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Mervin Sealy from Hickory, North Carolina, takes part in a protest rally outside the Capitol Building in Washington, October 5, 2011. Reuters/Jason Reed The world has no crystal ball to see into the future, but we do have Thomas Frey.
Frey is the founding executive director of the DaVinci Institute think tank and its senior futurist. It's basically his job to envision how today's technology will evolve, and to imagine the impacts it might have on society.
One of Frey's more sweeping predictions: Over the next couple decades, driverless cars could eliminate jobs in up to 128 industries.
Frey published the prediction back in April on his website, Futurist Speaker. In the blog post, Frey describes a reality in which autonomous vehicles will be pervasive in all aspects of transportation, agriculture, construction, and public service.
"It'll take a long time for this transition to occur," Frey tells Business Insider. But once it's set in motion, the jobs are set to fall like dominoes, he believes.
Frey offers the example of an airport. A huge portion of an airport's revenue comes from parking. In the era of driverless cars, people will take a far different approach to travel. Instead of driving to the airport, most people will call a driverless taxi to their front door.
"Suddenly, there's no parking revenue coming in. There's no shuttle buses. There's no limos. There's no taxi services. The rental car world suddenly starts to disappear," he says. "That's just a little piece of it."
In the April blog post, he claims automation will lop off entire industries for a variety of other reasons. All drivers will lose their jobs, he believes, including chauffeurs and construction vehicle operators. As many people transition from "just in case" vehicle ownership to "just in time" rental, Frey says car insurance and financing jobs will die off, too.
He also suspects maintenance jobs will disappear: people who wash your car, change your oil, rotate your ties and change your brakes, and folks who check your alignment and perform emissions tests. For the tests that electronic cars need, most will be performed by the manufacturers, not local auto shops.
Some industries won't completely vanish; a select group will reduce greatly in size. Frey predicts police forces will downsize because there will be fewer drivers to issue tickets. The lawyers and judges who handle these cases will also be out of a job. As in the airport case, parking lot attendants will see their ranks shrink considerably.
Driverless cars are just one disruptive force in the labor market. Artificial intelligence is quickly eating up customer service jobs, while factories are increasingly hiring robots to do the repetitive tasks once performed by humans.
Such technologies are bound to have their own domino effects. The consequences are still poorly understood — even by people like Frey.
"These are all things we haven't wrestled with yet," he says, "but they are going to be coming up very soon." |
The restaurant left Bristol in March after 10 years to move into the larger space formerly occupied by Rue de L'Espoir.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The new Persimmon opens at 99 Hope St. on Tuesday, with a new menu and casual look but with the same James Beard-nominated chef and service team.
Champe and Lisa Speidel are poised to introduce their new space, in the former Rue de L'Espoir, after a whirlwind few months of renovation and reinvention.
"Because we now have the space, we are offering variety," said Champe. "People can make it any experience they want from having snacks with a cocktail or glass of wine, to dinner. They don't have to commit to a three-hour meal."
But of course, they can still have the chef's tasting in five courses but Speidel's menu now offers many choices within the categories of vegetables, hand-pasta and grains, meat, poultry and game, fish and shellfish and desserts. He is a six-time James Beard nominee for Best Chef - Northeast.
The menu will change often and feature dishes such as venison tartare, pan-seared foie gras, mushroom-stuffed chicken wings, oysters three ways, cavatelli with lamb shoulder rillette and vegetable salad with buttermilk vinaigrette.
Dinner will be served Tuesday through Saturday beginning at 5 p.m. The restaurant will also serve Sunday brunch.
Speidel and sous chef Kyle Kerstetter will now be working in an open kitchen around new subway-tiled walls and a five seat kitchen bar with front row viewing.
Lisa Speidel said that while working with designer Libby Slader, they've made the space their own with refinishing, repainting and the removal of the booths to add tables in the dining room. The white tablecloths are gone, replaced by modern wood tabletops.
There is local art from Mark Freedman in the dining room. Murals of persimmons through the four seasons, have been painted by Warren artist Christine Depoto in the bar.
Beverage manager Kevin O'Connor set up the bar which has 12 stools and 22 table seats around new banquettes. He also trained the front of the house staff on wine and menu details. Persimmon was twice nominated in James Beard Outstanding Service category.
Deborah Norman sold the Rue when she retired at the beginning of 2016 after 40 years of running the restaurant.
If you go: Persimmon, 99 Hope St. Providence, (401) 432--7422, persimmonri.com |
As the new travel ban came into partial effect, an emotionally charged ceremony in New York saw 196 people from 56 countries become US citizens
'I have the right to be here': becoming an American under a Trump presidency
In New York City on Friday, in a time of anti-immigrant rhetoric and laws that have come to define Donald Trump’s young presidency, 196 people from 56 countries became US citizens.
Below the glass dome of the New York Public Library, people from countries including Bangladesh, Kosovo and Taiwan renounced their birth countries in favor of the US.
Travel ban goes into effect despite courts saying security issues unfounded Read more
It was an emotionally charged ceremony that occurred in the week Trump’s attempt to ban travellers from six Muslim-majority countries went into partial effect. One person at the ceremony was from a targeted country, Yemen. Another was from Iraq, which was included in the first version of the president’s travel ban.
Valery Mendez, a 22-year-old from the Dominican Republic, said becoming a US citizen took on new importance with Trump as president. She had lived in the US for six years legally but wanted the most security possible.
“I have the right to be here,” Mendez said. “It’s not that I didn’t before, but I can be more confident now.”
There are signs that more people are applying for naturalization because of the president.
According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), since 1 October 2016 there has been a 21% increase in naturalization applications submitted compared with the same period a year before. Immigration attorneys have observed a rise in applications in response to the presidential campaign and election.
The president, whose eponymous New York tower is 15 blocks north of the library’s Fifth Avenue address, was absent from the ceremony. His predecessor, Barack Obama, featured in a welcome video at naturalization ceremonies during his time in office. Friday’s ceremony featured a brief video in which homeland security secretary John Kelly appeared.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest According to citizenship and immigration records, the number of people applying for naturalization has increased 21%. Photograph: Jonathan Blanc/NYPL for the Guardian
And any references to Trump from speakers were veiled in generalizations about anti-immigrant rhetoric.
Allan Wernick, a former president of the New York chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, delivered a speech about current attitudes towards immigration. While New York City is welcoming to immigrants, he said, “not all of America is so friendly”.
And yet, he said, this has been true at many points in US history. In the 19th century, Irish immigrants were severely discriminated against; in 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act denied that population citizenship. Now, Wernick said, “our Muslim neighbors are feeling the greatest pain”, but that too will pass.
Because immigrants have always been a part of the fabric of the US, Wernick said, they have shown time and again that they can prevail over laws and language designed to stop them.
“I’m very optimistic that immigrants will be welcome to the US and that some of the anti-immigrant voices we are hearing will soon be silenced,” Wernick said.
It’s a relief. It changes your life, you feel more like a part of this country Felix Rojas
His message fitted the celebratory atmosphere. The crowd included many people who had called the US home for decades, but had not made the final step to citizenship.
Felix Rojas said that even though he had lived in the US for more than 40 years as a legal resident, becoming a citizen felt different.
“I’m happy,” he said. “It’s a relief. It changes your life, you feel more like a part of this country.”
He moved to the US with his parents as a child but married a Mexican woman who he could not bring to the US. His relationship with her, and his six-year-old daughter, was limited to months-long visits to Mexico. As of Friday, he can sponsor their citizenship applications.
“When I bring my wife and daughter I want to educate my daughter to be something useful for this country – a doctor, a lawyer,” he said.
Rojas said he was not worried about Trump’s immigration policies, but as a citizen he wanted to challenge the president’s anti-Latino rhetoric.
“I’m going to prove that I’m going to do better in this country than he thinks,” Rojas said.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Attendees celebrate during the ceremony in New York. Photograph: Jonathan Blanc/NYPL for the Guardian
Candidates queued outside the library with family and friends. Inside, they exchanged hugs and kisses with loved ones for the last time as non-citizens before entering a line to get important documentation and take an assigned seat.
This process lasted for two tense hours, before USCIS staff took the stage to prepare the incoming citizens for the ceremony.
Trump travel ban Q&A: what happens next? Read more
An undercurrent of national politics flashed when Tim Houghton, deputy director of USCIS’s New York field office, explained the rights the naturalization candidates would gain as citizens. Houghton explained that they would all soon be able to get a US passport, sponsor a family member’s citizenship application and vote, which was the only listed item to elicit applause.
Shortly after that, an announcer called out the 56 countries represented at the ceremony – from Albania to Yemen – indicating that the representatives of those countries should stand. The atmosphere reached a joyous crescendo when the Dominican Republic was announced – 60 people rose, inviting smiles from the citizens, staff and family and friends attending the ceremony.
The 196 new citizens in New York City were among 15,000 who would be naturalized nationwide, over the Fourth of July weekend. |
Paul the Octopus (26 January 2008[1] – 26 October 2010) was a common octopus used to predict the results of association football matches. Accurate predictions in the 2010 World Cup brought him worldwide attention as an animal oracle.
During divinations, Paul's keepers would present him with two boxes containing food. The boxes were identical except that they were decorated with the different team flags of the competitors in an upcoming football match. Whichever box Paul ate from first was considered his prediction for which team would win the match.
His keepers at the Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany, mainly tasked him with predicting the outcomes of international matches in which the German national football team was playing. Paul correctly chose the winning team in four of Germany's six Euro 2008 matches, and all seven of their matches in the 2010 World Cup—including Germany's third place play-off win over Uruguay on 10 July. He also correctly chose Spain as the winner of the 2010 FIFA World Cup final. [2] In all, Paul amassed an overall record of 12 correct predictions out of 14: a success rate of approximately 85.7%.
Life [ edit ]
Paul in his tank, 2010
Paul was hatched from an egg at the Sea Life Centre in Weymouth, England, and was then moved to a tank at one of the chain's centres at Oberhausen in Germany.[3] Paul's name derived from the title of a poem by the German children's writer Boy Lornsen: Der Tintenfisch Paul Oktopus.[4]
According to Sea Life's entertainment director, Daniel Fey, Paul demonstrated intelligence early in life: "There was something about the way he looked at our visitors when they came close to the tank. It was so unusual, so we tried to find out what his special talents were."[5]
The animal rights organisation PETA commented that octopuses are some of the most intelligent of invertebrates, with complex thought processes, long- and short-term memories, and different personalities. They can use tools, learn through observation, and are particularly sensitive to pain, according to the group. They said it would be cruel to keep Paul in permanent confinement. Sea Life Centres responded that it would be dangerous to release him, because he was born in captivity, and was not accustomed to finding food for himself.[6]
Following Paul's rise to fame, businessmen in Carballiño, a community in Galicia, collected about €30,000 for a "transfer fee" to get Paul as main attraction of the local Fiesta del Pulpo festival.[7] Manuel Pazo, a fisherman and head of the local business club assured people that Paul would be presented alive in a tank and not on the menu. Sealife rejected the offer nevertheless.[8]
Divination [ edit ]
Paul's career as an oracle began during the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament.[3][9] In the lead-up to Germany's international football matches, Paul was presented with two clear plastic boxes, each containing food: a mussel or an oyster. Each container was marked with the flag of a team, one the flag of Germany, and the other the flag of Germany's opponent. The box which Paul opened first (and ate its contents) was deemed to be the predicted winner of the match.[10]
Professor Chris Budd, of the University of Bath, and Professor David Spiegelhalter, of Cambridge University, have both compared Paul's apparent success to a run of luck when tossing a coin.[11] Under the hypothesis that Paul was equally likely to choose the winner or the loser of a match, and neglecting the possibility of a draw, he had a 1 in 2 chance of predicting a single result and a 1 in 64 chance of predicting six in a row. This feat would be unlikely to happen by chance alone, but not hugely so. Spiegelhalter points out that there are "other animals that have attempted but failed to predict the outcome of football matches"; it is not remarkable that one animal is more successful than the others, and only the successful animals will gain public attention after the fact.[11]
Germany (11) Spain (2) Serbia (1) Flags picked by Paul
Of a total of fourteen predictions, Paul chose Germany eleven times, the only other choices selected were Spain (twice) and Serbia. There was some discussion as to whether flag designs could have influenced Paul's choices. The species Octopus vulgaris is almost certainly colour blind; neither behavioural studies nor electroretinogram experiments show any discrimination of a colour's hue.[12][13] Nonetheless, individuals can distinguish brightness as well as an object's size, shape, and orientation. Shelagh Malham of Bangor University states that they are drawn to horizontal shapes, and indeed, there are horizontal stripes on the flags he has chosen. The flag of Germany, a bold tricolour consisting of three equal horizontal bands of black, red and gold, was Paul's usual favourite. But the flag of Spain, with its broad yellow stripe, and the flag of Serbia, with its contrast of blue and white, are more vivid still, possibly explaining why Paul picked those countries over Germany.[12] Fey suggested that Paul was confused by the similarities between the German and Spanish flags; this was on 6 July, when Fey expressed hope that Paul's latest pick would be wrong.[14]
Matthew Fuller, the senior aquarist at the Weymouth park where Paul was hatched, judged the flag-design theory to be plausible: "[Octopuses] are the most intelligent of all the invertebrates and studies have shown they are able to distinguish shapes and patterns so maybe he's able to recognise flags."[15] Vyacheslav Bisikov, a Russian biologist, agrees that it is possible for an octopus to become attracted to a striped flag.[16] Drosos Koutsoubos, a marine biologist at the University of the Aegean, was more cautious: "Well, I'm not a specialist in the behaviour of octopuses and I can't give you with certainty an answer to this particular question. At least to my knowledge, it's rather a matter of random selection rather than any other selection."[17]
Octopus vulgaris is also equipped with sensitive chemoreceptors on its tentacles, which are used to taste food and "smell" the water. Biologist Volker Miske, of the University of Greifswald, has suggested that minor chemical differences on the surface of each box might have accounted for Paul's decisions.[18] Bisikov stated that Paul could have been "easily trained" to choose the right box by smell.[clarification needed][16] According to Paul's keepers, there were holes in the containers to help him choose.[19]
Theories of Paul's behaviour could have been systematically tested if he were to have repeated his selection many times, but he only selected one box per game.[18]
Results [ edit ]
A press conference with Paul, 6 July 2010.
In UEFA Euro 2008, Paul correctly predicted the outcome of 4 out of 6 of Germany's matches. He failed to predict their defeats by Croatia in the group stage,[20] and by Spain in the championship's final.[3][nb 1]
2010 FIFA World Cup [ edit ]
Paul's accurate choices for the 2010 World Cup, broadcast live by German news channel n-tv, endowed him with celebrity status.[3] Paul predicted the winners of each of the seven 2010 FIFA World Cup matches that the German team played, against Australia, Serbia, Ghana, England, Argentina, Spain,[22] and Uruguay. His prediction that Argentina would lose prompted Argentine chef Nicolas Bedorrou to post an octopus recipe on Facebook.[3]
There are always people who want to eat our octopus but he is not shy and we are here to protect him as well. He will survive. Oliver Walenciak (Paul's keeper)[23]
Paul correctly predicted the outcome of the semi-final, by choosing the food in the box marked with the Spanish flag. German supporters drew hope from his incorrect choice for the Germany versus Spain match in the UEFA Euro 2008 but were disappointed.[24] The prediction led to German fans calling for Paul to be eaten.[25][26] In response, the Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero offered to send Paul official state protection, and the Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian called for Paul to be given safe haven in Spain.[27][28]
Paul's notoriety attracted criticism from the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who accused him of being a symbol of Western decadence and decay.[29]
Doubts were expressed as to whether it was actually the same octopus in 2010 as it had been in 2008.[30]
Results involving Germany [ edit ]
Results not involving Germany [ edit ]
Match Tournament Stage Date Prediction Result Outcome Netherlands Spain World Cup 2010 final 11 July 2010 Spain[34] 0–1 Correct
Similar predictors [ edit ]
Some other German oracles did not fare so well in the World Cup. The animals at the Chemnitz Zoo were wrong on all of Germany's group-stage games, with Leon the porcupine picking Australia, Petty the pygmy hippopotamus spurning Serbia's apple-topped pile of hay, and Anton the tamarin eating a raisin representing Ghana.[35][36]
Mani the parakeet of Singapore became famous for correctly predicting the results of all four quarter-final matches. Mani contradicted Paul by picking the Netherlands to win the final, resulting in some media outlets describing the game as an octopus-versus-parakeet showdown.[37][38][39]
Rabio the Octopus who correctly predicted the results of all of Japan’s group stage games at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, was killed and sent to market, on 2 July 2018 by the Japanese fisherman who had caught it.[40]
Death and legacy [ edit ]
Memorial to Paul at the Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen
Paul was last checked by staff on 25 October 2010, and was in good health, but the following morning he was found dead. He was aged two-and-a-half, a normal lifespan for the species. His agent, Chris Davies, said "It's a sad day. Paul was rather special but we managed to film Paul before he left this mortal earth". Sea Life Centre manager Stefan Porwoll remembered Paul as an octopus who had "enthused people across every continent".[41][42]
In 2010 uTouchLabs developed an iPhone app called "Ask the Octopus".[43]
On 17 June 2014, during the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Paul was featured in a Google "doodle". He was represented as in heaven, perched on a billowy bed of clouds and adorned with a halo; when animated, he appeared to vacillate in his predictions for the day's matches.[44] Paul was again featured on 13 July in the doodle for the 2014 final. In that doodle, clicking on the clouds in the upper left brings up an image of Paul, similar to that in the earlier doodle, "cheering" on the final from heaven.[45]
References [ edit ]
Footnotes
^ [21] Some later sources reported his success rate at 80%. |
New Delhi: Home Secretary Anil Goswami resigned on Wednesday night after the government asked him to put in his papers in the wake of controversy over his alleged attempt to stall the arrest of Saradha scam accused Matang Sinh, a former Congress minister at the centre.
Official sources said Goswami, who turned 60 last month and would have continued till 30 June, was asked to resign after which he submitted his resignation.
The sources which earlier said Goswami was removed later conveyed to the media that he was allowed to resign to give a "dignified" exit.
According to reports, Rural Development Secretary LC Goyal, a 1979-batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre, is Goswami's successor. Goyal has prior experience in the home ministry where he served as a joint secretary in its internal security division between 2002 and 2007.
The exit of Goswami, a UPA government appointee, came on a day of hectic activities following media reports that he had tried to prevent CBI officers from carrying out Sinh's arrest on Saturday.
This is the second instance of the removal of a top bureaucrat in a week after Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh's services were curtailed last Wednesday after she refused to resign from the post. While there were no allegations of impropriety against her, the Government is said to have been unhappy with her leadership of the Ministry.
The continuance of Goswami became untenable after he had admitted to Home Minister Rajnath Singh that he had spoken to CBI officials before they arrested Sinh in Kolkata on Saturday.
PTI had reported on Sunday that CBI was miffed with the interference by Goswami in the arrest of Sinh. The agency had submitted a report to the PMO on the issue about Goswami and a Joint Director level officer of CBI.
Rajnath Singh who had returned to the capital on Tuesday talked to Goswami who admitted to have called up CBI officials probing the Saradha scam in connection with Sinh's arrest.
The Minister immediately briefed the Prime Minister on the issue on Tuesday night. On Wednesday he called Goswami for a discussion followed by a meeting with CBI Director Anil Sinha.
Both the officials maintained silence on their separate meetings with the Home Minister.
Goswami, a 1978-batch IAS officer of Jammu and Kashmir cadre, was appointed as Home Secretary in 2013 during the tenure of UPA Government. He was said to have been close to Matang Sinh, a controversial politician from Assam who was a Minister of State for Home in PV Narasimha Rao's government.
PTI
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Hi, my name is Boston. I'm an old man. 15 in your years. Lately I haven't been feeling so good. My dad Bretton has been in a state worrying over me, not knowing what was wrong, trying to get me to eat and drink... But I just couldn't. A couple Veterinarians felt that it was just my "old age" and that "it was probably my time" Luckily my dad who has been by my side and my sister's side (Lucy) for my whole life, couldn't accept that. Dad (Bretton took me to another Dr. who found a blockage in my intestines. That was great news because it was treatable, but sadly time was becoming a serious issue. I am being a dog didn't really understand what was going on, but I know it was killing my precious daddy. He stayed close, he cried, he encouraged me. He did everything he could. For a brief moment I saw his spirits soar when he heard the human words "we can fix this" but quickly he became sad again as the vet said, "but..." It turns out that my surgery will cost a few thousand dollars and My dad who gives so much to his community and to animals like I just didn't have the money to get the surgery I needed. So he only had one choice. MY dad chose to give me to the Boston SPCA so that they would do the surgery. Unfortunately, this means that after I am well, I cannot go home to my dad and my sister Lucy.
I am writing this (through a ghost writer) in the hopes that you might be able to help raise the cost of the surgery so that my papa might be able to take me home after.
Here is a little about my dad, Bretton Carter that some people may not know. Bretton is a kind, loving and helpful man. He would say that I (Boston) rescued him in his most desperate hour, but I think we rescued another and from that day on Bretton, Lucy and I have been together through everything. My awesome dad is a paleontologist, a marine wildlife hehibilitator, a teacher, a friend, a brother etc... He has literally given the shirt off his back to help those in need. My greatest hope is that I get to go home and kiss him when this is all over.. Thanks for listening to my story.
Sincerely, Boston
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Bundesliga: Ilkay Gundogan could be set to pen a new deal at Borussia Dortmund
Ilkay Gundogan: The midfielder is expected to sign a new deal at Borussia Dortmund
The Bundesliga outfit are understood to be keen for the 22-year-old midfielder to sign a new deal beyond 2015.
Germany international Gundogan, who joined the club from Nuremberg two years ago, enjoyed a successful run in the side last season.
He played an influential role during their run to the Champions League final and scored from the spot against Bayern Munich at Wembley in their 2-1 defeat.
"I am keen to ensure he (Ilkay) remains with Borussia Dortmund," father and agent Irfan told Kicker Sportmagazin.
"He is doing fine so it's a bit early to move to a club in England or Spain at this point in time.
"Borussia Dortmund will be coming up with an offer of a new contract soon. We will be able to oversee things much better then."
Meanwhile, BVB sporting director Michael Zorc told Westdweutche Allgermeine Zeitung newspaper: "We are keen to sign new terms with Ilkay Gundogan.
"I am able to confirm that we have held talks with his father Irfan and we feel confident he will sign." |
Stop the presses!
The Pittsburgh Riverhounds have made their first roster addition of the offseason, signing goalkeeper Keasel Broome to a one-year contract with a club option for the 2018 season pending USL and USSF approval.
Broome joins the Hounds after spending the past season with fellow USL club and in-state rival, the Harrisburg City Islanders. The keeper made two starts against the Hounds in this time, helping the City Islanders capture the Keystone Derby Cup in the process with a 2-1 win in Pittsburgh in July and 1-1 draw at home in the August finale. Broome joins the Hounds after spending the past season with fellow USL club and in-state rival, the Harrisburg City Islanders. The keeper made two starts against the Hounds in this time, helping the City Islanders capture the Keystone Derby Cup in the process with a 2-1 win in Pittsburgh in July and 1-1 draw at home in the August finale.
“Having to play against Keasel and have him deny us our scoring opportunities home and away that were really good, especially away in Harrisburg, I got to know him better as a player,” said head coach Dave Brandt. “I really like him as a goalkeeper. He’s athletic, a very good shot-stopper, and just a great kid. I’m really pleased we’re bringing him in.”
Compiling a 5-4-4 record with the City Islanders in 2016, Broome split starting goalkeeper duties with Nick Noble, starting 13 games to Noble’s 17. Broome stopped 36 of 58 shots on the season for a .621 save percentage and 1.69 goals against average.
Though Broome’s professional career didn’t officially kick off until this past season with Harrisburg, he originally was drafted by the San Jose Earthquakes in the third round of the 2015 MLS SuperDraft. Unable to reach a signing agreement with the MLS side, Broome then signed a one-year deal with the NASL’s New York Cosmos for 2015, registering no appearances, before moving onto Harrisburg.
A native of Claymont, Delaware, Broome brings an impressive pedigree at the amateur level to the Hounds. Collegiately, Broome competed at Providence College, starting in all 45 matches for the Friars in his final two years competing and holds the school record for the most minutes played in a single season with 2,131 in 2014.
In all, he compiled a 31-18-8 record with the Big East side, recording 14 shutouts in 59 starts and holding a 1.20 goals against average.
Broome’s most notable season came during his senior year in 2014, where along with serving as co-captain, he helped the Friars to their first Big East title in school history. He notched eight shutouts on the year, including two against top-five ranked schools in the regular season and two-straight in the NCAA Tournament to eventually lead Providence to the College Cup Semifinal.
Broome also had short stints in the USL’s Premier Development League with the Ocean City Nor’easters, Reading United and the Real Boston Rams while competing for the Friars.
Prior to his time with Providence, Broome was a star keeper at Caravel Academy in Bear, Delaware, ranking as the No. 2 player and best goalkeeper in the state. He helped Caravel to a state title in 2009, posting a 16-2-1 record and 0.40 goals against average, earning regional All-American honors in the process.
Broome joins captain Kevin Kerr and forward Chevaughn Walsh as the current players officially under contract for the Hounds heading into the 2017 season.
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Pebble has been the smartwatch to beat. The startup has managed to remain a top contender in a high-growth market, beating back competition from some of the world’s biggest tech companies. But it’s not resting on its laurels. It can’t, not with the Apple Watch looming.
Instead of sitting back and waiting for the market to shift, the startup has decided to change gears. The Verge reported Monday that Pebble will introduce new devices and a new software platform later this year.
See also: Pebble Strikes Deal To Become The Smartwatch Of Choice For First Responders
The site reported no details—and that leaves Pebble’s existing technology in limbo.
This Is How The Pebble Rolls
Pebble’s strategy isn’t entirely surprising.
Founder Eric Migicovsky says his company shipped its millionth smartwatch just before year’s end, on December 31. Those last-mile sales were likely buoyed by retail price cuts introduced last year, a move common among device makers about to launch new products. The original plastic model dropped to $99, while the premium steel version fell to $199.
With so many devices circulating in the market, it’s hard to imagine the company throwing all that away to pursue a new platform that’s incompatible with its existing hardware and software. Its app store offers some 6,000 apps and watch faces, built by roughly 25,000 Pebble app developers.
I contacted the company, and founder Eric Migicovsky tried to assure me that his company won’t leave his community in the lurch:
One thing that you can be sure of is the level of commitment we have to our growing community. We’ve updated the software (both firmware as well as smartphone apps) on original Pebble and Steel dozens of times just in the last 6 months. Last fall, we rolled out fitness tracking to all Pebbles (including the original watches from our Kickstarter!) and we’re getting ready to move Android actionable notifications out of beta. We’ve also worked hard to do right by our developer community. Just last week we launched a Pebble emulator inside our cloud IDE, and have a ton more planned over the next few months.
Keeping The Edge
Ultimately, Pebble’s new, yet still-undefined plans could work in a number of ways.
It could work alongside the company’s current software, allowing older apps to continue—perhaps the way parts of the Tizen operating system favored by Samsung cooperate with Android. The plans could merely involve an evolution of Pebble’s existing technology, with backward compatibility built into the system.
The third possibility: The new “platform” may not really be much different than Pebble’s old one, just with a few additions or expansions thrown into the mix.
If the latter is true, the plans could involve voice, a hugely popular feature in wrist-based wearable tech, as well as other sectors like smart homes and cars—two very hyped areas Pebble is already pursuing. Supporting spoken commands and dictation would bring the wearable up to par with Android Wear and the Apple Watch, both of which rely heavily on speech to compose messages and launch watch apps. The strategy would involve software support and the integration of new hardware, both of which Pebble is planning.
There’s a down side, though: Voice features could hit the battery hard, undercutting one of the main reasons to get a Pebble. With its e-paper display and hardware buttons, the device beats its competitors hands down in time between charges, often lasting five to seven days.
Google’s Android Wear, which launched in mid-2014, is already installed on an army of devices from Motorola, Samsung, LG, Sony, and Asus, but they only offer one to two days of battery life. The upcoming Apple Watch will require nightly charging.
See also: Apple Watch Battery Supposedly Lasts Only A Couple Of Hours Under Heavy Use
Whatever Pebble has up its sleeve, its success will hinge on introducing something new without sacrificing the best parts of the old Pebble experience. Benefits like long battery life and a broad app selection remain rare in the wearables category, and they’re advantages the Apple Watch isn’t likely to match when it launches.
Lead photo courtesy of Pebble |
Once, I managed to catch the Pokémon Tower Marowak, you know, the ghost one? Usually, it’ll slog off any Pokéball thrown at it. Out of curiosity, I tossed a Master Ball at the Marowak. If you’re wondering, I had hacked an infinite amount of Master Balls at the beginning of my Pokémon Blue save for the sake of convenience. It was the equivalent of an airplane read in terms of Pokémon game playthroughs, so I didn’t really care.
I was expecting the game to break immediately upon capture since the ghost Marowak probably works differently from your usual Marowak caught in the wild. Nothing happened, however, and the game went on just as planned. It appeared in the last slot of my party seeing as I had yet to add a sixth. At the very least, I expected a sort of Missing No. type issue, but the game appeared to have treated it as a normal level 30 Marowak. It wasn’t even a Ghost Type, though if you fought ghost Marowak in-game, it never is a Ghost Type.
I had always wondered what would happen if you did manage to catch the ghost Marowak. This all happened as Gold and Silver were being hyped for release, so I was only an innocent kid with an overused Game Genie. Since then, I’ve found out that using a cheat device to catch the ghost Marowak will leave you with a real one, although the only thing I used a cheat device for was the infinite Master Balls at the beginning, which makes this catch even more peculiar. I was satisfied with the Pokémon, of course. Nothing in particular happened, so I completed my business at the Pokémon Tower and went back out to Lavender Town.
I expected, with all the hype, something to finally happen in Lavender Town. The music didn’t seem different at all, and upon talking to everyone else I concluded that all was well in PokéLand. I healed my Pokémon at the PokéCenter like normal and went along on my merry way to Saffron City. I didn’t notice it until later, but the guard at the gate didn’t just let me through; he was gone. Anyway, Saffron City was free to roam regardless.
In continuation of the game’s plot, I made my way to Silph Co. Only to discover again that the place was empty of the usual Rocket Grunts on every corner. In fact, the whole city was empty. The Pokémon gym? Empty. I visited the routes just north, south, and west of Saffron. Empty. I didn’t notice how devoid of trainers Route 8 was until now. I shut the game off in a foolhardy attempt to return to my previous save before the Pokémon Tower. It sucked because I was still in Celadon City. At least I had beaten Erika and gotten the Rainbow Badge. So all I had to do was leg it back to Lavender Town and do the Pokémon Tower all over again - without catching the Marowak, of course.
All was well. The NPCs were intact and nothing showed telltale signs of being glitchy. I accidentally walked into the grass on Route 7 in my haste to quickly finish the Pokémon Tower again. It was the usual Pidgey, only this time I sent out the Ghost Marowak.
What the ****.
I checked my party. Apparently, every Pokémon had fainted except the last Pokémon in my party, which happened to be Ghost Marowak. My items were gone as well. The battle choices were fairly standard - FIGHT, PKMN, ITEM, RUN. I tried to run, but it wouldn’t let me escape. I had no choice but to fight.
Ghost Marowak had your standard moves - Growl, Bone Club, and Leer. Bone Club, being a Ground Type move, could not hurt this Pidgey. When rolling through the move choices, I found that the cursor could select the seemingly empty move slot. I selected it. The game froze, the music fizzing out into that itchy static sound as if I just pulled out the game during play.
I tried the game save again, this time checking my party before leaving Celadon City. My other Pokémon were knocked out cold with the only healthy Pokémon being the Ghost Marowak. I checked its stats. Once again, typical Marowak. The only weird thing was its lack of a trainer name. A thing I didn’t notice before. It didn’t say "?????" or anything - it was literally blank.
Naturally, I went to the PokéCenter to heal my fallen comrades. It didn’t work. For one thing, it acted as if I only had one Pokémon. The other thing was that my other Pokémon were gone. My PC boxes were empty, and my first Pokémon was Ghost Marowak.
I didn’t know if this was some cruel programmer prank, but it couldn’t have been a hack seeing as my mother bought the game from Toys ‘R Us way back in 1998. Was it the fault of using a cheat device? Seeing as Pokémon Blue was always my “sandbox” game (Pokémon Yellow was my “serious” game), I trekked on into the wild Blue yonder (yes, that was a bad pun).
I left the PokéCenter. As far as I knew, all of Kanto was empty. Hell, the only thing constant must’ve been the cheery 8-bit music. Going back into the PokéCenter wouldn’t work and I would just hit a wall where the door should open. PokéMarts functioned like this, too, though I could get into every other building normally. I couldn’t get back into Erika’s gym since I needed to use HM Cut, which I no longer had as my items went along with every Pokémon I had but Ghost Marowak. I should mention now that I never got a nickname prompt for Ghost Marowak. It’s not wholly important, trust me. It was just MAROWAK.
If all the NPCs were gone, I wondered about the Pokémon. Once again, I ventured into the grass on Route 7. After a few eerie steps, a battle began. My opponent?
A wild Cubone.
I sent out the only thing I could: Marowak. RUN was disabled. ITEM was useless. I picked Bone Club. It was a one-hit KO, seeing as Marowak was several levels higher than Cubone. I returned to the overworld and took a step to get the hell out of that grass, only to immediately encounter another Cubone. I defeated the Pokémon as they came, finally making it out of the grass. I was only about six or seven tiles in, but having so many wild Pokémon encounters one right after the other was just uncanny.
I continued towards the western Saffron gate until I managed to get into another wild battle - away from the grass. Cubone again. Not surprising. This even happened inside the gatehouse. By the time I reached the eastern Saffron gate that led to Route 8, Bone Club was down to 0 PP. With no items and no way to get into PokéCenters, the next battle I would have was… interesting, to say the least.
Anyway, it was another Cubone. It was only then I realized that each and every Cubone I had fought so far had the same level as the last. I already made the obvious connection of Cubone to Mother Marowak, but this revelation stung.
I sent out Marowak again, feebly using Leer and hoping to just spam the moves I had left until I could only Struggle. Leer lowered Cubone’s defense accordingly. Cubone, at last, had a chance to attack back, but it couldn’t.
It was too scared to move.
I checked Marowak’s summary again. It was still a Ground Type. The battle would stall with Marowak using Leer or Growl and the Cubone being too scared to move. I was tempted to flick the power off and restart, but I let the battle drone on until Marowak could only use Struggle - or at least, I had hoped it would have Struggle. I recalled the game-breaking “-” move I used earlier and used it.
Marowak used Bone Club, oddly enough. There was no reaction or effect on Cubone, but Marowak apparently fainted. Suicide, I guess. Its HP bar and name disappeared, but its back sprite remained. There was a sudden sound, as if Cubone fled, though nothing on the screen indicated anything was happening. Suddenly, Cubone’s HP bar drained and it fainted. There were no message boxes saying either of the Pokémon fainted, but at last the battle ended. The screen turned black and I expected to be brought back to the start menu, but no dice. In fact, the game was hanging at this black screen.
I waited a few minutes if anything might happen. Eventually the black slowly edged away, revealing the Pokémon Tower’s first floor, though of course the NPCs were gone. The in-game menu was disabled and all I could do was walk.
Eventually, I made it up the tower and walked to the place where you encounter the Ghost Marowak. There was no music, making the place even more eerie. There was an item where you would find Mr. Fuji as he was being held hostage by Team Rocket, though. I went to see what it was, of course. The usual item acquisition sound played, but there was no message saying what it was. My menu was enabled again, and even though the cursor rolled through every selection, the only thing that ended up working was the Trainer Card. (I named myself BENDER, by the way.)
As you can imagine, it was pretty torn up. The faces of gym leaders were ruined by random patches of numbers and letters, the usual border corrupted by various in-game tiles. My name wasn’t BENDER anymore, becoming a random line of letters and numbers. A couple “letters” of my new name were actually NPC and Pokémon menu sprites. The amount of money I had appeared to be a lot as the row of 9s ran off the screen. It was a mess of unused and used data. I pressed A again, hoping to just get out of that thing, seconds after I realized I was missing the typical trainer sprite.
It appeared moments after I pressed A. No, it wasn’t some disembodied Red sprite with blood all over it.
It was a Marowak sprite. Even though every pixel of the sprite was in its right place, it looked a little sadder.
I pressed A again, only to hear the desperate sound of its cry.
The next day, I tried to see if the game save could be salvaged, but the only thing I heard upon continuing the game was the Marowak cry against a dark, formidable background. I didn’t play Pokémon Blue for a while.
A few weeks after that I lost the game somewhere in my room and haven’t seen it in years. I’ve since played FireRed, and though I know there’s no way in hell that kind of crap can happen in FireRed, I’m still uneasy battling that Marowak. Regardless of the new-fangled everything that came with the remake, I can still hear the glitchy 8-bit loop of a Marowak in mourning… |
WHO updates personal protective equipment guidelines for Ebola response
31 October 2014 ¦ GENEVA - As part of WHO’s commitment to safety and protection of healthcare workers and patients from transmission of Ebola virus disease, WHO has conducted a formal review of personal protective equipment (PPE) guidelines for healthcare workers and is updating its guidelines in context of the current outbreak.
About the PPE guidelines
These updated guidelines aim to clarify and standardize safe and effective PPE options to protect health care workers and patients, as well as provide information for procurement of PPE stock in the current Ebola outbreak. The guidelines are based on a review of evidence of PPE use during care of suspected and confirmed Ebola virus disease patients.
The Guidelines Development Group convened by WHO included participation of a wide range of experts from developed and developing countries, and international organizations including the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Médecins Sans Frontières, the Infection Control Africa Network and others.
“These guidelines hold an important role in clarifying effective personal protective equipment options that protect the safety of healthcare workers and patients from Ebola virus disease transmission,” says Edward Kelley, WHO Director for Service Delivery and Safety. “Paramount to the guidelines’ effectiveness is the inclusion of mandatory training on the putting on, taking off and decontaminating of PPE, followed by mentoring for all users before engaging in any clinical care.”
Guidelines were developed from an accelerated development process that meets WHO’s standards for scientific rigour and serves as a complement to the Interim infection prevention and control guidance for care of patients with suspected or confirmed filovirus haemorrhagic fever in health-care settings, with focus on Ebola, published by WHO in August 2014.
Use of the personal protective equipment
Experts agreed that it was most important to have PPE that protects the mucosae – mouth, nose and eyes – from contaminated droplets and fluids. Given that hands are known to transmit pathogens to other parts of the body, as well as to other individuals, hand hygiene and gloves are essential, both to protect the health worker and to prevent transmission to others. Face cover, protective foot wear, gowns or coveralls, and head cover were also considered essential to prevent transmission to healthcare workers.
"Although PPE is the most visible control used to prevent transmission, it is effective only if applied together with other controls including facilities for barrier nursing and work organization, water and sanitation, hand hygiene, and waste management," says Marie-Paule Kieny, Assistant Director-General of Health Systems and Innovation. Benefits derived from PPE depend not only on choice of PPE, but also adherence to protocol on use of the equipment.
A fundamental principle guiding the selection of different types of PPE was the effort to strike a balance between the best possible protection against infection while allowing health workers to provide the best possible care to patients with maximum ease, dexterity, comfort and minimal heat-associated stress.
In this situation where evidence is still being collected, to see what works best and on an effective sustainable basis, it was considered prudent to provide options for selecting PPE. In most cases, there was no evidence to show that any one of the options recommended is superior to other options available for healthcare worker safety.
Further work is needed to gather scientific experience and data from the field in systematic studies, in order to understand why some health workers are infected in the current outbreak and to increase effective clinical care. WHO is committed to working with international partners on these issues to build this evidence base.
WHO media contacts
Tarik Jasarevic
Communications Officer
Telephone: +41 22 791 50 99
Mobile: +41 79 367 62 14
Email: jasarevict@who.int |
The Sovereign Citizen Movement is all of the above, and then some
WarriorPublications.wordpress.com, May 2011
You might have seen them at meetings, talking for as long as they were tolerated, sometimes for hours. Rambling on and on about archaic laws and confused legalisms. You might have even grasped some of the main points: The government is a corporation. The courts follow Admiralty law. Cashing in your SIN card can get you as much as $7 million. Declaring yourself sovereign enables you to legally drive without a driver’s license. Hell, we can make our OWN driver’s licenses. That’s always a popular one.
You may not have known it at the time, but you just had an introduction to the bizarre world of the sovereign citizen movement, today one of the fastest growing segments of the extreme right patriot movement in the US. And one which has a long association with white supremacist groups in that country. The odd thing is, it has gained a following among some Native sovereigntists in Canada.
I remember attending a grassroots Native gathering in northern BC a few years ago. I was ‘over-hearing’ one sovereign discuss his recent experience of not having a driver’s license and being pulled over by the police. When the cop asked for the man’s license, he produced one manufactured by a sovereign citizen’s group. The cop said it was a useless piece of paper, he needed to see a real driver’s license. The man then pulled up his sleeve, exposing his skin, and declared that this was his ‘license’. Being a sovereign, he didn’t need a government-issued license.
I strained to ‘over-hear’ the conclusion to the man’s story. He sounded so confident, so sure of himself. Had he done it? Had he actually defied ‘the Man’ and beat him down with the strange, convoluted, and ultimately confusing legalese that is the doctrine of sovereign citizenry? No.
No, he most certainly had not. He and his family had to call a friend to come and pick them up on the side of the highway as their vehicle was seized and towed to some lonely, desolate parking lot, where he could collect it after paying a fine.
As I was to later learn, this was a common consequence of being a sovereign, though minor in comparison to other cases. In the US there have been scores of deaths and shootings, bombings, armed standoffs, and conspiracies to kidnap and kill government officials.
Due to the growing influence of the sovereign citizen doctrine among some Native peoples over the last few years, Art Manuel, head of the Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade, issued the following statement in April 2010:
“I think this strategy [of sovereign citizenry] totally undermines our legitimate claim to our sovereignty and jurisdiction based on our Aboriginal and Treaty Rights. We should not mix up our international, historical, cultural, constitutional, judicial and economic grounds for this kind of counterproductive and totally anti-indigenous based concept in our effort to have our Aboriginal and Treaty Rights recognized on the ground. I know we have spent hours within a one to three day meetings listening to this strategy and it has taken time away from talking our issues from an Indigenous Peoples point of view.
“It is clear that these American right wing sovereign citizenship “Common Law Groups” would never recognize Aboriginal People because they already assume that according to their Sovereign Citizenship they have all jurisdiction they need over our lands already. We need to be aware of this… “
Manuel has his own interpretation of what Indigenous sovereignty is and how it can be achieved. I don’t agree with it, but at least its logical. I can understand his position, there’s legitimacy in the laws and statutes he refers to. They’re ‘legitimate’ because they’re actually based on laws used by the courts. That’s not the case with the sovereign citizens.
Sovereign Citizen: Who Are They and What Do They Want?
Some commentators have described the sovereign citizen movement in the US as “right-wing anarchists” who seek to live without government authority. But this is a crude simplification, one that misses the obvious. The sovereigns, along with the broader Christian patriot movement they are a part of, aren’t against the concept of the state (as anarchists are). Instead, they seek a return to the form of government they believe existed when the United States was established, circa 1776. At that time, white male property owners were the only ones considered citizens of the newly formed states.
At its core, the sovereign citizen movement is white supremacist and patriarchal, seeking to establish a Christian theocracy based on a fundamentalist interpretation of both the Bible and the US Constitution. God Bless America.
Sovereign citizen doctrine incorporates a boggling amount of ‘evidence’ to back up its claims, usually compiled in massive stacks of files or CDs. These are bits and pieces of old common law, the US Constitution, the Magna Carta, and other arcane legal codes. Like the Bible, there are ‘gurus’ who travel the circuit teaching their own versions of sovereign law, which vary greatly but which share the same basic formula.
According to sovereign citizens, as well as many white supremacist groups, the 14th Amendment is unconstitutional. This is the one that gave blacks citizenship in 1868, following the US Civil War. Sovereigns today claim it created a second class citizen, who are unknowingly bound by legal contracts (such as driver’s licenses, taxes, etc.) to the federal government. As ‘naturals’, sovereign, or Freemen, they are citizens of states and, thus, are exempt from federal laws and codes.
The highest level of legal authority sovereigns accept as Constitutional is the county Sheriff, who is duty bound to protect citizens from not only other citizens, but also from federal officials. Failure of a sheriff to follow their oaths of office can be punished by hanging.
Sovereigns claim that, at the time of the Civil War, the north imposed Admiralty law, a form of martial law, over the union as a whole, and that this has never been repealed. They claim the only law they are bound to follow are those in the original Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and common-law.
Common law was what regulated relations between people for centuries prior to the imposition of state institutions and legal codes. Common law were those laws everyone knew not to break, such as theft and murder. It formed the original basis for legal codes later developed by states, including England.
As part of their strategy, sovereigns advocate the establishment of common law courts. These have been used to hold trials of government officials for treason, most often finding them guilty. The most common verdict from these common law courts has been death by hanging. Numerous sovereign citizen groups, including members of the Montana Freemen, have been charged with conspiracy to kidnap and kill judges, attorneys, and sheriffs, whom they accused of violating their Constitutional duties.
Along with death sentences, common law courts also ‘impose’ huge fines against those convicted. These usually come in the form of liens (claims of debt usually made on property and accounts) filed against targeted officials. These have been far more common than alleged conspiracies to kidnap and kill officials. Although they are bogus, they can negatively affect property sales and business transactions until the liens are removed, which can cost large amounts of time and money (referred to as “paper terrorism”). These bogus liens are used as collateral for sovereign citizens to use in the manufacture of their own cheques, and they frequently attempt to cash these in as payments on taxes, fines, or even consumer goods (another reason many sovereign citizens end up in prison, charged with fraud and, in some states, criminal syndicalism).
Sovereign citizens advocate redeeming one’s Social Security card in order to collect large amounts of cash. This is because the federal government deposits money in a secret bank account for each person who is born and claims a social security number. This money is used as collateral by the government to carry out its business. It’s a secret, but the sovereigns have found a legal loophole: simply by redeeming your number—renouncing it and cashing in—those who declare their sovereignty are entitled to millions of dollars.
As part of asserting one’s sovereignty, citizens are also advised to destroy their social security cards, driver’s licenses, etc., in order to sever all legal contracts that have been made with the federal government. Like the bogus liens and cheques, this belief is another one that gets many sovereign citizens further embroiled in the courts and prisons.
The rejection of federal laws and government authority, not surprisingly, leads to frequent encounters with police. This has resulted in numerous shootings and fatalities over the years, due to the particular focus on the 2nd Amendment and the movement’s obsession with firearms. In 1996, an 81 day standoff occurred between the FBI and some two dozen Freemen in Montana. This incident is seen as one of the main catalysts for the spread of sovereign citizenry throughout the US. In only the most recent case, in May 2010, two Arkansas police were shot and killed by a father and son who followed sovereign citizen doctrine.
Perhaps the most infamous of sovereign citizen practitioners was Terry Nichols, who in the early 1990s attempted to use the doctrine in defense of his not paying fines and child support. Nichols was charged, along with Timothy McVeigh, in the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing, which killed 168 people.
Today, the sovereign citizen movement is estimated have some 300,000 hard-core followers in the US (according to a 2010 Southern Poverty Law Center report). In the US, the combined effects of Christian fundamentalism, conspiracy theories, promotion of firearms, declining socio-economic conditions, as well as obvious psychological problems, has given rise to a large, overwhelmingly white and rural, extreme right, one that is both armed and dangerous.
Before the Sovereign, there was Posse Comitatus
Long before the US sovereign citizen movement emerged in the 1990s, there was the Posse Comitatus. Established in 1969 in Oregon by Henry Beach, the Posse would gain a broad membership across the US over the next two decades, primarily as an anti-tax group. Beach was a former state organizer for the fascist Silvershirts during the 1940s, and was a follower of the white supremacist Christian Identity religion (as was co-founder William Potter Gale, in California).
Posse Comitatus is Latin for “power of the county.” According to Posse doctrine, the highest legal official is the county sheriff. By deputizing citizens, the sheriff can form a posse to back him up. The sheriff badge and noose became the most common Posse symbols (including a national publication, The Posse Noose Report).
Since the founding of the US, according to Posse beliefs, corrupt officials had illegally usurped the Constitution and made the federal government a tyrannical power, fraudulently imposing its control over the states. They were especially opposed to the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which created a second class of citizens.
Because the federal government was ‘illegal’, citizens were under no obligation to obey its laws or regulations. The Posse advocated driving without licenses, ignoring federal gun laws and business licenses, not paying federal taxes, etc. They promoted common law as a basic legal code.
The Posse was also intensely anti-Semitic, and many prominent members (like founder Henry Beach, as well as co-founder William Potter Gale) were adherents to Christian Identity, a white supremacist doctrine which asserts that Jews are the literal descendents of Satan. The Posse incorporated conspiracy theories about a Jewish-Communist plot to take over the world, one which had already infiltrated the US federal government. The entire banking and money system of the US was itself a part of the great swindle the Jews had pulled off, through which they exerted near total control over society.
The conspiracy theories of the Posse, combined with their warped religious beliefs and hostile attitude towards the federal government, naturally led to the forming of paramilitary groups as well as confrontations with law enforcement agencies. One of the most well known of these was the case of Gordon Kahl, who, along with his wife, shot and killed two police officers in Arkansas, in 1982, when they attempted a traffic stop. Several months later, Kahl himself was killed during another shootout with US Marshals.
Today, the Posse is not nearly as large as it once was, having declined as its leaders passed away, went to prison, or were killed. But its beliefs and conspiracy theories have greatly influenced the extreme right in the US, including the doctrine of today’s sovereign citizen movement.
The Native Connection: The Sovereign ©Squamish™ Government
So how is it possible that the sovereign citizen doctrine, having its roots in the white racist Christian right, has gained adherents among Native grassroots traditionalists? First, I would say, most have no idea of what the real origins of this movement are. In fact, the sovereign citizen doctrine, like any other pseudo-religious belief, can be interpreted in many different ways, to serve many different purposes.
One example is the Republic of Texas (ROT), a sovereign citizen movement that claimed Texas never legally became a part of the US. As citizens of the ROT, they claim they are not subject to US laws. In 1997 the ROT was involved in an armed standoff with Texas police. Outside of Texas, many in the patriot movement debated their stance. Some claimed their duty was to uphold the Constitution, not to assist a breakaway Republic, and refused to support the ROT.
In Canada, sovereign citizen advocates have replicated most of the rhetoric of their US counterparts, simply omitting reference to the US Constitution and replacing it with that of Canada (along with the usual hodge podge of legal codes and common law). There are adherents in Quebec who, most likely, have some theory similar to that of the ROT concerning Quebecois sovereignty. But there is one group that has asserted its sovereignty based on a combination of traditional Indigenous sovereignty, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN DRIP), and sovereign citizen doctrine: the Sovereign ©Squamish™ Government, based in Mission, BC.
The Squamish, of course, are the descendents of the original Indigenous inhabitants of the Vancouver area, now encompassing Vancouver, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, and the Squamish region north to Whistler. Numbering several thousand, today they live on a number of reserves in North Vancouver and Squamish, as well as in the Metro Vancouver area.
I first became aware of the Sovereign Squamish Government (SSG) in May 2008, when group members and supporters, led by “Hereditary Squamish Chief Kiapilano,” briefly occupied the Squamish band office and declared a common law jurisdiction over the building, at the same time evicting the band council chief, Bill Williams. The ‘take over’ ended shortly after RCMP arrived and the building was closed for the rest of the day.
Over the years, they have announced various government-like measures, such as banning members of the government’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission from Squamish land, as well as ordering the eviction of churches in Vancouver (both as part of a campaign around the legacy of Residential Schools).
These types of actions, what one would expect of a traditional Indigenous group committed to anti-colonial resistance, are also typical of the sovereign citizen movement.
The very spelling of Sovereign ©Squamish™ Government, with its copyright and trademark symbols, is typical of sovereign citizen logic. It’s as if double-stamping legal symbols will make it more potent, like the tedious reciting of legal codes will eventually succeed in a mental war of attrition, as though sheer will and consistency will somehow make the unreal become real.
This use of legal symbols, spellings and capitalization of certain words, are also part of the sovereign citizen methods. As if just the right spelling and grammar imparts greater legal rights. Another example is the practise of some to place commas in their name, as does for example patriot author James Wesley, Rawles. In some cases, sovereigns refuse to cross into the court room fearing that it will place them in the jurisdiction of the court. Or they refuse to participate in a court where a national flag has a gold fringe, a sure sign that it’s an Admiralty court.
The SSG’s Constitution, available along with other documents at http://www.sovsquamishgov.org, contains a mish-mash of laws typical of sovereign citizen doctrine, this one combing traditional Squamish longhouse law, the Haudenosaunee’s Great Law of Peace, as well as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People:
“Constitution – Great Laws of Peace and other ©Squamish / Skwxwú7mesh™ Longhouse laws
Members of the government are one with the ©Squamish / Skwxwú7mesh™ land. Our inherent rights and powers with this nation is governed by our inalienable right to adopt the Iroquois Great Laws of Peace combined with UNDRIP as our Constitution for the Sovereign ©Squamish / Skwxwú7mesh™ Government.”
In “Chief Kiapilanoq’s” welcoming message to the SSG’s website, a general overview of the group’s beliefs are presented, including the rationalization for not using a driver’s license or other government issued documents, again echoing many concepts of sovereign citizen doctrine:
“Mission Statement: As a hereditary sovereign leader, I am Siyam ©Kiapilanoq/CAPILANO™ and it is my pleasure to present you with my vision and mission of freedom for humanity by the stroke of a pen for peace on Earth pursuant to the Great laws of Peace adopted from the Iroquois Nation.
As a leader, I am sovereign because I do not collect or benefit from a ‘pension’ that is issued by the Receiver General administrators from the Federal Government of Canada. I do not have a status card from INAC or driver’s license from ICBC, or a passport from the Citizenship Department or carry a provincial/State BC Health card. I do not vote and I do not file tax returns. This is the strength of my conscious truth in writing to claim sovereignty.
“SG members are real sovereign people who know that they live on land and are not taxed Corporations/Persons who are subjects that comply to Admiralty/Maritime jurisdiction governance through man made Acts, Statutes, laws, by-laws, rules and regulations. The ©Squamish / Skwxwú7mesh™ Government has no contract with tax agencies that are governed by Admiralty/Maritime jurisdiction administrators / regulators.”
A letter from the SSG to the BC Utilities Commission in February 2010, following an attempt to gain intervenor status during a hearing, shows the sovereign citizen doctrine as applied by the SSG, this time addressing the troubling issue of that Admiralty law and providing a good taste of the legalese commonly used:
“RE: ADMIRALTY/MARITIME JURISDICTION REGISTRATION
“Further to your request for a registration compliance into your tax jurisdiction in order to obtain a third party intervenor position that is recognized by your Corporation. The purpose of this Notice is to inform you that we do not ‘register’ any of our members into Admiralty/Maritime compliance because we are not assumed or presumed tax subjects. As freemen and freewomen, we do not file taxes to fund the Security Bonds in order to become recognized members with Admiralty/Maritime jurisdiction administrators.
“As sovereigns we have the unalienable right to contract by our Given Family Names which is Copyright and Trademark protected. We are governed by Common law jurisdiction, laws of the Land for the people by the people.”
What the SSG has done is combine aspects of traditional Squamish social organization, the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace, the UN DRIP, and common law derived from sovereign citizen doctrine. The end result is another variation of sovereign citizen beliefs, this time intertwined with concepts of Indigenous sovereignty.
The potential for confusion among Indigenous peoples, Native sovereigntists, and non-Native allies, is obvious. So too is the appeal for genuine Native sovereigntists, who may be attracted to the emphasis on individual sovereignty from the colonial state (as opposed to the collective sovereignty, the actual liberation, of people and territory).
The fact that sovereign citizen adherents can be found mingled amongst Native sovereignty land defenders is cause for concern. Their ‘solutions’ don’t work and usually make matters worse, frequently resulting in heavy fines, criminal charges, foreclosure of homes, loss of vehicles, and sometimes imprisonment. What’s more, they send otherwise intelligent people on a wild goose chase through Conspiracy World©™.
The Conspiracy of Conspiracies
Conspiracy theories tend to ensnare desperate and stressed out people, and especially those who have undergone some kind of traumatic experience. It is no coincidence that the beliefs of groups such as Posse Comitatus gained a widespread following amongst white farmers during the 1970s and ’80s. During this time, hundreds of thousands lost their farms to massive debts they had accumulated (the farm crisis). Suicide became a leading cause of unnatural deaths among farmers, who were as a group experiencing the trauma of losing their way of life.
Now consider the oppressed living conditions of Natives, Blacks, and other people of colour in either the US or Canada. Natives have undergone the trauma of a recent, rapid, and violent colonization. In all these communities, people are facing far higher levels of stress and trauma than farmer John White losing his farm. Therefore it is no surprise that conspiracy theories are also fairly common among these peoples and the respective social movements that arise from them.
Over the years and during my travels, I have encountered bizarre conspiracy theories among Natives, blacks, and Chicanos, sometimes overlapping with more general theories and at other times being culturally distinct. The black conspiracy theories I heard were largely derived from the Nation of Islam, which asserts that the white race was created through laboratory experiments in a long-distant past when blacks had established a highly advanced civilization.
At Stoney Point/Ipperwash, I met Native land defenders who believed in an alien conspiracy theory that told of an intergalactic war between two different alien races, one evil and one good. Their struggle was unfolding here on earth, and the evil aliens had allied themselves with a global elite who sought to rule the world. Area 51 and all that, very hush hush, other than the website trumpeting the truth, the source of the conspiracy theory I later learned (the sacred scripture being passed around via a print out from the site).
I’ve also met Natives passing around copies of books written by David Icke, a New Age conspiracy theorist who ‘reveals’ that the global elite are actually reptilian aliens who can shape-shift into humans, and who eat human babies. They have controlled the rise and fall of empires through the ages, but through a spiritual shift in consciousness by the human race, their time is short.
Most often, however, conspiracy theories among Natives are usually recycled versions of those peddled by white supremacists for decades. Sometimes it’s the Illuminati, or the Freemasons, the Bildebergers or the Trilateral Commission. It’s almost always the Jews, of course. I remember during one Indigenous youth conference in Vancouver when a delegate from Oklahoma got up to speak and, as part of his ‘ice-breaking’ routine, joked that Hitler hadn’t killed enough Jews.
Conspiracy theories appear to have the answers to all of life’s mysteries, that is what, in part, makes them so popular and somehow satisfying. But like crack cocaine, you always want more, and that’s the unsatisfying bit, the one that can never be soothed. How deep does the rabbit hole go? Like a moth to a flame, there’s definitely some kind of pursuit of knowledge going on here, even if it’s crazed.
Conspiracy theories are also successful when they reinforce prior prejudices or belief systems. Anti-Semitism has been so widespread for so long that is often already an established belief prior to any real contact with conspiracy theories.
Conspiracies are most often circulated through the Internet, an ideal method of distributing unsubstantiated theories. In fact, along with other factors, one of the main reasons the patriot militia movement grew so fast in the 1990s was the Internet. It was one of the first social movements to communicate its message primarily through the web (along with the Zapatistas and others). There is also a vast network of right-wing radio shows, DVD’s, TV broadcasts, public forums, private meetings, books and publications available, all ‘documenting’ the conspiracy and plotting ways to fight it.
But the conspiracy circus is not just in cyber-space or broadcoast over short wave radio. It emerges from a social movement that also claims religious, political, and legal motivations. There are real social aspects to it: gatherings and conferences, workshops, meetings, groups. Isolated individuals suddenly become part of a larger social movement that seems bigger than life, almost spiritual in significance. There is no doubt new initiates are empowered both by belonging to a social group as well as the ‘knowledge’ they have attained.
In the case of the sovereign citizen movement, their pseudo-legalistic conspiracy theories also offer solutions to legal and financial problems. Many of those involved in the most high profile cases of the sovereign citizen movement have been those facing the foreclosure of their homes or farms, who owed massive debts or taxes, fines, credit card or child support payments, etc.
Once people accept the sovereign citizen doctrine and its attenuating conspiracy theories, it can be very difficult to communicate with them. There is no logic or rationale to their understanding of the world. They see only a vast conspiracy, which very few are aware of and the rest are either part of it or slaves to it.
The ultimate conspiracy theory is probably the Bible. It’s the same old story about good versus evil, in this case Christians versus the Anti-Christ, God versus Satan. The real concern for modern day Christians is identifying the Anti-Christ, as well as those troubling tales about tribulations and apocalyptic battles of Armageddon. But what the Bible also does, along with everything else, is provide its believers with rules and regulations for an entire way of life.
It is at this point that the sovereign citizen movement really takes on the character of a religious cult, although not a typical cult built around a dominant personality. It is instead an autonomous and decentralized network of believers, with a sprinkling of gurus and teachers, whose scriptures are old archaic laws and legal codes most people have never heard of. Individuals and groups are quite free to re-interpret and add to the existing doctrine as they see fit. The main point is that following the sovereign citizen doctrine also becomes a way of life.
But it’s not always holy or sacred. Like born-again Christian missionaries, the sovereign citizens feel duty-bound to spread the gospel by any means necessary. And sometimes it is necessary to charge money, lots of money. Some describe it as a pyramid scheme.
Believers caught up in the sovereign citizen doctrine buy into the movement, sometimes literally. Teachers of the law may charge up to $300 for training new initiates, as the Montana Freemen did during their 81-day standoff with the FBI in 1996. At least 800 disciples made their way to the besieged farm the Freemen occupied, leaving to spread the gospel throughout the land. Another money maker is the manufacture and sale of fake driver’s licenses, birth certificates, etc.
But there’s usually a financial interest in it for the new initiate as well, somewhere. Many owe taxes, fines, loans, credit card bills, child support, etc. They might be facing foreclosure or even jail, and have tried all other legal remedies and avenues. In short, they are often desperate people seeking a solution as well as answers (how to stop it and why did it happen?).
Conclusion
The sovereign citizen movement is based on a confusing legal/conspiracy theory that takes many forms, but ultimately promises to ‘liberate’ a person from government control and oppression through a process of legalistic maneuvers. Like the sources from which it draws its theory, the doctrine incorporates aspects of legal, political, economic, and religious movements. At the same time, it can be described as a legal-political social movement that functions like a religious cult.
As a doctrine it is a threat to Indigenous peoples in general, and the struggle for Indigenous sovereignty in particular, for several reasons.
First and foremost, the origins of this doctrine are found within a right-wing Christian fundamentalist movement, strongly influenced by patriarchal, racist, and anti-Semitic beliefs. Ultimately, the sovereign citizen movement in the US seeks to return that society to colonial-era America, where only white male property owners had rights. This is obviously contrary to the goals of a genuine anti-colonial Indigenous resistance movement.
Due to its emphasis on the concept of ‘sovereignty’, the sovereign citizen doctrine attracts some Natives and ensnares them in its confusing legal and conspiratorial theories. As Art Manuel correctly states, there is nothing in the sovereign citizen doctrine that supports or furthers real Indigenous sovereignty. The confusion that the use of the term ‘sovereign’ can cause, when it is used by two distinct and contradictory groups, as in this case, is obvious: Some people will confuse us with the retards.
Not only does the doctrine create confusion over what Indigenous sovereignty is, it also draws good hearted and well-intentioned Native people away from what might be more effective activities and instead has them committed to the most useless and counter-productive ones. Sovereign citizens spend countless hours researching the various legal codes and statutes they incorporate into their ‘case law’. Some spend countless more hours duplicating hundreds of CDs packed with legal documents, or ripping hundreds of DVD’s containing hours of footage of rambling lectures and workshops. They pass these out by the armloads at any gathering or event at which they think they can convert people. Hundreds of hours, hundreds of dollars, all to study, sort, file, duplicate, and distribute nothing more than junk. Garbage that only adds to the level of confusion, misinformation, and misunderstanding, already rampant in our communities.
Crazy and Confused, Con Job, or Cult? The Sovereign Citizen Movement is all of the above, and then some.
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Lawyers representing Apple told the court that on Thursday last week Samsung delivered the company three samples of a new, modified version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 it intended to launch in Australia. But Apple believed the new version still infringed its patents.. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 In a previous hearing Samsung had agreed to delay the launch of the US version of the tablet until the end of this week and provide Apple with samples of a modified Australian version at least a week ahead of its sale date. Patent experts accurately predicted that Apple, which believes Samsung slavishly copied the iPad's design, would not be satisfied with the modified Australian version. Apple's counsel said that while the modified version had "some reduced functionality" it "will still infringe". They sought orders from the court re-affirming the previous block on sales of the US model and asked for a new order to prevent the sale of the Australian version at least until a hearing can take place at the end of September. Samsung's lawyers initially challenged this, arguing Apple had presented no new evidence detailing why the new version infringes its patents. Samsung planned to launch the new version in the week beginning September 12.
"We don't have any evidence that makes their case. We have a different product, a new product ... we believe our device does not infringe," Samsung's counsel said. However, when Justice Annabelle Bennett queried the sense in launching the product in the middle of September only to have it potentially pulled from shelves following an interlocutory hearing just a few weeks later, Samsung's lawyers agreed to "defer" the launch until at least September 30. Samsung also said it was willing to undertake to provide Apple with 48 hours notice before it planned to sell the tablet. The hearing was adjourned until 2:15pm today so lawyers representing each side could agree on the precise dates late in September when a hearing could take place - at which both sides could present their evidence. "I think this matter may need more than a day," said Justice Bennett, who also asked Apple to come up with a statement of facts and contentions outlining which patents it believed Samsung's product infringed.
Today both sides will also be negotiating the final undertakings related to delaying the launch of the Australian version of the Galaxy Tab. Apple's lawyers said "we haven't completed our inquiries" into the modified Australian version but said the company believed it infringed at least two of its patents. Samsung's lawyers said Apple had indicated it wished to sue based on its original 18 patent infringement claims as well as a further 5 claims based on a new patent that Apple was only granted on August 11. Samsung said it would challenge the validity of Apple's patents on grounds such as that the iPad's design is not "novel" (i.e. others had released similar designs earlier). It said it would provide examples of "prior art" - or previous instances of iPad-like devices. Apple and Samsung are suing each other for patent infringement all over the world and in the US case one of the examples of prior art Samsung filed in its defence was a clip and still image from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which it says showed the tablet design before Apple.
Samsung's counsel said the company would be filing a "cross-claim for infringement of a number of our patents ... by the iPad". Justice Bennett said she owned an iPad herself but would likely need help in deciphering the patents and how they relate to the two products. Samsung vice president of telecommunications Tyler McGee was in court today but declined to comment. Patent law expert and senior associate at Melbourne law firm Watermark, Mark Summerfield, said it was usual in patent cases for an accused infringer to both deny infringement and contend that the asserted patents are invalid. "For Samsung to assert its own patents against Apple is more unusual, but given their battles around the world is not too surprising," said Summerfield.
"It seems likely that any infringement suit brought by Samsung against Apple would require separate proceedings. The issues will be too different to be considered as part of a single proceeding, and will be complicated when Apple also counter-sues for invalidity of Samsung's patents, as they almost certainly will." The suit is laced with ironies because Apple is one of Samsung's biggest customers - Samsung produces a number of the parts inside the iPad - and Apple founder Steve Jobs has previously discussed stealing ideas from competitors. "Picasso had a saying, he said 'good artists copy, great artists steal' and we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas," Jobs said in the 90s. Apple's tablet and smartphone patents are so broad that virtually all major competitors could be targeted by the company if it is successful in its legal tussle with Samsung. Loading
The patents cover the basics of multi-touch gestures - both the hardware and software implementations - and functions like slide to unlock and list scrolling. This reporter is on Twitter: @ashermoses |
I give it points for being inexpensive and having a nice, smooth nib (mine does, at least; I've read reviews on fountainpennetwork.com from owners whose nibs were scratchy). I bought mine sometime in the 90s, when they were still made in the U.K.--the reviewer who said they're made in the U.S.A. must be misreading something. As far as I know, Parker isn't making any pens in the U.S. anymore. They moved production overseas eons ago--the U.K. and France. I'm not. sure where they're making these pens now, but I doubt it's the U.S. Mine has always had a problem with intermittent skipping, so I stopped using it not long after I got it, especially once I found the Sheaffer cartridge pen I'd replaced with this Parker. The Sheaffer's never given me any trouble, even though I paid about the same price for the two of them at the time--about $$$. I recently posted my problem with this pen to a fountain pen board and it was suggested that I pull the nib and feed and give the feed a good scrubbing, then floss between the tines of the nib with a thin sheet of brass. I intend to do just that when I get a chance, and see if I can make this pen work. As I said, the nib is VERY smooth. It's pleasant to write with, when it's not skipping. To the reviewer whose Reflex wore out after just over a year of use--there's a reason more expensive fountain pens are more expensive. The tipping shouldn't wear down that quickly. There are pens from the early 20th century that are still in use. People are using their 50s vintage Parker 51s and Sheaffer Snorkels and Esterbrook Js on a daily basis and the nibs aren't even close to wearing out. This is not to say that inexpensive fountain pens will all wear out like the Reflex does (and this isn't the first time I've read about that happening--shame on Parker for using such soft tipping material. There are inexpensive *** and *** and *** and *** fountain pens that can be used on a daily basis and not need replacing so soon. For that reason, as well as the skipping and the chance of getting a scratchy nib, I couldn't recommend this pen. |
White phosphorus burning on the ground in a file photo. (AFP/File)
The Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement, a Syrian opposition group, claimed that a Russian warplane targeted Idlib province’s Benin village using a white phosphorous bomb.
Yasser al-Yousef, an activist in the movement, told Anadolu Agency late Thursday that the attack left a number of people wounded, but he did not give an exact number or say when the alleged event took place.
White phosphorus is typically used to produce a camouflaging smoke. When used directly as a weapon, it burns flesh. It is forbidden to be used indescriminately against civilians.
While the Kremlin says its air campaign is aimed at supporting the Assad regime against Daesh, many NATO members say Russia is targeting mainstream opposition groups opposed to Assad, several of which enjoy the support of the U.S. and its allies.
At least 250,000 people have been killed since the Syria conflict began in 2011, with 7.6 million internally displaced and over four million having fled to other countries. |
A key House Republican on the issue of Social Security introduced a bill Thursday that would impose major cuts to the program. The bill, the Social Security Reform Act of 2016, was introduced by Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX), the chair of the House Ways and Means subcommittee on Social Security.
It would, among other things, gradually raise the retirement age from 67 to 69 on Americans 49 or younger at the present. It would change the formula that determines the size of a retiree’s initial payments. And it would switch the program to a less generous formula for raising payments according to cost of living increases.
Big picture, the most concerning element for many experts is that its approach to make the program more solvent rest entirely on cuts, and does not raise revenues for the Social Security Trust Fund, as some bipartisan proposals have. Across the political spectrum, solutions for long term solvency range from cuts-only approaches like Johnson’s bill to plans that achieve 75-year solvency by raising the current income cap on social security taxes.
“Ultimately, we are going to need something that’s a little more balanced between benefits saving and revenue changes in order to get a proposal that could pass Congress and get approved by the president,” said Shai Akabas, director fiscal policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center.
The cuts in the bill lean more heavily on high income-earners, but most workers would see cuts — some of them drastic — if Johnson’s bill became law.
The initial cuts come in the form of the two-year retirement age increase, which according to Paul Van de Water, a senior fellow at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, amounts to a seven percent cut each year.
The changes to the formula to determine the initial benefit — known as the Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) — are more complicated and involve multiple moving parts. In general though, they negatively impact higher earners the most.
“The change in the formula, it’s structured so that it produces the largest decreases on benefits for the people with the highest pre-retirement earnings,” Van de Water said.
Almost all beneficiaries, however, would see reductions as time went on when compared to current law, due to the legislation’s use of a less generous inflation metric.
“That’s another cut in benefits, and one that grows the longer the person is on the benefit rolls,” Van de Water said.
Some low wage earners — particularly those who have participated in the workforce the longest — are shielded from these cuts due to an increase minimum benefit the legislation includes that acts as a floor for those at the bottom of the scale.
A letter from the Social Security Administration’s Chief Actuary gives a more concrete picture of what the legislation would like if implemented. On the low end of the scale, for retirees who have been in the workforce the longest, a 65-year-old who made an average of $12,280 (according to an established formula called AIME) after being in the workforce for 30 years would see his benefits increase by 9 percent when he retired in 2030, as compared to the current law. A 65-year-old retiree at the earning level who was only in the workforce for 20 years would see 19 percent decrease, however, in 2030. That cut would be 32 percent, if the 65-year-old was retiring in 2050.
Up the earning scale, the reductions continue. A 65-year-old middle-income earner, someone who earned an average of $49,121 after 44 years in the workforce, would see a reduction in her benefits of 11 percent when she retired in 2030, compared to the current law. The amount of reduction would increase the longer she stayed on the rolls: when she was 75 years old, for instance, the reduction would be 14 percent compared to current law, and 16 percent when she was 85 years old.
And the cuts get more severe the later a middle-income earner is retiring. If a 65-year-old at that earning level retired in 2050, her benefits would be 17 percent less than current law. By the time that retiree was 75 years old, they would be 19 percent less, and when she was 85, 22 percent less.
A 65-year-old at the top of the scale, a $118,500 average earner, would see his benefits cut by 25 percent when he retired in 2030, compared to the current law, and that reduction would grow to 55 percent compared to current law by the time the retiree was 85 years old. Likewise, those cuts get larger the longer the law is in place. The 65 year-old at the top of scale who retires in 2050 will see a 43 percent cut in his benefits, compared to current law, that will grow to a 74 percent reduction by the time he is 85.
Additionally the Johnson’s bill makes some notable cuts to spousal benefits, while introducing some means-testing provisions.
The Republican proposal comes as GOP lawmakers are in the midst of figuring out a plan to implement an Obamacare repeal, which, according to health policy experts stands to kick millions of their insurance. Hints that Republicans may consider Medicare privatization were met with a swift rebuke by Democrats, who vowed to go to war over the program. Many pointed out that President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on protecting social safety net programs.
Likewise, Democrats were quick to condemn the GOP Social Security overhaul proposal. Even before most news outlets had picked up on the legislation, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) put out a statement slamming Johnson’s bill.
“Slashing Social Security and ending Medicare are absolutely not what the American people voted for in November,” Pelosi said. “Democrats will not stand by while Republicans dismantle the promise of a healthy and dignified retirement for working people in America.” |
Plan 9: You're weird, but I like you
Sliding back in the direction of vaguely Unix-like OSes, we come to Plan 9 from Bell Labs. This is what the creators of Unix went on to do next. Plan 9 extends Unix's everything-is-a-file notion to include network transparency. It's Unix Version 2: a distributed, grid-oriented OS. Compared to modern Unix, it's also very minimal and lightweight.
Plan 9 is... weird, and has almost no applications - but it shows a future direction for Unix-like OSes
Plan 9 itself has a successor, as well: Inferno. This also abstracts away the CPU architecture, using a VM ("Dis", comparable to the JVM but reaching right down into the OS's kernel) and a special type-safe portable programming language: Limbo. Inferno not only runs on native hardware but as a VM inside web browsers, thus bringing other operating systems into its grid.
And if minimal Unix-like OSes are your thing...
When Linus Torvalds originally announced his new Linux kernel on Usenet, he commented that it "won't be big and professional like gnu" – meaning the HURD, the GNU Project's ambitious Unix-compatible microkernel.
Well today Linux is very big and professional, whereas the HURD is still far from finished and probably never will be. However, if you'd like to experiment with an alternate future, one that never happened, there's a HURD-based Debian release.
Today, the most famous "microkernel" OS is Mac OS X, the core of which is itself FOSS in the form of Darwin. OS X cheats, though, by including the bulk of the FreeBSD kernel as a "Unix server" inside its not-very-micro-any-more Mach-based XNU kernel. But there are actual microkernel OSes out there. BlackBerry's QNX is one, but although there are freeware developer editions for the PC, it's not open source.
QNX's demo version comes complete with apps and an IDE.
It isn't the only option, though.
Back when Linux was first announced, there was a notorious discussion after a notable academic specialising in OS design, Dr Andrew Tanenbaum, decried the brand-new kernel as obsolete because it wasn't a microkernel. Linux itself had been bootstrapped using Minix, a very simple, portable, model OS designed by Prof Tanenbaum for teaching purposes. Eventually, to show that his theories were sound, the good professor rewrote Minix as a native x86-32 microkernel system. Minix 3 is very unlike the earlier versions and includes significant amounts of code from NetBSD to provide core Unix functionality.
Minix's old-school twm desktop - but it's a complete
FOSS microkernel OS. (click to enlarge)
Unix all a bit too much? Hanker for simpler times, when mastery of the PC meant hand-tuning CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT? Before Caldera went insane and ate its own children, it acquired and then open-sourced DR-DOS, the original alternative DOS for PCs – and although it later changed its mind, the code is still out there. There's also a ground-up rewrite, FreeDOS, which sports a choice of GUIs, including another Digital Research product that's now open source: the GEM Desktop.
If even DOS is too big, there are even some minimalist x86 OSes written in assembly language. Perhaps the most directly useful is VisOpSys, which is the basis of the Partition Logic disk management tool. Somewhat more versatile are MenuetOS and its fork KolibriOS.
Going off in the opposite direction is Squeak, a complete Smalltalk-based environment. Normally this runs under a host OS, but it qualifies here due to SqueakNOS – a project to run the Squeak environment directly on the PC hardware.
And perhaps even more way-out than Squeak were the Lisp Machines – some say the greatest ever programmer's environment. Well, if you can find a copy of OpenGenera, the last-ever Lisp Machine OS, then it's possible to run it under x86-64 Linux. Perhaps that might inspire you to help develop the core of a Lisp environment for x86, too.
Twenty-five different PC operating systems to play with that are quite unlike anything else, eighteen of them free and open source. Why go outside and risk skin cancer when there are so many toys to play with over the summer? ® |
In 1884 near Tantanoola in South Australia's south east a Bengal tiger supposedly escaped from a travelling circus. A search was mounted, but the tiger was never found. Over the next few years, there were many reports of missing sheep in the area and some suggested that the sheep had become the prey of the missing tiger. Eleven years after the tiger went missing a local man, Tom Donovan, saw what he thought was the Bengal tiger in a paddock with a sheep in its jaws. He took a shot at it with his gun and shot the animal in the side. As it turns out, it was not a Bengal tiger, but a Eurasian wolf - equally out of place in the Australian environment. It is thought that the wolf was a stowaway on a boat that was shipwrecked off the coast, but managed to make it to the shore. The wolf was stuffed and is now on display at the Tantanoola Hotel. For fifteen years after the shooting of the wolf, however, sheep continued to go missing from the area. A policeman from Adelaide eventually went to investigate and arrested a local man for sheep stealing. |
"Further militarization of the conflict, I'm not sure that is the way to help the Syrian people," Annan said, "They are waiting for the killing to stop. You find some people far away from Syria are the ones very keen for putting in weapons. My own view is that as late as it is we have to find a way of pouring water on the fire rather than the other way around."
Like many who seek peace in Syria, Annan looks back on the " Action Group for Syria " agreement that he brokered in Geneva on June 30th 2012 as a foundation for peace that was promptly squandered by the United States and its allies. In Geneva, all five Permanent Members of the UN Security Council signed on to a plan that would lead to free elections in Syria, with a transitional government of national unity including members of the existing government and the opposition. The critical factor which made agreement possible was that the U.S. and its allies dropped their demand for the removal of President Assad as a precondition for the transition to begin.
As Annan wrote in a Financial Times op-ed as he resigned his post as UN envoy a month later, "We left the meeting believing a Security Council resolution endorsing the group's decision was assured… Instead, there has been finger-pointing and name-calling in the Security Council."
A few days after the Geneva agreement, Russia circulated a draft resolution in the Security Council as Annan expected. But, instead of honoring the commitments they made in Geneva, the U.S., U.K. and France rejected it. They drafted a rival resolution containing all the elements they had dropped in Geneva and which had previously prevented consensus: automatic triggers for sanctions; no commitment to pressure rebel militias to comply; and the invocation of Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter as a pretext for future military action.
With the Security Council once again deadlocked, Saudi Arabia sponsored a version of the West's resolution in the UN General Assembly , calling for Assad to step down and for sanctions if he did not. The resolution seemed likely to fail, with Brazil, India, South Africa and much of the developing world lined up against it, but a watered down version was passed.
The CIA has since stepped up its support to the rebels, providing satellite intelligence on Syrian military deployments and managing arms shipments from the Persian Gulf and Croatia via Turkey and Jordan. Predictably, the bloodshed has only increased on both sides. March was probably the deadliest month since the war began. In his speech in Geneva, Kofi Annan called the current UN estimate of 70,000 Syrians killed "a gross under-estimation."
In the early days of the conflict, UN casualty figures reflected unsubstantiated and probably exaggerated reports from the Syrian opposition and their allies in the Western media. Since then, the UN has held down its estimates as the killing has escalated and the real slaughter has almost certainly now surpassed the rebel propaganda, with the rebels themselves committing their fair share of it.
Norwegian General Robert Mood echoed Kofi Annan's analysis in a recent interview with the BBC World Service'sHardtalk program. Mood led the 300-member military observer mission that went into Syria in April 2012 to monitor the ceasefire that was the first step in Annan's six-point peace plan.
Mood prematurely suspended that mission in June 2012 because the ceasefire had failed to take hold and his unarmed observer teams were being fired on and threatened by hostile crowds. He said that the operation could only resume if all parties to the conflict were committed to the safety and freedom of movement of the observers. "The government has expressed that very clearly in the last couple of days," Mood said. "I have not seen the same clear statement from the opposition yet."
Reflecting on his mission 9 months later, General Mood told Hardtalk's Steven Sackur, "There was an opening, but that opening was not used, because… the kind of international leadership that we would need was not there. That leadership could have been Russia, China, the U.S. coming together and at least agreeing on a joint message so that the government in Damascus and the key people in the Free Syrian Army and the opposition groups were given the same message. That message could have been one option to both of them that we will push forward with a plan for bringing Syria out of this terrible violence and onto a political track - a strong message to both the government and the opposition that we will accept nothing else. If such a message had come both from all of them in the P5 and the Security Council together and united, I do believe still today that it would have had a strong impact."
Sackur asked Mood about the differences between the West and Russia and China over President Assad's role during a political transition. Mood explained, "This is how small and how big the differences between the parties were. In my mind at that time, it would have been possible to lead Syria through a transition supported by a united Security Council with Assad as part of the transition. I believe there was an opening for that and I believe there was a willingness to do that. The insistence on the removal of President Assad as a start of the process led them into a corner where the strategic picture gave them no way out whatsoever…"
The more one studies the actions of the United States and its allies throughout this crisis, the more they seem to have been designed only to lead to ever-escalating violence. This raises the inescapable question whether, in fact, the slaughter and chaos taking place in Syria are in fact the intended result of U.S. policy rather than the tragic but unintended result of its failure, as Western propaganda would have us believe.
In stark contrast to cautious statements by U.S. officials, their actual policy appears to have consistently fostered the militarization and escalation of the crisis and to have undermined every peace initiative. In fact, their public statements may be only a smokescreen for a darker, more cynical policy:
- As the Arab League tried to broker a ceasefire in December 2011, ex-CIA officer Philip Giraldi reported that unmarked NATO planes were flying fighters and weapons from Libya to a "Free Syrian Army" base in Turkey; British and French special forces were training Syrian fighters; and the CIA was providing communications equipment and intelligence. Giraldi wrote, "Syrian government claims that it is being assaulted by rebels who are armed, trained and financed by foreign governments are more true than false."
- As Kofi Annan launched his peace plan in April 2012, the U.S. joined France and other allies at a series of so-called "Friends of Syria" summits , where they promised unconditional political support, weapons and money to their Syrian proxies, making sure that they would not comply with the ceasefire that was the first step in the Annan peace plan.
- After finally dropping the precondition of Assad's departure and agreeing publicly to Annan's "Action Group for Syria" proposal at the end of June 2012, the Western powers returned to the UN Security Council and reasserted all their preconditions, killing the plan before it could get off the ground.
- The supply of weapons and fighters to the rebels has increased steadily since then. Saudi judges have sent Arab Spring protesters to fight and die in Syria instead of to prison. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Libya and other Arab monarchies send weapons, money and fighters. The Saudis fund shipments of European weapons from Croatia to Jordan to skirt the EU arms embargo. And the CIA provides military training to Syrian and foreign fighters in Jordan.
- Now, as if the U.S. has not been covertly fueling the conflict all along, the U.S. government is debating more open military support to the rebels.
To paraphrase an old riddle: "Are we governed by clever people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it?" In this case, did the United States mean to open the gates of Hell in Syria, or did it just blunder into this mess?
But the "clever people putting us on" were really as deluded as the "imbeciles who really meant it". They saw the WMD fairy tale for what it was, but they failed to see the inevitable consequences of their own actions - not just for the people of Iraq, who they were quite prepared to sacrifice, but for the U.S. interests they hoped to advance.
As General Mood told Hardtalk, "It is fairly easy to use the military tool, because, when you launch the military tool in classical interventions, something will happen and there will be results. The problem is that the results are almost all the time different than the political results you were aiming for when you decided to launch it. So the other position, arguing that it is not the role of the international community, neither coalitions of the willing nor the UN Security Council for that matter, to change governments inside a country, is also a position that should be respected…"
As Mood said, "there will be results." The use of military force, overt or covert, will kill and injure a lot of people, because that is what modern weapons are designed to do. And sufficient violence covertly unleashed within a society will break down law and order and turn groups of people against each other. U.S. military leaders understand this perfectly well based on decades of experience.
Syria is a more densely populated, more complex country than Libya, with powerful military forces and a relatively popular government with decades of experience in managing the diverse elements that make up Syrian society. In December 2011, as NATO flew in fighters and weapons from Libya, 55% of the population told pollsters they still supported the government . That has surely eroded as the Syrian military has shelled and bombed its people, but that does not mean that people now support the foreign-backed rebels. What most Syrians want is exactly what Kofi Annan, General Mood and the current UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi have been trying to bring them: a peaceful political transition. But U.S., British, French, Saudi, Qatari and Turkish officials could not resist the temptation to adapt the Libyan "regime change" model to Syria, knowing full well all along that this would unleash an even bloodier and more destructive conflict. There seems to be no limit to the horror that our leaders will inflict on the people of Syria to get rid of President Assad.
Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has committed serial aggression, isolating, demonizing, dividing and destroying Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and now Syria. In each case, it has cited higher motives and good intentions, even as it concealed its own covert role in igniting, fueling and militarizing internal conflicts. As Harold Pinter said , "It has exercised a quite clinical manipulation of power worldwide, while masquerading as a force for universal good. It's a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis."
If post-war conditions permit, countries destroyed by U.S. aggression and covert war are recruited to join their more submissive neighbors as entry-level members of the U.S.-led capitalist world. Some American politicians appear to genuinely believe that this justifies the violence and slaughter that makes it possible, even though, as General Mood said, "the results are almost all the time different than the political results you were aiming for."
The folly and savagery of destroying country after country like this stems from a fundamental misperception of the post-Cold War world that is rooted in fantasies like Francis Fukuyama's "The End of History" theory. U.S. leaders imagined that, with the demise of the U.S.S.R., they stood at the threshold of a world made in America's image. Politics and history had passed away, to be supplanted by management, marketing and finance. They would run the world as a giant business enterprise, of which they would be the executives and majority shareholders.
But this new global dictatorship, like all dictatorships, faced the problem of what to do with dissidents who still resisted integration into America's informal global empire. By 1991, this seemed to have been reduced to a tantalizingly finite number of countries that the new American "superpower" could surely marginalize and, if necessary, destroy: Albania; Angola; Burma; Cambodia; Cuba; Iran; Iraq; Laos; Libya; North Korea; Palestine; Somalia; Syria; Vietnam; Yugoslavia; and, last but not least, China.
Twenty years later, many of those resistant regimes have been dealt with. But the United States is no closer to its cherished vision of a unipolar world. Their places on America's global "kill list" have been taken by newly independent governments even more solidly committed to resisting American imperialism, including popular democratic regimes in Latin America, which the U.S. has "plagued with misery in the name of liberty" for almost two centuries, as Simon Bolivar predicted: Argentina; Bolivia; Ecuador; El Salvador; Nepal; Nicaragua; Pakistan; Russia; Sudan; Venezuela. Popular resistance movements to global capitalism keep emerging in countries around the world, from Maoists in India to Islamist groups in the Muslim world; and much of the economically resurgent global South now has closer ties to China than to the U.S.
After killing millions and squandering trillions in its futile quest for dominance, the U.S. confronts a world it has even less power to control. But the mindset of America's leaders seems set in stone. Its rapacious machinery of covert war has only expanded under President Obama. As in the 1950s, 1970s & 1980s, the CIA has exploited America's military failures to carve out a larger role for itself, and Obama has been seduced as easily as Eisenhower, Carter and Reagan into becoming its commander, its patron and its puppet. The U.S. political system is not designed to produce new leaders who say, "No, thank you, I don't need a secret private army." True to form, Obama asked only, "What else can I do with it?"
The secrecy that makes the CIA and its JSOC foot-soldiers such attractive "tools" to President Obama is the very thing that makes them so dangerous to the rest of us, as we really should know by now. A hidden benefit of secret U.S. military operations has always been that the deferential U.S. media will report only the cover stories, turning the press into powerful co-conspirators in these operations. Secrecy and propaganda are mutually reinforcing.
For a consummate media manipulator like Obama, who was named "Marketer of the Year" for 2008 by the American advertising industry, hiding a policy of covert war and assassination behind a dovish public image was an irresistibly "witty" global masquerade. His smiling face still beams out from Shepard Fairey's iconic campaign posters as his assassins ply their trade on a dozen manhunts each night
In their 2006 book The Foreign Policy Disconnect , Benjamin Page and Marshall Bouton demonstrated that most of the crises in post-1945 U.S. foreign policy could have ben avoided if U.S. leaders had paid more attention to the views of the public. But how can the public have any influence on secret policy-making? U.S. leaders have responded to public alarm at their aggressive and illegal use of military force, not by restoring law and order to U.S. policy, but by moving it farther into the shadows to protect it from public scrutiny and interference.
But the more this policy succeeds in its goal of secrecy and deception, the more it fails in the real world. Whether Presidents Bush or Obama are ever held to account for the death and destruction they have unleashed on other countries, our children and grandchildren will pay for our complicity in their crimes, as they struggle to invest what is left of our country's resources in a belated effort to repair the damage of war, shattered international relations, looted natural resources, gutted public services and climate chaos.
China is already overtaking the United States as the world's largest economy , and may overtake the U.S. in military spending by about 2030. When will our leaders stop trying to bully a world in which they are no longer the biggest kid on the block? And where and when will they begin the vital transition to the peaceful, cooperative world order that is essential to our children's future?
Syria would be a good place to start, and now would be a good time to do it. |
The Occupy Wall Street protests continue into their fourth day of free pizza and anti-capitalism shenanigans. And the NYPD has come up with a weird way of cracking down—with an old law that outlaws masks at protests.
According to the Wall Street Journal, five protestors have been charged under an "obscure, 150-year-old statute that bans masked gatherings."
A lot of these people have been wearing bandannas, but it's safe to assume some were wearing the Guy Fawkes mask, the trademark of the hacktivist group Anonymous, that's helped organize the protests.(Well, actually the trademark of Time Warner, which makes a rather ironic profit off of Anonymous' masks.)
According to the WSJ, the law was enacted in 1845 in response to protests by "tenant farmer". (What? Maybe those were the hacktivists of their day?) The protestors dressed up like Indians in "calico gowns and leather masks" and went on a rampage.
Luckily the law makes an exception for masquerade parties, or else Halloween on the Lower East Side would be an absolute disaster this year.
[Image via David Shankbone/Flickr] |
NEW YORK -- And then there was none?
When Ray Allen took his talents to South Beach, the Big Four morphed into a new, revised version of the Big Three. But then Rajon Rondo blew out his knee, and Kevin Garnett suffered a mysterious foot/ankle ailment, and the only one left standing was Paul Pierce.
With Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo out, Paul Pierce is being asked to do more than ever. AP Photo/Seth Wenig
Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, Pierce retreated to the bench with a "tweaked" ankle and sat out the fourth quarter of an odious 108-89 thrashing at the hands of the New York Knicks, a possible first-round playoff opponent that has clubbed the Celtics twice within a week.
Had the outcome of the game not been decided by halftime (that's what happens when you give up 65 points in two quarters and allow a team to shoot 11-of-16, or 68.8 percent, from the 3-point line), the captain likely would have gamely played out yet another Celtics loss minus KG, the epicenter of their defensive identity. Garnett made the trip to New York with the team, although he did not participate in the shootaround or appear on the team bench, either in uniform or in street clothes.
Doc Rivers informed me last night that I should stop worrying about KG.
"Honestly, he's fine," Rivers said. "It's a bone something, a bone spur that just needs to relax and calm down. I think that's what it is. It's his ankle. If we were in the playoffs tonight, Kevin would absolutely be playing."
Of course, by the time KG returns, he'd better hope Paul Pierce isn't too exhausted to welcome him back.
It's not so much the minutes he's logged in the days since KG was sidelined (about 34 a night), it's how much this team is asking him to do. Pierce has always been a primary scorer, but now he's been asked to serve as the key facilitator, a top rebounder and a consistent ball handler. And that's before we've even discussed his defensive assignments. His plate, his coach concedes, is very full.
By halftime on Sunday, Pierce already had logged 21 minutes, which was more than any other player on the Knicks or Celtics. At the break, he already had scored 15 points, grabbed a team-high eight boards and dished out a team-high five assists. He also shot a team-high six free throws.
And his team trailed by 17.
When Pierce finally called it a night after 32 minutes, he checked out with 24 points, a game-high 15 rebounds and a game-high five assists.
The frustration was apparent in his assessment of the game, which included an indictment of his team's defensive performance, his observation that the rival Knicks "beat us to the punch all night," and the fact New York "pretty much did anything they wanted."
There was discussion in the Celtics' locker room in advance of this drubbing that it was important for Boston to submit a decent showing in light of last Tuesday's dismal 100-85 defeat on the TD Garden parquet. A rallying cry, of sorts.
Instead, it was another humiliating loss against a team that is about to steal the Celtics' Atlantic Division title from them. The Knicks are 20 games above .500 and are light-years ahead of a Celtics team sans Garnett.
"It's very disappointing," Pierce said. "I definitely didn't expect a showing like this coming into Madison Square Garden, especially with the way they did us in in our home building, especially being a team we may face in the playoffs. If this is a team we face in the playoffs, they're going to have tremendous confidence against us.
"So who knows? We've got to do something about it. If they face us in the playoffs, they're going to feel like they have our number. We did this to ourselves." |
The revelation this week that a group of people attacked a power station in California last spring is forcing a reassessment of what may be the most frightening threat to the nation’s electricity grid. Before the news broke, most utility executives were worried about cyberattacks. But the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the attack on the Metcalf power station near San Jose in April was much more conventional:
Within half an hour, snipers opened fire on a nearby electrical substation. Shooting for 19 minutes, they surgically knocked out 17 giant transformers that funnel power to Silicon Valley. A minute before a police car arrived, the shooters disappeared into the night.
Jon Wellinghoff, who was chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission at the time of the attack, believes the United States must do more to protect this critical infrastructure or risk a more serious blow to the electricity grid that could damage the economy for months. Wellinghoff, who is now a partner at the law firm Stoel Rives, talked to The Washington Post and elaborated on his comments to the Journal.
Steven Mufson: How serious was this incident?
John Wellinghoff: This was a very well-planned, coordinated, very well executed major physical attack on an important part of our electric grid infrastructure. Why? No one knows. And there’s no evidence but for [rounds] from an AK-47-type rifle picked up with no fingerprints and no DNA. It had to be a group of individuals, highly trained and motivated to aggressively attack a critical piece of our electricity infrastructure. Whatever you call it, it is important to understand that our physical infrastructure has this vulnerability, and this vulnerability needs to be addressed.
SM: Isn’t it difficult to protect our vast electricity infrastructure?
JW: We can prioritize by looking at the most critical interconnects. FERC had done this to look at priority substations and look at the ones that are most critical. We don’t have to look at the thousands of little ones. Let’s start looking at the ones that if a coordinated attack were successful it could take out the entire network.
SM: How many critical ones are there? Hundreds? Thousands?
JW: It’s easily feasible. It’s less than 100. It’s not thousands.
SM: Generally when people talk about grid security they talk about cybersecurity?
JW: This side of it -- the physical side – is much more critical. It can cause much more damage with a lot less sophisticated equipment than can be done with cyber. Yes, you could sit with a laptop in an East bloc country, but the level of sophistication needed to have a widespread outage occur and have one that would be persistent over a substantial period of time is more difficult with cyber. If you supplement it with bullets and deer rifle rounds, you could put these transformers out for six months or more… then an entire interconnect would be out of power for that period of time. That’s what caused us to be so concerned. We had been studying this prior to the event.
SM: I get the sense that you believe that the Department of Homeland Security was not alarmed enough about this?
JW: I can only refer to the spokesman from Homeland Security who said that it was the utilities’ responsibility to protect their infrastructure. I think it’s a national responsibility because there are national impacts to the grid going out for six months.
SM: Is there any special reason to worry about nuclear facilities?
JW: That’s not really the issue. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has the authority to order [reactor] owners to undertake very specific security measures. Each reactor has at least 10 guards with automatic weapons. High-voltage substations, even those most critical, have no guards, armed or unarmed, and are only guarded by a chain link fence.
SM: What next?
JW: There needs to be follow-up in Congress and the agencies… We need to give an agency the ability to give a mitigation plan and act on that plan to give owners of infrastructure the requirement to do something. Right now, there is no federal agency that has that authority. With the exception of the NRC and nuclear power plants, there is nobody who can tell a privately owned investor-owned utility, 'Hhere are security measures, and you must do this. |
Since its November launch, Nintendo's Amiibo toy line has mostly been used to unlock cosmetic bonuses in Wii U and Nintendo 3DS games. That changed last week with a downloadable update to Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, whose new puzzle-filled mode requires a supply-limited Toad figurine to unlock.
The new "hide-and-seek" mode, while admittedly simple, strays significantly from its source game. It asks players to rotate and scour the game's small, detailed levels to find a hidden, animated "pixel Toad" icon somewhere on the walls. Once you see one, tap it on the gamepad's screen to clear the challenge; these, like a Where's Waldo book, range from stupidly easy to "holy crap where the heck is Toad" hard, especially since the icon sometimes runs around the level. As of press time, this mode only unlocks with a Toad Amiibo; other Mario series toys will only unlock boring old bonus lives in the game.
A quick glance at sites like Amazon, Best Buy, and Gamestop shows that the Toad figure is already hard to come by online and low in stock at brick-and-mortar locations; it hasn't risen to $100-plus gold Mario levels, but Captain Toad completists may want to rush to get in on the hide-and-seek action. We have asked Nintendo whether the company plans to make this mode available without the Amiibo or whether to expect more intense Amiibo-specific game content in the near future, and we'll update this report with any response.
When we first got our greasy mitts on a few Amiibos (or is the plural something weird like Amiibo or Amiiboea?), we remarked on how they didn't connect to compatible games in very interesting ways. Until now, when you've tapped an Amiibo to your Wii U or 3DS, the results are usually little more than cosmetic boosts (like new outfits in Mario Kart 8), in-game bonuses (like weapons in Hyrule Warriors), or largely rehashed gameplay modes (like Mario Party 10 and Super Smash Bros).
These kinds of optional extras differ from the kind of locked game content you can access with similar Skylanders or Disney Infinity figures and seem more in line with what Nintendo chief Satoru Iwata was describing when he told Time Magazine that Amiibos were not "a trend follower." To be honest, we were fine with not linking significant in-game content to what specific toys its players owned—and we're fine with our games not making us spend more money to unlock native content.
Nintendo's foray into the toys-that-connect-to-games genre may have been tardy, but that hasn't gotten in the way of the Amiibo series' wild success since its November launch. The worldwide figure we last heard in December was 5.7 million figurines sold, which we assume has grown substantially since its third wave of figures in the Super Mario series launched last week. |
Editor’s Note: Saucy Burt’s Meatball Cart is now closed.
If you’ve got any doubts about whether the food truck / food cart craze is drawing fresh young talent to the local dining scene, direct your attention to Saucy Burt’s, the new food cart venture being launched today by Sarah Burt.
A year ago, Burt quit her gig in politics to jump into the gastronomy game. “I realized very quickly that working in restaurants, under deadlines, was something I really liked,” she says. Now, after furious study at local spots including La Belle Vie and HauteDish (where she still cooks Sunday brunch), Burt has put her fledgling rep on the line with an unlikely offering: a highbrow meatball sub.
“I spent a lot of time in my Italian grandmother’s kitchen,” Burt says. “She lived in Friuli for about 20 years, and I grew up watching her cook really simple, fresh food. That’s what I’m trying to achieve here. I really like the tradition of Italian-American food in particular — the story of Italian immigrants coming here, using native ingredients, and tweaking their cuisine to fit their new home.”
Three key components go into the sandwich: beef, pork, and veal meatballs made from custom-ground meat from Hackenmueller Meats of Robbinsdale; a bun baked by Italian baker Tony Sisinni of Mainstreet Bakery in Edina; and Alta Cucina brand canned tomatoes, recommended to Burt by Jordan Smith of Black Sheep Pizza.
Of the tomatoes, Burt says: “I like that they have a bright flavor and they taste really fresh. They cost a little more than other varieties, but having a bright flavor is very important.”
Burt will prep her sandwiches in the kitchen of the Black Forest and will truck her cart up to a planned regular spot at Nicollet and 5th. There, she’ll dispense meatball subs for $7 a pop from 11am-3pm on weekdays.
From a flavor perspective, the sandwich is several steps removed from the conventional model. It’s far lighter on its feet. As advertised, the meatballs are rich, meaty, and silky in texture and the marinara is bright with the taste of tomato. “Another thing I do with the sauce is put in a nice healthy dash of balsamic vinegar,” says Burt. “That’s my trick.”
The bun is soft and yielding but durable enough to contain its contents without making a mess. The proportions are harmonious — there’s enough sauce to cover the meatballs without swamping them, and the bun holds the goodies without getting soggy or swamping them.
The overall package is a solid midday meal for a normal appetite — those seeking Leviathan-sized meatball hoagies will leave hungry, while those looking for a savory, portable twist on the standard-issue two-pound grinder stuffed with crusty, bready meatballs will walk away delighted.
One of the most overused and generally irritating words to creep into the food-writing lexicon over the past 10 years is “craveable,” but, there you have it: this thing is truly craveable. Hate the word. Best word for this situation. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an appointment downtown.
BEST BET: The meatball sandwich, of course!
Saucy Burt’s
On Twitter: @SaucyBurts
Italian meatball sandwich food cart — generally at Nicollet and 5th St
HOURS: Monday-Friday 11am-3pm (subject to weather, etc. — check Twitter)
CHEF / OWNER: Sarah Burt
ENTREE PRICE: $7
VEGETARIAN / VEGAN: No
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Brent is trading largely unchanged at a good $57 per barrel following the contract rollover. It was particularly the (meanwhile expired) August contract which rose significantly yesterday in response to a production outage at the Buzzard oilfield in the North Sea.
The North Sea oil type Forties is produced at the Buzzard field - this is the most important of the four oil types which determine the Brent price. As a result, the front end of the Brent forward curve was in backwardation yesterday for the first time in roughly a year. The forward curve is back in its familiar contango structure today, however.
A glance at the WTI price reveals that yesterday's strength in the Brent price was attributable to this special factor, WTI has fallen further and at $51 per barrel is trading close to a three-month low.
"The Brent price should likewise decrease again once the problems at the Buzzard oilfield have been resolved", says Commerzbank. |
What?
Syria’s conflict has devolved from peaceful protests against the government in 2011 to a violent insurgency that has drawn in numerous other countries. It’s partly a civil war of government against people; partly a religious war pitting Assad’s minority Alawite sect, aligned with Shiite fighters from Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon, against Sunni rebel groups; and increasingly a proxy war featuring Russia and Iran against the United States and its allies. Whatever it is, it has so far killed 220,000 people, displaced half of the country’s population, and facilitated the rise of ISIS.
While a de-facto international coalition—one that makes informal allies of Assad, the United States, Russia, Iran, Turkey, the Kurds, and others—is focused on defeating ISIS in Syria, the battlefield features numerous other overlapping conflicts. The Syrian war looks different depending on which protagonists you focus on. Here are just a few ways to look at it:
Who?
When we asked readers what they wanted to know about the civil war, one asked: “Who are the various groups fighting in Syria? What countries are involved?” By one count from 2013, 13 “major” rebel groups were operating in Syria; counting smaller ones, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency puts the number of groups at 1,200. Meanwhile, the number of other countries involved to various degrees has grown; including the United States, nine countries have participated in U.S.-led airstrikes against ISIS in Syria (though Canada’s newly elected prime minister has vowed to end his country’s involvement in the military campaign); Russia is conducting its own bombing against ISIS and other rebel groups, in coordination with ground operations by Iranian and Hezbollah fighters. This is before you tally the dozens of countries whose citizens have traveled to join ISIS and other armed groups in Syria.
Thomas van Linge, the Dutch teenager who has gained renown for his detailed maps of the Syrian conflict, groups the combatants into four broad categories: rebels (from “moderate” to Islamist); loyalists (regime forces and their supporters); Kurdish groups (who aren’t currently seeking to overthrow Assad, but have won autonomy in northeastern Syria, which they have fought ISIS to protect); and finally, foreign powers.
Many of the parties I place in this last category are fighting or claiming to fight ISIS. The divide among them is whether to explicitly aim to keep Assad in power (Russia and Iran), or to maintain that he must go eventually while focusing on the Islamic State at the moment (the U.S.-led coalition).
In that sense, broadly speaking, Russia has intervened on behalf of the loyalists and the United States has intervened on behalf of the rebels, though the U.S. has tried to only help certain rebels, providing arms and training to “vetted” groups. It’s this contradiction in U.S. goals—America wants Assad to go but is also fighting ISIS, one of the strongest anti-Assad forces in Syria, in defiance of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” principle—that helps answer another reader’s question: “Why is it still so difficult to wrap my own head around our official involvement in the conflict?” Russia’s approach is less sensitive to the differences among rebel groups: It opposes all of them. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov summed it up at the United Nations earlier in October: “If it looks like a terrorist, acts like a terrorist, and fights like a terrorist, it’s a terrorist, right?” |
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel paid $20 million in compensation to the families of the Mavi Marmara victims.
The money was transferred Friday into the Justice Ministry of Turkey’s account, the Daily Sabah, a Turkish news service, reported.
The compensation was part of the reconciliation agreement signed over the summer between Israel and Turkey restoring diplomatic ties after a six-year freeze.
Relations between Israel and Turkey broke down in the aftermath of the Mavi Marmara incident in May 2010, when Israeli commandos killed nine Turkish citizens in clashes on a boat attempting to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Under the agreement, Turkey dropped legal claims against the Israeli military and individual officers and soldiers who were part of the Mavi Marmara raid
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously apologized for the deaths, which had been another Turkish condition for the resumption of diplomatic ties.
The countries will decide in the next 10 days who will serve as ambassadors, an unnamed high-ranking Turkish official told Reuters. |
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“We are covering the story" Jeff Zucker says. | AP CNN president: We're 'holding Trump's feet to the fire'
CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker has no regrets about his network's coverage of Republican front-runner Donald Trump, rejecting the notion that it has boosted his campaign through its volume of coverage.
“We are covering the story, and he’s been the Republican frontrunner for almost a year now. I only wish that CNN had that much power to be able to create a frontrunner on either side," Zucker told the Guardian in an interview published Sunday. "The critics of Donald Trump are looking for people to blame for his rise. There are many people who are either surprised by his strength, or don’t like him, and want to blame someone to explain why he has been this popular.”
Pointing to CNN's late March town hall event in which Anderson Cooper grilled Trump on a variety of issues, Zucker claimed that his network has been “holding Trump’s feet to the fire.”
The comments from Zucker are not the first time he has sounded off on media critics suggesting that CNN has played an outsized role in shaping Trump's run toward the Republican nomination since last June.
At a luncheon with reporters last month, the CNN executive said he felt no responsibility for the rise of Trump. |
Why Are Practical Creative Exercises Good For You?
Writing exercises are the surest way to defeat the dreaded blank page.
Doing a writing exercise will demolish your excuses for not writing.
New ideas will come to you – without you having to ‘think them up.’
The experience of losing yourself in creativity will become a great new habit.
You will find yourself enjoying the experience of trying new ideas, experimenting with words and firing up your creativity.
You will become more focused and your concentration will improve.
HOW DO I KNOW?
I know this because although I love writing there have been times during my life when I didn’t do much writing at all.
Sometimes life can be difficult and there were times when I struggled and felt overwhelmed.
Most writers I know feel like this at various times in their lives.
I taught creative writing and script writing for years. During that time I worked with many students who struggled to find ideas or had difficulties with focus.
I knew from my teaching days that one of the surest ways to get someone writing is to give them a writing exercise and set a time limit. So I began. At first, I set a timer for just half an hour. But without even thinking about it I soon began to ignore that timer and carry on. That half hour became an hour and then hours. Writing exercises helped rebuild my writing habit and my creativity woke up. I learned that as long as I keep writing my creativity will stay awake. Now I want to help other writers who find themselves struggling and that’s why I wrote Practical Creative Writing Exercises. I developed all the creative writing exercises myself and drew on my experience teaching writing students. I have learned from experience how to get results – regular writing exercises work.
THE POWER OF CREATIVE WRITING EXERCISES
I aimed Practical Creative Exercises at writers who feel like I used to feel – stuck as well as writers who want to build a writing habit, waken their creativity and feel inspired again.
HOW TO ACCESS YOUR CREATIVITY
My hope is that the book will inspire more people to explore the world of writing.
If you are one of those people who was put off writing by school don’t worry. Nobody is judging you now and those days are gone.
This is your time now and you can use it to write.
I believe it is hugely beneficial for our mental health to use our creativity in whichever way we can.
Whether you write for personal or professional reasons the pleasure and freedom you give yourself through writing makes it one of the most rewarding creative activities there is.
You won’t be able to stop writing because these beautiful and inspiring exercises will banish your writing block right now.
Never Be Stuck Again!
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Alex Vandenberg, Contributor
Waking Times
“Know thyself and you will know the Universe and the Gods”– Delphi Oracle
When scurrying down the rabbit hole on the pathless path one is inevitably confronted by an inter-dimensional race of beings, often of an insect-like reptilian nature, perched atop the pinnacle of power that constitutes the nucleus of the New World Order. The appellations attributed to these dark interstellar actors are myriad and run the gamut of everything from the Sumerian Anunnaki to the Sons of God. While there is a plethora of contemporary material available on the subject, it appears very little has been written on what these ancient “gods” actually are. Instead of adding to the convoluted nature of the subject with more conjecture, let’s try to pin down these phantasmagoric apparitions and put them within a contextual framework that sheds light on their true nature. For if we are to defeat our enemy we must truly understand that enemy.
Pieces of the Puzzle
From the ancient ruins and relics of the past, to the ecstatic, visionary experiences of shamans across all cultures and epochs, to the pre-historic paintings that grace the underground caverns of Pech Merle; to the mythologies of the world, the literature on fairies of medieval times, the practices of black magick by a certain Satanic cult, and even our modern-day documented accounts of the alien abduction experience, we seemingly find evidence of these agencies of the underworld everywhere. We even find their ephemeral, ethereal personages imbued within the sacred architecture of our nation’s capital along with numerous bas reliefs, statues, monuments, and fountains that are literally littered throughout the world. It’s almost as if these invisible entities are clandestinely announcing their presence behind the scenes while quietly charting the course of humanity.
When undertaking more than just a cursory examination of the aforementioned (as well as other subject fields) we uncover a whole slew of parallels and patterns which ultimately culminate in a cornucopia of commonality and continuity. In essence, what we discover (among other things) is that the so-called fairies, shamanic spirits, mythological gods, DMT entities, and aliens are all qualitatively equivalent; that they are not mutually exclusive separate phenomena but rather different forms or manifestations of the same recurring phenomena that has been transpiring since the dawn of recorded history. In addition, we find that the non-ordinary transcendental experience associated with these entities itself seems to be evolving.
Psychic Parasites
Instead of diving head first into the more esoteric aspects of this ongoing intervention into the affairs of humanity, let’s gradually wade ourselves into the deep end of the waters by highlighting one of the main attributes of their modus operandi. This facet I’m referring to is the parasitic quality of their nature. More specifically, it is the demonstrable notion that they literally utilize our energetic emanations as a food source for purposes of their own survival and expansion. We see this peculiar operating principle in the great epic poems, including Homer and Virgil’s works, where the gods are routinely described as swooping over the savory smoke of sacrifice to lick up the scintillating effluvia, i.e. the food of the gods. Whether it is in the fields of mythology, magick, or shamanism- or in the milieu of a modern-day scientific setting, we consistently uncover this particularly pernicious aspect of their character, as can be gleaned from the selected quotes below:
“The gods did smell the savour, the gods did smell the savour sweet, the gods gathered like flies around the man making sacrifice.” – The Epic of Gilgamesh “These Elementals live in the soul-realm of man as long as he lives, and grow strong and fat, for they live on his life-principle, and are fed by the substance of his thoughts.”- Franz Hartmann, M.D.s, Magic: White and Black “They took over because we are food for them, and they squeeze us mercilessly because we are their sustenance. Just as we rear chickens in chicken coops, gallineros, the predators rear us in human coops, humaneros. Therefore, their food is always available to them.”- Carlos Castaneda, The Active Side of Infinity “They are attracted to emotions. Animal fear is what attracts them the most; it releases the kind of energy that suits them.”- Carlos Castaneda, The Fire from Within “They were interested in emotion…They feasted as they made love to me.”- Rick Strassman, M.D., quoting DMT volunteer speaking of insect-like, reptilian creatures in DMT The Spirit Molecule
When reading through the above quotes one can’t help be reminded of that now famous scene within the movie The Matrix when Morpheus initiates the unnerved neophyte into the desert of the real. With an appearance of sheer befuddlement and bewilderment Neo is told the following:
“The Matrix is a computer generated dream world built to keep us under control in order to change a human being into this (holding up a battery).”
While some may axiomatically recoil at the thought of living in an illusory, mentally projected world and being relegated to indentured servant status by a ruling Elite, whether machine-like or not, the truth is that the Matrix analogy fits quite nicely with our current day reality (see David Bohm’s, Wholeness and the Implicate Order). The only slight differential, as far as I can tell, is the fact we are our own slave masters as it is we who build and sustain our own prison cells. This highly regrettable state of affairs is deftly encapsulated in the following quote taken from the film My Conversation with Andre:
“I think that New York is the new model for the new concentration camp. Where the camp has been built by the inmates themselves and the inmates are the guards and they have this pride in this thing they built- they’ve built their own prison. And so they exist in a state of schizophrenia where they are both guards and prisoners and as a result they no longer have, having been lobotomized, the capacity to leave the prison they’ve made or to even see it as a prison.”
Now that we’ve briefly touched on the practical role these entities play within the Matrix-like construct we find ourselves operating within, we can now move towards the more arcane, mystical aspects of their existence.
Guardians of the Gate
Delving deeper into the occult oriented atmosphere that envelops these inter-dimensional creatures, we come to discover that they also play the mysterious part of guardians or gatekeepers. In this sense, they can properly be viewed as obstacles, nets, traps, or hurdles that need to be circumvented or surpassed if one seeks to actualize quintessence within. This idea runs through the whole of Buddhism, particularly the Mahayana school of thought, which is why it’s not surprising to see it pop up in the Tibetan Book of the Dead. There, in the instructions to the dead of the Bardo Todol, it is emphasized that both favorable and unfavorable gods are illusions that need to be overcome. This current of thought is also found in the field of Magick where the gods are characterized as the Dwellers of the Threshold who guard the garden of the paradise of the soul. We even stumble upon this symbolic rule in the practice of Yoga, as well as among many other spiritual disciplines. As Swami Vivekananda stated in his work Raja-Yoga:
“There are other dangers too: gods and other beings come to tempt the yogi. They do not want anyone to be perfectly free. They are jealous, just as we are, and even worse than us sometimes. They are very much afraid of losing their positions.”
As mentioned above, these “guardians” are guarding the gate to paradise. Question is – what exactly is that gate? Upon closer examination it turns out that the gate to paradise is no less than that well-known Mother Goddess of the universe that the ancient Egyptians termed Queen Isis. Both giver and taker, she is the womb from which the gods, man, animals, and every other form arose. In a nutshell, she is the feminine personification of space and time, among many other things; that bee that fructifies the soul. As Joseph Campbell, the great mythologist, so eloquently puts it in his work Creative Mythology:
“It is, however, by way of the Goddess Mother of the universe, whose womb is the apriority of space and time, that the one, there, becomes these many, here. It is she who is symbolized by the cross; as for instance, in the astrological-astronomical sign for earth. It is into and through her that the god-substance pours into this field of space and time in a continuous act of world-creative self giving; and through her, in return- her guidance and her teaching- that these many are led back, beyond her reign, to the light beyond dark from which all come.”
And what do you know, look what we find in the DMT experiments that were conducted by Dr. Rick Strassman:
“Yes. She had an elongated head. I guess the guardians were keeping me from seeing her… I know, but they do seem like something else. They seem like guardians, gatekeepers.”- Rick Strassman, M.D., DMT The Spirit Molecule
Or this quote from Graham Hancock in his work Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind describing his experience on ayahuasca shortly after he encounters insect-like, alien beings:
“A short while later, out of the background of shifting geometrical patterns, a beautiful Egyptian goddess appears. I see only her head and headdress clearly. She’s in full regalia.”
At this point some may be thinking, “So what? Those are hallucinations. Nothing real or of any value can be derived from a non-ordinary state of consciousness like that. For that’s just an aberrant, morbid anomaly of the mind.” The only problem with that line of thinking is little inconvenient facts like this:
“The paradox is that Rene Descartes’ Discourse on Method, the book that reformed the entire structure of Western knowledge and that provided the foundations for modern science, came to its author in three visionary dreams and a dream within a dream, which provided the key for interpreting the larger dream. What an irony it is that the entire edifice of rational, reductionist, positivist science, which today rejects “subjective knowledge”, was originally inspired by a revelation in a non-ordinary state of consciousness!”- Stanislav Grof, M.D., PH.D., The Holotropic Mind
Lastly, to wrap this section up, take a look at the below symbolism found in the Vatican that pops up over and over again:
Notice the gold dragons around the painting guarding the shell with a bee in the Center. The shell is obviously a well-known symbol for the goddess Venus who represents one of the many different variants of the Mother Goddess. The bee is another symbol of this goddess as she is also a Queen Bee.
In addition, compare and contrast the below images while reflecting on the Goddess’ role as Mother of the Gods and taking into consideration the following quote:
“Nature talks in signs and, to understand its language, one has to pay attention to similarities in form.”- Jeremy Narby, The Cosmic Serpent
The above picture is of the Bee Goddess on a Boeotian amphora circa 700 BC. The image below it is from a page in Graham Hancock’s work Supernatural in which he describes the entity as such:
“… alien face, gray in color, with a wide domed forehead and a narrow pointed chin- heart shaped, like the faces of the light beings I’d encountered a few days earlier. But this creature doesn’t look friendly. Its eyes are multi-segmented like those of a fly.”
Now that we’ve been given a glimpse into their role as guardians, let’s try to unveil them further in a manner that will shed additional light on this aspect of their functionality.
Parts of Ourselves
After much subterranean excavating, we are now closer to uncovering that diamond in the rough. In the end, after extensively comparing and contrasting many different subject fields, we come upon the discovery that it is mythology juxtaposed against the backdrop of psychology that gives us some of the deepest insights. When straying outside the organized dogmatic ecclesiastical orthodox domain of religion we uncover an idea that dovetails perfectly with what mythology and psychology yield. This is the notion that all the gods, demons, heavens and hells are located within man himself. Whether it is the Indian Tantric tradition, the teachings of the ancient Mystery Schools, Dante’s Divine Comedy, Schopenhauer’s philosophy of the world as Will and Idea, the religious texts of the Upanishads, the beliefs of the Ashaninca, or even the Bible where it is said in Luke 17:20-21 that the Kingdom of God is within you, we stumble upon this introspective apprehension of all mythic forms.
As Joseph Campbell conveyed in his work Creative Mythology:
“All the gods are within, within you, within the world.”
While this statement is helpful, it is still unfortunately too nebulous. So let’s turn to Jungian psychology and in doing so attempt to transform the abstract into the concrete. In this field, the gods and goddesses are viewed as archetypal forces, instincts, or contents of the unconscious mind. As Dr. Carl Jung relayed in the commentary to the Tibetan Book of the Dead:
“The world of gods and spirits is truly “nothing but” the collective unconscious inside of me. To turn this sentence round so that it reads: The collective unconscious is the world of gods and spirits outside me, no intellectual acrobatics are needed…..”
The above quote intimates that there is essentially no fundamental difference between the inner and the outer. This makes perfect sense within the context of fractal, non-local, holographic multi-verse which is ultimately a cognitive construction, a psychic projection, or mirror of our own thoughts (see Michael Talbot’s, The Holographic Universe. Viewing the gods within this paradigm allows us to synthesize the research of those who see these ancient entities as inwardly generated vs. those who perceive them as a component of a free-standing external reality outside of our frequency range.
So, we see that these gods are in essence personifications of parts, the functionaries or agents of one monolithic order; that they are all manifestations of the unconscious mind, that underlying moving tremendum, that Matrix of Life of which Queen Isis is the feminine personification. As Dr. Carl Jung wrote in Psychology and Alchemy:
“Just as the father represents collective consciousness, the traditional spirit, so the mother stands for the collective unconscious, the source of the water of life. (Cf. the maternal significance of the fons signatus, as an attribute of the Virgin Mary, etc.)”
As implied above, and upon closer inspection, it turns that out that all the gods and goddesses of Antiquity are really one Goddess. As the initiate Apuleius states in The Golden Ass:
“I come, Lucius, moved by your entreaties: I, mother of the universe, mistress of the elements, first-born of the ages, highest of the gods, queen of shades, first of those who dwell in heaven, representing in one shape all gods and goddesses. My will controls the shining heights of heaven, the health-giving sea-winds, and the mournful silences of hell; the entire world worships my single godhead in a thousand shapes, with divers rites, and under many a different name… but both races of Ethiopians, those on whom the rising and those on whom the setting of the sun shines, and the Egyptians who excel in ancient learning, honour me with the worship which is truly mine and call me by my true name: Queen Isis.”
Opening the Gates of Hell
It is important to understand and stress that when these gods are suppressed they turn into veritable demons. Quoting again from Dr. Jung in his work The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious we find the following:
“We also know that it is dangerous to suppress it, because the unconscious is life and this life turns against us if suppressed, as happens in neurosis.”
As a result of this suppression of the instinctual roots of the unconscious, the world is now engulfed in the flames of psychosis as a psychic split has emerged within the collective consciousness of humanity. Thus our current impasse is a function of sheer insanity. This is a world in which we are all being paganized, brutalized, sexualized, and debased in what is this Nigredo phase of the Alchemical Great Work; a world in which we are literally being fed on by a Force. We hear it everyday. Incessant, relentless chatter about how our leaders (or rather misleaders) are completely mad and how everything around us is inverted, corrupted, and perverted. As Michael Ellner, the author of Hope is Realistic, writes:
“Just look at us. Everything is backwards, everything is upside down. Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, psychiatrists destroy minds, scientists destroy truth, major media destroys information, religions destroy spirituality and governments destroy freedom.”
As an interesting side note, look at how Dr. Jung medically defines the term “insanity”:
“Insanity is possession by an unconscious content”- Dr. Carl Jung, Alchemical Studies
Hmm… Possession. Where have we heard that before? Oh yeah:
“It is from this process of “possession” by the reptilians and other low vibrational entities that we have the ancient tales, indeed modern ones too, of demons, devils and evil spirits taking over a human mind and body.”- David Icke, The Biggest Secret “For thousands of years, humanity has been increasingly mind-possessed, failing to recognize the possessing entity as “not-self”.”- Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth “It’s more like being possessed… It’s like they have an agenda… It’s got such a distinct flavor, the reptilian being or beings that are present.” – Dr. Rick Strassman, M.D. quoting DMT volunteer in DMT The Spirit Molecule
Resultant Revelations
Energy as Food – All of these living forces directly correspond with some animal desire, impulse, drive, affect, instinct, or innate passion. They sustain themselves on the very thing that gave them life in the first place: thought. Initially, they are ethereal but tend to grow stronger and stronger as the desire to which they correlate with is catered to. Eventually, if given enough sustenance, they take on a more tangible, material type of existence. As Eckhart Tolle remarked in his work A New Earth:
“All thought is energy and the pain-body is now feeding on the energy of your thoughts.”
Guardians of the Gate –Integrating the instincts of the unconscious mind is a prerequisite to completing the process of individuation according to Dr. Carl Jung. These faculties of mind need to be addressed before one can become complete or “Whole”. If they are not addressed, or even worse suppressed, they tend to act as barriers preventing the would-be adept from actualizing his true Self.
Therianthropes/Shapeshifters – Aliens oftentimes appear in either pure animal or therianthropic (animal/human hybrid) form before transforming into the more familiar identity associated with contemporary pop-culture. According to John Mack, David Jacobs, and other researchers, this type of phenomena is not the exception but rather falls more on the side of the rule. This makes perfect sense given that the gods are psychic projections that mirror deeply embedded instinctual aspects of our character. Again, quoting from Dr. Franz Hartmann in Magic: White and Black:
“They form the dreaded Dwellers of the Threshold… They are described as having the form of snakes and tigers, hogs, insatiable wolves, etc., but as they are often the result of a mixture of human and animal elements, they do not merely exhibit purely animal forms; but they frequently look like animals with human heads or like men with animal members; they appear under endless varieties of shapes, because there is an endless variety of correlations and mixtures of lust, avarice, greed, sensual love, ambition, cowardice, fear, terror, hate, pride, vanity, self-conceit, stupidity, voluptuousness, selfishness, jealousy, envy, arrogance, hypocrisy, cunning, sophistry, imbecility, superstition, etc., etc.”
Ayahuasca vision painted by Peruvian Shaman Pablo Amaringo as featured in Ayahuasca Visions- The Religious Iconography of a Peruvian Shaman.
Paradoxical Nature – We see this contradictory aspect of their manifold nature in many ways. For example, take notice of their ambiguous sexuality and the fact that some of them appear benevolent while others seem to be more nefarious and malevolent (painful medical procedures and experiments associated with alien abduction). While there is much to be said about the latter, for now we will simply note that the crux of this can be explained by the nature of the unconscious itself. For within that realm everything is mixed together – both “good” and “bad”.
Hive-like Mentality – Given that the gods have been properly identified as the instincts/affects it’s no wonder that they oftentimes act in such a drone-like mechanical fashion. Notice too how the Occult Elite (an extension of these creatures) consistently stresses conformity, the standardization of all thought, collectivism, a left-brain masculine oriented outlook, and have in essence turned modernity into a industrious hailstorm of haste where everyone is always busy as a bee.
Warring of the Gods – This belligerent aspect of their character can be seen running rampant throughout the whole of world mythology. The idea of the gods as the real movers and shakers behind the scenes facilitating a state of perpetual warfare is brilliantly illuminated in Homer’s The Iliad. The message is clear: the history of world affairs is the history of the psyche itself. From a psychological standpoint this makes sense as the instincts are always trying to tyrannize over each other. As Nietzsche noted in The Will to Power:
“Every drive is a kind of lust to rule; each one has its perspective that it would like to compel all the other drives to accept as a norm.”
The gods overseeing the battlefield – Romeyn de Hooghe, De Belegringh van Groeningen (c. 1672) Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Portals to the Underworld – When reviewing various ethnographic and anthropological records one is constantly introduced to the proposition of caves, the sea, the underground, tunnels, etc., being portals to the underworld. According to Mircea Eliade in Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, caves are “concrete symbols of passage into another world, or a descent to the underworld”. This sentiment coincides nicely with the definition Dr. Jung puts forth in his work Psychology and Alchemy where he states:
“The cave represents the seclusion and darkness of the unconscious.”
What is important to understand here is that up is really down; that one must descend into the darkness in order to achieve spiritual transfiguration. For how could one hope to process, transform, and ultimately integrate the instincts if they are not confronted on their own turf? This mystical axiom of Alchemy that one must descend or die to oneself before being reborn is elucidated upon at length in the novel The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. Quoting again from Dr. Jung in Psychology and Alchemy we discover the following:
“The purpose of the descent as universally exemplified in the myth of the hero is to show that only in the region of danger (watery abyss, cavern, forest, island, castle, etc.) can one find the “treasure hard to attain” (jewel, virgin, life-potion, victory over death).”
Bohemian Grove – The reader will recall from earlier that the gods are often disguised in the form of animals or therianthropes. But even more intriguing than this is the animal form they so often choose: the owl, as noted in John Mack’s Passport to the Cosmos. It is well established that the owl has always been associated with the Goddess (wisdom and the black arts) as the gods have always been considered the protectors, guardians, or agents of the same. And so, could it be anymore clear as to what Bohemian Grove is really about? Ultimately, the point of the Occult Elite making sacrifice to the gods is one of a mutually beneficial relationship, as noted in H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow over Innsmouth.
What is the Devil?
Finally, after all of our deep-sea diving and subterranean mining, we have come to the bare root of the so-called reptilians. Here it is important to understand that the gods that are ruling our world today are mostly demons that have boomeranged back on us as a result of the suppression of the unconscious mind. You could look at it as the instincts of decadence and debauchery lording as master over the instincts of life. And just as the gods are all manifestations of one thing (unconscious) so too are the demons. As to the latter, that one thing just so happens to be the devil.
Now, the 64 trillion dollar question: What is this Poseidon-Pluto-Hades-Neptune-Shiva that is exactly the devil in Christian mythology? Who is this dragon the Buddha slew under the Bodhi Tree and appears as the Adversary in the Book of Revelations? What are we to make of this Great Magician of Aleister Crowley; this negative side of the astral light as outlined by Eliphas Levi; this lead that drives the alchemist mad and complicates the Work? In a footnote buried like a needle in a haystack within Jung’s Alchemical Studies we find one of the most accurate definitions of this Leviathan:
“The devil is the Saturnine form of the anima mundi.”
What Dr. Jung is referring to here is the chaos, massa confusa, prima materia or undifferentiated primitive instinctual animalistic dark aspect of the unconscious mind. This arcane substance (Mercurius), which is the basis of the Work, contains everything that is needed. It is fully autonomous being like the dragon that begets, reproduces, slays, and devours itself. As Democritus is reputed to have said:
“Nature rejoices in nature, nature conquers nature, nature rules over nature.”
It is important to note that the Stone issues or is born from the darkness of this prima materia (order out of chaos). For does not Spring issue from Winter? Is not enlightenment lighting up that which is dark? And this is why the alchemists said such seemingly blasphemous things such as “God’s love burns in hell”. Or why the adept Apuleius wrote the following in The Golden Ass:
“At midnight I saw the sun shining as if it were noon.”
But this prima materia is just one aspect of Mercurius; the other being the Self. For Mercurius stands at the beginning and end of the Great Work. As prima materia he is in his lowest form (dragon) and as the Lapis Philosophorum (rose, phoenix, lapis, stone, treasure hard to attain, etc.) he reaches his height. It is his transformation that brings about the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz. For as the Rosarium Philosophorum states:
“The opus proceeds from the one and leads back to the one.”
Ultimately, the dragon, which it should be noted is synonymous with the Serpent in the Garden of Eden, is a dual force underlying all of life (just like the unconscious). It is that androgynous paradoxical cosmic serpent that dogmatic religion cut in half. Within this context, a myriad of different variables are de-mystified. For example, why Kali (another variation of the Goddess) is characterized as the “water that kills and vivifies”; why the number 666 has a positive connotation in some cultures and a negative overtone in others; why the dragon/serpent is at once vilified and revered; why Lucifer (the morning star) means both Christ and the devil; and why the shamans the world over consider the life force tremendum of the world – that web of power that underlies the universe – to be a dualistic force that can be used for good (attainment of the Ultimate) or evil (black magick/sorcery).
In the end, as long as we maintain this patently absurd posture of over-emphasizing conscious life at the expense of the unconscious, Lilith (another name for the prima material/screech owl) – that flaming sword in the Garden of Eden – that shamanistic anima that is both dangerous and has transformative power – will continue to block the way back (which is really forward). Ultimately, the base instinctual aspects of the unconscious mind will have to be confronted/processed/integrated if we are to address this psychic split within man.
The transformations of Mercurius. The Melusina (Lilith) meeting the adept on his way up the tree is Sapientia.–Ripley Scrowle (c. 1570), Rosicrucian Alchemy Museum.
Integration as the Way Out
We are never going to integrate that which we demonize and vilify. This fact highlights the crux of our current conundrum. It is what created the situation of opposed opposites in the first place. It is what led to this psychic split in man that is the source of our collective insanity. Casting these gods out has now made us feel like we need to cast them out. For it was us who threw open the gates of the psychic underworld and unleashed the hordes of hellions; us who invited the Vampire in. As Paracelsus wrote in De Ente Spirituali:
“A healthy mind is a castle that cannot be invaded without the will of its master; but if they (Larvae) are allowed to enter, they excite the passions of men and women, they create cravings in them, they produce bad thoughts which act injuriously on the brain; they sharpen the animal intellect and suffocate the moral sense.”
The key phrase in the above is “sharpen the animal intellect and suffocate the moral sense”. Does this sentiment not perfectly encapsulate our modern day sex (Venus) and death (Saturn) soaked cannibalistic pop-culture? If so, why the emphasis on sex and death? The reason is because sex and death act as the two main underlying correlates of temporality. These two elements directly correspond with the two mainsprings of delusion that modern psychology recognizes as eros (desire) and thanatos (aggression).
It is these two chief motivations and underpinnings of life that attach us to our Matrix-like construct and keep the curtain of Maya from falling. In short, it is an effective way to clip our wings and keep us grounded.
While we may wish to run away from our fears we simply cannot. For life is the labyrinth; life is the Lodge. As such, we only meet ourselves along the way. In a holographic universe where every part is the whole suppression, indifference, and an us vs. them mentality fractures, demarcates, delineates, and fragments the world. This acts to distance us from our true Self by playing into the hands of an uproarious underworld that is currently in possession of the human race. As Geoff Byrd puts it:
“The power vacuum was created by us. It is our own inability to face our own personal demons and heal our psychological trauma that allows this to happen.”
In order to integrate the parts of ourselves that we’ve denied we must come to terms with and understand that which we repressed. It is an established fact of psychotherapy that through understanding and experience of underlying contents we can free ourselves from compulsion. In doing so, we facilitate the integration of the instincts which is a pre-requisite to completing the process of Individuation. Note that alchemy is a psychic projection of this process in symbolic form. And that both alchemy and Jungian Individuation are identical to shamanic initiation.
In the end, our goal is to turn a dragon into a rose; to square the circle; to consciously collaborate with the unconscious process of Individuation and thereby bring about a transforming of the unconscious that results in the actualization of a unified Whole. You could call this “Wholeness” Spirit although to be clear there is no pure spirit. For the Great Alchemical Work is a union of heaven and hell on earth. Not abandoning the body, not annihilating the instincts, not denying life itself but rather transfiguring or spiritualizing the instincts and life itself. At any rate, Spirit is at once spiritual and corporeal. As Nietzsche noted in The Antichrist:
“The “pure spirit” is a pure stupidity.”
In the final analysis, we can become zombified machine-like beasts enslaved under a scientific dictatorship totality devoid of any humanity or we can transform that diabolical character living in Saturn into a psychopomp that illuminates the way and allows us to become living philosophical stones. The stakes are in the stratosphere. So let us choose wisely.
About the Author
Alex Vandenberg is a writer and researcher of a myriad of different topics spanning everything from economics to the occult. He is currently in the process of completing two books on transcendental knowledge. His guiding light has been a singular focus on illuminating what lurks beneath; on the roots of humanity’s current conundrum as seen through the prism of spirituality.
This article (Psychic Parasites, Inter-Dimensional Beings and the Occult Elite) was originally created and published by Waking Times and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Alex Vandenberg andWakingTimes.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this copyright statement.
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Windermere police try to rebuild as corruption investigation continues
Cop with lengthy arrest history wants to remain
The exodus began before former police Chief Daniel Saylor's official-misconduct arrest and dismissal in January but sped up after Mike McCoy took command vowing to clean up the department — starting with the officers.
Many of the old faces are gone as the Windermere Police Department rebuilds in the midst of its ongoing corruption scandal.
An Orlando Sentinel report in May 2010 found that Windermere had become known for hiring cops other agencies considered untouchable because of crimes or other questionable behavior in their pasts. Nearly half the force, including Saylor, had worked for larger forces and been fired or resigned while under investigation.
New background checks that McCoy ordered for every current officer are still being conducted by the Orange County Sheriff's Office. Since his appointment in February, McCoy has fired two officers, accepted three resignations and hired two replacements.
"Every community police department is different, but what never changes is the absolute mandate for integrity, kindness, follow-through and reliability of its officers," McCoy said recently about the department he is creating. "… People depend on us every day to do the right thing and protect them."
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement continues to investigate accusations of corruption, including ticket fixing, bribery and improper use of police computers, as well as the disappearance of drugs, guns and money from the Police Department's evidence locker.
"Until they complete their investigation, I won't know which officers will be remaining," said McCoy, who added that officers still may face administrative investigations and possible termination.
New background checks ordered
All 10 of the remaining Windermere officers were hired by Saylor. Nine of them have reapplied and filled out new background-check forms hoping to keep their jobs.
The only current officer who didn't reapply was Lt. John C. Hein, who served as the department's shooting instructor and conducted background checks and other administrative duties for Saylor. Records show he was charged with domestic violence in 2000 and the case was later dropped.
Four of the nine other officers wrote in their background forms that they had never been arrested, had not resigned while under investigation by other agencies and only smoked marijuana in their teens or early 20s as their only form of drug abuse.
The others were Lt. A.J. Mueller Jr., who pleaded no contest in 1998 to misdemeanor battery; Officer Jason Darnell, who admitted he left a previous agency "under unfavorable circumstances"; Detective Gene Powell, who resigned from the Lake County Sheriff's Office before an investigation involving charges of writing bad checks that were later dismissed; and Officer Robert German, who was charged with disorderly conduct in Orlando in 2004 — a case later dismissed.
The new background form for one current Windermere officer stands out — because of the lengthy criminal history attached.
Officer Gregory Beasley has been arrested at least nine times on drug, weapon, disorderly conduct and theft charges since 1990 and is a former member of the Warlocks Motorcycle Club, according to court records in Orange, Polk, Seminole and Volusia counties. |
St. Louis, Mo., Sept. 5, 2015 – The Washington University in St. Louis football team threw for a school-record 420 yards in the Bears' season-opening 45-24 win over Carnegie Mellon University Saturday at Francis Field in St. Louis.
Junior quarterback J.J. Tomlin was 26-for-36 for a career-high 399 yards and four TDs. Tomlin's favorite target was junior wide receiver Kevin Hammarlund, who hauled in a career-high nine catches for 168 yards and two TDs. Junior wide receiver Hank Childs also reached the 100-yard plateau with four catches for a career-high 106 yards and a TD.
Senior defensive back Quincy Marting had 10 tackles a forced fumble and two interceptions, including an 88-yard INT return for a TD midway through the fourth quarter that sealed the win.
"It was an amazing opportunity for us after what happened last year at Carnegie. We worked hard for the last 294 days since then and coach Kindbom really brought us together," Marting said. "It feels good. We are not satisfied as we have nine more games to go. It's time to go back to work."
WashU marched down the field on its opening possession, driving 80 yards on six plays. Tomlin connected on 3-of-3 for 58 yards on the drive, including a 17-yard screen for a TD to senior tight end Mitch McMahon to make it 7-0.
CMU tied it up with a TD of its own, and then Marting came up with two big plays. He forced a fumble that senior linebacker Matt Goad picked up and marched to the one-yard line. Two plays later, junior running back Austin Smestad scored from a yard out.
Marting then picked off CMU quarterback Andrew Hearon on the ensuing drive, which led to a 24-yard field goal by senior Alex Hallwachs to make it 17-7.
CMU added a field goal, but the Bears offense responded with a 90-yard TD from Tomlin to Childs to push the lead to 24-10 with 13:13 left before half. Tomlin tossed this third TD of the half as he found Hammarlund open in the corner of the end zone for a 26-yard TD to make it 31-17.
Tomlin was 15-of-22 for 273 yards and three TDs as the Bears totaled 325 yards of offense in the opening half. Hammarlund had six receptions for 105 yards.
The two teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter as WashU held onto a 14-point lead at 38-24 with 6:43 left. Hammarlund caught his second TD off a bubble screen, where he snuck through the CMU defense and scampered 52 yards.
Sophomore defensive back Nick Doctors made a career-high nine tackles, while junior defensive lineman Josiah Situmeang added five tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. The two teams combined for 1,031 yards of total offense (CMU-519; WashU-512).
WashU (1-0) will have a bye week before returning to action Saturday, Sept. 19, at No. 22-ranked Centre College. Game time is set for 1:30 p.m. (ET) in Danville, Ky.
BEAR NOTEBOOK: WashU leads the all-time series with Carnegie Mellon, 17-16 … The win for head coach Larry Kindbom was his 189th, moving into sole possession of fifth place on the NCAA Division III active wins list … WashU is 19-8 in seasons openers under Kindbom … CMU and WashU also played in the final game of 2014 … The Bears turned three turnovers into 17 points … The 45 points scored in a season opener was the most since a 58-14 win over Missouri Mines in 1954. |
click to enlarge Wikimedia: AudeVivere
Marion Square
A stabbing in Marion Square on Sunday afternoon allegedly developed from a dispute over $400, according to an incident report from the Charleston Police Department.Officers in the process of dealing with an open container violation were approached by Billy Dalton Kendrick, who was described as being in an agitated state and speaking incoherently. It is at this point that another man following behind Kendrick pointed toward him and told officers, “He just stabbed a guy over here. You need to come deal with this,” according to the report. An officer then located the victim, who was found with what appeared to be a screwdriver sticking out of his upper back.The witness told police that the victim was sleeping on the ground when Kendrick allegedly walked up and stabbed him in the back. The victim was taken to MUSC with four stab wounds.Another witness claims that he had been sitting with the alleged attacker for 20 minutes before the incident took place. During this time, the witness says that Kendrick made threats toward the victim, alleging that the man owed him $400.According to an incident report, Kendrick later admitted to the stabbing and was taken to the Charleston County Detention Center on charges of second-degree assault and battery. |
So the Maple Leafs won again…
Against a team ahead of them in the standings. On the road.
Saturday is the halfway point in their season, but it’s been their last quarter that has been ridiculous. They were on pace for a disappointing 82-point season after 20 games. They’re on pace for more than 94 after 40.
They have only five regulation losses in their last 21 games, a span of 11-5-5 that has pushed them from lottery pick conversation into great position to be the second best team in their division and have home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Yes, I went there. I said great position, too.
It sounds crazy, but the Leafs have the 12th best record in the NHL right now, and they’re in a weak division. That’s a solid spot to be, especially when the team ahead of them is Ottawa, their opponent on Saturday.
The Senators are vulnerable. The Leafs are not.
Obviously, they’re... |
The statement could be a nudge towards peace talks.
SANAA // Yemen’s former president Ali Abdullah Saleh on Friday urged his rebel allies to implement UN security council decisions in return for a halt in Saudi-led coalition air strikes.
“I call on Ansarullah (the Shiite Huthi rebels) to accept all UN security council decisions and to implement them in return for a halt in the coalition forces’ aggression,” Mr Saleh said in a statement read out on his behalf on his private television channel Yemen Today.
“I urge them and everyone — militias and Al Qaeda as well as militias loyal to (president Abdrabu Mansur) Hadi, to withdraw from all provinces, especially Aden,” the main southern city where fighting has raged between rival forces.
A UN security council resolution this month imposed an arms embargo on the rebel leaders, including Mr Saleh’s own son Ahmed, and demanded that the Houthis withdraw from government institutions they had seized since they overran Sanaa in September.
Mr Saleh, who still holds sway over army units allied with the Houthis, had welcomed the resolution as a way to “stop bloodshed” in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia has led an air war targeting the rebels and their allies since March 26.
The former president, who still heads the influential General People’s Congress party, called for UN-brokered Saudi-Yemeni talks to be held in Geneva.
Mr Saleh also called for a resumption of inter-Yemeni dialogue, urging “reconciliation” and the release of “all prisoners and those kidnapped”.
He proposed that all provinces to be handed over to “the army and security apparatus under the control of local authorities in each province”.
Mr Saleh ruled Yemen for 33 years before being forced to stand down following a year-long Arab Spring-inspired uprising in 2011.
* Agence France-Presse |
SOCCERLY: Will you also be allowed to bring in more players to take part in this tournament?
GW: We’re always looking to develop our squad. We just added a player on loan from Copenhagen, Fanendo Adi, and he’ll be available. If we can get the players added in time when the summer transfer window opens up, sure they’ll be allowed for participation.
SOCCERLY: Also with more tournaments comes more players. Based on your professional experience, how taxing can that be, especially in Portland’s case, if later on in the year they are still in the running for US Open Cup and possibly three fronts. How would you advise some of the players as far as pacing themselves and worrying about their health?
GW: I think you have to let the players go. The coaching staff, the medical staff and our fitness staff have a lot of responsibility on their shoulders when they have to manage the group. There’s so much science behind the players right now that we know how they’re training, we know how their loads are during the week and we can manage them on a day-to-day basis. We can see if there is a change in their output or a change in their loads and we can manage those.
I always go back to the philosophy - Do what the coach says, make sure you win and progress in stages.
We have a squad of about 30 players and this is the first week we have a weekend game followed by a midweek game against Chivas and then we turn around and play Vancouver. So there’s a little bit of squad rotation there for the game today and we’re looking a great deal at what we have on the squad right now. With the (US Open Cup) game coming up, we’ll see a lot more of our players and the level of depth we have in the squad.
Hopefully, that’s a positive one and it turns out that we can start rotating players throughout this busy stretch of the season.
SOCCERLY: Since this is your debut in the Champions League, what do you see in MLS teams having to do in order to take that next step in the tournament- getting to the finals once again and winning and heading to the Club World Cup?
GW: There’s many things, honestly. The first rounds in the Champions League the past few years, MLS teams have done extremely well and many teams progress to the next stage. What happens is that MLS shuts down.
We come into the second half of the tournament coming off the pre-season. So there are a lot things that are out of our control in many ways. The player’s union, the league mandates that we have a certain amount of weeks off in between seasons. And that’s the time when the other leagues are operating. That’s the time when the Mexican league teams are just ramping up towards the end of their season or the middle to end of their season and we’re just coming off of pre-season.
So, I think we have to revisit that philosophy. We have to see what sort of participation and control we’ll have with our players during the off-season. I think there are some fundamental issues that prevent MLS teams from hitting the ground running in the second stage of the tournament.
SOCCERLY: Speaking of hitting the ground running, Portland had that problem at the beginning of the season as they lacked the fluidity that they had last year in their run to the conference final. Would you consider prioritizing tournaments or is one tournament just as important as the next?
GW: Yeah, this is out there obviously. You’d like to be the first MLS team to win the CONCACAF Champions League. For us it’s very, very important. We’re still a very humble organization with a lot of work to do. We have a lot of improving to do on the field and off the field.
Honestly, I would be lying if I would say it’s not of paramount importance just as the league is. You want to do well in the league and do well in CONCACAF and get yourself in that picture enough times and be successful. For us, it’s very important for us this season. You can start to see the progression. The squad has a lot of chemistry that is starting to come to the forefront now and you can see it by the way they are playing. We’re going on six games unbeaten and we have a big challenge to night against Chivas.
For us, it takes time so when you add new players and one of our transfer windows is in the off-season now and you try to integrate those players into a new tournament or into a season, so it is difficult. It has its challenges and most teams around the world face those challenges.
It’s not an excuse for us, it’s just something we have to overcome. |
http://eatlocalgrown.com/media/reviews/photos/thumbnail/334x334s/d6/2b/4e/14564-glyphosate-testing-15-1432860442.jpg
In late March, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a division of the World Health Organization (WHO), determined that glyphosate—the active ingredient in Monsanto's herbicide Roundup—is a Class 2 A "probable carcinogen."1,2,3
This determination is nothing short of devastating to Monsanto and other chemical technology companies that rule our food supply, and recent "astroturf" attack on Dr. Oz reveals just how desperate they are to quell rising concerns.
Not only is the IARC considered the global gold standard for carcinogenicity studies, it's also one of the research agencies from which the California agency of environmental hazards gets its data to declare carcinogens under Prop 65.
So, eventually, foods containing glyphosate will likely have to carry a Prop 65 cancer warning label to be sold in California.
And since glyphosate cannot be washed off and can remain stable in foods for over a year,4 a Prop 65 label would likely have to be applied to most non-organic processed foods. It's no great surprise then that Monsanto wants the IARC to retract its findings.5
The House of Cards Is Falling Apart...
It may be too late to rehabilitate the image of Roundup, however, as mounting scientific evidence has revealed that glyphosate causes harm through a number of different mechanisms that were previously unknown—both in isolation and in formulated combinations.
Not only has glyphosate been deemed carcinogenic, recent research6,7,8,9 also reveals that the Roundup formulation boosts antibiotic resistance by turning on a specific set of genes in the bacterium. This primes it to become more readily resistant to antibiotics.
Roundup was shown to increase the antibiotic-resistance of E. coli and salmonella specifically—bacteria responsible for many cases of foodborne illness—and this switch-on was found to occur at the typical levels of exposure associated with agricultural and residential application.
A 2013 paper10 published in Insect Conservation and Diversity also links the monarchs' decline to the increased use of glyphosate, in conjunction with increased planting of genetically modified (GM) glyphosate-tolerant corn and soybeans.
US Regulators May Soon Test for Glyphosate Residues in Food
At present, foods are not tested for glyphosate residues, as the chemical was assumed safe. That may soon change however.
In response to growing public concern about the toxicity of glyphosate—nearly a billion pounds of which is doused on fields and lawns each year11.12—the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced that US regulators may start testing for glyphosate residues on food in the near future.13,14,15
Health Canada has also announced it will update Roundup's label directions to reduce human and environmental exposure.16 Glyphosate is most heavily applied on genetically engineered (GE) corn, soybeans, and sugar beets, but it's also commonly used to desiccate conventional (non-GMO but non-organic) wheat and protect other conventional crops from weeds.
Ever since the inception of genetically modified organisms (GMO), the use of glyphosate has dramatically risen,17 as has glyphosate-related diseases.
Unfortunately, while it's good that US regulators may begin testing for the chemical, it's important to remember that current allowable limits may be set too far high to protect your health, so unless that's revised as well, you may be lulled into a false sense of security, but at least it's a step in the right direction...
The EPA raised the allowable limits for glyphosate in food in 2013. Limits for root and tuber vegetables (with the exception of sugar) were raised from 0.2 parts per million (ppm) to 6.0 ppm.
As reported by Reuters,18 glyphosate was only tested once, in 2011, at which time 271 out of 300 food samples were found to have residues. But while all of them fell below the EPA's tolerance level of 20 ppm, with residue levels going as high as 18.5 ppm, researchers have documented malformations in frog and chicken embryos starting as low as 2.03 ppm of glyphosate.19
And, as reported by the Institute for Science in Society,20 the allowable glyphosate limit in oilseed crops (except for canola and soy) was raised to 40 ppm, which is 100,000 times the amount needed to induce cancer in breast cells.
Advocacy Group Offers Testing for Glyphosate in US
A number of organizations have been sampling foods, human urine, and breast milk in an effort to determine just how pervasive glyphosate residues might be. Now, the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) has joined forces with the Feed the World Project, launching the world's first glyphosate testing for the general public.21,22,23,24
As reported by the OCA:
"The project, with specific focus on women and children in the US, is offering the first-ever validated public LC/MS/MS glyphosate testing for urine, water, and soon breast milk. 'For decades now, the public has been exposed, unknowingly and against their will, to glyphosate, despite mounting evidence that this key active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup herbicide is harmful to human health and the environment,' said Ronnie Cummins, OCA's international director. 'Monsanto has been given a free pass to expose the public to this dangerous chemical, because individuals, until now, been unable to go to their doctor's office or local water testing company to find out if the chemical has accumulated in their bodies, or is present in their drinking water. The testing OCA, Feed the World, and many other organizations will begin offering today [April 22] will allow everyone who wants to know whether or not, and to what extent, they personally have been exposed to glyphosate. We expect that once the public learns how widespread the exposure has been...—in the context of the recent report from the World Health Organization that glyphosate is a probable human carcinogen—public pressure will eventually force governments worldwide to finally ban Roundup.'"
Cost is an issue, of course, and one idea might be to use crowdfunding resources to pool and share the cost. For example, if 50 people in one city want to know if their tap water contains glyphosate, they could join forces and share the cost for one single test rather than running 50. If you have other ideas for sharing cost, feel free to share them in the Vital Votes comment section below.
In Midst of Shifting Tide, Journal Editors with Biotech Bias Have Been Quietly Removed
After scientists expressed their outrage over the retraction of the first-ever lifetime feeding study assessing the health risks of genetically engineered (GE) Roundup Ready corn, two of the journal's editors have been quietly removed.
The study in question was originally published in Reed Elsevier's peer-reviewed journal, Food and Chemical Toxicology. The two-year long study25 led by Gilles-Eric Séralini revealed shocking health effects, including massive tumors and early death (see featured video above). Shortly after its publication, the journal created a brand new editorial position, associate editor for Biotechnology, which was filled by Richard Goodman,26 a former Monsanto scientist.
Then, in November 2013, the journal's pro-biotech Editor-in-Chief, A. Wallace Hayes retracted the study, saying its findings were inconclusive and therefore "did not meet scientific standards." 27,28,29,30 This was shocking to many in the scientific community, as inconclusiveness of findings is not a valid ground for retraction according to the guidelines for scientific retractions set out by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).31 In order to qualify for retraction, there must be errors or misrepresentation of data, and none were found in the Séralini study, despite a year-long review.
Séralini's paper was later re-published with open access in the Springer Group journal Environmental Sciences Europe.32Then, in March of this year, Goodman was removed from the editorial board of Food and Chemical Toxicology journal,33 and Hayes was replaced by José L. Domingo, who has published papers showing that GE crops have questionable safety.
The Séralini retraction smelled to high heaven of industry interference and conflicts of interest, and as mentioned, Monsanto is now trying to bury the IARC's report on glyphosate as well. Everywhere Monsanto goes, it uses strong-arm tactics to get its way, which alone should tell you something. In 2012, Monsanto even promised the EU would feel pain lest it gets more lenient on GMOs, and the infrastructure34 they've built up to infiltrate and manipulate the US government is impressive.
Recent Astroturfing Efforts Reveal How GMO Industry Manipulates Public Opinion
Monsanto has also built up an intricate system designed to manipulate public and scientific opinion, using false front organizations like the Science Media Center,35 the American Council for Science and Health (ACSH), and well-known industry shills like Dr. Henry Miller—the latter of which recently demonstrated how astroturfing works when he attacked Dr. Oz under the guise of being a concerned physician, demanding Dr. Oz be fired for his "relentless opposition to the genetic engineering of food crops."36
Groups and "experts" like these are not independent by any stretch of the imagination. They're created and installed by the industry, yet promoted as independent, with the mission to mislead people—including lazy reporters—about GMO issues.
Another new front group for the GMO industry is the Genetic Expert News Service (GENeS),37 set up to regurgitate industry propaganda. The website GMO Answers38 is another, and, according to Nation of Change,39 a Monsanto employee recently admitted the company indeed has "an entire department dedicated to 'debunking' science which disagreed with theirs."
So-called astroturfing techniques are used to discredit the opposition and create the false appearance of scientific consensus on a particular issue. It refers to the effort on the part of special interests, whether corporate or political, to surreptitiously sway public opinion by making it appear as though there's a grassroots effort for or against a particular agenda, when in reality such a groundswell of public opinion might not exist.
Hallmark signs of astroturfing include using key language—words such as crank, crack, nutty, pseudo, conspiracy, and other language that's effective with the public to try to make you dismiss an argument they don't like.
Another hallmark of an Astroturf campaign is attacking those who are questioning authority, such as reporters who are exposing the truth, whistleblowers who dare to step forward, and people asking tough questions. They also inject themselves into social media discussions, pretending to be "regular people," when in fact they have a very clearly defined agenda to steer the conversation.
In February, US Right To Know posted a series of press releases40,41,42,43 "outing" the Grocery Manufacturers Association's new lobbying firm, Ketchum, hired to combat GMO labeling. The firm even created a video in which it bragged about using these kinds of propaganda tactics to double the positive GMO messages found online. Ketchum also created the GMO Answers website, in which professors at public universities answer GMO questions from the public—supposedly without remuneration from the industry.
What You Need to Know About Dr. Oz' Critics
Dr. Henry Miller—who is now calling for Columbia University to fire Dr. Oz—has a long history of defending toxic chemicals,44from DDT to cigarettes—hardly a paragon of virtue when it comes to the safety of toxins, yet he's portrayed as representing a group of "independent experts" that just cannot bear you being misled and worked up about the nonexistent hazards by the likes of Dr. Oz...
During the 2012 GMO labeling campaign in California, Dr. Miller was also caught misrepresenting himself as a Stanford professor opposing GMO labeling, when in fact he is not a Stanford professor.45 The TV ad had to be pulled off the air because of it. Dr. Gilbert Ross also co-signed the complaint letter against Dr. Oz, and the media has conveniently failed to address the fact that Ross was stripped of his medical license in New York and spent time in federal prison for Medicaid fraud—hardly a person more trustworthy than Dr. Oz, if you ask me...
It may well be a sign of hubris, placing these well-established shills up front and center at this time. Monsanto believes it cannot be brought down, and that they have the public thoroughly fooled, but in this case, it's really easy to trace the attack on Oz right back to the front door of the chemical technology industry.
Dr. Oz has also done a great job going on the offensive; along with Elisabeth Leamy exposing46 the ties to big industry of the doctors calling for his termination. It's quite evident that Dr. Miller et al. and the ACSH are part of an astroturf campaign designed to dissuade people from expressing and sharing concerns that hurt the industry's bottom-line.
Why Glyphosate Contamination Is a Valid Concern
The chemical technology industry, led by Monsanto, is responsible for a crisis in both human and environmental health, and they're fighting tooth and nail to keep up appearances that all is well. This is understandable when you consider that they stand to lose just about everything. They can't stay in business unless toxic chemicals remain the norm and the hazards minimized. But the fact is that if you're eating foods contaminated with glyphosate, you're compromising your health in a number of ways, as this chemical:
Acts as an antibiotic (glyphosate is in fact patented as an antibiotic); preferentially affecting beneficial bacteria, allowing pathogens to overgrow
Inhibits enzymes that detoxify chemical compounds. This appears to be one of the previously hidden mechanisms of harm, because by inhibiting these enzymes, glyphosate enhances the damaging effects of chemicals and environmental toxins you may be exposed to
Readily promotes antibiotic resistance by activating certain genes in the bacteria, as demonstrated in the study mentioned earlier
Decimates your microflora and its ability to produce essential amino acids like tryptophan that converts to serotonin, an important neurotransmitter, 90 percent of which is produced in your gut
According to Joseph E. Pizzorno,47 founding president of Bastyr University and former advisor to President Clinton on complementary and alternative medicines, toxins in the modern food supply are now "a major contributor to, and in some cases the cause of, virtually all chronic diseases." Dr. David Bellinger, a professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School has expressed similar concerns. According to his estimates, Americans have lost a total of 16.9 million IQ points due to exposure to organophosphate pesticides.48
Pizzorno also points out that our modern food supply (most of which is heavily processed) also hampers your body's detoxification process as a result of being deficient in key nutrients. In addition to that, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has admitted49 that, conversely to what researchers originally thought, the vast majority of diseases do NOT appear to have a genetic origin. Rather the majority—90 percent in fact—are the result of environmental causes, which includes exposure to pesticides and other diet-related toxins.
Monsanto's Toxic Legacies Live On
Astroturf agents like Henry Miller want you to think that scientists are exasperated because "no one believes in science anymore." Nothing could be further from the truth. Industry shills, like Miller, are upset because more and more people refuse to accept the industry's manipulated science. That's what the real argument is about. Monsanto has consistently lied and covered up toxicity issues—about PCBs,50,51 Agent Orange,52 and dioxins—yet we're supposed to believe they've now mastered non-toxic pesticides and genetic engineering of food?
In 2002, Monsanto was found guilty of decades of "outrageous acts of pollution" in the town of Anniston, Alabama. Monsanto dumped PCBs into the local river, and documents revealed the company knew about the severity of the pollution problem for at least three decades, but decided it wasn't worth going through "expensive extremes" to limit its toxic discharges.
Now, San Diego is suing Monsanto for polluting the Coronado Bay with PCBs.53 Residents in Nitro, West Virginia are also suing Monsanto in a class-action lawsuit over carcinogenic dioxins, which they claim the company spewed all over the city over the course of 20 years.
In light of its toxic legacies, it's truly ironic that Monsanto now proclaims to be a leader in sustainable agriculture. For a rundown on Monsanto's checkered history, check out this Waking Times' article54 from last year. Reuters55 also recently ran a heartbreaking photojournalism piece on Monsanto's Agent Orange legacy. According to the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA), more than 3 million Vietnamese suffer from lethal diseases caused by Agent Orange exposure.
The same company responsible for this human suffering is now in charge of our food supply, and wants you to "rest easy" and leave the science and regulations to them, because they're "science-based" and "sustainable." The charade has gone on long enough, and it really is time to hold the industry accountable, and to bar known toxins like glyphosate from the food supply. |
Firstly, the purpose of this post isn't to call out or shame any specific website's front-end mishaps or to belittle the hard work that went into them. The purpose is to showcase common errors when doing a fixed-width website and how even some of the most popular and amazing sites we often use overlook them.
With the age of mobile and responsive websites, more and more websites have fluid layouts. I personally feel it's becoming a standard amongst front-end developers to be developing with percentages or "em" units over pixels when possible; however, occassionally, the CSS can get mixed between fluid and fixed and create unexpected errors in the layouts especially when resizing the browser.
The common errors I often see can be reproduced when:
The browser width is less than the width of the largest container and a user scrolls to the right. A fixed header or fixed element doesn't scroll horizontally with the rest of the website. Fluid containers on a fixed layout website causing layout issues when resizing the browser. 100% width size of a div or container is of the viewport and not the container.
If your fixed-width website is having layout issues when resizing the browser, being at different viewport sizes, or when scrolling horizontally, a quick-fix CSS trick is to add:
Quick and easy fix for fixed-width layout resize issues
html { /* Size of largest container or bigger */ min-width: 1080px; }
If you know any problems or issues with this fix or alternate solutions, please flag and spread the word in the comments!
Fixed-Width Website Issues Examples
Below is a list of sites where you can see the issue in hand. The easiest way to see these bugs I'm highlighting is to just visit the site, resize your browser to be smaller than its largest container, and then scroll to the right. In some cases you'll see the errors without even scrolling right. Otherwise, you can hover on-and-off the images below to see screenshots of what this fix will correct. |
Although Heroes & Generals is not a historic representation of the Allies vs Axis, potentially one of the better ways to introduce factions is to have them start out as sub-factions of the historic Allied or Axis powers, develop the content over a period of many months, and then split them off into a standalone faction when the content is complete and people have had chance to rank up characters and unlock Assault Teams. Previously, the Soviet Union was introduced and players had no Assault Teams, giving the faction an extremely rough time in the strategy game. The first thing to be introduced should be a basic Infantryman, with a rifle, some grenades, and an SMG; this will allow time for one or more Infantry to get ranked up. The sub-faction Infantryman should only be able to use their own faction's weapons to avoid a mess after the split. Vehicles could be shared temporarily, but when the new factions gets their own version, it can simply be automatically switched out. Eventually, as the Tanker, Pilot, Recon and Paratrooper is added and the faction splits off, characters should just simply be transferred over to the new faction and all Assault Teams will carry over as normal.
The ability to transfer characters to new factions (when they become fully standalone) would be ideal to allow players to consolidate their time investment into a potential new "main" faction and help to balance new factions by giving them a better start; it could either be time limited or limited to new factions only. Transferring a Character would allow the player to keep their character rank and character ribbons and badges, but not weapons (any existing weapons would be transferred to the equipment depot for later use). This could either be free for a short period, or potentially cost a small amount of Gold. The process would be irreversible so players would need to be made aware of this, and once the character is on the new faction, it stays on the new faction, however, if yet another new faction is released, they will again be able to transfer should they wish to (following the same process, keep rank + ribbons, leave weapons behind). |
My dream has always been to race at the Indy 500, with my older brother, Justin, alongside me.
It’s been my dream ever since I was a kid and I would stand on the grass bank cheering on Justin in his races. Ever since I turned nine and hopped into my own kart. Ever since I came to see my first Indy 500 in 2009 and drove under the drag and came through the tunnel, when the hundreds of thousands of fans and the electricity hit you all at once.
That’s been my dream.
I signed a contract earlier this spring, and will be making my Indy 500 debut on Sunday.
But Justin won’t be there. And that makes it all bittersweet.
Racing has been a part of my family for years, starting with our dad — though Justin and I never got to see him compete. His career ended in the ’70s, before we were born, when his throttle stuck open during a race and he crashed, breaking both of his legs and his back. Despite this, he never tried to keep his sons away from the track. At the same time, he never pushed us toward the sport — it happened naturally, it was our own choice.
In our house in Sheffield, England, he proudly displayed this one picture. It’s of him starting in the front row on the pole, with James Hunt, who would later go on to become a Formula One Champion, just on the outside. To us, Dad was a legend. And before either of us ever got inside cars of our own, Justin and I were hooked on racing.
And because I never saw my dad on the track, I looked up to Justin all the more. He was 11 years older than me, so we had kind of a different relationship than most siblings. Justin was never overbearing, or pushy, and he would never tell me what to do. He’d just give me advice and hope I’d learn what to do on my own — which was great for me, because I hated having to do what others told me to. I wanted to make my own decisions and learn from my own mistakes.
In a way, we were a perfect match. Where Justin was quiet and soft-spoken, I was stubborn and pushed limits. Justin didn’t say much, and I talked enough for the both of us … and usually ended up eating humble pie.
Most of those servings came — where else — at the racetrack. As a kid, I’d go to Justin’s races and yell at the top of my lungs, cheering on my big brother. For years I didn’t know people actually lost races, because Justin always won, and he always made it look so easy.
So when it came time to start my own career, I went in with my typical bravado, Yes, yes, yes, I know what I’m doing. But as always, I’d be eating my own words, with Justin’s ignored advice hanging in the air.
“What d’you think you did wrong there?” he said to me while I was still in my car after having lost a race in 2011.
I climbed out, pulled off my helmet and saw him just looking back at me. There was no anger or frustration on his face. And he wasn’t really waiting for a response, either — we both knew what I had done wrong. Rain wasn’t in the forecast, but the whole morning it looked like the skies were about to open. And a little before the race, they did. Not too much, but just enough that I made the quick decision to put wets (special tires for the rain) on my car.
“Not sure you need them,” Justin said.
But I thought I knew better. And as always, Justin was right. Throughout the race, I couldn’t get the proper grip on the track. I had reacted too drastically. Another lesson learned. The hard way.
Ignoring his advice was a funny way to show it, but really all I wanted was to be like Justin. My memories of childhood are of following him around the track, like his shadow. And at home we’d spend hours and hours playing racing video games against each other. One Christmas we spent the whole holiday playing this one racing game. The setting? The Indy 500. And you know those games are really all about setting lap-record times. Claiming your throne. Being 11 years younger, I loved — I relished! — those handful of times when I set the record. (And trust me when I say there were no more than a handful of times.) But my favorite part would be sitting there watching him beat my time. I loved it. Challenge accepted.
Justin only got better on the actual track, too. He won the first Formula Palmer Audi championship in 1998 when he was 20, then the FIA International Formula 3000 title in 2001. Two years later, he made it to Formula One.
My brother, the Formula One driver.
That 2003 F/1 season started in Australia. I practically counted down the days to the first race. I was only 13 or so and being back in England, I had to pretty much stay up all night to see the qualifiers and then watch the race. It was incredible. I couldn’t believe it. And for the rest of the season, I was glued to the TV.
The F/1 schedule did make keeping in touch hard. And it only got more difficult when Justin moved to the States the following year to begin his IndyCar career. By that time I was already on my way with my own racing career. Like Justin, I graduated from karts, to Formula Palmer Audi.
When Justin would come home for the holidays, I would quiz him on all his stories from racing in America. I’d grown up a bit, but listening to Justin talk about the turns, the courses, the drivers, I was a little kid again.
And his best stories by far were the ones he told about the Indy 500.
Justin raced in his first Indy 500 in 2008, and it felt like he had finally hit the big time. I’d love to listen to him talk about what was happening out on track, what he felt in the car — the the things I couldn’t see on TV.
My favorite race was the 2013 Indy 500. Justin had an issue early in the race, but worked his way from the back of the field all the way to near the front. With only a few laps left, he entered his final pit stop. Justin was in the acceleration lane — the flat, low-grip apron around the bottom of the racetrack in Turns 1 and 2 — as he left pit road.. The leaders were on the main track and gaining on him. He should have re-entered the pack somewhere between 10th and 15th position. But somehow he kept pace with the leaders and re-entered in fifth position, right ahead of Helio Castroneves. He still should have dropped a few more places, since he was coming in from the pits on cold tires, but Justin held the car wide-open. It even looked like he was going to go on to challenge for the win if not for the late caution, which ended the race. He came in fifth. It was an incredible result. But didn’t make sense. It didn’t seem possible.
His explanation?
“Well, it was a bit sketchy, but it’s the last 20 laps of the Indy 500, so you just gotta give it everything.”
He said it with a huge grin. We laughed, and I’m not sure who was prouder of what he accomplished that day.
Justin really was an incredible driver. He was doing far more than he should have been with the cars he was driving. He was taking cars that should’ve been finishing 20th, 21st, 22nd, and getting top five finishes, podiums and wins. He was just that good of a driver.
After his rookie year, I had to see it for myself. So in the winter of 2008, I came to visit Justin in the States for a few weeks. And in his typical way, Justin dropped some casual advice.
“You should move over here. You could make a career over here.”
I’d been on the fence about it for a while — not on whether to race in America— but rather when to make the move, trying to decide when would be the best time to leave England. Like with everything else, I wanted to make the decision on my own. Justin didn’t say much else, but rather took me down to Daytona to see the 24-hour race and show me around.
“Let’s just check it out and you can see for yourself.”
The next season, I raced the Indy Lights series in the U.S. The year after, I moved to Indianapolis permanently.
Justin. Right again.
Unfortunately, things didn’t exactly take off for me. I had a couple seasons of Indy Lights under my belt and by 2012, after finishing third in the championship, I felt I was ready for the jump to IndyCar. But like many other drivers, I wasn’t able to find an opening or the funds to do it. The sport is getting more and more expensive, and it’s only getting harder and harder for young drivers, especially if, like me, they’re from a working-class families. Luckily, I managed to get a team and a sponsor for the 2013 Grand Prix of Baltimore and ended up as Justin’s teammate. We were there together, and I thought it’d be the springboard I needed to get into IndyCar full-time. But once again in 2014, I was stuck on the sideline.
You start thinking, Am I wasting my time here? Am I supposed to be here? Should I keep racing? But then you also think about the future. Thirty years from now, did I want my own children to ask, Why did you stop? I didn’t want to have to answer with, “I gave up.”
Call it what you will — stupidity or my typical stubbornness — but I decided to give it one last go.
And if I was going to give it one last shot, I had to aim at the 100th running of the Indy 500 in 2016. This is the race. Let’s put everything I’ve got into this over the next year, and if doesn’t work out, it’ll be time to move on. Justin knew I was struggling, though I was still giving it everything I had. He knew this time he needed to encourage my single-mindedness.
“Go for it! Turn left, don’t lift and don’t add steering after the apex, you have the ability.”
So I got to work on a plan on how I’d get to the Indy 500, and shopped it around to companies and teams I thought might be interested. By that time, Justin had started the 2015 IndyCar season. The good thing about not racing myself meant that I could spend the weekends cheering him on, just like I used to. Except for one weekend in August, when instead of going to Justin’s race I was going to be in meetings with some race teams in Virginia. By race day on Sunday, Aug. 23, I was back home with my fiancée in Indianapolis to catch the race on TV.
That morning, we had gone to look at houses — our wedding was coming up that November. Walking around, I felt something I hadn’t felt in a while: That things were finally heading in the right direction. I was getting ready to officially launch the Indy 500 plan I’d been working on, and Justin was finally on a really good race team with Andretti Autosports. I was pumped for him. He really deserved an opportunity like that.
As we sat down to watch the race from Pocono Raceway, I just couldn’t help but think, You know what? I’m happy. This feels good. It felt like things were set up on this perfect dining table, all the plates, everything lined up.
And then, all at once, someone just came and smashed everything to pieces.
With 21 laps left in the race, Justin was struck in the head with a piece of debris from a crash ahead of him.
Growing up around the racetrack, you know when things are bad. The moment I saw that Justin’s car was out of control — it had just veered sharply to the inside after the debris had hit him — I knew that he was unconscious. I knew it wasn’t good.
As they showed the replay, I was already shaking. I was already in tears.
I need to get out there. I need to be there.
A part of me felt like if I was there, I’d be able to do something, be able to change the outcome of this somehow. Like always, I was going to drown out what everyone else was saying. I could prove them wrong. I could change this.
But when we did get there later that day, there was nothing I could do. Justin had been airlifted to a local hospital. He had suffered a traumatic brain injury and died the following day.
***
As a driver, there are three ways to deal with the dangers of our sport. The first two are very similar: You either ignore the danger completely, not acknowledging the risk; or you believe that you’re invincible, that you’ll always be O.K. It happens to other people — it doesn’t happen to you.
The third, is that you acknowledge the danger and you accept what can happen. It’s just the risk that’s associated with this sport, and you weigh that risk against your love, your passion, your desire to keep racing. The result of that equation determines whether or not you climb back into the car.
I don’t know what mindset Justin had, but knowing how methodical he was and how much he loved this sport, I would expect him to fall into category three. For me, before Justin’s accident, I was certainly in the second group of drivers. I never thought anything bad could happen to me.
But in the days and weeks following Justin’s passing, my life was turned upside down. I wasn’t thinking about my own racing career or whether or not I would get back into a car. I just wanted Justin back. It was a time where I wanted to do nothing, except be there for the rest of the family as much as I could.
Still, I slowly turned my attention back to racing and back to my ambition to be in the 100th Indianapolis 500. The first thing I had to do was to confront the danger of the sport, there was no hiding in Category 2 anymore. I’d seen firsthand how dangerous this sport could be, and I had to accept them before I could return to an IndyCar cockpit.
Talking to my mum was difficult. She’d been around the track all our lives, too. For every race, she was there. But for her, it always meant something entirely different than it did for us. For us, it was getting in those cars, getting to those finish lines. For her, she wanted those finish lines too, but she wanted us to come home as well.
She didn’t want me to go back.
I weighed it for a while. I spoke to my mum some more. But mostly, I thought about Justin. I’m so proud of Justin and so proud of who he was. But it was this sport that gave us the Justin that we knew. It made him the person that he was. If he hadn’t had this sport, it would have been like he was missing a part of himself.
I asked myself, Am I doing the right thing? How much does this sport mean to me? Should I keep racing?
I knew if I let Justin’s accident define my career, he would be pretty disappointed.
So, with Justin’s help again, I knew the answer. Yeah, this is something that I have to do. And I got back to work. I got back to the dream. Our dream.
Getting into the Indy 500 gave me something to focus on, something to help me grieve. In a way it helped me stay connected to Justin. At times it’s felt like he’s been watching, and that’s really pushed me, made me work even harder.
We didn’t know it at the time of his death, but Justin had registered to be an organ donor. That’s the real impact he left behind: Justin saved lives. Five people are here today that wouldn’t have been if not for him. Many more people have reached out to say that they’ve become donors because of Justin, so even more lives could potentially be saved. And as always, Justin nudged me in the right direction. I’ve become one, too.
In January I got a call from the Indiana Donor Network saying they wanted to help me get the word out and get me on the track for the Indy 500. In April I signed a contract with a team and sponsor. We’ve set a goal to spread awareness through our #Driven2SaveLives campaign, to get 2,500 new donors — playing off of Justin’s number 25. It’s the same number I’ll have at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday.
I never really imagined a situation where Justin wouldn’t be on the grid while I would. We never really spoke about racing against each other at the Indy 500. We just both felt it. We never really spoke about what it would have meant. We just knew.
It was the dream.
Now that it’s here and it’s real, the only person I wanted to talk to about it is Justin. I won’t get to tell him my stories. I won’t get to tell him about my race and compare stories. I won’t get to tell him how I pulled off an amazing maneuver.
I won’t have him giving me his advice in his own way. There were certain lessons throughout my career that Justin tried to teach me. And so many times, I didn’t want to listen. I wanted to do it on my own. But his lessons are starting to sink in now.
And when I’m racing on Sunday and a situation comes up, I’ll ask myself the same question that I have for the past eight months without him here.
How would Justin tackle this?
***
Visit driven2savelives.org for more information on Stefan Wilson and the #Driven2SaveLives campaign. |
Despite his inability to lead die Roten to a Champions League final, the Bayern Munich coaching legend says the Catalan has left his mark all over the club
Ottmar Hitzfeld has dismissed suggestions Pep Guardiola has been a failure at Bayern Munich despite yet another Champions League exit at the semi-final hurdle.
Guardiola will leave Allianz Arena at the end of the season for Manchester City having never won the Champions League in his three seasons in Bavaria.
Bayern have been knocked out in the semi-finals of the competition in each of their three campaigns under the former Barcelona boss.
He has won three successive Bundesliga titles and also secured the DFB-Pokal, a title Bayern will attempt to reclaim in this year's final, in 2014.
But Bayern's Champions League elimination at the hands of Atletico Madrid has led some to declare his reign a write-off – a notion former die Roten trainer Hitzfeld has been quick to discredit.
Asked if Guardiola has been a failure at Bayern, Hitzfeld told Bild: "There is only one answer to this question: No, he hasn't. Guardiola isn't treated fairly. He improved Bayern and the whole Bundesliga.
"Everyone who does not recognise it is sensational that Guardiola led Bayern to three Champions League semi-finals in a row is clueless.
"Normally a team who won the treble [as Bayern did in 2013] falls into a hole. They are not that hungry anymore, you ease up.
"But Guardiola protected Bayern from that case and made the players greedy. He instilled Bayern with a passing quality like never before. He made them play high-speed football.
"I think Guardiola will only get the appreciation he deserves in Germany in a few months. Often you only realise how good someone was when he is already gone.
"I also don't agree with the critics who claim Guardiola did not identify himself enough with Bayern. If you saw him on the sidelines you know how much passion he gave for this club." |
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If you are excited about Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar, I have extremely good news for you. You will be able to visit the unique dining establishment beginning next Tuesday, September 22 at Downtown Disney in Walt Disney World.
This new restaurant will be aviation-themed and is named after the pilot from the Indiana Jones films. The restaurant is located in between Paradiso 37 and the BOATHOUSE with seating both indoors and outdoors for 150 guests.
Menu items for Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar will include Dr. Elsa’s She-Deviled Eggs, which are brined in beet juice and include lump crab filling; “Good” Dates which are goat cheese-stuffed dates with Marcona almonds and pickled veggies; Snack of Ra is a taste of Africa with salads and dips served in injera (bread) and naan crisps; Tanis Tacos, filled with falafel, shredded lettuce, and cucumber-tomato salad; pretzels with house-made mustard and beer-cheese fondue; Rolling Boulder Sliders, three spicy meatballs served on mini-buns with yogurt sauce; Brody’s Brats, grilled bratwurst with mustard and pickled cabbage; Lao Che’s Revenge will be spicy Asian chicken wings; and a fried calamari flatbread with spicy harissa called “Squid! Why’d It Have to Be Squid.”
Beverages will include beer and wine, as well as clever cocktails called Reggie’s Revenge, The Fountain of Youth, Hovito Mojito, The Bitter Barkeep, Anything Goes, The Aviator’s flight and the Scottish Professor, and the Cool-headed Monkey.
Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar is the second restaurant that will open this month. It was recently announced that Morimoto Asia will open on September 30.
I think Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar be an experience that guests will want to make sure they want to visit on their next trip to Downtown Disney. |
Amy Cavenaile/The Washington Post; iStock
Millennials get a bad rap for being irresponsible with money.
But new studies show that not only are they carrying less debt than they did in previous years, they are actually pretty good at saving. Millennials are saving more aggressively than they have in the past, and in some cases they’re saving more than their older counterparts, according to a new study from Bankrate.com.
“There is a greater inclination toward saving among millennials than we’ve seen in previous generations,” says Greg McBride, chief financial analyst for Bankrate.com.
Sixty-two percent of millennials, defined in the survey as consumers between the ages of 18 and 29, are saving more than 5 percent of their pay for retirement, emergencies or for other financial goals, the study found. That’s up substantially from the 42 percent who were saving at least that much last year.
It’s also greater than the roughly 50 percent of consumers between the ages of 30 and 49 who were saving as much.
A look at last year’s survey helps to illustrate the shift. The portion of millennials saving the bare minimum, less than 5 percent of their pay, fell to 19 percent this year from 37 percent last year. And the share of people saving more, between 6 percent and 10 percent of their pay, increased to 33 percent this year from 20 percent in 2015.
[5 ways you can trick yourself into becoming a better saver]
So how is it that some millennials are able to save so much more now? Some workers may be stashing away more money as they move up in their careers and earn higher wages, says Karen Carr, a financial planner with the Society of Grownups, a financial company that targets millennials. For instance, some people may have moved from part-time jobs to full-time positions. Others may have upped their savings rate after landing a promotion or raise.
The unemployment rate for people between 20 and 24 years old fell to 8.6 percent in February from 9.9 percent a year before, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wages and salaries are also higher for people of all ages, by 4 percent in February from a year earlier, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Having cash on hand for emergencies could also be a huge motivator for young people who may have struggled to land a job during the recession or who saw family members get laid off, says McBride of Bankrate. “Even if they weren’t directly impacted, they saw the effect on their parents or their grandparents,” he said.
That could explain why when asked about the motivation behind their saving, the highest share of millennials — 40 percent — said they were setting aside money for an emergency, according to a separate report from the American Institute of CPAs and the Ad Council.
The next biggest motivators were to save for a big purchase, which could be more common for millennials who are growing up and making major life changes, such as starting a family or buying a home. Thirty-six percent of 20-something and 30-something consumers said they were saving for a vacation, 27 percent reported saving for a house and 26 percent are setting aside money to buy a car, according to the Aicpa report.
Whatever their motivation, saving turned out to be more important to millennials than some of the other goals that may be more stereotypically expected of them, according to that survey. Saving more was the No. 1 goal named by 34 percent of millennials, higher than the 20 percent of people who said living a healthy lifestyle was their top goal. It was also greater than the 19 percent who said their No. 1 priority is to pay down debt.
You might also like:
The biggest mistakes millennials make when it comes to credit cards
The tiny change that can leave you much better off in retirement
Sorry, tax procrastinators: Most accountants are already booked.
This millennial stereotype needs a little debunking |
“…in many liberal arts fields, the only possible consumer of the research in question is a handful of scholars in the same field. That sort of research is valuable in the same way that children’s craft projects are priceless–to their mothers. Basically, these people are supporting an expensive hobby with a sideline business certifying the ability of certain twenty-year olds to write in complete sentences.” – Megan McArdle
I think McArdle can be very sensible. This is one of her worst comments. I’ve tackled it indirectly before (Margaret Levine, “A Man I Knew”) – try to talk about the higher things in life with utility as the sole criterion, and you’ve described everything except life and what’s important.
Now it really, really needs to be dismantled. We’re obsessed with sports, finance, guns, class warfare, ideological purity. This is a pretty crappy environment right now: it’s hard to be thoughtful in any way. Last I checked, we Americans can be a lot better than this. What’s all this wealth and power for if we can’t think, or be even remotely just?
So let’s tear this quote apart:
1. “in many liberal arts fields, the only possible consumer of the research in question is a handful of scholars in the same field. That sort of research is valuable in the same way that children’s craft projects are priceless–to their mothers.”
I actually worry about this. That’s why I’ve been writing for a number of years: to be publicly accountable for what I’m working on. That does not mean McArdle is correct in any significant way. Some liberal arts fields are about engaging and preserving a past we would otherwise completely ignore. Some are about different modes of expression, whether we’re talking about foreign languages or film or music. Yes, it’s true debates occur among scholars that don’t seem to have immediate relevance. But just because real information is framed a certain way doesn’t make it useless. And again, utility is not the only criterion involved, not by a long shot.
To take one example: there is a big debate over what Machiavelli really means. The New Historicists, i.e. Skinner, Pocock, see him pretty much as a revival of Aristotle. Classical republicanism and its attendant notions of virtue are being revived for the Renaissance. In this line of thinking – see the last chapter of Pocock’s “The Machiavellian Moment” – there is no serious modification of republican thought occurring over the centuries. Maybe even the American republic is somewhat Aristotlean and the only real break with the past involves an explicit notion of moral progress (i.e. Hegel). Others hold that maybe Machiavelli himself is breaking with Aristotle; his emphasis on some rather dark themes attacks any foundation for virtue (see “An Introduction to Machiavelli’s Prince”).
Yes, one can half-read what I wrote and say the debate is nonsense. Or you can actually read it and a question will stick in your mind, as it should: To what degree are morality and politics reconcilable or not? To say this is an important question is to understate the obvious a thousandfold. “Utility” doesn’t even begin to account for the fact that what one person finds useful can literally bind others. The academic debate, before it even gets into matters of “who’s right,” outlines a deep problem with what we consider freedom, what the basis of government is.
What the research does is several things – we find the contours of the debate, what can and can’t be discussed. We find more, obviously, about Machiavelli and his time and how the past for them was recovered. We find a lot about ourselves as people dealing with problems that have existed for centuries. Of course, the debate between scholars is framed in such a way that it has less to do with the “right” reading of history and more to do with scholars’ own biases. I don’t think that’s the worst thing in the world. There are fields where educated opinions are far, far more important than what is immediately certain. The opinions, strangely enough, lead to a respect for the facts and other opinions, an understanding of how a debate works at a higher level.
Does that mean I think academics are super rational and should always be listened to and paid six figures routinely? Not at all. McArdle’s article calls for an end to tenure; the truth is, we need a lot more professors fast if students are to be given their money’s worth. It just means that the classroom and the research which sustains it have a purpose, that our academic institutions matter. They certainly need reform, but that reform is never going to lend credence to “my uncle knows a ton and he didn’t go to school” and “why are you wasting time reading?” Scholarship in the liberal arts will be irrelevant in a number of years. That’s fine. The focus and attention scholars give now is important for the discoveries that are made and for the students who can see, for just a brief moment, something other than American Idol and school shootings. The research says a lot about what we as a society value. Take it away entirely and we do live in a poorer world.
2. “Basically, these people are supporting an expensive hobby with a sideline business certifying the ability of certain twenty-year olds to write in complete sentences.”
Some fields are nonsense work and little more than ideological vehicles. I’ve seen this from the Right and the Left. But here’s the thing: is the nonsense work because of the liberal arts, or because activists were able to push that the liberal arts should be useful?
What I need clarity on: “hobby.” Is punditry useful? Last I checked, it involves making a heck of a lot of useless predictions and talking to a bunch of people who make up their opinions on topics on the spot in a desperate bid to stay relevant. I’m not saying I don’t get a use out of punditry, especially not good punditry that explains complicated issues and breaks them down so they can more easily be processed.
In previous ages, the liberal arts were how things like “jury trials” and “property rights” (i.e. Montesquieu, Locke) and “science” (i.e. Francis Bacon, Descartes) gained importance and transformed the world. That’s a pretty impressive “hobby,” if we want to call it that. The use in our age, strangely enough, I think is best intuited by Left-liberals who have more affinity for Marx than me. They go right at how materialistic we are and how fast we’ll dumb ourselves down if left to speak the language of business fads (cf. Mark Slouka’s “Dehumanized”).
So no, I don’t think training people to write is just that, the literal skill. This is an Enlightenment Republic. Teaching communication is getting you ready for civic participation. It is striking nowadays that many on the Left see this very clearly. Those of us who see it on the Right almost always have to deal with the “what do you do that is useful?” argument, said with such an edge that you know no one cares to listen, only argue (I am very grateful for my readership. I understand full well I’m not Breitbart or Drudge).
Good writing comes from reading and listening well. Yes, it is true: only a few students will realize what’s going on and why it’s important and diligently work. I know that and you know that. But it’s those few who make the whole world work sometimes. It’s those few who can articulate what’s right.
No one’s saying teachers of the liberal arts are secular saints. All that’s being said is that if you care for ideas, the liberal arts matter, especially if you think of society as democratic. Utility is important, but we sink enormous resources into science and technology. No one grudges that. Everyone acts as if gutting a reading class would make students better on the SAT Math section. It’s really scary when writers who can see the need for serious academic reform decide to attack the field as a whole. We do need academic reform – there are many parts of university life that are hopelessly corrupt. But that comes from valuing the people who are trying to learn the material, not saying what they do is worthless because there is no market for it. There’s no market for justice or freedom, either. |
Now that Donald Trump has been sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, the American and international press are gearing up for four years of presidential coverage — and the clashes have already begun.
Earlier this week, Trump announced that the White House press briefing room will remain in the West Wing, after it was reported that his team was considering relocating it.
That news came as a relief to the White House Correspondents' Association. But in his first press conference as President-elect on Jan. 11, Trump showed no interest in playing by the media's rules.
US President-elect Donald Trump answers journalists questions during a press conference on January 11, 2017 in New York. (DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images)
Over the course of that conference, Trump called BuzzFeed a "failing pile of garbage" and declared CNN "fake news", while evading questions about his relationship with Russia and even bringing stacks of documents onstage as a prop.
To the many Russian journalists who were watching the whole thing unfold on Twitter, Trump's bombastic style was not unfamiliar.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has a notoriously tight grip on his country's media. Each December, he holds an annual marathon press conference that's televised live on all Russian TV channels.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual press conference in Moscow on December 23, 2016. (NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP/Getty Images)
Russian journalist Alexey Kovalev has been reporting on the Russian president for years. "When you've covered Russian politics for long enough, you see that there are patterns," he says.
Kovalev says he's learned a number of lessons covering Putin that could come in handy for the journalists gearing up to cover President Trump.
Here are his top three:
Journalists don't get to make the rules any more.
"When you go to a press conference by any leader, you're always on the losing side, really. Because it's the leader who sets the rules.
One of the ways Putin is such an expert at entirely controlling the agenda is by filling the room with loyalists who will cheer and applaud after his answers, and will throw softball questions at him that don't have anything to do with his office.
You're always on the losing side, really. Because it's the leader who sets the rules. - Alexey Kovalev
They'll ask him things like, 'how do you feel today, Mr. President?' or 'Do you have a special person in your heart?' These are the things that really fill the headlines when you look at the coverage. It doesn't really pay off."
US President-elect Donald Trump answers journalists questions during a press conference on January 11, 2017 in New York. (Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images)
Don't mistake spectacle for substance.
"I can see that my American colleagues tend to obsess over each and every [one of] Trump's outrageous tweets. But that's keeping you from following what's really important.
Those who didn't vote for Trump, they already know all the negative things that we have reported. So we are, in a way, preaching to the choir. But his constituency certainly won't care. But they probably will need to know how a Trump presidency will affect them personally.
So concentrate on the important stuff; not all the chaff that's being thrown out."
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual press conference in Moscow on December 23, 2016. (NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP/Getty Images)
Welcome to the post-fact era.
"One thing that is the mainstay of Putin's press conferences is that the facts don't really matter.
It's not that he admits a lie; no, it's he who decides what is truth and what is a lie today. And tomorrow it's going to be different. It's one of his ways of setting the rules of the game and changing them.
"It's not that he admits a lie; no, it's he who decides what is truth and what is a lie today." - Alexey Kovalev
So get used to that; and try to stick to simple 'yes-or-no' questions, because if you don't do that, he'll launch a long tirade full of nonsensical factoids that you won't be able to fact-check as you're doing. And after the press conference, it won't matter.
What really matters is what he doesn't say in public. Because really important things in politics tend to be away from the public eyes."
Watch Donald Trump's first press conference as President-Elect on January 11, 2017: |
Early next month something remarkable is going to take place. Something that no one would have envisioned 28 years ago: Jerral Wayne Jones will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Click here to pick up the 2017 Cowboys Blitz Post NFL Draft Guide today!
There are few who would put up a fight over Jones’ induction today, given his team’s successes, and his invaluable contributions to the NFL’s rise as the preeminent professional sports league in America. But when Jones first purchased the team in 1989, fans and analysts often ripped him as a backwoods hick without savvy or tact. Three Super Bowls, two teams in Los Angeles, and countless amounts of revenue later, Jerry Jones’ contributions to the NFL are undeniable.
Over the last nine months I’ve been working on a radio documentary of sorts that chronicles the team’s rise to power in the 90s. I’ve gotten the opportunity to speak with coaches, players, and analysts for the project, and along the way I asked many of them about Jones’ legacy.
(Click here to listen to today’s CowboysCast with the interviews on this very topic)
While the on-field triumphs during the Jones era are evident, it’s things that often go unnoticed by the public that stick out to those who have followed his career.
“[When Jerry first purchased the Cowboys] no one worked out at Valley Ranch in the offseason,” former head coach Dave Campo recalls. “Jerry was willing to pay all of [the staff] to stay here. So he realized the importance of the game, and he loves the game, and he loves the Dallas Cowboys.”
Campo views Jones as the embodiment of the league’s ultimate purpose: to entertain.
“The game of football, and the NFL, is entertainment. If it wasn’t entertainment, nobody would be watching. And he’s an entertainer. Not only is he a great businessman, but he is larger than life in a lot of ways.”
While fans perhaps understand the overarching impact Jones has on the Cowboys organization, the scope of his work reaches far beyond the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex.
“He helped reinvent the game as we know it,” says Mike Fisher of 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. “In areas of finance, there’s no question that Jerry was avant-garde when it came to how the NFL handles its money.
“I’ll never forget, it was my first spring here in 1990, and I’m in Jerry’s office. And Jerry goes ‘watch this’ and he calls the Cincinnati Bengals. And the phone went to an answering machine, because it was 1990 and the offseason. And I realized later where we were going here: [Jerry thought] if [an NFL team] doesn’t want to market themselves, sell themselves, make money, and work in March, April, and May, then that’s their business. But that shouldn’t stop the Cowboys from doing so.”
Rick Gosselin, who has covered the Cowboys for 27 of the 28 years that Jerry Jones has owned the team, says Jones is still driven by winning more than anything else.
“I don’t think [criticism] bugs him at all. I think he’s a guy that, ‘if I win it, I don’t care what you think.’
“Jerry is the most thick-skinned sporting person I’ve ever dealt with. He doesn’t care what you write about him, just spell ‘Cowboys’ right in the headline.”
Love him or hate him, there is no one with the résumé of Jerry Jones. And that résumé has now rightfully earned him a spot in professional football’s most exclusive club.
Congratulations, Mr. Jones.
NOTE: To hear the remarks included in this article, you can click HERE for today’s edition of CowboysCast. |
Turkish TV presenter Gözde Kansu (pictured) has been dismissed after a spokesman for the ruling Justice and Development Party criticised her for wearing a low-cut top on television, saying he found her outfit “unacceptable”.
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A Turkish TV presenter has been dismissed after coming under fire from a spokesman for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) for wearing a low-cut top, which he called "unacceptable".
AKP spokesperson Hüseyin Çelik criticised the presenter’s costume during the “Veliaht” TV program without naming her, but saying he found the outfit “extreme” because it revealed cleavage.
“We don’t intervene against anyone, but this is too much. It is unacceptable,” he said.
Following Çelik’s remarks, it was revealed that the host in question was Gözde Kansu, and rumours spread that she had been fired.
The show’s producer said Tuesday that Kansu might not take part in the program next week "due to her busy schedule".
Kansu’s dismissal was later confirmed.
Çelik said it was his fundamental right to express his opinion as an individual, TV viewer and politician.
“I never named a show or a person,” he wrote on his Twitter account. “It was the media who alleged the names."
Click here to read more on Hürriyet Daily News. |
(Image: Dreamstime)
The U.N. gives a platform to many NGOs that actively encourage violence against Jews and the destruction of Israel.
The United Nations was founded as a global pact among states, but over the decades in the name of transparency and to further the aim of globalization, it has opened its doors to more than 6,150 non-governmental organizations (NGOs). While governments wring their hands over incitement to terror and dangerous uses of social media, they ignore the alarming focal point within arms’ reach: the United Nations. An examination of U.N. NGOs reveals that the U.N. has handed a global megaphone to groups spreading hatred and inciting terror from the world stage. In short, the so-called representatives of “civil society” aren’t so civil after all.
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In theory, the U.N. has processes for accreditation that share a common requirement: respect for the purposes and principles of the organization. In order to qualify for accreditation, NGOs must operate in conformity with, or promote, the U.N Charter. They must affirm “faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small.”
In practice, NGOs have been welcomed into the world of international diplomacy and have gained access to international media platforms while they are simultaneously betraying the core U.N mission by advocating terror and intolerance.
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Most striking for an organization founded on the ashes of the Holocaust, the U.N. has accredited NGOs that play a central role in promoting modern anti-Semitism and encouraging the destruction of the Jewish state.
The benefits of U.N. accreditation for NGOs are tangible and significant: the ability to sponsor speakers, mount exhibits, and screen films in the same U.N. facilities that house an international press corps; the right to speak at U.N. meetings and have their words translated and broadcast via U.N. webcasts worldwide; the capacity to publish written statements and have them disseminated by the U.N.; the opportunity to attend negotiating sessions and to influence the world’s diplomats. U.N. websites even link directly to selected NGO websites, greatly enhancing their traffic and messaging.
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Scattered around the U.N. system are a few disclaimers of responsibility for the content of NGO events and websites. But NGO events on U.N. premises are permitted only after detailed applications and approval by U.N. representatives. NGO website links are selectively posted on U.N. sites by U.N. officials. And NGOs are regularly singled out for coveted speaking gigs by U.N. representatives. U.N. selection and approval procedures, from accreditation on, belie claims that U.N. officials and envoys are ignorant of the purposes and content of the NGOs they choose.
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In May 2016, many of the world’s major NGOs complained that the accreditation processes were unfair because applications were being thwarted by certain member states for fear of empowering critics of these states. And, indeed, many of the states running the U.N. accreditation processes — such as China, Cuba, Iran, Russia, and Sudan — inhibit free speech and curtail the freedom of association in their own backyards. At the same time, these nations use their powers on the U.N. NGO Committee to protect themselves in the international arena.
But the NGOs busy clamoring for more access to the U.N. are seeking the privileges without the responsibilities. They have no intention of policing themselves. On the contrary, the common mantra among NGOs is that they promote “the voices of the victims” — where victimhood is self-defined, regardless of the legitimacy of the claims. The reality is that U.N. member states are not only delaying or denying accreditation to the right NGOs; they are accrediting the wrong NGOs: the terrorist advocates, the haters, the anti-Semites.
Here is a selection of the output from U.N-accredited NGOs, their websites, their social-media accounts, their written and oral statements at the U.N. — all easily accessible online in 2016.
‐“Zionism, with its inhumane ethnic, racist principles, with its devilish schemes which generate chaos all over the world, with its dangerous plans to dominate . . . with its beastly octopus which has almost a decisive role in directing the policies of the greatest countries in the world . . . ” — the International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
‐“The main obstacle to the advancement of Zionism is the heroic daily resistance of the Palestinians, manifested in the recent ‘youth intifada.’ . . . Zionism instrumentalizes the memory of the Holocaust as a tool to legitimize war crimes. . . . We must expose the fallacy of partition and the two-state solution.” — Alternatives, Action, and Communication Network for International Development
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‐“Never forget or forgive! We will fight until total liberation of #Palestine from the River to the Sea! #Nakba67” — Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
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#*“I saw how the settlements are spreading everywhere like spores inhabited by pervert vagabonds who came from everywhere around the world to occupy this land.” — Arab Commission for Human Rights
‐The most important feeling is when you feel your soul and the souls of the people you love are so cheap, and your suffering and your blood so cheap, and there is only one blood and soul that is holy, which is Israeli Jews, you just lose your mind.” — United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine (UNISPAL) entry on the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
‐“This year uncovered, for the first time, the practice of extracting human organs from killed Palestinians whose bodies were in the hands of Israeli forces and the sale of these organs.” — The International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
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‐“Zionist ideology is the driving force behind the ongoing Palestinian reality of apartheid.” — BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights
‐“To boost Israeli arms sales, Palestinian families have suffered three onslaughts of ‘systematic genocide’ wars in six years.” — Third World Network
The use and abuse of the United Nations to broadcast and support modern anti-Semitism and its lethal consequences is part of a burgeoning global network of incitement to violent extremism. The democratic states that control U.N. purse strings have the power and the duty to stop it. |
"As of now, string theorists have no explanation of why there are three large dimensions as well as time, and the other dimensions are microscopic. Proposals about that have been all over the map." -Edward Witten
Earlier this month, a conference was held devoted to the question of whether untestable scientific ideas like string theory and the multiverse are actually science or not. While many opinions were stated and no one changed their mind, the answer is apparent: unless you're willing to change the definition of science to include 'this thing that isn't science,' then no, string theory is not science.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons user Lunch, of a 2-D projection of a Calabi-Yau manifold, one popular method of compactifying the extra, unwanted dimensions of String Theory.
It's a theory in the sense of a mathematical theory — like set theory, group theory or number theory — but it isn't yet a scientific theory. Of course, it could become science, but that would require that it actually do the things a scientific theory does: make testable predictions that can be validated or falsified.
Image credit: public domain work by Wikimedia Commons user Rogilbert.
That'll be a day we all greet with great joy. But until then, here's why string theory is not science. |
Suicides of recruiter, wife shine light on post-war struggle A victim of the war within
Suicides of Houston Army recruiter and his wife leave questions of struggle that endured after Iraq
Nils Aron Andersson married Cassy Walton on March 5, 2007. Walton killed herself the day after her husband's suicide. Nils Aron Andersson married Cassy Walton on March 5, 2007. Walton killed herself the day after her husband's suicide. Photo: COURTESY OF CINDY WALTON Photo: COURTESY OF CINDY WALTON Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Suicides of recruiter, wife shine light on post-war struggle 1 / 5 Back to Gallery
Army recruiter Nils Aron Andersson sat behind the wheel of his brand-new Ford F-150, firing round after round into the truck's CD player and radio with a .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol. Spent cartridges littered the seats and floorboards, along with a paper pharmacy bag holding a prescription for the antidepressant Lexapro.
Andersson's wife, Cassy Walton, had been trying to reach the 25-year-old sergeant on his cell phone for hours. He finally picked up about 2 a.m. and told her he wanted to kill himself.
Walton begged him to keep talking to her. Andersson told her he was on the top floor of a downtown Houston parking garage and ended the call. Then he put the pistol to his head, just above his right ear.
Minutes later, Walton raced up the stairs of the garage to find her husband of less than 24 hours slumped on the driver's side of his truck, bleeding from a single bullet wound to his right temple.
Sobbing, she unlocked the truck with her own key, climbed onto his lap, and started CPR.
"Why did you do this?" she screamed.
When Andersson killed himself on March 6, 2007, he became one of at least 16 Army recruiters to commit suicide nationwide since 2000. Five of those suicides occurred in Texas, including three at the Houston Recruiting Battalion, where Andersson worked after serving two tours of duty in Iraq.
Roughly one in five U.S. troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan reports symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression, but only slightly more than half have sought treatment, according to a recently published Rand Corp. study. Of those who did seek care, only about half received minimally adequate treatment, the study found.
Amid increasing concerns about failure to screen, diagnose and treat soldiers with mental health problems adequately, Andersson's story raises questions about the pressures faced by the growing number of veterans who return from multiple combat deployments to high-stress recruiting assignments back home.
Leaving for Iraq
A quiet, skinny kid who loved to fish, hunt and ride ATVs along the Oregon coast, where he was born, Andersson — who preferred his middle name Aron — joined the Army's 82nd Airborne Division in 2002, three years after graduating high school.
In 2003, he left to fight in the initial U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. It was the first time he'd been abroad in his life.
"I probably prayed more in the first six months than I had in a long while," said his father, Bob Andersson, 53, who works for the city parks department in Eugene, Ore. "Every time the phone rings, you panic. I'm not kidding you there; for months, I'd come home and I'd stop at the end of the street and go, 'God, I hope there's not a car with military plates in front of my house.' "
Andersson earned a Bronze Star with valor for saving the lives of two other soldiers during a firefight. But when he came home, the soldier avoided his family's questions about the war.
Relieved to have him back, they didn't press him.
"When I asked him how he'd earned his Bronze Star, he just said, 'Doing my job, Dad,' " Bob Andersson said.
The father remembers looking at photographs taken during his son's service in Iraq and feeling helpless to understand what the young man had been through.
"You can't imagine what was going on," he said. "You can see the pictures, but you still weren't there to smell it, or feel the heat, or see the cars burning or what was left of someone after a bomb went off."
The only thing the father knew for sure was that his son had changed. He was more frustrated, less patient and harder to talk to.
"Did he come back different? Yeah," Bob Andersson said. "I don't think there's anybody who goes over there and fights on the front lines who ever comes back the same."
The soldier once told his father about working a barricade in Iraq when a white van barreled toward U.S. troops, ignoring warning shots and orders to stop.
"It was definitely a suicide mission, and he said this van full of people came in and they had to, quote, 'light it up,' " Bob Andersson said. "And he said there were children in there and everything. I could tell that really, really, bothered him."
Life as a recruiter
When Andersson transferred to the Houston Recruiting Battalion, his father hoped that he would be able to put the past behind him. Instead, he became more depressed.
"He had a heart of gold and that, I think, is what killed him. Because he got into something so outrageously different than his basic makeup, and he just couldn't get over it."
As a recruiter stationed in River Oaks and Rosenberg, Andersson often worked six days a week, routinely got home after 11 p.m., and would sometimes weep from despair and exhaustion, said his ex-girlfriend Marsha Maxey, a mortgage banker who dated the soldier before he met Cassy Walton.
Maxey met Andersson in August 2005 at an Irish pub in Columbia, S.C., where he was attending recruiter school at Fort Jackson.
"He was a good-looking man — tall, blue eyes, blond hair, smart, funny and kind. A sensitive guy and a man in uniform, that whole thing," Maxey said. "He swept me off my feet."
Their 14-year age difference was never a problem, said Maxey, who is 40. "It worked out very well because he was an old soul," she said. "He'd seen a lot of things for his young age."
Two months into a whirlwind romance, she moved to Texas to be with him when Andersson began his new job with the Houston Recruiting Battalion.
"It was instantly an incredibly stressful job," Maxey said. "From the beginning since I met him, he cried very easily and I thought, 'Oh, he's just sensitive,' but then it got worse."
Occasionally, Andersson talked to Maxey about his time in Iraq. The details slipped out in bits and pieces — like a story about surviving a deadly helicopter crash, or carrying a wounded buddy to safety after his unit was ambushed.
"He told me he kicked down over 1,000 doors," Maxey said. "He was the lead guy, the first one to go in, and most of the time it was the wrong place. There would be terrified old people and little kids sitting there."
Andersson suffered from dramatic mood swings. He got nervous in big crowds and would wake up in the middle of the night "just screaming," Maxey said.
Andersson also developed a low self-esteem and an extreme fear of abandonment, she said. A few months before he committed suicide, he sent Maxey a text message saying he was "going to get rid of himself because he was a monster like Saddam," she recalled.
"He would just get so distraught over his job and the things he'd seen," Maxey said. "It was more than he could take."
Mounting pressure
Making matters worse, Andersson felt uncomfortable in the role of salesman for the Army. He was painfully honest with prospective recruits, even if his candor turned them off, she said.
"He was morally opposed to putting more young men into that situation, where they could be injured or killed or see the things he'd seen," Maxey said.
His superiors repeatedly criticized him for failing to meet his goal of signing two new recruits a month and assigned him five-page essays or extra duty as punishment, she said. In February 2006, he was passed up for promotion to staff sergeant.
"It wasn't that he was lazy or not working. It's just that he was not getting recruits and being punished for it, constantly," she said. "It was just not the job for him."
Andersson was proud to be a soldier, but he wasn't cut out for recruiting, said his friend Chris Rodriguez.
Long hours, few days off and mounting pressure to deliver fresh volunteers made life "truly awful," Rodriguez said in a series of e-mails and a telephone interview with the Houston Chronicle from Anbar Province in Iraq, where he was serving a tour of duty at the time of Andersson's death.
''In the recruiting station I was at, a good third of the people went on antidepressants while working there," said Rodriguez, who met Andersson in Texas while assigned to the Houston Recruiting Battalion. "You could come to work as motivated as you wanted, but as soon as you passed the threshold of the doorway, it'd suck the life away from you. Looking around, you'd see miserable people."
If recruiters failed to sign up enough prospects, their commanders told them they were failures, Rodriguez said. "They tell you, 'That's why your buddy in Iraq doesn't have a full battalion, because you're letting him down,' "he said.
The stress took its toll. Back in Iraq, Rodriguez had nightmares about his time recruiting in Houston.
"The pressure recruiting puts on you wears you down so badly," he said. "We often said that we'd rather be in Iraq than recruiting. It's true."
Threats of suicide
By October 2006, Andersson's problems had become too serious to ignore.
When he put a gun in his mouth during an argument with Maxey, she called Andersson's father, who contacted the Army.
When he heard what his father had done, Andersson was furious.
"He said, 'Thanks for ruining my career, Dad,' " his father said. "And I said, 'Well, I'm sorry about that, Aron.' And he goes, 'Why did you do it?' I just told him, 'You know, if something happened to you and I could've done anything at all to prevent it and I didn't, I could never live with myself. Because the only thing I'm sure of in this world is the father's supposed to die before the children.' "
The next day, an officer took Andersson to Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, where he underwent three days of tests and counseling. A psychiatrist determined he was "clinically depressed but no immediate danger to himself," Army records show.
"The psychiatrist told him he had depression and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and said he would send him a referral for a psychiatrist and therapist in Houston, but he never did," Maxey said. "Aron never received any follow-up."
Medical records from Brooke Army Medical Center show that Andersson was prescribed medication for depression and anxiety after doctors evaluated him for potential self-harm on Oct. 23, 2006. Records also show at least two subsequent appointments were canceled by the facility and one by Andersson.
Meanwhile, Andersson's commanders at the Houston Recruiting Battalion directed his station in Rosenberg to keep an eye on him and ordered his weapons to be taken away.
But Andersson managed to keep the .22-caliber pistol he'd used to threaten suicide.
His parents say their son's commanders and doctors should have monitored him more closely to ensure he was getting the help he needed.
"Obviously, they did not take it seriously enough," said Andersson's mother, Charlotte Porter. "He needed to have a break period. He needed to be removed from his position and get treatment."
As a soldier who served his country honorably, Andersson deserved the best possible care, regardless of whether his wounds were physical or mental, his father said.
"I don't think Aron let the Army down, I think the Army let him down," he said. "I think that the care wasn't there that he really needed."
A new relationship
By December 2006, Andersson still hadn't started regular therapy.
As his relationship with Maxey fell apart, he met Cassy Walton, a vivacious investment banker who also struggled with severe depression. He eventually would leave the Texas Avenue apartment he shared with Maxey at Lofts at the Ballpark to move into Walton's loft in the old Rice Hotel building, a dozen blocks away.
The day before New Year's Eve, Andersson threatened suicide again, this time in front of Walton.
In January, Walton sent an e-mail addressed to Andersson and a handful of other people, announcing she planned to kill herself.
Neither went through with their threats, but their deadly brinksmanship worried those around them.
"It's amazing that two people so volatile could get together like that," Maxey said. "I don't know if they were trying to rescue each other, to keep each other from committing suicide, but it turned out to be the worst combination. They both needed help so badly."
Walton had bipolar disorder, commonly known as manic depression, said her sister, Cindy Walton.
It was a condition she shared with their mother, who killed herself in October 2003 by setting her car on fire.
"Cassy was never the same after that," her sister said. "She was a real mama's girl."
A short, tragic marriage
It wasn't until the day the couple married, March 5, 2007, that Andersson finally had an appointment with a psychiatrist in Houston.
Afterward, Andersson sent his friend Chris Rodriguez an online message: "I went to the wizard today, she told me that I need to get out of the army and my job sucks. I could have told her that ... but anyhow. I will be alright."
He told Rodriguez he'd replaced his old Jeep Wrangler with a Ford F-150, but he never mentioned he'd married Cassy Walton in a brief civil ceremony at 8:30 that morning. Andersson didn't tell his parents or younger brother, John, either.
The newlyweds had agreed to meet up after work, but Andersson came home around 8:45 p.m. to an empty apartment. His bride was celebrating their marriage with friends at Shay McElroy's Irish Pub downtown on Main.
Walton later told police Andersson "seemed to be upset because she was not paying as much attention to him as he thought she should be."
The couple argued. Andersson stormed out and drove to Maxey's apartment, where the recruiter told his ex-girlfriend he feared he'd made a big mistake.
Then Walton arrived.
"She was beating on the door like she was going to knock it down," Maxey said. "I just thought, 'This is crazy. I can't put up with this kind of stuff.' "
Maxey told Andersson she'd had enough.
"As much as I loved him, I knew I shouldn't be in that relationship," she said. He left about 1:30 a.m. but called her again on his cell phone. "He said, 'I don't know what to do, I don't know what I'm going to do.' " Andersson finally agreed to go spend the night with a friend.
Instead, he locked himself inside his new Ford pickup on the top floor of Maxey's parking garage with the same .22-caliber pistol he'd put in his mouth in October.
Less than an hour later, he was dead.
The phone call
A phone ringing at 3 a.m. jarred Bob Andersson from sleep to the news that his son had killed himself.
He wasn't surprised.
"It was really surreal," he said. "I'd been hoping and praying, of course, that it would never happen, and then when it did, there wasn't any shock. I mean, it wasn't shock, it was just your worst nightmare."
He called his son's commanders at the recruiting battalion to tell them Aron had committed suicide. A sergeant answered the phone.
"He said, 'Oh my God! Oh my God!' Then he called up a major and said, 'I've got Sgt. Andersson's dad on the phone, and he says Aron shot himself,' " Bob Andersson recalled. "And that's when I overheard the major ask him, 'How in the hell could he shoot himself? We confiscated all his guns.' "
New threats of suicide
Three hours after Houston police called Andersson's mother to report her son's suicide, the phone rang again. On the other end of the line, a woman named Cassy Walton identified herself as Andersson's wife.
Charlotte Porter, who is divorced from Andersson's father, knew Walton had been dating her son for about three months. She had no idea the couple had married less than 24 hours before her son's death.
"I knew about her and that he had moved in with her," said Porter, 51, a staffing representative with a temp agency in Eugene. "I had never met her. And I'd never talked to her before, either."
Police had found Walton sobbing and screaming as she tried to perform CPR on Andersson's body.
Now, on the phone with her mother-in-law, Walton told Porter she wanted to join him.
"I said, 'Cassy, are you alone? You can't be alone,' " Porter said.
Walton gave her a friend's phone number to call in Houston.
Porter hung up and immediately dialed the number. "You need to go to Cassy right now," she said.
Walton's friends took her to nearby St. Joseph Medical Center for psychiatric care. She still wore clothes drenched in her husband's blood when she voluntarily committed herself.
Her younger sister, Cindy Walton, was relieved to hear her sibling had been hospitalized. She worried her sister might try to hurt herself now that she'd lost both her mother and her husband to suicide.
"I understood the hospital was going to hold her for 24 hours because she had mentioned suicide," she said. About 8:30 p.m., however, Cassy Walton checked herself out and asked one of Andersson's commanders, Maj. Bruce Finklea, to drive her home.
Finklea dropped Walton off at her apartment with a friend, Amanda Powell. Later, Powell called Finklea back and asked him to return Walton to the hospital.
But Walton refused to go. Finklea called 911.
When police arrived, Walton told them she was not suicidal, just tired. Police said they saw nothing wrong with her and left.
The next morning, the Houston Recruiting Battalion's commander, Lt. Col. Troy Reeves, visited Walton at her apartment, where she also met with a casualty assistance officer. At some point, however, Walton was left alone again.
She went to a sporting goods store and bought a 9 mm handgun. Then she started drinking.
A few hours later, Walton called Andersson's younger brother, John, in Oregon. Walton said she had a gun and did not want to live. The Anderssons alerted Houston police, but as officers tried to talk to her through the door of her apartment at Post Rice Lofts, Walton pulled the trigger.
Police found her sprawled on her bed wearing Andersson's fatigue jacket and dog tags. She was pronounced dead at 7:45 p.m. March 7, 2007 — one day after Andersson killed himself, and two days after their wedding.
Mourning a soldier
During a yearlong review of the couple's suicides by the Chronicle, Army officials declined to answer questions about the circumstances of their deaths, instead referring the newspaper to documents obtained by family members and a reporter through the Freedom of Information Act.
In a written statement, Lt. Col. Reeves praised Andersson as "an outstanding fallen comrade."
Although he said privacy laws prevented him from discussing Andersson's diagnoses, treatment or death, Reeves stressed that the well-being of the battalion's soldiers is "a priority."
Whenever commanders become aware of the need for a recruiter or his family to obtain mental health treatment, they "seek recommendations from medical professionals and work diligently to implement these recommendations," Reeves wrote.
The entire battalion was hit hard by Andersson's death, he added. Fellow recruiters held a memorial in Houston, and some traveled to Oregon for his funeral. "We still feel and grieve the loss of Sgt. Andersson, a brother in arms, whose tragic death still causes us ... to ask questions to which we may never know or fully understand the answers."
Two families in grief
For Bob Andersson and others left to mourn the young couple, grief is sharpened by regret.
Months after his son's suicide, the father found himself sorting through photographs at his dining room table in Springfield, Ore., peering at the features of his older child as though he might read some message in his face — a warning, a plea for help, an explanation.
"This is the first thing I think of every morning when I wake up," he said recently. "I've cried more since Aron died than I have the 52 years behind me."
It took Walton's sister months to get over her anger toward Andersson. She had met him only once or twice before her sister suddenly announced they were getting married. She thought the soldier seemed "cold" and emotionally disconnected.
"I blamed him for a long time. I actually told his dad I wanted to burn his stuff because I thought my sister just didn't need to meet somebody with such mental problems," said Cindy Walton, who lives with her 7-year-old son, Randy, in Humble. "Now, learning about his sickness, I don't blame him. I feel bad for his family because his family's in pain."
Two months ago, the 28-year-old Realtor received a surprise care package from Andersson's mother, Charlotte Porter. The box held a snow globe inscribed in memory of her sister.
A few days later, the two women spoke on the phone for the first time and wept, Porter said. "I suffer, too, every day, and there's a bond there," she said.
Porter recently joined a support group for parents with soldiers in Iraq.
Sometimes a parent worried about a son or daughter suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or depression will ask Porter what they should do. She's not sure what to tell them.
Whenever she had asked her son how he was doing, he'd told her he was fine, that she worried too much, that he was trying to get help. She'd wanted to believe him. He was proud, and she didn't want to pry. Now she wishes she had.
"I feel bad I didn't get to know sooner what was going on," Porter said. "I just wish I had walked right into that recruiting office, grabbed him by the collar and said, 'You're not getting him back until he's straightened out.' "
lindsay.wise@chron.com |
Iceland Roadtrip
After having lived in Japan in 2010, we kept going back to Japan, to do more traveling and visiting friends. Along the way we discovered our love for nature and at the same time our passion to capture everything we see with our camera’s.
In May 2014 we celebrated our 10 year anniversary. We’ve been together for over a decade! It really is unbelievable, but certainly doesn’t feel that long. One thing is for sure; we can’t live without each other. So for our anniversary Remi decided to spoil me by not just giving some random present. He decided to give me something very special; a love trip to Iceland…
Iceland seemed to be the perfect next destination, since it’s known as a photographers paradise and we could practice and develop our filming skills. At the same time, we finally could get some well deserved rest after hard work filming weddings in the summer of 2014. Remi arranged the whole thing, little did I know what was really planned. So once we landed, we travelled to Reykjavik and picked up our car for a road trip around the island; the ‘full circle’. Back in the hotel we received our itinerary for all the days including the route to the destinations and all of the hotels. So the whole trip was actually a surprise to both of us.
Once we drove away from Reykjavik, the scenery around us changed from a small city to beautiful mountains everywhere, a perfectly smooth highway, and a beautiful sun shining in the clear blue sky. After half an hour we already stopped to look around us because there was just so much beauty around us. We had to take a moment and let it all set in… |
Customer IAM (CIAM) ~ Turning Identity Data Into Gold!
Prabath Siriwardena Blocked Unblock Follow Following Aug 20, 2017
Transforming the customer experience is at the heart of digital transformation. Digital technologies are changing the game of customer interactions, with new rules and possibilities that were unimaginable only a few years back. Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) is a whole emerging area in the IAM, which is essentially an ingredient for digital customer experience. Today’s increasingly sophisticated customers now view digital interactions as the primary mechanism for interacting with brands and, consequently, expect deeper online relationships delivered simply and seamlessly.
Further, the customers do expect some control around how firms collect, store, manage, and share their profile data. With the competition only a click away, your firm’s misuse of customer data, whether deliberate or inadvertent, can significantly damage brand equity. Yahoo! was in the middle of a series of data breaches during last couple of years, that exposed the personal information of more than 1 billion users and already have cost the company $350 million. Yahoo had to lower the sales price of its email and other digital services to Verizon Communications from $4.83 billion to $4.48 billion to account for the potential backlash from the data breaches.
The role of CIAM plays in an enterprise today, has the same weight a business API had in the industry for several years. In 2013, 90% of Expedia’s business was coming through its API. Salesforce generates almost 50% of its annual $3 billion in revenue through APIs, while at eBay, APIs contribute 60% to the annual revenue. In the same capacity how the APIs became the public face of your company, the CIAM drives the revenue growth by leveraging identity data to acquire and retain customers. It’s your new public face!. CIAM builds a layer of interactions with the customer — or in other words, CIAM drives the layer of interactions with the customer.
According to the latest Forrester report on CIAM, 67% of the Asia Pacific market, 64% of North America market and 54% Europe market have adopted CIAM.
Workforce IAM vs CIAM
Customer focused IAM systems are different from it’s traditional IAM (Workforce IAM) counterpart. The workforce IAM looks inward. It focuses on B2E (business-to-employee) and B2B (business-to-business) interactions. The goal of workforce IAM is to reduce the risk and cost associated with on-boarding and off-boarding new employees, partners and suppliers, while the purpose of customer IAM (CIAM) is to help drive revenue growth by leveraging identity data to acquire and retain customers. If CIAM processes are cumbersome, customers will go to your competition where these processes are more streamlined or easier to use. The same is not true of employees. Very few employees leave their employer because business-to-employee (B2E) IAM processes are archaic or hard to use.
On-boarding
In B2E IAM, on-boarding is the responsibility of the employer, while in B2C mostly it’s self service. In other words, for employees, its the HR department who initiates the employee on-boarding process and remains the owner of the user accounts, while for customers, it can be any of the following cases:
A person who anonymously shows interest on the products and services offered by your company. For example, this person may visit https://www.toyota.com and look for all the Corolla models under lease. This is useful information to nurture this anonymous visitor to a customer. You will have no clue who this person is, but via cookies you can track when the same person visits the site repeatedly, and personalize the site to fit to his expectations — which could possibly lead him to engage with the company.
A person who fills the contact form to do an inquiry or to consume some free services offered by the company, just by sharing the contact information. For example a user may download a product or a white-paper just by providing his/her contact information. Also it can be someone who registers for a company event by filling an online form. You will probably not call this person a customer — rather a lead. Leads are defined as people who may be interested in your product or service. The hope is they will eventually become a customer.
A person who has bought some product or service from your company — and now wants to signup to consume company’s services online. There is an account verification involved in this process, to make sure that its the same customer who bought the product or service before, now signs up online. Account verification is part of the know your customer (KYC) process. Know your customer (KYC) is the process of a business identifying and verifying the identity of its clients. The term is also used to refer to the bank and anti-money laundering regulations which governs these activities. Support for know your customer/account verification is a key part of a CIAM system, triggered during the on-boarding process.
Some time back we (WSO2) worked with a popular life insurance provider in USA. The insurance agents sell the insurance policies — and then to do the payments and claims online the customer has to register via the company’s web site. The customer registration form asks a minimal set of details like the policy number, social security number, name and the date of birth — and the user provided information will be automatically validated against the user data already recorded in the system (after the original policy being sold).
Another company we worked with, who sells medical equipment to individuals and medical institutes, let them register via the company web site to consume online services. As in the case of the previous example, the medical equipment are sold by sales agents — and all the customer data are recorded in Salesforce. When a customer decides to register online — the data entered by the customer is verified against the data already recorded in Salesforce.
Recently we worked with a company in the west coast, who’s building a virtualized data center at the enterprise level. They do follow the same model as explained in the previous example. They too maintain customer records in the Salesforce first, at the point of the sale — and then later the customer can register via the company’s online portal by providing the same information recorded before in Salesforce.
A person who signs up directly with the company through an online portal. Most of the e-commerce applications, online retailers follow this approach.
A person who signs up via a known public identity provider. This vastly reduces the initial barrier for registration — and there are multiple studies which confirm the huge success rate in user registration after integrating with known public identity providers (Facebook, Google, Microsoft Live).
In an CIAM system, most of the time on-boarding happens via an online registration form. Even in the case where you fetch user attributes required for registration via a third party identity provider, the last leg of the registration will include some sort of a form submission. The user experience of the customer on-boarding portal is among the top priorities of a CIAM system.
Security vs usability is a long lasting debate. Finding the right balance is extremely hard. One guy I met from the Google Chrome security team mentioned — they are working on for months by gathering user feedback for just changing the colors and to find the right alignment of the text, on the Chrome page displayed to the user, when it finds the public certificate of a web site is not valid.
To avoid automated form submissions and spam, many on-boarding portals use a CAPTCHA. A CAPTCHA plays a key role in customer conversion rates. People hate spam — but people hate CAPTCHA too! Over the time it’s proven that even the hardest CAPTCHAs can be solved by state of art machine learning algorithms at a better rate than humans. There are many companies who have shared their experience with CAPTCHA — and one thing in common is — after introducing CAPTCHA, the customer conversion rate has rigorously gone down. With the new reCAPTCHA from Google, a significant number of users can now attest they are human without having to solve a CAPTCHA. Instead with just a single click they’ll confirm they are not a robot. The Google reCAPTCHA takes-away most of challenges enterprises face in customer on-boarding — and provides the right balance between usability and security.
Progressive Profiling
A CIAM system provides ingredients to nurture an anonymous user to a well-known customer. Progressive profiling is the process how the system learns about a customer in a progressive manner. First, the anonymous user is just a visitor to the company web site. His/her preferences can be tracked via cookies and can promote the content that is more interesting to him/her. At one stage, the anonymous user will become a lead, by filling a contact form. Now the CIAM system has the opportunity to link all the preferences tracked against the anonymous user with the new lead. Over the time the preferences of the lead can be tracked in a much meaningful way — and the company’s marketing/sales team can work in a collaborative manner to make him/her a customer. At this point you collect the most reliable data about the customer — with proper verification. Then again from there onwards, the CIAM system will keep tracking customer preferences — and will produce more meaningful data to the company management to make much informed decisions. Once the customer decides to sign up with credentials (may be to use company’s online portal), the CIAM system has the opportunity to track and relate all the user interactions together to build one unified user profile.
There is an interesting story behind GMail. Google’s top revenue even today comes from online advertising. They used to track search patterns of the users via cookies. That didn’t help Google to identify who the exact user is. If the same user uses different devices or browsers — cookie based tracking is not very effective. GMail made users to log into the browser. Once the user logs in, Google can easily map all the search patterns and other behavioral patterns to a real user — and make the target marketing very productive.
Authentication
Authentication in an CIAM system differs in many ways from a traditional IAM (workforce IAM) system. Let’s walk through the differences and the similarities.
Social login is a key success factor in CIAM. A good CIAM system should support login with multiple social identity providers. 88% US customers claim to have logged into a web site or a mobile application using social login. Workforce IAM systems do not encourage social login — it’s treated as a high risk factor as the enterprise has no control over how the user credentials are stored and managed at a 3rd party identity provider. The same risk factor does not move away — just by calling it the CIAM. But, then again, it’s a compromise between the convenience and security. Also, it depends on which vertical we are talking about. None of the financial institutes even worry about integrating social login.
Strong authentication is encouraged both in CIAM and workforce IAM. Workforce IAM systems rely on hardware tokens for MFA (multi-factor authentication), while at a large scale CIAM systems use soft tokens like, OTP over SMS/Email or TOTP (Google Authenticator). Both Google and LinkedIn use FIDO U2F internally for employee authentication. FIDO U2F is on its way to be the de facto standard for multi-factor authentication. Yubico is one of the top vendors who builds FIDO U2F compliant security keys. Even though FIDO is not mainstream in the CIAM market yet, with the support from Google and Facebook it shows some promise to be in the mass market.
41% of the US customers are interested in password-less authentication. Almost all the consumer mobile applications produced by vendors in financial, retail, airline domains — have added the support to login with touch ID.
Risk-based authentication. Risk-based authentication is a non-static authentication system which takes into account the profile of the agent requesting access to the system to determine the risk profile associated with that transaction. The risk profile is then used to determine the complexity of the challenge. Based on the rick factors, the system will decide whether to use SMS OTP — or use knowledge based authentication (KBA). To determine the risk of the transaction — the authenticate system may use a risk engine, which takes into the consideration, the geographical location where the transaction is initiated from, the frequency, the value of the transaction and many other things.
Workforce IAM systems use more strict account locking policies — than the CIAM systems, in case of n number of failed login attempts. CIAM systems may use a CAPTCHA or an auto unlock after some time. Workforce IAM systems probably need the IAM administrators help to unlock an account.
Single Sign On (SSO) is a must in a CIAM system, when you have multiple portals to perform business functions. For example if you are PG&E (The Pacific Gas and Electric Company) customer, you might have noticed that, when you want to view the current electricity/gas usage, you are redirected to opower.com from the pge.com — but still you will retain the same login session. Also, if you are a publisher with multiple news publications, you will let your customers browse between them with a single login session.
Self-service Portal
The audience of the self-service portal in a CIAM system is the customer. It is the one-stop shop for a customer to view/update his/her profile, manage consents given to third party applications, reset password, manage credentials, manage preferences, configure account recovery options, view concurrent login sessions, view activity logs, request for a data export, associate social login, etc. Security and compliance are two important aspects in CIAM. If you have gone through GDPR, you might have already noticed that some of the self-service portal functions listed above are driven by it.
The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the regulation 2016/679 of the European parliament and of the council, which replaces the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC and was designed to harmonize data privacy laws across Europe, to protect and empower all EU citizens (and residents) data privacy and to reshape the way organizations across the region approach data privacy.
CxO Dashboard
One of the key objectives of CIAM is to drive the revenue growth by leveraging identity data to acquire and retain customers. The audience of the CxO dashboard is the corporate executives, who are keen on tracking the revenue growth from multiple angles. The CxO dashboard, which talks to multiple data sources, will focus on building insights around: the growth of customers/leads over time, the growth of the customer/lead base over time, active customers/leads over time, customers/leads by geography, the conversion rate over time from leads to customers, the frequently used business functions by customers/leads, the conversion rate over time from existing customers to online customers, inactive customers/leads by age (inactivity) by region, and customers/leads access patterns by the channel (web/mobile).
Security, Compliance & Fraud Detection
Any CIAM system should take security as it’s top most priority. Any kind of a security breach at this layer — would have a direct impact on company’s revenue — and of course the reputation. As the organizations grow — more and more customer identity data are collected to make more personalized, context-based decisions. These can be personally identifiable information or just contextual information. Whatever it is the organizations are bound to follow rules and regulations enforced by governments and different industrial bodies.
In the USA we have the federal level legislation such as SOX(Sarbanes-Oxley Act) and GLBA(Gramm-Leach Bliley Act) focused on the financial sector, FERPA(Family Education Rights and Privacy Act) in the education sector and HIPAA((Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) in healthcare. The GDPR(General Data Protection Regulation) in Europe, intends to strengthen and unify data protection for individuals within the European Union (EU). It also addresses the export of personal data outside the EU. The primary objectives of the GDPR are to give EU residents back control of their personal data and to simplify the regulatory environment for international business by unifying the regulation within the EU. Then in Singapore PDPA (Personal Data Protection Act) stipulates that consent must be obtained before personal data is collected. The Privacy Act in Australia regulates how personal information is handled.
With the rise of the online frauds by 40% in the last year, in US alone, fraud detection has become an integral part of a CIAM infrastructure. A CIAM system can contribute to fraud detection in two ways: feed the fraud detection engine with security related events and listen and enforce the feedback from it. For example, your login patterns, access patterns, all will be fed into the fraud detection engine and then based on the anomaly detection algorithms/rules you define, the system has to respond to fraud events, possibly by blocking the transactions, locking the customer accounts, generating alerts to the responsible parties. For example, if you login to your account from USA first and then within one hour from China, that’s possibly a fraud event with a high fraud score. If you used to access the online services, 90% of the time between 9 PM to 11 PM GMT, and now if someone accesses the system between 2 AM to 3 AM, then it too could be a fraud event with a medium fraud score.
Some CIAM systems do assign a trust level to each account at the point of on-boarding. This score is based on past behavior and takes phone number intelligence, AI-based traffic pattern analysis, and data from global information services into account. This helps the business to make policy decisions about how to treat such identities.
Omnichannel Access
When you subscribe to Newsweek magazine, you pick the type of subscription, either the print or digital — or the both. The digital subscription is available through web, iPhone or iPad. In an omnichannel environment, the customers interact with the business via multiple channels, but will still get a seamless — continuous user experience. For example, if you use the Newsweek iPhone app to highlight some content, once you view the same from the web, you should find it still highlighted. Amazon took the retail order placing system to the next level with Alexa. An Amazon customer can place an order via its web site, mobile app, kindle in addition to Alexa. Never forget — Amazon has brick & mortar stores too. When Jeff Bezos announced Amazon Books (brick & mortar store), a couple of years back, his intention was to bring the same digital experience to the real world. You will be able to see the book reviews, ratings and many other digital world only features in Amazon Books.
When I visited US for the first time in 2008, I looked for an Amazon store near Mountain View, California — and disappointed with the response I got from the hotel front desk. It’s fascinating that almost after 7 years from then, Jeff Bezos realized the need :-). Now I moved to US permanently 3 years back and living closer to Mountain View, and waiting eagerly to see the Amazon Books in Santana Row, San Jose gets opened — it’s in fact just few miles from where I live.
One cannot stop talking about Amazon repetitively when talking about the innovation happening in the retail sector. The Amazon Go convenience store in Seattle uses sensors to track items as shoppers put them into baskets or return them to the shelf. The shopper’s Amazon account gets automatically charged. This is even a much better experience than shopping via it’s online counter part. The wifi-connected Amazon Dash button provides a store-less experience to Amazon customers. Just by one click, you place your order — and delivered to your home.
The bottom line here is, the companies in many verticals (not just retail), are looking to deliver a better, seamless customer experience through multiple channels. The role of a CIAM infrastructure in an omnichannel environment, varies from authenticating the customer through multiple channels to managing the customer preferences through multiple channels to build a unified customer profile.
Help Desk & Delegated Administration
Help desk and delegated administration is another key aspect in a CIAM infrastructure. Help desk administrators should have access to some customer data to validate that the person who is calling is the actual owner of the account he/she queries about. This is one of the ‘strongest’ weakest links in the entire system, and being exploited many times to hack into other people’s accounts. In August 2012, Mat Honan — a reporter for the Wired magazine, San Francisco, went through a brutal experience where all his iPhone, Mac Book and the backups on iCloud were wiped out by hackers and also lost the control of his GMail and Twitter accounts. All these started with a simple social engineering hack executed against the Amazon help desk. The hackers were able to figure out last four digits of Honan’s credit card by talking to the Amazon help desk, then with that and Honan’s billing address (which was readily available under the whois internet domain record Honan had for his personal website), the hackers were able to call Apple help desk to reset his iCloud password.
In general, most of the help desk operations worry about verifying some static data about the customer. For example, mother’s maiden name, birthdate, last four digits of the social security number, billing postal code likewise. None of these data are hard to find, if someone is little desperate. What would be the best way to identify a customer who is calling to the help desk? This is where the progressive profiling comes in handy. Let’s say it’s a bank — you can ask about which restaurant the customer was visiting mostly during last month, what is his/her favorite grocery store, when did he pay the last credit card bill, likewise. Also, some do verify that the caller is the true owner of the account by sending a code to the registered phone or the email address. None of these questions are strong individually — it has to be a collection of them.
Identity verification is only one part of the help desk administration. The CIAM infrastructure should allow granular access to the relevant personal and transactional data, possibly via an API to the help desk operations. Apart from the authentication, the API should audit all the queries done by the help desk administrator — and any query from a help desk administrator should be able to mapped into a help desk request from a customer. Even though help desk administrators have access to some customer data, they should have no rights to query the data with no consent from the corresponding customer.
Impersonation is the other key part of the help desk administration. Once the caller is identified, the help desk administrator may need to login to the customer portal, as the customer and see what he/she has done — or guide him/her through what needs to be done. CIAM systems should provide the ability to the help desk administrators to impersonate other users (customers). This sounds little crazy — and little dangerous too. Both the CIAM system and the customer portal should be aware that, everything done by the help desk administrator is an impersonation act. Possibly during an impersonation act, when the help desk administrator tries to login to customer’s account, the system should send a message to the customer’s registered mobile number or the email address, seeking approval. The approval should be valid only for few minutes and the portal should auto logout the help desk administrator once it expires.
Scalability
A CIAM system has to worry about scalability from day one. A workforce IAM system may expect thousands of users — but in contrast a CIAM system works with millions. The millions of users in a CIAM system, will also result in thousands of concurrent logins. Then again, in most of these systems, you will find a considerable difference between average load and the peak load. The peak load is many more times the average load, and would only occur for few hours in couple of days per month. Let me give you an example. In one of the financial institutes we (WSO2) worked with, they were building an IAM infrastructure over 1.5 million customers. In an average day, they expect 350,00 logins — having daily peak times around 9 AM to 10 AM, 12 PM to 1 PM and 3 PM to 4 PM. Even if we assume 300,000 users will login to the system during the 3 hours peak time, the expected load per minute would be around 1700 users. But — in 2 days every month, they expect 5000 logins per second, that is 300,000 users per minute. That’s a huge difference between the daily peak load and the monthly. It’s not cost effective to plan the infrastructure and keep it running targeting the peak load, all the time. It’s a whole waste of system resources and money. In such cases, the best option is to build a dynamic scaling model — where the system resource will spin up to address increasing load — and when the load goes down the servers will shutdown too.
High-availability is another key aspect in a CIAM infrastructure. You may have geographically distributed data centers — where some may act as active data centers while some just for disaster recovery (DR). Active data centers will cater for active traffic, but the DR centers will be on stand by mode, in case one whole data center is down, the traffic will be deviated to the DR center. Within an active data center itself, there will be a cluster of nodes taking the load in a equally distributed manner. If one node is down — it will not take the whole infrastructure down.
APIs and Integration
A CIAM system is not an all-in-one solution. Its power is, how well it can function in a larger ecosystem. A CIAM system should know, how to integrate with multiple data sources, customer relationship management (CRM) systems (like Salesforce, Sugar CRM, Microsoft Dynamics, Net Suite CRM, etc), marketing platforms/solutions (like Dataxu, Appboy, MailChimp, Google Analytics, Salesforce Pardot, etc), e-commerce platforms (like Shopify, Magneto, Oracle Micros, etc), fraud detection solutions, risk engines, content management systems (like Microsoft SharePoint, Drupal, WordPress, Joomla, DotNetNuke, etc), data management platforms (like Blueconic, DoubleClick, Lotame, Krux, etc) and many more.
CIAM, Marketing Automation and CRM
A CIAM system is not going to replace the need for a marketing automation platform or a CRM system — but integrates with them— and provides a layer of foundation for more target marketing and lead nurturing. For example, Marketo, a leading marketing automation software provider, defines marketing automation as a system that, allows companies to streamline, automate, and measure marketing tasks and workflows. Also, Salesforce, a leading CRM software provider, defines CRM as, a strategy for managing all your company’s interactions with current and prospective customers. The marketing automation system tracks the behavior of an anonymous user through out the phases of being a raw lead, a viable lead, a nurtured lead and an active lead. The CRM system starts from where the marketing automation stops — it tracks the user through out the phases of marketing qualified lead, sales accepted lead, an opportunity and finally closed won. Till this point the CIAM system does not know anything about the user — and at the end of the day the customer will be on-boarded (see the on-boarding scenarios covered before in this blog). Now, the CIAM system can track all the user access patterns in more trust worthy manner — and with the data feeds from the CIAM system the marketing automation system can drive its marketing campaigns in an identity-driven approach. Following highlights some of the key benefits of a CIAM system that integrates well with marketing automation and CRM systems.
The anonymous cookie data tracked via the marketing automation platform can be tied to an authenticated identity as users log in through CIAM, and gain a single cross-device/platform view of every user as they go from anonymous to known. If it is just cookies you cannot correlate two users using different devices or browsers for interactions. The behavioral patterns tracked by marketing automation platform can be fed into the CIAM system to perform more effective adaptive/risk-based authentication and fraud detection. Use the qualified user data captured by the CIAM system to do more target marketing — and keep the user contact data updated all the time. Build a unified user profile across marketing, CRM and identity platforms — and rich data visualization. Verify user sign up data at the CIAM system by talking to the CRM system.
Summary
CIAM drives the revenue growth by leveraging identity data to acquire and retain customers. It’s the new public face of your company. CIAM differs from traditional IAM (or workforce IAM/Employee IAM) in many ways. User experience rules everything in CIAM — so as the privacy and security — it’s not an ‘or’ but an ‘and’. Customer on-boarding, progressive profiling, social integrations, strong authentication, self-service, help desk and delegated administration and scalability are the key areas any CIAM infrastructure should worry about. Identity data is the new gold, and CIAM is a mainstream business capability. |
A state panel told Gov. Larry Hogan Wednesday that if he wants to make government more efficient, he should restructure the entire thing.
Hogan appointed the Regulatory Reform Commission in July to give him ideas on how to streamline operations and improve customer service for businesses — a mission the Republican governor called "a fundamental principle of our administration."
The commission, composed of business leaders, released its first report Wednesday. It said overlapping authority and regulations cause so much red tape that Hogan should reorganize state departments, something last done in 1970 under then-governor Marvin Mandel.
"Governor Mandel's restructuring brought Maryland state government into the 20th century," the commission wrote. "Forty-five years later, the state's governmental structure is again convoluted and lacks continuity. It is time to bring Maryland government into the 21st Century."
The report suggested Hogan take on tasks both complex — the government reorganization — and as simple as writing new regulations for food trucks.
The panel suggested the state cede regulatory authority on approving wetland permits to local governments, a proposal that would make life easier for developers but likely would spark concern among environmentalists.
And it concluded, after receiving more than 400 public comments, that regulators put "an emphasis on punitive enforcement instead of assisting compliance," which created a "gotcha environment."
The governor said he had not fully reviewed the recommendations and could not comment on the specifics.
But he said improving the state's "burdensome regulatory climate" for businesses was "key" to his goal of boosting job growth.
"We want to change the entire culture of state government to one of customer service," Hogan said Wednesday during a Board of Public Works meeting. "From my executive staff here on the second floor to our cabinet secretaries, all the way down through the bureaucracy: this is going to be a primary push for us."
During the election campaign last year, Hogan said voters complained more about regulations and red tape than about taxes.
The commission's report was the first of three expected over the next three years. The panel recommended creating a "one-stop shop" for questions about licenses, permits, regulations, applications and anything else a business might need.
It also said state agencies should maximize electronic filing methods and managers should report on their projects every six months. The panel recommended guidelines and clear time limits for responding to requests and applications.
"In this day, there is no reason that electronic submissions, as opposed to paper filings, should not be accepted across the board," the commission said. "Moreover, this will allow information to be transmitted freely and data to be shared among the state agencies and reviewers seamlessly."
The panel said state agencies have an "antiquated system" for dealing with the public, and concluded that "state government has expanded to a point where it is causing significant harm to the ability to foster economic growth."
The commission suggested only local governments review development plans that would disturb wetlands, instead of having the state oversee the issue as well. Local jurisdictions, it said, would have to reapply annually for authority to do this. It also suggested ending the Army Corps of Engineer's review of wetlands permits.
The commission tackled more mundane but infuriating problems for business owners, such as what it described as rigorous licensing requirements for a vineyard to sell cheese.
"Evidently, because of regulations promulgated by the Department of Agriculture and the Health Department, wine and (hard) cheese could not be served to the public on the premises unless special equipment was installed for draining oils from grilled cheese — even though the cheese was not being grilled," the commission said. "The requirements are conflicting, involve duplication and redundant inspections, and can take three to four years to obtain the license."
Hogan, who took office in January, said that his administration would figure out a way to "get the government off our backs and out of our pockets."
It was not immediately clear Wednesday how many of the report's recommendations would require approval from the Democratic-controlled General Assembly.
ecox@baltsun.com
twitter.com/ErinatTheSun |
Buoyed by an exciting and Achievement-filled first day, I went into Day 2 with a smile on my face and a song in my heart.
Little did I know things were about to get very tough, very quickly…
Check out the previous days here.
Day 2
Banjo: Played through and completed Bubblegloop swamp and Freezeazy Peak, although missed the two honeycombs in the swamp. I’d forgotten how well hidden they are. Bubblegloop has two of the most charming mini games in the entire game – the alligator bogey eating and the TipTup turtle choir. Both are still really fun and and can be quite stressful.
It took me a long time to actually find the button to open the gate to access the swamp, which was annoying – I’d forgotten how non-handholy the hubworld is. But in a weird way it felt refreshing.
Freezeazy was fun, I’d forgotten a lot of it, like the bear racing and Walrus transformation. This is the first level I’ll have to come back to for the last piece, as you need the speedy trainers to race the bear for the second time.
Still enjoying BK, great how well it’s held up over time.
Snapshots
Lunar Jetman: Stamp 5 is so hard. Half the time a meteorite just shoots down on you as soon as you start the level. I don’t think I’ve played a game that more accurately represents the brutal harshness of what living in space would really be like. The game has complete disregard for you. Still not completed the fifth one.
Underwurlde: Stamp 3 has had me develop an appreciation for the jump mechanics. In this stamp, all enemies are removed, and you have to make your way up to the top of the mansion via various platforms. I discovered you can jump by pointing the analogue stick in the desired direction, and it makes things quite interesting. Although I got to what I thought was the top of the mansion and it didn’t complete the stamp… odd.
Sabre Wulf: I managed to fluke my was through another stamp collecting orchids. This game feels horrible.
Cobra Triangle: My first fully-stamped game. This is actually really fun, and I’m looking forward to doing the milestones.
Battletoads: Tried the tunnel again, and got a bit further! This time over the ramps. Managed 41 seconds, so nearly at the precious 45. Although a lot of dying can happen in 4 seconds in this game.
Milestones
I thought I’d better delve into some milestones now I’m familiar with most of the older games.
To my surprise the milestones for each game seem a lot more demanding than I’d anticipated…
Blast Corps: One of the few Rareware N64 games I’d not played, but heard good things. First impressions, it’s…ok? It’s impressive how much more Rare were able to get out of the N64 over time, as the presentation here is extremely simple. But the actual mechanics of the game are fun, blowing stuff up to clear a path for (what I think is) a Nuke is satisfying. Although for one of the milestones I have to clear every building from every level, and I find myself completing levels thinking I’ve done so, but the stats screen telling me I only cleared 50% of them… evidently I still have much to learn.
Jetpac Refuelled: Seems like a cool little remaster of the original. Managed the first achievement then got a bit bored.
Jetpac: I made the mistake of jumping right into this game without checking the milestones. Got to the third rocket before discovering the rewind mechanic, which made things completely trivial. I beat the fifth rocket and was feeling pleased with myself, though I noticed I’d only got one achievement. So, I went back to check the milestone progress…
… Needless to say I was disappointed to discover I’d barely made a dent! 250 fuel drops? 1,000 enemies? This will take a while.
Bonus stamps: A nice pick-me-up after the harsh reality of the Jetpac milestones set in was that because I’d played some of the 360 games and remasters before, some of the milestone stamps automatically filled out when I opened the game. These were Perfect Dark and both Viva Pinatas, with 2, 4 and 1 stamps auto-filled respectively. I’m looking forward to getting back into the Vivas, although they’re a hell of a timesink.
Overall a mixed bag for Day 2. Still enjoying Banjo and it was good to complete a second game’s snapshots, but I hadn’t realised just how taxing the milestones will be. I thought the snapshots were bad enough.
I find myself torn between two schools of thought: Do I stick to one game until it’s done, allowing it to consume me mentally and physically until I achieve high zen-like skill in that game, or do I keep things varied and try different games in each session. The former might be better for the harder achievements, but may drive me insane, and the latter might keep me motivated. Tricky stuff. On we go! |
This essay received an Honourable Mention in the graduate category of the Oxford Uehiro Prize in Practical Ethics
Written by University of Oxford Dphil candidate Areti Theofilopoulou
Introduction
On March 4th 2015, the graffiti team “Icos & Case” covered the National Technical University of Athens with an enormous black and white mural[i]. The graffiti was viewed as a political statement regarding the country’s socioeconomic crisis. In fact, the University was chosen due to its history as a centre of resistance during Greece’s dictatorship. Although public opinion over the permissibility of the graffiti was divided, the media and the state overwhelmingly opposed it. Eventually, the state decided to remove it, claiming it was an act of vandalism.
This recent example gives rise to the following question: is graffiti ever morally permissible? In other words, are the actions of graffiti artists always blameworthy? Taking “graffiti” to mean writing or drawings created on a public building or other public surface, I will argue that, under certain circumstances, it is morally permissible. If we grant that all morally permissible actions should be legal, we may further conclude that governments should not prosecute graffiti artists. Even if one does not accept this corollary, however, the argument regarding permissibility still stands.
As addressing the issue of private property is not possible on this occasion, the discussion will be limited to graffiti on public buildings. Moreover, an abstract commitment to equality and liberty will be assumed.
The Argument from Dissent
I contend that, under certain circumstances, graffiti is morally permissible. The argument takes the following form:
It is morally permissible to express political dissent. Actions that affect others are permissible as long as they could be justified to reasonable persons.
Therefore, it is morally permissible to dissent, as long as that dissent could be justified to reasonable persons.
One way of dissenting is through graffiti. Graffiti could be justified to reasonable persons. Therefore, it is morally permissible to use graffiti in order to express political dissent, as long as it is justifiable to reasonable persons.
The Requirement of Ethical Reasonableness
As premises (ii) and (v) are the most controversial ones, I turn to the issue of justifiability. Individuals’ actions that affect others are viewed as morally unproblematic when they express sufficient respect for those they affect; one way in which this is possible is by requiring that they could be justified to reasonable people. Following Martha Nussbaum’s definition, the term “reasonable” has an ethical dimension, referring to persons committed to the abstract concepts of freedom and equality[ii]. Our intuitions and considered judgments regarding morally permissible actions can be formulated in the following way: an action that comes to have an impact on or otherwise implicates persons besides the one performing the act, must be justifiable to those persons. If, for example, we are both waiting to park our cars, but only one space becomes available, I should only take it if I can justify this to you. If, on the other hand, I take the space, even though you were waiting before me, my action will be blameworthy; by doing something that affects you negatively, without being able to justify this to you, I demonstrate a lack of respect that should exist among citizens. This principle can be applied to every action that we view as permissible.
The pertinent question here is whether (v) is true; in other words, whether graffiti can ever be justified to other persons. Suppose that in Nazi Germany, a person decides to paint a graffiti in order to make the occurring atrocities known to all, and to urge others to reflect on them and oppose them. It seems that this person’s action could be justified to persons committed to freedom and equality, and come to be accepted as permissible. Reasonable persons would presumably recognise that the reasons for creating that graffiti would override most reasons they could express against it. Therefore, there are at least some circumstances under which graffiti can be justified to reasonable persons.
Clearly, any expression of dissent ought to be reasonable in both its substance and form. A graffiti would then have to be justifiable in terms of its meaning and symbolism, as well as in terms of the means of creating it. Some types of graffiti, such as tagging, would clearly not pass the substance test; for, signing one’s name on a building cannot be justified to others. Similarly, even if destroying a monument would pass the first test of substance, it would not pass the test of form. For example, painting the Parthenon would not be permissible. Generally, when we have good reasons to believe that specific buildings should not be painted in any way, whether due to the materials they are made from, or because they are viewed as monuments, or perhaps because they are part of a group’s cultural heritage, graffiti would be impermissible. Unfortunately, deriving an exhaustive list of such cases is not possible here; we may conclude, however, that there are buildings that would not raise such concerns.
Some Objections
The Costs of Removing Graffiti
Now, it may be objected that graffiti could never be justified to others because others have to bear the costs of removing it through their taxes. If we come to view graffiti as permissible, all public buildings will become covered in them, thereby imposing very high costs on taxpayers. This seems to be particularly worrying, given that this part of government expenditure could have been spent on public goods.
However, firstly, the consequentialist aspect of this claim is exaggerated. As my argument only justifies graffiti under certain circumstances, it is reasonable to assume that we would not suddenly see graffiti everywhere. Secondly, this objection begs the question, as it assumes that the government will have to repaint the buildings; yet, in the cases of permissible graffiti, it is far from clear that governments should erase them. In fact, an implication of my argument would be that governments should not repaint those buildings, unless this is necessary for reasons unrelated to the graffiti in question. In any case, when debating the permissibility of an action, we may not take for granted that the government’s reaction to that action would be justified, nor that it should determine the permissibility of the action. For example, if political dissenters in Nazi Germany painted a political graffiti, we would not argue that, because Hitler would want to erase it (through people’s taxes), the graffiti was impermissible. Similarly, the fact that governments don’t repaint Banksy’s graffiti does not by itself establish the permissibility of his creations.
Public Buildings Do Not Belong to the Public
Opponents of graffiti may object on the basis of property; it could be argued that public buildings are public only in the sense of use, while they ought to be treated as the state’s private property. The requirement that political dissenters respect the state’s private property would then block my argument.
Let us grant that public property is indeed the state’s property. We may still reject the objection by imagining the following case. A well-off individual has committed an injustice and benefited financially from it; as a result, thousands suffer. A group that represents these persons realises that, by drawing something on that individual’s property, the issues that the injustice caused will be expressed, while informing the rest of society. In this case, our consequentialist considerations of the effect of that drawing, as well as the responsibility of that person in causing the injustice would outweigh the reasons we would have to respect her property. Similarly, then, even if public property were the state’s private property, there would be cases in which graffiti would be permissible.
Although it is not possible to delve fully into the issue of property rights, it is not clear that states have full property rights to public buildings and spaces. According to most accounts of political legitimacy the state has, at best, a fiduciary duty to act on behalf of its citizens. In virtue of this duty, it is not plausible to view public property as the state’s private property; rather, it is the citizens’ collective property, which the state has a right to manage. Of course, the account of political legitimacy endorsed would largely determine the nature of public property and the rights that citizens have to it. I suggest, however, that there is at least one widely held conception of legitimacy that would be consistent with my argument; namely, that political power ought to be justifiable to its subjects conceived as reasonable persons[iii]. If, therefore, citizens have good reasons to endorse the permissibility of graffiti, the state cannot legitimately interfere with that decision.
The Imposition of an Aesthetic View
The most common objection states that it is not permissible to express dissent in a way that imposes a controversial view on others. Since most people disagree about aesthetics, and since most citizens inevitably see public buildings, graffiti inevitably imposes a controversial aesthetic view on those who disagree with it; for this reason, it ought to be viewed as an impermissible action.
This objection echoes the political liberal commitment to equal respect; if a state favours a controversial view on which citizens disagree, it fails to demonstrate equal respect for all[iv]. However, this objection can be plausibly discharged only against states, not against individuals. There is consensus that only other individuals’ rights can constrain the set of actions that are available to each; the freedom to act in certain ways or to express certain views cannot be sacrificed, unless there are duties or rights that act as side-constraints. Unless we are prepared, therefore, to accept that we should not be permitted to decorate the exterior of our houses, including our gardens and balconies, according to our taste, we may not argue that graffiti is impermissible just because some individuals find it aesthetically disturbing. Doing so would impose too high a cost on our freedom to live our lives according to our conceptions of the good. In any case, the argument that buildings should not be decorated in ways that could possibly offend individuals’ aesthetic views is absurd, given that buildings must be painted and decorated in some way; any decision on this matter is bound to face reasonable disagreement.
Now it may be objected that this argument only implies that graffiti artists should not be penalised; the fact that they choose, as individuals, to impose their aesthetic views on others, when they know that many will disagree with them, may be morally blameworthy, even if they have a right to do so. Indeed, this claim would seem uncontroversial if my argument applied to all kinds of graffiti. For example, drawing pink hearts with glitter on public buildings, just because I happen to enjoy looking at them, even though I know that most people do not share my taste, would clearly express disrespect for my fellow citizens. It is important to remember, however, that the argument defended here only applies to cases where graffiti could be justified to others; this justification ensures that the necessary respect for others is shown.
Conclusion
Assuming a commitment to the values of freedom and equality, the argument from dissent would fail if one argued that graffiti could never be justified to reasonable persons. The burden of proof thereby falls on those who object to graffiti. If, however, as I have argued, it is possible to imagine cases in which graffiti can be justified to reasonable persons, then we may conclude that graffiti is, under certain circumstances, morally permissible. We are now faced with the question of whether this could be true in contemporary societies. It seems that as long as there are grave injustices, as happens, for example, in Saudi Arabia and Syria, reasonable persons would agree that dissent may be expressed through graffiti. And we may also conclude that graffiti artists should generally not be faced with presumptive blameworthiness; rather, the moral assessment of each case of graffiti, as that of any act, will depend on the particular reasons that can be presented for it.
Notes
[i] “Athens Polytechnic: Reactions to mysterious graffiti”, Proto Thema, http://en.protothema.gr/athens-polytechnic-divided-views-over-mysterious-graffiti-photos/. Accessed on 25/01/2016.
[ii] Martha Nussbaum, “Perfectionist Liberalism and Political Liberalism”, Philosophy & Public Affairs, 39 (2011), p. 17.
[iii] John Rawls, Political Liberalism: Expanded Edition, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005), p. 137.
[iv] See Jonathan Quong, Liberalism Without Perfection, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010).
John Rawls, Political Liberalism: Expanded Edition, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005). |
I remember a conversation I had with my father-in-law many years ago about SFI ratings. The topic came up because I was putting a 7lb flywheel in my car, and happened to notice the sticker strongly affixed to the flywheel and the corresponding clutch stating the parts were SFI certified. I wasn’t very familiar with what that meant at the time, and the explanation was that it is a rating and standardization body that supports the automotive industry, and a company who pays particular attention to racing parts.
The story I got was : “Back in the old days, flywheel explosions were common and fire suits and other safety gear were not. The SFI came along and changed all that by inspecting manufacturing processes and materials used to produce performance parts and safety clothing. In other words, the sticker is a good thing.”
As I got more involved in vehicle performance, I became acutely aware of SFI ratings on certain parts, but one thing still stuck in the back of my mind: “Flywheel explosion?! that must be a hell of a sight.”
I have never experienced a flywheel explosion before, but what I found on Honda-Tech.com the other day changed all that. Here is the video:
[youtube n0TxZFDLa3w]
The following is what is left after a flywheel explodes in a 1991 Honda CRX, in pictures:
As you can see from the wreckage, this is a spectacular display of the potential energy stored in a flywheel. The bell housing of the transmission is totally gone, as is the flywheel housing on the engine side. Motor mounts were broken in half, and the radiator, intercooler, clutch pressure plate and clutch disc are completely destroyed.
Some speculation about the flywheel that was used is still going on at honda-tech.com, but my opinion on the matter is that it looks like the flywheel being used was a modified stock(!) flywheel. You can see in the “CRX Flywheel explosion 3” picture that the leftovers of the flywheel appear pretty dark, just like the stock flywheel. Were it an aluminum flywheel, there would be a much brighter silver color where the aluminum sheared apart, much like what you see where the aluminum engine and transmission were blown apart.
Anyway, I think I will be spending my $100 summit racing giftcard toward a scatter shield..
source: honda-tech.com via SpeedClubPR.com
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NOVEMBER 23--A strip club patron called cops yesterday to report that he was assaulted by an adult dancer after suggesting that she should “go to the gym and lose weight,” according to a South Carolina police report.
Kyle Yeomans, 23, told cops that he was at Derriere’s Gentlemen's Club in Myrtle Beach early Sunday when the 1:45 AM attack occurred
Yeomans recalled that the stripper was “annoying him and that she kept trying to talk to him and he was tired of it,” investigators noted. Yeomans, pictured at right, told cops that he was drunk at the time, and rated his level of intoxication “an 11 out of 10.”
In response to being annoyed, Yeomans “told the dancer that she should go to the gym and lose weight.” The stripper, Yeomans said, was a white female with long black hair. He estimated that she weighed between 115-120 pounds, and was no more than 25 years old.
Yeomans also reported that his attacker had “a muffin top.”
After receiving Yeomans’s unsolicited fitness advice, the stripper allegedly “reached off the stage and struck him 4 times in the face,” police noted. Yeomans said he was then dragged out of Derriere’s by bouncers who were “unnecessarily rough with him.”
Yeomans, who waited about 17 hours to report the incident, had injuries on his face “consistent with his statement of being struck,” cops reported. Yeomans said that the injuries were caused by the stripper who “was hitting him while wearing a ring.”
Witness Joshua Hillian--a Yeomans buddy--told cops that while he did not hear what Yeomans told the dancer, he did see her “strike the victim in the face 4 times.”
Asked if he wanted to press charges against the stripper, Yeomans replied that he “wanted nothing other than a report” to be filed. Still, an officer sought to follow up on the assault claim, but Derriere’s (seen below) was closed when the cop stopped by Sunday evening. (2 pages) |
S6, SB5, SM6 are disability swimming classifications used for categorising swimmers based on their level of disability. This class includes people with a number of different types of disability including short stature, major limb impairment or loss in two limbs. This includes people with cerebral palsy, amputees, and dwarfs. The class competes at the Paralympic Games.
Definition [ edit ]
This classification is for swimming.[1] In the classification title, S represents Freestyle, Backstroke and Butterfly strokes. SB means breaststroke. SM means individual medley.[1] Swimming classifications are on a gradient, with one being the most severely physically impaired to ten having the least amount of physical disability.[2] Jane Buckley, writing for the Sporting Wheelies, describes the swimmers in this classification as having: "full use of their arms and hands, some trunk control but no useful leg muscles; Swimmers with coordination problems (usually these athletes walk); Swimmers with major limb loss of 2 limbs; Little People / Dwarfs (O 130cm females & O 137cm males)."[1][3] The class "...includes swimmers with short stature, amputations of both arms or moderate coordination problems on one side of their body."[4]
Disability groups [ edit ]
This class includes people with several disability types include cerebral palsy, short stature and amputations.[5][6][7]
Amputee [ edit ]
ISOD amputee A1 and A5 swimmers may be found in this class.[7] Prior to the 1990s, A1 and A5 were often grouped with other amputee classes in swimming competitions, including the Paralympic Games.[8]
Upper body amputations [ edit ]
Type of amputation for an A5 classified sportsperson.
ISOD amputee A5 swimmers may be found in this class.[7] Because their legs are their greatest strength, they modify their entry into the water to take advantage of this.[9] Compared to able bodied swimmers, swimmers in this class have a shorter stroke length and increased stroke rate.[9]
The nature of a person's amputations in this class can affect their physiology and sports performance. Because they are missing a limb, amputees are more prone to overuse injuries in their remaining limbs. Common problems for intact upper limbs for people in this class include rotator cuffs tearing, shoulder impingement, epicondylitis and peripheral nerve entrapment.[10]
A study of was done comparing the performance of swimming competitors at the 1984 Summer Paralympics. It found there was no significant difference in performance in times between women in A4, A5 and A6 the 100 meter 100 meter freestyle, men in A4 and A5 in the 100 meter freestyle, men in A5 and A6 in the 100 meter freestyle, women in A5 and A6 in the 50 meter butterfly, women in A4, A5 and A6 in the 4 x 50 meter individual medley, men in A5 and A6 in the 4 x 50 meter individual medley, and men and women in A4, A5 and A6 in the 100 meter backstroke.[11]
Lower body amputations [ edit ]
Type of amputation for an A1 classified sportsperson.
A1 swimmers including S4, S5 and S6.[12] Swimmers in this class have a similar stroke length and stroke rate to able bodied swimmers.[9] Lower limb amputations effect a person's energy cost for being mobile. To keep their oxygen consumption rate similar to people without lower limb amputations, they need to walk slower.[10] People in this class use around 120% more oxygen to walk or run the same distance as some one without a lower limb amputation.[10]
Because of the potential for balance issues related to having an amputation, during weight training, amputees are encouraged to use a spotter when lifting more than 15 pounds (6.8 kg).[13]
Cerebral palsy [ edit ]
The spasticity athetosis level and location of a CP5 sportsperson.
One of the disability groups in this classification is swimmers with cerebral palsy, including CP5 classified swimmers.[14] CP5 sportspeople in this class have greater functional control of their upper body. They may require the use of an assistive device when walking but they do not require use of a wheelchair.[15][16][17] They often have problems with their dynamic equilibrium but not their static equilibrium.[18][19] Quick movements can upset their balance.[18][19]
Because of their balance issues, swimmers in this class can find the starting block problematic and often have slower times entering the water than other competitors in their class.[20] Because the disability of swimmers in this class involves in a loss of function in specific parts of their body, they are more prone to injury than their able-bodied counterparts as a result of overcompensation in other parts of their body.[5]
When fatigued, CP5 asymmetry in their stroke becomes a problem for swimmers in this class, more so than others in their class.[5] The integrated classification system used for swimming, where swimmers with CP compete against those with other disabilities, is subject to criticisms has been that the nature of CP is that greater exertion leads to decreased dexterity and fine motor movements. This puts competitors with CP at a disadvantage when competing against people with amputations who do not lose coordination as a result of exertion.[21]
CP5 swimmers tend to have a passive normalized drag in the range of 0.6 to 1.0. This puts them into the passive drag band of PDB5, PDB6, PDB7, PDB8, and PDB9.[22]
Short stature [ edit ]
SS1 [ edit ]
S6 swimmers with short stature have Achondroplasia and men are no taller than 137 cm while women are not taller than 130 cm. They can maintain the correct catch phase when swimming. They also are capable of doing a full arm cycle while swimming. They normally start from the starting platform and can execute a standard turn in the water.[23]
SS2 [ edit ]
SS2 swimmers may be found S6.[24] Men in this class are 145 centimetres (57 in) tall or less, with an arm length equal to or less than 66 centimetres (26 in). When their standing height and arm length are added together, the distance is equal to or less than 200 centimetres (79 in). For women in this class, the same measurements are 137 centimetres (54 in), 63 centimetres (25 in) and 190 centimetres (75 in).[15]
There are generally two types of syndromes that cause short stature. One is disproportionate limb size on a normal size torso. The second is proportionate, where they are generally small for their average age. There are a variety of causes including skeletal dysplasia, chondrodysrophy, and growth hormone deficiencies. Short stature can cause a number of other disabilities including eye problems, joint defects, joint dislocation or limited range of movement.[25]
Spinal cord injuries [ edit ]
People with spinal cord injuries compete in this class, including F5 sportspeople.[26][27][28]
F5 [ edit ]
Functional profile of a wheelchair sportsperson in the F5 class.
Comparing key muscle innervations for spinal cord levels compared to cycling and athletics classifications.
This is wheelchair sport classification that corresponds to the neurological level T8 - L1.[29][30] In the past, this class was known as Lower 3, or Upper 4.[29][30] Disabled Sports USA defined the anatomical definition of this class in 2003 as, "Normal upper limb function. Have abdominal muscles and spinal extensors (upper or more commonly upper and lower). May have non-functional hip flexors (grade 1). Have no abductor function."[30]
People in this class have good sitting balance.[31][32] People with lesions located between T9 and T12 have some loss of abdominal muscle control.[32] Disabled Sports USA defined the functional definition of this class in 2003 as, "Three trunk movements may be seen in this class: 1) Off the back of a chair (in an upwards direction). 2) Movement in the backwards and forwards plane. 3) Some trunk rotation. They have fair to good sitting balance. They cannot have functional hip flexors, i.e. ability to lift the thigh upwards in the sitting position. They may have stiffness of the spine that improves balance but reduces the ability to rotate the spine."[30]
Swimming classification is done based on a total points system, with a variety of functional and medical tests being used as part of a formula to assign a class. Part of this test involves the Adapted Medical Research Council (MRC) scale. For upper trunk extension, T6 - T10 are given 3 - 5 points.[33]
S6 swimmers with spinal cord injuries tend to be complete paraplegics with lesions below T9 to L1 and where their leg function does not assist them in swimming. S6 swimmers of this type have effect arm cycling and can use their hands and fingers to gain propulsion during the catch phase. Their hips may ride slightly lower in the water, but their legs are not in a V position. They may start either in the water or from a sitting dive position. They turn using their hands.[33]
A study of was done comparing the performance of athletics competitors at the 1984 Summer Paralympics. It found there was little significant difference in performance times between women in 2 (SP4) and 3 (SP4, SP5) in the 50m breaststroke. It found there was little significant difference in performance times between men in 2 (SP4) and 3 (SP4, SP5) in the 50m breaststroke. It found there was little significant difference in performance times between women in 2 (SP4) and 3 (SP4, SP5) in the 50m freestyle. It found there was little significant difference in performance times between men in 2 (SP4) and 3 (SP4, SP5) in the 50m freestyle. It found there was little significant difference in performance times between men in 2 (SP4) and 3 (SP4, SP5) in the 50m backstroke. It found there was little significant difference in performance times between women in 4 (SP5, SP6), 5 (SP6, SP7) and 6 (SP7) in the 100m breaststroke. It found there was little significant difference in performance times between women in 4 (SP5, SP6), 5 (SP6, SP7) and 6 (SP7) in the 100m backstroke. It found there was little significant difference in performance times between women in 4 (SP5, SP6), 5 (SP6, SP7) and 6 (SP7) in the 100m freestyle. It found there was little significant difference in performance times between women in 4 (SP5, SP6), 5 (SP6, SP7) and 6 (SP7) in the 14 x 50 m individual medley. It found there was little significant difference in performance times between men in 4 (SP5, SP6), 5 (SP6, SP7) and 6 (SP7) in the 100m backstroke. It found there was little significant difference in performance times between men in 4 (SP5, SP6), 5 (SP6, SP7) and 6 (SP7) in the 100m breaststroke. It found there was little significant difference in performance times between women in 2 (SP4), 3 (SP4, SP5) and 4 (SP5, SP6) in the 25 m butterfly. It found there was little significant difference in performance times between men in 2 (SP4), 3 (SP4, SP5) and 4 (SP5, SP6) in the 25 m butterfly.[34]
History [ edit ]
The classification was created by the International Paralympic Committee and has roots in a 2003 attempt to address "the overall objective to support and co-ordinate the ongoing development of accurate, reliable, consistent and credible sport focused classification systems and their implementation."[35]
Events [ edit ]
Events that are open to a swimmer from this class include 50m and 100m Freestyle, 200m Freestyle, 400m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke, 50m Butterfly, 100m Breaststroke and 200m Individual Medley events.[36]
At the Paralympic Games [ edit ]
For this classification, organisers of the Paralympic Games have the option of including the following events on the Paralympic programme: 50m and 100m Freestyle, 200m Freestyle, 400m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke, 50m Butterfly, 100m Breaststroke and 200m Individual Medley events.[36]
For the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, the International Paralympic Committee had a zero classification at the Games policy. This policy was put into place in 2014, with the goal of avoiding last minute changes in classes that would negatively impact athlete training preparations. All competitors needed to be internationally classified with their classification status confirmed prior to the Games, with exceptions to this policy being dealt with on a case by case basis.[37]
Records [ edit ]
In the S6 50 m Freestyle Long Course, the men's world record is held by China's Xu Qing with a time of 00:29.78 and the women's world record is held by the Netherlands' Mirjam de Koning-Peper with a time of 00:34.94.[38] In the S6 100 m Freestyle Long Course, the men's world record is held by Sweden's Anders Olsson and the women's world record is held by Great Britain's Eleanor Simmonds.[39]
Paralympic records [ edit ]
The table below records the fastest ever Paralympic record in this class for specific events.
# – Record awaiting ratification by – Record awaiting ratification by IPC WR – World record;
Records not set in finals: h – heat; r – relay 1st leg; rh – relay heat 1st leg Legend:
Getting classified [ edit ]
Swimming classification generally has three components. The first is a bench press. The second is water test. The third is in competition observation.[44] As part of the water test, swimmers are often required to demonstrate their swimming technique for all four strokes. They usually swim a distance of 25 meters for each stroke. They are also generally required to demonstrate how they enter the water and how they turn in the pool.[45]
Classification generally has four phase. The first stage of classification is a health examination. For amputees in this class, this is often done on site at a sports training facility or competition. The second stage is observation in practice, the third stage is observation in competition and the last stage is assigning the sportsperson to a relevant class.[46] Sometimes the health examination may not be done on site for amputees in this class because the nature of the amputation could cause not physically visible alterations to the body.[20]
In Australia, to be classified in this category, athletes contact the Australian Paralympic Committee or their state swimming governing body.[47] In the United States, classification is handled by the United States Paralympic Committee on a national level. The classification test has three components: "a bench test, a water test, observation during competition."[48] American swimmers are assessed by four people: a medical classified, two general classified and a technical classifier.[48]
Competitors [ edit ]
Swimmers who have competed in this classification include Briton Liz Johnson, other nationals including Olena Akopyan[49] and Anastasia Diodorova[49] and Maria Goetze[49] who all won medals in their class at the 2008 Paralympics.[49] American swimmers who have been classified by the United States Paralympic Committee as being in this class include Arden Adams, Anna Amend, Victoria Arlen and Abby Abby.[50] |
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For years—once in 2008 , and a second time in 2011—conservationists have spotted mysterious visitors in the Thames.
Now,
Support Provided By Learn More
The short-snouted seahorse
they’ve confirmed that two species of seahorses have found a home in the river, the short-snouted seahorse and the spiny seahorse. They’ve been in Greenwich and near the South Bank. Scientists now suspect that the seahorses—which have been seen on six separate occasions over the last two months—are permanent residents of the area. In the past, observers have only found one or two per year.
More than 100 species of fish, gray seals, and sharks also live in the Thames. Back in 2008, Jessica Aldred
Scientists at the ZSL [Zoological Society of London] say the presence of the seahorses in the Thames estuary is a good sign that river quality is improving, but warned that any disturbance to their habitats could be disastrous. […] Seahorses are threatened by overexploitation for traditional medicines, aquariums and curiosities, accidental capture by fishing fleets, and degradation of their habitats.
reported for the The Guardian that signs of seahorses meant that the river water was becoming clearer:
Seahorses are known among aquarists to sticklers for clean water, so the fact that seahorses have taken up residence in the Thames showsjust how drastically the water quality has improved over the decades.
Check out this video from BBC News about the finding: |
Everyone has been waiting to see what the Master of Horror George A. Romero would do next. There has been several rumors about what his next film would be. But today it has been revealed that he will be returning to the living dead with his recently finished script, The Zombie Autopsies.
George A. Romero had optioned the film rights to Steven C. Schlozman’s awhile back and is finally getting the wheels rolling. Of course now that his script is finished the real work begins. With so many studios trying to make their own zombie films it can prove difficult even for a pioneer like Romero.
Hopefully soon we will hear something about this project. Below is the synopsis for the book, The Zombie Autopsies.
As the walking dead rises up throughout the world, a few brave doctors attempt to find a cure by applying forensic techniques to captured zombies. Based on the research of renowned zombie expert Dr. Stanley Blum, performed at a remote island where a crack medical team has been sent to explore a radical theory that may lead to a cure for the epidemic, THE ZOMBIE AUTOPSIES documents for the first time the unique biology of zombie organisms. Twenty-five detailed drawings of the internal organs of actual zombies provide an accurate anatomy of these horrifying creatures, including zombie brains, hearts, lungs, skin, and the digestive system, while Dr. Blum’s notes reveal shocking insights into how they function, even as Blum and his staff themselves begin to succumb to the plague. No one knows the ultimate fate of Dr. Blum or his researchers, but now that his notebook, THE ZOMBIE AUTOPSIES, has been made available to the UN, the World Health Organization, and the general public, his scientific discoveries may provide the last hope for humans on earth!
Source: Daily Dead |
Today Jim Gaffigan and his wife Jeannie Gaffigan went live on Periscope to make a giant announcement and take questions from a giant super king sized bed. Jim and Jeannie announced that in the 48 hours since they put the first episode of their new show on JimGaffigan.com, they have had 500,000 visitors go to the site to check out the episode.
If you missed the periscope, you can watch the announcement right here now, and check out a cool little tour of the set, which is almost a replica of their own home. Watch the tour, hear Jeannie talk about casting, and Jim talk about playing himself, and then you can go to JimGaffigan.com and watch the first episode.
The show is based on Gaffigan’s family and stand up career- a la Seinfeld- but that’s as far as the comparison goes. We don’t want to give too much away, but the show is really funny, following issues arising in Gaffigan’s life. And through Jim’s personal issues, the show also looks at issues in culture, media, religion, fame, sexuality, race and the perils of a public life. In episode one, Gaffigan’s world goes into turmoil after he is photographed with a fan and a bible. Episode one includes great cameos with appearances by Chris Rock, Jon Stewart, H. Jon Benjamin and even Glen Beck. Adam Goldberg and Michael Ian Black co-star along with Jim, and Ashley Williams who plays Jeannie. We can’t wait to see more!
Here’s some other early feedback.
Hey @JimGaffigan! I just watched an episode of your new @gaffiganshow on http://t.co/BX9K1iyUXR – funny stuff. You are doing it baby!!!! — Dave Attell (@attell) May 17, 2015
An episode of @gaffiganshow is on http://t.co/YW4QeVgHom for limited time. I loved it please watch! Let me know what you think!! — Louie Anderson (@LouieAnderson) May 16, 2015
An episode of @JimGaffigan's new @GaffiganShow is on http://t.co/jaop232kzN for a limited time. Show's great. Jim's great. Watch it now. — bob saget (@bobsaget) May 14, 2015
Make sure to go check out @JimGaffigan new show @gaffiganshow on his website http://t.co/kRgB4gbu0v. It's spelled Jim Gaffigan. I loved it! — Nate Bargatze (@natebargatze) May 14, 2015
The Jim Gaffigan Show will officially premiere on TV Land on July 15.
Read more comedy news. |
The French president François Hollande will visit Ireland next week to discuss the impact of Brexit on the island.
The French ambassador to the Republic, Jean-Pierre Thébault, has said Ireland must retain its strong trade relationship with France in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the EU.
Mr Thébault was speaking at the annual Bastille Day celebrations at the French ambassador’s residence in Dublin.
“The period looking ahead will be full of challenges and opportunities and also of threats.
“We have learned recently, with great sadness , that a member of the EU will intend to leave this community and this will create challenges. We are all sad because of it,” he said.
“At the same time, we need to manage this tradition in the best way possible, taking into account the interest of our people and we must also pay attention to the voices that are expressing concerns everywhere in Europe, ” he said.
“I think it is very important that France and Ireland must contribute actively to the redefinition of what a sensible, pragmatic but meaningful Europe should be.”
Britain voted to leave the EU in a referendum three weeks ago.
‘Significant moment’
Mr Thébault said Mr Hollande’s visit to Ireland will be a “significant moment”.
“This visit could not happen at a better moment because the president of France can pay tribute to Ireland and recognise the Irish people and our shared history.”
Mr Thébault said a special monument in Ireland will be dedicated by France to the Irish people to recognise the special relationship between the two countries.
“Beyond this celebration of what unites us, it will also be able to engage in discussion about the future and what Ireland and France can achieve together when in Europe and it will be a defining moment,” he said.
Mr Thébault also paid tribute to the Irish soccer fans’ good behaviour while at the Euro 2016 tournament in France.
“The green army which peacefully invaded France was fantastic and continued for several weeks,” he said. |
WINNIPEG — Manitoba’s Progressive Conservatives are well ahead of the other parties with just over a week from election day.
An Insightrix Research poll done for Global News and CJOB 680 shows the 800 Manitobans surveyed place Brian Pallister and the Progressive Conservatives (PCs) in majority government territory.
The poll shows 49 per cent of decided voters plan to cast their ballot for the PCs, while 24 per cent plan to vote NDP and 22 per cent for Liberals.
The Green Party polled at five per cent, and one per cent of decided voters said they are voting for another party.
The Tories have more support among men and older voters, and the NDP and Liberals have more support among women and younger voters, according to the poll.
Undecided votes
When it comes to undecided voters, the pictures isn’t quite as clear.
Seventeen per cent of respondents said they are leaning towards the Tories, 16 per cent are thinking of voting for the NDP and 15 per cent may vote for the Liberals.
Who do Manitobans think would make the best Premier?
The poll shows 35 per cent of respondents believe PC Leader Brian Pallister would make the best Premier. That’s compared with 17 per cent supporting NDP Leader Greg Selinger and 12 per cent supporting Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari .
When respondents were asked if if they were voting for the leader or party, only 12 per cent said the leader. Fifty three per cent said they would vote for the party. Thirty per cent said they would be voting for the local candidate.
The Insightrix Research poll margin of error is +/- 3.5 per cent. |
Dr. Harold Bornstein, Donald Trump’s longtime physician, doesn’t seem too worried about the stress that the presidency could have on the nation’s oldest president.
In an exclusive interview with STAT, Bornstein, 69, said that “there’s nothing to share” on a regular basis about a president’s health, and that he’s “fortunate there’s nothing seriously wrong with him.”
“It never occurred to me that he was the oldest president, not for a second,” Bornstein, 69, said. “Ronald Reagan had pre-senile dementia. I mean, seriously, did they share that one with you, or did Nancy just cover it up?” (Trump is 70. Previously, Reagan was the oldest elected president—he was 69 when he took the oath of office).
Trump’s health has been in question since since he began his campaign. Although the President-elect has said he doesn’t drink alcohol or smoke, he does have a love for fast food—a love that has raised concerns about his overall health and diet.
“If something happens to him, then it happens to him,” Bornstein said. “It’s like all the rest of us, no? That’s why we have a vice president and a speaker of the House and a whole line of people. They can just keep dying.”
But Bornstein, who recently gave Trump a clean bill of health, said that “he’s never been able to find anything wrong with him.”
“He’s a few pounds overweight, which everybody can see, and that’s it,” Bornstein first told STAT.” I’ve never been able to find anything wrong with him.”
The doctor has been caring from Trump since the 1980s, and has also looked after other members of the Trump family: Donald Jr., Eric, and Tiffany. He also treated Trump’s first wife, Ivana.
Bornstein isn’t sure if he will continue caring for the President-elect after he takes office, and told STAT that he thought a military doctor would need to care for Trump while he’s in the White House.
Most physicians to presidents have been military officers, according to STAT, but some presidents have chosen non-uniformed doctors: John F. Kennedy appointed Dr. Janet Travell Powell, who was his personal physician when he was a senator. And Ronald Reagan chose Dr. Daniel Ruge, a civilian doctor.
Contact us at editors@time.com. |
Across European countries, veganism has become a whole lifestyle shared by a growing number of people - from young hipsters to big families.
In addition to ethical concerns over killing animals, better health and a desire to reduce ecological footprint play into vegans' arguments.
In this context, figures from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) may not be surprising: that the animal agriculture sector is responsible for around 15 percent of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions globally, and - with an expected population of 9.6 billion by 2050 - global demand for livestock products could increase by 70 percent.
But not everyone is willing to join this growing trend. Critical voices are still to be heard regarding potential harmful effects of veganism - especially on health.
Elvira Savino, an Italian congresswoman, has recently revived the debate by presenting a legislative proposal based on recent cases of malnourishment in vegan children within the country. She believes parents imposing a vegan diet on their children should be punished by up to four years of jail.
Meanwhile, environmental and animal rights organizations such as Humane Society International keep working on increasing awareness about the benefits of veganism, and encourage governments to take action and support the trend toward a plant-based diet.
Across Europe, vegan restaurants and shops are sprouting up like mushrooms
Is a vegan diet for everyone?
Savino claimed that a diet free of animal proteins could cause a deficit of iron and the vitamin B12, with consequent neurological problems and anemia. Indeed, the German Nutrition Society (DGE) warns that veganism might not be best for children and teenagers since vitamin deficiencies can affect their development.
Georg Keckl, co-author of the book "Don't go veggie!," told DW that a vegan diet makes people dependent on genetically engineered food, such as vitamin B12 supplements, and subject to constant medical monitoring.
The Vegan Society acknowledges that a B12 deficiency can cause anemia and nervous system damage, particularly in breastfed infants and vegan mothers. The only reliable vegan sources of B12 are food fortified with B12 and B12 supplements.
Vegan supporters insist, however, that a plant-based diet is manageable for everybody, including children, and pregnant and lactating women. Vegan activists call the Savino proposal an exaggerated reaction based on an isolated case.
"The case in Italy was an isolated incident that has nothing to do inherently with vegan diet, which contains all required nutrients to grow healthy at any age," Jimmy Pearson, media manager of the Vegan Society told DW.
Berlin has become a hotbed of veganism
A new diet requires knowledge
The Humane Society International highlights the importance of a high level of awareness and public information for a healthy shift to a plant-based diet.
"It is essential that anyone thinking about adopting a vegan diet seek nutritional advice, because you cannot just cut out one food group and not substitute with the equivalent nutritional need," Alexandra Clark, a sustainable food campaigner with the group. told DW.
Michal Greger, an internationally recognized speaker on public health issues, believes that despite decades of science strongly supporting a reduction in consumption of animal proteins, most people continue to eat meat - which contributes to dietary diseases - due to lack of knowledge and broad social acceptance for the practice.
"It is like 50 years ago: 'oh, wait a second! If it is clear that smoking is associated with lung cancer, why the most people smoke? Why do most doctors smoke?'" he told DW by way of comparison.
"At that time people were thinking: 'how can something that is so normal, that your parents do, that your doctor does, how could that be bad for you'? And now, we have the same situation"
Who should be responsible?
The debate Savino has opened is not only about whether to eat vegan or not, but about who should be responsible for a child's nutrition.
Keckl supports the idea that parents imposing a vegan diet on children are committing a form of child abuse. But all the other experts said parents should be free to choose their children's diet - and that in any case, a correlation should exist between a damaging nutritional habit and punishment.
"There are thousands of malnutrition cases in the UK alone, but the media decided to highlight the one with the vegan family in Italy. We found that particularly disappointing," Pearson said.
From a broader perspective, governments may be to blame. "Governments should take action on promoting healthy and sustainable diets, but they fear backlash from the public," Clark said. Her group promotes a plant-based diet.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) even promotes that tax be charged on meat and all processed meat products, Felicitas Kitali, expert nutritionist working with PETA Germany, explained to DW. The group would also like to see detailed nutritional education be included in school curricula.
PETA believes meat should be taxed like alcohol or tobacco is
Soak and simmer
Despite being optimistic, Clark is aware of the many challenges vegans face. "A shift to a vegan diet is absolutely possible - but it takes time," Clark said. "We first have to make vegan food as attractive, or moreso, than meat-based food."
For Pearson, the main challenge is to find the right way for livestock farmers to adapt to the transition from livestock farming to growing crops. This would surely require teaching new skills and finding financial supports, he added.
For now, opinions on what's the right diet will remain as varied as dishes around the world. |
It's now New Years as of the day I'm writing this, and throughout much of the world, people are making resolutions to change or improve some aspect of their life.
Most of us make simple resolutions like "eat healthy", "get in shape", or "get my finances in order". The fact that these goals lack any detail or a specific plan for accomplishment aside, the biggest problem with making resolutions or setting goals in this way is that they don't seek to handle the real issue from the source.
What is the real issue? It always originates from the mind. What that actually means varies from person to person, but it's always some form of resistance to the present moment- to reality and our life as it is. This doesn't mean we can't or shouldn't seek to change our physical (or outward) circumstances, but this does mean that before doing so we need to get our "mental house" in order. Without having done this, we're moving in the dark, never really knowing if we're taking one step forward, sideways, or backward (or if we really even care to move at all).
It's mindfulness practice and the ability to look deeply into our everyday experiences which allow us to see with clarity, and that clarity brings greater freedom and a sense of meaning where there was once a lack-there-of. That feeling of "voidness", of something being missing, disappears and we're left feeling whole and fulfilled doing and experiencing even the simplest of things.
Truthfully, I've found this to be the single most difficult effort I've ever made in my life. But, I've also benefitted more from dedicating myself to living more mindfully and fully in this moment, the present moment, than anything else in my life by far as well.
And the great thing is, we all have it in us. No matter who you are you can make an effort to live more mindfully, more fully in the present moment. And while it can be a difficult effort, the reality is you don't need to live 24 hours a day in mindfulness. Even living your life 5% or 10% more mindful will make a tremendous difference in your life in so many different ways.
Last week on the Zen for Everyday Life podcast, I talked about how to make mindfulness a way of life through my 7 keys for living more mindfully. Those are the keys I've found through my own practice and experimentation to be most critical in making a more mindful life a reality.
But there's more to living fully and freely in the present moment than just being mindful. When you become mindful you often come face-to-face with resistance and are still posed with certain critical questions and issues which can be hard to surmount. These issues will keep you from realizing the fullness and freedom which living mindfully can bring you.
To help with that here are 9 essential keys I've found to living more fully and freely in the present moment.
9 Essential Keys to Living More Fully and Freely in Everyday Life
Below you'll find what I've discovered to be 9 essential keys to living both with greater freedom as well as with greater meaning and fulfillment in everyday life.
These points vary widely and many are lifelong efforts, but they all have a simple and to-the-point quality to them which makes them easy to understand and begin to apply in your everyday life.
I hope these 9 essential keys help serve you in your effort to live a more free and meaningful life. |
Christopher Mahoney, a former vice chairman of Moody’s, has a piece arguing that Protestants will never understand monetary policy because their moralistic worldview makes them incapable of accepting that monetary stimulus offers a real life free lunch. He suggests that we leave this to the Catholics and Jews.
Now it looks to me like in real life we’ve never had a Catholic Federal Reserve Chairman. But if we look at Jodi Beggs’ data on annual inflation by Fed chairman, we can see that the Chosen People have not done very well at monetary matters in practice. Of the men on this list, five—Meyer, Burns, Miller, Greenspan, and Bernanke—have been Jewish. Eccles was Mormon. The rest were Protestant. And sorry to say it but Meyer, Burns, and Miller are the worst chairmen we’ve had. Meyer allowed years of deflation and depression. Burns and Miller both refused to curb inflation. Greenspan and Bernanke are both mixed bags. Obviously Greenspan fell down on the job as a bank regulator entirely. On the other hand, he did an excellent job of resisting calls for tighter money in the mid-1990s and brought us the only period of sustained working class wage growth in decades. Bernanke, I would say, has failed relative to an abstract standard of what we would want to see a Fed chairman deliver (rapid recovery), but he has performed much better than the leaders of the world’s other major central banks. The main axis of conflict during the Bernanke years has been him fending off wrongheaded criticism from people urging tighter money, so all things considered he’s done a good job.
But the real heroes of American central banking are Protestants—Eugene Black who knew when to inflate and Paul Volcker who knew when to disinflate. William McChesney Martin I would say ranks alongside Greenspan as a bit of a mixed bag. No coincidence that Martin and Greenspan are the two really long-tenured Fed chairmen. The more years you put on the job the more likely you’ll eventually mess something up.
Eccles’ term in office is a little hard to evaluate since the unusual circumstances of fighting World War II and then post-war demobilization loom large in it. The tight money episode of 1937 was a disaster, but mostly you’d have to say his term in office consisted of recovery from the Depression and victory over Hitler. Not bad at all. |
Donald Kaufman, Ajamu Baraka, Kasia Anderson and Emma Niles.
Ajamu Baraka, the Green Party nominee for vice president, may not have been well known to mainstream media audiences before joining Jill Stein’s campaign, but he’s certainly made headlines since becoming her running mate in the summer. Baraka, a longtime human-rights activist, sat down with the Truthdig team on Thursday, in a conversation streamed live onto our Facebook page.
Baraka discussed foreign policy, WikiLeaks, the American prison system and protests against the Dakota Access pipeline, among other topics.
Ajamu Baraka on #GreenParty foreign policy: "Our approach to foreign policy is one of the strengths we have." — Truthdig (@Truthdig) October 20, 2016
Ajamu Baraka on Dakota Access pipeline :"Our responsibility... is to stand in solidarity with indigenous people." https://t.co/37IzmfP13H — Truthdig (@Truthdig) October 20, 2016
Ajamu Baraka on Clinton email leaks: "Whatever legal processes that could reveal the truth, we would support it." https://t.co/37IzmfP13H — Truthdig (@Truthdig) October 20, 2016
Ajamu Baraka on prison policy: "The attempt to try to rehabilitate people would be priority number one." https://t.co/37IzmfP13H — Truthdig (@Truthdig) October 20, 2016
This election cycle has not been easy on the Green Party. Stein and Baraka have received little coverage from the mainstream media, and the coverage they do get is often negative. However, even if it doesn’t win the election, the party hopes to make an important stride this fall: If Stein and Baraka receive 5 percent of the vote in the general election, the Green Party will receive about $10 million from the Federal Election Commission.
Despite this potential achievement, many voters express dismay over Stein and Baraka’s campaign, worried that a third party will have a “Nader effect” on the general election. Others, however, think the Green Party continues the progressive message espoused in Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign.
Now that Sanders has launched Our Revolution to support like-minded candidates running for office, what does Baraka think of Sanders and his movement? How does the Green Party handle the challenges of overcoming third-party bias?
The Green Party presidential ticket has a wide-ranging platform. Stein and Baraka have called for action on climate change and also have offered proposals to tackle poverty, health care, peaceful foreign policy and student debt (this last position recently was questioned in a John Oliver segment on “Last Week Tonight”).
Hillary Clinton's and Donald Trump’s campaigns continue to incite controversy. Trump faces numerous allegations of sexual assault, while Clinton has been accused of corruption in regard to her leaked emails. What are Baraka’s thoughts on this unprecedented election season? Has the 2016 presidential campaign helped or hurt the Green Party?
You also can check out past editions of “Live at Truthdig” on our YouTube channel.
—Posted by Emma Niles |
On January 2, 1915—one hundred years ago today—German forces in World War I made the first chlorine gas attack, ushering in the modern age of chemical warfare. Since then the use of chemical weapons has been one of the most controversial ethical issues in warfare.
Here are five facts you should know about chemical weapons:
1. The general and traditional definition of a chemical weapon is a toxic chemical contained in a delivery system, such as a bomb or shell. The Chemical Weapons Convention (the international treaty that bans chemical weapons) applies the term to any toxic chemical or its precursor that can cause death, injury, temporary incapacitation or sensory irritation through its chemical action.
2. The toxic chemicals that have been used as chemical weapons, or have been developed for use as chemical weapons, can be categorized as choking, blister, blood, or nerve agents. The most well known agents are choking agents—chlorine and phosgene; blister agents—mustard and lewisite; and blood agents—hydrogen cyanide, and nerve agents—sarin, tabun, VX.
3. During World War II, Japan was the only country to use chemical weapons on the battlefield. Adolf Hitler refrained from the use of chemical weapons in war, though not from the use of poison gases in concentration camps, likely because of fear of reprisals in kind. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union both maintained enormous stockpiles of chemical weapons, amounting to tens of thousands of tons. The amount of chemical weapons held by these two countries was enough to destroy much of the human and animal life on Earth.
4. As of February 2013, 78.57 percent, of the world's declared stockpile of 71,196 metric tons of chemical agent have been verifiably destroyed. Iraq, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, the Russian Federation, and the United States all have declared they have remaining stockpiles. Combined they must destroy 8.67 million items, including munitions and containers containing in total, 71,196 metric tons of extremely toxic chemical agents. By comparison, a tiny drop of a nerve agent, no larger than the head of a pin, can kill an adult human being within minutes after exposure.
5. Over 98 percent of the world's population lives within territories where the Chemical Weapons Ban has become the law of the land. The two states that have signed the treaty but have not yet ratified it are Israel and Myanmar. The five states that have neither signed nor acceded to the Chemical Weapons Convention are Angola, Egypt, North Korea, South Sudan, and Syria. |
U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton for the Western District of Pennsylvania and U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Eric P. Zahren of the Pittsburgh Field Office today announced the filing of a criminal complaint in Pittsburgh charging a U.S. citizen with leading an international counterfeit currency operation headquartered in the Republic of Uganda.
Ryan Andrew Gustafson, aka Jack Farrel, aka Willy Clock, 27, a U.S. citizen currently residing in Kampala, Uganda, was charged with conspiracy and counterfeiting acts committed outside of the U.S. When he lived in the United States, he mainly resided in Texas and Colorado.
“This complicated, international cyber counterfeiting conspiracy was broken as a result of expert investigation by the Secret Service and a total commitment of all cooperating law enforcement to reject the premise that criminals committing cybercrimes in the U.S. – but who reside outside our borders – cannot be reached,” stated U.S. Attorney Hickton. “We will hold cyber criminals accountable and bring them to justice no matter where they reside.”
“This investigation involves the manufacture of counterfeit U.S. currency, which has been the Secret Service’s core mission since 1865,” said Special Agent in Charge Zahren. “Add to that the modern elements of an international counterfeiting conspiracy utilizing new-age, cyber technology, and it represents the full evolution and unique investigative capabilities of today’s Secret Service.”
As detailed in the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, in December 2013, the Secret Service began investigating the passing of counterfeit Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs), believed to be manufactured in Uganda, at Pittsburgh-area retail stores and businesses. Agents determined that an individual identified as J.G. had passed these notes and was renting a postal box at The UPS Store on Pittsburgh’s South Side. On Feb 19, 2014, law enforcement learned that J.G. received three packages addressed from Beyond Computers, located in Kampala, Uganda. Agents executing a search warrant on the packages found $7,000 in counterfeit $100, $50 and $20 FRNs located in two hidden compartments within the packaging envelopes. A fingerprint on a document inside one of the packages was identified as belonging to Ryan Andrew Gustafson.
The Secret Service subsequently worked with Ugandan authorities to identify the source of the counterfeit FRNs. Their efforts led to A.B., who admitted to sending the packages, explaining that an American named “Jack Farrel,” and another person, provided him the counterfeit notes to ship. Based on information provided by A.B., the Secret Service used facial recognition to identify Jack Farrel as Ryan Andrew Gustafson.
According to the affidavit, J.G. met “Willy Clock” on an online criminal forum called Tor Carding Forum. Through private messaging, J.G. and Clock discussed counterfeit currency and J.G. agreed to purchase counterfeit FRNs.
In January 2014, Clock told J.G. that he had established his own online forum called Community-X, a website dedicated to the selling of counterfeit reserve notes. The forum requires a username and password to access the site, and individuals must be invited and approved by Clock to become members. Secret Service used an undercover operative to communicate with Clock through the website, to purchase additional counterfeit $100 FRNs, and to become a re-shipper of counterfeit notes.
In November 2014, the Secret Service executed a search warrant at the residence of another re-shipper, who had been an active member of Community-X. This person cooperated and provided information that a forum member had traveled to Uganda and brought back more than $300,000 in counterfeit notes.
The Secret Service, working with Ugandan authorities, engaged yet another confidential informant, in Uganda, who had knowledge of Jack Farrel and his counterfeiting operations. On Dec. 11 2014, this confidential informant called Farrel to arrange to purchase counterfeit FRNs. The informant met Farrel’s associate and made the buy. Two trusted sources followed the associate back to Farrel’s home and reported the location to the Secret Service who turned it over to the Uganda Special Investigations Unit. Their search of Farrel’s residence netted two million Ugandan shillings from the buy; $180,420 in counterfeit FRNs; counterfeit Euros, Indian Rupees, Ugandan Shillings, Congo Francs, and Ghana Cedis; computers and printers; inks and ink jet cartridges; paper cutters; glue sticks; “Give a Child Hope Today” pamphlets with counterfeit FRNs in between glued together pages; and a pair of “Anon Hands.” Anon Hands are life-like rubber molds that fit like gloves over the user’s hands and are meant to conceal the wearer’s fingerprints. As noted above Farrel has been identified as Gustafson. Evidence collected at the scene also allowed investigators to identify Gustafson as Willy Clock.
Gustafson was charged by Ugandan authorities on Dec. 16 with conspiracy, possession of counterfeit, selling/dealing in counterfeit, and unlawful possession of ammunition. He was brought before the court that day to be informed about the charges; he also is being represented by counsel in Uganda.
U.S. Secret Service estimates $1.8 million in counterfeit FRNs have been seized and passed in Uganda. The total amount of Ugandan-made counterfeit FRNs seized or passed domestically was approximately $270,000. This amount was limited due to early detection by the Secret Service.
U.S. law provides for a maximum total sentence of 25 years in prison, a fine of $500,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
U.S. Attorney Hickton commended numerous agencies and organizations for conducting the investigation leading to charges in this case, including the Directorate of Public Prosecution, the Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Department, the Special Investigations and Intelligence Unit, and Stanbic Bank in Uganda; various domestic and foreign Secret Service Field Offices, including the Rome, Italy, Field Office and the Criminal Investigative Division in Washington, D.C.; the U.S. State Department; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Homeland Security Investigations; U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the National Cyber-Forensics & Training Alliance.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Shardul S. Desai is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
A criminal complaint contains charges and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty. |
Over the past few months, there’s been dissension in Democratic ranks. Freshman Sen. Kamala Harris of California has impressed many in the Democratic establishment, fueling rumors of a 2020 presidential run. But that doesn’t sit well with the Bernie Sanders wing of the party. Progressive Democrats have questioned Harris’ ideological purity — specifically, her ties to Wall Street.
On Wednesday, Harris took a big step to win over Sanders supporters by co-sponsoring the Vermont senator’s single-payer health care bill.
I intend to co-sponsor the Medicare for All bill because it’s just the right thing to do. — Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 30, 2017
“This is about understanding, again, that health care should be a right, not a privilege. And it’s also about being smart,” Harris told a town hall in Oakland, California. “It is so much better that people have meaningful access to affordable health care at every stage of life, from birth on. Because the alternative is that we as taxpayers otherwise are paying huge amounts of money for them to get their health care in an emergency room. So it’s not only about what is morally and ethically right, it also makes sense from a fiscal standpoint.”
Sanders plans to introduce a bill that would provide Medicare coverage for all Americans. “As a patient, all you need to do is go to the doctor and show your insurance card,” Sanders’ website says. “Bernie’s plan means no more copays, no more deductibles and no more fighting with insurance companies when they fail to pay for charges.”
But, given Republican control of Congress and the White House, its chances of passing anytime soon are slim.
Share images by Scott Pelkey ScottP-Photography/Flickr and Mobilus In Mobili/Flickr. |
Thursday night, Jimmy Fallon interviewed Donald Trump on The Tonight Show. As with every event in this remarkable election, what once would have been a straightforward enough pop-culture appearance was a lot more complicated.
Fallon has established himself as the dominant late-night personality of his age by hosting a sunny variety show in which he gets special access to celebrities by doing goofy things with them. The man has never asked a hardball question in his life, and, relatedly, reliably makes famous people seem charming. Earlier this year, Fallon had Hillary Clinton on his show; he lobbed softball questions before a hometown crowd and gave her a viral moment when she demurred that she was “not worried” about Donald Trump. Following the existing script for non-partisan behavior, Fallon invited Trump on the show, where last night he lobbed softball questions before a hometown crowd and gave him a viral moment by mussing his infamous hair.
But Fallon was working from an old, outdated script, one that misses both the moral and the mortal threat of this year’s election. Twitter exploded with criticism of Fallon from the left, viewers furious that, by acting as if this election is like past elections, Fallon was normalizing Trump’s bigotry, xenophobia and lies:
FALLON: May I...muss your mustache
HITLER comically grimaces to the audience which is exploding with cheers and applause — Dan O'Sullivan (@Bro_Pair) September 16, 2016
Any appearance that gives Trump free rein to charm without challenging him, goes this argument, establishes a false equivalence between Trump and previous Republican candidates—as well as between Trump and Clinton. Trump is not just another candidate and despite structural incentives to treat him as such, doing so has a moral valence, even if it is only intended to have entertainment value.
I’ll confess that I find this line of reasoning persuasive, and yet still wonder where that leaves someone like Jimmy Fallon, a man allergic to the tough question. In this circumstance, Fallon is like the dog who, tail wagging, brings a suicidal America a loaded gun. A dog is gonna be a dog, even on the eve of Kristallnacht. Donald Trump and this election are different and more crucial than any election in recent memory, but if, as many liberals would have it, this election should answer the question, “What would you have done during Hitler’s rise to power?” I hope the answer is: something more than fuming at a late-night host.
One can wish that Fallon would have gone after Trump, or at least asked him something pointed, while still understanding that to have done so would have not only been entirely out of character for a professional sycophant, but would also have signaled Fallon’s partisanship in the other direction. Who cares! one might say: There is not just left and right here, but right and wrong. But Fallon, who wants a career putting America to sleep for many years to come, may be particularly sensitive to the appearance of partisanship. (And thrumming underneath the outrage about this interview is the very partisan anxiety that Hillary can’t be as “charming” in this context, and so treating the two the same is not just immoral, it’s advantage Trump.)
What Fallon’s interview demonstrated is that in this election there is no longer a non-partisan space, no non-contentious ground. There are no Switzerlands in the 2016 election. Behaving in a traditionally un-partisan way, which is to say hosting goofy, lame late-night interviews with both candidates, is in fact, partisan—and so is the reverse. Fallon’s interview with Trump will soon be a minor footnote to the most feverish and frightening election in recent memory, but the real question it raises will linger long after it’s done: not how we can go on watching a hack like Jimmy Fallon, but how we can go on as Americans, living with one another. |
UPDATE: Former DNC director of Data Science Andrew Therriault shot off a tweet posthumously mocking Seth Rich – referring to him as “An Embarrasment.” Clearly he knew this was Rich’s account. Therriault deleted the tweet today, but the internet never forgets…
After private investigator Rich Wheeler claimed proof exists that murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich gave Wikileaks the infamous leaked emails from the 2016 presidential campaign (statements he’s since walked back on) – Reddit and 4chan have been hard at work trying to connect the dots surrounding Rich’s murder.
To that end, a user in Reddit’s ‘the_donald’ forum has found Seth Rich’s Reddit account – ‘MeGrimlock4’ (a Transformers reference) revealing much about the slain DNC staffer. For the most part, Rich seemed like a regular kinda guy – into football, dogs, patriotism, riding his bike, fun clothes, and volunteering at the Washington Humane Society.
The link – Seth Rich posts his email address while trying to help get the word out about his parents’ missing dog
His last submitted topic was about patriotic clothes
(jacket, shorts)
Seth loved pandas
Really
Really
Really
Loved Pandas
He was a Joe Rogan fan
He took a picture with Warren Buffett
He believed in the Armenian genocide
He had a guiding quote
Then, Redditor /u/FricasseeingRabbit then found what appears to be a pro-Bernie Sanders alternate twitter account which is very close in spelling to Rich’s primary account.
———-
(post here)
Seth Rich’s twitter is @panda4progress, which follows @Reddit, which led us to believe he was in fact a redditor. That seems consistent with this reddit account, in that they’re both in DC and have an interest in bicycles. Edit: not JUST bicycles. A company named “split” which this account is talking about here @Panda4Progress talks to them here. Also /u/MeGrimlock4 is posting about Nebraska football.
Rich was from Omaha. No cornfed midwestern kid from Nebraska isn’t a Huskers fan. THIS IS DEFINITELY SETH RICH’S ACCOUNT
Here’s where it gets interesting: /u/pandas4bernie and a tumblr by the same name ALSO stopped posting at the same time as this account. If that’s Rich, then that proves motive. Rich was a BernieBro.
———-
Which may be why Rich gave WikiLeaks the DNC emails – after they false flagged Bernie…
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) uses an outside software partner “NGP VAN,” founded by Nathaniel Pearlman, chief technology officer for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. Their ‘VoteBuilder’ software was designed for Democratic candidates (Bernie, Hillary, etc.) to track and analyze highly detailed information on voters for the purposes of ‘microtargeting’ specific demographics.
On December 16th, 2015, NGP VAN updated the Votebuilder with a patch that contained a bug – allowing the Sanders and the Clinton campaigns to temporarily access each other’s proprietary voter information for around 40 minutes. Lo and behold, the Sanders campaign National Data Director, Josh Uretsky, was found to have accessed Clinton’s information and promptly fired.
Uretsky’s excuse was that he was simply grabbing Clinton’s data during the window of vulnerability to prove that the breach was real.
Bernie cried false flag!
Sanders claimed that Uretsky was a DNC plant – “recommended by the DNC’s National Data Director, as well as a former COO of NGP VAN.”
Of note, Seth Rich was not the National Data Director. According to the DNC’s 2016 roster, Seth Rich was the DNC’s “Voter Expansion Data Director” while Andrew Brown was the National Data Director – who Bernie said referred Uretsky.
So Seth Rich, a Bernie supporter, would have known people involved in the ‘hack’ Bernie says was meant to frame him…
It’s easy to speculate how Seth Rich could have become disgruntled after witnessing the DNC attempt to sabotage the Sanders campaign. As such, it’s not a stretch to imagine that Rich – a guy with access to sensitive emails and technical skills, did in fact communicate with Wikileaks in order to expose and root out the DNC’s misdeeds.
(OR, Rich was involved in the DNC breach)
Another rumor floating around is that Rich was involved in the December 2015 ‘hack’ on the Clinton DNC files, since he was one of about four people who would have had access during the 40 minute window of vulnerability.
Given Rich’s apparent support of Bernie Sanders, however, it seems unlikely he would work to frame his campaign for hacking.
Whatever the truth, I’m sure Reddit and 4chan anons will fill everybody in.
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This was supposed to be a triumphal year for Brazil and its President, Dilma Rousseff. The first woman to be elected to that office, Mrs. Rousseff was the protégé and successor to the popular Luíz Inácio (Lula) da Silva; she had inherited in 2011 a government with sound finances, a burgeoning middle class and the opportunity to host the wildly popular World Cup in 2014. This year, Brazil is supposed to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, which would have been the showcase for a modernized country that had successfully escaped the “middle income” trap of developing nations. Instead, the Brazilian economy has been in freefall for almost 8 consecutive quarters, the country is facing a new and frightening pandemic disease, the work for the Olympics is far behind schedule and Mrs. Rousseff’s Administration is being rocked by such horrendous corruption scandals that the Congress is weighing her impeachment. Instead of a triumphal year, Brazil has entered the year of ungovernability.
The political trouble started almost as soon as she had been sworn in for her second term; an investigation in the south of the country led the Federal Police to a known money launderer, Alberto Youssef, who had made a “gift” of a Range Rover to the Director of Supplies of Petrobras, Paulo Roberto Costa. As arrests were made and bargains were struck, the trail led to a clique of corporate executives, middle men and politicos who were engaged in a number of illicit activities including: money-laundering, price fixing, illegal campaign contributions, and bribery, sums totaling over 2.1 billion reais (USD 1.3 billion at 2012 exchange rates). This led to the arrest and indictment of 11 senior executives from four Petrobras suppliers, 3 top Petrobras executives and more than 50 politicians, all but one of them related to the Rousseff coalition. To find so extensive a list of allegedly corrupt public figures, one would have to go to Spain, where there are over 2,000 under varying degrees of indictment. These were not minor officials either; implicated are the President of the Senate, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, the Treasurer of the Worker’s Party, and numerous other Senators and Deputies. The list continues to grow and this Friday, the popular former President Lula da Silva had his house searched by the Federal Police while he was taken into temporary custody to make a declaration.
The implications of this magnitude 9 political quake go far beyond Petrobras or the Rousseff Administration. It highlights the way things are done in the country, the virtual impunity with which major corporations can carry-on their “business as usual” shenanigans and the insignificance of the well-being or wishes of the average Brazilian amongst all the sordidness. In November 2015, a retaining dam burst at an iron mine belonging to BHP Billiton and Brazilian JV partner Vale. The resulting flood of toxic waters, containing fatal concentrations of arsenic, mercury and other heavy metals, flowed down the Rio Doce, killing 17 people and destroying aquatic life for 500 miles until emptying into the South Atlantic, where it has also played havoc with coastal fisheries and ecosystems. The companies have recently agreed to a settlement of USD 1.55 billion in damages, but there will be no investigation of possible criminal negligence in the dam rupture; and while the damages are certainly large, they represent less than one quarter of profit for Vale SA, which earned USD 1.68 billion in the second quarter of 2015 alone.
Petrobras and Vale may be the most egregious examples of unpunished corporate malfeasance, but they are not the only ones. Norte Energía SA and the government continue to push for the construction of the Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu River, despite the required displacement of over 40,000 indigenous peoples, large cost overruns, uncertain returns on the investment and grave concerns over the long-term ecological impact on that region of the Amazon. Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro – home of the swimming and sailing events in the upcoming Games – is so polluted thanks to lax enforcement of clean water standards and State government’s lack of funds that mass fish die-offs are a common occurrence.
Not all of Brazil’s troubles are related to corruption or cronyism. The country rode the wave of high commodity prices during the mid-2000’s, while the real estate sector boomed thanks to government subsidized building initiatives as well as the demand of a growing middle class. But the drop in oil prices and the turmoil in China’s economy – Brazil’s most important export destination – have caused the bottom to fall out of the two main motors of growth. The economy began to contract in the first quarter of 2014 and Brazil’s GDP has now been falling for 7 of the past 9 quarters. This is technically known as a depression, the worst that the country has suffered in two decades, and there is no end in sight.
One area where prosperity was most evident was in the urban property markets. Housing prices almost quadrupled in Sao Paolo in real terms between 2008 and 2015 while historically low interest rates encourage many first-time homeowners to take out a mortgage. But the worsening economic situation has led to a rapid increase in interest rates, squeezing those first-time buyers the monthly payment on a modest R$250,000 two bedroom home has gone from R$4,950 to R$7,680. This is above the median income of R$7,440 and has led to a spike in defaults as well as reducing the disposable income of households for discretionary consumption.
Consumption has also suffered due to the softening of the formerly resilient labor market. Although unemployment rates are nowhere near the disastrous levels of Southern Europe, they are worrying enough to the Brazilian government, which is paying out more and more in benefits to the unemployed at the time its revenues are decreasing.
Brazilian families are not only worrying about their employment prospects and the increase in their mortgages; they are nervous at the rapid increase of inflation. One of the principal achievements of Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Lula’s predecessor, was a series of important economic reforms including a taming of the persistent and damaging inflation. The current spike in inflation is by no means unwelcome in an overly indebted nation, but many older Brazilians still remember the days of hyperinflation and rightly dread any hint of a possible return. Meanwhile, the Central Bank is limited in its ability to combat this inflation; any significant increase in interest rates will only compound the contraction in the real economy. For those Americans of my generation or older, we well remember this unwholesome situation by the ugly name of “stagflation”.
Household consumption, business investment, manufacturing and services PMI, exports: all the key components of GDP are moving powerfully in the wrong direction.
The only component which has increased has been government spending. The federal budget deficit stands at 10% of GDP, a necessary and non-discretionary increase in response to increased unemployment claims and fiscal stimulus. The debt-to-GDP ratio has increased tremendously under the dual impact of fiscal expansion and economic contraction and the Brazilian government is finding it increasingly difficult and expensive to meet its financial needs since all three credit agencies have downgraded the Brazilian bond to junk status.
The sickness of the Brazilian economy may very well spread; and not only to her South American neighbors, whose economies are dwarfed by the verde amarelho giant. There are a number of European and American multinationals who are highly exposed to Brazil and likely to suffer the all-too predictable consequences, starting with two of beleaguered Spain’s flagship companies: Telefónica and Santander. Both companies derive almost half of their revenues from their emerging markets operations and Brazil is the largest component of these; Santander doubled down on its investment last year with the purchase of the outstanding shares of its Brazilian unit for USD 5.2 billion. Nor are they the only ones, sickly Europe has a larger exposure to emerging markets than American firms do, on average.
The combination of a soft global economy and a paralyzed government makes a possibility of a natural or quick recovery seem remote. Mrs. Rousseff’s government is in no position to make any of the necessary reforms to encourage investment, reduce the country risk and prime the macro-economic pump; the only reason that her government has not yet fallen is that so many of those who would be impeaching her are themselves implicated. Nor is it likely that a sudden rise in oil or a sharp increase in demand for Brazilian commodities will generate an export-led growth. Paralysis, malaise and deepening woe seem the most likely future in the short-term, unless fate lends a helping hand through some external agency. |
North Korea has said it would release and deport a 75-year-old Australian missionary detained since last month for allegedly distributing religious materials.
Hong Kong-based John Short was arrested after leaving "Bible tracts" in a Buddhist temple in the capital Pyongyang during a tour, the North's state-run KCNA news agency said.
"Short acknowledged that his actions were ... unforgivable crimes in violation of our laws, offered an apology and begged for forgiveness," KCNA said.
In a show of North Korea's "generosity" and in view of his advanced age, the decision was taken to deport him, the agency said.
It added that Mr Short had apparently distributed religious leaflets in a crowded subway train in Pyongyang during a previous tour in August 2012.
He was also detained in countries such as China and Vietnam in the past for distributing religious leaflets, KCNA said, citing Short.
His wife, Karen Short, said the Australian government had confirmed her husband's upcoming release.
"Possibility is becoming reality.(I'm) amazingly thankful," she told AFP.
Although religious freedom is enshrined in the communist country's constitution, it does not exist in practice and religious activity is severely restricted to officially recognised groups linked to the government.
Pyongyang views foreign missionaries as seditious elements intent on fomenting unrest and those who are caught engaging in any activities in the North are subject to immediate arrest.
A number of missionaries - mostly US citizens - have been arrested in the past with some allowed to return home after interventions by high-profile US figures.
Pyongyang is currently holding US citizen Kenneth Bae, described by a North Korean court as a militant Christian evangelist.
He was arrested in November 2012 and later sentenced to 15 years' hard labour on charges of seeking to topple the government.
A South Korean missionary has also been detained since last October.
Kim Jeong-Wook, in a televised press conference staged in Pyongyang last, "confessed" to anti-government activities including helping organise underground churches for North Korean refugees in China and spying for Seoul's intelligence authorities.
Edited by Bonnie Malkin |
July 19, 2011 at 10:34 AM
Posted by Brier Dudley
A week after orchestrating the sale of PopCap Games for up to $1.3 billion, the company's chief executive, Dave Roberts, unloaded on the casual games industry.
Roberts was an opening speaker at the Casual Connect industry conference that's running today through Thursday at Benaroya Hall.
Roberts took the opportunity to let loose a string of rants, urging game companies and developers to take the high road.
His speech was titled "10 things I hate about casual games." They include:
1. Gamification. He suggested it's a trend enriching conference organizers trying to get corporate money into their pockets by promising to make anyone an "engagement expert." "Really? Is everything a game?"
2. Portals. "I am sick to death of portals," he said, specifically the commissions they charge game developers. "How can you charge developers 60 or 70 percent? I've been predicting for years that this would end ... and it continues to mystify me." Even with competition from Apple, Facebook and others, the portal rates haven't come down. Roberts said he makes more money selling a copy of "Bejeweled" at Wal-Mart - with physical stores and greeters - than at Yahoo's portal.
3. Get rich quick. "More than any other business I've ever worked in it seems to attract people who think it's going to be really easy," he said, noting that "Angry Birds" was something like the 52nd game made by Rovio.
4. Commoditization. "We have to figure out how to stop making shovelware ... it really cheapens the whole industry." Distributors need to be more selective and developers need to focus on quality, he said.
5. Money over fun. This was a reference to "evil social games" that trick people, lead to people pressuring friends on social networks and let players pay their way to the top of leaderboards. "Really those games make you feel like a beggar," he said. PopCap is also making social games "but we don't start in the dark underbelly" and the company doesn't "want to ruin the environment for everybody."
6. Simple games are easy to make. "This notion has been bugging me for years ... making simple products is way more difficult than making complicated products," he said. "Simple is more complicated, simple is elegant, simple is harder."
7. Attack of the clones. Roberts showed a slide for a mock game called "VilleVille," then lambasted developers who look at the top-selling game charts and then copy the leaders. "Really do you think you can out Farmville Zynga? What's the point." This is "a blight on the industry that drives me crazy."
8. Stupid venture money. A lot of investors Roberts talked to over the years "look at our business as if it's a manufacturing business" and expect it to be able to speed up production of its widgets. Money from these investors can "disrupt the entire ecosystem" putting in money "that makes it harder for people making great games."
9. Middleware mania. Roberts called out "snake oil" vendors with tools promising to magically and instantly convert a PC game into a mobile and social title by pressing a single button. It never works, he said. "Usually the stupid venture money funds the stupid middleware companies," he added.
10. Independent game companies. This was a self reference - PopCap was a standout independent, until last week's sale to EA.
Roberts also added one thing that he likes about casual games:
"We sell fun for a living. How awesome is that?"
He didn't say anything about the awesomeness of the $25 million-plus bonus that he received last week.
During a question session, Roberts touched on "frothy IPO" prices and said he doesn't envy chief executives running companies such as LinkedIn with high valuations based on expectations of their markets three to five years in the future.
Zynga's going to have to "grow into" the valuation set by its offering, he said.
"I don't think you can read into the frothy IPO market as a gauge of how the market will look three or four or five years from now," he said.
Roberts said he's restricted in what he can say about the sale to Electronic Arts until the deal closes, but mentioned briefly at the end that "we did prety well with the deal with EA and we're excited about it."
Even though he put up a slide showing EA as the Death Star
. |
The guy who better win Album of the Year at next year's Grammys is gracing the cover of Variety's special Hitmakers issue. In an accompanying pair of interviews, that guy—Kendrick Lamar—discussed his idea of what constitutes a so-called "hit record," the importance of the album format, his creative process, his growth as an artist, and his fruitful relationship with Mike Will Made-It.
"Is it the amount of streams or the amount of sales or the amount of spins on the radio?" Lamar asked of what makes a "hit record" click. "Nobody can really justify which one it is, because I've heard hundreds of records from inside the neighborhood that were quote-unquote 'hit records' and never stood a day outside the community."
Using his own "Alright" as an example, which he said was probably "the biggest record in the world" at one point, Lamar explained that a hit shouldn't necessarily be determined by stats and charts. "You might not have heard it on the radio all day, but you're seeing it in the streets, you're seeing it on the news, and you're seeing it in communities, and people felt it," he said.
Lamar, explaining his creative process, said his breakthrough creative moment came when he decided to pull back from the traditional idea of chasing hit records and commercial acceptance. That meant dropping the K-Dot moniker. "Early, early on, I really wanted to be signed," he said. "And that was a mistake, because it pushes you two steps backwards when you have this concept of 'OK, I've got to make these three [commercial] songs in order to get out into the world and be heard.' So there were two or three years where I wanted to be signed so badly that I'm making these same two or three repetitive demo kinds of records, and I'm hindering my growth."
POST CONTINUES BELOW
He added that we could have gotten the Kendrick we know now "two or three years earlier" if he'd learned this lesson sooner.
The process going into a new project now, Lamar said, consists of 70 percent formulating ideas and 30 percent collecting sounds. "Then it's about figuring out which angle I'm going to attack it from and how the listener is going to perceive it," he said, noting that his greatest skill is "taking cohesive ideas and putting them on wax." Read Lamar's full interview with Variety right here.
59e51b198dd15d6d9ce65b97
In a separate video interview, Lamar was hit with a series of inquiries ranging from his most recent binge-watch (Stranger Things, of course) to his current favorite movie (Get Out). Check out that discussion, which also sees Lamar naming his favorite verse and revealing his go-to 2Pac album, in the video up top. |
About
The Goal:
'Escorted Chronicles' (by Julio A. Alonzo and Carlos Medrano) will be a 15 minute film written and produced in the style of an episodic series. It will carry the same tone, theme, and some of the main characters from the "Escorted" (written by Julio A. Alonzo Keiland Goffigon Tony Patrick) feature screenplay.
The Vision:
'Escorted Chronicles' is a short film that will engage audiences who love a dark crime drama filled with action, violence, and everything in between. When out of production, Escorted Chronicles will go to market as a short-film then later, hosted as episode one for the web series.
Once this project is complete, they will submit a link for a private online screening and film download for all Kickstarter supporters who pledged 15 dollars or more. Then the film will be exhibited at film festivals, and hopefully, generate interest from network and feature film executives and producers with the goal of moving this film project forward.
The 'Escorted' full feature screenplay has earned the following accolades:
● 2013 - Final Draft Screenwriting Competition (Semi-Finals) Out of 1,373 Feature Film submissions in the Drama genre.
● 2013 - Happy Writers Screenwriting Contest (Semi-Finals) Out of 943 Feature Film submissions.
*The long term, big picture goal is to eventually find a home for the 'Escorted' IP (Intellectual Property).
- Director, Co-Writer and Producer
In 2009, Julio moved to Dallas, TX to pursue a career in acting and film production. He invested with a group of other like minded creatives and co-founded Ludus Studios AKA Ludisian Legion Entertainment, LLC a multimedia production company.
He served as CEO and General Sales Manager from 2010-2012 and during his tenure he helped champion and co-produce many successful music-videos, commercials, media spec-spots and an award winning short film.
Sundown United Magazine Interview:
The Up’s of Down!: Full Interview with Julio Antonio Alonzo @ Ludus Studios & Dream. Work. Conquer. Films
Story Inspiration:
Before I was a filmmaker, I was the front man of a semi-successful rock/rap band in the 90s'. In spite of what reality TV would have us all believe, making it in the business, is not all glitz and glam. Even though I was signed; I found myself in a vicious cycle, trying to make ends meet.
One day I picked up the news paper and answered an ad titled "Drivers Wanted." ...and this is where the story begins.
Me with my band back in the day.
Synopsis:
"Escorted" follows JOSEPH MACKAFEE, a down and out, drug-addicted musician struggling to re-establish himself after the colossal failure of his former rock group, Band of Thieves. Joseph, who was just on the brink of stardom, gets kicked out of the band. It was at the same time that he discovers he has fathered a son with a groupie that he now he feels obligated to marry. To make matters worst, Isaac the violent, sex peddling, mobster who financed Joseph’s former rock group’s album is seeking to recoup his investment any way possible.
To pay off his debt, Joseph is forced into the precarious job of an escort driver. This job immerses him into an unknown world that he has to navigate through. This is a world full of crime, drug trafficking, prostitution, and violence. In another twist to this already intense situation, he soon finds out that one of Isaac’s best escorts, who Joseph now has to drive to various jobs, is his new sister-in-law, Natalia.
Different Spin:
Both projects are original 'spec' screenplays, based off true events that contain gritty overtones. This project will be similar to network series such as, Breaking Bad and feature films like Drive and Hustle and Flow. The goal is to offer the audience a glimpse into a dark world from the perspective of the escort driver that plays the role of bodyguard, shrink, and drug trafficker that few – ever see.
Actors Attached:
Mayra Leal - Natalia
Mayra Leal
PROPS to Mayra, she was very cool to jump in the pre-trailer that you see above.
In 2009 Mayra received a call to audition for the Robert Rodriguez directed action film, "Machete". She landed the role and worked alongside famed actors Danny Trejo and Steven Segal. Soon after she landed a role in an episode of the ABC series "The Deep End" directed by Timothy Busfield and earned the lead role of the black widow Blair in "Playing House".
A few months later, Mayra filmed "Arena" with Samuel L. Jackson and Kellan Lutz in Baton Rouge as well as "Memphis Beat" with series leads Jason Lee and Sam Hennings. More recently, she's had guest appearances on TNT's "Southland" and ABC's "Revolution".
Al Dias - Issac
AL DIAS has been involved with the entertainment industry for over 20 years. Best known for his debut role as the Loan Shark Michael in the feature film "The Ringer" starring Johnny Knoxville and Katherine Heigl.
Having worked with many talented and gifted individuals such as The Legendary Chuck Norris, Brian Cox, the creative mastermind Robert Rodriguez, Danny Trejo, The Farrelly Brothers and more, has provided a foundation for Mr. Dias to build and expand his pursuits into productions of great significance such as Machete, Spy Kids 4D, Sin City: A Dame to Kill
Having worked with many talented and gifted individuals such as The Legendary Chuck Norris, Brian Cox, the creative mastermind Robert Rodriguez, Danny Trejo, The Farrelly Brothers and more, has provided a foundation for Mr. Dias to build and expand his pursuits into productions of great significance such as Machete, Spy Kids 4D, Sin City: A Dame to Kill Limited Edition Swag: Once this project is funded you will no longer have the opportunity to purchase the shirt or poster with the current designs.
Once this project is funded you will no longer have the opportunity to purchase the shirt or poster with the current designs. * Movie posters that are included in the $175.00 package will be the only posters signed by the cast and crew. Offical limited "Escorted" 18 x 24 movie poster. T-Shirt Designs:
Mens Escorted Tshirt
Womans Escorted Tshirt Gray
Womans Escorted Tshirt Red
Cast and Crew for the Kickstarter video:
Directed by Julio Antonio Alonzo and Shane Connelly
Screenwriter - Julio Antonio Alonzo
Director of Cinematography and Editor - Shane Connelly
Assistant Director and AC - Colin C Njemanze
Cast:
Escort - Mayra J. Leal
Julio – Himself
Voice of the Man - Tyger Anthony
Crew:
Field Mixer and Audio Engineer - John Guel
Sound Design -Shane Connelly and John Gruel
Make Up Artist - JTlovebeauty Lamik Houston
Wardrobe - Michelle Alonzo Rabago
Voice Over and ADR Services - SugarHill Studios -
Friends and Fam:
Brad Mcklintock, Jason Giordano and Giordano Construction, Michael Weems, Robert Miller, Carlos Medrano, Dan Workman, Sugarhill Studios, Chase Saumell, Sundown United, Ja'el Sundown
Alonzo Entertainment
Where your contributions will help cover the cost: |
West Virginia Sheriff Shot, Killed Near County Courthouse
Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum was shot and killed on Wednesday as he ate his lunch inside his vehicle.
The Charleston Gazette quotes one eyewitness as saying he saw a man pull up to Crum's car and shoot him "right in the head."
The paper adds:
"Tennis Melvin Maynard, 37, of Delbarton, has been arrested in connection to the shooting, according to West Virginia State Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Baylous. "Baylous said a Mingo County Sheriff's Deputy spotted Maynard in a car near Delbarton following the shooting and began to chase him. He said Maynard wrecked his car and jumped out, pointing a gun at the deputy."
Of course, this shooting follows the killing of three other public officials across the country. In January, Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse was killed in front of the courthouse; on March 20, the head of Colorado's Department of Corrections was shot and killed when he opened the door to his home; on March 31, Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia Woodward McLelland were shot and killed near their home in Forney, Texas. There is no indication that all these shootings are related.
WOWK-TV reports that the West Virginia Sheriff's Association were "stunned and devastated" after the shooting.
"When someone walks up and shoots the chief law enforcement officer of the county it knocks you back," the association said in a statement. "We are currently gathering information and waiting for more details. We are just asking everyone to please pray for Sheriff Crum's family and the law enforcement community as we sort out the information."
The AP reports that Crum won an election with an anti-drug campaign. "Crum led a drug task force and an initiative called Operation Zero Tolerance, making good on a campaign pledge," the AP reports.
NPR's Wade Goodwyn reports that today a federal prosecutor in Houston withdrew from prosecuting a case against the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas. Wade sent this report to our Newscast unit: |
Wars were fought to impose opium addiction as a form of social control, making huge profits, and keeping the imperial system going, by the British. The CIA today is funded in exactly the same way. Vietnam was targeted in a war to take control of the drug industry from the French. War and drugs go hand in hand and have done so for centuries. Air America was shipping heroin around the world from Vietnam funding the war.
Afghanistan was a war to control the production of opium/heroin. Dubai became the laundry for cleaning up the drug money. HSBC involved in the drugs trade right from the very beginning up to this very day.
The Taliban eradicated the opium trade, which is why they became the primary enemy of Washington.
Nicaragua was a White House based operation, concerning cocaine, orchestrated by Vice President George Bush. The drug money funded the Contras.
Guns were given by US government to Mexican drug cartels. These weapons were used to kill US Drug enforcement officers.
The world’s drug industry is controlled from the City Of London. Guns, Drugs and Oil are the basis of the international financial system.. The big three.
All tax havens like Jersey, Cayman islands, Doha, Qatar thrive by laundering the world’s illegal money. Millions die every year from consuming drugs and from gang activity. The drug problem will have to be defeated, and it starts with the criminalisation of the world’s biggest banks. |
America, land of peace? Not necessarily. The U.S. no longer ranks in the top 100 most peaceful nations on Earth.
It stands at No. 103, according to the Global Peace Index, a comprehensive statistical analysis that quantifies the relative peacefulness of 162 countries. Such nations as Cuba, Gabon, Sri Lanka, Haiti and Bangladesh are ranked as “more peaceful” than America, the massive study found.
Released Wednesday, the tenth annual assessment is data-driven and measures such influences as internal crime statistics, political forces, refugee activity, population trends and other factors — including terrorism, the number of homicides and economic conditions.
The most peaceful spots on the planet? Iceland, followed by Denmark, Austria, New Zealand, Portugal, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Canada, Japan and Slovenia for the top 10.
Syria is at the very bottom of the list followed by South Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia, Yemen, Central Africa Republic, Ukraine, Sudan, Libya and Pakistan.
China is ranked at 120, Russia at 151. An interactive map ranking the nations can be found here.
Issued by the Institute for Economics and Peace, an Australia-based think tank, the report stated that there had been a “historic decline in world peace” in the last decade, largely driven by conflict, terrorism and political instability in the Middle East and North Africa.
“The breadth of terrorism is spreading,with only 23 percent of countries in the index not experiencing a a terrorist incident,” the analysis said.
A combative world is also an expensive one, the study found. The cost of military readiness and response, the impact of refugees, the cost of internal security and other factors adds up.
“The economic impact of violence on the global economy amounted to $13.6 trillion or 13.3 percent of the gross world product,” the analysis stated. The total for the last decade is $137 trillion.
“Terrorism is at an all-time high, battle deaths from conflict are at a 25-year high, and the number of refugees and displaced people are at a level not seen in 60 years,” the report said, noting that 60 million people — almost 1 percent of the world’s population — are now displaced.
The report also had a warning. According to the study, political instability in Brazil is up by 15 percent, along with increases in police activity and incarceration — “a worrying trend just months before the start of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.”
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission. |
Beer enthusiasts in Western Michigan have celebrated and enjoyed the Winter Beer Festival that the Michigan Brewers Guild hosts for nine years, each one more popular and enjoyable than the last. Between the live music, glorious warm food, and beer debuts, it's hard to find fault with anything outside of the winter chill.
In 2015, the 10th annual Winter Beer Festival hits Fifth Third Ballpark courtesy of the Michigan Brewers Guild, and it's introducing a new concept sure to thrill hopheads all along Lake Michigan: instead of simply being held on Saturday, the Festival will be open on Friday as well.
So, with a two-day celebration (February 27-28) staring you down like a hungry wolf, how does one prepare for that much fun?
1. Get yourself a ticket!
The tickets went on sale December 4th at 10am, and as far as I know most if not all of the tickets were gobbled up in the ensuing time frame. However, that doesn't mean you should give up hope if you didn't procure yourself a ticket: there are plenty of other avenues to attending.
Check local breweries, gastropubs, and taphouses for any sort of promotions that involve tickets - occasionally some of these places will get extra tickets and announce it on their websites, Facebooks, or Twitters. Being vigilant can pay off in that respect, as well as surfing Craigslist, eBay, Stubhub, or just asking folks you know if they have any leads (or extra tickets).
I mean hey, you've got two months! Don't surrender to despair yet!
2. Layers, Layers, Layers
This is Michigan, and this is the last gasp of winter - we can only assume it's going to be cold, snowy, and partially miserable. Therefore, make sure you have a comfortable amount of layers to keep yourself warm: from a thermal undershirt to your favorite hoodie, make sure you have some warm clothing to gird yourself underneath your presumably winter coat. Personally, when I last attended I went with a thermal undershirt, a long sleeve shirt, a hoodie, and a thick pea coat, and I was beyond comfortable. Having a scarf, hat, and gloves also helped.
And do not forget to layer up your feet, regardless of your footwear: it gets sloshy and mucky with hundreds of people trampling the same patches of ground, and your shoes or boots can get damp in a hurry. Wearing a couple layers of socks, with varying degrees of thickness, is a great idea, and even lining your boots with Ziploc bags can help keep the wet out and your tootsies toasty.
3. Carbs keep you happy
If you've Google image searched any sort of beef festival you'll see a recurring image of people wearing pretzel necklaces. This is actually a thing, and it's WONDERFUL.
According to the FAQ page for purchasing tickets, the following is allowed in:
water and other non-alcoholic beverages in non-glass containers, food, coolers, hydration backpacks, folding/camping chairs.
What I did when I went was take a satchel, fill it with pretzels, Combos, water, and pizza, and made sure I ate what was in the bag in addition to forcing my wobbly friends to partake as well.
No one wants you sloppy - not your friends, your family, or the other attendees, and carbs will keep you reasonably happy.
4. Arrange for a ride
The last thing you want when all is said and done is to be drunk in a remotely abandoned parking lot, hoping to figure out a way home. So, before you even go, make sure you have transportation.
There are designated driver tickets available for five bucks a piece, so you can pay for a friend's ticket (and food...) and ensure yourself a lift, or you can use Uber or a cab, or just in general plot out a plan to get you from your Merry Beermas and back home into a cup of coffee and some Chinese food.
5. Plan of attack
Lastly, the Winter Beer Festival will be putting out a 2015 program outlining all the different breweries and distributors who will be attending, and where their booths will be. Download that, and hammer out a plan of attack to hit up your most desired beverages all while receiving maximum camaraderie, optimal eats, and stopping by the open pit fires to warm yourself.
Also, you proooobably should find out where the bathrooms are before you "break the seal."
So there you have it: five ways to make sure you have a great time at the Winter Beer Festival all while not looking like a rookie. Follow these tips and make sure to have yourself a merry little Beermas, and maybe we'll see you there! |
The U.S. Commission on Presidential Debates on Monday released the polls it will use to determine which candidates will take to the stage in September for their first presidential debate—and shut out third-party candidates in the process.
The Hill reports:
Candidates will need to hit an average of 15 percent in polls conducted by ABC/Washington Post, CBS/New York Times, CNN/Opinion Research Corporation, Fox News, and NBC/Wall Street Journal. The 15 percent threshold had been announced months ago, but the commission released its polling selections on Monday after consultation with Frank Newport, the editor-in-chief of Gallup.
As of Monday, neither Libertarian Gary Johnson nor the Green Party's Jill Stein had enough support to get a spot onstage alongside Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, which open debate advocates say amounts to a fraud of bipartisanism.
One such advocacy group, RootsAction, launched a petition on Monday calling for the executives at ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox Broadcasting, PBS, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Univision, and Telemundo to present debates including all four candidates, even if the commission—or Trump or Clinton—wants otherwise.
"If Trump or Clinton balk, let them know you're happy to leave their podium empty," the petition states.
RootsAction co-founder Jeff Cohen also wrote a column on Monday that noted:
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If ten major TV networks got together and decided to nationally televise a presidential debate restricted to Republican nominee Donald Trump and right-leaning Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson, while barring other candidates including Democrat Hillary Clinton, it would be recognized as an act of media bias or exclusion. But what if the televised debates this fall are restricted to just Trump and Clinton? That, too, needs to be recognized as an intentional act of media exclusion.
In addition to the importance of highlighting strong third-party candidates, Cohen said, allowing Stein and Johnson to debate would reflect the growing public disillusionment with establishment politics.
"In the political realm, after Ds and Rs unabashedly announced that they formed a commission for the purpose of maintaining their duopoly of power, one might expect a reaction from TV news executives—especially in an election year when the D and R nominees are so widely disliked and mistrusted," he wrote.
Earlier this month, a federal judge rejected a lawsuit by the Green and Libertarian Parties that sought to claim a podium at the debates.
"Plaintiffs in this case have not alleged a non-speculative injury traceable to the Commission," U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer wrote at the time.
Johnson's campaign manager Ron Nielson expressed disappointment in that rationale, stating, "There is clearly an unprecedented desire for alternatives to the Republican and Democratic nominees, and voters deserve an opportunity to see and hear that there are, in fact, other credible, serious choices." |
Comments
ArtsicleOfficial: The beginning is literally impossible. You forgot the make the ladder have a platform.
Glyph17: I know you want your levels to be hard. But for the love of the gods, please don't make them living nightmares... I completed you level, but i had to do the puzzles separately to undertstand them then do them reliably using the level editor. This means they are individually so hard that completing them all in one try would not require skill, but 95% of luck. The timing puzzle are too tight, and there are no indications about what you have to do. Luckily I know some things about terrain generation and interactions between push blocks and worm meat, but what if i didn't ? If you just put some signs to give some indications, the level would be enjoyable. But right now, It is too hard to be. Well, even if the puzzles are REALLY hard, i managed complete them all in one go, but only because i kinda cheated with the level editor to do them separately before. The puzzles are really smart, but they require knowledge about the game mechanics not everyone has. I still enjoyed it, but you should definitely make it more forgiving and give hints about what the player has to do. And btw, i was able to skip the last jump on the green knight by using a crush block, so you should fix that as well :-) |
Veteran actor Shashi Kapoor, who has reigned and contributed to the Hindi film industry for almost five decades, has been honoured with Dada Saheb Phalke award, India's highest honour in cinema.
The veteran actor-producer, 77, is the 46th winner of the honour. Kapoor, whose performances in cult films like Deewar, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Trishul and Kabhi Kabhie captivated the Hindi audience, is also the third Phalke award winner in the Kapoor family.
"There was a rumour that he might be receiving it (the award) and now it just feels great to be honoured… I am grateful and thankful to the government for recognising his contribution," his eldest son, Kunal, told HT.
His nephew, actor Rishi Kapoor, tweeted on Monday soon after the news broke, "Yessssssss! Shashi Kapoor to get the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award for contribution to Indian Cinema. Well deserved uncle. God Bless."
"Third Padma Bhushan and third Phalke award in the family. Prithviraj Kapoor and Raj Kapoor being the other recipients."
Born in 1938, Shashi ventured into the world of acting at the age of four, when he first took the stage.
He worked as a child artiste in films like Sangram (1950) and Dana Paani (1953). His best known performances as child artist were in Aag (1948) and Awaara (1951), where he played the younger version of the character played by his elder brother Raj.
Shashi made his debut as a lead actor with Dharamputra (1961), and went on to feature in successful films like Jab Jab Phool Khile (1965), Kabhi Kabhie (1976) and Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Deewar (1976), among others.
A popular name in Bollywood during the 1960s, 1970s and until the mid-1980s, Shashi was one of India's first actors to go international. He is known internationally for starring in many British and American films, notably Merchant Ivory Proudctions run by Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, such as The Householder (1963), Shakespeare Wallah (1965), Bombay Talkie (1970) and Heat and Dust (1982).
Most of the leading actress of his era - such as Raakhee, Sharmila Tagore, Zeenat Aman, Hema Malini and Nanda - shared screen space with him.
Not shying away from multi-starrers, Shashi teamed up with Amitabh Bachchan and did 16 films together. Some of the memorable ones were: Namak Halal (1982), Silsila (1981), Kabhi Kabhie (1976) and Deewar (1975).
He had a breezy affair with English actor Jennifer Kendal; they met in 1956 and got married in 1958. Kendal died of cancer in 1984. Shashi Kapoor is survived by his three children Kunal Kapoor, Karan Kapoor and Sanjana Kapoor.
In 1978, Shashi set up his production house Film Valas, which produced critically acclaimed films such as Junoon (1978), Kalyug (1981), 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981), Vijeta (1982) and Utsav (1984).
He also produced and directed a fantasy film titled Ajooba, which had Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi in the lead role.
In 2011, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan, and he is also a proud recipient of three National Film Awards.
The Dadasaheb Phalke Award entitles him to a Swarn Kamal (Golden Lotus), a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh and a shawl.
Minister for information and broadcasting Arun Jaitley conveyed his congratulations on the occasion, a statement said.
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, congratulating Shashi Kapoor on the award, said in a tweet that "his sensitive portrayal of human emotions has touched many a heart".
Prem Chopra, who has shared screen space with Shashi in over 15 films since Aamne Samne (1967), said, "He would be very entertaining on the sets and would pull everyone's leg, but was game enough to not mind when anyone would pull his leg. He was an amazing co-star."
Film-maker Shyam Benegal said, "He is someone very close to me. He helped me make a few films for him."
(With inputs from Arundhati Chatterjee and IANS)
Fans took to Twitter to express their love for the actor.
True recognition #DadaSahebPhalke to a brilliant actor and passionate producer, who gave so much to Cinema! Love you Shashi Kapoor Sir.. — Prakash Jha (@prakashjha27) March 23, 2015
Yessssssss! Shashi Kapoor to get the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award for contribution to Indian Cinema. Well deserved uncle. God Bless! — rishi kapoor (@chintskap) March 23, 2015
Congratulations to Shashi Kapoor Sahab for receiving the #DadaSahebPhalke award.Salutes. — Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) March 23, 2015
First Published: Mar 23, 2015 18:25 IST |
SBS’s Temperature of Love remains undefeated in viewership ratings on October 9 despite the addition of two new dramas on the Monday-Tuesday prime time slot. On Monday night, the series achieved nationwide audience shares of 9.3 % and 11.2 % according to Nielsen Korea, records that are way higher than that of rivals Witch’s Court and 20th Century Boy and Girl.
Temperature of Love has achieved a double-digit rating anew after suffering from low viewership last week amid the 3-day Chuseok holiday. It recorded 6.7 % and 8.4 % for its two episodes on October 3 but last night it saw a significant improvement and even managed to break its previous highest record of 11.0 % despite the premiere of KBS2’s legal drama Witch’s Court and MBC’s romantic comedy series 20th Century Boy and Girl. The legal drama started to a moderate rating of 6.6 % while MBC’s latest rom-com came in third place with 3.9 % and 4.2 %.
If Temperature of Love continues to dominate the said time slot until its finale, it would be the fourth time SBS is ahead of its rival networks when it comes to dramas airing on the Monday-Tuesday primetime block. Since January this year, SBS managed to broadcast Monday-Tuesday dramas that were able to pull off over 10 % in ratings, an impressive success that started off with Defendant and is currently enjoying by Temperature of Love. The record is not perfect though as the much-awaited, pre-produced My Sassy Girl suffered from low viewership unlike its predecessor Whisper and successor Falsify. The said series, an adaptation of the 2001 hit film of the same name, lost to KBS2’s Fight For My Way.
Written and helmed by writer Ha Myung-hee of Doctors and PD Nam Gun of Jackpot, Temperature of Love tells the love story of an aspiring screenwriter (played by Seo Hyun-jin) and a French cuisine chef (Yang Se-jong) who end up falling in love with each other after coming to the same “temperature of love.” Meanwhile, Witch’s Court centers around a materialistic and ace female prosecutor (Jung Ryeo-won) who is tasked to lead a team dealing with sexual cases victimizing women and children. 20th Century Boy and Girl, on one hand, deals with the friendship and career of single women in their 30s as they navigate their way to maturity and love. |
Chad Haga’s 2016 season started off as a nightmare, but it ended on a career high. The Texan went from having surgery and nearly 100 stitches in his face and neck to capping his best pro season yet.
On January 23, 2016, Haga and five of his Giant – Alpecin teammates were struck head-on by an errant motorist on the wrong side of the road along Spain’s Mediterranean coast. Ten months later, the all-rounder surpassed even his own expectations, completing two grand tours and racing in his first elite men’s world championships, both firsts. And to cap it all off, he got married at the end of October. What a season it’s been for the fifth-year pro.
“It’s kind of surreal to be here after how this season has gone,” Haga told VeloNews last month ahead of his wedding. “At the start of the year, I didn’t think I would get to do a grand tour, so to do two, that’s the first time I’ve done that. … And I get married in two weeks, and then we have a honeymoon in Hawaii. That’s the best off-season present I could have.”
The 28-year-old indeed has plenty to be grateful for going into the end-of-season respite. Not only is he enjoying a honeymoon in Hawaii, he has had a near-complete recovery from the horrific crash. Despite some potentially worrying injuries immediately after the crash, he was able to return to racing at Critérium International in late March. He admits he feels some lingering effects from the crash, but they have not stopped him from performing at a high level on the bike.
“My right nostril doesn’t work so well. I don’t have complete feeling in my upper right jaw, that is still a little bit numb,” he said. “On the bike, nothing affects me anymore.”
In May, he started and finished his first Giro d’Italia, and then stepped up to help the team at the Vuelta a España, completing his fourth-career grand tour, with eighth in stage 4 as part of a breakaway effort. To finish it all off, he raced his first elite men’s world championship in Qatar, arriving early to acclimate to the heat and also race in the WorldTour team time trial.
“To still have good legs in October is just icing on the cake,” he said. “This is my first race with the national team, and I really enjoyed it.”
Despite some physical scarring — which he described in a rider journal for VeloNews — Haga insists that he was able to push through what could have been a psychological barrier by quickly returning to the bike. By returning his focus to racing as soon as he could, he was able to push any potential fears quickly behind him.
“I don’t have nightmares from it,” he said. “I have no more memories than from the first day of the crash.”
With one more year left on his contract with Giant – Alpecin, a grateful Haga is looking forward to what he hopes is an incident-free and successful racing season for 2017. There are still some possible legal ramifications from the crash, so he is not able to speak about certain aspects of the incident. Valuable lessons were taken from what was a horrific accident for everyone involved.
“As hard as things get, I know I can still get through it,” he said. “If I can have a normal season next year, things should go pretty well.” |
The family of an unarmed Black man shot dead by a Tulsa, Oklahoma police officer Friday evening is vehemently denying any and all police narratives that paint their loved one as a threat that needed to be neutralized.
Attorneys for the family of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher held a press conference Tuesday to address pieces of “misinformation” spouted by police concerning what led up to the fatal shooting. One of the false claims, according to attorneys, is that Crutcher failed to comply with officers’ commands and reached through the driver’s side window for a possible weapon — thus causing officers to open fire.
But according to the Tulsa World, attorneys were able to poke a massive hole in the police’s claims by presenting large, poster-sized images from police video footage that showed Crutcher’s driver-side door was closed, along with his window, which had a visible blood stain on it.
“What we want to draw to your attention is this whole notion that he was reaching into the car,” family attorney Benjamin Crump said Tuesday. “That the misinformation given about the window being down, and him putting his hand in the car, reaching for something is misinformation.”
“Don’t put out stuff that would demonize him and try to make him look like as if he was doing something nefarious,” he continued. “Put the entire story up.”
Tulsa’s police chief Chuck Jordan later confirmed that no gun was found in the Oklahoma man’s van or on his person.
Crutcher, a pastor and father of four, was shot and killed by Officer Betty Shelby as she responded to reports of an abandoned SUV blocking the road. Disturbing video of the incident showed Shelby and several other officers surrounding Crutcher as he walked back toward his car with his hands in the air. At one point, one of the responding officers discharged his stun gun, Tasing the Oklahoma man. Shelby fired the fatal shot soon afterward.
Attorney for officer Shelby, Scott Wood, told the Tulsa World that his client had recently undergone drug-recognition training and suspected that Crutcher was under the influence of PCP, a dissociative drug.
“He had a very hollow look in his face, kind of a thousand-yard stare, so to speak, and would not communicate,” Wood said. “And she (Shelby) could tell he was not normal. She thought that when she saw him.”
A Tulsa police official also confirmed with the publication that a vile of PCP was found in Crutcher’s car. But authorities are still unsure whether the Oklahoma man was under the influence of the drug at the time of the incident.
PCP or no PCP, Crump said the presence of drugs in the victim’s car still doesn’t justify officer Shelby’s use of lethal force.
“Let us not be thrown a red herring and to say because something was found in the car that is justification to shoot him,” Crump said.
Shelby has since been placed on paid administrative leave.
The fatal shooting is being investigated by the Tulsa Police Department and the U.S. Department of Justice. |
The blast took place in one of the busiest areas of the town and three of the wounded were in critical condition [EPA]
A suspected suicide bomber has killed two and wounded 10 people in southeast Turkey.
The attack, which was reportedly carried out by a female bomber, took place on Saturday in the town of Bingol, the Turkish interior ministry said.
Idris Naim Sahin, the interior minister, said the blast occurred at a teahouse near the office of the ruling AK Party, but that the building was not the intended target.
The area is one of Bingol's busiest, and Mustafa Hakan Guvencer, the provincial governor, said three of the wounded were in serious condition.
The blast shattered glass and shop windows in surrounding buildings. Television footage showed people running away from the site of the explosion, while others were seen urging people to evacuate the streets.
Guvencer said the attacker was a woman.
No group has yet admitted to carrying out the attack. Turkey is fighting a long-running battle with Kurdish rebels in the southeast of the country, and they have carried out suicide bombings in the past.
The blast comes as the government is trying to provide relief to thousands of people rendered homeless by a powerful earthquake in Van, another largely Kurdish province. |
All Davidson County voters should vote in the 2015 election. (Photo: File) Story Highlights Music City risks suppressing the vote if most early voting sites are dropped.
Davidson County Election Commission needs to reverse its vote and stop playing politics.
The Davidson County Election Commission is disenfranchising voters over a municipal budget dispute.
At issue is the amount of money the commission will receive in Mayor Karl Dean's 2015-16 budget.
Even though the Commission is receiving more than $1 million more than the previous year, commissioners voted 3-2 in a special meeting Wednesday afternoon to slash early voting satellite sites from 10 to one.
The reason: its proposed budget falls $868,000 short of its request to pay for 12 new employees.
If this decision isn't reversed, Music City risks committing mass voter suppression in its most important election of the decade. A new mayor will be elected as well as at least half of the 40-member council.
If commissioners don't reverse the decision, they should be removed from their posts.
Early voting has become very popular in Nashville, and it will help prevent bottlenecks during the Aug. 6 general election.
In the 2011 mayoral race, for example, 48 percent of voters cast ballots early and 49 percent voted early in the council at-large races.
Early voting is scheduled to occur from July 17 to Aug. 1, excluding Sundays and the 10 satellite sites were scheduled to be at several libraries, city halls and community centers from Madison to Hermitage and from Bellevue to Bordeaux.
Leaving one satellite site for half of Davidson County's voters is a sure way to drive down voter turnout, which was a mere 19.71 percent in 2011.
The proposed Davidson County Election Commission budget for 2015-16 is $5.039 million. It was $4.015 million in 2014-15 and $3.3 million in 2013-14.
The elections the Commission need to pay for include the Aug. 6 general election, the Sept. 10 runoff and the March 2016 presidential primary election.
That money commissioners want amounts to five-one-hundredths of 1 percent of the county's $1.968 billion proposed budget.
Metro Budget and Finance Chair Bill Pridemore said in a statement to The Tennessean accused commissioners of extortion. "To say that the Election Commission lacks funding for 9 of the 10 early voting sites defies logic," he said.
Nashville Finance Director Rich Riebeling said: "Does the election commission have enough money to run the elections this summer? Yes, they do. But they've chosen to punish the voters of Davidson County in order to enhance their budget. They need to reverse their position and remember that their job is to make elections accessible to the voters. To threaten early voting sites is outrageous."
The three Republicans on the commission voted for the satellite site reduction, while the two Democrats voted in opposition.
The Commission should have worked with the Metro Council to request a budget amendment rather than harm the interests of some 400,000 Davidson County voters. This reeks of bad politics.
The next Commission meeting is on June 11 and citizens should urge the commissioners to do the right thing.
Editor's note: The Davidson County Election Commission Chair Ron Buchanan spoke with The Tennessean. Here are his comments on the matter:
"The decision the commission had to make was, are we going to cut out funding for those 12 positions and jeopardize our ability to put on the elections in lieu of having early voting sites?" Buchanan said. "That was the decision.
"I believe that the council, before they vote on (the budget), needs to know the ramifications of what their vote will mean if they approve the mayor's proposed budget," he said. "Do we want to eliminate early voting? Absolutely not."
The Tennessean Opinion Engagement Editor David Plazas wrote this editorial on behalf of The Tennessean Editorial Board. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him atdplazas@tennessean.com or tweet to him at @davidplazas.
Davidson County Election Commission
Ronald B. Buchanan (Chair)
Jim DeLanis
Tricia Herzfeld (Secretary)
Jennifer Lawson
A.J. Starling
Next meeting: 3:30 p.m., Thursday, June 11, Davidson County Election Commission, 1417 Murfreesboro Pike
Election Commission Phone number:(615) 862-8800
Mailing Address:
Davidson County Election Commission
P.O. Box 650
Nashville, TN 37202
Website:http://www.nashville.gov/Election-Commission
Read or Share this story: http://tnne.ws/1ImuJjh |
Photography student and blogger Dazhane Leah has released a series of photos that celebrate the beauty of natural hair. Her project features artwork of beautiful flowers embedded in equally beautiful afros.
"I've read, seen for myself, and been told by family and friends about the negative experiences they've had when wearing their natural hair," she told Mashable. Unfortunately, that comes as no surprise, because of the negative stereotypes surrounding natural hair. From schools banning certain hairstyles, to bosses criticizing natural hair in the workplace, Dazhane's project aims to continue taking a step forward in a world that has been holding natural hair back.
In her interview with Mashable, Dazhane also said: "an afro is a statement and the hairstyle represents and holds so much history and passion and represents so much. As a whole, natural hair, especially when worn in an afro or dreadlocks has been and still is looked down upon."
The project, titled "Afro Bloomin," was inspired by Dazhane’s social media followers and their definitions of black power. "The point of the project wasn't to discriminate against other races but to be unapologetic and celebrate black lives through everything that is who we are," she told Mashable. "Society tells us that our natural, God-given kinks and curls is not 'good hair,'" she adds. "Natural hair, no matter what way a person decides to wear it should equally fit societies' standards of 'Good hair.'"
Afro appreciation at its finest.
Related: This Beauty Blogger Created an App to Show What Makeup Really Looks Like on Darker Skin Tones |
PSSwagger – Automatically generate PowerShell cmdlets from OpenAPI (f.k.a Swagger) specification
Manik
As a PowerShell enthusiast or DevOps professional, have you ever thought of having a tool that automatically generates PowerShell cmdlets to manage or access a RESTful Web Service? We are happy to share PSSwagger – the PowerShell Cmdlet generator for OpenAPI based web services. At PowerShell Conference Europe 2017, Jeffrey first showcased PSSwagger, and today we are open-sourcing the PSSwagger module and releasing its preview version to the PowerShell Gallery!
Some of the benefits of PSSwagger are:
• One module that works cross-platform – generated modules supports both PowerShell Core and Windows PowerShell 5.1.
• Consistent user experience – the generated PowerShell commands automatically follow the PowerShell cmdlet guidelines and best practices.
• Get additional features for free – paging and asynchronous execution of long running operations.
• Web Service owners can minimize the effort to author PowerShell commands to manage or access their web service.
• Ability to load multiple different versions of a generated module into the same process.
Please refer to the PSSwagger Readme for more details on installing and using it.
You can start using and contributing to PSSwagger today. For any questions or feedback, please let us know on the PSSwagger GitHub or Gitter Channel.
Looking forward!!
PowerShell team |
Heartbreaker Guitars hails out of Las Vegas Nevada. We began our journey into the world of boutique guitars in the Summer of 2010. We are not a typical retail store, we are a showroom dealer available by appointment only. This allows us to give our undivided attention to your guitar selection(s) and satisfy your needs without any distractions. Of course we provide the same attention via our live chat or phone calls while you’re browsing our collections online. Located just about 14 minutes from the strip is our beautiful showroom where you can come and play some of the most beautiful and rare guitars on the planet! Our curation of boutique guitars has been sought after by the most discriminating and discerning of players, enthusiasts, pros and just plain tone junkies! Lowden, Bourgeois, McPherson and Rick Turner are some of the amazing luthiers we represent. Our website offers high-resolution photos of all the instruments. Many of our clients are visitors from outside the Las Vegas area and here for business or a vacation. If you’re here from out of town, we can show you guitars while you’re here! We will never be undersold, so if you have your heart set on a certain guitar, rest assured, you’re getting the best price. We’re an authorized dealer for ALL of our builders and maintain excellent relationships with every one of them. Our Heartbreaker Guitars website maintains the highest security standards and our instruments usually ship same day! |
The error-chain crate (docs) is a new crate for dealing with Rust error boilerplate. It provides a few unique features:
No error is ever discarded. This library primarily makes it easy to “chain” errors with the chain_err method.
method. Introducing new errors is trivial. Simple errors can be introduced at the error site with just a string.
Errors create and propagate backtraces.
I think the lack of the above are widespread problems with Rust error handling, so I’m interested to hear what people think about this solution. It is inspired by quick-error (and in fact includes a hacked up version of it for internal use) as well as Cargo’s internal error handling techniques. This library is used by rustup for error handling.
One note about usage that isn’t included in the docs: the chain_error! macro recurses deeply, so you’ll probably need to use the little-known #![recursion_limit = "1024"] macro on crates that import it.
For detailed usage information read the docs, which are reproduced in part below.
Declaring error types
Generally, you define one family of error types per crate, though it’s also perfectly fine to define error types on a finer-grained basis, such as per module.
Assuming you are using crate-level error types, typically you will define an errors module and inside it call error_chain! :
// Define the error types and conversions for this crate error_chain! { // The type defined for this error. These are the conventional // and recommended names, but they can be arbitrarily chosen. types { Error, ErrorKind, ChainErr, Result; } // Automatic conversions between this error chain and other // error chains. In this case, it will e.g. generate an // `ErrorKind` variant called `Dist` which in turn contains // the `rustup_dist::ErrorKind`, with conversions from // `rustup_dist::Error`. // // This section can be empty. links { rustup_dist::Error, rustup_dist::ErrorKind, Dist; rustup_utils::Error, rustup_utils::ErrorKind, Utils; } // Automatic conversions between this error chain and other // error types not defined by the `error_chain!`. These will be // boxed as the error cause and wrapped in a new error with, // in this case, the `ErrorKind::Temp` variant. // // This section can be empty. foreign_links { temp::Error, Temp, "temporary file error"; } // Define additional `ErrorKind` variants. The syntax here is // the same as `quick_error!`, but the `from()` and `cause()` // syntax is not supported. errors { InvalidToolchainName(t: String) { description("invalid toolchain name") display("invalid toolchain name: '{}'", t) } } }
This populates the the module with a number of definitions, the most important of which are the Error type and the ErrorKind type. They look something like the following:
use std::error::Error as StdError; use std::sync::Arc; #[derive(Debug)] pub struct Error(pub ErrorKind, pub Option<Box<StdError + Send>>, pub Arc<error_chain::Backtrace>); impl Error { pub fn kind(&self) -> &ErrorKind { ... } pub fn into_kind(self) -> ErrorKind { ... } pub fn iter(&self) -> error_chain::ErrorChainIter { ... } pub fn backtrace(&self) -> &error_chain::Backtrace { ... } } impl StdError for Error { ... } impl Display for Error { ... } #[derive(Debug)] pub enum ErrorKind { Msg(String), Dist(rustup_dist::ErrorKind), Utils(rustup_utils::ErrorKind), Temp, InvalidToolchainName(String), }
This is the basic error structure. You can see that ErrorKind has been populated in a variety of ways. All ErrorKind s get a Msg variant for basic errors. When strings are converted to ErrorKind s they become ErrorKind::Msg . The “links” defined in the macro are expanded to Dist and Utils variants, and the “foreign links” to the Temp variant.
Both types come with a variety of From conversions as well: Error can be created from ErrorKind , from &str and String , and from the “link” and “foreign_link” error types. ErrorKind can be created from the corresponding ErrorKind s of the link types, as wall as from &str and String .
into() and From::from are used heavily to massage types into the right shape. Which one to use in any specific case depends on the influence of type inference, but there are some patterns that arise frequently.
Chaining errors
This is the focus of the crate’s design. To extend the error chain:
use errors::ChainErr; try!(do_something().chain_err(|| "something went wrong"));
chain_err can be called on any Result type where the contained error type implements std::error::Error + Send + 'static . If the Result is an Err then chain_err evaluates the closure, which returns some type that can be converted to ErrorKind , boxes the original error to store as the cause, then returns a new error containing the original error.
The above example turns a string into an error, but you could also write e.g.
try!(do_something().chain_err(|| ErrorKind::Foo));
Returning new errors
Introducing new error chains, with a string message:
fn foo() -> Result<()> { Err("foo error!".into()) }
Introducing new error chains, with an ErrorKind :
fn foo() -> Result<()> { Err(ErrorKind::FooError.into()) }
Note that the return type is is the typedef Result , which is defined by the macro as pub type Result<T> = ::std::result::Result<T, Error> . Note that in both cases .into() is called to convert a type into the Error type: both strings and ErrorKind have From conversions to turn them into Error .
When the error is emitted inside a try! macro or behind the ? operator, then the explicit conversion isn’t needed, since the behavior of try! will automatically convert Err(ErrorKind) to Err(Error) . So the below is equivalent to the previous:
fn foo() -> Result<()> { Ok(try!(Err(ErrorKind::FooError))) } fn bar() -> Result<()> { Ok(try!(Err("bogus!"))) }
Foreign links
Errors that do not conform to the same conventions as this library can still be included in the error chain. They are considered “foreign errors”, and are declared using the foreign_links block of the error_chain! macro. Error s are automatically created from foreign errors by the try! macro.
Foreign links and regular links have one crucial difference: From conversions for regular links do not introduce a new error into the error chain, while conversions for foreign links always introduce a new error into the error chain. So for the example above all errors deriving from the temp::Error type will be presented to the user as a new ErrorKind::Temp variant, and the cause will be the original temp::Error error. In contrast, when rustup_utils::Error is converted to Error the two ErrorKinds are converted between each other to create a new Error but the old error is discarded; there is no “cause” created from the original error.
Backtraces
The earliest non-foreign error to be generated creates a single backtrace, which is passed through all From conversions and chain_err invocations of compatible types. To read the backtrace just call the backtrace() method.
Iteration |
The UKIP leader blasted Europe's stoney-faced elite with a rousing speech decrying their bid to trample over democracy in a grasping bid for more power. Arch Eurocrats Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker looked on with ashen faces as Mr Farage tore into the Brussels project, telling them they may win the battle over the Dutch 'no' vote but they will lose the war.
He predicted a people's resolution will bring about the downfall of the EU elite, telling the European Parliament it "won't survive" a resurgence in democracy brought about by new technology. His stunning intervention came amid growing anger over Brussels' dismissive response to the Dutch referendum last week.
IG Nigel Farage roasted Eurocrats over their response to the Dutch referendum today
IG Donald Tusk looked on stoney-faced as Mr Farage delivered his speech
Mr Tusk chewed furiously on his lip as the UKIP leader furiously rebuked senior Eurocrats, who had up to that point avoided even mentioning the landmark result. Just under two-thirds of the Dutch people voted to reject a land grab plot with Ukraine designed to extend the EU's tentacles of power into Kiev and beyond. But within hours of the result being announced they had already been betrayed by both their own Government and the EU elite, who announced their intention to plough ahead with key parts of the deal including plans to open up the Schengen zone to 45 million Ukrainians. During the first sitting of the EU Parliament since the Dutch vote earlier today Mr Farage delivered a blistering response to Eurocrats, telling them the result shows their days are severely numbered. He also said that the emergence of the Internet will ultimately bring about the demise of the EU, citing the fact that Dutch bloggers GeenPeil were behind the 420,000-strong petition which secured last week's historic referendum.
IG The UKIP leader said technology will finish off the undemocratic EU
IG Jean-Claude Juncker also looked distinctly uncomfortable
In the end the people's will is going to prevail. This place won't survive Nigel Farage
Sitting behind a miniature Union Jack flag he told the chamber: "We're here in what I've been told repeatedly is the home of European democracy, so surely we could've taken the opportunity this morning to celebrate the Dutch referendum last week, in which the people said no to EU enlargement, no to the deal with the Ukraine and no doubt had it been Turkey an even bigger number of people would've said no to Turkish accession. "It was a victory for democracy. It was a victory as well for direct democracy. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the new politics. "We were told by Mr Juncker that if the Dutch voted no it would be a disaster, but he hasn't mentioned it today. Indeed your predecessor Mr [Herman] Van Rompuy - my old mate - says we should just ignore the Dutch and carry on blithely. "So what we're seeing is the big battalions of vested self-interest doing their best to completely ignore the will of the Dutch people. Well, I think things are changing - I don't believe these institutions can survive 21st century technology. "I think the will of the people is changing politics in a way that makes all of you in this room deeply fearful, and so you should be."
The pros and cons of Brexit Fri, February 26, 2016 The pros and cons of Brexit. Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 12 Pros and cons of Brexit |
Chomping at Bits comes stocked with the best Florida Gators links and news we can find, and some other stuff. Got a link you think we should check out? Email us at AlligatorArmy@gmail.com, subject line CAB, or find us on Twitter at @AlligatorArmy or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AlligatorArmy.
Scott Stricklin reassuring recruits: Florida interim head coach Randy Shannon said that the athletic director joined his staff during recruiting phone calls. Stricklin informed prospects that he intended to make a good head coaching hire, and provided his contact information to them. (Ryan Young, SEC Country; Blake Alderman, 247Sports)
Florida men’s basketball adds two 2018 signees: Incoming freshmen Noah Locke and Andrew Nembhard signed national letters of intent for the Gators. Nembhard is rated a five-star prospect by two services and No. 3 playmaker by Scout, while Locke is a four-star regarded as one of the nation’s best perimeter shooters in the 2018 class. (Denver Parler, Florida Gators; Kevin Brockway, Gainesville Sun)
Chris Chiozza to be game-time decision for opener: Mike White announced that the starting senior point guard would be a game-time decision for Monday’s opener against Gardner-Webb. Chiozza sprained his left shoulder during the Gators’ exhibition win over Jacksonville. (Kevin Brockway, Gainesville Sun)
KeVaughn Allen is ready to make the leap for Florida. The junior guard is our No. 40 player @AlligatorArmy https://t.co/mRZHAJML6x pic.twitter.com/qga8pk4HDh — SB Nation CBB (@SBNationCBB) November 9, 2017
How Florida head coaching candidates’ current defenses stack up: Dan Mullen’s Mississippi State team and Justin Fuente’s Virginia Tech team presently boast highly rated defenses. Scott Frost’s UCF team and Matt Campbell’s Iowa State team also field decent units on that side of the ball. Mike Norvell’s Memphis team, however, does not. (Jordan McPherson, SEC Country)
Assessing what’s left of the Gators’ roster: There are just 56 scholarship players available for Florida this weekend. That’s below even FCS scholarship limits. (David Wunderlich, Gator Country)
Ja’Marr Chase could be first of several decommitments: This is to be expected during a coaching change. (Zach Abolverdi, SEC Country)
Public Service Announcement pic.twitter.com/VRsG77U2qE — Scott Stricklin (@ScottStricklin) November 9, 2017
When it comes to coaching search reports, remember that local TV and sports talk radio are near the bottom of the credibility list. — David Wunderlich (@Year2) November 9, 2017
Gator soccer opens NCAA tournament play: Florida will be without their leading scorer, freshman Deanne Rose, who is currently with the Canadian National Team. (Tyler Savitsky, Florida Gators)
Imploring Doug Nussmeier to run the QB: Advocating for read option, and looking at Nussmeier’s history with running quarterbacks. (Will Miles, SEC Country)
UF volleyball hopes for strong finish: The Gators want to be a top-seed and play their first four rounds of the NCAA tournament at home in the O’Dome. (Chris Harry, Florida Gators)
Aaron Hernandez’s brain severely damaged by CTE: A researcher called Hernandez’s case the most severe example of the degenerative disease linked to head blows ever found in someone so young. (Gainesville Sun)
The comments are yours. |
Coming Soon
Jacob and the Sea Beast
In his mission to stop a tyrannical captain and save a kidnapped infant, charming seafarer Jacob finds an unlikely ally in a sea monster.
Gentefied
Three Latinx cousins navigate their differences as they work to keep their grandfather's taco shop afloat in their rapidly gentrifying L.A. neighborhood.
Ingress: The Animation
After scientists discover a mysterious substance that can influence human minds, two factions wage an all-out battle to control its awesome power.
Tall Girl
Standing 6-foot-3, 16-year-old "tall girl" Jodi has never had a boyfriend. But that could change when a tall exchange student enrolls at her school.
Twelve Forever
Twelve-year-old Reggie's desire to remain a child is so powerful that it opens up a fantasy world where she never has to grow up.
Messiah
When a man in the Middle East appears to be performing miracles, a rift breaks out over whether he's the Messiah or a fraud in this suspenseful drama.
Virgin River
After seeing an ad for a midwife, a recently divorced big-city nurse moves to the redwood forests of California, where she meets an intriguing man.
Murder Mystery
After attending a gathering on a billionaire's yacht during a European vacation, a New York cop and his wife become prime suspects when he's murdered. |
You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes – and you’re not too scarred by a complex, deadline-week, dual-jurisdiction triple-swoop involving both Raheem Sterling and Thomas Lemar – you might find you get what you need.
Manchester City might have been flying even higher at the top of the league and have scored more than their 35 goals had Alexis Sánchez signed from Arsenal in late August. Who knows, as the fixture list starts to bite, City’s fans may look on their brilliant but callow front line and think wistfully of Sánchez’s proven razor edge, his more seasoned warrior spirit.
Arsène Wenger expects Alexis Sánchez to stay at Arsenal in January window Read more
But it does seem a fairly distant prospect right now. Indeed, as Arsenal and Sánchez travel to the Etihad to play the league leaders on Sunday afternoon, a journey Sánchez seemed so determined to make permanently in the summer, it is hard not to take a step back and marvel at the unforeseen consequences of one of the more complex botched big-money moves.
City were genuinely keen on signing Sánchez. The move fell apart as Pep Guardiola rejected the idea of letting Sterling go the other way. Revived on deadline day the whole thing collapsed for a second time as Arsenal’s own move for Lemar flatlined.
At the end of which we have, for now, a clear set of winners and losers. Undisrupted by big-name arrivals, and given their head by Sergio Agüero’s recent injury problems, City’s youthful Jesus-Sané-Sterling frontline has been allowed to settle into one of the most exciting things around in European club football right now.
Sterling’s improvement, in particular, is surely related in part to Guardiola’s heartening refusal to let him leave as a Sánchez makeweight. To date the oldest member of that attacking tripod – still aged only 22 – has 10 goals and two assists this season, reward for some driving forward runs and two years of hard work on both his finishing and final pass. Best of all he looks happy, a player starting to find his most effective gears.
At which point, enter Sánchez, who seems to have spent the past three months heading the other way; who has one goal in seven league games this season; and who has looked, so far, some way off his best self. City were said to be angry at the way Arsenal refused to sell Sánchez at the last. At it stands Sunday afternoon may just provide a little more evidence that perhaps this was a deal best left undone.
But then, even after eight seasons in Serie A, La Liga and the Premier League, Sánchez remains an intriguingly opaque A-list footballer.
In his early days at Barcelona he earned the nickname “Cachai?”, which translates as “know what I mean?”, a reference to the blank looks induced by his north Chilean brogue (Sánchez even ended up taking Spanish lessons for a while). There is still a sense of cachai about Sánchez now, an undeniably brilliant footballer who has still to find his definitive level, and who is clearly still bothered by his inconclusive spell at Barça.
Not that his best qualities are in doubt. In an Arsenal team defined in recent years by a sense of something a little too comfortable, Sánchez has been an invigorating tonic. Only Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku and Agüero, all career No9s, have more goals in the Premier League in that time. Sánchez has been a wonderful signing. Right up until the moment he wanted to stop being one and play for City instead.
It is a move that would at least have addressed the wider question of whether some very distinct qualities really can work in a genuinely A-list team. In an interview last year Sánchez suggested it was only a wrong turn or two that had prevented him being hoist aloft on the Messi-Ronaldo pantheon.
Others might suggest there is a reason why his three years at Arsenal have been the most productive of his career, that it is only in a team where he can be the star that he has truly flourished: those streaky patches, the occasional wastefulness with the ball, the periods where he stops running, all excused by his own star status.
Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling sees scoring as fun, says Pep Guardiola Read more
It would be unfair to suggest Sánchez’s time at Barcelona was a failure. He was injured a lot. He scored or made 81 goals in his 141 matches. But there is no doubt Sánchez has thrived with club and country as the kingpin rather than as a high-class ensemble player.
It was Udinese’s manager Francisco Guidolin who effectively discovered the Arsenal-issue Sánchez, moving him from wasteful wide attacker to a star No10 seven years ago and igniting his career in the process. Encouraged by Guidolin to play without fear and take risks Sánchez was voted most promising player in the world in a 2011 Fifa poll and was plucked out by Barcelona the same year.
At the end of which there is an element of the Peter principle about Sánchez’s status now. Are the gifts that make him so exceptional in a team where he can be the attacking star the same qualities that make him unsuitable in a team where possession is everything, where there are stars of equal or greater magnitude?
If there is a slight smear on his wonderful Arsenal record it is his poor recent scoring record against the best teams. He has one goal in his past 12 games against City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham.
At times Sánchez has seemed to rebel against this, a man playing his own, furious game within a game. During his summer sulk it was hard not to think back to an extraordinary 10-minute spell against Bayern Munich in the 5-1 defeat in Bavaria. That night Sánchez ran around the pitch in a mist of anger, scoring a goal, and burning himself out for the rest of the game: a footballer in a state of profound on-field tantrum, displaying simultaneously both his strengths and his weakness.
Given the youthful egalitarianism of City’s attack it is tempting to wonder exactly how he might have affected the balance of this team. Sunday afternoon would be an excellent moment to start answering that question, to offer Arsenal’s supporters a little sweetener after the summer; and to erase, at least until January, memories of another moment of uncomfortable inbetween. |
Thanks to J-Dog’s Instagram feed we have our first look at a brand new step for Hollywood Undead. Having inspired countless fans with music, videos, and live performances, it only makes sense for the crew to bring their mythology into the world of print.
Heavy Metal Magazine has been on comic stands in one form or another since the late 70’s, and during that time it has covered all corners of the the science fiction and fantasy spaces, and invented countless new spaces in between genres. Issue #287 brags big, throwing down as the first music themed issue (despite the publication’s moniker). The issue will feature material inspired by the likes of Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, Nine Inch Nails, Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, In Flames, Gojira, Vamps, and yes, Hollywood Undead.
J-Dog took to Instagram to give us a taste of what to expect going in with a handful of pics of the HU story contained within this special music issue:
You can order your copy now at the official Heavy Metal website, fans have three unique covers to choose from, with the Hollywood Undead logo making an appearance on each, making these collector’s items for the most avid fans:
Cover A – Kilian Eng
Cover B – Rob Jones
Cover C – Derek Riggs
Stay tuned to Scene for Dummies for more coverage on this Hollywood Undead one-shot comic! |
Elle King has it. That was evident when the spunky singer-songwriter showcased her fiery debut album "Love Stuff" at South By Southwest last spring.
Courtney Barnett, Best Coast and Kali Uchis were the most buzzed about female recording artists entering SXSW. But King trumped each of those, playing a number of shows during a four-day stint in Austin during the mega-music conference.
"Alcohol and Red Bull kept me going," King says. "When you play South By Southwest you have to go for it. You have so many shows to play. You meet a lot of people. You're going all the time. You want to go out there and make an impression."
King, 26, can't help but make an impression. At SXSW, she stole the Waterloo day party. She killed the hipster crowd with a version of "Exes and Ohs," which hit the number 10 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. She has been everywhere on late night and morning television, including "Late Night with Seth Meyers," "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and "Live With Kelly and Michael." She was chosen to perform on the finale of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" last Tuesday.
The soulful King, who possesses a sexy raspy voice, doesn't sound like anybody else on the circuit. That's part of what makes King so refreshing. She doesn't chase trends. There's nothing calculated about her bluesy tunes, which sound so fresh even though her tunes are retro.
"I just write what I feel like writing," King says. "I don't pay attention to what's in. I don't care about that stuff. I'll leave that to other people. It's all about what moves me."
Some of King's most effective songs are lovelorn numbers. "I've broken some hearts and I've had my heart broken just like everybody else," King says. "I think what I sing about is relatable. Who doesn't go through this stuff with love?"
"A lot of the songs come from situations I've had with people. I've had some interesting experiences."
King, who will perform Friday at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, is the daughter of former model London King and comedic actor Rob Schneider, who divorced shortly after King was born in 1989.
"But it was my stepfather, who probably had the hugest impact on me in terms of music," King says. "He was a musician and he taught me so much. He was the one who showed me how to play my first song on guitar. My mom was always very supportive as well. Whatever I wanted, she ended up doing for me. I took lessons and stayed with music."
King is a charismatic character who engages the audience and seems to genuinely enjoy entertaining. That's quite a contrast from so many of her precious peers, who don't understand the first thing about connecting with a crowd.
"I think it's about having fun up there," King says. "If you have fun when you perform, it comes across to the people out there. And when you do your own shows or play something like South By Southwest, how can that not be fun? I honestly have the most fun when I'm up there with my band. There's nothing else like it. It blows away everything else. I love revealing myself to those who come out and see me. I like to talk in between songs. If you're going to be spending money on one of my shows, I think it's a good thing if people leave feeling like they know me."
During a recent XM session, King did just that by delivering one anecdote after another between songs. King joked with her band and the audience. The tattooed love girl, who has more than 30 pieces of body art, is refreshingly old school in her approach to performance.
"Going to a concert should be a good time for everyone," King says. "It's about fun and doing what you have to do to make the best kind of music you can."
Sincerity is another part of the equation for King, who means it in the studio and onstage. "I'm not a phony," King says "This is not an act. I wouldn't know how to act a certain way. All I can be is me."
King is smart, bawdy and dynamic, characteristics which shape her as a recording artist. If King thinks a banjo will add to a song, she'll pull hers out and add a bluegrass touch.
"You do what have to do," King says. "We worked so hard on this album. It was a three-year process. It wasn't easy but nothing worth anything in life ever is. I'm very proud of it. I wasn't trying to go back because it's fashionable. I just wanted to make music that I like."
King doesn't write in a calculated manner and it has worked.
"Exes and Ohs" is an instant classic," an XM DJ declared prior to playing the track. Yes, that's hyperbolic but King's tunes have a way of grabbing the listener's ears in an Amy Winehouse sort of way.
" 'Exes and Ohs' is King's biggest hit to date but "Under the Influence," a song about yielding to temptation, is her deepest and perhaps catchiest tune.
"You have to realize that I come from Southern Ohio, which is very Christian," King says. "My mother grew up in that environment. It was very strict for her. She had to wear skirts all the time as a child. She couldn't listen to rock and roll. But she didn't raise me in that strict way. But I did do things like church camp and so I'll sing about temptation, maybe doing the wrong thing or I'll sing about the devil."
But those are some of the ingredients that made up good old-fashioned primal rock and roll, and King is becoming a rock and roll star.
"It's all fine as long as it serves the music," King says. "That's the bottom line."
Ed Condran is a freelance writer.
Jodi Duckett, editor
jodi.duckett@mcall.com
610-820-6704
ELLE KING
•When: 8:30 p.m. Friday
•Where: Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., Philadelphia
•How much: $17
•Info: 215-232-2100,www.utphilly.com |
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