
Adding the major third you get:
1 b3 3 4 5 b7 = A C C# D E F G
PRACTICE
Below you can see the 5 positions of the A minor pentatonic scale. In each position I’ve added the major third. The root note is colored red (in this case an “A” note). The major third is colored blue (in this case “C#” note).
For each of the five positions there’s an accompanying pentatonic lick with the added major third to see how it is applied to soloing.
Note:
– For beginners practicing position 1 and lick #1 is sufficient. Focus on quality over quantity.
– Intermediate and advanced players can practice all positions and licks.
Tips:
– Memorize where the root note and the major third is located for each scale shape / position.
– Practice the shapes / positions in different keys around the neck.
– Study the licks and then create your own licks adding the major third.
– Incorporate the licks into your playing.
– Take your time and while you’re practicing don’t forget to have fun.
Enjoy!
(if you don’t see the video lessons in the newsletter then check this post on the blog)
A Minor Pentatonic and added Major Third, Position 1
Lick #1 (position 1)
A Minor Pentatonic and added Major Third, Position 2
Lick #2 (position 2)
A Minor Pentatonic and added Major Third, Position 3
Lick #3 (position 3)
A Minor Pentatonic and added Major Third, Position 4
Lick #4 (position 4)
A Minor Pentatonic and added Major Third, Position 5
Lick #5 (position 5)
Lick #6 (position 2, 1 & 5)
This last example makes use of three different positions of the scale. Freedom is everything.
“The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.” ~ B.B. King
If you liked this post you should definitely check out 50 Cool Blues Licks Improvisation and get the most out your blues improvisation.we respect your privacy
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Tom O’Bryan, DC, CCN, DACBN Host, The Gluten Summit; Educator/Physician, theDr.com THE WORLD’S FIRST GLUTEN SUMMIT COULD CHANGE YOUR LIFE! Dr. Tom O’Bryan of theDr.com has gathered 29 of the world’s experts and opinion leaders on the topics of gluten-related disorders, nutrition and healthy living for a series of online interviews taking place for FREE from November 11-17, 2013. During the summit, you will: Learn about
Michael Marsh, MD, DSc, FRCP Renowned Celiac Disease Researcher Before Marsh III: Why the Early Stages of Celiac Disease Must be Taken Seriously
Loren Cordain, PhD "Godfather of the Paleo Diet" Wheat Germ Agglutinin: How a “Monster Molecule” Could Affect Every Cell in Your Body
Alessio Fasano, MD Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition at Mass General Hospital for Children Why Creating the Healthiest Intestinal Environment Possible Can Arrest Your Vulnerability to the #3 Cause of Getting Sick and Dying
Umberto Volta, MD Director of Coeliac Disease Simple Unit, St.Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University of Bologna, Italy The Reality of Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity and its Many Manifestations
JJ Virgin, CNS, CHFS Fitness and Nutrition Expert; Best-selling Author, "The Virgin Diet" Your body is not a bank account. It's a chemistry lab.
Aristo Vojdani, PhD, MSc, MT CEO, ImmunoScience Laboratories Properly Testing for Gluten Sensitivity and Why Current Methods Fail
Deanna Minich, PhD, FACN, CNS Founder, Food & Spirit; Nutrition/Health Expert Nutrition For the Soul: Moving Beyond a Gluten-Free Diet
Mark Hyman, MD Chairman, Institute for Functional Medicine A "Functional Approach" to Lifestyle Can Transform Your Body
Jeffrey Smith Founder, Institute of Responsible Technology OMG - GMO And Its Connection To Gluten
Prof. Yehuda Shoenfeld, MD, FRCP Head of Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Sheba Medical Center Are You Developing an Autoimmune Disease Years Before Symptoms?
David Perlmutter, MD, FACN, ABIHM President, Perlmutter Health Center Eliminating Gluten as the 1st Step in Preventing Brain Conditions
Natasha Campbell-McBride, MD, MMedSci Author; Creator, GAPS The Critical Nature of Gut Health and its Impact on Children's Brains
Daniel Amen, MD Double Board Certified Psychiatrist; Author, "The Amen Solution" How Gluten Can Affect the Brain, and How to Optimize Brain Function!
Prof. Marios Hadjivassiliou, MD Professor of Neurology, Educational Associate, Association for Historical Dialogue & Research Gluten-Related Disorders: Time to Move from Gut to Brain
Mark Houston, MD, MS, ABAARM, FACP, FAHA, FASH Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Vanderbilt University How Sensitivity to Gluten Can Impact Your Heart and Cardiovascular System
Rodney Ford, MD, MB, BS, FRACP Gluten Food Allergy Expert, Pediatric Gastroenterologist The Surprising Ways Gluten Sensitivity Can Affect a Child's Health
Andrew Keech, PhD, DSc Author of Peptide Immunotherapy - Colostrum a Physician's Reference Guide Proline-Rich Polypeptides/Colostrum
Erica Kasuli, MS, RD, CDN Director of Nutrition, Amen Clinics Designing a Brain-Optimizing Gluten-Free Diet the Whole Family Will Enjoy
Cynthia Kupper, RD Executive Director, Gluten Intolerance Group, N.A. (GIG) After the Diagnosis: Supporting YOU With Making Sense of Labels, Dining Out With Confidence and Transitioning Smoothly to a Gluten-Free Diet
Liz Lipski, PhD, CCN, CHN Academic Director of Nutrition, Maryland Univ. of Integrative Health How the Right Diet Can Address Symptoms Throughout the Body
Dave Asprey Entrepreneur and Writer of BulletProof Exec Blog Biohack Your Own Brain to Optimize Health and Performance
Nora Gedgaudas, CNS, CNT Nutritionist; Author, "Primal Body, Primal Mind" Gluten, Brain Development and what Really Helps Brain Growth
Peter Osborne, DC, CNCB Founder, GlutenFreeSociety.org How Cross-Reactivity, Molecular Mimicry and Mold Toxicity Can Seriously Impact Your Health
Jaqui Karr, CSN, CVD Certified Nutritionist & Healthy Lifestyle Expert 5 Secrets for a Happy, Healthy Lifestyle Without Gluten
Sayer Ji Founder of GreenMedInfo.com, Author of The Dark Side of Wheat The Critical Role of Wheat Lectin in Human Disease and the Role of Gluten in Cultural History and Consciousness.
Melinda Dennis, MS, RD, LDN Nutrition Coordinator, Celiac Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center The Secret to Safely Avoiding Gluten While Dining Out
Tom Malterre, MS, CN Co-Owner/Nutritionist, Whole Life Nutrition The Perfect Storm: Gluten Plus Gut Flora Imbalances Plus Environmental ToxinsDRIVERS who smoke in their cars in the company of children will face prosecution from New Year’s Day, independent.ie can reveal.
DRIVERS who smoke in their cars in the company of children will face prosecution from New Year’s Day, independent.ie can reveal.
Revealed: Drivers smoking in company of children face prosecution from New Years Day
Children’s Minister James Reilly and Health Minister Leo Varadkar will tomorrow announce the commencement of the new law from January 1, government sources have said.
The legislation which will make it illegal for people to smoke in vehicles with children present was brought by senators Mark Daly, Jillian van Turnhout and John Crown.
The bill was unanimously passed in the Dáil last Christmas - but gardaí sought time to ensure its proper application.
Both ministers will announce details of the new law at a press conference at Government Buildings on Thursday.
The move comes as the State continues to defend in the courts its decision to introduce plain cigarette packets. The packets will be on the shelves in 2017, unless the move is scuppered by a legal challenge.
Online EditorsCompare that to last night. Obama only mentioned “deficits” to crow that they were going down. He only mentioned “debt” while talking about student loans. And he didn’t mention spending cuts at all.
Even more striking was the Republican response. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, representing another newly empowered GOP congressional majority, did not mention debt or deficits once. And denied this tangible evidence of the unsustainability and depravity of big government, she made no real effort to challenge Obama’s speech on ideological grounds. Her sole swipe at excessive government—“we’ll propose ideas that aim to cut wasteful spending and balance the budget, with meaningful reforms, not higher taxes like the president has proposed”—lasted all of one sentence. Then she moved onto cyber-terrorism.
We’ve been here before. In the late 1990s, when economic growth and spending cuts erased the deficits of the early Clinton years, Republicans also found it harder to demonize government. As they approached the 2000 campaign, different GOP candidates found different substitutes for the anti-deficit fervor that had powered the Republican Revolution of 1994. Steve Forbes proposed big tax cuts on theory that if government had money to spare, it should send it back to the people. Gary Bauer and Alan Keyes focused on liberal moral degeneracy, using Bill Clinton as Exhibit A. John McCain argued for a heroic “national greatness” foreign policy. George W. Bush peddled a “compassionate conservatism” that used government to help the poor, but demanded more responsibility on their part. When Bush won the nomination, he incorporated elements of all of these themes into his campaign.
If you look closely at the current crop of Republican candidates, you can see the beginnings of a similar fracturing of the GOP message. Mike Huckabee looks determined to run on cultural decline. Jeb Bush and even Mitt Romney want to focus on using government to help the poor. Every potential candidate except Rand Paul will likely promise defense hikes and a more aggressive, militaristic foreign policy. And every potential GOP candidate, including Rand Paul, will likely unveil a big tax cut, probably unmatched by real reductions in spending.
When it comes to winning presidential elections, diminished ideological fervor can actually be an advantage. The government dependency argument that Ryan trotted out in 2011 worked out poorly for Mitt Romney in 2012. Joni Ernst, by contrast, devoted much of her State of the Union address to personal, non-ideological stories about her hardscrabble farm-girl upbringing, and came across as appealing and non-threatening.
The lesson of last night’s State of the Union is that in both parties, the terms of the domestic policy debate have shifted left. As we approach 2016, Republicans will have to contend with a country that knows it really isn’t Greece.
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to [email protected] playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Video posted online appears to show the moment the train derailed, from the trackside
At least 78 people have been killed in the passenger train derailment in north-western Spain on Wednesday.
More than 140 were hurt, 36 seriously, after all eight carriages of the Madrid to Ferrol train came off the tracks near Santiago de Compostela.
Media reports say the train may have been travelling at more than twice the speed limit around a curve.
Officials say one of the train's drivers has been put under formal investigation.
It is one of Spain's worst ever train crashes. PM Mariano Rajoy has declared three days of national mourning.
"Today is a very difficult day. Today we have lived through a terrible, dramatic accident, which I fear will stay with us for a long time.
"For someone from Santiago, like myself, believe me, this is the sad
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viewed many proponents of the Belarusian language as political opponents, authorities continued to harass and intimidate academic and cultural groups that sought to promote Belarusian and routinely rejected proposals to widen use of the language," the report said.[45]
2010s [ edit ]
In the 2010s the situation of Belarusian has started to change slightly due to the efforts of language-advocacy institutions, of individual representatives of such educational, cultural, scientific and linguistic organizations as the Frantsishak Skaryna Belarusian Language Society, the Belarus Academy of Sciences, the Belarusian Writers' Union, and in response to the endeavours of pro-Belarusian public figures from the media and communication field, musicians, philosophers, entrepreneurs and benefactors.[39] And despite the language losing its exclusive position in the wake of the 1995 Belarusian referendum, new signs of the spread of Belarusian have appeared, trickling down into Belarusian society — with advertising campaigns supporting the cause (outdoor billboards promoting[39] and acquainting people with the Belarusian language, branding campaigns for the leading telecommunication providers like Velcom, etc.), the simplified version of the Belarusian Latin alphabet on the metro map being introduced into the messages of the transport network, dedicated advertising festivals like AD!NAK upholding marketing communication in Belarusian, and informal language-courses (such as Mova Nanova, Mova ci kava, Movavedy) having sprung up in Minsk and around Belarus and spurring further interest of people, especially of young people, in developing good Belarusian communication skills in everyday life.
Taraškievica or Klasyčny pravapis (Classical orthography) [ edit ]
There exists an alternative literary norm of the Belarusian language, named Taraškievica (Tarashkevica). The promoters and users of it prevalently refer to it as Klasyčny pravapis (Classic orthography).
Names [ edit ]
There are a number of names under which the Belarusian language has been known, both contemporary and historical. Some of the most dissimilar are from the Old Belarusian period.
Official, romanised [ edit ]
Belarusian (also spelled Belarusan, Belarussian, Byelarussian ) – derived from the name of the country "Belarus", officially approved for use abroad by the Belarusian authorities [ which? ] (ca. 1992) and promoted since then.
(also spelled,, ) – derived from the name of the country "Belarus", officially approved for use abroad by the Belarusian authorities (ca. 1992) and promoted since then. Byelorussian (also spelled Belorussian, Bielorussian ) – derived from the Russian name of the country "Byelorussia" (Russian: Белоруссия ), used officially (in the Russian language) in the times of the USSR and, later, in Russia [ citation needed ].
(also spelled, ) – derived from the Russian name of the country "Byelorussia" (Russian: ), used officially (in the Russian language) in the times of the USSR and, later, in Russia. White Ruthenian (and its equivalents in other languages) – literally, a word-by-word translation of the parts of the composite word Belarusian.
Alternative [ edit ]
Great Lithuanian ( вялікалітоўская (мова) ) – proposed and used by Yan Stankyevich since the 1960s, intended to part with the "diminishing tradition of having the name related to the Muscovite tradition of calling the Belarusian lands" and to pertain to the "great tradition of Belarusian statehood".
( ) – proposed and used by Yan Stankyevich since the 1960s, intended to part with the "diminishing tradition of having the name related to the Muscovite tradition of calling the Belarusian lands" and to pertain to the "great tradition of Belarusian statehood". Kryvian or Krivian ( крывіцкая/крывічанская/крыўская (мова), Polish: język krewicki) – derived from the name of the Slavonic tribe Krivichi, one of the main tribes in the foundations of the forming of the Belarusian nation. Created and used in the 19th century by Belarusian Polish-speaking writers Jaroszewicz, Narbut, Rogalski, Jan Czeczot. Strongly promoted by Vaclau Lastouski.
Vernacular [ edit ]
Simple ( простая (мова) ) or local ( тутэйшая (мова) ) – used mainly in times preceding the common recognition of the existence of the Belarusian language, and nation in general. Supposedly, the term can still be encountered up to the end of the 1930s, e.g., in Western Belarus.
( ) or ( ) – used mainly in times preceding the common recognition of the existence of the Belarusian language, and nation in general. Supposedly, the term can still be encountered up to the end of the 1930s, e.g., in Western Belarus. Simple Black Ruthenian (Russian: простой чернорусский ) – used in the beginning of the 19th century by the Russian researcher Baranovski and attributed to contemporary vernacular Belarusian.[46]
Computer representation [ edit ]
Belarusian is represented by the ISO 639 code be or bel, or more specifically by IETF language tags be-1959acad (so-called "Academic" ["governmental"] variant of Belarusian as codified in 1959) or be-tarask (Belarusian in Taraskievica orthography).[47]
See also [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]
References [ edit ]High Calorie Foods May Raise Cancer Risk in Women, Even Without Weight Gain
Plant-based diet could help avoid malignancies, study suggests
Women who eat a lot of high-calorie foods may face a slightly higher risk of obesity-related cancers — even if they remain thin, a new study suggests.
The study, of more than 92,000 U.S. women, found those who favored high-calorie, low-nutrient foods had a 10 percent higher risk of cancers linked to obesity. These include processed foods like chips, fast foods and sweets.
The list of malignancies included breast, colon, ovarian, kidney and endometrial cancers. Obesity is considered one of many risk factors for those diseases.
There was a catch, though, the study found. A penchant for high-calorie food was tied to cancer risk only among women who were of normal weight.
Researchers called the findings “novel” and somewhat unexpected. Going into the study, they’d hypothesized that any link between calorie-dense diets and cancer would be strongest among obese women.
But the results suggest that staying trim, alone, is not enough to curb the risk of obesity-related cancers, said lead researcher Cynthia Thomson.
Review: Make your body a fat burning machine by strategically restricting calories at times.
“I think when we say that certain cancers are associated with obesity, people who are normal-weight think, ‘So I’m OK,’ ” said Thomson, a professor at the University of Arizona’s Zuckerman College of Public Health.
But, she added, being thin doesn’t mean you are “metabolically healthy” — which means having normal blood sugar, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, for instance.
That “metabolic dysregulation” might partly explain the higher cancer risk seen in this study, Thomson and her colleagues speculated.
“That may be true,” agreed Marji McCullough, strategic director of nutritional epidemiology for the American Cancer Society.
McCullough, who was not involved in the study, also pointed to another possibility. People who eat lots of calorie-laden foods tend to eat few “plant-based foods,” including fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains.
That means they’ll be low on the fiber, vitamins and other nutrients that may help curb the risk of certain cancers, McCullough said.
What’s wrong with calorie-dense foods? By definition, they pack a lot of calories relative to their weight.
Also Read: The 5 Best Healthy Foods to Lose Weight by Maintaining Overall Health
That’s not necessarily bad, McCullough noted. “Some are healthful,” she said, “like olive oil and nuts.”
But many calorie-dense foods are relatively low in nutrients. In general, processed foods (chips, crackers and prepared dressings), fast foods (cheeseburgers and pizza), and candy bars fall into that category.
McCullough pointed to the example of pretzels. A person can end up eating a huge bowl of them before feeling satisfied — downing a lot of calories with little nutritional value.
The new findings are based on more than 92,000 women who were ages 50 to 79 at the outset of the trial.
When they entered the study, the women gave detailed information on their eating habits. From that, Thomson’s team calculated the calorie-density of each woman’s typical diet.
Over 15 years, just under 9,600 women developed a cancer that has been tied to obesity — most often breast cancer, followed by colon cancer.
While the study only found an association, those odds of developing cancer were slightly higher in general among women who favored calorie-laden foods.
When the researchers dug deeper, though, the link was only apparent among women who were normal weight.
Those who ate the most calorie-dense foods (enough to land them in the top 40 percent) were 12 to 18 percent more likely to develop an obesity-related cancer, versus women who ate relatively few of those foods.
Review: Make your body a fat burning machine by strategically restricting calories at times.
That was with other factors taken into account — including age, overall health, and smoking, drinking and exercise habits.
But if diet quality matters, why was there no link among heavier women?
One possibility, McCullough said, is that the effects of their excess weight “overwhelmed” any impact of diet itself.
Thomson pointed to another possibility: Normal-weight women who ate a lot of calorie-dense foods may have had a more dramatic weight gain as they grew older. The researchers had some information on weight gain, but not for the entire study period, she noted.
Whatever the reasons, the bottom line is fairly simple, according to McCullough. “Eat more plant-based foods,” she said.
That’s what the American Cancer Society and other groups already recommend for the sake of overall good health, McCullough noted.
“This study supports what we’ve been saying,” McCullough said. “There are plenty of reasons to eat a plant-based diet, beyond just weight control.”
Source: https://medlineplus.gov/news/fullstory_167872.htmlIn a stunning turn of events, Democratic challenger Laura Gillen has declared victory over incumbent Republican Anthony Santino to take the supervisor seat for the Town of Hempstead.
As of midnight, with all of the precincts reporting in, Gillen led Santino 80,214 votes to 77,946 in unofficial results. If the results stand, it would be the first time in history that a Democrat has led the Town of Hempstead.
The town clerk seat also seemed to flip, with Republican incumbent Nasrin Ahmad trailing Democratic challenger Sylvia Cabana 76,643 to 74,331.
Santino took over the position of town supervisor just two years ago, running to replace Kate Murray, who decided to run for Nassau County DA at the time. Before that, Santino spent decades on the Town Board.
Laura Curran and Laura Gillen declare victory with Judi Bosworth. "Looks like Lady's night in Nassau County." pic.twitter.com/Dn2xiALITO
— John Asbury (@johnasbury) November 8, 2017
With her win tonight on Long Island, Laura Gillen becomes the Town of Hempstead's first Democratic Town Supervisor since the position was created in 1862. EIGHTEEN SIXTY-TWO.
— Sean T. Collins (@theseantcollins) November 8, 2017
Here are the final unofficial results for all of the Town of Hempstead races:
Supervisor
Anthony Santino (Incumbent) — 77,946
Laura Gillen — 80,214
Town Clerk
Nasrin Ahmad (Incumbent) — 74,953
Sylvia Cabana — 77,373
1st District
Dorothy Goosby (Incumbent) — 14,224
Alfred J. Cittadino — 1,380
4th District
Anthony D'Esposito (Incumbent) — 16,838
Douglas Mayer — 12,371
6th District
Dennis Dunne, Sr. (Incumbent) — 18,040
Sue Moller — 13,260
Photo: Town of Hempstead30-year-old Candace Towns of Macon, Georgia is the 23rd transgender person lost to anti-trans violence in 2017.
From Monica Roberts at Transgriot:
Towns was staying at the Rodeway Inn on Eisenhower Parkway, was last seen alive Saturday, and was reported missing on Sunday. At 4 PM EDT Tuesday an anonymous 911 call was received reporting a person was down at the end of a driveway and was possibly dead. That person was our trans sister, and police arrived she was found shot to death on top of a hill on Rosecrest Avenue between Bright Street and Edgewood Ave.
Monica reports that Candace had a previous encounter with anti-trans violence in July 2009 when she was shot in the ankle.
Candace was a native of Macon. Her surviving loved ones include at least one brother and her sister, Jasmin who posted this in honor of Candace. Her family had been desperately searching for her over the weekend. They came for her, but an unknown shooter found her first.
They didn’t have to take you from me like that bestfriend 😔…I knew we would have had to depart one day but today I wasn’t ready for you to go..when I seen you today I only just wanted to hold you so that you wouldn’t be alone…but I couldn’t…. 😢 😢…I tried my best to find you …I did …..but I just couldn’t… I couldn’t…
Initial reports misgendered Candace, leaving it to her friends and family to correct the media reporting while processing this terrible news. There are no suspects at this time. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Macon Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-877-68CRIME (1-877-682-7463)
Rest in power, Candace. You deserved a long life filled with joy and happiness. You deserve to be respected and honored in death.
The list of trans people killed in 2017 thus far. Note that people have different numbers based on different factors. The most important thing that unites us all is that we want the violence to stop. We need to keep asking ‘Where is the outrage?’
Resources in Western Pennsylvania that can use your donation to support trans women of color and/or offer supports & services to those who need them. This list is not comprehensive. If you are in another region, use Google to find local trans resources. If you are struggling or need support, please reach out.
I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for each person who reads this post to DO something. Don’t sigh in sympathy and click away. At the very least, like these pages and incorporate more comprehensive trans centered content into your life. I highly recommend you read Transgriot blog regularly. If you can donate a few dollars, do that. If you can attend an event, do that. If you can share the information with your networks, do that. Do all of that. But don’t just click away.page 1
Despite the fact that racism is a major social question in the U.S., there has not been a Marxist critique of racism. To be sure, many writers of Marxist orientation have made studies of the empirical and operational aspects of racism, and their contributions will long be appreciated. But, a thorough-going Marxist critique of racism must begin with an analysis of the dialectic of racial categories (e.g., White, Black or Negro), and then study the real relations which have produced these categories. This kind of logical-historical analysis, modeled after Marx's Capital, has been altogether absent. Instead, most writers have accepted racial categories as social immutables, either given by natural biology or derived by continental descent. In particular, the peculiarly chauvinist logic of assigning the offspring of Black-White "mixtures" to the side of Black has never been questioned by Marxists. (It is estimated that about 70% of Blacks in the U.S. are part-European. ) Thus, we find ourselves in the incongruous position of criticizing race relations while simultaneously embracing racial categories. This reminds us of an analogous dilemma of petty-bourgeois socialism which criticizes the profit-making activity of capitalists yet worships the category of profit (and interest) as an eternal economic entity. [1]
[1] In fact, much of Marx's criticism of Proudhon had to do with such incongruencies. See, for example, Karl Marx, The Poverty of Philosophy.
page 2
The failure to criticize the vulgar conception of racism led the Old Left to handle the race question in a schizophrenic fashion. On the one hand, racism was understood only within the limited scope of individual subjective attitudes of prejudice and bigotry, leaving unanswered the socio-economic reason for these attitudes ever becoming so widespread and sustained to begin with. On the other hand, Black people were depicted as "objectively" constituting a nation, a nationality, or a national minority by means of an argument which also made a shambles of the Marxist position on the national question. This created tremendous confusion in the communist movement in the U.S. -- the race question and the national question have been weaved in and out of each other, subject to the eclectic whim of whoever was "interpreting" the line at the moment. After all, to define a Black Nation is to make use of the racial category Black and to characterize racism as the persecution of a national minority is to negate racial oppression altogether. Matters are not helped by asserting that the oppression of Black people is a "combination" of racial and national oppressions, for this is merely an admission of analytic failure disguised as a melange of analytic profundity.
To be fair, the Left has not been alone in transposing the race question into the national question. In the absence of a logical and historical analysis of racism, racial minorities have been explained often through metaphors like caste, class, or nation. Most writers have been alert to the metaphoric mode of thought and refrained from stretching it to unwarranted limits. The nation metaphor, however, has been an exception. Be that as it may, the Old Left's effort differs from the usual school of this current in that it has seriously attempted to demonstrate a purportedly objective historical reality for the transposition of the race question into a national question. The famous thesis about the Black Belt being the national territory of the Black Nation (or "Negro Nation") and Blacks elsewhere being a national minority (descended, presumably, from this Black Nation) constitutes the "communist contribution" to this muddled debate. After a forty year career, the Black Nation Thesis was dying a quiet death until it was revived by certain New Left groups.
It may seem, therefore, that a critique of the Black Nation Thesis at this time is out of date by some forty years, or that it is overly solicitous of certain sectarian rumblings. Or,
page 3
perhaps such a critique might be dismissed as a minor logical exercise on some obscure episode of illogicality. Unfortunately, the issue at stake here is far too great for such a comfortable view. The question of a Black Nation has become much more than the foible of a runaway metaphor; it is actually indicative of certain ideological currents in the Left whose outcome can only be a reproduction of the racist mode of thought in its ranks.
Perhaps the main ideological harm of the Black Nation Thesis is that it reproduces the categorical premise of racism in the name of Marxism-Leninism. What kind of a nation would a Black Nation be which precludes the linguistic and cultural naturalization of Whites into it or Blacks out of it? What kind of a national minority is it that negates two, three, or more generations of linguistic, cultural, and economic life outside of the origin nation? Furthermore, what is the logic behind the automatic assignment of immigrants from, say, Africa or the West Indies as descendents of this strange nation which they have never even heard of? Clearly, the determination of individuals as to their "national" membership must continue to rely upon racial logic, overriding such real national characteristics as language, culture, residency, etc. The Black Nation Thesis must be seen, therefore, as another attempt to give a non-racial name to a racial entity.
The political consequences of this are no less pernicious. To put it simply, the Thesis could lead to the assumption that the degraded condition of Blacks inside the U.S. is due mainly to the "undeveloped" or "underdeveloped" condition of the Black Nation and the transferred onus falling upon the descendents of this nation. Behind this apparently sympathetic and concerned tone of pronouncement lurks the rank mythology of racist historians. Is this not a replay of the same old racist tune which says, in effect, that the U.S. as a nation is essentially the "work" of Whites to which Blacks, as "outsiders," "contribute" occasionally, episodically, and inessentially? "Credit to one's race" now has its opposite, "debit to one's nation" -- presumably, if one had put more into the developing of one's own nation rather than into contributing to another nation, one would be less degraded. Some such argument is marshalled to drive home the point that the struggle against racism is a special task reserved to its victims while "progressive-minded" non-victims can only
page 4
"support." In this way, the Black-White dialectic of racism is reduced to the need for Blacks to "catch-up" with Whites, and the struggle against racism is conceived as a latter-day Roman spectacle in which Blacks would be the gladiators and Whites would be the spectators.
It is a measure of the infiltrated racism in the Left that it translates the special stake Blacks have in dismantling racism into a special task reserved for Blacks. One of the ideological axioms of private property is that the "misfortune" of the dispossessed is their problem and not the problem of private property laws. That this mentality has had the standing of a general line in the Left indicates the need for a serious self-criticism. If we fail in this, the Black Nation Thesis will also become a theoretical justification for the present unsavory state of the racially divided organizational workings of the Left -- it will become a means of making "multi-national" virtue out of racial vice.
In this paper, therefore, we shall be interested as much in the habit of thought which has produced the Black Nation Thesis as in the specific logical errors of the Thesis. The Black Nation Thesis cannot be put to rest in its deserved crypt without all of us on the Left becoming alert to illogical thoughts, reproduced illusions, and ideological restorations. With this in mind, let us proceed in medias res.Fresh from the Tenth Amendment Center:
Looking from the inside out. Recognized national expert on the framing and adoption of the United States Constitution reveals, in simple language, just what the Constitution was originally supposed to mean.
Professor Robert G. Natelson is a recognized national expert on the framing and adoption of the United States Constitution, and on several occasions he has been the first to uncover key background facts about the Constitution’s meaning.
“Some people - including the former law instructor who now serves as President of the United States - believe that it is impossible to reconstruct the Constitution’s original meaning. As this book demonstrates, that view is substantially incorrect.” - Robert G. Natelson on The Original Constitution.
If, like any legal document, the words of the Constitution mean today just what they meant the moment it was signed and ratified, it’s essential to understand just what those words meant at the time of the founding. The Original Constitution surveys in fairly easy language the legal meaning of the entire Constitution as of late 1791, just after adoption of the Bill of Rights.
The Constitution of the United States created a representative republic marked by federalism and the separation of powers. Yet numerous federal politicians and judges - led by the Supreme Court - have used the Constitution as a blank check to substitute their own views on hot-button issues across the political spectrum for perfectly constitutional laws enacted by We the People through our elected representatives.
The book also shows that there is very little relationship between the Constitution as ratified by the thirteen original states more than two centuries ago and the “constitutional law” imposed upon us since then. Instead of the federal system that the Constitution created, politicians and judges have given us a highly centralized system where decisions are made in D.C. on issues that the founders promised would be left to the States.
“This was a hard book to write,” said Natelson. ”I had to digest a vast range of Founding-Era materials and modern commentaries. Also, some parts of the Constitution had never been analyzed properly or completely, so I was required to do a lot of new research - including neglected areas of eighteenth-century law and legal drafting. Then I had to translate a mass of legal technicalities into reasonably simple modern English.”
THE ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION offers invaluable research and insight, and provides you with the expertise you need to examine and understand modern day events from a Constitutional perspective. It is currently available on Amazon Kindle and as an eBook at Lulu.com. A paperback version is scheduled to be released on July 20, 2010. For more information, visit http://books.tenthamendmentcenter.com.You should always look behind you, because you never know who’s following you. Like, it may be some really cool documentary that takes three meat and cheese loving people and turns them vegan for six weeks.
Vegucated recently followed us on Twitter, (which you may do here), so we decided to check out their film, which is set to release in 2011.
The candidates, a college student living a home, a bachelor who’s got take-out on speed dial and a single mother all go through medical testing to see where they stand healthwise, take trips to the grocery store to examine that island only vegs can find in the dark, watch films on what happens in factory farms and even visit slaughter sites as part of their journey.
One person claims she will never be able to eat meat again after watching an animal slaughter clip. Does she follow through? Watch the Vegucated trailer, follow these guys on Twitter and check out the film’s website.
Possibly Related Posts:By Ellen Brown, Web of DebtThis piece first appeared at Web of Debt.
The dangerous underfunding of US infrastructure was underscored by a fatal train derailment on May 12th. The tragedy did not deter the House Appropriations Committee from voting to slash Amtrak funding the very next day. There are ways Congress could fund its massive infrastructure bill without raising taxes. But the conservative-controlled Congress seems to have other plans for the nation’s profitable public assets.
The May 12th train derailment near Philadelphia, which killed eight people and hospitalized 200, was the deadliest Amtrak accident in recent history. The train barreled around a dangerous bend at 106 mph, more than double the 50 mph speed limit for the curve.
Whether this was due to operator error or mechanical issues is not yet known. But experts say the derailment might have been averted by a safety system called positive train control, which can automatically reduce the speed of a train that is going too fast. The system must be installed on both the train and the route. The Amtrak train had it, but on that stretch of track in that direction it was not yet operational.
Why not? The stretch was known to be dangerous. Nearly 80 passengers died near the spot in an earlier derailment in 1943. Absence of positive train control was also cited as a factor in the fatal 2013 crash of a Metro-North train in the Bronx.
The chief problem, as with infrastructure generally, is a woeful lack of funds. Railroads are under a congressional mandate to install the positive train control system on passenger routes and major freight lines by the end of the year, but they are seeking an extension because of the cost and complexity of the work.
In an article titled “Why You Can’t Talk About the Amtrak Derailment Without Talking About Our Infrastructure Crisis,” Aviva Shen observes that the Northeast Corridor is the busiest and most profitable rail route in the US. The line, which runs from Boston through New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore to Washington D.C., is dealing with more riders now than ever. But Amtrak has been starved of the funds required to keep up with this increased demand. It faces a backlog of repairs on bridges and tunnels that date back to the beginning of the 20th century, obsolete rail interlockings, and trains that rely on 1930s-era components. Repairs for the Northeast Corridor are expected to require $4.3 billion in fiscal years 2015-2019, while federal funding is expected to dwindle to $872 million.
But neither these exigencies nor the May 12th crash was enough to stop the Republican-led House Appropriations Committee from voting on May 13th, only one day after the tragic derailment, to reduce grants to Amtrak by $252 million, or about 15% from last year’s level. The measure still needs to clear the full House and Senate before going into effect in October.
Putting the Squeeze on Amtrak
While transportation infrastructure is short of funds across the board, Amtrak has been pinched more than most. Congress holds the agency to a unique standard by demanding that it turn a profit per passenger. This is not true for highways and airports, which receive about 45 times the subsidies that Amtrak does.
Why the difference in treatment? Perhaps because of Amtrak’s large and growing profit potential. Trains charge by the rider; roads do not. Republicans have long called for the privatization of the Northeast Corridor – this despite the abject failure of the privatization of the British Rail System.
In an editorial titled “How Two Billionaires Are Destroying High Speed Rail in America,” Mike Vainisi observes that the push against public mass transit is being led by a think tank called the Reason Foundation, which is funded by the notorious Koch brothers.The Koch brothers’ $44 billion fortune comes largely from Koch Industries, an oil and gas conglomerate.That means they have a vested interest in those gas-guzzling single-rider vehicles that are mass transit’s competitors, the cars and trucks that use the roads that are heavily subsidized by the federal government.
Congress’s unique treatment of Amtrak parallels that of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), for which privatization has also long been sought. The USPS was successfully self-funded throughout its long history, until it was pushed into insolvency by an onerous 2006 congressional mandate that it prefund healthcare for its workers 75 years into the future. No other entity, public or private, has the burden of funding generations of employees not yet born. The mandate appears so unreasonable as to raise suspicions that the nation’s largest publicly-owned industry has been intentionally targeted for takedown, either because private competitors want the business or because private developers want the valuable postal properties.
Privatization would similarly gut Amtrak’s primary source of revenue and drive it into insolvency. The privatization proposal has never gained much traction outside conservative circles, but lawmakers have proposed massive cuts to Amtrak’s budget virtually every chance they get.
Driven by Debt into the Arms of Investors
The push for cuts is part of the austerity meme of a Congress bent on “balancing the budget” at all costs. Conservatives are determined not to breach the artificially-imposed debt ceiling, which was hit once again in March. Congress again fixed the books by borrowing from federal pension funds and other creative accounting techniques. But the lid has largely been shut on new spending, even for such essential services as infrastructure.
The major federal transportation fund will run out of money by the end of May, and a $478 billion transportation funding bill is facing an uphill battle. Even if it passes, it will be grossly inadequate to service the massive infrastructure needs of the country. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, restoring US infrastructure will require an investment of $3.6 trillion by 2020. If the current level of spending continues, funds will fall short of that by $1.6 trillion.
If Congress won’t provide the money, who will? Infrastructure is the latest investment boom for private funds in search of safe, lucrative returns. Investors are particularly interested in the “plum” projects with significant profit potential. That would include Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor and the US Postal Service.
Infrastructure projects can yield decades of steady, cash-flow-heavy returns of up to 10 to 14 percent –“a return like a stock’s with security like a bond’s” – and they are effectively guaranteed by the government. They are good for investors but not so good for governments. A rule of thumb is that borrowing to fund infrastructure doubles the cost.
Besides loans, infrastructure opportunities attractive to investors include outright privatization – the sale of public assets at fire sale prices to meet government budget constraints – and Public Private Partnerships, which privatize gains while socializing losses, imposing long-term costs and risks on the public.
If the Trans-Pacific Partnership passes, investors will be guaranteed their “expected profits” no matter what. The interests of capital will, finally and unconditionally, have trumped those of government and the people.
Taking a Lesson from the Chinese
While Congress starves US infrastructure of funds, the ultra-modern, efficient and comfortable rail systems of Europe, China and Japan are leaving the US in the dust. The Chinese have built nearly 10,000 miles of high-speed rail in the last decade, while US legislators are still just arguing about it.
Where did the Chinese find the money? About 40% comes from bonds issued by the Ministry of Railway, 10-20% comes from provincial and local governments, and the remaining 40-50% is provided by the national government through lending by state-owned banks and financial institutions. Like private banks, state-owned banks simply create money as credit on their books. The difference is that they return their profits to the government, and the loans can be rolled over indefinitely. In effect, the Chinese government just decides to do the work, issues Chinese currency to finance it, and pays Chinese workers to get it done.
The US could fund its infrastructure in the same way. As financial author Richard Duncan observes, under current market conditions, direct money issuance can be done without causing price inflation. Prices go up when demand (money) exceeds supply (goods and services); and with mechanization and the availability of cheap labor in vast global markets today, supply can keep up with demand for decades to come. Duncan writes:
Quantitative Easing has only been possible because it has occurred at a time when Globalization is driving down the price of labor and industrial goods. The combination of fiat money and Globalization creates a unique moment in history where the governments of the developed economies can print money on an aggressive scale without causing inflation. They should take advantage of this once-in-history opportunity to borrow more in order to invest in new industries and technologies, to restructure their economies and to retrain and educate their workforce at the post-graduate level.
Rather than issuing money to bail out the largest multinational banks, the Federal Reserve could do a round of quantitative easing directed at developing US infrastructure, creating US jobs using US labor and materials. But Congress seems bent instead on creating an artificial debt crisis to justify the privatization of the nation’s choicest public assets, opening them to exploitation by wealthy investors.
______
Ellen Brown is an attorney, founder of the Public Banking Institute, and author of twelve books including the best-selling Web of Debt. Her latest book, The Public Bank Solution, explores successful public banking models historically and globally. Her 300+ blog articles are at EllenBrown.com.You’re More Creative When You Walk
Source: © Marek Uliasz | Dreamstime.com
It’s true. According to Stanford University researchers, a new study indicates that walking increases creative ideation by 60%. That boring meeting may be much more fruitful if you hold it on your feet, on the move.
The Stanford report begins:
People have noted that walking seems to have a special relation to. The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1889) wrote, “All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking” (Aphorism 34). The current research puts such observations on solid footing. Four studies demonstrate that walking increases creative ideation. The effect is not simply due to the increased perceptual stimulation of moving through an, but rather it is due to walking. Whether one is outdoors or on a treadmill, walking improves the generation of novel yet appropriate ideas, and the effect even extends to when people sit down to do their creative work shortly after.
Immediately, I wondered about the connection between mind and body. Not only is there a connection between mind and body, but this is an important and easy change we can make in our lives, if we’re looking to be more creative. Researchers stated:
Walking is an easy-to-implement strategy to increase appropriate novel idea generation. When there is a premium on generating new ideas in the workday, it should be beneficial to incorporate walks. In addition to providing performance benefits, it would address concerns regarding the physiological effects of inactivity (Hamilton, Healy, Dunstan, Zderic, & Owen, 2008;. Hamilton, Hamilton, & Zderic, 2007). While schools are back on physical in favor of seated academics, the neglect of the body in favor of the mind ignores their tight interdependence….
These experiments focused on “divergent” thinking or the generation of new ideas, not on focused thinking like you need during a test.
Think of the applications! This is great news for small business owners who need new, cost-effective and product ideas. For addicts in early recovery, this research can help build new feelings of as the addict reintegrates into society and family post-treatment and is able to generate new ideas that promote his/her work as well as a healthier lifestyle.
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/april/walking-vs-sitting-042414.html
http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/xlm-a0036577.pdfAfter a day of debate and disagreement, President Barack Obama concluded Thursday’s unprecedented live talkfest on health care with the bleak assessment that accord between Democrats and Republicans may not be possible. He rejected Republican preferences for seeking a step-by-step solution or simply starting over.
Obama strongly suggested that Democrats will try to pass a sweeping overhaul without GOP support, by using controversial Senate budget rules that would disallow filibusters. And then, he said, this fall’s elections would write the verdict on who was right.
“We
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IPv6 Fragment Extension header of the second fragment “points to” the layer-4 protocol, which is TCP in our example, the header value of which is 6. As described above, according to the RFC 2460 such a case should not occur but is not considered as an error if it does 🙂
Well, by testing such packets at the RISC lab together with the ERNW guys, we found out that:
1. Most of the popular Operating Systems (Windows, Linux, OpenBSD) accept such fragmented datagrams, as they actually should, according to RFC 2460.
2. Tipping Point IDPS (TOS Tipping Point, Package 3.6.1.4036 and vaccine 3.2.0.8530 digital) misinterprets such fragments and lets them pass through even if you have explicitly defined not to do so (again, more details on the tests that we run, the used configuration, etc. can be found here).
3. The above combination results in a layer-3 evasion of the Tipping Point IDPS device, which means that you can actually launch any kind of attack (from port scanning to SQLi) while remaining undetected.
Here, we should note that:
1. Tipping Point IDPS is not the only IDPS device that it has been found out to be vulnerable to the aforementioned attack, or a variation of it.
2. The specific vendor reacted rapidly and has already patched the described vulnerability (please, check their web site for available patches).
Is this the end? Well, I am afraid not 😉 IPv6 Extension Headers are a mess, indeed. More will follow, so, stay tuned!Slut: a woman who has many sexual encounters.
Slut: a word that has grown exponentially in use over the last few decades.
Slut: a word we toss around to condemn females who dare have power over their own bodily choices and experiences. A word we use when a woman’s right to her own body scares us. When it makes us uncomfortable. When it doesn’t work for us — when we feel our ways have been violated despite her choices having nothing to do with us.
Last week, debut YA author Alexandra Duncan talked about stumbling across a shelf on Goodreads where her book Salvage was placed. This reader placed it under the label “slut,” along with a handful of other YA titles. Duncan goes on to unpack why finding her book on that shelf was hurtful, and it’s not because of what it says about her character. It’s what it says about her and other women who dare make choices about their own sexuality.
Rather than condemn this particular reviewer — which Duncan does a good job of not doing — she instead talks about how this sort of label is pervasive among women, used as a means of wielding control of other women. She writes:
And the worst part is, women buy into this. We do it to each other. We’ve all been dismissed for wearing the wrong thing or dating the wrong person or putting on too much makeup or simply making mistakes in our lives. Every woman has been slutshelved at some point. We should understand how hurtful these things are, yet we call each other nasty things like slut and whore. We judge each other harshly for what we wear and whether or not we conform to another person’s idea of what a woman really should be.
Author Carrie Mesrobian wrote a series of tweets in response to Duncan’s original post, spun in light of how the main character in her book, Sex & Violence, doesn’t receive the same sort of shaming from readers, despite the fact he’s a irrepressibly horny teen boy:
Interesting re: #SlutShelf – my main character in Sex & Violence has lots of sex. LOTS. But he's not shelved as'slut' on GoodReads #Hmm — Carrie Mesrobian (@CarrieMesrobian) April 24, 2014
Evan can profile girls who think would make easy sex partners but he's not a slut #Hmm #SlutShelf — Carrie Mesrobian (@CarrieMesrobian) April 24, 2014
For almost all of SEX & VIOLENCE, Evan basically thinks w/ his dick. But somehow he's not a slut? #Hmm #SlutShelf #DoubleStandardsAnyone — Carrie Mesrobian (@CarrieMesrobian) April 24, 2014
I love Evan. He's my guy. But it grosses me out, the privilege @GoodReads reviewers afford him & won't afford girl characters. #SlutShelf — Carrie Mesrobian (@CarrieMesrobian) April 24, 2014
Evan isn’t condemned by readers for his sexual choices. He’s a player, and he’s unabashed about the way he seeks out girls and then sleeps with them. Mesrobian does not shy away from depicting Evan as a player. It’s part and parcel of who he is.
Ava, though, who had sex one time in Duncan’s book, is a slut.
Callie, the main character in Trish Doller’s Where the Stars Still Shine, another title on this Goodreads slut shelf, has just come out of a sexually abusive household, and when she finds a guy — just one — whom she finds herself sexually attracted to, she pursues and engages in those desires. It’s the first time she’s felt like her body belongs to her and not the hands of any number of older men abusing her, and she is ready to allow herself control of her own sexuality.
What’s problematic here isn’t this shelf in particular, nor is it the shelves of any of a number of other Goodreads users who perpetuate the idea that girls who like sex in their books are sluts and therefore lack value. It’s not the reviews of books that are left on Amazon or blogs or anywhere else that equate a female character’s worth with her sexual appetite.
Those are instead symptoms of a much more pervasive problem of sexism and reading altogether.
Most of us grow up in a system where the educational curriculum is regimented and regulated, and it’s a curriculum where the prime reading material comes from white men. These are stories that set out to be thematic, to give us insight into life, to give us answers to what the meaning of everything is. But these are also stories that are deeply flawed in how they portray female characters — look at The Scarlet Letter or The Great Gatsby. These and many others are stories where men step in to become the heroes for female characters who are rendered helpless or problematic without the guidance of those burly dudes who know What’s Right And Proper.
When we see women in our required reading, it’s often because it’s of niche or local interest, or because they’re writing in the margins or on the periphery of areas that fit into the curriculum or fulfill a core requirement. We have Emily Dickinson writing poetry, and we have our Austen and Brontes, who are writing Love Stories (and note, of course, many of the women we read had to hide their feminine identity, too, like George Eliot or Anne Bronte, who went by Acton Bell, and that those are the important facts we know about those writers when we end our units on them).
These books are products of their times, of course. But in a recent survey educator Sarah Andersen conducted with her high school girls, she found teen girls aren’t seeing themselves and aren’t connecting with the books that they’re reading in school.
Because there’s a lack of exposure to a wider range of female voices within education, there’s a missed opportunity for girls and boys to be exposed to the idea that female characters — that females — are allowed autonomy in the choices they make. That how they’re rendered in fiction, and the way we expose readers to them isn’t the standard operating model for how all females should be and act. As Andersen’s students pointed out, they’re eager for a wide range of female characters: they want romantics as much as they want strong and powerful girls. They want quiet and shy girls as much as they want loud and out-there girls. They want to see a wide representation of girls and what it means to look like and act like one because they themselves are a wide range of girls hoping to find some kind of validation for how they choose to act and behave and think and be.
Women’s voices in fiction are drowned out and forgotten. What it means to be a girl is made into a myth — the myth that girls are meant to be easy to digest and the myth that the right girls are “not like other girls.” We label books for young readers as being books for boys or books for girls, and we perpetuate the idea that one gender is far more important to cater to than the other. That the voices and needs as females don’t matter as much because “what about the boys?” We call books where girls dare to make choices about their own bodily pleasure smut, and we treat them as lesser, and we call books where girls have their bodies taken advantage of the same damn thing.
I think it’s pretty safe to say the boys in fiction and the boys who are reading it are doing just fine. I think it’s time that we wake the hell up and pay more attention to what it is we’re feeding our girls instead. Who are the characters they’re being exposed to? What are the discussions that they’re having about these female characters?
What are the conversations we’re choosing to have with our girls about these characters?
Because we can’t blame the books for the problem. We can only blame ourselves for the fact that there are still readers who believe there’s a necessity for things like a slut shelf or that people like me or Alexandra Duncan or any other female out there who has sex before marriage because she chooses to are worth less than any other human being.
Every person comes into feminism differently, but to get there, those of us who are advocates for books and advocates for readers need to do better in opening up important — and sometimes scary — channels of dialog. In that exposure and in that vulnerability, we show people that feminist isn’t a slur.
Feminism: a belief that all people — men and women and those who identify otherwise — who make choices deserve equal rights to make those choices for themselves.
Feminist: a person who supports feminism and/or relating to an idea that supports feminism.
Feminism and Feminist: two words declining in use.
It’s time we all build some slut shelves in our libraries, classrooms, and in our homes. But more than simply building them, let’s open up some dialog about what these terms and labels mean — and the whys behind them.
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By signing up you agree to our Terms of ServiceGary Johnson is running a distant third in this year’s presidential race, but pit the Libertarian’s athletic achievements against any current or past candidate, and it would be no contest.
The two-term New Mexico governor has completed 17 marathons, and his PR of 2 hours and 47 minutes blows away John Edwards’ 3:30 and George W. Bush’s 3:44 times. Others left in the dust include Mike Huckabee (4:33) and Al Gore (4:54), along with vice presidential candidates Sarah Palin (3:59) and Paul Ryan (4:01).
Related: Could You Beat These 15 Celebrity Marathon Runners?
No other major presidential candidate has ever completed an Ironman triathlon, according to Dan Berglund, the public relations manager for Ironman. But Johnson, 63, has finished four Ironman World Championship races in Hawaii, including an impressive 10:39 time in 1999.
Johnson has also scaled the highest mountains on all seven continents, including Mount Everest—on a broken leg that wasn’t fully healed.
All that experience will come in handy as Johnson attempts to make the most important climb of his life: up from his current 9 percent average in the national general election polls to 15 percent. That’s the mark he needs to secure a spot on the big debate stage with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump—Base Camp, in Everest terms.
But that summit just got a little tougher to scale. Last week the hosts of MSNBC’s Morning Joe asked Johnson what he would do about the war-ton city of Aleppo, Syria if he was elected President—to which a puzzled Johnson replied, “What is Aleppo?”
Related: How to Instantly Rebound From 5 ‘Foot-In-Mouth’ Moments
Though Men’s Health spoke to Johnson shortly before the MSNBC appearance, the public apology he issued following the flub falls in line with his philosophy on battling adversity.
“Athletics has taught me that it is all about putting one foot in front of the other,” Johnson says. “Life is about setbacks—meaning that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. You might as well plan on that. It’s how you deal with setbacks that ultimately determines success. I think so many people experience failure and crawl up in a ball and give up.”
Related: The Men’s Health Better Man Project—2,476 Life-Changing Health Hacks and Success Secrets
Johnson didn’t give up after his failed 2012 Presidential bid, when he garnered just 1 percent of the vote. Instead, he teamed up with former Massachusetts governor William Weld to campaign on both his business acumen—he built a construction outfit from scratch into a 1,000-employee, $38 million company—and fiscally conservative credentials, like cutting taxes 14 times while governor of New Mexico.
Nor did Johnson quit after a 2005 paragliding accident left him with multiple broken bones.
“Doctors said, ‘You’re going to have to give it up,’” says Johnson. “But six months after that accident, I bicycled from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Napa Valley.” (The ride lasted approximately 1,500 miles.)
With that kind of resume, Johnson couldn’t help but giggle when Trump’s doctor, Harold Bornstein, recently said the 70-year-old would be the “healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.”
“I do get a chuckle when Donald Trump says he would be the fittest president of all time,” Johnson says. “Well, c’mon. That’s who I am. That’s my life.”
Related: Who Was America’s Fittest President?
Though Johnson has significantly curtailed his running after suffering frostbite on his toes post-Everest, he still tries to get in at least 6 hours of some athletic activity per week during election season—down from his usual 15 to 21 hours per week.
The North Dakota native also adheres to healthy eating habits. “I don’t do sugar, and I haven’t had a drink of alcohol in 29 years,” he says. “When you consider health and wellness, so much of it comes from what you eat. I always say ‘Your motor is only as good as the octane that you’re feeding it.’”
(Building your best body requires drive, sweat, and the right food. Fuel Your Fat-Burners With 101 Muscle Meals from Men’s Health.)
Johnson has used marijuana, though, to manage the pain after his 2005 paragliding accident. Not surprisingly, the socially liberal Johnson is a proponent of legalizing pot, and he is the highest—so to speak—polling presidential nominee to ever do so.
While at home in New Mexico, Johnson shares cooking duties with his fiancée, real estate agent Kate Prusack. An avid skier and road and mountain biker, she’s also his training partner on the slopes, roads, and trails.
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She’d better be, or else they’d hardly have time together these days.
“It’s a requirement, I would say,” says Prusack, who met Johnson on a group bike ride in 2008. “When he gets home from being on the road, that is what he wants to do. If I didn’t do that with him, I wouldn’t see him.”
Prusack, who has been engaged to Johnson since 2009—“It would be a White House wedding” if he gets elected, she says—is confident that her partner is the most active man to ever run for president.
Related: Lose Your Spare Tire: RIPTENSITY—Intense Bodyweight Workouts from Men’s Health That Burn Fat Fast (One Guy Lost 15 Pounds In 6 Weeks!)
“George Bush, I know, rode a mountain bike,” Prusack says. “But he made a comment to Gary once that he and I actually ride mountain bikes in the mountains.”
If Johnson doesn’t score the keys to the Oval Office in November, he has a backup gig lined up: He’s planning to ride the Continental Divide and log more than 2,700 miles from Banff, Canada to Antelope Wells, New Mexico—the longest off-pavement cycling route in the world.
“I discovered a long time ago that being as fit as I could possibly be every day was something that made my life work,” says Johnson. “So I’m as fit as I can be every day of my life.”- Advertisement -
During the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con, we got our first good look at Ezra Miller’s interpretation of Barry Allen/Flash. Although the DC Cinematic Universe is just now introducing the scarlet speedster into the mix, The CW has had a Flash for a couple of years now, where fans have grown to love Grant Gustin’s character on the small screen. Gustin commented on Miller’s look as the character, as well as the difference in the two interpretations:
“Oh sick, I haven’t seen it [is handed phone displaying Justice League image]… They’re completely different. Yeah, I mean I was kind of expecting this, I heard it was going to be kind of like Injustice. I hadn’t seen this yet, what else is out. Sorry I’m scrolling through the whole thing, I haven’t seen this picture. Yeah, that’s sick. Um… yeah, it’s sick. I’m glad it’s really different though [laughs]. Because ours is like a street, vintage feel that I don’t think has been done in any other version of the character.”
You're about to have 2 different takes on Barry Allen, played by 2 different actors that I think are equally thrilled to have the chance. — Grant Gustin (@grantgust) July 24, 2016
See Ezra Miller as The Flash in next year’s Justice League, and check out The Flash on The CW to get an idea of Gustin’s interpretation of the character.
Source: Screen Rant.Today is Byron Howard’s Birthday! For those of you who have no idea who this is… welcome to ZNN. We’re all about Zootopia. Which was directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore. He’s also co-directed Bolt and Tangled. There was a huge team of wonderfully talented people who made Zootopia, but Byron was the one who got the ball rolling and saw it through to the end, from 2011 to 2016.
So, Happy Birthday, Byron! Even though it’s getting close to two years since Zootopia first released, we’re still just as in love with the world you created as we were when we first saw it in theaters! And even if you aren’t currently working on a sequel (hey, we can hope!) we’ll certainly be there to support any future projects you do!
Go wish him a happy birthday over on twitter @ByronPHoward!Recieve emails about upcoming NOVA programs and related content, as well as featured reporting about current events through a science lens. Email Address Zip Code Subscribe
Back in 2010, Chris Stone was spending a lot of nights under a mosquito net in a greenhouse in Ohio. Loose in the greenhouse’s artificially tropical air were many mosquitoes, and Stone, a graduate student, was there to serve as bait in a series of experiments. And while he was there, he was doing some hard thinking.
In the last ten years or so, more than
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a billion insecticide-treated bed nets have been distributed across the world in regions where malaria is endemic. Spread by mosquitoes, malaria is a gruesome disease; in 2003, the World Health Organization reported it killed a million children a year, 90% of whom were under the age of five. But recently the bed nets, along with insecticide sprayed inside houses, have had dramatic effects. As a rule, many major malaria mosquitoes like to bite at night, inside homes. If they land on the nets, tantalized by sleepers’ CO-laden breath, or on the home’s treated walls, they die swiftly. In areas where substantial numbers of people sleep under mosquito nets, malaria rates have plummeted.
Lying there under the mosquito net in Ohio, though, Stone was preoccupied with another idea. If mosquitoes land on treated nets, they’ll die. Sure. But what about the ones that don’t land? What if they start having their meal before people go to bed or can wait until morning? What if they start biting outside instead? “Sitting in that room, I had a lot of time to think about it,” he says.
Indeed, this potential problem, known as behavioral resistance, has been on some malaria biologists’ minds for a while. These days, it’s clear that overusing antibiotics, for instance, has caused the evolution of resistant bacteria, superbugs that stand up to much of what we throw at them. Insecticide resistance, similarly, is a problem when it comes to controlling mosquitoes. In both cases, if we kill all the individuals who are susceptible, the ones who are left over—the ones who by some quirk of biology or genetics can withstand our weapons—will become the parents of future generations.
But can something as simple as a treated net change the way mosquitoes actually behave, undermining our efforts? The answer may be yes.
An Ominous Insight
Behavioral resistance began to crop up in the scientific literature on malaria decades ago. The World Health Organization, back in 1955, launched a campaign called the Global Malaria Eradication Programme. In many places where malaria was endemic, the insecticide DDT was sprayed in homes. Malaria cases dropped, but eventually, many of the mosquito species that spread the disease evolved resistance. The individuals who could survive DDT took over the population. Other complications in the form of wars, lapses in funding, and logistical problems sent malaria cases climbing again. The program was eventually abandoned.
Can something as simple as a treated net change the way mosquitoes actually behave?
But before it was, in 1975, biologist Brian Taylor wrote that he had observed something peculiar in the Solomon Islands in southeast Asia. Every six months through most of the 1960s, as part of the program, DDT had been applied to the interior walls of homes and porches, even on the undersides of houses built on stilts—anywhere a mosquito might land to rest and digest in a human home. Two of the species that spread malaria there either disappeared or were greatly reduced under the force of the assault. One called Anopheles farauti, however, stuck around. And now, some said, it behaved like a different mosquito. Before it had fed indoors—now it seemed it was much more likely to be found feeding outdoors. Taylor organized an experiment: For nights on end, people indoors and out collected the mosquitoes that landed on them. After an application of DDT, they did the same.
Before the treatment, people caught mosquitoes all throughout the night. They also caught them in substantial numbers inside as the night wore on. Afterward the treatment, however, the mosquitoes were far, far more active in the early evening. Both indoors and out, their numbers went down as the hours passed. Taylor suggested that the DDT was killing off the mosquitoes that went indoors during the night to feed, leaving behind those which bit people before they retreated to the protection of their homes. It was a fascinating, if ominous, insight.
Evolving Behavior
As the years have passed, quashing malaria’s spread has come back on the global agenda. The latest chapter, in the early part of this century, has been the introduction of treated bed nets. The nets don’t just kill mosquitoes on contact, they also provide a physical barrier at night when people are most vulnerable. They last a long time—each net offers protection for at least three years, even with regular washing. However, researchers are now documenting in a steady tide of papers that mosquitoes are evolving resistance to the nets’ insecticides, just as they did to DDT.
Bed nets have slashed malaria rates, but mosquitoes are adapting.
By this point, resistance isn’t surprising. This is just how evolution works: As in physics, each action has an equal and opposite reaction. Push a pendulum, watch it swing. Kill all the mosquitoes that can’t take an insecticide, watch their surviving brethren multiply. It is possible to get ahead of resistance, though, if we can apply pressure from enough directions. Understanding how resistance arises, and exactly what form it takes, is required to help plan our counterattacks.
There is plenty of research on how mosquitoes are escaping the effects of insecticides, physiologically speaking. There are several ways they have adapted: they make more enzymes to break down the poison before it can hurt them, they alter the proteins it targets so they can become immune, and so on. But there is less work about the effect Stone was thinking about in Ohio and which Taylor observed more than a quarter century before—the problem of behavior. In the last few years, a handful of papers have begun to approach it with field experiments, literature reviews, and mathematical models.
Starting Point
Stone, after his late-night brainstorming sessions as mosquito bait, put together a model with colleagues that looked at the situations in which behavioral resistance was likely to arise. They focused on the size and habits of the human population, as well as how hard or easy it would be for mosquitoes to sustain themselves between meals of blood by sipping nectar (many mosquitoes do get calories from nectar, though they prefer blood). They found that in situations where there were plenty of people out and about at dusk and dawn, as in a city, it’s not very hard for the mosquitoes to find humans who aren’t under bed nets to bite. In that situation, behavioral resistance by feeding at these times was more likely to develop. “That model that I created suggested there might be something to that,” he says. “But,” he cautions, “there’s no field evidence to support that at this point.”
In a 2013 review article in Malaria Journal, referring to a number of older observations in the South Pacific, researchers primarily based in Australia called for greater awareness of the potential danger of behavioral changes in the age of widespread bed nets. They note that after the application of DDT, changes similar to what Brian Taylor saw back in the 1970s were seen in Papua New Guinea, Vanatu, and other islands. Crucially, in the Solomon Islands, after DDT was no longer used as much, the mosquitoes kept their early evening, outdoor feeding behavior, which continues today. “We were very surprised that it didn’t go back to all-night,” says Nigel Beebe, a mosquito biologist at University of Queensland and the CSIRO who is an author of the paper. That suggested that it really was being passed on from parent to offspring, a genetic reshaping of the species’ habits, rather than being a short-term shift. “It’s difficult to know all the answers, but these are just the observations,” Beebe continues. “And when the bed nets were rolled out into these areas, it seemed to strengthen this early night biting profile,” at least in some places.
In Tanzania, insecticide-treated bed nets there appear to have shifted the behavior of Anopheles funestus, another malaria vector, so that it bites more during the day, according to work by Tanya Russell of James Cook University, one of the authors of that review paper, and colleagues. In Senegal, another group of researchers report collecting enormous numbers of An. funestus biting in broad daylight—though it’s been known as a night-feeding species—and suggest bed nets may be the driver. The authors warn malaria rates’ precipitous declines could be threatened by these changes to behavior.
Still, so far, the evidence for behavioral change is not quite as simple as it might seem. The same mosquito species that show a change in response to nets in one place show no change in another. It isn’t always clear whether the before and after conditions are directly comparable, cautions one meticulous review of the subject in the journal Evolution, and there is so much geographical and seasonal variation in mosquito numbers that it’s challenging to nail down whether the effect you’re seeing is from the bed nets or indoor insecticides and not from something else. As well, if the insecticides on the net act as repellents—if they are unpleasant for mosquitoes to be near, rather than merely lethal to those that touch it—the change in behavior won’t be genetic, but just a reaction. “Those things are all the complexities that need to be unraveled,” says Fred Gould, an evolutionary biologist at North Carolina State University and an author of the Evolution review. “And in general, studying behavior is hard. With behavior, you have to be pretty much of a sleuth to really get in there and figure out what’s going on.”
All the same, if behavioral resistance does occur, it could undermine bed nets’ success, Gould says. Entomologists in agriculture know that heritable behavior changes can be just as unpleasant as resistance to insecticides, he says. The corn rootworm, for example, is a pest that lays eggs in cornfields so its larvae will come up the next year and feast on the roots. Farmers have evaded it by rotating crops so what was a cornfield one year will be soybeans the next. By the 1990s, however, the strategy wasn’t working as well. It turned out that the rootworms had changed—instead of hatching every year, one species was hatching every other year, to be there when the corn returned. Another species was leaping into neighboring soybean fields to wait for them to take their turn as cornfields in the next season.
One Step Ahead
Those examples serve as a reminder that, when it comes to battling pests, whether they are corn rootworms or malaria mosquitoes, we can’t rest on our laurels. It pays to have a multi-pronged approach. If mosquitoes start biting outside more or earlier in the day, we’ll need new defenses to meet them on their new ground. One option, says Tom Burkot, a vector biologist with the Australian Institute of Tropical Health and James Cook University who does field work in the Solomon Islands, is exploiting the fact that mosquitoes will often have nectar meals if they can’t find people.
“If there’s a sugar source nearby, they may top up their energy with a little sip of sugar,” he says. Sugar traps with an oral toxin—one that only affects mosquitoes, not bees, for instance—could help drive their numbers down even if the insecticides on the nets and in the houses don’t work as well as before. Several other options are also on the table, including treatments that get at mosquito larvae, new building codes to make houses more mosquito proof, and insecticides that kill mosquitoes at different phases of their life cycles to avoid the evolution of resistance.
Even if mosquitoes do change their behavior, bed nets will continue to impede the spread of malaria to at least some degree, Burkot says. The reductions in transmission are nothing short of astonishing—25%, 50%, even 80% fewer cases in some places. And that’s with less than ideal use of bed nets. “We’re using these imperfect tools, applied imperfectly,” he says. Some people don’t sleep under them, or if they do, not every night. Distributing them can be a challenge, and the nets can tear. “Yet despite all these significant challenges, we’ve been able to have a hell of an impact on malaria.”
The problem, of course, is that we have to stay at least one step ahead of evolution. Coming at it with many different tools is our best to bet to help keep resistance, whether it is physiological or behavioral, under control. “The way forward is we’ve got to optimize these interventions that are working,” Burkot says. “We have to extend their life.”Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is counting on the offensive line, with two new starters, to be better than last season. (Photo: Daniel Mears, Detroit News)
Allen Park — During his first two seasons as Lions offensive line coach, Jeremiah Washburn explained veteran center Dominic Raiola was effectively another assistant coach for the group.
With Raiola gone, along with a few other veterans, Washburn and the Lions’ young offensive linemen no longer have that crutch. And Washburn is as curious as anyone to see who — besides Manny Ramirez — will fill the leadership void up front.
“That’s been a topic of discussion at my house a lot. What’s this room going to be like?” Washburn said. “I don’t know, but it’s kind of exciting.”
The excitement comes with what could be a young and budding offensive line group, one that has at least a few players that should be in place for the foreseeable future.
After taking some steps the past couple of years, the Lions have completely overhauled their offensive line. They let Raiola and Rob Sims leave in free agency; Raiola started at center the last 13 years, and Sims was the left guard for the past five.
Those are the two big names, but as Washburn and a couple of players noted, the Lions also lost tackle Corey Hilliard, 30, and tackle/guard Garrett Reynolds, 28, in free agency.
Now, Ramirez, 32, who the Lions acquired in a trade in April, is the eldest offensive lineman by far, six years older than Riley Reiff. Reiff, 26, is one of the quietest players on the team, but unless Ramirez wins the starting left guard job ahead of first-round pick Laken Tomlinson, Reiff will have to take a bigger leadership role among the starters.
“He has to get out of his comfort zone a little bit, but he has,” Washburn said of Reiff, the left tackle. “He’s been great as far as leadership, (setting an) example, and then speaking up when he has to.”
CLOSE Detroit News sports writers Rod Beard and Josh Katzenstein talk about Thursday's training camp practice, and in particular the defense. Daniel Mears
Steadily building
The overhaul started in 2012 when the Lions chose Reiff in the first round, seeing him as the long-term replacement for Jeff Backus. In 2013, the Lions used a third-round pick on right guard Larry Warford, and last year, they took center Travis Swanson in the third round.
Thanks to hitting on a couple of undrafted free agents, LaAdrian Waddle in 2013 and Cornelius Lucas in 2014, the Lions are comfortable with the right tackle position for 2015. And this year, they added Tomlinson in the first round.
The hope, Washburn said, is the Lions can become a dependable unit for years to come, akin to the Chiefs’ offensive line in the 1990s and what the Cowboys have built in recent years.
“If you do it right, you can get a cohesive group that can play together for a while, and that’s hard to find in the NFL,” he said. “You don’t find many lines that play together over more than three to four years, and if you can get something like that, the Lions will be fortunate.”
The other potential benefit for the Lions going young is this year’s offensive line should be more athletic than the one from 2014, which played significantly worse than the 2013 unit despite opening the season with four of the same starters.
Veterans missed
It became evident quickly last season that Raiola, 36, and Sims, 31, weren’t the players they once were, and the duo remaining free agents into August is a sign other teams weren’t impressed with their tape either.
Between their lackluster play and injuries, the Lions’ offensive line struggled as a whole.
The team ranked 28th in rushing and allowed 45 sacks of Matthew Stafford, a career high one year after the group gave up just 23 sacks.
While the Lions expect to replace Sims and Raiola with high-pedigree players in Tomlinson and Swanson, the absence of the veterans has been noticeable in meetings.
“We miss Rob because he was a clown for sure, and Dom was just hilarious,” Warford said. “Those guys, you can’t replace them because they were just staples, but you’ve got some new characters in here and it’s a different chemistry.
“But it’s still great, it still works and it’s fresh and it’s new, so that’s cool.”
In the NFL, new isn’t always better, and the Lions could still look to add another veteran offensive tackle before the season begins, though general manager Martin Mayhew said he likes the team’s youth at the spot.
To ensure the line actually improves compared to last season, Swanson said the players are reminding each other each day that they have a long way to go.
As far as the new leadership, Washburn said he and assistant offensive line coach Terry Heffernan will try to make that as organic as possible.
“We’re just going to keep our hands off some of this stuff, and let’s see how the room shapes itself, see whose personalities come out,” Washburn said. “It’s different, though.”
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twitter.com/jkatzensteinEngland's coach Roy Hodgson and Italy's coach Cesare Prandelli greet each other at the World Cup draw
That is bad news for England, who were desperate to play the match as late as possible because of the heat and humidity in Manaus, which is located in the north-west of Brazil in the heart of the Amazon.
But 9pm in Manaus equates to 2am in the morning in the UK, and 3am in Italy and broadcasters have succeeded in pressuring FIFA into moving the match to an earlier slot. It will now start at 11pm in the UK and midnight in Italy.
That suits TV audiences, but not the teams, and boss Roy Hodgson and his Italian counterpart Cesare Prandelli will not be happy.
Both men were concerned about the conditions even before the time switch.
Hodgson and Prandelli confirmed on Friday that they would be lobbying FIFA to allow drinks breaks during the match and the time change will make that even more important to them.
Temperatures are usually over 30 degrees in the summer in Manaus, but the humidity - typically over 80 per cent - is even more problematic.
FIFA claims a 6pm kick-off shares "similar conditions" to a 9pm one.
Before the draw was even made, Hodgson admitted that Manaus was the one venue he wanted to avoid.
Reacting to news of the new kick-off time, England managing director Adrian Bevington said: "We have been informed by FIFA of the change in kick-off time to ours and
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—that they are sinful or immoral—are one of the factors in more Americans’ decision to become religiously unaffiliated.(7) Among Americans who left their childhood religion and are now religiously unaffiliated, about one-quarter say negative teachings about or treatment of gay and lesbian people was a somewhat important (14%) or very important (10%) factor in their decision to disaffiliate. More than 7-in-10 Americans who have disaffiliated from their childhood religion report that was not too important (17%) or not at all important as a factor (54%). Millennials who disaffiliated are much more likely than older Americans to report that negative teachings about homosexuality were an important factor in their decision. Among Millennials who no longer identify with their childhood religion, nearly one-third say that negative teachings about, or treatment of, gay and lesbian people was either a somewhat important (17%) or very important (14%) factor in their disaffiliation from religion. Nearly two-thirds of Millennials who disaffiliated say that negative religious teachings about gay and lesbian people were either not too important (21%) or not at all important (44%) a factor in their decision. In contrast, fewer than 1-in-5 Baby Boomers (19%) and Silent Generation Americans (17%) who disaffiliated report that this was a somewhat or very important reason for their leaving. Notably, former Catholics are not any more likely than former Protestants to say that negative teachings about gay and lesbian people were an important reason they left the church (28% vs. 23%). Perceptions of Religious Groups’ Friendliness Toward LGBT People There are substantial differences in Americans’ perceptions of various religious groups’ friendliness toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Notably, a significant number of Americans report being unable to offer an opinion one way or the other. Majorities of Americans perceive three religious groups to be unfriendly to LGBT people: the Catholic Church, the Mormon church, and evangelical Christian churches. Compared to other major religious groups, the Catholic Church is perceived to be the group most unfriendly to LGBT people. Nearly 6-in-10 (58%) Americans believe the Catholic Church is unfriendly to LGBT people, more than twice the number (27%) who believe the Catholic Church is friendly. Fifteen percent of the public report having no opinion or being unsure about the Catholic Church’s friendliness to LGBT people. A majority (53%) of Americans also believe the Mormon Church is unfriendly to LGBT people, compared to only 13% who see it as being friendly. Notably, one-third (33%) offer no opinion or report being unsure about the Mormon Church’s friendliness toward LGBT people. Similarly, a majority (51%) of Americans perceive evangelical Christian churches to be unfriendly toward LGBT Americans, more than twice the number (24%) who see them as being friendly. Roughly one-quarter (24%) offer no opinion or are unsure about evangelical Christian churches’ friendliness toward LGBT people. Perceptions of non-evangelical Protestant churches, African-American churches and the Jewish religion are notably less negative. One-third (33%) of Americans believe non-evangelical Protestant churches are unfriendly, equal to the number who believe they are friendly (33%) or offer no opinion (34%). African-American churches are viewed similarly, with roughly equal numbers reporting they are unfriendly (33%), friendly (31%), or offering no opinion (35%). Probably reflecting lower levels of personal experience with Jewish Americans and synagogues, more than 4-in-10 (41%) of Americans offer no opinion about whether the Jewish religion was friendly to LGBT people. Those who register an opinion are more likely to perceive the Jewish religion as being unfriendly than friendly to LGBT people (34% vs. 25%). Not surprisingly, members of religious groups are much more likely than Americans overall to say their own church or religious tradition is friendly toward LGBT people. Nearly 4-in- 10 (38%) Catholics say the Catholic Church is friendly toward gay and lesbian people compared to 27% of Americans overall. Notably, however, Catholics (55%) are roughly as likely as Americans overall (58%) to say the Catholic Church is unfriendly to LGBT people. White evangelical Protestants are also more likely than Americans overall to perceive evangelical Christian churches as friendly to LGBT people (39% vs. 24%). Only about 4-in-10 (41%) white evangelical Protestants say their churches are unfriendly to LGBT people, 10 points lower than the perception among the general population. Black Protestants see AfricanAmerican churches as being much more friendly to LGBT people than do Americans overall. A majority (53%) of black Protestants believe their churches are friendly toward LGBT people, a view shared by fewer than one-third (31%) of the general public. Nearly 4-in-10 (37%) black Protestants say their churches are unfriendly to LGBT persons. White mainline Protestants judge non-evangelical Protestant churches as being about as friendly as Americans overall (37% vs. 33%), while 36% say they are unfriendly. More than two-thirds of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans perceive both the Catholic Church (73%) and evangelical Christian churches (67%) as being unfriendly toward LGBT people.
V. The Power of Social Contexts The Effect of Having a Close Friend or Family Member who is Gay or Lesbian Nearly two-thirds (65%) of Americans report having a close friend or family member who is gay or lesbian, nearly three times the number (22%) who reported having such a relationship in 1993.(8) Additionally, roughly 1-in-10 (9%) Americans report having a close friend or family member who is transgender. Overall, majorities of Americans from nearly all demographic, religious and political groups report having a close friend or family member who is gay or lesbian. Millennials (71%) are more likely than members of the Silent Generation (46%) to say they have a close friend or family member who is gay or lesbian. Likewise, women (70%) are more likely than men (59%) to have a close friend or family member who is gay or lesbian. There are only modest differences in the levels of social connections to gay and lesbian people between religious groups. Seven-in-ten Jewish Americans (70%) and religiously unaffiliated Americans (70%) and roughly two-thirds of black Protestants (67%), white Catholics (66%), Hispanic Protestants (65%), white mainline Protestants (64%), and Hispanic Catholics (63%) say they have a close friend or family member who is gay or lesbian. White evangelical Protestants are only slightly less likely than other religious groups to say they have a close friend or family member who is gay or lesbian (58%). Previous research has demonstrated that having a close friend or family member who is gay or lesbian is strongly associated with support for same-sex marriage.(9) Americans who have a close friend or family member who is gay or lesbian are 27 points more likely than those who do not to favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to legally marry (63% vs. 36%). This “family and friends” effect is present across all major demographic, religious and political groups. For example, Republicans who have a close friend or family member who is gay or lesbian more than twice as likely as Republicans who do not to support same-sex marriage (43% vs. 21%). Likewise, Democrats who have a close friend or family member who is gay or lesbian are nearly 30 percentage points more likely than Democrats who do not to support same-sex marriage (73% vs. 44%). Social Networks and Views on Same-sex Marriage Perceptions of the General Public’s Views on Same-sex Marriage Public knowledge about support for same-sex marriage lags significantly behind the reality, perhaps because of how rapidly opinion has changed on this issue in recent years. Even though polls now consistently show a majority of Americans favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to legally marry (currently, 53% favor, 41% oppose), only about one-third (34%) of the public report that most Americans favor same-sex marriage. Nearly half (49%) of the public believe that most Americans oppose same-sex marriage, and roughly 1-in-10 (9%) believe the country is divided on the issue. Opponents and supporters of same-sex marriage are each more likely to believe that the country is on their side, but opponents of same-sex marriage are significantly more likely to misperceive public opinion than supporters. Nearly half (46%) of same-sex marriage supporters believe the nation as a whole also favors allowing gay and lesbian people to legally marry, but notably, nearly as many (40%) incorrectly believe their position is in the minority. Eight percent of same-sex marriage supporters believe the nation is divided on the issue. By contrast, those who oppose same-sex marriage believe the country is on their side. By a ratio of roughly 3-to-1 (62% vs. 21%), opponents of same-sex marriage are more likely to say that Americans overall oppose rather than support same-sex marriage. Nearly 1-in-5 Americans who oppose same-sex marriage report that the country is divided on the issue (8%) or that they do not know (9%). There are also significant partisan differences. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to have an accurate perception of public opinion on same-sex marriage. Democrats are evenly divided between those who believe that most Americans support same-sex marriage (42%) and those who believe that most Americans oppose (43%). Nearly 1-in-10 (8%) Democrats say the country is evenly divided. By contrast, 27% of Republicans believe that most Americans support same-sex marriage, while 57% incorrectly believe most Americans are opposed. Eight percent of Republicans say the country is evenly divided, and as many (8%) report being unsure or did not offer an opinion. Similarly, younger Americans are more likely than older Americans to have an accurate view of the current state of public opinion on same-sex marriage. Millennials are about evenly split between those who believe that most Americans support same-sex marriage (42%) and those who believe that most Americans are opposed (46%); 7% say the country is divided. By contrast, roughly one-quarter (23%) of Americans who are members of the Silent Generation say that most Americans support same-sex marriage. A majority (53%) believe that most Americans are opposed while 7% say Americans are divided; notably, 16% say they do not know or refused the question. Self-identified LGBT Americans are more likely than Americans overall to believe most of the country supports same-sex marriage, but even among this group, less than half (48%) correctly say that most Americans favor it. Nearly 1-in-10 (9%) LGBT Americans say the country is evenly divided on the issue, and nearly 4-in-10 (38%) believe that most Americans oppose same-sex marriage. Perceptions of the Views of Families and Friends on Same-sex Marriage Americans report that the views of their family members often diverge from the views of their friends on the issue of same-sex marriage. A majority (53%) of Americans report that most of their family members are opposed to same-sex marriage, 5% say their family members are divided, and roughly one-third (34%) say most of their family members favor same-sex marriage. By contrast, nearly as many Americans say most of their friends favor same-sex marriage (41%) as say most of their friends oppose it (43%); 7% say their friends are about evenly divided on the issue. A majority (57%) of Americans who support same-sex marriage say most of their family members also favor the policy, compared to 30% who say that most of their family members are opposed to it. Among opponents, the views of family members are even more cohesive: 85% report that most of their family members also oppose same-sex marriage, while only 6% say that most of their family members favor same-sex marriage. With regard to friends, roughly 7-in-10 (68%) same-sex marriage supporters say most of their friends also support same-sex marriage, while roughly three-quarters (76%) of same-sex marriage opponents say their friends also oppose same-sex marriage. Millennials report a nearly 20-point gap between the views of their families and the views of their friends. Nearly half (49%) of Millennials say most of their family members oppose same-sex marriage, compared to 41% who say most of their family members support it. In contrast, only 30% of Millennials say that most of their friends oppose same-sex marriage, compared to nearly twice as many (59%) who say most of their friends favor same-sex marriage. Americans from the Silent Generation are equally likely to say that most of their friends (57%) and family members (56%) oppose same-sex marriage. Republicans say most of their friends and family members share their views, while Democrats have more divided networks of families and friend. Republicans are more than three times more likely to report that most of their family members oppose same-sex marriage than they are to say most support it (71% vs. 20%). Republicans are twice as likely to report that most of their friends oppose same-sex marriage (60%) as they are to say most of their friends support it (28%). Democrats, however, are divided: 44% say most of their family members are opposed to legalizing same-sex marriage, compared to 43% who say most of their family members support the policy. A majority (52%) of Democrats say most of their friends favor same-sex marriage, while roughly one-third (34%) say most of their friends oppose it. Women and men have similar perceptions of their families’ opinions on the issue of same-sex marriage. Fifty-six percent of men and 51% of women say most of their family members are opposed to same-sex marriage. However, men and women differ substantially in how they perceive the views of their friends. Among men, nearly half (49%) say most of their friends oppose same-sex marriage, compared to 36% who say most of their friends favor same-sex marriage. Among women, however, the balance is the opposite. Only 38% of women say most of their friends oppose same-sex marriage, compared to nearly half (47%) who say most of their friends favor same-sex marriage. Unlike Americans overall, a majority of self-identified LGBT Americans report that most of their family members and most of their friends favor allowing gay and lesbian people to marry. A majority (56%) of LGBT Americans say most of their family members favor same-sex marriage, compared to one-third (33%) who say most of their family members oppose. An even greater number (75%) of LGBT Americans say most of their friends favor same-sex marriage; about 1-in-5 (19%) say most of their friends oppose same-sex marriage. Americans’ opinions on same-sex marriage are highly correlated with their perceptions of the opinions of most of their family and friends. Among Americans who say most of their friends favor same-sex marriage, nearly 9-in-10 (87%) also support the policy. Similarly, among Americans who say most of their friends oppose same-sex marriage, 73% also oppose it. This pattern holds true for views of family members as well. For example, among Republicans who report that most of their friends favor same-sex marriage, nearly 8-in-10 (78%) say they themselves favor same-sex marriage. Similarly, among Democrats who report that most of their friends oppose same-sex marriage, two-thirds (67%) also report being opposed. This pattern is generally consistent across subgroups, but is less pronounced among younger Americans of the Millennial generation, many of whom break with their families’ higher opposition to same-sex marriage. Perceptions of the Views of Fellow Religious Congregants on Same-sex Marriage Among Americans who attend religious services at least a few times a year, nearly three-quarters (73%) say most of their fellow congregants oppose same-sex marriage, compared to just more than 1-in-10 (13%) who say people in their church favor same-sex marriage. While majorities of all religious groups say most of their fellow congregants oppose same-sex marriage, there is a wide range of diversity in perception by religious affiliation. White evangelical Protestants are the most likely to report that most people in their church oppose same-sex marriage (86%); only 5% of white evangelical Protestants say most people in their church favor same-sex marriage. Roughly 8-in-10 Hispanic Protestants (80%) and black Protestants (79%) also say most of their fellow churchgoers are opposed to same-sex marriage. About 7-in-10 Catholics (69% of Hispanic Catholics and 71% of white Catholics) say most of their fellow churchgoers oppose same-sex marriage. Finally, about 6-in-10 (59%) white mainline Protestants say most of their fellow churchgoers oppose same-sex marriage. Regular churchgoers (those who attend at least once or twice a month), particularly those who are members of religious groups that are more supportive of same-sex marriage, are likely to underestimate support for same-sex marriage in their churches by 20 points or more. For example, as noted above, about 6-in-10 (59%) white mainline Protestants believe their fellow congregants are mostly opposed to same-sex marriage. However, among white mainline Protestants who attend church regularly, only 36% oppose allowing gay and lesbian people to legally marry while a majority (57%) actually favor this policy. Similarly, roughly three-quarters (73%) of Catholics believe that most of their fellow congregants are opposed to same-sex marriage. However, Catholics who regularly attend church are in fact divided over the issue (50% favor, 45% oppose). Among groups who are more opposed to same-sex marriage, such as white evangelical Protestants and black Protestants, perceptions of their congregations are more in line with their actual views on the issue. The Unique Social Environments of Republicans and White Evangelical Protestants in the Millennial Generation Although Republicans and white evangelical Protestants overall are more likely than the general public to report having both families and networks of friends who are mostly opposed to same-sex marriage, younger Republicans’ and younger white evangelical Protestants’ friendship networks are more divided. A majority of Millennial Republicans (64%) and Millennial white evangelical Protestants (72%) report their families are mostly opposed to same-sex marriage. However, Millennial Republicans and Millennial white evangelical Protestants are embedded in more diverse friendship networks than their older cohorts. Roughly half (49%) of Millennial Republicans, say most of their friends oppose allowing gay and lesbian couples to legally marry, but nearly as many (42%) say that most of their friends support the policy or say their friends are evenly divided (7%). Among older Republicans, 74% say most of their friends oppose same-sex marriage, while only 11% say most of their friends favor the policy. A similar pattern is evident among Millennial white evangelical Protestants: 43% say most of their friends oppose same-sex marriage, 36% say most of their friends support it, and 14% say their friends are evenly divided on the issue. By contrast, 8-in-10 (80%) white evangelical Protestants who are members of the Silent Generation say most of their friends oppose same-sex marriage.
VI. The Nature vs. Nurture Debate The debate over whether homosexuality is an inherent trait or the result of external forces such as upbringing or environment continues today, though the balance of opinion on the question has shifted significantly during the last decade. Currently, more than 4-in-10 (44%) Americans believe that being gay or lesbian is “something a person is born with,” compared to 36% who say it is “due to factors such as upbringing or environment”; 12% say it is both. In 2003, the balance of opinion was reversed, with nearly 4-in-10 (38%) Americans reporting that homosexuality was something one is born with and more than 4-in-10 (44%) saying it was caused by upbringing or environment; 11% said it was both.(10) Political affiliation is a significant factor associated with how people view homosexuality. A majority (53%) of Democrats believe being gay or lesbian is something a person a person is born with, compared to 30% who believe it is the result of upbringing or environment. By contrast, about one-third of Republicans (34%) and Tea Party members (33%) believe being gay or lesbian is innate, compared to 44% of Republicans and 45% of Tea Party members who believe it is the result of environmental factors. Independents are more divided, with 44% believing it is innate, and 37% saying it is the result of environmental factors. There are also strong racial divisions evident in the debate. Nearly half (49%) of white Americans view sexuality as an innate trait, while 32% say it is due to factors such as upbringing, and 12% say it is combination of both. Hispanic Americans are divided in their views; more than 4-in-10 (43%) say that being gay and lesbian is an innate characteristic while nearly as many (37%) say it is related to upbringing or environment. Thirteen percent of Hispanics say it is a combination of the two. Fully 6-in-10 (60%) black Americans believe that being gay or lesbian is the result of upbringing and environment, while only 21% say it is an innate characteristic. Views about whether homosexuality is an inherent or an acquired trait vary substantially by religious affiliation. A majority of Jewish Americans (64%), white Catholics (61%), white mainline Protestants (56%), the religiously unaffiliated (53%), and Hispanic Catholics (51%) believe sexual orientation is an innate trait. Other religious groups are less likely to believe sexual orientation is innate. Only 3-in-10 (30%) Hispanic Protestants, one-quarter (25%) of white evangelical Protestants, and less than 1-in-5 (19%) black Protestants believe homosexuality is something a person is born with. Education is also associated with how Americans view sexuality. Nearly 6-in-10 (58%) of those with a post-graduate degree and roughly half (51%) of those with a college degree believe sexuality is an intrinsic trait, compared to 4-in-10 (39%) Americans who have a high school education or less. Among those who say they have a close friend or family member who is gay or lesbian, half (50%) say homosexuality is an intrinsic trait, while 3-in-10 (30%) say it is due to a person’s upbringing or environment. Among those who do not have a close friend or family member who is gay or lesbian, roughly one-third (32%) say it is inherent, while 47% say it is the result of environmental factors. There is a strong correlation between beliefs about the causes of sexual orientation and support for same-sex marriage. Among those who believe sexuality is an innate trait, more than three-quarters (76%) favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to legally marry; only 20% are opposed. Conversely, among those who believe being gay or lesbian is due to upbringing or environment, less than 3-in-10 (28%) support same-sex marriage; 67% are opposed.
VII. Parenting and Adoption by Gay and Lesbian Couples Perceptions of Gay and Lesbian Couples as Parents Today, more than two-thirds (68%) of Americans believe gay and lesbian couples can be as good as heterosexual couples as parents, while less than 3-in-10 (28%) Americans disagree. Agreement on this question has increased 14 points since 2003, when 54% of Americans believed gay and lesbian couples could be as good as heterosexual couples as parents, compared to 37% who disagreed.(11) Judgments about the ability of gay and lesbian couples to be good parents cross party lines, though there are substantial differences in the degree of agreement. More than 7-in-10 Democrats (74%), and independents (71%) agree that gay and lesbian couples can be as good as parents as heterosexual couples while smaller majorities of Republicans (55%) and Tea Party members (52%) also agree. More than 4-in-10 Republicans (41%) and members of the Tea Party (42%) believe gay and lesbian couples cannot be as good as parents as heterosexual couples. Majorities of all racial groups agree gay and lesbian couples can be as good as heterosexual couples as parents. Seven-in-ten (70%) of white Americans, nearly two-thirds (65%) of Hispanic Americans, and 6-in-10 (60%) black Americans agree gay and lesbian couples can be as good as heterosexual couples as parents. A majority of all religious groups, with the exception of white evangelical Protestants, agree that gay and lesbian couples can be as good as heterosexual couples as parents. Roughly 8-in-10 religiously unaffiliated Americans (82%), Jewish Americans (81%), white mainline Protestants (77%), about 7-in-10 white Catholics (72%) and Hispanic Catholics (66%), and about 6-in-10 Hispanic Protestants (59%), and black Protestants (58%) agree gay and lesbian couples can be as good as parents as heterosexual couples. White evangelical Protestants are divided, with 49% agreeing and 48% disagreeing. Millennials are more likely than older Americans to agree gay and lesbian couples can be as good as heterosexual couples as parents. Nearly 8-in-10 (79%) Millennials agree, compared to half (50%) of Americans who are part of the Silent Generation. These generational differences also affect views within religious groups, particularly among more conservative groups. For example, more than twice as many younger white evangelical Protestants as older white evangelical Protestants agree gay and lesbian couples can be as good as parents as heterosexual couples (66% vs. 32%). Adoption by Gay and Lesbian Couples Roughly 6-in-10 (58%) Americans favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt children. Support has increased substantially since 2006, when 46% of Americans favored allowing gay couples to adopt children.(12) Views shifted less dramatically during the first half of the last decade, as 38% of Americans expressed support for allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt children in 1999.(13) The partisan divisions on attitudes toward adoption largely mirror the findings on support for same-sex marriage. More than 6-in-10 Democrats (66%) and independents (61%) favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt children, compared to 42% of Republicans and 40% of those who identify with the Tea Party movement. Notably, a majority (52%) of Millennial Republicans favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt children, compared to only 31% of Republicans who are a part of the Silent Generation. As with the issue of same-sex marriage, there are significant differences among racial groups with regard to gay and lesbian couples adopting children. Majorities of white Americans (60%) and Hispanic Americans (54%) favor allowing gay and lesbian people to adopt children, compared to 44% of black Americans. Half (50%) of black Americans oppose allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt children. The divisions between religious groups on the issue of adoption closely track the divisions on the issue of same-sex marriage. Majorities of Jews (80%), the religiously unaffiliated (75%), white mainline Protestants (68%), white Catholics (63%), and Hispanic Catholics (56%) support allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt children. Hispanic Protestants are divided on the issue, with 46% in favor of allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt children and 50% opposed. Majorities of black Protestants and white evangelical Protestants oppose allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt children. A majority (54%) of black Protestants are opposed to same-sex couples adopting children, compared to 40% who favor it. More than 6-in-10 (61%) white evangelical Protestants oppose allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt children, including 3-in-10 (31%) who strongly oppose; only one-third (33%) of white evangelical Protestants favor adoption rights for gay and lesbian couples. Millennial white evangelical Protestants are about twice as likely as white evangelical Protestants who are part of the Silent Generation to support allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt (46% vs. 24%). However, half (50%) of Millennial white evangelical Protestants oppose this policy. Majorities of every generational cohort except the Silent Generation favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt children. Seven-in-ten (70%) Millennials, 58% of Generation X, and 52% of Baby Boomers favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt children. Among members of the Silent Generation, only 42% favor this policy compared to 49% who oppose.
VIII. Employment Nondiscrimination Laws for Gay and Lesbian People Support for Discrimination Protections for Gay and Lesbian Persons in the Workplace Americans strongly support laws that would protect gay and lesbian people from discrimination in the workplace. More than 7-in-10 (72%) Americans favor laws protecting gay and lesbian people from job discrimination, compared to less than one-quarter (23%) who oppose. Solid majorities of both political parties and in every major religious group support workplace nondiscrimination laws for gay and lesbian people. Majorities of Democrats (79%), independents (75%), and Republicans (61%) favor laws protecting gay and lesbian people against employment discrimination, as do a majority (57%) of Tea Party members. More than 8-in-10 Jewish Americans (88%) and religiously unaffiliated Americans (82%) and three-quarters of white mainline Protestants (75%) favor laws protecting gay and lesbian people from job discrimination, as do roughly 7-in-10 white Catholics (73%), Hispanic Catholics (73%), Hispanic Protestants (70%), and black Protestants (69%), and a majority of white evangelical Protestants (57%). Knowledge of Employment Nondiscrimination Laws The vast majority of Americans incorrectly believe it is currently illegal under federal law to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Three-quarters (75%) of Americans incorrectly believe it is currently illegal under federal law to fire or refuse to hire someone because they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. Only 15% of Americans correctly say that such discrimination is currently legal under federal law, while nearly 1-in- 10 (9%) offered no opinion. Majorities of all political affiliations incorrectly believe it is currently illegal under federal law to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Democrats (21%) and Tea Party members (18%) are slightly more likely than independents (13%) and Republicans (11%) to know such job discrimination protections do not exist. Notably, nearly 7-in-10 (68%) Americans who identify as LGBT incorrectly believe job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is illegal, a rate comparable to the three-quarters (75%) of all Americans who believe it is illegal.(14)
IX. Perceptions of Discrimination and Bullying in Society Discrimination Against Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Americans Compared to Other Groups Today, roughly two-thirds (68%) of Americans believe that gay and lesbian people face a lot of discrimination in the United States, while similar numbers (71%) say transgender Americans face a lot of discrimination. In 2009, 64% of Americans reported that gay and lesbian people faced a lot of discrimination.(15) Similar numbers of Americans also perceive that Muslims (65%) face a lot of discrimination in the United States today. A majority of Americans say that people with HIV or AIDS (53%) and black Americans (52%) also face considerable amounts of discrimination in American society. Less than half (44%) of Americans say that women confront a lot discrimination, while only about one-third believe there to be a lot of discrimination against Jewish Americans (32%), atheists (31%), and evangelical Christians (29%). Americans who are members of these groups are significantly more likely than those who are not to believe their own group faces a lot of discrimination in society today. For instance, nearly half (45%) of white evangelical Protestants believe that people like them face a lot of discrimination in society. More than 8-in-10 (83%) black Americans report that there is a lot discrimination against black Americans in the United States, compared to fewer than half (45%) of white Americans who say the same. A majority (54%) of women believe they face a lot of discrimination in America today, while only 32% of men agree. Self-identified gay and lesbian people are also more likely than heterosexual Americans to believe they face considerable discrimination (83% vs. 68%). Americans believe the bullying of gay and lesbian youth is a major problem in many American schools. Roughly two-thirds (66%) of Americans agree bullying of gay and lesbian teenagers is a major problem in schools today, while nearly one-quarter (23%) disagree. The belief that bullying of gay and lesbian youth is a major problem in schools is broadly shared across partisan and religious lines. Notably, LGBT Americans and those with closer ties to LGBT people are more likely to see bullying as a major problem. Eighty percent of self-identified LGBT people, compared to 67% of heterosexual people, see the bullying of gay and lesbian youth as a major problem. Similarly, 71% of those who have a close friend or family member who is gay or lesbian see bullying as a major school problem, compared to 58% of those who do not have close ties to someone who is gay or lesbian. Difficulty of Living Openly as Gay or Lesbian People perceive that living openly as a gay or lesbian person in their community is easier today than it was even a few years ago. A majority (55%) of Americans say that it is not too difficult or not at all difficult to live openly as a gay or lesbian person while 4-in-10 (41%) believe it is somewhat or very difficult.(16) In 2011, less than half (45%) of Americans thought it was not too difficult to live openly as a gay or lesbian person, compared to a slim majority (51%) of Americans who reported that living openly as a gay or lesbian person was somewhat or very difficult. There are notable regional differences in perceptions of how easy or difficult it is for gay and lesbian people to live openly in society. More than 4-in-10 Americans living in the Midwest (47%), South (43%), and West (42%) say living openly as a gay or lesbian person in the United States today is either somewhat or very difficult, while significantly fewer people living in the Northeast (34%) say the same. People living in urban and suburban areas are less likely to say it is difficult to live openly as a gay or lesbian in America today (39% and 41%, respectively), than Americans living in rural areas, among whom nearly half (47%) say it is difficult. Americans living in states that recognize same-sex marriage are similarly less inclined to believe that it is difficult to live openly as a gay or lesbian person than those living in states where it is not.(17) Fewer than 4-in-10 (37%) Americans living in states that recognize same-sex marriages believe it is difficult to live openly as a gay or lesbian person in their community. Close to half (45%) of Americans living in states where neither same-sex marriage nor civil unions for gay and lesbian couples are legally recognized believe living openly as a gay or lesbian person is difficult in their community. Self-identified LGBT people are evenly divided on whether they think it is difficult to live openly in society. Forty-nine percent say it is very or somewhat difficult to live openly as a gay or lesbian person, while just as many (49%) say that it is not too or not at all difficult.
X. Profile of LGBT Americans Size of the LGBT Population in the United States Estimates of the size of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender population in the United States have produced somewhat different results due to different measurement approaches, such as measuring same-sex sexual behavior or attraction, household relationships, and self-identification. Recent estimates of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender population range from 1.7% to 5.6% of the U.S. adult population.(18) The current survey, using self-identification, finds 5.1% of the adult population identifies as either gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.(19) Notably, when asked to estimate the percentage of gay and lesbian people in the United States today, Americans overall overestimate the size of the LGBT population by a factor of 4 (20% median estimate). Only 14% of Americans accurately estimate the gay and lesbian population at 5% or less.(20) A majority (55%) of LGBT Americans live in states that prohibit same-sex marriage and civil unions; 7% live in states that recognize civil unions but not marriage for gay and lesbian couples, and 38% live in states that allow gay and lesbian couples to legally marry. Religious Identity, Beliefs and Participation of LGBT Americans The religious profile of LGBT people differs sharply from Americans overall. Nearly 4-in- 10 (37%) Americans who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender report being religiously unaffiliated, nearly twice the rate of the public overall (21%). However, this is partly explained by the fact that self-identified LGBT Americans are more likely to be Millennials, a group with higher rates of disaffiliation. For example, nearly half (49%) of self-identified LGBT people are Millennials, compared to 29% of the general population who are part of the Millennial Generation. Nearly 1-in-5 (19%) LGBT Americans identify as Catholic, a rate comparable to all Americans (20%). LGBT people are substantially less likely than Americans on the whole to identify as a member of Protestant religious traditions, including white evangelical Protestant (8% vs. 19%), white mainline Protestant (6% vs. 14%), and black Protestant (5% vs. 8%). Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans are also far more likely than other Americans to report leaving their childhood religion. LGBT Americans are about as likely as Americans overall to have been raised outside a formal religious tradition (7% vs. 8%). However, nearly 4-in-10 (37%) LGBT Americans are now unaffiliated, compared to 21% of Americans overall. Put another way, roughly 3-in-10 (31%) of LGBT Americans left their childhood religion to become religiously unaffiliated. Consistent with their lower rates of religious affiliation, gay and lesbian Americans report going to services less often than Americans overall. Fifteen percent of gay and lesbian people say they attend religious services weekly or more, compared to 36% of Americans overall. Most gay and lesbian Americans (54%) say they attend religious services seldom or never, a significantly larger share than the 3-in-10 (30%) Americans overall who report attending services this often. Gay and lesbian Americans are also less likely to emphasize the place of religion in their lives than Americans overall, though a significant number still do. Nearly half of LGBT Americans say religion is either the most important thing in their lives (12%) or one among many important things (34%). Among Americans overall, roughly 7-in-10 say religion is either the most important thing (28%) in their lives or one among many important things (43%). A majority of LGBT Americans say religion is not as important as other things (31%) or is not at all important in their daily life (22%). LGBT Americans are much less likely than Americans overall to have a literal view of the Bible. Only 13% of LGBT Americans say the Bible is the word of God and that everything in it should be taken literally, while another 21% believe the Bible is the word of God but not everything should be taken literally. A majority (57%) of LGBT Americans say the Bible is not the word of God, but rather a book written by men. By comparison, more than 6-in- 10 Americans believe the
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themselves. It's a smiling picture of like, their bosses.PJ: So, this is a very, very funny plan. So what happened?ALEX GOLDMAN: -Uh- So I call up. And some guy I don’t recognize answers, and we just start going through the routine where he gets on my computer, you know?MALE VOICE: Your Mac computer is going to connect to our secure server, and after that we are going to run a diagnose on that.ALEX GOLDMAN: Okay. --A little box showed up in the lower right-hand corner. It says.MALE VOICE: Yeah. Please, uh, join session. Click on..ALEX GOLDMAN: Okay!MALE VOICE: Connect.ALEX GOLDMAN: Here I go!MALE VOICE: Yeah. Yes sir.ALEX GOLDMAN: And then... I minimize everything on my screen, leaving only the picture on the desktop.MALE VOICE: Now, we are well connected. Okay, Wait a second.DAMIANO: (laughs) Is he still on your computer? (whispering)ALEX GOLDMAN: I think he hung up.DAMIANO: Hello?ALEX GOLDMAN: Hello!?MALE VOICE: Be on line, sir. Be on line.OTHER MALE VOICE: [HINDI]DAMIANO: (whispering) Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. What’s he doing on your computer?MALE VOICE: Be on line. Be on line.DAMIANO: What’s he doing? My heart is beating so fast.ALEX MARTIN: --Thank you so much for being online, sir. This --Alexander Martin, How are you doing today?ALEX GOLDMAN: Hey, Alex Martin! How's it going?ALEX MARTIN: I'm doing great, sir. How are you?ALEX GOLDMAN: I'm good! What's up?ALEX MARTIN: I'm doing great, thanks a lot for asking. How is your day going, sir?ALEX GOLDMAN: Pretty good, thanks!ALEX MARTIN: Mmm, that's good. That's wonderful. --ALEX GOLDMAN: Is this the Alex Martin that I talked to awhile back? This is Alex Goldman.ALEX MARTIN: (laughs) Yeah, this is the same Alex Martin, sir. You remember me?ALEX GOLDMAN: How's it going, man?! I've been trying to get in touch with you for weeks!ALEX MARTIN: My goodness, I was --out for a week. --I was on Thailand on my vacations.ALEX GOLDMAN: What have you been up to? Did you- What did you think of my desktop background?ALEX MARTIN: Oh, who are they? I don't recognize them. Who are they?ALEX GOLDMAN: G-Gimme a break. Come on man. I know better than that.ALEX MARTIN: Seriously? --Like, are-are you one of them? Who are you?ALEX GOLDMAN: (laughing) So Alex. Dude. I've been trying to get in touch with you man. Uh. I've been learning a lot about Quick Pc Resolve and, uh, Accostings, InfoTech, and sort of like, people who work there, people who used to work there. But uh, I was worried that you might have gotten canned or something. It's glad-I'm glad to hear your voice.ALEX MARTIN: Mmm. So what exactly you want now?ALEX GOLDMAN: Well, I just wanted to know how were doing first of all. Second of all-ALEX MARTIN: Yeah, I'm very good.ALEX GOLDMAN: Second of all-- Um-ALEX MARTIN: What about you, sir?ALEX GOLDMAN: Well the reason I was trying to reach you is cause I wanted- I wanted to see if you, uh.. You said you played Counter-Strike and you- and I was wondering if you were Steam. Cause if you were on Steam, I could give you my Steam ID. We could play some games together.ALEX MARTIN: Mm. --No need. You don’t have any work to do, or what?ALEX GOLDMAN: Up until this point, Alex Martin has always been like interested in me, he w-wants to talk about video games and stuff, and all of a sudden in this moment, he becomes really hostile. And honestly, it kind of threw me off-balance a little bit, like I didn’t know how to proceed.ALEX GOLDMAN: This is my work! But I mean, you know, when you’re not at work, you said you liked to play video games. I was wondering if you wanted to play some games together.ALEX MARTIN: What game you like?ALEX GOLDMAN: Well, let's see. What do I--Let me just-eh-Let me just bring up my Steam and see what I've got going on there.ALEX MARTIN: Mmm.ALEX GOLDMAN: You seem angry with me. Are you mad at me?ALEX MARTIN: Me?ALEX GOLDMAN: Yeah.ALEX MARTIN: No, I'm not angry at all. I'm very calm, you know, very calm very cool.ALEX GOLDMAN: Alright, what have I got here? Uh..ALEX MARTIN: -The only thing is that I want to find out what exactly you want. That's what I want to know.ALEX GOLDMAN: -S- So, I've got, uh.. I've got Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike.ALEX MARTIN: -No, you're not coming to the point. You know what I'm asking you. I'm asking you what exactly you want.ALEX GOLDMAN: Well, so, I got a call from this number awhile back. And..ALEX MARTIN: -Yeah, that was ages before. Yeah, that was ages before.ALEX: And the-the purpose of that call was to try and s- try and scam me out of money.ALEX MARTIN: Mm, but you were not scammed, fortunately, yeah?ALEX GOLDMAN: Yeah, but I know that a lot of other people probably are being scammed?ALEX MARTIN: Mmm. So what? You are a social worker, or what?ALEX GOLDMAN: Well no. I’m a journalist.ALEX MARTIN: Mmm. So, I mean, uh-you don't have any other companies to find out that are they doing scam or not?ALEX GOLDMAN: Well, (laughing) no other companies called me, man.ALEX MARTIN: I'll give you some names. You can write it down.ALEX GOLDMAN: Uh, of other companies?ALEX MARTIN: Yep.ALEX GOLDMAN: --I mean, I- I’ll be--ALEX MARTIN: ---They'll be bigger fishes for you, okay? Instead of coming to me, go for them. You'll get more money from there. Because if you come to me you won't get anything. So you're wasting your time.ALEX GOLDMAN: So he’s saying like, “If you come to me, you won’t get anything. I’m not giving you any money.” And, it, suddenly felt like I was talking to a boss? And then it hit me that I might actually be talking to the boss. Like, what if Alex Martin is Kamal?PJ: Oh. That is nuts!ALEX: Yeah.ALEX GOLDMAN: So is this Kamal that I'm talking to?ALEX MARTIN: Yeah, this is Kamal.ALEX GOLDMAN: Is it really?ALEX MARTIN: So, you don't recognize me, or what?ALEX GOLDMAN: Well how am I supposed to- E-Every time I call I get a different name. How am I supposed to know that this is Kamal?ALEX MARTIN: Because you know when they came to know that you are the same guy with whom I have already spoken with. So they transferred the call to me, ya know?ALEX GOLDMAN: And you know, as the conversation went on, he started to refer to things that only Kamal would know. Like.. a few weeks before we made this call, we had our coworker Sruthi try to friend him on Facebook and he brought that up. And I was like, “Oh, this guy that I'm talking to really is Kamal.”PJ: That is nuts. I can't even process that.ALEX GOLDMAN: (laughs)PJ: So the- Wow!ALEX GOLDMAN: Yeah. I must've gotten the floor manager the first time.PJ: Oh my god.ALEX GOLDMAN: Yeah.PJ: No wonder he sounds like so at ease with what he's doing-you know what I mean?ALEX GOLDMAN: -- And Kamal basically said to me, Kam-Alex, Kamal said to me like, "Look, you need to stop calling during business hours and disrupting my techs. And I was like, "Well what do you want me to do?" And he gave me his number.PJ: What?!ALEX GOLDMAN: He gave me his email address.PJ: What?!ALEX GOLDMAN: And was like, call me back when you--like, call back my number instead of calling my technicians on the floor.PJ: That's so funny.ALEX GOLDMAN: So at this point, it’s the end of March. It's been about two months since the first call. And.. I started just calling Kamal pretty regularly over the next couple weeks.[MUSIC][PHONE RING]PJ: And would he pick up?ALEX GOLDMAN: He would!KAMAL: Hello?ALEX GOLDMAN: Hey. Kamal? Kamalll... Hello?KAMAL: Yes. Yes. Your voice is breaking.PJ: And which Kamal would you get? Would you get the Kamal that’s like jeering at you for being a slovenly American? Would you get the nice Kamal that talks to you about how he'd like to play Counter-Strike?ALEX GOLDMAN: I got- We got sort of like a laid back, kind of quiet Kamal. It was a very different Kamal then I was used to. He would just sort of answer my questions.ALEX GOLDMAN: Did you grow up in Delhi?ALEX MARTIN: No, not at all. Um. I belong to, uh, Punjab. I'm not from Delhi.ALEX GOLDMAN: What made you move to Delhi in the first place?ALEX MARTIN: I just want to see the Delhi life. That's it. I just came here with --friend, and then I thought like, "Let me work here for a few years." And I work and then I enjoy it and now…[FADES]ALEX GOLDMAN: I’m honestly not learning that much from Kamal in these conversations, we’re just having sort of idle chit chat. But at the same time, me and Damiano are researching Accostings. And it’s during this time that we realize that Kamal is not actually the boss. Kamal is the boss’s right-hand man. So, here: lemme show you this photo. It’s of uh, them in their new office.PJ: Oh there are so many employees at this company now.DAMIANO: That’s the whole team yeah. And the guy at the center, that’s the top boss. It's a guy named Deepak Verma.PJ: So the guy who’s wearing like traditional garb?ALEX: Yes.DAMIANO: -An- And then I think like... literally.. Kamal is his right-hand man.ALEX: -Yeah--Kamal is immediately to the right of him.PJ: He’s-eh--He's actually standing at his right hand.DAMIANO: Yeah. And so, we start to think, maybe Kamal gave us his personal phone number because he doesn’t want his boss to know that he’s talking to us.ALEX: And, um, I would say a couple weeks after he gave me his cell phone number, he started saying, “I think--you know I think my time at this company is about to near-is about to come to an end.”ALEX: How you doing?KAMAL: Well, not so good these days. I mean, even I’m--Everyone--now switching, you know. No one--So even I’m thinking, planning of doing my own. Thinking that I’ll do something for myself, you know? A small set up or something.ALEX: Wait, wait. So you. Wait, you’re planning on leaving Accostings?KAMAL: Yep, yep.ALEX: And starting your own business..KAMAL: Yep.PJ: When he would say that, did it feel like he wanted to leave the company to go start another scam company? Or was it like I want to leave..maybe I don’t want to scam people anymore.ALEX GOLDMAN: It never seemed like he didn’t- he had like a particular moral qualm about scamming.PJ: Yeah.ALEX GOLDMAN: But he did-did seem like he was kinda burnt out.ALEX GOLDMAN: Why do you want to leave?KAMAL: It’s just like that I don’t want to work anymore. That’s it. I just want to go village and stay in village. My father, they used to call me every other day. They'd, “Come back. Come back.”ALEX GOLDMAN: And at first I wasn’t super convinced that he actually wanted to leave. I think he kinda wanted to throw me off the trail.PJ: Mhm.ALEX GOLDMAN: But then.. You know, I started--I kept calling the call center. And one day a couple months later…[HOLD MUSIC]ROBOT: Your call is very important to us. Please stay on the line and you’ll be transferred to the next available agent.[BEEP]MAN: Thank you for calling Premium Technical Support. My name is Eric. How can I help you today?ALEX: Yeah. My name’s Alex Goldman. I’m trying to reach Kamal Verma. Is he there?MAN: Sir, he left the job today.ALEX: What do you mean he l-MAN: I’m so sorry sir. He’s not available --actually. He left the job today, sir.PJ: Huh.ALEX: So I hung up and I immediately called Kamal and he said, “Yeah. I quit. I moved back in with my parents on their farm.” And he was like, “Look, I moved to the city to see what it was like, to try living a metropolitan life. And I decided that it’s not for me. And what could be better than just hanging out, waking up whenever I want, going to bed whenever I want, and not really having to work?[MUSIC]ALEX: Kamal said that he’d left Accostings on bad terms, which made me think a little differently about something he’d said to me a couple times on the phone.KAMAL: Any--Anytime when-eh-whenever you come to India, let's do call me okay.ALEX: Uh, I might- I might come to-KAMAL: --if you come-If you visit New Delhi. Yeah, just come- just come for two, three days, and, --I’ll make you visit places like Taj--You know Agra? Nice place to see.ALEX: Six months ago, I got a phone call from someone pretending to be Apple Computers. And, just through sheer force of will, and I guess a lot of free time, me and Damiano managed to figure out a lot about these people. And now an ex-manager who’d parted on bad terms is inviting me to India. And I asked him, “Hey, now that you don’t work there anymore, will you tell me everything I want to know?” And he said, “Yes.”AIRPLANE ANNOUNCEMENT: Please keep your seats in an upright position.ALEX: I mean how could I not go?[AIRPLANE TAKE-OFF SOUND][MUSIC]PJ: Next time on Reply All, Alex and Damiano take a trip."Live Search" and "Live search" redirect here. For other uses, see Incremental search
Bing is a web search engine owned and operated by Microsoft. The service has its origins in Microsoft's previous search engines: MSN Search, Windows Live Search and later Live Search. Bing provides a variety of search services, including web, video, image and map search products. It is developed using ASP.NET.
Bing, Microsoft's replacement for Live Search, was unveiled by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on May 28, 2009, at the All Things Digital conference in San Diego, California, for release on June 1, 2009.[3] Notable new features at the time included the listing of search suggestions while queries are entered and a list of related searches (called "Explore pane") based on semantic technology from Powerset,[4] which Microsoft had acquired in 2008.[5]
In July 2009, Microsoft and Yahoo! announced a deal in which Bing would power Yahoo! Search.[6] All Yahoo! Search global customers and partners made the transition by early 2012.[7] The deal was altered in 2015, meaning Yahoo! was only required to use Bing for a "majority" of searches.[8]
In October 2011, Microsoft stated that they were working on new back-end search infrastructure with the goal of delivering faster and slightly more relevant search results for users. Known as "Tiger", the new index-serving technology had been incorporated into Bing globally since August that year.[9] In May 2012, Microsoft announced another redesign of its search engine that includes "Sidebar", a social feature that searches users' social networks for information relevant to the search query.[10]
As of October 2018, Bing is the third largest search engine globally, with a query volume of 4.58%, behind Google (77%) and Baidu (14.45%). Yahoo! Search, which Bing largely powers, has 2.63%.[11]
History
MSN Search
MSN Search homepage in 2002
MSN Search homepage in 2006
Microsoft originally launched MSN Search in the third quarter of 1998, using search results from Inktomi. It consisted of a search engine, index, and web crawler. In early 1999, MSN Search launched a version which displayed listings from Looksmart blended with results from Inktomi except for a short time in 1999 when results from AltaVista were used instead. Microsoft decided to make a large investment in web search by building its own web crawler for MSN Search, the index of which was updated weekly and sometimes daily. The upgrade started as a beta program in November 2004, and came out of beta in February 2005.[12] This occurred a year after rival Yahoo! Search rolled out its own crawler too. Image search was powered by a third party, Picsearch. The service also started providing its search results to other search engine portals in an effort to better compete in the market.
Windows Live Search
Windows Live Search homepage
The first public beta of Windows Live Search was unveiled on March 8, 2006, with the final release on September 11, 2006 replacing MSN Search. The new search engine used search tabs that include Web, news, images, music, desktop, local, and Microsoft Encarta.
In the roll-over from MSN Search to Windows Live Search, Microsoft stopped using Picsearch as their image search provider and started performing their own image search, fueled by their own internal image search algorithms.[13]
Live Search
Live Search homepage, which would help to create the Bing homepage later on
On March 21, 2007, Microsoft announced that it would separate its search developments from the Windows Live services family, rebranding the service as Live Search. Live Search was integrated into the Live Search and Ad Platform headed by Satya Nadella, part of Microsoft's Platform and Systems division. As part of this change, Live Search was merged with Microsoft adCenter.[14]
A series of reorganisations and consolidations of Microsoft's search offerings were made under the Live Search branding. On May 23, 2008, Microsoft announced the discontinuation of Live Search Books and Live Search Academic and integrated all academic and book search results into regular search, and as a result this also included the closure of Live Search Books Publisher Program. Soon after, Windows Live Expo was discontinued on July 31, 2008. Live Search Macros, a service for users to create their own custom search engines or use macros created by other users, was also discontinued shortly after. On May 15, 2009, Live Product Upload, a service which allowed merchants to upload products information onto Live Search Products, was discontinued. The final reorganisation came as Live Search QnA was rebranded as MSN QnA on February 18, 2009, however, it was subsequently discontinued on May 21, 2009.[15]
Rebrand as Bing
First Bing logo used until September 2013 Second Bing logo used from 2013 until 2016
Microsoft recognised that there would be a problem with branding as long as the word "Live" remained in the name.[16] As an effort to create a new identity for Microsoft's search services, Live Search was officially replaced by Bing on June 3, 2009.[17]
The Bing name was chosen through focus groups, and Microsoft decided that the name was memorable, short, easy to spell, and that it would function well as a URL around the world. The word would remind people of the sound made during "the moment of discovery and decision making."[18] Microsoft was assisted by branding consultancy Interbrand in their search for the best name for the new search engine.[19] The name also has strong similarity to the word 'bingo', which is used to mean that something sought has been found or realized, as is interjected when winning the game Bingo. Microsoft advertising strategist David Webster originally proposed the name "Bang" for the same reasons the name Bing was ultimately chosen (easy to spell, one syllable, and easy to remember). He noted, "It's there, it's an exclamation point [...] It's the opposite of a question mark." This name was ultimately not chosen because it could not be properly used as a verb in the context of an internet search; Webster commented "Oh, 'I banged it' is very different than 'I binged it'".[20]
According to the Guardian "[Microsoft] hasn't confirmed that it stands recursively for Bing Is Not Google, but that's the sort of joke software engineers enjoy."[21] Qi Lu, president of Microsoft Online Services, also announced that Bing's official Chinese name is bì yìng (simplified Chinese: 必应; traditional Chinese: 必應), which literally means "very certain to respond" or "very certain to answer" in Chinese.[22]
While being tested internally by Microsoft employees, Bing's codename was Kumo (くも),[23] which came from the Japanese word for spider (蜘蛛; くも, kumo) as well as cloud (雲; くも, kumo), referring to the manner in which search engines "spider" Internet resources to add them to their database, as well as cloud computing.
Legal challenges
On July 31, 2009, The Laptop Company, Inc. stated in a press release that it would challenge Bing's trademark application, alleging that Bing may cause confusion in the marketplace as Bing and their product BongoBing both do online product search.[24] Software company TeraByte Unlimited, which has a product called BootIt Next Generation (abbreviated to BING), also contended the trademark application on similar grounds, as did a Missouri-based design company called Bing! Information Design.[25]
Microsoft contended that claims challenging its trademark were without merit because these companies filed for U.S. federal trademark applications only after Microsoft filed for the Bing trademark in March 2009.[26]
Yahoo! search deal
On July 29, 2009, Microsoft and Yahoo! announced that they had made a ten-year deal in which the Yahoo! search engine would be replaced by Bing, retaining the Yahoo! user interface. Yahoo! will get to keep 88% of the revenue from all search ad sales on its site for the first five years of the deal, and have the right to sell advertising on some Microsoft sites.[27][28] All Yahoo! Search global customers and partners made the transition by early 2012.[7]
Features
Interface features
Daily changing of background image. The images are mostly of noteworthy places in the world, though it sometimes displays animals, people, and sports. The background image also contains information about the element(s) shown in the image
Video homepage for HTML5 enabled browsers on occasional events, similar to the daily background images
Images page shows the main picture from that day and four searches that refers to that image with three preview pictures per search term
Left side navigation pane. Includes navigation and, on results pages, related searches and prior searches
Right side extended preview which shows a bigger view of the page and gives URLs to links inside of the page
Sublinks – On certain search results, the search result page also shows section links within the article (this is also done on other search engines, including Google)
Enhanced view where third party site information can be viewed inside Bing
where third party site information can be viewed inside Bing On certain sites, search from within the website on the results page
On certain sites, Bing will display the Customer Service number on the results page
Media features
Video thumbnail Preview – where, by hovering over a video thumbnail, the video automatically starts playing
Image search with continuous scrolling images results page that has adjustable settings for size, layout, color, style, and people [29]
Advanced filters or advanced (query) operators – allow users to refine search results based on properties such as image size, aspect ratio, color or black and white, photo or illustration, and facial features recognition
Video search with adjustable setting for length, screen size, resolution, and source
Instant answers
Sports – Bing can directly display scores from a specific day, recent scores from a league or scores and statistics on teams or players.
Finance – When entering a company name or stock symbol and either stock or quote in the search box Bing will show direct stock information like a stockchart, price, volume, and p/e ratio [30] in a webslice that users can subscribe to.
either or in the search box Bing will show direct stock information like a stockchart, price, volume, and p/e ratio in a webslice that users can subscribe to. Conversion of units (e.g., 1 oz in tbs, 1 cup in oz)
Mathematical calculations – (e.g., 2 *pi *24). [31] Users can enter mathematical expressions in the search box using a variety of operators and trigonometric functions [32] and Bing will provide a direct calculation of the expression.
Users can enter mathematical expressions in the search box using a variety of operators and trigonometric functions and Bing will provide a direct calculation of the expression. Advanced computations – Using the Wolfram Alpha computational engine, Bing can also give results to advanced mathematical problems (e.g. "lim x/2x as x->2") and other Wolfram Alpha-related queries (e.g., asking the number of calories in a typical pizza).
Package tracking and tracing – When a user types the name of the shipping company and the tracking number, Bing will provide direct tracking information
Dictionary – When "define", "definition", or "what is" followed by a word is entered in the searchbox Bing will show a direct answer from the Oxford English Dictionary
Spell check – Will change frequently misspelled search terms to the more commonly spelled alternative.
Best match (plus similar sites)
Product shopping and "Bing cashback"
Health information
Flight tracking
Translate – Auto translation of certain search phrases, often with phrases including "translate" or "in English". For example, to translate me llamo from Spanish to English the user would simply type "translate me llamo in English" and he or she would be redirected to a search results page with Bing Translator with the translation from Spanish to English[ disputed discuss ]
Local info
Current traffic information
Business listing
People listing
Collections
Localized searching for restaurants and services
Localized searching for coupons and deals
Restaurant reviews
Movies played in an area – When a current movie title is entered in the search box Bing will provide listings of local theaters showing the movie. When a city is added to the search box, Bing provides the movie listings localized for that city.
City hotel listings – When "hotels" and a city name is entered in the search box Bing can provide hotel listings with a map. The listing leads to a detail search page with the hotels listed that holds extended information on the hotels and contains links to reviews, directions reservations and bird-eye view of the hotel. On the page with the listings the list can be refined by settings on ratings, pricing, amenities, payment, and parking
Third-party integration
Facebook users have the option to share their searches with their Facebook friends using Facebook Connect.[33]
On June 10, 2013, Apple announced that it would be dropping Google as its web search engine in favour of Bing.[34] This feature is only integrated with iOS 7 and higher and for users with an iPhone 4S or higher as the feature is only integrated with Siri, Apple's personal assistant.
Integration with Windows 8
Windows 8.1 includes Bing "Smart Search" integration, which processes all queries submitted through the Windows Start Screen.[35] The Bing integration captures a variety of features, one of the most prominent and advertised: Hero Search. This feature allows users to browse for popular and well-known places, objects or people. Searching France, for example, will show popular search items, such as population, calling code and date founded. The current weather and location are also directly accessible using Bing Weather and Bing maps. The "Hero" result will go further to provide attractions using Bing Images and popular websites relating to France, such as France Wikipedia and France's official website. Searching an artist will display similar results with the option to play music using the Windows 8-integrated Groove Music application.
Translator
Bing Translator is a user facing translation portal provided by Microsoft to translate texts or entire web pages into different languages. All translation pairs are powered by the Microsoft Translator, a statistical machine translation platform and web service, developed by Microsoft Research, as its backend translation software. Two transliteration pairs (between Chinese (Simplified) and Chinese (Traditional)) are provided by Microsoft's Windows International team.[36] As of February 2019, Bing Translator offers translations in 60 different language systems.[37]
Bing Translator can translate phrases entered by the user or acquire a link to a web page and translate its entirely. When translating an entire web page, or when the user selects "Translate this page" in Bing search results, the Bilingual Viewer is shown, which allows users to browse the original web page text and translation in parallel, supported by synchronized highlights, scrolling, and navigation.[38] Four Bilingual Viewer layouts are available: side by side, top and bottom, original with hover translation and translation with hover original.
International
Bing is available in many languages and has been localized for many countries.[39] Even if the language of the search and of the results are the same, Bing delivers substantially different results for different parts of the world.[40]
Languages in which Bing can find results
Languages in which Bing can be displayed
Search products
In addition to its tool for searching web pages, Bing also provides the following search offerings:[41]
Service Description Advertising Formally known as adCenter, Bing Ads allows publishers to purchase pay per click advertising on Bing.[42] Dictionary Bing Dictionary enables users to quickly search for definitions of English words. Bing Dictionary results are based on the Oxford English Dictionary.[ citation needed ] In addition, Bing Dictionary also provides an audio player for users to hear the pronunciation of the dictionary words. Events Bing Events allow users to search for upcoming events from Zvents, and displays the date and time, venue details, brief description, as well as method to purchase tickets for the events listed. Users can also filter the search results by date and categories. Finance Bing Finance enables users to search for exchange listed stocks and displays the relevant stock information, company profile and statistics, financial statements, stock ratings, analyst recommendations, as well as news related to the particular stock or company. Bing Finance also allow users to view the historical data of the particular stock, and allows comparison of the stock to major indices. In addition, Bing Finance also features a JavaScript-based Stock screener, allowing investors to quickly filter for value, contrarian, high-yield, and bargain investment strategies. Health Bing Health refines health searches using related medical concepts to get relevant health information and to allow users to navigate complex medical topics with inline article results from experts. This feature is based on the Medstory acquisition. Images Bing Images enables the user to quickly search and display most relevant photos and images of interest. The advance filters allow refining search results in terms of properties such as image size, aspect ratio, color or black and white, photo or illustration, and facial features recognition. Local Bing Local searches local business listings with business details and reviews, allowing users to make more informed decisions. Maps Bing Maps enables the user to search for businesses, addresses, landmarks and street names worldwide, and can select from a road-map style view, a satellite view or a hybrid of the two. Also available are "bird's-eye" images for many cities worldwide, and 3D maps which include virtual 3D navigation and to-scale terrain and 3D buildings. For business users it will be available as "Bing Maps For Enterprise". News Bing News is a news aggregator and provides news results relevant to the search query from a wide range of online news and information services. Recipe Bing Recipe allow users to search for cooking recipes sourced from Delish.com, MyRecipes.com, and Epicurious.com, and allow users to filter recipe results based on their ratings, cuisine, convenience, occasion, ingredient, course, cooking method, and recipe provider. Reference Bing Reference semantically indexes Wikipedia content and displays them in an enhanced view within Bing.[ citation needed ] It also allow users to input search queries that resembles full questions and highlights the answer within search results. This feature is based on the Powerset acquisition. Social Bing Social allow users to search for and retrieve real-time information from Twitter and Facebook services. Bing Social search also provides "best match" and "social captions" functionalities that prioritises results based on relevance and contexts. Only public feeds from the past 7 days will be displayed in Bing Social search results. Translator Bing Translator lets users translate texts or entire web pages into different languages. University Bing University allow users to search for and view detailed information about United States universities, including information such as admissions, cost, financial aid, student body, and graduation rate. Videos Bing Videos enables the user to quickly search and view videos online from various websites. The Smart Preview feature allows the user to instantly watch a short preview of an original video. Bing Videos also allow users to access editorial video contents from MSN Video. Visual Search Bing Visual Search (Announced Sept 2009, deprecated – July 2012[43]) allowed users to refine their search queries for structured results through data-grouping image galleries that resembles "large online catalogues", powered by Silverlight[44] Weather Bing Weather allow users to search for the local weather for cities around the world, displaying the current weather information and also extended weather forecasts for the next 10 days. Weather information are provided by Intellicast and Foreca. Wolfram Alpha Bing Wolfram Alpha allow users to directly enter factual queries within Bing and provides answers and relevant visualizations from a core knowledge base of curated, structured data provided by Wolfram Alpha. Bing Wolfram Alpha can also answer mathematical and algebraic questions.
Webmaster services
Bing allows webmasters to manage the web crawling status of their own websites through Bing Webmaster Center. Additionally, users may also submit contents to Bing via the Bing Local Listing Center, which allows businesses to add business listings onto Bing Maps and Bing Local.
Mobile services
Bing Mobile allow users to conduct search queries on their mobile devices, either via the mobile browser or a downloadable mobile application.
Developer services
Bing Application Programming Interface enables developers to programmatically submit queries and retrieve results from the Bing Engine. http://www.bing.com/developers
To use the Bing API developers have to obtain an Application ID, http://www.bing.com/developers/createapp.aspx
Bing API can be used with following protocols:
XML
JSON
SOAP
Query examples:
http://api.bing.net/xml.aspx?AppId=YOUR_APPID&Version=2.2&Market=en-US&Query=YOUR_QUERY&Sources=web+spell&Web.Count=1
http://api.bing.net/json.aspx?AppId=YOUR_APPID&Version=2.2&Market=en-US&Query=YOUR_QUERY&Sources=web+spell&Web.Count=1
http://api.bing.net/search.wsdl?AppID=YourAppId&Version=2.2
Software
Toolbars
The Bing Bar, a browser extension toolbar that replaced the MSN Toolbar, provides users with links to Bing and MSN content from within their web browser without needing to navigate away from a web page they are already on. The user can customize the theme and color scheme of the Bing Bar as well as choose which MSN content buttons to present within the user interface. Bing Bar also displays the current local weather forecast and stock market positions.[45]
The Bing Bar features integration with Microsoft Bing search engine. In addition to the traditional web search functions, Bing Bar also allows search on other Bing services such as Images, Video, News and Maps. When users perform a search on another search engine, the Bing Bar's search box will automatically populate itself, allowing the user to view the results from Bing, should it be desired.
Bing Bar also links to Outlook.com, Skype and Facebook.[46]
Desktop
Bing Desktop 1.3.475.0
Microsoft released a beta version of Bing Desktop, a program developed to allow users to search Bing from the desktop, on April 4, 2012.[47] The initial release followed shortly on April 24, 2012, supporting Windows 7 only.[48] With the release of version 1.1 in December 2012 it supported Windows XP and higher.[49]
Bing Desktop allows users to initiate a web search from the desktop, view news headlines, automatically set their background to the Bing homepage image, or choose a background from the previous nine background images.[50]
Live Search versions of the The discontinuedversions of the Windows Sidebar gadgets
A similar program, the Bing Search gadget, was a Windows Sidebar Gadget that used Bing to fetch the user's search
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relevant: it is Petraeus who now masterminds what George Bush used to call the “war on terror” from the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
President Obama has reportedly allowed his CIA chief to deepen the connection between Special Forces and secret intelligence, a potentially unconstitutional move because it can mean that military operations are no longer answerable to Congress. More important still, the CIA also seems to mastermind and direct the drone strikes which have suddenly become the central element of US (and therefore British) military strategy.
Even 10 years ago, drones – remotely operated killing machines – were unthinkable because they seemed to spring direct from the imagination of a deranged science-fiction movie director. But today they dominate. Already, more US armed forces personnel are being trained as drone operators (computer geeks who sit in front of a computer screen somewhere in the mid-west of America doling out real-life death and destruction) than air force pilots.
It is easy to understand why. First of all, they can be deadly accurate. Tribal Afghans have been amazed not just that the car a Taliban leader was travelling in was precisely targeted – but that the missile went in through the door on the side he was sitting. The US claims that drones have proved very effective at targeting and killing Taliban or al-Qaeda leaders, but with the very minimum of civilian casualties.
Second, US soldiers and airmen are not placed in harm’s way. This is very important in a democracy. In America, the killing of a dozen military personnel is a political event. The death of a dozen Afghan or Pakistani villagers in a remote part of what used to be called the north‑west frontier does not register, unless a US military spokesmen labels them “militants”, in which case it becomes a victory.
There is no surprise, then – as the New York Times revealed in an important article on Tuesday – that Mr Obama “has placed himself at the helm of a top secret 'nominations’ process to designate terrorists for kill or capture, of which the capture part has become largely theoretical”.
The least enviable task of an old-fashioned British home secretary was to sign the death warrant for convicted murderers. According to the New York Times, the President has taken these exquisite agonies one stage further: “When a rare opportunity for a drone strike at a top terrorist arises, but his family is with him, it is the President who has reserved to himself the final moral calculation.”
So, in the US, drone strikes are a good thing. In Pakistan, from where I write this, it is impossible to overestimate the anger and distress they cause. Almost all Pakistanis feel that they are personally under attack, and that America tramples on their precarious national sovereignty. There are good reasons for this. When, last year in Lahore, an out-of-control CIA operative shot dead two reportedly unarmed Pakistanis, and his follow-up car ran over and killed a third, the American was spirited out of the country.
Meanwhile, America refuses to apologise for killing 24 Pakistani servicemen in a botched ISAF operation. This is election year and Mr Obama, having apologised already over Koran-burning, may be nervous about a second apology, and has therefore confined himself to an expression of “regret”.
I am told by a number of credible sources that this refusal to behave decently – allied to dismay at the use of drones as the weapon of default in tribal areas – is the reason for the unusual decision of the US ambassador in Islamabad, Cameron Munter, to step down after less than two years in his post. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – increasingly irrelevant and marginalised in an administration dominated by the partnership between Leon Panetta, the Secretary of Defence, and Petraeus – has protested but been ignored.
We need a serious public debate on drones. They are still in their infancy, but have already changed the nature of warfare. The new technology points the way, within just a few decades, to a battlefield where soldiers never die or even risk their lives, and only alleged enemies of the state, their family members, and civilians die in combat – a world straight out of the mouse’s tale in Alice in Wonderland: “ 'I’ll be judge, I’ll be jury’, said cunning old Fury. 'I’ll try the whole cause and condemn you to death.’ ” Justice as dealt out by drones cannot be reconciled with the rule of law which we say we wish to defend.
Supporters of drones – and they make up practically the entire respectable political establishment in Britain and the US – argue that they are indispensable in the fight against al-Qaeda. But plenty of very experienced voices have expressed profound qualms. The former army officer David Kilcullen, one of the architects of the 2007 Iraqi surge, has warned that drone attacks create more extremists than they eliminate. Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, Britain’s former special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, is equally adamant that drone attacks are horribly counter-productive because of the hatred they have started to generate: according to a recent poll, more than two thirds of Pakistanis regard the United States as an enemy. Britain used to be popular and respected in this part of the world for our wisdom and decency. Now, thanks to our refusal to challenge American military doctrine, we are hated, too.SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - The grand opening of San Diego's first food hall is just a few months away, and on Thursday, the public got a first-look at the retailers that will be offering their food, wine and coffee at Liberty Public Market.
From Seattle's Pike Place to Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market, a local restaurateur traveled the country for public markets to get ideas for a San Diego public market.
The idea started three-years-ago, and now, David Spatafore is teaming up with the Liberty Station developer to build San Diego's first food hall at Liberty Station.
"I see an old building that is ready to be re-purposed for San Diego," said David Spatafore from Blue Bridge Hospitality and Liberty Public Market curator.
San Diego restaurateur David Spatafore owns several Coronado restaurants, but is taking a multi-million dollar project called Liberty Public Market.
"It's a food centric market. Things that have to do with food and home, obviously flowers, wine, cheese and meats," he said.
Buying local is trending, but the concept of a 'food hall' has been stamped in cities across the country.
"The market really is a great representation of the city," said Spatafore.
Inside the 22,000-square-foot-building will be about 30 shops. All local, and will include a specialty butcher, craft coffee, and a fish monger.
The shops were all hand-picked to put the small artisan in their first brick and mortar shop.
The public market will be in a prime location, and Stone Brewery has already shown its support as a neighbor.
It will be a place where tourists can shop, eat and mingle alongside the locals.
"It's time for San Diego to have a market," said Spatafore.
Vendors will be paying a base rent which covers the square footage of their shop.
The Liberty Public Market plans to open in October.
Vendors includes:
Liberty Meat Shop
The WestBean Coffee Roasters
Fully Loaded Juice
Venissimo Cheese
Pho Realz
Wicked Maine Lobster
MooTime Creamery
Mastiff Sausage
Cane Patch Pies
Cecilia's TaqueriaEven as the major media outlets continue to largely ignore the very real recount effort which could reassign anywhere from 10 to 46 of Donald Trump’ electoral votes to Hillary Clinton, some of those same news outlets have become pushing the idea that John Kasich is somehow about to become President. While the odds of the Electoral College electing Clinton over Trump are fairly small, the odds of it electing John Kasich are essentially zero. It comes down to basic math.
Donald Trump enters the Electoral College with 306 votes assigned to him. Hillary Clinton enters with 232 votes assigned to her. John Kasich enters with zero votes assigned to him. Even though one of Trump’s electors from Texas is openly talking about trying to convince his colleagues to pick someone like Kasich, he would need to find 269 other people to join him (out of 538) who were all willing to switch their votes to Kasich. Moreover, he’d have to find a way to get all 269 of them to agree to vote for the same candidate, whereas some of them might prefer someone like Mitt Romney over Kasich.
Similarly, there would be no chance of the Electoral College electing someone like Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden as President. The idea of a candidate entering the Electoral College with zero votes, and emerging with 270 votes, is simply a fantasy. Instead, there are three actual scenarios in play:
– The first scenario is that Donald Trump manages to hang onto 270 or more of his 306 electoral votes, and he’s elected President. This is the most straightforward scenario, and frankly, the most likely. While we’ve seen far more evidence in 2016 of electors being willing to switch their votes than in any prior modern election, it’s just not something they usually do. In fact some would face legal penalties in their home states, and could end up needing attorneys.
– The second scenario is that 38 or more of Trump’s electors decide to flip to Hillary Clinton, and she’s elected President. This scenario is also straightforward, but it seems far less likely. If you want to gauge things, ask yourself what the odds are of 38 out of the 306 Trump delegates – who are all Republicans from red states – all switching to Hillary, the Democratic nominee. If Hillary wins one or more of the recount states, then she would need fewer than 38 electors to flip to her, thus increasing her odds. For instance if she wins the Michigan recount, then only 22 of Trump’s electors would need to switch to her.
– The third scenario is that the Electoral College screws around and nullifies itself. If 37 or more Trump delegates decide to cast no vote, or to waste their vote on Kasich, then next thing you know, neither Trump nor Hillary will end up with 270 electoral votes. In such case the House of Representatives would pick the next President. They would certainly pick a Republican. My guess is they would simply rubber stamp Trump and take their chances with him, rather than handing it to someone like Mike Pence, which would be historically controversial. But the final result of this scenario is anyone’s guess.Houston police are looking into whether a missing Jersey Village teen was murdered by Satan-worshipping gang members.Jersey Village Police Chief Eric Foerster confirms that department met with HPD homicide detectives Thursday about a missing persons case from January.Gemesis Cornejo, 15, was reported missing by her family. Jersey Village police officers searched apartment complexes in west Houston looking for her but believed she was "actively hiding from them," according to Foerster.Two weeks ago, the body of a teenage girl was found on the side of the road on Sharpcrest near Corporate. Police said she had been shot twice at close range and has yet to be identified. The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences released a photograph of three rings she was wearing and a clothing description that included white high-top Converse tennis shoes. Cornejo was also wearing white high-top Converse tennis shoes when she went missing.Though the victim has not been identified, Miguel Alvarez-Flores, 22, and Diego Hernandez-Rivera, 18, are charged with her murder. During their first court appearance, they smiled and waved at the cameras. Later Thursday morning, at a second court appearance, they were more composed.According to court records, a 14-year-old girl says she was kidnapped by the two, held against her will in an apartment in S. Gessner near Westheimer and sexually assaulted. She told police Alvarez-Flores, nicknamed "Diabolical," was the leader. Her captors were MS-13 gang members and they worshiped Satan. The teen also told investigators they called Satan the "Beast" and another girl named "Genesis" was also at the apartment. When "Genesis" criticized a shrine dedicated to their satanic beliefs, she said, "Genesis" disappeared.The 14-year-old was able to lead police to Alvarez-Flores and Hernandez-Rivera. A prosecutor says Hernandez-Rivera admitted to shooting "Genesis." Both are charged with her murder and police are looking into whether "Genesis' is Gemesis Cornejo.HPD's Gang Squad is expected to release new information in the case Friday. Eyewitness News has learned detectives are in touch with the missing teen's family.The professional hand-wringers are freaking out over Donald Trump's straight talk while displaying abysmal indifference to the deserved targets of Trump's charges. The United States is incinerating, but all they can think about is Trump's heated rhetoric.
Trump is resonating because, as a presidential candidate, he is giving public voice to many of the concerns that have Americans beside themselves. Some commentators have called attention to these issues for years, but it's different when a candidate does it, especially a Republican candidate.
Democratic candidates have no fear of making controversial statements or even of taking extreme positions, because the liberal media agree with them and will avoid putting them in a bad light. But Republicans know that the media will exploit any opportunity to vilify them.
Republicans also feel pressure from the GOP establishment to pull their punches -- not to say anything that would make them look too conservative, too extreme, too uncaring, too out of step with the popular culture. "Don't sound judgmental. Moderate your words. Be respectful toward President Obama. And above all, don't sound like one of those crazies."
Then Donald Trump comes along and breaks all the rules. He is not beholden to anyone for funding, and he's not a string puppet for any feckless political consultants.
The media are going bonkers, but it's not because Trump sometimes uses insulting terms. Their real beef with him is that he is saying things on policy that they don't want to hear.
The GOP political class is even more beside itself, doing everything it can to diminish him and cast him as an outsider. "Does he not realize what damage he is doing to our brand?" these insiders fret. The dirty little irony is that they are the ones who have damaged the Republican brand.
Say what you will about Democrats, but at least they stand for something and they act like the liberals they are. Republicans often talk a good game -- good enough, in fact, to win the congressional elections in a landslide in 2010 and 2014 -- but they routinely fail to deliver.
They whine that even with a majority in both houses, they can't do anything to stop Obama and that if they were to try anything too bold, they'd be viewed as extreme and lose the next election.
Neither of those excuses is entirely true, and the increasingly frustrated not-much-longer-silent majority is done with their squishiness. Their job is not to get along with Obama. It is not to pass bipartisan legislation that always plays into Obama's hands. It is not to pass cutesy bills, such as the Corker bill, that pretend to impede Obama's disastrous agenda but actually facilitate it.
People are horrified and furious that Obama is destroying America at an ever-accelerating pace and that our cultural rot proceeds apace. They are tired of hearing excuses and empty promises from Republicans.
Trump is having none of it, and he is calling out Obama and the Republicans who are trying to tone him down -- and it's abundantly refreshing.
Meanwhile, the media continue to make Trump's statements the issue instead of Obama's daily -- and I mean daily -- outrages.
Are they focusing on Obama's side deals with Iran to freeze the United States out of inspections and his bypassing of the Corker bill's requirements that he report those to Congress? How about his alleged deal to defend Iran's nuke sites against attack, even from Israel? His new rule that immigrants applying for legal citizenship no longer have to swear they will take up arms to defend the United States should they have any kind of religious objection to doing so?
No matter how much it may appear otherwise to us now, this country is not going under without a fight, and the silent majority is not going to tolerate cowardice from Republicans much longer. That Trump is doing so well is not an indication that there are a bunch of crazies on the right. It's proof that people are at their wits' end -- and they're not going to take it anymore. If GOP honchos were to try to bar Trump from the debates, there would be major hell to pay. Surely, they won't be that foolish.
Many of us Reagan conservatives have told you for years that the key to Republican victory is not for GOP candidates to emulate liberals or appeal to some mysterious group of "independents." It is to clearly and authentically articulate Reagan conservatism -- without apology.
Notably, it is not just Donald Trump who is speaking out. Sen. Ted Cruz is fearlessly and brilliantly articulating mainstream conservatism, and he's pulling no punches. The same is true of some of the other candidates. Cruz and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina are both putting on clinics on how to deal with media interviews -- refusing to cede the narrative and hitting back hard against Democratic extremism.
This may very well be a turning point in our history and in the conservative movement. Obama has become more arrogant, defiant and excessive with each successive political victory and every Republican abdication. But he might just have finally done enough to awaken the majority of Americans who still love the country for which he is demonstrating unbridled contempt.
Let's not give up on America just yet. The sleeping giant may have emerged from its coma. We still have people fighting for us and for America. They are fighting for things just a tad bit more important than worrying about whether this or that GOP candidate is sounding rude or extreme or how much leg Caitlyn Jenner is showing with her newest dress.The creators of OpenEmu, the attractive multi-console emulator front end for OS X, have released version 2.0 of the software just in time for the holidays. OpenEmu 2.0 redesigns the user interface, adds real-time rewinding for gameplay, can organize screenshots and save-states, adds more than 80 homebrew games, and makes other improvements. But the biggest reason to update is that the front end now features support for 16 new consoles, including early 3D systems like the Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation.
The full list of consoles (and the emulator "cores" that are actually handling the heavy lifting) are all listed below.
Atari 5200 (Atari800)
Atari 7800 (ProSystem)
Atari Lynx (Mednafen)
ColecoVision (CrabEmu)
Famicom Disk System (Nestopia)
Intellivision (Bliss)
Nintendo 64 (Mupen64Plus)
Odyssey²/Videopac+ (O2EM)
PC-FX (Mednafen)
SG-1000 (CrabEmu)
Sega CD (GenesisPlus)
Sony PSP (PPSSPP)
Sony PlayStation (Mednafen)
TurboGrafx-CD/PCE-CD (Mednafen)
Vectrex (VecXGL)
WonderSwan (Mednafen)
Those wanting to play disc-based games will be pointed to this section of the user guide, which outlines the specific formats that your game backups need to be stored in. Many of the newer consoles will also require BIOS files to work properly.
OpenEmu 2.0 still has most of the same strengths and weaknesses as the first release—it makes configuration of gamepads and various emulation cores pretty simple, and it's a great way to visualize and organize collections of games, but it still lacks the 10-foot, controller-driven UI that you'd want if you were going to hook your Mac up to a television (the feature request is on the team's radar but doesn't appear to be a priority). OpenEmu 2.0 requires OS X 10.11, so those of you who haven't upgraded yet will want to do so first.Yesterday's report had the Land Transport Authority saying that if the Cross Island MRT Line were to skirt the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, instead of going under it, an extra $2 billion in costs could be incurred ("$2b extra cost if MRT line skirts reserve").
While $2 billion sounds like a huge sum of money, the figure should be put in proper context.
The 4km stretch of the Circle Line extension to link HarbourFront to Marina Bay, with just three additional MRT stations, is expected to cost $3.7 billion.
By contrast, realigning the Cross Island Line (CRL) to avoid the nature reserve would add an additional 5km of train line at the cost of $2 billion, which could also be used to serve new stations.
Furthermore, when stacked against the total cost of the Cross Island Line, an additional $2 billion is not likely to be a substantially large increase; the similarly ambitious Downtown Line is already estimated to cost $20.7 billion.
In another case, construction of the Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) cost $4.3 billion. This was essentially a rerouting of the original East Coast Parkway-Ayer Rajah Expressway, so as to free up land along Tanjong Pagar for future development.
Singapore has always prided itself on planning for the long term, and the MCE is one such example.
Rerouting the CRL now to protect our nature reserve for future generations would merely be a continuation of this laudable policy.
Finally, we also spent $1 billion (not including the substantial cost of land reclamation) to build Gardens by the Bay, which, today, is a well-loved park.
The Central Catchment Nature Reserve, on the other hand, is a biologically rich rainforest that sits in the heart of our country, something that cannot be found in other world-class cities like London, New York or Tokyo.
Enjoyed by generations of Singaporeans from the very birth of our country, it is a national treasure that makes Singapore unique among the metropolises of the world.
If we are willing to spend such money on creating new nature-themed attractions, what more to protect our primeval, natural heritage inherited from our ancestors and which we can pass down to our descendants?
Jonathan Tan Yong HowI read this article in the New York Times and was intrigued. Many readers are put off by classics, finding the language difficult to navigate or the stories somewhat dull. I looked up ThugNotes on YouTube and was impressed. I’ve looked at a number of different sites that provide analysis and recaps of classic book but this was different – true there wasn’t the depth that some sites have (no chapter by chapter recap, no deep character analysis) but it was fun. This is the kind of site that might get a reluctant reader to engage with a classic or, at the very least, have some understanding of the storyline and the themes of the book.
The plot recaps were fun and the analysis was spot on. True there was some swearing and non-pc language which might make some people uncomfortable but overall I liked it. The clips bring out the best in the books – because the truth is many of the classics have great story lines and the recaps in these videos highlight this. The analysis is punchy, relevant and thought provoking. Enough to get a viewer thinking and reflecting and maybe – hopefully – deciding to explore further.
Here are some of the clips I watched and enjoyed:
Lord of the Flies
Of Mice and Men
Animal Farm
This is not for everyone – but it is worth checkin it out.Polar Lights 1/1000 USS Enterprise Refit
KIT #: PL-820 PRICE: $22.95 MSRP DECALS: One option REVIEWER: Dan Lee NOTES:
HISTORY
(ST Movies, the Early Years)
The early 1970s saw a limited amount of SF on TV and the movies. There were a few good movies mixed with a lot of very bad TV (Space 1999, Logan’s Run (TV Series) and Planet of the Apes (TV Series) among them) a situation which did not start to change till Star Wars appeared in 1977. During the early 70s, Paramount noticed that the Star Trek reruns were very popular in syndication and felt that the show had some potential to make more money. Gene Roddenberry proposed a Star Trek 2 show based on the further adventures of Kirk and crew (minus Leonard Nimoy who was in his “I am NOT Spock” phase and refused to put on the ears.)
One of the things that was done was a redesign of the series iconic starship. Star Trek TOS ’ USS Enterprise was designed in the tail end of the plastic fantastic era, where everything was angular and/or saucer shaped and clean. In the proposed 2nd Star Trek series, the USS Enterprise was redesigned for a 1970’s sensibility. Gone were the perpendicular struts, cylindrical warp engines, the exposed sensor dish and the grey paint. In were the more “aerodynamic”/angular struts, more warped warp engines and sadly for Star Trek modelers, that damned Aztec Paint Scheme.
The 2nd Star Trek series was cancelled due to the fact that at the time no major TV network would pick the show up and that syndication of non network shows was in its infancy, but the producers ended up using the sets and models in the expensive (for the time) and not as big a blockbuster as expected Star Trek: The (slow) Motion Picture.
The cost of the movie freaked the studio execs out because the box office was not as good as expected. Why should they have been surprised? It had a recycled plot (lifted from the episode “Nomad”), spent way way way too long lingering on SFX shots that added little to the plot and lacked drama/conflict. There is a reason why the first movie is mocked to this day as Star Trek: The Boring Picture.
On a personal note, I am magically drawn to this movie when it plays on TV despite of everything (yeah, I don’t get it either.) It is timeless as the middle of the movie still bores me in the same way as an adult as it did when I saw it the first time as a kid.
AMT produced a kit of refit Enterprise in 1/535 scale for ST: TMP. It was considered the best of the refit versions as it was smooth with raised panel lines unlike the later versions which had trenches for recessed panel lines.
The Wrath of Khan
“Ah, Kirk, my old friend, do you know the Klingon proverb that tells us revenge is a dish that is best served cold? [Pause] It is very cold in spaaaaaccce!”
It is allegedly a Sicilian quote (someone has told me that it comes from Afghanistan ), but it stuck.
In an attempt to revive the franchise, Paramount kicked Gene Roddenberry to the side and brought in a non-Trek producer and director to rev up the action. In a review of the episodes, they realized that Space Seed would be the best option to provide continuity with the show.
Wrath of Khan made the movie universe safe for Star Trek movies with enough scene chewing by Richardo Montolban and William Shatner, a plot of psychotic obsessed revenge and starship battles.
The Wrath of Khan recycled many of the shots and models from the 1st movie to save money, but added space combat (huzzah!), drama (huzzah!) and the death of Spock (no huzzahs.) It turned out to be one of the best, if not the best of the Star Trek movies.
With regards to the plastic models, AMT produced several recessed panel versions with a wood grain like plastic of the Refit Enterprise. All versions (including the TMP version) were rather inaccurate, suffered awful fit, and suffered from warp nacelle droop due to the way the parts were designed plus the weakness of the plastic. In what some might consider long after the fact, AMT released a model of the USS Reliant in 1995.
THE KIT
The 1/350 version of the Refit Enterprise kit is an amazing kit, but many modelers don’t have the space to put a 3 foot by 2 foot by 1 1/2 foot model anywhere (I don’t, which is why it is still sitting in the box with the lighting kit I bought for it.) However, 1/1000 is a much more manageable size.
Like the original 1/1000 Polar Lights Enterprise, the “old” new Enterprise kit is a snap together kit consisting of 27 white plastic parts, nine clear parts and one plastic base and one metal rod. The parts are almost flash free and contain fine (if not way over scale) details.
The instructions and decal placement sheet does a very good job of identifying the parts/decals and explaining their placement.
It also includes a decal sheet for the dreaded Aztec Pattern which has become the “standard” for all Star Trek starships and (to my own annoyance) on other non-Trek series ships. Yes, it looks cool, but it can be a pain to reproduce in the smaller scales.
One thing that is much better than the original 1/1000 kits is that the stand is much more stable and sturdier with the wide base and metal rod.
CONSTRUCTION
First thing I did was assemble the sensor array so that I could spray the inside with Tamiya Clear blue from the Spray Can. It did not go well as the paint did not stick to the plastic and it pooled making the color uneven. Eventually, I sprayed the inside silver and then hand painted the exterior of the sensor dish with Vallejo Clear Blue which worked much better.
Next I assembled the rest of the Enterprise ’s Secondary hull. The parts went well together, but there were some noticeable gaps between the parts that needed to be dealt with. Like the earlier Polar Lights 1/1000 USS Enterprise (Original) one had to assemble the nacelles to the struts before gluing them on to the secondary hull. I give Polar Lights kudos for dealing with the problem areas that caused grief to anyone building the original 1/1000 USS Enterprise as they are mostly non existent in this kit. However I left off some parts (clear parts and Bussard Collectors) as they weren’t needed till final assembly.
There are noticeable gaps on the leading/trailing edges of the struts, the nacelles, the sides of the secondary hull and between the neck pieces. A bit of CA glue, some Vallejo plastic putty and various grades of sand paper fixed that problem.
Next I worked on the primary hull (saucer.) I attached the impulse crystal to the topside of the hull and then added some tinfoil stuck there with foil adhesive on the inside. The engineering on the parts was well done as the parts were molded so that the gap between the two saucer halves was actually part of the lip. Unfortunately, there were some gaps that needed to be sanded/filled, but not as bad as I remembered the original USS Enterprise to be.
After some final touchups on the fill/sanding to do, I was ready for painting.
COLORS & MARKINGS
Paint
My choice for the base color was Tamiya Pearl White from the Spray Can. In order to do that I masked off certain areas and sprayed on Tamiya White Fine Primer from the Spray Can as Pearl White does not cover well (found out on a test shot.) The Tamiya cans have good control, but no means as good as an airbrush so I found myself sanding with various grades of micromesh pads to remove imperfections and smooth everything out.
Once I got everything done to my satisfaction then I sprayed on the Pearl White. It was about this time that the weather got muggy and what turned into a simple topcoat became a miserable cycle of applying paint, waiting for it to dry, notice the many bubbles and imperfections caused by humid weather, curse, curse again, break out the micromesh sanding cloths to smooth it out and start again.
Eventually I got it where I could tolerate the result.
Next off I had to mask off certain areas on the nacelle and spray on duck egg blue as per instructions. There were areas of underside of the primary hull that needed to be painted light green so I masked them off and used Tamiya Sky.
Lastly, I masked off the outer nacelle grids and painted them flat black as per instructions.
Decals
Polar Lights provides decals to represent the damned Aztec Pattern which is probably necessary for this particular scale as 1/1000 is too small for decent masks. It would seem to be an easy task, right? Ha. I spent the next three frustrating months on and off decaling the Enterprise.
I was reminded why I dislike using decals for big surfaces, complex curves and to cover raised details. If I had a brain then I would have cut up some of the decals into smaller sections like those for the nacelle struts because they didn’t exactly line up detail wise. Also, I had issues getting the decals to line up just so like the markings for the bridge section where I was furious that the decals decided to move a bit during the drying process after I spent a good 20 minutes trying to line them up just so. At several points I had to remind myself that this was supposed to be therapy, not the cause of therapy.
I used up a lot of SolvaSet and MicroSet to get these decals down. I didn’t care about silvering except in obvious cases. Oh yeah, some of the decals were very stubborn, adding another reason for me to grit my teeth and wonder why I wasn’t crazy enough to make paint masks instead.
Someone observed that building a model shouldn’t be a character test. He’s right, but I know after this one, I think I’m closer to Khan Noonian Singh character wise thanks to my near obsession to finish this kit. It seems only a Star Trek model will make me insane enough to actually want to finish it rather than punt it aside or use it for target practice.
Weathering and Final Coat
No weathering done. Looking back, it might have helped cover up some of my decal booboos. As for the final coat, the pieces were coated with several layers of Future so as to seal in the decals and not make my many decal booboos obvious. Finally a top coat of Xtracrylic Satin was used to tone everything down.
FINAL CONSTRUCTION
The bussard collectors were sprayed copper while the clear parts were painted clear blue on the outside and flat black on the inside (that’s what the instructions said and at that point I just wanted the model done so I wasn’t going to spend a few hours looking to verify the color.) These parts were added without too much issue.
There was some fine detail painting required (mostly grays) as per instructions. In a “it seemed like a good idea at the time” was to add the clear pieces during construction and paint them clear blue later final painting. I forgot about this till the end when I had to sloppily paint them clear blue as I could not lay down tape to mask these sections off in fear of tearing the decals off.
I slid the secondary hull into the primary hull and then put it on the stand. It was then I realized that I screwed up the alignment of the neck as the Enterprise looked like it was warped. I had to add a shim of 20 thou plastic card to get the saucer to align with the engines and secondary hull. The Enterprise looks like it has been Vulcan neck pinched and there wasn’t much I could do about it.
This was a fitting end to a rather frustrating build.
CONCLUSIONS
Assembly wise, this kit is an amazing upgrade over the older TOS USS Enterprise Polar Lights Kit despite my issue with the neck. There is nothing that will stop anyone from putting together a nicely done model of the USS Enterprise from the movies, but thanks to the decals it is not an easy kit to build and will requite a serene view on life, lots of Lithium and high degree of patience especially if you want to build a really good model which I was unable to do.
I must admit that I am not happy with the result of the build which is less common for me these days. I think I could have and should have done better with this kit. On the other hand, I have to consider this one as practice for the 1/350 one that is sitting in a box waiting for my somewhat incompetent hands to assemble.
KhaNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!! KHAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!
Dan LeeVladimir Putin (Shutterstock)
A report affirming the intelligence community’s consensus that Russia hacked the U.S. election in an attempt to sway the results in favor of Donald Trump was bolstered Friday by a conclusion that Russians hacked the Republican National Committee—then sat on the information.
The New York Times Friday, citing american intelligence agencies, revealed that in addition to attacks on Democratic organizations, the Russians also accessed sensitive RNC information but declined to release the documents to the public.
Negating WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s claim that “no state parties” provided the transparency organization with damning emails stolen from Hillary Clinton aide John Podesta, the Times reports, “Intelligence agencies have concluded that the Russians gave the Democrats’ documents to WikiLeaks.”
“We now have high confidence that they hacked the D.N.C. and the R.N.C., and conspicuously released no documents” from the RNC, one senior administration official told the Times.
The Times writes:
“In briefings to the White House and Congress, intelligence officials, including those from the C.I.A. and the National Security Agency, have identified individual Russian officials they believe were responsible. But none have been publicly penalized.”
A report released Friday by the Washington Post revealed that a CIA assessment concluded Russia’s interference in the election was prompted not by a desire to undermine the U.S. electoral system, but to specifically elevate Trump to the presidency.
Despite the intelligence community’s consensus, Trump—along with other Republican leaders—insist there is no evidence supporting the conclusion that the Russians hacked the election in order to help elect Trump.
“These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction,” a Trump transition team statement reads, referring to reports that Russians interfered to elect the real estate mogul. “The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It’s now time to move on and ‘Make America Great Again.’”
The RNC has repeatedly denied that their information was hacked during the presidential election; that is until GOP Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in September that intel briefings revealed Russian hackers targeted the RNC. McCaul recanted his own admission days later.
“Yes, they have hacked into the Republican National Committee,” McCaul said at the time. “So this is, again, they are not picking sides here I don’t think. They are hacking into both political parties.”
“We’re not sure why they’ve released some documents and not others,” he added.
RNC chief operating officer Sean Cairncross
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PA, nurse, or patient). Instincts are like the shadow of clinical competence. They show up unannounced, don’t necessarily make sense, and make you doubt yourself to an uncomfortable degree. That being said, our instincts are there for a reason, to prevent us from being cavalier and to remind us that we are obligated to protect our patient in the emergency room as well as AFTER they are discharged. Our responsibility doesn’t end when the patient leaves those department doors.
Read over the chart: So often I see notes in triage that read “Patient has chest pain x 2 days” but the resident’s presentation doesn’t mention this or the patient doesn’t bring it up. You can find your own strategy to chisel out the time to do this, but I’ve taken the approach of skimming the triage summary, vitals, and last 2-3 notes (or discharge summaries) prior to speaking to the patient. It makes the conversation easier, and the patient appreciates someone knowing his or her history. I also double-check reads on imaging/labs and repeat vitals, since the worst feeling is to discharge a patient with a documented HR of 120 or a incidental nodule on chest-xray that you never told the patient about. (FYI all my patients with incidental findings on imaging or labs get a handout of the report, clear instructions written on their discharge papers to follow up with their PMD to prevent disease, disability or death, and I document the conversation in the chart).
Examine your patient (twice is better than once): At this stage, I do my own physical exam based on the complaint. It’s not that I don’t trust a resident, medical student, or physician assistant’s exam. I do a detailed exam because I was a resident 2 months ago and know I often forgot to walk the patient, check visual acuity, and make sure the patient’s back had no decubitus ulcers. I also am a big fan of a repeat physical exam, vitals, and further probing of history (with appropriate associated documentation as well). It’s amazing how the picture of our patients can be clarified with each reassessment.Get the biggest football 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
Marco Silva is under pressure to halt Watford’s slump after testing the patience of the top brass with nine losses in his last 13 games.
Executive chairman Scott Duxbury stormed out at the end of Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat by Swansea, fed up after a second collapse in the last five minutes against the Premier League’s bottom club in three weeks.
Silva, whose contract has 18 months still to run after joining in the summer from relegated Hull, is not in imminent danger of the sack.
But after Duxbury and owner Gino Pozzo fought tooth and nail to keep him out of Everton’s clutches in the autumn, rejecting two approaches from the Merseysiders for their 40-year-old head coach, the Hornets expected better than 10 points from a possible 39.
And the prospects of an instant improvement are grim — next up is Tuesday's daunting trip to runaway leaders Manchester City, who won 6-0 at Vicarage Road in September.
Watford will back Silva in the January transfer window and are front-runners to land Leicester striker Islam Slimani on loan until the end of the season, despite competition from fellow strugglers Newcastle.
(Image: Getty)
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But there is increasing concern at the team’s readily collapsible nature, which has become a running sore since Everton’s unwelcome interest in Silva.
The Hornets threw away a two-goal lead at Goodison Park in November to lose 3-2, lost 2-1 at then last-placed Crystal Palace on December 12 after being 1-0 up with two minutes to go and were booed off on Saturday after the rock-bottom Swans’ burglary of three points.
(Image: Getty)
Midfielder Ben Watson admitted: “I don’t know how we lost it. We were in control, didn’t kill the game off and got punished.
“It’s not the first time this season we have paid the price. We are gutted because we know if we had won, we would be eighth in the table. We have got to learn from this – and learn quickly.”According to a post on the popular GUNS N' ROSES fan forum MyGNRForum.com, Axl Rose's previously announced appearance on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" program will no longer take place on Tuesday, January 5.
Early Monday, Rose was listed as the show's first guest for the Tuesday broadcast and, for some reason, the GUNS N' ROSES singer's name was removed from the site by mid-afternoon.
A moderator for MyGNRForum.com wrote: "[There was] no reason given [for the change of plans]. I sent out an email to someone connected with the band the answer I got back is that Axl will not be appearing in tomorrow night's show. Hopefully we'll hear more in the coming days, so I wouldn't get too discouraged. It's just not going to be on 'Kimmel' tomorrow night. That's all I know."
Rose was expected to reveal details of a reunion of GUNS N' ROSES' classic lineup, including plans for a headlining appearance at this year's Coachella Music And Arts Festival and a 25-date stadium tour of North America this summer.
Axl Rose, guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan are all said to be involved, although it's not clear who else will be part of the band's lineup.
Slash last performed with GUNS N' ROSES at River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina on July 17, 1993.
A since-deleted Facebook post from Axl's half-sister, Amy Bailey, urged fans to watch "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Tuesday.A mere 48 hours ago, you and I and everyone else was happy and safe in our comfortable little ACC cocoon. Now the world has been turned upside down. And in just another 48 hours or so, the University of Maryland very well may be the newest Big Ten school.
It's a move that has a lot of fans scratching their heads. Some are downright indignant at the thought. And a few are flabbergasted when they meet a fellow fan who actually supports the move, as my Twitter mentions could tell you. Yes, I am one of those proponents, and have been for years now. Allow me to explain myself, and potentially why Maryland's administrators view this move as an attractive one.
Before that, though, two notes that deserve mentioning. First: I'm not saying this is the only proper way to view the move. Whether or not the move is "worth it" will depend on how much you value certain things, which itself depends on your perspective. I'm not claiming moral superiority here; I understand, in large part, those who disagree with me (and the University), and I begrudge no one their opinion. But the benefits of the move deserve more publicity.
Second: for full disclosure, I live in the Midwest. It's not so bad, honest, but I was in favor of a move before moving out this way.
Right then. With that out of the way: there are three big, big reasons this makes sense (and is actually a good thing) for Maryland.
Reason #1: finances.
Maryland is broke. Everyone knows this by now. The financial straits are dire. The debt is towering. The athletic department had to cut eight sports in 2011 simply to return the department to viability by 2019(!), and even that was only seen as viable if the basketball and football programs came to life and started generating some attendance. Basketball? Check. Football? Uh... not so much. That being the case, there is legitimate concern over the long-term fiscal health of Maryland athletics.
The Big Ten, by contrast, is the collegiate equivalent of Scrooge McDuck's money bath. They paid out about $24 million to each of their teams last season, first in the country, comfortably above the ACC's paltry $16 million generated from their new TV deal. The new conference will not turn Maryland into a football powerhouse or lead to a huge increase in attendance, but it will pay out a lot more money than the ACC did. And once the TV sets in the Maryland and Rutgers areas are factored in, that number should leap even higher - some have speculated it could push $30mil.
Given Maryland's financial problems, this amount of money is not chump change. Maryland's overall budget last year was only $57mil itself, after all; adding another $7-to-$10mil in revenue would be a foundational, radical change to the department. Cynics say this would go toward ego: bigger weight rooms, redeveloped A.D. offices, things that don't really matter. But with Maryland, a department well and truly on the brink, trying to pay off massive debt, shedding programs just to retain long-term viability, I doubt it. Given their situation, this is the type of money that means improving facilities instead of cutting sports, hiring elite coaches instead of settling, cutting coaches loose instead of holding on due to an inability to pay their buyouts. It means hiring better academic support for student-athletes and giving them facilities on par with the nation's elite, instead of cutting back even further on Maryland's last-in-the-ACC per-student spending and 79th nationally per-student support staff.
It means programs with a much better probability of success and it means a higher quality-of-life for student-athletes. It means flexibility instead of uncertainty.
I won't make out like there isn't an alternative. Should Maryland find success in football and basketball simultaneously, while continuing to get their house in order, they could be just fine in the ACC. But the road back is a lot quicker, less risky, easier, and more comfortable in the Big Ten.
Nor will I make out like there aren't caveats when it comes to the financial situation despite the switch. Maryland will have to pay out quite a lot of money - doubtfully $50mil, but still a fairly large number - to exit the ACC. (More on that in a bit.) On top of that, they wouldn't receive full TV revenues immediately - Nebraska has to wait until 2017, until which time they're receiving $14mil, still more than they received with the Big 12. (I assume Maryland would receive a similar assurance.) It may not fix everything right away, but it ensures that, even if things don't go perfectly elsewhere, there's a comfortable, sustainable future for Maryland athletics.
People - including Len Elmore, who has had a disappointingly simple take on the whole thing - are making out like Maryland has dollar signs in its eyes and are just chasing money. That's horribly cynical. This is not Texas A&M looking to add more to their money piles, or Mizzou and Colorado satisfying their inflated opinions of self-worth. Maryland is in fiscal hell right now. Their programs will hurt and already have hurt because of it. The Big Ten is an avenue out of that hell, and there should be no shame in taking it.
On that note, if you really oppose the move and want a villan, your best target is probably not Brit Kirwan or Wallace Loh but instead Debbie Yow, who helped get Maryland into this mess with dodgy money mismanagement. If Maryland was standing on stronger financial ground, they have a much stronger argument to stay put.
Reason #2: academics.
Elmore says this is just a throwaway and a smokescreen for the financial side of it. Not for me, though: I'm blatantly obvious about the finances, but it's still obvious that the academics do matter. The Committee on Institutional Cooperation - more commonly known as the CIC - is the academic arm of the Big Ten, virtually the only one of its kind and a hugely prestigious, important cooperative body. Member schools pool resources, share faculty and infrastructure, cooperate in landing government research grants, and enjoy a nice little reputation bump. It's been a not insignificant factor in the rise of Penn State in the past few decades, without a shadow of a doubt.
Is it a primary motivating factor for a school like Maryland? No. Money is. Is it a very pleasant secondary motivating factor? Yes. Maryland continues to grow as an elite public institution, and something like this would only help to enhance the services they provide to current students as well as increase their reputation. It's a factor that will be very attractive to administrators like Wallace Loh and Brit Kirwan, plus those on the Board of Regents, as it well should be.
Reason #3: stability.
The ACC, despite adding Syracuse, Pitt, and half of Notre Dame, never truly stabilized. With the conference securing a merely average TV deal despite giving away third-tier rights, the likes of FSU and Clemson never bought into the idea entirely, as either fanbase will tell you. FSU in particular never stopped looking longingly at the Big 12. If Maryland was willing to make a run at leaving the conference, despite the hefty exit fee, would you put it past one of those two to do the same in the future? And were either to leave - or, Juan forbid, both - the ACC's brand and financial clout would be hugely, cripplingly undercut.
At that point, finances would become a problem in the ACC. The conference would be on its way to becoming the New Big East, and that's something that Maryland, in its precarious position, could ill afford. If the Big Ten had already expanded with different members, it would be a full-on disaster scenario. Maryland is being proactive, securing its place in one of the three premier conferences in the country, one of the very few that can confidently say it'll be around in 15 years and still be a force. (Being made up of ridiculously huge schools and fanbases will do that for a conference.)
I'm not saying the ACC will necessarily fall apart - far from it, in fact, although now that Maryland's leaving there's at least a chance of it. FSU, for sure, will be watching closely to see what happens with the exit fee. But the point is that there was always a risk of it happening, something that Maryland probably couldn't afford. That risk isn't present at all in the Big Ten. They claimed their seat at the grown-up table while it was still there.
***
These three points are more or less matters of record. It's nigh-inarguable that Maryland will make more money in the Big Ten through TV revenue over the long-term, that they will reap academic benefits not enjoyed in the ACC, and that they will find themselves in a vastly more stable situation. You can say you don't care about these things, but it's very difficult to say they aren't true. And they're probably the three most important things to any collegiate administrator, who have a duty to view any potential move with the good of the entire university in mind. That's why the move is being made, and that's why it makes sense.
I'm not thick, though; there are objections to it, some completely legitimate, some less so. These are mitigating factors more than genuine counterpoints, though, so how much they actually matter depend on how much they're valued. And sorry to say, but the administrators probably value them less than you do. Let's do a quick run-through:
Objection #1: Isn't the $50mil exit fee prohibitive?
Well, no, it's clearly not prohibitive, given that it did little to prohibit Maryland from leaving the conference. It is, however, needlessly punitive, and Loh has long believed that it wouldn't hold up in court. He's likely received some measure of reinforcement on that mark. The ACC would have some incentive to settle if it wasn't confident about winning in court, and the general consensus is that Maryland will pay a substantially lower figure than $50mil. Are we talking $20mil-substantially-lower or $40mil-substantially-lower? I don't know. But the people making the decision do, or at least know more than we do, and they still see it as a financially prudent move. That gives me a mark of confidence.
Objection #2: But what about A) travel and B) geographical consideration?
I put these together since they're inherently related. And yes, some of the travel is unfortunate. ACC schools, including the additions of Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and Notre Dame, are an average distance of 455 miles away from College Park, averaging about an 8 hour trip by car. The Big Ten, including Rutgers, is about an extra two hundred miles, averaging 665 (and about 11 hours by car). So you're unlikely to be making road trips to every away game.
Thing is, how many easily road-trippable games are there right now? Virginia and Pitt are easily done; then again, so are Rutgers and Penn State in the Big Ten. Everything past that in the ACC pushes five hours, something that is doable but sufficiently long enough that, if we're being honest, not that many will do it. (Ohio State is a similar situation in the Big Ten.) The difference between road tripping to Clemson or Boston College and Michigan or Michigan State isn't drastic.
As for travel expenses for non-revenues, I would expect that the Big Ten would rejigger their divisions to see a more sensible geographical break, with the likes of Penn State, Ohio State, Maryland, and Rutgers all in the same division to cut down on unnecessary travel. And as I mentioned above, don't forget that the current seasonal trips to Miami, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Tallahassee, and Miami are hardly short travels themselves. The travel expenses will doubtfully increase to an unsustainable margin, and will largely be compensated for by the added revenue elsewhere.
As for geography, again, I think the difference is less than it appears at first. For an example: Maryland is less a geographical outlier in the New Big Ten than Florida State is in the New ACC. No, really. But very few were up in arms and complaining that their souls were being sold because Florida State (or Syracuse, etc.) was in the conference.
I suspect this is due to branding. Florida State is an Atlantic Coast school (kind of), whereas the Big Ten has, in the past, marketed itself as the Midwest's Conference. But those days are dead. The ACC has added a school in Indiana; the Big Ten, meanwhile, has begun to reposition itself not as the premier Midwestern conference, but as the premier Northern conference. It's less about the middle of the country nowadays as about the entire northern half of the east, and that is a category Maryland fits easily.
I'm not trying to convince you that these are positives. I'm trying to convince you that they're not as big of deals as you probably think at first, and probably aren't enough to outweigh the huge benefits found in the Big Ten elsewhere.
Objection #3: Maryland doesn't really fit in culturally with the other schools.
I'd actually argue that point. Maryland, back in 1960 when the ACC was created, was undoubtedly a southern school that fit in with UNC, Wake Forest, and the rest. Since then, though, the Mid-Atlantic has more and more taken claim to its culture, a culture distinctly northern and at odds with the Tobaccah Road tradition of the conference. The University itself is its state's premier institution, a large land-grant public in an urban environment with a very large enrollment. How many other ACC schools fit that profile? Literally none. (No, State is not Carolina's "premier institution.") By comparison, a host of Big Ten schools - Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio State, now Rutgers - share all of those characteristics, and virtually every school shares most of them.
And if you think Maryland doesn't fit in because they're a basketball school, Indiana, Michigan State, and Illinois say hi.
Objection #4: Isn't the Big Ten a weaker non-revenue conference? And won't that hurt our stronger non-revenues?
No. There are some areas they're weaker, like in men's soccer, say, or lacrosse. But they're much, much stronger in wrestling - one of Maryland's premier sports - and volleyball, among others. And let's be honest: the drop is not nearly drastic enough in those non-revs to make you seriously rethink the change. For soccer, Indiana is a historical powerhouse, and Michigan was in the semis of the College Cup just a few years ago. For lacrosse, Maryland is a big enough power to survive on its own in lacrosse, if needs be - see Hopkins - until Minnesota or Michigan State joins the civilized folk and starts a varsity lax program and gets the Big Ten to sponsor the sport. The minimal downticks in those programs are compensated for by the huge boost wrestling and other programs would receive. It is, at worst, a wash.
Objection #5: It's a worse basketball conference.
Historically, yes. But the future of Duke is in doubt after K, and the likes of Wake Forest and Georgia Tech have exited the scene as respectable hoops programs. The Big Ten, meanwhile, has been the strongest conference in basketball for the past two years, and is again right now. Michigan, Ohio State, and Indiana are all top-five teams at the moment - three of the top five! - and Michigan State and Wisconsin are forces to be reckoned with in their own right. If you add Maryland to that mix, you have six hands-down top-25 programs, plus solid teams in Purdue, Minnesota, and Illinois. If that conference doesn't match or exceed the ACC's UNC, Duke, State, Syracuse, and Pitt power base it comes darn close. The drop in quality, if there is one at all, is quite frankly minimal.
Objection #6: Football will just become a doormat.
Northwestern has won three Big Ten titles since 1995. Illinois and Purdue have gone to Rose Bowls since the turn of the century; Michigan State and Iowa have won title shares in the past few years. And we're saying there's absolutely no way Maryland can conceivably compete?
Maryland football will be the same as it is ever was. Its future doesn't depend on which conference they're in, but instead on improving their coaching and continuing to recruit the area. If they do that, they'll be successful in the Big Ten, just like they'd be successful in the ACC. If not, they wouldn't be successful in either conference. It's hardly out of the realm of imagination for Maryland to be a respectable program in the Big Ten. In fact, the presence of Ohio State and Michigan in the conference should actually make recruiting traditional Maryland power alleys of western Maryland and Pennsylvania that much easier.
Objection #7: The style of play is so boring.
Three words for you: Tony Bennett's Virginia. Or: Mike Brey's Notre Dame. Or: Jamie Dixon's Pitt. Or Jim Boeheim's zone. The New ACC is hardly the bastion of basketball aesthetics. Meanwhile, the Big Ten's tempo has increased each season, to the point where the average Big Ten team ran faster than Kentucky last season. And through a few weeks of the season - too early for tempo stats to be genuinely meaningful, but still somewhat illustrative - the average adjusted tempo of New Big Ten schools is 65.35. Of the New ACC? 65.72.
For the non-math majors, that's less than half a possession a game in difference between the two conferences so far this year.
And in football, Ohio State has embraced the Urban Meyer spread, joining Northwestern, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska, and Purdue as schools having embraced, at least to some degree, the spread concept in the Big Ten. Three yards and a cloud of dust this is not.
Objection #8: We won't have a rival there.
I'll be brutally honest: we don't have a rival now. Not a single school in the ACC circles Maryland on their schedule. It's unfortunate, but it's true.
What Maryland has is teams they enjoy beating: Duke, UNC, State, Virginia. And with the genesis of the ACC's new scheduling, those teams will be seen less and less. After all, don't you know that Pitt is your rival now? The New ACC is as much Notre Dame and Boston College and Clemson and Pitt as it is Duke and Virginia.
There will be hatable teams in the Big Ten, too, once you get to know them. It may take a few years, but I could certainly get used to going to Bloomington and beating Indiana in their pomp, or extracting yearly revenge on Michigan State for the shot that ended Greivis Vasquez's career. Again, I'm not trying to sell you on how much better the Big Ten is here - I'm not. I'm trying to point out that it's probably not a huge deal at the end of the day. Basketball will not stop simply because Duke and UNC are on the schedule.
And, frankly, Maryland should not define themselves on Duke and UNC. These schools don't care about Maryland. It's time for the University to start acting like a big-time program and look out for itself, instead of staying in Carolina's thrall. This problem won't be alleviated by the Big Ten, but the extra cash will make it a lot easier to swallow.
Objection #9: I just plain like the ACC and its tradition, and I don't want to leave it.
I don't blame you. The ACC is a good conference that has given Maryland a lot of great moments. Leaving it is not easy and isn't supposed to be easy. Everyone has their preferences. And some people, perhaps you among them, prefer the ACC, feel attached to its history. That's understandable.
But just as Maryland left the Southern Conference back in the day to jump to the superior ACC, so too must they look out for themselves and jump to the superior Big Ten. The biggest concern here is the wellbeing of the University of Maryland, nothing else. And the best move for the wellbeing of the University, both academically and athletically (at least financially) is the Big Ten move.
You don't have to like that fact. But it's very, very difficult to craft a true argument otherwise, except for citing "heritage" - an unquantifiable factor that varies wildly in its importance depending on who you ask. Len Elmore likes it a lot; plenty of fans and alums actually don't. It's asking a heck of a lot to turn down a better situation for the University and the athletic department, with a lot more money, a hefty academic benefit, and a huge amount of added stability, due to what more or less amounts to your preference.
***
Well, that's that. If you dislike the ACC, you're probably psyched about the move; if you love it, you're probably more distraught. Hopefully, though, whichever side you land on, you have a better grasp of the "why" of the situation.
And again, I don't blame you if you're unhappy with the move. But it's happening. And I don't blame you if you resent that Maryland has to do it. But they probably do. Hopefully, the end result will be a stronger, more competitive Maryland, and that's something I think everyone can get behind.Michael Che and Colin Jost have been named the co-head writers of “Saturday Night Live,” NBC announced Tuesday.
They will join current head writers Kent Sublette and Bryan Tucker. “SNL” has also announced that Sudi Green and Fran Gillespie have been named writing supervisors. Che and Jost currently host “SNL’s” long-running “Weekend Update” segment, which they began hosting in 2014. Che, who was previously named on Variety’s 10 Comics to Watch list and Rolling Stone’s 50 Funniest People, appeared on “The Daily Show” before joining “SNL” in 2013. A four-time WGA Award winner and recipient of a Peabody Award, Jost started at “SNL” as a writer in 2005.
Green and Gillespie together wrote “Cartier Fidget Spinner Ad,” “E! New Line-Up Promo” with Gal Gadot and more, as well as having spearheaded several other popular sketches.
The long-running series is coming off of a stellar season last year, in which the show won nine Emmys out of its 22 nominations. Alec Baldwin won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his repeated portrayals of Donald Trump, while Kate McKinnon took home the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, due in no small part to her portrayals of Hillary Clinton among many other characters. The series also picked up the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series and Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series.
So far this season, “SNL” is averaging a 2.9 rating in adults 18-49 and 9.6 million viewers per episode in Nielsen’s Live+7 ratings.
Jost is repped by CAA and 3 Arts Entertainment. Che is repped by UTA.A police officer opens fire at Muhammad al-Maghrabi, 41, who was convicted of raping and murdering a three-year-old girl (Picture: Reuters/Khaled Abdullah)
A man who raped and killed a three-year-old girl has been executed with a machine gun.
Muhammad al-Maghrabi, 41, was killed as he lay on the floor following his conviction over the death of the little girl, Rana Yahya Al-Matari.
Smallest surviving baby boy ever born weighing 1lb finally goes home
His execution, at point blank range, was broadcast on live TV across Yemen.
He was shot dead in front of a crowd of thousands of people, including many who recorded what happened on their mobile phones, in the capital city of Sanaa.
His hands were tied behind his back as he was led from a prison van before being laid down on a rug in front of the crowds of people.
al-Maghrabi reacts as he is prepared to be executed in Sanaa, Yemen (Picture: Reuters/Khaled Abdullah)
He raped the little girl in his hut in Sana on the first day of Eid al-Fitr (Picture: EPA)
A man, believed to be a police officer, then approached him and shot him in the back as he lay on the floor.
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Murder, according to Sharia law, is punishable by the death sentence, but families of the victim can request that the punishment is less severe.
al-Maghrabi admitted to raping the girl in his hut to the south of the capital city on the first day of Eid al-Fitr.
Under Sharia law, a murderer can be punished with the death sentence (Picture: Reuters/Khaled Abdullah)
People gather around a police truck carrying the body of Muhammad al-Maghrabi, 41, after he was executed for raping and murdering a three-year-old girl, in Sanaa, Yemen July 31, 2017. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Thousands ofpoeple turned out to see him being executed (Picture: EPA)
Al-Maghrabi’s hands were bound behind his back as he emerged from the prison van (Picture: Reuters/Khaled Abdullah)Jeremiah Aguilar, 2, was injured after a hit and run crash that killed his 5-year-old relative, Jayden Aguilar
EMBED >More News Videos A family wants answers after a deadly hit and run accident.
Jeremiah Aguilar went home today from Texas Children's Hospital. The two-year-old spent four nights recovering from injuries sustained in a hit and run accident.The incident happened Thursday evening on Fallbrook Drive. A car struck Jeremiah and his 5-year old relative Jayden Aguilar after the two went chasing after a ball. Jayden died as a result. The driver took off and remains on the run. A GoFundMe account has been set up to help with funeral costs.This morning, a nurse wheeled Jeremiah to his family's SUV in a red wagon. She then lifted him and placed him onto the back seat. His mother was by his side. She told abc13 she wants justice for Jayden and she thanks God Jeremiah survived the crash.Jeremiah's sister, Doris Aguilar, spoke with Eyewitness News. She said he suffered broken bones, a broken hip, and cuts to his face. Aguilar said the little boy is strong. However, he still does not know what happened to Jayden."Right away when he opened his eyes, he asked for my nephew. They were really close. He's just a little kid. I tell him he's over there playing with my other niece and nephew," said Aguilar. "He still does not know. I don't have the heart to tell him. I really don't."Jeremiah faces a long recovery. His brother, Osbaldo Aguilar, still cannot understand how someone hit the children and then just left the scene."Imagine a little kid going through what he went through. A car ran over him. You can imagine what he's feeling," said Aguilar. "You know his bones are probably aching. His skin stinging. It's really painful."Jayden will be laid to rest this weekend.And now for the continuation of this Saga of Lucimia developer journal. Don’t forget to read Part One to get the whole picture, and understand our focus on community first.
It’s refreshing to be able to be on a first name basis with just about everybody on the forums. Obviously, that will change as the company in the community grows, but I’ve tried to stay on top of making the rounds on a daily basis; as a general rule, I visit around two dozen communities every single day as I find back links coming into the website, and I make sure to stop by, say hi, and answer questions the people might have about the game.
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On top of that, were doing lots of things that don’t necessarily have anything to do with our game, just because it’s fun and it’s a way for us to be involved in the community as a whole. Social interaction and friendship is what made early EverQuest so much fun, and it’s something sorely lacking in today’s generation of MMORPGs.
Some of that was related to the simple fact that the game was designed with the group in mind, and while some players might detest the fact that it is forced grouping, there is also the other side of the coin, which are players like ourselves who thrive on group-based games and environments where we are required to work together with others to achieve goals that are so much more than what we would be able to accomplish just on our own.
Currently, we stream just about every day of the week. Sunday nights are world building with Joey Anderson. Monday nights are the Mastery Mastery episodes with Nick Gordner and Giovanni Martello, where they talk about stats and skills and archtypes and how it all comes together for the purposes of character creation and combat. You can catch all those episodes over at our YouTube channel.
I follow up on Tuesday evenings talking about the overall state of the game, and the MMORPG genre as a whole, and I usually have a few of the other developers on during my sessions, talking about random things. Wednesday nights are dedicated to our music composer, David Bradford, while Saturday nights are for the roleplay group, and Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings are for our P99 social experiment.
Will be adding Thursday night and Friday night streams soon; one of those will be dedicated to the programmers, and another will feature additional zone development from Alex Drusts and Robert Thompson. We will also have some live art streams coming up as Joe and Emma work on asset creation and character creation, and John Gust may hop on and talk about lore and storytelling from time to time.
We currently have over 1500 registered members at our website, and we’re closing in on a couple of hundred people at our new forums, which we started just a couple of months ago ahead of our alpha. Out of those 1500, just over 100 have pre-ordered our game. Many others are simply waiting on the sidelines until we have more meat on the bones: gameplay videos and proof of concepts, beyond the pre-office stage.
And we totally understand that. We respect it. There is nothing wrong with healthy skepticism, especially considering the fact that we are a team with zero previous experience, we are bootstrapping this out of our own pockets, and we have a pre-order store for Early Access, which we have in place to allow the seriously dedicated and impassioned few to help us mitigate our out-of-pocket expenses.
Which is exactly why we’ve told people publicly that we don’t want a dime of anyone’s money if they don’t believe that were capable of doing what we’ve set out to do. In fact, one of my Tuesday night podcasts started off with a list of five reasons why people should not preorder our game, which listed off things like the fact that we haven’t ever published a previous title before, and that none of us are professional game developers in our day jobs.
But I also think that we’ve managed to show that we are capable of doing what we said we were going to do since we started out. We have the aforementioned year and a half of development underneath our belt, a team of 18 passionate people working on the project, without a salary, because they believe in the project, and the 180+ newsletters and 150 YouTube videos and hundreds of screenshots and videos from our pre-alpha.
We’ve met most of the dates that we said we were going to make, although there have been a few hiccups related to the simple fact that since we are a part-time team working outside of our day jobs, things crop up. Four of the team members have had babies since we started. Well, their wives have had babies. And each time, we lose those people for two or three months while they take care of their family. Which consequently slows down development.
That’s life and day jobs. We work around ‘em.
Even so, all you have to do is look to the community streams, screenshots, and our game forums, to find the proof that we’re moving ahead and making forward progress every single day, regardless of the criticism and skepticism. It’s hard work and passion that wins the day, not opinions.
The first alpha stress test focused on us testing various levels of server configurations and database settings against the current number of backers we have taking part in the Early Access program. We went through three levels of servers and databases before we settled on the one which give us the performance that we were looking for.
We also tested the login functionality, and three different clients for Linux, Windows, and Mac. Bearing in mind that we are a primarily Windows based game, as long as the interest remains there and the numbers of players actually testing Linux and Mac continues to present at a roughly equal level, we will keep producing future builds for all three platforms.
However, Windows is by far the majority winner, and if the other two ever drop too far behind, we’ll be focusing primarily on Windows and only worrying about Linux/Mac at the end of the line when we are ready to
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spectrum airfield operations” along with “world-class airlift and expeditionary combat support.” The base also touts “superior” services and “exceptional quality of life.” To look at Ramstein and environs is to peer into a faraway mirror for the United States; what’s inside the frame is normality for endless war.
Ramstein’s gigantic Exchange store (largest in the US military) is the centerpiece for an oversize shopping mall, just like back home. A greeting from the Holy Family Catholic Community at Ramstein tells newcomers: “We know that being in the military means having to endure frequent moves to different assignments. This is part of the price we pay by serving our country.” Five American colleges have campuses on the base. Ellenmarie Zwank Brown, who identifies herself as “an Air Force wife and a physician,” is reassuring in a cheerful guidebook that she wrote for new arrivals: “If you are scared of giving up your American traditions, don’t worry! The military goes out of its way to give military members an American way of life while living in Germany.” “We touch a good chunk of the world right from Ramstein. We think of it as a power-projection platform.” —Maj. Tony Wickman
That way of life is contoured around nonstop war. Ramstein is the headquarters for the US Air Force in Europe, and the base is now pivotal for using air power on other continents. “We touch a good chunk of the world right from Ramstein,” a public-affairs officer, Maj. Tony Wickman, told me during a recent tour of the base. “We think of it as a power-projection platform.” The scope of that projection is vast, with “areas of responsibility” that include Europe, Russia, and Africa—104 countries in all. And Ramstein is well-staffed to meet the challenge, with over 7,500 “active duty Airmen”—more than any other US military base in the world except the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.
Serving the transport needs of war efforts in Iraq and Syria (countries hit by 28,675 US bombs and missiles last year) as well as in many other nations, Ramstein is a central pit stop for enormous cargo jets like the C-5 Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster. The Ramstein base currently supports “fifteen different major combat operations,” moving the daily supply chain and conducting urgent airlifts. Last July, when Ankara gave Washington a green light to use Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base for launching airstrikes in Syria, vital equipment quickly flew from Ramstein to Incirlik so F-16s could start bombing.
But these days a lot of Ramstein’s attention is focused southward. The base maintains a fleet of fourteen newest-model C-130 turboprops, now coming in mighty handy for secretive US military moves across much of Africa. With its sleek digital avionics, the cockpit of a C-130J looked impressive. But more notable was the plane’s spacious cargo bay, where a pilot explained that it can carry up to 44,000 pounds of supplies—or as many as 92 Army Airborne “jumpers,” who can each be saddled with enough weapons and gear to weigh in at 400 pounds. From the air, troops or freight—even steamrollers, road graders, and Humvees—leave the plane’s hold with parachutes. Or the agile plane can land on “undeveloped air fields.”
With Ramstein as its home, the C-130J is ideal for flying war matériel and special-operations forces to remote terrain in northern and western Africa. (The Pentagon describes it as “a rugged combat transporter designed to take off and land at austere fields.”) In mid-2014, the itinerary of a single trip got into a fleeting news story when a teenage stowaway was found dead in a wheel well of a C-130J at Ramstein, after the plane returned from a circuit to Tunisia, Mali, Senegal, and Chad. Stealthy intervention has escalated widely in the two years since journalist Nick Turse found that the US military was already averaging “far more than a mission a day on the continent, conducting operations with almost every African military force, in almost every African country.”
The officers I met at Ramstein in early spring often mentioned Africa. But the base mission of “power projection” hardly stops there.
* * *
In the American foreign policy lexicon, peace has become implausible, a faded memory, a mythic rationale for excelling at war. An airlift squadron at the Ramstein Air Base, which proudly calls itself the “Fighting Doves,” displays a logo of a muscular bird with dukes up. On lampposts in a town near Ramstein’s gates, I saw campaign posters for Germany’s Left Party (Die Linke) with a picture of a dove and a headline that could hardly have been more out of sync with the base: Wie lange wollt lhr den Frieden noch herbei-bomben? “How much longer do you want to keep achieving peace by bombing?” Such questions lack relevance when war is perceived not as a means to an end, but an end in itself.
More than ever, with relatively few US troops in combat and air war all the rage, the latest military technology is the filter of the American warrior’s experience. When Ramstein’s 60,800-square-foot Air and Space Operations Center opened in October 2011, the Air Force crowed that it “comes with 40 communication systems, 553 workstations, 1,500 computers, 1,700 monitors, 22,000 connections, and enough fiber optics to stretch from here to the Louvre in Paris.” (Mona Lisa not included.) A news release focused on “the critical mission of monitoring the airspace above Europe and Africa” and “controlling the skies from the Arctic Circle to the Cape of Needles.” But the Defense Department didn’t mention that the new hyper-tech center would be vital to the USA’s drone war. “All information and data go through Ramstein. Everything. For the whole world.” —Brandon Bryant, former drone operator
Ramstein receives visual images from drones via satellite, then relays the images to sensor operators and pilots at computer terminals in the United States. “Ramstein is absolutely essential to the US drone program,” says Brandon Bryant, a former Air Force sensor operator who participated in drone attacks on Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia for five years while stationed in New Mexico and Nevada. “All information and data go through Ramstein. Everything. For the whole world.”
Bryant and other sensor operators had Ramstein on speed dial: “Before we could establish a link from our ground-control station in the United States to the drone, we literally would have to call Ramstein up and say ‘Hey, can you connect us to this satellite feed?’ We would just pick up the phone and press the button and it automatically dials in to Ramstein.” Bryant concluded that the entire system for drone strikes was set up “to take away responsibility, so that no one has responsibility for what happens.”
The US government’s far-flung system for extrajudicial killing uses Ramstein as a kind of digital switchboard in a process that fogs accountability and often kills bystanders. A former Air Force drone technician, Cian Westmoreland, told me that many of the technical people staffing Ramstein’s Air and Space Operations Center are apt to be “none the wiser; they would just know a signal is going through.”
Westmoreland was stationed in Afghanistan at the Kandahar Air Field, where he helped build a signal relay station that connected to Ramstein. He never moved a joystick to maneuver a drone and never pushed a button to help fire a missile. Yet, in 2016, Westmoreland speaks sadly of the commendations he received for helping to kill more than 200 people with drone strikes. “I did my job,” he said, “and now I have to live with that.”
During his work on the drone program, Westmoreland developed “a new kind of understanding of what modern warfare actually is. We’re moving towards more network-centric warfare. So, orders [are] dealt out over a network, and making systems more autonomous, putting less humans in the chain. And a lot of the positions are going to be maintenance, they’re technician jobs, to keep systems up and running.”
Those systems strive to reduce the lag time from target zone to computer screen in Nevada. The delay during satellite transmission (“latency” in tech jargon) can last up to six seconds, depending on weather conditions and other factors, but once the signal gets to Ramstein it reaches Nevada almost instantly via fiber-optic cable. Permission to fire comes from an attack controller who “could be anywhere,” as Bryant put it, “just looking at the same video feeds as us pilots and sensors. He just sits in front of a screen too.” As Andrew Cockburn wrote in his recent book Kill Chain, “there is a recurrent pattern in which people become transfixed by what is on the screen, seeing what they want to see, especially when the screen—with a resolution equal to the legal definition of blindness for drivers—is representing people and events thousands of miles and several continents away.”
For all its ultra-tech importance, the Air and Space Operations Center at Ramstein is just a steely link in a kill chain of command, while a kind of assembly-line Taylorism keeps producing the drone war. “I think that’s part of the strength of the secrecy of the program,” Bryant said. “It’s fragmented.” Meanwhile, “We were supposed to function and never ask questions.”
Worlds away, the carnage is often lethally haphazard. For example, classified documents obtained by The Intercept shed light on a special ops series of airstrikes from January 2012 to February 2013 in northeast Afghanistan, code-named Operation Haymaker. The attacks killed more than 200 people, while only 35 were the intended targets. Such numbers may be disturbing, yet they don’t convey what actually happens in human terms.
Several years ago, Pakistani photographer Noor Behram described the aftermath of a US drone attack: “There are just pieces of flesh lying around after a strike. You can’t find bodies. So the locals pick up the flesh and curse America. They say that America is killing us inside our own country, inside our own homes, and only because we are Muslims.” The US drone war has long been unpopular in Germany, where two out of three citizens oppose it.
Even without a missile strike, there are the traumatic effects of drones hovering overhead. Former New York Times reporter David Rohde recalled the sound during his captivity by the Taliban in 2009 in tribal areas of Pakistan: “The drones were terrifying. From the ground, it is impossible to determine who or what they are tracking as they circle overhead. The buzz of a distant propeller is a constant reminder of imminent death.”
But such matters are as far removed from Little America in southwest Germany as they are from Big America back home.
* * *
The American drone war has long been unpopular in Germany, where polling indicates that two out of three citizens oppose it. So President Obama was eager to offer assurances during a visit to Berlin three years ago, declaring: “We do not use Germany as a launching point for unmanned drones…as part of our counterterrorism activities.” But such statements miss the point, intentionally, and obscure how much the drone war depends on German hospitality.
Attorney Hans-Christian Ströbele, a prominent Green Party member of the Bundestag, told The Nation that “the targeted killings with drones are illegal executions at least in countries which aren’t in war with Germany. These illegal executions offend against human rights, international law and the German Grundgesetz [Constitution]. If German official institutions permit this and do not stop these actions, they become partly responsible.” “In my view, the drone war is a form of state terrorism.” —Sahra Wagenknecht, co-chair, Left Party
With 10 percent of the Bundestag’s seats, the Greens have the same size bloc as the other opposition party, the Left Party. “To kill people with a joystick from a safe position thousands of miles away is a disgusting and inhumane form of terror,” Sahra Wagenknecht, co-chair of the Left Party, told me. “A war is no video game—at least not for those who have not the slightest chance to defend themselves…. These extrajudicial killings are war crimes, and the German government should draw the consequences and close down the air base in Ramstein…. In my view, the drone war is a form of state terrorism, which is going to produce thousands of new terrorists.”
A lawsuit filed last year in Germany focuses on a drone attack in eastern Yemen on August 29, 2012, that killed two members of the Bin Ali Jaber family, which had gathered in the village of Khashamir to celebrate a wedding. “Were it not for the help of Germany and Ramstein, men like my brother-in-law and nephew might still be alive today,” said Faisal bin Ali Jaber, one of the surviving relatives behind the suit. “It is quite simple: Without Germany, US drones would not fly.” But the German judiciary has rebuffed such civil suits—most recently in late April, when a court in Cologne rejected pleas about a drone strike that killed two people in Somalia, including a herdsman who was not targeted.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has played dumb about drone-related operations in her country. “The German government claims to know nothing at all,” Bundestag member Ströbele said. “Either this is a lie, or the government does not want to know.” The general secretary of the Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, Wolfgang Kaleck, sums up the German government’s strategy as “See nothing, hear nothing, say nothing.” He charges that “Germany is making itself complicit in the deaths of civilians as part of the US drone war.”
After an uproar over US National Security Agency spying in Germany caused the Bundestag to set up a special committee of inquiry two years ago, it became clear that surveillance issues are intertwined with Ramstein’s role in a drone program that relies on cell-phone numbers to find targets. The Green Party’s representative on the eight-member committee, Konstantin von Notz, sounded both pragmatic and idealistic when I interviewed him this spring at a Berlin cafe. “We assume that there is a close connection between surveillance and Ramstein,” he said, “as data collected and shared by German and US intelligence services already led to drone killings coordinated via Ramstein.”
Left Party co-chair Wagenknecht was emphatic about the BND, Germany’s intelligence agency. “The BND delivers phone numbers of possible drone targets to the NSA and other agencies,” she told The Nation. “The BND and our foreign minister bear part of the blame. They do not only tolerate war crimes, they assist them.”
The United States now has 174 military bases operating inside Germany, more than in any other country. (Japan is second, with 113.) The military presence casts a shadow over German democracy, says historian Josef Foschepoth, a professor at the University of Freiburg. “As long as there are Allied troops or military bases and facilities on German soil,” he wrote in a 2014 article, “there will be Allied surveillance measures carried out on and from German soil, which means, in particular, American surveillance.”
For surveillance and an array of other spooky purposes, the US government created what would become the BND at the end of World War II. “We grew it carefully,” a retired senior Defense Intelligence Agency official, W. Patrick Lang, said in an interview. “They’ve always cooperated with us, completely and totally.” Intelligence ties between the two governments remain tightly knotted. “When it comes to the secret services,” Professor Foschepoth told a public forum in Berlin last summer, “there are some old legal foundations where the federal [German] government follows the American interests more than the interests of their own citizens.”
Extending such talk to depict the current US military presence as bad for democracy in Germany is a third rail in German politics. When Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg quoted from Foschepoth’s article at the Berlin forum—and pointedly asked, “Why are American troops here still? Why the bases?”—the panelist from the Green Party, von Notz, vehemently objected to going there. “I wouldn’t open the discussion or have in the background that this is still an occupation problem or something,” he said. “It’s not a problem of troops somewhere—it’s a problem of lacking democracy, state of law, controlling our secret services today.”
Nine months later, talking with him at Café Einstein on Berlin’s Kurfürstenstrasse, I asked von Notz why he’d pushed back so heatedly against the idea that US military bases are constraining German democracy. “Germany needs to take full responsibility of what is going on on its territory,” he responded. “The German government can no longer hide behind a US-German relation allegedly characterized by the post–World War II occupation. Germany strictly has to ensure that the US intelligence services comply with the law without ignoring the illegal actions of its own Federal Intelligence Service [the BND].”
* * *
Whatever the state of its democracy, Germany is continuing to enable America’s furtive warfare in Africa. Ramstein’s many roles include serving as home to US Air Forces Africa, where a press officer gave me a handout describing the continent as “key to addressing transnational violent extremist threats.” The military orders come from the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) headquarters in Stuttgart, a two-hour drive from Ramstein.
At first, AFRICOM—which calls itself “a full-spectrum combatant command”—was to be a short-term guest in southwest Germany, some 800 miles from Africa’s closest shores. A State Department cable, marked “Secret” and dated August 1, 2008, said that “no decision has been made on a permanent AFRICOM headquarters location.” Two months later, just as AFRICOM was going into full-fledged operation, a confidential cable from the US Embassy in Berlin reported that “the German government strongly supported the US decision to temporarily base” AFRICOM in Germany.
Yet at the outset, as US diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks show, tensions existed with the host country. Germany balked at extending blanket legal immunity under the NATO Status of Forces Agreement to every American civilian employee at the new AFRICOM facility, and the dispute applied to “all US military commands in Germany.” While the two governments negotiated behind the scenes into late 2008 (one confidential cable from the US Embassy in Berlin complained about the German Foreign Office’s “unhelpful positions”), AFRICOM made itself at home in Stuttgart.
Nearly eight years later, the “temporary” headquarters for AFRICOM shows no sign of budging. “AFRICOM will stay permanent in Stuttgart if Germany won’t protest against it,” said the Green Party’s Ströbele, who has been on the Bundestag’s intelligence committee for almost twenty years. He told The Nation: “We do not know enough about the AFRICOM facility. Nevertheless there is the assumption that this facility is used to organize and to lead US combat missions in Africa. Because of this reason no country in Africa wanted to have this facility.” Whatever political hazards might lurk for AFRICOM in Germany, the US government finds those risks preferable to headquartering its Africa Command in Africa. And there are more and more interventions to sweep under rugs. “A network of American drone outposts” now “stretches across east and west Africa.” —Center for the Study of the Drone
“A network of American drone outposts” now “stretches across east and west Africa,” reports the Center for the Study of the Drone, which is based at Bard College. One of the new locations is northern Cameroon, where a base for Gray Eagle drones (capable of dropping bombs and launching Hellfire missiles) recently went into full operation, accompanied by 300 US troops, including special-operations forces. In late winter The New York Times reported that the United States “is about to break ground on a new $50 million drone base in Agadez, Niger, that will allow Reaper surveillance aircraft to fly hundreds of miles closer to southern Libya.” In March the Pentagon triumphantly announced that drones teamed up with manned jets to kill “more than 150 terrorist fighters” at an al-Shabab training camp in Somalia.
As drone attacks have widened, they’ve become a growing provocation to a vocal minority of German lawmakers. “We deeply regret Germany’s loss of sovereignty, but the government keeps on acting cowardly,” said Sevim Dagdelen, the Left Party’s leader on foreign affairs. Another member of the party in the Bundestag, Andrej Hunko, told me that “AFRICOM in Stuttgart and the Air Operation Center in Ramstein are very important hubs for drone strikes led by the US military”—but “it is very difficult for German lawmakers to control this issue.”
Hunko and colleagues filed more than a dozen requests for explanation of drone-related policy from the German government, but he says “the answers were always dodgy.” The Merkel government deflects formal queries about Ramstein and AFRICOM by claiming to have no reliable information—a stance abetted by the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), now in its third year of serving as a big junior partner to Merkel’s right-leaning Christian Democratic Union. While Left Party legislators and some in the Green Party denounce the stonewalling, they have scant leverage; the two parties combined are just one-fifth of the Bundestag.
Merkel’s stone wall is strengthened by the fact that some Green Party leaders have no problem with US bases. (Citing the very left-wing pasts of several key figures in today’s party, one peace activist near Ramstein tartly remarked that “the Green Party changed from red to green to olive green.”) In the affluent state of Baden-Württemberg, home to AFRICOM headquarters, the state’s Green minister-president Winfried Kretschmann is a military booster. Likewise, the drone program has nothing to fear from Fritz Kuhn, mayor of Stuttgart, the largest city in Germany with a Green mayor. Kuhn declined to answer any of the questions that I submitted in writing about his views on AFRICOM and its operations in his city. “Mayor Kuhn wants to waive the interview,” a spokesman said.
More than publicly acknowledged, the economic benefits of hosting AFRICOM’s headquarters were major factors in the German government’s decision to allow it to open in the first place, a member of the Bundestag told me. With the US military footprint shrinking in the country, Germany’s political establishment saw the chance to welcome AFRICOM as very good news. Today, AFRICOM says that 1,500 US military and civilian personnel are stationed at its Kelley Barracks command center in Stuttgart.
* * *
“Ramstein is a preparation center for the next world war,” Wolfgang Jung said as we neared the base. War has overshadowed his entire life. Jung was born in 1938, and his childhood memories are vivid with fear and the destruction that came with bombs (from both sides). He lost two schoolmates. His father ended up on the Russian front and died in a POW camp just after the war’s end. As a teenager, Jung saw Ramstein open, and in the decades since then he has become a dogged researcher. The base is not just about drones, he stressed. Far from it.
The entire region is brandishing huge arsenals. Ten miles from Ramstein, the Miesau Army Depot is the US military’s biggest storage area for ammunition outside the United States. In late February the depot received what Stars and Stripes reported as “the largest Europe-bound ammo shipment in 10 years”—more than 5,000 tons of US Army ammunition that arrived while the Pentagon was “ramping up missions on the Continent, particularly along NATO’s eastern flank, in response to concerns about a more aggressive Russia.”
In many ways, this heavily militarized stretch of Germany is now a ground-zero powder keg. The consolidated Allied Air Command, “responsible for all Air and Space matters within NATO,” has been at the Ramstein base since 2013. The command includes a center for missile defense, the nexus of the latest US scenario for a missile shield—which the Kremlin views as a threatening system that would make a first strike against Russia more tempting and more likely. Interviewed by the German newspaper Bild in January, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he saw “striving for an absolute triumph in the American missile defense plans.”
Such matters preoccupy Jung and his wife Felicitas Strieffler, also a lifelong resident of the area. She spoke of Ramstein as a grave menace to the world and a blight on the region. Locals dread sunny days, she said, because roaring warplanes take to cloudless skies for training maneuvers. On a hillside, after climbing a 60-foot tower—a red sandstone monument built in 1900 to honor Bismarck—we looked out over a panorama dominated by Ramstein’s runways, hangars, and aircraft. Strieffler talked about a dream she keeps having: The base will be closed and, after the chemical pollutants are removed, it will become a lake where people can go boating and enjoy the beauties of nature.
Such hopes might seem unrealistic, but a growing number of activists in Germany are working to end Ramstein’s drone role and eventually close the base. On June 11, several thousand protesters gathered in the rain to form a “human chain” that stretched for more than five miles near the Ramstein perimeter. At the Stopp Ramstein Kampagne office in Berlin, a 37-year-old former history student, Pascal Luig, exuded commitment and calm as he told me that “the goal should be the closing of the whole air base.” He added, “Without Ramstein, no [US] war in the Middle East would be possible.” With no hope of persuading the US government to shut down Ramstein and its other bases in his country, Luig wants a movement strong enough to compel the German government to evict them. Join the Campaign to Close Ramstein Air Base Take Action Now!
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The Pentagon top brass can’t be happy about the publicity in Germany connecting Ramstein to the drone war. “They like to keep these things low key, just because there are points of vulnerability,” former drone technician Cian Westmoreland said, noting that “the military is all about redundancies.” In fact, even while Ramstein’s Air and Space Operations Center was going into action nearly five years ago, a similar facility was on the drawing boards for the Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily.
According to some sources, the ultimate goal is to replace Ramstein with Sigonella as the main site for relay of drone signals. (Replying to my inquiry, an Air Force spokesman at Ramstein, Maj. Frank Hartnett, wrote in an e-mail: “There are currently no plans to relocate the center’s activities.” He did not respond to follow-up questions.) An investigative journalist working for the Italian newsmagazine L’Espresso, Stefania Maurizi, told me in mid-spring that progress toward such a center at Sigonella remained at a snail’s pace. But on June 21, she reported that an Italian engineering firm had just won a contract for a building similar to Ramstein’s relay center. Construction at Sigonella could be completed by 2018.
As part of the militarization process in Italy—“the Pentagon has turned the Italian peninsula into a launching pad for future wars in Africa, the Middle East and beyond,” author David Vine observes—Sigonella already has some infrastructure for satellite communication. Another asset is that Italy is even more deferential to the American military than Germany is. “Italy has become the launching pad for the US wars, and in particular for the drone wars, without any public debate,” Maurizi says. “Our responsibilities are huge and the Italian public is kept in the dark.” And when the Pentagon decides to build big in Italy, it doesn’t hurt the momentum that—as Vine documents in his 2015 book Base Nation—the lucrative contracts are routinely signed with Italian construction firms controlled by the Mafia.
In any event, no one can doubt that the Defense Department has become utterly enthralled with drones, officially dubbed Remotely Piloted Aircraft. “Our RPA enterprise” is now “flying combat missions around the globe,” the general running the Air Combat Command, Herbert Carlisle, testified to a Senate subcommittee in March. There was no mistaking his zeal to further expand drone missions, mangled syntax notwithstanding: “They are arming decision makers with intelligence, our warfighters with targets, and our enemies with fear, anxiety and ultimately their timely end.” The “war on terror” is a gravy train for those who spin through the revolving doors of the military-industrial complex.
General Carlisle said the US military is now flying five times as many drone sorties as a decade ago—a boost that “exemplifies the furious pace at which we have expanded our operations and enterprise.” But he warned that “an insatiable demand for RPA forces has stretched the community thin, especially our Airmen performing the mission.” Today, almost 8,000 Air Force personnel are “solely dedicated” to Predator and Reaper drone missions. “Of the 15 bases with RPA units,” Carlisle said, “13 of them have a combat mission. This mission is of such value that we plan on consistent increases in aircraft, personnel and results.” Several weeks after his testimony, Reuters—citing “previously unreported US Air Force data”—revealed that “drones fired more weapons than conventional warplanes for the first time in Afghanistan last year and the ratio is rising.”
Some in-house government appraisals have concluded that the drone war fails because it creates more enemies than it kills. But the “war on terror” is anything but a failure for many corporations or the individuals who spin through the revolving doors of the military-industrial complex. As a critical node in the Pentagon’s global “intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance” (ISR) system, Ramstein is integral to ongoing boondoggles for contractors like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Booz Allen Hamilton, and General Dynamics. The bottomless pit for taxpayers is a bottomless well for firms catering to the Air Force, with its jargon-larded pursuit of “a distributed ISR operation capable of providing world-wide, near-real-time simultaneous intelligence to multiple theaters of operation through…robust reachback communications architectures.”
Looking back at the milieu of his work in the drone program, Westmoreland has concluded that “it’s more or less a for-profit venture. When you get out of the military, you expect to get a job in the defense sector, an executive position. And really it’s about racking up as many awards and decorations as you possibly can.”
At the top ranks, Westmoreland sees a conflict of interest: “They have an incentive to keep wars going.” For the military’s leadership, the available dividends are quite large. For instance, former NSA and CIA director Gen. Michael Hayden—an outspoken advocate of the drone program—received $240,125 last year as a member of the board at Motorola Solutions. That company has an investment in CyPhy Works, a major developer of drones.
Endless war propels an endless gravy train.
* * *
Like the other drone whistleblowers interviewed for this article, former tech sergeant Lisa Ling was careful not to reveal any classified information. But when we met at a coffee shop in California, what she said at the outset could be heard as subversive of the US drone program: “I would like to see humanity brought into the political discourse.” Her two decades in the military included several years of work on assimilating Air National Guard personnel into the drone program. Now she expresses remorse for taking part in a program where “no one person has responsibility.”
The new documentary film National Bird includes these words from Ling: “We are in the United States of America and we are participating in an overseas war, a war overseas, and we have no connection to it other than wires and keyboards. Now, if that doesn’t scare the crap out of you, it does out of me. Because if that’s the only connection, why stop?”
After leaving the Air Force, Ling went on a humanitarian mission to Afghanistan, planting trees and distributing seeds to people she’d previously seen only as indistinct pixels. The drone war haunts her. Ling asks how we would feel if armed drones kept hovering in the sky above our own communities, positioned to kill at any moment.
In the Little America where the Ramstein Air Base is the crown military jewel, such questions go unasked. For that matter, we rarely hear them in Big America. Yet those questions must be asked, or the forever war will be.
The Whistleblower & Source Protection Program at ExposeFacts provides legal representation for the former drone operators quoted in this article.Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The Civil Aviation Authority says drone use has increased significantly
A drone flying close to Gatwick Airport led to the closure of the runway and forced five flights to be diverted.
An airport spokesman said the runway had been closed for two periods on Sunday - of nine and five minutes - after the drone was sighted.
Easyjet said four of its flights were diverted, while British Airways said one aircraft was diverted to Bournemouth.
Other flights were put into holding patterns as a precaution.
Sussex Police is investigating.
The airport said: "Runway operations at Gatwick were suspended between 18:10 BST and 18:19, and again from 18:36 to 18:41, resulting in a small number of go-arounds and diverts."
Drones near aircraft 12,500 ft Highest near miss, over Heathrow in February 2016 400ft Maximum height drones should fly 50 metres Closest drones are allowed to anyone or anything
70 Near misses involving drones in 2016, more than double the year before Getty Images
Craig Jenkins, who was flying with Easyjet from Naples, Italy, said: "We were crossing over the Channel and it [the plane] started circling.
"It did four or five circles... before the captain said we were landing at Stansted.
"First, they said Gatwick was closed because of an incident. Shortly after, they said it was a drone."
Mr Jenkins, from Greenwich, south-east London, said passengers were given the choice of disembarking at Stansted or waiting an hour to fly back to Gatwick.
Niamh Slatter, from Sussex, was flying from Valencia, Spain, when her BA flight was diverted to Bournemouth.
"We were due to land 15 minutes early, but ended up circling over the south coast," she said.
"Our attempted landing at Gatwick was aborted quite late as the drone had been spotted again, so we were told that the flight was being diverted to Bournemouth."
Easyjet apologised for the inconvenience, saying the circumstances were "outside" of the firm's control.
Image copyright Twitter
How common are near misses involving drones?
The UK Airprox Board monitors near-miss incidents.
An Airprox is the official term for a situation where the distance between aircraft and their relative positions and speed were such that the safety of the aircraft may have been compromised.
There were 70 Airprox reports involving drones coming close to aircraft over the UK in 2016 - more than double the number for 2015.
There have been 33 incidents up to May 2017.
The Civil Aviation Authority recommends drones be flown at no higher than 400ft. However, the highest Airprox involving a drone was at 12,500ft.
Of the 142 Airprox incidents involving drones recorded since 2010, 40 of them were near to Heathrow. Six of them, up to May, had been near to Gatwick.
Rules on flying drones
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Drones should be flown no higher than 400ft
In November 2016, the UK's drone code was revised and updated to help pilots ensure they fly the gadgets safely.
The revised code turned the five main safety tips into a mnemonic, spelling drone, to make it easier to remember.
D on't fly near airports or airfields
on't fly near airports or airfields R emember to stay below 120m (400ft) and at least 50m (150ft) away from people
emember to stay below 120m (400ft) and at least 50m (150ft) away from people O bserve your drone at all times
bserve your drone at all times N ever fly near aircraft
ever fly near aircraft Enjoy responsibly
UK revises safe flying drone code
The British Airline Pilots' Association's flight safety specialist, Steve Landells, said the threat of drones flown near aircraft "must be addressed before we see a disaster".
"We believe a collision, particularly with a helicopter, has the potential to be catastrophic," he said.
'Imprisonment'
The union has called for compulsory registration of drone users and said new technology should be considered, including a system where the drone transmits enough data for the police to track down the operator.
The Civil Aviation Authority said there were serious consequences for people who broke the rules when flying drones.
"Drone users have to understand that when taking to the skies they are potentially flying close to one of the busiest areas of airspace in the world.
"[It is] a complex system that brings together all manner of aircraft including passenger aeroplanes, military jets, helicopters, gliders and light aircraft," a spokesman said.
"It is totally unacceptable to fly drones close to airports and anyone flouting the rules can face severe penalties including imprisonment."The battle over who exactly can use which bathroom may be coming to Texas.
Activists, lawmakers and state leaders are eyeing Texas as the next front in what has become an explosive national debate: the right of transgender people — those who identify with a gender that doesn't correspond with their sex at birth — to decide which bathroom they use. Undeterred by the ongoing fallout from a controversial law in North Carolina, Texas Republicans are putting a new emphasis on the issue with nine months until the next legislative session.
"Texas will be the next battleground," said Jared Woodfill, a conservative activist who is pushing for the Legislature — and the state GOP — to make clear its opposition to letting men in women's bathrooms. "In Texas, we need to draw a line in the sand. We need to stand with North Carolina."
“These proposed gender-police laws are a solution in search of a problem, and actually it's pandering and it's dangerous.”— Chuck Smith, executive director of Equality Texas The Texas Tribune thanks its sponsors. Become one.
Activists like Woodfill have found an increasingly helpful ally in Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is calling the issue a priority for the next legislative session. In an interview Wednesday, Patrick said it remains to be seen what kind of legislation the issue would require but it is "very possible" a statewide bathroom bill could be necessary.
"I think
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19th, 2016 in Shanghai, in order to exert more influence over the price of gold. This is a direct threat to the virtual monopoly the London Exchange has over the pricing of gold and silver throughout the world. Interestingly enough, just last week Deutsche Bank just came out and admitted to rigging the price of gold and silver, along with the collusion of other big banks, which it agreed to expose as part of its legal settlement. What is also interesting to note, is that many countries, such as Russia, China, India, Singapore, and others, are buying gold in bulk, seeing it as a strong form of money in the current times. These continued developments should be worrisome to any westerner, in that gold and silver have held strong as money for thousands of years, while fiat currencies, like the U.S. dollar, which is backed by nothing tangible, have historically always collapsed. A true re-valuation of currencies worldwide could be in the process of happening and it doesn’t seem to be in favor of the west.
In general, the demand for dollars is decreasing all over the world, as the writing on the wall is starting to become clear that the United States is rigging the system in their own favor. As a result, many countries are aiming to conduct international trade in other currencies, as well as divest their reserve assets in more promising securities. The East has even created its own central bank and development bank to rival the IMF and World Bank, in what’s referred to as the BRIC’S system. On multiple fronts, the dollar is falling out of favor around the world.
(BRICS members: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa)
The East has also stood up geopolitically and militarily, especially Russia, which has gone into Syria and basically stopped the continued invasion of ISIS, which is nothing more than a foreign mercenary army used by the West as a proxy to destabilize Syria and oust the anti-western leader, Bashar al-Assad. From many reports, even amongst the mainstream media, Russia appears to have developed pretty advanced military weaponry not previously seen before, showing the infallible U.S. Army that it cannot simply do whatever it wants. It’s about time someone did this anyways, as it’s become apparent that any country that attempts to break away from the petrodollar and sell its oil in other currencies is then invaded shortly after. Just look at the most recent list, which includes Iraq, Libya, Syria and next on the chopping block is Iran if the war hawks in Washington get their way.
The other major change happening in the global economy is the move to a post-oil world. Alternative energy products are being increasingly built up all over the world, bringing down the demand of oil in the process. This especially affects countries like Saudi Arabia, whose entire economy is predominantly driven by the sale of oil. There’s no doubt that this has Saudi Arabia strategizing about the most effective way to transition into this vastly changing world. This change around the world in macroeconomic dynamics is also coupled with the fact that the U.S. and Saudi Arabia are in very different positions domestically compared to when the petrodollar system began, inevitably affecting how both countries must adapt moving into the future.
U.S. and Saudi Arabia In Dysfunctional States
Compared to the quickly developing country of the 1970’s with rich oil reserves and a strong U.S. ally to protect it, Saudi Arabia is going through some very difficult times at the moment. For one, they have an internal power struggle building in the country, in both the inner circle of power and amongst the people of the country. The King of Saudi Arabia, King Salman, is rumored to have developed dementia, which means there is not only a battle for power within the royal family, but there is an internal battle over the direction of Saudi Arabia moving into the future.
There is also a huge problem within the population of Saudi Arabia, as the people are developing a strong desire for social reforms in the country. With the Saudis being known for poor democratic institutions, harsh capital punishment laws, heavy restrictions for the rights of women, and poor humans right in general, this change is not only being pushed by the people of Saudi Arabia, but has been developing amongst the international community at large. Change is inevitable in Saudi Arabia, especially as the whole world modernizes and becomes more interconnected.
They are also having problems in oil, as there is a huge oversupply of oil in the markets right now, which is only going to get worse now that Iran has its sanctions removed. As stated earlier, driving down the price of oil especially hurts countries like Saudi Arabia which relies heavily on the price of oil to drive their economy. Their oil reserves have taken a hit as a result, as they have chosen to flood the market with reserves in order to make up for the losses they have incurred. Saudi also stretched its budget thin by engaging in an imperialist proxy war in Yemen against Iran, which is draining valuable resources and garnering international scrutiny from those who see the invasion as an obvious war crime. In many ways, the fall in oil prices and the excess in governmental spending on military operations have essentially rendered Saudi Arabia bankrupt, which is especially worrisome as their position in the world changes.
However, the U.S. is not much better off, as it is also broke. Having lived off its credit card for far too many years now, it has very little productive capacity in its savings account to salvage it from the dead. This is going to inevitably worsen as well, as the East rises economically and geopolitically. The breakdown in the dollar is really adding up and causing America to lose both respect on the international stage and in value of its currency. The U.S. can no longer get countries to fall in line as easily as it once did, which means that it is going to become increasingly hard to prop up the U.S. dollar, as countries start to conduct trade outside of its control. In many ways, the U.S. is becoming exposed for its exploitation of the petrodollar, and there are few spots left to hide, especially if Saudi Arabia were to jump ship and move outside the petrodollar system.
In many ways, both countries are trending down the more the world shifts in global economics and politics. As both continue to fall, both will inevitably aim to save themselves, as they have no other choice. So even though the two countries are heavily intertwined, even amongst criminal activity, they are both inevitably looking to save themselves, even if it’s at the expense of the other. This leads into different lines of speculation as to how the current dynamic in the relationship will play out moving into future.
The Current Dynamics Of U.S.-Saudi Arabia Relations
Oddly enough, much of the controversy in recent news between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. stems from a report that aired on 60 Minutes, which claimed that the U.S. was considering declassifying 28 pages about 9/11 that were previously hidden from the public. As many in alternative media have already known, these 28 pages are mainly about the Saudi Arabian connection to 9/11, specifically the funding of the alleged hijackers. As an obvious backlash to this report, Saudi Arabia has threatened to liquidate 740 billion dollars worth of U.S. treasuries that it holds in its excess reserves. As Saudi Arabia is the third largest holders of U.S. treasuries, this is no small action, even though the Federal Reserve could probably soak them up. In many ways, Saudi Arabia would be forced to liquidate their assets nonetheless, since their U.S. assets would be confiscated anyways if the victims of 9/11 successfully sued them.
The problem with the 9/11 “story” is that Saudi Arabia and the U.S. are heavily interlocked in both 9/11 and the financing of Islamic terrorism, so unraveling the true core of those topics is bound to reveal a lot more than either government wishes to see exposed. In fact, Obama recently met with Saudi Arabia and expressed his support for not releasing the 28 pages for fear that if they were released, it would allow victims of 9/11 to sue the Saudi Arabian government, which would then open up the U.S. government to being sued as well. This is actually quite revealing in itself; this is basically an indirect admission of U.S. government involvement in 9/11. What is also interesting to note, is that there is almost no way that the 9/11 “missing 28 pages” will go into any type of depth as to what really happened on 9/11 and who specifically was involved. While some small fries could come under fire, the big fish in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia are far too interconnected at the highest levels to allow any real leaks to come out. The 28 pages seem to be nothing more than a limited hangout that will provide a little truth, but completely hide the much bigger picture.
This also comes at a time where Saudi Arabia and U.S. relations are becoming increasingly stressed, mainly revolving around the U.S. engaging in relations with Iran, the Saudi’s sworn enemy in the region. The House of Saud is slowly losing influence in the region, which is reflected in the U.S. opening ties with Iran and the depletion of its oil reserves. Many even speculate that Saudi might have already hit peak oil, meaning they have no choice but to start to transition towards something different. Saudi Arabia is also upset with the U.S. for not playing a more active role in its war on Yemen; feeling they are not holding up their end of the bargain in the petrodollar system.
It seems very apparent to some researchers in alternative media that Saudi Arabia is becoming increasingly aware that they need to pivot east. Not only is the U.S. falling out of place internationally and economically with the slow fall of the dollar, but China is now the largest oil market in the world, and Saudi Arabia must transition away from oil. This would explain why Saudi Arabia is considering selling some of its oil assets, like ARAMCO, to foreign companies in a move to develop a sovereign wealth fund that will help it pivot east and transition the country towards a post-oil world. They almost seem to have no choice, as America is known to throw countries under the bus that fall out of favor. Saudi Arabia also has quite a lot of gold, which means that the growing build-up of a gold-backed economy could be something that benefits Saudi Arabia if they were to pivot east.
It seems that the U.S. is using the 9/11 card as a political ploy against Saudi Arabia, threatening them not to wander too far away from their petrodollar relationship in the hopes that they will not turn towards the East. The Saudis pivoting east would really be devastating for the petrodollar, and the U.S. economy overall. If Saudi Arabia does decide to pivot east, it could result in the destabilization of the country, either through a CIA lead Saudi Spring (Similar to the Arab Spring) or an influx of Western backed “Islamic terror” in the region. This seems to be the card most often played by the West in order to bring countries into line with their agenda, and considering Saudi Arabia is not very well liked on the international stage, political cover for such an action would not be very hard to obtain.
They also already have the internal problem of human rights in the country, which would provide further political cover for bringing “freedom and democracy” to the region, like in a Saudi Spring. Not to mention that Saudi Arabia has tons of oil, which America is always lurking to steal. It could also be an option to blame Saudi Arabia for the inevitable collapse of the U.S. dollar, which in turn would give the U.S. “justification” in the eyes of the public to go to war with Saudi Arabia. It seems pretty apparent that the 9/11 card could easily be used to dupe the public into supporting a war against Saudi Arabia for being the “masterminds” of the attack, despite how utterly false that claim is. These are all cards that have been used many times over, so there is no reason to believe that they will not repeat themselves.
Conclusion
Though there are many threads here to explore, it does seem pretty clear that the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. is starting to break apart, as Saudi Arabia sees the writing on the wall and pivots east in a last-ditch effort to save its kingdom from falling all the way down. The U.S. also seems to be coming to the realization that it needs to either keep Saudi Arabia in line or punish it for breaking away from their bread and butter: the petrodollar. Only time will tell what will happen, but this is an important relationship whose breakup could unravel in a very nasty way. It’s increasingly important that people pay attentions to these matters, so that wars are averted and the real criminals, even inside one’s own government, are brought to justice. This is the only way peace will come about and a just world can manifest. Knowledge is power; so keep your eyes open and stay informed.
Sources: http://www.mintpressnews.com/saudi-king-hospitalized-for-dementia/210145/, http://thecrux.com/why-the-u-s-saudi-relationship-is-extremely-important-to-your-wealth/, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9UE5KStL6o, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/12047257/Russia-sends-warning-to-West-with-show-of-strength-in-Syria.html, http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-04-11/was-saudi-arabia-behind-911-these-28-pages-have-answer, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/saudi-arabia-oil_us_56fea15ce4b083f5c60788d7
Help Us Be The Change We Wish To See In The World.Often during final tribal council, a juror will ask the finalists what they would do with the money to better themselves and the world. Some answer it well, like Yul and Ozzy did in Cook Islands and some claim that they would like to become motivational speakers to little girls.
The next Oprah Winfrey
Usually once a season of Survivor is over, we tend to move and forget most of what happened. Winners take their million and do whatever they wish with it. Nobody is there to hold them up on their claim of using the prize money for good and honestly, very few would even care to find out where the cash went. They earned it, they can choose to spend it whichever way they want which for Fabio meant partying.
Every once in a while, you come across a winner who really does intend to use his winnings and status as a reality television star as a means to better the world. One such person is Survivor: Africa’s Ethan Zohn. Back when they were filming Africa, Ethan was a 27 year old trying to make it as a professional soccer player. His career was at the forefront of his mind and Survivor was a way to get more exposure, this was still they heyday of the franchise and was still an extremely popular program that was watched across the USA.
While on location in Africa, a lot of things changed for Ethan. Survivor has often been a transformative experience for its contestants and it may have never been truer than with Ethan. He saw the beauty of Africa and on a reward, got to visit a local village where he met some of its children. This was not a rich village by any means but the children were still carefree and happy. During this reward, Ethan got a chance to play hackey sack and soccer with those kids in the streets of Africa. As far as rewards go, this is probably the most cultural and enriching that Survivor has ever had. In terms of overall seasons, Africa has by far the most of these types of rewards. The experience was not lost on Ethan even as it was happening as he tells the audience in a confessional:
The smiles on their [the kids’] faces were amazing. I think I made their day. It’s hard to describe in words everything that was going on in my head. It was an experience I’ll never forget. As a life experience, it was a day I’ll never ever forget for the rest of my life.
Ethan and Lex on their reward
Those words were not just superficial. That day truly stuck with Ethan and resonated within himself even after he won the game and left Africa. In 2002, shortly after his win and thinking back to that day in the African village, Ethan got a group together and co-founded Grassroot Soccer. Much of his prize money from winning Survivor went into creating the charity and Ethan went about doing this without so much as looking for any press. He was simply doing this out of feeling a need to better the world and having the ability to do so. Ethan even stated as much in a 2010 interview with NBC News, citing that reward challenge as the catalyst for wanting to bring change to the world:
Here I am in the middle of this cultural game of Survivor, and I had this real-world experience.It was at that moment that I decided that if this was my way, if I win a lot of money or whatever happens, I am going to use that money to do something good.
Grassroot Soccer has as a mission to educate the children of Africa on HIV/AIDs through different programs that lean heavily on the soccer craze that sweeps all of Africa. It has been acclaimed for its ability to reach children that would never otherwise receive this kind of education and for its success in doing so. For Ethan, it was an obvious choice. He loved soccer and as he found out during that reward in Africa, he loved connecting with children, it was something innate within him.
They often say that the nicest people go through the most terrible things and for Ethan, that became true in 2009. He was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called CD20-positive Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Ethan fought back against the cancer with chemotherapy but had it return in late 2009. By 2010, Ethan became cancer free for a second time but that was short-lived as it had a second relapse in 2011. Thankfully, he was able to once again go through treatment, this time stem cell transplants were given to him by his brother, and come out a winner and since 2013 he has been cancer free.
Even in his lowest moments, Ethan never stopped being a positive influence on the world. He remained involved with Grassroot Soccer through his sickest days and used his experiences as a way to further connect with the children he worked with. Knowing what it was like to live with a life threatening disease helped Ethan reach the kids in Africa. As he explained to NBC in 2010:
On that sense, I can kind of relate to some of the kids we work with who are nervous about going to get tested and don’t want to know their diagnosis. They don’t want to have a death sentence and they’re afraid to go to the doctor. I can relate to them in that sense if I need to stretch the link between HIV and cancer. But it is more on a sense of what we teach our kids at Grassroot Soccer is to find a great support system, to have a positive attitude, to stay healthy, and you can extend your life. With my cancer diagnosis I followed the same rules. The same stuff we are teaching our kids here in Africa, I kind of follow for myself. I guess it was a good thing for me.
Since then, Ethan has taken time to tour as a motivational speaker and continues his charitable work in Africa. None of this would have ever happened had Ethan not been cast for Survivor 16 years ago. A whole charitable organization and countless lives were saved simply because a 27 year old man was put on a game show for a million dollars. Survivor may not be the most sophisticated show on television and it may not be the most influential but Ethan’s story is a great example of how it can actually change a person.
Not everyone is going to use their winnings to change the world in the way that Ethan. That’s entirely their prerogative. That said, if there’s even a chance that Survivor could produce another winner like Ethan, its existence is validated simply from that fact. Ethan Zohn won Survivor and it was a great moment in his life but since then, he has taken great steps to ensure it wasn’t the greatest moment in his life. That kind of thinking and spirit should be an inspiration to everybody.Hi Jeff, and many thanks for agreeing to take some time out of your busy editing to answer a few questions.
Your latest book, A Man of Shadows, is the first traditionally published work you’ve written since 2002’s Falling Out of Cars. Why did you decide to publish it in this way rather than only as an e-book?
Jeff: After Falling Out Of Cars, I vanished into the world of screenwriting, or at least I tried to break into screenwriting. That didn’t work out as well as I hoped, so years later I returned to novel writing, with immense relief, it must be said. In the interim the whole eBook phenomenon had taken off, and I thought it might be an interesting experiment to put out a new novel myself, along with a good chunk of my backlist. That new eBook novel was Channel SK1N, which I enjoyed writing and publishing. It was good to be back. However, after a good few years of promoting and publishing myself, I really wanted to get back into a paper existence. I really love paper books, and I was missing seeing my work in the bookshops. My first venture was Mappalujo, a collaborative novel written with Steve Beard. We published this through a small publisher, which was great, but it still wasn’t reaching the bookshops. So when Angry Robot Books got in touch, I was more than pleased to write A Man Of Shadows for them. It’s so good to see the book on the shelves. I do feel now that my self-publishing experiment is over, and from now on I’ll be seeking publishers for my work. I hope to find a publisher for my backlist.
Concepts of time and what it means to an individual feature strongly in A Man of Shadows. What does time mean to you?
Jeff: Time is the landscape in which a narrative is played out: I see it, in story terms, as a kind of geography. Events move through it. Once I’d created the setting of the novel – a city divided into areas of strict light and dark, where the sky is hidden behind a vast canopy of lamps – I realised that time would have a very different function for the people who lived there. Cut off from the natural cycles of day and night and the seasons of the years, I thought that time might become more liquid for them, more personal, in the sense that everyone would be free to create, or to buy, their own time scales. This concept really excited me, and was a major force in the writing process. In a sense, the citizens are going back to a period in human history when time wasn’t so regimented, and more localised. I was interested in how this concept of liquid time would affect my characters, for good and for ill: how some would revel in it, and some would rebel against it, and how for others it might cause psychological problems. My protagonist, Nyquist, is severely and increasingly affected by a broken sense of time as the narrative progresses. My job as a writer was to chart his disintegration. I really felt scared for me at certain points.
Nyquist has classic noir-detective traits. Did any noir fiction or films inspire you?
Jeff: I love crime novels, always have done ever since I was a young teenager first reading Agatha Christie. I have a passion for all murder mysteries: hardboiled, traditional, or avant-garde. I really like the puzzle aspects of the narrative. So writing in the genre seems a very natural step to me, especially combining it with science fiction. I also remember reading with delight Isaac Asimov’s SF detective novels, The Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun. The actual plotting of A Man Of Shadows is influenced by the work of Ross MacDonald, my favourite of the American noir writers. He dealt with the twisted, darker side of family life, and I explore that same area in this book. Film wise, I really like The Long Goodbye, an amazing 1973 adaptation of Raymond Chandler by director Robert Altman, although that’s not really an influence. It’s mainly novels that I’m inspired by, especially older ones. I suppose my favourite contemporary crime writer is Jo Nesbo. But I feel that I’ve delved into his books so deeply and so many times that I can now predict his plotting. It’s a curse!
Your writing is often very evocative of place or culture. Do you go out and about observing and note-taking?
Jeff: Surprisingly, no. Not really. I write from my imagination, rather than from the outside world. I’m a bit of a recluse, I guess. But it suits me. I used to write about Manchester, my home town, but since leaving there about 18 years ago, I haven’t really depicted the real world that much. I’m going through a phase where I prefer to create realms of my own imagining. The initial idea behind the Nyquist mysteries was to have my private eye resident in a different weird city for each case, and to let the peculiar properties of that city create the case he has to solve. In a similar question, people often ask me if I’ve taken lots of drugs, and again the answer is no. I just make it all up!
Does your writing infect your dreams or do your dreams infect your writing?
Jeff: Not so much. These days I very rarely remember my dreams anyway. I do recall that the end of my first novel Vurt came to me in a dream. And recently, working on the follow up to A Man Of Shadows I dreamt that Nyquist was dead. I got up very early that morning and wrote a chapter exploring that possibility, and what it might mean in terms of the novel’s structure and narrative. Was he really dead, or had some other kind of reality taken him over? This is the kind of question that very often possesses me. But usually, I wake up without any dream memories. I do keep a pad and pen at my side, in order to jot down ideas. That’s very useful. If I don’t write them down, the ideas vanish after a few minutes.
Vurt is one of my favourite novels. As a debut, were you surprised by its success and longevity?
Jeff: I’m very happy that a good number of people love the book, and it’s very exciting these days, as I get older, meeting younger writers who have been influenced by the novel. That’s very gratifying to hear. It’s strange, because the book came out on a tiny publisher, and was really aimed at a few of my friends in Manchester: I wanted simply to write a book that they might enjoy, that was the main drive behind it. That, and the dream of escaping the day job! So it’s quite incredible to me that the novel grew from that very personal impulse, to have a wider influence in British science fiction circles.
Finally, when can we expect your next book?
Jeff: If all goes to plan, I should have two novels out next year. The first will be The Body Library, the continuing adventures of private eye John Nyquist in a new city, with a new group of characters, a new crime, a new predicament. The second book will be my first ever proper crime novel. No SF or fantasy elements, just straight down the line murder mystery set in 1981: real people, real events. That’s a big change for me, a departure in a new direction. But the story itself is still concerned with my usual themes: I can’t escape those, now matter where I go in genre terms. I haven’t given up on SF, but I really want to explore some different approaches and themes as I get older. To never settle into one pathway.
More info:
http://jeffnoon.weebly.com/
Buy Jeff’s books:
https://www.hive.co.uk/Search/Keyword?keyword=jeff%20noon&productType=0
https://forbiddenplanet.com/?q=jeff+noon
AdvertisementsThe U.S. Soccer Federation has posted financial statements covering April 2014 through March 2015. While the documents do not shed fresh light on everyone’s favorite topic, coaching salaries, they do include a few tasty items.
What we do know, from last year, about Jurgen Klinsmann’s contract is that it runs through July 31, 2018, at base compensation of $2.5 million and “escalating over the term of the agreement.” It also promises unspecified incentive bonuses hinging on performance in international tournaments. His full compensation between April 2013 and March 2014 was $2.523 million.
The new figure won’t be available until the USSF’s tax statement is posted this winter.
Women’s coach Jill Ellis agreed to a new contract after overseeing the World Cup championship this summer. The new terms will not be made public until next year. Her previous deal was worth about $200,000 in base salary, plus incentives and bonuses.
From the new documents …
*National team expenses in 2014-15 were:
$31.1 million for the men’s national team.
$10.3 million for the women’s national team.
The financial period encompassed the 2014 (men’s) World Cup and the last stage of preparations. The period closed before the 2015 (women’s) World Cup.
For the previous fiscal year (April 2013 to March 2014), $18.7 million was spent on the men (World Cup qualifying and early Brazil preparations) and $8.3 million on the women (no major events).
*The USSF’s agreement to manage the National Women’s Soccer League was to expire this December. Presumably, it has been — or will be — extended. The USSF is not a member of the limited liability company that owns the league — team owners and investors are — and does not collect a management fee or rent. The USSF pumped $1.43 million into the league in 2014-15, up from $670,000 the previous fiscal year.
*Last October, in conjunction with CONCACAF, the USSF formed the Copa America 2016 Local Organizing Committee. Although the FIFA corruption scandal placed the competition in jeopardy, the tournament is a go and the USSF plans to announce details soon. It will receive a share of ticketing and stadium revenue. On March 13 this year, the USSF gave $500,000 to the local organizing committee as a start-up loan, which will be reimbursed.
*The USSF’s partnership with Soccer United Marketing, MLS’s marketing arm, expired last Dec. 31 but, as of early this year, continued to operate under a “memorandum of understanding with SUM while a new agreement is formalized.” USSF revenue from the agreement rose from $15.4 million in 2013-14 to $18.3 million in 2014-15.
*The USSF’s contract with Nike, which runs through 2022, reaped $20.3 million in revenue in 2014-15: $10 million base, $1.7 million commitment bonus, $3.9 million of equipment, $4.1 million in merchandise royalties, $500,000 in discretionary funds and $250,000 in World Cup bonuses.
In 2013-14, revenue was $15.1 million: $8.8 million base, $2.25 million commitment bonus, $3.5 million in equipment and $588,000 in merchandise royalties.
*The USSF has a 25 percent participation in the Professional Referee Organization, which administers the officiating program, and contributed $1.3 million in 2014-15, up from $1.1 million in 2013-14.
*No concerns about a labor dispute ahead of the 2018 World Cup: The collective bargaining agreement between the men’s national team and the USSF is in place until Dec. 31, 2018.
USSF financial statements since 2006Timor-Leste withdraws from Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea (Cmats), which divides oil and gas revenue
Timor-Leste has withdrawn its Australian espionage claims in the permanent court of arbitration as a “confidence-building measure”, as the two countries continue to negotiate over their maritime border.
In 2013 it was revealed the Australian government had bugged the Dili cabinet room of the Timor-Leste government in 2004 – under the guise of Australian aid-sponsored renovations.
The Timor-Leste government claimed the espionage gave Australia an unfair advantage in negotiations over the Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea (Cmats) treaty, which divides future revenue from the tens of billions of dollars worth of oil and gas that lie beneath the sea.
Australia and Timor-Leste to negotiate permanent maritime boundary Read more
In a joint statement issued on Tuesday by the Timor-Leste and Australian governments, the two countries confirmed Timor-Leste had withdrawn from Cmats and the treaty would cease to operate from 10 April this year.
As the final in a series of “confidence-building measures”, Timor-Leste agreed to withdraw two arbitration cases before the permanent court of arbitration (PCA) in The Hague: the “espionage case” and a second arbitration concerning jurisdiction of a gas pipeline from Bayu-Undan to Darwin.
The dispute over the Timor Sea – more precisely the lucrative oil fields beneath the sea – has pre-empted and then overshadowed the short and chequered history between independent Timor-Leste and Australia.
The fields are estimated to hold 9tn cubic feet of gas and 300m barrels of condensate and liquefied petroleum gas worth about $53bn.
But the agreement to terminate Cmats and “commitment to good faith talks” appear to have mended mistrust in the relationship and helped with the progress of negotiations.
Both countries are engaged in a year-long compulsory conciliation, overseen by the permanent court of arbitration, and say they are working towards a final agreement on a permanent maritime boundary by September this year.
“The commission and the parties recognise the importance of providing stability and certainty for petroleum companies with current rights in the Timor Sea,” the joint release said.
“The parties are committed to providing a stable framework for existing petroleum operations [and] the commission intends to do its utmost to help the parties reach an agreement that is both equitable and achievable.”
Australia fails in attempt to block Timor-Leste maritime boundary case Read more
In order to provide a stable framework for existing petroleum operations, Australia and Timor-Leste have agreed that the 2002 Timor Sea Treaty and its regulations would remain in force in its original form until a final delimitation of maritime boundaries has come into effect.
Father Frank Brennan, former director of the Jesuit Refugee Service in Timor-Leste, adviser to the church-constitution working group in that country and professor of law at Australian Catholic University, said the fledgling country had taken a huge gamble in its negotiations.
“From here the stakes are high,” Brennan wrote. “The Timorese may get the whole of [the Greater Sunrise oil and gas field] but then they will need to find a developer willing to incur the added cost and uncertainty of a pipeline across the Timor Trough and subsequent development in Timor.
“Then again, they may be left with only a 20% share in any future Sunrise development rather than the 50% presently on the table.
“They could also lose lucrative exclusive fishing rights.”
A negotiation of Australia’s maritime boundary with Timor-Leste, which international legal precedent would suggest will fall along a median line between the two countries, could also give rise to a claim by Indonesia to renegotiate its maritime boundaries with Australia.
The current boundary, which is different for the seabed and the water column, is significantly closer to Indonesia than it is to Australia.Ken Burns has a new film coming out. In September, the documentarian presents The National Parks: America’s Best Idea on
PBS. If Burns’ fans are excited, they can hardly be surprised. The
guy’s obsessed with America. More specifically, he’s obsessed with the
things that make America America. His previous films have explored its
figures (Mark Twain, Frank Lloyd Wright, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas
Jefferson), objects (the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge), events
(the Civil War, Lewis and Clark’s exploration of the West), and
cultural products (jazz, baseball). Consider this list and a film on
the country’s feelings about the land where all this happens begins to
feel less like the logical next in line, and more like one that’s long
overdue. No offense to jazz, but come on.
According to its Web site, The National Parks is “a visual feast.” It features “some of the most extensive, breathtaking images of the national parks system every [sic,
PBS!] captured on film.” The story of America’s treasured parks rolls out “against the most breathtaking backdrops imaginable.” In other words,
America’s national parks are pretty.
Yes,
images of the parks’ canyons and caves, glaciers and geysers,
waterfalls and wildlife are pleasing visuals. They make great jigsaw
puzzles and calendars. But for some of the system’s most intriguing
visuals, you don’t even need to visit a park. Go, instead, to the Web
site of the Harpers Ferry Center.
The
Center serves as the interpretive design center of the
National Park Service — NPS for short. The West Virginia town once produced firearms
for the U.S. government (its arsenal famously raided by John Brown at
the start of the Civil War); today it produces models and museum
exhibits and audio tours for NPS sites. “Do you have an exhibit or
furnishings project that is stalled because park staff are just too
busy to do the research?” the site asks. “Harpers Ferry Center curators
have researched projects from forts to stores to saloons at parks from
Alaska to the Virgin Islands.”
As part of its surprising transparency (as a whole,
the site makes a fascinating destination for anyone interested in how
museums and parks and historic sites work), HFC provides tutorials,
tools, and general insight on the process of interpreting
America’s preserves. This includes the NPS symbols.
Let me explain. You know this man and woman, right?
When they’re not in the bathroom or parking in a handicapped space,
they’re riding elevators and looking for baggage claim and seeking
information on hotels and archaically looking for a land line.
They go outside, too. Even been hiking? Camping? Some of these images
are probably familiar to you, even if you’ve never been to a national
park — they’re often used on the state and local level, too. The images
tell you where you can pitch your tent. Eat. The usual.
Images like these are called pictograms (NPS refers to theirs as
pictographs). Their purpose is obvious to most of us:
|
SPAN video of once-Congressman Mike Pence (who would later go on to become Governor of Indiana and the official Republican nominee for Vice President of the United States) arguing against the “theory” of evolution on the Congressional floor in an attempt to reinsert creationism (masquerading under the new term “intelligent design”) back into public school – using the Bible as his source of…, what? Evidence?
There’s only one problem: Pence apparently has no idea what the term “theory” means within the scope of science. Or, even worse, he does know what a scientific theory is (like relativity or gravity), but, like many activist lawmakers and teachers I once had a part in influencing, he intentionally obfuscates the truth in order to creative a false narrative for an scientifically illiterate audience.
Speaking of scope, Pence is clearly still upset over the outcome of the famous Scopes “Monkey” Trial back in 1925 which eventually helped overturn Tennessee’s religiously motivated “Butler Act,” House Bill #185; “An act prohibiting the teaching of the Evolution Theory in all the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of Tennessee…”
“This theory made its way through litigation into the classrooms of America and we all have seen the consequence over the last 77 years.” – Rep. Mike Pence (full transcript from 2002 floor speech)
In fact, yes, we have seen the consequences – unbelievable breakthroughs in science and medicine, not the least of which being the Human Genome Project (completed the year after Pence’s speech), a feat not likely possible if activist religionist lawmakers (like Mike Pence) had been successful in suppressing SCIENCE from public classrooms in deference to religious folklore as fact.
“Science adjusts its views based on what’s observed. Faith is the denial of observation, so that belief can be preserved.” – Storm, Tim Minchin
What is most interesting to me is the blatantly confused disbelief (a byproduct of holding myopically religious views) that a textbook could ever need to be changed as new evidence presents itself throughout the course of scientific discovery. That’s not how science works, Mr. Pence, just religion.
With regards to Pence’s assertion about the founding fathers all believing in a ‘creator,’ I might just point out that, well… yeah, that’s because no science had yet been performed to suggest otherwise (and… they were all politicians). I might also remind readers that these men lived in a time not long after that of scientists being threatened with death for suggesting that round earth was not at the center of the universe – not because of any competing scientific theories, but… religion infecting the governments of the day.
Then again, maybe Pence would also like to outlaw heliocentric “theory” for geocentric “fact” because… the Bible?
My Apology: In truth, it isn’t even Pence’s views on evolution that are most troubling to me, it’s his manipulable gullibility as an elected leader, falling prey back in 2002 to an immense push by Evangelicals masquerading a new (made-up) field of “creation science” to reintroduce Biblical creationism back into public schools by using a fancy new name that might confuse critics – “intelligent design.” I was personally (hesitantly) involved with a couple of initiatives that targeted teachers and lawmakers to “teach the controversy” in order to present “intelligent design” as “another scientific theory” in public schools. I was wrong for preying on scientifically illiterate lawmakers like Mike Pence, but, well… he was an easy mark.
More on Mike Pence’s views of evolution, global warming, and stem cell research.Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley speaks at her first news conference as Premier elect in Edmonton May 6, 2015. REUTERS/Dan Riedlhuber
TORONTO (Reuters) - Energy companies operating in Alberta should aim to upgrade more of the oil they produce within the province, Alberta’s newly elected premier said in an television interview.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley led the left-leaning New Democrats to a sweeping victory on Tuesday on promises that included energy industry reforms. Canadian energy stocks dropped following the win.
Notley reiterated in an interview on Global Television’s “The West Block” that she wants Alberta, the biggest source of U.S. oil imports, to be a “healthy place for investment.” But she said the industry should do more value-added processing in the province.
“Let’s make sure that we have more upgraded product and more upgrading here because the higher up the supply chain you get, the more a drop in oil prices helps those higher up in the supply chain,” she said in a transcript of the interview.
“Let’s make sure some of that’s happening here in Alberta. And, I’m not saying all of it, but I am saying that we need to look towards being more than simply drawers of water and hewers of wood.”
Notley, who had said ahead of the vote that she would not lobby on behalf of TransCanada Corp’s (TRP.TO) controversial Keystone XL pipeline if elected, noted the pipeline would ship unrefined crude abroad.
“My concern about Keystone as it’s currently thought out, and of course, it doesn’t need to be exactly what it is right now, is that it’s going to ship a lot of jobs south of here,” she said.
Asked about the prospect of raising carbon taxes, she said government would need more time to consult on the issue.With the offseason officially under way, Around The League will examine what's next for all 32 teams. The series continues with the Arizona Cardinals.
What's Changing?
General manager Steve Keim and coach Bruce Arians turned the franchise around, but missed the postseason thanks to toiling in football's toughest division. If things break perfectly this offseason, the Cardinals will bring back the same talent on defense while upgrading the offensive line and rushing attack. Eyeing a long-awaited return to the playoffs, Larry Fitzgerald has already restructured his contract to help the front office build a stronger roster.
» LB Karlos Dansby: A bargain signing late in free agency, Dansby was a big-play machine, leading the team in tackles, passes defensed and interceptions while producing 6.5 sacks from the inside linebacker spot. Cardinals fans believed he was a legitimate candidate for Defensive Player of the Year honors. Does this franchise want to splurge on a 32-year-old linebacker coming off a career year?
» RB Rashard Mendenhall: The Cardinals don't envision playmaker Andre Ellington as an inside runner, which means Mendenhall might be brought back despite his paltry 3.2 yards-per-carry average. Arians should be aiming higher for his early-down horse.
» WR Andre Roberts: Relegated to the third receiver role as Michael Floyd ascended, Roberts' numbers dropped off across the board in 2013. A fine role player with strong run-after-catch skills, Roberts has value to the Cardinals because they have little depth behind the two starters.
Other key free agents: DE Frostee Rucker, DE Matt Shaughnessy, S Yeremiah Bell, RT Eric Winston, CB Antoine Cason, K Jay Feely
What they need
The Cardinals' offensive line has finished dead last in Pro Football Focus' pass-blocking rankings for two consecutive seasons. Even with 2013 first-round draft pick Jonathan Cooper returning to solidify right guard, this team desperately needs an upgrade at both tackle spots. Although Ellington is a dangerous passing-down back, there's a need for an early-down hammer between the tackles. Re-signing Dansby and getting Tyrann Mathieu back to full health are also key to the Cardinals' playoff hopes.
On the way out?
» G Daryn Colledge: Colledge has been Arizona's most consistent offensive lineman since signing three years ago, but he's due to count more than $7 million against the cap in 2014. The Cardinals are reportedly high on 2013 fourth-rounder Earl Watford at right guard.
» RB Ryan Williams: After dealing with a lingering knee injury in training camp, the 2011 second-round draft pick was inactive in all 16 games last season. The Cardinals can save over $1 million by dumping Williams.
» LB Jasper Brinkley: Signed away from Minnesota, Brinkley played well as an early-down run thumper in the first month of the 2013 season. Once Daryl Washington returned from suspension, though, Brinkley was remaindered to the bench. He counts more than $2 million against the cap in 2014.
Offseason crystal ball
Fitzgerald highlighted the offseason priorities when he restructured his contract: A lucrative extension for All-Pro cornerback Patrick Peterson and new deals for Dansby and Rucker. The Cardinals might have to weather Peterson's absence from offseason practices, but he's the ideal candidate for a long-term commitment as a uniquely talented ascendant nucleus player.
Arizona already has been bandied about as a potential landing spot for free-agent left tackle Branden Albert. Right tackle can be filled via the NFL Draft. Maurice Jones-Drew would make for an interesting flier as Mendenhall's replacement on early downs. With just a few tweaks, Arians' squad could push for a third playoff spot out of the NFC West next season.
In the latest "Around The League Podcast," the guys ponder the future in both Seattle and Denver and break down the teams who intrigue them most this offseason.THE BASICS
Houston Dynamo at Toronto FC
Sunday, May 10, 4:00 p.m. CT
BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, Texas
BROADCAST INFORMATION
ESPN2 - 4:00 p.m. CHANNEL LISTINGS
Yahoo Sports Radio 1560 AM - 4:00 p.m. (3:30 p.m. pregame)
La Ranchera 850 AM / 101.7 FM - 4:00 p.m. (3:30 p.m. pregame)
PREVIEW
Toronto FC make their long-awaited home debut for 2015 in a completely remodeled BMO Field when they play host to the Houston Dynamo on Sunday afternoon before an ESPN2 and TSN audience. TFC concluded their seven-game road swing to open the campaign with a pair of wins, last a 1-0 victory at Philadelphia Union a week ago. The Dynamo hit the road after back-to-back defeats on their home ground, falling 1-0 to the San Jose Earthquakes at midweek.
REFEREE: Chris Penso. AR1 (bench): Joe Fletcher; AR2 (opposite): Gianni Facchini; 4th: Silviu Petrescu
MLS Career: 62 games; FC/gm: 23.3; Y/gm: 3.2; R: 17; pens: 20
INJURY REPORT, PRESENTED BY HOUSTON METHODIST (as of Friday, May 8)
HOUSTON DYNAMO – OUT: Nathan Sturgis – Right shoulder dislocation; DOUBTBFUL: Brad Davis – Left hamstring strain
TORONTO FC – OUT: Steven Caldwell – Achilles injury; Clément Simonin – Right knee surgery; QUESTIONABLE: Joe Bendik – plantar fascia strain
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (18 meetings): Toronto FC 4 wins, 20 goals … Dynamo 5 wins, 25 goals … Ties 9
AT TORONTO (9 meetings): Toronto FC 3 wins, 11 goals … Dynamo 2 wins, 10 goals … Ties 4
This is the only league meeting between the teams this season.
The Dynamo have come away with points on three of their last four visits to BMO Field, including a 1-0 win there last Oct. 8 in the last meeting between the teams. TFC’s 4-2 home win last year was their first at BMO vs. the Dynamo since 2011.
TFC has come away from Houston with points on each of their last four visits, though they have not won there since 2010.
Coaches record: Greg Vanney vs. HOU: P1 W0 L1 D0 … Owen Coyle vs. TOR: first game
HOUSTON DYNAMO
The Houston Dynamo suffered a second consecutive defeat on their home ground, falling 1-0 to the San Jose Earthquakes on Tuesday evening at BBVA Compass Stadium. The Dynamo are in a tie for seventh place in the Western Conference with 10 points from 10 matches.
LAST MATCH
The game's only goal came in the 54th minute. A quick free kick from the right flank by Quakes midfielder Matias Perez Garcia caught the Houston defense napping, and the service into the middle of box found Adam Jahn unmarked for a header inside the far post.
The Dynamo nearly answered three minutes later after Boniek Garcia weaved his through the San Jose defense before being taken down in the six-yard box by San Jose goalkeeper David Bingham, and referee Ricardo Salazar awarded a penalty. But the ensuing spot kick from Giles Barnes was sent low to the right post, and Bingham made a diving save to his left to bat the ball outside the post.
Dynamo head coach Owen Coyle made two changes to the team that suffered a 4-1 defeat by FC Dallas at BBVA Compass Stadium. Luis Garrido and Boniek Garcia came into the team, in place of Nathan Sturgis and Will Bruin.
HOUSTON DYNAMO (4-2-3-1): Tyler Deric - Kofi Sarkodie (David Horst 83), Raul Rodriguez, Jermaine Taylor, DaMarcus Beasley - Luis Garrido, Ricardo Clark - Boniek Garcia (Rob Lovejoy 74), Brad Davis, Alexander Lopez (Will Bruin 65) - Giles Barnes.
TEAM NEWSIMPUNITY, is still alive and well in the Philippines
December 2016
It may have been no accident at all when on Dec 18 th 2014, American Dan Keener, former US military, who has lived in the Philippines nearly 10 years, Is riding his motorcycle one afternoon in Dumaguete, the self-proclaimed “city of gentle people”. A slight accident occurs when Keener is bumped into by Marlo Villaflores, a Filipino. From there, Keener is accused of drunken driving and taken in hand cuffs to the Dumaguete Police station still confused what he is being arrested for. Police Superintendent James T Goforth, then the Dumaguete police chief, tells Keener he can go free after paying a fee, Keener refuses. 5 Beatings ensue leaving Keener with serious injuries. He is then thrown in jail, not yet charged with any crime. The next morning, after getting cared for by the other jailed inmates, Keener hears on the radio Chief Goforth telling listeners he has in jail an “American, who says Filipinos are corrupt!”. That afternoon Keener is formally charged, with “RESISTANCE & SERIOUS DISOBEDIANCE TO AN AGENT OF A PERSON IN AUTHORITY” and “SLIGHT ORAL DEFAMTION” of a police officer. But as Keener appropriately says to the City of Dumaguete Prosecutor, Ana Mei Dy Duran Montenegro,” to be resisting, I had to have been charged with a crime, but I was not, until right now”. Keener is never charged with drunk driving after all.
The rest of the story reads like a tale out of a fiction horror novel, but it is not. Denial after denial of motions to reschedule hearings and motions for reconsideration, Keener spends the next nearly 2 years attending hearings, flying back and forth from Manila to Dumaguete to do so. On September 13 th, 2016, the first day of the actual trial, the complainant, PNP Sup. James T Goforth, his 2 witness accomplices, and a team of 3 special prosecutors failed to appear resulting in dismissal of the case by judge Maria Corazon C. Gadugdug. In her order she states:“ The accused was also present who travelled all the way from Manila to be present in court today. None of the private prosecutors, namely Atty Neil Ray M Lagahit, Atty Arthur Fran P. Tolcidas, and Atty Conrado Conception, were in court” (neither were any of the witnesses or the complainant, PNP Sup James T Goforth). “IN VIEW THEREOF, and in order not to violate the constitutional right of the accused to speedy trial, the Court is hereby constrained to DISMISS these cases”. Why, after all of this would the complaint not show up? Maybe it is because under oath and on the witness stand evidence would show the truth, and that would not be good, for them.
But there is more to this story, much more. On May 22 nd, 2015, Keener files counter charges of physical injury, arbitrary detention and grave threat against Goforth only to have his case resolved to be dismissed after the preliminary investigation hearing on July23rd, 2015, by a special team of prosecutors to include: associate city of Dumaguete prosecutors, Leah Medina Nazareno, Janette L. Icao, and Milmon Bryce Tenorio, and approved by OIC City prosecutor Joeseph Arnel Zerna with them jointly stating: “the fact that complainant failed to complain of his alleged beating at the very first occasion that he was examined by a doctor ( on Dec 18 th, 2014) raises a serious doubt as to the truthfulness of his claim, coupled with the fact that he also failed to submit to this office his medico-legal certificates on the examinations done on Dec 18 th and on Dec 21, 2014. This office cannot rely solely on the medico-legal examination done on Dec 26 th 2014, or eight days after the alleged beating; a lot of other things could have happened in the time in-between and some other causes, intentional or otherwise, could have caused the injuries suffered by the complainant.” BUT the truth is this, Keener was in the provincial hospital on Dec 18 th, under guard by the very police that had previously been a party to his beating. He was having his toe nail removed as it was dangling from his bloody right foot that had been crushed by the police, and he did certainly complain. That Keener certainly did produce a medico-legal certificate dated Dec 21, done at the provincial hospital the very next day that he got out of jail which listed the many injuries reiterated by a further medico-legal examination by Doctor Bu Castro, at the Veterans Memorial Hospital when Keener returned to Manila dated Dec 26 th, 2014, the day after Christmas. All of the examinations agreed on the severity and number of injuries.
The Prosecutors then go on to say, “Moreover, the undersigned finds it unbelievable that he received ONLY about (10) injuries as reflected in his Medico-legal certificate: this just runs contrary to his contention that he was beaten by the respondent, six (6) or seven (7) times in all. Thus the undersigned respectfully recommends that the instant complaint for physical injuries be dismissed.” This becomes very interesting. Because in his counter affidavit, dated June 29 th, 2015, then chief of the Dumagete police, PNP Sup James T Goforth says this, page 2, paragraph 6 “ Complainants allegations that he was punched, kicked and knocked down by me, are all very impossible to believe. It does not take a rocket scientist to know that these irregular actions as alleged by complainant are contrary to law, reason and against my duties as PNP chief. Not to mention that here were also several persons present in the police station, both uniformed personnel and private civilians as well. Obviously, the physical injuries sustained by the complainant could not have been inflicted by anyone but were sustained by reason of the traffic accident which he himself admitted. Complainant was already injured and bleeding during the traffic accident scene and before he was brought to the PNP station. He might have been unconscious with this since he was very intoxicated at that time and he was acting very arrogant, violent, and disrespectful.” This statement by goforth is completely overlooked by the team of 4 prosecutors who by now you can see are not interested in any real search for truth, or justice. These so called prosecutors also overlook this, in his “Expert Affidavit” dated July 16 th, 2015, Dr. Bu Castro, a legal medical doctor with outstanding credentials to include “ As a pathologist, I have done at least 2,000 cases of autopsies involving both deaths of natural cause and deaths of unnatural cause, and I have attended to at least 2,500 living cases involving physical injuries affecting the external parts of the body and the internal organs. I have testified in courts for at least 1,500 times already and one of my expert testimonies was upheld by the Supreme Court in the case of CRUZ vs. COURT OF APPEALS, 282 SCRA 193;” says this about Keener’s injuries;
“On the “ Hematoma, Multiple – (a) Abdominal area, right lateral subcostal, 4.5 cm x 3.0 cm; (b) Abdominal area, left mid-antero-lateral area, 6.0 cm x 3.0 cm ”
7.1. The above findings could not be attributed to the motorcycle incident or accident. The point of impact of the incident involved the left rear side of Mr. Keener’s motorcycle, away from the site of the injuries. The above injuries could have only occurred in a separate incident specifically due to blunt object/s with strong impact or sudden strong force applied on the site of the injuries.
On the “ Contusion and Swelling, Multiple – (a) Left fronto-temporal area, 3.5 cm x 3.5 cm; (b) Right abdominal area, linear, right mid-lateral area; (c) Left lower leg, with linear bruises, mid-antero-lateral area, 5.0 cm x 6.0 cm; (d) Right lower leg, antero-lateral, lower 3rd; (e) Left forearm, with confluent bruises, distal 3rd, postero-medial, 3.0 cm x 3.0 cm; (f) Right forearm, distal 3rd, antero-lateral, with linear bruises, 3.0 cm x 3.0 cm; (g) Right thigh, with hematoma, lateral, proximal 3rd, 10.0 cm x 4.0 cm; ”
7.2. Again, the above findings could not be attributed to the motorcycle incident or accident. The point of impact of the incident or accident was away from the various sites of the injuries. The above injuries could have only occurred in a separate incident specifically due to either (a) hard object/s with blunt edges with strong impact or sudden strong force applied on the left side of the head, (b) hard object/s with blunt edges with strong impact or sudden strong force applied to the extremities and the torso or body;
On the “ Crushing Injury, right big toe, with hematoma and swelling s/p removal of crushed toenail at Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital ”
7.3. There was no way that the crushing injury of the right toe of his right foot could be connected with the vehicular accident. Again, the point of impact of the motorcycle accident was on the left rear side of Mr. Keener’s motorcycle. The right foot is normally on the right foot rest when driving a motorcycle. During the point of impact, his right foot could not be involved, considering the location or position of his right foot and the point of impact which was on the left rear side. The possible cause of the crushing injury is a strong impact by a hard, blunt object coming from an upper or elevated source. It could not be attributed to the motorcycle accident.
8. In summary and in general therefore, there was no impact of the other motorcycle driven by Mr. Marlo Villaflores on any part of the body of Mr. Keener. Further the motorcycle of Mr. Keener, and Mr. Keener himself, did not fall to the ground belying any assumption of injuries caused by the motorcycle incident or accident.
And the team of now exposed prosecutors also failed to consider this;
“That I have worked at RUSI dealership,,,, Dumaguete for the past 6 years as a mechanic.
That I came to know an American Daniel Keener as a customer of RUSI…
That I recall on Dec 18 th, 2014 at approx. 430pm Mr Keener came to RUSI to pick up his KR175,,, that he had left for repairs.
That Mr Keener was not drunk or intoxicated in any way, he did not slur his speech or stagger in his steps.
That Mr Keener had no injuries.
That Mr Keener started his motorcycle and drove away.
That I am executing this affidavit to attest to the truth and veracity of the forgoing statements”
This being the sworn affidavit of the mechanic at RUSI whom was with Keener 10 minutes before the “accident” took place. We will not name him as that would only endanger him for no reason.
None of the evidence presented by Keener was considered at all. Only the affidavits of Goforth and his accomplices was given consideration.
After arriving at his lawyer’s office at 11am on July 23 rd, 2014, returning from the HOJ Dumaguete having attended the preliminary investigation hearing against PNP SUP James T Goforth, Keener’s car was then firebombed in broad daylight, on the corner of a busy street. With hundreds of people standing by, only 2 claimed to have seen 2 men wearing masks riding tandem on a motorcycle, who threw a lighted bottle of gasoline on Keener’s car, an obvious warning from the mastermind, most likely the PNP chief himself, in the “city of gentle people”.
The city police were called but never came. The local media was called but also never came. The US Embassy Manila is notified, and do not even reply to what can only be legitimately called as an act of terrorism.
The current status of this case is a PETITION FOR REVIEW to the DOJ of Keener’s criminal case against Goforth that was filed October 15 th, 2015 with no action by the DOJ. A complaint filed August 4 th, 2015 with the office of the Ombudsman that has been passed from office to office to office to office with no action being taken. Most recently November 10 th 2016, the Office of the Ombudsman Quezon city has now sent this case back to the Office of the Ombudsman Visaya, or in other words, it has taken a year and a half for Keener’s case to make a full circle around the Philippines, and meanwhile not only has a very corrupt PNP cop NOT been relieved of his job as a police officer, he has been instead promoted. The case Keener filed with the Commission on Human Rights on August 4 th, 2015 with only the results that the office of the city prosecutor in Dumaguete has admitted that they “recycled” (destroyed) the audio caste tape from the July 23 rd 2015 preliminary hearing where Goforth makes numerous admissions that incriminate him in the allegations against him.
All of this over a very minor incident that caused a small scratch on a motorcycle. There are now some 60+ people involved here, including private persons, lawyers, doctors, prosecutors, judges and other officials of various government agencies and departments. It is no wonder that Philippines courts are so clogged up.A good case against a crook will be resolved to be dismissed with a finding of no probable cause, then the motion to reconsider, then another denial, then a petition for review, then the subsequent complaints against the people who failed to act on the original crime. Or the other side being, the bad case with bogus charges where a corrupt prosecutor will find probable cause and indict innocent people usually to try and extort them or as a malicious means, in most cases, where a foreigner simply made a Filipino mad, by as little as telling the truth. By the way, according to the Dumaguete police report dated December 18 th, 2014, Marlo Jay Villaflores, a Filipino, had no driver’s license, no proof of registration and no license plate but was not charged in the matter. Keener on the other hand, an American, had all of his legal requirements, including legal visa status.
“I am sure that when Marlo Villaflores hit my motorcycle it was no accident.” says Keener. “I know of these set ups happening all the time here and most always the targets are foreigners. In this case, they picked the wrong guy, I do not pay bribes and I will fight back. The PNP is usually always behind it or involved in some way, they provide the system which is used over and over. Imagine that in perspective, the very people whose job it is to “protect and serve” are the ones at the center of so many crimes. But the real problem is much bigger than corruption in the Philippines National Police; it is the larger network of impunity provided by the justice system that is supposed to prosecute criminals, that instead protects, supports and enables the corrupt. Impunity is the air that corruption breathes, without impunity, corruption will die off. I hope for the sake of my family and for all Filipino people that truly love their country, the day will come when impunity does not exist and corruption has died, for the good of all”?
Dan Keener is director of a foreign based information agency that helps to provide information to persons that end up in similar situations and educate persons who do not understand this reality.
AdvertisementsThe Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge has one of the best battery lives of any Android flagship on the market right now. It is, in fact, the first smartphone that I've carried in a long time that doesn't make me panic when I have to rush out of the house for a few hours on less than 40% battery. But this consistency and reliability don't mean that there are no times when I wish I could extend its battery life even more. Maybe for a road trip, a small weekend away, or any occasion where I don't know how long I will have to be away from a wall outlet.
ZeroLemon makes extended battery cases just for these occasions. It's an external battery that plugs into your phone and comes with a large TPU case that keeps them together so you don't have to worry about wires or carrying two separate things. And now they're just releasing the model that suits the Galaxy S7 Edge.
It's an 8500mAh battery, which should triple the battery life of your phone, but given the efficiency rate and loss in charging, will at least provide 150% more than your phone's 3600mAh battery. There are LED lights to indicate how much power it has left, pass-through charging to fill up the phone first then the external battery, and a port that lets you charge other devices too if the need arises. The only downside is the added bulk, but if you're only going to be using it on special days, it won't be a problem. ZeroLemon has provided a nice graphic to show you the exact dimensions of the whole setup.
The case only comes in black and it's going for $59.99 on Amazon right now, although the MSRP is $99.99, with free shipping.Fifty percent of the US thinks homosexual behavior is sinful, according to a Pew poll released today.
In a study titled, "Public Sees Religion's Influence Waning: Growing Appetite for Religion in Politics," Pew looks at the various ways faith and politics intersect in the public sphere.
Many of the findings were to be expected. For instance, white evangelical Protestants continue to skew right, and the religiously unaffiliated (called "nones") tend left. Also, younger respondents (Millennials) are, on average, more liberal than older generations.
But other results are more surprising. Take, for example, the fact that, within a year, the number of Americans who see homosexual behavior as sinful has increased by 5 percentage points: from 45 percent in 2013 to 50 percent today. The spike is noteworthy given the steady rate at which LGBT acceptance has grown over the last decade. Americans also increasingly think that President Obama is "unfriendly" toward religion.
The findings presented in the report are based on telephone interviews conducted September 2 and September 9, 2014. 2,002 adults were surveyed from a national sample. The study is well worth reading in its entirety, and you can do so here. But if you're looking for a quick breakdown, here are 5 of the most striking findings from the study.
1) Most people think religion is losing its influence in the US — and most think that's a bad thing
Nearly 3 out of 4 Americans think religion is losing its influence on society.
Consistent with previous surveys, most (56 percent) Americans see this development as a "bad thing." Of course, this number varies among religious groups: 77 percent of white evangelical Protestants are concerned about the waning influence of religion, compared with 61 percent of Catholics, and 30 percent of "none"s.
On the other hand, among the 22 percent of people who think religion is gaining influence in America, opinion is almost equally split on whether or not it's a good thing: 12 percent say it is, 10 percent say it isn't.
2) More white evangelicals than other religious groups consider themselves to be minorities because of their religious beliefs
While 31 percent of the general public thinks that the evangelicals face a lot of discrimination, half of evangelicals feel that way. In comparison, 33 percent of Catholics perceive a lot of anti-Catholic discrimination in the US, as do 19 percent of Americans overall. As Pew notes, "Those who belong to a particular group tend to be more likely than outsiders to say their group faces significant discrimination in American society."
Respondents were also asked if they considered themselves to be a minority because of their religious beliefs. Over nine out of ten Catholics answered this question negatively, with white mainline Protestants close behind. Thirty percent of white evangelicals said they do self-identify as minorities because of their religious beliefs:
3) There is still plenty of opposition to homosexuality
The number of Americans who believe homosexuality to be sinful has ticked up five percent in the last year alone (45 to 50 percent). And this belief varies among religious groups, as the following chart shows.
Those surveyed were also asked if businesses should be able to refuse wedding-related services to same-sex couples for religious reasons. The findings were closely split, with 47 percent saying businesses should be allowed to refuse service to same-sex couples and 49 percent saying businesses should be required to provide service).
The demographics behind these answers are notable: more men than women (52 to 42 percent) think businesses should be allowed to refuse service for religious reasons, as do those aged 65 and older (60 percent) compared to those aged 18-29 (35 percent). The findings also differ according to race with more whites (52 percent) favoring the religious exemption than blacks (36) and Hispanics (35). And of course, answers also differed according to affiliation with religious groups.
The poll finds 49 percent of Americans in favor of same-sex marriage and 41 percent opposed (and again, there was variation among religious affiliation). These findings reflect a slight change since a February 2014 Pew poll, which found 53 percent of Americans supported same-sex marriage. But any answers as to why support is down at this point would be merely speculative. Writes Pew, "It is too early to know whether this is an anomaly or the beginning of a reversal or leveling off of the growth in support for same-sex marriage widely observed in polls over the past decade."
For now, the important takeaway is that America is still pretty evenly split when it comes to LGBT issues, even is there has been a noticeable increase in public support in recent years.
4) More people believe Obama is "unfriendly" toward religion
"The share of Americans who rate the Obama administration as friendly toward religion has declined sharply in recent years," reads the survey. In 2012, 39 percent of respondents believed Obama to be "friendly" toward religion. Today, that number is down 9 percentage points to 30 percent. Accordingly, the percentage of Americans who think the President is unfriendly toward religion has jumped from 23 percent in 2012 to 29 percent two years later.
5) Americans want their churches to take a public stance on politics
The report says, "Most Americans continue to oppose the idea of churches endorsing particular candidates during political elections." However, in recent years, there has been a noticeable uptick in public support for "religious involvement in politics." In August 2010, 43 percent of Americans said churches should express their views on political and social questions. Currently, that number is up to 49 percent, with more Republicans than Democrats (59 vs 42 percent) believing houses of worship should express political views.
Pew also finds that more Americans believe there has been "too little expression of religious faith and prayer from political leaders." 41 percent of Americans hold this view, which is up from 2010 when 37 percent held it. More Republicans than Democrats tend to think political leaders don't talk enough about faith and prayer — 53 to 32 percent, respectively.Just about exactly five years ago, I wrote a goofy little program that walked through all of the CPAN and produced a CSV file telling me what was used to produce most dists. That is: it looked at the generated_by field in the META files and categorized them. Here's what the first report, from April 11, 2010, looked like:
generator | dists | authors | % ExtUtils::MakeMaker | 7864 | 2193 | 39.49% | 5273 | 2228 | 26.48% Module::Install | 3149 | 465 | 15.81% Module::Build | 3104 | 618 | 15.59% Dist::Zilla | 475 | 64 | 2.39% ExtUtils::MY_Metafile | 25 | 3 | 0.13% __OTHER__ | 20 | 8 | 0.10% software | 5 | 1 | 0.03%
Over time, I puttered around with it, but mostly I just ran it once in a while to see how things changed. (The above data is actually a truncation. The "other" category is all the generators used by fewer than 5 dists.)
Here's what the data look like for last month, only generators with at least 100 dists:
generator | dists | authors | % ExtUtils::MakeMaker | 10419 | 2997 | 34.27% Dist::Zilla | 6225 | 836 | 20.48%
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ity, players can draw every bit of it themselves. As someone who moonlights as an illustrator, this excites me a great deal. As someone who has seen how user-generated content usually manifests in games, I am also a little scared. Oh god, the penises. So many penises. I talked to Kai Skye, co-founder and programmer, about the shape of this online adventure, their ambitions for item trading and how best to fend off the potential wangalanche.
As with any game featuring user generated content, there's a risk the game will be quickly filled with offensive material - are you thinking of implementing any sort of moderation system or peer review?
This is an important issue that has been on our minds since we started developing Artizens. On one hand, we feel that it is not the dev team's place to impose any value judgement on how our players want to enjoy the game. On the other hand, we cannot allow content that personally insults or harms any of our players.
Some games choose to require custom content to be approved by a moderator before being able to appear in-game. However, we don't like this because we expect that the majority of our players will be creating appropriate and interesting content. It is not fair for us to force them to go through an approval process before they can enjoy their creations. We want players to be playing as their custom character right away.
Instead, our plan is to have a two level system, which includes, (1) immediate personal hiding, and, (2) flagging for permanent takedown. Personal hiding allows you to select individual players and revert offensive gear to its default appearance. This is extremely fast, easy to do, and still allows you to play alongside those players. Flagging allows you to report a player for direct moderator action. This is appropriate for violent images and hate symbols that are against our terms of service.
We feel that this simple two-level approach will be sufficient for early versions of the game. As our community grows, we'll be looking for feedback about how we can make moderation more effective without imposing constraints on our players' creativity.
Can you talk a little about how you envisage trading? Will it be in-game currency or is there any hint of real money transactions a la Steam Workshop?
Trading in Artizens happens in town at the trading post. It will be entirely community driven, meaning that all of the materials, drawings, and gear are placed into the market by players and traded among players.
To facilitate trading, we have an in-game currency called shinies. You will start off with shinies that you can spend on items at the trading post or new expansions to the game. While playing, you can earn shinies from the community by selling your creations to other players at the trading post. New shinies are added to the economy by purchasing them with real money.
In Artizens, you don't earn objectively better items over time. Instead, the items you earn become more specialized in fighting certain monsters and more complex in how they can be used. We want players to purchase items on the trading post because they are excited about having a cool appearance or trying a new playstyle and never because it gives them an unfair advantage.
What's the process of getting a drawing into the game?
Getting your drawing into the game starts by deciding on the piece of gear you want to customize. Each piece of gear has its own canvas and default look that you draw on top of. This lets us keep the hitboxes in the game consistent with what you draw and prevents game-breaking drawings such as entirely invisible characters.
In the early versions of Artizens, players will go into the Workshop to download a template file for their piece of gear that they can draw on top of. Players can use an image editor of their choice and we'll make it easy for players to launch a free image editor directly from the game. In the future, we may create an in-game drawing tool to make this process easier and faster.
Finally, when you're ready, you can upload your image to the game through the Workshop. As soon as the upload completes, the item will appear in your character preview, and you're ready to go!
You've emphasised the customisation aspect - but how does the adventure game side work? What's the structure of the world - is it a series of sidescrolling levels connected by a hub? Is there an order to them? How does multiplayer work in comparison to something like Monster Hunter or an MMO?
You start off in our hub town where you can see and chat with many other players. The town includes player apartments and workshops, the trading post, and mission headquarters. When you go to mission HQ, you can team up with three other players who are in town and pick a mission instance to go on.
In mission HQ, you choose a mission from a list of semi-random missions that take place in different locations. You'll only have a small number of them available and they'll be different each time you go to mission HQ. You can increase your rank by successfully completing missions, which unlocks harder monsters and greater rewards.
Missions are composed of 10 or so interconnected side-scrolling arenas. They are non-linear, so there are many ways you can get from one arena to another. Monsters will move among the arenas, run away, chase you, etc. so the play in these locations will be pretty dynamic. You can carefully prepare for a fight by setting up traps and waiting for the monsters to come to you, or you can charge in with your team and take the monsters down.
Is there an intention of having community created levels and monsters at a later stage?
This is certainly something that the Artizens team would like to have at a later stage. For now we are focusing on perfecting the missions that are available at launch.
Although you can't create monsters to fight yet, you can customize friendly monsters and have them play alongside you as pets. There are also Kickstarter rewards available for working on game content alongside the team, from designing a new weapon all the way up to designing a mission with us.
The boss battles in the video seemed a lot more complex than simply chipping away at a health bar - can you describe in some more depth how combat works?
Fighting against engaging and dynamic monsters is a huge part of playing Artizens. Monsters move from arena to arena, so you'll have to keep track of where they go, and strategize about how to approach them. Each monster has its own abilities and attack patterns that you'll have to learn to defeat. Monsters can be crippled and their body parts can even be destroyed if they take too much damage. As the fight progresses, monsters may become more aggressive, or alternatively, become weaker and start limping.
Players who are skilled at movement and aiming can target a monster's weak points to gain an advantage.Weapons have different types of attacks that are more effective against some monsters than others. There are weapons for close hand-to-hand combat and long range projectile weapons. We have gear for exciting fast-paced movement abilities such as dashing and teleportation.
Does the co-op aspect play heavily into the tactics required for taking down a beastie?
We're a big fan of co-op games that require good teamwork in order to succeed. In Artizens we'll have a variety of different types of missions that encourage teamwork, from fighting monsters, to escorting friendly characters, and finding hidden treasures while avoiding monsters.
There will be many support abilities that apply buffs to allies and debuffs to monsters. Monsters can be inflicted with status ailments, such as stun, which gives your teammates a chance to land their critical strikes. Like in Monster Hunter, if you coordinate your attacks, it's possible to create some very fun openings when fighting monsters.I don't know if I'm just weirdly shaped or what, but I've never found a wetsuit that fits perfectly. Sometimes it's just a nitpick—as in it's just a bit too tight one place, or a little baggy somewhere else—and sometimes I'm right in between sizes for a brand and can't wear any of their suits (I'm looking at you, O'Neill).
So, when the new Los Angeles-based company Carapace announced premium, custom-cut surf wetsuits for the same price as other high-end wetsuits, I had to try one.
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This suit is—by miles—the most comfortable wetsuit I've ever worn.
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What Is It?
It's a U.S. based company that makes custom-cut surf wetsuits and that's it. The EXO1 (the one I tried) is the company's premium model, whereas the EXO2 is its less-expensive "performance" line. It started as a Kickstarter, but now it's a full-blown company.
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Why Does It Matter?
Other companies have done the custom-cut surf wetsuit thing before (Aleeda comes to mind), but they don't typically use the best materials. The stuff Carapace uses is top of the line, and you can really feel the difference in the EXO1. Plus, they've managed to keep the price tag in line with (or cheaper than) a lot of brands' flagship models.
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Design
The EXO1 uses Japanese Yamamoto neoprene which is, essentially, the rubber equivalent of butter. It's an incredibly light, flexible, closed-cell neoprene that the company claims is 99.7-percent impenetrable to water. It's laminated with a blend of nylon and polyurethane to make it silky smooth to the touch. It's also a limestone-based neoprene, which is more environmentally-friendly and should last a long time.
It's a chest-zip suit (as in there's a flap that flips over your head from the back and connects to the chest panel, which helps flexibility where you need it) and the zippers are made by YKK. All of the seams are hand-taped for an excellent seal while maintaining flexibility. It has articulated, blast-proof knees for all your duck-diving needs. It also has a slick magnetic zipper stop, and there's a key pocket on the side of the left knee. Oh yeah, and it fits your body friggin' perfectly.
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When you create an account on Carapace's website, you are guided through twelve different measurements. You'll need a flexible tape measure and a friend to help you with this, but there's a video for each measurement, so it's really hard to screw up. You enter each measurement as you go, and then they're saved to your profile. Once they're all in, you choose which style and thickness you want: EXO1 or EXO2, and in 2/2, 3/2, 3/3, 4/3, 5/4, or 5/4 with hood.
Then you pay up. Your measurements are passed through a series of algorithms, which are translated into cut-patterns for the neoprene. Then everything gets stuck together, and you should receive your fancy new suit within two to three weeks.
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Using It
I get cold easily, so when I pulled out the 3/2 EXO1 and felt how light it was, I thought there was no way I'd be able to use it until spring. I underestimated just how warm it is. With the water temperature at 58 degrees on a sunny day (here in Los Angeles), I was actually really warm. On a windy, overcast day in Ventura, with the water temp at 57 degrees, I was still very comfortable. It doesn't have a wind-proof chest or back panel, so when I was sitting around during long lulls and there was a gust I'd feel it, but as long as I was moderately active I was plenty warm.
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I also tried out the 4/3 version of the EXO1 up in the colder waters of Santa Cruz, where it was a breezy day at 53 degrees in the water. I was actually sweating a little. I've never been that warm in a 4/3 in Central California. It was really impressive.
The biggest wow-factor, though, is the fit. It's just about as perfect as it gets. It doesn't feel too tight or too loose anywhere. I had zero problems with chafing in my pits and, best of all, it didn't impede my paddling at all. This is critical, because if your suit is providing resistance in your arms, it's like using one of those fitness rubber bands every time you take a stroke, which will wear you out much faster. This suit really gave me unparalleled freedom of movement.
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Like
The fit, the fit, the fit, the fit, the fit. I've spent the last eight years wearing high-end suits from Rip Curl, Xcel, and Quiksilver (and I've tried on a ton of other ones), but I've never experienced anything that fit anywhere near as perfectly as this, and it's a real game-changer. Totally unlimited range of motion and less flushing (getting water down the back of your neck, or in through your sleeves) than I've ever experienced. I'm officially sold on the Yamamoto neoprene, as it's just so wonderfully light, flexible, and soft.
The measurement process is quick, well-explained, and easy to do. The suit is well sealed (I can pinch off an arm or leg, inflate it, and it won't leak), the knees are strong but flexible, and the magnetic zip-stop is a nice little bonus.
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But really: it's all about the fit.
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The only major problem is that the point of entry at the neck is way too narrow. I have to pull it so tightly to get my shoulders through it that I'm afraid it's going to tear every time. I mean, it's really stretched to its max, which isn't good. I have particularly broad shoulders, but that was included in the measurements, so that's something that should have been factored-in. Coming in after a long surf, when your arms feel like spaghetti, it's a very frustrating struggle to get the suit down off my shoulders, with several failed attempts before I finally got it. Like I said, it does a great job of preventing flushing, but they've really got to fix this.
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As I mentioned, I missed having wind-proof chest and back panels when it was gusty, but that's a minor gripe. Also, it must be said, while the EXO1 is priced similarly or better than other suits that use the same ultra-high-end neoprene (like the Matuse Scipio, which starts at $590), starting at $490 for the 3/2, it definitely ain't cheap, either. Lastly, currently, their algorithms aren't set up for women, which is very unfortunate indeed. Gotta take care of the lady-surfers! Carapace says that's coming "soon."
Should You Buy It?
If you're okay with spending $500 for a wetsuit, then the Carapace EXO1 is probably the best bang for your buck. Again, the fit is just unbeatable, and the neoprene is incredibly comfortable. It's worth noting that you can upgrade it to a 4/3 for just twenty bucks (or a 5/4 for $50) which is a really good deal. If you don't absolutely need that silky Yamamoto neoprene, though, then check out the EXO2. It's still a high-end, limestone-based neoprene (the same that's used in suits like Xcel's Drylock, which starts at $470), and it has a flexible inner jersey for warmth, but it starts at $390 for the 3/2, which is more manageable, and again, you still get that custom-cut perfect-fit.
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Basically, for custom-tailored surf wetsuits of this quality, these are a really solid deal, and once you go custom-cut, it'll be very hard to go back. [Carapace Custom Wetsuits]FS: How do you weigh bringing someone up to the main roster versus keeping them in NXT for the health of that brand?
Triple H: “I would be very hesitant to say for anybody, ‘I don’t want them to go to the main roster because it’s better for NXT if he or she is here.’ That wouldn’t be the right thing to do for anyone.
People stay in NXT because it’s not the right time or the right fit to bring them in. People being impatient that there’s somebody they want to see, ‘Oh this guy would be great on Raw or this girl would be great here, I want to see them there.’
I understand that feeling, but if we have a plan that six months from now we have an idea to do this that’s going to debut this person in a bigger way … that six months might seem like forever to a fan who doesn’t know what the plan is. To us, it’s just around the corner.
Some of these guys come in the door and it’s not a question of ‘I’m just waiting to get to the main roster, I just want to move up.’ When [Samoa] Joe came in, Joe came in because he wanted to be a part of NXT, and that was the conversation we had. Is there an opportunity on the main roster maybe down the line? Yeah, but that wasn’t his intent walking in the door.
It’s all kind of a work in progress of where it can go and what it can be. I think everybody in their mind at the end of the day wants to compete at WrestleMania and be on Raw or SmackDown, but there’s a lot of people right now clamoring to get in the door and just be on NXT. If you want to look at it as something different from Raw and SmackDown, it’s the second-hottest promotion there is. A lot of people want to just get there. And the money you can make and the living you can make here on NXT doing well is very, very, very good.”For an effective result, application of practical techniques and repellents can help users protect themselves this year, overseas and at their home.
Outdoor stores in Nashville were seen telling their customers that mosquito repellent were not available in the state. Why? Outbreak of Zika virus in 2016 is majorly responsible for the shortage of insect repellents outlines research analysts at Allied Market Research. Analysts analyzing the share and the size of the sector add due to virus scare suppliers are sending the product down south. First baby with Zika was born in New Jersey. As per the CDC, approximately 591 cases have been identified in the United States till date. What else is keeping the future of the mosquito repellent industry bright besides this no cure disease?
Natural Variation Sounds Better
Several testing groups identified that natural repellents promise the best protection. They unveiled that their oils are not only less harsh on human nose, but also effective in protecting against swarms and swarms of mosquitos. Above all, the term natural definitely sounds better for buyers. It took close to five years for Fit Organic to develop a product that was effective against mosquitos carrying the virus. This proprietary formula is safe for both children and pregnant woman. Another product called Citronella Outdoor Sticks are the most sought after repellent rendered contemporary. Scientific testing reveals that these sticks are highly effective in keeping the mosquitoes away.
Wearable Repellents Are Trending
A Team of researchers at the famous “New Mexico State University” are busy testing a wearable repellent equipment. Their intention is to determine which device would offer the best protection against the insects. Biology professor at NMSU, Immo Hansen said "The goal is to find out what works and what doesn't," said Immo Hansen, an NMSU associate professor of biology involved in the investigation.” He explained “There are so many products on the market that simply don't work, so I think it's really important to test them in a scientific way." Devices are now being tested against Asian tiger mosquito and the yellow fever mosquito responsible for carrying the Zika virus.
Repellent Soap Can Wash Away Diseases
soap designed to repel the insects for six hours is gathering quite a fame. Inventors are confident that if the soapy water is thrown in streets, will hinder mosquitoes from multiplying in stagnant water. Two Burkina Faso student are the brain behind the new repellent soap. The students further added that the soap would be easy on the wallet and simple in the fight to curb malaria. Moctar Dembélé and Gérard Niyondiko, have also been awarded a prize of $25,000 in 2013 for their discovery. They went on to become the first winners in Africa to have backed the “Global Social Venture Competition” award at the popular “University of California Berkeley.”
Retailers Gear Up to Address the ProblemsScientists may be celebrating the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, but there was also a death in 1915. It was one of the many deaths of simple and intuitive physics that has happened over the past four centuries.
Today the concepts and mathematics of physics are often removed from everyday experience. Consequently, cutting edge physics is largely the domain of professional physicists, with years of university education.
But there are people who hanker for a simpler physics, toiling away on their own cosmologies. Rightly or wrongly, these people are often labelled cranks, but their endeavours tell us much about misconceptions of science, its history and what it should be.
I regularly browse open access website arxiv.org to look for the latest astrophysics research. Real astrophysics, that is. But if I want to take a look at what pseudoscientists are up to, I can browse vixra.org. That’s right, “arxiv” backwards. The vixra.org website was founded by “scientists who find they are unable to submit their articles to arXiv.org” because that website’s owners filter material they “consider inappropriate”.
There are more than 1,800 articles on vixra.org discussing relativity and cosmology, and many don’t like relativity at all. Perhaps one reason why cranks particularly dislike relativity is because it is so unlike our everyday experiences.
Einstein predicted that the passage of time is not absolute, and can slow for speeding objects and near very massive bodies such as planets, stars and black holes. Over the past century, this bizarre predication has been measured with planes, satellites, and speeding muons.
But the varying passage of time is nothing like our everyday experience, which isn’t surprising as we don’t swing by black holes on our way to the shops. Everyday experience is often central to cranky ideas, with the most extreme example being flat earthers.
Thus many crank theories postulate that time is absolute, because that matches everyday experience. Of course, these crank theories are overlooking experimental data, or at least most of it.
History and linearity
One of the most curious aspects of pseudoscience is an oddly linear approach to science. To be fair, this can result from an overly literal approach to popular histories of science, which emphasise pioneering work over replication.
A pivotal moment in relativity’s history is Albert Michelson and Edward Morley’s demonstration that the speed of light didn’t depend on its direction of travel nor the motion of the Earth.
Of course, since 1887 the Michelson-Morley experiment has been confirmed many times. Modern measurements have a precision orders of magnitude better than the original 1887 Michelson-Morley experiment, but these don’t feature prominently in popular histories of science.
Interestingly many pseudoscientists are fixated on the original Michelson-Morley experiment, and how it could be in error. This fixation assumes science is so linear that the downfall a 19th century experiment will rewrite 21st century physics. This overlooks how key theories are tested (and retested) with a myriad of experiments with greater precision and different methodologies.
Another consequence of the pseudoscientific approach to history is that debunked results from decades past are often used by buttress pseudoscientific ideas. For example, many pseudoscientists claim Dayton Miller detected “aether drift” in the 1930s. But Miller probably underestimated his errors, as far more precise studies in subsequent decades did not confirm his findings.
Unfortunately this linear and selective approach to science isn’t limited to relativity. It turns up in cranky theories ranging from evolution to climate.
Climate scientist Michael E Mann is still dealing with cranky accusations about his seminal 1998 paper on the Earth’s temperature history, despite the fact it has been superseded by more recent studies that achieve comparable results. Indeed, it devoured so much of Mann’s time he has literally written a book about his experience.
What about the maths?
During the birth of physics, one could gain insights with relatively simple (and beautiful) mathematics. My favourite example is Johannes Kepler’s charting of the orbit of Mars via triangulation.
Johannes Kepler / University of Sydney
Over subsequent centuries, the mathematics required for new physical insights has become more complex, as illustrated by Newton’s use of calculus and Einstein’s use of tensors. This level of mathematics is rarely in the domain of the enthusiastic but untrained amateur. So what do they do?
One option is to hark back to an earlier era. For example, trying to disprove general relativity by using the assumptions of special relativity or even Newtonian physics (again, despite the experiments to the contrary). Occasionally even numerology makes an appearance.
Another option is arguments by analogy. Analogies are useful when explaining science to a broad audience, but they aren’t the be-all and end-all of science.
In pseudoscience, the analogy is taken to the point of absurdity, with sprawling articles (or blog posts) weighed down with laboured analogies rather than meaningful analyses.
Desiring simplicity but getting complexity
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of pseudoscientific theories is they hark for simplicity, but really just displace complexity.
Ardents of the most simplistic pseudoscientific theories often project complexity onto the motives of professional scientists. How else can one explain scientists ignoring their brilliant theories? Claims of hoaxes and scams are commonplace. Although, to be honest, even I laughed out loud the first time I saw someone describe dark matter as a “modelling scam”.
Again, this isn’t limited to those who don’t believe in relativity. Simple misunderstandings about photography, lighting and perspective are the launch pad for moon landing conspiracy theories. Naively simple approaches to science can lead to complex conspiracy theories.
Changing intuition
Some have suggested that pseudoscience is becoming more popular and the internet certainly aids the transmission of nonsense. But when I look at history I wonder if pseudoscience will decay.
In the 19th century, Samuel Rowbotham promoted Flat Earthism to large audiences via lectures that combined wit and fierce debating skills. Perhaps in the 19th century a spherical world orbiting a sun millions of kilometres away didn’t seem intuitive.
But today we can fly around the globe, navigate with GPS and Skype friends in different timezones. Today, a spherical Earth is far more intuitive than it once was, and Flat Earthism is the exemplar of absurd beliefs.
Could history repeat with relativity? Already GPS utilises general relativity to achieve its amazing precision. A key plot device in the movie Interstellar was relativistic time dilation.
Perhaps with time, a greater exposure to general relativity will make it more intuitive. And if this happens, a key motivation of crank theories will be diminished.
Michael will be on hand for an Author Q&A between 4 and 5pm AEDT on Tuesday, November 24, 2015. Post your questions in the comments section below.This week on Alcohollywood, we take on one of our more obscure listener requests – the mid-90s micro-budget action movie Felony! The film features a bevy of B-movie stars (Jeffrey Combs, Lance Henriksen, David Warner, Joe Don Baker) who shamble through this film without really knowing what they are doing! The convoluted story follows a cameraman (Combs) and a bunch of vaguely linked groups of people, all looking after a tape that might incriminate the villains somehow.
The movie takes place in a magical land where cars have a Pinto-like combustible fragility, and everyone switches their allegiances at the drop of a hat. What’s more, the citizens of a major city completely ignore car chases and shootouts, even when they’re in them! We try to untangle this mess with the help of our signature cocktail and drinking rules, so take a listen!
LISTEN HERE OR DOWNLOAD:
THIS EPISODE’S DRINK: The Greatest Tape
3 parts bourbon whiskey
1 part herbsaint
4 parts coconut water (pineapple flavored)
dash, honey
dash, Pechaud’s bitters
Bacardi 151
orange peel
Combine whiskey, herbsaint, coconut water, honey and bitters; stir. Cut orange peel into desired shape; soak in Bacardi 151 rum for several minutes. Garnish drink with peel and light on fire.
DRINKING RULES FOR FELONY:
Whenever a car is damaged, either through accidents, gunshots or explosions Any time a character says the word ‘tape’ Every time a character double-crosses another character
FINISH YOUR DRINK WHEN:
Cooper (David Warner) says incredulously, “Double crossed!”
Join us next week as we get in touch with the romantic spirit for our Valentine’s Day special – this year, we’re watching Town and Country, starring Warren Beatty, Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton!Intel is ending production of its mobile Atom processors as the reality sets in of a mobile world where virtually all the profits are inhaled by devices sold by Apple and powered by the iPhone-maker's own custom Ax series Application Processors.
Atom has Intel thinking outside the mobile box after failing to gain any traction
How Intel lost the mobile business to Apple's Ax chips
Intel's Atom jilted by Microsoft, failed by Android
End of the road for fantasies of a Microsoft Surface Phone running Windows apps
Fan fiction portraying a desktop PC Surface Phone. Source: Nadir Aslam, via PC World
Intel initially intended for Atom to scale down its legacy Wintel desktop x86 processor architecture for use in efficient mobile devices such as phones and tablets, but that strategy has been effectively abandoned as the chipmaker now moves to refocus its sights on modems, data center, Internet of Things and memory chips.The decision to cancel Atom as a mobile strategy boils down to profitability.Despite having about as many employees globally as Apple, Intel's revenues were a quarter of Apple's last year, and the Mac-maker reported profits 4.7 times higher on sales of finished devices.The majority of Apple's products are now powered by Ax chips the company designs internally. Other smartphone and tablet makers earn little to nothing, and virtually all have adopted the ARM architecture Apple initially co-developed back in the early 1990s for use in its Newton MessagePad tablet, offering little opportunity for Intel's rival Atom architecture to make any inroads.The move kills Intel's once enthusiastic plans to muscle its way back into smartphone devices after first fumbling the ball in 2006, when its former chief executive Paul Otellini overlooked the prospect of supplying chips for Apple's original iPhone as not worth doing Four years later, Intel sought to win back Apple's attention with Silverthone, a new x86 chip it expected the company to use in its initial iPad. Intel subsequently rebranded the mobile x86 chip as Atom.However, Apple passed on Intel's Atom and instead acquired the expertise to develop its own custom ARM Application Processor, known as the A4, which it used in the first iPad, then in iPhone 4 and Apple TV.The following year, at the beginning of 2011, Microsoft also snubbed Intel by showing off what would later be named Windows RT, a project to get Windows working on ARM chips--including the Qualcomm Snapdragon, TI OMAP and Nvidia Tegra chip families--in order to keep low end Windows PCs, netbooks, tablets and hybrid 2-in-1 devices competitive with Apple's increasingly popular iPad.Intel's Atom chips were clearly unable to match the A4 iPad's battery life, but Windows RT, in the form of Microsoft's own Tegra-powered Surface RT hybrid, also failed spectacularly Jilted by Microsoft, Intel subsequently jumped to support Google's Android 3.0 Honeycomb also in competition with iPad, offering makers fat subsidies for building Android tablets using Intel Atom chips.By the end of 2011, Google and Intel had also announced plans, as optimistically reported by Reuters, to "work together to optimize future versions of Google's Android mobile software for Intel's Atom processors, hoping to speed the development and time-to-market of future Intel-powered smartphones."However, Android did nothing to help Intel gain any traction in smartphones. And despite spending billions to subsidize Atom-powered Android tablets, those never made any money either.In 2014, Intel shifted its plans to instead license its x86 Atom, 3G and LTE baseband IP to Chinese fabless chip designers including Rockchip, Spreadtrum and RDA Microelectronics, intending to follow a licensing model similar to ARM or Qualcomm. Those plans were branded as "SoFIA".As AppleInsider outlined a year ago, the prospect for Intel to turn Atom around and make x86 relevant in on mobile devices again was essentially zero.As noted yesterday by PC World, the cancelation of phone-scaled Atom chips by Intel also "casts a dark shadow over the rumored Surface Phone," a vaporware product that imagined packing a desktop PC into a smartphone, which could then be plugged into a monitor and keyboard using Microsoft's "Continuum" strategy to run legacy x86 software.Intel will kill off its "Broxton" Atom and SoFIA architectures, leaving behind only a low end chip using the Atom brand aimed at basic desktop PCs, effectively pulling out of the business of powering iPad-class tablets or smartphones.That leaves Microsoft in the position of selling Windows 10 Mobile only on ARM, and Windows 10 desktops and hybrids (like the Surface Pro 4) only running desktop x86 processors. Without the ability to emulate x86 code on ARM, that leaves Windows focused entirely upon "UWP," the Universal Windows Platform introduced for Windows 10 intended to stretch generic software across a variety of device types and form factors, from touchscreen phones to a mouse driven desktop.That's a strategy that hasn't worked well for Android, where apps generally target phones and don't offer specialized optimization for tablets or other form factors.Microsoft's UWP hasn't exactly seen enthusiastic adoption either, with legacy software still bound to mouse driven desktop PCs running x86, and mobile devices running Windows 10 so commercially irrelevant that developers have little reason to bother targeting them.It is, however, good news for Apple, considering that the company now has a very large platform for iOS, with clear optimization for iPhone and iPad hardware. That has resulted in enthusiastic Enterprise adoption. In its last earnings call, Apple noted that "the latest data published by IDC indicates that iPad accounts for 72% of the U.S. commercial tablet market, comprising business, government, and education."House Bill 184, which would reduce penalties for marijuana possession in Texas, has already been filed and is ready for the Legislature’s upcoming session in January.
The bill, filed by Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston), would reduce possession of up to an ounce of marijuana to a Class C misdemeanor, reports Sergio Chapa at ValleyCentral.com. Class C misdemeanors carry no jail time, and are punishable by up to a $500 fine.
“We are under no illusions that full decriminalization is gonna come to Texas anytime soon,” said Josh Schimberg of the Texas chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). Schimberg said the Austin-based group is pushing for full legalization, but sees HB 184 as a step in the right direction.
“If you wanna protect children from marijuana, the best to do with it is to legalize it and put it behind a storefront and ask for ID,” Schimberg said.
“As a taxpayer myself, I see them putting out money to get that guy a free lawyer and a free meal while all the time in jail,” said Rene Jaime, who owns Dark Secrets Smoke Shop in Brownsville. “I want that money in my pocket.”
Marijuana legalization is definitely an uphill battle in Texas — especially with the Republican-controlled Legislature — but the Texas Democratic Party already included pot legalization as part of their platform Republican lawmaker Aaron Peña of Edinburg said the similar marijuana decrim bills are introduced every legislative session. He said the bill will have a tough time without including a component to send pot smokers to rehab or other “drug treatment” programs. “If you’re going to make a judgment based on the past, it’s not likely to pass,” Peña said. “However, there is a growing awareness that we need to empty our jails of minor drug offenders and divert them to treatment.” Meanwhile, responsible adult users of cannabis in Texas continue to wonder when their government will stop treating them like children and give them the simple respect of allowing them their own lifestyle choices.The back and side of the new Whole Foods in Metuchen is seen here on Sept. 14. Ilya Arbit
METUCHEN, NJ–Middlesex County’s first Whole Foods Market will open at 645 Middlesex Avenue in Metuchen on October 11.
As the 18th Whole Foods in New Jersey, the operation is expected to create some 160 local jobs, according to the grocer, which will include a fast casual Tex-Mex restaurant.
The outpost has been slated to open for more than two years, well before the epic news came in June that Amazon.com Inc. agreed to buy the natural foods grocer for $13.7 billion.
The Whole Foods purchase was Amazon’s largest ever, and “speculation continues to percolate on the implications of the recently-completed” deal, writes consultant and author Hermann Simon in Harvard Business Review.
Is Metuchen one of the “attractive neighborhoods,” that Amazon hopes to “gain instant access to [with a] brick-and-mortar [outlet]” in the borough?
Simon said in the report that Amazon views Whole Foods as a “pricing lab” and will use the 456 quaint stores as “testing facilities” where some eight million “volunteers” shop every week.
“Amazon’s relentless price testing in the online world anchors its competitive advantage,” stated Simon, who said Amazon is able to leverage price as a tool – even a “psychological weapon, and value driver.”
Price “transcend[s] supply and demand and profit and loss,” at times, writes the consultant. “Now Amazon can supplement that knowledge with direct, proprietary insights about the offline retail world.”
Will the Metuchen market dovetail with Amazon’s long range plan following the summer's biggest takeover? Only time will tell.
“We look forward to providing great deals, industry-leading quality standards for natural and organic foods and exciting new
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coilover kit. The Dad’s Root Beer livery can be seen on the cover of the winter 1998 edition of Z Club Magazine, which is included with the sale and shown in the gallery.
Out back, a Supertrapp dual exhaust system flows through a Nissan competition header, and the exhaust note can be heard in the video above. Braking is handled by Wilwood calipers all around, a Tilton brake/clutch pedal master cylinder set up, braided lines, and a Tilton bias bar. 16″ BBS mesh wheels measure 11″ wide up front and 12″ in the rear. They are shod in Goodyear radial slicks.
The cabin features a single Recaro racing seat, a fresh air/cool-shirt set up, an integrated roll bar, Sparco steering wheel, Wilwood pedal system, and more.
Additional equipment includes a 15 gallon ATL fuel cell, dual Holley fuel pumps, a 10 pound fire suppression system, and Autometer primary and auxiliary instrumentation. The photo gallery provides additional detailed pictures of the interior.
The engine is based on a 2.8-liter turbo block stroked to 3.0-liters, utilizing the following components:
JE pistons and knife-edged diesel Maxima crankshaft
E31 head by Slover and Sunbelt Performance Engines
50 Mikuni carburetors with match ported, long intake and velocity stacks
Electramotive crankfire ignition
Aeroquip lines and fittings throughout
Reed camshaft with heavy-duty springs and adjustable cam gear
Documentation includes handwritten notes stating that the engine produced 329 horsepower at 7,250 rpm when it was first built. That power is channeled through a Nissan Competition 5-speed manual gearbox with a Quartermaster dual-plate clutch and R200 limited-slip rear differential.
Extensive undercarriage pictures can be viewed in the photo gallery below.
In addition to records documenting the IMSA GTU build, this car comes with paperwork explaining the current setup, including pencil drawings of the fuel system as it was originally designed. A letter from HSR in October 1995 to the owner who had the car built confirms it was accepted to run as a GTU car. Additionally, there are emails between Bob Sharp and the previous owner, and Bob Sharp’s entry form into the Lime Rock Park Vintage Festival September 4-7 2009, which is signed by Bob and includes his medical form.Irreconcilable Differences and Runaway Projects
A runaway project is like a married couple on the brink of divorce. There are two opposing points of view, both sides are usually angry, each side blames the other, legal action is imminent, and a lot of time and money is being wasted.
So why do projects go into a runaway mode? It’s usually because requirements are changing faster than the project team can keep up with them. It’s like swimming upstream in a tidal wave — no matter how hard you swim you still get swept back by the overwhelming water.
But that just raises a different question, doesn’t it? Why is it that requirements are changing so much? Shouldn’t requirements change the most at the beginning of the project while they’re still being defined, and then settle down once the requirements are written down and agreed to? Yes, of course, but that “normal” way to define requirements is usually based on some erroneous assumptions.
The Usual Erroneous Project Assumptions
Most runaway projects start by making one or more of these assumptions:
It makes sense to freeze requirements at a moment in time and then stick to them, no matter what happens. The requirements process is perfect and what’s written down is exactly what the customer wants. The requirements as written are totally unambiguous, consistent, and doable. The customer fully understands what’s been written down and agrees that it’s correct. The project team members fully understand what’s been written down and plan to do exactly what the requirements say. The project estimates are in fact based on the requirements — not on a similar project done elsewhere for a different set of requirements. The project will be completed quickly enough that no requirements will change during the project work.
None of these assumptions are valid. In most cases we base a project on incomplete requirements that are likely to change during the project — requirements that aren’t totally understood by either the customers or the project team. In fact, when you think about it, it’s a miracle that any IT projects are ever completed on time and within budget. The latest statistics from the Standish Group show that only 32% of IT projects are completed on time and within budget, so in fact it does seem to take a minor miracle to make a project succeed.
The Path to a Runaway
Let’s look at a typical runaway project. Some of them start on time and even look pretty good for a while. But pretty soon minor things start to get on people’s nerves. A requirement changes, and the impact of the change on the project is underestimated. A new technology turns out to be more difficult to use than anyone thought. A higher-up agrees to a change without understanding the huge effect it will have. A late delivery of a key subproject causes everyone to reevaluate what’s going on. Changes begin to accelerate, making the project later. The later the project gets, the more changes there are. The change rate exceeds the capacity of the project team, and someone naively suggests that more project resource ought to be added. Of course the additional resource just makes everything even later due to coordination issues and getting everyone up to speed, and the late project builds up momentum. The “burn rate” of the project increases to the point where it gets more executive attention, and this leads to extra executive reviews, which tie up critical project resource and make the project even later.
Runaway projects aren’t called “runaway” for nothing. They burn money like crazy, they get later with every passing day, and they often can’t be stopped except by killing the project outright.
Go back to the married couple on the brink of divorce. What could be done to try to save the marriage? Many people try counseling — bringing in a third party to help with communication [more on that subject next week]. I’m told that most marital problems have their root in communication, and if two people can really talk to each other and if they really want the marriage to be saved, then they can usually work things out.
Why don’t we attack runaway projects the same way? It’s the same issue — communication. The customers want something, and the project team is having trouble delivering it. There are really only two choices: revise the requirements to deliver what’s possible, or figure out a way to deliver what the customers want. Usually the solution is a little of each.
What’s different about the runaway project is its scale. Big projects involve big egos, politics, and all of the baggage of previous projects gone wrong. Working things out between customers and the project team isn’t just working out a disagreement between two people. It’s working out many disagreements among huge groups of people. It’s owning up to mistakes that were made. It’s accepting the fact that you may not get everything you want. It’s making compromises.
Conclusion
Marriages tend to collapse when the husband and wife lose respect for each other’s goals. Many marriage ceremonies recognize three interests in a marriage: the husband’s, the wife’s, and the interest of the married couple together. All three interests have to be recognized, discussed, and prioritized.
It’s the same thing with projects. There are three interests in a project: the customer’s, the project team’s, and the interest of overall project success. Runaway projects happen when the focus shifts off of overall project success and instead onto the individual interests of the customers or the project team. Irreconcilable differences and runaway projects go hand in hand. And after a divorce or a cancelled project, it’s only the lawyers who end up ahead of the game.
Next week: IT Marriage Counseling — how to do it, and what to look for in a counselorBirmingham city councillors have come together to pledge to re home 500 Syrians within the city over the next five years, despite having 30,000 local people already registered on their books for social housing in the area. The waiting lists include approximately 500 homeless families.
The British government has pledged to relocate 20,000 Syrians from refugee camps in the Middle East over the next five years; in a recent video message, Birmingham’s council leader Cllr John Clancy said that taking a share of the migrants “is the Birmingham way”.
To confirm the Council’s intentions on the matter, councillors from the Conservative and Labour parties came together in Birmingham earlier this week to assure more than 400 people gathered at a local church that they would indeed seek to house 500 Syrians under the government’s resettlement scheme.
The locals were gathered under the banner of ‘Citizens UK Birmingham’, which draws members from local faith groups, residents groups, schools, unions and community groups. Local newspaper the Birmingham Mail also claimed credit for the policy, through its support for a campaign to make Birmingham a “City of Sanctuary” for Syrian migrants.
Addressing the group, Cllr Clancy said: “The answer is yes. This city will put its arms out to welcome refugees from those UN camps, 500 of them over this next few years. We will welcome them, it’s a sign of strength as a city that we can do that.”
But the councillors – and the Birmingham Mail – have conveniently forgotten the tens of thousands of local people already on the social housing waiting list in the area who will necessarily be queue-jumped when Syrian migrants are awarded homes.
A 2009 Freedom of Information Act request put the number of homeless families on the list at 464, while noting that there were 18,834 individual applicants on the council’s homeless register. These numbers are unlikely to have reduced in the intervening years, as overall social housing demand doubled in England from one million in 2001 to two million by 2013.
The Mail itself reported on the plight of “desperate” local families facing a 99-year wait for larger houses in the city three years ago. At the time, there were 30,000 people on its social housing waiting list, and a further 28,000 receiving housing benefit to rent privately.
It quoted mum-of-three Gabriella Sinclair who had been on the waiting list for six years without being offered a property: “I log on every week to bid, but I think the highest I ever got on the list was two hundred and something. I cannot get enough points, which means I am forced to rent a two-bedroom maisonette privately,” she said.
Roger Harding of housing charity Shelter said: “we’re seeing rising numbers of people pushed into private rented accommodation, with the increase in demand forcing up rents.”I wasn’t around in the sixties, but it was clearly a decade of turmoil, domestically and internationally. Not to get all Billy Joel about it, but prospects for the future must’ve seemed bleaker with every morning edition.
In the middle of all that cultural turmoil and uncertainty came a piece of science fiction that had the audacity to say that in spite of everything going on right NOW, mankind could get through it. We could overcome the gravities of our planet and our cultures and explode into space with a spirit of insatiable curiosity.
Whatever it was on the surface, there was something about Star Trek that lit a spark in the imaginations of so many. They looked through their tiny TV sets into a window of one possible future. A future where society valued the pursuits of knowledge and wisdom above all else. A future where someone from the Soviet Union and someone from the United States might as well have been next-door neighbors. A future where people were truly judged on the content of their character.
Critics who say that the optimistic utopia Star Trek depicted is now outmoded forget the cultural context that gave birth to it: Star Trek was not a manifestation of optimism when optimism was easy. Star Trek declared a hope for a future that nobody stuck in the present could believe in. For all our struggles today, we haven’t outgrown the need for stories like Star Trek. We need tales of optimism, of heroes, of courage and goodness now as much as we’ve ever needed them.
For the last 50 years, Star Trek has been a source of optimism against all odds, and it’s my hope that it will continue to be a source that will inspire us to do great things in the next 50 years, too.
Thomas Marrone
Ship and UI Artist
Star Trek Online
I was staring at the television set, sitting in my father’s lap in my parents’ bedroom in a fuzzy memory from the late 1980s. I was so young that I had yet to realize that the scenarios playing out on the glowing screen were fiction. To me, everything we were watching was happening live in some far-away land. And this futuristic account of men in bright-colored uniforms walking around a spaceship with equally bright-colored computer screens and firing beams of dangerous light from their weapons had captured my mind and thrust it into a world that no one at the time realized would ultimately shape a path in a future of my own.
As I watched and listened, I overheard one of the spacemen on the screen talking to a spacewoman about a book that was written “back in 1996”. Wait a minute. I knew very well that the current year was 1988 (or thereabouts), but my 4-year old mind had hit a snag. How was this man on the screen talking in the past-tense about a book that hadn’t been written yet?
My father answered my verbal query with a chuckle. “This TV show isn’t real. It takes place in the future. It hasn’t happened yet.” It was at that moment that I realized that we were not watching live events, but instead we were observing dramatizations of some other man’s wildest imagination; a Great Bird of the Galaxy that had decided to make it his life’s goal to bring audiences his vision of a futuristic utopian society venturing deep into the stars, seeking out new life and going boldy where no one had gone before, with the help of clean, computerized technology.
From that moment on, I was enthralled. Over the course of my 32 years, I made it my goal to somehow be a part of telling those stories. And it all started on that little screen in that little room in that little house when I was introduced to the fantastic world known as Star Trek.
Donny Versiga
Associate Environment Artist
Star Trek Online
As a young child, in the early 80's, well after Star Trek had ended, but it was still in reruns on one of the 4 or 5 channels we got on our rabbit ears. I hated it. But my dad watched it. A couple years later, they started a NEW Star Trek, and he was there watching that too. I sat and watched with him sometimes. This new Star Trek was very different than the old one. I was immediately enamored with the ship, and the sleek computer interfaces, and the make-up, and – and – and...
Star Trek the Next Generation captivated my 7 year old self. By the second or third season, my dad had stopped watching. It wasn't the Star Trek HE remembered. But it didn't matter. TNG had its claws into me, and there was no way out. I fell in love with everything about it.
In 1990, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. I underwent two surgeries for it. After recovering, I was referred to the Make-A-Wish foundation, and was granted a wish. In the end, my parent's pragmatism would prevail, and I would get a Computer. But the toughest decision I had made at that point in my life, was NOT to wish for a Next Gen Studio visit. That computer served me well, and it led me to a lot of great places in my life, but there are days when I still question that choice.
1994 was a tough year for me. I entered high school, two of my favorite Sunday comics writers retired (Watterson and Larson), I learned that my brain tumor had recurred, and, of course, the most devastating of events; Star Trek the Next Generation came to an end.
My Trek fervor had waned a bit by the Enterprise era. But when the 2009 movie was announced, and we got the Star Trek license here at Cryptic, my inner 7 year old came roaring back to life. The new movie actually inspired me to go watch all of TOS, a feat I had never accomplished before, and I found a new love for a series I had once despised.
Nick Duguid
Environment Artist
Star Trek Online
Star Trek was one of the first TV shows I can remember watching with my family. Star Trek: The Next Generation was my introduction into Scifi and adult Television. Sitting down with my Dad and Grandmother to watch this show about an organized crew flying through space solving personal and existential issues was mind blowing. My Dad came home one day from the video rental store with Star Trek: A Voyage Home. It was my first introduction to the IP. After that experience, Star Trek became something that existed that I didn’t really follow up on or care about. It became something that my dad watched. Come on I was a child, this was about the same time when Beast Wars really popular at school. Animals that can transform into robots, sorry Star Trek, but that totally won my childhood. What really matters to me is when I chose to be interested in it and care about it. I chose to be really interested in Star Trek in my last year of college when I sat down and watched all of Voyager, TNG, and then Enterprise. Watching all those inspired me to apply at Cryptic Studios to work on Star Trek Online, and the rest is history.
Cheers,
Samuel “Swallrus” Wall
Art Director
Star Trek OnlineWhat would you recommend to a complete alien to do on Earth, between his birth and his death? Suppose you’re going to meet a tiny little green man, who will naively ask you: “Hey, mate, what’s the thing with this Earth?”. What are the 25 things that would create for him an unforgettable, yet totally customized (as in specific to you, and only you) experience?
I know you’re used to much bigger lists on my blog, but this one is different. Its’ not a blogging challenge, nor a method to stretch my writing skills. It’s just an honest transcription of the answers to the question: “what do you want to do in your life?”. It may not be spectacular at all, but it is for real. It may not be complete, but you are here to give me more hints. It may not be the only list of things to do in your life on the Internet, but it’s mine. And you can grow your own list from it too.
Here’s what I’d say it’s worth doing between birth and death to a complete alien who just arrived here on Earth:
1. Fall in Love
As often as you can. Experience the abandon of yourself in front of something bigger than you and the object of your love altogether. Don’t actively look for it, but merely be prepared to receive it when it finds you.
2. Climb a Mountain
Everest will be fine. Of course, if you can’t do Everest, any mountain will do. Did it a few times and every time I descended I left a small part of me on that desert plateau. Now all I want is to get back again and rejoin it.
3. Make a Million Dollars
And spend it all. Did both and felt good. For me, this was the best way to get rid of the “money as a number” obsession. After you did this once, things will look very different. You’ll never be afraid of having and spending money.
4. Go Round the World by Plane
Did that too. Bucharest – Rome – Las Vegas – Los Angeles – Auckland – Bangkok – Vienna – Bucharest. Spent more than 45 hours in planes in less than 2 weeks but although I was tired as hell, it felt incredibly rewarding. The world is really small.
5. Fish with Your Bare Hands
Did this when I was a child, in a village in the middle of Romania. My parents used to leave me for the summer at my grand parents house, which was near a creek, 20 cm deep at most. We used to block one of the creek’s ways with sand, and while the other one was slowly drying we were picking small fish with our bare hands.
6. Learn a Foreign Language
Or maybe two or three. Try to depict the world for a few weeks using the new words you learned. In a magical way the world will be enriched just because you describe it in a different way. It’s like you re-create it every time you talk about it using different words in a different language.
7. Sail across the Ocean
Didn’t do it. Yet. But I’d love to be on a boat sailing across the Oceans. Waking up each day only to see the infinite water stretching in front of my eyes. Experiencing the bare confrontation with something hugely more powerful than me, yet able to become my ally.
8. Start Your Own Business
Like an outlet for doing more of what you want and creating more of what you love. I did it out of curiosity 10 years ago and still enjoying the benefits. It’s not only about being your own boss (although it feels incredibly good 🙂 ) but about taking more responsibility.
9. Have Kids
And raise them. It’s not what you can teach them, but mostly what you can learn from your kids. It seems that somehow along the way we lose the ability to enjoy life the way we used to. Kids are here to remind us that we’re here to enjoy life. Together.
10. Build a House
If it’s yours, even better. Building a house is a powerful maturity test. It’s far more difficult than it seems and it really changes some of your internal values. Didn’t do that yet, only witnessing it at some of my friends, but definitely something I want to do in this lifetime.
11. Take a Year Off from Work
I think they call this sabbatical. I did this after I sold my business, last year. Well, it wasn’t technically a year without work at all, because I started and maintained this blog. But since I don’t really call this work, I think it will do. Your entire life perspective shifts after one year off the hook.
12. Get Married
And the moment you don’t like it anymore, get a divorce. The way humankind is working nowadays, marriage is still a key type of relationship. Even if you crave for a much more open type of interaction, you can’t really get all its benefits until you experience all the joys and sorrows of marriage.
13. Write a Book
Any type of book. Whatever you feel the need to share. May be an ebook if you don’t have the time or resources to go for a printed one, but I think everybody should write a book in his lifetime. If only to let other people that he really lived and how.
14. Run a Marathon
Didn’t do this yet, but I crave for it. I don’t know why, but I feel like this is an important body milestone. Pushing the limits over what you think you can do, knowing that you did it.
15. Share a Dream with Somebody
Maybe it’s a house you want to build with your partner. Or traveling the world together. Whatever it is, if it’s a shared dream is really worth striving for it, even if – or especially if – it’s for your entire lifetime. Shared dreams are most of the time at the roots of our physical reality.
16. Completely Change Your Career
At least once. I did it twice so far, going from being a radio anchor to being an online entrepreneur and then a full time blogger. Don’t spend your precious time in the same boring job until you die, it’s not worth it. Yes, there is risk involved. Which is great!
17. Help a Completely Unknown Person
Have you ever thought how it is to go to someone you never met and help him? Sometimes without even letting him know? This is what I call an anonymous random act of kindness and I’ve done it more than once. Mostly for how it made me feel, I admit.
18. Don’t Talk for a Week
I didn’t do this but I want to do it. We’ve been trained to talk so much that we can’t rejoice silence anymore. Somehow, we replaced the unbiased, direct experience of life with second hand experiences through words. A week of silence should at least make the speaking fun again after you finish it.
19. Attend a Funeral
When I first attended a funeral I was too little so I didn’t quite understand what was going on. Only after I grasped some of the concepts of what we generally call death, I was able to fully understand it. It’s a celebration, not a mourning. This is why Zorba dances at funerals.
20. Live in a Complete Foreign Country for at Least a Week
Did that when I spent 7 days in Japan, without knowing the language and almost without anybody around speaking English. After all the frustration was gone it proved to be an incredible experience. We can interact and live in so many ways without spoken language and beyond it.
21. Plant a Tree
Did it so many times when I was a kid and was spending my summers at my grandparents in the country side. Did it again when I moved into a new house a few years ago. It’s like making a two-ways gift: you allow a life form to exist while receiving all the benefits of its existence.
22. Write a Poem
It’s not about literature here, no need to inspire millions with your words (but if it happens to do that, even better). Just let them flow through your soul and speak your feelings. When I was in my last year of college I wrote several hundreds poems but never showed them to anyone.
23. Climb the Highest Point in Your City
I don’t know why, but I’m addicted to this one. Everywhere I travel I look for the highest point and go there: Paris, Auckland, Tokyo, Vienna, Prague, they all have a tower structure. It gives me a fantastic feeling of freedom and “everything is possible” when I look at the cities from above.
24. Lose a Battle
Let go of something really important for you. It might be a person you love, or a thing you’re hanging on. Just let it flow away and continue to live your life. It will help you understand that your existence is not confined within the boundaries of a single person or a single thing.
25. Swim with the Dolphins
Didn’t do it yet, but I’m obsessed with dolphins. There is an unspeakable feeling of being free and at the same time shared in another dimension in this image, that I can almost get the shivers only by thinking at it. I also think it would become some sort of addiction once I’ll get to it.
What are your 25 things? What would you absolutely, unreservedly and unconditionally would want to do in your lifetime? Why? Share those dreams here, in the comments, or on your own blog. Just link back so I can discover you.
If you dream about something, let it out and dare do make it real.Theresa May has revealed little about her strategy for pulling Britain out of the European Union. But comments made Sunday by the prime minister suggest that exit negotiations will be exceptionally painful.
The one priority that May has marked out -- limits on EU migration -- implies that British companies will face new barriers in selling goods and services to hundreds of millions of consumers in Europe.
"We will outside the European Union be able to have control of immigration and be able to set our rules for people coming to the U.K. from member states of the European Union," May said in an interview with Sky News on Sunday, her first TV interview of 2017.
The prime minister's position runs counter to rules that require all members of Europe's single trading market to allow free movement of people across their borders.
Top EU officials, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Council President Donald Tusk, have said they will not allow Britain to remain a member of the single market without playing by its rules.
Related: Why Brexit talks just got much harder for the U.K.
May did not directly address a series of questions on whether Britain would be leaving the single market.
"Anybody who looks at this question of free movement and trade as a sort of zero sum game is looking at it in the wrong way," May said.
But she flagged clearly that her objective was a clean break with the U.K.'s biggest trading partner.
"Often people talk in terms as if somehow we are leaving the EU, but we still want to keep bits of membership of the EU," she said. "We are leaving. We are coming out."
Related: How prepared is Britain for Brexit?
The government was last week accused of "muddled thinking" by its own ambassador to the European Union, who resigned less than three months before exit talks are set to begin.
"We do not yet know what the government will set as negotiating objectives for the U.K.'s relationship with the EU after exit," Ivan Rogers wrote in a goodbye note to staffers.
May defended her approach on Sunday.
"Our thinking on this isn't muddled at all," she said. "There hadn't been any plans made for Brexit so it was important for us to take some time to actually look at the issues, look at the complexity of the issues."
Meanwhile, the leader of Scotland's government, Nicola Sturgeon, repeated her pledge to hold a referendum on Scottish independence if the U.K. leaves Europe's single market as a consequence of Brexit.
Scots voted by a clear margin in favor of remaining in the EU in the June referendum.
"They will be making a big mistake if they think that I am in any way bluffing," she said Sunday. "We now face being taken out of the EU. That creates a much more fundamental question for Scotland."What can critical writing contribute to contemporary art?
How difficult it is to write about art-writing and by that I mean critical writing about art without descending into first, a nostalgic lament about the demise of the printed word and then, a prognostic attempt to find a future for the vital space created for critical writing by the existence of Art. This is of course in a world where readers for such writing are barely present and those few that remain are probably on a road to extinction in a world “contaminated by the problematic model of “communication” embodied in advertising and mass media.”
In the academic world of the University and Art College there is probably more being written about art than at any time in the past, but this is an academic phenomenon where the third level institution has absorbed intellectual and cultural responses from several academic fields and embodied them under the banner of the amorphous and ever expanding field of cultural studies. Is the academic institution to be a natural history museum for preserving the taxidermied corpse of critical writing? As George Baker points out in his essay, Late Criticism, “Art criticism arose…in relation to the rise of the bourgeois public sphere,” and it would be safe to say that the dissemination of this form of criticism lay very much in journalistic production. But with the demise of print journalism the avenues of access for the general public to critical writing and space for critics to publish and develop their critical writing skills have very much declined outside of academia. There isn’t much stomach for a lot of the dry intellectual writing that passes for criticism, not to mention the toothless “info- mercial ” nature of many journalistic reviews. Jens Hoffman’s review of the 54 th Venice Biennial that appeared in October 2011 edition of Frieze magazine is a perfect example of a review that inoffensively goes through the motions.
The retreat from rhetoric and the increasingly theory heavy, intellectual and often times incomprehensible use of a lingua franca has led critical writing on art up a remote cul – de -sac. On the borderline of irrelevance most critical writing about contemporary art has alienated not only those who might have a passing curiosity regarding contemporary art but also many within the art world that are familiar with its particular vocabulary. Terry Smith finds “art discourse in an oddly suspended state between an arrested art criticism and a nervous historicism,” that is ”a sign of our debilitating contemporaneity.” As an answer to this peculiar paralysis, Maurice Berger calls for a strong criticism that “uses language and rhetoric not merely for descriptive or evaluative purposes but as means of inspiration, provocation, emotional connection and experimentation.” It is a rally cry for the reinstating of the powerful position of the critic to inform contemporary art in a spirit of autonomy, appealing to a wider audience, liberated from the commercial compromise of art industry publications and aloof academic journal essays. But where is the forum for this renewed critical writing going to be?
The specialising characteristic of late capitalism has largely removed the journalistic commentator from the art discourse leaving only those educated in the elitist vocabulary of art-speak in a position to write or be published in what would pass as the dwindling authoritative publications. In the case of Irish art publications the change of Circa from a hard copy to an electronic art magazine really only leaves the Visual Arts New Sheet as the sole specialist hard copy publication carrying critical writing on contemporary art. In an attempt to explore an alternative form of writing MA students in the National College of Art and Design are posting content on the http://www.acw.ie website commenting on art openings in a satirical way through an imagined wine soak, Jacob Ligvine Creek. It is an attempt to introduce non-intellectual art criticism into the art discourse provided by this college resource.
But how effective can the Internet be for reviving critical writing on art? There is much hue and cry about the new cyber – world being a messianic solution to the loss of avenues for public access to critical commentary. It might be argued though, that the cluttered space of the virtual media world makes it difficult to find an informed and authoritative voice. Who outside of those with a vested interest in Contemporary Art will ever read an art-critical blog? This may come across as a facile question but, why is the question of authorship and authority essential to critical writing? Who is to be trusted to mediate art to a wider public? Does contemporary art even need mediation when the market itself is there to inform us through consumer statistics, marketing and promotion? In his introduction to the crisis of criticism Maurice Berger states:
“at no point has the role of interpretation and evaluation resided more in the hands of the consumer as well as in the institutions and companies that serve them. Indexes of consumer interest and satisfaction – measured not in critical praise, but rather, in sales records, gross receipts, top ten lists…increasingly are the respected markers of cultural quality”
This can be evidenced clearly in the adoption of the top ten list in the Artforum magazine. With this level of exclusion and dereliction of informed commentary and criticism the consumer is open to serious manipulation by the forces that control the means of production. In the case of the art market it is the dealers and gallerists that become the gate keepers to international art world success and consumption. Unfortunately the interests of the dealer and gallerist do not lie in public consumption but in private and privileged access to art, validated by the media and endorsed by academics, public institutions and museums. The complicity is further compounded by magazine editors who believe the role of the art magazine is “to privilege art”
With the demise of the proletariat in Western society as a political force and the failure of Marxism as a viable alternative to capitalism we are left with what Mark Fischer refers to as a state of ‘Capitalist Realism’ where the capitalist paradigm reigns supreme. This is accompanied also by the demise of the the bourgeois identification with the avantgarde and the post modern elimination of distance between the avantgarde and what Greenberg categorised as Kitsch. Art becomes solely a consumer commodity where what is regarded as “art” or “acceptable art” is dictated by the market. This absolute com-modification allows production to advance to corporate levels with global artists like Takashi Murakami, Damien Hirst and Olafur Eliasson. With dwindling circulation numbers the remaining specialist art publications, where critical writing should be strongest, are completely dependent on the advertising budgets of commercial galleries and art dealers.
Even though it may be denied by former Artforum editors like Jack Bankowsky, the capacity to be openly critical of an advertiser’s stable of artists must surely be resisted at an editorial level and even the consideration of writing about art not within the stable of the core advertisers must be compromised by this relationship. Bankowsky sees critical writing as having “an influence on the way art is validated in the market place,” Even his ethical viewpoint is coloured by the language of business. The integrity of what he calls Artforum’s seriousness is “a commodity.”
This raises questions about the autonomy of art and thus the autonomy of critical writing in relation to that art, particularly in a commercial entity such as an industry magazine like Artforum. Where does this leave the critical writer? The specialist magazines, just to name a few, such as Frieze, Artforum, Modern Painter, Art in America all carry the sputtering torch of critical writing, moving from short reviews to longer monographs and at times to even longer theoretical treatises on art history and wider social phenomena in relation to art. Even the more radically academic and left leaning October is drifting more towards the mainstream with publishing round table and questionnaire based content. October even featured “a round table discussion on criticism, a kind of writing it has largely refrained from publishing, in [Autumn] 2001.” It is generally accepted that even this small oasis in the print media dedicated to contemporary art is in a crisis. Ramona Koval in her introduction to her ABC interview with Raphael Rubinstein, “Is art criticism in crisis?” sums up the problems facing critical writing:
First to the state of art criticism. In the last couple of years, leading arts writers and critics have been claiming that while once art criticism was passionate, polemical and judgemental, today’s critics are likely to find themselves tangled in a web of obscure language and ideas and neutrality
Is it a crisis fuelled perhaps by the wider crisis facing the Consumer Capitalist society that has developed since the rise of the bourgeoisie as identified by Max Weber in his work “the Protestant ethic and the spirit of Capitalism.” As oppossed to Marx, Weber correctly identified capitalism as the only possible model of social organisation but he was careful not to predict its future outcomes. However, he was sure it would come to be the dominant economic and social structure by which human society would be organised. But with the recent collapse in the confidence of global capitalism coupled with the demise of the modernist zeal for utopian ideas have we come to a point of exhaustion, a point of post-modern affectation, to the end of capitalism as we know it? The demise of the Soviet block in 1989 left us with an uncertain capitalism without a threat to its supremacy, a capitalism in need of some serious mitigation.
In an art world where judgement seems to be no longer acceptable we are left with interpretation and description. The art
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that don't already have regular liquor licenses. The council also recommended limiting BYOB to restaurants with 30 seats or fewer, and those that have waitstaffs.
There would also be limits on how much beer and wine could be brought in. Restaurants would be able to charge a corkage fee and would need to renew their BYOB license annually.
City Councilor-at-Large Ayanna Pressley says that while this is an important step, it needs to go further.
"I am keeping my eyes on the ultimate prize — fighting for the City of Boston to have full local control of the liquor licensing process," she said in a statement. The state currently caps the number of liquor licenses city and towns can grant and requests for additional licenses must go before the state Legislature for approval.
A spokeswoman for Mayor Walsh said in a statement Wednesday that the city would "launch a thorough and robust community process in 2016 in preparation to write regulations that once implemented will support small businesses and bring increased economic activity to communities."
With reporting by WBUR's Delores HandySINGAPORE - A second propaganda video by terror group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) featuring Singaporean Megat Shahdan Abdul Samad has surfaced.
This time, he goes beyond rallying fighters to join ISIS, which is based largely in the desert along the Iraqi-Syrian border. In the graphic video, he and two other men dressed in military fatigues are shown executing three men by shooting them.
Shahdan, 39, was last known to have appeared in a 3 1/2 minute ISIS clip in September, in which he praised East Asian fighters, called for extremists to join the terror group's efforts in East Asia or the Middle East, and challenged Britain's Prince Harry to a fight.
The newly-surfaced clip, which has been shared on social media and messaging groups, is over eight minutes long. It shows footage of bombings and vehicle attacks, interspersed with scenes at places like stadiums and parties.
Towards the end of the video, Shahdan is featured speaking in English, telling followers to strengthen themselves and "slay the enemies of Allah wherever you can find them", before shooting a kneeling man.
Security experts who spoke to The Straits Times believe the video to be authentic. It is believed to have been first posted on Friday (Dec 29).
When contacted, the Ministry of Home Affairs said it has "no further updates on this video".
It is the first known video of a Singaporean participating in an execution for ISIS, which suggests that Shahdan is in some kind of leadership role, said S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) senior analyst Jasminder Singh.
Dr Kumar Ramakrishna of RSIS said this latest development drives home in a very strong way the dangers of being indoctrinated with extremist ideology.
Related Story First Singaporean in an ISIS video: 3 questions
Related Story Muis condemns ISIS video featuring Singaporean
"Singaporeans may think we are educated, but even people in our particular day and age, given exposure to extremist ideology, can be influenced to such an extent... where they can so dehumanise other people not seen to be part of their circle that they can just murder them in cold blood," he said.
"It shows why extremist ideology is so dangerous and has to continue to be countered," he added.
Another man whom experts believe to be also Southeast Asian but not from Singapore is also featured in the video. This suggests that the Southeast Asian fighters have most likely regrouped, as Shahdan did not appear with other Southeast Asians in the previous video, said Mr Singh.
Shahdan, who had been a secret society member in Singapore with a string of drug and criminal convictions, went to the Middle East to work in 2014, where he was believed to have been radicalised. He later made his way to Syria to join ISIS.
Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said after the previous video was released that the Internal Security Department had been keeping tabs on Shahdan.
The new video is specifically timed to incite attacks at New Year celebrations, said Professor Rohan Gunaratna, head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore.
"At a time when ISIS is shrinking in its battle space in Iraq and Syria, it is sending a message that it is still capable of mounting attacks and terrorising the public," he said. "With its core depleting and global expansion, ISIS will focus on propaganda in the coming months and years."The Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013 is a criminal law act for the state of Maharashtra, India, originally drafted by anti-superstition activist and the founder of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS), Narendra Dabholkar (1945-2013) in 2003.[1] The act criminalises practices related to black magic, human sacrifices, use of magic remedies to cure ailments and other such acts which exploit people's superstitions.[2]
The list of banned activities was continually reduced over the years. In the aftermath of Dabholkar's murder, the resulting bill was promulgated on 26 August 2013, and was formally introduced in the winter session of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in Nagpur in December 2013.[2]
Overview [ edit ]
The current bill has 12 clauses which criminalise only the following acts:[3]
Assault, torture, forced ingestion of human excreta, forced sexual acts, branding etc. on the pretext of exorcising ghosts from an allegedly possessed person.
Claiming and broadcasting the ability to perform miracles and defrauding or terrorising people by such means.
Carrying out or encouraging acts which endanger life or cause grievous injury in order to gain supernatural powers.
Carrying out or encouraging inhuman acts or human sacrifice in quest of some bounty or reward.
Creating the impression that a person has supernatural powers and compelling people to follow his/her orders.
Accusing a person of practising black magic or being an incarnation of saitan, blaming him/her of causing diseases or misfortune, and harassing the person.
, blaming him/her of causing diseases or misfortune, and harassing the person. Accusing a person of practising black magic, parading him/her naked and hindering the person's activities.
Claiming the ability to invoke ghosts, causing a panic or intimidating others by threatening to invoke ghosts, or creating the impression of possession, preventing the person from seeking medical treatment, and compelling him/her to inhuman acts.
Preventing a person from seeking medical advice in case of dog, snake, or scorpion bite, and compelling him/her to take magic remedies.
Claiming to perform surgery by fingers (psychic surgery) and claiming to change the sex of an unborn foetus.
Claiming to be related to a person from a previous incarnation and coaxing them to sexual acts, and claiming to have supernatural power to cure an impotent woman and having sexual relation with the woman.
Claiming a mentally challenged person to be having supernatural powers and using such a person for personal gain.
Although the human sacrifice is already considered murder in India, encouraging human sacrifice has been criminalised in this law.[3] Each infraction carries a minimum sentence of six months and a maximum sentence of seven years, including a fine ranging from ₹5,000 to ₹50,000. The offences are non-bailable and cognisable.[4]
The law directs the appointment and training of vigilance officers, to investigate and report these crimes to the local police station. The ranks of these officers are to be greater than the rank of a police inspector.[5][6][7]
History [ edit ]
The original bill of 2003 was drafted by Narendra Dabholkar.[1] In July 2003, the draft was approved by the state government.[8] The bill was sent for ratification to the Union government by Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde in August 2003.[9] However, it was criticised for having poor definitions of terms like superstition, black magic, spells, sorcery etc.[1] The bill was not presented in the winter session of the legislature.[8]
The bill was revised and redrafted by rationalist Shyam Manav. This draft was presented as Maharashtra Eradication of Black Magic and Evil and Aghori Practices Bill, 2005.[1]
The bill was introduced for the first time in the Legislative Assembly in the winter session of 2005.[10] The bill, was adopted by the Assembly on 16 December 2006, the last day of the session. The ruling Congress government faced criticism from the lack of debate from the opposition BJP and Shiv Sena.[11]
In 2006 there were protests against the bill, including at a demonstration in Pune on 25 February 2006. Protesters, including the Art of Living Foundation and Hindu Janajagruti Samiti claimed the bill gave the police power to search, seize or arrest on mere suspicion. Professor Shyam Manav, president, Akhil Bharatiya Andhshraddha Nirmulan Samiti (ABANS), a major force behind the Bill, refuted these claims: “Under IPC, if anyone is obstructing the work of cops, he can be punished. We have made a comprehensive Bill to weed out crimes against people due to superstition.”[12] At the rally a spokesperson for Janajagruti Samiti, Ramesh Shinde, said that the bill was redundant, violated religious freedom and did not acknowledge divine power. I. A. Khan, the caretaker of the Haji Malang Dargah, agreed and added that the bill was influenced by "foreign ideas".[13]
The bill was not presented in 2006 monsoon session. A Congress MLA on the condition of anonymity acknowledged that they didn't want to upset their constituencies ahead of the elections.[14]
In 2007, instead of being sent to the second house of the legislature, the Legislative Council, it was forwarded to an investigative committee.[15]
In July 2008, volunteers from the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS)(Maharashtra Blind faith Eradication Committee) staged a protest in Mumbai to draw attention to the bill, where the protesters slapped themselves. They claimed that it was to remind themselves that, they had elected the wrong representatives who were not interested in the people's welfare.[16]
On 8 November 2010, Narhari Maharaj Chaudhari, the secretary of Maharashtra State Warkari Mahamandal representing the Warkaris, criticised the bill in a press conference stating that it has no clear definition of mental and physical torture. He also stated that it could be used to criminalise every Hindu ritual. He claimed the bill to be redundant as human sacrifice already comes under Indian Penal Code. He defended the Wakari ritual of wari and called for the bill to be scrapped.[17]
On 5 April 2011, Dabholkar, talking at a press conference, criticised television programmes promoting superstitions and called for the bill to be passed. A rally was held at Azad Maidan on 7 April to awareness about the bill.[18] On 7 April 2011, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar stated that the bill will be introduced in the budget session while responding to MLA Chainsukh Sancheti's queries about child sacrifices. Pawar clarified that the bill will not affect Wakari rituals or any other religious rites.[19]
On 7 July 2011, MANS secretary Milind Deshmukh and Dabholkar stated that an anti-superstition bill had been promised by the government since 7 July 1995 but never passed. They started a telegram-sending campaign to draw attention to the issues and also urged local leaders to send telegrams to the Chief Minister.[20]
On 20 August 2013, Narendra Dabholkar, the architect and lead campaigner behind the bill, was shot dead, while he was out on a walk. His death triggered protests and demands for the bill to be passed were made.[21]
On 21 August 2013, the Maharashtra government approved the bill as an ordinance. On 24 August 2013, K. Sankaranarayanan, the Governor of Maharashtra signed the ordinance. The ordinance will remain in effect until December 2013, when it will be tabled at the winter session of the state legislature.[2] As of August 2013, the bill has been tabled thrice in the Legislative Assembly and had failed to pass each times, and has undergone 29 amendments.[22]
On 4 September 2013, the ordinance was used for the first time to arrest two individuals in the Nanded district, who had advertised miracles cures for AIDS, cancer and diabetes in a newspaper. Members of MANS helped the police understand which clause would be applicable.[23] On 8 September 2013, a man claiming to be an avatar of Krishna was arrested in Kandivali under this ordinance. He was also charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act for molestation.[24]
The bill to enact the law was titled the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Bill 2013, also known as the Anti-Superstition Bill, Black Magic Bill, Anti-Jaadu Tona Bill or Jadu Tona Andhshradha Virodhi Bill.[25] [26] It was introduced in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on 11 December 2013 by State Social Justice minister Shivajirao Moghe.[27] The bill was passed by the Legislative Assembly on 13 December[28][29] and by the Legislative Council on 18 December 2013.[30][31] The bill received assent from Governor Kateekal Sankaranarayanan on 20 December 2013.[32]
The bill enacted into law applies only in the comparatively well-off and well-educated state of Maharashtra. In the rest of India the population remains without comparable protection from fraudulent pretend-healers and other miracle fakers. Narendra Dalbholkar's daughter, Mukta, and other activists continue his campaign for a national-wide anti-superstition law.[33][34]
Criticism and support [ edit ]
The bill has been criticised for being anti-Hindu and anti-religion.[1][35]
Dabholkar had responded to the criticism of the bill being anti-religious by stating that the bill does not mention god or religion, and that only targets fraudulent practices.[35]
Manav said that the Wakari sect will not find the bill objectionable, further saying that the law does not prohibit a person from performing a miracle. However, it is a crime if a person claims to perform a miracle and cheats someone.[36]
In the aftermath of Dabholkar's murder, journalist Ellen Barry wrote an article for the New York Times about the murder and interviewed a sociologist at the University of Pune about the bill, who explained that the bill had been continually watered down over the years, due to rising opposition from Hindus and affected castes, stating:
What today stands as the draft legislation is a much mellowed-down position. It is a slippery area that we are talking about — what is faith, and what is blind faith. There is a very thin line dividing it.[37]
See also [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ]“I’m going to kill all Muslims.”
That’s what a white man said after he plowed a rented van into Muslim worshipers leaving the Finsbury Park Mosque in north London early Monday, police allege. One man died and 11 people were injured in the incident.
The next day The Times, a major British newspaper, splashed a picture of the suspect, 47-year-old named Darren Osborne, across its front page, below a sympathetic headline describing him as a “jobless ‘lone wolf.’” The accompanying subheading described him as a “father of four” with “mental health problems.”
The headline/sub headline fill in almost every space on the "White Supremacist Terror Bingo" card. pic.twitter.com/9CI3TFYKVA — Imraan Siddiqi (@imraansiddiqi) June 20, 2017
Other leading British newspapers also came under fire for their treatment of the story.
Spot the difference. Caucasian vs Brown. Same method of terrorism, two different motives whilst reporting. #FinsburyPark pic.twitter.com/EnsEIROChC — Waleed Zafar (@WaleedZafar1) June 19, 2017
The sympathetic media coverage of Osborne’s arrest is in contrast to headlines about incidents in the United Kingdom where the suspects have been Muslim.
Moreover, a notable absence from this week’s headlines on the London mosque attack is the issue of radicalization, something author J.K. Rowling pointed out in a tweet Monday.
That’s perhaps because there’s mounting evidence that the media itself plays a part in radicalizing non-Muslims to commit Islamophobic attacks.
A string of academic studies in the U.K. have documented the wanton fear-mongering in the British media about Muslims over the past decade. And this fear-mongering, experts say, can have real and dangerous consequences.
We need address the reasons why the #FinsburyPark terrorist was radicalised. pic.twitter.com/oLaHKYeSkB — James Melville (@JamesMelville) June 19, 2017
Here’s a sampling of some of the inflammatory headlines that have graced the pages of U.K. newspapers ― particularly the right-wing tabloids ― over the years:
“BBC PUT MUSLIMS BEFORE YOU!” ― The Daily Star, Oct. 18, 2006.
“MUSLIMS TELL BRITISH: GO TO HELL!” ― Daily Express on Nov. 4, 2010.
“MUSLIM SCHOOLS BAN OUR CULTURE” ― Daily Express, Feb. 20, 2009.
And the accompanying stories sometimes contain outright fabrications.
In 2015, the Daily Express published an article claiming that half of Britain’s 3 million Muslims support the Islamic State. It based its claim on a deeply dubious poll, and the Express was eventually forced to delete the article.
That same year, The Sun ran the headline ‘1 in 5 Brit Muslims’ sympathy for jihadis’ on its front page. The paper was later forced to admit that the article was “significantly misleading”― though it published its correction in much smaller print on page two.
Dr. Paul Baker, author of the book Discourse Analysis and Media Attitudes: The Representation of Islam in the British Press, told HuffPost that such coverage can ensnare British society in a vicious cycle.
“Sadly, the attack aimed at Muslims at Finsbury Park is exactly what extremist violent groups like ISIS are wanting to happen ― they want to ignite a global war and force people to pick sides,” said Baker, who is a professor at Lancaster University.
“Every time a newspaper prints a negative story about Muslims, ISIS leaders will be rubbing their hands in glee ― so these journalists are inadvertently helping them,” he said. “Hate breeds more hate.”
Marko Djurica / Reuters A woman looks at messages at the base of a wall near the scene of an attack next to Finsbury Park Mosque in north London on Tuesday.
In fact, a 2010 study from the University of Exeter’s European Muslim Research Center shows that anti-Muslim media coverage had led directly to a rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes in London.
“The report provides prima facie and empirical evidence to demonstrate that assailants of Muslims are invariably motivated by a negative view of Muslims they have acquired from either mainstream or extremist nationalist reports or commentaries in the media,” the study findings say.
When Brits see stories about Muslims on their newspaper front pages, they’re likely to see words like “radical,” “fanatical,” “fundamentalist,” “extremist,” and “militant” in all caps or boldface.
Those are the five adjectives a University of Cardiff School of Journalism report said were most used to describe Muslims in the British print media, according to an analysis of articles from 2000 to 2008.
Of the stories analyzed, 34 percent specifically linked Muslims to the threat of terrorism, 26 percent suggested Islam is a dangerous or backward religion, 14 percent pushed a clash-of-civilizations narrative between Islam and the West, and 9 percent depicted the religion as a threat to the British way of life.
All told, only 17 percent of the stories talked about Islam neutrally or positively as part of a multicultural British society.
“This kind of coverage, this one-dimensional coverage, almost gives people permission to hate."
Researchers at Lancaster University analyzed 200,000 articles about Islam and Muslims from 1998 to 2009. They found that “for every one moderate Muslim mentioned, 21 examples of extremist Muslims are mentioned in the British press.”
And in 2011, academics at the University of Leeds conducted a three-month analysis of four British papers ― the Guardian, The Independent, the Daily Mail, and The Sun ― and found that 70 percent of articles about Muslims were “hostile” in nature.
“This kind of coverage, this one-dimensional coverage, almost gives people permission to hate,” Dr. Waqas Tufail, a senior lecturer in criminology at Leeds Beckett University, told HuffPost.
The attack at the Finsbury Park mosque “didn’t happen in a vacuum,” he said.
It happened, Tufail said, in the context of “long-term Islamophobia” in the U.K., where there is a “culture of anti-Muslim bigotry in much of the press” and in the rhetoric and actions of the government.
This week’s attack at the London mosque is the latest evidence of a vicious cycle of hate in UK. Anti-Muslim hate incidents rose 530 percent in the week following the deadly May attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, according to Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks), when compared to the week before.
And Islamophobic attacks increased fivefold after the London terror attack in June, according to the Mayor of London’s office.Have you ever thought to yourself, "Gee, didn't The Boys From Brazil really lack catchy disco numbers?" Well, you're in luck, you hypothetical (and presumably insane) alternate history enthusiast!
The 1980s Pakistani action flick Hitlar presents a parallel universe in which der Führer escaped Germany after World War II only to settle down in South Asia. Once there, the deposed tyrant threw his racial dogma to the wind and sired a son (actor Mustafa Qureshi, with swishing Teutonic locks).
The son of Hitler — the eponymous Hitlar — spends his days terrorizing a small town, using his musical sting to petrify his enemies (hear it in the video below), and conversing with paintings of his dead Nazi father. As the blog Die, Danger, Die, Die, Kill explains of this particular plot point:
[In] case there is any doubt in your mind as to whether it is really that Hitler that's being referred to, there are the numerous, swastika-featuring portraits of the man himself that adorn our villain's lair, which essentially serve as the filmmakers' way of saying, "Yes, we totally went there." And that villain, of course, is Hitlar, the ill-fitting Shirley-Temple-meets-Louis-XIV wig wearing son of Hitler, who, as a shouty prologue narration informs us, fled Germany following the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (by Germany, apparently) and found happiness in the arms of a Pakistani woman somewhere in the Punjab [...] Old Adolf appears to have passed on sometime between then and the events of this film, but that does not prevent young Hitlar from seeking the counsel of his dad, whom he refers to as "Master," via frequent soliloquies directed toward those aforementioned portraits.
Hitlar's nemesis is played by the late Pakistani megastar Sultan Rahi, whose protagonist is marked for death after defying the evil strongman. How does Hitlar attempt to dispose of the hero? By recruiting an army of bears to slay him. Yes, the son of Hitler has the power to command ursine warriors. In this reality, the history books seemingly double as Mad Libs.
Watch the entire film (in Punjabi, sadly without subtitles) here, and you can read more about Hitlar at Die, Danger, Die, Die, Kill. For more low-budget Pakistani cinema craziness, see that one time Salman Rushdie was disintegrated by some flying, laser-firing Korans. Also, Hitlar is not to be confused with the 2011 Punjabi romance Hero Hitler in Love, which has absolutely nothing to do with Adolf Hitler.Events in Afghanistan and the Middle East have awakened the Western world to the existence of an existential threat. We are not confronting a specific grievance that could be remedied by negotiation. We are not faced simply with rogue regimes and insurgent groups that can be dealt with through sanctions and reciprocal menaces. The threat is rooted in biological and cultural conditions that we cannot change by politics, and which have in any case pushed politics aside.
The Middle East is, as we are discovering, not one thing: on the contrary, it is a patchwork of communities whose peaceful coexistence depended on conditions that no longer exist. And many of those communities are in the habit of producing the two greatest scourges of the human race: young men without women, and puritanical rage. These same scourges have visited Afghanistan and North Africa, and they lie dormant throughout the Islamic world.
It is true that in Turkey and large parts of the Levant women have obtained a kind of social equality with men: but it is a precarious equality. Thanks to Atatürk polygamy was abolished in Turkey and women were encouraged to enter public life. Their status as the unspeakable ‘secret’ was removed, their faces were revealed, their soothing presence was everywhere perceivable. Thanks also to Atatürk the other great solvent of social tension – alcohol – was permitted and, while drunkenness is rightly viewed with anger all across the Middle East, the example of Turkey has helped many of those ancient communities to let their hair down and relax together over a bottle.
Remove wine and women, however, and the tension quickly escalates. This is especially so in societies where the women, although hidden away, are encouraged to have children, and where the quantity rather than the quality of children is the most important sign of status. Just to consider one of the many flashpoints, the median age in Gaza is 18, compared with a world-wide figure of 28 and a European average of 40. We see the result on our televisions. When conflict erupts in an Islamic country and people come out into the streets we witness vast crowds of young men. In Turkey there are women too among them. But Turkey is the exception that proves the rule. The norm is young men without women, their anger fuelled by the anger of those around them, gesturing towards something that as often as not they are unable to describe except in vast, vague and metaphysical terms – the reign of God, the death of the infidel, the destruction of the Other who stands in their way.
There are few political analysts who seem to have noticed what is really happening in these places. Of course there are grievances. But those who make use of them do not want a solution. They want a fight. And they want a fight in the first instance because they are young, male, and womanless. Sure, there are women around at home. But they are forbidden women, and the whole idea of womanhood is shrouded for them in mystery. They are taught that real women are untouchable until marriage. But they have been provoked by Western licentiousness into thinking that women in our societies are another thing altogether, and this both excites and enrages them, with devastating effects on young Muslim men who live in the West, as we have seen recently in England. (See my post on the Rotherham case.) The spectacle of emancipated women is, for these young men, an existential threat – the forbidden thing that tempts and destroys. They are an existential threat to us because that is what we are to them, even though our intentions are peaceful, and even though we long for a negotiated end to their violence.
I don’t think that evolutionary psychology tells us the whole truth about the human condition. But it tells us half the truth. It tells us that deep biological imperatives govern much of our conduct and are apt to erupt in ways that are not understood by those who are subject to them, or understood only through ideas that don’t admit of refutation. That is why Islam is so useful to young men in this condition. It rephrases their biological need in holy accents, telling them that in giving vent to their rage they are also doing God’s will, and that death in such a cause is their salvation. Of course, no such thing is authorised by their faith, and those Muslims who condemn the atrocities that we are witnessing will be the first to point out that the murder of the innocent is as much forbidden to a Muslim as it is to anyone else. But that is of no real effect when the absolutes of the religious mind-set are commandeered by the absolutes of the hormones.
How then are we to confront this super-abundance of young men in the grip of puritanical self-righteousness? What conceivable change in the order of things can calm them down, and bring them to accept the imperfections of earthly government and the need to live on terms with those who disagree with them? It is very difficult to answer such questions. We know from our own history that puritanism, combined with the territorial imperative, is the greatest threat to civil order. The puritan seeks a religious solution to all earthly conflicts, and wishes to align his will with the will of God. For the puritan, earthly existence is one long sequence of temptations and the pain that this inflicts on him can be overcome only by persecuting those who enjoy
the forbidden fruits. Only a radical change of Islamic societies, of the kind engineered in Turkey by Atatürk, can provide these young men with the things that they need – the things that will take them out of themselves, so that they can look with a measure of self-irony on their hyper-sexualised rage. Only when women are public, uncovered and competing on terms with their men; only when they are able to show to the world that male violence is a threat to them, and that the destiny of the male is not the band of warriors but the supper table at home, will the puritan rage be quelled. And if a bottle of wine could be put on that supper table, that too would be good.
But can it happen? In all the confusing news that has emerged from the Middle East surely nothing is more cheering to us, than the information that one of the fighter pilots who has been attacking the Isis redoubts in Iraq and Syria is not only fighting in the air-force of a Muslim country (the United Arab Emirates) but is also a woman. Maj. Mariam al-Mansouri is setting the example that those foolish young men most need. And if she became revered across the Islamic world we would know that the danger might soon be over. Until that happens, however, we must be on our guard.Indole, an organic chemical compound that’s found in our gut and contributes to the smell of poop, increases the healthy lifespan of worms, flies, and mice, according to new research. Scientists say this likely applies to humans as well, and that this stinky substance could eventually be used to delay age-related diseases.
New research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that indole compounds, which are produced by bacteria in the gut, extends the healthy lifespan of a diverse set of organisms, including nematode worms, fruit flies, and mice. In tests, animals who were exposed to the compound remained free of age-related health complications over a greater fraction of healthy lifespan than those animals who weren’t exposed to the compound.
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Importantly, indole didn’t extend an animal’s overall lifespan—rather, it extended so-called “healthspan,” or the length of time before age-related problems start to creep in. Scientists still need to figure out if indole does the same thing to humans, and how it is exactly that indole generates these observed health benefits. But the lead researcher of the new study, Daniel Kalman from Emory University in Atlanta, is cautiously optimistic that this compound can eventually be used to delay age-related diseases and frailty in humans.
Indoles are a stinky organic compound that actually smells pleasant in small batches. When exposed to the elements, this compound bleeds into the atmosphere in large airborne clumps, which can, unfortunately, be picked up by the human nose. Indole, along with skatole, hydrogen sulfide, and mercaptans, is what gives poop its stinky smell. Scientists know that gut indole can influence the way we react to drugs, and even ward off disease, but its health-extending attributes are largely unknown.
Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF
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To learn more about indole’s potential health benefits, Kalman’s team exposed the compound to worms, flies, and mice, and then compared these animals and their levels of health and fitness to those animals who hadn’t been treated with indole. For all species tested, the ingested indole extended several standard measures of healthy lifespan, including physical ability, response to stress, and reproductive capacities. The presence of indole in nematode worms, for example, doubled their reproductive span. And in flies and mice, the indole significantly improved their mobility, both in young and older animals.
The researchers pinpointed the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) as the key facilitator of these effects. AHR is a molecule that binds small environmental molecules together, including dioxin and agent orange. The exact mechanism of action on the genome, however, is still a mystery, and is currently under study.
“These data raise the possibility of developing therapeutics based on microbiota-derived indole or its derivatives to extend healthspan and reduce frailty in humans,” conclude the researchers in the study. In other words, we may be able to create medicines and/or therapies from our gut biota to delay age-related disorders.
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Other research suggests that certain bacteria in our gut can prevent and treat many common diseases, such as heart disease and arthritis. There are about 100 trillion bacteria in our digestive system (some good, some bad), and scientists are still trying to figure out how this massive melange of microorganisms contributes to our health. Some scientists have even started to perform fecal transplants, in which important poop-borne bacteria can be delivered to the digestive systems of people who are deficient. The new study is not exactly like this, but it is related.
“Fecal transplants are an important new tool in treating dysbiosis [the dysregulation of gut microbiota], but it is hard to do them because the bacteria in the gut resist the intrusion of the transplant... and transplants are not always possible in all patients,” Kalman told Gizmodo. “We are trying to figure out what the microbiota produces that makes it protective. We identified indoles as molecules that appear to make diverse animals live better for longer. We see a protective benefit of these molecules when we ‘transplant’ bacteria that produce them (as compared to bacteria that are engineered to specifically not produce them). Importantly, we can deliver these molecules alone to animals and see protective benefit, which could in principle obviate the need for a fecal transplant.”
Kalman says that “evolution has hung on” to this particular biological pathway for a long time (i.e. AHR), and that there’s a very good reason it appears in a diverse set of animals. “That is good enough evidence for me to continue to study and develop these molecules,” he said. “It is a complex and long path to develop these or related molecules for humans, and we are not there yet.”
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So should you start popping indole pills or sign up for a fecal transplant? Kalman says we need to chill until more is known.
“I’m not comfortable recommending any lifestyle changes other than to keep active and eat a well-balanced diet,” he said. “Active people who watch their diets and take care of their bodies and have regular checkups, live healthier for longer. As the research matures to become more translational, we may be able to tell you more.”
[PNAS][If you’re unacquainted with the free will debate, see this brief introductory article about the nature and contention of free will]
With so many apparently incontrovertible arguments against the existence of free will – so neatly packaged and eloquently espoused by countless respectable scientists and philosophers – it is no wonder that droves of people are frivolously abandoning their claims to autonomy.
So compelling are the arguments, that once you grasp them, you might wonder how anyone could possibly argue otherwise. “The verdict is in: free will is out,” trills the incompatibilist chorus, “if you deny it, you either misunderstand, or you’re playing word games. That, or you’re just plain stupid.”
And I don’t doubt that many people reading this article feel affronted at the audacity of the title, and are now angrily scanning this page in search of the evidence of the author’s nescience; for any sign of a non sequitur, or an erroneous premise – “it must surely be here somewhere!”
But whether you recognize yourself in that description, are someone as yet undecided on the debate, or are simply here to see your compatibilist worldview vindicated – one thing we should all be able to agree on is a commitment to reason, and a disavowal of any blind chauvinism for whatever ‘side’ you’re on. Consider the arguments carefully and dispassionately, and whether they are sufficiently convincing, or woefully impoverished, let reason alone decide which is the case.
This article attempts to uncover the fault with incompatibilists arguments, by trying to ascertain the nature of the concepts they use. What we find is that they are guilty of a number of subtle fallacies – so subtle, in fact, that drawing them out is no easy feat, but it can be done.
In order to do so, we first need to explore the nature of these fallacies, so in the first part of the article, we’ll explore them in an arena that is not explicitly related to free will – but which makes not-so-subtle allusions to their relevance to the free will debate along the way.
After we have established the nature of these fallacies (there are only two primary fallacies to contend with), then we can start to deconstruct free will. We will explicitly define it, and then proceed to evaluate the incompatibilist (and compatibilist) arguments in light of the fallacies we’ve discovered.
What we will ultimately find is that any coherent construal of free will is in fact, perfectly compatible with determinism.
(Warning, this is a hefty article, a bit
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., 2007), an interesting observation which we will return to later in this paper. A significant reduction in Bifidobacteria was also found in (Nadal et al., 2007). An increased excretion of the bacterial metabolites p-Cresol and phenol has also been recognized in association with celiac disease (Tamm, 1984). p-Cresol is produced via anaerobic metabolism of tyrosine by pathogenic bacteria such as Clostridium difficile (D'Ari and Barker, 1985). It is a highly toxic carcinogen, which also causes adverse effects on the central nervous system, the cardiovascular system, lungs, kidney and liver (Kelly et al., 1994). Probiotic treatments are recommended to aid in digestive healing in celiac disease. The proteolytic activity of Lactobacilli aids the breakdown of wheat into less allergenic forms. Ongoing research aims to produce gluten-containing sourdough breads fermented by Lactobacilli that can then serve as probiotics to help ameliorate the symptoms of celiac disease and allow celiac patients to consume wheat (Gobbetti et al., 2007). Probiotic Lactobacilli produce the enzyme phytase which breaks down phytates that would otherwise deplete important minerals and other cations through chelation (Famularo et al., 2005). Their activities would therefore improve absorption of these micronutrients, a known problem in celiac patients (Cavallaro et al., 2004). Glyphosate itself also chelates rare minerals, a subject we will address in the section on nutritional deficiencies. Probiotic treatment with Bifidobacteria has been shown to alleviate symptoms associated with celiac disease (Smecuol et al., 2013; Whorwell et al., 2006). Bifidobacteria suppress the pro-inflammatory milieu triggered by the microbiota of celiac patients (Medina et al., 2008). Live cultures of Bifidobacterium lactis would promote healing of the gut if offered as treatment in conjunction with the gluten-free diet, or might even allow the celiac patient to consume modest amounts of gluten without damaging effects (Lindfors et al., 2008). In this in vitro study, it was demonstrated that B. lactis reduced epithelial permeability and improved the integrity of the tight junctions in human colon cells. In summary, celiac disease is associated with a reduced presence in the gut of commensal bacteria such as Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria, which are known to be preferentially killed by glyphosate, and with an overabundance of C. difficile, which is known to be promoted by glyphosate exposure. Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli are both capable of modifying gluten in such a way as to make it less allergenic, a feature that is being exploited in recent efforts to develop gluten-containing foods that may be safe for consumption by celiac patients. Probiotics containing live forms of these bacteria are also being actively marketed today.
3 CYP Enzyme impairment and sulfate depletion As mentioned previously, glyphosate has been shown to suppress CYP enzymes in plants (Lamb et al., 1998) and animals (Hietanen et al., 1983). A study on rats demonstrated that glyphosate decreased the levels of CYP enzymes and monooxygenase activities in the liver and the intestinal activity of aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (Hietanen et al., 1983). CYP enzymes are essential for detoxification of many compounds in the liver (Lindros, 1997). Intraperitoneal exposure of rats to Roundup in acute doses over a short time interval induced irreversible damage to hepatocytes and elevated urinary markers of kidney disease. This was associated with lipid peroxidation and elevated levels of the inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) (El-Shenawy, 2009). CYP3A is constitutively expressed in human intestinal villi and plays an important role in drug metabolism (Cupp & Tracy, 1998). Celiac disease is associated with a decrease in the intestinal CYP3A (Lang et al., 1996). This defect is restored by a gluten free diet. Impaired gallbladder bile acid production (Colombato et al., 1977) and biliary cirrhosis, an inflammatory liver disease characterized by obstruction of the bile duct (Dickey et al., 1997), have been shown to co-occur with celiac disease. CYP enzymes are crucial in the production of bile acids (Lorbek et al., 2012). An obligatory CYP enzyme in bile acid synthesis, CYP27A, has been identified as being identical to the mitochondrial vitamin D3 activating enzyme (Wikvall, 2001). In (Kemppainen et al., 1999), 64% of men and 71% of women with celiac disease were found to be vitamin D3 deficient, manifested as low spinal bone mineral density. Celiac disease is associated with impaired gall bladder function and decreased pancreatic secretions (Brown et al., 1987; Benini et al., 2012) along with recurrent pancreatitis (Patel et al., 1999). Abnormalities in bile acid secretion have been found in children suffering from celiac disease (Ejderhamn et al., 1992). Celiac patients exhibit abnormally low synthesis of cholecystokinin (Deprez et al., 2002), but it has also become apparent that the gall bladder is less responsive to stimulation of contraction by cholecystokinin (Brown et al., 1987). A reversible defect of gallbladder emptying and cholecystokinin release has been identified in association with celiac disease (Maton et al., 1985). These pathologies may be related to impaired CYP enzyme activity induced by glyphosate. While it is clear that CYP enzymes play an important role in bile acid synthesis and in cholesterol homeostasis, the details have not yet been worked out (Lorbek et al., 2012). However, some mouse knockout experiments produce embryonically lethal effects, pointing to the importance of these enzymes to biological systems. Disruption of Cyp7A1, involved in bile acid synthesis in mice, induces elevated serum cholesterol and early death. A link has been established between celiac disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver, which is likely due to the liver's inability to export cholesterol sulfate through the bile acids due to impaired CYP enzymes (Lorbek et al., 2012). This requires a private store of fats to house the excess cholesterol that cannot be exported in bile. This would also likely lead to insufficient sulfate supplies to the small intestine, and could result in impaired heparan sulfate synthesis in the glycosaminoglycans and subsequent pathologies. Heparan sulfate populating the glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) surrounding enterocytes is essential for the proper functioning of the small intestines. Leakage of both albumin and water in both the vasculature and tissues results when the negative charge is reduced due to insufficient sulfation of the polysaccharide units (Sunergren et al., 1987). Vascular leakage may be a consequence of degradation of sulfated GAGs due to inflammatory agents (Klein et al., 1992). A similar problem may occur in the kidneys leading to albumin loss into urine during nephrosis (Vernier et al., 1983). Intestinal protein loss in inflammatory enteropathy associated with celiac disease may also be due to a deficiency in the sulfated GAGs (Murch et al., 1993; Murch, 1995). A case study of three infants with congenital absence of enterocyte heparan sulfate demonstrated profound enteric protein loss with secretory diarrhoea and absorption failure, even though their intestines were not inflamed (Murch et al., 1996). In (Samsel and Seneff, 2013), a hypothesis was developed that glyphosate disrupts the transport of sulfate from the gut to the liver and pancreas, due to its competition as a similarly kosmotropic solute that also increases blood viscosity. (Kosmotropes are ions that induce “structure ordering” and “salting out” of suspended particles in colloids). Insufficient sulfate supply to the liver is a simple explanation for reduced bile acid production. The problem is compounded by impaired CYP enzymatic action and impaired cycling of bile acids through defective enterocytes in the upper small intestine. The catastrophic effect of loss of bile acids to the feces due to impaired reuptake compels the liver to adopt a conservative approach of significantly reduced bile acid synthesis, which, in turn, leads to gall bladder disease. The protein, Nuclear factor κ-lightchain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) controls DNA transcription of hundreds of genes and is a key regulator of the immune response to infection (Tieri et al., 2012). Light chains are polypeptide subunits of immunoglobulins. NF-κB responds to stimulation from bacterial and viral antigens, inflammatory cytokines like TNF-α, free radicals, oxidized LDL, DNA damage and UV light. The incidence of acute pancreatitis has been increasing in recent years (Bhatia, 2012), and it often follows billiary disease. A local inflammatory reaction at the site of injury coincides with an increase in the synthesis of hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) gas. H 2 S regulates the inflammatory response by exciting the extracellular signal regulated (ERK) pathway, leading to production of NF-κB (Bhatia, 2012). We hypothesize that H 2 S, while toxic, is a source of both energy and sulfate for the pancreas, derived from sulfur-containing amino acids such as cysteine and homocysteine. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) sulfate, but not DHEA, inhibits NF-κB synthesis, suggesting that sulfate deficiency is a driver of inflammation (Iwasaki et al., 2004). While H 2 S is well known as a toxic gas through its inhibition of aerobic respiration, a recent paradigm shift in the research surrounding H 2 S has been inspired by the realization that it is an important signaling gas in the vasculature, on par with nitric oxide (Li et al., 2011). H 2 S can serve as an inorganic source of energy to mammalian cells (Módis et al., 2013). 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferae (3MST) is expressed in the vascular endothelium, and it produces H 2 S from mercaptopyruvate, an intermediary in the breakdown of cysteine (Kimura, 2011). Endogenously produced H 2 S derived from 3-mercaptopyruvate stimulates additional mitochondrial H 2 S production, which then is oxidized to thiosulfate via at least three different pathways (Ingenbleek and Kimura, 2013; Hildebrandt and Grieshaber, 2008; Goubern et al., 2007), producing ATP. The inflammatory agent superoxide can act as substrate for the oxidation of H 2 S to sulfite and subsequently sulfate and the activated form, PAPS (Seneff et al., 2012), but will likely induce oxidative damage in the pancreas, particularly, as we will see in section 7, if molybdenum deficiency impairs sulfite-to-sulfate synthesis. Pancreatic beta cells express extraordinarily high levels of heparan sulfate, which is essential for their survival (Ziolkowski et al., 2012), since it protects them from ROS-induced cell death. Because sulfate transport via the hepatic portal vein is likely disrupted by glyphosate, H 2 S, whether derived from sulfur-containing amino acids or supplied via diffusion following its production by sulfur-reducing bacteria in the gut, can become an important source of sulfur for subsequent sulfate production locally in the pancreatic cells. Pancreatic elastase is a serine protease that is needed to assist in protein degradation, but an overabundance can lead to autolysis of tissues (Ito et al., 1998). Cholesterol sulfate inhibits pancreatic elastase (Ito et al., 1998), so a deficiency in cholesterol sulfate supply due to impaired sulfate supply to the liver and impaired CYP function should increase the risk of tissue digestion by pancreatic enzymes, contributing to the loss of villi in the upper small intestine observed in celiac disease. In the early 1990's a newly recognized disease began to appear, characterized by eosinophil infiltration into the esophagus, which manifested as dysphagia in adults and refractory reflux symptoms in children (Lucendo & Sánchez-Cazalilla, 2012). This disease, termed eosinophilic esophagitis (EOE), is associated with a Th2 immune profile and synthesis of the cytokine IL-13, which has direct cytotoxic effects on epithelial cells. A dose-dependent induction of eosinophilia by intratracheal delivery of IL-13 confirms its association with EOE (Mishra and Rothenberg, 2003). An association has been found between EOE and celiac disease (Leslie et al., 2010). Patients with refractory celiac disease that is not corrected by dietary gluten restriction show an increased production of IL-13 in the gut (Gross et al., 2013). The incidence of EOE has increased at alarming rates in Western countries in the last three decades (Furuta et al., 2007; Liacouras et al., 2011; Prasad et al., 2009). Glyphosate is highly corrosive to the esophageal epidermal lining, with upper GI tract injury observed in 94% of patients following glyphosate ingestion (Chang et al., 1999). In (Zouaoui et al., 2013), the most common symptoms in an acute response from glyphosate poisoning were oropharyngeal ulceration, nausea and vomiting. We hypothesize that glyphosate induces EOE via a systemic response as well as through direct contact. The pathogenesis of EOE is related to food sensitivities, but airborne exposure to chemicals in the lungs can also induce it, so it does not require physical contact to the allergen (Blanchard & Rothenberg, 2008). It is conceivable that glyphosate is responsible for the emergence of EOE. The cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) and cytochrome P450 (CP) enzyme system is essential for inducing nitric oxide release from organic nitrates (Li, 2006). The nitrate moiety is reduced while simultaneously oxidizing NADPH to NADP+. This system is invoked in organic nitrate drug treatment for cardiovascular therapy. The reaction depends on anaerobic, acidic conditions, a feature of venous rather than arterial blood. Since L-arginine is substrate for NO synthesis by endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) under oxidative conditions (Förstermann and Münze, 2006), it is likely that CPR and CP play an important role mainly in stimulating venous smooth muscle relaxation. Impaired venous relaxation would likely contribute to venous thrombosis, which is a well-established complication of celiac disease (Zenjari et al., 1995; Marteau et al., 1994, Grigg, 1999, Halfdanarson et al., 2007). In summary, celiac disease is associated with multiple pathologies in the digestive system, including impaired gall bladder function, fatty liver, pancreatitis, and EOE. We have argued here that many of these problems can be traced to impaired CYP function in the liver due to glyphosate exposure, leading to insufficient flow of bile acids through the circular pathway between the liver and the gut. This results in a system-wide depletion in sulfate, which induces inflammation in multiple organs to produce sulfate locally. A potential sulfur source for sulfate synthesis could be hydrogen sulfide gas, provided in part by the local breakdown of sulfur-containing amino acids like cysteine and homocysteine and in part by diffusion of the gas produced from inorganic dietary sources by sulfur-reducing bacteria in the large intestine. Impaired CYP enzyme function may also contribute to venous thrombosis, for which celiac disease is an established risk factor.
4 Retinoic acid, celiac disease and reproductive issues In this section, we first establish that excess retinoic acid (RA) is a risk factor for celiac disease. We then show that excess RA leads to complications in pregnancy and teratogenic effects in offspring. Glyphosate has been shown to exhibit teratogenic effects in line with known consequences of excess RA exposure to the embryo, and we propose that the mechanism for this effect may be glyphosate's known disruption of CYP enzymes (Samsel & Seneff, 2013), which are involved in RA catabolism. This then links glyphosate to increased risk to celiac disease via its direct effects on RA. And it identifies a possibly important factor in the association of celiac disease with reproductive issues. We also discuss other adverse effects of excess retinoic acid and a possible relationship to impaired sulfate supply to the gut. In celiac disease, T cells develop antibody responses against dietary gluten, a protein present in wheat (Jabri & Sollid, 2009). RA, a metabolite of vitamin A, has been shown to play a critical role in the induction of intestinal regulatory responses (Mora et al., 2008; Coombes et al., 2007; Mucida et al., 2007). The peptide in gluten, A-gliadin p31-43, induces interleukin 15 (IL-15), a key cytokine promoting T-cell activation (Hershko & Patz, 2008). RA synergizes with high levels of IL-15 to promote JNK phosphorylation (Nanda, 2011; DePaolo et al., 2011), which potentiates cellular apoptosis (Putcha et al., 2003). IL-15 is a causative factor driving the differentiation of precursor cells into anti-gluten CD4+ and CD8+ Th1 cells in the intestinal mucosa. Furthermore, in (DePaolo et al., 2011), it was discovered that RA exhibits an unanticipated co-adjuvant property to induce Th1 immunity to antigens during infection of the intestinal mucosa with pathogens. Retinoic acid has also been shown to directly suppress transglutaminase activity, another way in which it would negatively impact celiac disease (Thacher et al., 1985). Thus, it is becoming clear that excess exposure to RA would increase risk to celiac disease, and warnings have been issued regarding potential adverse effects of RA supplements on celiac disease. It is well established that high RA levels leads to teratogenic effects both in human and experimental models. Brain abnormalities such as microcephaly, impairment of hindbrain development, mandibular and midfacial underdevelopment, and cleft palate are all implicated (Sulik et al., 1988; Clotman et al., 1998). Women with celiac disease are known to have higher rates of infertility, miscarriages, and birth defects in their offspring (Freeman, 2010; Martinelli et al., 2000; Dickey et al., 1996; Collin et al., 1996). Excess RA could be a significant factor in these complications. A possible mechanism by which glyphosate might induce excess RA is via its interference with the CYP enzymes that metabolize RA. There are at least three known CYPs (CYP26A1, CYP26B1 and CYP26C1) that catabolize RA, and they are active in both the embryo and the adult (Taimi et al., 2004). A 1/5000 dilution of glyphosate was sufficient to induce reproducible malformations characteristic of RA exposure in frog embryos (Paganelli et al., 2010). Pathologies included shortening of the trunk, reduction in the size of the head, abnormally small eyes or the presence of only one eye (cyclopia), and other craniofacial malformations in the tadpole. Glyphosate's toxicity to tadpoles has been well demonstrated, as it killed nearly 100% of larval amphibians exposed in experimental outdoor pond mesocosms (Relyea, 2005). According to official records, there has been a recent 4-fold increase in developmental malformations in the province of Chaco, Argentina, where glyphosate is used massively on GMO monocrops of soybeans (Carrasco, 2013). In Paraguay, 52 cases of malformations were reported in the offspring of women exposed during pregnancy to agrochemicals, including anencephaly, microcephaly, facial defects, cleft palate, ear malformations, polydactily, and syndactily (Benítez-Leite et al., 2009). In in vitro studies on human cell lines, DNA strand breaks, plasma membrane damage and apoptosis were observed following exposure to glyphosate-based herbicides (Gasnier et al., 2009). Another factor in teratogenetic effects of glyphosate may be the suppression of the activity of androgen-to-estrogen conversion by aromatase, a CYP enzyme (Gasnier et al., 2009). Ingested vitamin A, a fat-soluble vitamin, is delivered to the blood via the lymph system in chylomicrons, and excess vitamin A is taken up by the liver as retinoic acid for catabolism by CYP enzymes (Russell, 2000). Any remaining retinoic acid that is not catabolized is exported inside LDL particles, and it lingers much longer as retinyl esters in the vasculature in this form (Krasinski et al., 1990). Excess retinoic acid is more readily stored in this way in LDL particles in the elderly. Vitamin A toxicity can lead to fatty liver and liver fibrosis (Russell, 2000) as well as hypertriglyceridemia (Ellis et al., 1986). Vitamin A has a negative effect on cholesterol sulfate synthesis (Jetten et al., 1989), which might negatively impact the liver's ability to maintain adequate supplies of cholesterol sulfate for the bile acids, and therefore also interfere with the supply of cholesterol sulfate to the gastrointestinal tract. In summary, glyphosate's disruption of the CYP enzymes responsible for RA catabolism could lead to an excess bioavailability of RA that could contribute adversely to celiac disease, as well as damaging the liver and leading to teratogenic effects in offspring of exposed individuals. In addition to higher risk to birth defects, individuals with celiac disease have increased risk to infertility (Meloni et al., 1999; Farthing et al., 1982). Increased incidence of hypogonadism, infertility and impotence was observed in a study of 28 males with celiac disease (Farthing et al., 1982). Marked abnormalities of sperm morphology and motility were noted, and endocrine dysfunction was suggested as a probable cause. In studies conducted on Sertoli cells in prepubertal rat testis, exposure to Roundup induced oxidative stress leading to cell death (de Liz Oliveira Cavalli et al., 2013). Roundup induced the opening of L-type voltage dependent calcium channels as well as ryanodine receptors, initiating ER stress and leading to calcium overload and subsequent necrosis. Glutathione was depleted due to upregulation of several glutathione-metabolizing enzymes. This suggests that Roundup would interfere with spermatogenesis, which would impair male fertility.
5 Cobalamin deficiency Untreated celiac disease patients often have elevated levels of homocysteine, associated with folate and/or cobalamin deficiency (Saibeni et al., 2005; Dickey et al., 2008). Species of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium have the capability to biosynthesize folate (Rossi et al., 2011), so their disruption by glyphosate could contribute to folate deficiency. Malabsorption in the proximal small intestine could also lead to iron and folate deficiencies. Cobalamin was originally thought to be relatively spared in celiac disease because its absorption is mostly through the terminal ileum, which is unaffected by celiac disease. However, a recent study found that cobalamin deficiency is prevalent in celiac patients. 41% of the patients studied were found to be deficient in cobalamin (<220 ng/L), and 31% of these cobalamin-deficient patients also had folate deficiency (Dahele & Ghosh, 2001). Either cobalamin or folate deficiency leads directly to impaired methionine synthesis from homocysteine, because these two vitamins are both required for the reaction to take place. This induces hyperhomocysteinemia (Refsum et al., 2001), an established risk factor in association with celiac disease (Hadithi et al., 2009). Long-term cobalamin deficiency also leads to neurodegenerative diseases (Herrmann & Obeid, 2012). Because a deficiency in cobalamin can generate a large pool of methyl-tetrahydrofolate that is unable to undergo reactions, cobalamin deficiency will often mimic folate deficiency. Cobalamin requires cobalt, centered within its corrin ring, to function. We depend upon our gut bacteria to produce cobalamin, and impaired cobalt supply would obviously lead to reduced synthesis of this critical molecule. Glyphosate is known to chelate +2 cations such as cobalt. Glyphosate complexes with cobalt as a dimer [Co(glyphosate)2]3 in fifteen different stereoisomeric configurations, and it is facile at switching among the different stereoisomers, an unusual kinetic property compared to most Co(III) systems (Cusiel, 2005). In fact, studies have revealed that glyphosate inhibits other cytosolic enzymes besides EPSP synthase in plants and microbes that also activate steps in the shikimate pathway (Ganson and Jensen, 1988; Bode et al., 1984). Glyphosate potently inhibits three enzymes in the shikimate pathway in yeast (Bode et al., 1984). It has been confirmed that these other enzymes depend upon cobalt as a catalyst, and glyphosate inhibition works through competitive cobalt binding and interference with cobalt supply (Ganson and Jensen, 1988). It has also been proposed that chelation by glyphosate of both cobalt and magnesium contributes to impaired synthesis of aromatic amino acids in Escherichia coli bacteria (Hoagland and Duke, 1982). Thus, it is plausible that glyphosate similarly impairs cobalamin function in humans by chelating cobalt.
6 Anemia and iron Anemia is one of the most common manifestations of celiac disease outside of the intestinal malabsorption issues (Halfdanarson et al., 2007; Bottaro et al., 1999), and is present in up to half of diagnosed celiac patients. Celiac patients often have both cobalamin and folate deficiency, which can cause anemia, but iron deficiency may be the most important factor (Hershko & Patz, 2008). Celiac patients often don't respond well to iron treatment. Glyphosate's chelating action can have profound effects on iron in plants (Eker et al., 2006; Bellaloui et al., 2009). Glyphosate interferes with iron assimilation in both glyphosate-resistant and glyphosate-sensitive soybean crops (Bellaloui et al., 2009). It is therefore conceivable that glyphosate's chelation of iron is responsible for the refractory iron deficiency present in celiac disease. Erythropoietin (EPO), also called hematopoietin, is a cytokine produced by interstitial fibroblasts in the kidney that regulates red blood cell production. Low EPO levels, leading to a low turnover rate of red blood cells, is a feature of celiac disease (Bergamaschi et al., 2008; Hershko & Patz, 2008). This can lead to megaloblastic anemia, where red blood cells are large (macrocytic) and reduced in number due to impaired DNA synthesis. A recent hematological study on mice exposed to Roundup at subacute levels for just 15 days revealed an anemic syndrome in both male and female mice, with a significant reduction in the number of erythrocytes and in hemoglobin, reduced hematocrit and increased mean corpuscular volume, indicative of macrocytic anemia (Jasper et al., 2012).
7 Molybdenum deficiency Molybdenum deficiency is rarely considered in diagnoses, as it is only needed in trace amounts. However, molybdenum is essential for at least two very important enzymes: sulfite oxidase and xanthine oxidase. Sulfite oxidase converts sulfite, a highly reactive anion, to sulfate, which is much more stable. Sulfite is often present in foods such as wine and dried fruits as a preservative. Sulfate plays an essential role in the sulfated proteoglycans that populate the extracellular matrices of nearly all cell types (Turnbull et al., 2001; Murch et al., 1993; Murch, 1995). So, impaired sulfite oxidase activity leads to both oxidative damage and impaired sulfate supplies to the tissues, such as the enterocytes in the small intestine. The excess presence of sulfur-reducing bacteria such as Desulfovibrio in the gut in association with celiac disease (Collado et al., 2007; Nadal et al., 2007) could be protective, because these bacteria can reduce dietary sulfite to hydrogen sulfide, a highly diffusable gas that can migrate through tissues to provide a source of sulfur for sulfate regeneration at a distant site, as previously discussed. These distal sites could reoxidize the H 2 S through an alternative pathway that does not require molybdenum for sulfur oxidation (Ingenbleek and Kimura, 2013). Xanthine oxidase (XO) produces uric acid from xanthine and hypoxanthine, which are derived from purines. It is activated by iron, which, as we have seen, is often intractably deficient in association with celiac disease. Impaired XO activity would be expected to drive purines towards other degradation pathways. Adenosine deaminase (ADA), a cytoplasmic enzyme that is involved in the catabolism of purine bases, is elevated in celiac disease, and is therefore a useful diagnostic marker (Cakal et al., 2010). In fact, elevation of ADA is correlated with an increase in several inflammatory conditions. Impaired purine synthesis is expected in the context of cobalamin deficiency as well, because methyl melonlyl CoA mutase depends on catalytic action by cobalamin (Allen et al., 1993). Decreased purine synthesis results in impaired DNA synthesis, which then leads to megaloblastic anemia (Boss, 1985), due to slowed renewal of RBC's from multipotent progenitors, a problem that is compounded by suppressed EPO activity (Bergamaschi et al., 2008), a feature of celiac disease. A remarkable recent case of a three-month old infant suffering from molybdenum deficiency links several aspects of glyphosate toxicity together, although glyphosate exposure was not considered as a possible cause in this case (Boles et al., 1993). This child presented with microcephaly, developmental delay, severe irritability, and lactic acidosis. Lactic acidosis is a striking feature of intentional glyphosate poisoning induced by drinking Roundup (Zouaoui et al., 2013; Beswick & Millo, 2011), and it suggests impaired oxidative respiration, as is seen in E. coli exposed to glyphosate (Lu et al., 2013). In vitro studies of glyphosate in the formulation Roundup have demonstrated an ability to disrupt oxidative respiration by inducing mitochondrial swelling and inhibiting mitochondrial complexes II and III (Peixoto, 2005). This would explain a massive build-up of lactic acid following ingestion of Roundup, due to a switch to anaerobic metabolism. Glyphosate has also been shown to uncouple mitochondrial phosphorylation in plants (Haderly et al., 1977; Ali & Fletcher, 1977). As has been stated previously, microcephaly is a feature of excess RA, which could be induced by glyphosate due to its inhibitory action on CYP enzymes. In the case study on molybdenum deficiency (Boles et al., 1993), urinary sulfite levels were high, indicative of defective sulfite oxidase activity. Serum hypouricemia was also present, indicative of impaired XO activity. So, the induction of excess RA, depletion of molybdenum, and lactic acidosis by glyphosate provide a plausible environmental factor in this case. One final aspect of molybdenum deficiency involves nitrate metabolism. As a source of nitric oxide, inorganic nitrite regulates tissue responses to ischemia. While nitrate reductase activity has been known to be a capability of microbes for many years, it has only recently been realized that mammals also possess a functioning nitrate reductase capability, utilizing a molybdenum-dependent enzyme to produce nitrite from nitrate (Jansson et al., 2008). Molybdenum deficiency would impair this capability, likely contributing to the higher risk to venous thrombosis observed in celiac disease (Zenjari et al., 1995; Marteau et al., 1994, Grigg, 1999). This could also explain the excess nitrates in the urine observed in association with celiac disease (Högberg et al., 2011).
8 Selenium and thyroid disorders Autoimmune thyroid disease is associated with celiac disease (Collin et al., 2002; Valentino et al., 2002). In (Valentino et al., 2002), up to 43% of patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis showed signs of mucosal T-cell activation typical of celiac disease. Selenium, whose deficiency is associated with celiac disease (Hinks et al., 1984), plays a significant role in thyroid hormone synthesis, secretion and metabolism, and selenium deficiency is therefore a significant factor in thyroid diseases (Sher, 2000; Chanoine et al., 2001; Khrle, 2013). Selenium is required for the biosynthesis of the “twenty first amino acid,” selenocysteine. Twenty five specific selenoproteins are derived from this amino acid. Selenium deficiency can lead to an impairment in immune function and spermatogenesis in addition to thyroid function (Papp et al., 2007). One very important selenoprotein is glutathione peroxidase, which protects cell membranes and cellular components against oxidative damage by both hydrogen peroxide and peroxynitrite (ONOO–) (Prabhakar et al., 2006). Wheat can be a good source of selenoproteins. However, the content of selenium in wheat can range from sufficient to very low, depending upon soil physical conditions. Soil compaction, which results from modern practices of “no till” agriculture (Huggins & Reganold, 2008), can lead to both reduced selenium content and a significant increase in arsenic content in the wheat (Zhao et al., 2007). Since glyphosate has been shown to deplete sulfur in plants (Saes Zobiole et al., 2010), and selenium is in the same column of the periodic table as sulfur, it is likely that glyphosate also disrupts selenium uptake in plants. A gluten-free diet will guarantee, however, that no selenium is available from wheat, inducing further depletion of selenoproteins, and therefore increasing the risk to immune system, thyroid and infertility problems in treated celiac patients. The gut bacterium Lactobacillus, which is negatively impacted by glyphosate (Shehata et al., 2013) and depleted in association with celiac disease (Di Cagno et al., 2011), is able to fix inorganic selenium into more bioavailable organic forms like selenocysteine and selenomethionine (Pessione, 2012). Selenocysteine is present in the catalytic center of enzymes that protect the thyroid from free radical damage (Triggiani et al., 2009). Free radical damage would lead to apoptosis and an autoimmune response (Tsatsoulis, 2002). Glyphosate's disruption of these bacteria would lead to a depletion in the supply of selenomethionine and selenocysteine. Methionine depletion by glyphosate (Nafziger et al., 1984) would further compound this problem. Thus, there are a variety of ways in which glyphosate would be expected to interfere with the supply of selenoproteins to the body, including its effects on Lactobacillus, its depletion of methionine, the no-till farming methods that are possible because weeds are killed chemically, and the likely interference with plant uptake of inorganic selenium. This aligns well with the observed higher risk of thyroid problems in association with celiac disease, in addition to infertility problems and immune issues, which are discussed elsewhere in this paper. Further support for an association between glyphosate and thyroid disease comes from plots over time of the usage of glyphosate in the U.S. on corn and soy time-aligned with plots of the incidence rate of thyroid cancer in the U.S., as shown in. Open in a separate window
9 Indole and kidney disease The prevalence of kidney disease and resulting dialysis is increasing worldwide, and kidney disease is often associated with increased levels of celiac disease autoantibodies. Kidney disease and thyroid dysfunction are intimately connected (Iglesias & Díez, 2009). A population-based study in Sweden involving nearly 30,000 people with diagnosed celiac disease determined that there was nearly a three-fold increased risk for kidney failure in this population group (Welander et al., 2012). Inflammation plays a crucial role in kidney disease progression (Tonelli et al., 2005; Bash et
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much’, South Africa alone suffered a 2008 outflow of natural resources valued at $245 per person greater than national income measured as GDP, according to the World Bank’s 2011 book The Changing Wealth of Nations. The continent as a whole lost 6 percent of its Gross National Income in a wealth measure adjusted for the outflow of minerals and petroleum resources that year, the latest data available.
‘Africa Rising’? No, actually crashing, thanks to resource-related looting.
And here in South Africa, the outflow of profits, dividends and interest far exceeds even the worrisome trade deficit, leading to an Economist rating of most risky out of 17 emerging market economies in 2009. During the 2002-08 commodity boom, the SA current account plummeted from a 1 percent surplus to a 7 percent deficit mainly because of the more rapid outflow of profits to London and New York.
AGAINST IMPERIALISM AND SUB-IMPERIALISM
The situation is even worse in other settings because US-backed dictators – such as Obama allies Kagame and Museveni – take no prisoners. Terrible conflagrations will probably continue in Central Africa; in the resource-cursed Great Lakes region a conservatively-estimated five million people have died over the last two decades.
Responding appropriately will require mobilization of anti-war consciousness and activism in South Africa just as much as in other source-sites of African conflict, including the US. Encouragingly, a small anti-imperialist movement has emerged here, announcing three protests against Barack Obama – in Pretoria on Friday, Soweto on Saturday and Cape Town on Sunday – especially because of ongoing US meddling in the Middle East, what with Palestinians under the thumb of an Israeli Occupation largely approved and subsidized by Washington.
Several other grievances were expressed by hundreds who marched to the US Embassy in Pretoria and hundreds more who – before being attacked with stun grenades by Johannesburg police – objected to the honorary doctorate given Obama in Soweto. These complaints included the Cuban 5’s imprisonment in Miami and US blockade of Cuba, the ongoing Guantanamo torture chamber operations, warmongering in Syria, AfriCom, support for Israeli apartheid, the kangaroo court trial of Bradley Manning, email and phone call snooping, AIDS medicines cutbacks, Obama’s close ties to African dictators, Washington’s ongoing structural adjustment philosophy and neoliberal AGOA conditionality.
With both Obama and Zuma on the back foot in terms of their justification for looting Africa, this is an ideal moment for a new solidarity movement to make its case.
*Patrick Bond directs the Centre for Civil Society at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban: http://ccs.ukzn.ac.za An earlier version of this commentary was published by Al Jazeera.
* Please do not take Pambazuka for granted! Become a Friend of Pambazuka and make a donation NOW to help keep Pambazuka FREE and INDEPENDENT!
* Please send comments to editor[at]pambazuka[dot]org or comment online at Pambazuka News.So, you read our recent review of Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music by S. Alexander Reed and, like many others, said to yourself, “Damn, now that sounds interesting! I have to have it.” Then you went to sleep that evening and promptly forgot about the whole thing. That’s okay, you can be forgiven.
You may also have another chance to own a copy without ever having to drop a dime for it. The good folks over at Oxford University Press were kind enough to supply us with a giveaway copy of Assimilate, and it could be yours. All you have to do is “like” us on Facebook here and, since this is a critical history, tell us in a comment on this article what you think the single biggest problem facing industrial music today is and, more importantly, why. The winner will be chosen on February 7th, contacted privately, and announced in a comment here.
Even if you don’t win, however, we’d still encourage you to purchase a copy as the book is still very much in print and available. This 376-page tome is rich with information on industrial music and would be a solid reference for any fan of the genre.by Massimo Muzzi
Fashion Desk – Europe
After curating some of the most spectacular venues in recent memory – who could forget the glacial crystals of the bamboo forest, or the holographic tomb of Cleopatra? – Narcis Dravinski, the Croatian Count of Couture, has produced an indulgent new fall fashion series.
His new “Elabor8 MZFIT” collection is a whirlwind of over-the-top ornamentation and decadent detail, a career-defining miracle of modernity. Dravinksi’s mix of robotic-chic and Antebellum punk incorporates shiny wearables with traditional leathers and decorative chiffon.
“Elabor8 MZFIT is a revelation and blends the unique technical style of today’s street youth with the decadence of the Antebellum South,” said fashion icon Kingsley Mire.
Dravinski presented the collection at his 17-model runway show on the lip of the Piazza de Baggio, showcasing voluminous A-line dresses, stiff metal tech bracelets, and neoprene hoop skirts with elaborate sequin patterns.
As the show came to a finale at the end of the night, Dravinksi was as sanguine as ever. “This movement is as true to who Narcis Dravinksi is as an artist as there ever was or ever will be... or at least until next year’s collection,” he added with his signature whimsical smirk.
Dravinksi showcases his stunning new “Elabor8 MZFIT” collection in Milan, ItalyA number of Sanlitun area bars and restaurants have been told to close this weekend, at least in Taikoo Li South and south Sanlitun's Courtyard Four, the area just to the south of Gongti Beilu, multiple business owners confirmed to the Beijinger.
Restaurants in Taikoo Li South were instructed to temporarily cease operations from 3pm Saturday, August 22, until 2pm Sunday, August 23, multiple restaurant representatives in that complex told the Beijinger, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“In line with the work of commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and in accordance with arrangements and notices from related Beijing Municipal Governmnt departments, on August 22 and August 23, Sanlitun Taikoo Li South will come under martial law measures.
"According to the requirements of related Beijing Municipal Government departments, during that period, all stores must temporarily cease operations. The time period is: August 22, 2015 3pm to August 23, 2015 2pm," according to a letter from Swire Properties to tenants obtained by the Beijinger.
At least two Courtyard Four business owners have also confirmed they will close August 22-23, with one operator saying that establishment would close for the full weekend. Courtyard 4 is located diagonally across the street from Taikoo Li and contains businesses such as The Bookworm and The Rug.
More closures in the area are likely; venues located in 1949: The Hidden City have reported closing for Saturday.
Best advice: if you plan on going anywhere on Saturday, call ahead.
Beijing municipal officials had previously announced that Tiananmen Square and the Wangfujing area will be closed to the public due to a rehearsal for the September 3 military parade. However, what this has to do with the purchase of Apple products and Nike shoes in Sanlitun, we're not entirely sure. Stay with the Beijinger for updates.
Margaux Schreurs contributed to this report.
More stories by this author here.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @greatwriteshark
Weibo: @SinoScuba潜水
Photo: tklyishujiang.comFans at this weekend’s Jets and Giants games will notice something missing from the end zones: color.
For the first time in MetLife Stadium’s seven-year history, the teams will be aiming to reach — or defend — blank end zones, with nothing but nine white, diagonal lines to decorate an area otherwise the same generic green as the rest of the field.
The unprecedented plan is the result of two factors:
The first is because it’s the fastest Jets-to-Giants changeover which stadium staff ever has had to pull off, from an 8:25 p.m. Dolphins-Jets game on Saturday to a 1 p.m. Lions-Giants game on Sunday.
The second is the forecast for inclement weather. Had the forecast been better, the end zones would have been changed from Jets to Giants colors and logos, MetLife Stadium CEO Ron VanDeVeen said on Wednesday.
But converting the end zones is the most complex part of changing over the stadium, so all concerned opted for a conservative route.
“It’s the same quality as the regular end zones,” said VanDeVeen, who consulted with the teams before making a decision, “but we’ll put those in so we can keep the appropriate maintenance this weekend.”
There have been eight previous occasions since the current end zone system was installed in 2013 that MetLife had to be converted from Jets to Giants — or vice versa — from one day to the next, but never in such a short time frame.
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In September 2014, Syracuse and Notre Dame played on a Saturday night followed by a Sunday afternoon Lions-Jets game. But workers were able to get a head start by installing some Jets signage outside the stadium before the college game.
That won’t be possible this time. “It’s one of those weekends where we’re going to earn our money, that’s for sure,” said VanDeVeen, who has been working at the Meadowlands for 27 years.
A crew of 73, from laborers to electricians to management, will leap into action after the Jets game ends around 11:30 p.m., changing lights, banners, Rings of Honor, team store merchandise, the wrap on the wall surrounding the field, even artwork in the hallways outside the suites.
In all there are over 1,200 manual elements and more than 7,000 digital elements involved.
Oh, and then there are tasks such as resetting the Dolphins locker room for the Giants postgame news conference and the Jets postgame news conference for the Lions locker room. You get the idea.
At the same time, concession companies will be restocking all night for the next wave of fans, and parking lots will have to be cleaned and readied for the first Giants fans by 8 a.m. Sunday.
Both NBC (for the NFL Network telecast) and Fox will have their production trucks parked on site by Friday.
As for the weather, “Obviously, we’re watching the forecast,” VanDeVeen said. “We have meteorologists on call that we talk to and I think they’re getting sick of us calling them right now.”
Given all of the above, was VanDeVeen rooting for the NFL to flex the Giants into the Sunday night slot, which was considered a possibility before the Buccaneers and Cowboys got the nod instead?
“That was definitely a discussion,” he said. The staff saw the potential challenge when the schedule came out in the spring and started analyzing the odds the Giants might be flexed. The Giants and Lions cooperated by getting off to good starts, but still, no such luck.
“It’s a weird thing, but the guys like this challenge,” VanDeVeen said, recalling frenzied summer changeovers from concerts to football and back. “Now, you throw the weather in and it makes it a little tougher. We’d rather not have to deal with the weather. But that’s OK. We love to do this, actually.”
He added, “We’ll be here. We have our blowup mattresses and we’re ready to go.”By
My colleague, Eric Jacobson, Ph.D., conducts research on alternative medicine at Harvard Medical School. In 2009 he received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to conduct a pilot clinical trial of structural integration as a treatment for chronic low back pain. He is currently completing the analysis of the data from that clinical trial, but is about to run out of funds.
The Rolf Institute® of Structural Integration is asking for your financial help to completely fund and finish the study. Your tax-deductible contribution will help Dr. Jacobson complete the analysis of comprehensive data on pain and disability, psychology, balance, walking, and blood biomarkers for stress and inflammation. Here is Dr. Jacobson speaking about his study.
This is the only clinical trial that has ever been done on structural integration as a treatment for low back pain. With the completion of this study we hope to be able to begin to answer the question, “How is structural integration so helpful?”
I hope you will consider making a contribution directly to The Rolf Institute. The goal is to raise $8,000 dollars by April 30, 2015, towards Dr. Jacobson’s project.
You may also enjoy watching Dr. Jacobson speak in more depth about his project in this 55 minute presentation “Soft tissue manipulation for chronic low back pain: evaluating the promise of structural integration” filmed at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in May 2014.EMBED >More News Videos Richmond became the first city in the United States to call upon congress to impeach President Trump, citing his business holdings as cause for investigation.
The first 100 days of the Trump administration aren't even over yet and Tuesday the president is already facing calls for impeachment, but it's not from congress--instead, a Bay Area city made a bold move.Richmond City Council says Richmond has become the first city in the country to go on record in support of impeachment hearings for President Trump The council acknowledged how unusual it was to call for the president's impeachment. He's been in office for only a month, but the vote was unanimous."Unfortunately with this president it's oddly appropriate," said Richmond City Councilmember Jael Myrick.Councilmember Gayle McLaughlin spearheaded the resolution, which calls congress to investigate the president's business holdings, something his critics believe are grounds for impeachment. "This is our voice," she said. "This is our country. We have a right to speak up."Even in this progressive city, there was one vocal Trump supporter who was eventually thrown out for swearing at the council."Actually you don't have a voice because the GOP controls Congress and you people are stupid enough to think Congress will impeach Trump," said Richmond resident Mark Wassberg.Supporters of the resolution, however; remain undeterred."A lot of politicians aren't willing to go on the record to do this because it can go against them," said Richmond resident Ellen Faden. "But as grass roots, as Bernie said, we have to start from the grass roots."By passing this resolution, the Richmond City Council is now hoping it'll inspire other cities to do the same.We of Éireport Group wish to clarify some points about the GaiaPortal blog messages.
The Essence of the GaiaPortal blog is communication on multiple levels. Those who receive a message on one level of awareness, will perhaps receive it differently from those at a different level of awareness.
There is no level which is “better” than another. Each is simply unique unto itself.
GaiaPortal messages may appear “cryptic” to some. However, each message communicates to multiple hu-man and Hue-man levels simultaneously. Each BEing receives the messages in their own way, from their own level.
We of Éireport Group encourage the practice of “Awareness Expansion” as these messages appear. In particular, those who view a message as “indecipherable”, will find, as “Awareness Expansion” is practiced (namely, “allowed” to occur, from within), Higher Levels of awareness will be experienced.
Intellect-only analysis of these messages is impossible, as the intellect operates on a level of awareness that is extremely limited, and is unable to discern the “multiple levels simultaneously” (complete) meaning of each.
We thank you for your patience and understanding.
Éireport GroupQuick Takeaway - This and some other such outages are not completely a Human Error, it is a Design Failure as well. A better Design(UX) can help in avoiding such a massive outage/mistakes.
On 28th Feb 2017, Amazon’s S3 Service faced nearly 4 hours outage. Amazon’s web hosting services are among the most widely used out there, which means that when Amazon’s servers go down, a lot of things will go down with them. Big products like Slack, Quora faced issues.
The Root Cause posted by Amazon -
At 9:37AM PST, an authorized S3 team member using an established playbook executed a command which was intended to remove a small number of servers for one of the S3 subsystems that is used by the S3 billing process. Unfortunately, one of the inputs to the command was entered incorrectly and a larger set of servers was removed than intended.
What Mashable has to say - " The cause, according to the company, who posted a very wordy explanation on its website Thursday, was "human error." Which sounds bad enough until you find out exactly what the "human error" was: a typo. "
What Gizmodo has to say - " Apparently, some poor engineer at Amazon Web Services (AWS) did an oopsie and brought the internet to its knees. Oopsies are the worst! "
What Venturebeat has to say - " The event was triggered by human error "
But, I would not say that AWS outage was completely a human error. It was a Design(UX) failure as well.
How to avoid such mistakes by a Better Design? Well, Design for Confirmation.
Confirmation is a technique used for critical actions, inputs, or commands. It provides a means for verifying that an action or input is intentional and correct before it is performed. Confirmations are primarily used to prevent a class of errors called slips, which are unintended actions. Confirmations slow task performance, and should be reserved for use with critical or irreversible operations only. When the consequences of an action are not serious, or when actions are completely and easily reversible, confirmations are not needed.
Above paragraph says all we need to think about designing right confirmation page. Just to make it more clear.
Good Practice:-
Have a detailed confirmation if action is mission critical or outcome can not be reversed simply. Have the action as a question in the header of the Confirmation Dialog/Modal. Have clear explanation about the outcome of the action in the body of the Modal. Restate the action in the confirmation button. Make the button stand out in the Modal, and should have a color(like red) which indicates the action being taken is critical. Have an Acknowledgment Modal as well, where we can have the outcome of the action performed. If the action can be reversed have a link to reverse the same. The acknowledgment will remove any uncertainty about the action the System has just performed.
Examples -
(Invision’s confirmation modal requires checking boxes that indicate what will happen when a user deletes a prototype.)
(Github's confirmation modal asks the user to enter the repository name again so that user does not accidently delete the code repository)
(Example of Acknowledgement with Button to check the outcome of the Action)
Bad Practice:-
Simple confirmation dialog without much details of the action
Example :-
Thanks for taking your valuable time to read this post. If you wish to, You can also read my other posts Here at LinkedIn. I occasionally write about my own learning from work & experimentations. Also feel free share your own thoughts or learnings about the same.
Hemant Kumar Singh
References -A floating luxury hotel mirrors the shape of vertebrae
A new avant-garde design for a luxury hotel has been revealed with the floating 'MORPHotel'.
Part-hotel, part-cruise ship, the Morphotels have been built around their linear curvature, much like a vertebral spine. This structure permits them to adapt their form to the weather conditions and the site morphology.
Architect and engineer Gianluca Santosuosso designed the Morphotel, with the idea of creating a independent, self-sufficient aquatic organism.
The half-mile long spine curves with the water currents and in doing so eliminates damaging fuel expenditure from traditional cruise ships, which would normally travel at an average speed of 20 nodes using 470litres/km.
With its unique shape, the Morphotel is not only able to take advantage of its surroundings - adapting to each territory at harbour points and cutting-back on energy use - but is capable of spiralling into itself to create a giant floating harbour for other boats and ships seeking shelter out in the open ocean. These actions allow it to become an independent aquatic organism.
The structure is derived from a traditional naval construction. Multiple pods will make up a module framework in orthogonal and diagonal sectors. The modules would then be reinforced and waterproofed with metals (also conventionally used in naval architecture), while glass and open surfaces will interchange on the upper levels.
A complex circuit of mechanical joints, much like railway carriage connectors, will hold the structure together and with the help of electronic controls be capable of expanding and contracting the vertebrae, thus altering its form.
Morphotels would constantly be moving at a slow speed around the world, however would allow users to see and experience the places in between points A and B that would normally be left out.
Through docking at various harbours across the globe, Morphotels aim to bring value to each city through opening its doors to the inhabitants; ideally they will return the favour. Santosuosso even went as far to create a new form of traveller: the 'tourizen', where the boundaries of citizens and tourists fall away.
The Morphotel will offer a linear garden, restaurants, fitness centre, theatre and commercial area to the city.
Morphotels are functionally self-sufficient in a variety of ways.
Energy is channelled to the entire complex through two different eco-friendly technologies. Firstly, solar panels travel along the upper areas of the hull and glass panels, and secondly the two ends of the spine will be able to produce energy via the movement of waves.
According to the designer, other structures have effectively used this method to produce justifiable quantities of energy.
Furthermore, half the self-produced energy will be used to filter and store collected rainwater, the other to desalinate sea water.
All images courtesy Gianluca SantosuossoThis topic is one that has been around for many, many, years. Is it better to practice Traditional Brazilian JiuJitsu or to Focus more on the Sport Aspect of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu? There has been an overwhelming response from both sides as to why one is better than the other, and why you should practice this one instead of that one. When it really comes down to it, the real reason most people begin to practice BJJ is for Self Defense reasons. It is because they have witnessed, heard of, or have been the victim of some sort of assault or attack and now want to have some means of defending themselves. Others like myself, have had a natural curiosity about martial arts and started from there. My point that I want to make is that they needed to have something real. A proven system that would give them peace of mind in knowing that if you were ever put in a situation again where you had to defend yourself, you would be more than capable of doing so. This is why people train in the first place. To try and figure out which is better than the other and which you should really focus on, you have to understand the difference between the two to begin with.
TRADITIONAL BJJ
Traditional BJJ is what everything is based on. Sport was born from traditional. This provided the map for sport. This is typically what you will find is taught at your average BJJ Academy. The main difference being the Self Defense aspect. This is what BJJ was based around originally. If you were to engage in Physical Combat, how would you use your BJJ to overcome the adversary and gain the dominate position. The incorporation of light strikes to simulate the reality of a real fight, while performing techniques is the main difference. Are you constantly throwing strikes while grappling? No, but it necessary to be aware that the opponent has opportunity to strike you in certain situations and you have to be ready for that instance. It becomes a little difficult to finish a submission if they are able to strike you in the process. This is where recognition comes into play along with your ability to adapt to the situation. From here, using your Jiu Jitsu, you can overcome your opponent and dominate the fight getting into a position where you render their attacks obsolete. This, in my belief, is and should be the ultimate goal for your Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Related: KEYS TO BEING A SUCCESSFUL
Another thing you will find different in traditional vs sport is that in traditional, there are no “illegal” techniques. We train for the streets not for competition. I tell my students all the time, “The goal isn’t to be better than all your teammates, it’s to be better than the average guy or gal you find on the street.” We use and teach the full aspect of BJJ, no holding back. Everything from Heel hooks, reaping, cervical locks, wrist locks, you name it, we teach it. You will find in sport that many moves will not be used or taught for the sake of not being disqualified in a tournament or because they are illegal for competition. I feel like this limits or puts blinders on many who train solely sport. If you have never seen it, how can you defend it? Open your mind, don’t close it.
SPORT BJJ
Like I stated earlier, Sport BJJ was born for Traditional. Humans have always had a natural tendency to compete against each other for numerous reasons. BJJ is not different, “My style is better than yours.” “Oh Yeah, Prove it!” and it starts. Just like any other competition, they have to have rules. By implementing rules they are starting to establish some form of regulation and fairness for everyone. This is where the limits begin. You can only use these moves at this point because if you use these other moves you may hurt someone because of your lack of experience. If you have the Gi on, then only these techniques will be allowed. If you use ‘Illegal techniques” you will be disqualified from competition. If you are in a NoGi match, then this ruleset with this list of techniques will only be allowed. It is things like this I feel, start to waterdown BJJ in general. I understand limiting some techniques for safety reasons, but if a player has been training for some time then his control factor should be in check as well. This seems to be the main concern, that someone will not exhibit enough self control and someone will get hurt. The Control Factor is something one developes in training. Knowing when to use power and how much to use is a great tool. It will allow you to conserve energy in a tourney setting but also give you the heads up on when you should bail on a technique and transition to another.
One very good thing about training Sport BJJ is that you will develop lighting speed and great pressure. Your accuracy will be spot on because you know if you are late, the other guy has got the advantage. All your techniques will be smooth in a live setting because you are constantly training for that comp which is a live roll in front of an audience. Your nerves won’t be much of a factor and the adrenaline dump becomes easier to handle.
CONCLUSION
So, is it better to train Traditional over Sport? In My Opinion, Yes. While Sport holds a few advantages over Traditional BJJ, I would rather be versed in all aspects of BJJ not just a few. If I decided to focus solely later on sport, then at least i will have a full based knowledge of what BJJ entails. Then I would be prepared not only for the comp scene, but for Real Life as well. Because, in the end, this is what the overall goal is anyway. If you happen to become a World Champion in your career as a JiuJitero then bonus! Just as long as you can defend yourself and the ones you love, then your training traditional or sport has served its purpose. Take Care and as usual, have a RollBliss Day. Oss.
Chris IronMan Hinojosa
Brown Belt
Austin Submission Fighting
Rafael Lovato AssociationSafe and tidy with Timed Messages
Wire Blocked Unblock Follow Following Oct 25, 2016
Today we’re introducing Timed Messages. They automatically disappear from conversations as the timer you set for them runs out. Timed Messages are available on iOS, Android, desktop and Wire for Web.
So, what are Timed Messages good for?
Not everything we share is created equal. There are certainly moments we want to keep around and revisit days, months, or even years later. There are others that only make sense in a particular moment in time. That’s where Timed Messages come in. They are a great way to make sure what you’ve sent will only be available for a limited period. You’ll keep the chat history tidy and save space on your devices.
It’s also perfect for sending sensitive data like credit card details, login information, and other private matters. The messages will automatically disappear from the conversation once the timer runs out.
Timed Messages work in every 1:1 conversation on Wire and there’s no need to create a separate secret chat. You can set a timer for anything — text, pictures, videos, links, documents, even pings.
Update, Nov 14. 2016: Timed Messages are now supported in group conversations as well.
Previous Wire versions will not be able to receive Timed Messages. Friends using older versions will not be able to see your timed messages so ask them to update Wire to enjoy this feature. Read our FAQ for more details on how Timed Messages work.
We at Wire really dig Timed Messages. We’d like to hear about your experience—so, as always, we’re @wire on Twitter.1
Bong stems come in various diameters and lengths. You may have to do some checking to find the right fit for the bottle you're using. If you're unsure about the size, it might be smart to buy a couple different stems and see what works best.
An average glass bong stem runs between $5 and $10, depending on where you look.
If you do have to buy the bowl and stem separately, make sure the bowl is the appropriate size for the stem (the measurements should be displayed prominently on the package) and attach the two by sliding the bowl onto the thicker end of the stem.
Purchase a glass stem or set of stems to fit the hole you drilled. Check to see if you have a tobacco or "head" shop in your area, as stems are typically sold there, or buy one online and have it delivered. A bong stem sometimes includes a bowl; if not, you'll need to snag one of these too. As the hole you drilled was 1/2" in diameter, you should look for a stem with roughly the same width, and it should be long enough to reach to the midpoint of the bottle so that the bottom of the stem is partially submerged once you fill the bottle with water.The parents of the 2-year-old boy who died after being snatched by an alligator at a Disney resort in Orlando in June have decided not to sue Disney over the toddler’s death.
Matt and Melissa Graves issued a statement to KETV, an Omaha, Neb.-based ABC affiliate, on Wednesday, more than a month after an alligator dragged their son Lane into the water by Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. The Graves said they plan to “keep his spirit alive” by establishing the Lane Thomas Foundation in Lane’s honor.
“In addition to the foundation, we will solely be focused on the future health of our family and will not be pursuing a lawsuit against Disney,” the Graves said.
Disney officials were previously aware of potential dangers posed by alligators, according to reports. In 2015, David Hiden, a San Diego attorney, notified a Disney World manager that an alligator had “rapidly” come after his son, who was wading in the lagoon of the Coronado Springs Resort, CBS News reported. According to Hiden, the manager said the alligators were “harmless.”
Walt Disney Resort President George A. Kalogridis said in a statement that the company continues to provide ongoing support for the family.
Write to Mahita Gajanan at [email protected] for news you can trust?
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The citizens of Toledo, Ohio, have embarked upon their new summer ritual: stocking up on bottled water. For the second straight year, an enormous algae bloom has settled upon Lake Erie, generating nasty toxins right where the city of 400,000 draws its tap water.
It’s a kind of throwback to Toledo’s postwar heyday, when the Rust Belt’s booming factories deposited phosphorus-laced wastewater into streams that made their way into Lake Erie, feeding algae growths that rival today’s in size. But after the decline of heavy industry and the advent of the Clean Water Act, there’s a new main source of algae-feeding phosphorus into the beleaguered lake: fertilizer runoff from industrial-scale corn and soybean farms. (Background here.)
As I reported last August, the trouble is that freshwater blooms produce a toxin called microcystin, which can trigger nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, severe headaches, fever, and even liver damage. For three days last year, microcystin in Toledo’s water exceeded federal limits, and the city had to urge residents not only to avoid drinking it, but also to use bottled water to wash dishes and bathe infants.
Toledo has since implemented an early warning system near its water intake for monitoring potential microcystin contamination in Lake Erie—one, it hopes, will prevent a repeat of last year’s don’t-drink-the-water event by giving the city time to run its carbon-filtration system when toxin levels at the source spike. The filtration system does work to push microcystin levels to below the legal limit, said Justin Chaffin, research coordinator for Ohio State University’s Ohio Sea Grant program, which coordinates efforts to monitor the lake‘s algae blooms. The problem, he said, is that it costs thousands of dollars per day to run.
Not fully reassured after last year’s problems, Toledo residents are clearing retail shelves of bottled water, forcing some stores to limit how much consumers can buy at once.
For the second time in a week, the city placed the water under “watch” status on Saturday. “Microcystin is detected in the intake crib in Lake Erie, but not in the tap water,” a city notice states. “Our water treatment process is effectively removing the microcystin.” Not fully reassured after the shock of last year’s nasty surprise, Toledo residents are clearing retail shelves of bottled water, forcing some stores to limit how much consumers can buy at once.
A spokesperson for the Toledo water utility declined to estimate how much the city has spent to implement and run its early warning system or the carbon-filtration system. In 2014, Toledo newspaper the Blade reported the city “has spent $3 million a year battling algae toxins in recent years,” and $4 million in 2013. Despite the outlays, residents are understandably skittish about Toledo water.
Toledo’s fertilizer-haunted water supply is hardly an isolated case. Similar situations persist throughout the Corn Belt, from Ohio in the east to Nebraska in the west. To grow the great bulk of corn and soybeans that fuel our food system, the Corn Belt uses massive amounts of fertilizer—and it doesn’t stay put. For example, Iowa’s Department of Natural Resources has had to issue 131 advisories since 2006—and 17 so far this year—warning people to keep themselves and their pets out of lakes made toxic by these phosphorus-fed blooms. Ohio has eight such warnings active, apart from the drama in Toledo.
Then there’s the related problem of another chemical fertilizer used on farms, nitrogen. It enters drinking water supplies in the form of nitrate, which can restrict the blood’s ability to carry oxygen and is thus particularly hazardous to infants. Regular low-level exposure to nitrate has been associated with birth defects as well as cancers of the ovaries and thyroid. The waterworks utility of Des Moines, Iowa, claims to have spent $1.5 million since December 2014 keeping nitrate levels below legal limits, and claims it needs to invest as much as $183 million in new filtration equipment to battle the problem going forward. Back in June, Columbus, Ohio, had to warn pregnant women and babies to avoid the tap because nitrate levels had spiked above legal limits. The same thing has forced the Nebraska town of Prosser to warn its residents away from tap water for more than a year—and to raise $84,000 to put a reverse-osmosis filter in every kitchen.
Of course, the Corn Belt’s fertilizer runoff doesn’t just wreak havoc within the region. The great bulk of these pollutants make their way to the Gulf of Mexico through the Mississippi River, where they feed one of the globe’s largest annual fish-killing algae blooms. According to the latest National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projections, this year’s version will be just “average” in size—blotting out sea life in area of some 5,400 square miles, roughly the area of Connecticut.
Earlier this year, fed up with its own mounting filtration bills, the water utility in Des Moines sued three upstream farming districts to force the federal government to regulate their runoff under the Clean Water Act (which exempts most agriculture operations because they’re “non-point” pollution sources). The suit, which won’t be heard in federal court until next year, will be closely watched throughout the Corn Belt. Meanwhile, the Toledo utility spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the city was considering taking similar action.I don't have a tart pan so I wanted to make something free-form. Martha Stewart to the rescue! Her asparagus gruyere tart seemed perfect but I wanted a bit more flavor so I added some lightly carmelized onions.First I cut up four walls walls sweets and put them in a pan.I didn't fully cook them down cause I wanted some texture from the onions.As those cooled I prepared the pastry dough by thawing and rolling it out. I then scored a square about 1inch around the edges and poked the center with a fork.As it baked I shredded the gruyere.I baked the crust to a nice golden brown.I layered the onions first.Then added the gruyere.On to I put the asparagus making every other one up and down. Because my baking stone is square I ended up with some room at the bottom and so I put more asparagus across the bottom and basted it with olive oil, salt, and pepper.I baked it all for about 25 minutes and took it out when a fork could pierce the asparagus.It was fantastic. FANTASTIC.- Posted
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can go back to reading books, now without being interrupted.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Superman can use his X-ray vision whenever the need arises. It turns out that in real life, some fish and amphibians can do something nearly as super when it come to their sight.
Tasmanian salmon swim in a pond, which can hold up to 40,000 fish, during a daily inspection of the nets at a Tasmanian salmon farm owned by Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd located at Hideaway Bay, south of Hobart in this June 2, 2014, file photo. REUTERS/David Gray/Files
Researchers on Thursday said these animals, when navigating murky freshwater environments like rivers and streams, can turn on an enzyme in their eyes that supercharges their ability to see infrared light, sharpening their vision in the muck and mire.
The enzyme, called Cyp27c1, is related to vitamin A, which was already known to promote good vision, particularly in low light.
Vitamin A is a critical component of the visual pigment in eyes that facilitates sight. With the enzyme, fish and amphibians can tune their vision to match the environmental light.
Chemically, Cyp27c1 makes a small modification on the molecule of the form of Vitamin A called Vitamin A1 to turn it into Vitamin A2, shifting sensitivity of eye photoreceptors to longer wavelengths such as red and infrared light.
This explains how freshwater fish like salmon can smoothly adjust their vision as they exit ocean waters, where the light environment is blue-green, and enter inland waterways, where the light environment veers to the red and infrared end of the spectrum.
This ability is also valuable for amphibians that switch from vision on land to underwater.
“Fresh water tends to be more turbid or murkier than these other environments. This murkiness filters out shorter wavelengths of light - blue, greens, and yellows - leaving mainly longer wavelengths - red and infrared light,” said pathologist and vision scientist Dr. Joseph Corbo of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
“We don’t know when in the course of evolution the Cyp27c1 enzyme first acquired the function it has today,” Corbo said. “However, the fact that the same enzyme is used by both fish and amphibians suggests that this function originated hundreds of millions of years ago.”
The researchers first pinpointed the enzyme in a common laboratory fish called the zebrafish, then found it in bullfrogs. Humans possess a copy of the gene that controls this enzyme, but it is not active in our eyes.
Corbo said the enzyme possibly could be used in conjunction with optogenetic devices, which allow scientists to turn the activity of neurons on and off with light, in a new approach to treat neurological and blinding diseases.
The research was published in the journal Current Biology.A few weeks ago, I did a talk on the History of Zelda music at the offices of Twitch, which included some post-talk Q&A. I had just finished explaining a key difference between video game music and other forms of music, which is that video game music has to repeat, that it has to play on loop for a potentially indefinite amount of time—when I got a really good follow up question:
“Do you think that games could ever move out of those kinds of constraints [of needing to loop indefinitely]?”
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At the time, I couldn’t really think of a good example of how a game could do that. The one example I could conjure up was the track that plays in New Home from Undertale—which is a 6-minute long track, easily longer than any other track in the game—clearly designed to play through its entirety, as it gradually builds up, mirroring the player’s progression through that section of the game. As a result, this track is not really meant to be looped—it’s meant to be heard from start to finish, and there’s a progression and climax to the music that traditional game music often eschews because of the Loop constraint. (Of course, if a player decided to stop progressing at that point, the music would continue and eventually repeat, but it’s all designed in a way that a situation like that would be unlikely.)
But that idea stuck with me, and after the talk I finally got to finish playing Breath of the Wild…
As a general rule, I don’t like to listen through a game’s soundtrack until after I’ve finished the game (the idea being that I want my first experience with each track to be in its intended context, i.e. in the game itself).
But of course, after finishing the game, I took to YouTube and started going through all my favorite tracks again, as well as others that had slipped by my attention. And I realized:
The music of Breath of the Wild is breaking the Loop Constraint all the time, in different ways, and for different reasons.
Let’s take a closer look.
Why Hate for the Loop?
Though it may be obvious, it’s worth first discussing why a game like Breath of the Wild would want to avoid using traditional looped music in the style of the majority of Nintendo games.
Since the beginning, the music of the mainline Nintendo games (and really, most games of the time) were composed by looping a section of music, usually comprising 2 or 3 melodic phrases. Because these few melodic phrases were ones that you would hear over and over, they really had to be catchy (and thus, very melodic) to avoid being annoying—this was something that Koji Kondo, the composer for Mario and Zelda was truly a genius at.
These looped sections of music are almost always the same length—with each melodic phrase taking up about 15 seconds each. Short enough to not require a ton of musical material, but long enough to not be monotonous when looped for long periods of time.
Loop Lengths:
Super Mario Bros. – Overworld 1:16 (3rd melody acting as bridge)
Super Mario Bros. 2 – Overworld 0:39 Super Mario Bros. 3 – Overworld 0:26 The Legend of Zelda – Overworld 0:33 Metroid – Brinstar Theme 0:48 Pokemon RBY – Pallet Town 0:32
Perhaps due to the success of this musical formula, this way of writing video game music pretty much stayed constant throughout Nintendo’s history. Of course, not every track followed this rule—deviation from this formula happened more often as composers began having more resources and license to experiment—but many, especially the most well-known tracks (the ones with the catchy melodies), tend to follow the same pattern:
1991 Link to the Past – The Dark World 1:00 (3rd melody acting as bridge) 1998 Ocarina of Time – Kakariko Village 1:33 (3rd melody acting as bridge) 2000 Majora’s Mask – Clock Town Day 1 0:52 (3rd melody acting as bridge) 2002 Wind Waker – Dragon Roost Island 1:18 (3rd melody acting as bridge) 2006 Twilight Princess – Midna’s Theme 0:36
2012 Skyward Sword – Ballad of the Goddess 1:37 (3rd melody acting as bridge)
This is all to ultimately show that, structurally, video game music has not changed all that much since the beginning, at least within Nintendo, and more narrowly, within the Zelda series.
So why would they deviate from this formula in Breath of the Wild?
Well, the answer is pretty simple, I think—with the game being Open World (or as Nintendo calls it, “Open Air”), as a player you spend the majority of your time in the Overworld, which is huge and completely unfettered by loading screens of any kind. One could easily spend more than an hour just wandering Hyrule Field and its surrounding areas before coming across a town or village with its own distinct track—which means that if Nintendo were to use traditional looped music for the Overworld—and let’s give it a generous 2-minute long loop length—you could easily be listening to that same melody over 30+ times before you got something new.
So how do other Open World games handle this musical design challenge? Skyrim and Minecraft, for example, use largely ambient music, fading in and out semi-randomly, to fill the Overworld. Because ambient music is much less focused on melody, it’s much harder to actually perceive “loops” when listening to ambient music, even when it is looped—because there’s no melody to anchor your musical memory. Furthermore, by having the music fade in and out randomly, there’s no fear of over-exposure:
Skyrim:
Skyrim Music - Skyrim Atmospheres
Watch this video on YouTube
Minecraft:
Minecraft Music (PC) - Overworld 1 of 3 Theme Extended
Watch this video on YouTube
Breath of the Wild’s approach is similar, but not quite the same.
Fragmentation
There IS actually a looped piece of music for the Overworld in Breath of the Wild. It’s this:
The music here is so fragmented that for a while I didn’t even think it was a looped piece of music—initially it seemed as though they took short little musical phrases and played them at randomly programmed intervals, like the way it’s done in Minecraft. The key here is the length of silence in between musical moments—they’re long enough so that as a listener you’re no longer perceiving rhythm, and thus, no longer anticipating more music (alternately: you can’t bob your head to this). As a result, you don’t really get sick of it the way you would a looped track.
Note though, that though the music is fragmented, it’s not quite what I would call ambient—each musical cell is a little melody. Again, the real key here to making this loop work is the lack of rhythmic continuity.
(This method of fragmentation is effective even with established, familiar melodies. Check out here how the music for the Temple of Time is slowed down and fragmented to the point where, unless you stop and listen to it, you might not even recognize it as the Song of Time from Ocarina of Time.)
Song of Time:
Another benefit of fragmentation like this is the ease of transition in and out of the track. Without loading screens in between areas, the music has to fade in and out seamlessly as you enter new areas. With extended silences in between musical moments, this is made a lot easier. This effect is especially effective when used with some of the less-explicitly distinct area tracks in the game, like the “Cave” track:
You can see the way an Overworld track could easily fade into this when you enter a cave. While it doesn’t have a distinct melody that hits you over the head with “We’re in a new area!”, there’s a definite change in mood and timbre with this track. This is another big strength of Breath of the Wild—while much of the soundtrack is centered around a single instrument (piano), there are distinct timbral palettes for different areas of the game, and these timbral changes come through in moments like these.
In this case, the Cave track adds a high-pitched whirring synth and some sort of woodwind in the lower register—together, these two new timbres play long, drawn-out notes that are further emphasized by some added reverb, creating an echo effect—perfect for a Cave track.
When I discovered my first cave in my playthrough of Breath of the Wild, I was struck by how cinematic the moment felt, without the game having to resort to any sort of cutscene—accomplished simply by transitioning to this track as I entered. It’s the game’s ability to create memorable moments like this with music that make the exploration aspect of this game so strong, and a large part of it the soundtrack’s willingness to dial back the melodic writing and focus instead on timbre and harmonic color.
Minimalism and Rhythmic “Skips”
While fragmentation drags out loop length, minimalism shrinks it down until it may as well not be there. For example, listen to the Maze Forest (Lost Woods) track:
Here we get a 3-note piano loop that creates the backbone for the track, but it’s unusual in that it sometimes appears to “skip” a beat. The best way to listen for this is to use the high note as an anchor—it appears to loop every 3 notes, but then at 0:03 we hear an extra note—a deviation from the pattern, which effectively sets the loop “off phase.” As a result the listener actually feels rhythmically lost (try to count the beats for this track!)—a perfect complement to the track’s purpose.
There is a progression to this track, to be sure, which includes a shift of focus to the bass of the piano rather than the treble for the 3 note loop (note how the “anchor” becomes the lowest piano note around 0:30) and of other seemingly random musical flourishes on top of the piano, and at a macro level there is actually a moment when the track loops and starts again—but none of this is really perceivable to the listener. Instead, the tiny 3-note loop that makes up this track is the object of focus because it’s the only really melodic thing in the entire track, and because of its rhythmic “skipping” it’s nigh impossible to tell when the “larger” loop starts and stops, unless you’re paying very close attention.
This concept of irregular rhythm being used to cloud perception of a loop also appears in the Battle Theme:
Again, the music is written in a way that makes it hard to tell where the downbeats are (try counting the beats!). Especially in the 2nd part of this track starting at 0:33, note how the repeated strings pattern is doing the same thing as the piano in the Lost Woods track—setting up a pattern, then deviating from it, causing a “phase shift” that confuses the rhythm.
In this track, we actually get a mash of various repeated patterns from different instruments, further adding to the chaos of the track—Nintendo really did a great job with conveying the right emotions with each of their tracks.
Through-Composed Music
The most unusual thing about the Breath of the Wild soundtrack is how many of the important themes are contained in brief, through-composed tracks.
If infinitely looped music is one end of a spectrum, then through-composed music is at the other. The idea of through-composed music is that there are no repeated sections of music, period—so a typical pop song with repeated verses and chorus would not qualify as a through-composed song. But in Breath of the Wild, we have through-composed tracks acting as all 4 of the Champion Themes—themes that end up forming the foundation for a number of other tracks in the game.
Mipha’s Theme
Compare this track, which has a distinct beginning and ending, with no repeated section, to Prince Sidon’s Theme (which shares the same melody), which is a 32 second long loop:
Prince Sidon’s Theme
To me, this difference in treatment has everything to do with the characters’ place in the story and the gravitas of their specific narrative.
For Prince Sidon (and the other “living” characters) in Breath of the Wild with a theme (Riju, Kass), their themes loop because they are constant, persisting characters in the world of BotW. On the other hand, Mipha and the other Champions are memories—and there is a distinct moment of meeting, remembering, and farewell for each of them. And so appropriately, the themes for these characters are through-composed, representing a finite presence in the game through the music. It’s a great example of deviation from the Loop being used to deliver a specific narrative.
Even in some of the “looped” tracks, this idea of one-directional, linear music stands out—one particular track that really illustrates this is the Rito Village track:
This track, is, of course, based on the theme of Dragon Roost Island from Wind Waker—which makes perfect sense, as that was the home of the Rito in that game. What’s interesting to me about this track is not the callback to Wind Waker, but rather the extremely long and flowery introductory section leading up to and including the swelling strings, from 0:00 to 0:38. This type of introduction leading up to the main melody of the track, with its grand dramatic buildup, seems extremely out of place for your standard “looped” video game music track. After all, hearing the introductory buildup looped over and over is a little awkward and weakens the effect. So why use it?
I’m curious about others’ first experience with Rito Village in this game, because for me, entering Rito Village was one of the most memorable moments of the game for me. Again, like my experience with finding my first cave, it just felt so cinematic. The introductory passage sparked a lot of curiosity (it’s a theme new to the Zelda series and you wouldn’t have heard it prior—you hear it later in Revali’s cutscenes) and synced almost perfectly with my crossing the first couple bridges leading up to Rito Village; then, upon finally reaching the central area of the village, the familiar Dragon Roost Island melody kicked in. It just felt so perfect. That moment stuck with me, and it’s not something that could have been achieved without the grand introductory section. To me, it feels like there was a deliberate choice on the composer’s part to give players that cinematic moment, that memorable moment, even if it meant adding an unusually long and dramatic introductory section to a track that might sound a little awkward when looped.
Concluding Thoughts
As I was writing and thinking about Breath of the Wild’s use of non-looped music, one idea kept coming back again and again: that many of the most memorable moments from my playthrough of the game involved the use of non-traditional, non-looped music. I’ve talked about how some of that effect was achieved due to the game’s willingness to forgo the standard strengths and benefits of looped music in favor of things like emphasizing timbre, rhythmic effect, or a one-way, emotional progression, but I think that some of the effect is undoubtedly just be the way we’ve collectively understood video game music for the entirety of its lifespan—that it’s a 1-2 minute loop, focused on a catchy melody, looped indefinitely. When a game deviates from using that formula, we naturally take notice.
There’s much more to be said about the incredible quality of the Breath of the Wild soundtrack aside from what I’ve said above—the beautiful orchestration, creative use of piano, the undeniable influence of Joe Hisaishi’s (composer for many of Hayao Miyazaki’s films) style—but I think the game’s willingness to distance itself from the Loop may be the biggest sticking point of this soundtrack (ironically, I think it’s also responsible for a lot of negative feedback people have given about the soundtrack: “Where are all the great Zelda melodies?!”). While it’s certainly not the first game to feature this type of musical writing, it’s definitely given non-traditional looped music more exposure (especially when juxtaposed against past Zelda games). There’s a great deal of unexplored territory in terms of the structure of game music, and this is a great starting point for composers looking to do something different.
What do you think about looped music in video games, and what are your favorite examples of unconventional music structure in games? Let me know in the comments!
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TumblrThe Chicago Fire Department will conduct a simulated high rise fire and evacuation drill this morning at the Aon Center, resulting in some street closures in the area along with a lot of activity unusual for a Sunday morning downtown.
According to a media advisory from the Chicago Fire Department, the drill will begin at 9:15 a.m. at the Aon Center, 200 E. Randolph St., and will run until about 11:30 a.m. A lot of Chicago Fire Department equipment and personnel will be in the area around that time.
The city's office of Emergency Management & Communications will coordinate street closures and traffic in the area.
The actual drill will simulate a fire on an upper floor of the building and will include an evacuation of portions of the building. Smoke machines will be used to better simulate real conditions, but there will be no actual fire, the media advisory said.
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Twitter: @ChicagoBreakingBERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened what promised to be marathon coalition talks on Friday, hoping to bring three opposing political camps into a stable government despite signs there would be less money to paper over differences.
Angela Merkel, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is seen after exploratory talks about forming a new coalition government between CDU/CSU, Green Party and the Free democratic Party (FDP) in Berlin, Germany, October 20, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
Merkel said she was optimistic as she entered talks between her conservative bloc, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and the Greens, despite an assessment by her own party that the next government would have less fiscal room than expected.
The outcome of the talks is keenly awaited both at home and across Europe, with many fretting that the European Union could be rudderless with the bloc’s longest-serving leader too busy to grapple with crucial issues like euro zone governance reform.
Highlighting the challenge, a report by Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) found that there would be only 30 billion euros free for new projects over the next four years if parties stuck to their commitment to taking on no new debts.
The shortfall will make all the more difficult the tricky three-way pact, dubbed a “Jamaica” coalition because the three parties’ colors - black, yellow and green - match those of the Jamaican flag, which is untried at national level.
Higher EU contributions as a result of Brexit and lower central bank profits might reduce spending room by some 15 billion euros, according to calculations seen by Reuters, an obstacle to the FDP’s demands for tax cuts or the Greens’ hope for environmental and infrastructure spending.
The talks between Merkel’s conservative bloc, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and the Greens are styled as “exploratory”, but negotiators aim to get down to details of tax and budget policy in their first full meeting together.
“There will be many differences,” she said on her arrival at the Berlin talks, adding: “There is readiness on my side to think about this creatively.”
Party delegations each made five-minute presentations before breaking ahead of further discussions due on Tuesday.
FDP chief Christian Lindner had earlier said that no matter how good the “atmosphere and seriousness” the parties were far apart on 85 percent of the material to be discussed. After, FDP secretary-general Nicola Beer said she continued to believe there was a “50:50” chance of a Jamaica coalition resulting.
Merkel, weakened by a surging far-right in last month’s national election, needs to make the awkward alliance fly as her previous “grand coalition” partners - the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) - say they want to rebuild in opposition after their worst election result in more than half a century.
“STRANGERS”
Merkel has been able to steer Europe through its euro zone and refugee crises in part due to her dominance at home. Now that dominance is waning - her conservatives last month had their weakest election showing since 1949.
“Voters have given these parties the task of governing,” wrote newspaper Die Welt. “These possible partners should not be giving the impression that they are inching warily toward each other like strangers in a crammed lift.”
An Infratest Dimap poll for ARD showed 83 percent of Germans wanted the parties to find a compromise deal.
Merkel, 63, has suffered two further setbacks since the national election: the CDU was defeated in a regional election in Lower Saxony on Sunday, and the party’s premier in the eastern state of Saxony resigned on Wednesday, saying younger, fresher leadership was needed to revitalize the conservatives.
Slideshow (11 Images)
Should the three party groups fail to form a coalition, some in their ranks fear this could lead to public disenchantment and fuel further support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which entered parliament for the first time last month.
If she cannot clinch a three-way coalition pact, Merkel could try to form a minority government, or else call fresh elections - an unprecedented scenario.
Alternatively, she could try to team up again with the SPD. The Social Democrats reject that option, though senior party official Thomas Oppermann has indicated they could reconsider on one condition: Merkel steps aside.YouTube-mp3 agrees to shut down
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 5 September 2017
Your favourite YouTube audio-ripping site and mine, YouTube-mp3, has agreed to shut down and hand its domain over to the Recording Industry Association Of America for safe-keeping. So that’s a shame. I mean great. It’s really great.
As previously reported, the RIAA finally sued YouTube-mp3 and its operator Philip Matesanz through the Californian courts just under a year ago. The ad-funded site allows users to input a YouTube URL and output an MP3 of the audio contained within the video hosted on that specific page on the Google site.
Stream ripping isn’t new, of course. Indeed YouTube-mp3 was sued by the record industry in its home country of Germany back in 2013. Though that case focused on the back ups of ripped files that the service stored on its own servers, something that constituted direct copyright infringement. YouTube-mp3 vowed to stop making the back ups, though was still arguably liable for contributory or authorising infringement, ie it was liable by facilitating the infringement of others.
Although not a new phenomenon, it is more recently that stream ripping has appeared towards the top of the wider music industry’s piracy gripe list. A report earlier this year by the UK’s Intellectual Property Office and PRS For Music reckoned that stream ripping is now the “most prevalent and fastest growing form of music piracy”. Meanwhile last September both the RIAA and its UK counterpart the BPI took action against leading stream-ripper YouTube-mp3, the former filing litigation, the latter threatening to.
At the time the boss of the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry, Frances Moore, told reporters: “This is a co-ordinated action to protect the rights of artists and labels from the blatant infringements of YouTube-mp3, the world’s single-largest ‘stream ripping’ site. Music companies and digital services today offer fans more options than ever before to listen to music legally, when and where they want to do so – over hundreds of services with scores of millions of tracks – all while compensating artists and labels. Stream ripping sites should not be allowed jeopardise this”.
Both the RIAA and YouTube-mp3 have now confirmed to the Californian court that a settlement has been reached. Specifics aren’t known, though Matesanz has seemingly accepted all of the labels’ claims about copyright infringement and agreed to pay undisclosed damages. The site will also shut down and its URLs will be passed to the RIAA.
The court has also been asked to issue an injunction that will ban Matesanz from “knowingly designing, developing, offering or operating any technology or service that allows or facilitates the practice commonly known as ‘streamripping'”. Oh, and also “knowingly infringing, knowingly causing to be infringed, or knowingly enabling, facilitating, encouraging, promoting, inducing or participating in the infringement of any copyright owned or controlled by the plaintiffs”.
The court still needs to approve the settlement, but either way, you probably need to find a new service for all your stream-ripping needs. I mean, you need to stop stream-ripping, it’s a terrible thing to do. No, I mean this doesn’t affect any of you at all, because you’ve never ripped a stream in your life. What’s stream-ripping?Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The Mexican authorities said the plants would have yielded marijuana with a street value of about $160m (£99m)
The Mexican army says it has discovered a huge field with mature marijuana in the northern state of Baja California.
Soldiers were patrolling the area, some 300km (190 miles) south of the US border, when they found the plantation.
The field near the town of San Quintin, measuring 1.2sq km (300 acres), was surrounded by a hedge of cacti. It is the largest marijuana plantation ever found in Mexico, officials say.
They say it would have yielded a harvest worth about $160m (£99m).
Image copyright bbc
A Mexican army spokesman told the BBC it was unclear who owned the territory.
An estimated 60 people were working on the plantation, said the local army commander, Gen Alfonso Duarte.
"When they saw the military personnel, they fled," he told reporters.
The Mexican army has led the war on drug gangs launched by President Felipe Calderon in December 2006.They need their cars to use the TTC.
It may seem paradoxical, but one city councillor says it's a fact of life for many in the inner suburbs of Toronto — one that was overlooked when the city decided it didn't need several TTC commuter parking lots.
Now, Ward 10 Coun. James Pasternak says this "war on the car" decision is causing headaches for commuters and he's asking city council to make sure there will be enough parking as Toronto transit expands.
"It's pretty messy," Pasternak said of the current situation at Wilson Station. Last December, 610 parking spaces at the station were lost when the TTC closed a commuter lot to make way for a commercial development.
"There's total chaos off of Wilson Heights (Blvd.) as people are trying to squeeze into the other parking lots," Pasternak said.
"These are seniors and young families with school aged children who rely on parking to take the subway downtown."
Motion to be tabled at executive committee meeting
In a motion to be tabled at Thursday's executive committee meeting, Pasternak is asking the city manager to assemble a blue ribbon panel of experts to study and provide feedback about commuter parking "along the new Spadina-University Subway line and other points of entry for travel."
Pasternak says the situation is the result of the decision made in 2009 to declare eight TTC parking lots — including three at Wilson station — surplus property. They were then put in the hands of Build Toronto, the arm's-length corporation that manages the sale and redevelopment of city real estate.
"There was a war on the car in those years, and we're starting to see the consequences of that," he said.
The Wilson South lot, with 541 spaces, is scheduled to close later this year and there are no fixed dates for the other Wilson lots, according to the TTC.
But the TTC expects the situation to be improved with the opening, in February, of the 1,100-space commuter parking lot at Yorkdale Shopping Centre.
TTC spokesperson Stuart Green says there are also roughly 2,800 parking spaces north of Downsview that will be part of the Spadina subway extension.Xiaomi, and other Chinese phone makers are likely to increase the cost of their high-end phones in a bid to build better brand images and larger profits.
If the price hike that accompanied the Xiaomi Mi Note wasn’t enough, CEO Lei Jun is now planning to launch phones that will cost between 3000-4000 Yuan in a bid to boost his brand’s image, could other brands follow?
UPDATE Update: Although there will be more expensive Chinese phones, this is not to say we will see the end of more affordable models. The Redmi range, Meilan range and other mid-range affordable phones are sure to continue, jut that high end models could cost more.
Premium Xiaomi Phones could cost 4000 Yuan ($615) in 2016
Xiaomi are seriously trying to shake off the low-cost brands image in China and the rest of the world. Since the company launched they have been famous for producing phones with higher than expected hardware and lower than thought possible pricing. This strategy has worked to propel the brand in to the hearts and minds of smartphone enthusiasts, but it has also had a negative impact on Xiaomi and the Chinese smartphone market as a whole.
Due to Xiaomi’s legendary low-pricing, other phone makers have dropped pricing and we are now seeing an all out war between Xiaomi, Meizu, and LeTV. While this has been good for the consumer it has meant some smaller Chinese brands have suffered and even the 3 main rivals are making lower than expected profits.
In a bid to improve brand image and increase profits we have already seen Huawei duck out of the entry-level phone market and as a result popularity in the brand has taken a turn for the better in China and around the world as a whole. Xiaomi are now planning a similar move.
We already saw with the release of the Xiaomi Mi4 how design and quality were becoming more important to Xiaomi, then with the Mi Note high pricing came in to play, but the next Xiaomi phones could cost considerably more!
Lei Jun is now hoping to make a dent in the Chinese premium phone market and take on the likes of Oppo and Vivo with phones that will cost from 3000 Yuan up to 4000 Yuan. While this might sound like a strange move to international readers, it actually makes perfect sense for the local Chinese market.
Will all Chinese phone brands go premium for 2016?
In China the iPhone and other ‘premium’ devices are much more desirable than lower priced phones. The stature of owning a high-priced phone in China is important to many consumers in the country hence the boom in premium brand sales (just visit any large Chinese city and try not to see a Lamborghini or Ferrari to see how money talks in China).
It comes as no surprise to me that Xiaomi are planning this move, and I predicted as much ahead of the Mi Note announcement. Affordable phones are always going to be great for headlines, but their lack of margin is bad news for a thriving business.
With Huawei and Xiaomi heading upmarket for 2016, it’s likely that we will see Meizu, and LeTV follow, giving smaller Chinese phone makers the option to either fill in the void or follow in a similar premium fashion.
Personally I am excited by the move as higher pricing means more innovation and some unique flagship designs, it also means that smaller Chinese phone makers will be able to breathe a little and also be a little more daring in the low-cost smartphone space.
What are your opinions on higher priced phones for 2016?The German FA (DFB) and Bayern Munich revealed on Friday morning that Dettmar Cramer, known as the "Football Professor", died at home on Thursday. Cramer twice led Bayern Munich to European Cup glory in 1975 and 1976, as well as the Intercontinental Cup (the Club World Cup predecessor) in 1976.
"Bayern Munich mourns a great head coach and a special person," said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge on Friday. Wolfgang Niersbach, head of the German FA, echoed Rummenigge's thoughts saying Cramer had been a "great head coach" and a "big personality."
"Dettmar Cramer was known worldwide as an ambassador for German football. His knowledge saw him treasured everywhere he went, and he was a likable, caring man who was full of life. I have a great respect for his life's work," said Niersbach.
Cramer started his coaching career at Teutonia Lippstadt before he started working with the Westphalia football association. After a short stint in Japan, he returned to Germany in 1964 and, along with Udo Lattek, he was an assistant coach to Germany's head coach Helmut Schön at the 1996 World Cup in England. Cramer also had stints at Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayer Leverkusen and Hertha BSC.
The two European Cup wins with Bayern Munich were his biggest success. Leading the likes of Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier, Uli Hoeneß and Gerd Müller, Cramer molded the future and history of the club. In his work for both the German FA and FIFA, Cramer coached football in 90 countries around the world. In 2011, the German FA recognized Cramer's life's work with an award.
jh/jil (SID)The fearsome hybrid Indominus Rex is terrifying and unpredictable. Born in captivity, she on the loose stalking her prey. Watch out! She’s rampaging across Jurassic World!
Hasbro’s Jurassic World ‘Hybrid Rampage’ Indominus Rex is now appearing in stores and online, retailing at $34.99. This is a brand new sculpt, and was first shown off at Toy Fair 2016. Measuring 22 inches long, she is actually about 2 inches larger than the 2015 ‘Bad Boy’ Indominus Rex. She features articulated legs, left arm lever activated ‘Chomping Jaws’ & ‘Fang Reveal’, button activated ‘Spike Reveal’, and a free to move articulated right arm. Plus, she’s electronic and features numerous different roaring sounds! What’s not to love?
The first thing that stands out about this toy to me is its clean, crisp white coloration. While it has a tendency to wash out in photos a bit, it really pops and looks fantastic on the toy. The color scheme shines with the addition of the clearly defined reddish orange striping patterns running the length of her head and body, applied with a mildly metallic sheen. Her underbelly, hands, and feet are painted with an incredibly metallic gold paint – it looks really good in my opinion, but could have used better blending work. The orbital and fenstra sockets are filled with a dark, brownish purple paint which gives her face a sinister and skull like appearance. The eyes are nicely detailed, conveying a mean look, and featuring four different colors. The inside of the mouth is painted a solid, flat dark purple, and the teeth a cream color – sadly the claws are unpainted.
The detail work on the sculpt is really great, and captures the Indominus Rex fantastically – albeit with larger, more stylized spikes. The teeth, claws, scutes, spikes and other finer details are all shaped very nicely, while still lending themselves to safe play. The skin detail feels very hand crafted, with each scale and scute inter-playing with the muscle and skeletal structure – something most Jurassic World toys were severely lacking. Unfortunately, the right flank of the toy features six visible screw holes, however these are far less offensive than those seen in prior releases. The biggest issue with the sculpt is the feet. While they look great, they are not proportioned for the weight of the toy, leading to major balance issues (surely to frustrate both kids and collectors).
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Herschel Fink, an attorney who represents the Lansing State Journal, said the law is clear: A person is allowed to address a public body. A 9-year-old is a person.
“Being silent on age means there is no requirement of age. That’s a totally preposterous claim,” he said.
The council does, as allowed by law, set limits on time and prohibits disruptive speech or behavior. But there’s nothing in the rules about age.
Charli Collison's comments were read by her mother, Kelly Collison, at the Lansing City Council meeting July 10, 2017, after Charli was denied the chance to talk. (Photo: Courtesy of Kelly Collison)
Smiertka, in an email, said he was researching it after the meeting and reached the conclusion that the term person "is broadly used in the statute in such a way that age does not appear to be a limiting condition."
Fink was far more direct: “The simple answer is ‘Yeah, it’s a violation of the Open Meetings Act, plain and simple.'”
Spitzley said she goes out of her way to make sure everyone is treated respectfully and gets to speak.
But clearly, it would be wrong to stop someone from speaking based on other factors such as skin color, weight or gender. Age should be treated no differently.
Third Ward Council Member Adam Hussain teaches eighth-grade social studies. He gives Spitzley high marks for running the meetings in an orderly way, but said she may have to rethink her decision about Charli’s right to speak.
“We need to be careful when we are encouraging our young people, more now than probably ever, to get people civically engaged,” he said. “We have to be careful with the message that we’re sending.”
The council, through its president, sent the wrong message and likely broke the law at the same time.
Judy Putnam is a columnist with the Lansing State Journal. Contact her at (517) 267-1304 or at [email protected].
Read or Share this story: http://on.lsj.com/2uq50pkThe first American Army Cyber Protection Brigade recently became active. This unit was created to provide quick and competent personnel for setting up and maintaining network defenses, as well as experienced personnel to investigate and deal with intrusions. The core of the brigade are the twenty cyber protection teams. Each contains 39 military and civilian network security experts. To provide the military personnel the army has created a special MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) so qualified personnel can make a career of this work. This MOS (25D, Cyber Network Defender) is open to all qualified military personnel. Currently there are 700 troops with the 25D MOS and more are being sought. The 25Ds are in high demand, and they are supplemented by qualified civilians, who are more expensive. Since highly skilled 25Ds will always be tempted to leave the army and take better paying civilian jobs the army will, as it does with other specialists (like Special Forces troops) offer big cash reenlistment bonuses to 25Ds they want to keep.
The 25Ds are similar to Special Forces troops in other ways. The Special Forces brigades (called groups) are smaller (1,500 troops) than regular combat brigades (over 4,000 personnel). There are other specialized brigades that have fewer troops, like the 1,100 or so in the Cyber Protection Brigades. What does make the Cyber Protection Brigades unique is the integration of so many civilian contractors with military personnel in the key elements (the cyber protection teams).
These new brigades are part of the army and the new U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM). There they will join the new offensive cyber-teams, which began forming in 2013. There will be at least 40 of them by 2015. By 2016 the army also expects to have at least three Cyber Protection Brigades.
The offensive and defensive teams benefit from Cyber Command intelligence and monitoring operations as well as a big budget for keeping the software library stocked with effective tools (including zero day exploits, which are not cheap at all). Cyber Command also has contacts throughout the American, and international, software engineer community. This can provide crucial expertise when needed. The effectiveness of these teams will vary a great deal because one highly skilled Internet software whiz on a team can make a huge difference.
The majority of these teams will be assigned to the nine major commands (like Centcom or Socom), but some of the offensive teams will be maintained separately to strike back at major attacks on the United States. Exactly what weapons would be used are not discussed, nor is the exact size and organization of offensive cyber-teams. What is known that there is work for such teams of Internet specialists if they work in conjunction with lawyers and the State Department. This kind of organization has already destroyed several Internet criminal organizations. NSA (National Security Agency) has also been even more active in carrying out offensive attacks.
Cyber Command became operational in late 2010 and is still working on an official (approved by the government) policy stipulating how Internet based attacks can be responded to. Meanwhile there have been a lot of unofficial attacks. The 2013 cyber-teams announcement implied that attacks are now allowed, but not what kind of attack. The NSA leaks confirmed that attacks are going on. While Cyber Command has long been asking for permission to fight back, technical, legal, and political problems have delayed agreement on how that can be done. It's not for want of trying. In 2012 the U.S. Congress approved a new law that allows the Department of Defense to conduct offensive Cyber War operations in response to Cyber War attacks on the United States. That is, the U.S. military was now authorized to make war via the Internet. The new law stipulates that all the rules that apply to conventional war also apply to Cyber War. This includes the international law of armed conflict (meant to prevent war crimes and horrid behavior in general) and the U.S. War Powers Resolution (which requires a U.S. president to get permission from Congress within 90 days of entering into a war). Meeting with all the fine print has so far delayed actually allowing a legal counterstrike to a Cyber War attack. The NSA doesn’t have all those restrictions because it comes out of the intelligence world, where there have always been fewer rules. While this approach to Cyber War makes sense to the NSA, the Department of Defense is frustrated at being held to conventional war standards.
Meanwhile, there are some related serious problems with finding qualified people to carry out such counterattacks. Headquartered in Fort Meade (outside Washington, DC), most of the manpower and capabilities for Cyber Command come from the Cyber War operations the services have already established. U.S. Cyber Command has some smaller organizations of its own that coordinate Cyber War activities among the services, as well as with other branches of the government and commercial organizations that are involved in network security. But most of Cyber Command manpower actually works for the Cyber War organizations of the four services.
Of the four services the U.S. Air Force is the most experienced in Cyber War matters. Back in 2008 the air force officially scrapped its own planned Cyber Command, which was supposed to operate more like USCYBERCOM. That new air force organization was supposed to officially begin operating by the end of 2008. Instead, many of the personnel that were sent to staff the new command were sent to the new Nuclear Command. This change was made in response to growing (at the time) problems with the management of air force nuclear weapons. Despite that, the air force continued trying to establish some kind of new Cyber War operation and use it to gain overall control for all Department of Defense Cyber War activities. The other services were not keen on this. That resistance, plus the nuclear weapons problems, led to the Cyber Command operation being scaled back to being the 24th Air Force. This organization handles electronic and Internet based warfare.
The U.S. Army, following the example of the air force, also established a Cyber War operation. Some 21,000 soldiers were pulled from a large variety of signal and intelligence outfits to form ARFORCYBER (Army Forces Cyber Command). It became fully operational in 2012 with its headquarters at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia.
In 2009 the U.S. Navy created an "Information Domination Corps", in the form of a new headquarters (the 10th Fleet), with over 40,000 people reassigned to staff it. While the new Cyber War command dealt mainly with intelligence and network security, it also included meteorology and oceanography. These last two items are very important for deep water navies, especially since a lot of the information about oceans, and the weather, is kept secret. The fleet calls upon the talents of 45,000 sailors and civilians. Most (44,000) of these personnel are reorganized into 10th Fleet jobs or will contribute from within other organizations. A thousand new positions were created, mainly for 10th Fleet. All this gave the navy a more powerful and secure position in cyberspace. The navy does not want to repeat the mistakes of the air force in this area.
The U.S. Marine Corps established a Forces Cyberspace Command in 2010, with about 800 personnel, to help provide network security for marine units. The marines are accustomed to doing more with less.
The Americans aren’t the only ones preparing for cyber war. In 2013 Russia revealed that it is organizing a Cyber War organization within the Defense Ministry. This would be a separate branch of the army, joining more traditional branches like infantry, armor, artillery and signal (where Cyber War operations already exist in most countries). Noting what’s going on in China and the United States, the Russians have decided to catch up.
The Chinese military already has a growing number of formal Cyber War units, as well as military sponsored college level Cyber War departments and extensive course offerings. These Cyber War units, plus the volunteer organizations and Golden Shield (Internet censors and monitors) bureaucrats apparently work closely with each other and have provided China with a formidable Cyber War capability. NET Force, with only a few thousand personnel, appears to be the controlling organization for all this. With the help of RHU and Golden Shield, they can mobilize formidable attacks, as well as great defensive potential. No other nation has anything like it.Image caption Adam Yauch (right) died of cancer aged 47 on 4 May
The Beastie Boys have returned to the US album charts following the death of band member Adam Yauch last week.
Seven of the group's albums entered this week's Billboard 200 chart, with their debut 1986 record Licence to Ill the highest entry at number 18.
The trio's albums collectively sold 55,000 copies in the two days after Yauch's death, compared to 4,000 the previous week.
The rapper, better known as his alias MCA, died on 4 May of cancer aged 47.
The other albums to return to the chart included compilation Solid Gold Hits at 51, Paul's Boutique at 56 and Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 at 107.
The band's fourth album, 1994's Ill Communication also came in at 109, with Check Your Head at 124 and The Sounds of Science at 141.
In terms of digital downloads, the group also sold 151,000 tracks - up from 14,000 the week before.
The most popular track was Brass Monkey from Licensed to Ill with 15,000 downloads.
Online music streaming site Spotify also said it saw a 17-fold increase in people listening to Beastie Boys songs after Yauch's death.
Figures only account for the first two days after the rapper's death as Nielsen SoundScan - the company which tracks US music sales - collects weekly data until Sunday.
Sales for the group's music is expected to be higher next week.The preseason hasn't even started yet, and Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown is already upset with the referees. During a joint practice between the Steelers and Detroit Lions, Brown apparently made an acrobatic catch in the corner of the end zone. But the catch was ruled incomplete, which caused Brown to unleash a tirade at an official.
According to the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, Brown was upset referee Terry Brown ruled he was out of bounds after he caught a long pass from quarterback Landry Jones. Brown protested the call, and subsequently earned a personal foul. The referee vows to report Brown's conduct to NFL corporate offices.
“We're here to enforce the rules,” the official said afterwards, via the Tribune Review. “This is their practice. He will do it here and get away with it. But if he thinks he can do that and get away with it in a game, he's got another thing coming. I'm still going to report it to the league.”
It's difficult to envision Brown receiving anything more than a nominal fine for this transgression, but it's still noteworthy to see a player lash out at a referee during practice. It's a hallmark to Brown's intensity –– and perhaps lousy officiating as well.
No joke: Antonio Brown in the verge of being ejected... from a **preseason joint practice** for unsportsmanlike conduct toward an official — Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) August 10, 2016
Thanks to commissioner Roger Goodell's "yellow card rule," which will mandate a players' automatic ejection after two personal fouls, referees may be proactive in policing on-field behavior this season. The rule will be reviewed after a trial run.
It's been a newsworthy training camp for Brown, who was in the headlines Tuesday for torching Lions cornerback Darius Slay during practice. "He tried to kill me, man," Slay said, via the Detroit Free Press.
The star wideout appears to be fired up this summer, which could be tied to his demands for a new contract. Though Brown reported to training camp on time, he said he wants to be rewarded for his recent string of 100-yard seasons. Brown, who's recorded an NFL-record 265 catches over the last two years, is due to make $6.25 million in base salary in 2016.
The Steelers and Brown's agent are reportedly talking contract, but no deal appears to be on the horizon.Dog hoarder dies, gets eaten by malnourished pets Copyright by WFLA - All rights reserved Video
KARK - VAN BUREN COUNTY, Ark. -- Authorities in Van Buren County, Arkansas say they were forced to shoot nine dogs in order to recover the body of a pet hoarder who passed away inside her rural home. The dogs had already consumed part of the woman's body.
"When the deputies arrived on the scene to get in to her, the dogs were vicious. You couldn't even get into the trailer to check on her to see what needed to be done," Van Buren County Sheriff Scott Braadley said.
The woman, who suffered from hepatitis C, had been in trouble before for hoarding dogs. The county says it made a controversial decision to control the animals, a total of 46 dogs, after finding out the 65-year-old woman suffered from the disease.
"We didn't know if those diseases, or that disease, would be spread by the dogs in the community," Bradley said.
"That's when the real threat began. When they started to roam into the neighbors yards," said animal control officer Reta Tharp.
Tharp and a veterinarian tried for weeks to save or euthanize the dogs, but after one bit the vet, they decided they had to shoot 27 of them. "It was the only resource we had. We had tried everything else, and it just failed," Tharp said.
Tharp says it was a controversial decision, one the county didn't take lightly. "I did what I felt like had to be done," she said.
Van Buren County consulted with the Arkansas State Health Department who said it's believed animals could not spread hepatitis C.The Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) is a species of penguin common along the entire coast of the Antarctic continent, which is their only residence. They are the most widely spread penguin species,[2] as well as the most southerly distributed of all penguins, along with the emperor penguin. They are named after Adélie Land, in turn named for Adèle Dumont d'Urville, the wife of French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville, who discovered these penguins in 1840.[3] They obtain their food by both predation and foraging, with a diet of mainly krill and fish.[2]
Taxonomy [ edit ]
The Adélie penguin is one of three species in the genus Pygoscelis. Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA evidence suggests the genus split from other penguin species around 38 million years ago, about 2 million years after the ancestors of the genus Aptenodytes. In turn, the Adélie penguins split off from the other members of the genus around 19 million years ago.[4]
Description [ edit ]
These penguins are mid-sized, being 46 to 71 cm (18 to 28 in) in height and 3.6 to 6.0 kg (7.9 to 13.2 lb) in weight.[5][6] Distinctive marks are the white ring surrounding the eye and the feathers at the base of the bill. These long feathers hide most of the red bill. The tail is a little longer than other penguins' tails. The appearance looks somewhat like a tuxedo. They are a little smaller than most other penguin species.[citation needed]
Adélie penguins usually swim at around 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h).[7] They are able to leap some 3 metres (10 ft) out of the water to land on rocks or ice.[8]
Adélie penguins are preyed on by leopard seals, giant petrels, skuas, and occasionally, killer whales.[9]
Distribution and habitat [ edit ]
Adélie penguins on an iceberg in Antarctica
Based on a 2014 satellite analysis of fresh guano-discolored red/brown coastal areas, 3.79 million breeding pairs of Adélie penguins are in 251 breeding colonies,[10] a 53% increase over a census completed 20 years earlier. The colonies are distributed around the coastline of the Antarctic land and ocean. Colonies have declined on the Antarctic Peninsula[when?], but those declines have been more than offset by increases in East Antarctica[citation needed]. During the breeding season, they congregate in large breeding colonies, some over a quarter of a million pairs.[11] Individual colonies can vary dramatically in size, and some may be particularly vulnerable to climate fluctuations.[12] The Danger Islands have been identified as an "important bird area" by BirdLife International largely because it supports Adélie penguin colonies,[13] with 751,527 pairs recorded in at least five distinct colonies. In March 2018, a colony of 1.5 million was discovered.[14][15]
Adélie penguins breed from October to February on shores around the Antarctic continent. Adélies build rough nests of stones. Two eggs are laid; these are incubated for 32 to 34 days by the parents taking turns (shifts typically last for 12 days). The chicks remain in the nest for 22 days before joining crèches. The chicks moult into their juvenile plumage and go out to sea after 50 to 60 days.
Behavior [ edit ]
video of Adélie penguins in Antarctica
Apsley Cherry-Garrard was a survivor of Robert Falcon Scott’s ill-fated British Antarctic Expedition of 1910, and he documented details of penguin behavior in his book The Worst Journey in the World. "They are extraordinarily like children, these little people of the Antarctic world, either like children or like old men, full of their own importance."[16] George Murray Levick, a Royal Navy surgeon-lieutenant and scientist who also accompanied Scott, commented on displays of selfishness among the penguins during his surveying in the Antarctic: "At the place where they most often went in [the water], a long terrace of ice about six feet in height ran for some hundreds of yards along the edge of the water, and here, just as on the sea-ice, crowds would stand near the brink. When they had succeeded in pushing one of their number over, all would crane their necks over the edge, and when they saw the pioneer safe in the water, the rest followed."[17]
One writer observed how the penguin's curiosity could also endanger them, which Scott found a particular nuisance:
The great trouble with [the dog teams] has been due to the fatuous conduct of the penguins. Groups of these have been constantly leaping onto our [ice] floe. From the moment of landing on their feet their whole attitude expressed devouring curiosity and a pig-headed disregard for their own safety. They waddle forward, poking their heads to and fro in their usually absurd way, in spite of a string of howling dogs straining to get at them. "Hulloa!" they seem to say, "here’s a game – what do all you ridiculous things want?" And they come a few steps nearer. The dogs make a rush as far as their harness or leashes allow. The penguins are not daunted in the least, but their ruffs go up and they squawk with semblance of anger.… Then the final fatal steps forward are taken and they come within reach. There is a spring, a squawk, a horrid red patch on the snow, and the incident is closed.[18]
Adélie penguin chicks in Antarctica, with MS Explorer and an iceberg in the background
Others on the mission to the South Pole were more receptive of this element of the Adélies' curiosity. Cherry-Garrard writes:
Meares and Dimitri exercised the dog-teams out upon the larger floes when we were held up for any length of time. One day a team was tethered by the side of the ship, and a penguin sighted them and hurried from afar off. The dogs became frantic with excitement as he neared them: he supposed it was a greeting, and the louder they barked and the more they strained at their ropes, the faster he bustled to meet them. He was extremely angry with a man who went and saved him from a very sudden end, clinging to his trousers with his beak, and furiously beating his shins with his flippers.… It was not an uncommon sight to see a little Adélie penguin standing within a few inches of the nose of a dog which was almost frantic with desire and passion.[19]
Cherry-Garrard held the birds in great regard. "Whatever a penguin does has individuality, and he lays bare his whole life for all to see. He cannot fly away. And because he is quaint in all that he does, but still more because he is fighting against bigger odds than any other bird, and fighting always with the most gallant pluck."[20]
Diet [ edit ]
The Adélie penguin is known to feed mainly on Antarctic krill, ice krill, Antarctic silverfish, sea krill, and glacial squid (diet varies depending on geographic location) during the chick-rearing season. The stable isotope record of fossil eggshell accumulated in colonies over the last 38,000 years reveals a sudden change from a fish-based diet to krill that started 200 years ago. This is most likely due to the decline of the Antarctic fur seal since the late 18th century and baleen whales in the 20th century. The reduction of competition from these predators has resulted in a surplus of krill, which the penguins now exploit as an easier source of food.[21]
Jellyfish including species in the genera Chrysaora and Cyanea were found to be actively sought-out food items, while they previously had been thought to be only accidentally ingested. Similar preferences were found in the little penguin, yellow-eyed penguin, and Magellanic penguin.[22]
Reproduction [ edit ]
An Adélie penguin egg from MHNT
Mating Adélie penguins in Antarctica
Adélie penguins arrive at their breeding grounds in late October or November, at the end of winter and the start of spring. Their nests consist of stones piled together. In December, the warmest month in Antarctica (about −2 °C or 28 °F), the parents take turns incubating the egg; one goes to feed and the other stays to warm the egg. The parent that is incubating does not eat. In March, the adults and their young return to the sea. The Adélie penguin lives on sea ice, but needs the ice-free land to breed. With a reduction in sea ice, populations of the Adélie penguin have dropped by 65% over the past 25 years in the Antarctic Peninsula.[23]
Young Adélie penguins which have no experience in social interaction may react to false cues when the penguins gather to breed. They may, for instance, attempt to mate with other males, with young chicks, or with dead females. The first to record such behavior was Dr Levick, in 1911 and 1912, but his notes were deemed too indecent for publication at the time; they were rediscovered and published in 2012.[24][n 1] "The pamphlet, declined for publication with the official Scott expedition reports, commented on the frequency of sexual activity, auto-erotic behaviour, and seemingly aberrant behaviour of young unpaired males and females, including necrophilia, sexual coercion, sexual and physical abuse of chicks and homosexual behaviour," states the analysis written by Douglas Russell and colleagues William Sladen and David Ainley. "His observations were, however, accurate, valid and, with the benefit of hindsight, deserving of publication."[25][26] Levick observed the Adélie penguins at Cape Adare, the site of the largest Adélie penguin rookery in the world.[27] As of June 2012, he has been the only one to study this particular colony and he observed it for an entire breeding cycle.[26] The discovery significantly illuminates the behaviour of the species that some researchers[28] believe to be an indicator of climate change.[26]
Migration [ edit ]
[29] Adélie penguins are identified and weighed each time they cross the automated weighbridge on their way to or from the sea.
Adélie penguins living in the Ross Sea region in Antarctica migrate an average of about 13,000 kilometres (8,100 mi) each year as they follow the sun from their breeding colonies to winter foraging grounds and back again. During the winter the sun does not rise south of the Antarctic Circle, but sea ice grows during the winter months and increases for hundreds of miles from the shoreline, and into more northern latitudes, all around Antarctica. As long as the penguins live at the edge of the fast ice, they will see sunlight. As the ice recedes in the spring, the penguins remain on the edge of it, until once again, they are on the shoreline during a sunnier season. The longest treks have been recorded at 17,600 kilometres (10,900 mi).[30]
Osmoregulation [ edit ]
Adélie penguins are faced with extreme osmotic conditions, as their frozen habitats offer little fresh water. Such desert conditions mean that the vast majority of the available water is highly saline, causing the diets of Adélie penguins to be heavy in salt.[31] They manage to circumvent this problem by eating krill with internal concentrations of salt at the lower end of their possible concentrations, helping to lower the amount of ingested salts.[31] The amount of sodium imposed by this sort of diet is still relatively heavy, and can create complications when considering the less tolerant chicks. Adult Adélie penguins feed their chicks by regurgitating the predigested krill, which can impose an excessive salt intake on the chicks. Adult birds address this problem by altering the ion concentrations while the food is still being held in their stomachs. By removing a portion of the sodium and potassium ions, adult Adélie penguins protect their chicks from ingesting excessive amounts of sodium.[31] Adélie penguins also manage their salt intake by concentrating cloacal fluids to a much higher degree than most other birds are capable. This ability is present regardless of ontogeny in Adélie penguins, meaning that both adults and juveniles are capable of extreme levels of salt ion concentration.[31] However, chicks do possess a greater ability to concentrate chloride ions in their cloacal fluids.[31] Salt glands also play a major role in the excretion of excess salts. In aquatic birds such as the Adelie penguin, nasal salt glands excrete an extremely concentrated sodium chloride solution, reducing the load on their kidneys.[32]
These excretions are crucial in the maintenance of Antarctic ecosystems. Penguin rookeries can be home to thousands of penguins, all of which are concentrating waste products in their digestive tracts and nasal glands.[33] These excretions inevitably drop to the ground. The concentration of salts and nitrogenous wastes helps to facilitate the flow of material from the sea to the land, serving to make it habitable for bacteria which live in the soils.[33]
See also [ edit ]
Notes and references [ edit ]
Notes
^ Not for Publication. "Levick himself was equally cautious. References to these observations in the notebooks have often been coded by his rewriting certain entries on these behaviours using the [25] The following is an example of such a note; a transcription into the Θις ἀφτερνooν ἰ σαυ ἀ μoστ εχτραoρδιναρι σιtε. ἀ πενγυιν ὐας ἀκτυαλλι ενyαyεδ ἰν σoδoμι ᾿uπoν θε βoδι ὀφ ἀ δεαδ ὑιτε θρoατεδ βιρδ ὀφ ἰτς ὀνε σπεσιες. Θε ἀκτ ὀccυπιεδ ἀ φυλλ μινυτε, θε πoσιτιoν τακεν ὐπ βι θε κoχ διφφερινy ἰν νo ρεσπεκτ φρoμ θατ ὀφ ὀρδιναρι κoπυλατιoν, ἀνδ θε ὑoλε ακτ ὐας yoνε θρoυ, δoυν τo θε φιναλ δεπρεςςιoν ὀφ θε χλoακα.[25] This afternoon I saw a most extraordinary site [sic]. A penguin was actually engaged in sodomy upon the body of a dead white throated bird of its own species. The act occurred a full minute, the position taken up by the cock differing in no respect from that of ordinary copulation, and the whole act was gone through down to the final depression of the cloaca.[25] About 100 pamphlets of the notes he took had been circulated to a selected few bearing the bold header. "Levick himself was equally cautious. References to these observations in the notebooks have often been coded by his rewriting certain entries on these behaviours using the Greek alphabet and then pasting this new text over the original entry (Fig. 1), whilst some entries were written directly in the Greek alphabet".The following is an example of such a note; a transcription into the English alphabet is given on the right:Over the weekend, gamers began testing the new DirectX 12 renderer of Tom Clancy's "The Division," released through a game patch. Testing by GameGPU (Russian media site) shows that AMD Radeon RX 480 is about 16 percent faster than NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB, with the game running in the new DirectX 12 mode. "The Division" was tested with its new DirectX 12 renderer, on an ASUS Radeon RX 480 STRIX graphics card driven by Crimson ReLive 16.12.1 drivers, and compared with an ASUS GeForce GTX 1060 6GB STRIX, driven by GeForce 376.19 drivers. Independent testing by German tech-site ComputerBase.de supports these findings.
142 Comments on Tom Clancy's "The Division" Gets DirectX 12 Update, RX 480 Beats GTX 1060 by 16%
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#1 cryohellinc
Impressive work from AMD! Nvidia really needs to stop slacking and start optimising their drivers/Gpu's for next gen (or current gen, however id say next gen as currently there are like 1-2 games built from scratch on Dx12/ Vulcan) API's. Otherwise if AMD has much better performance for cheaper price on new API's they might easily win a big chunk of the market back from Nvidia. I mean honestly, Dx12 should give INSANE performance gains, however what we see in all of those "Dx12 updates" for various titles is actually NEGATIVE (wtf) scaling. Shame!
However all in all this is good news, competition always drives development and makes them Work for their money. Can't wait to see Nvidia's reaction after release of Vega. Posted on Dec 19th 2016, 4:58 Reply
#2 P4-630
The Way It's Meant to be Played But nowhere near GTX1070 performance as some people claim an RX480 can match a GTX1070....:p
RX480 is GTX1060 territory.;) Posted on Dec 19th 2016, 5:01 Reply
#3 btarunr
Editor & Senior Moderator P4-630 said: But nowhere near GTX1070 performance as some people claim an RX480 can match a GTX1070....:p
RX480 is GTX1060 territory.;) I don't think anybody claims that. I don't think anybody claims that. Posted on Dec 19th 2016, 5:07 Reply
#4 IceScreamer
This is great news for AMD users, but only when DX12 is properly implemented, which was sadly a lottery so far. Posted on Dec 19th 2016, 5:14 Reply
#5 P4-630
The Way It's Meant to be Played btarunr said: I don't think anybody claims that. Some people in the RX480 club thread iirc...
"A binned and OC'd RX480" Some people in the RX480 club thread iirc... Posted on Dec 19th 2016, 5:15 Reply
#6 btarunr
Editor & Senior Moderator P4-630 said: Some people in the RX480 club thread iirc... Ahh, fanclub threads' views can't be made "general perception." RX 480 is in GTX 1060 territory...and is faster in "The Division" DX12. Ahh, fanclub threads' views can't be made "general perception." RX 480 is in GTX 1060 territory...and is faster in "The Division" DX12. Posted on Dec 19th 2016, 5:18 Reply
#7 john_
cryohellinc said: Impressive work from AMD! Nvidia really needs to stop slacking and start optimising their drivers/Gpu's for next gen (or current gen, however id say next gen as currently there are like 1-2 games built from scratch on Dx12/ Vulcan) API's. Otherwise if AMD has much better performance for cheaper price on new API's they might easily win a big chunk of the market back from Nvidia. I mean honestly, Dx12 should give INSANE performance gains, however what we see in all of those "Dx12 updates" for various titles is actually NEGATIVE (wtf) scaling. Shame!
However all in all this is good news, competition always drives development and makes them Work for their money. Can't wait to see Nvidia's reaction after release of Vega. It's NOT Nvidia's fault. We just see a reversal of roles compared to 5 years ago. 5 years ago everyone was developing in Intel+Nvidia platforms. Even the first XBox One demos where running on PCs with Intel and Nvidia hardware. So, programs where getting all the optimizations and stability checks done on Nvidia, and AMD was looking like a company with incompetent programmers. Fast forward to today and you have games getting optimized for DirectX 12(not so much different to Mantle) and GCN architecture. Nvidia is in the same shoes that AMD was 5 years ago. Waiting for developers to improve their games/game engines for it's Maxwell and Pascal architecture with various patches and also having to run a modern API that was tailored for it's main competitor hardware. It's NOT Nvidia's fault. We just see a reversal of roles compared to 5 years ago. 5 years ago everyone was developing in Intel+Nvidia platforms. Even the first XBox One demos where running on PCs with Intel and Nvidia hardware. So, programs where getting all the optimizations and stability checks done on Nvidia, and AMD was looking like a company with incompetent programmers. Fast forward to today and you have games getting optimized for DirectX 12(not so much different to Mantle) and GCN architecture. Nvidia is in the same shoes that AMD was 5 years ago. Waiting for developers to improve their games/game engines for it's Maxwell and Pascal architecture with various patches and also having to run a modern API that was tailored for it's main competitor hardware. Posted on Dec 19th 2016, 5:20 Reply
#8 thevoiceofreason
It looks like RX470 might be very close then, which seems pretty good considering the prices. Posted on Dec 19th 2016, 5:24 Reply
#9 Lionheart
Well that's good news, but I'm more impressed with the FX 8370 comparison. Posted on Dec 19th 2016, 5:24 Reply
#10 Prima.Vera
Something's wrong with nVidia drivers. On 1080p they gain just as same as AMD's, but on 1440p or more, they actually loose a lot. WTH nVidia?? Posted on Dec 19th 2016, 5:32 Reply
#11 erixx
Please, someone remind me the benefit of DX12 I am missing... as I do not hold any stock in AMD ;) Posted on Dec 19th 2016, 5:35 Reply
#12 btarunr
Editor & Senior Moderator erixx said: Please, someone remind me the benefit of DX12 I am missing... as I do not hold any stock in AMD ;) www.techradar.com/news/gaming/DirectX-12-what-is-it-and-why-it-matters-to-PC-gamers/articleshow/51749548.cms Posted on Dec 19th 2016, 5:47 Reply
#13 er
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her candidacy. Moreover, a growing number of progressives have wondered aloud what type of qualifications she would bring to the post. Surely, they say, there are other New York Democrats with sharper political ids and fatter resumes.
Cognizant of such skepticism, Kennedy's staff in New York has launched what is being dubbed the "whispering campaign" (contrasted to the listening variety), strategically reaching out to key constituencies.
"For the last 24 to 36 hours, she has been calling a lot of the folks," said a source close to Kennedy, "labor people, elected officials, political leaders, explaining who she is and listening to them about the concerns of New Yorkers. As far as the last couple days, that is what it has been."
One of those calls was to Clinton herself, though neither Kennedy's people nor Clinton's staff would confirm if the two actually found time to speak.
As a subtext to the debate over Kennedy's worthiness for the Senate is a distinct but equally heated discussion over whether or not she would be a good Senator once in office. Largely an apolitical figure in New York, the basis for Kennedy's candidacy lies in her work on education and Obama's campaign as well as superficial aspects like her "charisma" and "aura." On this front, even her supporters admit that Kennedy faces deficits compared to her prospective competition.
But others draw from this critique a rather interesting historical parallel. In 1962, a 30-year-old Massachusetts politician named Ted Kennedy was also dismissed as a name-only candidate for the Senate. At the time, only one or two members of the Harvard University faculty offered their support for the president's brother. Everyone else -- scoffing at the presumptuousness of the bid -- backed Edward McCormack or held their powder dry during the Democratic primary.
"There are some things that are in common between that race and this contest," said Adam Clymer, a Kennedy biographer and former New York Times scribe. "Certainly there is the sense from the other people who want the job that, you know, [Caroline] doesn't have the credentials, the experience, that they do. And that certainly is comparable to the support for Eddie McCormack in 1962."
The parallel, as Clymer notes, only goes so far. For all his family privilege, Ted Kennedy was a well-known figure in the state: he basically ran his brother's Senate campaign in '58. Ted was the minimum age of 30, while Caroline is 51. And he was clearly a political workhorse, taking to menial but essential political tasks like shaking strangers' hands. He once slapped bumper stickers on cars when John Kennedy's campaign bus got stuck in traffic. There is no indication as to how Caroline would take to these tasks. Moreover, Ted had to get elected. Caroline would be appointed by New York's governor.
And so, other followers of history aren't ready to anoint Caroline this generation's liberal lion. After all, other Kennedys have failed to show a deft political touch once on the public stage -- Kathleen Kennedy Townsend lost a run at Maryland's governor's chair in 2002. One observer used the same line that dragged on Ted Kennedy in '62 against his niece: "If her name were Caroline Bouvier [her middle name] would she be a candidate?"
Ultimately, however, Kennedy's hopes to serve as Senator of New York will come down to one man: David Paterson. Any campaign for the seat won't be aimed at persuading the masses, but rather the governor and those individuals who have his ear. So the whispering campaign goes on, winning over some skeptics in the process.Model reactions
To evaluate the reactions of TAD reagents as versatile click-chemistry tools in a macromolecular context, we first performed a series of model reactions with compounds of low molecular weight. The aim of these experiments was to establish reaction conditions, functional group tolerances and, importantly, the temperature and conditions required for possible reversible click reactions and/or the envisaged dynamic exchange reactions (‘transclick’ reactions).
A wide range of TAD reagents can be prepared easily in a large scale from the corresponding, readily available isocyanates in three high-yielding steps (overall yield up to 95%) that do not require purification (see Supplementary Section 3.2). Thus, 4-butyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione (BuTAD) was prepared and reacted at room temperature with 2,4-hexadien-1-ol (HDEO), an abundant diene building block (Supplementary Fig. 2). This resulted in an almost instantaneous and completely chemo- and stereoselective conversion into the expected Diels–Alder adduct, accompanied by a sudden colour change from deep red to transparent (Fig. 2a and Supplementary Movie 1). Similarly, BuTAD was found to give very efficient and selective click-type reactions with a range of alternative dienes and enes, such as 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene (DMB) (Supplementary Figs 3–5 and Supplementary Table 1 for orthogonality32). To check the reversible or dynamic nature of this efficient linking reaction, the resulting urazole products were mixed with a competitive reactant for TAD moieties (2,4-hexadiene-1,6-diol (HDD)) and heated in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) in a pressurized vessel up to 250 °C for a prolonged period (more than one hour). The TAD–HDEO adduct proved to be thermally stable as it was fully recovered from these reactions and no trace of the possibly transclicked TAD–HDD cycloadducts was observed. These experiments were repeated with a number of alternative simple diene and ene reaction partners for BuTAD, which gave very similar results (Supplementary Figs 6 and 7). Thus, the expected reversed reaction (Fig. 1a) does not occur within a useful temperature range for most organic materials, and these TAD-based click reactions can be considered as completely irreversible for most applications.
Figure 2: Model reactions and synthesis of indole components. a, Reactions of TAD reagents with functionalized dienes (HDEO and HDD) and enes (DMB) are irreversible below 250 °C. b, Known reversible reaction of MeTAD with indoles as reported by Baran and colleagues34. c, Synthesis of functionalized indole building blocks 2–5. Ms, methane sulfonyl; TFA, trifluoroacetic acid. Full size image
Although the retroreaction of TAD Diels–Alder adducts has found quite a few applications in organic synthesis, such as a protecting group for dienes33, most of these require pyrolysis conditions (>300 °C) and/or an irreversible hydrolysis of the TAD moiety33. During our investigations of the relevant literature, we were thus intrigued by a report from Baran et al.34, wherein indole compounds were regenerated from their ene-type adducts with 4-methyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione (MeTAD) by simply heating the neat compounds in vacuo at 100–150 °C, which removes the volatile MeTAD (Fig. 2b). This reported reversible TAD-based chemistry, which was described as a protecting-group strategy for indoles, made us consider indoles as reaction partners for the reversible formation of TAD adducts.
Indeed, indoles are basic heterocyclic scaffolds that can be prepared easily in high yields from inexpensive starting materials via various straightforward routes. Furthermore, although indoles are mostly used as fine chemicals in the pharmaceutical and fragrance industry, they are also applied as bulk additives in high-volume polymers, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC)35. From the work of Baran et al.34, we surmised that some specific structural characteristics for an indole building block would assure a reversible adduct formation at a reasonable temperature (Supplementary Fig. 8). Thus, the commercially available 2-t-butylindole (1) was identified as a suitable starting material, which gave access to a wide range of functionalized indoles (2–5 (Fig. 2c)) in a single step through a straightforward reductive alkylation with various aldehydes (Supplementary Fig. 9).
The reactions of equimolar amounts of indole 5 with BuTAD resulted in a fast and clean conversion into the expected ene-type adduct (Fig. 3a). To facilitate straightforward monitoring of the reaction reversibility, an equivalent of HDEO was added to a solution of these ene adducts in DMSO-d 6. NMR spectroscopy allowed the direct monitoring of the reaction progress after heating multiple samples to different temperatures. From these NMR spectra, a clean conversion of the TAD–indole adduct in to the TAD–HDEO adduct was observed (Supplementary Fig. 10), together with the quantitative regeneration of the parent indole compound. Significant BuTAD transfer was observed, starting from a reaction temperature of about 100 °C, and a complete conversion was achieved by heating the mixture for 15 minutes at 150 °C. This first promising result was the starting point for the development of transclick reactions.
Figure 3: Transclick study and theoretical rationalization of TAD reactions. a, Click reaction of indole 5 with BuTAD and the thermal transclick reaction of the indole-bound TAD reagent to HDEO, with complete formation of the TAD–HDEO Diels–Alder adduct and regeneration of the indole. b, Gibbs free energy profiles for the reactions of HDEO and 2-t-Bu-3-Me-indole with BuTAD (polarizable continuum model (ε = 8.93) M06-2X/6-31 + G(d,p)). DMSO, dimethyl sulfoxide; IZ, iminium-urazolide zwitterionic intermediate; TS, transition state. Full size image
Essentially, the same results were obtained with indole 2 and a non-functionalized reference indole (2-t-butyl-3-isopentylindole), which showed that this dynamic behaviour and the efficiency of the BuTAD transfer was not affected by the presence of hydroxyl or ester functional groups (Supplementary Fig. 11). Moreover, no side reactions or by-products were observed by NMR spectroscopy or liquid chromatography (LC)–mass spectroscopy analysis (Supplementary Figs 10 and 12). Thus, a highly promising, reversible and orthogonal click reaction between indoles and TAD compounds was demonstrated, which allows a ‘programmed’ transclick reaction of a TAD compound from one partner to another. Although heating of TAD compounds, in bulk or in the presence of small amounts of mild nucleophiles such as water or alcohols, rapidly results in complex decompositions11, we found that TAD–indole adducts can be heated to a high temperature and retain the inherent selectivity for the typical TAD-conjugation reactions with reaction partners such as conjugated dienes. This unexpectedly clean dynamic behaviour of the TAD–indole click reaction in condensed phases indicates that, although TAD reagents are highly reactive and ‘spring-loaded’ for a thermodynamically favoured single-reaction trajectory, these reactions are also characterized by very low energy barriers in comparison to all other reaction pathways available for TAD compounds, such as dimerization, hydrolysis and alcoholysis (Supplementary Fig. 1).
Theoretical rationalization
In light of the promising results described above, we investigated the mechanism of the TAD-based click reactions by means of density functional theory (DFT) calculations (Fig. 3b) to better understand the factors that influence the barriers of forward and reverse reactions and to help the design of suitable polymer building blocks and materials.
The ene reaction of BuTAD with 2-t-butyl-3-methylindole (as a simplified model) was found to follow a stepwise route via an iminium–urazolide zwitterionic intermediate (IZ, ΔG‡ = 70.3 kJ mol−1 (Fig. 3b, red lines)). This intermediate zwitterion is readily converted into the reaction product by a simple proton transfer. As expected, the Diels–Alder reaction of BuTAD with HDEO proceeds via a concerted mechanism (ΔG‡ = 33.6 kJ mol−1 (black lines)). The calculated relative product stabilities and the associated barriers for the reverse reactions, regenerating the TAD reagent and the initial reaction partner, are in good agreement with the experimental observations that the click reactions with HDEO are irreversible (barriers for reverse reactions exceed 200 kJ mol−1), while the TAD–indole click reaction is reversible at elevated temperatures. The energy profile for the TAD–ene reaction with a simple olefin (pent-3-en-1-ol), as well as more details concerning the mechanism thereof, are given in Supplementary Section 4.
Polymer conjugation
In a second stage of evaluating the versatility of the TAD-based click reactions, and their use in practical applications, reversible and irreversible binary linking of macromolecules with either small molecules or other linear polymers was investigated in detail.
For this purpose, suitable end-group functionalized linear polymers were synthesized and reacted with a low-molecular-weight TAD compound (BuTAD). Using a procedure developed by Barner-Kowollik and co-workers36, a polyisobornylacrylate (PIBA) with a terminal cyclopentadiene (Cp) moiety, one of the most reactive dienes in Diels–Alder reactions, was prepared. This diene-functionalized polymer, PIBA–Cp (number average molecular weight (M n ) = 3.5 kg mol−1 and dispersity (Đ) = 1.19), was dissolved in THF and mixed in a 1:1 molar ratio with BuTAD (Supplementary Figs 13–17). The reaction was completed within five seconds, as judged by the disappearance of the distinctive colour of the BuTAD reagent. The resulting polymer was characterized by 1H NMR spectroscopy, size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) (M n = 3.74 kg mol−1, Đ = 1.20) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization–time-of-flight mass spectroscopy (Supplementary Figs 18–20). These analyses showed a complete conversion into the BuTAD Diels–Alder adduct with no sign of side reactions. The same results were obtained when a polystyrene backbone was used (PS–Cp, M n = 4.2 kg mol−1, Đ = 1.1, Supplementary Figs 21–33). Furthermore, an HDEO-derived moiety was introduced as an end group onto the same polymer backbones and the reactions with BuTAD were found to proceed with the same efficiency (Supplementary Figs 34–53).
Then, to test the reversible click and transclick reactions in a macromolecular context, an indole-functionalized poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) sample was synthesized using the indole-containing initiator 3 in a Cu-mediated polymerization (indole–PMMA, M n = 8.3 kg mol−1, Đ = 1.32). This polymer was reacted with BuTAD to give a clean conversion into the indole–TAD–ene adduct (as shown by 1H NMR spectroscopy and SEC (Supplementary Figs 54 and 55)). The resulting TAD–indole–PMMA was then dissolved in DMSO with an excess of HDEO. This mixture was heated for 30 minutes at 120 °C, which resulted in the parent indole–PMMA, along with detectable amounts of the TAD–HDEO adduct. Similarly, both PIBA- and PS-derived indole-functionalized polymers were clicked with BuTAD, followed by a thermal transclick reaction to HDEO (Supplementary Figs 56–63).
After having demonstrated an efficient clicking and transclicking of a small TAD molecule on and off polymer substrates, we next investigated the synthesis of block copolymers through irreversible and reversible TAD-based click reactions. To obtain a TAD-functionalized polymer, a urazole-derived initiator was prepared (see Supplementary Section 3.2) for the Cu-mediated radical polymerization of butylacrylate. This urazole-end-capped poly(butylacrylate) (PBA–urazole, M n = 20 kg mol−1, Đ = 1.38) was then oxidized to give the corresponding polymer-bound TAD reagent (PBA–TAD). As expected, this polymer showed the same distinctive colour as the other TAD components (Supplementary Fig. 64). After dissolving PBA–TAD and PS–Cp (vide supra) in THF, the distinctive red colour disappeared in a matter of seconds, which indicated an ultrafast, quantitative polymer–polymer conjugation reaction in an additive-free way under ambient conditions. The obtained reaction mixture was analysed by LC-SEC (Fig. 4) and 1H NMR analysis (Supplementary Fig. 65), all of which revealed a single distribution related to the expected block copolymer (Fig. 4).
Figure 4: Irreversible polymer conjugation. LC-SEC analysis of separate polymers (PS–Cp and PBA–urazole) and the obtained block copolymer. In each elugram, the y axis shows a separation on the first (LC) dimension, whereas the x axis depicts the separation of collected fractions according to the hydrodynamic volume (SEC) in the second dimension. After linking the homopolymers, a new signal is visible, which represents the newly formed block copolymer, characterized by an altered behaviour in both hydrophobicity and hydrodynamic volume. The small tailing in the corresponding elugram is ascribed to a small deviation from equimolarity because of the dispersity of both polymers. Full size image
The clicking and transclicking of a macromolecular chain on and off another polymer chain was investigated by mixing PS with an indole end group (M n = 1.4 kg mol−1, Đ = 1.17) and PBA–TAD in THF. This gave the anticipated block copolymer formation within 30 minutes, as judged by the observed colour change and further confirmed by 1H NMR analysis (Supplementary Fig. 66). LC-SEC analysis was somewhat hampered by a much higher detector response for the PS-based polymers (Fig. 5, left). The elugram after the reaction (Fig. 5, centre) also showed the presence of a residual amount of PS–indole. Furthermore, the larger difference in molecular weight for the two blocks (1.4 kg mol−1 compared to 20 kg mol−1 for the PBA block) does not result in a significant change in elution time or elution volumes relative to the PBA homopolymer. However, when the block copolymer was treated with an excess of HDEO and heated to 120 °C in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) for two hours, the relative intensities in the resulting elugram (Fig. 5, right) revealed the recovery of the original homopolymer distributions (see Fig. 5, left), which indicates that a selective transclick of one of the two initially clicked polymers had occurred.
Figure 5: Reversible polymer conjugation. Left: LC-SEC analysis of an equimolar amount of two separate polymers (PBA–urazole and PS–indole) before coupling. Centre: LC-SEC analysis of the block copolymer after coupling, which is characterized by very similar physical behaviour compared to the PBA homopolymer as a result of the large difference in molecular weight of the two blocks. However, the higher detector response for the PS block allows us to conclude a successful linking, and the slight excess of PS–indole can be ascribed to a deviation from equimolarity because of the dispersity of both polymers. Right: LC-SEC analysis after heating (120 °C for two hours in DMF) in the presence of excess HDEO shows the recovery of the original polymer blend. Full size image
Polymer networks
As a final demonstration of the possibilities of TAD-based click and transclick reactions in macromolecular systems, the synthesis of polymer networks was sought by using a bifunctional TAD compound as the crosslinking reagent. Thus, two diol monomers were used to incorporate suitable reaction partners for TAD reagents in polymer backbones, HDD and the indole diol 5 (Fig. 2c). Linear polyurethanes (PUs) were prepared from either of these monomers in combination with hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) and polypropylene oxide (PPO) (for the synthesis, see Supplementary Section 3.2). Treatment of solutions of these PU chains in DMF with a bifunctional TAD reagent resulted in gelation within seconds, and in a complete curing within minutes, as evidenced by the gradual disappearance of the red colour (Supplementary Fig. 67 and Supplementary Movie 2). The obtained materials were completely insoluble in refluxing DMF, although the indole-based material did show plasticity on heating in DMF. When HDEO was added to the solvent, within minutes the indole-based material dissolved completely in DMF at 150 °C. However, the HDD-derived crosslinked material remained completely insoluble, even when heated at 200 °C in a pressurized vessel.
As a preliminary exploration of the possibilities of TAD-based click and dynamic transclick chemistries in functional materials, a number of qualitative tests were conducted with the materials obtained above. In a first test, a macroscopic scratch was made in the rubbery TAD-crosslinked PU networks. After heating the sample at 120 °C for one hour, the indole-derived sample was visibly healed, and it broke elsewhere after the application of stress. This result was further confirmed using a profilometer on the same material in which a scratch with a depth of 3 μm had been applied (Fig. 6a). As expected, the HDD-derived PU network did not show this healing ability. In another test, the materials were broken into smaller pieces and put into a mould under pressure for 30 minutes at 120 °C. For the indole-derived material, a pristine sample was retrieved from the mould after cooling (Fig. 6b). This last test was repeated seven times, and each time resulted in a similar behaviour of the storage modulus (Fig. 6c). For the HDD-derived PU rubber, only the original pieces of the material were retrieved from the heated moulds, even at moulding temperatures up to 200 °C. Finally, this thermally assisted polymer-network reshaping, moulding and recycling was also demonstrated on a network derived from a PMMA copolymer with a high glass-transition temperature (T g = 101 °C), which was prepared from the copolymerization of MMA with an indole-functionalized methacrylate comonomer 4 (Fig. 2c and Supplementary Section 3.2). This stiff material could be moulded thermally and reprocessed in the same way as the PU rubbers. Moreover, it could also be powdered and moulded into a homogeneous material by extrusion above 110 °C (Supplementary Fig. 68).I love the little bubbled ellipse—technical name: "typing awareness indicator"—that lets you know when your conversation partner is typing on iPhone, Gchat, and Facebook messenger. At least, in theory. If I'm composing a text and have to pause midway for backup, I don't necessarily want the other person to assume it's taken me that long to think up such brilliant responses as "Sure!" And a simple "OK" can seem significantly more passive aggressive when you know the person who said it took longer than just a few seconds to type it.
I'm not totally alone in my over-analysis of technological minutia. The folks over at Slate decided to put all our minds at ease by testing once and for all just how long those little bubbles stick around—on iPhone, Gchat and Facebook, both after you've finished composing your message and in cases of continuous editing. The video shows the tests in full, but if you've just got to know right now, the results are summarized in the screengrab below.The Official 4/20 Toilet Ov Hell Playlist is Loud Share:
The time has come, once again, to go green. Do it for Pele dankness.
Today is 4/20, a date saved worldwide for the celebration and comsumption of the Cannabis genre. Whether you live in a legalized area or not, whether you’ll partake in danktivities or not, we can all agree on one thing – marijuana has inspired greatness in many forms of entertainment. Without weed, we would have never had Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, Half Baked, Pineapple Express, Up In Smoke, amazing stand up skits and many, many other works of art (feel free to tell us your favorites).
Perhaps the most numerous, and why not, the best contributions of weed to the world of art/entertainment lie on the realm of music. With this in mind, I compiled a little playlist to go with today’s celebration. The last “track” will hopefully bring forth the realest among us. If you skip it you’re a poser.
(Photo VIA)
Did you dig this? Take a second to support Toilet ov Hell on Patreon!One of the most puzzling questions about the origin of life is how the rich chemical landscape that makes life possible came into existence.
This landscape would have consisted among other things of amino acids, proteins and complex RNA molecules. What’s more, these molecules must have been part of a rich network of interrelated chemical reactions which generated them in a reliable way.
Clearly, all that must have happened before life itself emerged. But how?
One idea is that groups of molecules can form autocatalytic sets. These are self-sustaining chemical factories, in which the product of one reaction is the feedstock or catalyst for another. The result is a virtuous, self-contained cycle of chemical creation.
Today, Stuart Kauffman at the University of Vermont in Burlington and a couple of pals take a look at the broader mathematical properties of autocatalytic sets. In examining this bigger picture, they come to an astonishing conclusion that could have remarkable consequences for our understanding of complexity, evolution and the phenomenon of emergence.
They begin by deriving some general mathematical properties of autocatalytic sets, showing that such a set can be made up of many autocatalytic subsets of different types, some of which can overlap.
In other words, autocatalytic sets can have a rich complex structure of their own.
They go on to show how evolution can work on a single autocatalytic set, producing new subsets within it that are mutually dependent on each other. This process sets up an environment in which newer subsets can evolve.
“In other words, self-sustaining, functionally closed structures can arise at a higher level (an autocatalytic set of autocatalytic sets), i.e., true emergence,” they say.
That’s an interesting view of emergence and certainly seems a sensible approach to the problem of the origin of life. It’s not hard to imagine groups of molecules operating together like this. And indeed, biochemists have recently discovered simple autocatalytic sets that behave in exactly this way.
But what makes the approach so powerful is that the mathematics does not depend on the nature of chemistry–it is substrate independent. So the building blocks in an autocatalytic set need not be molecules at all but any units that can manipulate other units in the required way.
These units can be complex entities in themselves. “Perhaps it is not too far-fetched to think, for example, of the collection of bacterial species in your gut (several hundreds of them) as one big autocatalytic set,” say Kauffman and co.
And they go even further. They point out that the economy is essentially the process of transforming raw materials into products such as hammers and spades that themselves facilitate further transformation of raw materials and so on. “Perhaps we can also view the economy as an (emergent) autocatalytic set, exhibiting some sort of functional closure,” they speculate.
Could it be that the same idea–the general theory of autocatalytic sets–can help explain the origin of life, the nature of emergence and provide a mathematical foundation for organisation in economics?
As Kauffman and friends say with just a little understatement: “We believe that these ideas are worth pursuing and developing further.”
We’ll look forward to following the work as it progresses.
Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1205.0584: The Structure of Autocatalytic Sets: Evolvability, Enablement, and EmergenceIn pictures: Gaza Massacre A Palestinian man cries over the body of his son following an Israeli air strike in Gaza December 27, 2008.
December 27, 2008
After announcements that a decision whether to increase the military attack on the Gaza Strip would be made tomorrow, Sunday, Israeli forces instead launched a major operation today.
The Israelis killed 150 Palestinians with more expected to die. The Israeli government says it is just the beginning.
Bodies of Palestinian Policemen killed in the Israeli airstrike
Bodies of Palestinians are seen at Shifa hospital in Gaza December 27, 2008
Bodies of Palestinian Policemen killed in the Israeli airstrike
In this image taken from APTN video, Palestinian men carry two injured children into hospital after Israeli aircraft struck.
Palestinians lift a wounded woman to a vehicle after Israeli air force attacked Gaza City December 27, 2008.
Palestinians help a wounded man after Israeli air force attacked Gaza City December 27, 2008.
Palestinians transport the body of a Palestinian after Israeli air force attacked Gaza City December 27, 2008.
A Palestinian is rushed to hospital after he was wounded in an Israeli air strike on Gaza City.
A wounded Palestinian woman is rushed into hospital in Gaza City December 27, 2008.
Palestinians help a wounded man after Israeli air force attacked Gaza City December 27, 2008
Bodies of Palestinians are seen at Shifa hospital in Gaza December 27, 2008.
An explosion from an Israeli missile strike in the northern Gaza Strip
Smoke and fire are seen after an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip December 27, 2008
Palestinians inspects a destroyed Hamas police compounds following an Israeli air strike in Gaza December 27, 2008.
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli air strike in Rafah, a town in the southern Gaza Strip.
The leg of a Hamas policeman is seen between the rubbles following an Israeli air strike in Gaza December 27, 2008
Smoke rises after an Israeli bomb exploded in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip December 27, 2008.
A Palestinian rescue worker inspects damage on a Hamas police compounds following an Israeli air strike in Gaza December 27
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli air strike in the southern town of Rafah.
A Palestinian man cries over the body of his son following an Israeli air strike in Gaza December 27, 2008.
Palestinian medics recover the body of a dead woman from the rubble of a destroyed Hamas police compound following an Israeli air strike in Gaza December 27, 2008
A Hamas policeman asks for help as others try to recover a body from a destroyed Hamas police compounds following an Israeli air strike in Gaza December 27, 2008
A Palestinian Hamas policeman inspects the destroyed former office of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
Bodies of Palestinians are seen at Shifa hospital in Gaza December 27, 2008
Palestinians run for cover following an Israeli missile strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008.(AP)
A wounded Hamas policeman lies on the ground following an Israeli air strike in Gaza December 27, 2008.
The body of a Hamas police officer is transported to hospital in Gaza City December 27, 2008.
Bodies of Palestinians are seen at Shifa hospital in Gaza December 27, 2008
A Palestinian woman wounded in Israeli missile strikes is helped into the emergency area at Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008. (AP)
Palestinians gather at the site of a security compound used by the Islamic group Hamas following an Israeli missile strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008.
Bodies of Palestinian Policemen killed in the Israeli airstrike
Scenes of destruction in Gaza (BBC)
Scores die in Israeli air strikes (BBC)
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[ Contatto/Contact ] | [ Home Page ] | [Tutte le notizie/All news ]Mexican Government undermined students deaths' probe, independent panel says
Posted
A panel of international experts has accused Mexico's Government of undermining their probe into the fate of 43 trainee teachers apparently massacred in 2014, the most notorious human rights case in Mexico in recent years.
Key points: Independent panel says Mexican Government repeatedly blocked investigation
Says Government's theory that students had been burned is scientifically impossible
Government has opposed investigation's extension
The independent panel said the Government's stonewalling stopped them from reaching the truth as they wrap up their work and prepare to leave Mexico.
The Attorney-General's office, they said, did not let them re-interview detainees accused of the crime or obtain other information in a timely fashion. Prosecutors did not pursue investigative angles that the experts suggested.
"The delays in obtaining evidence that could be used to figure out possible lines of investigation translates into a decision [to allow] impunity," the report by the experts, commissioned by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), said.
The case has drawn international attention and stirred protests and outrage in Mexico, where violence has surged in a decade-long drug war. Lawlessness reigns in parts of the country and has tarnished President Enrique Pena Nieto's reputation.
Mr Pena Nieto thanked the experts via his official Twitter account. He said the Attorney-General's office would analyse their report.
"With openness, responsibility and adherence to the law, the [Attorney-General's office] will keep working so that there is justice," he said.
At a news conference on Sunday attended by more than 1,000 people, the experts cast doubt on aspects of the Government's version of events and said they had been repeatedly blocked in their efforts to obtain evidence from Mexican authorities.
As the experts finished their remarks, audience members yelled: "Don't leave!"
Mexico's Government said that corrupt police in late 2014 handed the student teachers in the south-western city of Iguala over to drug gang henchmen, who believed the trainees had been infiltrated by a rival gang. They then incinerated them at a garbage dump in Guerrero.
While the experts' probe showed the municipal police were mainly responsible for the disappearance of the students, they said the federal police should also be investigated.
One of the experts, Carlos Beristain, also said detainees in the case showed signs of torture.
The remains of just one of the 43 students has been identified from a charred bone fragment. The Government said it was found in the Rio San Juan, a river by the town of Cocula, near Iguala where the students disappeared.
The panel said that the Government's theory that the students had been burned was scientifically impossible given the heat needed to reduce human remains to ash.
IACHR has said it will not renew the experts' term because the Government was opposed to an extension.
"There seems to be no limit to the Mexican Government's utter determination to sweep the Ayotzinapa tragedy under the carpet," Amnesty International's Erika Guevara-Rosa said in a statement, referring to the college the trainee teachers attended.
The experts said they started to encounter stiff resistance from prosecutors in January.
Dozens of statements, most of which had been requested months earlier, were handed over about a week ago, when the experts were finishing up the report and could no longer analyse them.
The Reuters news agency reported last week that Mexico's army withheld crucial evidence from the experts, including photographs and video footage recorded as police clashed with the students, and that investigators had not been allowed to question soldiers on duty that night in the city where the students disappeared.
Reuters
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, government-and-politics, community-and-society, crime, mexicoWASHINGTON — More than four in 10 Republicans say they won't consider backing Gov. Chris Christie for their party's presidential nomination, the worst ranking among potential GOP candidates, according to a new poll.
Just 28 percent of those surveyed by CBS News said they would consider supporting the New Jersey governor, compared with the 43 percent who said they would not.
The survey said 49 percent of Republicans would consider supporting former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for the nomination, with 26 percent saying they wouldn't; 46 percent would consider backing former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee with 24 percent saying no; and 37 percent would consider voting for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, with 19 percent indicating they would not.
Other than Christie, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was the only Republican in negative territory, with 31 percent saying they would not consider supporting him to be the GOP standardbearer and 30
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2000 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } else if ( ai < 6 && ai > 0 ) { if ( ai2 == 1 ) { raise_amount = 3000 ; limit = 10000 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } else if ( ai2 == 2 ) { limit = 2000 ; raise_amount = 500 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } else { raise_amount = 700 ; limit = 4000 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } } else if ( ai > 6 && ai < 9 ) { if ( ai2 == 1 ) { raise_amount == 1000 ; limit = 3000 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } else if ( ai2 == 2 ) { limit = 2300 ; raise_amount == 650 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } } else { poker :: fold ( ) ; } break ; //if it sees a nine case 9 : if ( ai > 0 && ai < 6 ) { poker :: fold ( ) ; } else if ( ai == 6 ) { limit = 50000 ; raise_amount = 3000 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } else if ( ai > 7 && ai < 10 ) { if ( ai2 == 1 ) { limit = 6000 ; raise_amount = 1000 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } else if ( ai2 == 2 ) { limit = 4000 ; raise_amount == 700 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } } if ( ai > 10 && ai < 12 ) { poker :: fold ( ) ; } if ( ai == 12 ) { limit = 2000 ; raise_amount == 600 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } else { raise_amount = 1000 ; limit = 3000 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } break ; //if it sees a Q case 10 : if ( ai == 5 ) { limit = 6000 ; raise_amount = 1000 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } if ( ai == 6 ) { limit = 50000 ; raise_amount = 2000 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } if ( ai < 5 && ai > 0 ) { limit = 4000 ; raise_amount = 500 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } else { raise_amount = 1000 ; limit = 5000 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } break ; //--------------------------------- //king case 11 : if ( ai == 5 ) { limit = 6000 ; raise_amount = 1000 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } else if ( ai < 5 ) { poker :: fold ( ) ; } else if ( ai > 5 && ai! = 6 ) { limit = 3000 ; raise_amount = 600 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } if ( ai == 6 ) { limit = 50000 ; raise_amount = 2000 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } break ; //---------------------------------- case 12 : if ( ai == 5 ) { limit = 6000 ; raise_amount = 100 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } if ( ai == 6 ) { limit = 5000 ; raise_amount = 200 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } else { limit = 3000 ; raise_amount = 500 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } break ; case 13 : if ( ai! = 6 ) { poker :: fold ( ) ; } else { if ( ai2 == 1 ) { raise_amount = 200 ; limit = 600 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } else if ( ai = 10 ) { poker :: fold ( ) ; } if ( ai == 6 ) { limit = 5000 ; raise_amount = 760 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } else if ( ai2 == 2 ) { limit = 3000 ; raise_amount = 500 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } else { limit = 2000 ; raise_amount = 500 ; poker :: raise ( ) ; } break ; } } cout << "an error in the ai, card: " << card_rank [ 1 ] << " ai num1: " << ai << " and ai2: " << ai2 ; system ( "pause" ) ; } /* end of the ai, yes, it does exist now, the easy part, the game process I think I might cry at the fact no one will ever see that to its fullest extent, :( *screams* :() *sleeps* ;|/| > | | ;|\| ok, it was 12:30 in the morning when I did that but now that is about 13 hours from that I will get back to it */ //if the computer raises it goes to this finction void poker :: raise ( ) { //1 card_rank [ 1 ] = card_rank [ 1 ] + 1 ; if ( limit >= raise_amount ) { //the 1st if (if it can raise that much, in case of a glitch in the ai) //it notifies you that the computer raised cout << "
the computer raised " << raise_amount << "
" ; //does the math pot = pot + raise_amount ; //do you want to meet that? cout << "
would you like to meet the bet of " << raise_amount << " " ;; cin >> bet_choice ; //if yes if ( bet_choice == 'y' ) { //2nd if begin (did you meet that) my_money = my_money - raise_amount ; pot = pot + raise_amount ; cout << "
would you like to place a bet? " ; cin >> bet_choice2 ; } //if no, you fold else { poker :: fold ( ) ; } //if you wanted to bet (see line 921) if ( bet_choice2 == 'y' ) { poker :: human_bet_process ( ) ; } //if you didnt want to (see line 921) else { find_out ( ) ; } } //if it was over the limit else { cout << "error in the ai (went over cap)" ; system ( "pause" ) ; } //final if end } //function end //well, are you going to win? void poker :: find_out ( ) { //show both cards cout << "player 1: " ; poker :: showcards ( ) ; cout << "player 2: " ; poker :: showothercards ( ) ; //if you won if ( card_rank [ 1 ] > real1 ) { //the processes my_money = my_money + pot ; cout << "player 1 won
you now have " << my_money << "
" ; pot = 0 ; system ( "pause" ) ; system ( "cls" ) ; game ( ) ; } // if it was a tie else if ( card_rank [ 1 ] == real1 ) { cout << "
tie
" ; my_money = my_money + pot / 2 ; pot = 0 ; system ( "pause" ) ; system ( "cls" ) ; pot = 0 ; game ( ) ; } //if you lost else { cout << "you lost
" ; system ( "pause" ) ; system ( "cls" ) ; pot = 0 ; game ( ) ; } } //if you folded (option in void raise()) int poker :: human_fold ( ) { cout << "you have folded
" ; cout << "you had " ; poker :: showcards ( ) ; cout << "
play another? " ; cin >> choice ; if ( choice == 'y' ) { pot = 0 ; system ( "cls" ) ; main ( ) ; } else { return 1 ; } } //this finction process your bet (see void raise()) void poker :: human_bet_process ( ) { try { cout << "how much?: " ; cin >> human_bet ; pot = pot + human_bet ; my_money = my_money - human_bet ; if ( limit >= human_bet ) { pot = pot + human_bet ; poker :: find_out ( ) ; } else { poker :: fold ( ) ; } } catch (... ) { cout << "an error in human fold has occored" ; cin >> wait ; } } //if the pc folded void poker :: fold ( ) { try { cout << "
you have " ; poker :: showcards ( ) ; cout << "
the computer has folded, you have won
" ; my_money = my_money + pot ; system ( "pause" ) ; system ( "cls" ) ; pot = 0 ; game ( ) ; } catch (... ) { cout << "an error has occored in fold" ; cin >> wait ; } } int poker :: showcards ( ) { if ( card_rank [ 1 ] == 11 ) cout << "J
" ; //---------------- else if ( card_rank [ 1 ] == 12 ) cout << "Q
" ; //---------------- else if ( card_rank [ 1 ] == 13 ) cout << "K
" ; //---------------- else if ( card_rank [ 1 ] == 14 ) cout << "A
" ; //---------------- else cout << card_rank [ 1 ] << "
" ; } int poker :: showothercards ( ) { if ( real1 == 11 ) { cout << "J
" ; return 0 ; } //---------------- else if ( real1 == 12 ) { cout << "Q
" ; return 0 ; } //---------------- else if ( real1 == 13 ) { cout << "Q
" ; return 0 ; } //---------------- else if ( real1 == 14 ) { cout << "A
" ; return 0 ; } //---------------- else cout << real1 << "
" ; }
RAW Paste Data
#include <ctime> #include <iostream> using namespace std; class poker { public: int cards, cards_used[52], face, suit, card_rank[2], pot, real1, human_fold(); int bet_amount, ai, ai2, raise_amount, limit, dan, human_bet, j, i; char choice, bet_choice, wait, bet_choice2, choice2; void get_cards(), show_cards(),card_process(), computer_ai(), fold(), raise(), find_out(); void human_bet_process(), dealcards(); int showothercards(), showcards(); }; int my_money = 20000; /* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- */ void game() { poker game; game.dealcards(); game.computer_ai(); } int main() { cout << "remember, y for yes and n for no
"; system("pause"); system("cls"); game(); } void poker::dealcards() { //seed the random generator srand(time(NULL)); for(int loop = 0; loop < 1; loop++) {//loop begining cards = rand()%52; // randomize 52 cards cards = rand()%52; cards = rand()%52; cards = rand()%52; cards = rand()%52; while (cards_used[cards] ==1) {//inner loop begining while(i > j) { cards = rand()%52; cards = rand()%52; cards = rand()%52; //randomising the cards even more cards = rand()%52; } //inner loop end } face = cards%13; suit = cards/13; //outer loop end } //give player 1 his card switch(face) { case 0: card_rank[1] = 1; break; case 1: card_rank[1] = 2; break; case 2: card_rank[1] = 3; break; case 3: card_rank[1] = 4; break; case 4: card_rank[1] = 5; break; case 5: card_rank[1] = 6; break; case 6: card_rank[1] = 7; break; case 7: card_rank[1] = 8; break; case 8: card_rank[1] = 9; break; case 9: card_rank[1] = 10; break; case 10: card_rank[1] = 11; break; case 11: card_rank[1] = 12; break; case 12: card_rank[1] = 13; break; } //------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ //player 2 cards cards = rand()%52; // randomize 52 cards while (cards_used[cards] ==1) { cards = rand()%52; //changing the cards } face = cards%13; suit = cards/13; switch(face) { case 0: card_rank[2] = 2; cout << "2
"; break; case 1: card_rank[2] = 3; cout << "3
"; break; case 2: card_rank[2] = 4; cout << "4
"; break; case 3: card_rank[2] = 5; cout << "5
"; break; case 4: card_rank[2] = 6; cout << "6
"; break; case 5: card_rank[2] = 7; cout << "7
"; break; case 6: card_rank[2] = 8; cout << "8
"; break; case 7: card_rank[2] = 9; cout << "9
"; break; case 8: card_rank[2] = 10; cout << "10
"; break; case 9: card_rank[2] = 11; cout << "J
"; break; case 10: card_rank[2] = 12; cout << "Q
"; break; case 11: card_rank[2] = 13; cout << "K
"; break; case 12: cout << "A
"; card_rank[2] = 14; break; } real1 = card_rank[2]; } //this is the longest func,the ai void poker::computer_ai() { ai = rand()%12; ai2 = rand()%12; //------------------------------------------------ switch(card_rank[1]) { //if it sees a 2 case 1: if(ai == 1) { limit = 3000; if(ai2 == 1) { limit = 3000; raise_amount = 500; poker::raise(); } else if(ai2 == 2) { limit = 3000; raise_amount =450; poker::raise(); } } if(ai == 6) { limit = 50000; raise_amount = 4000; poker::raise(); } else { limit = 3000; raise_amount = 510; poker::raise(); } break; /*------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- */ //if it sees a 3 case 2: if(ai == 1) { limit = 3100; if(ai2 == 1) { limit = 3100; raise_amount = 400; poker::raise(); } else if(ai2 == 2) { limit = 4100; raise_amount = 2000; poker::raise(); } } if(ai == 2) { if(ai2 == 1) { limit = 3100; raise_amount = 775; poker::raise(); } else if(ai2 == 2) { limit = 4200; raise_amount = 2000; poker::raise(); } } else if(ai == 10) { poker::fold(); } if(ai == 6) { limit = 50000; raise_amount = 4000; poker::raise(); } else { limit = 4100; raise_amount = 2100; poker::raise(); } //more can come here break; /*------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- */ //if it sees a 3 case 3: if(ai == 1) { if(ai2 == 1) { raise_amount = 1600; limit = 5000; poker::raise(); } if(ai2 == 2) { raise_amount = 1500; limit = 4000; poker::raise(); } } else if(ai >1 && ai <5) { if(ai2 == 1) { limit = 2100; raise_amount = 500; poker::raise(); } else if(ai2 == 2) { limit = 2100; raise_amount = 700; poker::raise(); } } else if(ai >5 && ai< 8) { if(ai2 == 1) { limit = 2100; raise_amount = 700; poker::raise(); } else if(ai2 == 2) { limit = 2100; raise_amount = 850; poker::raise(); } } else if(ai == 10) { poker::fold(); } if(ai == 6) { limit = 50000; raise_amount = 4000; poker::raise(); } else { limit = 2100; raise_amount = 900; poker::raise(); } break; /*------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- */ //if it sees a 4 case 4: if(ai == 1) { if(ai2 == 1) { limit = 3000; raise_amount = 1500; poker::raise(); } if(ai2 == 2) { limit = 3000; raise_amount = 1200; poker::raise(); } else { raise_amount = 700; limit = 3000; poker::raise(); } } else if(ai >1 && ai <5) { if(ai2 == 1) { limit = 2100; raise_amount = 500; poker::raise(); } else if(ai2 == 2) { limit = 2100; raise_amount = 700; poker::raise(); } else { raise_amount = 1000; limit = 4000; poker::raise(); } } else if(ai >5 && ai< 8) { if(ai2 == 1) { limit = 2100; raise_amount = 700; poker::raise(); } else if(ai2 == 2) { limit = 2000; raise_amount = 850; poker::raise(); } else if(ai2 >2 && ai2<7) { raise_amount = 500; limit = 2000; poker::raise(); } else { raise_amount = 800; limit = 5000; poker::raise(); } } else if(ai == 6) { limit = 1000000; raise_amount = 3000; poker::raise(); } else if(ai == 10) { poker::fold(); } else { limit = 2100; raise_amount = 900; poker::raise(); } break; /*------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- */ //if it sees a 5 case 5: if(ai == 1) { if(ai2 == 1) { limit = 3000; raise_amount = 1500; poker::raise(); } if(ai2 == 2) { limit = 3000; raise_amount = 1200; poker::raise(); } } else if(ai >1 && ai <5) { if(ai2 = 1) { limit = 2100; raise_amount = 500; poker::raise(); } else if(ai2 == 2) { limit = 2100; raise_amount = 700; poker::raise(); } } else if(ai >5 && ai< 8) { if(ai2 == 1) { limit = 2100; raise_amount = 700; poker::raise(); } else if(ai2 == 2) { limit = 2000; raise_amount = 850; poker::raise(); } else { raise_amount = 500; limit = 3000; poker::raise(); } } else if(ai == 6) { limit = 50000; raise_amount = 4000; poker::raise(); } else if(ai == 10) { poker::fold(); } else { limit = 3000; raise_amount = 200; poker::raise(); } break; /*------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- */ //if it sees a 6 case 6: if(ai!= 6) { if(ai2 == 1) { limit = 5000; raise_amount = 1000; poker::raise(); } else if(ai2 == 2) { limit = 3000; raise_amount = 500; poker::raise(); } } if(ai <= 4) { limit = 3000; if(ai2 = 1) { limit = 2000; raise_amount = 830; poker::raise(); } else if(ai2 == 2) { limit = 3000; raise_amount = 500; poker::raise(); } } else if(ai == 10) { poker::fold(); } else { limit = 3000; raise_amount = 700; poker::raise(); } break; /*------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/ case 7: if(ai == 1) { poker::fold(); } else if(ai >1 && ai <6) { if(ai2 == 1) { limit = 2000; raise_amount = 500; poker::raise(); } else if(ai2 == 2) { limit = 3000; raise_amount = 700; poker::raise(); } } if(ai == 10) { poker::fold(); } else if(ai == 11) { poker::fold(); } else if(ai == 6) { limit = 2000; raise_amount = 430; poker::raise(); } else { raise_amount = 1000; limit = 5000; poker::raise(); } break; case 8: if(ai ==6) { limit = 50000; raise_amount = 2000; poker::raise(); } else if(ai <6 && ai >0) { if(ai2 == 1) { raise_amount = 3000; limit = 10000; poker::raise(); } else if(ai2 ==2) { limit = 2000; raise_amount = 500; poker::raise(); } else { raise_amount = 700; limit = 4000; poker::raise(); } } else if(ai >6 && ai <9) { if(ai2 == 1) { raise_amount == 1000; limit = 3000; poker::raise(); } else if(ai2 == 2) { limit = 2300; raise_amount == 650; poker::raise(); } } else { poker::fold(); } break; //if it sees a nine case 9: if(ai> 0 && ai <6) { poker::fold(); } else if(ai == 6) { limit = 50000; raise_amount = 3000; poker::raise(); } else if(ai> 7 && ai <10) { if(ai2 == 1) { limit = 6000; raise_amount = 1000; poker::raise(); } else if(ai2 == 2) { limit = 4000; raise_amount == 700; poker::raise(); } } if(ai> 10 && ai<12) { poker::fold(); } if(ai == 12) { limit = 2000; raise_amount == 600; poker::raise(); } else { raise_amount = 1000; limit = 3000; poker::raise(); } break; //if it sees a Q case 10: if(ai == 5) { limit = 6000; raise_amount = 1000; poker::raise(); } if(ai == 6) { limit = 50000; raise_amount = 2000; poker::raise(); } if(ai<5 && ai>0) { limit = 4000; raise_amount = 500; poker::raise(); } else { raise_amount = 1000; limit = 5000; poker::raise(); } break; //--------------------------------- //king case 11: if(ai == 5) { limit = 6000; raise_amount = 1000; poker::raise(); } else if(ai <5) { poker::fold(); } else if(ai >5 && ai!=6) { limit = 3000; raise_amount = 600; poker::raise(); } if(ai == 6) { limit = 50000; raise_amount = 2000; poker::raise(); } break; //---------------------------------- case 12: if(ai == 5) { limit = 6000; raise_amount = 100; poker::raise(); } if(ai == 6) { limit = 5000; raise_amount = 200; poker::raise(); } else { limit = 3000; raise_amount = 500; poker::raise(); } break; case 13: if(ai!=6) { poker::fold(); } else { if(ai2 == 1) { raise_amount = 200; limit = 600; poker::raise(); } else if(ai = 10) { poker::fold(); } if(ai == 6) { limit = 5000; raise_amount = 760; poker::raise(); } else if(ai2 == 2) { limit = 3000; raise_amount = 500; poker::raise(); } else { limit = 2000; raise_amount = 500; poker::raise(); } break; } } cout << "an error in the ai, card: " << card_rank[1] << " ai num1: " << ai << " and ai2: " << ai2; system("pause"); } /* end of the ai, yes, it does exist now, the easy part, the game process I think I might cry at the fact no one will ever see that to its fullest extent, :( *screams* :() *sleeps* ;|/| > | | ;|\| ok, it was 12:30 in the morning when I did that but now that is about 13 hours from that I will get back to it */ //if the computer raises it goes to this finction void poker::raise() {//1 card_rank[1] = card_rank[1] + 1; if(limit >= raise_amount) {//the 1st if (if it can raise that much, in case of a glitch in the ai) //it notifies you that the computer raised cout << "
the computer raised " << raise_amount << "
"; //does the math pot = pot + raise_amount; //do you want to meet that? cout << "
would you like to meet the bet of " << raise_amount << " ";; cin >> bet_choice; //if yes if(bet_choice == 'y') {//2nd if begin (did you meet that) my_money = my_money - raise_amount; pot = pot + raise_amount; cout << "
would you like to place a bet? "; cin >> bet_choice2; } //if no, you fold else { poker::fold(); } //if you wanted to bet (see line 921) if(bet_choice2 == 'y') { poker::human_bet_process(); } //if you didnt want to (see line 921) else { find_out(); } } //if it was over the limit else { cout << "error in the ai (went over cap)"; system("pause"); }//final if end }//function end //well, are you going to win? void poker::find_out() { //show both cards cout << "player 1: "; poker::showcards(); cout << "player 2: "; poker::showothercards(); //if you won if(card_rank[1] > real1) { //the processes my_money = my_money + pot; cout << "player 1 won
you now have " << my_money << "
"; pot = 0; system("pause"); system("cls"); game(); } // if it was a tie else if(card_rank[1] == real1) { cout << "
tie
"; my_money = my_money + pot/2; pot = 0; system("pause"); system("cls"); pot = 0; game(); } //if you lost else { cout << "you lost
"; system("pause"); system("cls"); pot = 0; game(); } } //if you folded (option in void raise()) int poker::human_fold() { cout << "you have folded
"; cout << "you had "; poker::showcards(); cout << "
play another? "; cin >> choice; if(choice == 'y') { pot = 0; system("cls"); main(); } else { return 1; } } //this finction process your bet (see void raise()) void poker::human_bet_process() { try { cout << "how much?: "; cin >> human_bet; pot = pot + human_bet; my_money = my_money - human_bet; if(limit >= human_bet) { pot = pot + human_bet; poker::find_out(); } else { poker::fold(); } } catch (...) { cout << "an error in human fold has occored"; cin >> wait; } } //if the pc folded void poker::fold() { try { cout << "
you have "; poker::showcards(); cout << "
the computer has folded, you have won
"; my_money = my_money + pot; system("pause"); system("cls"); pot = 0; game(); } catch (...) { cout << "an error has occored in fold"; cin >> wait; } } int poker::showcards() { if(card_rank[1] == 11) cout << "J
"; //---------------- else if(card_rank[1] == 12) cout << "Q
"; //---------------- else if(card_rank[1] == 13) cout << "K
"; //---------------- else if(card_rank[1] == 14) cout << "A
"; //---------------- else cout << card_rank[1] << "
"; } int poker::showothercards() { if(real1 == 11) { cout << "J
"; return 0; } //---------------- else if(real1 == 12) { cout << "Q
"; return 0; } //---------------- else if(real1 == 13) { cout << "Q
"; return 0; } //---------------- else if(real1 == 14) { cout << "A
"; return 0; } //---------------- else cout << real1 << "
"; }[tor-talk] Tor Weekly News — July 3rd, 2013
======================================================================== Tor Weekly News July 3rd, 2013 ======================================================================== Welcome to the very first issue of Tor Weekly News, the weekly newsletter meant to cover what is happening in the vibrant Tor community. Deterministic, independently reproduced builds of Tor Browser Bundle -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Perry, Linus Nordberg and Georg Koppen each independently built identical binaries of the Tor Browser Bundle 3.0 alpha 2 release [1], now available for download at the Tor Package Archive [2]. The build system [3], first adopted for the release of 3.0 alpha 1, uses Gitian [4] to enable anyone to produce byte-identical Tor Browser Bundle binary packages from source. This represents a major improvement in the security of the Tor software build and distribution processes against targeted attacks. The motivations and technical details of this work will appear in future Tor Project blog posts. [1] https://blog.torproject.org/blog/tor-browser-bundle-30alpha2-released [2] https://archive.torproject.org/tor-package-archive/torbrowser/3.0a2/ [3] https://gitweb.torproject.org/builders/tor-browser-bundle.git/blob/HEAD:/gitian/README.build [4] http://gitian.org/ Minor progress on datagram-based transport ------------------------------------------ As Steven Murdoch explained in 2011, in the current implementation of Tor, “when a packet gets dropped or corrupted on a link between two Tor nodes, […], all circuits passing through this pair of nodes will be stalled, not only the circuit corresponding to the packet which was dropped.” [5] This is because traffic from multiple circuits heading into an OR node are multiplexed by default into a single TCP connection. However, when the reliability and congestion control requirements of TCP streams are enforced (by the operating system) on this multiplexed connection, a situation is created in which one poor quality circuit can disproportionately slow down the others. This shortcoming could be worked around by migrating Tor from TCP to a datagram-based transport protocol. Nick Mathewson opened #9165 [6] to track progress on the matter. Late last year, Steven Murdoch began an experimental Tor branch using uTP [7], a protocol “which provides reliable, ordered delivery while maintaining minimum extra delay”, and is already used by uTorrent for peer-to-peer connections [8]. Nick Mathewson finally got to review his work and wrote several comments on #9166 [9]. The code isn’t close to production-quality right now; it is just good enough for performance testing. [5] https://blog.torproject.org/blog/moving-tor-datagram-transport [6] https://bugs.torproject.org/9165 [7] https://gitweb.torproject.org/sjm217/tor.git/shortlog/refs/heads/utp [8] http://www.bittorrent.org/beps/bep_0029.html [9] https://bugs.torproject.org/9166 obfsproxyssh ------------ Yawning Angel sent out a request for comments [10] on the very first release of “obfsproxyssh” [11], a pluggable transport that uses the ssh wire protocol to hide Tor traffic. Its behavior would appear to potential eavesdroppers to be “identical to a user sshing to a host, authenticating with a RSA public/private key pair and opening a direct-tcp channel to the ORPort of the bridge.” The announcement contains several open issues and questions. Feel free to have a look and voice your comments! [10] https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2013-June/005083.html [11] https://github.com/Yawning/obfsproxyssh Crowdfunding for Tor exit relays and bridges -------------------------------------------- Moritz Bartl announced [12] that he has started a crowdfunding campaign for Tor exit relays and bridges. The donations will be distributed equally among all Torservers.net partner organizations (Zwiebelfreunde e.V., DFRI, Nos Oignons, Swiss Privacy Foundation, Frënn vun der Ënn and NoiseTor). For a faster and better network, chip in and spread the word! [12] http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/tor-anti-censorship-and-anonymity-infrastructure/ Tails 0.19 is out, new stable Tor Browser Bundles ------------------------------------------------- On Wednesday, June 26, two of the most popular Tor projects both made new releases: the Tor Browser Bundle, and Tails, The Amnesiac Incognito Live System. Users are encouraged to upgrade as soon as possible. The stable Tor Browser Bundle was updated to version 2.3.25-10 [13], and includes fixes from upstream Firefox 17.0.7esr. Tails 0.19 [14] includes the new stable Tor Browser, along with an updated 3.9.5 kernel and minor security improvements to wireless, GNOME and GnuPG defaults. [13] https://blog.torproject.org/blog/new-tor-browser-bundles-and-tor-02414-alpha-packages [14] https://tails.boum.org/news/version_0.19/ Jenkins + Stem catching their first regression ---------------------------------------------- Quoting Damian Johnson’s June status report [20]: “Our automated Jenkins test runs caught their first instance of tor regression. This concerned LOADCONF’s behavior after merging a branch for ticket #6752”. A new ticket [15] was opened after Damian properly identified the issue. [15] https://bugs.torproject.org/9122 First round of reports from GSoC projects ----------------------------------------- Johannes Fürmann reported [16] on his project, a virtual network environment intended to simulate censorship for OONI (dubbed “Evil Genius”, after Descartes). Hareesan reported [17] on the steganography browser addon. Cristian-Matei Toader is working [18] on adding capabilities-based sandboxing to Tor on Linux, using the kernel’s seccomp syscall filtering mechanism. Chang Lan implemented [19] a HTTP proxy-based transport using CONNECT as the first step in his efforts to implement a general Tor-over-HTTP pluggable transport. [16] https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2013-June/005078.html [17] https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2013-June/005082.html [18] https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2013-June/005085.html [19] https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2013-June/005086.html Monthly status reports for June 2013 ------------------------------------ The wave of regular monthly reports from Tor project members for the month of June has begun. Damian Johnson’s was the first [20], followed soon after by reports from Philipp Winter [21], Colin C. [22], Nick Mathewson [23], Lunar [24], Moritz Bartl [25], Jason Tsai [26], Andrew Lewman [27], Sherief Alaa [28], Kelley Misata [29], Matt Pagan [30], and Andrea Shepard [31]. [20] https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-reports/2013-June/000262.html [21] https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-reports/2013-June/000263.html [22] https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-reports/2013-July/000264.html [23] https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-reports/2013-July/000266.html [24] https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-reports/2013-July/000267.html [25] https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-reports/2013-July/000268.html [26] https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-reports/2013-July/000269.html [27] https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-reports/2013-July/000270.html [28] https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-reports/2013-July/000271.html [29] https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-reports/2013-July/000272.html [30] https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-reports/2013-July/000273.html [31] https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-reports/2013-July/000276.html Tor on StackExchange -------------------- The proposed StackExchange Q&A page for Tor [32] has left the “initial definition” stage and has entered the “commitment” stage on Area 51. During this stage [33], interested users are
|
the second round of the draft in 2010, the same year he and Mirjana were married.
Rather than come over right away, Bjelica stayed overseas to develop his game. He played three seasons in Spain and two for Fenerbahce in Turkey before finally coming to the Wolves in 2015. He was named Euroleague MVP in his final season in Turkey under famed coach Zeljko Obradovic and earned the nickname “Professor Big Shots” for his clutch performances.
Bjelica debuted with the Wolves in 2015-16, tallying 5.1 points in 17.9 minutes per game as he adjusted to his NBA role. (Credit: Brad Rempel/USA TODAY Sports)
The NBA was not so welcoming. Bjelica averaged just 5.1 points and 3.5 rebounds in 17.9 minutes per game in his first season. He was constantly in foul trouble while adapting to a different set of rules and admitted that he wasn’t in the kind of physical shape he needed to be in to compete on a nightly basis.
No matter what was happening in his life, Bjelica had always been able to use basketball as a compass to help him find direction. Playing in his fourth different league and living in his fourth different country in seven years, Bjelica was lost.
“I really had a tough time because people don’t understand, and also my teammates, I told them, the NBA’s the best place to be in the world,” Bjelica said. “But when you feel that in your body, in your skin every night when you play, how miserable you can be, you will just go down or up. There is no middle, you know?”
He would lie in bed staring at the ceiling, waking Mirjana in the middle of the night in a fit of desperation.
“I said, ‘Come on, I want to sleep!’” Mirjana said. “And he’s like, ‘No, what am I doing wrong?’ He couldn’t sleep at all that first year.”
Finding his way
His shooting numbers took a big dip in his second season in the league, and first under Tom Thibodeau, as he struggled to decide when to look for his own shot and when to get teammates involved.
And just when the light bulb appeared to be coming on, he broke the navicular bone in his left foot last March and missed the final 15 games of the season.
For the first time since he came to Minnesota, Bjelica and his family stayed stateside for the summer. The injury prevented him from playing for the Serbian national team, a tremendous disappointment for him, but he was able to experience the pleasant summer weather in a home away from home that spends much of the NBA season coated in ice.
“I didn’t know Minneapolis was such a nice city,” Nemanja said.
Mirjana: “In the summer, it’s perfect.”
Nemanja: “Lakes, nature.”
Mirjana: “Perfect.”
Whether it was the fresh waters of Lake Calhoun or the familiarity with Thibodeau’s system, Bjelica has flourished in his third season in the league. He enters the game in Dallas on Friday night hitting 53 percent of his 3-pointers, the second-highest percentage in the NBA, and has the second-best net rating on the team despite playing just 16 minutes per night.
His ability to shoot, handle, rebound, pass and defend within the team concept makes him the much-coveted “Stretch 4” that has become almost essential to success in the pace-and-space NBA of today.
In Wednesday’s victory over the Spurs, he scored 11 points, grabbed four rebounds and was a plus-15 in 22 minutes. Asking Thibodeau how he is going to get Bjelica on the floor more often has become almost a nightly talking point as the Wolves (9-5) have compiled the third-best record in the Western Conference.
He has only topped 20 minutes in a game three times this season, something that surely should change if he continues to be one of the team’s most productive players.
“The game is slowing down for him a bit, but I think he’s making really good decisions,” Thibodeau said. “He’s putting it on the floor when he should. He’s shooting it when he should. He makes plays for others. I think that’s important.”
In some ways, Bjelica was playing against himself more than the opponent. He had to reconcile the fact that the flashy, high-usage Euroleague MVP role was gone.
“I changed everything. It was tough for me to adjust,” he said. “I’m happy that I beat myself. I won. Now I’m playing here to win. And I deserve this.”
Hoping to stay
As Bjelica continues to play well enough to force himself onto the floor — both with the starters and second unit — the timing couldn’t be better.
“When he is happy and playing, I say, ‘Oh thank God,’” Mirjana says with a big smile. “I am watching and I know he will come home happy and it will be good.”
It’s big for the Wolves, who are hoping to end a 13-year playoff drought. It’s also big for him and his family in his final year before free agency.
If the Bjelicas were to re-sign, it would be the longest they have stayed in one place since they began dating. Nika loves her school and her friends. Mirjana says it finally feels like home and basketball is going well for Nemanja, so all is good.
Bjelica says he never thought about quitting in those difficult early days in the NBA. But he also knows that had he not been injured all those years ago and gone home to Serbia for New Year’s Eve, he never would have crossed paths with the pretty, young brunette who helped him survive those difficult early days in the league.
“We know each other very well and she was my biggest support to my career,” Nemanja said, looking at Mirjana holding Stefan in her arms. “Of course coaches and parents, but without her as my girlfriend, my wife, the mother of my kids, it means a lot to me. Without her, I don’t know if I would be here.”
(Credit: Margo LaPanta)
(Top image of Nemanja Bjelica by Margo LaPanta. Editor’s note: In the interests of privacy, the Bjelicas asked that their children’s faces not be photographed.)I doubt there’s an old school wet shaver in the U.S. that hasn’t at least heard the name Van Der Hagen. VDH shaving soap can be found at almost any grocery or drug store. Now they want to take that idea and apply it to glycerin facial soap.
VDH sent Sharpologist a “sneak peek” of the line, with soaps in three scents: Fruity, Floral, and Fresh; plus hypo-allergenic Free with no scent. The scents are a little on the strong side out of the container but soften pleasantly when lathered up.
Fruity smells like a combination of tropical fruits. I think there’s a bit of an “artificial” quality to this scent but Sharpologist co-founder Andy Tarnoff calls the scent “delicious.”
Ingredients: propylene glycol, water, sodium stearate, sorbitol, glycerin, sodium laureth sulfate, sodium myristate, soldium cocolyl isethionate, sodium cocoamphoacetate & lauryl glucoside & sodeium glutamate & sodium laury glucose caroxylate, sodium laurate, triethanolamine, frangrance, tetrasodium EDTA, FD&C yellow # 5, FD&C red #40.
Floral is just that, smelling like a bouquet of fresh-cut flowers. Again, the scent is on the strong side out of the container but dropped off to an acceptable level for me when lathered (some of the women Andy gave samples to disagree with me and say it’s still too strong).
Ingredients: propylene glycol, water, sodium stearate, sorbitol, glycerin, sodium laureth sulfate, sodium myristate, soldium cocolyl isethionate, sodium cocoamphoacetate & lauryl glucoside & sodeium glutamate & sodium laury glucose caroxylate, sodium laurate, triethanolamine, frangrance, tetrasodium EDTA, D&C red #33
Fresh is an herbal scent that should agree with anyone (Andy thinks it’s a little on the masculine side of unisex). It is probably the mildest scent of the three.
Ingredients: propylene glycol, water, sodium stearate, sorbitol, glycerin, sodium laureth sulfate, sodium myristate, soldium cocolyl isethionate, sodium cocoamphoacetate & lauryl glucoside & sodeium glutamate & sodium laury glucose caroxylate, sodium laurate, triethanolamine, frangrance, tetrasodium EDTA, FD&C Yellow #5, FD&C blue #1, FD&C green #3
Free is just that: no scent (though Andy thinks there’s just a hint of “oatmeal”) or color and it’s hypo-allergenic and non-comedogenic.
Ingredients: propylene glycol, water, sodium stearate, sorbitol, glycerin, sodium laureth sulfate, sodium myristate, soldium cocolyl isethionate, sodium cocoamphoacetate & lauryl glucoside & sodeium glutamate & sodium laury glucose caroxylate, sodium laurate, triethanolamine, tetrasodium EDTA
But How Do They Perform?
Like VDH’s shave soaps, these glycerin soaps do what they are supposed to do without drama or fanfare. Lather, clean, rinse, done.
I asked Marty Van Der Hagen what he has in mind for this line:
“Our distribution plans are to sell our Glycerin Soaps worldwide and intergalactic. Realistically, we are showing the soaps to all major grocery, drug and mass retail outlets as well as major online sites. We are just pitching the product this fall for spring 2014 distribution. The price point will be $2.99 (most accounts) – $3.99. It will probably take a year or two to get as much distribution as our shave soaps.”
So while you may not see these soaps on the shelves right away, count on them being everywhere within a couple years!A Real News Exclusive
Bush Senior Early CIA Ties Revealed
By Russ Baker and Jonathan Z. Larsen | The Real News Project
January 8, 2007
NEW YORK--Newly released internal CIA documents assert that former president George Herbert Walker Bush's oil company emerged from a 1950's collaboration with a covert CIA officer.
Bush has long denied allegations that he had connections to the intelligence community prior to 1976, when he became Central Intelligence Agency director under President Gerald Ford. At the time, he described his appointment as a'real shocker.'
But the freshly uncovered memos contend that Bush maintained a close personal and business relationship for decades with a CIA staff employee who, according to those CIA documents, was instrumental in the establishment of Bush's oil venture, Zapata, in the early 1950s, and who would later accompany Bush to Vietnam as a “cleared and witting commercial asset†of the agency.
According to a CIA internal memo dated November 29, 1975, Bush's original oil company, Zapata Petroleum, began in 1953 through joint efforts with Thomas J. Devine, a CIA staffer who had resigned his agency position that same year to go into private business. The '75 memo describes Devine as an “oil wild-catting associate of Mr. Bush.†The memo is attached to an earlier memo written in 1968, which lays out how Devine resumed work for the secret agency under commercial cover beginning in 1963.
“Their joint activities culminated in the establishment of Zapata Oil,†the memo reads. In fact, early Zapata corporate filings do not seem to reflect Devine's role in the company, suggesting that it may have been covert. Yet other documents do show Thomas Devine on the board of an affiliated Bush company, Zapata Offshore, in January, 1965, more than a year after he had resumed work for the spy agency.
It was while Devine was in his new CIA capacity as a commercial cover officer that he accompanied Bush to Vietnam the day after Christmas in 1967, remaining in the country with the newly elected congressman from Texas until January 11, 1968. Whatever information the duo was seeking, they left just in the nick of time. Only three weeks after the two men departed Saigon, the North Vietnamese and their Communist allies launched the Tet offensive with seventy thousand troops pre-positioned in more than 100 cities and towns.
While the elder Bush was in Vietnam with Devine, George W. Bush was making contact with representatives of the Texas Air National Guard, using his father's connections to join up with an elite, Houston-based Guard unit - thus avoiding overseas combat service in a war that the Bushes strongly supported.
The new revelation about George H.W. Bush's CIA friend and fellow Zapata Offshore board member will surely fuel further speculation that Bush himself had his own associations with the agency.
Indeed, Zapata's annual reports portray a bewildering range of global activities, in the Mideast, Asia and the Caribbean (including off Cuba) that seem outsized for the company's modest bottom line. In his autobiography, Bush declares that “I'd come to the CIA with some general knowledge of how it operated' and that his 'overseas contacts as a businessman' justified President Nixon's appointing him as UN ambassador, a decision that at the time was highly controversial.
Previously disclosed FBI files include a memo from bureau director J. Edgar Hoover, noting that his organization had given a briefing to two men in the intelligence community on November 23, 1963, the day after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The memo refers to one as “Mr. George Bush of the Central Intelligence Agency†and the other as “Captain William Edwards of the Defense Intelligence Agency.â€
When this document was first uncovered in 1988, George Herbert Walker Bush, then vice president and seeking the presidency, insisted through a spokesman that he was not the man mentioned in the memo: "I was in Houston, Texas, at the time and involved in the independent oil drilling business. And I was running for the Senate in late '63. I don't have any idea of what he's talking about." The spokesman added, "Must be another George Bush."
When Nation magazine contributor Joseph McBride approached the CIA in 1988, it initially invoked a policy of neither confirming nor denying anyone's involvement with the agency. But it soon took the unusual step of asserting that the correct individual was a George William Bush, a one-time Virginia staffer whom the agency claimed it could no longer locate. But that George Bush, discovered in his office in the Social Security Administration by McBride, noted that he was a low-ranked coast and landing-beach analyst and that he most certainly never received such an FBI briefing.
It was perhaps to help lay to rest the larger matter of the elder Bush's past associations that the former president went out of his way during his recent eulogy for President Ford to sing the praises of the Warren Commission Report as the final authority on those days.
"After a deluded gunman assassinated President Kennedy, our nation turned to Gerald Ford and a select handful of others to make sense of that madness. And a conspiracy theorist can say what they will, but the Warren Commission report will always have the final definitive say on this tragic matter. Why? Because Gerry Ford put his name on it and Gerry Ford's word was always good."
In fact, Ford's role on the Warren Commission is seen by many experts as a decisive factor in his rise to the top. As a Commission member, Ford altered its report in a minor yet significant way. As the Associated Press reported in 1997, “Thirty-three years ago, Gerald R. Ford took pen in hand and changed - ever so slightly - the Warren Commission's key sentence on the place where a bullet entered John F. Kennedy's body when he was killed in Dallas. The effect of Ford's change was to strengthen the commission's conclusion that a single bullet passed through Kennedy and severely wounded Texas Gov. John Connally - a crucial element in its finding that Lee Harvey Oswald was the sole gunman.â€
This modification played a seminal role in ending talk of a larger conspiracy to kill the president. Knowledge of Ford's alteration has encouraged theorists to scrutinize the constellation of other figures who might have had a motivation to cover up the affair.
Meanwhile, there is much more to learn about George H. W. Bush's friend, Thomas Devine. The newly surfaced memos explain that Devine, from 1963 on, had authority from the agency to operate under commercial cover as part of an agency project code-named WUBRINY.
Devine at that time was employed with the Wall Street boutique Train, Cabot and Associates, described in the memos as an “investment banking firm which houses and manages the [CIA] proprietary corporation WUSALINE.†These nautical names - 'Saline' and 'Briny' - or, for the Bay of Pigs invasion 'Wave' - are CIA cryptonyms for the programs and companies involved.
George H.W. Bush's own ties are amplified in the 1975 CIA memo, dated November 29, which makes it clear that he had knowledge of CIA operations prior to being named the new director of the CIA in the fall of that year.
The 1975 memo notes that, through his relationship with Devine, “Mr George Bush [the CIA director-designate] has prior knowledge of the now terminated project WUBRINY/LPDICTUM which was involved in proprietary commercial operations in Europe.â€
The Bush documents, part of a batch of 300,000 records the CIA provided to the House Select Committee on Assassinations, were publicly released in 1998 as the result of a lawsuit, donated to a foundation, scanned into a database - and only just noticed by an independent researcher.
Click the following to view original supporting documents: [1] [2] [3]
Russ Baker, founder of the Real News Project, and Jonathan Z. Larsen, Real News editorial board member, are at work on a book about George W. Bush and the Bush clan, due out later this year. They may be reached at: russ [at] realnews.org.
Copyright © 2006, Russ Baker/Real News Project, All Rights Reserved
_______
Civilisation will not attain perfection until the last stone, from the last church, falls on the last priest. -- Emile ZolaWith the Miami Heat on Monday formally signing Josh Richardson, the Sun Sentinel confirmed that the team built the three-year contract for their 2015 second-round pick off their taxpayer mid-level exception.
The approach that includes a full guarantee in the first season and partial guarantees thereafter, cuts into the $3.4 million mid-level exception the Heat held going into the offseason, further reducing the value of the remaining exception for potential bidding with other teams. The mid-level can be used at any point during the season, including for players bought out elsewhere at any point.
The Heat declined to offer details of the contract for the No. 40 pick out of Tennessee who excelled in the Orlando and Las Vegas summer leagues, the only player on the Heat's roster to appear in all 10 of the team's summer games.
Richardson's deal is worth $2.5 million, which would put his average salary at about $840,000, similar to what he would have been guaranteed in his first year had he been selected at the end of the first round.
Heat President Pat Riley said earlier this offseason that the Heat had projected the combo guard as the 24th best prospect in the 2015 draft class. At No. 24 in the draft, Richardson would have received a contract starting at just over $1 million in the first year.
Richardson was in the Heat offices Monday at AmericanAirlines Arena to sign his first professional contract, with the Heat to bring in their younger prospects for workouts on their practice court in coming weeks.
Richardson is one of 15 players currently listed on the Heat roster, the regular-season maximum. Teams can carry as many as 20 during the offseason.
Richardson's position on the roster was further solidified last week when the Heat cut veteran forward Henry Walker and restructured the contract of James Ennis to bypass the partial contract guarantee the forward otherwise would have received Saturday.
Numerology
With Richardson switching from the No. 14 he wore during summer league to No. 0 for his rookie season, it opened the No. 14 that Heat free-agent addition Gerald Green wore last season with the Phoenix Suns.
Another Heat move also allowed forward Amar'e Stoudemire to finalize his number choice, with the free-agent acquisition selecting the No. 5 previously worn by Walker.
Stoudemire had indicated a willingness to buy the number from Walker had Walker remained. Stoudemire had worn No. 1 since 2007, with the Suns, New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks, with Chris Bosh wearing that number for the Heat. Stoudemire wore No. 32 for his first three NBA seasons, with the Suns.
Green twice previously has worn No. 14, last season with the Suns and in 2012 with the New Jersey Nets.
Richardson becomes the third player to wear No. 0 for the Heat, following Mike Bibby and Toney Douglas. Milos Babic is the only Heat player to wear No. 00.
Stoudemire becomes the 11th Heat player to wear No. 5, joining Eric Murdock, Sasha Danilovic, Mark Strickland, Eddie House, Keyon Dooling, Derek Anderson, Marcus Banks, Quentin Richardson, Juwan Howard and Walker.
Green becomes the eighth Heat player to wear No. 14, joining Kevin Pritchard, Tony Smith, Charles Smith, Anthony Mason, Daequan Cook, Terrel Harris and DeAndre Liggins.
Christmas date
While the 2015-16 NBA schedule is not expected to be released for two weeks, the NBA briefly unveiled the jerseys of the teams that will play on Christmas, before that web page was removed. The page listed the Heat in home uniforms for Dec. 25.
The Heat last week released their preseason schedule.
[email protected]. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat or facebook.com/ira.windermanWheaton College Announces Full Scholarship for Refugees from Countries Named in Trump’s Muslim Travel Ban
All costs will be covered.
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Wheaton College has announced a full scholarship to be awarded to a student refugee fleeing conflict in Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, or Yemen—the seven nations named in President Donald Trump’s Muslim travel ban.
“We call on our colleagues at institutions of higher education across the country to join us in making a clear statement about the importance of diversity and openness on our campuses,” Wheaton president Dennis M. Hanno said in a release Tuesday. “By providing scholarship support to refugees from these countries, we extend the hand of opportunity and friendship to those who need it most and offer a model to our nation for more constructive engagement with the world.”
The private liberal arts college in Norton, Mass. is waiving its $60 application fee for interested students, and its scholarship will cover all the costs associated with attending Wheaton. Tied for 77th in U.S. News & World Report‘s list of the top liberal arts colleges in America, Wheaton’s tuition and fees for the 2016-17 school year were $49,012, plus $12,500 for room and board.
“At the same time, we urge our country’s leaders to end swiftly the ban on welcoming refugees and foreign nationals to sustain the productive exchange of ideas and viewpoints that make our institutions of higher learning such fertile ground for expanding knowledge and hope,” Hanno said.
If Trump’s executive order is not reversed in the near future, Wheaton will consider qualified refugees from those seven nations and others ravaged by war, who are already living in the United States.The Canada Revenue Agency should notify Canadian residents when their bank account information is being shared with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, says the NDP's revenue critic.
Pierre-Luc Dusseault says informing Canadian residents their information is being sent to the IRS could prevent others from landing in the same predicament as Jeffrey Pomerantz, a Vancouver area man facing a $1.1-million lawsuit for failing to file a form reporting his bank accounts outside the U.S.
Dusseault said there could be more lawsuits because of the "large number" of files regarding Canadian bank accounts being transferred under an intergovernmental agreement between the U.S. and Canada.
The deal was negotiated in the wake of the U.S. adopting the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).
"I would emphasize again the need for the CRA to notify Canadian taxpayers when they transfer their files to the IRS, a foreign government department," said Dusseault. "This notification may avoid that kind of situation."
Canada's Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien has already recommended that Canadian residents be notified when their bank account information is transferred, Dusseault pointed out.
In September 2016, the CRA shared information about 315,160 bank accounts — double the number it shared a year earlier in the first year of the agreement.
However, Revenue Minister Diane LeBouthillier's office said it is the responsibility of individual banks to let clients know if information about their bank accounts might be transferred.
Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP MP for Sherbrooke, says the transfer of information about banking records could lead to more Canadian residents being pursued by U.S. authorities. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
"The legislation implementing the Canada-U.S. Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) requires that Canadian financial institutions communicate with account holders of pre-existing accounts if there is information suggesting that they are a U.S. citizen or resident (e.g., their client file contains a U.S. contact address or phone number,)" said spokesperson Chloé Luciani-Girouard.
"These clients would therefore be on notice that their information may be exchanged with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service."
CRA will respond to requests
While the government has no plans to inform people whose bank account information has been shared, those who want to know can contact their financial institution or the CRA, Luciani-Girouard said.
"The CRA will respond to any request to confirm whether information relating to a particular individual or entity has been reported and provided to the U.S. under FATCA. To date, fewer than 10 such requests have been received by the CRA," she added.
The information-sharing agreement was in the spotlight Thursday following a CBC report that Pomerantz, a dual Canadian-U.S. citizen, is being sued by the U.S. Justice Department for $860,300 US in civil penalties, late payment penalties and interest.
While Pomerantz filed income tax returns to both Canada and the U.S., the Justice Department said he failed to file a Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts report to the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) for three tax years.
During those years, Pomerantz had accounts with the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and in Switzerland with Sal Oppenheim JR & Cie, in addition to a corporation in the Turks and Caicos Islands, the U.S. Justice Department said in its lawsuit.
In a separate case, Pomerantz is challenging an audit by the IRS.
Court challenge
Lynne Swanson, part of a group challenging the bank account information sharing agreement in Federal Court, said the Pomerantz case is an example of how the bank account information agreement can make some Canadian residents vulnerable.
The CRA transferred 315,160 Canadian bank records to the IRS in September 2016. (Susan Walsh/Associated Press)
"I don't think they should be transferring any information. Period. Full stop," she said.
"If they are transferring it, of course, they should be telling people that they have transferred it and what they have transferred. But I don't think they should be transferring anything."
Elizabeth Thompson can be reached at [email protected] jury is still out on whether or not a sequel to Blade Runner is a good idea in the first place, but I’ll say this much: director Denis Villeneuve has been assembling a cast that certainly makes it look like a good idea. The latest actor to join the increasingly large ensemble is British character actor Lennie James, best known to audiences for playing Morgan Jones on AMC’s The Walking Dead.
Although his role on that ever-popular zombie drama has made him known to much larger audience, James has been acting steadily since the ’90s, appearing in films like Snatch, 24 Hour Party People, Lost in Space, Sahara, and Get on Up. More recently, he’s become a familiar face on the small screen, taking on roles in Critical, Hung, Low Winter Sun, Line of Duty, Human Target, Jericho and Lie to Me. He’s very much a working actor, the kind of guy who’s been in good stuff and terrible stuff but always delivers a fine performance. Even when The Walking Dead stumbles (and few shows stumble quite as often as The Walking Dead stumbles), you’ll never find him phoning in his performance.
James joins a cast that already includes Harrison Ford, returning to the role of Replicant-hunting detective Rick Deckard, and Ryan Gosling, playing the mysterious second lead of the the film. Plot details remains tightly guarded, but we do know that it will take place decades after the events of the first film, which was released in 1982 but took place in a dark and dystopian Los Angeles circa 2019 (wow, things really are going to get bad in a few years). The supporting cast includes the great Robin Wright, Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista, Knock Knock star Ana de Armas, Dutch actress Sylvia Hoeks, Wetlands star Carla Juri, The Martian star Mackenzie Davis, Captain Phillips star Barkhad Abdi, The Dark Knight star David Dastmalchian, and Munich star Hiam Abbass.
In other words, James is in very good company, surrounded by a promising collection of newcomers and veterans. The big question now: is he playing a human or a Replicant or a Replicant who thinks he’s a human?
Blade Runner 2, or rather The Untitled Blade Runner Sequel, is set for an October 6, 2017 release date. The film reunites Villeneuve with legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins (who was nominated for an Oscar for shooting Villeneuve’s Sicario), so at least we know this stellar cast is going to look very, very pretty on screen.Qantas defends process after Iran nets aircraft
Updated
Qantas is defending itself against claims it did not carry out proper due diligence after a plane it sold to a Middle Eastern company reportedly ended up in Iran.
An American aviation company has raised concerns that Qantas did not do the proper checks before selling three of its planes to the Middle Eastern company Sayegh Aviation Group.
One of the planes is believed to have made it to Iran, in breach of strict sanctions against the country.
Qantas has been quick to respond, saying it met all the legal obligations and took all reasonable precautions before selling the aircraft.
A spokesman says the planes changed hands several times after the original sale and the company cannot be held responsible for the conduct of other companies.
He says Sayegh Aviation was put on the banned list by US authorities, but that was after the sale went through.
Qantas understands the middle eastern company has had that ban lifted.
Topics: air-transport, business-economics-and-finance, world-politics, australia, iran-islamic-republic-of
First postedBy Adam Taylor
It has taken us eight weeks to wrap up this example of the Adafruit NeoPixel driver using the Zynq-based MicroZed board but we’ve pulled together a number of concepts. I think this this is a good point to recap what this example has covered:
1) The system of modules approach
2) Communication between the Zynq SoC’s PS (processor system) and PL (programmable logic) side
3) Using the IP catalog to reduce the number of custom modules we need to implement
4) Creation of a Neo Pixel driver within the PL side of the Zynq SoC
5) The verification approach to be undertaken
6) Definition of a serial protocol to communicate with the Zynq SoC
Before we move on to look at other aspects of the Zynq SoC, this final NeoPixel blog looks briefly at the development of the TCL/TK GUI, which allows you to control the individual NeoPixels in an array from a laptop or other remote device. I developed thi GUI to enable the user to select any color from the 16 million possibilities using the NeoPixel’s 24-bit color depth.
The GUI is very simple, with a button for each pixel in the string. When clicked, each button will open a window allowing you to select a color for that pixel. Once you’ve made your choice, the pixel color information will be downloaded to the Zynq SoC and the pixel will change color.
The major challenge in creating the GUI was ensuring the data being sent down to the MicroZed board was correctly formatted as binary and correlated with the colour being selected. For this reason the first version of the GUI also displayed the hex word for each colour selected and the software in the Zynq has been designed to echo back the data it receives. This echoed data is received by the GUI and saved into a text file, allowing me to correlate what was requested with what was received by the Zynq SoC. An example of the echoed response is below
<STX>pixel number = 32 green = 0 red = ff blue = 0<ETX>
With the GUI working correctly, the layout was changed to just show the LED numbers and pixel selection.
I then validated the system using the GUI driver to ensure that each pixel can be addressed from the GUI and can be set to red, green, blue and white along with a number of different randomly selected colors.
Here’s a video of the system in action:
Having reached the end of this example, we move on for a look at other aspects of the Zynq SoC. For example, we can consider how else this problem of driving the Neo Pixels could have been addressed. Remember back to the part 17 of this blog that introduced the Triple Timer Counter and its ability to generate a PWM waveform. This output could have been used to drive the Neo Pixel array. However the load on the processor would have been higher.
In my next blog we will begin to look at the operating systems we can put on the Zynq SoC. In the meantime, if you want any of the code I have used for this example then please drop me an email.
Please see the previous entries in this MicroZed series by Adam Taylor:
Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 36: Driving Adafruit RGB NeoPixel LED arrays with MicroZed Part 7
Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 35: Driving Adafruit RGB NeoPixel LED arrays with MicroZed Part 6
Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 34: Driving Adafruit RGB NeoPixel LED arrays with MicroZed Part 5
Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 33: Driving Adafruit RGB NeoPixel LED arrays with the Zynq SoC
Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 32: Driving Adafruit RGB NeoPixel LED arrays
Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 31: Systems of Modules, Driving RGB NeoPixel LED arrays
Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 30: The MicroZed I/O Carrier Card
Zynq DMA Part Two – Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 29
The Zynq PS/PL, Part Eight: Zynq DMA – Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 28
The Zynq PS/PL, Part Seven: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 27
The Zynq PS/PL, Part Six: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 26
The Zynq PS/PL, Part Five: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 25
The Zynq PS/PL, Part Four: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 24
The Zynq PS/PL, Part Three: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 23
The Zynq PS/PL, Part Two: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 22
The Zynq PS/PL, Part One: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 21
Introduction to the Zynq Triple Timer Counter Part Four: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 20
Introduction to the Zynq Triple Timer Counter Part Three: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 19
Introduction to the Zynq Triple Timer Counter Part Two: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 18
Introduction to the Zynq Triple Timer Counter Part One: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 17
The Zynq SoC’s Private Watchdog: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 16
Implementing the Zynq SoC’s Private Timer: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 15
MicroZed Timers, Clocks and Watchdogs: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 14
More About MicroZed Interrupts: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 13
MicroZed Interrupts: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 12
Using the MicroZed Button for Input: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 11
Driving the Zynq SoC's GPIO: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 10
Meet the Zynq MIO: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 9
MicroZed XADC Software: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 8
Getting the XADC Running on the MicroZed: Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles Part 7
A Boot Loader for MicroZed. Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles, Part 6
Figuring out the MicroZed Boot Loader – Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles, Part 5
Running your programs on the MicroZed – Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles, Part 4
Zynq
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scientist about religion can sometimes be insulting, misinformed, and arrogant. They also make it easy for us to forget why we come to read his work in the first place. While it’s certainly true that Dawkins’s 2006 book The God Delusion was an intriguing riposte to the world of theology, it’s not his area of expertise.
Too often Dawkins's anti-clerical rhetoric makes him seem like a dour and negative man. But lure him into a conversation about biology and the tone changes. The angry and defensive manner is replaced by a sincere warmth and geniality. It is a shame that Dawkins’s scientific views have taken a backseat in the public domain.
Dawkins’s 12th book is An Appetite For Wonder, a memoir. It brings the reader back to his childhood days during the Second World War in sub-Saharan Africa, where his father worked in the British Colonial Service. We also read about Dawkins’s privileged upbringing in Oxfordshire in southern England, where the family moved to when he was a small boy. Dawkins also spends considerable ink in this memoir recalling how he came to write The Selfish Gene, his first book. Its phenomenal success in 1976 made him a modern day prophet for Charles Darwin’s ideas.
I met with Dawkins at his home in Oxford, and tried to rediscover why he is still one of the world’s most innovative thinkers today.
You discuss in the book an experiment you conducted very early in your career, where you deprive chicks of natural sunlight, to explore the concept of whether their knowledge of the world around them is innate or learned. Does that experiment tell us anything about the advanced information that humans are genetically equipped with?
No, it doesn’t, because the experiment hasn’t been done on humans. But something like it could be done on humans. It would be regarded as unethical to do it, unless it was very mild treatment. But in principle you could deprive humans of all kind of things to see what happened. You could bring up children without contact to language and see if they could develop their own. You could bring up children without any knowledge of how to copulate, and then see if they could work it out when they reach sexual maturity. I don’t really see how there would be much objection to bringing up babies in an environment where light came from below for a few days. It could be done when they are in hospital so they experience light, but they are not actually deprived of light.
If we brought children up with light coming from below, so that every time they saw a solid object, like their mother’s face, it would look the reverse. Obviously babies don’t peck like chicks so what do you do? Something like gaze fixation. A lot of work has been done on babies fixating their gaze on things that interest them. And it’s been shown that if you give them a picture of a face, they will fixate on a face that is the right way up, rather than the wrong way up. But as far as I know that experiment hasn’t been done.
How important was W.D Hamilton’s theory of kin selection in the two papers he published in 1964 in the Journal of Theoretical Biology, for you writing The Selfish Gene? Would you never have written the book if you weren’t so inspired by his ideas?
I think in order to write The Selfish Gene it required Hamilton. I hadn’t read George C. Williams at the time, but I think that might have done it. But Hamilton was enormously influential on me. I had pretty much laid out the rhetoric of The Selfish Gene in 1966, a full 10 years before the book was written. And that was inspired by Hamilton.
Can you remember when you first started to think seriously about questions like why are we here, and what is our purpose in life?
I guess I should have tried to say more about that in the book, but didn’t really. It was probably at Oxford that I started seriously thinking about those questions. But I think I was probably curious about them at the age of about 8 or 9. And being inspired by the idea, or at least by the question of whether space has a bound, or time has a bound, or goes on forever. University, especially in biology, gave me the tools to think about this in greater detail.
You comment in this book about your lack of skeptical thinking in your childhood years. Do you believe concepts like Santa Claus are harmful to children?
I genuinely don’t know the answer to that question. I do understand people when they say that you destroy the magic of childhood if you encourage too much skeptical questioning. So I’m not absolutely gung-ho for not letting children have that sort of magic. On the other hand, I think there is a greater magic in reality. You can substitute fairies and goblins, with the stars, the galaxies, and looking down a microscope. Or even just getting children to think about the astonishing fact of our existence, like how many blood vessels are in your own body, for example. I feel that you haven’t lost the magic of childhood if you get rid of Santa Claus. I don’t think you should just sit children down and say: there is no Santa Claus. I would rather say, let's think about it, and turn it into a game. There is something cheap about magic that works just because it is magic.
You also talk about the atmosphere of bullying in your school days. It seems to have really disturbed you. Why do you think young children might be prone to such cruelty?
I really don’t know. I mean we are all mystified by how the Gestapo, and the guards in the concentration camps, could be so cruel. So with adults we pretty much feel mystified by cruelty. And yet when we look back at our own childhood we experienced it. It was a sort of everyday thing, bullying fellow children to tears. Or in my case, just failing to stop it. I am mystified by it, and I guess in a way it was the theme of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. I think he was somehow suggesting that this is a primitive state to which children revert, and to which we have to be educated out of. And people like the Gestapo are either not educated out of it, or they just revert to it.
Many people have argued that your coining of the word meme in The Selfish Gene was you trying to make a contribution to human culture. What is your response to this?
Well, I always explicitly deny that. I was really just trying to illustrate the point that natural selection, although it normally depends on DNA, it wouldn’t have to be DNA. For example, on Mars it will be some other equivalent to DNA. And I was trying to illustrate that with a more familiar example, which would be something like the repetition of a limerick. I was not trying to make a contribution to human culture. However, others have used the meme concept to try and do so, and good luck to them. I like the fact that they are doing it.
Natural selection is a mechanical process with no foresight, which can only blindly favor short-term gain. The Panglossian view of natural selection is an appealing idea to us as human beings, you argue, because brains have foresight. But it’s wishful thinking. Can you discuss why?
Natural selection cannot favor long-term gain, but our brains can foresee certain courses of action. Although they might temporarily seem positive, in the long run they are negative. We frequently look into the future of mankind and see dangers. We see if we carry on doing what we are doing in 20 years’ time there will be no rainforests left, just to use one example. Looking into the future may be one of the reasons that brains evolved in the first place. Natural selection can’t do that. If decimating rainforests is good for individual survival and reproduction, then that is what is going to happen. That is what will evolve, and it will be favored by natural selection. Our brains can foresee that if we let natural selection take its course then it could be disastrous in the long run.
So we can go against the biological imperative that natural selection might suggest, right?
Yes, it’s quite interesting to look at the stages at which brains gradually usurped this function of optimizing the behaviors of animals. We can begin by just speeding the process up—not looking ahead, but just plain learning, as in reward and punishment. It’s like a kind of speeded up natural selection. In natural selection you have to wait for generations to go by for the improvement. Some individuals have to die, while others have to survive and reproduce. After 10 generations you might get an improvement. With learning you can get that improvement within a single generation because the equivalent of dying is getting punished. And the equivalent of reproducing and living is getting a reward. Humans are constantly looking into the future, simulating what might happen if we take various courses of action.
You and the late American evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould often disagreed over your respective theories on evolution. You’ve said that he made his anti-gradualism hypothesis more radical than it really was, and that his use of the word episodic—to unite three kinds of sharp discontinuity in evolution—was misleading. Can you outline where you believe he went wrong?
He was guilty of muddling up episodic versus gradual evolution, and conflating three totally different kinds of episodic [catastrophes, macromutations, and the theory of punctuated equilibrium]. There is no disputing that sometimes life takes a dramatic change. A meteorite hitting the earth is a good example. That forced a total catastrophe, where dinosaurs were wiped out. Another kind of episodic change is macromutations: where a parent has a baby that is radically different. It has two heads, for example. The first animal to be segmented—to go from just a single body to a body with two segments—must have been a macromutation. There must have been a baby born with two segments rather than one. Macromutation is another kind of episodic change, but it’s obviously completely different from massive change with meteorites. There is a kind of poetic similarity, but that is all.
What about the third kind, punctuated equilibrium?
Well, since [Gould] used punctuated equilibrium for all those things, perhaps I should say rapid gradualism, which is the main kind of contribution that he and Niles Eldridge made: the idea that there is an episodic high-speed evolution, which is so fast that the fossil record doesn’t pick it up. So in the fossil record you see what looks like a sudden change, but what actually happened was that over a period of about 10,000 years there was rapid gradual change, and it looks even more episodic as often happens. You find the fossils in a main continent, but the rapid change takes place on an outlying island, which is pretty likely to happen. The Galapagos Islands, for example.
So you are saying if you are digging for fossils it looks like it was a sudden macromutation change, but it wasn’t?
Well, what actually happened was that an ancestral population was blown by a hurricane onto an island, and there it evolved under different conditions on the island. And then 10,000 years later, an individual, or a few individuals, were blown back to the mainland, having changed. Well, you can see that kind of episodic change is again entirely different from the other two. And I think [Gould] was guilty of using a poetic language to conflate those three kinds of episodic changes.
Talking about the structure of the eye, you’ve said that the only reasonable explanation for it evolving is for the benefit of the replicators responsible for its developments. It’s foolish, you’ve previously argued, to think that some behavior pattern has evolved for the benefit of the individual or of the group, since both the individual and the group are vehicles. Can you explain what you mean by this?
When people argue about the unit of selection they mean all sorts of things. I like to mean the unit that can be said to benefit the unit of adaptation. I’ve sometimes called it the optimum. And the replicator and the vehicle are two equally important types of units doing different things in the course of natural selection. What actually survives or doesn’t survive—in the long-term sense of natural selection—is the gene, the replicator, because DNA is potentially a perfect replicator with the occasional mutation at the end of a long line of generations. What is left in the world is a lot of successful genes, or replicators. Natural selection is the differential survival of replicators in gene pools. Some of them get less numerous, others get more numerous. However, genes are not naked bits of DNA floating around in a soup. At any given time they are sitting in individual organisms.
A typical animal is a very definite unit, right?
Yes. It has two legs, two arms, a brain, it moves around. All the cells of the organisms move around together in a random way. They are a unit. The organism makes decisions. It decides to go this way or that way. It decides to pounce on a prey, to hide in the grass, to take off and fly, so the organism does behave as a very unitary entity. And that is why I call it a vehicle. It is a vehicle for the genes that ride inside it. It takes whatever steps natural selection favors to keep those genes going. And those necessary steps tend to mean that the organism behaves as a unit. That is a quality that is favored by genes. And it is favored by lots of genes. Because all of the genes in an organism have been favored in the past by natural selection to make organisms behave in a unitary way as vehicles. It’s a consequence of natural selection that they have built for themselves in cooperation with other genes. They have built unitary vehicles, which we call organisms.
In your book The Greatest Show on Earth you describe the laryngeal nerve as something eloquent of terribly bad design. However, it is completely explicable, you argue, the moment you forget design, and start thinking in terms of evolutionary history instead. Can you explain this in more detail?
Just look back at our fish ancestors. You can also see it in modern fish as well. The equivalent of the laryngeal nerve is one of the nerves that supplies the row of gills, which [humans] have all lost, except in the embryo. And there are also blood vessels supplying the gills. The equivalent of that nerve— the most direct route to its end organ—is to go south of the equivalent of the artery. When fish came out onto the land, began developing, turning into reptiles and mammals, and started to develop a neck, the nerve found itself moving further away from the artery, which became part of the chest. So the most direct route from the brain to the larynx was now not south of that artery. But nevertheless, with each generation, the slight increase in neck was only a tiny increase in the detour that the nerve had to take. And so the marginal cost of an extra millimeter of detour was negligible, in comparison to the very substantial cost of a major embryological upheaval—a great big macromutation—to jump the nerve over the artery. You must think of it in terms of the long history, because once upon a time, in our direct fish ancestors, that was the most direct route.
What do you think are the positive forces that Darwinian social theory can bring to our society?
When you apply Darwinian thinking to social studies, you have to be careful. Social scientists think they have a perfectly good subject going, and they don’t want biologists barging in and importing nasty things like genes! But it’s got to be true that however much our biology is overlain with complicated cultural social effects, we have animal brains. We have evolved in Africa, to survive in Africa, under conditions where we lived in small bands, like baboons, where we had to worry about being eaten by lions, or where the next meal was coming from, and about warfare with neighboring tribes. All of these things must have shaped our brains. And although we have largely emancipated ourselves from the original causes of that shaping, there must be certain relics of it still there. And those relics play themselves out in strange and familiar ways: in boardroom disputes, in high management, in pub brawls, or whatever it might be. Our animal origins are constantly lurking behind, even if they are filtered through complicated social evolution.
Have you noticed a change in the atmosphere in how atheism is discussed in the public domain since 2006, when you wrote The God Delusion?
There are different ways of persuading people [away from religion]. The more polite, respectful way probably works for some, and the more in-your-face way works better for others. I think it’s perfectly fine that both approaches should be adopted.
What do you say to those who have accused you of being prejudiced against Muslims?
I have never been prejudiced against individual Muslims. I’m disapproving of all religions. But I think ridicule is a legitimate weapon. I don’t mean a sort of “fuck off” abuse. I would never do that. But ridicule, which at its best, may consist of nothing more than repeating back to them the things that they believe, like, for example, that Muhammad flew on a winged horse. Just simply stating that without comment is the best kind of ridicule, because then people can just see how absurd it is.
What about the recent controversy you had on Twitter when you mentioned that Muslims had won fewer Nobel prizes than non-Muslims? Isn’t that insulting?
That should not be taken out of context. What I was getting at was the fact that so many Muslim spokesmen claim that Islam has made great scientific contributions. Back in the Dark Ages, Islam kept the flame of classical Greek science going. This is true. But there are also those who say you can find great truths of science in the Quran, where they say things like the embryo develops from a clot of blood, and things like that, which is extremely unimpressive. I could have, for example, compared Nobel prizes of Muslims with Nobel prizes of Jews. That would have been a comparison of one religion against another, and the comparison would be humiliating for Muslims. It sounds ridiculous if it’s taken out of context. Instead of Muslims, I could have substituted red-haired people, or bird watchers, or whatever, and that makes nonsense of it. But the point about it is that red-haired people don’t go swanking around that they are good at science. They are just red-haired people. Whereas there is a positive strand of Muslim propaganda that says they are good at science. That is what I was responding to, really.
Would you talk openly about your opinions on religion like this in private? At a dinner party, for example?
I wouldn’t at a dinner party, no. It depends if it comes up or not.
Have you ever had to part ways with friends over your difference of opinions over religious beliefs?
No. It’s never come up. I heard a story the other day of a neighbor of mine, who was at a dinner party with the local vicar, who is an extremely nice man. And another guest at the dinner party, who was also a neighbor, but a devout fundamentalist Christian. This woman attacked the vicar throughout the dinner party, for not being Christian enough. He is a modern liberal churchman, who wouldn’t see eye to eye with an evangelical fundamentalist. And she chose the dinner party where he was the guest to belabor him with this abuse. I wouldn’t dream of doing that.
Editor's note: This interview has been edited and condensed, and modified since its first posting.Plot Edit
Following the events of Planet of the Apes, time-displaced astronaut Taylor and the mute Nova are riding on horseback through the desert of the Forbidden Zone. Without warning, fire shoots up from the ground and deep chasms open. Confused by the strange phenomenon, Taylor investigates a cliff wall and disappears before Nova's eyes. Elsewhere in the Forbidden Zone, a second Earth spaceship has crash landed after being sent to search for Taylor and his crew. Brent and his Skipper are the only survivors, though the Skipper dies shortly after crashing. Brent, while noting he is in the year 3955, assumes he has traveled to another planet. After burying his Skipper, he encounters Nova and notices she is wearing Taylor's dog tags. Hoping Taylor is still alive, he rides with her to Ape City, where he is shocked to discover the simian civilization. He observes the gorilla General Ursus leading a rally for the apes to conquer the Forbidden Zone and use it as a potential food source, against the objections of the orangutan Dr. Zaius. Brent is wounded by a gorilla soldier and taken by Nova to the home of the chimpanzees Cornelius and Zira, who treat his wound and tell him of their time with Taylor. The humans hide when Dr. Zaius arrives and announces that he will accompany Ursus on the invasion of the Forbidden Zone. Attempting to flee the city, Brent and Nova are captured by gorillas. Ursus orders they be used for target practice, but Zira helps them escape. They hide in a cave which Brent soon discovers is the ruins of the Queensboro Plaza station of the New York City Subway, realizing he traveled through time to Earth's post-apocalyptic future. After following a humming sound deeper into the underground tunnels, Brent begins to hear voices telling him to kill Nova. Entering the remains of St. Patrick's Cathedral, he finds a population of telepathic humans who worship an ancient nuclear bomb. Brent and Nova are captured and telepathically interrogated by the telepaths' leadership under Mendez. They explain themselves to be the descendants of humans who survived nuclear holocaust and mutated over generations. While claiming to be a peaceful society despite using mind-control and illusion on their enemies, the mutants force Brent into revealing the apes' march on the Forbidden Zone; but their attempts to repel the invaders with illusions of fire and other horrors ultimately fail when Zaius sees through it. With the apes closing in, the telepaths plan to detonate their "Divine Bomb" as a last resort, holding a pseudo-religious ritual during which they remove their human-skinned masks to reveal their malformed skinless appearance from generations of radiation exposure. Brent is separated from Nova and taken to a cell where he finds Taylor. The mutant Ongaro, explaining that they cannot let them leave the city alive, uses his telepathic powers to force Brent and Taylor to kill each other. Nova escapes her guard and runs to the cell, screaming her first word: "Taylor!" This breaks Ongaro's concentration, freeing Brent and Taylor from his control long enough to overpower and kill the mutant. Brent describes the bomb the mutants worship to have Greek letters Alpha and Omega on its casing, Taylor recognizing it as a "doomsday bomb" capable of destroying the entire planet. The apes invade the subterranean city, making their way to the cathedral; many of the mutants are either captured, killed, or found to have committed suicide. After Nova is killed in the midst of the chaos, Taylor and Brent reach the cathedral as Méndez is shot dead after raising the bomb into activation position. The humans attempt to stop Ursus from accidentally setting off the weapon, but Taylor is shot as his pleas to Zaius fall on deaf ears. When Brent is gunned down after killing Ursus, the mortally wounded Taylor collapses while bringing his hand down on the activation switch and triggering the bomb. The scene whites out, and voiceover narration states: "In one of the countless billions of galaxies in the universe lies a medium-sized star, and one of its satellites, a green and insignificant planet, is now dead".
Cast Edit
Production Edit
Novelization Edit
The novelization of the film by Michael Avallone retained the original scripted ending. Brent does not kill General Ursus. Taylor confronts him and Dr. Zaius. As Taylor tries to reason with Zaius, Zaius condemns him and Ursus repeatedly shoots Taylor with his pistol; Brent's rifle empties and the gorillas kill him. Ursus is horrified, telling Zaius that he has emptied the pistol into Taylor; he should be dead, but he still lives. Knowing he is dying, Taylor (after Zaius refuses to help him) decides to stop the violence by detonating the bomb. This he does, destroying the Earth itself.[15]
Comic book adaptations Edit
Gold Key Comics produced an adaptation of Beneath the Planet of the Apes in 1970. This was the first comics publication in the Planet of the Apes franchise.[16] Later, Marvel Comics published a different version in two series (b/w magazine 1974-77,[17] color comic book 1975-76[18]). Malibu Comics reprinted the Marvel adaptations when they had the license in the early 1990s.
Reception Edit
See also EditJoomla SEO powered by JoomSEF BUZZWORD NORA CHOPRA Nora Chopra is a senior journalist with a finger on the pulse of the Indian political scene Stalin’s makeover DMK leader M.K. Stalin is preparing for a makeover for the 2016 Assembly polls if a short campaign film for the party is anything to go by. Titled Mudiyattum Vidiyatum (let it end and let it dawn), Stalin is seen on a small boat. Even offscreen, Stalin has taken to walking the street in a casual T-shirt and mingling with the aam aadmi. As Saravanan, the DMK spokesperson, put it, "We want to take Tamil Nadu on a new path, so thalapathi has donned a new role. He mingles with people in this movie." The dig of course is at the aloof nature of Jayalalithaa, the current Tamil Nadu CM. Well, Stalin is donning grease paint after almost 30 years. Will this script a happy ending for his party next year? Missed call For the high-profile dinner hosted by PM Narendra Modi for Indian CEOs, he chose an Amritsar born chef Vikas Khanna to cater. After the seven-course meal got over, the PM thanked Vikas, saying that he (Vikas) had done him (Modi) proud. An excited Vikas wanted Modi to repeat this praise to his mother and tried to call her in India so that the PM could speak to her. Unfotunately for him, his mother didn't pick up her phone and so missed what would have been a historic conversation for the Khanna family. Dynasty helps Siddhartha Nath Singh got a pleasant surprise when he visited the 1965 war exhibition at the India Gate recently. Strangers walked up to him offering smiles and handshakes. This is not so much because of his current job as BJP spokesperson, but for the fact that he is Lal Bahadur Shashtri's grandson. And there is a lot of gratitude for the former PM's leadership during the war with Pakistan. Well, sometimes dynasty helps even in the BJP. Where is Rahul Gandhi? There is a lot of speculation about Rahul's mysterious visit to the US, coinciding with Prime Minister Modi's visit there. The initial speculation on social media was that he had gone to visit his ailing grandmother. The next day, Congress spokesmen let it be known that he had, in fact, gone to Aspen to attend a "Weekend with Charlie Rose" conference. However, media calls to Washington DC where the Aspen Institute is headquartered revealed that the conference got over in July this year. A gleeful BJP shot back saying that the Congress allies had sent Rahul on a "forced vacation" to prevent him from campaigning in Bihar. Many TV debates later, the main question still remains. Where is Rahul Gandhi and why is the Congress obfuscating his whereabouts? Pink turbans dominate kisan rally Pink-turbaned supporters of former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda clearly dominated the Congress' kisan rally at the Ramlila Ground last week. This was because Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ajay Maken, the organiser of the rally, failed to mobilise party workers wearing Tricolour caps. He had specially got Tricolour caps made for the party's Delhi workers, but most anti-Maken factions chose to stay away from the rally. Mamata on a high West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee seems to have consolidated her Muslim vote bank and struck an emotional chord with Bengalis in general with two of her recent moves. While her refusal to ban cow slaughter has reassured the minorities, the declassification of the 64 files on Subhas Chandra Bose, an emotional issue for Bengalis, has put pressure on the Centre to declassify the files in its possession.New Delhi: A series of economic data has delivered a dose of good news since the middle of last week, making it one of the best times for the Indian economy in several months.
Data ranging from cooling of inflation to a rebound in exports and factory output suggest a favourable shift in the economic climate, recovering from the disruption caused by rollout of goods and services tax (GST) and the aftershocks of the Narendra Modi government’s demonetisation move. The trend gives optimism to experts for an uptick in economic growth rate in the coming quarters.
Retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI), which was inching up for three months since June, paused in September, while inflation based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI), which was following a similar trend in the period, decelerated in September. The decline in inflation was led by a correction in prices of food.
Industrial production rebounded to a nine-month high in August to 4.3% as manufacturers stepped up production ahead of the festive season. What is good news for the policy makers is that August data suggested a recovery in capital goods production, taken as a proxy for investments in the economy, from a sustained contraction since the beginning of the financial year. It expanded 5.4% in August.
Merchandise exports grew at 25.7% in September, its fastest pace in six months, to $28.6 billion, which helped trade deficit to narrow to a seventh-month low of $8.9 billion.
The data support the optimism of policymakers and experts that the impact of recent structural reforms have begun to wane and economic growth, which had slowed down to 5.7% in the June quarter from 6.1% in the preceding three months, is getting back to normal.
Rajiv Kumar, vice-chairman of federal policy think tank NITI Aayog, said the economic slowdown that began in 2013-14 has bottomed out and that gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to grow 6.9-7% in the current financial year and by 7.5% in 2018-19, PTI reported on Sunday.
Kumar had earlier told Mint that he endorsed the Asian Development Bank’s 2017 GDP growth forecast of 7% for India. The multilateral agency, which follows a calendar year, last month revised its 2017 growth forecast for India to 7% from its July estimate of 7.4% while stating that “short-term disruptions" will “dissipate".
Experts said that while these sets of macroeconomic data indicated some improvement, one needed to watch whether this will sustain over the next few months.
“For instance, the year-on-year pace of growth of electricity generation, Coal India Ltd’s production and automobile production, have declined in September relative to August, which may dampen the rise in Index of Industrial Production in September to some extent. Exports, on the other hand, may witness improvement in volume growth in October, following the decisions of the GST Council," said Aditi Nayar, principal economist, Icra Ltd.
The challenge before the government is to stimulate investments into the Indian economy and to add new jobs. The high level of indebtedness of businesses and bad assets weighing on banks’ ability to lend also need to be resolved.As the home of the Royal Ballet, State Opera and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Wellingtonians love to claim that their city is the most creative in New Zealand. But Aucklanders would argue that their city has more cultural institutions than Wellington, more events and much bigger audiences.
According to our Boho measure of creativity, Wellington is truly New Zealand’s most creative city. The Boho measures the proportion of a city’s workforce that is involved in creative and artistic occupations and industries. In Wellington City, 6.4% of the population are employed in the creative sector, compared with 4.8% in Auckland. In fact Queenstown pips Auckland into third place with 4.9% of its workforce in the creative sector.
Professor Richard Florida, during his time at the Carnegie Mellon University in the US, popularised the Boho measure. He tried to demonstrate a link between the creative arts and economic development, especially in the areas of high technology. He argued that a vibrant artistic community is a necessary condition to attract talented people to fuel the knowledge economy.
Florida calculated a Boho Index for the 50 major cities in the US. His analysis showed that there is a strong correlation between the proportion of Bohemians in a city and the strength of its high tech industry. Ten of the top 15 bohemian cities number among the nation’s top 15 high technology areas.
Some of Florida’s observations ring true in New Zealand. Not only is Wellington by far the most creative city, but its economy is also by far the most knowledge intensive. 56% of Wellington’s workforce are employed in knowledge intensive industries compared with 36% in Auckland. Wellington’s creative environment is likely to improve the city’s ability to attract top talent from around the world.
With more than 10,000 people employed in it, the creative sector makes a substantial and growing contribution to Wellington City’s economy. At the beginning of the millennium the creative sector contributed slightly more than 5% of the city’s GDP. By 2016 this had risen to 6.5%. Since the end of the Global Financial Crisis, the creative sector in Wellington has grown at nearly double the rate of the rest of the local economy.
The creative sector has taken on a new importance in New Zealand with the increase in remote working. Many high-skilled jobs can now be conducted remotely with improvements in technology and changing mindsets of employers. An increasing number of professionals are moving out of the large centres to the provinces to take advantage of lower house prices, opportunities for rural lifestyles and being closer to family.
Districts and regions around New Zealand need to compete for these remote workers who can make a considerable contribution to local economies. Districts without any cultural amenities won’t get a look in with many big city refugees. When local councils are making funding decisions around cultural infrastructure they should be conscious of the impact that a creative environment can have on their local economy.
Technical Note
The creative sector has been measured using Infometrics online Sector Profiles. We have defined a sector which includes a range of creative industries (eg motion picture and video production, performing arts operation) and occupations (eg musician, architect). The online profile provides a wide variety of indicators for the creative sector including employment, contribution to GDP, demographic characteristics of the workforce and earnings.In his new memoir, former President George W. Bush says he personally gave the order to waterboard Khalid Sheik Mohammed in 2003.
According to the Washington Post, Bush writes that the CIA asked him if they could use the torture technique on Mohammed.
“Damn right,” he said.The Post reports — via “someone close to Bush who has read the book” — that Bush writes that he would do it again if he thought it would save lives. He also reiterates his position that waterboarding, or simulated drowning, is not torture.
[TPM PHOTO GALLERY: Decision Points! A Look Back At The Bush Years]
Bush said he believed Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks, had information about pending attacks.
Another terrorism suspect who underwent what the Bush administration called an “enhanced interrogation technique,” Abu Zubaydah, was waterboarded more than 80 times in a month — raising questions about how much information the CIA was getting.
The Obama Justice Department has called the technique torture and condemned its use.
Also revealed in publicity tour surrounding the memoir, Decision Points: Bush considers himself a “dissenting voice” on the decision to go to Iraq.Glancing around school classrooms in 2016, it’s easy to miss just how far technology has transformed learning over the last decade. The desks, whiteboards and rows of chairs are the same, but so much else has changed that can’t be seen.
A third of Britain’s schools are asking students to bring their own tablets and laptops into the classroom now, coding has been on the national curriculum for three years, and more and more education is happening outside school through apps and digital services.
But these changes are just the start. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the next giant leap in learning and, according to those working in the field of education and technology, we haven’t seen anything yet.
“Some technologies in the field of education have had the potential, but not the ability, to deliver or transform,” says Ian Fordham, chief executive of Edtech UK, the strategic body for education technology in Britain.
“The recent developments in AI and machine-learning are a major exception with the potential to revolutionise how young people learn, teachers and tutors teach, and how society drives forward learning in the future.”
The sheer wave of investment and energy being poured into AI is undeniable and on par with mankind’s greatest endeavours – and now it’s coming into the classroom
If you don’t think AI is poised to change your world, maybe you haven’t spotted the signs. It’s not just Apple’s Siri getting better at telling jokes or ordering you a taxi, AI is recommending what you should buy on Amazon, listen to on Spotify and even writing the news articles you read (but not this one).
Benefit to humanity
Last year a group of the most respected tech entrepreneurs, including Tesla’s Elon Musk and PayPal’s Peter Thiel, pledged $1 billion to the creation of OpenAI, a non-profit “friendly” AI to benefit all humanity.
This year Google’s DeepMind took on and beat the best human Go player in the world, and Facebook launched a virtual assistant, powered by AI, called M.
The sheer wave of investment and energy being poured into AI is undeniable and on par with mankind’s greatest endeavours – and now it’s coming into the classroom. First, forget any notion of robotic teachers. In fact, human teachers will be vitally important in rolling out and developing AI in education.
“AI will not replace tutors, it will support them and it will guide them to be better teachers,” says Tom Hooper, founder of Third Space Learning.
Third Space began in 2012 by providing one-to-one maths tutoring over the internet by connecting children with teachers around the world. Since starting, nearly 350 UK schools have enrolled 6,000 struggling students on to Third Space.
And the real magic is what Mr Hooper and his team are doing next. “We record every session that we deliver, thousands of hours of teaching and learning every week – a huge quantity of data on human interactions,” he says.
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.1% among men and 25.6% among women. In women, the uppermost tertile (tertile 3) of n–3 PUFAs (compared with tertile 1) was associated with reduced odds of EDS by 49%, with a substantial sex differential. The n–3 PUFA:n–6:PUFA ratio was inversely related to EDS among women (tertile 2 vs. tertile 1, OR: 0.74; 95% CI: 0.41, 1.32; tertile 3 vs. tertile 1, OR: 0.47; 95% CI: 0.27, 0.83). A similar pattern was noted for n–3 HUFA:n–6 HUFA among women. For CES-D subscales, n–3 PUFA (% of energy) was inversely related to somatic complaints, whereas positive affect was directly related to n–3 HUFA (% of energy; total population and among women), n–3 HUFA:n–6 HUFA (women), and n–3 HUFA:n–6 PUFA (total population and among women). In sum, among United States women, higher intakes of n–3 fatty acids [absolute (n–3) and relative to n–6 fatty acids (n–3:n–6)] were associated with lower risk of elevated depressive symptoms, specifically in domains of somatic complaints (mainly n–3 PUFAs) and positive affect (mainly n–3 HUFAs).
Introduction
The role of the ω-3 (n–3) fatty acids as structural membrane lipids in nerve tissue and the retina and as precursors to eicosanoids is well established. Importantly, there is evidence for a relation between n–3 fatty acids and depressive symptoms (1–20). For instance, in ecological studies there is a strong inverse correlation between the prevalence of depression and fish consumption across populations (16). Additionally, both observational and experimental research findings at the individual level, and consistently across study designs, study groups, and contextual settings, suggest that lower intake of n–3 fatty acids (reflected in self-reported intakes and/or in plasma or erythrocyte concentrations) was associated with higher risk of depression or elevated depressive symptoms (EDS)9. For instance, out of 5 cross-sectional studies that were cited in 1 review article (17), 3 found increased depression was reported among “less frequent” compared with “frequent” fish consumers, after adjustment for potential confounders (6, 10, 18). Meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials that controlled for inclusion of participants with severe depressive symptoms and/or n–3 fatty acid composition of the interventions have reported substantial clinical efficacy for reducing depressive symptoms (19, 20).
It is commonly suggested that the prevalence of depression has reached epidemic proportions in recent decades. Whereas external factors may contribute to this increase in prevalence, such as changes in attribution, definition, destigmatization, and help seeking behaviors, Klerman and Weissman (21) ruled out many of those artifactual influences and concluded the presence of a genuine secular increasing trend. For a true increase in any disorder to occur, the risk factors may be genetic or socioenvironmental in nature. Among the latter, the influence of dietary factors and their over-time patterns of change, particularly n–3 fatty acid intake, has gained attention over the past decade.
Generally, n–3 fatty acids are long-chain PUFAs from both plant and marine origins (22). The n–3 fatty acids derived from marine sources consist primarily of EPA (20:5n–3) and DHA (22:6n–3). In contrast, plant-derived n–3 fatty acids (from flaxseed, walnuts, and canola oil) are contributors of α-linolenic acid (ALA; 18:3n–3), the essential n–3 fatty acid that can be converted to EPA and DHA endogenously. The metabolic pathways involved are relatively inefficient among humans (10–15% being converted) (23), and ALA conversion is impaired by excess linoleic acid (LA; 18:2n–6), an n–6 fatty acid (24).
During the last century, per capita consumption of soybean oil, rich in LA, increased 1000-fold (25). This increased the availability of LA from 2.8% to 7.2% of energy, whereas the availability of ALA increased only from 0.39% to 0.72% of energy and was accompanied by declines in n–3 HUFA intakes. The predicted net effects included declines in tissue n–3 HUFA status from 36.8% to 22.9%, primarily due to greater intakes of LA over the century. This is in sharp contrast to the diets in regions of hominid evolution, which were higher in n–3 HUFAs (2.26–17.0 g/d) and lower in LA (range: 2.3–3.6% of energy) (26).
This imbalance is reflected in the concentration of several plasma and erythrocyte biomarkers (27, 28). Recent research suggests that the imbalance between those 2 classes of fatty acids, specifically deficient intakes of EPA and DHA and high concentrations of the highly unsaturated n–6 fatty acid arachidonic acid (AA; 20:4n–6) in tissues, may contribute to the rising burden of many chronic conditions, including cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer (29), in addition to cognitive decline (30, 31). Thus, studying this imbalance may be equally important to studying absolute concentrations of dietary n–3 fatty acids when examining depressive symptoms as the outcome, and domains of depressive symptoms should also be targeted separately. Indeed, many of the previous studies had focused on fish consumption and absolute intakes of n–3 fatty acids in relation to total depressive symptom scores without incorporating balance with n–6 fatty acids or domains of depressive symptoms into the analysis [e.g., (2, 4, 7, 9, 11, 12, 32)]
The aim of the present study was to assess whether self-reported depressive symptoms (and related domains), measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies–Depression Scale (CES-D) in a sample of 1746 adults residing in Baltimore City, MD, were associated with intakes of n–3 fatty acids (measured with two 24-h recalls), both in absolute terms and relative to n–6 fatty acids.
Participants and Methods
Database and study population
The Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study, initiated in 2004, is an ongoing prospective cohort study that recruited a representative sample of African Americans and whites (30–64 y old) at baseline who were living in Baltimore, Maryland (33). To this end, an area probability sampling design of 13 neighborhoods (defined as groups of contiguous census tracts) was used. Phase 1 of this study consisted of screening, recruitment, and household interviews, whereas phase 2 included examinations in mobile medical research vehicles. All participants provided written informed consent after they were provided with a protocol booklet in layman's terms and a video explaining all procedures performed in the study, including future recontacts. All materials were approved by the MedStar Institutional Review Board. Our study used cross-sectional data from the baseline HANDLS cohort.
Of 3720 participants in phase 1 (sample 1), 2178 (58.5%) completed their baseline phase 2 examination and had complete dietary data (sample 2). Similarly, 2178 participants had complete data on CES-D scores (sample 3). Our data are restricted to the subset of participants with 2 d of dietary recall and CES-D data (n = 1746; sample 4). The group of participants selected into sample 4 compared with the remaining HANDLS participants in sample 1 (weighted analysis) had a higher percentage of African American (i.e., 67.7% vs. 55.9%), although no substantial differences were found in age, sex, or income level distributions.
Outcome assessment: depressive symptoms
Baseline symptoms of depression were measured by using the CES-D, a 20-item self-report symptom rating scale that assesses affective and depressed mood (34). A score ≥16 on the CES-D indicated EDS, as was done in many studies [e.g., (35)], given that being at this cutoff or higher is highly predictive of clinical depression on the basis of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, criteria (36). Four previously identified subscales of the CES-D shown to have an invariant factor structure between the NHANES I and pilot HANDLS data (37) were studied in separate analyses as continuous variables. These subscales were as follows: 1) somatic complaints, 2) depressive affect, 3) positive affect, and 4) interpersonal problems (37).
Exposure assessment: dietary n–3 fatty acid absolute and relative exposures
With the use of the USDA's Automated Multiple Pass Method (AMPM), trained interviewers administered two 24-h dietary recalls. AMPM is a standardized 5-step process that was validated for protein, carbohydrate, fat, and energy intakes in both obese and nonobese individuals (38–40). Additional studies provided evidence that the AMPM accurately measures group energy intake in smaller samples (41, 42).
Food consumed was coded by using USDA Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies, version 3 (43), to estimate nutrient intakes. In this study, the mean of the two 24-h recalls was considered after food equivalents and nutrient intakes were summed for each individual per recall day.
Total n–3 PUFAs [≥18 carbons; i.e., n–3 PUFAs = ALA+DHA+EPA+docosapentaenoic acid (DPA); 22:5n–3] and HUFAs (≥20 carbons; HUFAs = DHA+EPA+DPA) were also expressed as percentages of total energy intake and were considered as 2 main nutrient exposures of interest. Together, these were labeled as “absolute n–3 fatty acid exposure.” In the main analysis, tertiles of main absolute exposures were constructed to assess dose-response relationships to detect threshold values if applicable, consistent with a previous study using HANDLS (44). Moreover, another set of analyses was conducted with main exposures of interest being “relative n–3 fatty acid exposures.” These were namely the ratio of n–3 HUFAs to n–6 HUFAs (i.e., DHA+EPA+DPA:AA), the ratio of n–3 HUFAs to n–6 PUFAs (i.e., DHA+EPA+DPA:LA+AA), and the ratio of n–3 PUFAs to n–6 PUFAs (i.e., ALA+DHA+EPA+DPA:LA+AA). These ratios rather than the typically used ratio of n–6 to n–3 fatty acids were considered as exposures of interest in our analyses for 2 main reasons: 1) to avoid having a zero value for the denominator because n–3 fatty acids in our study population are more likely to be negligibly consumed compared with n–6 fatty acids, particularly among non–fish eaters across the two 24-h recalls; 2) to allow for interpreting results in the hypothesized direction of a protective effect of n–3 fatty acids against depressive symptoms, as well as a protective effect of a good balanced intake of n–3 and n–6 fatty acids.
The adequacy of intakes for each essential fatty acid was assessed by using the Adequate Intake (AI) reference values (45). Proposed recommendations based on benefits associated for DHA+EPA as a percentage of energy have been published: the cutoff points for DHA+EPA are 0.15% of energy for postpartum and bipolar depression prevention and 0.35% of energy for major depression prevention (46, 47).
Covariates
Sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics.
Covariates related to sociodemographic and lifestyle factors included in our analyses were age, sex, race (white vs. African American), marital status (married vs. unmarried), completed years of education [less than high school (HS), HS, and more than HS], poverty-income ratio (PIR <125%), measured BMI (kg/m2), lifetime use of drugs (opiates, marijuana, or cocaine vs. no drug use), and smoking status (0 = “never or former smoker” and 1 = “current smoker”).
Potential dietary confounders.
Potential confounding by other nutrients (daily intakes) that were formerly linked with depressive symptoms was adjusted for in multiple regression models. These nutrients, expressed as per 1000 kcal of daily energy intake, included B-vitamins [vitamins B-6 and B-12 (mg/1000 kcal) and folate (μg/1000 kcal)] and several antioxidants, namely intakes of total carotenoids (α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, lutein+zeaxanthin, lycopene; μg/1000 kcal), vitamin A (retinol equivalents/1000 kcal), vitamin C (mg/1000 kcal), and α-tocopherol (mg/1000 kcal) (48–63). To emulate a multivariate nutrient density model, total energy intake was also included as a potentially confounding variable (64).
Statistical methods
Stata release 11.0 (StataCorp) survey commands were used, accounting for sampling weights to obtain population estimates of means, proportions, and regression coefficients. Two-sided independent-samples t tests compared means across binary variables, whereas design-based F tests were conducted to examine relationships between categorical variables (65). First, the HANDLS participants' study sample characteristics were described by sex and CES-D status (high vs. low) by using both independent-samples t tests and design-based F tests. Second, the adequacy of intake for key fatty acids and their combinations was examined and sex differences determined with design-based F tests. Third, Pearson correlation coefficients between pairs of fatty acids and their scatterplot were presented. Fourth, multiple logistic regression models with target outcome being EDS (CES-D ≥16) were conducted to test the association between n–3 fatty acid exposures and depressive symptoms, controlling for potential confounders. Individuals with missing data on covariates such as marital status, education, smoking, and drug use were accounted for in the analysis by adding a dummy variable for “missing.” Effect modification of these associations by sex was tested by adding interaction terms to the multivariate models. Finally, the multiple linear regression models were re-conducted with each CES-D subscale as alternative outcomes to test whether the association of depressive symptoms with n–3 fatty acid exposures was more specific to some symptoms than others. A type I error of 0.05 was used for significance in all analyses, except for interaction terms in multivariate models where a 0.10 concentration was used, given the low power of interaction terms compared with main effects (66).
Results
The weighted prevalences of a CES-D score ≥16 (or EDS) were 18.1% among men and 25.6% among women (P < 0.001 based on a design-based F test) (Table 1). HANDLS participants with a CES-D score ≥16 were generally more likely to have a PIR <125% compared with those with a CES-D score <16 for both sexes. Moreover, among women, those with a CES-D score ≥16 were less likely to be currently married (38% vs. 52%; P = 0.026). The examination of the 5 n–3 fatty acid exposures across depressive symptoms categories revealed an inverse relationship with EDS among women for n–3 PUFAs (% of energy) and n–3 PUFA:n–6 PUFA ratio. Moreover, among women, lower mean intakes of total carotenoids and vitamin B-6 were noted for those with a CES-D score ≥16 compared with those with a score <16 (P < 0.05).
TABLE 1 Men Women P value2 CES-D <16 (n = 594) CES-D ≥16 (n = 161) All men (n = 755) CES-D <16 (n = 678) CES-D ≥16 (n = 313) All women (n = 991) Men vs. women Low vs. high CES-D score among men Low vs. high CES-D score among women Percentage 81.8 18.1 45.5 74.4 25.6 54.5 Depressive symptoms <0.0013 <0.0014 <0.0014 CES-D 7.46 ± 0.28 20.77 ± 0.56 9.87 ± 0.38 7.19 ± 0.27 22.79 ± 0.73 11.19 ± 0.47 Sociodemographic and lifestyle factors Age, y 46.7 ± 0.6 46.2 ± 1.4 46.6 ± 0.5 46.2 ± 0.6 44.8 ± 0.9 45.9 ± 0.5 0.71 0.82 0.37 African American, % 67.2 71.8 68.0 68.5 64.4 67.5 0.88 0.46 0.54 Marital status, % 0.31 0.48 0.0264 Married 52.0 60.4 53.5 52.2 38.1 48.6 Missing 13.5 11.9 13.2 12.9 11.6 12.6 Education, % 0.49 0.12 0.08 <HS 4.6 5.8 4.8 3.1 7.3 4.2 HS 50.1 62.2 52.2 50.7 57.0 52.4 >HS 40.9 31.6 39.2 43.8 34.7 41.5 Missing 4.4 0.4 3.7 2.3 0.9 1.9 PIR ≥125%, % 84.5 71.9 82.2 79.7 66.9 76.5 0.0133 0.0044 0.0034 Current smoking status, % Currently smoking 46.9 58.9 49.1 31.7 44.5 34.5 0.0023 0.21 0.09 Missing 8.1 8.4 8.2 9.8 12.0 10.4 Ever use of illicit drugs, % Used any type 72.6 71.3 72.4 55.1 57.1 55.6 <0.0013 0.92 0.90 Missing 6.0 5.6 5.9 8.7 7.3 8.3 BMI, kg/m2 27.8 ± 0.4 27.2 ± 0.9 27.7 ± 0.3 30.5 ± 0.5 31.3 ± 1.3 30.7 ± 0.5 <0.0013 0.98 0.67 Fatty acid exposures5, % n–3 HUFA intake, % energy 0.77 0.69 0.05 T1: 0.0093 ± 0.0005 32.0 30.1 31.7 25.9 39.4 29.4 T2: 0.0399 ± 0.0009 32.4 38.4 33.5 35.6 27.0 33.3 T3: 0.2506 ± 0.0183 35.6 31.4 34.9 38.5 33.6 37.1 n–3 PUFA intake, % energy 0.43 0.68 0.0304 T1: 0.4181 ± 0.0065 36.2 35.2 36.0 28.4 42.2 32.0 T2: 0.6586 ± 0.0046 31.1 26.2 30.2 35.1 33.8 34.8 T3: 1.1477 ± 0.0303 32.7 38.7 33.8 36.4 24.0 33.3 n–3 HUFA:n–6 HUFA ratio 0.06 0.86 0.07 T1: 0.3217 ± 0.0130 35.0 34.6 34.9 23.3 33.9 26.0 T2: 1.0377 ± 0.0174 34.3 31.0 33.7 37.8 39.3 38.2 T3: 5.9810 ± 0.2558 30.7 34.3 31.4 38.7 26.9 35.7 n–3 HUFA:n–6 PUFA ratio 0.57 0.48 0.07 T1: 0.0016 ± 0.0001 31.7 32.3 31.8 27.0 40.2 30.4 T2: 0.0063 ± 0.0001 34.4 41.6 35.7 35.1 27.2 33.1 T3: 0.0417 ± 0.0042 33.9 26.1 32.5 37.9 32.6 36.5 n–3 PUFA:n–6 PUFA ratio 0.73 0.66 0.0104 T1: 0.0778 ± 0.0009 35.7 31.2 34.9 34.0 48.6 37.7 T2: 0.1053 ± 0.0004 31.6 38.0 32.8 30.2 30.6 30.3 T3: 0.1571 ± 0.0045 32.7 30.7 32.3 35.8 20.7 31.9 Other dietary factors, daily intakes Energy, kcal 2490 ± 68 2540 ± 214 2500 ± 68 1780 ± 62 1810 ± 83 1790 ± 51 <0.0013 0.12 0.64 Total carotenoids, mg/1000 kcal 3.50 ± 2.16 3.43 ± 5.34 3.48 ± 2.01 4.91 ± 3.04 3.84 ± 3.84 4.64 ± 2.49 0.0193 0.15 0.0084 Vitamin A, RE/1000 kcal 302 ± 24 323 ± 31 305 ± 20 354 ± 19 321 ± 40 345 ± 18 0.08 0.83 0.41 Vitamin C, mg/1000 kcal 39.3 ± 2.3 42.7 ± 5.7 39.9 ± 2.1 46.1 ± 2.5 31.6 ± 2.7 42.4 ± 2.1 0.0293 0.84 0.07 Vitamin E, mg/1000 kcal 3.2 ± 0.1 3.0 ± 0.2 3.1 ± 0.1 3.9 ± 0.2 3.1 ± 0.2 3.7 ± 0.2 <0.0013 0.20 0.06 Vitamin B-6, mg/1000 kcal 0.95 ± 0.03 0.95 ± 0.05 0.95 ± 0.03 0.95 ± 0.03 0.85 ± 0.03 0.93 ± 0.03 0.95 0.28 0.0194 Vitamin B-12, μg/1000 kcal 3.2 ± 0.3 3.1 ± 0.5 3.2 ± 0.2 2.9 ± 0.2 2.8 ± 0.4 2.9 ± 0.2 0.85 0.97 0.27 Folate, μg/1000 kcal 181 ± 6 184 ± 10 182 ± 5 198 ± 10 176 ± 7 192 ± 5 0.0163 0.77 0.30 Men Women P value2 CES-D <16 (n = 594) CES-D ≥16 (n = 161) All men (n = 755) CES-D <16 (n = 678) CES-D ≥16 (n = 313) All women (n = 991) Men vs. women Low vs. high CES-D score among men Low vs. high CES-D score among women Percentage 81.8 18.1 45.5 74.4 25.6 54.5 Depressive symptoms <0.0013 <0.0014 <0.0014 CES-D 7.46 ± 0.28 20.77 ± 0.56 9.87 ± 0.38 7.19 ± 0.27 22.79 ± 0.73 11.19 ± 0.47 Sociodemographic and lifestyle factors Age, y 46.7 ± 0.6 46.2 ± 1.4 46.6 ± 0.5 46.2 ± 0.6 44.8 ± 0.9 45.9 ± 0.5 0.71 0.82 0.37 African American, % 67.2 71.8 68.0 68.5 64.4 67.5 0.88 0.46 0.54 Marital status, % 0.31 0.48 0.0264 Married 52.0 60.4 53.5 52.2 38.1 48.6 Missing 13.5 11.9 13.2 12.9 11.6 12.6 Education, % 0.49 0.12 0.08 <HS 4.6 5.8 4.8 3.1 7.3 4.2 HS 50.1 62.2 52.2 50.7 57.0 52.4 >HS 40.9 31.6 39.2 43.8 34.7 41.5 Missing 4.4 0.4 3.7 2.3 0.9 1.9 PIR ≥125%, % 84.5 71.9 82.2 79.7 66.9 76.5 0.0133 0.0044 0.0034 Current smoking status, % Currently smoking 46.9 58.9 49.1 31.7 44.5 34.5 0.0023 0.21 0.09 Missing 8.1 8.4 8.2 9.8 12.0 10.4 Ever use of illicit drugs, % Used any type 72.6 71.3 72.4 55.1 57.1 55.6 <0.0013 0.92 0.90 Missing 6.0 5.6 5.9 8.7 7.3 8.3 BMI, kg/m2 27.8 ± 0.4 27.2 ± 0.9 27.7 ± 0.3 30.5 ± 0.5 31.3 ± 1.3 30.7 ± 0.5 <0.0013 0.98 0.67 Fatty acid exposures5, % n–3 HUFA intake, % energy 0.77 0.69 0.05 T1: 0.0093 ± 0.0005 32.0 30.1 31.7 25.9 39.4 29.4 T2: 0.0399 ± 0.0009 32.4 38.4 33.5 35.6 27.0 33.3 T3: 0.2506 ± 0.0183 35.6 31.4 34.9 38.5 33.6 37.1 n–3 PUFA intake, % energy 0.43 0.68 0.0304 T1: 0.4181 ± 0.0065 36.2 35.2 36.0 28.4 42.2 32.0 T2: 0.6586 ± 0.0046 31.1 26.2 30.2 35.1 33.8 34.8 T3: 1.1477 ± 0.0303 32.7 38.7 33.8 36.4 24.0 33.3 n–3 HUFA:n–6 HUFA ratio 0.06 0.86 0.07 T1: 0.3217 ± 0.0130 35.0 34.6 34.9 23.3 33.9 26.0 T2: 1.0377 ± 0.0174 34.3 31.0 33.7 37.8 39.3 38.2 T3: 5.9810 ± 0.2558 30.7 34.3 31.4 38.7 26.9 35.7 n–3 HUFA:n–6 PUFA ratio 0.57 0.48 0.07 T1: 0.0016 ± 0.0001 31.7 32.3 31.8 27.0 40.2 30.4 T2: 0.0063 ± 0.0001 34.4 41.6 35.7 35.1 27.2 33.1 T3: 0.0417 ± 0.0042 33.9 26.1 32.5 37.9 32.6 36.5 n–3 PUFA:n–6 PUFA ratio 0.73 0.66 0.0104 T1: 0.0778 ± 0.0009 35.7 31.2 34.9 34.0 48.6 37.7 T2: 0.1053 ± 0.0004 31.6 38.0 32.8 30.2 30.6 30.3 T3: 0.1571 ± 0.0045 32.7 30.7 32.3 35.8 20.7 31.9 Other dietary factors, daily intakes Energy, kcal 2490 ± 68 2540 ± 214 2500 ± 68 1780 ± 62 1810 ± 83 1790 ± 51 <0.0013 0.12 0.64 Total carotenoids, mg/1000 kcal 3.50 ± 2.16 3.43 ± 5.34 3.48 ± 2.01 4.91 ± 3.04 3.84 ± 3.84 4.64 ± 2.49 0.0193 0.15 0.0084 Vitamin A, RE/1000 kcal 302 ± 24 323 ± 31 305 ± 20 354 ± 19 321 ± 40 345 ± 18 0.08 0.83 0.41 Vitamin C, mg/1000 kcal 39.3 ± 2.3 42.7 ± 5.7 39.9 ± 2.1 46.1 ± 2.5 31.6 ± 2.7 42.4 ± 2.1 0.0293 0.84 0.07 Vitamin E, mg/1000 kcal 3.2 ± 0.1 3.0 ± 0.2 3.1 ± 0.1 3.9 ± 0.2 3.1 ± 0.2 3.7 ± 0.2 <0.0013 0.20 0.06 Vitamin B-6, mg/1000 kcal 0.95 ± 0.03 0.95 ± 0.05 0.95 ± 0.03 0.95 ± 0.03 0.85 ± 0.03 0.93 ± 0.03 0.95 0.28 0.0194 Vitamin B-12, μg/1000 kcal 3.2 ± 0.3 3.1 ± 0.5 3.2 ± 0.2 2.9 ± 0.2 2.8 ± 0.4 2.9 ± 0.2 0.85 0.97 0.27 Folate, μg/1000 kcal 181 ± 6 184 ± 10 182 ± 5 198 ± 10 176 ± 7 192 ± 5 0.0163 0.77 0.30 View Large
TABLE 1 Men Women P value2 CES-D <16 (n = 594) CES-D ≥16 (n = 161) All men (n = 755) CES-D <16 (n = 678) CES-D ≥16 (n = 313) All women (n = 991) Men vs. women Low vs. high CES-D score among men Low vs. high CES-D score among women Percentage 81.8 18.1 45.5 74.4 25.6 54.5 Depressive symptoms <0.0013 <0.0014 <0.0014 CES-D 7.46 ± 0.28 20.77 ± 0.56 9.87 ± 0.38 7.19 ± 0.27 22.79 ± 0.73 11.19 ± 0.47 Sociodemographic and lifestyle factors Age, y 46.7 ± 0.6 46.2 ± 1.4 46.6 ± 0.5 46.2 ± 0.6 44.8 ± 0.9 45.9 ± 0.5 0.71 0.82 0.37 African American, % 67.2 71.8 68.0 68.5 64.4 67.5 0.88 0.46 0.54 Marital status, % 0.31 0.48 0.0264 Married 52.0 60.4 53.5 52.2 38.1 48.6 Missing 13.5 11.9 13.2 12.9 11.6 12.6 Education, % 0.49 0.12 0.08 <HS 4.6 5.8 4.8 3.1 7.3 4.2 HS 50.1 62.2 52.2 50.7 57.0 52.4 >HS 40.9 31.6 39.2 43.8 34.7 41.5 Missing 4.4 0.4 3.7 2.3 0.9 1.9 PIR ≥125%, % 84.5 71.9 82.2 79.7 66.9 76.5 0.0133 0.0044 0.0034 Current smoking status, % Currently smoking 46.9 58.9 49.1 31.7 44.5 34.5 0.0023 0.21 0.09 Missing 8.1 8.4 8.2 9.8 12.0 10.4 Ever use of illicit drugs, % Used any type 72.6 71.3 72.4 55.1 57.1 55.6 <0.0013 0.92 0.90 Missing 6.0 5.6 5.9 8.7 7.3 8.3 BMI, kg/m2 27.8 ± 0.4 27.2 ± 0.9 27.7 ± 0.3 30.5 ± 0.5 31.3 ± 1.3 30.7 ± 0.5 <0.0013 0.98 0.67 Fatty acid exposures5, % n–3 HUFA intake, % energy 0.77 0.69 0.05 T1: 0.0093 ± 0.0005 32.0 30.1 31.7 25.9 39.4 29.4 T2: 0.0399
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depend less on Roberts and Scalia and more on Supreme Court swing justice Anthony Kennedy. Kennedy appeared uncertain about affirmative action’s merits at Wednesday’s oral argument, expressing frustration that the Court was hearing a case on the matter yet again but also showing frustration with Texas’s arguments in favor of diversity.
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Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected] number of emergency department visits involving the drug ecstasy more than doubled from 2005 to 2011, according to data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Over the 6-year window, young adults and adolescents presenting at emergency departments after using 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine -- known as MDMA, ecstasy in pill form, and Molly in powder form -- rose from 4,460 admissions in 2005 to 10,176 in 2011, roughly a third of which also involved alcohol, the agency published on its website.
They cautioned that use of the drug -- which has stimulant and hallucinogenic properties -- in concert with alcohol can enhance its effects "and may increase risk of abuse."
A small study on heavy MDMA use has shown that use of roughly 40 pills a year was associated with hippocampal shrinkage, which may have adverse outcomes on memory.
MDMA has also been associated with elevated body temperatures, high blood pressure, heart failure, kidney failure, anxiety, and confusion. Heart rate and blood pressure effects are likely due to the drug triggering the release of norepinephrine.
"Ecstasy is a street drug that can include other substances that can render it even more potentially harmful," noted Peter Delany, PhD, Director of SAMHSA's Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, in a statement.
Data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has found ecstasy cut with methamphetamine, caffeine, dextromethorphan, ephedrine, and cocaine, which users may not be aware of at the time of use and may be consumed with other substances, such as alcohol.
Fatalities related to MDMA use made headlines in late August 2013, when two young adult attendees of the electronic music festival Electric Zoo in New York City, N.Y., died, one of whom suffered a massive seizure after ingesting a reported "six hits of Molly," according to the New York Post.
However, hundreds of thousands of people use the drug -- the NIDA data suggests around 450,000 U.S. citizens were current users of the drug in a 2004 survey -- but deaths directly related to use are uncommon. A BBC report on drug use found roughly 500,000 English citizens use MDMA annually, but use was associated with 27 deaths.
2013-12-04T08:00:00-0500Following reports on remote site evacuations by the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) in North Sinai earlier this month, a change appears to be in the cards as to how the mission will function in the future.
An informed security source told Daily News Egypt last week that the MFO has evacuated the Al-Zahir and Al-Mawasi outposts south of Sheikh Zuweid, some hours after a militant attack last Saturday on Al-Safa checkpoint in neighbouring Al-Arish resulted in the killing of 15 police officers and soldiers. Media reports also citing security sources said that at the beginning of the month two other MFO outposts in Rafah were evacuated.
The MFO responded to an inquiry from Daily News Egypt on the reports of evacuation saying that earlier this month they “removed all of its personnel from two remote sites”, adding that the MFO has changed “the status of remote sites in the past”.
However, the multinational mission did not answer questions on a possible relationship between the recent militant activity in the area and the evacuation of their sites nor the current status of control over the evacuated sites or the duration of the evacuation. However, they asserted the changes “have no impact on the MFO Treaty of Peace mission”.
The army spokesman was not available to comment on the case when contacted by Daily News Egypt.
The mission of monitoring the treaty
In the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, annex I stated that upon request from both parties a United Nations Force and Observers will supervise the implementation of the security protocol annex limits arms in Sinai according to zones A, B and C, along with zone D on the Israel side of the borders.
Two years after the signing of the treaty, a veto threat by the former Soviet Union to a UN motion to deploy a mission to observe the treaty led to an agreement between Egypt, Israel, and the US to form a peacekeeping mission outside the UN framework that inherited the same duties, what is now the MFO.
“The MFO was deployed in a very different age,” non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council and expert on security issues in the Middle East Zack Gold told Daily News Egypt, referring to several changes over the course of the 37 years since the treaty was signed, on top of which was a changed relationship between Egypt and Israel.
Security challenges rose dramatically in Sinai, especially in the northeast, following the 25 January Revolution creating an opportunity for deepened security cooperation between Egypt and Israel based on mutual concern over militant activity in the area.
There were early signs of cooperation in August 2011 when Israeli and Western media reports discussed Israel’s approval from then defence minister Ehud Barak to Egypt deploying “helicopters, armoured vehicles, and thousands of troops” into eastern Sinai.
The rise in militancy, that witnessed an even more dramatic escalation in Sinai following the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt by the army in July 2013, also had an effect on the mission of the MFO in the peninsula.
But even before that it was widely noticed that an adjustment to the way the MFO conducts its mission in the area was necessary.
Research by the Egyptian political science researcher Dareen Khalifa published by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR) in February 2013 argued that a change of threat has long been present in Sinai.
“The reality on the ground, more than thirty years since the signing of the treaty, indicates that the real threat for both sides comes from a third party, the jihadist militants, who during Mubarak’s regime started carrying out terrorist attacks in Sinai as well as breaching the border with Gaza through the tunnels,” Khalifa wrote.
The Future of the Mission?
“The role of the MFO is to monitor the peace treaty. How can you monitor the treaty via having troops in the middle of an area of such militant activity?” Gold weighed in on the challenges currently facing the mission.
In March 2013, militant Bedouins put an MFO site in Rafah under siege twice, depriving it of food and water supplies in protest of the arrest of their relatives by the Egyptian army. In both cases the situation was resolved after the intervention of the army with tribal leaders.
The challenges since then have developed into direct attacks on MFO sites that have injured troops and damaged facilities and equipment.
The latest of the attacks was in September 2015 when a bomb targeted an MFO vehicle, leading to the injury of six troops including four Americans and two Fijians.
The attack came following reports that the US, the country with the largest number of troops in the MFO mission, is weighing options on the future of its involvement in the mission. The options ranged from “beefing up their protection or even pulling them out altogether”, the Associated Press reported back in August 2015.
However, the US opted to fortify as it sent 75 more soldiers later in September to add to more than 700 currently deployed in Sinai.
The question of the future of the MFO is on the agenda for both the Egyptian and Israeli governments. “Both Egypt and Israel have been resistant to adapting the MFO in Sinai … this has come to change,” Gold noted.
Maybe until a radical mutually-agreed upon change in the functionality of the mission, an imminent change may already be happening in either increasing the security of the MFO sites or a closure of those in the most endangered areas.
According to the 2014 MFO annual report, early in 2013, the MFO, upon review of the role and utility of existing remote sites, closed two sites following consultation with the treaty parties and unmanned a third site.
A security source told Daily News Egypt last week that the MFO is temporarily evacuating the sites, evacuated this month, in order to enhance the security of the checkpoints and to ensure safe routes for logistics, after repeated deadly attacks by militants in the area.
This is enhanced by the arrival of 100 British engineer corps earlier this month in Egypt. The engineers, Gold reveals, have been deployed to the main MFO North Camp. The deployment seems to be an extension of what the MFO 2014 report described as an “offer of a military engineer from the United Kingdom to assist us in advancing our protective project work” which the mission said it “accepted with appreciation”.During our interview Koch talked fast and jumped quickly from one big idea to the next. In a piece last week, "The Nature of Consciousness," we talked about Koch's search for the neural correlates of consciousness and the possibility that the Internet could learn to feel. Today, we conclude our conversation.
***
You like big philosophical questions, don't you?
Koch: Well, I think a lot about my place in the universe. What are we doing here? How did we come about? Does it mean anything? I like to think about these problems. You know, usually you ask these questions when you're 18 and 19, and then you get on with the business of living. Even at my age, I still ask these questions because I want to know how it all fits together before I die.
Speaking of death, you write about a night of existential angst a dozen years ago when the fact that you were going to die hit you in some very visceral way. What happened?
Koch: It was pretty late compared to most people. I felt immortal until I was 42 or so. I played one of my son's shooter video games where you are chased by hordes of aliens through empty corridors on alien suns. I did that for a couple of hours and then went to bed. Suddenly I woke up in the middle of the night with the abrupt realization that I was going to die. I didn't have any premonition that something bad was going to happen. I just knew one day I was going to die. That stayed with me for the next four to six weeks. I had a tough time until I accepted it. It's a beautiful illustration of the power of the unconscious. There I was sleeping and something was churning away, probably agitated by all that shooting and killing in the video game, and then came to some startling or unsettling conclusion, and that's when my brain decided to wake me up. Since then, unfortunately, I know I'm going to die. [Laughs.] I shouldn't have played that video game.
You write about how you grew up an observant Catholic and then lost your faith in a personal god. But it seems that the search for meaning, that yearning for the absolute, is still with you.
Koch: That's correct. I try to be guided by what's scientifically plausible. Of course, there is a huge amount of randomness, but we also find ourselves in this universe that is very conducive to life. I don't know how to explain it, but I see this arrow of progress toward an ever-larger complexity and to a larger consciousness and that fills me. I don't know what it means. I can't understand it but I see it. I observe it and I'm happy about it.
So you're not exactly an atheist.
Koch: I'm not a conventional atheist who believes it's all just a random formation. I believe there is meaning. But as you said, I don't believe in a personal god or any of the standard things that you're supposed to believe as a Christian.
Your book suggests that you're a deist, maybe believing there's some sort of supreme being that created the laws of the universe but does not intervene in it.Decision by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon is the first of several expected over the next few months and is certain to be appealed.
The National Security Administration campus in Fort Meade, Md., is shown. (Photo11: Patrick Semansky, AP) Story Highlights The ruling is the first of several that are likely in the coming months on the scope of NSA's surveillance program
The Department of Justice says it is reviewing the decision
NSA Director Keith Alexander: "There isn't a better way'' to help defend the country from potential terror threats
WASHINGTON — A federal judge ruled Monday that the National Security Agency's controversial surveillance program that collects millions of Americans' telephone records may be unconstitutional.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon ruled in a lawsuit brought by conservative activist Larry Klayman that the legal challenge to the massive surveillance program — disclosed in full earlier this year by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden — would likely succeed.
Leon, appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush, issued a preliminary injunction against the program but suspended the order to allow an appeal by the Justice Department, which said it was reviewing the decision.
The ruling is the first of several that are likely in the coming months as federal judges from New York to California review complaints from liberals and conservatives alike about the scope of the NSA's snooping. Leon's acknowledgment that the case is sure to be appealed is an indication that those appeals might wind up at the U.S. Supreme Court.
STORY: Snowden says ruling vindicates leak of NSA files
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"The court concludes that plaintiffs have standing to challenge the constitutionality of the government's bulk collection and querying of phone record metadata, that they have demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of their Fourth Amendment claim (of unlawful search and seizure), and that they will suffer irreparable harm absent…relief,'' Leon wrote.
And in perhaps the most definitive assessment of the program's effectiveness, Leon said the government "does not cite a single instance in which analysis of the NSA's bulk metadata collection actually stopped an imminent attack.''
"Given the limited record before me at this point in the litigation — most notably the utter lack of evidence that a terrorist attack has ever been prevented because searching the NSA database was faster than other investigative tactics — I have serious doubts about the efficacy of the metadata collection program as a means of conducting time-sensitive investigations in cases involving imminent threats of terrorism,'' the judge said.
The government has publicly asserted that the NSA's surveillance programs have assisted in averting dozens of terrorist threats, but Leon said "no proof of that has been put before me.'' He said the government could have requested permission to offer such evidence in a closed hearing, "but it chose not to do so.''
Snowden, in a statement published first by The New York Times, said he believed that the "mass surveillance programs would not withstand a constitutional challenge, and that the American public deserved a chance to see these issues determined by open courts.''
"Today, a secret program authorized by a secret court was, when exposed to the light of day, found to violate Americans' rights. It is the first of many," said the former contractor, who was granted limited asylum in Russia to avoid espionage-related charges in the U.S.
Klayman, a former Reagan administration official who heads the conservative watchdog group Freedom Watch, heralded the judge for "standing in the breach for the American people."
"Judge Leon is a hero," Klayman said. "This is the first time in my experience that any judge has stuck his neck out, and he did what's right. Let's hope other judges will follow suit and take an example from Judge Leon, because the American people have felt defenseless."
Leon's decision comes less than a week after NSA Director Keith Alexander told a Senate committee that "there isn't a better way'' to help defend the country from potential terrorist threats than the ongoing sweep of telephone records.
"There is no other way to connect the dots,'' Alexander told the Senate Judiciary Committee in a renewed defense of NSA surveillance programs. "We cannot go back to a pre-9/11 moment.''
Alexander noted that the national security threat had been mounting in recent months, referring in particular to the "crisis" in the Middle East. "Taking these programs off the table is not the thing to do,'' he said.
Of all of Snowden's disclosures, details about the vast phone record program has driven a six-month debate on Capitol Hill and across the country about the scope of the government's surveillance operations. That debate has produced a wave of proposed legislation to limit or eliminate parts of the government's surveillance apparatus.
"Because we can do something, it doesn't really make sense to do it,'' Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., told Alexander last week, adding that aspects of the bulk collection programs are "beyond extraordinary in the U.S.''
During oral arguments in the Klayman case last month, the former Reagan administration lawyer who leads the advocacy group Freedom Watch called the judge "the last guard... the last sentry to the tyranny in this country."
MORE:: Coverage of oral arguments in the case
Justice Department lawyer James Gilligan argued that Klayman lacked standing to bring the case because he could not prove the NSA examined his phone or Internet records.
Conservative activist Larry Klayman brought the legal challenge to the NSA massive surveillance program. (Photo11: Hillery Smith Garrison, AP)
Gilligan also said Leon could not review the statutory authority granted by Congress under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) — only the secret courts and the Supreme Court have that power. Leon did not rule on the congressional authorization, only on Fourth Amendment grounds.
U.S. District Judge William Pauley heard a separate case filed by the American Civil Liberties Union that also sought a preliminary injunction against the telephone surveillance program. The ACLU case, based on First and Fourth Amendment protections of speech and privacy, contends that the USA Patriot Act does not authorize such widespread spying.
Jameel Jaffer, the ACLU's deputy legal director who argued that case in court, hailed Monday's ruling. "This is a strongly worded and carefully reasoned decision that ultimately concludes, absolutely correctly, that the NSA's call-tracking program can't be squared with the Constitution," Jaffer said.
"We hope that Judge Leon's careful decision will inform the larger debate about the proper scope of government surveillance powers. It should certainly inform the debate in Congress about the reforms necessary to bring the NSA's surveillance activities back in line with the Constitution."
A third case denied last month by the Supreme Court was brought directly there by the Electronic Privacy Information Center. While the target in the other cases is the government, EPIC went after the top-secret FISA court that authorized the surveillance of Verizon phone records under FISA.
In all the cases, the Justice Department argued that the challengers lack standing to bring the lawsuits because they were not directly involved or cannot prove their records were examined.
However, the department has been notifying criminal defendants in separate cases when the terrorism-related charges against them stem from the warrantless surveillance program. That makes the prospect of a future Supreme Court case more likely.
The solicitor general's briefs also defend the surveillance on national security grounds. Its Supreme Court brief says the program "authorizes the production of business records where there are'reasonable grounds to believe' that the records are'relevant' to an authorized and properly predicated ongoing FBI investigation of specific terrorist organizations."
Amnesty International and other civil libertarians brought the last Supreme Court challenge to government surveillance programs in 2012. But in February, the justices ruled 5-4 that the challengers lacked standing because they could not prove they had been wiretapped.
"This theory of future injury is too speculative," Justice Samuel Alito said in announcing the decision, calling it "hypothetical future harm."
Since then, however, a continued stream of leaks from former Snowden have led the government to make much of the programs public, enabling challengers to claim their privacy was invaded.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/JzQBLVImage copyright Getty Images
Judges should consider whether a young criminal has suffered discrimination as an ethnic minority before deciding their sentence, under a new guideline.
The Sentencing Council for England and Wales says offending may be partly a product of discrimination and "negative experiences of authority".
It is the first guideline to stress discrimination as a youth crime factor.
Official statistics show that young people from minority backgrounds are over-represented in the justice system.
While national statistics show that ethnic minorities account for approximately 14% of the UK's population, the Youth Justice Board says a quarter of all young people arrested in the year to March 2016 were from these backgrounds - some 21,900 people.
The overall number of young offenders cautioned or convicted has been declining, but the rate of decrease has been slower for minority offenders.
'Underlying factors'
In the new guideline - which applies to all offenders aged between 10 and 17 - the council says that any sentence must aim to prevent them from committing another crime, while also taking into account the child's welfare.
"While the seriousness of the offence will be the starting point, the approach to sentencing should be individualistic and focused on the child or young person," states the guideline, which comes into force in June.
It stresses that sentencing judges and magistrates should take into account underlying factors, including the over-representation of black and minority ethnic children in the justice system.
"The factors contributing to this are complex," it says.
"One factor is that a significant proportion of looked-after children and young people are from a black and minority ethnic background.
"A further factor may be the experience of such children and young people in terms of discrimination and negative experiences of authority.
"When having regard to the welfare of the child or young person to be sentenced, the particular factors which arise in the case of black and minority ethnic children and young people need to be taken into account."
'Reintegrate don't alienate'
The guidelines go on to tell judges and magistrates to take into account a youth's mental and educational development, emotional volatility and whether they were from a poor background or grew up around other offenders.
Evidence of abuse or neglect and peer pressure may have also played a role in criminality, they say.
Sentencing Council chairman Lord Justice Treacy - the judge who oversaw the trial of the racist killers of teenager Stephen Lawrence - said the guideline had prevention of reoffending at its heart.
"No-one wants children who commit offences going on to become adult criminals," he said.
"The guideline therefore looks with far greater detail at what kind of sentence would prevent this based on the age, background and circumstances of each child or young person, so that it can help them reintegrate instead of becoming alienated further."
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You can also contact us in the following ways:I think it’s safe to say that the cast likes to have fun. But how do you compare to them? Obviously we aren’t able to have a giant sleepover with the cast and play Never Have I Ever, so let’s do it here. If you don’t know the rules, here we go. Even though it says Never Have I Ever, that actually means you’ve done it. So if you have done one of the things on the list, then you get one point. And remember, even Jax comes clean eventually, so be honest!
1. Never Have I Ever stolen anything worth over $50.
2. Never Have I Ever called out of work for a vacation (No matter how I paid for the trip)
3. Never Have I Ever cheated on more than one significant other
4. Never Have I Ever gotten a perm
5. Never Have I Ever gotten plastic surgery
6. Never Have I Ever slapped a friend
7. Never Have I Ever posed naked with another person
8.Never Have I Ever moved across the country for a relationship
9. Never Have I Ever gone swimming topless…or naked
10. Never Have I Ever drank while at work
11. Never Have I Ever been the other woman
12. Never Have I Ever reformed a bad boy
13. Never Have I Ever rage texted after drinking too much tequila
14. Never Have I Ever been kicked out of a club
15. Never Have I Ever shared my ex-hook up’s penis with an entire room of people
So how did you do?
11- 15 points
You’re a crazy one! You could definitely party with the group but be careful you just may end up the star of a twitter scandal. Don’t worry, we won’t judge you too harshly.
6-10 points
You like to have a good time but you don’t quite take it to extremes. While you probably didn’t come up with the plan, there’s a chance you may join in the fun if it doesn’t mean jail time.
1-5 points
You’re the voice of reason…even when your friends don’t want to listen. In fact, you’re usually the photographer in the group. You stand by and just enjoy the show your crazy friends are putting on.
About the Author- Sarah Fischer is a romance author who loves talking about reality tv. She watches it when she writes and frequently uses it for inspiration. Her book, First Semester, is out now and it tells the story of Violet as she learns about love, lust, friendship, and the dangers of all thee of them.
First Semester can be purchased in paperback or ebook. Click Here
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An investigation into a maritime drug trafficking operation revealed how the alleged criminals used a series of boat transfers to move cocaine from Ecuador to Guatemala, highlighting the challenges facing sea drug interdiction efforts in the region.
The investigation that followed the October arrest of four alleged drug traffickers — two Ecuadorians, one Guatemalan and one Colombian — revealed that the drug-smuggling boat had set off from the north coast of Ecuador with the Ecuadorians and Colombian on board, reported El Nuevo Herald.
They met the Guatemalan at a pre-arranged point off that country’s coast, where they boarded his boat and navigated to another destination 150 miles away. When they reached that location, they received instructions to move another 500 miles, where another vessel gave them cocaine packages, extra fuel, and communications equipment.
On the way back to Guatemala, a US surveillance plane patrolling the waters between El Salvador and Guatemala detected the boat, and a Coast Guard helicopter forced it to stop.
The Coast Guard arrested the four men, and later found 700 kilos of cocaine that had been thrown overboard. The accused traffickers are currently in a Miami prison awaiting trial.
El Nuevo Herald reported on a similar case, in which alleged traffickers set off from the same area of Ecuador, and met another vessel coming from near the Guatemalan-Mexican border.
InSight Crime Analysis
The use of several boats at various points off the Central American coast to coordinate the cocaine shipment — most likely bound for the United States — demonstrates the difficulty of monitoring sea routes in the region. Video from the news agency Fusion of a US Navy ship patrolling off Colombia shows how multinational anti-drug operations involving advanced technology are used to track and stop maritime drug traffickers.
SEE ALSO: Guatemala News and Profile
Monitoring sea drug operations is further complicated by cutbacks earlier this year to US Coast Guard interdiction efforts, despite evidence suggesting that drug trafficking groups are increasingly relying on both Pacific and Caribbean sea lanes to move drugs. If states cut the resources to sea interdiction, criminal groups will likely continue to exploit these routes to traffic drugs to the United States. The situation can be futher complicated by the use of semi-submersibles or submarines.
US anti-narcotics officials are struggling to close not only sea lanes, but also air trafficking routes along both coasts. According to one Coast Guard official, just one third of drug-smuggling boats or aircraft monitored by the United States on the Pacific and Caribbean seas were detained in 2013.The Bastille Day killer drove his rented lorry on 12 reconnaissance trips along the Nice seafront without being turned back despite a local ban on heavy goods vehicles, it emerged on Saturday.
Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel repeatedly drove the 19-tonne lorry up and down the Promenade des Anglais in the three days before the massacre, although lorries of more than 3.5 tonnes are banned from the centre of Nice except in special cases for deliveries or removals.
The revelation by French media stoked public outrage over allegations that the government was trying to cover up security failings after Bouhlel mowed down holiday crowds on the iconic promenade, killing 84 people on July 14.
CCTV footage reportedly shows him driving in bizarre, apparently random patterns, sometimes stopping and switching on the hazard warning lights. “He can been seen in the images driving along the Promenade des Anglais with his lorry 12 times between July 11 and 14,” a source close to the investigation said.
Officials in Nice refused to obey a police order to delete 24 hours of surveillance images showing the atrocity as the government came under fire over security on the night of the attack.
Heavily-armed national police officers who might have been able to stop the lorry by shooting its tyres were ordered off the seafront after a military parade in the afternoon. Four police vans that had been used to block off the Promenade were removed.
Only lightly armed municipal police were left guarding the seafront during a fireworks display in the evening, the government has admitted.
The authorities argue that CCTV footage must be destroyed because it could be used for jihadist propaganda but local officials contend that it must be kept as evidence.
The Socialist government has been forced on to the defensive as it struggles to reassure the public after France’s third major terrorist attack in 18 months.
A poll showed fewer than a third of French voters trust the Hollande administration to face the terrorist threat.
The government’s credibility was further undermined when it emerged that one of five suspects charged as accomplices of Bouhlel should have been deported from France months earlier.
A 38-year-old Albanian, named as Artan H., thought to have supplied the killer with the pistol he fired at police before being shot dead, had been ordered to leave France because he had no residence permit.
He was briefly questioned over a traffic offence in May but police let him go despite being aware of the expulsion order.
Many tourists have deserted Nice, leaving some hotels and restaurants nearly empty.
Philippe Taillade, manager of the Miami Beach restaurant on the Promenade des Anglais, said: “There’s been a huge fall in the number of customers, 40 per cent at the very least.”
Mr Taillade said hotels along one of the Riviera’s most elegant seafronts were also struggling. “Hotels have told us they’ve had an enormous number of cancellations. Locals are going out to restaurants less. They’re still in a state of shock.”I told you that the Discovery Institute really hates Cosmos. On Sunday night, Jay Richards, Master of Divinity, Master of Theology, Ph.D. in philosophy and theology, former instructor in apologetics at Biola, Senior Fellow of the Discovery Institute, watched the show and occasionally curled his lip in disdain on Twitter. It was very amusing, and rather revealing. These guys really are just gussied-up creationists.
I can’t help myself. I have to reply to these nonsensical complaints.
On #Cosmos, Neil Degrasse Tyson is recapitulating Darwin's non sequitur that artificial selection + time = natural selection. — Jay W. Richards (@FreemarketJay) March 17, 2014 On #Cosmos, Neil Degrasse Tyson is recapitulating Darwin’s non sequitur that artificial selection + time = natural selection.
Oh, right: his Twitter name is “FreemarketJay”. You are allowed to laugh.
Cosmos introduced the concept of selection by first describing how dogs were domesticated by selection for a subset of animals that were less fearful of humans and could scavenge from our garbage; we have since selected for variations that produce the great diversity of dog breeds, much of it done over the last few centuries. The lesson: you can get radical biological change from artificial selection in a very short time.
Then Neil deGrasse Tyson explained how you don’t need humans to provide the selection: the environment can also favor different variants, using the example of bear coat colors.
Where was the non sequitur? It was quite clear that the situations were analogous and obvious, and remarkably hard to argue against. Artificial selection demonstrably works, natural selection requires no novel mechanisms, it all hangs together beautifully.
Anyone think Neil Degrasse Tyson will summarize the known evolutionary limitations of random genetic mutations? Nah. #Cosmos — Jay W. Richards (@FreemarketJay) March 17, 2014 Anyone think Neil Degrasse Tyson will summarize the known evolutionary limitations of random genetic mutations? Nah. #Cosmos
Oh. That’s his objection, that there are some imaginary evolutionary limitations. Yes? What are they? Richards doesn’t say. Go ahead, explain how you can make Great Danes and Chihuahuas by selection from an ancestral generic, wolf-like dog, but you can’t possibly have pigment mutations produce white bears from brown bears.
He won’t be able to. The actual limitations are nothing but the inability of creationists to comprehend a simple process that makes them uncomfortable.
Cool. Dogs evolve into … dogs, and bears…into bears. #Cosmos — Jay W. Richards (@FreemarketJay) March 17, 2014 Cool. Dogs evolve into … dogs, and bears…into bears. #Cosmos
If only the dogs had evolved into frogs, and the bears into broccoli, then at last he’d be able to accept evolution. Sorry, guy, evolution predicts that dogs will only evolve into doglike descendants, and that the ancestor of modern dogs and bears was a primitive mammal (but they’re still only mammals!) and before that, primitive tetrapods (but we’re all still only tetrapods!) and before that, primitive animals (but we’re still only animals!).
That Richards would think that is a reasonable objection is just more evidence that he doesn’t understand even the simplest basics of evolution.
On eye evolution, the #Cosmos editors again failed to do a Google search: http://t.co/7CE9CTDLcc — Jay W. Richards (@FreemarketJay) March 17, 2014 On eye evolution, the #Cosmos editors again failed to do a Google search: http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/filesDB-download.php?command=download&id=1061 …
Cosmos referred to the calculations by Nilsson and Pilger that the morphological changes to transform a flat light sensitive patch into a spherical eye ball with a lens that could form an image on a retina would require conservatively a few hundred thousand generations. They did this by incrementally modeling the shape of an eye is it transformed, determining that a) 1,829 steps with a magnitude of a 1% change in shape were required, and b) calculating the optical acuity at each step, and showing that each 1% change would increase acuity slightly (no backtracking or loss of optical quality was required in any step). They then used reasonable estimates of heritability and phenotypic variance and weak selection to calculate that a 0.005% change in shape in each generation was possible, meaning that you could easily get the whole transformation in 364,000 generations.
At every step they used minimal, conservative estimates for all parameters. The whole point was to demonstrate that this one process could be easily completed in geologically tiny amount of time.
Richards cites an awful attempt at a rebuttal by David Berlinsky, which consists mostly of sneering and posturing and complaining that it was improper to refer to the calculations as a “simulation” (never mind that a computer simulation of the process was produced; the paper describes the calculations). I have to say — why would anyone complain that the Cosmos writers hadn’t made note of a sloppy and pretentious internal document — it was not published anywhere — that actually didn’t refute the content of the Nilsson and Pilger paper in the slightest? Maybe because Richards has a ridiculously inflated view of the importance of his nest of loons in Seattle.
An eyeball isn't a visual system. #Cosmos — Jay W. Richards (@FreemarketJay) March 17, 2014 An eyeball isn’t a visual system. #Cosmos
Nor has it ever been claimed to be. They were talking about one piece of the visual system, and demonstrating that natural processes can produce that structure in a fraction of a million years. The Discovery Institute claims that no significant physiological or morphological change can occur at all, so simply demonstrating that making an eyeball from an eyespot is possible effectively refutes the Intelligent Design creationism position.
They’re just moving the goalposts. They say that making an eyeball is impossible; we show that it is, and not that hard, and they then say we have to show that every single step is possible. You know, we can show the molecular basis for light perception is present in single-celled organisms, that all of the molecular pathways are homologous and linked, and that general developmental processes can produce functional connections between sensory cells and visual perception centers of the brain, and they still claim that it requires their magic deity.
I can't believe how bad #Cosmos is. They must have given up all hope of persuading anyone but the already persuaded. — Jay W. Richards (@FreemarketJay) March 17, 2014 I can’t believe how bad #Cosmos is. They must have given up all hope of persuading anyone but the already persuaded.
No, but I’m sure we’ve all given up any hope of persuading the dogmatic, the ignorant, and the obtuse. Someone first has to be willing to look at the evidence, and if you’re up to that, then yes, I think Cosmos can be an effective tool for letting people understand the basics of evolution.
All bets are off for IDiots.
One more. Richards’ latest tweet:
Another confirmation that the universe had a beginning: Astronomers discover echoes from expansion after Big Bang http://t.co/BqX1VjZxWH — Jay W. Richards (@FreemarketJay) March 17, 2014 Another confirmation that the universe had a beginning: Astronomers discover echoes from expansion after Big Bang http://reut.rs/1ivSjez
So confirmation of a specific and empirically founded physical theory is going to be used by these kooks as confirmation of their superficial and stupid explanation of the origins of the universe because it supports one trivial observation? The universe had a beginning. So what
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