Prompt: The top detective who was the first officer to dismiss sex abuse allegations against Leon Brittan claims he has been 'hounded out' of Scotland Yard after speaking the truth about the case. Paul Settle has taken early retirement from the Met after concluding he had no future in the force following his decision to expose the 'incompetence' of colleagues, who carried out a protracted inquiry into the discredited allegations against Lord Brittan. As he stepped down as a detective chief inspector, Mr Settle blamed Labour deputy leader Tom Watson's controversial intervention in the Brittan rape case for the demise of

his 25 year police career. Ex-Scotland Yard detective Paul Settle (pictured) has taken early retirement after concluding he had no future in the force following his decision to expose the 'incompetence' of colleagues He also launched a wider attack on Mr Watson over his role in the VIP sex and paedophile scandal. Mr Settle said he was in 'no doubt' that a 2012 speech by Mr Watson in the House of Commons, which alleged the existence of a powerful paedophile ring with links to a former Prime Minister's advisor, was 'calculated' to damage the Conservative Party. He also accused the deputy leader and several Labour activists of being 'politically motivated' when they made allegations of sex abuse against a number of Tory grandees that were found to be unsubstantiated. Mr Settle believes that a former Labour councillor who made a number of unsubstantiated VIP child sex claims was driven by an 'extreme hatred' of the Conservative Party and that another Labour Party supporter, whose accusations of rape against Lord Brittan of rape were dismissed by police also openly loathed Tories. A retired trade unionist, who had dealings with Mr Watson and who spread untruths about Tory grandees, was described as being a 'well-meaning fantasist' by Mr Settle. As a result of the Labour smears, the lives and reputations of several respected Conservatives were 'destroyed', he said. But he reserved his most scathing comments for Mr Watson, who in 2014 intervened in a rape case concerning allegations made by a Labour Party supporter known as Jane, who alleged she was assaulted by former Tory Home Secretary Lord Brittan at his London flat in 1967. Mr Settle blamed Labour deputy leader Tom Watson (pictured) and his controversial intervention in the Brittan rape case for the demise of his 25 year police career


Prompt: MADISON, Wis. – Protests at the Wisconsin Capitol over public workers’ collective bargaining rights cost more than $7.8 million for police, and damage to the Capitol will cost about $270,000 to repair, a state official said. Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch said during a news conference Friday that local law enforcement incurred $3.9 million in overtime costs from Feb. 14 to March 13. Another $3.5 million was spent on overtime for state agencies that helped cover security such as the Capitol Police, Wisconsin State Patrol, Department of Natural Resources and the Division of Criminal Investigation. Huebsch said that the

state has not paid any claims yet, but will pay overtime and some justified food expenses incurred by local law enforcement once they’ve been audited. DOA officials also say a Capitol damage report written by restoration expert Charlie Quagliana found that protesters caused “3-5 years of wear” on the building in the course of two weeks that will cost $161,050 to repair. About $112,000 should be spent repairing damage to stonework, while another $30,500 has already been spent on extra custodial staff for cleaning. Quagliana’s assessment cost about $13,000. The damage was related to nearly monthlong protests that saw daily demonstrations of tens of thousands of protesters in and around the Capitol. Several thousand protesters flooded the Capitol rotunda daily, with many setting up camp under the dome and staying the night. The Capitol walls were filled with signs affixed with blue painters’ tape, which protesters used to avoid damaging the marble. Despite a handful of arrests over the course of the demonstrations, protesters maintained a peaceful presence and made efforts to clean parts of the building nightly. In his report, Quagliana said that the most significant damage was chipping and nicks to stones on the ground and first floors, which would have to be repaired through a process that includes trying to match the color of the stones. Quagliana noted residue left by tape from protester signs and oil damage from cardboard pizza boxes hung as makeshift signs. While he recommended a full cleaning of surfaces in public areas to remove the tape and residue, he also noted they have not had a full cleaning since the late 1990s’ and were covered with layers of dust and grime. Another $108,500 will be spent repairing damage to the Capitol lawn and its shrubs that were damaged by rallies of thousands


Prompt: ONE man is dead and fourteen others have been hospitalised with suspected drug overdoses at a music festival in Penrith, Sydney yesterday. The 23-year-old deceased reveller travelled to the Defqon.1 festival by car with several friends. Just before midday he was taken in to the festival's medical tent, where his condition quickly deteriorated and he suffered several seizures, police say. An ambulance was then called and took the man to Nepean Hospital where he was resuscitated numerous times after multiple cardiac arrests. He died at 10.30pm last night. A police spokesman told The Daily Telegraph they were unsure what substance

the man had consumed. "That information is being prepared for the coroner," he said. "It is certainly a warning to others out there if it was an overdose, which is what it is looking like." Over 18,000 people descended on the Sydney International Regatta Centre yesterday to listen to a range of hardstyle dance music. A police operation with drug dogs nabbed 87 partygoers, three for public order offences and the remainder for drug offences. An attendee took to Twitter saying the death may have been associated with a bad batch of ecstasy pills. Police have not confirmed this allegation. Defqon. 1 Festival is an annual music festival held in the Netherlands and Australia. It was founded in 2003 by festival organiser Q-dance and plays mostly hardstyle and related genres such as hardcore techno, jumpstyle and hard trance. Many prominent hardstyle and dubstyle artists perform there annually. Police have announced a media conference regarding the man's death and the large number of arrests made at the event for this afternoon. They also warned users of illegal drugs to be aware that while they may believe they are purchasing one drug they may get something completely different. "People who attend dance parties and music festivals need to act with caution when considering taking an illicit drug. The effects of some of the more popular drugs at these venues such as MDMA (ecstasy) can cause overheating and dehydration with sometimes fatal consequences," Penrith Local Area Command Crime Manager Detective Inspector Grant Healey warned. It was the fifth year for the event described as being for "hard dance enthusiasts" with tickets for the Sydney International Regatta Centre event costing as much as $235. On its website organisers stress "This festival is produced to give everyone a positive and safe experience. Q-dance maintains a


Prompt: Get the biggest daily stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email In 40 days, Britain goes to the polls to elect a new Westminster government. Before that, the council elections next week will give us a sure indication of how Scotland intends to vote on June 8. Every poll and pointer so far suggests three things will come to pass: 1. The SNP will still be, far and away, the biggest party. They will not reach the high-water mark of 2015

with 56 of Scotland’s 59 MPs but they will still be totally dominant. 2. Labour will take an absolute battering all over the country. Even though they hope to have three MPs, it is entirely possible, if not probable, that they will fail to return a single Scottish Labour member to the Commons. 3. The Tories will continue their resurgence and gain seats from the SNP. (Image: Daily Record/DWP) And while there are still almost six full weeks of campaigning to go and much to play for, the reason these things are likely to happen comes down to just one, mammoth, all-consuming national political obsession: the constitution. The SNP want independence at all or any cost. The Scottish Tories want to remain in Britain at all or any cost. And while Scottish Labour are unwaveringly behind the Union, mixed messages from London Labour have sown the seeds of doubt about the party’s commitment to Scotland’s place in the UK. These doubts have spread like a virus amongst committed Labour unionists who are turning away from the bosom of a party they’ve supported all their life. Now they’re lending their support to the Tories, believing they offer the best chance of halting the SNP march to independence. While those former diehard Labour voters are fully entitled to protect their cherished place in Great Britain, voting to strengthen the Conservatives’ grip on power is a decision they may come to regret. Make no mistake, this is a Tory Government driven by right-wing ideology. Whatever it plans, it will not end well for the majority of working class Scots. (Image: PA) The Cabinet of Theresa May – the shameless Boris Johnson, Damien Green, Philip Hammond, David Davis, the Scot Liam Fox, et al – are no friends of Scotland. This newspaper was no


Prompt: Federal employees should be fairly compensated and their benefits protected, according to the 2016 Democratic presidential candidates. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said as president that she would ensure feds are paid fairly through “appropriate pay raises” and would “oppose across-the-board arbitrary pay freezes, retirement cuts, or cuts to other employee benefits.” Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont was a little more specific, saying the federal workforce deserves a pay raise “of at least 3.8 percent to keep up with cost-of-living increases” and pledged his “strong” support for the FAIR Act, pending legislation in both chambers that would give feds

a 5.3 percent pay boost in 2017. Clinton and Sanders were responding to a written questionnaire submitted to the 12 Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns still in operation in December by the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers. As of March 24, only the Clinton and Sanders campaigns had responded to the questions, which covered a range of issues, including federal employee pay, union rights, and the privatization of government jobs. “For far too long, the extreme right wing has demonized, belittled, and sought to destroy the federal workforce. That is wrong, that is unconscionable, and that has got to change,” wrote Sanders in response to IFPTE questions asking the candidates if they would work to ensure pay raises for feds and protect their pensions. “The fact of the matter is that no other worker has been asked to sacrifice more on the altar of deficit reduction than our federal workers.” Federal workers endured a three-year pay freeze between 2011 and 2013. They’ve received across-the-board pay raises of 1.3 percent in 2016, and 1 percent each in 2015 and 2014. All those boosts were below the percentage mandated by the formula in the 1990 Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act. President Obama has proposed a 1.6 percent pay bump for 2017. Clinton noted that her experience as secretary of State, New York senator, and First Lady have enabled her to witness “first-hand” federal employees’ contributions to the country. “I was serving as Secretary of State when federal salaries were frozen in 2011, and I saw how difficult it was for employees to be told that even though they were working hard and their living costs were going up, their paychecks were not,” Clinton wrote in response to the IFPTE questionnaire. “The government is not going to be able to recruit


Prompt: In September Dubspot had the pleasure of hosting Deep Medi Musik recording artist Tunnidge for a live streaming workshop. In these Dubspot-produced video recap of Tunnidge’s appearance and workshop, the London producer offers a significant array of production advice, from EQing samples, to mixing and mastering suggestions, and even some tips on how get top DJs to play your tunes! Tunnidge goes in depth on his use of a PAZ Analyzer to clean up samples, Kontakt 5, and the frequency minefield of mixdowns. Some of Tunnidge’s best advice can be heard clearly enough in his music, all of it made

to a perfectionist’s ear, each element obsessed over, and sitting perfectly balanced within the mix. Tunnidge’s latest 12” is “Control” b/w “Decay,” released on the Get Darker imprint, sounds like standing outside of a space ship construction zone, the muffled sound of a metal-cutting saw occasionally rising and falling. Tunnidge – “Decay” out now on GetDarker An easy standout release from both the Tunnidge catalog and Deep Medi’s is 2008’s blistering “Geddeon,” which expertly positions a ruff ragga vocal with an ethereal female voice, creating an emotional palette ripe for a heavy drop that bubbles and bounces with a tight, thick bassline.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIkA1DcuSkY Tunnidge – “Giddeon” out now Deep Medi Musik In other decidedly gothic and relentless productions like “7 Breaths,” a release for Distance’s Chestplate imprint, Tunnidge unleashes a stomach-turning amount of bass weight that will have anyone near a sub, out of breath. Tunnidge – “7 Breaths” out now Chestplate Purveyor of deep, dark, sub-driven beats, Tunnidge has quickly forged a reputation as a heavyweight of the Dubstep scene. Possessing a murky, cavernous sound as equally hypnotic as it is enlivening he has consistently produced quality progressive music since his first release. And what a first release: still rinsed by the biggest DJ’s in the scene, Geddeon/Face Melt remains a classic 12″ that will batter the best of sound systems and leave the dance floor well and truly slain. What’s more, it’s testament to Tunnidge’s production prowess that this debut came on Mala’s Deep Medi Musik imprint, widely acknowledged as a seminal label and one known for its exemplar releases. Stripping the sound back to its key components of bass and beats, Tunnidge produces a purist’s sound: sub-bass that can be felt from head to toe, alongside a carefully-crafted snare that makes you flinch every time it rings out


Prompt: CTV British Columbia A Vancouver woman is selling her used Volkswagen in exchange for the trendy new online currency known as Bitcoin. Sarah Yu is making headlines for listing her white 2006 Jetta for just eight Bitcoin. That may not sound like a lot, but with one Bitcoin currently valued at $932, the asking price amounts to nearly $7,500. But why not just ask for cash? “I believe in Bitcoin, I really do,” the 30-year-old told CTV News. “I think that cash is on its way out, cash is very devalued and Bitcoin is the future.” The crypto-currency is an

electronic way for people to pay each other or retailers for goods and services either over the internet or a mobile network. Bitcoins can be bought in a number of places – a special ATM opened up at Waves coffee shop in Vancouver in late October – and through online and in-person meetups. Yu said she considers Bitcoin an investment, despite the currency seeing high volatility over the last few months. In late October, one Bitcoin was worth more than $200. One month later it skyrocketed to $1,200, then plummeted back down to $500 in December before rising back up to $932 per Bitcoin. “It does have a reputation for being volatile, but I’m not worried at all. For me it’s a long-term strategy,” she said. “I’m not looking to buy some Bitcoin and sell it at a profit…it’s not like the stock market. It’s another form of currency to me.” Bitcoin expert Graham Williams said more and more people are getting into using Bitcoin as the number of retailers who accept the online currency rises. According to Williams, everywhere from pizza parlours to shoe retailers to online gambling sites are beginning to accept Bitcoin. “I think we will start to see people sell houses for Bitcoin,” he said. “It has intrinsic value to it, so seeing people who actually make transactions for high-value items – not surprising at all.” But Williams doesn’t consider the currency to be mainstream yet – saying it must overcome a number of hurdles before that happens. Because Bitcoin isn’t backed by a mint, transactions are not subject to the same regulations as other currencies. While every single transaction made using Bitcoin is posted publicly, the identity of the user remains anonymous -- making it hard to track perpetrators in the case of theft. The


Prompt: The strong scent of barbecue floats in the air as Big 12 officials and members socialize in a courtyard. A stage stands in the center, and a "Welcome Members" banner hangs over it, while red and white balloons are scattered all over. Stevie Ray Vaughn music plays in the background... Commissioner Bob Bowlsby walks up to the center of the stage, picks up his microphone, and begins addressing the crowd... Bowlsby: Good afternoon, everyone. It's great to be here amongst such esteemed institutions. This past year was a great year for the conference, and I'd like to take a couple

of minutes to recognize a few of the major achievements we witnessed this past year. But, first, I need to thank one of our newest members, West Virginia, for agreeing to cater this event. Everyone give a warm, "Thank you," to our friend from Morgantown. West Virginia: Thank you, everybody. I hope you enjoy it. Everything should be ready in about ten minutes. Bowlsby: Excellent. Thank you, sir. Now, back to recognitions. First, to Kansas State, I'd like to congratulate you on winning three conference championships in the past year. It's not every day one of the small budget schools, that shares a small state with a non-existent recruiting base, Gumps their way into a "Triple Crown". So, kudos. To everyone else, I'd like for you to take a good, long hard look at yourselves because this guy is now your gold standard, which means that unless you'd like to start playing your games on CBS College Sports with the rest of Conference U.S.Who Gives a Shit?, stop being a bunch of ass-hats and start winning something. Kansas: Hey, I won a women's track title! Oklahoma: Uh, softball, bro. Bowlsby: Point taken. Let me rephrase. Stop being a bunch of ass-hats and win something people give a shit about. Kansas: Not cool. Bowlsby: Not cool is blowing a #1 seed for the eighty billionth time. Tragic is bragging about women's track, dork. Oklahoma makes a gesture to respond and Bowlsby looks him right in the eye... Bowlsby: Cotton Bowl. Johnny Football. Shut the fuck up. Oklahoma starts to get red faced and his eyes begin to water... Bowlsby: You know, I had a really nice speech prepared for you guys, and it only took me thirty seconds before you pissed me off enough to let "Bad Bob" out. I can


Prompt: En bloggläsare skriver till mig, men tycker att innan jag läser hans mail, bör jag läsa en artikel i finska Huvudstadsbladet. Så då gör jag det. Artikeln består av en lång intervju med den ryske essäisten och poeten Lev Rubinstein, gjord och skriven av Anna-Lena Laurén. Det som gör att bloggläsaren vill att jag ska läsa artikeln är förmodligen det som Rubinstein säger om frihet och dubbeltänk: – Både frihet och lycka är relativa begrepp. Under sovjettiden var frihet för många lika med att inte sitta i fängelse. Två, tre år efter att Stalin hade dött kände man frihet i

jämförelse med stalinismen. I dag är Ryssland mindre fritt än för tio år sedan, men ni och jag kan trots detta sitta och prata fritt på ett kafé, det hade vi inte kunnat göra år 1978. Jag jobbade på ett bibliotek under sovjettiden och det var min sociala tillflykt. Jag omgav mig med människor som tänkte som jag. Att inte behöva tvinga sig själv till dubbeltänk var frihet. /…/ Dubbeltänk, enligt Rubinstein, kan gå ut på två saker: att säga en sak och tänka en annan eller att tvinga sig själv att tro på något som man egentligen inte håller för sanning. – Det kunde jämföras med att strypa sig själv. Och det är inte samma sak som att anpassa sig socialt. Jag svär gärna, men jag gör det aldrig inför barn eller äldre kvinnor, helt enkelt därför att det inte passar sig. Det kallas för civiliserat beteende. En helt annan sak är att undervisa studenter i Brezjnevs storhet om dagarna och dra vitsar om Brezjnev hemma i köket om kvällarna. Att uppträda i officiella sammanhang och hålla tal som till punkt och pricka följer den officiella liturgin för att sedan åka hem och klaga för sin fru hur man hatar dessa möten. Bloggläsaren skriver: Jag är svensk och jag känner igen mig och det skrämmer mig. Välutbildad. Arbetat i nästan två decennier inom mitt yrkesområde. Det gick bra för mig och jag avancerade, men jag underskattade faran som ligger i att inte passa in. Att tänka annorlunda. Jag höll låg profil kring hur jag tänkte. Det hade mycket lite med den immigrationsfråga du ofta skriver om, men det finns även andra saker som är minerade i Sverige idag. Tyvärr var det inte en tillräckligt säker strategi att ligga lågt med egna åsikter och gömma sig i en neutral tjänstemannaroll.


Prompt: Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (REUTERS/Mike Stone/File Photo) The Texas lieutenant governor said on Monday he has enlisted Christian pastors statewide to help him win approval for legislation heading to a sate Senate committee this week that limits access to public restroom access for transgender people. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, a Republican and conservative Christian who guides the legislative agenda in the Republican-controlled Senate, told a news conference at the Capitol the Texas Privacy Act is a common sense measure to keep sexual predators out of bathrooms. Critics contend the bill infringes on the civil rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual

and transgender (LGBT) people. Business groups say it will cause economic damage, pointing to a similar measure North Carolina enacted into law last year that led to travel and commercial boycotts. Allowing transgender people to use public bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity rather than their birth gender has become the latest flashpoint in the long U.S. battle over LGBT rights. Patrick announced the start of a “one million voices” campaign, with pastors enlisted to win support from their congregations for the legislation. Committee debate starts on Tuesday. “North Carolina was the tip of the spear. We will be next to pass a bill that focuses on privacy, a person’s privacy, and public safety,” Patrick said, adding there will be no economic harm if it is enacted. Before Patrick spoke, the U.S. Supreme Court scrapped plans to hear a major transgender rights case and threw out a lower court’s ruling in favor of a transgender Virginia student after President Donald Trump rescinded a policy protecting such youths under federal law. A business group including some of the largest employers in Texas, such as American Airlines, sent a letter to Patrick this month opposing the bill, saying it is “discriminatory legislation that jeopardizes the positive environment for our Texas business operations.” Patrick may be able to push the bill through the state Senate, but analysts do not expect it to make it through the House. Speaker Joe Straus, a Republican who drives the agenda in that body, has shown tepid support, saying there are worries in San Antonio, an area he represents that is slated to host the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four. “It may be likely that the bill will pass the Senate, but it will be dead on arrival in the House,” said Mark Jones, a political science


Prompt: federal republic in North America Coordinates: The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions.[f] At 3.8 million square miles (9.8 million km2), the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area[g] and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles (10.1 million km2). With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C.,

and the largest city by population is New York. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.[19] Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century. The United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies following the French and Indian War led to the American Revolution, which began in 1775, and the subsequent Declaration of Independence in 1776. The war ended in 1783 with the United States becoming the first country to gain independence from a European power.[21] The current constitution was adopted in 1788, with the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, being ratified in 1791 to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. The United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century, acquiring new territories,[22] displacing Native American tribes, and gradually admitting new states until it spanned the continent by 1848.[22] During the second half of the 19th century, the Civil War led to the abolition of slavery.[23][24] By the end of the century, the United States had extended into the Pacific Ocean,[25] and its economy, driven in large part by the Industrial Revolution, began to soar.[26] The Spanish–American War


Prompt: Contrary to fears raised by marijuana opponents, teen use of cannabis is trending downward in most states that have legalized it for adult use. According to new data from the federally-funded National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), the percentage of Colorado teens who used marijuana in the past year is down more than two points in the 2015-2016 version of the study as compared to the 2014-2015 edition. The same is true in Washington State. In Washington, D.C., the drop was nearly three points. A smaller decline was seen in Oregon, while Alaska showed a slight rise. Annual

teen cannabis use is also down across the U.S. as a whole, but the drop was less significant than that experienced in Colorado and Washington, the first two states to legalize marijuana. Percentage Of 12-17 Year-Olds Who Used Marijuana In The Past Year STATE 2014-2015 2015-2016 Alaska 18.44 18.86 Colorado 18.35 16.21 District of Columbia 16.55 13.58 Oregon 17.56 17.35 Washington 15.61 13.54 Total U.S. 12.86 12.29 Similar drops were seen in most legalization states for monthly teen cannabis use as well. Percentage Of 12-17 Year-Olds Who Used Marijuana In The Past Month STATE 2014-2015 2015-2016 Alaska 10.64 10.43 Colorado 11.13 9.08 District of Columbia 8.85 8.07 Oregon 9.42 9.77 Washington 9.17 7.93 Total U.S. 7.2 6.75 Colorado and Washington State legalized marijuana in 2012, with Alaska, Oregon and Washington, D.C. ending cannabis prohibition in 2014. (Four additional states voted to legalize marijuana in 2016, but those programs weren’t running when the new survey was completed.) While legalization opponents have long argued that ending prohibition would lead to skyrocketing use by young people, that doesn’t seem to be happening. Advocates, on the other hand, have maintained that regulating and controlling the cannabis market and instituting strict age restrictions would actually give teens less access to marijuana than they had when it was illegal and there were no checks for age at the point of sale. In a Facebook post, cannabis consulting firm Freedman and Koski, Inc, which is run by Colorado’s former top marijuana official, said that the drop in teen use in the state “coincides with an increase in funding prevention programs from cannabis taxes.” “Colorado is effectively regulating marijuana for adult use. Teen use appears to be dropping now that state and local authorities are overseeing the production and sale of marijuana,” said Brian Vicente, partner at Vicente


Prompt: Las Vegas fire captain gathers petitions to reinstate previous solar rates Las Vegas Fire and Rescue Capt. Richard Birt will present a petition letter with signatures from more than 500 valley firefighters to a governor-appointed energy task force today urging it to reinstate previous solar rates. Birt, 50, has been living off a $25,000 solar panel system since moving off the NV Energy grid in 2006. He spent the better part of eight weeks from January to March collecting signatures in favor of reversing a 2016 law that made solar energy more expensive for customers of NV Energy. Birt amassed

508 signatures, accounting for nearly half of the firefighters between the Las Vegas and Clark County departments. “I just want to be able to say, listen, I have 508 of my brothers and sisters in a public service safety profession who are concerned for our community,” Birt said. “Our voice needs to be heard.” All NV Energy customers used to pay a fixed monthly service fee of $12.75, and under a policy known as net metering, the energy giant reimbursed solar-equipped customers about 11 cents per kilowatt-hour of excess electricity generated. Eager to take advantage of the desert sun’s potential and the associated discounts, a skyrocketing number of Las Vegans installed solar panels on their roofs. Last December alone, 1,311 applications were filed to start the installation process. But a decision by the Nevada Public Utilities Commission forced solar customers to start paying a $17.90 monthly service fee starting Jan. 1. Over the next four years, that fee will rise to $38.51. And while solar customers will still pay 11 cents per kilowatt-hour of power bought from NV Energy, the value of their excess credits, which the PUC placed at 9 cents per kilowatt-hour this year, will fall to just 2.6 cents by 2020. The PUC’s decision prompted companies like SolarCity and SunRun to cease Nevada installations. Applications for rooftop solar plummeted to 90 in January — down 93 percent from December’s 1368 applicants, according to Chandler Sherman, spokeswoman for the Bring Back Solar Alliance. Last month, just 18 Nevadans applied to go solar, Sherman said. Tyler Elliott, 33, is one of the firefighters who signed Birt’s petition, even though he hasn’t installed solar panels at his Las Vegas home. Elliott, like Birt, said he thought NV Energy should “embrace solar instead of discouraging it.” He emphasized the safety of


Prompt: Update 8/4/16: Several spec teardown reports have uncovered slight difference in the graphical hardware performance of Xbox One S. Specifically, Xbox One S has a small GPU clock increase of 914 MHz from 853 MHz and an ESRAM bandwidth increase of 219 GB/s from 204 GB/s. These bumps are only noticeable in-game in a small number of situations. In fact, they exist only as an bonus side effect of Microsoft ensuring HDR content performs without a hitch. This is more like it. The Xbox One S is the version of the console that Microsoft should've first released back in 2013

instead of the lumbering beast that we got. It's better in a number of ways, making it even more of a worthy alternative to Sony's PlayStation 4. Xbox One S offers a far more attractive enclosure, options for a bigger hard drive, a slightly redesigned controller and some video perks for owners of 4K TVs. It starts at $300, £250 or AU$400 for the 500GB version; $350, £300 or AU$500 for a 1TB model; and $400, £350 or AU$549 for 2TB. That last model is available to buy as of today in the US (and includes the vertical stand that otherwise costs $20 when purchased separately in the US), while those with the smaller hard drives will be available later in August, bundled with games such as Madden 17 and Halo. (Additional bundles will follow later in the year -- including a pricier 2TB Gears of War 4 version in October -- and may vary by region.) Sarah Tew/CNET Sounds like a slam dunk, right? Unfortunately, it's never that simple. The One S doesn't get an across-the-board "buy it now" recommendation for two reasons. First off, it doesn't deliver huge improvements for anyone who already owns an Xbox One. But more importantly, Microsoft has already promised that the next Xbox -- dubbed Project Scorpio -- will be arriving in late 2017 with with the seriously amped-up graphics and VR-ready hardware that audiences are clamoring for. When it's all said and done, the Xbox One S should be primarily viewed as a slimmed-down version of the Xbox One that introduces a mildly updated controller and provisions for 4K display. It's not going to warp you into a state-of-the-art gaming experience. Pragmatically, you're probably better off nabbing an older Xbox One, which are now being sold at fire-sale prices. But if you


Prompt: Today the crisis of American government is expressed in an ungainly phrase that rarely appeared in conservative vocabulary in the 1950s and 1960s—the “administrative state,” by which is meant the independent “fourth branch of government” that fits nowhere within the scheme of the Constitution as understood by its authors. Conservatives were slow to perceive the full nature and origins of the administrative state. They saw Marxism and radicalism as wholly foreign in character, and the character of Progressive Era and New Deal bureaucracy as primarily economic and narrowly constitutional in nature. They missed the benign-sounding homegrown versions of deeply radical

political philosophy behind the administrative state, and especially the key role of Woodrow Wilson and similar Progressive Era intellectuals. If Wilson was mentioned at all, it was usually with a shrug or mild approval of his conventional expressions of Christian faith. The urgency of the Cold War dominated the attention of conservative intellectuals and activists alike, and with the predations of the New Deal fresh in mind, it was understandable that the conservatism of that time would set the New Deal as the horizon line for their attack on current American politics. Only slowly did it come into focus that the New Deal was not the key turning point toward liberalism, and that socialism is not the chief threat to constitutional government and individual liberty. The “administrative state” is not a new or recent phrase; it has been around for several decades, but its nature and depth was only recently more fully appreciated. Once confined chiefly to scholars and policy wonks, the term is now in widespread popular use. The administrative state is not the same thing as bureaucracy, with its connotations of wastefulness, inefficiency, red-tape, and rule-bound rigidity, nor it is limited to the post-New Deal welfare and entitlement state. Its character is best described by Alexis de Tocqueville in his famous chapter on “What Sort of Despotism Democratic Nations Have to Fear.” After struggling over what to call it, he could do no better than “soft despotism.” The administrative state represents a new and pervasive form of rule, and a perversion of constitutional self-government. It has deep theoretical roots that were overlooked for a long time, roots inimical to the Constitution, thereby providing a lesson in the importance of understanding the principles of the Constitution. A chief feature of the administrative state is its relentless centralization, but with


Prompt: According to this report from Replays.net, this is how transfers have been standardized under the ACE Alliance in Chinese Dota 2. The latter half of the article reveals the transfer fees and related details of some of this year’s biggest moves. If Team B wishes to buy Team A’s player C, then B must first approach A and confirm whether the player is available for transfer. If A agrees, only then is B allowed to approach the player C. If player C is open and willing, then Team B can lay out their transfer conditions and offer. If player C

does not agree to these terms, then he will remain at his current club; if player C agrees, then all three parties, A, B, and C need to communicate with ACE via email and receive their confirmation. In the ensuing days, the involved parties need to come to the ACE offices in order to sort out paperwork and related processes, and then they are allowed to make official announcements regarding the news. If the new team and their new player decides to use existing contracts, then they perform a trade of contracts while at ACE. If they decide to sign a new contract, then the new contract will be signed and backup files stored with ACE. In the case later on that a party fails to uphold their end of a contract, then ACE will be abe to lay penalties according to existing policies. Below are images from the transfer of KingJ from TongFu to RisingStars: In addition, Replays.net also received information regarding the details of this year’s transfers, as below: TongFu <–> RisingStars 1. KingJ transfers from TongFu to RisingStars 2. XTT is part of the transfer terms, and joins TongFu from Rstars, his contract is exchanged for KingJ’s 3. RStars and TongFu respectively pay to XTT and KingJ their owed prize moneys and promotional fees TongFu <–> iG #1 1. Banana transfers from TongFu to iG 2. TongFu pays to banana all owed prize moneys and promotional fees 3. iG pays TongFu a transfer fee totaling 100,000 RMB for the rights to banana TongFu <–> iG #2 1. iG and TongFu agree to collaborate on themed promotional product(s) 2. iG pays TongFu a transfer fee totaling 110,000 RMB for the rights to Hao 3. Zhou is part of the transfer terms, and joins TongFu from iG, his contract


Prompt: Image copyright AFP Image caption Thousands of Catalans took part in the demonstration, held on Catalonia's National Day Thousands of Catalans have rallied in Barcelona, Spain, demanding the right to hold a referendum on independence. Participants, waving Catalan flags and wearing the flag's red and yellow colours, stood in a V-shape formation, indicating their desire for a vote. Protesters were energised by Scotland's forthcoming independence referendum - and many also waved the Scottish flag. The regional government has called a referendum for 9 November. The Spanish government says the vote is illegal. "We want to decide our future. We don't

understand why that is constantly denied," Victor Panyella, a professor taking part in the rally, told Reuters. Ana Melendez, another participant, told the BBC she was "jealous" of Scotland, which has a referendum on independence from the rest of the United Kingdom on 18 September. Catalonia is one of Spain's richest and most highly industrialised regions, and also one of the most independent-minded. Image copyright Reuters Image caption Participants formed a large "V" in central Barcelona Image copyright AFP Image caption The Scottish flag could also be glimpsed among the Catalonia flags in the crowd Until recently, few Catalans had wanted full independence, but Spain's painful economic crisis has seen a surge in support for separation. The national government is opposed to any move towards independence. According to the Spanish constitution, the central government's blessing is required to make a referendum legal. At the scene: Tom Burridge, BBC News, Barcelona Image copyright AFP On Catalonia's national day, or La Diada, as it's called here, a huge crowd formed the thin red and yellow stripes of the Catalan flag, creating a giant 'V' for vote. Look closer and you could see an endless number of pro-independence Catalan flags, which have a blue triangle and a silver star. There were also a handful of Scottish flags fluttering in the wind. Each year, the atmosphere at the La Diada celebrations is electric and it's easy to imagine the event being infectious for some. The Catalan national anthem rings out, as do the deafening chants of "independence". People's dogs wear flags and people's faces are painted, party-style, in the Catalan colours. The true numbers present in Barcelona today will be disputed, but a large chunk of the Catalan population turned out. However another large number did not. The opinion polls are complex depending on


Prompt: Untitled a guest Oct 21st, 2012 216 Never a guest216Never Not a member of Pastebin yet? Sign Up , it unlocks many cool features! rawdownloadcloneembedreportprint text 1.57 KB __ __ _ ___ _ _ ____ ___ _ ___ | \/ | __ _ _ _ / |( _ )| |_| |__ |___ \ / _ \/ |/ _ \ | |\/| |/ _` | | | | | |/ _ \| __| '_ \ __) | | | | | | | | | | | | (_| | |_| | | | (_) | |_| | | | /

__/| |_| | | |_| | |_| |_|\__,_|\__, | |_|\___/ \__|_| |_| |_____|\___/|_|\___/ |___/ May 18, 2010 You left me. It's almost been two years. I'm still alone. I got a tattoo, with your initials in it, two years after our best weekend together on my birthday. Watching the rain from our cabin. Watching the horses in the hay. Spending time together. I couldn't sleep without feeling you next me, a phantom in my lonely nights. Now you are part of me. Forever. Just like the special place in my heart you earned. I don't know if you search for me to see how I'm doing, like I do you. I don't know if you realize how much of my world walked out in 2010. How much of that world I'll never get back. I went from seeing in color back to nothing again. I failed to love you in the ways you needed, you gave yourself what you needed for your birthday -- you left. The last Shark Week left me in tears...memories of your gummy sharks and a candid picture haunting me. The last New Years left me curled in a ball crying. Our second best night together, when you took me back the first time... I don't know if I'll ever get that back but my clock is ticking. And when it chimes, nothing will matter anymore. Your picture will be the last thing I look at as the reaper takes me. RAW Paste Data __ __ _ ___ _ _ ____ ___ _ ___ | \/ | __ _ _ _ / |( _ )| |_| |__ |___ \ / _ \/ |/ _ \ | |\/| |/ _` | | | | | |/ _ \| __| '_ \ __) | | | | |


Prompt: Passing the sanctions bill is likely to be a rare bipartisan moment in Congress. The House and Senate have reached a deal on a bill that would impose new financial sanctions on Russia and allow Congress to review and veto any attempt by President Trump, or any other president, to independently ease those sanctions in the future. The Senate, looking to punish the Kremlin for meddling in last year’s presidential election, passed a version of the bill by a nearly unanimous margin in June, but it has been stalled in the House for weeks due to procedural issues, pressure from

industry groups, and a White House bent on weakening the proposed congressional-review power. On Saturday, however, negotiators from the House and Senate ironed out a deal that did not include the changes the Trump administration wanted. Regardless, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders now says that the White House supports the new version of the bill. That would seem to indicate that Trump will sign it into law, but wait until the ink is dry when it comes to anything this administration says. In addition to the measures against Russia, the bill includes new sanctions on Iran (over its ballistic-missile tests) and North Korea (over its nuclear program). It also somewhat eased the concerns of the oil-and-gas industry, which worried that American companies would face an impossible amount of red tape if they attempted to partner with Russian businesses. The tweaked bill will likely receive a full vote on Tuesday and is expected to pass with wide bipartisan support, setting up a potentially difficult choice for the president. Trump has never seemed to take Russia’s meddling in last year’s election very seriously — instead trying to downplay it — and the president has also never seemed overly concerned about appearing too friendly with the Kremlin, either. (In Trump’s defense, any White House administration would object to Congress attempting to reduce its authority to deal with foreign powers.) But the New York Times reported on Saturday that “two senior administration officials said they could not imagine Mr. Trump vetoing the legislation in the current political atmosphere.” And Trump’s ability to exceed the limits of imagination aside, Sarah Huckabee Sanders offered firmer official support on Sunday. During an appearance on ABC’s This Week, the new White House press secretary was asked if the president would sign the bill, and she indicated


Prompt: My friend Scott Johnson of Power Line has a column today in the Christian Science Monitor on the history of redistributionism and its links to the income tax. Barack Obama’s accidentally revealing answer to Joe the Plumber this week did not occur in a historical vacuum. In fact, the history of the income tax shows it to be just the kind of instrument Obama describes, with much the same intent: Until the Civil War, the idea of a tax on individual incomes would have seemed preposterous to most Americans. Only as an emergency wartime measure did Congress adopt an income

tax in the 1860s, and the measure was allowed to lapse with little fanfare in 1872. The modern income tax begins with the Progressive era in American politics. In an influential 1889 article titled “The Owners of the United States,” crusading attorney Thomas Shearman argued that the lion’s share of the country’s wealth was in a limited number of hands. If an income tax were not adopted, he warned, within 30 years “the United States of America will be substantially owned” by fewer than 50,000 people. … Progressives condemned the Constitution as an instrument crafted by the rich to protect their selfish interests (J. Allen Smith), and a document rendered obsolete by intellectual progress in the century since its drafting (Woodrow Wilson). Frenzied attacks on “the rich” and “the wealthy” culminated in the ratification of the 16th Amendment in 1913, authorizing federal taxation of income from all sources without limit. The same year, historian Charles Beard published “An Economic Interpretation of the United States Constitution.” This book – later debunked – suggested that the Constitution was the handiwork of a propertied elite serving its own interests. Such sentiment has poisoned American political thought ever since. Wilson is an interesting analogue to this campaign. Like Barack Obama, Wilson had little experience in electoral politics, having spent most of his career as an academic. Like Sarah Palin, he had two years of experience as a governor before running on a national ticket (the top half in Wilson’s case, obviously). Like John McCain, Wilson tried to push reform and limited government in opposition to his own party, and like Palin, had to fight a substantial state “machine” to get it, although Wilson was somewhat less successful than Palin. In any event, the income tax passed almost a century ago was supposed to limit


Prompt: Back in 2013, a chance viewing of a Super Mario-themed burlesque show opened my eyes to the wonderfully wacky world of nerdlesque, a sub-genre of burlesque performance that celebrates and satirizes nerdy pop culture. I love a good Harry Potter or superhero satire, which is why NOLA Nerdlesque has quickly becoming one of my favorite local festivals—and I’m pretty sure you will love it too. Nerdlesque is a performance art notable for its inclusivity of all body types. It empowers performers and audience members to not just “let it all hang out,” but to feel daring and confident while doing

it. Though nerdlesque is a modern art form, it is rooted in classic burlesque, particularly the smart satire. According to Persé Fanny, Co-Founder, Artistic Director, and one of several producers, “Most people think that nerdlesque is an entirely new concept, but the truth is nerdlesque is at the root of traditional burlesque. It is a parody of pop culture, a mocking of society.” NOLA Nerdlesque, now in its fourth year, “started out of a love for nerdy pop culture and burlesque,” says Fanny, when she and other local nerdlesque performers “decided to combine our dorky efforts and celebrate nerds together.” It is only the second festival solely dedicated to nerdlesque in the world, despite the popularity of nerdlesque at conventions and other festivals. Now sexier (and nerdier) than ever, NOLA Nerdlesque’s 2018 fest runs November 16-17. The festival is curated by Remy Dee, Persé Fanny, Vincent Gallant, Sable Switch, and Honey Tangerine, all well-known names in the local burlesque scene. The well-rounded festival includes four shows, three workshops at the New Orleans School of Burlesque, a closing party at the International House Hotel’s Loa Bar (221 Camp St.), and a nerd market during performances. Get the dirty on this year’s shows below, and be sure to buy your tickets in advance (note all shows are 18+ and tickets will be available at the door). Stripped Crusaders Friday, Nov. 16 at 8:00 p.m. Contemporary Arts Center (900 Camp St.) General Admission, $15 Stripped Crusaders kicks off the festival weekend with superheroes taking off their spandex after long nights of fighting crime and being, well, heroes. Come watch the alluring performances of talented nerdlesque performers from all around the country as they channel your favorite cartoon, comic, and video game heroes. Tease from the Crypt Friday, Nov. 16 at 10:30 p.m. Contemporary


Prompt: Here at Seer, we’re big proponents of scaling and automating as many tasks as possible so that we can spend the bulk of our time strategizing for our clients. So, we’re huge fans of IFTTT. If you’re not familiar with IFTTT, it’s simple. IFTTT is a free tool that you can use to connect different digital applications to make life easier. For example, you can automatically save your Instagram photos to Dropbox, or have the forecast texted to you each morning, or automatically tweet your blog posts, or about a zillion other cool things. While IFTTT is a great tool

for social media automation and lots of everyday life stuff, here at Seer, we believed it was capable of much, much more. So we had a handful of hackathons and a whole lot of testing to come up with some brand-spanking new IFTTT recipes (now called “applets“) that will help you gather marketing intelligence and make strategic decisions for your brand. And now we’re ready to share them with you! If you’ve never used IFTTT, then you’ll find some instructions at the very bottom of this post. If you have, then let’s get to it! Most of the applets that we’ve prepared here require a bit of pre-IFTTT prep. Here are two valuable tools that you’ll see used over and over again in these applets. Visual Ping: This tool will notify you when there is a visual change on a website, web page, or even just a area of a web page. Page2RSS: This tool will convert any web page – even if the page doesn’t publish a feed of its own – to an RSS feed, so that you can easily subscribe. Almost all of the THAT steps in our applets below are means of notification. When writing these applets, we selected what we thought were the most applicable forms of notification, but you should select whichever works best for you. It basically comes down to how quickly you’d like to be notified. For example, if your site has been hacked, you’ll want to know ASAP, so you’ll probably want your alert to be a text message/SMS . . For something that you want to keep track of every day, an email might be the best notification for you. might be the best notification for you. If it’s something that you’ll want to check on maybe once a week


Prompt: So I watched The Good Dinosaur… I wasn’t really looking forward to seeing this movie. The look of the dinosaur and the film’s title bothered me. Plus the plot was shrouded in real mystery and the trailers didn’t entice me sufficiently to make me wanna see it. But, as regular readers of this blog will know, I have a obsession with watching movies at the cinema and luckily for me I do or I would have missed out on a really enjoyable movie. Okay, basic plot: Arlo (Raymond Ochoa) is the youngest of three siblings living on a farm together

with his parents, Papa Henry (Jeffrey Wright) and Momma Ida (Frances McDormand). Arlo has a crippling fear of almost everything and this leads to him feeling ostracised from his family and wondering if he’ll ever earn their respect. One day Arlo falls into the river, outside his farm, and is swept away far from his family. He must now embark on a daring adventure to make his way back home, along with the help of a human caveboy named Spot (Jack Bright). This movie is fantastic! Or should I say the films it’s based on are fantastic? There are several times when this movie does a Lion King/Finding Nemo impersonation. So I wouldn’t say it’s original but I always think that if you can’t be original at least be a fun ride; and this film certainly is that. This is a fun movie to watch! It doesn’t quite have the typical range of a Pixar movie and is almost exclusively made for young children. Where a typical Pixar movie would handle elaborate themes with subtlety and symbolism, this film just spells it out for you. It simplifies the majority (if not the entirety) of its plot and themes and makes them incredibly accessible for children. That being said, this is still a film that adults can enjoy. It is a little bit on-the-nose at times and has almost zero mystery to it but it is still entertaining. I loved how focused the narrative in this film is. The Good Dinosaur is just over an hour and a half long – which in today’s filmmaking world is something akin to a short movie. This film has zero bloat or filler scenes and gets to the point with refreshing pace. Don’t worry, this film isn’t rushed – its events are told in


Prompt: Blockchain Embassy Opens for Business in Panama City A new location for bitcoin and cryptocurrency enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, activists, iconoclasts, connoisseurs, and the general public has opened in Panama. It is called the Blockchain Embassy. It is located in the Balboa Boutiques Strip Mall of Balboa Avenue in Panama City. Also read: ICO Regulatory Round-Up: UK, Malaysia, and Switzerland’s Crypto Valley Point to Risks Information on the Blockchain Embassy The space has crypto clothing and other merchandise for sale. It has a cafeteria, craft beers for sale, hardware wallets on display, a coffee shop, and even a working space. A press

release sent to bitcoin.com, said the embassy will also start giving cryptocurrency workshops and presentations. Everyone is welcome to come and engage with the Panama crypto community. The Embassy press release elaborated on how it accepts payment and provided more information: The embassy accepts payments in cash and Crypto, and has become an emblematic tourist site in Panama. It receives visitors from all over the world. It is one of the projects created by startup Cryptobuyer.io, known for being the first company in the world to install ATMs in commercial banks, as well as integrating its system Cryptobuyer Pay that allows any commerce to accept payments in Bitcoin and other currencies. Motivations to Build the Blockchain Embassy in Panama Bitcoin.com reached out to one of the founders of the Blockchain Embassy (and Cryptobuyer), Jorge Farias, to get some insight on the motivations behind setting up the embassy. He said, “We created the embassy because we were motivated by the need to educate the people not only of Panama, but also of the world. Panama is a tourist site, and at the same time, a major financial and logistic center. We believe that it is an ideal place to show the power of technology in a real, palpable way.” Furthermore, he said his company chose the site in Panama City because it is easy to access by car and it allowed his team to integrate all of its amenities. He said besides offering the Crypto ATM, hardware wallets, and all the amenities mentioned, they plan on gradually adding many more things for their customer’s enjoyment. What do you think about the Blockchain Embassy? Will you visit it? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Blockchain Embassy At Bitcoin.com there’s a bunch of free helpful services. For instance,


Prompt: The Washington Post's Paul Kane speaks to Libby Casey about President-elect Donald Trump's unfounded claim that millions of people voted illegally for Hillary Clinton. (The Washington Post) Correction: Politico columnist Jack Shafer did not advise journalists to “ignore,” Donald Trump’s tweets. He wrote that journalists should think before tweeting in response and not take “the bait.” Commentators such as Jack Shafer argue the media should ignore President-elect Donald Trump’s outlandish tweets — because they are outlandish and because they distract us from things Trump wants us to ignore. Shafer has things exactly backward. The Post’s Aaron Blake responds, “The job

comes with the so-called bully pulpit, and what he says matters and will be the subject of debate no matter what the mainstream media does. Everything he says reverberates. It doesn’t matter if he says it on Twitter or at a news conference; either way it’s going to be consumed by tens of millions of people, and the media has an important role to play when it comes to fact-checking and providing context.” We find that logic compelling and would add a few additional points. First, the media can walk and chew gum at the same time. Cable TV news has 24/7 coverage. Online editions of major newspapers and of the broadcast networks have virtually unlimited pixels at their disposal. Even in print newspapers, the most space-limiting format, room can be found not only for a headline “Trump invents voter fraud,” but also “Trump’s business connections threaten to deepen the swamp” and “Trump’s ignorance of the Constitution reignites concerns.” If one suspects Trump is trying to distract us, as opposed to getting himself distracted to an alarming degree, how much more important is it to explain, for example, that “Trump takes to Twitter to distract from secretary of state paralysis”? (But unless someone is privy to the inner thoughts of Trump, we really do not know the “motive” for his tweets.) In any event, covering tweets does not negate coverage of his other missteps; to the contrary it should underscore his continued difficulty in performing a job he really never planned to hold. [Get ready for the cable news presidency] Second, we would argue that there is no more important story than the continuous stream of evidence of the president-elect’s irrationality and instability. Hillary Clinton certainly thought that was relevant to the campaign (it was); the mental and intellectual status


Prompt: The 352-page Persona 5 Maniax user handbook was released in Japan today, revealing the poll results for a Persona 5 related survey conducted from May 16 to May 26, 2017. There was a total of more than 1,800 respondents. 51% were female, 49% were male. 20% of respondents were between 10 and 20 years old, 56% were in their 20s, 20% were in their 30s, 3.5% were in their 40s, and 0.5% were in their 50s. [SPOILER WARNING] INFORMATION BELOW INCLUDES SPOILERS FOR PERSONA 5, READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION. How many times have you played through “Persona 5”? Cleared

the Game 1 Time: 346 votes 346 votes Started a 2nd Playthrough: 511 votes 511 votes Cleared the Game 2 Times: 137 votes 137 votes Started a 3rd Playthrough: 342 votes 342 votes Cleared the Game 3 Times: 72 votes 72 votes Started a 4th Playthrough: 89 votes 89 votes Cleared the Game 4 Times: 33 votes 33 votes Started a 5th Playthrough: 43 votes 43 votes Cleared the Game 5 Times: 11 votes 11 votes Started a 6th Playthrough: 8 votes 8 votes Cleared the Game 6 Times: 2 votes 2 votes Started a 7th Playthrough: 7 votes 7 votes Started a 8th Playthrough: 1 vote 1 vote Cleared the Game 8 Times: 2 votes 2 votes Started a 9th Playthrough: 1 vote 1 vote Cleared the Game 9 Times: 1 votes 1 votes Started a 10th Playthrough: 4 vote 4 vote Cleared the Game 10 Times: 1 vote 1 vote Started a 12th Playthrough: 1 vote 1 vote Started a 13th Playthrough: 1 vote 1 vote Started a 15th Playthrough: 1 vote Who is your favorite character among the Phantom Thieves? Protagonist (691 votes) Makoto Niijima (346 votes) Yusuke Kitagawa (244 votes) Futaba Sakura (213 votes) Morgana (135 votes) Haru Okumura (117 votes) Ann Takamaki (70 votes) Ryuji Sakamoto (64 votes) Who is your favorite Confidant character? Goro Akechi (350 votes) Tae Takemi (343 votes) Sojiro Sakura (279 votes) Sadayo Kawakami (184 votes) Toranosuke Yoshida (179 votes) Hifumi Togo (150 votes) Munehisa Iwai (81 votes) Sae Niijima (59 votes) Yuuki Mishima (55 votes) Chihaya Mifune (43 votes) Igor (35 votes) Shinya Oda (33 votes) Caroline (31 votes) Justine (27 votes) Ichiko Ohya (2 votes) Who is your favorite character, excluding the above categories? Lala Escargot (159 votes) Lavenza (158 votes) Shiho Suzui (146 votes) Masayoshi Shido (80 votes)


Prompt: What is the cure for American health care? That is a question that a lot of people are trying to answer, and it’s a highly debated topic, but the answer is plain and simple. Single payer health care is the best form of health care a nation can hope to have. It is efficient, provides quality and timely access to everyone, and it is cost effective. A single payer health care system is a system in which the government, rather than private insurers, pays for all health costs. The system is funded typically through income taxes and is free at

the point of use. Some countries with a single payer system include Canada, the U.K., France, Germany, and Australia. France is often considered to have the best health care system in the world, but a large group of people (including myself) believe the best system is the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS). This is because of its central and efficient operation, as well as high quality standards, low wait times, and staff quality. To start let’s dismiss some of the common arguments against single payer health care that come from the opposite side, like a single payer system having long wait lists, or that it is very inefficient and expensive. This couldn’t be farther from the truth, fact a recent Public Library of Science study stated, “Reported efficiency tended to be lower in the private sector than in the public sector…Studies evaluated in this systematic review do not support the claim that the private sector is more efficient, accountable, or medically effective than the public sector.” It also found that countries with a single payer system also spend less per capita, and that the United States would save over 150 billion annually. That doesn’t even include personal and business savings which would be thousands of dollars annually, would boost the economy, and make the United States more globally competitive. This is just one example of the several studies on this issue all saying the same thing, that single payer works and it is inherently the best system a nation could hope to have. A study by the World Health Organization also supports this claim and in a world-wide health care ranking, the United States was ranked 37, Canada was 32, the UK ranked 7, and France number 1. All of the countries ahead of the United States had a form


Prompt: What do Turkey, Chile, Russia, Venezuela, Azerbaijan, North Korea and Haiti all have in common? Time Zone Chaos! No, that's not the punchline to a joke. It's actually quite a serious problem. The biggest issue with time zones is not that they exist, nor that they have daylight saving time. But rather, in that they often change in a haphazard manner. Allow me to explain. First, understand that from a global perspective, one might think that the time zones of the world should be managed by some relatively neutral international body, such as the ITU division of the United Nations,

or perhaps the IAU. However, each of the world's time zones are actually controlled from a local perspective. Each individual nation has a sovereign right to decide the local time for the lands within their jurisdiction. This includes both the offset from Universal Time, and the rules that govern daylight saving time, if they choose to use it. This unto itself is not a problem, and absolutely I agree that countries should be able to do whatever they want with the clocks within their borders. However, time and time again, we run into the same problem, which is simply that they are changed without enough notice. All of the countries mentioned earlier have done this recently, along with many others. It's crucial that when governments make changes to their time zones or daylight saving time rules, that they provide ample lead time for technology to catch up. One has to consider the real work that people have to do to validate the change, create a data update, test the changes, and to publish and distribute the update. Then you have to consider that individuals don't always update their systems instantly. It's very common for a time zone update to be available for weeks or months before it is actually installed by the end user. Turkey - A Case Study: Let's look at Turkey as an example. In 2015, the government decided that it would be a good idea to delay the end of daylight saving time by two weeks to allow for more daylight hours at the polls during their election season. They moved the end of DST date from October 25th to November 8th. So what was the result? Well, to quote the BBC: Confused Turks are asking "what's the time?" after automatic clocks defied a government decision to


Prompt: India’s solar power sector is staring at yet another policy intervention that could put the viability of projects in the country under question. The Narendra Modi government is expected to impose an anti-dumping duty (ADD) on imported solar panels in order to boost sales of locally made ones. This is bound to increase the costs of setting up power plants as 89% of the solar panels used in India are imported, mostly from China, Taiwan, and Malaysia whose products are around 10% cheaper than locally made ones. “If the anti-dumping duty is imposed—which is likely, very strongly likely—then it will

make life easier for domestic producers (of solar panels),” said Amit Kumar, a partner at consulting firm PwC, who focuses on the renewables sector. An ADD of, say, 25% will allow a similar hike in prices of local products, too, bringing down the homegrown firms’ losses, Kumar added. But that’s bad news for India’s solar power producers. In the last few months, activity in India’s solar energy sector has stalled. The industry is struggling with rising solar panel prices and flat power demand, while, on its part, the government hasn’t held auctions for solar projects. The sector is lagging India’s target of installing 100 gigawatts (GW, or 1,000 megawatts) of plants by 2022. The ADD is likely to make projects even less viable. Developers are already being forced to quote low tariffs to win the few available projects, risking low returns, and an increase in costs due to the duties would add even more pressure. The backstory In July, the India Solar Manufacturers Association (ISMA), a group of firms that make solar modules, filed a petition with the government to probe solar cell and module imports. Typically, the government takes around a year to act—impose duties if necessary—on such pleas. It may also choose to impose a provisional duty while the probe is on. In the past, such provisional duties have been brought in around seven months after a petition is filed, according to renewable energy consultancy firm Bridge to India (BTI). This year, such an intervention may already be around the corner. “(There) is a very strong buzz in the industry that a duty announcement is about to come anytime now,” BTI said in a Nov. 15 report (pdf). “The government is under pressure about the poor state of manufacturing…If DGAD (Directorate General of Anti-Dumping & Allied Duty) and


Prompt: [np_storybar title=”Watch NASA animation of the giant ice fracture” link=”#1″] [/np_storybar] The ice in Canada’s western Arctic ripped open in a massive “fracturing event” this spring that spread like a wave across 1,000 kilometres of the Beaufort Sea. Huge leads of water – some more than 500 kilometres long and as much as 70 kilometres across – opened up from Alaska to Canada’s Arctic islands as the massive ice sheet cracked as it was pushed around by strong winds and currents. “It took just seven days for the fractures to progress across the entire area from west to east,” said

Trudy Wohlleben, senior ice forecaster at the Canadian Ice Service. She said it was “spectacular” to watch from Ottawa, where she and her colleagues track the ice with satellites. While ice fracturing is common in the Beaufort, few “events” have sprawled across such a large area so quickly or produced cracks as long and wide as those seen this spring, according to NASA Earth’s Observatory, which features the fractures this week. Wohlleben noted that there was a similar event in last spring, and says both were related to way the ice, which moves in a clock-wise direction in the Beaufort, can suddenly start and stop moving depending on the weather conditions. This year the ice in the Beaufort Sea had essentially stopped moving for the first three weeks of February, Wohlleben said. “Rapid ice drift then began in the southwest section of the Beaufort Sea around Feb. 20, initiating the first fractures in that area,” she says. The fracturing “then quickly spread eastward to encompass the entire Beaufort Sea by the end of February.” She said temperatures are so frigid in the Arctic that the open water began refreezing as soon as the ice stopped moving. But the new ice will be much thinner – about 30 to 70 centimetres thick – than ice that has been growing all winter and is now more than a metre thick. Older multi-year ice can be several metres thick. Scientists suggests the extensive fracturing this year may be linked to the way the Beaufort was covered almost completely by first-year ice that formed after the record summer Arctic ice melts in 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KXjb6MRj_5U “This ice is thinner and weaker than the older, multi-year ice, so it responds more readily to winds and is more easily broken up,” said Walt Meier, of the U.S.


Prompt: Whites are continually put into the position of forever having to prove the negative, that they’re not racists. This is impossible. And that’s the point. Now that South Carolina has taken down the Confederate flag flying on statehouse grounds, MSNBC is drumming the five whose state flags incorporate “Confederate themes.” They continue to prove liberals are never satisfied. We fought the Civil War. We ratified the Fourteenth Amendment. We have the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The civil-rights movement was a success. Now, we have South Carolina pulling down the Confederate flag. But

it’s still not enough. And Hillary Clinton agrees. “Removing this symbol of our nation’s racist past is an important step towards equality and civil rights in America,” Clinton said in a written statement after the South Carolina legislature voted to remove the flag. “The flag may soon no longer fly at the State Capitol, but there is still unfinished business in confronting and acting on the inequalities that still exist in our country. We can’t hide from the hard truths about race and justice. We must do everything in our power to have the courage to name them and change them” (emphasis mine). In saying this is a “step toward equality and civil rights,” Clinton is acting as if the civil-rights movement never happened. She is painting our nation with the brush of racism as if it were still 1950—or even 1860. Whites Must Stop Being Racists, But They Can’t Shelby Steele, author of “White Guilt,” calls this “manipulating stigma.” With the victory of the civil-rights movement, whites lost their moral authority—something that inevitably happens when you admit you’ve done something wrong. As a nation, we confessed our racist past, and we righted that wrong. That should have been the end of it, but with the loss of that moral authority came an increase in the moral authority of minorities—power they and the Democratic Party have twisted and used to advance one social-justice agenda after another. Steele says this happens because of white guilt, and the stigma of racism reinforces white guilt. ‘If they don’t prove the negative, then the stigma sticks.’ Clinton says we can’t hide “from the hard truths about race and justice.” Which hard truths is she talking about except that we must overcome our inherent racism? President Obama said it is “in our DNA” to be


Prompt: News Monmouth University has been named alongside 104 colleges and universities in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, including Yale University, Princeton University, and Oxford University, in the Paradise Papers, a leak of documents and files that indicate the institutions named had affiliations with offshore accounts, most often, to avoid tax liability. While the University’s connection to the Papers may not indicate any wrongdoing or illegality on their part, the business practice’s commonality among institutions of higher education raises a question of ethics and moral duty. The Paradise Papers are the second-largest data leak in history, following the

2016 release of the Panama Papers. Both leaks were obtained by German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, who then shared the material with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), a United States based organization that won a Pulitzer Prize for their work on the Panama Papers. The ICIJ published the Papers in 2016, exposing the methodology behind how wealthy citizens, organizations and institutions avoid paying taxes by keeping funds in offshore accounts. George Yager, a CPA who specializes in tax compliance and family wealth planning, and provides consultation on tax advisory services to a broad range of clients including management companies and their owners in the alternative investments industry, as well as energy and real estate clients, explained tax avoidance as an action taken to reduce one’s tax liability and maximize after-tax income. “Tax avoidance is perfectly legal and involves the practice of maximizing deductions, adjustments to income and use of tax credits to lower tax liability within the Tax Code and Regulations. While the legality of tax avoidance is clear, the ethics of it are not. Most taxpayers use some form of tax avoidance to legally lower their taxes such as contributing pre-tax income to a 401(k) retirement plan,” said Yager. “This would be viewed as both a legal and ethical practice to reduce one’s taxes. But when a tax avoidance strategy entails the use of loopholes in the Tax Code, the question of whether that is ethical may be raised,” Yager continued. Yager added that taxpayers using this strategy would be legally reducing their tax liability, but it could be argued that by using loopholes they may not be paying their fair share and therefore, not be ethical. “As there is no single definition of ethics or specific rules, the ethical determination must be made by the taxpayer depending


Prompt: Money. Music. Machines. When you think of the big players that make software and hardware solutions for musicians and DJs you might think of Ableton, Akai Pro and Native Instruments. The later have just shifted the goal posts in the industry to the tune of €50 million ($59 million) thanks to an investment from EMH Partners! The big question is what will they do with this rather large sum? With their diverse range of products for DJs, producers and performers including Traktor, Maschine and Komplete, Native Instruments have, since 1996, carved out a large loyal userbase in the music industry.

As noted by EMH Partners, NI’s "products are not only used by a vast majority of producers, musicians and DJs such as Depeche Mode, Alicia Keys, Skrillex, Carl Cox, Kendrick Lamar and Hans Zimmer, but also by an increasing number of hobby users." Despite such high-profile users and obviously successful branded products there's plenty of areas Native Instruments could improve upon. And we think $59 million could help them achieve greater dominance in their product and service areas. What Now? So, $59 million is a significant amount to play with. And EMH Partners' investment is not about helping a company to break through but propelling an already successful one to the next level of development. NI has over 500 employees and generates annual revenues of €80 million currently with an undisclosed, healthy profit margin. Behind great products are great ideas. Great ideas originate from great minds. So it would come as no surprise if NI add to their already talented and creative workforce with new ideas and skills from new people. Daniel Haver, CEO of Native Instruments, explains that “by developing intuitive and powerful products we’ve empowered music creators and DJs globally to further realise their potential. Today we’re seeing demand from increasingly diverse market segments, which opens enormous potential. With EMH Partners we now have a strong partner at our side to kick off the next growth phase.” It's also important to note that "the private equity firm will predominantly invest in the technological development of Native Instruments and its marketing and sales efforts". This won't be purely on R&D for new products and services, but we'd like to speculate a little on what this investment could result in for the end user... What Next? So what can we expect this extra investment to mean in terms of new


Prompt: The 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, has begun its movement to Europe, loading the first trains this week that will send a heavy brigade’s worth of tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and other equipment overseas in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve. Iron Brigade Soldiers, led by 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment with the help of 4th Sustainment Brigade, began Nov. 7 to stage and load vehicles and containers at the railhead here to kick off operations that ultimately will send more than 2,000 pieces of rolling stock to eight countries in central and eastern Europe. “A movement of

ABCT assets like this from the United States into Europe hasn’t occurred in decades,” said Capt. Kenneth Kloeppel, the rail head officer in charge and a unit movement officer for 1-66 Armor Regt. “It’s huge for this type of brigade effort to unite and lean forward with this mission.” The full set of ABCT equipment will arrive at the port in Bremerhaven, Germany, in January, and then move by rail, commercial line haul and military convoy to Poland, where 3rd Brigade will consolidate before dispersing units to Germany and across six other countries from Estonia to Bulgaria beginning in February. The ability to mass and move heavy equipment rapidly will be an integral part of 3rd Brigade’s mission to provide an increased U.S. Army presence across Europe. The 4,000-Soldier ABCT will contribute to and strengthen the NATO Alliance’s deterrence and defense capabilities. “During our nine-month rotation, we’ll routinely exercise, mass and move throughout the European theater to refine our ability to maneuver an armored force across Alliance member states,” said Warrant Officer Abraham Rosales, 3rd Brigade mobility officer. “The first example of this will be our arrival to Bremerhaven and demonstrating our ability to move all of our equipment to Poland within a couple weeks of the equipment’s arrival to Germany.” The first leg of this movement — rail operations at Fort Carson — will persist over the next month. “There are a lot of moving pieces, checks and balances, inspections, etc., to ensure that the mission runs smoothly,” said Kloeppel. “There were a lot of things that took place to get to this point. We performed meticulous equipment maintenance and had inspections at the lowest level all the way to the top. Everything gets accounted for and we label hazardous material accordingly.” Once the equipment clears final inspection, it


Prompt: Pokémon Go, Nintendo's first mobile-based Pokémon title, is officially out worldwide, and that means thousands of budding trainers will be hitting the streets looking for wild Pokémon. Catch more rare stories like this in Facebook Messenger It also means thousands of people will be walking around cities and towns looking intently at their phones disregarding all manner of hazards in the quest to be the best like no one ever was. But how to play Pokémon Go safely is another post. Here's how to catch your first Pokémon, then catch more rare Pokémon and finally power them up so you

can capture gyms for your team. The Most Important Thing You Need To Do Is Walk " The point of Pokémon Go is to travel around, exploring different geographic areas to find appropriate Pokémon. In a small town, expect to find a lot of normal- and grass-types. Going near water will attract water Pokémon. Playing at night brings out more nocturnal creatures, like Clefairy and Gastly." [Polygon] As we've explored New York City, we've found plenty of Pokémon that you'd expect to live in urban areas like Pidgeys, Nidorans, Meowths, and Eevees. But to catch a wider variety of Pokémon, you're going to have to travel. If you look on your map in the game though, you'll also notice patches of rustling grass (similar to the original Pokémon games). As you probably guessed, these patches contain wild Pokémon, and walking towards them increase your chances of encountering them. We've noticed that these patches are more commonly found in parks and wooded areas, so if there are any of those near you, try heading there first. You can also try looking for Pokémon near sources of water. The Pokémon Intro Recreated In GTA V Is Both Beautiful And Horrible No Pokémon popping up? If you tap the lower right hand bar on the main screen (which usually has a Pokémon greyed out) you'll open a "nearby" menu that will show you which Pokémon are in your area. See the footprints beneath each Pokémon? They indicate how close each is to you at your current location. The more footprints there are, the further away the Pokémon. No footprints? It's right next to you! Three footprints? You might have to walk around a bit (three footprints could mean a Pokémon is as far as 150 meters away!). As you walk towards or away


Prompt: There's been some level of uncertainty regarding OCZ and especially the outstanding product warranties. I covered OCZ's situation and its position at Toshiba in our Vertex 460 review but now we've finally got the official word about warranties as well. In short, all OCZ's latest SSDs will be covered by warranty normally, but the unfortunate news is that all non-SSD products (such as PSUs, DRAM, USB drives etc.) will not be supported at all. Outstanding product warranties were excluded from the acquisition terms, so it appears that Toshiba is only willing to cover the most necessary products, those being OCZ's

most popular SSDs. Bear in mind that the acquisition only included OCZ's consumer and enterprise storage divisions -- last time I heard OCZ was looking for a buyer for its other units but it seems that they've not been able to find one. Update: OCZ told us that they have a buyer for their PSU business with more details to follow in two weeks. The RAM and cooling divisions have been discontinued a long while ago, though. Normal Support Support Until Jan 22, 2015 Not Supported Vector 150 Vector Vertex 460 Vertex 450 Vertex 4 Vertex 3 Vertex 2 Vertex RevoDrive RevoDrive 3 RevoDrive 3X2 Agility 4 Agility 3 Agility 2 Agility ALL Non-SSD Products Core Series Apex Petrol Octane Series Solid Series Colossus Series IBIS Enyo Nocti RevoDrive Hybrid Summit Synapse Onyx Series Solid Series OCZ SATA I SSD (1st gen) OCZ SATA II SSD (1st gen) The good news is that the most popular SSDs are covered, including the older members of the Vertex family. The Agility series will be supported for another year, meaning that some warranties of Agility 3 and 4 will be shortened. Unsupported products include the rest of OCZ's SSDs and most of these are models that were never even sampled to media. Ultimately I believe these products were also OCZ's stumbling blocks because although they were cheap, the performance was horrible and failure rates were ridiculously high. If you have an unsupported product, you may not be out of luck if you happen to live in EU or other region with strict consumer protection laws. Here in Finland the seller is responsible for the warranty by law and OCZ's decision to discontinue support for some products does not change that. Obviously I can't speak for other countries but this is something worth finding


Prompt: Photo: Maya Robinson and Photos by Corbis Weezer’s new album Everything Will Be Alright in the End, out yesterday, is a course correction for the band after a series of recent missteps. How do we know this? Because since 2001’s Weezer (The Green Album), basically every Weezer album has been pitched as a course correction for the band after a series of recent missteps. (There’s one exception, and the identity of that album may surprise you!) Take a look: All quotes, except where noted, by Rivers Cuomo. The album: Weezer (The Green Album) (2001) The previous missteps: Disappearing into self-indulgence

on 1996’s Pinkerton, then disappearing entirely for five years. The correction: Returning to the sound of The Blue Album, with the help of producer Ric Ocasek. “[Pinkerton] is just a sick album, sick in a diseased sort of way … This [new] record is purely musical.” —Rolling Stone “[Pinkerton] is a hideous record. It was such a hugely painful mistake that happened in front of hundreds of thousands of people and continues to happen on a grander and grander scale and just won’t go away.” —Entertainment Weekly The album: Maladroit (2002) The previous missteps: Overreacting to the (still-embarrassing) failure of Pinkerton by creating an album of emotionless sheen. The correction: Embracing the heavy-metal sound that was apparently Cuomo’s first true passion. “After you’ve made a record that’s pretty straight pop stuff, you kinda wanna bust loose on the guitar a little bit … I don’t know what the hell I was thinking [with the guitar solos on The Green Album]. I prefer shredding.” —Guitar World “I grew up on metal, and I learned how to play the guitar by playing metal, and I was always in metal bands as a kid. So, really the aberration was the first two Weezer records. I was very consciously repressing my actual self.” —CDNOW.com “The Green Album was mostly fake girl songs.” —Spin “I don’t like Pinkerton. @#%$ it’s a @#%$ album! I wish people would leave it alone.” —Kerrang The album: Make Believe (2005) The previous missteps: Not trying hard enough, emotionally and professionally. The correction: Writing more from the heart, and getting Rick Rubin to produce. “On Maladroit … the songwriting on my part wasn’t great. … [Pinkerton] has the sound of someone who’s not really in touch with other people, and I don’t know if that’s good.” —L.A. Weekly “On albums


Prompt: FILE - In this Dec. 17, 2015, file photo, Martin Shkreli, center, the former hedge fund manager under fire for buying a pharmaceutical company and ratcheting up the price of a life-saving drug, is escorted by law enforcement agents in New York after being taken into custody following a securities probe. Jurors heard testimony from the government's last witness on Tuesday, July 25, 2017, a day after Shkreli's lawyer told the court his client won't take the witness stand during his securities fraud trial. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File) NEW YORK (AP) — Wealthy investors say former biotech CEO Martin Shkreli

told them he was managing tens of millions of dollars’ worth of investments, that they were making double-digit returns and they could withdraw their money at any time. Prosecutors in closing arguments Thursday at Shkreli’s securities fraud trial said it was all a brazen con. The defense countered that no one should feel sorry for the alleged victims because they were high-rollers who ended up doubling or tripling their money. Shkreli, 34, is best known for jacking up the price of a life-saving drug and trolling his critics on social media, but his trial in Brooklyn has focused on his time running a pair of hedge funds. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alixandra Smith told jurors Shkreli “lied to investors to get their money into the funds and then lied to them so they wouldn’t take it out.” The prosecutor recounted testimony by investors who told jurors that Shkreli claimed to be managing up to $40 million in one of his firms at a time when its brokerage account held only a few hundred dollars. When one investor asked for his money back, Shkreli stalled for months until he used a Ponzi-like scheme to secretly raid a second fund to return a portion of the funds, she said. “The defendant was lying not only about the ability to get a redemption, but also about where that money was coming from,” she said. As Shkreli was “blowing up” his hedge funds with bad stock picks, he continued to recruit new investors by portraying himself as a Wall Street whiz who graduated from Columbia University, Smith said. He really attended a lesser-known public university, Baruch College. Claims “that he was some sort of genius in the investing industry were completely untrue,” she said. The defense has sought to portray the impish Shkreli as a


Prompt: The Cardinals injury bug is slowly leaving as both Jhonny Peralta and Tommy Pham have commenced playing baseball at some level, but how will this affect the Cards’ current setup? Club GM John Mozeliak recently told 101ESPN what changes will most likely take place and what Peralta’s return means for Aledmys Diaz, currently tending to shortstop. Mo also touched Kolten Wong’s slump, Yadier Molina’s fatigue, and Matt Adams and Stephen Piscotty’s lively plate performances. The latest on Jhonny Peralta: “He will head to Florida and play with the Jupiter club for the next three to four days…If all goes well,

we’ll try and activate him Tuesday in Cincinnati.” On if Peralta’s return will shake up the infield defense’s look: “I think right now we’re going to try and keep (Aledmys) Diaz at short and then move some pieces around accordingly…We have had Jhonny taking some balls at third base and he’s done fine there. He’s obviously more comfortable playing short, but feels he can do it.” “And (Matt Carpenter) said he’s happy to go on the right side of the infield if need be. So I think we had that flexibility and you’re looking at Diaz and clearly, from an offensive standpoint, he’s come back to Earth a little bit, but we still want to keep building him up and you could see him move from time to time too.” On if Kolten Wong could be sent to Memphis to work out his hitting slump: “I don’t want to talk about a given person especially when you’re talking about a downward assignment, but overall this game is about performance. Ultimately, we’ve got to try to put together our best 13 from an offensive standpoint to give us a chance to win.” “As this picture becomes more clear and we have a better understanding about when some of these injured players are coming back and what to expect…Everything has to be on the table when considering how to improve.” On Matt Adams’ offensive resurgence and relying on defense to help pitching: “I think from a confidence level he’s really feeling good about himself, and he should. The results are there…Right now, when you have the competition going on for playing time, guys are stepping up and certainly answering the vow.” “When you look at the overall landscape of our infield, specifically when you talk about first base…We were pretty bullish internally


Prompt: Giancarlo Stanton is not a happy camper. The star outfielder vented his frustrations over the Miami Marlins recent play following a 10-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday, which dropped them to 1-5 following the All-Star break and 11 1/2 games out of first place in the NL East. “If you can’t win a series against the worst team in the league; there’s not much going for you, right there,” Stanton told MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro after the game. Scroll to continue with content Ad Even after winning two of three in Miami, the Phillies hold the league’s worst record

at 32-61. They’re not likely to be much of a spoiler for teams that are truly contenders, which is why Miami absolutely had to win if there were any hopes of turning it around before the July 31 trade deadline. To Stanton’s credit he did everything he could to help Miami right the ship. He finished the three-game series with four home runs, but received very little help as the Marlins wrapped up a listless home stand. Giancarlo Stanton is quickly losing his patience with the Marlins. (AP) Losing two of three to baseball’s worst team was enough to push Stanton to his breaking point, but there’s no doubt these feelings have been stewing for awhile. It’s only natural when you consider the team has disappointed, and as a result Stanton’s name and several of his teammates names have been floated around in trade rumors. As is always the case in Miami, it seems they are on the verge of a fire sale, and with the team itself set to be sold there’s not a lot of certainty for anyone currently involved in the organization. Story continues For Stanton in particular, this could be a key time in his career. He’s currently signed to a 13-year, $325 million contract, but he holds a lot of power over where his career will go in the next few years. He holds a full no-trade clause, and also has an opt-out following the 2020 season. If he’s not liking what he’s seeing on the field or hearing from the organization, this might be the first clear indication he’s reached the point where he’s ready to move on. Stanton’s comments alone won’t increase the likelihood of a trade. But they add another layer to a story that was already worth watching before July 31.


Prompt: The month of August is upon us and a wealth of activities in Jávea are ready to be enjoyed. We can pretty much guarantee sunshine and above 30degrees every day, but that shouldnt stop you from leaving the beaches of Jávea if only for a few nights and participate in some of the exciting things to do in Javea in August. Activities on the Javea Beaches August is the perfect month to spend some time on the excellent beaches of Jávea. The Cinema On The Beach, Cine Vora La Mar, is showing a new film every Tuesday evening of August.

All films start at 22.00 (10pm) at the outdoor beach cinema located right on the Arenal Beach. The films at the beach cinema in August are: John Carter (7th of August), Jack & Jill (14th of August), Puss In Boots (21th of August) and Real Steel (28th of August). The films are dubbed into Spanish with English subtitles, but its still a wondrous experience to sit on the beach and enjoying the action on the big screen as the Mediterranean lands gently waves on the beach. On August 12th the monthly Serendipity Fun Day on the beach is happening from 5pm. Its a free social event right on the arenal beach, which features a picnic style meet up for all ages to chat, make new friends and enjoy a few snacks. Couples, singles and families of all ages welcome for an afternoon of hanging out with new friends, playing chess or bridge in the sand, volleyball, football or having a little swim in the sea. For more information about the Serendipity Fun Days contact Amanda O´Shea on Facebook or call Serendipity Holistic Services on 646 816 625. Javea Jazz Festival – XII Festival Internacional Javea Jazz The Costa Blanca beach resort Jávea hosts an International Jazz festival by the Mediterranean featuring upcoming stars on the jazz scene. The Javea Jazz Festival 2012 line up: Omer Avital Quintet (4th of August), Richard Galliano Tangaria Quartet (5th of August) and Andrea Motis & Joan Chamorro Group (6th of August). All concerts starts at 22.30 (10.30pm) in Plaza De La Constitucion in Jávea old town. Entry is 15euros per concert or 40euros for all 3. Read all about the Javea Jazz Festival here. A New Formula Champion? Fiesta 03730 – Go Kart competition The Javea go cart track – Carting Javea – hosts