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Novak Djokovic continued his quest for a first title at the Cincinnati Masters while Roger Federer kept alive his bid for a sixth as the seeded pair advanced into the quarter-finals on Thursday. |
The contrast between the wins could not have been more stark, with top seed Djokovic crushing Belgian qualifier David Goffin 6-2, 6-0 in just 50 minutes. |
The Swiss has gone back to his traditional racquet after experimenting without much success last month with a larger, more modern model. He said he needed to go back to basics to pull off his 12th win from 15 meetings with Haas, seeded 11th. |
"I wasn't playing great in the first set, I needed to clean up my game from the baseline," said the crowd favourite and fifth seed. "I'm happy to be through to have another match. |
"Sometimes on fast courts it's tough to get rhythm, you are thinking of too many things. I had to simplify my game in order to win." |
Russian qualifier Dmitry Tursunov upset third seed David Ferrer 6-2, 6-4 as the Spaniard now leaves town with one win from two Masters events over the past fortnight. |
In other third-round results, Argentine Juan Martin del Potro beat Spain's Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 while American John Isner defeated 12th seed Milos Raonic 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 with the Canadian being treated for shoulder problems. |
On the women's side of the dual event, top seed Serena Williams mowed down German Mona Barthel 6-4, 6-1 to move closer to a first title at the tournament. |
"I started out strong and then I made a few errors I shouldn't have made, but I was able to recover. I knew in the second set I wanted to start strong and just keep the momentum going," Williams said. |
Second seed Victoria Azarenka won a match littered with 13 breaks of serve, defeating Slovak Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3, 6-4. |
"I think it was a pretty good match, there was sometimes a little bit of trouble serving, but overall I felt better than I did in my first match," said Azarenka. "I was much more controlling the game. It was really up to me today. |
"I was doing everything I wanted to do. I feel still there can be a lot more improvement with the execution and a little bit more consistency, but it's coming along." |
Giant killer Simona Halep upset Australian 11th seed Samantha Stosur 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, just one day the Romanian stunned Marion Bartoli 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, sending the reigning Wimbledon champ off into an unexpected retirement. |
Roberta Vinci claimed an Italian showdown with sixth seed Sara Errani 6-4, 6-3 while former number one Jelena Jankovic beat American Sloane Stephens 3-6, 7-5, 7-5. |
Your opportunity to own a whole section of land! 736 M/L contiguous acres! Land is 85% pastureland, level to rolling! Located only a few miles from town and I-49.Beautiful views, several hay barns, 4 springs, 3 ponds, 4 drilled wells. Has rental trailer. Land has been manicured and seeded with Fescue and Tridical. Over... |
Atherton is aiming to throw new light on some of its streets, and is seeking residents’ input about which lighting fixtures to install. |
According to a town newsletter, new lighting circuits are being designed to replace the old high-voltage circuits used in the Lloyden Park and Lindenwood neighborhoods. The old series circuit fixtures will be replaced with energy-efficient LED lights. |
The town is considering using post-top fixtures or hanging-pendant fixtures. Four of each type have been installed on James Avenue between Heather and Magnolia drives for residents to cruise by and inspect. |
Examples are also on view in the Civic Center area, and town staff members were on hand Wednesday, and will be again at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, to answer questions about the lights. |
The town has established a survey to get feedback from residents. QR codes have been installed at each fixture to allow residents to take the survey by smartphone. |
The survey and other information is also available at www.ci.atherton.ca.us/streetlights. |
HAMILTON: A judge Tuesday ordered a southwest Ohio village to stop using speeding cameras and said they�re being used to violate motorists� rights to due process. |
Butler County Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Sage, in the latest ruling against automatic traffic enforcement around the state, also granted a motion for class-action status, meaning thousands of drivers potentially could seek refunds from the village of New Miami. |
It was estimated in court Tuesday that more than $1 million has been collected from more than 10,000 drivers, although some might have been ticketed multiple times. An attorney for the village indicated an appeal was likely. New Miami had contended it had the right under state law to use the cameras to ticket motorists... |
Questioning attorneys during more than two hours of legal arguments, Sage wondered aloud whether the speed camera system in the village, along a busy highway just outside the county seat city of Hamilton, were like taxing people for driving through. The cameras have been used for more than a year in the village of some... |
Motorists can challenge citations, but via an administrative system the judge said favors the village and police, which he said have �a vested interest� in collecting the revenue. Sage said he could reconsider his ruling if New Miami changed the speeding cameras system to allow motorists to challenge tickets in court. |
Attorney Wil Weisenfelder said afterward he would confer with village officials about their plans. |
He had told the judge in court that more than half of the motorists who did challenge their tickets in the current system had them dismissed. |
In neighboring Hamilton County, Judge Robert Ruehlman last year ordered a similarly sized village, Elmwood Place, to stop using cameras, calling them a scam against motorists. He also has ordered refunds of fines and fees, but pending an appellate court�s ruling on his grant of class action. |
Some Ohio legislators want to ban or restrict traffic cameras statewide, while legal challenges in at least five municipalities have been working their ways through courts, with recent appellate rulings against Cleveland and Toledo traffic cameras. The Ohio Supreme Court has previously upheld camera use in the city of ... |
The inability of mainstream political parties, especially the PPP, to create a progressive vision for the country and deliver on it could have a negative effect on our fledgling democratic process. Disillusioned by the failures of governance under the PPP’s 10-year rule in Sindh, a large number of citizens are struggli... |
Although it has made some good legislative progress, the PPP has failed to govern Sindh on many fronts. The people of Sindh could have been far better off today if a progressive and accountable governance model had been put in place to cater to their needs. An unscrupulous structure of governance and the deplorable sta... |
Bad governance is demonstrated through the mismanagement of natural resources; the inefficient use of available finances; the massive leakage in public funds; nepotism; and the constant state of denial that Sindh’s people live in. Efforts to promote talent and competence, end corruption, and discourage bad practices ha... |
People have been locked in a client-patron relationship, which is not the future of progressive politics. It is a rotten ideology based on coercion that has been promoted by our colonial masters. A new vision must carry the power of ideas, ensure the smooth delivery of public services, and consider people to be empower... |
The outcome of the PPP’s governance model is visible. Widespread rural poverty; malnourishment; a deteriorating security situation; the poor enforcement of property rights; violence against women; a dearth of essential urban infrastructure that enables investment and create job opportunities; and a serious deficit in h... |
There are various reasons why people in Sindh have expressed concerns about the PPP and its capacity to govern the province. Since its inception, the PPP has been unconditionally supported by the people, which may help it form the next government in Sindh. The PPP is also the only organised force in the province with a... |
Over the years, people have witnessed the state’s wrath. But they have never wavered in their firm belief in the values that the PPP has espoused, including democracy, rule of law, freedom of speech, and fairness and justice for all. |
The PPP has gone off track since its leadership took over after 2008. The old guards of people’s rights and progressive thinkers have either been silenced or have lost the energy to reform the party. Undemocratic forces alone cannot be blamed for the current state of affairs in party. There is no doubt that a hostile a... |
The PPP’s declining image is not merely a fabricated story. It has its roots in the party’s failed leadership ideology that prioritises the need to earn as much as possible from politics and then re-invest it to capture power. The French economist puts this elegantly: “When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of ... |
To overcome its current image crisis, the PPP must demonstrate a progressive vision. It must seek a significant change in leadership rather than a series of ceremonial changes that deflect people from the truth. The major challenges that the PPP faces include a lack of clarity over who wields the ultimate power. This s... |
The PPP must effectively reform and reinvent itself. The party must redefine its mandate according to the changing circumstances. Although this is a challenging task, it isn’t impossible to regain the trust of the people. Practical steps are needed to demonstrate that the party will gradually shift its focus towards a ... |
If radical reorganisation doesn’t take place within the party’s ranks, the same people will seize power and strengthen the existing order, which has deprived cities of essential infrastructure, destroyed the agriculture-based rural economy, fuelled the feudal order, and facilitated a process that has practically crippl... |
Another five years will be lost if we don’t bring a meaningful change in the province. We don’t want a situation where children who were born in 2008 will have a bleak future ahead of them in Sindh. |
According to famed artificial intelligence expert, Ray Kurzweil, one day, "The machines will convince us that they are conscious, that they have their own agenda worthy of our respect. We will come to believe that they are conscious much as we believe that of each other." |
Honda's latest humanoid robot prototype, ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovate Mobility) made big news in 2009. The android, a robot resembling a male, looks like an astronaut and can walk, run, greet approaching people and bring you a drink. He can interpret the postures and gestures of humans, recognize faces and move aro... |
If you came across Boston Dynamics' Big Dog in the woods, you would probably think you'd stumbled onto George Lucas' Star Wars set. Complete with a stereovision system and navigation system, Big Dog was developed to go anywhere people and animals can go. With four spindly human-like legs, he can run at four miles per h... |
HRP-4C, created by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, is probably the world's most human-like gynoid, a robot resembling a female. At just over five feet tall and 94 pounds, HRP-4C looks like a young Japanese girl. She walks, balances like a human and communicates using speech recogni... |
REEM-B is a humanoid built in Spain by Pal Robotics with funding from the United Arab Emirates. This android is almost five feet tall with four fingers on each hand and can transport objects up to 25% of its weight. REEM-B can walk up and down stairs, throw balls and play chess. |
In an effort to bring robotics to an aging population, Japanese scientists and engineers at Waseda University in Japan designed Twendy-One, a white plastic E.T. look-alike on wheels. Weighing nearly 250 pounds, Twendy-One has incredible dexterity and can pick up straws and hand drinks to guests. The Twendy-One robot te... |
Justin is probably the strongest European humanoid effort. A robot from the German Aerospace Center (DLR), he, like Twendy-One, has a humanoid upper body mounted on a wheeled base. Justin's control and accuracy in moving objects is among the best in the world due to his lightweight and articulate arms and hands. |
Researchers at Osaka University's Graduate School of Engineering birthed a baby robot. While just over four feet long, CB2 gazes at strangers, squirms on the floor, reaches for toys and speaks baby talk. Researchers will equip CB2 with learning ability software, and study it while the toddler takes on the challenges li... |
Joining CB2 on the playground is KASPAR, a child-sized humanoid developed at the University of Hertfordshire. KASPAR is part of the Aurora Project, whose members believe that robots may serve as an educational or therapeutic aid for children with autism. KASPAR's roboskin is embedded with tactile sensors to interact wi... |
Kobian, another Japanese project from Waseda University is an "emotional humanoid robot." Not only does Kobian have full use of his legs and arms, but he also has eyelids, lips and eyebrows so that he can cry, act happy, sad, surprised and angry. While he isn't the most agile of the robots on this list, his facial expr... |
In collaboration with DARPA, the Robot Systems Technology Branch at NASA's Johnson Space Center has built a humanoid robotic astronaut, Robonaut, with EVA (extravehicular activity), meaning it is capable of working in outer space. Their vision is to have robots build space stations on the moon or Mars in situations tha... |
The cinema strike in Kerala has been called off and theatres are set to become active again. |
Here is a closer look at the two releases that will hit the theatres on November 10. |
Director Jeethu Joseph, who directed Detective and Mummy & Me, is ready with My Boss, starring Dileep and Mamta Mohandas in the lead. |
Jeethu Joseph explains the story line: "Priya (Mamta Mohandas) is a fiery boss in a software firm in Mumbai, who is too strict about discipline and deadlines. |
"Manu (Dileep) has just joined as her assistant. She was born and brought up in Australia, while he is an engineering graduate from a village in Alappuzha," says Jeethu. |
"The film talks about the tussle between the two cultures. She is in need of his help at a particular point of time and he makes use of the situation to benefit his own career. |
"It has all been shown in a humorous way. Later in the story, Priya goes with Manu to his home in Alappuzha." |
Dileep eplains his character, "My character Manu is ambitious and he will do virtually anything to retain it. |
"As we often see around us, there are certain people who will have everything in their life but will end up chasing their own silly dreams. For him, going abroad is his big dream." |
Mamta says she can relate to her character to a great extent as she was born and brought up abroad. |
"My character's perceptions about almost everything in life changes during the course of the film, which is quite interesting," says Mamta. |
Sai Kumar, Seetha, Kalabhavan Shajon and Valsala Menon are also in the film. |
Master Jeevan, who was the naughty young boy in Mummy & Me, acts in this film too. |
My Boss is produced by East Coast Vijayan. The cinematographer is Anil Nair and the music director is Sejo John. |
Director M Mohanan, whose earlier films are Kadha Parayumbol and Manikyakkallu, is hoping to do a hat-trick of hits with his latest film, 916. |
Anoop Menon, Asif Ali and Mukesh play the lead roles. |
916 is produced by K V Vijayakumar Palakkunnu. The cinematographer is Faisal Ali and the music director is M Jayachandran. |
PIX: Lisa Haydon's HOTTEST magazine covers! |
He’s put out a handful of solo albums in his day, but for much of his multi-decade career in Nashville, Phil Madeira has been more than content standing in the background. “I mean, I play with Emmylou Harris, man,” says the no-nonsense musician, who since 2008 has been the bandleader for the folk icon’s backing outfit,... |
Providence is also a sonic departure for Madeira. Where he’s spent the past 30 years principally focused on the guitar – that is, when he’s not writing songs for artists like Alison Krauss, Amy Grant, Toby Keith and the Civil Wars – Providence, due March 30, is anchored almost entirely by piano and leans heavy on the m... |
What was the turning point for you to finally start writing Providence? |
It hit you that you grew up in a beautiful place? |
Well, it’s that thing the writer Thomas Wolfe said: “You can’t go home.” People say “Where you from?” and I tell them I’m from Nashville, Tennessee. Because it’s really where I’ve spent my adult life. |
So I go over to the festival and catch John’s set and I start thinking about being a kid and going to Newport Jazz Fest and seeing Ella Fitzgerald and Roberta Flack and Buddy Rich and then of course going to the Folk Festival as well. The idea just struck me right there at the festival: You need to do a record about Rh... |
You clearly have a love-hate relationship with Rhode Island. |
I think the trend for most people, especially in our exceedingly mobile society, is to leave home. It’s almost an expectation now that you leave home. Whereas 100 years ago you stayed home. You all lived in a house together. You took care of your grandma. And we don’t have that paradigm anymore. The thing about leaving... |
Well, your saying that you are from Nashville is quite telling. |
What’s really funny though is that Emmylou, she goes through different phases of how she introduces the band and usually she doesn’t say where we’re from. But when we’ve played at Newport Folk Festival, she’s said, “From Rhode Island, here’s Phil Madeira!” And of course it works [laughs]. But do I think of myself as a ... |
I’m thinking this record is something you could never have made at an earlier point in your life. It required wisdom and maturity, contemplation and reflection. |
Absolutely. And it goes back to Thomas Wolfe: “You can’t go home again.” While I’m not sure it’s entirely true, I do understand it. “Barrington,” which is about the town I grew up in, it’s about how I either had to take up the song and go, or lay it down and stay. Or it’s just like the last song “Gothenburg”: my grandf... |
Why AOC's tax plan makes sense: It would help keep oligarchs in check. |
1. The government needs money. |
2. Rich people have all the money (or, at least, much more of it than they realistically need to live happy, healthy, Burberry-clad lives). |
3. Ergo, we should tax the rich. |
This answer has plenty going for it, including a whiff of common sense. But there’s another important rationale, which is mostly popular these days among thinkers on the political left. The main reason to hike top tax rates, in this view, isn’t to keep the deficit in check; it’s simply to keep individuals from becoming... |
This is, suffice to say, a very different way of talking about taxation than what we typically hear in Washington, where the subject is treated as a necessary evil and hiking rates on millionaires is framed in terms of making the affluent pay their “fair share.” Saez and Zucman, like many on the left, don’t think of th... |
That few people faced the 90 percent top tax rates was not a bug; it was the feature that caused sky-high incomes to largely disappear. The point of high top marginal income tax rates is to constrain the immoderate, and especially unmerited, accumulation of riches. From the 1930s to the 1980s, the United States came as... |
In other words, high tax rates discouraged Americans from trying to earn gigantic paydays, because after a certain point the IRS was just going to take 90 cents on the dollar. This, in and of itself, is not exactly an Earth-shattering theory. But if high earners earned less because they cut back on work, or were just l... |
Saez and Zucman suggest that wasn’t the case. Unfortunately, in their op-ed, they broadly argue that high taxes have little impact on growth, without getting much into why that might be the case. To understand their thinking more fully, it helps be familiar with research Saez published in 2014 with frequent collaborato... |
In tax economics, the standard narrative says that when taxes rise, high earners tend to react in one of two ways: They either work a bit less or find ways to avoid taxes through loopholes. When taxes go down, people work a bit more and spend less time gaming the system. Piketty, Saez, and Stantcheva suggest there was ... |
This was only a hypothesis, but the paper provided some compelling pieces of circumstantial evidence to back it up. Between the 1960s and mid-2000s, countries that cut their tax rates more saw a greater rise in inequality but not greater growth. In the U.S., CEOs often get rewarded with higher pay based on developments... |
Even if you assume that there is some trade-off between top taxes and growth, there may still be an upside to limiting the wealth and influence of the very rich (again, think of the Mercers). But if you believe the bargaining theory—and many on the left these days do—then high taxes on the rich start to look less like ... |
spurgeonryan Finally another day off, but so tired that I could sleep the whole day. |
Joined on March 23rd 2009, last online 3 days ago. |
Still Unlocking Achievements Earned 100 badges. |
The site finally let's me log back in!!! Been a while Ryan, how ya been? |
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