Prompt: http://gty.im/856366694 The Detroit Lions defense had a lot of question marks going into the season. They have answered all of them. Their stars were coming off down years in 2016. Their surprise role players from seasons past were gone, suspended, or injured. They were expected to be the anchor that might drag the team down in a storm. They were the one phase of the team that the experts said could not be relied upon, the heel that undid mighty Achilles. Their response to those questions and comments can best be summed up in a quote from Cornelius Washington before

week one. “I just try my best to stick it up y’all’s behinds” Washington said at a scrum. Well Mr. Washington, consider my behind sore, and consider these questions answered. Who Is Going To Rush The Passer? Anthony Zettel is going to rush the passer. Zettel has recorded a sack in three out of four games, and put up two against the Vikings. Ezekiel Ansah is also going to rush the passer. In the only game that Zettel did not record a sack, Ansah recorded three. Haloti Ngata, Jeremiah Voloaga, and Jarrad Davis have each added a sack to the team’s total. Akeem Spence has not finished the job, but his intense pressure in the middle has led to more than one quarterback being unable to step up in the pocket to avoid the outside pass rushers. The Lions defense is 14th in the NFL in sacks. That’s not spectacular, but it is a massive step up from 2016, and a better performance than anyone gave the defensive line credit for. Who Is Going To Cover Tight Ends? The Lions have given up 15, 108, 9, and 46 yards to tight ends in their first four games of the season. They gave up a few long plays and an ugly touchdown against the Giants. Other than that they have handled their business in exemplary fashion. According to Pro Football Focus, the primary defender the Lions have deployed against tight ends is Tahir Whitehead, and the Lions are an above average play for tight ends. I guess 44 yards and a 25% chance of getting a touchdown constitutes a good fantasy play? Whitehead’s move to the outside has gone incredibly well. Miles Killebrew’s usage as the big nickel safety has also been a huge deterrent for any team looking at their


Prompt: A year and a half ago, Amazon opened up its Alexa voice assistant to developers. With the Alexa Skills Kit, Alexa and its hardware hosts—the Echo, Dot, Tap, and now dozens more from third parties—became more than just speakers and digital weathermen. It became a platform, capable of supporting a full ecosystem of skills, which are essentially apps that you talk to instead of touch. Today, there are 10,000 skills available on Alexa. It’s an exponential increase since last summer, a rise that presents a host of new opportunities—and new challenges. While 10,000 may seem like an arbitrary milestone, it’s

an instructive one, especially when you consider how fast it’s come. Last June, a full year after the ASK launched, Amazon announced that Alexa had reached 1,000 skills. By September, that number had tripled. In January, Alexa’s skills catalog swelled to 7,000. It took just over a month to tack on another three thousand. Alexa still doesn’t come anywhere close to rivaling its mobile counterparts; the App Store and Google Play both count their offerings in the millions. But the 10,000 skills mark represents a beachhead in the the brave new (and increasingly competitive) world of voice assistants. Where it goes from here will help define the next generation of user interfaces. As will, more importantly, how it gets there. Skills Set While Alexa became a developer’s playground in 2015, Amazon’s vision for a home-grown voice assistant started a full four years ago. “We had this inspiration of the Star Trek computer,” says Steve Rabuchin, who heads up Alexa voice services and skills at Amazon. “What would it be like if we could create a voice assistant out of the cloud that you could just talk to naturally, that could control things around you, that could do things for you, that could get you information?” Amazon’s first key innovation wasn’t voice itself, or even responsiveness; speech recognition has been around for decades, and Apple introduced the conversational Siri in 2011. Amazon’s accomplishment was freeing its voice assistant from the smartphone, nudging users closer to a truly ambient experience. The second breakthrough? Giving those users things to do. At the end of 2015, a few months after the ASK availability, Echo owners had 135 skills to choose from. Today, they’ll find among their 10,000 options a bevy of smart home controls, multiple car companies, Starbucks, and not one but two national


Prompt: The Vancouver Canucks, who bombed out at 28th overall and got wrecked by the draft lottery, are now in a position to fight for playoffs. With a game in hand over the eighth-place Calgary Flames and only one point back, all the critics who portrayed the Canucks as a directionless failure are being proved wrong: the Canucks are not a failure. USA Today projected the team would hit 65 points, while EA predicted even worse with 63 points in their season simulation. If the Canucks were to be truly that bad, they would have the lowest team points since Edmonton

and Buffalo in 2014-15. But no – the Canucks started off the year 4-0-0, and are one of a few teams that have seven players with ten or more goals – Bo Horvat, who in his third season leads the team, has broken out into the next star, with 14 goals and 31 points in 48 games and an All Star Game Selection. Brandon Sutter, who was injured for the majority of last year, has 12, Henrik Sedin (congratulations on 1000 points!) has 11 along with brother Daniel, Sven Baertschi, and Markus Granlund (whose trade from Calgary for Hunter Shinkaruk drew heavy criticism). Summer free agent acquisition Loui Eriksson has 10 after a very slow start to the season. Alex Burrows, who was considered to be an overpaid buyout candidate, has worked himself onto a spot in the top 9 with Horvat and Baertschi and has seven goals. Ryan Miller has shown why he was signed to his contract. While he’s got a middling-but-decent 2.50 GAA and .919 sv%, he’s played well, stuck up for his team, and been a source of leadership in the dressing room. Troy Stecher, who played on the North Dakota team with Canuck prospect numero uno Brock Boeser, has shown incredible skill as a rookie defenseman coming straight out of college. His moves have left fans’ jaws agape and his work ethic has fans and management alike falling in love with him. Nikita Tryamkin, brought over from Russia at the end of the season in 2016, has not looked out of place, despite being held out of games early for being reportedly out of shape. He is constantly a source of physicality and solid puck movement (except when he ices the puck). Even Luca Sbisa has looked good this year – which is much-needed, given


Prompt: Thank you for stopping by our Quilt Cottage webpage! "Dimensions" Quilt Block of the Month by Stephanie Soebbing Each month during our Quilt U class (details below), Kathie will present the block and give a demonstration (of what NOT to do!). You can pick up your packet then or any time after that evening. First month $50. Each month after will be $19.99. MONTHLY Quilt University Every 4th Tuesday of each month from 6:00 - 7:30 pm. Fee: FREE! Level: all. Love to quilt? Curious to start? Want to meet others who do quilt and have so much information to

share? Then Quilt U is where you want to be on the 4th Tuesday of each month from 6:00 to 7:30 pm. Bring your questions, ideas and latest creation. We love to share our work and have fun. A different technique will be presented each month and the "Dimensions" Block of the Month. See what new fabric has arrived. We always laugh and have fun. Join us! Instructor: Kathie Conlee Projects to Sew LOVE Banner Kit (while supplies last) Urban Cottage Infinity Scarf (Fabric by Moda) Stitch Cats by Clothworks Panel & Pillowcase DIY Tote Bag Tote bags make great gifts to use all year long. This tote was created with the Fiji Tote pattern, modified to be horizontal. Hot Stuff Oven Mitt Includes silicone overlay, instructions and templates. Placemat Forms & Patterns Create personalized placemats for friends and family using their favorite theme fabric. They'll think of you every time they sit at the table! Jelly Roll Rug It takes only one 42 pc Jelly Roll pack of 2.5" quilting strips to make one rug. These rugs are fun to make and very trendy right now! Fabric Panel - Bear Kit The printed instructions have a fabric bear that you can cut out and attach to a shirt so your child matches the teddy bear! Use Steam-A-Seam to make personalized towels Steam-A-Seam makes creating themed towels an easy no-sew project! See how easy it is to use this double stick fusible web! https://youtu.be/4mIGtgX-vfk Happy Quilts! Book You'll love making adorable soft toys and quilts using these fun kid-themed patterns from the book "Happy Quilts" by Antonie Alexander. Which ones will your child pick? Pillowcases Pillowcases are so easy to make! Use our "Big Splash" fabric collection from Henry Glass & Co for a fun under-the-sea theme. Sewing Art Check


Prompt: When I initially started my Magic Mirror project, it was just to see if it was possible. It was never meant to be an open source project, let alone a commercial project. When the project eventually got more famous, it wouldn’t take long for the first commercial opportunities … After the blog posts of my Magic Mirror went viral (mainly because the Raspberry Pi foundation blogged about it), the first inquiries started to appear in my inbox. An though I wasn’t really interested in building Magic Mirrors as paid projects, one inquiry really stood out. It turned out a successful

entrepreneur was building a new house and was looking for a nice eye-catcher as the center piece of the living room. Since the living room would contain a mirror anyway, the Magic Mirror project was the perfect fit. The mirror ended up being a 2 x 3 meter mirror with a 60" LED TV behind it. As far as I know this is the largest Magic Mirror so far. The client’s work consists of a lot of traveling, and thus he wanted a way to show the places on earth he visited most. Using Google’s WebGL Globe I created a module that showed the visited spots using spikes on a rotating globe. If a spot is visited more than once, the spike becomes longer. Above video was made during the development process. The rotating globe really gives a nice futuristic touch to the project. Because of the WebGL usage, this Mirror isn’t running on a Raspberry Pi. It uses a Mac Mini as its host allowing me to built more processor intensive modules. Since the mirror is larger than the screen itself, a black frame is placed around the monitor. This prevents you from seeing the guts of the Magic Mirror. On the photo you can see the frame around the monitor. But honestly, in real life it doesn’t affect the end result in a negative way. Better yet: it gives some depth to the project. Having such a large Magic Mirror in the center of your living room gives you a lot of opportunities for cool home automation projects. So as you can guess, this is an ongoing project. The best part of this project? It allowed me to work on the Magic Mirror on a paid basis, resulting in the MagicMirror² platform. Of course, the client specific modules


Prompt: SNc Channels: Search About Salem-News.com Mar-28-2009 14:17 TweetFollow @OregonNews President Obama -- Out of Touch, or A Hypocrite? When I think about the vast numbers of people who are serving time for nothing more than marijuana possession, and the havoc incarceration wreaks on them, their families, and everyone they will meet in the future, I'm very sad. Courtesy: datelinebucharest.com (SALEM, Ore.) - On Thursday, March 26th, President Obama hosted an Internet town hall meeting, inviting the public to submit and vote on questions to be asked about the economy. It was exciting to see that several of the most popular

submissions were questioning the economic wisdom of continuing the drug war, and specifically the war on marijuana consumers, in these tough economic times. Unfortunately, while the President clearly got the message that there's tremendous public interest in this issue, he seemed to be out of touch with the realities of today's drug war. His only response was to joke, "There was one question that was voted on that ranked fairly high, and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation, (and I don't know what this says about the online audience). The answer is, no, I don't think that is a good strategy to grow our economy." Although there were many questions asked about cannabis, most had little if anything to do with legalizing it to "grow our economy." People were asking very serious questions related to the massacres south of our border, and whether bringing the drug profits funding them into a legal, taxed, and regulated market might help turn the tide. They were asking our President if he believes that chasing down cannabis consumers is really a wise use of our scarce resources in these difficult economic times. But he turned this important discussion into a tasteless, offensive joke, disparaging the citizens he had asked to submit questions in the first place. Considering our tax dollars are spent to incarcerate more of our citizens per capita than any other nation, not to mention the societal costs of having 1 in 31 adult Americans behind bars or on parole or probation, this seems to me to be a serious issue. Adding in the cost of all of the lives lost and families torn apart in an ideological and hypocritical pursuit of a "drug free America," (brought to you by Merck and Pfizer, of course), I


Prompt: Image caption The government is keen to convince NHS staff of the merits of its reforms The government looks set to increase the amount it spends on advertising and PR to help it sell NHS changes and other policies to the public. Next year's marketing budget is £285m, according to Cabinet Office figures. That is an increase on the £168m spent by the now axed Central Office of Information in its final year. The Cabinet Office says it is not fair to compare the figures and the overall budget is still far below that spent by the previous Labour government.

A spokeswoman said not all government marketing money was spent through the COI so it was misleading to compare the organisation's budget for 2010-11 with the projected spend for next year, which will include all marketing activity. In addition, there was no "meaningful" figure for 2011-12, when the COI, which bought advertising space and commissioned public information films on behalf of government departments, was being wound up. Complex changes But marketing industry insiders say the figures, which are included in the government's new marketing plan for 2012-13 released this week by the Cabinet Office, clearly indicate an increase. Oliver Hickson, former PR chief at the COI, said: "My view on this is that spending is going up. We are determined to ensure spend never returns to anything like the highest levels seen before Cabinet Office "The vast majority of central government marketing spend was through the COI. "There was some other spend but I would suggest that was either internal press offices or local authorities, which will still carry on." Part of the planned increase in spending is likely to go on explaining complex changes to the welfare system and trying to convince health service workers and the public of the merits of NHS reforms, says Mr Hickson, who now runs his own public sector PR consultancy. "They are quite big and potentially sensitive issues that you would imagine would need a reasonable amount of money spent on them to talk to stakeholders and the public," he told BBC News. But he says it is "sensible" for the government to spend money on communication, particularly if it is targeted at "hard-to-reach groups" such as young people and pensioners. In its "annual plan for proactive government communications" the Cabinet Office details how departments are being forced to work together on marketing


Prompt: November 15, 2012 12:58 IST J ust one week after United States President Barack Obama's convincing re-election, his faithful Vice President Joseph Biden led the White House celebration of Diwali, reflecting on the significance of festival of lights, and also acknowledging the presence of Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu American elected to the US Congress, and also Ambassador Nirupama Rao, who like Gabbard, seemed to have that gravitational pull in terms of the guests wanting to pose for pictures with them. Also present at the celebration that was closed to the press, were Dr Ami Bera, on the brink of

becoming the first Indian American physician elected to the US Congress from the 7th District in California, and Kumar Barve, the majority leader in the Maryland House of Delegates, and the most senior Indian American legislator who was elected to the State Assembly nearly two decades ago. The nearly two-hour celebration, held on November 13 at the Old Executive Office Building -- which lies adjacent to the White House and houses the administrative offices of the White House -- after which the guests moved to the Indian Treaty Room for the reception, was attended by a select cross-section of about 200 members of the Indian American community from across the country, senior Indian American staffers in the administration like Dr Rajiv Shah, the administrator of the US Agency for International Development, and also erstwhile officials, including Aneesh Chopra, the first chief technology officer in the White House and now making a run for lieutenant governor of Virginia, several US lawmakers and one of the priests from the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple in Lanham, Maryland, Ramesh Babu, who recited a shloka and assisted Biden in the lighting of the diya and then wrapped the ceremonial shawl on the vice president. After greeting the guests with a Happy Diwali and Saal Mubarak, Biden began with a quip that had the audience in peals of laughter as he said Diwali was all about light over darkness, "and that's what we are all about -- trying to shed some light." But then getting serious, he said, "It's a very special time for all of us here today and a time which means a great deal to me personally, and it means a lot to see so many good friends as I look out on this audience." Biden then greeted Rao and also the deputy


Prompt: The funeral of Lian Zaher Nasser was held in the Arab-Israeli town of Tira on Jan. 3. Nasser, 19, was killed in Istanbul’s Reina nightclub when a gunman opened fire on New Year’s Eve revelers, killing 39 and wounding dozens of others. Thousands attended the funeral, among them hundreds of young Arab-Israeli women who came to pay their last respects to Nasser but also in defiance of those who cast aspersions on Nasser’s moral character, claiming her death was divine retribution for celebrating a Christian holiday in mixed company with men at an amoral alcohol-soaked affair. Such claims were first

expressed in mosques and then erupted onto social media sites, where stormy arguments developed. “Moderate” posters wondered what a group of Muslim girls was doing in an Istanbul nightclub, and some went so far as to compare the club to a brothel. Her relatives said Nasser was murdered twice: once by an Islamic State (IS) terrorist and a second time by sympathizers of the movement within the Arab-Israeli community. At the end of the funeral procession, her father, Zaher Nasser, reacted to those seeking to sully his daughter’s name. “My daughter was murdered through no fault of her own. All she wanted was to enjoy herself, and that’s not forbidden. The fact that she’s a Muslim does not prevent her from having a good time, and Islam does not call for murder and such violence,” he said. During the funeral procession, Arab Knesset member Ahmad Tibi said angrily, “We are sad and pained but also angered by the crimes. People who cannot find a kind word should just keep silent and be ashamed of themselves.” The chairman of the Joint List, Knesset member Ayman Odeh, wrote on Facebook that he was deeply shocked that instead of mourning the murder of a young woman in a terror attack carried out by Muslim fanatics, Arab society was concerning itself with the lifestyle of young women unwilling to accept the religious Muslim way of life preached by IS. “I’m surprised to see reactions that are light years away from the spirit of our people, reactions of primitive derision and hatred fostered by the murderous ideology of the Islamic State,” he wrote. Odeh’s fellow Knesset members called for the eradication of extremist Islamist elements that have infiltrated Arab society. The debate generated by Nasser’s choice to spend New Year’s Eve partying at an Istanbul


Prompt: Standard & Poor’s fired its first shot by downgrading South Africa’s long-term foreign currency sovereign credit rating to “junk” status. This may sound like financial mumbo-jumbo to most South Africans, and it is. So, let me explain. “In our opinion, the executive changes initiated by President Zuma have put at risk fiscal and growth outcomes. We assess that contingent liabilities to the state are rising.” Standard & Poor’s, 3 April 2017 In a nutshell, we are all poorer today than we were yesterday. Credit rating agencies are companies that make a living by assigning a “credit rating” to loans raised

mostly by governments, municipalities and corporates. That credit rating reflects their assessment of the debtor’s ability to pay back the loan. They evaluate both political and economic risks in making their decision. There are three main credit rating agencies – Moody’s, S&P and Fitch. All investors and asset managers, domestic and international, rely on these credit ratings to determine whether they will lend the borrower money, and if they do, how much they will ask them to pay in interest. This is not dissimilar to what banks do to their customers. A good earner with a healthy bank balance, a history of paying off credit card debt and a mortgage-free house can borrow a lot of money at a low interest rate, such as, for instance, 9% per annum. A Sassa grant recipient in a township, as we have recently learnt from the Net1 disaster, pays 164%. Governments normally have to borrow money as the revenue they collect in taxes is not always sufficient to cover all the expenditure they have to incur. South Africa’s government debt currently stands at R2.2-trillion. The country pays R169-billion in interest every year. We need to borrow R149-billion this year. Government borrows money by issuing “bonds” which investors buy, effectively lending the government money. Government can borrow the money in local currency (rands), or in foreign currency (e.g. US dollars). Foreign currency debt is riskier as it is exposed to the fluctuations of the currency e.g. if South Africa borrows money in US dollars, then the level of debt increases if the rand depreciates. Credit rating agencies then assign a credit rating to such bonds. Each agency has a slightly different “star” system for assigning credit ratings, hence the AAA, BB+, AA- etc. that you see peppering newsprint. This is irrelevant. In all cases,


Prompt: SAN FRANCISCO – A new edition of an international space exploration planning document to be released early next year will offer an updated plan for human missions to the moon and Mars, emphasizing the role that NASA’s proposed Deep Space Gateway could play. In January, NASA and 14 international space agencies plan to publish their common goals for exploration, including an extended presence in low Earth orbit, a cislunar habitat, moon missions and eventual excursions to Mars, in an updated Global Exploration Roadmap being drafted by the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG). Since NASA’s first flight of its heavy-lift

Space Launch System with an Orion capsule is scheduled for as soon as late 2019, it’s time to decide “what we are going to do with these vehicles,” Kathy Laurini, NASA senior adviser for exploration and space operations, said during a Global Exploration Roadmap community workshop at the NASA Ames Research Center Nov. 29. “We’ve been engaged with our international partners on how we’ll use these to explore together.” ISECG, a voluntary organization whose members share non-binding plans and objectives, published its last Global Exploration Roadmap in 2013. ISECG members will use the new Roadmap to show domestic policymakers and funding agencies how specific programs will contribute to global endeavors, said Laurini, who also serves as ISECG chair. NASA, for example, will point to the roadmap as it seeks funding and authorization for future SLS and Orion missions. NASA officials acknowledged, though, that the agency is waiting for confirmation of a new administrator and direction from the National Space Council. Future exploration plans will become clearer when the Trump Administration and Congress weigh in on the agency’s budget, said Mark Geyer, acting deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Human Explorations and Operations Mission Directorate. NASA also is seeking domestic and international support for its conceptual Deep Space Gateway. “We see an orbital platform as playing a vital and synergistic role with anything you do on the surface,” said John Guidi, NASA advanced exploration systems deputy director. For instance, reusable landers could move astronauts to the Deep Space Gateway, which could also serve as a jumping off point for exploration of near Earth asteroids and Mars. “Cislunar orbit is the sweet spot. It’s close enough to Earth and the moon but out of the gravity wells,” Guidi said. In the new Roadmap, ISECG will emphasize a shared commitment in the next 10


Prompt: Can Physics Rewrite History? A compilation of physical impossibilities & overlooked evidence in the official explanations for the destruction of the World Trade Center Complex truememes@yahoo.com This report is divided into the following sections: My independent research efforts into this matter are of a volunteer nature and are motivated by a desire to learn the truth about these events. Even if you disagree with my conclusions, I hope you will at least share my intentions. This report offers a close look at physical evidence. It is NOT a “conspiracy theory.” I hope this report will function as an assist for

others who may also be looking into these important questions on their own. The information that is presented here can be easily verified and/or expanded upon with simple internet searches. I have provided many links to good sources of data and analysis on both sides of the issues. Independent research is a healthy exercise for anyone's critical and logical faculties — it is also a profound opportunity to reclaim possession of our understanding and perspective. How can we hope to control our future if we are guided by important beliefs about the past that are untrue? How were three steel frame high-rise structures completely destroyed on 9/11? Many conflicting theories have been put forward, but unlike most of history's unanswered puzzles, the destruction of the WTC Towers and the mysterious collapse of WTC Building 7 are matters of physics. We cannot even begin to define the crime of 9/11 until we have a basic understanding of the physical events that we all witnessed. The consideration of who had the means, motive and opportunity can only begin once we know what actually happened! Existing photographic and video evidence that has undisputed authenticity and is a part of the public record presents a number of striking problems with the belief that the airplane impacts initiated a chain of events that ultimately destroyed the Towers, and of course WTC Building 7 was not hit by an airplane. To clearly see these problems, it is helpful to first have a basic understanding of materials behavior and the design of the Towers, and then to become aware of the distinct and remarkable features of the events themselves. This report includes a critical evaluation of the leading "official" theories, followed by an examination of compelling forensic evidence that is consistently either ignored or misrepresented by these


Prompt: A jury unanimously found former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland guilty on all seven counts in a campaign finance conspiracy scheme in New Haven federal court Friday. (Published Friday, Sept. 19, 2014) A jury unanimously found former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland guilty on all seven counts in a campaign finance conspiracy scheme in New Haven federal court Friday. Rowland, 57, was convicted of conspiring with Brian Foley, the husband of 2012 congressional candidate Lisa Wilson-Foley, to hide $35,000 in payments for work he did on her campaign. He offered to do the same for Fifth-District Republican candidate Mark Greenberg, who took

the stand as the prosecution's first witness. Greenberg said Rowland offered to serve as a consultant during his 2010 congressional run but asked to be paid through Greenberg's animal rescue group. Rowland Trial Goes to Jury Prosecutors and Defense attorneys lay out their final cases for the jury (Published Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014) Rowland could serve up to 57 years in prison, but his lead attorney said Friday afternoon that the former governor plans to appeal the verdict. "We think there were many, many interesting, very serious legal issues litigated in this case and we're very much looking forward to litigating them further," said lead defense attorney Reid Weingarten. "Of course we're extremely disappointed with the verdict," said Weingarten. "We always believed that the prosecutors made a very large mountain out of a very small molehill all triggered by an all-too-mundane political dust-up in a congressional campaign." After the verdict was read, Rowland reached his hand back to a family member sitting behind him. Weingarten slumped in his chair and looked down, and another attorney put his head in his hands. Rowland's family cried as the jury exited the courtroom. Jurors also seemed emotional and took deep breaths as they left. Prosecutors did not visibly react. "I heard it suggested cynically during the trial, both in the courtroom and outside the courtroom, that this case was simply politics as usual. This was far from that," said Asst. U.S. Attorney Mark Gustafson. "Our electoral system is founded on several vital principles, one of which is transparency." Rowland Does Not Testify at Trial Rowland's defense team rested on Wednesday after calling just one witness. (Published Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014) The conviction comes 10 years after Rowland, a Republican who also served in the House of Representatives, stepped down as governor amid an


Prompt: THE romance between Ukraine and the European Union is full of unmet expectations. Ukraine wants commitment from the EU; the EU wants proof that Ukraine has really changed. When EU officials visited Kiev on April 27th for a joint summit, they snubbed Ukraine’s requests for a peacekeeping force in the Donbas, for additional military aid and for visa-free travel. Western financial assistance is trickling in, but Ukraine wants more. “Greece already received $300 billion, with no war, with no Russian tanks,” Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the prime minister, said after the summit. Ukraine, he complained, has received just one-tenth as much. The

EU says help will come, but only after reforms. “You keep reforming, we keep supporting,” said the European Commission’s president, Jean-Claude Juncker. European leaders want to see Ukraine implement its new laws and decentralise governance, as agreed in the Minsk peace plan. Some worry that failure to do this will invite Russia to relaunch the war. Already violence is ticking up near the rebel capital of Donetsk and the Ukrainian-held port of Mariupol. Get our daily newsletter Upgrade your inbox and get our Daily Dispatch and Editor's Picks. Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s president, takes umbrage at charges that reforms are lagging. Lawmakers recently passed legislation to break up gas monopolies, increase energy-sector competition, and unbundle the state gas conglomerate Naftogaz, a fiscal black hole. Last month Mr Poroshenko picked a head for the newly created National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Yet the biggest test will be the struggle against Ukraine’s oligarchs. The latest battle pits the state against the country’s richest man, Rinat Akhmetov. The government wants to end Mr Akhmetov’s coal and electricity monopolies, and may let his holding company, DTEK, go bankrupt. Coal miners have taken to Kiev’s streets, banging their helmets and calling for the energy minister to resign. Mustafa Nayyem, a reformist legislator, published leaked documents allegedly issued by DTEK that set out plans to engineer protests. DTEK said it “did not know the source of the documents”, but did not deny that they were genuine. Following the miners’ march, Mr Poroshenko vowed that those who put pressure on the state “will get their knuckles rapped”. In a column in the Guardian, a British newspaper, Mr Poroshenko boasted of taking down Ihor Kolomoisky, an oligarch forced to resign as a regional governor last month after he deployed armed guards to protect his oil-industry assets from government reforms. But Europe


Prompt: Whenever people discuss the greatest bad guys of all time, they usually go by evil deeds, or powers, or how many spikes are on their outfits. But what about their voices? Would anyone be scared of Voldemort if he sounded like Gilbert Gottfried? Of course not! So let's celebrate the people who make bad sound so good. 1) Mark Hamill as The Joker, Batman: The Animated Series Back in 1992, who would have thought Luke Skywalker possessed the greatest villain voice of all time? Mark Hamill's Joker managed to be insane, funny, and terrifying at all once — able to

shift from bad jokes to murderous rage in a heartbeat, and back again. The Joker's laugh was evil, but still genuine, and it's no wonder Hamill was asked to do the role for more than two full decades. Simply put, this is the Joker's voice — and everyone else hired to perform the role will be compared to Hamill forever. 2) Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor, Superman: The Animated Series Clancy Brown may not have owned Superman's archenemy quite as much as Hamill mastered the Joker, but that doesn't make Brown's low growl any less perfect for the part. Brown helped turn Lex Luthor from the sillier version of the movies into the supervillain we know today — brilliant, cold, and calculating, but prone to fits of rage, especially when Superman is concerned. No bad jokes, no goofing around — but was always a force to be reckoned with, and never trusted. Let's put it this way; only a few villains had the gravitas to believably get other supervillains to work together and take orders, and Brown's Luthor was always in charge. 3) Jeremy Irons as Scar, The Lion King It's almost a shame that Disney didn't manage to use Jeremy Irons before or even after the Lion King; they used the greatest villain voice they've ever found on a lion. (Can you imagine if he'd been able to voice a more considerable Disney bad guy, like Jafar or Hades? Man.) Yet Irons' sinister tones, practically dripping with evil, almost singlehandedly gives The Lion King its emotional heft because you want Simba to defeat him so damn bad. There's a reason Scar is considered Disney's most evil villain, and it's entirely because of Irons' voice. Even Cruella de Vil doesn't come close, and her entire goal was to kill and


Prompt: "Todai" redirects here. For the restaurant chain, see Todai (restaurant) Coordinates: The University of Tokyo (東京大学, Tōkyō daigaku), abbreviated as Todai (東大, Tōdai)[3] or UTokyo,[4] is a public research university located in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877 as the first imperial university, it is one of Japan's most prestigious universities. The university has 10 faculties and enrolls about 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are international students. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is among the top type of the select Japanese universities assigned additional funding under the MEXT's Top Global University Project to

enhance Japan's global educational competitiveness.[5] The university has graduated many notable alumni, including 17 Prime Ministers, 16 Nobel Prize laureates, 3 Pritzker Prize laureates, 3 astronauts, and 1 Fields Medalist.[6] History [ edit ] The university was chartered by the Meiji government in 1877 under its current name by amalgamating older government schools for medicine, various traditional scholars and modern learning. It was renamed "the Imperial University (帝國大學, Teikoku daigaku)" in 1886, and then Tokyo Imperial University (東京帝國大學, Tōkyō teikoku daigaku) in 1897 when the Imperial University system was created. In September 1923, an earthquake and the following fires destroyed about 700,000 volumes of the Imperial University Library.[7] The books lost included the Hoshino Library (星野文庫, Hoshino bunko), a collection of about 10,000 books.[7][8] The books were the former possessions of Hoshino Hisashi before becoming part of the library of the university and were mainly about Chinese philosophy and history. In 1947, after Japan's defeat in World War II, it re-assumed its original name. With the start of the new university system in 1949, Todai swallowed up the former First Higher School (today's Komaba campus) and the former Tokyo Higher School, which thenceforth assumed the duty of teaching first- and second-year undergraduates, while the faculties on Hongo main campus took care of third- and fourth-year students. Although the university was founded during the Meiji period, it has earlier roots in the Astronomy Agency (天文方; 1684), Shoheizaka Study Office (昌平坂学問所; 1797), and the Western Books Translation Agency (蕃書和解御用; 1811).[9] These institutions were government offices established by the 徳川幕府 Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1867), and played an important role in the importation and translation of books from Europe. Kikuchi Dairoku, an important figure in Japanese education, served as president of Tokyo Imperial University. For the 1964 Summer Olympics, the university hosted the running portion


Prompt: The NHL finals between the Nashville Predators and the Pittsburgh Penguins is all tied up 2-2 as the action heads north again. We’ve got your live stream details for the crucial game five on June 8 at 8pm EST. This has been one of the most explosive NHL finals in years, with the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators completely dominating their home games while losing badly on the road. The Pens went up 2-0 while playing at PPG Paints Arena, then headed to Nashville where they were absolutely destroyed by the Preds. The defending Stanley Cup champs now get

home ice once again and hope to bounce back in game five, as whoever wins this game will be one victory away from achieveing league dominance. Both teams have so much to fight for, as Pittsburgh wants to keep the iconic trophy for another year, while the Predators are chasing their first NHL title in franchise history. The series has been all about the power of goaltending, as Nashville’s Pekka Rinne, 34, has proved. He gave up eight goals on just 36 shots in his two games in Pittsburgh, but saved 23 of 24 shots in game four alone. He now owns a 13-1 record in his past 14 home games, and is guaranteed at least one more game in Bridgestone Arena in game six. “He was incredible today. He made some great saves [on shots] that you thought was going in but he battled back and kept it out of the net,” forward Viktor Arvidsson, 24, said after the Predators 4-1 victory in game four on June 5. “We never doubt Peks. He’s an unbelievable player. He steps up for us every night. He’s the key to our game.” “I don’t want to look back. We have work to be done. I’m sure at the end of the day when you look back, it’s a roller coaster and an emotional ride,” Pekka said after his incredible performance. “The first two games we did a lot of good things. Personally I wasn’t very happy with my game. But obviously these two [last] games have been huge for us, and personally too. It’s a game of confidence, being a goalie.” He had one of the most epic moments of the finals with his huge double save on two Sidney Crosby back to back shots, then threw his body across the crease


Prompt: WHEN: Today, Monday, May 18th WHERE: CNBC's "Squawk Box" Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC interview with AT&T Chairman & CEO Randall Stephenson on CNBC's "Squawk Box" (M-F, 6AM-9AM ET) today. Following is a link to the interview on CNBC.com: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000380320 All references must be sourced to CNBC. JOE KERNEN: AT&T HAS SAID THAT THE COMPANY EXPECTS TO CLOSE THAT BIG DEAL, THAT $48.5 BILLION ACQUISITION OF DIRECTV BY THE END OF THE SECOND QUARTER AND KAYLA TAUSCHE IS AT THE ANNUAL JPMORGAN TECH MEDIA AND TELECOM CONFERENCE IN BOSTON. SHE IS JOINED BY SQUAWK NEWSMAKER AND AT&T

CHAIRMAN AND CEO RANDALL STEPHENSON. TAKE IT AWAY KAYLA. KAYLA TAUSCHE: THANKS SO MUCH, JOE. RANDALL STEPHENSON IS A FACE THAT IS VERY FAMILIAR TO "SQUAWK BOX" VIEWERS. CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF AT&T AND WE'RE SO GLAD TO HAVE YOU WITH US THIS MORNING. RANDALL STEPHENSON: GOOD TO BE HERE. THANK YOU. TAUSCHE: TODAY IS THE ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY ACTUALLY – STEPHENSON: DOESN'T SEEM POSSIBLE. TAUSCHE: OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DIRECTV DEAL. I KNOW YOU GUYS JUST RECENTLY EXTENDED THE TERMINATION DATE FOR THE DEAL. PEOPLE EXPECT IT WILL GET DONE, BUT GIVE US AN UPDATE ON THE PROGRESS. STEPHENSON: WE'RE IN THE SAME PLACE. WE THINK THE DEAL GETS DONE. THE CONVERSATIONS HAVE BEEN PRODUCTIVE. WHAT'S HAPPENED RIGHT NOW AS YOU KNOW, THERE WAS A STAY REQUEST FOR THE TITLE TWO RULES THAT WAS FILED LAST WEEK BY THE INDUSTRY AND THE JUDGE PUT A PRETTY TIGHT TIME HORIZON ON THE FCC TO RESPOND TO THAT. SO THAT'S PROBABLY GOING TO TAKE A LOT OF THEIR ATTENTION OVER THE NEXT WEEK OR TWO. I THINK THAT'S DUE ON FRIDAY. SO THERE'S NOT GOING TO BE A LOT DONE OVER THE NEXT WEEK AND ANYTHING OTHER THAN TITLE TWO. BUT WE FEEL LIKE THIS THING WILL PROGRESS AND WE STILL FEEL LIKE WE ARE ON TARGET TO HAVING IT CLOSED IN THE SECOND QUARTER. TAUSCHE: YOU TOOK THE TACK OF CHOOSING TO SUE THE FCC OVER THE NET NEUTRALITY RULES. AND THERE IS A QUESTION OVER WHETHER THAT IS A STRATEGY YOU WILL HAVE TO ABANDON TO GET THE DEAL DONE. IS THAT SOMETHING YOU ARE PLANNING TO ADDRESS? STEPHENSON: WE'VE BEEN REAL CLEAR FROM THE BEGINNING THAT TITLE TWO WAS NOT PROBABLY THE BEST WAY TO REGULATE THIS INDUSTRY. THIS IS AN INDUSTRY THAT IS CHANGING REALLY, REALLY FAST,


Prompt: The housing crisis, which was meant to subside four years ago according to statistics, is still continuing, says a housing rights group. The Front d’action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU) used moving season that culminated on Saturday to reiterate their demands for social housing. Véronique Laflamme, a spokesperson for the organization, said dozens of families didn’t find themselves on the streets on July 1, as was the case in the early 2000s. Nevertheless, she said the crisis has not abated as salaries aren’t increasing at the same rate as rent prices. Last year in Quebec, the vacancy rate stayed at

4.4 per cent — a number that should reflect stability in the rental market. Laflamme argues vacancy rates have decreased at an alarming rate in certain neighbourhoods like St-Leonard and Ahuntsic-Cartierville. She also said there is a shortage of housing appropriate for families. In an interview with the Presse Canadienne, she said a number of tenants are living in substandard situations, over their budgets, away from their loved ones or without community services. “The housing crisis has transformed. The extreme shortage is over, but the major problem is now high housing costs,” Laflamme said. According to data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, 270,000 tenants are facing essential housing needs in the province. Not including the homeless or those who spend the majority of their income on rent, Laflamme estimates 81,000 Quebeckers lack the funds to move and feed themselves. “Unfortunately, these statistics don’t incite a reaction,” she said. “It should be a shock.” FRAPRU estimates the 3,000 social housing units to be constructed in Quebec in the next year will not be enough to address previous budget cuts. “The Quebec government said they want to do better. We know they have a record (budgetary) surplus) but, unfortunately, in terms of politics and social programs, there’s nothing new — not a cent more,” she said. Last year, the United Nations reported a shortage of social housing in Canada, while FRAPRU says waiting lists for low-income housing are stagnant, as only 11 per cent of the rental market in Quebec is non-profit. “People who invest in housing are there to make profits,” Laflamme said. “Without rent control in Quebec, they’ll continue to increase rent significantly while incomes won’t follow.” Ottawa will present its national housing strategy this fall, while the Quebec minister responsible for housing, Martin Coiteux, will complete his


Prompt: In May, we wrote about 13-year-old Ali Chaney of Texas, who was reprimanded by school officials for proudly wearing a T-shirt that read, “Some people are gay. Get over it!” While the school deemed the message “disruptive,” Chaney’s mom vocally supported her lesbian daughter’s right to express herself, as did a slew of commenters on social media, as well as Lambda Legal. And now comes this twisted update: an antigay Facebook message sent to Chaney’s mom, Cassie Watson, apparently from the account of a local elementary school teacher, warning that the teen could be the next victim of an Orlando-style

massacre. “In light of the Orlando incident wear all gay people were openly slaughtered, I wonder if you’d still let your daughter wear the t-shirt to school that caused public controversy and may have subjected her to possible harm by others?” read the message, which was sent to Watson at 4:53 a.m. on Monday. “Being gay isn’t a crime but publicly forcing your opinion upon others, and to do it through your child at school, will always be offensive to others.” View photos The message — which referenced the tragic June 12 massacre in which a gunman killed 49 revelers at the LGBT nightclub Pulse — came from the account of Janice Williams, an elementary teacher in the neighboring Killeen, Texas, school district, about 10 miles away from Chaney’s middle school in Copperas Cove. After the message was reported by KCEN, however, Williams provided a statement to the news station claiming that her Facebook account had been hacked. “My FB account was hacked yesterday and I was not responsible for the message sent to the lady causing her to believe that her child would be harmed. It took several attempts to delete the account after notifying FB that my account had been hacked. I have lived my life protecting the rights of others and being an advocate for ALL children. I’m saddened that a hacker can cause such negativity and division among so many people. Please give my sincerest apology to this woman and her child. Thank you.” Williams did not return an email request for comment from Yahoo Style. A Facebook spokesperson told Yahoo Style that the company does not comment on individual accounts — nor would he comment on any general characteristics of what a hacked account would look like. Watson, who posted a screenshot of the message


Prompt: An American military airstrike in Yemen has killed Abu Khattab al-Awlaqi, a “trusted and experienced” emir of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and two of his colleagues, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has announced. Citing a statement from CENTCOM, the Pentagon notes: Al Awlaqi was a senior leader responsible for planning and conducting terrorist attacks against civilians… He had significant influence throughout al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula’s terrorist stronghold, had ties and access to the group’s other senior leaders, and was implicated in planning and leading efforts to exacerbate instability in southern Yemen… Al Awlaqi’s death removes a trusted and

experienced terrorist leader from al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula’s ranks. The U.S. military killed the AQAP chief on June 16. CENTCOM reports: U.S. forces conducted an airstrike against three al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula militants in Shabwah Governorate, Yemen, June 16, to disrupt terrorist compounds, and attack networks in Yemen. Abu Khattab al Awlaqi, the emir for AQAP’s terrorist stronghold in Shabwah Governorate, was killed in the strike along with two of his AQAP associates. President Donald Trump’s administration has escalated U.S. military efforts against Yemen’s AQAP, considered the most potent al-Qaeda branch that poses the biggest threat to the United States. U.S. troops, in coordination with the Yemeni government, have been carrying out a series of counterterrorism operations against AQAP to degrade the terrorist group’s ability to hold territory and conduct external terror attacks, according to CENTCOM. Since Trump took office, the U.S. military has launched an excess of 80 airstrikes against al-Qaeda, more than double the average of those carried out over the past five years, points out Fox News. The recent airstrike killed the AQAP emir in Yemen’s Shabwah governorate where the jihadist group has established a stronghold that allows it to plot attacks against the United States and its allies across the world. AQAP has capitalized on the security and political chaos in Yemen to recruit fighters, expand its influence, and capture territory. Moreover, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition’s nearly single-minded focus to defeat the Iran-allied Shiite Houthis in Yemen has allowed the Sunni AQAP group to flourish. AQAP claims it receives support from the U.S.-backed Saudi-led Sunni alliance. “In recent years, AQAP has taken advantage of ungoverned spaces in Yemen to plot, direct and inspire terror attacks against the U.S., its citizens and allies around the world,” notes the Pentagon. The Saudi-led alliance has been fighting


Prompt: TUESDAY AM UPDATE, WRITETHRU with actuals: Disney/Pixar’s Coco has struck a chord in China — and is expected to keep strumming along as play continues. The movie from directors Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina has quickly become the top-grossing Pixar title ever in the market with guitar hero Miguel and his trusty dog Dante tuning up $75.6M after 10 days there ($80M through Monday, based on local estimates). The sophomore Middle Kingdom session came in 148% above last weekend’s opening, pointing to the fantastic buzz and relatable themes. Coco led overall overseas play for the weekend, followed by Justice League

which came in at a higher than estimated $36.8M, and helped to push Warner Bros across the $3B mark at the international box office. Murder On The Orient Express (also better, at $23.7M), Daddy’s Home 2 ($15.6M) and animated Japanese title Fireworks, Should We See It From The Side Or The Bottom? ($10.7M in China) round out the frame’s Top 5. The full international box office weekend on Coco was $69.6M in 33 markets for an offshore cume of $172.3M and a global tally of $281M. There are still such majors to come as Australia, Italy, Brazil, Korea, the UK and Japan. Pixar has traditionally been soft in the Middle Kingdom, but local auds are extra sweet on Coco. The movie had the 2nd best sophomore weekend ever for an animated film in the market, behind only Zootopia — and that title multiplied like rabbits with an ultimate $235M there last year (after it was granted an extended run). This past week, Coco saw increases throughout with a No.1 weekend that far outdistanced the market’s other players (including Justice League which is moving close to $100M at Chinese turnstiles). Marvel Coco, which saw another No. 1 performance domestically this session, earlier this week helped Disney across the $5B global box office mark for 2017. So did Thor: Ragnarok which has now nailed $817.5M worldwide. The hammer-wielder grabbed another $6.6M this frame to lift the international cume to $526.1M, passing X-Men: Days Of Future Past’s $514M. Warner Bros. In other superhero news, Warner Bros/DC’s Justice League dropped 48.5% from last weekend to lasso $36.8M in the 3rd outing for an overseas cume of $371.8M. The global total to date is $569.2M. In highlights for the group, the China cume of $98.6M (RMB 654M) has now surpassed the lifetime totals of both


Prompt: Apple is expected to replace current 3D Touch technology with a new design based on thin film sensors when it introduces a next-generation iPhone with OLED display, according to noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. iPhone X 5.8-inch Super Retina OLED display A11 Bionic chip with Neural Engine 3D-sensing TrueDepth front camera Dual rear 12-megapixel cameras with TrueTone flash Face ID replaces Touch ID Home button removed Glass back, stainless steel band Wireless charging IP67 water, dust resistance Starting from $999 without contract Ships November 3 More info: iPhone X In a note to investors obtained by AppleInsider, Kuo says the forthcoming

iPhone will feature a 3D Touch module located beneath an OLED panel, a layered arrangement first introduced with iPhone 6s in 2015 Instead of using a sensor design involving flexible printed circuit boards, however, Apple is predicted to make the switch to thin film, a component package promising enhanced sensitivity over existing implementations. The increased should provide a better overall user experience than the now two-year-old 3D Touch design, perhaps paving the way for gestures more complex than home screen quick actions and system-wide " peek and pop " previews.Fitting a film sensor beneath an OLED panel is not easy, Kuo notes. Whereas current 3D Touch iterations integrate a rigid metal conductive plate as part of the layered sensor design, film sensor stacks do not, leaving the flexible OLED screen susceptible to deformation. To avoid potential damage from regular operation, a passive metal component will be placed under the film sensor to provide structural support, Kuo says.The new sensor materials and design inevitably require a more involved lamination process that will drive up per module costs, which the analyst estimates will increase 10 to 20 percent compared to current 3D Touch sensors. Module suppliers GIS and TPK are expected to split orders and begin shipping out supply in March or April.An evolution of Force Touch technology deployed in Apple Watch and MacBook trackpads, 3D Touch was originally billed as "the next generation of multi-touch" when it debuted on iPhone 6s.Unlike Force Touch, which uses sensors deployed under the perimeter of an Apple Watch display to detect finger pressure, 3D Touch employs an array of capacitive sensors integrated with an iPhone display's backlight. The system measures the distance between iPhone's flexible cover glass and the sensor array many times per second, then translates the results into granular force and location data.Film


Prompt: St. Charles, Naperville soldiers earn Silver Stars hello U.S. Army Spc. Richard Bennett of St. Charles patrols in Afghanistan near the Pakistan border. Photo provided by the Bennett family U.S. Army Spc. Richard Bennett of St. Charles patrols an area in the Pech River Valley in the mountains of northeastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border. Photo provided by the Bennett family U.S. Army Spc. Richard Bennett of St. Charles, who earned a prestigious Silver Star medal Tuesday, patrols mountains in northeastern Afghanistan near his combat post. He was honored for his bravery in saving a wounded comrade while under heavy

gunfire during a mission this summer. Photo provided by the Bennett family U.S. Army 1st Lt. Stephen Tangen greets retired Col. Haji Muhamed Arrif during a key leader engagement in Sarkani district, Kunar province, Afghanistan. The goal of the June meeting was to discuss the security and development of the district. Photo by Spc. Victor Egorov Defense Secretary Robert Gates awards 1st Lt. Stephen Tangen of Naperville the Silver Star Tuesday at Forward Operating Base Joyce in the Kunar province, Afghanistan. Gates arrived unannounced during a tour of the region. Associated Press St. Charles native and U.S. Army Spc. Richard Bennett thought only of his fallen comrade's peril when he bolted through heavy gunfire to aid the injured medic during a mission in eastern Afghanistan. Bennett remained focused on his "brothers" Tuesday after he and Army 1st Lt. Stephen R. Tangen of Naperville each collected a Silver Star medal for their separate actions under fire there this summer. The pair was among six Army soldiers earning the third-highest award for bravery in combat given by the military. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates presented the honors in person to the soldiers for their actions during various Operation Strong Eagle missions in the Kunar province. "It was an incredible honor that the secretary of defense would come. It was a little overwhelming," said Tangen, according to a Department of Defense news account. "Forward Operating Base Joyce gets attacked almost every day, so just the fact that he would come to a remote FOB like this and put his life on the line it doesn't happen every day." Noted recipients of the honor include Lt. Col. Oliver North, Gens. George S. Patton and Douglas MacArthur, as well as Sens. John Kerry and John McCain. More recently, former Arizona Cardinals football player Pat Tillman,


Prompt: The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa (Krakatau) in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) began in the afternoon of Sunday, 26 August 1883 (with origins as early as May of that year), and peaked in the late morning of Monday, 27 August 1883, when over 70% of the island and its surrounding archipelago were destroyed as it collapsed into a caldera. Additional seismic activity was reported to have continued until February 1884, though reports of seismic activity after October 1883 were later dismissed by Rogier Verbeek's investigation into the eruption. The 1883 eruption was one of the deadliest and most destructive

volcanic events in recorded history. At least 36,417 deaths are attributed to the eruption and the tsunamis it created. Significant additional effects were also felt around the world in the days and weeks after the volcano's eruption. Early phase [ edit ] In the years before the 1883 eruption, seismic activity around the Krakatoa volcano was intense, with earthquakes felt as far away as Australia. Beginning 20 May 1883, steam venting began to occur regularly from Perboewatan, the northernmost of the island's three cones. Eruptions of ash reached an estimated altitude of 6 km (20,000 ft) and explosions could be heard in New Batavia (Jakarta) 160 km (99 mi) away. Activity died down by the end of May, and there was no further recorded activity for several weeks. Eruptions at Krakatoa started again around 16 June, with loud explosions and a thick black cloud covering the islands for five days. On 24 June, a prevailing east wind cleared the cloud, and two ash columns could be seen issuing from Krakatoa. The seat of the eruption is believed to have been a new vent or vents that formed between Perboewatan and Danan. The violence of the ongoing eruptions caused tides in the vicinity to be unusually high, and ships at anchor had to be moored with chains. Earthquakes were felt at Anyer, Banten, and ships began to report large pumice masses to the west in the Indian Ocean.[citation needed] On 11 August, a Dutch topographical engineer, Captain H. J. G. Ferzenaar, investigated the Krakatoa islands.[1] He noted three major ash columns (the newer from Danan), which obscured the western part of the island, and steam plumes from at least eleven other vents, mostly between Danan and Rakata. When he landed, he noted an ash layer about 0.5 m (1 ft 8


Prompt: PLOSBLOGS Editor’s Note: From time to time we feature “first person” blog posts by PLOS journal authors, particularly when their newly published findings provide insights of interest beyond the research discipline they work in, and offer information of potential value to other PLOSBLOGS readers, including clinicians, policymakers, science writers and, in this case, autistic people. [Featured image above: “The Outsider” by Donna Williams CCBY ] A guest post by Morton Ann Gernsbacher, PhD. A well-worn adage reminds us that “context is everything.” And for decades psychologists have known that context matters when assessing people’s personality traits. For example, if people

are asked on a personality questionnaire if they like to be alone, they’ll respond differently if they think the context for being alone is while they’re working versus while they’re socializing. If people are asked if they have difficulty speaking in front of a group, they’ll respond differently depending on what size group is specified. In a recent experiment published in PLoS ONE, my collaborators, Jennifer Stevenson and Sebastian Dern, and I demonstrated that context also matters when assessing autistic traits.* Previously, we’d noticed that questionnaires that assess autistic traits often lack context. For example, on one questionnaire, respondents are asked whether they like being around other people, whether they enjoy chatting with people, whether people have to talk them into trying new things, and the like. But for none of these items is the type of people contextualized. Are they similar to or different from the person being assessed? For example, are the other people the respondent likes to be around other autistic people or other non-autistic people? We know that being around people who are similar to oneself usually makes it easier to socialize, communicate, and be considered more ‘normal.’ We predicted that would also be the case for autistic and non-autistic persons. Therefore, in our experiment, we manipulated the context of the items on an autistic traits questionnaire (the Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire). Rather than presenting each item in its original, un-contextualized form (e.g., “I like being around other people”) we presented each item contextualized as “with autistic people” (e.g., “I like being around other autistic people”) or “with non-autistic people” (e.g., “I like being around other non-autistic people”). We collected data from 124 autistic and 124 non-autistic adult participants who were matched for their age, sex, gender, and parental education. We predicted, and we found, that


Prompt: That little pooch you shower with love and affection knows how to get what it wants. A new study published in the journal Animal Cognition has found that our canine companions are able to deceive us in order to get something they desire. And they can figure out how to do it quite quickly. Researcher and lead author of the paper Marianne Heberlein was curious about her own dogs' behaviour. Like many dog owners, Heberlein had a nighttime routine: let the dogs out to relieve themselves and then give them a treat when they came back inside. However, one day

she noticed that one of the dogs would just pretend to pee in order to get the treat. This spurred her curiosity as to what was really going on and if the dog was purposely attempting to deceive her. In order to study the behaviour, Heberlein and her research team from the University of Zurich conducted an experiment. Using 27 dogs, the team paired each one with two human partners: a co-operative one who allowed the dogs to eat treats, and a competitive one who withheld the treats. After the dogs learned which was which, the dogs then had the chance to lead them to one of three boxes: in one there was a sausage; in another was a less appetizing dog treat; and the last one was empty. It's tactical deception, basically. - Marianne Heberlein, University of Zurich On the first day, the dogs led the co-operative partners to the sausage box more often than expected by chance and more often than the competitive partner. On the second day that increased in both cases. By leading the competitive partner to the incorrect box, this meant that the dog had a chance to keep the delicious sausage for itself later on, when the experiment was repeated with a co-operative partner. Hence, the apparently deceptive behaviour. This ability, the researchers say, was learned quite quickly compared to other studies involving primates, which can take upward of a hundred trials before the animals made this association and acted accordingly. Tell me lies The findings did surprise Heberlein somewhat. "They really have the capacity from the cognitive aspect to use such a strategy to have a benefit in their lives," Heberlein said. "It's tactical deception, basically." Daphna Buchsbaum, assistant professor at the University of Toronto's department of psychology, said that this is a


Prompt: "Do you, Aragorn, son of Arathorn, also known as Strider, from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, take Shelob, a huge terrifying man-eating spider, as your wedded wife?" I do. I did . I married a giant spider! And that's just one of the many bizarre fan-fiction adventures you can have with The Middle Earth Project mod for Crusader Kings II. If marrying a spider sounds weird, it'll make more sense when I explain that I began the game playing as Aragorn's liege: a Balrog. Before I get into my weird, sick adventure, a little info about the mod.

It fully converts Crusader Kings II into Middle Earth. The map is gorgeous and detailed, and there's no shortage of characters and cultures and events imported from The Lord of the Rings. Want to play as Sauron himself? You can. Treebeard of Fangorn? He's there. Saurman the White? Ironfoot of the Dwarves? Elrond of Rivendell? One of those crazy looking masked dudes from Rhun? A Nazgul? An Uruk-Hai? A Goblin? Or something lame, like a Hobbit? They're all there. So, using the Crusader Kings II Ruler Designer, I whipped up a Balrog to play with. Rather than sticking him in that old dwarf dump Moria, I install him in Dunedain territory, and am quite pleased to see Aragorn himself arrive and become my courtier and heir. As a Balrog, I have a couple ambitions. I'd like to have a daughter. I want to research some new technology. I want to hire a capable council. And, of course, I want to kill Gandalf, that bearded prick who trespassed in my house and then had the gall to smash my bridge -- while I was on it! -- when I came up from the basement to politely ask him to keep the noise down. So, I send an assassin after him. Yeah, fighting with firewhips while falling though the center of the earth looks cool, but poison is so much more civilized. I know Gandalf's pal, Radagast the Brown, agrees with me, because he immediately poisons me back, and I die. Damn Radagast, you vengeful hippie wizard. Chief Balrog is dead! And just a couple weeks after taking office. I take over as my heir, Aragorn, and quickly swear fealty to Sauron. Because, you know, with Gandalf out of the game, you can forget about marshaling the eagles, or scaring off the


Prompt: PHOENIX (Reuters) - Tucson shooting rampage suspect Jared Lee Loughner pleaded not guilty on Monday to federal charges of attempting to assassinate U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and attempting to murder two of her staff members. An artist's depiction shows Jared Lee Loughner (L), the Arizona man accused of shooting 20 people while trying to assassinate U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords over the weekend, and his attorney public defender Judy Clarke during a court appearance in Phoenix, Arizona January 10, 2011. REUTERS/Joan Andrew The 22-year-old college dropout is accused of opening fire on Giffords and a crowd of bystanders outside a grocery

store on January 8, killing six people, including a federal judge, and wounding 13. Giffords was shot in the head but survived. Wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and wire-rimmed glasses, the hair on his shaved head starting to grow, Loughner said nothing as the not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf by the judge at his lawyer’s request in a federal court in Phoenix. The shackled defendant was earlier seen smiling, nodding and chatting quietly with his attorney, Judy Clarke, as the proceedings were about to begin. She patted Loughner on the shoulder as the hearing ended. Authorities have said Giffords, who remains hospitalized, was his primary target. The rampage renewed a national debate over gun control in the United States and whether the vitriolic tone of U.S. politics had encouraged violence against elected officials, though the motives for the attack remained unclear. In the meantime, investigators for the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department in Arizona are pressing ahead with parallel criminal investigations. The plea of not guilty was entered for each of the three charges contained in a federal grand jury indictment returned last Wednesday — the attempted assassination of Giffords and attempted murder of two aides who also were struck by gunfire. Loughner could face up to life in prison for trying to kill the lawmaker and the other two attempted murder charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REVIEW The indictment did not include any murder charges for two other federal employees who were slain — Judge John Roll, the chief federal judge in Arizona who had stopped at the supermarket to talk to Giffords, or Gabe Zimmerman, the lawmaker’s director of community outreach. Before federal prosecutors can charge Loughner with murder, they must first seek a review of the case by


Prompt: In a new book, Inventing the 20th Century: 100 Inventions That Shaped the World , I read that the inventor of the Slinky, Richard James, joined a cult in Bolivia to which he donated much of his profits. What cult? Do proceeds from sales of Slinkys still go to the cult? Cecil replies: What’s your problem with cults, Ken? Why, just this spring while writing a check I said to myself, this money is going to fund religious zealots bent on subverting everything I hold dear. But I mailed in my income tax anyway. In any case, I don’t know

that we want to call Richard James’s coreligionists a cult. Details about the group are scanty, and it’s possible they were just an exceptionally enthusiastic bunch of Episcopalians. Besides, it’s been more than 40 years since any Slinky money found its way into the organization’s coffers. During the 1950s, however, quite a bit did. Here’s as much of the story as I could piece together, based on conversations with Richard’s ex-wife, Betty, a remarkable woman who saved the Slinky company after her husband bailed. It all started in 1943, when Richard, an engineer at a navy shipyard in Philadelphia, noticed a torsion spring fall off a table and wiggle when it hit the floor. In the metallurgical equivalent of Newton’s apple, Richard recognized a toy waiting to be born. Having succeeded in finding steel with the right combination of lightness and springiness — no small feat in wartime — he was ready to take his product to market by late 1945. Realizing that the key to selling the Slinky was showing it in action, he fabricated a display in which the toy walked down steps and persuaded the Philadelphia branch of Gimbel’s department store to let him give demonstrations. Shoppers went nuts, and in 90 minutes Richard’s entire stock of 400 Slinkys had sold out. The thing was a hit at a toy fair the following spring and soon had become a national phenomenon. By the 1950s Richard was pretty flush. He and Betty lived with their growing family on a 12-acre estate near the suburb of Bryn Mawr on Philadelphia’s affluent Main Line. But he wasn’t content and at some point got religion. Previous accounts have been vague on how this came about, and Betty herself doesn’t have a lot of specifics. She doesn’t know what religious organization Richard


Prompt: We need to pair migrants with particular skills to areas with labour shortages Britain’s population is growing. New estimates out this week reveal a 0.77 per cent population increase across the UK at the mid-point of 2014, higher than the 10-year average. The rise is down to both a higher number of births than deaths (accounting for 46 per cent of the increase) and positive net migration (accounting for 53 per cent). Britain benefits from migration – not least because migrants support our ageing society by helping to grow the economy, reduce the deficit and finance public services. But significant

numbers are concerned that the country is overcrowded. Indeed, Britain has one of the highest population densities in Europe. And though the latest increase is not only down to a rise in inward migration, it is clear that net migration is having a sustained impact on population levels. Still, Britain can cope with the current increase: the OBR has said that urban Britain ‘occupies less than 10 per cent of the surface area’ and density is relatively low by historical standards. There is enough space for more houses if we are prepared to build them: building enough homes to accommodate the expected increase in people would mean that 12 or 13 per cent of land in England – rather than around 10 per cent- would be developed. Population growth will of course be felt in some parts of the country, but it will not be felt everywhere. Breaking down the data reveals a much more mixed picture than the aggregate figures suggest. In parts of Wales and Northern England – such as Cumbria and North Yorkshire – population levels are falling due to relatively low birth rates and low or negative levels of net migration (both international and internal). On the other hand, parts of the South East and the Midlands have recently experienced very high levels of population growth. Tower Hamlets, Newham, Hackney, Islington and Corby are the five local authorities that have had the greatest growth over the past ten years. In other areas – such as Manchester and Birmingham – population levels appear relatively stable but this masks considerable churn. The latest figures also highlight Britain’s ageing population. There has been a rise in the median age to 40 – a jump of more than 6 years since 1974. But again the impacts of ageing are uneven


Prompt: Action Figure Friday! Featuring our favorite weekly themed figures. Figures: Marvel Legends Series Mary Jane and Peter Parker TRU Exclusive Location: TRU Release date: May 2017 Starting off the countdown to Spider-Man: Homecoming is this Toys R Us exclusive 2-pack: Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson. Our first ever, Mary Jane Watson Marvel Legends figure, this two pack was a sure purchase for fans of Spidey. The first thing to note is how great the figures look in box. They are the perfect size to fit in your collection or on a shelf and are scaled perfectly for display. Let’s start

off with taking a look at Peter Parker’s red-headed romance: Mary Jane Watson. The costume design they decided to go for was Mary Jane Watson’s first full appearance in ASM #42. Leading with her infamous line of “Face it tiger…you just hit the jackpot”, Mary Jane Watson has been as essential of a character to the Spider-Man lore as the Peter Parker himself. The design team did a great job with the hair, eye color design, and freckles for this sculpt. Where Mary Jane Watson might be lacking is in her expression. More stoic and less care-free/flirtatious as her usual portrayal, this figure captures less of that fun side of MJ and more of her serious side. The other thing to note about MJ is just the lack of accessories that came with her figurine. Even if MJ is not necessarily a heavily accessorized character in the Marvel world, her action figure would have benefited from an additional head swap or an extra coat instead of just a purse. The Spider-Man suit featured in this two pack is based on the new series that began in 2015. The Amazing Spider-Man was renumbered, beginning in 2015, and written by Spider-scribe Dan Slott. The great thing about these new ASM issues were the covers drawn by artist Alex Ross. These covers really highlighted the look to his new suit and glowing spider eyes and symbol. As mentioned before, the suit design is based off of this new series but the body sculpt looks to be new and improved. The accessories that comes with this figure are 2 sets of interchangeable hands as well as an alternate masked head. In contrast to MJ, the designers were able to capture that subtle Parker smirk in his head design. As a TRU exclusive this figure


Prompt: Advertisement Bournemouth have been forced into an embarrassing climbdown after one of their stewards accused Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero of assaulting him. Aguero was facing a police investigation after the claims surfaced following a melee sparked by City’s 97th-minute winner, which saw players celebrate with fans who had spilled over on to the pitch during yesterday’s 2-1 victory. But pictures and video clearly showed Aguero approaching a steward to object to a fan being dragged to the ground by two stewards and other officials, being held around the throat and having his hands forced behind his back. Police have

taken a statement from a Bournemouth steward who says Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero hit them Aguero was celebrating Raheem Sterling's winner in the 2-1 victory at the Vitality Stadium when the incident occurred The players celebrated with the fans, with stewards intervening as they spilled onto the pitch, which Aguero took exception to The former Atletico Madrid forward took to Twitter to deny the claim - while also praising the narrow victory over the Cherries With reports that a steward had then informed police Aguero had hit him, the striker tweeted: ‘I did not hit anyone, this allegation is false and the TV pictures prove it.’ City are fuming and last night Bournemouth put out a statement withdrawing the allegations. They said in a statement: ‘The club have been advised that, due to a misunderstanding, an earlier statement alleging assault has been withdrawn and no assault took place. ‘AFC Bournemouth recognise that stewards and police were carrying out their duties in preventing encroachment on to the pitch, with the safety of players and supporters in mind. The club will make no further comment on the matter.’ The celebrations saw two City fans arrested. Sterling was also sent off for a second yellow card after celebrating with the crowd. He had only received his first booking in the third minute of injury time. Footage taken by fans in the crowd appears to show the flashpoint regarding Aguero. The striker can be seen protesting with a steward who, along with a colleague and officials, has a City fan pinned to the floor. After approaching the steward, Aguero’s arm can be seen twice being pushed away by the steward, with the pair remonstrating at each other, at which point a policeman intervenes. He and Aguero also exchange words, with Aguero attempting to


Prompt: Photo via GoFundMe Photo via GoFundMe FOX 32 NEWS - The last time the Cubs were in the World Series, the Internet did not exist and there were no such things as GoFundMe campaigns to raise money. Now, an Elgin man who attended the 1945 World Series is hoping a GoFundMe campaign can get him to another one. “Phil Cavaretta was on first, Don Johnson was on second, Lem Murilla was short, Stan Hack was at third,” said Jim Schlegel. The words don't come as easily as they did 71 years ago, but 97-year-old Jim Schlegel can still rattle off

the Cubs starting lineup from the last Cubs World Series, in 1945. Schlegel was there for games six and seven. He'd been in the Army and was at Pearl Harbor in 1941. He came home to Chicago a few days before the 1945 World Series began, and he hopped a streetcar to Wrigley Field on the morning of game six, looking for tickets. ”I got there seven o clock in the morning, I went on Waveland Avenue, there was a short line already, so I just stood there in line, a policeman come by, and he says, soldier, what the hell are you doing here, and I said, I want to get in the game, he says, come here, you don't have to pay for a game, you're a soldier,” Schlegel said. Lots of returning Servicemen got free tickets to the World Series that year. Schlegel's family is hoping he can make it to a game this time around. They're asking donors to contribute to a GoFundMe page. Their goal? Come up with ten thousand dollars, which is enough for one or two tickets. As for predictions, Schlegel doesn't see the Cubs losing the series, like they did 71 years ago. “The Cubs will win it in seven. Or earlier. Alright?” Schlegel said. Schlegel's family says the pledges have been coming in all day. One donor even offered them a ticket to one of the games in Cleveland. He said, no thanks, he wants to go back to Wrigley Field, just like he did in 1945. Schlegel says his favorite players are Addison Russell, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo. But he says Wilson Contreras might earn the series MVP. By the way, the GoFundMe page, titled "Get my Grandpa to the World Series" has raised more than $3,700 so far.


Prompt: Berkeley High water polo player investigated for mid-game assault Boys high school water polo match between Greenwich High School and Brunswick School at Greenwich High School, Conn., Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016. Brunswick defeated Greenwich 6-5. Boys high school water polo match between Greenwich High School and Brunswick School at Greenwich High School, Conn., Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016. Brunswick defeated Greenwich 6-5. Photo: Bob Luckey Jr., Hearst Connecticut Media Photo: Bob Luckey Jr., Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Berkeley High water polo player investigated for mid-game assault 1 / 1 Back to Gallery Police in Alameda

have launched an investigation into a report that a Berkeley High School student on the boys water polo team sexually assaulted an opponent during a match last month, officials said Monday. The investigation into the alleged incident during an Oct. 11 match at Encinal High School in Alameda is still active and no arrests have been made, said Lt. Hoshmand Durani, a spokesman for the Alameda Police Department. It was the second time in less than a year that a Bay Area high school water polo player has been the subject of a criminal probe stemming from violence in the pool. The latest alleged incident came to the attention of police on Oct. 12 after an Encinal school staff member told a school resource officer about it, Durani said. He didn’t go into details about the allegation, citing the juvenile status of the people involved, and didn’t know if anyone was injured. “I don’t want to pinpoint a specific allegation because we still have to interview people,” Durani said Monday. “We have to verify all sides of the story.” The Berkeley team’s coach, Raymond Haywood, said Monday that he had not heard about the incident or the investigation. “This is news to me,” he said when contacted by The Chronicle. He referred other questions to the high school’s athletic director, who didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. On Tuesday, though, the high school’s principal, Sam Pasarow, said the coach was mistaken. He said Haywood had knowledge of the incident, but not of the investigation. Charles Burress, a spokesman for the Berkeley Unified School District, said he couldn’t discuss what happened to the player being investigated. “We take the issue of good sportsmanship and behavior very seriously, but we cannot comment on any specific cases of student discipline,” he said.


Prompt: Thanks for sharing! Yummly Pinterest Reddit StumbleUpon email Creamy vanilla ice cream + rich & decadent hot fudge sauce + chopped almonds = pure bliss. Seriously. You just can’t go wrong with vanilla and chocolate. I’m very much an emotional eater; I’ve always been one, although I’ve curved it a lot over the last several years (or attempted to). Some days though, despite what is going on in life, I just want to eat a big bowl of ice cream. You know? It just makes everything better. I quit buying store-bought dairy free ice cream a while ago. Not because

it didn’t taste good (well, for the most part anyways), but because of what was in it (soy, xanthan/guar gums, sugar, agave, “natural flavors”)… and the cost. A family of four can completely decimate 1-2 of those little pint-sized containers in one night with no problems. I figure if I can make something healthier here at home, that’s nearly entirely sweetened using dates and stevia, that the whole family LOVES, then why not? And in my opinion, the more ice cream in my freezer, the better. 🙂 Course, as with most dairy free, egg free ice cream recipes, this Vegan & Paleo Fudge Tracks Ice Cream will be creamiest when it’s at a soft serve consistency. It’s how I prefer to eat it. If your ice cream has been sitting in the freezer for a while and is hard, simply let it warm up for a while on the counter, maybe 15-30 minutes; or if you’re super impatient like me, you can zap it in the microwave for 15-30 seconds. And adding nuts is entirely optional. 🙂 All my love. xoxo, Megan Vegan & Paleo Fudge Tracks Ice Cream Save Print Serves: about 1 1/2 quarts Ingredients 3/4 cup chopped dates, packed 2 cans full fat coconut milk (about 3 1/2 cups), divided 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk beverage 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 10 drops NuNatural’s Liquid Vanilla Stevia small pinch of sea salt 1/2-2/3 cup Rich & Decadent Dairy Free Hot Fudge Sauce, chilled chopped almonds for topping, optional Instructions Place the chopped dates in a small mixing bowl and cover with 1 1/2 cups of hot water. Set aside for at least 10 minutes. Drain the dates and discard the water. Place the dates in a high speed blender with 1 can of full fat


Prompt: The rise of Facebook as a news source News bias on the social network could have dramatic consequences for the news consumed across the world. Recent research from the Pew Center showed that 63 per cent of Americans that are on Facebook accessed news through the social site in 2015, up from 47 per cent in 2013. In fact, the research found that politics was particularly important to Facebook users - 32 per cent of Facebook users post about politics and government, while 61 per cent of Americans between 20-35 years old got their political news from Facebook every week.

It's clear news is a priority: the company has rolled out a range of tools designed to make news consumption on Facebook even easier, including Instant Articles, Live Video, and Save for Later, and an updated newsfeed algorithm that prioritises the quality of articles and length of time spent reading them. How the Trending list works The Trending topics are surfaced by algorithms that identify recently spiking keywords, and are also personalised for each user by a different algorithm - location and interests all play a role in what you see. Although the Trending review team doesn't manually select sources or content, they do write topic descriptions and double-check each trending topic. According to ex-Facebook workers, the Trending team would also allegedly "inject" stories that the team deemed important, even if they weren't actually trending on the site, it has been alleged. Both the disappearance of flight MH370, the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris and the Black Lives Matter movement in the US were said to have been "injected" into the Trending side bar. "We would get yelled at if it was all over Twitter and not on Facebook," said a former curator. Another ex-curator said: "If a story looked like it had enough news sites covering it, we could inject it - even if it wasn't naturally trending." Facebook allegedly made sure its employees were very careful about over-promoting stories related to the social network itself in the Trending box. The company has denied claims that it uses its influence to manipulate the democratic process. News curators working for the social network have access to a list of stories trending on the site, according to employees that worked at the company until the end of 2015. They choose the stories that they think are most interesting, summarise them, write


Prompt: Putting all that aside, if you like politics— if you like America, dammit—it'll be tremendously fun to watch for several reasons. For starters, it's going to be awkward. Christie and Booker are friends, as close as two politicians with identical aspirations can be. They don’t attack each other, they text all the time, and they shot an amusing parody video together. Over the summer they cut away from a party at the gubernatorial Jersey Shore house and took a stroll on the beach, just the two of them. They're even Facebook friends, having sat on Oprah Winfrey's couch last year

and collected a $100 million investment from Mark Zuckerberg for Newark's schools. From education reform to a property tax cap, they have supported each other in a bipartisan way that is unfathomable in the nation’s capital. Second, this will be Campaign 2.0. They may love a good TV interview, but Booker and Christie have drawn much of their popularity by circumventing traditional news and developing their own social-media channels for disseminating information. Booker has the second-most Twitter followers of any politician who hasn’t run for president and he recently cofounded a video-based social media company called Waywire. Christie, meanwhile, has amassed an online following from countless video clips, posted by his staff, of his dressing down journalists, constituents, Democrats, academic researchers and the New Jersey Supreme Court. YouTube against Twitter: Which is more effective? And finally, perhaps most importantly, the race represents a stark contrast in style. The mayor who meditates and quotes poetry versus the governor who…what's the opposite of meditation and poetry? Booker is a chameleon, able to give any audience what it needs. To the Florida delegation at the Democratic convention, for example, he dropped “Jesus Loves You” and the Hebrew equivalent, “Baruch Hashem,” in the same sentence, bringing black women and Jewish grandmothers to their feet. Christie, on the other hand, keeps his finger on the trigger—choosing respect, as he always says, before love. While Christie is a married father of four and the fattest national politician since the dawn of television, Booker is a fit, single man often dubbed “America’s sexiest mayor.” His sex life is of more than a little interest in political circles, and his name was appropriated for an erotic novel, “Cory’s Salvation.” He is crushed on by 20-something female progressives across the country, as evidenced by the question recently asked about


Prompt: No self-respecting oligarch these days can afford to be without a superyacht. Ownership of a bling boat is as obligatory as the Ferrari in the triple garage and the private jet on standby. However, within months any billionaire wanting to sail their marine home into US waters will have to comply with stringent new environmental regulations to curb their hulking vessel’s polluting effects. The regulations, which stipulate that certain types of vessel built after 2016 have to be fitted with bulky equipment that converts nitrogen oxides into nitrogen and water, were presented to the International Maritime Organisation, the UN body

responsible for reducing shipping pollution, but were resisted by trade bodies representing superyacht manufacturers. They protested that the proposed rules threatened their industry because the engine rooms of some superyachts were too small to accommodate the new equipment, meaning they would have to lose a guest cabin to make room for the technology. A vociferous lobbying campaign was mounted, with some boat builders suggesting that the regulations represented a “doomsday” scenario for their industry. Russia, too, weighed in against the proposals. Amid the standoff, the US has opted to impose its own unilateral obligations, which come into force from 1 January in North America and the US Caribbean, and will force all newly built boats over 24m long and with a gross tonnage of 500 tonnes or more to cut their sulphur and nitrogen oxide emissions by nearly 80%. Experts predict that the regulations, which will apply to all vessels over 24m by 2021, would soon be rolled out to other maritime areas, including the Mediterranean. Although the new US rules apply to all types of boat built from next year, it is their impact on superyachts that will be most noticeable. Environmental campaigners have expressed anger that, even when the cheapest of cars are equipped with anti-pollutant filters, superyachts have historically had to meet few environmental obligations to reduce their sizeable diesel emissions. It reportedly costs more than £250,000 just to fill the fuel tanks of the Vava II, which is almost 100 metres long and was commissioned for a former Miss UK, Kirsty Bertarelli, by her billionaire husband Ernesto. The vessel is dwarfed by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich’s 160m Eclipse, which can accommodate 36 guests in 18 cabins. U2 singer Bono owns the more modestly sized Kingdom Come which is 60m long and can hold up to 115,000


Prompt: The story of Beijing’s most famous expat will be hitting the silver screen next month in China and, as its trailers clearly show, the film’s subject is so popular that it’s also the film’s lead actor. My Other Home (or known by its Chinese name, I Am Marbury) is a biographical film that stars Stephon Marbury as himself as he finds redemption in the wake of a failed exit from the NBA by leading the Beijing Ducks to the first of three championship seasons. The film has cast well-known character actor Frankie Faison (The Wire) to help round out its

dramatic roles but has also enlisted the services of other real-life basketball stars Baron Davis as well as Allen Iverson in a cameo. And to appeal to a broader demographic, the cast of My Other Home also include Jessica Jung, the former member of K-pop idol group Girls’ Generation, starring as Marbury’s agent. The first trailer for the film focused on a lot of man-on-man conflict, but a second trailer suggests that My Other Home will highlight the growing pains that accompanied Marbury’s first year in China with multiple characters expressing doubt towards the failed NBA star. One team member is seen openly discrediting the man who would become Beijing’s model citizen during practice while another tells him directly in a close-up, “Championship title? It’s impossible to make your teammates believe in that.” Furthermore, a coach is heard saying, “I don’t approve of his ways.” But, the doubts and suspicions eventually give way to inspirational quotes that accompany the cool courtside camera shots of b-ball action. Recommended Reading By Jonathan Papish Dangal: China’s Leggiest Film Ever By Jonathan Papish Marbury is heard telling his teammates, “We’re going to join them, and we’re going to fight them,” while a coach is heard exhorting his team: “‘Champion’ is not just a slogan, it’s a belief!” Meanwhile, Marbury’s father is heard encouraging his son in a flashback, “You got to believe in yourself, you go to believe in here,” thumping at the heart lodged in his chest. Since there’s no surprise as to whether Marbury succeeds or loses, the real appeal of My Other Home (formerly known as A New Yorker in Beijing) is to give audiences a chance to witness Stephon Marbury reacting to own his life for the second time, something that Marbury is acutely aware of. “When people look at


Prompt: Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz maintains he did nothing wrong in purchasing a "shell company" from the city's chief administrative officer but concedes it could be viewed unfavourably by some. And on Wednesday, he said perception is key and in retrospect he should have just created and registered his own company and paid the fees to do it. "When you are in the world of politics, the sad statement is reality doesn't count, OK? As you heard the expression: perception is reality," he said. "So should one exercise more caution. If I had to do this again I would have paid

the $3,000, $4,000, found a lawyer, and boom, done that. No doubt about that, that is a very valuable lesson learned." CBC News first reported on Tuesday that Katz had purchased Arizona-based Duddy Enterprises LLC from the city's top bureaucrat, Phil Sheegl, in March. Katz insists Duddy is a "shell company" that currently transacts no business, but he has said he might use it in the future. He said he paid Sheegl $1 for it. Late on Wednesday, Sheegl issued a short statement regarding his role in the sale of Duddy Enterprises to Katz. "The company was dormant and I no longer required it. In retrospect, it would have been better for the mayor to set up his own new company," the statement reads in part. "As I have said before, the mayor and I are not partners in any of my businesses. Deal comes under fire The transaction does not appear on the mayor's statement of assets and interests that is required to be filed under Manitoba's Municipal Council Conflict of Interest Act. Under the act, council members must disclose the name of every corporation worth more than $500 in which they hold over five per cent of the value. Katz said the city clerk ruled he didn't have to disclose the company transfer. However, the arrangement has come under scrutiny after becoming public. Brian Kelcey, who worked in the mayor's office and now teaches municipal government at the University of Winnipeg, said it's inappropriate for the two men to be doing this kind of deal and for it not to be disclosed on the public record. "Let's remember that Mayor Sam Katz is Phil Sheegl's direct day-to-day superior and insofar as Phil reports to council, the mayor is one of his indirect superiors," Kelcey said. Mynarski Coun. Ross