Prompt: This HTML version of is provided for convenience, but it is not the best format for the book. In particular, some of the symbols are not rendered correctly. You might prefer to read the PDF version. You can buy this book at Amazon.com Chapter 7 Prediction 7.1 The Boston Bruins problem In the 2010-11 National Hockey League (NHL) Finals, my beloved Boston Bruins played a best-of-seven championship series against the despised Vancouver Canucks. Boston lost the first two games 0-1 and 2-3, then won the next two games 8-1 and 4-0. At this point in the series, what is the

probability that Boston will win the next game, and what is their probability of winning the championship? As always, to answer a question like this, we need to make some assumptions. First, it is reasonable to believe that goal scoring in hockey is at least approximately a Poisson process, which means that it is equally likely for a goal to be scored at any time during a game. Second, we can assume that against a particular opponent, each team has some long-term average goals per game, denoted λ. Given these assumptions, my strategy for answering this question is Use statistics from previous games to choose a prior distribution for λ. Use the score from the first four games to estimate λ for each team. Use the posterior distributions of λ to compute distribution of goals for each team, the distribution of the goal differential, and the probability that each team wins the next game. Compute the probability that each team wins the series. To choose a prior distribution, I got some statistics from http://www.nhl.com, specifically the average goals per game for each team in the 2010-11 season. The distribution is roughly Gaussian with mean 2.8 and standard deviation 0.3. The Gaussian distribution is continuous, but we’ll approximate it with a discrete Pmf. thinkbayes provides MakeGaussianPmf to do exactly that: def MakeGaussianPmf(mu, sigma, num_sigmas, n=101): pmf = Pmf() low = mu - num_sigmas*sigma high = mu + num_sigmas*sigma for x in numpy.linspace(low, high, n): p = scipy.stats.norm.pdf(x, mu, sigma) pmf.Set(x, p) pmf.Normalize() return pmf mu and sigma are the mean and standard deviation of the Gaussian distribution. num_sigmas is the number of standard deviations above and below the mean that the Pmf will span, and n is the number of values in the Pmf. Again we use numpy.linspace to make an


Prompt: “Climate change” is a bland generic label that can mean anything, and therefore means nothing A Short Primer on the Global Warming Scam As of today, the United States will cease all implementation of the non-binding Paris Accord and the draconian financial and economic burdens the agreement imposes on our country. — Donald J. Trump 45th President of the United States The Paris Climate Treaty has nothing to do with “climate” and everything possible to do with economics, globalism and the controlled redistribution of economic wealth as constructed through decades of advanced policies of multinational financial interests. Posted by Sundance

“Multinational Banks and Corporations Trigger Immediate Angst Over Trump Withdrawal From Paris Treaty” Caution: If you are a global warming enthusiast then I strongly advise you to stop reading, grab a cup of hot cocoa, and retreat to your nearest safe-space immediately. Otherwise you will get triggered, guaranteed. With that out of the way, let me get into the meat of this article, which is, as the title suggests, a short lesson on a few of the more egregious lies connected with the global warming scam. Just a day spent on the Internet doing due diligence on this topic with an open mind will convince anyone with half a brain that global warming is a criminal shakedown of historic proportions. Rather than go at the topic of global warming with hammer and tongs I will just briefly visit a few of its more popular talking points – simply to steer any interested readers in a profitable direction. The Science is Settled Balderdash! (My inner editor/censor instantly popped to attention at my initial, sadly deleted, remark and insisted on a quick fix). The science (and “science”) surrounding global warming, or climate change, or whatever the term du jour is, is NOT settled – it is, in fact, far from being settled. This is as good a place as any to point out that the word science does not possess the hard and fast definition that most of us think it does. There is a whole branch of philosophy that deals with just that question – what science is, and what it is not. This is a topic that is apt to induce a bout of narcolepsy in a number of my readers, so I will hurry on and wrap this segment up. Let me just say that if we accept a


Prompt: It’s presidential election season, so it’s obligatory for all candidates to talk about jobs. You have already heard a lot about jobs being lost to China and Mexico (a strong concern of Donald Trump), jobs being outsourced to low-wage countries or moved to tax havens (so-called “tax inversions” are a Hillary Clinton bugaboo), or jobs eliminated because of Obamacare or high minimum wages (a favorite Ted Cruz line). You won’t hear many of the points below, however, either because they are too positive, too subtle to capture in a sound bite, or too long-term to worry about now. But if

you want the truth about American jobs, you may want to keep reading rather than tuning into a presidential debate or stump speech. Times Are Good It’s hardly a bad time for jobs overall—official unemployment is at the lowest rate since 2008, and applications for unemployment insurance were at the lowest level since 1973. You won’t hear that from the Republican candidates, of course—the news is much too sanguine. If there’s a problem, it is with low labor force participation, which has dropped several percentage points over the last decade. As testimony before a Joint Economic Committee suggests, there are a variety of reasons for this, although an aging population is clearly part of the issue. The Lack of Middle Class Jobs Growing inequality is another big issue—the hallmark of Bernie Sanders’ campaign, and an issue that is occasionally even mentioned by Republican candidates. An overall lack of jobs is less of a problem for our economy, however, than the shortage of well-paying, middle class jobs. Many of the new jobs in the US over the last decade or two have been low-end service jobs—feeding, selling to, and taking care of our fellow Americans. These jobs don’t generally produce a lot of revenue or grow much in productivity, so it’s difficult for businesses to pay high wages to workers who perform them. And that situation isn’t going to change much no matter who is president. As a New York Times article points out, our economy is a service economy, and it’s been going in that direction for several decades now. Free Trade Isn’t the Problem There is little doubt that some of our well-paying manufacturing jobs have gone to places like Mexico and China. But recent trade deals aren’t the problem, capitalism is. For several centuries now, manufacturing has moved


Prompt: Get out of my way you bastards — A groggy Thank You note to Hunter S. Thompson Matthew Pike Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jul 13, 2017 Was it Mencken, or Faulkner? The fuck if I know… Hunter S. Thompson keeps bringing up this “high white noise” thing. To be honest, I never read the original piece, nor do I really intend to go find it — but it’s a king-hell bastard of a line. A truth chasing us from all directions. It’s that beautiful feeling you get when you’re lost in somebody’s words and you aren’t really aware you’re reading

words at all — that rarefied feeling of perfect immersion. You’re so involved — their syntax, vocab, style — all that bullshit… it doesn’t matter. The time between you and the writer is gone. You’re there with them. Then, if you’re an ambitious little fuck like me, you read back over their words a dozen times, trying to figure out the flow — the how of why they felt so damn good to read. What transition phrases did they use? Any sentence fragments in there? How did they start their sentences? By the time I’ve broken something down into its tiniest pieces and rebuilt it, I’m convinced that even I could write like that — but I won’t. What gibberish am I going on about here? Well… to steal another sliver of HST’s style, let’s put it this way: It’s 12:55am in a suburb of Saigon. I have a wall of empty 333 cans next to me, and I’ve spent the last half hour arguing with a Facebook troll for the mere enjoyment of it — no scores to settle, just for a laugh. There’s a dog barking outside, and a crowd of drunks just roared by on motorbikes with exhausts ten times louder than they need to be. I’ve been writing and editing all day… but what the hell? Stealing has to be a shitty way to live, and I don’t intend to start now. I tried… 12 years old… stood in front of a wall of Lego boxes for 45 minutes before shoving the cheapest one inside my jacket and hightailing it out of that little shop near Lake Ontario. Put it together in the basement, hiding away from Mom. She knew I couldn’t afford that Lego set. So I broke it into pieces and hid them with


Prompt: BENGALURU: In a windfall to legislators and ministers, both Houses of Karnataka legislature passed a bill on Monday gifting themselves a hike of roughly 75 per cent in their salaries and emoluments; which is reportedly the highest in the country till now.The exorbitant hike has been necessitated with the inclusion of some new categories of reimbursements. These include Rs 5,000 per night for each day of stay in a hotel with no fixed limits on the number of days as an allowance. In addition, they are also entitled for local transport of Rs 1,500 per day.The legislators only need to

produce bills and make a claim.According to the Karnataka Ministers’ Salaries and Allowances (Amendment) Bill, 2015, the cost to the exchequer from the hikes is about Rs 44 crore.The chief minister leads the race by hiking his salary from Rs 30,000 per month to Rs 50,000, while his cabinet ministers get a hike from Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000. Their sumptuary allowance (regulated personal expenditure) has been doubled from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh. A minister of state gets Rs 35,000 as salary against Rs 16,000, while the sumptuary allowance has been hiked from Rs 80,000 to Rs 2 lakh.Besides this, the CM and his ministers get hikes in the amount they spend on house rent, maintenance and travel allowances. The cost to exchequer for the CM and his ministers will be Rs 3.5 crore per annum. All these bills were passed without any discussion.Law minister T B Jayachandra, who piloted the bill, pegged the approximate additional expense to the state exchequer as Rs 44 crore per annum. The justification given in the bills for the increase in the salaries and reimbursements of the legislators is that 'there is a considerable increase in the cost of living.'The MLAs and MLCs have hiked their basic salary from Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000, telephone allowance from Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000, constituency allowance from Rs 15,000 to Rs 40,000, constituency travel allowance from Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000, signifying a total increase of Rs 50,000 per month in the amount that they get directly.In reimbursements, they get Rs 25 per km as travel allowance, with a daily per diem within the state of Rs 2,500. In addition to this, they get hotel stay and local travel expenses.The legislators have also made their future positions secure by giving themselves a pension


Prompt: Thousands of families are fleeing the rebel-held city of Idlib after the heaviest bombardment in months, coinciding with a separate increase in air strikes in Aleppo province. The developments come as Russia faces charges that its air strikes have killed dozens of civilians across Idlib province, including in an area near a hospital. Despite strenuous denials from Moscow, Turkey has called on the international community to rein in what it called Russia's growing military intervention in Syria. The bombardment is part of a government offensive to take Idlib city, the provincial capital in Syria's northwest, held by al-Nusra Front and

its allies since March last year. Al-Nusra Front is not party to a Russian- and US-brokered ceasefire that went into force on February 27 between government forces and moderate rebels. People and Power - Syria: Under Russia's Fist Russian air strikes targeted the city overnight, killing 23 civilians, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Tuesday. "The air strikes are the most intensive on Idlib since the beginning of the truce," SOHR's Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP news agency. SOHR said dozens of civilians were also wounded in the raids on Idlib. However, the Russian defence ministry has denied that its aircraft carried out any strikes on the city. "Russian aviation did not carry out any military operations, still less air strikes, in Idlib province," Igor Konashenkov, a military spokesperson, said in a statement. Fighting in the north At least 280,000 people have been killed and more than half of Syria's population have fled their homes since the conflict first erupted in 2011. In recent days, fighting has especially intensified along the country's northern border where the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group is targeting a strip of rebel territory. SOHR says thousands of civilians remain trapped there owing to the fighting. It said rebel groups in Azaz, in Aleppo province, tried to launch a counteroffensive on Tuesday but failed when ISIL blocked the attack with a suicide bomber, killing six. SOHR said ISIL swept towards the opposition strongholds of Marea and Azaz on Friday, forcing thousands of civilians to flee. Meanwhile, thousands of civilians are trapped in Marea and Sheikh Issa after Kurdish authorities closed the main road towards the autonomous Kurdish canton of Afrin to the west, according to the UN relief agency. "Due to the closure of


Prompt: Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption A look back at the life of Claire Rayner Tributes have been paid to agony aunt Claire Rayner, who has died at the age of 79. The award-winning journalist had remained poorly after intestinal surgery in May. She died in hospital near her home in Harrow in London. She told her relatives she wanted her last words to be: "Tell David Cameron that if he screws up my beloved NHS I'll come back and bloody haunt him." Her husband Des Rayner said he had lost his soul mate and best friend.

She worked for the Sun, Sunday Mirror and Woman's Own and was named medical journalist of the year in 1987. She also wrote a string of novels. Her restaurant critic son, Jay, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "She had been through a hell of a lot of health troubles over the last five months and some of us thought towards the end that she actually just wanted to give up. "But late on Sunday night, when things were looking a bit bleak, she was offered one last chance and I honestly thought she would say, 'No, just let me go,' and she didn't. "It was very much in the nature of her that she said, 'I will try the dialysis.' It didn't work, unfortunately. She had led an absolutely amazing life and I am very, very proud of her." Mrs Rayner, who had two other children - Amanda and Adam - and four grandchildren, will have a humanist funeral for family and close friends. A former nurse and midwife, for many years she was also president of the Patients Association. She was diagnosed with breast cancer at 70, but beat the illness. In 2006 she wrote about her experience on the BBC News website. Image caption Claire Rayner's son described her as an "agent provocateur" Her husband of 53 years, Des, said: "I have lost my best friend and my soul mate. I am immensely proud of her." Mr Rayner, who was also her agent and manager, said: "Through her work she helped hundreds of thousands of people and doubtless, by talking frankly about the importance of safe sex in the 80s when almost nobody else would discuss it, helped to save thousands of lives. "Right up until her death she was being consulted by both politicians and the


Prompt: Hey Language Learner: A short story for You Jeremy 제레미 Blocked Unblock Follow Following Sep 23, 2015 There are two people. The first person has lived on an apple farm their whole life and the second person has lived and stayed in the city since birth. The First has seen, in immense detail, how the trees grow from seed, to sapling, to tree, to fruit, and back to seed again. The Second has only really seen the fruit, perhaps a seed that has fallen out here and there. A lifetime of only observing the fruits of others’ labor has left

a lasting effect on the Second. It’s all about results. And with no knowledge of the process behind those results, inevitably it seems quite easy. But one day, the Second takes a bite out of an apple and a seed falls to the ground. That seed becomes an idea. “I’m going to grow an apple tree of my own!” the Second says. A month later, after finding a nice apple farm outside the city, the Second meets the First and they begin talking about apple trees. “This can’t be that hard,” says the Second, referring to the process of making apples, “I have plenty of seeds right here, I just have to put them in the ground and let them grow!” With a small half smile the First says, “It makes sense that you would see it that way, having lived in the city your whole life, only ever seeing the fruits of others’ labor. But I assure you, it is nowhere near that simple.” The Second quickly responded, “What do you mean? I guess you’re right, there must be other things you have to do. Watering and stuff… Right?” “Yes. There are many more things to do actually, more than just watering. One must plant the seeds at the proper depth, or they will die before becoming saplings. One must place them in the right setting, otherwise they won’t get the sun or nutrients they need. One must water them daily, otherwise they will wither away and will never yield fruit. But most of all, more than all of this, one must love their tree. Because without love, all of the time it takes to do all these tasks will seem like a chore. And if they seem like a chore then, well… you’ll probably start taking shortcuts or


Prompt: Before I get started, I want to point out that this article is aimed at pre-field graduate students and undergraduates, and that the context is working with American funding agencies. YMMV. As I mentioned in my previous blog, my dissertation research is supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSFGRFP) and the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship (FHDDRA). The former provides three years of funding that must be used in five years of graduate school. I can use it in place of a TA stipend while I’m on campus or I can use it during fieldwork. In my

case, I’ve opted to defer it while I’m in the field so that I can use the Fulbright-Hays, and then I’ll use it when I get back so that I don’t have to TA while I write-up. The proposal that I wrote for the NSFGRFP was submitted during my senior year in college, and I’m sorry to say that I can’t recall a particular process that I used to write it. For those looking for information on how to write a proposal for the NSFGRFP, there are some useful websites, guides, and resources on the internet, and you can read my dreadful proposal here. The FHDDRA is another – much longer – story. Start Early and Construct a Prototype The sociocultural curriculum at Washington University is designed with very specific goals in mind, perhaps none more important than “get your research funded.” So, while I would like to say that the Proposal Writing course that we are privileged to have at WashU was the most influential to my ability to win money, the process started before that. First, I consider the National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (NSFDDRIG) as a prototype, as it may be the longest and most comprehensive form of a dissertation research grant for sociocultural anthropologists. My proposal for the NSFDDRIG was ten pages, single-spaced, Times New Roman, 11pt font, justified, with one-inch margins on all sides. (Additionally, there was a four-page section of References Cited in the same format. I used the Chicago Manual of Style author-date citation.) That gives me an enormous amount of room to explain my project, and that’s important because proposal writing (for me) amounts to the spectre of my mentors watching as I write while incessantly asking, “Why is that important?” and “How do you know that?” The headers


Prompt: Buy Photo Civil rights leader Rev. H.K. Matthews. (Photo: John Blackie/jblackie@pnj.com)Buy Photo In 1974, five men from Atlanta came to Pensacola on a fishing trip and drowned in rough waters. That's the official summation of the deaths of the "Atlanta Five," and for some people it leaves much to be desired. For family members, civil rights leaders and academics, questions still abound. Why would five experienced fishermen be in a boat with no gear and without wearing life jackets? If the men were in the water for more than a week before being found, why were their bodies so well

preserved? Why do witness statements about the events leading up to the deaths seem inconsistent? Atlanta-based producer Edward Anderson will be in Pensacola next week attempting to tackle some of those questions. Anderson is filming a documentary about the Atlanta Five for the Storyline Group and SLG Media, and he is hoping his work will help provide five families the answers they've been seeking for the last 41 years. "They want to make it clear they are not happy with the results of the investigation," Anderson said of the decedents' families. "They would like to publicize what happened to their loved ones in the event someone will come forward with more information." Anderson said he got involved in the project after meeting Janice Holloway Cameron, the daughter of one of the Atlanta Five. The woman told him the story of how her father disappeared, how officials said he died and what she and many others believe actually happened. Lee Roy Holloway, Robert Walker, Marvin Walker, John Sterling and Lonnie Merritt, all black men, reportedly left Atlanta around 7:30 p.m., Nov. 29, 1974, for a fishing trip to Pensacola. It was an excursion they had reportedly made several times during a 20-year-span. At about 10 a.m. the next day, Robert Walker’s son was informed his father’s boat had been found abandoned in the Santa Rosa Sound. Reportedly, the anchor line had been cut, life preservers were in the boat and the key was still in the ignition. The men’s food, ice, fishing gear and bait were found in a nearby camper. The U.S. Coast Guard and the Sheriff’s Office performed a search of the area, but the men were not located and the search was discontinued. Their families requested assistance from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the civil rights group founded


Prompt: Imagine what Toronto would look like if we had put librarians in charge of running the place a long time ago. Librarians would not have allowed a car-crazed condo-tower gold rush to crush the city. Librarians would integrate everyone regardless of age or background into a healthy, well-fed, multilingual, vibrant society. Too bad. Stupidity rules. And stupidity says penalize the Toronto Public Library system for achieving the world-class status that otherwise eludes this Titanic town. Sure enough, this year's proposed budget includes a 10 per cent funding cut to the TPL, despite the fact that more people visit libraries here

than in any city in North America - or anywhere, I'd say, though they don't. Nineteen million a year. It's a freezing Sunday afternoon, November 24, and I give up counting; every possible seat in the council chambers is taken by the overflow crowd of library supporters. A hot Dixieland band distracts from the lack of any apparent heating other than human. Maureen O'Reilly, president of the 2,300-strong Toronto Public Library Workers Union Local 4948, chairs the meeting. She introduces her 87-year-old mother, who's sitting comfortably in the mayor's chair. Balloons and books for children are upstairs in the councillors' lounge. The library system no longer has a recognized classification of children's librarian any more. Young people are criminalized while penny-pinching perpetrates this immeasurable crime against youth. Pennies are no longer in use except when it comes to libraries. When amalgamation was forced on Toronto in 1998, libraries got just over 2 cents' worth of every budget dollar. Since then, the amount has decreased. Acquisitions, staffing, access and buildings have all suffered. This rescue meeting proposes restoration and reinvestment to the tune of 4 cents a day per resident. Over the last 20 years, there's been a 44 per cent increase in library usage while the 98-library system has absorbed more than $800 million in cumulative cuts. The most popular thing in town survives on an annual allowance of just $169 million as the blank cheque handed to police careens toward the billion-dollar mark. As usual, it's up to the book-reading/immigrant/women and children elites to kick up a fuss. Fortunately, our librarians are prepared. We watch a short fact-packed film by animators James Braithwaite and Josh Raskin celebrating our book centres as part of "intellectual infrastructure." Tricia Hennessy of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives calls Canada a "safe haven


Prompt: The Fog (1980) [Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray] Director: John Carpenter Cast: Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis,Tom Atkins, Hal Holbrook Release Date: Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray & DVD Available On July 30 A Review By: Kevin Lovell Film Rating: 8.5/10 Disc Rating: 10/10 Plot Summary: A Northern California fishing town, built 100 years ago over an old leper colony, becomes shrouded by a killer fog containing zombie-like ghosts seeking revenge for their deaths. Believe it or not, I had never seen John Carpenters classic ‘The Fog’ until now, but I must say this Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray release from Shout Factory’s Scream Factory division

was quite a wonderful way to view this film for the first time and I must also say I loved it. This is a truly fantastic movie and every aspect of it is done right with that famous John Carpenter style. Great casting, some wonderfully creepy moments and yet another phenomenal soundtrack by John Carpenter, who’s music I truly feel is one of the most noteworthy aspects of a lot of his films, and ‘The Fog’ is certainly no exception in that department. The tone of the film is wonderful, the directing spot on, and the story (written by John Carpenter & Debra Hill) is very well crafted. The performances are well done all across the board. We are treated with the likes of Adrienne Barbeau as a radio DJ who is determined to get to the bottom of this strange fog, and keeps the town informed of occurring events via her radio station in which she both owns and is the sole online personality of. Tom Atkins and Jamie Lee Curtis are together for the majority of the story and work quite well together. Let’s all not forget that this was done just a few years after Curtis worked with Carpenter on ‘Halloween’ and was establishing herself as one of that generations ‘Scream Queens’ and it’s no wonder he chose to work with her again. Probably the most noteworthy performance of the film in my opinion is that of Hal Holbrook who portrays the role of Father Malone and does a truly phenomenal job of bringing this character to life. While I am new to this film, I would assume I can’t be the only one who feels what a noteworthy character this is. Now, as far as this new Collector’s Edition from Shout Factory is concerned, prepare to


Prompt: Stevie Wonder will cancel his scheduled appearance at a US fundraiser for "friends" of the Israeli military after facing flack from pro-Palestinian activists, JTA reported Wednesday. Just days after Israel's offensive in Gaza, it was announced this week that the singer was due to perform at this year's Friends of the Israel Defense Forces benefit, which takes place in Los Angeles on Dec. 6. Grammy-winning producer and composer David Foster was scheduled to conduct an orchestra to accompany the headliner, according to Arutz Sheva. It is unclear who might now replace the R&B legend as the fundraiser's main attraction. JTA

wrote of Wonder's reported change of heart: "Wonder’s representatives will claim that he did not know the nature of the group, the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, and that he believes such a performance would be incongruent with his status as a UN “Messenger of Peace,” according to a source who has read email exchanges between Wonder’s representatives and organizers of the event." With tickets listed at $1,000 a head, the event is expected to raise millions of dollars for FIDF (one recent gala in New York raised $26 million, Ynet News reported). The US-based organization describes its mission as helping to support "educational, social, cultural, and recreational programs and facilities for the young men and women soldiers of Israel who defend the Jewish homeland," as well as fallen soldiers' families. The proceeds from the LA concert will go to the Negev Wellbeing and Educational Centers, an FIDF project to build sports facilities, a library and synagogues on the IDF's new training campus in the Negev desert. The event's co-host, billionaire TV and movie producer Haim Saban, described it to Ynet as "our opportunity to thank the soldiers who defend the state." The soldiers defended it most recently in Operation Pillar of Defense, the week-long offensive in Gaza that killed over 150 Palestinians, more than 100 of them civilians. Six Israelis died, four civilians and two soldiers. The timing hasn't been lost on activists, who questioned why Stevie would have chosen now to befriend the IDF. More than 4,000 people signed an online petition asking Wonder not to perform, "as a conscientious American advocate for human rights and dignity." The petition, hosted by Change.org, compares Israel to South Africa in the time of apartheid, which Wonder himself was arrested for protesting in 1985. Check out the photo gallery above


Prompt: When Sept. 11, 2001, dawned, the Northeast Air Defense Sector in Rome, N.Y., went on full alert — to prepare for a training exercise that envisioned a sneak attack by Russian planes flying over the North Pole to bomb the United States, a prospect that Defense Secretary Robert McNamara had dismissed as outdated in 1966. Later that morning, after American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 had hit the World Trade Center and American Airlines Flight 77 the Pentagon, three F-16 fighter jets were scrambled from Langley Air Force Base to form a combat air patrol over Washington.

But degraded radio transmission quality meant that the pilots were left clueless about the nature of their mission. On seeing the Pentagon in flames, the lead fighter pilot later explained, “I reverted to the Russian threat. . . . I’m thinking cruise missile threat from the sea. You know, you look down and see the Pentagon burning, and I thought the bastards snuck one by us. . . . You couldn’t see any airplanes, and no one told us anything.” For all the trillions of dollars lavished on it, for all the talk about confronting new security threats, for all the exhortations to reinvent government, America’s defense establishment, as John Farmer reminds us in “The Ground Truth,” continued to fight the cold war more than a decade after it had ended. Preoccupied with building a costly missile defense system to counter a spurious menace from Russia and with maintaining “full spectrum dominance” over the rest of the globe, most Bush administration officials blithely ignored the danger emanating from the caves of Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden and his acolytes plotted against America. Confronted by a small group of mostly Saudi nationals armed with box cutters, the central nervous system of the country’s defense agencies went into a state of cataleptic shock. The only decisive action taken on 9/11 came not from the military, but from the courageous passengers who stormed the cockpit of United Airlines Flight 93, leading the hijackers to crash the plane over Pennsylvania farmland before it could reach its intended target in Washington. As senior counsel to the 9/11 Commission, Farmer, who was the attorney general of New Jersey and is the dean of the Rutgers School of Law, investigated the derelict conduct of the national security apparatus. He was well prepared to do so. In their


Prompt: Story highlights Carl Safina: Presidential candidates afraid to talk of impact of climate change Sandy may be first storm that could change an ongoing presidential campaign, he says Federal flood insurance enables development in environmentally threatened areas, he says Safina: We've had warnings before, but haven't acted to deal with rising sea level In three debates by the presidential candidates and one by the vice-presidential hopefuls, no one could bring himself to utter the words "climate change." Hurricane Sandy said what all four White House contenders were afraid to say. I've heard that some voters are undecided. Watching the debates,

I became undecided over what's worse: Republicans, who not only don't acknowledge reality, but who genuinely seem not to believe reality. Or Democrats, cowed into silence on issues of enormous importance like climate change and its solution: clean renewable energy. Sandy said things no candidate in America could voice without blowing away their own political career. She said: "Enough! Wake up. Take a reality check. And if you don't get it, it will get you; then you'll get it." Carl Safina Now, we got it. Sandy is probably the first storm to change an ongoing presidential campaign . Katrina changed the shape of a campaign to come, contributing significantly to George W. Bush's unpopularity and tarnishing his legacy ("Heckuva job, Brownie") with lingering images of unpreparedness. But unpreparedness requires, one might say, quite a lot of preparation. We build in places prone to flooding. We do that largely because subsidies encourage it. Federal flood insurance is a way the entire country subsidizes building and rebuilding in places destined for repeated hits. We rely on overhead lines to bring electricity, lines vulnerable to falling trees. And when they fall, we put them right back. Underground lines are more expensive. But if you have to keep repairing the overhead lines... We've created coastal bowling-pin communities; we set 'em up and the weather takes 'em down. I live in one. I'm guilty. In my defense, I'll claim entrapment, because I have federal flood insurance. You made me do it. So I just want to take this opportunity to thank you. But I'd like to also tell you, it's OK with me if you withdraw your generosity. In fact it would be better if you did. You help make us lazy. And by us, I mean millions of people living along the coast, whistling


Prompt: Victoria’s forest management policies need to be urgently reviewed in response to the discovery that logging can contribute to the severity of bushfires in wet forests, like the devastating fires on Black Saturday in February 2009. Our recent study, based on data from areas that burned on Black Saturday, clearly shows how extensive logging can increase the severity of bushfires in mountain ash forests. We found that the risk of “crown” fires, which burn severely and spread rapidly through the forest canopy, is greatest in mountain ash forests that have been regrowing for about 15 years. Before the 2009 fires,

these young trees were established following clearfell logging. The Victorian government will review its forest management policies in the coming months and we encourage it to consider our findings. Forests and fires Mountain ash trees, which can grow higher than 100 metres, are restricted to high-rainfall zones of Victoria: the Central Highlands north and east of Melbourne, the Strzelecki Ranges of South Gippsland, and the Otway Ranges in the state’s southwest. Some of these forests are up to 500 years old. They can be very complex in their structure, with trees of varying ages that regenerate from seeds after infrequent and sometimes intense fires. The forests have also been a major logging resource since the 1930s. We studied about 10,000 sites in the Central Highlands mountain ash forest that burned on February 7 2009, spread over two regions 56 kilometres apart. These regions had similar stand ages, topography and burned at the same time of day. This allowed us to look at the variables that influence fire severity. As expected, most of the severe fire occurred when the fire weather was extreme, both before and after the late afternoon wind change. However, patterns of fire severity during this time were variable. We tested for several environmental factors that could influence these patterns, including slope and aspect, but found that the tree age had by far the greatest influence on fire severity. The most severe fires, which consume the crowns of the trees, were most prominent in mountain ash trees aged between seven and 36 years of age, with a peak around 15 years. Virtually all trees under seven years of age did not sustain crown fires and crown fires were infrequent (around 10% of forest area) in trees up to 300 years old. Taylor et al. 2014 Changing risks Crown


Prompt: T-Mobile is capping off the first calendar year of its Uncarrier strategy with a quarter of more customer additions than it's seen in years. The carrier says in its Q4 2013 results that it now serves 46.7 million customers, an increase of over 13 million year-over-year. This quarter alone it saw the addition of 869,000 postpaid customers — a major shift from losing 515,000 postpaid customers this quarter last year. T-Mobile says it hasn't done this well on postpaid since 2005. More customers, more losses But despite the gain in customers, T-Mobile continues to take a hit on overall earnings,

posting a loss of $20 million, compared to a loss of $8 million from the prior year's quarter. In part, that's because T-Mobile has begun spending more money in order to get new customers — a cost up 40 percent year-over-year — and it's ultimately seeing less revenue from some of the most valuable ones. Average revenue per user for postpaid dropped around 9.4 percent from this quarter last year, lending to the increased losses. Revenue for the quarter was up, though how much depends on whether you factor in MetroPCS, which has been folded into the company since this time last year. Including MetroPCS, T-Mobile saw revenues leap to $6.83 billion for Q4 from $4.9 billion the prior year; without MetroPCS, it still sees a 10 percent improvement on the back of strong equipment sales. Smartphones in particular soared this quarter, with T-Mobile selling 6.2 million units during Q4 2013, up from just 2.8 million in the prior year's quarter. In a statement, T-Mobile CEO John Legere says that its fourth quarter numbers prove the company's new strategy is working. "Customers are fed up with the old ways and are voting in favor of choice, innovation and doing business with a company that cares about them and is willing to earn their business," Legere said. Earning their business is continuing to come at a cost, but for T-Mobile, that appears to be a cost worth bearing as it begins to improve its services and gain attention in the market. Update: In a conference call discussing its quarterly earnings, members of T-Mobile's executive team expressed a positive outlook on the company's ability to turn its newfound growth into profitability as it moves forward, though they acknowledged that costs involved with its Uncarrier initiatives may not turn around immediately. Some of


Prompt: Overview (3) Mini Bio (1) Widely regarded as one of greatest stage and screen actors, both in his native Great Britain and internationally, twice nominated for the Oscar and recipient of every major theatrical award in UK and US, Ian Murray McKellen was born on May 25, 1939 in Burnley, Lancashire, England, to Margery Lois (Sutcliffe) and Denis Murray McKellen, a civil engineer. He is of Scottish, Northern Irish, and English descent. During his early childhood, his parents moved with Ian and his sister Jean to the mill town of Wigan. It was in this small town that young Ian

rode out World War II. He soon developed a fascination with acting and the theater, which was encouraged by his parents. They would take him to plays, those by William Shakespeare, in particular. The amateur school productions fostered Ian's growing passion for theatre. When Ian was of age to begin attending school, he made sure to get roles in all of the productions. At Bolton School in particular, he developed his skills early on. Indeed, his first role in a Shakespearian play was at Bolton, as Malvolio in "Twelfth Night". Ian soon began attending Stratford-upon-Avon theater festivals, where he saw the greats perform: Laurence Olivier, Wendy Hiller, John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson and Paul Robeson. He continued his education in English Drama, but soon it fell by the wayside as he concentrated more and more on performing. He eventually obtained his Bachelor of Arts in 1961, and began his career in earnest. McKellen began working in theatre over the next few years. Very few people knew of Ian's homosexuality; he saw no reason to go public, nor had he told his family. They did not seem interested in the subject and so he saw no reason to bring it up. In 1988, Ian publicly came out of the closet on the BBC Radio 4 program, while discussing Margaret Thatcher's "Section 28" legislation, which made the promotion of homosexuality as a family relationship by local authorities an offense. It was reason enough for McKellen to take a stand. He has been active in the gay rights movement ever since. Ian resides in Limehouse, where he has also lived with his former long-time partner Sean Mathias. The two men have also worked together on the film Bent (1997) as well as in acclaimed stage productions. To this day, McKellen works mostly in theater,


Prompt: CAMBRIDGE Mass. (Reuters) - Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said he was “disappointed” at Serbian officials’ comments following a drone stunt at a soccer match this week but vowed on Thursday to push ahead with plans to meet his counterpart in Belgrade next week. Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama is interviewed by Reuters at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts October 16, 2014. REUTERS/Brian Snyder Relations between the two countries have been tense since a Tuesday incident in which a drone bearing a flag representing “Greater Albania,” an area covering all parts of the

Balkans where ethnic Albanians live, flew over a major soccer match between the Albanian and Serbian teams, prompting a brawl on the field and the cancellation of the game. Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic earlier on Thursday claimed the incident showed that Albania was “not mature enough” to join the European community. “We feel really sad and we feel really disappointed about what happened and about how Serbian authorities are reacting. It’s unbelievable,” Rama said in an interview with Reuters. But he said he would not allow the remarks, or claims by Serbian officials that his brother had been responsible for the drone, to derail his plans to visit the Serbian capital on Oct. 22, in what would be the first visit to that city by an Albanian leader in almost 70 years. “We should not be driven by this kind of politics of the past and hatred of the past. We should not be driven by what happened at a soccer game,” Rama said ahead of a speech at Harvard University, just outside Boston. “I am very determined to go ahead.” The Albanian team fled the field at Tuesday’s match, held in the run-up to the Euro 2016 championships. Riot police were called in to disperse the crowd. Rama noted that, in an effort to avoid any violent outbursts, Albania had sent no fans to the game other than a contingent of 45 dignitaries including his brother. The group was searched carefully by Serbian authorities, he added. “I don’t see how someone could have brought in a drone or a flag when even scarves with Albanian symbols were not allowed to enter the stadium,” Rama said. “It’s clear that the flying object came from out of the stadium.” He also asked why media accounts to the game played down


Prompt: TORONTO – When playoff time comes, the smallest margins can have major impacts. Toronto FC head into the first leg of the Eastern Conference Championship with the aim of extending their 2016 Audi MLS Cup Playoff run. Standing in their way are a familiar foe: Montreal Impact. The Canadian rivals are well acquainted, having played some eight times over the past calendar year, but Tuesday's game (8 pm ET, TSN1/3, RDS in Canada | ESPN in US) brings a new wrinkle into the occasion, as the match will be played at Olympic Stadium, also known as the "Big O." Compared

to Stade Saputo, the massive Big O, poses a unique challenge, foremost in the mind is, of course, the surface. Where Saputo houses a fine grass pitch, the Big O's is artificial turf. “It's going to be different,” said Toronto FC midfielder Jonathan Osorio last week. “...Both teams are going to play on it; it's going to be a level playing field. A couple of things will be different, but we'll just have to adjust.” “Usually these turf field are fast, they're bouncy,” remarked head coach Greg Vanney. “The game has a hard time settling down because the ball doesn't settle. It's a different type of game, we have to be ready for anything. You have to be switched on, ready for a game that could be high energy; the ball will be fast, the intensity will be there no question.” As a club, TFC are no strangers to the Big O. They have played there three times, twice in the league and once in the Amway Canadian Championship – both MLS matches ended in 2-1 losses, while the cup match was a 0-0 affair – but the last time was back in 2013. Osorio and defender Ashtone Morgan are the lone Toronto holdovers from that time. “Turf is just one factor,” reiterated Vanney at a subsequent media session last week. “If they train on it, maybe they get an advantage, but the game comes down to who can execute in key moments and who is aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition, and who can deal with it.” Another consideration that must factor into the calculus is that this is only the first leg. With the second game at BMO Field, will TFC look to play shutdown soccer away, or aim to secure an advantage to take


Prompt: Professor Fired for Catholic Beliefs? The Fox News headline "University of Illinois Instructor Fired Over Catholic Beliefs" is grossly misleading. James Joyner · · 22 comments A Fox News headline* blaring “University of Illinois Instructor Fired Over Catholic Beliefs” is grossly misleading. The University of Illinois has fired an adjunct professor who taught courses on Catholicism after a student accused the instructor of engaging in hate speech by saying he agrees with the church’s teaching that homosexual sex is immoral. The professor, Ken Howell of Champaign, said his firing violates his academic freedom. He also lost his job at an

on-campus Catholic center. Howell, who taught Introduction to Catholicism and Modern Catholic Thought, says he was fired at the end of the spring semester after sending an e-mail explaining some Catholic beliefs to his students preparing for an exam. “Natural Moral Law says that Morality must be a response to REALITY,” he wrote in the e-mail. “In other words, sexual acts are only appropriate for people who are complementary, not the same.” An unidentified student sent an e-mail to religion department head Robert McKim on May 13, calling Howell’s e-mail “hate speech.” The student claimed to be a friend of the offended student. The writer said in the e-mail that his friend wanted to remain anonymous. “Teaching a student about the tenets of a religion is one thing,” the student wrote. “Declaring that homosexual acts violate the natural laws of man is another.” Howell said he was teaching his students about the Catholic understanding of natural moral law. “My responsibility on teaching a class on Catholicism is to teach what the Catholic Church teaches,” Howell said in an interview with The News-Gazette in Champaign. “I have always made it very, very clear to my students they are never required to believe what I’m teaching and they’ll never be judged on that.” Howell also said he makes clear to his students that he’s Catholic and that he believes the church views that he teaches. […] In an e-mail to other school staff, Ann Mester, an associate dean at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said Howell’s e-mail justified his firing. “The e-mails sent by Dr. Howell violate university standards of inclusivity, which would then entitle us to have him discontinue his teaching arrangement with us,” Mester wrote. Cary Nelson, president of the American Association of University Professors, said professors should


Prompt: FDA approves deadly drug … even after debating its ‘effectiveness’ It is often difficult to understand why government bureaucracies do some of the things they do, and obviously that includes the Food and Drug Administration, the agency responsible for approving some of the most dangerous drugs ever marketed. In fact, the agency may just have done so again. As reported by medical website STAT, the FDA’s chief, Dr. Robert Califf, wants a study about a Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug called eteplirsen retracted because he believes it was misleading. The problem is, the drug has already been approved. Developed by Sarepta

Therapeutics, the drug is the first to be approved for the rare genetic disease which leads to a steady erosion and wasting of muscles that eventually consigns boys to wheelchairs and an early grave. STAT reports that Duchenne was approved in spite of often rancorous disagreement out of the limelight among top FDA officials regarding the extent that the drug actually helps patients. Central to the infighting was a 2013 study into whether the drug was able to produce levels of a protein called dystrophin in sufficient amounts. Without that protein, muscle fibers deteriorate and voluntary movement disappears. The study, which of course was funded by the drug maker and co-authored by four of the pharmaceutical’s employees, found that the medicine produced enough dystrophin and allowed affected boys some ability to walk. But Califf sided with a pair of FDA officials who also believe that the study, which was published in the journal Annals of Neurology, should be pulled. “The publication, now known to be misleading, should probably be retracted by its authors,” Califf wrote in a memo, in which he touched on the internal dispute within his agency. “In view of the scientific deficiencies identified in this analysis, I believe it would be appropriate to initiate a dialogue that would lead to a formal correction or retraction (as appropriate) of the published report,” the agency chief added in a footnote. The disagreement was initiated in large part by various moves made by Dr. Janet Woodcock, the controversial manager of the FDA’s drug review division, who pushed hard for the approval of the Sarepta drug. Though she reportedly had concerns about the study, she also argued with other agency officials who did not agree with her decision to approve the drug, as well the manner in which she advocated on


Prompt: Knoji reviews products and up-and-coming brands we think you'll love. In certain cases, we may receive a commission from brands mentioned in our guides. Learn more. When the Scientific Revolution began to disprove past ideals and new ideas were shown to the masses, many Europeans experienced trepidation. Despite the advances in science and the efforts of the scientists of the sixteenth and seventeenth century to demonstrate that the world and universe were governed by discernible laws, the Scientific Revolution had little impact on the everyday lives and thoughts of the mass of European citizens. Despite the breakthroughs made in astronomy

and physics, most Europeans retained a belief in astrology, mystical processes, ghosts, and magic. German princes often relied on court astrologers as their closest advisers. Indeed, even Johannes Kepler sought to confirm the power of astrology with the results of his work, though he proved unable to do so. Advances in medical theory that proved that there were serious misconceptions about the human body, however many Europeans widely adhered to previous beliefs set forth by Galen. Galen's theory that the human body contained four major fluids--blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm - and that if one of the four fluids were present in too little or too great an amount, predictable illness would result. The most widely experienced materialization of this theory was the use of leeches in the act of bloodletting, Galen's hypothesis that the body had two blood systems and diseases could be cured by looking deeper into the four humors in the body proved to be grossly erroneous, however the Galen principles were still strictly adhered to in medical schools. Europeans had often turned to the church for guidance, and so it seems, the church was able to tell people what to belief. When the discoveries of the Scientific Revolution overturned the tenets of traditional belief systems were only gradually accepted by the general population, and were often rejected by those who found their traditional beliefs easier to comprehend. To put it plainly, Europeans did not want to complicate their lives by thinking outside the realm of what they had been taught in the church. The common people had traditions of thinking and a belief system that that made their living situation stable and their quality of life was almost commonplace. The Scientific Revolution would single-handed prove that their goals or traditions were no longer valid,


Prompt: Novel batteries for storing solar and wind energy have gotten a lot of attention from researchers and investors, but they can’t do their job without software that tells them when and how much energy to charge and discharge. A startup called Growing Energy Labs Inc. is developing an operating system that will give a battery system the brain to perform its tasks, and the company plans to launch a beta version of the software in a few weeks. An operating system to manage batteries would work much like an operating system for your computer or cell phone: it coordinates the

communications between the hardware and the apps to make sure the various programs, such as those for taking photos and browsing the Internet in the case of cell phones, are running well and do not interfere with each other. “It’s like a computer for energy or energy computer,” said Ryan Wartena, founder and CEO of Growing Energy Labs (which he also refers to as GELI), about his company’s technology. Wartena started GELI in 2010 to tackle the emerging markets of storing renewable energy such as solar power and for managing electric car charging. The idea is to come up with ways to put networking and communication technologies, including the use of Internet, into running a battery system. GELI would make money from licensing the software. Over half of the states now require their utilities to buy an increasing amount of renewable energy, but wind and solar power plants in particular don’t generate electricity steadily around the clock like coal or natural gas power plants can. As a result, utilities have to figure out how to balance the supply with the demand when the supply might fall short or exceed the need at any given time of the day. Using batteries to bank solar and wind energy and releasing it when there is demand for it seem to be a good answer. A good battery system needs an operating system to manage the communications between the battery and the inverter and to respond to a utility’s command for when, how fast and how much to dispatch the energy stored in the battery. An inverter converts the direct current from the battery into the alternating current for feeding the grid. Utilities aren’t alone in considering batteries for energy storage. Consumers and businesses who have solar panels on their rooftops might want batteries


Prompt: Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning talks with reporters during a news conference in Jersey City, N.J. The Seattle Seahawks play the Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Jan. 30, 2014 Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning talks with reporters during a news conference in Jersey City, N.J. The Seattle Seahawks play the Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. AP New York and New Jersey are gearing up for Sunday, when the Seattle Seahawks will play the Denver Broncos in East Rutherford, N.J. New York and

New Jersey are gearing up for Sunday, when the Seattle Seahawks will play the Denver Broncos in East Rutherford, N.J. New York and New Jersey are gearing up for Sunday, when the Seattle Seahawks will play the Denver Broncos in East Rutherford, N.J. The first time George Toma did this job, some 47 years ago, he ran out of paint for the yard lines and had to borrow some from a nearby ice rink. Then there was the time three years later when a flood turned the grass brown, so Toma covered it in wood shavings and painted them green. A similar solution was necessary 15 years ago, when the band KISS’s fire cannon burned a 30-by-30-foot patch of the field during a halftime show rehearsal. The 48th Super Bowl will be played here Sunday, Toma’s 85th birthday, and he has been the head groundskeeper for all of them. When Sunday’s game kicks off at 6:30 p.m., Toma and his crew must make sure each of MetLife Stadium’s 1.4 billion blades of synthetic grass form an appropriate canvas for the country’s biggest one-day sporting event. “I’m just nobody,” he says. “But I appreciate a good field.” That’s why he arranged for giant rental tents, each of them outfitted with heaters, to place over both end zones and at midfield while painters worked to emblazon team and game logos. See, this is the first outdoor Super Bowl in a cold-weather city, and if the field freezes, the paint won’t hold. “We can’t do nothing about the weather,” he says now, learning long ago that it’s how he and his crew react that makes the difference. “But we prepare for everything.” That’s why Toma has been here since Jan. 13, trying to anticipate and avoid problems the way he has for this


Prompt: (Steven Nelson for USN&WR) Approximately 100 conservative activists gathered in front of the White House on Tuesday for a kickoff of what organizers call "the second American revolution." The event could easily have been mistaken for a tea party rally, with American and Gadsden flags, a smattering of biker jackets and a few lawn chairs. Freedom Watch founder Larry Klayman, who emceed the event, told attendees if President Barack Obama does not resign by Nov. 29, conservative activists will meet in Philadelphia to elect a shadow government. "We've got God on our side," Klayman said. "He's going to make sure

we win this revolution." The so-called revolution will be nonviolent, he said. Klayman is suing the Obama administration in a bid to end the National Security Agency's phone and Internet surveillance programs. He said at the rally that Obama "has broken into 300 million homes" with the programs. "In the end [Obama] will feel the force of the American people, just like King George did," he said to applause. The forthcoming convention in Philadelphia, Klayman said, will be organized within the next several weeks. A so-called "government in waiting" will be elected there, including a president, representatives and a cabinet, he said. Nearly all speakers invoked their Christian faith to condemn Obama. Bishop Dan Johnson of the Heart of Fire Church in Louisville, Ky., prayed with ralliers, asking God to "cause [elected officials] to get on their knees, not to Allah, but to God almighty." In his prayer, Johnson denounced homosexuality, permissive parenting, pornography and welfare. Former Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., told the crowd Obama should be impeached. Barr spearheaded the successful impeachment campaign against President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. "We have a scoundrel living in that building," Barr said, pointing at the White House, "and need to do something about it." Barr was the Libertarian Party's 2008 presidential candidate and is currently running for a U.S. House seat. Other speakers included WND editor Joseph Farah, 2004 Constitution Party presidential candidate Michael Peroutka and retired U.S. Navy Adm. James Lyons. Belinda Bee, a principal organizer of the Sept. 11, 2013, motorcycle convoy into Washington, D.C., also attended. A George Washington impersonator read from the stage a revised Declaration of Independence composed by organizers. "Mister Obama and his collaborators," the man declared, should be personally responsible for the national debt. The new declaration says Obama must "immediately step down from


Prompt: This week, like much of July, a heat wave is cooking America with extreme temperatures, affecting energy production as well as causing fires and water shortages, sucking electricity like crazy to power the cooling necessary to avoid discomfort and even death. According to the National Weather Service, 122 million Americans are under heat alerts. Fortunately, nuclear power hasn’t minded, scoring record capacity factors of 96% and up with no increase in price. Other energy sources do not fare so well. It’s all about diversity. Whether in biology, in culture, in training, or in technology, when conditions change a system survives

if there is sufficient diversity to adapt. Otherwise it dies. This is no less true for electricity production. Having a diverse group of energy systems is key to a society surviving changes in demographics and changes in government, geological processes and natural disasters, disruption in supplies from war, or extreme weather changes. This concept is in full display this month as this heat wave continues to sweep across America. Just like during the polar vortex, when nuclear stepped up to relieve natural gas and coal when they failed to deliver on the demand, nuclear also performs wonderfully during extreme weather at the other end of the thermometer. This kind of constant baseload power during the hottest part of the day is essential to keep our air conditioning going and for stabilizing the grid against blackouts. Nuclear plants are the backbone of the electricity grid, operating all the time even under the most extreme weather conditions. Unfortunately, much of the electricity needed to combat this heat wave is concentrated during peak hours of the afternoon when wind turbines are not turning (see figure 2). Instead, peaker plants have to come online. Peaker plants operate only to make up the difference between base load and peak load (see figure 3). Our current energy grid makes these plants necessary, but they come at a steep price. Peaker plants are usually natural gas, but can also use coal, jet fuel, oil and diesel. In Washington State, hydropower serves as the peaker in a different way. Peakers usually run for short periods of time and so are less efficient and dirtier than conventional base load fossil fuel plants. Though natural gas is certainly cleaner than coal, natural gas does have some environmental issues from fracking, to pipelines, to fugitive emissions of methane. And lots of


Prompt: Introduction On Feb. 1, 2017, the United States led Coalition was accused by local activists and journalists that it had bombed the headquarters of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) located in the Carlton Hotel in the city of Idlib, Syria. Photos and videos allegedly showing the bombed headquarters quickly emerged online. This open source investigation aims to verify the various claims made surrounding this incident. Content Summary Claims Methodology Open Sources Findings Summary Based on open source research, it can be confirmed that the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) utilised the Carlton Hotel in Idlib city as a headquarters.

It can also be confirmed that the Carlton Hotel was recently severely damaged. The US-led Coalition was accused of conducting an airstrike on the building in the early morning of Feb. 1, killing one SARC member, but the Coalition denies any involvement. Neither the exact date of the attack nor the perpetrator can be established based on open sources. What can be observed, however, is that a bomb appears to have pierced at least four floors before detonating. Claims The following claims are circulating on social media: One or more airstrikes conducted by the US-led Coalition destroyed a part of the Carlton Hotel in Idlib city. The Carlton Hotel was used by the SARC as headquarters. This open source investigation aims to verify those claims by answering the following questions: Is there a Carlton Hotel in Idlib city? Was the Carlton Hotel in Idlib was used by the SARC as headquarters? Was the Carlton Hotel in Idlib was bombed? If so, was it bombed by the US(-led Coalition)? Methodology The investigation uses only openly available sources on the Internet. In addition, a request to comment on this incident and the accusation was sent to the Coalition’s public affairs office. Sources were found by, for example, searches on social media using certain keywords of internet. One can think of a search on ‘Red Crescent Idlib’ in Arabic: “الهلال الأحمرادلب”. These social media include Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram. After the exact location of the incident was found, the coordinates have been used to conduct location-based searches in a 2-km radius on those same social networks. Reference photos have been found via geotagged pictures on Panoramio. All YouTube videos have been checked for the date and potential other, earlier uploads using Amnesty International’s YouTube Data Viewer, and images Google’s reverse image search


Prompt: MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia’s postal service was hit by Wannacry ransomware last week and some of its computers are still down, three employees in Moscow said, the latest sign of weaknesses that have made the country a major victim of the global extortion campaign. A man walks out of a branch of Russian Post in Moscow, Russia, May 24, 2017. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov Wannacry compromised the post office’s automated queue management system, infecting touch-screen terminals which run on the outdated Windows XP operating system, one of the workers said. Terminals were still blank in some parts of Moscow this week but

it was not clear exactly how many branches had been affected. A spokesman for Russian Post, a state-owned monopoly, said no computers were infected, but some terminals were temporarily switched off as a precaution. “The virus attack did not touch Russian Post, all systems are working and stable,” he said. Other institutions in Russia have said they were infected by the virus, highlighting Moscow’s readiness to show it too is a frequent victim of cyber crime in the face of allegations from the United States and Europe of state-sponsored hacking. The Interior Ministry, mobile operator MegaFon (MFON.MM) and state rail monopoly Russian Railways all reported infections, with employees locked out of their computers and the creators of the virus demanding ransoms of $300 to $600. The Russian central bank said on Friday the virus had also compromised some Russian banks in isolated cases. That the infected post office terminals ran on Windows XP - which Microsoft stopped supporting in 2014 - points to the widespread use of outdated software in Russia, which experts say left the country disproportionately vulnerable to the attack. Of 300,000 computers infected worldwide, 20 percent were in Russia, according to an initial estimate by cybersecurity researchers last week. Globally, few ransoms have been paid after many victims found they could restore their systems from backups. The post office outages also illustrate what investigators say is a common misconception about Wannacry: infected computers are more likely to be part of antiquated systems not deemed important enough to update with the latest security patches, rather than machines integral to the company’s core business. “Many companies in Russia use outdated unpatched systems and older anti-malware solutions,” said Nikolay Grebennikov, vice president for R&D at data protection company Acronis. “In big companies upgrades are hard to perform and avoided because


Prompt: The U.S. Park Police, the law enforcement agency responsible for safeguarding the National Mall and critical American landmarks, has lost track of a large supply of handguns, rifles and shotguns, according to a harshly critical report issued Thursday. In the report, the Inspector General's Office of the Department of Interior faults staff at the agency for having no idea how many weapons they control and says the department has no clear policies or procedures for investigating missing weapons. The office says top managers, including the police chief, have shown a "lackadaisical attitude toward firearms management.'' While surveying Park Police field

office armories, investigators found more than 1,400 extra and unassigned weapons that were intended to be destroyed. They also found 198 handguns that were transferred from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and stored in an operations facility firearms room without being recorded in an inventory system. There are also instances of officers storing service weapons at their homes, according to the report. "We found credible evidence of conditions that would allow for theft and misuse of firearms, and the ability to conceal the fact if weapons were missing,'' deputy inspector general Mary Kendall wrote to Jonathan Jarvis, the director of the National Park Service, in a letter that accompanies the report. The watchdog agency says its report was triggered by an anonymous tip suggesting that the Park Police could not account for government-issued military-style weapons. A spokesman for the agency did not immediately return an email seeking comment, and an evening shift commander said he hadn't seen the report and couldn't discuss it. The report also includes 10 recommendations to improve firearms management. The Washington Post was first to report the inspector general's findings. The Fraternal Order of Police released a response to the report, pointing out several inaccuracies: The report fails to mention that firearms requiring disposal cannot be destroyed due to the lack of any contractor currently available to dispose of (melt down) these firearms and render them useless. Nor are any recommendations given on how to remedy this. This report makes assertions that go back well over 10 years, yet the current Chief has only been back in her position since 2011, after her lengthy court battle to return to her position. There is no mention of any other former officials being held accountable for past failures, some of whom are still employed by


Prompt: William II (Willem Frederik George Lodewijk, anglicized as William Frederick George Louis; 6 December 1792 – 17 March 1849) was King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Duke of Limburg. William II was the son of William I and Wilhelmine of Prussia. When his father, who up to that time ruled as sovereign prince, proclaimed himself king in 1815, he became Prince of Orange as heir apparent of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. With the abdication of his father on 7 October 1840, William II became king. During his reign, the Netherlands became a parliamentary democracy with the

new constitution of 1848. William II was married to Anna Pavlovna of Russia. They had four sons and one daughter. William II died on 17 March 1849 and was succeeded by his son William III. Early life and education [ edit ] Willem Frederik George Lodewijk was born on 6 December 1792 in The Hague. He was the eldest son of King William I of the Netherlands and Wilhelmine of Prussia. His maternal grandparents were King Frederick William II of Prussia and his second wife Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt. When William was two, he and his family fled to England after allied British-Hanoverian troops left the Republic and entering French troops defeated the army of the United Provinces, claiming liberation by joining the anti-Orangist Patriots. William spent his youth in Berlin at the Prussian court, where he followed a military education and served in the Prussian Army. After this, he studied civil law at Christ Church, University of Oxford.[1][2][3] William II had a string of relationships with both men and women which led him to be blackmailed.[4][5][6][7] The homosexual relationships that William II had as crown prince and as king were reported by journalist Eillert Meeter [nl][8]. The king surrounded himself with male servants whom he could not dismiss because of his 'abominable motive' for hiring them in the first place.[9] Military service [ edit ] He entered the British Army, and in 1811, as a 19 year old aide-de-camp in the headquarters of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, was allowed to observe several of Wellington's campaigns of the Peninsular War. Though not yet 20, the young prince, according to the customs of the time, was made lieutenant colonel on 11 June 1811[10] and Colonel on 21 October that year.[11] On 8 September 1812 he was made an aide-de-camp


Prompt: ‘Faculty rights and the sufficiency of law students’ education’ at risk One of the worrisome trends in law-school education is students seeking to avoid uncomfortable areas of the law, particularly sexual assault. But it was a law professor’s exam question on an uncomfortable area of the body that got him in trouble with his university. As in, 504 days of trouble, and potentially many more. Howard University is hanging the Sword of Damocles over the head of Reginald Robinson if he ever offends a student again by the content of his legal pedagogy. The historically black school in Washington, D.C.,

has yet to respond six months later to a warning letter from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education about its year-plus Title IX investigation of Robinson (left) for an exam question on groping and drugging involving a Brazilian wax. Though Robinson’s lawyer said this summer that they “believe we have reached a mutually satisfactory solution” in discussions with the university,” that resolution fell through, FIRE told Howard President Wayne Frederick in a Tuesday letter: Robinson has now informed us that no agreement was finalized. Accordingly, as he plans to return to teaching next semester, his and other Howard professors’ free speech rights remain threatened. To our knowledge, the unjust sanctions against Robinson remain in place, including the threat of termination for protected expression simply because someone may find it offensive. The letter from Susan Kruth, staff attorney for FIRE’s Stand Up For Speech Litigation Project, is copied to the chair of Howard’s board of trustees, its general counsel, provost and law school dean, as well as the Title IX investigator who investigated Robinson and Title IX coordinator: Howard’s finding is at odds with the plain language of several written university policies and could chill professors’ teaching of basic legal principles. As a result, it puts at risk both faculty rights and the sufficiency of law students’ education. Though Howard is private, it has two written policies that on their face apply to Robinson’s classroom conduct. One seems explicitly designed to encompass controversial legal subjects, from the Faculty Handbook, last updated 24 years ago: Faculty members are entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects, but they should be careful not to introduce matter into their teaching that has no relation to their subjects. Another is less than a year old, directed to the entire community from President


Prompt: PC sales suffered a 14 percent drop in the first quarter, the largest drop for a single quarter in the 20 years that IDC has been tracking the data. Fingers immediately began pointing at Windows 8, but the new Microsoft OS isn’t to blame—at least not in the way you might think. Traditional PC sales are down. There's no arguing that. However, it’s misguided to assume it’s the result of a failure on the part of Windows 8. Rather, it's because the definition of "PC" is evolving. In addition, Windows 8 runs well on older hardware and was offered at

a bargain price. That means there has been less incentive to buy a new PC, even for users who wanted Windows 8. Many who did purchase new hardware for Windows 8 chose a Surface Pro, another tablet, or a tablet-PC hybrid. This skews the data because analysts aren't tracking PCs and tablets as a unified market. Don't hate Windows 8 Windows 8 is a radical shift, but it also offers the comforts of Windows 7. Windows 8 is a dramatic shift from earlier versions of Windows. Its Modern interface was designed with touch-enabled gadgets in mind, and Windows 8 is an attempt to straddle the line between a traditional PC and a tablet. Microsoft melds the two, but in a Jekyll-Hyde, split-personality way that many users aren’t comfortable with. Plus, of course, there’s no Start button (gasp!). Yet, Windows 8's desktop mode is nearly identical to Windows 7, and you can easily simulate the Start button with a third-party add-on. As popular opinion seems to hold, millions of people using older, slower PCs were itching to buy a new one, but decided not to because the radical new Windows 8 turned them off. That's doubtful. If it’s time for a new PC, you're going to get one, and that's separate from the decision to upgrade your OS. Windows 8 may be to blame for the perception that PC sales are declining, but not because people hate it. The problem lies in how PCs are sold and how the PC market is measured. In a nutshell, Windows 8 sales don't necessarily equate with PC sales. Blame Microsoft's great deal If new processor, graphics or networking technologies are introduced, you'll need new hardware to take advantage of them. You can upgrade your existing hardware incrementally, or buy a whole new PC that


Prompt: The Brooklyn Nets have a real shot of pulling off one of the biggest upsets in recent NBA history. The No. 8 seed hasn't just tied their series with the Atlanta Hawks at 2-2 because of a couple fluke victories. They've tied it by playing the East's best regular-season team to a draw through four games. The aggregated score in the series: Nets 394, Hawks 393. It's tempting to focus on the Hawks' problems. They've been far too good at their peak to be in a dogfight against a sub-.500 regular season team with the point differential of a 33-win

club. Even if they win this series -- and they still have the edge thanks to home-court advantage -- they have shown major weaknesses that teams can exploit down the road. Yet, it wouldn't be fair to analyze what Atlanta is doing wrong without highlighting what Brooklyn is doing right. The Nets have slowed the Hawks' vaunted offense to a crawl and are slowly figuring out ways to attack Atlanta's pressure defense. They could have defeated the Hawks in Game 2, even with an average Deron Williams game, then they did hold off the Hawks' best offensive performance in Game 4 thanks to a vintage one. Why is a series that was so lopsided on paper tied? It's a combination of multiple factors. 1. Cutting off Kyle Korver Nets coach Lionel Hollins scoffed at reporters after the all-star shooting guard hit 5-of-11 from three-point range to lead the Hawks to a Game 1 victory. His implication: Korver wasn't important enough to change the game plan. "How many shots did he take yesterday and how many did he miss? See, if he's that good, he'd make all of them." Hollins said. "Everybody misses, man. He's a good shooter, I acknowledge that, we acknowledge that as a team, we game plan for him because he is a great shooter. But until he starts shooting 100 percent, we've got to play and be in position to help, and then recover, and close out. "It's not like we're talking (Stephen) Curry. Korver, he's a great come-off-the-screen guy, he's great with moving without the ball, but he rarely puts the ball on the floor like Curry and shakes you up." But Hollins' actions speak much louder than his words, because the Nets have changed their game plan to make sure Korver doesn't get any clean


Prompt: What is going on in men’s lifestyle media? One need only look at the recent shuttering of Details, a string of layoffs at GQ (disclosure: I used to work there) and the recent launch of Sweet, a Snapchat-only lifestyle publication from Hearst, to get a sense of the current state of affairs. We had a good run @detailsmag #ripdetails A photo posted by jonmroth (@jonmroth) on Nov 19, 2015 at 1:40pm PST Like the struggles Gap, J.Crew and Urban Outfitters are experiencing in the retail sector, menswear-focused sites find themselves caught in the middle between easily digestible platforms with more

quantifiable ROIs for sponsors (sup, Instagram?) and an old media guard that is finally becoming hip to a long-underserved market. The New York Times now has a monthly section dedicated to men’s style; the Wall Street Journal is covering niche men’s trends like the current obsession with ‘90s skate style. New media platforms like Mashable, Business of Fashion and Quartz are seeing the advantages of covering men's style as well, with recent stories ranging from why square-toed shoes should be a federal offense to Helmut Lang’s lasting influence on men’s fashion. But with so many outlets now covering menswear, has it become a saturated market? The New Yorker’s Joshua Rothman thinks so, even positing whether menswear has reached its peak. Brian Trunzo, cofounder of SoHo men’s shop Carson Street, agrees. For one, he says the market’s become inundated. “We feel the need to cover all of it, when in my mind, there’s only so much worth covering," he tells Mashable. Brian Trunzo of Carson Street Clothiers in New York City photographed during New York Fashion Week: Men's. Image: Georgie Wileman/Getty Images Just three years ago the idea of straight men talking about clothes on the Internet was almost unthinkable. It was novel enough that The New York Times featured five men’s style bloggers as examples of a “new breed.” The “#menswear” subculture emerged around this time and took its name from the Tumblr hashtag, once curated by guys like Lawrence Schlossman, whose How to Talk to Girls at Parties Tumblr eclipsed the popularity of his service-oriented menswear blog, Sartorially Inclined. Having a select group of guys dictate what would populate on the hashtag resulted in the formation of a unique groupthink. #Menswear defined itself by its convergence of classic tailored clothing, a healthy love of rap music, and a unique


Prompt: {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/0\/0f\/Hang-Someone-in-Red-Dead-Redemption-Step-1-Version-2.jpg\/v4-460px-Hang-Someone-in-Red-Dead-Redemption-Step-1-Version-2.jpg","bigUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/0\/0f\/Hang-Someone-in-Red-Dead-Redemption-Step-1-Version-2.jpg\/v4-760px-Hang-Someone-in-Red-Dead-Redemption-Step-1-Version-2.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":760,"bigHeight":570} 1 Obtain the lasso in the single player game. There isn't a true method or action to hang someone per se, but to hang someone using this article's method, you will need the lasso. The lasso is a length of rope you can equip to hogtie victims, break in wild horses or subdue criminals. It is only available in the single-player game, and can only be unlocked during the quest "Wild Horses, Tamed Passions". Afterwards, you will be able to use it fully. There isn't a true method or action to hang someone, but to hang someone using this

article's method, you will need the lasso. The lasso is a length of rope you can equip to hogtie victims, break in wild horses or subdue criminals. It is only available in the single-player game, and can only be unlocked during the quest "Wild Horses, Tamed Passions". Afterwards, you will be able to use it fully. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/d\/d0\/Hang-Someone-in-Red-Dead-Redemption-Step-2-Version-2.jpg\/v4-460px-Hang-Someone-in-Red-Dead-Redemption-Step-2-Version-2.jpg","bigUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/d\/d0\/Hang-Someone-in-Red-Dead-Redemption-Step-2-Version-2.jpg\/v4-760px-Hang-Someone-in-Red-Dead-Redemption-Step-2-Version-2.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":760,"bigHeight":570} 2 Practice lassoing people in the world. Simply draw, aim and fire the lasso as you would a normal weapon. The reticule will point where the lasso will fire, and if you are close enough, it will lasso the target. Beware, however, the lasso does cause some damage to the target and therefore will count as assault if you are spotted by lawmen, in addition to any counts of kidnapping you will incur. Practice on criminals or gang members instead. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/5\/5e\/Hang-Someone-in-Red-Dead-Redemption-Step-3-Version-2.jpg\/v4-460px-Hang-Someone-in-Red-Dead-Redemption-Step-3-Version-2.jpg","bigUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/5\/5e\/Hang-Someone-in-Red-Dead-Redemption-Step-3-Version-2.jpg\/v4-760px-Hang-Someone-in-Red-Dead-Redemption-Step-3-Version-2.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":760,"bigHeight":570} 3 Find a suitable area to hang someone. Unlike in real life, where a tree or gallows would be suitable, due to the game's mechanics, you will need to find a low bridge, cliff or balcony. There are several cliffs around the Red Dead Redemption world, although there are fewer Unlike in real life, where a tree or gallows would be suitable, due to the game's mechanics, you will need to find a low bridge, cliff or balcony. There are several cliffs around the Red Dead Redemption world, although there are fewer bridges . A good choice for one would be the bridge to the Tumbleweed gang hideout - it is low enough to hang people from and easily accessible. Balconies or ledges can be found in most towns. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/2\/2a\/Hang-Someone-in-Red-Dead-Redemption-Step-4-Version-2.jpg\/v4-460px-Hang-Someone-in-Red-Dead-Redemption-Step-4-Version-2.jpg","bigUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/2\/2a\/Hang-Someone-in-Red-Dead-Redemption-Step-4-Version-2.jpg\/v4-760px-Hang-Someone-in-Red-Dead-Redemption-Step-4-Version-2.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":760,"bigHeight":570} 4 Get on your horse and find a victim to lasso. Ideally, they should be close to the area you have picked so that by the time you reach it, they haven't


Prompt: A Broward sheriff's deputy finds himself suspended without pay and facing a felony charge after being accused of shoplifting everyday household items from two WalMarts in Coral Springs, according to records obtained Friday by the Sun Sentinel. Surveillance video shows Deputy Dean Korenic, 46, shoplifting on seven occasions, investigators say. He was in uniform one of the times and drove away with his stolen goods in a marked patrol car three other times, records show. A 14-year veteran of the agency, Korenic was arrested Tuesday and spent a night in jail before posting $3,500 bond on a felony charge of

scheme to defraud/obtain property under $20,000, records show. "In review of the video ... the theft was apparent and intentional," an affidavit said. "The thefts were committed both in and out of BSO uniform." Sheriff's officials would not provide the videos to the Sun Sentinel Friday. Korenic, of Margate, was suspended without pay Tuesday. He makes $72,735. Korenic was initially suspended with pay when he was first advised of the investigation on June 6. On the deputy's alleged shopping list: Cool Water cologne, Jergens lotion, papertowels, disposable razors, detergent, syrup, toothpaste, bar soap, a canister of Maxwell House coffee and a carton of eggs. Broward Sheriff's Office/Courtesy Deputy Dean Korenic. Deputy Dean Korenic. (Broward Sheriff's Office/Courtesy) (Broward Sheriff's Office/Courtesy) "It's discouraging to see and read and hear about," Sheriff Scott Israel said. "He disgraced the badge, but at this time I choose to focus on the men and women in our public corruption unit whose job it is to investigate deputies who don't do everything the right way. They got right to it, they investigated it thoroughly. We're not going to tolerate police misconduct and deputies committing illegal acts." Despite four voicemail messages left on Korenic's home and cellphones, he could not be reached for comment. It was unclear if he had an attorney. The police union generally doesn't provide lawyers for law enforcement charged with crimes not associated with their jobs. It's discouraging to see and read and hear about. He disgraced the badge. — Broward Sheriff Scott Israel Although each alleged theft was for minor amounts — $34.13 on May 13, $49.54 on May 27 and $7.27 on June 16 — all totaled the scheme adds up to a 3rd-degree felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison. The deputy had a system, according to an affidavit


Prompt: As you are certainly aware, the new consensus among most Republicans and conservatives is that they don’t need no stinking Latinos (don’t get huffy on me; this is OK, because it’s a clever movie reference, and in any case it’s aimed not at Latinos, but at stupid Republicans) and will soar to victory on the strength of the white vote. People like me have spent a lot of airtime and ink these past couple of weeks arguing over whether this can work. But what’s interesting is this. There’s an assumption embedded in the argument that no one disputes: namely, that

whites will always be as conservative as they are now and will always vote Republican in the same numbers they do now. This assumption is wrong. White people—yep, even working-class white people—are going to get less conservative in coming years, so the Republicans’ hopes of building a white-nationalist party will likely be dashed in the future even by white people themselves. We already know all about the creative-class white voters, the well-educated and higher-income people who have shifted dramatically to the Democratic column over the past generation. Those voters are increasingly lost to the GOP. True, Mitt Romney beat Barack Obama among college graduates (of all races) 51 percent to 47 percent, but Obama won going away among postgrads. Combine that with a Democratic lock on a huge chunk of a growing minority vote, and that’s why the Democratic Party goes into presidential elections now with a massive presumed Electoral College advantage (in recent elections, Democratic candidates have regularly won states totaling 263 electoral votes, just seven shy of the magic number). Everyone knows and concedes all this. And everyone counters it by saying that the Republicans will just goose the less-educated white vote. As I noted above, everyone agrees that that vote is theirs for the goosing. But what if it isn’t? Back in March, the Brookings Institution and the Public Religion Research Institute released a big poll on immigration. Those findings are interesting as far as they go, but the questions and results went beyond that. It’s the first poll I’ve seen that breaks the white working class into four distinct age groups (65-plus, 50 to 64, 30 to 49, 18 to 29) and asks respondents attitudes about a broad range of social issues. And guess what? White working-class millennials are fairly liberal! Click on the above link,


Prompt: Mexico City, Mexico - The UFC® announced today that UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez suffered a right knee injury during training and was forced to withdraw from his championship fight against No.1 contender Fabricio Werdum in Mexico City on November 15. As a result, No.4 heavyweight Mark Hunt (10-8-1 in professional MMA, fighting out of Auckland, New Zealand), who is coming off a walk-away knockout against the iron-chinned Roy Nelson in Tokyo in September (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGunUlEd50A), will face Werdum (18-5-1, fighting out of Los Angeles via Porto Alegre, Brazil) in the five-round main event for the interim UFC heavyweight title. “I’m

so unbelievably disappointed that this happened,” Velasquez said. “To say I was looking forward to fighting in Mexico for the first time is an understatement. I wanted to fight on that card so bad. Looks like it wasn’t meant to be and it’s not going to happen. I’m going to get my [right] knee fixed and get back to training as soon as I can. I’m sorry to the fans in Mexico who were expecting this fight, and I hope to be able to come down and still be a part of this historic event.” For Werdum, it was never about Cain, it was always about the title. “I’m ready for whatever comes. I have been training in Mexico for nearly two months and accept the challenge that is presented to me. I'll continue to prepare and will arrive ready to fight on behalf of all my Latin American fans," said Werdum. Mark Hunt, never one to shy away from a big opportunity, wasted no time accepting a dream opportunity to fight for UFC gold. “I feel blessed to have this opportunity to fight for another world title. This is something that doesn’t happen often to people. First K1 and now UFC – how can I say no, even though it’s on short notice? I’m dropping everything and flying to Mexico tomorrow so I can best prepare myself for this fight. I have to get into shape and acclimatize to that environment, which is really important. “There’s nothing to lose when you’re competing against the best at the top level,” Hunt added. UFC 180: WERDUM vs. HUNT scheduled for November 15 at the Arena Mexico City, sold-out in only eight hours, and will welcome more than 20,000 fans. Along with the explosive main event, fans will also be treated to


Prompt: Every Thursday, NHL.com will look ahead to the 2016 NHL Draft with an in-depth profile on one of its top prospects. Forward Matthew Tkachuk didn't hesitate when asked what he felt stood out most about his U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame father, Keith Tkachuk , during his playing days. "His leadership and competitiveness for sure," the younger Tkachuk said. "He would have no problem whacking a guy, sticking up for a teammate or just being vocal. Throughout his career it seemed there was never a time he didn't have a letter on his jersey. "I know [having a letter] doesn't

mean everything, but he's just a great leader." The elder Tkachuk served as a captain or alternate captain in the NHL for 15 of his 18 seasons in the League, making his NHL debut with the Winnipeg Jets as a 19-year-old and being named captain of the team in his second full season in 1993-94. He was also a captain or an alternate on four different occasions while representing the United States in international competition. Matthew Tkachuk is projected to be a first-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft. (Photo: London Knights) Matthew Tkachuk is projected to be a first-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft. Matthew Tkachuk (6-foot-1, 195 pounds), who plays left wing, appears to be a chip off the old block. Tkachuk, a rookie with the London Knights in the Ontario Hockey League this season, is projected to be a first-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft at First Niagara Center in Buffalo, N.Y., on June 24, 2016. The St. Louis, Mo., native might even be drafted higher than dad, who was chosen No. 19 by the Jets in the 1990 draft. Tkachuk is an A-rated skater on NHL Central Scouting's September players to watch list. "The two biggest aspects to becoming an NHL player are leadership and competitiveness," he said. "You have to be liked by your teammates, have to be a good teammate and have to be the hardest worker. You want to have the will to win more than the other guy and ultimately it comes down to you. What will you do to get to the next level?" Tkachuk is proving he'll do whatever it takes. His spirited play and dominating effort in front of the opposing net during the United States National Junior Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid, N.Y., in August left


Prompt: Hillary Clinton and her aides directed Platte River Networks to systematically alter, fabricate and forge emails to protect her communications from being “exposed to anyone,” according to documents obtained by True Pundit. The request was so unusual and complex that Denver-based Platte River IT executives, who maintained Clinton’s private email server, had to turn to other IT gurus on a clandestine chat forum for a solution to try to satisfy their “VIP” client, as executives dubbed Clinton. Platte River computer specialist Paul Combetta turned to a web forum on computer coding to solicit help with Clinton’s directive to forge her

emails, according to documents. Writing under the seemingly-stealth screen name “stonetear,” Combetta asked reddit.com forum users in July 2014: “Hello all- I may be facing a very interesting situation where I need to strip out a VIP’s (VERY VIP) email address from a bunch of archived email that I have both in a live Exchange mailbox, as well as a PST file. Basically, they don’t want the VIP’s email address exposed to anyone, and want to be able to either strip out or replace the email address in the to/from fields in all of the emails we want to send out. I am not sure if something like this is possible with PowerShell, or exporting all of the emails to MSG and doing find/replaces with a batch processing program of some sort. Does anyone have experience with something like this, and/or suggestions on how this might be accomplished?” Combetta’s online plea for guidance was met with limited resistance, as many users offered advice on how he could effectively alter the emails. One user, however warned him that he could be stepping into a legal mine field: “To my knowledge, there’s no way to edit existing messages, that’s a possibility for a (legal) discovery nightmare.” True Pundit was able to trace the screen name “stonetear” directly to Combetta, as he has used it exclusively for social media and gaming accounts, as well as certain anonymous email accounts, according to our intelligence. Combetta never revealed his real name or company name in the communications but the IT specialist with no security clearance did divulge: “I have full access to the server.” These damning revelations comprise the first public intelligence pinpointed indicating that Platte River was directly requested to perform what can only be described as illegally altering Clinton’s emails and related federal