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Against Malaria Foundation - GiveWell's no. 1 effective charity AMF
Every year, Jailbreak generates opinion articles that point out a discomfiting fact: many teams manage to beg for and spend more money on their ‘for charity’ vacations than they generate for RAG in sponsored donations. Jailbreakers respond that they’re still generating charity funds that wouldn’t otherwise exist. They add that Jailbreak is not only about direct fundraising, but also about having fun and advertising for RAG’s worthy causes.
This is a debate worth having, but I want to raise a slightly different point: which worthy causes should we support with our donations?
When donors choose which charities to support, they’re motivated by a variety of considerations. Often, a personal relationship plays a role: people whose loved ones have died of cancer often give to cancer research charities. Sometimes, a moral or political concern is key: many feminists give to charities that educate young women in the developing world. Sometimes, direct involvement motivates a donor: volunteers for local non-profits frequently add a cash contribution to their donations of time.
Cynics and economists might point out that there are also less noble-sounding considerations. Giving enhances one’s status, and gifts to some causes may be more ‘high status’ than gifts to others. This can be good - the public will praise a celebrity who donates money for mosquito nets that protect children in Zambia from malaria. If he instead gives funds to build new tennis courts for the public school that educated him, he won’t generate the same goodwill.
If you ask why society should laud mosquito nets more than tennis courts, most people will tell you that the aim of charity should be to do good for those in need, not to provide perks for those who already have plenty. Indeed, when we donate to charity, most of us at least like to tell ourselves that our goal is to do good for others. Moreover, we recognise that certain kinds of good ‘need doing’ more than other kinds: building new tennis courts certainly does good for the young men of Eton, but it’s not the best use of philanthropic funds. “That money could do more good elsewhere”, we say.
Yet these seemingly common-sense principles generate as many questions as they answer. How do you know if your money is doing substantive good? How widely are you willing to look for opportunities to ‘do more good elsewhere’?
If you’re serious about charity as a means of doing good, and if you want to avoid falling into the tennis court trap (though most Varsity readers don’t quite have the money for that), it’s helpful to look at charities as products: try to get the best deal you can on ‘good’.
How likely is your donation to do good? How much risk is there that it will do harm? How substantive is the good it will do? (Lives saved rate more highly than tennis matches contested, at least for most of us) Above all, how much extra good will the charity be able to do for every pound you give? Large philanthropic foundations can hire researchers to look into these questions. Private donors who want to answer them turn to a special kind of NGO: a charity evaluator.
Yet most charity evaluators, such as the popular website Charity Navigator, don’t think like this. They are for the most part content to ascertain whether a charity is corrupt—embezzling donations, say. As long as the charity is making an honest effort to realise its stated aims, Charity Navigator makes no attempt to assess how effective that charity actually is in doing so. It likewise does not ask how truly important those aims are. Nor does it seek to ascertain whether the charity will be able to do more good than it already does if it is given more funds.
From Charity Navigator’s point of view, two honest mosquito net distributors are equal, even if there’s convincing evidence that one spends less to distribute more nets and targets people at greater risk for the disease. A horse racing museum can aspire to the same four-star rating as a charity working to combat a deadly epidemic. And a charity with a self-sustaining endowment and no plans to expand can get the same rating as one with a carefully drawn up scheme for using additional donations to reach more people.
Fortunately, the last ten years have seen an explosion of thoughtful work aimed at determining how we can most effectively help others. Academic institutions such as the Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT and Innovations for Poverty Action at Yale do empirical research designed to test the effectiveness of schemes for saving and improving lives. Groups of donors such as Giving What We Can and 80,000 Hours spread the word about effectiveness thinking in modern philanthropy. Innovative charity evaluators such as GiveWell and the recently founded AidGrade take up the questions their more traditional counterparts ignore, and attempt to see how far charities’ honest efforts actually get them.
These groups do not offer a complete or inerrant perspective on philanthropy. Some charities may do good that is hard for a J-PAL or a GiveWell to assess accurately. Moreover, effective philanthropy demands mixing philosophy with social and natural science. We have a responsibility to decide which causes to prioritise, and in what proportions. Spending all the world’s charitable funds on malaria eradication would be as foolish as spending none. We’d experience diminishing returns; money that could do good elsewhere would be wasted.
And the very premises of effective giving are themselves worthy of discussion. Should we be concerned with doing as much good as we can, or merely with doing good? Is every human being equally deserving of our help, or do we have particular duties to those close to us? Reasonable, well-intentioned people debate these questions vigorously.
Yet whatever your particular stance, if you share with most donors the aim of doing good for others and are sceptical of tennis court-style charity, it is worth considering these points before you give. Ask not only whether your cause is worthy but also whether you might do more good - or more substantive good - elsewhere. Use tools like GiveWell and AidGrade to figure out which organisations are best able to purchase that substantive good with your donation. We spend a lot of time discussing charity during Jailbreak. Let’s spend some of it discussing effectiveness. |
Following Israel's dismantling all the security measures at the entrance to the Temple Mount, and victory celebrations that lasted all Thursday afternoon, thousands entered the site.
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The development comes after two weeks of demonstrations, riots and a fatal terrorist attack in the settlement of Halamish, all linked to Israel's decision to set up added security measures at the Temple Mount's gates, following a terrorist attack at the site that took the lives of two police officers.
Worshippers clash with IDF Border Police (Photo: Reuters)
Shortly after returning to Temple Mount, Israeli security forces and Muslim worshippers clashed inside the compound. Security forces used stun grenades next to the Dome of the Rock to disperse rioters, as the Red Crescent reported that 113 people were injured.
Injured man evacuated from Temple Mount (צילום: אלי מנדלבאום)
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Confrontations were also reported in the Muslim Bab Huta neighborhood in the Old City of Jerusalem. A group of young worshippers also climbed the al-Aqsa Mosque and waved Palestinian flags.
Protestors climb al-Aqsa Mosque (Photo: AFP)
Israeli security forces at the Temple Mount (Photo: AFP)
Police fire stun grenades to disperse rioters (Photo: Reuters)
Photo: Reuters
Photo: Reuters
People injured in clashes are evacuated (Photo: Eli Mendelbaum)
Photo: Eli Mendelbaum
Photo: Eli Mendelbaum
Photo: AFP
Photo: AFP
Photo: AFP
There had been a dispute between the masses whether to enter or not. "The Mufti does not decide, we will decide," they shouted to worshipers who refused to enter, protesting that they claimed to still not be able to enter the compound freely from the Lions' Gate. They also called out, "Whoever enters a traitor." A few minutes later they agreed to enter the prayer hall according to the Mufti of Jerusalem, Muhammad Hussein.
Celebrations at Temple Mount (צילום: עפר מאיר אלי מנדלבאום)
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Hundreds gathered in the afternoon near the Lions' Gate entrance to the Temple Mount, and celebrated the removal of the security measures and the renewed entrance to the holy site. Many distributed sweets and bottles of drink and shouted cheers.
Worshippers celebrating at Temple Mount (Photo: Reuters)
Photo: Reuters
Photo: Reuters
Photo: EPA
The police dismantled the cameras' bridges and fences at the entrances to the Temple Mount where the magnometers were, which were also dismantled earlier this week. The camera bridge was dismantled after the cameras were removed from it on Tuesday following the decision of the political-security cabinet.
Photo: Reuters
Photo: Reuters
Photo: Reuters
As a result, the Mufti of Jerusalem, Muhammad Hussein, announced that Muslims could pray again at the Temple Mount compound, and the Jordanian security forces the Waqf called on the masses to arrive at 16:00. "The situation has returned to what it was," said the Mufti. "We return to pray in al-Aqsa. "
Photo: Reuters
Photo: Yael Freidson
Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh responded to the latest developments on the Temple Mount: "Tonight there was no drama, despite what was portrayed in the media. The Security Cabinet's decision was to remove the metal detectors and cameras, and the Israel Police acted accordingly. These are facts."
Photo: Yael Freidson
Photo: Reuters
Photo: Reuters
The commissioner refused to answer who was the first person to suggest placing metal detectors at the entrances to the compound. "I will not answer this question, though it ould have surprised many people. I do not usually leak (information—ed) from the (Security) Cabinet, so I will not say who held what position." |
Angels at the temple at Malka Hans. —Photo by Rida Arif
We stood at the entrance of the temple, not sure if we would be allowed to go inside. It was a double-storey structure with a small round balcony. I stood before a wooden door with intricate patterns, and fading remnants of frescoes on the wall next to it. I could only imagine how beautiful this structure must be from the inside.
The only problem was that this temple was not vacant. It wasn’t even taken over by an individual family, as has happened in so many cases. In that situation, I could have requested them to allow me to see the temple from the inside. But this was now controlled by the women's wing of an Islamic religious organisation called Minhaj-ul-Quran, founded by the famous preacher turned politician Tahir-ul-Qadri.
Entrance to the temple at Malka Hans. —Photo by Rida Arif
I rang the bell not sure what would be the response of the people inside. A young boy emerged at the entrance and after listening to our request disappeared into the house. He returned after a little while, saying that they would not allow the men to enter the temple but the ladies with us could come in.
We implored, but the response was final. There was a dars, a lesson of the Quran, under way, in the courtyard, attended only by women. My friend Rida with her camera, and my wife Anam, disappeared into the temple, now an Islamic school.
We were at the historical city of Malka Hans, about 200 kilometres from Lahore, to visit the historical mosque of Waris Shah in the city. Waris Shah is a celebrated Punjabi poet known for re-composing the folk tale of Heer-Ranjha. With his rendition, he managed to leave such a stamp on it that all former versions are forgotten and the story is now known as Heer-Waris. Waris Shah is believed to have written this story in the basement of the mosque at Malka Hans where he used to work as an Imaam.
The temple was across the street from the mosque. In Waris Shah's time in the 18th century, it was not unusual to find a mosque and a temple sharing a wall. Today, of course, that is an anomaly.
There are several stories about this relationship between the mosque and the Hindu temple, about Waris Shah and his Hindu beloved who, it is believed, used to come to this temple regularly. The temple belonged to the sect of devotees of Chajju Bhagat, a 17th century Hindu saint from Lahore.
There were old houses located in this street, which must have once belonged to Hindu families living here. I wondered in what condition they must have left their homes in 1947, temporarily locking their doors, perhaps burying their precious belongings, hoping to return one day.
They never returned, but perhaps they told their loved ones about the homes they left behind and this temple. Perhaps their survivors have fragments of memories of stories they heard about this temple?
Rida and Anam returned after a little while, ecstatic. “It was a surreal feeling,” said Rida. “There were wooden figures all around the temple, perhaps angels, and sitting under them were these women clad in burqa, reciting the Quran. There were pictures of Hindu deities on the wall while these women talked about the unity of God. No harm had been done to any of these idols or figures on the wall.”
These women saw no contradiction in studying Islam in a Hindu temple.
Jain Mandir at Multan. —Photo by Alie Imran
About 200 kilometres from Malka Hans, in the ancient city of Multan believed to have been once ruled by Hiranyakashipu, the tyrant father of Bhakta Prahlada (Bhagat Prahalada, in Punjabi), we saw a similar anomaly. Deep within the walled city, we located a Jain Temple. Even before we entered the main room of the temple we could hear a humming sound of children reciting the Quran, memorising it.
Inside the hall there were rows of mats with small tables in front of them where children had placed their copies of the Quran, rhythmically moving back and forth as they recited their lesson.
The sound of the children came to an abrupt end as we entered the room and all eyes fell on us. “Assalamualaikum,” I said. “Walaikum assalam,” replied everyone in unison. “Can we see and photograph your temple?” I asked. This time, only the teacher replied: “It is all yours.” The students went back to memorising the Quran.
The ceiling of the temple was made with wood, decorated with small pieces of glass. There were beautiful geometrical frescoes on the wall. On one side of the room was a gilded door that led inside the main sanctuary. Near the door were pictures of the 24 tirthankaras, who are supposed to grace each half of the cosmic time cycle in Jain cosmology.
I was too lost in beauty of the temple to notice that the sound of the recitation had stopped. All the children and their teacher had presumably finished their lessons and left the premises.
One of the Tirthankar at the temple in Multan. —Photo by Alie Imran
Later as my friend Iqbal Qaiser and I stood facing the turret of the temple at a shop, drinking a cool bottle of Pepsi, we were told by the shopkeeper that this temple like other temples around Pakistan was also attacked by fanatics in 1992, in reaction to the demolition of the Babri masjid in India.
However, the administration of the temple was able to dissuade the mob from causing much destruction to the temple.
“It is not a temple anymore. It is a madrassah,” they had argued.
Bhagat Prahlad Mandir and the shrine of Shah Rukn-e-Alam in the background. —Photo by Alie Imran
Just a little outside the city, located on the top of a mound facing the walled city, once stood the temple of Bhagat Prahlad, the patron Hindu saint of the city of Multan.
The wall of his temple touched the wall of the Muslim saint Shah Rukn-e-Alam’s shrine, the new patron saint of Multan, after the creation of Pakistan. This temple too was being used as a madrassah. After the riots, the madrassah was permanently shut while the temple suffered heavy losses.
Same is the story of the Sitla Mandir in Lahore. In the same building, now, a madrassah is being run.
Sitla Mandir in Lahore. —Photo by Haroon Khalid
This article was originally published at Scroll.in and has been reproduced with permission. |
0 Good Samaritans chase down, hold counterfeiting suspect for police
ALPHARETTA, Ga. - Alpharetta police are crediting some quick-thinking good Samaritans for helping them catch a counterfeiting suspect.
Police have charged Malik Lewis, 18, with several crimes, including forgery, theft and battery stemming from the Oct. 26 incident on Windward Parkway.
Terry Ward, general manager of Smashburger, told Channel 2’s Mike Petchenik that Lewis came into his restaurant and tried to buy a drink using a fake $50 bill.
“I didn’t think nothing of it, because it was crisp,” he said.
But, after Lewis started acting suspicious and walked outside, Ward said he rechecked the bill and realized it was fake.
“It was like a piece of paper that had the outside in it, not the outside of the 50,” he said.
Ward said he confronted Lewis and told him to return the change he’d been given.
“I said, ‘Give me my money back. Don’t run; I’m fast, I will catch you,’” he said. “He took off, so I took off behind him.”
Ward said the two ran around the building, and at one point, he said Lewis threw a punch at him, and they ended up on the ground near Windward Parkway.
That’s when Sean Healey, who runs a nutrition supplement shop, said he saw the scuffle and ran outside to intervene.
“They were on Windward Parkway, running around. I was like, holy smoke, this is crazy,” he said.
Healey said he could sense Ward was running out of steam, so he jumped in.
“This is a bucket list item, so I had to check it off the list,” Healey said. “Hold down a criminal until the cops come, so that was great.”
Healey said Lewis was crying.
“I told him not to cry,” Healey said. “I told him to stop being a wussy.”
Alpharetta police said they found $11,000 on Lewis after his arrest, and they believe it was likely proceeds from other counterfeit purchases.
“It’s getting harder to detect with the changes of technology and what’s available out there,” said Officer George Gordon.
“Criminals that have the technological expertise. They can make very close proximity to counterfeit money like the real thing.” |
I bought 3 copies of this collection for friends, and my new step-son, so they could play with me. I have played this game for years, ever since the original Gold Edition was released, at least 5 years ago. I have played a number of RTS games, and like most of them. But none compare to the Dawn of War series. I keep coming back to it. Not only is the setting different and interesting, but the game forces players to get offensive. No turtling allowed, unless you wish to lose badly. This makes games a little less predictable and much more exciting. And this coming from a person who loves to turtle. (Turtling is the strategy of building massive base defenses and safely sitting behind them until you build a massive army to go a-conquering.) Some people don't care as much for the last expansion, Soul Storm, but I find it is part of the natural progression of the game. No, it's not perfect, but I really like the campaign regardless. And online multiplayer is always fun, with many dedicated players still engaged.
The different factions are truly different, not just marginally so, requiring a different mindset when playing, in addition to different tactics. The first game in the series forces you to play the campaign with only one faction, but the following games open other factions for play. The only thing I felt was ever missing was a cooperative campaign mode. The difficulty rating is well-earned. Easy is just that. Normal is challenging. Hard is going to give you a run for your money, especially early in the campaigns and even more so in skirmishes. The computer knows your weaknesses and will try to exploit them mercilessly, even on Normal. In other words, it's not a pushover once you learn how to play a certain way.
Hours of enjoyment. If I had to, I would give up all the other games in my collection to keep this one. |
Panicking savers in Greece have withdrawn over €3 billion in deposits from the country’s banks between June 15 and June 18, with a record €1 billion having left Greek banks on Thursday, banking sources told Reuters.
As the fears of Greece defaulting on its €316 billion debt and leaving the eurozone are escalating, people in Greece are rushing to take their savings out of banks. An estimated €200-€300 million a day was leaving the country prior to this week. Between October and April €30 billion left Greek banks, according to data from the Bank of Greece.
The panic accelerated Thursday ahead of the Eurogroup meeting in Luxembourg where European Finance Ministers and Greek officials were to discuss the ways Athens could deal with its international creditors. The meeting however did not show any feasible results.
READ MORE: Depositors withdraw €820mn in single day ahead of Eurogroup ‘crunch’ talks - media
On Monday, June 22, Greek banks might have to stay closed, when the EU summit takes place in Brussels, according to the European Central Bank (ECB). The summit will focus on Greece’s problem at the highest political level and is aimed to discuss ways of preventing the crisis from spreading within the EU.
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said on Friday that a comprehensive Greek proposal for a cash-for-reforms deal to the euro zone group of finance ministers was not discussed, and that Europe's leaders had a duty to come up with a deal.
"Greek authorities presented a wide-ranging, comprehensive and credible proposal that can be the foundation of an agreement that not only concludes the current program but also addresses Greece's future funding needs. Regrettably, no discussion of our proposal took place within the Eurogroup," Varoufakis said in a statement.
READ MORE: Eurogroup, Greece say ‘crunch’ negotiations failed but still time for clutch deal
The central bank of Greece warned Wednesday that Athens was likely to leave the eurozone and possibly the EU without a deal with creditors.
Greece and the troika of creditors that includes the IMF, the ECB and the European Commission have been stuck in debt talks for more than 5 months. Greece is seeking to get the last €7.2 billion tranche of the second bailout, but the creditors insist Athens should present a solid reform plan showing the country will cut more of its spending. The new government in Greece led by Alexis Tsipras has maintained they won’t agree to a new era of austerity which dragged the economy into a crisis in 2010, when the first troika bailout was released. |
poster="https://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201606/3065/1155968404_4949542586001_4949470787001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404" true Sanders vows to work with Clinton to transform Democratic Party In a live-streamed video, the Vermont senator neither conceded defeat nor endorsed his primary rival.
BURLINGTON, Vt. — Bernie Sanders refused to concede in the Democratic primary against Hillary Clinton during a live-streamed video address to his supporters on Thursday night, pledging to take his army of delegates to the party’s July convention — but no longer directly addressing the possibility of defeating the presumptive nominee.
“We must continue our grass-roots efforts to create the America that we know we can become,” he said, sitting in a cramped studio in his hometown while pledging in his starkest terms yet to take on Donald Trump. “And we must take that energy into the Democratic National Convention on July 25 in Philadelphia where we will have more than 1,900 delegates."
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Sanders did not endorse Clinton, as other top figures in the Democratic Party — from President Barack Obama to Sen. Elizabeth Warren — already have done.
“The major political task that we face in the next five months is to make certain that Donald Trump is defeated and defeated badly,” he added, just two days after he met with Clinton in person in Washington. “And I personally intend to begin my role in that process in a very short period of time."
Delivering his first speech to supporters in a week — an uncharacteristically long period of silence for a campaign built around massive rallies throughout the country — Sanders got as close as he has to acknowledging that Clinton has won, but he devoted the bulk of his remarks to outlining the "political revolution" he has been stumping for over the past year.
"Defeating Donald Trump cannot be our only goal," Sanders said. "We must continue our grass-roots efforts to create the America that we know we can become. And we must take that energy into the Democratic National Convention on July 25 in Philadelphia where we will have more than 1,900 delegates."
Sanders sketched out a familiar list of changes he wishes to see in the party and its platform. The implicit message: that Democrats and their standard-bearer should embrace his ideas, even as Clinton turns her sights toward Trump.
“I recently had the opportunity to meet with Secretary Clinton and discuss some of the very important issues facing our country and the Democratic Party. It is no secret that Secretary Clinton and I have strong disagreements on some very important issues. It is also true that our views are quite close on others,” he said, hinting at a slow wind-down of their tensions.
And he signaled that he intended to negotiate fiercely for his progressive platform before he might endorse his primary rival.
“I look forward, in the coming weeks, to continued discussions between the two campaigns to make certain that your voices are heard and that the Democratic Party passes the most progressive platform in its history and that Democrats actually fight for that agenda," he said.
Among Sanders’ list of policy proposals — almost all of which came straight from his standard stump speech: a $15 federal minimum wage, pay equity for women, banning fracking, and stopping the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
Yet he also dove into a series of reforms he wants the party to adopt, reviving the "50-state strategy" he spoke about frequently in the early days of his campaign, and which was popularized by fellow Vermonter and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean.
He also reiterated his demand to replace the leadership of the Democratic Party, a point that he has been focusing on more toward the tail end of his campaign as he has ramped up his criticism of DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
And he spoke at more length than ever about his hopes for the young voters who followed his campaign in droves, urging them to consider running for elected positions and engaging in politics to revitalize the Democratic infrastructure.
“Here is a cold, hard fact that must be addressed. Since 2009, some 900 legislative seats have been lost to Republicans in state after state throughout the country. In fact, the Republican Party now controls 31 state legislatures and controls both the governors’ mansions and statehouses in 23 states. That is unacceptable,” he said, pointing supporters to a webpage his campaign set up to educate them on running for office.
“We need to start engaging at the local and state level in an unprecedented way," Sanders said. "Hundreds of thousands of volunteers helped us make political history during the last year. These are people deeply concerned about the future of our country and their own communities. Now we need many of them to start running for school boards, city councils, county commissions, state legislatures and governorships. State and local governments make enormously important decisions, and we cannot allow right-wing Republicans to increasingly control them."
But at the end of his 23-minute speech, he turned back to a longer view, reminiscing on his campaign and framing it as just part of a much longer-term struggle.
“Let me conclude by once again thanking everyone who has helped in this campaign in one way or another. We have begun the long and arduous process of transforming America, a fight that will continue tomorrow, next week, next year, and into the future,” he said toward the end of the speech. “My hope is that when future historians look back and describe how our country moved forward into reversing the drift toward oligarchy, and created a government which represents the people and not the few, they will note that, to a significant degree, that effort began with the political revolution of 2016." |
While Carey Price dazzled in goal for the Montreal Canadiens Saturday night at the Bell Centre, leading his team to its seventh win of the season, the loss for the Rangers really shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone. Putting the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals aside, where the Rangers defeated the Canadiens in six games and won two in a row on the road in Montreal, the Rangers’ regular season play at the Bell Centre over the past six seasons has been something akin to a nightmare.
Henrik Lundqvist’s House of Horrors
Henrik Lundqvist’s career to this point has been tremendous, with the one blemish on his record being his lack of a Stanley Cup. Aside from that, he’s won an Olympic gold medal, the Vezina trophy, owns a career .920 save percentage, and a 2.27 goals against average. Not too shabby at all. However, when you place him between the pipes at the Bell Centre in Montreal, all of those stats suddenly become irrelevant.
In his career during regular season games, Lundqvist is 4-6-2 all time, with a 3.80 GAA, and an .878 save percentage at the Bell Centre. To make matters even worse, since “The King’s” last regular season win in Montreal, he is 0-4-1 with a 4.30 GAA and an .881 save percentage. It’s mind boggling, really.
But it isn’t fair just to blame Lundqvist for New York’s recent lack of success just north of the border. The Rangers as a team also seem to struggle in Montreal.
Lack of Success All-Around
Throughout the past six seasons, the Rangers have been a pretty good team when visiting other cities, amounting a road record of 106-75-16. The Rangers have been able to earn a point in 62 percent of road games over that six season span. The Bell Centre, though, has had its way with the Rangers.
In the Blueshirts’ last 11 regular season visits to Montreal, they’ve have only been able to muster up a grand total of nine goals. It doesn’t matter how good or bad Lundqvist – or whomever was in net – was or wasn’t. When a team averages .82 goals per game in a certain arena, they don’t stand much of a chance to earn two points.
The Comeback
Going a bit further back than the discussed period, but still within New York’s struggling time frame in Montreal, we find the biggest comeback in Montreal Canadiens’ history. And who was it against? You got it: the New York Rangers.
February 19, 2008, the Rangers were leading the Habs 5-0 at the Bell Centre midway through the 2nd period. Brendan Shanahan had two goals and an assist, Jaromir Jagr had four helpers, and the Rangers were 3-for-4 on the power play. It seemed nothing could go wrong.
Until they suffered a complete meltdown and allowed five unanswered goals to the Canadiens, eventually losing in a shootout.
While that was probably the worst regular season loss in Montreal for the Rangers in recent years, it is only the poster-game for a greater underlying trend of a serious lack of regular season success in Canada’s second largest city.
Better Off In The Playoffs
For a New York team that has become synonymous with road success in recent years, the Bell Centre in Montreal remains the outlier. Saturday night was no different, and the Rangers were handed yet another loss, 3-1, at the hands of the Canadiens. Perhaps the Blueshirts would just be better off visiting 1909 Canadiens-de-Montréal Ave during the post-season, and not in October.
The Rangers won’t be back on the road until Saturday, November 8th when they will visit the Toronto Maple Leafs for a matchup on “Hockey Night in Canada.” I think it’s safe to say, though, that the Rangers will have a better shot at a win in Toronto than they would in Montreal. |
The UN Uses Ethereum’s Blockchain to Distribute Funds to Jordanian Refugee Camps
The United Nations (UN) is in the final stages of what could be one of the most groundbreaking blockchain projects ever, starting a project on May 1 to distribute funds in Jordan, a country which has taken the bulk of refugees from conflict zones in neighboring Iraq and Syria. The project is said to be using Ethereum blockchain, as part of a trial to support and empower refugee communities.
The goal of this blockchain funding project is to deliver cryptographically unique coupons representing a certain amount of Jordanian dinars to various shops across five refugee camps in Jordan, where they will be distributed among the people. Even though the project uses the Ethereum blockchain, it was developed with people that do not have access to the internet or mobile devices in mind. So, even without access to the internet or a mobile device, people will still be able to receive their share.
The blockchain project is built the Ethereum client developed by Gavin Wood’s Parity Technologies, which was previously named Ethcore. The UN’s World Food Program (WFP) financial officer, Houman Haddad said that the Jordanian coupon project would see a total of more than 10,000 people receiving funds.
Instead of paying the funds directly to the recipients, the UN sends the money to the shops, cutting out both banks and even the actual recipients. For example, the money could instead be paid directly to the merchants that might be available in that area, and then the beneficiaries could receive them there or trade them for goods.
With the blockchain trial, various cashiers at each shop will use the technology that was co-developed by the UN Innovation Accelerator, Ethereum development startup Parity Technologies and blockchain big data firm Datarella to redeem the entitlements at the point of checkout.
Since the project was built under the assumption that much of its users would not have access to the internet or a smartphone, there was the need to devise a plan that would allow the tokens to be distributed. To do that UN partnered with IrisGuard, which the UN has also been using to serve Syrian refugees in Jordan. IrisGuard will verify the identity of all the people receiving the funds. The company has developed technology that allows identifying individuals through Iris Scan. The blockchain itself includes widespread promise for advancing the way we prove our identities, but since the project was devised having people with no internet access in mind IrisGuard was the selected technology to help in the distribution process.
For now, the project is only being implemented in Jordan, but the goal of UN is to see it expand as soon as it goes online. The utilization of blockchain technology holds the potential to benefit as many as 80 million people through making humanitarian efforts more efficient. |
Image: Bloomberg/Getty Composition: Jason Koebler
Misfiled documents in a high-profile Silicon Valley court case suggest that Google co-founder Larry Page has created a spin-out company called "Tiramisu."
A motion filed last month by Uber to force Google's self-driving car spinoff company Waymo to provide witnesses on a range of topics reveals the existence of Tiramisu.
The company is listed as relevant to an ongoing Uber-Google self-driving car spat because it alleges that Anthony Levandowski, the engineer accused of stealing lidar and other technical secrets from his workplace at Google's self-driving car project and taking them to Uber, may have been working for the company in his free time.
"Uber seeks discovery regarding details about Mr Levandowski's involvement in Kitty Hawk, Zee.Aero, and Tiramisu and how Waymo (and the related entities Alphabet and Google) viewed Mr. Levandowski's involvement in those side businesses," the filing reads.
It's worth noting that Kitty Hawk and its subsidiary Zee.Aero, are developing drone-like electric aircraft large enough to carry human passengers.
Very little is actually known about Tiramisu, which has never been publicly acknowledged by Page, Waymo, or anyone else for that matter. The existence of Tiramisu has not previously been reported, and Uber asked the court to remove the document on the same day it was filed. Motherboard obtained copies of them before it could do so. Uber later refiled its motion with details of Kitty Hawk, Zee.Aero, and Tiramisu redacted.
A search of businesses registered with California's secretary of state reveals Tiramisu LLC was incorporated in May 2015. The company's address, a law firm in Palo Alto, matches that of the Carl Victor Page Memorial Foundation, Larry Page's $2 billion charitable foundation named for his father.
Tiramisu's address matches that of the Carl Victor Page Memorial Foundation.
Subsequent business filings for Tiramisu LLC use the address of a lawyer based at John Wayne Airport near Los Angeles, specializing in aviation law and regulation. Tiramisu LLC had also been registered in 2014 in Delaware, a jurisdiction favored by many stealthy start-ups because it allows owners to remain anonymous.
So, what is Tiramisu? While we don't know for sure, the filing as well as depositions of former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and Page at least allow us to guess (if you know more about Tiramisu, please contact us securely.)
Image: Steve Jurvetson/Flickr
Tiramisu's name, it should be noted, means "pick me up" in Italian (in addition to being a delicious dessert).
We know that both former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and Larry Page have an interest in flying cars. In Kalanick's deposition, he states plainly that he once called up Page to discuss partnering on such an idea: "I wanted to talk [to] him about flying cars," testified Kalanick. Uber has already announced its intention to develop an autonomous flying taxi service, called Uber Elevate, for commuting or intercity travel, and even held a conference about it earlier this year.
Recent reporting by The Wall Street Journal suggests Page has indeed tested flying cars, perhaps with Levandowski's help.
Excerpt from Larry Page deposition
Key parts of Uber's filing—and much of Larry Page's deposition to which it refers—have been redacted for confidentiality. Nevertheless, the document makes for interesting reading. One part of Page's deposition features an exchange where an Uber lawyer asked Page if he had a ranch property called by a redacted name. The deposition was recorded in a font that makes it clear the redaction is an eight-character name.
Page responded: "[That name] is a project I believe Anthony was working on. I don't think that's the name of a ranch." Page went to confirm that some testing took place at one of his ranches during 2015.
Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Levandowski was working on Page's ranch testing flying cars, quoting a person "familiar" with the deposition. Then Uber's lawyers filed a motion identifying Tiramisu (which has eight letters) as a business it thinks Levandowski worked with. Not a smoking gun, for sure, but it's all we know for now, and no one involved in Tiramisu is talking.
Excerpt from Travis Kalanick deposition.
Contacted by Motherboard, a Waymo spokesperson would not respond to questions about Tiramisu. However, it accused Uber of trying to create "distractions."
"Faced with mounting evidence that Uber is using stolen Waymo trade secrets, Uber is trying to distract with baseless legal maneuvers," the spokesperson said. "There is significant and direct evidence Uber is using stolen Waymo trade secrets in their technology. We look forward to presenting that evidence at trial."
Neither Kitty Hawk nor its CEO, Sebastian Thrun, responded to requests for comment. If you have any further information about Page's Tiramisu project, please let me know on Telegram, user name @meharris. |
The Kirkland City Council voted to endorse transit on the Cross Kirkland Corridor, over the objections of many residents who held “Recall The Council” signs.
The Kirkland City Council has voted to endorse transit on the Cross Kirkland Corridor as part of a Sound Transit 3 package, despite objections from residents who want the corridor to remain a more wooded, natural trail.
The council voted 5-1 Tuesday night to include the Kirkland project in what could be a $20 billion regional transportation ballot measure later this year, with taxes potentially stretching out until 2050 or beyond.
In letters to the Sound Transit board, the council recommended full funding for the light rail from Totem Lake to Bellevue and Issaquah. It calls for further study to determine the best transportation mode for the Kirkland corridor, with bus rapid transit as one option.
City officials said that with technology evolving and the Kirkland project likely to be far down on the project list, it wanted Sound Transit to take a flexible approach and work with the city on what might ultimately be built.
The council urged Sound Transit to ensure that any transit on the corridor have zero emissions and address concerns about noise, safety, parking and environmental impact. City officials say transit would run on only a portion of the corridor’s 100-foot-right-of-way, preserving the remainder as a bike and pedestrian trail.
That didn’t satisfy about 70 residents who held “Recall The Council” signs during the meeting and wore green to show their support for keeping the trail in a more natural state. Another 1,700 have signed an online petition opposing any transit on the corridor.
Some members of Save Our Trails acknowledged they might not have legal grounds for a recall, but said the signs were a way to show their displeasure.
“There’s a strong feeling that this was railroaded through,” said Macgregor Miller, who opposes transit on the corridor. He said that the first city open house on the proposal came after the November elections, too late for residents to raise the trail as a campaign issue.
Kirkland bought its six-mile portion of the Eastside Rail Corridor and opened it to bikes and pedestrians a year ago.
The debate before the council mirrored the one that likely will engage the entire region as the immense cost of potentially extending light rail to Pierce and Snohomish counties and Redmond and Issaquah in King County is weighed against worsening traffic congestion and the lack of a coordinated, efficient transit system across the three-counties.
Kirkland Councilmember Toby Nixon cast the only no vote Tuesday, saying the potential ballot measure will be too expensive and benefit too few in Kirkland. He said the cost each year to Kirkland residents is estimated at $24 million, or $500 for every household for a tax measure that could extend for decades.
For the same money, he said, Kirkland could create a system of local shuttles that would serve every neighborhood, school, business center, transit center and park and ride, “making it far more convenient for people to leave their cars at home.”
But Councilmember Shelley Kloba said the region is already paying a price in pollution, reduced productivity, time away from families and too few commuting choices.
“Regional cooperation is the only way we will get anything done,” she said.
Deputy Mayor Jay Arnold agreed, saying that while the sentiment of many residents seems to be to “do nothing” on the trail, the timeline of the Sound Transit 3 projects may be 40 years or more.
“Doing nothing for the next 40 years is not an option,” he said. |
The Bucharest Tribunal on Thursday sentenced Dumitru Dragomir, former president of the Romanian Professional Football League (LPF), to seven years in prison in a file related to the sale of TV copyrights.
Dragomir is charged with tax evasion, embezzlement and money laundering. He also has to pay together with other two defendants in the file damages worth about RON 1.3 M, and together with LPF more than RON 12 M.
The sentence is not final yet and can be challenged.
It is the second conviction for the former head of the Professional Football League, after the one where he got three years on probation in the file related to Universitate Craiova football club.
Dragomir was indicted in the TV copyrights file two years ago, next to other 40 people, in a file where the total prejudice mounts to about EUR 5.4 M.
Prosecutors say that the evasion network in this file has been working for 5 years, during 2009 and 2014, with 17 ‘shadow’ private companies being involved. |
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption A student was given permission to attend a school event dressed as German dictator Adolf Hitler
An Australian school has apologised after a boy who attended a school event in costume as Adolf Hitler was named as one of the "best dressed" students.
The scandal unfolded on Wednesday at St Philip's College, a private school in the outback town of Alice Springs.
The school apologised to the Jewish exchange students who were present.
The principal confirmed the student asked "a respected staff member" for permission to dress up as the Nazi dictator and that she had said yes.
"In a busy school, this student did go to a respected staff member said 'is this OK?' and the staff member said 'yes'," Roger Herbert told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"Now she is absolutely shattered that she said that, and I'm really concerned about her wellbeing."
Last month a Western Australian mother was criticised for painting her white son's skin black in tribute to his idol, Australian Rules player Nic Naitanui.
Mr Naitanui, who is of Fijian heritage, said on Twitter that he did not believe there was any intentional offence but said the boy's mother should "reflect and choose an alternate method next time". |
HARLEM — A group of former inmates are using fresh vegetables to stay out of jail.
Every Saturday from July to November, young men who have been in and out of the criminal justice system run a fresh produce stand at Grassroots Famer’s Market on 145th Street and Edgecombe Avenue.
“Overall, the program is great,” said Alex Rosario, 30, the manager of Fortune Fresh stand. “Being out here working definitely keeps you out of trouble.”
The stand is run by Fortune Society — a nonprofit that offers education and career services to ex-inmates — and receives funding from Capital One bank.
When it started in 2012, the program had two participants and was open for six weeks. This year they have seven workers and will be open for five months, said Kristen Pederson, manager of Food Services and Nutrition for Fortune.
Rosario used to walk up and down the stands of Yankee Stadium selling hot dogs, Cracker Jack and nachos. His experience in customer service is why Pederson picked him to manage the stand.
Throughout the day Rosario talks with customers in both English and Spanish about the produce they are selling and where it came from. The stand has only been open for a month but he has already developed a good relationship with some of the regulars.
“They don’t get a lot of fresh food around here,” he said.
The rest of the staff comes from Fortune’s pre-GED class — which is now the pre-High School Equivalency class. Only the students with the best attendance records are considered to work in the stand. Those that qualify go through an interview process and then receive customer service training from Capital One, Pederson said.
The entire staff, including Rosario, have been in trouble with the law. Some of them were referred to the program by their probation officers, Pederson added.
The seven staffers are paid $10 an hour. Some, like Prince Crusoe, are saving that money to continue their education.
If Crusoe, 20, passes the High School Equivalency test next month, he plans to enroll in an auto mechanic working program and Co-op Tech.
“I like working on Mustangs, Corvettes, Range Rovers,” he said. “I don’t like working on a Prius.”
He started a similar program about a year ago but had to put it on hold when he was incarcerated, he said. Like Rosario, Crusoe said working at the stand and staying active is a good way to avoid trouble. It’s something that is a lot easier said than done.
“You see a lot of people get stagnant,” Rosario said. |
This report breaks down the Islamic State’s media activities through a two-fold approach. First, it examines a small number of declassified documents captured from the group’s predecessors to provide a baseline understanding its present-day media structure and operations. Second, through an examination of over 9,000 Islamic State official media products, this report offers detailed insight into what the group is saying and what a study of its propaganda can tell us about its strengths, weaknesses, and struggles. A number of findings emerge from these analyses. First, the Islamic State’s media network is adaptive and complex. Second, the group publishes products on a variety of themes, only one of which has to do with the violence for which the group is so well-known. Third, the frequency of the group’s products has declined significantly since its highpoint in the summer of 2015. Fourth, the Islamic State’s provincial media bureaus are not all equal in terms of their production content. Finally, although advances have been made in limiting the group’s media activities, there is still more than can be done to limit the group’s outreach efforts. |
For a list of post World War Two "economic miracles", see Economic miracle . For the German band, see Wirtschaftswunder (band)
The Volkswagen Beetle was an icon of post-war West German reconstruction. The pictured example was a one-off version manufactured to celebrate the production of a million cars of the type.
The term Wirtschaftswunder ( German: [ˈvɪʁtʃaftsˌvʊndɐ] (), "economic miracle"), also known as the Miracle on the Rhine, describes the rapid reconstruction and development of the economies of West Germany and Austria after World War II (adopting an ordoliberalism-based social market economy). The expression referring to this phenomenon was first used by The Times in 1950.[1]
Beginning with the replacement of the Reichsmark with the Deutsche Mark in 1948 as legal tender (the Schilling was similarly re-established in Austria), a lasting period of low inflation and rapid industrial growth was overseen by the government led by West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and his Minister of Economics, Ludwig Erhard, who went down in history as the "father of the German economic miracle." In Austria, efficient labor practices led to a similar period of economic growth.
The era of economic growth raised West Germany and Austria from total wartime devastation to developed nations in modern Europe. At the founding of the European Common Market in 1957 West Germany's economic growth stood in contrast to the struggling conditions at the time in the United Kingdom.
West Germany [ edit ]
German refugees from the east in Berlin in 1945
The fundamental reason for the quick economic recovery of West Germany can be found in the ordoliberal growth model. West Germany had a skilled workforce and a high technological level in 1946, but its capital stock had largely been destroyed during and after the war. This small capital stock was compounded by the difficulty in converting the German economy to the production of civilian goods, as well as rampant monetary and regulatory problems, leading to an unusually low economic output during the first post-war years.
These initial problems were overcome by the time of the currency reform of 1948, which replaced the Reichsmark with the Deutsche Mark as legal tender, halting rampant inflation. This act to strengthen the West German economy had been explicitly forbidden during the two years that JCS 1067 was in effect. JCS 1067 had directed the U.S. forces of occupation in West Germany to "take no steps looking toward the economic rehabilitation of Germany".
At the same time, the government, following Erhard's advice, cut taxes sharply on moderate incomes. Walter Heller, a young economist with the U.S. occupation forces who was later to become chairman of President Kennedy's Council of Economic Advisers, wrote in 1949 that to "remove the repressive effect of extremely high rates, Military Government Law No. 64 cut a wide swath across the German tax system at the time of the currency reform." Individual income tax rates, in particular, fell dramatically. Previously the tax rate on any income over 6,000 Deutschmark had been 95 percent. After tax reform, this 95 percent rate applied only to annual incomes above 250,000 Deutschmark. For the West German with an annual income of about 2,400 Deutschmark in 1950, the marginal tax rate fell from 85 percent to 18 percent.
War damage in a German city in Saxony in 1945
The Allied dismantling of the West German coal and steel industries decided at the Potsdam Conference was virtually completed by 1950; equipment had then been removed from 706 manufacturing plants in the west and steel production capacity had been reduced by 6,700,000 tons.[2] Although the industrially important Saarland with its rich coal fields was returned to West Germany in 1957, it remained economically integrated in a customs union with France until 1959 and France extracted coal from the area until 1981.[3]
West Germany proceeded quickly after 1948 to rebuild its capital stock and thus to increase its economic output at stunning rates. The very high capital investment rate thanks to low consumption and a very small need for replacement capital investments (due to the still small capital stock) drove this recovery during the 1950s. Living standards also rose steadily,[4] with the purchasing power of wages increasing by 73% from 1950 to 1960. As noted by the British journalist Terence Prittie in the early Sixties:
Today the German working-man leads a comfortable life and wears a well-filled waistcoat. He eats well, and his food – although German cooking lacks the elegance of French – is wholesome and appetizing. He buys good clothes, and he dresses his wife and children well. He generally has money to spare for television sets, week-end excursions and football matches. And he is not afraid of celebrating occasionally on a grander scale.[5]
Productivity growth in West Germany enabled most workers to obtain significant improvements in their living standards and 'security of life.' In addition, as noted by David Eversley,
As real incomes rose, so public authorities were enabled (and indeed encouraged) to raise funds, both from taxation and through borrowing, to accelerate the rate of investment and current spending in projects which are partly immediately productive, partly conducive to the creation of the good life, as seen in Germany ... Any superficial examination of the German townscape, let alone perusal of the statistics, shows that Germany has spent sums on hospitals, libraries, theatres, schools, parks, railway-stations, socially-aided housing, underground railways, airports, museums, and so on which are simply not to be compared with British efforts in this direction.[6]
Reparations [ edit ]
In addition to the physical barriers that had to be overcome for the West German economic recovery, there were also intellectual challenges. The Allies confiscated intellectual property of great value, all German patents, both in Germany and abroad, and used them to strengthen their own industrial competitiveness by licensing them to Allied companies.[7]
Immediately after the German surrender and for the next two years, the U.S. pursued a vigorous program to harvest all technological and scientific know-how as well as all patents in Germany. John Gimbel's book "Science Technology and Reparations: Exploitation and Plunder in Postwar Germany" concludes the "intellectual reparations" taken by the U.S. and the UK amounted to close to $10 billion.[8][9][10]
During the more than two years this policy was in place, new industrial research in Germany was hampered because it was unprotected and freely available to overseas competitors, encouraged by occupation authorities to access all records and facilities.
Marshall Plan [ edit ]
Builders in West Berlin working on a project funded with Marshall Aid, 1952
Meanwhile, thousands of the best German researchers and engineers were working in the Soviet Union and in the U.S. See Operation Osoaviakhim, Operation Paperclip.
The Marshall Plan was only extended to Western Germany after it was realized the suppression of its economy was holding back the recovery of other European countries and was not the main force behind the Wirtschaftswunder.[11][12] Had that been the case, other countries such as the United Kingdom, which received much greater economic assistance than West Germany, should have experienced the same phenomenon. However, often overlooked is the effect of the "unofficial contributions" of 150,000 U.S. occupation troops, earning as much as 4 Deutschmark to the dollar. These marks were spent within West Germany to buy food, luxury items, beer and cars, as well as entertaining the locals and for prostitutes.[13] During exercises such numbers of soldiers would swell to over 250,000. Nonetheless, the amount of monetary aid, which was mainly in the form of loans, about $1.4 billion, was greatly overshadowed by the amount the Germans had to pay back as war reparations and by the charges the Allies made on the Germans for the ongoing cost of the occupation, about $2.4 billion per year. In 1953 it was decided that Germany would repay $1.1 billion of the aid it had received. The last repayment was made in June 1971.[12]
The demands of the Korean War in 1950–53 led to a global shortage of goods that helped overcome lingering resistance to the purchase of West German products. At the time West Germany had a large pool of skilled labour, partly as a result of the deportations and migrations which affected up to 16.5 million Germans. This helped West Germany to more than double the value of its exports during and shortly after the war. Apart from these factors, hard work and long hours at full capacity among the population in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s and extra labour supplied by thousands of Gastarbeiter ("guest workers", since the late 1950s) provided a vital base for the sustainment of the economic upturn with additional workforce.
From the late 1950s onwards, West Germany had one of the world's strongest economies. The East German economy also showed strong growth, but not as much as in West Germany, due to the bureaucratic system, emigration of working-age East Germans to West Germany and continued reparations to the USSR in terms of resources. Unemployment hit a record low of 0.7–0.8% in 1961–1966 and 1970–1971.
Ludwig Erhard, who served as Minister of the Economy in Chancellor Adenauer's cabinet from 1949 until 1963 and would later rise to Chancellor himself, is often associated with the West German Wirtschaftswunder.
Austria [ edit ]
Moserboden reservoir, Kaprun, 1968
Austria was also included in the Marshall Plan and can thus be included in any consideration of the Wirtschaftswunder. Through the nationalisation of key industries (VOEST, AMAG, Steyr-Puch) and yet more long working hours,[clarification needed] full economic capacity was reached. Using West Germany as a guide, the currency was stabilised when the Schilling was reintroduced in place of the Reichsmark. This economic policy was known in journalistic circles as the Raab-Kamitz-Kurs, named after Julius Raab, Austrian chancellor from 1953, and his Finance Minister Reinhard Kamitz similar to the West German Adenauer-Erhard-Kurs.
By state major projects such as the Kaprun hydroelectric plant or the West Autobahn, unemployment fell and social peace was ensured. In the 1950s the first Gastarbeiter from Southern Italy and Greece arrived in the country, as more manual labour was required to maintain the economic upswing.
See also [ edit ] |
It seems like a dream job, doesn’t it? Golf equipment tech reps spend hours on the driving ranges of some of the most prestigious courses. They have access to all the new gear from a golf equipment company and get to talk golf with like-minded individuals.
Let me tell you, it’s a ton of fun, but just like any “job” it does have its challenges. Here’s an inside look into what it’s really like to work as a summer tech rep for a golf equipment company.
The Travel
The commute can be one of the most challenging parts of any job, but traveling to golf courses really isn’t that bad. Most demo days are in the afternoon or around the lunch hour, so traffic in most cities is pretty light. Also, the majority of courses are located around the outskirts of the downtown cores just off arterial roads. The trick is avoiding the evening rush hour, but that’s easy when you have your clubs and an endless bucket of premium golf balls.
The most difficult task actually is trying to get everything to fit into your car. Full-time reps have the luxury of either a company van or have made the decision to own a large vehicle. Tech reps, on the other hand, are not always so well prepared. I, for example, own a (humble brag) 2009 Toyota Matrix. It’s not a large car by any stretch of the imagination, but on the plus side it is a hatchback. A few other guys have small to mid-sized sedans. In another life, we must have all been very good Tetris players, because we somehow always get everything to fit (including the pop-up canopy tents). Speaking to the camaraderie, I’ve seen reps help each other out by taking an extra staff bag or two to the next event if for some reason it won’t fit in a rep’s car.
The Other Reps
Since we spend so much time together during the busy summer demo-day months, we’re more of a band of brothers than rival tribesman. When working with customers, it’s all business, but during off times we hit each other’s gear and trade golf balls and war stories. We even play golf together after demo days wrap up.
When it comes to finding the right piece of equipment, someone is either going to end up with our gear or move on down the line. We always do our best to make sure every golfer that comes out is giving our gear a fair shake and tries what’s right for them, but we all know people have brand biases, too. The one thing we all abide by is the unspoken etiquette of the range, which includes never interrupting another rep during a conversation with a golfer. We’re also never “that guy” who walks all the way to the other side of the range to push a product onto someone at another booth. We’re not new to the golf industry, and we’re all in it together. Our job is ultimately to fit and sell clubs, but at the end of the day, regardless of what equipment the golfer decides to purchase, it’s more important to represent your company the right way and make sure every golfer has a positive experience.
The Food
Each course we visit treats us amazing, from the head professionals all the way to the back-shop and range teams. Plus, since they want us to be good guests and stay with their members on the range, lunch is provided and delivered.
I’ve made the joke many times now that, by the end of the summer, I will be able to rank every sausage, hamburger, and chicken-caesar wrap from every private club in and around the Greater Toronto Area. So far, they’ve all received top marks.
The Fitting Experience
One of the best things about being on the range with golfers at their own club is that they’re comfortable in their surroundings and familiar with course conditions. This, to me, is one of the best ways to fit a golfer, especially one that plays a majority of their golf at their club.
Fittings move very quickly when a golfer can see ball flight and make an apple-to-apples comparison with their own clubs on their own range with an outdoor launch monitor. The benefits of new equipment are quick to spot and problems are easy to correct.
The Golfers
From scratch club champs to weekend warriors, we fit them all. The better golfers are easier to fit them since their swings are more repeatable. Most better players are also able to more accurately describe what they are “feeling” swing after swing.
The one thing that still shocks me is the lack of understanding golfers have on simple fitting principles. Many are stuck in the past with what they know about technology. So many golfers also have misconceptions about what leads to gains in distance, accuracy and consistency. It’s part of our job to help make things simple to understand, and something we take pride in. Here are the top-5 misconceptions I hear from golfers on demo days:
Hitting it higher with a driver causes distance loss. Graphite shafts are only meant for the slowest swingers. Forged irons are only for highly skilled players. “I don’t need to get fit. Just give me off-the-rack clubs.” All “stiff” shafts and all “regular” shafts are the same.
The other difficulty lies in the outliers: the guys who are 6-feet, 6-inches tall and have club head speeds in excess of 120 mph with hands the size of bear paws. These are tough fits since most carts don’t have mid-sized grips. And as far as aftermarket shaft options go, it’s really hard to carry more than what’s already offered by golf equipment manufacturers. The great thing about the Mizuno fitting cart, particularly the company’s iron shafts, is that there aren’t many people I can’t fit given the wide amount of options.
The Weather
This is the one thing that is beyond our control. I’ve experienced days where it’s blowing 30 mph directly into golfers on the range and that’s a tough place to be. Not only that, but be prepared for at least one face full of dirt and sand along the way. No lie, on an extremely gusty day, I once saw a rep get thrown 8 feet into the air trying to save his tent. Thankfully, he walked away unscathed, but I can’t say the same for the tent (he crushed it when he landed inside of it, upside down).
And rain… even the thought or possibility of it scares people away, which can lead to pretty slow days on the range. We all know how much it sucks to have to dry out your entire golf bag after a soggy round. Imagine doing that with 5-6 golf bags after a few extra hours in the rain.
Golfers, don’t let the sun get away with anything, either. One of the first lessons as a tech rep is to load up on sunscreen or risk a very bad sunburn. If you think a golfer’s tan is bad, a rep tan can be even worse.
—
To all the golfers headed to the demo day, make sure to stop by and say hello to us tech reps. Don’t be nervous or embarrassed to make a swing in front of us; we hold no judgement. And please, ask as many questions as you’d like. We’ve heard them all, and want you to learn and enjoy trying out some new gear. You might just be surprised what ends up working for you, and you may even have a great conversation with one of unsung road warriors of the industry. |
Vegansaurus is a vegan lifestyle guide. It is definitive/arbitrary. Want more info? TOO BAD! JK, click on " About Us " and be whisked away to a magical wonderland/our "About Us" page.
07/28/2018
Vegan Fish and Chips with Nature’s Charm Banana Blossom! » Hi friends! Long time no see. Moving along, Nature’s Charm sent me some free cans of their Banana Blossom (you can buy on Amazon usually but seems to be out at the moment…), Young Green Jackfruit, Jackfruit Confit, and Sriracha Green Jackfruit. The confit and sriracha jackfruit are delish and ready to go right outta the can. But for the banana blossom, I had big plans in mind! That’s the can. And Dolores. So this is the first I heard of banana blossom. But it’s typically used in South Asian and Southeast Asian Cuisine. Here’s a little more info on the background and health benefits, and if you want to see the plant pre-can, Vegan Miam did a great post of that. I searched around for a banana blossom fish and chips recipe but really couldn’t find that many…and then like a week later! Carrots and Flowers did this perfect recipe in conjunction with Nature’s Charm. So I’ll tell you the hodgepodge recipes I used but you should probably just use theirs because it’s basically the same, just all in one place. First I rinsed the banana blossoms. They look and feel kind of like a mix between artichoke hearts and jackfruit. And as far as I can tell, they don’t taste that much different than jackfruit–which basically means it has a very subtle flavor. It’s really all about the sauce. So next, I marinated it in seaweed flakes, lemon, and dill, using this recipe. After that, I made a beer batter using my girl Martha Stewart’s recipe, which is already vegan provided you have a vegan beer. Then you dip your marinated banana blossom in the batter, and fry it up in a pot of oil (you can follow Martha’s instructions–when I fry, since it’s not meat or anything, I just wait ‘til the oil is hot and test by putting a drop of batter in and seeing if it fizzles, that means you’re good to fry). There’s the fried bad bs. After I fried these, I cut up some potatoes and made the “chips” (lol). Um does anyone not know how to make fries? You just cut up potatoes…and fry them. I also made a vegan tartar sauce–I know, this has a lot of steps, but each step is actually p easy. Like I veganized Martha’s tartar sauce (sans hot sauce bc nancy) and it’s just mixing some stuff into vegan mayo. Super simple. But again, Carrots and Flowers has basically the same tartar sauce recipe in theirs so you can just follow that. Now, the last step, I ATE THEM!!!! Well, I garnished with parsley and lemon and took 1000 pics…but then I ATE THEM!!!!! My verdict: totally delicious! I mean it’s not the exact same texture as fish bc not like…tough or whatever meat is, but it was delish. Do recommend.
∞ posted at 06:16 by youtalkfunny
04/17/2018
SF: There’s a Party in Our Plants this Earth Day! » Hey Bay Area! What are you doing for the most important holiday of the year? No, not my birthday, silly! I mean Earth Day! Why not head on over to Cole Valley and try this beautiful vegan burger at Earthie’s Drive Thru’s “There’s a Party in Our Plants” popup! Info: On April 22nd, we’re introducing San Francisco to the best burger on Earth, made out of one simple ingredient: plants. But don’t let that word fool you – this isn’t your typical veggie burger. We’ve created something so satisfying, you’ll have a hard time believing it’s better for you and for the planet. Plus, we’re planting a tree for every burger we make.
Sunday, April 22nd, 2018, 5pm-8pm
205 Frederick Street, SF 94117
You can order fries and homemade sodas with your burger too. There won’t be tickets or anything but I’m told they’ll likely sell out so try to get there early! If you sign up on their site, you’ll get an email with a $1 off coupon. HUZZAH!
∞ posted at 12:44 by youtalkfunny
03/06/2018
Plant-Based Power Boost: Quantum Energy Squares Giveaway! » Quantum Energy Squares sent me a box of their vegan, caffeinated energy bars to try. They come in two flavors: dark chocolate cherry with almonds and caffe mocca macchiato with pecans. And not only are these bbs vegan, they’re gluten-free and soy-free as well (I know some of our pals have those allergies!). The company also donates 1% of profit to charity. BONUS! What’s interesting about the bars is that they promise sustained energy: “Our powerful blend of natural caffeine (equal to a cup of coffee), plus the ideal blend of plant-based protein, energy-enhancing fats and fiber-rich carbs slow the absorption of the caffeine, delivering a longer and more balanced energy.” In fact, each bar has as much protein as a whole egg (without the chicken torture yay!).
When Quantum wrote me about their new bars, I jumped on the chance to try them because my super-athletic soccer-obsessed brother is ALWAYS on the lookout for caffeinated snacks to have before practice. So I gave him a bunch of the bars and asked for his review: “Good. Shaved 30 seconds to a minute off my mile time.” Lulz, such a effing sports dweeb! The bars are granola bar-y but more chewy than that. And like I said, they have the two flavors, but both my brother and I preferred the mocca macchiato one–it’s yummy! So, that’s what we’re giving away today. Ok, GIVEAWAY TIME! We’re giving away a box (9 bars total!) of the caffe mocca macchiato bars to THREE winners!* To enter, follow Quantum Energy Squares on Instagram AND leave a comment on this post (on vegansaurus.com, not ig or facebook) saying what you would do with the extra boost of energy. We’ll pick three winners one week from today! *US residents only, sorry other pals.
∞ posted at 11:28 by youtalkfunny
02/14/2018
Brave GentleMan and Gristle Tattoo founders join forces to make a game-changing new vegan cheese brand! » If you follow the Discerning Brute on instagram, you may have seen his exciting announcement: a new vegan cheese company is ~fermenting~ in Brooklyn (I’m lol re: fermenting 😂 ). It’s called RIND, and it’s a joint effort between Joshua Katcher, the Discerning Brute himself and founder of Brave GentleMan, and Dina DiCenso, founder of the one and only Gristle Tattoo. As a vegan cheese devotee, I immediately emailed Joshua and bombarded him with a zillion questions (I’m as curious as I am demanding ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ) and he was kind enough to answer. Here’s the dirt!: Megan Rascal: What is the significance of the primodial process? Like, what difference does that make? Idk what it is 😊 Joshua Katcher: Without giving away our trade-secrets, the “primordial process” is that we allow the microorganisms to create the rind and flavors over time, rather than trying to “flavor” something to taste like cheese using seasoning, these processes are very similar to how traditional European-style cheeses are made. MR: I’m getting that there will be a legit rind like dairy cheeses have, then will it be creamy inside?
JK: Yes! You’re correct.
MR: Is the cheese nut-based, soy-based or?
JK: There are both nuts and soy in it. MR: I see the dark coloring on the rind in the pics, what’s that from?
JK: That is the formation of the natural rind. It grows on the cheese over time, releasing all sorts of luscious flavors. MR: Is it mostly for cheese platters and eating straight or do you imagine it’ll be used for cooking and baking as well?
JK: I’d say that this is a cheese to appreciate on its own, or with good bread and fresh fruit - it’s the kind of cheese you’ll want to eat with a glass a wine, or alone with a fork (haha, kidding, but really, you can do that). But if someone wants to cook with it, go for it! There’s plenty of vegan cheese on the market intended for toppings and cooking, and that’s just not RIND.
MR: Which dairy cheese varieties are your cheeses reminiscent of?
JK: We’ve come up with a proprietary blend in order to appeal to anyone who traditionally would love brie, camembert, bleu and other mold-rind cheeses. MR: WHEN WILL IT BE AVAILABLE?!?!?!
JK: We are working towards a b2b operation, so you’ll get to have it at some fine NYC restaurants this year. MR: You’re accepting investors, how could a potential backer get involved?
JK: We want investors who have experience in the innovative-food space. We’re hoping to get an operation going to scale production in Brooklyn. Email us at saycheese@rind.nyc to set up an appointment to talk to us. * * * There you have it. I guess I’ll have to wait for a bit to try RIND. idk if you guys know this but I’m TERRIBLY IMPATIENT when it comes to vegan cheese. I will try to hold on though. 1 like = 1 prayer I make it.
∞ posted at 14:24 by youtalkfunny
01/30/2018
∞ posted at 11:54 by youtalkfunny
01/09/2018
An Interview With the Fat Gay Vegan and Enter to Win His Phenomenal New Book! Hooray! » Hello! I’m assuming you’re all here to win Sean O’Callaghan’s EXCELLENT, HILARIOUS, INFORMATIVE, WONDERFUL, PERFECT new book, “Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink, and Live Like You Give a Sh!t,” right!? Well, it’s easy! TO ENTER: Just go to THIS INSTAGRAM POST and make any sort of comment you want, I don’t care. Tell me your favorite color or just write “fart.” Your odds of winning are the same and it doesn’t matter to me. Hooray for you! ENTER TODAY! (I’ll pick the three winners in a few days and update this post so you don’t try to enter and I’m all, “TOO BAD SO SAD NO BOOK FOR YOU!” NOW ONTO THE INTERVIEW!!!! First, should start by saying I love Sean and his partner Josh very much. They’re two shining lights on this shit planet and we’re all lucky they’re around tearing it up and showing everyone what’s what. Sean’s book is truly very wonderful and if you don’t win, you would still be wise to buy a bunch of copies and give them out to friends, lovers, neighbors, family, pets, attractive people, unattractive people, dogs, cats, seals, and also everyone else. OK ON WITH THE SHOW FOR REAL! Your book is hilarious! How do you find the humor in truly shitty things, like animals (including humans!) being treated like crap just so people can eat gross ol’ meat, dairy, and eggs?
This is already my favorite interview due to you opening with a compliment. Thank you. Humor is a great coping mechanism for dealing with hardship and unpleasantness, and there is no denying that industrialized farming and exploitation of non-human animals is incredibly unpleasant. Finding humor in horror is a way for us to not feel completely swamped and overwhelmed by what would otherwise hurt our hearts and minds too much. We laugh so we don’t cry, often. I find my irreverent approach to championing the vegan message makes me approachable to readers. Fat Gay Vegan would be a great Sesame Street character. Education about compassion with a goofy, sassy kindness and overeating. What’s your best advice for people who are freaked out about where meat/dairy/eggs come from but are scared to take the step into veganism? To take the vegan fork in the road, we need to ensure we have the correct map and coordinates. Arm yourself with all the facts, bookmark your favorite recipe blogs, and surround yourself with like-minded people so you don’t feel alone. The strength of community comes into its own when helping you break free from the habit of relying on animals for food, clothing and entertainment. Seeing how other kind people navigate vegan living is a fabulous form of inspiration and can be the kick in the trousers you need to take the leap. Why is intersectionality so important to you?
First of all, I am unlikely to use the term intersectionality to describe my work as a vegan campaigner as I know the term was coined by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw to describe the crossover oppressions specific to black women. Apologies for getting a little too learned, but something powerful I’ve taken on is how harmful it can be to appropriate terms and concepts designed for realities different from my own. You know what I mean? Intersectionality just doesn’t feel right for me to use as I see fit as a white man from Australia. [Ed.: My apologies for the sloppily worded question and the reminder to be more specific and correct in my language! Learning is fun and necessary!] But to get back on track and to what I think you are asking, it is important to me to fight to redress multiple oppressions affecting our communities and not just sit at home Instagramming my latest box of vegan donuts. When we understand that the forces of capitalism, colonialism, toxic masculinity and white supremacy are powering lots of fucked up shit in our world (racism, misogyny, homophobia, ableism, body shaming, industrialized oppression of non-human animals, wealth disparity, farmworker exploitation, etc) we can start to understand that we need to tackle the root cause of multiple oppressions if we have any hope of enacting meaningful change. If you are still with me, I’d like to also tell you that being vegan is not enough. If we don’t fight the oppressive forces that make all this shit happen in the first place, it will just keep springing up. So eat your vegan donuts, but make sure vegan donut companies are paying fair wages, are not employing sexist and racist advertising tricks, and are concerned with the safety of farmworkers growing the donuts. Yes, I have a fantasy of vegan donuts growing on trees. And please don’t just take my fat, white man word for it. Some smart and clever people you should pay attention (and money) to include Dr Breeze Harper [Ed.: Heranthology, “Sistah Vegan: Black Female Vegans Speak on Food, Identity, Health, and Society,” is indispensable!] and lauren Ornelas [Ed.: Food Empowerment Project is AMAZING!]. They know much more than I do and should both be cited in any discussion about fighting multiple oppressions within a vegan framework. You are essentially a professional vegan – what advice would you give other people who are looking to turn their passion for veganism into a FT job?
My number one piece of advice is to couple your love of veganism with another passion. I have always wanted to be a writer since I was small child writing poems to my local newspaper. I once won a calculator ruler for a poem called ‘Friends’ in which I recounted my sadness at being abandoned by my friends. I was a barrel of laughs as a kid, obviously. If you are good at something and have a drive to do it (like me with writing), it makes it so much more fun to turn it into your livelihood. You might not be a writer but perhaps you are a teacher, an artist, a community organiser, or an event planner. There are so many meaningful ways to work veganism into your other life passions. You list a bunch of cities that are very vegan friendly in your travel section, but I want specifics? What are your top 5 favorite vegan restaurants in the world?
Vedge in Philadelphia is the best vegan restaurant on the planet. If you can afford to eat with them, you won’t get finer food. Wulf and Lamb in London is a beautiful place to dine and it helps that they do the best vegan mac n cheese in the UK. Temple of Seitan in London is more of a fast food joint but I couldn’t leave their world-altering vegan fried chicken off my list. How many have I got left? Two? OK. Get into Napfényes Étterem in Budapest. It will change your life for the better with glorious goulash and decadent pastries. My final pick is a bit of a cheat as it is a chain. I really think that Veggie Grill has done a lot of good in the world by serving up consistently tasty comfort food to the masses across the USA. And more about food because I’m also fat and I love it! What are your top 5 favorite vegan dishes?
I’m all about potato and black bean taquitos served with salsa verde. My go-to snack for when I’m Netflixing (with a borrowed account because I’m too cheap to buy my own) is a bowl of fresh popcorn dusted with chipotle powder, nutritional yeast and pink salt. The fried vegan chicken two-piece from Temple of Seitan is going to be served at either my wedding or funeral, whichever comes first. I adore an old-fashioned English fry up (or hot breakfast) featuring sausages, baked beans, toast, rashers, and scramble. I’m not famous for eating raw food but I do love vegan ceviche featuring mushrooms 'cooked’ in lime juice. My beloved friend Julio taught me how to make it, so it arouses an emotional response as well as a greed response. How much do you love Vegansaurus and can we do a vegan cruise with you? Before I was a z-grade vegan blogger, Vegansaurus was one of my inspirations and made me feel that I could do this whole 'being a sassy vegan online’ thing. So thanks for letting me steal all your ideas and thematic approach to life. If I had my way, Fat Gay Vegan and Vegansaurus would ALWAYS be on a vegan cruise together with an unlimited supply of donuts and reality TV cameras trained on us to catch our every witticism. Come at me, bro.[Ed.: OK, WHO WANTS TO GIVE US A SHOW? Let’s go, Hollywood! You heard the Fat Gay Vegan!]
∞ posted at 07:58 by laurahooperb
01/02/2018
∞ posted at 11:44 by youtalkfunny
01/01/2018
Vegansaurus Talks Clean Meat with Author Paul Shapiro! » If you haven’t heard of clean meat, now’s the time to stop living under a rock and start reading up on the topic on a lot of vegans’ minds these days. If you have heard of clean meat, now’s also the time to learn more about this breakthrough that could start CLOSING SLAUGHTERHOUSES DOORS FOR GOOD. Which is the goal, OK? Because, seriously, those places gotta go.
We were lucky enough to sit down with author and animal advocate Paul Shapiro (yes, the famed Paul Shapiro of Animal News You Can Use!) to break it all down. Paul’s new book Clean Meat: How Growing Meat without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World, comes out January 2 on Simon & Schuster’s Gallery Books, WHICH IS TOMORROW! Go get it! Paul, congrats on writing the book on clean meat!
PS: Thanks! I guess it’s true I’ve written the book on it, since I’ve written the only book on it! Not the highest bar, admittedly, but there are others working on books on the topic too, and I can’t wait to read theirs. Ha, fair enough. But yours is still the best-selling one out right now…
Good point! So for the totally ignorant, I mean, for the less familiar, can you tell us just what this clean meat is?
We’re talking here about real meat, just grown outside animals. Not an alternative to meat, like Gardein or Tofurky, both of which I love. But real, actual animal meat, grown from animal cells as opposed to animal slaughter. Yes, it may sound like science fiction, but it’s now science fact. The book chronicles the pioneering startups and their investors racing to commercialize these animal-free animal products and the potential such commercialization has to address many of the most pressing sustainability concerns we face.
It’s called clean meat because, like clean energy, it’s so much cleaner for the planet. But it’s also just literally cleaner. What do you mean the meat is literally cleaner?
Well, right now meat from animals is typically riddled with feces: E Coli, Campylobacter, Salmonella, all of which are intestinal pathogens. That’s why you have to cook the crap out of raw meat—literally—to prevent it from sickening you. But when growing clean meat, you don’t grow intestines; you just grow muscle, meaning it’s much cleaner and safer from a food safety perspective. Cook the crap out of meat—literally. OMG. I get it: it’s cleaner. But it’s still animal meat. Should vegans eat this?
Well, clean meat’s not commercially available just yet, but that will change within a matter of years, not decades. And in many ways it doesn’t really matter if vegans eat it. The goal is for clean meat to displace factory farmed meat, not to displace plant-based foods, of course. It’s an alternative for people who feel like they’re wedded to eating real meat. Why can’t those people just eat plant-based meats?
I hope they will and expect the plant-based protein sector to explode in the way the plant-based milk sector has exploded in recent years. But even with the popularity of plant-based milks, 90-percent of fluid milk sold in the US is still coming from cows. In the case of meat, more than 99 percent meat sold
in the US still comes from animals. (Plant-based meats are less than 1 percent of meal sales.) To the extent that many people want actual animal meat, clean meat is a way to provide it while causing much less cruelty, fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and with fewer resources.
That all sounds great, but will people actually eat clean meat?
Well, look at the meat people eat now. It comes from animals who were raised in the most unnatural and inhumane conditions imaginable. Sure, there may be some people who’ll say they refuse to eat meat unless an animal was slaughtered for it, but I suspect a lot of people will be quite glad to be
able to enjoy real meat with so many fewer downsides. And consumer surveys suggest that quite a lot of Americans would be happy to eat clean meat, too.
But will clean meat have the same unhealthy aspects of meat, like increased heart disease risk?
The nutritional quality of clean meat will likely be the same as conventional meat, but again, with food safety improvements. Theoretically that could be improved upon, but it’s likely that at least at first, it will just be nutritionally equivalent. All that said, I’m friends with a lot of vegans on social media, and
my feed is generally populated by celebratory messages about the latest vegan donuts, pizzas, ice creams, and other foods that are delicious but certainly unhealthy, so I don’t know what percentage of vegans are so concerned about health that they don’t occasionally eat unhealthy foods. Still, the goal
isn’t for vegans to eat clean meat, but vegans concerned about animals and the planet certainly should be enthused about the prospect of commercially viable clean meat so that many who do eat clean meat can switch.
GOT IT. So where can people learn more about the book?
PS: Check out www.CleanMeat.com, get the book, and tell me what you think about it!
You heard Paul Shapiro! Now leave our site and go buy the book! (Don’t worry, you can come right back afterwards!)
∞ posted at 07:11 by laurahooperb
12/23/2017
∞ posted at 08:19 by laurahooperb
12/15/2017
∞ posted at 14:18 by youtalkfunny |
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption 'Sir Wiggo' amused by knighthood
Bradley Wiggins, who won the Tour de France and an Olympic gold, has been knighted in a New Year Honours list dominated by London 2012 medallists.
The cyclist appears on a special list drawn up to recognise 78 Games heroes.
Paralympic cyclist Sarah Storey becomes a dame after taking four golds while the most decorated sailor in Olympic history, Ben Ainslie, is knighted.
Katherine Grainger, Victoria Pendleton, Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah and David Weir become CBEs, and Andy Murray is an OBE.
And the men behind cycling and rowing success, performance directors Dave Brailsford and David Tanner, also become sirs.
Olympics and Paralympics Knight/Dame: Ben Ainslie (sailing)
Sarah Storey (cycling)
Bradley Wiggins (cycling)
Dave Brailsford (cycling)
David Tanner (rowing) CBE: Jessica Ennis (athletics)
Mo Farah (athletics)
Katherine Grainger (rowing)
Victoria Pendleton (cycling)
David Weir (athletics) OBE: Jason Kenny (cycling)
Andy Murray (tennis)
Ellie Simmonds (swimming)
Laura Trott (cycling) MBE: Nicola Adams (boxing)
Alistair Brownlee (triathlon)
Jonny Peacock (athletics)
Greg Rutherford (athletics)
Louis Smith (gymnastics) Wiggins knighted in honours list New Year Honours for Games stars
Away from the Games, there are OBEs for actor Ewan McGregor and fashion designer Stella McCartney, while illustrator Quentin Blake was also knighted on the main list for those not involved in London 2012.
There is also a knighthood for the industrial designer, Kenneth Grange, the man behind the UK's first parking meter, the InterCity 125 train and the Kodak Instamatic camera.
Singer Kate Bush and artist Tracey Emin are made CBEs, an honour also bestowed on former Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips, for her services to dance and to charity. Comedy writer Jeremy Lloyd, 82, who co-wrote TV shows including the BBC's 'Allo 'Allo and Are You Being Served is among the OBEs.
There is also a CBE for Cherie Blair, the wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, in recognition of her service to women's issues and to charity in the UK and overseas. The first female foreign secretary Margaret Beckett becomes a dame.
For the first time, the Cabinet Office has published citations giving details of why the highest honours have been made following a complaint from MPs on the Public Administration Select Committee that the process should be more transparent.
But much of the attention will centre on the people rewarded for making the two London Games such a success.
Affectionately known as Wiggo, the first British winner of the Tour said: "I never ever imagined that I would ever become a knight so it's an incredible honour.
"But there's a slight element of disbelief and it will take a while to sink in."
Known for his sideburns and his retro Mod fashion sense, Sir Bradley already had a CBE.
Storey, who is expecting her first child, is honoured for services to para-cycling after her London medal haul took her gold medal total to 11, which equals Tanni Grey-Thompson and Dave Roberts as one of the country's most successful Paralympians.
Other notable recipients Companion of Honour: Lord Coe (London 2012)
Professor Peter Higgs (physics, pictured) Knight/Dame: Quentin Blake (illustration)
Kenneth Grange (design)
Bernard Hogan-Howe (policing)
Hector Sants (financial services)
Margaret Beckett (political service) CBE: Cherie Blair (women's issues)
Kate Bush (music)
Tracey Emin (arts)
Martha Lane Fox (digital economy)
Arlene Phillips (dance) OBE: Stella McCartney (fashion)
Ewan McGregor (acting) MBE: Nicola Benedetti (music)
Mark Ramprakash (cricket)
Pat Rice (football)
The 35-year-old from Disley in Cheshire said: "Wow, I am speechless but incredibly honoured and extremely proud."
Some of the biggest names of London 2012 received CBEs - the UK's most successful female rower, Katherine Grainger, the poster girl of the Games, Jessica Ennis, and wheelchair athlete David "The Weirwolf" Weir. Weir won four gold medals in the 5,000m, 1500m, 800m and marathon at the 2012 Paralympics.
Joining their ranks with his first honour is athlete Mo Farah, who lifted the nation with his double gold in the 5,000m and 10,000m.
His first came during a pulsating 46 minutes in the Olympic Stadium on Super Saturday, 4 August, when Team GB picked up three gold medals - Farah in the 10,000m, Ennis in the heptathlon and Greg Rutherford in the long jump, an achievement that earned him an MBE.
Andy Murray was made an OBE in a year which saw him win Olympic gold and become the first British man to win a grand slam singles title for 76 years when he triumphed in the US Open.
Paralympic swimmer Ellie Simmonds, 18, now has an OBE to add to the MBE she won in 2009, the youngest person to do so aged 14.
Some of the people who helped to make the games such a success were recognised, including Lord Coe, who becomes a Companion of Honour, a special honour given for service of conspicuous national importance and limited to 65 people at any one time.
It is an exclusive club and now also includes Professor Peter Higgs, who predicted a new particle, the Higgs Boson, in the 1960s, and this year the particle was proved to exist.
One name missing from the list is film and theatre director Danny Boyle, whose artistic vision was so spectacularly realised in the Olympic opening ceremony.
When asked if he would like to become "Sir Danny" during an interview on Radio 4's Front Row earlier this month, Mr Boyle laughed and said: "I'm very proud to be an equal citizen and I think that's what the opening ceremony was actually about."
Former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said he turned down the offer of a CBE for his services to the Olympics.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Nicola Adams said: "I can't believe how much my life has changed"
He told London radio station LBC 97.3: "I don't believe politicians should get honours", adding that he "was paid very good money to be the mayor of London" and voters' recognition was reward enough for him.
BBC media correspondent Torin Douglas has been appointed an MBE for services to the community in Chiswick, west London.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said an unprecedented number of sportspeople had received honours, with 123 awards compared to 44 in the last list. Of these, 78 were related to the Olympics or Paralympics.
He said there were four criteria in deciding which athletes should be awarded including longevity in the sport, general performance and how much they give back to the sporting community.
The sporting honours committee also assesses what stage the individual is in their career in terms of whether they are likely to be competing for a further number of years.
He added that 72% of the recipients are people who have undertaken outstanding work in their communities either in a voluntary or paid capacity.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Sir Quentin Blake: "To me it's amazing"
They include Penelope Clough, 53, who becomes an MBE after campaigning for a change in the law related to bail, following the murder of her daughter Jane by her ex-partner.
The man committed the offence after being released on bail but following the work of Ms Clough, prosecutors are now able to challenge judges' bail decisions in the High Court.
Recipients of the British Empire Medal (BEM), reintroduced in the 2012 Queen's Birthday Honours, include Robert Clinton for his work with the Veterans Aid charity, which looks after homeless ex-service personnel.
The Foreign Office's diplomatic and overseas list honouring those living or working abroad includes recognition for codebreaker Raymond Roberts, who is made an MBE for services to Bletchley Park. Alison Shalaby, who is the chief executive officer of Reunite, becomes a CBE for services to the prevention and resolution of international parental child abduction.
Some 31 head teachers have been recognised, including Joan McVittie, who transformed two schools in deprived areas of London and Sally Coates, who has overseen huge improvements at Burlington Danes Academy in west London. Both become Dames.
The Honours System Commonly awarded ranks: Knight or Dame
CBE - Commander of the Order of the British Empire
- Commander of the Order of the British Empire OBE - Officer of the Order of the British Empire
- Officer of the Order of the British Empire MBE - Member of the Order of the British Empire
- Member of the Order of the British Empire BEM - British Empire Medal Guide to the honours
In the world of business, former head of the Financial Services Authority Hector Sants who was in charge of regulation at the start of the credit crisis, has been knighted, while Sir Alan Budd, who was on the first Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee in 1997, becomes a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire.
Prof Simon Wessely, a leading researcher into the mental health of military personnel who heads the department of psychological medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, London, has been knighted.
The head of MI5, Jonathan Evans, was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath and Metropolitan Police chief Bernard Hogan-Howe is knighted. |
Android Auto doesn't boast new features all that often, which is part of the reason many people became excited when a roadmap including some of the most requested improvements was announced at last year's Google I/O event. One particular item, Waze integration, had fans of the navigation app ready to sing. However, the months wore on and news about the pairing dried up. That is until today. Members of the Waze Beta Community have been receiving emails asking if they would like to participate in testing out the new capabilities.
As the email shows, beta testers are being asked to apply through an online form. It doesn't mention if there is a limit to the number of testers that will be accepted or when the tests will begin.
The last clue to appear about Waze integration was back in early February when a selector arrow appeared next to the Navigation button. Tapping on it while viewing navigation would open a list containing only Google Maps.
It might be too late to join the Beta Community and get in on the Auto testing – or not, I wouldn't really know – but you can sign up here if you'd like to take part in testing new features before they go to the wider audience of users.
This doesn't give us a timeline for Waze to become an official alternative to Google Maps, but it definitely suggests we'll hear more about it in the coming months. Perhaps it will make an appearance on stage at Google I/O. |
Last month, assiduously antigay Colorado pastor Kevin Swanson managed to corral three Republican candidates to speak at one of his events, which he spent talking ad infinitum about the need to execute gay people, the sin that is birth control, and the perils of liking Harry Potter.
Speaking on his “Generations Radio” program on Monday, Swanson acknowledged that he was “severely mocked” for his commentary, but that Americans must nonetheless repent or God will punish the nation by making Hillary Clinton president (by magically fixing the polls, or something).
Related: Pastor: ‘I would smear feces all over myself if my son married a man’
Clinton, he insists, will then lead “tremendous majorities of American kids” down “the track towards homosexuality.”
The subject arose after Swanson discussed a recent Massachusetts case in which the judge ruled that a Catholic school had violated the state’s nondiscrimination law after yanking a job offer from its food services director because he made his husband an emergency contact.
Related: Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal and Huckabee to speak at a conference whose host wants gays executed
All of this, warns Swanson, is part of the “preparation for the Greek form of education, which, as you know, involves whatever’s going on in gymnasia, very, very ugly stuff.”
The nation, he rigorously declares, is “going in the direction of Harry Potter’s mentor and Hiccup’s mentor in ‘How to Train Your Dragon,’” both of whom he says are gay.
Related: Kevin Swanson: God gave AIDS to gay people to be kind
If America doesn’t react, he wonders:
“Why wouldn’t Hillary Clinton get full rein upon this nation to continue the destructive pattern, destroy the social fabric of the nation — the family, of course — so that of course there will be 75 percent of kids born outside of wedlock to single mothers by the year 2030, so to be sure that tremendous majorities of American kids are taken down the track towards homosexuality, towards the destruction of sexuality with pornography habits, illegitimate divorce, the shack-up rates being 30 times what they were in 1970 and so forth?”
The only solution, he says, is to keep kids out of public schools so they don’t become “polytheists and socialists.
Listen to the speech below:
h/t: Right Wing Watch
This Story Filed Under |
The social impact of fiscal policy responses to crises
Carlos Vegh, Guillermo Vuletin
The question of whether fiscal policy should be pro- or countercyclical has become increasingly relevant during the recession. This column provides causal evidence from South American countries showing the success of countercyclical policy in improving social indicators of economic success, combined with correlative evidence from Europe. This represents a strike against the case for austerity-led growth.
Fiscal policy in many developing countries is typically procyclical. Expansionary in good times and contractionary in bad times, these policies often amplify business cycles. The most convincing explanations for such practices seem to be limited access to international credit markets during bad times and political pressures that tend to encourage too much public spending during boom periods (Calderon and Schmidt-Hebbel 2008). Whatever the reason, the pattern is well documented (see Frankel, Vegh, and Vuletin 2011 on the spending side and Vegh and Vuletin 2013a on the tax side). In particular, contractionary fiscal policy in bad times seems to have increased the severity and duration of crises (Vegh and Vuletin 2013b).
Ironically, the procyclicality of fiscal policy has also become a hotly debated issue in the context of the current crises in Europe, with influential economists such as Olivier Blanchard (IMF Chief Economist) arguing that fiscal multipliers in the Eurozone have been underestimated by the IMF and others and thus that the contractionary effects of fiscal austerity have been considerably higher than typically believed (Blanchard and Leigh 2013).
Counting the social impact
Lost in much of the discussion on fiscal-policy procyclicality has been the social impact of contractionary fiscal policy during recessions – things such as:
the poverty rate,
income inequality,
the unemployment rate, and
domestic conflict.
In a recent research paper we look at how the fiscal-policy responses to GDP crises have affected social indicators such as those listed above (Vegh and Vuletin 2014). We find that contractionary fiscal policy during crises has tended to worsen social indicators both in Latin America and, more recently, in the Eurozone, which calls into question recent claims on ‘expansionary fiscal austerity.’
Crises and fiscal-policy responses in Latin America
For this study, our sample of Latin American countries is comprised what is commonly referred to as LAC-7 (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela) and Uruguay. The combined GDP of these eight economies account for more than 90% of the region’s GDP. Due mainly to our need for quarterly data, the sample period for each country differs but, with the exception of Venezuela, all samples start in 1980 or earlier.
Analyzing policy responses to ‘crises’ naturally requires defining a ‘crisis.’ For simplicity, we focus exclusively on the behavior of real GDP and define a crisis as beginning in the quarter in which real GDP falls below the preceding four-quarter moving average and ending in the quarter in which real GDP reaches the pre-crisis level.
Using this definition we identify 34 crises in our eight Latin American countries (see Table 1).
Table 1. GDP crises: Basic stylised facts
Argentina spends the most time in crisis (number of quarters in crisis over total number of quarters) and Colombia the least.
The average duration of crises is 11 quarters and the average intensity of crises (measured as the fall in the level of GDP from the start of the crisis to the trough) is 8.6%.
If we break our sample into the periods before and after 1998, how have the frequency, duration, and intensity of crises in Latin America changed? 1
Figure 1, Panel A shows that on average, GDP crises have become less frequent in the post-1998 period and even less so in the most recent period covering the global financial crisis. The average duration and intensity of crises in Latin American has also fallen in the post-1998 period (Figure 1, Panel B).
Figure 1. Latin America: Average frequency, duration, and intensity of GDP crises
We argue that the lower frequency of crises may be simply due to ‘luck;’ Latin American crises are mainly explained by external factors (commodity prices, global liquidity, etc.). The reduction in the severity and duration of crises, we argue, is explained by a shift, on average, from procyclical to countercyclical policy choices.2 In other words, we find significant statistical evidence showing that more countercyclical fiscal/monetary policy leads to shorter and less severe GDP crises.
Behavior of social indicators
Figure 2 looks at the behavior of four social indicators (poverty rate, ratio of richest 10% to poorest 10%, unemployment rate, and domestic conflict) during the GDP crises episodes identified in Table 1.
Figure 2. Latin America: Changes in social indicators during GDP crises
Panel A shows that, on average, the poverty rate has increased much less during GDP crises in the post-1998 period than before.
In fact, it barely changed during the global financial crisis. The same is essentially true of the ratio of the richest 10% to the poorest 10% (with the ratio actually falling during the global financial crisis).
Panel B shows a similar story for the unemployment rate and domestic conflict.
In the post-1998 period, the unemployment rate has gone up by two percentage points, compared to 3.6 percentage points before 1998. Since the global financial crisis, it has increased by even less. Domestic conflict has also risen by less in the post-1998 period and has actually fallen since the global financial crisis.
In short, social indicators during crises in Latin America look better after 1998. The question then becomes whether we can relate this improved behavior in social indicators during crises to a change in the fiscal-policy response to crises.
The role of fiscal policy
We capture the cyclical stance of fiscal policy by looking at the correlation between the cyclical components of GDP and government spending. A positive (negative) correlation indicates procyclical (countercyclical) fiscal policy. Figure 3 shows scatter plots of the cyclicality of fiscal policy against each of the four social indicators. In each case, we see a positive and statistically significant relationship, which we interpret as saying that the more procyclical is fiscal policy, the worse is the performance in the corresponding indicator.
Figure 3. Latin America: Cyclicality of fiscal policy and changes in social indicators during GDP crises
Correlation and causality
Correlations do not imply causation. The business cycle itself, for instance, could lead to both better social indicators and more government spending. To look into this, we construct a ‘fiscal readiness index’ which is essentially an index of initial conditions that captures the ‘fiscal space’ that countries may have before a crisis to conduct countercyclical fiscal policy during the crisis. We then use this index to instrument for fiscal policy. With this, we find that causality runs from countercyclical fiscal policy to smaller deterioration in social indicators.
Eurozone: The old Latin America?
Do our findings for Latin America have relevance to the Eurozone Crisis? As of the last quarter of 2013, the GDP crisis is ongoing for six of the tencountries in our sample, with Ireland and Italy showing the longest crises.3 The average intensity of the current Eurozone crises is 8.3%, which roughly coincides with the average intensity of crises in Latin America (8.6% from Table 1). The GDP crisis has been the most intense in Greece (with a fall in GDP of 24% from peak to trough) and Ireland (with 10%).
How did fiscal policy react to the crisis? Figure 4 shows our measure of fiscal-policy cyclicality (i.e., the correlation between the cyclical components of government spending and real GDP during crises) for each of the ten countries.4
Figure 4. Eurozone: Country cyclicality of fiscal policy during last GDP crisis
Note: Domestic conflict is an index that comprises variables such as assassinations, strikes, guerrilla warfare, government crises, purges, riots, revolutions, and anti-government demonstrations.
Four EZ countries in our sample had procyclical responses: Greece, Ireland, Italy, and Portugal.
The other six countries pursued countercyclical fiscal policy, with Germany leading the way.
In terms of social indicators, Figure 5, Panel A, shows the changes in the unemployment rate in our ten Eurozone countries. As expected, the biggest changes took place in Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. This is largely consistent with Panel B, which plots the changes in domestic conflict, with Greece and Spain clearly standing out.
Figure 5. Eurozone: Changes in social indicators during last GDP crisis
Note: Vertical axis is the correlation between the cyclical components of government spending and GDP (during last GDP crisis).
The question now arises: Has procyclical fiscal policy led to a more pronounced deterioration in social indicators during the crises? Figure 6 provides an answer to this question by plotting the index of fiscal cyclicality against the change in unemployment (Panel A) and the change in domestic conflict (Panel B). The relationship is positive and statistically significant. This is consistent with the idea that a procyclical fiscal response in the Eurozone has led to a more pronounced deterioration in social indicators.5
Figure 6. Eurozone: Cyclicality of fiscal policy and changes in social indicators during last GDP crisis
Policy conclusions
While many Latin American countries have ‘graduated’ from procyclical to countercyclical fiscal responses to GDP crises, many industrial economies (like Greece, Ireland, Italy, and Portugal) followed contractionary fiscal policies in the aftermath of the Global Crisis. Our work finds that countercyclical fiscal policies tend to soften the undesirable effects of GDP crises on social indicators such as poverty, income inequality, unemployment, and domestic conflict. On the other hand, austerity policies tend to worsen all of these social indicators.
This evidence supports the desirability of pursuing expansionary fiscal policies in times of distress – which may mean postponing for some time needed structural fiscal adjustment – rather than embarking on fiscal austerity in the midst of a recession.
References
Blanchard, Olivier and Daniel Leigh (2013), “Growth forecast errors and fiscal multipliers”, IMF Working Paper No. 13/1.
Calderón, César and Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel (2008), "Business cycles and fiscal policies: The role of institutions and financial markets", Central Bank of Chile Working Paper No. 481.
Frankel, Jeffrey (2012), “Chile’s countercyclical triumph”, Foreign Policy.
Frankel, Jeffrey, Carlos A Vegh and Guillermo Vuletin (2013), "On graduation from fiscal procyclicality”, Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 100, pp. 32-47.
Vegh, Carlos A and Guillermo Vuletin (2013a), “Tax-policy procyclicality”, VoxEU.org, 1 October.
Vegh, Carlos A and Guillermo Vuletin (2013b), “The road to redemption: Policy response to crises in Latin America”, paper presented at the IMF’s conference in honor of Stanley Fischer (November).
Vegh, Carlos A and Guillermo Vuletin (2014), “Social implications of fiscal policy responses to crises”, NBER Working Paper No. 19828. [A shorter version entitled “Fiscal policy responses during crises in Latin America and Europe: Implications for the G-20” is forthcoming in Kemal Derviş and Peter Drysdale (eds.), The G-20 at Five (Brookings Institution Press, 2014).]
While admittedly arbitrary, the choice of 1998 seems a natural one because (i) through formal regressions we can detect a shift in fiscal policy in the late 1990s; (ii) 1998 is a year without any crises and thus provides a clean break; and (iii) we needed to have a reasonably long window for the ‘after’ period.
2 We should note that this average behavior masks quite a bit of heterogeneity across countries, with Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru showing countercyclical fiscal and/or monetary policy responses to crises in the post-1998 period. Not coincidentally, these are countries that are often hailed in the financial press for having considerably improved their macroeconomic management over the years, with Chile being clearly the star of this ‘graduation’ movement (see Frankel 2012). At the other side of the spectrum, countries like Argentina, Venezuela, and, more surprisingly, Uruguay continue to be procyclical in the post-1998 period.
3 The sample comprises Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain.
4 To ensure that we have the same sample period for our different indicators, the sample for this plot and those that follow ends with the first quarter of 2013.
5 As for Latin America, we constructed a fiscal readiness index and verified that the causality runs from fiscal policy to the social indicators. |
The monument to Catherine II and bronze figures of Prince Grigory Potyomkin-Tavrichesky and Vasily Dolgorukov-Krymsky at Lit Art sculpture production plant in Zhukovsky near Moscow before being sent to the Crimea.
A reconstructed monument to Empress Catherine the Great, who made Crimea part of Russia in 1783, was dedicated in the capital of the Black Sea Peninsula, Simferopol, on Aug. 19, according to an on-the-scene TASS correspondent.
The ceremony in the Yekaterininsky Garden drew hundreds of the peninsula’s citizens and visitors. Crimean Head Sergey Aksyonov and Crimean Parliament Speaker Vladimir Konstantinov, along with representatives of the clergy and Cossacks attended the event.
"This is a remarkable day - we have restored the monument to Catherine the Great," Aksyonov exclaimed. "I’m sure this will become a favorite place for Crimeans and this day will remain in our memory forever," he added.
The monument is a 10-meter high, multi-figured composition with a bronze statue of the empress containing busts and statues of Russian statesmen and military leaders, including Alexander Suvorov, is said to weigh roughly 7 tonnes. The renovation work, which cost some 46 million rubles ($722,000) was financed by public donations.
The monument was first unveiled in 1890 in Simferopol and was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Crimea’s incorporation into Russia. It remained in the city garden for 30 years and was dismantled in 1921. During the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) the monument was completely destroyed. Several attempts were made to reconstruct it in the 1990s but this idea was not backed by Ukraine’s authorities.
Crimea had first joined the Russian Empire in 1783, when it was conquered by Catherine the Great. Her reign is considered to be Russia's golden age. The monarch issued a manifesto on Crimea’s accession, promising the local citizens to "defend and protect them, their property, cathedrals and inherent faith."
Source: TASS
All rights reserved by Rossiyskaya Gazeta. |
Good evening noble ladies and gentlemen; J. Wellington Rommefeller here to bestow upon you yet another elegant evaluation of the video game persuasion. This week I’ll be reviewing “Catherine”, a game I first caught wind of in a short online blurb that unceremoniously dubbed it a “porn puzzler”. Understandably, I was shocked and a bit put off by this somewhat profane description and dismissed it as a game I was not likely to play. Last week, however, a good chum urged me to download the demo and give the game a shot. The demo was short, only twenty minutes or so, but the story and gameplay intrigued me enough to throw presupposition into the wind and opt to rent the title. Was the demo my gateway into an unexpectedly wonderful experience, or would the “porn puzzler” have me sighing and cringing at my television as I did all through the cut scenes in Final Fantasy X-2?
Catherine is a difficult game to define. It’s part dating sim and part puzzler, but far less awful than that description makes it sound. In fact, I would say the dating sim component alone is far better than one would expect within that genre. The game begins with its protagonist, Vincent, being pressured by his long-time girlfriend Katherine pop the proverbial question. Vincent, the quintessential indecisive 30-something, balks at the idea of marriage and seeks escape at his favorite grimy watering hole. One drunken encounter with a blonde, drill-haired hussy, oddly also named Catherine, throws his world for a loop and he finds himself forced to choose between the two ladies.
To add to that stress, every time Vincent sleeps he is plagued by nightmares in which he is a frightened sheep who must use heavy square blocks to build stairs, ascending tall towers quickly enough to avoid falling to his death below. Sound vexing? It is! And it is wonderful! The story does an incredible job of building and maintaining tension, through both the nightmares and the cut scenes. As Vincent tries to sort out his relationship with the two women, he must take great care to ensure they never learn of one another, leading to frequent anxious and potentially compromising situations. As pedestrian as the story of a cheater who must hide his misdeeds sounds, Catherine does a particularly good job of drumming up feelings of pity and concern for Vincent, effectively transferring his desperation to the player. This fact is not surprising, however, as Atlus has a history of creating games with wonderful narratives, such as the Shin Megami Tensei series and Radiant Historia. The story is also helped along by a “morality meter” which tips toward good or evil depending on the player’s actions and choices during the game. These decisions allow the player to identify with Vincent even more, as their choices directly lead to certain consequences in the game. The player’s preferences also conclude in one of eight separate endings, giving the game replay value and providing a reason to go back and play as dastardly, honestly, or amiably as you may desire.
A smashing story can only be supported by equally entertaining gameplay, and Atlus does not fall short here either.
The concept of the gameplay is simple—pull out blocks to form stairs and climb ever higher. The blocks adhere to one another via their edges, not always obeying the laws of physics, but enabling Vincent to hang off of them and navigate the stage. Some special blocks add difficulty, but the game is centered on those few fundamental concepts. Having a set of simple rules allows the player to find techniques on their own, as there is no one correct solution. This also means that no matter how many times a particular stage is played, different solutions are guaranteed to emerge depending on your mood, skill level, and techniques you remember. If you’re worried about being unable to discover gameplay tactics on your own, fret not as small breaks between levels give you the opportunity to learn new techniques from your sheepish brethren.
These brief interludes between stages also allow you to learn the stories of some of the other sheep in a situation similar to your own, sheep who strangely resemble some of the sad frequenters of Vincent’s favorite bar. You can get their full story by chatting them up in both locations and you can even save their lives through the dialogue choices you make and how often you elect to speak with them. This feature makes the player feel as if they are responsible for the people around them, and gives an incentive for speaking with people and not rushing through the storyline. Clever play, Atlus.
The gameplay is greatly enhanced by a soundtrack comprised mostly of modern remixes of classical pieces. Hearing a single two-minute song repeated for twenty minutes could be an auditory catastrophe, but when it’s Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude, I actually found myself missing the music after the stage had concluded. I recognize that this is entirely a matter of opinion, but the song remixes are done so cleverly that I still have not grown weary of them and, in fact, listen to them often when not playing Catherine.
The only bad aspect of the game I was able to discern was that the audio levels between animated cut scenes and the rest of the game were utterly different. Once I realized that an animated cut scene was imminent, I scrambled to lower the volume, lest I frighten the good Baron Catticus from his slumber. This issue is especially agitating because at the conclusion of each night, a loud, grating noise is played as Vincent’s awakes, and if you do not realize what’s happening you may find yourself in need of fresh skivvies.
Verdict: |
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A progressive blogger has written what’s being billed as the first “major book” on Senator Bernie Sanders to come out since he announced his run for President. “The Essential Bernie Sanders and His Vision for America” will be released by Chelsea Green Publishing, a White River Junction-based company on Sept. 8.
Much like the famous release of Barack Obama’s platform in his book, “Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream” which came out two years before his landslide victory at the polls, “The Essential Bernie Sanders” is also a platform-centered book. The narrative is framed by stories about Sanders’ 35-year-long public career.
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Using statements and votes by Sanders, Jonathan Tasini, a New York writer and blogger on the economy, lays out the candidate’s presidential agenda. It details the “key issues” drawing people to the campaign: health care, free higher ed, wealth distribution, financial reforms and rebuilding the middle class.
The book appears to be unrestrained in its adulation of Sanders and his work, based on the press release from Chelsea Green.
“Sanders’ common sense, populist message is resonating with Democrats, Republicans, independents, as well as ordinary working- and middle-class Americans from all walks of life, including millennials, seniors, veterans, immigrants, environmentalists, union workers, and more,” the company’s website reads.
Chelsea Green also cited the company’s Sanders-cred as a “Vermont-based, independent, and not owned by a multinational corporation or billionaires.” Chelsea Green became employee-owned in 2012; and “Sanders has long been a champion of employee ownership.”
Margo Baldwin, the company’s president and publisher, endorsed Sanders’ presidential campaign in the release: “This book lays out how we can reform our current political, social, and economic systems, topics that Chelsea Green has been publishing books on for more than 30 years.”
Former political journalist Shay Totten, who first covered Sanders himself as a reporter in 1994, edited the book in-house. Called a “crash book” in the publishing world, it will be printed less than eight weeks after the manuscript was turned in.
“It’s fast-paced, and you’re dealing with turnaround times in days and weeks not months, which is the normal trajectory for a printed book,” said Totten by e-mail, about the swift editing process. “It was also fun to work closely with such a smart, savvy author who’s covered Bernie and Bernie’s issues for as long as I have, if not longer.”
Totten, a former editorial director at the company, previously edited several books including the New York Times best-seller “The End of America,” by Naomi Wolf. Prior to returning to the company in 2011 he was a political columnist for Seven Days, a local alternative weekly.
Reflecting on this project, his first as an editor since re-joining the company as a communications director, he said the book reveals what he learned as a reporter.
“What it also proved is something that the Vermont media only knows too well, which is that his message has been pretty consistent for the past 30 years,” he said. “It seems like it’s only the rest of the country that’s catching up to us.”
A run of 50,000 copies of the book arrives at stores the day after Labor Day, which also happens to be Sanders’ 74th birthday. One heck of a birthday gift for Bernie.
“Not a bad coincidence,” said Totten. “Perhaps we should deliver it to him with some candles.” |
Reports say the Bahraini human rights defender has been brutally tortured behind bars since last week and the security forces are holding her in solitary confinement.
Al-Saegh has been seen in a life-threatening condition while being transferred to Isa Town prison telling observers, “They killed me! Spread it!”
It is feared that she would be tortured in revenge for her disclosures, and no one will be informed about it, according to a Farsi report by Atlas News.
Al-Saegh has been subjected to direct and indirect threats by al-Khalifa regime affiliates. In the wake of a wave of organized threats, which were issued by the Bahraini government agents against her on the social media, she was summoned to Bahrain’s National Security Apparatus last month.
After 12 hours of interrogation, she was admitted to the hospital because of being subjected to severe sexual and psychological harassment.
She revealed the details of the interrogation and what was going on during the interrogation in contact with international human rights organizations.
In recent years, Al-Saegh has appeared in several international societies to bravely disclose human rights abuses in Bahrain.
She has also submitted proven reports on murder, illegal detention, travel bans, torture, harassment and revocation of citizenship from critics of the Al Khalifa regime, and Bahraini political and legal activists.
This comes as several international organizations have shown sharp reactions to the detention of this human rights defender in Bahrain.
Amnesty International in two separate statements expressed concern over Al-Saegh’s imprisonment considering that she had been sexually harassed during interrogations.
Samah Hadid, Director of Campaigns for Amnesty International in the Middle East said Saegh’s only crime is to speak against a regime that cracks down any protest. Hadid also said that Saegh is at risk of more torture. |
Ridleybank (55,45)
4 zombies
3 zombies
2 zombies
1 zombie dead. You have 60 Hit Points and 1054 Experience Points. You have 33 Action Points remaining. You are nocktrnl and you are. You haveHit Points andExperience Points. You haveAction Points remaining. You feel drawn towards a block 3 blocks west and 4 south. Buy skills Contacts Settings Log out News FAQ Wiki Donate
You are at Phillips Road.
Somebody has spraypainted Come at me bro! onto a wall.
There are two other zombies here.
There are five dead bodies here. They all smell strange. Since your last turn: You heard a loud and distant groaning 3 blocks to the west and 4 blocks to the south. (3 hours and 23 minutes ago) ...and again. (3 hours and 15 minutes ago)
...and again. Vexxum3 stood up. (1 hour and 28 minutes ago)
27.50 MHz: "Attention! This is nocktrnl of reddit_survivors!" (5 minutes ago)
27.50 MHz: "We've declared war on all other groups in" (4 minutes ago)
27.50 MHz: "Havercroft. ENVY, Crimson Clan, and Havercroft" (3 minutes ago)
27.50 MHz: "Survivors are to be shot on sight!" (3 minutes ago)
27.50 MHz: "Reddit is reclaiming Havercroft by any means" (2 minutes ago)
27.50 MHz: "necessary! Viva Reddit!" (2 minutes ago) Possible actions: yourself a warehouse Margaret General Hospital Selwyn Boulevard Buttery Row School Phillips Road Adalbert General Hospital Hubbard Boulevard Railway Station Acourt Library the Rodgers Building the north the north-east the east the south-east the south the south-west the west the north-west the sky the ground a zombie
a zombie with hands (50%, 3 dam) teeth (30%, 4 dam) toolbox (10%, 2 dam) As a zombie, you are unable to use the objects you are carrying. ----- toolbox flak jacket DNA extractor mobile phone radio (27.50 MHz) fencing foil shotgun (0) pistol (6) radio (27.68 MHz) knife pistol (0) revivification syringe first-aid kit pistol clip spray can shotgun shell (0 AP) |
[Ed note: This article was updated on March 2 and March 9 to reflect new information given.]A new restaurant is coming to a massive Italian emporium that opened in Boston's Back Bay a few months ago, and it will apparently be located above the market.According to a job post within the bostonchefs.com site, a "rooftop" restaurant called Terra is opening at Eataly Boston in the Prudential Center, with the dining spot featuring a wood-fired grill and "regional Italian inspired dishes." The post indicates that the menu will include a number of items from the market below, including dry-aged meats, house-made pasta, fresh seafood, and more, with charcuterie and house-made sausage being mentioned. Two posts on the bostonchefs site show that Terra is currently looking for line cooks and a sous chef.Eataly Boston opened its doors in late November, moving into the space where the Pru food court had been. Celebrity chef Mario Batali is one of the partners involved with Eataly, which has locations in Manhattan's Flatiron area, Lower Manhattan, Chicago, and Los Angeles, along with others in Europe, Asia, and South America.The website for Eataly can be found at https://www.eataly.com[March 2 update: A new job post within the bostonchefs.com site says that Terra will be on the third floor mezzanine above the rest of Eataly. It is not yet known if this means Terra will include both an indoor space (on the mezzanine) and an outdoor rooftop area; as soon as we find out more, we will post another update here. (The earlier link above has the wording changed from "rooftop" to "mezzanine.")][March 9 update: Eater Boston mentions that Terra plans to open April 4, and that it will include an open dining room, though there is no mention of rooftop dining. The article also says that Dan Bazzinotti (Bergamot and BISq), who was Eater Boston's 2015 Chef of the Year, will be the chef de cuisine.]Follow us on Twitter at @hiddenboston
Labels: Back Bay restaurants, Boston restaurants, food emporiums, Italian emporiums, Italian markets, Italian restaurants, Prudential Center restaurants, restaurant openings |
Here’s a list of new CarPlay and Android Auto aftermarket systems that have been announced this week at CES 2017 in Las Vegas.
CES 2017 has given us a great insight into some of the technology that is to come during the year. The latest unveilings come in the form of a host of new aftermarket in-dash entertainment systems that will natively support Apple’s CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto platforms, and are being offered by a heap of well-known, and well-respect manufactures, such as Alpine, JVC, KENWOOD and more.
With a heap of huge automobile manufacturers adopting Apple’s CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto initiative, the two platforms are set to be huge this year by being offered natively in a growing range of vehicles across the globe.
However, equally as popular will be the aftermarket devices which are designed to be retrofitted to older, or even new vehicles that don’t come with CarPlay or Android Auto as standard. The likes of JVC, KENWOOD, Clarion, Pioneer, and Alpine have recognized this, and as such have used CES 2017 to put their latest CarPlay and Android Auto devices on show.
KENWOOD DMX7740S
KENWOOD is showing off the DMX7740S, which is compatible with both CarPlay and Android Auto, and will ship with a decent-sized display panel, which is unfortunately of resistive variety rather than capacitive. Internally, the DMX7740S will have a SiriusXM satellite radio, built-in and integrated Bluetooth, as well as a 13-band equalizer. It also ships with support and compatibility with the KENWOOD Remote iPhone app as well as linking to the company’s existing DRV-N520 Dashboard Camera.
The KENWOOD DMX7740S will start shipping next month, priced at $500.
JVC KW-M730BT
Similar to KENWOOD, JVC has been showing off the KW-M730BT in-dash unit with a gorgeous 6.8-inch resistive display, and also packing in a SiriusXM satellite radio, along with support for rear-view camera systems. In addition to CarPlay support there is also Android Auto option, built-in Bluetooth, as well as a virtual viewing adjustment feature that offsets angled installations by using a dedicated algorithm to change the viewing angle so it appears straight to the driver. Like the KENWOOD offering, JVC’s KW-M730BT will also ship next month for $500.
Alpine iLX-107 (with Wireless CarPlay)
Consumers will be expected to pay a little more for the Alpine hardware on display – around the $900 mark – but they will get a lot more bang for their buck with this high-end product. The iLX-107 will offer a 7-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen with LED backlighting. It’s also one of the first units that truly embraces wireless CarPlay support, which is fantastic news for users as they no longer need to tether their devices to the vehicle to actually interact with the dash.
Unfortunately though, Alpine iLX-107 won’t support Android Auto and will only work with Apple’s CarPlay.
Clarion NX807
Clarion has also jumped in with its NX807 unit packing support for both CarPlay and Android Auto and sporting a 7-inch WVGA touchscreen. The unit features tilt control and perhaps, more importantly two fantastic features; “Optical digital output for system upgrades – enables plug-and-play integration with Clarion’s Full Digital Sound processor” and “2-Zone Entertainment – allows rear seat passengers to enjoy one separate source than the front seat passengers”. The NX807 is expected to go on sale in the first quarter of 2017, but no pricing has been mentioned.
Pioneer
Pioneer has also announced new bundles for its CarPlay and Android Auto supported NEX series. As of now, users will be able to grab the following NEX units along with bundled ND-BC8 universal back-up camera:
AVIC-8201NEX for $1,300
AVIC-7201NEX for $1,100
AVIC-6201NEX for $900
AVH-4201NEX for $700
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Time for an illustration about exactly why the establishment wing of the Democratic party in America knows only one thing: Losing.
Let’s start with the good news—on certain points, centrist Democrats and Republicans agree on something. The bad news is they’re agreeing on how little they understand, or care about, poor people. Yesterday, Republican Representative Steve King explained how we needed to cut food stamps because of how fat poor people are getting, and, today, a video was released of Democratic Councilman Fernando Cabrera explaining to a room of people—ironically, in what appears to be some sort of ad hoc church—how much harder it is to be rich than poor. It’s American Calvinism at its best:
Watch Dem NYC councilman @FCabreraNY tell supporters "it's harder being rich than being poor" while blaming low wages on laziness. pic.twitter.com/m45LCajCVD — Walker Bragman (@WalkerBragman) July 13, 2017
The crux of his argument boils down to his errant belief that rich people have more responsibilities and more to worry about. It’s like the famous Notorious B.I.G. rap, “Mo money, mo problems, mo responsibility, mo things to worry about, and screw poor people, right guys?”
Cabrera goes on to explain that millionaires “get there” because of their ability to handle more pressure. The reason you, dear reader, aren’t a millionaire, is because you just couldn’t hack it. The amount you’re paid—in every situation and context, mind you—is directly proportional to how much you can handle. Your boss (obviously a genius businessman in his own right because, hey, he’s in charge of you thanks to his massive, pressure-resistant heart) is paying you exactly in proportion to how much you can handle.
It’s so simple, it’s a wonder Cabrera even felt the need to explain it to us. Obviously the single mother working two jobs and raising three kids is just a total wuss. Otherwise she’d be a millionaire single mom, raising two kids and working one job…probably CEO over at Goldman Sachs. |
For the genitalia, see labia minora
Labia minor, the lesser earwig or small earwig, is a species of earwig. It is widespread globally in temperate climates, preferring warm locations such as compost heaps in parts of its range. It is 4–7 mm long, including the pincer, and chocolate brown in color.
Description [ edit ]
A larva of Labia Minor
Labia minor is about half the size of Forficula auricularia,[2] at 4–7 millimetres (0.2–0.3 in) long.[3] It is chocolate brown, and less shiny than the chestnut brown F. auricularia.[4] The whole body is covered with fine yellow setae, and the antennae are a paler color.[5] The forceps (pincer) at the animal's tail are used to help unfurl the wings, in preparation for flight.[3] Unlike F. auricularia, Labia minor flies frequently.[4][6]
Ecology [ edit ]
Labia minor feeds on decaying plant material and other detritus. In cooler climates, it is only found in warm places, such as actively decaying compost heaps, and are most often encountered when turning the compost.[4] Unusually for an insect, there is extensive maternal care of the eggs and offspring, with the mother feeding them for a week or two after they hatch.
Distribution [ edit ]
Labia minor is widespread in temperate zones around the world. It is unclear whether it is a native species in North America, or an early adventive species. The first record from the United States dates from 1838, but the species may have been present for a long time before that.[3] It ranges further north, into British Columbia and Quebec than any other earwig species,[3] and is the only earwig in Quebec.[1] It has also been introduced to Australia, Madeira, the Galápagos Islands and the Philippines.[1] The species is probably often overlooked, however, due to its small size, and may be more widespread than is currently known.[1]
Taxonomic history [ edit ]
Labia minor was originally named by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his work Systema Naturae in 1758, under the name Forficula minor.[3] When William Elford Leach established the genus Labia in 1815, Linnaeus' Forficula minor was made the type species of that new genus, and renamed Labia minor.[7]
See also [ edit ] |
Twitter started testing live streams during Wimbledon (from a special ESPN feed), though it didn't carry any live games. It reportedly won the right to stream live Thursday Night Football games over rivals like Facebook because it was willing to let the NFL sell the bulk of ads during the stream. The league recently decided to split up Thursday Night Football broadcasts between NBC and CBS, and will carry them on its own NFL Network. The first game between the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills will stream on September 15th.
We as a television organization, and the social media platforms are sort of sizing each other up, trying to figure out what the relationship is going to be.
The NFL hasn't said how it's selling ads, or whether it will split any revenue with the networks. However, CBS told the NYT that it's still feeling out the streaming situation with internet companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter. "We as a television organization, and the social media platforms are sort of sizing each other up, trying to figure out what the relationship is going to be," said CBS president David Rhodes. |
According to one of the federal prosecutors handling the case, three doctors involved in Michigan’s female genital mutilation (FGM) ring may have performed the procedure on as many as one hundred young girls in the Detroit area in the past twelve years.
Despite this alarming report published June 7 by Detroit News, the big three broadcast networks remained silent. When the news of the practice first broke in April, ABC, CBS, NBC network shows said nothing. The top two Spanish-language networks, Telemundo and Univision, were also quiet. Now, as the scale of the crime amplifies, the silence is all the more deafening.
As MRC Culture reported in May, the FBI is investigating three doctors who practice the Dawoodi Bohra sect of Shia Islam known to have practiced genital mutilation on at least eight young girls.
But now, according to alleged testimony from clinic owner Dr. Fakhruddin Attar, Dr. Jumana Nagarwala treated girls for “problems with their genitals” at least five to six times per year. The prosecutors say the clinic has been conducting FGM for 12 years.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Woodward believes that 100 cases are a conservative estimate.
On Fox News’ June 6 segment of Intelligence Report, Lebanese-American journalist and ACT! For America founder Brigitte Gabriel condemned FGM, noting that more young girls were at risk of the practice than Americans realized.
“When you look at the Islamic practices that we are now importing to America,” Gabriel told host Trish Regan, “over 513,000 girls in America today are under threat of female genital mutilation or has undergone the procedure.”
That statistic is taken straight from a 2012 Department of Homeland Security report. Worldwide, nearly 200 million women and girls from various sects of Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Animism have been forced to undergo the procedure, CNN’s Michelle Krupa reported in May.
Although there has been an alarming rise in FGM procedures in the States (the 2012 estimate of 513,000 women at risk was three times the 1990 figure), the practice has declined globally. Thus, the U.S. spike can be explained by the surge in immigration from FGM practicing countries, and not an increase in the global practice of FGM.
But those who bring their pro-FGM views to the States face a cultural clash. Just this week, Imam Shaker Elsayed, the leader of one of the largest mosques in the D.C. metro area, sparked intense backlash when he spoke of cutting the “tip of the sexually sensitive part of the girl so that she is not hypersexually active.”
Although he apologized for his pro-FGM comments, Elsayed riled many in the Muslim community who demanded his ouster. He resigned this morning, the Washington Post reported. |
This post was contributed by a community member.
Recently, my friend Jennifer wrote me and said, "So, one thing I struggle with raising [two] boys is the fascination with guns, blasters, bombs, and other instruments of destruction. I am trying to raise children who want to save the planet, and they seem much more interested in blowing it up. Finding the right balance is a tricky one for me. Would love to see your thoughts and insights."
So, Jennifer, this is for you and hopefully other parents out there, too.
Let me start by saying I am not an expert on boys, guns, or the fascination with guns, blasters, bombs and other weapons. From early on, though, my husband and I made a conscious effort to have a gun-free home. We never bought toy guns for either of our kids to play with, even going so far as buying fish-shaped "water toys" rather than gun- shaped water guns when they were little in our efforts to raise "peaceful" children.
Of course we were foiled early and often. First, it was by our own children. Our son, Zach, quickly discarded his "water fish" and soon began turning benign objects into play guns to suit his own shooting and blasting fantasies.
Twigs, sticks, plastic recorders (you know, the instrument), and even his toothbrush became de facto guns, bombs and blasters, when he was in a blowing up the world mood.
"Look, Mom," he seemed to say. "No gun required. I can still shoot things." He was playing with guns even though we had none.
Then, when Zach turned seven, he started receiving Nerf guns left and right as birthday gifts. I still can't figure out when or how toy guns became acceptable gifts, but there they were; huge boxes, wrapped in colorful birthday gift wrap and tied with a bow. Inside? Nerf guns.
Some of the Nerf guns were water guns, others shot foam darts. All were massive and clearly resembled some "real" kind of gun out there somewhere. Some had "magazines" or came with an "ammo belt" and most had awful names like the "Blaster," "Combat Shooter," and "Strike Maverick."
So, does allowing your kid to play with a toy guns (or with a pretend stick-gun) mean you are raising a child who will turn into a violent, cruel adult? No. It doesn't.
If you are responsible, compassionate, and kind in your parenting and lead your children by good example, guiding them to do what's right, you are likely to be raising a kind, compassionate and responsible child.
And, Jennifer, I know I just described you.
Of course, you must also take the time to teach them about real guns and the very real dangers of guns. We need to teach our kids to be safe in the world, and understanding that real guns exist and can hurt them and others is an important lesson for all our children.
Be sure to teach your children NEVER to touch a real gun. EVER. And if they are not sure whether a gun is real or not, they should stay away. The most horrifying news stories I've ever encountered involve children who gain access to a parent's (real) gun and accidentally kill themselves or the friend/brother/uncle/sister they were playing with. So tragic and so avoidable. So, please, teach your children well about the dangers of real guns. Should you own a gun, be sure to keep it locked away and keep bullets locked in another location.
Yes, real guns are important tools and play a critical role in certain professions. They can also be used for sport and regularly are — target practice and hunting are popular all around the country, and here in Massachusetts.
I still associate guns with violence, war, crime, and bad stuff I want to keep my children far, far away from. For this reason, I am not a huge fan of toy guns. I will not buy toy guns for my kids or give them as gifts.
My son, now 9, still enjoys his Nerf guns. Some have broken or been lost, some traded to friends for other games or toys. Both my kids love water guns in the hot weather and we have quite a collection, which comes in handy for the block-long water wars the kids play with neighbors in the summer.
As for raising children who want to save the planet? Perhaps that will be another column. |
In 1915, a statistician at the University of Wisconsin named Willford I. King published The Wealth and Income of the People of the United States, the most comprehensive study of its kind to date. The United States was displacing Great Britain as the world's wealthiest nation, but detailed information about its economy was not yet readily available; the federal government wouldn't start collecting such data in any systematic way until the 1930s. One of King's purposes was to reassure the public that all Americans were sharing in the country's newfound wealth.
King was somewhat troubled to find that the richest 1 percent possessed about 15 percent of the nation's income. (A more authoritative subsequent calculation puts the figure slightly higher, at about 18 percent.)
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This was the era in which the accumulated wealth of America's richest families—the Rockefellers, the Vanderbilts, the Carnegies—helped prompt creation of the modern income tax, lest disparities in wealth turn the United States into a European-style aristocracy. The socialist movement was at its historic peak, a wave of anarchist bombings was terrorizing the nation's industrialists, and President Woodrow Wilson's attorney general, Alexander Palmer, would soon stage brutal raids on radicals of every stripe. In American history, there has never been a time when class warfare seemed more imminent.
That was when the richest 1 percent accounted for 18 percent of the nation's income. Today, the richest 1 percent account for 24 percent of the nation's income. What caused this to happen? Over the next two weeks, I'll try to answer that question by looking at all potential explanations—race, gender, the computer revolution, immigration, trade, government policies, the decline of labor, compensation policies on Wall Street and in executive suites, and education. Then I'll explain why people who say we don't need to worry about income inequality (there aren't many of them) are wrong.
Income inequality in the United States has not worsened steadily since 1915. It dropped a bit in the late teens, then started climbing again in the 1920s, reaching its peak just before the 1929 crash. The trend then reversed itself. Incomes started to become more equal in the 1930s and then became dramatically more equal in the 1940s. Income distribution remained roughly stable through the postwar economic boom of the 1950s and 1960s. Economic historians Claudia Goldin and Robert Margo have termed this midcentury era the "Great Compression." The deep nostalgia for that period felt by the World War II generation—the era of Life magazine and the bowling league—reflects something more than mere sentimentality. Assuming you were white, not of draft age, and Christian, there probably was no better time to belong to America's middle class.
The Great Compression ended in the 1970s. Wages stagnated, inflation raged, and by the decade's end, income inequality had started to rise. Income inequality grew through the 1980s, slackened briefly at the end of the 1990s, and then resumed with a vengeance in the aughts. In his 2007 book The Conscience of a Liberal, the Nobel laureate, Princeton economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman labeled the post-1979 epoch the "Great Divergence."
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It's generally understood that we live in a time of growing income inequality, but "the ordinary person is not really aware of how big it is," Krugman told me. During the late 1980s and the late 1990s, the United States experienced two unprecedentedly long periods of sustained economic growth—the "seven fat years" and the " long boom." Yet from 1980 to 2005, more than 80 percentof total increase in Americans' income went to the top 1 percent. Economic growth was more sluggish in the aughts, but the decade saw productivity increase by about 20 percent. Yet virtually none of the increase translated into wage growth at middle and lower incomes, an outcome that left many economists scratching their heads.
Here is a snapshot of income distribution during the past 100 years:
Why don't Americans pay more attention to growing income disparity? One reason may be our enduring belief in social mobility. Economic inequality is less troubling if you live in a country where any child, no matter how humble his or her origins, can grow up to be president. In a survey of 27 nations conducted from 1998 to 2001, the country where the highest proportion agreed with the statement "people are rewarded for intelligence and skill" was, of course, the United States. (69 percent). But when it comes to real as opposed to imagined social mobility, surveys find less in the United States than in much of (what we consider) the class-bound Old World. France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Spain—not to mention some newer nations like Canada and Australia—are all places where your chances of rising from the bottom are better than they are in the land of Horatio Alger's Ragged Dick.
Where do I stand? Enter your zip code and income to find out where you fall on the curve.
Zipcode: Income:
How you compare:
Average income in zipcode:
Median income in state:
Median income in country: $52,059
Percentile in country:
Sources: American Community Survey (State and National Data), IncomeTaxList (Zip code data). NOTE: All information you enter is private and will not be recorded or stored in any way.
All my life I've heard Latin America described as a failed society (or collection of failed societies) because of its grotesque maldistribution of wealth. Peasants in rags beg for food outside the high walls of opulent villas, and so on. But according to the Central Intelligence Agency (whose patriotism I hesitate to question), income distribution in the United States is more unequal than in Guyana, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, and roughly on par with Uruguay, Argentina, and Ecuador. Income inequality is actually declining in Latin America even as it continues to increase in the United States. Economically speaking, the richest nation on earth is starting to resemble a banana republic. The main difference is that the United States is big enough to maintain geographic distance between the villa-dweller and the beggar. As Ralston Thorpe tells his St. Paul's classmate, the investment banker Sherman McCoy, in Tom Wolfe's 1987 novel The Bonfire of the Vanities: "You've got to insulate, insulate, insulate."
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In 1915, King wrote, "It is easy to find a man in almost any line of employment who is twice as efficient as another employee,"
but it is very rare to find one who is ten times as efficient. It is common, however, to see one man possessing not ten times but a thousand times the wealth of his neighbor. … Is the middle class doomed to extinction and shall we soon find the handful of plutocrats, the modern barons of wealth, lined up squarely in opposition to the propertyless masses with no buffer between to lessen the chances of open battle? With the middle class gone and the laborer condemned to remain a lifelong wage-earner with no hope of attaining wealth or even a competence in his old age, all the conditions are ripe for a crowning class-conflict equaling in intensity and bitterness anything pictured by the most radical follower of Karl Marx. Is this condition soon coming to pass? [emphasis his]
In the end, King concluded it wasn't. Income distribution in the United States, he found, was more equal than in Prussia, France, and the United Kingdom. King was no socialist. Redistributing income to the poor, he wrote, "would merely mean more rapid multiplication of the lowest and least desirable classes," who remained, "from the reproductive standpoint, on the low point of their four-footed ancestors." A Malthusian, he believed in population control. Income inequality in the United States could be addressed by limiting immigration (King deplored "low-standard alien invaders") and by discouraging excessive breeding among the poor ("eugenicists are just beginning to impress upon us the absurd folly of breeding great troops of paupers, defectives and criminals to be a burden upon organized society").
Today, incomes in the U.S. are more unequal than in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, not less so. Eugenics (thankfully) has fallen out of fashion, and the immigration debate has become (somewhat) more polite. As for income inequality, it's barely entered the national political debate. Indeed, the evidence from the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections suggests that even mild economic populism was a loser for Democrats. (To sample authentic economic populism, click here.)
But income inequality is a topic of huge importance to American society and therefore a subject of large and growing interest to a host of economists, political scientists, and other wonky types. Except for a few Libertarian outliers (whose views we'll examine later), these experts agree that the country's growing income inequality is deeply worrying. Even Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve Board chairman and onetime Ayn Rand acolyte, has registered concern. "This is not the type of thing which a democratic society—a capitalist democratic society—can really accept without addressing," Greenspan said in 2005. Greenspan's Republican-appointed successor, Ben Bernanke, has also fretted about income inequality.
Yet few of these experts have much idea how to reverse the trend. That's because almost no one can agree about what's causing it. This week and next, I will detail and weigh the strengths and weaknesses of various prominent theories as to what has brought about the income inequality boom of the last three decades. At the same time, I'll try to convey the magnitude of its effects on American life. The Great Divergence may represent the most significant change in American society in your lifetime—and it's not a change for the better. Let's see if we can figure out what got us here.
Click here to view a visual guide to inequality. Click here to subscribe to this series. Navigate the series from a single page. |
Newt Gingrich, who may very well become the next President of the United States, has a second life. No, I don't mean his second life as a lobbyist, I mean literally, a second life: A few years ago, the leading GOP candidate for President created a Second Life avatar and gave a long lecture on the steps of a virtual Capitol building, where he proposed that Congress itself meet, all while being protected by a squad of all-female avatar bodyguards, and protested by a green fairy with wings who called him a fascist.
This was back in 2007, when the 3d virtual world was in its period of maximum media hype, and Gingrich was not even the only nationally prominent political figure to dabble in SL. In 2006, for instance, when Mark Warner was considered a leading Democratic Presidential candidate, the then Virginia governor (now Senator) made a short whistle stop appearance in Second Life.
Unlike Warner and most others, Newt went whole hog on virtual reality, not only making an appearance in SL, but praising it as the future of Internet, lecturing more generally about the Metaverse, and then to top it off, proposed that America's political leaders meet on a Second Life island called Second Legistlation.
Here's what he said: |
ATLANTA – Democrat Jon Ossoff, who came close to becoming Georgia’s newest congressman last week, challenged his Republican opponent to six debates.
Ossoff challenged Handel to engage in six debates between now and Election Day in the race to represent Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District.
“I believe that part of bringing fresh leadership and accountability to Washington is to engage with as many voters as possible, which is why our people-powered community of volunteers has talked to more than one hundred thousand 6th District Georgians over the past four months,” said Ossoff.
“Publicly debating the issues that matter the most to Georgians, especially as it concerns growing the local economy, cutting government waste, keeping Americans safe, and bringing accountability to Washington, is paramount to ensuring that our democracy is as transparent and accessible as possible.”
“We welcome any chance to highlight Jon Ossoff's inexperience and are excited to have a robust debate on the issues,” said Handel spokesperson Kate Constantini. “He can start by explaining why he wants to represent a district he doesn't even live in and how we should expect him to represent a conservative district when his campaign is fueled by the far left fringes of his party.”
Ossoff received 48 percent of the vote in the April 18 special election to replace Tom Price, now President Donald Trump’s secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Handel received 20 percent.
FULL ELECTION RESULTS HERE
Ossoff needed more than 50 percent to win the crowded, 18-candidate race outright. Now, he and Handel are headed for a June 20 runoff.
Early voting for the runoff starts in less than six weeks.
PHOTOS: Ossoff supporters hoping for big night |
Natus Vincere is one of the first teams in EU to begin the post-regional roster overhaul, and the move is probably not what fans expected. A tweet from assassin Martin "Crozzby" Rugh has confirmed that he is a free agent after being dropped by Na`Vi.
Let the EU roster roulette continue. I'm officially looking for a team as well. Thanks for having me @natusvincere Good luck in the future. — Martin Rugh (@CrozzbyHOTS) March 17, 2016
Na`Vi manager Andrey "Kimi" Kvasnevskiy also confirmed the move to theScore esports.
"We're just shuffling our squad ... trying to get better options for us," he said.
While he would not confirm that more changes were inevitable for his squad, he did reply with "Winter is coming," punctuated by a happy-face emoji.
Crozzby was officially added to the roster on Jan. 22, but left his former mYinsanity squad on Dec. 3 to try out with Na`Vi. At the time, his departure from the promising mYi came as a shock.
With other teams likely to begin shuffles of their own, it's a strong bet that Crozzby will land somewhere soon.
Josh "Gauntlet" Bury is a meaningless Muradin stun. You can find him on Twitter. |
Probably one of the most frequently asked questions about dog's vision is whether dogs see colors. The simple answer-namely that dogs are colorblind-has been misinterpreted by people as meaning that dogs see no color, but only shades of gray. This is wrong. Dogs do see colors, but the colors that they see are neither as rich nor as many as those seen by humans.
Source: Image from SC Psychological Enterprises Ltd
The eyes of both people and dogs contain special light catching cells called cones that respond to color. Dogs have fewer cones than humans which suggests that their color vision won't be as rich or intense as ours. However, the trick to seeing color is not just having cones, but having several different types of cones, each tuned to different wavelengths of light. Human beings have three different kinds of cones and the combined activity of these gives humans their full range of color vision.
The most common types of human colorblindness come about because the person is missing one of the three kinds of cones. With only two cones, the individual can still see colors, but many fewer than someone with normal color vision. This is the situation with dogs who also have only two kinds of cones.
Jay Neitz at the University of California, Santa Barbara, tested the color vision of dogs. For many test trials, dogs were shown three light panels in a row--two of the panels were the same color, while the third was different. The dogs' task was to find the one that was different and to press that panel. If the dog was correct, he was rewarded with a treat that the computer delivered to the cup below that panel.
Neitz confirmed that dogs actually do see color, but many fewer colors than normal humans do. Instead of seeing the rainbow as violet, blue, blue-green, green, yellow, orange and red, dogs would see it as dark blue, light blue, gray, light yellow, darker yellow (sort of brown), and very dark gray. In other words, dogs see the colors of the world as basically yellow, blue and gray. They see the colors green, yellow and orange as yellowish, and they see violet and blue as blue. Blue-green is seen as a gray. You can see what the spectrum looks like to people and dogs below.
Source: Image from SC Psychological Ltd
One amusing or odd fact is that the most popular colors for dog toys today are red or safety orange (the bright orange red on traffic cones or safety vests). However red is difficult for dogs to see. It may appear as a very dark brownish gray or perhaps even a black. This means that that bright red dog toy that is so visible to you may often be difficult for your dog to see. That means that when your own pet version of Lassie runs right past the toy that you tossed she may not be stubborn or stupid. It may be your fault for choosing a toy with a color that is hard to discriminate from the green grass of your lawn.
That leaves us with the question as to whether dogs actually use the color vision abilities that they have. For more about that click here.
Stanley Coren is the author of many books including: Why Do Dogs Have Wet Noses? The Pawprints of History: Dogs and the Course of Human Events, How Dogs Think : Understanding the Canine Mind, How To Speak Dog, Why We Love the Dogs We Do, What Do Dogs Know? The Intelligence of Dogs, Sleep Thieves, The Left-hander Syndrome.
Copyright SC Psychological Enterprises Ltd. May not be reprinted or reposted without permission. |
News in Science
Modern farming 'harms poor and environment'
Free trade in agricultural markets can undermine attempts to ease poverty in developing countries and harm the environment, says a UN and World Bank backed report.
"Opening national markets to international competition ... can lead to long-term negative effects on poverty alleviation, food security and the environment," says the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) report.
The report urges agricultural science to pay greater attention to safeguarding natural resources.
It promotes 'agro-ecological' practices, such as the use of natural fertilisers and traditional seeds and reducing the distance between the farm and the consumer.
Professor Robert Watson, director of the report's secretariat, says while calling for changes to agricultural practices is an "old message", it "has not always had resonance in some parts of the world".
"If those with power are now willing to hear it, then we may hope for more equitable policies that do take the interests of the poor into account," he says.
Environmental impacts
The IAASTD also calls for a careful study of the environmental impacts on genetically modified crops and biofuels without taking a clear overall stance on either issue.
Some 60 governments, including Brazil, China, France and India, have approved the report.
But the US, Australia and Canada have not endorsed the entire report and the UK has not yet officially responded.
"The US objection [to the report] was primarily around the trade issue ...They also felt we were not as positive as they would have liked on some of the new forms of biotechnology and transgenics. They have a less nuanced perspective than us," Watson says.
Poverty gap
The IAASTD, whose co-sponsors also include the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization, says the benefits of increases in agricultural production are unfairly distributed with the current system often increasing the gap between rich and poor.
The report aims to set the agenda for hunger and poverty reduction in the next 50 years when demand for food is expected to rise sharply.
Food prices have already started to climb, which Watson says has been driven by increased demand, unfavourable weather, export restrictions, commodity market speculators, increased land use for biofuels, particularly in the US, and rising energy costs.
Dr John Williams, a commissioner to the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research and a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, says the report shows we can't just focus on agricultural research that deals with increasing production alone.
He says the report highlights the "huge problem" we have in finding ways to produce sufficient food for a rapidly growing population and halting the damage and increasing pressure on our natural resources, soils, water and biodiversity.
"We've got to look at whole ecological, energy and water systems to appreciate the impacts or the footprint of our food on our natural resource base," he says.
Urgency means 'technology essential'
But Dr Eric Craswell, a visiting fellow at the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the Australian National University and former senior academic advisor to the United Nations Institute for Environment and Human Security, criticises how the report handles issues like trade and biotechnology.
"With the urgency of food production problems we can't afford to be so picky about some of these issues. Why should developing country farmers be denied the opportunities of modern science in biotechnology, fertilisers and so on?"
While the report does not say poor countries should be denied access to such technologies, it recommends assessing their risks and benefits.
Craswell welcomes, however, how the report draws together the ideas of scientists and non-government organisations, especially in relation to the link between agriculture and the environment. |
Badgerys Creek airport: 'Point merge' plan to be scrapped after concern about noise and pollution
Updated
Plans for Badgerys Creek Airport flights to converge at a single point over the Blue Mountains will be scrapped, the Federal Government has revealed.
Key points: Plan for 'point merge' flights at Badgerys Creek dropped after community feedback
Minister says flight paths will be allocated more fairly
Blue Mountains Council says EIS needs to address noise concerns and World Heritage status
A draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) from last year included a "point merge" over Blaxland in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, sparking community concerns over noise and pollution.
The EIS stated a point merge system is used internationally in Oslo, Dublin, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur and Hannover airports and could result in fuel efficiencies.
But Minister for Major Projects Paul Fletcher said the Government had listened to community feedback, and will drop the converged flight system from final plans.
"We've received community feedback that the flight paths should be spread more fairly and shared across the communities around Western Sydney Airport," he said.
"There is no technical reason that it be done that way and we've directed that it not be done that way.
"Instead, the flight paths will be allocated to minimise the individual impact on any one point."
He said the change showed the Government is addressing community concerns over the airport's environmental impact and noise levels.
Council remains opposed to airport despite changes
But Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill said the announcement is not a win for the community, and he remains opposed to the airport.
"My view and the view of the council remains the same — no airport at Badgerys Creek," he said.
"There will still be planes flying over the Blue Mountains — in particular the lower Blue Mountains — 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at very low altitudes."
Cr Greenhill said the EIS is "sub-standard" and needs to address noise reduction and the World Heritage status of the region.
Opposition infrastructure spokesman Anthony Albanese said the Government is just "playing catch-up" after Labor's proposals to implement a night-time "no-fly zone" last month.
"This of course is weeks after Labor announced that we will have best practice which includes noise-sharing," he said.
"The idea that you would concentrate noise over areas from any airport around Australia is quite frankly absurd."
Mr Albanese said he raised his concerns last year that a concentration of flight paths would have negative ramifications, and that the point merge system should never have been on the table.
However, Mr Fletcher today dismissed Labor's proposals as "hastily cobbled together", adding that they remain unsafe according civil aviation rules that say tail winds from aircrafts flying in a single direction above certain speeds can be dangerous.
Mr Fletcher said a "careful, thorough and methodical" flight path planning process is underway, with a final Environmental Impact Statement to be released later this year.
It would then go through Environment Minister Greg Hunt for approval.
Topics: federal---state-issues, urban-development-and-planning, badgerys-creek-2171
First posted |
Metal Gear Solid 5 will “take on the world” if Hideo Kojima has anything to say about it.
Speaking in an interview with Famitsu, Kojima said his team’s intent with the game was to develop “something that can please players on a global scale.”
“Metal Gear sells the most in the United States. The largest market is also the United States, and they’re home to the world’s largest game show in E3. Naturally, we’d like to compete and win against the world’s best, there,” he said. “Metal Gear Solid V’s ‘V’ also stands for ‘Victory,’ which also means that we’d like to win in a global scale, once again.
“In the past 15 years, hardware has continued to evolve, but I don’t think the substance of games have evolved as much. In a sense, I’d like to take a step forward. But If I go too far, I may not be able to sell as much in Japan (laughs). Not only the graphics, but I want to increase the quality within the games themselves.”
He also said that the game will have tablet features integrated, because with the current cloud climate, there is no longer a reason to restrict games to particular platforms.
“Metal Gear Solid 5 will indeed be challenging the rest of the world. In order to win this fight, we’ll be needing all of your support. Please look forward to the world of a next-generation social service that will utilize the cloud,” he said.
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain will be released on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, maybe eventually PC, and is still without a release date. It will also contain an open-world, and Metal Gear Online which is being worked on in Kojima Productions’ LA studio “to create a vast multiplayer for all the fans.”
Thanks, Siliconera. |
By Grant Hinds at Thursday, January 26, 2012 1:53:09 PM
If video games are prophetic, we have a multitude of problems headed our way, and none as big as the imminent zombie apocalypse. In the wisdom and foresight of a handful of American rednecks, they’ve developed a modified, outfitted AK47 specialized for killing zombies.It’s an AK47 called the DoubleStar Zombie-X (‘X’ stands for ‘Exterminator’) and has a friggin’ chainsaw bayonet (No surprises as to where they got that idea from). It’s also kitted with a EOTech Zombie Stopper XPS2-Z Holographic Sight that removes the cross-hair and replaces it with a biohazard sign. You know, because zombies don’t like to be pointed at with biohazard signs? I wonder why they haven’t manufactured crucifix cross-hairs for vampire slaying... And let’s not forget that massive magazine hanging off the bottom.The chainsaw bayonet isn’t as meaty as it should be and looks like it’ll just tickle a zombie to death. It’s operated by a battery on the butt of the gun and looks rather undersized and impotent. I’d rather punch a zombie to death.To make things a little more redneck (as if this wasn’t getting any less), they’ve included an Ace Tactical Bottle Opener for cracking open that victory brewsky, on condition you survived the fight of course.A dumbed-down version of the gun is available for full retail at the wonderful and affordable price of $1,249.99. I’m not sure if they’ll let this one past South African customs though. The DoubleStar has not been confirmed for sale yet. |
Rain Man's protagonist played by Dustin Hoffman came after Kim Peek, a 'mega savant' whose memory was so strong he could recall the contents of over 12,000 books.
Psycho's Norman Bates came after serial killer Ed Gein, who killed several young women and exhumed the corpses of many more in the quest to make a skin suit resembling his dead mother.
The Big Lebowski. The Dude is based on Jeff Dowd, a one-time anti-Vietnam activist who had grown increasingly disreputable - and increasingly fond of White Russians.
Rocky Balboa - Stallone wrote the screenplay after seeing no-hope bruiser Chuck Wepner last until the 15th round in a fight with Muhammad Ali.
Indiana Jones is inspired by Hiram Bingham III, the academic and adventurer who rediscovered Machu Piccu in 1911.
Sherlock Holmes' father Arthur Conan Doyle was once a clerk to a medical lecturer called Joseph Bell, who taught forensic science by deducing information about random strangers.
Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle's dreaming of washing the scum off the street was based on the case of Arthur Bremer, who shot Presidential candidate George Wallace in 1972.
Sally Bowles as played by Liza Minnelli in Cabaret was created by Christopher Isherwood in homage to Jean Ross, an acquaintance of the author when he lived in Berlin during the 1930s.
The Citizen Charles Foster Kane is based on the controversial publisher William Randolph Hearst as Orson Welles reluctantly admitted.
Tom Hanks' hero in The Terminal is the real story of Iranian refugee Mehran Karimi Nasseri, who lost his paper at Charles De Gaulle in Paris and lived at the airport for 8 years.
Dorian Gray aka the poet John Gray was believed to be Oscar Wilde's lover, sent by the author to immortality.
On The Road's charismatic rebel, Dean Moriarty was based on the author Jack Kerouac's friend, writer Neal Cassady.
Dirk Diggler, played by Mark Wahlberg in Boogie Nights was modeled by John Holmes, who similarly made his name on the size of his member.
Alice in Wonderland was named after Alice Liddell, a family friend of Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) for whom the story was written.
Lolita - the novel's author, Vladimir Nabokov, based Lolita on Florence Horner, an 11-year-old girl kidnapped by a paedophile in 1948. |
Name: Jamaica
Age: 41
County of Residence: Allegheny County, I have lived in OH, MN, CA, TX, NY, NC, WA and MT but never anywhere other than in Allegheny County during my PA tenures.
Pronouns: she/her
How do you describe your identity? I’m a cis white girl and feminine in the way that a cross between Cyndi Lauper and Tank Girl might be feminine.
I’m also bi, but have always thought of myself as queer.
Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I didn’t really have one. It’s hard to describe but because of the way my mother was/is, it wasn’t until I was (far) out of college that I existed anywhere but primarily queer communities. Coming out wasn’t necessary for me, or at least it didn’t feel like it was.
How would you describe yourself NOW in terms of “being out”? Now is DIFFERENT. People take me for straight, because my most recent relationship (it was a significant one) was with a man. That relationship is also what brought me back to Pittsburgh after decades away. That relationship was also brutal, and to say the very least, the dude did not celebrate my sexuality (or allow me to). So, it’s different now for a lot of reasons. I am out with my friends, but DEFINITELY not at work. I’m already the weird one in the office, and am not in a relationship anyway, so it really doesn’t seem worth the further alienation that would inevitably follow.
Tell me about the first LGBTQ person whom you met. What impact did they have on your life? My mom :).
My mom came out when I was eight, by way of falling in love with my best friend’s mom. I didn’t know it at the time because I was too young to know anything different, but my mom has always been 100% iconoclastic. Prior to her coming out, I had never heard mention that there was any single right way to live (other than just being decent, of course), so when she told my sisters and I that we were moving in with my bff, I was thrilled. Immediately, bullying began at school and that’s when I learned that there was one way people were “supposed” to live. My mom taught me then, as directly but also indirectly, that that was a buncha bullshit and that everyone – absolutely everyone – deserved the dignity of being themselves.
Past or present, favorite LGBTQ character or creator in television, film or literature? Please tell us why. Geez.
Man.
FAVORITE?!
I mean, this may sound crazy and I don’t even know if it was ever clarified that he was gay, but I loved (!) the character of “The Homeless Cabaret Singer” in the Fisher King. He was just so charming and genuinely “him” and he did not give a fuck.
How do you stay informed about LGBTQ issues? My friends. I’m in AA, and I go to three meetings that are heavily comprised of LQBTQ folks. Thats really what keeps me connected to the community.
Describe your geographical community. I live in Regent Square, so yeah of course. Pittsburgh itself is friendlyISH, but Pittsburgh is friendlyISH to everyone who isn’t white, straight and/or Yinzer. I like this city, but woof. It’s rough on the spirit socially.
Describe your local or regional LGBTQ community. Well, I mean there’s my mom. And although they didn’t stay together my best friend’s mom (with whom we shacked up) is still a parental figure to me to some extent.
Then there are my AA friends, who are basically my entire world, and drawing a broader circle, the “community” of Pittsburgh itself.
I have to say, though, that I do not feel as if Pittsburgh has a strong queer community. Maybe this is because I’m sober and don’t go to bars, or maybe it’s because I’m old, but there’s no there there when it comes to Pittsburgh’s queer community and I feel like it’s always been that way.
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Have you ever experienced discrimination based on your identity? Specifically, in a job setting, when applying for housing or while in public. In a job setting, sure, I went to a very liberal college in the middle of a very rural part of Ohio (redundant – sorry), and during my final year I worked at the same restaurant as my girlfriend. We were both harassed daily, but me much more so I think because I was much more feminine than my girlfriend. The boss did nothing to intervene and in fact told us that it was what we should expect.
Tell us about your access to health care in Western PA. Has it been LGBTQ competent (or not?) I don’t believe I have medical issues or experiences that are reflective of my LGBTQ status, so I don’t feel as it I can address this.
Are there issues impacting your LGBTQ neighbors that aren’t visible or part of the local dialogue? Addiction, for sure. Complete and total disowning still happens, and still crushes young people’s spirits. Terrible harassment of trans people. Loneliness, isolation, feelings of abandonment… it’s so bad among my young friends I just can’t believe it. It was bad when I was a kid but I never expected that it would stay so bad for so long.
What would you like to see elected officials do to improve life for LGBTQ Pennsylvanians? I like to see members of the LGBTQ community *be* elected officials. I’d like to see our elected officials be vocal about LGBTQ rights in months other than June, to lobby for them in Harrisburg, and to create an innovative safety net for young people who are kicked out and/or disowned. I’d like to see Pittsburgh become a leader in advancing LGBTQ rights, as opposed to an embarrassment.
Please share a lived experience, anecdote or fact about life as an LGBTQ person in your community. When I was in tenth grade (in Monroeville), my English teacher – who was my favorite teacher ever – made a joke in class about gay people and everyone laughed. I was so mad at him because we were close and I thought that he knew not only about my mom, but about my struggles in that school because she was gay. I wrote him a note, reminding him that you never know what people’s background experiences are and he held me back after class the next day to apologize and thank me. It was a really nice and proud moment for me – it was the first time I found the nerve to be an active advocate, and I was empowered by his response.
Beyond discrimination, what other barriers create challenges for your LGBTQ neighbors? Emotional health and self-esteem. Without those, everything is so, SO much more difficult. I see it in AA everyday, how lives are so stifled and unnecessarily tangled by those kids (mostly) feeling so badly about themselves. It’s heart-wrenching.
What LGBTQ friendly resources are available for your neighbors? In the AA community, there are some really great meetings geared toward the LGBTQ community. Persad is of course a resource and the Delta Foundation of course is not. I don’t know if any others that are explicit supports for the LGBTQ community in Pittsburgh.
What is your greatest fear for the LGBTQ community in Western Pennsylvania? THAT IT NEVER, EVER GETS BETTER.
I saw this shit when I was eight, having to wait to be let in the back door of Wild Sisters when my mom would take us there. I can’t believe I’m still seeing it now.
What is your greatest hope for the LGBTQ community in Western Pennsylvania? THAT IT GETS BETTER!!!
What can allies do to support your LGBTQ community? Be ACTIVE ADVOCATES, not allies. (::eyeroll::)
How can gay men and lesbians support the bisexual, transgender and queer members of our community? Don’t be dicks. We’re all in this together.
What motivated you to take part in this project? I love the idea. I don’t feel like we have a community in our community, and without that we have no voice. I want us to have a voice.
Finally, what question should I have asked? Please also share your answer. Question: Who is your favorite LGBTQ cultural icon?
Answer: Annie Liebovitz, because she does not give a f*ck and she is smart as hell.
Thank you, Jamaica.
Read the entire AMPLIFY LGBTQ Q&A archive.
Submit your own Q&A using our online form.
AMPLIFY LGBTQ is a series of blog posts designed to give a “signal boost” to the voices of our LGBTQ neighbors throughout Western Pennsylvania. These are glimpses in to the lived experiences of LGBTQ people in Western Pennsylvania as told in their own voices. |
The 100% electronic O'Dwyer VLe "Smart Gun" is to incorporate biometric authorising technology that should enable it to meet new US requirements for "personalised" handguns according to a joint release from Metal Storm and the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).Legislation passed last year in the State of New Jersey requires that "three years after it is determined that personalized handguns are available for retail purposes, it will be illegal-. for any dealer or manufacturer to sell, assign or transfer any handgun unless that handgun is a personalized handgun". The States of New York, Ohio and Tennessee as well as the US Congress, are understood to be preparing similar legislation.The Dynamic Grip Recognition (DGR) biometric authorising technology recently patented by the NJIT will enable the creation of a 'personalised' handgun that is both childproof and personalised to the owner so that absolutely no one else can use it.The O'Dwyer VLe is not only differentiated by its biometric protection, it is the world's first 100% electronic handgun and uses new ballistics technology developed in Australia by Metal Storm that has no moving parts, no separate magazine, no ammunition feed, and outstrips conventional firing systems. The seven shot single barrel VLe can fire multiple rounds with a single pull of the trigger at a rate equivalent to 60,000 rounds per minute so that a three shot burst appears to be a single shot.The biometric system will be incorporated into the prototype design that previously specified a security system based on an electronic keying that recognises authorised users who are wearing a special transponder ring.According to Metal Storm, the O'Dwyer VLe electronic handgun allows for the incorporation of a range of 'personalising technology' the original design of the weapon rather than as an 'add on'.The sense of this approach to reducing shooting incidents is obvious (gun deaths in the US in 2000 totalled more than 28,000) and the market in the US (where more than 943,000 handguns were manufactured in 2001) and internationally for this kind of technology is undoubtedly significant. |
I’ve just seen Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and I still can’t believe it. The impossible has happened. And I’m not talking about ho-hum stuff like hyperspace drive, starships making noise, or wild and fantastic aliens in dust-blown, steampunk galactic slums. I mean that a film has suddenly and against all odds made me care about the entire Star Wars franchise.
That’s a frankly staggering achievement for something so surely poised to be an also-ran, a plain and simple money-grab between proper installments in the series. And these it may be, but oil my beard and call me a wookie if it isn’t also shockingly well done.
While I’m no expert on this stuff, by my estimation Rogue One takes place shortly before the events of the original Star Wars (which emerged into the 1977 of wide collars and strutting Travoltas and caveman computer graphics and my own birth, but thanks to George Lucas‘s best-of-breed hubris, was right from the get-go styled as “Episode IV” of a putative nine-part saga). This means Rogue One fits in some time after the Jar Jar Binks fiasco, and not long before Luke Skywalker first shows up.
This of course is fertile ground for nostalgic hat-tips playing to the neckbeard-and-sandals set, and I assume there were many such references in this movie — though the lion’s share sailed right by me. No matter: The ample-waisted gent in the orange jumpsuit (complete with home-trimmed hoses) surely loved them. (When he sat down, this ersatz X-Wing pilot was marshaling the force to balance a teetering popcorn and two large sodas.) Also of note: As the lights dropped and the title screen flashed (“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”), someone cried out, “Star Trek!!”
If seeing a Star Wars film on preview night mere meters from the Googleplex isn’t asking for a nerd rodeo, I don’t know what is.
Felicity Jones was a good choice to lead: she’s competent, emotional when needed, strong, and layered. The supporting cast is similarly composed of solid working actors doing an honest job (Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Mads Mikkelsen, Forest Whitaker, and Riz Ahmed — who was excellent in Jason Bourne and Nightcrawler). Rogue One was directed by relative newcomer (but SFX veteran) Gareth Edwards (who directed Godzilla) and written by Chris Weitz (About a Boy) and Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton, State of Play, and four of the Bourne films). As you’d expect given this pedigree, it’s genuinely watchable.
Aside from being just a solid movie, what’s great about Rogue One is that it stands alone. It doesn’t pander to the canon by larding up on cameos and tie-ins. It doesn’t throw one-trick aliens and wisecracking droids against the proverbial wall to see what sticks. Rogue One introduces compelling new characters (and isn’t shy about killing some off, either). This is a story with real stakes, about a young and disorganized Rebel movement struggling to face the Empire’s gathering storm of power. It’s not a tremendously nuanced take on good vs evil, but that’s never been the franchise’s strong suit — what it is, though, is an engaging war story with memorable characters and truly beautiful special effects and just enough nostalgic stuff to slot it in where it belongs.
Rogue One also avoids making a golden calf of the original trilogy, and thus sidesteps the tiresome idolatry of other recent Star Wars pictures. This is wise and good, since for the silent majority who are not already orange-suited converts to the myth, such veneration has never played well. A brief aside on this point: There’s a great scene in Crocodile Dundee where Paul Hogan turns on the TV in his hotel room, sees the opening credits for I Love Lucy, declares that he’s seen this already, and shuts it off. But after my father (who saw the original Episode IV in the theater) watched The Force Awakens — the entire film, mind you — he dismissed it by saying he’d seen basically the exact same movie 38 years before. That right there is the risk of too much reverence, too little imagination, and an almost fetishistic need to hew close to Lucas’s disco-era musings.
Rogue One doesn’t, and I’m glad. It’s a tight, eminently watchable and visually striking dip into the Star Wars galaxy, one that lays a rich backdrop for everything that’s already there and hands the baton to the Skywalker trilogy in a way that makes me actually want to see those films again.
Now I really have seen it all.
Haus Verdict: A total surprise — this putative franchise underdog may well be the best film in the whole series. A solid, entertaining, beautiful, and surprisingly powerful blockbuster. Worth your time this Christmas.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opens tomorrow, December 16.
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By their nature, fringe movements usually don’t find the scalding-hot center of the national spotlight. Last weekend’s “Unite the Right” rally in Virginia was an extreme — and informative — exception.
Around the nation, TV screens and social media feeds overflowed with Confederate flags, fascist symbolism and bloody images of violence as far-right groups brawled with anti-racism protesters on the streets of Charlottesville. Their white-power message was suddenly hard to ignore.
What has happened since underscores a basic principle about the far-right in the United States: Attention is a double-edged sword for white nationalists and neo-Nazis, a tool of further empowerment and an implement of their ruin.
Over the past two years, embracing the energy of Donald Trump’s presidency, far-right millennials have grown increasingly vocal on social media and at public events around the country. They’ve accumulated new followers, piled up donations and garnered profiles in mainstream media outlets.
But their rising visibility also breeds contempt. Outside the far-right, antipathy to neo-Nazis, white nationalists and other fascist figures has been building for months, sometimes giving rise to protests that boil into violent street fights.
Now, the blowback from last weekend’s high-profile chaos has spread further — into the business world, on the streets and even at home.
In recent days, several websites frequented by the far-right have been shut down and forced into silence. The Daily Stormer — the web’s most popular neo-Nazi site and a crucial platform promoting the Charlottesville rally — has had its Web hosting yanked by GoDaddy and Google, and the site had gone dark as of Tuesday.
Same for American Vanguard, a fascist group whose supporters attended the rally and which had its hosting dropped by WordPress. Gab, a social media service popular with some far-right figures, was temporarily inaccessible after its operators said it was being bombarded by a distributed denial-of-service attack by online vandals attempting to shut down the site. The anti-extremism Southern Poverty Law Center is pressuring PayPal to cut off white nationalists from its services.
Leading white nationalist Richard Spencer, who was scheduled to speak at the event, already has had a future speaking engagement canceled at Texas A&M University, and two Washington, D.C., hotels canceled his reservations as he tried to book space to hold a news conference to debrief reporters about the weekend’s rally. Instead, reporters filed into his home office to hear him talk.
Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images White nationalist Richard Spencer speaks to select media in his office space on Aug. 14, 2017, in Alexandria, Va. White nationalist Richard Spencer speaks to select media in his office space on Aug. 14, 2017, in Alexandria, Va. (Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images)
“We kept getting canceled. We had to come here,” Spencer told them.
Less-extreme figures abandoned and criticized the “alt-right” movement in November after a video of Spencer receiving Nazi salutes at a conference went viral. Now, Spencer and other prominent rally figures are again under criticism from the right.
“Richard Spencer has a kill count now and blood on his hands,” former Breitbart writer Katie McHugh wrote at GotNews, a right-wing news site, alluding to the three people who died during Saturday’s clashes — one woman killed by a driver ramming a car into a crowd of counterprotesters and two state troopers monitoring the action who died when their helicopter crashed.
“Spencer is ‘not responsible,’ but, of course, he is completely responsible,” McHugh wrote, “both because he knew that something like this is exactly what would happen and because the entire media is going to treat him as responsible (which, of course, he knew was going to happen).”
Another right-wing blogger, Roosh Valizadeh, wrote that Spencer “needs to do some serious soul-searching on whether he’s the man who can continue as a leader for his followers.”
Spencer denied responsibility and has blamed officials for the chaos, tweeting at Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer: “You are responsible for allowing this chaos. Blood is on your hands.”
Last weekend’s rally also inspired the left to hold street rallies of their own around the nation in opposition. Opponents of Confederate memorials — public officials and protesters alike — have redoubled their efforts to have the symbols taken down, sometimes in dramatic fashion.
In Durham, N.C., on Monday night, a crowd of protesters used a yellow tether to yank a memorial to Confederate soldiers from its tall pedestal, and it toppled headfirst into the ground. The crowd cheered as bystanders rushed in to kick the remains. The inscription on the pedestal read, “In memory of the boys who wore the gray.”
Virginia Bridges / AP A toppled Confederate statue lies on the ground on Aug. 14, 2017, in Durham, N.C. A toppled Confederate statue lies on the ground on Aug. 14, 2017, in Durham, N.C. (Virginia Bridges / AP)
Anti-racist Internet users also have worked to identify and harass white nationalist figures who were photographed at the weekend’s events.
“Peter Cvjetanovic, a white nationalist, is upset that this photo of him has gone viral,” tweeted journalist Kurt Eichenwald, referring to an interview with a television station in which Cvjetanovic acknowledged being a white nationalist but said he wasn’t a racist. “So be nice: dont retweet this tweet 1000s of times.” Eichenwald’s tweet of a picture of Cvjetanovic has been retweeted almost 400,000 times.
One rally attendee, Cole White, quit his job at a popular Berkeley hot dog eatery after the business was inundated with complaints, according to a statement by the eatery. Another attendee, Nigel Krofta, lost his job at a commercial and industrial supplier in South Carolina. Ditto James O’Brien, who worked at a Tampa, Fla., roofing company. Under pressure, attendee James Allsup stepped down as president of the College Republicans at Washington State University. |
More than 3,000 soldiers will begin supporting missions in Africa next year as part of a new reorganization plan that deploys troops quickly to regional hot spots, Army officials say.
Called the “regional alignment concept,” the plan makes Army brigade combat teams available to a regional commander for up to a year. It will be tested in March with the 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team 1st Infantry Division.
“This does not mean that [the brigade] is going to deploy en masse to Africa. Not at all,” said British army Col. Andrew Dennis, who is working with the U.S. Army as division chief of the Army Security Cooperation Policy and Concepts Division for the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.
“What it does mean is that [the brigade] is going to be the sourcing solution of preference to provide troops or [U.S. Africa Command] to carry out their security cooperation requirements,” he said Thursday at a Pentagon briefing.
Many of the troops will continue to be based in the U.S. but will deploy as needed for specific missions.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno said the reorganization will enable the Army to shift its focus to other regions of the world as the war winds down in Afghanistan.
“It’s important to me that we continue to apply the lessons of more than 10 years of continuous combat,” Gen. Odierno said. “We will be leaner. We’ll be a more agile Army that is an adaptive, innovative, versatile and ready component of the joint force.
“Our charter will remain to be the best-manned, best-equipped, best-trained and best-led land force in the world, to be decisive for a broad range of missions.”
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission. |
Image caption The site has become notorious for hosting links to pirated music, movies and games
Three founders of The Pirate Bay have lost an appeal against a conviction for illegally sharing copyrighted content.
The Swedish appeals court upheld the 2009 ruling against the site's founders which saw them sentenced to a year in jail and heavily fined.
The ruling reduces the sentences the men face but increases fines to 46m crowns (£4.1m).
Three of The Pirate Bay's four founders were in court for the verdict. The other was too ill to attend.
The original verdict on Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg and Carl Lundstrom was handed down in April 2009 following a lengthy trial.
Lawyers acting for music labels and movie studios alleged that via The Pirate Bay, the four men helped people circumvent copyright controls.
The founders defended themselves by saying that The Pirate Bay did not host any pirated material directly.
The appeal court ruling will see Mr Neij serve a 10 month sentence; Mr Sunde eight months and Mr Lundstrom four months. Once Mr Svartholm Warg is fit his "criminal liability" will be tested by the appeals court.
Throughout the legal action and appeal hearing The Pirate Bay website has continued to function.
"Today's judgment confirms the illegality of The Pirate Bay and the seriousness of the crimes of those involved," said the International Federation for the Phonographic Industry in a statement.
"It is now time for The Pirate Bay, whose operators have twice been convicted in court, to close. We now look to governments and ISPs to take note of this judgment, do the responsible thing and take the necessary steps to get The Pirate Bay shut down." |
Filesharing indexing sites that operate like search engines for piracy links, are taking to the dark web to escape the clutches of copyright owners.
A new piracy indexing site funded solely by Bitcoins, NewsNab+, has set up shop within the Tor network – commonly referred to as the dark web due to the fact that it is not indexed by search engines and cannot be accessed via the open internet or Google – using its anonymity to protect the piracy site’s location and identity from litigation from copyright owners and their representatives like the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).
"By using Tor as the base of operations, we have reduced the risk of our users being discovered, as well as the risk of the site being discovered, therefore providing a more reliable, long-term solution for indexing,” the administrator of NewsNab+ known only as Tyrion told filesharing news site TorrentFreak.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest NewzNab+ offers links via Tor to download copyrighted media using the usenet filesharing service.
The Tor project is a non-profit organisation that conducts research and development into online privacy and anonymity. It is designed to stop people – including government agencies and corporations – learning your location or tracking your browsing habits.
It offers a browser that bounces internet users' and websites' traffic through "relays" run by thousands of volunteers around the world, making it extremely hard for anyone to identify the source of the information or the location of the user.
Anonymity protection for both administrators and users
Hiding within Tor affords both the administrators of the site some anonymity protection as well as its users. However, it isn’t entirely foolproof, as action taking down the online drugs marketplace Silk Road in October, which also operated solely within the Tor network, proved.
Tyrion describes the use of Tor as like having a heavy bouncer on the door of a club – he only lets in clientele that NewsNab+ wants through the door, but given enough resources and manpower, he could be overwhelmed. The amount of effort required to overwhelm the Tor protection would be prohibitively expensive, at least that’s what Tyrion hopes.
Recent action by media groups, putting pressure on payment providers like Visa, MasterCard and PayPal, resulted in several high-profile usernet indexing pirate sites like NZBMatrix folding due to lack of funding. NewsNab+ hopes to avoid that kind of situation by adopting bitcoin as its primary funding strategy, accepting donations in the digital peer-to-peer currency and not relying on ads or other funding sources.
Forced underground
The move further underground has been fuelled by increasing pressure from media groups like the MPAA, the Recording Industry Association of America, the BPI and the Federation Against Copyright Theft. It is unknown whether other sites like the notorious Pirate Bay would follow suit, or whether NewsNab+ is likely to be popular.
Tor was relatively unknown until high-profile sites like Silk Road and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden’s use of the anonymity network hit the mainstream media, but now it is slowly becoming more well known as more and more allegedly illegal sites move into the dark web to escape monitoring and prosecution by the authorities.
• Tor is a privacy tool that hides your location and internet address from surveillance by bouncing your internet requests through multiple computers |
The rectum is the final straight portion of the large intestine in humans and some other mammals, and the gut in others. The adult human rectum is about 12 centimetres (4.7 in) long,[2] and begins at the rectosigmoid junction, the end of the sigmoid colon, at the level of the third sacral vertebra or the sacral promontory depending upon what definition is used.[3] Its caliber is similar to that of the sigmoid colon at its commencement, but it is dilated near its termination, forming the rectal ampulla. It terminates at the level of the anorectal ring (the level of the puborectalis sling) or the dentate line, again depending upon which definition is used.[3] In humans, the rectum is followed by the anal canal which is about 4 centimetres (1.6 in) long, before the gastrointestinal tract terminates at the anal verge. The word rectum comes from the Latin rectum intestinum, meaning straight intestine.
Structure
The rectum lies in front of the sacrum . It lies behind the bladder in males (left), and the vagina and uterus in females (right).
The rectum is a part of the lower gastrointestinal tract. The rectum is a continuation of the sigmoid colon, and connects to the anus. The rectum follows the shape of the sacrum and ends in an expanded section called the rectal ampulla, where feces are stored before their release via the anal canal. An ampulla is a cavity, or the dilated end of a duct, shaped like a Roman ampulla.
Unlike other portions of the colon, the rectum does not have distinct taeniae coli.[4]: 397 The taeniae blend with one another in the sigmoid colon five centimeters above the rectum, giving rise to a layer of longitudinal muscle that surrounds the rectum on all sides for its entire length.[5]
The rectum connects with the sigmoid colon at the level of S3, and connects with the anal canal as it passes through the pelvic floor muscles.[4]: 397
Supports of the rectum include:[citation needed]
Pelvic floor formed by levator ani muscles.
Waldeyer's fascia
Lateral ligaments of rectum which are formed by the condensation of pelvic fascia
Rectovesical fascia of Denonvillers, which extends from rectum behind to the seminal vesicles and prostate in front.
Pelvic peritoneum
Perineal body
Arteries of the pelvis
Blood vessels of the rectum and anus
Inner diameters of different sections of the large intestine, with rectum near rectal/sigmoid junction measuring on average 5.7 cm (range 4.5-7.5 cm).[6]
Microanatomy
Cross-section microscopic shot of the rectal wall
Section of mucous membrane of human rectum (60×)
Dog Rectum cross-section (40×)
Dog Rectum cross-section (400×)
Function
The rectum acts as a temporary storage site for feces. As the rectal walls expand due to the materials filling it from within, stretch receptors from the nervous system located in the rectal walls stimulate the desire to defecate. If the urge is not acted upon, the material in the rectum is often returned to the colon where more water is absorbed from the feces. If defecation is delayed for a prolonged period, constipation and hardened feces results.[citation needed]
When the rectum becomes full (if the internal and external sphincters are relaxed) the increase in intrarectal pressure forces the walls of the anal canal apart, allowing the fecal matter to enter the canal. The rectum shortens as material is forced into the anal canal. Although peristalsis in the colon delivers material to the rectum, laxatives such as bisacodyl or senna that induce peristalsis in the large bowel do not appear to initiate peristalsis in the rectum. They induce a sensation of rectal fullness and contraction that frequently leads to defecation, but without the distinct waves of activity characteristic of peristalsis.[7] The anal longitudinal muscle also participates in defecation by everting the anus.[8]
Clinical significance
The inside of a normal human rectum in a 70-year-old, seen during colonoscopy
Retroflexed view of the human rectum seen at colonoscopy showing anal verge
Examination
For the diagnosis of certain ailments, a rectal exam may be done. These include faecal impaction, prostatic cancer and benign prostatic hypertrophy in men, faecal incontinence, and internal haemorrhoids.[9]: 179–180
A colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy are forms of endoscopy that use a guided camera to view the rectum. These may have the ability to take biopsies if needed, and may be used to diagnose diseases such as cancer.
Body temperature can also be taken in the rectum. Rectal temperature can be taken by inserting a medical thermometer not more than 25 mm (1 inch) into the rectum via the anus. A mercury thermometer should be inserted for 3 to 5 minutes; a digital thermometer should remain inserted until it beeps. Normal rectal temperature generally ranges from 36 to 38 °C (96.8 to 100.4 °F) and is about 0.5 °C (1 °F) above oral (mouth) temperature and about 1 °C (2 °F) above axilla (armpit) temperature.[citation needed] In recent years, the introduction of non-invasive temperature taking methods including tympanic (ear) and forehead thermometers, and changing attitudes on privacy and modesty have led some parents and doctors to discontinue taking rectal temperatures.[citation needed]
Route of administration
By their definitions, suppositories are inserted, and enemas are injected, via the rectum. Both of these may be used for the delivery of drugs or to relieve constipation; enemas are also used for a variety of other purposes, medical and otherwise.
Constipation
One cause of constipation is faecal impaction in the rectum, in which a dry, hard stool forms. Manual evacuation is the use of a gloved finger to evacuate faeces from the rectum, and, after the application of stool softeners, is utilised in acute constipation.[10]: 914 It is also in the long-term management of neurogenic bowel, seen most frequently in people with a spinal cord injury or multiple sclerosis. Digital rectal stimulation, the insertion of one finger into the rectum, may be used to induce peristalsis in patients whose own peristaltic reflex is inadequate to fully empty the rectum.
Diseases
Proctitis is inflammation of the anus and the rectum.
Rectal cancer, a subgroup of colorectal cancer specific to the rectum.
Rectal prolapse, referring to the prolapse of the rectum into the anus or external area. This is commonly caused by a weakened pelvic floor after childbirth.
Other diseases
Other diseases of the rectum include:
Ulcerative colitis, one form of inflammatory bowel disease that causes ulcers that affect the rectum. This may be episodic, over a person's lifetime. These may cause blood to be visible in the stool. As of 2014 the cause is unknown.
In the context of mesenteric ischemia, the upper rectum is sometimes referred to as Sudak's point and is of clinical importance as a watershed region between the inferior mesenteric artery circulation and the internal iliac artery circulation via the middle rectal artery and thus prone to ischemia. Sudak's point is often referred to along with Griffith's point at the splenic flexure as a watershed region.
Society and culture
Sexual stimulation
Due to the proximity of the anterior wall of the rectum to the vagina in females or to the prostate in males, and the shared nerves thereof, rectal stimulation or penetration can result in sexual arousal.
History
Etymology
English rectum is derived from the full Latin expression intestinum rectum.[11] The English name straight gut[12] truly expresses the literal meaning of this expression, as Latin rectum means straight,[13] and intestinum means gut.[13] This Latin expression is a translation[14][15] of Ancient Greek ἀπευθυσμένον ἔντερον, derived from ἀπευθύνειν, to make straight,[16] and ἔντερον, gut,[16] attested in the writings of Greek physician Galen.[14][15] During his anatomic investigations on animal corpses, Galen observed the rectum to be straight instead of curved as in humans.[14][15] The expressions ἀπευθυσμένον ἔντερον and intestinum rectum are therefore not appropriate descriptions of the rectum in humans. Apeuthysmenon[17] can be considered as Latinization of ἀπευθυσμένον ἔντερον and euthyenteron[18] has a similar meaning (εὐθύς = straight[16]).
See also
References |
The Governor General's Award for English-language fiction is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian writer for a fiction book written in English. Beginning 1987[1] it is one of fourteen Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit, seven each for creators of English- and French-language books. Originally presented by the Canadian Authors Association,[clarification needed] the Governor General's Awards program became a project of the Canada Council for the Arts in 1959.[2] The age requirement is 18 and up.
The program was created in 1937 and inaugurated that November for 1936 publications in two English-language categories, conventionally called the 1936 Governor General's Awards.[1]
The winners alone were announced until 1979, when Canada Council released in advance a shortlist of three nominees. Omitted only for 1981, the advance shortlist has numbered three to six; from 1997, always five.
Winners and nominees [ edit ]
1930s [ edit ]
1940s [ edit ]
1950s [ edit ]
1960s [ edit ]
1970s [ edit ]
1980s [ edit ]
1990s [ edit ]
2000s [ edit ]
2010s [ edit ] |
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The Great Outdoors Gym – there is one near you!
article by Afroditi K
So you already know how important exercise is for maintaining a healthy and strong body. There are a lot of sports you can do, for a limited budget, especially here in London, i.e. running. But what if you want to build on some specific muscles? Gyms are wonderful for that, but unfortunately they normally come with a monthly fee which makes them a luxury during that period when you are studying, looking for a job, or saving up for a trip. Fortunately, there is a solution to that: The Great Outdoors Gym (TGO).
The Great Outdoors Gym Company has partnered with many of councils and organisations bringing a gym in an outdoors space near you! Equipment is free to use and it’s an ideal ending to a run. Check their page to find one near you.
What can I expect to find there? Equipment varies from place to place but as an indication you would find: a chest press, an abs bench, a recumbent bike and many more!
Is there a trainer? No, there is not but after you locate your nearest outdoor gym, spot the equipment you want to use and go online on TGO website. There you will find instructions on how to use it and tips to make you a pro!
PS: If you absolutely need a gym for those rainy days – check The Gym. Prices vary in locations around London but it never costs more than twenty quid for a whole month and there is no annual contract, which means you are free to leave when you want. Plus if you like their Facebook page, you can find out all about their offers and occasional free passes (like the competition that they run for their 5-year-birthday).
—
You may also want to check our article about the places in London where you can get a Free Gym Pass. |
WIKIMEDIA, MAGGIE BARTLETT, NHGRICreating genetically modified mice for experiments can take months or even years, and making mice with multiple mutations can be especially time-consuming. But a new system for genetically engineering model organisms could reduce that time to under 4 weeks, according to a paper published last week (May 2) in Cell.
“This new method is a game changer,” Rudolf Jaenisch, an author of the paper, said in a press release from the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he is a founding member. “We can now make a mouse with five mutations in just 3 to 4 weeks, whereas the conventional way would take 3 to 4 years.”
Jaenisch and colleagues’ method takes advantage of a set of proteins and RNAs that bacteria use to degrade DNA from viruses and foreign plasmids. Called the CRISPR/Cas system, it works by recognizing foreign DNA and causing double-strand breaks.
Jaenisch and colleagues used the CRISPR/Cas systems to make targeted double-strand breaks in regions of mouse DNA they wanted to alter. They showed that they could coopt the system to simultaneously make multiple desired mutations in mouse stem cells or in very young embryos, yielding mouse pups with multiple heritable homozygous mutations.
The researchers say that, while they have only tested their method in mice, it could potentially work in other species as well. Traditionally, genetic engineering methods in mammals have required stem cells, and so model organisms have generally been mice and rats, whose stem cells scientists are able to grow. But since the CRISPR/Cas system can be used for genetic engineering in very young embryos as well as stem cells, it could potentially be useful in a wider range of animals.
“This breaks down the definition of model organism,” Haoyi Wang, a postdoctoral scholar at the Whitehead Institute who was also an author of the study, said in the press release.
The paper does note that so far the researchers have only been able to target some regions of the mouse genome, but they suspect that other CRISPR/Cas systems will be able to fill in gaps in coverage. |
Image copyright Reuters Image caption Prince Harry and Cressida Bonas are said to remain "the best of friends"
Prince Harry and his girlfriend Cressida Bonas have split up.
BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt tweeted that the break-up was "said to be 'amicable' and they remain 'the best of friends'".
He said the prince was "keen, according to those who know him, to make it clear the relationship didn't end because he found Cressida 'too needy'."
Their attendance at their first official engagement together in March had prompted engagement speculation.
The pair sat together and embraced in the stands at Wembley Arena at a We Day UK charity event.
Speculation had since mounted that the fourth-in-line to the throne would pop the question with his 30th birthday looming.
News of the split came as Clarence House announced Prince Harry would embark on a three-day official visit to Estonia and Italy next month.
The trip, from 16 to 19 May, will see the prince meet a range of servicemen from World War Two veterans to serving military personnel.
'Unwanted attention'
Prince Harry and Miss Bonas, 25, were reportedly introduced by Princess Eugenie in the summer of 2012.
It was not long after their meeting that photographs of a naked Prince Harry partying with a group of girls in a Las Vegas hotel room were front-page news across the world.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption The couple attended their first official engagement together in March, sparking engagement speculation
The couple then endured a five-month separation when the prince was deployed to fly Apache helicopters with the British army in Afghanistan.
Their relationship resumed when he returned and the pair were often photographed together attending various events, like the Glastonbury music festival and a society wedding.
According to the Daily Telegraph, it was unwanted media attention and engagement speculation that led to the pair's split, while the Press Association reported the couple decided to go their separate ways to allow Miss Bonas to focus on her career.
Image copyright AP Image caption Miss Bonas is believed to have been introduced to the prince by her close friend Princess Eugenie
She completed a year-long contemporary dance course at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire in Greenwich, south London, last year, before securing a marketing job in the city's West End.
Miss Bonas is the daughter of Old Harrovian businessman Jeffrey Bonas and Sixties "It girl" Lady Mary-Gaye Curzon, who once posed semi naked, streaked in engine oil, for a coffee table book called Birds of Britain in homage to her racing driver grandfather Francis, the 5th Earl Howe.
News of the split coincided with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's third wedding anniversary. Prince William and Kate famously broke up for several months four years before they married in 2011.
On Tuesday, Prince Harry visited Tedworth House in Tidworth, Wiltshire, where he met 25 athletes hoping to take part in the Paralympics-style Invictus Games.
The sporting championship for injured members of the armed forces, which the prince launched in March, will see servicemen and women take part in sports like wheelchair basketball, indoor rowing and sitting volleyball.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The prince has said the Invictus Games will celebrate injured troops' "fighting spirit"
Harry's visit to Tedworth House marked the beginning of a selection process for the event.
The prince has further commitments over the coming months. On top of visiting Estonia and Italy, he will travel to Brazil and Chile in June on a trip expected to coincide with the World Cup.
The prince's most serious previous girlfriend was Zimbabwe-born Chelsy Davy. They had an on-off relationship while Harry was training in the Army and overseas, and while Chelsy was at university in her home country. |
Anishinabe artist and writer Jay Odjick took to Twitter Monday to call out the lack of clean drinking water on many First Nations in Canada.
Odjick, a TV producer and comics creator, tweeted that his community hasn't had clean drinking water for decades.
In My community, Kitigan Zibi - we have not had clean drinking water for over 30 years, as far as I know. — Jay Odjick (@JayOdjick) March 20, 2017
Residents of the Quebec community haven't been able to use their tap water for cooking, drinking or brushing their teeth since 1999. But uranium was found in the drinking water as early as 1993. It took six years for Health Canada to issue the 1999 advisory, after members of the community expressed concern that people were getting cancer, according to a report by the Radiation Safety Institute of Canada.
Can't boil away radiation. Most homes have bottled water; water coolers. So we dont drink it but we wash in it. Wash our babies in it. — Jay Odjick (@JayOdjick) March 20, 2017
If anyone wants to learn more about the uranium / Radon situation in KZ:
Radon: The Kitigan Zibi Experience https://t.co/3u4X3xjcVT — Jay Odjick (@JayOdjick) March 20, 2017
The federal government's 2016 budget announced $1.8 billion to improve on-reserve water infrastructure over the next five years, including $4.9 million to improve housing, water and sewage in Kitigan Zibi.
But as of Dec. 31, 2016, there were still 127 drinking water advisories in Canada's provinces (not counting those in British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, or communities in the Saskatoon Tribal Council). Out of those, 96 advisories had been in place for over a year. Some have been around for decades.
As of February, there were 20 drinking water advisories in B.C.
Paganakomin Lake is seen in Kigian Zibi Algonquin First Nation in 2011. The region's well water is contaminated with uranium. (Photo: Francis Vachon/CP)
There are three types of drinking water advisories in Canada:
boil water advisories
an order not to consume tap water, but the water is still safe for showers or baths
do not use warnings, which mean the water isn't safe to use at all
Ontario's Neskantaga First Nation has been on a boil water advisory for 23 years.
In 2013, Neskantaga instituted a state of emergency after four members of the community of 300 committed suicide — and the First Nation's chief says he won't lift the emergency until the government has addressed the poor living conditions residents cope with daily.
"We have not lifted that state of emergency to this day, because of the fact the [living] conditions still remain the same," Chief Wayne Moonias told CBC News last year.
One 18-year-old former resident, who moved away to seek mental health support, told CBC News that showering — which was supposed to be safe — left her body covered in blisters.
Potlotek First Nation Chief Wilbert Marshall speaks at a community meeting about the Nova Scotia community's drinking water problems on Oct. 4, 2016. The community was under a "do not consume" order by Health Canada since until December. (Photo: Steve Wadden/CP)
In February, the David Suzuki Foundation and the Council of Canadians released a report that found Canada's government is not on track to resolve drinking water problems within its five year goal.
The organizations looked at nine Ontario First Nations under drinking water advisories. Only three of the nine had seen significant progress in improving their drinking water over the past year, and the report said there was still a possibility that the advisories might not be lifted in five years. In the case of Constance Lake First Nation, the advisory was lifted but the community still needs nearly $800,000 in repairs to keep systems running safely.
Other drinking water advisories remain voluntary, the report said.
The United Nations and Human Rights Watch have also called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to address the issue.
"This isn’t just a campaign promise but a human rights obligation," wrote HRW senior researcher Amanda Klasing in a report.
Many are concerned that the government will not fulfill its promise.
“During the election campaign (Trudeau) and his party convinced a lot of our people who normally don’t vote in elections to step forward and come to vote with the hope that change would come about. But change has been very slow in coming,” Jean Guy Whiteduck, chief of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg, told The National Post.
Odjick said Canadians need to speak up.
"This is the reality of First Nations in Canada in 2017. And we need Canadians to help. Tell the Canadian government this is unacceptable," he tweeted.
Follow The Huffington Post Canada on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Also on HuffPost |
NYPD auxiliary officers James Kiernan (left) and Jordan Martinez are accused of handcuffing and robbing a food deliveryman in East Harlem. (Credit: NYPD)
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Two NYPD auxiliary police officers have been arrested and charged with handcuffing a food deliveryman and robbing him in an East Harlem apartment building.
The 48-year-old deliveryman was bringing food to an apartment in the building at 220 E. 102nd St. just after 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 25, police said. Two men flashed police shields in the lobby of the building and accompanied the deliveryman to the 14th floor in the elevator, police said.
The victim tried to deliver food to the apartment where he had been sent, but the occupant said no order had been placed, police said.
The deliveryman then walked back to the elevator and found the two men with the police shields waiting, police said.
The men forced the victim out of the elevator and handcuffed him with his hands behind his back, police said. They went on to take $180, his wallet, and his iPhone 4S, police said.
The suspects then ran off, police said. Officers responded and took the handcuffs off the deliveryman, police said.
The NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau Police Impersonation Unit responded and investigated, and determined that the suspects were actually auxiliary police officers, police said.
The auxiliary officers – James Kiernan, 22, of the Upper East Side, and Jordan Martinez, 22, of East Harlem – were both charged with robbery, burglary, unlawful imprisonment, criminal impersonation, assault, and criminal mischief, police said.
Auxiliary police officers are “eyes and ears” volunteers who perform uniformed foot, vehicle and bicycle patrols, and observe and report conditions that might require actual officers. They do not carry guns, but do carry wooden batons and handcuffs.
Police were asking victims of similar incidents to contact the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau at (212) 741-8401, or the NYPD Crime Stoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. |
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A regional planning agency is studying the future of the downtown freeway loop, with some suggesting that part of the highway is redundant and could be eliminated.
In the River Market, near the north part of the highway loop, some claim the idea would transform downtown.
The section of I-70 from Columbus Park to Kaw Point in KCK isn't traveled nearly as much as I-670 just a few blocks to the south, which provides similar access for traffic.
Proponents say removing the so-called north loop and I-70 link to KCK would save money by eliminating a costly stretch of bridges and pavement.
It also would reconnect neighborhoods surrounding downtown and open up more land for development.
The plan would make the downtown area more walkable and some of the bridges and right-of-way could be transformed into an urban pathway, hooking up to existing trails at Kaw Point on the west and Columbus Park to the east.
"The biggest benefit is reconnecting the street grid," said Eric Bunch, policy director for BikeWalkKC. "River Market has been disconnected from downtown for decades. This is an opportunity to bring it back together. Redevelop that land so it’s seamless for a person on a streetcar, who’s walking, who’s in a car, there’s no longer that big, wide, ugly gap between downtown and River Market. This would have an amazing effect of reconnecting that urban fabric."
Making the I-70 bridge into KCK an elevated bicycle pedestrian trail is similar to what other cities have done, as urban freeway removal has become a trend.
The proposal Kansas City is considering is similar to the Midtown Greenway in Minneapolis, Minn.
Organizers say the study is in the early planning stages, and the proposal to reclaim highway land is just one of many options that will be studied.
The Mid America Regional Council is hosting a public meeting on the future of the North Loop Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Central Library.
You can find more information on the project at BeyondTheLoopKC.com. |
Stuxnet is widely believed to be a joint project between the US and Israel. It infiltrated Iran's Natanz nuclear facility in the mid-2000's by first infecting the systems of five of its key suppliers. According to Wired, though, a lot of researchers believe that Israel's the sole country behind both Duqu 1.0 and 2.0. As for why the hackers needed a digital certificate, Wired says it's to disguise a malicious driver, so they can install it on Kaspersky's server. See, Duqu 2.0 itself disappears every time a computer shuts down -- a driver can reinstall it when the system restarts. They also used the driver to funnel data as they stole it, making the malware harder to detect.
Kaspersky's Global Research and Analysis Team director Costin Raiu believes the attackers used a Foxconn certificate, which is apparently extremely rare, to ensure success. However, its rarity gave it away: its presence in the security firm's network set off alarm bells when one of the engineers discovered the breach. He specifically investigated suspicious digital certificates, knowing that Stuxnet and Duqu 1.0 used them in the past. |
Playoff Tickets for Round 2 versus Gatineau on Sale Wednesday, April 2nd at 10am
-www.halifaxmooseheads.ca
Tickets for this weekend’s QMJHL Quarter-Final Series Games 1 and 2 between the Halifax Mooseheads and Gatineau Olympiques go on sale to the General Public this Wednesday morning, April 2nd at 10am at the Ticket Atlantic Box Office, select Superstore Outlets, www.ticketatlantic.com or by phone 451-1221.
Per Round Pack tickets for Season Ticket and 15-Pack Holders are on sale now and up until Tuesday, April 1st at 5pm at the Ticket Atlantic Box Office; in person, over the phone at 451-1221, or online by following the link under 2014 Playoff Information.
The full 2nd Round schedule between the Mooseheads and the Olympiques can be seen below:
Game 1 – Friday, April 4th @7pm Halifax Metro Centre
Game 2 – Saturday, April 5th @7pm Halifax Metro Centre
Game 3 – Tuesday, April 8th @8:30pm Centre Robert-Guertin
Game 4 – Wednesday, April 9th @8:30pm Centre Robert-Guertin
Game 5 – Friday, April 11th @8:30pm Centre Robert-Guertin*
Game 6 – Monday, April 14th @7pm Halifax Metro Centre*
Game 7 – Tuesday, April 15th @7pm Halifax Metro Centre*
*If Necessary
All time AST |
(I do believe it is a NSFW fic at times, so heed warning for any little ones)
Gallery | Commissions | Youtube | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr
New watchers get put in a monthly draw for a free commission! ♥ (And gain my eternal love)
Hi guys!! It's been a while (again), how have you all been? I wish I could tell you all the things that have been going on lately, I'm just so crazy busy!Here's a commission I did recently for He worked very closely with me to make sure the commission came out just as he wanted it.It's for his fanfiction which you can check out here! It's about his OC who is a sole survivor of a space voyage who finds his way into Zootopia.He also requested that I provide a link to the music that they are supposedly dancing to -> www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EiiM3… I'm not much of a reader, but he's looking for some Zootopia fans to check out his work. He says he loves to receive feedback!Thanks for looking guys, I hope you like itPS: I'll be attending some more cons soon! You can catch me at Animaritimes and Montreal Comic Con in July |
"Hegemon" redirects here. For other uses, see Hegemon (disambiguation)
Hegemony ( UK: , US: ( (help·info) ) or ) is the political, economic, or military predominance or control of one state over others.[1][2][3][4] In ancient Greece (8th century BC – 6th century AD), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of a city-state over other city-states.[5] The dominant state is known as the hegemon.[6]
In the 19th century, hegemony came to denote the "Social or cultural predominance or ascendancy; predominance by one group within a society or milieu". Later, it could be used to mean "a group or regime which exerts undue influence within a society".[7] Also, it could be used for the geopolitical and the cultural predominance of one country over others, from which was derived hegemonism, as in the idea that the Great Powers meant to establish European hegemony over Asia and Africa.[8]
In international relations theory, hegemony denotes a situation of (i) great material asymmetry in favour of one state, who has (ii) enough military power to systematically defeat any potential contester in the system, (iii) controls the access to raw materials, natural resources, capital and markets, (iv) has competitive advantages in the production of value added goods, (v) generates an accepted ideology reflecting this status quo; and (vi) is functionally differentiated from other states in the system, being expected to provide certain public goods such as security, or commercial and financial stability.[9]
The Marxist theory of cultural hegemony, associated particularly with Antonio Gramsci, is the idea that the ruling class can manipulate the value system and mores of a society, so that their view becomes the world view (Weltanschauung): in Terry Eagleton's words, "Gramsci normally uses the word hegemony to mean the ways in which a governing power wins consent to its rule from those it subjugates".[10] In contrast to authoritarian rule, cultural hegemony "is hegemonic only if those affected by it also consent to and struggle over its common sense".[11]
In cultural imperialism, the leader state dictates the internal politics and the societal character of the subordinate states that constitute the hegemonic sphere of influence, either by an internal, sponsored government or by an external, installed government.
Etymology [ edit ]
The League of Corinth hegemony: the Kingdom of Macedonia (362 BC) (red) and the Corinthian League (yellow)
From the post-classical Latin word hegemonia (from 1513 or earlier) from the Greek word ἡγεμονία hēgemonía, meaning "authority, rule, political supremacy", related to the word ἡγεμών hēgemōn "leader".[12]
Historical examples [ edit ]
8th–1st centuries BC [ edit ]
In the Greco–Roman world of 5th century BC European classical antiquity, the city-state of Sparta was the hegemon of the Peloponnesian League (6th to 4th centuries BC) and King Philip II of Macedon was the hegemon of the League of Corinth in 337 BC (a kingship he willed to his son, Alexander the Great). Likewise, the role of Athens within the short-lived Delian League (478–404 BC) was that of a "hegemon".[13] Ancient historians such as Xenophon and Ephorus were the first who used the term in its modern sense.[14]
In Ancient East Asia, Chinese hegemony existed during the Spring and Autumn period (c. 770–480 BC), when the weakened rule of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty led to the relative autonomy of the Five Hegemons (Ba in Chinese [霸]). They were appointed by feudal lord conferences, and thus were nominally obliged to uphold the imperium of the Zhou Dynasty over the subordinate states.[15]
1st–14th centuries AD [ edit ]
1st and 2nd century Europe was dominated by the hegemonic peace of the Pax Romana. It was instituted by the emperor Augustus, and was accompanied by a series of brutal military campaigns.[16]
From the 7th century to the 12th century, the Umayyad Caliphate and later Abbasid Caliphate dominated the vast territories they governed, with other states like the Byzantine Empire paying tribute.[17]
In 7th century India, Harsha, ruler of a large empire in northern India from AD 606 to 647, brought most of the north under his hegemony. He preferred not to rule as a central government, but left "conquered kings on their thrones and contenting himself with tribute and homage."[18]
From the late 9th to the early 11th century, the empire developed by Charlemagne achieved hegemony in Europe, with dominance over France, Italy and Burgundy.[19]
During the 14th century, the Crown of Aragon became the hegemon in the Mediterranean Sea.[20]
15th–19th centuries [ edit ]
In The Politics of International Political Economy, Jayantha Jayman writes "If we consider the Western dominated global system from as early as the 15th century, there have been several hegemonic powers and contenders that have attempted to create the world order in their own images." He lists several contenders for historical hegemony.[21]
Phillip IV tried to restore the Habsburg dominance but, by the middle of the 17th century "Spain's pretensions to hegemony (in Europe) had definitely and irremediably failed."[22][23]
In late 16th and 17th-century Holland, the Dutch Republic's mercantilist dominion was an early instance of commercial hegemony, made feasible with the development of wind power for the efficient production and delivery of goods and services. This, in turn, made possible the Amsterdam stock market and concomitant dominance of world trade.[24]
In France, King Louis XIV (1638–1715) and (Emperor) Napoleon I (1799–1815) attempted French true hegemony via economic, cultural and military domination of most of Continental Europe. However, Jeremy Black writes that, because of Britain, France "was unable to enjoy the benefits" of this hegemony.[25]
After the defeat and exile of Napoleon, hegemony largely passed to the British Empire, which became the largest empire in history, with Queen Victoria (1837–1901) ruling over one-quarter of the world's land and population at its zenith. Like the Dutch, the British Empire was primarily seaborne; many British possessions were located around the rim of the Indian Ocean, as well as numerous islands in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Britain also controlled the Indian subcontinent and large portions of Africa.[26]
In Europe, Germany, rather than Britain, may have been the strongest power after 1871, but Samuel Newland writes:
Bismarck defined the road ahead as … no expansion, no push for hegemony in Europe. Germany was to be the strongest power in Europe but without being a hegemon. … His basic axioms were first, no conflict among major powers in Central Europe; and second, German security without German hegemony."[27]
20th century [ edit ]
The early 20th century, like the late 19th century was characterized by multiple Great Powers but no global hegemon. World War I weakened the strongest of the Imperial Powers, Great Britain, but also strengthened the United States and, to a lesser extent, Japan. Both of these states' governments pursued policies to expand their regional spheres of influence, the US in Latin America and Japan in East Asia. France, the UK, Italy, the Soviet Union and later Nazi Germany (1933–1945) all either maintained imperialist policies based on spheres of influence or attempted to conquer territory but none achieved the status of a global hegemonic power.[28]
After the Second World War, the United Nations was established and the five strongest global powers (China, France, the UK, the US, and the USSR) were given permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council, the organization's most powerful decision making body. Following the war, the US and the USSR were the two strongest global powers and this created a bi-polar power dynamic in international affairs, commonly referred to as the Cold War. The hegemonic conflict was ideological, between communism and capitalism, as well as geopolitical, between the Warsaw Pact countries (1955–1991) and NATO/SEATO/CENTO countries (1949–present). During the Cold War both hegemons competed against each other directly (during the arms race) and indirectly (via proxy wars). The result was that many countries, no matter how remote, were drawn into the conflict when it was suspected that their governments' policies might destabilize the balance of power. Reinhard Hildebrandt calls this a period of "dual-hegemony", where "two dominant states have been stabilizing their European spheres of influence against and alongside each other."[29] Proxy wars became battle grounds between forces supported either directly or indirectly by the hegemonic powers and included the Korean War, the Laotian Civil War, the Arab–Israeli conflict, the Vietnam War, the Afghan War, the Angolan Civil War, and the Central American Civil Wars.[30]
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 the United States was the world's sole hegemonic power.[31]
21st century [ edit ]
Top ten countries with the highest military spending in billion US$ in 2014
Various perspectives on whether the US was or continues to be a hegemon have been presented since the end of the Cold War. The American political scientists John Mearsheimer and Joseph Nye have argued that the US is not a true hegemon because it has neither the financial nor the military resources to impose a proper, formal, global hegemony.[32] On the other hand, Anna Cornelia Beyer, in her book about counter-terrorism, argues that global governance is a product of American leadership and describes it as hegemonic governance.[33]
The French Socialist politician Hubert Védrine in 1999 described the US as a hegemonic hyperpower, because of its unilateral military actions worldwide.[34]
Pentagon strategist Edward Luttwak, in The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire,[35] outlined three stages, with hegemonic being the first, followed by imperial. In his view the transformation proved to be fatal and eventually led to the fall of the Roman Empire. His book gives implicit advice to Washington to continue the present hegemonic strategy and refrain from establishing an empire.
In 2006, author Zhu Zhiqun claimed that China is already on the way to becoming the world hegemon and that the focus should be on how a peaceful transfer of power can be achieved between the US and China[36], but has faced opposition to this claim.[37]
Political science [ edit ]
In the historical writing of the 19th century, the denotation of hegemony extended to describe the predominance of one country upon other countries; and, by extension, hegemonism denoted the Great Power politics (c. 1880s – 1914) for establishing hegemony (indirect imperial rule), that then leads to a definition of imperialism (direct foreign rule). In the early 20th century, in the field of international relations, the Italian Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci developed the theory of cultural domination (an analysis of economic class) to include social class; hence, the philosophic and sociologic theory of cultural hegemony analysed the social norms that established the social structures (social and economic classes) with which the ruling class establish and exert cultural dominance to impose their Weltanschauung (world view)—justifying the social, political, and economic status quo—as natural, inevitable, and beneficial to every social class, rather than as artificial social constructs beneficial solely to the ruling class.[5][8][40]
From the Gramsci analysis derived the political science denotation of hegemony as leadership; thus, the historical example of Prussia as the militarily and culturally predominant province of the German Empire (Second Reich 1871–1918); and the personal and intellectual predominance of Napoleon Bonaparte upon the French Consulate (1799–1804).[41] Contemporarily, in Hegemony and Socialist Strategy (1985), Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe defined hegemony as a political relationship of power wherein a sub-ordinate society (collectivity) perform social tasks that are culturally unnatural and not beneficial to them, but that are in exclusive benefit to the imperial interests of the hegemon, the superior, ordinate power; hegemony is a military, political, and economic relationship that occurs as an articulation within political discourse.[42] Beyer analysed the contemporary hegemony of the United States at the example of the Global War on Terrorism and presented the mechanisms and processes of American exercise of power in 'hegemonic governance'.[33]
Sociology [ edit ]
Academics have argued that in the praxis of hegemony, imperial dominance is established by means of cultural imperialism, whereby the leader state (hegemon) dictates the internal politics and the societal character of the subordinate states that constitute the hegemonic sphere of influence, either by an internal, sponsored government or by an external, installed government. The imposition of the hegemon's way of life—an imperial lingua franca and bureaucracies (social, economic, educational, governing)—transforms the concrete imperialism of direct military domination into the abstract power of the status quo, indirect imperial domination.[43] Critics have said that this view is "deeply condescending" and "treats people ... as blank slates on which global capitalism's moving finger writes its message, leaving behind another cultural automaton as it moves on."[44]
Suggested examples of cultural imperialism include the latter-stage Spanish and British Empires, the 19th- and 20th-century Reichs of unified Germany (1871–1945),[45] and by the end of the 20th century, the United States.[46]
Culturally, hegemony also is established by means of language, specifically the imposed lingua franca of the hegemon (leader state), which then is the official source of information for the people of the society of the sub-ordinate state. Writing on language and power, Andrea Mayr says, "As a practice of power, hegemony operates largely through language."[47] In contemporary society, an example of the use of language in this way is in the way Western countries set up educational systems in African countries mediated by Western languages.[48]
Another example of this is found in the way language helped "diminish the traditions" of African Americans in the US.[49]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ] |
Marco Rubio supporter and South Carolina governor Nikki Haley not only went after Donald Trump on ABC’s This Week but took a shot at Chris Christie over his endorsement of The Donald.
She told George Stephanopoulos, “Donald Trump is everything we hear and teach our kids not to do in kindergarten.” Haley said Rubio is doing the right thing by fighting the frontrunner “bully.”
She admitted pretty bluntly that the thought of Trump winning the GOP nomination is “scary,” because it will throw the entire party for a loop and “make us question who we are and what we’re about.”
When Stephanopoulos brought up Christie saying Trump will easily beat Hillary Clinton, Haley completely dismissed that and said, “Chris is a dear friend, but none of us understands why he did this.”
Watch above, via ABC.
[image via screengrab]
— —
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Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com |
Sen. Bob Menendez addresses a gathering at Seton Hall University Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015, in South Orange, N.J. New Jersey's senior U.S. senator said that he will vote to disapprove the Iran nuclear agreement and if called upon, would vote to override a veto. AP Photo/Mel Evans) The Associated Press
By ERICA WERNER and DAVID PORTER, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The fiercely contested Iran nuclear deal will likely survive in Congress despite unified GOP opposition and some Democratic defections, the top Senate Republican says. That would mean a major foreign policy win for President Barack Obama.
Obama has "a great likelihood of success," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in his home state of Kentucky this week — giving public voice to what other Republicans have acknowledged in private. "I hope we can defeat it, but the procedure is obviously stacked in the president's favor."
Indeed, even as Congress' August recess has hardened Republicans' opposition to the deal on Capitol Hill and on the presidential campaign trail, reality is setting in: They probably can't stop it. Significant Democratic defections from Obama would be required in both chambers of Congress, and even with opponents mounting a strenuous lobbying campaign in key congressional districts, such a prospect looks remote.
That means that even with Obama firmly in lame-duck territory and his GOP opponents in control of Congress and aiming for the White House, the president is on the verge of a legacy-defining victory on a pact that he and his supporters say will keep the world safe from Iran's nuclear ambitions. Opponents continue to warn furiously that the result could be just the opposite: to strengthen Tehran's hand, in an existential threat to Israel and the world.
On Tuesday a second Democratic senator, Bob Menendez of New Jersey, did announce his opposition to the deal, joining Chuck Schumer of New York.
"The agreement that has been reached failed to achieve the one thing it set out to achieve — it failed to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear weapons state at a time of its choosing," Menendez said in a blistering speech at the Seton Hall School of Diplomacy and International Relations in East Orange, New Jersey. "In fact, it authorizes and supports the very road map Iran will need to arrive at its target."
Menendez argued the deal should be sent back and negotiations should continue. But his opposition was expected, and, underscoring slim prospects for his side, he stopped short of predicting opponents would prevail.
The agreement would require Iran to dismantle most of its nuclear program for at least a decade in exchange for billions of dollars in relief from international sanctions. But the Israeli government and critics in the U.S. argue that it would not stop Iran from building a bomb.
Bipartisan legislation does give Congress the right to review the deal, and there will be a vote by Sept. 17. That's likely to go in favor of disapproval, but Obama would then veto the legislation and opponents would need to muster two-thirds majorities in both chambers to override him.
Obama needs support from 34 of the 46 members of the Democratic caucus to sustain a veto, and 23 have already announced they are backing him. Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island issued a joint release in support of the president Tuesday just hours after Menendez declared his opposition. In the House, 146 of the 188 Democrats are necessary to sustain a veto, and more than 50 have expressed their support for the accord, compared to 10 opponents.
From his vacation home on Martha's Vineyard, Obama has been lobbying the undecided. The White House said Obama has talked individually or in small groups with nearly 100 lawmakers since the deal was announced last month, with Cabinet and senior administration officials reaching out to dozens more.
"We remain confident that ultimately a majority of Democrats in both the House and the Senate will support the deal, and if necessary, sustain the president's veto," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said Tuesday.
Liberal and progressive groups are joining in the lobbying, while opponents on the right including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee are spending millions to try to build opposition.
Any chance of the White House winning GOP support for the deal in Congress evaporated in recent days as Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, who had been seen as a possible "yes" vote, declared he would vote "no." Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, announced his opposition in an opinion piece Tuesday in the Washington Post, and House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio has been criticizing the deal as he travels the country by bus raising money for Republican lawmakers.
But the deal has picked up scattered support from Republicans outside of Congress, including former Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, who chaired the Foreign Relations Committee, and former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. Predictions that the issue would dominate Congress' August recess have yet to come true, and Obama still finds himself in a strong position to prevail.
"It's not easy to override a president's veto when the president is so committed to getting this done, and really the White House is fighting very hard for every vote in Congress," former Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, who is helping marshal opposition, said in an interview Tuesday. But Lieberman said there were still enough undecided votes to get to two-thirds, and "we're working hard on them."
___
Porter reported from East Orange, New Jersey. Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed from Edgartown, Massachusetts. |
In August 2014, Officer Brent Aguilar of the Clovis Police Department (Clovis, NM) stopped a vehicle for a traffic stop. When the passenger simply asked why they were being stopped, the Officer turned the investigation on the passenger and demanded his ID. When the passenger kept asking why the vehicle was stopped, Officer Aguilar said he was under arrest for Concealing ID. While taking him to his patrol vehicle, Officer Aguilar claims he “Resisted” and suddenly slams this 26-year-old on the ground, breaking his cheekbone and causing thousands of dollars in medical bills. To top matters off, he then charges the young man with Resisting as well. The State is still proceeding with charges against this person for Concealing and Resisting. Officer Aguilar has a different pending excessive force case against him and an Officer Rebecca Cruz for injuring Eugene Foster. |
Detroit (CNN) -- Detroit is a place whose story is often told by the numbers. It was home to 2 million residents at its peak, but now the city is down to roughly 700,000. And all of those residents live in a 139-square-mile city grappling with millions of dollars in debt that led the city to file for bankruptcy.
But 700,000 people still make their home here. There are square miles of the city that are empty, yes. But the rest of Detroit still has to live somewhere. And where they're living, they're really living. They're operating barber shops and beauty salons, they're working to build Jeep Grand Cherokees and Dodge Durangos at the Jefferson North Assembly Plant, they're going to see the Detroit City Football Club soccer team play at Cass Technical High School.
Beyond the abandoned train station and empty Packard Plant is a city slowly making its way back from the brink. What Detroit will look like in the years to come is anyone's guess, but it doesn't mean things have ground to a halt in the meantime.
So what do you do in Detroit?
Know that you haven't left civilization. Relax. You're in Detroit. It's a city, an American city. It's going through a tough time, sure. Detroit's problems show themselves more than other cities. But assess: Why are you in Detroit? For business? For pleasure? For curiosity? Regardless of why you're here, there will be something here you'll never forget. Welcome, and open your mind.
Savor African and African-American art. The great migration out of the rural South that began before World War I coupled with opportunities within the automotive industry made Detroit an enduring stronghold of African-American culture. The city of Detroit is home to one of the largest collectives of black artists, and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History houses one of the world's best-curated collections of art from the African diaspora.
Also consider checking out the African Bead Museum, the Shrine of the Black Madonna bookstore and cultural center and pockets of mostly black-owned boutiques, galleries and eateries on the Avenue of Fashion along the northern portion of Livernois Avenue on the city's northwest side.
Tour Elmwood Cemetery. There are no more calming places anywhere than cemeteries, but Elmwood is special because of the haunting, Gothic monuments among lush, tree-lined paths. The founding fathers of Detroit -- and Michigan -- are buried here. And while you're on this side of town, head over to Indian Village, the city's premier historic district that once served as home to some of the area's wealthiest auto barons where houses still are maintained and occupied by many of the city's power brokers. Or stop for some coffee at one of the cafes in nearby West Village.
Walk Pallister Avenue. Even in a city built around the auto industry, there are hidden gems where your own two feet remain the best mode of transportation. Stroll down the brick-laid, American Foursquare-lined Pallister -- where no cars are allowed. While this residential pedestrian avenue takes you to a quieter, simpler time, it was developed by none other than the workhorses at General Motors.
The automaker had its headquarters nearby on West Grand Boulevard and sought to redevelop the area after a slow decline in the 1960s. While the plan didn't quite work out -- GM moved its headquarters downtown in the 1990s -- the residents there have maintained the original vision. And if you're feeling hungry, stop by New Center Eatery nearby for the best chicken and waffles in town.
Get hip to the latest pop-ups. The barrier of entry to entrepreneurship is lower in Detroit, and many budding business owners are taking advantage of the pop-up model to establish themselves. And other local talent finds them. Take The Taco Lady, for one: Wherever Detroit native Erica Class' traveling stand Two Dollar Tacos pops up, there's sure to be a good time. Class has connections with nearly all of Detroit's up-and-coming artists and musicians displaying their talents citywide. Look for @TwoDollarTacos on Twitter.
Sample culinary creations beyond the coney dog. Get some Asian Corned Beef. There are plenty of nooks and crannies hiding delicacies unique to Detroit that contribute to the city's flavor, and these handmade corned beef concoctions wrapped in egg rolls are hidden gems. True to many locally owned joints, Asian Corned Beef has one place on the west side (13660 Wyoming) and one on the east side (2847 E. Seven Mile).
Try our local sport. Football + bowling = Fowling. Got that? The story behind that portmanteau is this: The proprietor of Fowling Warehouse and his family invented a summer game based on horseshoes, except instead of ringing horseshoes around a metal rod, you knock down bowling pins with a football. Sounds easy enough, but veterans of the Detroit-bred sport know better. All the activity at Fowling Warehouse is spur-of-the-moment, so it's not uncommon for one-on-one matches to morph into an all-out dodgeball-style tournament with more footballs and pins. They're in two locations: Sundays at Eastern Market and a new location at a factory -- yes, a factory -- at 3901 Christopher in Hamtramck, a small city surrounded by Detroit.
Don't go urban exploring. Why would you want to go into an abandoned building? They're old, they're dangerous, they're full of asbestos. The street cred associated with going through these places is long gone. And most Detroiters are offended if that's the only reason you visit. Lastly, it's illegal -- and with more police on the streets thanks to donated patrol cars and a shift in internal structure, you're running a greater risk. If you'd like to explore a beautiful building, try the Albert Kahn-designed 1928 Fisher Building in New Center, a commercial district north of downtown, or the 1928 Redford Theatre on Lahser Road.
Don't ask stupid questions. Yes, 8 Mile is a real place. No, 8 Mile isn't exactly like the movie "8 Mile." Don't make assumptions, and use the same common sense in Detroit that you would anywhere else.
Remember that people are people. Detroiters are not meant to be ogled like exhibits in a museum. They're not to be talked down to, pitied, shamed or treated with kid gloves. The so-called "grit," "never-say-die spirit" and "determination" is not unique to Detroiters, either. It's in all of us, everywhere. Say hello. Smile. Shake hands. Be courteous. Be polite. Be normal. Welcome to Detroit. |
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonSanders: 'I fully expect' fair treatment by DNC in 2020 after 'not quite even handed' 2016 primary Sanders: 'Damn right' I'll make the large corporations pay 'fair share of taxes' Former Sanders campaign spokesman: Clinton staff are 'biggest a--holes in American politics' MORE’s well-financed ally David Brock has a team that claims to be coordinating with moles inside the corporate and political empire of the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch.
During a rare tour of its Washington office on Tuesday, the anti-Koch unit within the Bridge Project told The Hill it has covert channels feeding information from within the private world of the Kochs, the most influential donors in conservative politics.
Eddie Vale, who oversees the investigative unit, was tight-lipped about how the operation works.
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“This is the part I’m trying to keep vague. ... We get information from people in their network.”
Vale said the informants are both current and former Koch Industries employees and that the information generally comes from what he described as “old-fashioned” means instead of email and phone calls, “because I know that [Koch Industries] have crazy internal surveillance of their employees.
“I would say [our sources] have a decent level of fear,” Vale added.
A spokeswoman for American Bridge’s nonprofit arm — the place where the Koch work is done — declined to provide proof that the moles exist, citing the need for confidentiality.
“To protect the identities of the people who come to us, we can’t provide any more details,” said Regan Page, communications director of the Bridge Project, the name for Brock’s anti-Koch team.
Still, Vale’s claim is a new indication that the left may be countering what Politico recently reported was a “secretive” Koch operation that “conducts surveillance and intelligence gathering on its liberal opponents,” partly with help from a former CIA analyst.
The Koch brothers have built an expansive network of donors who are dedicated to promoting conservative causes and electing Republicans to Congress and the White House. The network plans to spend $889 million during the 2016 campaign cycle alone.
Asked about the alleged mole operation, Koch network spokesman James Davis jabbed at Brock.
“Very few people outside of David Brock believe attacking private citizens and job creators is a good strategy,” the spokesman said, referring to the Kochs.
The Bridge Project has so far published very little of the material it claims to have covertly obtained.
It alerted The New York Times to archival material that resulted in an investigative story on David Koch’s 1980 campaign on the Libertarian Party ticket.
The unit also published leaked recordings from gatherings of two right-wing groups linked to the Kochs: The Heartland Institute, where the speaker attacked the Pope for his advocacy of the “left-wing political craze” of global warming, and the Wichita Chamber of Commerce, whose 2015 annual meeting featured a panel conversation with Charles Koch.
Brock was part of the conservative movement in the 1990s, writing articles and books that fueled scandals involving Bill and Hillary Clinton.
But in the 2000s, he published a book renouncing that work, saying he had been a hatchet man for the right. Now, Brock has transformed himself into an aggressive defender and supporter of the Clintons.
The Democratic Party, in Brock’s judgment, has been playing politics too meekly. He believes it needs to match up more fiercely against what he has described as a “sophisticated” and well-financed “right-wing conglomerate.”
Supported by his own donor network, Brock has created a menagerie of liberal opposition and attack groups that fill two floors of warehouse-style office space in D.C.
The downtown space includes the American Bridge super-PAC, its nonprofit arm; the press watchdog Media Matters; and the pro-Clinton super-PAC Correct the Record.
In all, the groups are employing more than 60 full-time staffers, with 10 of them spending all their time investigating the business and political interests of the Kochs.
American Bridge also deploys another 26 full-time “trackers” who shadow Republican candidates and people connected to the Kochs. Some of the trackers are middle-aged men who are cast to blend into wealthy donor functions and make secret recordings on their phones, said the head of the tracking unit, who declined to give her name.
The Bridge Project has a $4 million budget for the 2016 election cycle. It is a relatively new outfit — it became fully operational in the summer of 2014 — and its nonprofit status conceals the identities of its donors.
Brock conceived of the group after conversations with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid Harry Mason ReidBottom Line Brennan fires back at 'selfish' Trump over Harry Reid criticism Trump rips Harry Reid for 'failed career' after ex-Dem leader slams him in interview MORE (D-Nev.), with both agreeing that the Kochs are corrupting U.S. politics, Vale said.
During the 2014 midterms, the Bridge Project led an assault on Republican candidates, portraying them as “puppets” of the Kochs. They also highlighted pollution from the Kochs’ carbon-intensive chemical businesses and say they have focus group evidence that these messages resonate with voters.
But despite that ad barrage and Reid’s repeated denunciation of the Kochs, Democrats lost the Senate majority in 2014 and saw their numbers in the House shrink to a historic low.
Brock’s team said it has a long-term plan to defeat the Kochs and will not be deterred by perceived setbacks.
“Fighting back against the Kochs is a long-term challenge,” said Brock, “which is why we’re investing in research that connects how the Kochs’ anti-government agenda benefits their bottom line and how their businesses hurt workers and families.”
Vale argued the anti-Koch effort was “undercooked” in 2014 and said the Kochs have had a several-decade head start on influencing American policy and politics.
“I think obviously there was some skepticism after 2014,” Vale said.
“[But] the case that we made to folks … is that 2014 was a very hard Senate map, so I think that whether you talked about Kochs … or anyone,” it would not be enough to save Democratic incumbents in Republican-leaning states such as Arkansas.
Vale pointed to Democratic Senate victories in Michigan and New Hampshire — states where he says they made “heavy use of the Koch theme” — as evidence that their strategy is working.
These points are debatable, especially in Michigan, which was always going to be a heavy lift for Republicans given that President Obama won the state decisively in both 2008 and 2012.
Brock’s team is now redoubling its efforts for the 2016 presidential and Senate races, operating a website called “Real Koch Facts,” issuing hundreds of anti-Koch press releases to journalists, running digital ads and focus groups, publishing issue papers analyzing the Koch agenda and even printing books attacking the Kochs on their business activities and pet projects.
Vale has hired attorneys and a former financial analyst, who are skilled at examining complex documents, to sift through the Kochs’ vast network of political and charitable spending.
The Koch brothers, meanwhile, have recently made an attempt to push back on the caricature of them as “shadowy” agents of corporate greed, sitting down for media interviews where they talk more openly about the political views and their philanthropy.
Page said there is little risk of the Kochs winning over the public.
“They’re doing [the public relations drive] to improve their image,” Page said, but the video footage it has produced has “given us so many good things.” |
Math can even baffle demons. (Photo: alessio/CC BY 2.0)
For the most part, numbers are simply cold indicators, unable of expressing menace or guile, but then there’s Belphegor’s Prime, a supposedly sinister numeric palindrome that has a NUMBER of odd qualities. Or at least that’s what one mathematic trickster would have you believe.
The number known as Belphegor’s Prime is exactly, 1,000,000,000,000,066,600,000,000,000,001. For those without the fortitude to stare directly at the infernal number, that’s a one, followed by 13 zeroes, followed by the traditional Number of the Beast, 666, followed by yet another 13 zeroes, and a trailing one.
The first thing to know about Belphegor’s Prime is that it is a literal prime number, which if you remember from math class means that it is divisible only by itself, and one. Being a prime number is not exactly a claim to fame in and of itself, but given the ridiculous enormity of Belphegor’s Prime, its primality is not immediately evident, but can be proven using a primality algorithm (like here!). In addition, it turns out that it is also part of a calculable system of prime numbers.
According to author, mathematician, and “father” of Belphegor’s Prime, Cliff Pickover, the infernal number was actually first discovered by prime number hunter Harvey Dubner, who determined that it was part of a sequence. The set of primes could be reached by altering the number of zeroes on either side of the 666 to appropriate amounts. This is to say that the number 16,661, with no zeroes at all, is also a prime number. Then the next time a similar palindromic number becomes prime is when you have 13 zeros (Belphegor’s Prime!), then again when you have 42 zeros, etc. “Harvey Dubner determined that the first 7 numbers of this type have subscripts 0, 13, 42, 506, 608, 2472, and 2623,” says Pickover.
Belphegor as depicted in the Dictionnaire Infernal. (Photo: J.A.S. Collin de Plancy/Public Domain)
While natural prime numbers are as rare as any number (which is to say that they are not rare at all, considering that theoretically, an infinite amount of numbers exists), Belphegor’s Prime also stands out for its poetic symmetry. Another way to express the infernal number is 10(13)666(13)1, which truncates the 13 zeroes into modifiers in the parentheses, thus joining the Number of the Beast in the center of the string, with a pair of traditionally bad luck numbers on either side. Furthermore, the number contains a total of 31 digits, which, as some have pointed out, is simply a backwards 13! Circles within circles.
But even with these notable elements, and the abstract connotation to Western concepts of “evil” numbers, the number known as Belphegor’s Prime is simply just another number. It wasn’t until Pickover got his hands on it that it became the cursed number it is today.
Pickover seems modest about creating the concept of Belphegor’s Prime, but it was his ability to give the large number character that is the reason is known today. “I am not actually the ‘creator’ of the number, in the sense that people have known about beastly palindromic primes before I gave a name to a very eye-catching number with 13 zeros, to help focus broad attention on it,” says Pickover. He has authored dozens of books on subjects ranging from mathematics and death to puzzles and medicine. His stated goal is “to expose a broad audience to the wonders of science and math,” and he does so using playful, but complex concepts like “vampire numbers” and “magic hypercubes.” Belphegor’s Prime is just another of his attempts to tease out the strange wonders of math.
Belphagor has something to show you… (Photo: Michael Pacher/Public Domain)
Pickover named the number after Belphegor, one of the seven princes of Hell, who is known primarily for tempting mortals with the gift of discovery and invention. Why Pickover chose Belphegor exactly is unclear. On Pickover’s own site, he warns people not to stare at the number too long, and to look away and take a deep breath, after a few seconds. He also links the number to a symbol from the mysterious Voynich Manuscript, a work that may itself be some sort of massive troll. Belphegor’s Prime is said to be represented in the manuscript by a glyph that resembles an inverted pi symbol. How diabolical.
Ultimately, Belphegor’s Prime is a sort of mathematical creepypasta. While it’s based on an actual number that holds a number of interesting properties, even Pickover himself urges it not to be taken too seriously. “I wouldn’t focus on too much of the fun details on my web page, because there’s some humor there, as I use my playful imagination,” says Pickover.
Like all good creepypasta, Belphegor’s Prime has gained a slow popularity outside of its original site. It has been referenced in a BBC article by popular science author Simon Singh, and it can be found in the Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences.
Even though there is no truly demonic power held by Belphegor’s Prime, it sure makes numbers fun. And if you still find it scary, as one Reddit user points out, you can take solace in the fact that 1000000000000077700000000000001, is also a prime number, so it looks like Heaven’s in the math game too.
Update (1/5/16): The story originally stated that Belphegor’s Prime can be expressed as 10(13)6660(13)1. It has been corrected to 10(13)666(13)1. |
September 11, 2015 “East Meets East” theme of SVOTS Orthodox Education Day October 3
“East Meets East” is the theme for Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary’s annual Orthodox Education Day on October 3, 2015. The seminary’s annual open house and fall festival will celebrate the relationship between the Oriental and Eastern Orthodox churches and explore the history of their dialogue.
Renowned author and scholar Archpriest Dr. John Anthony McGuckin will give the keynote address, “Our Common Father: Saint Cyril.” Father John is the Ane Marie and Bent Emil Nielsen Professor in Late Antique and Byzantine Christian History at Union Theological Seminary and Professor of Byzantine Christian Studies at Columbia University.
The day will be filled with Oriental and Eastern Orthodox church services; workshops on related topics, such as Coptic iconography; a liturgical music concert; and a marketplace filled with international cuisine and Orthodox books and gifts. Three Hierarchs Chapel and the seminary bookstore will be open to the public throughout the day.
Admission to the grounds and events is free. Additional information and flyers are available. |
(Newser) – An inmate at a privately run prison in England was found dead in her cell Tuesday night of an apparent prescription drug overdose. But before she died, the Guardian reports, Natasha Chin, 41, rang an alarm bell in her cell for about two-and-a-half hours with no response from the staff at Bronzefield prison. Chin had been released in April, but was reportedly recalled to prison earlier this month. It is believed she was taking the medication to help her recuperate following a major surgery. Sodexo, which receives more than $84,000 per year per inmate to run the prison, confirmed that the death occurred and called it a "tragedy". But it would not say if Chin had been designated an "at risk" inmate. For observers in England, Chin's death serves to highlight mounting problems within the country's prison system.
“Too many prisoners are dying in custody," academic and former inmate Alex Cavendish tells the Guardian. "A significant proportion of these deaths might have been avoided if appropriate care, including mental health support, had been in place and proper assessment procedures followed." According to a report released this year, prison assaults in 2015 were up 27% over the year before; incidents of self-harm were up 24%. There's "a simple and unpalatable truth about far too many of our prisons," the country's chief prison inspector tells the BBC. "They have become unacceptably violent and dangerous places." Earlier this year, per the Independent, Bronzefield prison came under fire for distributing tents and sleeping bags to inmates being released, rather than arranging for housing. (In the US, inmates are dying of heroin withdrawal.) |
Introduction
Following Algol, Scheme is a statically scoped programming language. Each use of a variable is associated with a lexically apparent binding of that variable.
Scheme has latent as opposed to manifest types. Types are associated with objects (also called values) rather than with variables. (Some authors refer to languages with latent types as untyped, weakly typed or dynamically typed languages.)
Other languages with latent types are Python, Ruby, Smalltalk, and other dialects of Lisp.
Languages with manifest types (sometimes referred to as strongly typed or statically typed languages) include Algol 60, C, C#, Java, Haskell, and ML.
Scheme was one of the first languages to support procedures as objects in their own right. Procedures can be created dynamically, stored in data structures, returned as results of procedures, and so on. Other languages with these properties include Common Lisp, Haskell, ML, Ruby, and Smalltalk.
One distinguishing feature of Scheme is that continuations - which in most other languages only operate behind the scenes - also have “first-class” status. First-class continuations are useful for implementing a wide variety of advanced control constructs, including non-local exits, backtracking, and coroutines.
In Scheme, the argument expressions of a procedure call are evaluated before the procedure gains control, whether the procedure needs the result of the evaluation or not.
C, C#, Common Lisp, Python, Ruby, and Smalltalk are other languages that always evaluate argument expressions before invoking a procedure.
This is distinct from the lazy-evaluation semantics of Haskell, or the call-by-name semantics of Algol 60, where an argument expression is not evaluated unless its value is needed by the procedure.
Tutorial through code examples
All the code snippets of this page are live and interactive powered by the klipse plugin:
Live: The code is executed in your browser Interactive: You can modify the code and it is evaluated as you type
This tutorial is an interactive adaptation of the Overview of Scheme written by r6rs.org.
The evaluation of scheme code in the browser is powered by biwascheme.
Basic types
Scheme programs manipulate objects, which are also referred to as values. Scheme objects are organized into sets of values called types. This section gives an overview of the fundamentally important types of the Scheme language. More types are described in later chapters.
As Scheme is latently typed, the use of the term type in this report differs from the use of the term in the context of other languages, particularly those with manifest typing.
Booleans
A boolean is a truth value, and can be either true or false. In Scheme, the object for “false” is written #f. The object for “true” is written #t. In most places where a truth value is expected, however, any object different from #f counts as true.
#t
#f
Numbers
Scheme supports a rich variety of numerical data types, including objects representing integers of arbitrary precision, rational numbers, complex numbers, and inexact numbers of various kinds.
Characters
Scheme characters mostly correspond to textual characters. More precisely, they are isomorphic to the scalar values of the Unicode standard.
#\a
Strings
Strings are finite sequences of characters with fixed length and thus represent arbitrary Unicode texts.
"Hello, Scheme"
Symbols
A symbol is an object representing a string, the symbol’s name. Unlike strings, two symbols whose names are spelled the same way are never distinguishable. Symbols are useful for many applications; for instance, they may be used the way enumerated values are used in other languages.
Pairs and lists
A pair is a data structure with two components. The most common use of pairs is to represent (singly linked) lists, where the first component (the car ) represents the first element of the list, and the second component (the cdr ) the rest of the list. Scheme also has a distinguished empty list, which is the last cdr in a chain of pairs that form a list.
(car '(1 2 3))
(cdr '(1 2 3))
Vectors
Vectors, like lists, are linear data structures representing finite sequences of arbitrary objects. Whereas the elements of a list are accessed sequentially through the chain of pairs representing it, the elements of a vector are addressed by integer indices. Thus, vectors are more appropriate than lists for random access to elements.
#(1 2 3)
(vector-ref #(1 2 3) 2)
Expressions
The most important elements of Scheme code are expressions. Expressions can be evaluated, producing a value. The most fundamental expressions are literal expressions:
#t
23
This notation means that the expression #t evaluates to #t, that is, the value for “true”, and that the expression 23 evaluates to a number object representing the number 23.
Compound expressions are formed by placing parentheses around their subexpressions. The first subexpression identifies an operation; the remaining subexpressions are operands to the operation:
In the following expression, + is the name of the built-in operation for addition, and 23 and 42 are the operands. The expression (+ 23 42) reads as “the sum of 23 and 42”.
(+ 23 42)
Compound expressions can be nested: the following expression reads as “the sum of 14 and the product of 23 and 42”.
(+ 14 (* 23 42))
As these examples indicate, compound expressions in Scheme are always written using the same prefix notation. As a consequence, the parentheses are needed to indicate structure. Consequently, “superfluous” parentheses, which are often permissible in mathematical notation and also in many programming languages, are not allowed in Scheme.
As in many other languages, whitespace (including line endings) is not significant when it separates subexpressions of an expression, and can be used to indicate structure.
Infinity
It is possible to deal a bit with the infinity in Scheme. Here is how we represent the infinity:
+inf.0
Every number is less than infinity :
(< 999999999 +inf.0)
And when we add a number to infinity , nothing happens:
(= +inf.0 (+ 999 +inf.0))
Variables and binding
Scheme allows identifiers to stand for locations containing values. These identifiers are called variables. In many cases, specifically when the location’s value is never modified after its creation, it is useful to think of the variable as standing for the value directly.
(let ((x 23) (y 42)) (+ x y))
In this case, the expression starting with let is a binding construct. The parenthesized structure following the let lists variables alongside expressions: the variable x alongside 23, and the variable y alongside 42. The let expression binds x to 23, and y to 42. These bindings are available in the body of the let expression, (+ x y) , and only there.
Definitions
The variables bound by a let expression are local, because their bindings are visible only in the let’s body. Scheme also allows creating top-level bindings for identifiers as follows:
(define x 23) (define y 42) (+ x y)
The first two parenthesized structures are definitions; they create top-level bindings, binding x to 23 and y to 42. Definitions are not expressions, and cannot appear in all places where an expression can occur. Moreover, a definition has no value.
(define c 123)
Bindings follow the lexical structure of the program: When several bindings with the same name exist, a variable refers to the binding that is closest to it, starting with its occurrence in the program and going from inside to outside, and referring to a top-level binding if no local binding can be found along the way:
(define x 23) (define y 42) (let ((y 43)) (+ x y))
(let ((y 43)) (let ((y 44)) (+ x y)))
Forms
While definitions are not expressions, compound expressions and definitions exhibit similar syntactic structure:
(define x 23) (* x 2)
While the first line contains a definition, and the second an expression, this distinction depends on the bindings for define and * . At the purely syntactical level, both are forms, and form is the general name for a syntactic part of a Scheme program. In particular, 23 is a subform of the form (define x 23) .
Procedures
Definitions can also be used to define procedures:
(define (f x) (+ x 42)) (f 23)
A procedure is, slightly simplified, an abstraction of an expression over objects. In the example, the first definition defines a procedure called f . (Note the parentheses around f x , which indicate that this is a procedure definition.) The expression (f 23) is a procedure call, meaning, roughly, “evaluate (+ x 42) (the body of the procedure) with x bound to 23”.
As procedures are objects, they can be passed to other procedures:
(define (f x) (+ x 42)) (define (g p x) (p x)) (g f 23)
In this example, the body of g is evaluated with p bound to f and x bound to 23, which is equivalent to (f 23) , which evaluates to 65.
In fact, many predefined operations of Scheme are provided not by syntax, but by variables whose values are procedures. The + operation, for example, which receives special syntactic treatment in many other languages, is just a regular identifier in Scheme, bound to a procedure that adds number objects. The same holds for * and many others:
(define (h op x y) (op x y)) (h + 23 42)
(h * 23 42)
Procedure definitions are not the only way to create procedures. A lambda expression creates a new procedure as an object, with no need to specify a name:
((lambda (x) (+ x 42)) 23)
The entire expression in this example is a procedure call: (lambda (x) (+ x 42)) , evaluates to a procedure that takes a single number object and adds 42 to it.
Procedure calls and syntactic keywords
Whereas (+ 23 42) , (f 23) , and ((lambda (x) (+ x 42)) 23) are all examples of procedure calls, lambda and let expressions are not. This is because let , even though it is an identifier, is not a variable, but is instead a syntactic keyword.
A form that has a syntactic keyword as its first subexpression obeys special rules determined by the keyword. The define identifier in a definition is also a syntactic keyword. Hence, definitions are also not procedure calls.
The rules for the lambda keyword specify that the first subform is a list of parameters, and the remaining subforms are the body of the procedure. In let expressions, the first subform is a list of binding specifications, and the remaining subforms constitute a body of expressions.
Procedure calls can generally be distinguished from these special forms by looking for a syntactic keyword in the first position of an form: if the first position does not contain a syntactic keyword, the expression is a procedure call. (So-called identifier macros allow creating other kinds of special forms, but are comparatively rare.)
The set of syntactic keywords of Scheme is fairly small, which usually makes this task fairly simple. It is possible, however, to create new bindings for syntactic keywords.
Assignment
Scheme variables bound by definitions or let or lambda expressions are not actually bound directly to the objects specified in the respective bindings, but to locations containing these objects. The contents of these locations can subsequently be modified destructively via assignment:
(let ((x 23)) (set! x 42) x)
In this case, the body of the let expression consists of two expressions which are evaluated sequentially, with the value of the final expression becoming the value of the entire let expression. The expression (set! x 42) is an assignment, saying “replace the object in the location referenced by x with 42”. Thus, the previous value of x , 23, is replaced by 42.
Derived forms and macros
Many of the special forms specified in this report can be translated into more basic special forms. For example, a let expression can be translated into a procedure call and a lambda expression. The following two expressions are equivalent:
(let ((x 23) (y 42)) (+ x y))
((lambda (x y) (+ x y)) 23 42)
Special forms like let expressions are called derived forms because their semantics can be derived from that of other kinds of forms by a syntactic transformation. Some procedure definitions are also derived forms. The following two definitions are equivalent:
(define (f x) (+ x 42))
(define f (lambda (x) (+ x 42)))
In Scheme, it is possible for a program to create its own derived forms by binding syntactic keywords to macros:
( define-syntax def ( syntax-rules () (( def f ( p ... ) body ) ( define ( f p ... ) body ))))
( def f ( x ) ( + x 42 ))
The define-syntax construct specifies that a parenthesized structure matching the pattern (def f (p ...) body) , where f , p , and body are pattern variables, is translated to (define (f p ...) body) . Thus, the def form appearing in the example gets translated to:
( define ( f x ) ( + x 42 ))
The ability to create new syntactic keywords makes Scheme extremely flexible and expressive, allowing many of the features built into other languages to be derived forms in Scheme.
Syntactic data and datum values
A subset of the Scheme objects is called datum values. These include booleans, number objects, characters, symbols, and strings as well as lists and vectors whose elements are data.
Each datum value may be represented in textual form as a syntactic datum, which can be written out and read back in without loss of information. A datum value may be represented by several different syntactic data. Moreover, each datum value can be trivially translated to a literal expression in a program by prepending a ' to a corresponding syntactic datum:
'23
'#t
The ' shown in the previous examples is not needed for representations of number objects or booleans.
'23
'#t
The syntactic datum foo represents a symbol with name “foo” , and 'foo is a literal expression with that symbol as its value.
'foo
(1 2 3) is a syntactic datum that represents a list with elements 1, 2, and 3, and '(1 2 3) is a literal expression with this list as its value.
'(1 2 3)
Likewise, #(1 2 3) is a syntactic datum that represents a vector with elements 1, 2 and 3, and ‘#(1 2 3) is the corresponding literal.
'#(1 2 3)
The syntactic data are a superset of the Scheme forms. Thus, data can be used to represent Scheme forms as data objects. In particular, symbols can be used to represent identifiers.
'(+ 23 42)
'(define (f x) (+ x 42))
This facilitates writing programs that operate on Scheme source code, in particular interpreters and program transformers.
Continuations
Whenever a Scheme expression is evaluated there is a continuation wanting the result of the expression. The continuation represents an entire (default) future for the computation.
For example, informally the continuation of 3 in the expression (+ 1 3) adds 1 to it.
Normally these ubiquitous continuations are hidden behind the scenes and programmers do not think much about them. On rare occasions, however, a programmer may need to deal with continuations explicitly.
The call-with-current-continuation procedure allows Scheme programmers to do that by creating a procedure that reinstates the current continuation. The call-with-current-continuation procedure accepts a procedure, calls it immediately with an argument that is an escape procedure. This escape procedure can then be called with an argument that becomes the result of the call to call-with-current-continuation . That is, the escape procedure abandons its own continuation, and reinstates the continuation of the call to call-with-current-continuation .
In the following example, an escape procedure representing the continuation that adds 1 to its argument is bound to escape, and then called with 3 as an argument. The continuation of the call to escape is abandoned, and instead the 3 is passed to the continuation that adds 1:
(+ 1 (call-with-current-continuation (lambda (escape) (+ 2 (escape 3)))))
An escape procedure has unlimited extent: It can be called after the continuation it captured has been invoked, and it can be called multiple times. This makes call-with-current-continuation significantly more powerful than typical non-local control constructs such as exceptions in other languages.
Conclusion |
Wō or Wa, formed by the "person" radical 亻and a wěi or wa 委 phonetic element Chinese character foror, formed by the "person" radical 亻and aorphonetic element
Wa (倭, "Japan, Japanese", from Chinese 倭 Wō or Wa) is the oldest recorded name of Japan. The Chinese as well as Korean and Japanese scribes regularly wrote it in reference to Yamato (ancient Japanese nation) with the Chinese character 倭 until the 8th century, when the Japanese replaced it with 和 "harmony, peace, balance."
Damyeom-ripbon-wang-heedo (唐閻立本王會圖). 6th century, China. Envoys visiting the Tang Emperor. From left to right: Wa, Silla, Baekje ambassadors
Historical references [ edit ]
The earliest textual references to Japan are in Chinese classic texts. Within the official Chinese dynastic Twenty-Four Histories, Japan is mentioned among the so-called Dongyi 東夷 "Eastern Barbarians". Note that the following texts are chronologically ordered by date of compilation, which does not always correspond with the sequence of Dynasties in Chinese history. In traditional Chinese units of measurement, distance is recorded in lǐ 里, which varied among dynastic standards, roughly equivalent to 300–400 meters. Ryūsaku Tsunoda (1951:4) cautions that great distances in thousands of lǐ "are, of course, not to be taken literally."
The historian Wang Zhenping summarizes Wo contacts with the Han State.
When chieftains of various Wo tribes contacted authorities at Lelang, a Chinese commandery established in northern Korea in 108 B.C. by the Western Han court, they sought to benefit themselves by initiating contact. In A.D. 57, the first Wo ambassador arrived at the capital of the Eastern Han court (25-220); the second came in 107. Wo diplomats, however, never called on China on a regular basis. A chronology of Japan-China relations from the first to the ninth centuries reveals this irregularity in the visits of Japanese ambassadors to China. There were periods of frequent contacts as well as of lengthy intervals between contacts. This irregularity clearly indicated that, in its diplomacy with China, Japan set its own agenda and acted on self-interest to satisfy its own needs. No Wo ambassador, for example, came to China during the second century. This interval continued well past the third century. Then within merely nine years, the female Wo ruler Himiko sent four ambassadors to the Wei court (220-265) in 238, 243, 245, and 247 respectively. After the death of Himiko, diplomatic contacts with China slowed. Iyo, the female successor to Himiko, contacted the Wei court only once. The fourth century was another quiet period in China-Wo relations except for the Wo delegation dispatched to the Western Jin court (265-316) in 306. With the arrival of a Wo ambassador at the Eastern Jin court (317-420) in 413, a new age of frequent diplomatic contacts with China began. Over the next sixty years, ten Wo ambassadors called on the Southern Song court (420-479), and a Wo delegation also visited the Southern Qi court (479-502) in 479. The sixth century, however, saw only one Wo ambassador pay respect to the Southern Liang court (502-557) in 502. When these ambassadors arrived in China, they acquired official titles, bronze mirrors, and military banners, which their masters could use to bolster their claims to political supremacy, to build a military system, and to exert influence on southern Korea. (Wang 2005:221-222)
Shan Hai Jing [ edit ]
The golden seal said to have been granted to the "King of Wa" by Emperor Guangwu of Han in 57 CE.
Transcription of the seal. The seal reads "漢委奴國王".
Possibly the earliest record of Wō 倭 "Japan" occurs in the Shan Hai Jing 山海經 "Classic of Mountains and Seas". The textual dating of this collection of geographic and mythological legends is uncertain, but estimates range from 300 BCE to 250 CE. The Haineibei jing 海內北經 "Classic of Regions within the North Seas" chapter includes Wō 倭 "Japan" among foreign places both real, such as Korea, and legendary (e.g. Penglai Mountain).
Kai [cover] Land is south of Chü Yen and north of Wo. Wo belongs to Yen. [蓋國在鉅燕南倭北倭屬燕 朝鮮在列陽東海北山南列陽屬燕] Ch’ao-hsien [Chosŏn, Korea] is east of Lieh Yang, south of Hai Pei [sea north] Mountain. Lieh Yang belongs to Yen. (12, tr. Nakagawa 2003:49)
Nakagawa notes that Zhuyan 鉅燕 refers to the (ca. 1000-222 BCE) kingdom of Yan (state), and that Wo ("Japan was first known by this name.") maintained a "possible tributary relationship" with Yan.
Lunheng [ edit ]
Wang Chong's ca. 70-80 CE Lunheng 論衡 "Discourses weighed in the balance" is a compendium of essays on subjects including philosophy, religion, and natural sciences.
The Rŭzēng 儒増 "Exaggerations of the Literati" chapter mentions ''Wōrén 倭人 "Japanese people" and Yuèshāng 越裳 "an old name for Champa" presenting tributes during the Zhou Dynasty. In disputing legends that ancient Zhou bronze ding tripods had magic powers to ward off evil spirits, Wang says.
During the Chou time there was universal peace. The Yuèshāng offered white pheasants to the court, the Japanese odoriferous plants. [獻白雉倭人貢鬯草] Since by eating these white pheasants or odoriferous plants one cannot keep free from evil influences, why should vessels like bronze tripods have such a power? (26, tr. Forke 1907:505)
Another Lunheng chapter Huiguo 恢國 "Restoring the nation" (58) similarly records that Emperor Cheng of Han (r. 51-7 BCE) was presented tributes of Vietnamese pheasants and Japanese herbs.
Han Shu [ edit ]
The ca. 82 CE Han Shu 漢書 "Book of Han"' covers the Former Han Dynasty (206 BCE-24 CE) period. Near the conclusion of the Yan entry in the Dilizhi 地理志 "Treatise on geography" section, it records that Wo encompassed over 100 guó 國 "communities, nations, countries".
Beyond Lo-lang in the sea, there are the people of Wo. They comprise more than one hundred communities. [樂浪海中有倭人分爲百餘國] It is reported that they have maintained intercourse with China through tributaries and envoys. (28B, tr. Otake Takeo 小竹武夫, cited by Nakagawa 2003:50)
Emperor Wu of Han established this Korean Lelang Commandery in 108 BCE. Historian Endymion Wilkinson (2000:726) says Wo 倭 "dwarf" was used originally in the Hanshu, "probably to refer to the inhabitants of Kyushu and the Korean peninsula. Thereafter to the inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago."
Wei Zhi [ edit ]
Wei Zhi (ca. 297) Text of the(ca. 297)
The ca. 297 CE Wei Zhi 魏志 "Records of Wei", comprising the first of the San Guo Zhi 三國志 "Records of the Three Kingdoms", covers history of the Cao Wei kingdom (220-265 CE). The 東夷伝 "Encounters with Eastern Barbarians" section describes the Wōrén 倭人 "Japanese" based upon detailed reports from Chinese envoys to Japan. It contains the first records of Yamataikoku, shamaness Queen Himiko, and other Japanese historical topics.
The people of Wa dwell in the middle of the ocean on the mountainous islands southeast of [the prefecture] of Tai-fang. They formerly comprised more than one hundred communities. During the Han dynasty, [Wa envoys] appeared at the Court; today, thirty of their communities maintain intercourse [with us] through envoys and scribes. [倭人在帯方東南大海之中依山爲國邑舊百餘國漢時有朝見者今使早譯所通三十國] (tr. Tsunoda 1951:8)
This Wei Zhi context describes sailing from Korea to Wa and around the Japanese archipelago. For instance,
A hundred li to the south, one reaches the country of Nu [奴國], the official of which is called shimako, his assistant being termed hinumori. Here there are more than twenty thousand households. (tr. Tsunoda 1951:0)
Tsunoda (1951:5) suggests this ancient Núguó 奴國 (lit. "slave country"), Japanese Nakoku 奴国, was located near present-day Hakata in Kyūshū.
Some 12,000 li to the south of Wa is Gǒunúguó 狗奴國 (lit. "dog slave country"), Japanese Kunakoku, which is identified with the Kumaso tribe that lived around Higo and Ōsumi Provinces in southern Kyūshū. Beyond that,
Over one thousand li to the east of the Queen's land, there are more countries of the same race as the people of Wa. To the south, also there is the island of the dwarfs [侏儒國] where the people are three or four feet tall. This is over four thousand li distant from the Queen's land. Then there is the land of the naked men, as well of the black-teethed people. [裸國黒齒國] These places can be reached by boat if one travels southeast for a year. (tr. Tsunoda 1951:13)
One Wei Zhi passage (tr. Tsunoda 1951:14) records that in 238 CE the Queen of Wa sent officials with tribute to the Wei emperor Cao Rui, who reciprocated with lavish gifts including a gold seal with the official title "Queen of Wa Friendly to Wei".
Another passage relates Wa tattooing with legendary King Shao Kang of the Xia Dynasty.
Men great and small, all tattoo their faces and decorate their bodies with designs. From olden times envoys who visited the Chinese Court called themselves "grandees" [大夫]. A son of the ruler Shao-k'ang of Hsia, when he was enfeoffed as lord of K'uai-chi, cut his hair and decorated his body with designs in order to avoid the attack of serpents and dragons. The Wa, who are fond of diving into the water to get fish and shells, also decorated their bodies in order to keep away large fish and waterfowl. Later, however, the designs became merely ornamental. (tr. Tsunoda 1951:10)
"Grandees" translates Chinese dàfū 大夫 (lit. "great man") "senior official; statesman" (cf. modern dàifu 大夫 "physician; doctor"), which mistranslates Japanese imperial taifu 大夫 "5th-rank courtier; head of administrative department; grand tutor" (the Nihongi records that the envoy Imoko was a taifu).
A second Wei history, the ca. 239-265 CE Weilüe 魏略 "Brief account of the Wei dynasty" is no longer extant, but some sections (including descriptions of the Roman Empire) are quoted in the 429 CE San Guo Zhi commentary by Pei Songzhi 裴松之. He quotes the Weilüe that "Wō people call themselves posterity of Tàibó" (倭人自謂太伯之後). Taibo was the uncle of King Wen of Zhou, who ceded the throne to his nephew and founded the ancient state of Wu (585-473 BCE). The Records of the Grand Historian has a section titled 吳太伯世家 "Wu Taibo's Noble Family", and his shrine is located in present day Wuxi. Researchers have noted cultural similarities between the ancient Wu state and Wō Japan including ritual tooth-pulling, back child carriers, and tattooing (represented with red paint on Japanese Haniwa statues).
Hou Han Shu [ edit ]
The ca. 432 CE Hou Han Shu 後漢書 "Book of Later/Eastern Han" covers the Later Han Dynasty (25-220 CE) period, but was not compiled until two centuries later. The Wōrén 倭人 "Japanese" are included under the 東夷伝 "Encounters with Eastern Barbarians" section.
The Wa dwell on mountainous islands southeast of Tai-fang in the middle of the ocean, forming more than one hundred communities [倭人在帯方東南大海之中依山爲國邑舊百餘國]. From the time of the overthrow of Chao-hsien [northern Korea] by Emperor Wu (B.C. 140-87), nearly thirty of these communities have held intercourse with the Han [dynasty] court by envoys or scribes. Each community has its king, whose office is hereditary. The King of Great Wa resides in the country of Yamadai [邪馬台国]. (tr. Tsunoda 1951:1)
Comparing the opening descriptions of Wa in the Wei Zhi and Hou Han Shu clearly reveals that the latter is derivative. Their respective accounts of the dwarf, naked, and black-teethed peoples provide another example of copying.
Leaving the queen's land and crossing the sea to the east, after a voyage of one thousand li, the country of Kunu [狗奴國] is reached, the people of which are of the same race as that of the Wa. They are not the queen's subjects, however. Four thousand li away to the south of the queen's land, the dwarf's country [侏儒國] is reached; its inhabitants are three to four feet in height. After a year's voyage by ship to the southeast of the dwarf's country, one comes to the land of naked men and also to the country of black-teethed people [裸國黑齒國]; here our communication service ends. (tr. Tsunoda 1951:3)
This Hou Han Shu account of Japan contains some historical details not found in the Wei Zhi.
In … [57 CE], the Wa country Nu [倭奴國] sent an envoy with tribute who called himself ta-fu [大夫]. This country is located in the southern extremity of the Wa country. Kuang-wu bestowed on him a seal. In … [107 CE], during the reign of An-ti (107-125), the King of Wa presented one hundred sixty slaves, making at the same time a request for an imperial audience. (tr. Tsunoda 1951:2)
Tsunoda (1951:5) notes support for the Hakata location of Nu/Na country in the 1784 discovery at Hakata Bay of a gold seal bearing the inscription 漢委奴國王, usually translated "Han [vassal?] King of the Wa country Nu." Although the name of the King of Wa in AD 107 does not appear in the above translation, his name is Suishō (帥升) according to the original text.
Song Shu [ edit ]
The 488 CE Song Shu 宋書 "Book of Song" covers the brief history of the Liu Song Dynasty (420-479). Under the "Eastern and Southern Barbarians" 夷蠻 section, Japan is called Wōguó 倭國, Japanese Wakoku, and said to be located off Goguryeo. In contrast with the earlier histories that describe the Wa as a 人 "people", this Song history describes them as a 國 "country".
The country of Wa is in the midst of the great ocean, southeast of Koguryŏ. From generation to generation, [the Wa people] carry out their duty of bringing tribute. [倭國在高驪東南大海中世修貢職] In … [421], the first Emperor said in a rescript: "Ts'an [讚, Emperor Nintoku (r. ca. 313-319)] of Wa sends tribute from a distance of tens of thousands of li. The fact that he is loyal, though so far away, deserves appreciation. Let him, therefore, be granted rank and title." … When Ts'an died and his brother, Chen [珍, Emperor Hanzei (r. ca. 406-411)], came to the throne, the latter sent an envoy to the Court with tribute. Signing himself as King of Wa and General Who Maintains Peace in the East [安東大將軍倭王] Commanding with Battle-Ax All Military Affairs in the Six Countries of Wa, Paekche, Silla, Imna, Chin-han and Mok-han, he presented a memorial requesting that his titles be formally confirmed. An imperial edict confirmed his title of King of Wa and General Who Maintains Peace in the East. … In the twentieth year [443], Sai [濟, Emperor Ingyō (r. ca. 412-453)], King of Wa, sent an envoy with tribute and was again confirmed as King of Wa and General Who Maintains Peace. In the twenty-eighth year [451], the additional title was granted of General Who Maintains Peace in the East Commanding with Battle-Ax All Military Affairs in the Six Countries of Wa, Silla, Imna, Kala, Chin-han and Mok-han. (99, tr. Tsunoda 1951:22-23)
The Song Shu gives detailed accounts of relations with Japan, indicating that the Wa kings valued their political legitimization from the Chinese emperors.
Liang Shu [ edit ]
The 635 CE Liang Shu 梁書 "Book of Liang", which covers history of the Liang Dynasty (502-557), records the Buddhist monk Hui Shen's trip to Wa and the legendary Fusang. It refers to Japan as Wō 倭 (without "people" or "country" suffixation) under the Dongyi "Eastern Barbarians" section, and begins with the Taibo legend.
The Wa say of themselves that they are posterity of Tàibó. According to custom, the people are all tattooed. Their territory is over 12,000 li from Daifang. It is located approximately east of Kuaiji [on Hangzhou Bay], though at an extremely great distance. [倭者自云太伯之後俗皆文身去帶方萬二千餘里大抵在會稽之東相去絶遠]
Later texts repeat this myth of Japanese descent from Taibo. The 648 CE Jin Shu 晉書 "Book of Jin" about the Jin Dynasty (265-420 CE) uses a different "call" verb, wèi 謂 "say; call; name" instead of yún 云 "say; speak; call", "They call themselves the posterity of Tàibó [自謂太伯之後]". The 1084 CE Chinese universal history Zizhi Tongjian 資治通鑑 speculates, "The present-day Japan is also said to be posterity of Tàibó of Wu; perhaps when Wu was destroyed, [a member of] a collateral branch of the royal family disappeared at sea and became Wo." [今日本又云吳太伯之後蓋吳亡其支庶入海為倭].
Sui Shu [ edit ]
The 636 CE Sui Shu 隋書 "Book of Sui" records the history of the Sui Dynasty (581-618) when China was reunified. Wōguó/Wakoku is entered under "Eastern Barbarians", and said to be located off of Baekje and Silla (see Hogong), two of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.
Wa-kuo is situated in the middle of the great ocean southeast of Paekche and Silla, three thousand li away by water and land. The people dwell on mountainous islands. [倭國在百濟新羅東南水陸三千里於大海之中依山島而居] During the Wei dynasty, over thirty countries [of Wa-kuo], each of which boasted a king, held intercourse with China. These barbarians do not know how to measure distance by li and estimate it by days. Their domain is five months' journey from east to west, and three months' from north to south; and the sea lies on all sides. The land is high in the east and low in the west. (tr. Tsunoda 1951:28)
In 607 CE, the Sui Shu records that "King Tarishihoko" (a mistake for Empress Suiko) sent an envoy, Buddhist monks, and tribute to Emperor Yang. Her official message is quoted using the word Tiānzǐ 天子 "Son of Heaven; Chinese Emperor".
"The Son of Heaven in the land where the sun rises addresses a letter to the Son of Heaven in the land where the sun sets. We hope you are in good health." When the Emperor saw this letter, he was displeased and told the chief official of foreign affairs that this letter from the barbarians was discourteous, and that such a letter should not again be brought to his attention. (tr. Tsunoda 1951:32)
In 608, the Emperor dispatched Pei Ching as envoy to Wa, and he returned with a Japanese delegation.
The Japanese Nihongi (22, tr. Aston 1972 2:136-9) also records these imperial envoys of 607 and 608, but with a differing Sino-Japanese historical perspective. It records more details, such as naming the envoy Imoko Wono no Omi and translator Kuratsukuri no Fukuri, but not the offensive Chinese translation. According to the Nihongi, when Imoko returned from China, he apologized to Suiko for losing Yang's letter because Korean men "searched me and took it from me." When the Empress received Pei, he presented a proclamation (tr. Aston 1972 2:137-8) contrasting Chinese Huángdì 皇帝 "Emperor" with Wōwáng 倭王 "Wa King", "The Emperor [皇帝] greets the Sovereign of Wa [倭王]." According to the Nihongi, Suiko gave Pei a different version of the imperial letter, contrasting Japanese Tennō 天皇 "Japanese Emperor" and Kōtei 皇帝 "Emperor" (Chinese tiānhuáng and huángdì) instead of using "Son of Heaven".
The Emperor [天皇] of the East respectfully addresses the Emperor [皇帝] of the West. Your Envoy, P'ei Shih-ch'ing, Official Entertainer of the Department of foreign receptions, and his suite, having arrived here, my long-harbored cares were dissolved. This last month of autumn is somewhat chilly. How is Your Majesty? We trust well. We are in our usual health. (tr. Aston 1972 2:139)
Aston quotes the 797 CE Shoku Nihongi history that this 607 Japanese mission to China first objected to writing Wa with the Chinese character 倭.
"Wono no Imoko, the Envoy who visited China, (proposed to) alter this term into Nippon, but the Sui Emperor ignored his reasons and would not allow it. The term Nippon was first used in the period … 618-626." Another Chinese authority gives 670 as the date when Nippon began to be officially used in China. (1972 2:137-8)
倭 , probably modern 日本國 , probably modern 大琉球 ) on the right-hand side of this 16th-century Chinese world map, the The island of "Wa" (, probably modern Kyūshū ) is depicted below the island of "Country/State of Japan" (, probably modern Honshū ) and above the island of Greater Ryūkyū ) on the right-hand side of this 16th-century Chinese world map, the Sihai Huayi Zongtu
Tang Shu [ edit ]
The custom of writing "Japan" as Wa 倭 ended during the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE). Japanese scribes coined the name Nihon or Nippon 日本 circa 608–645 and replaced Wa 倭 with a more flattering Wa 和 "harmony; peace" around 756–757 CE (Carr 1992:6-7). The linguistic change is recorded in two official Tang histories.
The 945 CE Tang shu "Book of Tang" 唐書 (199A) has the oldest Chinese reference to Rìběn 日本. The "Eastern Barbarian" section lists both Wakoku 倭国 and Nipponkoku 日本国, giving three explanations: Nippon is an alternate name for Wa, or the Japanese disliked Wakoku because it was "inelegant; coarse" 不雅, or Nippon was once a small part of the old Wakoku.
The 1050 CE Xin Tang Shu 新唐書 "New Book of Tang", which has a Riben 日本 heading for Japan under the "Eastern Barbarians", gives more details.
Japan in former times was called Wa-nu. It is 14,000 li distant from our capital, situated to the southeast of Silla in the middle of the ocean. It is five months' journey to cross Japan from east to west, and a three-month journey from south to north. [日本古倭奴也去京師萬四千里直新羅東南在海中島而居東西五月行南北三月行] (145, tr. Tsunoda 1951:38)
Regarding the change in autonyms, the Xin Tang Shu says.
In … 670, an embassy came to the Court [from Japan] to offer congratulations on the conquest of Koguryŏ. Around this time, the Japanese who had studied Chinese came to dislike the name Wa and changed it to Nippon. According to the words of the (Japanese) envoy himself, that name was chosen because the country was so close to where the sun rises. [後稍習夏音惡倭名更號日本使者自言國近日所出以為名] Some say, (on the other hand), that Japan was a small country which had been subjugated by the Wa, and that the latter took over its name. As this envoy was not truthful, doubt still remains. [或雲日本乃小國為倭所並故冒其號使者不以情故疑焉] [The envoy] was, besides, boastful, and he said that the domains of his country were many thousands of square li and extended to the ocean on the south and on the west. In the northeast, he said, the country was bordered by mountain ranges beyond which lay the land of the hairy men. (145, tr. Tsunoda 1951:40)
Subsequent Chinese histories refer to Japan as Rìběn 日本 and only mention Wō 倭 as an old name.
Gwanggaeto Stele [ edit ]
The earliest Korean reference to Japanese Wa (Wae in Korean) is the 414 CE Gwanggaeto Stele that was erected to honor King Gwanggaeto the Great of Goguryeo (r. 391-413 CE). This memorial stele, which has the oldest usage of Wakō (倭寇, "Japanese pirates", Waegu in Korean), records Wa as a military ally of Baekje in their battles with Goguryeo and Silla. Some scholars interpret these references to mean not only "Japanese" but also "Gaya peoples" in the southern Korean Peninsula. For instance, Lee suggests,
If Kokuryo could not destroy Paekche itself, it wished for someone else to do so. Thus, in another sense, the inscription may have been wishful thinking. At any rate, Wae denoted both the southern Koreans and people who lived on the southwest Japanese islands, the same Kaya people who had ruled both regions in ancient times. Wae did not denote Japan alone, as was the case later. (1997:34)
"It is generally thought that these Wae were from the archipelago," write Lewis and Sesay (2002:104), "but we as yet have no conclusive evidence concerning their origins."
The word Wa [ edit ]
The Japanese endonym Wa 倭 "Japan" derives from the Chinese exonym Wō 倭 "Japan, Japanese", a graphic pejorative Chinese character that had some offensive connotation, possibly "submissive, docile, obedient", "bowing; bent over", or "short person; dwarf".
倭 and 和 characters [ edit ]
The Chinese character 倭 combines the 人 or 亻 "human, person" radical and a wěi 委 "bend" phonetic. This wěi phonetic element depicts hé 禾 "grain" over nǚ 女 "woman", which Bernhard Karlgren (1923:368) semantically analyzes as: "bend down, bent, tortuous, crooked; fall down, throw down, throw away, send away, reject; send out, delegate – to bend like a 女 woman working with the 禾 grain." The oldest written forms of 倭 are in Seal script, and it has not been identified in Bronzeware script or Oracle bone script.
Most characters written with this wěi 委 phonetic are pronounced wei in Standard Chinese:
The unusual Wō 倭 "Japan" pronunciation of this wěi 委 phonetic element compares with:
A third pronunciation is found in the reading of the following character:
ǎi 矮 ("arrow" radical) "dwarf, short of stature; low; inferior"
( わ )
Nara period Japanese scholars believed that Chinese character for Wō 倭 "Japan", which they used to write "Wa" or "Yamato", was graphically pejorative in denoting 委 "bent down" 亻 "people". Around 757 CE, Japan officially changed its endonym from Wa 倭 to Wa 和 "harmony; peace; sum; total". This replacement Chinese character hé 和 combines a hé 禾 "grain" phonetic (also seen in 倭) and the "mouth" radical 口. Carr explains:
Graphic replacement of the 倭 "dwarf Japanese" Chinese logograph became inevitable. Not long after the Japanese began using 倭 to write Wa ∼ Yamato 'Japan', they realized its 'dwarf; bent back' connotation. In a sense, they had been tricked by Chinese logography; the only written name for 'Japan' was deprecating. The chosen replacement wa 和 'harmony; peace' had the same Japanese wa pronunciation as 倭 'dwarf', and - most importantly - it was semantically flattering. The notion that Japanese culture is based upon wa 和 'harmony' has become an article of faith among Japanese and Japanologists. (1992:6)
In current Japanese usage, Wa 倭 "old name for Japan" is a variant Chinese character for Wa 和 "Japan", excepting a few historical terms like the Five kings of Wa, wakō (Chinese Wōkòu 倭寇 "Japanese pirates"), and Wamyō Ruijushō dictionary. In marked contrast, Wa 和 is a common adjective in Sino-Japanese compounds like Washoku 和食 "Japanese cuisine", Wafuku 和服 "Japanese clothing", Washitsu 和室 "Japanese-style room", Waka 和歌 "Japanese-style poetry", Washi 和紙 "traditional Japanese paper", Wagyu 和牛 "Japanese cattle".
Pronunciations [ edit ]
In Chinese, the character 倭 can be pronounced wēi "winding", wǒ "an ancient hairstyle", or Wō "Japan". The first two pronunciations are restricted to Classical Chinese bisyllabic words. Wēi 倭 occurs in wēichí 倭遲 "winding; sinuous; circuitous; meandering", which has numerous variants including wēiyí 逶迤 and 委蛇. The oldest recorded usage of 倭 is the Shi Jing (162) description of a wēichí 倭遲 "winding; serpentine; tortuous" road; compare (18) using wēituó 委佗 "compliant; bending, pliable; graceful". Wǒ 倭 occurs in wǒduòjì 倭墮髻 "a woman's hairstyle with a bun, popular during the Han Dynasty". The third pronunciation Wō 倭 "Japan; Japanese" is more productive than the first two, as evident in Chinese names for "Japanese" things (e.g., Wōkòu 倭寇 "Japanese pirates" above) or "dwarf; pygmy" animals.
Reconstructed pronunciations of wō 倭 in Middle Chinese (ca. 6th-10th centuries CE) include ʼuâ (Bernhard Karlgren), ʼua (Zhou Fagao), and ʼwa (Edwin G. Pulleyblank). Reconstructions in Old Chinese (ca. 6th-3rd centuries BCE) include *ʼwâ (Karlgren), *ʼwər (Dong Tonghe), and *ʼwər (Zhou).
In Japanese, the Chinese character 倭 has Sinitic on'yomi pronunciations of wa or ka from Chinese wō "Japan" and wǒ "an ancient hairstyle", or wi or i from wēi "winding; obedient", and native kun'yomi pronunciations of yamato "Japan" or shitagau "obey, obedient". Chinese wō 倭 "an old name for Japan" is a loanword in other East Asian languages including Korean 왜 wae or wa, Cantonese wai1 or wo1, and Taiwanese Hokkien e2.[citation needed]
Etymology [ edit ]
Although the etymological origins of Wa remain uncertain, Chinese historical texts recorded an ancient people residing in the Japanese archipelago (perhaps Kyūshū), named something like *ʼWâ or *ʼWər 倭. Carr (1992:9-10) surveys prevalent proposals for Wa's etymology ranging from feasible (transcribing Japanese first-person pronouns waga 我が "my; our" and ware 我 "I; oneself; thou") to shameful (writing Japanese Wa as 倭 implying "dwarf barbarians"), and summarizes interpretations for *ʼWâ "Japanese" into variations on two etymologies: "behaviorally 'submissive' or physically 'short'."
The first "submissive; obedient" explanation began with the (121 CE) Shuowen Jiezi dictionary. It defines 倭 as shùnmào 順皃 "obedient/submissive/docile appearance", graphically explains the "person; human' radical with a wěi 委 "bent" phonetic, and quotes the above Shi Jing poem. According to the (1716) Kangxi Dictionary (倭又人名 魯宣公名倭), 倭 was the name of King Tuyen (魯宣公) of Lu (Chinese: 魯國; pinyin: Lǔ Guó, circa 1042–249 BC). "Conceivably, when Chinese first met Japanese," Carr (1992:9) suggests "they transcribed Wa as *ʼWâ 'bent back' signifying 'compliant' bowing/obeisance. Bowing is noted in early historical references to Japan." Examples include "Respect is shown by squatting" (Hou Han Shu, tr. Tsunoda 1951:2), and "they either squat or kneel, with both hands on the ground. This is the way they show respect." (Wei Zhi, tr. Tsunoda 1951:13). Koji Nakayama (linked below) interprets wēi 逶 "winding" as "very far away" and euphemistically translates Wō 倭 as "separated from the continent."
The second etymology of wō 倭 meaning "dwarf; short person" has possible cognates in ǎi 矮 "short (of stature); midget, dwarf; low", wō 踒 "strain; sprain; bent legs", and wò 臥 "lie down; crouch; sit (animals and birds)". Early Chinese dynastic histories refer to a Zhūrúguó 侏儒國 "pygmy/dwarf country" located south of Japan, associated with possibly Okinawa Island or the Ryukyu Islands. Carr cites the historical precedence of construing Wa as "submissive people" and the "Country of Dwarfs" legend as evidence that the "little people" etymology was a secondary development.
Since early Chinese information about Wo/Wa peoples was based largely on hearsay, Wang Zhenping (2005:9) says, "Little is certain about the Wo except they were obedient and complaisant."
Lexicography [ edit ]
An article by Michael Carr (1992:1) "compares how Oriental and Occidental lexicographers have treated the fact that Japan's first written name was a Chinese Wō < *ʼWâ 倭 'short/submissive people' insult." It evaluates 92 dictionary definitions of Chinese Wō 倭 to illustrate lexicographical problems with defining ethnically offensive words. This corpus of monolingual and bilingual Chinese dictionaries includes 29 Chinese-Chinese, 17 Chinese-English, 13 Chinese to other Western Languages, and 33 Chinese-Japanese dictionaries. To analyze how Chinese dictionaries deal with the belittling origins of Wō, Carr divides definitions into four types, abbreviated with Greek alphabet letters Alpha through Delta.
Α = "dwarf; Japanese"
Β = "compliant; Japanese"
Γ = " derogatory Japanese"
Japanese" Δ = "Japanese"
For example, Alpha (A) type includes both overt definitions like "The land of dwarfs; Japan" (Liushi Han-Ying cidian 劉氏漢英辭典 [Liu's Chinese-English Dictionary] 1978) and more sophisticated semantic distinctions like "(1) A dwarf. (2) Formerly, used to refer to Japan" (Lin Yutang's Chinese-English Dictionary of Modern Usage 1972). Beta (B) "compliant; Japanese" is illustrated by "demütig [humble; submissive; meek], gehorchen [obey; respond]" (Praktisches zeichenlexikon chinesisch-deutsch-japanisch [A Practical Chinese-German-Japanese Character Dictionary] 1983). Gamma (Γ) "type definitions such as "depreciatingly Japanese" (e.g., A Beginner's Chinese-English Dictionary of the National Language (Gwoyeu) 1964) include usage labels such as "derogatory," "disparaging," "offensive," or "contemptuous". Some Γ notations are restricted to subentries like "Wōnú 倭奴 (in modern usage, derogatively) the Japs" (Zuixin shiyong Han-Ying cidian 最新實用和英辭典 [A New Practical Chinese-English Dictionary] 1971). Delta (Δ) "Japanese" is the least informative type of gloss; for instance, "an old name for Japan" (Xin Han-Ying cidian 新漢英詞典 [A New Chinese-English Dictionary] 1979).
Carr evaluates these four typologies for defining the Chinese 倭 "bent people" graphic pejoration.
From a theoretical standpoint, A "dwarf" or B "submissive" type definitions are preferable for providing accurate etymological information, even though it may be deemed offensive. It is no transgression for an abridged Chinese dictionary to give a short Δ "Japan" definition, but adding "an old name for" or "archaic" takes no more space than adding a Γ "derogatory" note. A Δ definition avoids offending the Japanese, but misleads the dictionary user in the same way as the OED2 defining wetback and white trash without usage labels. (1992:12).
The table below (Carr 1992:31, "Table 8. Overall Comparison of Definitions") summarizes how Chinese dictionaries define Wō 倭.
Definition Type Chinese–Chinese Chinese–English Chinese–Other Chinese–Japanese Α "dwarf; Japanese" 3 (10%) 10 (59%) 5 (38%) 4 (12%) Β "compliant; Japanese" 0 0 1 (8%) 4 (12%) Γ derogatory Japanese 0 1 (6%) 3 (23%) 11 (33%) Δ "Japanese" 26 (90%) 6 (35%) 4 (31%) 14 (42%) Total Dictionaries 29 17 13 33
Half of the Western language dictionaries note that Chinese Wō 倭 "Japanese" means "little person; dwarf", while most Chinese-Chinese definitions overlook the graphic slur with Δ type "ancient name for Japan" definitions. This demeaning A "dwarf" description is found more often in Occidental language dictionaries than in Oriental ones. The historically more accurate, and ethnically less insulting, "subservient; compliant" B type is limited to Chinese-Japanese and Chinese-German dictionaries. The Γ type "derogatory" notation occurs most often among Japanese and European language dictionaries. The least edifying Δ "(old name for) Japan" type definitions are found twice more often in Chinese-Chinese than in Chinese-Japanese dictionaries, and three times more than in Western ones.
Even the modern-day Unicode universal character standard reflects inherent lexicographic problems with this ancient Chinese Wō 倭 "Japan" affront. The Unihan (Unified CJK characters) segment of Unicode largely draws definitions from two online dictionary projects, the Chinese CEDICT and Japanese EDICT. The former lists Chinese wo1 倭 "Japanese; dwarf", wokou4 倭寇 "(in ancient usage) the dwarf-pirates; the Japs", and wonu2 倭奴 "(used in ancient times) the Japanese; (in modern usage, derogatively) the Japs". The latter lists Japanese yamato 倭 "ancient Japan", wajin 倭人 "(an old word for) a Japanese", and wakou 倭寇 "Japanese pirates." |
JOURNALISTS, CAMERA CREWS, activists and politicians gathered outside a car park in Dublin this afternoon, looking through a set of closed blue gates.
Behind the gates, up a ramp and inside the 10-storey Apollo House – which looks out over Tara Street in Dublin’s south inner city – a group of five or so homeless people had spent the night.
They had been led there late last night by a band of activists, campaigners, poets and actors, as well as well-known musicians, such as Glen Hansard, Damien Dempsey.
A Facebook Live video taken after some of the group had broken into the building by actor and activist John Connors shows Damien Dempsey being joined by a big group in a powerful rendition of the Foggy Dew, providing a revolutionary score to the occupation.
Well-known personality Mattress Mick even donated 30 mattresses to the cause.
This morning, a number of media outlets (including TheJournal.ie) were quick to cover the powerful, resonant story.
By this afternoon when the journalists descended, the celebrities had all gone, leaving behind the activists and the homeless people to deal with the specifics.
Source: Cormac Fitzgerald/TheJournal.ie
“The hope for here is to create a home for homeless people,” Dean Scurry, one of the main people involved with the occupation, told reporters outside the building.
“They’re lined up here in a bed with a blanket over them… they won’t die from the cold,” he said.
Dean Scurry is one of the members of Home Sweet Home – the group central to the occupation - which seems to have sprung up literally over night, but is in fact the result of weeks of careful planning.
T-shirts with the group’s logo hung from railings outside the building on Poolbeg Street today, and the group has a dedicated website and social media channels, as well some slickly-produced promotional videos.
Source: SAM BOAL
The group is closely linked to the Mandate trade union and was co-founded by Brendan Ogle who has been an instrumental driving force behind the Right2Water and Right2Change campaigns.
It is supported by the People Before Profit political party, whose TDs Brid Smith and Richard Boyd Barrett were also on Poolbeg Street this afternoon.
“This is direct action in dealing with the crisis,” said Smith.
And fair play to the people that have organised it and the volunteers who have maintained it. It’s a great example of the answer to the corporate takeover of our world.
Irish Housing Network
The other group at the centre of the occupation is the Irish Housing Network, a broad collection of different far-left grassroots housing organisations.
Many of the organisations formed separately over the past number of years as a direct response to Ireland’s worsening housing crisis, before coming together to pursue a common goal.
They have been at the centre of various high-profile “occupations” over the past year or so, and are well-organised and media savvy.
The IHN was behind the Bolt Hostel takeover in the summer of 2015; and the Lynam’s Hotel occupation this summer, among others.
Speaking to reporters on Poolbeg Street this afternoon, spokesperson for the IHN Rosi Leonard said the plan for Apollo House was to eventually house 30 homeless adults there.
There has also been a callout for volunteers in all types of roles – including legal advice, counselling supports and others.
The idea is to turn Apollo House – which is due to be demolished – into supported long term accommodation for the homeless.
A number of extra beds have already been opened by Dublin City Council in the city centre as part of the Winter Initiative. Speaking to TheJournal.ie this morning, Leonard labelled the Initiative “ridiculous”.
“The homeless crisis doesn’t end once the winter is over,” she said.
Source: SAM BOAL
Health and safety
The move is not supported by the leading homeless charities in Ireland – Focus Ireland, the Peter McVerry Trust and others are keeping quiet on the matter.
Speaking this afternoon on RTÉ’s News at One, Sam McGuinness, CEO of the Dublin Simon Community, said that he had been giving advice to the activists (but stressed that Dublin Simon was not involved).
“It will certainly be more secure than sleeping in a doorway or sleeping in tents in the parks, or sleeping in cardboard some other place,” he said.
Some sources within the homeless charity sector have been less enthusiastic, citing the serious health and safety concerns the occupation could pose without properly-trained staff present.
Activists behind the gates at Apollo House. Source: Cormac Fitzgerald/TheJournal.ie
Meanwhile, the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive – which manages homeless services for the four Dublin local authorities – is keeping schtum on the whole matter, and has said that it will not be commenting.
The gardaí also said that they assessed the situation last night. They are liaising with the occupiers but have made no attempt to evict them.
NAMA said in a statement that it does not own Apollo House.
“Any issues arising are for the receiver of the building not NAMA,” a spokesperson said.
With the building in private ownership and scheduled for demolition, it is unclear how long the protesters will be able to remain.
The latest rough sleeper count for Dublin found 142 people sleeping rough in the city centre. There have since been an extra 145 beds opened, with the Housing Department saying that there will be “a bed for anyone who want one” this Christmas.
However, McGuinness said that the beds are nearing capacity already, and the latest Simon rough sleeper count found over 100 homeless people still sleeping rough.
The IHN, Home Sweet Home, and the various activists and big-name celebrities associated with their cause clearly believe there is a need and are taking direct action in relation to homelessness.
Occupations have sprung up and fizzled out over the past year, but with the time of year that’s in it, and the big names behind it, this one could have staying power |
as they desperately cling to hope. Their bodies are easy to hide in the abandoned houses and buildings that litter Detroit. In a city turning into a ghost town, serial killers stalk the trapped residents with hellish delight. One killer gains attention, even among the most vile and violent Detroit has to offer. He does not hunt in the shadows, but takes his victims during the cold light of day. He's methodical, calculating, and leaves no clues for the police to follow. Leads are so few and the kills so brazen, that Aislinn Cain and the SCTU pack their bags and head for the grim streets of Detroit. It is in this desolate waste of a city, that they will face their most depraved and deceptive serial killer yet. < Less |
Michael Flynn, who was fired from President Donald Trump Donald John TrumpHouse committee believes it has evidence Trump requested putting ally in charge of Cohen probe: report Vietnamese airline takes steps to open flights to US on sidelines of Trump-Kim summit Manafort's attorneys say he should get less than 10 years in prison MORE’s national security team last month, has retroactively registered with the Justice Department for work he did that may have benefited the government of Turkey.
His now-defunct firm, the Flynn Intel Group, notified the government on Wednesday that it had done work for Inovo BV, a privately owned consulting firm in the Netherlands run by Turkish businessman Kamil Alptekin, beginning in August 2016.
From August through mid-November, the Flynn Intel Group received $530,000 from Inovo, according to the forms filed with the Justice Department. Flynn shut down his firm in November.
The firm then sub-contracted with S.G.R. LLC Government Relations and Lobbying — who also retroactively registered with the Justice Department this week — paying it $40,000. Disclosures also list Flynn’s firm paying out others, in “consultancy fees,” and for “administrative support,” videography and editing services.
At the time, Flynn was a military adviser to the Trump campaign.
The filings, signed by Flynn himself, say the three-month contract included conducting “investigative research” and retaining “an experienced filming and production crew in order to develop a short film piece on the results of its investigation, and a public affairs firm to utilize for public affairs as needed.”
The documentary — which included interviews with undisclosed individuals — was reportedly never finished or distributed. It centered on Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish cleric exiled in the United States who is wanted by the Turkish government.
S.G.R. LLC made contacts with Tim Griffin John (Tim) Timothy GriffinFlynn discloses lobbying that may have helped Turkey Tea Party class reassesses record Huckabee's daughter to run '16 campaign MORE, a former Republican congressman now lieutenant governor of Arkansas, and Miles Taylor, a staffer on the House Homeland Security Committee, regarding Gulen and charter schools he runs. The firm also contacted reporters and media outlets.
On Sept. 19, Flynn’s firm met with a “group of government officials from Turkey for the purpose of understanding better the political climate in Turkey at the time, as background for the project.”
Two months later, Flynn penned an op-ed article in The Hill entitled “Our ally Turkey is in crisis and needs our support,” which the DOJ filing says was “ based, in part, on the research conducted by Flynn Intel Group under the Inovo engagement.”
In the piece, which published on Election Day, Flynn calls Gulen a “radical Islamist” who “portrays himself as a moderate.”
Turkey blames Gulen for orchestrating the unsuccessful coup against the government last July that resulted in the death of 300 soldiers and civilians.
However, disclosures say there were no outside influences — including Inovo or the government of Turkey — that led to the op-ed, and Flynn was not paid to write it, according to the forms. But Flynn did send Inovo a draft before publication. S.G.R LLC helped submit it, forms say.
Now Flynn’s firm is registering because the nature of the Flynn Intel Group’s work “could be construed to have principally benefitted the Republic of Turkey.”
Registering with the Justice Department is required under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) only when the client is a foreign government, foreign official or an entity that receives financial or other support from a foreign government. FARA requirements are much more strict than domestic lobbying disclosure laws, and include having to register for any services used to influence public policy, including lobbying, public relations and consulting work.
Not registering under FARA is a felony, but enforcement is compliance-based, and firms can evade prosecution simply by belatedly submitting paperwork.
Flynn’s former client denies that there was any payment from Turkey or any other foreign government.
“Inovo has represented, through its counsel, that no part of the fees paid to Flynn Intel Group by Inovo was provided by any foreign government,” disclosure forms say.
Alptekin, who founded Inovo in 2005, is the chairman of the Turkish-American Business Council, which is connected to the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey.
Lawyers for Alptekin say the organization is not an “[agent] of the government of the Republic of Turkey,” but members of the Foreign Economic Relations Board are picked by Turkey’s general assembly and the country’s minister of economy. Through his role, Alptekin helped coordinate a Washington visit for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last year.
The Flynn Intel Group had registered in August to represent Inovo BV under the domestic lobbying law, known as the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA). S.G.R. LLC also registered with the Senate under the LDA, listing Flynn Intel Group as its client. Both firms reported that they did not receive lobbying fees.
The various disclosures in the Justice Department and the Senate have conflicting accounts of why Flynn Intel Group was hired, and what the firm worked on.
The domestic lobbying disclosure forms, filed to the Senate, say both firms would “advise client on U.S. domestic and foreign policy,” including lobbying on funding bills for the Pentagon and State Department.
While supplemental Justice Department disclosures detail the video project about Gulen, another one says the Flynn Intel Group “understood the engagement to be focused on improving U.S. business organizations' confidence regarding doing business in Turkey, particularly with respect to the stability of Turkey and its suitability as a venue for investment and commercial activity.”
In the same disclosure, lawyers for Alptekin, the Turkish businessman, said Flynn’s firm had been hired to assist in Inovo’s consulting work.
“At the time Inovo hired Flynn Intel Group, Inovo represented a private sector company in Israel that sought to export natural gas to Turkey, and it was for support of its consulting work for this client that Inovo engaged Flynn Intel Group, specifically to understand the tumultuous political climate at the time between the United States and Turkey,” according to a statement by Arent Fox, representing Alptekin, within the Flynn Intel Group registration.
The work was aimed to help Inovo counsel its client on “business opportunities and investment in Turkey,” it said.
The registration comes a few weeks after Flynn was fired from his White House post for allegedly misleading Vice President Mike Pence Michael (Mike) Richard PencePence meeting with Senate GOP ahead of vote to block emergency declaration 'And the award for best political commentary by an Oscar nominee goes to...' UN nuclear watchdog: Iran maintains compliance with 2015 pact MORE and other senior officials about his communications with the Russian ambassador after the election.
Flynn also made contradictory statements to FBI investigators about whether he discussed sanctions with the Russian envoy, according to The Washington Post. |
CLEVELAND — Former Cleveland Councilman Robert White, who resigned after pleading guilty to accepting bribes, will be sentenced this afternoon.
White will likely be sent to prison for between 1½ and 2 years, based on a plea agreement he struck with prosecutors in December.
He pleaded guilty to one count of bribery in U.S. District Court and admitted taking a $500 bribe in exchange for helping a Cleveland businessman get the electricity turned back on at his company.
White resigned from council the next day.
In November 2007, the businessman asked White for help getting Cleveland Public Power to restore his electricity, which had been turned off for nonpayment, prosecutors said. White agreed to help but wanted $500 for his effort.
White said after pleading guilty that taking the money from the businessman was a "bad decision." He apologized to the people in his ward and the city of Cleveland.
Prosecutors said in the plea agreement that they have more information about White but will not file additional criminal charges. Prosecutors would not elaborate.
The sentencing is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. |
by
Two pieces ran in CounterPunch recently attacking and ridiculing the popular political blogger Caitlin Johnstone, one of them by the Managing Editor, and other CounterPunch writers have been piling on with them in the several online debates about these attacks, debates in which I participated in some cases. Then on Thursday, a rebuttal was published in Counterpunch taking these attackers to task and defending Ms. Johnstone, and I found it very good. I had not seen the original attacks – I don’t read CP every single day, and when I do, three or four articles is usually about as far as I get, since about 8 or 9 hours on the internet per day is already too much and I’m trying to cut down.
I praised Ms. J on this page in my recent piece “Hope Is Our Enemy: Fighting Boiling Frog Syndrome” for making me feel optimistic about our progress in discrediting the neoliberal corporate media. Optimism is always welcome at my house these days, being a scarce commodity in my political consciousness. And I felt that her series about Rachel Maddow was the best and most entertaining (I need that!) on the Russiagate psychosis I had seen. After CP published my piece, I was picked up on social media by quite a number of her many readers, and some of them are now following my own articles and my many political posts. Some of them were very upset about the pieces here attacking her, and wanted me to know it. I see no point in rating the political consciousness levels of our readers, who are very diverse, as I never fail to notice (to put it politely) from comments in the Facebook group “Counterpunch Friends and Supporters”. I assume we are glad to have them all, and want – in particular – to keep newer ones who might not be as “ideologically pure” as we old veterans of the 1960s (and even earlier…). But perhaps I assume too much.
One of the main points in one of those attack pieces involved Ms Johnstone’s advocacy of working on some issues with right-wingers who were identified as racists. I am torn on that issue myself. I hate racism and xenophobia with a purple passion, being an American refugee in Europe and feeling as I do that NATO wars are one of the main causes of the refugee crisis taking a huge toll on European Union solidarity. But I also despise neoliberalism and bankster-driven austerity economics, and the idea that neoliberalism and globalism are supposed to be our bulwark against fascism and racism. And it is that dilemma, and its relationship to the issue of making common cause with nationalists, which reminded me of the recent pieces on the French presidential election by Diana Johnstone (no relation as far as I know), who is held in quite high regard at Counterpunch, or at least that is my impression.
Diana Johnstone very rightly heaped scorn on Macron, and pointed out accurately that Marine Le Pen’s Front National and the Left party “La France insoumise” of Jean-Luc Mélenchon had a great deal of common political ground, far more than either party had with Macron, a classic neoliberal bankster. Diana Johnstone came very close to saying that LePen was a better choice for the Left than Macron, although it was not quite that explicit. But in any case, she downplayed the significance — in the big picture — of racism, which made me a bit uncomfortable, as much as I have always admired her highly astute political analysis. Nonetheless I had found my instincts being pulled in that direction for weeks, as I heard the incessant barrage of mainstream media attacks on Le Pen here in Germany, where Macron was portrayed as Europe’s only hope against racist fascism and “extremist populism”.
In the UK election, I was thrilled to see Corbyn’s good showing after watching him smeared for two years, often by the Blair faction of his own Labour Party because he is not a big EU fan, for the very same reasons that Diana Johnstone is not. I saw an awful lot of excitement about Corbyn’s achievement in CounterPunch too. I have read many, many pieces since the Brexit vote from writers on the Left tearing apart the idea that all of the “Leave” Brexit voters are racists. Ditto with Trump’s election.
This is one of the central dilemmas for the Left in our present time. I am very conflicted about it myself. I despise nationalism as much as I despise neoliberalism. But if anyone at CP has ever attacked Diana Johnstone for her position on the French election, or piled on those writers on the Left who believe that nationalism is where the anti-neoliberal action is at the moment, then I must have missed it. Which is entirely possible. Please send me the links. And thanks to CP for publishing rebuttals, even of its editors’ views. |
The Atlanta Hawks surprised many with the draft day maneuvering that landed them former Knicks shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr. along with a couple more European prospects. General Manager Wes Wilcox talked about the draft process and gave some insight into what attracted the team to Hardaway Jr.
"We started off with a couple of goals coming into the night," Wilcox said. "One of them was to acquire some additional assets. Another one was to add shooting and we knew that in some way whether it was no or in free agency we were going to look to add another player to the shooting guard position. We're excited that we were able to do that tonight with Tim."
As has become the norm, information regarding what direction the Hawks might go in before the draft was limited. According to Wilcox, they explored a number of options at No. 15 and ultimately traded back to No. 19 while picking up a pair of future second round picks from the Washington Wizards.
"Each draft is really unique. You are constantly juggling the move up scenarios, the move out scenarios, the move back scenarios and the trade for players scenario while you are managing who you may actually select at whatever position you are. That's kind of the reason it gets so busy because its really this dynamic time where you are trying to juggle all of them. And really sequencing becomes the challenge."
"It was an interesting draft As is often the case before your pick, the phones really heat up. Probably the busiest draft room I have ever been in. I think at one point we had eight or nine offers for 15. It was a very busy night. I think most of the league was after one player. Those went away right before 15. So we had known that there was opportunities to flip back because there were other players that we had identified that we could potentially take. So we flipped back and you start all over again with another pick."
Once at No. 19, the process started over for Atlanta. They weighed more possibilities and eventually settled on dealing the pick to New York for Hardaway Jr who was a player that according to Wilcox, they have been following for quite some time.
"Tim's a player we have followed for quite a while and we are excited about what he brings to us. Shooting is something we felt we always want to add. Tim's proven he can do that. Tim's proven he is an NBA player. We think he can fit in our style of play as well. We think he is a system fit for us. We are excited about it."
"When he became available to us, I think it just made sense. I'm not sure it was about whether a guy could play or not play out of the draft, but certainly we feel that Tim has an opportunity to impact the rotation next year. It also seems to be the right place for our team."
The acquisition of Hardaway continues a trend for the team of acquiring minimal risk players with high upside. Names like DeMarre Carroll and Kent Bazemore come to mind. The team believes in its player development model and it was clear while listening to Wilcox and Mike Budenholzer talk, that they think Hardaway Jr. can be very successful in their system.
In the second round, Atlanta picked up a pair of European prospects who are not candidates to join the team next season. Marcus Eriksson is coming off of a torn ACL that limited him to just one game for FC Barcelona this season while Dimitrios Agravanis played with Olympiacos and remains under contract with Olympiacos.
"They are under contract, both of them," Wilcox said. "They'll both stay. One of them is with Olympiacos and the other with Barcelona. Marcus Eriksson is a player that we have followed for quite a while. Tore his ACL so he missed a year. We thought that might actually be an opportunity, had he played the year he probably would have gone much higher in the draft. Agravanis plays for Olympiacos, both Euroleague teams that play at a very high level."
The draft may have ultimately left many fans disappointed, but the Hawks seem to have come away happy and excited with their return. In the short term, trading for Hardaway Jr. saves them a bit of money for this summer's free agency pursuit. When asked about free agency, Wilcox indicated that the team's focus "begins with our guys." |
‘The future is not a pretty picture’.
American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, political critic and activist, he is an Institute Professor and Professor (Emeritus) in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), where he has worked for over 50 years. In addition to his work in linguistics he has written on war, politics and mass media, and is the author of over 100 books, including the influential ‘Manufacturing consent: The political economy of the mass media’ with Edward S. Herman in 1988. According to the Arts and Humanities Citation Index in 1992, Chomsky was cited as a source more often than any other living scholar from 1980 to 1992, and was the eighth most cited source overall. He has been described as a prominent cultural figure, and he was voted the ‘World’s top public intellectual’ in a 2005 poll. Chomsky has been described as the ‘father of modern linguistics’ and a major figure of analytic philosophy. His work has influenced fields such as computer science, mathematics and psychology. He is credited as the creator of the Chomsky hierarchy, the universal grammar theory, and co-creator of the Chomsky–Schützenberger theorem. After the publication of his first book on linguistics, Chomsky became a prominent critic of the Vietnam War, and since then has continued to publish books of political criticism. He has become well known for his critiques of US foreign policy, state capitalism and the mainstream news media. He describes his views as ‘fairly traditional anarchist ones, with origins in the Enlightenment and classical liberalism’, and often identifies with anarcho-syndicalism and libertarian socialism. He is a member of the union IWW, Industrials Workers of the World. |
GOP firebrand Rep. Michele Bachmann scored a narrow victory over Democratic businessman Jim Graves in a race that wasn't settled until 10 a.m. Wednesday.
With all precincts now reporting, Bachmann won 50.59 percent of the vote to Graves' 49.41 percent.
After initially saying in the wee hours that a recount was likely, Graves conceded the race around 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Graves said he called Bachmann to concede, and wished her and her family the best.
"We knew it was an uphill battle," he said in an interview after the call. "It is a very conservative district."
Graves said he thinks Bachmann's last-minute spending on a barrage of TV ads helped her win. "And we had very little resources to counteract that."
His campaign staff waited until all the precincts were in Wednesday before determining that the vote difference was too large to seek a recount.
"We're happy that we avoided a recount -- that's a nightmare situation," said Adam Graves, his son and campaign manager. "We fought as hard as we could."
Bachmann's winning margin of 1.18 percentage points put the race out of the range for an automatic recount under state law.
As the final precincts reported their results, Bachmann's lead grew from just under 1,000 around midnight to the final tally of 4,207.
Shortly after 5 a.m., Bachmann's campaign declared victory in a news release.
"It has truly been an honor and a privilege to represent the people of Minnesota's Sixth District in Congress, and I am humbled that they have placed their trust in me for another term," she said in the release. "I am extremely grateful to my dedicated volunteers for spending countless hours knocking on doors and making phone calls."
As in all election contests, the unofficial results will have to be certified by an election canvassing board before the result is officially declared final.
As for his future, Graves said he has no plans to seek another elective office and just wants to spend time with his wife, three sons and seven grandchildren.
"Never say never, but I'm a businessman not a politician."
Few expected the race to be this close.
Graves, a longtime Democratic fundraiser but first-time candidate, got a late boost from former President Bill Clinton, who headlined a rally with him in St. Cloud on Sunday.
The DFLer faced an uphill challenge overcoming Bachmann's record $23 million war chest in an outer suburban district that skewed even more Republican after redistricting last year.
Despite Bachmann's overwhelming cash advantage and national reputation, some polls had showed Graves in a surprisingly competitive contest that was followed intently by partisans on both sides.
"To me, the toughness makes a candidate sharper," said Bachmann supporter Suzi Blumberg, who gathered with friends at a state GOP election night party at the Hilton Minneapolis Bloomington. "If you always win by a landslide, you might get lazy."
After watching close Bachmann re-election races in years past, St. Cloud State University Prof. Julie Andrzejewski and her husband attended the Graves election night party at a hotel in St. Cloud, hoping to see a Bachmann upset. They said many of their Republican friends voted for Graves this year.
"They're really embarrassed and tired of being represented by someone like Michele Bachmann," said Andrzejewski.
Democrats were banking on a significant number of voters, particularly independents, who might have misgivings about Bachmann's history of provocative and factually contested statements, a number of which got attention last year during her short-lived bid for the presidency.
With no independent candidate on the ballot, unlike in Bachmann's previous congressional races, Democrats were hoping to make the election a hard referendum on Bachmann's image as a national Tea Party leader.
Graves, a millionaire hotelier running as a fiscally conservative Democrat, largely avoided engaging Bachmann on social issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage, issues that propelled her into politics and made her a hero among Christian conservatives.
Instead, he tried to focus on her celebrity and national political aspirations, calling into question her focus on the district, which has been hard-hit by the recession and the accompanying wave of housing foreclosures.
Bachmann used Graves' wealth and his ability to partially finance his own campaign as a regular feature of fundraising pitches that were e-mailed daily to a national network of Tea Party and religious conservatives, supporters who reliably respond in large numbers of small-dollar donations.
Bachmann also campaigned as a leading critic of President Obama's health care overhaul, which she made her signature issue in Congress as she founded the House Tea Party Caucus.
Late in the campaign, she also made a virtue of her outspoken opposition to the Bush era Wall Street bailout and Obama's 2011 debt ceiling compromise, both of which averted fiscal crises and passed with bipartisan majorities in Congress. Her television ads described her as an "independent voice."
Going local
While Graves attacked Bachmann as "the most polarizing, most partisan person in Congress," she sought to cultivate a nonpartisan image with voters by pointing to the singular achievement of her three terms in the U.S. House: spearheading legislation to approve a new freeway-style bridge over the St. Croix River near Stillwater. |
A recent girls soccer game in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, was suspended after a group of Elkhorn students directed a series of pro-Trump chants at Latino students on the opposing team.
The opposing team, Beloit Memorial High School, asked the game’s referees to suspend the game after the chants rendered Beloit’s student athletes incapable of returning to the field. High school soccer rules allow referees to suspend play due to “outside interference.”
“They came off the field and weren’t able to finish the game because they were too upset and distraught over what happened to them,” Denu said. “One of the girls was cradled in the arms of one of our assistant coaches for a good 15 to 20 minutes.”
The fans allegedly chanted “build a wall,” “no comprende,” and “speak English.” Elkhorn high school administrators hold that there were only “one or two” students responsible for the chants at the game, and that they are investigating the incident so that they can isolate and deal with those who were responsible for the comments. Elkhorn administrators called the comments “offensive” and “inappropriate.”
Beloit coach Brian Denu, who is white, claims that the chants greatly upset all of his players. “Those are just words you’ll never be able to take back from those kids and an experience that you wish you could take back,” he said. “It was really disturbing for them.”
Tom Ciccotta writes about Free Speech and Intellectual Diversity for Breitbart. You can follow him on Twitter @tciccotta or on Facebook. You can email him at tciccotta@breitbart.com |
Android M isn’t necessarily as big as Android Lollipop in terms of overhauling the operating system, but that doesn’t mean it should go unmentioned. Android M touts many new features that its predecessor was lacking, such as quick setting toggles that are changeable, dark theming in the settings, and many performance enhancements. One feature that is new to stock Android altogether is WiFi calling.
Update: Upon some further digging into my phone and the installed applications on the Play Store app, I noticed Project Fi was installed on the device already. I went to the application drawer and it was nowhere to be found. So, on Android M, Fi comes baked into the operating system and that is why WiFi calling is included.
Google has added tons of things to Android M, but for the first time ever on a stock Android operating system form Google, it includes WiFi calling. WiFi calling is something that T-Mobile already embraces, as it is prevalent on many of their phones. Recently Google and T-Mobile partnered to bring WiFi calling to their carrier, but others are left out. Since Google already implemented WiFi calling into the T-Mobile Nexus 6 factory image, why not share the wealth?
In some areas, WiFi calling is a necessary feature, as service and reception can be sub-par at best. With the ability to enable WiFi calling, a user can use their internet connection to make phone calls, although it still counts against their minutes used.
To check out the WiFi calling settings on Android M, go to settings, more, then tap “WiFi calling”.
Since more and more features keep popping up with Android M, and more to come in the future, what’s your favorite so far? Let us know! |
From an exceptional film debut and her first appearance on the ramp to the varied film offers she is getting now, actor Nimrat Kaur gets talking about her career, future plans and life in general.Being an Army kid, Nimrat Kaur has had a nomadic up bringing. The Lunchbox actor and a DPS Noida and Shri Ram College of Commerce alumna, who now calls Mumbai her home, spent a major part of her life in Delhi. She was in the capital to walk as the showstopper for Rina Dhaka's show on Wednesday at the ongoing Shree Raj Mahal Jewellers India Couture Week in association with Logix group, presented by FDCI. Ahead of her ramp debut, we caught up with an excited as well as nervous Nimrat for a chat about her life and work.ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO COME TO DELHIShe's walked a number of national as well as international red carpets with her films both Peddlers and The Lunchbox were screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012 and 2013 respectively but Rina's show was her first catwalk experience. “I have never walked the ramp before. I've come especially for Rina's show.There were a few names in fashion which I have grown up hearing, and Rina was one of them. She put forth a request and I was free so I decided to do it. And since my home is here, it was just another opportunity for me to come to Delhi. I don't know if people usually get to choose what they wear on the ramp, but I got to choose my outfit, which is great,“ she says.THREE FASHION WEEKS IN DELHIBeing a Delhi girl, is she aware of the fashion scene here? “No, not really .I just found out that there are three major fashion weeks held every year in Delhi. I know that a lot of designers are based here, and if I had done more ramp walks, I would have known more. I did a lot of print and TV ads, but I haven't done much of ramp modelling. I think I am not tall enough,“ she says.LOOKING BEST ALL THE TIME IS NOT MY PRIORITYHer critically acclaimed film, The Lunchbox, showed Nimrat in a deglam avatar. But how is she in her real life? “I like to dress up and look good when I want to. For me, the beauty of being an actor lies in the fact that you can blend in and stand out when you want to. In Lunchbox, if I had looked fetching in that suffocated environment, I would have killed the character. Looking best all the time is not the priority for me,“ she says.COMING HOME IS DIFFICULT NOW“I was brought up all over the place, my dad was in the Army , so I have lived in many places, but for about nine years Delhi, Noida, to be precise was my home. I studied at DPS, Noida, and finished school in 2000. I still have a house in Noida Sector 29, where my mother lives. I don't come back here often, but I meet my sister and mom whenever and wherever we can convene. So, I was happy to come for the Couture Week. Otherwise it's difficult now to come back to Delhi too often,“ she says.CULTURE SHOCKAs a kid, when she moved here, after living in various small cities across north India, Nimrat found it slightly difficult to adjust to the place. “It was a bit of a culture shock for me because I had lived in much smaller cities parts of Punjab, like Bathinda, Patiala, even in Arunachal Pradesh and Kashmir and it was very different here. But it was really peaceful at that time, and life was simpler. Now, it has become really hectic, things have changed so much and so fast,“ she reveals.DON'T FEEL COMFORTABLE IN DELHI“I have been living in Mumbai for about 10 years now, and I feel much more comfortable living in Mumbai as I feel safer there, living all by myself. You can wear what you want, do what you like without having to look over your shoulder. There is this sense of danger when you are alone in Delhi. I don't feel very easy here. I feel that I should watch out, whether I am in the public transport or just walking. The male gaze in Delhi makes you cringe, which is different in Mumbai. We've all had incidents while growing up, but unfortunately we've grown immune to all of that and think, haan, sabke saath hota hai. In terms of safety , Delhi and Noida might be different in different pockets. Delhi itself is such a vast city, who knows where the real Delhi is? For me, Delhi is Hauz Khas, Saket, and Khan Market. I'm sure you won't be going into a dark alley at midnight, but you have to be careful. Even Noida has its pockets which are safe, and then there are places which are unsafe,“ explains Nimrat.THE LUNCHBOX IS STILL BEING CARRIEDThe Lunchbox might have released in India last year, but it continues to travel to various film festivals. The Ritesh Batra-directed film was recently screened at film festivals in Italy and New Zealand. Ask Nimrat about it and she says, “I don't know what's happening with that film, someone's making a lot of money from it (laughs). I spoke to Ritesh recently when he told me he is going to Japan with the film at the end of this month, I was like, `What? Japan? What's happening with the film?' I have travelled so much with the film myself, I recently went to Slovenia with it.“HAVEN'T SIGNED NIKHIL'S FILM YETIt was reported that Nimrat would be doing a film opposite Rajkummar Rao, but the actress says nothing has been confirmed yet. “The script is very interesting, and I want to work with Nikhil Advani, but nothing is final as I am yet to sign the film. But in principle, I do like that script at lot. Right now, I am looking at expanding my audience base, doing all kinds of films. I am getting all sorts of film offers, nothing like Peddlers and Lunchbox, which is great. A lot of good work is happening even within the commercial sphere,“ she says.DON'T GET TO BE WITH MY CATS“Currently , I am working on an ongoing American mini-series, and I will be leaving for that in a couple of days. Life has become really hectic. I have two cats at home, Kitkat and Karamchand, and I hardly get to spend any time with them. KC was really snoopy , he would keep looking in the corners, so I named him Karamchand. They have been living with me in Mumbai for 6-7 years now,“ she concludes. |
That's finally done and over with.This was inspired at complete random right before bed about a week ago. Next thing I knew I was drawing them!These are not for any specific person. I simply wanted to make them. They're free to anyone who wants to print em' out and present them to someone though! Assuming you have enough time in the day to do so (Ignore my late posting.).BUT WAIT. You want only one? WELL THEN I CAN HELP HERE AT INDIVIDUALS ONLY INCORPORATED. WE DEAL WITH THE PERSON AND NOT THE COMPANY.Roseluck: [link] Soarin': [link] Celestia: [link] Aloe and Lotus: [link] "BUT WAIT VALCRON! This is only ONE SIDE to a card!"-Distressed citizenOh don't worry. I have a make-shift back you can print on the other side!2x2 version: [link] Singular version: [link] Edit: OH NO SOARIN' HAS NO SUIT CUTIE MARK (or whatever).WILLFIXWILLFIXWILLFIXWILLFIX.Edit 2: FIXED.Edit 3: I just noticed all the ponies are looking left. Not intentional! :>Edit 4: Celestia's line is now fixed properly. If anyone has any more objections, the door is right behind you! Or to your side! Or possibly above you if you live underground!IF WE CAN GET TO 5 EDITS, SPECIAL FEATURES WILL BE UNLOCKED! |
Hello Halo Collectors! Black Friday is once again upon us, and the Halo Deals are abundant. With so many promotions around the web and at stores, we thought it would be a good idea to post them all in one place for easy perusing. If you venture outside the saftey of your home, and attempt to go in to an actual brick and mortar store, good luck and remember...Spartans Never Die. Happy hunting!
toys & Collectibles
MEGA Bloks
mattel
sandboxr 3d printed spartan
loot crate
electronics
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AC Worldwide
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apparel & accessories
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Dark Horse Comics
Make sure and follow @HaloGear for more product news and updates....and remember some toys are meant to be looked at, but even more are meant to be played with!
-Phas |
When Fred R. Conrad was growing up in Jackson, Mich., in the 1950s, his first heroes were the cowboys he saw on his family’s black-and-white television. He dreamed of being the Lone Ranger, or Roy Rogers. His mother even taught him to ride on a retired cow pony named Brazos.
Alas, Mr. Conrad, 62, never achieved his goal of being a cowboy. He did eventually become a New York Times staff photographer. The two are often confused.
One of the best things about being a newspaper photographer is that sooner or later you get to see most everything life has to offer. Yet somehow — despite a career of almost 36 years — Mr. Conrad had never photographed a rodeo, not even the Professional Bull Riders’ United States tour at Madison Square Garden. The event has been there annually for the last 20 years, and the three-day event began last Friday.
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
So, last week Mr. Conrad set out to fill this void in his professional life and explore the unlikely juxtaposition of bull riding in a metropolis where steers are scarce. He spent three days with the men who ride the bulls for eight seconds — or often less — of sheer terror.
“They’re very soft-spoken and most of them are incredibly religious, which sort of makes sense if you’re putting your life on the line in every event,” Mr. Conrad said. “Most of them are either from the American Southwest or surprisingly from Brazil, which has a long history of cowboys and bulls.”
Despite the Kevlar vests they wear, most of the cowboys have been injured, and many put on knee or elbow braces in the locker room before the event.
“It’s probably the most dangerous single sport that I’ve ever seen,” Mr. Conrad said. “Many of these guys are really young, and yet they walk like I walk. And I’m in my 60s. It’s so incredibly violent and potentially dangerous. That’s I guess the draw. Can they survive?”
While photographing the cowboys on — and falling off — the bulls, he noticed another odd detail. The young men’s hats almost always stayed on. How was that was possible? Was a little Super Glue involved?
“I have no idea what keeps those hats on,” Mr. Conrad said. “I have no idea what keeps their heads on.”
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
Follow @JamesEstrin and @nytimesphoto on Twitter. Lens is also on Facebook. |
By Chris Shaw
I’ve made it clear that I don’t see the EU referendum as particularly important. The major economic questions surrounding the modern world, from banking fragility and capital creation, to huge levels of private and sovereign debt and politico-economic centralisation are not remotely addressed within this debate, except maybe on the peripheries. If we leave, economic and political power will simply be moved from unaccountable elites in Brussels to those in Westminster and its parasitical institutions. Democracy is not important in this debate as some have emphasised, as realistically the kind of representative democracy we have has led to many of the ridiculous problems the UK faces today, from failing social systems to a debt-led economy. Representative democracy relies on mass ignorance and the ability to debate non-issues among non-representative parties.
The only important area this debate touches on is the concept of secession. By voting to leave, we are hopefully seceding from the EU. This is more hopeful when the powers that be (Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, etc.) have proposed leaving the Single Market, thus actually decreasing our involvement in the EU instead of simply renegotiating it through EFTA or the EEA. Such proposals are potentially important and even radical, particularly when put in the frame of a “people’s choice” which is currently defining this referendum. This reinterprets what were meant to be the realities of the referendum (that of a debate about how good or bad the EU has supposedly been), and has instead reoriented it toward questions of what constitutes nationality and the character and ownership of a nation.
By doing this, questions of power and where it is held are raised. With this comes the potential for a wider debate over the whole concept of how we shape our polities and economies. Fundamentally, a discussion of this sort allows for a move away from the corporatised economies and centralised governance structures which cast the current paradigm.
Many forms of these structures are found within the European Union, as with trade agreements and stringent regulatory apparatuses which create artificially large economies of scale and large arenas for corporate lobbying and influence. TTIP is the culmination of these processes, as evidenced by the fact that 90% of the meetings surrounding TTIP has been done with corporate interests in both Europe and America. But let’s not kid ourselves into believing that the Cameronite elements of the Conservative Party that want to leave don’t believe in the same things.
A debate that moves discourses and discussions away from this paradigm allows the British people to move toward ideas of true secession, as described by Hoppe and Kirkpatrick Sale. Decentralising power from a European bureaucracy to a British bureaucracy may not quell the worries and fears of British people surrounding immigration, the economy and political representativeness. Hopefully, questions of unaccountable power continue to the point where many are at least calling for more localism and individual and community sovereignty. Some of these ideas can already be found in UKIP, as evidenced by their local manifesto and their proposals for local democracy reform.
It has to be remembered that while the EU obviously has massive issues with increasing debt levels and the desire for economic centralisation, the UK itself has huge public spending levels as well as massive private debt and issues of capital movement. This then limits the capability for any national government to take back control from the EU. Much of legislation, trade law, intellectual property and national and transnational transport infrastructure become untenable in these dead, hollowed-out states. There are already warning signs of a crash with a British housing bubble and the inability to create meaningful employment, with much of current job numbers being concentrated in low-pay sectors and the increasing difficulty employed individuals are finding in affording the cost-of-living.
By removing ourselves from these centralising mechanisms of the state, a potentially agorist future presents itself. Independent contractors in decentralised economies surrounding their community and their region, with international trade as a factor of economies but not their focal point. Political representation based on the desires of local communities and counties, which can range from incorporated cities to rural agrarianism and the return of aristocratic duties and rights, both of which have historical roots in English identities and communities. Immigration controlled by local communities based on their tribal identities, rather than the interests of big business and international economic interests.
The only way for individuals and communities to get back control from centralised power structures is to push for proper secessionism from both the EU and the UK. More political and economic power and decision-making needs to be returned to the counties and cities of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for things that matter to be changed by the communities and peoples affected. Returning to the idea of subsidiarity is key in changing the direction of economic matters. Local public infrastructure is lacking in this nation, yet the government chooses to waste money on HS2 and other large-scale projects which invariably benefit large businesses. Mass immigration is negatively effecting many communities in the Midlands, North and East of England, as well as in the cities of Wales, yet British politicians pay lip service to such concerns while doing very little in actually controlling migration. Meaningful work is lacking, and the government decides subsiding corporations through a National Living Wage and the encouragement of temporary work is the best idea.
Many of the problems people in the UK face today do not emanate from the EU, but from the ignorance of politicians and political parties in Westminster. While the ideas I’m advocating may well seem outlandish, the discourses of this referendum are already changing toward how the concept of a British nation is defined, and where national power should lie. Leaving the EU alone will change nothing. True secession from centralised power will. |
In the main event, Henderson held the significant strike advantage over Masvidal 86 to 77. However, when it comes to total strikes, Masvidal held the edge 217 to 138. The concept of Significant Strikes was developed by Fight Metric and is fully explained here. Basically, it excludes strikes that are thrown simply to keep busy in the clinch and on the ground. Since this fight was mostly contested on the feet, most of these insignificant strikes came in the clinch position. The disparity between the fighters in terms of total strikes is expected, because Henderson continually forced clinch fighting along the cage. While he held position and looked for takedowns, Masvidal tried to score as best he could.
The Unified Rules state, "judges shall use a sliding scale and recognize the length of time the fighters are either standing or on the ground as follows... if the mixed martial artists spent a majority of a round standing, then: effective striking is weighed first." Despite this, fighters pushing their opponents into a clinch position along the cage and doing very little are continually rewarded. There are tons of examples, but Randy Couture's robbery decision win over Brandon Vera is probably the best example of "wall and stall" influencing a judge's decision.
This belies the genius and effectiveness of Henderson's strategy. His failed takedowns and clinches might seem like a cheap tactic to hold position along the cage, but the difference between the significant strike and total strike numbers show the actual genius in the strategy. By forcing the clinch on a more skilled striker, Henderson forced Masvidal to resort to throwing strikes without much impact. At the same time, Henderson was able to be the better striker on the StrikeScore scale in three of the five rounds.
Henderson is a true master of distance. In his fights, he always appears to strive to be either all the way or all the way out. He is either close enough to clinch and avoid strikes or far enough away that opponents can not touch him with strikes. Masvidal was able to give him problems by scoring with a rangy kicking game, but Henderson's strategy ultimately paid off again. The former champion is now 6-1 in five-round decisions in the UFC and WEC. Interestingly enough, his only defeat in such a fight came against one of the most dangerous range kickers in the sport, Anthony Pettis. |
A couple really special treats took place in the past week for SeaWorld’s newest coaster, one of them directly related to it.
Inside this box was the lead coach for the coaster train and was unveiled on Tuesday morning:
SeaWorld shared a snippet of the box being lifted off the car and included some clips of Brian Morrow, design director for SeaWorld Parks:
Our second special treat this week helps me to bring you more detailed updates, the parks SkyTower observation ride has re-opened:
From SkyTower we can see almost the whole construction site:
Taking some closer views now, we start with the progress of the station and surrounding area where we see the building really taking shape around the track:
Continuing on, we see a great view of the lift and first turns as well as some of the lower to the ground track work underneath which has been completed for some time now:
Next we spot a couple of airtime hills which have been installed in the last week and are headed alongside International Drive:
As track work continues to progress in this area we saw another piece being readied for installation just after these big hills:
This will progress into this area where we can see footers, circled for ease of finding in the picture, for the turnaround element which will basically U-Turn the coaster and send it back on those lower to the ground track elements:
Moving all the way inside the park now, we take an overall view of the entrance area and main lagoon area:
On just the main lagoon area we have seen a footer we highlighted last week take shape and from the air see lots more completed and another in progress (again footers circled for convenience):
We also seen an area we haven’t been able to highlight that carries the track into the main lagoon looks to have most of its support footers completed:
Near the ride vehicle storage building we see where the track progression leaves off, this track will head into the park areas where guest will really see the new creation swim:
Closing out the update with our feet back on the ground, we check in on the progress of the entrance area and see a support now in place for track that will fly over the brake run and lead over the entrance before diving into the main lagoon:
That’s all for this jam-packed week of fun from the shark, have a great week everyone and be sure to catch up on our previous posts if your behind on the updates! Mako Construction Updates
Keep the conversation alive via the comments section or on our social media outlets: |
Closing in on 30 years of age, Diego Sanchez is still intensity personified. | Daniel Archuleta/Sherdog.com
Martin Kampmann file photo
Sanchez’s improvement will be
tested greatly by Kampmann.
Early Impressions
“
I remember talking to
Greg [Jackson] about
it and Greg saying,
‘This guy is going
to be something.’ His
intensity was enormous.
” -- Chris Luttrell on Sanchez's debut
Continue Reading »
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- For all intents and purposes, the morning’s training sessions have ended, yet Diego Sanchez remains in the gym. As many professional fighters begin to make their way out of Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts , “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 1 winner adjusts the radio.With Rage Against the Machine blasting through the sound system, Sanchez’s grunts and yells resonate throughout the dojo as he labors through an intense workout. Willie Parks , who has been living with the Albuquerque native, alternates sets with him.“Let’s do this, Willie,” Sanchez exhorts.A little later, Jackson’s MMA General Manager Ricky Kottenstette gives a tour of the gym to prospective members and changes the music to something more visitor friendly. Undeterred, Sanchez continues to toil away through an exhausting free-weight session. If the music was not going to scare away the guests on this day, it seems possible Sanchez’s intensity might.“Diego’s very vocal. He’ll start screaming. He’s that emotional type of guy,” says striking coach Mike Winkeljohn. “He lets you know sometimes. He gets going, and it’s always in a positive energy side. It’s never in the gym situation a negative thing at all, but he will yell to help his teammates. Some people get uncomfortable because he’s yelling so loud; they’re not used to that type of intensity.”About a week and a half stands between the fighter formerly known as “Nightmare” and his meeting with the world-ranked Martin Kampmann in the UFC Live 3 main event at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky. Still, Sanchez is driven by the past.Consecutive losses -- first in a lightweight title bout to B.J. Penn at UFC 107 and then to John Hathaway in his return to 170 pounds at UFC 114 -- raised questions about Sanchez’s standing in the sport. A return to training under the tutelage of Greg Jackson coupled with a high-energy, “Fight of the Night” triumph over Paulo Thiago at UFC 121 seemed to silence some of the doubters. However, beating the then world-ranked Brazilian was not enough to satisfy Sanchez.“I was injured the whole camp [for Thiago],” he says. “I had a hurt shoulder, [and] I had broke my hand, so I didn’t get to lift at all for that camp. That’s why I wasn’t as big as I am now. I’m lifting again. I’m getting my strength back. I think the UFC is gonna be impressed with the way I come into this fight -- strong.”The shift between weight classes had everyone from Winkeljohn to UFC President Dana White musing about the ideal division for the 29-year-old.“His first fight at 170, honestly, I was a little worried that he needed to get back down to 155,” Winkeljohn says. “He looked small. This time he does not; he’s definitely stronger than last time.”Sanchez estimates his weight has peaked at 195 pounds in the current camp. In that sense, the post-practice sessions with Parks are paying off. As for the intensity that fills the room when Sanchez is on his game? That has always been there.Sanchez did not need long to make a serious impression on his team of coaches, including Greg Jackson and Jackson’s first black belt recipient, Chris Luttrell . It was just minutes into the first round of his professional debut at a Ring of Fire event in Denver, and the former high school state wrestling champion was, according to Luttrell, “bleeding all over.”The sense of urgency that followed -- Sanchez applied a rear-naked choke and forced his opponent to tap before the round expired -- forecast a bright future.“He never worried about the injury. He knew he had to finish the guy before the doctor saw blood [and stopped the fight],” says Luttrell. “I remember talking to Greg about it and Greg saying, ‘This guy is going to be something.’ His intensity was enormous.”That was the first of 18 straight wins from 2002 to 2006 for Sanchez, whose list of victims over that time included Jorge Santiago Nick Diaz and Karo Parisyan . As a kid, Sanchez was drawn to martial arts and wrestling. The UFC’s rise to prominence was something of a perfect storm.“I used to think Jean Claude Van Damme was the coolest thing,” Sanchez says. “When the UFC first came out, I was wrestling at the time; I was a junior wrestler. I loved Dan Severn because he was a wrestler and I was a wrestler. I just loved the sport.”As his athletic prowess began to surface, Sanchez found himself believing an extended run of success was imminent.“Back when Matt Hughes and Carlos Newton were fighting for the belt, I had just started training with Greg doing submission grappling, and I knew I could beat those guys,” he says. “Even at that young part of my career, I believed in myself that I could do it. I always believed. I never stopped believing.”Luttrell thinks Sanchez’s highly publicized move to San Diego in 2008 to train with Saulo and Alexandre Ribeiro at The Arena gym altered his fighting style.“There’s certain traits and there’s certain things that get people to a high level. Now, when people leave behind what gets them to that high level, then they go backwards,” he says. “When he left Jackson’s, he went to a Brazilian jiu-jitsu academy. The foundation of Brazilian jiu-jitsu is not attack, attack, attack. It’s be on your back and wait and counter and set things up. That’s not Diego. That’s not his style; it’s never been his style. That really set him back. He went backwards. He had a few good fights down there, but it just kind of worked against him.” |
USA – -(Ammoland.com)- In a stunning 2-1 decision published today that upheld a City of Highland Park, Illinois ordinance (§136.005 of the City Code) that prohibits the possession of so-called “assault weapons” and “large‐capacity magazines,” Seventh Circuit Cout of Appeals Judge Frank Easterbrook held that
[a]nother constitutional principle is relevant: the Constitution establishes a federal republic where local differences are cherished as elements of liberty, rather than eliminated in a search for national uniformity. McDonald circumscribes the scope of permissible experimentation by state and local governments, but it does not foreclose all possibility of experimentation. Within the limits established by the Justices in Heller and McDonald, federalism and diversity still have a claim. Whether those limits should be extended is in the end a question for the Justices. Given our understanding of existing limits, the judgment [of the trial court, which held that the gun control ordinance was constitutional] is AFFIRMED.
Adding insult to injury, the majority found that “[i]f a ban on semi‐automatic guns and large‐capacity magazines reduces the perceived risk from a mass shooting, and makes the public feel safer as a result, that’s a substantial benefit.”
In his dissent, Judge Manion found that
[b]y prohibiting a class of weapons commonly used throughout the country, Highland Park’s ordinance infringes upon the rights of its citizens to keep weapons in their homes for the purpose of defending themselves, their families, and their property. Both the ordinance and this court’s opinion upholding it are directly at odds with the central holdings of Heller and McDonald: that the Second Amendment protects a personal right to keep arms for lawful purposes, most notably for self-defense within the home.
***
Unlike public life where the cities and states have broad authority to regulate,the ultimate decision for what constitutes the most effective means of defending one’s home, family, and property resides in individual citizens and not in the government. The Heller and McDonald opinions could not be clearer on this matter. Heller, 554 U.S. at 635; McDonald, 561 U.S. at 780. The extent of danger—real or imagined—that a citizen faces at home is a matter only that person can assess in full.
To be sure, assault rifles and large capacity magazines are dangerous. But their ability to project large amounts of force accurately is exactly why they are an attractive means of selfdefense. While most persons do not require extraordinary means to defend their homes, the fact remains that some do. Ultimately, it is up to the lawful gun owner and not the government to decide these matters. To limit self-defense to only those methods acceptable to the government is to effect an enormous transfer of authority fromthe citizens of this country to the government—a result directly contrary to our constitu-tion and to our political tradition. The rights contained in the Second Amendment are “fundamental” and “necessary to our system of ordered liberty.” McDonald, 561 U.S. at 778. The government recognizes these rights; it does not confer them.
Judges Easterbrook, Manion, and Williams were appointed by President Ronald Reagan. The complete decision can be viewed or downloaded here.
TAKEAWAYS (**opinion**):
1. This decision underscores the need for the United States Supreme Court to grant certiorari in Jackson v. San Francisco. The Second Amendment is bleeding out on the table….and most lower courts seem to be perfectly happy to watch it die in its infancy. 2. This decision does not bode well for challengers of bans that are similar to that in Friedman v. Highland Park. Don’t be surprised if you see more state and local governments use cases like Friedman and Fyock v. Sunnyvale as cover to pass sweeping new bans in the next few years. 3. If this is what the federal Right to Keep and Bear Arms is going to look like in practice, then it seems plausible that thousands–and possibly millions–of law-abiding gun owners in “battleground states” will move their lives and families to “free” states in the coming years to avoid criminal liability and loss of property for simply being a gun owner. 4. It seems equally plausible that thousands–and possibly millions–of gun owners in “battleground states” will simply ignore the law and take their chances, leading to the unfortunate (and devastating) arrest and prosecution of otherwise good and peaceful people.
Join Firearms Policy Coalition
Gun rights organizations interested in joining the Coalition should contact FPC at [email protected] or through the contact form at http://firearmspolicy.org/contact. |
Our mobile devices communicate with us through sounds and screens, but a new wristband designed by Somatic Labs relies instead on touch.
Moment is a wearable device that vibrates to convey information. While phones and smart watches can send a generic alert by vibrating the entire device, Moment uses four motors to allow for different types of haptic feedback depending on what it is trying to say.
“You actually feel a shape being drawn on your skin as if someone was taking their finger and tracing out a triangle or an arrow in a certain direction,” cofounder and CEO Shantanu Bala says. “There’s a large variety of combinations of shapes we can make.”
The Moment wristband has no screen, just four motors to deliver specific vibrations for different notifications.
Somatic Labs plans to ship Moment in early 2017 for $159 (or $129 if you order on Kickstarter); its functions will include GPS navigation, message notification, and a metronome feature. Instead of glancing at your phone’s screen every time a new GPS direction comes up, imagine having an arrow traced on your wrist. Moment starts out gently and then traces the arrow more intensely as you approach your exit.
For app, text, and other smartphone notifications, the device can assign different tactile patterns to different contacts so you know who a message is from. Developers will have the chance to develop applications that can be accessed from Moment’s phone app, the main interface through which users can set preferences and interact with the device. To repeat a notification, users can press a button on the side of the wristband or request it via gesture control.
Bala began developing haptic technology at Arizona State University’s Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing. His work originally focused on adapting widely available technology so it could be used by people with disabilities. Moment grew out of Bala’s interest in helping people keep their eyes off a screen to remain engaged with their surroundings.
Users interact with the Moment wristband primarily through an app, which will add new functionality as developers create more applications for the technology.
Katherine Kuchenbecker, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s GRASP robotics laboratory, says touch offers a powerful new way for electronic devices to communicate with humans.
“Touch cues can be private, salient, and quite expressive when designed well,” Kuchenbecker says. “The wrist is a particularly good location for delivering such cues because wrist wearables don’t interfere much with the use of your hands.”
Haptic feedback can also be essential in environments where hearing a notification is nearly impossible. Bala describes an industrial setting where a machine operator wears soundproof earmuffs and has limited visibility. A device like Moment could provide immediate feedback in the event of a problem.
The first version of Moment will have a battery that lasts from a few days to a week, depending on how intensely it’s used. Bala says the technology couldn’t be integrated into an existing smart watch or phone just yet because it would dramatically decrease battery life.
Somatic Labs isn’t trying to convert anyone away from the Apple watch, Bala says. But the company knows that some people have become disillusioned with smart watches. Instead of replicating the abilities of a smartphone in a smaller form, Moment is meant to augment them.
“If we’re creating wearables for the human body, we should do what the human body does best, which is feeling,” he says. “We definitely think it’s a product that has a wide appeal.” |
‘Dickensian Squalor’ – HMP Wormwood Scrubs’ Latest Damning Report
‘Dickensian Squalor’ – HMP Wormwood Scrubs’ Latest Damning Report
Wormwood Scrubs Prison has come under serious criticism in a recent report from the HM Inspectorate of Prisons – which highlighted squalid, unsafe conditions for inmates.
Here’s an overview of the contents of the report, plus information about HMP Wormwood Scrubs’ past performance in official reports.
Wormwood Scrubs Prison – The Latest Report
The original report was carried out in November / December 2015 – under Nick Hardwick, then Chief Inspector of Prisons; and the following observations were made:
The Prison Reform Trust, commenting after viewing the report, said that the prison had “levels of Dickensian squalor”. Inspectors reported seeing rats running around the building “every day and night” of their visit, and also noted inmates stuffing paper into broken windows to “keep out the weather”. Additionally, one inmate was observed using a torn sheet as a makeshift toilet screen.
Few measures were being taken to protect vulnerable inmates. For example, the report noted that there was broken glass in the windows of two inmates who had been identified as suicidal.
Violence is rife in the prison, with one in five inmates claiming that they feel unsafe. Official use of force by prison officers is twice as high as in other similar prisons.
The current Chief Inspector of Prisons, Peter Clarke, commented: “Wormwood Scrubs is a prison that continues to fall short of expected standards, and at the time of our inspection there was little cause for optimism.”
Covering Up the Truth?
The Guardian recently suggested that Nick Hardwick’s original inspection findings had been far more severely worded than the current HM Inspectorate report.
For example, the earlier draft (which was leaked to The Guardian) stated in its opening paragraph that the prison was in a “shameful condition”. Peter Clarke’s updated version softened this to “poor condition”.
Hardwick’s observations also noted that one in 10 prisoners at Wormwood Scrubs claimed to have been physically assaulted, and also claimed that “too many prisoners at risk of suicide or self-harm were held in the segregation unit without any explanation of the exceptional reasons required to justify it.” Neither of these comments are included in Clarke’s version of the report.
Frances Crook, of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “It raises concerns if the new chief inspector feels he is unable to be as robust as we would hope. The chief inspector must talk truth to the justice secretary and to the public about prison conditions, as people die in jails, assaults and violence are everyday events, and that spills out into the community, affecting us all.”
Not the First…
Regrettably, Wormwood Scrubs Prison has come under fire in the past for its poor conditions and high levels of violence. In 2013, it received an equally damning report, which highlighted concerns about prisoner safety and welfare, and also commented on the poor living conditions which inmates were subjected to.
However, this seems to be a recurring theme in prisons across the UK. Not only are conditions worsening in a number of key establishments, but the impact of the Probation Service’s increasing privatisation is also being felt. Recent figures show that the number of prisoners being made homeless upon release has risen from just 5% to 40% since government-run resettlement services were taken over by London Community Rehabilitation Company, for example.
It’s a worrying state of affairs. With HMP Holloway now due for closure, many now anticipate that Wormwood Scrubs will follow suit – only time will tell.
References:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-36016173
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/apr/12/wormwood-scrubs-negative-prison-report-toned-down-leaked-draft-suggests
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/apr/12/ministers-prison-reform-overcrowded-understaffed-invest
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-29034944 |
Immigration: Some 53% of Democrats want illegal aliens to have the vote,
according to a new poll. Naturally: Why wouldn't they want millions of
new members for their party and its Big Government agenda?
When it comes to likely voters in all categories of the population, Rasmussen Reports has found that 60% don't want those present in the U.S. illegally to be able to vote, while 35% do.
But a majority of those identifying themselves as Democrats do want illegals to have voting rights, along with 21% of Republicans and 30% of the non-affiliated.
So much for holding U.S. citizenship in high esteem. Instead of Americans choosing the political leaders of their country, anyone who finds a way to get in and live here should be able to, most Democrats believe.
Many other countries allow voting for people who happen to be there when their elections take place.
The U.S. has rightly been jealous of the power to vote, not least to prevent foreign influence in a world in which this nation and what it stands for has enemies.
Having to wait five years to become a citizen and be eligible to vote emphasizes the high value of being an American; it makes it clear this is not just another country and is a key facet of American exceptionalism.
Cheapening that value is bad enough. But what's most significant about a majority of Democrats wanting illegals to have the vote is that it would translate into a lot more political power for Democrats, because that's who most of them dependably support. And this is what immigration "reform" is really all about.
During President Clinton's first term, Vice President Al Gore was in charge of getting as many immigrants as possible sworn in as citizens, just in case the 1996 election turned out to be close. Today, President Obama's amnesty is also motivated by getting millions of new Democrat votes. Sen. Ted Kennedy's 1965 immigration reform, which opened the floodgates to poorer nations, had the same goal, despite its proponents, including President Lyndon Johnson, claiming otherwise.
As columnist Michelle Malkin emphasized last week in an appearance with Fox News' Megyn Kelly, it is false that "somehow those of us who believe in the rule of law want to throw every last illegal alien into some cattle car ... we issue 1 million green cards every single year ... 500,000 foreign-student visas, 700,000 work permits for both skilled and unskilled labor."
But that generosity turns out to be the transformation of America in disguise. And American citizens would never have agreed to be so generous if they'd known that these green-card holders, foreign students and various "guests" were being invited in under an ulterior motive that's purely political. |
President Obama took to the podium of the UN general assembly yesterday, conspicuously avoiding use of the word "veto" in his speech, which would be an unpopular move given the liebrated mood of the Arab spring which his administration has so vocally supported.
However, Ben Rhodes, the White House national security council spokesman, said after Mr Obama met Mr Abbas in New York: "We would have to oppose any action at the UN Security Council including, if necessary, vetoing."
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli premier, said Mr Obama deserved a "badge of honour" for his defence of Israel.
Earlier, Mr Obama told the UN general assembly that the US could not back the Palestinian proposal.
"I am convinced that there is no short cut to the end of a conflict that has endured for decades," he said.
"Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the United Nations – if it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now."
Adding that America's commitment to Israel's security was "unshakeable", he continued: "Ultimately, it is the Israelis and the Palestinians who must live side by side. Ultimately, it is the Israelis and the Palestinians – not us – who must reach agreement on the issues that divide them."
Palestinians however have indicated a willingness to delay their Security Council vote by "several months".
Under a deal still being thrashed out on Wednesday night, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, would still launch his bid for full UN membership when he addresses world leaders on Friday.
He would therefore save face with voters at home, lay down a historical marker and ensure that the bid cannot be quietly forgotten.
In return, Mr Abbas would not seek to expedite a debate at the Security Council, where the US has threatened to wield its veto, giving mediators the chance to try to revive Middle East peace talks.
"The important thing for us is to submit our application as planned," a senior Palestinian official told the Daily Telegraph. "After that, we are prepared to be reasonable. We understand that things can take time. If the process is going to take some months, we are happy to let things take their course."
"Just because he sends a letter to the council doesn't mean there has to be a vote," said a European official . "The message we get from the Palestinians is that they definitely want to find a diplomatic solution."
Nabil Shaath, a senior Palestinian official, denied that a delayed vote was part of the plan.
“There will be no intended political manouevre to delay, we don’t want to give the impression we are not serious, because we are serious,” he said. However, he added that the Security Council would be given “some time” to consider the full membership request and placed no deadline for the council to hold a vote.
If the application was blocked, he indicated that the option of seeking enhanced observer status at the UN general assembly, where no country holds a veto, would probably be pursued.
Mr Sarkozy became the first major leader to publicly back such a plan.
It remains unclear whether Israel would be happy with the formula under discussion.
Some on the right of the Israeli government have called for sanctions against the Palestinian Authority as soon as they have submitted their application, arguing that even if a debate is significantly delayed a vote would still be inevitable in the future.
"Once they've submitted their bid, the Palestinians have no incentive to negotiate," said an Israeli official.
Palestinian officials said they were unlikely to raise objections to a compromise offer being advanced by the Middle East Quartet, comprising the US, EU, UN and Russia, that would postpone the debate on the initiative at the UN but grant the Palestinian Authority enhanced observer status. |
Poyet's team, who are seven points adrift of safety, face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday evening knowing a sixth successive defeat will push them ever-closer to the drop.
And Poyet has cast an envious eye along the road to Newcastle, where counterpart Alan Pardew finds himself entrenched in a battle to win over his club's fans despite the Magpies sitting ninth in the table.
Asked to characterise the challenge of managing in the north east, Poyet said: "The most important part, which is the fans, they love it, they love football and they are desperate to do well.
"Go across the river and go to Newcastle - they are in an unbelievable situation in the table and there is a nightmare.
"Can we change over? Because that is a great problem to have, to be ninth?
"Why? Because it's that drive to get better all the time and to be always on top and it doesn't matter how many games you have won in the past because you need to win the next.
"That part of football, I love it because it's the best way to do it, to try to get better all the time.
"In terms of mentality for me, it's perfect, the north-east. It's always better if you finish ninth instead of 10th, and I am like that.
"The problem is at the moment it is so bad that it's not enjoyable, so the idea is to make sure that we don't put ourselves in this situation anymore.
"It doesn't matter who is the manager, I am talking about the club now, the club itself."
Gremlins
Poyet is convinced Sunderland's problems are rooted deep inside the club and not just in the identity of the man who occupies the manager's office, and recent history suggests he may have a point.
The 46-year-old Uruguayan is the sixth man to do the job in less than six years, and he believes that tells its own story.
Poyet, who admitted he was unaware of former chairman and manager Niall Quinn's past reference to the presence of "gremlins" on Wearside, said: "It's true that from outside it has been always, looking at this football club and its fans, a very difficult place to come.
"But everybody keeps talking about when Peter Reid was here with Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips, and after that I don't think it was a difficult place to come.
"We could be talking for two hours about what we think and everything goes back to the same place, so I don't think those two years can put any expectations in the minds of fans who have been here for 50 years or the kids or the new fans who have been here maybe 10.
"I think sometimes when things don't work, it's natural that you change the manager and get another and if it doesn't work again, you have got a chance to change the manager again.
"And then the third time, I'd like to think about it because I don't think it's the manager anymore when it's four or five.
"Do I try to get away from my responsibility? Not at all. I'm in charge, I pick the team, I am responsible.
"Now if you want me to lie, I have got no problem. It's very easy, it's easy to lie. I can tell you any lie you want to hear and agree with everybody, and this club is going to be in the same situation next year with me or with somebody else." |
Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham Hotspur manager, opened an offshore bank account in Monaco to hide "bungs" totalling £189,000 when employed by Portsmouth football club, a court was told on the opening day of his trial into alleged tax evasion.
The bank account in question was allegedly called "Rosie47" and the court was told that the name referred to that of Redknapp's dog and the year of his birth.
Redknapp, 64, denies the charge alongside co-defendant Milan Mandaric, the former Portsmouth chairman.
John Black QC, for the prosecution, told Southwark crown court, in south London, that Redknapp and Mandaric, 74, "must have known" they were avoiding taxes.
"These payments were a bung or offshore bonus that the parties had absolutely no intention of paying taxes for," he said. "The crown's case is that the money transferred to that offshore Monaco account was deliberately and dishonestly paid by Mr Mandaric and was deliberately and dishonestly received by Mr Redknapp with the intention of concealing them from the UK tax authority.
The prosecution alleges both these defendants are guilty of cheating the public revenue."
The case, which is scheduled to run for two weeks, could have an effect on the England football team as Redknapp is widely viewed as the favourite to replace Fabio Capello as manager following the European Championships this summer.
The charges relate to the transfer of Peter Crouch from Portsmouth to Aston Villa on 27 March 2002 for £4.5m and the transfer bonus Redknapp received from the club for the sale under the terms of his contract.
Crouch had been bought from Queens Park Rangers in 2001 for £1.25m but stayed at Portsmouth for nine months before being sold a few days after Redknapp had changed jobs from director of football at Portsmouth to manager.
Redknapp had a "number of contractual bonuses" including a "transfer bonus" based on "net increase" of a player's valuation, Black said.
Redknapp joined Portsmouth as director of football in summer 2001 when, it was alleged, his contract allowed him to receive 10% of the net profit from the sale of any player from Portsmouth. These terms changed to 5% when he became the manager of the club on 18 March.
At the time of the sale of Crouch to Villa, the crown alleged that Redknapp's player transfer bonus would be 5% of the sales, or £115,473. Black said it "doesn't take a mathematician to see" a greater bonus would have been due to Redknapp if the transfer had occurred under the 10% terms.
A bespectacled Redknapp sat alongside Mandaric for most of the proceedings in the glass-walled dock of court six, occasionally reading from notes as Black outlined in full the two charges against him and his co-defendant.
Redknapp was supported in court by executives from Tottenham, his son Jamie, a former Liverpool and Spurs player, and by Richard Bevan, chief executive of the League Managers Association.
The first charge alleges that between 1 April 2002 and 28 November 2007 Mandaric paid $145,000 (£93,100) into an account in Monaco named "Rosie47" to avoid paying tax and national insurance. The second count alleged that $150,00 was paid by Mandaric into the same account between 1 May 2004 and 28 November 2007.
After Redknapp had asked for £100,000 to be moved to the accounts of First Star International Limited, a company set up by Mandaric in California in 1998 and based in Miami, he later closed the Rosie47 account in February 2008, the crown stated. Redknapp requested that all monies in that account the be transferred to his London HSBC account.
The court heard how Redknapp flew to Monaco in April 2002 to open the account, also with HSBC. Black said: "He flew to Monaco for the specific purpose of setting up a secret account, into which the off-the-record payments could be received."
It was four years before the account became known to the police and tax authorities. Previously, Redknapp had never mentioned the Monaco account when he was investigated by HM Revenue and Customs over his transfer dealings at West Ham – an investigation that included the sale of the former England captain Rio Ferdinand to Leeds United for £18m on 22 November 2000.
That investigation, between January 2004 and October 2006, "was originally prompted by concerns over a £300,000 payment ... regarding profit made in a player transfer, namely Rio Ferdinand," Black said.
The Rosie47 account was only revealed during an inquiry into illicit payments in football, led by the former Metropolitan police commissioner Lord Stevens. The results of the investigation were handed to the Premier League chief executive, Richard Scudamore, in July 2007 after Redknapp had been interviewed the previous November as part of the investigation.
"That was the first time anyone heard of a Monaco bank account. It's significant ... that the bank account opened by Mr Redknapp was located in an offshore tax haven. The crown suggests this was quite deliberate and was intended to obscure and to render less transparent the nature of the money payments," Black said.
Black added that Redknapp wanted payments promptly transferred in to the "tax haven".
"The crown say that Redknapp did not wait long before taking steps to ensure that he would receive what he regarded as his due off the record payment."
At the start of the proceedings Judge Anthony Leonard informed jurors to "leave prejudice or favour behind" as a panel of eight men and four women were sworn in. "The defendants are two well-known personalities within the world of football."
Leonard said that football can "almost overwhelms other aspects in life" when ordering jurors to focus only on the charges before them. "It can prejudice if you hold such allegiances or prejudices towards clubs that the defendants were or are presently involved with."
Jurors were also told to inform the judge if they had listened to an episode of TalkSport radio on 17 November last year. "This case will attract publicity," he added. "My advice is that you must not read or listen to these reports."
Redknapp managed Portsmouth between 2002 and 2004, and returned to Fratton Park in 2005 after a brief spell at Southampton before moving to Tottenham in 2008. This season, Spurs are challenging to win a first league championship for the first time since 1961, currently standing eight points behind Manchester City, the leaders. The case continues. |
Stock investors cheered Friday because the latest monthly jobs report wasn't terrible. But the big issue remains: Even if you set aside the temporary impact of downsizing at the Census Bureau, the economy isn't generating nearly enough new jobs to bring down the US unemployment rate.
Here's the problem. August marked the eighth straight month of job gains in the the private sector – a welcome pattern that President Obama was quick to highlight. Yet those gains average less than 100,000 per month. That's not enough to improve the job market, economists say.
How's that? Well, if the whole economy, including government, ticked along at a pace of 100,000 job gains per month, it wouldn't be fast enough to account for natural demographic growth in the labor force. A rising population means about that many new people should be entering the workforce each month.
So a modest pace of 100,000 jobs a month is certainly better than declines, but it doesn't begin to fill America's jobs hole.
In fact, unemployment could actually rise more. On Friday, the Labor Department said the jobless rate edged up to 9.6 percent in August, from 9.5 percent in July. The disappearance of Census jobs outweighed a gain of 67,000 new jobs in the private sector.
What lies ahead
Of course, just because the private sector has averaged about 95,000 jobs a month this year doesn't mean that trend will continue. Some forecasters worry that things will get worse later this year. The job market hasn't been as strong in the summer as it was in the spring. Others expect job numbers to pick up as the economy gets beyond what they call a recent "soft patch" or "pause."
But few economists are predicting a speedy fall in the unemployment rate. The consensus among roughly 50 forecasters surveyed by Blue Chip Economic Indicators is that the jobless rate will be 9.5 percent during the final quarter of 2010 and recede to 8.8 percent by the final quarter of 2011.
The current unemployment rate reflects some 15 million people who are officially unemployed, without a job and actively seeking work. Another 2.4 million are "marginally attached" to the labor force, in many cases people who want to work but have grown discouraged with the job search. Nearly 9 million are employed part-time because they can't find work opportunities with longer hours. (For context, the total US labor force includes 154 million people.)
This economic challenge is the central issue on the minds of voters, and so it is a pivotal issue for the White House and congressional leaders. The Obama administration says the president plans to unveil more job-creation proposals next week.
How to fix the problem
Neither politicians in Congress nor economists in the private sector agree on precisely what steps would help the job market most. And the election season complicates any quest for bipartisan agreement. But many economists say that some new tax cuts, perhaps including incentives directly targeted at job creation, should be considered.
Friday's job numbers showed a rise in unemployment and a loss of 54,000 jobs in the overall economy due to the loss of Census employment. But some of the trends within the report helped to reassure investors that the economy doesn't appear headed into recession this fall.
The average hourly earnings of workers rose by 0.3 percent, to $22.66. The average number of hours worked stayed steady at 34.2 hours per week. And although unemployment edged up, the number of people who have been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer fell. Some 42 percent of unemployed Americans fall in that category, down from 45 percent a month earlier. |
The Playful Paws Pet Centre says it is making changes after a number of dogs died at the kennel earlier this month.
The centre said the dogs overheated and died on Sept.10, when an electrical malfunction caused the temperature in one of the rooms to spike. There were no staff on-site at the time.
In a Facebook post, the kennel said it has repaired and replaced the faulty equipment. It has also replaced its security alarm system, adding high and low temperature alarm sensors.
"These sensors are now located in seven different locations in our kennel and will set off our security alarm if ever the temperature reaches a high of 27C or a low of 12C," read the post. "This alarm will not only show up on our manager's smart phone, but will also solicit a call from the alarm monitoring centre to our key holders to ensure they come to the kennel to resolve any issue and to ensure the safety and well-being of the dogs and cats."
The post also said Playful Paws is reviewing all other aspects of its business, to make sure it meets all recommended standards for a kennel. A past employee criticized the centre for not having a proper ventilation system, as well as sanitation issues.
The owners of the dogs have said they are considering a lawsuit. In the wake of the deaths, the Saskatoon SPCA said it would like to see more stringent provincial legislation to protect animals.
14 dogs were found dead following an incident at a Playful Paws Pet Centre in Saskatoon. (Google street view )
The Facebook post also apologized to the owners.
"Playful Paws is incredibly devastated by this horrific event and our profound sympathy goes out to the owners and families of these dogs," read the post. "Our entire team of staff and managers love the dogs that are our customers and each of us is struggling greatly to cope with this extreme sorrow in our own way." |
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