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Ben Affleck all but confirms that he's working with Geoff Johns on the script for the standalone Batman film. "He and I are working together on something and I really am excited about it and I love him."
In a new DC ALL ACCESS episode, the cast and crew of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice discuss their excitement about the upcoming release of the film. However, the most interesting part of the interview comes courtesy of Ben Affleck. The Academy Award winner confirms that he's collaboration with DC Comics Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns on "something". Could that "something" be the standalone Batman film that Deadline reported was in the works last July. The statements from Affleck certainly line up.
"Geoff Johns is a brilliant guy," said Affleck. "I consider him to be the most valued resource on all things comic book. And every time I like something in a comic I mention, he goes, 'Oh yeah, I wrote that.' Now I just think he's bullsh*tting me, because he says he wrote everything. He and I are working together on something and I really am excited about it and I love him. He's the best." |
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department confirmed that an off-duty officer shot a dog that was attacking another dog in the 6900 block of North Campbell Road, near Deer Springs Way and Fort Apache Road.
The incident happened around 12:11 p.m.
A woman was walking a dog when she was approached by two dogs. One of the dogs started attacking the woman's dog. While this was happening, an off-duty officer was driving through the neighborhood.
"All I could see was the mutilation of my dog that I thought it was killing him ... then I thought I would be next," said Esther Pearson.
Police said the dog then was being aggressive toward the woman. The off-duty officer got out of the vehicle and fired the weapon at the dog, believing the woman was in danger, according to police.
"I think we're lucky that an off-duty police officer was here and able to assist a woman in need," said Officer Larry Hadfield with Las Vegas Metropolitan Police.
The dog shot has died. |
Metro
Man dragged by subway after his backpack got stuck
A 28-year-old man was injured after his backpack got caught on a subway in Manhattan Sunday morning and he was pinned between the train and the platform, police said.
The man was sitting on the floor of the 50th Street station with his back against a pillar as a 1 train pulled into the station around 5 a.m.
As the man stood up, his backpack became ensnared on the moving train, which pulled him about the length of three subway cars, cops said.
The man’s legs were pinned between the train and the platform when police arrived, officials said.
The man was eventually freed and rushed to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.
Police said the man is not believed to be homeless and was not intoxicated at the time of the incident.
Filed under mta , subway |
Police used a full court press Saturday night to catch a coyote who found herself trapped in a basketball court in Riverside Park.
The wily canine had been spotted at around 9:30 p.m. by a woman who notified police.
Officers on foot and in cars gave chase as she beat a crooked path.
“It’s been running back and forth from 72nd and 79th streets and Riverside Drive,’’ said one officer. “We’re just trying not to hurt the little guy.’’
The officers finally penned the skinny black and white animal in the court at 76th Street — but she kept trying to jump the fence.
The animal was caught 90 minutes later after she was hit by two tranquilizer darts. She’ll eventually be released into the wild, police said.
Cops weren’t surprised when they discovered their quarry’s sex.
“We knew it had to be a girl,’’ said another cop. “Because she was so feisty.’’ |
NBC Nightly News Anchor Brian Williams (AP Photo)
(CNSNews.com) - Network news viewers are declining in unprecedented rates, from an average of 48 million nightly network news viewers in 1985 to 24.5 million in 2013, according to Pew Research analysis of Nielsen Media Research data.
Young people aged 18-29 are the least likely to watch network news regularly (only 11 percent did so in 2012), and 49 percent of people in this age group say they never watch the news.
In the survey, only 15 percent of people under 30 could identify NBC Nightly News Anchor Brian Williams.
In news consumption surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center, the share of Americans who regularly watch a nightly network news program – ABC, CBS, and NBC – has declined from 60 percent in 1993 (the earliest available measure) to just 27 percent in 2012.
In a similar study by Times Mirror/Gallup in July 1985, 47 percent of Americans of all ages could identify Dan Rather, anchor of CBS Evening News. Today, seven in 10 (53 percent) could not identify the picture of Brian Williams, and 18 percent named someone else (two percent thought it was a picture of Vice President Joe Biden.)
Americans aged 65 and older are still the largest segment of nightly news viewers, but their viewership has declined dramatically since 1993 “from 75% down to 40% in 2012,” the Pew study said. |
The president of the Ukrainian Jewish Congress narrowly escaped death after he was targeted in bombing attempt in central Kiev.
The president of the All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress narrowly escaped with his life on Monday after he was targeted in an assassination attempt in central Kiev.
Vadim Rabinovich, a businessman and president of the All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress, said a bomb was hurled at his car as it pulled out from an office courtyard.
A statement posted on the website of the All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress said that “an explosive device was thrown” into Rabinovich’s moving car as it pulled out.
The blast caused windows to shatter in nearby buildings, according to the AFP news agency. It was unclear whether the 59-year-old Jewish leader was in the vehicle at the time of the explosion.
Kiev police confirmed that an explosion caused by an “unknown object” had caused minor damage to a car, injuring no one. They did not identify the individual involved.
Police questioned Rabinovich over the incident, according to the Interfax news agency.
In January Rabinovich received threats from a “highly placed official” demanding he cede control of a small satellite channel that he had co-founded, Jewish News One, he told media.
Ukraine is home to one of the largest Jewish communities left in the world, numbering in the hundreds of thousands. However, anti-Semitic violence is not uncommon. |
Document Clustering
Contents
Document clustering is the act of collecting similar documents into bins, where similarity is some function on a document. The clustering algorithms implemented for LEMUR are described in "A Comparison of Document Clustering Techniques", Michael Steinbach, George Karypis and Vipin Kumar. TextMining Workshop. KDD. 2000. With the exception of Probabilistic Latent Semantic Analysis (PLSA), all use cosine similarity in the vector space model as their metric.
The LEMUR clustering support provides two principle APIs, the Cluster API, which defines the clusters themselves, and the ClusterDB API, which defines how Clusters are persistently stored. Similarity is scored via a SimilarityMethod object. Currently there is a single SimilarityMethod, CosSim, defined.
Cluster
Performs the basic online clustering task. In conjunction with an incremental indexer (such as KeyfileIncIndex), it could be used for the TDT topic detection task. It iterates over the documents in the index, assigning each document that is not in any cluster to a cluster. The document id, cluster id, and score are printed to the standard output. The parameters accepted by Cluster are:
index -- the index to use. Default is none.
clusterIndex -- the name of the cluster database index to use. Default is none.
clusterdb_type -- One of flatfile (simple cluster database) or keyfile (btree based).
clusterType -- Type of cluster to use, either agglomerative or centroid. Centroid is agglomerative using mean which trades memory use for speed of clustering. Default is centroid.
simType -- The similarity metric to use. Default is cosine similarity (COS), which is the only implemented method.
docMode -- The scoring method to use for the agglomerative cluster type. The default is max (maximum). The choices are: max -- Maximum score over documents in a cluster. mean -- Mean score over documents in a cluster. This is identical to the centroid cluster type. avg -- Average score over documents in a cluster. min -- Minimum score over documents in a cluster.
threshold -- Minimum score for adding a document to an existing cluster. Default is 0.25.
The example application that demonstrates the basic offline clustering task. Provides k-means and bisecting k-means partitional clustering. It will run each algorithm on the first 100 documents in the index (or all of them if less than 100) and print out the results. The parameters accepted by OfflineCluster are:
index -- the index to use. Default is none.
clusterType -- Type of cluster to use, either agglomerative or centroid. Centroid is agglomerative using mean which trades memory use for speed of clustering. Default is centroid.
simType -- The similarity metric to use. Default is cosine similarity (COS), which is the only implemented method.
docMode -- The integer encoding of the scoring method to use for the agglomerative cluster type. The default is max (maximum). The choices are: max -- Maximum score over documents in a cluster. mean -- Mean score over documents in a cluster. This is identical to the centroid cluster type. avg -- Average score over documents in a cluster. min -- Minimum score over documents in a cluster.
numParts -- Number of partitions to split into. Default is 2
maxIters -- Maximum number of iterations for k-means. Default is 100.
bkIters -- Number of k-means iterations for bisecting k-means. Default is 5.
Perform Probabilistic Latent Semantic Analysis (PLSA) on a collection, building three probability tables: P(z), P(d|z), and P(w|z) where z in Z are the latent variables (categories), d ∈ D are the documents in the collection, and w ∈ W are the terms in the vocabulary over the collection, or open those tables and read them into memory to illustrate their potential use. The implementation (the PLSA class) is based on the Java Reference implementation from Andrew I. Schein, Alexandrin Popescul, Lyle H. Ungar, and David M. Pennock. "Methods and Metrics for Cold-Start Recommendations." in Proceedings of the 25'th Annual International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval (SIGIR 2002). See http://www.cis.upenn.edu/datamining/software_dist/PennAspect/. Note that training takes a long time.
The parameter doTrain (true|false) determines whether the tables are constructed or read. The default value is true . The other parameters accepted by PLSA are:
index -- the index to use. Default is none.
numCats -- the number of latent variables (categories) to use. Default is 20.
beta -- The value of beta for Tempered EM (TEM). Default is 1.
betaMin -- The minimum value for beta, TEM iterations stop when beta falls below this value. Default is 0.6.
eta -- Multiplier to scale beta before beginning a new set of TEM iterations. Must be less than 1. Default is 0.92.
annealcue -- Minimum allowed difference between likelihood in consecutive iterations. If the difference is less than this, beta is updated. Default is 0.
numIters -- Maximum number of iterations to perform. Default is 100.
numRestarts -- Number of times to recompute with different random seeds. Default is 1.
testPercentage -- Percentage of events (d,w) to hold out for validation.
doTrain -- whether to construct the probability tables or read them in. Default is true.
Cluster
The cluster API provides an abstraction over a collection of cluster elements (ClusterElt), enabling the addition or removal of elements. It provides a score method for that uses the similarity between the object and another Cluster (see SimilarityMethod below). It also provides read and write methods for use by the ClusterDB. The two concrete subclasses of Cluster are AgglomCluster and CentroidCluster. Cluster instances are created via the ClusterFactory::allocateCluster method.
ClusterDB
The ClusterDB API provides for interactions with persistent collections of Cluster objects. There are two concrete implementors of this API. FlatfileClusterDB, which stores the Cluster objects in a flat file, similar to those used by the Inv(FP)Index class, and KeyfileClusterDB, which stores the Cluster objects in Keyfiles. ClusterDB implementors must provide methods to add or remove elements from a Cluster, merge two Clusters, or split a Cluster into multiple clusters. They must provide a way to retrieve a Cluster given its id number or given the document id of an element within the cluster. Finally they need to provide a Factory method for creating a new, empty Cluster.
SimilarityMethod
SimilarityMethod is an abstraction over comparing two ClusterRep (vector space representation) Cluster objects. The CosSim method is the only concrete implementation, it computes the cosine similarity. SimilarityMethods must provide two methods, one to weigh a vector (such as normalizing) and the similiarity function itself. SimilarityMethod objects are created by the SimFactory::makeSim method, using parameters defined in the ClusterParam namespace. To add a new SimilarityMethod, one needs to do the following:
In ClusterParam.hpp add a symbol for the new method in the simTypes enum. In ClusterParam.hpp add an else if to test the simTypeString for equality with the new method type parameter. In SimFactory.hpp add an include statement for the new method's header file. In SimFactory.hpp add a case for the new method symbol to makeSim that makes an instance of the new method. Recompile your lemur library.
OfflineCluster
OfflineCluster provides k-means and bisecting k-means clustering of a set of documents, returning the k clusters in a vector. The clusters are not persistent. The Cluster class uses k-means to implement its split method. |
A centre which promotes Chinese language and learning in Scottish schools has been named global Confucius Institute of the Year.
The Confucius Institute for Scotland's Schools (CISS), based at the University of Strathclyde, was chosen from among hundreds of centres to receive the award.
It was awarded the accolade by Hanban, a public institution affiliated with the Chinese ministry of education.
CISS provides support to more than 300 schools across Scotland and aims to further the teaching of Chinese language and culture.
Professor Sir Jim McDonald, principal of the University of Strathclyde, said: "More than 20,000 pupils across Scotland are benefiting from Chinese language and cultural learning activities thanks to the Confucius Institute at Strathclyde.
"We equip these pupils with a global outlook and skills that will support them throughout their careers in business, industry and the professions.
"Our Confucius Institute plays a major role in supporting our vision as a leading international technological university - and in strengthening Scotland's wider links with China - and we are delighted its important work has been formally recognised by Hanban."
There are 475 Confucius Institutes around the world.
CISS was launched in June 2012 and aims to support the delivery of high-quality Chinese language learning to Scotland's children.
It provides strategic direction to Confucius classroom hubs, supports teachers, promotes the benefits of learning about Chinese language and culture, and works closely with Hanban, Tianjin Education Commission and the Scottish Government.
Angela Constance, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, said: "Winning this international accolade is wonderful news for the Confucius Institute for Scotland's schools and Scotland as a whole.
"It is a well-deserved acknowledgement of the hard work that goes into supporting thousands of pupils across the country learn the Chinese language.
"The institute's work has helped open the eyes of our young people to a fascinating culture and given them a window onto the wider world beyond their classrooms to inspire them to learn."
CISS recently added four more Confucius classroom hubs - taking its total in Scotland to 16, covering 21 local authority areas. |
(Open thread + links)
Yes, this merits a serious response. Swimming left. Two equilibria. Principled positions. White blight. Difficult spreads. Zones of progressive failure. Idiots at the controls. Popular activism. Cultural analysis. Order force. The weekly round, and the week in doom.
Elements for a popcorn apocalypse: Trump (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6); Corbyn (1, 2, 3, 4); NRO (1, 2, 3), yellow stars at the NYT, bathhouse genocidaires, the ugly European, re-colonization time (see also), counter-revolution in the Vatican, burning with indignation (and icy dissent), TSA-grade security, scary book of the century watch, bullet points, and the most confusing story of the week (1, 2). Taylor Swift is, like, way problematic. Imitation games.
Refugee chaos (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9). An AoS round-up. “Among them actually there were no women, no children – the vast majority were aggressive young men …” (If anyone has bothered to try and deny that, I’ve yet to see it.) Rising Dampier (1, 2). Best to get on with it?
Negative economic theorems. Half-baked Alaska. Back to the Malthusian trap? How to isolate mass murder memes. Eugenics for the left. Poor brains. Deep roots of poverty (the NYT notices). Women in philosophy.
The Kaiser’s Jihad.
Quantum-resistant protocols. Superconducting graphene. Large Hadron Collider info-graphics. Falcon Heavy schedule.
Alexander on Chomsky. Error and destiny. Pynchon in disguise? Star Trek politics. Vickies. |
Republished from Islam Religion.
My name is Aisha, I am from Melbourne, Australia and here is my story.
I always found myself to be a person who liked to question things. As a little girl, I was always asking questions as children do and as I moved into my teenage years I found myself interested in philosophy and science. I wanted to understand how things work and to analyze the world we live in.
I started to question the Catholic Church and its practices at the age of 15. I started to explore other faiths and after finishing a Bachelor of Science, I traveled to Nepal and India where I was exposed to a side of humanity I had never faced in Australia: A humanity that lived amongst nature and away from the materialistic way of life we have in the modern world.
This experience changed me in a way that I felt we are all one people and that we are all equal. I felt this sense of equality amongst humankind, from talking to the holy man in India to the orphan children in Nepal, the feeling was the same: we are all equal. This is when I started to feel Islam but I didn’t know what it was. It was just a feeling.
When I returned from my travels, I decided to enroll into a Social Work course. After I graduated I started working with different communities.
I worked with people who are on the margins of society, people with no voice to speak out for themselves , people who have mental illnesses, people who are disabled and young people who are at risk of criminal activity.
I felt Islam even more in this work, and I felt it stronger the more I was giving to people and helping them. I feel Islam the most when I am helping people or when people are helping me.
I then started working with the Arabic communities in Melbourne and became friends with many Muslims. However they never spoke to me about Islam. I worked with the community for 4 years and decided to travel to the Middle East to learn more.
I spent six months traveling around the Middle East and it was there that I started to read into Islam. I spoke to many people about Islam while I was traveling and it was so hard to change from my identity as a spiritual human rights person to a Muslim. This was the hardest thing. But I could not get away from it! Islam was drawing me in and in, the pull of Islam was too strong to turn my back on.
It felt so strong and so natural to me and it was what I was searching for my whole life. The thing that drew me to Islam was the equality amongst humanity and that there is no hierarchy. I also loved that there are no images and no intermediary between you and God. It is just you and Him.
I returned home from my travel to the Middle East and did not know if I would embrace Islam or not. But on August 11, 2009 I embraced Islam and it was beautiful. I said the Shahadah and lay in my bed with a smile on my face.
The conversion has enabled me to feel close to God. I am seeing the world now in a clearer way and everything makes sense to me. I feel I can understand any situation without being manipulated or allured into being manipulated.
I feel like a strong woman who knows what her role is. I feel intelligent and proud to be a Muslim. I wish I could wear the hijab as I love wearing it, but I am too afraid to wear it in my society… maybe in the future.
It has not all been easy. I have suffered from grief and sadness at the spiritual separation from my family and friends, and I felt social isolation especially around special times like Ramadan. This was very hard for me. My first Ramadan was very difficult, but I feel that God has guided me.
My family all reacted in their own unique way. My mum was worried that she hadn’t raised me the right way, and that I would wear the scarf, which would upset her. She was also upset that men can have four wives.
My father was very angry and felt the need to protect himself and his faith, and started talking also about the oppression of women and terrorism.
My sister said that as long as it makes me happy, she is okay with it, but she was worried we might grow further apart.
At the moment, I am up and down. Everyday is different. It has been difficult, because I am now feeling like a minority. Although the Muslim sisters I am meeting are all so warm and loving, I feel I have been raised in a different way, and so I feel isolated and afraid sometimes.
But I know in my heart that God is with me and whenever I am afraid I remind myself that God led me to Islam and I say Alhamdulillah (Thankful praise be to Allah). |
Judge Barry Williams will hold a hearing Thursday on the first day of trial for Officer Caesar Goodson about whether prosecutors wrongly withheld discussions they had with a potential witness in the Freddie Gray case, newly unsealed documents show.
Attorneys for Goodson are asking Williams to dismiss the charges against him, alleging the failure to disclose the information was a violation of his rights. Documents filed by both sides were filed under seal, but unsealed by Williams on Wednesday.
The 11th-hour filings revolve around Donta Allen, the second man who was placed inside the police transport van after prosecutors say Gray was severely injured. Police said Allen told investigators that Gray was thrashing around the van, but Allen has publicly recanted that statement and said he only heard a faint tapping, according to court documents.
Prosecutors dismissed the meeting as inconsequential, saying it produced no evidence because Allen was "consistent with his inconsistence." They say their meeting with him was "farcical" and "unproductive," and they do not intend to call Allen as a witness.
Goodson's attorneys say Allen's attorney, Jack B. Rubin, contacted them last week and said the state had concealed for over a year that they had met with Allen last May. The defense says Williams has twice determined that the state improperly failed to produce discoverable evidence in two prior occasions.
"Officer Goodson would never have learned of this third instance without the intervention of a conscientious lawyer who felt duty bound to alert the court and the defense to the state's misconduct," Goodson's attorneys write. "This is the state's third strike — the only remedy that can rectify the state's violations ... is dismissal of the charges against Officer Goodson."
The state says defense attorneys are seeking an "unauthorized" remedy and that they complied with their obligations to disclose potentially exculpatory information.
Goodson's trial is set to begin Thursday with opening arguments. He was the driver of the van inside of which Gray suffered fatal spine injuries, and is charged with second-degree murder, three counts of manslaughter, and other charges. He has elected a bench trial in front of Williams. Last month, Williams acquitted another officer in the case, Officer Edward Nero, of all charges.
Allen is serving 10 years after being found in May to be in violation of his probation stemming from a 2013 armed robbery conviction, for which he initially received a 15-year sentence with all but five years suspended.
Allen was listed as a potential witness at the first trial in the case, of Officer William Porter, and arrangements were made to bring him to court, but he was not called by either side.
Goodson's attorneys say prosecutors did inform them of a May 4, 2016, meeting they had with Allen, and "described select statements" Allen made during that discussion. But they say the state failed to disclose an "extended proffer session" on May 7, 2015 — just after the charges against the officers were announced but prior to grand jury proceedings.
After being informed of the meeting by Rubin this month, defense attorneys reached out to prosecutors who said Allen was inconsistent and they did not believe they were obligated to disclose any information from the meeting, Goodson's attorneys say.
Prosecutors say that Allen stood by his various statements about what Gray was doing in the van, and "did not acknowledge the statements were inconsistent or offer an further explanation." No new information emerged, so they did not believe it needed to be disclosed.
Williams initially ordered both sides to file documents related to the dispute under seal. But on Wednesday he said that after reviewing the documents, and in anticipation of an open-court hearing on the issue on Thursday, unsealed the documents.
During Porter's trial, Williams found that prosecutors failed to disclose that Gray had allegedly told a police officer the month before he died that he suffered from back problems. After that discovery violation, Porter's attorneys asked Williams to drop the charges against Porter. He did not grant that request, but said Porter's attorneys could use the new information.
Parties in the case are prohibited from commenting due to a gag order. |
The debate over funding for the Homeland Security Department wasn’t the only thing that froze over in the Senate Thursday
Sen. Jim Inhofe, who chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee, tossed a snowball on the Senate floor as part of a speech expressing skepticism about the reality of climate change. The Oklahoma Republican opened by showing pictures of an igloo his daughter’s family built during a snowstorm five years ago, when he said “the hysteria on global warming” began.
Then Inhofe reached into a bag he had brought with him and pulled out a robust snowball.
“Do you know what this is? It’s a snowball,” he said to freshman Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, who being from Louisiana may not be familiar with snow. “It’s just from outside here, so it’s very, very cold out, … very unseasonable.”
“Mr. President, Catch this,” Inhofe said before tossing the snowball underhand. An Inhofe aide said it was caught by a page. |
Hamilton's Mayor is proposing that everyone but local ratepayers pays a $25 entry fee to see the city's themed gardens.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Andrew King said 350,000 people were visiting the gardens each year, and the city was just not coping.
He said ratepayers had paid a lot of money already and he could not see why the busloads of visitors should not contribute.
"We do need more capital and the ratepayers of Hamilton have paid a lot of money already and they shouldn't be the ones who keep paying when there are huge amounts - busloads - of visitors coming in straight from Auckland airport on the way to Rotorua, or people going from Waitomo Caves through to Hobbiton."
Mr King said while the entry fee was not set in stone, he doubted the donation-based system would remain.
He said proceeds would go towards building another seven gardens, which were expected to cost $15 million.
The proposal will be discussed at a council meeting next week. |
United States failed satellite launch
Intelsat 708 was a telecommunications satellite built by the American company Space Systems/Loral for Intelsat. It was destroyed on 15 February 1996 when the Long March 3B rocket failed while being launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China. The rocket veered off course immediately after liftoff and struck a nearby village, killing at least 6 people.[1]
The accident investigation identified a failure in the guidance system of the Long March 3B. After the Intelsat 708 accident, the Long March rockets greatly increased in reliability and did not experience another mission failure until 2011. However, the participation of American companies in the Intelsat 708 and Apstar 2 investigations caused great political controversy in the United States. A U.S. government investigation found that the information in the report had been illegally transferred to China. Satellite technology was subsequently reclassified as a munition and placed under ITAR restrictions, blocking its export to China. In 2002, Space Systems/Loral paid $20 million to settle charges of violating export controls.[2]
Launch failure [ edit ]
In 1992 and 1993, Space Systems/Loral received licenses from the United States Department of State to launch Intelsat satellites on Chinese rockets. At that time, satellite components were still under ITAR restrictions; they would be transferred in stages to the Commerce Department between 1992 and 1996.[2] The Intelsat 708 satellite was to be launched into geostationary orbit aboard a Long March 3B rocket.
On February 15, 1996, the Long March 3B rocket failed during launch, veering off course immediately after liftoff and crashing into a village near the launch site (probably Mayelin village).[1] An enormous explosion destroyed most of the rocket and killed an unknown number of inhabitants.[3]
The nature and extent of the damage remain a subject of dispute. The Chinese government, through its official Xinhua news agency, reported that six people were killed and 57 injured. However, American estimates suggest that anywhere between 200 and 500 people might have been killed in the crash; "dozens, if not hundreds," of people were seen to gather outside the centre's main gate near the crash site the night before launch.[4] When reporters were being taken away from the site, they found that most buildings had sustained serious damage or had been flattened completely.[4] Some eyewitnesses were noted as having seen dozens of ambulances and many flatbed trucks, loaded with what could have been human remains, being taken to the local hospital.[4]
Bruce Campbell of Astrotech and other American eyewitnesses in Xichang reported that the satellite post-crash was surprisingly intact, along with the opinion that the official death toll only reflects those in the military who were caught by the disaster and not the civilian population. In the years to follow, the village that used to border the launch center has vanished with little trace it ever existed.[5] However, later analysis by The Space Review found that the total population of the village was under 1000, and most if not all of the population had been evacuated before launch, making it "very unlikely" that there were hundreds of deaths.[1]
Investigation [ edit ]
After the launch failure, the Chinese investigation found that the inertial measurement unit had failed. However, the satellite insurance companies insisted on an Independent Review Committee as a condition of providing insurance for future Chinese satellite launches. Loral, Hughes, and other U.S. aerospace companies participated in the Review Committee, which issued a report in May 1996 that identified a different cause of the failure. The Chinese report was then changed to match the findings of the Review Committee.[2] As a result of the investigation, the Long March rocket family improved in reliability and did not experience another mission failure until August 2011.
In 1997, the U.S. Defense Technology Security Administration found that China had obtained "significant benefit" from the Review Committee and could improve their "launch vehicles ... ballistic missiles and in particular their guidance systems." In 1998, the U.S. Congress reclassified satellite technology as a munition that was subject to ITAR, returning export control from the Commerce Department to the State Department. In 2002, Loral paid $20 million in fines and compliance expenses to settle allegations of violating export control regulations.[2]
No export licenses to China have been issued since 1996, and an official at the Bureau of Industry and Security emphasized in 2016 that "no U.S.-origin content, regardless of significance, regardless of whether it’s incorporated into a foreign-made item, can go to China."[6]
Intelsat 708 contained sophisticated communications and encryption technology. Members of the Loral security team braved the toxic environment around the crash site to recover sensitive components, returning with complaints of bulging eyes and severe headaches requiring oxygen therapy. They were initially reported by the Defense Department monitor to have succeeded in recovering "the [satellite's] encryption-decryption equipment."[7] It later became clear that the most sensitive FAC-3R circuit boards were not recovered, but, "...were mounted near the hydrazine propellant tanks and most likely were destroyed in the explosion... Because the FAC-3R boards on Intelsat 708 were uniquely keyed, the National Security Agency remains convinced that there is no risk to other satellite systems, now or in the future, resulting from having not recovering the FAC-3R boards from the PRC.".[8]
See also [ edit ]
Nedelin disaster In 1960, the worst space launch catastrophe prior to Intelsat 708 occurred at the Baikonur test range in the former Soviet Union.
Proton-M/DM-03 8K82 km/11S861-03 In 2013, a Proton launch vehicle went out of control moments after launch and flew horizontally for a few seconds before crashing some distance from the pad.
References [ edit ] |
Image copyright EPA Image caption President Bashir, centre, posed for a group photograph at the start of the summit
A South African court has issued an interim order stopping Sudan's leader Omar al-Bashir, who faces war crimes charges, from leaving the country.
The Pretoria High Court says Mr Bashir must stay until it rules on Monday on whether he should be handed over to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
President Bashir is in Johannesburg for an African Union (AU) summit.
He is accused of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide during the Darfur conflict.
About 400,000 people have died and more than two million have fled their homes since rebels took up arms in 2003, the UN says.
Government forces and allied Arab militias are accused of targeting black African civilians in the fight against the rebels.
Tensions
President Bashir was welcomed by South African officials as he arrived in Johannesburg. After the court announced it would rule on a request to arrest him, he posed for a group photo with other African leaders.
The High Court initially said it would issue its ruling on Sunday. But it later postponed the hearing until Monday, when the summit is due to end.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The ICC has two arrest warrants against President Bashir
There are tensions between the ICC and the AU, with some on the continent accusing the court of unfairly targeting Africans.
The warrants against Mr Bashir, who denies the allegations, have restricted his overseas travel. He has, however, visited friendly states in Africa and the Middle East.
Analysis: Andrew Harding, BBC Africa correspondent
South Africa has often shied away from this sort of diplomatic headache, but this time the government has stepped straight, and deliberately, into controversy, courting Western fury by rolling out the welcome carpet for President Bashir.
The South African government must, surely, have foreseen the possibility of a legal challenge. If President Bashir is allowed to return home unimpeded, South Africa's actions will be bitterly condemned internationally - if less loudly within the continent - as a blow against the credibility of the ICC.
And if Sudan's president is detained, or perhaps even arrested, then Pretoria will be accused of luring a fellow African leader into a trap. Some would call that a no-win situation.
But it's clear that South Africa's government has chosen to flaunt its growing antipathy towards "Western" rules, and towards a court in which so many African leaders now appear to have lost faith.
Sudan's bloody stalemate
The ICC relies on member states to carry out arrests.
However correspondents have said the South African government - a signatory to the treaty establishing the ICC - is unlikely to move against the Sudanese leader.
South Africa's governing ANC said immunity had been granted to "all (summit) participants as part of the international norms for countries hosting such gathering of the AU or even the United Nations".
The ANC also said the ICC was "no longer useful for the purposes for which it was intended".
The court, which sits in The Hague, was set up in 2002 to try cases of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, when national courts cannot handle them.
The official theme of the Johannesburg summit, chaired by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, is women's empowerment and development.
But the political turmoil in Burundi, crisis in South Sudan and recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa were also likely to feature heavily. |
If you passed one of these awesome art cars in traffic, you might just run yourself off the road trying to get a second look. Art cars have long been a popular way for enthusiasts to show off their creative ingenuity. ‘Cartists’ , as they are sometimes called, are usually ordinary people with no artistic training, though some are metalworkers or sculptors. Here are 20 amazing art cars, from Gothic cathedrals on wheels to a van covered in practically every type of camera imaginable.
The Phantom
(image via: Truant Studios)
William T. Burge gets a lot of strange looks driving his creations on the highway, and it’s no wonder they don’t look like anything you’ve ever seen before. Mark, a sculptor, created “The Phantom”, pictured above, and ˜The Lizard”, both of which have been seen at Burning Man on various occasions, as have many of the other art cars on this list.
Mobile Muffins
(images via: Laughing Squid)
These electric cupcake cars, also known as Mobile Muffins, were featured in a totally awesome video called ˜Cupcake Cutthroats” on Boing BoingTV. They were created by Kinetic Pastry Science, and were seen zooming around Burning Man and Maker Faire. From the video: “They wanna force us to be trans-fat free. Take a bite out of this, bitch”
Carthedral
(images via: Rebecca Caldwell)
The Carthedral is the incredibly detailed project of Rebecca Caldwell, and began its life as a 1971 Cadillac hearse, modified with 1959 Cadillac tailfins. A VW Beetle is welded to the top, along with metal armatures and fiberglass. Rebecca calls the Carthedral “a rolling Gothic Cathedral complete with flying buttresses, stained glass pointed windows, and gargoyles.”
Baron Margo’s Rocket Car
(images via: Baron Margo)
Baron Margo is an LA metalworker whose art cars are inspired, in part, by his conviction that automobiles should be more futuristic and imaginative than they are. When he drives around town in the Rocket Car, amazed passersby exclaim, “What is that?!” and Baron Margo answers, “Just your everyday, average rocket ship!” Baron’s metal studio is full of fascinating creations like a family of robots, a hanging metal dragonfly and various gleaming examples of what he calls “spacecrafts.”
The Dream Car 123
(images via: DreamCar123.com)
The Dream Car could have come flying straight out of a 1960’s B-movie involving scantily clad aliens in platform silver boots, but it is actually higher-tech than it looks. Created by inventor Greg Zanis, it runs on 80 batteries, has four engines and can reportedly reach speeds of 45mph. It can run for 200 miles on a single charge, and it takes about four hours to charge the batteries. Zanis actually created a special ‘solar and wind tower’ that charges the car using renewable energy.
Opera to Go
(images via: OrangeShow.org)
This creative art car was put together by Houston theater group Opera to Go!, and won first place at the 2008 Annual Houston Art Car Parade. The Opera to Go! Car featured an opera singer sitting inside the mouth of an enormous sculpted woman. The car underneath is barely visible, recognizable only by the tires peeking out underneath and the side mirrors protruding from the cheeks.
‘Jawa Sandcrawler’ Star Wars Art Car
(images via: Declan McCullagh)
The Jawa Sandcrawler art car was created by J.P. and Dave of Gigsville, a somewhat organized group of Burning Man theme camps based in Southern California. For those unfamiliar, it resembles the vehicles the Jawas drove on the planet of Tatooine in Star Wars. Perhaps one of the geekiest art cars ever, it was said to be the hit of Burning Man 2006.
The Jet Car
(images via: Jim-Robertson.com)
The Jet Car was designed and fabricated by Jim Robertson, a sculpture who specializes in steel fabrication and assemblage. Jim transformed a Honda into this UFO-like creation by welding an angle iron framework to the vehicle and covering that with steel plates and found objects. The Jet Car has received several awards and has been displayed in the Houston Art Car Museum and the Space Center in Houston for an exhibit entitled, “Roswell: The Alien Invasion.”
Mirror Image
(images via: Harrod Blank at ArtCarAgency.com)
Dennis Clay‘s career as a technical director for a puppet theatre doesn’t seem as though it would lend itself to metal sculpture, but undoubtedly he has a creative streak that influenced the playfulness of this piece in which two VW Beetles were attached roof-to-roof. You might expect some weight and balance issues with such a creation, but the Mirror Image art car runs fine and has appeared in many art car shows.
Ripper the Friendly Shark by Tom Kennedy
(images via: Harrod Blank at ArtCarAgency.com)
Ripper the Friendly Shark was Tom Kennedy‘s first art car. It started out as a 1982 Nissan Sentra that has since been through several remodels that led to an opening mouth and chrome gills. Of his work, Tom says, “Much of my work involves the idea of transforming dreams into steel, whether in the form of an art car, mutant vehicle or some other fabrication. I love to enter zones of working when my materials, whether they be found objects or raw steel, begin to talk to and direct me.”
Neverwas Haul
(images via: Tristan Savatier)
The Neverwas Haul is a self-propelled 3-story Victorian house and was constructed of 75% recycled materials. It is built on the base of a fifth wheel travel trailer, and measures 24 feet long by 24 feet high and 12 feet wide. The creators of the Neverwas Haul are a group of self-described tinkerers, fabricators and artists who are compelled by the desire to portray a Jules Verne-style world in which steam technology is considered cutting edge.
Splinter & Little Splinter
(images via: The Art Car Museum)
Wood sculptor Isaac Cohen built Splinter and Little Splinter over thousands of painstaking hours of shaping, sanding and waxing pieces of wood. The unusual shape of these two art cars resembles upside-down boats, evidence of the fact that curved wood is Isaac’s specialty.
The Camera Van
(images via: Harrod Blank at CameraVan.com)
Harrod Blank, a photographer who has taken the photos of several of the cars on this list, has a very appropriate art car of his own: the Camera Van. Covered in hundreds of cameras of various types and sizes, the Camera Van was conceived in 1993 when Harrod had a dream about covering his car with cameras and driving around taking photos of people on the streets. The van’s front grill features every type of Polaroid camera ever made, and four fully-functional 32 color monitors on the passenger side broadcast the closed-circuit image of what the van’s working video and still cameras capture.
The Sunflower Car
(images via: Art Cars in Cyberspace)
The Sunflower Car started with the kind of vision that only a truly skilled sculptor would be brave enough to take on. Sculptor and co-founder of Sacred Heart Studio Tim Young’s welding skills were gained through years of working in the awning, skylight and ship building industries.
“Evil” Art Car
(images via: Declan McCullagh)
This two-faced evil art car appeared at Burning Man 2006, and seems to be made up of three golf carts strung together along with a giant sculptural head, foam tentacle-like hair and a bobbing whirligig tail.
The Duke by Rick McKinney
(images via: Rick McKinney)
Gonzo writer Rick McKinney has created one of the wildest art cars ever, with thousands of random objects attached to the body of the vehicle seemingly without rhyme or reason. If you take a close look you’ll see baby dolls, plastic fruit, typewriter keys, antlers, animal bones, circuit boards, graffiti (including an autograph by Weird Al Yankovich) and many other objects adorning The Duke, which has traveled many miles across the country. It looks like a crazed carnival on wheels, and it all started with a 1976 Ford Granada. The top part of the car is a actually a loft bedroom comprised of the exteriors of 23 old travel trunks bound together with steel rebar, spray foam and silicone.
Maid Marian’s Cat Car
(images via: Harrod Blank)
Marian Goodell, aka Maid Marian, built the Cat Car in 2005 for Burning Man. It is entirely covered in faux fur, with a bent tail that towers over the body. No word on what sort of vehicle is hiding underneath that mottled coat.
The California Fantasy Van
(images via: Harrod Blank at ArtCarAgency.com)
The California Fantasy Van is a 1975 GMC Panel Van and was embellished within an inch of its life by Ernie Steingold, a vacuum cleaner repairman. Ernie spent more than 10 years covering the Fantasy Van with 5,000 brass objects and coins. It iss now on display at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
Circuit Board Car
(images via: Avi Abrams)
It is an art car to make the nerdcore set proud: a vehicle completely covered in circuit boards. This takes geek art to a whole new level. This was snapped in traffic by Avi Abrams, so the actual owner is unknown.
The Phone Car
(images via: ThePhoneCar.com)
The Phone Car was welded by Dave Huntress and is proudly driven by Howard Davis, the owner of Datel. It was created from aluminum sheets, welded together and formed to provide a molded plastic look. The black face plate of the phone car is tempered glass, which allows the driver to see out. It can go up to 50mph, and was originally built in 1983 as part of a trade show exhibit. And yes, there is indeed a car phone in the phone car. |
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Men’s Domestic Violence Helpline
The Men’s Domestic Violence Helpline is a state wide 24 hour service. This service provides counselling for men who are concerned about their violent and abusive behaviours. The service can provide telephone counselling, information and referral to ongoing face to face services if required. This service can provide information about accessing legal advice, accommodation and other support services for people who have been served with a violence restraining order. Information and support is also available for men who have experienced family and domestic violence. A telephone based interpreting service is available if required.
Telephone (08) 9223 1199 Free call 1800 000 599
In an emergency - if someone is in immediate danger - call the police on 000 now.
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Fantasy Premier League Clean Sheet Tips For Gameweek 18
Welcome back to another article highlighting Fantasy Premier League Cleans Sheet Tips for Gameweek 18. This week NaturalFootyFan picks out clubs with the best cleansheet potential and also the personnel to fit.
When competing in Fantasy Football contests on any site, securing cleansheet points from your players can be just as pivotal as your forwards getting on the scoresheet. In this column, you can make use of a selection of statistics, an analysis of the bookies odds and of course our expert advice!
Bookies Odds
The first thing you should note down when trying to gauge cleansheet potential is the Bookies odds. They provide unbiased statistics, which in turn helps you make the right decision, with the highest chance of succeeding, instead of being swayed by personal opinion. To save you the time and effort of searching far and wide for a reliable source, we have created a simplified chart for Gameweek 18.
[table id=38 /]
We strongly advise focussing on the teams situated in the top half of the table when finalising your FPL, Mondogoal and FantasyBet selections. Below we have some strategy-based ideas and also recommended players; based upon the unique scoring system on each site.
Goalkeeper Selection
FPL Tip – Hugo Lloris (5.1m) vs. Norwich (H) 6.4 % Ownership
The reason why Lloris is such an attractive option for FPL is his tendancy to pick up bonus points. The 28-year-old who is captain for club and country, is without doubt one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League and his acrobatic save style definitely catches the eye; with 2 bonus points in his last outing he topped the GK chart with 9 points. Tottenham have lost just one of their last 16 Premier League matches (W7 D8 L1) and their recent form is top notch, as our chart highlights. Spurs are unbeaten in their previous 19 meetings against newly promoted sides and to further reinforce their confidence Norwich have never won a Premier League match on boxing day (W0 D1 L4). Alex Neil will have to clamp down on his player’s Christmas day celebrations if they are to have any chance.
Mondogoal Tip – Lukasz Fabianski (5.2m) vs. West Brom (H)
Swansea’s dire form, which sees them lingering in the relegation zone, has had a dramatic effect on Fabianski’s value. Last seasons top scoring keeper and formerly peaking in the premium bracket (7-9m), during the early months of the season, Fabianski’s price has been hacked at each week and now he is listed on page 3 of 3 on the goalkeeper list, which is never a good thing! A depressing sight for the Polish International, who often witnesses his defence parting in front of him, nevertheless, he offers unbelievable value in Gameweek 18. West Brom have picked up more points on the road this season, but as a Tony Pulis side (especially with Rondon suspended), their chief principle will be defensive solidarity. This plays right into Fabianski owners’ hands, Swansea will probe with more intent than their visitors, but they will also be keen to build from their cleansheet of last week. Mondogoal offer 3 points for a single-goal match and 6 for a cleansheet; so at this price, although we think a cleansheet is more likely, 3 points would not be the end of the world and could free up some cash to spend elsewhere.
FantasyBet Tip – Joe Hart (5.5m) vs. Sunderland (H)
With less variable price brackets than, for example, Mondogoal on FantasyBet it is well worth your buck to splash the cash on the most expensive keeper, especially with his 53% chance of a cleansheet. If Pellegrini’s side concede a goal, it’ll be their longest run without a cleansheet at home since October 1991 (13 matches), so they definitely have an incentive. Man City welcome Sunderland – a side that have won only 2 of their last 10 boxing day fixtures (D4 L4). We can see nothing other than a cleansheet for Man City and that’s exactly what’s needed with FantasyBet’s rigid scoring system, where no points are awarded for a single-goal match.
Mondogoal Defensive Blocks
It’s a regular sight, especially in the largest GPP contests, to see leaders sporting a lineup packed with defenders from the same team. We are the first to state that this is a risky strategy, but if the team you have backed come up trumps, you will fly up the leaderboard. A large amount of prize winners in the fiercely contested £10,000 shootout, which sees 1st place bag £2000, go for this defensive block strategy. We are going to take you through the strengths and weaknesses of 3 different backline blocks for Gameweek 18. As you will notice we advise going for 3 at the back; it has proved the most profitable in the past and is the number 1 choice of the majority of Mondogoal managers.
Low Risk – Manchester City Block vs. Sunderland (Total Expense: 25.9m)
This is a very expensive block, which chips out over a quarter of your total budget. However, if you are willing to spend heavy in an attempt to bank a cleansheet (53% chance implied), then this is the best combination around. Vincent Kompany returns from injury and should slot back into the starting XI alongside Otamendi; who has looked a shadow of himself in Kompany’s absence. To complete the back 3 is Aleksandar Kolarov, he offers a fantastic offensive outlet, the left-back takes his share of freekicks and has contributed with 2 goals this season.
Medium Risk – Swansea Block vs. West Brom (Total Expense: 22.5m)
Swansea were involved in a goal-less stalemate vs. West Ham in Gameweek 17 and their defence scored very well on Mondogoal. With their patient build-up play from the back, Swansea’s defenders always rack up a large amount of passing points (0.03 points awarded for every successful pass on Mondogoal). Neil Taylor has played every minute of Premier League action this season and with his fellow full-back Kyle Naughton, they frequently whip dangerous balls into the area. With Gomis and Ayew waiting to pounce in the centre, an assist seems likely. Williams also provides an aerial threat at set-piece situations. Swansea are ranked 4th in our chart and have a 45% implied chance for a cleansheet.
High Risk – Aston Villa Block vs. West Ham (Total Expense: 18.9m)
In search of a backline that is a bit lighter on the budget? Then Aston Villa, although unpredictable, could be your best option. They welcome West Ham to Villa Park, in a matchup where goals have come at a premium in the past with both sides failing to score in three of their last 4 meetings. Another positive for this budget block is the fact that West Ham have drawn their last 3 Premier League matches 0-0. More of the same would be perfect and even better a Lescott bullet header from a Bacuna freekick!
Thanks for reading and let us know if you enjoyed this article in the comments below.
Good Luck from all at fplbet. |
It's obvious to anyone who observes Hollywood these days that the mainstream movie industry is getting more averse to taking chances than ever before -- with hundreds of millions of dollars on the line, sequels, franchises and previously branded properties are considered the safest and easiest bets. Luckily for us, some damn fine genre entertainment can and does exist within that system, whether it be the Marvel movies, the Hunger Games saga, or even the occasional original entry like Interstellar (whose director is the actual brand in this case), although they have to co-exist with dreck like (fill in the blank).
There's absolutely nothing wrong with mainstream, populist movies, of course, but if you want to be challenged in different ways by film then the indie scene is where it's at. Great independent horror movies have been around for decades, but with technology now more accessible than ever, indie sci-fi films are becoming much more common as well. And even the films that don't employ special effects often still work just on the power of their ideas.
So, without further ado, here are the 15 independent sci-fi and horror movies we enjoyed the most this year, counting down from Number 15 to the top. Many of them had their own flaws, and not all of them will be entertaining or even interesting to a lot of viewers, but they each brought something unique to the table that a $150 million tentpole cannot offer these days. If you track down and watch -- and like -- even one of these movies, then our job for 2014 is done. |
John Laroche is a tall guy, skinny as a stick, pale-eyed, slouch-shouldered, and sharply handsome, in spite of the fact that he is missing all his front teeth. He has the posture of al dente spaghetti and the nervous intensity of someone who plays a lot of video games. He is thirty-four years old, and works for the Seminole Tribe of Florida, setting up a plant nursery on the tribal reservation near Miami. The Seminole nicknames for Laroche are Crazy White Man and Troublemaker. My introduction to Laroche took place last summer, in the new Collier County Courthouse, in Naples, Florida. The occasion was a hearing following Laroche’s arrest for illegally taking endangered wild orchids, which he is passionate about, from the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve, which is a place he adores. Laroche did not dress for the occasion. He was wearing wraparound Mylar sunglasses, a cotton-blend shirt printed with some sort of scenic design, and trousers that bagged around his rear. At the hearing, he was called forward and asked to state his name and address and to describe his experience in working with plants. Laroche sauntered to the center of the courtroom. He jutted out his chin. He spoke in a rasping, draggy voice. He stuck his thumbs in his belt loops and said, “I’ve been a professional horticulturist for approximately twelve years. I’ve owned a plant nursery of my own. . . . I have extensive experience with orchids, and the asexual micropropagation of orchids under aseptic cultures.” Then he grinned and said to the court, “I’m probably the smartest person I know.” Laroche grew up in Miami. He says he was a weird kid. This is not hard to believe. When he wanted a pet, he bought a little turtle, then bought ten little turtles, then tried to breed them, then started selling turtles to other kids, then decided his life wasn’t worth living unless he acquired one of every species of rare turtle, including a three-hundred-pound exotic tortoise from the Galápagos Islands. Suddenly, another passion seized him. He became immersed in late-Ice Age fossils. Then he dropped turtles and Ice Age fossils and became obsessed with lapidary, and then after a while he dropped lapidary and got into collecting and resilvering old mirrors. His passions boil up quickly and end abruptly, like tornadoes. Usually, the end is accompanied by a dramatic pronouncement. When he was in his teens, he went through a tropical-fish phase, and he had sixty fishtanks in his house. He even went skin-diving for the fish himself. Then the end came. He didn’t merely lose interest in collecting fish: he renounced it, as if he had kicked a habit. He declared that he would stop collecting fish forever. He also declared that he would never set foot in the ocean again. That was fifteen years ago. He lives a few miles from the Atlantic, but he has not gone near it since. Laroche has the conversational manner of a Mr. Encyclopedia. This is not the result of rigorous and extensive formal education. He went to high school in North Miami, but beyond that he is self-taught. In fact, it is almost impossible to imagine him in a classroom. On occasion, he gets wistful about the life he might have had if he had applied himself conventionally. He believes he could have gone to medical school and become a brain surgeon. He would have become distinguished and rich. Instead, he lives at home with his father and has mostly made a living in uncustomary ways. For instance, he once sold to a gardening journal an article he called “Would You Die for Your Plants?” This was after he had spilled granular pesticide into a cut on his hand—an incident that left him with permanent heart and liver damage and the persistent feeling that his experience would make a good and salable story. He is now writing a guide to tissue-culturing plants at home, which he plans to advertise in High Times, the marijuana magazine. The ad will ask for a lot of money for the guide but will neglect to mention that any marijuana grown following Laroche’s precise methods will never mature enough to have any psychoactive properties. He defends this by saying that it will earn him money, it will teach kids how to grow plants, it will keep them from actually getting high, and it will give them an object lesson in how crime doesn’t pay. The spiral of logic entwining altruism and rule-breaking around a possible financial outcome is a Laroche specialty. Just when you think you’ve figured out that he’s a crook, he reveals an ulterior and principled but lucrative reason for his crookedness. He loves doing things the hard way, if it means he gets to do what he wants and leaves you wondering how he got away with it. He is the most moral amoral person I’ve ever known. When he was growing up, Laroche and his mother would hike through the Fakahatchee Strand and other South Florida swamps, looking for unusual things. At the time, Laroche and his parents were living in North Miami. Laroche’s father, a construction worker, had broken his back in a fall from a building and was disabled. Laroche was the only surviving child; a sister had died at an early age. “We’re a family of ailments and pain,” Laroche says. He describes his mother, who died in 1988, as overweight, frumpy, Jewish by birth but serially passionate about different faiths. She doesn’t sound like someone who would tramp through sloppy, sweaty backcountry, but that is how she and John spent many days. Sometimes they would tag orchids that were in bloom and come back a few months later to see if they had formed any seeds. For a while, Laroche’s passion was to photograph every single species of orchid in bloom in Florida; he and his mother would trudge through the swamp, carrying cameras, for hours on end. As he got older, Laroche went from wanting pictures of orchids to wanting orchids themselves. He got married in 1983, when he was twenty-three, and that same year he and his wife opened a nursery in North Miami. Before that, he worked in construction but, just like his father, he broke his back in a fall and went on disability leave. He and his wife called their nursery the Bromeliad Tree. (Bromeliads are spiny plants that usually, like epiphytic orchids, attach themselves to tree limbs instead of sprouting in soil. Some of them grow wild in the Fakahatchee.) Laroche’s nursery specialized in the oddest, rarest stuff. He had forty thousand plants, including some that were the only specimens of their kind in cultivation. Laroche says that in 1990 he showed up at the World Bromeliad Conference with an astonishing twelve-by-twenty-five-foot display featuring star-shaped bromeliads, Day-Glo paint, black light, and Christmas lights arranged in the shape of actual constellations. The conference was a turning point for him. He became well known in the plant community and began calling people all over the world for leads to unusual plants; his phone bills were sometimes close to a thousand dollars a month. Lots of money flew back and forth, but he kept almost none of it. Once, he spent hundreds of dollars building a little air-conditioned box for a rare fern he got from a friend in the Dominican Republic. The fern died. Laroche has never regretted the expense. He accumulated one of the country’s largest collections of Cryptanthus, a genus of Brazilian bromeliad. He had a startling, six-foot-tall Antherium veitchii with corrugated leaves that he says was “a gorgeous, gorgeous son of a bitch.” He had dozens and dozens of orchids. He particularly enjoyed cloning them and mutating them. He also figured out how to propagate certain species that had rarely been propagated in a lab. Day and night, people would drop by his house to talk about plants and to admire his collection. People would give him plants in exchange for his leading them on hikes through the Fakahatchee just so they could look at a plant that interested them. One afternoon, while I was visiting him in his office, at the Seminole plant nursery, he began to talk about the amazing adaptability of plants, and mentioned that the plant with the largest bloom in the world, the rafflesia, lives parasitically in the roots of a tree and eventually devours its host. He said that back when he had his nursery many people would call him to talk about plants, but he could tell that they were just lonely and wanted to talk to someone, or that they were competitive and wanted to test their knowledge against his. He said, “I felt sometimes like they were going to consume me. I felt like they were the parasite plant and I was the big host tree.”
The Orchidaceae are a family of perennial plants with one fertile stamen and three-petalled flowers that, depending on the species, can be anything from pale specks to voluptuous masses. Generally speaking, orchids seem to drive people crazy. The people who love orchids love them madly, but the passion for orchids is not necessarily a passion for beauty. Something about the form of an orchid makes it seem almost more like a creature than a flower. Many orchids are strange-looking, and others have bizarre shapes and jarring color combinations, and all orchids are rather ugly when they aren’t in flower. Laroche told me that many species are so plain that when he shows them to people they invariably ask him what they will look like when they bloom, and he has to explain that they already are blooming. Orchids have adapted to almost every environment on earth. They can be mutated, crossbred, and cloned. They can take the form of complex architectural structures or of garish, glamorous, luscious flowers. Not surprisingly, orchids have all sorts of sexual associations; few other flowers are as plainly erotic in appearance or effect. Even other creatures find orchids alluring. Some orchids are shaped exactly like the insect that pollinates them; the insect is drawn inside thinking it has found its mate. Orchid collecting began in Victorian England as a hobby for the very rich—people with enough land for greenhouses and enough money to sponsor expeditions to where the rarest species could be found. The hobby grew so consuming that it was known in Victorian times as orchidelirium, because a sort of mania seized collectors. Many seemingly normal people, once smitten with orchids, become less like normal people and more like John Laroche. At an orchid show in New York last year, I heard the same story over and over—how one orchid in the kitchen led to a dozen, and then to a back-yard greenhouse, and then, in some cases, to multiple greenhouses and collecting trips to Asia and Africa and an ever-expanding budget to service this desire. I walked around the show with a collector from Guatemala. He said, “The bug hits you. You can join A.A. to quit drinking, but once you get into orchids you can’t do anything to kick.” Collecting can be a sort of lovesickness. If you begin collecting living things, you are pursuing something imperfectible, and even if you manage to find them and then possess them, there is no guarantee they won’t die or change. The botanical complexity of orchids and their mutability makes them perhaps the most compelling and maddening of all collectible living things. There are nearly twenty thousand named species of orchids—it is the largest flowering-plant family on earth. New orchids are being created in laboratories or discovered every day, and others exist only in tiny numbers in remote places. To desire orchids is to have a desire that can never be fully requited. A collector who wants one of every orchid species will die before even coming close.
A calamitous frost in South Florida in 1989 killed off a lot of nursery stock, including some of Laroche’s, and then, in 1991, a bad batch of fungicides killed orchids and other plants in greenhouses all around the country. Laroche had barely anything left. Three years earlier, a drunk driver had run into his car; the accident knocked out Laroche’s front teeth, put his wife in a coma for several weeks, and killed his mother and uncle. He and his wife later separated, which he says now was because he realized that she could sit through an entire Grateful Dead album and he could not. Then, in August of 1992, Hurricane Andrew struck. At the time, Laroche had his remaining plants in three different greenhouses, in Miami and Homestead. In the storm, two of the three greenhouses vanished entirely. The third more or less exploded. When he went to examine that third greenhouse, he came upon a hash that he recognized as one of his plants; it was in the middle of the road about three blocks from where the greenhouse had been. Salt water carried inland by the storm poisoned the rest. At that point, he had been in the plant business for about twelve years. He had been a famous plant person. Laroche decided then and there that he would die of a broken heart if he ever opened his own nursery again. The Seminole Tribe of Florida, Inc., didn’t have a nursery, but the idea of starting one was among many self-help projects contemplated by the tribe. The Seminoles own ninety thousand acres in Florida. Unemployment in the tribe is nearly forty per cent. The Seminoles’ plan was to hire a white man with expertise, let him get the nursery going and teach tribe members as much as possible, and then eventually replace the white manager with a member of the tribe. The Seminoles ran an ad in the paper. John Laroche saw it, applied, and was hired by the tribe. Of course, he was temperamentally disinclined to do the job the easy way. He decided to make the nursery something spectacular. He wanted to cultivate exotic things—spinach that grows on vines, pumpkins that can be trained onto a trellis, hot peppers shaped like penises, a hundred varieties of what he calls “weird-ass vegetables.” He also wanted to build a laboratory for cloning orchids. He was not interested in corsage orchids: he wanted to cultivate rare endangered species that are now available only on the black market. If he succeeded, he would wreak havoc on the illegal plant trade—a prospect that appealed to him, especially if he could do it by some Laroche-style convoluted means. After he was hired by the Seminoles, Laroche’s new passion became Indian law. He spent hours in the University of Miami law library. He studied the State of Florida’s case against the Miccosukee Indians for poaching palm fronds. He learned the tortuous history of the State of Florida v. James E. Billie, in which the government tried, unsuccessfully, to convict Chief Billie, the chairman of the Seminole tribal council, for shooting, skinning, and eating an endangered species of panther. When his research was done, Laroche was convinced he had found a loophole in the state code which exempted Seminoles from laws protecting rare plants.
Orchids first evolved in the tropics, but there are now orchids all over the world, broadcast by air currents. The seeds of an orchid are dark and tiny and as fine as gunpowder; one hurricane can carry millions of them thousands of miles. A strong enough gust and a few seedpods from South America could export enough prom corsages to Miami to last until the end of time. Winds blowing into Florida drop seeds in swimming pools and barbecue pits and on highways and shuffleboard courts and hotel parking lots and the roofs of office buildings, and also in places that are tranquil and damp and warm, where the seeds can germinate and grow. Many seeds crossing the Gulf of Mexico probably drop and die along the way, but any that stay aloft and then fall someplace like the Fakahatchee have a chance to thrive. At the turn of the century, the Fakahatchee was filled with so many orchids of so many different species that it was like an orchid supermarket. The last comprehensive survey of the Fakahatchee’s plants was done in 1987. It listed forty-five orchid species. One species, known as the Fakahatchee ladies’-tresses orchid (Spiranthes lanceolata var. paludicola), was first described in the Fakahatchee. Ten species found here exist nowhere else in the United States—the rattail orchid, the crooked-spur orchid, the dwarf epidendrum, the twisted orchid, Gale’s orchid, the false water spider, Harris’s tiny orchid, the hidden orchid, the small-flowered maxillaria, and the frosted-flower orchid. Most of these are homely, with skinny roots and spindly leaves and puny flowers. People who like the fat, flamboyant orchids would find these plants enormously disappointing. On the other hand, a real collector—the sort Laroche has come to be and to know—would find them irresistible if he or she were trying to amass a comprehensive collection; they could also be crossbred with greenhouse plants to create something never seen before. The only really pretty orchid in the Fakahatchee is the ghost. When it is out of bloom, the ghost, which is leafless, looks like flat green straps about the width of linguine. Once a year, when it blooms, the ghost is lovely. The flower is as white as paper. In the center is the intricate lip that is characteristic of all orchids. The ghost’s lip is particularly pronounced and pouty, and each of its two corners tapers into a long, fluttery tail. The shape, the delicacy, and the quivery sensitivity of these slender tails makes the flower look like feathers or the legs of a ballerina or two little flags. Because it is leafless and grows on trees, and because the root system blends into the tree or rock it wraps around, the bloom of the ghost can appear invisibly suspended, as if it were a creature in flight. The whiteness of the flower is startling against the gray and green of the swamp. The species is temperamental, difficult to propagate, rarely seen in cultivation, hard to find in the wild. Once when I was at the Fakahatchee, one of the rangers got a phone call from a woman in Georgia who will spend whatever it takes to see the ghost orchid in bloom. She wanted to know if the ranger had seen any that were ready to flower. After talking to him, she left work and got on a plane to Florida and rented a car and hiked into the swamp the following day. No amount of money in the world would have made a difference, because the ghost orchid the ranger had seen had by then lost its bloom and was once again just a tangle of roots on a tree. Carlyle Luer, the author of “The Native Orchids of Florida,” the definitive guide to the subject, once wrote of the ghost orchid, “Should one be lucky enough to see a flower, all else will seem eclipsed.”
On December 21, 1993, Laroche and three Seminole men who were working with him at the nursery—Dennis Osceola, Vinson Osceola, and Russell Bowers—went into the Fakahatchee and walked through the long cypress strands, over the bunchy cypress domes, and through the muck to a deep-swamp section known as West Lake. The twenty-first was a muggy day. The men left their van on William Janes Scenic Drive, a gravel road that forks off State Road 29 a few miles south of Copeland Road State Prison. It was an unusual place to park. When a ranger on patrol saw the van, he decided to stop and wait until its occupants returned. Some time passed. Finally, the four men emerged from the woods. They were carrying several garbage bags and pillowcases. After they were arrested, they opened the bags and pillowcases, so the ranger could tag and photograph what they had taken from the swamp—a hundred and thirty-six plants, including Catopsis nutans (nodding catopsis), Tillandsia pruinosa (fuzzy-wuzzy air plant), Peperomia obtusifolia (Florida peperomia), and dozens of wild orchids. In the pillowcases were crooked-spur, clamshell, butterfly, brown, night, rigid, twisted, and shiny-leaf orchids, and several specimens of the much admired, highly prized, rare white-flowered species Polyrrhiza lindenii—the ghost. The ranger who wrote up the charges and the prosecutor who filed the official report weren’t sure whether the Seminoles were working for Laroche or whether Laroche was working for the Seminoles. On the one hand, Laroche had been hired by the tribe to set up a plant nursery on the reservation, but, on the other hand, Laroche was a nurseryman who had lost his own plants and needed new ones. He knew where to find rare plants for free, and he could have been using the Seminoles to circumvent the law. What was clear was that the plants the four men had collected were rare and valuable, and that they had been harvested carefully. The epiphytic species—the ones that grow attached to tree limbs—had been left on their branches. It was also clear that the person who understood the value of all these plants, and knew what to do with them, was John Laroche. One day after the arrest, I drove to the headquarters of the tribe, which is in Hollywood, on the second-smallest Seminole reservation in Florida. At the north end of the reservation is Santa’s Magical Village Holiday Theme Park. Nearby is a statue of a Seminole wrestling an alligator. The sculptor had used an acquaintance of his as a model for the statue, even though the acquaintance wasn’t an Indian—the sculptor just happened to think the man had a good Indian-like build. The statue was made in the fifties, and the model was John Laroche’s father. The biggest trailer at the Seminole headquarters belongs to Buster Baxley, the tribe’s director of planning and development. Baxley is a husky man in his early forties. He has brown eyes, silky jowls, and hair the color of a basketball. He took me to Seminole Gardens, the tribe’s nursery, which is a few minutes from the tribe headquarters and down the street from the Independent Bible Baptist Chickee Church. Laroche’s office is in another flimsy trailer, on the edge of the nursery property. Except for the trailer, nothing had yet sprouted at Seminole Gardens. As Baxley and I pulled into the lot, Vinson Osceola and two other men were standing near the trailer, looking at a pile of metal hoops and nylon netting. There was little else in sight except a stack of sawhorses and cedar planters, and some plastic bags bursting with mulch. Laroche was inside at his desk, reading a postcard he had just received from a friend of his named Walter. He said that Walter is crazy about water lilies, and will travel anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice if he hears about a rare one. Sometimes Walter collects the plant, to grow at home, and sometimes he just takes a look at it. The postcard was from Botswana. Laroche held it up and read it. “He says, ‘Plants are good. See you soon.’ ” He put down the card and said, “Walter’s pretty crazy.” Baxley stood in the doorway of the office and ignored Laroche’s reading of the card. He waved his hand toward the window and said, “John, how’re those boys working out?” Laroche said, “Fine, Buster.” He put his feet up on the desk and started rocking back and forth in his chair. He was wearing camouflage pants, a Miami Hurricanes hat, and a Chicago Blackhawks T-shirt. Baxley said, “Everyone thought John was exploiting those Indian boys so he could do his poaching and set his own nursery up. Well, I was the one who authorized it. I told them to go out and gather what they needed. John brought me the Florida statute he found saying Indians were exempt from the laws about plant gathering, and we thought that the nursery should have some of the wild plants for propagation and a display. I questioned him about it several times, because I wanted to be sure about it, and I put him off for about a month, because I wanted to do the research myself.” Laroche pulled his face into an expression of mock horror and said, “Buster! You didn’t believe me?” Baxley said, “Then, at first, when they were all arrested, we thought it was discrimination against us and against the tribe. Now I think that if those rangers had just caught the Indian boys, they would have let them go. They don’t want to mess around with us, with Indian rights. We hold nature close to us! We’re not like the non-Indian who strips the land just to make a buck. We don’t hunt just to hunt. We hunt to survive! The State of Florida better not mess around with what’s my right.” He puffed his chest and said, “Otherwise, I’ll go in there and take every single thing in the Fakahatchee that’s alive.” Laroche stopped rocking in his chair and crashed forward onto the desk. He frowned and said, “Aaaaaw, come on now, Buster.” Baxley looked at him and then looked back at me and said, “The rangers didn’t want those Indians. It’s John here they wanted to skin alive.” Baxley decided to go back to his office and do some paperwork on a joint citrus-growing venture between the Seminoles and some Japanese investors. Laroche and I went out to his van. Laroche wanted to go visit some plants of his that had survived the hurricane and had then been sold to a nursery called Tropical Paradise. Outside, the sky was gauzy and the air felt like glue. The workmen had staked up some of the metal hoops for potting areas. Vinson Osceola came over to us, carrying a spade. He is a young man with long, glossy hair, meaty shoulders, and a shy, slightly tearful gaze. He and Laroche talked for a few minutes about the construction project. He mentioned that Dennis Osceola had been injured and wasn’t doing nursery work for the time being, and that Russell Bowers, the other defendant in the orchid poaching, was currently “off the res.” “I’m not going to talk to you too much,” Osceola said to me. “It’s not personal. It’s the Indian way.” Laroche talked while we drove. “Originally, the Indians just wanted to dig up some stuff on the reservation and sell it. So I explained the nursery business to them. I said, ‘You can dig stuff up and sell it, but it’s better to propagate.’ I explained to them that you can tissue-culture orchids, clone them, and from one you can get billions. I’ve always been into propagation. I was big on plant mutation, too—mutating for fun and profit. You expose seeds to radiation or chemicals and you get cool stuff that’s never been seen before on earth. It’s a great little hobby, plant mutation. You compress the evolution of life into one or two years. I think it’s good for the world to promote it as a hobby. There are a lot of wasted lives out there, and people with nothing to do. To me, mutation is the answer to everything. Have you ever wondered why some people are smarter than other people? It’s because they mutated when they were babies. I think I was one of those people. I got exposed to something that mutated me, and I’m now incredibly smart. I’m one of only five or six people in the entire country who know how to propagate the ghost orchid in a plant laboratory. My plan is to take some orchids out of the wild, sell some now, cultivate the rest in the laboratory we’re building at the nursery, and in a few years have thousands to sell. Right now, there’s a black market in these orchids, especially the ghosts, because you can’t get them. There’s big money in it. They have a huge value in places like Australia, where people love orchids and can’t get these varieties. The price would come down on each individual plant, but we’d be able to sell millions of them once we got them into cultivation, so we’d still make a ton of money. My plant friends used to say, ‘If John ever gets some land and some money, watch out.’ Well, the Indians needed a nurseryman, and I needed some land and some money, and I researched the law and realized that it was really vague about the Indians’ taking things out of state preserves. I think the law is messed up and it ought to be changed, because I don’t think you ought to have a bunch of Indians just running through the Fakahatchee pulling up plants, but in the meantime someone’s going to get the benefit of the law being the way it is now, and I figure it might as well be me.” We drove down a gravel road lined with chubby palm trees. A steamy breeze was blowing past my open window. The sun coming through the palm fronds painted stripes across the road. He said, “I figured that we’d get what we needed out of the Fakahatchee and at the same time we’d bring so much attention to the law that the legislature would change it. I timed it so that it would be in time for the legislative session. That’s what I want to say in court. I want to say that the state needs to protect itself.” He raised an eyebrow at me. “I’m planning to protect myself, too.” We banged across some railroad tracks. Laroche turned toward me and said, “I’m working for the Seminoles, but I’m really on the side of the plants. The law shouldn’t let anybody go out there and pull up the damn plants. Is what I did ethical? I don’t know. I’m a shrewd bastard. I could be a great criminal. I could be a great con man, but it’s more interesting to live your life within the confines of the law. People look at what I do and think, Is that moral? Is that right? Well, isn’t every great thing the result of that kind of thinking? Look at something like atomic energy. It can be diabolic or a blessing. Evil or good. Well, that’s where the give is. The edge of ethics. And that’s where I like to live.” At Tropical Paradise, Laroche tried to persuade the owner, Joseph Fondeur, to let him buy back the plants he had sold to Fondeur after the hurricane. The plants in question were huge hoyas with rubbery leaves and long, snaky vines. Fondeur said he was not interested in selling the hoyas back to Laroche. Laroche pointed out that he now had a large nursery on the reservation and was able once again to give the hoyas a suitable home. “Not interested,” Fondeur said, stroking a hoya leaf. “I’m coming back for them,” Laroche said. “Come on, Joseph.” Fondeur stroked another leaf “No. I love them now. At this point, they’re really mine, not yours.” They talked for a moment. Fondeur agreed that when the plants reproduced he would give some of the little ones to Laroche. Then Fondeur mentioned that he likes a wide variety of plants and was keeping the orchid inventory at his nursery to a minimum. “Orchid people are too crazy,” he said. “They buy the orchid and they kill it. Fern people might even be the worst, but the orchid people are too—oh, you know. They think they’re superior.” He looked at Laroche and said, “You collecting anything now?” “No,” Laroche said. “I don’t want to collect anything right now. I have to watch myself around plants. Even now, I still get that feeling. I’ll see something and I’ll get that feeling—I’ll think to myself, Jesus Christ, that’s interesting. Boy, I’ll bet you could find a lot of those.”
The American Orchid Society was worried about the orchid poaching-case; if Laroche and the Seminoles were found innocent, it could start a run on orchids growing on public land everywhere. The society’s headquarters are in West Palm Beach, just about a hundred and fifty miles from the Collier County Courthouse, down a highway called Alligator Alley. Florida panthers used to wander across the traffic lanes of Alligator Alley. Before Chief Billie shot his panther, the last panther to die of unnatural causes in South Florida had been hit by a speeding vehicle on Alligator Alley. The society has almost thirty thousand members. At the office, you can sign up for an Orchid Society Visa card, which is imprinted with a picture of a yellow Brassolaeliocattleya with a reddish lip as full and shapely as a handbag. You can also look at fifty thousand color slides of award-winning orchids, including slides of the most valuable orchids in the world—for instance, a Phragmipedium besseae lady slipper, with slim blood-red petals and a crimson lip. If you desperately wanted this lady-slipper orchid, you might be able to buy one for several hundred dollars; ten years ago, before anyone had propagated it in a nursery, this Phragmipedium was extremely rare, and it cost five thousand dollars. The orchid-poaching case was eventually resolved not on the matter of the orchids but on the matter of the trees, which everyone—Laroche, Baxley, the prosecutor, and the rangers in the Fakahatchee—knew was not the real question but the only clear one left once you sorted out the law. As the law is currently written, Indians are arguably immune from statutes protecting endangered plants anywhere—in state preserves, in private back yards, or on a Seminole reservation. If Bowers and the Osceolas had taken only endangered plants, they might have been able to claim complete immunity, and the charges might have been dropped. But most of the orchids Laroche wanted were growing on trees, and he wanted to take them out attached to the branches so their roots wouldn’t be damaged. The trees orchids love to grow on—pond apples and common swamp growth—are not endangered. At the hearing, Judge Brenda C. Wilson refused to dismiss the entire case on the grounds of immunity, but the Seminoles were not charged with possession of an endangered species. In that sense, Laroche was right—he had uncovered a basic contradiction in the law. His only mistake was that they had been too painstaking in the way they removed the orchids. A few weeks later, the three Seminoles decided to plead no contest to Florida Administrative Code 16D-2.003 (6), which forbids removal of plant life from state parks, for cutting up trees and taking plants from the state preserve. Laroche was granted no immunity—the Judge ruled that Indian immunity does not extend to non-Indian tribe employees—so he either had to go to trial or plead no contest to removing both the flowers and the trees. He took the plea. He had to pay a fine and court costs and he was placed on six months’ probation, during which he is not allowed into the Fakahatchee Strand. He had won and lost. He had found the loophole in the law but lost the case; found the orchids but lost the right to keep them; and found himself famous but slightly disgraced. He told me that he thought he had been crucified. He seemed animated by the tension of the events, and by the fact that he was right and wrong simultaneously. This put him on the ethically narrow ledge that he considers his favorite place. The one other thing he lost, for now, is the Fakahatchee, which is another favorite place of his. |
You may have seen very scary headlines in the past couple weeks, claiming that diet soda causes strokes. As usual, these headlines don’t fully reflect the study results, and we’re here to break down that study in depth.
First things first: CORRELATION not CAUSATION
First, the study under review is an observational study, meaning that there is no experiment being done (like assigning a group to drink diet soda, and another one to drink water); rather it involves observation of lifestyles and health outcomes.
Therefore, you can only find correlations, and cannot establish a cause and effect relationship. There’s a fairly high likelihood of unaccounted factors affecting the study outcomes, and correlations can sometimes be strong but misleading. For example, check out the graph below, which shows a strong correlation between the number of movies Nicholas Cage has appeared in and the number of people who drowned in a pool for a given year. The data looks very suspicious for Mr. Cage, but at the end of the day it’s very unlikely that these movies have caused people to drown, no matter how bad they are.
But this does not mean that we should automatically discount a study simply because it’s an observational one. There are a lot of things you can’t conduct an experimental study on because it would be impractical or unethical, such as randomizing people to a heavy-cigarette-use group to see how many get lung cancer. Observational studies are often used to generate hypotheses which can be tested in further human trials or animal studies.
Observational studies cannot establish a cause and effect relationship. Memorize that and never forget it. However, observational studies are still an important piece of the puzzle and they’re worth examining in detail.
What did the researchers find?
This study looked at the relationship between both sugar-sweetened and artificially-sweetened beverages and the incidence of strokes and dementia. It tracked ~4,000 people from Massachusetts from 1991 until 2014 to see how many sugar-sweetened drinks and artificially-sweetened drinks each person drank, along with how many individuals were diagnosed with strokes or dementia.
Because factors such as smoking, lack of physical activity, and excess caloric intake could increase the risk of having a stroke or developing dementia, the researchers adjusted for these covariates.
The headline-grabbing result was pretty stark: people with a cumulative intake of more than one artificially-sweetened beverage per day were 2.96 times more likely to be at risk for an ischemic stroke and 2.89 times more likely to be at risk for developing dementia, compared to people who did not drink any sweetened beverages. Those who drank sugar-sweetened beverages didn’t see an increased risk.
After following ~4,000 people over fourteen years, researchers found that people who consumed more than one artificially-sweetened beverage per day were around three times more likely to experience an ischemic stroke or dementia, while sugar-sweetened beverage drinkers didn’t have an increased risk.
Are the results as strong as they appear? Probably not.
All observational studies have this limitation, but it’s worth repeating: you simply cannot adjust for all possible covariates that might impact the outcomes (stroke and dementia) and also be related to the exposure (drinking artificially-sweetened beverages). For example, people who drink diet soda may also be, on average, more likely to do yo-yo diets, have higher stress levels, or have any of other countless behaviors that might theoretically be tied to greater risk for disease.
Another problem with the study can be seen in the highlighted numbers below: the group that consumed the most calories had a lower BMI than groups that consumed fewer calories. Very strange. This may be due to random variation, but it’s also possible that the Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQs) used by the researchers just weren’t very accurate. And indeed, FFQs are not very reliable at determining what an individual has eaten over a long period of time, especially in older individuals.
Moreover, in the table below, check out all the effect sizes. They're not all particularly large and it's possible that they may deviate depending on what was adjusted for in a particular model. Some researchers have proposed that instead of adjusting only for a few covariates, that all possible combinations of covariates be adjusted for and the median of that be presented instead. Given that the study didn't do this and was not preregistered, much of these results can be taken as exploratory analyses rather than confirmatory analyses.
The food frequency questionnaire used in this study may not have been very accurate. But more importantly, the study adjusted for several covariates and presented only a few models, and the study was not preregistered. Thus, many of these results may be taken as exploratory associations.
So is diet soda being unfairly blamed? Maybe not.
Regardless of study limitations, if you drink a ton of diet soda, it may be wise to think a bit more about this study. Why? Well, the study showed a strong association between artificially-sweetened beverages and stroke/dementia (albeit with major statistical limitations as discussed above), but did NOT show an association between sugar-sweetened beverages and stroke/dementia.
And the authors weren’t industry shills out to prove a certain food product is healthier than others -- the funding was government-provided, and there were no financial disclosures listed. This is actually somewhat important, as studies on artificially-sweetened beverages that are funded by industry tend to be more biased.
So are people who drink diet soda really that different from those who drink regular soda … enough to explain away this association? Nobody knows for sure, but what we do know is that sugary soda is strongly linked to things that increase your chances for having a stroke (like type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure) and dementia (like a generally poor diet).
Artificial sweeteners though are less clearly linked to chronic disease, at least mechanistically. They don’t appear to spike insulin, and the strongest evidence of these sweeteners causing altered glucose homeostasis (and increased food intake) is in … fruit flies. And even though there are some reviews with alarming titles like “Artificial sweeteners produce the counterintuitive effect of inducing metabolic derangements”, the evidence actually cited in the reviews is much more mixed than the titles would lead you to believe.
But overhyped titles don’t mean you should totally ignore potential risks. Two of the most complex research areas are the human gut, and the human brain, and it turns out that some artificial sweeteners may potentially (keyword: potentially … nobody really knows at this point) impact our gut microbiota and the sweet-taste-processing of diet soda drinkers.
Other than being observational in nature, this study had serious statistical limitations, which limit its applicability. So no, “diet soda causes strokes and dementia” is not accurate.
That being said, a lack of strong evidence doesn’t mean everything. We only know what the research tells us, and the research tells us there’s a lot about artificial sweeteners we don’t know, such as how they impact different gut microbiota. And since there are multiple different artificial sweeteners used in different beverages (aspartame, sucralose, etc), it’s going to be a long time until we form a concrete picture on any one of them.
Want more of these kinds of in-depth analysis? For any professional, it's important to stay on top of the latest research, and our monthly digest helps you do just that. Click here to check out the Examine.com Research Digest. |
Khulubuse Zuma faces sequestration and the exposure of all his financial affairs after he stopped paying his debts to the liquidators of the ruined Pamodzi gold mines.
Now, instead of the roughly R12m President Jacob Zuma’s nephew still owed under a settlement deal, liquidators will try to raid his estate for far more. However, City Press has learnt that Zuma (47) was granted residency in the United Arab Emirates last year and is unconcerned about the sequestration, which he believes will not affect him financially.
In July, Zuma mysteriously failed to pay a monthly sum of R500 000 to the liquidators in terms of the settlement agreed to last year.
The settlement relates to Zuma’s personal liability for the collapse of the Pamodzi mines, which he took over together with former president Nelson Mandela’s grandson Zondwa, as well as Thulani Ngubane and Fazel and Solly Bhana. The collapse of the mines – situated in Orkney in North West and Springs in Gauteng – left thousands of workers destitute.
After Zuma failed to pay in July, a letter of demand was sent to him and he coughed up R200 000 last month, according to an affidavit by liquidator Johan Engelbrecht, which was filed in the Pretoria High Court a week ago.
In return, the liquidators launched a sequestration application to put Zuma’s estate under the control of trustees.
More importantly, the liquidators now say that Zuma, in all likelihood, lied when he declared his assets to them to broker the settlement deal last year.
The trustees would, in principle, have access to all of Zuma’s bank accounts and records, including his email accounts, to help “come to an understanding of the extent of the respondent’s business activities”.
The idea is that Zuma misrepresented his wealth when he negotiated the settlement and that the trustees would be able to prove that.
That would allow the liquidators to tear up the settlement and, once again, make Zuma obligated to pay the far larger original sum of R1.5bn he was held liable for in relation to Pamodzi.
“There are certain objective facts available to indicate that the respondent failed to make a full disclosure of his financial position,” said Engelbrecht.
In an affidavit submitted last year, Zuma said his entire net worth was no more than R23m.
His actual declarations included:
. A house in Umhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal, for which Zuma said he still owed R1.5m to FNB;
. A 2010-model Range Rover worth R200 000; and
. Mountains of debt, including R1.6m owed to his former public relations firm Kapital Mindz and R2.5m owed to law firm Strauss Daly.
At the time the settlement deal was struck, security company Protea Coin already had a warrant of execution against Zuma for R9.9m.
In his affidavit, Engelbrecht stated that Zuma was “hopelessly insolvent” – he had declared no income and no source of income.
After settling, Zuma nevertheless dutifully paid an initial R5m in July last year and then R500 000 every month until July this year, when the money stopped.
“The respondent is evidently able to sustain a living and to make payment in the huge amounts of R500 000 per month,” said Engelbrecht.
“The above are objective indicators that the respondent possesses substantial assets and/or income.”
In his declaration, Zuma also failed to mention that he is a director of 34 companies. Instead, it only mentioned his association with Impinda Transport and claimed it had “no value”.
“We do not know if someone helped him; we just know he had been paying and then stopped,” Engelbrecht told City Press.
The R1.5bn
The amount of R1.5bn represents the value of the Pamodzi gold mines before they were taken over by Aurora in 2009 under an interim management deal.
The amount is owed jointly by Zuma and his Aurora partners, including Mandela, Ngubane and the Bhana family.
Zuma was the chairperson of Aurora, which offered to buy the Pamodzi mines out of liquidation for R605m.
The interim management deal was meant to last until they paid up and fully took control, but it later transpired that the offer was probably fictitious, or at least hopelessly uncertain, to begin with.
By 2011, the management contract ended and the mines were stripped bare and overrun by illegal mine workers, colloquially referred to as zama zamas.
When Aurora collapsed, Zuma split from his partners and faced the liquidators in court alone.
He argued that he was unaware of what was going on at the mines and was not really involved in Aurora to the same extent as Mandela, Ngubane and the Bhanas.
City Press’ attempts to contact Zuma this week were unsuccessful, and the attorneys who acted for him in the settlement talks said they had no knowledge of the new application from the liquidators.
In 2014, Zuma married Swazi princess Fikisiwe Dlamini, one of his four fiancées, at a lavish wedding at his home in Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal, which is adjacent to his uncle’s property.
In attendance were the president and 5 000 guests, who were entertained in seven marquees and for whom 16 cattle were slaughtered. |
The Android team has been hard at work replacing old code that hasn't scaled well with newer and more powerful hardware. We've long known that the camera API was destined to see a massive update, but we were missing details like a release date or exactly what was coming. Thanks to the L release, we can finally see what has been in the works for all these many months.
One of the most important aspects of the new Camera 2 API is a dramatic increase in performance over the previous interface. The Camera 2 system is now capable of delivering full resolution images at the same speed the hardware can capture them thanks to a fully synchronized pipeline model. This allows the Nexus 5 to achieve 30 frames per second while capturing at it's maximum of 8 megapixels.
In addition to the profound performance improvements, the new camera API also includes burst mode, Digital Negative format (similar to RAW), HDR+, and full manual control of capture and post-processing. Many of the finer control configurations can also be modified, including:
Exposure time
ISO Sensitivity
Frame duration
Lens focus distance
Flash trigger
Color correction matrix
JPEG metadata
Tonemap curve
Crop region
AE / AF / AWB mode
AE / AWB lock
AF trigger
Precapture AE trigger
Metering regions
Exposure compensation
Target FPS range
Capture intent
Video stabilization
Building great multi-media experiences on Android
This is a huge step up for the camera on our Android devices, as we're bound to see higher quality results with less lag. Access to deeper customization controls and more image data will also make it possible for developers to accomplish much more with camera. If you're a developer and eagerly looking forward to messing around with all of the new goodies, there are samples for capturing photos and videos in the new preview SDK for L. They are titled Camera2Basic and Camera2Video.
Source: Android Developer Docs |
CHOOT EM! and Give em' a Headache with Troy Landry Special Edition CCI Mini-Mag Ammunition
is known in the shooting sports industry for having reliable ammunition that delivers exceptional performance every time the trigger is pulled. It is this reliability that makes this the ammunition of choice for the Swamp People, Troy and Jacob Landry, when they are taking huge gators in the Louisiana Bayou.
CCI 36 Grain Mini-Mag ammunition is one of the most popular 22 Long Rifle rounds ever produced. It is the perfect load for shooters and hunters looking for a great round for a day at the range or an afternoon chasing small game and varmints. One of the great features of this ammunition is the clean-burning powder. This powder provides optimum velocity while maintaining consistent chamber pressures while keeping the firearm clean from powder residue helping to ensure the rifle will function in even the harshest conditions. The copper plated hollow point bullet offers reliable feeding and great penetration. This ammunition is new production and non-corrosive. |
Image caption Unite said a leaked document suggested some town bus services would be cancelled
A union has said they have seen a leaked Translink document proposing the cancellation of 20 town bus services.
It follows a warning from Regional Development Minister Danny Kennedy about the impact of savings of £60m he has to make.
He said cuts to next year's budget would mean his department would not have enough money to fund basic services like traffic light repairs.
Public Transport company Translink will also face major cuts.
"There's a leaked document released by the chief executive of Translink stating that there'd be 20 local town services would have their buses cancelled, stopped entirely," the Unite union's Davy McMurray told Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster.
He said the document also said schedules would be reduced on the rail line and Belfast's Metro service.
"Instead of a bus coming every 15 minutes or a train every 20, it'll be every half an hour or every quarter of an hour," he added.
"We reckon that from bus drivers, train drivers and engineering staff, you could be looking at 200 jobs going."
'Hardest hit'
On Wednesday, Mr Kennedy said transport was "most likely" to be hardest hit by the cuts.
"You simply cannot cut to the level of £60m and expect to maintain all frontline core services," he said.
"My department will be working and will continue to work with the service providers to explore ways of ensuring that we provide as much service in a cost efficient manner and to seek to minimise the impact on the end user."
In a statement, Translink said: "As a consequence of the reduction in government funding of 2015/16, Translink is considering measures that would need to be taken to adapt to these cuts and their associated impact.
"As part of this, we are currently reviewing how we can best design our network to work within our allocated resources while protecting the routes most important to our customers.
"No decisions have been taken at this stage over 2015/16 service efficiencies and we will engage with local stakeholders should any local service changes be proposed." |
On June 6, 1944 the Anglo-American led alliance invaded Nazi occupied France. Known today as D-Day it would be the greatest invasion in history. And though the Red Army was by June of 1944 well into the process of bleeding the Wehrmacht white, inflicting approximately 80% of Germany's Second World War military casualties, this should not take away from the considerable achievement that is since remembered today and forever since as D-Day.
It was actually on June 5, 1944 that D-Day could really be said to have begun. Late on that day an immense Allied invasion fleet had begun assembling and steaming across the English Channel. At the same time and just after midnight on June 6th a huge fleet of C-47 transport aircraft carrying elite Allied airborne troops completed their crossed the English Channel. An overly complicated flight plan, poor weather and heavy anti-aircraft fire quickly proved the bane of the Allied airborne armada. The combination of these three negative elements resulted in the main body of the Allied paratroopers at times floating to earth more than 30 miles from their assigned drop zones. Shortly thereafter the equally dispersed glider borne troops began slamming into hedgerows, trees, farmhouses, and just about any other obstacle in the fields dotting the Norman countryside. Sixteen percent of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division's glider borne soldiers became casualties before firing a shot in anger. Heavy weapons losses were equally appalling with almost 20% of the jeeps and anti-tank guns destroyed during the landing.
Tasked with taking the vital causeways, bridges, and towns controlling ingress and egress across the flooded, marshy land behind Utah beach the U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions faced a daunting task. Meanwhile to the east, and behind the beaches in the British-Canadian sector the British Sixth Airborne Division faced similar problems. That said, in spite of being scattered across the map the crack British and American airborne troops ultimately secured many of their most important objectives, a testament to their training, skill, and courage.
Meanwhile, Eisenhower’s huge invasion fleet arrived off the landing beaches supported by 3,467 heavy bombers and 1,645 medium bombers - all protected by 5,409 fighters. In addition 6 battleships, 23 cruisers, and 104 destroyers softened up the five-invasion beaches. The first waves of British and Canadian troops hit the three eastern beaches, Gold, Juno, and Sword, at approximately 7:45 am. The British 50th Infantry Division landed closest to the American beaches at Gold Beach - itself located ten miles east of Omaha Beach. One mile further east the Canadian 3rd Infantry Division took Juno Beach, and five miles to the east of Juno the British 3rd Infantry Division seized Sword Beach.
The German 716th Division, a garrison division filled with second-rate troops including a number of forced conscripts from Eastern Europe nations, defended the British and Canadian targeted beaches. German resistance duly crumbled in the face of several hours combined aerial and naval bombardment. This was followed up by the first landing waves of infantry, well supported by custom-built DD tanks equipped with floatation kits and dual drive propulsion systems to allow for forward movement through the water. This crude modification could have meant trouble in the rough waters of the English Channel. Thus the decision to launch the assault waves from only seven miles offshore helped the DD tanks to successfully negotiate the strong chop. Unfortunately the Americans would not enjoy such a uniformly smooth landing experience.
The low cloud ceiling and poor weather had resulted in most of the US pre-invasion aerial bombardment missing the German coastal defenses. However, the German 709th Infantry Division, again featuring Eastern European “volunteers” only weakly defended Utah beach. Thus, by mid morning the Americans had secured the beach, and linked up with elements from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. By nightfall 23,000 men had been deposited onshore (see attached picture of U.S. troops and equipment pouring onto a secured Utah beach in the days following D-Day).
On the other hand, at Omaha Beach, between Utah beach to the west and the British beaches to the east, Eisenhower’s armies suffered D-Day’s greatest difficulties. The veteran U.S. 1st Infantry Division, the “Big Red One” had, along with the U.S. 29th Infantry Division, faced the task of taking Omaha. Unfortunately their opposition comprised elements of the well dug in, combat experienced, German 352nd Infantry Division. Beyond that, and as a landing beach Omaha left much to be desired. Steep and imposing cliffs book ended a relatively broad beach but one that ended abruptly in dunes and bluffs rising over 150 feet in height at some places. Moreover, the folds in the land provided extensive cover hiding defenders from view in the grass lined slopes, as well as masking the few cuts in the dunes and bluffs providing egress from the beach. German strong points guarded these natural objectives. Making matters even worse for the Americans, the pre-invasion bombardment had largely missed the beach, or failed to penetrate the heavy German concrete gun emplacements. The decision to launch the assault craft and DD tanks nearly eleven miles out to sea proved a disastrous choice. The vast majority of the tanks quickly took on water in the heavy seas, 27 of the first 32 DD tanks launched from Allied shipping quickly dropped to the English Channel’s bottom. Amphibious two and a half ton trucks (DUKW’s) carrying artillery pieces similarly foundered and sank. This left only the infantry, the scattered few surviving artillery pieces, and the assault engineers to face veteran German infantry manning largely intact defenses.
German machine guns, mortars, artillery, and other heavy weapons swept a deadly hail of fire across the landing craft. The Germans annihilated nearly the entire first landing wave, totaling almost 1,500 troops, 96 tanks, 16 tank dozers, and the many assault engineer teams. Within four hours from the first assault wave’s landing the Germans had killed or wounded over 3,000 American soldiers. Of the 112 Sherman tanks from the 741st and 743rd Tank Battalions landed that day only 41 survived.
Nevertheless, late in the morning U.S. assault battalions finally punched through the German strong points with support from devastatingly accurate naval gunfire. At 1330 hours General Bradley, received tentative word the assault waves had secured the bluffs over Omaha. By the day’s end over 3,000 Americans had died. But the survivors had secured the beachhead. In spite of the slaughter at Omaha Beach, by the evening of June 6th over 150,000 Allied troops had landed in the five beachheads spreading 24 miles along the French coast. For this victory, the Allies endured approximately 10,000 casualties. |
President Trump’s revised travel ban is headed back to familiar—and definitely not friendly—territory next week. A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in the appeal of a federal judge’s ruling in Hawaii, which struck down Trump’s re-written travel ban as unconstitutional.
The Ninth Circuit Court, based in San Francisco, blocked his first travel ban following a restraining order issued by a U.S. District Court judge in Seattle. The Ninth Circuit will also hear the appeal of a California judge’s ruling to halt Trump’s executive order withholding federal funds from sanctuary cities.
Trump recently took to his Twitter account to blast the legal strategy employed against his policies.
JOHN YOO: DITCH THE NINTH CIRCUIT? WHAT TRUMP GETS RIGHT (AND WRONG)
“Out of our very big country, with many choices, does everyone notice that both the “ban” case and now the “sanctuary” case is brought in the Ninth Circuit, which has a terrible record of being overturned (close to 80%). They used to call this ‘judge shopping!’ Messy system.” Trump tweeted.
Troy Slaten, an attorney in Los Angeles, thinks Trump has a point. But, he said, his strategy is risky.
“It’s not unusual for presidents to criticize judges,” Slaten tells Fox News, “It is unusual, in this age of social media, to have direct attacks at specific judges and specific courts.”
One of the most infamous rulings by the Ninth Circuit was in 2002 when the court ruled that the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional because of the phrase ‘under God’. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the ruling. For conservatives, it cemented the Ninth Circuit’s derisive nickname—“The Ninth Circus.”
TRUMP EYES BID TO SPLIT UP 9TH CIRCUIT COURT AMID SANCTUARY CITY, TRAVEL BAN DISPUTES
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, has introduced a bill that would split up the Ninth Circuit, which covers nine western states. It creates a new 12th Circuit for Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Arizona.
“The current Ninth Circuit represents 40 percent of all the landmass in the U.S., 20 percent of the population,” Flake said, “And the reason for the split, you can put ideology aside, and just realize that the court is just overworked and overburdened.”
Hearing the travel ban 2.0 case in Seattle will be judges Michael Hawkins, Ronald Gould and Richard Paez. All were appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton.
Mike Subit has argued several cases in front of the Ninth Circuit Court and before that he clerked for one of its most liberal judges, Roy Reinhardt. He says both parties file appeals where they think they have the best chance to win. He opposes Flake’s bill arguing the Ninth Circuit that would be left would only be more fertile ground for liberals.
“If this plan is intended to avoid the problem of judge shopping,” Subit said, “It’s actually going to make it worse, because every plan I’ve ever seen is involved with putting California with one or two other states.” |
Long Story Short – Albania is The Biggest Secret in European Tourism
For the ever-growing Albanian diaspora, those millions of Albanians around the world who chose to leave the promised land, I understand. The economy in Albania, is terrible. Wages remain comparable to some third world nations – if you can find a job. I’ve seen people living at garbage dumps, and in slum-like shanty-towns. Unemployment is out of control. Corruption is rampant. After living through half a century with one of the world’s most brutal and isolationist dictators (think North Korea, in Europe), only to see society crumble into violent anarchy as recently as the late 1990’s, well, even though there are green-shoots of an optimistic future – I understand why so many Albanians have simply given up waiting for the tide to turn. But, the tourists aren’t going to wait much longer. They’ll come here in droves. Because, Albania is fucking amazing.
You couldn’t pay me to visit Albania. – American friend who has never visited Albania.
Preconceptions of one of Europe’s poorest and most unknown countries, run deep, are inaccurate, and never come from anyone who has actually visited. The truth about Albania? Well, it’s like Italy, with a few more cold showers and power black outs, and far more stolen Mercedes. It’s the French Riviera, at a tenth of the price, with nicer beaches and less attitude. Greece, with far (far) worse roads, but the mini-van’s have high-speed onboard wifi. Of course, Albania is Europe – but it’s Balkans style Europe with warm people, deliciously fresh food, a great flag, and a sense of laissez faire daily freedom that the rest of the continent can only dream about. I’ve been told, Albania has much in common with Spain – back in the 1970’s. And that’s a very good thing.
Sitting in the crystal clear water at Himarë, a small beach-side town on the incomparable Albanian Riviera, the sun shines well into the Spring-time. I looked back towards the land, at a backdrop of spectacular mountains, crumbling ancient hilltop villages, and just a small smattering of low-rise hotels. A man was walking his goat, and dragging some kind of farming tool. It’s absolutely, mind-bendingly, perfect. Up on the boardwalk, I knew I could walk into any restaurant and ask for “whatever is good” – the seafood, lamb, and salads will always be tasty, and accompanied by relentlessly beautiful views, smiles, and a glass of whatever tickles your fancy. Often, Albania just doesn’t seem real.
At a beach-side biker-bar along the Riviera, a German guy (after many friendly glasses of Raki) confusingly tried to convince me that “paintball is the skateboarding of the 1970’s”. After that many Raki’s, neither of us were making a lot of sense. But, we were both members of a small, but growing, band of tourists that made the ironically clever decision to independently vacation here in September. He’d been in Albania just a few hours, before his rent-a-car caught a flat tire on the notoriously shocking Albanian roads. I told him to consider it a rite-of-passage, and a small price to pay, in exchange for the experience of a life-time – being a part of the biggest secret in European tourism. The thing is, there’s not much time left, to see Albania in this “before” state.
click to see an interactive map showing the location of this article
Compared to last year in Albania, tourist numbers seem to have picked up, slightly. At Butrint, an ancient Greek/Roman walled city on the very Southern tip of the nation, I tried to stay ahead of busloads of tourists exploring the ruins. Last year there were almost none, at the very same UNESCO listed abandoned city. Keep in mind, Butrint is built on a scenic peninsular lush with vegetation, complete with stone amphitheater, a dozen or more crumbling columned buildings including mosaic palaces (still being excavated), and is just a short drive from some of the best beaches in Europe.
Cruise ships are increasingly visiting the Riviera in Southern Albania, docking in nearby Sarande, largest city in these parts and reminiscent of a miniature Miami. With more unfinished apartment buildings. Things are changing. It’s just a matter of time before critical mass hits. When you have a billion potential tourists within relatively short flying distance, the time to have Albania to yourself is running out. For now, if you avoid July and August, it will still feel like you have the country to yourself.
Even Pope Francis rolled through Tirana. Maybe he’s heard that in the increasingly cosmopolitan capital city, a half a litre of decent wine at a nice restaurant costs around two Euro’s. These are non-tourist prices, served by wait-staff who are innocently unaware of their future life filled with jaded bitterness, once the inevitable tourist boom begins. There’s even a growing fine-dining scene here in Tirana, it’s not just 35 cent Bureks (spinach pies), and 60 cent Espresso’s. I visited one of the trendiest restaurants in Tirana, Il Gusto, to rub shoulders with corrupt politicians and attractively bored ex-pats being paid in foreign currencies, where a bottle of wine can be had for $380 US dollars. An extensive, multi-course meal worthy of being remembered, including a couple of bottles of decent wine and other more serious spirits, came to 30 Euro’s per person. Don’t expect to be wowed by a selection of international cuisines, do expect to be impressed with Albanian food, at almost every restaurant in the country. It’s incredible. These people know how to eat. And drink.
Despite the ongoing modernisation of Tirana, the capital city remains authentically Albanian. Around the corner from Il Gusto, you could pick up a live chicken from a drunk road-side vendor for about 2 Euro’s, or a pint of local “Tirana” beer for about a buck. The contrasts of the country are represented in full in the microcosm of the city – inbetween the crumbling older houses and communist-era blocks, modern skyscrapers and apartment buildings are shooting up. It’s beginning to look like quite a cool city. There’s grit around every corner, yet the city parks are pristine, and litter – a severe problem for Albania, is starting to disappear. Tirana is evolving, and taking a tilt at being one of the Balkans most exciting cities.
There’s so many places to visit in Albania. Apart from the beaches (including Dhermi, Himare, and Ksamil – just check this link, Andrea has it covered better than anyone else), there’s a suite of UNESCO listed cities (Berat, Gjiorokastra), too many castles to count, mountainous villages where time stopped a long time ago, and always bustling Tirana. However, the problem is, getting around. And that, is a problem.
For the moment, your best bet is to rent a car, make sure the spare tyre is good, and know how to change it. Trains remain mythical, and rumors of official bus stations are spoken about in hushed tones. Buses, or the local mini-vans known as “Furgons”, work fine for hopping from one major town to the next, but you’re going to struggle getting to the hidden gems using public transport. Or any car that doesn’t have four-wheel-drive. You can travel independently in Albania, if you have time, patience, and a genuine sense of adventure.
This is not the Albania of a few years ago. It’s as safe as any European nation is. No longer can you shoot Kalashnikov’s with reckless abandon, pick up a cheap stolen Mercedes, or bribe your way into to a machine-gun factory or abandoned cold-war-era submarine base. Even Europe’s largest Marijuana plantation, in the southern village of Lazarat, has been burned to the ground. Not since Cypress Hill played Amsterdam, has such a green haze been witnessed. Fortunately, you still won’t find a McDonalds, Starbucks, Burger King, KFC, or Pizza Hut, anywhere in Albania – a missing reminder that Albania remains a relatively untouched part of Europe.
Interacting with locals will also remind you, that Albania is not really like anywhere else. In a nation where Islam is officially the predominant religion, the Pope decided it was cool to roll through the capital city in an open-top car, at arms length to the crowd. Fittingly, the Pope-mobile was a customised Mercedes. Waiting for Papa Francesku, I saw a local dragging a large suitcase right through the “do not cross” barrier. The closest Policewoman, at the front line of Papal security – unarmed, with a uniform completed with lipstick and patent-leather high-heels – casually explained that this was indeed the road the Pope was about to drive down, and that perhaps walking onto the street, with a suitcase, was not such a great idea. This, is Albania.
Nobody here is fighting much over religious lines, because as one person tried to explain to me “Feja e Shqiptarit eshte Shqiptaria” – loosely translated as “the religion of Albanians is Albanianism.” This is a very ancient land, from a time well before organised religion. The Romans and Greeks were just a semi-modern footnote. Contemporary Albania is just one big family, Christians, Muslims, and Atheists, and people need to rely upon one another to survive – because, neither god nor the government is doing a very good job of looking after Albania. The great thing is, when you come to visit Albania, you’ll be taken in as a part of the family.
Back to tourism. Things are changing. Slowly, for now. The New York Times recently placed the Albanian Riviera as the fourth best place in the world to visit this year. Word of mouth spreading fast throughout the rest of Europe. Maybe it’s next summer, maybe the one after. But it is coming. The tsunami of tourists. And not just in July and August. The sublime weather lends Albania to a much more extended tourist season. It will happen.
I’m astonished it hasn’t happened already.
For now, Albania is the last continental-European beach paradise.
And more.
Go there.
Nate
PS, this was my fifth visit to Albania in the last 18 months. All of my previous articles can be found by clicking this link. Currently, I’m in Pristina – capital city of Kosovo. I’m slowly making my way to Central Asia, to check out the mystical ‘stans. I hear it’s going to be a very cold winter.
BTW, I would love to send you the next dispatch, posted from some-where random around this planet (and you'll soon find out why YOMADIC email followers are my favourite followers): HP |
× Johnson Controls to close “Milwaukee Business Center,” 277 employees impacted
GLENDALE — The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development has been notified of the closing of Johnson Controls’ “Milwaukee Business Center” on N. Lydell Avenue.
The closure will impact 277 employees between January 26th and June 30th, 2016.
The Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board will provide Rapid response services to the affected workers.
The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Dislocated Worker Program provides transition assistance to workers and companies affected by permanent worker layoffs. The Program’s local Rapid Response Teams help companies and worker representatives develop and implement a practical transition plan based on the size of the layoff event.
Types of services include:
pre-layoff workshops on a variety of topics such as resume writing and interviewing, job search strategies, and budgeting
provision of information about programs and resources through written materials and information sessions
career and resource fairs.
Workers affected by permanent layoff may also access basic re-employment services at no charge through the state’s Job Centers.
Some services, including training assistance, may be an option for some workers after enrolling in one or more of DWD’s workforce development programs.
While all companies faced with permanent worker layoffs are encouraged to seek assistance from the local Rapid Response Teams, some companies may be required to give 60 days notice before a mass layoff or closing under federal and/or state law. |
Summary
Despite many prevailing theories about the role of the Podestas, Soros and Alefantis in the Comet Ping Pong cover-up, the contemporary art-themed restaurant appears to be tied to the Geffen Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, otherwise known as MOCA. There’s no doubt that the gallery serves as a meeting point for all of these groups, but the smoking gun is rather unexpected -- several Comet Ping Pong performers also pass through the network of galleries, suggesting that there is a larger organization in play.
David Geffen, Heather Podesta, Jeffrey Soros and Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk are all part on the board.
Board of Directors
Understanding the Source Material
Source material will provide evidence that all aforementioned names are part of a loosely-organized group that come together under the guise of contemporary art. Further evidence reveals ties to the political left, but most insidiously, occult rituals and the specter of pizza-related activity associated with Comet Ping Pong.
Reviving the Geffen Angle
Billionaire and LA icon Geffen was linked to pedophile ring with Marc-Collins Rector, Brock Pierce and Bryan Singer.
This article shows the relationship between the Geffen circle and the Clinton Foundation. But the discovery of the involvement of all these parties at MOCA suggests something far more compelling--that Clinton Foundation work done under the umbrella of helping provide health access to third world country (CHAI - Clinton Health Access Initiative) is actually connected to a loosely-organized group of museums known as ‘MOCA’.
Disobedient Media Writeup
MOCA Galas inviting dozens of a-list celebrities and billionaires.
Former MTV boss Sumner Redstone
https://i.imgur.com/iZOS5Yl.jpg
Jane Fonda
Heather Podesta at MOCA.
Jeffrey Soros - https://imgur.com/a/XlHLG - Support for Comet Ping Pong from the Soros family tied to contemporary art dealing. Remember Soros’ affiliation with Comet
Or how Jeff Koons donated money to Correct The Record
Jeff Koons at MOCA gala honoring him
Nicky Hilton Rothschild at MOCA. Very interesting that both the DC art ring and Los Angeles group courted by Rothschilds.
Jeff Koons has been a key figure in this investigation because of his relationship between American politicians, ICMEC and the Rothschilds. Photo with Philippine de Rothschild.
MOCA - A closer look at the evidence
MOCA Exterior. Known as the pioneer of pop-up exhibits, or rather, the ‘temporary contemporary’, MOCA has been an innovative force in the scene. But the motives behind its exhibit model could be related to its political affiliations. Notice the pizza slice on this mural..
Abramovic’s infamous decapitation dinner took place at MOCA, with the help of Hollywood actors and performers. While there’s no doubt that there’s a performative aspect to the dinner, it also suggests even closer links between globalist liberal elite and Satanic art rituals, regardless of your view on them - https://i.imgur.com/TOrTaC9.jpg
https://imgur.com/a/XlHLG
Kenneth Anger’s affiliation with MOCA is interesting because he appears to be insinuating modern art galleries contain a lurid underground in this video directed by him, one including chickens tied to the wall. But it turns out that not only is he a regular at MOCA, but they are doing a special retrospective on him. Not saying he isn’t a bad artist, but c’mon! Podesta. Soros. Hollywood bigwigs. Satanic rituals.
Bloggers have been made for years accusing Kenneth Anger of “blatant pedophilia” and of having Rothschild links. THIS IS THE FUCKING LINK.
Brian Butler and Kenneth Anger “Naked Hollywood” Kenneth Anger - Lucifer Rising
Butler has been described as the “heir” to Aleister Crowley and Kenneth Anger. The article reveals close ties between the LA contemporary art community and Black Magick.
This PDF shows that “Cameron”, a California-based performance artist. Held sex magick rituals in Los Angeles, and of course was featured at the MOCA gallery.
Here we have a Robert Rauschenberg piece at MOCA featuring chickens and cages
Here we see MOCA’s endless A-list celebrity presence
Panorama of the coffin mural at Moca
Linda Ramone at MOCA - longtime friend of Marina Abramovic, attended Chris Cornell’s funeral
Trump admin involved - Steven Mnuchin on their board of trustees
The combination of Rothschild/Soros/Geffen/Podesta/Pinchuk (once Clinton Foundation’s largest individual donor) is particularly troubling because it shows that they have an entire warehouse (along with an infinite network of artist’s workshops) located in that one district. One that includes a satanic pizzeria, a Tyson Farms warehouse and what I assume is a particularly extensive drainage system going into the Los Angeles River.
Rothschild-linked artist has mural around the corner.
Rothschild's Painted sailboat
But the social connections to celebrities are important here too. We have this strange link between Katy Perry and a Podesta-run gallery that that practices black magic. That seems like the perfect profile of someone offering themselves to the devil, and talking about “playing ping pong all night long” while wearing Lolita sunglasses and pizza earrings.
Katy Perry at Moca
Linkin Park also ran exhibits in LA Arts District - Pictured at ‘Known Gallery’
We also see the same group of artists doing strange things--like holding a Kurt Cobain-themed art show in Seattle. Note the presence of a pizza slice and of artist Carroll Dunham, father of Lena Dunham.
But then you also see the presence of actual Comet Ping Pong performers at this venue. This was a part of the connection I couldn’t quite dole out in my previous post on Los Angeles. But it’s a pretty astounding one.
Evidence Continued in Comments. |
From the part of the news world that doesn’t participate in The Emperor’s Not Naked News Service (ENN) — in this case, from Reuters — comes a story of how NSA data is funneled into the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) for use in domestic and international drug cases.
This includes, apparently, fortuitously timed traffic stops of suspected dealers — low-enders, in other words, as well as anyone falsely scooped up in local raids. No evidence of the latter has emerged, yet, but we sure have evidence of the process and data-path.
This story isn’t just about the NSA and DEA, though. It’s about all of the agencies that feed data to the DEA, and after the DEA uses it for its own purposes, all of the places this data then goes.
There’s a funnel in, a collection point (database), and a funnel out. There’s also systemic lying to conceal the data and the process itself.
Interested? Read on; it’s fascinating. (For more on the NSA, click here. My own bottom line, our love affair with prosecutors and punishers is here.)
Who gives data to the DEA?
The DEA has a unit within it, called Special Operations Division (SOD), that is a distribution point for data generated by other agencies. The excellent John Shiffman and Kristina Cooke, writing for Reuters (my emphasis everywhere):
A secretive U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unit is funneling information from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a massive database of telephone records to authorities across the nation to help them launch criminal investigations of Americans. … The unit of the DEA that distributes the information is called the Special Operations Division, or SOD. Two dozen partner agencies comprise the unit, including the FBI, CIA, NSA, Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Homeland Security. It was created in 1994 to combat Latin American drug cartels and has grown from several dozen employees to several hundred.
So start with that picture. Data pours into the DEA from:
▪ FBI
▪ CIA
▪ NSA (our friends Google and Apple again)
▪ IRS (meaning all your financial data)
▪ Homeland Security
▪ At least 19 other agencies
It then goes into a database called DICE, where it is used by the DEA and anyone else the DEA gives access to it.
Who can use the DEA-collected data?
So “two dozen” federal agencies feed data into the DEA. Who gets that data? Certainly it’s used internally, as part of the DEA’s direct work. But there’s also this, via Reuters again:
Today, the SOD offers at least three services to federal, state and local law enforcement agents: coordinating international investigations such as the Bout case; distributing tips from overseas NSA intercepts, informants, foreign law enforcement partners and domestic wiretaps; and circulating tips from a massive database known as DICE. The DICE database contains about 1 billion records, the senior DEA officials said. The majority of the records consist of phone log and Internet data gathered legally by the DEA through subpoenas, arrests and search warrants nationwide. Records are kept for about a year and then purged, the DEA officials said. About 10,000 federal, state and local law enforcement agents have access to the DICE database, records show.
So who is serviced by SOD’s services? In addition to the DEA itself:
“About 10,000 federal, state and local law enforcement agents” [and all of their friends]
In other words, cop friends of the DEA, plus all of their cop friends, can ask DICE any question they want. (“Hey Fred, you’re in the Drug Unit. Can you look up … ?”) So cops and their friends.
Corrupt cops, of course (yes, they do exist), could spread DICE data even wider than that — which now means, cops and all of their non-cop friends as well. A rather large circle, don’t you think? I suspect some cops have friends with non-cop axes to grind, and ways to thank cops who grind them. Surely that number is not zero, right?
By the way, there’s a section in the Reuters article that declares the DICE database to be “an amazing tool,” then dutifully reports that the government reports that the government is obeying all of the rules, even those that have been proven not to exist. Thought you should know.
How does DEA abuse this database? By lying about its tips and sourcing to judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys
Let’s assume that collecting All Data in the name of “national security” is useful and ethical. How does the DEA then use it?
Part of the way it’s used is to generate tips and leads. (“There’s a hand-off going down at the warehouse on 9th. The guy with the dope drives a rusted-out light blue Focus, license 999 9999.”) The DEA agent, or cop friends of the DEA agent, can then stage a traffic stop (say) of said vehicle, a luckily timed pull-over and trunk-and-undercarriage search. (“Lookee here, Fred. I think we stumbled onto something. Good thing we stopped this guy.”)
Notice that in my pretend dialog above, the DEA source of the tip is hidden. This is actually standard practice, not just with the DEA-generated data, but in cop circles in general. Reuters again:
A former federal agent in the northeastern United States who received such tips from SOD described the process. “You’d be told only, ‘Be at a certain truck stop at a certain time and look for a certain vehicle.’ And so we’d alert the state police to find an excuse to stop that vehicle, and then have a drug dog search it,” the agent said. … After an arrest was made, agents then pretended that their investigation began with the traffic stop, not with the SOD tip, the former agent said. The training document reviewed by Reuters refers to this process as “parallel construction.” … “Parallel construction is a law enforcement technique we use every day,” one official said. “It’s decades old, a bedrock concept.”
Got that? DEA gets data from almost everywhere, creates a tip database, passes the tips (or tips come out via third-party queries), and once an arrest is made, the source of the tip is hidden as a matter of course. Why? Because hiding the source of tips is always done.
Yves Smith, writing about this at Naked Capitalism:
In a weird but more disturbing analogue to chain of title abuses, where banks would forge signatures and fabricate documents to remedy the failure to transfer assets properly to securitization trusts, Reuters reported today that the Drug Enforcement Agency would doctor up where it got evidence from so it could use it in court. Now why would the DEA bother to go to all that trouble? Chorus: Because if a decent defense lawyer found out where it came from, it would in most cases be inadmissible. Of course, Reuters does not know that for a fact, so it can’t say that. But anyone with an operating brain cell can see through this practice.
Do you have an operating brain cell? The writers at Reuters are hoping you do. This is an excellent and exclusive (and explosive) article, but not everything can be said, and some things that aren’t likely true must be said (the government’s assertion of the government’s always-innocence, noted above). That doesn’t mean you can’t connect the remaining unconnected dots. Go ahead; connect.
Where are the holes in these disclosures?
Yves has cleverly found several more holes in these disclosures. For example, reread the two quoted paragraphs above that start “Today, the SOD offers at least three services …”. Smith again:
Do you notice all the caveats? “The SOD offers at least three services”…”the majority of the records consist of phone log and Internet data gathered legally…” So not only has Reuters uncovered that international information, which was collected by God only knows what means, is being used domestically, but the article tacitly admits that only a “majority” or the information in a ginormous database was gathered permissibly.
See? More dots connected, and all without guessing. According to the article itself, at least some of the data was gathered illegally, and there are likely more services — perhaps many more — offered by DEA to friends of DEA, and all of their friends.
Bottom line
Yves Smith has a great bottom line:
It was bad enough when we thought we knew about America’s star chambers, such as Obama’s position that he could kill any “suspected terrorist” … Now we learn of even more widespread and disturbing domestic practices. And this is only the part we’ve been permitted to see. Just imagine what else goes on.
I too have a takeway — as usual, a view from 10,000 feet above the American emotional landscape.
We long ago became a prosecutorial nation, a nation of punishers. Not all of us, but enough to swamp the rest. As a nation, we love us our cops, our prosecutors, our hanging judges. We love us our Abu Graibs and Gitmo force-feeds and Bradley Mannings chained to the wall. Dirty Harry and Death Wish Architect (the Charles Bronson character) are our heroes and protectors. This is everywhere, in low culture and high — watch Judge Judy sometime, or think of the Jerry Springer show. The purveyors of punishment are our gods, our daddies, our agents.
We identify their abuses with our balls and other gonadal parts. In a complex and perverse way, they make our child parts feel falsely and vicariously strong, and at the same time, make our frightened baby parts feel protected and confirmed in the rightness of their fear. It cements us to our fear. Adoring these men and women, we will never grow up, never be strong, never be self-reliant, despite the Orwellian self-reliance fetish-talk that washes through these circles.
The part of this nation that needs all this “security” and “protection” is the least adult, least strong, most frightened daddy-seeking population I’ve ever encountered. It’s getting what it wants, but it’s creating (has created) a world that’s unlivable by those who don’t share its determined infantilism.
Ultimately, even they won’t want what they’ve created. After all, the unstoppable predator that eats their enemies will soon turn elsewhere for food. Sons and daughters of Texas, that’s your sister’s vagina they’re groping; your mother’s and grandmother’s too. Not mine nor any of my friends’. The rest of us will avoid you every chance we can. You’re the ones stuck at home, in the world of your fear come back at you.
GP
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During his 19 years as manager of Arsenal Football Club, it’s difficult to imagine Arsene Wenger has ever started a season with greater tactical options.
With a plethora of talented attacking players at his disposal – the majority of whom can play in multiple positions – Wenger will chop and change his starting XI regularly this season, partly for tactical reasons, and partly for fitness reasons.
Arsenal’s midfield and attacking options can broadly be separated into four distinct types.
Deep midfielders: Mikel Arteta, Francis Coquelin, Mathieu Flamini.
Mikel Arteta, Francis Coquelin, Mathieu Flamini. Box-to-box midfielders: Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Playmakers: Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil, Tomas Rosicky.
Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil, Tomas Rosicky. Forwards: Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck, Olivier Giroud.
Wenger’s job will be to find the right blend, and pick the right combination of six players from the four categories. In simple terms he needs the deep midfielders to recover the ball and play good passes into the final third, the box-to-box midfielders to provide energy in the centre, the playmakers to create chances, and the forwards to score goals.
Arsene Wenger
The question is precisely how Wenger will format his team, and it seems like there are three potential types of system.
System 1 - last season’s shape
The default system towards the latter period of the 2014/15 season was a 4-2-3-1. It featured the midfield combination of Coquelin and Cazorla; the former providing tenacity and the latter creativity in a surprisingly successful duo. There was something of a compromise, though, with Ramsey shunted out to the right.
Meanwhile, Ozil was the number ten, Alexis cut inside from the left and Giroud generally led the line, although Walcott came in for the FA Cup final with great success. Considering the success of that system, Wenger would be well within his rights to stick with it for 2015/16.
Mesut Ozil
However, there’s the problem that Ramsey’s not in his best position, and had been Arsenal’s Player of the Season in 2013/14 from his favoured central midfield role.
System 2 - the Community Shield shape
Therefore, for the Community Shield victory over Chelsea, Ramsey was fielded in the centre of the pitch instead, alongside Coquelin. Oxlade-Chamberlain played on the right, Walcott was upfront, and in the absence of Sanchez, Cazorla was pushed back to his old role on the left.
This is another 4-2-3-1, but a very different system. The balance in midfield has changed - Coquelin and Ramsey are good battlers and both comfortable in possession, but Arsenal lack the Spanish influence of Cazorla or Arteta, a true ball-playing midfielder.
Santi Cazorla
Coquelin’s natural partner is Cazorla who scuttles into attack, Ramsey’s is Arteta who holds a more cautious position. It does mean, however, Arsenal have two playmakers, Cazorla and Ozil, located in the final third of the pitch - but getting the ball to them can become trickier.
Besides, where does Alexis fit in?
System 3 – the Etihad example
This means, therefore, that Wenger might consider a return to the 4-3-3 system he’s occasionally played over the past couple of seasons - the 2-0 win against Manchester City in January was a particularly fine example of its virtues.
This arguably makes it easier for Wenger to find the right balance. He can play a solid holding midfielder - Coquelin, Arteta or Flamini at the base of the midfield triangle, and supplement that player with Cazorla in a left-of-centre role, and Ramsey storming forward to the right.
Aaron Ramsey
It provides the balance of a deep midfielder, a box-to-box midfielder and a playmaker. Then, Wenger can field his two star signings from the past two summers, Ozil and Alexis, on the flanks. That provides a selfless playmaker and a direct forward, who can support the striker – Giroud, Walcott or Welbeck – in different ways.
It also means Arsenal can revert to the second system quickly, with Cazorla moving wide, Ozil returning to the number ten role, and a 4-2-3-1. It remains to be seen precisely what Wenger decides this season, however, and with so many tactical options, there are probably potential systems that haven’t yet been considered.
Somewhere, however, it feels like there’s the right combination of players to prompt Arsenal’s best title challenge in years.
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A woman who says an Uber driver raped her in New Delhi, India, on Thursday accused the company in a lawsuit filed in US court of failing to properly investigate the alleged assailant's background.
The woman's lawyers filed the lawsuit in San Francisco, where the company is based, and asked the court to protect the woman's identity.
The alleged rape last month prompted widespread protests in India against sexual violence and led to demands there for more effort to ensure women's safety. It also added to the legal woes the ride-service company is facing around the globe even as it attracts more customers and investors. Protesters in India called for a permanent ban of Uber there.
"Our deepest sympathies remain with the victim of this horrific crime," Uber spokeswoman Nairi Hourdajian said in a prepared statement. "We are cooperating fully with the authorities to ensure the perpetrator is brought to justice."
The India woman's lawsuit called Uber's service a "modern-day equivalent of electronic hitchhiking" and accused the company of failing to ensure passengers' safety. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. The woman's alleged assailant has been arrested and charged with her rape.
Law enforcement officials in India have interviewed a New Dehli-based Uber executive. New Delhi police official Brijendra Kumar Yadav said last month that there is a possibility of criminal charges against the company if police find evidence the company misrepresented the safety of its service.
A week after the woman reported that she was raped, prosecutors and Los Angeles and San Francisco jointly filed a lawsuit in state court accusing the company of exaggerating the quality of its background checks of California drivers. The California lawsuit says that Uber can't claim its background checks are the best available because the company doesn't require its drivers to submit their fingerprints for checking against a national criminal database.
On Dec. 17, Uber's head of global safety posted a long comment on the company's Web site promising to focus on rider safety while defending the company's safety record.
"We are finding solutions in many places that range from polygraph exams that fill gaps in available data to adding our own processes on top of existing screening for commercial licenses," wrote company security chief Philip Cardenas. "We are exploring new ways to screen drivers globally, using scientific analysis and technology to find solutions."
The taxi alternative, valued at $40 billion, lets passengers summon cars through an app in more than 250 cities around the world. It faces multiples legal and regulatory challenges as it expands in the United States and abroad.
AP
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The Federal Aviation Administration has not yet finalized rules governing the use of drones within the United States. However, a privacy group is already suing the agency over the lack of personal protections detailed in its current proposal.
Earlier this week, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed a lawsuit against the FAA, arguing that the agency should not have avoided proposing privacy protections with its initial set of drone regulations. EPIC is asking the federal appeals court in Washington, DC to review the FAA’s decision and declare it unlawful, since Congress originally required it to create a “comprehensive plan” that would “safely” incorporate unmanned aerial vehicles into American airspace.
READ MORE: Draft FAA drone regulations ban ‘out of sight’ use of civilian UAVs
When the FAA unveiled its first draft of rules regarding drones, privacy guidelines were not included. The agency said such rules “are beyond the scope of this rulemaking.”
“In 2012, over 100 organizations, experts, and advocates joined EPIC in petitioning the FAA to establish privacy protections prior to the deployment of commercial drones in the United States,” EPIC stated on its website. “In 2014, the FAA responded to EPIC's petition, claiming that drone privacy implications ‘did not raise an immediate safety concern.’”
In an overview of the suit, EPIC noted that drones can be “equipped with highly sophisticated surveillance technology that threatens personal privacy.” It pointed to a drone’s ability to gather personal data such as location and said their use “poses a public safety problem for millions of individuals.”
While the FAA did not touch the civil liberties concerns in its February proposal, it outlined several guidelines for the use of drones commercially. For one thing, the rules ban operators from flying drones beyond their line of sight and restrict their use to daylight hours. Drones must weight a maximum of 55 pounds, stay below 500 feet in the air and fly less than 100 miles per hour. A drone operator must also pass an aeronautics test.
READ MORE:Commercial drone regulations to be proposed by US senator
Civil liberties advocates were not the only ones upset with the rules, though. Companies like Amazon – which is testing deliveries-by-drone in Canada due to tight regulations in the US – said America is moving to slow to adopt new guidelines. The company said even the FAA’s proposed rules are inadequate.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) is expected to introduce a bill that would establish temporary rules for experimental drone use, although it is unclear when that will happen. Reports suggest the rules contained in his bill would be more relaxed than what the FAA is considering, though they would only remain in effect until the FAA finalizes its own. |
Perez’s future in Formula 1 has been the subject of intense speculation over recent weeks, as the Mexican has weighed up with his backers what to do.
Although he signed a contract to remain at Force India months ago, the deal is also dependent on his Mexican backers concluding commercial arrangements with the team.
Perez has spoken to Williams and Renault about opportunities they could offer him for next year, but sources have suggested that in the end neither could give him what he wanted.
Williams’ form this season has been inconsistent, and Force India’ progress has left Perez’s current team locked in a tight fight with its rivals for fourth place in the constructors’ championship. Joining Williams would offer no guarantee of a big step forward.
And although the chance of a switch to the manufacturer-backed Renault team is attractive on paper, the French car company's desire to tie the Mexican down to a long-term commitment left him wary – especially with uncertainty as to how next year’s regulations will shake up the order.
Added to the situation is that there could be a prime vacancy at Ferrari in 2018, with Kimi Raikkonen’s current contract running out at the end of next year.
Perez has long harboured ambitions of driving for Ferrari, and a move to the Maranello team could be sweetened if he can take significant Mexican backing with him – with the Claro brand already on its roster of sponsors.
A one-year deal at Force India for 2017 would give Perez the flexibility to be in the frame for Ferrari the following year, or pick any outfit that looks to have made the most of next year’s new F1 regulations.
Perez has promised an announcement about his future plan before the Singapore GP, and he hinted at the weekend that his decision would ultimately be one he wanted all along – perhaps in reference to Ferrari in the future.
“It looks like what will happen is what I always wanted,” he said.
The Ferrari situation also points to speculation that Perez backer Carlos Slim is about to buy Force India being wide of the mark, as their ultimate ambitions in F1 lie with placing Perez at a prominent, title-contending team. |
LONDON (Reuters) - The Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual head of the 80-million strong Anglican Communion, said on Thursday the killing of an unarmed Osama bin Laden left a “very uncomfortable feeling.”
Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, waits for Pope Benedict XVI to arrive at Lambeth Palace in London September 17, 2010. REUTERS/Chris Ison/Pool
Rowan Williams, who last week married Prince William and Catherine Middleton, said the different versions of events coming out of the White House “have not done a great deal to help here.”
Bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces early Monday during a raid on his home at Abbottabad, a garrison town near Islamabad in Pakistan.
U.S. accounts of what happened have changed throughout the week, and initial characterisations of a 40-minute gun battle have given way to officials being quoted as saying only one of the five people who were killed had been armed.
Citing U.S. officials, the U.S. television network NBC said four of the five, including bin Laden himself, were unarmed and never fired a shot.
“I think that the killing of an unarmed man is always going to leave a very uncomfortable feeling because it doesn’t look as if justice is seen to be done in those circumstances,” Williams told reporters in response to a question at a press briefing.
“I don’t know the full details any more than anyone else does. But I do believe that in such circumstances when we are faced with someone who was manifestly a ‘war criminal’ as you might say in terms of the atrocities inflicted, it is important that justice is seen to be observed.”
Some in Europe and the Muslim world condemn the failure to arrest bin Laden as a breach of international law and have warned that this, as well as the disposal of his body at sea in a move criticised by Islamic clerics, may provoke a backlash.
The White House has cited the “fog of war” as a reason for initial misinformation on whether bin Laden — who was shot in the head — was armed when U.S. Navy Seals stormed into his hideout from helicopters.
Britain’s embassies have been asked to review their security measures and military bases at home and abroad are on high alert for fear of reprisals.
Prime Minister David Cameron has urged the country to be more vigilant than ever. |
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said on Tuesday that federal aid for people impacted by Hurricane Sandy should be approved only with a specific spending plan in place so funds are not used for "Gucci bags and massage parlors," like after Hurricane Katrina.
"I want to get them the resources that are necessary to lift them out of this water and the sand and the ashes and the death that's over there in the East Coast and especially in the Northeast," King said during a Tuesday evening debate in Mason City, Iowa.
"But not one big shot to just open up the checkbook, because they spent it on Gucci bags and massage parlors and everything you can think of in addition to what was necessary," he said later, referring to Hurricane Katrina.
During his final debate with Democratic challenger Christie Vilsack, the former first lady of Iowa, King doubled down on his disaster aid stance, which is that it should be paid for or not provided at all.
King currently leads Vilsack by four points, according to a HuffPost Pollster estimate, but he has garnered the attention of national groups looking to oust him based on his often far-right positions.
The congressman, who is running for his sixth term, was outspoken about -- among other things -- the need to pay for any spending on disaster relief, an issue he has dealt with before. In 2005, he voted against a bill to help Hurricane Katrina victims because he said it cost too much at $51.8 billion. King was one of only 11 members of Congress to oppose the bill.
King said last week that his vote against Hurricane Katrina relief was "a good vote" and "a principled vote."
"I said that there will be all kinds of wasted funds," he said during an Oct. 23 debate with Vilsack, which aired on Iowa Public Television. "There’s no plan to spend it. I got beaten up on by many of the newspapers around, but I stood on that and I said it’s a principled vote and it will be easier to defend every day."
King said on Tuesday that some of his critics over that vote have since come around. "Sometimes you have to take lumps, but you have to do the right thing," he said.
King also said he would take a similar approach this time around and stand against efforts to "just throw a dart at the dartboard and say" what funding is needed to deal with Sandy's impact on the East Coast.
Vilsack called King's comments "heartless" and "extreme."
"In Iowa, we take care of people," she said. "That's all I think I need to say."
Both candidates were asked if they would pledge to donate some or all of their remaining campaign advertising funds to those affected by the storm. Vilsack said her money is already spent, but King said he might consider it.
"The first thing I thought was yes and the second thing was, I should ask my donors, because they're really the people who have contributed that money," he said. "So I don't think I can answer that unless I do. My instinct would be, why not pull the plug on it right now? But I don't think that's going to happen and I would have to go to my donors before I could say completely yes."
Listen to the full debate, courtesy of KGLO News.
UPDATE: 8:15 p.m. -- New Jersey Assemblywoman Connie Wagner, a Democrat, responded on Wednesday to King's comments, saying maybe he should see the aftermath of the storm in person before making such remarks.
"One of the first thoughts that came to my mind was 'well then we won't help Iowa either!'" Wagner said in an email to HuffPost. "Iowa has floods, tornadoes, and drought, all these disasters are aided by the federal government on a more regular basis than hurricanes in New Jersey. But no Mr. King, these are the United States and it is our job to help each other when faced with devastating natural events."
"Your views are so out of step with what our country should be doing I can't believe you were elected once let alone are able to run for re-election," she added.
She concluded that "for Iowa's sake" she hopes Vilsack will win the election last week. |
AAP leader Kumar Vishwas (file pic)
Kumar Vishwas, an Aam Aadmi Party leader whose name is doing the rounds as the candidate Arvind Kejriwal might field against Congress number 2 Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha elections, has dared the BJP to make it a three-cornered fight by fielding Narendra Modi."If Modi really wants to end Rahul Gandhi's reign in Amethi, let him contest from there. Or then field (BJP president) Rajnath Singh from there. Let Rahul Gandhi, Modi and me contest from Amethi and see who wins," Mr Vishwas, a 43-year-old poet said.Mr Modi is the BJP's prime ministerial candidate and the general elections due by May are widely seen as a direct contest between him and Mr Gandhi, though the Congress has not formally named its vice president as its candidate for PM yet.Mr Gandhi contests elections from Amethi, a Gandhi bastion, in Uttar Pradesh. After his party's spectacular debut in the Delhi elections, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal had announced that his year-old party would also contest the national elections and could field Mr Vishwas against the Congress leader.BJP chief Rajnath Singh is the Lok Sabha MP from Ghaziabad, where Mr Kejriwal lives.In the recently held Delhi elections Mr Kejriwal defeated former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit by a massive margin. His AAP won 28 seats, the second highest tally, and agreed to form government after single largest party the BJP declined, saying it did not have the numbers. With 28 legislators, Mr Kejriwal runs a minority government, with the external support of eight Congress MLAs. |
“Once you’ve been in the shit, you must always remember – never forget – so when you’re doing well, you push forward to never be back there.”
That’s one of the premises shared by Diego Simeone in his recent autobiography Creer (‘Believe’).
When he was appointed at Atletico Madrid in 2011, his side was closer to relegation than to European Cups and he was convinced that the only reason to call him was to take the pressure off the board.
Simeone conducts his adoring crowd
But El Cholo seized the opportunity and not only transformed the team and their identity; he also set a new paradigm in a worst-case scenario, precisely when football science had decided that, thanks to Guardiola’s magnificent Barcelona, nearly everything was about ball possession.
Simeone was having none of it, respectfully saying that he didn’t care about possession or high pressing. Suddenly, a league that was supposed to be for two became open for three. That third side was noticeably weaker in resources and budget, but had firm ideas. You might like his football style or not, but you can’t argue against its existence, nor against its results.
Building blocks
To improve the sense of pluralism and team effort, Simeone never uses the word ‘I’. It’s always ‘We’
But it’s Simeone’s European campaigns, first in the Europa League and then in the Champions League with two final appearances, that really made him the best manager in the world.
“Football is a game of errors,” he once declared. “The fewer mistakes you make, the closer you are to a victory. It’s a lie that he who attacks the most is closer to winning. It’s he who makes the fewest mistakes. And for that we work on what we feel are the opposition weak points.”
To improve the sense of pluralism and team effort, Simeone never uses the word ‘I’. It’s always ‘We’.
Two Champions League runners-up medals won't discourage him
Unlike other managers that enjoy a golden generation of players, the Argentine inherited an average squad and was forced to rebuild his team every season: unsurprisingly, none of the players sold (Radamel Falcao, Arda Turan, Filipe Luis, Diego Costa, Miranda) remotely reached the level they had previously shown under Cholo’s stewardship, yet the team’s core and style never diminished. On the contrary – it became stronger.
For someone who only cares about victories, losing two Champions League finals can be devastating, but Simeone – always positive – is eager for more as long as he identifies with the cause
“I prefer to enhance the attributes of my footballers, because I understand that it helps me to victory,” Simeone writes. “I don’t want to seduce the critics, I want to seduce my players: my best investment is in them, because they are the only ones that allow you to keep going forward and getting better.”
For someone who only cares about victories, losing two Champions League finals can be devastating, but Simeone – always positive – is eager for more as long as he identifies with the cause.
“[Marcelo] Bielsa used to say that a good team must even know how to play badly,” he recalls. “In every game there’s a moment of ruling, of being ruled, of taking control… and the team must know how to react to those moments. Without teamwork, without preparing to suffer as a unit, those hours will be worse.”
Embedded video for FourFourTwo’s 50 Best Football Managers in the World 2016: No.1, Diego Simeone
Every moment matters
Since his arrival in Europe – after winning titles with Estudiantes and River Plate in Argentina – Simeone has not only proved to be a great tactician but a fine strategist too, someone whose long-term analysis is superior. He enjoys the build-up of a winning campaign most, rather than the decisive game that can lead to a title. That’s why his side plays every game like a final from day one.
You can recognise Simeone’s words in his current team – they don’t care whether they’re playing a third division side in an early Copa del Rey fixture, or Bayern Munich in a Champions League semi-final
“As a player, I felt that football was a war and that I had to kill the opposition – all figuratively speaking, of course,” says Simeone. “I needed to be stronger, to run more, to take his space, to beat him.
“It’s like a street fight: there comes a moment when one of the two shows fear in his eyes, and that moment is precisely when you sweep them. You’re not always superior, sometimes you’re inferior, but you were capable of arousing fear.”
You can recognise Simeone’s words in his current team – they don’t care whether they’re playing a third division side in an early Copa del Rey fixture, or Bayern Munich in a Champions League semi-final.
Simeone’s stamp
Commitment and communion are vital for him: Simeone’s Atletico Madrid are all his. He owns them, controls them, rebuilt them from scratch, knows how to embrace the fans and make them a global success, and uses it as fuel to go further. El Cholo is to Atletico Madrid what Steve Jobs was for Apple.
Oddly, he has never even finished runner-up in FIFA’s Coach of the Year Award, despite the common agreement that no one wants to face his side. When asked about it three years ago, he jokingly replied: “If they don’t pick us then we must be doing something wrong, but we thank them because it will make us try harder.”
The sense of togetherness at Atletico is palpable
The first rule of a manager is to find footballers who represents his ideas. The players are then the ones that defend those - Cesar Menotti, 1978 World Cup-winning coach with Argentina
In a recent interview with newspaper La Nacion, 1978 World Cup-winning coach Cesar Menotti said: “A manager is the chief of a command troop. He must prepare the soldiers, and use them accordingly. If the manager knows that a soldier is good with the pistol, but then puts that soldier in the kitchen and sends the cook to the battlefront, then he’s a moron.
“The first rule of a manager is to find footballers who represent his ideas. The players are then the ones that defend those.”
Simeone’s greatest gift was to create an elite troop with guys that worked in the kitchen. They are now the soldiers who defend a manifesto with only one word: winning.
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FourFourTwo's 50 Best Football Managers in the World 2016 |
Instruments on board NASA’s Cassini mission have just discovered the presence of a trio of ridges on Jupiter’s largest moon, Titan, which also features what is expected to be the highest point on its surface.
The ridges, named Mithrim Montes, were discovered through its largely opaque atmosphere, revealing the highest peak standing at 10,948 feet (3,337 meters,) along with the presence of other peaks at around the 10,000 meter mark.
While this mountain range is certainly tall, it is still dwarfed by the highest peak in our solar system--the 22,000 meter high Olympus Mons on Mars.
"It's not only the highest point we've found so far on Titan, but we think it's the highest point we're likely to find," said Stephen Wall, deputy lead of the Cassini radar team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
The mission also discovered additional peaks in the desolate region known as Xanadu, close to the location where the European Space Agency (ESA’s) Huygen’s probe touched down.
"As explorers, we're motivated to find the highest or deepest places, partly because it's exciting. But Titan's extremes also tell us important things about forces affecting its evolution," said Jani Radebaugh, a Cassini radar team associate at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, who led the research.
The fact that there exists topographical features such as mountain ranges points to the occurrence of tectonic forces on Titan, just as it exists on Earth. However, given the significantly greater distance of Titan from the Sun, the process of geological deformations taking place on this moon is far slower than it happens on Earth where it is helped along due to the higher temperatures associated with being in closer proximity to the Sun.
Just as Earth has an outer crust (the upper Mantle,) Titan’s icy crust is situated above an ocean of liquid water. This layer of hot, high-pressure rock steadily flows and deforms over the ages, resulting in the creation of terrestrial features like mountain ranges.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. |
Londoners, says the Daily Mail, will presently be able to witness a striking object lesson, which, if turned to proper account, might be the means of suppressing the hooligans who infest certain London districts. A remarkable troupe of Japanese performers having arrived for the purpose of exhibiting their skill at the Alhambra. Smiling Japan used to possess hooligans as desperate and as defiant as any of those in the metropolis, but Japan has a means of dealing with them.
The three men who are to perform at the Alhambra are champions in the art of “jujitsu,” and are pupils of the celebrated Jigoro Kano, ex-director of the higher normal school of Japan. He is the founder of the system, and has established schools where the art is taught, his ambitions and object being that the better (and unathletic) classes of Japan may be able to give a good account of themselves, if molested by muscular ruffians, either abroad or at home, and thus maintain the reputation of the old samurai or fighting class of Japanese feudal times.
Jujitsu, literally translated, means ‘fighting to the last,’ and an opponent is never considered beaten until he holds up his hand as a token of defeat.
In jujitsu, ground wrestling with the legs (and not with the arms as in European wrestling), plays a very important part. Strictly speaking, however, the art is as entirely different from wrestling as is boxing. If a man fall in jujitsu, it is not because he is thrown by his opponent, but because he throws himself, either to escape worse injury, or else to gain an advantage.
To know jujitsu is to have learnt the science of breaking a man’s bones, straining his muscles, or killing him in a hundred different ways without leaving a mark on his body. Its principle is simply that of attacking the point of least resistance, and then, using with small exertion, the different parts of the body as levers, to retain one’s own gravity and destroy that of your opponent. When a man is down, it is not only necessary to keep him down, but to hold him in such a way that every bone in his body can be broken if he dares to move. To do this, the man who is beaten may at the time be lying on his face, side, back, or even on the top of one, and yet be held in such a position that it is impossible for him to move an inch.
Many of the holds have only to do with the clothing, and it is just as possible to choke a man to death with his own coat collar, or to break his arm while holding the sleeve of his coat, as it is to accomplish the same thing by actually grasping him himself.
This is the first time that exponents of jujitsu have been allowed to leave Japan, to demonstrate the system publicly”
–The Japan Times, Friday, Nomber 30th ,1900 (Meiji 33)
With the victory of Royce Gracie in the first UFC in 1993, the martial arts community has been asking a question: where does Gracie jiujitsu come from. Until recently, the most common response in Brazil was that jiujitsu was created by Buddhist monks in India. That response was never satisfactory, however, as its Japanese roots are evident in everything from its name to the clothes practitioners wear during a tournament. Even though it might seem complex, the history of jiujitsu in Brazil is actually little different from similar styles that appeared in many countries around the world when judo started to spread outside of Japan.
The word jiujitsu (or jujutsu, using the current Romanization system) is not the name of a single Japanese martial art; rather, it is a generic term used by a number of martial traditions (ryu) that developed over many centuries in Japan. In 1882, Kano Jigoro, after studying two different schools of this art, Tenjin Shinyo-ryu and Kito-ryu, founded his own dojo called Kodokan. Through this amalgamation of knowledge from different schools, he created what is known nowadays as judo.
Contrary to what is popularly believed in the West, the term judo was not invented by Kano Jigoro, as it was already used in 1724 by Inoue Jibudayu of the Jikishin-ryu, and possibly even before that by other jujutsu exponents. Meiji-period books quite often use the term judo as a synonym for jujutsu, referring to certain jujutsu schools as judo schools. However, this use probably only occurred after the term was popularized by Kano. Thus, when referring to Kano Jigoro’s judo, I prefer to use the name given by the spiritual source of the discipline—that is, Kodokan Judo. Kano’s judo was sometimes also called “Kano Jujutsu” or “Kano-ryu Jujutsu.” The system that he originally devised, deriving it from various sources (two of the main ones being the Kito-ryu and Tenjin Shinyo-ryu), was still very close to the jujutsu of the Edo period, and completely different from what we now see in modern judo or judo competitions.
-Serge Mol, Classical Fighting Arts of Japan: A Complete Guide to Koryu Jujutsu, 2001
In the early 1900s, when a large number of martial artists began to emigrate from Japan to the West, the words judo and jiujitsu were interchangeable. There was certainly no distinction between the two terms outside of Japan, and the difference between judo and jujutsu was poorly understood, even for the Japanese.
One of the most significant of the judoka who took the art outside of Japan was Maeda Mitsuyo. Maeda, the putative founder of Brazilian jiujitsu, was born in 1878. He competed in sumo in his youth, and enrolled in the Kodokan in 1897. Maeda ascended to the rank of third dan in 1901 and began teaching judo at the Gakushuin (the Army Cadet School), as well as other institutions. He distinguished himself even within the Kodokan. This is shown by the fact that the four leading disciples directly instructed by Kano Jigoro were called Kodokan Shitenno (Four Guardians of the Kodokan). Maeda became known as one of the Kodokan Sanba Garasu (Three Pillars of the Kodokan), along with Todoroki Shota and Samura Kaichiro as the next generation leaders.
Tomita Tsunejiro 6th Dan, Maeda Mitsuyo 4th Dan
After leaving Japan in 1904, Maeda, like every other Japanese martial artist had to adapt to Western culture. Differing from Japan, where judo’s challenge matches against jujutsu lowered interest in the latter, the West was eager to understand Japanese martial arts as a form of combat. The main employer of Japanese martial artists were law enforcement agencies, and there were no judo tournaments as were practiced in Japan. Maeda had to fight in competitions with rules very different from those of the Kodokan to prove the efficiency of the Japanese martial art. As Westerners were not used to the ceremonial form of kata practiced by the Japanese, techniques were taught in a less structured way. As the ‘self-defense tricks of jujutsu’ became popular, many books were published in which is hard to tell from which ryu each technique might have been taken.
As judo fighters had also to adapt to fight in different venues such as ‘catch as catch can’ wrestling, it also affected the method in which judo would be taught, as people in the West were mostly interested on the fighting aspect. To be sure, there were many judoka who came up with their own ideas of what judo should be after the Kodokan was created. Some even created their own set of kata. Without the rigid control of Kano and the Kodokan outside of Japan, Japanese instructors had all the freedom they needed to create their own methods of teaching.
Maeda Mitsuyo and Ono Akitaro, Subtitle: Catch as Catch Can Ryu (カッチｱｽﾞ、カッチカン流) Shinjudo Musha Shugyo: Sekai Okou Dai Ni , Maeda Mistuyo, Usuda Zan’un, 1912
The first contact the West had with jujutsu—apart perhaps from the occasional sailor who received a demonstration for some transgression committed while on leave in a Japanese port, or the diplomats, journalists, and adventurers who were living in japan just prior to the Meiji reform and had opportunity to see jujutsu performed as a part of official government ceremonies—was thanks to Japanese expatriates working overseas at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These expatriates were by no means jujutsu ‘masters,’ and their rather limited jujutsu knowledge (though it was impressive enough to draw the attention of the contemporary Westerner to jujutsu) was mainly borrowed from systems such as the Tenjin Shinyo Ryu, the Yoshin Ryu, and of course Kano Jigoro’s judo (itself a product of the Meiji period).
-Serge Mol, Classical Fighting Arts of Japan: A Complete Guide to Koryu Jujutsu, 2001
To understand how Brazilian jiujitsu was in the beginning, we can compare it to the many other judo or jujutsu schools that were created around the same time in the West. The ‘jiujitsu movement’ happened on a global scale, verified by the many books that were published throughout the world, using such names as judo, jiujitsu, jujutsu or jujitsu. This video of the London Budokwai with Gunji Koizumi from 1949 represents this quite well, as the self-defense moves of the Budokwai Goshinjutsu in many ways resemble the self-defense method taught by the Gracies from the old days until now:
The Gracies
It is the instructor of our police – the first national organization that adopted this method of defense – Mr. Carlos Gracie, a young man born in Pará, that since March last year has been doing such work.
–Diário Nacional 1929 (newspaper)
Maeda has a main role in the development of jiujitsu in Brazil, not only for allegedly being the first teacher of Carlos Gracie, but also because the main two lines of jiujitsu still surviving in Brazil (Fadda and Gracie) are connected to him.
Maeda arrived in Brazil in November, 1914, along with other well-known judoka such as Ito Tokugoro , Uyenishi Sadakazu, Ono Akitaro and Satake Soshihiro. Upon arrival, all members of that small entourage held fights in Brazilian territory, and they and other Japanese continued this for over a decade and a half. It was not until early 1930’s, however, that jiujitsu schools began to attract more attention from the population at large, as opposed merely to the professional fight circuit, and then, mostly in the capital, Rio de Janeiro.
One of the first appearances of Carlos Gracie by a Brazilian newspaper regarding Jiujitsu occurs in 1929, where he talks about his recruitment by the police of Minas Gerais. Carlos explains his rise in the sport:
“I learned Jiujitsu in my hometown, Pará, where there passed a Japanese troupe in which was part the famous Count Maeda Koma, instructor of Japan’s Imperial College.”
This Maeda Koma, who had been the teacher of Carlos Gracie, had been in Belo Horizonte years ago, probably with the same troupe, and conducted an interesting and unexpected demonstration of his strength and agility in the old Cinema Comércio.
–Diário Nacional 1929
In 1930, after fighting with Geo Omori, a Japanese fighter already well known to the Brazilian public, Carlos became instructor at Academia de Jiujitsu do Rio (later to become the Gracie Academy ), founded by Donato Pires dos Reis. Donato had previously brought Carlos to work as his assistant with the police of Minas Gerais. He was a former student of Maeda in Pará and would state, years later, that Carlos never met Maeda. Furthermore, he claimed that he was one of the few individuals recognized by the master as an instructor, as evidenced by a diploma he showed to journalists.
Whatever the merits of his claim, Carlos could hardly have been a long-term direct student of Maeda. According to the standard account, Carlos started his apprenticeship at 14 years old. At that time, however, Maeda was not fully established in Brazil; rather, he had been traveling in-and-out of the country. When he finally settled down, the Gracies had already moved away from Belém do Pará. Furthermore, Maeda, by that time, was mostly interested in helping the establishment of the Japanese immigrants rather than teaching judo.
We do have a near contemporary account that is contrary to the standard myth: according to José Brigido in the Diario de Noticias newspaper in 1932, the Gracie brothers learned jiujitsu from Donato Pires. Whatever Carlos might have learned at the academy of Maeda, it would have been a short time, at best, and it most likely came from classes with Jacyntho Ferro, the school instructor. Did Carlos have enough time studying in Maeda’s academy to have learned enough to teach all his brothers, and build them into ring fighters? Or did he continue to pick up knowledge elsewhere? Whatever the facts, Maeda was highly popular in Brazil, considered the greatest master of jiujitsu in the country, and to be connected to him would give anyone credibility.
Carlos started to get the attention of people as a jiujitsu instructor after his fight against Geo Omori. According to Geo Omori, the young Gracie did not know anything but self-defense tricks before the two met. George Gracie would make an statement later that he also studied with Omori, as Carlos knew only self-defense. Geo Omori apparently taught Carlos ‘jiujitsu for the ring.’ Whether Omori taught Carlos as a teacher, or did so more informally, such exchanges between jiujitsu fighters were frequent, not only among the Gracies, but also among the Japanese who have become recognized in that period.
It must be understood that jiujitsu was not the only martial sport flourishing in Brazil. There was also luta livre, Brazil’s form of ‘catch as catch can’ wrestling. Even today, Brazil currently has both Brazilian jiujitsu academies and Brazilian luta livre, both arts being regarded as national sports. There were a lot of exchanges between jiujitsu fighters and luta livre fighters throughout their history. Carlos, however, was focused on trying set up the family as the pioneers of jiujitsu in Brazil; therefore, he tried to maintain the appearance of a certain distance outside influences on his own jiujitsu. Brothers Oswaldo and George, on the other hand, freely trained with many different fighters, without hiding it whatsoever. In 1932 Orlando Americo da Silva, also known as Dudu, assisted in the training of George Gracie to fight catch as catch can wrestler, Fred Ebert. Dudú also trained at the academy in Marquez de Abrantes. In January of 1933 during a training session at the Gracie Academy, Dudu broke Oswaldo Gracie’s leg in three parts. George would later fight against Dudú in the ring.
I sincerely appreciate the great interest of my brother Carlos, when manifested his fear for my first setback, but I wanna say to him that this will not happen, I will match the confidence of those who know me closely. Since I left Rio I was in great shape and now reached my best condition thanks to the dedication of my head coach Dudu.
-George Gracie in Jornal dos sports, 1932
Euclydes Hatem, also known as Tatu, considered the founder of Brazilian Luta Livre and one of its main representatives (center). At the right, Oswaldo Gracie.
In 1939, George Gracie united with Donato Pires to open a new academy in Rio de Janeiro. To give even more credence to the hypothesis that Carlos may have learned only self-defense with Donato and ring-fighting with Omori, Donato was responsible only for the curriculum of self-defense, while George taught jiujitsu for the ring. This venture didn’t last very long, as George was more interested into fighting than teaching. Perhaps that is why Carlos and Helio’s affiliates became more widespread throughout Brazil today, while George’s lineage in jiujitsu is almost lost.
Helio started to be part of Carlos’ academy of jiujitsu in 1931. Wanting to be independent from Carlos, their other brothers decided to leave the academy and set up their own businesses. As Carlos assumed the role of manager of the Gracie Academy, Helio became both the head instructor and the leading fighter. Even so, it would be common for the brothers to unite into training, especially before fights. By 1937 the biggest names of jiujitsu in the media disputing the title of champion of jiujitsu were Helio and George Gracie, Geo Omori, Yano Takeo (who was a member of the famed Yano family of Kyushu, the founders of Takenouchi Santo-ryu), and the Ono Brothers. The Japanese were all Kodokan Judo trained. There were actually many more judo representatives, in places like São Paulo for example, but they mostly trained within the Japanese community. The Japanese tended to form closed communities with little communication with outsiders. The Brazilian government would eventually see that as a problem, as the Japanese population in Brazil increased and, instead of trying to interact with the locals, they decided to form what would resemble entire Japanese cities inside of Brazil.
Brazilian Jiujitsu Lineage Chart – Created by Christiano Martins Milfont – Note the clear evidence of mutual exchanges, back-and-forth between Japanese and Brazilian practitioners
In 1938, Helio Gracie and George Gracie disputed the title of the best jiujitsu fighter throughout the media. George had been the main coach for many of Helio’s fights, as well as his sparring partner, and now the press was pressuring the two to decide who was the best in a bout. Members of the same family, however, they would never fight. As George went to the newspapers, saying that the dispute had to happen, the two brothers became more distant. Helio decided to retire because, according to him, he could no longer find any worthy opponents. Helio’s retirement lasted around ten years. During this time, however, George kept on fighting.
Diario da Noite , September 1938, “A Title That Has to be Put on the Line:” It is for the Brazilian boxing federation to determine who is the national champion of jiujitsu – the anomalous situation of brothers George and Helio Gracie
During this period, a little known fact almost changed the course of jiujitsu history in Brazil—Helio got involved with judo. In 1939, Helio participated in the 7th championship of the Jukendo Association, the first Judo and Kendo association to be created in Brazil (NOTE: the name is not related to the Japanese martial sport of bayonet fighting, also known as ‘jukendo’) This event also had the presence of two Kodokan official representatives.
[..]As is from the knowledge of our readers, the only Brazilian who intervened on the seventh Jukendo Association Championship was the young and already established fighter Helio Gracie. The Brazilian champion also had the opportunity to measure up with Sato and Kotani. Opining on the value of both teachers he said:
“In my life I have met strong and agile fighters but their methods of fighting didn’t worry me. But in relation to black belts Sato and Kotani, I find no superlatives to define their classes and expertise. What impressed me most was undoubtedly the firmness with which they did the takedowns and the elegant way they treated their opponents. They are perfect gentleman, worthy of the honorable mission entrusted to them by the government of Japan.” Also said Helio: “Since I stopped fighting in public as a professional, I always fed the desire to participate in the amateur category in the championships of Jukendo, which is why I decided to sign up for the seventh championship held Sunday, while not knowing almost completely its regulations. So I could not, as it was my wish, to compete with freedom of movement by the fear of incurring an illegal technique.”
-Correio Paulistano, August 1939, article title: The difference between judo and Jiu-Jitsu
This official Kodokan delegation was headed by Kotani Sumiyuki. By that time, the word jiujitsu was widely spread, and Kotani’s task in Brazil was to solve the confusion that was taking over the country: What’s the difference between judo and jiujitsu? Most people believed that judo was only primarily stand-up grappling. Not only that, many masters in Brazil by that time presented judo with the name jiujitsu. By that time, Helio Gracie was already a famous fighter inside the Japanese community, after the fights he had with some Japanese fighters. He was invited to give presentations on judo together with the Kodokan representatives. According to Pedro Valente Jr. he was awarded a Kodokan Judo Black Belt from Kotani.
They knew of Grand Master Helio’s great success and his amazing victories against Black Belts from Japan, famous black belts from Japan including Taro Miyake, and so they decided to award him a black belt, and to say that from now on he should call this judo not Jiujitsu, and he should abide by this new rules for sportive competition. And at that time, Carlos Gracie was in Ceara, in the northeast. Immediately when he found out he talked to his brother and they both agreed that they should not follow the Japanese system, and they never actually wore that belt that was awarded by the highest authority at that time. Kotani was coming as an emissary of the Japanese government, so it was an official government trip. But the Gracie brothers did not accept. They were respectful, demonstrated appreciation for the recognition, but they wanted to continue to teach jiujitsu as an art of self-defense and not abided by those Japanese rules. (Editor’s note: According to the linked Wikipedia notes, Gracie most likely defeated another individual with the name Miyake, as the famed wrestler Taro Miyake, never set foot in Brazil).
Kotani did presentations, visited judo masters and tried to convince them to subscribe to the Kodokan rules. São Paulo, as an important state in Brazil and one of the main centers of Japanese immigration, was the main place of residence of most of the Japanese judoka. Because of that, the state became the main stage of the judo vs jiujitsu movement. This started a rivalry that would persist for some years, it was known as “the Kodokan vs Ogawa and the Ono brothers rivalry”.
In addition to the Japanese groups’ disagreement, there were the Gracies. The Gracies were the main, if not the only, group of jiujitsu teachers not connected to any Japanese master. Even though Carlos and Helio shared knowledge with many people throughout many years, they would never acknowledge anyone but Maeda Mitsuyo as the source of their techniques. However, even though Maeda was still alive after the Gracie Academy began operation, Carlos never met Maeda again (unlike Geo Omori and Yano Takeo). If Carlos had, in fact, met Maeda in his early jiujitsu journey, his connection with Maeda was broken right after he left Pará.
During Helio’s retirement, the Gracie Academy was closed. Carlos moved to various different states, and Carlos and Helio were not on the front cover of newspapers as much as they were before. In the beginning of 1950, Helio decided to end his long retirement. By that time, he was only teaching a few students at his residence in Rio. Judo was gaining increasing popularity, especially because its students, different from jiujitsu schools, could participate in amateur tournaments. The jiujitsu community started to ask for more competitions for ordinary students, as opposed to the challenge matches in which those considered professionals fought for prize money.
The Separation of Judo and Jiujitsu
As is well-known, Helio Gracie gained a lot of visibility in the media after his fights against Kato Yukio and Kimura Masahiko. This enabled Carlos and Helio once again open the Gracie Academy, regaining some of their notoriety, but even so, jiu-Jitsu continued to lose popularity to judo.
Kimura Masahiko & Helio Gracie
In October, 1952, a new group from the Kodokan went to Brazil, comprised of Takagaki Shinzo, 8th dan, Yoshimatsu Yoshihiko, 7th dan, and Osawa Yoshimi, 5th dan. Once again, this group of Kodokan representatives hoped to unite all the judo practitioners in Brazil. Despite the creation of the Jukendo Association in São Paulo, Brazil still didn’t have a judo federation, even though the organization of tournaments was growing little by little. Osawa fought against 15 judoka from the Budokan Academy, headed by Ogawa Ryuzo, and won all the matches. This competition was called A Grande Competição Brasileira de judo and involved the São Paulo State Sports Department and the General Consulate of Japan. Also participated in the event the Academies of Ono, Jaraguá, Taipas, Jabaquara, Naito, Esporte Clube Pinheiros and Yoshima.
Jiu-jitsu started to try to get organized during the same period. The first amateur tournament of jiu-Jitsu of Rio was held 1950, with the participation of the academies Gracie, Cordeiro, Natação and Maia. The biggest rival of the Gracie Academy among them was Augusto Cordeiro’s gym. Also participated in this competition was Oswaldo Fadda, who had just opened his academy in Bento Ribeiro, Rio de Janeiro state. Cordeiro, however, became more and more involved with judo during subsequent years, becoming a student of Ogawa Ryuzo. He would later would go to Japan to study at the Kodokan. As Cordeiro began to accept matches only according to judo rules, Oswaldo Fadda’s academy became the main antagonist of the Gracies, the rivalry became more evident after an event in which the Gracie students won seven matches, drew four and lost three against Fadda’s academy. Nonetheless, jiujitsu was struggling.
Today only two to three places do jiu-jitsu in Brazil. For long it is an outdated sport, and with no reason to exist. Even in Japan with the appearance of Kodokan it ceased to exist, thus proving its inefficiency. […] While Jiujitsu ended up almost disappearing, judo is gaining new followers. Such is the evolution of the sport that, when we can give the ideal organization that it deserves, Brazil will be the second best in the world second only to Japan.”
-Augusto Cordeiro for Diário da Noite newspaper, December 1957
In 1956 Kihara Yoshio, 7th dan, arrived in Brazil with the mission of drawing a clear line that would separate judo from Brazilian jiujitsu. After tournaments using the Japanese rules started to grow in Brazil, the next step was the introduction of the Kodokan kata. As there was no standard teaching methodology between the judo schools, the Nage no Kata and also the other kata of the Kodokan were not known by most of judo Instructors. The upcoming first judo World Championship in 1956 was the final piece to attract many of the judo masters to the idea of uniting all the academies into one federation.
At this time, Kihara sensei received from the Kodokan the task of teaching the nage-no-kata which until then was almost unknown among us. At that time, there was not yet a distinction between judo and jiujitsu. It was his responsibility to make a clear and final division between these two modalities. He thus established the consolidation of judo. However, we can state that this separation continued to be opposed by some entities who wanted to maintain the current status quo; in particular because they did not want to subordinate themselves to the Kodokan. Among them were the teachers Ogawa, Terazaki and Ono, who preferred to remain independent.”
-Stanley Virgílio, Personagens e Histórias do Judô Brasileiro, 2002
In 1958 São Paulo’s Judo Federation was founded, the first judo federation in Brazil. After that, Rio’s Federation started in 1962 and 1969 the first national Judo confederation was born. With that, Brazilian judo started to take the form it already had around the world, using Japanese rules and the teaching of the Kodokan kata.
By the end of the 1950’s, jiujitsu and judo had become two completely different entities. As the Gracie’s realized that jiujitsu was starting to lose its popularity to judo, the founding of a jiujitsu federation was inevitable. On July 12th, 1973, after six years of struggle, Helio and Carlos Gracie finally received from Jeronimo Bastos, president of Brazil’s National Sports Confederation, the official charter document to run the ‘Federacão Carioca de Jiujitsu,’ based on Rua Rodrigo Silva, 18. From that day on, both styles went their separate ways. In time, all surviving lineages of jiujitsu were incorporated into the Gracie federation, and nowadays in Brazil, most academies follow the Gracie lineage. Oswaldo Fadda participated in both judo and jiujitsu, but as he was involved with the Federação de Pugilismo that kept on allowing challenge matches (something forbidden by the Kodokan representatives), Fadda stayed as another survivor in Brazilian jiujitsu history, becoming part of the Gracie’s federation.
Jiujitsu Gets Federation After Six Years of Struggle
The only source of ‘Brazilian jiu-jitsu’ were Carlos’ classes with Mitsuyo Maeda. Maeda is recognized as a member of the Kodokan, and even been graduated ‘post-mortem’ by the Kodokan; however it is our understanding that the Gracie family have developed a method of teaching and rules specific to competition different from today’s Kodokan judo rules. In addition, as the Gracies began to disclose their method before the so-called Japanese period, when immigration brought some of the more prominent Brazilian judo teachers, their disciples spread across the country disseminating their school ( “ryu”) before judo consolidated. Therefore, Gracie jiu-jitsu representatives eventually contributed to the beginning of judo practice in some Brazilian states. Just like some practitioners of judo migrated to Brazilian jiu -jitsu in the decades of 1980 and 1990, in the 1950s and 1960s, some practitioners of Brazilian jiu -jitsu, taking advantage of the phenomenon of ‘sportivization,’ migrated to judo and were precursors of judo in places where the Japanese colonization had not much influence in society. For this reason, Carlos Gracie can be regarded as one of the ancestors of Brazilian judo, because from them descended some of the teachers that contributed to the formation of Brazilian athletes that were medalists in world championships and participants of the Olympic games.”
– Alexandre Velly NUNES, Kátia RUBIO, As origens do judô brasileiro: a árvore genealógica dos medalhistas olímpicos, 2012
Many more details and nuances can be incorporated into a text that talks about the history of Brazilian jiujitsu. Many people were influential throughout this process, which has lasted over 80 years and continues to be rewritten every day. Drawing a complete picture of the whole story is not possible in a single article, perhaps not even in a single book. The second generation of the Gracie family came, and just like the first Gracie brothers, continued to shape and update the art through time. Even today when we see the advancement of sportive Brazilian jiujitsu at the expense of self-defense, the Gracie family emerges as the fulcrum that kept the roots of Brazilian jiujitsu alive, an art that came from Maeda of the Kodokan, but found its own destiny.
Carlos & George Gracie training 1933 (left), Rolls & Carlson Gracie training in late 1960’s (right)
With the growth of Brazilian jiujitsu around the world, many of the dormant lineages seem to want to return to the surface and take their space and history back. However, what we mostly see is a historical fight for the protagonism of the art. Many criticized then, and criticize now the way the Gracies treated other martial arts academies, other martial artists, and their marketing. Some would even go further, saying that the Gracies are a terrible example for what jiujitsu stands for. However, if not for the Gracie brothers vision to create a family of fighters, as well as their stubborn independence and belief that they had the best fighting system of the world, perhaps Brazilian jiujitsu and judo would be one and the same today. In that case, they would have merely been one of many judo academies in Brazil. Instead, they became the family that showcased to the world the effectiveness of jiujitsu against other fighting systems through Vale Tudo, changing martial arts throughout the world.
Helio Vigio, (l), Helio Gracie (c) and Oswaldo Fadda (r) together in a belt graduation event of the federation founded by the Gracies
Author
Gustavo Goulart Braga Maçaneiro, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 4th degree Brown Belt, Degree in Physical Education from Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Author of “From Judo to Gracie Jiu-Jitsu: The influence of Kodokan Judo in the idealization and development of Brazilian jiu-jitsu,” 2012 (graduate thesis).
No part of this material may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, without permission in writing from the author. It is acceptable to share a link to this article on such social media as Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. |
Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel speaks at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. July 21, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Silicon Valley heavyweight Peter Thiel will give $1.25 million as his first donation in support of Donald Trump’s campaign after endorsing the U.S. Republican presidential candidate earlier this year, a spokesman for the investor said on Sunday.
The donation will be made through a combination of political action committee donations and money directly to the campaign, the spokesman said. So far, billionaire Thiel has been the most prominent supporter of Trump from the country’s technology hub.
The New York Times first reported news of Thiel’s donation.
A co-founder of PayPal and an early investor in Facebook Inc who sits on that company’s board of directors, Thiel offered a full endorsement of Trump while speaking at the Republic National Convention in July.
Thiel has not made any donations to the campaign of Trump’s opponent in the Nov. 8 election, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, the spokesman said. |
Sports Donga via Naver1. [+8,492, -165] I feel bad for her... She was in a DSP group named Puretty that debuted in Korea and Japan 3 years ago that disbanded after one or two singles. She was also in KARA Project and won #1 in expert votes all the time but lost the spot of KARA's new member to Youngji, who didn't even attend two missions and won based on global fan votes alone. She then had to work through Sojin's suicide after KARA Project while still managing to debut as April's group leader... As a fan, I know that she wanted this more than anything so I don't understand why she's leaving now ㅠㅠㅠ The truth remains with DSP and herself...2. [+6,910, -208] She trained for four years and finally debuted with April but she's voluntarily leaving now? And even writing a handwritten letter like this? Something's fishy...3. [+6,307, -157] Is it not a waste of all the time she spent training??? I honestly see this as DSP kicking her out4. [+4,781, -266] Who knows whether she wrote that letter because she wanted to or she was forced... poor kids left behind, tsk tsk.5. [+866, -17] Is this going to be a second Hong Yookyung case?? You really can't believe companies when they say voluntarily leave anymore...6. [+802, -5] I bet her agency made her leave. DSP is so weird.7. [+687, -9] It makes no sense for someone who trained for four years to suddenly want to leave like this. 100% the agency forced her to. Why are they being like this to a kid who struggled so hard leading up to this point.. I've been supporting her since Baby KARA. Somin, find strength. I hope you find luck and prove DSP wrong.8. [+638, -11] There's that old saying, if something sounds illogical, there's usually something fishy going on. She's been working towards this dream for years now and she's giving it up just a few months into her debut??? How laughable! Who forced you to write this letter? How dare they treat a human being like this!9. [+587, -14] I feel so bad for her.. I want to ask her why she made this decision... and if she even really wanted this at all |
BOLLING (co-host): Can we throw that picture up of the filmmaker again? When he's all, like, in disguise and the cops are leading him out? To me, America changed. I --
DANA PERINO (co-host): Yeah, I agree.
GRED GUTFELD (co-host): Yeah.
BOLLING: Someone emailed that picture la-- Mark Levin, actually, sent it to me. He goes, "Take a look at this." America changed at that moment. To use a -- what is being called a flimsy ploy to bring this guy in for questioning --
PERINO: What next?
BOLLING: -- proves that the Obama administration, through all this appeasement and apologizing, answers to the Quran first and to the Constitution second.
BOB BECKEL (co-host): Oh, come on.
BOLLING: There's no reason --
BECKEL: That's just an outrageous statement. Even for you, that's an outrageous statement.
BOLLING: -- for that man to be brought in. There's no reason for him to be brought in and questioned.
BECKEL: That is the most -- of all the things you've said, and I love you, brother, but that's the most outrageous statement I've ever heard [unclear]. |
HELLOWEEN – FUTURE WORLD
Based on Judge Dredd, to me, this was just a badass pumpkin with a Mohawk strumming an electric guitar. After all, it’s HELLOWEEN. Of course there’s gonna be some chill pumpkin dude killing it on guitar.
He’s kind of spacey and futuristic too. Well, that’s cause it’s the “Future World” single. The music is upbeat and happy. Seriously. It makes me want to dance a happy jig and hug people. OF COURSE the album cover is gonna have a lighthearted take on the band’s ongoing connection with Halloween and pumpkins.
I thought it was so awesome that I shared it Facebook. A “friend” commented to declare this the worst cover ever. I didn’t ask him to elaborate but I assume he perceived the artwork as over the top and consciously cheesy.
Gotta admit. He’s not wrong. Does that make it less awesome? Hell no! Just thinking about the space pumpkin makes me want to play “Future World” right now!
RUSH – HEMISPHERES
To many progressive rock fans, Hemispheres is one of the greatest albums on this Earth. When I bought this image on a t-shirt, I wore it with pride. That is, until I made the mistake of wearing it in front of my girlfriend.
She promptly asked why I had a naked man on my shirt. It was true. There WAS a naked man on my shirt. His bare-red alien ass was there for all to see.
What exactly IS the proper response when questioned about a naked man on your shirt? How does one explain the epicness that is Hemispheres to the uninitiated? I’m afraid my attempts to defend this iconic artwork were a complete failure.
Bending to the reality that most people will fixate upon a naked alien, the shirt was set-aside for special occasions. I once wore it to a Lou Reed concert and met a drunken Rush fan that joyfully shared adolescent memories of spinning Hemispheres on some long-forgotten turntable. This story was relayed with a smile as he shook my hand and walked away, absorbed in fuzzy memories of the days when vinyl was king. I’m afraid that only Rush fans will acknowledge the sheer awesomeness of the Hemispheres album cover.
MEGADETH – KILLING IS MY BUSINESS…AND BUSINESS IS GOOD
Looking back at Killing is my Business…and Business is Good, it’s clear that Megadeth was still in its infancy. For starters, the Megadeth logo was completely different than the famous logo that graced most of the band’s subsequent albums. Then there was Vic. He wasn’t quite the same Vic that we now know. He has been reduced to a cheesy plastic skull on par with a high school art project. Vic Rattlehead would be complete by the second album, but on their debut, we have an amazing concept that has been horribly executed.
Still, this early version of Vic is not without appeal. An underdeveloped mascot fits with the album’s rough production and unique, one-off logo. Besides, Vic was always in flux. While Peace Sells gave us the definitive representation of Vic Rattlehead, his appearance on So Far, So Good, So What was yet another permutation. The cover of Killing is my Business is merely an early incarnation of a beloved metal icon.
Fans may lovingly embrace this early version of Vic, but Dave Mustaine is less unforgiving. He was “mortified” when the finished product was unleashed, as the actual cover looked nothing like the sketches he handed to Combat Records.
Mustaine describes the cover as “a plastic Halloween skull and a variety of dime-store accouterments.” Ouch! Though the end result “smacked of amateurism,” this early Vic has an inherent awesomeness and is a beloved slice of Megadeth history.
When the album was remixed and remastered in 2002, the cover was changed to bring the art more in line with Mustaine’s original vision. It wasn’t the same and the Combat artwork remains a favorite among fans.
LED ZEPPELIN – HOUSES OF THE HOLY
Naked girls climb over a rocky pyramid to answer a mysterious primordial call on this classic Led Zeppelin sleeve. Like the Rush example, my girlfriend made me realize that this iconic album cover is actually an awful aesthetic abomination.
While suffering a trip to the shopping mall, a little stand specializing in rock and roll stood like a beacon of hope against a backdrop of corporate blandness. My eye was drawn to the famous image of Houses of the Holy boldly emblazoned on a t-shirt. Boasted as an “all over t-shirt,” this was the essence of truth-in-advertising. No small graphic was affixed to the front of this shirt. Rather, the artwork was literally overblown on every available inch of fabric. This famous portrait of naked girls had never looked so bold.
My eyes only saw a rock masterpiece. Tracks like “The Song Remains The Same,” “The Rain Song,” and “No Quarter” were sprawling compositions that showed Zeppelin at their creative peak. Houses of the Holy may be the best of Led Zeppelin’s peerless albums and I was ready to purchase this t-shirt without hesitation.
But, alas, my girlfriend was quick to offer her input. A true representative of the general public, she sees what THEY see. A young girl’s bare ass on a t-shirt worn by a grown man is just a little weird. Okay, it’s REALLY weird.
After all, how could the average person know that the outer sleeve was part of a larger concept? Upon opening the gatefold, the fate of these poor deluded children is revealed. Each child will be a human sacrifice to an unknown entity. Fear compels men to offer innocence to appease a strange God. The scene is steeped in mystery with dark overtones. This is the best idea ever. It’s also one of the worst album covers.
JUDAS PRIEST – ROCKA ROLLA
There was nothing “good” about the original cover for Judas Priest’s debut album Rocka Rolla. The visual depiction of a glistening bottle-cap is not memorable nor it clever. Yes, “Rocka Rolla” sounds similar to Coca-Cola. We get it. The artwork was simply a bad idea put into place without the band’s input or consent.
Later, after Priest became a successful international juggernaut, the cover was changed to an image befitting of the Metal Gods. What a gem. Look at this magnificent beast of metal.
A mechanical dinosaur of muscle and steel, a series of levers allows for manual control. Capable of flight and armed with missiles and blades, this bringer of death can unleash destruction of unimaginable proportions. It’s simultaneously awful and awesome.
In short, the revised artwork creates a cover befitting of a band that embraced metal as no other group. This metallic beast easily fits besides iconic Judas Priest creatures such as The Hellion and Metallian.
BLACK SABBATH – BORN AGAIN
Ian Gillan famously puked upon seeing the cover of Born Again. A demon baby with glowing green eyes, this image was explicitly designed for rejection. Fearing that creating a Black Sabbath album sleeve would lose him a lucrative contract with Ozzy Osbourne, artist Steve “Krusher” Joule presented this demon-child to Sabbath management with the expectation that the band would pass on his submission.
The concept of a bastard devil baby was itself a hard sell. There was also the jarring color scheme. Red flesh clashed against a purple background. Flashes of yellow and green only served to underscore how ludicrously awful this Satan spawn was.
Turns out, Tony Iommi loved the intentionally bad piece of art. The guitarist reportedly thought it was hilarious and Geezer Butler expressed both disdain and love for the image, commenting, “It’s shit. But it’s fucking great.” Two heavy metal giants can’t be wrong.
A mocking caricature of metal’s affinity for horror imagery, Black Sabbath and a demon baby proved to be a perfect match. Ridiculously over-the-top, Tony and Geezer were right. The artwork for “Born Again” is both awful and amazing at the same time.
Works Cited
Joule, Steve “Krusher.” Liner notes to Born Again (Deluxe Edition): Black Sabbath. Sanctuary Records 2770406. CD. 2011.
Mustaine, Dave, and Joe Layden. Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir. New York: It, 2010. Print. |
Posted on by Chris Brennan ---
In this episode Kelly Surtees and Austin Coppock join the show once again to talk about the major astrological aspects for the month of October 2015, as well as some of the most auspicious electional dates I could find that month.
During the course of the episode we cover Jupiter trine Pluto, Mars opposite Neptune, the pileup of planets in Virgo, Mercury stationing direct in Libra, Venus finishing up its post-retrograde shadow period, and more.
This episode was recorded in front of a live audience via out monthly webinar format, and the recording is available as either an audio only download or a video below. This was our first time using this format to record one of the monthly forecast episodes, so this was kind of an experiment and a learning process, although I think that it has a lot of potential for the future.
The audio only podcast episode version has been edited, and some work was done to improve the quality of the audio due to some issues we had during the live recording. The video is basically just the raw recording of the webinar, and it contains video from our webcams as well as some charts when we would share them on the screen, but the audio quality is a bit sketchy at different points in the show.
As always, the cover art for this episode is taken from the PlanetWatcher 2015 Astrological Calendar, which produced by astrologer Kirk Kahn.
Below you will find an outline of some of the different topics that we touched on during the course of the show, followed by links to download or stream the recording.
Announcements
Astrology News
Kepler College is getting ready to re-open its astrological library in Seattle, thanks to the work of Jenn Zahrt, Wonder Bright, Shannon Garcia. The library will be called the Maggie A. Nalbandian Memorial Library, in honor of the founder of Kepler College who passed away in June.
There is a new astrology-themed movie titled Changing of the Gods that recently launched a KickStarter campaign in order to fund the production and distribution of the film. The movie is based on the work of Richard Tarnas, uses the recent/current Uranus-Pluto square as a focal point, and will be narrated by John Cleese. As of the recording of this episode of the podcast they are about halfway to their goal of raising $100,000 via Kickstarter. They are shooting for a 2017 release date.
We are kicking around the idea of maybe putting on a conference sometime early next summer. We are trying to gauge how much interest there would be in contributors to the podcast putting on a conference, and if enough people would attend to make it successful. So, if you would be interested in attending something like that then please let us know.
Show Notes
Major aspects for the month: Jupiter trine Pluto, October 11 – 12, 13 Virgo/Capricorn Mars trine Pluto, October 16 – 17, 13 Virgo/Capricorn Mars conjunct Jupiter, October 17 – 18, 14 Virgo Triggers longer trends/themes to do with Pluto in Capricorn + Jupiter in Virgo. Keyword: productivity
It’s a very Virgo October. Venus, Mars, Jupiter visible in the early morning sky for much of the month. 2 superior planets + Venus who has been trying to get to Virgo for a while!
Also, many aspects across earth signs this month + Taurus Full Moon 4 Taurus October 27, close to Moon’s exaltation degree.
Venus rules Libra New Moon + Taurus Full Moon
Plus usual October aspects with Sun + Mercury in Libra square Pluto/opposite Uranus (Sun – Oct 6, 11, then Mercury Oct 22, 25)
Mars then Venus opposite Neptune 7 Pisces, Oct 6 + 16 (Sun trine Neptune October 30)
Venus square Saturn October 9 around 1 Virgo/Sagittarius
Mercury stations direct at 0 Libra around October 9/Venus out of shadow October 10.
People Magazine called this the summer of splits. Interesting Venus retro anecdote.
Immigration Crisis timing: Jupiter Opp Neptune, Saturn Square Neptune, Node soon to be copresent with Neptune. Results of the destabilizing effects of the Uranus-Pluto square over the past several years.
Auspicious Electional Dates for October
Unedited Video Version of the Episode
The unedited video version of the October forecast episode:
–
Edited Audio Version of the Episode
You can either play the audio version of this episode of the podcast directly from the website or download it as an MP3 to your computer by using the buttons below:
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This article is from the archive of our partner .
Congressional Republican leaders are splitting over the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy. House Minority Leader John Boehner has suggested he might support President Barack Obama's plan to extend all the tax cuts but those for the wealthiest 2 percent of households, while Senate Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, have insisted on extending all the cuts. If a new bill is not passed, all the cuts will expire. What does this disagreement mean for the tax cuts, for the Republican party, and the coming elections?
Implication of Increasingly Likely Deadlock The Washington Post's Ezra Klein writes, "Republicans spent much of yesterday walking back John Boehner's conciliatory comments on the Bush tax cuts. Mitch McConnell and the Senate GOP, in particular, made it clear that either everyone -- including the rich -- get their tax cuts, or no one does. ... This sets up a possible fight in which Republicans don't budge and, buoyed by poll numbers showing extension of the cuts for the wealthy is unpopular, neither does the White House. But unlike a normal legislative battle, no agreement doesn't mean no change. Absent a compromise, we could see all the cuts simply expire."
Why Senate Republicans Insist on Cuts for Rich The New York Times' David Herszenhorn says it's about "testing the willingness of Democrats to allow a tax increase on the wealthiest Americans in a weak economy and making clear that a partisan fight will extend deep into the campaign season if not beyond."
Dems Plan Political Response Talking Points Memo's Christina Bellantoni reports, "House Democrats won't be forcing a vote on extending the Bush tax cuts for middle class taxpayers, a senior House leadership aide tells TPM. ... 'We shouldn't force his hand, we should let the Republicans dangle out there with their divisions exposed and keep hammering them on holding middle class tax cuts hostage for $700 billion in debt-financed tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans,' the aide said. ...After a separate conversation with a Democratic leadership aide, it's sounding like a vote isn't even a remote possibility, especially if the Senate tries to take action first."
Holding Middle Class Hostage for Benefit of the Rich The New York Times editorial board points out that if Republicans fail to compromise with Democrats, the deadlock would mean that all the tax cuts, even those for the working class, would expire. This means Republicans would "allow middle-class tax rates to rise" for the sake of standing up for the wealthy. "Holding the middle-class cuts hostage to those for the wealthy would pose both a political danger to Republicans and an economic danger to the nation."
How GOP Got This Wrong Liberal blogger Matthew Yglesias writes, "If you cut someone's taxes, that person will increase his savings and increase his consumption. If you cut a low-income person's taxes, he'll generally mostly increase consumption. If you cut a high-income person's taxes, he'll generally mostly increase savings. But economy-wide saving equals private saving plus government saving, so if you finance a tax cut by borrowing money (the reverse of saving) then the net impact on savings will be at most zero. To increase saving, you'd need to cut taxes on the rich and cut spending by the same amount. ... But it's not what's on the table legislatively. And as a savings-boosting measure, a debt-financed tax cut is not a close substitute for a deficit-neutral tax cut. Instead, debt-financed tax cuts are guaranteed to lower the savings rate and reduce investment."
This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com. |
Plans For A New .hack Game Are In The Works Says CyberConnect2 CEO
By Sato . November 27, 2013 . 2:45am
Earlier this year, .hack makers CyberConnect2 held a special event, where CEO Hiroshi Matsuyama shed some light on a possible .hack development in the future. It looks like that future might be coming sooner than expected, as he has revealed that the company is already working on plans for a new .hack title.
During a recent event to commemorate the first year anniversary of CyberConnect2’s Guilty Dragon, an iPhone/Android game that is in some way connected to the .hack universe, Matsuyama stated that the service for Guilty Dragon is going smoothly, and that if players continue supporting the game, it will increase the chances of releasing a new .hack title for PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Vita, a Vita version of .hack//G.U., or an HD remake of .hack and more.
“CyberConnect2 have already begun the planning for the latest installment of the .hack series, and it’s only a matter of time until we can make it a reality,” said Matsuyama at a recent art event, adding that CC2 are currently preparing for that time to come, and he hopes to continue seeing fans support Guilty Dragon and the developer.
Siliconera previously spoke to Matsuyama, and he confirmed that Guilty Dragon will be coming to North America and Europe “later on,” so when that happens, you might also be able to help make a new .hack a reality. |
You can do all the research you want about milking a goat. Watch all the YouTube videos you can find. Talk to all the wonderful neighbors and acquaintances about their experiences with this century old skill. Let me tell you from experience though, you’ll never really know about milking a goat till you find those teats in your own hands.
Nigerian Dwarfs, the goat breed we own, are just that – little dwarfs. Although they are a registered dairy breed and have some of the highest butterfat content of all goat breeds (6-10%!) in their amazingly sweet, tasty milk, they are small goats. And small goats have small teats…..like tiny….minuscule, in fact. This makes the task of milking even more of an art….one that requires fine motor skills with just three fingers. Literally.
Two of our does are new also at this whole milking concept. It is their first time at motherhood and they are understandably less than excited about the new routine of being molesting during their breakfast. Imagine milking (with three fingers) a dancing goat while holding onto the milk pail for dear life, trying desperately not to either dump it or get a dirty goat foot in the bucket. My dreams of a meditation like milking routine will hopefully be realized, but for now it’s more like a meld of jazzercise and Chinese finger torture.
Don’t get us wrong. We’re loving this next chapter, especially the product of our struggles, which has been transformed into amazing yogurt, soft cheeses and ice cream in our kitchen. The effort is absolutely worth the reward. That said, it does get a bit easier every day and we’re looking forward to a bit more zen in the barn with the coming months. |
Earlier this season, Toronto center fielder Kevin Pillar did something out of line, yelling an anti-gay slur at the Braves' Jason Motte after Motte had quick-pitched him and Pillar struck out. Less than 24 hours later, the Blue Jays collaborated with Major League Baseball on the question of discipline and suspended Pillar for two games. Pillar took full responsibility for what happened, and the accountability was crucial.
It's an example that the good folks who run the San Francisco Giants should consider as they weigh their options in how to clean up the ridiculous incident that one of their players sparked Monday. After Hunter Strickland drilled Bryce Harper with a 98 mph fastball -- and after Harper charged the mound and exchanged swings with Strickland -- the pitcher told reporters that he was just trying to pitch inside and didn't hit Harper on purpose. But a chocolate-smeared 4-year-old pleading ignorance about an emptied cookie jar would be more convincing.
The Giants know better, because they know the history between Strickland and Harper, with the pitcher giving up two monster homers to the slugger during San Francisco's championship run of 2014. And Major League Baseball officials and Giants staffers know that if this situation continues on the typical trajectory, one of their players -- maybe Buster Posey, maybe Brandon Crawford -- is going to get thrown at, per the decades-old rules of engagement that typically go into effect when something like this happens. After Monday's game, Washington manager Dusty Baker said, "We're here to win the game. But we're not here to take any stuff, either ... we don't start anything, but we don't take nothing."
Bryce Harper charged Hunter Strickland on Monday after getting hit by a pitch. AP Photo/Ben Margot
The Giants could take pre-emptive action to try to alter the course of events and suspend or discipline Strickland on their own, to demonstrate to the Nationals -- to everybody -- what a lot of them probably believe anyway: That Strickland's actions were incredibly selfish, dangerous and way, way out of line and unacceptable to the San Francisco organization.
Not only would this be the right thing to do, but it may also serve to defuse the potential for any sort of retaliation, because the message to the Nationals would be: We completely understand why you are upset; this is on Strickland, and we don’t agree, either. And maybe -- just maybe -- this could reduce the chances that Posey or another Giants player gets targeted with a fastball, in keeping with baseball's code of quid pro quo.
A similar response has been taken in the past by other teams. In 1995, Armando Benitez gave up a grand slam to the Mariners’ Edgar Martinez, a moment of great frustration for the hard-throwing right-hander, and Benitez drilled the next hitter, Tino Martinez. Benitez was ejected and after the game, his locker was cleared out; Benitez told Orioles staffers that he was going to quit. The Orioles exiled him to the minors for a couple of weeks. Three years later, Benitez gave up a three-run homer to the Yankees’ Bernie Williams, and Benitez – one of the game’s hardest throwers – fired his next fastball at the next hitter, who happened to be Tino Martinez, again, touching off one of baseball’s worst fights. This is why Martinez kept holding up two fingers as Orioles players held him back, referencing the two times that Benitez hit him, and it’s why Orioles players acknowledged to the Yankees during the fight that Benitez had been in the wrong, again.
It's very possible that the Giants have expressed their anger over Strickland's actions already to the Nationals. The Washington players have undoubtedly seen the video of de facto Giants captain Posey holding his position rather than move to intercept Harper when the hitter charged Strickland. They’ve seen how long it took for other Giants players to reach Strickland, how the focus of the San Francisco players was not about widening the brawl and playing out other grievances; rather, a group of Giants hauled away an enraged Strickland.
But the San Francisco organization would be wise to distance itself from the ridiculousness of what Strickland did by formally taking some sort of disciplinary action, with something substantive -- perhaps a suspension. And Strickland would be smart to agree to some kind of a plea bargain with the Giants, and take responsibility -- for the sake of his relationship with teammates, if nothing else. Because by acting on a grudge, he undoubtedly placed teammates at much greater risk of being hit in retaliation. Ultimately, it could be Posey or some other player who suffers the consequences of Strickland's decision.
Some old-school baseball officials might argue that this should be left to the players to sort out, but that would be really stupid. Right now, everybody in baseball is fully aware of the heightened possibility that the Nationals will retaliate -- and that if properly executed, a fastball will be bounced off the back or butt of a Giants player. But it's also possible that the pitcher trying to execute the retaliation will miss his target and instead hit a jaw, just as Matt Barnes nearly did when he attempted to hit Manny Machado last month.
And as the Orioles and Red Sox demonstrated with their series of beanballs last month, there are no hard and set guidelines in a situation like this. Different teams will have different interpretations about what is appropriate revenge. Eventually, commissioner Rob Manfred was compelled to step in and order both sides to stand down.
Before it gets to that point, the Giants should do something. Yes, Hunter Strickland is their player, their teammate, but that doesn't mean they should sit back and pretend that what he did Monday was anything close to acceptable. |
Posted by Chewy
You’ve always assumed the calico cat that sits in your neighbor’s window is a she. And you’re certain that the orange tabby you’ve fallen in love with at the shelter is a boy. Chances are, you’re right. Most orange cats are male and most calicos are female.
The color of a cat’s coat is closely linked to its gender. As you may recall from high school biology, mammals have two chromosomes that determine their sex—XX for females and XY for males. But a number of additional chromosomes are present and vary depending upon species, says Dr. Robert Grahn, a forensic analyst at the veterinary genetics laboratory at the University of California in Davis.
“These other chromosomes contain genes that affect hair color, pattern, shape and length,” Grahn says. “Since the genes for sex and hair colors are on different chromosomes, they are inherited independently of each other. Thus, no color is associated with a particular sex, except in cats and hamsters.”
Nature doesn’t always abide by a rigid set of rules, however, including when it comes to feline fur color. A small percentage of orange cats are female, and even a more miniscule portion of calico cats are male.
Below, learn how genetics and sex influences a cat’s coat color, and why some cats don’t fit typical color patterns.
Color in Cats is (Mostly) Linked to Sex
Whether calico, tortoiseshell, orange, black, brown, or gray, a cat’s fur color is derived from two dominant colors: Black and red. These colors can mutate into different shades—black can become chocolate, cinnamon, lilac, blue and fawn. And red, which is determined by the orange gene, can become cream.
The color genes for black and red in cats are contained within the X chromosome. This is the same chromosome that, along with Y in males, determine a cat’s sex, says Dr. Jerold Bell, adjunct professor of genetics at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in North Grafton, Massachusetts.
“They are actually alleles, meaning they are two variations of the same gene in one location on the chromosome,” he says. So an X chromosome can contain either a black hair gene or an orange hair gene, but not both.
“One allele will create orange coloration. This allele will cover up all other colors, except pure white. The other allele will create a non-orange coloration. This allele is ‘recessive’ and allows for expression of a non-orange (usually black) coloration,” says Dr. Susan Konecny, medical director for Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah.
Males normally carry only one X chromosome. Therefore, males can be black or orange (or other color variations based on other gene locations) but cannot have both black and orange hair colors on their body. The female’s extra X chromosome allows the possibility of her receiving both a black and orange gene, says Bell.
Are All Orange Cats Male?
About 81 percent of orange cats are male, says Bell. While female cats will inherit an orange coat only if they carry the orange gene on both X chromosomes, if a male carries the orange gene at all, he will be orange, says Konecny.
“As the frequency of the orange gene is much less than the frequency of the black gene in the general cat population, the chance of having two orange genes is much less frequent. This makes male orange cats more frequent than orange females,” Bell says.
What does this all mean for their offspring? If a mother cat is orange, her male kittens will be orange regardless of their father’s color, Konecny says, and if a mother cat is tortoiseshell (a mix of black, white and orange), half of her male kittens will be orange while the other half will be black.
To get an orange female kitten, both the mother and father must be orange, Konecny says. If the mother cat is tortoiseshell and the father cat is orange, half of the female kittens will be orange, she says.
Are All Calico Cats Female?
Calico cats have the same coloration as tortoiseshell ones, white orange and black blended together, but calicos have distinctly-marked patterns. According to Bell, research shows that fewer than 1 in 1,000 calico cats are male. This can be chalked up to the female’s extra X chromosome.
“For a cat to be a calico, it must have two X chromosomes, and typically only female cats have two X chromosomes, says Dr. Stephanie Karpf, a veterinarian at For Cats Only in West Palm Beach, Florida.
That extra X chromosome means a female can receive both a black and orange color gene, which gives rise to calico and tortoiseshell variations.
“Females with a black gene on one X chromosome and an orange gene on the other X chromosome will be calico or tortoiseshell colored,” says Bell.
So how can any male calicos exist at all? It’s mostly attributed to a mutation in the skin cells during formation of the embryo, says Bell.
“Historically, the orange hair gene occurred as a mutation in the black hair gene that caused it to produce orange coat color,” he says. “Occasionally we see spontaneous ‘back mutations’ in the developing embryo that convert the orange hair gene back to a black hair-producing gene.”
If the mutation occurs early in the embryo, then the male can inherit the calico coloring, he says. If it occurs later in the development of the embryo, there may only be an occasional patch of black hair in an otherwise-orange coat. He says this phenomenon occurs only in the skin cells, and is not passed to the male’s sperm, so they can still reproduce as orange.
Another rare occurrence causing male cats to have a calico color pattern is called chimerism, the fusion of two fertilized eggs in the womb.
“These would have become two different kittens if they remained separate, but because they have fused, they become one kitten with two separate sets of cells containing different sets of chromosomes,” Bell says. “If one of the fertilized eggs was for an orange cat, and one was for a black cat, you could find equal amounts of black and orange in a male cat.”
The least common reason male calico cats exist, he says, is due to an “abnormal” egg or sperm that produces a fertilized egg with an extra sex chromosome. So instead of having XY, this type of cat would have XXY. This type of cat would be outwardly male, but sterile.
“If one X chromosome carries the orange hair gene and one the black hair gene, then he will be a calico,” Bell says.
Illustration by Josh Carter
Paula Fitzsimmons is a freelance writer and researcher specializing in companion animal health and nutrition, and science. She’s written for clients like Prevention magazine, PetMD.com, PawCulture.com, Parrots magazine, and University of Texas-Arlington. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin with her husband and feathered family members, including parrots Whit and Sweetpea. |
Attack the Block is a modern-day cult classic, and as star John Boyega (Finn from The Force Awakens) rises up the Hollywood ranks, this movie will certainly get some more attention in the near future.
The Movie Itself (4.5/5)
Coming from the producers of Shaun of the Dead and writer/director Joe Cornish (writer on Ant Man), Attack the Block has an excellent horror/science-fiction/comedy pedigree. The film follows an inner-city street gang from London, led by Moses (John Boyega), who encounter alien invaders on Guy Fawkes Day and have to team up with one of their former mugging victims and a lovable stoner to fight off the alien attackers and defend the “block”. The “block” is a 19-story low-income housing building, and Attack the Block feels like The Raid, or Dredd (2012) as it takes place in one day, over a few hours, and primarily within one building. It is fast-paced, exciting, and with a runtime of just under 90 minutes, it is the perfect movie to just relax and enjoy some great sci-fi action without having to be too invested in the film.
Attack the Block features the film debut of John Boyega, who is now be cemented into cinema history for playing Finn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He is very impressive in this film, and there are actually a few moments where if you look closely, he holds a weapon like a bat or a samurai sword in the exact same way he holds the lightsaber in Star Wars. It is a funny little piece that should get a good laugh from anyone that has seen The Force Awakens. After watching Attack the Block, it is easy to see why JJ Abrams chose Boyega when casting for Finn, because he plays a great leader in the movie and his intensity in the action scenes is unmatched by any of the other amateur actors who play his fellow gang members.
One of the highlights of the film is the special effects, in particular the alien creatures that were created by the VFX team behind the film. The team had actors and actresses play these aliens in costumes, and then worked on things like their fur and teeth, as well as replicating the aliens en masse, in post production. The end result was incredible based on what is reported as only being a $13 million budget, and they are the best part of the film outside of Boyega’s performance. The sounds these creatures make as they chase down the gang are terrifying and not once during the film did I ever stop and think “wow that was poorly done” or “that was some awful CGI”. Everything comes across really well from the VFX side of things and is what separates Attack the Block from the countless other low budget sci-fi films that attempt to create this same atmosphere every year.
The only drawback with Attack the Block is the heavy London accents. Obviously it is realistic to the scenery, and it reminds me of Eggsy’s family and friends in Kingsman: The Secret Service, but it is almost to the point where you need English subtitles in many parts of the film. Personally, this does not bother me, and about halfway through the film I noticed that I was starting to pick up on the phrases and accents much better, but I know that for some people this can be a real turn-off. My suggestion is to stick with the film and ignore subtitles to let your own brain start to piece together the puzzle of the inner-city London accents, but you may want to turn on the optional English subtitles if this becomes a problem for you.
I would highly recommend watching this film, now more than ever as the rise of John Boyega’s stardom occurs in front of our eyes. It is fast-paced, full of action, hilarious, scary, and an all-around great time. With every movie clocking in at over 2 hours these days, pop Attack the Block in and remember what it is like to make a science-fiction movie that can tell a story in a reasonable amount of time.
Visuals/Picture Quality (3.5/5)
Attack the Block is presented on Blu-ray near it’s original aspect ratio (2.39:1) with a 2.40:1 crop. This means that there will be significant black bars on the top and bottom of your screen on a typical 16:9 HDTV, but it was good to see that Sony kept the original cropping and did not cut anything out in the transfer. I consider this especially important because in this movie, there are lots of moments which happen on the edge of the screen, whether it be an alien sneaking around a corner or side action off the main characters in an action scene. These moments would be lost if the transfer had been cropped, so this is a positive.
Attack the Block is a very dark movie, taking place completely at night and within poorly lit spaces like small apartments or hallways. This is where the transfer struggles a bit. I watched the film in a dimly light room, as I do for any review to avoid any contrast or brightness issues. Unfortunately, Attack the Block seemed to struggle with the black levels and there were a few instances where the picture seemed a bit muddy, with grays and blacks and darker blues all running together. Some of this probably stems from the transfer and some probably comes from my TV, and everyone’s experience with this will differ, but I do not typically have this issue and I seemed to notice it a lot more on Attack the Block.
Audio Quality (5/5)
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track for Attack the Block is an excellent mix, and extremely loud, which is great for audiophiles to show off your system. Dialogue is clear, or as clear as it can be when delivered in that inner-city British slang, and the distinct sound of the alien’s screech rings through every speaker. Whether the attack is coming from the back, side, or front, it sounds as if the creature is standing right next to you. This was by far my favorite part of this release, and it is a track I would use to show off my system, especially in the heavy actions sequences, where man and alien meet in battle. Obviously there are better mixes available for those of us with 7.1 system or new Dolby Atmos setups, but for your typical 5.1 home theater audio system, this is what I would consider a “reference” track.
Special Features (5/5)
For a smaller release, there is a great amount of special features, including three separate commentary tracks, and they are great additions to the release.
Audio Commentaries : Three separate tracks, featuring the likes of John Boyega, Edgar Wright (Ant Man), and director Joe Cornish.
: Three separate tracks, featuring the likes of John Boyega, Edgar Wright (Ant Man), and director Joe Cornish. Theatrical Trailers
Behind the Block (1080p, 1:01:23): A nearly full length look at the making of the film.
(1080p, 1:01:23): A nearly full length look at the making of the film. Creature Feature (1080p, 20:09): Check out how the alien creatures were created.
(1080p, 20:09): Check out how the alien creatures were created. Meet the Gang (1080p, 4:08): Introductions to the film’s young cast members.
(1080p, 4:08): Introductions to the film’s young cast members. Unfilmed Action (1080p, 4:59): Pieces that were lost on the cutting floor.
(1080p, 4:59): Pieces that were lost on the cutting floor. That’s a Rap (1080p, 2:23): The cast puts together a rap.
Packaging (2/5)
Blu-ray keepcase with the locking flap.
Single 50 GB Blu-ray disc
Technical Specs
Video
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Audio
DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles
English, English SDH, French
Runtime 88 Mins
Overall (4/5)
I highly recommend picking up Attack the Block for a few reasons. For starters, it is John Boyega’s film debut, and if you liked him in Star Wars, this is a much different role but it really shows off his range and ability as an actor. Secondly, this is an incredible alien invasion film, one which explores the invasion in a more “micro” way than most films, which often portray the sprawling destruction of cities all over the globe. Finally, it is a damn good time. There is a ton of action, it is hilarious, especially for fans of Shaun of the Dead (Nick Frost plays a weed dealer in Attack the Block), you can get it for about $8 on Amazon, and it is quick, making it a great movie for a weeknight. |
Updated 7/17/18: Over the weekend, an astute reader noticed a reading list I wrote in 2015, “Deaf Culture and Sign Language,” which purported to celebrate Deaf culture, didn’t feature any pieces written by d/Deaf or hard-of-hearing authors. I apologized. I should have elevated the stories of Deaf people directly, rather than those speaking on their behalf. My editors and I decided the best course of action was to update this list to make it more representative and inclusive, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to rectify my mistake. Many thanks especially to Sara Nović for her advocacy and reading recommendations and to Katie L. Booth for her idea-bouncing and guidance.
Sara Nović writes about living at the intersections of three languages and how different facets of her personality manifest in each one:
What does it mean to be a writer whose language negates the possibility of the written word? On one hand, perhaps this is part of its pull—I exist in the present in ASL because the anxieties of my work are bound up in another language. On the other, writing, books, the things I have loved most since I was small, are at odds with my body. On days like today, when writing is difficult, this feels like a loss. The one language in which I am fully comfortable I cannot write, not exactly. But without it I would certainly be a lesser storyteller.
Alex Lu, a Deaf-queer academic, presents a compelling argument for the increasing interdependence of the queer and Deaf communities. I especially appreciated Lu’s analysis of the impossibility of (white, straight, cis) interpreters’ objectivity.
3. “Distantism.” (John Lee Clark, August 2017)
DeafBlind poet John Lee Clark created the word “distantism” to describe “the privileging of the distance senses of hearing and vision” and gives several piercing examples of the insidiousness with which distantism permeates hearing and sighted societies and affects DeafBlind folks.
4. “My Dream Play.” (John Lee Clark, Scene4 Magazine, April 2015)
Many DeafBlind people avoid theatre—including interpreted theatre—because of its inaccessibility, explains John Lee Clark. Instead, Clark proposes several examples of what a Pro-Tactile play might look like, including a stageless “mingle” in which actors make contact with every member of the audience to communicate their part in the plot:
The actors’ task is to build the same basic story in the minds of everyone they meet. They have a set of messages to get across while working the room. Say you have a love-triangle story. We get to meet all three parties, listen to them rationalize or wax lyrical or bad-mouth another party. We get conflicting stories. We are asked what we think, to take sides, to give advice, even to intervene.
Short fiction from Louise Stern, who is fourth-generation Deaf and an accomplished author, playwright, artist, filmmaker and magazine publisher.
In my original list, I included an interview with Christine Sun Kim, but her interviewer was hearing. This time, the interviewer is Jeffrey Mansfield, a deaf designer who participated in Kim’s sound installation 4×4. It’s a detailed, fascinating look into the way Kim explores and expresses sound across different mediums:
In Stockholm, the attendees ended up hearing noises as the result of both space and voices. They knew those voices were present but distorted, and with 20 Hz being the limit of normal human listening, those voices, which were sounded out as low frequency (7-35 Hz) were mostly imperceptible by ears. The voices then became a visible and felt vibration within the space itself and the sound engineers tuned and calibrated these long sound waves to bring out the architectural features’ resonant frequencies. 7 Hz at the front window, 10 Hz on the back wall, and so forth.
Original, September 2015: While learning about language for last week’s Reading List, I read a number of stories about the Deaf community. Deaf culture is unique and thriving. As Sujata Gupta puts it in her essay for Matter:
Very few hearing people are aware of the vibrancy and depth of Deaf culture. It’s a world with its own etiquette and norms. It has languages—the many different forms of sign—as rich and nuanced as any spoken tongue. Like any culture, it has its own interpretation of history. There are Deaf theater companies and Deaf film festivals and Deaf comedy shows. And these are not facsimiles of hearing-world versions, with speech replaced by sign. The shared experience of deafness, and the physical nature of sign, make Deaf arts distinct in a way that most hearing people cannot appreciate.
The following four stories demonstrate this vibrancy and history — the enduring presence of Deaf culture and its advocates.
1. “A Linguistic Big Bang.” (Lawrence Osborne, New York Times, October 1999)
“No linguist could create a language with half the complexity or richness that a 4-year-old could give birth to.” In 1980s Managua, deaf schoolchildren developed their own sign language from scratch. Subsequently, Nicaraguan Sign Language (ISN) is transcribed by its student inventors, developing its own dialects and changing the field of linguistics. Lawrence Osborne travels to the Escuelita de Bluefields to meet Dr. Judy Kegl and her signing students. (Something that struck me in this essay: Kegl’s students do not learn any other kinds of sign language, in order to preserve their indigenity.)
Cochlear implants make hearing accessible, but will their proliferation eliminate Deaf culture? Meet Derek and Christine Reid, hearing parents whose daughter, Ellie, was born deaf. Christine and Derek are good parents facing a big decision: give their daughter the ability to hear, or encourage her to embrace sign language? Science writer Sujata Gupta intertwines the Reids’ story with a brief but thorough history of American Sign Language, a visit to a Cochlear implant conference, and interviews with Deaf and hearing folks on both sides of the debate.
Christine Sun Kim eschews the idea that vibrations are the only way Deaf people can experience sound–indeed, she seeks to expand the definition of sound itself.
Piecing together a tangle of overlapping languages and systems, including musical notation, body language, and American Sign Language (ASL), which she describes as similar to sound in its intrinsic spatiality…Experiencing her work is similar to the moment when one realizes listening to the same song in the dark is different than hearing it in the light.
If you’re as intrigued as I was after reading Kim’s profile at Vice, read this interview with the artist at Medium.
Katie Booth is the hearing granddaughter of Deaf grandparents–the only granddaughter who learns Sign, who learns it at such a young age, she becomes the object of study for a local university. Booth writes about the harsh conditions of boarding schools for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing, where Sign was forbidden and speech enforced, under penalty of physical abuse. But Sign endured, and Booth concludes that her grandmother was one of the brave students who spread her language and culture. I am taking a writing class right now, and this is the sort of essay I’d like to write one day. It is a collision of love and craft. |
Our suggestions
Andrew Burnet, Content Editor & Standards Manager: My predecessor in this job left me a copy of Scotland: A Concise History (1996) by James Halliday, which tells the whole story in 150 pages.
I enjoy finding the original sources where possible, partly because it brings us closer to the heart of the story, and partly because of the wonderful idiosyncrasies of writing style. John Knox’s History of the Reformation in Scotland (1586–7) is superb. Knox is a biased narrator, of course, but like Julius Caesar before him he talks up his enemies, and his prose is amazingly lively and vivid.
Maya Hoole, Data Information Officer: If you’re interested in archaeology (including prehistory and early history), I would point folk towards Scotland: Archaeology and Early History by Graham and Anna Ritchie. It’s a perfect introduction to the subject: it is clear, concise and has excellent accompanying illustrations.
Sabine Kurz, Digital Content Officer: Even though it’s written for children, there’s nothing better to get a quick overview of Scottish history than Horrible Histories: Scotland by Terry Deary.
Ali George, Communications Officer: One of my favourites is The Ghost O’ Mause by Maurice Fleming, which is a collection of folk tales about East Perthshire.
Georgina Ritchie, Assistant Cultural Resources Advisor: I think Neil Oliver’s A History of Scotland is a good basic overview and is quite easy to digest.
Sally Gall, Interpretation Assistant: I love Isobel Grant’s Highland Folkways – it gives a fantastically in-depth view of Highland customs, crafts and culture, detailing everything from traditions, clothes and furniture, to agricultural techniques. I also constantly turn to Rosalind Marshall’s Scottish Queens, for a personal and engaging view of Scotland’s royal history.
Books written by us
Some of our very own history books that are available in our online shop:
Mary Was Here: From her ascent to the throne at just six days old, to her death on the order of Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots’ story is recounted in this accessible, fast-paced guide. Mary Was Here tells the tale of Mary’s life – charting her travels across Scotland as she grows into a renowned beauty, subdues a rebellion, and flees for her life.
The Picts: For centuries, the Picts dominated Scotland. This comprehensive guide to Pictish life reveals how intelligent and powerful these settlers were. The guide is easy to follow and accessible for younger readers
Clan and Castle: Some of the most powerful dynasties in Scotland’s history came from humble clan beginnings. The more powerful families built the castles that dominate Scotland’s landscape. This book focuses on the stories of seven prominent clans, featuring extensive illustrations and vivid stories.
Your recommendations
@HistEnvScot Antonia Fraser’s Mary Queen of Scots, How the Scots Invented the Modern World, Magnus Magnusson’s Scotland? — Scottish Book Trust (@scottishbktrust) February 23, 2017
Not specifically Scottish, but Scotland written about in ‘The Isles’ by Norman Davies. Very readable + not anglo-centric. Well worth a read. https://t.co/HraK9Gz3WF — M. Lesley Paul (@bacpau) February 23, 2017
And finally… |
Late night host Jimmy Kimmel has been in the news lately for his gun control rhetoric. The comedian-turned-DNC talking point spewer is under fire for an old clip featuring him asking women to feel whats in his pants for The Man Show.
More gems from #Kimmel . Here he has women feel his crotch to guess what he stuffed in his pants. KIMMEL: "You should put your mouth on it" pic.twitter.com/Yv0MVN9vPw
Mediaite reports:
In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, the skeletons in other celebrities’ closets have been coming out.
He suggested one woman “use two hands” and jokingly said “maybe it’d be easier if you put your mouth on it.”
Kimmel asked another woman how old she was, which she said 18.
“Are you sure?” Kimmel replied. “Because Uncle Jimmy doesn’t need to do time.”
When one of his contestants was aggressively feeling around his pants, he told her “You’re gonna make a fine wife.”
In the end, he revealed what he had in his pants: a zucchini with a rubber band on it. |
Meet Gcam: The X graduate that gave us a whole new point of view
The Graduate Series: A collection of stories where we look back at some of X’s graduated projects and see where they are today.
The Team at X Blocked Unblock Follow Following Mar 24, 2017
Sometimes teams at X set out to build one thing, only to discover that the technologies they create have applications far beyond the initial problem they were trying to solve. This was certainly the case for Gcam, the computational photography project that now powers the camera of the acclaimed Pixel phone, made by Google, as well as a range of other image processing products across Alphabet.
Gcam began in 2011 when Sebastian Thrun, the head of X at that time, was searching for a camera that could live within Google Glass. Glass gave wearers the ability to shoot photos from first-person vantage points and share their experiences without having to pull out a camera. Anyone from parents with small kids to doctors performing surgery could benefit from this feature. However in order for people to want to use it, Glass’s picture-taking capabilities needed to be on par with cellphone cameras, at the very least.
Picking cherry tomatoes through Glass
Glass presented a number of camera design challenges; the tiny camera and lens starved the image of light, so pictures in low light or high contrast scenes were often poor quality; it had a small image sensor relative to cell phones, which further reduced low-light and dynamic range performance; and it had very limited compute and battery power.
An early Glass prototype
Because Glass needed to be light and wearable, creating a bigger camera to solve these challenges wasn’t an option. So the team started to ask — what if we looked at this problem in an entirely new way? What if, instead of trying to solve it with better hardware, we could do it with smart software choices instead? Enter Marc Levoy, a faculty member in the Stanford Computer Science department at the time, and an expert in computational photography — a term for software-powered image capture and processing techniques.
In 2011, Marc formed the team at X known as Gcam. Their mission was to improve photography on mobile devices by applying computational photography techniques. On their hunt for a solution to some of the challenges presented by Glass, the Gcam team explored a method called image fusion, which takes a rapid sequence of shots and then fuses them to create a single, higher quality image. The technique allowed them to render dimly-lit scenes in greater detail, and mixed lighting scenes with greater clarity. This meant brighter, sharper pictures overall.
Image fusion debuted in Glass in 2013, and it quickly became clear that this technology could be applied to products beyond Glass. As people increasingly turned to their phones to capture and share important moments in their lives, the software powering these cameras needed to be able to produce beautiful images, regardless of the lighting. Gcam’s next iteration of image fusion, called HDR+, moved beyond Glass and launched within the Android camera app for the Nexus 5 and then Nexus 6 the following year.
HDR+ renders scenes with mixed light, like this sunset in Bear Valley, in greater detail. Taken on Pixel by Marc Levoy
With Gcam’s technology now being used to improve photography across a range of applications and products, Gcam graduated to Google Research in 2015. The team now works across a portfolio of technologies, including Android, YouTube, Google Photos and the 360˚Virtual Reality rig, Jump. Some of the software smarts from the Gcam team are included in Lens Blur, a feature in the Google camera app, and the software that stitches together the panoramas for Jump’s 360˚Virtual Reality videos.
HDR+ mixes short exposures with software that boosts the brightness of shadows so that the subject and the sky can be preserved. Image of Desolation Wilderness taken on Pixel by Marc Levoy.
Most recently, Gcam’s HDR+ technology launched as the default mode for the critically acclaimed Google Pixel phone. DxOMark, the industry standard for camera ratings, declared that the Pixel camera was “the best smartphone camera ever made” in 2016. Reflecting on the evolution of the project, Marc says, “It took five years to get it really right…and we’re grateful that X gave our team the long-term horizons and independence to make that happen.”
What’s next for Gcam? Marc, who began his career developing a cartoon animation system that was used by Hanna-Barbera, is excited about the future of the team. “One direction that we’re pushing is machine learning,” he explains. “There’s lots of possibilities for creative things that actually change the look and feel of what you’re looking at. That could mean simple things like creating a training set to come up with a better white balance. Or what’s the right thing we could do with the background — should we blur it out, should we darken it, lighten it, stylize it? We’re at the best place in the world in terms of machine learning, so it’s a real opportunity to merge the creative world with the world of computational photography.” Whatever’s next, it’s safe to say that the future is looking good for Gcam. |
Generative Adversarial Networks (and the related DCGAN) are a relatively new type of neural network architecture which pits two sub-networks against each-other in order to learn very realistic generative models of high-dimensional data (mostly used for image synthesis, though extensions to sound, text, and other media have been constructed). When one generates something like an image, the pixels themselves are not individually so responsible for the realism of the image as the correlations and relatively arrangements of pixels, and so hand-crafted loss functions to measure reconstruction accuracy have a tendency towards blurriness or other perceptual artefacts. But when you allow two networks to compete with each-other: one to make a plausible fake, the other to distinguish forgeries from reality, then the networks (in principle) eliminate the noticeable differences from reality one-by-one. A blurry image can be detected, so it eliminates blurriness, and so on. The results of this approach are visually quite impressive, but because the two sub-networks are trained against different, opposed target functions, there is a wealth of new instabilities and problems that can crop up compared to training traditional neural networks which have a single unified loss function.
In this post, I’m going to look at extremely simple adversarial networks – ones with only one parameter for each sub-network – so that we can exhaustively explore the parameter space, and hopefully get some intuition for how these adversarial networks behave when trained.
Landscapes and Vector Fields
When training the usual neural network architecture, there is some kind of objective which the network is tuned to optimize (the loss function), and training proceeds by performing gradient descent on the parameters of the network to try to increase or decrease this function. Since it’s just a scalar function, it defines a kind of landscape [latex]F(x,y,…)[/latex] – a given set of network parameters maps to a certain value of the function – potentially expensive to compute, but very well-defined. If that function changes in the right direction, you know that training is proceeding correctly, and if it goes in the wrong direction you know that you should stop, reduce the learning rate, etc. If you make the learning rate small enough, be careful enough, you have a pretty strong guarantee that you can make it so that the loss function is always going in the right direction up until the point where it finds some local optimum. You can ultimately be sure that the network can’t possibly get any worse at the task than it already is (at least, on the training data), so the worst thing that can happen is for it to get stuck somewhere. Even in that case, if you have two networks trained completely separately from different initial conditions and so on, you can always compare them and see which is better just by comparing their loss functions.
For adversarial networks, the structure is a bit different. The first sub-network, the Generator, takes a random variable and outputs what it thinks an example from the data set that can fool the other network looks like. The second network, the Discriminator, takes as inputs both real examples and fake examples, and is tasked to classify them. So the Discriminator has a loss function [latex]F_D(W_D, W_G, \hat{y})[/latex], but the Generator has a different loss function [latex]F_G(W_D, W_G)[/latex]. These loss functions are chosen to guarantee the theoretical result that if the generator can output samples from an arbitrary probability distribution [latex]g(x)[/latex] and the discriminator can assign an arbitrary probability to a sample [latex]d(x)[/latex], then for data distributed according to a true distribution [latex]p(x)[/latex] there should be a fixed point when [latex]g(x)=d(x)=p(x)[/latex] – that is, the correct answer to the problem is a point at which neither the discriminator nor generator can improve their individual loss functions.
However, this is a much weaker guarantee than you have in gradient descent on a landscape – you don’t know whether this fixed point is stable, or if one even exists if the generator and discriminator are finite networks. When training both networks in parallel, there isn’t guaranteed to be some objective way to measure the improvement of the network as a whole – you can’t read out improvements or convergence by examining a training curve. As this is a generalized dynamical system, you can get limit cycles and strange attractors, meaning that training can go in circles or become chaotic.
That said, GANs work shockingly well.
Even if they can be hard to tune and to get working, there are many papers and open-source implementations showing impressive, stable results from GANs. When GANs work, they learn fast – producing realistic images even after a single epoch of training. So even if these kinds of troublesome behaviors are possible, they are either not guaranteed to be a problem or often they simply don’t matter when it comes to GANs producing reasonable outputs. At the same time, tuning GANs is currently somewhat of an art form, and requires significant human intervention and inspection of the results, making it hard to extend to tasks where a human cannot readily judge gradations in quality of different sets of outputs.There was a recent paper which tried to impose a scalar landscape onto the GAN training, essentially treating the adversarial part as a perturbation on top of a more traditional, well-defined training problem. So even if GANs are working, there’s reason to try to figure out what’s going on, objectively evaluate their performance, and move back towards scalar optimization if possible or beneficial.
The Really Simple GAN
If I want to plot how a GAN would train in a way that we can evaluate by eye, it really needs to be in 2D (or 3D at most). So that leaves me with two trainable parameters, across two sub-networks. This is going to be a very simple GAN.
Given how few variables I have, lets try to make a GAN which takes random numbers from a 1D Gaussian as input, and generates samples from a 1D Gaussian with the same standard deviation but potentially with a shifted mean as output. And actually, lets make it a trivial problem – the mean is the same too, so the best generator should just pass its input through without modification. Keeping it as simple as possible, my generator ‘network’ is going to be:
[latex]g(z) = W_g z+b_g[/latex]
where [latex]z[/latex] is the latent variable input, a unit-standard deviation zero-mean Gaussian. So this network just scales its input by [latex]W_g[/latex], applies a constant shift [latex]b_g[/latex], and has no nonlinearity. But this is going to be too many parameters to visualize, so lets just restrict [latex]W_g=1[/latex] for now and let [latex]b_g[/latex] vary.
My discriminator ‘network’ is going to be:
[latex]d(x) = \sigma(W_d x + b_d)[/latex]
where [latex]\sigma(…)[/latex] is a sigmoid function and [latex]x[/latex] is a sample either from the generator, or from data (which is a unit Gaussian with zero mean). Again, too many parameters to visualize, so lets just fix [latex]W_d = 1[/latex] for now.
The loss function for the discriminator is the log loss:
[latex]L_d = -\hat{y}\log(d(x)) – (1-\hat{y})\log(1-d(x))[/latex],
where [latex]\hat{y} = 1[/latex] if x is a real sample, and [latex]\hat{y} = 0[/latex] if x is a fake. The loss function for the generator is just the negative of the loss for the discriminator (it wants to output a sample that fools the discriminator), but for the generator all examples are going to be fake, so this is just [latex]L_g = \log(1-d(g(z)))[/latex].
Given this set of networks, we can calculate the gradient vector, if we were just training these two networks together via gradient descent against their respective loss functions [latex]-(\frac{\partial L_g}{\partial b_g}, \frac{\partial L_d}{\partial b_d})[/latex], and plot that as a function of [latex]b_g[/latex] and [latex]b_d[/latex]. The results are a bit worrying: there doesn’t appear to be any kind of finite fixed point, so this training will never converge. Instead, it looks as though the generator parameter [latex]b_g[/latex] will become positive infinity, and the discriminator parameter [latex]b_d[/latex] goes to negative infinity. What gives?
It turns out that this discriminator has a critical blind spot. It’s using a sigmoid as the output nonlinearity, which is pretty normal for making a network with a probabilistic output on a single binary question. But in this case, the discriminator is too weak to properly classify both [latex]x \rightarrow \infty[/latex] and [latex]x \rightarrow -\infty[/latex] as unrealistic samples. It has to be one or the other. If the discriminator decides that [latex]x=-\infty[/latex] is unrealistic, then [latex]x=+\infty[/latex] has to be the ‘most realistic sample’, and vice versa. Even worse, in this case because [latex]W_d[/latex] is fixed, the discriminator can never declare a larger value of x less realistic than a smaller one!
So in order to always win, the generator just has to hide out at [latex]+\infty[/latex], and there’s nothing the discriminator can do about it. Because the discriminator lacks the capacity to properly model the probability distribution that the network is being asked to generate, the result is a fundamental instability of the training process in this case – no matter how slow you go or how careful you are, you won’t converge to the data distribution.
Fortunately, this kind of problem may only exist in these artificially tiny networks. It’s known that if you give a neural network enough nodes, they can act as universal function approximators. That is to say, if a given network can’t model a particular function well enough, you can in principle always just make the network bigger. So presumably this kind of problem is one that goes away when you’re working with large enough networks. But, correspondingly, it suggests that a discriminator network which is too small may actually be unstable for a GAN, whereas it would simply underfit in a standard neural network)
For our tiny network, the asymptotic behavior of the sigmoid function is the source of the problem, but we can replace the sigmoid nonlinearity with a Gaussian. So that way we know the discriminator can exactly, accurately model the true distribution: [latex]d(x) = \exp(-(W_d x + b_d)^2)[/latex]. This appears to work much better. There’s now a clear stable fixed point at (0,0), though the approach to the fixed point is oscillatory. It turns out that even if we force [latex]W_d[/latex] to the wrong value, e.g. [latex]W_d = 2[/latex] or [latex]W_d = 0.5[/latex], we still get the stable fixed point in the middle – so not all errors or limitations of the discriminator lead to a fundamental training instability.
It appears that the biases are doing the right thing now – this network correctly discerns the mean of the data Gaussian, albeit in a somewhat round-about way. So what if we do the same thing with fixed biases ([latex]b_d = b_g = 0[/latex]), but now look at training the weights [latex]W_g[/latex] and [latex]W_d[/latex]? In principle, this should have a fixed point at (1,1) and at (-1,-1) (because the Gaussian with zero mean is symmetric under reflection). What actually happens?
It’s a bit hard to see from the plot, but something is going wrong. The horizontal axis ([latex]W_d[/latex]) seems to be doing alright – there are fixed points close to [latex]\pm 1[/latex], so that’s okay. But the vertical axis ([latex]W_g[/latex]) appears to be collapsing to zero! That means that the generator is outputting a delta function at [latex]x=0[/latex], not a Gaussian with the same standard deviation as the data distribution! Why?
Ag ain, this is a problem with the discriminator not being powerful enough. In the theoretical picture on GANs, if the generator deviates at all from the true [latex]p(x)[/latex], there’s always some function [latex]d(x)[/latex] the discriminator can come up with to get some extra advantage. But that [latex]d(x)[/latex] function in this case would not be a Gaussian, it would be something bi-modal with a dip in the center where the generator has decided to focus. So even if the discriminator is capable of modeling the true distribution exactly, that may not be sufficient – it needs to be able to cover some set of fluctuations around the true distribution in order to prevent the GAN from exploiting those vulnerabilities.
Essentially, the discriminator needs to be able to model the true distribution plus every possible perturbation around it that the generator could come up with.
The universal function approximation properties of neural networks can actually work against things here – if the generator is too powerful compared to the discriminator, it could just find some function the discriminator can never answer.
The outcome mirrors a problem that does actually occur in higher-dimensional GANs. If we look at what happens to the data generated here during this malfunction, the generator is only outputting copies of the single most likely data point – the diversity of the generated set has collapsed. This kind of collapse happens in image-generation GANs as well, where if the generator gets too far ahead it just memorizes one example from the training set and only outputs that regardless of the variations in the noise source. Once the network has fallen into that hole, it’s usually very hard to recover the entropy of the outputs with further training. The usual protocol is to adjust the learning rates to keep the error of both the generator and discriminator from getting too small, but perhaps the reason why this kind of careful management is necessary is that there are true fixed points in the parameter space corresponding to this collapse, and unless those fixed points are somehow destabilized then the networks will always be at risk of going there if you continue training indefinitely.
Data Dependency
Another question we can ask with these visualizations is, how much data is needed and how does the vector field respond to having insufficient data? In a standard single network case, the usual result is overfitting, and the signature in the loss function landscape is that the local and global minima become very sharp. So far, these plots have been generated using 2500 samples. What if we go down to 100 samples? We’ll examine the [latex]b_g, b_d[/latex] plane [latex]W_g = W_d = 1[/latex] for this one, since training is ostensibly stable and correct in that set of parameters.
With only 100 samples, we get a much more ragged set of contours. On a ‘landscape’ like this, the wrong step-size could easily end up running off to somewhere weird, getting further away from the fixed point, getting trapped in parasitic cycles, or accidentally escaping the approach to the fixed point and having a ‘collapse’. 100 samples is tiny for a data-set, but keep in mind that this is a 1D data set, so what constitutes small enough to create snags might be a much larger number of samples in higher dimensions where you can’t possibly cover the entire space.
We can reduce the amount of data further, down to 5 samples, and this becomes a real nightmare. It’s unclear whether gradient descent will find the fixed point anymore, no matter how careful you are. The regions at (-4,4) and (4,-4) become essentially noise patterns without any clear escape trajectory. An additional saddle point has appeared around (1,-2), and it looks as though there may be a number of local minima. Of course, asking anything from 5 samples is unreasonable, but this gives an idea of how things look when they break.
Is there a reasonable way to fix this kind of mess? In classic neural networks, one would use regularization – usually dropout. We can’t do that here (we only have one link to turn off!), but what we can do instead is add noise to the parameters. Even as we’re looking at these very low-data vector fields, its mostly the local structure that has become messy due to the small amount of data. The overall global structure remains quite similar in all cases, even the 5 sample case. So if we could somehow take a local average of the gradient direction over some radius, it might actually fix these local snags and make the training behavior more stable.
To do this, we sample each gradient 30 times, but adding Gaussian random noise with standard deviation 0.2 to the parameters [latex](b_d,b_g)[/latex]. We keep the same data and latent vectors (100 samples for this plot), but basically just average over the local neighborhood in the parameter space. The results are much smoother (of course), and also much more directly approach the fixed point. So the lesson for larger GANs is:
Yes, regularization matters for GANs!
Sample a lot of random variations of the parameters (e.g. through dropout), apply [latex]L_2[/latex] normalization to the weights and biases to shut down fixed points at infinity, etc – all of those things should help with the instabilities and problems we found here.
Speculation on an Extension to Large Networks
Can we do anything like this analysis in full-sized GANs? After all, everything here could just be an artefact of the tiny, extremely weak ‘networks’ we’re forced to use to make 2D visualizations. Well, its hard to say.
One thing we can in principle do is to take 2D slices out of the parameter space of the larger network, and look for fixed points, saddles, and run-off-to-infinity behaviors on those slices. On the left is a random cut taken out of the bias space of a randomly initialized GAN with two 100 neuron hidden layers for both the generator and discriminator, and it seems to show some of the same characteristics as our tiny network – in this case, it looks like the first bias plot with things appearing to run off to infinity. However, unlike our 2-parameter network, there is significant out-of-plane motion here which is not visualized – that means that something appearing to run off to infinity could just be on an oscillatory approach to a fixed point somewhere out-of-plane (which is probably the case here, as training this kind of 1D GAN tends to be relatively well-behaved for larger networks). So some caution in directly applying the visualization technique is probably necessary.
On the other hand, perhaps the features of these vector field landscapes as seen from the point of view of a network-in-training will be more robust and reliable. In dynamical systems theory, one metric which can be used to evaluate the overall behavior of a dynamical system is the Lyapunov exponent – it measures the rate at which nearby trajectories diverge from each-other, and detects the presence (and structure) of chaos in the system.
So the idea is, by training a cluster of nearby networks together, one should be able to detect when the training process passes near saddle points, whether it’s sitting near a fixed point or just drifting off to infinity. I think that this must ultimately be related to Hessian-based update rules – the cluster of nearby trajectories is essentially locally sampling the second derivatives of the loss function along a random set of directions. The interesting aspect of it for GANs is that this higher-order gradient information won’t just determine the stable step size, but also might be able to tell you if you’re stuck in a limit cycle or crashing or things like that, and may be able provide the information needed to bias the training updates in such a way as to damp out those oscillations.
For example, one can generically decompose vector fields into a gradient of a scalar field and a curl of another vector field: [latex]\vec{v}(\vec{r}) = \vec{
abla} \phi(\vec{r}) + \vec{
abla} \times \vec{A}[/latex]. If that decomposition can be done locally (which requires knowledge of the derivatives of [latex]\vec{v}[/latex], e.g. second-order derivatives of the loss function), then its possible to only follow the [latex]\vec{
abla} \phi[/latex] part of the field, recovering a scalar optimization problem.
So I think it might be interesting to look at efficient ways to approximate the Hessian as a way to get information to stabilize the training updates of GANs. But for now, that extends beyond the scope of this post. |
By Alan Minsky
The Bernie Sanders campaign has shown that traditional left-wing politics are far more popular among the American public than anyone realized a few months ago. Indeed, Sanders’ surprising success suggests that American left progressives are the most underrepresented constituency in the country. And given that Sanders’ campaign was probably the first time millions of Americans encountered these ideas, it’s reasonable to think they will become even more popular with greater familiarity.
Thus, the 2016 Sanders campaign for president, however the second half of the primary process plays out, should be a starting point, not the end game. But given the sorry history of left politics in America, there’s every reason to think nothing will come of it. So the salient questions for left progressives are:
What would it take for this time to be different? Can the Sanders campaign be the spark that creates lasting and powerful left progressive politics in the United States?
I don’t think there’s a choice. It has to be. The problems facing the country and the world are too serious and seemingly intractable (the destruction of a middle-class society, mass incarceration, institutionalized racism, permanent warfare, environmental collapse, etc.). Not only does the political establishment have no remedy, it has been instrumental in the creation of these problems. Millions upon millions of Americans recognize this, including a majority of young people. Leaving them hopeless is not acceptable, especially after Sanders proposed a compelling alternative. We must pursue a strategy to maintain the momentum of the senator’s campaign and win political power.
In November 2014, just after the Democrats suffered a crushing defeat in the midterm elections, I wrote an article for Truthdig, “This Democratic Party Is Going Nowhere. Can Progressives Take It Over and Change the World?” in which I proposed that a left progressive candidate, either Elizabeth Warren or more likely Bernie Sanders, run for president in order to introduce the nation to a left progressive platform and set the table for running like-minded candidates in every one of the 435 districts of the United States Congress and for every elected position in the country. At the time, I anticipated that Sanders could do much better than anyone else seemed to think possible, but even I didn’t anticipate the level of success he ultimately has achieved. Sanders’ success has confirmed the central thesis of my article: that a coherent left progressive platform would be very popular with rank-and-file Democrats and even a broad array of voters outside the party. Such a platform directly and rationally addresses the central issues we face as a society.
However, unlike in the scenario outlined in my article, progressive Democrats did not organize a unified national slate of 435 congressional candidates for the 2016 election. Outside of a few other stray races, the Sanders insurgency has been the sole focus of American left progressives active in the electoral realm, which means a newly revived left progressive politics is poised once again to do an all-too-familiar disappearing act. Not surprisingly given my 2014 article, I believe that what has to happen now, before the Sanders campaign folds up its tent and goes home, is that the campaign has to pivot and start organizing a movement committed to running left progressives in every significant election in the country. In contrast to late 2014, in early 2016 we know for sure that there are legions of Americans ready and willing to participate in such a movement — and the candidates themselves can be drawn from Sanders’ campaign activists, and other left activists, from every locale across the land.
How can it get done? As no doubt everyone reading this knows, Sanders has stated that his campaign was conceived as more than just an effort to elect one man. It was and is a political revolution, calling for a revitalization of American democracy in which the people will take back the country for themselves from the oligarchs who have been firmly in control in recent times. However, at no time has the candidate, or his campaign, signaled a desire to organize a slate of left progressive candidates in the manner I outlined in 2014. So let me state clearly that I see no other path forward for the Sanders revolution.
Sanders has implied that, if elected, he would confront challenges from members of Congress who did not support his agenda. He did this at a town hall meeting on March 7 when he said members of Congress who stood in the way would soon “learn firsthand what it’s like to be unemployed.” However, in an earlier exchange, with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, Sanders expressed confidence that masses of people “outside the windows” of Congress mobilized in support of his agenda would sway reluctant Congress members to give him the votes he needed. Sanders was far from convincing on this occasion, and I do not believe that current elected officials who have organized their entire adult life to be on the congressional gravy train would give in to such public pressure. In contrast, I think both Republicans and conservative Democrats would feel confident that, with the full backing of the mainstream media, they could wait out the storm. A much more realistic scenario for a President Sanders to pass his ambitious legislative program would be to do like Santa: see who in Congress is being naughty or nice, keep the public up to speed on the obstruction of the programs they voted for, and then, in marked contrast to Barack Obama in 2010, bring a left progressive challenge in every congressional district and Senate seat on the ballot in 2018, both in the primaries and in the general election. The goal would be a legislative revolution in January 2019 (with a nice byproduct of a fully engaged citizenry at his back).
Of course, our current scenario is quite different. It seems unlikely at the moment that we’ll have a President Sanders, but that doesn’t negate the idea that the best way to maintain the momentum generated by the Sanders campaign is to organize a left progressive electoral slate across the country. How else can left progressives reverse damaging public policies and implement positive programs designed to protect the environment, combat poverty, grow the middle class, reform the criminal justice system and so on? And, of course, the left progressive candidates at the state and local level will be able to cross-fertilize with social justice movements and respond to the needs of people at a daily, local level — to a much greater degree than a national presidential race ever could.Is it realistic to think that the Sanders campaign and its supporters can make this pivot to focus on the future? That, of course, is ultimately up to the Vermont senator, his campaign staff and his millions of (truly fervent) supporters. (Paradoxically, I am certain this would be the best possible move to revitalize Sanders’ presidential aspirations and produce the landslide victories necessary to catch up to Hillary Clinton in delegates — as it would signify a selfless willingness to do what is best and necessary for the country’s welfare.) How do I think it could be done? My suggestion would be for him to stay in the presidential race and, as the primary schedule thins out, revisit every place he has already been to and, yes, even drop by new places the campaign was unable to focus on. From the outset, Sanders loudly proclaimed his support for a real 50-state strategy. In the spring and summer of 2016, he would be revisiting as a true hero and champion of the people. It was great fun in late 2015 and early 2016. Imagine the euphoria if he returns to build the type of movement the country and the world needs.
In traditional Bernie Sanders fashion, this new phase of his revolution should invite everyone, regardless of party affiliation, because although Sanders has already committed to supporting Clinton in the fall if he does not get the nomination, going forward with the left progressive coalition should not be restricted to Democrats. One can easily imagine scenarios in which a left progressive Democrat might lose a congressional primary to a conservative Democrat, who in turn could be challenged again in the general election by a left progressive independent, Green, Working Families or even a socialist candidate (sound familiar, Bernie?). If Team Left won the general election, the victor would be welcomed into the left caucus. The key is the social justice platform, not the Democratic Party.
So, on these visits, Sanders should spearhead the initial organizing of a national slate of left progressives (as I outlined in my 2014 article), with a focus on building for the 2018 elections while also mobilizing support for appropriate candidates in 2016 and left progressives competing in the few 2017 elections across the country.
Of course, of the utmost importance is that the left progressive candidates up and down the ticket be from and of the communities themselves. Already existing local left-insurgent movements should be endorsed and invited to participate (the Lumumba Coalition in Jackson, Miss., comes to mind, out of many examples). While Sanders’ national platform provides a solid blueprint on federal matters (though there must be a mechanism to open this up for discussion, inclusion, reform, etc.), the local platform should supplement the national platform in ways determined by the participating community members themselves. Alas, it has been very clear from the campaign that for a left progressive movement to succeed, it cannot depend on one charismatic national figure but needs to be represented by active, autonomous members in communities across the entire country. Socialism translates to every community but always with specificities understood only by the people of the communities themselves.
So head back out across the country, Bernie, and begin building to a victory in 2018 and beyond. A whole bunch of people have already recognized this necessity: Writers Daniel Denvir and David Dayen both hinted in this direction, as did the more radical folks at Jacobin, while Andrew O’Hehir and Marc Cooper took it further. The always insightful Kevin Alexander Gray highlighted the need for local roots, and Samantha Bee reminded us that the most important election of our time was the 2010 midterm. Let’s invert that result in 2018. And that must only be Chapter 2. If Clinton does win the White House this year, we must use our leverage to make sure she understands that another term of neoliberalism will face a primary challenge in 2020.
Is this “hardball” politics (reclaiming the term from one of MSNBC’s lap dogs)? Yes. But that’s exactly what a revived left electoral strategy needs to practice. Last weekend, even The New York Times called for building a newly vital left-progressive movement out of the Sanders campaign, but like many of the Salon commentators listed above, the proposal is far too incremental to maintain the enthusiasm of the Sanders insurgents.
This is a movement of the moment, which inspired millions with a message of “No more! Right now we begin building a better world.” The excitement was rooted in the urgency, which in turn reflected the real, material needs of the moment. Once you wake up to the reality that something must be done — and can be done — telling people to go back to sleep, even for a season, is a message of soul-crushing despair.
Bernie Sanders woke people up. All evidence suggests they want to stay awake, take action, wrest this country from the ruling few and set out building a just, free, equitable America right now. The best way to maintain that momentum is something along the lines of “All for one and one for all”: 435 for one, one for 435. (Clunky, I know, but I trust that the folks at Revolution Messaging can work out the kinks.) The lower branch of Congress is often called the People’s House — sounds socialist to me.
What we have already learned is that Bernie Sanders, like the Occupy Movement before him, has tapped into a growing desire for vibrant social justice politics to challenge the atrophied ideologies that have guided the United States and the world for over three decades. It is not an overstatement that Sanders was the overwhelming choice of young voters, and that Sanders’ policies were at least as popular with voters as Clinton’s (her efforts at co-option were so transparent that “SNL” couldn’t resist satirizing them). She has her commanding lead because of built-in advantages such as effective control of the party apparatus, a primary season front-loaded with conservative states and her longstanding relationships with voters, as well as the appeal of her becoming the first female president.
In other words, socialism (or at least social democracy) all but conquered the Democratic Party in 2016, and the future looks much brighter. Let’s make sure that massive and growing constituency has representation. If we do so, we can change the world and improve the lives of us all.
Now is no time to feel despondent. There’s a world to win. Let’s not take our eyes off the prize.
And, oh yeah, if Bernie doesn’t take the lead on this, we’ll do it ourselves. |
News from around the bend seems to suggest a rumored Qwerty Slider from Motorola could be heading towards Sprint sometime soon. Right off the bat this is big news since I can't remember the last time there was a Moto qwerty slider phone that wasn't in the line-up over on Verizon as part of their Droid series. Sprint customers might be jumping for joy right about now. That is, if you have been jealous of your Verizon Droid toting friends all along. The picture seen above is supposed to be a test phone so we don't have much detail on it as of yet but it is exciting for Sprint users none the less.
How do I know this is a potential release for Sprint? Well, I'm glad you asked. If you direct your attention to the photo above, you'll see that the Sprint music player application is clearly visible inside the phones app drawer. You can see a 5 row QWERTY keyboard with yellow accents on the buttons which is somewhat evident that it is themed for Sprints flagship colors yellow and black. And to me it looks like there are no Soft keys on the bottom of the phone just below the display. What I do notice, is that the notification bar seems to be themed in the colors of Ice Cream Sandwich and are those on screen soft keys I see at the bottom of the display? It sure looks like Android 4.0 to me! This of course makes no difference for me personally as I am not a subscriber of Sprint but I am happy to report and get the excitement flowing for the readers out there who are.
While the specs are non-existent and not much is known about this Moto mirage as I like to call it, there are plenty of questions I'm sure a lot of you must have. Will it be dual-core or quad-core? Is it going to be an HD display? What kind of camera will it have? Who will make the CPU and will it have a competitive GPU inside it for the gamers out there? It almost makes me wonder if Intel will finally start to manufacture the chips for devices that are coming stateside. Back in January Motorola and Intel announced an agreement that will last at least a few years to start bringing devices this way. I think this possibly means that whatever devices we do see that house Intel processors, will most likely be single or dual core chips. As Intel had recently stated that Android is not ready for multi core processors. All of these questions will hopefully be answered soon. Expect us to report more on this device as information comes our way but until then, does any of this get you guys going? Any elated sprint fans out there that have been waiting and waiting for a Moto slider that runs on ICS? Let's get some discussions and speculation going on below I'd love to hear what some of you out there think. |
Britain could face a 'divorce' bill of up to 20 billion euros - around £18 billion - as the cost of leaving the EU.
The massive payment is expected to be demanded by Brussels to settle shared liabilities.
Eurocrats are preparing calculations for the sums that need to be divided up as the UK entangles itself from the bloc.
They are believed to include £217 billion of unpaid budget appropriations, £57.5billion of pension liabilities, and other commitments totalling around £29 billion.
Jean Claude Juncker is the president of the European Commission, which handles most of the bloc's spending commitments
The Financial Times said its analysis represented the first attempt to calculate the UK's liabilities on leaving the EU.
Some officials in Brussels have warned that the final figure could be even higher.
A government spokesman refused to said: 'As the Prime Minister has said, we will invoke Article 50 no later than the end of March next year. We are not going to provide a running commentary on leaving the EU.'
The disclosure may cause further jitters on foreign exchange markets following a tumultuous day for the pound.
At one point on Wednesday sterling lost almost 1 per cent of its value against the dollar during the course of exchanges in the Commons, before staging a rally.
There is also a furious backlash under way after Unilever apparently tried to hike prices of popular products including Marmite and Persil in response to the slump in Sterling. Supermarket Tesco has refused the demand, with the firm seemingly refusing to supply the goods.
Theresa May is continuing her mini-tour of European capitals ahead of the EU summit later this month with talks in Madrid with Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy.
Boris Johnson makes his first appearance before the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee since becoming Foreign Secretary.
The Prime Minister faced anger from Tory rebels in the House of Commons yesterday after flatly refusing to give MPs a vote before she triggers Article 50 - the formal process for leaving the EU.
In heated exchanges, Mrs May told one pro-Brussels member: ‘We are siding with the British people, who voted to leave the European Union.
'It is high time MPs listened to the vote of the British people and accepted that that is exactly what we are going to do.’
Mrs May was backed by Brexit Secretary David Davis, who accused bosses, banks and EU leaders of indulging in a ‘Blame Brexit Festival’. |
Daimler AG sign is pictured at the IAA truck show in Hanover, Germany, September 22, 2016. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer/File Photo
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche said the migration from combustion-engined cars to electric vehicles should be left up to the market rather than forced by quotas.
“We want to reach the maximum speed ourselves, we don’t need quotas for that,” he said at the Frankfurt auto show on Tuesday.
A media report said recently that the European Commission wanted to accelerate the retreat from combustion engines by setting a quota for low emission cars such as electric cars from 2025.
The European Union said it had no plans to introduce quotas.
Zetsche also said that Daimler had sold more Mercedes-Benz cars with diesel engines so far this year than in the year-earlier period, despite talk of possible diesel bans in some German cities. |
Around 9:00 PM EST, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey (@jack) was suspended from his very own social media platform.
While only lasting roughly ten minutes, the suspension is important because it shows that Dorsey may have received too many reports in a short amount of time, triggering the auto-suspension function on his account. As it went down, the Twitter-sphere exploded into a gradient of emotions.
Twitter founder @jack has had his account suspended. — Jon Passantino (@passantino) November 23, 2016
the twitter founder @jack got suspended none of us are safe bruh — BJ ®🕊 (@BASEDJESUS) November 23, 2016
Twitter CEO account appears suspended. What happened @jack? pic.twitter.com/jvPqzkHwPY — Sarah Frier (@sarahfrier) November 23, 2016
jack got suspended
his own creation turned on him… twitter is my favorite anime — prime (@fakehedgehog) November 23, 2016
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. |
Anime graduate programs announced a new decision to award physics PhD degrees to those who fail the anime qualifying exam.
The decision came after many years of low passing rates and complaints that anime PhDs have been too exclusive and mentally strenuous. MIT’s Dean of Admissions also reasoned that many of the questions on the anime qualifying exam “require the same, if not more amount of critical and analytical thinking that the physics exams do.”
Past graduate exams included questions on harem attractive field lines, the capacitance of a tsundere’s ability to withhold love confessions, and the leading shifts in the energies of the degenerate first excited states of main character power ups. Most students who failed the exam claimed that it was the section on modern anime that tricked them up.
“In the written exam, I had to manipulate the twin paradox setup such that the twin who traveled to a distant star and the twin on earth met at some intermediate point on the same day as the repulsive force of dubbed anime exceeded the attractive force of subbed anime,” said Shuning Li, who failed the exam and was forced to find a job in research.
Most students also assert that the anime qualifying exam has a notoriously difficult oral exam in which a committee of three faculty members interview the student about their research. The student is then asked to solve a difficult problem in the student’s general field of study. The problem slated for 2016 was purported to be about evaluating key frame density and quantization of Kill la Kill fight scenes.
With the consolation physics degree, many universities expect anime scholars to be satisfied with the apparent offset of the difficulty of the actual exam. However, scholars expressed indignance and found that this action condescending toward their level of knowledge. Anime students have also claimed that this move was an attempt to force them into unfulfilling life careers and stifle their pursuit of happiness.
“It’s all about doing what you love these days. I want to make a difference in the world and neutrinos don’t do anything,” said Richard Dembinski, a Johns Hopkins Undergraduate studying the biomedical engineering of nekomimis. “What can I do with something as impractical as a physics degree? There’s a reason why I’m studying anime engineering.”
Higher up officials have announced no intention to get rid of the consolation physics degree. In fact, many graduate schools have begun to change there anime programs to tailor the physics degree, expecting most anime students to fail out of their intended program. There is no known report of the anime qualifying exam being made easier for future graduate students. |
Buying Silence: How the Saudi Foreign Ministry controls Arab media
On Monday, Saudi Arabia celebrated the beheading of its 100th prisoner this year. The story was nowhere to be seen on Arab media despite the story's circulation on wire services. Even international media was relatively mute about this milestone compared to what it might have been if it had concerned a different country. How does a story like this go unnoticed?
Today's release of the WikiLeaks "Saudi Cables" from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs show how it's done.
The oil-rich Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its ruling family take a systematic approach to maintaining the country's positive image on the international stage. Most world governments engage in PR campaigns to fend off criticism and build relations in influential places. Saudi Arabia controls its image by monitoring media and buying loyalties from Australia to Canada and everywhere in between.
Documents reveal the extensive efforts to monitor and co-opt Arab media, making sure to correct any deviations in regional coverage of Saudi Arabia and Saudi-related matters. Saudi Arabia's strategy for co-opting Arab media takes two forms, corresponding to the "carrot and stick" approach, referred to in the documents as "neutralisation" and "containment". The approach is customised depending on the market and the media in question.
"Contain" and "Neutralise"
The initial reaction to any negative coverage in the regional media is to "neutralise" it. The term is used frequently in the cables and it pertains to individual journalists and media institutions whose silence and co-operation has been bought. "Neutralised" journalists and media institutions are not expected to praise and defend the Kingdom, only to refrain from publishing news that reflects negatively on the Kingdom, or any criticism of its policies. The "containment" approach is used when a more active propaganda effort is required. Journalists and media institutions relied upon for "containment" are expected not only to sing the Kingdom's praises, but to lead attacks on any party that dares to air criticisms of the powerful Gulf state.
One of the ways "neutralisation" and "containment" are ensured is by purchasing hundreds or thousands of subscriptions in targeted publications. These publications are then expected to return the favour by becoming an "asset" in the Kingdom's propaganda strategy. A document listing the subscriptions that needed renewal by 1 January 2010 details a series of contributory sums meant for two dozen publications in Damascus, Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Kuwait, Amman and Nouakchott. The sums range from $500 to 9,750 Kuwaiti Dinars ($33,000). The Kingdom effectively buys reverse "shares" in the media outlets, where the cash "dividends" flow the opposite way, from the shareholder to the media outlet. In return Saudi Arabia gets political "dividends" – an obliging press.
An example of these co-optive practices in action can be seen in an exchange between the Saudi Foreign Ministry and its Embassy in Cairo. On 24 November 2011 Egypt's Arabic-language broadcast station ONTV hosted the Saudi opposition figure Saad al-Faqih, which prompted the Foreign Ministry to task the embassy with inquiring into the channel. The Ministry asked the embassy to find out how "to co-opt it or else we must consider it standing in the line opposed to the Kingdom's policies".
The document reports that the billionaire owner of the station, Naguib Sawiris, did not want to be "opposed to the Kingdom's policies" and that he scolded the channel director, asking him "never to host al-Faqih again". He also asked the Ambassador if he'd like to be "a guest on the show".
The Saudi Cables are rife with similar examples, some detailing the figures and the methods of payment. These range from small but vital sums of around $2000/year to developing country media outlets – a figure the Guinean News Agency "urgently needs" as "it would solve many problems that the agency is facing" – to millions of dollars, as in the case of Lebanese right-wing television station MTV.
Confrontation
The "neutralisation" and "containment" approaches are not the only techniques the Saudi Ministry is willing to employ. In cases where "containment" fails to produce the desired effect, the Kingdom moves on to confrontation. In one example, the Foreign Minister was following a Royal Decree dated 20 January 2010 to remove Iran’s new Arabic-language news network, Al-Alam, from the main Riyadh-based regional communications satellite operator, Arabsat. After the plan failed, Saud Al Faisal sought to "weaken its broadcast signal".
The documents show concerns within the Saudi administration over the social upheavals of 2011, which became known in the international media as the "Arab Spring". The cables note with concern that after the fall of Mubarak, coverage of the upheavals in Egyptian media was "being driven by public opinion instead of driving public opinion". The Ministry resolved "to give financial support to influential media institutions in Tunisia", the birthplace of the “Arab Spring”.
The cables reveal that the government employs a different approach for its own domestic media. There, a wave of the Royal hand is all that is required to adjust the output of state-controlled media. A complaint from former Lebanese Prime Minister and Saudi citizen Saad Hariri concerning articles critical of him in the Saudi-owned Al-Hayat and Asharq Al-Awsat newspapers prompted a directive to "stop these type of articles" from the Foreign Ministry.
This is a general overview of the Saudi Foreign Ministry’s strategy in dealing with the media. WikiLeaks' Saudi Cables contain numerous other examples that form an indictment of both the Kingdom and the state of the media globally. |
Came home today from running errands to find two boxes waiting on my porch and got supper excited. One from my parents, and one from my secret santa, known only as K.S. My normal excitement about a box from the parents was completely brushed aside as I couldn't wait to open my ss box! Inside I found a note and three presents. The note said my SS loves dogs, so I got excited for Jake(my little over 1 year old dog) to get a present too.
I'll start with the dog presents, well because I opened them first somehow. Jake got a nice big chew/treat bone and a tube of snausages. He's very excited, even as I opened the box he wanted to help. I gave him the bone right away and he went to work. As I'm writing this part, he is almost half done with the bone, guess he really likes it! He's never had snausages, but I'm sure he will love them.
Now for my present; some how in my randomly chosen order of opening presents I saved the best for last!! K.S. made me a 'hand-made 100% original duct tape wallet' (as the note inside the wallet explains), so cool!! the outside is a scene of me climbing a mountain, and the inside is full of all the pockets and slots I would need! I never bring my normal wallet on my outdoor adventures(hiking, snowboarding, rock climbing), usually just a few essentials(debit card, id, cash, etc) but they always just end up loose in my pack somewhere and never organized. Now I have a wallet that will be perfect for my outdoor adventures to carry the essentials! Rest assured K.S., this wallet is going places on many adventures and will be put the great use. It is such an awesome personal gift! But if that wasn't enough, no no, K.S. also put inside the wallet a $10 itunes gift card! not sure if this will be put to use on a movie, or album, or saved for app purchases, but I'm sure something good will come of it!
Thank you so much K.S., you did an awesome job. I'll forgive you for shipping one day late for having such a thoughtful and handmade gift and taking care of my dog too! Merry Christmas and thanks again!!
PS: in the time it took to write this and post the pics, Jake has reduced the bone to about the size of a satsuma orange, and by the time anyone reads this I'm sure it will be gone. He definitely enjoyed him self. |
This is a great interview with BJJ competition legend Rafael Lovato Jr.
This podcast episode, along with all my others, are available on my Strenuous Life Podcast, which you can subscribe to with a few easy clicks! Choose your audio player below and click on it to open up The Strenuous Life Podcast and from there, you can click to subscribe, or simply search for this episode which is episode # 17.
Alternately, you can click on the embedded audio-only You Tube video player below to listen (however, you run the risk of missing future episodes by not subscribing – but if you’re a gambler then here you go!)
Stephan: Hi everybody. This is Stephan Kesting from grapplearts.com. Today I’ve Rafael Lovato Jr., on the podcast. I’ve trained with him in the past, and now I’m thrilled to be able to pick his brain about competition because this is a guy who’s done a lot of competition. Welcome to the show Rafael!
Rafael: Thanks for having me here.
Stephan: I saw you compete in Metamoris 1 and was just struck by your relentless and aggressive style. It served you very well that night. That was a really nice, because I’d trained with you before but I’d never seen you bring the heat in that kind of way.
Rafael: Yeah. You know Metamoris, I love that event. You know, the rules, the professionalism, the stage, the way they build it up and everything. It has the feeling like it’s the UFC event for Jiu jitsu. And I was very appreciative and fortunate to be invited to compete at the first one and had a great match with Kayron Gracie. I think it was one of the better performances in my career. I was playing my game, really opened up, attacking from the bottom and the top. I think I tried 4 or 5 submissions before I got the one that was able to…
Stephan: You Kimura’d him, didn’t you?
Rafael: Yeah, I got the Kimura. And basically, I was just playing my game and was in great shape. Kayron’s a very tough competitor and he was in a really good phase at that time. He’d just won the Pan Ams that year. And I just played my game. A lot of times in the regular sport Jiu jitsu matches, ten minutes isn’t quite enough time to pass someone’s guard or be able to really wear them out and then get the submission. So I really like the twenty minute matches in Metamoris. It gave me enough time to apply my pressure, my top game, work hard to wear him out, make his legs tired and be able to pass his guard so I can get to finish at the end.
Stephan: I’ve always wondered this about the Metamoris events on this big stage with no fence around it. Were you ever worried about falling off the damn thing?
Rafael: No. I really didn’t think about it. In fact, the last one, when I faced Galvao, I got really close to the edge. He had a single leg. But I wasn’t scared. I wasn’t worried. You really don’t think about it when you’re there. You’re just totally focused on the man in front of you, you know.
Stephan: So you like competing under those rules because of the added time…
Rafael: Yes, I do. Not just the time but the way there’s no points and no advantages. I think it makes it much more pure. You’re not fighting for a score or fighting to do just a little bit more than the other person in a certain amount of time. That, along with the nice bonuses they give for the submissions. The guys are really working hard.
This last time, they had decisions, which I think maybe could slightly affect the match. If the guy has been dominating for 15 minutes then for the last 5 minutes, maybe he might take it easy a little bit because he knows he’s going to get the decision. But I heard in an interview with Ralek that they’re going to get rid of decisions and go back to submission only. So, we’ll see. But yes, I really like those rules.
I think the closer you can make the match to how it is in training, then I think you’re going to see better Jiu jitsu. You’re not going to see people hold back or fight not to lose instead of to really win. And in the end, it makes a better show for the fans and it also makes our Jiu jitsu better. The competitors that are out there, we can learn more, we can understand more, and we’re not just training for a specific set of rules. We’re training to actually be complete Jiu jitsu fighters.
Stephan: But certainly you’ve done really well in conventional Jiu jitsu competition too, which is kind of understating how difficult it is. Let’s talk about your watermark year or your banner year when you – if I recall correctly – got gold at the European Opens, the Brazilian Nationals, the Pan Ams and the Mundials. Is that correct?
Rafael: Yes.
Stephan: What was that like? That must have been an insane year.
Rafael: Man, it was super insane. That was 2007. I completed my third year as a black belt that year, so it was kind of the perfect timing for me to really make my mark. I was like 23 going on 24 years old and it had always been my dream to become a World Champion but I had never imagined it happening that way, where I would win all the tournaments in the same year at the black belt level.
I don’t want to say it was an accident, but I didn’t go into that year saying that’s what I’m going to do. I was going to be at each competition. And at each competition, I wanted to make myself better for the World Championships. Because at the end of the day, if I would’ve won all three and then lost at the Worlds, it wouldn’t matter. If I lost at the other three and then won the Worlds, I still would’ve been very happy, obviously. So the Worlds is the only one that really, really matters. I just came into that year very, very hungry.
I did my first year at the Worlds as a black belt in 2005 and I reached the quarterfinals and starting getting that experience. First year, it’s like, okay, I almost medaled, so it’s alright – we’ll get better.
And then 2006, I missed the Worlds. I was really sick that month. I already had my ticket to Brazil and everything and I wasn’t able to go.
Stephan: That must’ve been disappointing.
Rafael: Yeah, I was super disappointed. I was heartbroken. I cried. I was…
Stephan: You think you were over-trained perhaps? Is that why you got sick?
Rafael: No, I actually, I got mono. And there’s nothing you can do about that, you know, and I was out the whole month. And so that was really hard. So I missed the Worlds.
And so going into 2007, once the gi season picked back up again, I said I’m not missing any competition. I’m going to go to every competition. I’m going to get as much experience as I can, so I went to the Europeans for the first time in 2007. I was able to win there; I became the first American to win the Europeans as a black belt. And kept going up to the Pan Ams. Felt really good at the Pan Ams. Actually, at both the European and the Pan Ams, I also medaled in the Absolute as well.
Stephan: Oh, I didn’t know that.
Rafael: And so then I was the first American to win the Pan Ams as a black belt. And then Brazil… You know, it’s hard to describe the feeling of competing in Brazil… In some ways, winning in Brazil at the Braziliero meant just as much, maybe even a little more, than winning the Worlds.
The Worlds is the Worlds, so that’s, nothing’s bigger than that. But the Worlds were held in the US that year. That was the first year that they came to the US. So at the Braziliero, all the best guys were still pretty much in Brazil. It was an extremely tough competition. And I remember…
Stephan: Everybody who was anybody in Brazil was there.
Rafael: Right, and a lot of times, you didn’t know who those guys were. The Worlds had just moved to the US for later that year. So you wouldn’t really see or hear too much about the guys in Brazil except maybe at the Pan Ams or whenever you watched footage of the Worlds.
So, in Brazil that year, was special because I used to go to Brazil so much as a kid and compete and train and learn. And so I competed at the Brazilero at the lower belts and I never won.To win as a black belt there, in Brazil by myself, you know it was a very special accomplishment for me. And to become the first foreigner, non-Brazilian, to win the black belt division in Brazil was amazing and that just really gave me the confidence I needed. Each tournament kind of gave me a little more confidence because it got a little tougher each time. The Europeans, then a step up to the Pan Ams, then a step up to Brazil, then a step up to the Worlds.
And so going into the Worlds, I started thinking, “Man, I’m going to do it. I’m going to win. I’m going to win all of these and nothing was going to stop me.” And I became the first person to win all four of the major tournaments in the same year as a black belt.
Stephan: Very cool. Let’s jump back a little bit and talk about your background. You started learning martial arts from your Dad. In fact I heard the other day that we actually share a background in the whole JKD and Filipino Martial Arts background.
Rafael: Yes.
Stephan: So was that your first martial art?
Rafael: I’m from JKD. When I was just a little kid, we lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, that’s where I was born. My father was an assistant instructor at a JKD academy there in Cincinnati. And so I remember going to the academy all the time. I was with my Dad a lot and I used to play with my toys at the side of the mat, things like that.
The very first martial art I really did, besides for just playing around the house with my father, was Kempo. He wanted me to do something a little different and they offered Kempo there – he wanted me to have another instructor. He didn’t want to be on the mat with me at the same time. He wanted to keep it a little more relaxed for me, so he put me in something different. So, the first thing I ever did was Kempo. I think I got like an orange belt in that or something.
And then, as I got a little bigger, a little older, all I can remember is hitting mitts with my Dad, doing tons and tons of boxing and Thai boxing, things like that.
And then when we moved from Cincinnati to Oklahoma, my father opened a JKD school and he became a recognized certified instructor in JKD under Richard Bustillo. And so then, from there my life was filled with a lot of JKD. Everything from Kali to Wing Chun, Penjak Silat and tons of boxing and Thai boxing. I even competed in stick fighting.
Stephan: So it was creating that athletic base.
Rafael: Yeah. And then I got really into boxing. That was one thing I could compete in, you know, at an amateur level like the Golden Gloves in my area. That’s kind of the first thing I fell in love with. But then, when my Dad got introduced to Jiu jitsu, he started showing me Jiu jitsu, that just changed everything for me.
Stephan: What was it about it that reached out and grabbed you?
Rafael: Well, we were already grappling; we already knew that ground fighting was something. In JKD, there were already some ground fighting aspects before Jiu jitsu really came about. And so I remember doing things on the ground and liking it, but it was very non-technical. It was rough.
And so when we started learning Jiu jitsu, and I was sort of playing guard and learning the guard and triangles and things like that. I was kind of a big kid. I was pretty skinny but I was tall. And so when I started learning Jiu jitsu, I was like 13 years old, I had the ability to catch grown men in triangles and things like that. Guys couldn’t pass my guard and I could frustrate them. I was just a little teenager. And so that really drew me in. It was a feeling like this is something that is very natural-like and I could be very good at it. I started to see that. I could give adults a hard time, so who wouldn’t love that?
Stephan: Well, then take us through an abbreviated version of your Jiu jitsu journey: who you trained with and how you got to the point of running your own school in Oklahoma.
Rafael: Well, we’ve always had the academy in Oklahoma City and we kind of just slowly transitioned from a JKD school into more of a Jiu jitsu school with a lot of stand up. And so now, we’re kind of like the first mixed martial arts school in our area of the country.
Stephan: Which is appropriate. You can make an argument that Bruce Lee was the first mixed martial artist.
Rafael: Yes. JKD was mixed martial arts. It really was. So I’ve always kind of had that mindset of taking the best that you can from everything. But in the beginning it was very difficult because to learn Jiu jitsu, you either had to be in California, Florida or New York, back in the early 90’s. So it was really rough, but we traveled a lot. My Dad would travel. He would go all the way to California, spend a week or two there training with a lot of different people.
In the beginning, he was going to the Gracie Academy. He actually trained at Rickson’s School quite a bit. I actually remember visiting. I have a picture of Rickson and I must have been like 12 years old or something and that was back when Rickson was fighting in Japan. So he was going there.
And then, you know, every year, they had the JKD Instructors Conference. And then one of the following years, they brought in the Machado brothers to teach at the JKD Conference and my Dad really fell in love with the Machado brothers, their personalities and the way they taught and everything. So then, he was going to the Machado Academy to train. That’s back when all five brothers were at the same place. And the Machados had a great American team. They were like had a lot of Americans that were competing and doing well.
And so then, we were kind of more with the Machados and my father got a call one day from Carlos Machado and he said that he was moving to Dallas, Texas. Chuck Norris was a student of Carlos and he was filming in Dallas for the Walker, Texas Ranger show. He wanted Carlos to be close with him so Carlos became the first Brazilian black belt that was in our area of the country. And so Dallas, Texas became the closest place for us and that was great. 3-hour drive versus going all the way to Los Angeles was way better.
So then from there, my Dad started driving down to Dallas He kept a routine. Every Thursday, he would drive down, do a private lesson, train in the group class, and then drive back and then teach at night at the academy. And he did that for about four years straight every week.
And I used to go down and stay with Carlos. Actually, he’d let me stay with him in his house. And when I was getting into high school, like 14, 15, I would go down and stay with him a lot. And then I started traveling for competitions. The first Pan Ams I did was in 1999. I was 15 years old.
And so then, as I got a little older and traveling was becoming harder and harder for my father with the academy and everything, he started sending me around more. So I was going to Texas a lot more and then I was going to California. I would still go to California to train.
Stephan: So you were the Jiu jitsu spy sent out to get information and bring it back…
Rafael: Yes. We kind of took turns doing that. If it was him or I, he would go and we’d always have our notebooks. We’d have questions that if it wasn’t my question, maybe it was his question.
Stephan: As an instructor, you get a lot of questions. I get a lot of questions either through my website or through Facebook and where people often ask, ‘Stephan, I live in Podunk, Idaho and miles and miles and miles away from any instructors. What do I do?’ And basically, they have it even easier than you did.
Rafael: Yes.
Stephan: Because you can open up your phone, watch an app or you can read a book…
Rafael: All these instructional sites.
Stephan: Yeah. Tons of DVDs.
Rafael: Yeah.
Stephan: And you can travel. And the key thing really is just training it. Just finding some bodies and actually doing it. Then once in a while, I think it’s important to go and check in and get your ass kicked by some better people…
Rafael: Definitely.
Stephan: …at a better academy so you can recalibrate yourself. As long as you do that, as long as you actually train the material and then calibrate your material by competing or training in a big name Jiu jitsu academy somewhere else, you can make a ton of progress. And you’re a testament to that.
Rafael: Yes, exactly. I’m a 100% believer. It doesn’t matter your situation, your circumstance. If you really want it, you can do it. In a lot of ways, I think it’s a benefit because nowadays, a lot of people are starting to get spoiled. We have so many great competitors all over the place, great instructors. The access is unlimited. And…
Stephan: I remember it was a giant deal when you got a chance to train with some guy who had a blue belt…
Rafael: Yes, me too. “Oh my God, there’s a blue belt.” I remember when blue belts were like – whoa – you know. But in a lot of ways, I think it was beneficial because we would really study; we knew we weren’t going to have it the next day or the next week, whatever it was. And so everything that we learned or were able to experience was just huge for us and we didn’t take anything for granted. We wrote it down. We were like, “wow, this is the one thing.”
A lot of times I would go all the way to California and I’d learn stuff. Maybe it’d be one thing that really like stood out to me that helped change my game and I would sacrifice so much to learn that one thing. There was no YouTube. There wasn’t any of the other stuff. But in a lot of ways, I think that helped me become good.
Stephan: We’re like the grumpy old judges, ‘People now, the young folk now, they have no idea what it was like...’
Rafael: Yeah, it’s true. And it just made me study so much more. Sure, there were tons of hardships with not having a instructor in my state. Nobody that I could come back to, day in, day out, and have a mentor, someone to guide me and help me mold my game. I had to figure a lot out on my own.
But at the end, I felt like I had a better understanding because I had to do so much of it on my own. I had to study so much, and at the same time, we were also teaching because we would come back and then we would teach our students what we had learned. And so we really had to dissect and break everything down. It made me a better teacher, it made me a better Jiu jitsu practitioner, I understood a lot more and it just gave me a better Jiu jitsu mind.
And nowadays, people don’t put that same sort of energy into it. They kind of go to class, go through the motions, they don’t ask questions because know it’s going to be there the next day. You know what I mean? And in a lot of ways, I think that can be a hindrance. Maybe they didn’t have quite so much of that, they could get even better than they are now because they’d have to put more into it.
Basically, we just did a lot of studying. Any time we could get our hand on some video – VHS tapes at that time – we would sit back, watch and take notes of what we were watching. We were always drilling. Any time we’d learn something, we’d come back and just do it over and over again and a lot of people don’t drill like that. It’s just really putting everything you have into it instead of just going through the motions.
Stephan: Well, speaking of mentors and learning, you eventually made the transition from Carlos Machado to Saulo Ribeiro. Can you talk about that?
Rafael: Yes. So it was 2003. I was a 19-year old brown belt and I ended up facing Saulo in the finals of the Arnold Pro No Gi Championships in Columbus, Ohio. And that was my first big pro no gi competition and I knew Saulo was going to be there. He had done it in the years prior and I was so pumped for the possible opportunity to face him. It was like destiny. It really was.
We were on opposite sides of the bracket. Obviously, he was going to make it to the finals, but I was able to fight my way to the finals too. And there I was, matched up with him and it was a good match. He ended up catching me, submitted me from mount at about 9 minutes in, like almost before the end of the time. And I think he saw something in me.
I was in Brazil later that year. And I saw him and he actually came by and picked me up from my hotel, took me to his academy to train. And for me, at that time in the blue and purple divisions, I was still doing well despite not having any high-level people to train with. But once I got to brown belt, I faced a lot of hardships.
In 2002, I had a lot of losses and it was hard for me to accept because I had been doing so well. But it came to a point where I needed mentorship and high level training with other world champion black belt competitors, people that had done or were trying to do what I was trying to do. Not having that was becoming a hard thing. It was affecting me a lot. And so then my confidence started messing with me and everything.
And so brown belt was definitely my toughest belt. It really was. But that’s when I started to train with Saulo and we started developing a relationship. He came to Oklahoma. And then in 2004, I actually spent an extended period of time in Brazil. I had a good feeling that I would be getting my black belt soon and I wanted to be the best black belt I could be. So I sacrificed a lot. Saved up a lot of money and I said, “Man, I’m going to Brazil for a few months. I want to train as much as I can, compete as much as I can, because when I get my black belt, I want to be good. I don’t want to be just a regular black belt.”
And so I went to Brazil and I ended up training with Xande everyday.
Stephan: Just to clarify, Xande is Saulo’s brother…
Rafael: Yes. Saulo was still in the US. He was making the transition. So he was doing some things in the US but he came later in the summer for the Worlds. And I just became part of the team, part of the family. I remember going to Toledo, Ohio all the time. That’s where they were kind of stationed at. In the US, they had a lot of affiliate academies in the Midwest. And Toledo, Ohio was not like your number one vacation destination.
We would just go out there and it was just hard training everyday, just incredible hard training, and I went through a lot to experience that. At that time, I was a brand new black belt. I’m wearing the same color belt as them but I’m getting completely throttled everyday. Training with Saulo and Xande back and forth…
Stephan: You were either going to die or you were going to get better…
Rafael: Yeah, exactly. That’s exactly what happened. I survived. Fortunately the discipline that my father put in me, and the hard work, allowed me to be able to survive that hard training. And I started, “Man, these guys believe in me and we’re going to the competitions together, we’re flying all over together, we’re training together, why can’t I do it.” And so I started getting some good wins and from there, everything just started falling into place.
Stephan: Okay.I’m assuming from the way you’re framing it, that that period built the mental toughness that then served you well later on in your competition career.
Rafael: Yes, for sure. AndI think it came down to my father. My father is an extremely disciplined man, very hardworking, and I would just follow him; that’s really what got put me into martial arts. It’s like every other son wanting to make his Dad proud. And so I think it started with my father – I was training hours and hours. When I was 11 years old, I was training all day. And so that hard work, the never quitting, the discipline and understanding that if I put the work in, I can achieve anything. That started with my father. And then that carried over to Saulo.
And the thing that Saulo and Xande really gave me was confidence and guidance because until then, I didn’t have any other world champion black belt telling me, “Alright, this is what you have to think and feel and do to go out there and become a world champion black belt.” It’s different. You have to become a different person.
Stephan: What’s different about it? Can you give us some examples of the switch that needs to be made?
Rafael: The person that you are on a normal, everyday basis – when you’re with your friends, with your family – you can’t be that person when you’re on the mat or in the cage or whatever. In that sort of combat where it’s man versus man or woman versus woman, you have to be… It’s hard to explain. When I describe it to my students, I tell them that you have to be kind of like a superhero. Whatever regular, normal human thoughts you have, or doubts that come into your mind everyday, that has to be completely shut off when you’re out there. And I didn’t understand that at first.
I grew up in Oklahoma, so for me it was nice Southern hospitality, humble, quiet… And so going out to these competitions, sometimes I was a little unsure of myself. And what Saulo and Xande, with Saulo especially, taught me was how to make that mental switch, what to think and feel, and have this extra level to turn myself up to. I had to train myself and really develop that.
Stephan: How do you train that? Do you do visualization?
Rafael: Yeah. Lots of visualization.
Stephan: Because this is something a lot of my readers asked me to ask you when they heard I was doing this interview with you. On the Grapplearts Facebook page, for example, people wanted to know about the mental aspects of competition and how you mentally prepare for that.
Rafael: Yeah. When Saulo was telling me these things and I was starting to learn these things, I don’t think Saulo spent time doing much visualization and things like that because he already had that. He already knew that. He was already very confident in himself. He already had been successful a lot at the lower belts. He didn’t have to go through… I mean I’m not saying he hadn’t had hardships, but he had Royler Gracie, one of the greatest competitors of all time, mentoring him. And so when I started to understand that for me to hit the next level, I was going to have to be mentally stronger. That was going to be the number one thing that was going to help me hit the next level.
I had to train. I had to really work on finding that zone to become successful as a black belt. Especially because at that time in Brazil at the World Championships, there would be a handful of non-Brazilians that would medal in the whole competition. Not just as a black belt, in the whole competition, blue, purple, brown, any belt, there would be three or four and you always knew who those guys were. And so the confidence level was different for Americans, or non-Brazilians in general, because it just hadn’t been done yet. It hadn’t been done where there are several Americans medaling and winning and doing well. The only one who had had any success really was BJ. Of course, he won gold and there’s other…
Stephan: BJ Penn?
Rafael: Yes, BJ Penn. There were other Americans who medalled here and there. Garth Taylor, Alberto Crane, you know some of these guys, but it was just so rare that competing in Brazil, it was a different vibe. It was a different vibe than what it is now. Now with the Worlds in the US and you’re more familiar with the competitors. Back then…
Stephan: You had no idea who you’re up against…
Rafael: …it was great and it was more mythical. Everyone was mysterious. You heard of all the best guys but the only way you can really see them is if you went to Brazil and saw them live in action. And then you’ll be fighting, and then here I was fighting those guys after I’ve been kind of like…
Stephan: Idolizing them…
Rafael: …trained mentally to look up to them so much. And so I had to go through a lot to overcome those barriers and say, “Man, it’s just another man and I deserve this as well. I’ve put in the work. I can beat anybody.” And so it came down to having the reinforcement from Saulo and Xande and then developing my mind to where I would exclude any doubts. I had a lot of battles with that. Sometimes I’d be very good and other times, maybe I’d be facing a guy who had a big name and I’d say “If I lose to this guy, it’s okay.” You know what I mean?
Stephan: So what’s the toughest opponent that you fought in competition? Do you care to throw a name out there? But you’re going to insult everybody else that you’ve fought…
Rafael: That’s really hard to say because I’ve faced nearly everybody and I haven’t beat everybody. But I’ve been fortunate to beat a lot of world champions and top competitors. But like I was saying with the mental aspects, I think the number one challenge, the number one person that I have to overcome, is always going to be myself, To have the confidence and exclude all negative thoughts out of my mind with the visualization and the auto-suggestion.There’s something I say to myself…
Stephan: What do you say to yourself?
Rafael: It’s like a paragraph. It’s very long.
Stephan: Okay.
Rafael: I have it and I read it over and over in competition. It’s in my phone. It’s something that I wrote that is very emotional for myself. It’s pretty much just something that makes me think back to all the work I’ve put in for all the years and who I am and what I’ve been able to overcome. And it gives me that drive, that fire and that confidence to go out there and not let anything stop me, not let anything hinder me from having my best performance. And if I can put on my best performance and I still lose, I can accept that way more than holding back and being nervous and scared and going out there and barely showing my game and then losing because of that.
You know, a lot of people said there was the Rafael before Saulo and the Rafael after Saulo. And the thing that changed the most was my mental state.
Stephan: Okay. We’ve talked about your mental state. Let’s talk a little bit about the technique. So I’m going to start with your guard passing game. It’s going to be hard to do on an audio interview but we’re going to try.
Like I said before, I was really struck by your aggressive and relentless guard passing, approach to guard passing in competition. And I know you’ve got some products out on guard passing, so obviously, you’ve taught this aspect of your game a lot.
What are some takeaway points? What are your top three tips for how to pass the guard of a high-level guy?
Rafael: Wow! Well, to help you understand how that developed for me. Not only did Saulo and Xande help complete me mentally, but also technically. It was really awesome because the one position, the one area in my game that I developed the most, felt the most comfortable with because I started as a kid, was my guard. Because that’s the first thing you could do as a kid.
Stephan: Fighting bigger adults?
Rafael: Yeah, exactly. And so I was a guard guy. And a lot of the guys I was training with had very good guards, so I always kept up with learning and understanding about the guard. And then Saulo and Xande are one or two of the best players that have ever, ever been in the game. And it helped me so much in both ways, because when I started to train with them, I got to feel and experience how they were just killing my guard. Just completely shutting down my guard. And I was very proud of my guard.
And so I was analyzing and studying how they were killing my guard. And also asking the questions of course. And I’m learning from them, and I’m starting to apply their techniques and principles to my passing game. And it really ended up completing my Jiu jitsu and gave me a very well rounded Jiu jitsu where I feel comfortable on bottom and top.
Their style of passing was very different from what I’d experienced before. The pressure and the smashing and the forcing half guard and mounting, things like that. At that time I would pass to side control… bullfighting a lot.. I had a good cross knee pass. My passing wasn’t horrible but I wouldn’t go and win competitions with my passing only. I’d win with my guard.
And so I said, “Man, I need to bring this into my game.” And so I started putting it together and that’s when I really developed the most. The biggest jump in my game since being a black belt is definitely my top game. And so when I started putting out these passing products and teaching my passing game, it’s what I’ve developed personally from what I’ve learned over the years from Saulo and Xande.
Stephan: Is that the pressure guard passing?
Rafael: Yes. My pressure passing system, I wanted to get that out there because I think so many people neglect developing their top game the same way they develop their guard, because the guard is very pretty. It’s kind of the essence of Jiu jitsu.
Stephan: Sure.
Rafael: Being on bottom and being able to submit people or use leverage to sweep them and things like that is very pretty. Passing’s not as pretty. The guard’s also always having new developments all the time, so it’s easy to kind of get sucked into that and want to do that all…
Stephan: Down the guard rabbit hole…
Rafael: Yeah, and do that all the time. Not spending the same time and energy on your passing. And so I wanted to get that out there so people wouldn’t wait as long as I did, and they would understand some different concepts that maybe they don’t normally learn when it comes to passing, that being the smashing, the pressure, how you make people feel all, every single ounce of your weight plus some.
Stephan: How do you do that?
Rafael: It depends on the position. It’s hard to explain with words but one thing I try to do is stay on my toes. I try to stay forward and you can see that a lot in my match with Kayron in Metamoris. Half the time, I was almost just kind of laying on him, kind of the blanket effect, to wear out his legs, making the person use their hands to push you off instead of having grips and wearing them out and forcing your way going through the guard instead of trying to go around it, and so trying to beat the legs.
Instead, you go through and get to the hips, controlling the hips, understanding that passing the guard isn’t about beating the legs. It’s more about controlling the hips. And going through the legs means a lot of times you’re going to go to the half guard. Whereas that used to feel kind of bad to me, now I like to go into the half guard first and I see it much differently. I see it now I’m half way to mount instead of being in the half guard.
Stephan: Which is funny because that’s how it used to be back in the day. Ages ago, being in the half guard was one step short of having your guard passed. Then this whole…
Rafael: Yeah, then all the guard games came out. And everyone has a guard game for every position.
Stephan: And the half guard became a dominant position…
Rafael: Yes.
Stephan: Now we’re almost seeing the flip side. It’s going back to the way it was. With the half guard as an “Oh Crap” kind of position, at least when you’re facing somebody who can neutralize that position…
Rafael: Yeah. Exactly. Yeah, there’s definitely two kinds of half guard. There’s a good half guard for the guy in the bottom and there’s a very bad one where you know you’re going to get mounted. And that was the last of piece was I didn’t have: a great mount. I wasn’t comfortable with the mount. I had some good submissions from side control, the kimura, the brabo choke, some of the things I like to do, but I like never mounted anybody and I never finished anyone from mount.
It wasn’t until I started training with Saulo and Xande that I understood then how powerful the mount position was and how passing directly to mount was just utterly demoralizing for the person on bottom, how powerful that was, and the advantage of keeping your weight on them. It’s different than passing around the legs. A lot of times your weight comes off when you go to side control. But if you go to mount, your weight is on the whole time and the guy on the bottom is getting smothered. And I was experiencing that first hand. So I was like, “Man, I want to do this to somebody else. I’m tired of getting it done to me.”
Getting comfortable with my mount added a whole new element to my passing game because then, it wasn’t about always going to side control. I would feel comfortable with going to mount and then being able to finish from there.
And those are the things I’m trying to teach now to the Jiu jitsu world and the feedback has been amazing. I get so many messages from people who are members of my online coaching program or people that have bought my DVDs before, saying how my techniques have really helped them take their game to the next level, whether it’s in the academy or competition and things like that. That really means a lot to me.
Now I’m putting a lot more things out there. I’ll definitely be filming a guard series later on this year. And right now, I have a passing system for gi and no gi, and actually, I just released a submissions series 2, kind of the follow up. What do we do after we pass, how do we attack. And all of them are doing very well. People can see information about my submissions series at sealthedealbjj.com, and if they go to scienceofthegame.com, they can see information about my passing products and other things that I’m doing.
Stephan: And I know you’ve also got an iPhone app on the omo plata, but you say it’s being redone. It’s going to be coming out again real soon?
Rafael: Yeah, we made a couple of changes. It came off the market for a little bit. I’m going to put it back up there just to kind of start building up for a complete guard series. I’m going to later on this year.
Stephan: Okay. Yeah, I really enjoyed that little app. That’s the only one I’ve seen so far.
Rafael: Yeah. That’s one of the first things I did. Kind of get myself out there a little more and help me get comfortable with teaching in front of the camera and everything. The omo plata is one of my favorite techniques from the guard and a lot of people have liked that.
Stephan: A man with taste, ladies and gentlemen. A man with taste! Alright.
We’re coming to the end of the interview here. I’ve got to ask you about the whole strength and conditioning aspect and cardio aspect. How much do you do in the lead up to a competition?
Rafael: I do a lot.
Stephan: What specifically do you do? Can you like give us an example of a workout with specific exercises and specific reps? Not so that people go out and do it verbatim, but it’s always interesting to see what a top-level guy is doing.
Rafael: Well, for me, ever since I was young, the hard work my father put me through, I’ve always been into doing strength and conditioning in some form or way or other. Back when I was younger, I didn’t really know… I didn’t have the mind to be able to create a program for myself and so a lot of it I was kind of just taking from other people, what they did or what I felt was good for me. And so every now and then, I would get experience with a high level trainer and I would start to use that…
Stephan (laughing): Just bicep curls and bench presses…
Rafael: Yeah, that is NOT what you want to do for Jiu jitsu! But so I’ve been developing that area of my training as well over the years. I’m very fortunate to have met my trainer, Lucius C. Tirey, and he’s not too far away from me in Oklahoma. He has a world-class facility. He’s an incredible trainer. He’s worked with a lot of professional athletes before. He has really helped me take that to the next level.
For me, I think conditioning is especially important because I don’t have high level black belts to train with everyday. 97% of my training is done with my students there in Oklahoma City. So obviously, they’re not going to push me to that level where I’m going to be really tired.
I have them all rotate on me and things like that, but the way I’m going to really feel what I could feel in competition is going to be in the gym. And so I take it very seriously and I push myself really hard in the gym. Basically, he helped me become smarter with how I work in the gym.
And so what we do is two days a week focused on strength and two days a week focused on conditioning. The day in the middle, Wednesday, is a recovery day. And that was a huge thing for me. I thought no one could work harder than me, I need to do something everyday…
Stephan: Nobody can break my body better down than me….
Rafael: Yeah. At that time when I took a day off, I would feel guilty. I used to have this guilty feeling if I wasn’t training or if I wasn’t super sore, tired, like I didn’t do enough today. And so I used to overdo it a lot. And that would cause me to get injuries and little things nagging me in my body. So not only did my training become better but it became much smarter.
So Wednesday is a recovery day. I try to be very smart on Wednesdays because if I keep it up through Wednesday, by the time I hit Saturday, I’m a mess. So basically, Monday and Thursday are strength, Tuesday and Friday are conditioning. I take it easy a little bit Friday night because Saturday is my hardest day of training at my academy. We usually do somewhere in the neighborhood of four hours of very hard drilling and competition training.
And typical workouts are going to be a blend of a lot of different things. I might do some circuit training. The strength days, obviously I’m going to focus more on the strength.
Stephan: So what lifts are you doing? Are you doing whole body stuff?
Rafael: So probably the lifts I do the most are deadliest and squats. Deadlifts are probably the best lift that we could do as Jiu jitsu fighters. I do a lot of pull-ups, a lot of grip training, a lot of variations on pull-ups, everything from rings to rope pull-ups to gi pull-ups to fat-bar pull-ups to chin-ups, the whole spectrum, a lot of grip training. But deadlifts, pull-ups, the prowler. The prowler is like…
Stephan: I have no idea what a prowler is.
Rafael: It’s a piece of equipment that you think is for football players where you’re kind of pushing something. And it has high handles and low handles. You can stack weights on the prowler. And that’s probably the one thing that really just makes you feel absolutely dead, like a Jiu jitsu competition could make you feel. It really gets that lactic acid and everything built up in your body. Fries your legs. Completely destroys your legs. But the prowler is kind of like your worst best friend.
And then we do a lot of sled drags, you know, a lot of pulling the sled around. And then a lot of kettle bell swings. Kettle bells are great for the grips. And so he’ll put up a lot of circuits within those exercises and of course other stuff.
And then he’ll push me hard with the cardio, with the prowler. A lot of sprinting. We do a lot of hill sprints. Because Jiu jitsu is very hard and then kind of slow, so I think the best form of cardio that you can do specifically would be with sprints.
And I take a lot of that and apply it to the training, as well, on the mat where I’m doing really hard bursts of rounds. We do 90-second bursts a lot where it’s like a battle to get the score, a battle to pass or a battle to sweep. It’s different situational trainings. Takedown training is a great way to tire yourself out on the mat. And drilling for, trying to hit a certain number of reps within a certain number of time. That can push you on the mat as well.
So I kind of just do a little bit of everything. But he keeps it very simple. And the key is I don’t leave the gym so dead that I can’t train at night. I feel better getting my conditioning workout in the day. I feel better when I’m on the mat later. I feel like my body is stronger and more like warmed up.
Stephan: Of course you’ve also built that up over 20 years of training. So that your body’s able to handle all that.
Rafael: Right.
Stephan: Before somebody goes out there and tries to do this… Before someone says “I’m going to jump up from my desk job, quit being a computer programmer and I’m going to start training three times a day the way Rafael does…”
Rafael: Yeah. You’ve got to be smart. You’ve got to know your body. And that’s the other thing is getting to understand my body. Knowing when I need to stop. I used to never stop. And then I wasn’t training well. I’d be too broken down. I didn’t want to leave the workout or the gym until I knew I was going to be sore or I was going to be really tired. That’s not about that. It’s about making yourself better on the mat. And then within that, I do a lot of recovery work, a lot of foam rolling, like at the lacrosse ball and all my knots and take the time to stretch a lot and do a lot of joint mobility. And that was the other piece that he really brought into my training was the recovery aspects, which was extremely important that a lot of people neglect.
Stephan: The very last thing I want to talk about is some really cool news that you have about Abu Dhabi. Why don’t you share it with the listeners here? What’s going on with you?
Rafael: Just this week, the ADCC invitations are getting sent out. Now that the Worlds are over and Metamoris is done, all eyes are on ADCC. It’s an ADCC year, so that’s going to be the big thing to complete the year. I was very happy to receive my invitation again. This will be my fourth time at ADCC.
At the last ADCC in 2011, I had my first and second black belts with me. James Popolo is my second black belt. He won at trials to go to the ADCC. And Justin Rader, my first black belt, received his invitation and he competed at ADCC for the second time. And so, the last ADCC, there was three of us, 2 of my students and myself.
And then this time around, I had another student who actually won the ADCC trials as a blue belt. His name is Jerod Dot. He’s going to be one for people to keep their eyes on. He’s an incredible athlete very smart and now a purple belt. He’s coming up, he took second at the Worlds this year. He was a blue belt world champion gi and no gi last year. And he’s going to be very, very tough on the comer over the next couple of years.
So I have three students, and myself, making four of us from Team Lovato and we have compiled the biggest American team to ever compete at one ADCC. We have a person in all but one of the weight classes for the male divisions and we’re making history again. So I’m very proud of that because I’ve been teaching since I was so young, I am getting to compete alongside a lot of my black belts.
Stephan: The next generation…
Rafael: And a lot of my guys who are doing really well. It brings another element of satisfaction for me in my career, especially getting to compete alongside my black belts, which is a big thing. Justin Rader and myself, we both won the no gi world championships on the same day in 2010, as an American teacher and student black belt combo winning world titles. The history-making aspect, and being able to pave the way for the next generation, and compete alongside my students and things, it’s a special thing for me. I look forward to competing with my black belts as much as possible in the future, but obviously, my time in the adult division, the highest level, is getting shorter. I just turned 30. I still have a good few more years left.
Stephan: You’re still young.
Rafael: Yeah, I still have a few more years left in me, but it’s so awesome to compete alongside my black belts. The chance that we could both win on the same day or do something amazing like that really excites me and it makes me proud as my work as a teacher and instructor. I’m just really happy and excited for the ADCC now.
Stephan: Well, I look forward to following your career and the career of your students in competition and everything else you’re up to.
So we’re going to have to draw this to a close because you’ve got a seminar to teach and I’ve got a seminar to participate in. And so we’re going to get you off to that.
Thank you so much for the interview.
Rafael: Thank you. I’d like to say in closing, for all my fans and everybody out there, of course I appreciate all the support. And please follow me on Facebook, lovatojrfans.com, and check out my site, lovatojr.com, to hear everything I have going on, all my products and everything else. I look forward to seeing you guys soon. Thank you.
To download Stephan Kesting’s free book, A Roadmap for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and also to be notified of new interviews, articles and videos, please sign up for the free Grapplearts.com newsletter. You can sign up and/or get more information about that newsletter by clicking here.
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Law enforcement’s need for information access is critical and should be supported—but only in ways that ensure the individual’s personal privacy. That was the message from European Data Protection Supervisor Giovanni Buttarelli, speaking at the first public event that Europol has held on the specific subject of privacy.
Against the backdrop of several important court cases, as well as calls for enabling surveillance for counter-terrorism purposes, Buttarelli pointed out [PDF] that in many cases, law enforcement’s counter-terrorism flaws come down to poor collaboration rather than a lack of information. For instance, he noted that it is likely that most of the Paris and Brussels attackers were known to the local police as criminals, jihadis or some foreign fighters, and that information on them was included in the relevant EU databases.
“Of course law enforcement authorities need to do everything possible to fulfil their public function of ensuring law and order and justice for victims of crime and terrorism,” Buttarelli said, calling for more information and analysis. “The EU's Counter Terrorism Coordinator recently told the JHA Council that there are still 'significant gaps with regard to feeding Europol' with information necessary on foreign terrorist fighters. This is an urgent problem because of the need for Europol to help match criminality and terrorist activity.”
He also discussed the idea of backdoors, comparing them to the state instructing all architects and construction companies to weaken, in a secret way, one of the points of entry in every private residence.
“Backdoors are not the solution to cybersecurity; they would be a new and dangerous part of the problem. What we need instead is to reinforce the global infrastructure, not to weaken it, to ensure that not only citizens but governments also are secure against attacks.”
He noted that a backdoor would be fundamentally different from the traditional wiretap. “Much more so than our homes, our mobile devices now contain revealing and sensitive data on almost every aspect of our lives, private and professional,” he said. “A trojan horse or built-in vulnerability in all smart phones, tablets and PCs would allow collection and retention of personal information on a much greater scale than ever before. It would set a precedent for the emerging Internet of Things where a whole range of everyday devices and objects will be connected.”
He also said that now may be time to consider establishing a right to encrypt, in addition to any moves to reinforce law enforcement capabilities.
He said that Europe has taken “a massive step in the right direction” with the final adoption of the General Data Protection Regulation and of the Directive for data protection in the police and judicial sector. And, the adoption of the Europol Regulation, which will make Buttarelli’s department responsible, in 2017, for the supervision of compliance of personal data processing.
The balancing of privacy and law enforcement needs was played out in two separate cases in Germany and Italy—with different outcomes. The German Federal Constitutional Court recently ruled on the police use of tracking devices in international terrorism cases, and found that privacy safeguards, transparency to parliament, public and individual legal protection and judicial review must be taken into account.
“According to the Court, it was disproportionate to use wiretap for more than just the most serious offences; and there were limits on the interference with the private spheres of individuals who are not suspected of terrorist activities,” he said. “And it was disproportionate also to transfer personal data to third countries where there were no guarantees of protection of the fundamental rights of the individuals in question.”
Meanwhile, the Italian Court of Cassation said in April that evidence acquired through trojan horses installed on electronic equipment could indeed be admissible in the most serious cases: anti-Mafia and anti-organized crime efforts, and to combat terrorism.
“The FBI-Apple argument in the wake of San Bernardino is just an early skirmish in a long battle,” he said. “A broad and informed public debate is now needed, just as President Obama himself has said. Is the question really one of privacy versus security, or is it rather one of overall security versus decryption?”
Photo © Nagel Photography |
This Time It’s Pregnant Women: Another Atrocity In The Bush/Obama Afghanistan War
Another night-time raid on a housing compound in Afghanistan. Another bunch of innocent Afghans killed. Another round of lies by the US-led forces of the so-called International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Only this time, among the dead are two pregnant mothers and a teenage girl.
And once again the US media remain mute, accepting the official story, which was of ISAF forces responding to an attack which in reality appears never to have happened.
Before I started to write this piece, which once again was broken by the intrepid Jerome Starkey, a reporter in Afghanistan who works for the Times of London, I thought maybe I should read the Sunday edition of the New York Times, to see whether America’s “paper of record” had reported on this latest atrocity. But the night before we had suffered a heavy storm that knocked down three large trees in my front yard, and there was currently a thunderstorm underway, with rain pouring down, so I decided, what the hell, I’ll just write it. There’s no way the Times would cover this story.
I was right, of course. When the rain let up, and I went out and got the paper, and scoured it for word of this latest obscene slaughter by US forces, I found nothing. The Times’ reporters in Afghanistan and the reporters in the paper’s Washington bureau who cover the Pentagon had ignored it. So, a Google search discloses, did the rest of the servile US media.
So what actually happened?
According to Starkey, US and Afghan Army forces on February 12 launched a pre-dawn assault on the home of a prominent and popular policeman’s home just outside of Gardez, the capital of Paktia province in eastern Afghanistan. The first person to die was reportedly the policeman himself, Commander Dawood, who had stood in his doorway protesting the innocence of his family. In the volley of fire directed against him by the brave US-led team, his pregnant wife, another pregnant woman and an 18-year-old girl were also slaughtered.
Commander Dawood had been hosting a party to celebrate the naming of a newborn baby boy, Starkey reported. As he writes:
Sitting together along the walls of a guest room, the men had taken turns dancing while musicians played. Mohammed Sediq Mahmoudi, 24, the singer, said that at some time after 3am one of the musicians, Dur Mohammed, went outside to go to the toilet. “Someone shone a light on his face and he ran back inside and said the Taliban were outside,” Mr Sediq said.
Also killed was Dawood’s brother, Saranwal Zahir, a local prosecutor, who had been shouting for soldiers not to shoot as women had run outside to tend to the wounded.
A younger brother of the two men, Mohammed Sabir, was arrested by the invading forces and brought to a US base, where he was held for several days and interrogated by “ an American in civilian clothes,” before being released. Sabir said he was shown photos of a man who had been at the party, a certain Shamsuddin. Sabir says he told the interrogatyor, “Yes, he was at the party. Why didn’t you arrest him?” The man in question, Shamsuddin, later turned himself in and was, after questioning, reportedly also released.
Raising the question, what was this raid, and all the pointless killing, about in the first place?
As Starkey writes, the US and the ISAF initially, following what appears to be standard operating procedure, concocted a lie about the incident In a release immediately afterward, under the headline, “Joint force operating in Gardez makes gruesome discovery,” the NATO release claimed that the US-led team had found the women’s bodies “tied up, gagged and killed” in a room. That statement went on to say: “Several insurgents engaged the joint force in a firefight and were killed.”
As Starkey, who charges NATO with a “coverup,” reports: “The family, however, insists that no one threw so much as a stone.”
He goes on:
Rear Admiral Greg Smith, NATO’s director of communications in Kabul, denied that there had been any attempt at a cover-up.
He said that both the men who were killed were armed and showing “hostile intent” but admitted “they were not the targets of this particular raid.”
“I don’t know if they fired any rounds,” he said. “If you have got an individual stepping out of a compound, and if your assault force is there, that is often the trigger to neutralise the individual. You don’t have to be fired upon to fire back.”
He admitted that the original statement had been “poorly worded” but said “to people who see a lot of dead bodies” the women had appeared at the time to have been dead for several hours.
Starkey reports that the Americans offered the distraught family $2000 per victim of the botched raid. But as the mother of the slain brothers, Bibi Sabsparie, told him bitterly, “There’s no value on human life. They killed our family, then they came and brought us money. Money won’t bring our family back.”
So once again, we have a massacre (in a night-time raid that occurred two weeks after the US commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal ordered an end to the practice because of the number of errors and civilian deaths, and the bad public relations such raids cause among Afghans), with no coverage by the US media.
Meanwhile, Starkey says that even in the UK, his stories have been ignored by the rest of the British media, and that his own efforts to get at the truth have begun causing problems with the US-led military command in Afghanistan.
As he told one reader who had written him to congratulate him on his work:
Word in Kabul is that NATO are turning their wrath on me, personally, and about to release a rebuttal. All of a sudden it’s a daunting prospect and more than ever I feel what it must be like to be churned through the military machine. It’s good to know people appreciate it. I’ve also had emails from the victims’ family, which is heartening.
It is not easy to be an honest reporter in wartime, where sycophancy and blind patriotism are what is demanded. Sadly, the US media are taking the easy way out, accepting the rules of being embedded, which require them to submit articles for censorship, to avoid being critical and to play the game, in return for getting easy human interest stories to send back to the readers and viewers back home.
That’s not journalism. It’s PR. It ought to be labeled as such.
Extra! Also ignored by the Times and most of the rest of the US corporate media was a historic decision by a federal judge in Chicago on March 4 to compel former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to respond to charges by to US torture victims that Rumsfeld authorized their torture by US forces at Camp Cropper in Iraq. The two men, David Vance and Nathan Ertel, were whistleblowers against the private security (mercenary) firm that had hired them, claiming it was secretly providing arms to insurgents. Instead of getting the firm investigated, they were arrested by US troops and held–and tortured, they claim–for three months, before being released without charge and sent home to the US.
Their attorney, Mike Kanovitz of Chicago’s Loevy & Loevy, correctly calls the quashing of Rumsfeld’s effort to have the suit against him thrown out, “pretty historic”–a former secretary of defense is being accused of authorizing the torture of American citizens and will have to answer the charge in a federal court–but you wouldn’t know it from the response of the US mainstream media, which has been…nothing.
Dave Lindorff is a Philadelphia-based journalist. He is author of Killing Time: An Investigation into the Death Penalty Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal (Common Courage Press, 2003) and The Case for Impeachment (St. Martin’s Press, 2006). His work is available at thiscantbehappening.net |
Lesson α': The Alphabet
The Standard Alphabet
The first step is to begin to read the Greek alphabet. It will be necessary to train your perception to recognize the letters automatically, as you do with the Latin alphabet. This is facilitated by simultaneous use of vision, hearing, and muscular activity. The letters should be sounded out in your head as you look at them, and you should write them constantly, recalling the sound as you do so. Alphabetic writing, as we do in English and Greek, is strongly tied to speech. Greek writing is completely phonetic, unlike English, and this will be found a help. Nevertheless, it will require about a year's practice before you can read the Greek letters with ease. Do not despair; only time and practice can give you the skill, and it will invariably come.
Alphabetic writing began with the Egyptians, whose writing was phonetic. The Phoenicians adopted the Egyptian writing and modified it to suit their Semitic language. As in Egypt, vowel sounds were not represented, since the consonants suggested some word that was known in the spoken tongue (like 'm dg s nmd spt'). Greeks took over the Phoenician symbols, and made them represent Greek sounds, vowels as well as consonants. All this required a thousand years or so, and there were many local variations.
The Greek alphabet reached its definitive form in 5th-century BC Athens, when some letters were dropped, others added, and still others written in new ways, in a thorough standardization of the alphabet. The ways of writing the letters changed gradually. At first, what we call capital letters were used. Then, to facilitate rapid writing with a pen on parchment, these letters were modified into a minuscule form. With the introduction of printing, fonts were designed based on the minuscule letters, and this is the basis for the letters used today in Greek. The capital letters were retained for emphasis, as in Latin. In our style, we use capital letters only for proper nouns, and for the first letter in a paragraph. Sentences begin with the usual small letters. There is no connected script for Greek even today, such as we use in English, but simply rapid ways of writing the minuscule characters.
The Latin alphabet was created from the early Greek alphabet by taking over those letters representing sounds common in the two languages, and adapting the others for Latin sounds that did not occur in Greek. Some of the Greek letters adopted were later dropped in Greek. For example, the digamma, representing a sound that did not occur in Latin, became the letter F, for an unvoiced labiodental sound that Greek did not have. The koppa, representing a guttural sound Latin did not have, became the Q. B represented the voiced labiodental sound in Greek (English v), but Latin used it for the voiced labial sound (English b). This B-V uncertainty was a feature of later Latin, as it yet is in modern Spanish, where vino is pronounced bino. The Latin alphabet was established before the Greek alphabet was regularized in Athens. All this is only so that you recognize the close relation of the two alphabets, and some of the reasons for the differences.
Greek was the international language of the classical world, and a standard Greek, called the koine, 'common', was understood by all educated people, who continued to use their local languages, such as Latin. This standard Greek was well-established by the first century AD, and is the language of Euclid.
You will have to decide on some pronunciation of the Greek letters for your own use. Greek is a living language, and has a modern pronunciation that has evolved from older ones. It would not be satisfactory for you to use this modern pronunciation with Euclid, since it tends to make different spellings sound the same, which will not help you to distinguish words. On the other hand, the accepted 'academic' pronunciation is artificial and strange. Whatever they say, it is impossible to determine how Greek sounded in ancient times, or even in the 1st century AD, and even then there was no one way of pronouncing it, as shown by the many dialect variations in spelling. Since you are not going to speak Greek to another person, it does not matter if you create your own dialect, so long as it is consistent and reasonable. I will say what I do myself, and you may follow, or do something else. It will make no difference. You must, however, do something!
Let us now go through the 24 letters of the standard Greek alphabet, and show their forms and discuss their pronunciations. Each letter has a traditional name, given in italics below.
Α, α: alpha, the vowel a. It can be long, as in father, or short, as in bat.
Β, β: beta, pronounce as v or, if you must, b. I have found no evidence that it was ever pronounced as b in ancient Greek, but they say it was.
Γ, γ: gamma, g, always hard (g, never j). In modern Greek, it has become very soft, so that γι would be pronounced yi. In Latin, it evolved into a k sound, and so c (an archaic way of writing γ) got this sound, and Latin dropped the κ in most words. Two gammas together, γγ, are pronounced ng, as in sing.
Δ, δ: delta, d. In modern Greek, like th in this.
Ε, ε: epsilon, or 'plain e'. A short e.
Ζ, ζ: zeta, z. Academics argue whether it was pronounced zd or dz, but this is pointless. Just say z, as modern Greeks do.
Η, η: eta, a long e (ay). The letter H was transferred to this sound by the Athenians. Latin kept the original.
Θ, θ: theta, th as in thin is good enough. Originally, it was almost surely a breathed t, a tuh sound.
Ι, ι: iota, the vowel i. It can be long, as in machine, or short, as in bit.
Κ, κ: kappa, k.
Λ, λ: lambda, l.
Μ, μ: mu, m. Should be moo, but mew is usual.
Ν, ν: nu, n. Noo is usual, oddly enough.
Ξ, ξ: xi, ks, a double letter, k + s. Did not exist when Latin adopted the X.
Ο, ο: omicron, 'small (or short) o'. As in rot.
Π, π: pi, p. Should be pee, but pie is usual.
Ρ, ρ: rho, r. Trill it if you like.
Σ, σ, s: sigma, s. Not as a z, except in modern Greek before e or i. In old scripts, written as C. At the ends of words, has the form s.
Τ, τ: tau, t. The alphabet of the Phoenicians ended here. All following letters were specially created for Greek.
Υ, υ: upsilon, 'plain u', pronounced ü. Became Y when later taken over into the Latin alphabet.
Φ, φ: phi, f. Should be fee, but usually it is fie. In archaic Greek, it was puh, but later the Latin f was adopted.
Χ, χ: chi, ch as in loch or ach, never as in chap. Say kye, but key is better. Used by Latin for ks, X, since Latin has few guttural sounds.
Ψ, ψ: psi, ps, a double letter, p + s.
Ω, ω: omega, 'big O', a long o as in rote.
Vowel Combinations
When a vowel is followed by ι or υ, the result is usually a new sound, called a diphthong, which is strictly a blending of two sounds, but sometimes is actually a new pure sound. These diphthongs are:
αι: eye
ει: ay
οι: oy
υι: oui
αυ: ow
ου: oo (a pure sound)
ευ: ehf, perhaps eh-oo
ηυ: ayf, perhaps ay-oo
In pronouncing the first four, there should be some lip or tongue motion as in a true diphthong. I have suggested a modern Greek pronunciation for the last two, since the alternative seems very clumsy in certain words. The Royal Army pronunciation of lieutenant (leftenant) is an example of the sound.
When the ι or υ precedes a following vowel, the two vowels are pronounced separately, and do not form a diphthong. In other vowel combinations, the vowels are pronounced separately.
Greek has steadily reduced the number of vowel sounds until modern Greek has only five. Only the last three of the diphthongs remain. Whenever vowels come together, there is a tendency to meld them together in speech and simplify the sound, a process called contraction, very active in Athenian (Attic) Greek. Since Greek is written phonetically, this is reflected in the spelling, and gives much difficulty to the learner as words are mangled and not easily recognized. For example, ε + ω = ω, or ε + ο = ου. More on this later; this is just to put you on your guard.
Accents, Breathings and Punctuation
Greek words are always accompanied by small marks called accents and breathings, as well as apostrophes, that give pronunciation clues. You will not have to learn when and how to use them, only to recognize them when they occur. The breathing is a little comma that appears above and before an initial vowel or a ρ to show whether its sound should start with an h. If the tail of the comma is to the right, the word begins with an h-sound, or rough breathing. If the tail is to the left, there is no h-sound, which is called a smooth breathing. These signs replaced the H in early Greek, which could then be used for the new letter η. All initial ρs have rough breathing. In Latin or English, as in Greek, an H-sound can only appear before a vowel or an r, you may observe.
Accents are of three kinds, as shown in the Figure. The basic one is the acute accent ('), which turns into the grave accent (`) on the last syllable of a word when there is a following word. The combination of the two is the circumflex accent (^), which appears only over a long vowel in one of the last two syllables, but not before a syllble with a long vowel. The acute accent can appear over any of the final three syllables of a word if the final syllable is short, but only over one of the last two if the final syllable is long. Do not worry about these rules, just note them as you come across them. The syllable with the accent should be given a stress accent as in English, although originally the accents gave pitch information. You will find some words with two accents, and some with none, but do not worry. There are common small words, called enclitics, that have no accents of their own, since they are pronounced as parts of neighbouring words, but extra accents are added according to certain rules when there would otherwise be too many syllables in a row without an accent. Accents sometimes distinguish between words of the same spelling but different meaning, as well as give clues to grammatical form.
Accents and breathings are placed above a small letter, the breathing coming first. They are placed in front of a capital letter, and on the second letter of a diphthong. Accents and breathings occur only on vowels, except for the rough breathing that accompanies an initial ρ. Remember that a Greek word can be accented only on one of the last three syllables, and only on one of the last two if the final vowel is long.
Apostrophe means 'taken away' and one is used when a vowel is removed before a following vowel for euphony. There was a progressive tendency in Greek to simplify a group of vowels when they happened to come together in the process of word formation, usually to make them one long vowel instead of several short ones. This tendency, called contraction, makes things very hard for students, as we have already noted. Consonants also tend to change when certain combinations come together, such as κ + σ = ξ. A Greek word can end only in a vowel or the consonants λ, μ, ν, ρ or σ. Some words add a ν at the end if they come at the end of a sentence, or the next word begins with a vowel. This is shown in vocabularies as (-ν). All of these changes are for the sake of pronunciation, since written Greek records the actual sounds as closely as possible (whether we know what they were or not).
There is one syllable per vowel or diphthong in a Greek word. Any consonants or combination of consonants that can begin a Greek word begins a syllable. A syllable ends with the vowel, or with one of the consonants that can end a Greek word.
Punctuation in Greek texts includes the . and , used as in English, but a dot above the line replaces the : or ;, while ; is the question mark. The initial letter in a sentence is not capitalized. The initial letter of proper names is capitalized. The punctuation is that used in later manuscripts, not in ancient times. Every time a manuscript was copied, it was copied using the latest conventions. We do not know accurately how older manuscripts looked, only what we find in monumental inscriptions.
Old Letters and Numbers
The letters of the alphabet are used to represent ordinal numbers in Greek, with α = 1, β = 2, and so on, up to θ = 9, including a strange letter for 6, the stigma, which originally represented s + t, but was dropped in the reform of the alphabet. Archaic letters retained as numbers are shown in the Figure. After 9, ι = 10, κ = 20, and so on. 34 is λδ'. Note the apostrophe to indicate that the letters represent a number. These are the numbers used to number chapters in a book, or propositions, or similar series. Large numbers were expressed in multiples of 10,000, a myriad. These numbers are unadapted to calculations, and were not used for this purpose. The Figure shows some Greek numbers, and the archaic letters that were used to express some of them.
Roman numerals were adapted for abacus calculation (a fact not widely appreciated). There were similar Greek numbers, but they fell into disuse. Since such numbers were used in the world of commerce, finance and industry, they were not deemed genteel enough for literary works. The ancient Greeks generally despised people who worked and traded, and at times even those who thought, regarding war and conquest as the noble occupation.
Scientific calculations were carried out using sexagesimal numbers and a positional notation (even including a zero, another fact not widely appreciated). There is no need for a zero when working with an abacus; it is a column with no counters elevated, and represents itself very well.
Exercises
Memorize the alphabet by writing it down repeatedly. It is good to memorize it in order, since dictionaries are organized this way. I do not generally recommend memorization, but this is an exception. Be able to say off the alphabet rapidly, using the conventional names of the letters. Pronounce and write the following words, noting accents and breathings, until you can do it well. Divide the words into syllables. Look up the words in a Greek lexicon, if you have one. I have chosen the forms that appear in the dictionary entries. Many of the words will be instantly recognizable.
Composed by J. B. Calvert
Created 9 September 2000
Last revised 15 June 2002 |
It was really hard to go back to day two of training. My thighs have been especially sore from the squats and rowing that we did yesterday, and I had no idea what was in store for me. Thankfully, the program was a little more lenient, but not by much.
We started off with five solid minutes of jump rope. I thought that this would be easy–I had fun with it back in elementary school, so why not now? Nope. I was tired after the first two minutes. Then our trainer started to try to get us two double time our ropes, meaning we would jump, the rope would click the ground twice, and then we’d jump again. It took a ton of concentration, and I failed at it overall.
Next, we learned about Tabata exercises, which is a form of short interval training. For twenty seconds do as many reps of the assigned exercise as you can – then rest 10 seconds. Continue until two minutes are up per exercise. We did these for sit ups, supermans, and squats. Supermans require you to lie on your belly, then pick up your legs and arms–I personally felt silly doing them and they definitely hurt my lower back.
Next, we learned deadweight lifts, push presses, kettlebell swings, and wall-ball throws. Deadweight lifts are exactly as they sound: take a heavyweight and try to pick it up off the ground. A push press is where you take a weight while standing, and push it up over your head. For those of you who have been following me since 4HB (4 Hour Body), you will know what a kettlebell swing is, but for those who haven’t, it just means swinging a weight from between your legs to over your head. I did 92lbs, 34lbs, and 15lbs respectively.
The wall-ball throws was definitely the most difficult technique for me yesterday. To do a proper wall-ball throw, hold a medicine ball (I used an 8lb ball), squat, then throw the ball up to the ceiling, and then catch it.
This guy doesn’t make it look hard, but it was definitely a challenge for me! The weight of the medicine ball makes itself known and my legs were y in pain from the Tabata squats. But it wasn’t time to call it quits yet; I still had to complete the timed exercise.
The routine was simple: 10 deadlifts, 10 assisted ring pull ups, and 10 wall-ball throws, then 8, 6, 4, 2, end. My final time was 8:03. Not bad.
I came home ravenous, ate an entire pound of steamed mussels by myself in addition to an apple with honey and some 85% chocolate. I wonder if my body is craving carbs after such an extreme workout, considering how few (50-100g) carbs I get in an average day. Hmm. Today, I’m going to try eating an apple and a plum beforehand, and see if that helps.
But seriously, I could have eaten a bear.
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Image caption Mr McCormack said his skin now felt "like a pork roast"
A New Zealand truck driver who fell on a compressed air hose that pierced his buttock has survived being blown up like a balloon.
Steven McCormack had fallen between the cab and the trailer of his truck, breaking the air hose.
The nozzle pierced his buttock and began pumping air into his body, which expanded dramatically.
As he screamed, Mr McCormack's colleagues turned the air off and laid him on his side, saving his life.
The accident happened at Opotiki on the North Island on Saturday.
Mr McCormack, who is 48, is still in hospital in the nearest town, Whakatane.
He said that doctors had told him they were surprised that his skin had not burst, as the compressed air - pumping into his body at 100lb/sq in - had separated fat from muscle.
I was blowing up like a football... I had no choice but just to lay there, blowing up like a balloon Steven McCormack
"I felt the air rush into my body and I felt like it was going to explode from my foot.
"I was blowing up like a football... it felt like I had the bends, like in diving. I had no choice but just to lay there, blowing up like a balloon," he told the local newspaper, the Whakatane Beacon.
He said his skin feels "like a pork roast", hard and crackly on the outside but soft underneath.
He credits his colleagues, especially Jason Wenham who put him on his side, with saving his life.
Mr Wenham, Ross Hustler and Robbie Petersen had lifted Mr McCormack off the brass nozzle which was still stuck in his body, and packed ice around his swollen neck until an ambulance arrived.
Doctors inserted a tube into his lungs to drain the fluid and cleared the wound in his buttock using what felt to him like a drill.
"That was the most painful part," he said.
"It's fair to say he's lucky to be alive, it was a potentially life-threatening situation," a hospital spokeswoman told AFP on Wednesday.
Mr McCormack confided that the air was gradually escaping his body in the way that air usually does. |
Podcast video topics and time stamps:
2:08 - What is Maelk's role as Sporting Director for North?
5:34 - Maelk's thoughts on the EU LCS
12:34 - The future business model of the EU LCS
19:08 - The difficulties in acquiring a new Dota roster
25:17 - On the new Minor and Major system for Dota 2
31:55 - What advice would you give Immortals for entering Dota 2?
37:18 - Why did North sign on with WESA?
43:10 - Explaining the Maelk Award meme
There's something rotten in the state of European esports says North sporting director Jacob "Maelk" Toft-Andersen, and its name is EU LCS.
Find theScore esports Podcast on iTunes.
Click or tap here to listen in on SoundCloud.
When Maelk joined North in January, he expressed interest in expanding the organization into Dota 2 by either developing a new team or acquiring an existing roster. What he didn't do was express the same desire for a League of Legends team.
"One of the reasons for that was, at the time, I believe most of these interviews were done when we launched back in January," Maelk said. "At the time, [EU] LCS wasn't what we regarded as an interesting or healthy environment to participate in. And the game, from my perspective, was sort of dying in terms of entertainment and viewership retention, and I wasn't sure that the model Riot was using at the time was something we'd be interested in supporting."
According to a report by ESPN, the EU LCS will be split into four separate regional leagues that seed into one premier league in Summer 2018. While Riot has yet to announce any changes to the EU LCS, the reported changes would still not be enough for Maelk and North to enter the LoL ecosystem just yet.
"If you ask me right now whether we go into League of Legends or not, my answer would be no," he said. "But I'm not opposed to the fact that it could be down the road, assuming that Riot creates a healthy ecosystem that is worthwhile for teams to participate in. Right now, I'm on the edge whether I believe that or not. I think it's very good for French, German, British and Spanish teams, but outside of that I don't see much potential."
While he has doubts as to whether the EU LCS can create a healthy environment, he believes that the NA LCS is in a far better position considering the support available for the teams competing in it.
"I think North American LCS is healthy," Maelk said. "I think it's a great environment for the organizations that are in it. I think the European LCS is far and away, cost wise, one of the most useless esports leagues at present time. I think there is very few teams that actually run a successful company based on the European LCS. Fnatic, G2, Unicorns of Love to some extent because they've branded themselves within the LCS community.
"But outside of those organizations, even a team like H2K, who has been in the top placements throughout the past seasons," Maelk continued. "Even those guys are probably struggling, and by their own admission, are struggling to find a business model around the European LCS."
Before joining North, Maelk was the former owner of the EU LCS team Alliance, which later branded to Elements before being purchased by FC Schalke 04 Esports in May 2016. He subsequently left Schalke that August, and admits that his interactions with Riot during his tenure on both teams greatly affected his opinion of the EU LCS.
"I rebranded from Alliance to Elements, my hand was forced by Riot," Maelk said. "And that rebranding in itself cost us a ton of fan support. Since then, a lot of different LCS teams have tried to assert themselves. Fnatic was in since the early days. I think Carlos with G2 has been the only one who has successfully created a roster that actually created a fanbase, much of it because of himself. He was a player trying to qualify with the squad for two seasons, he was adamant about continuing in League of Legends, and when he finally succeeded he also built up one of the most championship winning rosters that the European LCS had ever seen.
"Outside of those two teams, I don't really think that it's evidently not easy for the teams to either create a fanbase or create any viewer retention that could even justify them to compete in the league," he continued. "Outside of Riot's payment, I doubt any of those teams have income sources. And that's hugely problematic. When I got the offer from Schalke to sell my spot, I jumped on it, I jumped on it immediately. At the time, there's a whole background story to that, but lets just say I was very happy shutting down Elements and getting rid of the spot. I think that a lot of team owners, a lot of people who have invested into the European LCS, are probably feeling the same thing right now."
Preston Dozsa is a news editor for theScore esports. You can follow him on Twitter. |
Thousands of protesters were on the streets of Dublin, demonstrations were taking place at Irish embassies abroad, and newspapers around the world were running daily updates on the case. France’s Libération said it put Ireland’s continued membership of the EU in doubt. In Sweden, the king and queen were under pressure to cancel a planned visit to Dublin.
It was against this backdrop that, on a midweek morning in February 1992, five judges stood up from their walnut dais in the high-ceilinged courtroom and made their way down the corridor to the Supreme Court conference room.
In keeping with the tradition of the court, the most junior member, Séamus Egan, spoke first. Then, in reverse order of seniority, came Hugh O’Flaherty, Niall McCarthy, Anthony Hederman and, finally, the chief justice, Tom Finlay. All were middle-aged or approaching retirement. They were an experienced and clever group, and the court to which they belonged was seen as a steady, conservative place. The mood was solemn. A lengthy discussion began.
The judges faced a profound dilemma. At the request of the then attorney general, Harry Whelehan, the High Court had granted an injunction preventing a 14-year-old girl, pregnant after being raped by a neighbour, travelling to Britain for an abortion. She was suicidal. After a three-day hearing, the five judges had to decide whether to uphold the High Court’s decision or allow “Miss X” to travel.
The Constitution had been amended nine years previously, in part out of fear that the Supreme Court would follow the example of its US counterpart and allow abortion, so as to expressly equate two rights to life: that of the mother and the unborn. Beyond that, the court had no legislation to guide it.
The judges met more than once to pore over the arguments, but it was clear that a majority view had formed. By four to one, the court was in favour of allowing Miss X to travel. The press corps received just a few minutes’ notice before the judges – wigged, grave and dressed in black robes – retook their seats. The crowd was three-deep at the back of the court.
The then taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, was on his way to Downing Street for a meeting with his British counterpart, John Major. A call came through on the car phone from Seán Duignan, Reynolds’s press adviser, who had news from the Four Courts. The line went silent; Duignan thought Reynolds hadn’t heard him. Eventually the taoiseach spoke up: “We’re up to our necks in it now, Diggy. They’re all out to get us.”
The X case, perhaps the most controversial ever to come before an Irish court, thrust the Supreme Court into the largely unaccustomed glare of the public gaze. But within a few days, the spotlight had moved elsewhere. The abortion debate shifted back to the streets and the airwaves, where it remains divisive 21 years later, and the court got on with the decidedly more mundane matters that land at its door every week.
It’s a striking paradox. An institution that has helped shaped some of the biggest debates of the past 50 years goes about its work without impinging much on the public consciousness, save for the rare occasions when it strikes down a piece of legislation or gives a landmark judgment.
Its members tend not to be recognised on the street, and much of their time is spent dealing with technical questions of fairly limited significance. That’s partly due to its status, unusual among equivalent courts, as the final court of appeal not only for Constitutional issues, but for all types of cases thrown up by the lower courts.
On a Monday, it might be asked to interpret what the Constitution has to say about when life begins. On Tuesday, it might spend the morning listening to an irate pensioner complaining that her neighbour’s extension is blocking her light.
Yet few doubt the influence of the court. Under a Constitution that gave the courts unusually strong powers and left the legislature relatively weak, the Supreme Court has a key position at the apex of the courts system. The list of its judgments and its controversies are essential to understanding how the State has developed.
“I was always of the view that these fellas could crush us,” says a former long-serving minister. “They’re very powerful.”
At the Four Courts in Dublin, at the end of a narrow corridor lined with portraits of each of the supreme courts since the foundation of the State, is the conference room where the court’s private meetings take place. The blue-green bookshelves are filled with statutes, law reports, textbooks and dictionaries, and in the middle of the room, on a red carpet, is a dark wooden table with eight chairs.
At the head sits the Chief Justice, Susan Denham. Around her, the ordinary judges of the court: John Murray, Adrian Hardiman, Nial Fennelly, Donal O’Donnell, Liam McKechnie, Frank Clarke and John Mac Menamin. The window is opaque so passersby cannot see in.
Stories of bitter enmities on previous courts are the stuff of legend. It was said that two of the dominant figures of the 1960s and 1970s, Brian Walsh and Séamus Henchy, weren’t on speaking terms but on the current court, the mood is friendly and collegiate. Views and approaches can differ sharply, but the judges have known each other for decades and there’s an easy familiarity between them.
In 1983, 98 lawyers wrote to The Irish Times to protest against the government’s abortion amendment. It included the names of young barristers Frank Clarke, John Mac Menamin, Adrian Hardiman and Nial Fennelly. Today, all four sit on the Supreme Court as does John Murray, who, as Charles Haughey’s attorney general, helped draft that amendment.
The current group of eight have been together since March 2012, when Clarke and Mac Menamin were appointed. The court, steered by Denham for the past two years, is considered a pleasant, fair but formidable environment.
“There have always been a couple of very intelligent judges on the court, but right now there’s an unusual amount of extremely smart people up there,” says one senior counsel who practises regularly in the court.
Public sittings
The atmosphere in public sittings varies with the composition of the court. Three judges sit for routine cases, five for those with a Constitutional element and seven for major cases with potentially wide implications. Even for the most experienced barristers, a court of seven judges peering down sceptically from the bench can be a daunting prospect.
“It doesn’t matter, losing your case, but what really stings is being kicked on the way down,” says one.
Each judge has a courtroom persona. Murray and Hardiman can be pugnacious and blunt. O’Donnell is surgical and succinct. Fennelly, McKechnie, Clarke and Mac Menamin are courteous, smart and understated. When the judges see weakness in a barrister’s argument, everyone will join in, and Denham will customarily find herself cast as the voice of reason keeping her colleagues in check.
At private conference, by contrast, discussions are low-key and polite. One judge can recall voices being raised only once, and that was over “an obscure point of European law”.
“You’ve nowhere to go if you have a row, because you’re there together in this conference room and sitting on the bench together,” says a former judge. “There’s actually great camaraderie.”
A consensus usually emerges at the first discussion immediately after a hearing, but if a judgment is particularly difficult, the group will hold several conferences. In between those meetings, paragraphs will be circulated and debated between them by email. Occasionally, position papers will be sent around, and a writer might cast their judgment in such a way that it might persuade a waverer to concur.
Nearly all judges resist labels such as liberal or conservative, pro-State or pro-plaintiff and dismiss attempts to extrapolate from their background a predisposition to decide a case a certain way.
To an extent, they have a point. While six of the current eight would be considered in the Law Library to be socially liberal and two, Murray and O’Donnell, relatively conservative, it’s hard to point to a judgment where that configuration comes out. “The characterisation is meaningful if you can feel it and touch it empirically,” says a judge. For the most part, voting records are a jumble of overlapping patterns.
Yet the court’s record reveals some clear trends and internal intellectual differences. In two key cases in 2001, Sinnott v Minister for Education and TD v Minister for Education, the court pushed back against what the majority saw as attempts to cross a red line into the legislative domain.
In the Sinnott case, a seven-judge court overturned a High Court ruling that 23-year-old Jamie Sinnott, an autistic man, had an entitlement to education for as long as it was beneficial, irrespective of age. According to the Supreme Court, the right to primary education ended at the age of 18. Just a few months later, in the TD case, the court overturned, by a majority of four to one, a High Court order directing the State to build and open a number of high-support and secure units for children at risk, as it had pledged to do.
Those two decisions marked a pivotal moment in a debate, inside and outside the court, about how legitimate it was for the courts to protect the implied socioeconomic rights of marginalised individuals and groups. In both cases, the majority (but not Denham, who dissented in the TD case) in effect rejected the idea that a court could issue mandatory orders telling the Government how it should spend taxpayers’ money.
The judgments were seen as the Supreme Court putting a brake on expansionist inclinations within the judiciary and cleaving to a strict view of the separation of powers, a stance that continues to stir considerable debate.
In some areas, however, the court has shown itself to be a more assertive voice. Its decisions place a strong emphasis on the rights of the individual and show concern about too much power being concentrated in one area.
The “Abbeylara judgment” blocked the Oireachtas from holding inquiries that could lead to adverse findings of fact against people who weren’t TDs or senators. In Damache v DPP in 2011, the court ruled that a key section on search warrants in the Offences Against the State Act was unconstitutional, a ruling that infuriated gardaí and government officials.
Of all the issues preoccupying the current court, however, one of the most urgent concerns its own future. As the volume of litigation going through the High Court has increased dramatically in recent decades, a bottleneck has developed farther up the chain. There is now a four-year waiting list at the Supreme Court, a situation Denham has described as “overwhelming” and “damaging to Irish society and the economy.”
In an attempt to deal with the crisis, the Government has pledged to hold a referendum this autumn to create a new Court of Appeal, which would hear routine or non-Constitutional appeals, and to increase the number of judges on the Supreme Court from eight to 10. Given that two judges on the current court, Murray and Fennelly, are due to retire within two years, that means the profile of the court will alter considerably over the next two years.
Taken together, these changes will bring about the biggest transformation of the Supreme Court since it was established. If the referendum is passed, it will become a true Constitutional court, with the power to pick and choose its cases and with more time to deliberate them.
Some believe the change will liberate the court and allow it the space to develop its thinking on the Constitution, perhaps in time reviving the debate, inside and out, between advocates of a more expansionist court and those who would draw clearer lines of separation between Leinster House and the Four Courts.
“Neither the law nor the Constitution is frozen in 1937,” wrote Denham in a judgment in 2006. “The Constitution is a living instrument.” It may soon have more room to breathe.
The Supreme Court: changes afoot
It intrigues outsiders, can make governments tremble and has played a key role in some of the biggest debates in Irish society.
Now the Supreme Court , the interpreter of the Constitution and the final court of appeals, is poised for some of the biggest changes in its history.
With the court about to expand from eight judges to 10, and two retirements due over the next two years, the Government will have an opportunity to significantly alter the makeup of this powerful institution. Then, if the people approve a referendum to create a new Court of Appeal in the autumn, the Supreme Court will be recast as a true constitutional court for the first time.
This series looks at the court’s past, present and future. Who are the judges? How are they appointed? How do they interact with politicians? And what will the impending changes mean? |
When the web calls, Stewart and Colbert answer.
After a lengthy, persistent Internet campaign started by users of the site Reddit that raised over $200,000 for charity, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have relented. They will host opposing rallies on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on October 30.
(More on TIME.com: The Daily Show made the list of the top 100 TV shows of all-TIME.)
The announcement started last night on The Daily Show, when Stewart announced his Rally to Restore Sanity, a call to the nation to “take it down a notch for America.” The name, of course, mocks Glenn Beck’s Restoring Honor rally — so naturally, Stewart compared his choice of date to Beck’s choice of the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
“Now you’re probably saying to yourself, October 30, 2010, that rings a bell … the 36th anniversary of George Forman and Muhammad Ali’s Rumble in the Jungle in Zaire! Yes! But that’s not why the date is significant. I’ll tell you the significance of October 30th. You see, The Daily Show’s actually already going to be in Washington doing shows.”
As his segment drew to a close, Stewart provided some sample protest signs for the realistic, sane ralliers to carry. They included, “I disagree with you, but I’m pretty sure you’re not Hitler.”
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But naturally, Stephen Colbert wasn’t going to take that lying down. On The Colbert Report, he lashed out against Stewart’s call for reason, noting that “reason is just one letter away from treason.” So to counteract Stewart, he announced his own rally, “to fight Jon Stewart’s creeping reasonableness, [and] to restore truthiness.”
(More on TIME.com: See “Stephen Colbert” on our Top 10 Alter Egos list.)
Colbert’s rally, The March to Keep Fear Alive, will also occur on October 30 in Washington. Colbert, naturally, used fearmongering to get people to attend. “People should definitely book their hotel rooms now,” he said, “or their children might turn gay.” |
As the prelates pack up to leave Rome after the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops, there seems to be some confusion about whether liberal Catholics or staunch traditionalists carried the day. The synod midterm report softened the tone on gays and divorced Catholics; then the final document took a step back. But here’s the bottom line: the fact that they discussed previous taboos at all means Pope Francis scored a victory.
About midway through the first week of debates and deliberations, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, addressed a mixed crowd of prelates, diplomats and journalists at the Pontifical North American College in Rome and cited a sports analogy that’s become quite popular among Francis’s American fans. Francis’s strategy is a little like taking someone to a baseball game when they don’t really know the rules—and maybe didn’t care much about them.
Under Francis, the Church wants to bring people back into the stadium, as it were. “They see the crowds, they smell the hot dogs,” said Dolan, playing out the metaphor. “They get a cold beer. They’re watching the batting practice, the national anthem. They watch the ballgames and the teams, and they’re gradually enchanted and they gradually get into it,” Dolan said, implying that the Catholic Church with its pomp, ceremony, incense and Gregorian chants could be equally appealing. Once they’re inside, he says, “then they begin to ask some questions about the why’s and the rules and why this and why not that.”
That, he says, is how Pope Francis hopes not just to bring people to the Catholic Church, but to bring the Church to the people. Rather than ministering only to the officially worthy, minister to everyone—gay, divorced, disenchanted—and then worry about making them worthy. “Don’t lead with the chin, don’t lead with controversy,” Dolan said. “Don’t even lead with the mouth. Lead with the heart and you’re going to win a lot of people.”
That, of course, is not exactly how the Church worked before Francis came to town. During the last two pontificates, the rules came first, and often they tightened in response to cultural advances in the secular world. To many Catholics struggling with the pressures of real life in that real world, those rules meant Catholicism was an ever-more exclusive club where traditionalist prelates and Catholic fundamentalists could blackball anyone who couldn’t live by the rules. It was a Church in which homosexuals were “intrinsically disordered” and divorced and remarried Catholics were “adulterers.”
Unlike Francis, who lamented to the Jesuit America Magazine that “the church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules,” traditionalists believe that there is no room in the pews for anyone who can’t see things the way they do. Failed Catholic marriage followed by a second chance at love? Sorry, you’re out. Gay? You, too, especially.
When the synod’s interim report initially came out with language that seemed welcoming to sinners and saints alike, open-minded Catholics cheered and traditionalists ran for their Bibles. The original English translation of the document noted, “Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community,” and asked, “Are we capable of welcoming these people, guaranteeing to them a fraternal space in our communities?” The language in the English translation was immediately dialed back to remove “welcoming” and sub in “providing for,” but the original Italian language text remained the same, which suggested the power of some of the conservative English speaking bishops from the traditionalist camp.
American Cardinal James Burke became the poster priest for the traditionalists during this synod, giving interviews that insisted the hard line in the Church is alive and well and that the welcoming language was the theological equivalent of a typo. He was especially displeased with the wording of the synod midterm report that softened the Church’s language on gays, divorced and remarried Catholics and couples living together.
“Of course, in the Catholic Church, her discipline is the mirror of her doctrine, and, therefore, you cannot uphold the Church’s teaching, while proposing a discipline contrary to the teaching,” Burke told Catholic World Report. “In my judgment, a false notion of the relationship of faith and culture underlies the agenda. Those who urge the agenda typically describe in detail all of the tragic aspects of the total secularization of culture and then propose that the Church has to change her language and discipline, in order to take into account the radical changes in culture,” said Burke. “The false notion of the relationship of faith and culture must be aggressively addressed to stop the spreading of a most harmful confusion.”
Burke later told Buzzfeed in a Skype interview that the pope’s “lack of clarity about the matter has certainly done a lot of harm,” essentially blaming the pope for not toeing the party line.
Burke is being dismissed as head of the Vatican’s high court and exiled to become the cardinalus patronus of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in a move many see as Francis’s revenge, and he may be the fall guy for traditionalists, but he is not alone.
Writing in the conservative Crisis blog Father Dwight Longnecker of South Carolina claims that Francis is making his job harder. “The dogmas, doctrines and disciplines of the Catholic faith are the tools of my trade,” says Longnecker in an open letter to the pontiff. “They provide the rules for engagement, the playbook for the game, the map for the journey and the content for the mercy and compassion I wish to display. … This is teamwork Holy Father. I can only do the job you want me to do if you do the job you have been called to do. With the greatest respect and love, please don’t feel that it is your job to tinker with the timeless truths. If my job is to be the compassionate pastor for those in the pew and beyond, then your job is to be the primary definer and defender of the faith. I can’t do my job if you don’t do yours.”
To welcome first and worry about the rules later has been the cornerstone of Francis’s papacy from the beginning, starting back in 2013 when he lauded the theological teachings of German Cardinal Walter Kasper. When Francis gave his very first Angelus blessing to the enormous crowd assembled in Saint Peter’s square last year, he spoke off the cuff and called Kasper a “superb theologian.” Francis told the crowd that Kasper’s 2012 book Mercy inspired him. “But don’t think I’m advertising my cardinals’ books. That’s not it,” Francis said at the time, drawing laughter from the crowd. “Cardinal Kasper said that to feel mercy—this word changes everything. A little mercy makes the world less cold and more just.”
The traditionalists took that as a shot across their bow. But Kasper has the pope’s ear, and, it would appear his blessing. At the synod, although he is retired and supposedly had waning influence, Kasper has been the front man for open dialogue when it comes to softening language on gays and showing mercy to divorced and remarried Catholics. So much so, that many Vatican analysts suggest anyone criticizing Kasper is understood to be criticizing the pope himself.
In a book written by five traditionalist cardinals and published on the eve of the synod, Burke made no bones about traditionalists’ disagreement with the views of Kasper and, in effect, the pontiff. “We came to the conclusion that the direction proposed by Cardinal Kasper is fundamentally flawed, and so we believe our book is a positive contribution to get this discussion back on the right track,” Burke wrote in Remaining in the Truth of Christ: Marriage and Communion in the Catholic Church. “I certainly have serious difficulties with what Cardinal Kasper was proposing. In proposing it, he was urging a direction which in the whole history of the church [it] has never taken, a direction which would in some way involve either a disobedience to or at least a non-full adherence to the words of our Lord Himself….”
Doctrine, the traditionalist fathers said, cannot be changed, even though there are exceptions: doctrine on slavery has changed over the years; so, arguably, has doctrine on “usury,” the payment of interest.
Even the most broad-minded Catholic bishops who attended the synod agree that changing doctrine when it comes to recognizing same-sex marriage and allowing the sacraments for divorced and remarried Catholics is more than a long shot. But softening the tone and opening the door to gays and remarried Catholics remains within arms reach. Francis now has a whole year until the final definitive synod meets to enact whatever new teachings the Church plans to adopt, if any, on Catholic families and sexuality. Vatican insiders predict he’ll use that time to change the lineup for the next synod.
At the end of this one, Francis gave what many said was the best speech of his papacy. “It offered the vision statement of a moderate pontiff, urging the Church to shun both a ‘hostile rigidity’ and a ‘false mercy.’ He drew thunderous applause, including from prelates who shortly before, at least metaphorically, had been at one another’s throats,” says Vatican expert John Allen, editor of the Boston Globe’s Crux website. “In effect, it was the kind of speech that both a Raymond Burke and a Walter Kasper could walk away from feeling as if the pope understands them, and it seemed to allow what had been a sometimes nasty two-week stretch to end on a high note.” The ability to do that, more than anything else, may just be the true “Francis factor.” |
Dear Caucasian Brethren,
I decided to sit down and write this letter to you because every time I try to have a nuanced conversation with you, I am interrupted by the same shrill refrain. Here is an excerpt from every conversation when I ask you to help me find a solution to a problem:
Us: Black Lives Matter seeks to end the abuse by the state against—
You: First, your people need to address black-on-black crime!
Us: Let’s discuss the inequities in education, employment, housing—
You: Let's talk about black-on-black crime!!!
Us: It looks like the Zika virus is spreading to—
You: It’s not spreading as fast as black-on-black crime!
Us: Have you seen this black woman who went missing?
You: She probably took a wrong turn in y’all’s black-on-black crime and got lost.
Look, I understand your reluctance to discuss the problems. I know it feels accusatory. I know it seems like we try to pile all the problems of society and black people on your doorstep and make them your fault. Trust me—that’s not what we are trying to do.
What is your fixation with black-on-black crime? You repeatedly being it up as if black people aren’t aware of violence in our communities. Contrary to what you apparently hypothesize at the secret, global white-people meetings after you share banana-bread recipes and Pinterest posts, black people aren’t home cabbage-patching and clanking together Champagne glasses filled with grape Kool-Aid every time another black man falls victim to a violent crime by someone of the same race. It bothers us, too, but here is the thing:
There is no such thing as black-on-black crime.
I will concede that black people do commit crimes against other black people. I will even concede that white people commit violence against other white people more than we do—but not by much.
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Almost every day, an advocate of the alt-right (pronounced “nee-yo not-zee”) sends me a hate-filled email diatribe on how lazy, shiftless black people are ruining America. The cornerstone of their argument rests on the statistic that 90 percent of black people who are murdered are murdered by other blacks. That fact would give me pause or make me feel ashamed if I didn’t know that the same 2013 FBI report (the latest year for which statistics are available) goes on to say that 83 percent of white victims of murder were killed by white people.
Not surprisingly, the Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that most people who are victims of violent crime are victimized by someone they know. In fact, almost every study ever done shows that crime is a socioeconomic phenomenon. Another Bureau of Justice Statistics report explicitly states that between 2008 and 2012, “Poor urban blacks (51.3 per 1,000) had rates of violence similar to poor urban whites (56.4 per 1,000).”
There is no such thing as “black-on-black crime”—just crime.
That’s right. White people kill white people. Black people kill black people. I know what you’re thinking: Yes, but black people do so disproportionately. You’re right—even though white people commit most violent crimes (which means that because of the raw numbers, if we had a choice between eliminating white-on-white crime or black-on-black crime, confronting white-on-white crime would pay far greater dividends).
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So, my unmelanated friends, maybe the question should be: Why are so many more blacks poor?
There is a definitive answer. Either the black people who worked for free to build this country, and on whose knowledge all Western mathematics, astronomy and science rest, are genetically lazier and dumber, or, alternatively, it is the result of systemic discrimination in financing, unequal employment, disparities in home lending, segregation in education, and the fact that every law, opportunity and constitutional right was not available to black people until 50 years ago.
Nah, it’s probably the lazy thing.
But here is the thing we’d like to know:
Why you always gotta bring it up? Why is black-on-black crime your go-to retort for any exploration into anything that has to do with race? What does Black Lives Matter’s goal to curb violence by the state have to do with black-on-black crime? Does the word “Lives” in the name of the movement confuse you? Is that why you’re obsessed? You’re confused because “Black Lives” is right there in the title? If so, I need to reveal a few other things to you:
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Despite its misleading, lying-ass name, I didn’t see one money plant when I shopped at the Dollar Tree.
Beyoncé’s newest album isn’t actually about mixing lemon juice with water and sugar.
Unfortunately, Captain America is not actually the captain of America.
Again, I want to say that black people don’t like crime, either. “Stop the violence” has been a chorus sung in black communities since KRS-One made “Self Destruction” in 1989, and no, KRS-One is not one of the lesser-known robots from the Star Wars movies. Just trust me, we’ve been singing, rapping, marching, protesting and holding vigils against violence in black communities for years. The number of people of color working against crime in black neighborhoods far outnumbers the people involved in Black Lives Matter.
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I’m sure you didn’t know that. Why would you? I know your privilege has hypnotized you into believing that we should file a summary report with the white-people recording secretary before we make any moves, but there is no reason that the white populace would ever hear black people talking to black people about their actions toward black people. To put it into its most infantile form, this was an A-B conversation …
Before I wrap this up, I should inform you that in exchange for you dropping your constant chorus, we’d like to extend a hand toward reconciliation among the races. We’d like to unite and offer you some of the best things we have to offer. Maybe we could give you guys some potato salad recipes, some tips on seasoning food, or teach you how we made it through 400 years of soul-crushing oppression and still managed to smile and dance. We know your people have struggled lately with all of the school shootings, terrorism, Taylor Swift feuding with Kim Kardashian, Donald Trump’s fake schools and Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails. We know exactly how to solve all these problems, and we are willing to help …
But first y’all need to do something about this white-on-white crime.
Sincerely,
All of Us
P.S.: I hope you like the stationery. I found it on Pinterest. |
Interim name suppression has lapsed for Sainey Marong, who is accused of murdering Christchurch sex worker Renee Duckmanton.
Marong, understood to be from Gambia, is a 32-year-old butcher from Ilam, who is accused of murdering 22-year-old Duckmanton on May 14.
The dead woman's family have shouted threats and abuse at him at his appearances in the Christchurch District Court and High Court.
Her badly burnt body was found at the scene of a scrub fire on Main Rakaia Rd, north of Rakaia, about 7.40pm on May 15, the day after she was last seen on Manchester St, Christchurch.
Marong was granted interim name suppression at his first appearance on May 27.
That suppression lapsed on Tuesday, after defence counsel decided against further action to extend it.
Marong is scheduled to appear at a case review hearing in the High Court on August 19.
* An earlier version of this story included an image of a man captioned as the defendant Sainey Marong. The image was not of the accused. We unreservedly apologise for the error and any distress caused. |
How many people know how to properly define a “plot?” I know most readers here can explain the general idea of what plots are, or what can make a story interesting, or just tell a good story without really caring about how it’s formally created. I can tell you from experience that the structure of a narrative (or stories, if you want to sound less pretentious) are more or less hardwired into the human mind.
Gaming, however, doesn’t follow those structures as closely as other avenues of storytelling. And it’s those same games that every gamer knows about – Super Mario Bros, Dark Souls, and Five Nights at Freddy’s are just three of the multitude of games that flow against the normal structuring. But before we talk about what makes those interesting to examine, let’s take a look at what the normal narrative structure looks like.
Now, there’s always exceptions to this idea, but for the most part a story will begin slowly and build upwards with events and conflict. Introduce the normal state of the characters and their lives; allow the viewer/reader/listener to get a sense of who we care about and why. Then an event causes these characters to change that state of normalcy, overcoming the obstacles before them. Nearly 100% of the time, there’s going to be a change within the main character. Facing their own fears, becoming a better person, falling in love, making friends, acquiring the willpower to defeat the Big Bad Guy, and so on and so forth. Then we fall back down into a new state of normalcy. Roll credits and the story’s over. Perhaps the story could be revisited again to glean new details, but for the most part the story’s been fully fleshed out.
However, in Super Mario Bros. there’s always a glaring difference from the standard procedure. In fact, the whole diagram above doesn’t actually seem to fit at all within the game. The entire plot can be summed up in five words: “Hero saves princess from monster.” There’s no introduction to any of the three characters provided in that statement, no initial conflict to spark a transformation within Mario, in fact there’s no transformation at all! Why am I even trying to apply this idea to Super Mario Bros anyways?
Well, it’s silly and ridiculously short, but the plot is still there. “Hero saves princess from monster.” That’s it. That’s the whole narrative and that’s all it needs. A story doesn’t need to follow the structure above, but it’s nigh impossible to properly engage people in something like “Hero saves princess from monster” any other way except to have the other person interact in that story.
Now, I’m not talking about interaction like you are the plot and your choices matter—that’s for people smarter than me. I’m talking about the interactions of “run and jump.” The simple actions are all that’s needed to allow the player to immerse themselves in those five words. Suddenly, they are the hero and they experience being the hero of that incredibly simple plot.
So when I realized that (as one does in the shower), I made another realization that almost perfectly encapsulated the difference of gaming and just about every other story: It’s the only way to actively experience the story. Every other story is either told or written, and people will passively experience it. However, this also puts limits on what makes the story an active one instead of a passive one. A good example of this is the critically acclaimed yet widely considered a “non game,” Gone Home.
I will say right now that I didn’t touch this game, but that’s simply because I wasn’t interested in it. It never grabbed me, and as it’s a story driven game it never will. The story is set in stone, and it’s not explored as fluidly to allow players to understand the sequences of events. My entire experience of Gone Home was the 40 second speedrun of it, and that was all I needed to know to see how missing a few journal entries could make the player very lost on the story.
Yet at the same time this also plays on the idea of being active within the narrative—the exploration of the house, the curiosity behind what lays behind each door, is how the story is progressed. So what makes Gone Home‘s story less appealing? I think the answer is rather simple: the story isn’t being lived. It’s being narrated through mementos and notes. The story isn’t being lived by the protagonist, it’s being recalled. The character is piecing together events that happen to other people, but there’s hardly anything the player has to experience.
I must insist to remember that this idea is purely speculative; it’s possible for the player to get grossly immersed within what happened to this family and enjoy it to the fullest extent. I am simply using Gone Home as a way to figure out whether this theory of passive and active narratives holds water with this example.
I certainly know it holds true to a game that’s sucked up all my time recently. I had purchased Dark Souls a year or so ago, intent on enjoying it to the fullest. It was only just recently when I actually started doing that. I absolutely regret not investing my attention into it before now, though. While Dark Souls‘s port to PC is flawed in multiple aspects, it’s still fantastic in just about every respect I can think of; but what I found to really shine through was how the story is presented.
In fact, Dark Souls starts without any narrative. The intro video shows how the Age of Fire began and the key people who are involved. The story of you, the protagonist, is completely unknown. This aspect, found in multiple RPGs, is a huge factor in how games can immerse the player into a story and supports the idea that the narrative is being experienced actively through the player.
Most other RPGs tend to introduce large amounts of characters and backgrounds and histories to present the player with a vast amount of information to allow themselves to delve deep into the world they take part in. Dark Souls goes the exact opposite way. Everything you know about Lordran is through a handful of cryptic characters you meet—through descriptions of weapons, armor, and items you find along the way—and the players own experience. The only goal given at the very beginning is ringing the Bells of Awakening. No directions, no hints, and certainly no reasons are given or actually necessary.
The only way to progress this narrative is to be active; only then will you know that the story is about how the Chosen Undead must collect the Lordvessel and kill Gwyn, Lord of Cinder. All the characters you knew from the intro need to be killed by your hand, and this important narrative point is only known when the player (if this is their first playthrough) accomplishes the task of ringing the first Bell of Awakening on the Undead Parish, make their way through either The Depths of the Valley of Drakes to reach Blighttown, and then ring the second Bell of Awakening in Quelaag’s Domain. That’s a lot of work just to understand the basic goal of the game.
Then the lore of the world; the history behind all the major bosses and all these locations are designed to be obscure just out of sight of the player until they make the effort to go find out what the city of Anor Londo is or why Quelana, sister of Quelaag and daughter of the Witch of Izalith, is in Blighttown and what her relation was to the Bed of Chaos and Ceaseless Discharge bosses. The amount of effort the player must go through in order to fully understand this world and these connections was unlike anything I’ve seen, which made me love it even more.
The time I put into the game hasn’t been wasted, and putting more into playing Dark Souls is an outcome that’s absolutely going to happen. The replayability of Dark Souls is rather telling of how little a narrative is needed for video games, and yet the little amount of narrative that’s given is enough to especially spice up an already fantastic game.
The narrative is rather simple and can be altered in places, but it’s just about as simple as a narrative can get. Not quite as simple as “Hero saves princess from monster,” yet it isn’t a story that would translate very well into television or movie formats. Actually, this theory of active and passive narratives really does explain how video game movies aren’t good at all. Though there are most likely exceptions to the rule. I hear the next game I want to talk about is getting a movie. Five Night’s at Freddy’s, I think, will be one of the few exceptions where the transition from an active narrative to a passive one would be quite smooth.
The whole premise is about not being able to do much besides watch the camera and close the doors/check the lights. It’s as passive of a game as one can get, which actually leads me to believe Five Night’s at Freddy’s is a mixture of both passive and active narrative. The passive narrative is the story of this guy surviving the work week with these haunted animatronics trying to kill him—this includes using the phone calls and the video feeds as that narrative.
Yet Five Nights at Freddy’s is only progressed through the active role of watching these animatronics carefully—actively reading into their patterns and behaviors. This is akin to how Gone Home uses the active role of exploring the house while the passive narrative is … well, narrated to the player. The difference, however, is that Five Night’s at Freddy’s takes a page from Dark Souls’ book and uses just the bare minimum of a narrative.
Most of the story is given through vague sections of dialogue, mini-games that rarely happen, and the theories made by fans that connect it all together. The lore is so ambiguous it’s almost a requirement to change it to make sure the movie isn’t too confusing and vague for the passive audience. The one major staple that is for sure going to be in the movie is the formerly active narration that’s given through watching the animatronics and their patterns with the cameras.
Now, that active narration was done only with switch cameras and letting the player figure out the patterns for themselves. The movie, however, is going to have that pattern recognition be used as a way for the character to advance the plot. The audience will have no control over the camera and will most likely figure out the patterns and the animatronics behavior before the characters onscreen do. Yet they can’t advance the plot with that knowledge, as is traditionally how passive narrative is done.
I’ll continue trying to find more uses with this theory of active/passive narrative, but I figured it was an idea that hadn’t been talked about at length yet so I decided to start out with presenting these example to get fellow gamers thinking about the way narration is consumed. In the end I’m not 100% sure this theory is concrete, and there will probably be exceptions to the rule.
I hope this was an interesting read for those who haven’t dozed off. Is there a game you played that also might highlight whether this passive/active narrative is possible or not? Am I just talking crazy and should probably just go back to playing video games? Let me know in the comments below!
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Sometimes, camouflage only serves to accentuate what an automaker is trying to hide. That's certainly the case with this Acura prototype, which can't hide its new diamond pentagon grille in these photos.
We first saw this grille design on the Acura Precision Concept, and then again on the refreshed 2017 Acura MDX that went on sale earlier this year. On the camouflaged prototype, which we believe is the refreshed 2018 Acura TLX, this grille contributes to a more athletic front end that we've been waiting to see on a production Acura sedan. The headlights maintain their narrow, angular shape as before, but this mule doesn't have any silver window trim like we typically see on the TLX. The back end keeps its large lip at the top of the trunk, but it looks like Acura may have changed the shape of the rear a bit.
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A while back, Acura debuted a production-ready TLX show car with visible exhaust outlets, which could potentially make their way to market because Acura owners have been requesting them. All current Acura models hide their exhaust tips. When the concept debuted, we spoke with Acura Global Creative Director Dave Marek, who hinted that an updated TLX would feature more compelling styling. "The next round of styling will be more premium-brand, performance feeling, and more noticeable," he said.
View 8 Photos
The current-generation Acura TLX debuted in 2014 for the 2015 model year, so it's due for a mid-cycle refresh in the near future. Today's TLX offers a choice of two engines: a 206-hp 2.4-liter inline-four and a 290-hp 3.5-liter V-6.
Photo Source: Alex Gorodetzki |
NEW DELHI: The Gujarat government has turned down an RTI query seeking details of the wealth of the chief minister and the council of ministers claiming it is not in the “larger public interest”.The move is in sharp contrast to that of the Union government which has made facts related to assets and liabilities of its council of ministers public since 2011 and Supreme Court judges who have voluntarily disclosed their wealth.Mumbaikar Anil Galgali had filed a RTI query seeking information about the assets and liabilities of the CM and the council of ministers over the past 5 years. He also sought to know about action taken by the CM on those who had failed to file their wealth declaration.Terming the refusal as “ridiculous”, Galgali filed an appeal with appellate authority and deputy secretary (cabinet) in the state’s general administration department, BJ Brahmabhatt.Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel (left) with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Former chief information commissioner (CIC) Wajahat Habibullah described the state government’s stance as “retrograde and foolish”.Public declaration of ministers’ wealth has seen patchy implementation in other states. While Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan have made some of the information public, many others have not.In reply to the query, Gujarat government’s under secretary (cabinet) & public information officer PV Patel said, “The information sought cannot be furnished since information available to a person in this fiduciary relationship and the information sought is personal information, the disclosure of which has no relationship to public authority ...”He further quoted section 8(1)(e) and section 8(1)(j) of RTI Act for denial of information saying the disclosure would cause unwanted invasion of privacy of the individual and was not in larger public interest.Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel.Patel also quoted a 2012 Supreme Court order in the Girish Deshpande vs AB Lute case where the court held that income tax returns fall under “personal information”.The order further states, “The details disclosed by a person in his income tax returns are ‘personal information’ which stand exempted from disclosure under clause (j) of Section 8(1) of the RTI Act, unless involves a larger public interest and the central public information officer or the state public information officer or the appellate authority is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information.”Former information commissioner in the CIC Shailesh Gandhi said, “The order is bad in law. However the SC has given such a judgment that I believe does not follow the RTI Act, leaving public information officers with little choice but to deny such applications.”Habibullah had taken the decision that assets of the council of ministers and even Supreme Court judges should be made public. “How can an elected government claim right to privacy? If the Union ministers and even the Chief Justice of India can make disclosures about their wealth how can public servant of a state claim right to privacy? The public has a right to know,” he said.All elected representatives have to disclose their wealth to the Election Commission (EC). A 2009 CIC order ruled that the information was in public interest and should be made available to as many people as possible. However, CIC does not have jurisdiction over states. |
Updated: Jul 11, 2016, 12:49 IST
Salman Khan’s ‘Sultan’ is being praised by the film fraternity and audiences alike. It’s even being touted as Salman Khan’s best performance ever by some. But looks like the makers are now in soup over a new controversy surrounding the plot of the film.
© Yash Raj Films
A certain Sabeer Ansari from Muzaffarpur in Bihar has filed a complaint against Salman Khan, Anushka Sharma, the director and Yash Raj Films alleging that ‘Sultan’ storyline has been copied from his real life journey.
According to Sabeer’s allegation, Salman Khan had contacted him for making a film on his life story. He had even promised to pay him 20 crores, which he never did. After a few days of their meeting, Sabeer Ansari was told that the film had been shelved. Now that it is out there in every theatre, breaking new records every day, Sabeer Ansari feels cheated.
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Photo: © Yash Raj Films (Main Image) |
According to local media reports, a Chinese restaurant in the Kenyan capital Nairobi has adopted a rather unsavory practice. After 5 p.m., most African patrons are barred from entering the premises.
Chinese restaurant in Nairobi not admitting Africans after 5pm http://t.co/ogMm6gNRVu pic.twitter.com/mKC1sdAjj7 — Nation FM (@NationFMKe) March 23, 2015
Reporters from the Daily Nation newspaper recently approached the establishment -- which has the unimaginative name of "Chinese Restaurant" -- only to be turned away by a guard who told them the hours when Africans could frequent the restaurant were over. "Only taxi drivers or Africans accompanied by Chinese, European or Indian patrons are allowed into the compound," reports the newspaper.
According to the Daily Nation's story, restaurant representatives claimed the policy came into effect last year after a brazen robbery by armed gunmen.
"We don’t admit Africans that we don’t know because you never know who is Al-Shabaab and who isn’t," said Esther Zhao, the restaurant's "relations" manager, referring to the al-Qaeda-linked terror group based in neighboring Somalia. "The Chinese people who stay here or come to dine want to feel safe."
The newspaper reports that a few "loyal," well-heeled African patrons are allowed entrance--others may be admitted provided they're willing to shell out upwards of $200. (It should be noted there are plenty of other Chinese restaurants in Nairobi that are probably far more friendly than this one.)
A Kenyan government official quoted in the article claims that, whatever the restaurant's justification, the no-Africans-after-dark policy "amounts to racial and ethnic profiling, which is unconstitutional." Not long after the Daily Nation was published, authorities arrested the restaurant's owner, Zhao Yang, on charges of operating a restaurant without a valid license.
It's a small indication of the larger tensions that underlie China's vast footprint in Africa. China is the continent's biggest trading partner -- racking up to $160 billion in trade in goods each year. More than 1 million Chinese, the majority of whom are low-level traders and laborers working on Chinese company projects, have moved to Africa in the past 10 years, according to the Economist.
But parallel to this well-documented boom are a chorus of critics, deeming China's presence in Africa to be a new form of imperialism.
"China takes our primary goods and sells us manufactured ones. This was also the essence of colonialism," wrote Lamido Sanusi, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, in an op-ed in the Financial Times in 2013. Meanwhile, Chinese attitudes to race -- particularly regarding Africans -- are in need of considerable improvement.
Chinese officials are aware of African concerns. "We will not take the old path of Western colonists," said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi while in Kenya earlier this year.
That message should probably be conveyed to Nairobi's Chinese Restaurant.
This post has been updated.
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The Temple Mount is not holy to Jews, and they should not be allowed to visit the site, MK Taleb Abu Arar (Ra’am-Ta’al) told a Jewish activist on Friday.
“It should be closed all the time to Jews because they have no business there,” Abu Arar wrote in an email to Tom Nisani (Hebrew link), who had written MKs to complain that the site was closed to Jews last week by Israeli authorities as a measure to prevent altercations with Palestinians on the site.
Writing in the name of “Students for the Temple Mount,” Nisani wrote the MKs demanding that they “act with the police and the government to correct the injustice.”
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“I wrote before Shabbat to all 120 Members of Knesset to advise them of the injustice of the Temple Mount’s (repeated) hermetic closure to Jews and tourists, [which happened] without explanation and without notice,” Nisani wrote on Facebook on Saturday.
“This is how an MK in the state of Israel, Taleb Abu Arar, chose to respond a short time later,” Nisani added, attaching an image of the email response from Abu Arar. “In his opinion, if I was born a Jew I have no right to go to the Temple Mount compound.”
“So long as the state of Israel continues to permit the denial of its foundations and very existence, [they] will continue to eat away at its sovereignty and harm its future. No more turning a blind eye. No more racism,” wrote Nisani.
Reached by The Times of Israel on Monday, Abu Arar confirmed he had written the note.
“The Al-Aqsa Mosque, which sits on 144 dunams, is holy for Muslims, not Jews. Jews should find their holy places elsewhere until the coming of the messiah, as their rabbis say. I don’t recognize the name Temple Mount. The Jews have nothing to look for there,” he said.
The site has seen repeated clashes between Palestinian rioters and police over Jewish visits to the site, especially during the Jewish Sukkot holiday this week.
On Monday, dozens of Arab rioters, primarily young men, were holed up in the Al-Aqsa Mosque atop the mount.
The site was surrounded by Israeli police forces, who stormed the plaza atop the holy site before 7 a.m. after receiving information that Palestinian activists had gathered stones and set barbed wire obstacles in preparation of planned attacks against Jewish visitors to the site.
When they entered the site Monday morning, police were met with thrown rocks, firebombs and fireworks, Israel Radio reported. The rioters were pushed back into the mosque, and remain holed up there surrounded by police forces. Police removed multiple obstacles on the site, including stretches of barbed wire.
The site was opened to Jewish visitors at 7:30 a.m.
The site was closed to Jewish visitors since the middle of last week, but reopened Monday morning.
“Every day Israel causes unnecessary conflict and provocations by letting Jews go up there,” Abu Arar charged. “I know and believe that it’s the Al-Aqsa Mosque, holy to Muslims and not to Jews. The Mughrabi gate [from which non-Muslims can enter the site] has to be closed to Jews.”
If there were even “a 1% chance that [the site might be] holy to Jews, I wouldn’t get involved. There are many holy places to Jews where we don’t intervene. But this is holy to Muslims. The [Jews’] entry to it is enflaming the region. We don’t want conflict,” he said.
Meanwhile, a Jewish MK, Likud’s Moshe Feiglin, visited the site Monday and called for the removal of the protesters.
“The Temple Mount must be completely cleared of the savage mob, which must not be allowed a foothold or ‘holy’ places of refuge,” he wrote, referring to the mosque on the site’s southern edge where the protesters were holed up.
Despite the protests, “hundreds of Jews are finally going up to the mountain in joy,” Feiglin wrote on Facebook. “Through them, the exclusive sovereignty on the mountain will be returned to the people of Israel, and the state of Israel will invite every Jew to go and pray [there].” |
FEW things could be worse for Italy’s credibility (and creditworthiness) than for investors to spend the next nine months wondering if Silvio Berlusconi will return as prime minister. But that is increasingly likely.
Since late June, he has been teasing the public and media with increasingly blatant hints that he intends to be his party’s candidate at the next general election, to be held by the spring of 2013. He has still not said so publicly. But in an interview on July 14th he appeared to treat it as fact, saying he “would have preferred to have made the announcement later”.
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The day before, his doctor said the 75 year-old billionaire was fit for the fray, though adding that Mr Berlusconi had gone on a diet to shed eight kilos. It then emerged the former prime minister was to hold a behind-closed-doors meeting with an international group of liberal economists. His plan, said aides, was to relaunch his party, the Freedom People (PdL), on the basis of the free-market principles he espoused when he first entered office in 1994, but which he signally failed to apply in the nine subsequent years when he governed Italy.
In another sign that Mr Berlusconi is aiming for a new start, the PdL’s general secretary, Angelino Alfano, said he thought Nicole Minetti, an embarrassing reminder of the former prime minister’s recent past, should resign as a regional councillor in Lombardy. Ms Minetti, a former showgirl, is on trial for allegedly supplying prostitutes for so-called bunga-bunga parties at Mr Berlusconi’s mansion near Milan. Her co-defendants have already conveniently disappeared from public life. One, a television newscaster, was sacked from Mr Berlusconi’s network. The other, a show-business agent, is in jail charged with bankruptcy offences.
If nothing else, recent events have shown that the media tycoon still has a sublime ability to draw attention to himself. By the time Ms Minetti, who had fled to Paris, reappeared in a blaze of photographers’ flashes, a nation that had spent months fretting over sovereign bond yields was once again discussing Mr Berlusconi, his intentions and his shapely lady friends.
But does this mean that, as in the late 1990s and mid-2000s, he can return from political near-death? In the eight months since he left office, naming Mr Alfano as the PdL’s prime-ministerial candidate, his party’s popularity has plunged. Its latest poll ratings were little better than those of the maverick Five Star Movement led by Beppe Grillo, a blogger and comedian.
There are three possible reasons. One is that the PdL is paying the price for its parliamentary support for Mario Monti’s technocratic government and the government’s EU-mandated austerity measures, which have hit many people very hard. But the centre-left Democratic Party has also backed Mr Monti and not suffered to anything like the same extent.
A second theory is that the PdL is lost without its founder. But it can be equally well argued that it is languishing because Mr Berlusconi has never really taken a back seat and allowed Mr Alfano to enhance his standing with the electorate.
A third possible reason for the PdL’s plight, which Mr Berlusconi is doubtless loth to consider, is that a growing number of Italians realise that the eight years between 2001 and 2011 when he was in power were a disaster for their country’s economy. He introduced few structural reforms and, largely as a result, Italy’s economic growth was negligible.
In a poll released on July 9th by Termometro Politico, a website, 72% of those questioned said they would never vote for Mr Berlusconi again. The poll also suggested that the allegations regarding his private life had ravaged a core element of his traditional constituency. It found that 53% of the women who voted for him in the latest general election, in 2008, said they would not do so again.
Mr Berlusconi, then, is setting off on the comeback trail from a lower and more unpromising point than ever before. But his resources are virtually boundless, his communication is outstanding—and he has a strong card to play if he chooses. Italians are inevitably writhing under Mr Monti’s tax increases and spending cuts. A promise to reverse the present government’s policies could also reverse the PdL’s fortunes in the polls. However alarming the spectre of his return, Mr Berlusconi’s chances should not be written off just yet. |
Alberta Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd is embarking on a $33,000-trade mission to China.
The NDP government says the mission aims to encourage energy investment in Alberta and share environmental best practices with China’s largest oil and gas companies, which account for roughly 80 per cent of China’s refining capacity and more than $35 billion in investments in the province.
Related – Alberta NDP unveils royalty review panel
"China represents enormous potential as both a customer and investor for Alberta’s energy industry," said McCuaig-Boyd.
"Maintaining strong relationships with the world’s largest energy consumer will open future opportunities for Alberta as a global energy supplier."
McCuaig-Boyd will be joined by business delegates from several oil and gas companies on the mission from Oct. 10 to Oct. 16, including Suncor, Encana, and Enbridge.
The minister will attend the 5th Annual Asia Shale Gas Summit in Shanghai and a China-Alberta Petroleum Centre board meeting in Beijing.
The estimated mission cost for the minister, one political staff, and two public servants is $33,000. |
Rated 5 out of 5 by Asiandoc from Excellent veggie knife This was the first shun knife I purchased. I wanted to replace a Nakiri I purchased 40 plus years ago. The first knife I received had domes pits in the blade surface and a cup in the cutting edge. I returned it stating damage. WS immediately sent me a replacement in perfect condition. I am very pleased with this knife. It is very sharp, cuts fine perfect slices effortlessly. Since purchasing this knife I have replaced my knife set with shin Fuji style knives.
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Rated 5 out of 5 by Marko1 from Best Veggie Knife I have alway been a fan of Shun knives for their quality and design and this knife does not disappoint. Very sharp blade that food does not stick to due to its design. Feels great in the hand and that feeling translates into control of your knife. Fantastic for prepping vegetables and chopping.
Rated 1 out of 5 by GaylynnS from Dissapointing This is my second knife and again it has little nicks on the blade. I treasured my first one, washed it by hand and when it had several chips I thought it had to have been my husband or boys . My second one I washed by hand and hid it in a special spot so it would remain perfect....but, it happened to this one too. Very dissapointing. |
For other people named Robert Rosen, see Robert Rosen (disambiguation)
Robert Rosen (June 27, 1934 – December 28, 1998) was an American theoretical biologist and Professor of Biophysics at Dalhousie University.[1]
Career [ edit ]
Rosen was born on June 27, 1934 in Brownsville (a section of Brooklyn), in New York City. He studied biology, mathematics, physics, philosophy, and history; particularly, the history of science. In 1959 he obtained a PhD in relational biology, a specialization within the broader field of Mathematical Biology, under the guidance of Professor Nicolas Rashevsky at the University of Chicago. He remained at the University of Chicago until 1964,[2] later moving to the University of Buffalo — now known as the State University of New York (SUNY) — at Buffalo on a full associate professorship, while holding a joint appointment at the Center for Theoretical Biology.
His year-long sabbatical in 1970 as a Visiting Fellow at Robert Hutchins' Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara, California was seminal, leading to the conception and development of what he later called Anticipatory Systems Theory, itself a corollary of his larger theoretical work on relational complexity. In 1975, he left SUNY at Buffalo and accepted a position at Dalhousie University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as a Killam Research Professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, where he remained until he took early retirement in 1994.[3] He is survived by his wife, a daughter, Judith Rosen, and two sons.
He served as president of the Society for General Systems Research, (now known as ISSS), in 1980-81.
Research [ edit ]
Rosen's research was concerned with the most fundamental aspects of biology, specifically the questions "What is life?" and "Why are living organisms alive?". A few of the major themes in his work were:
developing a specific definition of complexity based on category theoretic models of autonomous living organisms
developing Complex Systems Biology from the point of view of Relational Biology as well as Quantum Genetics
developing a rigorous theoretical foundation for living organisms as "anticipatory systems"
Rosen believed that the contemporary model of physics - which he showed to be based on a Cartesian and Newtonian formalism suitable for describing a world of mechanisms - was inadequate to explain or describe the behavior of biological systems. Rosen argued that the fundamental question "What is life?" cannot be adequately addressed from within a scientific foundation that is reductionistic. Approaching organisms with reductionistic scientific methods and practices sacrifices the functional organization of living systems in order to study the parts. The whole, according to Rosen, could not be recaptured once the biological organization had been destroyed. By proposing a sound theoretical foundation for studying biological organisation, Rosen held that, rather than biology being a mere subset of the already known physics, it might turn out to provide profound lessons for physics, and also for science in general.[4]
Rosen's work combines sophisticated mathematics with potentially radical new views on the nature of living systems and science. He has been called "the Newton of biology," [5] but his work has also been considered to be controversial, and some of his mathematical methods and their implications have been claimed to be false and lacking adequate proof. Recent monographs[6][7] by Rosen's student Aloisius Louie have considerably clarified the mathematical content of Rosen's work.
Relational biology [ edit ]
Rosen's work proposed a methodology which needs to be developed in addition to the current reductionistic approaches to science by molecular biologists. He called this methodology Relational Biology. Relational is a term he correctly attributes to his mentor Nicolas Rashevsky, who published several papers on the importance of set-theoretical relations[8] in biology prior to Rosen's first reports on this subject. Rosen's relational approach to Biology is an extension and amplification of Nicolas Rashevsky's treatment of n-ary relations in, and among, organismic sets that he developed over two decades as a representation of both biological and social "organisms".
Rosen’s relational biology maintains that organisms, and indeed all systems, have a distinct quality called organization which is not part of the language of reductionism, as for example in molecular biology, although it is increasingly employed in systems biology. It has to do with more than purely structural or material aspects. For example, organization includes all relations between material parts, relations between the effects of interactions of the material parts, and relations with time and environment, to name a few. Many people sum up this aspect of complex systems[9] by saying that the whole is more than the sum of the parts. Relations between parts and between the effects of interactions must be considered as additional 'relational' parts, in some sense.
Rosen said that organization must be independent from the material particles which seemingly constitute a living system. As he put it:
The human body completely changes the matter it is made of roughly every 8 weeks, through metabolism, replication and repair. Yet, you're still you --with all your memories, your personality... If science insists on chasing particles, they will follow them right through an organism and miss the organism entirely. Robert Rosen, (as told to his daughter, Ms. Judith Rosen[2])
Rosen's abstract relational biology approach focuses on a definition of living organisms, and all complex systems, in terms of their internal organization as open systems that cannot be reduced to their interacting components because of the multiple relations between metabolic, replication and repair components that govern the organism's complex biodynamics.
He deliberately chose the `simplest' graphs and categories for his representations of Metabolism-Repair Systems in small categories of sets endowed only with the discrete topology of sets, envisaging this choice as the most general and less restrictive. It turns out however that the categories of ( M , R ) {\displaystyle (M{,}R)} -systems[clarification needed] are Cartesian closed,[10] and may be considered in a very strict mathematical sense as subcategories of the category of sequential machines or automata: a somewhat ironical vindication of the French philosopher Descartes' supposition that all animals are only elaborate machines or mechanisms. The latter, mechanistic view prevails even today in most of general biology, but no longer in sociology and psychology where reductionist approaches have failed and fallen out of favour since the early 1970s.
Complexity and complex scientific models [ edit ]
The clarification of the distinction between simple and complex scientific models became in later years a major goal of Rosen's published reports. Rosen maintained that modeling is at the very essence of science and thought. His book Anticipatory Systems[11] describes, in detail, what he termed the modeling relation. He showed the deep differences between a true modeling relation and a simulation, the latter not based on such a modeling relation.
In mathematical biology he is known as the originator of a class of relational models of living organisms, called ( M , R ) {\displaystyle (M{,}R)} -systems that he devised to capture the minimal capabilities that a material system would need in order to be one of the simplest functional organisms that are commonly said to be "alive". In this kind of system, M {\displaystyle M} stands for the metabolic and R {\displaystyle R} stands for the 'repair' subsystems of a simple organism, for example active 'repair' RNA molecules. Thus, his mode for determining or "defining" life in any given system is a functional, not material, mode; although he did consider in his 1970s published reports specific dynamic realizations of the simplest ( M , R ) {\displaystyle (M{,}R)} -systems in terms of enzymes ( M {\displaystyle M} ), RNA ( R {\displaystyle R} ), and functional, duplicating DNA (his β {\displaystyle \beta } -mapping).
He went, however, even further in this direction by claiming that when studying a complex system, one "can throw away the matter and study the organization order" to learn those things that are essential to defining in general an entire class of systems. This has been, however, taken too literally by a few of his former students who have not completely assimilated Robert Rosen's injunction of the need for a theory of dynamic realizations of such abstract components in specific molecular form in order to close the modeling loop[clarification needed] for the simplest functional organisms (such as, for example, single-cell algae or microorganisms).[12] He supported this claim (that he actually attributed to Nicolas Rashevsky) based on the fact that living organisms are a class of systems with an extremely wide range of material "ingredients", different structures, different habitats, different modes of living and reproduction, and yet we are somehow able to recognize them all as living, or functional organisms, without being however vitalists.
His approach, just like Rashevsky's latest theories of organismic sets,[13][14] emphasizes biological organization over molecular structure in an attempt to bypass the structure-functionality relationships that are important to all experimental biologists, including physiologists. In contrast, a study of the specific material details of any given organism, or even of a type of organisms, will only tell us about how that type of organism "does it". Such a study doesn't approach what is common to all functional organisms, i.e. "life". Relational approaches to theoretical biology would therefore allow us to study organisms in ways that preserve those essential qualities that we are trying to learn about, and that are common only to functional organisms.
Robert Rosen's approach belongs conceptually to what is now known as Functional Biology, as well as Complex Systems Biology, albeit in a highly abstract, mathematical form.
Quantum Biochemistry and Quantum Genetics [ edit ]
Rosen also questioned what he believed to be many aspects of mainstream interpretations of biochemistry and genetics. He objects to the idea that functional aspects in biological systems can be investigated via a material focus. One example: Rosen disputes that the functional capability of a biologically active protein can be investigated purely using the genetically encoded sequence of amino acids. This is because, he said, a protein must undergo a process of folding to attain its characteristic three-dimensional shape before it can become functionally active in the system. Yet, only the amino acid sequence is genetically coded. The mechanisms by which proteins fold are not completely known. He concluded, based on examples such as this, that phenotype cannot always be directly attributed to genotype and that the chemically active aspect of a biologically active protein relies on more than the sequence of amino acids, from which it was constructed: there must be some other important factors at work, that he did not however attempt to specify or pin down.
Certain questions about Rosen's mathematical arguments were raised in a paper authored by Christopher Landauer and Kirstie L. Bellman which claimed that some of the mathematical formulations used by Rosen are problematic from a logical viewpoint. It is perhaps worth noting, however, that such issues were also raised long time ago by Bertrand Russell and Alfred North Whitehead in their famous Principia Mathematica in relation to antinomies of set theory. As Rosen's mathematical formulation in his earlier papers was also based on set theory and the category of sets such issues have naturally re-surfaced. However, these issues have now been addressed by Robert Rosen in his recent book Essays on Life Itself, published posthumously in 2000. Furthermore, such basic problems of mathematical formulations of ( M , R ) {\displaystyle (M{,}R)} --systems had already been resolved by other authors as early as 1973 by utilizing the Yoneda lemma in category theory, and the associated functorial construction in categories with (mathematical) structure.[15][16] Such general category-theoretic extensions of ( M , R ) {\displaystyle (M{,}R)} -systems that avoid set theory paradoxes are based on William Lawvere's categorical approach and its extensions to higher-dimensional algebra. The mathematical and logical extension of metabolic-replication systems to generalized ( M , R ) {\displaystyle (M{,}R)} -systems, or G-MR, also involved a series of acknowledged letters exchanged between Robert Rosen and the latter authors during 1967—1980s, as well as letters exchanged with Nicolas Rashevsky up to 1972.
Life Itself and also his subsequent book Essays on Life Itself, discuss also rather critically certain quantum genetics issues such as those introduced by Erwin Schrödinger in his famous 1945 book What Is Life?.[17]
Publications [ edit ]
Rosen wrote several books and many articles. A selection of his published books is as follows:
1970, Dynamical Systems Theory in Biology New York: Wiley Interscience.
New York: Wiley Interscience. 1970, Optimality Principles , Rosen Enterprises
, Rosen Enterprises 1978, Fundamentals of Measurement and Representation of Natural Systems , Elsevier Science Ltd,
, Elsevier Science Ltd, 1985, Anticipatory Systems: Philosophical, Mathematical and Methodological Foundations . Pergamon Press.
. Pergamon Press. 1991, Life Itself: A Comprehensive Inquiry into the Nature, Origin, and Fabrication of Life, Columbia University Press
Published posthumously:
2000, Essays on Life Itself , Columbia University Press.
, Columbia University Press. 2003, Anticipatory Systems; Philosophical, Mathematical, and Methodological Foundations , Rosen Enterprises
, Rosen Enterprises 2003, Rosennean Complexity , Rosen Enterprises.
, Rosen Enterprises. 2003, The Limits of the Limits Of Science , Rosen Enterprises
, Rosen Enterprises 2012, Anticipatory Systems; Philosophical, Mathematical, and Methodological Foundations, 2nd Edition, Springer
References [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ] |
Hi everybody!
After a long time gone I’m slowly getting back into business but with a lot of energy 🙂
Introduction
These past weeks I’ve been solving a couple of coding challenges and for one of them I thought (and I still think) that the best solution would be achieved by using a Graph Db (can’t post details because of confidential reasons). I had a little bit of experience using Neo4j in the past, not an expert though. So I did a bit of research and I found Titan Db which caught my attention as they claim it is a scalable Distributed Graph Database supporting thousand of concurrent users executing complex graph traversals in real time, just what I needed.
So this post will be about creating a small social network twitter-alike (following / followed by) using Titan Db. For those impatient creatures, here’s the code.
Basic Example
In this basic example we have the following relationships:
Gabi is following Damian and John, and is followed by Damian and Mike.
Damian is following Gabi and John, and is followed by Gabi.
John is following Chris, and is followed by Gabi and Damian.
Mike is following Gabi.
Chris is followed by John.
Pretty basic but enough to demonstrate how we can start creating these relationships in Titan Db using the Gremlin Scala DSL.
Introduction to Graph Databases
NOTE: If you’re already familiar with this concept feel free to skip this part.
As described in the Apache TinkerPop website: “A graph is a structure composed of vertices and edges. Both vertices and edges can have an arbitrary number of key/value-pairs called properties. Vertices denote discrete objects such as a person, a place, or an event. Edges denote relationships between vertices. For instance, a person may know another person, have been involved in an event, and/or was recently at a particular place. Properties express non-relational information about the vertices and edges. Example properties include a vertex having a name, an age and an edge having a timestamp and/or a weight. Together, the aforementioned graph is known as a property graph and it is the foundational data structure of Apache TinkerPop”.
So for our example every person will be a Vertex and both relationships “following” and “followedBy” will be Edges. Every person has an Id and a Name which will be Properties of each Vertice.
Relationships in Scala
The following code is part of our SocialNetworkService adding some explanation of what’s happening:
private def findPerson(personId: Long): Option[Person] = { g.V.has(PersonId, personId) // Filter by Key (PersonId) and Value (personId) .value(PersonName) // Select property PersonName .headOption() // First match .map(Person.apply(personId, _)) // Convert to our Person case class } private def findPersonsBy(personId: Long, link: String): List[Person] = { // Filter by PersonId where the outcoming Edges matching link (either Following or FollowedBy) and then getting the incoming vertice val friends = for { f <- g.V.has(PersonId, personId).outE(link).inV() } yield Person(f.value2(PersonId), f.value2(PersonName)) friends.toList() } def findFollowers(personId: PersonIdentifier): List[Person] = findPersonsBy(personId.id, FollowedBy) def findFollowing(personId: PersonIdentifier): List[Person] = findPersonsBy(personId.id, Following) // Validate if the person already exists and then creating the person def createPerson(person: Person): Option[Person] = findPerson(person.id) match { case Some(v) => None case None => g + (PersonLabel, PersonId -> person.id, PersonName -> person.name) g.tx().commit() Some(person) } // Validate if both persons exist and then creating the relationship // TODO: Add validation for existent relationships def follow(from: Person, to: Person): Option[Friendship] = (findPerson(from.id), findPerson(to.id)) match { case (Some(f), Some(t)) => val friendship = for { f <- g.V.has(PersonId, from.id) t <- g.V.has(PersonId, to.id) } yield { f --- Following --> t // "from" is now following "to" t --- FollowedBy --> f // By nature "to" is now followed by "from" } friendship.headOption() // Execute the query g.tx().commit() // Commit the transaction Some(Friendship(from, to)) case _ => None }
I really like the DSL of Gremlin. In our example g is our graph from which we can access all the vertices by g.V and edges by g.E. Then we can filter out by the many has(…) methods, add new vertices g + (Label, Key -> Value) and new relationships (edges) using arrow-alike connectors a <- – Link – -> b provided by the DSL
What’s next?
Well, this was just an introductory post to this case using Titan Db, however in the second part we’re going to address more complex scenarios so we can give the following questions a response:
What are my followers with ages between 20 and 25 years old?
How many people from Argentina is following me?
What are my new followers of the week? And of the month?
What are the first 10 followers in common of the people I’m following?
Can I reach the president of my country by common connections of my country? If so show his information.
And maybe I can come up with more examples, but that’s basically what I have in mind at the moment for the next chapter of this post. But hey! If you feel challenged please go ahead and try to implement it yourself! 😉
Oh again, here’s the project as always on GitHub.
UPDATE: See the part 2 of this post!
Until next post!
Gabriel.
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But it isn't quite. The next day he awakens in the same bed in the same bed-and-breakfast, to the sound of the same tinny clock radio with Sonny and Cher singing ''I Got You Babe'' and the babblings of the frighteningly cheerful local D.J., to discover that it is Feb. 2 again.
At first, he uses the repetition to his advantage -- he learns French poetry, for example, as part of his scheme to seduce the producer. Then he realizes that he is doomed to spend eternity locked in the same place, seeing the same people do the same things every day. It is not until he accepts his fate and sets about helping people (saving a homeless man from freezing to death, for example) that he is released from the eternal cycle of repetition.
Of course, this being an American film, he not only attains spiritual release but also gets the producer into bed.
Angela Zito, a co-director of the Center for Religion and Media at New York University, screens the film for students in her Buddhism class. She said that ''Groundhog Day'' perfectly illustrates the Buddhist notion of samsara, the continuing cycle of rebirth that Buddhists regard as suffering that humans must try to escape (a belief, Dr. Zito noted, that was missed by executives at Guerlain, who, searching for an exotic name, introduced a perfume called Samsara in the 1980's, overlooking the negative connotations).
''Groundhog Day,'' Dr. Zito said, is a cinematic version of the teachings in Mahayana Buddhism, known as ''the greater vehicle.''
''In Mahayana,'' she said, ''nobody ever imagines they are going to escape samsara until everybody else does. That is why you have bodhisattvas, who reach the brink of nirvana, and stop and come back and save the rest of us. Bill Murray is the bodhisattva. He is not going to abandon the world. On the contrary, he is released back into the world to save it.''
Wow. So can anyone (a newspaper reporter?) be a bodhisattva?
''I would call that a Napoleon complex,'' Dr. Zito said with a sniff. ''There is only one bodhisattva, and that is the Dalai Lama.''
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Some theologians see much less Buddhism in the story than Judaism. Dr. Niles Goldstein, rabbi of the New Shul congregation in Greenwich Village and author of ''Lost Souls: Finding Hope in the Heart of Darkness'' (Bell Tower, 2002), said he finds Jewish resonance in the fact that Mr. Murray's character is rewarded by being returned to earth to perform more mitzvahs -- good deeds -- rather than gaining a place in heaven, which is the Christian reward, or achieving nirvana, the Buddhist reward. He has not used the movie as an allegory for his congregation, he said, but he might now.
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''The movie tells us, as Judaism does, that the work doesn't end until the world has been perfected,'' Rabbi Goldstein said.
But wait. Michael Bronski, a film critic for The Forward who teaches a course in Jewish film history at Dartmouth, said he sees strong elements of not only Jewish but also Christian theology. ''The groundhog is clearly the resurrected Christ, the ever hopeful renewal of life at springtime, at a time of pagan-Christian holidays,'' he said, adding: ''And when I say that the groundhog is Jesus, I say that with great respect.''
The Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and an associate editor of America, the National Catholic Weekly, didn't quite see the groundhog as Christ-like. Referring to the Murray character, he said, ''You do, however, very clearly see the deadness of his life at the beginning of the movie.'' After the self dies, he added, ''what is reborn is this new person resurrected from his comatose way of looking at the world.''
Mr. Ramis, who was raised Jewish, said he feels like a Buddhist, but does not practice any religion. ''Although I am wearing meditation beads on my wrist,'' he said. ''But that's because I'm on a Buddhist diet. They're supposed to remind me not to eat, but actually just get in the way when I'm cutting my steak.''
The connection between Judaism and Buddhism, he said, is a strong one, adding that many Buddhists in the United States started out as Jews. ''There is a remarkable correspondence of philosophies and even style between the two,'' he said.
Yogis, Jesuits and psychoanalytic practitioners have told Mr. Ramis that they feel a strong spiritual kinship with the message they see in the film. In the case of the psychoanalysts, he said, ''it's the 'we keep reliving the same old patterns over and over again until we gain the right to free ourselves' thing.''
And in Washington, a branch of the Chinese spiritual movement Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, has used the movie to instruct members in its belief that the spiritual self is not allowed to move to higher levels until it learns from past mistakes. (Dr. Zito said that makes sense, because Falun Gong draws many beliefs from Buddhism.) Some Wiccans also point to the film as particularly important to their beliefs, because Groundhog Day -- the day itself -- is one of the four ''greater sabbats'' that divide the year at the midpoints between the solstices and equinoxes. Several Web sites devoted to Wicca call the movie required viewing.
Scott Prendergast, a 32-year-old actor and director who said his film career was inspired in part by movies like ''Groundhog Day,'' said he noticed the spiritual element in the film from the first. (Mr. Prendergast has two short films currently showing on the Sundance Channel.)
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''No one comes down and issues this formal command, and so he doesn't know, and the audience doesn't know, why this day is repeating, but it is,'' Mr. Prendergast said. ''And that's why it is appealing to so many different religions. He faces this existential test, but he does not know it's a test, and he doesn't know what the results will be.''
A survey of religious leaders in Punxsutawney turned up little excitement about the movie's message. One, Charlene King, the director of the Child Evangelical Fellowship of Jefferson County in Punxsutawney, said her organization does not use the movie to teach spiritual values. ''We stick pretty much to Scripture,'' Ms. King said.
Dr. Zito couldn't think of any other obviously Buddhist movies off the top of her head. How about the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy, with its message of redemption? ''Lord of the Rings''? Or, say, ''Shampoo,'' whose main character -- a Lothario hairdresser played by Warren Beatty -- makes the same mistake over and over until he recognizes it and considers changing his ways?
'' 'Shampoo'?'' Dr. Zito said. ''I don't think so. Warren Beatty probably knows he'll never be saved.'' |
The general cargo ship Avangard ran aground in Tsimlyansk Reservoir in river Don, Russia. The vessel was en route from Asrtakhan to Rostov with 2,929 tons of fertilizers on board, but after mechanical failure lost the shipping line and stuck on the shallow with the bow. The vessel was not able to refloat by own power and crew reported accident to the local authorities. At the scene of the troubled cargo ship Avangard were sent inspectors, which started investigation for the accident and made safety survey. The ship did not suffered serious damages after grounding and refloating will be contracted by the owner. There is no report about oil leak or water pollution, but authorities are monitoring the area around the grounded vessel.
According to information from the authorities and inspectors, the ship left the shipping way and hardly stuck into the sandbank after mechanical failure and blackout. Fortunately there were no injured people during the incident. After salvage is contracted, the vessel will be refloated and inspected of the underwater area of the hull before return in service.
The general cargo ship Avangard (IMO: 8889438) has overall length of 108.00 m, moulded beam of 15.00 m and maximum draft of 3.50 m. The deadweight of the vessel is 3,197 DWT and the gross tonnage is 2,360 GRT. The cargo ship was built in 1982 by Navol Oltenita shipyard in Romania. The owner and operator of the vessel Avangard is the Russian company Ardis. |
Kola Restaurant & Ultra Lounge, Metro Detroit’s premier cultural destination, home to the best of #Afrobeat & #Reggae music, hosts Reggae sensation, ETANA on Friday, May 22, 2015. This special edition of “Tropical Fridays” will feature Reggae music’s spirited and soulful singer/songwriter on the US tour of her chart topping album “I RISE”.
ETANA’s latest album, I Rise recently won World A Reggae’s Album of the Year 2014, and features the hit single Richest Girl. The concert will be hosted by VDJ Wada and opens at 8PM with a performance by Metro Detroit’s own “Uprizin Steel Drum Band”. Since she first came on the scene in 2007 with her debut single, “Wrong Address,” Etana has been one of reggae’s strongest female voices.
It’s easy to see that a lot of care went into the making of this latest offering. There’s hardly a wasted moment to be found on I Rise. Etana has a way of capturing lightening in a bottle while shaking off all pretenses. The instrumentation of strings, percussion, and synth cords works throughout the record as a great complement to Etana’s soul-drenched vocals.
Kola Lounge owner/restauranteur, says we continue to work very hard to establish Kola as a cultural and culinary destination. “Etanas’ management’s selection of Kola as a venue solidifies what we’ve worked so hard to accomplish,” says Dr. Ekpenyong.
Kola’s delectable fare has gone over big with patrons while its elegant selection of wine and spirits satisfy more delicate palates. Domestic and imported beers are also available to go with the lively gnash and entertainment. It’s a big-hearted restaurant that serves food as good as the live entertainment. Tickets can be purchased at Kola Restaurant & Ultra Lounge at 32523 Northwestern Highway in Farmington Hills or online by logging onto http://etanakolalounge.eventbrite.com. |
By Suzanne Kelly
The latest James Bond movie, "Skyfall," delves into some tantalizing personal details about the world's favorite British spy, from formative events in his childhood to an up-close look at his relationship with M, the chief of the super-secret British spy service where Bond works.
The new film offers plenty of the heart-thumping chase scenes one expects from a Bond movie, and it also gives glimpses of Bond's well honed art of spycraft. Which begs the question: How realistic is today's Bond?
Some real-life former spies offered to help bust through some of the myths created by the movie:
Bond Myth 1: Spies have super human abilities
In the opening scene, a post-40-year-old Bond manages to survive a particularly wild car chase. He somehow ends up on top of a train, where he ducks through tunnels while engaging in a fist fight with the bad guy, only to be shot and fall to what appears to be his certain death, his body plunging into a lake.
"When you place it in the Hollywood context, his physical abilities don't exist," says Marty Martin, a former senior clandestine operations officer with the CIA, who one source of mine described as "one part" Bond.
"A guy can't take on six guys. He can't jump off bridges and trains. If you do it once, you're lucky, and it will likely blow your knee out, you know what I'm saying?" observed Martin.
And it's not just the physical skills, but add to that all of those other amazing talents that make Bond who he is, and you have just discovered why so many real-life spies admire the guy.
"A lot of people in our business wish we could do things like that," says Robert Richer, a former senior officer in the CIA's Clandestine Service. "He has the skills of a SEAL, He can play baccarat. He can move effortlessly in Monte Carlo, but the reality is it's hard to do all of those things combined."
"There are characteristics," says Martin. "But the whole James Bond, good-looking, suave, has good toys, speaks three or four languages, really?"
Bond Myth 2: Style is a spy's best weapon
"Being suave does make a difference," said Robert Grenier, who spent much of his CIA career working undercover in overseas locations, including serving as the CIA's chief of station in Islamabad, Pakistan, on September 11, 2001. Grenier is described by some of my sources as being the best-dressed (former) spy in the world.
Grenier, of course, chuckled when I shared that piece of intel with him.
"Espionage is a people business, and at its essence is the ability to make people like you and trust you and being able to enter a social world whether it's nuclear scientists or the court of the king of Morocco or whatever it is, those are the sort of social skills that form a composite of Bond."
Bond Myth 3: It's easier to work alone
"I was operating at a time when we did believe in one range and one rider," says Martin, who has since retired from the world of official espionage. "Today, you're way more likely to work in teams."
But, argues Martin, there is still a lot of logic in keeping those teams small. "Because if you only have two people on the operation, there are only two people who can jack it up," says Martin. "If you have 25, the weakest one will do something stupid like call home and blow the whole deal."
"You want to keep the team as small as you can. The fewer points of failure you have, the better," adds Grenier. "The perception of what we do has changed a little bit because we're operating so much in war zones. But one of the things I've always noticed is that if you ever have two case officers in a room with an agent, a source, it's one too many case officers. It's amazing when you see it because right away they start competing with each other."
Bond Myth 4: Breaking the rules makes you bad
One thing Bond doesn't do while carrying out his mission is stop to call the lawyers. According to the real-life guys, the concept of breaking rules isn't all that off-base for operators working in the field, under increasingly stressful pressure, particularly post 9/11.
"Following a deeper set of rules, being devoted to the mission, sometimes means breaking the rules you're supposed to follow," says Grenier, who has had to make some tough calls during the course of his career. "Breaking the rules does happen in real life, but not for very long. Bond never consults lawyers. Right there, you know it's not very realistic."
"Sometimes you need somebody who can go 'downtown bad'," says Martin.
But just how far does "downtown bad" go? Would it ever involve targeted killing of the nondrone variety?
Britain's MI6 has publicly disavowed itself from carrying out assassinations, as has the CIA. In fact, when I asked a certain unidentified spy contact about that, he sent me a copy of Executive Order 12333, which "explicitly prohibits the CIA from engaging, either directly or indirectly, in assassinations."
Of course, in reality, we know that intelligence officers or agents sometimes embark on deadly missions. But in a world in which oversight committees and lawyers are part of the process, how would Bond hold up before an oversight committee?
If I were to wager a bet, my money would be on that being the most exciting congressional hearings I would ever see.
Bond Myth 5: Technology always makes the job easier
In "Skyfall," Bond moves from country to country with relative ease. Could that really happen? Not so much.
This is true in part because technology now allows him to be tracked, either by new border control measures being adopted around the world or by social media sites that account for a lot of today's intelligence gathering.
"Now we have biometrics. You can't just pop in and out of countries. It's getting increasingly hard," says Martin, who spent some of his time moving through countries in the Middle East. "Our world has gotten so much more difficult for espionage. Before, you could create a fake passport and you're off, but now, honestly really the first thing people do is google you, right?"
Author Jeffery Deaver agrees.
He wrote the latest Bond novel, "Carte Blanche," which is part of the continuing Ian Fleming series. In the book, published last year, Deaver writes about a Bond character who can no longer just waltz into any country and provide a credible cover story. In large part, says Deaver, that's because of the Internet.
"Any intelligence agent has more information about him or her out there than one would like," said Deaver on his cell phone from Brazil, where he's touting his latest non-Bond book.
"He (Bond) has to gin up an identity that will stand up to Internet groups, because covers can be blown so easily. It doesn't take very much at all, even for a 13-year-old hacker, to find out that you're not who you say you are."
Bond Myth 6: Sophisticated drinks and theme songs make you cooler
OK, this one is tough to argue with. But while Bond is legendary for unwinding with a martini, shaken, not stirred, it's a bit more gritty in the real world.
"Whiskey," says Martin. "When we were facing some tough times with al Qaeda, it was whiskey and listening to soundtracks from "Gladiator" and "Man on Fire."
But let's face it, in some places, getting a good bottle of whiskey could be tougher than the day job. So what's another, more practical alternative in those locations?
"Most real case officers, the ones doing the counterterrorism work, are beer drinkers or, a lesser number, vodka drinkers." says Richer. "Where we serve, getting a good mixed drink is difficult at best. Finding a beer is always easy. Few of us drink wine. Appreciating wine takes time and attention.
"Those who take on the trappings of being too sophisticated are generally more intel bureaucrats than field officers (which are where most of those of us who drink wine and like taking comfy postings rest). Those doing Yemen, Africa, Afghan, Iraq, Syria, North Africa, take simply joys and run with them."
And age is an important component here, too, because post-9/11, many of those serving in particularly dangerous overseas posts are on the younger side.
"Country music, hard rock are more the themes than soundtracks. Music which pumps the blood up for mission or private pursuits like the gym," adds Richer.
"I don't know of an officer current or former who would define Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift as those they listen to. They do listen to Aerosmith, Coldplay and a lot of independent music artists." |
In a move that's colder than circa-Season 3 Betty Draper, Dish Network decided to pull AMC (home of Mad Men and Breaking Bad) from its listings. Fans were outraged, but both sides kept it civil — until Sunday night, when things got bitchy.
During last night's (brutally depressing) episode of Mad Men, AMC took action, inserting a spot that explained the situation and urged Dish subscribers to voice their complaints. They also listed a website where people could email Dish directly, and suggested there was a "real reason" Dish is dropping AMC. (An unrelated legal dispute, apparently. I was hoping for something out of Rubicon.)
In the ultimate dick move, Dish responded by relocating AMC to channel 9069 — right in the middle of a broadcast of The Killing. Now, look, I know we all have issues with the show, but we're so close to finding out who killed Rosie Larsen. Cutting an episode off while it's still airing is unforgivable. To make matters worse, Dish replaced channel 130 with HD Net, which was playing — wait for it — a Nickelback concert.
Viewers were pissed. And so was AMC, who released this statement—
It is unfortunate that, in retaliation for an unrelated lawsuit, DISH is punishing its customers by threatening to drop the AMC Networks, and with this sudden, dramatic change in channel position, making it extremely difficult for their customers to find and watch some of the most popular and acclaimed shows on television.
The Dish response, however unhelpful, might be the most delightfully passive-aggressive yet: "A Dish spokesman said the channels were moved to a location better suited to their ratings performance."
Take that, Emmy Award-winning series not enough people watch.
[Image via WENN.com/AMC] |
Rupang Bhatt, Ahmedabad, 25 January 2014
It was 20th May 2009, when Aumprakash, a YouTube channel owner mailed DeshGujarat to tell that his channel was disabled due to posting of Rahul Gandhi video. Following is the full text of Aumprakash’s mail.
Aumprakash wrote:
my account has been disabled in You tube, i wont be able to login in to my
account till June 2nd, youtube claims the rahul gandhi IQ video is against its
community guidelines 😀
Aumprakash later discontinued updates on his channel. So Youtube lost one sincere Youtuber. Aumprakash’s channel is very much there on Yutube, but without Rahul’s video. The last video on Aumprakash’s channel was posted on April 2009.
Soon after a video uploaded by Aumprakash was deleted by Youtube, some more people uploaded same video on their own Youtube channels, and now the video enjoys over one million views!
Some time back DNA cartoonist Manjul complained that his cartoon on Rahul Gandhi was deleted by Twitter. More details on that episode are available here in this DNA article.
But the latest incident of removal of Rahul Gandhi related stuff is just 24 hours old!
One young boy Rohit Iyengar picked up Rahul Gandhi’s recent Congress national council meeting address and spoofed it musically. He uploaded it on Youtube titling it as SPR productions creation. He mentioned in the video that “Words in the speech have been taken out of context for comic purposes”. In less than a week time the video enjoyed two lakh views. The video also went viral on twitter, facebook, emails and whatsapp through different accounts.
Then what? Youtube removed the video yesterday. Reacting to this, Rohit on his Facebook page said yesterday:
The Rahul Gandhi Parody has been taken down on YouTube. I can hereby declare that there is no freedom of speech in India. We have become a censorship state.
Rohit also posted an apology song video for Rahul Gandhi which is presented below with lyrics.
Mr. Rahul Gandhi
I made a little parody
I took your greatest speeh
and turned it in to a posinous leech
You probably got pissed off
You got the video taken off
200,000 views
was too much exposure for you
So in this song I would like to make
A sincere apology
S O R R Y
Mr. Rahul Gandhi
you probably think I’m BJP
or maybe even AAP
but to tell you the truth Sirji
I’m just a nobody
Just spreading a few little laughs
using one of my numerous crafts
Now I understand Mr. Gandhi
You can’t tolerate comedy
So in this song I would like to make
A sincere apology
S O R R Y
Mr. Rahul Gandhi
Mr. Rahul Gandhi
Mr. Rahul Gandhi
Want to watch Rohit’s deleted song? It is embedded below via Facebook. |
States quietly buy, mine personal data -- including names of your associates and relatives John Byrne
Published: Wednesday April 2, 2008
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Print This Email This The government is rounding up your cell phone numbers, insurance claims, credit reports, financial records, and the names of your associates and relatives and sharing them with law enforcement officials nationwide. They may even have your unlisted iPhone number. But it's not President George W. Bush, who's taken fire over his warrantless wiretapping program, or the National Security Agency, which oversaw the interception of Americans' calls overseas. It's your state. So-called "fusion centers" set up after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks collect, store and analyze commercial and public data on unknown millions of Americans. Little is known about the centers, though they received $254 million from the Department of Homeland Security between 2004 and 2007. Documents obtained by the Washington Post's Robert O'Harrow Jr. for Wednesday's papers reveal that the centers -- which have flown beneath the public's radar -- have information that now includes unlisted cell phone numbers, insurance claims, driver's license photographs, credit reports and even top-secret data systems at the CIA. "Dozens of the organizations known as fusion centers were created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to identify potential threats and improve the way information is shared," O'Harrow says. "The centers use law enforcement analysts and sophisticated computer systems to compile, or fuse, disparate tips and clues and pass along the refined information to other agencies. They are expected to play important roles in national information-sharing networks that link local, state and federal authorities and enable them to automatically sift their storehouses of records for patterns and clues." A document obtained by the paper lists "resources" used by fusion centers in the Northeastern United States. The paper notes that "details have come to light at a time of debate about domestic intelligence efforts... and whether the government has enough protections to prevent abuses," suggesting they were leaked to influence the debate. Congress has refused to pass legislation granting telecommunications companies retroactive immunity for participating in what many critics believe was illegal wiretapping. The fusion centers also have subscriptions to information systems that provide information on Americans' locations, fiancial holdings, associates, relatives and firearms licenses. "Pennsylvania buys credit reports and uses face-recognition software to examine driver's license photos, while analysts in Rhode Island have access to car-rental databases," O'Harrow writes. "In Maryland, authorities rely on a little-known data broker called Entersect, which claims it maintains 12 billion records about 98 percent of Americans." Entersect boasts that it holds records for the private cellphone numbers of Americans. "There is never ever enough information when it comes to terrorism" remarked Maj. Steven G. O'Donnell, deputy superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police, in a comment to O'Harrow. "That's what post-9/11 is about." Massachusetts taps an information broker to get access to unlisted cell and landline phone numbers and another to get access to information on insurance claims, casualty claims and property claims. Ohio has access to an FBI 'secret level repository,' O'Harrow said. Rhode Island, meanwhile, can query CIA databases. "Officials at the Rhode Island State Police, FBI and CIA declined to discuss the system and the kinds of information it contains," Harrow wrote. |
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: In Iceland, the anarchist Pirate Party made big gains in Sunday’s national elections, raising the prospect it will form a coalition government with other left-wing parties. The Pirates won 10 seats in Iceland’s 63-member Parliament, up from three in the last election. Pirate Party leader Birgitta Jónsdóttir hailed the result.
BIRGITTA JÓNSDÓTTIR: Our internal talk about what to expect has been, you know, we could maybe get somewhere between 12 to 15 [percent], and if we can get 15, we would have tripled our last elections. So we are just thrilled. It’s incredible.
AMY GOODMAN: The Pirate Party hopes to pass the world’s first crowdsourced constitution. Its core platform calls for direct democracy, freedom of expression, civil rights, net neutrality and transparency. The Pirates saw their popularity surge in April, after Iceland’s prime minister resigned following revelations he and his wife used an offshore company to conceal millions of dollars’ worth of investments. Women also won big in this weekend’s elections, taking 30 seats in Iceland’s Parliament—more than any other party. With female candidates winning nearly half of the seats, Iceland now reportedly has the “most equal Parliament in the world” without a quota system. On Sunday, Iceland’s current prime minister, Sigurdur Ingi Jóhannsson of the Progressive Party, officially resigned—a formality, as the government did not get a majority. He announced his departure on national television after his center-right party lost more than half of its seats in Parliament.
Well, for more, we’re going directly to Reykjavík, Iceland, where we’re joined by Birgitta Jónsdóttir, member of the Icelandic Parliament, co-founder of the country’s Pirate Party, poet, activist, web developer, former WikiLeaks activist, chairperson of the International Modern Media Institution.
Birgitta Jónsdóttir, welcome to Democracy Now! Talk about what happened in Iceland’s elections.
BIRGITTA JÓNSDÓTTIR: Thank you very much for having me on again, Amy.
So, in Iceland, we have had some very serious crises. We had the fifth-largest financial crisis in the history of humankind in 2008, and it was a rude awakening for most Icelanders that everything they had sort of put their trust in had failed them. And so, ever since then, I have been part of trying to get different types of people to work together on a collective goal. One of the goals that the people were calling for in all the big protests in the wake of the crisis was that we would get to make our own constitution collectively. We have currently a constitution that is a 72-year-old draft, that was given to us by the Danish king when we gained our independence in 1944. So, on this platform, the Pirate Party was built, on the platform of transparency, accountability, digital rights in cyberspace, on being sort of like Robin Hood when it comes to taking the power from the powerful and giving it to the people. So, in many ways, many people find it strange that we call ourselves the Pirate Party, but, you know, if you look at Robin Hood, he might have just been a pirate, as well, if you look at those definitions.
AMY GOODMAN: So, explain what’s happened now. I mean, some polls had you winning. You would have been the next prime minister. Explain what happened. You still made big gains.
BIRGITTA JÓNSDÓTTIR: Yeah, so we were formed in 2012. We got 5.1 percent in 2013. We tripled our following in three years. We, those of us that are the old-school Pirates, knew that we could never get much more than around 15 percent. Would have been great if we could have gotten 20, but we feel extremely thankful that 15 percent of Icelanders feel confident about being Pirates, being agents of change in society.
So, what sort of happened in the election campaign was that we got the machine against us. We had very little money. We had to be very creative. And we ran our campaign on—just on our issues, instead of attacking our opponents like you see very much in the presidential campaign in your country. We did not want to go on to that level. We criticized their issues, but not the people. And we just got the machine. And the machine of the established parties is very powerful, and they have people everywhere. So, the fact that we still managed to get so much support, despite all the attacks and undermining, was great.
We also decided to do a huge risk two weeks before elections. We held a press conference where we announced that we wanted to invite four parties to have discussions with us before the elections, so that we could—the voters could have a clear choice. In Iceland, you have always coalition parties running governance after the elections. And usually the parties go into the elections without announcing who they’re going to work with after the elections. And so, everybody that voted for us or the Left-Greens or the Social Democrats could be absolutely sure, after these negotiations, that they were not voting for the “Panama” government that we had—the Conservative Party and the Progressives. But that was risky. It’s never been done before in such a clear way.
We also wanted to tell our voters if we had to compromise about anything. And so, there was this one thing that the other parties did not agree on: our suggestion we would have a short term in order to implement the constitution as quickly as possible. And so, we just told our voters that “Here is our compromise. You know, take us or leave us.” And yet, we got nearly 15 percent, despite taking chances for healthier democracy.
AMY GOODMAN: So, what exactly happens now? How do you form the government?
BIRGITTA JÓNSDÓTTIR: These are very interesting times, because we have an opportunity to be sort of a kingmaker in these negotiations. We suggested—like, we had our first parliamentary group meeting two days ago, where we decided that we would, in order to facilitate a possibility of a much broader scope of governance, because there is seven parties now that were elected—that’s never happened before—and we really feel it’s important that we offer something else than the corrupt parties that were forced to have elections earlier, and it’s obvious that we cannot tackle corruption, which was one of our main agendas before this election, with these parties, and so we offered to support a minority government of three parties, that there would be two parties that would support a minority government.
Also, another thing that I feel very happy about is that before the elections, when it looked like I could be a prime minister, I could actually say—and I’m not it—but if I would ever be in that position of power, that I could take that office, I wanted to take that idea of power and bring it into the Parliament and seek to be the speaker of the House instead of the prime minister, because the parliaments in this world are so weak. They are governed and ruled by the executive branch. And that is a big problem with how we run our societies.
AMY GOODMAN: Last week, thousands of female employees across Iceland walked out of workplaces at exactly 2:38 p.m. to protest against earning less than men. One headline read, “Women in Iceland protest country’s 14 percent pay gap by leaving work 14 percent early.”
BIRGITTA JÓNSDÓTTIR: Yes, so this was—so, Icelanders have been doing also quite innovative things in order to get women’s equality in action. In 1974, there was a massive women’s strike in Iceland, and that completely changed the way things progressed after that. So, women actually worked—walked out of work. It was a massive strike, exactly at the same time as they were no longer paid equally to the men.
Then there was founded—this very interesting experiment—a cross-party, women’s-only party. And in many ways, the Pirate Party are inspired by what they did in order to facilitate change. So they created this party. They got elected, and they gained ground in the second elections. And thanks to them, we had much—well, you know, much more equality in the Parliament, much more women than before. And now, without any force or any quotas, we have almost 50/50 men and women in the Parliament. And like in my own party, we don’t have quota on, you know, or these sort of braided lists that run for seats, but still we manage to have totally 50/50, because there is this awareness that, of course, you should always select both men and women when you’re choosing who to run for the party.
AMY GOODMAN: You—the Pirate Party has offered Edward Snowden political asylum in Iceland or wants Iceland to offer that?
BIRGITTA JÓNSDÓTTIR: Not asylum. We have—I actually wrote a letter, an open letter, when he sought asylum in Iceland, and urged him not to do it. I would—I have urged him to apply for citizenship, because you have much more—you have much stronger protections against extradition if you’re a citizen rather than asylum seeker. And the Pirate Party—actually, this was the very first bill the Pirates put in, in 2013, to offer him citizenship. And if he asks for citizenship, we will definitely put that bill forward, because it’s actually a Pirate Party policy.
I just want to stress one thing, as well, and that is, there are now a couple of weeks for your current president, Barack Obama, to do one thing right, and that is to pardon Chelsea Manning, the courageous whistleblower, who has been serving in prison for many years and still has around 30 years to go, for bringing truth about war crimes conducted not only in the name of the United States, but with partner states that were participating through NATO. Very important for Iceland to know what is being done in our name, and should be important for everybody else in the world, including and specifically in the United States.
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, Birgitta, your view, having just gone through your elections, of our elections in the United States of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton?
BIRGITTA JÓNSDÓTTIR: Oh, my god. We have now a new saying called being “Trumpified,” when it comes to bizarre things in the election campaign. But, of course, you know, you have somehow managed to create a system that it’s impossible for ordinary people to run. Thankfully, like, for example, the Pirate Party in Iceland only have normal people that just wants to be part of co-creating their society. I occasionally look at my Twitter stream and hashtag Trump or Clinton, and I just lose my faith in humanity because of the level of this campaign. It’s terrible that there is no possibility for a multitude of choices to, you know, be the most powerful person in the world. And, you know, certainly, if—you know, everybody that I know feel that they can’t vote for either, and, you know, the choices are really bad. And so, maybe, you know, the American people could do something historical, and, collectively, everybody that’s not happy with Trump or Clinton to vote for a third choice.
AMY GOODMAN: I see the turnout in Iceland was nearly 80 percent: 79.2 percent. As we wrap up, what words of advice do you have to the U.S. population, where we barely get over half the population in this country voting?
BIRGITTA JÓNSDÓTTIR: Well, first of all, simplify this process. It’s so complicated to run. And restore the rights of prisoners, for example, to vote. We actually went to the big prison in Iceland to talk to the prisoners to encourage them to vote. They have the right to vote in Iceland. If you conduct some sort of criminal behavior, which often is like smoking pot or something, then it’s outrageous that a modern democracy strips away the fundamental right to vote. But simplify the system. I think that is the demand that the U.S. people should have before the next election cycle.
And please, have the cycle shorter. This is like killing everybody, this long campaign, not only in the United States, but elsewhere, because this is—you know, just to get news, endless news, about some personality flaws of people, instead of actually getting to know the policies that these candidates are running with, is just so strange to us. It’s like sort of a reality show.
But I just want to say just another last thing. And that is, we’re not really an anarchist party, because anarchism, in the minds of many people, is about black blocs or whatever. We are more about citizens’ engagement, to facilitate ways for the general public to take responsibility in society and to help facilitate change and to draw from the wisdom of the masses what is needed to do in order to prioritize how we run our society.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Birgitta Jónsdóttir, we want to thank you for being with us. And on that issue of smoking pot, we’re going to be looking at ballot initiatives this week, but on the ballot next week. At this point, something like 5 percent of Americans can smoke pot without facing criminal charges. If ballots have their way in a number of states, it will go up to 25 percent of the U.S. population will be able to use pot without facing criminal charges. Birgitta Jónsdóttir, thank you so much for being with us, member of the Icelandic Parliament, co-founder of the country’s Pirate Party, also poet, activist, web developer, former WikiLeaks activist. Birgitta Jónsdóttir is the chairperson of the International Modern Media Institution.
This is Democracy Now! When we come back, thousands of Moroccans took to the streets this weekend. We’ll find out why. Stay with us. |
Dear Internet,
As of November 1, 2015 the Comedy in the Lou website will serve solely as a catch-all to redirect comedy curious folks in search of all things comedy in St. Louis. The social airwaves will go silent and all booking and promotional services will no longer be offered. In the past 5 years the scene in St. Louis has flourished and what was created to serve as a platform to collectively celebrate this growth can simply put, not keep up. So rather than do you the disservice of not being timely and relevant, we’re closing up shop and tipping our hat to the community that outgrew us. It’s all hugs and high fives ya’ll. Go see a show so that #STLComedy may live long and prosper.
Most Sincerly,
Kelsey McClure, Founder & Chief of Comedy in the Lou
#STLComedy Organizations
The Improv Shop
Website | Facebook | Twitter
Through locally raised, organic, group-oriented longform improvisation, we try to manufacture small families made up of people that were once strangers. Using the skills and techniques of Chicago-style improv, students in our program learn to succeed on stage while becoming better human beings off-stage.
We believe that improv training is a powerful and necessary tool for the working actor, a fun way to become a more confident public speaker, and an exciting means of self-expression.
STL Up Late
Website | Facebook | Twitter
Looking for an original live and local experience? STL Up Late is an interactive late night talk show featuring the most talented and engaging guests that St. Louis has to offer.
STL Up Late takes all of the best elements of your favorite televised late night talk shows, like live music and famous personalities, and adds interactive audience games, sketch comedy, video shorts and a spontaneity that you can’t find on FCC regulated TV shows. Anything can happen on STL Up Late, but you have to be there to see it because this is a live show only! Come an be a part of this uniquely St. Louis experience.
SketchPad
Website | Facebook | Twitter
Since July of 2014, STL SketchPAD purpose has been to provide an outlet for people interested in comedy writing and producing. We teamed up with STL Up Late to produce a high quality sketch comedy show that any local writer, no matter the level of experience, would have access to contribute to.
STL SketchPAD accept submissions for each show through email. Information can be found on stlsketchpad.com and by introducing yourself to the founder; Jason Flamm. We hope that fans of sketch comedy will find our show as a highly produced, well-written, and overall fun experience and we strive to deliver that each month no matter what level of comedy writing our contributors find themselves in.
Bare Knuckle Comedy
Website | Facebook | Twitter
Our flagship show, also called Bare Knuckle Comedy, is performed monthly at The Improv Shop in the Central West End of St. Louis. The show, which mixes stand up, sketch and video, has become “a stop for touring indie comics from across the country” (Alive Magazine). It takes place the second Saturday of every month at 8 PM.
This show has been in production since 2009 and we’ve hosted comics from across the United States. Past comics include Nikki Glase, Michael Palascak, Nick Vatterott and many, many more.
Bare Knuckle Comedy “kick started the alt comedy scene in St. Louis in 2009 (Riverfront Times), and has continued to be, as Marlena Rodriguez (staff writer for “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) puts it, “the best comedy show in St. Louis.”
Sorry, Please Continue…
Website | Facebook
Started in the summer of 2014 by comedians Kenny Kinds, Jeremy Hellwig and Kris Wernowsky, Sorry, Please Continue… blends traditional storytelling with all of the quirks and weirdness of a late-night talk show. SPC combines the rich storytelling of The Moth Radio Hour with the comedy of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Monthly shows at Foam on Cherokee Street feature a variety of ordinary people telling fascinating, weird, wonderful, sad and strange stories of everyday life with the added commentary of a rotating panel of regular and guest comedians. In 2015, the show expanded to a second city as co-creator Kris Wernowsky began a regular monthly show at The Beachland Tavern in Cleveland’s historic Waterloo neighborhood.
Mound City Comedy
Website | Facebook | Twitter
Mound City Comedy produces comedy shows. Mostly good ones.
#STLComedy Shows:
Picnic Time
Contraceptive Comedy
Impolite Comedy
Wild Card Comedy Night
Loser. A Live Action Shame Show
Comedy at Foam
Two Girls. One Mic.
No Straight White Guys
#STLComedy Venues:
This is the all-inclusive list of coffee shops, rock clubs, comedy clubs and back rooms known to be a place for jokes.
The Funny Bone Westport | The Funny Bone Valley Park
Helium Comedy Club
Foam Coffee & Beer
The Demo
The Firebird
The Ready Room
The Duck Room
The Heavy Anchor
The Pageant
#STLComedy Supporters/Lovers
Indio Radio | The John and Kane Show
Rock Paper Podcast
New Scar Design |
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Image: Michael Feiginov/TU Darmstadt Tiny Transmitter: TU Darmstadt's resonant tunneling diode transmitter beams out radiation at 1.11 terahertz. The Diode is the squiggle at the base of the "V". Click on image to enlarge.
25 January 2012—Researchers in Germany and Japan have developed tiny transmitter chips that produce the highest-frequency signals at room temperature—1.111 terahertz—of any source driven by a resonant-tunneling diode (RTD), a type of electronic quantum device. The relatively cheap transmitter chip might make it easier to use terahertz devices. Researchers have been working toward developing technologies that could potentially help to foil bomb plots. These terahertz devices would be able to see through a person’s clothing and chemically identify concealed objects from a distance.
The terahertz frequency range, which corresponds to wavelengths between 0.1 and 1 millimeter, is a relatively new discovery. The submillimeter radiation sources in use today are bulky and costly, and some, such as quantum cascade lasers, work only at cryogenic temperatures.
Because many materials, including fabric, are transparent to terahertz waves, the radiation is being used in new body scanners at some airports and at other security checkpoints. What’s more, these waves may work well in time-domain spectroscopy, a technique for identifying the chemical makeup of things from a distance, in which the light’s phase shifts when it is absorbed. Some research suggests that terahertz waves could be used in some cases instead of X-rays in medical diagnosis.
Now a research team at the Technical University Darmstadt, in Germany, has reported the production of a chip that emits 1.111-THz radiation with an output power of 0.1 microwatt, a new frequency record.
The previous record was held by researchers from the NTT Photonics Laboratories in Atsugi-shi, in Japan, and from the Tokyo Institute of Technology. In 2010, they reported a device producing 1.04 THz but with an output power of 7 µW. Researchers are interested in higher frequencies because the resulting imagers would have better resolution.
An RTD consists of a quantum well—a region in which charge is confined to two dimensions—sandwiched between two insulating barriers. The barriers are connected to regions of doped indium gallium arsenide layers, the emitter and collector, which form reservoirs for electrons. When a voltage is applied across the quantum well, electrons pass from the emitter to the collector. Unlike in a resistor, the relationship between voltage and current in an RTD is a curve instead of a straight line. When the voltage is increased, at first the current increases as well, but at a certain voltage the device’s "differential conductance" goes negative and the current drops sharply.
The idea that a tunneling diode can generate oscillations was first proposed by Raphael Tsu and Leo Esaki in 1973. If the RTD is connected to a resonator, the device starts oscillating, because instead of damping the oscillations, the device’s negative conductance amplifies them.
RTDs have long been out of favor for generating terahertz radiation. The first RTD sources to approach 1 THz were developed by researchers at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Mass., during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1991, the groups reported a frequency of 712 GHz. However, they weren’t able to get to higher frequencies and abandoned the line of research.
Image: Michael Feiginov/TU Darmstadt Awesome Oscillator: TU Darmstadt's 44-micrometer-long resonant tunneling diode is the heart of a record setting transmitter. Click on image to enlarge.
But both the Japanese and the German groups were convinced that improvements were possible. The flaw in the Lincoln research was that the group placed the RTD inside of a tube-shape waveguide that served as the resonator, but the coupling between the RTD and the waveguide was too weak.
"We used a planar resonator with integrated structures and obtained better results," says Michael Feiginov, who led the group in Darmstadt. The resonator was directly connected to a planar horn antenna in order to transmit the signal. The Japanese group used a slot antenna that served as both resonator and antenna.
Although output is still low, both groups are confident that the optimization of their structures will allow higher outputs and higher frequencies—up to 2 THz. However, even the submicrowatt power the Darmstadt team achieved should be sufficient for some applications. Feiginov, who expects to be able to increase the power 100-fold, says that he can detect the signal up to a distance of a meter—good enough for imaging. For example, because terahertz waves are absorbed by water, doctors might be able to use them to image skin tumors, which contain more water than the surrounding tissue, explains Feiginov.
In addition to improving the existing applications of terahertz waves, Safumi Suzuki of the Japanese group expects that these devices could be useful in radio communication, because they would provide a wide bandwidth. But the technology would need a tweak because of humidity in the atmosphere. "We would use transmitters using frequency windows where water does not absorb the radiation," he says.
Michael Pepper, a professor of engineering at University College London and cofounder of Cambridge-based THz imaging start-up TeraView, says that the RTD radiation sources lack some of the requirements for many terahertz applications. For example, it doesn’t operate in a pulsed mode nor can it sweep over wide frequency ranges. But it should be good for "single-frequency imaging and communications in space where there is little absorption," he says. |
Today’s recipe is for Sims 4 Super Chocolate Tummers Bomb Cupcakes. These tasty little cupcakes can be made from the Cupcake Machine in The Sims 4 at level 7 cooking. The cupcake machine is a nice little addition to The Sims 4 and allows you to make all sorts of tasty treats for your Sims (and as of the Get to Work Expansion, you can make more than just cupcakes in it!)
Holy plumbob you guys. I figured with a name like “Super Chocolate Tummers Bomb” that I needed to go way overboard on the chocolate with this recipe. And that is just what I did. Chocolate cupcakes filled with chocolate chips, nutella buttercream frosting, and MORE chocolate chips on top. These things are DELICIOUS. My good friend Val (aka 8bitmom) visited when I made these, so she and her son helped taste test this recipe. It was a hit all around.
Coming up with a nutella buttercream frosting was a fun experiment. Nutella is delicious on its own, but making it into a frosting and putting it on a cupcake just ups the deliciousness by a hundredfold. Be prepared for chocolate overload with this recipe.
So, without further ado… I give you, the Super Chocolate Tummers Bomb recipe!
Sims 4 Super Chocolate Tummers Bomb Cupcakes Sims 4 Super Chocolate Tummers Bomb Cupcakes made in real life. For the cupcakes: 1.25 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup cocoa powder
1 pinch salt
3 Tbsp canola oil
1.25 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract For the Nutella Buttercream Frosting: 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1.5 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cups Nutella For the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F Combine all dry ingredients (up to salt) in a medium sized bowl In a separate bowl combine all wet ingredients and mix well Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and use a hand mixer to mix until thoroughly combined and no lumps remain Slowly stir (do not use the hand mixer for this) in the 1/2 cup of chocolate chips Add mixture to a paper cupcake liner lined baking sheet Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, use a toothpick to check for doneness, if the toothpick comes out of the cupcake clean then the cupcakes are done, if not put them back in for an additional 5 minutes Once done, let cupcakes cool completely (at least 1 hour) For the Nutella Buttercream Frosting: Add all ingredients to a hand or stand mixer and mix (starting at the slowest speed and gradually increasing to about speed 5 once the sugar has been combined) Mix until everything is thoroughly combined
The Sims 4 Cupcake Machine makes several different cupcake recipes. I’m hoping to make a few others at some point, particularly The Baconing. Because bacon on a cupcake… oh yes.
If you think this recipe looks familiar, it is because The Sims official website featured it! You can check out their post for my Super Chocolate Tummers Bomb Cupcakes here. |
Jim Harbaugh had to get something off his chest Wednesday.
"It's an erroneous perception that we were flirting with Peyton Manning," the San Francisco 49ers coach said, according to The Sacramento Bee. "I keep hearing that over and over again. It's silly, and it's untrue. It's phony. Even the perception that we were pursuing him ... we were evaluating him.
"I've said all along, Alex Smith has been our quarterback," Harbaugh went on. "There's been no scenario, other than Alex choosing to sign with another team, that we would have considered him not as our quarterback."
Harbaugh and 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman traveled to Duke University in March to watch Manning throw, leading to speculation the 49ers had emerged as a sleeper candidate for the 11-time Pro Bowl quarterback. Though understandable from an outsider's standpoint, the perceived pursuit was surprising because Harbaugh had championed Smith from the moment he took the job 14 months earlier.
"Now, were we out there seeing, evaluating if we could have them both? Heck yeah," Harbaugh said of his Duke visit. "You evaluate that, you eliminate that. Further evidence -- we would not have given any player that was out there in free agency a sixth of our salary cap and let six or seven of our own guys go. Hopefully that sets the record straight."
Harbaugh's comments are a nice way to try to put a bow on the whole situation, but the bottom line is that the 49ers explored Manning as an option, and that exploration was enough to get Alex Smith on a plane to visit with the Miami Dolphins. It appears Harbaugh is more bothered by the perception that San Francisco went hard after Manning, which he maintains couldn't be further from the truth.
It's surprising Harbaugh even brought up a topic that could be considered water under the bridge. But like we said, the man had to get something off his chest. |
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