Prompt: Eschker isn’t the only person doing scholarly work on the ramifications of cannabis legalization. Students and professors across the country are looking beyond the question of “Should cannabis be legal?” toward the more complex economic, sociological, and legal questions raised by legalizing the drug. These higher-ed classes have become a place for students to explore the uncertainties created by the unfolding cannabis story: for example, how to draft legislation for a legal industry, what can be learned from alcohol prohibition, and how dispensaries affect communities. Finding answers to these questions is becoming increasingly urgent, as more states are lifting restrictions

on cannabis use. Residents in Colorado and Washington voted in favor of personal-use legalization in November 2012. On New Year’s Day 2014, Coloradoans made their first state-legal purchases. In addition, 20 states and Washington, D.C. have laws that permit cannabis for medical use. Before and after California’s legalization attempt, medical cannabis shops popped up all over the state, particularly in Los Angeles. Their rapid growth led to a citywide backlash to shut down some of the storefronts. In this debate, Steve Graves, a professor of geography at California State University, Northridge, saw an opportunity. “I recognized this was a really rich visual display created on the landscape. And I was worried that if they all disappeared and they all have to go out of business that there might not be a visual record of what they looked like,” said Graves. So Graves came up with a creative way to get his students, who live all over the greater Los Angeles area, to help document the changing landscape: If they spotted a dispensary while driving or walking, they could snap a picture for a little extra credit. He received a sizeable pile of images from his students and matched them with a dispensary database created by the Los Angeles Times. Graves eventually noticed patterns. For example, dispensaries, like casinos and liquor stores, lined up along a border of a municipality where they were banned. “[Students] said, ‘Oh my god I didn’t realize there were so many until I started actively looking for them,’” Graves said. “Students dig that. And then they say, ‘Guess what else I noticed?’ which excites me as a teacher.” Many of the dispensaries stayed open, leading to a debate about their effect on communities. Bridget Freisthler, an associate professor at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs, had


Prompt: Today, Toyota announced changes in executives’ areas of responsibility, as well as personnel changes at the sub-executive managerial level. The most important change by far is the appointment of Akio Toyoda, the company’s CEO and grandson of founder Kiichiro Toyoda, as President of a new ‘EV Business Planning’ department. Earlier this month, we reported–admittedly a little tongue-in-cheek–about Toyota announcing the creation of an electric vehicle division and putting only 4 engineers on the project with the goal to bring EVs to market by 2020. The move seems a lot more serious now that Akio Toyoda is leading the effort, and

several other executives, managers, and engineers have been assigned new responsibilities in the electric vehicle planning department, including the chief engineer of the Prius. At the executive level, the changes will be effective today, while the managers were apparently put on the program throughout the month. You can see the full list of changes below. It appears to be a clear sign that Toyota is more serious than ever about electric vehicles and it is not simply investing in fuel cell hydrogen to comply to new fuel consumption standards. Changes to executives’ areas of responsibility (effective December 1, 2016) Name Current New Akio Toyoda ― President EV Business Planning Dept. (chief officer) Mitsuhisa Kato Executive Vice President Frontier Research Center (chief officer) Executive Vice President Frontier Research Center (chief officer) EV Business Planning Dept. (chief officer) Shigeki Terashi Executive Vice President Strategic Top Executive Meeting Office (secretary general) Corporate Strategy Div. (chief officer) Research Div. (chief officer) Executive Vice President Strategic Top Executive Meeting Office (secretary general) EV Business Planning Dept. (chief officer) Corporate Strategy Div. (chief officer) Research Div. (chief officer) Koki Konishi Managing Officer Mid-size Vehicle Company (executive vice president) Managing Officer General Administration & Human Resources Group Changes to executive general managers’ areas of responsibility (effective November 1, 2016) Name Current New Shinichi Yasui Mid-size Vehicle Company ZS (chief officer), ZV (chief officer), ZD (chief officer), ZE (chief officer), ZF (chief officer) Mid-size Vehicle Company ZS (chief officer), ZV (chief officer), ZD (chief officer), ZE (chief officer), ZF (chief officer, concurrent chief engineer) Personnel changes at the sub-executive managerial level (effective November 1, 2016) Name Current New Kouji Toyoshima MSZ, Mid-size Vehicle Company (chief engineer) MSZ, Mid-size Vehicle Company (chief engineer) EV Business Planning Dept. (preliminary organization) (general manager) (effective November 14, 2016) Name Current New Kenichi


Prompt: Feb 2, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; New York Islanders center Anders Lee (27) celebrates his goal against the Minnesota Wild with teammates during the second period at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports The Islanders offense explodes in the second and third periods to help secure their first victory of a pivotal second half stretch run. Five different Islanders scored goals in Brooklyn to overpower the Minnesota Wild. The Islanders took control with 3 second period goals and then sealed the victory with 2 quick goals in the third. While the offense led the way, Jean-Francois Berube notched

40 saves in his first career NHL victory. After a first period goal from Charlie Coyle, Mikhail Grabovski answered early in the second period. They didn’t want to waste any time and less than two minutes later Anders Lee scored a redirect on a Travis Hamonic slapshot. With less than 2 minutes left in the period Pominville leveled the score and it looked like the Isles and Wild would be heading into the 3rd period all square. But just like that the Isles top goal scorer, Brock Nelson, took the lead back with a wrister from the slot. The Islanders wasted no time in the third with an early powerplay goal from Frans Nielsen and a goal from Captain John Tavares minutes later. A Minnesota Wild powerplay goal midway through the period from Nino Niederreiter made anyone who bet the Islanders -1.5 nervous, but the Wild never seemed to really be a threat to come back and win. A downside for Islanders fans was the play of Nino Niederreiter. He had a goal and an assist in Brooklyn and it makes me think what could have been if his time with the Islanders had gone differently. The most intriguing story line of this game for most fans will be the play of third string goaltender JF Berube. While many will praise Jack Capuano’s decision to play Berube, the move it is still puzzling. Capuano and GM Garth Snow want Berube to get some NHL action in order to increase his trade value. Despite making 40 saves, Berube let in a couple very soft goals. He let a first period Charlie Coyle shot squirt by him that had no business going in. Later in the second period he let a rebound go straight back to Jason Pominville who buried his second


Prompt: Residents in a Dublin city centre apartment complex have been told to pay €4 million in less than a week or face eviction after major fire safety deficiencies were discovered in their building. Residents in a Dublin city centre apartment complex have been told to pay €4 million in less than a week or face eviction after major fire safety deficiencies were discovered in their building. 'We're the victims here' - Longboat Quay residents face eviction unless they cover €4m repair bill for fire safety failings Around 900 people live in the 299 apartments in the Longboat Quay complex by

the Dublin docklands. Residents of the apartments on Sir John Rogerson's Quay were left horrified when they were told last night owners would have to pay between €9,300 to €18,000 depending on the size of their apartment. “I was asked to pay €18,000 and I told the chap last night I wouldn’t be paying it – I haven’t got that kind of money,” one resident told RTE’s Six One News. Longboat Quay was built by developer Bernard McNamara in 2006 with owners paying between €450,000 and €750,000 at the height of the boom. However serious fire safety deficiencies were uncovered last year and so far Dublin Docklands Development Authority, the nominal landlord, has paid €1 million to fix the fire alarm system. But further work is required to upgrade fire walls and smoke vents at a cost of €4 million. Read More: Enda Kenny urged to help resolve plight of residents in 'fire risk' complex The docklands authority insists this is the responsibility of apartment owners as the company used by Mr NcNamara has gone into receivership. But many owners say while they could pay some of the cost, they should not be responsible for “problems they did not know existed”. Richard Eardley Director Longboat Quay Management “We the owners are the victims here, we all bought apartments here in the last few years without knowing these problems existed and now we’re faced with a big problem,” said Richard Eardley Director Longboat Quay Management. He told Six One News that while owners could be part of the solution, the receiver and the DDDA also had a part to play. Longboat Quay is 60 pc owner occupier and 40 pc tenants. Speaking to Independent.ie this morning, local Cllr Dermot Lacey (Labour), who was at the public meeting last night, said both


Prompt: Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The removal of the world's tree cover remains a concern but deforestation rates are slowing, according to the United Nations Although progress is being made, up to US $906bn of company turnover is still tied to global deforestation, an assessment has concluded. A study by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) suggests almost a quarter of company revenues depend on deforestation-linked commodities. These commodities are cattle products, soy, palm oil and timber products. The findings are based on disclosure requests to 365 investors worth US $22 trillion (£17 trillion). "We found this year that a

substantial share of corporate income depends upon commodities that are linked to deforestation risk," explained Katie McCoy, CDP's head of forests. "When we carried out our analysis, we found that - on average - about a quarter of companies' revenue are dependent on commodities that have been linked to deforestation." She said there was a clear message for companies to take the issue of deforestation in their supply chain very seriously. "It is having an impact on their potential to generate revenue." Deforestation concerns Ms McCoy added: "Another key message that is coming though is that while companies are confident that they have a secure and sustainable supply of these commodities, our analysis suggests that companies are overlooking how deforestation impacts are going to affect their growth. "In this era of increased scrutiny, we are asking companies in order to capitalise on opportunity and minimise risk, they really need to engage more meaningfully with their supply chain and, in some cases, move deforestation risk into the boardroom." She said that taking "deforestation into the boardroom" would help shift the paradigm into a long-term issue, making it more sustainable." At present, a third of companies that responded to CDP's request for information said that the issue of deforestation was not being discussed at boardroom level. "[It] affects the way risk assessments in the company are conducted, making sure that this issue is part of the mix." She added that that by increasing levels of transparency and disclosure from their suppliers would be beneficial. "This means recognising that the biggest risks and opportunities are to be found in the supply chain, and we would ask companies to disclose the relevant information, and also to collaborate with those suppliers to implement change," she told BBC News. "Finally, we are asking companies to work


Prompt: The following is an interview that will appear in the book How to Prove God Does Not Exist by Trevor Treharne, to be released in September by Universal Publishers. What is the fundamental conflict between science and religion? Is it one that will never be resolved? The two have opposing views on what constitutes reality. Science finds no need to include any substance beside matter in order to describe our observations of the world. Religion holds that there is a world beyond matter. Religion claims it has a way of obtaining knowledge that is separate from the scientific method of

observation and experiment. The religious believe that we have an inner faculty of some sort that enables us to learn about the world, the universe, and reality without such observation. It is hard to see the two ever resolving this conflict. One of your more recent books, The Fallacy of Fine-Tuning, is certainly a timely one based on how common that argument is currently proving. What is your summary on what is wrong with the fine-tuning arguments? As I have said before, the universe is not fine-tuned for us--we are fine-tuned to the universe. I claim that the statements made about fine-tuning are not accurate. When theists talk about something being fine-tuned to one part in ten or a hundred orders of magnitude, they are simply incorrect. If you look more closely at the physics and cosmology, you will see that there is plenty of room to vary their various parameters and still maintain some kind of life. Our form of life is certainly sensitive to the parameters and if the parameters of the universe were different, our form of life wouldn't exist; I agree with that. But our form of life is not the only form of life one can imagine. Two rather traditional arguments still persevere amongst theists today, firstly that "something" could not come from "nothing"... When tackling this question in the past, I was often forced into a philosophical discussion on defining what one means by nothing. Once you define it, give it some property, then it becomes "something." So, I don't really know how you define "nothing," when you start talking philosophically. The way I handle that question now, which is consistent with all existing knowledge of cosmology and physics, is that the universe is eternal. It didn't come from nothing, or something for that


Prompt: Oak Brook officials are hopeful that the 2018 move of McDonald's corporate offices to Chicago provides the perfect fit for e-commerce giant Amazon's search for a 50,000-job second headquarters. Oak Brook is throwing its hat in the ring to be part of an official bid to Amazon officials looking to add another headquarters outside of their Seattle site. "I really think we have a good chance of getting this, or at least getting to talk with Amazon," said Valentina Tomov, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Oak Brook Chamber of Commerce. "We are very close to a major

urban center with great access on highways, are close to the airport and have very friendly business policies with low taxes and no municipal property taxes." Village President Gopal Lalmalani said this is a great opportunity for Oak Brook and for Amazon. "Having a company like Amazon come to Oak Brook would be a huge economic boom for this entire area, and we believe we have a perfect situation for Amazon to come here, with McDonald's getting ready to move," Lalmalani said. Tomov said McDonald's representatives are interested in working with local officials in an effort to sell the company's Oak Brook property to Amazon. McDonald's did not reply to a request for comment. Oak Brook is working with Choose DuPage and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity in bid. Any financial incentives the state agrees to for Amazon would apply to any Illinois municipality that lands the bid, Tomov said. She said Oak Brook's proposal would be submitted to Choose DuPage, which will select two or three from the county to pass on to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. From there, an unknown number of proposals will be sent to Amazon by Oct. 19 for consideration. "I don't see much of a competition around us," Tomov said. "One of our biggest challenges is to get the word out. You hear a lot about Chicago with this, but we really believe Oak Brook offers the advantage of being so close to the city, but also some benefits Chicago does not have." One of Oak Brook's selling points is the green space that would be in the area after Amazon moved in. "Amazon has said it wants green space, and we have that, especially with the Sports Core which is very close to the McDonald's campus,"


Prompt: AMD RYZEN 7 Are you fed-up of overpriced CPUs that deliver underwhelming performance – year after year? Are you tired of being limited to sub-par performance due to unfairly high prices? So are we! Evetech has always believed that brilliant performance should be more accessible to everyone. Announcing the launch of the revolutionary AMD RYZEN 7 series of processors, RYZEN 7 powered PCs, and upgrade kits – the finest selection of AMD RYZEN based products available in South Africa. Outfitted with AMD’s latest processors, our range of RYZEN 7 powered gaming pcs offer the best performance at reasonable prices to

boot! An absolute dream for gamers and enthusiasts, these RYZEN 7 CPUs combined with top-notch GPUs are sure to deliver blistering frame rates on all the latest game releases. AMD RYZEN 7 series processors boasts 8 physical cores and 16 threads. This ensures that these CPUs can breeze through tasks like video encoding and 3D modelling/rendering – as fast as, or even faster, than any other processor on the market. That’s not all. Depending on the cooling system you install, the ‘X’ series of RYZEN processors also boast the amazing ability to overclock themselves. Automatically. Be Smarter. Be Faster. Be more Power-efficient. At astounding prices! So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and choose from our extensive lineup of brand-new AMD RYZEN 7 based products – bring home the performance you deserve – at a price you can afford. Top 5 Reasons To Buy AMD RYZEN 7 Processors The 2nd Generation of AMD Ryzen 7 Processors improve on an already great computing experience, making them an excellent choice for those who want a premium workstation or gaming rig at unbelievable prices! Here are 5 of the top reasons why you need a 2nd Generation Ryzen 7 processor today – Intelligent computing: These Ryzen 7 processors not only feature the raw power expected from a high-end CPU, but they also pack a host of intelligent technologies that enhances your experience even further. From a neural net to prefetch what you need before you call on it to automatic overclocking, this processor really does have it all! Intelligent power delivery: The processors are designed to extract the maximum performance out of your hardware. Intelligent power delivery ensures that your processor has more than enough power when it needs to tackle intensive tasks and saves power when you’re using it for relatively


Prompt: New questions over A-G's link to embattled priest Updated New questions are being asked about the link between the New South Wales Attorney-General and a retired Catholic priest who allegedly abused a number of female children during his time in the church. Father Finian Egan's more than 50 years as a priest took him to at least half a dozen churches in and around Sydney. But the priest's service in the Catholic church came to an end when a number of women came forward to accuse him of abusing them when they were children. Within weeks of 7.30 airing a

series of stories on Father Egan, at least five people had gone to police and a widespread investigation was underway. But nearly two years later, the priest has not been arrested or charged. One of his alleged victims, Nikki Wells, says there is no reason the case should be taking so long. "The wait has been absolutely horrendous. It's been really traumatic. The statements with the police have been finalised in 2010," she said. "We've been told the case is on the DPP's desk, but it's been on the DPP's desk for seven months. Now they keep telling us they're just waiting for a signature, so it's beyond me how it's been so long. "The case has been investigated. It's very clear the evidence is there from all the witnesses, so I don't understand why he hasn't been charged." Father Egan has always denied the allegations, and as the case dragged on questions were raised elsewhere in the media about the alleged sex offender's long-time association with Attorney-General Greg Smith. Mr Smith and Father Egan go back some years, and when Mr Smith was elected to Parliament five years ago he cited Father Egan's influence in his maiden speech to Parliament. "At St Gerard's, Father Finian Egan charmed us with his Irish wit and his pastoral devotion to his flock," he said in the speech. Damien Tudehope, now the Attorney-General's chief of staff, also knows Father Egan well, attending the priest's church and, as a solicitor, defending him against sexual abuse allegations. The ABC does not suggest that either Mr Smith or Mr Tudehope have interfered with the potential prosecution involving Father Egan, but critics argue there is an appearance of a potential conflict which the A-G should address. 'Completely horrified' But 7:30 can reveal discussions it is alleged the


Prompt: As the UK referendum result dropped in that fateful Friday morning, the tech startup world didn’t immediately grind to a halt. Websites kept loading. Apps kept opening. But what left UK technology entrepreneurs aghast was not just that Britain had chosen to leave the European Union after 40 years, but that all those years of trying compete with the giants of Silicon Valley would now be thrown into doubt. Although Europe’s 500 million citizens dwarfs the 323 million in the US, for years European startups had to deal with 28 jurisdictions and many languages. But the EU had at least

managed to harmonize (more or less) the processes of company operation, data sharing and hiring. Hiring from a talent base of 500 million people was also an incredible asset to startups, as was raising funding from Venture capitalists. Based in Berlin? No problem. Developers in Slovenia, but the the HQ was in London? No problem. And, after several Eastern European states had joined, suddenly the whole of Europe could tap into the talent produced from Soviet-era education systems built around engineering and maths. The truth is the overwhelming majority of the UK tech startup industry was for ‘Remain’. Industry body COADEC found over 80% of companies were in favour of staying in the EU, citing the single market, free movement of labour and economic stability as their reasons. But “Brexit” has now thrown into enormous doubt how all of that will operate in the future. The immediate effects on startups have been incredibly personal. Bewilderment is the word you hear most. European staff suddenly have no idea how long they will be able to work in Britain. They created business ties, friendships, relationships, often marriages. Their kids are in nursery schools and high schools across the country. Furthermore, so many tech startups today are created by young people, who typically voted in droves for Remain. The decision to leave Europe will have disproportionate effects on them and their companies, which, ironically are so often labelled by politicians as providing the jobs of the future. What future now for them? The immediate reaction of some in the sector has been typically entrepreneurial. “Stay calm and make lemonade,” wrote leading investor Saul Klein. Leading voices have been quick to come out as upbeat — anything not to ‘frighten the horses’ and potentially spook the pipeline of possible new companies to invest in.


Prompt: “It is something I have got used to since 9/11. From being called Osama Bin Laden to Paki-terrorist I have heard it all,” Zab Mustefa, a British Muslim journalist, who specialises in women's rights and culture, tells me. Since the terrorist attacks on New York City that brought down the twin towers, it seems life has not been the same for Muslims that live in the western world. Suddenly there was a spotlight shone on Islam when most non-Muslims had barely given it a second thought before. “Either you’re with us. Or you’re with the terrorists,” announced the then president

of the USA George W Bush in a sombre tone at a press conference following the attacks. And many people decided that all Muslims were against 'us'. Everything was under scrutiny. Their style of dress, their beliefs, their way of life. People that had never even read the Qu’ran believed they had more knowledge than Islamic scholars. “Look at the way they treat their women!” is a statement that I often hear. “Forcing them to cover up. Not allowing them to go out alone and controlling everything that they do.” “What about Saudi Arabia? They don’t even let women drive!” But it's a false perception. I am not denying that there are countries where the predominant religion is Islam where women are treated badly. But patriarchy is the problem, not Islam. In Islam, the rights of women were recognised much earlier than they were in the West. In any case, we in the UK don’t come up smelling of roses when we examine the inequality between the sexes either. A UN human rights inspector recently declared the sexism in the UK to be more ‘pervasive’ and ‘in your face’ than any country she has ever visited and that included some Muslim countries. What I find totally abhorrent is the fact that since concern for Muslim women is so often cited, how come they are the targets of so much abuse in today’s society? 'Anti-Muslim hate' A report from the University of Birmingham, 'Maybe we are hated: The experience and impact of anti-Muslim hate on British Muslim women', says Muslim women are repeated victims of anit-Muslim hate. It cites verified figures from Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks), which show attacks on Muslim women account for 58 per cent of all incidents reported to it. Of those, 80 per cent were visually


Prompt: U.S. President Barack Obama says he will return to the White House "more determined and inspired than ever" after defeating Republican rival Mitt Romney and winning a second term as president. "Tonight in this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back," Obama said during a victory speech in his hometown of Chicago. "And we know in our hearts that for the United States of America, the best is yet to come." The 51-year-old incumbent also said

he had spoken with Romney and congratulated him on a hard-fought campaign. To win, a candidate needed to secure 270 electoral votes. Major U.S. networks projected that Obama had achieved his long-sought goal of four more years in the White House even before some of the key battleground states were declared, such as Florida, Virginia and Nevada. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney concedes the presidency at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in Boston, Mass. (Joe Raedle/Getty) Obama had won much of the traditionally Democratic northeastern U.S. early in the night, including Pennsylvania, while Republican challenger Romney secured the conservative base across a swath of states including Texas and Georgia. But the president sealed his victory with wins in Ohio, Iowa, New Hampshire and Colorado, four of nine battleground states where the two rivals and their allies spent nearly $1 billion on duelling television commercials. PM congratulates Obama Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement Tuesday night congratulating U.S. President Barack Obama on his re-election, saying that Canada and the U.S. "enjoy one of the closest and most extensive relationships in the world." Late Tuesday night, Romney reportedly called Obama to concede the election, and later addressed a crowd of supporters gathered at his campaign headquarters in Boston. "This is a time of great challenges for America, and I pray that the president will be successful in guiding our nation," Romney said in a brief speech. "The nation as you know is at a critical point. At a time like this, we can't risk partisan bickering and political posturing," he said. "Our leaders have to reach across the aisle to do the people's work, and we citizens also have to rise to the occasion." Romney also thanked his running mate, Paul Ryan, saying that "besides my wife Ann, Paul is


Prompt: Increasing competition in the wireless market highlights the need for consolidation among operators, UBS Analyst John Hodulik said this morning. And an attempt at a deal between T-Mobile and Sprint may be the first domino to fall as M&A activity heats up. The U.S. wireless industry has seen an unexpected war over unlimited data plans and an accelerated race to 5G in recent months. Meanwhile, the FCC’s ongoing incentive auction of 600 MHz spectrum has straightjacketed any significant mergers and acquisitions due to its anti-collusion rules, which prevent the discussion of deals by wireless companies and broadcasters that could influence

bidding in the event. Analysts said we may see a flurry of activity in the coming weeks, though, after the auction ends and as Donald Trump’s administration settles in. And an attempted merger between the nation’s third- and fourth-largest carriers may be in the offing, Hodulik said. Mobile World Congress 2019 Attend the 2-Day Executive 5G Panel Series FierceWireless is returning to Barcelona, Spain, during Mobile World Congress 2019 with a two-day Executive 5G Panel Series at the Fira Congress Hotel, conveniently located across the street from the MWC Convention Center. The panel events will take place on Feb. 25-26 and will cover 5G and The Fixed Wireless Access Opportunity, Taking 5G Indoors, and Making 5G Ubiquitous. Attendees will have the opportunity to network and hear from 5G leaders including Verizon, Vodafone, Orange, Sprint, NTT Docomo, Boingo Wireless, Qualcomm, and more over the course of two days. Secure your spot at the event today! Now is your chance to join fellow industry professionals for networking and education. Registration information and the schedule can be found on the website here. Register today “We continue to believe a Sprint/T-Mo announcement is likely given the benefits of moving from four wireless players to three and the significant synergies it would create,” Hodulik wrote in a research note. “In addition, we believe the timing is appropriate: (Sprint’s parent) SoftBank has already recovered its cost basis, turned the asset around operationally and financially, and moreover a deal would allow SoftBank to deconsolidate $30B+ in debt. SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son has already laid the political groundwork, promising to invest and create jobs in the U.S. We also note that the company has focused on strategic value rather than valuation in past acquisitions; we believe a premium here would make sense given asset scarcity and also valuation support


Prompt: Rozz Williams’ art is impressive to say the least. In fact, it’s highly sought after and incredibly rare. His collage work was much in the manner of Dalí, Man Ray and the surrealistic artists of the 1920s with his dream-like (or nightmarish?) compositions. Each mixed media piece is highly detailed and intricate, a small world that tells tragic stories about time, death and decay. Below are some examples of his artwork as artist, actor and director with the undeniable influence of surrealism. Neue Sachlichkeit Mixed media collage (The term “Neue Sachlichkeit” translates to “New Objectivity” – an art movement in

the early 20s as a reaction against expressionism.) “Untitled” Mixed media collage Untitled Mixed media collage “O Corpo Humano” Mixed media collage on wood Untitled, 1993 Mixed media collage (The original can be found at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in the Chapel Columbarium.) The book The Art of Rozz Williams: From Christian Death to Death, edited by Nico B. and published in 1999, is the best option to see more of Rozz’s artwork. It’s a collector’s item as it includes sketches, lyrics and photos as well. You can pick it up on Amazon and Ebay for a good chunk of change – but it’s worth it, without a doubt. The book side-by-side to Rozz’s original collage. Self Portrait with Eggs (Walking Away from the Dying World), 1996 Mixed media collage (You can purchase it here.) Nico B. not only put together The Art of Rozz Williams but also co-directed the 1999 short film, PIG with Rozz, which was his final artistic endeavor before his suicide on April 1, 1999. With the soundtrack composed by Premature Ejaculation (aka Rozz), PIG is a experimental horror film full of sadist and religious metaphors that spans 23 minutes in black and white. I am further reminded of the surrealistic movie Un Chien Andalou from 1929 by Luis Buñuel and Dalí which runs for 21 minutes and focuses on disjointed scenes that are sometimes horrific and nightmare-induced. Lethal Amounts was lucky enough to procure some original self portrait Polaroids that were taken from test shots for PIG (and can be found on the cover of Premature Ejaculation’s Wound of Exit album). You can see the mask in the posthumous short film 1334, an eerie ghost story familiar to Rozz himself. You can purchase these and other Rozz Williams Polaroids here. Special thanks to Hyaena Gallery +


Prompt: EU politics: renewing the wedding vows 19/01/2015 Follow @eureferendum Jean-Claude Juncker says he is prepared to examine the UK's demands on how the EU should change – or so we are told by caveat: he will not allow certain "red lines", including on immigration issues, to be crossed. But what grabs the headline is the Commission President comparing EU-UK relations to a love affair. "It's easy to fall in love and more difficult to stay together", Juncker says, also observing that, "people shouldn't stay together if the conditions aren't the same as when things started". That, of course, is horse

manure: conditions always change, so the test is whether people can adapt to them. In the case of the EU though, which – at best – was a loveless, arranged marriage, there never was a situation when we should have stayed together. Nevertheless, while Juncker still feels that, "it's in the interest of both the UK and the EU to stay together", he reaffirms that he won't weaken the EU's fundamental principles. "When one mentions the end of the free circulation of workers, there can be no debate, dialogue or compromise", he says. "We can fight against abuses - and national lawmakers can do that - but the EU lawmakers won't change the treaties to satisfy the will of certain politicians". So, it seems, Juncker is still playing the "bad cop" against Merkel's "good cop", although he's not saying anything very new. Interestingly, though, Mr Cameron could be acquiring another ally, in This is Viktor Orban, who says he believes the EU's laws on asylum should be tightened, just a week after he said in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris that immigration into Europe should stop – with not an EU flag in sight (pictured). "This is a Christian country", he said on a Sunday radio talk show. "We can help those who are indeed chased out of their countries, but we have to make it clear we don’t want to be the destination for immigrants seeking to make a living here". The number seeking asylum last year in Hungary was 43,000 last year, double the figure in 2013, Mr. Orban says, a large number in relation to Hungary's total population of a little below ten million. "If Europe continues to bury its head in the sand, these trends won't change. It now seems like Brussels


Prompt: Touch typing Hi, my name is Roman, and I am addicted to tools. Do you type for hours every day like I do? Then let me share a year-long journey to the holy grail ergonomic typing. Touch typing can change your life (in a good way). If you're looking for a new keyboard or considering learning an alternative layout, you should definitely keep reading. Long story short I "touch typed" with seven fingers for decades and managed to type at average speed with pretty poor accuracy. I tried so many times to learn proper technique, but I always gave up

in a week. A year ago I decided it was now or never. I had only one goal: to type faster, like 100 WPM. Spoiler: I'm not there yet. Back then I was using QWERTY on an Apple Wireless keyboard. This was my method: "Okay, roll up your sleeves, and just memorize every key for all ten fingers." It took two days. I memorized all the keys during that weekend. Typing speed plummeted to 10 WPM on the first day; I was "thinking" before pressing almost every key. I could type with 100% accuracy without looking, but it was very very slow. Next phase: typing lessons every day for an hour. From time to time I typed with my seven (favorite) fingers when I needed to get work done, but in a few days I switched to the ten-finger method cold turkey. I continued practicing every day at Keybr and Keyhero and finally reached 40 WPM in two weeks. Phew... As soon as I returned to my original speed and accuracy, I decided to upgrade my keyboard to an ergonomic one. Two months later ErgoDox arrived. And of course, I wanted to try an alternative keyboard layout on it. After a quick analysis, I picked the Norman layout: it's easy to learn, and it significantly reduces distance traveled from the home row. Relearning. My speed dropped to 10 WPM, and recovered to 40 WPM in three weeks. I switched to the ErgoDox full time and played with ErgoDox layers, ending up with a single-layer solution. I reached 50 WPM in 40 days and stopped all typing lessons. Today I am a happy ErgoDox user. My average speed on Norman is 60 WPM, and it's increasing every month, slowly but steadily. Lessons learned Fast and accurate typing is a must-have skill


Prompt: This week, I continue on with my latest reading of Christopher Hitchens' God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. If you missed it, you can check out part one here. The Wickedness of Religion The next few chapters are primarily focused on religion and morality, during which Hitchens argues that religion itself is not just amoral but immoral, and that religion does not actually make people morally better. The thrust of his argument is neatly encapsulated in his comments on the slow moral defeat of slavery and racism: The chance that someone’s secular or freethinking opinion would cause him

or her to denounce the whole injustice was extremely high. The chance that someone’s religious belief would case him or her to take a stand against slavery and racism was statistically quite small. But the chance that someone’s religious belief would cause him or her to uphold slavery and racism was statistically extremely high, and the latter fact helps us to understand why the victory of simple justice took so long to bring about. (p. 180) Hitchens’ strategy throughout this section of the book is to draw not just a correlation between immoral behavior and religious belief and teachings, but to show a causal connection between religion and immorality. He is, in effect, providing us with a litany of religiously inspired horror stories with the aim of destroying religion’s supposed monopoly on morality. Hitchens touches on a range of fairly well known topics, from the collusion of religion and totalitarian states; the abuse of children at the hands of religious teachings and religious teachers; the mental anguish inflicted on the religious by unobtainable religious goals; and so on. This argument does not, however, necessarily demonstrate that religion itself is problematic, but only those who claim to be religious. In order to be truly effective in divorcing religion and morality, Hitchens needs to show that religion itself is conceptually immoral. In chapter eleven, ““The Lowly Stamp of Their Origin”: Religion’s Corrupt Beginnings”, Hitchens discusses the way in which religions are founded on the credulity of the general populous: This is an ancient problem. Credulity may be a form of innocence, and even innocuous in itself, but it provides a standing invitation for the wicked and the clever to exploit their brothers and sister, and is thus one of humanity’s great weaknesses. (p. 161) This relationship, wherein the general public is beholden


Prompt: The moose on the now eight-hour loose in Markham is believed to be taking a nap, although Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry staff and police tracking the animal don’t know for sure. But the trackers, themselves, have turned in for the night. The York Regional police and MNRF staff have been following the lost animal by way of drone since around 10:30 a.m. on Friday, with the hopes of tranquilizing it and returning it to the wild. The moose put in a guest appearance in many surprising places. But as day turned to night, officials decided to call it

a day because they felt attempting to tranquilize the moose in the dark was not a good idea. “It’s too dangerous,” said Jolanta Kowalski, with the MNRF. “We haven’t seen the moose for several hours. I think the last time anyone saw (it) moving was around 3 p.m.” Attempts to locate the moose depend on any sightings through the night, said Kowalski. “In the event that someone sees it running around, we can go in and begin our search again.” Article Continued Below Kowalski added that she hopes the creature has just fallen asleep, or even better “has found its way back from where it came.” The moose was last seen in the area of Kennedy Rd. and 16th Ave. Since its appearance in the morning, the animal could be seen on CP24 TV as filmed by the station’s helicopter which followed it close above, as the beast barreled over suburban backyards and front lawns. The moose even ventured onto major roadways. Perhaps seeking refuge, the animal made its way to the Rouge River area, said Sgt. Kerry Schmidt of the Ontario Provincial police at around 11:30 a.m. Both the ministry and police asked the public to keep their distance. “We need people to back off. Let us know if they see it — but stop chasing it,” said Sgt. Scott Hunter at the time. Kowalski said the ministry asked CP24 to stop hovering near the moose with its helicopter because the noise was likely agitating it. Article Continued Below “It needs the space to calm down and relax.” No injuries were reported, but Hunter said the moose’s run had caused several car accidents, broken windows and smashed fences over the course of the day. Moose can run at speeds of 50 km/h. “It needs to rest or it’s going


Prompt: Alternate history buffs are about to be whipped into a frenzy! OK, maybe not, but they will find this interesting. An ancient “super-megalithic” site has been found in the Siberian Mountains. Found recently in Gornaya Shoria (Mount Shoria) in southern Siberia, this site consists of huge blocks of stone, which appear to be granite, with flat surfaces, right angles, and sharp corners. The blocks appear to be stacked, almost in the manner of cyclopean masonry, and well…they’re enormous! Russia is no stranger to mysterious ancient sites, like Arkaim or Russia’s Stonehenge, and the Manpupuner formation, just to name two, but

the site at Shoria is unique in that, if it’s man-made, the blocks used are undoubtedly the largest ever worked by human hands. Here’s the story, as reported by archaeologist John Jensen via his personal blog and Academia.edu: “I subscribe to a couple of Russian Blogs and Websites that post various data and information without the typical hype and filters of Western Science, Academia and the Press, let alone the fringe and “Alien” woo-woo crowd interests. The following are photos of some Super Megaliths from Southern Siberia near the mountains of Gornaya Shoria. The super megaliths were found and photographed for the first time by Georgy Sidorov on a recent expedition to the Southern Siberian mountains. The following images are from Valery Uvarov’s Russian website. There are no measurements given, but from the scale depicted by the human figures, these megaliths are much larger (as much as 2 to 3 times larger) than the largest known megaliths in the world. (Example: The Pregnant Woman Stone of Baalbek, Lebanon weighs in at approximately 1,260 ton). Some of these megaliths could easily weigh upwards of 3,000 to 4,000 tons. There is little commentary on Valery’s site, so the images are displayed here without much comments, other than my own limited observations.” As Jensen pointed out, the monolith at Baalbek is considered to be one of the largest single stones used in an ancient megalithic site, but the blocks or stones at Shoria are much, much larger. You may recognize the name Valery Uvarov, but if you don’t, it should be known that he is Russia’s foremost UFOlogist and a long-time proponent of various alternate history theories. He was involved, as a primary player, in the Russian Screws scenario, some of the details of which are specious. His website is a veritable mountain


Prompt: By Dr. Mercola Many foods have been heavily promoted as being healthy when they are nothing more than pernicious junk foods. In the featured article, Clean Plates1 founder Jared Koch shared his list of nine staple foods that are far less "good for you" than you've been led to believe. Here, I expand on the selections that are mentioned in the featured article. 1. Canned Tomatoes Many leading brands of canned foods contain BPA -- a toxic chemical linked to reproductive abnormalities, neurological effects, heightened risk of breast and prostate cancers, diabetes, heart disease and other serious health problems. According

to Consumer Reports' testing, just a couple of servings of canned food can exceed the safety limits for daily BPA exposure for children. High acidity — a prominent characteristic of tomatoes – causes BPA to leach into your food. To avoid this hazardous chemical, avoid canned foods entirely and stick to fresh fruits and vegetables, or switch over to brands that use glass containers instead—especially for acidic foods like tomatoes. 2. Processed Meats As Koch warns, processed deli meats like salami, ham, and roast beef are typically made with meats from animals raised in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). This means they're given growth hormones, antibiotics and other veterinary drugs, and raised in deplorable conditions that promote disease, these meats are also filled with sodium nitrite (a commonly used preservative and antimicrobial agent that also adds color and flavor) and other chemical flavorings and dyes. Nitrites can be converted into nitrosamines in your body, which are potent cancer-causing chemicals. Research has linked nitrites to higher rates of colorectal, stomach and pancreatic cancer. But that's not all. Most processed deli meats also contain other cancer-promoting chemicals that are created during cooking. These include: Heterocyclic Amines (HCAs) which are hazardous compounds created in meats and other foods that have been cooked at high temperatures. According to research, processed meats are clearly associated with an increased risk of stomach, colon and breast cancers. which are hazardous compounds created in meats and other foods that have been cooked at high temperatures. According to research, processed meats are clearly associated with an increased risk of stomach, colon and breast cancers. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) : Many processed meats are smoked as part of the curing process, which causes PAHs to form. PAHs can also form when grilling. When fat drips onto the heat source, causing


Prompt: With the NHL Draft, free agency, and the prospect scrimmage already finished, Islanders fans must be anxiously awaiting the start of the hockey season as the days wind down to the start of the ’14-’15 NHL season. After making some solid selections in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft (Michael Dal Colle, Joshua Ho-Sang, et al.), Garth Snow continued to address his team’s needs as he signed Chad Johnson, Mikhail Grabovski, and Nikolai Kulemin amongst other players. However, with almost three months of time left before the regular season kicks off, Islanders fans (mainstays & newcomers) might not have as much

coverage of their beloved team as they are used to during each hockey season. While news might be hard to come by – unless there is a devastating injury or blockbuster trade – it’s always good to know where one could get reliable news from a trusted source. So, without further ado, The Hockey Writers brings Isles fans some blogs and twitter accounts that could be extremely useful to follow – and if there are some egregious omissions, then please do leave us a comment and let us know if any account or blog was glossed over. New York Islanders The New York Islanders’ website brings some of the best, and most easily accessed, team coverage on the net. Cory Wright, Eric Hornick (The Skinny), and Brian Compton (NHL.com) contribute to the articles on the site, and there are a bunch of interactive features for fans as videos of post-game interviews, interviews with prospects, and updates on the Isles’ minor league affiliate – the Bridgeport Sound Tigers – are readily available. MSG Network Perhaps the only thing missing from the list below would be a Howie Rose twitter account. With a star-studded cast on the MSG Network, there is a lot of quality reporting that the network has to offer. Individuals such as Stan Fischler, Butch Goring, Jiggs McDonald, Eric Hornick, and Peter Ruttgaizer have given Isles fans some of the best coverage and analysis that they could ask for – be it before, during, or after a game – and their presence in the social media universe is just as big. #isles love what garth snow has done over the summer, but with the extra forwards look for him to acquire a defenseman.phx or van ?? — Butch Goring (@91Butch) July 3, 2014 Newsday Since 1940, Newsday has been


Prompt: What’s the definition of serendipity? Being randomly selected as winner from thousands of entries to a draw for tickets to a crunch World Cup rugby match where your son, Paul O’Connell, is team captain. Unsuspecting Irish Examiner marketing executive Catriona Buckley was momentarily floored by the answer she received after phoning the lucky winner of the newspaper competition yesterday and asking if she was free to travel. “Yes. But is it OK if I am Paul O’Connell’s mother?” said the equally astounded Shelagh O’Connell. Shelagh actually had the Irish Examiner in her hand and was looking at the hilarious front-page

picture of Paul on a ride at Alton Towers amusement park with his teammates when she took the call. “I buy the Examiner all of the time because I think the sports coverage is excellent,” Shelagh said. She had already scanned the newspaper for details of the competition winner. “I didn’t see anything about it, so I assumed it was over and I hadn’t won. When I saw the Cork number flashing up on the phone, I thought it was a call from Cope where Michael’s [her husband] sister is based. I was quite surprised and shocked to hear I had won the competition.” But had her famous son not already sorted tickets for his mum and dad for Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium where Ireland take on France in their final pivotal pool game on October 11? “He doesn’t get tickets until the day of the game,” said Shelagh “But to be honest, match tickets are not the problem. It’s the flights and actually getting there. For the last game, when Ireland played Canada in Cardiff, we had to fly into London, followed by a four-hour drive to Cardiff. I wasn’t the best after sitting in the car for four hours. “And I’m really looking forward to flying straight to Cardiff and having somewhere to stay, which in Cardiff is a huge problem.” Problem solved then, thanks to her win, which guarantees her two nights in the 4-star Morgans Hotel in Swansea, just 65km from the stadium, with match transfers laid on. Her win also includes return flights from Dublin to Cardiff, airport transfers, the assistance of a Killester Travel Rep, a Rugby World Cup souvenir, and two match tickets. So who’s the lucky travelling companion? “I suppose I have to bring Michael, it would look kind of bad otherwise,” Shelagh


Prompt: SAN DIEGO -- Shannon Eastin broke the NFL's on-field gender barrier Thursday night, serving as the line judge for a seven-person crew working a preseason game between the Green Bay Packers and San Diego Chargers. Wearing No. 27 on the back of her official's uniform, Eastin was dwarfed by the players as she lined up in front of San Diego's sideline and had a camera following nearly every move before the game. Shannon Eastin became the first woman to officiate an NFL game on Thursday. (Denis Poroy/Associated Press) The 42-year-old from Tempe, Ariz., seemed at ease in the spotlight, though,

and had at least two players shake her hand before the opening kickoff. Though she wasn't involved in many calls until late, Eastin stayed steady among the giants and the national spotlight, earning her stripes by receiving the ultimate officials' compliment: It was almost as if she wasn't there. It's no surprise. She's a referee in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, college football's second-highest level, and a 16-year veteran of officiating. Eastin got her NFL shot as a replacement official, among a group taking the place of the regular refs, who are locked out. And now, she'll have a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Well, at least her cap will; the one she wore Thursday night is headed to Canton. Eastin spent most of the first half straddling the line markers and keeping track of the time, without much action on her side of the field. Things picked up in the second half, when she had to break up a small skirmish between players on a punt and whipped her flag to the middle of the field for a holding call late in the third quarter. The coaches of the NFL weigh in on a number of hot-button topics in the league, including Andrew Luck vs. RG3, Tim Tebow, challenge flag etiquette, the Packers' QB tree and the 2012 Hall of Fame class. Eastin heard a few boos early in the fourth quarter from the hometown fans for a pass interference call on San Diego's Corey Lynch -- a call she appeared to get right -- and later signaled touchdown when Green Bay's Marc Tyler dived in from 1 yard out. Eastin joins a small group of women to crack the officiating ranks at the highest levels of sports. Violet Palmer, one of Eastin's inspirations, began officiating NBA


Prompt: “You’re in the great game now. And the great game is terrifying,” Tyrion, the newly appointed hand of the queen warns Daenerys Targaryen in the season 6 finale of “Game of Thrones” which saw the Mother of Dragons finally setting sail for Westeros. That’s exactly where we can expect to pick up in the much anticipated season premiere for the seventh and penultimate season of the cultural phenomenon. The great news when coming to making bold predictions about one of the most unpredictable television series in modern history is that last season’s finale wrapped up a whole bunch of hanging

storylines in a great green flash of wildfire. Thanks Cersei! Gone are most of the Tyrell family as well as the High Sparrow and of course King Tommen, an unintended consequence that has left Cersei and Jamie without any heirs. 'GAME OF THRONES' SEASON 7 PROMOTION STUNT PUTS WHITE WALKERS IN LONDON Last season ended with Jamie Lannister riding back into the wreckage of Kings Landing to find his sister/lover sitting on the iron throne. Considering the Kingslayer’s history with monarch’s driven mad with threatening wildfire upon the kingdom, how he handles the news of Tommen’s death and Cersei’s new reign will be something to watch for in the season premiere as well (if a certain witch’s prediction holds any weight, he won’t handle it very well either). When we left the Stark clan last season, they were on the threshold of a long awaited family reunion. Sansa and Jon Snow have retaken Winterfell, with the always scheming Littlefinger in their midst, to whom both are now indebted. Not a good place to be. Both Bran and Arya are making their way back home but with very different purposes. Bran, having learned of Snow’s true lineage may hold the key to the entire show’s conclusion (as well as possibly being able to warg into a dragon or two). Arya’s path of vengeance always seems to take her down another winding path. This is where the mystery of Robert Baratheon’s bastard still goes unsolved, the one that cost Ned Stark his head as it turns out. Poor Gendry is still rowing (expect a reunion between them sometime this season and perhaps more). Expect him to wash ashore this week or next. Speaking of the wilds of Westeros -- Uncle Benjen -- is alive and dealing with a nasty case of frostbite.


Prompt: In the Mel Brooks comedy, "The Producers," the characters set out to make a Broadway flop, only to see it become a smashing success. What if something similar is happening with Obamacare's first open enrollment period under President Trump? To be clear, the idea of Republican "sabotage" of Obamacare has been exaggerated. Even when President Barack Obama was in office and willing to do everything in his power (or even take actions that were illegal) to prop up his signature healthcare law, the program's health exchanges were running into problems. Too few young and healthy people were signing up to

offset the costs of covering older and sicker individuals, insurers were losing billions of dollars and reacting by raising premiums, slashing coverage, or exiting the market altogether. These problems did not arise because of Trump. In fact, these problems are part of the reason we ended up with Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress. That having been said, it is true that Trump has, on several occasions, talked about letting Obamacare "implode." He's said the law is dead. And whereas Obama did everything in his power to promote and advance his law, Trump has in many cases done the opposite. His administration has slashed the ad and outreach budget, cut the open enrollment period in half from three months to six weeks, and refused to continue Obama's illegal payments to insurance companies known as cost-sharing reduction subsidies. All of these actions and others, taken together, led most healthcare analysts to assume that enrollment would be down this year, perhaps significantly. But then something funny happened. On Thursday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released data on the first four days of open enrollment, and they smashed expectations. More than 600,000 signed up in that short time for coverage through the federal healthcare.gov website, a seemingly much faster pace than last year. Now, many caveats should be applied. It's merely four days, which isn't much of a sample size. With the open enrollment period being half as long, the daily average would have to be double just to sign up the same number of people as a year ago. All of the fundamentals that led experts to project lower enrollment this year still hold, especially given that premiums are skyrocketing for those who don't qualify for subsidies. But while the smart money may still point to a lower enrollment number, the


Prompt: Three former Conservative MPs and six peers have connections to offshore companies, despite PM’s calls for reform Several of the donors, MPs and financiers who have supported David Cameron’s rise to power have had links to the UK’s network of tax havens, the Panama Papers reveal. Three former Conservative MPs and six members of the House of Lords are among those with connections to companies on the books of the offshore law firm Mossack Fonseca. Though it is legal to manage money offshore, the practice has drawn increasing criticism during years of enduring austerity. The British prime minister has been

calling for reforms, recognising – along with other world leaders – that the system is too secret and in need of an overhaul. In 2012, Cameron criticised complex offshore structures saying it is “not fair and not right”. At a G8 summit in Enniskillen three years ago, he demanded more transparency, saying this would be better for business in the UK. Last year, he added: “I’ll continue to make the case for transparency with international partners, including the British overseas territories and crown dependencies. And I am willing to go further, and take concrete steps to force the pace.” However, critics say world leaders are dragging their feet – fears fuelled in the UK before last year’s general election when it emerged that many Tory candidates were receiving donations from offshore tax havens. Cameron will have a chance to challenge doubters who say he has benefited from an opaque system by pushing for reforms at an “offshore” conference he is hosting in London next month. Under the spotlight will be tax havens such as the British Virgin Islands, which are among the biggest providers of offshore secrecy. There is no evidence the politicians and donors have done anything wrong. But the disclosures raise legitimate questions for an ongoing public debate about the ethics of tax havens, whether there should be more transparency from those go offshore, and whether they will continue to do so following the revelations in the Panama Papers. The businessmen include: Tony Buckingham According to the documents, the energy company Heritage Oil, founded by the Conservative donor Buckingham, “urgently” moved its corporate registration from one tax haven to another, which could have permitted it to avoid hundreds of millions of pounds in tax. Mossack Fonseca was ordered to transfer the company registration from the Bahamas to Mauritius


Prompt: Halifax police say they are investigating an alleged case of assault in front of an Argyle Street bar this weekend after a Halifax musician spoke out about a violent incident he witnessed. John Wesley Chisholm says he was at the Carleton Music Bar Saturday around midnight. He often plays there as a musician, but was there as a customer. A young, drunk patron was involved in an exchange with another patron and a doorman ejected him. "The doorman rough-handles him out the door. He gets belligerent, swings at the bouncer, and the bouncer beats him down on the street," Chisholm

said Monday. That sparked a "melee" with other patrons. Chisholm says the doorman "grabs him by the hair and beats his head over and over against the ground." Excessive force? Chisholm says a female friend of the patron's tried to stop the bouncer, but was shoved out of the way. The police arrived and cuffed the patron before taking him home. Chisholm said he felt the doorman used excessive force. He says he offered to make a statement to police, but that they declined to take it. Chisholm says he tried to re-enter the bar, but the doorman told him he was banned. The incident happened after midnight in the city centre. (Preston Mulligan/CBC) Chisholm, who works in television, wrote a Facebook post about the incident to generate a conversation. "I’m writing it because our streets are soaked with blood and people are dying. We have to speak out and we have to cause change," he says in the open letter. He says it was the ordinariness of the incident that upset him most. "I'm not around any kind of violence in my regular life and it's always really upsetting to see it," he told the CBC's Information Morning Monday. "It seems to have touched a nerve because so many people have shared my experience." His post has been shared almost 2,000 times and attracted almost 600 comments. Patron didn't want to lay charges The Carleton says it has spoken to staff and is trying to figure out what happened. The bar confirmed the doorman, who has worked at the Carleton for four years, is no longer on the schedule On Monday, Halifax police said they had assigned Supt. Sean Auld to look into the matter further. Auld is responsible for policing and public safety in the downtown core. The


Prompt: Author Anne Rice delivered the ultimate smack down on her Facebook page yesterday, telling her fans, “I will no longer tolerate hate speech in the guise of Christian belief.” Ms. Rice, whose son Christopher made Out Magazine’s list of top ten gay bachelors last week, has been a longtime LGBT rights supporter. Following Hollywood actress Ellen Page’s coming out this weekend, Rice posted a congratulatory note on Facebook Saturday to which dozens of haters left vile comments under the post. Ms. Rice then took to Facebook with this awesome post: Our post commending actress Ellen Page for her courage in

coming out as gay attracted a lot of hostility and hate and hate speech — as well as positive and substantive comments. I have banned many from the page today. I will no longer tolerate hate speech in the guise of Christian belief with the usual irresponsible pick and choose bible quotes and talk of “sin” and hellfire. I have had enough of it, and I think the world has had enough of it too. Again, I commend Ellen Page for her bravery in coming out. I hope more celebrities and public figures will be inspired to do so. Anyone who thinks this does not matter is deceiving himself or herself. It matters very much. Gay people in all walks of life suffer from bigotry, bias, superstition, and ignorance. Hats off to Ellen Page! (And please do NOT come here to tell us publicly that you “don’t care.” If you don’t care, don’t expect us to care that you don’t care!). Rice also took time to respond to several of the over 3,700 comments to her post. In one response Anne explained how she bans Christian’s who spread hate on her page: I ban those who engage in hate speech under the guise of Christianity. And when people say they are unliking the page or rejecting me and my works, I also delete and ban them. This is my personal choice based on my experience on the page. Rebecca commented: I do not care. The American people have bigher fish to fry. Rice hit back with this response: Then why post here? Obviously you do care enough to tell us that you disapprove of our caring. Well, I do care. I think what Ellen Page did was brave and good….And her courage will have a decidedly positive effect against the


Prompt: Take-Two CEO Explains How Disappointing Games like Battleborn and Evolve Don’t Represent 2K’s Quality Giuseppe Nelva November 17, 2016 12:56:50 PM EST Like all publishers, 2K Games releases some great games, and some that aren’t as successful, like the recent Battleborn and Evolve. During the MKM Partners Entertainment, Leisure and Internet Conference, Take-Two Interactive Software Chief Executive Officer Strauss Zelnick explained how they aren’t representative of the overall quality of the label. “Listen, I think 2K is doing great. I think when you put out a lot of titles, not everything is gonna work as well as one would like,

and Battleborn is an example of that. Evolve is a little bit different. Tat was bought out of a THQ bankrupcy, and it was developed by an external studio with oversight from 2K, so it’s a totally different situation. We knew it was a very unusual title, and it was a bet on an unusual title. It didn’t surprise us that consumers had mixed feelings about it. Battleborn was a disappointment. We’ve said so publicly, but I don’t think that’s systemic, because 2K is a company that brings you Civilization, with incredibly high score in the nineties, the company that brings you basketball which scores in the nineties, XCOM 2 and the like where we’re known for having very high scores.” Zelnick continued by mentioning that not every game is going to be perfect, and while the company has the brand and marketing power to still do well even if something goes wrong, the goal is always to drive quality: “We’re an entertainment business, not everything is gonna go right all the time. We aspire to have the highest quality products, and we continue to push the envelope internally to do that, but we do not always get it right. Luckily, we have a very powerful marketing system, so even if we don’t get it perfectly right, we can market through that. Luckily we have really powerful franchises, even if we don’t get it right we can power thorough that. For instance we had one year when the WWE scores were less than we wanted, and we still sold a lot of WWE.” So, we are in a position where even if we don’t get it exactly right, we can still do well, but make no mistake, our goal is to continue to get it right and to drive quality


Prompt: Please enable Javascript to watch this video The mother of a 26-year-old man who suffered from bipolar disorder said on Sunday that she questions the police department’s version of what led up to the fatal shooting of her son at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Ruben Jose Herrera was shot at the hospital, in unincorporated Torrance, around 2:30 p.m. Saturday after police said he reached for a gun. Herrera’s name was confirmed by his mother, Graciel Herrera, and the coroner’s office on Sunday. The ordeal began hours prior, when someone reported a man was throwing bottles against an apartment complex, the Los

Angeles Police Department said. In the department’s version of the events on Saturday, the vandalism suspect took a fighting stance when officers arrived, kicking and punching at them, and eventually reaching for a gun. The man’s mother said Sunday that Ruben had been sitting and putting air in his bicycle's tires when police arrived, and that he cooperated with them. Police responded by beating her son — using pepper spray, a Taser on him twice, and socking him multiple times in the face and back, she said. “My son was doing everything he was told. I told them to stop. My son was bipolar. You know, ‘please, don’t hit him,’” Graciel Herrera said. “He (an officer) just told me to shut up and go inside.” Ruben Herrera was then taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and was initially said to be cooperating with police, LAPD Cmdr. Phillip Tingirides said. It was not known what he was treated for, but his mother said he suffered injuries to his face and knees. During treatment, Herrera was handcuffed to a gurney in the hospital’s emergency room. His handcuffs were briefly taken off around 2:30 p.m., when Tingirides said the suspect picked up a metal chair and began swinging it. Witnesses told police the man reached for an officer’s gun, prompting an officer to fire a single round. Medical responders at the hospital attempted to save Herrera’s life, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, Tingirides said. The man’s mother says the officers should have treated her son differently. “If my son is bipolar, and they know he’s in danger, why do they unhandcuff him? I know my son didn’t do that. They’re just lying,” Graciel Herrera said. She then claimed police were telling a version of the story that would protect themselves. “They


Prompt: "I'm here because I have a vote and, basically, I've been told what to do with it," one Irishman told a London reporter. "Thank God they will all shut up now," a Dublin pensioner told a German newspaper. Both had just voted yes in this past weekend's Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, whose passage removes one of the last remaining obstacles to ratification of a document that will, among other things, create a president and a foreign minister of Europe. Both had voted no during the first referendum last year, when the treaty failed to pass. Both had changed

their minds because they were tired of hearing politicians endlessly urging them to do so. Some also felt that, during the worst recession in recent memory, they might need Europe's help. Not many Irish seem to have been inspired by the high ideals and lofty aspirations of what is sometimes called "the European project": Although a whopping two-thirds of Irish voters said yes to the treaty, there wasn't much audible or visible enthusiasm. A few politicians in Ireland and across the continent hailed the referendum as a "great victory for Europe," but no one believed them. And thus did Europe take another, limping step toward the creation of a unified foreign policy apparatus, complaining bitterly all the way. Which is not a bad thing: If Europe is to have a single apparatus to make its foreign policy, it is important that nobody has too many illusions about it. When the referendum failed last year, I wrote that it was for the best, since "European" foreign policy has always been most successful when it represents the wishes of the national governments of at least two or three large countries plus several small ones, and has always been most disastrous when carried out by bureaucrats in Brussels who don't represent anyone in particular. I hesitate to use the tainted expression "coalitions of the willing," but actually they work very well, in diplomacy as well as in military conflicts. Still, since I don't feel like railing against the inevitable this week, and since I suspect that there really will be a European president and a European foreign minister in the near future, it's worth contemplating what that might mean. Clearly, the real test of whether Europe's most powerful countries are taking this new treaty seriously wasn't the Irish referendum. The question of whether


Prompt: An account by Emmett J. Nolan about 'job conditioning' around the issue of breaks. On my first day of work, my manager explained to me the three options regarding breaks: 1) clock out for 30 minutes, 2) take two 10-minute breaks on the clock, or 3) take a 20-minute break on the clock. Additionally, an hour and a half “black-out” period existed for breaks during the busy middle of the day. The actual state law is a 30-minute meal break and two 10-minute rest breaks for a work period over six hours. Not only was this buffet option of breaks

illegal, but it was also a strain on the body during a 7 to 9 hour shift. This situation continued on for two years and I discovered that this system was not just limited to my department or workplace, but existed within other departments and at other locations in the company. In a meeting with my co-workers after work during the hectic holiday season, I planned to discuss what the law was on breaks, share my reasons for why I personally needed to begin taking all my breaks, and my fear of being retaliated against if I was the only worker to take their full breaks. Frustrated at this situation, my instinct was to organize around the issue and make some demands collectively. But, my co-workers and I were able to devise a creative solution in which we asserted our right to what was already ours to begin with. The collective agreement that followed would set a precedent for us to begin taking our breaks. As a result, our working conditions greatly improved and a definite sense of empowerment was instilled within us. Why would a worker not take their breaks? Well, the first answer is often that management doesn’t provide them. The state law clearly states that it’s management’s responsibility to provide breaks and not the workers’ burden to ask for them. However, the restaurant industry is often plagued by a passive-aggressive imposition by employers that taking breaks is selfish. As lower wage jobs reliant on tips and typically strained for hours, often workers are forced to overlook the immediate well-being of their health in order to scratch out a paycheck-to-paycheck financial (in)security. The following reasons are common in the restaurant industry and I heard them all from my co-workers. They go like this. The Uninformed Worker, “Restaurants don’t


Prompt: A top newspaper group in Alabama is urging the state’s voters to write in another Republican in Tuesday’s special election rather than vote for embattled GOP nominee Roy Moore. “Voting for Roy Moore just because he has an ‘R’ next to his name, ignoring his record of personal and official misconduct, is neither wise nor careful,” reads an editorial published Sunday on AL.com, which is home to three leading state newspapers, including The Birmingham News. ADVERTISEMENT The editorial board urges voters in Alabama to consider Sen. Richard Shelby Richard Craig ShelbyBottom Line Senate plots to avoid fall shutdown brawl How

the border deal came together MORE’s (R-Ala.) path and reasoning behind his choice to write in a Republican rather then cast his vote for Moore. “For a state's senior senator to not support his party's nominee for the other seat is almost unheard of. Historians could find just one example: from 1990, when Louisiana's Republican nominee was David Duke, a former KKK leader,” the board writes. “Alabamians should think hard about how effective Moore can be as junior senator, with such a fissure between him and Shelby, let alone other Republicans.” Shelby said last month that he wrote in a Republican candidate and on Sunday said the state of Alabama deserves better than Moore. "The state of Alabama deserves better," Shelby said on CNN's "State of the Union." "I think we’ve got a lot of great Republicans that could’ve won and carried the state beautifully and served honorably." The newspaper group last month called on voters to reject Moore and vote for Democrat Doug Jones in the wake of the initial sexual misconduct allegations levied against the Republican nominee. In the Sunday editorial, the board notes the focus on abortion in the race, arguing that a vote for a Democrat who supports abortion rights will not lead to more procedures in Alabama. “He has held to his beliefs on this even as some have urged him to waffle in order to defeat Moore,” the board writes of Jones. “It's rare that a politician in Alabama will hold onto his beliefs, even when they're unpopular.” Moore on Tuesday will face off against Jones in the special election for the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsTrump says he hasn't spoken to Barr about Mueller report Ex-Trump aide: Can’t imagine Mueller not giving House a ‘roadmap’ to impeachment


Prompt: In the second season of BoJack Horseman, it’s revealed that the pop culture magazine Manatee Fair (get it?) is owned by a sprawling media conglomerate called AOL–Time Warner–PepsiCo-Viacom-Halliburton-Skynet-Toyota–Trader Joe’s. In the real world, this company goes by a simpler name: Verizon. The wireless carrier was the winner in the contest to finally put Yahoo out of its misery, acquiring the fading internet giant for $4.8 billion. On the one hand, paying billions of dollars for Yahoo in 2016 sounds about as forward-looking as buying AOL for $4.4 billion (which Verizon also did, but we’ll get to that). The only person

who still uses Yahoo email is your mom because you set up an account for her in 2002, right? Yahoo Answers is an elaborate piece of performance art about the amorphous nature of truth in the digital age, right? GeoCities died off two Web-point-0s ago … right? Actually, for all its failings, Yahoo is still one of the biggest internet companies in the world, a member of the vaunted billion-user club with Facebook and Google (though Yahoo’s billion-user claim is a bit of a cheat as it cobbles together users of a variety of products). Yahoo.com attracts more visitors than Wikipedia, Twitter, and Reddit, according to Alexa. The company also claims 600 million mobile monthly users. That level of scale is highly enticing to Verizon, which in recent years has made a Bold Pivot to create Compelling Internet Content for the Mobile-First Generation (here is a strange list of properties Verizon now at least partially owns: The Huffington Post, Complex Media, Millennial Media, TechCrunch, Tumblr, AwesomenessTV, Flickr, Rivals.com, Katie Couric). With smartphone adoption reaching a saturation point in the United States and pay-TV growth screeching to a halt, the telco giant is looking for new revenue sources. And there’s pretty much no better way to create the illusion of growth in 2016 than by publishing ungodly amounts of Content. With Yahoo (theoretically) continuing to attract a massive number of eyeballs, Verizon will make money on those visitors thanks to its purchase of AOL and a soul-crushing invention called “programmatic ad-buying technology.” Basically, AOL gives Verizon the ability to serve lots and lots of targeted ads on lots and lots of web pages. Like Spirited Away’s No-Face, there may be no satiating the telco now that it’s gotten a taste for Content — ’90s Content, in particular. So, what’s Verizon going


Prompt: The story in the paragraph below is false. Fiction. Urban legend. Made up — just not by me. In 1848, California and Mexico were at war. A group of Californian settlers managed to hold their ground against a larger, better armed band of Mexican attackers, and went to hoist the flag of California above their successfully defended fort. Unfortunately, none had been created yet. The captain, Jebidiah Bartlett (whom the lead character in The West Wing is named for), forcefully made a suggestion. He wanted to pay homage to the area’s rich agricultural givings, specifically to the pear industry. (It

may have had something to do with the fact that Bartlett had helped create the pear variety of the same name and was a titan of local ag industry.) The group sent instructions to a local painter to put together a flag featuring a pear in the center. Unfortunately, the painter misread the instructions, and painted a bear instead. The flag of California has looked like this –one bear, no pears — ever since. Again, that story is complete nonsense (except that the flag of California does in fact look like this). Like many tall tales, that story has been emailed around by unsuspecting victims of the ruse for years. And like many urban legends, the Internet’s foremost debunker of myths, Snopes.com, has an entry about it. Except this time, it’s different. Snopes claims the story is true. Snopes, officially titled “the Urban Legends Reference Pages,” was founded in 1995 by Barbara and David Mikkleson, a California couple with an interest in folklore who were early users of Internet newsgroups. With millions of visitors each month, their websites have become the go-to place to find out if that shocking story (or virus warning) which just hit your email inbox is, indeed, true. And in general, their information is reliable — it has to be, otherwise it wouldn’t be worth much as the reference it strives to be. But they also want to drive their mission home. Snopes is predicated on the idea that what one reads online should be taken with a grain of salt. (Although, to be fair, that’s true offline, too.) That rule of thumb, they believe, applies to them as well — “common sense dictates that you should never fully rely upon someone else to do the fact checking for you,” one page reads. So they concocted


Prompt: On March 4th, 2017 – 2 PM, at the Peace Wall in Berkeley, CA fascists are coming back. The feeling across organized circles is that this is, on some level, a trap. So come and enjoy a strategy of vigilance. Please don’t run alone after the first fascist you see, but collect yourself and take note of your surroundings. Find allies and accomplices. There will be no platform for fascism in the Bay Area nor will revolutionaries be pawns in some neo-reactionary game. Our strength is exercised not just in our ability to respond and react but in our proactive

autonomy that creates a cool, determined, collected atmosphere of safety and solidarity. May we humbly suggest not taking any bait but make collective decisions. Stay with your affinity group and resist the frogmen that come out from behind the keyboards. This is not a statement on any particular tactic – it’s a call for strategic engagement. Some wisdom garnered from fascist demonstrations over the least few years in California suggests that some participants on their side are easily shaken and violently react with weapons. This is to say Anti-Fascists should be aware of this in scenarios in which small numbers of boneheads/frogmen walk to and from the demonstration. What began as a direct response to Feb. 1st – a march for “free speech,” with the frat-brownshirt Proud Boys as special guests – has been completely rebranded since Milo’s fall from grace. Now the organizers of these “Marches 4 Trump” are trying to pull together a coalition of libertarians, ancaps, armed militias, brownshirt alt-right enforcers, the “patriotic” Tea Party crowd, and alt-lite Deplorables without alienating any of them. People getting organized against fascist 'Proud Boys' holding 'March 4 Trump' in #Berkeley pic.twitter.com/sF29nUxLVS — FireWorks (@FireWorksBAY) February 22, 2017 Rich Black is the public face of the March on Berkeley. His Twitter header is a pastel ancap flag. He neglected to make the March on Berkeley Facebook event page (or its guest list) private. In an attempt to funnel every angry conservative in California into downtown Berkeley, he (or other organizers) canceled the Sacramento and Los Angeles marches and combined them with Berkeley’s. He seems very eager to simultaneously a) reassure everyone that this is not an alt-right event and b) tag Gavin McInnes begging for promotion, retweet the Proud Boys, and tag both them and the Oath Keepers in his tweets.


Prompt: In a bid to keep the city streets cleaner, the Maharashtra government on Tuesday approved an anti-spitting law. If you now decide to spit on the streets, you will be fined Rs 1,000 and will have to spend a day performing community service at a public office or a government office, reported The Times of India. However, this is for first-time offenders, and the punishment and fine is higher for repeat offenders. For a second-time offender, the fine will be Rs 3,000 plus three-day community service, and for repeat offenders the fine will be Rs 5,000 plus five-day community service.

Maharashtra will become becomes the first state in India to get an anti-spitting law if cleared by the Assembly. The state government has been planning to have a proper law in place for quite some time now. Deepak Sawant, state Public Health Minister told The Indian Express,"We had to bring in a punishment that would shame the offenders and hurt their ego. Simply paying a penalty is not enough deterrent. Offenders pay the paltry amount, and often don’t think twice before repeating the act. So, we decided to bring in compulsory community service." The report said that offenders will be given a broom and asked to sweep a state government office or hospitals or a school. The law has been in the making for a few months now and Sawant said that the law will be in force in the next six months. "A law against spitting in public places is already in existence and in Mumbai, the BMC acts against people who spit in public. But it is not that effective," Sawant had said in January 2015, pointing to a rise in the number of cases of tuberculosis. "We will also check if we can suspend driving licence of a taxi or auto driver who spits in public places like roads. We will make the legislation effective so that there will be a deterrent for people who indulge in such activity," the minister had said. The new law is a precursor to banning chewing tobacco in public. Experts said an effective anti-spitting law will bring down incidences of airborne diseases. "It will also affect the tobacco-chewing habit as people will be restrained from spitting out tobacco. This is a move towards a healthy lifestyle," said Dr A Bamne, executive health officer of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Even if this


Prompt: A report released by legislative auditors Friday says the State Board of Elections needlessly exposed the full Social Security numbers of almost 600,000 voters to potential hacking, risking theft of those voters' identities. The determination that election officials did not fully protect voters' personal information was one of several highly critical findings in the report. The audit also faulted state election officials' handling of issues including ballot security, disaster preparedness, contracting and balancing its books. State lawmakers called for a hearing in response to the Office of Legislative Audits report, which prompted strong reaction from critics of the board and

its longtime administrator, Linda H. Lamone. "This audit is an A-to-Z criticism of the way the board operates," said Michael Greenberger, director of the Center for Health and Homeland Security at the University of Maryland School of Law. He said the "damning" findings call for the establishment of an independent, bipartisan commission of computer experts to examine the board's handling of information technology issues. Doug Mayer, a spokesman for Gov. Larry Hogan, said the report underscores some of the Republican governor's longtime concerns about a "lack of executive oversight" at the board, where the day-to-day management is outside the administration's control. "This is a perfect example of why those concerns are valid," Mayer said. "Properly securing Maryland's election data is critically important and needs to be given the utmost priority." Lamone said she agreed with most of the auditor's findings, but "virtually everything" they identified has already been addressed. "We were working on a lot of these things even before the auditors came in," she said. The audit found that the board needlessly retained the full nine-digit Social Security numbers of about 592,000 active and inactive voters in its data base — or almost 15 percent of the state's 4.1 million registered voters — when only the last four digits were needed. The report said the board then shared voters' personal information — including driver's license numbers and the last four digits of Social Security numbers — with a third-party organization without ensuring that the data was safeguarded. CAPTION Anton Black's family speaks about “Anton’s Law,” named after Anton Black, who died in law enforcement custody on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. (Luke Broadwater, Baltimore Sun video) Anton Black's family speaks about “Anton’s Law,” named after Anton Black, who died in law enforcement custody on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. (Luke Broadwater, Baltimore Sun


Prompt: Some people never leave the house in the morning without coffee. Others can’t walk out the door without first catching the news. And some claim their cell phone as their one necessity item. But for me, it’s breakfast. I cannot leave my house without first figuring out what’s to eat. I’m a huge fan of breakfast and treat it as a special part of my everyday routine. Weekdays are a bit rushed leaving me little time for elaborate items like pancakes or quiche. But weekends? That’s another story. I find few things more alluring than waking up at a leisurely

hour, moseying to the kitchen and making a delicious breakfast to be eaten over coffee in bed. Although pancakes are my all-time favorite morning item, I’m always up for trying new recipes. So when I saw this idea to crack an egg into an avocado and bake it, I knew I had to try it. Besides it being incredibly good for you – with healthy fats, nutrients and loads of protein – the process is also quite easy, and would be the perfect ‘egg in a basket’ treat to serve your family this Easter for a laid-back breakfast or brunch. To prepare the dish, simply preheat your oven to 425 degrees and place a cast-iron or oven-safe skillet on the middle rack. Then, cut a medium-to-large ripe avocado in half, remove the pit, and using a spoon, scoop out a little bit more of the avocado to make more room for the egg. If your base is wobbly, you may want to slice a little of the skin off to stabilize it. Next, carefully remove the heated pan from the oven and crack a small egg into the hole of the avocado, reserving a small amount of the white if it looks like it will overflow. Then season as desired, place the skillet back in the oven, and cook until the egg white is completely cooked. Depending on how done you prefer your yolk, this should take about 10-15 minutes. Tip: Covering the skillet with an oven-safe lid would speed the process if you’re low on time. Once the egg is done, serve it alongside fruit salad, toast or a whole wheat tortilla with salsa for some south-of-the-border flair. I opted to scoop mine out, smear it on my toast and top it with a little more salt and pepper.


Prompt: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” – John 13:34 Happy Eid Al-Fatr y’all! 🙂 I decided to hold back in writing about love until the very end of Ramadan because it is the very essence of God. We as human beings have the capacity to love one another and ourselves, but so often we don’t. Why is that? Is it because love is in short supply or ? I think that some reasons why so many of us go without loving

others is because we get selfish, we expect it without putting any effort in, we think love is something that will just fall in our laps, we get self-absorbed, we get scared… I too am scared of love, more to the point true intimacy; because it is one thing to chill with your peeps and be unabashedly bold in what you say without thinking or blinking (or maybe you think and blink but you know what you’re saying will get a reaction of some sort.) but it is entirely different to put out the same things to a significant other, or at least I perceive it to be, because at the end of the night you go back to your SO’s place or your SO comes over to your place and you’re left with what you said. And while I am careful in being articulate and communicating what I want to say so that there’s no misunderstanding as to what I have to say, I still worry to a certain extent, I worry will I still be liked and I worry will I still be loved. And I want to be liked and I want to be loved, and yet it is the root of my inhibition to be bold, to take risks, to ask girls out on dates…I am a work in progress, and I am getting over myself, but unfortunately I’ve been in that rut for a while. Yet despite my hesitations it doesn’t slow me down in working on becoming the best possible version of me. I love me, healthily and wholly, I am glad I am me and not someone else because then I wouldn’t be me! Silly perhaps, but I am glad to be alive because it’s great to be alive! (My coworker reminds us


Prompt: Inside Publishing NO WORD UNSPOKEN Midway through the Confessions, St. Augustine recalls how he used to marvel at the way Ambrose, the bishop of Milan, read his manuscripts: "His eyes traveled across the pages and his heart searched out the meaning, but his voice and tongue stayed still." Scholars have sparred for decades over whether Augustine's offhand observation reveals something momentous: namely, that silent reading--that seemingly mundane act you're engaged in right now--was, in the Dark Ages, a genuine novelty. Evidence abounds that ancient and medieval readers relished giving voice to their favorite texts in order to appreciate more fully

the cadences of Homer and Lucian. Of course, we equally enjoy reading poetry aloud. The question is: Could the earliest readers literally not shut up? Paul Saenger thinks so--but his argument for the onetime dominance of the spoken word doesn't rest on Augustine. Saenger, a medieval-manuscript expert and a curator of rare books at Chicago's Newberry Library, believes that reading aloud wasn't a mere preference for the ancients, but a practical necessity. His explanation is simple: Ancientandmedievalmanuscriptslookedlikethis anditwaseasiertoreadthemaloud. In his provocative new book, Space Between Words: The Origins of Silent Reading (Stanford), Saenger argues that the practice of transcribing Greek and Latin manuscripts without spaces, or in scriptura continua, made reading silently a mind-bogglingly difficult task. "It wasn't literally impossible to read silently," Saenger says, "but the notation system was so awkward that the vast majority of readers would have needed to sound out the syllables, if only in a muffled voice." Saenger's book asserts that only at the end of the seventh century, when Irish monks introduced regular word separation into medieval manuscripts, did swift, silent reading become feasible. Why is it so hard to read text without spacing? Just imagine how difficult it would be for your computer's spell checker if you wrote a document in scriptura continua. The program would initially have to determine which syllables to slice into words, and then proceed with its main task. The human brain, fortunately, is more dexterous than a word processor, but the burden of breaking strings of letters into words is, nonetheless, a laborious first step. And therein lies Saenger's thesis: "There is a correlation between a propensity to read orally in both past and contemporary cultures and the duration of cognitive activity needed to achieve lexical access in that culture's script." Saenger, who has a Ph.D. in medieval