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---------------------------------------------------------------- Artist: The Mountain Goats Date: 08 April 2015 Location: Cat's Cradle, Carborro, NC Taper: RJ e-mail: johnsorc@gmail.com DC++ screenname: aurevoircanada date of seeding: 10 April 2015 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Source Info: >AUD Tascam DR2D internal mic (-9 db dual recording) >Tracks separated in Cool Edit Pro 2.0 >TLH FLAC (level 8) ---------------------------------------------------------------- additional info: Recorded from middle of room. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Setlist: 01 Intro 02 Southwest Territory 03 The Diaz Brothers 04 Foreign Object 05 Slow West Vultures 06 Cry for Judas 07 Get Lonely 08 Stabbed to Death Outside San Juan 09 There Will Be No Divorce 10 Song for the Julian Calendar 11 Steal Smoked Fish 12 Luna 13 Love Love Love 14 Never Quite Free 15 Up the Wolves 16 Game Shows Touch Our Lives 17 Werewolf Gimmick 18 Amy aka Spent Gladiator 1 19 Animal Mask 20 The Legend of Chavo Guerrero 21 Blood Capsules 22 This Year 23 Banter* 24 The Ballad of Bull Ramos 25 No Children ---------------------------------------------------------------- Note: This concert was tons of fun. My first time seeing TMG. No processing was done to the show other than splitting the wav into individual files in CEP and converting to FLAC. * Note on Track 23: TMG appear to be open to taping/trading; however, John very specifically requests and threatens violence on anyone recording the song played (Sometimes we Mosh/Secret Roman Song). To respect his wishes, I have ommitted this track, including only the banter. Please enjoy as you please, but do not convert to MP3 and share, and don't make subtle changes and re-upload. Please keep this file with this recording wherever you share. Cheers, and share the music :) Identifier mg2015-04-08.flac Source Tascam DR2D internal mic Taped by johnsorc Year 2015
Israeli army spokesperson Avital Leibovich speaks to MICS 2011 participants at IDC Herzliya. Media in Conflicts Seminar Dozens of young journalists, including at least one working for the BBC, are in Israel this week for a government-backed junket designed to give them “a more positive attitude” toward Israel’s policies. The journalists are attending the Media in Conflicts Seminar (MICS) at the Interdisciplinary Center at Herzliya (IDC Herzliya). Now in its fifth year, the seminar is the brainchild of the advocacy group StandWithUs. The Media in Conflicts Seminar is “hasbara for foreign media personnel, diplomats and youth from all over the world,” according to the website of Israel’s Ministry for Public Diplomacy (which was recently absorbed into the prime minister’s office). Hasbara is a Hebrew word that literally translates as “explaining” but is used specifically to describe government propaganda and outreach efforts to gain support for Israel’s policies. According to the ministry, the Media in Conflicts Seminar specifically targets non-Jewish Europeans. Participants Those attending this year include Zahra Ullah, a broadcast journalist with BBC Wales; Indre Anskaityte, a radio journalist from Lithuania; Rachel Dzanashvili, a freelance contributor to Fox News; Tomas Halasz, a photographer from Slovakia; Joseph Shawyer, a staffer at the Bethlehem-based Ma’an News Agency; Mariana Granja, a reporter for Agence France Presse; and Gayatri Parameswaran, a contributor to Al Jazeera and Radio Netherlands. George Hale, a senior editor for Ma’an News Agency, confirmed that Shawyer was attending the seminar. However, Hale told The Electronic Intifada in an email that Shawyer was doing so “in a personal capacity, not on behalf of Ma’an.” Hale added that Shawyer is “not a member of the news team.” US journalist Anna Lekas Miller was accepted to attend, but announced on Twitter on Sunday that she was denied entry to Israel. Afghan journalist Mirwais Jalalzai reported on the MICS Facebook page that he was denied a visa as well. Previous participants include Florence DaveyAttlee of CNN International, Carl Fridh Kleberg of Swedish news agency Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå, and Keith Demicoli of Television Malta. The Electronic Intifada asked Felix Gaedtke, who lists MICS 2012 as professional education on his resume, if MICS organizers disclosed to him their funding from and affiliation with the government propaganda ministry. He replied “I don’t remember what the organisers told us about the funding for the seminar.” MICS published lists of participants and speakers for 2009 and 2010 on the IDC Herzliya web site. Past participants can also be seen in videos posted to the MICS YouTube channel. Winning friends New York Times journalist Ethan Bronner speaks to MICS 2011 participants at IDC Herzliya. Media in Conflicts Seminar “The purpose of the seminar is to find young journalists who will work in the world of media, as well as those who aspire to be ‘opinion makers’ in their countries, and to put them through workshops about media coverage of conflict zones,” organizers stated in a fundraising appeal. According to its official website, the Media in Conflicts Seminar includes “A 5-day fully subsidized stay in Israel (Not including airfare)” and a “strategic tour of Jerusalem and the conflict areas.” It also boasts that “participants develop skills to face the challenges of conflict reporting, create a priceless professional network and experience the world’s most covered conflict zone.” In addition to seminars on “terrorism,” and military and political topics, the participants meet Israeli political leaders, academics and senior Israeli journalists. Past speakers are a who’s who of Israeli political and military echelons, including Avital Leibovich, who became notorious as army spokesperson during the 2008-2009 invasion of Gaza, and former Minister of Public Diplomacy Yuli Edelstein. In 2011, the seminar was addressed by Ethan Bronner, then the ethically-challenged New York Times bureau chief in Jerusalem. BBC Arabic journalist Ahmad Budeiri also addressed the seminar in 2012. This year’s seminar will be addressed by Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson Ilana Stein. The organizers have touted the success of previous seminars, claiming, “The impact of MICS is evident in [the participants] subsequent media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” Ties to the government The Media in Conflicts Seminar bears the hallmarks of Israel’s strategy to fight “delegitimization,” laid out in 2010 by the Reut Institute, a think tank with military-intelligence ties. In an influential report, Reut recommended that Israel “maintain thousands of personal relationships with political, cultural, media and security-related elites and influentials” around the world. A 2009 press release says the project is “Approved by the Ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora.” A 2012 report by Molad, the center for the renewal of Israeli democracy, includes an appendix that identifies the Media in Conflicts Seminar as part of the government’s “hasbara apparatus.” The Molad reports notes, referring to MICS, that “the Minsitry of Public Diplomacy organizes a yearly seminar, in cooperation with the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzeliya, for members of the media and senior journalists from Europe to develop personal, intimate relationships that encourage a more positive attitude towards Israel’s foreign and domestic policies.” Conceived by StandWithUs The Media in Conflicts Seminar was conceived by the StandWithUs Israel Fellowship recipients in 2009. StandWithUs is the multi-million dollar US-based anti-Palestinian advocacy group that works closely with the Israeli government. A press release and an email newsletter published in 2009 by IDC Herzliya identify Taly Gerber, an artillery Instructor in the IDF Field Intelligence Unit, Nuphar Schwartz and Sharon Savariego as the main organizers of the first seminar. While IDC Herzliya students have held online fundraisers and a vintage clothing sale for the Media in Conflicts Seminar, these have raised no more than a few hundred dollars. The total cost of the Media in Conflict Seminar in 2010 was 150,000 shekels ($41,600), of which 80,000 ($22,000) was paid by the Israeli government and the rest by StandWithUs, according to an official Ministry of Public Diplomacy budget. IDC Herzliya: hotbed of government propaganda The Media in Conflicts Seminar claims that it is a “student initiative” at IDC Herzliya, and the unsuccessful online fundraising campaigns can perhaps be seen as an effort to lend authenticity to this claim. In fact, IDC Herzliya students are heavily involved in state propaganda efforts, and the seminar is only one example. IDC Herzliya itself is an Israeli academic institution that has become synonymous with an annual conference attended by military and political leaders who have often used it as a platform for racist and belligerent statements. One perk of attending the Media in Conflicts Seminar is access to the annual IDC Herzliya conference. And as Yara Sa’di reported for The Electronic Intifada last month: IDC Herzliya’s Ambassador Club is a year-long program for more than two hundred students from thirty countries run in partnership with StandWithUs. The program includes lectures on media, economy and history in order to “arm the students with the latest surveys and data and to teach them how to present the Israeli narrative” in North America and Europe. At the end of the course, each participant receives “an accreditation endorsed by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” according to the StandWithUs website. Last November, during Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, students there set up a “war room” to “send out messages in support of the attack on social media websites like Facebook and Twitter.” IDC Herzliya would therefore appear to be the ideal model for the recently revealed “covert” effort to recruit students at all seven Israeli universities into a social media propaganda program run out of the Prime Minister’s Office. Media in Conflicts Seminar is no place for journalists Given the clear government backing and propaganda goals of the Media in Conflicts Seminar, it is inappropriate for any media organization seeking to maintain its credibility reporting on Palestine and the Israelis to allow its staff to participate in this junket.
Bernie Sanders Says He's Beating Donald Trump. Is He Right? Enlarge this image toggle caption Orlando Sentinel/TNS via Getty Images Orlando Sentinel/TNS via Getty Images Donald Trump says he has good evidence he'd beat Hillary Clinton in a general election. "I beat Hillary — and I will give you the list — I beat Hillary in many of the polls that have been taken," he said at last Thursday's Republican debate. "And each week, I get better and better." And Bernie Sanders says he'd beat Trump. "Not all, but almost every poll has shown that Sanders versus Trump does a lot better than Clinton versus Trump," Sanders said at the Democratic debate in Flint, Mich., last week. Sanders and Trump appear to be referring to head-to-head polling questions, in which pollsters give respondents hypothetical general election matchups. Here's how Quinnipiac asked these questions in a recent poll of registered voters nationwide: "If the election for President were being held today, and the candidates were Bernie Sanders the Democrat and Donald Trump the Republican, for whom would you vote?" Candidates love to cite these polls, but not every pollster thinks these data are useful. "When you get somebody on the phone, they'll answer your questions. The real issue is whether they really are considering their answer to that question," says Patrick Murray, founding director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. "And when it comes to those hypotheticals, they're not." The problem, he says, is that primary voters are not general election voters. And those general-election-only voters just aren't thinking about the election as seriously yet as those who are voting right now. "Voters really don't think of this as a realistic possibility until it becomes clear who the nominees are going to be," Murray said. "Even at this point, where it seems like both Trump and Clinton are on a trajectory, we can ask this question in polls, but really people aren't going to give a considered answer to it." He gave the example of a voter who supports Marco Rubio right now and doesn't really like Trump or Ted Cruz. Given the choice between Cruz and Clinton right now, that voter might be so opposed to Cruz — especially during a bitter primary fight — that she would pick Clinton. However, once the decks are cleared and both parties have their candidates in the general election, that voter might easily decide to stick with her party and choose the Republican. Monmouth, where Murray works, does do a form of hypothetical questions — just this week, for example, they released a poll in which they asked likely Ohio primary voters different combinations of Republican and Democratic nominees. But, Murray says, the key difference is that this is about "partisan primary voters," not all voters. The bottom line: If Sanders or Trump (or any other candidate) is referring to head-to-head poll questions asked of registered voters nationwide, there's a lot of room for skepticism. Of course, other major polling outlets do these polls, and they see good reason for it. "We do them for the following reason: It gives us comparisons," says Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University poll. "Because not only do we do 'who are you going to vote for' questions in these polls; we also ask favorable-unfavorable questions." The data on who is considered "unfavorable" and — given that information — who would vote for or against them in different general election candidate combinations is useful knowledge, he said. He also adds that looking at the matchups over time, especially with demographic breakdowns, can show where candidates are in particular losing or gaining ground. Either way, voters should be wary when candidates talk about any poll results. For one thing, it's easy for candidates to cherry-pick the poll that favors them and ignore others. Also, national polls can be misleading because they don't capture the important state-by-state information of how voters feel — and state-by-state, by the way, is how people vote (and how delegates are allocated). And finally, polls are snapshots. They capture how people feel right now, not how they will feel on Nov. 8. "Polls are very good at telling you what the situation is today," said Brown. "They're not bad at telling you what it will be like three days from now. But they're God-awful at telling you what they'll be like three months from now." That's why it's important, he says, that Quinnipiac's hypothetical questions note "if the election were held today." But then, the election isn't today (sick as you may be of campaign ads and debates). So if it's eight months away, when will everyone agree that it's time to start paying attention to the hypothetical polls? It could be very soon. After the delegate-heavy March 15 contests, Murray said, he will start performing general election head-to-head polls with the candidates who are left standing. Winnowing the field could make some voters think harder about whom they'd support. "The probability of the outcome has to be rather high (whatever is slightly shy of inevitable) before voters really flip on the mental switch that says, 'Yup. I'm going to have to pick between these two, so I might as well start giving it some serious thought,' " he said in an email. So after that, maybe it will be time to pay attention. But if Trump, Sanders, Clinton or whoever start citing these polls in their Tuesday-night victory speeches, it might be best to tune them out.
An Amazon story may still surface on The CW, as the network’s “origin story” series about Wonder Woman is being redeveloped. RELATED \| The CW’s Fall Schedule Shake-Up: Supernatural, Hart of Dixie and Two Others Shift to New Timeslots, Nikita’s Final Season Delayed Speaking with reporters on Thursday after unveiling The CW’s 2013-14 line-up — which includes the new dramas The Originals, The Tomorrow People, Star Crossed, The 100 and Reign — network boss Mark Pedowitz said, “Oh god, yes,” when asked if the superheroine series is still in play. “It is being redeveloped,” Pedowitz said, “and we’re waiting for the script to come in” — from new scribe Aron Eli Coleite (Heroes), The Hollywood Reporter reports. “We do not want to produce something that doesn’t work for that character. It is the trickiest of DC [Comics] characters to get done,” he stressed. VIDEO \| Fall Preview: Watch Clips from The Tomorrow People, Reign, The 100 and Other New CW Series The CW’s series adaptation of the book series The Selection, however, is “unlikely” to be re-revisited after two failed attempts. Asked where the successive pilots fell short, Pedowitz told TVLine, “We were looking to capture that dystopia that appeals to young adult fiction, and there is a built-in audience for that…. The first time we definitely didn’t get it; this time, they came pretty close,” but not enough to make the network’s short list.
Jacobs Family Makes Big Donation to Marty Walsh’s Reelection Campaign The owners of the Bruins and TD Garden are backing the mayor. Get a compelling long read and must-have lifestyle tips in your inbox every Sunday morning — great with coffee! As chairman of the National Hockey League’s board of governors, Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs has had many a clash with the players’ union over the years. Now, he’s apparently backing a mayoral candidate known for his union credentials. Jacobs and his three sons, who own the Buffalo-based food service and hospitality conglomerate Delaware North, as well as their spouses, made a $13,000 donation to Mayor Marty Walsh’s reelection bid, following a fundraiser held at TD Garden, also owned by the Jacobs family. As the Globe notes, this is their largest ever political contribution to a candidate in Massachusetts, after stiffing Walsh’s predecessor, the late Tom Menino, for the latter half of his 20-year reign. The Jacobs family has enjoyed an amicable relationship with City Hall during Walsh’s first term. Last fall, the city inked a three-year deal with a Delaware North subsidiary to program events at City Hall Plaza, starting with the wildly popular Boston Winter. Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs, Jeremy’s son, was among the biggest donors to Boston 2024, Walsh’s failed Olympic bid, while TD Garden president Amy Latimer also publicly supported the effort.
Important Figures met Trump from Technology Washington — Donald Trump selected American President has met with leading figures of the country's technology on Wednesday, after which it seems as if the rest of the way to keep hostile between them are not, in which several people during the campaign as critics have been harsh with them. Trump Tower in this meeting in bodies that are رکھیتی the knowledge on a global scale, Facebook chief operating officer of Amazon sandbrg, shirl اِی Oh Jeff Alan bazos and mask, and Chief agsecto officer tilsa motors are included. During the meeting, Trump style and was msalhana. At the beginning of the meeting, Trump said that there are people in the room. "we want to continue a series of inventions ' ideal '. He said to them, ' we can do anything to promote the process ", will definitely '." Chief agsecto officers, "trump said that when you have felt the need to talk, you can call me direct you." During the meeting, apart from three big Trump selected Vice President Mike cooking pans were children. Before the election ' high-tech ' from many leaders were concerned about the Presidency of Trump because they had criticised China on trade agreements, statements, and given to the words of the immigrants were, on the industry requires the availability of workers was very limited risk being bahner On Tuesday, more than 200 ' high-tech ' open letter to his employees, I promise that they trump any effort to give the registry data ' from the ' not part of tratat would be based on their religion, or that possibly will be sent out of the country. During the campaign, Trump ' Silicone Valley ' are from الجھتے. They called on voters ' privacy ' on the basis of the position on the issue of ' Apple ' boycott, and promise that they will be forced to appeal to your computer and the iPhone will be ready within our country "" The scene made the issue of ' Facebook ' Chief Information Officer, grion agsecto mark skerbrg of اِی ' books, disagreed with bsos, the OSCE condemned Jeff:, saying that "the Washington Post reported on the scene made over to the leadership of taxpayers so that they can sebch. In his editorials, ' the Washington Post ' Trump little on has been so kind. However, Trump has promised to well-known figures of tankalwaji that will be restored, "the appropriate trade agreements, with the help of which you will be easy for you to be able to easily cross-border trade" ".
New fish genus and species named for its red, fingerlike fins Michelle Ma UW News After nearly 35 years, a color-changing fish known for its red “fingers” finally has a proper name. University of Washington scientists recently announced the name of a new genus and species of frogfish, which are small, stocky creatures found in most tropical and subtropical oceans around the world. The fish was first seen and collected in Australia in 1980 by a UW graduate student, but the sole specimen disappeared soon after, leaving researchers no option but to shelve the discovery. Recently, another UW graduate student, Rachel Arnold, and fisheries professor Ted Pietsch again located the elusive fish in Australia’s Botany Bay near Sydney and helped collect new specimens – one of the requirements for naming a new species. After sequencing its DNA, they realized they had in fact discovered a new genus and species. “To find something on the genus level, a step above species, is pretty spectacular,” said Pietsch, a UW professor of aquatic and fishery sciences and curator of fishes at the Burke Museum. “People have been diving and collecting in that location for hundreds of years and publishing vigorously for 100 years or more, and we find something now no one else has seen.” Now, Porophryne erythrodactylus – or Red-fingered anglerfish – has been added to the exhaustive Catalog of Fishes database maintained by the California Academy of Sciences and had its DNA housed in GenBank. It even has its own Wikipedia page. Arnold, who graduated with a doctoral degree last spring, is the lead author of a recent paper in the journal Copeia describing the discovery. After the first specimen disappeared in the 1980s, divers again saw the fish in 2005, and the UW scientists worked with an Australian museum to collect three specimens. The fish had two different color patterns, leading scientists to believe there were two different species under the new genus. But after Arnold sequenced DNA from each, she realized they were the same species that have the capability to change from a grayish color to one that varies from reddish-pink to orange for camouflage. “We don’t have a good idea of how many there are, but their population is very small,” she said. “We do know they have a very limited geographic range and are sensitive to habitat loss.” The new species has a distinct red coloration on the tips of its pectoral fins. Its dorsal fins have a unique shape, allowing the fish to dart quickly over rocks. Other frogfish instead amble or “walk” across the seafloor. Some divers have observed the fish moving its red-tipped fins, almost like it’s waving its brightly colored fingers to catch the attention and curiosity of potential prey, Pietsch said, though that connection is merely anecdotal. While this particular fish has only been seen off the coast of Sydney, frogfish are found worldwide, including U.S. shores along the Atlantic coast, Hawaii and as far north as Los Angeles. Most species are thriving, and their strategy is to blend into reefs and bottom rocks using their spiny, textured outer skin for camouflage. They hardly move – and rarely swim – but when they do, they clamber across the sea bottom using their fins as “feet.” They wait for crustaceans and other fish, even frogfish, to approach. Then in a split second, they open and enlarge their mouths up to 12 times the original size, sucking in the prey whole. This can all happen in as little as 6 milliseconds. A special muscle in the esophagus keeps the swallowed prey from escaping, and the frogfish can also expand its stomach to digest its hearty meal. “They are so odd-looking and yet so photogenic,” Arnold said with a laugh. So far nothing is planned for the Red-fingered anglerfish in terms of population counts or conservation activities, Arnold said, though its home in Sydney’s Botany Bay is full of industry and has water quality issues. She hopes this species is included in any future studies because it’s a native fish not found elsewhere. The paper’s other co-author is Rob Harcourt of Macquarie University in Sydney. The work was funded by the Dorothy T. Gilbert Ichthyology Research Fund through the UW’s School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. ### For more information, contact Arnold at frogfishes@gmail.com or 206-851-9377 and Pietsch at twp@uw.edu or 206-543-8923.
Despite mainstream western feminism’s claims to embrace them, it is becoming apparent that the radical origins of terms like “identity politics”, “women of colour”, and, in particular, “intersectionality” – which were concerned not only with race but with overturning all forms of exploitation including class systems – are being betrayed and stripped of their interrogative nature. As outlined by Kimberle Crenshaw, intersectionality is not so much something that someone “identifies” as, but a useful term that easily illustrates certain truths; namely that when multiple forms of oppressions meet, they create new, compound oppressions that are experienced acutely by those who belong to certain marginalised groups. Intersectional-what? Feminism's problem with jargon is that any idiot can pick it up and have a go Read more Unmoored from structural analysis, intersectional feminism is fast becoming a shallow buzzword that elevates the individual, stifles dissent, and, most worrying, is being weaponised to silence women of colour. Representation and diversity, for instance, can be important indicators of social progress. In feminist discourse however, they are increasingly served as substitutes for such progress. The giddiness surrounding Hillary Clinton as almost First Female President™ and the silliness over Wonder Woman as First Female Superhero™ both fostered an atmosphere of hostility to any women who had the audacity not to feel “represented” by either. You weren’t “With Her”? No, it’s not because you’re an Arab woman who balks at Clinton’s fondness for bombing the Middle East; you just have internalised misogyny. Think Wonder Woman was average and kinda sexist? Too bad; she empowers ALL women. And don’t even consider bringing up Gal Gadot’s pro-IDF sentiments, that makes you a “racist.” For all its talk of intersectionality, mainstream feminism still cannot comprehend that racism and sexism are not experienced separately but simultaneously. As such, for those of us negotiating these two particular intersections, enjoyment of, say, The Handmaid’s Tale was tempered by the gushing feminist accolades hailing it a terrifying glimpse into a future that might happen. Never mind that Aboriginal women continue to have their children taken from them by the state, or the hundreds of years that black women’s bodies were mined to perpetuate slavery and colonialism. Meanwhile, the First Female Doctor Who™ was greeted so rapturously, you’d think she’d won the US election. It also completely overshadowed the casting of Arab-Canadian actor Mena Moussad in the upcoming live action Aladdin. Yes, Moussad is a man. But after decades of depictions as terrorists, religious fanatics, and barbaric illiterate extras in their own lands, an Arab is again a leading man. This significant event for many Arab women living in the west, who also suffer as a result of these stereotypes, was deftly swept aside as feminism celebrated the apparently unusual practice of granting a starring role to a white actress. This is how whiteness reasserts itself, by sweeping the concerns of non-white women aside on the mistaken assumption that we too can separate our gender from our race. Nowhere is it more apparent than in internet call-out culture. As we’ve written before, feminism cannot be involved in collective, meaningful change that benefits us all as long as it considers the internet pile-on bonafide political activism. Piling on individuals until they submit, may be the easiest way to express solidarity, but, in the long-term, it is actually one of the least effective. We gave our best efforts to bring these ideas and concepts to light recently, at an event in which we jointly appeared, only to ironically fall afoul of this same call-out culture the very next day. A simplistic critique of our discussion ended with the erroneous and bizarre conclusion that we had mocked fat women and called them “whores”. What we’d actually said is that feminist discussions around the online abuse women face are, unsurprisingly, dominated by white women who inevitably focus on the attacks men make on women’s appearance. Fat. Ugly. Slut. Unfuckable. All feminists have experienced these slurs. What we added, and what is frequently ignored, is that our abuse is always racialised as well as gendered. If feminist Linda Bellos is seen as a risk, progressive politics has lost its way \| Claire Heuchan Read more To the men that try to silence us, we are not merely disgusting to look at, but in Ruby’s case a “Hezbollah whore” with “clitoris envy as well as penis envy.” Meanwhile, in a country that has done everything to extinguish and assimilate Aboriginal people, Celeste is continually forced defend her Aboriginality based on how she looks. This compounded dehumanisation makes our experience of online abuse exponentially worse, and it is this that led us to sarcastically remark that we sometimes wish men would treat us like they do white women and “just” call us “fat whores that are unrapeable.” To have these words twisted so thoroughly by other feminists is not only distressing it is embarrassing for feminism. When, in the name of “intersectionality,” an Aboriginal feminist and an Arab feminist, who have only recently been afforded a platform, are attacked because “intersectional feminists” apparently cannot tell the difference between critiquing sexist ideas and mocking women, then we can only conclude that feminism is failing at intersectionality.
The big news out of Monday's new CNN/ORC poll is that Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by five percentage points nationally, 47 to 42, in a four-way race following the first presidential debate last week, including significant gains with men and independent voters. But also contained within the new survey is some timely information concerning how voters feel about paying taxes. Amid news that Trump may have avoided paying any income taxes for nearly two decades following a $916 million loss in 1995, the CNN/ORC poll found that 86 percent of registered voters surveyed viewed paying taxes as a “civic duty.” Among Trump supporters, that number was only slightly lower at 79 percent. A mere 12 percent of Americans polled said paying taxes to be an “unnecessary burden to be avoided.” Trump’s surrogates have referred to him as a “genius” for finding a way out of paying taxes on his income.
sigh i don’t know how to meet people i don’t know how to find people to talk to about things lexi’s convinced that i will ~terrify~ anyone i talk to for long, which hasn’t exactly helped things along here i mean, really, that’s only one facet of my lovely personality! but in all seriousness, i have no outlets and i am sick of being cooped up like i’m some sort of danger to society when i have been nothing but cooperative and, dare i say, even nice? helpful? to people lately i’m just a sweet little shapeshifter whose mind doesn’t entirely translate into human morality scales that can play nice when needed. i just need someone else to talk to because nobody listens to me in here. - lyria
Foto: Index NAKON što su se doveli u situaciju da se krim i temeljni policajci diljem Hrvatske nemaju u čemu voziti jer im je istekao leasing za 726 oslikanih i opremljenih automobila, a o čemu je Index već pisao, čelnici MUP-a osmislili su rješenje tog prilično nezgodnog problema. Naime, u vozni park policije ponovo su vraćene Škode koje su završile u povratu zbog spomenutog isteka leasinga. MUP ih je uzeo u najam od privatne tvrtke, jedine u Hrvatskoj koja im to može ponuditi. > OTKRIVAMO DETALJE Policija ostala bez 587 auta, koriste neopremljena civilna vozila Potvrdili su nam to i u odgovorima koje smo zaprimili iz kabineta ministra, a u kojima piše: "MUP je vozila (Škode) kojima je istekao leasing uzeo u najam od TRCZ-a pod sljedećim uvjetima: Najam vozila na dnevnoj bazi: Škoda Octavia Active: 13,47 eura bez PDV-a (po vozilu); Škoda Octavia Combi: 14,17 eura bez PDV-a (po vozilu). U tijeku je povrat 400 vozila na korištenje policiji, i to svim policijskim upravama razmjerno njihovim potrebama." Ministar Orepić još uvijek tvrdi da MUP nije učinio ništa pogrešno A da u MUP-u smjeraju nešto slično, moglo se zaključiti i po tome što su Škode, iako po isteku leasinga formalno na njih nisu polagali nikakva prava, ostale parkirane na parkiralištima policijskih uprava. To je epilog priče o natječaju za nabavku policijskih auta koja kronološki ide ovako: u MUP-u lani itekako znaju da im trogodišnji leasing za 726 auta istječe u proljeće ove godine, ali svejedno natječaj za nabavu novih raspisuju tek u posljednjim danima 2016. godine, (uz posredovanje Državnog ureda za javnu nabavu), iako je već u tom trenu potpuno jasno kako ni teoretski nije moguće da im novi auti budu isporučeni do roka do kojeg moraju vratiti ove 'stare'. No, nitko se oko toga posebno ne uzrujava; ministar Orepić i dan danas tvrdi da MUP nije učinio ništa pogrešno. Točno. Nije učinio ništa pa samim time nije mogao ni pogriješiti. Umjesto da se u postorepićevskoj fazi, suočeni s rokovima, odluče za opciju produljenja postojećeg leasinga (što su napravili u MORH-u), u MUP-u mudro čekaju situaciju u kojoj moraju vratiti aute, a tek tada kreću rješavati problem. I riješe ga točno ovako – iste te automobile za koje su do jučer plaćali leasing, sad uzimaju u najam. Tekst se nastavlja ispod oglasa Stvar je ista? Baš i ne. MUP će u šest mjeseci bespotrebno iskeširati najmanje 7,5 milijuna kuna Najam ove vrste mogla im je osigurati jedna jedina privatna tvrtka, već spomenuti TRCZ. Ugrubo, TRCZ će ovim manevrom – ako MUP ostane na najmu 'samo' 400 automobila, inkasirati (neplaniranih?) milijun i 300 kuna mjesečno. Odnosno, u šest mjeseci, koliko u MUP-u navode da će najam polovnih vozila maksimalno trajati – oko sedam i pol milijuna kuna. I premda su iz MUP-a naveli kako su cijene dnevnog najma policijskih Škoda izražene bez PDV-a, upućeni tvrde da su izražene i bez još pokoje 'sitnice', odnosno i bez troškova registracije i bez troškova servisa... A sama isporuka novih vozila za MUP tek je prije neki dan konačno lišena svih zapreka – 181 Citroen iz grupe 1 (Sedan s policijskim obilježjima) trebao bi biti isporučen najkasnije do rujna ove godine, dok je za 545 vozila iz grupe 2 (karavan s policijskim obilježjima) okončan žalbeni postupak te je u tijeku potpisivanje ugovora s najpovoljnijim ponuditeljem – osim Citroena, policiji stižu i novi Fordovi. Za pola godine...
The president of the Royal British Legion could be stripped of his role and a crackdown on lobbying of the Ministry of Defence imposed following claims that former senior military personnel boasted of their access to ministers, senior civil servants and top officers. Philip Hammond, the defence secretary, has launched an immediate review of rules governing access to ministers and serving officers to "shut down" meetings that could be seen as inappropriate. Labour demanded the MoD disclose whether any of the individuals had "met any MoD officials dealing with any defence equipment contracts". Though Hammond insisted no contracts had been awarded as a result of outside influence, he said some of the allegations made in the Sunday Times were "deeply damaging to the individuals concerned and their reputations". In an undercover sting, reporters from the Sunday Times approached several former senior members of the military purporting to be representatives of from a South Korean defence firm seeking to sell an unmanned aerial vehicle, or drone, to the UK military. Those fooled included Lieutenant General Sir John Kiszely, president of the Royal British Legion; Lord Dannatt, former head of the army; Admiral Trevor Soar, former head of the Royal Navy fleet; Lieutenant General Richard Applegate, a former head of procurement at the Ministry of Defence; Lord Stirrup, former chief of the defence staff, and General Sir Mike Jackson, former head of the army. During meetings that were secretly filmed, Kiszely said his role at the legion gave him access to important figures in defence, and described the annual Festival of Remembrance as "a tremendous networking opportunity". At other events he found himself "standing there waiting for the Queen with nothing else to talk about to Philip Hammond than whatever", he is recorded as telling the reporters. He also claimed he would be having Christmas with the armed forces minister, Andrew Robathan. This was denied by the Ministry of Defence. General Applegate is alleged to have said he had successfully lobbied for an Israeli defence firm, even though he was banned from doing so under the rules set out by the advisory committee on business appointments (Acoba). These say former defence personnel cannot lobby for two years after they have retired. Lord Dannatt said he could speak to the MoD's top civil servant, Jon Thompson, a former school friend. Admiral Soar suggested he could ignore Acoba rules if he was described as a consultant rather than a lobbyist. They all deny wrongdoing. The Royal British Legion said on Sunday it would undertake an investigation regarding Kiszely's position. Director general Chris Simpkins, said the legion had "a code of conduct that addresses the issue of conflict of interest. The honorary position of national president falls within this code and should not be used for commercial gain or in order to gain access to politicians and senior military figures for purposes unrelated to his position as national president." Though Simpkins insisted the lists of guests for the Festival of Remembrance was not influenced by the national president, he said the matter would be referred to the legion's governance committee for review. "The findings of the governance committee will be reported to the board of trustees for any necessary action," he added. The MoD inquiry, which will start on Monday, will seek to establish whether Soar and Applegate broke the Acoba rules. Hammond said tougher regulation of meetings between serving and former military personnel might be necessary, which may lead to the extension of the two-year "purdah''. "There are many, many reasons why it is sensible for the MoD to maintain contact with retired officers. They are often asked [by the media] to comment on things that are going on in the defence area. " But if they are abusing that access for commercial purposes then we will have to tighten it up or maybe even shut it down. That is something we will now look at. Clearly at least one, possibly more, of the individuals named … were still under the terms of the two-year restriction that applies after they have left the service. "If we find that people are not abiding by the advice they are given then we will need to look at whether there are steps we can take to shut down their access to ministers and officials." He accused some former officers of "bigging up their capabilities", though he also warned arms firms that use lobbyists. "The kind of lobbying being talked about here will damage them rather than benefit them … former military officers have no influence over what MoD contracts are awarded." A senior defence official added: "One wonders what these arms firms think they are getting for their money." The advisory committee – which has faced demands to be broken up and replaced with a more powerful watchdog with powers to punish rule breaches – said the allegations were "serious" and should be urgently investigated. "We are drawing them urgently to the attention of ministers, the head of the civil service and the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Defence for them to consider what action they might take." In a statement, Lord Dannatt said he had "never been asked to lobby and have no intention of lobbying. In my experience lobbying is invariably counter-productive." He said it was "entirely appropriate" for retired senior officers to use their previous experience to advise private companies, but added: "I have no intention, no inclination, and certainly no plans, to engage in lobbying activity that would contravene the rules prohibiting contact between private companies in the final stages of bidding for government contracts, and the officials in charge." Lord Stirrup said the story had given a "totally false picture" of what he was saying he could do. "I was interested because they were purporting to be developing technologies that could save people's lives. I said I could facilitate conversations with people in the military. I did not offer to lobby anyone on their behalf." SThe shadow defence secretary, Jim Murphy, said: "These are grave allegations that have to be fully investigated. We need to know every detail, every meeting and every contact between those recorded in this video and those still serving in the MoD. "The government must have full disclosure about any dealings between these retired distinguished officers and government ministers, civil servants or senior members of the armed forces."
A new study published Thursday in the journal Science has determined that if organic carbon in deep layers of soil warms at a rate similar to surface layers it could result in a dramatic increase in carbon dioxide emissions by the end of the century, if not sooner. According to research by scientists at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, deeper stores of carbon are more sensitive to warming than previously thought. "Our calculations suggest that by 2100 the warming of deeper soil layers could cause a release of carbon to the atmosphere at a rate that is significantly higher than today, perhaps even as high as 30% of today's human-caused annual carbon emissions depending on the assumptions on which the estimate is based," said Caitlin Hicks Pries, a postdoctoral researcher in Berkeley Lab's Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division. "We did not expect the warmed soils to lose about 35% more carbon than the control soils, especially since this experiment occurred during California's drought." To conduct the study, the scientists set up a soil research station in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada mountains, which represent temperate forest soils; a category that makes up nearly 14% of the total soil area worldwide. Here they built six small soil plots and rung them each with heating cables sunk more than six feet underground. Then they warmed three of the plots 4° Celsius (7.2° Farenheit) for more than two years and monitored soil respiration for the duration of the experiment using several different approaches. Using a "business-as-usual" scenario, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change simulations of global average soil temperature predict that soil will warm 4° Celsius by 2100. Advertisement The researchers found that of the 34 to 37% increase in CO2 released at the three warmed plots, 40% of the increase was due to CO2 that came from below 15 centimeters. Hicks told Fusion the researchers were surprised by the magnitude of the soil's response to warming. Advertisement "We did not expect the warmed soils to lose about 35% more carbon than the control soils, especially since this experiment occurred during California's drought, which we expected would reduce the response," she said. The implications of this study, the first to extensively look at carbon stocks in soil below 20 centimeters in depth—which contain more than 50% of the planet's soil-based organic carbon—are extremely worrisome, according to the study: The results shed light on what is potentially a big source of uncertainty in climate projections. Soil organic carbon harbors three times as much carbon as Earth's atmosphere. In addition, warming is expected to increase the rate at which microbes break down soil organic carbon, releasing more CO2 into the atmosphere and contributing to climate change. Advertisement Co-author Margaret Torn said the research uproots the assumption that carbon in "subsoil" is more stable to warming than that in topsoil. "Deeper soil layers contain a lot of carbon, and our work indicates it's a key missing component in our understanding of the potential feedback of soils to the planet's climate," she said in a statement. Hicks explained the difference between positive feedback to climate change and negative feedback, and how this makes the cumulative impact of warmer soil harder to determine. Advertisement "This study shows that soils are potentially a larger positive feedback to climate change than expected because soil carbon stored in deeper soils is similarly responsive to warming as surface soils," she said. "Thus there is the potential that warmer soils will put more CO2 into the atmosphere, which would increase climate change—but there is also the possibility that warming will enhance plant growth, which would take CO2 out of the atmosphere. We did not measure that plant response, so without knowing how the plants respond, we cannot definitively say what this will mean for climate change." Hicks said they are in the process of starting a global network of soil warming experiments in order to test the response of deeper soils in different soils and ecosystems. Studies predicting global warming over the rest of the century show that a 4° Celsius average increase could occur as soon as 2060, and is likely by 2100 if drastic actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions aren't taken. The planet has already warmed more than 1° Celsius above pre-industrial levels and carbon dioxide concentrations continue to rise above the 400 ppm threshold that scientists initially warned as being catastrophic.
Sometimes it is really useful to be able to get some information about your Go binaries, for example: when it was built it, which user compiled it, which git commit was used, etc. This information is specially useful for versioning your binaries, to troubleshoot bugs or just to have a reference to the source code. How would you do it? We could create a json/yml/xml file to store this information. Yup, we could, but do you want to manually update it everytime? You’d also need to distribute two files instead of just one. file to store this information. Yup, we could, but do you want to manually update it everytime? You’d also need to distribute two files instead of just one. What about a version global structure? Well, it’d be better as we would end up with just the binary and no metadata files. But even then, we’d need to update the structure manually before each build. Compiler flags to the rescue Have you even heard of -ldflags ? This compiler flag is used by go install\|build to override Go variables in our program. So if we had this in our main package . package main var saySomething string If we ran go build -ldflags "-X main.saySomething=HelloWorld" , the compiler would set HelloWorld to our main.saySomething . Wow! We could also have something like the following Go code. package main import ( "fmt" ) var ( buildTime string commitHash string ) func main () { fmt . Printf ( "Build Time: %s " , buildTime ) fmt . Printf ( "Commit Hash: %s " , commitHash ) } And build it like this. go build -ldflags “-X main.buildTime=$(date +”%Y.%m.%d.%H%M%S”) -X main.commitHash=$(git log –pretty=format:’%h’ -n 1)” You’d end up if something like this: Build Time: 2017.01.25.070111 Commit Hash: 1e4e7b5 Hey, there is no problem if you don’t set this variables during build time as they would just remain with an empty value, ok? Working with packages I could end this post here, but I can’t let you go without knowing this. As you can see on our previous example, we had to specify both the package ( main ) and variable name ( buildTime and commitHash ). This means that we can also use this flag to inject variables into packages! Hmm, show me the code! Ok. If we have the following package. package info var ( BuildTime string CommitHash string ) We could then change it by using the full package path, like this: go build -ldflags “-X github.com/goenning/hello-go/info.BuildTime=$(date +”%Y.%m.%d.%H%M%S”) -X github.com/goenning/hello-go/info.CommitHash=$(git log –pretty=format:’%h’ -n 1)” Just remember that as we are writing a package that is intended to be imported somewhere else, our variables need to start with a capital letter. Another option would be leaving them as internal and implement some sort of encapsulation to have access to them from outsite your package. That’s all for today folks I hope this tips can help you build your binaries with richer information and save you from bug hunting heachaches ;)
There was a time, many years ago, when I met a Russian learner for the first time. It was all the way across the globe in Australia. I was amazed that anyone would even think to learn Russian! I asked. With a thick accent Greg answered, He stuttered, mixed up his words and could barely get a phrase out. And that was the result of ten years of study! A lot of time has passed since then and lots of students, just like Greg, have told me the most wild and interesting reasons for studying Russian. And of course, they also told me about their struggles. I even wrote a book especially for Greg and for you too! Some students can’t explain why they started learning Russian and continue to struggle along with it. But really, when you think about it, everyone has their own logical reason. And I think I have heard them all! So tell me, do you see yourself in this list? Getting back to your roots Have family that came from Russian in one of the emigration waves from the USSR? Quite often you can hear ‘I am ¼ Russian by decent and really wish my babushka had taught me Russian.’ If your family didn’t speak Russian at home and didn’t teach you the Russian, you’ll have to start with the basics - read the c hapter 'Pronunciation can ruin everything is there to help you'. You have to... Maybe you are an International Relations student and Russian is part of your study programme? You need to pass the TORFL test to get a work permit in Russia. Maybe your boss is Russian? Фото: Александр Иванишин I will presume that Russian grammar is probably your biggest sticking point. I had this in mind when I wrote chapter 'Grammar every day'. Cultural legacy Maybe you are a big fan of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy or maybe soviet films, Pushkin or Silver Age poetry? Maybe you want to read classic Russian fairy tales like Jack Frost? One American told me he "wanna watch ballet in Russian" ! Fragment from a classic Russian ballet "Лебединое Озеро" (English: "Swan Lake") Don’t read translated Russian literature! The translation just ruins all the meaning and beauty of the original. Russian wife Russian wife... or husband? Russian-speaking kids, in-laws or other Russian-speaking relatives? Then congratulations! You have a great reason (and opportunity) to learn Russian. Screencap from the movie "Yours, Mine & Ours" (2005) I know just how important ‘live’ conversation is about basic topics. How important it is to finally tell your mother in law that you don’t want any more Sauerkraut! Also don’t forget to watch the video lessons ( ) Geopolitics Do you live for politics and news? Do you want to read the latest developments in Russian too? Whether you admire Russia’s role in the world or think the opposite, Russia makes the headlines time and again. As one German told me: “well Denis, it’s time to start studying Russian again”. So if you need to know how to read and write Russian properly and quickly build an impressive vocabulary, you’ll want c hapter 'Memory like a super computer?' Live in or visit Russia? Perhaps have a trip to Russia lined up. Maybe you are going for 3 days or 10 times a year? Usually, newbies worry about simple things like: "How can I ask directions?", "Where and how can I buy medicine?". After all, the further away from the big Russian cities you travel, the less English speakers you’ll encounter. So get ready! I remember my first visit abroad. I didn’t understand much and could just manage a smile:) If you'd like to get: 10 Quick Travellers’ Notes Pocket Guide in pdf format 13 Essential Words to make you sound like a Russian 7 video lessons of Russian totalling 90 minutes Business with Russians Russia is a country in which many people study languages but very few actually speak them. Business people might speak English, but in state-run companies you probably won’t be so lucky. The best you can hope for is a heavy accented : «Май нейм из...», «Лет ми спик фром май харт...» For business people, written communication is important and Chapter 6. Why you hate writing Russian is here to help. Polyglots Just want to add another language to your ‘collection’? Maybe a second, fifth, seventh…? Or maybe you just like to study languages for brain training? As one polyglot I know told me: “Russian is cool. Russian surprises people” I’ve also been told that learning Russian grammar is actually good for treating certain brain disorders and illnesses like Alzheimer's. So the genitive plural is actually your best friend in disguise. The most surprising answer I have to admit, the most surprising answer that I hear quite often is: “I’ve always felt like a Russian deep down inside”. Others say they study Russian because they want to get a glimpse of the world from the Russian point of view. This is fascinating for me to hear! So please do drop me a message - a few words or whole story, on why you study Russian. What’s your story? I love reading these posts and, who knows, your story might even end up being featured as a blog post! *** Well, which category do you belong to? Whatever your reason, you are a champion to me! And I try my hardest to help you on your journey. Just think: humans have achieved extraordinary things and yet, the language-learning industry demands thousands of hours spent in classrooms and thousands of dollars to teach a person to speak Russian – and most fail. It’s all about your efforts! Don’t count on the language learning industry. We need to understand exactly WHAT we are doing. To understand precisely what will help us speak fluent Russian and what will be a waste of time. You will learn this and more while finding the simplest and most effective ways to learn Russian in Russian Program for Fluency . “What I offer is a simple and efficient method that actually works! Only 3 essential steps. You can’t get lost! There’s never been an easier way to learn Russian.” --Denis P. Ivanov ******************************* Regards,
Jamie Waylett, 22, who plays Hogwarts bully Vincent Crabbe in the hit film series, downed the bubbly after it was looted from a ransacked Sainsbury's store moments earlier, it was said. Waylett was caught on camera during the third day of last summer's civil disorder as violence erupted in Chalk Farm, north London, on August 8, Wood Green Crown Court heard. He was first spotted dashing across Chalk Farm Road at 10.45pm after a gang smashed in the front windows of a Sainsbury's supermarket, said prosecutor Rebekah Hummerstone. 'Moments later, he accepted a bottle of sparkling wine from a friend who is also seen on the footage carrying a number of bottles,' she added. Around 90 minutes later, Waylett was again spotted on the CCTV with his hood up and could be seen trying to cover the lower part of his face with a scarf, the court heard. His companions also had masked faces. 'He was picked up by CCTV two minutes later. He and other members of his group were carrying petrol bombs,' said Ms Hummerstone. Waylett, who is believed to be good friends with fellow Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint, was arrested after a 'painstaking' review of Camden Council CCTV footage. In interview he told police he was 'fascinated' by the disorder, but denied taking part in violence. 'He agreed he had been handed a bottle of champagne to drink out of and at one point covered his face after spotting acquaintances,' said Ms Hummerstone. 'He also agreed he had been carrying a petrol bomb and said he was asked by other people to carry it. He had some trouble with them in the past and felt obliged to comply.' But he insisted that he had no intention of using the petrol bomb and had thrown it in a nearby rubbish bin, she added. 'The prosecution say he appears to have travelled to Camden from his home to join in and play his part in the civil disorder,' Ms Hummerstone said. 'His handling of the petrol bomb is sufficient of his intention that evening.' Dressed in dark suit and light blue shirt, and sporting a shaven head and goatee beard, Waylett, spoke only to confirm his name, age and address during the hearing. He appeared in six Harry Potter films before his character was written out in the final Deathly Hallows instalment. Waylett, of West Hampstead, north west London, denies having an article with intent to destroy or damage property - an offence under the Criminal Damage Act - and violent disorder.
Advertisement Police have insisted the man who was shot dead by a Charlotte cop was carrying a gun and refused repeated orders to drop it. Father-of-seven Keith Lamont Scott, 43, was gunned down by Officer Brentley Vinson while standing next to his car in the North Carolina city on Tuesday night, prompting violent protests that left 16 officers injured. His family have insisted he was disabled and was only reading a book when he was killed, but Charlotte Police Chief Kerr Putney says officers found a weapon in his vehicle. Hours after the shooting, demonstrators arrived at the scene and began destroying marked police vehicles, setting trucks alight and throwing rocks at officers. In a press conference on Wednesday, Putney said one person had been arrested and slammed the 'agitators' for turning a peaceful demonstration violent. He added that the story of Scott's shooting is 'very different' to how it has been portrayed in social media, and made it clear that they did not find a book at the scene. Scroll down for video Keith Lamont Scott (pictured left) was shot by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Brentley Wilson (right) at The Village at College Downs at about 4pm on Tuesday His family have insisted he was disabled and was only reading a book when he was killed, but Charlotte Police Chief Kerr Putney says officers found a weapon in his vehicle. He is pictured center to the left of Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts and right of the city's head of Community Relations, Willie Ratchford Video shows one protester jumping on top of a police car and officers firing tear gas to break up the crowd Another image shows a man dancing on the roof of the marked patrol car, surrounded by a crowd of more protesters Charlotte's Mayor Jennifer Roberts has called for 'peace, calm and dialogue' as the city braced for further protests planned for Wednesday evening. Students started the second round of demonstrations by staging a lie-in at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. The unrest unfolded as demonstrators in Tulsa, Oklahoma, demanded the arrest of a police officer seen on video fatally shooting an unarmed black man who had his hands in clear view at the time. Criminal investigations into the deaths have been launched in both cities. Video shows one protester jumping on top of a police car and officers firing tear gas to break up the crowd. Several hundred people gathered with some setting fires to block a major road, while others set trucks ablaze. Some stole boxes from trucks before police used flash grenades in an attempt to disperse the angry crowd, an ABC affiliate in Charlotte reported. A group of protesters then tried to break into a Walmart store before police arrived and began guarding its front entryway. Some protesters were heard yelling 'Black Lives Matter,' and 'Hands up, don't shoot!' . They held up a sign saying 'Stop Killing Us' and 'it was a book', making reference to the object Scott was reportedly holding when he was shot dead. The protests came just hours after another demonstration in Tulsa, Oklahoma, over the shooting there of an unarmed black man by police. Charlotte police went to the complex around 4pm looking for a suspect with an outstanding warrant when they saw Scott - not the suspect they were looking for - inside a car, department spokesman Keith Trietley said in a statement. A protester tries to kick one of the tear gas canisters thrown onto the floor by police during the demonstrations Police work at the scene of protests in Charlotte, North Carolina. More demonstrations are expected on Wednesday night A protester walks with his right arm raised near police officers in the hours of the deadly shooting of Keith Lamont Scott A demonstrator holds up a poster, claiming that police confused Scott's book for a gun. But cops have insisted they did not find a book in his vehicle Protesters throw objects at police officers on I-85. Police said 16 of their officers were taken to hospital after the clashes Some protesters were heard yelling 'Black Lives Matter,' and 'Hands up, don't shoot!' at police officers in riot gear On Twitter, the CMPD said 16 officers were injured, including one officer who was hit in face with a rock Police officers dressed in riot gear confront the demonstrators who cops later described as 'agitators' Police in riot gear deployed tear gas to disperse the crowds of protesters who gathered in Charlotte on Tuesday night Protesters march down W.T. Harris Blvd holding traffic signs and a bollard after the officer-involved shooting Officers saw Scott get out of the car with a gun and then get back in, Trietley said. When officers approached, Scott exited the car with the gun again. At that point, officers deemed the man a threat and at least one fired a weapon, he said. However, Scott's brother told reporters: 'He was waiting in the car for his son to get from school. 'The police came with no uniform to determine he was police or not and he just jumped out and yelled "gun" and shot him. 'I think he shot him four times, I'm not sure, but he's dead.' Scott, was taken to Carolinas Medical Center and pronounced dead. Detectives recovered a firearm at the scene and were interviewing witnesses, Trietley said. Both the presidential candidates reacted to the situation in Charlotte. Donald Trump said he hoped the violence would end while Hillary Clinton mentioned the victim, Keith Lamont Scott, and Terrence Crutcher, who was shot and killed by police officers in Tulsa, Oklahoma Students take part in a lie-in at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, in protest against police brutality following the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott The students laid on the floor of one of the university buildings with posters scattered around them Aerial footage shows huge crowds of demonstrators gathered around parked patrol cars in the middle of the highway Police officers also used teargas to try and break up the crowd as the protests turned violent A police officer attempts to extinguish a fire on Interstate 85 during protests after a man was shot dead by police A cop clad in riot gear works alongside a blaze started by the demonstrators on a night of chaos in Charlotte A police officer holds his baton in the air as he stands guard next to a parked car, a truck and a pile of burning debris Riot cops remove a man from his vehicle from the middle of the highway as the protest intensifies A demonstrator with a mask resting on the back of his head confronts police officers standing in a line opposite him Police officers are seen holding their line during protests on the I-85 as the tension between officers and the demonstrators escalated on Tuesday night Protesters demonstrate in front of police officers wearing riot gear after police fatally shot Keith Lamont Scott Police officers wearing riot gear block a road during protests in Charlotte on Tuesday Adam Rhew said police officers used around six to eight cans of tear gas to disperse the crowd A man points at police officers wearing riot gear, standing in front of a bus during protests over the deathof Keith Lamont Scott A police cruiser with broken windows is pictured at the scene of Tuesday night's protests Officer Brentley Vinson - a former college football player - was identified as the officer who shot Scott, WCCB reports. Officer Vinson, who has worked at the department since July 2014 and is also black, has been placed on paid on administrative leave, as is standard procedure in such cases. Meanwhile, Scott's daughter Lyric Scott live streamed the aftermath of the shooting on Facebook. In the video, she says that her father was parked and reading a book in his car while waiting for a school bus to drop off his son. 'My daddy didn't do nothing,' she is heard saying in the video. 'They just pulled up undercover.' She added that Scott was disabled and claimed that officers had Tasered him and then shot him four times. Around several hundred protesters gathered in Charlotte, North Carolina to protest the shooting A line of police officers in riot gear work to control the protests which turned violent A protester is pictured rising above the crowd in Charlotte, North Carolina, at a protest following Keith Scott's death An aerial shot shows police in riot gear around a police cruiser facing off against protesters Initial reports say at least 100 protesters gathered at the scene, with some throwing water bottles at police The police officers were in riot gear stretched across a two-lane road. Some of the officers flanked the main line on one side of the road Police blocked access to the area, which is about a mile from the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Later on Tuesday night, video from WCCB in Charlotte showed police in riot gear confronting several hundred protesters gathered to demonstrate against the shooting. Police blocked access to the area, which is about a mile from the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The officers were shown backing up as protesters advanced down the street. Initial reports said protesters gathered at the scene, with some throwing water bottles at police. Adam Rhew said that the crowd began to disperse after police deployed tear gas. He said on Twitter that he estimates the CMPD used six to eight cans of tear gas. The police officers were in riot gear stretched across a two-lane road. Some of the officers flanked the main line on one side of the road Other footage showed protesters lingering around a police vehicle after shattering its windows. Scott's black SUV (left) is pictured in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Charlotte after the shooting Police in North Carolina said an officer shot and killed a black man carrying a gun at a Charlotte apartment complex - but his family have insisted he was only reading a book Scott's daughter Lyric Scott live streamed video from the scene (above) on Facebook Earlier, a tow truck was brought in to take another police cruiser away. Local media outlets reported that car suffered damage to its rear end. One television news crew retreated from the scene after demonstrators began rocking their remote van, which was parked near the apartment complex where the shooting occurred. Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts appealed for calm and tweeted that 'the community deserves answers.' In Tulsa, hundreds of people rallied outside police headquarters calling for the firing of police officer Betty Shelby. Shelby shot 40-year-old Terence Crutcher on Friday during a confrontation in the middle of a road that was captured on police dashcam and helicopter video. Her attorney has said Crutcher was not following the officers' commands and that Shelby was concerned because he kept reaching for his pocket as if he was carrying a weapon. An attorney representing Crutcher's family says Crutcher committed no crime and gave officers no reason to shoot him. Local and federal investigations into that shooting are ongoing.
From Texas Instruments Wiki For other versions of Code Composer Studio go here. Overview is the first version of CCS to be based on the latest version of Eclipse with no modifications (‘Stock Eclipse’). This allows customers to integrate a wider range of 3rd party plugins (as compared to CCSv4.x) and allows upgrades of open source components of CCS. There are also many other improvements including improvements in performance, usability and stability. Customers with using older versions of CCS (v4/v3) with valid maintenance subscriptions will be able to upgrade to CCSv5. CCSv5.1 and 5.2 are based on the Indigo Eclipse release train while CCSv5.3, 5.4 and 5.5 are based on Juno (3.8). What's New in CCSv5 What's new in CCSv5 : Presentation that covers what the main changes (and new features) are in CCSv5.1 from a CCSv4.x perspective. : Presentation that covers what the main changes (and new features) are in CCSv5.1 from a CCSv4.x perspective. CCSv5 Changes : Wiki topic that covers what the main changes (and new features) are in CCSv5.1 from a CCSv4.x perspective. : Wiki topic that covers what the main changes (and new features) are in CCSv5.1 from a CCSv4.x perspective. Moving from CCSv3 to CCSv5: Presentation geared towards the experienced CCSv3 user who is moving to CCSv5. Highlights the key differences between the two environments. Getting Started CCS Getting Started Guides are an excellent way for a new user to get familiar with the basics of the CCS environment. The main goal is to get a new user running on CCS as quickly as possible. Training The CCSv5 Training page is the best place to look for training collateral specific to CCS. If you are looking for more information on TI-RTOS Kernel (SYS/BIOS), then the TI-RTOS Kernel workshop is appropriate. It starts with an introduction to TI-RTOS and the TI-RTOS Kernel and then shows how to use them within CCS. Support Please use the following resources for support: Download The CCS Download Site provides access to CCSv5 download images.
More Dazzling Screenshots Of Final Fantasy X In HD By Spencer . November 11, 2013 . 2:45am We’re near the release of Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster and there’s no reason to keep the Magus Sisters a secret. Yuna can find this Aeon off the beaten path in the Calm Lands. Final Fantasy X HD has the Expert Sphere which was added to Final Fantasy X International and the PAL version. This sphere grid gives players more customization options from the beginning since all of the characters start in the center relatively close by to each other. This grid also has extract abilities that basically act as the Sphere Distillers from vanilla Final Fantasy X. For more about Final Fantasy X and the origins of Blitzball read our interview with producer Yoshinori Kitase.
A Pakistani-American doctor has won the “Scientific Achievement Award 2016” from the Nato Science and Technology Organization (STO) for his extra-ordinary performance in research on medical countermeasures against biological agents. STO, the largest Nato organisation for defence science and technology, honoured Dr Rashid A. Chotani, who was part of a task group researching medical countermeasures against biological agents. Dr Rashid A Chotani. Photo courtesy: LinkedIn Dr Chotani has worked in the healthcare industry, government and academia in areas such as advanced development of vaccines, therapeutic and diagnostic countermeasures, bio-surveillance etc. As a senior scientist, Dr Chotani has spent more than 20 years in providing bio-security and public health expertise to both public agencies and private industry. He is an expert in the identification, surveillance and diagnosis of human and zoonotic infectious diseases. His success in the academic field includes establishing and directing the Global Infectious Disease Surveillance and Alert System (GIDSAS) at Johns Hopkins University. In Pakistan, Dr Chotani helped in upgrading the Early Warning System at the National Institute of Health (NIH), re-developed and furbished the Epidemic Investigation Cell (EIC) with basic infrastructural needs, as well as housed six qualified epidemiologists to assist in disease surveillance. He has also played an important role as the adviser to the Ministry of Health in developing Pakistan's influenza preparedness plan. The Nato Achievement Award recognises the outstanding contributions made to STO's sponsored activities that continue to widen STO's technological mandate.
Thank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs! For unlimited access to the best local, national, and international news and much more, try an All Access Digital subscription: We hope you have enjoyed your trial! To continue reading, we recommend our Read Now Pay Later membership. Simply add a form of payment and pay only 27¢ per article. Introductory pricing schedule for 12 month: $0.99/month plus tax for first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months 10 - 12. Standard All Access Digital rate of $16.99/month begins after first year. Introductory pricing schedule for 12 month: $0.99/month plus tax for first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months 10 - 12. Standard All Access Digital rate of $16.99/month begins after first year. Introductory pricing schedule for 12 month: $0.99/month plus tax for first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months 10 - 12. Standard All Access Digital rate of $16.99/month begins after first year. Introductory pricing schedule for 12 month: $0.99/month plus tax for first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months 10 - 12. Standard All Access Digital rate of $16.99/month begins after first year. Thank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs! For unlimited access to the best local, national, and international news and much more, try an All Access Digital subscription: We hope you have enjoyed your trial! To continue reading, we recommend our Read Now Pay Later membership. Simply add a form of payment and pay only 27¢ per article. Thank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs! For unlimited access to the best local, national, and international news and much more, try an All Access Digital subscription: We hope you have enjoyed your trial! To continue reading, we recommend our Read Now Pay Later membership. Simply add a form of payment and pay only 27¢ per article. The latest edition of this long-running story was delivered last week by prominent Winnipeg businessman Art DeFehr, who has penned an analysis of the benefits and costs of moving CP and CN rail out of Winnipeg. Rail relocation, however, is one of those issues that won’t cry uncle. Today, the idea of moving rail lines out of urban centres seems like the impossible dream. So impossible, no one at city hall or the Manitoba legislature wants to talk about it. John A. Macdonald had a national dream. He would build a transcontinental railway that would expand the dominion and help secure Canadian sovereignty in the West. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/3/2015 (1428 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/3/2015 (1428 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. John A. Macdonald had a national dream. He would build a transcontinental railway that would expand the dominion and help secure Canadian sovereignty in the West. Today, the idea of moving rail lines out of urban centres seems like the impossible dream. So impossible, no one at city hall or the Manitoba legislature wants to talk about it. Rail relocation, however, is one of those issues that won’t cry uncle. The latest edition of this long-running story was delivered last week by prominent Winnipeg businessman Art DeFehr, who has penned an analysis of the benefits and costs of moving CP and CN rail out of Winnipeg. Mr. DeFehr’s $1-billion estimate for the cost of relocating the rail lines might be on the low side, but the benefits to Winnipeg are almost priceless: No more expensive rail bridges and underpasses, faster movement of people and cars, improved safety and huge swaths of land that could be redeveloped. The railways, in turn, would benefit from faster movement around cities and possibly fewer regulations. Parliament is now considering a bill that would increase railway liability as a result of the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster, which killed 47 people. Rail relocation is not unprecedented in Winnipeg or other cities. CN abandoned its East Yards in the 1980s to make way for The Forks. The surrender of other lines also made it possible to build Steve Juba Park, Waterfront Drive and other developments. The problem — here’s the rub — is Canadian cities have more immediate infrastructure requirements that are not being met. It’s hard to demand cash for railway relocation when adequate funds aren’t available for the basics. On Monday, for example, as interest in Mr. Defehr’s vision was fading, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities was lobbying the federal government to invest a minimum of $1 billion a year in public transit. Cities also need billions of dollars for roads, bridges and wastewater upgrades. That’s undoubtedly why Mayor Brian Bowman said rail relocation wasn’t on the top of his agenda, while Premier Greg Selinger, an advocate of rail reform in his younger days, has remained silent. The Harper government is investing $14 billion in infrastructure over 10 years, in addition to $2 billion it distributes annually from the gas tax. But it’s a drop in the bucket. As Free Press columnist Dan Lett argued recently, billions of dollars would have been available for infrastructure if Prime Minister Stephen Harper had not lowered the GST by two points. The government is now focused on balancing the budget at a time when oil revenues have fallen dramatically. It means extra cash for national programs will be hard to find. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the day’s breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every morning. But what of rail-line relocation? Is there no point in talking about it when the city and province are broke, and Ottawa is focused on deficit reduction and tax cuts that will also drain the treasury of billions of dollars more in revenue? Yes, and here’s why. Railways control hundreds of acres of land in the city, both directly and indirectly. Their presence has cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars. Even the best plan for the southwest rapid transit corridor — a route close to Pembina Highway — had to be discarded because CN’s Letellier line was in the way. Simply put, the railways are an obstacle to Winnipeg achieving its full potential. That doesn’t mean every last rail tie must be removed. There may still be a place and a need for rail lines in the city. Mayor Bowman and Premier Selinger should look for funds to commission a study that would provide some hard facts and numbers on the challenge. The railways turned Winnipeg from a frontier post into a booming metropolis. They have the power to remake it again. Let’s at least get the facts.
MUMBAI: From Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra comes the story of another ' Mountain Man ', who like the more famous Dashrath Manjhi, took on the task of cutting hills to build roads The 84-year-old Rajaram Bhapkar, a former teacher at Gundegaon village in Ahmednagar district, has cut through seven hills in last 57 years to make 40-km roads and is a respected across the region for his feat.Bhapkar, known affectionately as 'Bhapkar Guruji', looks a simple villager, clad in a white shirt and pajama and sporting a 'Gandhi' cap. However, beneath that simplicity lies a steely resolve, which moved the mountains, literally."At the time of Independence, there was not even a 'paywat' (walking trail) connecting Gundegaon to adjoining village," Bhapkar, who has studied till seventh standard in Modi language, said.When Bhapkar, who worked in zilla parishad school between 1957 to 1991, was working at Kolegaon, people from his villages had to cross three villages to reach there.Bhapkar remembers asking government authorities to build a road cutting across the 700 meter high Santosha hill.With no help forthcoming, he embarked on a journey of grit and determination, which 57 years later would result in seven roads, altogether 40km long, linking his village to the adjoining villages.Earlier, the route to Kolegaon via Deulgaon was 29km long. The distance became just 10km after Bhapkar, through sheer grit, cut through the hill and made a kuchcha road.He paid wages from his pocket to those who accompanied him in the road work."I used to spend half my salary on their wages," Not a single rupee from the government has been spent on the road work," he adds."In 1968 not even a cycle could pass through the earlier walking trail. Now, big vehicles ply on this road," a villager said.He completed the road in 1997. Bhapkar said he spent his entire post retirement earning and pension to fund the road work . Besides working with spade and shovel, he also hired heavy duty excavator machines for expediting the road work.
List of Nougat ROMs for Popular Devices — Find Your Android Update! [UPDATED DAILY] It’s been a while since Android 7.0 Nougat has been out. If you have a Nexus device which is currently supported, you already have your taste of the latest Android in most cases. But if you are a non-Nexus user, you would be lucky if your OEM even promised you an update, let alone deliver it so soon already. This is where the developer community comes in — groups of talented individuals working together to achieve the common cause of getting the latest Android onto devices before the OEM can, and in many cases, because the OEM can’t. With the large amount of unofficial builds of Android 7.0 Nougat and CyanogenMod 14 builds rolling in, it was a good idea to to create a big list of devices that have already tasted the dessert success. Sony Sony Xperia Z3 Compact: This is from outside of our forums, but from a reputable source. The Free Xperia Project team has uploaded a few test builds for quite a few Sony devices, and the Z3 Compact (aries) has one too. In fact, the devices that they have covered with a test build so far are: Z1 (honami) Z1 Compact (amami) Z Ultra (togari) Z2 (sirius) Z2 Tablet (castor) Z2 Tablet WiFi (castor_windy) Z3 (leo) Z3 Compact (aries) Z3 Tablet Compact (scorpion) Z3 Tablet Compact WiFi (scorpion_windy) Z4 Tablet (karin) Z4 Tablet WiFi (karin_windy) Z5 (sumire) Z5 Premium (satsuki) Z5 Compact (suzuran) X (suzu) Progress on devices differ and was largely undocumented, so users would have to try out the builds on their own. We’d like to give our thanks to the Free Xperia Project team, and equally to Sony. Sony actively facilitated developers in the task of bringing Android N to its devices, thanks to their contributions to Open Source. Heck, they even have guides to build Android 7.0 (AOSP!!!) for their device, along with providing binaries for the code that they cannot release. This makes Sony devices dominate this list of devices with Android 7.0 builds so early into release. Granted, these builds have a WIP nature to them, but they aren’t meant for the average user at all. Added: Xperia ZR: A WIP build without working camcorder. It’s definitely something, keep track of it! Added: Xperia Z2: If you can’t wait, you can find this AOSP Nougat ROM, albeit it has issues with charging and the camera among other bugs. Sony Xperia Z5: Android 7.0 Nougat Builds: Early alpha release for the E6653, camera is disabled and fingerprint does not work. Surprisingly, other important features like RIL and WiFi do work, so progress is good. Added: Xperia L: This 2013 champion has received an experimental Android Nougat ROM, with a decent list of working features, but issues with audio, media playback, sdcard storage and rotation. Added: Xperia SP: The Xperia SP, another 2013 champ, has received Android Nougat with various working features, except for a broken camcorder. Make sure to read the thread before flashing! Added: Xperia M: The Alpha 2 build for the Xperia M comes with many tested features, with the camcorder and LEDs during boot being the exceptions. It’s still an Alpha build, but this 2013 device is still kicking! Added: Xperia V: Initial builds for the Xperia V are also live. This is unofficial CM14, so expect bugs. OnePlus OnePlus 3: Unofficial CyanogenMod 14 WIP Builds: Early alpha build, has plenty of bugs like broken RIL and camera. Not recommended for daily driver. OnePlus X: A very early build of CyanogenMod 14 has landed on the device. All that works is that the device boots. Most features crash, so the ROM is good as a proof-of-concept. OnePlus 2: Builds are now available for unofficial CyanogenMod 14. The alert slider has issues, the rest are good to go. OnePlus One: A fairly decent build of AOSP 7.0 is available for the device. The bug list has been shortened since we last reported on it, now being restricted to HW disk encryption, SELinux being permissive, Missing gestures and poorer GPS performance. Android One Devices: Unofficial CM14 Alpha is available for Android One devices. Everything is reportedly working except video recording and cellular data. Moto Motorola Moto G: One of the most surprising entrants in this list is this budget device that was released with Android 4.3. Developers have a working alpha build of CM 14, with mentions of most basic features (RIL, Display, GPU) working. Motorola Moto G 2014: CyanogenMod 14 has arrived for the device. Impressively, the only major bug is the video recorder not working. Motorola Moto G 2015: The device now has a publicly available build of AOSP 7.0. The bug list includes issues with the camcorder, HDR and SELinus being permissive. Otherwise, it looks like a good early build. Moto X (2014): Alpha CM14 for the device, codename victara, is out now. The bug list is siginificant, and includes camera and sound, making it unfit for daily usage. Moto E 2015: Both the otus and surnia variants of the device have Android 7.0! Moto E: The first gen Moto E now also has its first builds! Bug list includes video recording and Dual SIM issues. Nexus LG Nexus 5: The Nexus 5 gets a mention in here despite being a Nexus is because of the end of its official support this year. But being a Nexus, there quite a few Android 7.0 ROMs for the device. The first builds that landed on the device have received a slew of updates that have shrunk down the “broken” list. It should not be long until these become stable builds, as is usually the case with Nexus devices. Added: Galaxy Nexus: The Galaxy Nexus also has a working Nougat ROM, more stable than many on this list. Nexus 4: The old, lovely glass little phone also has a WIP Nougat ROM, with various working features and a semi-broken camera. Nexus never dies! ASUS Nexus 7 2013: Another Nexus, another Nougat build. This is the project that is being actively worked on at the moment. Bug list mentions just poor video recording in 1080p…and that’s it. Added: Nexus 6: Android Nougat has been compiled from source for those that couldn’t wait for Google. ASUS Nexus 7: AOSP 7.0 Builds exist for grouper, along with a bunch of minor bugs to go along with it. Samsung Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7: A fairly well built ROM for AOSP 7.0 Nougat is available for the tablet. Only bugs mentioned are with video recording being broken completely and that photo orientation is incorrect. But outside of these, the builds look fairly solid. Samsung Galaxy Tab S: A bunch of Galaxy Tab S variants have received builds for AOSP Nougat. The builds have issues with gaming, broken RIL and a few more graphical glitches. Added: Galaxy S4 (i9505): Android Nougat comes courtesy of JDCTeam. Issues: You Tell Them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Added: Galaxy S Duos 2: It has booted! Keep an eye out on that thread, plus the development forums, to get your Nougat. Added: Samsung Galaxy Grand 2: The device has its own booting build of CM14. RIL is broken though, so keep that in mind. Added: Samsung Galaxy Note: This ancient Note that redefined the smartphone size standards also has a Nougat ROM. Damn. Xiaomi Xiaomi Mi 3 and Mi 4: AOSP 7.0 Nougat builds are available for the Mi 3 and the Mi 4. The bug list includes issues with video recording, Google Now on Tap and the Clock app. Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Snapdragon 650 variant (kenzo): For a first release of CyanogenMod 14, the bug list is surprisingly short. Video recording does not work, and features broken from the CM end continue to remain broken here as well. LG Added: LG G3: While its Snapdragon 801 might prevent it from receiving official support, AOSP Nougat ROMs are starting to pop up for the LG G3. Who needs LG UX anyway? It’s a WIP and camcorder, RIL and sensors are broken — but it’s something to look forward to for LG G3 users! Added: LG G2: This Snapdragon 800 device also will not see official support, but here is an AOSP CAF build to savor while ROMs become stable. Others Jiayu S3: Builds for Android 7.0 are available on this lesser-known device, that too with a MediaTek MT6752 SoC. GPS and audio and video recording do not work as of yet, but this gives the device a good taste of Nougat. Jiayu S3 Plus: This device with a MediaTek MT6753 SoC also has a build of Android Nougat. Bugs for the ROM relate to the GPS breaking when the RIL fix is applied. Added: Asus Transformer TF300T: This not-quite-forgotten tablet has received Android Nougat, too! Added: HP Touchpad: It just keeps getting them! Added: Yu Yuphoria: A budget phone with good specs and a CyanogenMod 14 ROM, sweet deal. Added: Yu Yureka: Another budget device with CM14 builds that look stable. Video Recording does not work. Added: The Vernee Thor also has a build of AOSP N, which is surprisingly stable! Added: OPPO Find 7: This device also has a rom! Bugs are not known, but the working list is pretty good. Special mentions/In Development LG G5: Development work on Android 7.0 or CyanogenMod 14 was not found. However, LG was starting its own Beta program for the G5 in Korea and there were hopes that a build might get leaked. However, no luck so far. Motorola/Lenovo Moto G4 Plus: Development work is on and a build for the public is expected in the near future. Scope of progress is not known immediately. Samsung Galaxy S6: This finds a place here because it was surprising to see a recent Samsung device in here, leave alone the Exynos variant (G920F). Developers have compiled CM14 for the device, but the progress of the build is unknown. There are no releases to download, so we cannot judge eitherways. But this gives the device a sliver of hope it can hold on to. Samsung Galaxy S5: Another surprise entry for Samsung. Developers have a build of Android Nougat that boots, but there is no public release. Things are also mentioned to be a complete mess, so this might take a while before it becomes usable. Added: The Redmi 2/prime are seeing their first Nougat build booting up. Exciting times ahead! Nougat has only been around for a couple of weeks yet we already see plenty of amazing ROMs hitting our devices, in every case before the official OEM has rolled out an OTA. This is part of the beauty of the XDA community, and we must commend the hard-working developers leading the vanguard of Nougat ROMs to users all around the globe. So, if you come across a Nougat build for your device, consider yourself lucky and don’t forgive to say “thanks!” Keep in mind these are devices in XDA’s Top Device list, meaning they are some of the most popular ones on the forums. That being said, many less-popular devices are receiving Android Nougat as well. If there is a device you want to see on this list, politely let us know in the comments down below and we will add it to the list! Requirements are a publicly available download link, and a booting state at minimum. Please do mention a link. We merely link to existing threads, so if the thread can not be found, it is unlikely to appear here.
However, entrepreneurs all over the world are stepping up to the plate to address food waste in remarkably creative ways. Barnana produces snacks from dehydrated bananas, sourced from Latin America, that would have been otherwise wasted — either because they’re scuffed, too ripe, or an unappealing size for consumption. The company has even “close(d) the banana waste loop,” as chief marketing officer Nik Ingersoll told Forbes, by powering their dehydrator using pellets made from dried banana peels. In the Netherlands, Koffiekik is growing protein-rich oyster mushrooms using discarded coffee grounds. In California, Imperfect Produce delivers produce that supermarkets won’t sell in-store, due to their odd shapes and sizes, for 30-50% below market price. Bronx-based Baldor Fresh Cuts uses food scraps from restaurants, like carrot tops and pineapple cores, to make cookies, supplements, breadcrumbs and more. “The idea is to take an item that normally would be wasted and turn it into a consumer product,” Tom McQuillan, Baldor’s director of food service sales and sustainability, told Popular Science. “It’s a great way to get food into the hands of the food-insecure, and to people who should be eating healthy foods.” Tipping the Scale By turning food waste back into food, these entrepreneurs are beginning to tackle one of our planet’s biggest paradoxes: despite producing much more food than we consume, millions of people remain hungry. According to the World Hunger Education Service, nearly 795 million people suffered from chronic undernourishment in 2014-16. In developing regions, this impacts about 12.9% of the population, compared to less than 5% of developed countries. Unsurprisingly, the balance of food waste skews in the opposite direction, with hungrier countries producing less waste. In these countries, food waste usually isn’t due to distaste for bumpy produce, but instead lack of access to the technology needed to keep food fresh. A 2014 study from the University of Birmingham found that India loses 4.4 billion UK pounds, or roughly US $5.8 billion, worth of fruits and vegetables due to the absence of refrigerant technology. As such, projects are underway in these countries that seek to preserve food before it can spoil. In Kenya, where more than half of the mango crop often spoils before reaching market, Azuri Health is developing a facility to dry the mangoes into fruit leather, a shelf-stable product and dense source of nutrients. The FAO-partnered SAVE FOOD Initiative is among the biggest organization pursuing this mission. Thirteen African countries already have SAVE FOOD initiatives underway to reduce food loss and bolster small farmers, as do India, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, and Timor-Leste. In January 2017, the initiative launched its first project in Russia, where food waste is lower than the global average, but still estimated, as of 2013, at roughly 56 kilos per person per year. “If each of us takes a look at their fridge and starts counting the volume of food we throw away each year, we will end up with industrial-scale figures. This is particularly disturbing against the background of the large numbers of people around us who have to save on the essentials and need help,” said Viktoria Krisko, president of Foodbank Rus, at the launch.
This is the (mirrored) face of Chevrolet’s next-generation 2016 Cruze for North America that will be presented on June 24. We say ‘mirrored’ because GM’s original picture only showed half of the compact sedan’s face, so we used digital means to mirror the other half. Compared to the Chinese-specification 2016 Chevrolet Cruze that had its debut in April of 2014, the North American model’s fascia features some styling changes including the shape of the grille and headlamps, as well as the hood. Chevrolet had previously shared some photos of the car’s interior to showcase the newly-developed infotainment system with a standard 7-inch or optional 8-inch screen that will work with both Apple Carplay and Android Auto. GM said that the new Cruze will “build on the current model’s success” offering a larger yet lighter body, with new technologies, new engines and transmissions, and additional available safety features “that will bring a higher level of sophistication to the compact car segment”. While Chevrolet will present the car later this month, it won’t go on sale in the States until early 2016. In addition to GM’s Lordstown, Ohio plant, the new Cruze will also be manufactured at the firm’s revamped Coahuila facility in Mexico and in China. Photo Gallery
Alberta Health Services has shut down an Edmonton food-sharing company that was operating without government approval. "We thought we were immune to their jurisdiction," said Kian Parseyan, who launched his food-sharing company called Scarf in September. "We didn't expect it to escalate to that extreme level right away." Parseyan said there was a mix of "sadness, disappointment and anger" from cooks and customers when Scarf stopped operating last month after receiving a cease-and-desist order. Alberta Health Services wouldn't confirm such an order was sent. "We didn't expect it to escalate to that extreme level right away," said Parseyan. "They wouldn't talk to us." Parseyan's online venture matched Edmonton home cooks with people who could pre-order, pre-pay and pick up meals for about $11. Despite warnings from AHS in October, Scarf continued to operate. "The operator's actions were unfortunate, and put AHS in a position of taking legal steps to protect (the) public," wrote the health authority in an online blog Monday titled "Public health inspectors are here to protect you." "AHS attempted to work with the operator of SCARF; however, despite explaining the significant risk that this operation would pose to Albertans, the operator chose to proceed and launch the website, without approval of either AHS or the Government of Alberta." AHS said people who operate or work for an unapproved food business could be sued or fined. While he doesn't blame officials, Parseyan said the process has revealed a gap between the growing shared economy and what he described as the current practice of regulating it little by little. "It's absolutely not going to work with a sharing economy," said Parseyan, who is now looking for a new job as he works on selling the software platform. "They have to get in front of this and try to regulate the entire sharing economy as a whole." He figured he has lost about about $60,000 in the venture, including start up costs, expenses, and a year of unpaid work. "We took a risk," said Parseyan. "We knew we were always taking a risk with this. And taking a risk is the most Edmonton thing you can do, right?"
A push to get immigration data up on deadline resulted in the details of 10,000 asylum seekers being published on the Department of Immigration and Border Protection's website by mistake, KPMG has found. In February , the full names, nationalities, locations, arrival dates, and boat arrival information of nearly 10,000 asylum seekers housed both on the Australian mainland and Christmas Island was accidentally published online by the department, and was only removed after alerted to the breach by The Guardian. Around 90 of the asylum seekers lodged cases in the Federal Court against the department claiming that the breach exposed them to persecution in their home countries, and therefore they were entitled to automatic protection. A number of those claims have so far been dismissed. In a report from KPMG's investigation into the breach published (PDF) by the department this week, it was revealed that the Immigration Detention and Community Statistics Summary Word document was published on the department's website in early February, and was accessed 123 times from 104 IP addresses before being pulled down. Although the department declined to reveal the extent of the breach, it said that the document was accessed by a "range of sources" including media organisations, Australian government departments, internet proxies, TOR network, and web crawlers. The confidential asylum seeker data was pulled to produce the analysis for the document, and should have been removed prior to publication, but KPMG said that factors contributing to the data breach may have included "time pressures, unfamiliarity with certain functionality of Microsoft Word, lack of awareness of roles and responsibilities, and limited awareness of IT security risks associated with online publishing." The report found that the data set is usually extracted from the data warehouse automatically, but in this instance it was done manually to meet a target publication date of February 10. The data was then imported into Microsoft Excel for analysis by one member of the department, before charts and tables made from Excel were then transferred into a Word document by another staff member who had not previously prepared the monthly document. There were a number of clearance hurdles for the document to go through before being published, including a number of amendments made to the document and the underlying Excel template. KPMG found that the private data was accidentally included at one point during the amendment stage, but was not picked up through any of the final checking processes. KPMG said that the reviews were performed predominantly on a hardcopy version of the document, and were mainly only checked against the department's style guide for spelling and grammar. The authors were not aware of how to check for IT security risks, the report noted. "Authors and approvers were generally unaware that the IT security risk which led to this incident, could occur and were therefore not mindful of checking for indicators of this risk," the report stated. Meeting government accessibility requirements also played a role, KPMG noted. The monthly summary used to only be produced in PDF format, but to meet the accessibility requirements for the visually impaired, the department made the decision to produce a Word document version of the report, too, but staff were unaware of the security risks publishing in Word format might entail. KPMG has recommended that the department improve data clensing processes, update its online publishing quality assurance checks, and train staff in correct online publishing methods.
The topic of today’s blog post is about optimally finding a spouse using optimization models (HT Anna Nagurney). This post is based on a paper published in EJOR entitled, “Optimizing the Marriage Market: An Application of the Linear Assignment Model,” and in it, researchers apply the linear assignment problem to identify how to optimally match potential (heterosexual) couples to find a new social optimum. While matching the couples is a textbook exercise, the researchers used a longitudinal dataset in Switzerland to identify meaning weights to assign to each potential pairing. They find that the actual marriages are far from optimal. The weights are based on logistic regression models for predicting the likelihood of divorce from a longitudinal data set. The weights are based on four types of socioeconomic variables of each person in the set: Age Previous divorce (or not) Education (high or low) Nationality (Swiss, Western, or non-Western) The weights for each pairing are not symmetric. For example, a wife is much more likely to divorce from a husband five years her junior than five years her senior. The assignment problem is an integer programming model that produces the lowest cost one-to-one matching between two sets of items, such as individuals and jobs. Here, the two sets of items are men and women. The assignment problem is totally unimodular, and therefore, can be efficiently solved via the Hungarian algorithm. Let: W = set of women M = set of men (with \|W\|=\|M\|) x{ij} = 1 if woman i is matched to man j, i in W and j in M c{ij} = the “cost” of matching woman i is to man j. The optimization problem is: A solution to the assignment problem admits exactly m=\|M\| = \|W\| variables with value 1 (the rest of the variables are zero). The structure here is a bipartite graph: one set of nodes represents the women and the other set of nodes represents the men. Every women is connected to all the men (and none of the women) and vice versa. There are m! possible matchings (corresponding to some permutation of possible pairings), and the assignment polytope has m! extreme points. The Hungarian algorithm works by finding the reduced cost matrix, by first subtracting the smallest value in each row from the entire row. This is repeated for each row, leaving a zero in each row. Then, this is repeated over the columns. The resulting reduced matrix will have a zero in every column and every row, and all of its entries will be nonnegative. The optimal solution is identified by covering the zeros by adding lines row-wise and column-wise in a multi-step procedure. I put together a small Excel spreadsheet with 9 men and women [Link to my Excel file and to the instructions], where I solve the assignment program. Please download and use in an introductory LP class. The authors of the paper say that their method is an “innovative method of optimizing romantic partner allocation.” Of course, this is no way to find a partner for life. However, the authors point out that they could substantially improve marriage survival by reallocating 68% of the pairings. They conclude that “current marriage markets are suboptimally organized.” My Valentine’s Day wish to my readers is that you optimally organize your love life with or without the use of optimization models. Advertisements
× Fires at nearby apartments likely set by same suspect, investigators say SAN DIEGO – Arson investigators say two early-morning apartment fires in the Mid-City area may have been started by the same person. The two blazes began about 30 minutes apart at two apartment complexes within blocks of each other. The fire was reported at 4 a.m. in Normal Heights in the 4000 block of Hawley Boulevard. A woman trapped on the second floor of that apartment building called for help through the window. Firefighters used a ladder to rescue her. She is now hospitalized, but firefighters described her injuries as non-lifethreatening. Just as roughly 30 firefighters knocked down the Hawley Boulevard fire , they had to turn their sirens back on and head several blocks west to Kansas Street in North Park. There they found a first-floor fire that had spread to the second floor in an apartment located in the 4600 block of Kansas Street. A man who had been inside when the fire started, He and his neighbor made it out safely. San Diego fire investigators say they believe the two fires as arson, They have a suspect in mind, but requested that FOX 5 not release his name, since this is an open investigation. Witness Robin Truex said she is best friends with the woman who is now hospitalized and acts as caregiver for the man displaced by the second fire. “I assumed that it was electrical, because I just couldn’t imagine anybody would do something like that, come to find out my best friend…he set her place on fire too. She almost died. She’s in the hospital right now,” Truex said through tears. Truex told Fox 5 she believes she and her friend named Shauna are being targeted by her son’s best friend. “She said her place was set on fire. He set her living room on fire, he shoved her in the bedroom and set her house on fire,” said Robin. Robin also said she and Shauna had been trying to help the young man. She didn’t know why he turned on them. “Because he seemed to be a nice guy and kind of down on his luck, I just never dreamed he would do something like this ever. I just couldn’t imagine anyone doing something like that.” Firefighters said between the two fires, damage is estimated at $500,000.
Please enable Javascript to watch this video ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. — An NYPD detective has been suspended without pay after being arrested for allegedly masturbating while peering in a child's window. Det. Robert Francis was arrested at 2:30 a.m. Sunday after allegedly standing in a Rockville Centre backyard while peering into a home and masturbating. Francis, who works in the 71st precinct in Crown Heights, was arrested for public lewdness and endangering the welfare of a child, police sources say. The arrest comes on the heels of an investigation into several similar incidents throughout Rockville Centre. Three similar crimes happened in February, Rockville Center police say. The incidents all happened between 8 and 9 p.m. The suspect, described as being about 5-foot-10 and weighing about 220 pounds, stands peering into the victim's window. The suspect has had either a flashlight or forehead light and was naked from the waist down. Once the victims spot him, he takes off. Police sources did not say if Francis is linked to the previous incidents. Anyone with information is urged to call the Rockville Centre Police Department at 516-766-1500. Please enable Javascript to watch this video
Publisher The Oz Film Manufacturing Co L Frank Baum's film of his fairy tale "The Patchwork Girl of Oz" Violet MacMillan...Ojo, a Munchkin Boy Frank Moore...Unc Nunkie, Ojo's Guardian Raymond Russell...Dr. Pipt, the Crooked Magician Leontine Dranet...Margolotte, his wife, who makes the Patchwork Girl Bobbie Gould...Jesseva, his daughter, betrothed to Danx Marie Wayne...Jinjur, a Maid in the Emerald City Richard Rosson...Danx, a Noble Munchkin (as Dick Rosson) Frank Bristol...The Soldier with the Green Whiskers (Omby Amby) Fred Woodward...The Woozy, a Quaintness / The Zoop, A Mystery / Mewel, who is Everybody's Friend Todd Wright...The Wizard of Oz Bert Glennon...The Scarecrow (as Herbert Glennon) Hal Roach...The Cowardly Lion / Tottenhot (as Al Roach) Andy Anderson...The Hungry Tiger Jessie May Walsh...Ozma of Oz, the Ruler of the Emerald City William Cook...The Royal Chamberlain Produced by L Frank Baum Directed by J Farrell MacDonald Contact Information http://video-cellar.blogspot.com/ plus-circle Add Review comment Reviews Reviewer: CorporalPig22 - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - May 15, 2018 Subject: ВИD Has An Older Sister It's the infamous Oz Film Company logo.... It will haunt you in your dreams (erm, nightmares).... and it was summoned by a Satanic cult from the time, who, 76 years later, would summon her younger brother, ВИD. Ah, but at the end, it gets worse.... The close-up variant of the logo is pure nighmare fuel. For the "in-your-face" style of the logo is bound to scare many unsuspecting viewers that expected the normal variant.... not to mention that it is usually silent. RUN FOR YOUR HECKING LIVES.... - May 15, 2018ВИD Has An Older Sister Reviewer: I_h8_screen_names - favorite favorite favorite favorite - June 5, 2014 Subject: The Patchwork Girl This is a cute movie. There was no music at all on it when I watched. - June 5, 2014The Patchwork Girl Reviewer: judeblack, bbc - favorite favorite favorite favorite - June 1, 2014 Subject: A Ripping Good Time! The actor playing the Patchwork Girl is Pierre Couderc or The Marvelous Couderc. Wikipedia says he was a French acrobat, actor, screenwriter and producer and that he also appeared in His Majesty The Scarecrow of Oz. Mr. Couderc certainly deserves credit because he does a great job of bringing Scraps to life. In the books, she is never still, always getting into trouble, but truly kind and helpful. She's all that in this movie too. The Woozy is also very well done; he looks exactly like John R. Neill's illustrations. Thank you for posting this movie. It is a gem. - June 1, 2014A Ripping Good Time! Reviewer: Dr M - - June 16, 2010 Subject: Greatful, but... I'm really greatful to the poster for allowing us to see this film. I've wanted to see it for a long time, so it was a thrill to finally be able to enjoy it. However, as noted, the picture quality leaves a lot to be desired. If anyone can post this wonderful movie again in a more watchable form, I'm sure there would be a lot of greatful people out there, me included. - June 16, 2010Greatful, but... Reviewer: FP - favorite - December 17, 2008 Subject: Awful video compression artifacts Whatever entertainment to be had from the film is demolished by the hugely artifacted video compression. The size of the file is no indicator of the quality in this instance. It looks horrible. I downloaded the .ogv. Concerning the previous reviewer's comments about the music: I agree it's inappropriate. It consists of haphazardly-chosen NUTCRACKER excerpts for the most part, if memory serves. However, I don't think it's a synthesized orchestra. The audio compression is also bad, so that the squashing of the sound makes it flange/phase horribly, giving it an electronic edge. - December 17, 2008Awful video compression artifacts
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In the strongest sign to date that he intends to seek the 2016 Republican Presidential nomination, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush has officially resigned his position as George W. Bush’s brother. "No longer being related to his brother is a key step to clearing Jeb's path to the nomination," an aide said on New Year's Day. "We expect his poll numbers to soar on this." According to the aide, the former Florida governor resigned his post as brother in a ten-minute phone call with George W. Bush, after which he blocked the former President's phone number and e-mail address. In an official statement, George W. Bush said that he "understands and supports" his former brother's decision. "If I were him, I would no longer be related to me either," he said. Get news satire from The Borowitz Report delivered to your inbox.
Abraham Lincoln has joined George Washington on the list of those targeted by Chicagoans in a national debate over Civil War-era monuments. Alderman Raymond Lopez took to Facebook Wednesday night to decry the defacing of a statue representing the nation’s 16th president in the Englewood neighborhood. The giant bust appears to have been damaged after someone in the 15th Ward sprayed and ignited a flammable liquid. “What an absolute disgraceful act of vandalism. This bust of Abraham Lincoln, erected by Phil Bloomquist on August 31, 1926, was damaged & burned,” Mr. Lopez wrote, a local NBC affiliate reported. “If anyone has any information regarding this act, please contact the police or my office immediately.” “F- Abe Lincoln,” responded Quintin Mitchell, whose comment was “liked” or deemed “funny” by 160 others. The official’s finding came just one day after President Trump stated opposition to tearing down memorials related to America’s past with slavery. “I wonder is it George Washington next week and is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You know, you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop?” Mr. Trump asked reporters on Tuesday while addressing violence in Virginia. SEE ALSO: Chicago pastor urges mayor to remove George Washington statue, rename park over slavery Heather Heyer, 32, was killed at Charlottesville protests over the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee last weekend. Police arrested suspect James Alex Fields, 20, after he accelerated his car into a crowd. Bishop James E. Dukes of Chicago’s Liberation Christian Center responded to Mr. Trump’s comments by calling on Mayor Rahm Emanuel to rename Washington Park and remove a statue of the first U.S. president over his ties to slavery. “It’s time,” Mr. Dukes wrote on his Facebook page, The Washington Times reported. “Please read my letter to Mayor Rahm Emanuel and The Chicago Park District. I’m calling on them to change the names of Washington and Jackson Park. Slave owners do not deserve the honor of our children playing in parks named after them. There is no way a Native American Community would allow a General Custer Park or a Jewish Community allow a Gestapo Park in their community.” Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.
Curiosity has led me once again down the road of the weekend project… I was doing some reading on different string hashing algorithms and felt the urge to see if I could visualize the grouping and collision tendencies of them, so I fired up Visual Studio and wrote a quick and dirty app. How it Works: The appropriately named “Buckets” is actually very simple. It works by taking a 600×600 image and creating a hash bucket out of each pixel in the image. It then generates a series of either incremental or random strings and runs those strings against the selected hashing algorithm. After the hash is computed, it finds the appropriate bucket and increments a value in the bucket to denote that a hash value was given to that bucket. This generated data is then used to create either a gradient map or three dimensional surface to visualize the different hash frequencies. Results: The results were actually surprising. In my first tests I only used randomly generated data (I was hesitant at first about simply using a generator, as some generators can produce patterns of their own, but a good hash should evenly distribute even non random data) and could not, despite my best efforts, produce any sort of discernible patterns even though I knew that some of the less capable algorithms should have tendencies. I’m still not fully sure this is correct, and if anyone has any ideas please feel free to let me know, but I eventually concluded that the set of all possible keys was just so large that I would need to try an extremely large number of keys before I began to see patterns emerge. Next I decided to simply use predictable keys. I chose two different selectable methods for this. First was to simply loop an integer upward and hash the integer as a string. This had the benefit of having no alphabetic characters generated so it offered a different look on the algorithms performance. The second method was to simply walk a character string and convert the integer value into a corresponding string value. These methods began to yield much better results. For the simpler hashes such as the additive hash or exclusive-or(XOR) hash the results were pitiful but the Bernstein and SDMB hashes began to show some very interesting patterns. Its clear how the SAX hash is VERY dependent on key length and fails to produce well distributed hashes with smaller keys. I think it is also notable that under no circumstance was I able to get Google’s MurmurHash2 or MurmurHash3 to produce any kind of pattern. Maybe with a bit more computing power and running more hashes I can get some pattern to bubble up. There are too many different possibilities for me to show here, but if you would like to see and play with the outputs yourself I’ve uploaded both the binary and sources for the app. Download: You can find the source for the project on the Disruption Theory github: https://github.com/DisruptionTheory/Buckets We welcome features and fixes so if you have one, please feel free to send a pull request. Or download the compiled executable: -Darrell
Fathers: Regain Your Manliness the Confucian Way Our modern world has put fatherhood in a tight spot. From a 50 percent divorce rate to a career of servitude in the office cell of a corporate master, it may often seem that contemporary fathers have hardly any opportunity to live up to the name. And society seems to give our mothers a greater share of love: Since 2004, Father’s Day sales have consistently lagged behind Mother’s Day spending by about two times, according to statistics from the U.S. National Retail Foundation. The ancient Chinese placed a premium on the father’s role in the family. The ancients honored their fathers with a reverence equal to kings and even gods. In legendary times, a character meaning “monarch” contained within it the symbol for “father.” While this may sound extreme to modern ears, Chinese tradition offers some broad lessons to fathers today. Fathers in Chinese Tradition As the head of society’s smallest denomination—the family—the father is responsible not just for the physical well-being of his household, but also for inculcating in his children the mores and attitudes befitting the familial roles they too will come to inherit. Confucius, the famous sage who lived over 2,500 years ago, taught that filial piety, or “xiao,” was the bedrock of a functioning family. It rests on the reciprocity inherent in different social relationships—between friends, older and younger siblings, father and son, husband and wife, ruler and ruled. By recognizing these relationships, people could live and grow side by side in harmony. Related Coverage Improve Your Resolve With Ancient Chinese Wisdom Confucius held that paternal love was different from maternal affection; above all, a father must command a healthy respect. Confucius or 孔子, by unknown author. (Commons Wikimedia) A Healthy Distance While the father had to be kind and loving to his children, there still had to exist a certain distance. Fathers in ancient China did not pretend that they were meant to be friends with their children in the normal sense. It was not the job of a parent to indulge in children’s worlds, but to provide them the means to develop their character and enter the world of adults. Whether in business dealings or in domestic affairs, the father was cognizant of the example he was setting for young onlookers and gave explicit instruction where appropriate. A father could not let down the barriers of propriety that defined his role. Though his contact with his children may have been limited, as it is now by the constraints of his vocation, he had to make the best imprint possible upon his progeny. Don’t Be an Autocrat This is not to say that Chinese fathers had the last word in all instances. As one first-century Chinese thinker put it: “All men are children of God and are merely made flesh through the spirits of father and mother. Therefore, the father has not absolute power over the son.” Since the child has been seeing his father as a role model and bearer of morality, he will also be expected to hold himself to these same principles. This is not the same as blind obedience, which Confucius loathed. Related Coverage Giving Thanks the Ancient Chinese Way When one of his disciples boasted of having withstood a particularly brutal beating from his father, Confucius was quick to reprimand him: By tolerating the potentially injurious blows, was he not allowing his father to commit wrongdoing? The role of a child, Confucius taught, must not be to follow his parents blindly, but rather to absorb the character-building lessons learned from them and assist them in their own times of moral weakness. This highlights the importance of leading by example—only when a father represents a strong, upright character will a son be correct in emulating him. Modern Realities For the modern father, trying to leave time for your offspring can be a daunting, even seemingly impossible task. While working women are afforded maternity leave and corporate culture has resigned itself to their simultaneous status as mothers, there is little breathing room for the career-minded dad. In today’s society, where the paternal role has been virtually reduced to that of breadwinner, it is even more crucial that the time spent with your kids be made to count. As every moment a father has with his sons or daughters is formative, he must—avoiding the urge to indulge himself and his children—lead by genuine strength of character and thus be a worthy model for posterity.
Home, sweet Rome: Painter and decorator recreates Sistine Chapel in EVERY room of his council house From the outside it looks like a normal, drab sixties house like any other on the terraced street. But inside, tenant Robert Burns has transformed his rented council home in Brighton into a stunning lookalike of the world-famous Sistine Chapel. Drawing on his skills as a retired decorator he has spent the past eight years turning his £86-a-week property on the outskirts of the East Sussex town into an astonishing Renaissance-style masterpiece. Every inch of the walls and ceilings is covered with elaborate frescoes inspired by 15th century works by famous Italian painters, complete with gilt-edged nativity scenes and portraits of the Virgin Mary. Inside his council flat, Robert Burns has created something that represents the Sistine Chapel The 63-year-old said his labour of love was prompted by the boredom of painting other people's houses in neutral, pastel colours. He said: 'I spent fifteen years of my working life applying exactly the same shade of magnolia to people's living rooms with a paint roller. You could teach a primate to be a half-decent decorator. I needed a creative outlet. 'One day I saw some photos of the Vatican in Rome and thought, "I could do that". I never looked back.' RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next Electrifying: The terrifying moment a jet was struck by... Rescued by the Mail, how Mely the orangutan found a friend Share this article Share Unable to afford a trip to Italy to look at the original masterpieces, Mr Burns had to recreate the paintings from coffee-table art books bought in jumble sales. He even used standard DIY-shop emulsion paint, spending hours producing painstaking scale replicas. His most recent work - a copy of the Sistine Madonna - sits in his study and he thinks it's his best to date. Unsuspecting: The terraced house looks like any other on the street The self-taught artist is not afraid of adding his own modern touches and in the hallway visitors are greeted by a portrait of Jesus with an uncanny resemblance to Russell Brand and a crown of thorns on his head. Mr Burns said: 'That's no accident. I saw his photo in a newspaper and he was the spitting image of Christ, so I lifted it. 'It's maybe a bit irreverent, but Michaelangelo used real people as models for his angels, so I don't see any harm in it. In fact I wonder whether Russell might want to buy the picture, like a real Renaissance patron? 'I have huge respect for the old Italian masters, but I don't mind making a few changes here and there. It has taken eight years for Mr Burns to complete the work throughout his house 'I copied a fresco by Correggio in my stairwell which has an eagle in it. But I think his eagle looks more like a turkey than a bird of prey, so I did my own one.' Four years ago, when his house - then half-finished - first appeared in the papers, the father-of-four caught the eye of a millionaire property tycoon who commissioned him to refurbish the painted ceiling of his crumbling ballroom. He said: 'That was a great job. It felt like I was was walking in the footsteps of great artists like Rafael, who all earned their crust by working as glorified decorators. 'Most people nowadays prefer to live in bland, flat-packed homes though. We've lost the art of proper interior decorating. His work is painted onto plaster so when he and his wife move out they can't take it with them Because he has never been able to afford to go to the Sistine Chapel Mr Burns used pictures of the interior of the chapel to help him with his paintings 'Maybe they should give me my own daytime TV show where I could teach people how to do Renaissance makeovers. 'This may be a council house, but I live in style, like the Pope, or old Italian nobility. If it's good enough for the Medicis, it's good enough for me.' His wife Linda, 55, said she is her husband's sternest critic. She said: 'I always let him know what I think. He will ask me if a Madonna would look good on a particular wall, or whether the eyebrows are painted on straight. 'I love what he's done with the house. Robert is so talented. He was wasted as a decorator. The only problem is we have begun to realise his life's work is all painted on plaster. 'So if we ever had to move, we couldn't take it with us. And we can't afford to buy the house, so it all belongs to the council.
The Wall Street Journal's Bret Stephens used the possibility of military intervention in Syria to rewrite the history of the Iraq war, falsely claiming the Bush administration's case against Iraq was supported by solid evidence. Stephens, the Journal's foreign-affairs columnist and deputy editorial page editor for international opinion pages, criticized the Obama administration's case for intervention in Syria by comparing it to Bush's decision to invade Iraq, which he claimed was made based on "highly detailed" intelligence revealing weapons of mass destruction. Stephens claimed the "testimony of U.N. inspectors like Hans Blix" supported the Bush administration's case for war, and accusations that the Bush administration lied were "libel" and "cheap slander": Then there's the intel. In London the other day, Mr. Kerry invited the public to examine the administration's evidence of Assad's use of chemical weapons, posted on whitehouse.gov. The "dossier" consists of a 1,455-word document heavy on blanket assertions such as "we assess with high confidence" and "we have a body of information," and "we have identified one hundred videos." By contrast, the Bush administration made a highly detailed case on Iraqi WMD, including show-and-tells by Colin Powell at the Security Council. It also relied on the testimony of U.N. inspectors like Hans Blix, who reported in January 2003 that "there are strong indications that Iraq produced more anthrax than it declared," that his inspectors had found "indications that the [nerve agent VX] was weaponized," and that Iraq had "circumvented the restrictions" on the import of missile parts. The case the Bush administration assembled on Iraqi WMD was far stronger than what the Obama administration has offered on Syria. And while I have few doubts that the case against Assad is solid, it shouldn't shock Democrats that the White House's "trust us" approach isn't winning converts. When you've spent years peddling the libel that the Bush administration lied about Iraq, don't be shocked when your goose gets cooked in the same foul sauce. So what should President Obama say when he addresses the country Tuesday night? He could start by apologizing to President Bush for years of cheap slander. He won't. But Hans Blix told CNN in 2004 that the Bush administration "chose to ignore" his team's concerns about the lack of solid evidence in favor of war, and that prior to the invasion the evidence of WMDs in Iraq was revealed to be "shaky": "I think it's clear that in March, when the invasion took place, the evidence that had been brought forward was rapidly falling apart," Hans Blix, who oversaw the agency's investigation into whether Iraq had chemical and biological weapons, said on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer." Blix described the evidence Secretary of State Colin Powell presented to the U.N. Security Council in February 2003 as "shaky," and said he related his opinion to U.S. officials, including national security adviser Condoleezza Rice. "I think they chose to ignore us," Blix said. Furthermore, an investigation into the lead up to the Iraq war found that statements President Bush made about Iraq misled the American people and Congress by inaccurately depicting the available intelligence. The 2008 Senate Intelligence Committee's report found that "policymakers' statements" in particular misrepresented the nature of contacts between Iraq and Al Qaeda, and that Bush's allegations "that Iraq and al-Qa'ida had a partnership" were "not substantiated by the intelligence." The report also found that statements by Bush and Vice President Cheney indicating that Saddam Hussein was prepared to give WMDs to terrorists for use against the U.S. "were contradicted by available intelligence information." While there are serious questions about the wisdom of using military force in Syria, any debate must include the facts -- not the Journal's fanciful rewriting of history.
Part 2 of the 4 part series of renal replacement therapies, Dr Michaela Cartner (@Mjcartner) from the Gold Coast University Hospital provides an introduction to the different types of renal replacement therapy. The different modes include CRRT, IHD and SLED. CRRT – continuous renal replacement therapy is the most commonly used dialysis therapy in the ICU. As the name suggests, CRRT is a slow form of dialysis that runs continuously over 24 hours. It is only indicated for AKIs and is favoured in the ICU for its haemodynamic stability and ease of operation. Some limitations of CRRT are that it requires the patient to be immobile, there is a heavy nursing workload, and it requires anticoagulation, among other factors. IHD – intermittent haemodialysis is usually reserved for outpatient dialysis and runs over 3-4 hours multiple times a week. It is a high blood flow system which effectively removes low weight molecules and therefore doesn’t require anticoagulation and is ideal for managing hyperkalemia. It is less suitable for the ICU setting due to the potential for haemodynamic instability, dialysis/electrolyte disequilibrium syndrome (DDS) and the technical/practical difficulties. SLED – sustained low-efficiency dialysis is midway between CRRT and IHD. It is usually run over 6-12 hours and has a moderate flow rate. It is similar to IHD in its effectiveness in managing hyperkalemia but doesn’t have the same potential for DDS, doesn’t require anticoagulation, and maintains haemodynamic stability. SLED is becoming more widely accepted as the haemodialysis modality of choice in intensive care units for its ease of use, shorter treatment time and similar mortality rates (compared with CRRT). Much of the reluctance to change is due to the clinical unfamiliarity and high start-up costs.
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- Images of Chinese warplanes on Monday appearing to fly within view of Taiwan's mountains have been posted by Chinese media sites on Weibo, causing much consternation and concern in Taiwan, if they indeed were that close. People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) spokesman Colonel Shen Jinke said on Monday (Dec. 11), that a group of aircraft composed of Xian H-6 Bombers, Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets, Shenyang J-11 fighter jets, Tupolev Tu-154 reconnaissance planes, and an air refueling tanker conducted a routine "island encirclement patrol" to "safeguard national sovereignty." Chinese media outlets then embellished the story by posting images on Weibo of the warplanes with what appears to be mountains in the distant background, which are circled in red and then described as "Taiwan's mountains." Map posted by Weibo user MBA张琪 showing approximate flight paths of the Chinese warplanes. Japan's military reported detecting the squadron of Chinese aircraft crossing the Miyako Strait, which is northeast of Taiwan before reaching the Bashi Channel on Dec. 11. Also on that day, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored the activities of the Chinese aircraft and dispatched planes and ships to investigate and deal with the situation. It concluded that it was not an unusual situation as the flight path used by the Chinese aircraft was similar to previous patrols and that citizens should not be alarmed.
(CNN) In a sea of outrage over the toxic drinking water in one of America's most beleaguered cities, one man has emerged as a leading skeptic of the catastrophe. Republican pundit, former state lawmaker and Flint resident Bill Ballenger, 74, says he has not been poisoned from bathing and drinking from the taps of a city where authorities continue to advise people not to consume the water. "The publicity ... is overblown," Ballenger told CNN on Thursday. That candor cost him his job as a contributing writer for Inside Michigan Politics , a political analysis newsletter. "He is entitled to his opinion," Demas said of Ballenger, "but not his own facts." Demas said she made her decision "with a heavy heart" and apologized to those hurt by Ballenger's comments "at a time of already considerable anxiety and pain." "Flint is a public health catastrophe, as the meticulous research of Virginia Tech and Hurley Medical Center Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha clearly shows," she said. "I cannot have anyone associated with Inside Michigan Politics who minimizes the impact of this terrible public health disaster that will impact people's lives for decades to come." Scientists not in agreement with Ballenger Researchers from Virginia Tech have said the Flint River is highly corrosive -- 19 times more so than the Lake Huron supply. Flint residents have voiced complaints about their brown and foul-smelling tap water since officials switched the city's water supply from Lake Huron to the dirty Flint River in April 2014 as a cost-cutting measure. JUST WATCHED She helped expose Flint water crisis Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH She helped expose Flint water crisis 02:29 Hanna-Attisha, director of the pediatric residency program at Hurley Medical Center, discovered that the percentage of children in Flint with lead poisoning had doubled in recent years, she told CNN. "In some neighborhoods, it actually tripled," she said. "(In) one specific neighborhood, the percentage of kids with lead poisoning went from about 5%, to almost 16% of the kids that were tested. ... It directly correlated with where the water lead levels were the highest." Those findings went against trends across the country, which had seen lead levels dropping every year. Though experts have described Hanna-Attisha's findings as incontrovertible, Ballenger said he isn't convinced. "The idea that the entire population of Flint has been poisoned and that we all have elevated blood levels because of this is just a total canard," Ballenger told Detroit's WJR radio. "It's just a crock, and for this to be perpetuated as a story is doing a lot of damage to Flint as a community." Ballenger admitted that some people have been exposed to lead poisoning, but he questioned the severity of the contamination and said further studies were needed. Ballenger, who previously was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives and the Michigan Senate, was born and raised in Flint, WWJ reported. He lives in an upscale part of the city part time, according to CNN affiliate WJRT-TV. "Lead in the water is no joke," Ballenger's neighbor Razan Al-Midani told the station. "Our water is tasting fine, but I don't want to take the risk, so I've been purchasing bottled water," Al-Midani said. "I would say, 'Be better safe than sorry,' even if it has been exaggerated, you still have take the precautions." "There is a problem with the water in Flint," he told CNN. "But for parts of the last decade ... Flint has been pounded. It's lost half its population. This is terrible publicity for Flint. It's vastly exaggerated." Since auto plants began closing in the 1980s, Flint -- a city of 100,000 -- has been struggling with declining population, spikes in violent crime and increasing poverty. 'I think mistakes were made' Asked whether residents with lead-poisoned children or who complain about smelly and foul-tasting water were wrong, Ballenger said: "I'm not telling them they're wrong. I think mistakes were made in the way the switch was made to the Flint River to use that as a source of water and to keep the water clean. Mistakes were made." Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, Snyder and President Barack Obama have declared states of emergency, with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security leading Washington's response. State Attorney General Bill Schuette is investigating whether any laws were broken. Class-action lawsuits by Flint residents will attempt to prove the culpability of government officials. The city switched back to the Lake Huron water supply in October, but the damage was already done to the lead pipes. The state is now handing out filters and bottled water with the National Guard. "The entire city was exposed," Hanna-Attisha told CNN. "Every neighborhood had high water lead levels. And every neighborhood had children with high blood lead levels." The financially struggling city is poorly equipped to deal with mitigating the impact of an irreversible neurotoxin on a community, according to experts. "There's no treatment, but there's a lot of things that we can put in place for these children," Hanna-Attisha said, citing universal preschool, nutrition, education and health services. "We owe it to these kids to make this better."
I only started studying te reo at Te Ataarangi this year, but I knew straight away that there was something different about it – and not just the fact that we use cuisenaire rods instead of pen and paper, writes Nadine Millar. Shame is one of the biggest barriers many of us face in learning Māori. The word whakamā means “to whiten” yet it’s so much weightier than that. Shame and fear of speaking Māori isn’t something that only affects shy people. Even the most confident speakers can lose their voice sometimes. I’ve heard people deliver powerful prepared whaikōrero, or recite karakia beautifully, only to see them clam up and stumble when the formalities are over and conversations around the table take on a casual tone. The worst part is, they’re often criticised for it. Whispering behind cupped hands, people say things like, “he’s fluent on the paepae, but he can’t ask for a cup of tea.” It’s little wonder we’re scared to open our mouths. Not only did we inherit the fear of speaking from our ancestors, many of whom were beaten or made to feel stupid for using their native tongue, but often, we put each other down as well. This isn’t an attitude you’ll find in a Te Ataarangi class. In fact, the first thing you learn as a student of Te Ataarangi is that upholding each other’s mana is paramount. The five governing rules of Te Ataarangi intrinsically recognise that for many of us, the hurdles we face are emotional rather than intellectual, and that the people around us can either magnify those hurdles or help us overcome them. I only started Te Ataarangi this year, but I knew straight away that there was something different about its approach – and it wasn’t just the fact that we use rākau (cuisenaire rods) to learn instead of pen and paper. My teacher, Te Atakohu O’Sullivan, says one of the first lessons people learn in her class is to see with their ears and hear with their eyes. It’s about using all your senses to learn. Students watch how the rākau are laid down and follow along, creating pictures and describing what we see. More complex sentences evolve over time as each learner’s skill improves. It’s a great way of demystifying some of the language structures that simply don’t exist in English, because the ambition is not to translate Pākehā sentences into Māori, but to unlock language in our subconscious mind. More importantly, Te Ataarangi aims to get people speaking from day one. Te Ataarangi is different in other ways, too. It emphasises group learning over individual assessment, recognising that “ako” encompasses both teaching and learning. In other words, the basis of learning is partnership, not testing. Ruakere Hond, Chair of Te Runanga o Te Ataarangi, told me that for Māori, learning Māori is so closely aligned to our identity and our hopes for our own children that we often put too much pressure on ourselves. “There are so many emotions people go through while they’re learning. The idea with Te Ataarangi is to try and limit the fear and get the group to work together.” When the basis of learning is partnership, it’s natural that your classmates begin to feel like whānau – which is why there’s always an annual get together. This year’s Te Ataarangi Hui Whānui was hosted by my rohe, Te Ataarangi ki Te Upoko o Te Ika (lower North Island). It was held at Takapūwahia marae, just down the road from me. I put down my name to help and was assigned the role of photographer. It was a job that gave me a bird’s eye view of everything happening across the weekend – from the kaimahi working to cater for the manuhiri, to the Māori wardens directing traffic in the bitter cold, to the many and varied workshops for the manuhiri. The theme for this year’s Hui Whānui was “hoki mai ki te orokohanga” – returning to the beginnings of Te Ataarangi. On the first night, after dinner, kuia and koroua stood to share their memories of the first Te Ataarangi teachers in their rohe. Almost all those early teachers were native speakers. They recognised that revitalisation of the language needed to happen in the community and within our homes rather than in schools and universities. It’s a philosophy that still guides Te Ataarangi today. There’s a place for formal instruction, but unless people are able to use Māori outside the classroom, within our whānau and communities, the survival of our language will always be under threat. Dame Te Heikōkō Katerina Mataira and Te Kumeroa Ngoingoi Pewhairangi developed Te Ataarangi in the 1970s. For many people, especially Coasties, Katerina and Ngoi are household names. Katerina was an author, artist and academic. Ngoi was a prolific composer with hundreds of songs to her name – best known among them E Ipo and Poi E. Of Ngāti Porou whakapapa, both Ngoi and Katerina were at the forefront of the Māori revitalisation movement and instrumental in the development of many of the institutions we now take for granted: kōhanga reo, kura kaupapa and of course, Te Ataarangi. Together, Ngoi and Katerina travelled the country, finding native speakers and training them to become teachers. There are now hundreds of classes around the country across 10 regions, plus whānau in Australia. When Ngoi passed away, carver Greg Whakataka Brightwell presented the Te Ataarangi whānau with a waka huia. This is a beautiful treasure box adorned with Ngāti Porou tūpuna and it now journeys around the country, just as Ngoi and Katerina did, continuing their work to celebrate te reo Māori and ensure that it will never be lost. By the end of the weekend, I’d taken over a thousand photos. Going through them on Sunday night, I was struck by a few things. The first is that it’s impossible to tell who among us can speak Māori just by looking at picture. I seem to need to remind myself of it again and again. Perhaps it’s to do with of my own insecurities. I worry sometimes I’m not “Māori enough” or “Māori in the right way”. But it doesn’t matter what you look like, or where you come from. If you want to speak Māori, Te Ataarangi will teach you – ahakoa no hea, ahakoa ko wai. More to the point, we need to challenge the common misconception that being Māori is a pre-requisite for speaking Māori. There are fluent Pākehā speakers among us – always have been. That’s why there was such a diverse group of people at the Hui Whānui. This is the kind of New Zealand I want to live in. A country in which diversity doesn’t just mean “we invited one Māori, one Pasifika and one woman to our panel”. But a country where Pākehā are just as comfortable walking in a Māori world as Māori have had to become walking in a Pākehā world. Not “becoming one people” but living side by side as equals, celebrating the things that make our cultures unique. The other observation I made was how much laughter dominated the weekend. And I don’t just mean people smiled, I mean, people laughed so hard the photos were all blurry. Inside the tent watching the groups present their skits on stage, we laughed so much I thought we were going to shake the pegs out of the ground. The performances ranged from complex storylines with advanced language to simple ditties accompanied by actions. It didn’t really matter what the skits were or how polished they were, all that mattered was that we celebrated what people had to offer. It made me realise that perfection is not only impossible, but kind of irrelevant. Enjoying the journey is a better goal than never making a mistake. Knowing more words and phrases next year than we knew last year, is a better goal than fluency. Feeling confident to try, and supporting others to try, is a better goal than being the best. Because it may well be that the best antidote to the shame and fear that creeps up on us, is a little bit of laughter. The last photos I took were of the poroporaki, the farewell. It was the only time the mood in the tent became sombre. Karakia was offered and tears began to flow. Whānau from Te Ataarangi ki Taranaki, hosts of next year’s Hui Whānui, came forward to lift the taonga in preparation for her next journey. A soft lament floated through the tent as the taonga made her way out into the light, leading the way for the next generation of reo Māori speakers to follow. The Society section is sponsored by AUT. As a contemporary university we’re focused on providing exceptional learning experiences, developing impactful research and forging strong industry partnerships. Start your university journey with us today.
Of course, since the bump-up is a flat amount, some people with lower benefits might receive a bigger increase than they would under the current system, a senior administration official from the White House explained. Conversely, the bump-up offsets a smaller portion of the cut when benefits are higher. This is not a popular move. According to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, 51 percent of respondents opposed changing the way Social Security benefits are calculated so that benefits increase at a slower rate, while 37 percent supported such a change (11 percent had no opinion). The survey said there were no partisan differences, but among people 65 and older opposition was 64 percent. The “three-legged stool” of retirement — that is, pensions, savings and Social Security — has already become more of a lopsided two-legged stool, because pensions have been waning for years. And the Social Security leg is providing most of the support for many retirees: about 43 percent of single people and 22 percent of married couples rely on the benefits for more than 90 percent of their income, the Social Security Administration says. More than half of couples and 73 percent of singles draw more than half their income from the program. The new measure of inflation would alter the way their benefits increase. Right now, Social Security is pegged to the C.P.I.-W, which tracks the typical purchases of a sample of urban wage and clerical workers, but does not include retirees. (Social Security uses this index because it was the only one that existed when the benefits were first adjusted for inflation.) The chained C.P.I.-U includes some retirees. The chained C.P.I. would more broadly account for how people change their buying habits when prices rise, substituting cheaper items for more expensive ones. When the price of Porterhouse steak increases, the current index considers that a consumer can switch to a cheaper cut, as explained in an AARP paper. But the chained index would account for substitution between category types. So instead of buying cheaper beef, the consumer might switch to chicken. But critics argue that the elderly and disabled do not have the ability to substitute as much as other consumers. “When so much of their budget goes toward health care expenses,” said Cristina Martin Firvida, director of financial security at AARP, “you are not going to choose to replace a hip treatment with another treatment just because it is cheaper. There is a limit for substitution with older people. We already account for a great deal of it in the current calculation.” Many opponents say that neither inflation index accounts for the higher out-of-pocket health care expenses that older people have.
(Editor’s Note: Training camp is an important time of year for the NFL’s undrafted free agents, as unknown players will fight to earn roster spots all over the league. The Cowboys have an especially rich history with undrafted free agents, given the success of once-unknown players like Tony Romo, Cole Beasley, Lance Dunbar, Jeff Heath and Dan Bailey. This series will seek to preview this year’s batch of undrafted rookies, as well as the challenge that awaits them at training camp. We'll continue the series with offensive tackle Ryan Mack.) Name: Ryan Mack Position: OT Height/Weight: 6-4 / 304 College: Memphis College Career: Was a key member of Memphis’ offensive line in 2015, helping the Tigers to a 10-win season. Mack protected quarterback Paxton Lynch, one of college football’s top passers last season. He transferred to Memphis from Louisville, where he was a regular starter for two years at right tackle. Spring Synopsis: Mack has played both sides of the line so far in the offseason, which is a trait that could help him stick around. Being versatile is a key for any young player, especially on the line. Mack has good size for the position and will likely only add strength leading up to camp. The fact the Cowboys are willing to move him around is an indication there could be some potential to work with. Finding good, young offensive linemen isn’t always easy and so the Cowboys might be a little more patient with a guy like Mack. [embeddedad0] How He Makes It: Mack can make this roster if he shows the coaching staff he can be physical, flexible and dependable. He obviously can’t get hurt and needs to take advantage of situations involving other tackles around him that might get banged up and miss practice time. The Cowboys are high on third-round pick Chaz Green, but he’s had some injury issues in the past. Mack has to take all of the reps and play well in the second half of preseason games when his opportunity comes.
Dean_Kreger New Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 9 First grow, starting to flower under 18/6? Now, I checked her this morning to find what look like white hairs and small flowers in some of the nodes. I tried my best to get a good shot, here is the hair ( And here is a shot of the "flower" ( Now, I really don't want to get my hopes up... But this seems to mean it's a female...? These seeds are from a buddy of a buddy of mine. At first I thought these hairs+flowers might mean "auto-flowering", but after some research it looks like auto-flowering plants usually do not get very tall and sex very quickly... So that's out! Some other reading I was doing suggested this might be "pre-flowering"? Does this mean I should switch to 12/12? Any help would be much loved. :] (P.S: (P.P.S: I know haters will hate about my foil, but please, I'm poor ) Hey guys, I've been vegging my girl (hopefully) for about 2 months, she's gotten nice and tall and has some nice secondary shoots that I hope will produce a nice yield...Now, I checked her this morning to find what look like white hairs and small flowers in some of the nodes. I tried my best to get a good shot, here is the hair ( click HERE for larger size ):And here is a shot of the "flower" ( larger size ):Now, I really don't want to get my hopes up... But this seems to mean it's a female...? These seeds are from a buddy of a buddy of mine. At first I thought these hairs+flowers might mean "auto-flowering", but after some research it looks like auto-flowering plants usually do not get very tall and sex very quickly... So that's out!Any help would be much loved. :](P.S: Here's a gallery with a few shots. (P.P.S: I know haters will hate about my foil, but please, I'm poor
Those who celebrate the enduring legacy of Roe v. Wade must also be mindful of the barriers to reproductive autonomy that remain. While celebrating the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we must also mourn the staying power of rhetoric demonizing women who seek reproductive autonomy – especially the young, the poor, rural women and women of color – and the legislation that blocks their ability to access abortion. Battles over the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act are only the latest example, following two earlier victories that targeted these vulnerable populations both at home and abroad: the Helms and Hyde amendments. The lesser known Helms Amendment to the 1973 Foreign Assistance Act blocks US funds from use for abortion care abroad, even if abortion is legal in that country, as in the United States, exporting the right-wing agenda to other countries. In a country like Nepal, which eased its abortion restrictions in 2002, Helms puts up arduous barriers to access by forbidding the use of medical equipment and facilities funded by US aid for abortion services. Back on the home front, the 1976 Hyde Amendment ended federal funding of abortion care through Medicaid, the “largest healthcare program in the United States,” with difficult-to-exercise rape, incest and health exceptions. Hyde set in motion the strategy of using legislation to chip away at Roe and deprive poor women (disproportionately women of color) of access to abortion. Thirty-three states replicated the federal amendment, and of the 17 that use state funds to cover abortion under Medicaid, all but four do so under court order. This trend, combined with decades of the Right unjustly blaming indigent mothers – especially African-Americans and Latinas – for abusing social programs, ushered in chilling cuts and sweeping “reform” to federal welfare by the mid-90s under the Clinton administration. Hyde and welfare reform comprise dramatic losses to the social safety net that ensures poor families can meet basic needs. Unfortunately, the pro-choice movement has largely been ineffective in fighting this narrative about poor women of color, or in moving toward eradicating Hyde. Of course, legislative fights are just one way through which the Right actualizes its anti-choice agenda. In the four decades since Roe, the anti-choice movement has eroded Roe’s promise through intimidation and violence (including murder), court cases and grassroots organizing. Emerging Organizing Trends: Racialization and Adoption Prominent anti-abortion organizations like Right to Life and the American Life League continue to galvanize the largely white and conservative Christian movement. Yet today’s anti-choice leadership is increasingly diverse: Sought-after spokespeople include African-American leaders like Dr. Alveda King, whose legacy as a niece of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gives her a platform, and Rev. Arnold Culbreath, who leads an urban anti-choice outreach initiative. Along with other anti-choice groups led by people of color, they are creating racially targeted campaigns, like the Radiance Foundation’s TooManyAborted.com, which admits without qualms that “[co-founder Ryan] Bomberger and others like him accuse Planned Parenthood of exhorting black women to obtain abortions as a form of genocide.” Its initial billboard campaign read: “Black Children Are an Endangered Species.” Though it might not be immediately apparent, the Right’s historical rhetoric, accusing African-American women of having too many children in order to “hustle” increased welfare benefits, dovetails with this racialized anti-abortion campaigning. Loretta Ross, SisterSong co-founder and a reproductive justice leader noted the strategic shift in 2011: “The antiabortion opponents changed their tactics: Now they claim to promote adoption for black children.” TooManyAborted.com fiercely advocates adoption – especially transracial adoption. The right-wing ideology remains consistent by claiming that while African-American women must carry unwanted pregnancies to term, single and poor moms should consider adoption – to two-parent (male and female) and often white families. After conceptualizing the “too many aborted” billboards in African-American communities, Bomberger has turned to creating advertisements promoting adoption. His latest media campaign, “Turn the Unplanned into a Loving Plan,” is a collaborative effort with the RealOptions crisis pregnancy center and Bethany Christian Services, the largest international adoption agency – a coup for gaining mainstream respectability and power. The AdoptedandLoved.com web site is set to launch on February 13th, in time for Valentine’s Day. These public service announcements polish the anti-choice movement’s public image with a veneer of youth and diversity. The emphasis on adoption and positive imagery, rather than traditional images of bloody fetuses, advances the Right’s attempts to appeal to broader audiences. Waging an Intersectional War Mississippi, where women’s health activists fight to keep the last abortion-providing clinic open, is the same state where a right-wing governor is refusing to expand Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act – taking advantage of the US Supreme Court decision to allow states to opt out of the expansion. Thousands of women will remain without affordable access to reproductive health care, contraceptive services and abortion – even in cases of rape, incest, women’s health or fetal impairment. This is only one example of how the anti-choice Right remains committed to undermining reproductive rights overall, and access to safe and legal abortion. This is why I join other women-of -color leaders in urging defenders of Roe to take an intersectional approach to organizing. The reproductive justice framework acknowledges the intimate link between abortion access and racial and economic justice, as particularly demonstrated by the Helms and Hyde amendments, knowing that the Right encroaches on abortion access for all women by stepping on poor women of color here and abroad. For an informative analysis and useful tools for countering the Right, please see the “What is Reproductive Justice Slideshow and Webinar” posted by the Unitarian Universalist Association and PRA’s Defending Reproductive Justice: An Activist Resource Kit online. This post is part of “Still Wading: Forty years of Resistance, Resilience and Reclamation in Communities of Color,” a blog series by Strong Families commemorating the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
Senator Panfilo Lacson dismissed as “pure hearsay” on Monday a lawyer’s claim that an “oligarch” was planning to bribe senators to acquit Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno in her impeachment trial. “Huwag kayo maniwala masyado kay Atty Gadon. Kasi puro nga hearsay yung kanya, e di lalong hearsay pa ito. ‘Yun nga tini-testify nya dun House puro hearsay, e ito chismis pa ito, di lalong hearsay. Baka triple hearsay yan,” Lacson said when sought for comment on lawyer Lorenzo Gadon’s allegation. ADVERTISEMENT (Let’s not believe too much in Atty. Gadon because everything from him is hearsay, so this is also hearsay. What he’s testifying in the House is all hearsay, and this is just gossip, so the more it’s hearsay. It might even be triple hearsay.) “In the first place, wala akong alam na kumakausap sa mga senador, wala akong nabalitaan. Maybe, you know, ito ang tact niya to put the senators on the spot if and when the articles of impeachment will be transmitted to us. Parang he’s already putting us on the spot para mag-convict kami rather than acquit,” the senator said. (In the first place, I don’t know anything about anyone talking to senators; I didn’t hear anything about it. Maybe, you know, this is his tact to put the senators on the spot if and when the articles of impeachment will be transmitted to us. Like he’s already putting us on the spot to convict us rather than acquit.) The impeachment complaint against Sereno is still being heard by the House of Representatives’ committee on justice. And once the complaint reaches the Senate as an impeachment court, Lacson said he would ask Gadon to reveal the sources of his bribery allegation. “Pagdating niya rito we’ll ask him kung sino tinutukoy niyang mga senador. Sino ang nagsabi sa kanya, saan niya nabalitaan. Sa ngayon ayoko pa maniwala sa kanya,” the senator added. (When he comes here, we’ll ask him which senators he’s referring to. Who told him, where he found out about it. For now, I don’t want to believe him.) Gadon, in a statement this Monday, claimed that a still unnamed oligarch promised to bribe some senators to absolve Sereno in the impeachment trial. “Ang dinig ko babayaran daw nila ng P200 million ang bawat senador na boboto ng pagabswelto kay Sereno,” the lawyer was quoted in the report as saying. ADVERTISEMENT (What I heard is they will pay P200 million each senator who will vote to absolve Sereno.) READ: Gadon bares ‘bribery plan’ to acquit Sereno; CJ camp calls it ‘another big lie’ Read Next LATEST STORIES MOST READ
RICHMOND, Va. (CN) – Over three weeks after Virginians went to the polls, Democrats are challenging the results in two districts where the vote margin was 106 votes or less. This development, plus a possible third recount or additional legal filings, could shift power of the 100 seat state house to Democrats for the first time in 20 years. “In races with slim margins such as these, recounts ensure that every vote is counted and every voice is heard,” said state House Democratic Leader David Toscano and Caucus Chair Charniele Herring in a statement announcing the recount request. The Commonwealth’s already newsworthy election has seen its share of drama. At least one federal lawsuit has been filed over state House District 28 where Democrat Joshua Cole blames a post office error for his loss, after a number of absentee ballots arrived the day after the election. Cole, who lost by just 82 votes, is asking the judge to certify the votes, though the Department of Elections claims absentee votes must be received by 5 p.m. on election day in order to be valid. But District 28 has other problems as well. After certifying the district’s votes on Monday, election officials admitted at least 147 votes were counted in the wrong district or given the wrong ballots. A former registrar who has since passed away is said to have been the cause of the mistake. “This may not be the first time people got the wrong ballot, it’s just the first time somebody noticed,” said Professor Stephen Farnsworth, the director of University of Mary Washington’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies. He said this year’s election is unique because the margins involved in these key state races are so slim — 10 votes in District 94, 106 votes in District 40, and 82 votes in District 28 — and because the outcome has the potential to tip the scales of power in the Commonwealth. Farnsworth thinks legal challenges could further bog down January’s 2018 session and possibly force legislators to start without 100 confirmed members or control of the House solidified. “It seems likely that this will find its end in the courts,” he said noting the 28th district complaint could soon be among others filed by candidates as recounts proceed in the coming weeks. “If a court rules that the winner of the election can’t be seated until the litigation is concluded … you’d be looking at a 50-49 House of Delegates.” That has understandably made the stakes high for both parties. If recounts fail to satisfy either party’s candidate, additional legal options could be pursued. One is to go to court, as Cole has done. Among the possible outcomes in that case is that the presiding judge could order a special election be held. The state constitution also provides another route to resolving lingering electoral controversies. The General Assembly may select the winner of a contested election by following a procedure similar to passing a bill. The losing candidate files a petition with the Committee on Privileges and Election which then hears the case and reports its findings to the House at large. The House then holds a vote and the majority selects the winning candidate. Democratic Party of Virginia Communications Manager Katie Baker had warned about recounts and says her party is quite fired up about the 147 mixed up votes, less than half the losing margin for Cole. “It’s the equivalent of putting those ballots in a box and burning them,” she said. Still, Virginia Republicans are confident the vote certification has given them the majority they need. “Dragging this process out has only prolonged the important work that remains to be done by both sides in preparation for the 2018 General Assembly Session,” said Republican House Speaker-designee Kirk Cox in a statement sent out following yesterday’s election certification. “We stand ready to govern.” State Democrats have 10 days to file for a recount for Monday’s certification of District 28. They are still weighing their options. Representatives of the Republican Party Virginia did not respond to requests for comment for this article. Like this: Like Loading...
(written from a Production point of view Real World article "Don't be a dick!" – Wil Wheaton at PAX 2007 Richard William Wheaton III (born 29 July 1972; age 46), better known as Wil Wheaton, is an American actor and writer best known for playing Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation throughout its first four seasons. Although he left the show following "Final Mission", he would return as a guest star four more times – twice in the fifth season and twice in the seventh season. More recently, Wheaton was briefly seen as Wesley at the beginning of Star Trek Nemesis during William T. Riker and Deanna Troi's wedding. Most of his scenes from this movie were cut, but they can be found on the Special Edition DVD. According to his blog, in 2009, Wheaton returned to the Star Trek franchise when he voiced members of Nero's Romulan crew in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, among others the one played by Joe Quinto. ([1]; Star Trek DVD/Blu-ray Disc releases, audio commentary) On 18 January 2017 it was announced that an asteroid has been named after him, 391257 Wilwheaton. He shares this honor with fellow Trek alums George Takei and Nichelle Nichols, as well as Gene Roddenberry himself. [2] Contents show] Early acting career Edit Wheaton was born in Burbank, California. He married Anne Prince in 1999. He lives with his wife and two stepsons in Pasadena, California. Wheaton made his television acting debut in the 1981 movie A Long Way Home, in which he played the younger version of the lead character. He then voiced the character of Martin in the popular 1982 Don Bluth film The Secret of NIMH (which featured a score by Jerry Goldsmith), after which he appeared in the films Hambone and Hillie, The Buddy System, and The Last Starfighter. Wheaton had a speaking role in the latter film, but the scenes featuring his dialogue were cut in post-production. Marc Alaimo, Barbara Bosson, and Meg Wyllie also appeared in The Last Starfighter. Prior to being cast as Wesley Crusher, Wheaton was best known for his role as Gordie in the acclaimed 1986 film Stand by Me, directed by Rob Reiner. The following year, Wheaton guest-starred on an episode of Family Ties, appearing with Brian Bonsall. Bonsall began appearing on TNG as Alexander Rozhenko just as Wheaton was leaving that series. Also in 1987, Wheaton appeared in the TV movie The Man Who Fell to Earth with Robert Picardo and Bruce McGill and starred in the horror film, The Curse, along with his sister, Amy. When TNG was originally being developed, the character of Wesley Crusher was actually a girl named "Leslie Crusher". It was writer David Gerrold who suggested to Gene Roddenberry that the character be a boy and recommended Wheaton for the part. Robert Justman also advocated Wheaton's casting, and following a typical audition, the young actor ultimately won the role. [3] Wheaton received three nominations from the Young Artist Awards for his role as Wesley Crusher, winning one of them. Although he enjoyed his time on TNG and praises the work of his fellow actors on the show, Wheaton has been vocal in his dislike of his own character, echoing the sentiments of the more vocal fans who found the character to be annoying. Wheaton left the show as a regular in the fourth season so he could pursue offers to appear in feature films. The producers intentionally left open the possibility of Wheaton returning in guest appearances, and he did so in four later episodes. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion 2nd ed., p. 149) Wheaton noted that "Patrick [Stewart] never treated me like I was a kid. We had directors who treated me like I was a kid." He also saw Stewart as someone he always learned from when acting with him. ("Selected Crew Analysis Year Four – Crew Profile: Wesley Crusher", TNG Season 4 DVD special feature) Post-TNG acting career Edit Films Edit After TNG, Wheaton portrayed the character of prep-school denizen Joey Trotta in the 1991 film Toy Soldiers, with Michael Champion. He co-starred with DS9 actor Aron Eisenberg in the 1993 independent drama The Liars' Club and starred in the 1995 direct-to-video horror movie Mr. Stitch with Ron Perlman. He also had a supporting role in 1996's Pie in the Sky (which featured his TNG castmate Brent Spiner in a cameo). Although he has worked primarily on independent films, he did make a brief return to mainstream cinema when he received a role in the 1997 Disney comedy Flubber with his "Yesterday's Enterprise" co-star Christopher McDonald, as well as Clancy Brown. His later independent film credits include Foreign Correspondents (1999), The Girls' Room (2000), and Jane White Is Sick & Twisted (2002). His performance in the latter film won him the Best Actor award from the Melbourne Underground Film Festival. In 2000, Wheaton worked on two projects for the independent film production company, United Film Organization (UFO). The first was the sci-fi thriller Deep Core, in which he co-starred with DS9's Terry Farrell and Star Trek: Voyager guest actor Bruce McGill. The second was the horror flick Python, which co-starred Sean Whalen... and a really big snake. Television Edit Wheaton also made several television guest appearances, including an alien-themed episode of Diagnosis Murder, which also featured cameos by TOS actors George Takei, Walter Koenig, Majel Barrett, and Grace Lee Whitney, as well as Lost in Space star and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine guest star Bill Mumy. In addition, Wheaton can be seen in a few TV movies, including 1998's The Day Lincoln Was Shot. In this historical drama produced for the TNT network, Wheaton played Robert Todd Lincoln, the first son of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln – the latter of whom was portrayed by Star Trek: Insurrection star Donna Murphy. The movie also featured fellow Trek alumni Gregory Itzin and Titus Welliver. In 2005, he guest-starred in an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation with Voyager guest Wallace Langham. In October 2007, Wheaton shot an episode of the CBS series Numb3rs revolving around a sci-fi/comic convention. In the episode, entitled "Graphic," Wheaton portrays a loathsome comic book artist who is robbed of a rare and valuable comic he owns. The episode aired on 23 November, 2007 and also featured Star Trek III: The Search for Spock actor Christopher Lloyd as the artist of the book stolen from Wheaton's character. Wheaton guest-starred on the CBS series Criminal Minds in an episode which aired 22 October, 2008. Wheaton posted a chronicle of his experiences on the set on his blog [4] and later in his most recent book Sunken Treasure. [5] He also appeared in the 26 August, 2009 episode of Leverage entitled "The Two Live Crew Job" with Noa Tishby. In 2009, Wheaton appeared as himself – or, rather, an "evil" version of himself – in a guest role on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, in which his Star Trek persona as Wesley Crusher was emphatically acknowledged. In 2010, Wheaton announced on his Twitter account (and later his website) that he will be "playing Evil Wil Wheaton again" for an episode to begin taping on 2 March, 2010. [6] [7] Making good on his promise, Wheaton has subsequently appeared in a number of episodes of the series, having become the most frequent recurring guest star with a Star Trek pedigree. Wheaton reunited with co-star Brent Spiner on the series in the fifth season episode "The Russian Rocket Reaction". In the same episode good-natured fun was poked at Wheaton's role in Stand by Me, when the writers had one of the main characters state, "(...) but I chose to go to a party thrown by the one kid from Stand By Me that no one remembers." [8] It was partly on the strength of his performance in this movie that Wheaton was chosen for the role of Wesley Crusher. In 2010-11, Wheaton appeared on the SyFy series Eureka in a recurrent guest-starring role as Dr. Isaac Parrish, a scientist competing for a position on the Astreus Mission to Titan, as well as vying for Dr. Fargo's love interest. He and Fargo are quite often at odds, starting with when they were both campers at a science summer camp. Voice-over work Edit In recent years, Wheaton has been working prominently as a voice actor for several video games and animated TV shows. He can be heard in several Ghost Recon games, as well as EverQuest II. In three Grand Theft Auto games – San Andreas, Liberty City Stories, and Vice City Stories – he can be heard as radio news personality Richard Burns. On television, Wheaton primarily voiced Aqualad on Teen Titans and Cosmic Boy on Legion of Super Heroes. His voice can also be heard in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "The Fall of the Blue Beetle", in which he voices Ted Kord, the second DC Comics character to bear the name Blue Beetle. [9] In addition, Wheaton voiced himself in an episode of Seth MacFarlane's Family Guy in which he and his TNG cast mates (also providing their own voices) were kidnapped by Stewie Griffin (voiced by Seth MacFarlane). Wheaton has also been voicing the recurring role of Mike Morningstar aka Darkstar in Cartoon Network's Ben 10: Alien Force. In November 2009, Wheaton revealed that he did ADR voice work on J.J. Abrams' Star Trek. Specifically, he provided the voices for all of the Romulans aboard the Narada, including those played in the film by Jason Brooks and Joe Quinto. Wheaton became involved with the film after Greg Grunberg, who also provided his voice for Star Trek, informed Wheaton that Abrams was looking for voice actors and asked if he would be interested. Excitedly answering in the affirmative (though thinking that it may be a prank), Wheaton received a call from Abrams shortly thereafter and was asked to come in to the ADR studio and record some dialogue. According to Wheaton, only after the recording session began did he know for sure that it was not a joke. Most of Wheaton's dialogue was altered to make each of his Romulan characters sound different. [10] Other appearances Edit Wheaton participated in The Weakest Link: Star Trek Edition game show in 2001, along with LeVar Burton, Denise Crosby, John de Lancie, Roxann Dawson, Robert Picardo, Armin Shimerman, and William Shatner. In 2008, Wheaton worked with Family Guy creator (and ardent Star Trek fan) Seth MacFarlane on the latter's new web series, Cavalcade. [11] In 2009, Wheaton guest-starred in the third season of The Guild, an online-only show about players of a massively-multiplayer online role-playing game. In 2013, Wheaton made a brief appearance in a commercial advertisement for Lincoln Motor Company automobiles, televised in the United States during the telecast of Super Bowl XLVII. [12] Writing, blogging, and geekdom Edit Since his days on TNG, Wheaton has become a vocal representative and icon of the "geek" and "nerd" communities. He was one of the early internet "bloggers" and currently maintains his own blog called WIL WHEATON dot NET, in addition to making regular updates on Twitter. He is also a posting member at Slashdot ("news for nerds, stuff that matters"). Among his projects was blogging reviews of episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation for TVSquad. [13] Following a reduction of the site's budget by AOL, however, the column was dropped. Wheaton then went on to expand on the columns and produced a book, Memories of the Future, Volume 1, in October 2009, with further volumes planned. He was also a regular host of InDigital, part of the Revision3 Internet TV network, prior to the show's end. Wheaton has published two collections of short stories with a memoir, Just a Geek, being published between. He also contributed a story to the 2005 anthology Stories of Strength. His most recent book, entitled The Happiest Days of Our Lives, was published in 2007. Wheaton also wrote "Te Cura Ipsum", one of the TOS-based stories for Kakan ni Shinkou, Tokyopop's second volume of Star Trek: The Manga. [14] Wheaton currently writes a weekly column for LA Weekly. [15] In addition, he is currently writing a science fiction novella (potentially a novel), which he describes as "...a noir kinda thing, set in a dystopian future Los Angeles. (It's not Blade Runner. [...] I've taken the appropriate world-building steps to make sure it doesn't go there.) [16] Wheaton is also a contributor to the YouTube channel/production company Geek and Sundry, for which he produces and hosts the series Tabletop. Wheaton, a self-professed lifelong gamer, plays various board and card games with friends (from acting, his personal life and the internet), including Rod Roddenberry [17] and Jeri Ryan (with whom he played Star Trek Catan). [18] Appearances as Wesley Crusher Edit Additional characters Edit Books Edit Dancing Barefoot (anecdotal short stories) (anecdotal short stories) Just a Geek (autobiographical) (autobiographical) The Happiest Days of Our Lives (anecdotal short stories) (anecdotal short stories) Sunken Treasure (autobiographical, plus short stories) (autobiographical, plus short stories) Memories of the Future, Volume 1 (Next Generation episode guide/memoir)
9. The First Movie - Roundhay Garden Scene 1888 saw the creation of the first strip of celluloid ever shot that survives today: a two second shot of a man walking across a yard while some ladies mill about known as the Roundhay Garden Scene. Even beyond the importance of the strip in cinematic history terms, theres an interesting story regarding the aftermath of shooting this little film, as it was said to have left a cursed legacy that did for its major players. First, the director Louis Le Prince disappeared from a train a few years later (one of the suspects in that case was Le Prince's rival Thomas Edison, who will be featured repeatedly in this list later on,) before, in 1902, the man walking across the shot was shot dead for reasons unrelated to the film, and Le Princes mother-in-law - who also made an appearance in the film - died only ten days after the filming was completed. If theres any truth to this curse, it means that the first bit of film ever shot is much creepier than the first horror movie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1i40rnpOsA
Today, American Fossil Hunt welcomes the first guest post on this blog, from Patrick Chasteen of Fossil Funatics. The name should sound familiar. He was a big part of one of the blog’s first trip reports. Patrick is the man behind Fossil Funatics, the tour I took in the afore-linked post. I reached out to Patrick to see if he was willing to share how collecting has been thus far in 2017. He was glad to share his experiences and insight, and I trust you will enjoy the resulting read and photos as much as I did. And below we take a short trip to one of Florida’s finest natural areas. If you would like to share your collecting stories, trip reports, or outdoor adventures, please reach me at americanfossilhunt(at)gmail.com. Part of the reason I ask is because I am only able to collect Mazon Creek, perhaps once or twice a month (weather permitting), and I’d like to keep this blog as active as possible for all of us collectors. Enjoy his words and photos below. Peace River Fossil Hunting- 2017 1st Quarter With the first quarter of the year already gone, and spring break in the rearview mirror, it is time to rewind and see what we accomplished and share our failures and successes with like-minded fossil addicts. During the first four months of this year, we logged over 156 hours as a guide fossil hunting the Peace River and her surrounding tributaries. We managed another 70 hours of scouting, prospecting, and personal hunting. We hunted near Wachula, Florida, just north to Bowling Green, in areas offer public access with either free or paid parking. Due to the lack of rain and drought conditions Florida is experiencing this year, the waters are 24 inches below normal water flow and shallow collecting waters have been very easy to find. Ironically, some of the creeks are so shallow, it is becoming hard to find deep enough water for proper sifting and digging. River conditions Proper ethical digging requires you dig in areas of at least six inches of water depth, and as mentioned, we are seeing extremely low water conditions this year in Florida. Therefore, we have sought areas of very thin gravel laying a top solid limestone base, and open gravel pockets that are very thick. Oftentimes these pockets are just inches below the sand bed. With currents being slow to nearly non-existent, there is a large amount of deciduous material, such as sticks, stems, dead leaves. A tip for the novice fossil hunter: investigate these areas. If the pocket is deep enough for sticks and leaves to catch, it is likely an area for larger fossils that have settled over time. Another tip is to focus on finding larger gravel when fossil hunting in Florida. Typically, the larger fossils will be mixed in with the larger gravel. Avoid digging in sand, unless you know there is a gravel bed below. As an experienced hunter, I have learned to use the waterline to educate myself on the conditions. This is especially important during low water conditions. During a drought you are able to visually inspect the sedimentary layers along the river bed that are not visible during normal conditions. When water levels are this low, a great tactic is to focus on the pockets where the water is still 2-3 feet deep. Then you will know you are accessing areas that would typically be under many feet of water during normal conditions. I promise you it can be rewarding. The Loot The quantity and the quality of the shark teeth and fossils we are finding this season is incredible. From the jet black teeth of the Peace River to the golden teeth of the iron oxide-rich creeks, the variety has been welcome. Dozens of Megalodon and partials have been recovered from our expeditions over the last several months, along with a variety of other vertebrate fossils. The photos below, highlight the color differentiation caused by the various minerals that were present at the time of fossilization. We have logged samples from 20+ species in the past 120 days, including a giant scute from the alligator mississippienis. We also found a perfect complete glyptodont scute, both photographed below. The bar has been set high for our expectations for the remainder of 2017 with this fruitful beginning. While Florida desperately needs its rains, the low waters are a welcome sight for us fossil hunters. There is no shortage of collecting sites along the 100+ miles of the Peace River. As the rainy season approaches, its time to dig deep and stay late before the summer rains come and replenish. We hope to see you on the water soon! Keep on digging my Fossil Funatics, and be sure to share your finds with others to keep the information flowing and our hobby growing! Patrick Chasteen Fossil Funatics How have you been doing in collecting the Peace River during these low water conditions? Leave a comment below so we can all learn.
The video will start in 8 Cancel Get the biggest Weekly Politics stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email A senior councillor has demanded the closure of a troubled Birmingham school after its segregation policy was ruled unlawful . Tory Matt Bennett, the city’s shadow cabinet member for education, called for Al-Hijrah School in Bordesley Green , to be shut down following the Court of Appeal’s ruling yesterday (Friday). In a landmark ruling with national implications, three judges backed Ofsted inspectors who viewed that the segregation of boys and girls amounted to discrimination. Coun Bennett (Con, Edgbaston) said the affair reflected badly on the council-maintained school, the local authority, Ofsted and the Department for Education. He said the school’s reputation was “tarnished” after it was placed in special measures in 2014., Its entire governing body was sacked the following year after it emerged the school was £3 million in debt. The case came to court after Ofsted produced a summer 2016 report that found there was discrimination under equality laws. At an earlier hearing, judge Mr Justice Jay said books discovered in the school library clearly treated women “as subordinate to men”. Coun Bennett said: “The school has, to say the least, a tarnished reputation and, with it once again having been rated inadequate, it is beyond dispute that the council’s efforts have failed to bring about the necessary improvements. “It really would be in the best interests of all concerned, not least the pupils who have been failed by the school and the council, if the school were closed down in a managed and orderly fashion.” Responding to the ruling, the council said “many other” faith schools around the country practiced gender separation and “none had been downgraded by Ofsted” as a result. Colin Diamond, the authority’s corporate director of children and young people, said Al-Hijrah was “being held to a different standard to many other schools with similar arrangements”. He said: “We have a strong history of encouraging all schools to practice equality in all its forms and would robustly tackle any discrimination. “But the issue here is about schools being inspected against unclear and inconsistent policy and guidelines. “This is not a case where boys and girls were being treated differently. “Ofsted found that boys and girls were treated equally.” “If it is national policy that schools practising gender separation are considered to be discriminating against pupils, then local authorities and the schools themselves clearly need to be told so they know what standards they are being inspected against. But Ofsted said the school was practising “discrimination”. Chief inspector Amanda Spielman said: “Educational institutions should never treat pupils less favourably because of their sex, or for any other reason. “The school is teaching boys and girls entirely separately, making them walk down separate corridors, and keeping them apart at all times. “This is discrimination and is wrong. “It places these boys and girls at a disadvantage for life beyond the classroom and the workplace, and fails to prepare them for life in modern Britain.”
Photo DESTIN, Fla. — Dedra Barker raised her hand and took the mood of the room from somber to tearful. At a meeting last month for residents of Destin to learn about filing claims against BP, Ms. Barker’s voice quavered as she asked about her options. As general manager of a small business that rents a dozen vacation homes in town, she was seeing cancellations even though the town’s white beaches were still unspoiled. “I live week to week,” she said. “What do I do in the next week or two, when I can’t do my job and can’t pay my mortgage? Do I live in my car with my 12-year-old daughter?” The company she works for, Beach Reunion, caters to family reunions and weddings, with a dozen houses that sleep as many as 30 people and can cost $8,000 a week. Normally at this time of year, each home would be packed and the business would be booking reservations for fall weddings. “Our phones have quit ringing,” Ms. Barker said. Ms. Barker’s full-time salary of $750 a week, with bonuses, has been whittled to an hourly wage that leaves her take-home pay at less than $160 a week. Advertisement Continue reading the main story So Ms. Barker has gone to BP’s local claims office, but the process has been slow and frustrating. “I’ve gone round and round,” she said. “Us little people that aren’t associated with the fishing industry, we’re being pushed to the wayside.”
The iPad has invaded dozens of industries over the last year. Folks in the field of enterprise, education, health, and politics have seen the benefits of the iOS-based slate. Even professional football teams are starting to realize the potential of Apple’s popular tablet. Earlier this year, we reported that Tampa Bay’s Buccaneers were trading in their play books for the iPad 2. Over 90 iPads were distributed to members of the coaching staff and players and, according to a recent article by CNN, they’ve proven to be a resounding success… The report says iPads are an absolute hit with both Buccaneers players and coaches. The tablets are pre-loaded with the team’s full playbook, and game film so players can analyze their past performances and study their opponents. The Buccaneers General Manager, Mark Dominik, says that the iPads have been a “smashing success” for the Bucs. Apparently, the team printed paper copies of its playbook this year as backups, but they haven’t used them. “We’re going green” next year, says Dominik. The players are also singing the iPad’s praises. Bucs linebacker Geno Hayes says that the easy access to game film has created a kind of addiction. He’s always watching it. And defensive tackle Gerald McCoy told CNN, “Everyone loves this, man. It’s very helpful.” But the NFL still has reservations about tablets on the field: “Don’t expect to see the tablets on the sidelines of games, in locker rooms or in the coaches’ booth. NFL rules prohibit the use of any electronic computers, tablets or recording devices within 90 minutes of kickoff. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy says the league is “strategically holding back” on technology advancements. “We try to keep as much of the human element in the game as possible,” he said. In addition, he said, the NFL’s strategy is to keep competition fair among all the teams.” Regardless, the success of the iPad with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could lead to further adoption by other NFL organizations. And with over 3000 participating players, that could equal some serious tablet sales for Apple. The funny part? The NFL is sponsored by Motorola, the maker of the Android-running “Xoom” tablet. We wonder why the players don’t just use that? [TUAW]
FreeNAS® is © 2011-2017 iXsystems FreeNAS® and the FreeNAS® logo are registered trademarks of iXsystems FreeBSD® is a registered trademark of the FreeBSD Foundation Written by users of the FreeNAS® network-attached storage operating system. Version 9.10.2 Copyright © 2011-2017 iXsystems This Guide covers the installation and use of FreeNAS® 9.10.2. The FreeNAS® User Guide is a work in progress and relies on the contributions of many individuals. If you are interested in helping us to improve the Guide, read the instructions in the README. IRC Freenode users are welcome to join the #freenas channel where you will find other FreeNAS® users. The FreeNAS® User Guide is freely available for sharing and redistribution under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. This means that you have permission to copy, distribute, translate, and adapt the work as long as you attribute iXsystems as the original source of the Guide. FreeNAS® and the FreeNAS® logo are registered trademarks of iXsystems. Active Directory® is a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Apple, Mac and Mac OS are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Avago is a trademark of Avago Technologies. Broadcom is a trademark of Broadcom Corporation. Chelsio® is a registered trademark of Chelsio Communications. Cisco® is a registered trademark or trademark of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. Django® is a registered trademark of Django Software Foundation. Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc. FreeBSD® and the FreeBSD® logo are registered trademarks of the FreeBSD Foundation®. Fusion-io is a trademark or registered trademark of Fusion-io, Inc. Intel, the Intel logo, Pentium Inside, and Pentium are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. LinkedIn® is a registered trademark of LinkedIn Corporation. Linux® is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Twitter is a trademark of Twitter, Inc. in the United States and other countries. UNIX® is a registered trademark of The Open Group. VirtualBox® is a registered trademark of Oracle. VMware® is a registered trademark of VMware, Inc. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. Windows® is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. Typographic Conventions The FreeNAS® 9.10.2 User Guide uses these typographic conventions:
Getty Images / Jamie Squire The drought needs to end. The Toronto Blue Jays have not made the postseason since winning the World Series in 1993, the longest dry spell in Major League Baseball. Though the Jays have made blockbuster trades aimed at ending the streak in recent years, including this offseason, they have not finished any better than third in the American League East in the last eight seasons. This offseason has been one of the most impactful in franchise history. Toronto acquired MVP candidate Josh Donaldson in a trade and signed native son Russell Martin as a free agent. But the Jays are still one major piece away from ending the drought at 21 years. James Shields is that piece. The Blue Jays’ rotation was not good last season, ranking 11th out of 15 AL teams with a 3.96 ERA and 10th with a 3.93 FIP. And aside from their fifth spot, the rotation will be the same for 2015, with R.A. Dickey, Marcus Stroman, Mark Buehrle and Drew Hutchison all returning. Clearly, there is room to upgrade and a significant need for a No. 1 starter. The problem is money. The Blue Jays have a reported $5-7 million remaining in their budget, and as of now, it seems to be earmarked for bullpen improvements. Shields is going to cost considerably more than what the Jays currently have in their budget. That is even with rumblings from CBS Sports' Jon Heyman that the five-year, $110 million offer he was reported to have on the table was a "mirage," and that his price tag is likely going to end up being considerably less. If his asking price does drop, it could put the Blue Jays in play, but it would also open the door for several other teams as well. Major league sources confirmed to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal earlier this month that the Jays do indeed have interest in Shields and have had internal discussions to determine a price the club would be comfortable spending. All offseason, the payroll threshold for the Blue Jays has been set at around $137 million, and they are currently at around $130 million in commitments, according to information from Cot’s Baseball Contracts. USA TODAY Sports In order to sign Shields, the contract would probably have to be backloaded, as is Martin’s deal. It will also require Toronto’s ownership group, Rogers Communications, to be willing to push their payroll into the $150 million territory. There are definite obstacles in making this happen, but if it does, Shields will be the key piece in making the Blue Jays a 2015 postseason participant as he was for Kansas City’s World Series run last October. As things stand now, the AL East seems to be the most wide-open division in baseball. Last season’s champions, the Baltimore Orioles, lost a ton of power in Nelson Cruz and a reliable bat in Nick Markakis and also do not have a true ace in their rotation. The New York Yankees are aging and prone to injuries, especially in their rotation. The Tampa Bay Rays lost their best player, Ben Zobrist, and the Boston Red Sox, despite big-time upgrades to their lineup, have real questions concerning their rotation. Signing Shields would mean the Blue Jays have a durable No. 1 starter to head their rotation backed by one of the deepest lineups in the AL. That does not mean the Jays would be a lock to win the division, but Shields would give their chances a massive boost. The market for Shields has taken a weird turn in the last month. Teams seem to have fleeting interest in him, and others have all but completely shut the door on signing him, including ones that have pitching needs like the San Diego Padres, Red Sox and Royals. One executive even thinks part of the problem is that Shields’ agent, Page Odle, has not marketed Shields like an ace, as The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo reported Sunday. Orlin Wagner/Associated Press Whatever the reason for Shields’ suddenly odd market, he is there to be had for the Blue Jays and at a price that has dropped significantly from the rumored $110 million. While it is easy to understand ownership’s apprehension at handing a 33-year-old pitcher upward of $80 million, the risk is still relatively small since Rosenthal reported the length of a Shields contract would likely be four years. That makes the pitcher a manageable investment. The Blue Jays have already committed themselves to winning in 2015. The moves to acquire Donaldson and Martin prove that much. But they are still an incomplete team. They are missing a top-of-the-rotation arm, one that Shields possesses. In order for the Toronto to legitimize its push to end the longest playoff drought in the majors, it needs to open the wallet and get its ace. Anthony Witrado covers Major League Baseball for Bleacher Report. He spent he previous three seasons as the national baseball columnist at Sporting News and four years before that as the Brewers beat writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.
The Google employee who was fired for writing an internal memo criticizing the company’s diversity policies and arguing that women are biologically less suited to work in technology than men has been offered a job… by Wikileaks. Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange made the job offer to the fired employee, James Damore, via Twitter on Tuesday. “Censorship is for losers,” Assange wrote. “@Wikileaks is offering a job to fired Google engineer James Damore.” 1/ Censorship is for losers. @WikiLeaks is offering a job to fired Google engineer James Damore. https://t.co/tmrflE72p3 — Julian Assange 🔹 (@JulianAssange) August 8, 2017 The job offer comes following Damore’s prompt dismissal after his memo became public over the weekend. According to CNN, Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent an email to Google’s employees denouncing the fired employee’s memo. “Our job is to build great products for users that make a difference in their lives,” he wrote. “To suggest a group of our colleagues have traits that make them less biologically suited to that work is offensive and not OK.” [image via screengrab] —— Follow Joe DePaolo (@joe_depaolo) on Twitter Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com
Literature The Holy Treedom - Quick Write The sky was on fire, the sky was on fire.. FIRE!? Oh no! I only have ten minutes to live, ten minutes to go on with my life, ten minutes to progress to an alternate reality. It seemed impossible, unforeseeable I couldn't do it, but no, I must there is only one way to commence its to kill the holy treedom. Yes, I said it kill the holy treedom, don't ask why he must die, but it's a certain misfortune, he needs death and death is what he shall get. Now, moving onto planning yes, I have to plan. And the plan is, first I'll sneak into his forest (cause oddly he lives in a forest) and bribe one of the guards to let me sneak into his bedchamber. Then I'll fall to sleep, yes, sleep mwhahaha! Once asleep in his chamber I'll be able to infiltrate his dreams and tear him up, I'll be able to destroy him from his own mind! But let's remember the sky is on fire now, and we've only got eight more minutes to
How your orthopaedic surgeon treats your tear will depend on the type of tear you have, its size, and location. The outside one-third of the meniscus has a rich blood supply. A tear in this "red" zone may heal on its own, or can often be repaired with surgery. A longitudinal tear is an example of this kind of tear. In contrast, the inner two-thirds of the meniscus lacks a blood supply. Without nutrients from blood, tears in this "white" zone cannot heal. These complex tears are often in thin, worn cartilage. Because the pieces cannot grow back together, tears in this zone are usually surgically trimmed away. Along with the type of tear you have, your age, activity level, and any related injuries will factor into your treatment plan. Nonsurgical Treatment If your tear is small and on the outer edge of the meniscus, it may not require surgical repair. As long as your symptoms do not persist and your knee is stable, nonsurgical treatment may be all you need. RICE. The RICE protocol is effective for most sports-related injuries. RICE stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. Rest. Take a break from the activity that caused the injury. Your doctor may recommend that you use crutches to avoid putting weight on your leg. Take a break from the activity that caused the injury. Your doctor may recommend that you use crutches to avoid putting weight on your leg. Ice. Use cold packs for 20 minutes at a time, several times a day. Do not apply ice directly to the skin. Use cold packs for 20 minutes at a time, several times a day. Do not apply ice directly to the skin. Compression. To prevent additional swelling and blood loss, wear an elastic compression bandage. To prevent additional swelling and blood loss, wear an elastic compression bandage. Elevation. To reduce swelling, recline when you rest, and put your leg up higher than your heart. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines. Drugs like aspirin and ibuprofen reduce pain and swelling.
Australia's paid parental leave ranked world's worst Updated Australia and the United States have tied as the worst of 21 high-income nations in terms of generous paid parental leave. Researchers at the US-based Centre for Economic and Policy Research examined the parental leave policies of 21 countries with their study published in the peer-reviewed social science Journal of European Social Policy. They found Sweden ranked highest for gender equality in parental leave practices, while Germany and Sweden were the most generous with paid parental leave, both offering 47 weeks. Last month Australia passed its first paid parental leave legislation that ensured 18 weeks paid leave at the minimum wage for mothers starting next year. US researcher Janet Gornick says the US and Australia rank as having the least generous parental leave policies. "We pay a high price for meagre policy, because parental leave improves the health and well-being of children and their parents and paid leaves provide families with crucial economic support at such an important time," she said. The study looked at parental leave policies according to three criteria: total time guaranteed for parental leave, whether leave is paid or unpaid, total paid leave and gender equality of the parental leave such as leave and pay available to fathers. Ms Gornick says while all 21 countries protected at least one parent's job for a period, there were great differences across these countries on each of the three criteria. France and Spain came highest in terms of total guaranteed leave, each giving over 300 weeks, while Australia and the United States ranked at the bottom with 18 and 14 weeks respectively. Australia and Switzerland ranked near the bottom in terms of both generosity and gender equality of parental leave. - Reuters Topics: parenting, community-and-society, family-and-children, babies---newborns, children, family, work, australia First posted
The chairman of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s national steering committee on Tuesday angrily shouted for a CNN anchor to “put an Obama bumper sticker on your forehead” after she tried to fact check Republican claims about Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) plan to overhaul Medicare. CNN’s Soledad O’Brien pointed out to Romney surrogate John Sununu that the candidate’s plan would turn Medicare into a voucher system much like the budget proposal offered by his vice presidential pick, Paul Ryan. “It’s sounds awfully like the Paul Ryan Medicare plan,” O’Brien noted after reading details from Romney’s website. “But it’s very different,” Sununu insisted. “For example when [President Barack] Obama gutted Medicare by taking $717 billion out of it, the Romney plan does not do that. The Ryan plan mimicked part of the Obama package, the Romney plan does not. That’s a big difference.” “I understand that this is a Republican talking point because I’ve heard it repeated over and over again,” O’Brien observed. “These numbers have been debunked, as you know, by the Congressional Budget Office. … I can tell you what it says. [Obama’s plan] cuts a reduction in the expect rate of growth, which you know, not cutting budgets to the elderly. Benefits will be improved.” “Soledad, stop this!” Sununu shouted. “All you’re doing is mimicking the stuff that comes out of the White House and gets repeated on the Democratic blog boards out there.” “I’m telling you what Factcheck.com tells you, I’m telling you what the CBO tells you, I’m telling you what CNN’s independent analysis says,” the CNN host explained. “Put an Obama bumper sticker on your forehead when you do this!” the frustrated surrogate shot back. “You know, let me tell you something,” O’Brien said. “There is independent analysis that details what this is about. … And name calling to me and somehow by you repeating a number of $716 billion, that you can make that stick when [you say] that figure is being ‘stolen’ from Medicare, that’s not true. You can’t just repeat it and make it true, sir.” After Romney on Saturday announced that he had selected Ryan as the vice presidential nominee, a campaign memo sought to distance the presidential candidate’s plan from Ryan’s budget proposal, insisting that “as president he will be putting together his own plan.” But on Monday, Romney refused to say where his plan differed from Ryan’s vision of turning Medicare into a voucher system. “My plan for Medicare is very similar to his plan for Medicare,” the former Massachusetts governor told reporters in Miami. “My plan, like his, really expands Medicare Advantage. It says, let’s give people more opportunity to take advantage of not just the standard Medicare, but also the [private insurance] policies that are available in the market place.” Watch this video from CNN’s Starting Point, broadcast Aug. 14, 2012. READ MORE: (h/t: Mediaite)
There is a particular Honda on eBay that we’ve been watching here at JNC, and it is this 32,031-mile 1983 Honda Accord hatchback. While it is a beautiful car, and possibly the most flawless example in existence, what caught our eye was the current bid of $20,000 with nearly a week left on the auction. We would venture to say that this is the record for most money ever paid for a 1983 Accord, especially since the original MSRP for an LX hatchback such as this one was $8,549. But is it worth it? According to the 36 bidders, the answer is yes. If there was ever a second-generation Accord that could have a $20,000 case made for it, this would be the one. According to the seller, it “may be the nicest 1983 Honda Accord left in the world that is still in private hands and not in a museum.” The car is nearly flawless so there may be credence to this claim and, as it happens, the nicest one was the first to roll out of Honda’s Ohio factory, because that one is, in fact, in a museum. The listing states that the car has been in storage since 1988 and all maintenance has been kept up to date during that time. Looking at the interior, the plush seats show no signs of aging what so ever and only the most minor differences in coloring on the plastics can be seen. The only modification appears to be a pair of dealer installed voltage and oil pressure gauges when the original buyer checked every box. The trunk area looks untouched and the parcel shelf is in flawless condition. The plastic covers over the wheel wells don’t have any scratches, discoloration or glaze over them, a common condition with 80s interior plastics that have seen any sort of use. The seat back handle did age to a curious shade of purple, but if we’re getting to that point while nit-picking an economy hatchback a year shy from being able to run for president, we’re doing pretty good. Looking under the carpet in the trunk we find a perfect spare tire well that’s seen no sign of wear. Even the jack has its yellow zinc finish untarnished. According to the seller, the original owner opted for the “Tuff Kote” rustproofing and was able to avoid any oxidation problems. Trying to find any rust on this car was a difficult task, but with a keen eye you can spot some surface oxidization on the air conditioning line and power steering pump pulley. Overall, this is still a prime engine bay with its EK1 engine showing no signs of leaking or wear. Another thing that is unique to the first two generations of Accord was the forward opening hood. As we mentioned before, the original buyer ticked every box on this car and even got the OEM optional louvers, which compliment the zenki rear end well. With the air conditioning and power steering, this particular compact is better equipped than some standard mid-sized cars of the era. The second generation Honda Accord seems like the forgotten Accord these days but this was still one of the most important Hondas in history. The sedan was the first Japanese car built in America, early models had the optional Electro Gyro-Cator (the world’s first production in-car navigation system), and the later models would be the first fuel-injected Accords. I would even go as far as to say that this is one of the most aesthetically pleasing Accord generations, especially with the staggered quad sealed beam headlights. Though this particular example will most likely end up with a collector, it is effectively optioned out as a “driver’s” Accord, equipped with the carbureted engine, a 5-speed manual transmission, and every option available except the automatic. A combination of these features makes this car worthy of its record breaking $20,000 auction price. If you are looking for the best second-generation Accord on the market today, look no further and throw your hat in the ring on the eBay listing here .
Urged tax officials to use data analytical tools to proactively track and determine undeclared income and wealth. This will be beneficial. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 1504267467000 Also urged officials to solve pendency of tax-related cases in adjudication and appeal. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 1504267437000 Union Government is working towards creating an environment that instills confidence among honest taxpayers & uproots corruption. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 1504267413000 NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asked tax officials to use data analytics to track undeclared wealth and fix clear targets for improving tax administration by 2022.Inaugurating the second edition of the annual 'Rajaswa Gyan Sangam ' — the joint conference of direct and indirect tax officials — the Prime Minister asked taxmen to clear pendency of cases and create an environment that instills confidence among honest taxpayers and uproots corruption.The Goods and Services Tax (GST), he said, has brought more than 17 lakh new traders into the indirect tax system within two months.He asked them to ensure that the benefits of the biggest tax reform since independence reach the common man and even small traders with turnover below Rs 20 lakh are registered in the new system.Asking taxmen to improve their work culture and incorporate both a sense of urgency and measurability in their performance, Modi said officers must fix clear targets to improve the country's tax administration by 2022, the 75th anniversary of Independence.Since coming to power in May 2014, Modi has assured taxpayers that he will remove the fear of tax officials hounding them by ushering in accountability and answerability.Measures taken include cutting down physical interface between the taxpayer and official to curb corruption and easier online filing of returns and claiming of refund, plus paperless email-based inquiry and e-scrutiny."The Prime Minister said human interface must be kept to a minimum in the tax administration's dealings. He asked for a push to be given to e-assessment and anonymity of proceedings using technology, so that vested interests do not impede the due course of law," an official statement said.The government, he said, is working towards creation of an environment which shatters the confidence of the corrupt, and instills trust among the honest taxpayers.Modi mentioned steps like demonetisation and implementation of stringent laws against black money and benami property in this regard.Expressing dismay at the huge pendency of tax-related cases in adjudication and appeal, he said big sums of money locked up in these cases could have been used for the welfare of the poor.He asked officers to come up with an action plan during the Rajaswa Gyan Sangam to eliminate pendency.The closed-door two-day conference is being attended by senior officers of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC).CBEC in a Twitter post said, "Hon'ble PM @narendramodi directed the tax administrators to be friendly to the honest taxpayers."The Prime Minister, according to the statement, asked officers to use data analytical tools to proactively track and determine undeclared income and wealth.Though efforts to increase tax revenue are made by officers each year, the estimated amounts of tax that should accrue to the system are often not realised, he said.He asked officers to come up with a time-bound solution to 'tax raised and not realised', and asserted that the honest cannot continue to pay the price for the misdeeds of the dishonest.In this regard, he also suggested complete reworking of human resource management in the tax departments to strengthen the data analytics and investigation wing.The Prime Minister said that in order to enable all traders to take maximum benefit of GST, it should be ensured that all traders, including even relatively smaller traders with a turnover below Rs 20 lakhs, are registered with the GST system.He asked the officers to make efforts in this regard by designing a system for this category.CBEC said Modi appreciated the efforts put in by Central and state officials for smooth implementation of the GST, which unifies more than a dozen levies like excise duty, service tax and VAT.GST, which Modi previously described as a 'good and simple tax' that will help end tax terrorism and inspector raj, was rolled out from July 1, making India one market and ending cascading effect of multiple taxes."Hon'ble PM @narendramodi desired that the benefit of GST should percolate to the common man," CBEC said.GST is expected to boost economic activity as same rate for goods and services makes business easy and also facilitates smooth movement of goods and services.In his address, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley commended the efforts made by the central and state tax officials to make GST a reality.He also thanked Modi for his "visionary policies and motivation", CBEC said in a tweet.The objective of the two-day Rajaswa Gyan Sangam is to enable a two-way communication between the policymakers and the senior officers in the field offices with a view to increase revenue collection and facilitate effective implementation of law and policies, the finance ministry had earlier said.
In response to recent NSA spying allegations, Brazil is pressing ahead with a new law to require Internet companies like Google to store data about Brazilian users inside Brazil, where it will be subject to local privacy laws. The proposed legislation could be signed into law as early as the end of this week. However, Google’s DNS service started leaving the country on September 12th, the day President Rousseff announced her intention to require local storage of user data. Brazil is the largest economy in Latin America and one of the fastest growing domestic Internets in the world. If companies like Google feel like they have to stop providing local service in such a significant market due to new restrictions on their in-country operations, Brazilian Internet users and multinational content providers could ultimately both suffer as a result of the new legislation. In all likelihood, Google is taking a “wait and see” approach to determine how to legally provision their services in Brazil. When they do, perhaps we’ll see the return of low-latency, local caches for their freely available DNS service. Google DNS in Brazil As most readers of this blog will know, when you access any resource on the Internet by name (e.g., www.google.com), your computer must first convert this name into an IP address (e.g., 74.125.131.99), which it then uses to gain access to the resource you’ve requested. This conversion process, called DNS or Domain Name System, is typically transparently furnished to users by their Internet service provider. Since December 2009, Google has offered their own version of this service for free to the public, branded as Google Public DNS, at the well-known IP addresses 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. While Google DNS provides a public benefit to many, all “free” services ultimately have to be paid for somehow. By gaining visibility into the Internet usage of its users, Google can use this data to improve its commercial applications, such as the placement of advertisements. It is this user data that would presumably make Google Public DNS subject to the more stringent privacy laws proposed by President Rousseff. However, no one is forced to use Google DNS. As we noted, most ISPs (and companies) provide their own DNS services to their users. For those who don’t or for those users who prefer using third party service, Google DNS is one of several open public DNS services. (Dyn and OpenDNS offer two others.) In Brazil, we’ve read that smaller ISPs often use Google DNS service from São Paulo as part of their services. Last month, we noticed that Google DNS for Latin America had stopped answering queries from São Paulo and had started forwarding DNS queries back to the US for resolution. We presented this development at NANOG 59 and in a blog post earlier this month about Internet performance. Nobody from Google would comment. By moving DNS resolution out of Brazil and back to the United States, Google DNS now operates outside of Brazilian jurisdiction. It still works just fine for Latin American users, just much more slowly. Below are graphs of the latencies measured for several locations around Latin America over the course of 2013. Latencies abruptly jumped when DNS queries began getting passed back to the US instead of being handled in São Paulo. (Another lesser known Google DNS IP address, 216.239.32.10, was also moved back to the US on 16 September.) After others in the region confirmed the change in Google DNS service on the LACNOG email list, one participant asked, “Hay gente de Google en la lista. Podrían aclararnos un poco la razón” (there are people from Google on this email list. Could they clarify the reason [for the change]?). There was no response. Google did acknowledge the change on September 24th, but did not disclose a cause: Currently queries to Google DNS from Brazil (and maybe other South American countries as well) are handled by resolvers in the United States. Consequently you may experience longer latency than before. We are sorry about this inconvenience to you and are working to restart resolvers in Brazil in the near future. When I asked a Google contact if this was a technical issue or a policy decision, I was referred to Google’s public affairs office. Conclusion It seems only prudent that upon hearing of the new privacy law in Brazil, Google would begin the process of discontinuing its services there, pending a review of the final legislation by their lawyers. Such a review could decide how Google can restart local services in Brazil, such as Google DNS. Alternatively, if Google leaves Brazil as they did in China, they could opt to make their local infrastructure investments in another country (Mexico? Colombia?), with privacy laws more to their liking. In addition, this development could spur local competition to Google, perhaps with government encouragement, as we’ve seen with China’s Baidu and Russia’s Yandex. This would not necessarily be a bad thing for Brazil, and the region as a whole, in the long run.
Employees of a Pennsylvania city, who have all seen their salaries cut to minimum wage as the mayor grapples with budget problems, are hoping a judge restores their paychecks in full. myFOXnepa.com Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty cut everyone's pay -- including his own -- on Friday, saying the state's sixth-largest city is broke because the City Council blocked his proposed tax increase. Doherty, a Democrat, warned nearly 400 police officers, firefighters and public works employees about his doomsday plan, prompting a Lackawanna County judge to order the city to pay full wages to all employees, citing that it is a violation of their contracts. Hours later, the payday envelopes went out, and, despite the judge's order, they were light. [pullquote] “This needs to be resolved," Scranton firefighter and president of the local firefighters union John Judge told FoxNews.com. "My members are getting a check for $7.25 an hour. These are people that are the head of their households. They have mortgages. They have other living costs. They are now going to have to throw their bills in a hat and randomly pick what gets paid on time.” The judge was not in his chambers Monday, but attorneys for the local city workers' unions were planning to go to court Tuesday morning to ask him to hold Doherty in contempt of court for violating the injunction. In addition to scaling back wages, Doherty's move cut off overtime, worker's compensation and disability. The city of Scranton has battled budget woes for years, but the problems reached a boiling point after the City Council blocked Doherty's plan to raise taxes to cover a $16.8 million shortfall, opting instead to borrow money to cover the budget gap. “The mayor is trying to strong-arm the council into doing what he wants, but it’s the city’s employees that are paying the price,” Judge said, adding that the workers in his department saw their paystubs go from about $1,500 every two weeks after deductions to a gross pay of about $600. “This is not a case of no cash. It’s a cash-flow problem.” The cuts were sudden, as city employees were only given eight days' notice. Doherty also claimed last week that there is only $5,000 left in the city’s accounts. “The employees are the ones in the middle of this battle between the mayor and the council," said Sam Vitris, president of the public works union. “We’ve had four or five recovery plans over the years and none of them seemed to have worked. The stalemate between them has led the city to run out of money.” Doherty has maintained for months that if the City Council had not refused his 2012 budget proposal, which included a 29 percent tax hike, the city would not be in a dire situation. Doherty did not return repeated calls for comment.
J.K. Rowling’s The Silkworm, penned under her pseudonym Robert Galbraith, hits shelves today. For weeks, Amazon and Hachette (Rowling’s publisher) have been deadlocked in negotiating the percentages of revenue from ebook sales that go to each company; as a result, Amazon delayed shipping for Hachette books and didn’t allow pre-ordering for some Hachette titles. With The Silkworm, however, they’re bowing to some pressure: After not selling the ebook for The Silkworm when the book was first released, Amazon has received a barrage of negative comments on its site, and has now added the option to buy the ebook. Amazon also initially announced shipping times of 1-2 months, but has since reverted to normal shipping times. The New York Times and Publishers Weekly both report that some chain and independent booksellers anticipate increased demand from customers unable to buy the book on Amazon. Salman Rushdie won the PEN Pinter Prize, given annually to a writer who casts an “unflinching, unswerving” gaze on the world and shows a “fierce intellectual determination … to define the real truth of our lives and societies.” The prize, established in 2009 in memory of Nobel-winning British playwright Harold Pinter, has previously been awarded to Hanif Kureishi, Carol Ann Duffy, and Tom Stoppard. “It’s very moving to receive an award named after my friend Harold Pinter,” Rushdie said, “whose literary genius was matched by his passion for social justice.” [The Guardian] Carmen Balcells, the legendary literary agent who represented Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, and many other celebrated Spanish-language authors, is 83. But she isn’t slowing down. She announced a new venture with New York literary agent Andrew Wylie, where they’d share the writers they represent. The details are still unclear, but this is a huge shift for Balcells, who is in many ways responsible for the boom of Latin American literature that started with Márquez in the 1960s. [The New York Times] Promising bondage, sex, and a shirtless Jamie Dorman, 50 Shades of Grey will surely attract some attention when it hits cinemas. But one notable figure who’s not at all interested is Miami Vice star Don Johnson, whose daughter Dakota Johnson will star in the film as Anastasia Steele.Johnson insists that it’s not because of the sex; he’s just not interested. “I probably will not see it just because it’s not a movie I would see. I’ve never seen The Vampire Diaries, I’ve never seen Twilight,” Johnson told The Telegraph. [The Telegraph]
New Paper: 14 Scientists Affirm the Sun, Not CO2, is ‘Dominant Control’ of Recent Climate Change Written by Kenneth Richard One of the oft-stated “truths” for advocates of the position that humans are predominantly responsible for climate changes is that the Sun could not have played more than a negligible role in the global warming of the last few centuries. Indeed, the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) report theorizes that the long-term solar contribution to climate change has been slightly above zero. And yet today’s scientists have not been deterred in their quest to document a robust Sun-Climate link in the paleoclimate data… as well as in the temperature and climatic changes for recent decades. In 2016 alone, for example, there were over 130 scientific papers documenting a non-negligible solar influence on climate. Climate scientist Dr. Jianyong Li, who has himself authored over 300 peer-reviewed scientific publications, continues this trend of linking climate changes to solar forcing. He and 13 other scientists just published a new paper in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews in which they have clearly affirmed the dominance of the Sun’s forcing on the climate of China (and for the Northern Hemisphere in general) during the past few thousand years, including the last century. The authors assert that climate changes and solar activity are well correlated throughout the paleoclimate record, and that if there is a role for greenhouse gases to influence climatic trends, that role is merely supplementary, not dominant. They also describe in detail how the Sun’s variance acts to influence atmospheric and oceanic heat oscillations, and how this may affect regional precipitation, weather, and temperature changes. Summary “We suggest that solar activity may play a key role in driving the climatic fluctuations in NC [North China] during the last 22 centuries, with its quasi ∼100, 50, 23, or 22-year periodicity clearly identified in our climatic reconstructions. … It has been widely suggested from both climate modeling and observation data that solar activity plays a key role in driving late Holocene climatic fluctuations by triggering global temperature variability and atmospheric dynamical circulation (e.g., Haigh, 1996; Shindell et al., 1999; Bond et al., 2001; Fleitmann et al., 2003; Dykoski et al., 2005).” Climate Changes/Oscillations And Solar Activity Well Correlated For North China, Northern Hemisphere “Spectral analyses indicate that the PANN [annual precipitation] record has significant periodicities at 100, 67, 57 and 23 years; and the TANN [annual temperature] record displays notable periodicities at 118, 103, 80, 67, 56, 50, 40 and 22 years (Fig. 4). The 100, 57 and 23 year periods for PANN, as well as the 103, 50, and 22 year periods for TANN, correlate well with the 100, 50, 23 and 22 year cycles for the solar activity observed in various solar parameters (e.g., Wilson et al., 1996; Li et al., 1996; Chowdhury et al., 2009; Zhang et al., 2014), therefore implying an in-phase relationship between the climatic oscillation in NC [North China] and solar activity. Furthermore, a multidecadal to centennial comparison of our pollen-derived TANN reconstruction for NC with the Total Solar Irradiance (TSI; Vieira et al., 2011), the Asian Pacific Oscillation index (APO; Zhou et al., 2009), the Intertropical Convergence Zone index (ITCZ; Haug et al., 2001), the North Atlantic Oscillation index (NAO; Trouet et al., 2009; Olsen et al., 2012) and the Ice-Rafted Debris record (IRD; Bond et al., 2001) from the North Atlantic Ocean, suggests a strong underlying teleconnection between the EAM [East Asian Monsoon] regime in NC and many other high- or low-latitude climatic systems in different regions of the northern Hemisphere.” [Notice there has been no significant net warming in North China since about 1950, consistent with the temperature trends for the Northern Hemisphere in general and similar to the identified pattern in reconstructions of Total Solar Irradiance.] The Mechanism Of Solar Forcing And Climatic/Oscillatory Changes “In short, the mechanism of the climatic variations in NC [North China] can be likely summarized as follows. The strengthened solar activity could be significantly amplified by the variations in ultraviolet radiation as well as clouds (e.g., Haigh, 1996; Tinsley, 2000), resulting in the marked variability in global surface temperature. As the heat capacity between land and ocean differs notably, if TSI increases, the thermal contrast between the East Asian continent and the North Pacific Ocean would be enhanced, resulting in high values of APO and thus northward shift of both ITCZ and Western Pacific Subtropical High (WPSH) positions (e.g., Zhao et al., 2007; Zhou et al., 2009), so that the summer monsoon and its rain belt would move further north and stay longer in NC. At the same time, because the increased TSI would lead to decreased IRD values, but increased North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) circulation, and hence a positive NAO phase, the EAM continent including NC would receive less cold air masses from the high-latitude regions of NH and thus be substantially warming up, so that the winter monsoon and westerlies would be concurrently weakened and retreat northward (e.g., Wu and Wang, 2002; Wang et al., 2005; Li et al., 2015a). As a result, the enhanced summer monsoon would bring more rainfall to NC where the surface temperature is also synchronously higher. In contrast, when TSI declines, the EAM land temperature falls quickly, whereas the winter monsoon and westerlies would be intensified, thus leading to increased IRD values, but declining NADW strength as well as a negative NAO phase; and meanwhile the positions of both ITCZ and WPSH would retreat southward, the summer monsoon intensity would be significantly weakened, thereby resulting in the coincidently decreased precipitation as well as temperature in NC.” CO2 May ‘Partly’ Affect Climate Variations, But Its Role Is Only Superimposed On ‘Solar-Dominated Control’ “Additionally, increased El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) strength (possibly El Niño-like phases) during drying periods, increased volcanic eruptions and the resulting aerosol load during cooling periods, as well as high volumes of greenhouse gases such as CO2 and CH4 during the recent warming periods, may also play a role in partly affecting the climatic variability in NC, superimposing on the overall solar-dominated long-term control (e.g., Wanner et al., 2008; Tan et al., 2011; Kobashi et al., 2013; Chen et al., 2015a,b).” A Closer Look At The Robust Correlation Between Solar Variability And Modern Climate In examining the strong correlation between solar variability and temperature changes, notice the reconstruction of Total Solar Irradiance (TSI) supplied in the Li et al. (2017) paper (from Vieira et al., 2011, shown in this article’s leading graph above and now below). TSI trends for the last several centuries indicate a dramatic rise in solar irradiance from the early 20th century until about 1950, then a decline in solar forcing through the 1960s and 1970s, and then another rising TSI trend after the 1980s until the early 2000s. These trends all correlate rather well with temperature trends not only for China, but for the entire Northern Hemisphere. Even using non-tampered-with instrumental temperature datasets reveal a similar warming-cooling-warming oscillation for the Northern Hemisphere that is compatible with reconstructions of TSI. Prior to NASA’s elimination of 0.45°C of warming from the 1880s to 1940 period, as well as making 0.3°C of cooling disappear from the 1940 to 1970 trend, the National Academy of Sciences produced a graph (depicted below) indicating there was nearly 1°C of warming between the late 1880s and 1940, and then about -0.5 or -0.6°C of cooling between 1940 and 1975. And then, since 1979, the RSS sattellite temperature dataset (shown below) indicates that the Northern Hemisphere (NH) has warmed again by about +0.5 or +0.6° C overall since the 1970s, likely recovering completely from the earlier cooling period of similar magnitude (1940 to 1970s). Since about 2000, the NH trend has been largely flat (until the 2015-’16 Super El Niño warming event). Therefore, using the instrumental records that have likely not been massively adjusted to fit climate models, the 1940s peak and the 2000s plateau are probably similar in warming magnitude. So, like the paleoclimate reconstructions shown above from Li et al. (2017), even the instrumental record seems to correlate well with the Vieira et al. (2011) TSI reconstruction for the 20th and 21st centuries. RSS Satellite Graph Climate4you Because large regions of the Southern Hemisphere (and middle latitudes) have not warmed since the 1970s (regions such as West Antarctica, East Antarctica, Antarctica as a whole, the Southern Ocean, South America, Australia, India, the Indian Ocean …) even global surface temperatures may follow a warming-cooling-warming oscillatory pattern for the 20th century that correlates well with TSI trends. A 2014 Paper Also Affirms A Robust Correlation Between TSI And Temperatures Moffa-Sánchez et al., 2014 “There were several centennial-scale fluctuations in the climate and oceanography of the North Atlantic region over the past 1,000 years, including a period of relative cooling from about AD 1450 to 1850 known as the Little Ice Age. These variations may be linked to changes in solar irradiance, amplified through feedbacks including the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. … The reconstructed centennial-scale variations in hydrography correlate with variability in total solar irradiance. We find a similar correlation in a simulation of climate over the past 1,000 years. [L]ow solar irradiance promotes the development of frequent and persistent atmospheric blocking events, in which a quasi-stationary high-pressure system in the eastern North Atlantic modifies the flow of the westerly winds. … Our results reveal abrupt multidecadal to centennial shifts in the temperature and salinity of the NAC [North Atlantic Current] waters of ∼3.5 °C and ∼1.2 °C, respectively, during the past millennium. The magnitude of the hydrographic variability is substantial and comparable to that recorded in a lower resolution record spanning the present interglacial from a nearby site, which highlights the similarities in the ocean variability on a diverse range of timescales. The timing of the hydrographic shifts shows a strong correlation with total solar irradiance (TSI) variability. Periods of solar minima (maxima) generally correspond to cold and fresh (warm and salty) conditions in the NAC.” Conclusion The IPCC has taken the position that the Sun, and natural factors that influence its variable surface energy absorption (clouds, aerosols, etc.), has had effectively had little to no influence on climate changes in the last few hundred years. This conceptualization is rooted in the presupposition that humans are primarily — if not exclusively — responsible for Earth’s temperature changes. Media outlets have taken the cue and headlined stories such as “2016 Was Earth’s Hottest Year on Record, and Humans Are to Blame“. Considering the large and growing body of scientific evidence linking the Sun to climate variations — even for the 20th and 21st centuries — it is long past due for the IPCC and other influential bodies to take a much closer look at the solar sciences as an explanation for past and present climate changes. With the evidence mounting by the week, it will likely be harder and harder to ignore the evidence for the Sun-Climate connection much longer. – See more at: notrickszone.com Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Print More Telegram Pinterest WhatsApp Pocket Skype Tumblr
“Breathe in that smog and feel lucky that only in L.A. will you glimpse a green sun or a brown moon. Forget the propaganda you’ve heard about clean air; demand oxygen you can see in all its glorious discoloration.” As is often the case, cult film director John Waters captured it more colorfully than anyone when he wrote about Los Angeles’s pollution in his book Crackpot. The smog of L.A. is as iconic as the Hollywood sign or the surf of Santa Monica. There’s no single reason the haze of pollution defines Los Angeles more than any other American city. The second-largest city in the nation has been allowed to sprawl and stretch in a way New Yorkers could only dream of. Its location in a basin surrounded by mountains serves to trap more toxic air particles than might otherwise be the case. But mostly, it’s the cars. No, scratch that: The millions of cars are a problem. The trucks are the problem. Nothing is responsible for more smog-causing emissions in southern California than the trucks that haul freight between the region’s cities and ports. And these trucks may just be too big to realistically run on electric batteries like the passenger cars built by Tesla and others. One possible answer? Don’t electrify the trucks, electrify the roads. That process began last November on a mile’s stretch of highway in Carson located between the heart of Los Angeles and the main port of Long Beach. It’s called an eHighway, and its creators at Siemens — the electrification, automation and digitalization multinational — told Inverse it can considerably lessen highway emissions.
If this doesn’t represent a wake-up call for Michael Del Zotto, 24 and unemployed, then nothing will. For this isn’t Del Zotto being sent to the AHL midway through his second NHL (and pro) season by the Rangers and John Tortorella, or Del Zotto being scratched nine times by Alain Vigneault, or Del Zotto being kept out of the lineup in Nashville by Barry Trotz, or even David Poile passing on the Predators’ $2.9 million qualifier. This is, rather, Del Zotto still searching for someone willing to buy low on him during an early summer in which the market for defensemen — serviceable and otherwise — has resembled the Dow Jones and even people like Deryk Engelland and Nikita Nikitin were treated as blue-chip stocks. Remember last summer when it appeared Del Zotto, Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello would be the biggest beneficiaries of the Rangers’ coaching change from Tortorella to Vigneault? Well, two out of three isn’t bad. Del Zotto, given all sorts of freedom on the ice, couldn’t take advantage of the clean slate; never was able to play to his perceived offensive strengths; never quite clicked with upbeat, positive-thinking assistant coach Ulf Samuelsson any more than he had previously with the dour and sour Mike Sullivan. My goodness, by December Del Zotto had somehow fallen behind Justin (Hell No, I Won’t Go … to Hartford… for Conditioning!) Falk on the depth chart. A new start with Vigneault ended with a trade for Kevin Klein. A fresh start in Nashville under Trotz ended without an invite to return for newly hired Peter Laviolette. At some point, it is not on the coaches. Some point is at this point. Other than Martin Brodeur, who is a unique case, Del Zotto is the most intriguing free agent remaining on the market. He simply is too young with too much ability to already have landed in the overstock bin. But that’s where he is after a spell in which every team with needs on the back end — which, by definition, pretty much means every team in the NHL — has done their homework on due diligence on Del Zotto and has passed, and many even before checking the sticker price. This doesn’t mean time has passed Del Zotto by, or his best days — when, in October 2009, he was, as a 19-year-old, NHL rookie of the month? — are in the past. It means, though, the burden of proof is on the player. It means Del Zotto can’t — or shouldn’t — sell himself for a premium. For right now, five years down a road filled with speed bumps and now a dead end, Del Zotto is perceived as difficult to coach. This is surely a primary reason why Del Zotto remains without a job in a league of third, fourth and fifth chances … and not only when he is defending in his own end. But seriously, folks. This can’t be about the dotted line for Del Zotto — not now. For the bottom line is that at the age of 24, Del Zotto is a reclamation project. It is impossible to believe there aren’t needy teams out there that wouldn’t take a flier on him, but at their price, not his; their terms, not his. This is a summer in which Del Zotto should spend his time surrounded by, and looking at, mirrors. The alarm has sounded. It is largely pro-forma, and it is actually good news for the Rangers that their three salary arbitration-eligible restricted free agents, Zuccarello, Kreider and Derick Brassard, all filed by Saturday’s deadline. The objective on both sides of the aisle is to reach a long-term agreement for all three players — Brassard and Zuccarello could become eligible for unrestricted free agency next summer absent multi-year deals — but filing means all three will be under contract for the start of training camp. Nikolay Zherdev is the last Ranger to go through a salary arbitration case. When the winger was awarded $3.9 million in the summer of 2009, the Blueshirts ran — not walked — away. John Moore is the club’s lone Group II without arbitration rights. The cap squeeze means the defenseman will be playing on a bridge deal for not all that much more than his $850,500 qualifier. Say, two years at $1.1 million per? Brodeur, meanwhile, might be the victim of both the cap and of his own formidable shadow he would cast on a club’s No. 1, even as the most willing and conscientious of backups. But what about Columbus, where Sergei Bobrovsky surely has established himself as an unassailable No. 1 over the past two seasons, and where Curtis McElhinney is the backup for a young, growing team with championship aspirations in a conference with a wide-open window? And though the dynamics in Pittsburgh are difficult to read, it is impossible to believe the Penguins wouldn’t be better served with Brodeur rather than Thomas Greiss as the alternative to Marc-Andre Fleury. Bizarre. Torey Krug is a restricted free agent in limbo (also known as “Boston”), eligible for neither salary arbitration nor a Group II offer sheet. So Josh Gorges, who had Toronto on his no-trade list, rejected a trade to Toronto, and he’s the bad guy and subject to ridicule? Nonsense. I know what you — like me, and everyone else — were thinking when the Sharks lost four straight to the Kings after taking a 3-0 lead in the first round of the playoffs: This wouldn’t have happened if John Scott had been in the San Jose lineup.
When three Lexingtonian middle schoolers put their head together, a potential 501(c)3 was the result. Inspired by the problems of ivory poaching and species extinction, Ashlan Ahmed, his brother Rayhan Ahmed and their friend Jack McGaraghan created the African Endangered Species Conservation Fund (AESCF), a nonprofit trying to save species at risk of extinction. “Our main goal is to protect species in Africa primarily, and we’re starting right now by raising awareness,” said Ashlan Ahmed, a 13-year-old middle school student from Jonas Clarke Middle School. Ashlan is serving as the chairman of the nonprofit. Rayhan Ahmed, the chief operating officer of the fund, said the problem they are dealing with is an issue everybody should be worried about. “We were encouraged to save endangered species because they already have so much stacked against them,” Rayhan said. “They need to have someone to advocate for them.” The boys’ main goal is to stem the demand for ivory, which they said is leading to the "egregious killings of species on the brink of extinction." Jack, who is the chief operating officer and does most of the research for the company, said they became attracted to the concept when they learned about the ivory trade in China. “From a global economics standpoint, recently China has seen an economic slowdown,” Jack said. “A few years ago China was having an economic boom and with it came a boom in poaching. For them, ivory is a sign of wealth and power.” People in China have already begun responding to the fund's message, according to Rayhan. He said in tracking visits to their website, approximately 51 percent of the traffic comes from China. China and the United States are the two biggest consumers of illegal ivory. President Barack Obama and Chinese president Xi Jinping has formulated agreements to end the trade of ivory in their countries. Ashlan said trying to demote the value of ivory in American and Chinese society is key to breaking down the market poachers in Africa sell to. “Countries have been working to cut down ivory production,” Ashlan said. “The U.S. government is waking up in a sense.” A large number of the poachers selling the ivory are from the African countries much of the ivory comes from. Ashlan said instead of killing elephants for ivory, those countries could be investing in tourism, using their natural resources to benefit the country. “All these communities rely on poaching,” Ashlan Ahmen said. “You have to remember these are third-world countries.” Rayhan said he was in contact with representatives from Thomson Safaris investigating the possibility of developing a tourism industry in countries who supply ivory. School reactions The boys agreed the school has been supportive in their efforts. Jonas Clarke Middle School Principal Anna Monaco said she allowed the boys to use one of their free-study blocks, called What-I-Need (WIN) blocks, during the week to use as a meeting time for AESCF. “They’re really passionate about this. I think it’s amazing, and I’m happy to encourage them during the school day,” Monaco said. “To me, this sounds like a great enrichment opportunity.” Ashlan said this was one of their biggest accomplishments. Jack said this allows for a central location where they can introduce themselves to potential volunteers. “That has created a lot more chances for volunteers to hear what we have to say,” Jack said. Bryan Rotundo, a Learning Center teacher at Clarke and the boys’ faculty advisor, said most all of the work comes down to the students. “The ideas, the genesis for everything, comes from them,” Rotundo said. “It’s completely their organization.” Working with other students does come with its difficulties. “We’ve seen some criticism from fellow students that didn’t like the way we were running things,” Jack said. “They want us to start actually changing things in Africa.” The boys said they understand big plans take time. “This all seems like it’s going to be flashy,” Jack said. “On most stages you’re not experiencing those milestones. You’re emailing someone or typing something or just putting up posters in school.” Plans for the future Once the beginning phases are complete, AESCF has plans to spread their word to a larger audience and ultimately begin making tangible differences in the poaching problem. After meeting students from 12 different states at a summer camp at Stanford University, the boys helped create other AESCF groups in schools all over the country. They said they are in contact regularly, and coordinate with the satellite groups to keep spreading the word. “Usually they do sort of what we do, raise awareness in their school,” Rayhan said. Rayhan said changing laws will be integral to seeing that extinction becomes a thing of the past. “We are hoping to change policy to affect some of the poaching laws in this country,” Rayhan said. Jack said carving out their own part of Africa was one of the ultimate goals. “I hope to actually land in Africa. We could start our own nature reserve,” McGaraghan said. “It’s a long-term goal we think we can make happen.” To donate, or to find out more, visit their website at www.aescf.org. Follow Al Gentile on Twitter: @LexReporter
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Democrats are in the midst of an all-out blitz to turn out the early vote, hoping to bank enough votes to overwhelm Donald Trump even before the polls open on Election Day. Nowhere is the urgency more apparent than in North Carolina, where, thanks in part to restrictions on early voting enacted by the Republican legislature, Democrats hold a lead in ballots cast so far but are running behind their 2012 pace. Story Continued Below In places that are home to significant African-American populations, like Greensboro’s Guilford County and Winston-Salem’s Forsyth County, Democrats are still smarting from legislative changes that significantly restricted the number of polling sites available for the duration of in-person early voting — a method frequently utilized by minority voters. Guilford County alone went from 16 polling sites available for the entire early-vote period in 2012 to only one location open for the first week of 2016 — and even that site was not open on the first weekend of early voting. Bill Clinton rallied here Sunday with local Democrats including state Sen. Gladys Robinson to sound the alarm about the importance of casting early ballots in a state that is essential to Trump's path to victory. “I get upset when I don’t see that as many of you have turned to the polls as we did a couple years ago,” admonished Robinson, an African-American Democrat from the area, as she warmed up for the former president. “We have to get to the polls. We have to take everybody with us.” Her urgent plea — amplified minutes later by the former president — is a recognition of the headwinds North Carolina Democrats are facing, four years after Mitt Romney narrowly carried the state and after the number of early voting locations was reduced. As of Saturday, only 37 percent of the total number of Democrats who voted early in Guilford County in 2012 had done so in 2016, though that number was expected to tick up some as Sunday’s full numbers trickled in, and as the state holds more expanded early-voting hours this week. “For Guilford and Forsyth, particularly with Guilford, the issue is, can they get at least some makeup of where they’ve been behind that’s due to the early voting changes?” asked Michael Bitzer, an expert on the early vote at North Carolina’s Catawba College, who provided those comparisons to 2012. That’s why Democrats are feeling the pressure this week to at least close the gap with their 2012 performance before in-person early voting, which tends to benefit their party, ends on Saturday and Republicans move to run up the score on Election Day. “This is a critical time because this is the preferred method of voting for Democrats,” said Michael McDonald, an expert on the early vote who runs the U.S. Elections Project. “They are certainly mounting up a lead in the early vote. It’s just, is that lead going to be good enough?” According to McDonald’s analysis, Democrats are steadily closing on their 2012 performance, and “on the trajectory they’re on, if they keep gaining ground as they are, they should meet or exceed their 2012 levels by the end of the week.” But a significant piece of that effort hinges on African-American turnout in the final days of early voting. On Sunday — a day on which African-Americans tend to vote in big numbers as a result of “souls to the polls” efforts that encourage churchgoers to head to the ballot box after services — Democrats made a major push to close the deficit, and there are signs they made some progress. “It was a big day for the Democrats,” McDonald said. “Without a doubt. 48.7 percent of people who voted were Democrats, 31.9 percent were African-Americans … and they did make up some ground. There were 1,136 Democrats over their 2012 number.” Democrats are now ahead of Republicans by 13.5 percent in the early vote, he said, but it may not be enough: Republicans are overperforming their own 2012 early-vote numbers. "Until they actually exceed 2012 numbers," McDonald said of Democrats, "I think they're going to be very nervous about where they're sitting with early voting in North Carolina." "Republicans tend to win on Election Day," said Dallas Woodhouse, executive director of the North Carolina Republican Party, in a recent interview. Still, the Hillary Clinton campaign stresses that turnout is on the upswing for Democrats now that more polling sites have opened. They cite data from the North Carolina Board of Elections showing that Democratic turnout, and particularly black turnout, has expanded at a rapid clip since more polling sites were added last Thursday, noting that in Guilford, 549 African-Americans voted last Wednesday, but 7,496 did so on Thursday. One North Carolina Democratic operative working on several races in the state expressed confidence that the Clinton campaign would close the gap with 2012 African-American turnout, saying that on Sunday, about 32 percent of votes cast were from African-Americans, but the total share of the African-American vote is expected to be only around 22 percent. "I think the numbers are really catching up," the operative said. "Obviously, a lot of that started Thursday, Friday, Sunday voting, we're continuing to see a huge push in a lot more traditional African-American communities for folks continuing voting this week." Over the next week, both President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are expected to campaign in North Carolina, building on visits from Bill Clinton, first lady Michelle Obama, and Hillary Clinton and her running mate, Tim Kaine, who have all been in the state in the past week or so. The Clinton campaign has also launched aggressive advertising campaigns on African-American radio stations and in black newspapers, in addition to its extensive outreach efforts at churches and historically black colleges. A Clinton adviser stressed that a robust surrogate operation would continue in the state’s African-American communities through Election Day, even though no early voting is allowed next Sunday. “While early voting does conclude on [Nov.] 5, on the final Sunday we do plan to have some major events geared toward the African-American community in order to drum up enthusiasm for [Election Day voting],” said the Clinton adviser. Added Bitzer, “It is critical to get black votes out for Democrats to remain competitive this year, but the number of days to target on this population is growing smaller, and that will mean much more energy and attention for Election Day.” This past Sunday set the tone for the final push in the African-American community, and it’s clear that early voting is still the emphasis. Bill Clinton started his Sunday with a visit to a black church, where he talked up the importance of “souls to the polls” — the last Sunday, according to state rules, on which voting would be allowed. He reiterated that message in front of the Greensboro crowd later in the day. “No state has been a battleground for how to define the future of this country more than North Carolina,” he said. “This is the last Sunday of early voting. A lot of people fought for that.” The sense that voting opportunities were under threat in North Carolina permeated several polling stations in heavily African-American neighborhoods across the state, with a number of voters pointing to restrictions on early voting times as a motivator for turning out. “That’s one of the driving forces for me,” said Derrick Holland, a minister who had participated in a “souls to the polls” march to a Greensboro polling station from his church — where he said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a Democratic civil rights activist, had made a get-out-the-vote speech earlier in the day. “It’s something that was fought for for so long. Now people are trying to take that away from us. I don’t think that’s fair.” He and his wife voted for Hillary Clinton. An hour away, in Raleigh, a steady stream of voters flowed into the Chavis Community Center, which served as a recreational haven for African-Americans during segregation and remains a pillar of the community. Some Republicans wanted to eliminate the site as an early voting station, a decision that was ultimately blocked in a bipartisan fashion. Now, it has become so central to Democratic early voting efforts that Hillary Clinton stopped by two Sundays ago. Efforts to remove Chavis from early voting options “was part of the suppression, more than anything else,” said Rep. Rosa Gill, a Democrat who represents the area and was in attendance on Sunday. “It’s heavily African-American. I think it was part of the voter suppression.” Wake County, home to Raleigh, has been a brighter spot for Democratic early vote performance — in part due to nine early voting locations that opened two weeks ago and another 11 that opened Thursday. The county is crucial to Democratic prospects — it is the second-biggest county in the state, and Democrats must run up big numbers there in order to compensate for the redder rural areas. As of Saturday night, 54 percent of Wake County’s 2012 early total was already in, according to Bitzer’s calculations, and that number was expected to climb. Heavily Democratic Mecklenburg County, the biggest in the state, he said, was also showing signs of strength for Democrats. Back in Greensboro on Sunday afternoon, as another Clinton organizer warmed up the crowd for Bill Clinton, he spelled out the stakes of the next five days. “If we ensure every single registered Democrat in Guilford County gets out to vote,” the organizer said, “we can win this election this week.”
DELPHI, Ind. -- Police say one of the two teenage girls killed last week after going for a hike in northern Indiana recorded the voice of a suspect in their deaths. Indiana State Police played a clip of a man’s voice saying “down the hill” during a Wednesday news conference where officials appealed for more tips from the public and announced that $41,000 in reward money had been raised. Audio released in connection with Delphi teens homicide case Authorities released this short audio clip in connection with the Delphi, Indiana teens homicide case. In the audio file, a man can be heard saying "Down the hill." Police said the photo of the suspect came from 14-year-old Liberty German's phone. The bodies of Liberty, and her friend 13-year-old Abigail Williams, were found on Feb. 14 about a quarter-mile from an abandoned railroad bridge. Officials stopped short of saying the voice in the recording was of the suspect seen in the photo. However, they hope someone can either recognize the man's voice or identify the suspect seen in the picture. Authorities are confident they will find the killer and hope anyone with information will come forward. Share this post to spread the word. http://via.cbs4indy.com/Fp108 Posted by CBS4 Indy on Wednesday, February 22, 2017 Capt. David Bursten says the audio came from 14-year-old Liberty German’s cellphone. Bursten says Liberty also captured an image of a man released by police last week of a man walking near the hiking trail outside Delphi about the time she and 13-year-old Abigail Williams disappeared Feb. 13, Bursten said. Bursten said investigators aren’t certain the voice was that of the photographed man who investigators are calling the main suspect in the deaths. That man hasn’t been identified and no arrests have been made. Officials haven’t ruled out the possibility that more than one person was involved. The girls’ bodies were found Feb. 14 in a rugged wooded area off the trail some 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis. The remains were about about a quarter-mile from an abandoned railroad bridge that’s part of a trail system where the teens planned to go hiking during a day off school in Delphi, a rural community of about 3,000 people. The audio quality is “not superb, but there’s enough there that somebody could recognize this person’s voice,” Bursten said. Officials declined to release more information about how the girls were killed and what else Liberty might have recorded on her phone. Bursten investigators have more video relevant to the investigation they are not releasing. They hailed German as a hero. “This young lady’s a hero, there’s no doubt, to have the presence of mind to activate the video on her cell phone to record what we believe is criminal behavior that is about to occur,” said Indiana State Police Sgt. Tony Slocum. Greg Massa, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Indianapolis Division, said as many as 20 FBI agents have been assisting state and local investigators. Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter became emotional when he spoke at a press conference Wednesday. “Why Libby? Why Abby? Why Delphi? Why Carroll County?” he said. “Why the region, why the state, why even in the nation? I say that because this is a classic example and a clear example that evil lives among us.” But Carter vowed, “We’re not stopping. Someone knows who this individual is.” He also spoke directly to the girls’ killer. “If you’re watching, we’ll find you,” Carter said. The police tip line for the case is: 844-459-5786.
According to the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, Eurovision 1999 winner Charlotte Perrelli will return to Melodifestivalen next year. Besides the artist that also represented Sweden in 2008, a couple of other new names have been leaked as well, including Jon Henrik Fjällgren. Fjällgren came close to winning Melodifestivalen in the year that Måns Zelmerlöw eventually conquered whole Europe at the contest in Vienna 2015. Thus far, 18 names for Melodifestivalen have been leaked, including many former participants. 1. Les Gordons 2. The Fooo Conspiracy 3. Lisa Ajax med låt av bland andra Ola Svensson 4. Elisa Lindström 5. Alice Svensson 6. Robin Bengtsson med låt av bland andra Robin Stjernberg 7. Ace Wilder 8. Boris René 9. Wiktoria Johansson 10. Mariette Hansson 11. Axel Schylström 12. John Lundvik 13. De vet du 14. Jon Henrik Fjällgren 15. Nano Omar 16. Etzia 17. Anton Hagman 18. Charlotte Perrelli
5308 sandro brusco 16 febbraio 2011 • In una società di uguali la ricchezza è ugualmente distribuita, giusto? Sbagliato, e di grosso. Un post didattico che cerca di fare chiarezza sulla questione della distribuzione della ricchezza. Update: il foglio di calcolo da scaricare. Introduzione E' circa paio di mesi che osservo con una certa perplessità il ''dibattito'' che si è sviluppato sulla distribuzione della ricchezza in Italia. La ragione della perplessità, e la ragione per cui ho messo la parola dibattito tra virgolette, è che la discussione sembra procedere mantenendo una rigorosa e completa ignoranza sia dei principali fatti empirici sia di osservazioni teoriche abbastanza elementari. Ho quindi deciso di scrivere questo post che non ha alcuna pretesa di dire cose nuove o particolarmente intelligenti ma semplicemente di ricordare alcune cose abbastanza scontate ma che nessuno sembra essersi preso la briga di menzionare. La discussione, per quel che posso dire, partì con un bizzarro episodio di scoperta tardiva di un dato contenuto nella indagine sui bilanci delle famiglie della Banca d'Italia, ossia il fatto che il 10% delle famiglie possedesse il 45% della ricchezza. L'episodio, come ho commentato in un altro pezzo, è bizzarro perché questo numero è stato ''riscoperto'' con vari mesi di ritardo in occasione della pubblicazione di un'altra indagine della Banca d'Italia, specificamente dedicata alla ricchezza. Comunque, bizzarro o no che sia il modo in cui il dato è risalito alla superficie, da quel momento sembra essersi imposto all'attenzione di tutti. Le proposte di patrimoniale per ripagare il debito pubblico sono a quel punto venute da sole. Un esempio fra tanti è dato da questo articolo di Peter Gomez su Il Fatto, il cui attacco recita: Bisogna essere grati all’ufficio studi di Banca d’Italia che oggi ci ha ricordato come la ricchezza nel nostro Paese continui da anni ad essere molto mal distribuita. Partendo da questa premessa Gomez poi continua spiegandoci come una bella patrimoniale (e che altro?) risolverebbe il problema del debito pubblico. Ci sono però due domande abbastanza elementari che nessuno sembra essersi posto, a cominciare da Gomez che è un ottimo giornalista ma che chiaramente di economia non mastica molto. La prima domanda è: se vogliamo valutare la disuguaglianza in una società, è una buona idea guardare alla ricchezza o è meglio guardare altre variabili, come il consumo o il reddito? E la seconda è: se guardiamo alla ricchezza, cosa dobbiamo considerare normale in termini di disuguaglianza nella sua distribuzione? Sono, a dir la verità, domande abbastanza complicate. Il problema è che gran parte dei commentatori queste domande non se le è nemmeno poste. Molti hanno dato per scontato che la risposta alla prima domanda fosse ''sì, è una buona idea guardare alla ricchezza'', mentre per la seconda hanno dato per scontato che il 45% in mano al 10% più ricco fosse un numero molto più alto del desiderabile (la ricchezza è ''mal distribuita'', nelle parole di Gomez). In questo post voglio prima di tutto introdurre alcuni esempi per mostrare perché le risposte non sono affatto banali. In secondo luogo voglio svolgere alcune considerazioni teoriche aggiuntive sulla distribuzione della ricchezza e sulla sua relazione con il benessere. Ripeto che non è niente di nuovo e originale, sono cose che dovrebbero essere ben note (ma chiaramente non lo sono) a chiunque pretenda di scrivere su giornali o blog su questi temi. Non discuterò, se non molto limitatamente, l'evidenza empirica. Lo farò in un post successivo. Primo esempio: la società dei perfettamente uguali. Rawlslandia Superiore è una società in cui tutti i cittadini sono perfettamente uguali. Ciascun cittadino vive esattamente 80 anni, ma per i primi 20 non forma famiglia a sé e non percepisce redditi (quindi non consideriamo gli under-20 nei calcoli della distribuzione della ricchezza). Per 40 anni lavora e per 20 percepisce la pensione. Poi muore e viene sostituito da un altro cittadino esattamente identico (gli economisti chiamano questo tipo di modelli ''a generazioni sovrapposte''). La valuta di questo paese è il rawlso, di cui non darò il tasso di cambio con l'euro perché è irrilevante. Come detto, tutti i cittadini sono esattamente uguali. In particolare, quando lavorano guadagnano 100 rawlsi ogni anno; di questi, 30 rawlsi vengono pagati in tasse per finanziare le pensioni e altre spese per l'infanzia, mentre 70 rawlsi restano al lavoratore. Quando sono in pensione i lavoratori percepiscono 40 rawlsi e non sono tassati. Non solo le capacità di generare reddito sono uguali, anche i gusti sono uguali. Ogni cittadino cerca di mantenere un livello di consumo costante (e il più alto possibile) per tutta la vita. Dato che tutti i cittadini guadagnano esattamente lo stesso nell'arco della vita, anche il loro consumo è esattamente lo stesso. Nessuno lascia ricchezza in eredità perché a Rawlslandia Superiore le tasse sull'eredità sono pari al 100% e non è possibile evadere in alcun modo. La società è un bel pò che va avanti in questo modo. Essendo una società stazionaria, i cittadini adulti sono ugualmente ripartiti tra le diverse classi di età: un sessantesimo ha ventun anni, un sessantesimo ha ventidue anni etc. Non credo vi possano essere dubbi che questa è una società così uguale che più uguale non si può. Se guardassimo al consumo lo vedremmo subito. Tutti consumano esattamente lo stesso e la disuguaglianza, comunque la si misuri, è zero. Se guardassimo al reddito, vi sarebbe unicamente la disuguaglianza tra salari e pensioni. Ma la disuguaglianza tra i salari sarebbe esattamente zero. E' zero anche la disuguaglianza tra i redditi complessivamente guadagnati nel corso del ciclo vitale. E la ricchezza? Qua la cosa da capire è che la ricchezza evolve con l'età. Ricordate che ciascun cittadino ha l'obiettivo si mantenere inalterato il suo tenore di vita lungo il ciclo vitale. Siccome quando sarà in pensione guadagnerà meno di quando lavora, metterà da parte durante i 40 anni di lavoro (accumulando quindi ricchezza) e spenderà più di quello che guadagna (decumulando quindi ricchezza) durante i venti anni di pensione. Quanto esattamente mette da parte e come evolve la ricchezza? Per rispondere bisogna fare ipotesi sui tassi di interesse. Visto che stiamo considerando un esempio semplificato, supponiamo che il tasso di interesse sia costante nel tempo e pari al 2%. Con questo tasso di interesse un cittadino può finanziare un flusso costante di consumo pari a 63,61 rawlsi l'anno [solo per i nerds: è il numero che si ottiene uguagliando il valore attuale di un flusso costante di cassa per 60 anni scontato al 2% con il valore attuale di un reddito di 70 per 40 anni e di 40 per i 20 successivi, sempre scontati al 2%]. Mentre lavora quindi il cittadino riparmia 70-63,61=6,39 rawlsi l'anno. Alla fine del primo anno di lavoro la sua ricchezza è 6,39. Il secondo anno è 6,39*1,02 + 6,39, ossia quanto accumulato l'anno prima accresciuto dell'interesse più quanto accumulato il secondo anno. E così via. Il sentiero di accumulazione della ricchezza è mostrato in questo grafico La ricchezza cresce per tutto il periodo di lavoro, raggiungendo un picco a 60 anni (ultimo anno di lavoro). A partire da quel punto la ricchezza viene ''mangiata'' per continuare a consumare 63,61 rawlsi a fronte di una pensione di 40 rawlsi. In questa società i più ricchi sono i cittadini con un'età intorno a quella di pensionamento (appena prima o appena dopo) e i più poveri sono i cittadini che hanno appena iniziato a lavorare, ossia quelli all'inizio del processo di accumulazione, e quelli che sono vicini alla fine, e sono quindi giunti al termine del processo di decumulazione. Se mettete il tutto in un foglio di calcolo scoprirete che a 60 anni, l'età a cui si è più ricchi, la ricchezza è di 386 rawlsi. Ora proviamo a calcolare quanta ricchezza possiede il 10% più ricco in questa società di uguali. Per semplicità, immaginate che ci sia un cittadino in ogni classe di età da 21 a 80 anni. La ricchezza totale (sempre dal foglio di calcolo) è 10.826 rawlsi. Il 10% più ricco è costituito dalle sei classi di età con la ricchezza più alta, che risultano essere i cittadini con età compresa tra 57 e 62 anni (estremi compresi). La ricchezza totale da essi controllata è di 2.186 rawlsi, pari al 20,2% della ricchezza totale. Ossia, in questa società di perfettamente uguali il 10% più ricco controlla più del 20% della ricchezza. Il 10% più povero è invece costituito dai cittadini di età da 21 a 24 e 79-80 anni. Tutti assieme i poveretti hanno un patrimonio complessivo di soli 88 rawlsi, che è meno dell'1% della ricchezza totale. In questa società di perfettamente uguali quindi il 10% più ricco ha una ricchezza che è spaventosamente più grande (più di 20 volte più grande!) del 10% più povero. Credo possiamo essere tutti d'accordo che questa disguaglianza nella distribuzione della ricchezza, in questa società, non dovrebbe turbare i sonni nemmeno dell'egualitarista più incallito. In altre parole, guardare alla ricchezza in questa società per stabilire l'effettivo livello di disuguaglianza è estremamente fuorviante. Secondo esempio: la società dei dinamicamente uguali A Rawlslandia Inferiore i cittadini sono anch'essi uguali, ma i loro salari non sono costanti lungo l'arco della vita. Invece, i salari sono bassi da giovani e crescono nel tempo, a un ritmo dell'1,5% annuo. Per il resto è tutto come in Rawlslandia Superiore (con cui esiste una unione monetaria; anche in Rawlslandia Inferiore quindi si usa il rawlso): stessi 40 anni di lavoro, stessa pensione di 40 rawlsi netti. Il numero di partenza del salario netto (il salario nel primo anno di lavoro) lo scelgo in modo da generare lo stesso valore attuale del flusso di consumo che nell'esempio precedente: è pari a 53,65 rawlsi. Come detto il salario cresce dell'1,5% annuo, per cui al momento di andare in pensione un lavoratore ha un salario di 95,88 rawlsi. Dato questo flusso di reddito un cittadino può di nuovo finanziare un flusso costante di consumo di 63,61 rawlsi l'anno. Di nuovo quindi se guardiamo alla disuguaglianza nel consumo, questa semplicemente non esiste. Ciascuno consuma, in ogni anno della sua vita, esattamente lo stesso. I redditi ovviamente saranno più disuguali che nell'esempio precedente, con i vecchi che guadagnano più dei giovani. Ma ricordate che la dinamica del reddito è identica per tutti, per cui il valore attuale del reddito sul ciclo vitale è uguale per tutti. E veniamo alla ricchezza. Qua c'è una complicazione rispetto al caso precedente, dato che all'inizio della carriera il valore del consumo è superiore a quello del reddito. Per mantenere costante il flusso di consumo è quindi necessario indebitarsi quando si è giovani, e si ha un salario basso, per poi pagare i debiti quando si è più vecchi e si guadagna di più. L'ipotesi che facciamo è che un cittadino paghi, sul proprio debito, lo stesso tasso di interesse (il 2%) che ottiene sui propri investimenti. Sappiamo che è un'ipotesi irrealistica, ma per il momento passatela; discuteremo poi cosa succede quando non ci si può indebitare. Detto questo, ecco il grafico che mostra l'evoluzione della ricchezza a Rawlslandia Inferiore. Ciascun cittadino si indebita fino a quanto il suo salario raggiunge il livello di 63,61 rawlsi, cosa che accade nell'anno 33. A partire da quel punto il reddito supera il consumo e si inizia a risparmiare. Fino a 45 anni si ripaga il debito, e da quel punto in poi si inizia ad accumulare. L'accumulazione dura fino ai 60 anni e procede a passo sostenuto, essendo ora il salario più alto. Quando si va in pensione si inizia a decumulare ricchezza per mantenere il consumo costante. In questa società una fetta consistente della popolazione (tutti quelli tra 21 e 45 anni) ha una ricchezza negativa. Quelli con ricchezza negativa sono anche quelli con i salari più bassi. Se calcoliamo la ricchezza totale netta di questa società, ossia sottraendo il debito, otteniamo 5242 rawlsi. Il 10% più ricco a Rawlslandia Inferiore comprende di nuovo i cittadini con età intorno alla pensione, per l'esattezza i cittadini tra 59 e 64 anni, estremi compresi. Questi cittadini controllano una ricchezza pari a 2.115 rawlsi, pari al 40,34% della ricchezza netta. I più poveri sono gli appartenenti alle età comprese tra 31 e 36, ossia intorno all'età in cui si smette di accumulare debito e si comincia a risparmiare per ripagarlo. Intorno a queste età il debito è un po' più di 70 rawlsi. In questa società la concentrazione della ricchezza è molto maggiore che nella società precedente. In effetti il 40,34% non è tanto lontano dal 45% che ha scatenato le urla indignate di vari osservatori. La disuguaglianza salariale è anch'essa assai più alta. Ma questa è in realtà una società ugualitaria, in cui tutti consumano esattamente lo stesso a tutte le età e la somma del flusso scontato dei redditi lungo il ciclo vitale è identico per tutti. Anche in questo caso quindi guardare alla ricchezza è estremamente fuorviante. Abbiamo visto come un profilo salariale crescente è un buon ''trucco'' per aumentare la disguguaglianza della ricchezza in una società di eguali. Un altro ''trucco'' per far crescere la concentrazione della ricchezza in questa classe di esempi è quello di ipotizzare che la popolazione cresca, anziché restare stazionaria. Se la popolazione cresce ci sono più giovani che vecchi. Siccome i giovani sono in media più poveri dei vecchi, la concentrazione della ricchezza cresce. Si tratta però di un ''effetto ottico''. La società resta una società di uguali. Ultimo esempio: la società dei disuguali Non voglio dar l'impressione che la distribuzione della ricchezza non possa mai essere usata come indice utile della disuguaglianza di un paese. Considerate quindi il seguente esempio, più informale dei precedenti ma che dovrebbe dare l'idea. Nel paese di Lacandonia i cittadini sono divisi molto nettamente in due classi. Il 99% sono contadini. Ciascuno di essi ha un minuscolo pezzo di terra che fornisce appena di che sfamarsi, e nemmeno quello negli anni di carestia (il ché riduce la durata media di vita). Dato che il reddito dei contadini è uguale al consumo minimo necessario per restare vivi, essi non hanno alcuna possibilità di accumulare ricchezza, che resta quindi costante e sempre pari al valore del loro pezzo di terra. L'1% della popolazione è costituito da latifondisti. Questi sono discendenti di una banda di predoni che arrivò dal mare qualche secolo prima e si appropriò di vasti appezzamenti di terra mettendo a ferro e fuoco il paese appena scoperto. I gusti dei latifondisti sono tali per cui non sono interessati ad accrescere il valore dei terreni ma solo a goderne i frutti. Anche per loro il valore della ricchezza è costante e dato dal valore del loro latifondo. Questa è chiaramente una società profondamente disuguale. Se si potesse misurare la disuguaglianza apparirebbe facilmente sia nei consumi sia nei redditi. Ma supponiamo che consumo e reddito non siano di facile misurazione, per esempio perché c'è molto autoconsumo e molto baratto. In tal caso guardare alla distribuzione del valore dei possedimenti terrieri fornisce una buona idea del livello di disuguaglianza presente nel paese. Le società più ricche non sono necessariamente quelle dove si sta meglio E' venuto il momento di tirare alcune conclusioni dagli esempi. La prima, abbastanza sorprendente, è che non è vero che più ricchezza è uguale a più benessere. Badate che non sto dicendo che ''l'importante sono altre cose, l'amore, l'arte, la bellezza'' o simili banalità tremontian-kennedyane (nel senso di Robert Kennedy). Mi riferisco unicamente al livello di consumo che un membro della società può raggiungere. Comparate Rawlslandia Superiore con Rawlslandia Inferiore. Nel primo caso, quello con salari stazionari, la ricchezza netta totale è di 10.826 rawlsi, mentre nel secondo caso, quello con salari inizialmente bassi ma crescenti, la ricchezza netta totale è meno della metà, 5.242 rawlsi. Ma le due società sono in realtà identiche, dato che il livello di consumo è identico. Una persona razionale dovrebbe essere completamente indifferente rispetto a vivere a Rawlslandia Inferiore o Superiore. Ma è possibile anche costruire esempi in cui la ricchezza è più alta ma si sta peggio. Ricordate che a Rawlslandia Inferiore i cittadini passavano buona parte della propria giovinezza ad accumulare debiti, che poi ripagavano da vecchi con i propri più alti salari. Immaginiamo ora che sia impossibile far debiti per finanziare il proprio consumo, o che i tassi di interessi che si pagano siano ben superiori al 2% e tali da scoraggiare i potenziali debitori. Che fare in una simile situazione? Una politica ottimale può essere la seguente. Nei primi anni di lavoro si consuma per intero il reddito e non si risparmia nulla. Quando il reddito raggiunge un certo livello si inizia a risparmiare. Da quel punto in poi il consumo resta costante e il giochino è il solito: si accumula fino alla pensione e poi si decumula. In questa società l'andamento della ricchezza è come segue. Il punto importante è che la ricchezza complessiva, pari a 7.916 rawlsi, è più alta che nel caso in cui i cittadini giovani potevano indebitarsi (5.242 rawlsi). Però questa è una società in cui si sta peggio. I cittadini vorrebbero mantenere il consumo costante lungo il ciclo vitale ma non ci riescono perché non possono pigliare a prestito quando vorrebbero. Il più alto livello di ricchezza risulta da questa forma di vincolo finanziario, ma non genera alcun incremento di benessere. Un'altra importante classe di esempi in cui la ricchezza è inversamente correlata al benessere può essere ottenuta se introduciamo incertezza. Facciamo un esempio ultrasemplice. Un individuo vive due periodi e guadagna 100 in ciascun periodo. Non ha bisogno di accumulare, semplicemente consuma tutti il reddito in ciascun periodo. La ricchezza è quindi zero. Supponete ora però che mentre il guadagno di 100 nel primo periodo sia certo, vi sia incertezza sul guadagno del secondo periodo. Con probabilità 50% il reddito sarà zero, con probabilità 50% il reddito sarà 200. Quindi, il reddito atteso nel secondo periodo è sempre uguale a 100, ma ora vi è incertezza. Sotto condizioni abbastanza generali il nostro cittadino eviterà di consumare tutto nel primo periodo e metterà qualcosa da parte per il caso in cui il reddito sia zero. Questo significa che la ricchezza è più alta. Ma chiaramente qualunque persona avversa al rischio preferirà vivere nella prima società, quella con ricchezza nulla, che nella seconda, quella con ricchezza positiva. Conclusione La domanda se sia utile guardare alla distribuzione della ricchezza nell'Italia del 2011 può essere ridotta alla seguente domanda: l'Italia assomiglia di più a Rawlslandia o a Lacandonia? Ossia, è un paese in cui la ricchezza si ottiene principalmente mediante il risparmio o mediante l'eredità? Ne discuteremo più approfonditamente nel post sull'evidenza empirica, qui faccio solo un'osservazione molto semplice. In Rawlslandia la ricchezza cambia con l'età: cresce fino al momento della pensione e poi decresce. In Lacandonia invece resta sempre la stessa lungo il ciclo vitale, dato che la ricchezza è ereditaria e nessuno risparmia. Questi sono i dati dell'indagine sui redditi della Banca d'Italia sui valori mediani della ricchezza netta per classi di età (Tav. E2 pag. 73). Valore mediano ricchezza netta fino a 34 anni 37.000 da 35 a 44 anni 131.172 da 45 a 54 anni 175.595 da 55 a 64 anni 211.200 oltre 64 155.391 La variazione della ricchezza con l'età è evidente: si inizia giovani e poveri, si accumula e si raggiunge il massimo intorno all'età della pensione, poi si decumula. Chiaramente occorre guardare con più attenzione tutta l'evidenza empirica disponibile prima di trarre conclusioni, ma questi dati mostrano che la componente di costruzione della ricchezza mediante risparmio non è irrilevante. A parte questo comunque è a mio avviso abbastanza chiaro che quando si cerca di valutare quanto sia diseguale una società, la ricchezza non è la variabile più utile, almeno nelle società industrializzate in cui il reddito della maggioranza dei cittadini è ben superiore alla soglia di sussistenza. Come minimo bisogna anche guardare a consumo e reddito. Infine, quando possiamo dire che la ricchezza è concentrata e quanto ci dovrebbe preoccupare? Il 45% in mano al top 10% è tanto o poco? Abbiamo visto che in Rawslandia Inferiore, una società sostanzialmente di uguali, il top 10% controlla il 40% della ricchezza, quindi la risposta non è ovvia. Ne riparleremo guardando ai dati empirici.
THE BROADCASTING AUTHORITY of Ireland have decided that comedian Jason Byrne was not referring to the Traveller community when he used the word ‘knackers’ on The Late Late Show. The decision is one of five different complaints made against RTÉ that were rejected in the BAI’s latest round of decisions. The incident in question occurred in a December episode of the show when Byrne was asked by presenter Ryan Tubridy about his appearance at the Royal Variety Performance in the UK. Byrne responded: Yeah, it’s the hardest gig you’ll ever do because when they say “My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen please welcome,” they mean it. There’s like – you know the way this [referring to the Late Late audience] is full of knackers and tramps here. I mean that’s a how’ya audience. Tickets and free stuff, deadly, give me more free stuff. You don’t get it at the Royal Variety Show. A complaint was subsequently made to the BAI alleging that Byrne’s comment was “a clear reference to the Traveller community”. The complainant, a member of the community himself, added that Tubridy did not point out that Byrne’s comments were unacceptable, something which he said “created a culture of acceptability”. But RTÉ denied that Byrne was referring to the Traveller community arguing that, while the choice of the term was “regrettable” and is often used in a pejorative way towards the community, it has come to have a wider meaning in society: It is also true however that the word has another, distinct and much more general meaning in everyday Irish speech which is not directed toward or signifying Travellers, as common Irish slang for people who are uncouth, gougers, ne’er-do-wells. RTÉ’s response to the complaint also adds that Byrne’s comments were “jocular” in nature and part of his verbal delivery which is “fast and informal and often colloquial”. The BAI agreed, saying that ‘knacker’ is identified by them as a word which has the potential to cause offence towards Travellers but that it also has a wide meaning which was intended in this case. The committee found that the comment was on this occasion directed at the audience rather than at the Traveller community, rejecting the complaint as a result. Israel The one complaint that was upheld by the BAI was one made on behalf of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign about an edition Rebel Radio on Cork City Community Radio. The programme featured a representative from the Irish4Israel organisation and the BAI decided that his contributions were not adequately examined or questioned by the presenter in the absence of an alternative voice. Read the BAI’s decisions in full here >
Realizing that a lot of the questions I see coming up over and over are on “How do I improvise?” so I figured I should just put it into one place to link people. Less hard than you think A lot of times when I hear gamers talk about improvising, it’s spoken of like it’s this super amazing skill that is rare and difficult – like Bruce Lee’s 1 inch punch or something. But here’s the thing: it’s only difficult because most rpg advice for GMs is the exact opposite of improvisation. Let’s break that down. The two most common methods of GM prep are either: “Make a map and fill it with encounters and puzzles” or “Make a set of events/scenes, either a linear set or a branching path set and have the PCs ‘go through it’.”. Notice that both of these methods require that you “make” something ahead of time, guessing at what will be fun, challenging, and appropriate. When the PCs deal with the things you made, they’re then “used up”, you don’t get to reuse them, it’s done. I used to call this stuff “ammo” – you make it, shoot it, and it’s gone. Now let’s do a comparison: every week the players show up and all they have in front of them is their character sheet. They don’t plan out every possible thing they might have to do in the week’s adventure, they just do it. They use the idea of their character to direct how they’re going to improvise. What if you did the same – made simple tools you could reference and improvise as a GM? A Source of Problems > A Set of Problems What the prepared GMing styles teach you is to create a set of problems – it’s a set of encounters, scenes, questions/replies, clues, etc. but they get used up. What you want instead is a source of problems, something that easy to improvise ideas with. If you were playing a Batman game, could you take 5 minutes and simply make up a dastardly plan for the Joker? Sure. You get what kind of problems the Joker creates. You can probably make up Joker action and reactions on the spot. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it’s easy enough to come up with something. So what you’re looking for is situations and characters that make it easy for you to come up with twists and problems rather than having to do a lot of prep. You prep just enough detail on the SOURCES of problems, so you can adapt in play, easily. NPCs with Motivations A very easy solution is to have NPCs whose goals and personalities naturally clash with those of the PCs. You don’t have to figure out each event or scene – you just look down your list of NPCs, play them as characters, just as much as players play their characters, and events happen. You pick which NPCs to focus on based on what seems the most interesting. Also notice that the NPCs’ motivations do not need to be static – they may change their minds, switch sides, or otherwise change up what they’re interested in – you can have an enemy turn into an ally, an ally turn into an enemy and not totally break the game. Useful reading: Making Good Flags (PC’s motivations) Conflict Webs (NPC’s motivations) 7 Types of Antagonists (NPC archetypes) Logistics as a Source of Problems The other part of it is sometimes nature, or the situation produces a source of problems. Having the refugees of your village lost at sea and running out of supplies is a source of problems, even if everyone is trying to work together. Instead of necessarily prepping tons of individual events, you can have a larger situation that easily suggests a lot of potential problems. Useful reading: Logistics & Politics (the small amount of prep for logistics issues) Magical Cause & Effect (logistics and problems tying into magic, or mythological ideas) Big List of Combat Stakes (likely combat situations that comes out of these things, also provides it’s own form of mini-logistical issues). Easier Math Now, with all that said, there’s still things to be said about the point of the game system you’re using. Improvising is easier when the rules make it very easy to do math on the fly. (Suggestions: The Pool, Inspectres, Lady Blackbird) While many rpgs at this point make that easier for things like skill or attribute checks, few are as easy for combat encounters – partially because they often deal with a lot of different variables, but also because many rpgs are built around funky math for balancing an encounter. When you have this kind of situation, it’s better if the game gives you a lot of pregenerated monsters/enemy types so you don’t have to build things from scratch – this is effectively what the classic D&D Monster Manual was about – you can simply flip to the right page, pull up the stats and go. Follow the Players Games where you’ve tried to prepare everything ahead are much harder to make a fun and entertaining game, in my experience. You’re trying to guess what your players will do, what they’ll find fun, and how to make it work before it happens. You’re not just exercising mind reading, but also divination of the future… Games where you improvise on the spot, you simply pay attention to what gets the players excited – you let them show you what they’re interested in and you give them more of that. You don’t read their minds, you pay attention to what they show you. The link of making Good Flags is a good one to read for a technique to help you, but the real key is paying attention to the people at the table. Are they engaged? Are they asking questions and all excited? Are they clenching their fists in anxiety? Are they trying their damndest to win a conflict? Pay attention to these things. You can see if you’re getting hotter or colder when you play. Pacing – Go to the fun Years ago, I wrote, “Fun Now” as a motto- figure out what is fun for your group, go for it and don’t waste too much time getting to it. I’ve also stated it as “find out what is interesting for your group” and it says a lot about the levels of broken gamer culture that I would always get someone asking “How do I know what is interesting?” … Anyway, the nice thing about rpgs is that you can literally skip the unfun parts at anytime you want. “3 months later, you’ve braved the terrible sea voyage and you’ve made your way to the Capital.” , “It’s almost dawn by the time you get out of the Tombs of Sarkoth, you’re exhausted, hurt, but alive.” etc. Tied into this is the idea brought forth in the rpg Dogs in the Vineyard – “Say Yes or Roll the Dice”. If you already know the outcome of a situation – just Say Yes and skip over it. If there’s no possible interesting failure or consequences – Say Yes and skip over it. Finding out what the players find fun, focusing as much play on it as possible, that’s how you get the most out of your improvisation and gaming.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Tyres, flags, election posters and wooden pallets were burned on the bonfire A bomb was thrown at a police patrol near the scene of a controversial nationalist bonfire overnight in Londonderry, police have said. A number of homes on Charlotte Street were evacuated during a security alert that ended at 03:13 BST. The "viable device" was thrown at the Lecky Road flyover, police said. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Last-minute talks to move the bonfire to a safer place broke down on Monday The fire reached 20ft (6m) in height and partially blocked the road, leading to complaints from some residents.. Union jacks and Sinn Féin election posters were burned on the fire. "We are investigating all offences committed at the bonfire in the Bogside last night, including a serious incident where a viable pipe bomb-type device was thrown at a police patrol," said PSNI District Commander Mark McEwan. Image copyright Press Eye Image caption Part of the Lecky Road in Derry was blocked, causing disruption to traffic Foyle Democratic Unionist Party MLA Gary Middleton, who was in the Bogside earlier on Monday, condemned those behind the attack. "The fact that a viable pipe bomb was thrown, potentially putting dozens of lives at risk, is a deeply worrying incident," he said. "Those who constructed and threw this device are terrorists who clearly have no regard for the lives of anyone in the city. Image copyright Press Eye Image caption The structure was in the middle of a main road "My thoughts are also with many residents who were forced to leave their homes for a number of hours last night," Mr Middleton added. A last-minute attempt to move the structure from the middle of the road failed on Monday night. Sinn Féin MLA Raymond McCartney said he believed dissident republicans were responsible for the bonfire and the security alert. "I don't think the focus should be on the election posters," said Mr McCartney. Image copyright Press Eye Image caption A council operation to clean up the burnt debris began on Tuesday morning "There was election posters of all other parties, ourselves included. "This isn't an act of defiance, this is a group of young people aided and abetted by other dissident elements in this city." Independent councillor Gary Donnelly said young people in the area have been forgotten about. Image copyright Press Eye Image caption The bonfire, which reached 20ft (6m) in height, was built in the middle of a main road in Derry "People need to sit around the table and have dialogue - there seems to be a complete disconnect with the young people in that area," he said. "All week they have been bombarded by a relentless demonisation and criminalisation policy by some elected representatives. "They will no doubt say that two or three thousand people at that bonfire in the Bogside would be support." Image copyright Press Eye Image caption Nationalist politicians have criticised the bonfire, which was bedecked in union flags and Sinn Féin election posters A number of community festivals were held in Creggan, Shantallow and the Bogside to provide an alternative to the annual bonfire. Bonfires are traditionally set alight on 15 August in some nationalist areas of Derry to mark the Catholic feast day of the Assumption. The date commemorates the Virgin Mary's death and assumption into heaven. Image copyright Press Eye Image caption Bonfires are traditionally set on fire on 15 August in some nationalist areas However, nationalist and republican politicians have criticised the practice, saying it causes disruption to local residents. Social Democratic and Labour Party councillor John Boyle said: "We need to find different ways of celebrating culture. "If the police or any other statutory agency had attempted to remove the bonfire we may well actually have been looking at something a hell of a lot worse than we're looking at currently."
In music, as in film, we have reached a point where every element of every composition can be fully produced and automated by computers. This is a breakthrough that allows producers with little or no musical training the ability to rapidly turn out hits. It also allows talented musicians without access to expensive equipment to record their music with little more than their laptops. But the ease of digital recording technology has encouraged producers, musicians, and engineers at all levels to smooth out every rough edge and correct every mistake, even in recordings of real humans playing old-fashioned analogue instruments. After all, if you could make the drummer play in perfect time every measure, the singer hit every note on key, or the guitarist play every note perfectly, why wouldn’t you? One answer comes in a succinct quotation from Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies, which Ted Mills referenced in a recent post here on Miles Davis: “Honor Your Mistakes as a Hidden Intention.” (The advice is similar to that Davis gave to Herbie Hancock, “There are no mistakes, just chances to improvise.”) In the short clip at the top, Eno elaborates in the context of digital production, saying “the temptation of the technology is to smooth everything out.” But the net effect of correcting every perceived mistake is to “homogenize the whole song,” he says, “till every bar sounds the same… until there’s no evidence of human life at all in there.” There is a reason, after all, that even purely digital, “in the box” sequencers and drum machines have functions to “humanize” their beats—to make them correspond more to the looseness and occasional hesitancy of real human players. This does not mean that there is no such thing as singing or playing well or badly—it means there is no such thing as perfection. Or rather, that perfection is not a worthy goal in music. The real hooks, the moments that we most connect with and return to again and again, are often happy accidents. Mills points to a whole Reddit thread devoted to mistakes left in recordings that became part of the song. And when it comes to playing perfectly in time or in tune, I think of what an atrocity would have resulted from running all of The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street through a digital audio workstation to sand down the sharp edges and "fix" the mistakes. All of its shambling, mumbling, drunken barroom charm would be completely lost. That goes also for the entire recorded output of The Band, or most of Dylan’s albums (such as my personal favorite, John Wesley Harding). To take a somewhat more modern example, listen to “Sirena” from Australian instrumental trio Dirty Three, above. This is a band that sounds forever on the verge of collapse, and it’s absolutely beautiful to hear (or see, if you get the chance to experience them live). This recording, from their album Ocean Songs, was made in 1998, before most production went fully digital, and there are very few records that sound like it anymore. Even dance music has the potential to be much more raw and organic, instead of having singers' voices run through so much pitch correction software that they sound like machines. (witness the obscure disco hit "Miss Broadway," for example, or LCD Soundsystem's career.) There is a lot more to say about the way the albums represented above were recorded, but the overall point is that just as too much CGI has often ruined the excitement of cinema (we’re looking at you, George Lucas) ---or as the digital “loudness wars” sapped much recorded music of its dynamic peaks and valleys---overzealous use of software to correct imperfections can ruin the human appeal of music, and render it sterile and disposable like so many cheap, plastic mass-produced toys. As with all of our use of advanced technology, questions about what we can do should always be followed by questions about what we’re really gaining, or losing, in the process. Related Content: Brian Eno on Creating Music and Art As Imaginary Landscapes (1989) Brian Eno Creates a List of His 13 Favorite Records: From Gospel to Afrobeat, Shoegaze to Bulgarian Folk Brian Eno on Why Do We Make Art & What’s It Good For?: Download His 2015 John Peel Lecture Josh Jones is a writer and musician based in Durham, NC. Follow him at @jdmagness
Jaime Garcia has had Tommy John surgery, rotator-cuff surgery, and thoracic-outlet surgery. Despite those setbacks — or perhaps to spite them — yesterday Garcia pitched the game of his life, throwing harder than he ever has during his career. Garcia’s afternoon was nearly perfect: a wild pitch on a strikeout, a walk that was erased by a double play, and one hard-hit single were the only blemishes on a 13-strikeout performance. Garcia’s performance was made possible by continuing to keep the Brewers hitters off balance. Garcia’s opposition on the day often seemed dumbfounded by his arsenal, unable to figure out which pitch was coming and frequently finding themselves frozen. Twenty-six of Garcia’s pitches were taken for strikes, and these weren’t just get-ahead fastballs. Eight of the 13 Garcia strikeouts came looking. Given that so many pitches were taken, it’s probably necessary to check the strike zone and make sure Garcia was not benefiting from an expanded zone. Here was the zone against left-handers, from the catcher’s point of view. It looks like Milwaukee might have an argument on a couple of their pitches, but there are no called strikes for Garcia out of the traditional zone, and there is even one ball. Now, for the right-handers: Same situation here: Milwaukee pitchers could have gotten a few more strikes, but Garcia was not the beneficiary of a larger-than-normal strike zone. What is noticeable, particularly in the right-handed plot, is how willing Garcia is to pitch throughout the strike zone. Garcia gets such great movement on his pitches and keeps hitters off balance, it doesn’t particularly matter where a pitch is located. This is not a new phenomenon for Garcia. When I wrote about his resurrection last season, I contrasted his heat map with fellow ground-ball pitchers, noting that Garcia used all of the strike zone, as illustrated by the heat map below. Garcia throws five pitches, and he gets good results from all of them, although he only threw one curve in the game against Milwaukee. Last season, all five pitches — four-seam, two-seam, slider, change, curve — featured run values at least two runs above average and among the top 35 for each pitch. This was despite the fact that Garcia recorded just 129 innings, throwing only his two-seam more than 22% of the time and throwing his curve just 6% of the time. The only other pitchers in baseball last season to record at least two runs above average on five different pitches were Matt Harvey, Sonny Gray, and Jake Arrieta. Garcia’s mix works in the absence of high velocity because the pitches all work differently with different movement and speed — and all of them possess very good movement. To give a basic idea of how the pitches work together, the chart below depicts the horizontal and vertical movement on Garcia’s pitches from yesterday’s game (once again, from the catcher’s perspective). The four-seam and the two-seam are thrown at roughly the same speed, but they move differently, with the two-seamer moving further away from right-handers. Now compare the two-seam with the change. The movement of the two pitches is nearly identical, but with an 8-mph velocity difference, the deceptively similar pitches will be difficult to hit. Let’s watch it in action. Ryan Braun was the third batter of the game. He saw two four-seam fastballs that he fouled off, the second one at 93.9 mph, per Brooks Baseball, which is nearly the fastest pitch Garcia has ever thrown in the majors. Garcia does not waste pitches and, while a thigh-high 0-2 pitch on the inner half of the plate does not seem like a good idea, the change fools Braun. If he throws the four-seam like that, the pitch is probably inside based on the graph above, but the movement on the change keeps the ball over the plate and the drop in speed is deceptive. That was one of five strikeouts Garcia would get on three pitches. Here is another to Jonathan Lucroy. Garcia started Lucroy off with a sinker in the bottom of the zone for strike one. He then gets Lucroy to chase a change down out of the zone but across the plate. Then he throws a slider. From where Garcia stands on the rubber, that pitch might have looked to Lucroy like it was going high and outside. It would have been outside if he had thrown the four-seamer, two-seamer, or change — the pitch that he just whiffed on — but it was the slider, and that pitch moved back across the plate and stayed in the strike zone. It would not be fair to say the Brewers gave up at any point, but Garcia certainly left them with little hope throughout the day. In the sixth inning, Scooter Gennett came to the plate and took a two-seamer, then whiffed on a slider. Perhaps thinking slider again, Gennett seemed ill-prepared for another two-seamer on the outer half of the plate. It might be time to add the caveat that Garcia did this against the Brewers, a team few expect to finish anywhere near the playoff race this season. However, the Brewers are not the Padres on offense. Milwaukee will be really bad this year because of the pitching. Their team projected wOBA of .315 comes in tied for eighth in the National League, and their projected runs scored is ninth, just 1/100th of a run away from the Marlins. Ryan Braun, Jonathan Lucory and Domingo Santana are all projected well-above average as hitters with Gennett coming close to average. Keon Broxton, Yadiel Rivera, Martin Maldonado, and Aaron Hill all project poorly, but the lineup is not completely helpless. While the number of strikeouts on three pitches are a signal of Garcia’s efficiency, he kept that efficiency throughout the game. He never threw more than 14 pitches in any inning, and he got through the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings on just 29 pitches total. He could not quite complete Clayton Kershaw (104 pitches in 2015), Madison Bumgarner (103 pitches in 2014), and Greg Maddux (102 pitches in 1998), per a search on Baseball-Reference’s Play Index. Coincidentally, those games were all one-hitters, as well. Using the first Game Score method from Bill James, Garcia’s outing receives a 97, tied for highest of the season with Vincent Valasquez. Using the newer version now available on FanGraphs, Garcia scores a 101, just two points behind Valasquez’s gem. There were only six games last year with a higher score and three were authored by Max Scherzer. While nominally the Cardinals’ fourth starter, that status is due only to health concerns tied to Garcia’s past. Garcia’s 2.85 FIP (74 FIP-) over the last calendar year in 144.2 innings is eighth in baseball, just behind Chris Sale and David Price, and just ahead of Dallas Keuchel and Max Scherzer. When Garcia, still just 29 years old, is healthy and pitching, there are few that can match what he brings to the mound. Enjoy it while you can.
A week after the US election, DIY punk duo PWR BTTM travelled to Jackson, Mississippi, for a gig. As they arrived at the venue, they were greeted by four men with giant neon signs and GoPro cameras strapped to their heads who set up camp outside the gig and proceeded to shout homophobic slurs at the band – who identify as queer – as well as their fans. It was the first time the group had experienced such flagrant bigotry at a show. The group fear that, following the election of Donald Trump and the subsequent surge in minority group hate crimes, this might not be the last time they face such incidents. Whether you’re in a band or a fan, here’s Ben Hopkins and Liv Bruce’s suggestions on how to respond: Don’t reward bigots with a negative response Liv: “The most important thing was to make sure the picketers didn’t have any harmful interaction with any of our fans, some of whom had driven for two and a half hours to escape this kind of bullshit. We tried to keep everyone from engaging with them as much as possible. Just remember that all picketers want is for you to be scared. All they want is for you to be angry. All they want is for you to hear what they’re saying. And if you just ignore them they’ll go away. And their power will be diminished.” Treat protestors like clowns at a kid’s birthday party Liv: “My biggest personal interaction with the picketers was when I was getting changed into my dress and I couldn’t decide which one to wear, so I walked up to these so-called Christian protesters and asked what they thought. They were kind of baffled because I was being friendly with them. There was a really funny conversation, but they eventually said something that wasn’t very nice and I had to separate myself from them. They want more than anything to be taken seriously. The best way to thwart them, I believe, isn’t to argue with them or yell at them, but to treat them like clowns at a kid’s birthday party. I think, for me, that’s the healthiest way to engage with them while not giving them any power.” Gain strength from your art Liv: “The first show we played after the election was in San Francisco. I just remember looking out into the crowd before we started playing and just seeing this heightened energetic state that everyone was in. Everyone was really ready to have a good time and to feel together.” Protest songs can be valuable Liv: “I’m not saying that this presidency is a good thing that will lead to great protest music, but I think that protest songs are actually at the core of the American music idiom. So many famous iconic American songs are protest songs and I think that the vast majority of artists will only continue to add to that body of work.” Never repeat the hate speech Liv: “I don’t think I would ever tell the press what the picketers were saying to us because that’s getting their message out there. I think it’s important for people who might want to do something negative that we are not going to repeat anything they said.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest PWR BTTM Photograph: Ebru Yildiz Elevate and support others Ben: “I am feeling now more than ever that it’s important to remain intersectional in the way we are thinking about Trump’s presidency. It’s important to consider the livelihood and the wellbeing of people of colour with regards to this racist demagogue who became the president of the US. As a white queer person of a certain degree of economic privilege, I think that my ability to pass as straight is a privilege that other folk I know don’t have. It’s important to keep in mind who really is in the most trouble and to direct our attention to assisting those people. It’s normal to feel hurt, angry and upset Ben: “I think that when you’re queer you grow up with these kinds of men who might have made you feel small because of who you are. They could be part of your family, or somebody on the street, or a teacher. When you see these men you see the echoes of anyone else who’s ever called you a ‘faggot’. But now I’m 25 I’m much more resilient. I am able to handle people like that no problem. But it still hurts, and the pain never goes away. Nick, our bass player, and I really got up in their faces and said ‘You’re not going to do this’ at our show. We moved everyone inside. We still went back to the van and cried. And it’s not because it hurts and because you’re afraid, it’s because it’s a recursion of everything that happens to us. It’s not me I was afraid for.” Remember: this won’t last forever Liv: “This was something that had never happened at a PWR BTTM show before, but I had always known it would at some point. I definitely think that people like the picketers have always been around and are probably going to be around for a while, so in this post-Trump election climate I think they feel emboldened. I think there’s a lot of people like that who feel that this is their country now and it’s not. It’s everyone’s. That’s the point of it, theoretically at least. I wouldn’t be surprised if we have to deal with more people like them, but I think that we and our fans are totally equipped to deal with whatever they can throw at us over the next four, eight , sixteen years – however long they feel emboldened enough to try this stuff.”
Today I have noticed that Cordovan of the LOTRO Forums has the title; “Community Manager” under his name. This comes in the wake of a flurry of posts on the Official forums by him; oddly something that lacked from his predecessor. It appears that he is the interim CM while Turbine figures out how to reshuffle their deck. “We appreciate everyone’s concerns for the team’s well-being, and know that folks have seen and read your thoughts. We aren’t able to comment specifically on personnel matters, especially when they come from business decision-making like this, but we would reiterate the part from yesterday’s official statement that Lord of the Rings Online will continue to operate as it does now. Additionally, we’d like you to know that our development plans remain unchanged. You’ll notice that I’m posting this rather than Frelorn. Some of you may remember me from a few years ago when I did community work for LOTRO under Sapience, and filled in during the gap before Frelorn took over. I will be doing forum and community work for at least a while here, in addition to the work I do for Dungeons & Dragons Online. I’ll chat more soon, and be available to answer whatever questions I can. In the meantime, if you are a streamer, fansite operator, podcaster, whatever, you can reach me through the forums here in addition to our typical LOTRO contact methods (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)” Link to above quote: HERE If you recall, Cordovan worked with Sapience in 2013/2014 (if memory serves me right) and was the interim CM between Sapience and Frelorn. He has been working with DDO since as their Community Manager. He has issued the following statement regarding the state of LOTRO and it’s future HERE: We’d like to clear up the forum claims of “maintenance mode”: We are still in active development of LOTRO. As stated last week, our development plans remain unchanged, and LOTRO will continue to operate. Want to contact Cordovan? “Contacting Cordovan through PM Unfortunately, my PM inbox is having issues. While I – should – be able to receive private messages, it’s not working. I’ve been digging through the forum admin settings, and did have to make a few adjustments, but unfortunately none of them seem to be working. So, in the meantime, I’ve created a hack-ey way to contact me privately: https://www.lotro.com/forums/forumdi…ck-ey-PM-Inbox All of the forums and posts in this forum are set to require Moderation, meaning I would need to approve them to make them visible. I can read them, however. So, you can post in here and I’ll see it, but no one else should be able to. Let me know if you run into any issues.” Welcome Cordovan, we look forward to more frequent communication with the community !!!
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Is there a lesbian subtext to the Disney movie Frozen? Does "letting go" mean coming out? To Kevin Swanson, a pastor and host of a right-wing Christian-themed radio show, it does. Swanson slammed Disney's award-winning animated film Frozen, calling it the work of the devil. "Friends, this is evil, just evil," he said. Swanson contends the film indoctrinates young women to be lesbians and convinces people that homosexuality and bestiality are acceptable in society. While Swanson doesn't specifically cite what parts of the film he sees as promoting homosexuality, others have drawn parallels between the kingdom's rejection of the magical powers of one of the main characters, Elsa, and society's rejection of homosexuality. The words to Let it Go are clearly not Christian-values friendly, by any stretch of the imagination, when understood and heard Kathryn Skaggs, Blogger Many equate film's most recognisable song, Let it Go, with the experience of coming out and accepting one's sexual orientation. "Disney has a long history of fielding accusations of using its children's movies to advance one liberal agenda or another - whether it's gay rights, environmentalism or socialism," writes the Daily Beast's Caitlin Dickson. "However, there seems to be something about Frozen that has attracted more than the usual amount of controversy for a kids' cartoon." Kathryn Skaggs, a Mormon blogger, identifies what she sees as the film's attempt to normalise homosexuality. She writes: When mainstream society comes to the point where it celebrates that which is contrary to the commandments, taught in a movie presumably made for children, by awarding it the highest accolades within its culture, and good parents don't perceive it, but rather endorse it unwittingly, we are in serious trouble. She targets much of her fire on Let It Go, which she says hides a "subversive" message beneath a catchy tune: The words to Let it Go are clearly not Christian-values friendly, by any stretch of the imagination, when understood and heard. This is not an innocent song, with a catchy tune. It is rebellious. It mocks moral absolutes. It is careless. It is unaccountable. It is anti-obedience. It is regardless. It is selfish. And if you still disagree, then by all means, feel free to show me how I've misinterpreted the lyrics. Mark Saal, another Mormon blogger, disagrees with Skaggs' comments. Lyrics from Let it Go The snow glows white on the mountain tonight, not a footprint to be seen. A kingdom of isolation and it lookslike I'm the queen. The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside. Couldn't keep it in, Heaven knows I tried. Don't let them in, don't let them see.Be the good girl you always have to be. Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know. Well, now they know! "Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar," he says. If you look hard enough, he says, you can find a hidden homosexual agenda in almost any song, movie or any other work of art. Meanwhile, some members and allies to the LGBT community are claiming Elsa as their own. Ryan C Robert, writing for Qodda, argues that the film has given LGBT youth a character with which to empathise. He says the movie portrays unconditional sisterly love, and many LGBT kids need to understand that people will love them regardless of what happens. "Disney's Frozen may not have intended for one of the main characters, Elsa, to have a story that is such an easy parallel to the world of growing up in the closet, but it happened," he writes. "It happened, and now we're gonna celebrate." There isn't consensus in the LGBT community as to what the movie means, however. "It's time for a reality check," writes the Daily Dot's Rob Price. "I don't wish to dismiss anyone's interpretation, or tell someone they're watching a film 'the wrong way' - but for me at least, these claims just don't add up." While he says he would love Frozen to be a movie about coming out, it's not, he says. Frozen is a timid step in the right direction, but still sticks to plenty of societal standards. "Praising the film studio for the meagre animated scraps they're currently throwing to the LGBTQ community will only breed complacency on their part; it's about time they 'let it go' and come out the celluloid closet for good," he says. It seems like just about everyone wants a piece of Elsa. Perhaps the best thing to do is to act like the movie's lovable snowman, Olaf, and go looking for some warm hugs until the storm blows over. (By Kierran Petersen)
WALNUT CREEK — Oakland Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski, who has lived a quiet off-field life the past seven years after a half-decade of routinely showing up on police blotters, has been charged with misdemeanor battery and false imprisonment against a woman in an incident suspected of occurring last year, according to Contra Costa Superior Court documents. Circumstances are unclear. The alleged victim, Syrena Nicholson, did not return messages left on her phone. The Raiders released a statement from chief executive Amy Trask that said, “This incident occurred over a year ago. Sebastian was not arrested, we were aware of this matter and this is not news.” What is known comes from court documents in which Nicholson, 36, says Janikowski “did unlawfully violate (her) personal liberty” and “did willfully and unlawfully use force and violence upon (her) person” in Walnut Creek on Sept. 24, 2010 — one day before Janikowski and the Raiders flew to Arizona for a game against the Cardinals. No arrest was made at the time; Nicholson, a Berkeley woman, filed her complaint after the fact. Attorneys for both parties met in court Thursday for a pretrial conference. No trial date has been set. The charges against Janikowski could result in a maximum of 18 months in jail and a $3,000 fine. Janikowski, 33, a native of Poland, was arrested four times between 1998 and 2000, during his time at Florida State University — three times in connection with barroom altercations. He pleaded no contest to one charge, was acquitted on another and charges were dropped on the third. He also was arrested for underage alcohol possession, to which he pleaded no contest and paid $215 in court costs. The Raiders selected Janikowski in the first round of the 2000 NFL draft. Shortly before reporting to training camp, he was arrested in Tallahassee, Fla., on suspicion of possession of the date-rape drug GHB. He was acquitted in 2001. He was arrested for reckless driving in June 2002, and for DUI four months later. He pleaded no contest to the latter and received three years of probation. In 2003 he was arrested after a fight outside a Walnut Creek restaurant. The charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence. Janikowski is the Raiders’ all-time leading scorer with 1,153 points. He tied an NFL record with a 63-yard field goal in Monday night’s season opening win at Denver. Staff writer Malaika Fraley contributed to this report. Infobox Head Infobox Text Black. See how a period ends the black text. More black, comma ends the black. Black: colon ends it, too.
This ABC News chart seemed to have taken over the top of my Twitter feed so I better comment on it. Someone at ABC News tried really hard to dress up the numbers. The viz is obviously rigged - Obama at 79% should be double the length of Trump's 40% but not even close! In the Numbersense book (Chapter 1), I played the role of the Devious Admissions Officer who wants to game the college rankings. Let me play the role of the young-gun dataviz analyst, who has submitted the following chart to the highers-up: I just found out the boss blew the fuse after seeing my chart. The co-workers wore dirty looks, saying without saying "you broke it, you fix it!" How do I clean up this mess? Let me try the eye-shift trick. The solid colors draw attention to themselves, and longer bars usually indicate higher or better so the quick reader may think that Obama is the worst and Trump is the best at ... well, "Favorability on taking office," as the added title suggests. Next, let's apply the foot-chop technique. This fits nicely on a stacked bar chart. I wantonly drop 20% of dissenters from every President's data. Such grade inflation actually makes everyone look better, a win-win-win-win-win-win-win proposition. While the unfavorables for Trump no longer look so menacing, I am still far from happy as, with so much red concentrated at the bottom of the chart, eyes are focused on the unsightly "yuge" red bar, and it is showing Trump with 50% disapproval. I desperately need the white section of the last bar to trump its red section. It requires the foot-ankle-knee-thigh treatment - the whole leg. Now, a design issue rears its head. With such an aggressive cut, there would be no red left in any of the other bars. I could apply two cuts, a less aggressive cut at the top and a more aggressive cut at the bottom. The Presidents neatly break up into two groups, the top three Democrats, and the bottom four Republicans. It's always convenient to have an excuse for treating some data differently from others. Then, I notice that the difference between Clinton and GW Bush is immaterial (68% versus 65%), making it awkward to apply different cuts to the two neighbors. No problem, I make three cuts. The chart is getting better and better! Two, three, why not make it five cuts? I am intent on making the last red section as tiny as possible but I can't chop more off the right side of GHW Bush or Reagan without giving away my secret sauce. The final step is to stretch each bar to the right length. Mission accomplished. This chart will surely win me some admiration. Just one lingering issue: Trump's red section is still the longest of the group. It's time for the logo trick. You see, the right ends of the last two bars can be naturally shortened. The logo did it. *** Faking charts can take as much effort as making accurate ones. The ABC News chart encompasses five different scales. For every President, some percentage of dissenters were removed from the chart. The amount of distortion ranges from 15% to 47% of respondents.
General Motors will be split in two – one part containing assets and one saddled with liabilities – after filing for bankruptcy protection What has happened today? At about 1pm UK time, General Motors, until last year the world's largest carmaker, filed for Chapter 11 protection in a New York court. With $176.4bn (£107bn) of liabilities and $91bn of assets globally at the end of last year, it is the world's largest industrial bankruptcy, and the world's third largest to date, after Lehman Brothers and the telecoms firm WorldCom. What will this mean for GM? The car manufacturer will in effect secure a standstill arrangement under the protection of the courts. This gives it breathing space from creditors, allowing it to focus on restructuring. How will GM restructure itself? GM has opted for a fast-track version of Chapter 11 protection. The company will split itself into a "good company", holding most of its assets and a "bad company" lumbered with most of its liabilities, such as loss-making plants. As part of the plan, GM is offloading its European business, including Vauxhall in the UK, although it will retain a 35% stake in the business. How long will this take? US government officials think GM could re-merge after this process within about three months. While US companies can spend months or years under Chapter 11, GM wants to exit as quickly as possible. Consumers are put off buying cars from a company that they think may be unable to supply parts in the future or may disappear altogether. Who will own the new GM? The US treasury will provide another $30bn to the new company in return for about 60% of its equity. The Canadian government will get 12% of shares in return for lending $9.5bn. The United Auto Workers union will take 17.5% in shares and bondholders have written off $27bn of loans for an initial 10% stake. What will the 'new GM' look like? It will be a much slimmed-down version. About one-third of its 61,000 workforce in the US will lose their jobs by the end of 2010, on top of thousands of cuts made in the last year. More than 10 factories in the US will close and its dealership network will be halved. The new company will focus more on making smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, and will offload or cease production of its Hummer, Saab, Pontiac and Saturn brands. What does this mean for Vauxhall in the UK? Not a great deal. Vauxhall used to be part of General Motors Europe. Last week, it was formally transferred to Opel in Germany, which is itself now no longer under the full ownership of GM in the US. The fate of the 5,500 Vauxhall workers now rest on the new owners of Opel/Vauxhall, the Canadian car parts firm Magna, which is backed by Russian investors.
The good people over at Good Jobs First have published the second in their two-study series on corporate tax subsidies and incentives,." The justification frequently put forth when a company comes asking for these tax breaks is that it creates jobs. Not just jobs, but jobs that pay better. The study shows that, as Robert Oak writes , 43 percent of these breaks are not job creators but "glorified corporate welfare." Translate that into cash and it comes out to $8 billion a year. Good Jobs First looked at 238 programs in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Included in these programs are corporate income tax credits (for job creation, capital investment, research and development), cash grants, low‐cost or forgivable loans, enterprise zones, reimbursement for worker-training expenses and other company-specific state assistance. Each program was rated (1 to 100) on three primary criteria (and some derivative qualities): whether they require recipient companies to meet job quantifiable performance standards; whether the subsidized companies pay their workers above a certain wage level; and whether the companies provide their workers health-care coverage or other benefits. Some of the conclusions: • Of the 238 programs, 103, totaling $7 billion in annual incentives/subsidies, had no job-performance standards. • Only 98 of the programs impose a wage requirement on subsidized employers and only 53 of those are tied to labor market rates. • Only 11 (5 percent) of those wage requirements raise wage levels by mandating rates that are slightly above existing market average in a region or industrial sector. • The average of the wage requirements is $14.76 an hour; the median is $11.82. In some cases, wage requirements are set below market levels. • The programs without wage requirements—$8 billion a year—pay so little in some cases that workers hired by these taxpayer-subsidized companies must depend on food stamps, Medicaid and other public assistance to survive. • Only 51 of the programs require the subsidized companies to make some kind of health-care benefit available, and only 31 require that the company pay part of the premium. • Grades for the states with these programs vary widely. The average nationwide was 40. The best were Nevada (82), North Carolina (79), Vermont (77), Iowa (70), Maryland (68) and Oklahoma (66). The worst were the District of Columbia (4), Alaska (5), Wyoming (10), Oregon (13), Washington (18) and Hawai'i (19). If you click on the link, you'll find a score for each state. Good Jobs First makes sensible recommendations. Programs should all have quantifiable job-creation standards. They should have wage requirements designed to lift prevailing wages, not tied to a fixed level or the poverty rate. Companies should not be allowed to shift existing jobs from other facilities to qualify for the subsidies/incentives. The programs should require the companies to provide a package of benefits, including health-care coverage. Wages and benefits should apply to part-time and temporary as well as full-time, permanent workers. But that's only part of what needs to be done in the current economic climate. As Oak says: One has to wonder why is it legislators these days can give subsidies, corporate welfare, outsource major functions of government, privatize everything not nailed down (and that too), and no one blinks an eye. Yet if governments attempt to run their own direct job programs, plain create jobs directly, all alarm bells ring as if the nation is on fire. Perhaps that too is due to corporate lobbyists. Last thing they want is to be shut out as the great middle men to the economic and job flood gates. Surely a government run direct jobs program is more efficient than this. In fact, government-run direct jobs programs ought to have been set up long ago. Good luck with that one. That's pouring money down the rat hole, while giveaways to companies who don't do squat to provide decent-paying jobs is good for business.
Matt Barkley wasn't medically cleared to throw at the NFL Scouting Combine, but the USC quarterback says scouts will see something special at his upcoming pro day on March 27. Brandt: Pressure-packed pro days Which prospects face the most pressure on their pro days? Gil Brandt picks a handful, including a high-profile QB. Which prospects face the most pressure on their pro days?picks a handful, including a high-profile QB. More ... That showcase is critical to Barkley's draft fortunes. After a shoulder injury crashed his senior season, Barkley has watched his stock drop amid questions about his arm strength. He insists those questions will be put to rest. "It's been a long, patient journey, but I've had some time to recover now and I've been throwing quite some time at this point, I've been throwing this week (with) great velocity, great trajectory," Barkley told XEPRS-AM in San Diego, via SportsRadioInterviews.com. "It's starting to feel back to normal. No doubt, by the time pro day comes around, it'll be better than it was before. I think I'll have a stronger arm than I did." NFL.com's Gil Brandt insists Barkley "doesn't have to be perfect at his pro day; if he looks decent, I think he can be a top-10 pick." Rumors at the combine suggested the Arizona Cardinals were "extremely impressed" with Barkley during the interview process in Indianapolis. 2013 Pro Days Schedule By Date Between the combine and the draft, prospects work out for scouts at individual pro days at their respective schools. Between the combine and the draft, prospects work out for scouts at individual pro days at their respective schools. Full schedule. Barkley acknowledged that his subpar senior campaign drew plenty of questions from teams, saying "they all ripped me on that, the differences between my senior and junior year." Last April he likely would have been the third quarterback off the board in a tremendous class of passers. Today his future is foggy. Barkley can answer questions about his arm strength when he finally wings the ball later this month, but that alone won't tell teams if he can be trusted to anchor an NFL franchise. Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau promised Monday to end boil-water advisories on First Nations reserves within five years. "We have 93 different communities under 133 different boil-water advisories," Trudeau told a town hall hosted by Vice magazine. "A Canadian government led by me will address this as a top priority because it's not right in a country like Canada. This has gone on for far too long." Earlier in the day, Trudeau released his full package of campaign promises, an 88-page plan that includes billions pledged for infrastructure projects, including investments in water facilities, as well as a commitment to First Nations education of $750 million per year over the next four years. Trudeau's promise came on the same day as the Neskantaga First Nation, which has has the longest-standing boil-water advisory in the country of more than 20 years, made an appeal for the next prime minister to intervene personally to address the issue. More than 300 people in the northern Ontario reserve have been forced to live under a boil-water advisory since 1995. "We are calling on the government to be aware of this. We need action. We need resolution as to how [and] why this is continuing today in our community," Chief Wayne Moonias said Monday. Earlier this year, CBC News learned the federal government has spent more than $1 million on bottled water for the community.
It's a tie: both groups largely despise pure science and modern physics A month ago, I mentioned that an interview with Edward Witten had occurred at a very strange place, namely John Horgan's blog hosted by Scientific American. John "End Of Science" Horgan is a loon and one does expect a completely different kind of people to be interviewed over there. And do you know who was the next interviewee who was interrogated on the same blog? What was your favorite moment from filming? I enjoyed working with one of the deniers Marc Morano who was a very interesting character. Very smart guy on some levels and very honest guy was telling me what he was thinking and I was thinking it was fascinating to have that experience and to be with him. Chris Colose: Any disruption from Watts et al.? Michael E. Mann: Nothing. The man didn't say a word, didn't ask a question. There were no questions at all from the climate change denier contingent that supposedly had come out in force – conspiracy theories already abounding that the questions from the crowd were "plants". Tinfoil Hat anyone? Yes, it's Naomi Oreskes, a hardcore left-wing ideologue who would previously write a notorious article arguing that papers disagreeing with important tenets of the climate hysteria didn't even exist. To make you even more frustrated, the interview with this evil stupid lady has attracted many more comments than the interview with Edward Witten, the world's most cited scientist.She's not just a hardcore Marxist who has some deluded beliefs. She is a truly evil lady, indeed. When she was visiting Harvard – before a department at that school outrageously hired her – she learned that there was a climate skeptic in the physics department. So she wrote a mail to me with copies sent to all my superiors at Harvard and her alarmist friends who had some potential to harm me personally. The letter claimed that I despised the best scientists (meaning the alarmist whackos) from the last 50 years and something should be done about that.Decent people obviously agree that she is a despicable bitch who wants to harm inconvenient scholars in ways that don't differ in any way from Hitler's and Stalin's eras. And of course, pretty much everyone in the physics department would agree with me that she was this kind of a šitty monster, to put it really diplomatically. But I also knew that Harvard was filled with individuals not dissimilar to herself who were powerful enough to really spoil other people's lives.Many years ago, meritocracy had died at Harvard's history department that hired this evil Marxist as faculty. Incidentally, Oreskes would write the book "Merchants of Doubts" that would demonize the climate skeptics as – the following words are my summary, not a direct quote – the zombies who dare to oppose Marxism. What a sin. A film director is completing a film based on "Merchants of Doubts" and I was at least happy to learn what was the film director's favorite moment during filming The director enjoyed working with Marc Morano, a climate skeptic who is behind the ClimateDepot.COM website. Believe me, I am not surprised that it's the "denier" rather than e.g. Ms Oreskes who appeared in that sentence!Climate alarmism is supported by various people and they have different motivations to do so. The participants of the recent "People's Climate March" in Manhattan were mostly members of the Communist Party of the USA and similar extreme left-wing groups. Advocates of a Big Government and the state that regulates everything and everyone obviously love the ideology about a "climate threat" because it is a way to promote political goals they have been struggling for since 1867 (the publication of Das Kapital).Politicians of all flavors – not just the extreme left-wing ones – liked to embrace this ideology because they were promoted to "saviors of the Earth" who are allowed to tax and harass everyone without questions and who only need to parrot the alarmist slogans to get reelected. Many journalists loved to scare the people with horror stories about the looming climate catastrophes. One doesn't need any intelligence or new data to write such stories and they may be pumped repeatedly and the newspapers may be sold repeatedly because the number of readers who just love to scare themselves every day is apparently high.For scientists in the climate science, it was obviously a source of grants. The discipline that would be considered to be one of the most inferior disciplines of physical sciences (I will focus on this point later) would suddenly lead the fight to "save the Earth". Dear boffins, will we die by 2050 or not? Please tell us! That has led to the increase of funding for the climate science by more than an order of magnitude in less than 2 decades. In other words, more than 90% of the money that this community is getting is linked to the climate hysteria. With this tight correlation between the funding and the hysteria, you simply can't be surprised that many people found it convenient to switch to the panic – and many more people were hired just because they were compatible with the hysteria even though they completely suck as scientists.The tension between the climate alarmists and particle or fundamental physics has been described in many previous blog posts. That's why I want to switch to something else, namely the sad observation that in the "skeptical grassroots climate movement", one may find a similar kind of hostility against legitimate science. Two days ago, the world's most widely read blog about the climate would publish the storythat returned 8 years into the past and promoted an atrocious text by a certified crackpot named Lee Smolin. The blog post at Anthony Watts' climate blog was contributed by Eric Worrall. You may check that it is a completely unknown person with no papers and just a few nearly unknown patents listed by Google Scholar, and those are related to some everyday biochemistry, anyway.Just like Watts himself, he clearly doesn't have and cannot have a clue about particle physics. But he decided to "pick the winners", anyway. The rant's rating was close to 5.0.I am physically scared of the people who can't see that Edward Witten – or even myself, for that matter – is vastly smarter than the likes of Lee Smolin. I am scared that many of these morons are actually power-thirsty and would love to influence the evolution of a scientific discipline that is about 40 IQ points above their mental abilities.I am shocked that these morons are arrogant enough to talk about "groupthink" when it comes to string theorists. String theorists are pretty much 1,000 or at most 2,000 – if one counts them inclusively enough – smartest people on the Earth. If I want to meet another string theorist, I have to travel 100 kilometers (to Prague) and hope that Martin Schnabl has a spare hour. If I want to meet about 5 string theorists, I have to ride 200 kilometers in the opposite direction (to Munich). If I want to see a group of roughly 10 string theorists, I have to move by 600 kilometers somewhere to Amsterdam or something, and so on. You are surely getting the point.The number of morons who have upvoted that idiotic rant by Eric Worrall within a few hours is orders of magnitude larger than the number of all string theorists on planet Earth. How can they fail to see that to talk about "groupthink of string theorists" is a rigorous proof of their hopeless idiocy?If string theorists agree about something, well, it's because there is evidence – often as rock-solid as a readable mathematical proof. It is completely nonsensical to demand some "diversity about every question" within the scientific community or its relevant part. As science is making progress, it's converging towards the correct answers (most of the time) and the percentage of the people who disagree with the correct answers is decreasing. Those who agree are asking more detailed questions and developing more accurate theories, so their large percentage is being split to "subgroups" that differ when it comes to more refined issues. You will always find questions in which over 99% of the people agree, you will always find questions on which the researchers are split, and there will always be big differences between the percentanges encoding the opinions of the experts and those of the general public. To pretend that these tautological observations indicate something "sick" about the science is insane.Well, I don't believe that most people outside these climate wars are similarly unreasonable. Both the climate alarmist movement and the bulk of the WUWT-like climate skeptical movement have one thing in common: they think that things like measuring and interpolating the temperature belong to the culmination of science. But you know, to decide whether string theory or loop quantum gravity correctly describes black hole thermodynamics is harder than to read the temperature from the thermometer or to notice that the thermometer is 2 meters away from an asphalted sidewalk.Well, everyone who has a clue knows that the science of climate change is at most a continuation of a discipline of classical physics that would mostly freeze something like 100 years ago and wouldn't dramatically evolve afterwards. Atmospheric physics, climatology, and meteorology are specializations that would attract the weakest students of physics in physics departments of universities across the world. I could tell you quite something about this correlation from my Alma Mater – the Charles University in Prague.Moreover, I can assure you that almost all physicists in the disciplines that would attract the talents – it would be particle physics and condensed matter physics most of the time, with some genetics and financial fields at different but overlapping eras (of course that the disciplines attracting the top minds are evolving in time) – would confirm my comments about the inferior status of the climate-related disciplines, and so would a very famous atmospheric scientist at MIT whom I know rather well in person - guess who is that.But like the alarmists, it looks like the WUWT community is really "living" the life focusing on these climate stories.Back in the real world, there hasn't been really any significant "climate change" in the last two decades. The trend of the global mean temperature in the last 18 years and 1 month is zero (or minus epsilon). There's absolutely nothing to talk about here. More sadly, climate science has made a minimal progress in improving its knowledge (including topics that are emphasized all the time, like the CO2 climate sensitivity) during the same two decades, despite some $70 billion that have been thrown to this research (or thrown to the garbage bin with the words that it's needed for the climate science).Climate alarmists (from many occupations, see the motivations at the top) have attempted to promote the climate panic to one of the most important issues in the world. The most solid reason why I would consider the climate panic irrational is nothing else than the fact that the climate change surely doesn't make it among the (100) most important trends or issues to be considered. If it's not important, it's silly to talk about it all the time.But the bulk of the climate skeptical movement must disagree with these trivial comments because it's possible to publish something like 10 climate-related news stories every day that happen to attract almost 100,000 readers. What these one-per-hour stories can be about in the world where nothing substantial has really changed about the climate (and the climate research) for 20 years?One should be puzzled.I think that a sensible "skeptic" would want this irrational panic to simply fade away – that's what I always wanted – and we should encourage the apparent trend that this fad seems to be fading away, indeed. But I feel it ain't the case for skeptics including Anthony. It seems to me that they learned to love the (completely indefensible) idea that the climate change is an important topic and it shold stay an important topic (or even become a more important one). From this perspective, the differences between the likes of Michael Mann and Anthony Watts might be much more minor than we are normally imagining.This is an issue I started to be increasingly worried roughly 2 weeks ago when Anthony Watts attended a lecture by Michael Mann in Bristol . The very idea that an important American such as Anthony Watts would fly from the U.S. to Southwestern England mainly to see a talk by a notorious but otherwise irrelevant crook sounded surreal to me. Does Anthony really believe that a talk by a Michael Mann is this important for Watts to fly to another continent?But the evaluation of the event looked even more surreal. I was expecting that because Watts was flying to Europe for such an event, he would at least be visible or important in some way. But a Facebook discussion by some alarmists has painted a very different picture:In other words, Anthony and pals played the role of "pussies" who would not only help to legitimize Michael Mann but they would work hard to make him important. My common-sense interpretation is that a talk that attracts a blogger from another continent whose blog has about 200 million views has to be important. While Michael Mann – who is pretty much a self-confessed crook – didn't "win" a word of criticism, Anthony Watts found it a good idea to post a text against all of high energy physics by a biochemical crank.Similarly, three years ago, Watts would promote Rossi's cold fusion , while allowing the guest blogger to spit on all of nuclear physics. Why? How is it possible?Some climate alarmists and leftists often say that the skeptics and U.S. conservatives hate and deny almost all of science, and all things like that, and one must say that the evidence does indicate that these statements could be pretty much accurate, especially when it comes to modern physics – more or less everything that is conceptually new and was found since the year 1900. A problem is that the climate alarmists are doing the same thing – and John Horgan's obsessive attacks on Edward Witten and his field was just one example I chose above.The sad reason is that almost no one in these camps actually cares about science. These wars are political wars and they have always been political wars. Science is only used as a hostage. My opinions about the political wars are well-known but unfortunately, there are not too many people who think that science is at least equally important.
He added: "I’m actually proud of the work my coaching staff and I have achieved over our time at the helm of England. "The transition from the squad whose average age was 30 to now being the youngest in the tournament is both remarkable and exciting for the future of English football. "I would have loved to stay on for another two years. However, I am pragmatic and I know we are in the results business. "My contract was always up after the Euros, so now is the time for someone else to oversee the progress of this young, hungry and extremely talented group of players. "Ray and Gary arrived with me as part of my coaching team and will leave with me. I’d like to thank them for their dedicated support and for the major part they’ve played in our team preparation."
Abraham Foxman joined the Anti-Defamation League, one of America’s most visible Jewish advocacy organizations, in 1965, the year the Second Vatican Council ended. Among its other accomplishments, that gathering of Catholic bishops from around the world attempted to set a new course for Catholic-Jewish relations in a groundbreaking document called Nostra Aetate. Foxman, who took over as the ADL’s national director in 1987, has seen a lot of water under the bridge in the years since Vatican II in the relationship between Catholicism and what Pope John Paul II called the church’s “elder brothers.” Foxman is still going strong, among other things leading an annual delegation to Rome for talks with Vatican officials. During a break from Friday’s ADL meeting in Palm Beach, the 73-year-old spoke briefly about his impressions of Pope Francis and the pontiff’s looming trip in May to Israel. What do you think of the new pope? Advertisement We couldn’t have wished or hoped for a better pope for the Jewish people. Of course, first and foremost he’ll serve the Catholic world and the Christian world. David Karp/Anti-Defamation League via AP Abraham Foxman. Why is he good for Jews? Get Today's Headlines in your inbox: The day's top stories delivered every morning. Sign Up Thank you for signing up! Sign up for more newsletters here We were concerned after the death of John Paul II that the Vatican might feel he was an aberration, that his interest in Jews was because he came from Poland, because he’d experienced the war, and so on. Then came the successor, Benedict XVI, who actually institutionalized the changes vis-à-vis the Jewish community that John Paul had initiated. Our concern was, now what? How ongoing will it really be? Then we woke up to a pope who didn’t wait to become pope before going to a synagogue, because he went to the synagogue as the cardinal of Buenos Aires and had a great relationship with the Jewish community. Here’s a pope who even went to synagogue on slichot [a festival that marks the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur] . . . most Jews don’t even know what slichot is! That’s how close he felt, so I think we’re comfortable that he understands us, that he has a sensitivity to the issues, and that he’ll be a voice to continue to make the relationship more open. Why should Jews care who the pope is or what the Catholic Church thinks? Unfortunately, because of history. What the pope said, what Christianity said, had a great impact on the persecution of the Jews. Whether it was the Inquisition, or the expulsion of Jews, or even the level of anti-Semitism, the popes and Christianity set the tone as to whether the Jews had vitality and even viability. Today more than a billion people listen to what the pope says, what the Vatican says, and they still set the tone in terms of respect or disrespect. It’s very, very important. The pope is going to Israel in May. If he calls you on the phone and says, “Abe, give me some advice,” what do you tell him? I would walk in the footsteps of Pope John Paul II. He understood the sensitive emotional issues. Yad Vashem is important, the Western Wall is important, the message of forgiveness is important. Advertisement John Paul had a comfort level walking the Holy Land, not just as the ‘Holy Land’ but he also communicated to Israel and the Israeli people. On one level, the pope goes because it’s the Holy Land, it’s where Jesus walked, and we value and understand that. At the same time, it’s the place where Jews live. He needs to communicate that just as he goes to a synagogue to help ensure that the Jews have vitality, that [Israel] is the natural place of the Jewish people. That’s a very important message not just for Jews, in my opinion, but for the Arab world. If the Holy Father understands that Israel is here to stay, that there is a Jewish state and there’s a value to it, it makes a statement. It’s important for him to recognize that Jesus was Jewish and that Jews have their own path to salvation, but it’s also important for him to recognize that the Jews have a right to their own homeland and to a Jewish state. Any way he communicates that will be very, very important. Is it true that you had a chance to publish a book written by the future pope with a rabbi in Argentina, and passed it up? I had the chance to publish the book with [Jorge Mario] Bergoglio because the rabbi [Rabbi Abraham Skorka] called me and said. “I’ve just done this book in Spanish, why don’t you do it in English?” I passed, and boy am I sorry! I was thinking at the time that if I did it for this cardinal, I’d have to do it for everybody, and we’re not really in the publishing business. Looking back, I obviously wish I’d said yes. John L. Allen Jr., the former Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, is an associate editor of the Boston Globe, covering global Catholicism. He can be reached at John.Allen@globe.com . Follow him on Twitter @JohnLAllenJr
Brett Carlsen/Getty Images Two basketball coaches from Tishomingo High School in Oklahoma were fired after they drove a bus owned by the school to purchase alcohol, KOTV in Tulsa, Oklahoma, reported Saturday. A member of the school board confirmed the coaches used the bus while the team was attending a basketball camp at Connors State College in Warner, Oklahoma. "We were pretty upset because we paid money out of pocket to go that camp, because we had to stay for three nights and we had to end up leaving on the second day," said Kyle Miller, a member of the Tishomingo basketball team, per Sydney Gray of KXII in Sherman, Texas. Miller said the team wasn't aware of what had happened with the bus until a day after the incident. A clerk from a convenience store alerted officials from Connors State College to the coaches' purchase. According to MaxPreps, Tishomingo went 7-14 during the 2016-17 season.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi special forces advanced on central Tikrit on Thursday as U.S.-led coalition planes joined the largest offensive yet against Islamic State militants holding out in Saddam Hussein’s home city. Coalition jets launched their first air strikes against Islamic State targets in Tikrit on Wednesday, coming off the sidelines to aid Iraqi forces against the Sunni Islamist militants. Underlying the complex web of loyalties behind the conflict, a senior U.S. general said Washington had demanded the withdrawal of Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias fighting alongside Iraq’s government before agreeing to take part. Two Shi’ite militia groups said they were suspending participation in the fight in response to the coalition’s involvement. Some of the militias are openly hostile to the United States and have targeted Americans in Iraq in the past, but the fight against Islamic State has put them on the same side. Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who pressed ahead with a request for coalition air strikes despite opposition from the militia, arrived in Tikrit on Thursday to oversee operations to retake the city. A spokesman for Iraq’s Defense Ministry said the coalition had carried out 17 strikes in Tikrit so far, in addition to 24 by Iraq’s own airforce. “The Iraqi and coalition air forces conduct strikes in order to remove the enemy and then our forces advance,” said General Tahsin Ibrahim Sadiq. “When the attacking forces advance, they clear any pockets of resistance and allow for the rest of our forces to move in and barricade further ahead.” More than 20,000 Iraqi troops and allied Shi’ite paramilitary groups known as Hashid Shaabi have been taking part in the offensive, which began in early March but was brought to a halt around two weeks ago by homemade bombs and booby-traps. Iraqi forces retook the area surrounding Tikrit in the first week of the campaign early this month and entered some districts of the city itself, which had been overrun last June by Islamic State. But the militants have held out for more than three weeks in several areas including a sprawling complex of palaces that was built during Saddam’s rule and overlooks the Tigris river. The mayor of Tikrit said coalition and Iraqi planes were striking the palace complex as well as the northern Qadisiya district, part of which is still held by insurgents, and the Shisheen neighborhood in the south. The Sukhoi Su-25 aircraft is seen loaded with bombers at an air base in Baghdad March 26, 2015. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily “The focus is on the IS leadership command locations,” said mayor Omar al-Tikriti. Targets had to be carefully identified because IS fighters were believed to be holding prisoners in some of the 65 palaces. TWO MILITIAS SUSPEND ROLE The coalition joined the fray in Tikrit at the request of Iraqi military commanders, but Shi’ite militia commanders publicly rejected any U.S. role in the campaign to retake the jihadist bastion. The Kataib Hizbollah and Asaib Ahl al-Haq militias both suspended their participation in Tikrit on Thursday in protest, although the Badr Organisation, which is the largest and most powerful group within the Hashid Shaabi, said it would continue to fight. “We were able to conclude the battle ourselves, but the U.S. came in order to usurp this major victory,” Asaib Ahl al-Haq spokesman Naim al-Uboudi said. Jaafar al-Husseini, a military spokesman for Kataib Hizbollah, criticized Prime Minister Abadi for inviting the coalition to take part and threatened to withdraw from the battlefield. “It is not possible for Kataib Hizbollah or any of the resistance factions to be in the same trench as the Americans.” Slideshow (4 Images) Speaking at an air base where Iraqi planes were taking off to fly sorties over Tikrit, Iraq’s Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi played down the role of Iranian advisers in the battle. “The Iranian advisers have nothing to do with the work of the air force,” Obeidi said. “The Iranians are working with the brothers in the Hashid Shaabi as advisers, and I think their presence is always in the rear positions.”
Takeda is the first pharma firm to partner with Marvel Custom Solutions — the brand partnering business of comic book titan Marvel — on a disease awareness campaign. The launch is part of IBD Unmasked, a global campaign to raise awareness of IBD conditions, which affect more than five million people globally. Japan’s Takeda is the first pharma firm to partner with Marvel Custom Solutions – the brand partnering business of comic book titan Marvel – on a disease awareness campaign. The first chapter of a new comic book launched on Friday at London’s Comic Con, and ran until Sunday. Visitors to the event will also be able to view a live painting demo by a Marvel illustrator and meet Samarium (below), one of the book’s heroes – a young US research scientist (real name Ian Beckham Diaz) and ulcerative colitis sufferer who possesses super strength, agility and speed. Samarium and four other Unbeatables were created with help from a panel of IBD patients from around the globe, and their adventures will be available on the website IBDunmasked.com (and on a dedicated Twitter account, @IBDunmasked), where visitors can create and share their own avatar, take part in quizzes and download tips to help them talk to their doctor, family or friends about their condition. Samarium was unveiled when Takeda launched the campaign in July. The four other Unbeatables unveiled today include Ethan Brewster, a British non-profit executive and Crohn’s disease sufferer, whose alter ego is Switchback (special power: the ability to duplicate himself), and Swedish data programmer Liv Hind, who also has ulcerative colitis, and as Datawave (below) enjoys the super power of her mind and emotions being connected to the internet. Elissa Johnsen, head of global product and pipeline communications at Takeda, said: “Patients told us about the physical and emotional battles they face every day from living with IBD and particularly highlighted the isolating nature of this disease. “At Takeda we believe that IBD Unmasked will continue to celebrate the strength that real life IBD superheroes exhibit every day and go on to spark powerful conversations, transform perceptions, and ultimately improve understanding of the impact of these diseases.” See also: Alexion uses superheroes, social media to raise rare-disease awareness Ketchum, the world’s fourth largest PR agency, is the only global agency working on the campaign. It has worked with Takeda for several years. Previous Marvel Custom Solutions work has included teaming up with Visa to educate readers about personal finance with help from characters from Guardians of the Galaxy, and bringing Spider-Man and basketball star LeBron James together in US publication ESPN The Magazine. This story was first published by PRWeek.
(update below) A former Swedish prosecutor has written an op-ed for the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, where he suggests the country’s office in charge of pursuing the case against WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange terminate it entirely. Rolf Hillegren urges the Prosecutor General to reverse the decision to reopen the investigation, revoke the detention order and withdraw the arrest warrant. For three years, Sweden has been trying to have him extradited so he can be questioned on sexual allegations made by two women. He sought and obtained asylum from Ecuador and has been living in the Ecuadorean embassy in the United Kingdom since June 2012. Hillegren’s op-ed is in Swedish, but he does not think Sweden needs to extradite Assange to question him. The evidence for the case leaked, and it is unlikely that an interview will yield anything that would make it possible to prosecute him. “Is it reasonable that someone in an embassy in London has no way for the next 27 years to leave the building, whilst the Swedes could remedy the situation without significant disadvantage to anyone?” Hillegren asks. He summarizes: “Julian Assange visited Sweden in 2010 as a celebrated hero. But the visit had repercussions he hadn’t counted on. Two women he’d spent time with were worried they’d contracted HIV and therefore went to the police, the one to support the other. The police decided to open a criminal complaint, so Assange was arraigned, arrested, and interrogated. The prosecutor closed the investigation as far as the more serious allegation; what was left was an accusation of molestation, even that one very questionable. Assange stayed in the country a while after the warrant was rescinded. So no, he did not try to evade ‘Swedish justice.'” Hillegren adds, “The situation between Assange and the women mostly involves disagreements about the use of condoms – a type of litigation that is not usually decided in our courts.” He does not fail to recognize that the women, who have made allegations against Assange, have suffered. Yet, for them, Hillegren suggests that Sweden do what it should have done a long time ago and take responsibility with an unconventional solution.” Pay the damages that would have been awarded if Assange had been “convicted of crimes” for which he was detained. This will avoid a end scenario where the women are “sidelined by the judiciary.” “This solution is appealing, not least in view of the State’s responsibility for the situation and the fact that women undeservedly suffered a well publicized injury,” according to Hillegren. The case was closed in 2010 and then reopened. Hillegren asserts that this decision to close the case was reasonable. The op-ed is significant, obviously, because of the background of the author. Hillegren has some authority to express an opinion that Sweden should have terminated the case long ago. But will this have any effect on Swedish authorities? What would it mean for Assange if the case were terminated by Swedish authorities? One would think that after all the time he has spent in the Ecuadorean embassy, he would want to take advantage of asylum and go to Ecuador. Even if the Swedish case was terminated, it is unlikely that Assange would believe he had the freedom to move without being targeted by the United States. His lawyers are still advising him that the US may indict him on charges. Translation of Hillegren’s op-ed here. Update Rolf Hillegren made comments about rape in 2009 that led him to be condemned. Commenting on new guidelines for rape cases, he said, “When one says rape one thinks mostly of really nasty rapes. But take a man and a woman who know each other and the woman says she doesn’t feel like it today, but the man just goes ahead anyway. Sure, it is not very nice, but maybe not worth two years in prison. It is more like a regulatory offense.” Peter Sunde, who is one of the founders of The Pirate Bay, reported him to the Ombudsman of Justice. Photo by acidpolly, used under Creative Commons license
This article is over 4 years old Separatist group blamed for deaths of 56 people, including 12 children, dragged from homes and shot at point-blank range Violence in the restive Indian state of Assam has killed 68 people, including 12 children, authorities have said, as separatist rebels intensified a long-running campaign in the tea-growing area. Heavily armed militants launched a series of coordinated attacks in rural Assam on Tuesday, pulling villagers from their homes and shooting them at point-blank range, witnesses said. At least 65 people diedin the attacks, while another three were killed when police fired on protesters demanding justice the following day, the chief minister of Assam, Tarun Gogoi, told journalists. “This is one of the most barbaric attacks in recent times with the militants not even sparing infants,” Gogoi told AFP, saying the culprits would not be spared. He said all the victims were from the Adivasi – an umbrella term for India’s indigenous tribes. Assam, which borders Bhutan and Bangladesh, has a long history of often violent land disputes between the indigenous Bodo people, Muslim settlers from Bangladesh and rival tribes in the area. Gogoi said about 2,000 Adivasis armed with bows and arrows, machetes and other crude implements entered a local police station carrying the coffins of victims on Wednesday morning. “Police opened fire when the protesters entered the police station and tried to attack,” he said. Police said 12 children were among those killed in the attacks, which they blamed on the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB). The group has waged a violent campaign for decades, calling for a separate homeland for the people of the Bodo tribes, which are indigenous to India’s north-east. The group has for decades waged a violent campaign for a separate homeland for the people of the Bodo tribes, which are indigenous to India’s north-east. A curfew has been imposed in sensitive areas and the army is on standby, police Inspector General SN Singh told AFP. India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, condemned the attacks as an “act of cowardice” and said the federal home minister would travel to Assam to assess the situation. It was not clear why the villagers were targeted, but analyst KG Suresh said the attacks were most likely carried out in revenge for a recent government crackdown on militants in the state. “There was resentment among the NDFB over an anti-militancy operation that was carried out recently. The tribals were easy targets,” said Suresh, a senior fellow with the Vivekananda International Foundation thinktank in Delhi.
Thanasi and his wife Sophia were shopping today and while in the check out line, chit-chatting amongst themselves in the language of their parents and grandparents— Greek, they were verbally accosted by a woman who didn’t like the fact they were speaking a foreign language. They are both American-born and are raising their kids to speak Greek, as well as the obvious English. And like many Greek Americans, speak Greek amongst themselves to not only practice the language but also to keep it viable in their families. “Speak fucking English, this is America” the woman behind them said as they spoke amongst themselves and minded their own business. Thanasi captured the end of the exchange on video and posted to his Facebook, just as the manager of the store came to ask the women to leave. “We don’t allow that kind of abuse of our customers,” she told the couple as she threw the woman out. Thanasi added about his experience: “Sophia and I were in line at the market, and naturally, speaking Greek. Out of nowhere this lady behind us decides to give us a modern history lesson and tells us, “Speak F*@king English, this is America.” “Furthermore, she demonstrated her well-versed use of the English language by using every swear word to describe us and how we don’t belong here.”
Vincenzo Nibali has been confirmed as Bahrain Merida's first signing for the 2017 season. The newly-formed team announced their intention to race at the highest level earlier this week, and confirmed Merida as their bike supplier and co-sponsor. Related Articles Nibali confirmed in Italy's Olympic team Vincenzo Nibali's Tour de France Specialized S-Works Tarmac Nibali hits back at his Tour de France critics before heading to the Rio Olympics Bahrain cycling project confirms Merida as secondary sponsor Nibali breaks collarbone in Olympic Games crash Nibali undergoes successful collarbone surgery Nibali has been linked to the team for several months, and the two-time Giro d'Italia winner – currently at the Olympic Games – moves from Astana where he has ridden since 2013. "I was immediately fascinated by the idea of a strong project plan built around me. I have believed in the team from day one, because it has a clear vision and is to be carried out by some of the best professionals in the sport," Nibali said in a statement issued by the team. "This trust and confidence in me made me take the final decision for this new exiting adventure of my career. I can't wait to meet their expectations at the most important races in the world wearing the jersey of Bahrain Merida." Nibali, 31, has won all three Grand Tours during his career, claiming the Tour de France crown in 2014. After winning the Giro d'Italia this spring he used the Tour de France as part of his preparations for the Olympic Games.
Mr. Einhorn, 47, whose fund at its peak owned 6.8 percent of the company’s shares, remained bullish on SunEdison’s prospects even as the stock, which was trading at about $31 a share last summer plunged during the remainder of the year. In early January, as SunEdison shares were trading at $3, Mr. Einhorn got a representative appointed to the company’s board. Then on April 21, the company filed for bankruptcy. Shares now trade for around 24 cents. Calculating specific losses for a hedge fund is difficult without knowing the prices which a firm purchased its shares. But Valeant’s and SunEdison’s plunging share prices have caused considerable carnage. It is a time of turbulence for the hedge fund industry, where some of the biggest names have reported double-digit losses. Last year, firms fell deeply into the red after wide swings in certain so-called hedge fund hotel stocks, leading what Daniel S. Loeb of Third Point Management called a “hedge fund killing field” in a recent investor letter. The total value of hedge fund positions in SunEdison, which once accounted for 66 percent of the company’s shares, is now worth just $15 million after its bankruptcy filing, according to FactSet, the financial research firm. Before hedge funds began selling their SunEdison shares last year, the value of all of those firms’ holdings was $3.5 billion. The losses are worse with Valeant. At the beginning of 2015, hedge funds owned about 23 percent of the company’s shares. Today, the market value of the industry’s holdings in Valeant have fallen by $7.3 billion even as hedge funds bought more, according to FactSet. Firms have until mid-May to disclose whether they sold or bought shares in the fourth quarter. That so many hedge funds remained bullish on Valeant despite months of turmoil — as questions were raised repeatedly about its accounting practices — reflects the difficulty managers sometimes have with changing course. “We all get lazy and when an idea seems to be working — inertia tends to take over and you stop paying attention,” said James Chanos, the founder of Kynikos Associates and one of Wall Street’s best-known bearish investors. “That’s on full evidence with Valeant and SunEdison too,” he added.
UPDATE ON C.C.F. TRIAL 24/3/2011 Panagiotis Masouras returned to the trial today after being released a few days ago, having served 18months without being sentenced (the greek law states that if your on remand for 18months without being sentenced you are released). Although the comrade so far has abstained from the procedure, he appeared today in the court and took a seat in the defendants stand. But he did not make clear if he will participate in the procedure, neither if he is “here” in the legal sense. His lawyer did not appear but Panagiotis said he remains his lawyer he just could not come today. The trial continued with the testimonies of the defence witnesses. First the owners of the apartments that G.Nikolopoulos rented in Exarxia from september 2007 to january 2009. The owners spoke of a perfect tenant that completed all his responsibilities. After that testified the mother of M.Giospas who is also H.Hadjimihelakis aunt. She lives on the 1st floor, above the house that was later called a “safe house”. Describing the people visiting her nephews house, she spoke of people who gathered to watch movies, play video games and have conversations without taking any precaution measures, with the windows always open and everything “out in the open”, as she said. She mentioned that she entered her nephews house many times and she never saw any, as she said, suspicious objects such as pots or wires. Finally, describing the day the cops of the anti-terrorist force raided her house and the one below hers, she said it was the worst experience of her life. “Men with masks and guns obliged me to remain under 'house arrest' for three days, while they searched both houses. They didn't allow me to come into contact with anyone outside, neither to communicate with my son who they arrested without a lawyer”. The theatre continues next Thursday. UPDATE ON ARIS SIRINIDIS TRIAL The trial began around 9. 30 comrades were in the court room as well as 30 outside. The defence witnesses are 47. Last time 17 testified. Today two more. The second witness describes the shooter as a very tall guy, skinny with long hair and a ponytail and said clearly that it was not Aris Sirinidis. Another witness, a foreign national with no known address is not appearing in court and the defence of Aris insisted that his testimony is read in the room. In his testimony he describes a guy tall like a basketball player with long hair. Worth mentioning is also that the court wanted to examine a cop-witness that has had pre-interrogative duties. Aris defence immediately produced a document-decision of the supreme court stating this is illegal. After an agreement of the judge and the prosecutor, the cop will testify as a person with special knowledge, (on the mask with the d.n.a.), and not as person with pre-interrogative duties. The theatre will continue on April 11th THE PASSION FOR FREEDOM IS STRONGER THAN THEIR PRISONS
Some of Europe's top clubs are competing for entry into the UEFA Champions League group stage, and Friday's playoff draw delivered several intriguing ties. Arsenal will face Fenerbahce in the Champions League qualifying play-off, meaning Arsene Wenger's side face a tough battle to reach the competition's group stages. • Brassell: UCL draw analysis However, uncertainty surrounds the aftermath of the Fenerbahce tie -- the first leg of which will be played in Turkey -- if the Turkish club win it. Fenerbahce are awaiting a ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport over whether they will be allowed to progress to the competition proper after UEFA banned them over a domestic match-fixing scandal. They were reinstated, pending their appeal to the CAS, the verdict of which is due to be announced before the draw for the group stages but after they have taken on Arsenal. UEFA said it had not yet taken a decision on what would happen if Fenerbahce won the tie against Arsenal but then saw the CAS decision go against them. Scottish Premier League champions Celtic play Shakhter Karagandy, of Kazakhstan, while PSV Eindhoven take on AC Milan in an eye-catching tie.

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