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Wednesday 18 January 2017 21:10
Il y a quelques jours la communauté Counter-Strike nous sortait encore une fois une pépite issue du cerveau et du travail d’un Redditeur. Doué en math et/ou en statistiques, PMAcsgo met en évidence sur un graphique, les capacités des joueurs sur deux axes : le rating et la constance.
Le tableau en question. Cliquez dessus pour afficher le tableau intéractif dans un nouvel onglet.
L’axe horizontal nous montre le rating et l’axe vertical représente la constance du joueur. Le rating utilisé n’est pas l’ancien K/D mais bien le Rating HLTV, c'est à dire le "nombre de kill par round" / "le nombre de kill moyen par round", vous pourrez trouver l’explication complète du Rating selon HLTV ici. Concernant la constance, elle est calculée suivant la capacité du joueur à avoir un même niveau de performance sur l’ensemble de ses matchs, la formule n'est pas dévoilée clairement mais pour les matheux il s'agit d'un coefficient de variation (Ecart-type du rating exhaustif sur la période / Moyenne du rating sur la même période).
Pour que chacun comprenne bien, sur le graphique on voit Happy s’envoler sur l’axe de la constance, précisément cela signifie qu’il est très constant autour de son rating de 1.0367 donc que globalement sur les 55 maps utilisées pour ces statistiques il avait un rating assez proche de son rating moyen. Grossièrement, un joueur qui a un rating de 1 puis de 1.5 puis de 1.2 puis de 0.7 puis de 1.5, puis de 1.3 etc. aura une moins bonne note de constance qu’un joueur qui fait 1.01 puis 1.2 puis 1.1 puis 0.95 puis 1 etc.
Maintenant que vous avez globalement compris le tableau intéressons-nous aux Français, à la Superteam et à leurs absents.
Meilleurs ratings dans l’ordre : ScreaM, Shox, kennyS, Happy, NBK, RpK, apEX, kioShiMa, bodyy, SmithZz (Valeur max 1.12, min 0.88).
Plus constants à leurs niveaux dans l’ordre : Happy, NBK, Bodyy, kennyS, apEX, kioShiMa, shox, SmithZz, ScreaM, RpK (Valeur max 0.26, min 0.35).
Par rapport à la moyenne du top monde (représenté par les axes) nous avons :
Trois joueurs qui ont un fort impact sur le jeu de leur équipe mais qui sont moins constant que la moyenne : ScreaM (1.119), shox(1.111) et kennyS(1.106).
Trois joueurs très constant : Happy (1.036), NBK (0.990) et bodyy (0.893)
Quatre joueurs avec une année 2016 avec des statistiques compliquées : RpK (0.973), apEX (0.95), kioShiMa (0.927) et SmithZz (0.876).
Strictement statistiquement parlant, la superteam idéale serait composée de trois bêtes de skills et de deux joueurs solides et constants :
En réalité, la superteam qui semble se profiler est composée de :
Ici le choix de bodyy est globalement compréhensible : les chiffres utilisés pour ces statistiques comprennent les débuts de bodyy et chacun sait qu’il a fortement progressé, il est donc concevable de remplacer Happy par bodyy, d’autant plus que le lead devrait être confié à shox. En revanche, le choix d’apEX peut surprendre un peu plus, avec la mise en évidence de ces chiffres nous préfèrerions probablement un ScreaM dont l’impact est sensiblement plus important.
Pourquoi se fier à ces statistiques ?
Parce que ce sont les éléments réellement quantifiable et palpable. Les statistiques sont utilisées pour votre quotidien (panier moyen dans les magasins, comptabilité, politique etc.) et dans tous les sports (NBA, Football etc.). On pense souvent que ce seul les médias parlent de statistiques, mais non, les équipes parlent également de statistiques, lorsqu’un coach remet son analyse de démo avant un match, il va dire que les GR sur dust2 de l’équipe adverse sont à 75% un 3/2 B sur les 5 matchs visionnés.
Ensuite, parce que ces statistiques sont pondérées et donc globalement très justes. Elles utilisent un grand nombre de matchs sur la saison et le Rating HLTV au lieu d’un simple K/D, le parcours des équipes Françaises que nous mettons en avant ici sont globalement les mêmes on ne peut donc pas considérer qu'une équipe a de meilleurs statistiques parce qu'elle a cartonnées toute l'année alors que l'autre était en dehors du top 20 mondial.
Pourquoi ne pas s’y fier ?
Parce qu'il n'y a pas que le stats qui comptent. Dans les théories envisageables pour répondre à l'absence de ScreaM, on peut considérer qu'avec ce cinq nous avons une équipe 100% francophone pour qui le cash prize exhorbitant et d'actualité des WESG est attaquable.
Parce que Counter-Strike n'est pas qu'un cumul de statistique et de talents mais aussi une question de complémentarité et de rôle. Dans la superteam annoncée nous avons des rôles qui semblent clairement se profiler, shox leader et lurker, kennyS en sniper, apEX en ouvreur et body et NBK en support et extremités. Le trio d'attaque tournera autour d'apEX qui assume le rôle à 100%, ce qui n'est pas le cas de ScreaM actuellement ou dans ses dernières expériences.
Et surtout, il ne faut pas se fier uniquement aux statistiques parce qu'il faut penser au facteur humain. Soyons honnête une minute, chacun sait bien que la superteam aurait eu plus grosse valeur encore sur le marché pour une powerhouse avec ScreaM dans la line-up :
- Il a une fanbase incroyable ce qui est bon pour la visibilité et ce qui permet de vendre des produits dérivés et des stickers.
- Il a un style de jeu spectaculaire ce qui est très bon pour la visibilité.
- Et ses stats, malgré son manque de constance, jouent en sa faveur.
Je pense sincèrement que les joueurs qui constituent cette nouvelle superteam et NiaK sont malins, intelligents et bien au courant de l'affection des powerhouse pour le profil de joueur que représente Adil Benrlitom. Donc, je crois qu'ils ont considéré tout cela mais qu'ils ont choisi d'écarter ScreaM, il y a donc un facteur humain que nous ne connaissons pas.
Alors, il faut en penser quoi ?
Votre Happy favoris n’a pas été sélectionné pour cette lineup ? Comme moi vous pensez que ScreaM y a largement sa place ? Ce n’est pas grave : encouragez-les !Globalement cette superteam est fantastique et devrait clairement réussir à s’imposer dans le top3 mondial.
Souhaitons que ce changement, à l’image de tous les autres avant lui, permette de faire une seconde équipe compétitive avec ScreaM, Happy, RpK, kioShiMa, Ex6TenZ et les nombreux talents que nous avons encore en stock : xms, to1nou, SIXER, etc.
Merci à firsou pour la traduction et welinson pour les visuels
et bien-sûr à PMAcsgo pour les graphiques |
In June, journalist Chuck C. Johnson of California — after a litany of threats to sue almost anyone who had ever said an unkind word about him1 — ponied up and filed a defamation action against Gawker and several of its contributors, each haling from New York. Johnson complained that Gawker had published several defamatory articles about him, which — among other things — sarcastically raised the question of whether Johnson had defecated on the floor of his college dormitory.2
Johnson filed his lawsuit in a Missouri state court. Gawker removed the lawsuit to a federal court and asked the court to dismiss it, asserting that Missouri doesn't have personal jurisdiction over Gawker and that Johnson's case won't survive California's anti-SLAPP statute.
In response, Johnson filed a, uh, colorful brief consisting of collages of evidence, incomplete citations, and meandering arguments, spanning one hundred and eleven pages, mostly consisting of irrelevant arguments about how Gawker is a bad media outlet, which is completely f–
Wait, hold up. Why did Chuck sue in Missouri if he's from California and everyone else is in New York? And I thought you said this was in a state court, so why does a federal court even care? And why would a Missouri court care about a California law?
How did you get in here? You're not real.
Yes the good-golly I am. Besides, Ken didn't say you couldn't rip off this clever framework. Now tell me what the bejewels everyone's doin' in Missouri.
Well, Johnson had a lawyer there, because he had previously filed a lawsuit in Missouri seeking the juvenile records of Michael Brown, the young man who was killed by a Ferguson police officer. Johnson lost the lawsuit and his appeals all the way up to the Missouri Supreme Court were summarily denied.
Having a lawyer in a particular state is not a good reason to sue in that state — unless you or one of the defendants lives there.3
Why not?
Because there's no jurisdiction. Whenever you want to bring someone from State A to a court in State B, you have to show that the court can exercise personal jurisdiction over them. To over-generalize: that means that the plaintiff has to be able to show either (1) specific jurisdiction: the defendant did something in State B and that that something is what you're suing over; or (2) general jurisdiction: the defendant does a lot of things in State B and they could probably expect to be sued there.
In defamation cases, the test for specific jurisdiction is the effects test: did the defendant direct their conduct toward State B such that the effects of the defamation are felt there?4
Johnson argues that he sued in Missouri because his attempt to learn about Michael Brown's background made him popular there. This plainly contradicts his argument that he's not a public figure, but we'll get to that in a minute.
Beyond that, Johnson argues that because (1) Gawker has written about Ferguson; (2) Gawker has insulted the fan base of the St. Louis Cardinals5; and (3) Johnson's lawyer in St. Louis has seen advertisements about St. Louis on Gawker's site, Gawker is subject to jurisdiction in Missouri. Were this a lawsuit about Gawker's Ferguson or Cardinals articles, or about Gawker's advertising, Gawker might be subject to jurisdiction in Missouri. But even taken together, I don't think this is sufficient to show that Gawker's acts amount to a continuous and systematic presence in Missouri. As Johnson notes, "[p]ersonal [j]urisdiction is about notice." But Johnson has reported from Missouri, California, Mississippi, and elsewhere — that doesn't mean Gawker is subject to personal jurisdiction wherever Johnson goes.
Plus, selling advertising on a site which uses geolocated targeting to customize ads to the visitor isn't targeting the state. If that were true, almost any website with ads on it would be subject to the jurisdiction of any state. Likewise, having a number of readers in a state — or, as Johnson argues, a number of Twitter followers from Missouri — would subject almost every online publication to jurisdiction within that state. No.
This takes us to about page 79 of the brief.
You keep carping on about the length of the brief. Isn't there a court rule requiring legal documents to be long and boring?
No. But there are rules requiring opposition briefs to be limited in length — how many pages you get depends on the court. In this court, it's fifteen pages. As Ken points out, this means that Johnson only missed by about 640%. The discussion on general jurisdiction alone goes on for about seventeen pages.
Of course, Johnson's lawyer asked the court for permission to file a longer brief, which one usually does before it's due. But after asking for three (maybe four?) extensions and blowing the initial deadline to file the response, the clerks and judge will be…. displeased.
Enough with the boring procedural stuff. Get to the point. Who's getting slapped around?
Well, that depends. Someone's positioning himself for a bench-slap6, but when I said 'SLAPP' earlier, that's referring to, well, slightly less boring procedural stuff.
Okay.
Glad you asked. An anti-SLAPP motion is a procedural tool inten–
I thought we were done with the procedural stuff.
No. Procedure is everything. Anyway, an anti-SLAPP motion is a tool intended to protect freedom of speech. A lot of people file lawsuits that, intended or not, cause their enemies to shut up. Defamation lawsuits, in particular, can be profoundly ruinous if you're not blessed with a huge bank account. So, an anti-SLAPP motion applies when someone's free speech7 is the subject of a lawsuit. Once it's filed, discovery is frozen and the plaintiff — the person suing — must show their cards at the beginning of the case: do they have enough admissible evidence to demonstrate at least some chance of winning? If they do, the case moves forward; if not, the case is over and the plaintiff has to pay the defendant's attorneys' fees.
So what's the federal anti-SLAPP law look like?
There isn't one — yet. Instead, when a federal court is weighing state claims — defamation, for example, is a state claim, as opposed to, say, copyright infringement, which is almost exclusively a federal claim — the court can apply a state's anti-SLAPP law.8
Here, however, it's tricky. Missouri has an anti-SLAPP statute, but it's limited to cases involving speech in a public hearing, so there is no broad Missouri anti-SLAPP statute concerning free speech generally. Plus, in a case involving parties from two different states, the federal court has to decide which state's substantive laws to apply. In defamation cases, this usually means that the state in which the plaintiff was harmed will apply. While Johnson makes a vague argument about how he was harmed in Missouri, he's a California resident and his business is based in California. Because California's substantive law of defamation applies, that means that California's anti-SLAPP statute also applies. Under the burden-shifting rubrick of California's anti-SLAPP statute, Gawker merely has to show that the lawsuit involves speech on a matter of public interest. After that, Johnson has to proffer admissible evidence establishing that he has some possibility of success.
Please get to the actual substance already.
Okay, okay. So, if Johnson has to submit admissible evidence to demonstrate that he has at least a tenable claim, how'd he do? Poorly.
Both Johnson and his lawyer submitted affidavits. His lawyer's consists largely of attempting to introduce various articles from the internet, but these — with the exception of articles written by the individual defendants (and maybe other Gawker employees) — are hearsay. That is, they're statements by people who aren't in court (or testifying under oath through affidavits) about Gawker.
Johnson also submitted an affidavit, which includes this:
If you find yourself testifying under oath about not having defecated on a floor — publicly or privately — something has gone terribly wrong in your life.
But let's back up for a moment: what is it that Johnson has to show? The anti-SLAPP portion of Gawker's assault makes several, brief, arguments.
First, Gawker argues that Johnson is a public figure — someone who is fairly well-known and attracts public attention. That would mean that Johnson would have to establish actual malice in order to win a defamation case. That's a term of art meaning that Johnson has to show that Gawker either knew that its statements were false or just plum didn't care whether they were true or false. This is difficult to show, both because it means showing, essentially, what was in someone's mind when that person said the mean nasty things.
Johnson can't pull that off. At least not without sitting the writers down in a deposition and figuring out what they knew or thought at the time. He's asking the court to allow him time to conduct some discovery, but California's anti-SLAPP statute freezes discovery the moment it's filed. It's unclear whether this provision applies when a federal court is weighing an anti-SLAPP motion,9 and this is perhaps the only coherent argument Johnson makes as to why his case shouldn't be dismissed under the anti-SLAPP statute.
Johnson is a public figure. His brief boasts about his broad readership in Missouri, that he has "interviewed with local news organizations, made statements, and appeared on local television," and that he "has uncovered a number of major news stories in his career." He's contemplated running for Congress10, argues that he's brought down U.S. senators and a candidate for Speaker of the House, and his banishment from Twitter was covered by CNN.11
Johnson also argues that one of the Gawker writers he's suing — Greg Howard — has a motive to lie about Johnson because Howard once debated a random commenter about Michael Brown, raising questions about "how [Howard] might feel about a journalist trending in the news for his dogged reporting of the Michael Brown death and Ferguson Riots from a diametrically opposed point of view[.]" Johnson then attempts to tie the timing of an article he posted about his Michael Brown lawsuit to articles written by Howard and Gawker. Being generous, this might suggest actual malice (in that there is a motive to ignore whether something is true), but it does not approach the "clear and convincing" evidence required to establish actual malice. Moreover, disliking someone is not sufficient, on its own, to constitute actual malice — "malice" is a term of art; it doesn't mean thinking mean things about someone.
Johnson also asserts that he has been vindicated with respect to his reporting (once asserted to be inaccurate) about Sen. Bob Menendez.12 But the revelations about Sen. Menendez didn't come about until after the Gawker articles. Actual malice requires knowledge (or reckless disregard) of falsity at the time the statements were made. At that time, it was widely believed that Johnson's reporting on Menendez was erroneous, and reaching a conclusion (even a wrong one) based on disclosed facts — that is, the story linked by the article, is a statement of opinion, not fact.13 In any case, the back-and-forth discussion about public figures is the very reason why the First Amendment — through the "actual malice" standard — grants "breathing room" for people to get things wrong. Johnson can't meet that here.
Second, before the court has to even consider whether Johnson is a public figure, the court has to figure out whether these statements are even defamatory. That is: would a reasonable person, apprised of the total context in which the statements were made, interpret them as a statement of fact? Or are they hyperbolic statements, statements of opinion, satire, or anything other than an assertion of fact? In this context, whether Johnson wants the ability to conduct discovery is perhaps irrelevant: all of the documents and statements at issue can be put before the court, so there's no reason to conduct depositions or issue subpoenas.
While I've previously discussed why I don't believe the statements are factual, but are instead hyperbolic satire and obvious jokes, one thing sticks out to me:
Even without much in the way of admissible evidence, Johnson's lawyer digs him in deeper. Among other things, he admits that one Gawker article was satirical. The only argument summoned here is that one would have to know who Johnson was and what he did in order to understand its satirical bent. But whether a statement is defamatory is determined by whether a reasonable person, having knowledge of the context, would perceive a statement to be one of fact. If it's not a statement of fact — and satire isn't — then it's not defamatory.
Third, Johnson seeks to hold Gawker liable for statements made by commenters, asserting (generally) that Gawker is liable for republishing the defamatory statements of others. To generalize, if you repeat the defamatory statements of someone else, you can be liable for defamation along with the original speaker. However, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act ("CDA") broadly protects websites from being held liable for the comments of their users. This is what prevents you from suing Facebook when your former friend calls you a "dirty rotten scoundrel who supports Donald Trump and is basically a cat lady, but with opossums."
Johnson attempts to circumvent CDA 230 using the usual suspects — Roommates.com14 and so on — and argues that by promoting defamatory comments, Gawker lost its immunity. According to Johnson's theory, commenters are like unpaid interns, so… well, your guess is as good as mine. But "promoting" (or highlighting) comments does not remove the shield established by CDA 230. Johnson also argues — without any authority in support — that because Gawker encourages people to submit comments anonymously, and doesn't keep track of identifying information, there is no immunity. These approaches to voiding CDA 230 immunity have been tried by a number of plaintiffs, and they never work.
Get to the floor stuff. I came here to read about the floor incident.
Uh. Okay. Well, the long and shi– short of it is that Johnson vehemently denies it. He also concedes that Gawker asserted that the rumor was false, and that most of Gawker's audience would believe Gawker's assertion that the rumor is false. That… isn't defamation.15 Johnson has a point — ably argued, to his lawyer's credit — that Gawker's journalistic model, as applied here, is worthy of vehement criticism: Gawker raised a rumor in order to mock Johnson, while simultaneously noting that it was false. But Johnson's critique is a matter for court of public opinion, not some far-flung court in Missouri. As a matter of free speech, Gawker should be permitted a wide berth to hold a mirror to people who seek out public attention.
That's it? It took 111 pages to say that?
Mostly. The rambunctious night owls on Twitter had a fun time pointing out some of the typos and chaos in this thread, if you want to see more.
So where is this going?
It's hard to tell. The Missouri court is unlikely to be familiar with the application of California's anti-SLAPP statute, and Johnson's 111-page wordvomit doesn't remotely help clarify the issues. That means it's somewhat unpredictable as to what the court will do.
That said, Johnson has agreed to the court transferring the case out of Missouri to California. I suspect the court will grant him that wish, if only because it's far less work to read and dissect 111 incoherent pages. That would allow a California court to consider the anti-SLAPP issues, which is something a California court is much more likely to be familiar with. This also allows the court to skip over the question of whether Gawker is subject to the Missouri court's jurisdiction (although I think the answer is quite clearly 'no' here.)
In any event, that Johnson blew the initial deadline to respond (after seeking several extensions, which Gawker's lawyers graciously agreed to give him) and then submitted this monstrosity without first asking permission is unlikely to help him. I suspect Gawker will move to strike the entire response, and the court will be tempted to grant it. That's possible, but it's more likely that the court will want to resolve the case on the merits, rather than on Johnson's abject breach of the court's rules, and will transfer it out to California.
Why doesn't Gawker just pay the guy to go away?
Money attracts lawyers. Lawyers multiply. Money doesn't.
Postscript by Ken:
Just a few quick points.
First, if you get several extensions to file opposition briefs, then blow the deadline and ask forgiveness, then file half of the opposition just barely before the midnight deadline and most of the supporting documents hours later after the deadline, and you file an incomprehensible 111-page rant in a district with a 15-page limit, most federal judges will take it as disrespect. In fact, most federal judges will view it as akin to giving them the finger. This is foolish.
Second, I can't emphasize enough Adam's point that a vast amount of the documents attached to Chuck's brief as exhibits are inadmissible because they're hearsay — that is, out-of-court-statements by a third party. The problem is that both in establishing personal jurisdiction (now that it's been challenged) and in responding to an anti-SLAPP motion (if the judge reaches it), it's Chuck's burden to come forward with admissible evidence. It's not clear to me whether the person who wrote Chuck's lawyer's declaration understands what admissible evidence is.
Third, everyone makes typos now and then, and most of us over a long career will manage to leave a stray note or missing cite in a brief. But if you're going to file a brief chock-full of missing cites, it would be optimal to try to leave the CITE COMPLAINT note out of the first page.
Fourth, federal judges in diversity cases tend to try to resolve things with the least exercise of federal judicial power possible. Here that would be finding that Chuck has failed to carry his burden of demonstrating personal jurisdiction.
Fifth, I will refrain from a long rant on how awful this brief is, in legal argument, organization, and factual support. I'll just say this: it is comically bad. I have seen worse briefs filed by lawyers, but very few, and none that were so bad at such length. It's about as good as an average pro se brief, and substantially less competent than a brief by an experienced pro se litigant. Does that mean for sure that Chuck will lose the motions? No. Sometimes judges actually go to the law and the facts without regard to the quality of advocacy, which when you think about it is a good thing. It's conceivable Chuck could win on the merits, though not likely. But if he wins, it will be despite this brief, not because of it.
[Update (10/19): The court has stricken Johnson's response and exhibits, noting that the "seventy-page narrative discussion of facts appears to be excessive and inappropriate[.]". He has until October 22 to file separate memoranda, with the court generously offering him to fill each one with 20 pages of crayon, and, if they desire, a separate document setting forth all of the facts. The request for a stay was denied for failure to file a memorandum in support. The judge also pointed out that he can't rule on a motion to amend the complaint if Chuck doesn't submit the traditional proposed amended complaint for evaluation. The judge also quite politely asks Chuck and his lawyer to take a shot at complying with a series of rules governing the format and contents of the documents.]
[Update (10/22): Chuck Johnson has now filed his do-over attempt at responding to Gawker. Here are his oppositions to the motion to dismiss and anti-SLAPP, and his proposed First Amended Complaint. I've only briefly reviewed them, and his lawyer's writing is far better organized, clearer, and occasionally coherent, but I still strongly doubt that Johnson will be successful. A couple of things stick out.
First, he wants to sue under a theory that Gawker deprived him of his civil rights because they don't keep records of all of their commenters. To get there, however, he needs to allege that Gawker was a state actor. He attempts to do so by asserting that because Gawker is protected by CDA Section 230, they're a state actor. This is sanctionably frivolous.
Second, a number of arguments advanced by Johnson — including that Gawker is a "state actor" because it fails to keep records of its commenters, and that California's anti-SLAPP statute can't be applied in federal court — would substantially undermine protection of free speech if they were accepted. As a journalist and a self-proclaimed champion of free speech, Johnson ought to be ashamed.]
Last 5 posts by Adam Steinbaugh |
During President Barack Obama's historic trip to Cuba this week, the Twitter account for SportsCenter — ESPN's banner TV show — tweeted the following photo of the scene outside Havana's Estadio Latinoamericano, where POTUS was watching a baseball game with Cuban president Raúl Castro on Tuesday:
Meanwhile, next to the stadium in Havana... pic.twitter.com/4nHUzVNO5e
The caption read, "Meanwhile, next to the stadium in Havana..." — an apparent attempt to highlight the irony of the most powerful man in the world enjoying a game at a fancy ballpark while the ills of poverty sat right next door.
There was just one problem:
@SportsCenter Meanwhile, outside Citi Field pic.twitter.com/QRCcuReiwD
Justin Klugh, a sports blogger with SB Nation, responded by tweeting the above image of the scene outside Citi Field in Willet's Point, Queens, where the New York Mets play baseball.
If anything, the shot from the U.S. looks even starker than the one from Cuba.
Willet's Point is one of New York City's most structurally devastated neighborhoods. In 2013, it was described by the New York Times as a "blighted area" marked by a "tangle of auto shops" and potholed, oil-slicked streets that looked "as if they had been blasted by land mines."
Auto mechanics struggle daily to eke out a living there amid the decay. The area has also famously been the target of several attempted renewal plans by the city and developers, going all the way back to the 1960s, according to Jalopnik.
Mary Altaffer/AP Inside Citi Field during a cricket match in November.
But Willet's Point — which houses the Arthur Ashe tennis stadium as well — is not the only example of opulent sports arenas sitting next to severe poverty in the United States. A handful of other Twitter users followed Klugh's post by tweeting images of different areas where multi-million dollar coliseums seem to have been dropped in the middle of America's poorest neighborhoods:
Willets Point literally does not have have sidewalks or sewers. pic.twitter.com/g4K4AV3ZhC
@SportsCenter meanwhile next to the Stadium in Detroit. pic.twitter.com/Oi1M01X6N0
@SportsCenter Meanwhile, next to the stadium in Atlanta... pic.twitter.com/Apom4gAmZp
Some added social commentary to their posts:
Meanwhile, building stadiums in poor US neighborhoods fucks taxpayers / increases local poverty. GFY @SportsCenter http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/sports/Building-A-New-Stadium-Is-A-Terrible-Idea-326223491.html ...
@SportsCenter Meanwhile the U.S. uses eminent domain to steal people's homes and build unneccesary buildings like Barclays Center.
@SportsCenter @_WillRubin meanwhile: their healthcare is better and their crime rate is lower
Adding to the irony was that Obama had tried a similar move earlier in the week. In a televised meeting with Castro on Monday, Obama chided Cuba on its human rights record, pointing to the Caribbean nation's issues with freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
"America believes in democracy," Obama said, according to Al Jazeera. "We believe that freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and freedom of religion are not just American values but are universal values."
Meanwhile — as Castro quickly indicated — the U.S. government has largely failed to "to ensure health care, education, food and social security for its people" back home. The meeting also took place just across the island from Guantanamo Bay, the U.S.-run military detention center where accused war criminals and others have been routinely held and violently interrogated sans anything resembling due process over the past 14 years.
As they say, people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
h/t Gizmodo |
FLINT, Mich. — Three government workers were charged with crimes on Wednesday for their roles in this city’s water crisis, accused in part of covering up evidence of lead contamination.
The workers — an employee of Flint and two state workers assigned to monitor water quality in cities — are the first to face criminal charges in connection with the failures that left residents of this city drinking foul and unsafe water for many months.
In announcing the charges, some of which are felonies carrying penalties of as much as five years in prison, Bill Schuette, the Michigan attorney general, answered skeptics in Flint and elsewhere who had openly doubted that anyone would ever be held accountable for the health crisis here.
Emails and other documents have shown a cascading series of failures at every level of government — local, state and federal — and Mr. Schuette, a Republican who is widely seen as a possible candidate for governor in 2018, emphasized that his investigation, begun in January, was far from over. |
NASCAR is continuing efforts to broaden its appeal while holding on to longtime fans with a campaign that will portray popular drivers and their supporters as nation-states fighting for hegemony.
The campaign, scheduled to begin this weekend, promotes a revamped 10-race playoff format known as the Chase for the Nascar Sprint Cup, which is to be covered by ESPN from Sept. 14 through Nov. 16. The campaign begins with ads carrying the theme “Sixteen nations. Ten battles. One will prevail,” and concludes with the theme “Four nations battle. One will prevail.”
The campaign includes online content and fast-paced commercials with an intensity that suggests the theme perhaps ought to be “Onward, Nascar drivers, racing as to war.” The spots include scenes of drivers, their teams at work on cars in garages and fans festooned in their favorite drivers’ colors and numbers. The concept is to present the 16 drivers who will qualify for the Chase — backed by their team members, sponsors and the manufacturers of their cars — as powerful nations preparing for rounds of challenges to determine the final winners and losers.
So far, 12 drivers have been selected to take part, among them Kurt Busch, the leader of “Outlaw Nation,” styled after his nickname; Carl Edwards, “Carl Nation”; Jeff Gordon, “Gordon Nation”; and Jimmie Johnson, “Jimmie Nation.” Each designation is accompanied by a hashtag for social media. For instance, Brad Keselowski of “Brad Nation” will be identified with #GoingFor2, and Joey Logano of “Logano Nation” will be identified with #TeamJL. |
At 6pm on Friday 12 July, all Londoners are invited to join the London Cycling Campaign protest ride from Tower Hill to Aldgate calling on the Mayor to provide dedicated space for cycling across the capital.
Protest ride details
Meet 6pm for 6.15pm start at Tower Hill (where it meets Minories) http://goo.gl/maps/8Czme
The protest ride will last approximately 20-30 minutes, including a brief stop at the junction of A11 Whitechapel Road and A1202 Commercial Street to pay respects at the place where last week's victim died
The ride will be marshalled by LCC staff and volunteers, and will finish at Altab Ali Park around 6.30pm
In the wake of two cycling fatalities in recent weeks - one in Aldgate, the other in Lewisham - the protest ride will remind the Mayor and local councils that Londoners cycling on busy roads need dedicated space to protect them from fast-moving and heavy motor traffic.
The protest ride takes place exactly a week after the death of a 20-year-old female student who was run over by a lorry while cycling along Whitechapel Road, part of the Mayor's Cycle Superhighway 2.
London Cycling Campaign is also supporting the vigil at City Hall from 5.30 pm in memory of recent lorry deaths, including the pedestrian killed by a lorry in Fulham on Monday.
The City Hall vigil has been called by the Action on Lorry Danger group including RoadPeace, Living Streets, CTC, British Cycling and LCC
Since the first designs for Superhighway 2 were put forward, we've repeatedly told the Mayor that this route – supposedly put in place to encourage more Londoners to cycle – fails to come anywhere near providing a safe or comfortable cycle route.
In a letter to Transport for London dated February 2011, before construction started, we said the project as planned should be halted, and funds should be spent improving flaws in the existing Cycle Superhighways and that Superhighway 2 should be redesigned a genuinely safe cycle route.
As far back as 2009, we put forward a Superhighways manifesto calling for the Mayor to make these commuter routes safe and inviting for novice cyclists, as well as experienced commuters.
Superhighway 2 follows the A11 trunk road, a busy multi-lane road used by high volumes of fast-moving motor traffic; however, despite being one of the Mayor's flagship commuter cycle routes, the section of Superhighway 2 from Aldgate to Bow roundabout provides no dedicated space for cycling.
Cyclists of all abilities, including children, are expected to jockey for position among lorries, cars, motorbikes, buses and taxis, with only a smattering of ineffective blue paint and a few bike symbols to protect them.
This week's victim is the third cyclist to die in collision with a lorry on or near the Superhighway 2, with Brian Dorling and Svitlana Tereschenko both killed at Bow roundabout in 2011.
In stark contrast to this section of Superhighway 2, proposals from Transport for London for the CS2 route extension from Bow roundabout to Stratford provide for wide cycle tracks in both directions, with a raised kerb to protect cyclists from motor traffic and junction treatments to reduce conflict between cyclists and motorists.
The wide tracks on Superhighway 2 from Bow to Stratford are to allow faster commuters to overtake slower cyclists comfortably.
This plan to provide safe and dedicated space for cycling makes the complete absence of space for cycling between Aldgate and Bow very difficult to comprehend.
Until the Mayor and Transport for London accept that on London's busiest roads clear space for cycling must be allocated, then cycling fatalities such as these will continue to happen regularly and cycling growth will be stifled.
We're calling on all Londoners to join our protest ride to tell the Mayor to design our city streets for cyclists of all abilities, so no more families suffer the heartbreak of losing a loved one as has happened so recently at Aldgate and in Lewisham.
A 60-year-old man run over by a bus while cycling in Stamford Hill earlier this week is still critically ill in hospital. |
Gerry Kelly and fellow IRA prisoners 'planned second escape' BelfastTelegraph.co.uk Escapees in the biggest prison break-out in UK history planned to take flight again during their trial, police intelligence suggested. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/gerry-kelly-and-fellow-ira-prisoners-planned-second-escape-31467262.html https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/article31467261.ece/60a15/AUTOCROP/h342/PANews%20BT_P-c0f71081-cf99-4da1-9af9-ee0f2c61ac5d_I1.jpg
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Escapees in the biggest prison break-out in UK history planned to take flight again during their trial, police intelligence suggested.
The IRA believed there were two options for the men escaping from a jail where they were being held during court proceedings in North Belfast, according to records from 1987 disclosed by the Northern Ireland Office.
However, former Lord Chief Justice Sir Robert Lowry vetoed proposals to handcuff senior republican Gerry Kelly and 15 other IRA men during their 1987 trial for fleeing the high-security Maze Prison in Northern Ireland.
One warder was killed and another seriously injured as dozens of inmates forced their way from the compound.
A director of prison security wrote: "As this is likely to be the final phase of the trial, the prisoners may well seek to make an escape attempt and there is some intelligence to that effect.
"Consequently I take the view that returning them (other than Mr Kelly and one other) to HMP Maze at weekends would be a sensible additional precaution, partly because Maze is inherently more secure than Belfast and partly to make the planning of an escape more difficult."
The Maze housed some of Northern Ireland's most notorious paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles.
Mr Kelly, now a senior member of Sinn Fein who represents North Belfast in the Stormont Assembly, had been jailed for life in 1973 for the Old Bailey and Scotland Yard bombings.
He was among 38 IRA inmates who fled the Maze in Co Antrim in September 1983. They used smuggled guns and knives to overpower prison staff before hijacking a food lorry and driving to the main gate.
Some were subsequently recaptured - Mr Kelly in Amsterdam - and returned for trial at Crumlin Road Courthouse in Belfast, which was connected to HMP Belfast (now Crumlin Road Gaol) by an underground tunnel.
Most of the inmates were returned to the Maze for detention during weekends amid the lengthy trial - extra security measures had been taken following the earlier escape.
But Mr Kelly was not returned to the Maze during his trial for reasons surrounding his detention, the records said.
Files from 1987 released by the Public Records Office Northern Ireland disclosed that the Army and RUC were asked to increase their patrols near the courthouse and Crumlin Road Gaol, while special vigilance was exercised by police inside the courthouse searching visitors.
Inmates were strip-searched before appearing in court each day.
The director wrote: "The Lord Chief Justice Lowry would not however consent to our proposal to handcuff the prisoners in the court as he considered that both the prison and police authorities would take adequate steps to ensure the safe custody of the prisoners without this being necessary." |
Salam dear sister,
Thank you very much for your question.
We would like to congratulate you on becoming Muslim. You have taken a decision that you will never regret.
We pray to Allah the Almighty to help you remain steadfast in your faith.
Prayer is Our Connection to God
Islam gives much attention to a Muslim’s relation with His Creator.
For this purpose, Allah ordained five daily prayers to help Muslims remain connected with Him throughout the day.
Prayer is the real connection between us and Allah. Prayer is the main factor in forgiving our sins.
The Prophet (peace be upon him), said,
“The five prayers, Friday to Friday, and Ramadan to Ramadan will be expiation for the sins committed between them as long as major sins are avoided.” (Muslim)
Prayer is a sign of one’s firm belief in Allah.
The Prophet said,
If you see a man committed to the mosque, then testify for his faith. Verily, Allah the Exalted has said: “The mosques are only maintained by those who believe in Allah and the Last Day and establish prayer and give charity.” (At-Tawbah 9:18) (At-Tirmidhi)
Islam is not different from Christianity in giving priority to the issue of concentration while performing prayer to God.
Prayer Requires Focus
The Prophet warned us against acts that distract our attention during the prayer.
Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet said:
What is wrong with those people who look toward the sky during prayer? His talk grew stern while delivering this speech until he (peace be upon him) said: Either they stop (looking toward the sky during prayer) or else their sight will be taken away. (Al-Bukhari)
Close Your Eyes If It Maintains Focus
As for closing your eyes during prayer, scholars view that it is disliked to close the eyes during prayer EXCEPT if is done to maintain focus and avoid distraction.
Imam al-`Izz ibn `Abd al-Salam said that it is permissible to close the eyes when necessary, if that helps the worshipper to focus more fully on his prayer.
Ibn al-Qayyim said in his Zad al-Ma`ad (1:283) (Provisions for the Hereafter) that if a man can focus more fully on his prayer by opening his eyes, then it is better to do so.
If he can focus more fully by closing his eyes because there are things that may distract him from his prayer, such as adornments and decorations, then it is not disliked at all.
In this case, it is recommended for him to close his eyes and is closer to the aims and principles of the Shari`ah than saying that it is disliked.
Based on this, you do not have to worry about closing your eyes during the prayer. Your prayer is valid and will be accepted by Allah the Almighty, inshaAllah.
Perfecting the Prayer is Necessary
A Muslim should do his best to perfect his prayer in order not miss out on its reward.
`Ammaar ibn Yasir said:
I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say: A person may offer a prayer and nothing of it is recorded for him except one tenth of it, one ninth of it, one eighth of it, one seventh of it, one sixth of it, one fifth of it, one quarter of it, one third of it, or half of it.” (Ahmad)
A Muslim should feel the greatness of Allah during the prayer. He should remember that he is standing before Allah and that Allah turning to him.
The Prophet is reported to have said:
Allah is turning towards His slave so long as he does not look around, so when you pray, do not look around. (Ahmad)
I hope this answers your query.
Salam. Please stay in touch.
(From Ask About Islam archives)
Satisfy your curiosity by checking out these other helpful links: |
Hollywood to honour Australia’s wildlife warrior ten years after death
News Hour:
Ten years after his tragic death, Australia’s most famous wildlife conservationist “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin will be honoured with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Irwin, who was fatally stabbed by a stingray’s barb at the age of 44, was renowned for his daring antics, and unwavering commitment to environmental protection, which saw him rise to international fame and amass millions of fans worldwide.
However, his wife Terri Irwin told reporters that although she was delighted by the news that her late husband will receive his own star, fame and celebrity status weren’t important to the wildlife activist, whose priority was saving the environment.
“Steve always said that he didn’t care if anyone remembered him, as long as they remembered his message,” Terri Irwin said on Friday.
“I truly believe that this recognition for Steve’s achievements will ensure that his message of wildlife conservation is remembered.”
His 18-year-old daughter Bindi Irwin tweeted a childhood image of herself with her father, alongside the message that she was “beyond excited” about the news, and said that today marked an “extraordinary moment” for her family, who remain committed to continuing her “dad’s legacy and all that he achieved for global conservation”
“Dad (Irwin) changed the world by reaching out to people through their television screens to bring them on the adventure of a lifetime,” she said.
“To have his name on a Hollywood Star means the world, as we carry on his important work.”
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I was in the market for a premium gaming mouse with some macro functionality. My goal was to get something that was high end, allowed me more comfort during play, and was highly responsive. Unfortunately before even getting a chance to put any of these lofty goals to the test, the Naga Hex V2 unfortunately failed even the most basic functions of a $5.99 bargain bin mouse. Here were some MAJOR flaws with the Naga Hex V2: 1) Razer Synapse. It is inherently flawed and buggy. The concept seems at first logical: upload your button map profiles to the cloud and sync to all of your devices. However, spotty connectivity meant that more often than not a default map was loaded, the wrong map was loaded or the mouse just had completely unpredictable functioning each time it was unplugged or the computer restarted. NOT a good start. 2) Sensor issues. After returning for a replacement mouse I found that something is seriously wrong with the laser or driver on this mouse. The cursor would freeze every 5-10 seconds in an unpredictable fashion. After following all tech support requests they agreed to replace under warranty. 3) Ergonomics. I actually was surprised that the mouse isn't held like any mouse that I had encountered before, but this was little advertised. Your pinky digit sort of needs to float off by itself. Sure this might be common knowledge to mouse experts but it is another factor that contributes to the learning curve of the mouse. 4. Poor creativity with Chroma. The most useless but cool function of the mouse is the LED lights. However, the options are extremely limited. It also failed to sync properly with other Chroma devices and again I will blame Synapse. 5. Calibration tool. It is completely broken. When trying to select a Firefly mousepad to calibrate with, the program would crash. HOW is this possible that all of this buggy software is allowed by Razer without fixes? OVERALL - this mouse is major investment risk and I would absolutely not recommend it. Synapse is the worst concept executed in the absolute worst way. I wanted to buy in to how cool all of the lights and cloud services could integrate but after this purchase I am never buying a Razer product again.
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Michigan’s capital city rescinded its decision to declare itself a “sanctuary city” after the city council held a vote Wednesday evening regarding Lansing’s sanctuary status.
Lansing City Council voted 5-2 to reverse a decision made April 3 in a 6-0 vote that deemed the city a “sanctuary city” in writing, the Detroit Free Press reported.
A letter the city council received from the Lansing Regional Chamber and Michigan Chamber of Commerce urging the council to remove all references to “sanctuary city” from its resolution is behind the change in course, the Associated Press reported.
The term “sanctuary city” has sparked much debate as some cities decide to fight President Trump’s decision to crack down on cities that refuse to have their law enforcement agencies cooperate with U.S. immigration authorities.
“The term ‘sanctuary’ in the resolution has become very problematic and distracting — so distracting in my opinion that’s it’s taken away from the intent of our resolution, which is to protect individuals,” said Councilwoman Judi Brown Clarke. “It’s basically a ‘don’t ask’ policy, which was outlined by the mayor’s executive order and what we had in our policy complements that.”
The council’s decision does not change the recent executive order penned by Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, which prohibits Lansing police officers and city employees from asking about immigration statuses “except as required by federal or state statute or court decision,” M Live reported. |
Lifestyle
Icelandic Minister of Finance registered on Ashley Madison as IceHot1
By Staff
Bjarni Benediktsson Icelandic Minister of Finance registered on Ashley Madison with the username IceHot1. Photo/Ernir Eyjólfsson
The Minister of Finance, Bjarni Benediktsson, registered on the website Ashley Madison which offered married people the opportunity to find partners for illicit sexual relationships. Bjarni‘s wife Þóra Margrét Baldvinsdóttir made the announcement on her Facebook page in a post, in which she tags her husband. Þóra explains that the two registered together, and that it had been done out of curiosity.
The local news site visir.is has revealed that Bjarni‘s username on the site was IceHot1.
One of 128 Icelandic users
According to previous reports by local newspaper Fréttablaðið 128 accounts in the leak were identified as Icelandic. According to initial reports some of the accounts seemed to belong to well-known individuals, but Icelandic media traditionally does not discuss people‘s private lives. This did not stop rumours from circulating among people, and today Bjarni‘s wife came out publicly in an attempt to set the record straight and stop the rumours.
On her Facebook page Þóra Margrét Baldvinsdóttir, Bjarni Benediktsson‘s wife, explains that the two had been told of gossip that a “Bjarni‘s old email was found in the Ashley Madison leak.” The local news site kjarninn.is reports that the email in question is bjarniben@n1.is, which was Bjarni‘s email while he was the chairman of the board of retail and petroleum distribution company N1.
Kæru vinir. Ekki er öll vitleysan eins. Okkur hjónum hafa borist margar ábendingar um að nú sé talsvert rætt manna í... Posted by Þóra Margrét Baldvinsdóttir on Monday, August 31, 2015
Registered out of curiosity
Þóra explains that the she and her husband had heard of the website in 2008 and decided to register out of curiosity.
“We heard of this controversial website on the news seven years ago (2008). We then browsed the website out of curiosity, but to do that you had to fill out a form, register a email, a foreign zip code and several other things, which we did with complete nonchalance and without giving it much thought.”
She adds that they had never paid for membership, or entered the website on other occasions, and that they never contacted any other user on the website, and that the registration was not followed up with any contact with other members on the website, “let alone any kind of breach of trust.”
Read more: Data from the Ashley Madison leak contradicts statement by Finance Minister's wife
Things are not always what they seem on the internet
Þóra's Facebook post ends with a reminder that “Things are not always what they seem on the Internet.” Analysis by Annalee Newitz at Gizmodo has revealed that almost none of the women in the Ashley Madison Database were real or used the site.
The local news site visir.is reports that when Bjarni registered at the site he used a Florida address which belongs to his father. He chose IceHot1 as his username. |
While the turmoil surrounding Ukraine wasn't enough to derail a strong U.S. stock rally, the East-West conflict could bode ill for the global economy, says Mark Schofield, head of interest rate strategy at Citigroup.Already the United States and Europe have imposed sanctions on Russia."All-in-all, it feels as if we may be heading into a summer of grumbling discontent, rather than the steady and progressive U.S.-led recovery that had become the consensus view around the start of the year," Schofield writes in a commentary obtained by CNBC The problem isn't merely the possibility of military conflict, he says."The concerns stem not just from raised geopolitical risk but also from fears surrounding the longer-term macroeconomic implications," Schofield explains."Clearly the tensions in Ukraine have been central to the recent bouts of market uncertainty, but the greater concerns going forward probably come from the risk of significant damage to economic confidence and to economic recovery than from the threat of an escalation in military tensions."To be sure, the crisis isn't strong enough yet to do serious damage, Schofield notes."The current crisis seems to have the right mix of potential threats and risks to finally unsettle investors, but it probably needs to be a little more widespread before serious damage is done."Ultimately, Russia could suffer worst of all, experts say."The reality is that Russia is dependent on the international economy in a way that wasn't true 10 years ago," John Beyrle, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, tells CNNMoney "Fully one-half of Russia's foreign trade now . . . is with European Union countries. Russia depends on European imports to keep its stores filled, to keep the standard of living that Russians have gotten accustomed to." |
The WordPress plugin and theme editors have a basic, bare bones implementation of a text editor. They function well but are rather plain and limited in features. This may be due in part to the fact that many WordPress contributors cannot agree on whether or not the admin plugin and theme editors should be included in core.
This hotly debated topic was reignited on the Tavern last year when we featured the controversial Code Revisions project, which added native revisions to the admin theme and plugin editors. The project was part of Google Summer of Code in 2013 and there was some discussion about the possibility of adding it to core.
Whether or not you agree on having the admin editors in core, there are many plugin developers who are happy to extend the feature for those who use it. Syntax Highlight is a new plugin that adds syntax highlighting and a few other handy bits to the editors by incorporating the open source Ace Editor.
The plugin adds AJAX saving through CTRL+S and has support for keyboard shortcuts (keybindings: Vim, Emacs and Default). If you make edits and attempt to leave the page, the plugin will ask you whether or not you want to leave when there are unsaved changes.
Syntax Highlight enables editors to launch in fullscreen mode (CTRL+Enter) for an experience similar to the distraction free writing mode:
It also includes a lighter theme which can be turned on via the plugin’s settings page:
The settings panel gives you the option to set the default tab size, use soft tabs, turn on word wrap, use line numbers, set key bindings and enable full line selection.
The plugin enables search and replace with regular expressions (CTRL+F, CTRL+H). It also supports all the other features included in the Ace Editor, including drag and drop text using the mouse, automatic indenting, live syntax checking (currently JavaScript/CoffeeScript/CSS/XQuery), and more.
If you frequently use the admin plugin and theme editors and want to beef them up with syntax highlighting, this plugin is a decent option. At the very least, it makes the code more readable if you only use the editors for reference. You can download Syntax Highlight from WordPress.org.
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As Iraqi troops battles ISIS for control of Fallujah, the U.N. children's fund warns at least 20,000 children are trapped inside.
The northern Iraqi city has been under Islamic State control for more than two years. A week ago, Iraqi government troops launched an operation to re-capture it.
There are concerns that ISIS is using children and their families as human shields, a not uncommon tactic among Islamic terror groups, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
More than 50,000 civilians are believed to be trapped in Fallujah, many of them children who face not only a dire humanitarian situation but are also at risk of being forced to fight for the Islamic State.
"Children who are forcibly recruited into the fighting see their lives and futures jeopardized as they are forced to carry and use arms, fighting an adults' war," the children's fund said in a statement. It called on "all parties to protect children inside Fallujah" and "provide safe passage to those wishing to leave the city."
Fallujah was the first large city in Iraq to fall to ISIS and it is the last major urban area controlled by the extremist group in western Iraq.
Many expect a drawn-out fight for Fallujah because ISIS has had a long time to dig in.
There is also concern the group has planted bombs throughout the city, and the presence of civilians will limit the use of airstrikes. |
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi waves at an election rally in Pratapgarh on Saturday. PTI Photo Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi waves at an election rally in Pratapgarh on Saturday. PTI Photo
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched a frontal attack on BJP, charging it with pursuing "politics of strife" and questioning its alliance with Shiv Sena even as he rubbished Narendra Modi's claims of development in Gujarat.
Addressing a rally in this Congress stronghold, his first in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh after the announcement of the Lok Sabha polls schedule, Gandhi accused BJP of having "tried to stall" initiatives like the Right to Information Act, Lokpal, and Land Acquisition Bill which he said were "aimed at empowering the common people to solve their own problems".
In his 20-minute-long speech, during which he refrained from mentioning Gujarat Chief Minister Modi by name, Gandhi charged that BJP "does not believe in empowering the people...
Its strategy has been to acquire power which rests in the people and concentrate it in the hands of one individual".
"Their leader seeks to give an impression that the development in Gujarat was his personal achievement.
"He seems oblivious to the efforts of millions of people, especially women living in remote villages of Gujarat, whose hard work made success stories like Amul possible," Gandhi said.
"Congress does not have that kind of ideology. Congress believes that power must rest with the people who must get a chance to make their destiny.
"Congress does not believe in their politics of strife, the politics of pitting one against the other. We believe in promoting peace and love among the people of all religions, castes and communities", he said.
Referring to the Muzaffarnagar riots, Gandhi said, "I was told by the residents of the district that mercenaries from outside had indulged in rioting and locals had to suffer the social and economic consequences."
"UP needs to be rid of such divisive tendencies. If peace and harmony prevails in the state, it will reach such levels of prosperity that people from Maharashtra and Gujarat, even advanced countries like England, would be visiting the state for their own economic uplift," added Gandhi, the Lok Sabha MP from UP's Amethi. |
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An Olympic distance runner and World War II veteran who survived 47 days on a raft in the Pacific after his bomber crashed, then endured two years in Japanese prison camps, has died. Louis Zamperini was 97.
Universal Pictures studio spokesman Michael Moses says Zamperini died Wednesday.
"Having overcome insurmountable odds at every turn in his life, Olympic runner and World War II hero Louis Zamperini has never broken down from a challenge," the Zamperini family said in a statement.
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"He recently faced the greatest challenge of his life with a life-threatening case of pneumonia. After a 40-day long battle for his life, he peacefully passed away in the presence of his entire family, leaving behind a legacy that has touched so many lives. His indomitable courage and fighting spirit were never more apparent than in these days," the statement said.
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Zamperini enlisted in the Army before Pearl Harbor and was a pilot in World War II. He and his crew were searching for a downed B-25 when their plane crashed into the Pacific, killing eight of the 11 men.
He and one of the other surviving crew members drifted for 47 days on a raft in shark-infested waters before being captured by Japanese forces. He spent more than two years as a prisoner of war, surviving torture.
Before joining the military, Zamperini was a runner at the University of Southern California. He ran in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, placing eighth in the mile, but caught attention by running the final lap in 56 seconds.
His story was told in "Unbroken," Laura Hillenbrand's 2010 best-seller, and is the subject of an Angelina Jolie-directed film by the same name being released in December.
"We are so profoundly sad at this moment and all of our thoughts and prayers are with the Zamperini family. Louis was truly one of a kind. He lived the most remarkable life, not because of the many unbelievable incidents that marked his near-century's worth of years, but because of the spirit with which he faced every one of them," Universal Pictures said in a statement.
"Confronting challenges that would cause most of us to surrender, Louie always persevered and always prevailed, and he spent the better part of his lifetime sharing the message that you could do the same," the statement said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
Various consumer DJI drones are being used in a war right now by both the Philippine Army and the radical Islamic terrorist group called the Maute. The Battle of Marawi is an ongoing war which started last May 23 when President Duterte of the Philippines declared martial law on the island of Mindanao due to a rise in terrorist activities. Consumer drones are easy to buy, and they can give an advantageous aerial perspective, so it wasn’t long before both the Maute and the Philippine Army starting utilizing them. While the government used DJI drones to track terrorist hideouts, the Maute was also spotted using unauthorized DJI drones to escape and monitor the Philippine Army. We Talk Uav got an exclusive interview with an authorized DJI retail store in the Philippines, and they shared insights into the drone surveillance war in Marawi.
DJI Drones In Marawi
According to the interview with the shop staff, the Philippine Army often purchased drones directly from their DJI store. They said that the neighboring DJI repair shop restored numerous drones that were shot by the Maute group. The Phantom 4 seems to be the army’s drone of choice, but the picture above is a Phantom 3 Professional that was taken in for repair. A bullet hole pierced through the camera, and the staff explained that the Maute shot the DJI Phantom 3 Professional at a short range with a .22 caliber bullet, hence the small hole. After the drone lost its live view function, the auto return to home brought back the damaged DJI drone to safety. The Philippine Army was reported to have 2 drones per battalion, but many of those DJI drones came back for repairs.
Confiscated Maute Drones From Marawi
The DJI shop staff also shared that the Philippine Army brought in confiscated drones. Once the Maute drones were shot down and taken in to be examined by the shop, the DJI staff found out that the serial numbers linked to the drones were sold from unauthorized DJI dealers. The confiscated drones were most likely purchased second hand in Hong Kong.
Why DJI Drones?
DJI drones like the Mavic and the Phantom series are easy to use, they are low priced, and they can most likely be easily repaired due to the availability of parts.
U.S. Army Drones Have Been Spotted In Marawi
Using drones to spot enemies is not something new. The U.S. Army is currently developing a unique compact drone which can be used by soldiers to scout surrounding areas. Though that technology is still in the research stage, the U.S. Army in the Philippines has also been seen aiding the government by using customized drones to spot a Maute terrorist in Marawi.
DJI has gained the reputation as the consumer UAV leader. Since their products are inadvertently being used in wars all over the world, DJI started limiting drone functionality via forced updates to combat these types of situations. Even though their products are being misused, DJI has taken the initiative by fighting back against terrorism. |
Today in the Morning Line:
IG report opens floodgates with calls for Shinseki to resign
Push from Democrats, Republicans, ups pressure on Obama
The choice facing Mississippi Republicans
2014 watch: Health care fight in Kentucky, Kingston picks up Herschel Walker’s endorsement & the Chamber backs Ernst in Iowa
Demands for Shinseki to resign reach fever pitch: Calls for Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to step down grew louder on Capitol Hill Wednesday following the release of an inspector general report that determined agency officials at a facility in Phoenix had manipulated scheduling records to hide long wait times for former service members. The investigation found that the average wait time for a veteran seeking an initial appointment at the Phoenix VA hospital was 115 days, while the average wait time reported to the department was 24 days. The interim report also determined that the scheduling practices at the Phoenix facility “are a systemic problem nationwide.” The findings opened the floodgates on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers in both parties issued statements calling for Shinseki’s ouster. The Democrats pushing for Shinseki’s dismissal included Sens. Mark Udall of Colorado, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, John Walsh of Montana, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Al Franken of Minnesota. All five are running for re-election this fall, with Udall, Hagan and Walsh facing tough contests. Democratic Reps. Bruce Braley of Iowa, Scott Peters of California and Ron Barber of Arizona also called on Shinseki to resign. Braley is running for the Senate, while Peters and Barber have difficult re-election races on their hands.
Republicans pile on: Leading Republicans, including Sen. John McCain, Rep. Jeff Miller, the chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, and Rep. Buck McKeon, the head of the House Armed Services Committee, also called for Shinseki’s resignation. McCain praised Shinseki’s career of service as a combat veteran, but said, “It is clear to me that new leadership is needed at the VA” to implement reforms and restore the trust of veterans. For his part, Shinseki gave no indication he planned to step down, releasing a statement that said, “I have reviewed the interim report, and the findings are reprehensible to me, to this Department, and to Veterans.” President Obama stood by Shinseki during his press conference last week, saying he would work with the secretary to fix the problems, but also left the door open for a possible change once he got all the facts. On Wednesday, however, the White House stopped short of giving Shinseki its full support. Press secretary Jay Carney said the president “found the findings extremely troubling” and agrees with Shinseki’s decision to implement the recommendations made by the inspector general. The president is still waiting for deputy chief of staff Rob Nabors to conclude his investigation of the scheduling practices at the VA, which is due next month. But given the rapid erosion of support for Shinseki among Democrats on the Hill, the question is whether the president will see enough to make a move sooner.
The Mississippi Poison Pill – Do Republicans avoid another Akin? Mississippi political columnist Charlie Mitchell summed up his state’s Republican Senate primary this way: “Not to be melodramatic, but Mississippi voters — bizarre campaign antics of the past few weeks notwithstanding — face a soul-trying choice Tuesday.” The antics he writes of are the revelations that four supporters of tea party challenger Chris McDaniel were arrested for taking photos of incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran’s bed-ridden wife in her nursing home. McDaniel denies any connection, but it has shaken up a race in which McDaniel was gaining steam and looked poised to possibly pull off an upset. It’s also possible that, like in the past two election cycles, Democrats would have a chance to win the state if McDaniel was nominated. But this election is far more important to this cycle than just whether Democrats put another seat in play. Establishment Republicans view McDaniel as poisonous — someone who could stand between them and the Senate majority. They see him as another Todd Akin, the 2012 Missouri Republican Senate nominee who cost Republicans that seat because of his “legitimate rape” comments. If McDaniel wins, they argue, like Akin, every other Republican Senate candidate would have to answer for his past controversial comments from his days as a radio host. That’s why the establishment has taken nothing for granted, dumping opposition research on McDaniel. Cochran even capitalized on the arrests by cutting an ad highlighting them, showing mugshots of the arrested. “Rise up and say no to dirty politics,” an announcer says, “and yes to our strong conservative leader.” And a closing ad for a pro-Cochran Super PAC accuses McDaniel of being a liar.
Obama West Point reaction: The New York Times’ Peter Baker sums up the rationale for President Obama’s West Point speech, noting that the president is “deeply frustrated” by assessments of his foreign policy. The president “has become increasingly convinced that while the United States must play a vital role beyond its borders, it should avoid getting dragged into the quicksand of international crises that have trapped some of his predecessors. … To his critics, mainly on the right but also some on the left, this is a prescription for passivity, an abrogation of decades of bipartisan leadership on the world stage. Stung and irritated, Mr. Obama used his commencement address to West Point cadets on Wednesday to mount a sustained rebuttal and to define an approach to foreign policy that he believes is suited to a new era and that he hopes will outlast his presidency.”
2014 wrap – Grimes hits McConnell on health care, Kingston with some momentum in Ga., the Chamber takes sides in Iowa: In Kentucky, Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes hits Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell on for his stance on health care, trying to draw a distinction between Kentucky’s popular exchange and the federal law, which Grimes says needs fixing. The Lexington Herald-Leader also goes after McConnell for his claims that his support for getting rid of the health care law is “‘unconnected’ to the future of Kynect, Kentucky’s health insurance exchange?” Asks the paper, “Huh? Nothing could be more connected.” … In Georgia, Jack Kingston may be picking up some momentum. He got former rival Karen Handel’s endorsement, the Chamber of Commerce is already on board and now former NFL running back Herschel Walker, a star at the University of Georgia, has endorsed him. … Speaking of the Chamber of Commerce, it signaled who it thinks will win the Iowa Republican Senate primary Tuesday. It’s now backing state Sen. Joni Ernst, whom Democrats deride as “The Sarah Palin of Iowa.”
Begich keeps on swinging: We’ve noted that even Republicans see Alaska Democratic Sen. Mark Begich as running a strong campaign. In part, that’s because of ads like this one that went up Wednesday that highlight what he’s done for the state while hitting Republican challenger Dan Sullivan. “Dan Sullivan shot this TV ad here at the Dena’ina Center, saying I don’t get results. Well,” Begich says with a laugh, “I got the Dena’ina Center built that Dan was standing on.” He adds, “I approve this message because here are some more nice places Dan could use in his next ad.” He goes on to rattle off other places for which he’s gotten funding or loosened regulations. Ouch. It’s a strong response ad, and it’s the work of Democratic ad-maker Mark Putnam, who the New York Times profiled earlier this week. If Republicans can’t pick off Begich, running in a state Mitt Romney won by double-digits in 2012, their path to a majority becomes much more difficult.
Daily Presidential Trivia: On this day in 1917, future American president John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born. Where was Kennedy born? Be the first to Tweet us the correct answer using #PoliticsTrivia, and you’ll get a Morning Line shout-out. Congratulations to Jennifer (@Jennesber) for guessing Wednesday’s trivia: FDR pushed a button in Washington, DC, signaling that vehicular traffic could cross the Golden Gate Bridge in California. How many vehicles crossed the bridge the first day? The answer was: 32,300.
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Imagine if members of Congress all had to use the same printer to issue their statements about Shinseki. — daveweigel (@daveweigel) May 28, 2014
Tuned in to POTUS at @WestPoint_USMA. Important speech on US leadership. Diplomacy, defense, development all key. pic.twitter.com/GySbo2hdMG — John Kerry (@JohnKerry) May 28, 2014
Some guys just can't take a hint pic.twitter.com/41tQWz6vy3 — Rebecca Berg (@rebeccagberg) May 28, 2014
We're saddened by the passing of our friend Maya Angelou. Thank you for all you've done, and for all the hugs. pic.twitter.com/kmLCN59Uef — Sesame Street (@sesamestreet) May 28, 2014
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The Associated Press and The Seattle Times are objecting after learning that the FBI created a fake news story and website using their names to catch a bomb threat suspect in 2007.
Police in suburban Lacey, near Olympia, sought the FBI's help as repeated bomb threats prompted a week of evacuations and closures at Timberline High School in June 2007.
After police interviews of potential suspects came up empty, the agency obtained a warrant from a federal magistrate judge to send a "communication" to a social media account associated with the bomb threats, with the idea of tricking the suspect into revealing his location, according to documents obtained by the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation.
The "communication," which contained a software tool known as a "computer and Internet Protocol address verifier," turned out to be a link to a phony AP story about the bomb threats posted on a fake Seattle Times webpage. The 15-year-old suspect clicked on the link, revealing his computer's location and Internet address, and helping agents confirm his identity.
The boy was arrested.
"Every effort we made in this investigation had the goal of preventing a tragic event like what happened at Marysville and Seattle Pacific University," said Frank Montoya Jr., the FBI's special agent in charge in Seattle, referring to two local school shootings this year. "We identified a specific subject of an investigation and used a technique that we deemed would be effective in preventing a possible act of violence in a school setting. Use of that type of technique happens in very rare circumstances and only when there is sufficient reason to believe it could be successful in resolving a threat."
AP spokesman Paul Colford said Tuesday the FBI's "ploy violated AP's name and undermined AP's credibility."
"We are extremely concerned and find it unacceptable that the FBI misappropriated the name of The Associated Press and published a false story attributed to AP," Colford said in a statement.
Seattle Times Editor Kathy Best said the newspaper was outraged.
"Not only does that cross a line, it erases it," she said. "Our reputation and our ability to do our job as a government watchdog are based on trust. Nothing is more fundamental to that trust than our independence — from law enforcement, from government, from corporations and from all other special interests. The FBI's actions, taken without our knowledge, traded on our reputation and put it at peril.
"We hope that this mistake in judgment by local federal law enforcement leaders was a one-time aberration and not a symptom of a deeper lack of respect for the role of a free press in society. It cannot be repeated."
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
"In order to safeguard the FBI's ability to effectively detect, disrupt, and dismantle threats to the public, we must be judicious in how we discuss investigative techniques," Seattle FBI spokeswoman Ayn Dietrich said in an email.
The documents revealing the deception were publicized Monday on Twitter by Christopher Soghoian, the principal technologist for the American Civil Liberties Union. They included a copy of the fake news story, headlined "Bomb threat at high school downplayed by local police department." |
She has the sober demeanor and tightly wound bun of a boarding school headmistress. And she's Vladimir Putin's new morality crusader, spearheading efforts to curb gay rights, punish online cursing and impose a tax on divorce.
Yelena Mizulina, a member of parliament, has used her position as the head of the Committee on Family, Women and Children to author increasingly conservative laws, including a ban on homosexual "propaganda" that went into force last month.
Her pearls, bland blazers and matronly mien belie a fierce fighter who is ready to take her loudest critics to court. In turn, they have labeled her the "Inquisitor" and ridiculed her online. One recent blog posting shows her gritting her teeth with the speech bubble: "You will behave yourself while on My Internet."
While the morality enforcer's policies have drawn the criticism of Western activists and liberal Russians, they strike a chord with a socially conservative Russian majority that is President Putin's support base.
Since returning to the presidency last year following unprecedented street protests, Putin has bolstered his eroding popular support by turning toward the Russian Orthodox Church and integrating its rhetoric of traditional values. The Kremlin pits this conservatism against what it casts as a decadent West that threatens Russian society.
Mizulina's committee has been responsible for a score of laws and projects promoting traditional Russian values and warning of Russia's moral and demographic decline, as persistently low birthrates have resulted in a shrinking and aging population. Mizulina proposes to fight this in part by fighting gay relationships and taxing divorce.
"Of course policies on family issues revolve around the question: what in Russia do we consider a family?" said Olga Batalina, Mizulina's close ally and deputy chairman of the committee told The Associated Press. In Russia, she said, a family is a marriage between a man and a woman with children, preferably at least three. Mizulina declined requests for an interview.
In a policy planning paper drafted in late May, the committee called for the increased involvement of the Russian Orthodox Church in family issues, more financial support for families with many children and the divorce tax. Ironically, the paper was published within a week of Putin announcing his own divorce, sparking jokes that the timing of the split with his wife was, in effect, tax evasion.
The two women lawmakers stirred the most controversy this spring, when they championed the law banning the spread of propaganda of "nontraditional sexual relations" among minors.
The law, which describes homosexual propaganda vaguely as anything "aimed at the formation of nontraditional sexual behavior," levies fines of up to 5,000 rubles ($150) on individuals and up to 1 million rubles ($30,000) for companies, including media organizations, which violate it.
While the law provoked a backlash in the West, where protesters called for a boycott of Russian vodka in gay bars across North America, it has stirred little contention in Russia.
The number of people who consider homosexuality either "licentiousness" or "a sickness or result of some psychological trauma" rose from 68 percent in 1998 to 78 percent in 2013, according to a May poll conducted by the independent Levada's Center. Whereas 51 percent of Russians said in 2005 said that gays and lesbians should have the same rights as others, the number dropped to 39 percent by 2013, according to the polls, which have a margin of error of 3.4 percent.
Maria Plotko, a sociologist at the Levada Center responsible for its polls on homosexuality, said the level of social intolerance increased significantly within the last year as homosexuality became a frequent topic of political discussion.
"It's easy to set people up against them (gays), because the percentage of people who know them is very small," said Plotko. In a Levada poll from early July, 80 percent of respondents said they didn't have a single LGBT acquaintance.
Plotko emphasized that Russian conservatism differs from its Bible belt counterpart in the United States: Russians widely condone and practice abortion, common law marriage and divorce. But the growing sense of a national identity, rooted in Orthodox Christianity, has meant that minority groups that fall outside of the church — from gays to the Muslims — face increasing disapproval in society.
Vigilante homophobia is on the rise among some extremist nationalist groups. Nationalists in a new movement called Occupy Pedophilia use gay dating websites to lure young men and boys into meetings, where they taunt them on camera and then publish the videos online.
Nikolai Alexeyev, a founder of the Russian gay pride movement, called it a vicious circle.
"On the one hand, you have the fact that the majority supposedly support these initiatives. And on the other you have the authorities, like Mizulina, who instead of making this majority more tolerant, are tossing logs on the fire," Alexeyev said. "They'll end up burning all of us."
Despite the support of a vast majority of Russians, Mizulina and Batalina have proven intolerant of dissent from liberals who take issue with their policies. They have persuaded prosecutors to open a criminal case against Alexeyev and others on charges of slander and "insulting a representative of the government."
"We decided that it was a matter of principal to set a precedent," Mizulina said recently on the radio station Ekho Moskvy. She said Alexeyev's criticism was aimed at "turning public opinion against us to make us look like some kind of crazy old aunts."
She was quoted by the newspaper Izvestia as saying he should be punished with community service "somewhere where he can't be involved in gay propaganda, like in a morgue van."
The career trajectory of the 58-year-old politician, who has a PhD in law, reflects the political changes that have transformed Russia since Putin came to power in 2000.
In 2001, she left Yabloko, the party of the Moscow-based intellectual elite, citing its miserable showing in elections. "The people, our voters who believe in us, want something in their lives to change," Mizulina said in an interview with the newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta. "And in order to change something, we have to be a party that doesn't look down its nose at power."
She joined another liberal party, but after another failed election left it in 2007 for Just Russia, a left-leaning party created by the Kremlin to sap votes from the Communists. On certain issues Mizulina still goes against the Kremlin line, as she did in November when she argued before Russia's highest court that a law levying heavy fines for unsanctioned protests was unconstitutional.
Since returning to the presidency for a third term, Putin has wielded a two-pronged approach to politics.
On the one hand, the Kremlin has pushed through repressive laws aimed at suppressing dissent among the liberal, middle-class Russians who joined the anti-Putin protests. But through championing a conservative agenda, he is also reaching out to a broad base of Russia to bolster his popular support. |
It’s been a cold and snowy winter for much of the country but summer music festival season is just around the corner. And that’s means there’s a slew of updates from the headquarters of most fests. We’ve already recapped line-up announcements from Hangout, Coachella, Wakarusa, Firefly and others here and dissected Roo Clues to decipher which artists are likely playing Bonnaroo. [UPDATE Bonnaroo’s lineup and a recap of their announcement webcast – with streams of the Flaming Lips/ Ben Folds superjams – is here]. Below is a mixed bag of the most significant festival news since those previous posts.
First up, some news distantly related the big daddy of all music festivals. “Woodstock ’94” commemorated the 25th anniversary of its namesake – the most famous music festival of all time – at Winston Farm in Saugerties, NY. Now 20 years later a music fest may be returning to the farm (which was also proposed as the site of the original 1969 event, but denied permits). The Times Herald-Record reports organizers MCP Presents (known for running Camp Bisco, Lights All Night and CounterPoint) are seeking permits for a July 11 – 13, 2014 event to be called “Hudson Project Music And Arts Festival.” 80 musical acts and 500 artists are planned to be involved, possibly including My Morning Jacket, TV on the Radio, Thievery Corporation, Band Of Horses, STS9 and Vampire Weekend. The Saugerties Town Board will decide on the matter in a February 19th meeting open to the public. UPDATE – February 20th “The Hudson Project Music and Arts Festival…should receive final approvals within a few weeks,” reports dailyfreeman.com. At the meeting last night Jonathan Fordin of MCP Presents explained the festival will feature four stages along with art installations, art performers, craft villages, amusement rides, yoga classes, drum workshops and a Frisbee golf course. Campers can arrive July 10th and must leave by July 14th.
Single day tickets are now on sale for Tampa’s Gasparilla Music Festival (March 8-9, shown right) and Knoxville’s Big Ears Festival (March 28-30).
Wilco has announced Solid Sound will again take a year off, but return in 2015. The band hosted the fest in 2010, 2011 and 2013. Presumably the break this summer is to afford Wilco more time to work on their forthcoming record. Here’s the official announcement.
From April 23 though the following weekend Giorgio Moroder will co-headline Moogfest 2014 with Kraftwerk, CHIC and Laurie Anderson. Spin.com is not only giving away two general admission tickets to the festival, but also a Moog Etherwave Theremin signed by Moroder! To enter the contest share the official Moogfest flyer in a tweet that reads: “I want to see @GiorgioMoroder + all the great artists at @Moogfest 2014!”
Austin Psych Fest announced more artists for this year’s festival including Panda Bear, The Dandy Warhols, The War On Drugs, Mikal Cronin, Sleepy Sun, Peaking Lights, Pink Mountaintops and more. The May 2-4 event at Carson Creek Ranch offers tickets ranging from $80 (single-day pass) to $878 (deluxe three-day camping rentals – more details are here). Enter to win a pair of tickets to this year’s show just by retweeting this:
Here's the second round line-up for Austin Psych Fest. RT for a chance to win a pair of tickets to this year's show. http://t.co/r7M7HlOsA2 — NOISEY (@NoiseyMusic) February 10, 2014
Atlanta’s Shaky Knees Music Festival revealed their “surprise” third headliner to be the Alabama Shakes and added The Replacements to the line-up. The previously announced acts for the May 9-11, 2014 fest include The National, Modest Mouse, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Spoon, and others.
Boston Calling returns for a its third year from May 23-25, 2014 at the City Hall Plaza. Aaron Dessner of the National is curating the festival featuring headliners Modest Mouse, Jack Johnson and Death Cab for Cutie. Also on the bill: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Built to Spill, The Head and the Heart, Tegan and Sara, Bastille and more.
Sasquatch is pulling a Coachella and hosting two festivals this year. Both line-ups have been announced. The first will be held Memorial Day weekend with Outkast, The National, Queens of the Stone Age, M.I.A., Foster the People,Violent Femmes, Portugal. The Man, Phantogram and others. The second follows on Fourth of July weekend – fireworks included – with Neutral Milk Hotel, Foxygen, Mikal Cronin, Courtney Barnett, Spoon, Broken Bells, Soundgarden, Kraftwerk (3D), Local Natives, Kurt Vile, Dr. Dog, of Montreal and more. Both will be held at Quincy, Washington’s breathtakingly beautiful Gorge. Tickets are on sale now: $325 per weekend or $550 for both. More details are at the fest’s official website.
Jack White and Vampire Weekend will headline Houstin’s Free Press Summer Fest, May 31- June 1 at Eleanor Tinsley Park. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Lauryn Hill, The Kills, tUnE-yArDs, Washed Out and more are also on the bill. Ticket information and the official website is here.
Pitchfork has announced artists for their annual festival to be held this year July 18-20 at Chicago’s Union Park. Beck will headline Friday, Neutral Milk Hotel tops the bill Saturday, and Kendrick Lamar closes the fest. Other acts include Circulatory System, Giorgio Moroder, tUnE-yArDs, Sun Kil Moon, Death Grips, Sharon Van Etten, DIIV, Wild Beasts and Grimes.
Beck also headlines Edgefest on April 26 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas with Grouplove and The Avett Brothers, among others. In addition to the news of Beck headlining Pitchfork and Edgefest, it’s previously been announced he’ll get top billing at Firefly and make a highly anticipated appearance at Coachella
Keep track of all the most anticipated fests – including dates, featured artists, locations and links to buy tickets – with The Future Heart Music Festival Guide. |
Updated July 11, 2014:
ForeFlight Mobile 6.2.1 is now available on the App Store and will resolve the app close issue. If you updated to version 6.2 and your user waypoints are missing, please contact us at team@foreflight.com for instructions on how to restore them. If you deleted and reinstalled the app as a workaround, it isn’t possible to recover the user waypoints. We apologize for this happening and we appreciate your patience while we fixed it. If you experience any further issue with 6.2.1, please contact us immediately at team@foreflight.com.
Original post:
Earlier today we released version 6.2 which includes support for our new data sync capability. Some customers are experiencing an app close after updating to 6.2, which is a result of a data migration process when run against large numbers of recent routes and plates.
We jumped on a fix as soon as the issue was detected. A fix for customers experiencing this issue is in version 6.2.1, which is submitted to App Store and pending review. As a workaround, customers can delete and reinstall the app if they need to bypass the issue. |
Implementing Android Marshmallow Direct Share
Direct Share is a new feature in Android Marshmallow that allows users to share content to targets, such as contacts, within other apps. The core idea is that the user can directly share the relevant content without having to first open a second app, so Direct Share allows the user to skip a step in the usual sharing flow.
I came across Direct Share while working on our upcoming 1-day Android Platform Features and Community Tools classes, and now it’s become one of my favorite new additions in Android Marshmallow.
Direct Share Overview
One great example of Direct Share is sharing content to a contact in a messaging app. Here’s what that would end up looking like:
The usual share options appear, with Hangouts, Messages and Inbox listed at the bottom. However, the Direct Share targets are the various people listed at the top of this share dialog. Instead of clicking to share and then clicking into the desired messaging app like Hangouts, the most important contacts appear in the chooser dialog itself. In this flow, the user doesn’t have to click into the Hangouts app and then choose a contact, instead being able to choose a contact immediately.
For a compare and contrast example, we’re going to use a sample app that just shares a bit of text to a selected contact. Here’s what the share dialog looks like on Lollipop:
And here’s the Marshmallow version with Direct Share enabled:
Now, this is the same app on both versions, so the important takeaway here is that the feature gracefully falls back on older versions of Android to the standard chooser dialog. In this way, the Direct Share options can be added to newer versions, with the sharing functionality working just the same on older versions.
Building a ChooserTargetService
So Direct Share can save the user a bit of time and make sharing content more streamlined. But how do we actually add Direct Share to an existing app?
The first step is to create a service that extends the platform’s ChooserTargetService, which is demonstrated by the following SampleChooserTargetService.java snippet:
public class SampleChooserTargetService extends ChooserTargetService { @Override public List < ChooserTarget > onGetChooserTargets ( ComponentName targetActivityName , IntentFilter matchedFilter ) { final List < ChooserTarget > targets = new ArrayList <>(); for ( int i = 0 ; i < length ; i ++) { final String targetName = ... final Icon targetIcon = ... final float targetRanking = ... final ComponentName targetComponentName = ... final Bundle targetExtras = ... targets . add ( new ChooserTarget ( targetName , targetIcon , targetRanking , targetComponentName , targetExtras )); } return targets ; } }
Override the onGetChooserTargets() method, which will return a List of ChooserTargets that are the Direct Share options that appear in the sharing dialog.
Each ChooserTarget has a few parameters:
The name of the target
The icon to represent the target
The ranking score for this target (between 0.0f and 1.0f), which is used if there’s too many direct share items, then items with low ranking scores will be omitted.
The name of the component to start if the target is chosen
A Bundle of Extras that will be merged into the original Intent before launching the next component with that intent
The order of the targets in the chooser dialog is the same as the ordering of the list of targets that we provide. Any sorting of the targets should be done here, during list construction.
How you create those targets is entirely up to you, though typically the ChooserTarget information is constructed from the model layer of your specific app.
While we have built our ChooserTargetService, we now need to hook it up in our app, so that the system knows about the service and can use it.
First, you’ll need to declare your custom ChooserTargetService in your AndroidManifest.xml , like so:
<service android:name= ".SampleChooserTargetService" android:label= "@string/app_name" android:permission= "android.permission.BIND_CHOOSER_TARGET_SERVICE" > <intent-filter> <action android:name= "android.service.chooser.ChooserTargetService" /> </intent-filter> </service>
This accomplishes two things:
Binds the Service using the android.permission.BIND_CHOOSER_TARGET_SERVICE permission
permission Includes an IntentFilter with the android.service.chooser.ChooserTargetService action
Next, you’ll need to update your AndroidManifest.xml with some meta-data tags:
<activity android:name= ".SendMessageActivity" android:label= "@string/app_name" > <intent-filter> <action android:name= "android.intent.action.SEND" /> <category android:name= "android.intent.category.DEFAULT" /> <data android:mimeType= "text/plain" /> </intent-filter> <meta-data android:name= "android.service.chooser.chooser_target_service" android:value= ".SampleChooserTargetService" /> </activity>
For each activity that you want to expose to ChooserTargetService, add a meta-data element to it. Specify the name as android.service.chooser.chooser_target_service , and point the value to the Service defined earlier. When an implicit intent is sent out that matches with one of these activities, then the intent chooser dialog will show both the normal app icon for that activity and also the list of ChooserTarget icons. The normal app icon just opens the activity like a standard share intent would, while the ChooserTarget icons will open the activity with some initial data on the intent (specified in the ChooserTargetService).
Direct Share Flow
Let’s take a quick look at the flow between screens from a user’s perspective of Google’s Direct Share sample app. The user is starting on a normal-looking app screen, with a nice big share button that sends out an implicit intent.
Next, the user hits the share button, causing the share dialog to pop up.
When the Activity that we attached our Chooser Service to via metadata is able to respond to an implicit intent, that’s when the Chooser Service will generate its list of choices using the onGetChooserTargets() from our custom ChooserTargetService. The list of Chooser Targets will then be used to populate the dialog asking how you want to answer the intent.
In addition, the actual Activity that the meta-data was attached to will be listed alongside the generated Chooser Targets, allowing a user to just pick the Activity normally and opt away from using Direct Share. Normally, this Activity would be some kind of list of contacts or list of users to pick from.
If the user taps on one of the Chooser Targets, then the ‘choose a contact from a list’ step that is normally part of the flow can be skipped, and the user goes right to sending the content, wherever that may lead.
Avoid Clutter
We must always remember to be a good citizen—while Direct Share is neat feature, you shouldn’t use it in a way that clutters up the chooser dialog with unnecessary options. Otherwise, you might drown out the sharing options your users actually want.
In the above example, the app lists eight different users as Chooser Targets, but perhaps only the most frequently messaged contacts should be shown instead.
Learning More
Direct Share is an excellent way to streamline the user experience of sharing content, allowing users to share more easily to their most common targets.
If you found this blog post interesting and would like to learn more about the exciting features of Android Marshmallow or the various new community tools, then check out our new pair of one-day classes on the Android Platform and Community Tools. As a bonus, we’ll be taking these classes on the road, visiting cities around the continental United States. See you there! |
I
God: Noah, all the people of earth are sinners. You alone are righteous.
Noah: Thanks God. Long time fan, first time prophet.
God: So, I have decided to smite the entire world with a flood.
(pause)
Noah: Couldn’t you just teach man goodness?
God: No. I’m thinking “flood.”
Noah: So you’d rather just kill every-
God: What part of “flood” do you not understand?
II
God: Moses…I have seen the plight of the Jews in Egypt.
Moses: Wow. Only after, uh, 400 years there, right?
God: Yes.
Moses: Awesome.
God: I will take you out of Egypt after ten terrible, terrible plagues.
Moses: …ten?
God: Is there a problem?
Moses: It’s just…ten is a lot. For, you know, God. Couldn’t you get this done in like, two plagues max?
God: No. For you see, Moses, I will harden Pharaoh’s heart against me.
Moses: So…you are going to stop him from letting us free from slavery.
God: Yes.
Moses: So you can bring more terrible, terrible plagues upon the people.
God: Yes.
Moses: And you see nothing wrong with this picture?
God:
Moses: Are there any other Gods up there I can talk to?
III
Mary: Did you send the child support?
God: Frankincense and myrrh. Yeah.
Mary Annnnnd?
God: (sighs). And gold. And the gold.
Mary: That’s better.
IV
Job: …
God: Well, this is awkward.
V
God: Abraham, you must circumcise yourself.
Abraham: As you wish, my lord.
God: Oh my Me. He’s totally going to do it. |
Reps. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), left, and Randy Forbes (R-Va.) spoke at a press conference at the Capitol on May 12, 2016 on legislation they have introduced to ensure proper vetting for people seeking visas to enter the United States. (CNSNews.com/Penny Starr)
(CNSNews.com) – Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) said on Thursday that visas issued to terrorists turn the documents into “weapons” by allowing them entry into the United States without proper vetting.
“We also know that in the hands of terrorists, visas can become weapons,” Forbes said at a press conference at the Capitol.
Forbes – along with co-sponsors Reps. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) and Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) – introduced the Visa Integrity and Security Act of 2016 on Wednesday.
The Visa Integrity and Security Act of 2016, which “strengthens the Visa screening process to combat immigration fraud, utilize social media to detect threat indicators, and better detect terrorists who may be plotting attacks like the one that occurred in San Bernardino, California this past December.”
Some specifics of the legislation include “heightened” scrutiny of people seeking a visa from countries designated as “countries of concern” as it relates to terrorism, by the State Department, including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan and Yemen.
It also requires DNA testing, to be paid for by the visa applicant, to prove relationship status on a family-based immigrant visa petition.
Forbes cited the Dec. 2, 2015 attack in San Bernardino, Calif., by two Islamic extremist terrorists – Syed Rizwan Farook, a U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, who entered the country on a “fiancé visa” in 2014.
“We know this: We know that those visas can create problems for us. They can be well intended,” Forbes said. “This iPhone that we have was intended for a good purpose, but we know in the hand of a terrorist this iPhone becomes a weapon.
“We also know that in the hands of terrorists, visas can become weapons,” Forbes said.
“We believe that coming to the United States of America is not a right - it’s a privilege - but we think it’s a right to be secure within the United States,” Forbes said.
“So if we have to balance those two between the privilege of coming to the United States and the right to be secure in the United States, we want to give the balance to the right to be secure in the United States,” “Forbes said.
“From the 9/11 terrorist attacks to the more recent attack in San Bernardino, we are reminded that terrorists have and will continue to exploit our immigration system to carry out their heinous plots,” Goodlatte said at the press conference.
“Visa security is critical to national security, and we must address gaping holes in our immigration system that allow those who wish Americans harm and fraudsters to game the system.”
“The United States Congress recognizes that visas can be weapons for terrorists,” Forbes said. |
Following on from the announcement that Freddy Krueger would be coming to Dead by Daylight, a new trailer uploaded to the game’s YouTube channel has confirmed that he will be availalbe in the Steam version of Dead by Daylight tomorrow. There’s no word yet on when he’ll be added to console versions, but this is still super exciting news. Dead by Daylight really is the game that keeps on giving.
This will mark the first official appearance of Freddy Krueger in a video game since he was added to the mobile version of Mortal Kombat X last December. As you can see from the trailer below, the appear to have gone with the Jackie Earle Haley incarnation of Freddy rather than the Robert Englund version. Make of that what you will, we’re just glad he’s in the game at all.
Dead by Daylight: A Nightmare on Elm Street™ Trailer
Freddy is coming to Dead by Daylight – as part of the A Nightmare on Elm Street Chapter. He will instill fear in you, and it doesn’t matter if you’re awake or asleep. He and his claw clad hand will find you – so keep running.
Out on Steam October 26th. |
June 18th, 2015 – ALLENTOWN
Its that time of year again when the Allentown Villain Society stacks their coffers from all of the vendor fees for booths at the annual Allentown Sprinkler Fest. Entering its 666th year, the festival brings in an estimated 4.6 trillion tons of copper to the 4 square blocks the fest consumes. People as far as Oregon travel in Winnebagos and VW buses to the annual fest each year.
Local legend has it that the annual fest is actually a virgin-artist-soul-laundering scheme using the profits to suck the souls of young artists while deploying craft-oriented vendors as a cover up. Such things are steeped in mythology but local lore will tell that the bloody paper trail ends at a mystic alley way deep in the trenches of Allentown. Allegedly situated underneath one of the iconic Allentown structures, it has been known to be a chamber of secrets, the Secrets of Allentown to be exact.
Legend will tell that the money made from vendors supplies the Villain Society with all they need to host their annual celebration, Allentown Village Society’s Annual Sprinkler Sacrifice Wine & Garden Night. Where members of the Villain Society sacrifice artist virgin souls, chant holding copper lawn sprinklers and drink Barefoot Pino Greege by the barrel-fulls.
Often ridiculed for their bizarre consumer driven arts and crafts oriented business model, the fest used to practice less than arts embracing procedures. In decades past, they actually used to shut down restaurants and business’s on the Allen strip that might detract from making money from vendors that sell Baking Soda Elephant Ears, Monsanto Turkey Legs, Diphtheria Dipped Candy Apples, Black Plague Burritos and a slew of diabetic desserts. Upon being asked, representatives of the Allentown Villain Society denied an interview.
We hit the streets for the fest’s 666th run of the Sprinkler Fest to get some crowd reactions from people from near and far on how they enjoy all the fest has to offer. One local resident, Barb Zolocopowitz was taking in some repurposed chicken wing basket jewelry when we asked her how she was enjoying the annual fest.
“You know, I’ve been coming down here for years and every year I find something new and “different” for me and my ladies. I have a lot of really nice gift ideas and the fest allows me to find what I am looking for for my knitting circle.” Gesturing to festival companion, Zola Barkenzoits for her input.
“I tell ya, I love just using my hoverround to take in the art. I pull right up to Bev’s Bovine Art and Lawn and talk to my yearly comrade about her new wares.” Standing next to said booth, Bev gestures to a wall of lovable cow art perfect for that kitchen wall or breakfast nook.
In year’s past, The Villain Society has utilized the souls of area high school students to come up with a poster design ranging from cutting edge Corel Draw digital art to water color lily pads that would make any sitting room that no one sits in swoon. This years entry was bar none one of the best. An unprecedented illustrated Buffalo eating the streets of Allentown and all who inhabit it.
This journalist cannot wait to report on next years events when it will enter year 667 and undoubtably continue until Lucifer is satisfied with all he can eat turkey legs, copper sprinklers, virgins and water color lily pads for his 7th ring of hell waiting room.
Sally Butterworth, Buffalebrity Staff Reporter |
Amanda Ripley’s recent article in The Atlantic ( http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/201001/good-teaching ) wildly exaggerates the supposed positive benefits of having a Teach for America (TFA) teacher in the classroom. After reading the article, you might come away believing that TFA teachers regularly work miracles in their classroom, just like Michelle Rhee pretends she did, while their do-nothing veteran colleagues just sit and read the newspaper in class. (Although, funny thing: the super-achieving teacher described in the article was NOT a TFA-er!)
However, if you read the published data that Ripley refers to, they show that both TFA teachers and other teachers in high-poverty schools are having a hard time getting any positive results at all.
In English/reading, the results are as follows (the blue, thick line represents the scores of the TFA teachers’ students). I cut-and-pasted the following two graphs directly from the study; they are on page xiv.
If you ask me, there is essentially no difference between the 13th, 14th, and 15th percentiles. These are all very low scores! The reason that the TFA students had slightly higher initial and final scores is almost undoubtedly because of random variation.
In math, the results are as follows, and again, the thick, blue line shows the scores of the TFA teachers’ students. This the area in which TFA teachers supposedly did so well:
Ripley, and the Mathematica authors, claim that the differences in the math scores are statistically significant. Keep in mind, however, that significance in reality and in statistics are two different things. To me, if you are at the 14th, 15th, or 17th percentiles, you are in very bad shape. Neither the TFA teachers, nor their veteran or novice counterparts, were in fact able to work miracles. My own opinion is that any differences here are due to random variation.
You can read the whole statistical study here if you like:
http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/pdfs/teach.pdf
The study looked at a fairly small number of classes (100) taught by TFA teachers and their non-TFA colleagues, spread out over the following cities or regions: Baltimore, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles/Compton, the Mississippi delta, and New Orleans. They looked at a total of 17 schools, and about 1,765 students. I have no way of knowing – and neither does just about anybody else – whether these students are in fact representative of all schools serving disadvantaged students. My suspicion is that a different selection of classes might have yielded quite different results. Here is the description of the sample, which I cut-and-pasted from page 9:
I would like to finish by quoting a few passages from a teacher who is blogging from some (unnamed) high school here in Washington, DC: ( http://filthyteaching.blogspot.com/ )
“…TFAers, and for that matter, first-year teachers in general, have ABSOLUTELY NO BUSINESS working in these kinds of systems. [meaning, systems like DC, Baltimore, Chicago, etc.] And if we were to really get serious about boosting student achievement, I’d say five years should probably be the minimum number of years experience required to apply in these districts (with some exceptions).
“The children of DCPS, New Orleans, Chicago, Baltimore, LA, Memphis, and any other severely challenged district across the US that one might think of, do not have the luxury of being guinea pigs for a legion of completely incompetent, albeit well-intentioned, college graduates. Anyone who’s taught for more than a few years can tell you that the vast majority of teachers (I’d say all, but I suppose there’s a small possibility that there are one or two out there who are miracles) have virtually no idea what they’re doing in the classroom in their first year (I know that was certainly the case for me).
“Your first few years are spent learning that almost everything you thought teaching was supposed to be was completely wrong. You’re overwhelmed by classroom management and discipline struggles. You have no idea how to plan a unit or an effective lesson. You don’t recognize the importance of constant quality assessment, and you sure as hell don’t have a clue as to how to go about creating one. You don’t yet know how exactly to build relationships with kids (even though you thought you did), nor do you quite realize how critically important they are to the children who are almost completely deprived of positive relationships. You don’t realize that in addition to teaching your subject matter, you desperately need to teach your kids how to read, but you don’t have a clue how to. You can’t see through the bullshit that the administration throws at you or the petty bickering that some of your colleagues may do around you. And on the day that you think your lesson actually went okay, you don’t realize that not a single one of your students will be able to demonstrate that they learned what you thought they did the next day.
…
“These are things that teachers learn over years of experience. You don’t get them in a summer training, or even in your first year of teaching. They come slowly. … I don’t blame the TFAers themselves. I was like them not very long ago. I did my first year teaching in a socio-economically disadvantaged school in Knoxville, TN, and then wanted desperately to try my hand in DC or NYC. I wanted to go out and save the world. I thought I could do it. I found out how ridiculously wrong I was. Luckily I couldn’t find a job in DC or NYC, and I’m so glad that I began teaching in a school that, while not perfect in supporting new teachers, at least offered me an environment in which I could make mistakes and learn from them.
“I would not recommend ANYONE try their hand at their first year teaching in a district like DC or New Orleans. It will make you believe that education is something that it’s not, that to be a teacher is to be a martyr, that getting through a school year is like running a marathon EVERY DAMN DAY, and that you deserve no rights or respect from your administration or district. It’s a run through a gauntlet, and it’s no wonder so many new teachers leave the profession when this is how we treat them.” |
Nathan Williams has our best interests in mind. This summer, Williams' band Wavves gave us King of the Beach, an album full of some of the best windows-down punk rock driving anthems in recent memory. And this fall, he wants to optimize our marijuana-smoking experience.
On his Twitter yesterday, Williams posted a link to a photo of the Wavves-branded weed grinders you see above. Because when you're getting your pot into the perfect smoking composition, you obviously want to look at the picture of the blunted Snacks the Cat from the King of the Beach cover, right?
Those weed grinders will be for sale at the merch table at Wavves shows in the near future. Williams and friends are touring hard this fall, so you'll have plenty of opportunities to cop these conversation pieces. Dates below.
Wavves:
09-15 Columbus, OH - Skully's %
09-16 Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place %
09-17 Northampton, MA - Pearl Street Nightclub %
09-18 Waltham, MA - Brandeis University %
09-20 Providence, RI - Met Cafe %
09-21 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg %~
09-24 Kingston, NY - 323 Wall Street %
09-25 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar %
09-27 Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel %
09-28 Greensboro, NC - Guilford College %
09-29 Charlotte, NC - Milestone %
09-30 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn %
10-01 Nashville, TN - Exit / In %
10-02 Oxford, MS - Proud Larry's %
10-20 New York, NY - Madison Square Garden #!
10-21 Montreal, Quebec - CEPSUM #
10-22 Toronto, Ontario - Tower Theatre #
10-23 Philadelphia, PA - Tower Theatre #
10-25 Myrtle Beach, SC - House of Blues #
10-26 Orlando, FL - House of Blues #
10-27 Miami, FL - The Fillmore #
11-06 Austin, TX - Fun Fun Fun Fest
11-08 Glasgow, Scotland - Arches
11-09 Manchester, England - Islington Mill
11-10 London, England - Garage
11-12 Brussels, Belgium - AB Club
11-13 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
11-14 Copenhagen, Denmark - Little Vega
11-15 Stockholm, Sweden - Debaser Slussen
11-16 Malmo, Sweden - Babel
11-18 Berlin, Germany - Privat Club
11-19 Munich, Germany - 59:1
11-20 Frankfurt, Germany - Hafen 2
11-21 Geneva, Switzerland - Usine PTR
11-22 Paris, France - FMR
% with Christmas Island
~ with the Babies
with Phoenix
! with Dirty Projectors |
The Justice Department is investigating whether some of America’s biggest airlines have colluded to keep airfares high. (Daniel Acker/BLOOMBERG)
The Justice Department is investigating whether some of America’s biggest airlines have colluded to keep airfares high, striking at an industry that has posted record profits recently while limiting routes and affordable seats, officials familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Pierce confirmed the probe, saying investigators are looking into “possible unlawful coordination by some airlines,” but she would not name the carriers.
Representatives from Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines and United Airlines confirmed they were among those being investigated and said they were complying with Justice Department requests.
Lawmakers and consumer advocates have routinely called for investigations into whether airlines, to boost prices, limit the number of tickets they sell, with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) recently alleging widespread “anticompetitive, anticonsumer conduct.”
It’s “Economics 101. Reducing supply with rising demand means increased prices,” Blumenthal said in an interview. “Consumers are suffering rising fares and other added charges that seem to be the result of excessive market power concentrated in too few hands and potential misuse of that power.”
A series of bankruptcies and mega-mergers over the past decade has slimmed the number of major U.S. airlines from nine to four, and those carriers — Delta, Southwest, American and United — fly about 80 percent of all domestic passengers.
The limited competition has helped airlines post some of their biggest profits in history, 14 years after the 9/11 attacks nearly drowned the industry in red ink. In the first quarter of the year, American logged $1.2 billion in profit, its most profitable three months ever.
The investigation is a surprising shift for the Justice Department, which approved the unions in the first place, including the 2013 merger of American and US Airways that created the world’s largest air carrier.
“This is a long time coming,” said Diana Moss, president of the American Antitrust Institute. She said that in meetings of top industry executives, including at last month’s International Air Transport Association conference, airlines have continuously signaled “to each other that it was in their joint interest to keep capacity tight and to keep prices high.”
Jean Medina, a spokeswoman for industry group Airlines for America, swatted back claims of collusion, arguing there are “so many options among air carriers,” including on low-cost carriers such as Spirit Airlines, one of the industry’s fastest-growing firms.
“It is customers who decide pricing, voting every day with their wallets on what they value and are willing to pay for,” Medina said, adding that about 222 million passengers are projected to fly this summer, a post-recession high.
“We are confident that the Justice Department will find what we know to be true,” Medina said. “Our members compete vigorously every day, and the traveling public has been the beneficiary.”
[Airlines are making record profits, but don’t expect a cheaper seat]
U.S. airlines received a letter Tuesday demanding copies of all communications between carriers, their shareholders and investment analysts about their plans for limiting seat capacity, according to the Associated Press, which first reported the investigation.
“We welcome the review,” said American spokesman Joshua Freed, adding that “the industry remains highly competitive with more people flying than ever before.”
Historically low prices for jet fuel have helped the carriers save billions of dollars on their biggest expense, with the four major airlines saving about $3.3 billion on fuel in the first quarter alone, financial filings show.
Yet those savings have not found their way back to passengers. The average domestic flight last year cost $391, the highest price since federal statisticians started tracking fares two decades ago. Adjusted for inflation, fares are at a 12-year high. Airlines have made billions of dollars more on bag-checking, reservation and other added fees.
“It’s hard to understand, with jet fuel prices dropping by 40 percent since last year, why ticket prices haven’t followed,” Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement Wednesday. “We know that when airlines merge, there’s less price competition. What we need now is a top-to-bottom review to ensure consumers aren’t being hurt by industry changes.”
It’s unclear what sparked the investigation, but some said it was not helped by last month’s International Air Transport Association gathering, in which air executives routinely stressed the importance of “capacity discipline” to cut down on costly, competitive price wars.
“The Justice Department doesn’t just launch investigations as fishing expeditions,” said Gene Kimmelman, a former Justice Department antitrust official. “There’s a keen awareness that when they request documents, there’s a significant cost to companies, it’s not easy and there are a lot of expenditures. . . . They have to have a strong reason to believe there may be a violation of law.”
Some industry experts doubted the investigation will ever leave the ground. Bijan Vasigh, a professor of economics and finance at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said reduced air competition had led to climbing ticket prices, reduced flights and denser cabins. However, he said, that was not collusion but rather “a natural consequence of the mergers” that eroded competition.
Vaughn Cordle, a pilot for a major airline and chief analyst for Ionosphere Capital who has been subpoenaed to testify on behalf of consumer groups in past suits against airlines, said “competition is still alive and well” on most routes.
“I don’t think you’re going to find anybody who actually runs [airline fare calculations] to suggest that these guys are colluding,” he said. “They’re going to fail as badly, and look as bad, as those consumer advocate groups who hired all those lawyers to try to block the mergers.”
An investor sell-off triggered by news of the investigation led some airlines’ shares to plunge, including American (down 2.8 percent), United Continental (2.5 percent), Delta (1.9 percent) and Southwest (1.4 percent).
Paul Hudson, president of the traveler advocacy group FlyersRights, points to airlines’ reduction of new routes and resistance to cheap tickets as a sign of an untoward airline partnership. “That’s a thinly veiled way of saying, ‘We’re not going to compete,’ ” Hudson said, and “ ‘We need to restrict supply in the face of increased demand.’ ”
Airlines have also fought to block third-party booking sites such as TripAdvisor and Orbitz from posting airfares that could help travelers shop for cheaper tickets. In May, the industry group Travel Technology Association released a study led by a former Justice Department official that said the practice cost passengers more than $6 billion a year and discouraged 40 million travelers from flying because prices seemed too high.
Some in the travel industry worried the investigation could hurt not just airlines but also the businesses that depend on American travelers paying handsomely for their seats in the sky.
“American consumers are already jaded enough about flying,” said Roger Dow, president of the U.S. Travel Association, an industry group. “We’ve been wondering for a while how many more gut punches they could absorb before we see a dip in air-travel demand — and therefore a dip in the related econometrics for cities and businesses across the country.”
Sari Horwitz contributed to this report. |
The Age of Political Faith Healers I: How the Romanian Situation Helps Us See the Bigger Patterns
Martin Hoffmann Blocked Unblock Follow Following Feb 2, 2017
I usually don’t write about politics. But we are not in a usual situation.
My focus is on patterns of change in businesses and industries. Some of the most dangerous patterns of change however are currently happening in the political landscape. We find ourselves on rapidly shifting sands. And while there is no shortage of high quality analysis and opinion on these, we can see a tendency to rush from one headline to another. What’s needed in any crisis situation, and that’s what I believe we are in, is to identify the big problems first. From there, people can work on going into each of those in depth, without being distracted by the next presidential tweet.
This article jumps in to shed a light on some of the bigger patterns happening. I do not pretend to offer a solution. Plenty of people out there have better insights than I do. Yet it’s about time to level up the discussion away from the daily tweet madness to a conceptual level. So regard this as a draft concept paper to get the brain juices flowing.
Let’s close the door to the buzz from the newsroom for a second and put on our thinking caps.
First, who are the faith healers? We often call the populists, but populism is just the tool. A tool that they play like a champion. They are the faith healers of politics. Some of them may even be worth the label authoritarian or dictator, but I’d like to focus on their most important feature. They suck everything that has been built over decades out of a country to serve their own purposes, which mostly are the enrichment of their bank accounts or egos. As a result, parasites of politics, might be another way to describe them. Why bother? Once the dust has settled, those nations that can successfully resist parasitism will be the ones to maintain and build an economy that can compete on an international level and adjust for the changing requirements of the future.
There have always been faith healers in one form or another. But recently the business of healing has been booming, enabled by new tools which help them leverage their efforts.
One tool is related to their messages. This is the frustration of millions of people suffering from the vanishing of a financially stable situation. We are coming out of an unprecedented era of wealth and stability. Following World War II, our economies saw more or less constant growth. The formula of getting an education, then a safe and steady job and a monthly paycheck worked very well. As we know, times have changed. Stability has been replaced by change, most importantly due to technological advances. This is hard to accept for many people. As a result, these people are literally starving for simple messages, for perceived solutions to the complex challenges they are facing. Anything that enables them to leave the rose-colored glasses on is welcome. If we fear the loss of our jobs and threat of terrorist attacks, then isn’t it nice to hear that the solution is already there? We don’t need to bother that these immigrants are the ones who helped create the economic and cultural wealth that we now benefit from in this status quo that we so urgently want to preserve. The simple message sounds so much easier. As a result, we more and more have a conflict between those voters who are ready to embrace change, with all of its complexities, and those who want to preserve the past.
This fear of change is the one tool. The other tool enables the faith healers to amplify their messages. Through social media as well as through an economically challenged legacy media landscape, hungry for eyeballs, the healers can reach millions of frustrated people who are starving for these simple messages. That is not to say that the media does a bad job. But these are fast times in media. One can gain the impression that even the most credible media businesses are understandably challenged by this constant flow of headlines that is not driven by relevance but by attractiveness to eyeballs. In other words, these con artists are able to take over the driver seat, they can determine the editorial calendar if they play their cards well. And we have seen that they know how to play.
These tools amongst others have increased the reach of these faith healers of politics. Let’s think of this increase in terms of two levels. Team Brexit, fortunately, has only reached Level One. In the coming weeks, it remains to be seen whether Team Trump has been entering Level Two. The same goes for the Romanian Team Dragnea.
Let’s briefly summarize their playbook for Level 1 and Level 2:
Level 1: Persuade the public
Target the frustrated part of the population. Find their fears, such as change and globalization, or create their fears.
Provide simple enough, convincing messages to make them ignorant of any facts. For this I recommend reading Neil Postman’s “Amusing Ourselves to Death”, which will answer any question you may have, or watch this TED Talk.
Provide the right media channels with the headlines that drive eyeballs, to spread the word.
Ideally, lack of political leadership or popularity from other parties helps boost this effect. By this I do not mean that these people need to be bad politicians. They just may lack the skill-set to stand up to the faith healers. Sometimes even the best brains may be the ones having problems standing up to windbags.
Level 2: bend the constitutional balances
Test the scope of their power
Test the extent to which they can exclude other branches of the constitution through strategic games. Then eliminate the media as fourth constitutional power by diverting the attention of the public.
Let’s call this “dictatorship light”
Which brings us to Romania.
First, looking at Romania helps us lift the fog and see the bigger patterns. I feel that the situation there is a bit more clearer with less distractions, less media buzz, compared to for example the US situation. Here we find the old school, plain vanilla faith healers.
Here is a summary of the story: over the past fourteen years, the Romanian justice system has done a remarkable job fighting corruption, mostly thanks to their Anti Corruption Agency (”DNA”). They have been investigating a large number of offenses made by politicians. In one year, 1,250 public officials have been indicted for corruption. One of the most prominent clients of the agency is, Liviu Dragnea, the leader of the PSD party who has just won the elections. He was “convicted in a case involving electoral fraud, for which he received a two-year suspended sentence in April 2016”. DNA’s successes have the power to scare the Halliburtons of this world and they have been a role model in particular for many European countries.
Enter the faith healers. In recent elections, the PSD party won the elections.
They used playbook Level 1 like a champ. Their political campaign was centered around the fear that their opponents were allegedly associated with George Soros. Mr Soros would buy the country away from Romanians. This of course ignoring that a) they themselves had been working with George Soros, and b) that the Romanian economy has been benefiting from foreign investment. Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes this was the party whose leader, Dragnea was convicted. He indeed manages to make Silvio Berlusconi look like a rookie.
Level 2 was entered last Tuesday evening, Jan 31st. In a secret meeting, the new government decided on a new bill. This bill would in effect pardon corrupt politicians. This was done by issuing an emergency ordinance, which they are allowed if the urgent nature of the cause calls for it. Last time I checked, a convicted party leader waiting for prison time is not such an emergency.
However, now we are getting to the second lesson, that Romania can teach us. As we just saw, the bill was passed in a secret meeting at 10pm. The same evening, already more than 15.000 people were peacefully protesting in front of the government building, effectively having locked the government.
Image via Oana Tereza Oancea
The people have responded with a unity and speed which we have rarely seen. The next day, 150.000 people peacefully hit the streets of Bucharest, 300.000 across the whole country. Romania has a population of close to 20 million. This is a conversion rate that would put any civil rights activist into the all star league.
image via Ioana Milea
Unfortunately there were organized violences of around forty people who intentionally disrupted the otherwise peaceful demonstrations. There were suspicions, that authorities were aware of these instigators, while not doing anything against them, but using them as a means to shut the demonstration down. While it is not confirmed, media is assuming that these instigators seemed to have been fans of the football club. After all, the violence discouraged peaceful protesters, causing them to return home.
As of the time of writing it is not clear how the situation continues. Without doubt this not only provides a serious threat to the democracy of Romania, but also to the stability of the European Union, eroding its democratic values and opening the door to other faith healers who are readily waiting in line. Imagine, any country reversing the effort of a long fight against corruption. Then add a government who has unique views on the political decision making process. Not the best basis for foreign investment, which basically would exclude the country from the common market of the EU. For the EU this would once more signal a failure to act on its challenges.
What is the right medicine against these faith healers of politics?
The best cure for Level 2 clearly clearly relies on the legal and constitutional system. For Level 1, the situation however is too complex for a simple cure. But then, what we can do is wipe away the fog and look at the patterns. We have three contributors to this mess. Us, the voters, the politicians and the media. Changing the incentives of these parties to the game will be key in one way or another. Let’s go through it. I will put down my thoughts, but feel free to take your own notes:
Politicians
Address the economic challenges
It will become necessary to openly address the economic challenges that voters face, such as technology taking jobs. Pretending to offer stability is no solution when change is obvious. There is no easy way to do this, and the solution may still take years to find. At the end it might be a mixture of creating an environment where people can quickly relearn new skills as well as rethinking the economics of social security.
Address the educational challenges
For any democracy, critical thinking skills and education of voters are essential. Reading some Facebook comments one may get the impression that we still have a lot of homework to do. Improved high school education across countries will be key.
Media
A large number of smart, high quality and responsible media businesses are doing excellent work. Whether it is The Economist, Guardian, New York Times or the likes, they are a key foundation of our democratic systems. In general, Social Media ads to this, enabling people to report from events of relevance.
But then there are those media outlets that follow a different economic model. Let’s call this the eyeballs first model, which is willingly able to help spread populism in return for advertiser’s money. Jon Stewart has provided better analysis on their political impact than I would ever be able to do. The problem is, that their economic model is in conflict with a rational political decision making model, that is necessary for a working democracy. And plenty of people are willing to listen in to their messages, which has been identified earliest by Neil Postman. What is the solution? Can we make the media accountable for a reasonable political discourse? Enforcing accountability while not limiting freedom of press may be a thin and dangerous line. May be the smarter way is to align the interest between the economic concerns of a newspaper and the political concerns of voters and consumers. How could that work? One solution could be transparency. Why not lay open which media outlets a brand uses for its advertising? A consumer can then decide whether the content and values of those channels aligns with his or her needs. If not he will opt for another brand, taking away advertising money from those channels. These media outlets depend on advertisers. And these advertisers depend on consumers, yes, on voters. Showing the flow of media content advertising money, may have the power to take away the fuel that feeds the engines.
Voters
Transparency and accountability of politicians
We need to find ways to better follow up on politician’s promises. Accountability of politicians will gain in importance. Imagine a CEO lying to shareholders. Most people get nervous when they build their careers on lies, but a faith healer is apparently not one of them.
Bundle voices
And of course, we can take it to the streets, like Romania has successfully demonstrated us. Protest signs will be a top seller in the coming future. Any format that enables us to bundle our voices provides a form of influence.
This is about it, for the options that I see. May be you see more. Whether you agree with the above described patterns or not, it’s time to look for the bigger patterns and focus on what can be done. We don’t have time for distractions now.
And, of course, stand up for Romania in the next days! You may never have been there, which is likely since it’s a small country. In this case I can tell you, they are very kind and welcoming people who deserve better. That’s one reason. The other reason is that other con artists are already waiting in line, and we may find some household names from upcoming European elections among the contenders for the top spot. It’s time to break the chain and Romania is a chance to do so.
We are in a critical situation. Faith healing is in fashion this season, and we have plenty of suppliers who made it from the suburbs on to high street. Whether the patient is the UK, the US or any country in Europe, if we have our leaders inform us with the breath of context of used car dealerships, and if we lower the level of the political decision making process to the content of Sesame Street, we are doomed to fail as economies and democracies. |
A few days ago we told you guys about the scheduled Thursday release of Minecraft: Pocket Edition for all Android devices. Well, it’s Thursday and if you’ve been feverishly searching through your Android Market looking for Minecraft PE, you may have noticed it’s nowhere to be found.
So what is up? Well, according one of the game’s developers, Daniel Kaplan, he Tweeted some not so good news for all you Android crafters out there.
Yikes!! We found a nasty bug in Minecraft – Pocket Edition that needs to be fixed before release! Im not sure it will come out today :(
He also went on to tweet some more information regarding which devices will be compatible with the game once it launches.
Minecraft – PE will work on Android 2.2+ but cant promise it will in the future since we are going to add new stuff all the time! We will update the Demo of Minecraft – PE so you can try it out before you buy. But I would recommend a 1ghz+ phone with fast gpu.
So there you have it, folks. Hopefully Minecraft Pocket Edition wont be delayed for too much longer. It’s always possible it could still make its deadline sometime today (cross your fingers) but I don’t want to get your hopes up. Either way, we’ll keep you posted and let you know as soon as it becomes available.
[Via Twitter] |
While making some updates to HTTP-RPC the other day, I discovered a couple of potentially confusing features of the java.io package that I wasn't previously aware of:
#1: The PrintStream and PrintWriter classes consume exceptions. From the PrintWriter documentation:
"Methods in this class never throw I/O exceptions, although some of its constructors may. The client may inquire as to whether any errors have occurred by invoking checkError() ."
Because I had incorrectly assumed that a PrintWriter would propagate any exceptions thrown by the underlying stream, I hadn't been calling checkError() . The result was that HTTP-RPC's RequestDispatcherServlet class, which writes response data to the PrintWriter instance returned by ServletResponse#getWriter() , failed to detect when a connection had been terminated by the client. The servlet simply continued writing to the output stream. Once I started calling checkError() , the response was correctly terminated:
if (writer.checkError()) { throw new IOException("Error writing to output stream."); }
I couldn't find any explanation as to why these two classes were written this way, while all of the other classes in java.io appear to simply propagate exceptions.
#2: The read(byte[], int, int) method of the InputStream class also consumes exceptions. From the Javadoc:
"The read(b, off, len) method for class InputStream simply calls the method read() repeatedly. If the first such call results in an IOException , that exception is returned from the call to the read(b, off, len) method. If any subsequent call to read() results in a IOException , the exception is caught and treated as if it were end of file."
This is extremely misleading, since it completely obscures the fact that an error occurred and makes it appear as though the stream terminated normally.
So, even though this behavior is not what I had expected, at least it is documented, and is something I'll now be aware of when using these classes in the future. |
5 piece K-Pop sensation Crayon Pop will be in Australia and New Zealand for a promotional tour from 4th to 8th November.
Debuting in 2012, Crayon Pop has been rising fast in the world of K-pop, with the popular group already achieving a #1 position on the Billboard K-pop 100 chart with their hit Bar Bar Bar.
Crayon Pop consists of members Cho-A, Way, Ellin, Gummi and Soyul, and have always strived to be different to the perfectly groomed, sexy girl bands that the world is accustomed to. Instead the group gains attention for their intentionally funny act and their unique costumes ranging from school uniforms, motorcycle suits with helmets, and the iconic yellow jumpsuits made famous by action star Bruce Lee.
The girls’ unique dance moves, such as those displayed in the straight-Five Engine Dance, have now become their trademark with fans worldwide regularly uploading their recreations to YouTube.
Crayon Pop will be in Australia and New Zealand to promote their new single from the 4th - 8th of November. |
Hillary Clinton has tried to convince Democratic primary voters that she is firmly opposed to the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
But the president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the country's leading business trade group and a proponent of the accord, told Bloomberg News earlier this month that he isn't buying Clinton's public stance. Now Sen. Bernie Sanders is seizing on those comments as a sign that his presidential primary rival can't be counted on to oppose TPP.
Thomas Donohue, head of the business lobby, suggested that Clinton is only opposing TPP to improve her chances against Sanders, who has objected to the deal from the beginning. Clinton would likely revert to her previous support for the agreement if she were elected president, Donohue posited.
"If she were to get nominated, if she were to be elected, I have a hunch that what runs in the family is you get a little practical if you get the job," Donohue said.
As leader of one of the most influential groups in Washington, Donohue is an old hand at assessing politicians' moves and motives. TPP is a top priority for the Chamber of Commerce and the businesses it represents. If Donohue is saying he's not concerned that Clinton would ultimately resist the passage of TPP, that's a view worth considering.
The business lobbyist also dismissed concerns about Donald Trump, who is loudly anti-TPP. He expressed confidence that the populist anger that has characterized the early primary process will give way to more business-friendly sensibilities.
"The citizens are sort of mad, but they haven't voted at all," Donohue told Bloomberg News. "We haven't had a single vote."
"I'm not saying who is going to win," he added. "I'm just telling you that on both the Democratic and Republican side, we are getting down to the real stuff. It isn't going to end the way you think it is."
Joshua Lott/The Washington Post via Getty Images Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign has expressed doubts about his rival's true opposition to the controversial trade deal.
The Sanders campaign said in a press release Thursday that Donohue's remarks raise "questions about where Clinton stands" on TPP.
"What's her position on this bad trade deal today?" Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs asked. "It's hard to keep track of Secretary Clinton's shifting stands on the trade agreement that would help multi-national corporations ship more decent-paying jobs from the United States to low-wage nations overseas."
The Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Clinton announced her opposition to TPP on Oct. 7 last year, telling Judy Woodruff of the "PBS NewsHour" that there were "still too many unanswered questions" about how the agreement would affect U.S. jobs, the affordability of prescription drugs and other matters.
At the time, Clinton was under rising pressure from progressive activists to take a more definitive position on the trade agreement. Yet in her remarks, she appeared to give herself leeway to embrace the deal later if her concerns could be assuaged.
"As of today, I am not in favor of what I have learned about it," she said.
Even those cautious words marked an about-face from Clinton's previous embrace of TPP, which she had worked on as President Barack Obama's secretary of state. Clinton called the deal the "gold standard in trade agreements" in November 2012, while still serving as America's top diplomat.
T.J. Kirkpatrick/Bloomberg via Getty Images Hillary Clinton called TPP the "gold standard in trade agreements" when she was still secretary of state.
More than one progressive activist has argued that Clinton's public change of heart simply shows that she's willing to say things to appease voters, but that doesn't mean she can be relied on to stick to her positions if elected. These skeptics contend, for example, that Clinton only came out against construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in September 2015 when it had become a growing political liability to continue not taking a stance.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, a wide-ranging accord among 12 Pacific Rim nations, would lower tariffs and streamline regulations on goods and services exchanged by the participating countries. The Obama administration, most big business leaders, some congressional Democrats and the majority of congressional Republicans argue that the agreement is essential to maintain the U.S.'s competitive edge in the global economy and counter the rising influence of China in the Pacific region.
Critics of the deal -- including labor unions, environmental groups, global health activists, Internet freedom advocates and the majority of congressional Democrats -- argue that it will cost the U.S. manufacturing jobs, reward nations that abuse human rights and empower corporations to challenge domestic laws protecting consumers, patients and workers.
Last June, Congress granted the president trade promotion authority, which bars Congress from amending or filibustering a trade agreement submitted by the White House for approval. Lawmakers are restricted to an up-or-down vote.
A senior White House official told reporters Wednesday that the opposition to TPP from presidential candidates of both parties was being "closely watched" by America's negotiating partners. The official implied that the candidates' comments made other TPP nations eager to see the U.S. ratify the accord this year.
The official also said the Obama administration did not have a position on whether it would be better to pursue ratification of TPP before the November elections or in the lame-duck session of Congress afterward.
Andrew Harnik/Associated Press Has Donald Trump's vehement opposition to TPP hurt its prospects? A top business lobbyist doesn't think so.
Chamber of Commerce leader Donohue told Bloomberg that he sees the best chance for approving the trade agreement after the election, since Republican lawmakers in particular could vote for it without fear of endangering their own re-elections.
"If you tried to get a vote on it right now, the Senate wouldn't let you do it, because they are not going to take three or four very important senators -- at a time when they are ... running for office, you know, more Republicans than Democrats -- and put them at risk," Donohue said.
He added that waiting until after the election also gives TPP's proponents more time to whip votes in favor of it.
Donohue estimated the likelihood of the deal passing by the end of 2016 at 75 percent.
Also on HuffPost: |
LEGO is set to release this spaceport set (complete with a space shuttle) in August 2015 as part of the company's city line.
Have you ever wanted to build your own space shuttle? Now, thanks to LEGO, you're going to get the chance, years after the end of NASA's shuttle program.
LEGO is set to release a new series of sets all based around the idea of flying to space. The four LEGO City sets are scheduled for release in August 2015, and will have a variety of different spacecraft any space fan can build. You can get a detailed look at all of the space-themed LEGO City sets in a video from Space.com.
"We haven't had a space-specific theme in quite some time, so [we're] excited to have some shuttles back this year," LEGO Brand Manager Amanda Santoro said in the video. The sets range in price from about $10 to about $120 for the largest shuttle set, she added.
The smallest set includes astronauts, scientists and a small rover. One of the more mid-range sets includes a spaceplane, astronauts and a satellite, but serious space and LEGO fanatics will probably want to splurge for the $119.99 spaceport. The spaceport comes complete with a crawler transporter for the large, buildable space shuttle. The shuttle's payload bay doors even open to reveal a space to hold satellites, like NASA's shuttle.
The new space shuttle sets are just the next in a long line of space-themed toys from LEGO. The company released an adorable alien and dog set in January, and followed it up with a minature space shuttle in February. Last year, the company released a buildable version of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, which is currently exploring the Martian surface. And earlier this year, LEGO fans submitted a version of the Hubble Space Telescope via LEGO Ideas. Unfortunately, LEGO passed on the venerable space telescope this year.
If you can't wait until August to get your hands on a new LEGO spaceship, the toy company is featuring a tiny UFO as its April minibuild.
Follow Miriam Kramer @mirikramer. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. |
Assuming it is out of the question to hang, draw and quarter Sir Fred Goodwin, pluck out his intestines while they are still warm and wriggling, stuff them into his greedy mouth and then display his severed head on a spike at the Tower of London, could we settle for shooting him instead? Yes, I know, I'm going soft.
Not as soft, mind you, as the politicians who merely condemn him. Gordon Brown calls it "unjustifiable and unacceptable" that the man who led RBS to ruin should refuse to give up a pension worth in excess of £650,000 a year. Peter Mandelson today escalates the government's outrage. In my interview with the business secretary for the Observer, he calls Sir Fred "obscene". Trouble is that I doubt being told that he is an obscenity, even when the name-caller is such a grandee as Lord Mandelson, will cause Fred the Shred to lose much sleep. If Sir Fred had a pound for every time he has been called something rude, he'd be ... well, he'd be as ludicrously rich as he already is.
Politicians can use whatever adjectives they like to deplore this banker and his wretched ilk for demanding gargantuan rewards for abject failures. The issue is, what is to be done about it? Bankers are hated by the voters, universally pilloried in the media and their excesses have been condemned by every political party from the SWP to the BNP and all points between. And yet still they don't give a damn.
Exhortation and condemnation is wasted breath unless it is accompanied by action. Even though the bankers are now supplicants to the taxpayer, the government is still showing them far too much reverence. Having been in thrall to the erstwhile masters of the universe for a generation, the political class has still not entirely shed its deference to the fallen money changers. Some of the dilemmas faced by ministers when grappling with these characters are real and tricky. They worry that attacking the bankers too viciously will further undermine confidence in the financial system. They fret over the extent to which politicians and civil servants are equipped to interfere in the detailed running of these failed institutions. Even though the banking system is now effectively nationalised, Gordon Brown wants to keep his distance from managing it. That leaves the government with responsibility while still being highly hesitant about exercising control.
One minister who is grappling with the toxic issue of Fred the Shred and his pension groans that it is "a legal nightmare". They say the same about the bankers' enthusiasm for continuing to pay themselves whopping bonuses. Ministers mutter that contractual obligations make it all very difficult. Yet it should not be beyond the capacity of the politicians to cut through the legal thicket. This is one of the advantages of being the government: if the law is a ass, you can change it. Had RBS been any other sort of business, it would now be bust. But for the billions poured in by the taxpayer, this bank would be kaput. There would be no pension honey pot for Sir Fred to stick his paw in. If the law is the problem with stopping him, then the law can be changed.
The voters have seen things more clearly. Their fury with the feckless financiers has cut through the complexities that fog the minds of ministers. The bankers behaved with an arrogant recklessness which broke their own businesses and devastated large sections of the economy. Now they are getting bailed out with everyone else's money. Bankers should be grateful if they still have a job and relieved that they have not been lynched. They should not be slurping up enormous bonuses and vast pensions. End of story.
The politicians have lacked the clarity of that anger. Even after the bankers had wrecked the financial system, ministers were hesitant about putting them in their place. When they launched the first bail-out last autumn, the Treasury and Number 10 appear to have been astonishingly innocent in assuming that the bankers would quickly own up to the full extent of their mistakes. The epic scale of the horrors has only become apparent to ministers as the government has slowly drilled into the bankers' books.
A similar naivety has characterised their approach to bankers' remuneration. Ministers were taken by surprise by the determination of bailed-out banks to carry on paying lavish bonuses and golden pension parachutes to failed executives. It is not denied that the City minister Paul Myners knew about the eye-popping size of Sir Fred's pension. Yet he did not demand that it be reduced or suggest steps to confiscate it altogether. Lord Myners did not argue that Sir Fred ought to be given the sack rather than the cushy option of early retirement. If the government raised no objection, it was because politicians didn't think they had the power to do so. Even in a case of such manifest and colossal failure, ministers were still programmed to take the softly-softly approach when dealing with bankers. Lord Myners eventually suggested to Sir Fred that the banker should voluntarily give up part - only part, mind you - of his absurd pension. The City minister seems to have thought that the threat of unpleasant publicity might be a sufficient inducement for Sir Fred to do the decent thing and hand back some of the cash. That was to misread his character. If Sir Fred was bothered about what everyone thought of him, he would have long ago left the country to live the rest of his life caring for the destitute of Mongolia. Men like Fred the Shred do not feel shame. They feel only for their wallets.
On the other side of the Atlantic, Barack Obama has had a clearer eye about what he is dealing with, and therefore a firmer grasp of what needs to be done. The president, being new to office and of a younger generation than Gordon Brown, is not trapped by the past compromises with casino capitalism which were made by the prime minister and other centre-left leaders of his vintage. Obama did not hesitate. He crisply told bankers that their salaries would be capped and that they could forget about pocketing any more bonuses until the taxpayers had got their money back.
In his speech a few days ago to both houses of Congress, the new president gave a compelling and unflinching account of the vices of the bubble years. "The fact is our economy did not fall into decline overnight," he told America. "We have lived through an era where too often short-term gains were prized over long-term prosperity." He used the pulpit of the presidency to tell his people that they had arrived at a "day of reckoning".
Follow that, Mr Brown. Actually, the prime minister does have to follow that. He is flying to Washington this week where he will both meet the president and address a joint session of Congress. It is a rare honour for a foreign leader to receive this invitation and Mr Brown is justly proud to be joining the company of Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair. It may be an added satisfaction to Mr Brown that his predecessor wasn't rewarded with this accolade until he'd been prime minister for six years and joined George Bush's war in Iraq.
When they first knew they had landed this big gig for Mr Brown in Washington, Number 10 got terribly excited. Now, as the deadline to the speech approaches, they are feeling increasingly anxious. The prime minister knows this is a very important speech for his reputation on both sides of the Atlantic. Over the last week, he has spent more working hours labouring over his address to Congress than he has devoted to anything else. His most senior aides and closest allies in the cabinet have been in and out of his office from very early in the morning - a seven o'clock summons has been typical - to help the prime minister prepare for his glittering moment on Capitol Hill.
In some senses, it is not a speech that can fail. Congress is extremely polite to visiting leaders. Mr Brown's rhetorical style may not be one that Americans are all that familiar with, but they will applaud him nevertheless. He could read out the Kirkcaldy phone directory and he would still be guaranteed several standing ovations. If inspiration fails him, he can always serve up a routine speech extolling the Special Relationship. His audience will applaud a lot, inwardly yawn, and then everyone will go home feeling none the wiser. So he needs to deliver something more ambitious, more interesting and more challenging than that.
The rarity and glamour of this occasion means that this is a speech that the prime minister can use to address not just America, but also to grab the attention of his domestic audience too. There is more of a chance that British voters will tune into the prime minister when he addresses them from such a big stage as Capitol Hill. Some of his confidants in the cabinet worry that the spectacle of Mr Brown grandstanding in America could backfire with British voters if he does not have something to say which resonates with them and their concerns.
I recommend that the prime minister watches Obama's address to Congress. That succeeded because he gave a candid account of what went wrong during the bubble years and that allowed him to be persuasive about how it can be put right. How does Gordon Brown follow that? He could do a lot worse than copy it. |
A vehicle plows into a group of protesters marching along 4th Street NE at the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville on the day of the Unite the Right rally on Saturday, August 12, 2017. Photo/Ryan M. Kelly/The Daily Progress
Ryan Kelly went to downtown Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12 for one last assignment before leaving his staff photographer job at The Daily Progress. On that final workday, the 30-year-old captured an image that The Washington Post declared as “The photo from Charlottesville that will define this moment in American history.”
Kelly, who had been at the paper four years, was covering the widespread violence at a “Unite the Right” white nationalist rally in the city. He was standing on a sidewalk when a silver Dodge Challenger crashed into a crowd of protesters. Heather Heyer, 32, was killed and at least 19 others were injured. The driver, James Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Ohio, has been charged with second-degree murder.
ICYMI: “If you’re telling me his secrets, you’re probably telling him mine. Now I know never to trust you.”
Kelly took a photo of the crash that was used by several news outlets and displayed on front pages throughout the country. He told CJR that had the events played out differently yesterday, he might have been among those caught in the crash.
What follows is the harrowing story behind the photo—as told to CJR by the photographer, Ryan Kelly.
*******
Our newsroom had been planning for this event for weeks, if not months, knowing it was going to be a huge day in Charlottesville. It was pretty much all hands on deck. I woke up around 8 and had two cups of coffee, but didn’t eat anything. I started photographing at 9 am. There were already a lot of clergy members around the park, and there were counter protesters.
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I hitched a ride with my editor downtown, and I started wandering the mall. There were groups on both sides scattered. There were a few small fights that broke out from time to time. People were throwing stuff at each other. A few people were beating on each other. Eventually I came across two large groups of people protesting against the “Unite the Right” rally and they merged together on Water Street. There were well over 100 people.
I walked ahead of them as they marched. I edged over onto the sidewalk to get pictures, and right after I did, the car came screeching past me at speed, plowed into the crowd of protesters and immediately reversed back up the hill. It turned, then took off. Out of instinct, I began taking photos. I just brought the camera to my eye and just mashed the shutter down. I was barely even aware of what I was watching until he was speeding into the crowd.
My instinct was to chase the car because I figured there wasn’t a chance he could get very far or he would wreck and there would be an immediate arrest. I thought those pictures would be important storytelling images. As it turned out, once I got out to the cross street, the driver got further than I expected and there was nothing I could do on foot immediately.
ICYMI: While on air, authorities grab journalist and violently drag her on the ground several feet
Right before the guy drove his car down the road, it felt like any other day I would be downtown. Because of that, I didn’t feel like I was in danger. Frankly, it was dumb luck that I was on the sidewalk instead of the middle of the road when I was. I was in the road for a few seconds, then moved off, then the car came through. I wasn’t anticipating it. I actually saw the car as I walked up to the scene. It was backing up the street and I assumed that he was backing out of the way and trying to go around the block, didn’t think anything of it until he was blowing past me 20 seconds later.
If that car had come through 20 seconds earlier, I would have been in the middle of the road, and I would have had my back to him. I wouldn’t have seen him coming at all. Honestly, I’m still processing that. It’s been such a crazy 24 hours that I haven’t been able to sit and absorb it. That was the first thing that went through my head a couple hours after I was done processing images. I was right where the car went, and I am very fortunate.
I’ve reached out to photographer friends, specifically somebody who has gone through the process of publishing photos that have blown up on a worldwide scale. That was a helpful phone call this morning. It was Sara Naomi Lewkowicz, who did a series on domestic violence. She told me to decide who I’m close with and talk to those people and be with those people. Don’t get caught up in the interview requests and stay away from Twitter threads. My wife always shouts at me for getting angry about comments on Facebook that are wrong or misleading. I’m really going to have to make a conscious effort not to do that.
I’ve been bombarded with people messaging me, tweeting me. I’m trying to keep my head down. Yesterday was supposed to be my last day. Things are developing today. I spoke to my chief editor, and I’m going in a few hours today to cover whatever happens today. The journalist in me is happy to see that part of the story through.
I’ll be working at Ardent Craft Ales as a digital and social media coordinator. I’ve been a beer geek. I love craft beer and I love talking about it. It seemed like a great opportunity to me. It was a job at a brewery, which sounded fun. Also, by virtue of being a photographer at a newspaper with a small staff, I’ve done a lot of social media work. It felt like a natural fit, and the hours are flexible which means I can still continue as a freelance photographer.
This experience has been bittersweet, and it is way more bitter than sweet. A person died, a lot of people were injured, people were in shock, a community has been terrorized. It’s a town that I love. I’m more focused on the fact that it was a horrible day. I happened to be at the place at the time it happened, and I did my job. I’m proud of my newspaper for doing a good job, but I haven’t thought about the impact of the photo. I know that it’s everywhere. I’ve had to cut off Twitter notifications, and my email inbox has exploded. I am glad people have seen it. It was a terrible thing and the fact that more people will be more aware of it happening is an overall positive, but I can’t say I’m happy to have been there.
ICYMI: 10 podcasts to help you keep up with the news cycle
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Justin Ray is the digital media editor of Columbia Journalism Review. Follow him on Twitter @jray05. |
This post, “Burning Cake (A Cautionary Tale)”, is now up on the official Burning Man Blog.
My experiences for the last 17 years at Burning Man have been so amazing and transformative that I have a hard time seeing any shifts in the event as a real threat. “Bring on P.Diddy and the Turnkey Camps!” I said. I still believe that. But I also am able to understand the current fear more clearly now than I once did.
Like everyone, I am eagerly awaiting the official response to the recent controversies. I do *not* think Burning Man is doomed. Quite the contrary. I have faith we will figure this out and thrive.
Once we get a handle on the current challenges and correct the course, the magic will shine as bright as ever.
The fable below is fictional. Take it with a grain of dust.
Once upon a time there was food enthusiast who hosted a fantastic baked goods potluck.
He invited 10 adventurous cooks he knew and they started gathering each month to share delights.
Their culinary skills were varied…but they all sure loved food.
The spreads were AMAZING!
People went WAY over-the-top.
Exotic ingredients, rare fruits, fine wines.
For some participants it became almost a game: who could produce the most fantastic dessert?
MC Escher Cakes, Donut Macramé, Ghost Orchid Truffles.
Not all the dishes were so insane. The host baked the same modest (but delicious) raspberry drizzle brownies every month.
There was no animosity between Jenny who brought an intricate “Bacon Coliseum” 8 layer cake and Tony who brought a simple angel food cake. It was even cool that Edward purchased and brought a pre-made dragon fruit tart from his local bakery. The point was that everyone contributed towards the experience.
Very quickly, the event grew. People started bringing their culinary-minded friends.
Occasionally people would misunderstand and show up without a dish. They quickly felt uncomfortable and usually offered to help with dishes or something…then made sure they brought something awesome the next time.
Word started to spread of this amazing potluck with the life size Miley Cirus-sized peanut brittle and wasabi saffron pudding.
The host started asking everyone to chip in $5 to pay for table rentals and a next day maid service. Some of the original participants thought that was uncool. But most people had no problem paying a little (on top of whatever they were already spending to create their own dishes) for this unbelievable food extravaganza.
Many of the average chefs got inspired to study the baking arts. The desserts got better and better. And attendees started to bring more and more friends.
Until the host’s villa was filled to capacity.
So the host implemented a system: To reserve your space at the potluck, you paypal in your cleaning fee in advance and received an entrance ticket in exchange. (The fee had been raised to $10)
He gave away the tickets by way of a lottery – with some spots reserved for the OG cake masters who made the event what it was. The lottery was…well, that is a tale for a different day.
Not soon after the first lottery, a long time attendee brought a respected food writer from the local paper. The writer did not bring a dish.
Most attendees were fine with this. It was an honor to have the writer there and who knows, maybe she would be inspired by what they were doing and bring something special to the next potluck. And, in fact, thanks to an article and the writers introductions, several attendees got hired at restaurants and booked to make dishes for fancy events.
The gathering was special to all who attended. It felt like their potluck was the center of the dessert universe. The event became an important part of attendees lives and identities.
Unbeknownst to the other attendees, one old timer, Beatrice, made an announcement at her Ladies League meeting. “For $100 I will bring you to the most amazing tasting party in the world. Don’t worry about baking anything, I’ll make something and you can just come with me. “ Quite a few people in the League took her up on the offer. Beatrice paid the hostess an extra cleaning fee, but otherwise did not share the funds with anyone else in the potluck group.
At first nobody noticed. Or didn’t care. It wasn’t that a big deal that some of the attendees were not contributing in the same way. They seem like good people and maybe attending would inspire them to create a dish next time. Many of them were the type that might hire an attendee to cater a private tea party, in fact.
But as word spread of this new wave of “tourist” attendees, the original attendees started to feel taken advantage of. They felt like suckers. What was once a joyful experience of sharing their talents now felt, well, commodified. Why would they go to the store, buy all the ingredients with their own money, and invest all their labor just so Beatrice could make a buck off of them?
A number of the original attendees dropped out. More and more bakers started to look for ways to get compensated. But still, the waiting list to attend grew and grew.
What many considered the final blow was when people found out that the host was reserving spots for Beatrices’s League friends. While everyone else stressed and struggled to get in, the non-contributing newbie’s were able to buy their way in via Beatrice. Apparently they pledged big chunks of cash towards the host’s ever-growing “cleaning fund” established back in the day.
It was even discovered that Beatrice went so far as to bring a thermos of gourmet coffee to the potluck but only shared it with her League friends who had paid her.
The joy of gifting had become corrupted. The magic faded.
Attendees started to use the potluck as a way to advertise their catering businesses. Or would “partner with” (aka sell their spots) to retail bakeries. The food was still delicious, but things were different. It wasn’t fueled by mutual respect and a desire to share. It felt more like a trade show. Attendees started to question the return on their investment and rarely contributed out of their own pocket unless they could justify the promotional value.
The potluck is still going, but the original experience is long dead. People still gather once a month to sample yummy treats and most enjoy it still. You may even still hear someone say, “that was the best pie I’ve ever eaten.”
But you rarely hear anymore, “That potluck changed my life.”
“This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.” T.S. Eliot
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Dark Souls, developed by From Software and released in 2011, redefines the idea of death in video games. In fact, death is integral to the game in every capacity, including its gameplay, minimalist story, and how the character interacts with other players online.
Dark Souls takes place in a world that is on the verge of death, only to be reborn in a new "Age." As it explains at the beginning, the current "Age of Fire" is ruled over by these god-like beings who use the power of souls to keep all-powerful bonfires lit across the world, with the implication that these bonfires grant immortality for these god-like beings.
The game begins towards the end of this Age, where the Lord of Cinder, Gwyn, notices that the bonfires were waning and first sacrifices his status as a god to keep them lit. When this fails, he then curses humans with a "dark sign," which forces them to be reborn as undead after they die, thus trapping them in a cycle of dying/rebirth until one of them manages to become powerful enough to sacrifice himself to the fires, and thus keep the Age of Fire from ending.
The only problem with this is that eventually, the humans afflicted with the dark sign end up going mad and eventually just become zombies who will mindlessly attack anything. Your player is one of these undead — in fact, the "chosen" undead who will be able to supplant Gwyn and either choose to end or prolong the Age of Fire.
Sounds confusing? It really is, but we'll get to the story soon enough. I didn't even really do the full story justice, but it is a very long, dense, and confusing narrative to pick up in one blog post.
This theme of death and rebirth permeates through every facet of this game. Let's start from a gameplay aspect: The game is a third-person, action role-playing game — and one that is infamous for its perceived difficulty. In fact it may be one of the most difficult games that I have ever played.
Dark Souls is an open-world dungeon crawler, where the dungeons intersect with one another in one gigantic world and where the player is free to move from one to the other (for the most part) as he unlocks them. It is a massive world where the player is one tiny, insignificant speck in it.
He can adorn himself in armor and the best weapons, but even with great equipment, the player lives in a world where large demons and hordes of zombies lurk around every corner; where every place is laden with traps, ambushes, and other horrible surprises that often result in instant death. Interspersed are larger boss creatures, usually massive in size or great in power, whose fights, even with the best preparation, are incredibly testing of one's skill.
And from a gameplay aspect, you are just a weak, pathetic human who must traverse all of this in order to complete the game. The player's life and stamina bars are incredibly small — usually a few good hits from even the weakest of enemies can put him in danger of dying. Thus, it becomes imperative for the player to continue to adapt to whatever situation he is in as each new area requires modifications to equipment, the character's statistics, and play style.
Even with the stats optimized, the player still feels vulnerable in most battles; most powerful weapons have slow attack animations, leaving the player wide open after swinging, as does drinking the "Estus Flask," which is the player's health potion for the game. Death is never very far away whenever one plays in Dark Souls and can come at any time (the game doesn't even allow you to pause!).
Needless to say, the player will die many times over the course of the game, and each time he does, he loses all the souls he has collected (the games currency, which is gained from killing other enemies) and is reborn back at the last bonfirewhere he rested. Further, all the enemies in the area will also respawn whenever the player decides to rest at the bonfire.
This makes resting at certain areas a precarious gamble as one can easily become stuck in a dungeon with no easy route out. For all of its difficulty, though, the game is frustratingly addictive since when you finally conquer a tricky section or boss, it really makes all of those times you had died really worthwhile.
The theme of death and rebirth is exacted beautifully in not only the gameplay but also in the world of the game itself. From the very first glance, it is a world that is slowly dying. Normal humans are scarce and sparse, and much more prevalent are fellow undead who have failed in the same quest you are undertaking (who now constitute many of the enemies that you fight).
The gigantic medieval metropolis of Lordran looks glorious from a distance but up close is a frightful ruin populated with monsters and undead. Sunlight peaks over the mountains of the distance, literally placing the game in a constant twilight (although, it actually turns out that the sunlight is merely an illusion maintained by one of the last gods, and once he is defeated, then the world is bathed in darkness), harkening back to the fact that this "day" of the gods is almost at an end.
Many of the non-player characters who are still alive are undead as well. They are merely biding their time before they too slip into madness (as many of them eventually do). The game thrives on an air of despair — an almost gallows humor — but with the slightest tinge of hope that the world will someday get better and that the constant chain of rebirth and death will eventually end.
The game, as with most of its story, only hints at what happened to the world — only offering exposition in brief snippits of dialogue, descriptions from items, and a hell of a lot of insinuation from the player. But once uncovered and realized, each area, enemy, and even the individual items have a lot of backstory.
For example, one section of the game is the Great Swamp, which used to be a home to many people and a group of pyromancers, and it rested at the very bottom of Lordran. One of these pyromancers, though, was shunned from the group for his development of "dark pyromancy" and his worship of a Chaos Witch (who is half spider). He in turn poisoned the Great Swamp, which in turn morphed much of the populace and creatures there into mutants; this area was then cordoned off and was named Blighttown.
All of this information, though, is based off of the dialogue from one NPC (who is incredibly tough to find), and the item description of a Poison spell bought from one pyromancer. Thus the story, though minimilist, is wonderfully deep and complex if the player takes the time to realize it.
But every section of the world is flawed, broken and dying. The general city that housed most of the populace is now filled with undead (the Undead Burg). The actual palace of the gods is now deserted except by one lone god who is himself an outcast of the others. And the deepest regions of the city are infested with demons due to a failed experiment to replicate the Great Flames.
But the debate that this "Age" should die is left up to the player. At the end of the game, after defeating the final boss (an undead and insane version of the Lord of Cinder) the player has the ultimate choice: either sacrifice himself to the bonfire and by his power prolong the Age of Fire or let it die and usher in a new Age of Dark.
The death of the player, if choosing to sacrifice himself now, is a permanent one, yet it is left up to debate if the Age of Fire will now be forever prolonged. After all, the Lord of Cinder technically sacrificed himself yet the Age of Fire still diminished eventually (his sacrifice also seems more hollow by the fact that the area around him after he was sacrificed is utterly destroyed and burnt to cinders –you literally fight him in the remains of a great palace that houses the flame, thus by sacrificing yourself you are causing this calamity again). But if you do not sacrifice yourself, does the curse of the cycle of rebirth and death end for humanity? It is a tough choice, for after fighting through so much, do you really want to just offer up your character like that, especially when the ramifications of your choice are so uncertain?
The main question is, as always: Is this game considered a work of art? Unequivocally, yes. It is a beautifully realized game with a solid theme or "argument" that permeated almost every facet of its development.
From the player experiencing death after death to him witnessing the death of an era, Dark Souls really explores the meaning of death in a video game. Even with eschewing the practices of "lives" and a "game over" screen by granting the player unlimited lives or invulnerability from truly dying, the game manages, through its brilliant level design and sheer difficulty, to still grant plenty of consequences for death.
Death, in Dark Souls, signifies sacrifice, from the level of the player (if you stockpile too many souls, you most likely will lose them after unexpectedly dying) to trying to score a brash hit on a boss that will certainly kill him (only to be killed in return) to the very end of the game, where the player can make the ultimate sacrifice and maybe "save" the world.
For the idea of sacrifice, especially with death, is tied to the idea of hope. With each death in this game is the hope that your efforts are saving this world and cleansing it one demon at a time. With each talk with a dismal NPC, the player realizes how much he really does want to change the world and make it better for these people. With each boss the player kills and special item he gets comes the bolstering of his hopes that he just made it a step closer to eventually beating the game. It is a fully realized game with a wonderful premise, and a beautiful world in which its themes of death, rebirth, and hope are present on every level. |
President Trump's tweeted comments about Puerto Rico, and specifically San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, are "unspeakable," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told host Jake Tapper in an appearance on CNN's State of the Union Sunday.
"It is unspeakable, and I don't know what world Trump is living in," Sanders said. "People in Puerto Rico are suffering one of the worst disasters in the history of that island. We have got to do everything we can to help them. We all have got to remember the people of Puerto Rico are American citizens, entitled to the same help as the people of any other community in America."
Trump's public response to Puerto Rico's devastation by Hurricane Maria struck many critics as too little, too late, and since focusing on the island territory, the president has turned much of his attention to labeling Cruz "nasty," a "poor" leader, and, by implication, a "politically motivated ingrate." |
It was a spur of the moment decision. We had no reservations. We were just sitting by a fountain chit chatting when Christine suddenly suggested Girl and the Goat for dinner. Getting reservations here has to be for 1-2 months in advance, so we said forget reservations then, let’s just try for a walk-in. The hostess told us 1.5 – 2 hour wait, and as we were eyeing the bar, hoping to alternatively snag a seat there, a waitress comes to tell us that she can seat us in front of another reservation. What luck! YES!!!
With the exception of the hostess who was cold and unfriendly, the service here was impeccable. Our waitress was knowledgeable about everything on the menu. My friend eats gluten-free, and immediately we were given menus indicating which dishes were gluten-free, which surprisingly was most of the dishes.
The big WOW of the night for me came early. It was this gluten-free bread with tomato aioli and mushroom butter. I’ve never tasted bread, much less gluten-free bread, that is so incredibly fluffy and soft. If this is what gluten-free bread tastes like, I’ll take this over regular bread any day. The aioli and butter were phenomenal, especially the tomato aioli. I was dipping everything in it by the end of the meal.
The menu is divided up by vegetables, fish, and meat, with a special menu just of goat. All the plates are meant to be shared, so we were able to try a large variety. We started out with a salad of roasted beets, frisee, green beans, white anchovies, and avocado creme fraiche. It was a refreshing and light start of the meal.
Grill seared ahi tuna with mushrooms on smoked uni cream. The tuna and uni cream were great, but I’ve forgotten about this dish by the end of the night because it just got overshadowed by everything else.
Notice the progression of the dishes as they came out too. After you order everything, the kitchen will order the dishes and send it out in a logical fashion. The level of attention given to our pace of the meal was really impressive, so that we never had too many dishes on the table nor no dishes at the table. It takes a well-coordinated staff to do this. I know that I’m a slow eater, so I really appreciated not feeling rushed.
Off of the special goat menu, this is a goat belly confit with bourbon butter, lobster, crab, and fennel. The goat belly pieces were tiny and quite overwhelmed by the lobster and crab. This dish had potential, but I don’t think it paid tribute to the goat the way it’s supposed to. This was someone else’s favorite though. When I commented that the goat belly was too small, she said it was just the right amount.
With a name like wood oven roasted pig face, I expected a gruesome, hearty dish that just gets down and dirty with the flavors. What we got though, was something much more tidy and clean. The pig face is accompanied by a sunny side up egg, tamarind, cilantro, red wine-maple, and a bed of potato sticks. The flavors were bold, and it was satisfying the way that a brunch-appropriate dish is satisfying and quickly became a favorite at the table. I guess I was just expecting something that resembled more of a hot mess.
The sauteed shrimp with peanut-pork ragout and spaghetti squash was one of my top 3 of the night. The spaghetti squash was really nice with all the shrimp juices soaked into it.
We were really full at this point, but the best was still to come! Crisp braised pork shank, kimchi of butternut squash and shiitake mushrooms, naan, and buttermilk dressing. I just wish I had more stomach space because the pork was amazing – crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. It was cooked perfectly, and I kept going back to take one more bite even though I was already stuffed. This is a must order for everyone.
And that concludes a lovely 2-hour meal at Girl and the Goat with great service, good food across the board, and a couple of superstar dishes thrown in. Believe all the hype about this place, and do try to get here if you’re ever in Chi-town.
Girl and the Goat
809 W Randolph St, Chicago IL, 60607 |
Giant drugstore chain Walgreens is under fire for allegedly overcharging consumers with health insurance for generic-drug prescriptions. Customers could wind up making co-payments that are three to four times higher than they would otherwise cost through a program offered by the company, which is part of Walgreen Boots Alliance (WBA).
According to a 28-page federal court filing by a California consumer on May 28, Walgreens allegedly violates legal prohibitions that forbid pharmacies from charging consumers a fee for their medicines that exceeds the "usual and customary" price. The retailer submitted claims to third-party providers for payment at "prices that Walgreens has knowingly and intentionally inflated," the filing said.
The "lynchpin" in the alleged scheme is Walgreens' Prescription Savings Club (PSC), a program that allows cash-paying customers to purchase 30- or 90-day supplies of 500 commonly prescribed generic drugs at discount prices ranging from $5 to $30, the suit said. Rivals such as Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT) and Costco (COST) also offer deals on generic drugs, though they report their respective prices accurately to insurers.
Brothers create "Groupon" for cheap prescription drugs
"The PSC prices, however, are often significantly lower than the 'usual and customary' prices that Walgreens reports to health insurance companies," the suit said, resulting in lower co-pays (under the PSC plan) than people with insurance wind up paying.
"Using the PSC as its vehicle," the suit said, "Walgreens has effectively created a discriminatory pricing scheme, whereby customers enrolled in the PSC who are not using insurance when purchasing a prescription generic drug are able to pay the lower PSC price, while those customers using insurance must pay the higher and artificially inflated 'usual and customary' price."
Insurers provide incentives to participants in their plans to use generic drugs because they're usually cheaper than brand-name drugs. But the suit claims Walgreens doesn't tell consumers with insurance that they can get a better deal through the PSC and omits information that shows its "usual and customary prices" are more than double what some of its rivals charges.
The suit, whose lead plaintiff is Dawn Cobbs, a resident of San Diego who purchased generic medications from Walgreens stores in California, is seeking class action status. It aims to cover individuals with insurance who paid for a generic prescription that was included on the PSC.
Walgreens filled more than 928 million prescriptions in its 2016 fiscal year, most of which are generic drugs. Its retail pharmacy business brought in $83.8 billion in revenue that year. About 90 percent of U.S. citizens have a health insurance plan that covers some of their expenses for medications.
Like brand-name drugs, prices for some generics have skyrocketed in recent years. A study released last year by the Government Accountability Office found 315 medications with "extraordinary price increases" of at least 100 percent and in some cases 1,000 percent or more. Generic prices overall, however, fell.
Shares of Walgreens, the second-largest drugstore chain behind CVS (CVS), rose 1.1 percent, or 86 cents, to close at $81.02 on Wednesday. A company spokesman declined to comment for this story because of the pending litigation. |
Sometimes during work on a complex project in GIMP you carefully construct a very precise selection you might need later, but just now you have to switch to a different layer and do something else. So how does one go about saving and restoring selections for later use? It's actually very easy.
This GIMP tutorial explains two ways to do it and discusses their pro and cons.
Saving selections to channels
GIMP has three intertwined concepts: selections, channels and masks. Among them, channels are taking a central position, the other two are built on top of them. Every time you work on a selection or a mask you actually work on a channel — it's just nicely abstracted away. Let's see how it works on a fairly simple example: a rather monotonous background and a well standing out object in foreground.
Um, "object" :)
So, say we pressed Shift+Q to enable a quick mask (we'll talk of selections in a different tutorial) and did a quick and dirty selection using a feathered brush:
As you can see, in the Channels dialog a new channel called "Quick Mask" pops up and contains our selection. As soon as you press Shift+Q again to disable quick mask, the channel disappears, and the image gets a common "marching ants" selection marquee.
See? The selection is a channel really. So how about converting a selection to a channel explicitly? Easiest way to do it is using Select > Save to Channel command:
The selection will be preserved, but a new channel in the Channels dialog will appear with a name "Selection Mask copy" (see it again? selections, channels and masks).
It works vice versa even easier: to restore a selection from a channel just select a channel and click this button in the bottom toolbar of the Channels dialog (or use contextual/right-click menu):
By default this will replace any existing selection with a new one restored from your custom channel. But you can use modification buttons to do boolean operations with an existing selection: Shift will add to existing selection, Ctrl will subtract from it, Shift+Ctrl will intersect existing and new selections. In other words, it works just like everywhere else in GIMP.
Unlike the temporary quick mask channel that paints transparent red over the image, this channel is invisible by default, but is preserved and, which is even nicer, is saved to GIMP's native XCF files. You can keep as many custom channels as you wish, across sessions. You really can.
So you can save all selections you might later need into channels and restore them whenever you want to. And since there can be dozens of them, you can double-click them in the Channels dialog and give each some new meaningful names.
There is one last thing it's useful to know about channels. When you click an eye icon in the Channels dialog to the left from a channel, GIMP renders that channel on top of the whole image (it's exactly what it does when you enable a quick mask). That way you can preview selection you once made. It's a really handy feature, especially when you have lots of custom channels all close to each other.
But sometimes channel's color matches color of a large area in an image, and thus when you preview the channel you might feel lost. Our simple case above is a great example of that. Have a look yourself and tell me if you don't feel like squinting to figure out what area the channel covers exactly, because I bet you will:
But hey, you can easily fix that by changing color of a custom channel! Right-click to open contextual menu and choose topmost menu item called "Edit Channel Attributes".
In the newly opened dialog you can click the preview rectangle to pick a different color and change opacity, should you really want to do that.
Does it help? Oh yes, it does:
As you can easily guess, since we are talking about channels, the very same trick will work for quick masks. That will come in handy for cases when there is a lot of red in an image. Say, you are so unlucky that you have to select embossed paintings on a red-brick Tibetan monastery wall:
Given that edges of paintings are not exactly even, after using polygonal lasso you will have to use feathered brush quite a bit to get the selection nice and clean, and this is where close red hues of the quick mask and the bricks will get to you.
So all you need to do is choose a different hue for the quick mask the way explained above, and suddenly epilepsy caused by lots and lots of red doesn't trouble you anymore. Oh, and it's easier to select too:
By the way, if you selected a different color for a custom channel, this will be saved into XCF and thus preserved across sessions. For quick masks however the custom color will be preserved only within current session.
OK, that's about it regarding channels. Let's move on to paths.
Saving selections to paths
A very nice thing about GIMP is that it does a very reasonable conversion of selections to Bezier paths, not just paths to selections like you could expect.
Supposing some kind person felt generous and threw you a bone which you immediately gnawed selected and outlined using Select > To Path menu item or the respective button in the Paths dialog:
(By the way, if you want some serious voodoo, try clicking the Selection to Path button with Shift pressed.)
The resulted path can be both edited as, well, Bezier curve, and converted back to selection using this very familiarly looking button:
Storing selections as paths has several benefits.
If you moved the original layer in your further edits after creating a channel from selection, you will have to restore selection, move it to match new layer's position, then save selection to channel again to match current state of affairs and, finally, remove the old channel that is no longer needed. With paths you only need to shift a path and then you just create a selection from it, no need to cleanup anything.
Another benefit is that each path is saved with XCF file, can be exported to SVG (supported by Inkscape, Adobe Illustrator and Corel DRAW), and if you export the whole project to TIFF, every path is saved as clipping path and can be read by applications like Scribus and Adobe InDesign.
There is a drawback too, however: feathering (the bone was chicken's) isn't preserved when you save selections as paths.
Selection editor
As a matter of fact there is a dockable dialog in GIMP which this article could be started from:
As you can see it combines a selection preview and buttons for saving inverting and removing selection, as well as converting selection to channel or path or stroking a selection.
Personally I'm not quite convinced of the dialog's usefulness, because most important commands can be assigned a shortcut, and the rest can be done from menu, so not much reason for another floated or docked dialog to me. But YMMV.
Conclusions
Let's have a short round of TL;DR.
Channels are best when you need preserving feathering and easy graphical preview of a saved selection.
Paths are best when you need mobile layers/selections and advanced compatibility with other applications.
If you have questions, please just comment. |
Sebastian Gorka Sebastian Lukacs GorkaGorka says subway murder proves illegal immigration 'is a national security threat' Dems call for revoking Kushner's security clearance Christie says Trump hired 'riffraff' in new book MORE, a deputy assistant to President Trump, was a frequent critic of Trump on foreign policy issues during the 2016 presidential campaign, CNN reported Friday.
While the former Breitbart national security editor advised the Trump campaign in 2015, he later criticized Trump on several foreign policy issues.
"On the right, the Republican side, we have the New York real estate mogul who's very full of bluster, full of sturm und drang, makes lots of statements about how we're going to win and how the U.S. Army is going to be undefeatable, but there's no depth," Gorka said during an appearance on "The Georgene Rice Show" in April 2016, CNN reported.
"There's no plan. There's no strategy. So I can't judge him because he's really a black hole, so the last one that's really serious is Sen. [Ted] Cruz [R-Texas]," he added at the time.
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Gorka also maintained that he didn't see "a mature plan" in Trump's foreign policy.
"The real estate mogul from New York is a lot of bluster, a lot of loud things to do with waterboarding, etc.," Gorka said days earlier on another radio program, according to CNN. "But I just don't see the detail; I don't see the mature plan."
Alongside the criticism of Trump's vision for the country, Gorka also took issue with specific policy positions.
"When he talked about the attitude to our allies, to whether they should freeload or not, also when he talked about Russia and China, I was really disturbed," he said in June on "The Don Smith Show" as reported by the network.
"The things he said about how we can work with Russia and China, Russia is not on our side. The head of Russia is a former KGB colonel who wanted to destroy America. China is the world's most powerful communist nation so the idea, if you think we can work with these guys in meaningful fashion, I think history would prove you wrong," he said, adding he thought Trump's views had improved but remained "problematic."
Gorka declined to comment to CNN about his past criticisms of Trump.
He has since become a regular defender of Trump's foreign policy views and frequently appears on television and radio programs lauding the president's statements and positions.
Past criticism of the president has previously stirred scrutiny.
In February, Trump reportedly rejected Elliott Abrams, a top candidate for deputy secretary of State, after learning that he had criticized him during the campaign.
Abrams, who had experience serving under former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, wrote an op-ed for the conservative magazine the Weekly Standard in May 2016 titled "When you can't stand your candidate." At the time, he argued that the GOP had "nominated someone who cannot win and should not be president of the United States." |
Based on a widely used set of accounting standards, Wisconsin's budget picture looks to have deteriorated last year.
The budget typically ends each fiscal year in the black, but when Generally Accepted Accounting Principles — also known as GAAP — are applied, then it has long run a deficit. The GAAP deficit had been shrinking under Gov. Scott Walker, but last fiscal year it grew from about $1.4 billion to $1.8 billion.
Dale Knapp with the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance said the biggest reason for the increase is that lawmakers and the governor, expecting a big jump in tax revenue, decided to cut taxes.
"That extra revenue that we were expecting didn't come through, and as a result, essentially they had to draw down the balance that they did have," said Knapp.
Knapp said GAAP accounting is useful because it gives an apples-to-apples comparison with other states, most of which run surpluses. Bond houses use GAAP accounting when they decide state bond ratings. |
For those who work in the theatre, the idea of defending the term “live action” would seem an unnecessary task. But as movie marketers, abetted uncritically by the entertainment press, seem determined to diminish the concept, it appears that a brief primer is warranted.
Live-action has, for many years, been a term reserved for that which actually occurs in real life, that is to say the activities of humans (and other animals). Whether performed on stage or captured on a camera, real people have been the central tenet of live action. In the theatre, while everything that surrounds people on a stage is by necessity a simulacrum of reality (and sometimes not even that), the presence of the actor grounds theatre in its “liveness.” The same has held true for most movies, even ones in which human action is assisted by tricks and tools (Superman flying; Jeff Goldblum transmogrifying into Brundlefly). Animated films were those which were understood to be drawn; in early years this was often quite rudimentary, and now it has become quite sophisticated, to the point that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to know where reality ends and digital imagery begins.
Why the compulsion to spell this out? Because of a series of films being released and planned by Disney, in particular. Following on their newest version of The Jungle Book, in which the only human actor – excluding voice actors – was the child playing Mowgli and as the newest version of the musical Beauty and the Beast approaches, Disney has announced what was widely described as a live-action version of The Lion King. With Donald Glover and James Earl Jones touted as starring, the latter “reprising” his role, the description of the film as live-action permeated the press, including CNN, Variety, Entertainment Weekly, BuzzFeed, Los Angeles Times and Time magazine, to name but a few. Even theatre-centric outlets like Theatremania and Playbill parroted this language.
While I am not privy to the conceptual work in connection with new The Lion King, I am prepared to guess that we will not see James Earl Jones in a lion suit ruling over an African savannah. What we will most likely get is a reasonably photorealistic lion with Jones’s magnificent voice. Perhaps motion capture will be used to allow Jones’s and Glover’s facial expressions to be mirrored in their semi-anthropomorphized state, though at age 86, I doubt Jones will be providing the sort of full-body motion capture that we know from the work of Andy Serkis. There has been a live-action Lion King for 20 years, by the way, staged by Julie Taymor.
Live action and animation have been blended virtually since the start of film. Walt Disney’s earliest success came with a series of short “Alice” films in which a real girl undertook adventures in animated worlds, though no one would have confused what was real and what was drawn. Over the years we’ve seen animated characters in largely live action films (from Gene Kelly dancing with Jerry the Mouse, Don Knotts submerged as Mr. Limpet, and certainly Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the apotheosis of this technique). Most of the Marvel superhero films since X-Men have made extensive use of animated settings, with actors shot on greenscreen and surroundings added later – and when we see Spider-Man swinging through Manhattan, we’re not watching Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield in advanced rigging, but rather an animated figure in both filmed and simulated settings.
One need only look at the Motion Picture Academy’s science and technical awards to understand how important this sophisticated animation is to the field. There were certificates described as follows: “The Viper camera enabled frame-based logarithmic encoding, which provided uncompressed camera output suitable for importing into existing digital intermediate workflows” and “Meander’s innovative curve-rendering method faithfully captures the artist’s intent, resulting in a significant improvement in creative communication throughout the production pipeline.” There were three separate honors for facial capture systems.
None of this is meant to diminish the films that employ these techniques or devalue them as entertainment. But as we reach a point where nothing onscreen ever existed anywhere but within computers as a massive series of 0s and 1s, it’s time to fight for the preservation of “live-action” as being something that retains the human, the biological, the corporeal. This is akin to the Champagne region of France wanting to insure that only sparkling wines made there can be called champagne.
The Jungle Book may have looked fairly real (perhaps even a hyper-realism), but unless The Lion King will be employing a wide range of well-trained, stunningly collegial bunch of wild animals whose mouths are animated (a la Babe, the sheep pig), then it’s time the entertainment media stop playing into this live action narrative. After all, no one ever pretended that King Kong or Bruce the Shark in Jaws were real, but they were grounded in the physical world (often by the limitations of technology), whereas now Kong is a highly sophisticated piece of digital animation in the new Kong: Skull Island, and crappily rendered sharks fall from the sky every summer on SyFy.
It’s especially important for theatre that this distinction be made, because if people come to accept and even believe that what they’re seeing on screen is reality, how can theatre compete without giving itself over to holograms? Mark my words. It’s coming. But for now, let’s hold on to the idea that live action still shows us beings that draw breath, not just in body or in voice, but in complete form. The movies need to come up with their own term. Let’s fight for live action as a brand. Because that’s what theatre is all about.
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Ahead of the 2016 presidential election, a GOP opposition researcher sought emails deleted from Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonSanders: 'I fully expect' fair treatment by DNC in 2020 after 'not quite even handed' 2016 primary Sanders: 'Damn right' I'll make the large corporations pay 'fair share of taxes' Former Sanders campaign spokesman: Clinton staff are 'biggest a--holes in American politics' MORE’s private email server that he believed had been hacked by the Russians, according to a new report on Thursday.
The operative, Peter W. Smith, the White House and an official for President Trump’s campaign deny that the operative worked for them, The Wall Street Journal reported.
However, during his investigation, Smith told several of the people he interviewed in search of the emails that he was affiliated with Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
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According to the Journal, federal investigators probing Russia’s role in the 2016 election have looked into intelligence reports indicating that Russian hackers sought to obtain Clinton’s emails and hand them over to Flynn through an intermediary.
It isn’t clear who the intermediary was, though the intelligence was gathered around the same time that Smith’s group was seeking the emails.
Flynn was forced to resign as Trump’s national security adviser in February amid revelations that he misled Vice President Pence and other White House officials about his conversations with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. Flynn did not respond to the Journal's request for comment.
As part of his effort to obtain the emails, Smith put together a group of lawyers, investigators and technology experts.
The emails sought by Smith were those deleted from Clinton’s private email server. Former FBI Director James Comey said last year in his recommendation against prosecuting Clinton that the private server did not appear to have been hacked.
The result of his investigation, Smith said, was that five hacking groups claimed to have Clinton’s private emails, and he determined that at least two of those groups were Russian.
But the GOP operative said he was unsure if the emails reviewed by his group were authentic. Instead, his operation advised the hackers to give the documents to the anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks. They were never published and WikiLeaks has not claimed to possess them.
Smith has died since speaking to the Journal, the paper reported.
— This report was updated at 6:15 p.m. |
15th episode of the second season of Star Trek: The Original Series
"The Trouble with Tribbles" is the fifteenth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by David Gerrold and directed by Joseph Pevney, it was first broadcast on December 29, 1967.
In the episode, the starship Enterprise arrives at Deep Space Station K7 and is conscripted to guard a consignment of grain from sabotage, the Klingons being of concern. Lt. Uhura is given a tribble which leads to dramatic consequences.
"The Trouble with Tribbles" was intended to have a third-season follow-up episode, but it was not completed. The follow-up episode was developed for Star Trek: The Animated Series as "More Tribbles, More Troubles". Gerrold explained that the episode was almost unchanged from the original premise. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Trek in 1996, the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Trials and Tribble-ations" used digital techniques to insert the Deep Space Nine actors into the events of "The Trouble with Tribbles". Gerrold appeared on-screen as an extra, and the episode was nominated for three Emmy Awards and also for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.
Plot [ edit ]
The Enterprise is summoned to Deep Space Station K7 by a "priority one" distress call, used only in case of disaster. On arrival, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) is infuriated to learn that there has been no disaster; the distress call was ordered by Nilz Baris (William Schallert), the Federation Undersecretary of Agricultural Affairs, who only wants guards for his shipments of quadrotriticale grain bound for Sherman's Planet. The grain is crucial for the Federation's plan to develop the planet and claim it under the terms of the Organian Peace Treaty. Starfleet Command shares Baris's concerns and orders Kirk to cooperate.
As the Enterprise crew enjoy shore leave on the station, interstellar trader Cyrano Jones (Stanley Adams) arrives with goods for sale, among them purring balls of fluff called tribbles. He gives one to Lt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), who brings it on board the Enterprise, where it quickly begins to reproduce. The human crew adore the animals and Uhura gives the offspring away.
A Klingon ship arrives under the command of Captain Koloth (William Campbell), who invokes his right under the Organian treaty to shore leave for his crew. The tribbles, multiplying rapidly on the station, disgust the Klingons, and the feeling is mutual. Korax, a Klingon, insults the Enterprise crew (led by Scotty and Chekov) and a fight breaks out. Baris, for his part, is terrified of possible Klingon interference with the grain project, and suspects Jones of being a Klingon agent.
Doctor Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) and Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) are concerned that the increasing number of tribbles threaten to consume all the food aboard the Enterprise. When it is discovered that they are entering ship systems through air vents, Kirk realizes that they could be a threat to the grain aboard the station. He is too late, however; when he opens an overhead storage compartment, he is literally buried in grain-gorged tribbles. Spock and McCoy discover that many of the tribbles in the hold are dead or dying, suggesting another problem with the grain.
Baris vows to see Kirk punished for the fiasco, and Koloth demands an apology from Kirk for what he considers disrespectful treatment of his crew. Their arguments are cut short, however, when Baris's assistant Arne Darvin (Charlie Brill) walks into the room and the tribbles react as if in the presence of a Klingon. McCoy reveals Darvin to be a surgically-altered Klingon. Darvin confesses to having contaminated the grain with what McCoy explains is a virus that interferes with an organism's ability to digest food, eventually killing it.
After Darvin's exposure and arrest, Cyrano Jones is ordered to remove the tribbles from the station (a task that Spock estimates will take 17.9 years), or he may face charges for transporting dangerous life forms. Just before the Klingons depart, all the tribbles aboard the Enterprise are transported onto the Klingon vessel by Chief Engineer Scott, where, in his words, "they'll be no tribble at all."
Production [ edit ]
Writing [ edit ]
(photographed in 2010) "The Trouble with Tribbles" was the first sale of writer David Gerrold
The episode was the first professional work of writer David Gerrold, and went through a variety of drafts before it reached the screen. Because his typewriter used a less common, smaller size font, an approved version needed to be reduced by twenty pages before filming. Nichelle Nichols remarked that she had "never seen a script go through so many changes—and stay so much the same".[2]
Gerrold had been a fan of science fiction since he was a child.[3] When Star Trek was first broadcast, he was concerned that it might turn into something similar to Lost in Space, which he described as "one full-color hour of trash reaching into millions of homes".[4] His first story outline was sent into Star Trek after his agent suggested that he waited until the shows started to air under the theory that the show might drop an existing episode in favor of a better script.[5] The story was entitled "Tomorrow Was Yesterday" (not to be confused with "Tomorrow Is Yesterday") and was about the Enterprise coming across a generation ship which had descended into a two-tier class system.[5] His agent received a rejection letter from producer Gene L. Coon dated October 3, 1966. The letter stated that the "outline was by no means inadequate. It is, as a matter of fact, very adequate."[6] It went on to say that it would require a budget larger than that available to television, but would have made a good film treatment. Coon offered to meet with Gerrold and explain what they were looking for, because they were not purchasing scripts at that time.[6]
Coon suggested that Gerrold should wait until the following February to see if the show was renewed for a second season. They also discussed several story ideas, including some small furry creatures that bred too quickly. Coon thought it was a cute idea but would be too expensive as they'd have to build each creature.[7] In preparation for the second series submission, by January, Gerrold had put together five premises to pitch.[8] He had his best hopes on two treatments called "Bandi" and "The Protracted Man",[9] but decided to submit his fifth story despite Coon's earlier dismissal of the idea.[9] It was called "The Fuzzies".[10] The idea was based on the introduction of rabbits in Australia in 1859, who reproduced at a vastly increased rate owing to the lack of predators.[11]
The initial premise placed the story on a space station to avoid the ecological damage that the creatures would have on a planet. However, Gerrold's agent was concerned that requiring a miniature of the station to be built as well as the additional sets would cause it to be too expensive for a single episode.[12] Because of his agent's comments, Gerrold modified the pitch to place the action on a colony planet instead.[13] This pitch included the plot points such as the creatures getting into a poisoned grain storage, but omitted the Klingons; and Cyrano Jones was called Cyrano Smith.[14][15] The five pitches were submitted by Gerrold's agent in February 1967, and received a response in June. At the time the show had already purchased too many scripts for the second season, but story editor D. C. Fontana suggested that they should purchase the story and assign it to a staff writer as it was better than some of the other stories they already had.[16]
At the time that Coon got in touch, Gerrold had just been employed at CBS as a typist working on scripts such as the pilot of Hawaii Five-O. As soon as he got the response, he quit the job.[17] Gerrold and Coon met once more,[18] and revealed that the network had recently made a request for more episodes based on other planets. Coon told Gerrold to work up a further pitch.[18] This version of the story added the Klingons,[19] and moved the action from planetside to a space station.[20] During a visit to the set, Gerrold had the opportunity to speak to Leonard Nimoy and ask his advice on how to write for Spock and was allowed to watch the dailies from each day's shoot of the episode "The Doomsday Machine" which was being filmed at the time.[21][22] This version of the story was entitled "A Fuzzy Thing Happened to Me...",[20] which was purchased by Coon as a plot outline.[23] He offered Gerrold a chance to write the script himself, by promising not to hand it to another writer for a month. However, Coon made it clear that he was not offering Gerrold a script assignment, but was giving him the option of submitting a draft.[24]
Gerrold turned around the first draft script in two and a half days.[25] Both Coon and Associate Producer Robert Justman gave feedback on the script, and pointed out a few gaps such as there needing to be some way in the plot for the crew to discover that Darvin was a Klingon agent.[26] The following draft had Cyrano Jones discover that Darvin was an agent, which Coon thought was not "punchy" enough.[27] It was then re-written so that the fuzzies were allergic to Klingons. Both Gerrold and Coon thought the idea was "trite... shtick... hokey" and "had been done before".[27] but Coon agreed that it was the direction the story should go.[27] The re-write of the script took a further week.[28]
Nichelle Nichols said that she had never seen a script changed so much but stay the same
On a further visit to the set, Gerrold was called into Coon's office. He was informed that he needed to change the name of the fuzzies, as the legal department was concerned about similarities in the name with H. Beam Piper's 1962 novel Little Fuzzy.[29] He subsequently came up with a variety of alternative names. Through a process of elimination, he ended up with the name "tribble".[30] Gerrold's submitted script was within the standard page count for an episode, but, when it was retyped for distribution by the production's mimeo department, it ballooned from 60 to 80 pages due to Gerrold's having used a typewriter with 12-pitch rather than the 10 characters per inch Pica standard of the TV and film industry.[31] This meant that some twenty pages needed to be cut from the script.[31]
Scenes which were cut from the script included the Enterprise chasing after Jones in his vessel,[32] and resulted in the scene where Kirk has tribbles tumbling onto him while in the grain locker. Gerrold felt that this enforced editing process "tightened up the story and made for a better series of gags".[32] Nichelle Nichols said to Gerrold "I've never seen a script go through so many changes – and stay so much the same".[2]
Coon's participation in terms of suggestions and edits was such that Gerrold thought he should have been given a co-writing credit.[33]
The producers liked the resulting script so much that Gerrold was later tasked with re-writing the script for "I, Mudd",[34] but did not take any credit on the final script as he did not want to take the credit from Stephen Kandel, the creator of Harry Mudd.[30]
Gerrold worked on "I, Mudd" before "The Trouble with Tribbles" began to film. He was surprised one morning when he was handed a copy of the tribbles script and told to sign it for Robert A. Heinlein. The Kellam de Forest script clearance and research firm[35] had cautioned that the tribbles in the episode resembled the Martian flat cats in Heinlein's 1952 novel The Rolling Stones, and suggested that the rights to the novel should be purchased. Gerrold became concerned that he had inadvertently plagiarized the novel which he had read fifteen years before.[36] Coon phoned Heinlein, who, according to Gerrold, only asked for a signed copy of the script and later sent a note to Gerrold after the show aired to thank him for the script.[37]
Heinlein’s own recollections were at odds with this account. In his authorized biography Heinlein said he was called by Gene Coon about the issue and agreed to waive claim to the "similarity" to his flat cats because he’d just been through one plagiarism lawsuit and did not wish to embroil himself in another. He had misgivings upon seeing the actual script but let it go, an action he later regretted: "If that matter had simply been dropped after that one episode was filmed, I would have chalked it up wryly to experience. But the 'nice kid' did not drop it; 'tribbles' (i.e. my 'flat cats') have been exploited endlessly… Well that’s one that did 'larn me.' Today if J. Christ phoned me on some matter of business, I would simply tell him: 'See my agent.'"[38]
The fictional quadrotriticale's real-world antecedent, the grain triticale, was a fairly new invention at the time of the episode.
Filming [ edit ]
During the course of filming, William Shatner was covered with five hundred tribbles on eight occasions
The use of live animals to represent the tribbles was immediately ruled out. According to Gerrold's account, the inspiration for the form of the tribble instead came from a fluffy keyring owned by Holly Sherman.[11] Sherman's Planet in this episode was subsequently named after her.[39] The design came from Wah Chang,[40] but they were individually sewn by Jacqueline Cumeré. She was paid $350 to sew five hundred tribbles from synthetic fur and stuff them with foam rubber.[11][41] Six ambulatory tribbles were made using the mechanisms of walking toy dogs, which were quite noisy and required the dialogue to be looped in during editing.[42] Other tribbles were created by Jim Rugg out of beanbags for when it was required for one to sit on a person or object, and the breathing tribbles were hollow with surgical balloons inserted.[11][42] Some of these tribbles were later displayed at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. in 1992.[43] The sale at Christie's auction house in 2006 included tribbles from this episode as part of a larger Star Trek sale.[44] Because of the synthetic fur technology of the 1960s, relatively few original tribbles exist as of 2010 because the fur fell out over time and they went bald.[45] An original tribble was sold at auction in 2003 for $1,000.[46]
Filming began during the second week of August 1967.[47] Three temporary sets and a portion of corridor were constructed for specific use in this episode, which included the large trading post set.[48] The chairs in that set were a problem, as the set designers wanted 24 matching chairs and decided that folding ones would not do. John M. Dwyer sourced them from a local company, but the numbers required meant that they had to be pulled out of showrooms from all over the county. When it came to the fight scene in the episode, Dwyer warned director Joseph Pevney not to damage the chairs.[49] That scene was filmed twice after a cameraman with a handheld camera wandered onto the set.[49] The scene where Kirk is covered with tribbles in the grain container needed to be filmed eight times, using all five hundred sewn tribbles.[50] Gerrold had expected that scene to be cut at some point during production, as he thought that William Shatner would not agree to it. He said that Shatner was the "consummate professional and I believe he was eager to show off his comic abilities".[51]
Pevney was pleased with the outcome of the shoot, calling the episode "a delightful show from beginning to end".[1] In addition to directing, Pevney also sourced some of the parts to create the tribbles and was directly responsible for the casting of Stanley Adams.[1] He had pushed for the episode to be made as he recalled that there was some resistance at the time against making a comedy-style episode.[1] These types of episodes were unusual for the series, as only "The Trouble with Tribbles" and "A Piece of the Action" were considered to be comedic episodes from season two.[52] Pevney was one of the two most prolific Original Series directors alongside Marc Daniels, and directed fourteen episodes of the show.[53] The cast responded favorably to the script. Nichelle Nichols was particularly pleased as it allowed Uhura to be a woman and took her off the bridge.[42] It was one of her largest roles in any single episode in the series.[54]
Casting [ edit ]
William Campbell had previously appeared in the first season episode "The Squire of Gothos" as Trelane.[55] In "The Trouble with Tribbles", he portrayed the Klingon Captain Koloth. At various points Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry claimed it was his intention to bring back Koloth during the third season of The Original Series, as Kirk's recurring Klingon adversary, some internal production documents contradict this story. Although Koloth returned in Star Trek: The Animated Series, Campbell did not voice the role.[56] He returned to the role in 1994 for an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,[55][57] entitled "Blood Oath".[56]
At the time of casting, William Schallert had just finished filming the ABC sitcom The Patty Duke Show. He described himself not as a fan, and had not read any science fiction since 1948. He thought that the role of Nilz Baris was just another guest spot, and the role of a "rather stuffy bureaucrat... [was] not the most appealing character".[58] He did not remember the character's name, only recalling it when he first attended a Star Trek convention at a hotel near Los Angeles Airport, as the fans called it out when he entered the lobby.[58] He was later cast in the role of the Bajoran musician Varani in the DS9 episode "Sanctuary".[58]
Whit Bissell, who played the station manager, Lurry,[1] was better known at the time in the main cast role of Lt. Gen. Heywood Kirk in the ABC science fiction television series The Time Tunnel.[59] Michael Pataki, who portrayed the Klingon Korax, went on to play Karnas in Star Trek: The Next Generation first season episode "Too Short a Season".[60] Charlie Brill portrayed the Klingon agent Arne Darvin.[1] Brill has previously been a sketch comedy artist with his wife Mitzi McCall, and had appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show when The Beatles made their first appearance.[61]
Reception [ edit ]
While initial fan reaction to the episode was mixed, it was more popular with the general public. Critical response to the episode was positive, and it was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation which instead went to fellow Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever". It has since been included in several "best of" episode lists and features, including as part of the Best of DVD collection alongside three other episodes. It has also been released as part of the season two DVD box set.
Broadcast [ edit ]
"The Trouble with Tribbles" was first broadcast in the United States on December 29, 1967 on NBC.[62] The initial fan reaction was undecided,[citation needed] but the episode connected better with the mass market.[63] This effect was later explained in 2012 when Jordon Hoffman on StarTrek.com described "The Trouble with Tribbles" as "quite possibly, the first episode of Star Trek you ever saw".[64] It entered popular culture and remained well known to the public outside of the Star Trek community.[65]
Retrospective critiques [ edit ]
The New York Times described the scene with Kirk and the tribbles in the grain container as one of the "best-remembered moments" of the series.[41] Time magazine ranked "The Trouble with Tribbles" as the sixth best moment in Star Trek.[63] IGN ranked it as the fifth best episode of The Original Series,[66] while TechRepublic ranked it as the fourth best.[67] The A.V. Club included "The Trouble with Tribbles" in a list of ten must-see episodes,[68] and USA Today' listed as one of the three best.[69] In 1998, "The Trouble with Tribbles" was listed as the eighth best cult moment of all time by The Times newspaper.[70] In a list of the top 100 episodes of the Star Trek franchise, "The Trouble with Tribbles" was placed sixth by Charlie Jane Anders at io9.[71]
Zack Handlen's July 2009 review for The A.V. Club gave the episode a grade of A.[72] Cyrano Jones was Handlen's least favorite part of the episode, and with the exception of that character, it was one of the better scripts seen in The Original Series. He thought that despite the lack of a sense of real danger, the plot all comes together neatly and praised the story's effects on Kirk, saying "The way the episode unfolds means Kirk's constantly dealing with things he does not really want to deal with, and there's a surprising amount of enjoyment to be had in seeing him complain about it to Spock."[72]
Michele Erica Green, writing for TrekNation in March 2006, said she thought that the episode would have dated, but found it was "as funny as ever." She thought that Scotty's lines were "unforgettable" and the scenes between McCoy and Spock were "priceless".[73] Eugene Myers and Torie Atkinson reviewed the episode for Tor.com in April 2010. They described it as "easily the most celebrated episode of the entire original series (if not the whole franchise)".[74] They went on to describe it as a "perfect episode", and both gave it maximum scores of six out of six.[74] Jamahl Epsicokhan at "Jammer's Reviews" said that the team behind Star Trek were "at the top of their game" with this episode.[75] He gave it a score of four out of four, saying that "'Tribbles' is perhaps the best, most enjoyable comic piece the franchise has ever put out."[75]
Awards [ edit ]
The episode was nominated for Best Dramatic Presentation at the 1968 Hugo Awards.[76] All of the nominees that year were episodes of Star Trek, with the award instead going to "The City on the Edge of Forever".[76] From the number of votes, "The Trouble with Tribbles" was placed second.[77]
Home media release [ edit ]
"The Trouble with Tribbles" was one of the first episodes to receive an official release by Paramount Home Entertainment. In 1980, it was released on VHS on a two episode tape alongside "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield".[78] It was re-released towards in 1991 as part of the first full season release on VHS.[79] This was re-released in 1993,[80] and was released on laserdisc.[81] In 1998, a "Talking Tribble Gift Set" was released which contained both "The Trouble with Tribbles and "Trials and Tribble-ations" on VHS.[82] The first DVD release was in 2000, when all of The Original Series episodes were released in individual releases of two episodes per disc.[83] The first season set that the episode was included in was as part of the season two DVD set released in the United States on November 2, 2004.[69]
In 2009, it was included in a best of collection with three other episodes of The Original Series alongside "Amok Time", "The City on the Edge of Forever" and "Balance of Terror".[84][85] The re-mastered DVD sets were also re-launched to coincide with the release of the film, Star Trek. The Blu ray release included the un-changed scenes as alternative angles. Disc five of each set contained only "The Trouble with Tribbles" from The Original Series but otherwise contained tribble related extras. These included both "More Tribbles, More Troubles" and "Trials and Tribble-ations".[86]
Legacy [ edit ]
More Tribbles, More Troubles [ edit ]
"The Trouble with Tribbles" was originally intended to have a follow-up episode during season three, but after Gene Roddenberry stepped back from the production of the show after a time-slot change and further cuts in the budget, the idea was scrapped.[74][87] In 1973, Gerrold had become friends with D. C. Fontana from their time spent on the Star Trek convention circuit together. He had heard about Star Trek: The Animated Series, and offered to do an episode. Fontana responded that she wanted the tribble episode that was cut from season three.[87] This episode was entitled "More Tribbles, More Troubles".[73][74] The episode introduces the natural predator of the tribbles and genetically engineered tribbles which no longer reproduce but instead grow much larger.[88] As with his other Animated Series episode "Bem", he later explained that almost nothing was cut from the original pitches for the third season of The Original Series as animation played out quicker and so everything still fit into the episode despite the reduced running time.[89] Both of Gerrold's Animated Series episodes were novelised by Alan Dean Foster, and Gerrold later said that he thought that he did "a fine job".[89]
Trials and Tribble-ations [ edit ]
DS9 episode Actors such as Avery Brooks were digitally inserted into scenes from "The Trouble with Tribbles" for theepisode
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Trek in 1996, producers of both Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine decided to incorporate elements of The Original Series into episodes. The Voyager episode "Flashback" showed events on board the Excelsior under Captain Hikaru Sulu during the period in which Kirk and McCoy were imprisoned in Rura Penthe in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.[90] However, the Deep Space Nine homage used the original footage from nineteen scenes in "The Trouble with Tribbles" and other episodes in order to digitally insert the actors into the events of the episode, entitled "Trials and Tribble-ations".[74][91] The episode was nominated for three Emmy Awards and as with the original episode, the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.[92][93]
As the 30th anniversary approached, Gerrold had heard rumors of a tribble-sequel in the works but had only heard denials from executive producer Rick Berman.[94] Following an interview request from The New York Times,[94] he telephoned Berman once more to ask what was happening as he did not want to say he did not know about the sequel episode and embarrass anyone if it actually was going to happen.[95] Gerrold suggested that an acknowledgement of the creator of the tribbles might be in order and asked if he could be an extra.[94] He was cast as a security redshirt.[96] While Gerrold was on set, he also advised director Jonathan West on the integration of new scenes into "The Trouble with Tribbles".[95] Gerrold later said that "Trials and Tribble-ations" "turned out beautiful. I think it was the best episode of Deep Space Nine ever and possibly the best episode of Star Trek after the Original Series."[95] Charlie Brill returned as Arne Darvin to film new scenes set in the DS9 timeframe.[97]
Erroneous claims [ edit ]
On the 2016 home video release The Roddenberry Vault, in a commentary track for the episode Gerrold states of the episode: "This was the first time the word 'pregnant' was used on TV." This is false. While the very first use of the word on American television is not known, the word was spoken at least five years earlier in "Never Name a Duck," the first episode of the second season of the Dick Van Dyke Show in September 1962.[98][1]
Further appearances and parodies [ edit ]
Tribbles have been further seen in other Star Trek episodes and films, including Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and the JJ Abrams-helmed films Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013).[74][99] While on a visit to the set of Star Trek, Gerrold was told by Abrams that the tribble had been deliberately "snuck in" to the scene.[94] It appears in the scene where Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock Prime (Leonard Nimoy) meet Scott (Simon Pegg) on the Vulcan moon.[100] "The Trouble with Tribbles" was also re-imagined in that timeline's comic book series by IDW Publishing and entitled "The Truth About Tribbles".[65][101]
In 2003, tribbles appeared in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "The Breach". In that episode, Doctor Phlox (John Billingsley) uses them as food for his medicinal pets in sickbay.[102]
Gerrold has been in discussions with the fan-created series Star Trek: New Voyages to bring back the tribbles for a further Original Series era episode.[94] Both his Original Series pitch "The Protracted Man" and his Star Trek: The Next Generation script Blood and Fire have been turned into episodes of New Voyages.[41][94]
Tribbles have been parodied in a variety of other television shows and types of media. Futurama featured a parody in the second season entitled "The Problem with Popplers", which included several Star Trek jokes. These include a reference to "Roddenberries" and features Zapp Brannigan, whom the Futurama staff have said is intended to be a parody of Captain Kirk.[103]
In the 2003 video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the player's ship becomes infested with a frog-like species called Gizka, prompting the player to receive the quest "The Trouble with Gizka" in order to remove the pests.
Merchandising and adaptations [ edit ]
Gerrold published a book describing his experiences in the creation of "The Trouble with Tribbles". Entitled The Trouble with Tribbles: The Birth, Sale and Final Production of One Episode, it was published in 1973. The book was well received by the former cast and crew of Star Trek and was used as a textbook for teaching screen-writing.[30]
A variety of tribble replicas have been made over the years,[104][44] with the most recent licensed product coming from QMx, released in 2013.[105] A plate to commemorate the episode was the first to be launched as part of an eight plate Star Trek: The Commemorative Collection in 1986. It featured an image of Kirk with the tribbles in the grain compartment created by artist Susie Morton.[106] The first Original Series expansion for the Star Trek Customizable Card Game was launched in 2000. It was entitled "The Trouble with Tribbles" and was based on this episode and the associated episode of Deep Space Nine. It also introduced the Tribbles game which used only tribble-related cards.[107]
In 2010, two movie posters for "The Trouble with Tribbles" featuring Uhura and Spock being slowly covered in tribbles were created by Justin Ishmael for the art boutique attached to the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin, Texas. It was a follow-up to earlier posters created for the episode "Space Seed".[108] Juan Ortiz later created a 1960s-retro style poster for each of the eighty episodes of Star Trek. The "Trouble with Tribbles" poster made it appear that the warp nacelles of the Enterprise were sprouting tribbles which then bred rapidly as the ship flew on, creating a cloud of them behind the ship.[109] |
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa has set the stage for the mass deportation of more than one million Zimbabwean immigrants later this month in a move that could alter its status as the world’s largest country of refuge.
Zimbabweans recieve forms as they queue to apply for residence and study permits outside the Home Affairs office in Cape Town, December 31, 2010. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings
South Africa has been a beacon for asylum seekers due to its liberal immigration laws, proximity to African trouble spots and massive economy compared to the rest of the continent that has attracted millions seeking wealth they cannot find at home.
About one in five of the 845,800 asylum seekers globally in 2010 sought refuge in South Africa, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
That is nearly double the combined figure for the United States and France, the world’s number two and three countries in terms of asylum applications.
The bulk of asylum seekers are from neighbouring Zimbabwe, which has become an economic basket case under its entrenched leader Robert Mugabe, whose ZANU-PF party has been charged by global powers with using violence and vote fraud to stay in power.
The government said the crackdown on the Zimbabweans is a signal it wants to get tough on those who use asylum applications to seek work and money.
“Following this project, our intention is to document nationals of other neighbouring countries,” said Home Affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa.
South Africa allowed hundreds of thousands from Zimbabwe to enter without documents about two years ago when its neighbour was swept up in political violence and its already unsteady economy collapsed under the weight of hyperinflation.
It set an end of 2010 deadline for the Zimbabweans to apply for proper visas — with 275,000 filling out paperwork — and said when July ends, it will start deporting what analysts estimate could be one to two million other Zimbabweans without proper documents.
BOTTLENECKS
With few staff and a flood of applicants, it can take Home Affairs months or even years to process applications, allowing immigrants to stay long enough to earn mostly modest sums of money to help their families back home.
“As long as regional economic inequalities remain so stark, South Africa will continue to be a primary (if temporary) destination,” said Loren Landau, director of the African Centre for Migration and Society at the University the Witwatersrand.
The only problem is that those legitimately seeking political asylum face an uncertain future, waiting longer in South Africa for a decision than in many other countries.
A concern for South Africa is that not only are the number of asylum seekers from neighbouring countries growing, but so are the numbers from further afield African states including Somalia, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
With unemployment at 25 percent, the government has faced criticism from its poor for allowing immigrants into South Africa, where they compete for scarce jobs and space in shantytowns that have mushroomed in major cities.
Tensions flared about two years ago when attacks on migrants left at least 62 dead and more than 100,000 homeless, rattling the nerves of the government and investors.
The refugees strain public services but many also take on jobs for which there are not enough skilled South Africans, or perform work that South Africans do not want to do.
“I would say that the net result is that the benefit equates to or surpasses the burden,” said James Chapman, a refugee attorney at the University of Cape Town Law Clinic.
The government, concerned about the influx, is planning to tighten its borders and expel those who stay illegally.
“The issue here is not about too many asylum seekers, per se. Rather, it’s about a migration management regime that is ill-suited to South Africa’s regional position,” Landau said. |
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: Our guest is Ryan Shapiro, who is called the ”FOIA superhero,” best known for requesting FBI documents related to animal rights activism, which the agency has dubbed the nation’s “number one domestic terrorism threat.” The documents have been used in a lawsuit filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights that challenged the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, a 2006 law targeting activists whose protest actions lead to a “loss of profits” for industry. One FBI file Shapiro obtained in 2003 details how animal rights activists used undercover investigations to document repeated animal welfare violations. The agent who authored the report said the activists, quote, “illegally entered buildings” in order to document conditions in a slaughterhouse, and concludes there is, quote, “a reasonable indication” they “violated the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act,” unquote.
Ryan Shapiro, can you explain how these activists, who go in undercover to document what’s happening in slaughterhouses or on factory farms, are equated with terrorists?
RYAN SHAPIRO: I can try. So, in 2004, the FBI designated the animal rights and environmental movements the leading domestic terror threats in the country, despite the fact that neither of these movements have ever physically injured a single person ever in this country, and then, not long thereafter, as you said, the passage of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, this pernicious piece of post-9/11 legislation, explicitly targeting animal rights and environment activists as terrorists. People have been prosecuted under the AETA, the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, as terrorists under federal law, facing federal felonies for writing anti-animal-experimentation slogans on the sidewalk in chalk. And in this particular document, yeah, this is the FBI looking at animal rights activists who have gone undercover on a factory farm, and the FBI’s response to the horrific conditions on this farm, and the actions uncovering them, is to consider bringing felony terrorism charges against these activists. These are activists who are exposing animals confined in cages so small they can’t stand up, turn around or spread their wings, just horrific conditions which are the absolute norm on factory farms. And the FBI is considering bringing terrorism charges against these activists.
And I wanted to know why. And so, I have about 600 FOIA requests currently in motion with the FBI pertaining to the FBI’s campaigns against the animal rights movement. And the FBI—and I’ve sued the FBI, because they’ve stopped complying with my requests. And the FBI is now arguing in court that those FOIA requests themselves are threats to national security. Keep in mind, they’re not arguing that releasing the documents would be a threat to national security. They’re arguing that having to decide now whether or not they will release the documents—they want a seven-year delay so they can think about whether or not to release the documents; otherwise, it will constitute a threat to national security. Further, they argued the threat to national security is so severe that they can’t even tell us why. The FBI’s primary support for this radical and crazy argument, they’ve submitted to the court in the form of an ex parte in camera declaration—so, again, a secret letter from the Counterterrorism Division of the FBI to the judge about what a threat to national security complying with my FOIA requests—or even deciding whether or not to comply with my FOIA requests—
AMY GOODMAN: And you can’t see that letter?
RYAN SHAPIRO: Can’t see it. My FOIA attorney, Jeffrey Light, did a tremendous job fighting that, and we were able to get a very heavily redacted copy of it. But—
AMY GOODMAN: And what did you conclude from that heavily redacted copy?
RYAN SHAPIRO: It’s very hard to tell, but there was one footnote to a redacted section. So we don’t know what the section is, but the footnote is all about the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. So the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act has something to do with why the FBI refuses to release these documents. And I would encourage everyone to check out journalist Will Potter’s website and book, Green is the New Red, because Will Potter does a tremendous job exploring these issues, as well.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to read from a 2005 FBI memo obtained—well, that you obtained, Ryan, when an agent in Knoxville, Tennessee, writes, quote, “Organizers of the Animal Rights Movement can be discredited and removed from the scene by planting rumors that they are plants and/or informants,” unquote. He goes on to note there is, quote, “no risk of violence to these persons about whom these false rumors may be started as most of the animal rights people are also strict advocates of nonviolence against human persons,” unquote. Ryan Shapiro?
RYAN SHAPIRO: Yeah, absolutely. And Will Potter, who I just mentioned, wrote a wonderful piece on Green is the New Red about that document when I obtained it. I mean, here we see explicitly COINTELPRO-esque-like strategies from the FBI, spreading false rumors about good activists being agents, knowing that the FBI can get away with it now, because animal rights activists, primarily being nonviolent, won’t do anything about it, other than, at most, shun the person. I mean, we are seeing just the most cynical strategies coming from the FBI, and it absolutely very much has the feel of continued COINTELPRO activities.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about your own animal rights activism that led you to become such a prolific FOIA requester? 2004, New York police file felony burglary charges against you and Sarahjane Blum for entering Hudson Valley Foie Gras, which is upstate New York, recording inhospitable conditions endured by the ducks living there. Ultimately, you both rescued and removed ducks from this Hudson Valley facility. What came of that?
RYAN SHAPIRO: Sure. So, along with a handful of other very dedicated activists, including Sarahjane Blum, I conducted a year-long undercover investigation of foie gras factory farms. Some of us were in New York, and some of us were in California. And Hudson Valley Foie Gras was one of those locations. The conditions were just horrific. The same is to be found on factory farms anywhere: animals confined in cages so small they can’t stand up, turn around, spread their limbs. Plus, these animals are being force-fed. Just horrible—
AMY GOODMAN: Where is this place?
RYAN SHAPIRO: Hudson Valley Foie Gras is in Liberty, New York. And we openly rescued a number of animals from—
AMY GOODMAN: What does that mean, “openly rescued”?
RYAN SHAPIRO: We—as an act of civil disobedience, rather than as a clandestine activity, we openly rescued, so we filmed—we made a movie about it. We made a documentary, which you can find at GourmetCruelty.com. We made a documentary called Delicacy of Despair, which not only showed the conditions, the horrific conditions on these factory farms, but also showed us openly rescuing animals from these farms, rehabilitating them and giving them new lives. Hudson Valley Foie Gras brought felony burglary charges against us for stealing their animals. And, yeah—
AMY GOODMAN: And what happened?
RYAN SHAPIRO: We ended up getting out of it, to our great surprise, with misdemeanor trespass charges. But the important thing here is that if we had done this even a year later, we wouldn’t have been fighting conventional state charges, even felony burglary charges, which have a hefty sentence; we would have been fighting federal terror charges. We wouldn’t have been getting out with misdemeanor trespass and 40 hours of community service for a group of our choice. We would have been sitting, like many animal rights activists did, colleagues of mine, sitting in federal prison cells for doing far less, convicted under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act and its predecessor act, the Animal Enterprise Protection Act.
AMY GOODMAN: Talk about your dissertation and why it’s been called a threat to national security. You go back to the 19th century. You talk about animal rights activism and government spying then.
RYAN SHAPIRO: That’s right. So the only part of the dissertation the FBI is designating a threat to national security is the FOIA component. They’re leaving the rest of it alone. But as I said, the FBI is arguing that to even decide whether or not to comply with my FOIA request constitutes a threat to national security so dire they can’t even tell us why. My dissertation is looking at the use of the rhetoric and apparatus of national security to marginalize animal protectionists from the late 19th century to the present.
AMY GOODMAN: Give us a brief history.
RYAN SHAPIRO: During World War I, when opponents of animal experimentation in the United States protested wartime animal experimentation, the self-described research defense community, so the pro-animal-experimentation lobby, alleged that American animal protectionists were agents of the kaiser, and there was an effort made to bring the new Espionage Act to bear against these animal protectionists for opposing wartime animal experimentation. And for another example, skipping ahead, during the early Cold War, the research defense community alleged that opposition to animal experimentation was a criminal and directed plot meant to undermine American security in order to pave the way for Soviet atomic aggression and overthrow of the United States government. And these arguments held a great deal of force. They were very convincing at the time.
AMY GOODMAN: Talk about the significance of what Upton Sinclair did in his famous book, The Jungle, 1906, I think it was. What exactly did he do in Chicago?
RYAN SHAPIRO: He brought attention to an issue that people flatly had not been paying attention to. In some way, it’s analogous to undercover investigators today. It is—or to FOIA work. It is bringing suppressed information to public light. And as with much suppressed information—again, there’s more suppressed information than there is unsuppressed information in the world—it can have a devastating impact on public opinion.
AMY GOODMAN: And he went underground into these slaughterhouses in Chicago, and he exposed what was going on there. He’s hailed as one of the great investigators and writers, Upton Sinclair.
RYAN SHAPIRO: Absolutely. I mean, the public is starved for information. We are flooded with information, but so much of it is useless or misleading or false or distracting. When real information about the horrific conditions that so many of us in this world—human, nonhuman—endure on a daily basis come to light, yeah, it can definitely set the public moving.
AMY GOODMAN: So, on this issue of terrorism and animal rights activism, what are the—what exactly is the government doing now, and what exactly are the movements doing? I mean, there’s a great trend in the United States for—for organic food, a whole push, especially, even in the medical community, for vegetarianism. Talk about how times have changed. And has that changed the attitude of the government when it comes to calling animal rights activists terrorists?
RYAN SHAPIRO: Well, a very important piece of this puzzle is the role of industry. Industry is definitely critical in persuading the FBI to target animal rights activists and environmentalists as terrorists. And industry is definitely a critical factor in pushing back against, absolutely, the trend towards vegetarianism, towards veganism. Even “Meatless Mondays,” the meat and dairy and egg industry has been just vociferous in its condemnation of Meatless Mondays just asking people to reduce their meat consumption or to eliminate their meat consumption one day a week, much less to go vegan. And so, we’re seeing a lot of conflicting pieces in play at the moment. We have reports out from official medical bodies that a vegan diet is as healthy or even far healthier, in many cases, than a standard American diet, and yet, at the same time, we have American politicians pushing back heavily against that, pushing—it isn’t surprising. The agricultural industry is a tremendously powerful lobby.
AMY GOODMAN: What role do corporations play in writing this kind of legislation, like the Animal Enterprise Act?
RYAN SHAPIRO: Huge. I mean, for example, the American—ALEC has just—
AMY GOODMAN: The American Legislative Exchange Council.
RYAN SHAPIRO: The American Legislative Exchange Council has played a profound role in pushing forward ag-gag bills. And these bills criminalize undercover investigations of factory farms or laboratories or fur farms. And it’s interesting, because there’s a relationship also between these ag-gag laws and the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, because if you commit a crime, any crime, including violating an ag-gag bill, on a state level, then you can be prosecuted federally as a terrorist under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism law.
AMY GOODMAN: And what effect has that had on the movement, this whole issue, the specter of being charged as terrorists?
RYAN SHAPIRO: It’s definitely had a chilling effect on the movement. There’s no doubt. The animal rights movement is a very different place than it was 10 years ago. And different people have and different groups have responded in a variety of ways, but there is no doubt that there is a chilling effect. And that’s why, along with Sarahjane Blum and J Johnson, Lauren Gazzola and Lana Lehr, I’m one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act that the Center for Constitutional Rights—
AMY GOODMAN: And explain that.
RYAN SHAPIRO: We argue that the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act violates our First Amendment rights. We are chilled from engaging in the sort of advocacy that we once did, and that the AETA is overbroad on its face and it is—it suppresses our First Amendment rights. And so, the Center for Constitutional Rights is pushing that case.
AMY GOODMAN: So, talk about, when an animal rights activist goes to jail, the difference, when they’re charged with this overlay of terrorism, in terms of time that they have to serve.
RYAN SHAPIRO: Well, yeah, as I mentioned, I openly rescued, or stole, animals from a factory farm, made a movie about it. I mean, this is—it’s a real crime. I did it as an act of civil disobedience, but it’s a real crime. And I did 40 hours of community service, and that was it. People have gone to prison for years for running a website opposing animal experimentation.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to end—we have about a minute to go—with your slogan, “See something, leak something.”
RYAN SHAPIRO: Right. So, secrecy is a cancer on the body of democracy. The records of government are the property of the people, but they’re consistently withheld from us on the basis of undefined national security. But as wrote Judge Murray Gurfein in his ruling against the Nixon administration’s infamous attempt to prevent The New York Times from publishing the leaked Pentagon Papers, “The security of the Nation is not at the ramparts alone. Security also lies in the value of our free institutions.” And so, building upon this ruling, we as a nation need to foster a broader conception of national security. And in the interest of promoting such a conception, a conception borne of the free exchange of ideas among an informed citizenry, I call upon all of those with access to unreleased records about illegal, immoral or unconstitutional government actions to return those records to their rightful owners: the American people. Or, “See something, leak something.” The viability of our democracy may depend upon it.
AMY GOODMAN: And how do you suggest people leak it?
RYAN SHAPIRO: It’s going to be different in all individual cases, but the information is not hard to find online.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you very much, Ryan Shapiro, for being with us, called a ”FOIA superhero” for his skill at obtaining government records using the Freedom of Information Act, suing several federal agencies, including the NSA, for their failure to comply with FOIA requests regarding former South African President Nelson Mandela. Ryan Shapiro is also a Ph.D. candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Thanks so much for being here.
That does it for our broadcast. I’ll be speaking in St. Louis celebrating the First Amendment with the Gateway Journalism Review Saturday night, March 29. Check out details at democracynow.org. |
GOTHENBURG, Sweden (Reuters) - European Union leaders proclaimed a set of 20 “social rights” on Friday in an attempt to make the EU more appealing to voters and counter rising eurosceptic sentiment across the bloc.
The set of social rights, supported by all EU governments and institutions, spells out what the EU believes are the foundations of fair and well-functioning modern labour markets and welfare systems.
It encompasses principles ranging from equal access to jobs and fair working conditions and wages to social protection and unemployment benefits and training.
“Our Union has always been a social project at heart. It is more than just a single market, more than money, more than the euro. It is about our values and the way we want to live,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said.
“Today we assert our common values and commit ourselves to a set of 20 principles and rights. From the right to fair wages to the right to health care; from lifelong learning, a better work-life balance and gender equality to minimum income,” he said.
Recent elections in Germany, France, Austria and the Czech Republic, in which populist parties have performed well, have shown citizens have lost confidence in governments or in the European Union.
“There is certainly a need to respond,” a senior EU official said.
Britain’s decision last year to leave the EU served as a wake-up call for the bloc and made it reflect on the way forward, including putting more emphasis on social policies.
“I think people believe there’s been maybe an excessive focus in recent years on economic matters, banking, and we want to re-fire the engine of social Europe, advancing things like equality, workers rights, pension rights and other things,” Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said.
Juncker and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven will now produce a report that will allow leaders meeting again next month to see how the principles should be followed.
Some eastern European countries are wary that the push for social rights could be used by some nations to undermine current rules that allow their citizens to work elsewhere in the EU at salaries lower than the local labour force.
The proclaimed set of rights - known as the European Pillar of Social Rights - says everybody has the right to quality education throughout their lives and that men and women must have equal opportunities in all areas and be paid the same.
The unemployed have the right to “personalised, continuous and consistent support”, while workers have the right to “fair” wages that provide a “decent standard of living”.
Minimum wages should be ensured to satisfy the needs of workers and their families, the leaders agreed.
An European Union (EU) flag is pictured during a ceremony in Lausanne, Switzerland May 4, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
While the rights would not be directly enforceable by the EU, except where they already exist in national laws and therefore subject to national courts, they establish a common EU standard and language for discussion of social issues.
Trade unions and business associations backed the set of European social rights, saying a particular effort was needed to boost the employment chances of young people.
“We want Europe to continue to have the most highly developed social systems in the world,” the business and trade union organisations said in a joint statement. |
Exclusive: President Obama’s Mideast policy is such a confusing mess that he is now supporting Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria although it’s primary target is not ISIS but another U.S. ally, the Kurds, explains Daniel Lazare.
By Daniel Lazare
In the 1930s, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain appeased his enemies. Today, U.S. President Barack Obama appeases his friends.
Barack the Appeaser is the key to unlocking the mysteries of U.S. policy in the Middle East and beyond. Confusing to begin with, U.S. actions reached new heights of absurdity last week when the Obama administration abandoned its long-standing Kurdish allies with virtually no notice and announced that it was backing a Turkish thrust into northern Syria instead.
Although the Turks claimed to be targeting ISIS (also known as Islamic State, IS, ISIL, and Daesh), it was plain from the outset that the real aim was to counter an offensive that had carried Kurdish forces some 20 miles west of the Euphrates River and put them in a position to control nearly the entire Syrian-Turkish border.
But there was a problem. Not only had the U.S. approved the same Kurdish offensive, but it had provided arms, money, and air support plus military advice in the form of some 250 US Special Operations forces embedded among members of the Kurdish militia known as the YPG.
Indeed, the Syrian Democratic Forces, a multi-ethnic militia anchored by the YPG, was a real success story, just about the only one Washington has had in the course of its disastrous five-year Syrian intervention. As one analyst put it:
“Since the creation of the SDF last November, the U.S.-backed coalition was able to roll back IS advances in northern Syria at an unprecedented pace. An effective mixture of multi-pronged offensives and U.S. air support led to the capture of key IS strongholds, including the city of Shaddadi in eastern Syria, the strategic Tishrin Dam along the Euphrates, and more recently IS’s former bastion of Manbij, south of the Turkish border.”
But now the U.S. had decided to drop the Syrian Democratic Forces despite their sterling anti-ISIS record and back Turkey even though it didn’t seem very concerned about ISIS at all. Vice President Joe Biden laid down the law during a visit to Ankara on Wednesday.
“We have made it absolutely clear,” he said, that Kurdish forces “must move back across the river. They cannot, will not, and under no circumstances get American support if they do not keep that commitment, period.”
Why the About-Face
What is the reason for such a remarkable about-face? What makes the U.S. think it can get away with cultivating an alliance one moment and dropping it like a hot potato the next? The answer has to do with the phenomenon of liberal appeasement that Obama represents.
Appeasement became a dirty word as a result of the 1938 Munich Crisis when Britain and France decided that allowing Hitler to dismember Czechoslovakia would somehow allay his appetite for more conquests. But in Obama’s hands, it has come to mean something different: an endless attempt to satisfy conflicting demands by a growing number of client states.
The states include not just Turkey but Israel, the Persian Gulf oil sheikdoms, plus the dozen East European states that have entered NATO since 1999. If America were an old-fashioned empire, it would issue orders and expect such dependents to fall into line. But as a “democratic” empire, it relies on cajoling, bargaining, and other inducements to achieve “voluntary” consent.
But this has grown increasingly difficult as the web of alliances has expanded. Not only have members grown more fractious and divided, but the original raison d’être – countering the Soviet Union – has faded from view. The upshot is a ramshackle arrangement whose existence is its sole justification and which the U.S. labors to keep afloat simply because that’s what global hegemons do.
Enter Barack Obama. A man of liberal but otherwise vague beliefs, his goal was to maintain the status quo while somehow rendering it more democratic. This has meant trying to satisfy everyone and his cousin, Balts and Poles given to flights of paranoia about Russian “expansionism,” rightwing Zionists convinced that the Palestinians are a combination of both Haman and Hitler, plus Middle Eastern oil sheiks busily financing jihad when not idling away at the fleshpots and casinos of Beirut.
Obama’s strategy has been to throw first one group a bone and then another in the hope of somehow keeping them from tearing each other apart. In other words, kick the can down the road until it becomes someone else’s problem.
With just six months left in office, he is close to achieving his goal. But Turkey has thrown him for a loop. Originally one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s biggest boosters, Obama has grown increasingly dismayed as U.S.-Turkish relations have deteriorated.
After all, Erdogan’s brand of Islamic democracy is seemingly everything the U.S. could want, safe, pious, conservative, and pro-capitalist – the Muslim Brotherhood with a human face, so to speak.
So who would have thought that Erdogan would steer Turkey in an increasingly authoritarian direction and would turn a blind eye to the activities of both ISIS and Al Qaeda? The administration made half-hearted efforts to persuade him to cut off aid to such groups, but quickly backed off when he refused.
A Failed Coup
The crowning blow was the July 15 abortive coup d’état, which Erdogan accused the U.S. of supporting. The charge is almost certainly a bum rap. Mild centrist that he is, the last thing Obama wants is more turmoil in the Middle East, which is what a military takeover would have achieved. He was dismayed that Turkey could believe such a thing about the U.S. and, fearful that Turkey would switch allegiance to Russia and Iran, was desperate to heal the breach.
The Kurds supplied the means for Obama to give something to Erdogan, who had provided ISIS with a safe haven and patronized Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate Al Nusra. In a recent interview, Erdogan even denied that Al Nusra was terrorist at all.
Instead, Erdogan has long regarded the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the YPG, its military branch in Syria, as the prime enemy since he sees their goal as establishing a stronghold in northern Syria as a prelude to carving out an autonomous region in southeastern Turkey as well.
Hence, he responded to American efforts to help the PKK-YPG expand its Syrian enclave in roughly the same way that Israel would respond if the U.S. had started shipping arms to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon — with mounting fury.
Given all this, what better way was there for the United States to prove its bona fides to Erdogan than by dropping the Kurds and devoting itself exclusively to Turkish needs? With the Turks in charge of the second biggest army in NATO, the valiant but lightly armed fighters of the YPG didn’t stand a chance.
This is why Biden read the riot act to the YPG in Ankara. But however menacing the tone, his statement was an expression of weakness rather than of strength, an example of a superpower struggling to hold together a fractious empire that is increasingly coming apart at the seams. Thus, it was the Turks who barked out orders and Americans who hastened to obey.
But the new orientation is not likely to work out as smoothly as Obama hopes. Fighting was intensifying as of Sunday as Turkish forces took Jarablus, located some 20 miles south of the Turkish border, then headed toward Manbij, a city that cost the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces more than 260 lives in the months-long battle to wrest it from ISIS control. An outside monitoring group said Turkish artillery and air strikes killed 35 civilians while the Turkish military said that 25 Kurdish militants were killed as well.
The YPG is not likely to take this lying down. If so, then another battle for Manbij could well be underway, one pitting a U.S.-backed force against another that was U.S.-backed until just a few days earlier.
As for ISIS and Al Qaeda, the rag-tag “Free Syrian Army” force that Turkey assembled for the invasion includes Salafists and members of Ahrar al-Sham, an ally of Al Qaeda’s Al Nusra Front (which recently changed its name to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, or Front for the Conquest of Syria).
So the U.S. is now backing pro-Al Qaeda fighters against a group that has shown its mettle in battling such forces. As for ISIS, the Turkish incursion merely provided the group with an opportunity to regroup some 40 miles to the west where it took the border town of Al-Rai from the pro-U.S. FSA. While it lost one border stronghold, it gained another.
Wagging the Dog
Thus, the U.S. may have realized a short-term gain in its rapprochement with Turkey but at a long-term cost. It has jettisoned the one effective anti-ISIS force in its arsenal, it has all but destroyed its credibility, and it is undoubtedly prolonging the bloodshed in Syria as well. The entire maneuver is an expression of U.S. weakness rather than strength.
What holds true for Turkey, moreover, holds true for other allies. The U.S.-Saudi alliance is yet another example of the tail wagging the dog. Over the decades, Washington has spared no effort to appease the increasingly duplicitous and unstable regime in Riyadh.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was not only an attempt to get rid of a long-term U.S. enemy but, at bottom, an effort to divert attention from the Saudi role in the attack on the World Trade Center. Obama continued the cover-up by keeping under wraps the famous ’28 pages’ – actually a 29-page chapter – on Saudi complicity in the congressional 9/11 report until just a few weeks ago.
If Obama has continued to push for Assad’s ouster, moreover, it has been mainly at Saudi behest since the Wahhabists who rule in Riyadh cannot countenance the idea of a Shi‘ite remaining in power in neighboring Syria. (President Bashar al-Assad is an Alawite, a Shi’ite-related sect.)
And if Obama has backed the Saudis in their brutal air war against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, it is for the same reason, i.e. because the Saudis can’t tolerate the idea of a Shi’ite government to their south as well.
Obama could tell them, politely but firmly, that naked religious bigotry has no place in modern politics. But that would mean deviating from his policy of abject servility. So the more obstreperous the Saudis grow, the more he tries to appease their every whim.
The same can be said for Israel or for Poland and the Balts, all of whom believe that a never-ending flow of U.S. military aid allows them to behave as provocatively as they wish. The more over-extended the U.S. empire grows, the less it is able to rein its client states in. It is not a recipe for a happy outcome.
Daniel Lazare is the author of several books including The Frozen Republic: How the Constitution Is Paralyzing Democracy (Harcourt Brace). |
Erich von Däniken’s 1968 book Chariots of the Gods? posited that elements of the religions and technologies developed by some of Earth’s oldest civilizations were actually the products of extraterrestrial visitations by space travelers whom those ancient Earthlings welcomed as gods. Among the types of evidence von Däniken offered in support of his thesis was his interpretations of ancient artworks as depicting extraterrestrial beings and forms of technological activity that were not realized until the 20th century (such as astronauts and vehicles traveling through air and space).
Chariots of the Gods? has long since been dismissed by most scientists and archaeologists as containing far more pseudoscience than actual science, but fascination with some of the ideas it expressed remains — as evidenced by the example reproduced above, which claims that a cathedral wall in Spain dating from the 12th century bears the mysterious, unexplainable likeness of an astronaut carved by a stonemason over 900 years ago:
Here is a Mystery! See if you can suggest an answer In the Spanish City of SALAMANCA the Cathedral there was built in 1102 I have asked my work colleagues if this item is TRUE … and they assure me that it is INDEED (and nobody has an answer) There is a small detail carved into the masonery which amazes everyone that sees it… Can You Suggest how a 20th Century Astronaut came to be carved by a 12th Century Stonemason?
First off, the example errs a bit in identifying the astronaut carving as adorning the wall of a cathedral built in 1102. The city of Salamanca in Spain is home to two adjacent cathedrals: The “Old Cathedral” (Catedral Vieja), begun in the 12th century, and the “New Cathedral” (Catedral Nueva), begun in the 16th century. The figure in question is part of latter, not the former. Still, finding this carving of an astronaut on the wall of a cathedral constructed between 1513 and 1733 would be quite remarkable, as the figure anticipates with amazing accuracy a form of technology not realized until centuries later.
Unfortunately for Chariot buffs, however, the origins of the carving are neither ancient nor mysterious. The astronaut figure dates not from the 12th century or the 16th century or even the 18th century, but from 1992, and we know both who put it there and why: The New Cathedral was undergoing restoration work during that period, and one of the artisans engaged in the project chose to engage in a bit of tradition by “signing” his work with a contemporary symbol representative of the 20th century: an astronaut.
A Portuguese article about the restoration of Salamanca’s New Cathedral explains (as best we can translate it into English) that: |
Monday, June 15th, 2015
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Porterville Police said they responded to a call regarded a man assaulting a small dog in the area of Thurman Avenue and Third Street in Porterville early Sunday morning. They said when the arrived, they found 27-year-old Oscar Castaneda standing completely nude in the road with a small deceased dog nearby.Police said Castaneda was agitated and speaking incoherently. When officers tried to take him into custody, they said he began kicking an biting the officers and made several attempts to get one of the officer's gun. Police used a taser to take him into custody.The suspect was arrested on several charges including animal cruelty, resisting arrest, indecent exposure, under the influence of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance.One of the officers was treated at a local hospital a later released. null |
Gov. Chris Christie's New Jersey Economic Development Authority Tuesday abruptly postponed a proposed $100 million subsidy to Lockheed Martin for an unspecified project in Camden. The decision came only hours after an International Business Times report revealed prior to the proposed subsidy that Lockheed Martin and its affiliated PAC made large contributions to the Christie-led Republican Governors Association.
As IBTimes previously reported, Christie officials have already given defense contractor Lockheed Martin $40 million worth of tax credits. Announcing the delay of the $100 million subsidy Tuesday, NJEDA spokeswoman told the Cherry Hill Courier-Post: "As is sometimes the case with projects the EDA board is set to consider, additional materials are needed to move forward."
Under Gov. Christie, taxpayer-funded economic development subsidies have skyrocketed to record levels. In all, data show Christie has awarded more than $4 billion worth of such subsidies at the same time Christie has said the state cannot meet its pension obligations. That has prompted criticism from a New Jersey Republican legislator.
Many of the subsidies approved by the Christie administration have been awarded to firms whose employees have made large donations to Republican political organizations. Responding to news of those donations, New Jersey Democratic state Sen. Raymond Lesniak told the Guardian there should be "limits on campaign contributions from businesses and people employed by these businesses who get these tax incentives."
Despite the postponement of the Lockheed Martin subsidy, the liberal think tank New Jersey Policy Perspectives noted "several hundred million dollars of tax breaks" to other firms were likely to be approved Tuesday by Christie officials. |
It's now an annual row in fiercely secular France: Should Christmas nativity scenes be on show in public buildings like Town Halls, where the wearing of religious symbols is banned?
This year the row began even before the Christmas lights have gone up on the Champs Elysées thanks to complaints about the existence of nativity scenes at the Vendée's council building in western France, and another in Melun in the south eastern suburbs of Paris.
Both nativity scenes were contested by local Free Thinking Associations, who argued that public places are no place for the traditional Christmas scene of Baby Jesus in a manger surrounded by cattle and shepherds.
They argue that such a scene does not stand in line with France’s 1905 law on the Separation of Church and the State.
The Conseil d'Etat ruled on Wednesday that the scenes should be allowed in public places, on the condition that they are temporary, have no signs of religious preaching, and are of a cultural or festive nature.
The French, in general, quite enjoy having a nativity scene in a public place.
A 2014 survey from Le Parisien newspaper found that 86 percent of 12,000 respondents were in favour of having the scenes on show in public.
But secularists have made an annual tradition of fighting the custom, kicking off what the French media regularly refer to as a "nativity war". |
In the Tulip Patch
tulip of Keukenhoff Gardens
gorgeous tulips!
Keukenhoff Gardens- pink and white tulips
Read why the Netherlands are the most advanced country on earth- Part I/ III Going Dutch All The Way
A lot of people will tell you that Amsterdan is a beautiful city. They are wrong, it really isn't anything special, especially compared with Prague or Budapest, or even my hometown of Santa Barbara.Amsterdan is way too concrete for me, and I desperately wanted to see some green, (Netherlands are very green in general) and someone I met in Iceland had recommended that I go see Keukenhoff Gardens, and as it was early May (April showers) the tulips were in full bloom.I won't write too much, since mostly all I did was look at the splendid array of colors. So, just have a gander and enjoy the views, and if you find yourself in the Netherlands, I recommend you go!find the other links on the right after you read part I. Set in a courtroom. |
Share. A new mobile game, Fallout 4 VR, and more are in the works. A new mobile game, Fallout 4 VR, and more are in the works.
After previously teasing a few major projects in the works, Bethesda Game Studios director Todd Howard has clarified the Fallout and The Elder Scrolls studio's current development slate.
Speaking with IGN, Howard said that, adding up all projects in various states of development, Bethesda Game Studios, the in-house development studio at Bethesda Softworks, has "seven [projects] going," including a new mobile game, though he clarified that two of those projects have already been properly announced. Fallout 4 in VR was revealed at E3 2016, while The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the Nintendo Switch was confirmed earlier this year — which Howard said he hopes, with success, could see Bethesda continuing to work with Nintendo in the future.
Exit Theatre Mode
"So some of those things are obviously of different scales," Howard said. In addition to those two announced projects, the mobile project would follow in the successful footsteps of Fallout Shelter, which itself Howard pointed to as an indication of the studio's ability to juggle multiple titles.
"We're always doing a lot of things, and once we get good momentum on something, that's what we'll focus on," Howard said, noting Fallout Shelter's production in the midst of Fallout 4's development.
“ There are two...bigger than anything we've done, kind of different [projects]," Howard said.
On the topic of Fallout 4, Howard also revealed that the game is currently playable "start to finish in VR."
"There's no content that we removed or changed [for VR]," Howard explained, noting that the current work being done on it is related to how players actually interact with the experience.
"It's interface work, it's other things," he said. "There are issues with locomotion, how you traverse that much space, and we're hoping to support as many modes as possible... It's not done yet, there's work to do, but the parts that are there, I'm biased but it's pretty incredible."
IGN had a chance to try out Fallout 4 in VR at E3 2016.
Exit Theatre Mode
Howard also again referenced the two projects that are "bigger than anything we've done," which he previously discussed at last year's E3. Howard broadly described the two projects as "what I would call... kind of different, but still the kind of game people would associate with us."
He also previously said at E3 that the studio is working on The Elder Scrolls 6, but that it's so far off that at the time Howard said "people will probably hear about those [other two big projects] even before Elder Scrolls 6."
Howard is set to be inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame at the 20th DICE Awards Ceremony on February 23. Stay tuned to IGN for more from DICE 2017.
Jonathon Dornbush is an Associate Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter @jmdornbush. |
Bushwalker dies after drinking too much water
Updated
A coroner has found a Victorian man died during a Tasmanian bushwalk after drinking too much water.
Jonathan Paul Dent, 30, was an experienced bushwalker in good health when he died in the Dial Ranges, in Tasmania's north-west.
He had been walking alone and was supposed to meet his wife after four hours, but became lost and disorientated.
Search parties found his body two days later.
Coroner Michael Brett found Mr Dent most likely died from an exercise-related medical condition caused by drinking too much water during prolonged exertion.
Severe symptoms of the condition include confusion, seizures and death.
The autopsy showed Mr Dent's brain was swollen, indicating he had drunk too much water.
Mr Dent was a Salvation Army officer based in Ulverstone at the time of his death.
The coroner has called for the more community education about the dangers of excessive fluid consumption during exercise.
The Director of Public Health, Roscoe Taylor, says the Health Department will work with relevant stakeholders and consider options for educating the public.
Rob Dawkins from the North West Walking Club says he was not aware too much water could be dangerous.
"For me it does come as a surprise, I didn't think that you could drink too much actually," he said.
"I still believe that most people would not take enough water. I really do find that surprising."
Topics: courts-and-trials, human-interest, north-motton-7315, vic
First posted |
Gameslog was a gaming site monetized with affiliate marketing. But the site never took off, as the market was already saturated.
Getting users for your startup or business can be hard. Facebook Ads is one of the quickest ways to drive traffic and users to your site or landing page. Learn how to create effective, profitable campaigns now with this free, 6 day email course .
Do you want to grow your business? With GenM you can get free marketing from an apprentice as part of their training . The student will work 40 hours per month creating content, increasing SEO rankings, carrying out advertisement campaigns...
Hello Michael! Who are you? What are you currently working on? I’m the founder & CEO of Array Internet which is a media company located in Frankfurt am Main (Germany). We mostly do web development, online marketing and SEO for international clients. Our most successful venture is MH Themes, which is a popular brand for magazine WordPress themes that are suitable for online magazines, news websites and advanced blogs. With MH Themes we cover more than 20,000 customers from over 110 countries around the world. What was Gameslog? Why did you start it? A few years ago I was getting more and more interested in affiliate marketing. While I was running various online magazines at that time, I didn’t have much experience with affiliate sites. However, one day I stumbled upon a gaming site which was promoting several online games. I liked the idea and did some research. I noticed that various affiliate programs were paying good commission just for leads where users would sign up to play an online game for free (the companies were monetizing the games by selling in-game items or other goodies). I thought if I would be able to scale my own gaming site to a reasonable amount of traffic, then this could pay off very well. At least that’s what I thought. Which strategies did you use to grow Gameslog? First of all, I hired various writers to create a lot of content. I coded functionality so that we could easily add online games into a database and list these games based on various criteria including screenshots and play buttons with affiliate links. I was hoping that if we create enough content and did some SEO, then we would be able to get organic traffic from Google. I also reached out to various game production companies in order to cooperate and get additional exposure. This worked better than expected, but since the site was very new without a reliable track record, many companies weren’t interested in doing business with us. As always, doing business is much easier if you’re already established and successful. In addition, I started building social channels, launched various giveaways and also tried to get some additional traffic through PPC advertising.
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Which was the problem with Gameslog? Which mistakes did you commit? The main issue was that the site didn’t take off, although I’d put quite some time and money in the project. Publishing all the content, preparing screenshots, etc... we did this all manually as we didn’t want to import data via APIs in order to have truly unique content. However, except a few successful affiliate transactions, a few dollars from Google AdSense and some sponsored posts from gaming companies the site didn’t generate any revenue. The traffic was stuck as well as a few hundred visitors per month. If I remember correctly, the record was around 900 unique visits per month. Unfortunately, with this low traffic, you’ll usually have a hard time to monetize an affiliate site, at least if you’re covering a niche where the affiliate commission is not very high. What were your biggest disadvantages? I think the biggest disadvantage was that the market was already saturated with this kind of gaming affiliate sites. There were some very large and popular competitors and it was incredibly difficult to rank well for good keywords. I definitely should have done more research before starting the site. My mistake was that I simply wanted to start this out of fun, without doing research if it would be a good and reliable business idea. Today I wouldn’t make this mistake again, except if I wanted to start such a site as a hobby. If you had to start over, what would you do differently? I definitely would do thorough research before starting an online business. It’s crucial to have a look at the competition and analyze keywords to determine if you have a chance to compete with reasonable resources. The benefit of an online business is that you have valuable data available before you even get started. I absolutely would work with that data and then make a decision.
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What have you learned and what's your advice for someone who is just starting? Even if starting an online business is quite easy, you shouldn’t make it an easy decision. If you make a wrong decision at the start, it can become a huge waste of time and money. This can be avoided by doing your homework before you get started. Another advice I have is to always stay focused. If you’re smarter than I was when I started the gaming affiliate site and if you’ve done your homework, it’s crucial to stay focused on your main business objectives. Stick to your plan and don’t get lost in details or unprofitable tasks. Where can we go to learn more? You can follow me on Twitter, check out our WordPress themes and on Array Internet we’ve recently started a blog where we’ll soon publish editorial content about online marketing, social media marketing and other topics that could be helpful for digital entrepreneurs.
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👇 Other Interviews |
Toyota is recalling 870,000 vehicles because a problem with an air conditioner part could cause airbags to deploy unnecessarily .
In some cases, the problem was caused by spiders.
Sometimes, their webs can create a blockage in a drainage tube coming from the air conditioning condenser. That can cause water to drip down onto an airbag control module, causing a short circuit. That, in turn, could cause the airbag warning light to light up on the dashboard and it could even cause the driver's side airbag to deploy, something that happens with explosive force.
In some cases, there could also be a loss of power-steering force, Toyota (TM) said.
The vehicles involved are model year 2012 and 2013 Camrys, Venzas and Avalons, including hybrid versions of those cars.
Gallery - Five really good big cars
So far, Toyota is aware of three airbag deployments as a result of this and 35 cases of warning lights coming on, Toyota spokeswoman Cindy Knight said. In the cases Toyota has investigated, the only consistent cause of the blockages has been spider webs. Knight could not say if spiderwebs caused every incident, however.
Spiders sometimes build webs inside tubes in cars. In 2011, Mazda recalled 52,000 Mazda6 sedans for a problems caused by spiders building webs inside a vent line for the gasoline tank.
To fix the problem, Toyota dealers will make fixes to block water from dripping onto the airbag module. Owners will be notified by mail to take their vehicle to a Toyota dealer where the necessary work will be performed at no charge. |
Kevin Myers will not write for Sunday Times Ireland again after suggesting Vanessa Feltz and Claudia Winkleman earned more because they were Jewish
The Sunday Times has been accused of antisemitism after it published an article in its Irish edition that suggested the BBC presenters Claudia Winkleman and Vanessa Feltz were well paid because they are Jewish.
The Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper removed an online version of the piece by Holocaust denier Kevin Myers [Myers contests this description: see footnote] on Sunday morning amid a wave of outrage, but it appeared in printed editions of the newspaper across Ireland.
Under the headline “Sorry ladies, equal pay has to be earned”, Myers wrote: “I note that two of the best-paid women presenters in the BBC – Claudia Winkleman and Vanessa Feltz, with whose, no doubt, sterling work I am tragically unacquainted – are Jewish. Good for them.
“Jews are not generally noted for their insistence on selling their talent for the lowest possible price, which is the most useful measure there is of inveterate, lost-with-all-hands stupidity. I wonder, who are their agents? If they’re the same ones that negotiated the pay for the women on the lower scales, then maybe the latter have found their true value in the marketplace.”
Myers has previously written, in the Irish Independent: “There was no holocaust (or Holocaust, as my computer software insists) and six million Jews were not murdered by the Third Reich. These two statements of mine are irrefutable truths.” [See footnote.]
Female BBC stars urge corporation to 'act now' on pay and gender Read more
Winkleman is a regular Sunday Times columnist, writing weekly in the Style supplement.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism announced on Sunday it would report the paper to the Independent Press Standards Organisation. It said in a statement: “It is clear that Kevin Myers should not have been invited to write for the Sunday Times, and his editors should never have allowed the article to be published. That they removed the article within hours of publishing it is proof that the decision was irrefutably wrong.
“Rather than moving swiftly on, we now expect the Sunday Times to investigate how this happened, to hold the editor responsible and the columnist to account, and to publish a high-profile and clear apology. We have contacted the newspaper’s senior management and given them our views on what should happen next.”
Lionel Barber, the editor of the Financial Times, described the piece as “undiluted antisemitism and misogyny” while the former Europe minister Denis MacShane said the comments were “truly shameful”.
Danny Cohen, the former director of BBC television, called on the Sunday Times to prevent Myers from writing for any News UK paper ever again.
After the column was removed, the editor of the Sunday Times, Martin Ivens, issued a statement saying Myers’ comments were “unacceptable and should not have been published”.
“It has been taken down and we sincerely apologise both for the remarks and the error of judgment that led to publication,” he said.
The editor of the paper’s Irish edition, Frank Fitzgibbon, added: “I apologise unreservedly for the offence caused by comments in a column written by Kevin Myers and published today in the Ireland edition of the Sunday Times. It contained views that have caused considerable distress and upset to a number of people.
“As the editor of the Ireland edition I take full responsibility for this error of judgment. This newspaper abhors antisemitism and did not intend to cause offence to Jewish people.”
Ivens later added that Myers would not write again for the Sunday Times Ireland and said a printed apology would appear in next week’s paper. A News UK spokeswoman said he had apologised personally to Winkleman and Feltz “for these unacceptable comments both to Jewish people and to women in the workplace”.
Gideon Falter, chair of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “This was an utterly vile column which deployed well-worn antisemitic tropes about Jews. The fulsome apologies from the editorial team at the Sunday Times are welcome, but Kevin Myers is a serial offender who should never have been given an inch of column space in the first place.
“This must be the end of Kevin Myers’ notorious journalistic career and News UK must now confirm that they will never again allow him to write for any of their titles.”
Dave Rich, spokesman at the Community Security Trust, said Myers’ antisemitic comments were “as standard as they come” and said he was surprised the article “got through the whole editorial process and nobody spotted that this is not the kind of thing that should be published”.
Myers has been contacted for comment.
• Note added 18 August 2017 - Kevin Myers says he is not a Holocaust denier. He is not, in the usual sense of that term. He expressed his idiosyncratic view in the Belfast Telegraph of 6 March 2009: “...there certainly was no holocaust. For if the word is to have any literal validity at all, it must be related to its actual meaning, which comes from the Greek words holos, ‘whole’, and caust, ‘fire’. Most Jewish victims of the Third Reich were not burnt in the ovens in Auschwitz. They were shot by the hundreds of thousands in the Lebensraum of the east, or were worked or starved to death in a hundred other camps, across the Reich.... To be sure, you can use the term holocaust to describe these events, but only as a metaphor. However, to turn that metaphor into a political dogma, a denial of which can result in imprisonment, is to create a religio-penal code of which Torquemada would have approved....I’m a holocaust denier; but I also believe that the Nazis planned the extermination of the Jewish people, as far as their evil hands could reach.” |
Newspaper Page Text
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Read the first of The Star's $1.50, hook-sized, popular novels, beginning on page 4in this issue. It will be completed next Saturday. And then, next Monday, a
second story will start. This paper is going to give its readers the best lot of summer fiction ever offered anywhere. Remembi'r, a book-sized novel will be published
COMPLETE every six days. Five popular, high-class books for thirty cents! If you aren't a regular reader, CALL MAIN 9400 AND SUBSCRIBE NOW.
Ym Lose Omt
nl IDWft
Start reading "The Rose Garden Hus
band" in today's Star. It is a com
plete. new novel in six installment*
Don't miss the first chapter. Pane 4
PREPARE!
VISFE
* ? her Of me rejnsrafive educational surver commis
sion, has declared he will urge the commission to rec
ommend to the next legislature a state law making mili
tary instruction compulsory in the high schools of the
state.
There la a difference of opinion among authority* aa to whether
boat roaulta aro gained by compulsory or non compulsory methods. Or
P P. Clairton, U. I. commissioner of education, to ono who believes a
non-compulsory method would b« tho bottor. Ho ao advised Zednlck
when In Seattle, laat week.
The proposition of military instruction In the public schools la of
vital Interoot TO EVERY PARENT AND CHILD. So vital. In fact,
that Tho Star thought It worth whilo to aonrf a staff correspondent to
Wyoming to study a system of military preparedness that has been
worked out In that state. While the root of the country Is TALKING
preparedness. Wyoming IS prepared.
In this state the famoua "Swiss military system," which nearly all
authoritiea agree should be adopted by all America, le practically IN
EXISTENCE, and thousands of high school boys ars ysarly being
trained by Ita canons In the metnoos of national defense.
This, even Its former critice agree, Is a wonderful and
successful experiment Wyoming ie making In NATIONALISM,
thle turning out of an annual hoot —not of militarists—but of
r* HEALTHY, ACTIVE CITIZENS, TRAINED IN THE USE OF
ARMS!
THE FIRST OF THE ARTICLES ON THE "WYOMING FLAN
WILL BE PUBLISHED IN THE STAR TUESDAY. THE OTHERS
WILL FOLLOW FROM DAY TO OAY.
The Star believes the mothers and fathers of Se
attle ought to take an active interest in this matter.
For it is YOUR boy that they're planning to drill.
Shall our state legislature be urged by the educa
tional commission to adopt a CONSCRIPTION plan, or
should the course of training be furnished, and the boys
be permitted to volunteer. The Star believes YOU
should hare a voice in deciding the point.
READ THK ARTICLES ON THE "WYOMING
k PI.AN." AND THEN WRITE YOUR OPINION TO
h, THE EDITOR OF THIS PAPER.
' i ~
FOR MAYOR .
VOTE FOR AUSTIN E. GRIFFITHS—Under all the elr
cumatancea in the preaent contest. Auatin E. Griffiths la logle
ally the man to be named mayor. Hla election will tend to
bury the bunk laeuea which have been fought out and definitely
aettled in the past. Moreover, Griffitha hae given coneiderable
study to adminlatrative detail, and his election will tend toward
an era In city adminlatration when a dollars worth of public
money wll buy a dollar's worth of service. Hie work as city
councilman and chief of police haa been satisfactory. He is a
irian ideals. The city will be much better off with Grif
fiths as mayor and Erlckaon as president of the council than
otherwise. Erlckaon is needed In the council. To the city he
Is just as valuable there as ha would be in the mayor'e chair,
perhaoa more so.
Gill offers nothing of any Importance to the city. He aet>ed to
be vidlcated two yeara ago. He said he would not run again.
He ahould have kept his word.
FOR CORPORATION COUNSEL
VOTE FOR THOMAS F. MURPHINE—Hie ability, courage
and integrity were put to the (est in two sessions of the legiela
ture, and he made good.
FOR CITY COUNCIL
VOTE FOR THREE OF THESE SIX: THOMSON. MOORE.
CASE, MARBLE, FITZGERALD. PAYSSE. The Star reeom
meeds Thomson and Moore, but makes no recommendation as
to th« third man.
The Seattle Star
j rTHE ONLY PAPER IN SEATTLE THAT DARES TO PRINT THE NEWS
VOLUME 18 SKATTLK, WASH . MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21. 1916
OIIR CHIEF
IN DARING
EXPLOIT!
Bold Beggar Comes Right Up
to Hi* Very
Door
LANG CALLS POLICE
Some tiemcara are awfully akep
tlcal Won't lielieve anything a
fallow toll* >m
<>n« of thla kind rallnl at the
horn* of Chief l^i tic 11th a*e and
llarrtaon at. Sundai evening The
chief «antej to get film a treated,
but didn't
"You're pinched " the chief I*
r»|i«rt«l to have »ald
The beggar laughed right out
loud.
'Aw, quit vi r klddin." he aald
"l»o roit know who I am"
"Xoiw' Vho an jou (if rj"
Washington ''
I'm the chief of police, l.«ul»
M l-ang
The beggar doubled up In laugh
ler
"Mo. ho' You can't fool me, he
■aid
l|nne«t I ani, ' !« the reported
r»plv "'} m a regular cop "
i Ann hn« not given The Star an
auMwut*- icapwtit at. U»« Ml 4l»-
U*ue.i * * 1
Tlti frtim Ml««onri." the beggar
la reported to have relolned Von
fotta »l>ow me Where a the green
braid on Tour panta?"
The beggar waa rel<-ntle»« He
demanded to aee the rhler* badge
The chief had changed hi"
clothea
Walt a minute. I'll get It," the
chief aald. It la reported
But when he relumed the beg
(«( waa gore Thla made
mad Me called for the police on
the telephone
Fred Mllla. telephone operator at
neadqi art em. thought the chief
»>ld there wan a burglar" at hla
home Inatead of a ' beggar"
I leak Sergeunt Ktank Kenned:
ordered out the reserve aquad
The detective department wan
notified Re»«>ral »l»uiha alao
ru«hed to the l.ilig home
S»rr,eant Gene Hlaier and Ps'rol
man McCafferty, In the ' |>ol|i-e
prowler." ait toed to the acene
f'rdeatrlana Jumped out of the
•It Htreet cara atopped People
begin pouring out of hmiae*
In a Jiffy, the aquadrnn of patrol
men and detectlvaa arrived at the 1
realdence
'Where'* the burglar?" demand
ed Sergeant Hlalcr
"Hurgltr*" Inquired the axton
lahed chief l)o you think I
called you to get a burglar? It
waa a beggar He a he»ded up the
street (Jo and get him"
But lh» bold, bold beggar had
dlaappeared Into the dark, dark,
darknoaa of the night
MIUTH PARADE
ON FOR TUESDAY
Obsrrvmirr of liroric" Washing
ton's IMth birthday anniversary li"
Kan Monday, a day In adranc* of
ItiM-lf. with rxerrla** at Knlßhta of
Columbus hall.
TticHday. the annhernarv proper,
will b* marked bv a full drea* pa
rade of all atate mllltla bodle* here.
Mi at'propHale MlHllW on thn
unheralty canipiia.
H< hoots will he timed Tu'wli)',
a« well aa all public offices and I In*
ha nk a.
Tb«> par ad<■ will atari at Flref arid
Pike at 12:15. Kvsrclsea at the
illiberally will be held at 11. Other
*tic«ial exerclae* will be held In
churrhe* tbrtiout the day and even-
InK
"HORHRT" CjAFFNFY
IS BACK IN SKIRTS
Robert" (laffney, the "lar.y
husband" of Mr* Margaret
(Saffnay, of 20',;:! Terry ave ,
who turned out, after IS yeara
of maaqneradlng. to b« a "lady
husband." ha* returned Monday
to the habiliments of her real
se*
Hhe la wearlnK women*
clothe" ProaAcutor l.unilln ha*
determined lie cannot hold
' Mr' 1 fluffnev on any charge
He ha* likewise decided thw
duly of supporting Mr* (iaff
nav'a three children falls lo Ibe
mother.
Fair tonight and Tuesday. j
GIRLS, WHO'S GAME TO GET MARRIED?
JUST PROPOSE! WE'LL DO THE REST
LI ST I N, Rit Is li- tun I
Probably you're in
t
lot e what?
And have waited fur
HIM to |»r«»|>o«e?
Well?
oh, you Knew this wu
going to l>c a I.cap Year
story ?
<»f oiiirw it i« Now—
l.et't u rt married!
That i« to say. YOU
get married to anyltndv
voti want AND THK
STNR WII.I. I'AY FOR
THE WEDDING I
N«w turn vour other ear
THE HT*n WII.I, FOOT
THE FNTIRK 1t11.1., PROM
TDK MARRIAGE MCKNBK
PROSECUTOR IS
WATCHING VOTE
lie Watna KUctton Officials
Again** CcunteiiMK
ing fraud
BIG VOTE IS EXPECTED
tLICTION NOTES
Pel's remain open from •
I. m. to t p. m
Call up registration office.
Main tWO, If you do not know
where your polling place <s
You are entitled to vote for
one candidate for mayor, one
for corporation couneei. one
for treaaurer, one for como
ell.
The Star recommend* Grif
fiths for mayor. Murphlne for
corporation counael. and three
of thf following el* fo' the
council: Thomeon, Mooce,
Caae. Marble. Fitigerald and
Payee*.
With wpathpr condition* *all*fac
lory, a big vote la anticipated In
the primary election Monday. The
l»oll* will remain open until 8
o'clock
Municipal Ipagup acoul* arp
keeping a e!o*e watch on all down
loan (Killing plscr* for ' relators'
and non resident votpr*
At least Ir. non rcaldent*. Prose
e'-utor Lundln nay*, registered aa
voting In thp Mrat ward
No warrant* have bepn Isaued
for their arte*t In caae they at
tpnipt to vote. I.tindln *ald. but It
will l>e the policy of hi* office to
punlah olectlon board* who |>ermlt
mv fraud
Thp lar»p rpglatratlon tndlcatp*.
al*o, that thp voter* are taking »
aerlou* lntprp*t In the election, tho
they are not rotting eicltod over It.
It la practical)? conceded that
lllram C. (Jill will be one of the two
nomlnep* for mayor, and .1 K llrad
ford onp of Hip two nominated for
corporation coun*p|
In th« mayoralty contest, chief
Interest lies In the contest between
Austin K (Jrlfflths and Oliver T,
Krlrkson a* to which shall opiwise
<iUI In the final election.
In the contest for corporation
council, the chief Interest lies In
the three-cornered contest for the
second nomination Thomas K
Murphlne. E II Uule and M. C.
I 'ald w ell are the contestant*
Mr* M .1 Howard, experienced
election official. «aa deposed Mon
day when she went to take her seat
na Judge In Precinct 125, at 3ft3
Moren ave
She claim" that Inspector W II
niahop told her that she was "too
good a republican" for the Job.
Mrs, llowatvl exhibited a postal
card from registration offlrlala,
naming her as official Judge.
HE'S BUSY AT LODGE
ltecau*e K. P. Otto has so little
time to give his wife in social di
version. she wants a divorce
She filed Monday.
"lie tell* me," she allege*, "that
lodge duties keep him away
night*."
CHURCH DESTROYED
Qt'KHEC, Feb 21 The church
at Heuuport. a''ro«* the Hi Charles,
three miles from here, took fire I
1 today and 1» bulleve.,l to bo doomed
DOWN TD TIPI'INO THR
WAITKR APTKR TDK WKII
IHNi; ItItKAKFAST'
How a that?
All you've Kot to do In pro
poae. hrlnit your man to The
Htar offlre the »ooner the bet
ter and YOI"RK OS'.
Hon't delay, girls.
Only eight day* distant lathe
day thai make* (hla leap year.
Kebroary J».
On that day The Star couple's
leap yeat wedding will taka
place at hign noon, on the atage
of the Strand thaatre. Second
ava , near Seneca at.
"Admiaaion will be free
"And," aay* BJiy Smythe.
the manager, "air thoae who
want to aee the mftleat movie
• now In town can stay. Not
only that I WILL GIVE THE
WEODINC COUPLE A LIFE
PASS TO THE THEATRE—
FOR THEMSELVES AND
FIVE KILLED IN ;
CHENEY WRECK
Two State Officials Among
V«.nm* of >i. P.
Collision
FOG IS RESPONSIBLE
BPOKANK. Peb. n orflclala to
J day had determined that a denae
f(<* waa reaponalble for the collision
at South Cheney early Sunday.
• ben five men *ere killed and
three serioualy Injured
Thp bodies of the dead were
claimed by relative* and taken
awar todav They arc
PROF. ELTON FULMER. Hate
cbamitt Pullman. Waeh.
I. J. MiNNiCK. deputy oil inepec
to'. Spokanl.
LEE N CONRY. Northern Pacific
traveling passenger agent. Spokane
0 L. BERKEY. Portland.
J. J. WHITE. Spokane.
Thp Injured, who are atlll In Spo
kanp lioapltala. are:
R. J. Spear, Pomeroy. Wesh.
Or. John Matthewe. Everett.
Waab.
J. A Payant of Loa Angeles.
Superintendent l>e Pone of the
Northern Pacific division learned
on investigation that the engineer
of the North Coaat Limited waa un
able to fee the flagman *pnt out by
thp paatbotind Itiirllngton train
mhen It atopped at South Cheney.
In the fog the train daahed pnat
I him.
A torppdo waa eiploded Juat aa
the Limited ernahed Into the atand
In* train, but not In sufficient tlmp
for the pngliippr to atop
In the pocket of Prof. Pullmer
was found a t ravelin* Inaurance
card wcirth 12R.000 In caae of dpath
on the trip.
Hp had purchaacd It only a few
1 hour a bpforp he inel d»nth.
GERMAN AIRMEN
RAID 3 NATIONS
BERLIN, Feb, 21.—Gcrmin
airman raided England. Brl
gium and Franca simultaneous
ly Sunday. While they were en
gaged againat Loweatoft, other
aviatora were raiding Furneaa
and Pnperlnghe In Belgium
and Amiena and Lunevllle, In
France, It waa announced to
day. Alt the aircraft returned
unharmed.
POURS GASOLINE ON
FIRE; NOW HE'S DEAD
.Inst before lit* death at the city
hospital. Sunday night. Tom Vas
Ills, n ('.reek, swore he had been a
victim of a bomb plot Detectives
learned later he bad poured gaso
line Into his stove at till Harrison
St., to hurry the fire along
NERO OUTCLASSED
The man who underpays women
workers In order to satisfy hi*
greed for inone\, should be classed
with drunkards and gamblers," sail
Ithe He (ieorce McDonald speak
lug at the V. M. C. A. Humbiy club. '
ONE CENT
THEIR CHILDREN."
are »everal ad\antacea
In getting married on leap year
day.
F irat place, you pick the man
you want—
And you can call yourself a
bride for four yaari, because
your first anniversary will be
in 1920, neat leap year.
Alao, annivcraary preeenta
for hubby won't coat you much.
The classiest TIKKANY
WEOIHNO Kl.N'ti you ever aaw.
girl*. la waiting for your finger
down at fturnett Itro* the jew
eler*. (41 Herond ave
Vou re to plch your own par
•on. of ronr»» any on# 1 you
wish We'll fl* It up with him
You anil your prospective
hubby ntlll he taken to the
count v auditor'* office from
v ottr home* In a Hudson Hii|>or-
Hl*. which will he at your serv
ice until the event la over fte-
FATHER TELLS HOW
HE FOUND FROZEN
B0&Y OF HIS GIRL
* _______________
I.AKK PORRKBT. 111.. Keb. Jl
While Wm Orpet. college atudent
impatient!* waited In another room.
Prank Lambert told a coronet"
Jury today * bat he knew- of the
tragedy surrounding the death of
hla daughter, Marian I.atnbert, for
which Orpet la held.
When Marian did not return
home on the We.Veadav. I thought
ahe had eloped with Orpet." aald
thp father 'I then called In her
rhum, Joaephlne Havla, but ahe did
not know «here Marian «a*. Then
I telephoned to Madlaon to learn If
Orpel «ii there, but I could not
locate him.
FATHER TELLS OF
FINDING FROZEN BODY
Mv wife aald thpre was a 'man
In the case.' and *he thought of
Orpet right aw»r."
I<ambert thpn relalpd how hp had
searched the wood* on Thursday
and finally romp ui>on thp frown
body of thp girl. She had bppn In
Rood health and high spirits for
two month* preceding her dpath.
said
After tolllnK of her keeping com
pany with Ori>et for two year*. Hp
■kid: "We did not object. we
tnerelv ho;>pd the case would not
become serlou*."
A* for the cvanlde of |<otaa*lum
need In the grepn hou*p on the p*
tat** wh«rf l.atnbert worked. h< de
clared II win kept locked and that
Marian never went to the Kretii
houae unle«* ahe •snti'd a bouquet
PRISONER IMPATIENT
AT DELAY IN CASE
A friend of the I.amberta tenti
fli-d that thp fathpr had aohbed and
thrown himself bealdc Iho girl'*
liody.
While the Inquest was proceeding
Orpet waa In n mom apart. frettlnK
at the delay In hearing the outcome
"I wish-they'd get thni." hp said
"I'm ulrk unci tired of the whole
business
Speaking of Washington's Birthday Coming Tomorrow, There Are No G. W.'s These Days
ON
ft#
Ileve us It fa SOMK MACHINE,
too.
And FI.OWKRS golly 1 You
oughtn aee em! It a already
fnntml up that you're lo be gar
landed and wreathed and flow
ered In flower* and flower* and
flower* right from the Holly
wood (Sanlena* *
The WKDDING RRKAKFAST
*111 he eaten at the Hutler.
Manager A Cheshire Mitchell
has promised the best kervlre
hla waiter* ran put up- and you
know about them.
On the table, among otfer
thing*. *IM be the handaon#"'
WKtJWNO CAKK anylody
nn» made by the Northern Pa
dflc dining ear department ea
l-ei tally for YOt"R WK DOING.
And may lie i here II he a lot of
other thing* We can't tell yet
(Strls'
HURRY'
Orpet'* father. Edward. the laat
wltne*« before the recess, startled
the crowd by going over lo l.am
b-r» and shaking hand* with hini
Th« two men had lieen friend*
for vear*. and they conversed sev
eral minute*, parting In the best
of spirit*, despite the predicament
of their children.
The elder Orpet testified Ijim
l>ert telephoned him on the night
Of Marlan'a dlsap|>earanee:
"Your boy has got my girl."
"I told him that w»* rank non
aenae," *ald Or|>et. "Then I tele
gmpbed Win* landladv at Madi
son and *he wired back that Will
wa* there."
Me Mtid he had told hi* nsslst
ant to throw awa> a quantity of
cyanide of |wita**ium some time
aK» because It was too weak and
impure to use on Insect |ient»
Tho official* have charged Wil
liam Orpet. 20. 1 "diversity of Wis
consin student. with murder In con
nection with her death, they said
PRINCE ON THE STAND
Tells of Affection for Maiden of 15
NEW YORK. F«h. 21 Highly
perfua| much bejeweb-d
I'rl*" p 1 ■ .andt-r Mlsklnoff was his
own i**st witness today in his suit
for separation from his wife, the
former California heiress. Aimer
f rocker.
lu answer to the charge that he
wan too affectionate with his beau
tiful 15-year-old foster daughter,
the prince swore, thru an interpret
er, that his wife had said:
"If you are really in love with
Yvonne nnd would be satisfied with
her. 1 will divorce you and be per-
EDITION J.
(Continued on page 8.)
THREE OF
CREWARE
INJURED
One Sailor of Steamer Victoria
Burned and Two Over-
come by Smoke.
LOADED FOR ALASKA
One sailor was severely
burned and two ship's officer*
overcome by «-mokc while
fighting a fire that broke out
in tlie hold of the S. S. Vio
toria, lying at I'icr 2. M< ndiiv
morning, after a coal K as •'**
plosion.
By bri-k fighting, the irci
extinguished the flamc« with- '
out help from the fire tug Du
wami-h and tlie harbor depar*,-
ment patrol that responded.
Henry Sorenson, the sailor wrtc
•as burned about the face an£
hand*. went Into the hatch with a
lantern Juat before the explosion.
Prut Mate Johnson and Boats
wain Donahue headed the crew In
fichtlnx the fire. They were both
overcome with amcke
Sorennon w«« inkw
flees of Dr K. B. Whitney.
The Victoria Is bjr the
Alaska Steamship Co., »nd plie* be
tween Seattle and Alaska.
She had broocht a < argo of coal
from Brltlah Columbia.
Company off:cjiis *ald little dam
age had been done to the ahlp aa
far as they could learn. They be
lieve that a gas i>ocket formed In
the canto.
MUTINY? NO, THIEF
SAN FRANC IBCO, Feb 21—Po
lice thought there must be a
mutiny aboard the S. S. Fairhaven
when she put Into port with police
signal* flying It Just a caa«
of the negro cook losing hi* watch.
MAYOR MITCHEL
STRONG FOR TANGO
NEW YORK. Feb. 21.—
Mayor Mltchel is a tango en
thusiast. Built a la Vernon
Castle, he succeeds in putting
some tang into his tango, too.
|fectlv happy."
The prince is 35 and his wife 42.
She has been married four times.
B.ith sides agree that the dispar
ity In their age« caused their e«*
trangement and led to the prince's
affection for Yvonne.
Attorneys intend to introduce a
; number of the "honey darling" let
ter* the prince's wife wrote him.
telling of her angul«h at surrender
ing Yvonne to him "to love and
i cherish forever "
Yvonne, guarded by a nurse, and
half burled in a big fur roat. was
' rresein to bear the testimony. |
Today brought news that the HTC Vive will be dropping in price from $799 down to $599, slashing $200 off the cost of the SteamVR headset. It’s a tempting offer, though you might worry that your purchase will soon be outdated by a new version of the headset. HTC says that won’t be happening this year.
The company confirmed as much to UploadVR following the announcement earlier today. Patrick Seybold, Vice President of Communications told us that there would be no new PC-based Vive coming this year. In this morning’s announcement, Dan O’Brien, General Manager for HTC Vive in the Americas, had assured that the cut was “not to clear inventory or set the stage for something else,” but now we know for sure there won’t be a hardware update in 2017.
We can’t speak for 2018 and beyond, of course. HTC is likely to release a successor to the Vive, updating core features at some point down the road but the company isn’t offering any hints as to when that might be.
That said, the Vive isn’t destined to be the only VR headset to use SteamVR tracking technology; we’ve already seen an early prototype of LG’s own headset that uses Valve’s platform, and there are likely others in the works too. When these devices will launch, how much they will cost and how they’ll stack up to the Vive are three key questions to consider, especially with SteamVR’s updated base stations and Knuckles controllers on the horizon. It could be that a competitor launches a superior headset with these new additions in the near future.
While there won’t be a new PC-based Vive this year, don’t forget that HTC will be releasing a standalone Vive headset that doesn’t require a PC or mobile phone and utilizes Google’s Daydream platform. That’s expected to hit at some point within the last four months of 2017. The standalone looks like it will run mobile VR software, however, and differ considerably in capabilities from its PC-based counterpart. |
We believe a truly great creative tool cannot be designed in secret; it must be designed in open dialog with creators.
World's First Collaborative Video Editor
The past year we’ve built the foundations for a video editor that will allow you to do real-time collaborative editing with other artists, even if they're across the world. Artists are asking for this, and we're listening.
A Modern Professional Editor
In addition to being collaborative, we're building a thoroughly modern editor:
Designed from the ground up for HDSLR cameras
Can use local computers and cloud for storage and rendering
rendering Support for 64-bit, 32-bit, and ARM
Designed with Storytellers for Storytellers
We have a laser focus on helping those artists who right now are leveraging HDSLR cameras to tell wonderful stories, with amazing production quality, and are doing so on shoe string budgets.
So the past year we've been talking with these artists, learning as much as we can. This has been distilled in the Novacut editor UX design.
Our strong leadership and willingness to make opinionated decisions about what we're not going to do is extremely important, otherwise we'd end up with this:
A $300 Ticket to the Future
We're nearly done with hardest part of our collaborative editor (dealing with files). And that means we're close to having a tool that can do honest-to-god real-time collaborative video editing. By our count, this will be a world-first.
We'd like you to be one of the first 100 people in the world to experience collaborative editing. So if you've got $299.99 burning a hole in your pocket for some reason, you can help us deliver the future, plus make sure you're first in line to try it.
If we meet our funding goal, we're confident we can deliver ground breaking collaborative editing, although likely with just a few of our planned editing features implemented. But we're in this for the long haul, and should this project blow up in the press, that means we can charge full steam ahead for that much longer before needing to stop and scramble for money again.
It's about Trust
Storytellers must take big risks to follow their dreams, so the last thing they need is uncertainty from their creative tools. We think it's only fair that we continually earn your trust. Here are some promises we take very seriously:
Your edits are priceless and we will maintain backward compatibility forever
Our roadmaps will be published, our process transparent
We'll ask you what you need, and we'll listen when you tell us
you what you need, and we'll when you tell us Our editor will always be free and open source software
Questions or comments? Chat us up on Twitter, Facebook, or IRC, and please join our Vimeo group. We're listening.
Oh, and you have no idea how obsessed we are with multicam... this feature will land very early in Novacut.
Please see this wiki page for our UX designs, code, and information on getting involved with the Novacut design and development efforts.
Credits
Novacut brand identity design by IZO
Blender animation by David Jordan
Narration by James Raymond
Cloud timelapse by Nathan DeRose
Sintel character model by Blender Foundation
Extreme Swiss Army Knife by _tnz
Testimonials
Don't just take our word for it!
Christie Strong, editor and filmmaker:
Novacut is not just a video editor, it's a revolution. An open source, collaborative, cloud-enabled platform that is created by artists for artists. The ambitiousness of the project, the passion of it's team and their commitment to the filmmaking community inspires me. They are thinking about the entire pre- to post-production pipeline and designing tools that empower storytellers and support the creative process from the ground up. If this is the future of filmmaking, sign me up!
Hanna Sköld, writer and filmmaker:
As a filmmaker and artist I'm always searching for ways to meet and collaborate with as many people as possible, because I believe that sharing stories and creating together will make the world a better place. Novacut is something brand new, and will open up the possibilities to work collaboratively with people from all over the world, using an easy workflow. I'm looking very much forward to this! Please support them, and let's meet later on at Novacut!
Ian 'IZO' Cylkowski, designer of Novacut brand identity:
As a brand identity designer who uses open-source software to aid in my design developments, I offered my design skills to any open-source project that required a full and comprehensive identity design. A commenter on my blog kindly alerted me to the Novacut project, a young team looking to develop a design-focused FOSS, distributed-model pro video editor and direct-to-fan venue. I was immediately intrigued that the Novacut project are very keen on developing very design-focused software as, in my experience, good design doesn't often feature in open-source projects. Not only that, but soon after my initial talks with the Novacut team, it became very clear that they were all extremely ambitious and were very much looking at nothing less than permanently changing the way people produce, distribute, fund and consume movies and TV. Knowing that these guys were fully committed to their vision, it was a no-brainer to contribute my design skills to the project pro bono. I wish them the best of luck. |
The Tor Project is working with Princeton University boffins to try and identify possibly malicious nodes, and prevent them from harvesting traffic by gaming its node reputation system.
Tor's reputation services collect flags from relays, from which they assess and publish (hourly) the reputation of relays, but the researchers from Princeton and the Tor project believe the network isn't sufficiently protected against “Sybil attacks”.
In a Sybil attack (named after the Flora Schreiber novel about dissociative identity disorder), a single individual controls multiple accounts to game a reputation system. In the case of Tor, gaming the system would let an attacker attract traffic to nodes they control – and that gives the attacker more traffic to observe (for example, to try and de-anonymise users).
Tor already tries to remove malicious Sybils from the network (not all of them are attackers), but a false positive is costly, because it removes bandwidth from the network. However, the paper (by Princeton and Karlstad University's Philipp Winter, Roya Ensafi and Nick Feamster of Princeton, and the Tor Project's Karsten Loesing) notes that to get rid of dangerous nodes, the network needs ways to identify them.
A miscreant, the authors say, can also use Sybils to snoop on exit traffic (for credential collection), fingerprint Websites users are connecting to, harvest bridge addresses (which undermines Tor's potential to circumvent censorship).
The boffins trained their main tool, called “sybilhunter”, on historical network data about the Tor consensus (that is, the output of its reputation system), and turned up some interesting results, including:
Rewrite Sybils – these hijacked Bitcoin transactions by rewriting their Bitcoin addresses;
Redirect Sybils – these also attacked Bitcoin users, by redirecting them to an impersonation site;
FDCservers Sybils – associated with the CMU deanonymisation research later subpoenaed by the FBI;
Botnets of Sybils – possibly misguided attempts to help drive up usage;
Academic Sybils – they observed the Amazon EC2-hosted nodes operated by Biryukov, Pustogarov, and Weinmann for this 2013 paper; and
The http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/12/27/tor_lizard_squad_sybil_attack/ LizardNSA attack on Tor.
The paper notes that sybilhunter isn't a complete answer to the problem. It can't assess the motivations behind Sybils, and some fingerprints it misses are picked up by other tools, such as Exitmap. So the Tor Project is advised to use “diverse and complimentary tools” to protect the network.
Manual work is needed as well, and can provide important context to distinguish harmless and malicious Sybils: “Sybils that are (i) operated in “bulletproof” Ases, (ii) show signs of not running the Tor reference implementation, or (iii) spoof information in their router descriptor all suggest malicious intent”, they say.
They hope to create a crowd-sourced sybilhunter: “We are also working with The Tor Project on incorporating our techniques in Tor Metrics, a web site that contains network visualisations, which are frequented by numerous volunteers that sometimes report anomalies. By incorporating our techniques, we hope to benefit from “crowd-sourced” Sybil detection.”
The code for sybilhunter is here. ® |
Michael Mauti
Minnesota Vikings inside linebacker Michael Mauti (56) talks with a teammate in the first half of a preseason NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at TCF Bank Stadium Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)
(Ann Heisenfelt)
The New Orleans Saints claimed linebacker Michael Mauti on waivers from the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, according to NFL wire.
The team also added defensive end Obum Gwacham on waivers from the Seattle Seahawks.
The Saints will need to remove two players from their current 53-man roster to add the new players.
Of the players waived by the Saints on Saturday, quarterback Ryan Griffin was claimed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and offensive tackle Bryce Harris by the Atlanta Falcons. Cornerback Stanley Jean-Baptiste, a second-round pick in 2014, went unclaimed and is now a free agent.
Mauti is from Mandeville and played football at Penn State. His father Rich played for the Saints from 1977-1983.
The Vikings drafted Mauti in the seventh round (213th overall). In two years with the Vikings, he played in 15 games and made 16 tackles.
Gwacham was a sixth-round draft pick of the Seattle Seahawks in May out of Oregon State. |
Hi everyone,
We’re back with a selection of answers to your community questions! Please note that in some cases we’ve combined multiple questions into one, and we that have edited some questions for clarity.
As a reminder, we previously suggested a shift in focus in your questions. As development plans are always subject to change, questions about future features will often get vague answers which can be repetitive and sometimes annoying. With that in mind, the development team is more interested in questions about current in-game features or systems, or questions about why development decisions were made. You’re still welcome to ask questions about future features and we’ll continue to answer them where appropriate – just expect the occasional ‘soon.’
We have now opened an official thread for next week’s Q&A, which will stay open until 2pm CDT on July 25th, 2012 (12pm PDT/3pm EDT/8pm BST/9pm CEST/5am AEST). We welcome your questions in that thread and hope you enjoy the answers below.
If you want to discuss any of the answers given, please use this Forum thread!
Chimerashot: The way Campaign gear is set up, some DPS classes have the Armoring with more Endurance instead of their main stat. Can we expect this to change /what was the reasoning behind this?
David Hunt (Systems Designer): It’s an undesired interaction between the distribution of the mods and the move to set bonuses on the armoring. Future gear provides set mods will use the primary stat over Endurance for all DPS classes.
Achyllis: Why don't cool downs all reset on death in PvP?
Austin Peckenpaugh (Senior Designer): Doing this would encourage a couple of things that, so far, we don't necessarily want to encourage. When you take a position from another player or group of players in a Warzone, holding that position is harder when your group's abilities are still cooling down and that isn't the case for the incoming wave of attackers. We entertain this idea every now and then, but we keep arriving at the notion that it would create too much turnover and death zerging, which have historically proven to not be fun.
We also like the tension in the decision of blowing everything to finish someone off in a clutch moment versus acknowledging defeat and coming back in full force. The decision of "going all out" should be a strategic and tactical one rather than a no-brainer that you squeeze in before each death.
Sang: Several months ago class balance changes were made at a smaller and more frequent rate, however, since 1.2 all class balance changes have been made within or around the major game updates (1.2 and 1.3). Will this pattern of class balance changes occurring every few months within the major game updates continue or will we see a return to some more frequent, albeit smaller, changes?
Austin: In the weeks immediately following launch, we had planned and scheduled for as much bug fixing and emergent balancing as possible, and faster class/balance updates were more feasible as a result. Smaller, more frequent class changes proved to have an overall positive impact on the game, so yes, we hope to get back into that kind of rhythm soon.
Esendis: Can we expect some kind of change to the current pve relics? As it stands now the BIS pve relics for many advanced classes are the pvp ones.
Jason Attard (Senior Game Balance Designer): In the long run our intent is to make sure PvP gear is never competitive in end-game PvE situations. Unfortunately, it’s still too early in the design process for us to give an ETA or release any details on what we’re planning for PvP gear.
We currently have no plans to change the PvE relics. In theory the active abilities on the PvE relics do not provide quite as much sustained damage-per-second as a passive relic at the same item level. In practice, when used at the correct time they can deliver a huge amount of damage when you actually need it, and can make you much more effective overall. This is especially true when the relic is paired with powerful cooldowns or burst damage attacks. This is the primary reason we changed the PvP relics into passive relics, as skilled players could wipe out their opponents much more quickly than intended, and nobody likes to be killed before they get a chance to fight back. On the PvE side we decided to keep that extra bit of gameplay, since it helps break up rotations and adds a extra little optimization element to damage dealing in boss fights.
Dyronis: Are there any plans on making Purple, Cyan, White crystals craftable by Artifice?
Jason: We don’t currently have any plans to make those colors craft-able. This might change in the future, but even if we introduce crafting schematics for them we intend for those lightsaber colors (especially White) to remain relatively rare.
Thanks for all of your questions, and thanks to the team for answering them. If you’d like to put forward a question for the next Q&A, please visit this Forum thread! |
Utah’s Wasatch GOP has two chairmen. One of them is named James C. Green. Mr. Green has some big ideas and he decided to share one of those big ideas with the public.
Here’s Mr. Green’s caveman missive:
Equal Pay For Women Has Consequences
Editor: Here's the problem with the Equal Pay bill being considered by the Utah Legislature... Traditionally men have earned more than women in the workplace because they are considered the primary breadwinners for families. They need to make enough to support their families and allow the Mother to remain in the home to raise and nurture the children.
If businesses are forced to pay women the same as male earnings, that means they will have to reduce the pay for the men they employ... simple economics. If that happens, then men will have an even more difficult time earning enough to support their families, which will mean more Mothers will be forced to leave the home (where they may prefer to be) to join the workforce to make up the difference.
And as even more women thus enter the workforce that creates more competition for jobs (even men's jobs) and puts further downward pressure on the pay for all jobs... meaning more and more Mothers will be forced into the workforce. And that is bad for families and thus for all of society.
It's a vicious cycle that only gets worse the more equality of pay is forced upon us. It's a situation of well-meaning intentions, but negative unintended consequences.
We should encourage our Legislators to drop the whole notion. Let the marketplace determine what free-market forces should prevail. It is not the role of government to dictate to businesses what they should pay anyway... either as a Minimum Wage or Equal Pay for men and women.
James C. Green
Wasatch Co. GOP Vice-Chair |
In the latest installment of "American Pravda" from James O'Keefe and 'Project Veritas,' Nick Dudich, Audience Strategy Editor for NYT Video, is caught on camera saying the Times "always" slants news with an anti-Trump bias.
Dudich speaks candidly to an undercover reporter about how his left-wing political bias influences his editorial judgment, and reveals an unusual connection to former FBI Director James Comey, and a strange association with domestic terror group Antifa.
Dudich goes on to explain what he might do, as a journalist, to target President Trump:
"I'd target his businesses, his dumb f*ck of a son, Donald Jr., and Eric... Target that. Get people to boycott going to his hotels. Boycott... So a lot of the Trump brands, if you can ruin the Trump brand and you put pressure on his business and you start investigating his business and you start shutting it down, or they're hacking or other things. He cares about his business more than he cares about being President. He would resign. Or he'd lash out and do something incredibly illegal, which he would have to."
Read more here from 'Project Veritas' |
Former Vice President Joe Biden Joseph (Joe) Robinette BidenBannon: 'Zero' doubt Trump will run for reelection Bernie is back with a bang — but can he hold on to his supporters? Klobuchar backs legalizing marijuana MORE on Wednesday took aim at President Trump Donald John TrumpHouse committee believes it has evidence Trump requested putting ally in charge of Cohen probe: report Vietnamese airline takes steps to open flights to US on sidelines of Trump-Kim summit Manafort's attorneys say he should get less than 10 years in prison MORE for attacking Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten Elizabeth GillibrandWarren Buffett: I would support Bloomberg if he ran for president Warren vows to forgo 'fancy receptions or big money fundraisers' Dem Party chief defends initial response to Smollett incident: 'We acted on the facts as we knew at the time' MORE (D-N.Y.) by saying, among other things, that she "would do anything" for campaign contributions.
"It’s disgusting. I never thought I’d say that about a president," Biden said on "CBS This Morning."
Gillibrand, a vocal advocate for reforming how Congress and the military handle sexual misconduct cases, has called on Trump to resign over the allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
“These women deserve to be heard,” Biden said, adding that "our children are listening."
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"Lightweight Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a total flunky for Chuck Schumer and someone who would come to my office “begging” for campaign contributions not so long ago (and would do anything for them), is now in the ring fighting against Trump," the president tweeted in part the day before Biden's comments.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday pushed back on the claims that it was a sexual reference, saying those who interpreted as such had their minds in the "gutter."
Gillibrand, however, said she interpreted the tweet as a sexual innuendo.
“Well certainly that was how I and many people read it," Gillibrand said Wednesday on NBC's "Today."
"It was certainly just a sexist smear intended to silence me," she continued.
Earlier this week, three of Trump's accusers — Jessica Leeds, Samantha Holvey and Rachel Crooks — banded together and called on Congress to open an investigation into their allegations against Trump, calls supported by scores of congressional Democrats.
The push comes after prominent lawmakers, including Sen. Al Franken Alan (Al) Stuart FrankenVirginia can be better than this Harris off to best start among Dems in race, say strategists, donors Virginia scandals pit Democrats against themselves and their message MORE (D-Minn.) and Rep. John Conyers John James ConyersDemocrats seek cosponsors for new 'Medicare for all' bill Virginia scandals pit Democrats against themselves and their message Women's March plans 'Medicare for All' day of lobbying in DC MORE Jr. (D-Mich.), announced they would be stepping down after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced. |
Marathon, Broadway, and Catacomb: Upcoming D&D Products?
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WotC has been using codenames for its upcoming products for some time, mainly to stop anybody figuring our what's in the pipeline. Those codenames end up as placeholders on bookstores and the like. Eagle-eyed readerspotted some upcoming items on McNally Robinson, a Canadian bookstore's website.The items spotted were a 192-page hardcover accessory codenamed "Marathon" (May 2018); a 256-page hardcover adventure codenamed "Broadway" (September 2018), and another 256-page hardcover adventure codenamed "Catacomb" (November 2018). There's also a set of "Broadway" dice Past codenames have included "Labyrinth", which turned out to be Tomb of Annihilation, and "Dust", "Midway", "Cloak", and "Dagger".Let the speculation begin!By Rpg Team WizardsISBN: 9780786966240format: Hardcoverseries: D&D Accessorypages: 192publisher: Wizards of the Coastpub. date: 2018-05-29By Rpg Team WizardsISBN: 9780786966288format: Gameseries: D&D Accessorypages: n/apublisher: Wizards of the Coastpub. date: 2018-09-18By Rpg Team WizardsISBN: 9780786966257format: Hardcoverseries: D&D Adventurepages: 256publisher: Wizards of the Coastpub. date: 2018-09-18By Rpg Team WizardsISBN: 9780786966264format: Hardcoverseries: D&D Adventurepages: 256publisher: Wizards of the Coastpub. date: 2018-11-20 |
On his blog today, British Cycling president Brian Cookson confirmed that there will be a women’s stage race in the UK in 2014. Guy Elliott of SweetSpot is the man driving forward the initiative to bring a world-class women’s tour to the UK. He told us of his ambitions for the event and where the planning and preparation currently stands.
“There’s not a great deal to tell you,” says Guy Elliott over the phone from SweetSpot Group’s HQ in Weybridge, Surrey, and then goes on to talk enthusiastically for almost 30 minutes about his plans for a five-day women’s race in May 2014 and the likely shape and philosophy of the race.
What’s in a name?
The race will simply be called The Women’s Tour, says Elliot. It won’t be the Women’s Tour of Britain because British Cycling owns the rights to the name of the men’s tour, and the race he’s planning “is not a tour of Britain yet, but our ambition is to move it up to be a Tour of Britain.”
What Elliot and SweetSpot Group have in mind for the race’s first year, though, is a five-day event in East Anglia and the East Midlands. The vital element they believe they can bring is TV coverage.
“We have already been in discussion with TV and we are confident of having extensive coverage. We don’t want to say which station but we believe that will be a game-changer because we will have daily significant TV coverage.”
With coverage comes the kind of visibility you can sell to sponsors and to local councils hungry to make a favourable impression.
Receptive local authorities is one of the reasons for heading east, Elliott says. “It’s an area that has not been visited so frequently by the men’s Tour of Britain, but there’s a great appetite for cycling from the local councils. For example we get great support from Colchester for the Tour Series; last year the start of the Tour of Britain was in Ipswich.”
This region should also help keep the race interesting from a sporting point of view.
Elliott says: “We want to make sure that to start with the race is on flattish or undulating courses and in future years we will move towards more hilly region. We don’t want the race to be decided over one mountain with someone having five minutes lead.”
The Merry month of May
Securing a date turned out not to be trivial, says Elliott, because although there are not as many women’s events as there once were, the calendar is still fairly full. SweetSpot has applied to the UCI for one of two slots in May.
“It’ll be five days, starting on a Wednesday and finishing on a Sunday. We’re exploring whether we have a prologue and four stages but realistically we think we’ll have five stages. To make it cost-effective and attractive for councils you want to start in one town and finish in another,” he says.
Why a separate race?
If it’s that hard to find a standalone slot, why not just bolt it on to the men’s Tour of Britain?
The answer is a combination of logistics and philosophy.
“I’ve been talking to Emma Pooley and we’re very supportive of her agenda to push women’s sport forward, but the first thing you need to recognise is that in the UK we have a very different cycling environment from the Tour de France,” says Elliott.
“For the Tour the roads close at least three hours before the race, and you have an environment where the public totally expects it. Every junction has a gendarme and people sitting by the side of the road, so you have effectively a sterile area where it may be possible to put on a women’s race. I don’t want to comment further on the Tour de France logistics though.
“In England we are operating a rolling road closure in a 20-minute bubble. To make that work we use every single resource at our disposal, every single police motorbike and national escort group motorbike just to run the men’s stage. It would just be physically impossible to put a women’s race an hour ahead of that.
“When we run the Women’s tour there will 100 riders and that means a race entourage of 400 people, so just that means it would be impossible for us to do [a combined race] in England.”
Women not second best
But it’s not just about the dull but vital logistics of support motorbikes and road closures. Elliott believes that a standalone race gives the chance to showcase women’s cycling as a great event in its own right.
“When you look at women’s sport, from the minute women enter adolescence they are treated as second best. So you have Wimbledon and the women’s final is on the Saturday. One of the agendas we want to wrap around our Women’s Tour is that they’re not second best so they should be treated in their own right as athletes.
“We want to run a separate women’s tour, one for logistics reasons, but two we think we should create our own package around women having their own event.”
Elliott says that philosophy has gone down well with the riders he has spoken to.
Four-star hotels and podium hoopla
“We have been told by all the women in the peloton, that if we’re televised, which we will be, if we offer a good prize list, but more importantly if we run a race where they are treated as proper athletes, with finishes in town centres not in out of town areas, they will come over.”
“I went to a Dutch race where I was sitting in the town centre and you wouldn’t have known there was a UCI stage race going on, and 2km outside the town the women’s race finished. They stay in very low grade hotels or bed and breakfasts. We are going to finish in town centres; we are going to pay equal prize money to the equivalent men’s race; we’re going to put them in four-star hotels and surround them with the same number of motorbikes.
“All the towns, all the flashy podium presentations will be geared around the women’s race and not the women just turning up before the main event arrives.”
Independent race sponsorship
A third reason is that getting financial support for a standalone race is a better sell.
“To run the women’s race over five days our budget is something £1.5 million. To raise that from sponsors we need to sell them the fact that this is something unique and game-changing. We’re going to surround it with a women’s sport festival, get the riders to engage with local schools, and things like that.
“That’s what’s turning on all the councils and potential sponsors. If you said ‘we are going to run them an hour ahead of the men’s race’ we’d struggle to get that support.”
You get the sense that Guy Elliott is a man used to keeping lots of plates spinning at once, dealing as he is with the UCI, numerous possible start and finish towns, the athletes he plans to bring and the TV companies that will be vital to the event’s success.
But it if all comes together, it could be a heck of a show.
“We are planning to take each stage to an old-fashioned county and give each stage its own theme around the county, like Cambridge with the spires and punting on the Cam and so package the race for TV.”
And that TV coverage won’t just focus on the race. Just as Tour de France coverage has elements of a three-week tourism slot for France and its regions, so the coverage of the Women’s Tour will reflect the host towns, but also the characters and stories of the riders themselves.
“Our plan is to get an hour’s TV coverage each day,” says Elliott. “20-30 minutes of that might be focussing on the riders and their stories, what goes on behind the scenes, how to get into the sport and maybe 30 minutes on the actual racing.
“There are wider stories around this race, like Lucy Garner having gone to Holland aged 18 to be a pro cyclist, and how her boyfriend is a cycling champion too. There are some very attractive things for TV.” |
SILICON VALLEY -- Apple will likely take three years between full-model changes of its iPhone devices, a year longer than the current cycle. In a typical two-year term, fall 2016 was supposed to see a major upgrade. But the changes on the model to be launched this autumn will be minor, such as improved camera quality.
The move is largely due to smartphone functions having little room left for major enhancements. A slowing market is another factor.
Less frequent redesigns will significantly affect large-lot suppliers in Japan, Taiwan and other parts of Asia because of their heavy reliance on iPhone manufacturing.
The new version slated for this autumn will look almost identical to the current iPhone 6. Functions such as the camera, water resistance and battery capacity will likely be improved, and the headphone jack will be removed. Also, a high-end version of the model will give users better-quality photo capabilities via correction functions.
Apple sold some 230 million handsets in 2015, but unit sales will likely be less this year. According to Apple's production schedules provided to suppliers, the company is not expecting to sell more iPhones than last year.
On the other hand, the 2017 model will likely involve major enhancements and design changes, including adoption of an organic electroluminescent display. The new device will also be able to create more complex tactile vibrations on the display because of a tiny, but high-performance motor equipped inside.
(Nikkei) |
If you thought the scandal between Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling and his estranged girlfriend V. Stiviano couldn't get sleazier, guess again.
Now the conflicts between Sterling and Stiviano have been turned into a scene for CuckoldSessions.com, a porn website specializing in videos where white men are forced to watch their girlfriends have sex with African-American men.
The video features Raven Bay as Stiviano and Nina Hartley as Shelly Sterling as they connive to get even with the controversial billionaire.
Stiviano lures Sterling to a sleazy motel for sex, but the billionaire doesn't get hot sex.
Instead, she and Shelly Sterling have sex with a black basketball player while Donald Sterling is forced to watch.
Billy Watson, the scene's director, told HuffPost Weird that the idea of a porn parody came up shortly after TMZ published the recorded conversations between Stiviano and Sterling.
"I listened to that tape and thought, 'This guy is a cuckold. He gets off on his girl getting it on with other guys,'" Watson said. "Maybe [our version] is a documentary."
To play Sterling, Watson cast James Bartholet, an actor who has appeared in mainstream TV shows like General Hospital and the 1980s teen sex comedy "Last American Virgin" as well as various porn parodies.
Even though filming the scene took about six hours, Bartholet prepared for the role in advance by watching videos of Sterling in hopes of matching his voice, his walk and his look.
"To be honest, the wig helped," he told HuffPost. "Once I got that, I worked my way into the character. I had to make him real, three-dimensional and, I don't want to say likeable, but tolerable."
Videos and photos can only go so far, he admits.
"There was nothing on the Internet on how he looks or sounds during sex," Bartholet said. "So I had to figure out how he would orgasm."
Bartholet also pushed Hartley and Bay to really humiliate him.
"'Don't be afraid to abuse me,' I said. 'It will help the character,'" Bartholet said.
Bay had her own challenges in playing Stiviano. While Bay came to the set in an outfit similar to one of Stiviano's, it needed a little something extra.
"Right before one scene, James told me, 'You have to put on more jewelry. You have to remember: It's not you anymore,'" Bay told HuffPost.
All the actors supplied their own wardrobe, but Jovan Jordan, the actor who played the basketball player, got especially lucky.
Major corporations, like the NBA, frown on their logos appearing in porn films. However, because the Los Angeles Clippers chose to wear their shirts inside out before one playoff game, it made it easy for the 6-foot-6-inch actor to look authentic.
Watson is happy with the final result, but admits it still pales compared to the real-life Sterling scandal.
"This thing has been so skeevy that maybe it's the one time when porn couldn't make it sleazier," he said.
The (barely) SFW trailer appears below.
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The Clinton campaign has a little rocket booster that's probably kept stored in a small case near the entrance to its Brooklyn headquarters. It's labeled "Joe Biden backers," and as soon as the vice president announces that he doesn't plan to run for president -- assuming he doesn't, of course -- Team Clinton can break it out, fire it up, and widen the lead over Bernie Sanders by another couple of points.
It's actually good news for Sanders that this is even worth talking about. Three months ago, a jolt of five percentage points or so was like inheriting a framed photo of your great aunt along with her $20 million estate: certainly nice, but not what you're focused on. Now, with Sanders still apparently building support and solidifying the backing of those who once favored Elizabeth Warren, a few more percentage points seems like it might make a bit more of a difference.
Two recent polls, one from The Post/ABC News and one from Fox News, show that a Democratic field without Biden would mean a lot more for Hillary Clinton than Sanders.
In the Post/ABC poll, Clinton gains a net three points. In the Fox poll, it's plus-seven.
Margins of error apply, of course, but there's reason to think that this is what will happen once you dive into the numbers.
In the Fox poll, Biden backers looked a lot more like Clinton ones: More heavily non-white, more heavily without a college degree, and more heavily with lower incomes. As our own Chris Cillizza wrote earlier Thursday, there is considerably more overlap between establishment-oriented candidates like Biden and Clinton than between Biden and his former Senate colleague.
That mirrors what the Post/ABC poll found when it asked Biden backers where they were going. More than two-thirds said Clinton was their second choice -- but more heavily among the groups listed above.
All that needs to happen for those backers to switch their allegiances is for Biden, once and for all, to make up his mind if he's going to run. Clinton probably has a staffer positioned next to the rocket booster case, ready to break the glass at a moment's notice. |
Hi-Point Firearms , also known as Strassell's Machine, Inc (distributed by MKS Supply ), is an American firearms manufacturer based in Mansfield , Ohio . All of their firearms are manufactured in the United States, in several different locations in Ohio.
Pistols Edit
A Hi-Point JCP pistol
Hi-Point semi-automatic pistols are polymer framed and generally regarded as simple, inexpensive handguns, which trade-off aesthetics for lower manufacturing cost. Based on a simple blowback design, Hi-Point pistols do not have a breech-locking system like most handguns. Instead they have large, heavy slides that hold the breech closed through sheer mass. The result is a heavier gun, for its size, that is bulkier and may be less aesthetically appealing than designs employing recoil operation. While making the pistols heavier, this design also makes them mechanically simple and easy to maintain. Hi-Point recommends hosing out the action with a powder solvent like Break Free Powder Blast, Rem Oil or another aerosol solvent every 300 to 400 rounds, then running a cleaning brush through the bore.
Many semi-automatic pistols can be field stripped without the use of any tools. However, Hi-Point pistols require a small punch or a small screwdriver and a hammer to remove a pin in the receiver, in order to permit slide removal (and thus enable field-stripping).
The slide is die cast from a zinc-family alloy that includes aluminum, magnesium, and copper and is called Zamak-3 (popularly referred to as pot metal or white metal) rather than machined from forged steel. When asked why die-casting was chosen as a manufacturing technique, a Hi-Point representative responded, "In the area of Ohio where we are located, there are many shops that specialize in die casting for the auto industry. We utilize this resource."[1] Uncommon for this construction, they are rated for +P ammunition in calibers up to .45 ACP. Blowback designs are generally simpler in design and easier and cheaper to manufacture than locked-breech recoil-operated firearms. Though the fixed barrel of a blowback gun generally will contribute to improved accuracy, blowback guns often are larger and heavier for a given caliber.
Carbines Edit
The Hi-Point carbine is a series of pistol-caliber carbines manufactured by Hi-Point Firearms chambered, for 9×19mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, 10mm Auto, .45 ACP and .380 ACP handgun cartridges. They are very inexpensive, constructed using polymers and alloyed metals as much as possible, resulting in a reduction of production costs and sale price. It functions via a simple direct blowback action. Hi-Point carbines use a polymer stock, stamped sheet metal receiver cover, and a receiver and bolt cast from Zamak-3. The barrel is steel and button rifled using a 1-10" right hand twist.
Reputation Edit
Hi-Point carbines have a generally better overall reputation than the pistol line, although the pistol line has been gaining popularity as of late, and are fairly popular with budget-minded firearms enthusiasts.[2]
Use of zinc alloy Edit
Some people are wary of Hi-Points because of the use of zinc alloy (Zamak-3) castings in much of their construction. However, parts made from Zamak-3 in Hi-Point guns (the receiver and bolt/slide) are low-stress components that do not require the strength of steel. Higher stress components in Hi-Points, like the barrel, chamber, breech and other small parts, are made of steel. |
Canada's Kount and London's James Gent link up to drop off "The Sum" via BLVNT Records . While it is an instrumental track, it's just dripping with soul and speaks to me more than most lyrical laden songs do these days. It begins with some flighty plucks of the guitar accompanied by exploratory strokes of the ivories before erupting into a smorgasbord of only the grooviest synths backed by dense, clean drums falling in a classic hip hop pattern. The ghostly vocals elevate the tracks potential to evoke longing, but it feels like a more self-assured longing than a desperate one. It seems to be acknowledging a sense of seclusion while also inspiring hope for salvation from that seclusion. You can stream the track below or, if you feel so inspired, you can name your own price and get the download over at Bandcamp |
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Don’t think of the white bear.
If you’re like most people, you are now probably sitting in front of your computer screen or phone doing exactly what you were just instructed not to do — thinking of a white bear. In fact, you are probably fixating on the white bear. Certainly, if you weren’t thinking of the white bear before, you are now.
This laser-like focus on the exact idea I instructed you to block out results from what researchers refer to as the ironic process theory, or more simply, the white bear effect. In a seminal research study, participants were asked to verbalize their stream of consciousness and not think about a white bear. Despite these explicit instructions, not only did participants have difficulty suppressing thoughts of the forbidden white bear, but the white bear surfaced with an unusually high frequency.1 This idea relates to relationships as well. After breaking up with a significant other, you may make a conscious effort to avoid thinking about him/her. However, in doing that, you wind up focusing on your ex, which is exactly what you intended not to do in the first place.
A breakup can be an incredibly painful experience. Even if you are emotionally detached from your partner by the time you break up, you loved him/her at one point, and ending the relationship will typically cause you to experience a sense of loss. Importantly, there are many variables than can affect the amount of emotional distress you experience due to this loss, such as the quality and length of the newly ended relationship, as well as how you perceived that relationship.2 For example, if you two were friends before becoming romantically involved, the loss of the relationship will be much more difficult to deal with.
So how can we forget about our ex and why do we care about white bears?
Basically, do not force yourself to avoid thinking about your ex, lest you fall prey to the classic white bear effect. While it is easy to get rid of tangible items, such as a gift or his/her sweatshirt, thoughts are more challenging to remove. If you make the conscious decision to not think about your ex, your former significant other is likely to invade your thoughts. It is best to keep busy and naturally distract yourself with other, more pleasant thoughts. More concretely, Wegner suggests several therapeutic ideas for “setting the bears free” 3 which are listed below, many of which may come in handy as you work on recovering from that prior relationship you just can’t seem to forget about (no matter how hard you try). Some of the recommendations are contradictory to one another, because the techniques that work best vary from person to person.
Focused distraction – Think of something else, such as a hobby or activity that you enjoy doing when your ex comes to mind. This will help by shifting focus to areas that may enable you cope with the break-up.
Think of something else, such as a hobby or activity that you enjoy doing when your ex comes to mind. This will help by shifting focus to areas that may enable you cope with the break-up. Stress and load avoidance – Stress hinders your ability to suppress the unwanted thoughts. Try to avoid stressful situations if at all possible, especially situations in which your ex is likely to be present.
Stress hinders your ability to suppress the unwanted thoughts. Try to avoid stressful situations if at all possible, especially situations in which your ex is likely to be present. Thought postponement – It is easier to put off thinking about something on a temporary basis. Being overly ambitious and permanently suppressing a thought is likely to lead to failure. 3 So focus on avoiding your ex’s social media accounts for a few days at a time, rather than permanently. This is much more manageable.
It is easier to put off thinking about something on a temporary basis. Being overly ambitious and permanently suppressing a thought is likely to lead to failure. So focus on avoiding your ex’s social media accounts for a few days at a time, rather than permanently. This is much more manageable. Acceptance and commitment – This approach offers “…strategies for reducing the emotional impact of the thought by changing perspectives or adopting special approaches to the thought in the attempt to neutralize its affective charge.” 3 Here, you don’t force yourself to not think about your ex, but rather train yourself to handle these thoughts in a more effective way.
In closing, Wegner notes, “Many of these strategies entail thinking about and accepting unwanted thoughts rather than suppressing them—and so, setting free the bears.”3 So, go ahead, think about your ex, and in doing so, set him/her free.
1Wegner, D. M., Schneider, D. J., Carter, S., & White, L. (1987). Paradoxical effects of thought suppression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 5–13.
2Sprecher, S., Felmlee, D., Metts, S., Fehr, B., & Vanni, D. (1998). Factors associated with distress following the breakup of a close relationship. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 15(6), 791-809.
3Wegner, D.M. (2011). Setting free the bears: Escape from thought suppression. American Psychologist, 66(8), 671-680.
Dr. Marisa Cohen
Marisa, along with a colleague at St. Francis College, founded the Self-Awareness and Bonding Lab (SABL) in Fall 2014. Research has focused on the development of relationships throughout the life span, including factors influencing mate choice and peoples’ perceptions of what makes relationships survive and thrive. Her specific focus is on how various relationship configurations impact the satisfaction derived from them. |
The librarian of Congress, James H. Billington, has made a smart decision to retire. Now the focus will be on his legacy and his prescient decision, decades ago, to usher the library into the digital age. Rumors of dysfunction in top circles will fade, as will growing concerns about whether the 86-year-old, who has seemed to falter in some recent public appearances, is up to the job. The last responsibility of anyone who holds a lifetime office is to know when to leave, and Billington, who has served the library for 27 years, can now leave graciously.
Library insiders said Billington, who was appointed by Ronald Reagan, was reluctant to depart while a Democratic president was in office. His concern is reasonable. President Obama’s administration has a bumpy record when it comes to culture writ large. Obama allowed the top leadership positions at the major endowments, including the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, to sit unfilled for unconscionably long periods. An early top staff appointment to the NEA, Yosi Sergant, attempted to politicize the agency’s agenda. In 2013, the president elevated Bruce Cole, a divisive and obstructionist figure who led the NEH during the George W. Bush administration, to the commission overseeing the Eisenhower Memorial, greatly complicating its completion. And one of his last acts — still under consideration — may be his most irresponsible: the destruction of historic public parkland in Chicago to build a presidential library. This indifference to the public realm, this unwillingness to grasp the levers of culture as one of the essential tools of office, suggests that Obama is no Jack Kennedy. He isn’t even George W. Bush.
It will be overwhelmingly tempting to appoint a hack, as has become shamefully commonplace with Obama’s politically motivated diplomatic appointments. The administration should look dispassionately to Billington’s tenure before nominating his replacement, including everything he has accomplished and the many things that have fallen by the wayside in the past few years. A recent government report indicates that although Billington was at the forefront of digitizing library collections years ago, the library hasn’t kept up with technology and desperately needs new oversight in that department.
But Billington was a scholar and an intellectual, and he positioned the library not just as a repository of information but also as a locus of debate and cultural exchange. If there has been mismanagement at the library in recent years, it is not because of Billington’s status as a thinker but more likely his temperament as a leader. The library’s next head should have the intellectual gravitas to compete on the world stage.
One might say: “Then look to this country’s major universities and appoint an academic administrator.” But our universities are in disarray, egregiously overpriced and interested only in organizational expansion, not in communities of learning or the humanities. The ideal of service has been bled out of American higher education, and the words “university president” now mean merely “effective fundraiser.” Their failure to make college affordable is an intellectual and civic disgrace and disqualifies most of them from consideration.
There may be city librarians out there who can lead the library forward, perhaps one or two. But it would be a mistake to elevate someone from the library world merely for having demonstrated success at rising through the bureaucratic ranks. A city librarian might be able to manage the budget and repair relations with library staff. Very likely, that same figure would be skilled at carrying on Billington’s admirable effort to open the library up to new users through online access. But that is insufficiently ambitious for the nation’s greatest archive.
Where should the library be today? Perhaps where Google already is, at least in this respect: Isn’t it odd that the nation’s most august library plays such an insignificant role in giving people deep online access to books? No one looking for a citation, or searching for a fact, or seeking to download a text wastes time with the Library of Congress’s Web site, which is great for idly surfing for pictures and placing requests for material in the reading rooms. But it isn’t a portal for scholarship.
It should be. Every word on every page of every public-domain book sitting in the Library of Congress should be available online. That’s a lot to ask, but why ask for less?
So perhaps interest will shift to someone from Silicon Valley, which is a chilling thought. Again, as with the ranks of city librarians, there may be serious intellectual leaders among our new technocratic elites, but they are increasingly encumbered with a lamentable legacy of social dissolution. They gibber endlessly about innovation while dismantling the social contract; they fetishize disruption as if that were an end in itself. It would be a tragedy for the library if its leader were primarily interested in change without regard to improvement, and in efficiency without deference to tradition. Silicon Valley is in its barbaric adolescence, and the library needs a civilized, mature and compassionate steward.
Walk its halls, spend time in its reading rooms. The library is a rare remnant of an earlier version of the American social compact, serving Congress without regard to partisan passion, open and available to ordinary citizens for research and enlightenment, no matter one’s institutional affiliation, educational achievement or social status. On the personal and national level, it is an organ of self-improvement. Its staff is second to none when it comes to service. A search engine is capable of many things, but it will never walk over to your reading desk and say with curmudgeonly impatience: “You didn’t request this, but perhaps it will be of use.”
So Billington was properly chary of what will follow his retirement on Jan. 1. A great institution, which has had only 13 leaders since it was established in 1800, is ready for and desperately in need of change. But it also needs continuity and protection. Whoever is chosen for the post must be deeply accomplished, intellectually renowned, conversant in poetry, music, history, literature and the classics, and intimately familiar with the past and future of library science. But they must also be able to say these words with sincerity: “I love the Library of Congress.” |
As “Freedom and Whisky” is such a female-centric episode, it isn’t surprising that Outlander’s fifth segment of its third season, already full of anxiety and anticipation, focuses on its female characters struggling both internally and externally with their own sense of worth and identity. Reflecting the tendency most women have to question whether they are worthy of the choices they have fought for or are presented with, regardless of work or accomplishment, writer Toni Graphia’s textured and thoughtful script leads each to the ultimate question of “Am I enough? Am I worth all the work and risk and sacrifice?” Even today, Helen Mirren and L’Oreal must remind us that “We’re still worth it” after forty-four years.
When we first see Claire, she is performing surgery in an operating theater, a tightly shot scene emphasizing the tiny vacuum in which she can feel in complete control of her staff and patient. Assisting her is Dr. Abernathy, who gently but firmly debates her decision to probe the patient’s abdominal cavity further for necrosis. As a surgeon, her success depends as much on feeling as seeing, and even a perilous point in the surgery, Claire’s confidence emanates through her fingers navigating the slippery innards for abnormalities.
Unlike Frank, who thrived in the world of students and academia, Claire’s career has been a more intrapersonal journey of careful, structured steps towards self-initiated goals in a controlled environment. In a way, even though she may not have been the most available mother, time-wise, her professional trajectory has often mirrored her daughter’s educational journey through grade school, both women unafraid to enter realms usually dominated by men at the time: Claire with her surgical work, Brianna with her studies at Harvard and outdoor skills as seen in photographs. Though they had their differences and struggled to have a close, honest relationship through Brianna’s teenage years, both mother and daughter possessed a tenacious, stubborn temperament and an almost unsettled sense of place in the world that keeps them always striving for answers. As Brianna enters young adulthood, so does she struggle with a sense of home and family, as Claire did but for different reasons, further exemplifying why she is, utmost, her mother’s daughter. As she tells Claire late in the episode, she had been wondering if she was more Randall or Fraser, ultimately realizing that she was “more you” – not in looks or experiences as much as how both women face their own distinct journeys in life. In that respect, they more closely resemble each other than if they were physically identical.
When we first see Brianna, she is listening to her history professor’s lecture about the commonly accepted tale of Paul Revere in history, which attributed more heroics and praise to the patriot than was actually due. The difference in Revere and the other men he rode with, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott, according to the professor, was that the former “had a better publicist.” It may not be the world’s oldest profession, but public relations has been one of the most important since the advent of writing, and whoever controls the creation and distribution of information holds sway over public perception. With the Gutenberg press around 1440 came wider and easier mass publication, but whoever decided to print what and why were largely subjective; even 400 years later, women still had to adopt male pseudonyms to get published. Historical accounts of notable persons or events vary depending on the research, opinions, politics, allegiances, and style of the author. It is often up to the reader to discern “fictional prose” from reality with a critical eye and the ability and desire to dig beneath the surface. Graphia directly ties the classroom scene to Brianna’s crisis of faith in and self-image as the reality she had accepted is suddenly dismantled by discovering, as all children do, that her mother had a life before her. For most of us, it is jarring enough to get to that age where our parents feel comfortable sharing stories of the mayhem of youth, but for Brianna, her revelation comes with the realization that, like her mother, she is also an Other, at once inside and outside her world, a lonely position for one so young. It’s like taking the red pill but remaining in a society firmly entrenched in the Matrix, and the transition back to life in Boston is no longer like returning home.
Fortunately, Claire has a friend in Joe Abernathy, who is an Other in his own life as an African-American professional in the medical field. He knows what it is like to be simultaneously inside and outside the establishment, to work twice as hard for half the recognition, to fight to be treated equally. The connection they share both as colleagues and friends is to recognize the precious opportunity to choose one’s path; as Claire tells Joe of her past love in Scotland with whom she had hoped to reconnect, he counters by demanding she take charge of the situation. “Fuck fate,” he bluntly says, and he’s right. Neither of them reached their personal milestones through chance, but by the careful choices they made and the work they put in.
Brianna’s friendship with Roger Wakefield also deepens through their unstable family histories. To borrow a phrase on the history professor’s chalkboard, both have backgrounds like a “fragmented kaleidoscope,” with Roger knowing only pieces of his birth parents’ lives and still grieving his adopted father and Brianna learning her real father is of another time and is still alive and that the man she called Daddy was not her blood relative. With the death of the Reverend Wakefield, that desperate fear of the orphan in being alone is brought to the surface, while the death of Frank Randall and existence of James Fraser leave Brianna with a confused sense of identity and worth. Like a kaleidoscope, both Brianna’s and Roger’s self-image and history changes depending on perspective shifts, and she has not had the time to get used to her new reality as he has, thus her feelings are much more sensitive and prickly.
When I saw the inside of the Randall home at Christmas, my initial reaction was that it looked too much like a set dressing. Everything was too matchy-matchy and immaculate like a magazine spread. Then I realized that Jon Gary Steele’s team deliberately made it look that way in reflection of Claire’s type-A personality: the decor is literally everywhere from the refrigerator door to garland around the framed paintings (including the beach scene next to the fireplace!). How many women STILL aspire for their homes to resemble Pottery Barn or Southern Living or Better Homes? In Claire’s case, she wants to give Brianna that sense of home that she never had as a child, but there is that underlying sense of artifice that comes from not truly embracing the house as an extension of self. As Frank said, she was never there. Claire’s office at the hospital is more self-reflective than her living room as it is where her sense of worth is most explicit and confident, and her holiday decorations are pristine and perfect (even the wrapped presents under the tree match) almost to the point of coldness, as if you shouldn’t touch anything.
Two intelligences both mother and daughter share (if you ascribe to Howard Gardner’s theory) are kinesthetic-tactile and spatial, as exhibited in their tendency to 1) investigate through touch and 2) intuitively spot invisible and visible structures. As she has now lived in two different eras, Claire will always see the invisible circuitry that constructs whatever society she is in, and both her personal and professional progress come from navigating that circuitry. As we have seen and heard in her expository voiceovers over the last three seasons, Claire’s childhood explorations with her Uncle Lamb, her experiences as a field medic during World War II, her life in Scotland with Jamie, and her studies and work in medicine have honed her dexterity to the point where she can sense through touch, as when she holds a skull and can tell the original human was murdered because “she felt like it.” Brianna’s isolation at home after her father dies and her mother is immersed in work is seen as she walks through the empty but beautiful rooms at home, pausing only to feel the fabric of Frank’s armchair and hold his pipes, still scented with tobacco. Her isolation at school is seen through failing grades in the semester after Scotland, but it also has enabled her to see “truth” in the architecture of the buildings on campus and the interdependency of materials and laws of physics to form such structures. As she questions the subjectivity of her humanities courses, she finds comfort in the fields where more scientific laws apply.
There is a crucial conversation Brianna and Roger have while walking about the Robinson cloisters at Harvard that illuminates her current life crisis in all its complexity. Roger envisions all the notable people who have trod those stone walkways in past decades and centuries: John Adams, Teddy Roosevelt, John Kennedy. Men who have influenced government and society, who have enriched history books with their career milestones and speeches and writings, whose publicists worked overtime to ensure their biographies were ubiquitous and inspiring. Standing underneath the archways before attending a dedication of a fellowship in Frank Randall’s name, there is one person who is omitted from Roger’s list: Claire, who walked alone into the school with background knowledge from two separate centuries. Brianna is just beginning to realize the extent of her mother’s extraordinary life, and how much she is inevitably like her.
The one scene at Frank’s reception in which his mistress, Professor Travers, confronts Claire about Frank seems to mirror and crystallize Claire’s fear of no longer being enough for Jamie (which she later confesses to Brianna). Though inappropriate and rude, Travers’ condemnation of Claire, who she perceives as selfish and cruel to a husband who still loved her, reveals her sense of inadequacy and inferiority in Frank’s life. No matter how hard she tried, she could not sway him against his family, and she “had to share him” for many years. Of course, to believer her is to assume that Frank could not have left of his own volition, that he was ensnared by a she-devil who manipulated his faculties against his own happiness. Frank was given multiple opportunities to leave, but Brianna was the glue that adhered him to Claire. Sandy faced the difficult choice of staying with a married man over forfeiting love and reclaiming independence, and her jealousy may be more over Claire’s perceived worth to Frank over hers rather than a direct hate of the missus.
As Claire faces the unenviable choice of whether to travel back to the past or stay with Brianna, she unusually places the burden in her daughter’s hands, as if sacrificing her future for her daughter’s wellbeing. If Brianna had told her to stay, she would have stayed. She had already told Roger that she “could have lived the rest of [her] life not knowing.” However, Brianna’s reaction reminded me of a line from the 2002 film Secretary, directed by Steven Shainberg and adapted by Erin Cressida Wilson from the short story “Bad Behavior” by Mary Gaitskill:
“You are the child of God’s holy gift of life. You come from me, but you are not me. Your soul and your body are your own, and yours to do with as you wish.”
Brianna tells Claire, “I love you, but I don’t need you.” Should Claire stay, she would become an increasingly peripheral part in Brianna’s burgeoning adult life; such passivity would eventually wear her down. Even Joe could see she had been living a “half-life” and that incompleteness would become more vivid if she let her time apart from Jamie grow longer. Without knowing it, she has been preparing Brianna for this moment all her life. Both Frank and Claire taught Brianna self-reliance and she has inherited both her mother’s intuition, her birth father’s perseverance, and her adopted father’s inquisitiveness. Moreover, as an adult, she returns her mother’s sacrifice by giving Jamie back to her, even if it means they might never see each other again. The initial anxiety and doubt she had felt at first learning of her true parentage and her mother’s past in the first episode of Season Two comes full circle here as her question of her true worth to all three parents is finally answered. Claire says that she was “the one thing that was truly important to Frank,” and she was the reason that Jamie insisted on Claire going back to the 1940s and that Claire agreed. In essence, Brianna enabled all three adults to go on living.
Once the decision is made for Claire to return, new anxieties spring up: not in how she will survive or make her way to Edinburgh, but whether Jamie will still remember and love her after two decades, and if so, is she worthy of such feelings and the sacrifice of so many years apart? It is a question every woman faces at some point: am I worthy? Regardless of how much we become, there is still that ingrained fear of not being “enough” to everyone in our lives. When Claire asks Joe for his honest opinion of her looks and sexual appeal, it’s because he has seen her at her most vulnerable and most skilled, who can tell she needs to talk without looking at her, and who has probably spent more hours of each day with her than Frank over fifteen years. She isn’t used to asking for male opinions on her looks, and though she is not unattractive by any means, she has that fear of Jamie regarding her aging twenty years in a negative way compared to his memory of her which is frozen in time. The creation of the “Bat Suit” with its hidden pockets and waterproof material is therefore befitting her pragmatic temperament and inner resolve, as Claire must fulfill an intrinsic need to assume her singular existence as a figure both inside and outside society – in some respects, more human than human.
Before she leaves Brianna and Roger behind in Boston, Claire gives her daughter a final gift: not just her grandmother Ellen’s necklace, but a reminder of who she is and the memories contained in the pearls. They are a tangible part of the past that she is not only physically connected to by her conception but also spiritually as well. Roger’s present to Brianna is also connected to her search for her past, as the first sentence she reads aloud – in which Marley’s birth is confirmed by records of his death – connects to the ever-changing lines of history which now include her mother.
The final scene of Claire arriving in Edinburgh is connected through a transitional shot of a puddle, the “fathomless space” from her childhood which also reminded me of the water-horse at Loch Ness in Outlander and the concept of water as a medium of travel between planes and of transformation. Watch as Claire runs her fingers along the sign at A. Malcolm’s print shop and the smooth wood of the banister as she climbs the stairs, her feet solidly pounding each step as if to convince herself that each second continues to be real. The bell in the entryway is doubly loud as if in a vacuum or cave, and when Jamie finally, finally calls out “Is that you, Geordie?” it crackles through the air like lightning through a dark sky. As Claire looks down from the second-floor landing to the press room down below and Jamie Fraser standing with his back to her, it is as if she had jumped into a painting and was slowly watching the scene come alive by candlelight.
Of all the responses after twenty years, hers seems the most befitting of a woman at the end of a long journey in which much was accomplished and lost, a life was built and a child raised, and a mother and daughter both took leaps of faith. “It isn’t Geordie,” she replies, sucking the last of the air from the room as Jamie’s back tenses at her mystical voice, “It’s me, Claire.” With the shop lights forming a halo around her head, she seems almost ethereal as Jamie slowly turns to look up towards the sound. She is the superhero looking down on him. And I am Worthy. No wonder the man faints dead away. |
Bruce Dickinson - Iron Maiden Paul Bruce Dickinson, known professionally as Bruce Dickinson, is an English musician, airline pilot, and broadcaster. He is most well known for being the lead singer in heavy metal band Iron Maiden and his solo career. The legendary vocalist: Bruce Dickinson. Now in his mid-50's and he can still hit those incredible notes in almost every gig he plays. In many of his songs in Iron Maiden, Dickinson has showed his "scream" (most famously in Run to the Hills and Infinite Dreams) which is one of the most impressive vocal displays in metal. Dickinson's the best of this group, but too take this list more seriously, besides Dickinson, and Dio. Where is Robert Plant, Rob Halford, or Axl Rose?. I may have changed my choice if you had included them in the discussion. They are legends and Household names. Dickinson Mr. Air Raid Siren gets the nod here!. Rob Halford is literally number three and Robert Plant (he sucks) and Axl Rose are not even metal singers. - PhoenixAura81 Bruce Dickinson is the Greatest lead singer in the world his range I unbeatable. He is a great guy friends with major people is a singer, musician, songwriter, pilot, fencer, broadcaster, author, actor, marketing director, and certified badass and going to defeat cancer and send cancer to purgatory to deal with Eddie. Up The Irons Bruce Dickinson has definitely earned this spot! And to whoever we are not blind, we see very clearly. Dickinson is a vocal god and performer. And James Hetfield is just a poor wannabe like his group Metallica. V 134 Comments
Ronnie James Dio - Dio Ronnie James Dio (born Ronald James Padavona; July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010) was an American heavy metal singer, songwriter and musician. He fronted and/or founded numerous groups including Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and Heaven & Hell. He is credited with popularizing the "metal horns" hand gesture ...read more. Seeing Dio and Rob Halford not in the top 5 makes this list a complete joke. Dio is one of the greatest metal vocalists in music and has one of the most powerful and phenomenal voices of all time. Wrong Dio doesn't compare to Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Mustaine, or even Phil Anselmo. I can't believe that black sabbath ever even thought about him replacing - Jasonpenner223 "sing me a song your a singer" is the best opening line ever in a song mainly because Dio's voice makes it sound so much better. - wolphert Dio is a legend. He was incredible in Rainbow, when he sang Man on the silver mountain, Gates of Babylon, and Stargazer, Tony Iommi made a good choice for choosing Dio to be the vocalist for Black Sabbath, and he released amazing songs during his solo career. Holy Diver, Rainbow in the Dark, The Last in Line, We Rock, Sacred Heart, and Dream Evil. Dio should be #1 Dio's vocals are effortlessly delivered, just brilliant! V 114 Comments
Rob Halford - Judas Priest Robert John Arthur "Rob" Halford is an English singer and songwriter, who is best known as the lead vocalist for the Grammy Award-winning heavy metal band Judas Priest and famed for his powerful wide ranging operatic voice. It's not even close. come on. Halford is off the charts, then when you get to the charts, Dickinson is next. Just hear the difference between "Beyond the Realms of Death" and then "Painkiller".
Halford can sing with an extraordinarily clean voice, but can scream like no one else can do. He helped create metal, influenced lots of important singers and surely knows how to use his 4 octaves (though he is best at hitting high-pitched notes).
He truly deserves to be #1. The best! Rob Halford is number one. Others are too far away behind him in Metal and Rock Music in general. I love a lot of vocalists like Dio, Bruce Dickinson, Michael Kiske, Geoff Tate, Eric Adams... But no one can beat Halford in many aspects. Tim "Ripper" Owens is number two. Yeah man, you have to be in a popular band to be in the highest position. I understand, because some fans don't know. I believe that voting from professionals who are neutral rather than voting for certain fans who are popular will definitely win.
Rob vocal capabiliy is number one in Metal! V 73 Comments
James Hetfield - Metallica James Alan Hetfield was born on August 3, 1963. He is an American musician, singer and songwriter known for being the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and main songwriter for the American heavy metal band Metallica. How come James is #1 in best metal/rock voices and in the best metal band of all time but he is #5 in metal voices? Still Bruce is second in my opinion still he has a extremely EPIC METAL voice but James is the best. You cannot beat James' metal vocal ability at seattle 1989. It was amazing! A big joke hetfield is at no 6... All the voters are blind.. Hetfield can sing hard medium and soft both like hard in creeping death, master of puppets.. Medium in ride welcome home, enter sandman and slow in unforgiven 2, nothing else matter.. He is best live performer... Metallica is best band of the world and they are god of metal... Hetfield deserve 1st position in this list... He is best vocalist + rhythm guitarist and member of Metallica.. Name of Metallica is enough... The God of Metal is Tony Iommi who invented Metal in fact. Metallica formed ten years later. - Roach I will not rest until this vocal god gets on the top of the list! - PhoenixAura81 V 81 Comments
Corey Taylor - Slipknot Corey Todd Taylor was born in December 8, 1973. He is an American musician, author, and actor best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the Nu-metal band Slipknot and hard rock/alternative metal band Stone Sour. His voice just raise up my spirit! - ShamsulBahriel Corey's scream is as close as you can get without actually yelling and ruining your voice. Given how angry slipknot's music is, listening makes for a very immersive experience. You feel the genuine rage that the band feels, especially on Iowa. But what he is less known for, and underappreciated for, is his expressive singing. He has a distinct voice, one of the most distinct ever--very easy to pick out. He doesn't have a great range, but he sure knows how to use what he has. he sings with a lot of power. At least he has to be in the top 5. He's the best screamer their is.
Just listen to psychosocial, wherein lies continue, liberate for his highs and snuff, skin ticket, purity for his lows. He is AWESOME So... are we just going to ignore the fact that a 21 year old Japanese chick is ahead of Corey ’ Taylor? One of (if not the) best screamers, as well as the most talented at going from angry bark to monotone whispers at the snap of a finger? V 78 Comments
Ozzy Osbourne - Black Sabbath Is this the best vocalist list or our personal favourite vocalist list? When ozzy sings even bats cry Ozzy is awesome. By the way Ronnie James Dio should be on this list to Awesome crazy train shot in the dark and bark at the moon Its Ozzy F-ing Osbourne V 33 Comments
Suzuka Nakamoto - Babymetal Suzuka Nakamoto, known by her stage names Suzuka and Su-Metal, is a Japanese idol, singer and model. She is represented by the talent agency Amuse, Inc. and has been a member of three musical groups formed by the company: Karen Girl's, Sakura Gakuin, and Babymetal. For her age she has an unbelievable voice which will only improve over time and more training. Maybe for her age has good voice, but come on, don't tell how better than the fathers of the metal... Definitely needs to be on this list if we are being fair here. Amazing vocalist. She really needs to be on here. Her vocals are amazing. Should be number 1 80s vocalists are overrated and annoying You gotta be joking, lmfao. Her vocals are so heavily auto-tuned and overproduced. Even having her in the top 50 today is a joke. - bren12310 V 989 Comments
Michael Kiske - Helloween Michael Kiske is a singer best known as the former lead vocalist for the German power metal band Helloween. Some decent picks on here, but then a lot that are just vocalists in popular mainstream bands that aren't actually that talented. At least Bruce Dickinson is around where he should be. The problem with Kiske is that he's not actually done much with metal since Helloween. Although you should listen to Ultrasonic's Light of Dawn album. His voice has aged better than most as though he's been in suspended animation all of this time. Who doesn't know Michael Kiske, and if you don't you have been under a very large rock for the last 30 years, Kiske is a metal god with a range that no one can reach, those high notes he gets out of his golden throat are just godlike Matt Shadows? Corey? Who are they next to the great master Kiske? He is easily one of the best vocalists out there! Even Deris (who is an amazing vocalist as well) who entered in his place has some difficulties into singing the other vocalist songs. Just try to achieve the high noted of Eagle Fly Free, Halloween and a Tale That Wasn't Right, then you'll see what a real vocal master is. He has a good voice, but it sounds too similar to Bruce Dickinson’s. Hansi Kürsch is the better and best power metal vocalist. - PhoenixAura81 V 22 Comments
Phil Anselmo - Pantera Philip Hansen "Phil" Anselmo is an American musician who is best known as the former lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Pantera. He currently is the vocalist of heavy metal bands Down and Superjoint Ritual. Not much to say besides the fact that he should be way higher. Phil is the definition of a metal vocalist. He has the screams, the power, the soul, the distortion and the gut. When Phil sings I feel it in my bones, he was and always will be the perfect metal singer. Phil Anselmo is pound for pound the GREATEST METAL SINGER OF ALL TIME. There is absolutely no reason for him to not be in the number one spot. Name one other metal singer who has had a more consistent career of bringing the brutality that is metal to every performance. To this day he is still as bad ass as he ever was. He can still scream like a demon. There are others on this list who have blown their voices out and have changed their sound. Not Phil. If you are in doubt listen to one of his newest ventures - SCOUR Anger, Beauty and Awesomeness, those are his vocals. The coolest sounding vocalist in my opinion, which just makes the songs sound heavier, and just doper overall. He did used to hit the notes, just listen to Cemetery Gates, but then he went to a much more badass and cooler song. Top 5 Vocalist, AT LEAST. Ew what why the hell is a Babymetal singer above this guy?
Babymetal is not even good at all, and there is no way that they are better than pantera. V 44 Comments
Matt Heafy - Trivium Matthew "Matt" Kiichi Heafy is a Japanese-American musician, best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Orlando based Heavy Metal/Metalcore band Trivium. 10 He was so good at ascendancy era. He could sing very high pitch such as pull harder, dying in your arms, declaration, departure. I like him when he sang high. Matt Heafy is not a trained vocalist. As a guitarist he his skilled enough, but his screaming abilities are good. He should placed within first 15. - Gupta I love to sing and my inspiration was Matt. I love his voice. I watched him live and its was absolutely amazing. I love every part of his voice. At 19, put out their best album, Ascendancy and the vocals were amazing. Crazy talent. V 11 Comments
The Newcomers
Warrel Dane
Jus Oborn
The Contenders
Joey Belladonna - Anthrax Joey Belladonna is the American Thrash Metal singer, best known for leading the band Anthrax. He also sings and drums for the cover band Chief Big Way. 11 Dude, seriously, only 25? What is all that baby metal crap? Hetfield, ozzy, mustaine, they are all legends. But they are in no possible way better than Joey. I mean, this man can reach high notes like a god. Don't believe me? Listen to the first part of armed and dangerous in the first buildup. Man those notes give me goosebumps every single time I absorb them. You'd have to be either deaf or totally ignorant to rank Hetfield or Mustaine above Joey. Hetfield isn't bad but Mustaine is a complete joke as a vocalist. Joey should be top 5 for sure. Dude why isn't he number 1? He can reach high notes like a monster. Babymetal should be nowhere near this list. - N4XUS V 5 Comments
James Labrie - Dream Theater Kevin James LaBrie is a Canadian vocalist and songwriter, who is best known as the lead singer of the American progressive metal band Dream Theater. 12 James is an amazing vocalist. He is severely overlooked in the rock world. Dream Theater songs are very hard to sing. He sings them so high and clear that it makes it look easy. The control he has over his voice is out of this world. He can go from belting, right back to a soft spoken serenade. He has incredible range and only seems to improve. The Astonishing is without a doubt some of his best work. Tremendous frontman as well. Always interacts with crowd, and exudes a joy and passion for what he is doing up there. Not even to mention his regiment for vocal ability. The running, diet, vitamins, etc. He devotes so much of his life to his ability to sing. So much respect for this guy. Rawk on James! He is good.. Geoff Tate? Noo... James LaBrie is the Progressive Metal vocal.. His vocal is unique... I don't know how to describe it, he is only for Dream Theater, Dream Theater just for him. The one and only, his vocal control... He has his own vocal style, if you are DT fans since their Image And Words album, maybe you can understand the beautiful of his voice.. Learning to Live, Another Day.. Peruvian Skies, Burning My Soul, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence... Through My Her Eyes, The Spirit Carries On, To Live Forever, Lifting Shadow of A Dream.. He is the best progressive metal vocal. I think his vocal is versatile.. Cover other band songs like, Iron Maiden, Dio, Queen, Metallica, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple.. Listen to Tenement Funster; Flick of The Wrist; Lily of The Valley cover or Elton John songs, Funeral For A Friend Love Lies Bleeding cover... Or maybe Stargazer... Easy to say if you NOT a singer... But... Not easy to be James LaBrie... James LaBrie holds claim to one of metal's most celebrated clean voices. From Dream Theater's iconic album 'Images and Words,' this next high note is found on the record's final track, 'Learning to Live.' During this particular part of the song, LaBrie continues to ascend in pitch, teasing a magical high note which fans mentally beg LaBrie to hit. After the build-up, the vocalist finally reaches the desired peak before guitarist John Petrucci transitions into a new part of the song with a mind-bending solo. James is best V 16 Comments
Chuck Schuldiner - Death Charles Michael "Chuck" Schuldiner (1967-2001) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known as the founder and vocalist, guitarist and bassist of the American heavy metal band Death. He is considered the most influential figure in Death Metal, with some publications referring to Chuck ...read more. 13 Best Death metal vocalist that I have ever heard. He should be, at the very least, within the top five! What is he doing down here? - LadyBanshee He has one of the craziest vocalists rates I have ever heard. If you don't believes me listen to the song Mutilation from the album scream bloody gore then listen to the song Painkiller on the album the sound of perseverance. You will be amazed. Listen to his cover of Painkiller, JESUS CHRIST Best singer and guitarist in my opinion, R.I.P Chuck! V 15 Comments
Geoff Tate - Queensryche Geoff Tate is a German-born American singer and musician who rose to fame in the 1980s with the progressive metal band Queensrÿche. 14 Tate in his prime had the best vocals I've ever heard, in my opinion. His voice can hit the highs and lows. His vocals are absolutely outstanding. First time I listened to Queensryche, I couldn't get over how powerful and outstanding his voice is. I honestly think he should be #1. I know a lot of people will disagree with me, but really. Tate has a voice that can hit all kinds of notes, and lets be real here, it's absolutely AMAZING. My favorite vocalist ever. I think Tate WAS the best metal singer of all time. His voice WAS extremely powerful. He WAS also able to sing emotion, which is very hard to do. Today, Tate is one of the worst singers in metal. It is so sad how he WAS an amazing singer, and now... Should be #1 V 21 Comments
Hansi Kürsh - Blind Guardian 15 One of the best metal Vocalists of all time. The range of his voice and his ability to perform live is paralleled only by some on this list like Dio, Roy, or Bruce. Deserves a much better place in this list. I think it is very popular as it should... I really like his voice, is powerful, rare, interesting... It's wonderful to live and very few are. One of the best vocalists in metal with a godly range even live Incredibly sexy voice to go with such a sexy man. V 14 Comments
Matt Barlow - Iced Earth Matthew 'Matt' Barlow is an American heavy metal singer and police officer. He was the lead singer for Iced Earth in the 1990s and 2000s. He is currently the lead singer for Ashes of Ares. After the September 11 terrorist attacks Matt Barlow decided to become a police officer and contribute to the "real ...read more. 16 Whilst probably not THE best, he is undoubtedly one of them. His phenomenal voice has soared into the highest reaches of sound and rumbled in the lowest depths. The masculine thickness of his voice also allows for him to be soft while still menacing and strong. His voice is a one of a kind, and it's a damn shame he doesn't get more recognition. Anything to say? A god among humans, with a great voice tune, power and feeling, and a awesome presence on stages, he knows how to conquer the World! THE voice of ICED EARTH. Killer growls, clean and hight pitched vocals. "Something Wicked This Way Comes", "Horrow Show" and "Immortal" albums are a proof of what is he made of: pure metal and a class A+ quality voice.
Barlow, a perfect mixture between Hetfield, Anselmo, Dickinson and Halford, at his best. The most talented voice in metal. This man can sing 5 octaves (G1 to F#6) - Metallicafan01 V 15 Comments
Dave Mustaine - Megadeth David Scott "Dave" Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, actor and author. Mustaine is best known as a pioneer in Thrash Metal, being the former lead guitarist of Metallica before his dismissal in 1983, leading to finding and becoming the front man of his own ...read more. 17 One of the best vocalists. Even today, Dave's voice is incredible. Should be higher ranked than James Hetfield. Might not be on the top, and rightly so, because the likes of Bruce and Rob are simply better. But Dave's got some unique style which I haven't heard before. His voice oozes sarcasm and weirdness, and that works for all those intricate Megadeth riffs. An Icon to Metal Vocalists. Should be easily on the Top 20, even though I can agree his vocals are not for everyone, specially due to his aggressive, raw nature. How is he above Ian Gillan? - Userguy44 V 12 Comments
Mikael Akerfeldt Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt is a Swedish musician, prominently known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of progressive death metal band Opeth, as well as being the former vocalist of death metal supergroup Bloodbath for three albums up until 2012. ...read more. 18 Can't believe he's at 22, and also can't believe I am still going down to find Devin Townsend. Honestly if there is Musical Theory behind any singer in Metal, Devin Townsend is the master. But Mikael Akerfeldt has some of the best growls and cleans of anybody. Excellent versatility, and some of the best growls in metal. His clean voice is also a way beyond the norm of the scene, and in general he's a superior vocalist to many. Basically the best with growls, & an amazing vocalist in the progressive metal arena. Should be up there among the metal vocal kings like Bruce & Robert. - Flash667 Amazing mixture into clean vocals and growls. V 18 Comments
M. Shadows - Avenged Sevenfold Matthew Charles Sanders, better known by his stage name M. Shadows, is an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter and founding member of the American metalcore/alternative metal band Avenged Sevenfold. 19 Great vocalist - good range, and great variation with both softer songs (like Seize The Day, So Far Away, and my personal favourite Victim) and heavier songs (like Nightmare, Critical Acclaim and Welcome To The Family). M Shadows in my opinion should be at least 3. He has a powerful voice and uses it in the way he should use it! On hail to the king album his vocals are just amazing. It's not like any other metal singer. This is Raw power. If the Rev was still here and he sand on Hail to the king, he would be number 1! Really unique voice. Amazing control and range coupled with an ability to incorporate heavy raspy growl for metal stompers or extremely clean and emotive vocals for ballads with perfect execution at all time. M.I.A., Save Me, Sceomd heartbeat, and the stage are among his best vocals V 93 Comments
Brian Johnson - AC/DC Brian Johnson is an English singer and songwriter. Since 1980, he is the lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC, with whom he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. As of April 2016, Johnson is not participating in the remainder of the Rock or Bust World Tour due to hearing ...read more. 20 He is not a metal singer bro - Metal_Treasure I love AC/DC. But in what universe Brian Johnson is metal vocalist? This itself discredits this list - MetalFreek Not metal, and not that good I'm sorry, but his voice is like nails on a chalkboard. Not metal, but good nonetheless. - galaxyfox V 5 Comments
Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth - Overkill Robert Ellsworth, mainly known as Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth, is the lead vocalist of New Jersey thrash metal band Overkill. 21 I don't know if I would place him at #1 (probably not), but Bobby Blitz should be top 15 for sure. He's one of the most underrated vocalists out there and still has an amazing voice to this day even after multiple albums starting in the mid-late 80's. A thrash metal legend. The ultimate thrash vocalist. Best metal vocalist in my opinion. This list sucks big time, average voters age is 12. Bobby should be in top ten, along Halford, Dickinson and Blackie Lawless. I wonder if Blackie even in this list at all.
Ian Gillan - Deep Purple Ian Gillan is an English singer and songwriter. He originally found success as the lead singer and lyricist for Deep Purple, and the original singer on the rock opera concept album Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber, where Gillan had the leading role (Jesus Christ). 22 Not much to say really. His ability is unmatched. So many metal singers were inspired by Ian Gillan. I can't remember all of them right now but I clearly remember that Hansi Kürsch (one of the best metal singers of all time) quotes Gillan as the biggest vocal influence. Hansi said during an interview that Gillan was the only metal singer who moved him "because the way Gillan sings has always had a deeper impact on me." - Metal_Treasure No 33 on the list? Are you kidding me? He is a god and belongs to the top! One of the greatest singers ever. - Userguy44 V 2 Comments
Maynard James Keenan - Tool Maynard James Keenan, often referred to by his initials MJK, is an American musician, record producer, winemaker, and actor, best known as the vocalist for Grammy Award-winning progressive metal band Tool. 23 He always seems to pour deep emotion into his songs, which to me seems to be one of the determining factors of a good singer. Pure talent and singing range is good, but to to have that and be able to put for that emotion is something else. Can't believe this guy isn't at least in the top 10, seeing him all the way down here makes me sad To me maynard James Keenan is definitely deserving of a top five spot, he has a unique passionate sound to his voice and can produce an undeniably genius set of lyrics. He at least deserves the top 5. V 29 Comments
King Diamond - Mercyful Fate Kim Bendix Petersen, better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Danish heavy metal musician. He is known for his extensive vocal range, usually sung in falsetto. King Diamond was originally known as the vocalist for Mercyful Fate, but has become notorious for his horror themed Concept albums ...read more. 24 What an incredible deluge of eerie falsetto shrieking, growling, gurgling... His work on Abigail is the stuff of metal legend and struck fear into to the hearts of listeners and competitors... Should be at least top 10, if not top 5. Come on! King Diamond leaves all these in the dust with his amazing vocal range. Rob Halford is great, but no one can touch King I am sickened that he is so low. King diamond is easily better than Bruce. King Diamond should at least be in the top 10. V 10 Comments
Chuck Billy - Testament Charles "Chuck" Billy is an American vocalist, who is best known as the vocalist for the thrash metal band Testament. 25 59? Come on people he has the best voice in thrash metal
David Draiman - Disturbed David Michael Draiman is an American songwriter and the vocalist for the band Disturbed as well as for the band Device. 26 This guy is the giver of shivers down my spine for me! He writes his own lyrics and his music is like sex to the ears... Should be at least in the Top 10 in my opinion. I'm surprised David didn't make it into the top 10. His voice alone could shake mountains. Especially his growls, there are spectacular and amazing! 10! Seriously? So underrated it's unbelievable. He deserves more attention.. V 33 Comments
Serj Tankian - System of a Down Serj Tankian is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, poet, and political activist. 27 I was gonna vote for Roy Khan, because he is incredible, but my loyalties will always be to Serj Tankian. System of a Down is my favorite band since I was 10 years old. Serj's has this incredible range of style and emotion. You get all these different kinds of songs like Question or Spiders or even crazy ones like Vicinity of Obscenity. And his solo work is amazing too. The big sound of Elect the Dead or the symphonic Imperfect Harmonies or the sorta punk rock Harakiri. Serj is an amazing talent. Serj has a great voice, as far as the genre is concerned. I would rate him higher than this. Most metal singer just yell and scream a lot, which of course will offend a lot of people, but I think Serj's has a bit of a lyric quality to it. People would most of the time classify Serj according to the most knows System of a Down songs. But the power of his vocals and the range in songs like Streamline and Highway Song are the reason why I would think he should be higher on this list. As far as originality, versatility, haromonies, range of cleans, screams and growls, and just an all around mind blowing pioneer into an untapped realm of metal vocalists: argue with me that there is anyone better than Serj. V 56 Comments
Tom Araya - Slayer Tomás Enrique "Tom" Araya Díaz is a Chilean American musician, best known as the bassist and vocalist of the American thrash metal band Slayer. 28 Best bass / singer combination in the world of metal!
He knows how to get the best out of the crowd at the concerts Amazing vocals... Evil voice Oh come on! He shouldn't be this low! A lot of you should be ashamed of yourselves.. - LadyBanshee His range in angel of death blew me away V 6 Comments
Alissa White-Gluz - Arch Enemy Alissa White-Gluz is a Canadian vocalist, best known as the former lead vocalist and one of the founding members of the Canadian metal band, The Agonist, and current lead vocalist for the Swedish melodic death metal group, Arch Enemy. 29 Alissa deserves a top 10 slot without a doubt! Also, no best of metal vocals list is complete without John Arch, Ray Alder, Midnight, and of course the mighty Ski (Deadly Blessing)! You sir need a metal refresher course or something! Many other legends too, but these few prove my point. Which is, this list blows! Definitely the sexiest one Best female screamer The 1st woman on this list
Russell Allen - Symphony X Russell Allen is a singer and lyricist best known as the vocalist of American progressive metal band Symphony X. 30 Debatably the best in the genre and my personal favorite, Russell has a great range of 4+ octaves, an unreal amount of vocal control, an amazing amount of power, a naturally pleasant and soothing vocal tone and a real passion for what he does.
Here is a quote from progressive metal genius Arjen Lucassen on Russell Allen's ability as a vocalist:
"Russell has a very powerful and versatile voice, and on top of that he is a great musician and performer. Russell was one of the few singers with whom I didn't need to be present during recording, but when on the phone he let me hear the parts he had sung, my eyes filled with tears. Russell thought I was joking, but I was truly moved! At the moment Russell is one of the best singers in the world. And he proved that during the Star One tour."
Definitely the best thing to happen to Michael Romeo and the rest of Symphony X and definitely deserving of a better place on this list. Definitely one of the best metal vocalists of our times, both in Symphony X and in all his other side projects! He deserves a much better position than this! Russel Allen! Symphony X stands out as one of the Metal greats. There are few bands that can combine technical ability and introspective emotions. Russell Allen's gotta be my favorite vocalist overall. For me it goes
1) Russell Allen
2) Matt Bellamy
3) David Gilmour/ Roger Waters
4) Mikael Åkerfeldt
5) Geddy Lee
6) James LaBrie
7) Neige
8) King Diamond (partially cause I can sing most of his songs with little effort, given we have similar falsettos. My modal range is a bit trash)
9) Joe Duplantier
10) ICS Vortex maybe V 11 Comments
Ivan Moody - Five Finger Death Punch Ivan L. Moody, known by the pseudonym Ghost during his time with Motograter, is the lead vocalist for American heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch from Las Vegas, Nevada. 31 In my opinion he's the best vocalist in all of metal music currently! He has a lot of diversity in his vocals ranging from mellow singing to brutal screaming. You're kidding guys, aren't you? I hope those who voted him down have at any rate a half of Ivan's incredible voice charisma. If corey taylor is number 7, Ivan moody should at least 8 because he sounds just like him in my opinion. He can have a decent voice, he just wastes it on painful bro-metal trash. - AdamDestructorJr. V 11 Comments
Mike Patton - Faith No More Michael Allan "Mike" Patton is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, film composer, producer, and actor, best known as the lead singer of the alternative metal band Faith No More. 32 A true vocal god right here. Can sing any genre effortlessly, and does things with his voice that I've never heard anyone in metal (including Devin and Kyo), or in most of music do. Some of these so-called singers here (even some legends), are laughable compare to this man (especially these young tools like M Shadows). Now to be fair, there are some people who can probably compete with his range... but they are outside metal and usually dwell in the experimental side of music. Anyway, the only reason he's placed so low in this, is because these lists tend to focus on popular people. Mike Patton is very likely the most talented vocalist on the planet. How a cheap imitator like Serj Tankian makes the top ten and Patton sits at # 40 baffles me. Anyway, I don't consider him a "metal vocalist", simply because the vast majority of his work falls into other genres. As far as metal singers go, I would take Patton over any body. Ever. HE CAN SING ANY GENRE! , I really don't know why he's not up a little higher. #36 -Seriously? This mans voice is exceptional and he plays games with it too. Outstanding talent - should be in the top 10. V 11 Comments
Lemmy Kilmister- Motorhead Ian Fraser Kilmister, known as Lemmy, was an English musician, singer and songwriter who founded and fronted the rock band Motörhead. He was a bassist and a singer known for his raspy voice. He died in 2015 from cancer and other health problems. 33 I just don't understand why he is not number 1. His voice was so scary and and song he sang automatically became a metal song Lemmys voice set the bar for metal and when you hear him live and see people running for the exit sign after an encore with overkill you know it's the real deal. Why the hell is Lemmy at #27?
He needs to be in the top 10 Pure rock and Roll metal voice...needs to be in the top 10 V 15 Comments
Johan Hegg - Amon Amarth 34 He has a really genuine sound to him. A lot of Amon's songs can send shivers down my spine and tears to my eyes, especially their live versions. I saw them live last October near Detroit.
Look up their live performance of "Thousand Years of Oppression" on YouTube and you will hear exactly what I am talking about. One of the smoothest voices in melodic death metal The best and most recognizable voice in melodeath
Devin Townsend Devin Garret Townsend is a Canadian musician, songwriter and record producer. He was the founder, songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist in extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad from 1994 to 2007 and has an extensive career as a solo artist. 35 A great and kind man with more musical talent than all of the metal community combined. He has done so much work in the 20+ years that he has been releasing music and he is now only recently starting to get the deserved attention for it... From working with Steve Vai in the early 90s... To performing in his own band Strapping young lad, the epitome of heavy, aggressive and intense metal... And to today where he performs in his solo project playing everything from progressive metal, to death metal to even ambient melo stuff. But to the factor of his voice, he has a range that shouldn't even be humanly possible, he can scream to levels that hurt my throat just hearing, do powerful growls, perform simple mellow clean vocals and to top it all of... Incredibly powerful operatic vocals that blow people away. Every note he hits is clean and spot on and he has an incredible sense of timing with each one. With all that, his live performances put his studios albums to shame. For those reading ...more A god walking amongst mere mortals, Devin just is from another planet, godly voice that has an range I have never seen nor heard, great guy as well very nice and down to earth, a perfect performer I've never heard anyone pull off such a wide range of as Devin Townsend, and whatever he decides to do, he does masterfully. Insane vocal range V 7 Comments
Björn "Speed" Strid 36 Seriously one of the best vocalists out there. Check out shining lights on the album the ride majestic A Predator's Portrait is where Bjorn shines the brightest. - AdamDestructorJr. The best vocalist, I've ever heard. Check out his Features on youtube or so. SUCH BRILLANT! Björn is a beast and can sing and growl exceptionally well. His signing on The Living Infinite proves that and his growling on The Chainheart Machine proves that he's great.
Randy Blythe - Lamb of God David Randall "Randy" Blythe is the vocalist and lyricist of American heavy metal band Lamb of God and side-project band Halo of Locusts. 37 To start with, Randy was the one who originally got me listening to growling. He is capable of mixing the heavy, ear-ripping effect of growling, but still keep the lyrics fairly easy to hear. Combine this with intricate songs about policy and war, and you have a recipe for chills. Just try any song of lamb of god.. And you will shocked after listening he's vocals... He sings like a ghost.. Randy Blythe is the god of metal vocals. Not only his voice but his stage attitude and persona are better than everyone on this list. Why 22? Why? He is the god, the ruler, the emperor and the lord of metal growls. screeches and vocals. No.30 really? V 16 Comments
Simone Simons - Epica Simone Johanna Maria Simons is a Dutch singer-songwriter. She is the lead vocalist of Dutch symphonic metal band Epica. 38 Simone Simons is a really awesome singer. His voice is mezzosoprano, but she can climb to the top notes of a soprano. It can be sweet, as aggressive. Master the classical technique as style rock / pop. Her voice is full of feeling, a feeling that is when she sings live. Not the typical super sweet soprano, she has a wonderful voicepoint, warm and dark at once. Not only sings, also composed some lyrics, very philosophical lyrics that really make you think, like "Sensorium" or "Storm the Sorrow", not just a pretty face, no, she really has a melodious voice, she's a goddess of metal with a heart of gold x Such a beautiful voice. Her and Tarja rule symphonic metal It's not really epic How are Floor, Simone, Sharon so low on this list? Oh wait, they're not cool enough for the Abenged Sevenfold and Slipnazi fans. V 1 Comment
Christian Alvestam 39 Clearly you guys are uncultured posers if you think Dickinson or hetfield are even close to Alvestam's talent. Go listen to his stuff for Solution.45, you'll thank me. You wanna hear someone who combines growling and clean vocals Chris is your man not Corey Taylor who just shouts Christian Älvestram is amazing, listen to holographic universe by scar symmetry and you'll understand why
Tomi Joutsen - Amorphis 40 Almost forgot about him, he definitely deserves to be much higher Very skilled, best growls and clean vocals. Should be much in top 10
Tobias Sammet - Avantasia, Edguy Tobias Sammet is a German metal musician, best known as the vocalist and primary songwriter of the power metal band Edguy, as well as the founder, main singer and bassist of the metal opera Avantasia. 41 In my opinion his vocal style is somewhere between Kiske and Jorn Lande, great vocalist composer musician and person I think he is one of the best with his range and stage presence. Avantasia is the product of a genius mind. He's amazing. Love his crafted screams and sustain. His voice and singing style remind me of Bruce Dickinson and a bit of Michael Kiske. - Metal_Treasure This guy has a really unique style that draws on so many influences, impossible not to love the sound
Udo Dirkschneider - Accept, U.D.O. Udo"Hassan"Dirkschneider is a German heavy metal singer who rose to fame with German heavy metal band Accept. 42 Need to be in top 20 at least... Is it some kind of a joke? Should be way higher than 58 Why so low? V 1 Comment
Robb Flynn - Machine Head Robert Conrad "Robb" Flynn is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the heavy metal band Machine Head. Flynn formed the band along with Adam Duce, Logan Mader and Tony Costanza after leaving Bay Area thrash band Vio-Lence. 43
Johan Langquist - Candlemass 44 Both him and Messiah deserve this list, certainly if Shadows does! Just jisten to his range, his screaming! Listen to Demon's Gate and Under The Oak
Sebastian Bach - Skid Row Sebastian Philip Bierk, known professionally as Sebastian Bach, is a Canadian heavy metal singer who achieved mainstream success as frontman of Skid Row from 1987-96. Since his departure from Skid Row, he has had many television roles, acted in Broadway plays, and leads a solo career. 45 He is one of the best singers ever, not only in metal music, for me he's even better than dickinson. Incredible voice and so underrated One of the best singers on this list! Slave to the grind said it all! Well this top ten is in severe need of some light! Try finding a darker room on the Internet. V 4 Comments
Dan Swanö Dan-Erland Swanö is a Swedish musician who is currently the vocalist, guitarist, ex-bassist and ex-drummer for the band Nightingale, lately vocalist, keyboardist and drummer for the band Witherscape, as well as the Owner of Unisound but he achieved fame as the vocalist and songwriter of progressive ...read more. 46 Brilliant Clean vocal with even better corresponding death growls
Joe Elliott - Def Leppard Joseph Thomas Elliott Jr. is an English singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of the English rock band Def Leppard. 47 This man is one of the torchbearer in metal world. As good as Bruce Dickinson. Although definitely Leppard is marked as a rock band (NO REAL REASON).
Angela Gossow - Arch Enemy Angela Nathalie Gossow is a German vocalist, best known as the former lead vocalist for the Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. 48
Joakim Broden - Sabaton Joakim "Jocke" Brodén is a Swedish-Czech singer and songwriter who is the lead vocalist, keyboardist, and occasional guitarist of heavy metal band Sabaton. He and bassist Pär Sundström formed the band in 1999. 49 Simply one of the greatest voices in Metal!
Not only an awe-inspiringly amazing voice, but also a brilliant lyricist who easily puts history into song...
One of the best! This legend should be at least top 15 Sabaton isn't famous but Joakim's voice is so damn powerful! Top 10 at least His Voice fits the Lyrics and the band just sooo god!
And technically he is just one of the best singers.
For me he should be in Top 10!
Best Male Mettal voice! V 3 Comments |
The American gymnast Simone Biles won the gold medal in the individual all-around competition Thursday. Biles showcased an arsenal of difficult moves, executing them more masterfully than her competitors and reaching heights in her tumbling passes that the other gymnasts could not match.
The Amanar Vault
Biles executed an Amanar, one of the toughest vaults for female gymnasts. She earned a 15.866, the highest score in the event during all-around competition. Here is her vault from the competition:
Two-and-a-half twists in the air Blind landing Back handspring onto vaulting table Biles took a step on the landing Two-and-a-half twists in the air Blind landing Back handspring onto vaulting table Biles took a step on the landing Two-and-a-half twists in the air Back handspring onto vaulting table Landing Biles took a step on the landing Two-and-a-half twists in the air Biles took a step on the landing Back handspring onto vault Photographs by Jeremy White; composite image by Sergio Peçanha and Jon Huang
The height Biles achieves as she pushes off the table sets her apart from other gymnasts.
“Simone actually gets three or four feet higher than everyone else,” said the retired gymnast Jordyn Wieber, a member of the American team that won the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics.
The extra height gives Biles more time to complete two-and-a-half twists in the air, giving her a better chance of sticking her blind landing. (She took a step on Thursday’s landing.)
Peter Kormann, an Olympic bronze medalist and a former United States men’s Olympic gymnastics coach, said, “Currently, she does that vault better than anyone in the world.”
Balance Beam Dismount
Biles had the highest score on the beam even though she appeared to lose her balance at one point. She quickly regained her composure and completed her routine, which had the apparatus’s highest difficulty level in the all-around.
Biles ended her routine with a back handspring, back handspring, full in, below:
Full rotation on first somersault Second somersault Back handspring Back handspring Full rotation on first somersault Second somersault Back handspring Back handspring Full rotation on first somersault Back handspring Back handspring Second somersault Full in Back handsprings Photographs by Bedel Saget; composite image by Sergio Peçanha, Jeremy White and Jon Huang
“What Simone does here, not many people in the world do,” said Nastia Liukin, an NBC Olympic analyst and a five-time Olympic medalist. As she noted, Biles effectively executes a tumbling pass on the beam that other gymnasts would only do on the floor.
“She essentially tumbles on the beam before she does the dismount,” Liukin said.
Kormann said: “You’re looking for skills that you do on floor that you do on beam. You need to be athletic. Simone is probably the most athletic female gymnast in history.”
Biles said her beam performance was particularly rewarding. “I think I’m most happy with beam just because it always feels really good once you hit a good beam set," she said.
The “Biles”
On the floor exercise, her signature move is a double layout with a half-twist and a blind landing, now officially known as the Biles. Here is how she executed the move on Thursday:
The Biles Double layout with a half twist Stag leap Back handspring Run up Roundoff The Biles Double layout with a half twist Stag leap Back handspring Roundoff Run up The Biles Double layout with a half twist Roundoff into a back handspring Run up The Biles Double layout with a half twist Photographs by Joe Ward; composite image by Sergio Peçanha, Jeremy White and Jon Huang
The move begins with a backward takeoff. Biles somersaults twice, head-over-heels, with her body in a straight, laid-out position. At the end of the second somersault she rotates her body a half-turn so that she lands facing forward.
First somersault Half twist Forward landing Back handspring The Biles First somersault Half twist Forward landing Back handspring The Biles First somersault Half twist Back handspring Forward landing The Biles First somersault Half twist Forward landing Back handspring The Biles Photographs and composite image by Joe Ward
The half-turn is the most difficult part of the maneuver. Most people do a full turn, so to stop one’s body on a half-turn is “pretty hard,” Biles has said.
She first tried the move after she tore her calf muscle when landing a full turn. Her coach, Aimee Boorman, suggested she try a half-turn instead. The forward-facing landing did not hurt her calf as much.
“My coach was like, well what if you do a half-turn. Then you could get it named after you, if you competed at a world event,” Biles said.
Here is Biles’s third tumbling pass of her floor exercise, which ends with a double twisting, double back.
Double twisting, double back somersault Run up Roundoff Back handspring Double twisting, double back somersault Roundoff Back handspring Back handspring Double twisting, double back somersault Roundoff Back handspring Double twisting, double back somersault Roundoff Photographs by Alexandra Garcia; composite image by Sergio Peçanha
“All her tumbling passes were phenomenal,” said Martha Karolyi, coordinator for the United States women’s team since 2001. “Her floor routine was up in the sky. I said ‘wow,’ and when I say ‘wow’ the girls know what that means. It’s superlative.”
Uneven Bars Dismount
Biles did not get the highest score on this apparatus, but she had a solid performance and did better than during Tuesday’s team event.
“Some of us don’t even pay attention to scores,” Biles said. “You can only control your performance, not the scores you get.”
Here is how she executed her dismount, a full-twisting double somersault, at the end of her routine:
Photographs by Joe Ward; composite image by Jeremy White
“I was coaching her from 10 feet away,” Boorman said. “And then when she dismounted, I thought, ‘That’s the best bar routine you’ve ever done in competition.’”
Degrees of Difficulty
One of the reasons Biles was considered by many to be the world’s greatest gymnast even before Thursday’s competition was that she executed the most difficult moves with consistency and quality.
Her routines had the highest or were tied for the highest level of difficulty in the competition for three of the four apparatuses: |
Developers all over the world are using Amazon DynamoDB to build applications that take advantage of its ability to provide consistent low-latency performance. The developers that I have talked to enjoy the flexibility provided by DynamoDB’s schemaless model, along with the ability to scale capacity up and down as needed. They also benefit from the DynamoDB Reserved Capacity model in situations where they are able to forecast their need for read and write throughput ahead of time.
A little over a year ago we made DynamoDB more flexible by adding support for Global Secondary Indexes. This important feature moved DynamoDB far beyond its roots as a key-value store by allowing lookups on attributes other than the primary key.
Today we are making Global Secondary Indexes even more flexible by giving you the ability to add and delete them from existing tables on the fly.
We are also making it easier for you to purchase Reserved Capacity directly from the AWS Management Console. As part of this change to a self-service model, you can now purchase more modest amounts of Reserved Capacity than ever before.
Let’s zoom in for a closer look!
Global Secondary Indexes on the Fly
Up until now you had to define the Global Secondary Indexes for each of your DynamoDB tables at the time you created the table. This static model worked well in situations where you fully understood your data model and a good sense for the kinds of queries that you needed to use to build your application.
DynamoDB’s schemaless model means that you can add new attributes to an existing table by simply storing them. Perhaps your original table stored a first name, a last name, and an email address. Later, you decided to make your application location-aware by adding a zip code. With today’s release you can add a Global Secondary Index to the existing table. Even better, you can do this without taking the application offline or impacting the overall throughput of the table.
Here’s how you add a new index using the AWS Management Console. First, select the table and click on Create Index:
Then enter the details (you can use a hash key or a combination of a hash key and a range key):
The index will be created and ready to go before too long (the exact time depends on the number of items in the table and the amount of provisioned capacity). You can also delete indexes that you no longer need. All of this functionality is also available through DynamoDB’s UpdateTable API.
There is no extra charge for this feature. However, you may need to provision additional write throughput in order to allow for the needs of the index creation process. You’ll pay the usual DynamoDB price for storage of the Global Secondary Indexes that you create.
Purchasing Reserved Capacity
DynamoDB’s unique provisioned capacity model makes it easy for you to build applications that can scale to any desired level of throughput. Instead of having to worry about adding hardware, tuning software, or rearchitecting your application as traffic grows, you can simply provision additional read or write capacity. The provisioning model even allows you to add capacity in anticipation of high traffic (perhaps your application is busiest during local business hours) and to remove it when it is not needed. This model allows you to create a cost structure that closely mirrors actual usage of your application and avoids unnecessary charges for idle resources.
In situations where you have enough confidence in your usage model and your predictions for growth over time, you can reduce your DynamoDB costs even more by purchasing Reserved Capacity for a one or a three year term. After you pay the upfront fee, you will be billed monthly for the amount of capacity that you purchase. By purchasing capacity up front, you will save 53% (one year term) or 76% (three year term) over the regular hourly rates.
In order to make Reserved Capacity accessible to more DynamoDB users, we have made two important changes. First, we have simplified the purchase process and made it accessible from within the Console. Second, we have reduced the minimum purchase to just 100 read or write capacity units. To purchase Reserved Capacity within a particular AWS region, open up the Console, choose the region, and click on the Reserved Capacity button:
Select the amount of read and/or write capacity that you need (in units of 100), choose a term, and fill in your email address:
Your purchases are visible in the Console:
You can read more about this feature in the recent post, On DynamoDB Provisioning: Simple, Flexible, and Affordable, in the AWS Startup Collection.
From our Customers
AWS customer Eddie Dingels (Lead Architect for Earth Networks) is already taking advantage of on-the-fly indexing and the new pricing model! In his words:
With online indexing, we can re-index tables to run new queries whenever we want. DynamoDB handles consistently changing the index while taking live traffic without a performance impact even on large data sets.
He’s also saving money:
DynamoDB has a very simple and innovative approach to database provisioning, it is truly pay as you go. Reserved capacity ends up dropping DynamoDB throughput costs by up to 76%, and today’s announcement makes it easier than ever for us to perform incremental purchases as we grow.
Availability
The new Reserved Capacity pricing model is available today in all regions. Online indexing is available today in the Asia Pacific (Tokyo), Asia Pacific (Singapore), Europe (Ireland), US East (N. Virginia), US West (Oregon), and US West (N. California) regions. We expect to make it available in the Europe (Frankfurt), South America (São Paulo), China (Beijing), and AWS GovCloud (US) regions within a week or so.
— Jeff;
PS – Some of our developers put together a new article to show you how to Build a Mars Rover Application With DynamoDB. The code in this article takes advantage of the new JSON support and is a great way to exercise DynamoDB’s expanded free tier. |
The San Francisco 49ers are hard at work preparing for free agency and the 2017 NFL Draft, but the timing of their hiring process leaves them a step behind most of the rest of the league. They had their general manager and head coach figured out a week before the Super Bowl, with John Lynch hired, and Kyle Shanahan the worst kept secret the week of the Super Bowl. However, the timing of hiring Shanahan meant they could not get the two men together until after the Falcons season ended.
Since the Super Bowl, Shanahan and Lynch have been spending plenty of time together breaking down film, and figuring out what they want. The time together is important for coming up with free agent and draft targets, but as Shanahan put it in a recent KNBR interview, it also means they are getting on the same page.
The two men have known each other for some time, but have not worked together prior to this present situation. Shanahan’s and Lynch’s families remain in Atlanta and San Diego, respectively, with the two men staying in a Marriott near the 49ers facility. With nothing to do but go back to their hotel rooms, the two men, along with other recent hires have spent a lot of time watching film late into the night.
Here is a transcript of what Shanahan said in regard to his dynamic with Lynch:
It’s been great. We jumped into it right away. We’ve been watching a lot of film, we’re doing a lot together, we’re doing a lot separate. John and the whole personnel department, they’re going through the draft stuff right now. Me and the coaches aren't yet at the draft. We're watching our own players and free agents. We'll get to the draft, really starting in Indy. Then we’ll hit the draft hard for a month when we get back. Right now, John and his whole personnel staff are upstairs going through all the draft stuff, trying to set the draft board, so, when we get back from Indy, then we have some direction on what positions to watch, the order to watch it. There’s hundreds of guys in the draft and that’s what those guys sort through, and then they break it down for us position by position where they give our DB coach 30 DBs instead of 150. So, we can really isolate on the guys that they like, and we can start to rank them and start to really find out what direction we’re going to go in. We also want to spend time together so we can get on the same page. John and I have known each other for a while, but we’re still trying to develop that working relationship — trying to see football the same way together. Every night, neither of our families are here, we both live in the Marriott, so we’re not in too much of a hurry to get home. Usually Adam Peters and Martin Mayhew and John Lynch, they usually come down to my office at night and we just spend a couple hours watching film together. Sometimes it’s our own guys, sometimes it’s other people, sometimes it’s free agents, it really doesn’t matter. We just try to put those hours in to develop that relationship. That’s how you learn — being together. It never happens the first day, but each time you do stuff and communicate, you start to know each other better, and know each other’s expectations, and how each one of us sees it.
Earlier this week, MMQB columnist Albert Breer wrote a detailed feature on John Lynch’s start with the 49ers. Breer wrote about Jed York wanting a strong alignment between his head coach and GM, with Shanahan providing a specifically defined vision for the team, and Lynch having a clear idea how to go about building that.
According to Breer, this past Tuesday saw Shanahan give, “a lengthy, detailed presentation for the scouts on what his staff would be looking for at each position.”
Following Trent Baalke’s departure, we heard reports of his problems communicating with the coaching staff, to the point where the coaches were left in the dark to some extent. We don’t know how much of that is people defending themselves by casting blame on Baalke, but given the former GM’s communication habits, it was not an entirely surprising revelation.
Now, the 49ers would appear to have a coach and GM in place who seem to be on the same page for how to move this rebuilding process forward. Plenty could change in the relationship, but for the time being, this is a good sign. We are slowly moving forward from the talk phase of this to the action phase. Free agency and the draft will give us a lot of insight into where things are going, but early reports like this provide some semblance of optimism. They have to actually find the right players for the system, but until they get to actual signing and drafting phase, we can take some optimism from this. |
Do any of these situations sound familiar?
You’ve been for years and she’s always been prickly, but now you’re noticing that her zingers are louder than ever and aimed directly at you.
Your co-worker is a show-off who’s always dismissed your suggestions and ideas, and now he’s actively disparaging you to anyone who’ll listen.
Your partner says mean things to you, and when you object, he either says “You’re too sensitive,” or stonewalls and refuses to talk.
Your has amped up the volume on putting you down, no matter what. How should you react?
Source: pkchai/Shutterstock
You wake up one morning and it dawns on you that you’re not holding your own in a problem relationship. In fact, you are getting trounced, pounced, and hurt. It doesn’t matter whether the person involved is a parent, , co-worker, friend, spouse, or lover—or whether they’re manipulative, , combative, or a garden-variety trying to suck you into his or her orbit. What matters is that you don’t know what to do. You recognize that the connection isn’t healthy or good because it makes you feel lousy, but somehow, you’re stuck.
Not everyone gets stuck in this way—not for long, at least. Some of us are more skilled at recognizing toxic behaviors and are more self-assured about how to deal with them. These tend to be people who have a secure style, see themselves accurately, and are confident about their self-worth. They need and want and they know the real deal from the cheap knock-off. That’s not true of an insecurely attached person who doesn’t have strong mental representations of what a healthy relationship looks like, and has problems with and managing his or her emotions. These people are most likely to find themselves unable to act when they're enmeshed in a toxic relationship.
Here are eight strategies you can use to manage run-ins with people who seem to enjoy raining on your parade, need the upper hand, or just like feeling good by making you feel bad.
1. Recognize the traits that make you easy prey.
Assessing what you bring to the party doesn’t mean taking responsibility or the blame for someone’s mistreatment of you—keep this difference in mind. Is it your need to please or your of rocking the boat that keeps you tongue-tied when your friend makes you the victim of her bad mood? Use cool processing to think about the interactions you’ve had with the person that make you unhappy—focusing on why you felt as you did, not what you felt—and see if you can discern a pattern. Insecurely attached daughters often confuse someone’s need to control and grandstand with strength and perseverance, and can easily find themselves ensnared by someone toxic. If that’s the case, you need to pay .
2. Explore your reactivity.
Again, without taking the blame for the dynamic, you should look at both the degree to which you overreact and under-react in the relationship; either can unwittingly intensify the dynamic and keep it going. A controlling or bullying person will regard your under-reaction as permission to keep treating you in precisely the same way. People with an /preoccupied attachment style tend to be hyper-vigilant about cues that the relationship is going south and often become angry and vituperative when threatened; this kind of overreaction is likely to make a narcissist feel powerful and inspire him or her to keep playing games.
Instead, work on managing your emotions and set some for yourself in terms of handling the relationship differently. Use “If/Then” thinking to embolden your implementation of your plans. Prepare by focusing on what you will do if an exchange happens, using the “If X, then Y” formula. For example, “If my friend makes a nasty remark, then I’m going to say, ‘Why would you say something so hurtful?'” or “If my mother denies what she said to me, then I will simply say,’ You can’t browbeat me into believing that. It didn’t happen.’” This isn’t easy and it takes practice, but standing up for your perceptions is important.
3. Trust your gut.
One reason insecurely attached people stay in hurtful relationships is a lack of trust in themselves or their judgment. If your default position is to always rationalize toxic behavior (“He really didn’t mean what he said; it was just the heat of the moment”) or to give the person the benefit of the doubt (“She didn’t realize how hurtful her gesture was; once it’s explained to her, I’m sure she’ll come around”), this is the moment to stop and realize why you’re doing the excusing. If you find yourself falling back into the pattern of making excuses or rationalizing toxic behavior, stop.
4. Beware of the sunk cost fallacy.
What's keeping you in this relationship anyway? The thought of what you’ve put into it? Your fear of loss and being alone? As the work of Daniel Kahneman and Amos Twersky shows, humans are famously loss-averse, and prefer to hold onto what they have in the short term—even if giving up a little will get them more in the long run. Additionally, they prefer the known to the unknown, even if the former makes them unhappy. All of that yields the most pernicious pattern, called the sunk cost fallacy, which is often responsible for keeping us in places we ought not to be, including toxic relationships. This is the habit of mind that focuses on what you have invested in something—it could be emotion, time, effort, or even money—and keeps you in place so as not to lose that investment, Of course, whatever the “investment” is, you can’t retrieve it under any circumstances—whether it’s the years you put into a or a relationship, or the money you put into your failing car or venture—so there’s no real logic to the thinking. This fallacy has been used to justify wars, cars that have long since outlived their usefulness, and all manner of lousy relationships and marriages.
If you catch yourself thinking about what you have sunk into the relationship with a toxic person, instead start thinking about where you might find yourself if you let go. That word “fallacy" says it all.
5. Recognize the power of intermittent reinforcement.
You may consider yourself more of a “glass half empty” kind of person than the “glass half full“ type, but research shows that, generally, humans are overly optimistic. We tend to see a close loss more as a “near win.” This is what keeps people at slot machines: When three of the same symbol line up, they take it as a sign that the fourth will show up shortly. There's an evolutionary reason behind this: When the challenges of life were largely physical—think hunter with bow and arrow—staying encouraged enough to keep going and turn the near win into a real one was a good thing. Additionally, we’re more motivated to hang in, paradoxically enough, when we get what we want some of the time.
That’s what B.F. Skinner showed with three very hungry rats, each in its own cage, with a lever that delivered food when pressed. In the first cage, the lever always delivered food and, with that , the rat went about its business. In the second cage, the lever never delivered food; that rat absorbed the lesson and lost interest. But in the third cage, the lever worked randomly and the rat was fixated and totally hooked. He pushed at the lever constantly: That’s intermittent reinforcement.
Alas, this works in human relationships, too: When a toxic person actually does something nice, your heart leaps, your ramps up, and you think, “We are turning a corner!” That locks you in for that much longer, just like that rat. "Now and again" does not a pattern make, and you need to keep that in mind.
6. Guard those boundaries or plan an exit strategy.
If the toxic person is someone you can’t avoid coming into contact with—a co-worker, a neighbor, your mother-in-law, or someone in your social circle—set boundaries for behavior and the kind of contact you’re going to have. Insecurely attached people often have trouble recognizing what a healthy boundary looks like and don’t always know how to negotiate them. You don’t need to be rude, abrasive, or accusatory; in fact, it’s important that you aren’t, but that you are firm and decisive. If it’s a work situation, go through the appropriate channels and put it in writing. To a co-worker, you might say, “I’m okay with criticism but I’d prefer if you not make it personal. My being overweight has nothing to do with my performance.” Or to the mother-in-law who makes jokes at your expense, “I’m sorry but that’s not funny. I may not be the most organized housekeeper, but my family seems to be thriving nonetheless.” For the toxic others you can ultimately give the boot, plan an exit strategy.
7. Anticipate push-back or retaliation.
It’s likely that the toxic person in your life has his or her own “investment” in the connection—he likes controlling you, or she likes the lift her power over you gives her—so once you start setting boundaries and confronting the individual, don’t expect him to go gently into the night. The chances are good that he or she will redouble efforts to keep the dynamic going by manipulating, , or spreading rumors about you, to gain the upper hand. This is especially true if you move to end a to a narcissist who will want to retain the sense of having won and triumphed at all costs.
8. Don’t normalize abusive behavior.
This is especially important if you’ve been in a toxic relationship for a long time or you grew up around people who used words as weapons. They may have demeaned, marginalized, or dismissed you or other family members and then rationalized their behavior by saying, “They’re only words"; denying that they were ever said (a form of gaslighting); or asserting that the real problem was your sensitivity. Refusing to answer you or ignoring you is also abusive behavior of the silent variety. It’s clear to most everyone that is toxic but so is telling partial truths or a carefully edited version of events and then, once challenged, blaming you for not asking the right questions. (This was a ploy of a toxic person I knew who also happened to be a lawyer.) The bottom line is that emotional and verbal abuse are never OK.
This piece draws on the research done for two of my books: Quitting—Why We Fear It and Why We Shouldn’t—in Life, Love, and Work (New York: Da Capo, 2015) and Mean Mothers (New York: William Morrow, 2009). My new book, Daughter Detox: Recovering From an Unloving Mother and Reclaiming Your Life (2017) offers and strategies.
Copyright © 2016 Peg Streep
Read Daughter Detox and visit me on Facebook. |
Facebook is copying Snapchat again: Today it launched Stories, the 24-hour photo and video montages that ultimately disappear, inside of its core Facebook app.
This is the fourth time Facebook has cloned the key Snapchat feature in the past nine months; the social giant has already copied it into Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp.
On the surface, Facebook’s move simply looks like a unabashed defense strategy against Snapchat, the company’s most obvious threat since 2011, when Google tried to dive into social with a service that turned out to be much more like a bellyflop.
But Facebook’s willingness to prominently place the exact same feature inside all of its apps doesn’t just speak to the company’s fear of competitors — it also shows that Facebook isn’t concerned with giving each of its core services a unique identity.
And that should be concerning to you, assuming that you don’t need or want four different versions of Facebook on your phone.
Yes, this is just one feature, but we’ve already seen that Facebook is willing to double-dip on features and put them inside multiple apps.
Instagram is virtually Facebook 2.0, with live video, brand accounts, private messaging and lots and lots of video content, all features that had previously worked on Facebook. Messenger, too, is testing in-app ads and games, and wants you connecting with brands and wishing your friends a happy birthday.
WhatsApp has been the least Facebook-y app of them all, but it feels like those days are coming to an end, especially given Facebook’s strategy around Stories.
There’s a reason the company is doing this: Its core service, Facebook, works really well. It makes a ton of money, and billions of people use it. Smart businesspeople usually take what works and apply it in other areas, and that’s what CEO Mark Zuckerberg is doing.
But that doesn’t necessarily make it better for you, the loyal Facebook user. You don’t need Stories in four apps (five if you already use Snapchat). You don’t need to connect with your favorite clothing brand in four apps, either, and you aren’t going to broadcast live video in more than one place at a time. (Facebook’s binge has even led to a Twitter meme, where people are grafting the Stories interface absurdly onto apps like Microsoft Excel.)
You don’t need more Facebook outside of Facebook. But that’s what the company wants to give you.
Perhaps this is just a blip, a panic move to fend off Snapchat at the expense of overdoing Stories, a product that used to feel unique and special. Or perhaps Facebook understands that some users only use one of its apps, not all four, and it needs features to exist across the spectrum in order to reach everyone.
But, either way, Facebook has shown that it likes to stick with what works — and what works is copying competitors, and sometimes copying itself. |
× PA House Democratic Caucus agreed to pay $514,300 to settle claims by employees
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Since 2007, the Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus agreed to pay out a total of $514,300 to settle claims by employees, according to a statement issued by Rep. Frank Dermody, the House Democratic Leader, Tuesday night.
Two involved sexual harassment claims against two different members while five claims were for other types of employment matters, Rep. Dermody added in the statement.
The statement comes after Philly.com published a report about a $248,000 payment being issued to settle a 2015 sexual harassment complaint against state Rep. Thomas Caltagirone.
Gov. Tom Wolf spoke out about that report — calling for the Berks County Democrat to resign.
“Verbal and physical harassment is flat-out wrong, whether towards an employee or any other person,” Gov. Wolf said in a statement. “Rep. Caltagirone should resign.”
“I fully support the legislative effort by the bipartisan group of women in the House and Senate for reform in this area and hope every member of the General Assembly will join me.”
You can read Rep. Dermody’s full statement below:
“We do our best to provide all Caucus employees with a safe workplace, free from discrimination and harassment. We have a written anti-discrimination, anti-harassment policy with an articulated complaint procedure for employees. We take all complaints seriously, act on them quickly and investigate them, going to great lengths to try to ascertain the facts.
“When we agree with an employee to settle a complaint, we do so with the advice of counsel and mindful of the effect the underlying complaint may have had on the employee making the complaint and what his or her best interests are. In addition, because complaints by employees are very often filed against the Caucus or the House as the employer, we also take into account whether settling a complaint will reduce the risk that protracted litigation may be a financial drain on the Commonwealth.
“Since 2007, the Caucus agreed to pay out a total of $514,300 to settle claims by employees. Two of them involved sexual harassment claims against two different members. Five of them involved other types of employment matters.
“I cannot discuss the specifics of a settlement where the parties agreed to keep the terms confidential. They may only be disclosed pursuant to a Court Order or the Right to Know Law, with redactions if and when appropriate. I don’t like it and I wish I could disclose more of the specifics, but I have to follow the law. The House Right to Know Officer is in the process of reviewing more than 30 different Right to Know Law requests for a variety of different documents. The caucus’ responsive documents will be released to those requesters in due course. It is also important to note that some of these matters involve former employees who are now private citizens and we need to be mindful of their privacy rights as well.
“I think it’s imperative that members are reminded often of their obligations to employees, constituents and others they come in contact with every day regarding their behavior. That’s why I, along with the other leaders of the House Democratic Caucus, introduced HR 612 requiring a third hour of ethics training each session for members specifically addressing sexual harassment issues. In addition, I am a co-sponsor of Representative Leanne Krueger-Braneky’s proposed legislation that will require mandatory sexual harassment training for all members and employees as well as better protect employees who believe they have been subjected to sexual misconduct by a member or another employee.” |
Korea Economic Reader Seoul, Korea Updates and Commentaries Click here to view this message online. Tweet Coyner's Comment Often I suggest to Don Kirk and his fellow journalists that the big story of what is happening in South Korea is under-reported or even neglected. That is the wide-spread situation of under-employed young people who find themselves denied opportunities to follow in the footsteps of their fathers as employees of medium-sized and larger companies. It’s great to be entrepreneurial, but it is something else when one is forced to fend for oneself, given the lack of meaningful employment opportunity. To Mr Kirk’s credit, he delves into this topic. Taking into account the economic environment he accurately describes, it comes as no surprise that many of the best of young Koreans dream of emigration. And those who do emigrate at an early age, find themselves being pulled back to Korea by family ties, but too often without adequate chances of finding employment. After a three-month hiatus, largely spent in Thailand and Myanmar, I am resuming my photographic reportage projects. One of which is “Korea Ink” that explores the lives of young people who openly display tattoos. While the project includes foreigners, perhaps the most interesting images and stories are of Koreans. Indelibly marking one’s body is an affront to traditional Confucian values and historically linked to organized crime. But all such Koreans I have encountered while carrying out this project are well educated and remarkably polite - and even respectful to me as an older person. From these interactions and experiences, I have labeled this larger, if under-reported, part of society as the ‘Alternative Culture.’ Unlike the ‘counter cultures’ fond in the west, most of the participants were originally involuntary joiners. Simply stated, they were not permitted to join mainstream society in roles they deemed appropriate to their backgrounds and education levels. As a result, they have been searching about, looking for a lifestyle that can find economic and social traction in this overly competitive society. Eventually, many of these young people, especially as they reach age 30, realize their old dreams need to be replaced with new ones And as part of the overall experience, many adopt ‘alterative culture’ appearances, including hairstyles and tattoos, often mistaken to be punk by foreigners. I find irony in the below suggestion that the Korean malaise is largely caused by foreign and macroeconomic forces. Certainly the below-mentioned factors are relevant. But even if they were removed, the basic problem will remain. South Korea has and will continue to have a too large a population of highly educated young people unable to find suitable employment given the size of the economy and the over dominance of the chaebol in providing an iadequate number of meaningful careers within South Korea.
The long-term ramifications are unclear. But historically, in other nations, all of this could be the foundation for signfiicant unrest and possibly rebellion. The safety valve is, and will continue to be, emigration. What 'Korean Miracle'? 'Hell Joseon' Is More Like It As Economy Flounders Don Kirk
Forbes Asia
Feb. 27, 2016 http://www.forbes.com/sites/donaldkirk/2016/02/27/what-korean-miracle-hell-joseon-is-more-like-it-as-economy-flounders/#73f252a93c4f Pessimism pervades the Korean economy, from financial to shopping markets, from homes to work places, as China’s economic woes, declining exports and low job prospects gnaw into the fabric of the “Korean Miracle.” Nowadays, on the streets of Seoul, in coffee shops, on the Internet, you’re likely to find more people complaining about “Hell Joseon” – Korea’s historical name when the Yi or Joseon dynasty held sway for more than 500 years – than talking up the wonders of economic success. As “Hell Joseon” gains currency, you hardly hear the term “Korean Miracle” in a milieu
of glittering shopping centers, skyscrapers, expressways, superfast trains and all the hi-tek gadgets and gizmos of an advanced society. That’s just window-dressing and superficial appearances, says Paik Sang-eun, tutoring students preparing for the critical national examination that will determine what level college they attend – and whether they have a prayer of finding work at a prestigious company or, for that matter, any company. “I got laid off my job in downsizing,” she says. “Nobody hires middle-aged people. Young people can’t find jobs. Old people are living in poverty.” The problem is reaching near-crisis proportions while President Park Geun-Hye calls for “a second miracle on the Han River” – the broad, twisting waterway that bisects Seoul. “The growth rate has not been as large as expected,” Yoo Il-Ho, deputy prime minister and minister of strategy and finance, admitted at a briefing that I attended. “Young people have experienced dissatisfaction.” While the government “has the major policy goal of creating jobs,” he said, “today we are no longer experiencing growth as in the past.” Yoo, whose long title translates as finance minister, still predicted, “Korea will be back on track to achieve 3.1% growth this year” – a rate “higher than those of many other major economies:” What’s happening – and what’s likely? Yoo blames much of the trouble on China, by far Korea’s largest market. “The financial market instability in major economies amid slowdowns in China and other emerging economies has brought a high level of uncertainty to the global economy,” he acknowledged. No, he said, in understatement, “The economy has not fully picked up momentum” – “China’s economic slowdown and low oil prices are adversely affecting Korea’s exports.” One of the most disturbing statistics of late was that exports, on which the Korean “miracle” relies, dropped 18.8% year-on-year in January, raising fears that Korea may be in for a slump reminiscent of the 1997-1998 economic crisis. But why would the precipitous drop in the price of crude have such an impact on exports from Korea, which has to import all its oil? As Lee Keun-Tae, economist at the LG Economic Research Institute, explained to Yonhap, the Korean news agency, ”Falling crude prices are a big drag on emerging economies, which will inevitably hurt South Korean exports.” With exporters in “acute fiscal crises,” said Yonhap, orders from the Middle East for construction, shipbuilding and other industrial products plummeted last year to $14.7 billion, down 52% from 2014 and the lowest since 2006. Talking to heads of state agencies, Finance Minister Yoo said “exports have been in the doldrums due to fast-falling oil prices, Chinese financial turmoil and Japan’s negative interest rate.” Korea’s corporate sector, powered by the mighty chaebol or conglomerates that control the economy, is “losing corporate competitiveness,” Yonhap news quoted him as saying, amid “low growth in the world economy.” Even if the economy is not doing nearly so badly as in the dark days of late 1997 and early 1998, Koreans carry bitter memories of what came to be known as “the IMF crisis” – a reference to the country’s going to the International Monetary Fund to bail out the economy. The IMF at the time issued strict guidelines on credit for debt-ridden chaebol, stopping them from borrowing freely from overly friendly banks with no real collateral to back up the loans. A poll conducted by Chosun Ilbo shows that a majority of Koreans – 58.6% — believe conditions are as bad now as they were then. Women – “more sensitive to fluctuation in household finances,” according to Chosun Ilbo — were more negative than men, 60.1% as opposed to 57%. That’s not too surprising considering that Korean women, often held back professionally, tend to take charge at home – and household debt led by mortgages, the paper reported from the Bank of Korea, exceeds 1.2 trillion won, about $965 million, up 11.4% from 2014. Young people are the most pessimistic – 72.7% of those in their 20’s believe the country is approaching a crisis. One student told me that many in the graduating class of his college, embarrassed by their failure to find jobs, don’t attend graduation ceremonies. Most postpone marriages until they’re at least 30, he said, while almost everyone he knows wants to go overseas for work or study – anything to get out of “Hell Joseon.” The saddest aspects of Korea’s economic malaise is a high suicide rate – highest among the 34 members of the Organization of Economic Development. Suicide ranks as the top cause of death among those aged 10 to 39. At the other end of the scale, suicides are highest among those 65 and older in a society in which children are less likely to care for their aging parents than in the days of yore. While the air slowly leaks out of the Korean economic balloon, the dollar keeps gaining in value against the won. The dollar, valued at about 1,100 Korean won in January 2015, has soared since then to 1,245 won. That should be good for exports – but not for typical Koreans paying ever higher prices on local markets. As elsewhere, the sense is that the rich are getting richer while ordinary people are squeezed relentlessly. “South Koreans continues to suffer from small injustices that reflect the existence of two realities here,” wrote Koo Se-woong in “Korea Exposé,” a critical website that he edits. One is “available only to those from the right backgrounds and another that is experienced by everyone else.” To read more of Don Kirk's commentaries on Asia news, click on www.donaldkirk.com, and the details of his books are available here.
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Former Tulsa County Sheriff Glanz's legal woes are about to take a turn for the worse.
KRMG has learned the law firm of Smolen, Smolen and Roytman has prepared two federal lawsuits which could be filed as early as today (Wednesday).
The first names Glanz, former reserve deputy Robert Bates, acting Sheriff Rick Weigel, and three sheriff's deputies who were involved in the April 2, 2015 death of Eric Harris.
Deputies Michael Huckeby, Joseph Byars, and Ricardo Vaca are the deputies named as defendants.
The suit claims Bates and deputies used excessive force in attempting to arrest Harris after an undercover operation involving the purchase of an illegal handgun.
After a brief pursuit, Harris was shot to death by Bates, a 73-year-old who claims he accidentally used his firearm when he meant to use his Taser.
"Bates is the longtime friend and financial supporter of Defendant, and former Tulsa County Sheriff, Stanley Glanz ('Sheriff Glanz')," according to a copy of the complaint obtained by KRMG. "Well before Mr.
Harris was shot dead, Sheriff Glanz knew that Bates did not have the necessary training or certifications to engage in TCSO’s field operations. Sheriff Glanz knew that Bates was not proficient with a firearm and posed a significant risk to the public. Yet, in a shameful display of cronyism run amok, Sheriff Glanz turned a blind eye to these dangers, in violation of his own policies and the United States Constitution, in order to allow his friend and financial benefactor to 'play cop' in the streets of Tulsa County. Eric Harris needlessly died as a direct consequence."
The suit alleges the use of excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment, and deliberate indifference to severe medical needs in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.
It also claims Glanz and Weigel are liable for damages in their supervisory and official capacities.
"Acting Sheriff Weigel is liable for these unconstitutional policies and customs, purely in his official capacity, as Sheriff Glanz’s successor," the lawsuit states.
In a second lawsuit, Glanz, Bates and Weigel are named again, this time involving a traffic stop in which excessive force by Bates is again alleged.
The plaintiff in that case is Terry Bynum, who says Bates used a Taser on him after he was already on the ground and not resisting.
That incident occurred February 12, 2015, about six weeks before Bates' involvement in Eric Harris' death.
Both lawsuits seek actual and punitive damages in excess of $75,000.
Meanwhile, Bates still faces a count of second-degree manslaughter, while Glanz is charged with two misdemeanors related to his conduct in office, willful violation of the law and refusal to perform official duty.
After months of legal wrangling, including a petition drive which led to a grand jury, Glanz resigned from office in November of last year.
His attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the second count late in December.
A special election to choose a new sheriff is set for March 1st. |
The first time I met my future mother-in-law, a professor at Columbia University and a longtime resident of the Upper West Side, she asked me in a challenging tone: “Why do you keep kosher?” I had been dating her daughter for all of two weeks and wasn’t looking to get into a theological or philosophical discussion, so I flippantly replied, “Because I’m a Jet.” I didn’t realize it at the time, but in my invocation of the Stephen Sondheim lyric from West Side Story, I was defining myself as a member of what was to become, over the ensuing quarter century, one of the fastest growing and most dynamic segments of the American Jewish community. Call it “Social Orthodoxy.”
Just like those Jets roaming the streets of Hell’s Kitchen together, I was “never alone” and “never disconnected.” Whether in synagogue or summer camp, making Shabbat dinner with friends or traveling through Israel, I always felt “home with your own” and “well protected.” Being Jewish meant being a member of a club, and not just any club: a club with a 3,000-year-old membership, its own language, calendar, culture, vast literature including histories and a code of law, and, of course, a special place on the map.
Much has been written about the Pew Research Center’s recent survey of American Jews, and most of the coverage has focused on the rapidly increasing pace of assimilation and intermarriage. The survey also revealed another troubling trend: 22 percent of all American Jews describe themselves as having no religion at all, and among Jews under 35, nearly one in three claim to have no religion. Alan Cooperman, deputy director of the Pew survey, painted a dim picture for the future: “It’s very stark. Older Jews are Jews by religion. Younger Jews are Jews of no religion.”
Yet the Pew survey revealed that Orthodox Jews, who make up only 10 percent of the community and are the smallest of the three major denominations, are the youngest segment of the Jewish community, have the most children, and rarely intermarry. This is among the reasons why the historian Jonathan Sarna has called Orthodox Judaism “the great success story of late-20th-century American Judaism,” and all the data suggest the same will be true for the 21st. Among the American Jewish community at large, the birth rate for those ages 40–59 is actually below the national average, with only 1.9 children per adult, and only 1.3 for the non-Orthodox. Within the Orthodox community, the number is 4.1. Twenty-seven percent of Jewish children today are growing up in Orthodox homes.
Just who makes up the Orthodox Jewish community? In popular culture, Orthodox Jews are hard to miss, especially the men: They wear white shirts, long black coats, and black hats, with sidecurls and long beards. This image is not inaccurate: The Pew data revealed that two-thirds of self-identifying Orthodox Jews are “ultra-Orthodox” Haredim (literally “tremblers before God”), and most of them dress much as their ancestors dressed in 18th-century Europe. But there is another segment of the Orthodox community, the Modern Orthodox, who look nothing like their Hasidic-looking co-religionists. This is my community, and it is a success story of its own.
Modern Orthodoxy has its origins in 19th-century Germany, where two leading rabbis, Samson Raphael Hirsch and Azriel Hildesheimer, argued that Jews could no longer seclude themselves behind shtetl walls but instead had to engage with the secular world and embrace modernity. Under the rubric of the catchphrase Torah im Derech Eretz (“Torah with the way of the land”), these rabbis posited that secular education was an affirmative duty for Jews. Hildesheimer even established schools for men and women that taught both religious and secular subjects.
It was in America in the 20th century that Modern Orthodoxy matured intellectually, under the “Rav,” Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik (1903–93). He made a titanic effort to harmonize rigorous Jewish practice and thought together with all aspects of modernity—and became the champion of what is known as Torah Umadda (“Torah and secular knowledge”). At the same time, Modern Orthodoxy established itself as a social movement within American Jewry. Co-educational high school yeshivas and summer camps were established, as was Yeshiva University, the first institution of higher education in America established to teach both Jewish and secular studies. By the end of the 20th-century, a vibrant community of Modern Orthodox Jews had risen to positions of prominence in medicine, law, journalism, and academia. One was even nominated to be vice president; another became White House chief of staff and is now the secretary of the treasury; others commandeer boardrooms on Wall Street that were once closed to Jews.
Yet within this success there has been constant struggle in balancing the demands of a fully Jewish life and a place within the non-Jewish world. Living in their cloistered communities, Haredi Jews in certain respects have created an environment in which they can flourish through avoidance and rejection—of popular culture and the secular world. But for the Modern Orthodox, the challenges of modernity are unceasing. These Jews live in the present and engage it fully: Their children attend the nation’s best colleges and graduate schools, participate in athletic programs that often pose difficulties for Sabbath observance, are constantly surfing the Internet, and extensively interact with non-Jews.
And of course, owing to their engagement with the secular world, the Modern Orthodox have found themselves fully immersed in debates centered around the two great cultural fault lines of our generation: women’s rights and gay rights. Although many in the Modern Orthodox movement have tried to resist the pressure to afford women a more active role in synagogue services and have simply refused to acknowledge a role for homosexual couples within Orthodoxy, both of these walls are increasingly being breached.
The breach has been most pronounced in the case of women’s rights. Over the last decade, there has been a burgeoning of new “partnership” synagogues, in which men and women, divided by an Orthodox mechitza (a partition, so the sexes are separated when praying in synagogue), both participate as leaders in the services. And in the past few years, a prominent Orthodox rabbi, Avi Weiss, has begun to ordain women to serve as congregational rabbis. He has even established a women’s rabbinical college in New York. But the most recent indication that Modern Orthodoxy continues to bend to the zeitgeist comes from two of the most prominent Modern Orthodox high schools in New York City. These schools declared that girls are now permitted to wrap teffilin around their arms and foreheads when they say their morning prayers. Underscoring the tension inherent in being both “Modern” and “Orthodox,” rabbinic leaders at both schools made clear that even though such a practice was halachically (that is, legally) permissible, it was a communally “complicated” issue and would not be “recommended.”
Likewise, although Modern Orthodoxy has not followed Conservative and Reform Jews in approving gay marriage, a group of prominent Modern Orthodox rabbis issued a joint statement in 2010 urging members of their communities to accept homosexuals. And now gay couples are joining Modern Orthodox synagogues.
All of which raises the question: Are the Modern Orthodox in America really Orthodox?
As a matter of doctrine the fundamental tenet of Orthodox Judaism is the belief that on Mount Sinai, God transmitted to Moses both the written law (the Torah) and the oral law (the Talmud and certain other rabbinic texts). That is why Orthodox Judaism is generally resistant to changing interpretations of the law, except where there is some precedent for it in traditional law. To be sure, many Modern Orthodox rabbis and some of their congregants are steadfast in their faith and look to halacha to guide all aspects of their lives precisely because they believe it is the revealed word of God. But if unwavering acceptance of the Torah as divine is the precondition for Orthodoxy, then the term “Modern Orthodox” may well be a misnomer for many Jews who identify as Modern Orthodox. They might more accurately be described as Social Orthodox, with the emphasis on “Social.”
The Pew study offers insights that support this assessment. When compared with ultra-Orthodox Jews, Pew found that Modern Orthodox Jews are much less doctrinaire. Consider, for example, the question of faith. Among the ultra-Orthodox, 96 percent report that they believe in God with absolute certainty and 89 percent say that religion is very important in their lives. The percentage among Modern Orthodox Jews who feel equally certain in their faith is 77 percent, with a similar number reporting that religion is very important in their lives.
On the other hand, even though many Modern Orthodox Jews express a degree of doubt about their faith, in several important respects they are the most engaged part of the American Jewish community. For example, Modern Orthodox Jews are significantly more likely to be members of Jewish organizations (52 percent) than the ultra-Orthodox (33 percent), Conservative (27 percent), or Reform (20 percent). And when it comes to their attachment to Israel, the contrast is even greater, with 79 percent of Modern Orthodox Jews reporting that “caring about Israel” is an essential part of being Jewish, as compared with only 56 percent among the ultra-Orthodox, 58 percent among Conservatives, and 42 percent among Reform.
These survey results are reinforced by observing communities with great concentrations of Orthodox Jews. Two years ago, the UJA-Federation conducted a survey of the New York Jewish community, which, with nearly a half million Orthodox Jews, is the largest such community outside of Israel. Taking a more granular view than Pew did, the UJA subdivided the Orthodox into three categories: Hasidic, yeshivish, and Modern Orthodox. The first two, which account for two-thirds of New York’s Orthodox Jewish population, share several features in common and generally fit within the broad grouping of Haredim. They are very strict in their interpretations of Jewish law and live predominantly in concentrated communities often segregated from other Jews and non-Jewish communities. (A significant difference between Hasidic and yeshivish Jews is in education: The latter are more likely than the former to send their children to college.)
One of the major findings of the UJA study was that the Modern Orthodox (whom the UJA survey concluded were almost as distant from the Haredim as from the non-Orthodox) are more engaged in broad Jewish communal life than either the Haredim or the less observant and much more numerous Conservative and Reform communities. In totality, the Modern Orthodox are by far the most engaged group of American Jews. They reported greater participation in Jewish-community-center programs, more visits to museums or Jewish cultural events, more use of the Internet for Jewish purposes, along with their significantly greater attachment to the state of Israel. And while their birthrate is significantly lower than that of the Haredi community, it is double that of non-Orthodox Jews. The fact is that with an intermarriage rate among non-Orthodox Jews now higher than 70 percent, and with the ultra-Orthodox disengaging from the secular world as they cloister themselves in their self-contained communities, the Modern Orthodox may well be the best hope for an ongoing American Jewry that is part of the fabric of 21st-century American life—despite being only 3 percent of the total community.
What can we glean from all this data? That many self-identifying Modern Orthodox Jews, despite being more “Modern” than “Orthodox,” are living intensely Jewish lives. And precisely because of their dogma-averse approach to theology and to halacha, they are recapturing some of the creativity of rabbinic Judaism, which has ossified over time as, in the words of the Orthodox theologian Eliezer Berkovitz, many Orthodox Jews have become “Karaites of the Oral Law.” And this is the essence of Social Orthodoxy.
Social Orthodox Jews fully embrace Jewish culture and Jewish community. And they are committed to the survival of the Jewish people. Indeed, that is their raison d’être. Furthermore, because religious practice is an essential component of Jewish continuity, Social Orthodox Jews are observant—and not because they are trembling before God.
Some years after I first channeled the Jets to explain my Judaism, I had a conversation about religion with a devout Catholic friend. When I explained that I was an observant Jew and began each day by reciting the morning prayers but wasn’t really sure how God fit into my life, he was perplexed. When I admitted that these theological questions didn’t really occupy much of my attention and certainly weren’t particularly germane to my life as an observant Jew, he became agitated. And when I told him that I certainly wasn’t sure if Jewish law was divine or simply the result of two millennia of rabbinical interpretations, he threw up his hands and said: “How can you do everything you do, and live a life with so many restrictions and so many obligations, if you don’t even believe in God?”
I responded that there is a long tradition in Judaism of engaging first in religious practices and letting matters of faith come later. In the book of Exodus, after Moses has received the Commandments from God, he begins to instruct the Jewish people in the law; their immediate response is na’aseh v’nishma: “We will do first and understand afterwards.” I explained that while I understood that Catholicism, along with the other branches of Christianity, was essentially a religion based on the belief that Jesus is the son of God and the savior of humanity, Judaism is a complex blend of radical monotheism and peoplehood. In the Bible, the Jewish people are referred to not as a religious denomination, but as b’nai Yisrael, the children of Israel, the descendants of Jacob. Throughout history, Jews have referred to themselves as am Yisrael, the nation of Israel. The vast corpus of Jewish law, all 613 biblical commandments as well as the Oral Tradition, is a guide to how one lives a Jewish life as a member of the Jewish people.
And so for me, and I imagine for many others like me, the key to Jewish living is not our religious beliefs but our commitment to a set of practices and values that foster community and continuity. In this way, both Modern and Social Orthodoxy owe an ironic debt to Mordecai Kaplan, perhaps the most iconoclastic American rabbi and thinker of the 20th century. In the first decades of that century, Kaplan occupied pulpits in two of the most prominent Orthodox synagogues in New York City—Kehilath Jeshurun and the Jewish Center—and he was one of the founders of the Modern Orthodox “Young Israel” synagogue movement. He taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary, the center of Conservative Judaism. And then he made the radical move of creating an entirely new movement, Reconstructionism. In 1945, he was excommunicated by the Union of Orthodox Rabbis for what it deemed an unforgivable act of heresy—authoring a Prayer Book in which he eliminated every reference to the Jews as the “Chosen people.” His excommunication ceremony concluded with a public burning of the book.
Although Kaplan followed Jewish practices rigorously all his life (he died in 1983 at the age of 102), he was also a modernist who believed that modern science and archeology discredited faith in a divine supernatural being who acted in history, dishing out rewards and punishments. As he wrote in 1937 in The Meaning of God in Modern Jewish Religion, “the very notion that any text written hundreds of years ago, at a time when the social situation was radically different from what it is today, can give us clear and valuable guidance in deciding, ethically, issues that did not arise until recent times is utterly antagonistic to the modern evolutionary outlook.”
He was deeply influenced by Ahad Ha’am (1856–1927), the founder of Cultural Zionism and one of the people responsible for the rebirth of Hebrew as a spoken language. Like Ahad Ha’am, Kaplan also believed powerfully in Jewish peoplehood and culture. He dedicated himself to developing a Jewish theology that would reconcile reason and faith in the service of building Jewish community. As he explained in his most famous work, Judaism as a Civilization (1934), Judaism comprises a variety of what he called “sancta”: ethical principles, sacred texts, language, land, traditions, a unique calendar, and other indicia of community.
Kaplan’s Reconstructionist movement, from its inception, has remained a tiny minority within a minority. And yet, nearly 70 years after his excommunication, Kaplan’s perspective is surprisingly resonant within that of the Modern Orthodox world. As both the UJA and Pew data revealed, many Modern Orthodox Jews are more focused on living a Jewish life than they are on theology or a rigid set of rules. Modern Orthodox day schools teach evolution unapologetically, notwithstanding the literal text of Genesis. And they have begun to accommodate gay and lesbian students, notwithstanding the literal text of Leviticus, with one school even establishing a club as a forum for students to discuss matters of sexuality and identity. Notably, in Modern Orthodox day schools, much to the chagrin of their teachers, many students have taken to observing what they call “half shabbos”—the practice of going to synagogue and keeping the Sabbath, but using their iPhones and Blackberries to text on the Sabbath, despite the rabbinical prohibition on using electronics.
The Jewish Week, a New York paper, sent shock waves through the city’s Orthodox community a few years ago with an exposé reporting that texting on the Sabbath is becoming “an increasingly common ‘addiction’?” among Modern Orthodox teens. Rabbi Steven Burg, the international director of the Orthodox Union’s NCSY youth group, freely acknowledged in the article that “teens who text on Shabbat are an open secret in their schools and social circles.” And although two professors at Yeshiva University’s graduate school of education determined, in a survey hastily conducted the week following the publication of the article, that the percentage of Modern Orthodox teens who regularly text, surf the Internet, or use their cellphones on the Sabbath was only 15 percent, anecdotal evidence suggests it is much higher.
Yet despite such halachic foot-faults, these same Modern Orthodox Jewish teenagers and their families lead lives that are completely focused on Jewish values, ideals, and rituals. The adults attend synagogue regularly, participate in Torah and Talmud classes organized by their synagogues, donate significantly to Jewish communal organizations, and travel to Israel frequently. Their children study in dual-curriculum schools (often for 13 years); many then take a year off before college to study Talmud in Israel; and a great number spend their summers in Zionist Orthodox camps.
In perceiving the need to root American Judaism in something more tangible and rational than pure faith, Kaplan foresaw American Jewish practice that was focused primarily on community and secondarily on God. Many of his innovations, which still flourish today, gave structure to his reconstruction of Judaism. He instituted the practice of giving girls bat-mitzvahs (his daughter had the first one in 1922); after long resistance, Modern Orthodoxy has figured out ways to accommodate this ritual. Kaplan organized the first synagogue-as-community in America in 1916 when he founded the Jewish Center on the Upper West Side—the first “shul with a pool.” That innovation has been adopted widely in the Modern Orthodox community, with every synagogue now running a wide range of educational and social programs for adults and children.
In one critical respect, however, Kaplan missed the mark. Drawing on his background in sociology, Kaplan argued that with respect to organizing one’s life as a Jew, “belonging precedes behaving precedes believing.” By this he meant that the feeling of being a member of a group generally comes before adopting the group’s distinctive practices, which in turns comes before accepting the group’s core beliefs.
Because he sought to differentiate himself from traditional Orthodox Judaism, which centers on believing and behaving, Kaplan argued that the most elementary form of Jewish identification is belonging—what Reverend Stefan Jonasson has described as “the intuitive sense of kinship that binds a Jew to every other Jew in history and in the contemporary world.” Unquestionably, belonging is a powerful component of Jewish identity. After all, we constantly invoke our connection to our ancestors—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—and annually re-create the Exodus from Egypt, so we can feel that sense of belonging. Kaplan was wrong, however, in concluding that belonging precedes behaving. In fact, for many observant Jews, and certainly for Social Orthodox Jews, behaving is the first step. And it is actually the one necessary step. For it is through one’s behavior as a Jew—whether traveling to Israel as part of an organized tour, participating in a Passover Seder, attending a Sabbath meal, or just speaking Hebrew—that one gains the powerful feeling of belonging.
The best evidence that neither belonging nor believing promotes Jewish continuity as powerfully as behaving is found in the last part of the Pew study, where the authors describe their findings from interviews with several hundred individuals who are not Jewish under any recognized definition (they have no Jewish parent and have not converted), but who nevertheless claim to have an affinity for Judaism.
Ironically, these non-Jews who claim to belong to the Jewish community (and Pew suggests that more than a million individuals fit into this category) tend to be more God-centered in their faith (at least when measured by their faith in God) than the rest of the Jewish community—and nearly a third of this group root their Jewishness in the fact that Jesus was Jewish. Not surprisingly, the Pew study found that this group (which only rarely engages in Jewish rituals) is far less involved in Jewish communal life (whether synagogue attendance or membership in Jewish organizations) than those of any denomination who are born into Jewish homes or convert to Judaism.
In short, they do not behave, so they do not really belong—whatever it is that they believe.
As for me: I start my day each morning by donning my tefillin before heading to my office at a law firm. I eat out in restaurants several times a month only to pass up 90 percent of the menu in favor of vegetarian fare because I keep kosher. I occasionally find myself stuck in cities on a Friday far from home because I cannot travel back to New York City in time for the arrival of the Sabbath. I go to synagogue each week and celebrate all the Jewish holidays. My children attend a Modern Orthodox day school, and my college-age daughter served as a soldier in the Israeli army. And I am proud to be a Zionist. Unless one were to look very carefully, I would appear to be the very model of an Orthodox Jew, albeit a modern one. But I also pick and choose from the menu of Jewish rituals without fear of divine retribution. And I root my identity much more in Jewish culture, history, and nationality than in faith and commandments. I am a Social Orthodox Jew, and I am not alone.
I once asked my father why he studies Jewish texts and practices Jewish rituals so rigorously. I knew he was agnostic when it came to matters of faith. He told me that he observes the Commandments because that is what connects him to Jews across continents and centuries. He said that he views halacha as a compass, and that every Jew, even if he or she chooses to take some detours along the way, should know which direction is true north.
Whether such a cultural tradition can be sufficiently transmitted to the next generation is a fair question. Certainly, a neat theological package provides parents with a more direct message to convey to their children. Yet there is also an authenticity in a dynamic Judaism that recognizes its origins as a national identity. As Leon Roth, the first professor of philosophy at the Hebrew University observed, dogmalessness is “the only dogma in Judaism.”
So it is with many Social Orthodox Jews. We generally choose to head north, where halacha dictates. But we live in the modern world, and occasionally we explore the pathways around the edges of halacha. Much more important to us than theology, however, is maintaining the continuity of the Jewish people.
What Kaplan called “civilization” and Ahad Ha’am called a “national culture” is what moves many of us. We behave as Jews so we can belong as Jews. Some of us may even come to believe. The key, however, is that we live Jewish lives so we will not be disconnected, and we will never be alone. |
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As we know, Republicans can't win a national election unless they steal it. So as we count down to the presidential election, Republican election officials around the country are making all sorts of "mistakes" and accidentally "forgetting" all kinds of details:
WASHINGTON -- Democratic activists in Riverside County, Calif., claim that a Republican voter outreach project may be illegally registering Democrats as Republicans to boost the GOP's registration advantage, according to CaliforniaWatch.org, an investigative journalism outfit.
The website reports, "In a complaint filed last week with the county registrar of voters, the Democrats presented affidavits from 133 Democratic voters who said they had been re-registered as Republicans without their consent after they encountered petition circulators outside welfare offices and stores.
"A local Democratic Party spokesman told CaliforniaWatch.org that the registration project's efforts may aid GOP fundraising efforts (by making local races seem more winnable) and impede Democrats' ability to turn out their voters. A spokeswoman for the Golden State Voter Participation Project denied the allegations, saying, "Our canvassers are trained about the laws, the rules and how to conduct themselves."
Here are some other election-related mishaps in the news:In Palm Beach County, Fla., election officials are red-faced about yet another printing error on absentee ballots. As HuffPost reported last week, the county must manually fill out copies of 27,000 absentee ballots that can't be digitally scanned because of a design error. On Monday, elections supervisor Susan Bucher told the Palm Beach Post that she had to send new absentee ballots to another 500 voters because the flawed ballots they received didn't contain one of 11 proposed amendments to the state's constitution. The ballots also allow people to vote twice on three of those amendments because one of the ballot pages appears twice. [Ed. note: Bucher is a Democrat. This information was not added until today because I couldn't get in to edit the post while the server was down.]
In Lakeland, Fla., an editorial in The Ledger warns that strict rules for counting absentee ballots may prevent some ballots from being counted. It points to a provision of Florida law that states, "After an absentee ballot is received by the supervisor, the ballot is deemed to have been cast, and changes or additions may not be made to the voter's certificate." The concern is that voters who don't sign their absentee ballots before turning them in will have their ballots invalidated. In a swing state like Florida, every vote may make a difference: A mere 537 Florida votes separated George W. Bush from Al Gore 12 years ago.
In Oneida County, N.Y., officials say the cost of fixing a typo on 130,000 ballots will be about $75,000, according to the Utica Observer-Dispatch. The newspaper reports that the county had to print brand-new ballots because the "c" was missing from President Barack Obama's first name. "I called the printer [Albany-based Fort Orange Press]," County Executive Anthony Picente told the paper. "She can cry poor me [in] this election and that election. They did it wrong and this is an embarrassment." |
• We have a job to do with 15,000 people against us, says Aidy Boothroyd • England expect to stick with the side who saw off Slovakia
Aidy Boothroyd has urged his England players to rise to the challenge of facing the tournament hosts, Poland, in their final group stage match at the European Under‑21 Championship as they bid to reach the semi-finals for the first time in four attempts.
Despite being heavily outnumbered in the stands during their games against Sweden and Slovakia, England go into the game on top of Group A with four points and knowing victory on Thursday would secure a last-four place.
Several first-choice players including the captain, James Ward‑Prowse, and the Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham, who is poised to join Swansea City on loan next season, sat out training on Wednesday but Boothroyd insisted that was merely a precautionary measure.
Spain Under-21s reap benefit of experience England can only dream of Read more
“We were quite pleased with a point from our first game but it’s taken a bit of waking up to realise we had to win against Slovakia and we have to win this one, too,” he said. “We don’t want to put our future in anyone else’s hands.
“We’re here to go as far as we can and if we keep improving then why can’t we reach the semis and go beyond that? But first things first, what we definitely won’t do is get carried away and complacent.
“We’ve got a job to do against a really good team with 15,000 people behind them and against us. When we go out on the pitch we have to make sure that we deliver a performance that earns the respect of the crowd.”
England are expected to stick with the side who began the second half against Slovakia, when they battled back from a goal down to secure a 2-1 win. That means Norwich City’s Jacob Murphy could once more be deployed in an unfamiliar right-back role, with Nathan Redmond continuing to partner Abraham up front as they go in search of another win, with only the group winners certain to reach the semi-finals.
“You’ve always got to give respect to your opponent and maybe tweak a few things,” Boothroyd said. “Anybody at this level is tough and in our group anyone can still go through so we can get all kinds of results. We’re in the driving seat and we’ve got to make sure we do our job professionally and don’t get caught up in all the Polish passion.”
Spain became the first side to reach the semi-final on Tuesday after beating Portugal 3-1, meaning that England will avoid the tournament favourites if they can get past Poland. Boothroyd appeared relaxed as he discussed his side’s prospects of challenging for a first title at this level since 1984, even revealing that he had invested in a loud new pair of brogues ahead of the tournament in an attempt to lighten the mood among the squad.
“I knew there would be a little bit of stress and a little bit of pressure so I thought I would buy a pair of shoes that might be talking point and take some off the heat off them,” he said. “As soon as I put them on Nathan Redmond looked at them and said: ‘Strange shoes, boss.’ So they are a nice little distraction.
“It’s pressure you want. You don’t want to not have pressure in your life. You need a bit of pressure, it keeps you healthy. It’s good in many ways and is important because it helps keep everyone calm.” |
India would be safer in the hands of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi rather than with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, said RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav on Saturday.
Yadav, who met Modi in Gandhinagar yesterday, said the nation comes first for him.
“For me, the country is big and I think about the country. And the country is looking forward to Narendra Modi. Whatever Narendra Modi says, he says about the country. So, I am seeing that the country will be safe in his hands,” Yadav told Asian News International (ANI) here.
“Had Rahul Gandhi been effective, he would have talked about the country at large. He does not talk about the country. Narendra Modi is talking and thinking about the country. So, we are talking about Narendra Modi,” he added
Yadav, who is likely to be expelled from his party following his latest remarks, said the Congress Party is not thinking about the country.
“The Congress is not talking about national security. The Congress Party is not thinking about the country. So, Narendra Modi is better and he is thinking about the country,” he added.
Yadav, who is the Congress leader from Bihar, yesterday lauded the Gujarat Chief Minister after meeting, and said the people of the country want to see the BJP’s poll panel chief as the Prime Minister.
“It doesn't matter whether the Congress wants or not, the people of the country want him,” he had said.
Yadav ruled out that there was any hidden agenda behind his meeting the Gujarat Chief Minister.
“Is Narendra Modi an untouchable? Is he not an Indian citizen? There was no agenda in it. I met him because I was in the city,” he said.
Yadav, a former Rajya Sabha MP, had quit the RJD after being denied an election ticket in 2009 and then joined the Congress. |
A home break-in that resulted in two men being shot – one of whom was later charged with burglary, robbery and kidnapping – was the result of a domain name dispute, cops have said.
Sherman Hopkins, 43, broke into a house in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, America, last month armed with a gun, it is alleged. Rather than making off with some jewelry or a flatscreen TV, however, it is claimed Hopkins confronted the owner – 26-year-old Ethan Deyo – and, at gunpoint, attempted to get him to transfer a domain name to an unnamed third party.
"Hopkins forced Deyo to log on to his computer and tried to coerce Deyo to transfer a domain name," a criminal complaint filed this week by the Linn County Attorney’s Office states, although it fails to say what the domain name was.
We called the police department and asked. They wouldn't tell us the name but noted it was "valuable." "We will release the name of the domain after our investigation is complete," a police spokesman told The Register.
Right now, the cops are looking into the details of the third person that Deyo was asked to transfer the name to and whether that person "had an influence" on Hopkins' alleged behavior.
Not random
One thing the police are sure about: it was no random act. Hopkins turned up with the "express purpose" of forcing Deyo to hand over control of a specific domain name, it is claimed. Hopkins and Deyo did not know one another, raising suspicions that he may have been hired by the third party to get hold of the name.
That raises more questions: why would someone take such an extremely risky approach to getting hold of a domain name?
A clue may be in what Deyo does for a living: he advertises himself as a content specialist online and sells his ability to "create engaging content for online businesses." As part of the police investigation, they are looking into whether the third party was looking to have the domain name returned to them, or whether they were seeking to grab it off Deyo.
We ran a reverse domain search and couldn't find a name registered by Deyo that was of such value that it would be worth sending someone around with a gun.
Deyo has registered a few names for a family member (variations on Deer Run Hamilton – Hamilton being in Illinois), and a few "Iowa Web Pro" domain variations. But his main EthanDeyo.com website uses GoDaddy privacy service, and presumably as a web professional he would follow standard practice and pay for the additional privacy for his client.
All of which suggests that someone knew that Deyo had control over a valuable domain, despite it not being publicly listed, and decided that threatening him with a gun to hand it over was the best course of action.
We have contacted Deyo and asked for clarification. |
Personal growth and development, what's that really mean? It means continually improving in all aspects of your life. Do you want to improve your relationships? How about your health, finances, skills, or business?
These twenty books have improved all of those aspects in my life. If you read them and put the ideas found there into action, I know they will improve your life as well.
I've read thousands of books over the years, and believe my reading habit more than anything else has been instrumental in my success. I now run a multi-million dollar IT company, serve on multiple company boards, coach a Toastmasters club, lead several groups at church including a leadership development group, run this website, and have a wonderful wife and 5 children.
Warren Buffett, who is considered by many to be the greatest investor who ever lived, once said, "The best investment you can make is in yourself."
Decide to make an investment in your future today by reading these life-changing books and implementing the ideas you find there, and you'll be amazed how much your life can improve.
Don't miss signing up for our reading challenge and read a book that we recommend each month to form a new healthy habit!
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Unless you've been living under a rock for the last decade, I'm sure you've heard of Dave Ramsey. This is one of his best pieces in my opinion. You'll learn the core habits that you'll need to have in order to get your spending under control and start investing for the future. Before you can even think of running a business or something like that, you've got to have your finances in order. Start here.More than 20 years of research went into this book, figuring out how the wealthy actually behave. Read this one for an in-depth look into what it actually takes to become and stay wealthy. You'll be able to identify the seven common traits of the average millionaire and hopefully begin implementing those habits into your own life by the end of this book.First published in 1926, this book is still topping the charts nearly a century later. There's a reason for that. One of the quickest reads you'll find here, George Clason boils the essentials of building up wealth into a short and very easy to read story.Thinking of investing in the stock or bond market? Read the Intelligent Investor before you do anything other than picking a target date fund or an index fund for your 401k. You'll learn the essentials of what makes up a stock price like P/E, P/B, EPS, and when stocks might be getting overvalued.Tired of trying scrambling to figure out where you can save an extra few dollars when you don't even have enough money to cover your bills? Think and Grow Rich is about changing your mindset and focusing on the income portion of your finances. If you want to have a practical way of meeting your goals and truly growing yourself, this is the book for you. This is more than just how to become rich, it provides a practical framework for working toward nearly any major life goal.Drawing upon a six-year research project at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras took eighteen truly exceptional and long-lasting companies and studied each in direct comparison to one of its top competitors. They examined the companies from their very beginnings to the present day -- as start-ups, as midsize companies, and as large corporations. Throughout, the authors asked: "What makes the truly exceptional companies different from the comparison companies and what were the common practices these enduringly great companies followed throughout their history?" Filled with hundreds of examples, this book is bound to help you in your business!A research team took 5 years to pour through mountains of data to find out why some companies make the leap from merely being good to being great, and why others do not. With clear findings on what these companies did differently, this fascinating work has become the go-to book for companies who are stuck and looking to grow.SPIN Selling is essential reading for anyone involved in selling or managing a sales force. Unquestionably the best-documented account of sales success ever collected and the result of the Huthwaite corporation's massive 12-year, $1-million dollar research into effective sales performance, this groundbreaking resource details the revolutionary SPIN (Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-payoff) strategy. Looking to grow your sales? Read this!John Maxwell gives a clear picture on how leadership really works in this outstanding book. Ever had one of those bad bosses that you only follow because you have to? Don't be that boss! Ever been in an organization where everyone knows who the real leader is even though they don't have an official title? How do they do that?This book delivers a clear framework for how to reach the pinnacle of success as a leader, driving results while developing deep relationships. One of my favorites, I believe this should be required reading for anyone in a leadership or management position.Are you in the business of serving customers in some way? That was a rhetorical question! Of course you are! If you would like to know the practical steps you and your team need to be taking to ensure that your customers are raving fans, you need to read this! Based on my experience with leading a service department for more than a decade that consistently wins top honors on a national level, I can personally vouch that these ideas work.You may not actually be screaming at your partner, but are you a little frustrated with how things are going? Screaming takes many forms, including silence when things get rough. Maybe you have a great relationship, but want it to be even better. Written by a world-renowned expert on helping families resolve conflict and create healthy relationships, this book is the place to start to grow your relationships. Even if you are not married you'll learn ways of responding to others so that your relationship grows deeper and your conflicts become manageable.ScreamFree and Parenting don't go together in the same sentence, do they? With 5 kids myself, I can tell you that while you will likely still pull your hair out at times, this book will make a major impact on your family. This isn't just about lowering your voice, it gives practical advice on how to control your own emotional reactions and respond effectively so that you and your kids will have a better relationship. Take charge of your family confidently and lead well with the wisdom captured in this book, you and your kids will be thankful you read this!Trust, you either have it or you don't, right? This book challenges that assumption by giving practical advice on how to rapidly build and rebuild trust. After reading this book, I realized it described exactly what I couldn't put into words about what the people I trust did. If you thoroughly trust those around you, things will happen at lightning speed, especially in business. Learn how to foster that by reading this excellent book!Are you thinking about marriage? How do you know if this is really the right fit? My wife and I used this intensive workbook to make sure we were on the right track before we got married. You and your partner will be asked hard questions you've never even thought of, and be able to work through scenarios before they happen to make sure you are on the same page. Why wouldn't you invest some time into this before committing to spending the rest of your life with someone? This book brought us much closer together and made it obvious that we were making the right choice.You know the feeling. You meet someone, and the two of you just instantly "Click". How does that happen? This fascinating piece of work digs into the factors that go into this magical feeling and gives practical advice on how to give yourself the best chances of making it happen on a regular basis.For more than 60 years this book has topped the charts. Number one for a reason, the title says it all. Business or personal relationships, this should be a required read for everyone in my opinion!This book is one of my absolute favorites of all time. Daniel Coyle goes to 9 of the world's talent hotbeds that have consistently churned out people who have world class talent to find the answers to the questions "What is the secret of talent and how do we unlock it?" He also engages cutting edge research into how the brain develops to show us three key elements that we need to be doing to grow ourselves in any area we are interested in.I'm getting more done in less time, but where are the rich relationships, the inner peace, the balance, the confidence that I'm doing what matters most and doing it well?Does this nagging question haunt you, even when you feel you are being your most efficient? If so, First Things First can help you understand why so often our first things aren't first. Rather than offering you another clock, First Things First provides you with a compass, because where you're headed is more important than how fast you're going. Are you heading in the right direction?One of the most inspiring and impactful books ever written, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has captivated readers for 25 years. It has transformed the lives of Presidents and CEOs, educators and parents— in short, millions of people of all ages and occupations. It has impacted my life, will you allow it to impact yours?Are you doing what you do best every day? My guess is you aren't. Why do we worry so much about those things that we don't do well rather than focusing on those things we do really well? This best-selling book will help you identify what your strengths actually are, and get you focusing on the areas you can truly be great in.If I've missed one of your favorites, I'd love to hear about it! Join our book club to participate! If you got some benefit out of this list, make sure to share it so that others can benefit as well!A little overwhelmed with where to start? Put your personal development journey on auto pilot with a book recommendation each month designed to challenge and grow you! |
Watch: Trump's Budget Is Making America Not Great
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Who Benefits from Cutting the NIH?
President Donald Trump's first budget request to Congress includes cutting 20% of the funding for the institute that supports the most basic biomedical research in the country, The National Institutes of Health. Funding to other scientific agencies, especially those focused on climate change and the environment would also be deeply affected including cuts of 40% in science programs at the Environmental Protection Agency and 26% of funding to the main research arm of the National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration. The Department of Energy's Office of Science would lose $900 million, 5% of NASA's earth science budget would be gone.
These cuts are intended to offset the cost of what can only be viewed as Trump/Bannon’s plans for increased war, evidenced by a $54 billion rise in military spending. Either that or he is planning on using it for international golf resort defense and occupation. In either case, his budget plan offers the clearest snapshot of Trump’s priorities to date.
Photo: Donald Trump, showing how small his hands are.
For years the National Institutes of Health have received bipartisan support. Unless the voting public has gotten distorted beyond the point of even faint recognition, political reality dictates that no congressperson can go back to his or her home district and proudly proclaim to have cut funding for medical research into grandma’s cancer, mom’s heart disease, baby’s developmental disorders and Trump’s mental illness. The White House’s NIH cuts are likely to face stiff opposition from both parties. And it pays to remember that congress is the one who passes the budget.
Yet the question remains, if both parties support the NIH, whom is Trump representing when he cuts it? Big Pharma. That’s who.
The National Institutes of Health is based on the idea that science is a public good. It’s mission, which has not (yet?) been scrubbed from the NIH.gov website, is “to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.” If a researcher, in a university or otherwise, gets funding from the NIH she or he is required to make the data accessible to all other researchers. Cutting funding of scientific research, the results of which must be shared with other scientists for the purpose of the general advance of human knowledge, doesn’t mean scientific research will not be done. It means it will not be shared.
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Scientific research is going to be done. If the pharmaceutical industry is going to keep making drugs and money, and you bet your Aciphex and Prilosec they are, they need research. If a company does its own research in house, all the information they find becomes proprietary. They will own the knowledge and discoveries they find. When information becomes privatized, it will then, of course, be monetized. Introducing a profit motive to basic medical research will result in the delay of lifesaving discoveries, skyrocketing prices for treatments, and missing discoveries altogether, since the nature of scientific discovery is that results often come from research unrelated to the goals one is trying to achieve or from the synthesis of different independent discoveries. Currently for every public dollar spent on basic research, the pharmaceutical industry benefits 8 fold. And practically all of their work has followed from publically funded work published in medical journals. Either Trump doesn’t know that cutting the NIH will hurt his good buddy Big Pharma or the industry stands to gain far more from privatizing the research process.
Representation of Trump and his good buddy Big Pharma.Can you guess who is who?
Scientific discovery and the cures that come from it will, of course be hamstrung under a private corporate research system. The corporate sector views basic research, the kind that other discoveries spring from but whose outcomes cannot easily be predicted, as highly risky. Minimizing financial risk is the bottom line in the corporate world. Without publically funded and sharable research, the public is likely to only see small, relatively low-risk iterations of the same treatments and drugs we already have on the market. So unless your cure is already out there, cutting funding to the NIH means you are far less likely to have it discovered any time soon. The less research that comes out in the literature, the less will come out of industry.
We must keep science, at least partially, in the public interest. The only way to do that is via government agency. Besides treating disease, funding science via the National Institute of Health is an investment in the training of future scientists and the creativity that drives scientific innovation, which is at least at present, is the envy of the rest of the world.
Scientists and those who believe in policy based on rational inquiry are mobilizing to resist the Trump agenda. You can join the March for Science in DC or in your own town on Saturday April 22nd 2017. Or call your congressperson on this one to let them know you believe in scientific research as a public good and oppose cutting the NIH. Or you can share this article.
Julianna Forlano is a writer, professor, host and public speaker. Find her work at JuliannaForlano.com Follow on Twitter @JuliannaForlano |
According to a report by our friends over at The Daily Dot, Reddit had a heck of a holiday season last month.
The wildly popular social network for sharing links, photos, memes, and everything in between is a wrecking ball on the Internet, stirring up political debates and campaigns to leave Go Daddy.
The 2 billion pageviews in December 2011 doubles the traffic it saw the year before in 2010, and the site has tripled visits from unique users.
Reddit has picked up where Digg dropped the ball, bringing insane amounts of traffic to links hitting its homepage. The site has also become a huge hub for discussion about SOPA, the ultra controversial Stop Online Piracy Act that could cause trouble for Reddit.
New to Reddit? Check out our guide for newbies.
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