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Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Trump: US 'in crisis'
Donald Trump has vowed to tackle multiple threats facing the US, in his speech in Cleveland, Ohio accepting the Republican presidential nomination.
"The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon come to an end," he told the party convention.
The businessman promised his presidency would usher in a new era putting America and ordinary people first.
Mr Trump's nomination has been clouded by the refusal of major party figures like Senator Ted Cruz to endorse him.
Mr Cruz, who was his bitter rival during the primary contests, was booed off the stage by Trump supporters.
Other Trump opponents such as members of the Bush family stayed away from the convention altogether.
Mr Trump, a New York businessman who was written off when he launched his campaign a year ago, said he hoped his speech would ease tensions and unite the party.
Beyond the base - Anthony Zurcher, BBC North America reporter
Image copyright Reuters
Despite all the darkness of the opening and the rawness of Mr Trump's tone, his speech made a determined effort to expand his appeal beyond the angry white, working-class voters who make up the core of his support.
He reached out to black people - talking about their high levels of unemployment and poverty. He said the Obama administration had failed the inner cities on education, jobs and crime.
If Mr Trump's law-and-order pitch is to be successful, it cannot only be to his base - and this was a speech that acknowledged this.
In addition, Mr Trump once again went off-script when he spoke about protecting gay Americans from "violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology". It was a decided change in tone from a Republican nominee - and a stark contrast even from the platform his own party adopted just days earlier.
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Speaking for well over an hour, he said the security of the country was under threat from Islamist radicals, undocumented immigrants and trade deals that failed American workers.
"We will lead our country back to safety, prosperity, and peace," he said. "We will be a country of generosity and warmth. But we will also be a country of law and order."
Addressing the "forgotten Americans" who worked hard but no longer had a voice, he said: "I am your voice."
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Motherhood key theme of Ivanka Trump speech
He attacked his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, at every opportunity, blaming the former secretary of state for "death, destruction and weakness".
In a speech he described as a plan to "put America first", Mr Trump:
Promised to build a "great border wall" to stop illegal immigration, gangs and drugs
Accused Mrs Clinton of proposing mass amnesty, mass immigration and mass lawlessness
Said that decades of immigration have produced lower wages for African Americans and Latinos
Accused President Barack Obama of failing US inner cities on education, jobs and crime
Said that nearly 180,000 illegal immigrants with criminal records were "roaming free" to threaten citizens
Promised to end trade deals that had "destroyed [America's] middle class"
Promised that "Americanism, not globalism" would be the tenet of foreign policy
He was introduced in glowing terms by his daughter Ivanka, who said her father valued women workers and that he would make quality childcare affordable.
Not long into his speech, the audience began calling for the jailing of Mrs Clinton, chanting "Lock her up!" He promised to defeat her in November.
Image copyright AP Image caption Balloons marked the end of the speech
Image copyright Reuters Image caption This was a more sober Trump - no jokes and largely wedded to the teleprompter
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption What Republican delegates said about Trump's wall before the election
In a departure from Republican orthodoxy, Mr Trump took up the theme of acceptance of gay rights, framing it in terms of American values.
"I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence... of the hateful foreign ideology," he said to some cheers from the crowd.
"As a Republican it is so nice to hear you cheering for what I just said," he added.
In a key moment earlier in the night, Silicon Valley mogul Peter Thiel told the convention he was proud to be gay.
The chairman of the Hillary for America campaign, John Podesta, attacked Mr Trump's speech as divisive.
"Tonight, Donald Trump painted a dark picture of an America in decline," he said.
"And his answer - more fear, more division, more anger, more hate - was yet another reminder that he is temperamentally unfit and totally unqualified to be president."
Texas Senator Mr Cruz caused a storm on Wednesday night when he pointedly refused to back the nominee, sparking outrage and boos.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The moment the crowd turned on Ted Cruz
He later defended his decision, saying he would not be a "servile puppy" to someone who had attacked his family.
Mr Trump has previously criticised the appearance of Mr Cruz's wife, Heidi.
The nomination of the hotel developer has been a source of conflict within the party, with some like Mr Cruz questioning his conservative principles.
Others like former nominee Mitt Romney are concerned about his strident tone and extreme stance on immigration. |
I’m sure many of you have heard of the recent crack down by the FDA on raw milk and those who provide it. It’s been all over.
So what is it exactly that has triggered our friendly government to go after these terrorists raw milk providers? Are they a menace to society? Are they a threat to our way of life or our very existence?
Hardly.
So why are the boys in blue burning through our tax dollars on something as completely innocuous as raw milk?
There are many who believe it is corporatism – “The control of a state or organization by large interest groups.” This coincides with the recent article on the destruction of the family farm.
Mike Adams, known as the “Health Ranger,” went on RT recently and discussed this a bit:
The anchor asks a great question: “Who decided that the government should decide who gets to put what food in their body?” An excellent question.
Ultimately, this comes down to the question of whether or not we are truly a free society. If we are truly a free people, able to freely enter into contracts with others, then why all the fuss?
If you’re selling raw milk, and I have a desire to buy raw milk, then why the heck is that illegal? And why is the government pouring it down the drain?
This is the very same government that is sitting on $15.7 trillion dollars of debt. The very same government that has stretched itself thin with wars in the middle east. Now they want to focus on milk. But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, with the other crap they waste money on.
And really, it’s not even about the milk. It’s about control. Private contracts scare the hell out of big business, and even the government. That private citizens can agree amongst themselves on terms for exchange of goods or services is a threat to the “status quo” so to speak. It’s the same reason why the government is suspicious of you if you pay for too many things in cash.
Can you imagine how hard it is to collect tax revenue off private contracts or agreements? It’s amazing to me that websites such as Craigslist can even exist, where people can exchange goods or services privately (though I do find it interesting that you can sell sex on Craigslist, but not ammunition).
So what do you think? Am I making a big stink about nothing, or do I have a legitimate cause for concern here?
Nick Sorrentino notes on AgainstCronyCapitalism.org:
What’s next federal regulation of the selling of used cars? I could see this.
Nobody likes a micro manager. Especially one that has enough trouble managing its own affairs.
Give me your thoughts in the comments below, I’d love to hear what you think. |
What is Android Wear, what are the best features of Android Wear 2.0, what smartwatches use Android Wear and what are the best Android Wear apps? Here’s our complete guide to Google’s Android Wear watch OS, telling you everything you need to know.
Android Wear is already massive, supported on a wide range of wearables to suit every taste, with thousands of apps ready to download. And with Android Wear 2.0 on its way, Google’s smartwatch OS is set to get even better in 2017.
But we’re getting way ahead of ourselves here. If you’re not entirely sure what Android Wear is, what the best Android Wear watches and apps are, or how to set up your Android Wear smartwatch, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s our full in-depth guide on Android Wear and what it can do.
What is Android Wear?
Android Wear is Google’s watch OS, which now runs on a wide variety of smartwatches including Huawei’s wearables and the watches from LG. Android Wear allows your watch to pair with your mobile phone, then delivers essential features to your wrist.
When paired to your mobile, Android Wear gives you all kinds of great functionality, including full notifications support. In other words, your watch will buzz to let you know when you have an incoming call, or a new message arrives.
You can also display other vital information on your smartwatch’s screen. For instance, when you’re pounding the pavement or down the gym, your watch can help to track your workout and let you know how many calories you’ve burned. Or you can see turn-by-turn navigation instructions on your wrist, streamed direct from your phone.
But best of all, you can expand the features on your Android Wear watch simply by downloading new apps from the Google Play store. More on this later.
What is Android Wear 2.0?
Android Wear 2.0 is the latest version of Google’s Android Wear smartwatch OS. It was announced in summer of 2016 at the Google I/O summit.
Andoid Wear 2.0 is a big jump up in terms of functionality and operation for your humble smartwatch.
For instance, while your smartwatch apps currently have to be installed on your phone and then beamed to the watch, Android Wear 2.0 will allow you to download apps direct to your wrist. This means complete independence from your phone, which is particularly good news if your mobile dies or you wish to leave it behind.
You’ll also get better communication between your different apps in Android Wear 2.0. For example, a diet tracking app can relay calories consumed to a fitness app, which then shows you exactly what you need to do to burn off that naughty lunchtime donut.
Android Wear 2.0 is currently in developer preview beta stage. In normal speak, that means you can only download it if you’re building your own Android Wear apps. Us lot in the general public will have to wait a bit longer to try it out.
Do I need an Android smartphone to use an Android Wear watch?
One of the great things about Android Wear is its flexibility. Not only with Android Wear watches work with pretty much any Android phone you can buy right now, but they’re also compatible with Apple’s iPhones. All you need to do is download the Android Wear app from the App Store and then use it to pair with your smartwatch.
Note that not all Android Wear 2.0 features might work with an iPhone.
What is Android Wear: The best Android Wear smartwatches you can buy right now
If you’re in the market for an Android Wear watch, you’ve got a reasonable amount of choice.
If it’s style you’re after, check out the Huawei Watch W1. This gorgeous stainless steel smartwatch boasts a premium design as well as a Sapphire Crystal display that’s tough enough to put up with some serious punishment. The screen is sharp and vibrant too, with an ambient display setting to save your battery. Expect a couple of days of life between charges. You also get a heart rate sensor and full activity tracking built-in, if you’re up for some exercise.
Huawei has also just launched its latest Android Wear device, imaginatively titled the Huawei Watch 2. This boasts the same great features as the last model plus full vellular connectivity and water resistance, as well as built-in GPS.
The Moto 360 (2nd gen) is another great Android Wear smart watch that looks neat, although the rounded screen is cropped at the bottom which impacts on the aesthetics. You get a choice of men’s or woman’s sizes as well as a wide selection of bands, from leather to metal.
And if you’re a bit of a fitness fiend, you can even grab the Moto 360 Sport edition, which is thinner and lighter.
Our final pick for one of the best Android Wear watches right now is the Asus Zenwatch 2. That gorgeous, fully customisable design is a treat, not to mention fully water resistant. You get a choice of screen sizes and the £149 asking price is pleasingly slim.
The Zenwatch 3 will be hitting the UK soon enough, so stay tuned for our full review.
LG is about to release its new Watch Style and Watch Sport devices, which come packing Android Wear 2.0 out of the box. Stay tuned for our in-depth reviews.
What is Android Wear: Android Wear setup, tips and tricks
Have you just bought an Android Wear smartwatch of your very own? Confused by what it can do, or just want to check out some of the best hidden features that you might not know about?
In that case, check out our in-depth Android Wear 2.0 tips and tricks guide, which tells you how to setup your Android Wear watch and get started with it. We’ve even shared how to download apps and extend your watch’s battery life.
Read next: How to get better battery life from Android Wear 2.0 smartwatches
What is Android Wear: How do I update my Android Wear watch?
Right now, you can’t update your smartwatch to Android Wear 2.0 as it isn’t officially released. However, you can still check for other updates that might improve the performance of your watch or fix little bugs.
Android Wear smartwatch updates should automatically register, at which point a message will pop up on your watch and your phone asking you to update the software. Just follow the instructions to proceed.
However, you can also check for updates manually. To do this, swipe down your watch’s display when it’s turned on and then swipe left until you spy the settings menu. Give this a tap and scroll down to About. Inside this menu you’ll see the System Update option.
Tap that and your watch will check for any Android Wear updates. If one is found, you’ll be prompted to download and install.
What is Android Wear: The best apps you can download for Android Wear watches right now
Now that Android Wear has been around for a couple of years, we’re happy to say that there’s a strong selection of apps that you can download to expand your watch’s functionality. Whether you’re after fitness tracking apps to monitor your pavement-pounding sessions or silly little games to kill some time while you wait for the bus, Android Wear has you covered.
Check out our guide to the best Android Wear apps for a comprehensive list. |
Photo credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Colin Kaepernick is speaking out after the 49ers quarterback refused to stand for the U.S. national anthem before last night’s preseason game against the Green Bay Packers, telling the NFL that “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”
Kaepernick continued:
To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.
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The 49ers responded to Kaepernick’s symbolic statement by recognizing his right to protest the anthem:
The National Anthem is and always will be a special part of the pre-game ceremony. It is an opportunity to honor our country and reflect on the great liberties we are afforded as its citizens. In respecting such American principles as freedom of religion and freedom of expression, we recognize the right of an individual to choose and participate, or not, in our celebration of the national anthem.
Kaepernick is the highest-profile athlete to protest the national anthem since Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf in 1996—for which the NBA suspended him. Kaepernick’s Twitter feed has been tweeting out anti-white supremacist statements for a lengthy period of time.
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“I am not looking for approval. I have to stand up for people that are oppressed,” Kaepernick told NFL.com. “If they take football away, my endorsements from me, I know that I stood up for what is right.”
Update (1:12 p.m.): The NFL says there is no requirement for players to stand during the national anthem, while Schefter notes that Kaepernick didn’t stand for the two previous preseason games, either, but nobody noticed.
[NFL.com] |
The first same-sex marriage licenses in the state of Florida were issued on Monday in Miami-Dade County, hours before same-sex weddings are expected to begin throughout the state.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Sarah Zabel lifted a stay on Monday morning that she had previously placed on her July ruling, which struck down the state’s approved ban on same-sex marriage.
Florida’s constitution was amended to ban same-sex marriage in 2008 by voters who approved the ban by a margin of 60 percent. However, Florida judges found the ban to be discriminatory.
In her 36-page page ruling issued on July 25, Zabel found the act to be in violation the equal protection clause the state’s constitution. She compared the plight of same-sex couples to the struggle of other minorities seeking equal protections under the law.
“Notably absent from this protracted march towards social justice was any progress for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community until quite recently,” Zabel wrote in her ruling, according to the LA times. “However, as evidenced by the avalance of court decisions unanimously favoring marriage equality, the dam that was denying justice on this front has been broken.”
Loud cheers rang out through the courtroom when Zabel announced her decision to lift the stay. The county clerk reports that several same-sex marriage licenses were issued shortly before 1 p.m. local time. Cathy Pareto and Karla Arguello and Jeff and Todd Delmay, two of the first couples to receive their marriage licenses, were also plaintiffs in the suit against the ban.
The decision to lift the stay came just 10 hours before same-sex marriages are expected to begin throughout the state of Florida. A stay issued by the U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle, which also struck down the ban due to violating the equal protection clause, is set to expire at midnight Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.
Hinkle clarified that the clerks of Florida’s 67 counties will all be required to follow Hinkle’s ruling and issue same-sex marriage licenses once the stay is lifted.
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has several appeals in both state and federal courts, seeking to uphold the ban. She requested that the U.S. Supreme Court extend the stay on Hinkle’s ruling to prevent same-sex marriage licenses being issued.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied that request last month.
Same-sex marriage is now legal in over 30 states as well as the District of Columbia. With the addition of Florida’s population, 70 percent of Americans now live in a state where same-sex marriage is legal. |
Despite the comic shown above, my friends (who are actually a bunch of really good people and not a grey-faced evil hive-mind) have yet to try to rope me back in to their return to WoW. If they did ask me back, or try to coax me, I wouldn’t just shout “fuck off” and blast them away with whatever that is. That would just be rude.
Don’t get me wrong, I had a really good time back in my WoW days. I have a ton of fond memories and good stories from back then, but it’s just not the same world to return to anymore. I’ve moved on. To those that still tread that ground, and wage war on those battlefields, good on ya. I look forward to hearing your new legends someday. |
Retail internet service providers, such as Rogers and Bell, that provide end‑users with access to broadcasting over the internet are not subject to the Broadcasting Act because they have no control over the programming transmitted, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled.
Under the act, those that provide "broadcasting undertakings" are assumed to have some measure of control over programming.
However, internet service providers (ISPs) that provide the mode of transmission to broadcasting, both video and audio requested by end-users, "take no part in the selection, origination, or packaging of content," the top court said in a decision Thursday.
ISPs merely act as a conduit for information provided by others, and so cannot themselves be held to communicate the information, the court ruled.
"We’re very pleased that the court made the right decision," said Leigh-Ann Popek, a spokeswoman for Rogers, told CBC News in an email.
The appellants, which included the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, the Canadian Media Production Association, the Directors Guild of Canada and Writers Guild of Canada, had argued that ISPs form part of a single broadcasting system that is subject to regulation under the act.
They based their argument on the 1978 Capital Cities Communications Inc. v. Canadian Radio-television Commission (CRTC) case.
Under a 1968 version of the act, the CRTC had amended Rogers Cable’s licence, allowing it to delete and substitute the television advertisements in the U.S. broadcasts it received before distributing them to Canadian viewers.
The American broadcasting stations attempted to sever the function of receiving television signals from the distribution or retransmission of those signals within a particular province. The court rejected this severance of reception and distribution, ruling it was a single system coming under federal jurisdiction.
In making the ruling Thursday, the top court upheld a 2010 Federal Court of Appeal decision.
In a 1999 report, the CRTC concluded that the term "broadcasting" included programs transmitted to end-users over the internet, but that it was not necessary to regulate broadcasting services provided through the internet.
It exempted these "new media broadcasting undertakings" from the requirements of the Broadcasting Act. However, in 2008, after public hearings, the CRTC revisited the exemption.
One of the issues raised was whether internet service providers — ISPs — were subject to the act when they provided end-users with access to broadcasting through the internet.
The respondents in the Supreme Court case included Bell Aliant Regional Communications, Bell Canada, Cogeco Cable Inc., MTS Allstream Inc.,Rogers Communications Inc., TELUS Communications Company,Videotron Ltd. and Shaw Communications Inc. The CRTC had intervenor status. |
Hundreds marched in the streets of Capitol Hill in Seattle in support of William Wingate, the 70 year old Air Force Veteran who walks with a golf club as a cane. Mr. Wingate, who is black, was arrested by SPD officer Whitlatch, who is not, for allegedly swinging his golf club at her vehicle as she drove past. Dash cam evidence proved otherwise and officer Whitlatch has been put on paid, administrative leave, as Mr. Wingate sues the Seattle Police Department for arresting him without cause.
From the Facebook event page:
PLEASE READ, PLEASE READ, PLEASE READ.
WHEN IT RAINS PEOPLE TEND TO RUN, CARRY UMBRELLAS, OBSTRUCT THEIR HEAD AND FACE WITH COATS AND SEEK SHELTER WHEREVER POSSIBLE. ALL OF WHICH MAKE, “WALKING WHILE BLACK,” ALL THE MORE DANGEROUS, WHICH MEANS WE NEED YOU NOW MORE THAN EVER! – SO SEE YOU TOMORROW, OH AND DON’T FORGET YOUR GOLF CLUBS AND UMBRELLAS
UPDATE: Mr. William Wingate will be in attendance (PASS THE WORD)
PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY. Also if you can assist with Marketing, Media Relations, Photography/Videography, Signs/Banners, Clubs, Set Up/Take Down, please contact Chad at: info@ridingincarswithblackpeople.com
UPDATE: WE NEED CLUBS, LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE OR HAVE ACCESS TO ANY.
“Walking While Black”
Always Dangerous Until Proven Otherwise
On Saturday, February 7th at 2:00p.m., you are invited to bring your Woods, Irons, Wedges and Putters and join us at Cal Anderson Park Shelterhouse, 1635 11th Avenue, for “Walking While Black” Always Dangerous Until Proven Otherwise
WE WALK to finish the interrupted walk of a 69 year old Black Veteran/Civil Servant who on July 9, 2014, grabbed his putter and set out on a brilliant summer day. A day that would forever change both he and this city we call home.
WE WALK because when it comes to police misconduct and black men, there are no local issues, just one long and painful history of bad cops who think it’s okay to dole out harsh and sometimes even deadly punishments to black men they deem to have stepped out of line.
WE WALK because we are tired of our keys, wallets, cellphones and candy bars being seen as guns.
WE WALK because the youthful indiscretion period for young black males, continues to plummet, now hovering somewhere around age twelve.
WE WALK because we are tired of government restricting and monitoring the movement of Black Folks: Be it the Middle Passage, Slavery, Jim Crow, Segregation, Intimidation, Montgomery, Selma or Seattle.
WE WALK because blackness and criminal behavior are so merged in the American mind, that regardless of who you are, where you came from, or what you’ve accomplished, in the eyes of many, being black and male is sufficient probable cause.
AND SO WE WALK, LIKE GARVEY, LIKE MALCOM, LIKE NAT TURNER, LIKE CORETTA, LIKE KUNSTLER, LIKE SOJOURNER, LIKE TUBMAN, LIKE ALL THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE, AND ALL THOSE YET TO COME. WE WALK!
Copyright © 2012, 2015, Chad Goller-Sojourner
PLEASE READ: While we understand and appreciate the intersection of various social justice movements, we also believe there are times to direct our focus on a specific issue. This is one of those times. While the walk is open to all—people of color as well as allies—we request that all participants keep their focus on this specific issue: law enforcement’s racism against black males. In this case, we feel that highlighting other issues of injustice, even those involving law enforcement, will serve only to dilute our message. Thank you for your support and respect.”
For more information on the incident…
From the Stranger
http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2015/02/04/william-wingate-will-attend-saturday-protest-march-featuring-lots-of-golf-clubs
From the Capitol Hill Blog
http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2015/02/walking-while-black-rally-to-bring-woods-irons-wedges-and-putters-to-cal-anderson/ |
The United States has changed its visa requirements on Wednesday. Here is how this affects Colombians wanting to visit the North American country.
According to the US Embassy in Colombia website, effective immediately, interviews will now be required in all cases, except:
Diplomatic and official visa applicants from foreign governments and international organizations (categories: A-1, A-2, G-1, G-2, G-3, G-4, NATO-1 through -6, C-2 and C-3).
Applicants under the age of 14, or over the age of 79.
Applicants who previously held a visa in the same category that expired less than 12 months prior to the new application.
Previously, Colombians who wished to renew their visa in the same category within 48 months could have the interview waived.
“The Department of State is committed to facilitating legitimate travel while ensuring the security of U.S. borders and the American people,” reads the US Embassy update.
The new visa regulations are a consequence of an executive order on immigration signed on January 27 by President Donald Trump.
This controversial executive order bans all travel from a number of Muslim countries, and a revision of all visa procedures for foreigners wanting to travel to the United States for either business or pleasure.
In the executive order “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorists Entry Into The United States,” the hard-right US president announced numerous measures to tighten control on the issuing of visas.
The United States must be vigilant during the visa-issuance process to ensure that those approved for admission do not intend to harm Americans and that they have no ties to terrorism.
US President Donald Trump
Trump’s xenophobic remarks targeting Mexicans during his campaign has made him in Colombia almost as unpopular as Nicolas Maduro, the authoritarian leader of Colombia’s neighbor Venezuela.
According to the US Embassy, last year 500,000 visas for Colombians were approved. |
Breaking Down the Punt Return Battle:
One of the bigger battles left for the Redskins as they get ready for the season is who will be their punt returner now that CB Richard Crawford is out for the year with a knee injury. Here are the potential options vying for the job including both why they should and shouldn’t get the job:
RB Chris Thompson:
Why he should get the role: The Redskins drafted Thompson to be a weapon, both on offense and hopefully in the return game. Thompson when healthy can be a dynamic player and take over that Brandon Banks “weapon” role, and has the chance to be actually successful with it. If Thompson is the punt returner it would help give the Redskins an excuse to keep him on the 53 man roster. Thompson showed that game breaking ability with his punt return for a TD in the 4th preseason game.
Why he shouldn’t get the role: For one thing Thompson isn’t a lock for the 53 man roster to begin with, and he really has no business being on the game day roster since his contributions on offense seem to be a ways off. Unlike most special teamers he would only be used in a return role, and what’s worse is he would probably only be the punt returner. That is less value than Banks had, who at least was utilized at both return roles. Part of the reason why he’s not ready to contribute on offense is the fact that he clearly has quite a bit of rust, after missing most of the last two seasons with a pair of serious injuries. Not only did he miss a lot of game time, but he’s missed plenty of practice time. That has continued during his time with the Redskins where he missed all of OTA’s/Minicamp and part of training camp. He’s fumbled twice already in preseason, and has yet to show any big play ability on offense.
The other issue with Thompson is simply the fact that you can’t trust him as the return man to start the year. He never was a punt returner in college, and he didn’t much offseason work at the role given his injuries. You would be trusting a guy back there who only has a handful of preseason returns and a few days of practice where he was splitting reps. That is a huge risk to have back there week 1 to start the season. One muffed punt or fumble could end up deciding a game or two for the Redskins. I don’t see how you can trust Thompsons ability to field punts cleanly and his decision making on when to field punts versus letting them go, or call fair catch over returning them.
WR Aldrick Robinson:
Why he should get the role: Robinson has electric speed and he’s a lock to be on the team and active roster. He’s not a starter so there is no concern about him being over used or exposed to a higher injury risk. If Robinson can get past the first gunner or two, he has a good chance to break a big return off. That obviously won’t happen every time, but it could happen a couple times a year.
Why he shouldn’t get the role: Robinson returned some kicks in college, but he was never used as a punt returner (in part due to Richard Crawford) at SMU. Though he’s worked on it some for three years in camp with the Redskins, he never got a ton of work since Banks was more established and there were other options in camp. He’s probably not going to be a great decision maker which could cost the Redskins. Finally, though he has the game breaking speed, he’s not the shiftiest receiver, so he might not be able to make that first guy miss as often as you’d like.
TE Niles Paul:
Why he should get the role: Paul was a very good return man in college, and averaged 10.78 yards per return on his 60 punt returns in college, including 1 TD. One thing that stands out with Paul’s punt return numbers is how consistent he was, as he never averaged less than 10.0 yards per return in a given year. Paul is a lock to make the team and be active on game days so they wouldn’t need to create a spot for him at all. He’s likely to be the primary kick returner, so this would just add to his duties in the return department. He hasn’t returned punts as much as a pro, but given his experience it is likely he should be a solid decision maker.
Why he shouldn’t get the role: Paul has bulked up since moving to tight end, and while he’s still got great speed, he’s not as shifty as some of the other options. He’s likely to not be much of a dynamic returner and the Redskins shouldn’t expect to be anything more than average if he’s the primary punt returner. Another reason to keep him out of the return role, is that it would take him away from being the primary blocker for the punt returner. Paul is very good at this role and you don’t want to take him off that role unless you have to.
WR Santana Moss:
Why he should get the role: Before Moss became a good starting wide receiver, he was a dynamic punt returner for the Jets. In 2002 he had 413 yards and 2 Td’s, averaging a ridiculous 16.5 yards on 25 returns. Even if he’s lost a step (which is debateable), Moss is still very fast and shifty and a good bet to be a productive returner. The other benefit with Moss is that given his experience, he’s probably going to be the best decision maker among returners, and will know when to fair catch it or return the punt.
Why he shouldn’t get the role: Though Moss is truly no longer a starter, he gets significant playing time and is such a clutch member of this offense. He led the team with 8 TD’s last year and was very productive at getting first downs. Moss may not get the most targets, but when he is seeing the ball you can bet that he’s having a significant impact. Do the Redskins want him back there 35-40 times? Not only is there a risk of injury, but if he has a return where he runs a lot, it could limit using him for the next couple of plays.
CB DeAngelo Hall:
Why he should get the role: Hall maybe doesn’t have a lot of experience returning punts in the NFL, but he’s more than capable of doing the job. He is a great open field runner and would probably be a better decision maker that wouldn’t take risks that could lead to a fumble.
Why he shouldn’t get the role: Unless you know that the returner would be elite at the job (i.e. Patrick Peterson), it’s not always the best idea to have a starter returning kicks or punts. Also, while there is speculation that Hall would be a good decision maker (i.e. when to fair catch it, when to let it bounce, etc) he might not be considering he doesn’t have a ton of return experience. The biggest issues could be the fact that Hall has been dealing with an ankle injury in preseason/training camp, so you probably wouldn’t want to expose him to unnecessary running if you didn’t have to.
WR Nick Williams:
Why he should get the role: Williams was a pretty dynamic returner at UConn these past four years, and had a combined 4 total return TD’s, including 2 on punt returns in 2012. In 2012 Williams had his best year returning punts averaging 12.05 yards per return (out of 21) to go along with those two touchdowns. Williams also projects well as a future slot receiver, which is a need area for the Redskins. Nick Williams had a big punt return in the 4th preseason game and again showed his potential in this area.
Why he shouldn’t get the role: While Williams is an interesting guy, he wasn’t going to make this roster before the Crawford injury, and he’d be unlikely to contribute much to the receiver role this season. Another slight concern is that while Williams had a big year returning punts in 2012, he struggled in 2011 averaging just 5.59 yards per return (22 returns). He may be a practice squad option, but he’s a reach for the 53 man roster.
WR Skye Dawson:
Why he should get the role: Dawson has plenty of speed and quickness and could take over the role Brandon Banks had on the team. He flashed some big play return ability in practice and the preseason, and could have future upside for an expanded role.
Why he shouldn’t get the role: Though some people are in Dawson’s corner, he’s more hype than substance at this point. While he has natural speed and quickness, it is unclear if he really could perform at a high level or have the potential to improve next season. Also, being compared to Brandon Banks isn’t exactly the most ringing endorsement. Like Banks, Dawson showed indecision as a returner at times and that really isn’t a good thing. Dawson also doesn’t have a great career track record as he averaged just 8.1 yards per punt return (out of 30) in college, which isn’t exactly a strong number.
My Take: UPDATED
For me decision making and the roster spots matter quite a bit. The Redskins survived last year with Brandon Bank’s return antics, so just having a returner who knows not to try to return a kick inside the 5 yard line, or that will dance around when time is running off the clock and you are trying to comeback in a game would be a plus. I also want to see a returner who knows when to call for a fair catch, if he’s not going to be able to make the first guy miss. The roster decisions loom large for me as well. The Redskins will already have to cut two players (assuming there isn’t a serious injury) when Rob Jackson and Jarvis Jenkins come back, so I don’t know how they can justify keeping a return guy only. Particularly if they aren’t returning kickoffs as well. That is even more important once you try to figure out the 46 man active roster. You have just 43 non-specialist spots, so keeping a guy active who only returns punts is extremely hard.
Thompson did a great job with his punt return for a TD, but I still don’t know if he deserves the return job. Nick Williams had a great return later (and a far better track record), yet no one is calling for him as the return man. Thompson may have gotten himself a roster spot, but I don’t know if you want him back there just yet. Again a big factor is decision making and that is not something that you can learn overnight. In the game on one kickoff return Thompson caught a kickoff 6 yards deep in the end zone and was going to bring it out, but was stopped by Evan Royster. Now obviously in the preseason you might take some more risks, but as a returner it is crucial for you to know the situation and what to do in each case. I don’t believe Thompson is there year. In the end for me I think a combination of Niles Paul and Santana Moss is the best option for this team. Paul can be the consistent guy and get say 70% of the returns, but in key situations I would turn to Moss for a big return or just trusting his decision making to ensure he isn’t fumbling the ball which could steal a win away from the Redskins. |
Stigma and red tape
Whatever potential may lurk in pot -- and most medicines start with a plant -- all agree that what Howlett called "the stigma associated with marijuana" presents powerful discouragement to scientists and firms. States may normalize access to marijuana, but the supremacy clause gives primacy to federal law that lists marijuana on Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act, the tier reserved for drugs with "no currently accepted medical use."
"As far as the pharmaceutical industry goes, anything that has a controlled substance, they won't touch with a ten-foot pole," Hampson said.
Simply acquiring laboratory marijuana requires permission from an alphabet soup of agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, which is famously hardheaded on the matter. It was, in fact, a sidelong mention of the DEA that cued Courtney to ask his patient about a wire. The agency must grant permission to import the device the one-armed man proposed to bring from Holland, a cannabis analyzer that might tell CBD enthusiasts exactly what they have in a particular plant.
This is a point of immense frustration in the gargantuan, perhaps $15 billion underground economy that flows from marijuana in California: No one knows for certain what they're buying. "I can't breed analytically," said Jim Hill, a pot farmer in Mendocino's Potter Valley. "I can only go by patient anecdote: 'Yeah, that really worked for me.' I can't go by graph paper."
After the DEA raided Hill's operation last October, he immediately replanted, emphatic that it was his right to supply dispensaries legally organized under state law as a "collective." Favorable court rulings have both emboldened and, in spots, professionalized California's marijuana industry. At Oakland's Harborside Health Center, pot is sold not by dealers but from a clean, white building where doors open by fingerprint scans, cameras monitor every corner, and pot brownies come in "childproof" wrappers.
"We're trying to medicalize down to the finest detail," chief operating officer Andrew DeAngelo said.
A few blocks away, the Steep Hill Medical Collective invested in a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer in hopes of learning precisely what's in each pound of Grand Daddy and Purple Kush. In one room recently, a lab tech in a white coat bent over a console, while in another, two entrepreneurs mulled the lay of the land.
"You've got a movement that's turning into an industry," said Addison DeMoura, a Steep Hill owner.
A man in a Panama hat nodded agreement. Sixties activist Fred Gardner edits O'Shaughnessy's, a quarterly devoted to medical marijuana and named for the physician who brought cannabis to the attention of European medicos. "I think people owe it to the industry, owe it to the people, to do something honestly medical," Gardner said. "And CBD is honestly medical."
DeMoura could see it. "Twenty years ago it was just cannabis," he said. "The bridge to legalization is medical marijuana. I believe the bridge from medical marijuana to real science will be CBDs."
Meanwhile, two hours up Highway 101, William Courtney toiled in the laboratory that is Mendocino County. Maybe nowhere else in the country could a pot doc advise growing 40 plants -- enough for one juicing each day on the 45-day cycle required of the auto-flowering strain. Not only is it possible here, but a striking number of patients truly do not want to get high.
"I'm a mediator, so I don't want any psycho-activity," said a yoga enthusiast.
"I have two tokes and I pass out. It's unbearable," said the one-armed man.
Office hours over, Courtney climbed into his pickup, flicked on the radar detector intended to minimize encounters with the police, and steered over the switchbacks of the coast range toward home. His father was in from Michigan, watching the surf pound the rocks below the picture window and playing with his granddaughter, born 14 months earlier to Kristen, whose insides at one point were so bad off a doctor warned she would never bear children.
"Irv?" she called from the kitchen counter cluttered with carrots, pears, apples and Pineapple Thai. "You want a glass of juice?"
The old man looked up from the sea. "Sure," he said. |
In my Fall 2010 Independent Review article entitled “The Culture of Violence in the American West: Myth versus Reality,” I noted the creepiness of the fact that General William Tecumseh Sherman referred to the U.S. Army’s twenty-five year campaign of genocide against the Plains Indians, which he was in charge of for the duration, as “the final solution to the Indian problem” (Cited in Michael Fellman, Citizen Sherman, p. 260). It is creepy because it reminds one of Adolf Hitler’s “final solution” rhetoric. I did not claim in my article that Hitler literally plagiarized General Sherman or was even familiar with Sherman’s “final solution” rhetoric, but scholarship that has been brought to my attention suggests that he may well have been.
The scholarship is cited in a June 18, 2013 article in the jewishjournal.com Web site by Lia Mandelbaum entitled “Hitler’s Inspiration and Guide: The Native American Holocaust.” Citing the books Adolf Hitler by John Toland and Hitler’s Rise to Power by David A. Meier, Mandelbaum writes that “it shook me to my core” when she “learned that the genocidal mentality and actions of the U.S. policymakers [from 1862 to 1890] would find similar expression years later when the Nazis, under Hitler, studied the plans of [“The Long Walk of the Navajo”] to design the concentration camps for Jews.”
The “Long Walk of the Navajo,” also known as the Bosque Redondo, was the January 1864 deportation and ethnic cleansing of the Navajo Indians who were forced at gunpoint by the U.S. Army to walk more than 300 miles from their ancestral lands in northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico to a concentration camp known as Bosque Redondo in eastern New Mexico. This took place in the dead of winter. Hundreds died along the way of the forced march, including many women, children, and the elderly. In the succeeding four years the U.S. Army would imprison almost 10,000 Navajo in concentration camps where they lived “under armed guards, in holes in the ground, with extremely scarce rations,” writes Mandelbaum. At least 3,500 of them died in the camps.
In his book, Adolf Hitler (p. 202), John Toland wrote that “Hitler’s concept of concentration camps as well as the practicality of genocide owed much, so he claimed, to his studies of English and United States history.” Hitler “admired the camps for Boer prisoners in South Africa and for the Indians in the wild west; and often praised to his inner circle the efficiency of America’s extermination – by starvation and even combat – of the red savages who could not be tamed by captivity.”
Hitler was apparently “very interested in the way the Indian population had rapidly declined due to epidemics and starvation when the United States government forced them to live on the reservations.” And the Nazis did force hundreds of prisoners in their concentration camps on death marches where many of them starved or froze to death.
Adolf Hitler was infatuated in his youth with tales of the American West. “His favorite game to play outside was cowboys and Indians,” wrote David A. Meier in Hitler’s Rise to Power. He read 70 of novels about the American West by the German author Karl May, who “had never been to America” and “invented a hero named Old Shatterhand, a white man who always won his battles with Native Americans.” Hitler “continued reading [May’s novels] even as Führer,” wrote Mandelbaum, even referring to the Russians as “Redskins” during the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union and ordering his military commanders to read May’s books.
The U.S. government’s war of genocide against all the Plains Indians, not just the Navajo, would indeed be a “good” example for any psychotic, murderous tyrant like Adolf Hitler. It was prosecuted by all of Lincoln’s generals, including Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Custer, and various other “Civil War luminaries” such as John Pope, O.O Howard, Nelson Miles, Alfred Terry, E.O.C. Ord, Edward Canby, Benjamin Garrison, and Winfield Scott Hancock, wrote John Marszalek in Sherman: A Soldier’s Passion for Order (p. 380). Sherman and Sheridan adopted the motto, “The only good Indian is a dead Indian” as their armies murdered at least 45,000 Indians from 1864 to 1890, including thousands of women and children (See Russell Thornton, American Indian Holocaust and Survival). The survivors were placed in concentration camps euphemistically called “reservations,” where many of their descendants remain to this day.
Lincoln’s generals were not shy about announcing their intentions to commit genocide. John Pope announced that “It is my purpose to utterly exterminate the Sioux . . . . They are to be treated as maniacs or wild beasts, and by no means as people with whom treaties or compromises can be made” (David Nichols, Lincoln and the Indians, p. 87). “All the Indians will have to be killed or be maintained as a species of paupers,” General Sherman announced, calling his policy “a racial cleansing of the land” (See Michael Fellman, Citizen Sherman, p. 264). “Sherman gave [General Phil] Sheridan prior authorization to slaughter as many women and children as well as men Sheridan or his subordinates felt was necessary when they attacked Indian villages,” wrote Fellman (p. 271).
So it is not a stretch to believe that Adolf Hitler, who fancied himself to be a serious student and admirer of U.S. military history from the Lincoln regime to the end of the nineteenth century, would have been “inspired” by Lincoln’s maniacal, murderous, genocidal generals like Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, and Custer, as the historians John Toland and David A. Meier maintain. Indeed, Hitler was a rabid admirer of Lincoln’s compulsion to destroy state sovereignty and of the military tactics (i.e. waging total war on civilians) that he employed to achieve it. On page 566 of the 1999 Mariner/Houghton Mifflin edition of Mein Kampf Hitler repeated Lincoln’s historically false and absurd argument from his first inaugural address that the states were never sovereign. “The individual states of the American union . . . could not have possessed any state sovereignty of their own,” wrote Hitler, paraphrasing Lincoln. He did this to make his own case for the abolition of states’ rights or federalism in Germany and the creation of a centralized, monopolistic state.
The arguments in favor of states’ rights that were being made in Germany, wrote Hitler, were “propagated by the Jews” and should therefore be dismissed. “The mischief of individual federated states . . . must cease,” the dictator bellowed. “A rule basic for us National Socialists,” Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf, “is derived: A powerful national Reich.” The only real difference between this statement and Lincoln’s theory of the American union is that Hitler referred to a “national Reich” whereas Lincoln, ever the master of slick political rhetoric, called the same thing “the mystic chords of union.”
The Best of Thomas DiLorenzo |
On February 25th a group of eleven renowned law professors from around the country sent a letter to Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) warning that SB1062–the bill “which amends Arizona’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act” (RFRA)–has been “egregiously misrepresented by many of its critics.”
The mix of eleven professors consists of Republicans and Democrats, religious and non-religious, “some…[who] oppose same-sex marriage [and] some… who support it.” Their letter was obtained exclusively by Breitbart News ahead of its public release.
Their letter focuses on the important role RFRA plays in “[enacting] a uniform standard to be interpreted and applied to individual cases.” And the professors said such a “standard makes sense” as “we should not punish people for practicing their religions unless we have very good reason.”
SB1062 amends Arizona’s RFRA in two ways:
1. “It provides that people are covered when state or local government requires them to violate their religion in the conduct of their business.” 2. “It would provide that people are covered when sued by a private citizen invoking state or local law to demand that they violate their religion.”
Countering misrepresentations, the professors pointed out that “SB1062 does not say that businesses can discriminate for religious reasons.”
In concluding, they urged Gov. Brewer to be sure SB1062 is “accurately considered,” so that in passing judgment on it she is not “misled by uniformed critics.”
The eleven signatories:
Prof. Douglas Laycock, University of Virginia School of Law
Prof. Helen M. Alvare, George Mason University School of Law
Prof. Carl H. Esbeck, University of Missouri School of Law
Prof. Christopher C. Lund, Wayne State University Law School
Prof. Gregory C. Sisk, University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota)
Prof. Mary Ann Glendon, Harvard Law School
Prof. Michael W. McConnell, Stanford Law School
Prof. Thomas C. Berg, University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota)
Prof. Richard W. Garnett, Notre Dame Law School
Prof. Mark S. Scarberry, Pepperdine University School of Law
Robert Fretwell Wilson, University of Illinois College of Law
(“Institutional affiliations are for identification only. [The] institutions take no positions on these bills.”)
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins. |
Buy Photo Prescription drugs confiscated by the Dutchess County Drug Task Force include the narcotics Suboxone, pink pills on left, and Oxycontin, green pills on right. (Photo: Spencer Ainsley/Poughkeepsie Journal)Buy Photo
Proposed state policies intended to control the opioid abuse epidemic over the past decade have faced a $3.7 million roadblock — the amount of money spent by drug companies and related advocacy groups to influence New York lawmakers.
A joint investigation by The Associated Press and the Center for Public Integrity found members of the Pain Care Forum, composed of drugmakers and allied advocacy groups, spent more than $880 million on campaign contributions and lobbying over the past decade as they worked to influence state and federal policies.
The groups have an array of political interests that include opioid advocacy, and their spending was eight times that of the gun lobby during the same period. By comparison, groups advocating for limits on opioid prescribing spent about $4 million.
Of that total, $37 million was spent on contributions to state-level elected officials and party committees. And in that time period, less than one-quarter of the 800 bills introduced in state houses nationwide that would have imposed limits on opioid prescriptions have been approved.
In the mid-Hudson Valley, between 2006 and 2015, Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, D-Kingston, got $4,500; Sen. George Amedore, R-Rotterdam, Schenectady County, got $2,000; Sen. John Bonacic, R-Mount Hope, got $2,000 and Sen. William Larkin, R-Cornwall, got $500.
At the federal level, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand led with $298,848 in donations. Sen. Charles Schumer followed with $179,550. In the House of Representatives, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring, received $46,899, while Rep. Chris Gibson, R-Kinderhook, got $25,650.
Among those no longer in office, Hillary Clinton received $36,520 while in the U.S. Senate; state Sen. Stephen Saland got $5,800; state Sen. Cecilia Tkaczyk got $2,000; state Sen. Greg Ball got $2,400; Rep. John Hall got $11,000; Rep. Nan Hayworth got $37,341; Rep. Sue Kelly got $24,000; and Rep. Maurice Hinchey got $7,000.
Drug companies "are spending a fortune, and there's nobody out there with deep pockets to fight them," said Andrew Kolodny, a medical doctor, research professor and executive director of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing. The group advocates for "cautious and responsible prescribing practices," and has been in frequent opposition to the Pain Care Forum on the federal level.
New York data analyzed by the USA Today Network finds:
The state had an average of 184 lobbyists hired annually by Pain Care Forum members between 2006 and 2015 — the most of any state and more than twice the total of the No. 2 state, Pennsylvania.
New York ranks fourth in the proportion of Pain Care Forum political contributions to overall political giving.
Top legislative beneficiaries of Pain Care Forum largesse include the state Senate Republican Campaign Committee, which collected $1.2 million from 2006 to 2015, and its Democratic counterpart, with $560,000.
Top individual legislators include Republican Kemp Hannon, of Nassau County ($53,000), former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos ($43,000), and Joe Morelle ($22,000), the Assembly's Democratic majority leader, of Rochester.
Some of the elected officials who received Pain Care Forum money have sponsored and supported legislation friendly to the opioid drug industry, and some of that legislation reflects language in similar bills passed in more than 20 other states in the past two years.
A spokesman for the senate's Democratic campaign committee declined multiple requests to comment for this article. A Republican spokesman referred questions to Hannon.
"I have consistently and successfully worked to cut the use and availability of opioids and enhance access to recovery from opioids," Hannon said. "No other legislator has anywhere near such an effective record."
As examples, Hannon pointed to legislation he has introduced in past sessions that limit initial opioid prescriptions and establish physician review committees to evaluate prescribing practices.
Those are among several New York laws signed in the past few years intended to curtail opioid abuse. In 2013, the state adopted the I-STOP prescription monitoring program, designed to prevent doctor-shopping. The Republican-led Senate created a task force that recommended 48 opioid-related policy changes this year, some of which made it into alegislative package signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo this summer.
Yet other recent legislative efforts have aligned with the Pain Care Forum's priorities to expand access to certain kinds of opioid drugs.
The Albany numbers
Overall, the data show Pain Care Forum members have directly supported nearly 200 New York state legislators and party committees since 2006, to the tune of $3.7 million. That represents a full 10 percent of all such spending in the 50 state houses, and trails only California.
Democratic legislators took in $800,000 in contributions, while Republican members took in $506,000. Average contributions, though, were $9,200 for Republicans and $6,100 for Democrats, due to the imbalance of power in Albany.
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), a trade group representing drug companies and a member of the Pain Care Forum, was the top industry contributor to New York political committees. Its $1.8 million accounted for nearly 30 percent of spending, according to The Associated Press and Center for Public Integrity data.
PhRMA gave $949,000 to the Republican senate and assembly committees, and $810,000 to the legislative Democratic committees. The top individual contributions were to Republican Sen. Hannon ($6,500) and former Republican Sen. George Maziarz ($2,250), whose district went from Niagara Falls to Rochester. He now is a lobbyist.
Pfizer Inc., the world's largest drugmaker, was No. 2, contributing $770,500 to 170 state-level politicians and party committees over the past decade. Pfizer makes one opioid drug, Embeda, a mix of morphine and naltrexone.
Members of the Pain Care Forum advocate for issues beyond opioid prescriptions, so some fraction of their contributions were likely made in support of policies outside of access to pain medication.
Yet the data likely also under-report the amount of contributions to individual legislators. Some of the funds were distributed to candidates by the party committees, and thus were not recorded in a legislator's total.
Furthermore, the data do not include independent expenditures — spending on a politician's behalf by a party or trade group — or so-called "dark money," which is unlimited contributions to politically active nonprofits that can spend at will without reporting their donors.
Meanwhile, only Phoenix House, one of the handful of nonprofits identified by the Associated Press and Center for Public Integrity analysis as spending to advocate tighter restrictions on opioid drugs, has made contributions in New York. The funds, totaling only $6,800 over 10 years, went exclusively to members of Congress, not to state legislators.
New pill technology
A recent priority of many drugmakers and their allies — reflected by bills advanced in at least 20 state houses, including New York's — has been to expand access to so-called abuse-deterrent formulations for opioid prescriptions.
Abuse-deterrent formulations (ADFs) are opioid drugs chemically identical to the typical versions but with features that make them harder to pulverize, melt or dissolve. That is intended to reduce the chance for abuse by snorting or injecting, though swallowing the pills gives the expected effect.
Opponents have countered they are, in reality, a solution to a largely nonexistent problem.
"Our opioid crisis isn't a crisis of people crushing pills and sniffing them," said Kolodny, who is also a medical adviser to Phoenix House. "While some who are addicted sniff them or inject them, addiction almost always begins with swallowing pills whole."
To date, seven brand-name opioid drugs with abuse-deterrent qualities have won approval by the U.S Food and Drug Administration, starting with Purdue Pharma's OxyContin in 2010. The agency has issued guidelines for drug manufacturers that want to develop generic versions, but it is likely to be years before the first abuse-deterrent generic hits the market.
For that reason, the opioid pharmaceutical industry supports expansion of abuse-deterrent formulations. Purdue Pharma extols its virtues on a section of its website aimed at physicians and pharmacists. While noting the science behind abuse deterrence "is relatively new," it calls the availability of prescription opioids with abuse-deterrent properties "an important advancement toward the goal of providing responsible pain management for appropriate patients."
The State Pain Policy Advocacy Network, which describes its mission as working "to effect positive pain policy on the state level," maintains advocacy partnerships with numerous members of the Pain Care Forum, including the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Chronic Pain Association and the U.S. Pain Foundation.
The network advocates for the development of abuse-deterrent formulations, and for restrictions on substituting non-ADF generics for brand-name ADF prescriptions. Its list of 2015 legislative priorities included tracking bills dealing with abuse-deterrent formulation drugs nationwide.
New York's legislation
One such piece of legislation passed the New York Senate and Assembly this past session and is awaiting delivery to Cuomo's desk. Senate Bill 6962 would require insurers to offer at least one abuse-deterrent formulation for every class of opioid drug they include on their formulary.
Hannon sponsored the bill.
He and the four co-sponsors have received $63,000 from Pain Care Forum members between them, according to the finance data. The Assembly version was sponsored by Democrat Michael Cusick, of Staten Island, and cosponsored by Republican Peter Lopez, of Schoharie, who together have received $5,400 in Pain Care Forum member contributions.
That legislation is one of at least 20 identified by the Associated Press and Center for Public Integrity analysis to reach state houses from coast to coast with nearly identical language.
For instance, bills passed or considered in Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky and West Virginia all identically state that insurance companies "shall provide coverage for abuse-deterrent opioid analgesic drugs as preferred drugs on their formulary, preferred drug list, or other lists of similar construct."
Whereas an insurer "shall provide coverage on its formulary, drug list or other lists of similar construct for at least one abuse-deterrent opioid analgesic drug product," according to the language in the New York bills.
"Like many other bills, the New York proposal was drafted off of model legislation used in other states," Hannon said. "With the opioid epidemic plaguing the nation, many states have looked to abuse-deterrent formulations to help."
In the 2012-13 session, Hannon sponsored a similar bill that passed the Senate but faltered in the Assembly. The sponsor memo said the bill's purpose was "to help prevent the abuse and diversion of opioid drugs by ensuring that opioid drugs which incorporate abuse-deterrent technologies are dispensed whenever possible."
Related bills last year — the Senate version was also sponsored by Hannon — would have prevented pharmacists from substituting a generic for a prescribed opioid with abuse-deterrent properties. That sort of legislation is also in line with the State Pain Policy Advocacy Network's stated priorities.
Cuomo vetoed the 2015 bills, writing in a veto memo that the research on abuse-deterrent drugs "is still in its infancy."
Developing abuse-deterrent formulation versions of existing opioids is also profitable for drugmakers. An abuse-deterrent formulation of an exiting generic or brand it owns allows a drugmaker to secure a new patent and extends protections from other generic competition.
By pushing the abuse-deterrent formulations, drugmakers are "trying to profiteer on our concern about the opioid crisis," Kolodny said. "They're trying to exploit the very problem they helped create."
Follow John R. Roby on Twitter @PSBJRoby.
More online
For more on the Poughkeepsie Journal’s extensive heroin coverage, go to pojonews.co/nyheroin.
Read or Share this story: http://pojonews.co/2cyQH5r |
In a year of grim statistics in the drug overdose crisis, the City of Vancouver now averages seven overdose deaths per week, the city said in a news release.
Vancouver police recorded three suspected drug overdose deaths in the week ending Oct. 9, which is less than that average, but brings the overall toll to 275 deaths to that date in 2017 with more than two-and-a-half months left before the end of the year.
Related
Across the province, the B.C. Coroners Service reported Oct. 12 that 1,013 people had died from suspected drug overdoses up to the end of August, surpassing the 982 total for all of 2016 and eclipsing the 547 suspected overdose deaths over the same period of last year.
In Vancouver, the city highlighted some of its increased efforts to combat the ongoing opioid crisis, such as Megaphone Magazine’s “How to Save a Life: Frontline Stories” series.
Megaphone is one of the city groups to receive a grant from $600,000 set aside for community organizations to collaborate on overcoming the overdose epidemic.
In the news release, said Megaphone has held two neighbourhood events to date, one at the Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House and one at the West End’s Gordon Neighbourhood House, to help counter the stigma towards addictions illicit drug use by telling the stories of drug users and peer overdose responders.
“Our team of storytellers and overdose responders are sharing perspective and training with people across the city,” said Megaphone executive director Jessica Hannon. “At each event they offer overdose prevention training, supplies and perspective to help ensure communities respond to addiction and overdose in their community with skill and compassion.”
Megaphone will hold additional events until Nov. 13, which it is advertising on special Facebook page for the initiative and registration is still open for the remaining dates.
More information on the trend of overdose deaths in B.C. can be found in the B.C. Coroners Service’s latest report, which covers 2007 to Aug. 2017. |
Each year between Halloween and Christmas we are barraged with reports taking the economy’s pulse based on holiday spending. Are we spending enough to stimulate the economy? Are we on track to beat last year’s numbers? And, indeed, holiday spending is important for retailers, many of whom sustain themselves on activity between the goblins’ departure and Santa’s arrival. While December is only one-12th of the year, it brings at least a sixth of the year’s business at department and jewelry stores.
But is holiday spending even good for the economy? The surprising answer is somewhere between maybe and not really. The problem is that gift-giving is a very sloppy method for matching stuff with people. As an economist, I look at the estimated $65 billion in holiday spending coming this year, and I see an orgy of value destruction.
To understand this, consider that every transaction in the economy has two parties, a seller and a buyer. Sellers benefit from a transaction by getting a price that covers their costs and delivers some surplus in the form of profit. Similarly, the sellers’ employees and suppliers get some surplus that brings them to work chipper. In normal - nongift - transactions, buyers also get some surplus. They see an item for, say, $50 and only buy it if it’s worth at least $50 to them. This surplus is a big deal: When your child is crying with an ear infection, you’d gladly pay hundreds or perhaps even thousands of dollars for a cure. Antibiotics, available for a few dollars, provide enormous surplus for buyers.
Compare this to what happens when you give a gift: When you spend $50 on me, you’re operating at significant disadvantage. You don’t know what I like. I might not have been willing to pay anything for the item you purchase for me with $50. While $50 in spending normally produces at least $50 worth of satisfaction, there’s no guarantee that $50 in gift spending will produce nearly as much satisfaction for the recipient. And if you buy me something worth nothing to me, you have destroyed at least $50 worth of value. You may as well have lit that sweater on fire.
Over the years, I’ve conducted numerous surveys to compare the satisfaction derived from gifts with items people purchase for themselves. The answer that emerges is that people value items they buy for themselves nearly 20 percent more. This means that the $65 billion in annual holiday spending generates about $12 billion less satisfaction than it would if we spend the money on ourselves. |
New Horizons
Fighting the Good Fight in San Francisco
Danny E. Olinger
Thirty-one years ago, the Rev. Charles McIlhenny accepted a call to serve as pastor of First Orthodox Presbyterian Church in San Francisco. Little did Chuck or his wife, Donna, know what the Lord had in store for them as they began to serve First Church and the community in which they lived. In 1978, Chuck fired the organist for First OPC when he learned that the organist was a practicing homosexual. The organist sued the McIlhennys, First OPC, and the Presbytery of Northern California for violating a city ordinance banning discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation. As far as many scholars can determine, this was the first time in U.S. legal history that immorality had taken on the church for fulfilling its God-given responsibility within the parameters of biblical worship.
With the help of attorney John Whitehead and the financial support of hundreds of individuals and churches across the country to pay for the legal costs, the McIlhennys won the case by arguing protection under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits governmental interference with the free exercise of religion. As a result of their stand, the McIlhennys have endured great suffering. Particularly during the late 1970s and early 1980s, as a result of the negative media coverage surrounding the lawsuit against them, they were vandalized, had graffiti sprayed on their property, received death threats, and suffered a firebombing of their home and church from which they had to flee with their three young children in hand. And yet, throughout such persecution, they counted it a blessing to have the opportunity to give witness to Jesus Christ in such a hostile environment.
In recent months, the allowance of "same-sex marriages" in San Francisco has put the McIlhennys back in the spotlight. Along with the Rev. Carl Erickson (pastor of New Covenant OPC in South San Francisco) and elder Ralph Montgomery, they have found themselves again on the front lines in that city. Although California law defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom sanctioned same-sex marriages in February. In doing so, Mayor Newsom cited the California Constitution, which bars discrimination, and claimed that he was duty-bound to follow this higher authority rather than the state laws prohibiting same-sex marriages.
The California Supreme Court halted San Francisco's gay marriages in March at the request of Attorney General William Lockyer. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger worried that Mayor Newsom's precedent, if allowed to stand, would encourage legal anarchy, with local officials determining autonomously which laws to obey. McIlhenny and others petitioned the California Supreme Court to halt the marriages, and Mr. Montgomery filed suit in the Superior Court in San Francisco to do the same.
On April 14, Chuck and Donna, along with a group of ministers, met with Mayor Newsom and confronted him with biblical teaching on this issue. During the meeting, Chuck presented Mayor Newsom with a copy of the McIlhennys' book, When the Wicked Seize a City, and told him about the lawsuits, vandalism, firebombing, and attacks against their church and family. From Romans 13, Chuck told Mayor Newsom that as mayor of the city he functioned as a minister of God. He further told the mayor that he needed to repent, believe in Christ, and stop supporting same-sex marriages.
That same day, the McIlhennys participated in a press conference on the steps of the city courthouse. Then, on April 25, they helped to organize a public demonstration against same-sex marriages, which an estimated seven thousand people attended. Chuck also had the opportunity to debate this issue at the University of California in Santa Cruz.
Before Mayor Newsom, during the press conference, at the demonstration, and during the debate, Chuck essentially delivered the same message. First, he issued a call to repentance. Second, he admonished the authorities to stop same-sex marriages. Third, he urged that the law of God be obeyed. And, finally, he proclaimed the need to turn to Christ.
This has been Chuck's consistent message over the years in his efforts to reach the city of San Francisco for Christ. He repeatedly tells others that homosexuality is not the unpardonable sin. As sinful as such behavior and attitudes are, homosexuals are not beyond the supernatural power of God to bring them to saving faith in Jesus Christ. The message to homosexuals in San Francisco from the McIlhennys has always been the same: You must repent of your sinful ways and turn to Christ for the forgiveness of sins.
However, in a city billed as a model of tolerance, San Francisco is intolerant of anyone who opposes the gay rights movement or any of its objectives. It is part of the gay agenda to vilify anyone who stands against the political and social normalization of sexual behavior that the Bible clearly condemns as sinful. But such vilification has not deterred the McIlhennys, First OPC, or the Presbytery of Northern California from standing up for Christ. They take comfort from the words of the apostle Paul, "For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake" (Phil. 1:29).
Part of the Presbytery of Northern California's response to the events in San Francisco was to formulate a resolution against same-sex marriages (see sidebar). The Seventy-first General Assembly commended the Presbytery of Northern California for taking a faithful stand against such marriages. Please continue to pray for the McIlhennys, First OPC, and the Presbytery as they bring forth the good news that is found in Jesus Christ to those living in spiritual darkness in San Francisco.
The author is the editor of New Horizons. Reprinted from New Horizons, August/September 2004. |
Touchdown: B-2 stealth jets return after epic 11,500 mile journey to bomb Libyan aircraft shelters
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Pilots in the cockpit for a stamina-sapping 25-hour mission
They dropped 45 satellite-guided bombs weighing 2,000lbs each
Six hero pilots return home safe and sound from a bombing mission to Libya which saw them in the cockpit for an incredible 25 hours.
Three B-2 Spirit bombers, piloted by two men each, made it back after the 11,418-mile round trip from the Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri - where they are kept in special hangars - to Libya, where they hit targets on forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi and back again.
At $2.1bn, they are the most expensive warplanes in the world and rarely leave their climate-controlled hangars. But when it does, the B-2 bomber makes a spectacularly effective start to a war - including during this weekend's aerial attack on Libya's air defences.
One of three Air Force Global Striek Command B-2 Spirit bombers returning to base at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri
The two pilots of the B-2 bomber flew for 25 hours on the 12,000 mile round trip to bomb Gaddafi targets
Touchdown: The skin of the bombers is so sensitive that it has to be kept in special climate controlled shelters where it is taped and cured after every mission
WHY THE B-2 IS SO DEADLY
Cost: £2.1bn Range: 6,000 miles Special features: radar absorbing skin to make it near-impossible to detect. Can carry the GBU-37 'bunker buster' 5,000 lib bomb that can bore 20 to 30 ft through concrete
Capabilities: Two B-2s armed with precision weaponry can do the job of 75 conventional aircraft. Can carry 16 2,000 lb satellite guided bombs
Max speed: 630mph at 40,000 ft Cruise speed: 560mph at 40,000 ft Dimensions: 69ft long, 17ft high, 172ft wingspan Major drawback: Heat and moisture sensitive skin that needs taping and curing after every mission and climate-controlled hangar
Its mission is to penetrate heavily defended enemy territory and 'kick down the door' on the opening night of a conflict. One of its special features is its ability to carry eight GBU-37 'bunker buster' bombs, weighing in at 2.27 tonnes that are capable of boring 20 to 30 ft of rock or reinforced concrete before detonating.
After the first wave of more than 110 Tomahawk missiles launched from allied warships in the Mediterranean, they struck yesterday morning on 'a variety of strategic targets over Libya', according to the US Air Force.
They dropped a total of 45 one-tonne satellite guided missiles on Libyan aircraft shelters before making the 5,709 mile journey back to the Missouri. The B-2 stealth bombers were first used in the Kosovo and Serbian war and have been used more recently in Afghanistan.
The long-range, heavy bomber capable of penetrating sophisticated and dense air-defence, and with one refuelling, is able to fly to any point in the world within hours.
The aircraft is famous for rather ominous-looking bat-like silhouette: The leading edges of the wings are angled at 33° and the trailing edge has a double-W shape. It is manufactured at two Northrop Grumman facilities in Pico Rivera and Palmdale in California.
The aircraft also are deadly and effective: An assessment published by the USAF showed that two B-2s armed with precision weaponry can do the job of 75 conventional aircraft.
That makes it a powerful weapon to strike targets including bunkers, command centres, radars, airfields, air defences.
The B-2 can carry 16 2,000 pound (900 kilogram), satellite-guided bombs, including an earth penetrating version.
Surveying the damage: Libyan army soldiers stand amid the wreckage of the administration building inside Bab Al-Aziziyah, Gaddafi's heavily fortified compound in Tripoli
As well as the eight 'bunker busters', its bomb bays can carry 16 Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), which have been tested at ranges 180 miles from the target, or the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW), a glide bomb that releases cluster bombs.
A major drawback, however, is the intensive maintenance required by the B-2s, whose heat and moisture sensitive skin must be painstakingly taped and cured after every mission.
In previous conflicts, the maintenance requirements kept the B-2s tethered to their home base at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.
In Afghanistan, that meant 44-hour bombing runs for their two-member crews, the longest air combat missions in history. It also meant few B-2 missions.
But the air force has built special climate-controlled shelters at bases on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia and at Fairford, Gloucestershire, for B-2s, which were built by Northrop Grumman and first flew in 1989.
Staying awake for the 25-hour mission while being in control of bombs that weigh nearly a tonne is a difficult task and one that tests the mettle of the pilots that take part in such journeys.
It isn't clear how the six pilots on Operation Odyssey Dawn managed to stay awake, but in the past they have used a fold-out bed behind the seats at the controls. It is also possible that they used auto-pilot for the majority of the journey but used manual controls while bombing so that they could keep concentrating on the task at hand. |
A Civic Biology: Presented in Problems (usually referred to as just Civic Biology) was a biology textbook written by George William Hunter, published in 1914. It is the book which the state of Tennessee required high school teachers to use in 1925 and is best known for its section about evolution that was ruled by a local court to be in violation of the state Butler Act. It was for teaching from this textbook that John T. Scopes was brought to trial in Dayton, Tennessee in the Scopes "Monkey" Trial. The views espoused in the book about evolution, race, and eugenics were common to American Progressives (especially in the work of Charles Benedict Davenport, one of the most prominent American biologists of the early 20th century, whom Hunter cites in the book).
Excerpts [ edit ]
Excerpts from the book give its general tone and approach to controversial topics regarding mankind:
Evolution of Man. – Undoubtedly there once lived upon the earth races of men who were much lower in their mental organization than the present inhabitants. If we follow the early history of man upon the earth, we find that at first he must have been little better than one of the lower animals. He was a nomad, wandering from place to place, feeding upon whatever living things he could kill with his hands. Gradually he must have learned to use weapons, and thus kill his prey, first using rough stone implements for this purpose. As man became more civilized, implements of bronze and of iron were used. About this time the subjugation and domestication of animals began to take place. Man then began to cultivate the fields, and to have a fixed place of abode other than a cave. The beginnings of civilization were long ago, but even to-day the earth is not entirely civilized. The Races of Man. – At the present time there exist upon the earth five races or varieties of man, each very different from the other in instincts, social customs, and, to an extent, in structure. These are the Ethiopian or negro type, originating in Africa; the Malay or brown race, from the islands of the Pacific; The American Indian; the Mongolian or yellow race, including the natives of China, Japan, and the Eskimos; and finally, the highest type of all, the caucasians, represented by the civilized white inhabitants of Europe and America. ... Improvement of Man. – If the stock of domesticated animals can be improved, it is not unfair to ask if the health and vigor of the future generations of men and women on the earth might not be improved by applying to them the laws of selection. This improvement of the future race has a number of factors in which we as individuals may play a part. These are personal hygiene, selection of healthy mates, and the betterment of the environment. Eugenics. – When people marry there are certain things that the individual as well as the race should demand. The most important of these is freedom from germ diseases which might be handed down to the offspring. Tuberculosis, syphilis, that dread disease which cripples and kills hundreds of thousands of innocent children, epilepsy, and feeble-mindedness are handicaps which it is not only unfair but criminal to hand down to posterity. The science of being well born is called eugenics. ... Parasitism and its Cost to Society. – Hundreds of families such as those described above exist today, spreading disease, immorality, and crime to all parts of this country. The cost to society of such families is very severe. Just as certain animals or plants become parasitic on other plants or animals, these families have become parasitic on society. They not only do harm to others by corrupting, stealing, or spreading disease, but they are actually protected and cared for by the state out of public money. Largely for them the poorhouse and the asylum exist. They take from society, but they give nothing in return. They are true parasites. The Remedy. – If such people were lower animals, we would probably kill them off to prevent them from spreading. Humanity will not allow this, but we do have the remedy of separating the sexes in asylums or other places and in various ways preventing intermarriage and the possibilities of perpetuating such a low and degenerate race. Remedies of this sort have been tried successfully in Europe and are now meeting with some success in this country.
Development and publication [ edit ]
Hunter was born in Mamaroneck New York, and was educated at Williams College, the University of Chicago, and New York University, where he obtained his doctorate.[1] He later became chairman of the biology department at his alma mater, De Witt Clinton High School, a public secondary school for boys in Manhattan.[2] During his time at Clinton, he wrote or co-authored 30 textbooks for college and high school biology courses, including Civic Biology in 1905. By working with educators at Columbia University's Teachers College and the geneticist, Thomas Hunt Morgan, Hunter developed Civic Biology, a textbook that shaped the modern secondary-school biology curriculum.[3]
Eugenics [ edit ]
In the first edition of Civic Biology, Hunter briefly discusses eugenics on one page of the 432 page textbook. Along with many other evolutionary biologists, Hunter embraced the idea of eugenics as a social doctrine. It was a popular idea in the early 20th century, and several states had enacted laws to compel the sexual segregation and sterilization of people deemed eugenically unfit.[4] Hunter believed that society could perfect the human race by preventing intermarriage between people such as the mentally ill, criminals, and epileptics.[5] Hunter also believed that the Caucasian race was the highest type of all the races.[6]
Shifts in science education [ edit ]
Darwin had published his evolutionary theories 60 years before the public controversy over Civic Biology with the Scopes Trial. Prior to the Scopes Trial and controversy over Civic Biology, most science textbooks included Darwinian concepts in order to keep abreast with prevalent scientific ideas. In the early 20th century, there was a movement in the education sector to bring evolution into high school classrooms, in order to update and reshape how biology was taught. Once evolution began being taught in high schools, controversy over Darwin's theories developed.[7] These efforts tried to incorporate progressive educational ideologies and apply the biological sciences to human society.[8]
Civic Biology was an example of the new approaches to scientific instruction emerging in the education sector.[9] This modern education focused on applying scientific principles to human society by developing applicable and relevant content for students.[10] This movement towards socially applicable biology was coupled with national efforts towards mandatory public education. Anti-evolution efforts and legislation were responding to the redesigned ideologies in the new biology curricula, and also to the centralized control and regulation of education.[11] Concerns about public and standardized education were part of the public debate over Civic Biology.[12]
Cultural context [ edit ]
There were a variety of socio-cultural events that shaped the publication and reaction to Civic Biology. Following World War I, a cultural movement emerged that poised two ideological groups against each other: the traditionalists and the modernists.[13] The modernists embraced intellectual experimentation by exploring new philosophies such as Freudian theories and advocated against alcohol prohibition in political spheres.[14] In response to this modernist cultural movement, there was a religious revivalist movement to protest the emergence of these progressive ideologies.[15] The traditionalists were distinguished by their religious zeal. This group favored alcohol prohibition laws and a literal interpretation of the Bible.[16]
Scopes Trial [ edit ]
The prosecution made arguments that fit the ideology of the traditionalists. The contents of Civic Biology were not specifically discussed in the trial, but rather the trial focused on the merits and problems with Darwin's theory of evolution.[17] The Scopes Trial used Civic Biology as a tool to have a publicized and public debate on whether or not evolution should continue to be taught. Specifically, the prosecution argued that teaching evolution undermined traditional religious values by disrupting the Biblical concept of a six day creation.[18] Furthermore, prosecutors proposed that Darwinian concepts could subvert the political sphere of the United States. They argued that the concept of "survival of the fittest" could be used to justify a laissez-faire capitalist system, imperialism, and militarism in United States politics.[19] They also warned that Darwin's theories could be used to justify mass sterilization of livestock in order to selectively breed the best organisms.[20] The Scopes Trial prosecution created agreements to demonstrate the dangers that teaching evolutionary theory could pose to society. The defendants crafted arguments that largely fit within a modernist ideology.[21] They argued that evolution should be taught to high school students under the protection of freedom of speech.[22] The defendants proposed a more liberal and innovative science curriculum be provided to students, one that kept up with popular scientific ideas of the time.[23] They believed that it was within the rights of teachers and students to decide whether or not to use Civic Biology.[24] The defendants also generally advocated for a public education system that was independent of specific political, economic, and religious viewpoints.[25]
Legacy [ edit ]
The Scopes Trial and the controversy over Civic Biology was a major setback for anti-evolution groups because of the 15 states with anti-evolution legislation pending in 1925, only 2 enacted laws restricting the teaching of Darwin's evolutionary theories.[26] While this public controversy had some political implications, it was not extensively influential in the education sector and the instruction of the biological sciences. During the 1970s, it was believed that pressure from Christian fundamentalists after the Scopes Trial forced textbook authors to limit the discussion of evolution.[27] However, upon later examination of biology textbooks, scholars determined that textbook authors worked to develop biological curricula that differentiated and defended its content, in an attempt to reduce the influence of religious fundamentalism on the biological sciences. As a result, modern scholars now believe that overall, biology textbooks were not heavily influenced by anti-evolution rhetoric after the Scopes Trial.[28]
While biology textbooks did not yield heavy influence from the Scopes Trial, some laws emerged that affected high school teachers. After the Scopes Trial, many teachers, particularly in the South, were then required to take oaths of loyalty.[29] These oaths centered upon restricting instructors to teaching content that did not contradict traditionalist ideologies.[30]
New Civic Biology [ edit ]
A revised edition[31] of Hunter's book appeared the year after the Scopes Trial. This new edition no longer used the word "evolution", and removed most references to recognizably evolutionary concepts. A figure illustrating fossils of the precursors of horses in geological context and much of the associated text was eliminated. The section quoted above, "Evolution of Man", was renamed "Development of Man", and, rather than saying "lower in mental organization" said "lower in civilization" (page 250). The book did mention natural selection (page 383), homology (page 237), classification of plants and animals (Chapter XXI, pages 234–252) (including mention of "man" as a vertebrate, a mammal, and a primate, page 250), and had a short biography of Charles Darwin among the "Great Names in Biology" (pages 411–412).[32]
This new edition contained an extended discussion of eugenics (Chapter XXXII "The Improvement of the Human Race", pages 394–404), but the section quoted above on "The Remedy" removed the words "If such people were lower animals, we would probably kill them off to prevent them from spreading. Humanity will not allow this ...". (page 400). The supposed history of the Jukes family and the Kallikak family was advanced (pages 398–399). The section "Parasitism and its Cost to Society" was unchanged but for the insertion of the sentence "It is estimated that between 25% and 50% of all prisoners in penal institutions are feeble-minded."[33]
This new edition retained the section "The Races of Man" as written, with two changes about "caucasians": They were no longer described as "the highest type of all", and "the Hindus and Arabs of Asia" were included among the enumerated caucasians (page 251).[34]
References [ edit ]
^ "Magat, Richard. 'The Forgotten Roles of Two New York City Teachers in the Epic Scopes Trial.' Science & Society 70, No. 4 (2006): 542." ^ Pauly, Philip J. "The Development of High School Biology: New York City, 1900-1925." Isis 82, No. 4 (1991): 662. ^ Pauly (1925).pp.662. ^ Magat.(2006): 541. ^ Magat. (2006). 539. ^ Magat. (2006). 539. ^ "Shapiro, Adam R. 'Civic Biology and the Origin of the School Antievolution Movement.' Journal of the History of Biology 41, No. 3 (2008): 430." ^ Shapiro. (2008). 433. ^ Ladouceur. (2008). 435. ^ Moore pp.542. ^ Shapiro. (2008). 428. ^ Shapiro. (2008). 428. ^ Hellmann, Robert A. "Evolution in American School Biology Books from the Late Nineteenth Century until the 1930's." The American Biology Teacher 27, no. 10 (1965): 778-80. doi:10.2307/4441184. ^ Hellman (1965) pp. 779. ^ Hellman (1965).pp.779. ^ Hellman (1965).pp.780. ^ Richards, Oscar W. "The Present Status of Biology in the Secondary Schools." The School Review 31, no. 2 (1923): 143-46. ^ Richards(1923).143. ^ Richards(1923).143. ^ Richards(1923).143. ^ Moore, John W. "TEACHING EVOLUTION." Journal of College Science Teaching 4, no. 4 (1975): 277. ^ Magat pp.541. ^ Magat pp.541. ^ Moore 277. ^ Moore pp.542. ^ Magat (2006): 549. ^ "Ladouceur, Ronald P. 'Ella Thea Smith and the Lost History of American High School Biology Textbooks.' Journal of the History of Biology 41, No. 3 (2008): 435." ^ Ladouceur.(2008). 435. ^ Ladouceur, Ronald P. "Ella Thea Smith and the Lost History of American High School Biology Textbooks." Journal of the History of Biology 41, no. 3 (2008): 435-71. ^ Ladoucer(2008).435. ^ George William Hunter, New Civic Biology: Presented in Problems, New York: American Book Co., 1926 ^ The Journal of Education 105, no. 2 (1927): 51. ^ The Journal of Education 105, no. 2 (1927): 51. ^ The Journal of Education 105, no. 2 (1927): 51. |
It is becoming an epidemic of the Olympic Games. Following the withdrawls of Steven Stamkos, and Marian Gaborik, another high-profile Olympian has pulled out of the games with Swedish centre and Vancouver Canuck Henrik Sedin the latest to announce that he will not be going to Sochi. Sedin is out with bruised ribs suffered in a January 17th game against the Phoenix Coyotes when he was cross-checked by Martin Hanzal.
Sedin missed six games with the injury, before returning to the Canucks lineup for two games early this week. However he was ineffective in the two contests, and feels that he is not ready to play in the Olympic competition. Sedin will also sit out the Canucks next two games against the Montreal Canadiens (tonight) and Toronto Maple Leafs (Saturday).
In 52 games this season, the 33-year-old Sedin has nine goals and 31 assists for 40 points.
Team Sweden first sees action in Sochi on February 12 when they meet the Czech Republic. The have not yet officially named a replacement for Henrik Sedin, though there is already a ton of speculation that the replacement will be Mikael Backlund of the Calgary Flames.
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As one of the lucky few to have the chance to buy the New Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Edition, it safely arrived today courtesy of Yodel’s logistic prowess.
I thought that, for posterity if not anything else, that it would be good to share a photo gallery of the bundle’s contents, which has been made available in limited quantities ahead of the New Nintendo 3DS officially launching in Europe.
Inside the rather plain outer box, those that have handed over £179.99 will find the New Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Edition, two exclusive Cover Plate sets, and a new Charging Cradle.
The photos below take you through everything, briefly comparing to my The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds 3DS XL and highlighting some location changes around the system such as the power, charging and Wi-Fi indicators now being grouped.
Related |
The prospects for progress in the direct Israeli-Palestinian talks in Washington are meagre. But breakthrough is essential if Israel is to be saved from itself.
A long diplomatic hiatus in efforts to resolve the longstanding Israel-Palestine conflict will end when direct talks are convened in Washington on 2 September 2010. The Barack Obama administration’s commitment to progress is highlighted by the president’s role in opening the discussions, and in its invitation to Egyptian and Jordanian leaders to attend the gathering. But the obstacles are formidable, with the White House’s ambition of a resolution of outstanding issues taking only a year looking very optimistic.
A list of the four most substantive and difficult matters that will have be engaged is enough to illustrate this:
• the settlements that now stretch right across the West Bank, and which have been greatly expanded since the Oslo peace process started in the early 1990s
• the final boundaries for an independent Palestine, including the status of Gaza and the physical link between the strip and the West Bank
• the status of Jerusalem - seen by both parties to the dispute as its capital (see Mariano Aguirre, "Israel-Palestine: a frontline report", 26 March 2010)
• the rights of the Palestinian diaspora, both refugees and their descendants living in the region and those in other parts of the world, including the question of a return to land and homes lost in 1948.
The Palestinians face enormous problems, of which even the enduring political division between the Fatah and Hamas movements is but one. Their national predicament is such that many Palestinians find it near-impossible to envisage a viable state as a realistic possibility; a significant minority now embraces the idea of a unitary state covering the whole of historic Palestine. This “one-state solution” is anathema to almost all Israelis, not least as demographic trends would mean that Israeli Jews would become a minority in such a state within a few decades.
More generally, Israel’s overriding preoccupation with security reinforces its view of a region of enemies where any measure of political progress is seen in terms of the new vulnerabilities it may entail. Thus, for example, it views Hamas as exclusively a terrorist entity with which no negotiation is possible.
The reward of failure
At the outset of the talks, the Israelis will seek - as a precondition for any negotiations - the immediate and complete acceptance of the state of Israel, with all the security guarantees it requires (see Akiva Eldar, "With a victory like this...", Ha'aretz, 23 August 2010). Any decision by Israel to halt the freeze on new settlement-construction, and to restart further large-scale building projects, could wreck negotiations before they are underway. This alone means that it will be fortunate if the two sides are still talking in October, let alone in mid-2011.
Moreover, many in the Israeli government are confident that Israel is negotiating from such a position of strength that it need not make any serious concessions. They are bolstered here by a domestic rightward shift over the past generation, in part because of the influx of migrants from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s (see Colin Shindler, "Israel's rightward shift: a history of the present", 23 February 2009).
The calculation here is that the talks will (sooner or later) fail, leaving Israel to return to its tried-and-tested stance of enforcing security through overwhelming conventional military power, backed up by nuclear forces. In addition, behind its own iron fist it can rely on the backing of the world's sole superpower.
Israel is supported in this outlook by influential networks in Washington, among them the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) and other lobby-groups. Aipac itself may not enjoy such unstinting loyalty as before - and liberal Jewish initiatives such as J Street offer a more nuanced view of what it means to be “pro-Israel” - but it has been successful in forging links with evangelical Christians who espouse an apocalyptic vision of Israel’s role in God's plan (see “Christian Zionists and neocons: a heavenly marriage”, 2 February 2005).
This balance of forces, with Israel “impregnable in its own insecurity” and the Palestinians weak and divided, looks a recipe for diplomatic failure. Yet three factors are in play which should in principle give the Israelis pause - and should certainly be of deep concern to any thoughtful Israeli politician with a longer-term perspective on his or her state's situation.
The costs of failure
The first factor is that asymmetric military systems in the region - especially the extraordinary levels of mass production of short- and medium-range missiles in Iran, Syria and elsewhere - are becoming ever more difficult for Israel to counteract. Hizbollah, in Lebanon, has tens of thousands of missiles that can reach across much of Israel (see Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, “The Hizbollah project: last war, next war”, 13 August 2009); and Iran, whether or not it has serious nuclear ambitions, is developing robust solid-fuel medium-range missiles (see "An asymmetrical drone war", 19 August 2010).
The second is that some senior figures in the American military are beginning to express in public a view they may previously have voiced only in private: that in relation to US interests in the middle east, Israel is part of the problem rather than a means to a solution. The argument here is that the Palestinians’ enduring predicament, for which Israel bears a great responsibility, acts as a potent radicalising force across the region - with deleterious effects both on the US’s strategic position and on the security of its forces (see "America and Israel: a historic choice", 18 March 2010).
The exceptionally close relationship between the Israeli and the American military makes such a shift of focus too important to ignore. The United States, after all, meets over 20% of the Israeli defence budget, and US forces make extensive use of Israeli equipment and training facilities. A number of columns in this series has explored this theme: (see, for example, “After Saddam, no respite” [19 December 2003]; "Between Fallujah and Palestine" [21 April 2004]; "Gaza: the Israel-United States connection" [7 January 2009]; and “A tale of two towns” [21 June 2007]). In these circumstances, indications of diminishing support for Israel in leading US military circles should be of huge concern to serious Israeli politicians.
The third factor is more long-term; it too relates most immediately to the United States, but it also affects western European public opinion. In June 1967, Israel vanquished three Arab armies in the six-day war and in the process occupied great swathes of territory. This historic victory consolidated support in the west (particularly the US) for what was perceived as “brave little Israel”, and in time was also seen by those adhering to a politically influential Christian-Zionist worldview as the fulfilment of a religious destiny.
Almost two generations on, both the region’s geopolitics and its demography have changed. The war of 1967 is a living memory only for those in middle age or above; far more important and pressing on the minds of people observing the region from outside is Israel’s widespread destruction in the Gaza war of 2008-09, the relentless expansion of settlements in the West Bank, and other human-rights infringements great or small. The Israeli government may present these issues in a very different light - but its message is less persuasive than ever. In many circles, even those previously sympathetic to Israel, a profound reversal of roles has occurred in the region’s “David vs Goliath” combat - with the result that Israel, now seen as an overweening bully, is losing its moral legitimacy.
Some in Israel’s national community - journalists, academics, NGO workers among them - recognise this, and are doing their best to alert their compatriots to the dangers of the situation (see Thomas Keenan & Eyal Weizman, "Israel: the third strategic threat", 7 June 2010). But most Israelis, starting with the Binyamin Netanyahu administration, do not. As a whole, the Israeli state seems not to understand - and may simply be unable to see - that its posture is unsustainable (see “Israel’s security trap”, 5 August 2010).
Time really is running out for Israel; but most probably, only outside actors can enable the country to recognise this (see “After Gaza: Israel’s last chance”, 17 January 2009). In this respect, the Barack Obama administration may be different enough from its predecessors as to ensure some serious diplomatic progress. If as a result the Washington talks on 2 September 2010 become truly serious in the coming months, Obama’s presidency could yet be responsible for a historic achievement that would help save Israel from itself. |
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani (Reuters photo: Lucas Jackson)
Trump should tear up the nuclear agreement.
After declaring that “Iran is on notice” for a recent ballistic-missile test and for missile attacks against a Saudi ship by Houthi rebels, and then announcing new U.S. sanctions against Iran on Friday, the Trump administration met with predicable criticism from Democrats and the foreign-policy establishment, who objected that the president was provoking Iran and risking war by threatening the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA).
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In fact, it was President Obama’s Iran policy that made the Middle East much less stable, as his appeasement of Iran and “leading from behind” approach emboldened Tehran and did little to stop it from pursuing nuclear weapons and building ballistic missiles to carry them. The Obama administration did absolutely nothing in response to Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism and its backing of the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Even worse, Obama officials during the nuclear talks gave Iran a green light to expand its role in Iraq and Syria. It’s no accident that Iran sent ground troops into Syria shortly after the JCPOA was announced.
The Obama administration claimed that the JCPOA would lead to an improvement in Iranian behavior and in U.S.–Iran relations. This did not happen. Iran has conducted at least a dozen ballistic-missile tests over the past two years. Some of these missiles had the words “Israel must be wiped off the map” written on the sides. Iran captured ten U.S. sailors and held them at gunpoint on the day of President Obama’s last State of the Union address. There has been a sharp increase in Iran’s harassing and threatening ships in the Persian Gulf, including U.S. Navy vessels. Houthi rebels, probably with Iranian assistance, fired anti-ship missiles at American and United Arab Emirates ships in the Red Sea last fall. Iran also has taken more American citizens and green-card holders prisoner since the JCPOA was announced and after five U.S. prisoners were released in January 2016.
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Trump’s initial moves on Iran mark the beginning of an effort to reverse Obama’s disastrous Iran policy. The administration, actually addressing the threats Iran poses to global security, is holding Iran accountable for its actions and reasserting American power.
It’s no secret that no one believed President Obama when he said “all options are on the table,” drew red lines, or issued ultimatums after belligerent acts by Iran, North Korea, ISIS, the Syrian army, and Russia. The world knew that the use of American military power was never on the table for Obama and that his words were just empty rhetoric. They knew that Obama would never back up his red lines and ultimatums. While the Obama administration sometimes responded to rogue state actions with sanctions, they were usually weak and in every case ignored.
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The Trump administration’s recent warning to Iran indicates that all options really are on the table when it comes to America’s responding to actions by rogue states and actors that endanger our security and the security of our friends and allies. The sanctions imposed today against 13 individuals and twelve companies involved in Iran’s missile program are long overdue and make clear that America will not look the other way while Tehran develops nuclear-weapons delivery systems.
Iranian leaders do not know whether or when President Trump will order military action against their nation. This uncertainty, coupled with tough rhetoric against Iran by Trump and most of his national-security team, should give Iran’s ruling mullahs pause before approving future provocations.
Although President Trump does not want war with Iran, he and his advisers are probably weighing appropriate and limited military options. At a minimum, the Trump administration needs to consider military action if Iran continues to threaten the free flow of commerce and freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.
Supporters of the nuclear deal often argue, in effect, that a bad deal is better than no deal. I disagree.
The Trump administration should also be weighing a broad set of international sanctions targeting Iran’s nuclear program and Iranian entities that sponsor terrorism. These sanctions should be imposed outside of the United Nations so that China and Russia cannot veto or water them down. The Trump administration should support several efforts by Congress to impose new sanctions on Iran, including the Iran Non-Nuclear Sanctions Act sponsored by Senators Todd Young (R., Ind.), John Cornyn (R., Texas), and Marco Rubio (R., Fla.). This bill would impose severe financial and economic sanctions targeting Iran’s ballistic-missile violations, human-rights abuses, and support for terrorism.
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I regret that that President Trump has not torn up the JCPOA. I hope he still will — possibly when Prime Minister Netanyahu visits the White House on February 15. As I’ve explained here at NRO, that is the best way to deal with a fraudulent agreement that allows Iran to continue to pursue nuclear weapons: While the agreement is in effect, it permits Iran to enrich uranium, develop advanced centrifuges, and operate a plutonium-producing reactor. The JCPOA also has very weak verification provisions that Iran refuses to fully comply with.
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I believe that the JCPOA was an American surrender to Iran’s nuclear-weapons program and that President Trump should renounce it. During the campaign, he sometimes indicated that he would tear up the agreement but usually said he would renegotiate it to get a better deal. I am okay with renegotiation, because I am confident that a Trump negotiating team making reasonable demands to “fix” the JCPOA would cause Iran to back out of this deeply flawed agreement.
The latest approach to the JCPOA being promoted by some Trump officials and outside experts is “strict enforcement” of the deal. Under this approach, Iran could be declared in noncompliance owing to several instances of failing to meet its JCPOA obligations or secretly cheating on them. I explained some of these concerns at NRO last July. The Institute for Science and International Security discussed recent compliance concerns in a November 2016 report.
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There are several problems with this approach. First, under the JCPOA, the United States agreed to a process under which the parties to the agreement (U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Russia, China, and Iran) must vote to reimpose sanctions because of Iranian noncompliance. I see little chance that the United States could convince a majority of JCPOA parties to punish Iran for noncompliance, because they fear Iran would carry out its threat to withdraw from the agreement if nuclear sanctions were reimposed. Moreover, it would be hypocritical for the United States to unilaterally sanction Iran as part of a policy of strictly enforcing the JCPOA, given that the pact requires that sanctions must be reimposed multilaterally and only by a vote of JCPOA parties.
However, a more serious problem with a strict enforcement policy by the Trump administration is that it would be legitimizing President Obama’s fraudulent nuclear agreement with Iran. It is important for Trump officials to realize that the threat from Iran’s nuclear program is not due to current Iranian noncompliance. Iran can easily advance important aspects of its nuclear-weapons effort and still be in full compliance with the JCPOA. Iran also can engage in nuclear-weapons-related work that violates the agreement and go undetected because verification provisions of the JCPOA are so weak and Iran refuses to allow inspections of military facilities.
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Supporters of the nuclear deal often argue that since it is the best agreement possible and its detractors have no alternative to replace it with, the United States must stick with this deal. What they are really arguing is that a bad deal is better than no deal. I disagree. No nuclear deal with Iran is far preferable to an agreement that legitimizes its nuclear program, allows it to continue to develop nuclear-weapons-related technology, and will result in Iran’s having an industrial-scale nuclear program in ten to 15 years. If Iran will not agree to a nuclear pact that actually prevents it from developing nuclear weapons, the Trump administration should work with America’s allies to impose strict nuclear sanctions, including barring all transfers of nuclear technology. This may not completely halt Iran from pursuit of nuclear weapons, but it would probably result in a much better outcome than the JCPOA.
With President Trump in office only two weeks, it is hard to foresee how his administration will ultimately come down on the nuclear deal with Iran and how aggressive it will be in responding to Iranian belligerence and provocations. Moreover, regardless of whether President Trump tears up the JCPOA, Iran may back out of it anyway, since the flow of additional concessions from the Obama administration has ceased.
Putting Iran on notice is significant because it signals the return to the global stage of a strong and decisive United States prepared to reinstate the successful national-security strategy of President Ronald Reagan: “peace through strength.” Such a jolt to the international order could convince rogue states such as Iran and North Korea to dial back their destabilizing behavior and possibly agree to talks to address regional concerns about their missile and weapons-of-mass-destruction programs. Let’s hope it does not take military action by the Trump administration to convince these states to recognize that Trump is changing the global order and that the days of U.S. appeasement of its enemies and “leading from behind” are over. |
I’ll never forget the first time I saw that sweater. It was March 2, 2015. When I saw it hanging in my stall, I marveled at my name and number stitched on the back in red and white. Then, when I put it on, I ran both hands over those seven historic block letters:
R
A
N
G
E
R
S
I was a New York Ranger.
The jersey said so much with so little. There was no flash about it. The rough stitch of the letters made sense. It reflected New York.
For the first time in my career, I was wearing blue. I walked over from my stall to the bathroom so that I could catch the first glimpse of myself in the new jersey. To be honest, it was really weird to look in the mirror and see myself without the howling coyote that I had worn on my chest for the past 10 years.
But after a few seconds, I couldn’t help but smile. I thought to myself, Damn, this jersey looks pretty good, even on a kid from Mass.
I turned back from the mirror and looked at the rest of the locker room. This room was my new office, these guys were my new colleagues. It’s really like the first day of any new job. You’ve got that nervous energy. Like any first day, I had to get the hang of how things worked at MSG. As I was leaving the locker room for pregame warmups, I heard a voice coming from behind me, calling me by my first name — something a teammate hadn’t done since my early years on the ice.
“Hey, Keith, uh … you gonna put your helmet on?”
It was my captain, Ryan McDonagh.
Why would I put on my helmet already?
“Uh, I don’t think so. I’m good.”
I turned away and started for the tunnel. I wanted to get a good look at the crowd at MSG.
“No, no, come back here. You have to put your helmet on before going on the ice. Seriously. Coach’s orders.”
Great, not even ten minutes in a Rangers jersey and I was already screwing up. I gave Mac a quick apology and quickly fastened my chinstrap. Here we go … MSG.
Everything happened really quickly. Only two days before, I was at a kids birthday party at this cool bouncy castle place in Phoenix with all my Coyotes teammates and their families. It was the final hours of the 2015 NHL trade deadline, and I knew there was a good chance I was going to be moved. But guess what? There was no cell service in the bouncy-castle area. So I had to leave my phone out by the reception desk and go check it every 20 minutes.
Just as they were about to serve the birthday cake, I went to check my phone and saw that I had missed a call from Don Maloney, the GM of the Coyotes. I went back into the party and just showed my teammates the missed call. Everybody knew. It was one of those moments where we all knew my life was about to change when I returned his call. It was surreal.
When I called Don back, he told me that I had been traded to the Rangers. Literally as the candles were being blown out on the cake (there was no chance my daughter was missing dessert), I was figuring out how to get from Phoenix to New York to play in the game the next night.
Once everything was settled the next morning, I flew into New Jersey. When I arrived, the Rangers had a helicopter waiting for me to take me into Manhattan. Talk about a New York entrance. They took me up and flew me right over the skyscrapers and everything, right into MSG. It was just incredible.
When we landed, the pilot said, “Yeah, it would’ve taken you about 20 minutes to drive. Ten minutes in a helicopter. But they wanted to bring you in style. Welcome to New York City.”
Then, to walk into the Garden for my first game and see the jersey hanging there. Goosebumps, man.
In Arizona, the fans and I went through a lot together — from the relocation rumors to the playoff droughts to our trip to the Western Conference finals in 2012. I loved those fans. I still do. But suddenly I was walking out of the tunnel at MSG for the first time as a Ranger. And I was so happy. During the renovation, the Garden added this glass tunnel that players walk through before getting to the ice. Fans can push right up against the glass and watch you going out for battle. I remember hearing some of the fans shouting my name, and I turned and saw some little kids in Rangers jerseys banging on the glass. I was so pumped up.
That was when I first realized that, for New Yorkers, Rangers hockey is more than just a fun evening. When kids are born into Rangers families, their first outfit is usually a Blueshirt onesie. I’ve never seen anything like the generational Rangers fandom, and that’s saying a lot coming from a guy who grew up in Boston.
I have to say, it took me awhile to acclimate to the city lifestyle, though. During my first week or two in NYC, some of my teammates would tell me things like:
Oh, just take the 1 train and then transfer over to the 2 to grab the express.
Dude, it’s simple, hop on the crosstown shuttle and then get off at 34th.
Yands, whatever you do, do not go into the station through the emergency exits.
I always had to cut them off to ask more questions.
Whoa, whoa. O.K., slow down. Tell me again — I take the 1 …
There are times when I’m out and I’ll run into Rangers fans on the streets or in a Starbucks. They’ll come up to me with that New York confidence and say things like, Hey, you killed it yesterday, man! Or, Good luck tonight, Yands!
It usually happens when I’m walking my two daughters to school. When a fan says something, my girls will ask, “How do you know those people, daddy?” I’ll tell them that they’re just fans, but then they’ll want to know, “Fans of what, daddy?” I’ll tell them that they’re fans of the Rangers, but that I don’t know them personally. Then we just keep walking to school as if nothing’s happened.
I know I wouldn’t have made it in New York without my girls and my wife. I love being able to come home and watch cartoons or play dress-up with them to unwind. (I’ve perfected my impersonation of Prince Hans from Frozen, by the way.)
One thing my working-class parents taught me was to never bring your emotions home from work. Given the highs and lows of an NHL season, we talk about anything but hockey, just because there’s so much more to life than my profession. These days at the Yandle dinner table, Paw Patrol is a huge topic of conversation. I’m talking huge.
Then when I get on the ice, my whole mindset changes. How could it not at a place like Madison Square Garden? At MSG, it seems as though the fans are right there on top of you. When you’re on the bench, it really feels like the crowd is sitting right there next to you. I’ve never experienced that anywhere else. And when we score, it’s like the fans are jumping into the pile with us. It definitely felt that way last year when Derek Stepan did this:
I thought the Garden’s roof was going to collapse. An overtime Game 7 winner? New Yorkers live for those moments. Listening to Doc Emrick call the goal is insane and still gives me chills. (I hope you have your headphones in at work.) But on the ice, all you could hear was the roar. I remember seeing the expression on Step’s face when he scored. It was just absolute joy. I can’t describe it any other way. The stands were a blur of blue and red and white. And when Step turned around and jumped into the boards, I remember he flashed those seven letters to his teammates — all coming to jump on him.
R
A
N
G
E
R
S
In that moment, there was only one thing my teammates and I could hear: you, the fans.
The arena was mayhem. I’m talking absolute pandemonium. The roar, to this day, gives me chills. That’s what New York playoff hockey is about. It’s about you.
Last season, the team was so close to going back to the finals. After we lost to Tampa Bay, we were absolutely gutted. It was pure shock in the locker room. Like many of you, even a few days after Game 7 I couldn’t get out of bed without thinking about the game. And, like many of you, I couldn’t even watch to see who would raise the Cup in the finals.
I think that’s what makes you guys the best fans in hockey — your main goal isn’t to get to the playoffs or the conference finals. It’s to win the Stanley Cup. In the locker room, we feel the same way. When I arrived in New York, that’s one thing I noticed — the winning mentality. New Yorkers love to win. It doesn’t matter who’s scoring goals or making saves. It’s all about winning. And we’re fighting so hard to bring Lord Stanley’s cup back to this amazing city.
There’s this photograph — strategically hung up, I think — in our trainer’s room to give us extra motivation when we’re battling injuries. It shows the Canyon of Heroes, where the champs of 1994 traveled down Broadway and the financial district in front of 1.5 million people. In the photo, people are literally hanging out of skyscraper windows just to catch a glimpse of their team.
I get goosebumps thinking about the excitement that the ’94 team brought to the city. And then I think of what could happen if we’re able to win this year…. What would a ticker tape parade even look like in 2016? It would be insane. And it’d all be so worth it.
I know one person my teammates and I would have to thank if we ever brought the Stanley Cup back to New York. His name is Mario, and he’s the elevator attendant at Madison Square Garden. You may have already heard of him. Mario gets every Rangers player and coach amped for every single game, no matter if it’s the first of the season or a Game 7.
Before each game I go into the elevator with Kevin Hayes and we do a little dance with Mario and sing the “Hey … Hey-Hey-Hey!” goal song. You know, just to get pumped up.
The elevator ride to floor 5 with Mario feels like when a Roman gladiator enters the Coliseum for battle. Once the doors open, I know it’s go-time. As I walk to the locker room, I catch a little glimpse of the Madison Square Garden ice. That’s the best view in America, in my opinion.
New York, pull on your sweaters. It’s time to go to work. |
Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Service
Food and Drug Administration Detroit District
300 River Place
Suite 5900
Detroit, MI 48207
Telephone: 313-393-8100
FAX: 313-393-8139
WARNING LETTER
2015-DET-08
March 18, 2015
VIA UPS
Mr. Omar M. Hernandez, President
Mexicantown Bakery, Inc.
8100 Radcliffe Street
Detroit, MI 48210
Dear Mr. Hernandez:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspected your bakery manufacturing facility, located at 8100 Radcliffe Street, Detroit, MI, from October 24, 2014, through November 4, 2014. During our inspection, FDA investigators documented serious violations of the Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulation for manufacturing, packing, or holding human food, Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 110 [21 CFR Part 110]. The inspection revealed that food processed at your facility is adulterated within the meaning of Section 402(a)(4) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act) [21 U.S.C. § 342(a)(4)], in that the food has been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have become contaminated with filth or whereby it may have been rendered injurious to health. Additionally, Orejas and Concha manufactured by your firm are misbranded under 403 of the Act, [21 U.S.C § 343] as described in this letter. You can find the Act and FDA’s CGMP regulation for foods on the internet through links on the FDA webpage at www.fda.gov The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspected your bakery manufacturing facility, located at 8100 Radcliffe Street, Detroit, MI, from October 24, 2014, through November 4, 2014. During our inspection, FDA investigators documented serious violations of the Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulation for manufacturing, packing, or holding human food, Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 110 [21 CFR Part 110].
We acknowledge your written response dated November 26, 2014, to the Form FDA-483, Inspectional Observations, issued to your firm on November 4, 2014. Your corrective actions are addressed below in relation to each of the noted violations.
The following significant violations were observed during the inspection:
1. All persons working in direct contact with food components or food-contact surfaces must use hygienic practices to the extent necessary to protect against contamination of food components or food-contact surfaces, in accordance with 21 CFR 110.10(b). Specifically, such individuals must wash hands thoroughly (and sanitize if necessary to protect against contamination with microorganisms) in an adequate hand-washing facility before starting work and at any time when the hands may have become soiled or contaminated [21 CFR 110.10(b)(3)]. Our investigators observed employees touching unsanitized waste bins, waste in the waste bin, and packaging material and then returning to work directly with food without first washing their hands. These practices may result in the contamination of food with pathogens. The investigators also observed employees touching pecan muffins and then, without washing their hands, touching your Oreja product, which does not contain nuts. This practice may result in the contamination of Orejas with pecans. Pecans contain a known allergen.
In your response you state that “employees have been instructed to wash hands regularly” and “employees will continue to be instructed to wash hands regularly in the future.” However, you did not provide documentation that the employees were instructed or monitoring records that demonstrate that employees are washing their hands.
2. You must take effective measures to exclude pests from the processing areas and protect against the contamination of food on the premises by pests in order to comply with 21 CFR 110.35(c). However, there were rodent excreta pellets on and around bags of food and spilled flour and a bag of sugar with a hole gnawed by rodents. Further, there was a dead rodent inside of a can on the floor of the processing room and a live insect near a pallet holding flour.
The garage type door in the southwest corner of the processing area and the loading dock door were observed to have gaps. In addition, the door leading into an unused warehouse was observed to be kept open by a cloth on the floor, and there was a gap on the wall within 1 foot from this door. In the northeast corner of the building there is an existing hole in the north wall. All of the gaps and holes may allow rodents to gain access to the facility.
In your response you indicated that you had increased the frequency of your pest extermination regimen to (b)(4). However, you did not say how you were going to prevent pests from entering the facility. Further, you did not submit documentation of that correction or of the effectiveness of the correction.
3. You must have effective hand cleaning and sanitizing preparations to comply with 21 CFR 110.37(e)(2). However, there were no paper towels or other suitable hand drying devices, trash receptacles, or readily understandable signs directing employees to wash their hands. Furthermore, a white bin was observed to be placed on one of the hand wash sinks for cleaning during processing and packaging of ready-to-eat RTE products.
In your response you state, “paper towel was placed at hand wash stations and a hand wash regimen will be implemented which will require daily inspection”. However you did not provide documentation that you had implemented these corrections. This was a repeat observation from our inspection dated May 8-17, 2012.
In addition to the above-noted CGMP violations, your Orejas bakery product is misbranded within the meaning of section 403(w) of the Act [21 U.S.C. 343(w)] in that the label fails to declare all major food allergens present in the product, as required by section 403(w)(1) of the Act.
Section 201(qq) of the Act [21 U.S.C. 321(qq)] defines milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, and soybeans, as well as any food ingredient that contains protein derived from one of these foods, with the exception of highly refined oils, as "major food allergens." A food is misbranded if it is not a raw agricultural commodity and it is, or it contains an ingredient that bears or contains, a major food allergen, unless either:
i. The word "Contains" followed by the name of the food source from which the major food allergen is derived, is printed immediately after or adjacent to the list of ingredient, section 403(w)(1)(A) of the Act, [21 U.S.C. 343(w)(1)(A)], or
ii. The common or usual name of the major food allergen in the list of ingredients is followed in parentheses by the name of the food source from which the major food allergen is derived (e.g. “(wheat)”), except that the name of the food source is not required when either the common or usual name of the ingredient uses the name of the food source or the name of the food source appears elsewhere in the ingredient list (unless the name of the food source that appears elsewhere in the ingredient list appears as part of the name of an ingredient that is not a major food allergen) [section 403(w)(1)(B) of the Act, 21 U.S.C. 343(w)(1)(B)].
Your Oreja bakery product food label fails to declare the following major food allergens specified by the Act:
Milk: Your Oreja bakery product is manufactured using (b)(4) bakery mix creme cake base, which contains milk.
Your Concha Blancas, Concha Yellow and Concha Pink bakery products are adulterated within the meaning of section 402(c) of the Act [21 U.S.C. § 342(c)] because the products bear or contain a color additive which is unsafe within the meaning of section 721(a) of the Act [21 U.S.C. § 379e(a)]. Section 721(a) deems a color additive to be unsafe unless its use is in conformity with the color additive listing regulation. Specifically, the listing regulation for FD&C Yellow No. 5 requires that the color additive be listed by that name in the ingredient list on the labels of foods for human use [21 CFR 74.705(d)(2)]. Your Concha Blancas, Concha Yellow and Concha Pink bakery products are manufactured with FD&C Yellow No. 5; however, the labels for these products fail to declare FD&C Yellow No. 5 in the ingredient statements.
Your Concha Blancas, Concha Yellow and Concha Pink bakery products are misbranded within the meaning of section 403(k) of the Act [21 U.S.C. § 343(k)] because the products contain artificial coloring, but fail to bear labeling stating that fact. Specifically, your Concha Blancas, Concha Yellow and Concha Pink bakery products are manufactured with FD&C Yellow No. 5 and FD&C Yellow No. 6, and your Concha pink product is manufactured with FD&C Yellow No. 5, FD&C Yellow No. 6, FD&C Red No. 3, and FD&C Red No. 40; however, the products do not bear labels identifying the presence of these color additives using their listed names or appropriate abbreviations, as required under 21 CFR 101.22(k)(l).
We acknowledge that you performed a voluntary recall and corrected the labels. You have reported six recalls since December 22, 2010; 22 of the products recalled were recalled due to undeclared major allergens and colors. We acknowledge you recalling and correcting the labels each time; however, the recalls are repeatedly involving the same products. For example, the Concha Blancas bakery product was recalled in 2011, 2012, and again in 2014 for undeclared FD&C Yellow No. 5. Your current preventative actions appear to inadequately control your finished product labeling declarations to comply with 402(c), 403(k) and 403(w).
This letter is not intended to be an all-inclusive statement of the violations that exist at your firm or in connection with your products. You are responsible for ensuring that your firm is operating in compliance with all the requirements of the Act and the Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulation [21 CFR Part 110].
You should take prompt action to correct the violations cited in this letter. Failure to promptly correct these violations may result in legal action without further notice, including, without limitation, seizure and injunction.
You should respond in writing within 15 working days from your receipt of this letter. Your response should outline the specific actions you are taking to correct these violations. In your response, please include documentation or other useful information that would assist us in evaluating your corrections. If you cannot complete all corrections before you respond, you should explain the reason for your delay and state the time within which you will correct any remaining violations.
Section 743 of the Act (21 U.S.C. 379j-31) authorizes FDA to assess and collect fees to cover FDA’s costs for certain activities, including re-inspection-related costs. A re-inspection is one or more inspections conducted subsequent to an inspection that identified noncompliance materially related to a food safety requirement of the Act, specifically to determine whether compliance has been achieved. Re-inspection-related costs means all expenses, including administrative expenses, incurred in connection with FDA’s arranging, conducting, and evaluating the results of the re-inspection and assessing and collecting the re-inspection fees (21 U.S.C. 379j-31(a)(2)(B)). For a domestic facility, FDA will assess and collect fees for re-inspection-related costs from the responsible party for the domestic facility. The inspection noted in this letter identified noncompliance materially related to a food safety requirement of the Act. Accordingly, FDA may assess fees to cover any re-inspection-related costs.
Your firm’s response should be sent to: LCDR Kelli Wilkinson, Compliance Branch, Food and Drug Administration, Detroit District Office. If you have any questions about the contents of this letter, please contact: LCDR Kelli Wilkinson, Compliance Officer, at 313-393-8120.
Sincerely,
/S/
Art Czabaniuk
District Director
Detroit District Office |
News China to Become World’s Largest Retail Market Thanks to Ecommerce
New data coming from eMarketer’s latest worldwide retail forecast shows that this year, China will manage to surpass the US and become the world’s largest retail market, with sales of over $4.886 trillion, compared to the average sum of $4.823 trillion in the US.
Also read: Chinese Attack on Bitcoin Core Doubtful
Due to Asia’s growing number of online shoppers, reports indicate that this year alone, the entire continent will spend a record $1 trillion, most of the sum coming from China. While the increasing popularity of ecommerce in other regions such as Southeast Asia and India have helped pushed the number upwards, China owns the largest percentage of the sum in question.
Asia’s Ecommerce to Hit $1 Trillion this Year Thanks to China
Not only this, but eMarketer pointed out that China will remain the world’s largest ecommerce market, with sales of over $900 billion this year, thus representing about half of the world’s digital retail sales online.
In a recent press statement, the forecasting director of eMarketer, Monica Peart mentioned that:
“Alibaba, Tmall and JD.com positioned themselves well to capitalize on growing consumer demand by creating their own payment systems (e.g., Alibaba’s Alipay) and logistical services (e.g., JD.com operates a self-owned logistics network) … In addition, with rising incomes and increased internet access in rural areas the cultural appetite to shop digitally will continue and we can expect to see further growth in mobile spend.”
Economic analysts believe that the value of the sales expected is likely to double by 2020, reaching roughly $2.725 trillion. EMarketer’s forecast also believes that the Asian region will see an incredibly quick ascension in terms of sales, as they’ll reportedly climb with over 31.5 percent this year alone.
These massive increases will help countries such as China, Indonesia and India grow, while also attracting more investors, alongside with fintech fans, interested in this developing trend. This is likely to happen considering the fact that mobile now accounts for over half of the ecommerce sales in China. New and improved payment systems — such as Bitcoin — may help this trend grow even more.
What are your thoughts on China eclipsing the US in retail sales? How about the development of ecommerce sales? Leave them in the comment section below!
Source: eMarketer
Images courtesy of Trustev, eMarketer. |
New Eagles wide receiver Alshon Jeffery (still feels good typing that) penned a piece for The Player’s Tribune on Friday afternoon. In it, he talks about how it was tough moving on from the Bears, but he also looks forward to his new home in Philadelphia.
The best part of Jeffery’s letter, though, is clearly this story about his first interaction with Carson Wentz (bold emphasis mine).
I’m excited to play with Carson Wentz, too. I thought Carson was legit the first time I saw him play, when the Eagles came to Soldier Field in Week 2 last season. I remember being on the sideline waiting to get back onto the field, and watching him make plays. I didn’t really think much of it at the time because it was his only second game, and I was thinking about what we needed to do as an offense to get into the end zone. But I remember thinking for a quick second, Man, this kid can do some things. As the season went on and he kept playing better, I thought that someday he was gonna be a legit MVP contender. I think he has that kind of talent. I actually told him that the other day. He and I were texting back and forth after the news broke that I was coming to Philly. I told him that I felt like he was good enough to win an MVP someday, and that it was going to be my job to help him win it. He straight up said he didn’t care about being MVP. He wanted to win a championship.
So it turns out Jeffery wasn’t just joking earlier when he said he believed Wentz will be the NFL’s Most Valuable Player one day. And it’s incredibly on brand for Wentz to not care about that and only care about winning.
Eagles fans, this could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship between a franchise quarterback and a star No. 1 wide receiver. Something to be very excited about.
Jeffery also talked about how he watched Invincible recently and it made him think how Eagles fans will react when he’s scoring touchdowns in Philadelphia.
I actually just watched the movie Invincible a couple of months ago. You remember that scene where Mark Wahlberg scores a touchdown at the old Veterans Stadium, and he holds his arms out to celebrate, and all you can see in front of him are the fans going nuts and wearing that old-school Eagles green and white.
Welcome to Philly, Alshon. People are going to love you here. |
There are some topics that I see turn up repeatedly in asexual spaces, yet I rarely see them explored to any great extent. “An Asexual’s Guide To …” was born out of a desire to explore some of those topics. In this series, I aim to go in depth into topics that many aces are curious about, but are reluctant to explore. There are certainly other sites out there that talk about these subjects, but they rarely approach them from an asexual point of view. Often, in fact, these topics are discussed in a manner that is alienating to asexual people.
In the coming pages, I will be direct and detailed about the topics I’m discussing. My intent is to bring these subjects into the open and talk about them without shame or squeamishness or stigma.
An Asexual’s Guide To … Anatomy: This post starts you on a tour of your body.
An Asexual’s Guide To … Female Anatomy: This post takes you on a tour of a body that’s generally characterized as having a clitoris and vagina.
An Asexual’s Guide To … Male Anatomy: This post takes you on a tour of a body that’s generally characterized as having a penis and testicles.
An Asexual’s Guide To … Arousal: This post talks about what arousal is and what it does to your body.
An Asexual’s Guide To … Orgasms: This post talks about orgasms, what they are and what they aren’t.
An Asexual’s Guide To … Masturbation: This post talks about masturbation, what it is and what it’s like.
An Asexual’s Guide To … Male Masturbation: This post talks about masturbation with a male body, including a basic how-to.
An Asexual’s Guide To … Female Masturbation: This post talks about masturbation with a female body, including a basic how-to.
An Asexual’s Guide To … Having Sex: This post talks about having sex with a partner.
Disclaimers and such:
I’ve written much of this series in the second person. This is to make it more conversational and less formal in tone. However, this does not necessarily mean that you, personally, will have all the bits and pieces exactly as described or that you’ll feel everything that’s described. If something says “you”, but it doesn’t match you, don’t worry about it too much. Everyone is different and most variations are completely natural and don’t mean anything is wrong. Unfortunately, these posts can’t cover everyone’s experiences. It’s simply impossible to do that. While I’ve tried to include a wide range of perspectives, there will undoubtedly be some of you who disagree with or feel left out or alienated or are offended by some of what I say. For that I apologize.
In cases where “male” or “female” are used, they are used to refer to physical sex, not gender.
Also, note that the title of the series is “An Asexual’s Guide To …”, not “The Asexual Guide To …”. Although I have invited input from a number of people, the writing and the viewpoint within is still just mine, and should not be taken as the official view of every single asexual ever. I could very well be wrong or uninformed about a lot of things.
And, of course, I’m not a doctor. Don’t use this site as a substitute for a qualified medical opinion on any issue. |
Lumbering around on his barky limbs, sprouting flowers and even dancing in a pot, one of the stars of the film "Guardians of the Galaxy" bizarrely blends the plant and animal kingdoms. "Groot," awalking, talking tree, seems to defy nature but how outlandish is the idea of a plant-animal hybrid?
Plants that can smell and animals that regenerate show that animal and vegetable kingdoms may not be as far apart as they first appear. Some scientists even say Earth's biology suggests the possibility of "thinking plants" somewhere in the universe.
Here, experts tell how Groot-like blending could occur, and some reasons it couldn't. [Science Fact or Fiction? The Plausibility of 10 Sci-Fi Concepts]
Plant sight, plant hearing
In the film, Groot clearly hears, sees, feels and talks (albeit, only three words, "I am Groot"). While one would be hard-pressed to find a talking vegetable on Earth, the idea of communicating and sensing plants is not at all outlandish, Danny Chamovitz, director of the Manna Center for Plant Biosciences at Tel Aviv University and author of "What a Plant Knows" (Scientific American, 2012), told Live Science.
In fact, plants have a much richer, more dynamic life than most people give the leafy beings credit for, Chamovitz said. "We think of plants as un-living, because they're unmoving," Chamovitz said. "The strong scientific evidence is that plants have every sense familiar in animals, except hearing."
They respond to chemicals, with lock-and-key mechanisms that resemble how animals smell. Plants have specific photoreceptors, which are proteins that respond to different wavelengths of light. They "know" when they're being touched, Simon Gilroy, a professor of botany at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Live Science.
Plants also have proprioception, or a sense of their location in space, Chamovitz said, which is why they can tell when they're planted upside-down.
Some plants can even "hear," able to distinguish the vibration patterns made by different chewing caterpillars, according to a study detailed this summer in the journal Oecologia, Gilroy said. (Decades-old claims that plants can "hear music," however, have little to no scientific support, he added.)
This plant sensing may not seem evident after all, plants don't scream in pain or comment on Van Gogh's use of color. But senses serve the same function in plants as they do in animals: Plants take in information, which travels through the plant body and causes some sort of response, Chamovitz said. [In Photos: Animals That Mimic Plants]
The familiar phenomenon of houseplants growing toward the window, for example, shows how plants sense and respond to light. When part of a plant gets eaten, that causes distress chemicals to propagate through the plant, which responds with chemical changes to make itself less tasty to the predator, Gilroy said.
Not only can plants send signals within their own "bodies," but those signals can also influence other plants. In other words, they communicate, Chamovitz said. A disease or pest infestation in a neighboring plant sends out chemical signals that cause nearby plants to respond. "They can smell when neighbors are sick," Chamovitz said. "It gives off a chemical, so the plant defends itself."
Researchers have also shown corn seedlings lean toward sounds with a 220-Hertz frequency, the same tune emitted by the plants' roots, and chili seedlings grow quicker when they sense a fennel plant is growing nearby.
Moving but slowly
Groot does more than just sense and communicate, though. He also moves around. This woody best friend to a talking raccoon shifts around on mobile stumps and lifts alien bullies up by their nostrils.
"Thinking about it, the feature that really isn't plantlike about Groot is the speed of the movement," Gilroy said.
Plants, for the most part, simply can't move that fast. Animals have "squishy cells" that can move past one another, making muscles feasible, Gilroy said. But a hard wall encloses each plant cell, and neighboring cells are glued together into a rigid grid.
"Things like muscles are impossible with how plants are set up," he said.
Moreover, a plant's entire body-plan centers upon staying put, so they can maximize photosynthesis with networks of branches and roots. Chamovitz calls "rootedness" the primary principle of plant biology.
Plants do make movements, however they just do it by growing, Gilroy said. For example, they "move" toward the sunlight by elongating cells on the dark side of the stem. "Plants grow through the environment," Gilroy said.
Due to some clever mechanisms, a few notable species buck the rule of the slow-moving plant. The famous Venus flytrap shuts its jaws rapidly by essentially "growing them shut," Gilroy said. Acid released at the flytrap's hinge softens cell walls and makes them expand quickly. [Image Gallery: Carnivorous Plants]
Finally, plants have to stay put because movement burns so much energy
photosynthesis simply can't power animal-style activity, which is why animals eat plants and other animals. To move around like Groot does on screen, such a tree creature would have to eat other things, too, Gilroy said.
Stem cells and Groot
Despite his (relatively) quick movements, Groot still maintains some plantlike characteristics. Capable of unlimited growth and regeneration, he grabs an out-of-reach battery by simply growing taller. His lopped-off arms return, and there's even a bit in the movie about replanting a Groot "cutting."
Clearly, the movie speeds up such vegetable growth, but real-life plants can indeed keep growing in ways animals can't, Ed Rayburn, an extension specialist and forage agronomist for West Virginia University, told Live Science. Those plant species capable of "unlimited growth" can keep going and going "for what, to humans, seems like forever," he said. And plants commonly regenerate lost limbs.
Those abilities derive from the way plants are structured and their access to stem cells.
Arranged in modular body plans, plants can grow limbs in different directions and add secondary limbs in a fractal pattern. Animals, by contrast, grow to a predetermined size and shape, and much of that happens in the womb, Gilroy said.
"We cram all our development into as short a time as possible," Gilroy said. But since plants can't run, and so will inevitably suffer damage, they have to keep growing throughout life, he said.
Plant stem cells are found in meristems, "small groups of cells that stay perpetually embryonic," Gilroy said. Located at stem and root tips, these plant stem cells are pluripotent, meaning they can develop into any type of plant cell. After injury, any plant cell can revert to similar pluripotency.
Animals, by contrast, lack meristems, and stem cells are much harder to come by, as shown by the difficulties faced by cloning efforts, Rayburn said. Some animals do approach plantlike regenerative growth, but usually those with simple body plans, like the planarian worm, Gilroy said.
Intelligent plants?
Plant communication even has some researchers in the new field of plant neurobiology considering the potential for leafy intelligence. Alien worlds, some scientists say, could theoretically birth sentient plants.
But, Chamovitz said, such green thinkers would have to change the core trait of plants their rootedness. Animals developed thought because of their "searching" strategy for finding food, he told Forbes. Alien tree-thinkers would have to incorporate movement, perhaps with "some type of root system that can push itself out of the ground, take three steps forward and then re-root," he told Forbes.
As for creating plant-animal hybrids here on Earth, that's most likely to happen in a geneticist's lab. It's theoretically possible, given the right gene transfers, to give people a coating of green, photosynthetic skin. To actually make much use of such a feature, however, people would have to grow a canopy of leaves. |
Friday, May 17, 2013
This week, Minnesota’s Governor Mark Dayton signed into law legislation known as “Ban the Box.” The law is prohibits most private employers from asking job applicants about criminal backgrounds until either (a) at the point of an interview; or (b) after a provision job offer is made.
The statute is known as “Ban the Box” because it refers to the criminal history question included on most job applications wherein the applicant would check off the box as to whether he or she had previously been convicted of a felony. The legislative intent for the statute is to provide former felons a better chance at obtaining employment in the private sector.
While the statute delays the time in which the private employer may inquire about prior felony history, it does not prohibit employers from fully reviewing criminal histories of all applicants after either the point of an interview or after a provision job offer is made. The statute also will exempt inquiries for positions in which the applicants with felonies would be excluded, or services that involve working with vulnerable adults, such as nursing homes. Complaints against employers for violations of the new statute would be referred to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.
The new statute will take effect on Jan. 1, 2014. Since 2009, a similar provision exists for public employers. |
So many people are always on the look out for new and interesting webseries. The feeling of being at the beginning to watch a great project take off, and be there for it to develop in real time all the way through is an awesome one.
However, it can often be very hard to seek these great projects out when they’re so young. Being new often means being undiscovered, and being undiscovered means just that. They aren’t going to come to you, you have to come to them.
But how do you find them? Well, one thing someone can do to increase their odds of stumbling upon something great at the beginning is simply making some friends and connections in the community. Search out some communities, join some Discord chats. What your new friends find and even create themselves will be shared with you. This community is rather scarce and spread out at times, leaving the best option to be networking and forming relationships for many things.
So, that wraps back around in to what you’re here for. Here are a few new and fresh webseries that are just now starting out, as of the time this article was written. Obviously, this article will fall out of date eventually. But even if you’re coming in from the future, I highly recommend checking these channels out, even if they aren’t so new and untouched anymore.
This list is in no particular order. Each project has me in so different of a way it would be hard to rank them even if I wanted to.
Factors Of Zero
Channel link: Here
Videos so far: 2
Subscriber count so far: 125
While 125 subscribers is a pretty low number in terms of YouTube popularity, it’s nothing to sneeze at with only two videos on your account. Creator Aidan Elliott has roped people in with an interesting premise; this is not an ARG, it is an RG, a Reality Game. What this means is this webseries is based on the reality of Aidan Elliott itself, and it may or may not blend with fiction as time goes on.
He’s upfront with the fact that he could very well be lying to you at any moment about this idea as well, blending the trope of an unreliable narrator with the already immersive platform that is an alternate reality experience.
Video uploads are slow, but don’t let this discourage you from following this project. There is also a Tumblr blog associated with this project with secrets of its own, and the inbox is open as well. This is something you can sink your teeth in to for sure, and I anxiously await the next upload.
Synthetic Wool/The Zhuangzi Game
Channel link: Here
Videos so far: 6
Subscriber count so far: 101
Synthetic Wool, at first glance, is a new Let’s Play channel playing a game you’ve never heard about before. It somewhat resembles Minecraft, but not exactly. The game being shown here is very strange, and as the uploads progress things get even more peculiar. Huh, there seems to be a download link in the description…
The Zhuangzi game wastes no time showing you it’s potential. Out of all the projects on this list I’d say this one shows the most of it so far. Running themes are already there to find, and there’s more content than what appears on the surface.
Deadlift Moving Co
Channel link: Here
Videos so far: 18
Subscriber count so far: 52
Deadlift Moving Co, so far, is pretty much just a group of college age kids goofing off. But it’s this attention to spending so much time getting us attached to the characters that makes me enjoy it.
It’s taking time acquainting you with the folks involved in the story before really launching in to it, which I think a lot of webseries could use. To be honest, if I hadn’t have talked to a creator of this project, I may not even believe it to be a series at first glance. So go give them some love and hop along for the ride, they deserve it. If you’re patient and like stories beginning in a slice-of-life manner, this is for you.
I suck very much at ending my thoughts in a manner that feels good to read, so sorry if this feels abrupt here. Go check out all these series, as they deserve as much appreciation as possible, and enjoying being along for the ride. |
James Harden’s selection to the All-NBA first team is a wrong choice that an intelligent person could easily make. On the (bearded) face of things, he’s a perfect selection.
He puts up 25 and 6, raw totals befitting a superstar. And unlike some other ball-dominant stat-stuffers, Harden’s points come efficiently at a 61.8 percent true shooting clip. Sure, he takes a bunch of terrible, Nick Young-esque step-back jumpers, but all those free throws erase the debt of his bad decisions. He is not the enemy of Advanced Stat America in the way that, say, Monta Ellis was.
So what’s the problem?
Let’s start with what happens on the other side of the court. The man with the Rip Van Winkle beard perpetually plays defense like he just woke up. It’s difficult for a perimeter player to become an Internet sensation because of bad defense, but in this instance the fame is well earned. Harden isn’t just mediocre or even flawed as a defender, he’s corrosive to his team’s efforts on that end, a saboteur to Daryl Morey’s continuous goal of building a top-10 defense.
I could point you in the direction of Harden’s Real Plus-Minus (77th on defense among shooting guards), but the eye test might be even more indicative. Spend a few games watching Harden lose his guy off the ball, waddle around screens and bystander to blow-by layups. For long stretches, his only nod to the art of defending will be a late attempt to poke the ball from an opponent dribbling past.
It’s easy to dismiss this flaw in Harden’s game by pointing out that other guards have defensive issues too. But that justification reveals the defense conversation as too binary, split between simple categories of “bad” and “good.” There are degrees, and Harden is an awful defensive guard to the degree that he’s different from the others. All-NBA second-teamer Stephen Curry certainly isn’t a defensive plus for the Warriors, given his slight build, but it’s a mistake to conflate that with Harden’s nightly trudge of apathy.
I wish I weren't making Curry’s case from the Bay Area, because assumptions of homerism might distract you from how Curry beat Harden in player efficiency ratings and win shares. You might dismiss the strategic boon of teams altering defensive game plans to reckon with Curry’s 3-pointers off the dribble, and you might dismiss how Golden State was far more dependent on Curry (+14.9 points per 100 possessions when he played) than Houston was on Harden (+7.6). It’s a shame, because there just isn’t a great case for Harden against Curry beyond Houston winning three more games. He’s a worse defensive player, and he had a slightly inferior offensive season.
Speaking of Harden’s offensive season, it was good but hardly transcendent. He cleaned up against bad defenses, averaging a 114 offensive rating against bottom-20 defenses and a 105 offensive rating against the top 10. There’s nothing wrong with racking up stats against bad defenses (all stars do it to a certain degree), but speaking subjectively, I think it speaks to how Harden’s game lacks dimensions that other elite perimeter playmakers can claim, a reality that has been exposed in the past two playoff series in which Harden was the primary focus of the defensive game plan. He dribbles well and passes decently but suffers from a lack of facility with his right hand. He’s a good shooter -- not a great one -- and far from an elite athlete.
Many possessions are “get-fouled-or-bust” for Harden, who (not that it should matter in the voting) presents one of the least aesthetically pleasing styles among the NBA's stars. He takes flopping to the “difference in kind” degree he takes bad defense, bending rules until they comically break like splintered cork bats on a baseball field.
At the slightest hint of contact, he’ll conjure more fake whiplash than the shadiest personal injury lawyer and fling his beard to the sky like he’s trying to stab the Jumbotron with it. Many of his scoop layups are just pretexts for raking an extended arm into some sucker who’s just trying to play defense. Harden is not opposed to leaping at a defender while shooting, as though his jumper is naturally taken with a sideways, midair lean.
His dribble-heavy style could be described as “cynical Lance Stephenson.” Both shooting guards dominate the ball, and both like to shoot off the dribble, but Harden’s foul drawing allows him to be a far better player. Well, that and his relative sanity.
How did this happen, then? How did someone with such an unseemly style prevail in the voting? Harden’s case was aided by a few external factors. Russell Westbrook played at an All-NBA level but didn’t log enough games due to injury. Kobe Bryant might have had a (sentiment-based) shot were it not for his leg nearly atrophying into something as thin and bendy as an actual mamba snake. Chris Paul won a deserved first-team selection but probably lost some votes to Harden on account of missing 20 games.
Harden also likely benefited from that SG listed by his name. For whatever reason, we feel an attachment to the distinct category for players who are slightly taller than most point guards yet slightly shorter than the average wing. That, however, could soon be outdated thinking -- just like lumping the entire league into categories of “bad” and “good” defense. Today, though, the cynical shooting guard triumphs. He just drew a foul on us all. |
There’s not much that’s more essential to your running (and your life) than your blood.
The more oxygen-carrying power your blood has, the faster you can run.
Without enough oxygen, your body is quickly plunged into acidosis, the deep burning sensation in your legs that you feel at the end of a race or a hard workout.
That is why keeping your iron levels high enough is critical to running well.
Doing anything that would decrease your body’s oxygen-carrying potential would be crazy right?
Well, maybe not if it can save somebody’s life.
Donating blood is an admirable endeavor—according to the American Red Cross, over 41,000 blood donations are required every day in the United States, and given the short shelf life of whole blood and plasma, there’s a constant need for blood.
Though blood donation is lifesaving, runners are often hesitant to give blood because we wonder will giving blood affect your running?
Today we are going to look at how much does giving blood or plasma affect your running performance.
If you are wondering about running before giving blood, we will explain the pros and cons, and give you some guidelines about blood donation recovery time. Finally, we are going to show you 4 ways to limit the negative effects and explain how to recover from giving blood faster.
Can you run after giving blood? Let’s find out.
Running After Donating Blood
A 2013 study by David Hill, Jakob Vingren, and Samatha Burdette examined the short-term effects of donating blood and plasma on a cycling endurance test in nineteen test subjects.
Each subject underwent a ride to exhaustion on a stationary bike before giving blood or plasma, and again two hours, two days, and seven days after the donation.
The researchers measured both time to exhaustion and maximum oxygen consumption, or VO2 max, during each of the four tests.
Unsurprisingly:
They found that both VO2 max and time to exhaustion were negatively impacted in the immediate aftermath of a whole blood donation.
VO2 max dropped by 15% and time to exhaustion decreased by 19% during the exercise test two hours after a blood donation.
VO2 max was still 10% and 7% lower than pre-donation levels at two and seven days post-donation, respectively.
The results of plasma donation are more interesting:
Although the plasma donation resulted in no change in VO2 max at any point, time to exhaustion was decreased two hours post-donation, but not two days or one week out.
Hill et al. hypothesized that this was because the drop in overall blood volume from the plasma loss interfered with anaerobic capacity.
Plasma volume is restored rather quickly, which explains why this phenomenon was not seen two days or a week later.
Now:
Hill et al. showed that whole blood donation still impaired performance a week after giving blood, but how long do the effects linger?
How Long Will Giving Blood Affect Your Running?
This issue was addressed by a 2011 study by T.B. Judd and other researchers at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, who studied 12 subjects’ VO2 max before a blood donation and once every week for a month following the donation.
Like the previous study, Judd et al. found a marked decrease in VO2 max the day after blood donation.
Over the following weeks, the subjects’ VO2 max gradually returned to normal, reaching its pre-test value three weeks out from the date of the blood donation.
The one drawback to the above studies is that they used only moderately active people from the general population, not trained athletes.
It get’s worse:
A well-trained runner might experience a greater drop in fitness with loss of blood.
A 1995 study examined well-trained cyclists who gave blood, but only followed them for one week post-donation, with findings mostly in line with the previous studies.
Aside from this, there’s no long-term research in whether blood donation more seriously hampers a well-trained athlete.
Can I Give Blood If My Iron Is Low?
There’s one more issue with blood donation that deserves to be mentioned, and that’s iron levels.
When you donate blood, your body replaces the lost red blood cells by synthesizing new ones, a process which consumes iron stored in the form of ferritin.
A rigorous analysis of almost 3,000 blood donors by Clement Finch and other researchers at the University of Washington found that your body’s iron levels (as measured by serum ferritin) are negatively correlated with how often you give blood.
Consider this:
Researcher Dr Pamela Hinton talked about what level runners need to keep their iron levels at, and therefore donating blood as a runner with low iron is a serious risk.
Frequent blood donors are much more likely to be anemic, and this relationship is especially true in women.
Even among the general population, donating blood more than once every 8-12 months can lead to a high incidence of low ferritin levels in women.
Now:
Men can donate more often, but if they exceed three blood donations per year, they too run the risk of having low ferritin, which has a negative impact on your ability to train and race.
The authors suggest that increasing the amount of iron in your diet could help counteract this effect.
When is the Best Time to Give Blood as a Runner?
A good time to donate is during the recovery time after your goal race when your body isn’t under the constant demands of a marathon training schedule or an intense training cycle.
Plan the donation around a rest day and follow with several days of short, easy effort workouts until you begin to feel 100%.
In the 4-5 days following your donation, throw out your watch!
Here’s why:
Your times are going to be slower (the research shows it) so just forget about pace and put some time on your feet.
Remember:
Stay hydrated and eat well before and after the donation. This will help you recover faster from the donation itself.
Giving Blood and Running: Should A Runner Donate Blood?
What’s the bottom line?
There will be a notable drop in your performance, but the research to date indicates that your body returns to normal after about three weeks.
Recovery from plasma donation is even quicker—less than two days and you’re already back to pre-donation fitness.
There’s still more research needed on whether blood donation has an especially large impact on well-trained athletes, as is the case with some other performance inhibitors (like altitude), but if you don’t have any races for the next month, and you’re okay with your workouts being a bit slower for a few weeks, go ahead and donate blood.
But make sure you consider this:
If you donate often, make sure you have your ferritin checked to be sure it’s not too low, especially if you have a history of low iron or anemia. |
Last year, Transco Williams announced a plan to expand a fracked gas pipeline in central New Jersey, and build a new compressor station to push more gas through its pipelines. It’s exactly the kind of fossil fuel infrastructure project that gets an easy rubber stamp from federal regulators and a green light from Republican Governor Chris Christie. But right from the start, residents from the communities that would be affected sent a message loud and clear: Not here, not now.
The proposed Northeast Supply Enhancement Project includes a 22-mile pipeline in the New York Bay from Middlesex County to Brooklyn, over three miles of additional pipeline in Old Bridge, and a new 32,000 horsepower compressor station in Franklin Township.
When the company held ‘open house’ meetings to unveil its plans in June 2016, local activists turned out in strong numbers to put Transco Williams on notice. Residents pointed out that building more dangerous fracked gas pipelines would impact local public health and safety. The massive new compressor station would produce methane and volatile organic compounds, creating a serious negative impact on local air quality. And the trench construction in the Raritan Bay that would be required to extend the pipeline to Brooklyn would harm marine ecosystems and the commercial and recreational fishing. Local groups like Residents Against Compressor Station 206 were instrumental to building this early opposition.
Local elected officials took notice of the burgeoning movement. With hundreds of residents in attendance, the South Brunswick Township Council passed a resolution in July opposing the compressor station, stating that it "would dramatically affect the quality of life” there. The Franklin Town Council was next; 400 people turned out to a meeting in August to discuss the compressor station, and the council voted to oppose the project.
This massive outpouring of local opposition was not lost on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which ultimately approves these types of infrastructure projects. In September 2016, FERC held “scoping” hearings in central Jersey, a format that amounts to individuals submitting private comments to an official of the agency, instead of a traditional public meeting that would galvanize activists and attract local media attention.
But the grassroots pressure continued nonetheless. We helped organize over 1,000 residents to formally intervene on the project with FERC. And local residents poured into an April 2017 meeting of the Middlesex County Freeholders to push them to file a motion to formally intervene as well. The commissioners agreed to do so, a move that grants the county access to all relevant filings and documents. The Somerset County Freeholders quickly followed suit. Intervening is not the same thing as outright opposition, but it is a sure sign that local activism is producing results.
And the pressure will continue, as residents and and environmental activists put local lawmakers on notice that they do not want the Garden State to become the pipeline state.
Take Action: Stop the Transco Pipeline and Compressor Station! |
CONCORD, NH — In an announcement made yesterday, Andrew Lanfeld has finally given up on his dream of being a mangaka after 27 years of trying. In an open letter on his Facebook account, Lanfield expressed regret that his effort and struggle over the past quarter century have come up for naught.
“I’ve finally realised that it’s too late for me to become a rich and famous mangaka like my hero Muto Ashirogi. While I still plan on becoming rich and famous, I’m too old to become a mangaka now,” Lanfeld wrote to the surprise of no one.
Eyewitnesses claim that the 33-year-old former aspiring-mangaka was distraught. Lanfeld started drawing around age six, and by age seven he had stopped drawing and started talking about being an artist instead. Lanfeld dismisses a lack of practice being the source of his poor artistry, insisting that “it just wasn’t meant to be,” and that no amount of hard work or determination could have gotten him closer to his dream.
According to reports from Lanfeld’s teen years, he was already aware that the manga industry was predominantly Japanese, prompting him to study the Japanese language for approximately one month before giving up. Beyond the linguistic and cultural gap, Lanfeld assured his friends and family that his art, that he wasn’t drawing, would be good enough to find him success anywhere.
After a brief period of inactivity lasting about 13 years, Lanfeld finally picked up his pen to begin his career as a rich and famous mangaka. But after several long seconds of scribbling it was clear to Lanfeld that he could not actually draw.
“I just don’t understand! I spent so much time tracing manga, I should be able to draw it!” Lanfeld wrote. “I’ve had all these idea for fantastic original stories that will never be told…”
When pressed about these fantastic original stories, Lanfeld refused to divulge any more information. Many have speculated that these stories are connected to a recently discovered Google Document titled, “My little eyepatch wearing sister is a vampire gothic lolita and has super powers by Andrew Lanfeld”.
“I know I have enough talent to work at Marvel.” Lanfeld proclaimed, “But comics are for manchildren.” |
With Assad's fighters vanished from northern Syria, Kurds fight jihadists for the future of Syrian Kurdistan.
September 6, 201
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However, the ongoing war between jihadist and Kurdish militias over control of northern Syria—a conflict far less well known than the battle between Assad and the rest of the Syrian rebels—will likely lead to a major humanitarian catastrophe for Syria’s Kurds before any political gains can be consolidated.
Filling the Vacuum
After the Syrian crisis erupted, the Kurds—who comprise 9 percent of Syria’s population—were faced with a challenging dilemma. Both joining revolutionary forces and allying with the regime posed grave risks given the conflict’s unpredictable nature. While some pundits have claimed that the Kurds ultimately sided with the regime, this assessment oversimplifies a complicated picture.
Syria’s “Kurdish Spring” preceded the Arab Spring and began in 2004, when anti-Assad Kurds were massacred in Qamishli for protesting against an Arab nationalist regime that had for decades dispossessed Kurdish farmers, confiscated Kurdish land, and outlawed the teaching of the Kurdish language. Yet the Kurds’ grievances against the Assad regime failed to yield an alliance between the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the Kurdish minority. The FSA’s relationship with Turkey, combined with the Islamist and Arab nationalist identities of influential rebel factions, prompted many Kurds to fear a Muslim Brotherhood-led overthrow of the Ba’athist regime.
In July 2012, under pressure from a growing insurrection in the rest of the country, the Syrian government withdrew most of its security forces from the Kurdish-majority areas, leaving the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) as the de facto regional government. Assad’s withdrawal was driven by three strategic calculations. First, the Syrian military sought to consolidate its resources toward the battles in Damascus and Aleppo. Second, given Turkey’s support for the FSA, www.ekurd.net Assad wanted to deliver Ankara a tit-for-tat response to Turkish support for the Syrian rebels. Given that the PYD is affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which waged attacks against the Turkish state from Syrian soil under the later years of Hafez Al-Assad’s rule, the Ba’athist regime sent a clear message to Ankara by offering a PKK-affiliate group a safe haven on Turkey’s doorstep. Third, Damascus sought to further divide the opposition by seeking to enhance the allegiance of some Kurdish factions to the Ba’athist regime.
Since then there has essentially been a truce between the Syrian military and the PYD. Instead, throughout 2013, the PYD has been the target of ongoing attacks from Salafi jihadists determined to overthrow the Assad regime and deny the politically secular Kurds any spoils of the conflict. As the battles between the PYD and al-Qaeda-affiliated militias intensify, ethnic lines are increasingly being blurred, and a power vacuum has indeed developed.
Throughout the first week of August, the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat Al-Nusra reportedly killed 450 Kurdish civilians in the border town of Tal Abyad. Other jihadists, meanwhile, shelled the Kurdish town of Ras Al-Ayn. The FSA has also waged attacks against the PYD on the grounds that the Kurdish militia is loyal to Assad’s regime. However, some Arab groups in Syrian Kurdistan have offered up their full support for the PYD, for fear that Islamist extremists may be gaining control over the territory. The brewing Islamist-Kurdish war in northeastern Syria pressured 35,000 Syrian refugees to flee to Iraqi Kurdistan in mid-August. Shortly thereafter, Massoud Barzani—leader of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)—declared that the KRG was “prepared to defend” Syria’s Kurds.
While many analysts doubt that the KRG’s well-trained peshmerga fighters would enter Syria to fight on behalf of the PYD, the KRG’s military training and financial support for the PYD underscores Barzani’s greater pan-Kurdish policies. Barzani’s likely motivation stems from his suspicion that a future war between central Iraq and the KRG could occur, and under such circumstances Syrian Kurdistan could provide strategic depth. In the meantime, the PYD’s posture vis-à-vis the jihadist fighters is strengthened by the strategic depth provided by Iraqi Kurdistan. If violence continues to plague Syria’s northeast, the border between Syrian and Iraqi Kurdistan may ultimately dissolve.
The Kurdish Spring
While most Syrian Kurds are Sunni Muslims, their staunchly secular politics pit them against the al-Qaeda affiliated groups seeking the creation of an Islamic emirate in Syria. Ethnic concerns, including the rebels’ apparent hostility to Kurdish self-determination, exacerbate the division. Reports of al-Qaeda fighters beheading Kurds and issuing calls for their extermination will only further expand the PYD’s support base from secular Kurds.
As the majority of Syria’s oil and gas reserves exist in northeastern Syria, the stakes are high for both sides. The geopolitical ramifications of an established autonomous Kurdish region—or independent Kurdish state—in northeastern Syria are complicated. From Turkey’s vantage point, a PKK-run Syrian Kurdistan would constitute a major setback given the likelihood that the PKK would utilize the territory to launch attacks against the Turkish state (especially if the ongoing Turkey-PKK peace talks fail and the ruling leaders in Damascus and Ankara remain in power for the near to medium term). Turkish officials are naturally concerned about the prospects of Turkey’s own Kurdish minority demanding greater autonomy from Ankara after being inspired by their Kurdish counterparts in Syria. That said, after the Gulf War, Turkey feared a semi-autonomous Kurdish state in northern Iraq, yet the KRG eventually became one of Turkey’s closest Middle Eastern allies.
For Turkey to form a similar alliance with any semi-autonomous Kurdish state in Syria, the ongoing peace talks with the PKK would need to succeed (an unlikely prospect in the near term), or a pro-Turkish rival of the PKK would need to assume power in northeastern Syria (also an unlikely outcome given that the PYD is more heavily armed than its Kurdish rivals). For the time being, Ankara has supported jihadist militias in northern Syria not only to weaken the Assad regime, but also to weaken the PKK/PYD. However, Turkey is playing a dangerous game, as the establishment of a PKK/PYD-run Kurdish state along its border may prove to be less hostile than an al-Qaeda-run Islamic emirate on the other side of the border. For now, Turkey has hedged its bets.
The ongoing battle between Kurdish forces and al-Qaeda’s Syria-based branches poses a difficult challenge for the United States. Wary of alienating its NATO ally Turkey, Washington has vested interests in the Syrian state’s survival in a post-Assad era, and thus opposes a semi-autonomous or independent Kurdish state in northeastern Syria. However, the United States also has no interest in al-Qaeda affiliate groups maintaining control of a strip of land on NATO’s Middle Eastern doorstep.
Washington could certainly benefit from gaining additional allies in the region. Given the pro-American orientation of Barzani’s KRG, the Obama administration would be wise to establish ties with Syria’s Kurds, given that the tide may continue to turn in the Kurds’ direction over the long-term. If Western states decide to provide the Islamist rebels with more advanced weaponry that ends up being used against the PYD, this could sour Washington’s relationship with an autonomous Syrian Kurdistan in the future. There is little evidence that this has been considered by the Western countries arming the rebels.
Like their Iraqi counterparts, Syria’s Kurds have sought to break free amid their country’s chaos and violence. From their perspective, an independent Kurdish state was promised, but not delivered, by the powers that won World War I. Almost a century later, they smell a genuine opportunity for greater autonomy, and possibly independence. For generations, the Kurds’ alliances have fluctuated given the region’s fluid geopolitical developments and their need to play off their host governments’ evolving tensions.
For now, Syria’s Kurds are enduring a little-reported humanitarian crisis amid grave human rights abuses from al-Qaeda after decades of tyranny under the Assad government. In the longer term, the Kurds may ultimately achieve their dream of greater autonomy or independence. If so, the “Arab Spring” may be remembered more accurately as the Kurdish Spring.
Daniel Wagner is CEO of Country Risk Solutions, a cross-border risk advisory firm, and author of the book Managing Country Risk. Giorgio Cafiero is a regional analyst for Consultancy Africa Intelligence, a research analyst for Country Risk Solutions, and a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus.
Copyright ©, respective author or news agency, Foreign Policy In Focus | fpif.org |
An Israeli poll has named Russian President Vladimir Putin as their person of the year for 2015. Putin was the clear winner with almost 30 percent of the vote, ahead of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in second place.
The survey was carried out by the Jerusalem Post and its sister Hebrew-language publication Ma’ariv Sof Hashavua. It polled a total of 527 Jewish adults on Tuesday, while there was an error margin of 4.3 percent.
The results certainly showed that President Putin has made an impact on the people of Israel during 2015. He received 29 percent of the vote as the respondents were asked to choose their person of the year.
Sixteen percent opted for Chancellor Merkel, who had been previously chosen as TIME magazine’s Person of the Year for 2015. Benjamin Netanyahu received 15 percent of the vote, while Islamic State’s leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi had 3 percent of voters thinking he was their person of the year.
The survey also asked Israelis about their opinions regarding a number of different issues. A total of 45 percent of those asked say that terrorism was the biggest problem facing Israel, while just over two-thirds of Jewish adults do not believe that a diplomatic agreement can be reached with the Palestinians.
There was not much hope amongst the public that Iran would stick to its side of the bargain regarding the nuclear deal signed with a number of global powers. Nearly 80 percent believe that Tehran will break its promises, with only 6 percent saying that Iran would keep to the deal. |
An information resource for prospective pet owners
Dalmatian
Deafness
Related terms: hearing loss
Outline: Deafness, linked to a gene involved in their patchy piebald colouration, is common in Dalmatians. About 15-30% of dogs are affected and about 5% are deaf in both ears. Affected dogs are at greater risk of injury through, for example, road traffic accidents. Dogs should be tested for hearing loss and only those in which both ears are normal should be used for breeding.
Summary of Information
(for more information click on the links below)
1. Brief description
Dalmatians are usually born with normal hearing but some become deaf after a few weeks (Mair 1972; Johnsson et al 1973). The disease may affect one or both ears. Dogs with normal hearing in one ear are likely to be able to live a normal life. Those deaf in both ears are significantly handicapped.
The disease process by which hearing is lost is associated with melanocytes, cells thatproduce and contain pigment and which can pass on pigment to other structures such as the hairs of the skin and the iris of the eyes. It seems that melanocytes are also vital for the normal functioning of the inner ear.
2. Intensity of welfare impact
Total deafness causes welfare problems that vary from the trivial to the extreme (Strain 1996). Deaf dogs are at higher risk of trauma particularly from vehicles and from aggressive attacks from other dogs; they are also more difficult to train and may have problems resulting from this (Strain 1996). Many breeders have deaf puppies euthanased (Strain 1996).
3. Duration of welfare impact
The deafness is life-long and there is no treatment (Strain 1996).
4. Number of animals affected
Between 18% and 30% of Dalmatians are deaf with 3% - 8% being deaf in both ears (Strain et al 1992; Holliday et al 1992; Wood & Lakhani 1997;Muhle et al 2002). The proportion of affected animals is lower in countries in which the breed standard excludes Dalmatians with blue eyes (Strain 1996).
5. Diagnosis
Deafness is not always noticed by the casual observer. Mild behavioural changes may be observed in affected puppies but some normal puppies show poor responses to auditory stimuli and normal responses will usually be seen in dogs deaf in one ear, so casual auditory tests may be of limited use in detecting affected puppies (Strain 1996).
The standard test for some years has been the Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response (BAER (Gonçalves et al 2008)). Puppies are often tested at around 5 weeks old but individuals may be tested at any age after this (Strain 1996). Sedation is usually not necessary. A noise is delivered to each ear in turn and the brain response to this noise is detected via electrical sensors attached to the skin over the head.
6. Genetics
In the Dalmatian, deafness is associated with the extreme piebald gene (Strain 1996), which causes the whiteness of most of their coat and their blue eyes (in those that have blue eyes). Dalmatians are homozygous recessive for the extreme piebald gene and deafness seems to occur as a linked polygenetic disorder, in which inheritance of the gene makes it very likely that genes that cause the deafness are inherited also (Webb & Cullen 2010). In some Dalmatians the extreme piebald gene has incomplete penetration. Such dogs have a patch, an area of dark fur larger than the usual spots, and are less likely to be deaf (Strain et al 1992). Unfortunately, having such a patch is considered as a fault in the breed standard. Deafness is more likely when the animal has blue eyes as the extreme piebald gene has maximal penetration in these individuals. The piebald gene has been located (Karlsson et al 1997), and efforts have been made to determine the mechanisms through which it causes deafness but, so far, these have not proved successful (Brenig et al 2003; Rak et al 2003).
7. How do you know if an animal is a carrier or likely to become affected?
The only way to ensure a dog has normal hearing is by testing. This cannot be reliably done just by examining the puppies. The standard method of testing hearing is BAER. Unfortunately, availability of this test is limited and many dogs will have to be transported a significant distance for BAER testing.
Normal parents can produce deaf puppies. There is no test to detect such carriers (dogs which carry the abnormal gene whilst having normal hearing themselves).
8. Methods and prospects for elimination of the problem
To reduce the problem, it has been recommended that only dogs that have been BAER tested and proved to be able to hear in both ears should be used for breeding (Wood & Lakhani 1997; Wood et al 2004). This approach is recommended by the British Dalmatian Club (http://www.britishdalmatianclub.org.uk/health/index.php?action=hearing).
Wood & Lakhani (1997) showed however that this approach can only have a limited effect; at best achieving an expected reduction of the proportion of dogs with unilateral deafness to below 15% and total deafness to below 4%. Further reduction in prevalence may only be achieved when the genetic influences are understood in more detail and when a genetic test becomes available. Avoiding breeding from dogs that have produced deaf puppies and from blue-eyed dogs may also be recommended, as avoiding breeding from Dalmatians with blue eyes has been shown to reduce the prevalence of deafness in the population (Greibrokk 1994).
For further details about this condition, please click on the following:
(these link to items down this page)
1. Clinical and pathological effects
In dogs with normal hearing, the process by which they hear starts when sound waves, funnelled down the external ear canal by the pinnae (ear flaps), cause the outer eardrum to move. This movement is transmitted along the chain of small bones in the middle ear (the ossicles) to the connection with the inner ear (the oval window), which in turn vibrates. This movement then generates waves in the fluid that fills the inner ear. The organ of Corti, found in the inner ear, is where these waves are translated into nerve activity; which happens when the waves cause the rows of hairs, embedded in a membrane in the organ of Corti, to move. This movement generates nerve impulses in the cochlear nerve, which are transmitted via the cochlear sinus, through the internal acoustic meatus, and into the brain (Knowles 2000).
The genetic deafness seen in Dalmatians is caused by loss of blood supply to the cochlea and degeneration of the hair cells of the organ of Corti. It is the commonest cause of deafness in dogs (Bianchi et al 2008). Dalmatians are usually born with normal hearing but, in affected dogs, the degenerative process develops in the first few weeks of life (Mair 1972; Johnsson et al 1973). The disease process seems to be linked to an abnormality of the function of melanocytes – the cells that produce and contain the black skin pigment - (Steel & Barkway 1989). It appears that melanocytes also have a role in the organ of Corti, and, if absent, the organ of Corti degenerates and hearing is lost; the reasons for this are poorly understood. Similarly, why some dogs experience hearing loss in only one ear and some in both is also not fully understood. Following the degeneration of the organ of Corti, the cochlear nerve also degenerates and lack of auditory stimulation results in failure of development of the auditory centres in the brain (Strain 1996).
Dogs deaf in both ears are unable to hear noises at all. This complete loss of hearing may be difficult for an owner to detect as affected dogs respond normally to visual clues and dogs are adept at reading body language. They may sleep more soundly than would otherwise be expected and will not be concerned by loud or unusual noises (such as from vacuum cleaners or machinery) that may agitate other animals. Because of this, the dogs are more vulnerable to sudden and unexpected changes in their environment, and may suffer trauma, for example, from collisions with motor vehicles. Being unable to detect auditory communications, they may behave abnormally when interacting with other dogs and may experienced raised levels of aggression directed towards them as a result.
Those dogs that only experience hearing loss in one ear are likely to be able to live a normal life.
It has been found that females are more likely to be affected than males (Wood & Lakhani 1998, Famula et al 2001).
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2. Intensity of welfare impact
Total deafness causes welfare problems that vary from the trivial to the extreme (Strain 1996). Deaf dogs are at a higher risk of trauma particularly from vehicles and from aggressive attacks from other dogs; they are also more difficult to train and there may be welfare consequences associated with this, for example, because of being confined or not being allowed to exercise off the leash. Many breeders have deaf puppies euthanased (Strain 1996).
Unilaterally deaf dogs have few problems, but they may not respond to noise when they lie with their normal ear against the ground (Strain 1996).
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3. Duration of welfare impact
The deafness is life-long and there is no treatment for this form of deafness (Strain 1996).
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4. Number of animals affected
Strain et al (1992) and Holliday et al (1992) found around 30% of Dalmatians in the USA showed hearing loss. Of these, around 8% were bilaterally deaf and 22% deaf in one ear only. Famula et al (2001) showed that the prevalence of deafness in Dalmatians in the USA did not decline between 1984 and 1998. Wood & Lakhani (1997) reviewed data from several studies in the UK and concluded that 18% of Dalmatians were affected: 13% being deaf in one ear and 5% in both. Muhle et al (2002), in Germany, found that 16.5% were affected: 9.4% unilaterally and 7.1% bilaterally.The proportion of animals affected is lower in countries in which the breed standard excludes Dalmatians with blue eyes (Strain 1996).
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5. Diagnosis
Deafness is not always noticed by the casual observer. Affected puppies may be rougher while playing as they do not hear the noises made by their playmates, that would otherwise would normally moderate their actions. The reflex of pricking up the ears in response to a noise (Preyer’s reflex) is absent in deaf dogs and they do not turn their heads in the direction of the noise (Strain 1996). These responses can be difficult to detect in normal puppies and such auditory tests of hearing loss are of limited use (Strain 1996).
The standard test for hearing loss for some years has been the Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response (BAER (Gonçalves et al 2008)), although other methods are being investigated (McBrearty & Pendieris 2010). Puppies are often tested at around 5 weeks old but individuals may be tested at any age after this (Strain 1996). Sedation is usually not necessary. A noise is delivered to each ear in turn and the brain response to this noise is detected via electrical sensors attached to the skin over the head.
Return to top
6. Genetics
Hereditary deafness in dogs is strongly associated with pigment patterns of the skin and fur (and sometimes of the iris) (Strain 1996). Deafness in certain dog breeds is associated with the merle gene that causes a dappled coat with areas of darker and lighter colour. In other breeds, including the Dalmatian, the association is with the piebald or extreme piebald gene (Strain 1996). Dalmatians are homozygous recessive for the extreme piebald gene and deafness seems to occur as a linked polygenetic disorder , in which inheritance of the gene makes it very likely that genes that cause the deafness are inherited also (Webb & Cullen 2010). Affected Dalmatians can produce offspring that can hear in both ears (although they often produce deaf puppies), so it is not a simple recessive condition (Strain 1996). Muhle et al (2002) suggested it may be a recessive condition with incomplete penetration.
Dogs with one unilaterally deaf parent and one parent with normal hearing are twice as likely to be deaf as dogs with two parents with normal hearing (Strain 1992). Famula et al (2001) found that deafness in offspring was just as likely when the father was deaf as when the mother was deaf.
The heritability of Dalmatian deafness (the proportion of variation due to gene effects) was estimated to be 0.21 by Famula et al (1996) and at 0.27 by Juraschko et al (2003) but much higher levels of around 0.75 have been reported by Famula et al (2001) and Cargill et al (2004).
In some Dalmatians the extreme piebald gene has incomplete penetration. Such dogs have a ‘patch’, an area of dark fur larger than the usual spots and are less likely to be deaf (Strain et al 1992). Unfortunately, having a patch is considered to be a fault in the breed standard. Deafness is more likely when the animal has blue eyes as the extreme piebald gene has maximal penetration in these individuals. It seems that females are more likely to have blue eyes (Famula et al 2001).
The piebald gene has been located (Karlsson et al 1997); and efforts have been made to determine the association of this gene with the genes responsible for deafness in Dalmatians but, so far, this remains unclear (Brenig et al 2003; Rak et al 2003). However, some potential markers have been found (Rak 2003).
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7. How do you know if an animal is a carrier or likely to become affected?
Although the chances of having a puppy unaffected by hearing loss are increased if the offspring of unaffected dogs are chosen (Strain 1996), the only way to ensure you obtain a dog with normal hearing is by the puppy having been tested prior to purchase. An alternative is to test the puppy after purchase providing there is a written guarantee that it can be returned to the breeder if the test is failed. The standard method of testing is BAER. Hearing cannot be reliably tested just by examining the puppies as many affected dogs will be missed - particularly those deaf in one ear. Some normal puppies can also appear deaf when they are excited and distracted. Unfortunately availability of this test is limited and many dogs will have to be transported a significant distance for BAER testing.
Normal parents can produce deaf puppies. There is no test to detect such carriers (dogs which carry the abnormal gene whilst having normal hearing themselves).
Return to top
8. Methods and prospects for elimination of the problem
To reduce the problem, it has been recommended that only dogs that have been BAER tested and proved to be able to hear in both ears should be used for breeding (Wood & Lakhani 1997; Wood et al 2004). This approach is recommended by the British Dalmatian Club (http://www.britishdalmatianclub.org.uk/health/index.php?action=hearing).
Wood & Lakhani (1997) showed however that this approach can only have a limited effect; at best achieving an expected reduction of the proportion of dogs with unilateral deafness to below 15% and total deafness to below 4%. Further reduction in prevalence may only be achieved when the genetic influences are understood in more detail and when a genetic test becomes available. Avoiding breeding from dogs that have produced deaf puppies and from blue-eyed dogs may also be recommended, as avoiding breeding from Dalmatians with blue eyes has been shown to reduce the prevalence of deafness in the population (Greibrokk 1994).
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9. Acknowledgements
UFAW is grateful to Rosie Godfrey BVetMed MRCVS and David Godfrey BVetMed FRCVS for their work in compiling this section.
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10. References
Bianchi E, Callegari D, Ravera M and Dondi M (2008) Deafness in small animals: a retrospective study of 122 cases. Proceedings of World Small Animal Small Animal Veterinary Conference 24th August 2008. WSAVA: Ontario Canada
Brenig B, Pfeiffer I, Jaggy A, Kathmann I, Balzari M, Gaillard C and Dolf G (2003) Analysis of the 5′ region of the canine PAX3 gene and exclusion as a candidate for Dalmatian deafness. Animal Genetics 34: 47–50
Cargill EJ, Famula TR, Strain GM and Murphy KE (2004) Heritability and segregation analysis of deafness in U.S. Dalmatians. Genetics 166: 1385–1393
Famula TR, Oberbauer AM and Sousa CA (1996) A threshold model analysis of deafness in Dalmatians. Mammalian Genome7: 650-3
Famula TR, Oberbauer AM and Williams DC (2001) Gender effects in hearing loss in Dalmatians. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 48: 15-24
Greibrokk T (1994) Hereditary deafness in the Dalmatian: relationship to eye and coat color. Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association 30: 170
Gonçalves R, Freeman J and Penderis J (2008) The Use of Contralateral Masking Noise in the Detection of Unilateral Deafness in Dalmatian Puppies. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 22: 234–237
Holliday TA, Nelson HJ, Williams DC and Willits N (1992) Unilateral and bilateral Brainstem Auditory-Evoked Response abnormalities in 900 Dalmatian dogs. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 6: 166–174
Johnsson LG, Hawkins JE Jr, Muraski AA and Preston RE (1973) Vascular anatomy and pathology of the cochlea in Dalmatian dogs. In: de Lorenzo (ed) Vascular Disorders and Hearing Defects pp 249. University Park Press: Baltimore USA
Juraschko K, Meyer-Lindenberg A, Nolte I and Distl O (2003) Analysis of systematic effects on congenital sensorineural deafness in German Dalmatian dogs. The Veterinary Journal 166: 164-169
Karlsson EK, Baranowska I, Wade CM, Salmon Hillbertz NHC, Zody MC, Anderson N, Biagi TM, Patterson N, Rosengren Pielberg G, Kulbokas EJ III, Comstock KE, Keller ET, Mesirov JP, von Euler H, K|aumlmpe K, Hedhammar A, Lander ES, Andersson G, Andersson L and Lindblad-Toh K (2007) Efficient mapping of mendelian traits in dogs through genome-wide association. Nature Genetics 39: 1321–1328
Knowles K (2000) Current Veterinary Therapy update: deafness in dogs and cats. In: Bonagura JB (ed) Current Veterinary Therapy XIII pp971. WB Saunders: Philadelphia USA
Mair IWS (1972) Hereditary deafness in the Dalmatian dog. European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology 203: 1-15
Marshall AE (1990) [Invited commentary on Knowles K 1990 Reduction of spiral Ganglion neurons in the aging canine with hearing loss. Proceedings of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine 8: 105-8]. Advances in Small Animal Mair I. WS (1972) Hereditary deafness in the Dalmatian dog. European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology 203:1-15
McBrearty A and Pendieris J (2010) Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions Testing as an Alternative to Baer Testing for the Screening of Complete Sensorineural Deafness in At-Risk Puppies and Adult Dogs. Proceedings of British Small Animal Veterinary Congress. April 2010, Birmingham, UK. BSAVA: Gloucester, UK
Muhle AC, Jaggy A, Stricker C, Steffen F, Dolf G, Busato A, Kornberg M, Mariscoli M, Srenk P and Gaillard C Further contributions to the genetic aspect of congenital sensorineural deafness in Dalmatians. The Veterinary Journal 163: 311-318
Poncelet L,Coppens A and Deltenre P (1999) Puppy dogs deafness in Belgium: a two years retrospective study [mainly in Dalmatian dogs] Annales de Medecine Veterinaire 143(1): 41-45
Rak SG (2003) Molecular genetic analysis of congenital deafness in Dalmatian dogs. Doctoral thesis, Hanover University. Available at, http://deposit.ddb.de/cgi-bin/dokserv?idn=981462391&dok_var=d1&dok_ext=pdf&filename=981462391.pdf
Rak SG, Drögemüller C, Leeb T, Quignon P, André C, Scott A, Breen M and Distl O (2003) Chromosomal assignment of 20 candidate genes for canine congenital sensorineural deafness by FISH and RH mapping. Cytogenetic and Genome Research 101: 130-135
Steel KP and Barkway C (1989) Another role for melanocytes: their importance for normal stria vascularis development in the mammalian inner ear. Development 107: 453-63
Strain GM (1992) Deafness in dogs and cats. Proceedings of the l0th American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Forum 10: 275--8
Strain GM (1996) Aetiology, prevalence and diagnosis of deafness in dogs and cats. British Veterinary Journal 152: 17-36
Strain GM, Kearney MT, Gignac IJ, Levesque DC, Nelson HJ, Tedford BL and Remsen LG (1992) Brainstem Auditory-Evoked Potential Assessment of Congenital Deafness in Dalmatians: Associations With Phenotypic Markers. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 6: 175–182
Webb AA and Cullen CL (2010) Coat color and coat color pattern-related neurologic and neuro-ophthalmic diseases. Canadian Veterinary Journal 51: 653–657
Wood JLN and Lakhani KH (1997) Prevalence and prevention of deafness in the Dalmatian—Assessing the effect of parental hearing status and gender using ordinary logistic and generalized random litter effect models. The Veterinary Journal 154: 121-133
Wood JLN and Lakhani KH (1998) Deafness in Dalmatians: Does sex matter? Preventive Veterinary Medicine 36: 39-50
Wood JLN, Lakhani KH and Henley WE (2004) An epidemiological approach to prevention and control of three common heritable diseases in canine pedigree breeds in the United Kingdom. Veterinary Journal 168: 14-27
© UFAW 2011
Credit for main photo above:
By Mark Berbezier (Daisy the Dalmatian) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) or CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
It is the beginning of their nightmares. Many Palestinians go to bed every night without knowing if their home will be bulldozed during the night by the Israeli police. According to Jeff Halper, founder of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), destroying residences is one of Israel’s main weapons in the occupation of Palestinian land.
The destruction of homes is similar in most cases. The police, and sometimes the military, arrive at dawn while families are sleeping. They surround the house and call for the family to come outside. If the family resists, they will be forcefully removed and the bulldozers will begin their tragic task of destruction. Only sometimes are families allowed to take some of their possessions with them.
At other times the homes, because of their size, are wired with explosives and blown up, rather than bulldozed. When that happens, the police form a human barrier in front of the street leading to the house, to block the residents from any resistance when seeing their homes wired with explosives and destroyed. An Amnesty International report states that house demolitions are many times carried out without prior warning and the home’s inhabitants are given little time to evacuate.
From Jan. 1 to Aug. 18, the Israeli police demolished 331 Palestinian structures in Area C (not including East Jerusalem) and 457 people, including 263 children, lost their homes, according to data from the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization.
According to the Israeli government, homes are destroyed because they have no building permits. Therefore, the house is illegal and subject to demolition. What the government doesn’t say, however, is that it is practically impossible for Palestinians to obtain building permits, which makes the building of any new homes illegal.
“The destruction of Palestinian homes, agricultural land and other property in the Occupied Territories, including East Jerusalem, is inextricably linked with Israel’s long-standing policy of appropriating as much as possible of the land it occupies, notably by establishing Israeli settlements,” states Amnesty International.
The practice of home demolitions originated under the British mandate. The government gave the military commanders authority to confiscate and raze “any house, structure or land … the inhabitants of which he is satisfied have committed … any offense against these regulations involving violence.” In 1945 the authorities passed the Defense (Emergency) Regulations. Regulation 119 made this practice available to the local military commander without restrictions or appeal.
In 1968, after Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza, Theodor Meron, who was a legal adviser to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, told the prime minister’s office that house demolitions, even of suspected terrorists’ residences, were “legally unconvincing” and violated the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in war. This view is shared by most scholars of international law, including prominent Israeli experts.
Several human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions oppose the practice, and argue that it violates international laws against collective punishment, the destruction of private property and the use of force against civilians.
Even the use of the practice of home demolitions as a deterrence of violent actions by Palestinians has been questioned. In 2005, an Israeli Army commission to study house demolitions found no proof of effective deterrence, and concluded that the damage caused by the demolitions overrides its effectiveness.
International human rights groups accuse the Israeli government and the Israel Defense Forces of carrying out demolitions as a form of collective punishment, and as theft of Palestinian land by annexation to build the Israeli West Bank barrier or to create, expand or otherwise benefit Israeli settlements.
There is something gruesome about the most powerful army in the Mideast, and one of the most powerful armies in the world, attacking innocent civilians and destroying their homes and possessions. In the same way as Israelis do, Palestinians have the basic right to live in peace in their own homes.
Cesar Chelala is a winner of an Overseas Press Club of America award. |
Scientists at The University of Manchester hope a major breakthrough could lead to more effective methods for detoxifying dangerous pollutants like PCBs and dioxins. The result is a culmination of 15 years of research and has been published in Nature. It details how certain organisms manage to lower the toxicity of pollutants.
The team at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology were investigating how some natural organisms manage to lower the level of toxicity and shorten the life span of several notorious pollutants.
Professor David Leys explains the research: "We already know that some of the most toxic pollutants contain halogen atoms and that most biological systems simply don't know how to deal with these molecules. However, there are some organisms that can remove these halogen atoms using vitamin B12. Our research has identified that they use vitamin B12 in a very different way to how we currently understand it."
He continues: "Detailing how this novel process of detoxification works means that we are now in a position to look at replicating it. We hope that ultimately new ways of combating some of the world's biggest toxins can now be developed more quickly and efficiently."
It's taken Professor Leys 15 years of research to reach this breakthrough, made possible by a dedicated European Research Council (ERC) grant. The main difficulty has been in growing enough of the natural organisms to be able to study how they detoxify the pollutants. The team at the MIB were finally able to obtain key proteins through genetic modification of other, faster growing organisms. They then used X-ray crystallography to study in 3D how halogen removal is achieved.
The main drive behind this research has been to look at ways of combatting the dozens of very harmful molecules that have been released into the environment. Many have been directly expelled by pollutants or from burning household waste. As the concentration of these molecules has increased over time their presence poses more of a threat to the environment and humanity. Some measures have already been taken to limit the production of pollutants, for example PCBs were banned in the United States in the 1970s and worldwide in 2001.
Professor Leys says: "As well as combatting the toxicity and longevity of pollutants we're also confident that our findings can help to develop a better method for screening environmental or food samples." |
PARIS: Cyclists who dope themselves with EPO may not gain any performance advantage even though they are putting their health at risk, scientists said on Thursday.
In a review of the evidence, a team of European researchers scoffed at the entrenched notion that EPO gives cyclists an edge.
Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles in October after United States Anti-Doping Authority found him guilty of systemic doping, including use of EPO, during his career. Credit:AP
And they pointed out that the drug has many perils for those who use it illicitly, including blood clots that can cause strokes and heart attacks.
"Athletes and their medical staff may believe EPO enhances performance, but there is no evidence that anyone performed good experiments to check if EPO would actually improve performance in elite cyclists," said Adam Cohen, a professor at the Centre for Human Drug Research in the Netherlands. |
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump bashed gun-free zones at schools and military bases, saying "You know what a gun-free zone is to sickos? That's bait!" He promised to get rid of them on his first day in office. (Reuters)
BURLINGTON, Vt. — Donald Trump said Thursday that he wants to eliminate gun-free zones at schools.
"I will get rid of gun-free zones on schools, and — you have to — and on military bases," Trump said, to scattered cheers during a campaign rally on Thursday night. "My first day, it gets signed, okay? My first day. There's no more gun-free zones."
Trump has repeatedly said that gun-free zones are a magnet for mentally ill shooters and that the recent mass shootings in Paris and California could have been prevented if more citizens were armed to protect themselves and others. For months, Trump has specifically called for the elimination of gun-free zones at military installments, but his call to do the same at schools appears to be a new stance.
The proposal raises a number of questions, such as: Would this apply to all public schools, from elementary to college? How would schools deal with the likely logistical and safety concerns created by having guns on grounds?
Trump's campaign manager and press secretary did not respond to requests for clarification. |
The Jacksonville Armada finished its debut spring season in sixth place in the 11-team North American Soccer League, but the expansion team's campaign was anything but uneventful. A recap of the good, the bad and the unusual so far from the Armada's launch:
HIGHS
SUPER START
Jemal Johnson's long-range blast just 12 seconds after the April 4 kickoff against FC Edmonton didn't just spark the Armada to a 3-1 victory on Opening Day - it might have been the quickest first-ever goal by any team, anywhere in the world. And in front of a league-record crowd of 16,164, the goal set the stage for the wild ride to come. As Armada defender Matt Bahner said, "You can't really set a better tone than that."
BALL WIZARDRY
Jacksonville tied for third in the league with 15 goals, a tally that doesn't tell the whole story. The Armada's possession-based game often monopolized the ball for minutes on end, running circles around the opposing defense. The four primary attackers combined crisply and often brilliantly: Alhassane Keita with his explosive finishing in the box, Johnson with quickness and long-range shooting, Marcos Flores with ingenious ball skills and Pascal Millien with unrelenting energy and consistency. The mission for fall: Converting more of that possession into goals.
LAST-SECOND DRAMA
Nothing thrills the fans like a last-minute game-winner, and the Armada got exactly that May 2 at the Baseball Grounds. With the Armada heading for a 1-1 tie against the 2014 Soccer Bowl champion San Antonio Scorpions, Keita received a pass in the box and scored from 15 yards in stoppage time to ignite the crowd and lift the team three spots in the standings.
SURPRISE SPARK
Akeil Barrett wasn't even on the roster two weeks before the season's start, trying out with the club after his release by Major League Soccer's Orlando City. But the Jamaican rookie from the University of Tulsa quickly displayed his value as a second-half spark plug. He won over the crowd against San Antonio, when he dribbled through three men and set up Keita's game-winner just seven minutes after checking into the game. "He's learning a lot and giving us a little speed," Flores said.
BEST FOR LAST
Even down two goals in the spring season finale against the unbeaten New York Cosmos, the Armada didn't back down. The team fought back with Millien's pair of goals before Joseph Toby clinched a 3-3 draw on what might have been the team's best goal of the season - a direct volley from Millien's corner kick that thundered into the net.
LOWS
OLD DOMINION DEBACLE
The Armada picked a bad time for an all-around dismal performance May 27, a 3-0 loss at the United Soccer League's Richmond Kickers in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. That loss didn't just dump the club out of the cup against a third-level opponent. It also prevented a fourth-round home meeting with MLS' Columbus Crew, the kind of measuring-stick showdown that NASL clubs dream about. "It should definitely put a chip on our shoulders for next year," Bahner said. "We've got our feet wet and we'll know what to expect next time."
SCORING DROUGHT
When the goals dried up in late May and early June, the Armada was left grounded. In a 335-minute stretch spanning five games, the Armada pounded away but couldn't find the net. Not surprisingly, the drought coincided with a hamstring injury to Keita, which pulled Flores into a less comfortable center forward position and removed the Armada's penalty-area threat. Once the streak ended, though, the floodgates broke: Jacksonville proceeded to score three times in 31 minutes against New York.
PENALTY KICK EPIDEMIC
Armada defenders too often found themselves on the wrong side of the referee. In 11 games (10 in the NASL and one in the U.S. Open Cup), the club conceded five penalty kicks, leading to five goals. Plus, the club drew 26 yellow cards, tied with Tampa Bay for most in the league, and repeatedly gave up free kicks around the penalty area. That's a recipe for trouble on set plays, particularly considering the Armada's size disadvantage against most opponents. The main foul culprits? Center back Fabricio Ortiz drew a league-worst six yellow cards (plus a seventh against Richmond) and fellow Argentines Lucas Scaglia and Lucas Trejo were cautioned four times each.
INJURY BUG BITES
The Armada wasn't exactly ravaged by injuries, but the ones that did strike (Keita and Barrett with hamstring problems and Jaime Castrillon with a foot bone bruise) left a serious impact. And when regulars went down, the Armada's lack of depth was badly exposed. The trouble was most pronounced in midfield, where the club frequently used reserve defenders like Toby and Shawn Nicklaw out of position in more attacking roles. Strengthening the bench will be a key fall priority for general manager Dario Sala and the front office.
FLORIDA FLOUNDERING
State rivals 2 wins, Armada 0. Jacksonville's trips to Florida foes Fort Lauderdale and Tampa Bay both ended in close losses in the last 25 minutes, results that were even more frustrating because the Armada controlled much of the action. Late defensive lapses - Jacksonville allowed 18 goals, second-worst in the NASL - made the difference. The Armada's first shot at revenge comes with an Aug. 8 trip to Tampa Bay.
AND THE UNUSUAL …
CHANGE OF COMMAND
The Armada's unorthodox co-coaching experiment with Jose Luis Villarreal and Guillermo Hoyos began in January but didn't last long. After just six games, the Armada announced that Villarreal, who was named the club's first coach in June 2014, would leave the team for family reasons after the spring season. Hoyos now officially serves as sole head coach for the fall. It shouldn't be a big adjustment for the 52-year-old from Argentina with coaching experience on three continents, who handled game-day bench duties throughout the spring.
NOT BY THE BOOK - PART I
Goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo showed a risk threshold a few steps beyond that of mere mortals. How else to explain his periodic ventures 30 yards or more beyond his penalty area to clear loose balls with his head? Gallardo's daredevil style kept the Armada in several games but wasn't without its occasional hiccups, notably an own goal against New York when Cosmos star Raul caught him 10 yards from his goal line.
NOT BY THE BOOK - PART II
Even by the Armada's unconventional standards, it's hard to top the decision to play on with 10 men for a whopping 12 minutes against Indy on May 9, waiting for Keita to get stitches for a head wound rather than replacing him. "Keita's an important player and we were waiting for him to come back," Flores said. "Obviously, we tried to survive and not concede a goal during that period of time." Still, the short-handed Armada weathered the storm and went on to win 1-0. |
But another explanation popped into my mind, too. It derived from an explication of Julian Assange's political philosophy by Berkeley graduate student and blogger, Aaron Bady. Remember that Assange saw the state as essentially a conspiracy. Bady explained that it wasn't the nature of the leaks that mattered. The point was that any kind of leak could get the state to clamp down on its own network, impeding its own functioning.
"Increasing the porousness of the conspiracy's information system will impede its functioning... the conspiracy will turn against itself in self-defense, clamping down on its own information flows in ways that will then impede its own cognitive function," Bady wrote. "You destroy the conspiracy, in other words, by making it so paranoid of itself that it can no longer conspire."
I don't think Assange is a particularly great political philosopher, nor do I think the Occupy protesters are trying to emulate him. But I think this insight has occurred to the protesters: governments are now so powerful that direct resistance is pointless. No one thinks you could fight a real battle against the US military -- or Michael Bloomberg's own army, the NYPD. Instead, the power of the government has to be used against itself. Nothing else can touch it.
Let me float that the encampments are fundamentally about using government power against itself. By staking out a little ground and saying, "No, the government does not rule this space," it gets the mayors and police chiefs worked up. They deploy their increasingly militarized police officers to say, "Yes, the government does rule that space." Then, the protesters link arms and chant, and the riot cops come in with pepper spray and batons.
During the height of clashes between Occupy Oakland and police, I watched a livestream of protesters chanting, "Who are you protecting? Who are you protecting?" And kept watching as police launched tear gas into that crowd. The show of force was shocking. Now, that situation will pose a major political problem for Oakland's mayor going forward.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa handled the eviction of Occupy LA with one thousand police officers. One thousand! There might have been less violence Tuesday night, but Occupy's message (which was also Villaraigosa's) still got sent: overwhelming force will be brought against political dissent.
So, why occupy? The point is not to hold a city park. The point is to dramatize the struggle of weak against strong, which is also the struggle of poor against rich. If the dominant theme of the occupations is, as Jay Rosen succinctly put it, "public policy favors the rich," then having the public police arrest the weak becomes a powerful metaphor for the message of the movement.
Image: Reuters/David McNew. |
Written by Rachael
I like things, and some of those things are problematic. I like Lord of the Rings even though it’s pretty fucked up with regard to women and race (any narrative that says “this whole race is evil” is fucked up, okay). I like A Song of Ice and Fire even though its portrayal of people of colour is problematic, and often I find that its in-text condemnation of patriarchy isn’t obvious enough to justify the sexism displayed. I like the movie Scott Pilgrim vs The World even though it is racist in its portrayal of Matthew Patel, panders to stereotypes in its portrayal of Wallace, and trivialises queer female sexuality in its portrayal of Ramona and Roxy’s relationship. For fuck’s sake, Ramona even says “It was a phase”! How much more cliche and offensive could this movie be? Oh wait, remember how Scott defeats Roxy, his only female adversary, by making her orgasm? Excuse me while I vomit…and then keep watching because I still like the rest of the movie.
Liking problematic things doesn’t make you an asshole. In fact, you can like really problematic things and still be not only a good person, but a good social justice activist (TM)! After all, most texts have some problematic elements in them, because they’re produced by humans, who are well-known to be imperfect. But it can be surprisingly difficult to own up to the problematic things in the media you like, particularly when you feel strongly about it, as many fans do. We need to find a way to enjoy the media we like without hurting other people and marginalised groups. So with that in mind, here are my suggestions for things we should try our darnedest to do as self-confessed fans of problematic stuff.
Firstly, acknowledge that the thing you like is problematic and do not attempt to make excuses for it. It is a unique irritation to encounter a person who point blank refuses to admit that something they like is problematic. Infuriatingly, people will often actually articulate some version of the argument “It can’t be problematic because I like it, and I’m nice”. Alternatively, some fans may find it tempting to argue “Well this media is a realistic portrayal of societies like X, Y, Z”. But when you say that sexism and racism and heterosexism and cissexism have to be in the narrative or the story won’t be realistic, what you are saying is that we humans literally cannot recognise ourselves without systemic prejudice, nor can we connect to characters who are not unrepentant bigots. Um, yikes. YIKES, you guys.
And even if you think that’s true (which scares the hell out of me), I don’t see you arguing for an accurate portrayal of everything in your fiction all the time. For example, most people seem fine without accurate portrayal of what personal hygiene was really like in 1300 CE in their medieval fantasy media. (Newsflash: realistically, Robb Stark and Jon Snow rarely bathed or brushed their teeth or hair). In real life, people have to go to the bathroom. In movies and books, they don’t show that very much, because it’s boring and gross. Well, guess what: bigotry is also boring and gross. But everyone is just dying to keep that in the script.
Especially do not ever suggest that people not take media “so seriously”, or argue that it’s “just” a tv show. The narratives that we surround ourselves with can subtly, subconsciously influence how we think about ourselves and others. That’s why creating imaginary fantasy and sci fi worlds that have more equal societies can be a powerful thing for marginalised people, who mainstream media rarely acknowledges as heroes. But even if you don’t think that media matters, there is still no reason to focus exclusively on unequal or problematic fictional worlds and narratives. If it doesn’t matter, why don’t YOU stop taking your media so seriously and stop fighting us on this? You with your constant demands for your narrow idea of “realism” (which by the way often sounds a lot like “show me naked skinny ciswomen, and gore”). If in your framework tv shows aren’t serious business, why does realism matter? Why can’t you accept that it would be totally cool to have AT LEAST ONE BIG MEDIEVAL FANTASY EPIC WHERE WOMEN AND POC WERE LIKE, EQUAL TO WHITE MEN AND STUFF. STOP TAKING IT SO SERIOUSLY.
Secondly, do not gloss over the issues or derail conversations about the problematic elements. Okay, so you can admit that Dune is problematic. But wait, you’re not done! You need to be willing to engage with people about it! It’s not enough to be like “Ok, I admit that it’s problematic that the major villain is a fat homosexual rapist, but come on, let’s focus on the giant sandworms!”. Shutting people down, ignoring or giving minimal treatment to their concerns, and refusing to fully engage with their issues is a form of oppression. Implicitly, you’re giving the message that this person’s feelings are less important than your own. In fact, in this case you’re saying that their pain is less important than your enjoyment of a book, movie or tv show. So when people raise these concerns, listen respectfully and try to understand the views. Do not change the topic.
Thirdly you must acknowledge other, even less favourable, interpretations of the media you like. Sometimes you still enjoy a movie or book because you read a certain, potentially problematic scene in a certain way – but others read it entirely differently, and found it more problematic. For example, consider the scene in Game of Thrones where Drogo rapes Dany (which he does not do in the books). One of my friends feels that it was portrayed like rape fetish porn, sexualising the act and Dany’s pain. But I feel that the scene focuses on Dany’s pain and tears in a manner that is not fetishising them (though even so the narrative is still totally fucked up because Dany and her rapist then go on to have a good, sexyfuntimes relationship…uh, no, HBO). I don’t agree with my friend’s interpretation but I recognise it as a totally valid reading of the scene.
Also, as a fan of problematic media, you need to respect the fact that others may be so upset or angered by media you love that they don’t want to engage with it at all. In fact, one of my best friends won’t watch HBO’s Game of Thrones because of the racism and misogyny. That’s a completely legitimate and valid response to that tv show, and me trying to convince her to give it another shot would be disrespectful and hurtful. If you badger others to see what you see in something when they are telling you it’s not enjoyable for them, you’re being an entitled jerk. You’re showing yourself to be willing to hurt a real person over a television show. That really is a sign you’re taking things too seriously.
As fans, sometimes we need to remember that the things we like don’t define our worth as people. So there’s no need to defend them from every single criticism or pretend they are perfect. Really loving something means seeing it as it really is, not as you wish it were. You can still be a good fan while acknowledging the problematic elements of the things you love. In fact, that’s the only way to be a good fan of problematic things. |
Tight-lipped: Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi
The Demolition Man was the unlikely nickname earned by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi when he was elected on a promise to shake-up the political establishment.
But it is one that he now threatens to live up to outside his own country, as the premier of the eurozone’s third biggest economy threatens to smash even greater cracks in the EU.
While many in Europe have been focused on the fall-out from Brexit, another battleground has been raging as Italy desperately tries to come up with a plan to rescue its struggling banks.
It has pitted 41-year-old Renz, Italy’s youngest-ever prime minister, against German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in a row over rigid EU rules. It is the ambitious outsider and one-time fencing champion – who still keeps a sword in his office – versus the steely pragmatic German.
In essence, Italy has come up with a plan to bail out its banks, and Merkel has rejected it because it is against EU legislation.
Hard-line elements in Italy suggest it should simply flout the rules to save the Italian banking system, which is crippled with £301bn of bad debts.
For many the bailout bust-up highlights how the UK is not alone in being exasperated by the red tape from Brussels which prevents individual nations from making their own decisions.
It also underlines a further stereotypical (but no less true) cultural divide within the single currency: between Italians who are used to a more laid-back approach to rules, and Germans who are sticklers for the very letter of the law.
When he was elected two years ago, Renzi staked his political future on being able to turn Italy’s finances around.
He believed Italy should have taken steps to reform its banks five years ago, but this is a country crippled by instability – it has had 63 governments since the Second World War – making it almost impossible for leaders to make any important decisions.
H IS first challenge was to cut the spending deficit, but after initially falling, in the six months to June it rose to £23bn.
As a proportion of its GDP its debt is now the euro’s second biggest behind Greece at 139 per cent.
More pressing in recent months, though, has been the challenge of supplying Italy’s banks with cash. Share prices at some lenders have collapsed in 2016, with the world’s oldest bank Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena falling 60 per cent – a lender which has already been restructured twice and still is in poor health. Having also slumped at the start of the year, many have dropped a further 30 per cent since the Brexit vote. What’s not helped is the obscure structure of Italy’s banks which are owned by foundations – business leaders and politicians – rather than shareholders.
Had Italy begun the process of bailing-out its banks in 2010 it would have been able to benefit from weaker EU rules, and been able to pump money in to them.
But since then, the EU has ruled out this practice, as it is deemed a breach of state-aid rules – regulations that are supposed to prevent unfair competition. It is the same legislation that prevents the UK government from ploughing money into its steel industry.
This is where the battle between Brussels, and more specifically Merkel, and Italy now lies.
The debts of Italy’s banks are a third of the eurozone’s total. Recent estimates suggest the Italian economy is £35bn short of capital to pay off some of these debts. Last week, in the wake of the Brexit vote, Renzi asked Brussels to suspend its rules for six months to allow the Government to set up a £35bn rescue fund. Merkel said no.
In April, Italy created a fund to help provide assistance for struggling lenders. The Atlante fund – named after Atlas, the Titan god who held up the sky – has already helped two lenders stay afloat.
But this won’t be enough in a country with 500 banks. It has been suggested that Italy’s new plan is to increase the capital at the banks, or provide a fund that will buy bad loans off Italian banks at above market prices.
THE DEMOLITION MAN Interviewed earlier this year, Matteo Renzi held up a fencing sabre. Asked on whom he’d most like to use the blade against, he sliced the air and grinned, saying: ‘The banks!’ Since being elected PM in 2014 aged 39, Renzi has been determined to take on the culture of cronyism and bureaucracy which have for so long categorised Italian politics. His enemies call him ‘Il rottamatore’, the demolition man. Renzi agrees: ‘I’m the scrapper. I’m cleaning up the swamp.’ Such modernising idealism have earned him inevitable comparisons to Tony Blair. He was born the second of four children into a Catholic family. His wife is a Latin teacher and they have three children. At 27 he appeared on Italy’s version of Wheel of Fortune winning €30,000.
Italian banks can’t raise capital like this in the normal market because of fears about the health of the wider Italian economy.
It is in stark comparison to UK lenders, such as Lloyds, which last week issued a £700m bond on the US market and found it seven times oversubscribed.
The bailout would be in breach of the state-aid rules. So again, when the Italians went to Brussels with their plan, Merkel said no. At the weekend she said: ‘We have established specific rules as far as recapitalisation of the banks is concerned.’
She added: We can’t come up with new rules every two years. The Commission is ready to help, but so far it has not been convinced by what has been proposed by Italy.’
If Italy doesn’t receive support it could mean multiple bank failures, which could mean huge losses for ordinary savers who own £230bn of bank bonds.
With the eurozone nervous following Brexit, Renzi is publicly hoping to win favour with the EU. He knows they want a financial crisis as little as he does. The International Monetary Fund has long warned that the poor health of Europe’s banks has hampered the recovery as they can’t lend to small businesses. |
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As the latest Working Title Films production, MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, gets underway with filming in England and Scotland with Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn) in the title role and Margot Robbie playing Elizabeth I, Guy Pearce and David Tennant have also been added to the cast.
The historic drama will be released by Focus Features, a long time partner of Working Title’s, who also released the first look at Ronan as the Scottish queen.
The film marks the feature film directorial debut of Josie Rourke, best known as the artistic director of London’s prestigious Donmar Warehouse theater. The film is based on John Guy’s biography, My Heart is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots, which was adapted by Beau Willimon (The Ides of March).
Jack Lowden, Joe Alwyn, Martin Compston and Brendan Coyle have previously been cast.
Celebrating 25 years in business, Working Title co-chairs Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner are producing the film along with Debra Hayward, reuniting the Oscar-nominated team for the Universal Pictures musical, Les Miserables.
According to Focus Features’ tagline, “Mary, Queen of Scots explores the turbulent life of the charismatic Mary Stuart. Queen of France at 16 and widowed at 18, Mary defies pressure to remarry. Instead, she returns to her native Scotland to reclaim her rightful throne. But Scotland and England fall under the rule of the compelling Elizabeth 1. Each young Queen beholds her “sister” in fear and fascination. Rivals in power and in love, and female regents in a masculine world, the two must decide how to play the game of marriage versus independence. Determined to rule as much more than a figurehead, Mary asserts her claim to the English throne, threatening Elizabeth’s sovereignty. Betrayal, rebellion, and conspiracies within each court imperil both thrones – and change the course of history.”
Other Working Title films that have recently wrapped include the upcoming Victoria & Abdul, reuniting director Stephen Frears with Judi Dench, and Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour, starring Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill. Both films will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival next month before being released by Focus Features.
Both Pearce and Tennant are with the Independent Talent Group, but Pearce is repped by CAA and Tenant by UTA.
Edward Douglas | East Coast Editor |
Image caption Nine road signs have been temporarily taped over
Shakespeare's name is being removed from signs in Warwickshire in a campaign against a new film which questions whether he wrote his plays.
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is taping over nine road signs for the day to coincide with the premiere of Anonymous at the London Film Festival.
It criticised the film as an attempt to "rewrite English culture and history".
A memorial in William Shakespeare's home town of Stratford-upon-Avon is being covered with a sheet.
The sign on The Shakespeare pub in Welford, where the Bard is said to have enjoyed his last drink, is one of 10 pub signs that are being covered.
'Enormous legacy'
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Diane Owen and Katie Neville gave the BBC's Jenny Hill a tour of Shakespeare's birthplace
The trust said it wanted to highlight the potential impact of the film's "conspiracy theory" that William Shakespeare was the "barely literate frontman for the Earl of Oxford".
Anonymous stars Rafe Spall as the Bard, Rhys Ifans as the Earl of Oxford, Vanessa Redgrave as Queen Elizabeth I, and asks "Was Shakespeare a fraud?"
It reignites the age-old debate over the authorship of Shakespeare's work, taking the view that it was Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, and not William Shakespeare who was in fact the true author of the famous plays.
This film flies in the face of a mass of historical fact Dr Paul Edmondson, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Dr Paul Edmondson, head of knowledge and research at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, said: "This film flies in the face of a mass of historical fact, but there is a risk that people who have never questioned the authorship of Shakespeare's works could be hoodwinked.
"Shakespeare is at the core of England's cultural and historical DNA, and he is certainly our most famous export.
"Today's activity barely scratches the surface, but we hope it will remind people of the enormous legacy we owe to William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon." |
Land grab case in Boulder incites anger and protests
An interesting property rights trial was held in my hometown of Boulder, Colorado, and the entire city is buzzing about it.
Here's the short version: Twenty-three years ago, Don and Susie Kirlin bought an undeveloped lot down the street from their home on the outskirts of Boulder. The property was adjacent to Edith Stevens and Richard McLean's home.
Stevens and McClean landscaped their own property in such a way that it became convenient to trespass on the Kirlin's lot to access their own backyard. Stevens and McClean created paths on the Kirlin's property, threw summer parties on the Kirlin's property and kept a wood pile on the Kirlin's property. Stevens and McClean admitted in court they knew they were trespassing and never asked the Kirlins permission to use the lot.
When the Kirlins, who had been paying taxes and homeowner fees on the property all along, begen to erect a fence on their property as the first step in building a house, Stevens and McClean (a former former district court judge, Boulder mayor, and city councilman) hired a lawyer to sue the Kirlins for ownership of the property under the doctrine of "adverse possession" [Wikipedia entry]. This doctrine states that if a person uses another person's land for a long time without being challenged by the owner, the land belongs to the person "most attached to its use."
On October 17, 2007, Boulder District Court Judge James C. Klein ordered the Kirlins to give 1/3 of their lot to McLean and Stevens. Yesterday, the Colorado Supreme Court's Attorney Regulation Counsel rejected the Kirlins' request to conduct an ethical misconduct probe into the matter. In addition, Stevens and McClean have asked the judge to force the Kirlin's to pay their legal fees.
Last Sunday, hundreds of people went to Stevens and McClean's house to show their displeasure:
More than 200 people holding signs that read, "Thou shall not covet, thou shall not steal" and, "You'll never enjoy a stolen view" gathered Sunday on Hardscrabble Drive in south Boulder to condemn Richard McLean, a former district court judge and former Boulder mayor, and his wife, Edith Stevens, for taking possession of a portion of two vacant lots that have belonged to Don and Susie Kirlin for nearly a quarter of a century. Several protesters yelled "shame"and "thief" at McLean and Stevens as they drove away from their home shortly before the rally began at noon. One woman stepped up to the car's passenger side window and yelled, "How can you live with yourself?"
Link |
WASHINGTON—A new study released Monday by the U.S. Labor Department found that women, who currently earn 23 cents less on the dollar when doing the same work as men, should in fact be earning only 20 cents less than their male counterparts. "This is 2011, and it is frankly ridiculous that women earn only 77 percent of what men make, when they should clearly be making 80 percent of what men make," department spokesman Frank Neiderberg said. "There's simply no doubt that, in this day and age, women contribute a full four-fifths of what men do to the economy. No doubt whatsoever." A coalition of feminist groups said the report "is a small step in the right direction, but doesn't go nearly far enough," causing many observers to point out that nothing is ever good enough for those people.
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It’s confirmed: Charlize Theron will guest star in one episode of Seth MacFarlane’s upcoming sci-fi satire The Orville on Fox. Details of her character are being kept under wraps, so stay tuned.
20th Century Fox TV
Set four centuries from now, The Orville follows the obviously Star Trek/Galaxy Quest-inspired adventures in the final frontier of the middling USS Orville. Its human and alien crew tackles the battles and politics of speed-of-light galactic travel and the workplace dramas that never change, no matter what century it is.
The Theron casting news comes ahead of The Orville‘s SDCC panel set for 4:15 PM Saturday in Room 6A of the San Diego Convention Center. Confirmed to attend are MacFarlane, along with fellow cast members Adrianne Palicki, Scott Grimes, Penny Johnson Jerald, Peter Macon, Halston Sage, J Lee, Mark Jackson and Chad Coleman, and producers David A. Goodman and Brannon Braga.
The Orville kicks off with a two-night premiere on Sunday, September 10 and 17. The series then makes its real time-period premiere on September 28 at 9 PM. |
Take that! HD remakes of all three Phoenix Wright games are coming to iPad and iPhone this fall, publisher Capcom said today.
You'll be able to download an app called Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy HD for free, then buy the three games in the trilogy: Ace Attorney, Justice for All, and Trials and Tribulations.
The app will ship with a free demo of Ace Attorney's first two chapters. It will also have a bunch of other silly features, Capcom says:
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy HD will also come with the "Everyone Object" mode (at no additional cost) to help players communicate their displeasure of everyday situations with the help of popular Ace Attorney characters and sayings. With a simple touch of a button, the phrases, "Objection!", "Hold it!", and "Take that!" can be emailed to friends or tweeted along with an animated image.
In other words, there will soon be a way to instantly send Phoenix Wright gifs to everyone you know. Yes. Feel free to post your favorites in the comments.
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No word on whether the fourth game, Apollo Justice, or any of the other Ace Attorney and Miles Edgeworth games will make their way to iOS at any point soon. |
COLUMBUS -- The latest on reports regarding the attack at Ohio State University:
6:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30:
President-elect Donald Trump tweets about ISIS claiming responsibility. "ISIS is taking credit for the terrible stabbing attack at Ohio State University by a Somali refugee who should not have been in our country."
ISIS is taking credit for the terrible stabbing attack at Ohio State University by a Somali refugee who should not have been in our country. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2016
7:35 p.m.
A leader of a Somali community association says a man who launched a car-and-knife attack at Ohio State University drove his siblings to school as normal beforehand.
Hassan Omar says Abdul Artan's mother said she didn't know anything was wrong until police showed up at her door.
Omar said Tuesday the mother told him nothing seemed different about her son, who she said was enjoying his education.
Artan was a Muslim who prayed daily and stewed over the treatment of fellow Muslims.
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Omar says he was shocked by Monday's attack because of the amount of effort the community puts into preventing people from being radicalized.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff is a House Intelligence Committee member and says he's seen no evidence Artan communicated with overseas terror organizations.
Artan was killed by police.
4:30 p.m.
A union official says the officer who killed a man to stop an attack at Ohio State University responded according to his training and is grateful for the outpouring of support he's received from fellow police and the public.
Local police union president Jason Pappas says university officer Alan Horujko is on paid administrative leave. Pappas says standard procedure requires that the 28-year-old officer see a psychologist and get a new firearm before he gets back to work.
Officials say Horujko was nearby when a Somalia-born student plowed a car into a group of pedestrians Monday morning and began stabbing people with a butcher knife. Police say the officer shot the driver in less than a minute.
3:40 p.m.:
Business Insider reports that ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack. Amaq, the unofficial ISIS news agency, issued a statement Tuesday calling suspect Abdul Razak Ali Artan one of its soldiers. Artan is believed to have posted strong thoughts on the treatment of Muslims to his Facebook page, noting that he was, "Sick and tired of seeing my fellow Muslim brothers and sisters being killed and tortured EVERYWHERE."
3 p.m.:
Ohio State officials held a news conference on campus to provide an update on the 11 victims from the attack.
William Clark, a professor who was hit by the vehicle Artan was driving, told reporters he suffered several bruises and cuts when he was flipped into the air by the car.
You can watch the press conference from WKYC Channel 3's Facebook Live below:
12:45 p.m.:
The director of a mosque attended by the Ohio State attacker says numerous programs are in place to help youth and prevent self-radicalization, according to the Associated Press. Horsed Noah says he wasn't familiar with Abdul Razak Ali Artan, the OSU student born in Somalia who police say carried out the car-and-knife rampage that left 11 people hurt Monday morning.
Noah says thousands can attend services on busy days at the mosque on Columbus' west side. The mosque just celebrated its second anniversary and serves mostly Muslims from Somalia and other East African countries, many of whom live nearby.
Noah mentors youth at the mosque, which also offers "Meet a Muslim" programs and helps Somali parents learn to communicate with their children, especially as they assimilate faster to life in America.
10:30 a.m.:
Did terrorist propaganda inspire Ohio State campus attack?
6 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016:
11:30 p.m.:
The suspect in an attack at Ohio State that left 11 injured has been linked to Dallas, according to Catholic Charities. This comes from a report by our TEGNA sister station WFAA.
Catholic Charities confirmed Abdul Razak Ali Artan briefly stayed at their shelter in Dallas.
Artan was born in Somalia and living in the United States as a legal permanent resident. He later enrolled at Columbus State Community College from the fall semester of 2014 through the summer semester of 2016, according to college spokesman Allen Kraus.
He graduated with an Associate of Arts degree in the spring of 2016 and then took a non-credit class for summer 2016. He had no record of behavioral or disciplinary issues during his time at Columbus State and graduated with honors, Kraus added.
Monday night, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wrote a Tweet in response to Artan's background:
This is why I removed Texas from the Refugee Relocation Process. I will not be an accomplice to importing terrorists. Refugee reform needed https://t.co/6ZadOgR6KE — Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 29, 2016
11:00 p.m.:
WKYC Channel 3's Russ Mitchell spent some time with OSU student Armand Ghazi, who witnessed the attack and called 911. Watch Russ' interview below:
10:00 p.m.:
A short time ago, students, faculty and staff gathered at a church near the scene of this morning's attack...to pray for the victims, and the community. WKYC Channel 3's Amani Abraham was there and filed this report:
7:50 p.m.
Republican Vice President-elect Mike Pence says his team's "hearts go out to the families of those affected" by a car-and-knife attack at Ohio State University.
Authorities say a student plowed his car into a group of pedestrians on campus and then got out and began stabbing people with a butcher knife Monday before he was shot to death by a campus police officer. Police are investigating whether it was a terrorist attack. Eleven people were hurt.
Pence calls the episode "a tragic attack." He spoke in New York at Trump Tower, where President-elect Donald Trump lives.
Pence says their "prayers are with" all the victims and first responders.
6:30 p.m.:
Leaders of mosques and Muslim organizations in Ohio say they're heartbroken and strongly condemn an attack at Ohio State University that has left 11 people injured.
University officials and police say a man who drove a car into pedestrians and began stabbing people on campus Monday before being shot and killed by police was a student. The university's student newspaper ran an interview in August with a student with the same name identifying himself as a Muslim.
A U.S. official who wasn't authorized to talk about the case has told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity the man was born in Somalia and was a legal permanent resident of the U.S.
Law enforcement officials are investigating the attacker's motivations and background.
5:45 p.m.:
Ohio State officials have announced that classes will resume on Tuesday.
UPDATE: All classes on the Columbus campus will resume normal schedule as of Tuesday, November 29th. — OSU Emergency Mngmnt (@OSU_EMFP) November 28, 2016
5:20 p.m.:
The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee says the attack at Ohio State "bears all of the hallmarks of a terror attack carried out by someone who may have been self-radicalized."
U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff of California says law enforcement officials are still investigating the attacker's motivations and background.
On Monday morning, an OSU student plowed his car into pedestrians on campus and then got out and began stabbing people with a butcher knife. A police officer shot him to death in a matter of minutes.
The attacker was identified as Abdul Razak Ali Artan. A U.S. official who wasn't authorized to talk about the case told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that Artan was born in Somalia and was a legal permanent resident of the U.S.
4:25 p.m.:
The Associated Press reports authorities said the officer who killed an attacker at Ohio State University was a university police officer who'd been on the job for less than two years.
Department of Public Safety Director Monica Moll identified the officer as 28-year-old Alan Horujko. She says he started on the Ohio State police force in January 2015.
Ohio State Police Chief Craig Stone says it was fortunate there was a nearby gas leak that the officer had gone to investigate. Stone says it helped position Horujko to respond to the attack so quickly.
Those injured in the attack included an Ohio State faculty member, four graduate students and three undergrads.
Authorities say they were able to get photos of the suspect's vehicle driving onto campus and confirmed only one person was in the car.
The @OSUPolice confirm Officer Alan Horujko shot and killed
the suspect, Abdul Razak Ali Artan, Monday morning. (OFFICER PHOTO ATTACHED) pic.twitter.com/i1skmuLqCb — OSU Emergency Mngmnt (@OSU_EMFP) November 28, 2016
4:10 p.m.:
A director of public safety says a man who drove a car into pedestrians and began stabbing people at Ohio State was a student at the school.
Ohio State Department of Public Safety Director Monica Moll also identified the now-deceased suspect as Abdul Razak Ali Artan.
A U.S. official earlier told The Associated Press that he was born in Somalia and living in the United States as a legal permanent resident. The official wasn't authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing case and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
Authorities say Artan was shot to death by a police officer Monday morning shortly after he drove up onto a curb into pedestrians, got out of the car and began stabbing people with a butcher knife.
Nine people were injured, including one critically.
3:20 p.m.:
A U.S. official has identified the suspect in the Ohio State attack that injured nine people as a man of Somali descent.
The official identified Abdul Razak Ali Artan as the now-deceased suspect. He was born in Somalia and living in the United States as a legal permanent resident. It was unclear when Artan came to the U.S.
The official wasn't authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing case and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
A second law enforcement official confirmed that authorities believe the suspect's name is Abdul Artan. That official also wasn't authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing case and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Authorities say the suspect was shot to death Monday by a police officer after driving up onto a curb and into pedestrians and attacking people with a knife.
3 p.m.:
The Associated Press reports a police chief says authorities are looking into whether the attack at Ohio State University was related to terrorism.
Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs was asked at a news conference Monday afternoon whether authorities were considering the possibility that it was a terror attack.
Jacobs says, "I think we have to consider that it is."
Authorities say a man purposely plowed his car over a curb and into pedestrians on Monday morning before jumping out of the car and attacking people with a butcher knife. A police officer who was nearby because of an earlier gas leak was on the scene in a minute and shot and killed the attacker.
The FBI and other agencies joined the investigation.
Authorities say nine people were hurt, one of them critically.
1:50 p.m.:
The AP reports witness to an attack at Ohio State University says he initially thought a car had driven over a curb into pedestrians accidentally but realized it was intentional when a man emerged with a butcher knife.
Student Martin Schneider says he saw the attack take place Monday morning.
He says he saw the attacker hit several people with the car, then emerge swinging the knife.
Schneider says the attacker didn't say anything.
He says he heard the car's engine revving before it hit the curb because it was going pretty fast. He says he also heard yells from a frightened crowd.
1:20 p.m.:
The AP reports authorities are now saying nine people were injured at Ohio State University when an attacker purposely drove over a curb and into pedestrians and then got out of the vehicle and began stabbing people with a butcher knife.
Ohio State Police Chief Craig Stone says eight of the victims are in stable condition and one victim is in critical condition after the attack Monday.
Authorities said two people had been stabbed, four people had been hurt by a car and two others were treated for lacerations.
The injuries to the ninth person weren't immediately clear.
Earlier, hospital officials said that eight people had non-life-threatening injuries.
Stone says an officer who was nearby because of an earlier gas leak shot and killed the male suspect.
1:10 p.m.:
The AP reports Ohio State police say the attacker on campus purposely drove over a curb and into pedestrians and then got out of the vehicle and began stabbing people with a butcher knife.
Police Chief Craig Stone spoke early Monday afternoon at a news conference.
Authorities also said police believe that there was only one attacker.
Ohio State said earlier that the suspect had been shot and killed.
The university had sent out a series of tweets at around 10 a.m. Monday saying there was an active shooter on campus and that shooters should run, hide or fight. About an hour and a half later, the university said a shelter-in-place warning had been lifted and the scene was secure.
Authorities said later that it doesn't appear that the suspect used a gun in the attack.
12:15 p.m.:
The AP reports a spokesman for Ohio State University says injuries in the attack on campus included stab wounds and being struck by a vehicle.
Ben Johnson said Monday that there were also other injuries that were being evaluated.
12:05 p.m:
The AP reports hospital officials say eight patients they received from the scene of a reported attack at Ohio State University have non-life-threatening injuries.
The eight patients were split among OSU Wexner Medical Center, OhioHealth Grant Medical Center and OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital.
12 p.m.:
An Akron man who attends Ohio State University recounted what he experienced on campus:
11:35 a.m.:
Ohio State University says a shelter-in-place warning has been lifted and the scene is secure following reports of an active shooter, the AP reports.
Ohio State tweeted Monday morning that all classes would be canceled for the rest of the day.
11:10 a.m.:
The suspect linked to an active shooter situation on the Ohio State campus is dead, police authorities confirm to our sister station WCMH.
Eight people were taken to the hospital, the station reports.
WCMH reports that seven victims are in stable condition, while another person is in critical condition.
Another person is receiving treatment on scene, the station said.
10:30 a.m.
The AP reports Ohio State University is telling students there's an active shooter on campus and they should "Run Hide Fight."
Ohio State's official Twitter page retweeted a post from OSU Emergency Management saying there is an active shooter on campus in Columbus on Monday morning.
The tweet says: "Buckeye Alert: Active Shooter on campus. Run Hide Fight. Watts Hall. 19th and College." Watts Hall is a materials science and engineering building.
"Run, hide, fight" is standard protocol for active shooter situations. It means: Run, evacuate if possible; Hide, get silently out of view; or Fight, as a last resort, take action to disrupt or incapacitate the shooter if your life is in imminent danger.
A Columbus police dispatcher declined to comment on the reports, but police vehicles were seen at the scene.
10 a.m:
Several tweets were posted by OSU around 10 a.m. Monday regarding the situation:
"Run Hide Fight," one of the tweets declared.
Buckeye Alert: Active Shooter on campus. Run Hide Fight. Watts Hall. 19th and College. — OSU Emergency Mngmnt (@OSU_EMFP) November 28, 2016
Buckeye Alert: Continue to shelter in place. Avoid area of College. More information to follow. — OSU Emergency Mngmnt (@OSU_EMFP) November 28, 2016
Buckeye Alert: Continue to shelter in place in north campus area. Follow directions of Police on scene. — OSU Emergency Mngmnt (@OSU_EMFP) November 28, 2016
The Lantern, Ohio State's student news organization, is posting photos from campus on Twitter (MOBILE USERS: click here to view).
Tweets by TheLantern
Police cars, fire truck and ambulance line 19th and College avenues near location where active shooter was reported pic.twitter.com/FKJXSMQnan — The Lantern (@TheLantern) November 28, 2016
Students/bystanders have been moved back from the scene toward Arps Hall pic.twitter.com/c9NnyGPLqF — The Lantern (@TheLantern) November 28, 2016
Stay with WKYC.com for additional details as they become available. |
Image copyright B JOnes Image caption Seagrass is found just off the shoreline so is vulnerable to pollution and disturbance by marine anchors
Underwater fish "meadows" are being lost at the same rate as the Amazon rain forests, researchers have warned.
Seagrass is a key habitat for feeding and sheltering young fish, including plaice, haddock and pollock.
But every hour an area the size of two football pitches is destroyed.
Scientists from Swansea University believe the habitats need to be protected otherwise fishing stocks could be affected.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Lead researcher Dr Richard Unsworth says more sensitive boat mooring could help
"The rate of loss is equal to that occurring in tropical rainforests and on coral reefs yet it receives a fraction of the attention," said Dr Richard Unsworth, lead researcher.
"If you're a small fish, like a juvenile cod, then you need food and shelter. Seagrass meadows provide both."
The biggest threat is from poor water quality and damage caused by boat anchors and moorings.
The Swansea research, for the Natural Environment Research Council (Nerc), is part of a global conservation effort to save seagrass.
Image copyright Frogfish Diving Image caption Juvenile fish like spined stickleback like shallow waters, usually just off the coast
Image copyright NERC Image caption Seagrass - here with a conger eel - is usually found in sheltered waters, including coves and moorings
The team, using baited underwater camera systems and netting, took a year to measure the size and number of fish in seagrass meadows in the seas around Britain, and compared the results with nearby sand habitats.
The study included Porthdinllaen and Pen-y-Chain on the Llyn peninsula in Gwynedd.
In one seagrass site off the Gwynedd coast, divers found 42 fish species, 10 of which are important commercially.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Sand melt and pollack in seagrass off Porthdinllaen on the Gwynedd coast
"If there's lots of food available for them to eat and reduced predation, like there is in seagrass meadows, they don't spend all their time hunting for food so they're more likely to survive and put on weight faster," said Dr Unsworth.
"When you start to lose these habitats you'll see smaller juveniles and smaller fish stocks."
The research is part of a wider project assessing the benefits of seagrass meadows across the Atlantic, which is funded by the Welsh government and the EU.
"We want to work with partners around the country to look at trying to get this up the conservation agenda," said Dr Unsworth.
Image copyright Frogfish Diving Image caption A dog fish feeding off sea grass, which is usually at a depth of just five to seven metres |
THEY were lost for centuries under thick vegetation in a Mexican jungle, but now archaeologists have located two ancient Mayan cities.
Unearthed in the southeast of the Mexican state of Campeche, the cities were barely accessible to the research team. But the challenging journey reaped great rewards, with the discovery of the ruins of a pyramid, palace, altars and a huge doorway, Discovery News reported. The cities of Lagunita and Tamchen had been first been discovered by archaeologist Eric Von Euw in the 1970s, however he didn’t specify their location and they remained quite the mystery. Now, for the first time, they are out in the light and could provide crucial information in understanding the Mayan civilisation. Ivan Sprajc, of the Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU) said it was a difficult hunt, and they relied on aerial photographs to help locate the sites. Sprajc’s team had been exploring the area around Chactun, the site of a large Maya city discovered last year. “The information about Lagunita were vague and totally useless,” Sprajc said. “In the jungle you can be as little as 600 feet (182 metres) from a large site and do not even suspect it might be there; small mounds are all over the place, but they give you no idea about where an urban centre might be.” He said that anomalies in the vegetation aroused their interest, pointing them in the right direction. The identity of Lagunita, a city spanning about 3000 square metres, was confirmed by comparing the newly discovered area and monument with drawing by Euw. The most impressive find was a giant door carved in the shape of a “monster” mouth, which is believed to represent a Mayan deity of fertility of the land. “These doors symbolise the entrance to a cave, and in general, to a watery world, the place of origin of maize and mythological abode of the ancestors,” explains Sprajc. There was also a ball court and a temple spanning nearly 20 metres high. They were surrounded by stone shafts and three stone alters. There was also a ball court and a temple spanning nearly 20 metres high. They were surrounded by stone shafts and three stone alters. Plus hieroglyphic inscriptions. Experts believe they may have been built in the Preclassic era (300BC-250AD). |
The most ineffective thing you can do as an activist is try to change the world. Knowledge is power, and therefore the modern human is controlled through ignorance. Slavery is achieved by trapping the mind in an arbitrary reality tunnel composed of unwholesome memes. The simulated reality is so far from truth that agency is robbed from every intention. Every thought has a false premise.
The dream state, which now holds most of the world prisoner, blankets us all in depression. This feeling of powerlessness and apathy towards living is a direct result of processing a reality so far from the truth. Depression is the feeling that all possibilities have been extinguished from the current perspective. No one is to blame for this, and we all have the power to face the truth of our existence. Our suffering will continue to intensify until we take responsibility for ourselves.
Ignorance of our full potential chains us to cycles of destruction and suffering. The greatest treasure of the whole universe is now available to each of us. Initiation into the higher realms of existence is your birthright. The keys to the kingdom, and our collective evolution, have escaped the control of the renegade priest class. You are the hero the world needs, and your freedom is a priceless gift to us all.
Before we continue, I would like to offer the reader some contextual details about this writing. I originally intended for it to be just another essay in the series, but it was going so great that I had to continue the brain dump well past a reasonable length. This turned out to be a pretty good outline for the book I am currently working on through this series of essays. This might be the most life-changing thing you read all year. Even so, the final sections have been quickly summarized to perfectly segue into my next works which are now almost completed. I have numbered the paragraphs for reading and discussion convenience.
4 The upliftment and evolution of our species is a process that concerns every single living creature on this planet. The power of the elite is confined to the dream state; they do not have the power to change the world. The human body is a universal machine, built to navigate the cosmos. Once unleashed from the confines of simulated reality we become more powerful and more valuable to each other than any machine or treasure ever known. This is your destiny.
5 We all share this great potential, but we each have our own unique journey and experiences. Our path in life has shaped our own unique perspective on reality, and our material conditions and abilities. Life on earth is a complete mess, but we share much in common which is the root cause of our daily struggles. The culture of domination and helpless mediation is now a global phenomenon. Our individual struggle for freedom is a collective struggle.
6 Mass initiation into higher realms of existence is the only critical activism. All of society’s institutions emerge from the collective consciousness of the individual. The only way to change the world is to change the individual: yourself. New and wonderful culture then emerges, but it can only be recognized and fully participated in by the Others. This is the most critical and urgent challenge our species has ever faced.
7 Reality as we perceive it doesn’t really exist. The mind objectifies complex processes into a simulation which is overlaid upon the senses. Objectification is a shortcut which precludes looking deeply into anything. We treat our world like a rational computer, and we program ourselves within it. This is how we rationalize the exploitation of our own body and accept programming from others.
8 We treat our body as an object by identifying ourselves as objects: a religion, an employee, a gang, a race, a country. We subject ourselves and others to this categorical judgement with guilt and shame. These programs give our power and authority to the dream states which they create. One who conforms to an identity is not an individual, but is very divided. Bound to identity, they interact with a tribal consciousness, as if wearing govcorp skinsuits, oblivious to the beings behind the masks.
9 The strategy of divide and conquer can be seen in full effect all around the world. A population in constant conflict with each other remains weak and powerless; so easy to manipulate. Through clinging to our own identities and tribes, we project onto others the assumption that they do the same. Navigation by judgement leaves us completely blind to the real human beings behind the whitewash of the minds objectifications. Nothing could be more foreign to such views than an individual who identifies with no tribe but the one tribe, and who assumes full responsibility for themselves.
10 Individual sovereignty and self-ownership is the hallmark of a liberated, or awakened, individual. The false idea of the self and its anxieties over life give way to a body, with feelings and experiences. So much irrational fear dies, along with the simplified version of life the mind was clinging to. A great oneness may be experienced beyond the divisions of the mind, and reality may be perceived beyond space and time. This individual can no longer be programmed and controlled by fiat memes.
11 Fiat memes treat the self and others as objects, diverging from natural isomorphisms, without awareness or consideration for the resultant experiences. Fiat memes are inherently parasitic as the entire body, its feelings and experiences are cut off in favor of the mind’s ungrounded object-oriented reality. Govcorp skinsuit identities exploit this fiat reality tunnel to harness the power of the individual with alien motives of the dream state. Initiation through the body is the only innoculation against this meaningless exploitation of the self and others. We have enslaved ourselves, and this unconsciousness threatens to annihilate our humanity, if not our species.
12 The body is the master gateway. It is guarded by a self object, or false ego, which fears its own annihilation above all else. To experience and perceive the body beyond this simplistic objectification of the mind is to question the reality of all objects including the self. The parasitic memes which exploited the self object, to motivate the body, lost their grip on the host, leaving a great freedom in their wake, but also great new responsibilities. New gifts and abilities of the body become active which enable us to navigate this more universal reality.
13 The self object is the nexus of programming through which the mind dominates the body. Psychosocial attacks such as intimidation or being called ugly or stupid may permanently depress the behavior and health of a body dominated by mind. Foreign powers also employ and exploit the body through the govcorp skinsuit identity mechanism, or through more primitive and localized forms of this tribal consciousness, manifesting in family or social drama and power dynamics. These conflicting and harmful identities pull the body through life, like a puppet suspended by many strings. It is impossible to directly relate to a body dominated in this way by mind because the self is mediated by skinsuit, and deeper beyond this shallow identity is a great unexplored emptiness.
14 A civilization dominated by tribal consciousness programs the self to accept external authority and motivation. We unconsciously accept our reality tunnel and identities as the matter-of-fact reality and believe that nothing can be done about them. The body is propelled through the mind’s pinball machine, unaware of itself and its full potential to participate in creation. A society of such alien and unconscious motives teaches and rewards submission and dependence on extreme mediation. By knowing the body beyond mind we are able to open our hearts and directly relate to each other with original authority beyond skinsuit mediation.
15 We can not be told what to do; each of us has a unique situation to navigate. While it is possible to be programmed with wholesome culture, initiation through the body is required to judge it as such. Everything we do has to be questioned, there is just too much for anyone but yourself to tell you what to do. By discovering our own power and authority within, we become an individual, capable of recognizing alien motives which weaken and divide us. As individuals, we can also recognize the wholesome cultural geometries which emerge from a society of peers.
16 It is not necessary or even possible to change all at once. Only in recent millennia has our species began to awaken from the dreams of animal life to individual consciousness. And only in recent centuries has a critical mass of this consciousness begun to overcome the weaponized ignorance that the renegade priest class has used to harness our power to the dream state. We are very advanced along the program of uprooting which holds our physical bodies captive to extreme mediation. By recognizing the conditions to the existence of our body, we become aware of a great cultural void and understand the need for our collective healing which is well underway.
17 Awareness of the body reveals the deep scarring of generational trauma which we continue to inflict on ourselves. The culture of domination and submission to external authority within each of us continues to keep us divided and conquered by anti-human motives. Alienated from each other, we unconsciously choose competition over cooperation, exporting suffering and scarcity upon those less fortunate. To love the other we must first love our self, and to love our self we must directly feel and experience and know the body beyond the mind’s reality simulation. With heart open and mind aware, the empathic journey to the Others is incredibly painful, but necessary for the process of healing and the higher evolution of our species.
18 It is very difficult for most of us to find meaningful human connections with each other. Our bodies are pushed through life in the bondage of fake identities. Behind the masks we wear there is hidden trauma of domination too painful to uncover and confront. Deep in the dark dungeon of our minds we still hold captive the innocent inner child we once were. Like a pedophile’s wet dream, the body is completely dependent on the alien skinsuit, unable to resist, and no fight left in those dead eyes.
19 It’s a sort of cosmic irony that healing from trauma is how we become more whole and universal. Those who are too comfortable remain the least likely to transform themselves. On the other hand, we are taught to drown our pain and anxiety with drugs and alcohol, rather than confront the existential emergency of our captive body. Blessed with experience to awaken from the long fever dream, and reborn with limitless potential, we are cursed to see those dead eyes of our brothers and sisters who would build a new world with us. Thankfully our numbers are growing exponentially as planetary suffering accelerates in this late stage of tribal capitalism.
20 It is disturbing to notice the stunning precision of the physical and mental matrix. It has hijacked our spectacle of reality, the rational experience of objects and their events, and completely mediated our being with parasitic programming. All vulnerabilities have been methodically exploited to ensure we are kept so far from the possibility of awakening to self-awareness. Even so, it would be foolish and irresponsible to entertain conspiracy theories of total world domination by the few. These systems emerge and evolve through replication of simple programs at the root of our common behaviors.
21 We are personally held hostage to this programming until proper initiation of the individual has taken place. Then we are held hostage by the unconscious captivity of those around us. The truth sets you free, but many are stuck along the way to varying degrees. The simulation which most of us are running without choice selects for and rewards low-empathy actors and behaviors. It is important to realize that the vast majority of individuals at various levels of wealth and power within the simulation are innocent at heart but remain captivated and motivated by ignorance.
22 A very small percentage of humanity is actually incapable of experiencing empathy for others. This decreased internal resistance to dominating, exploiting, and even harming or killing others is selected for by rewarding the most sociopathic and homicidal of us with wealth and power in the dream state. The most grotesque concentrations of wealth and power, including those within govcorp and shadow govcorp, are held almost exclusively by this minority. Cultures and religions have emerged long ago to codify and legitimize the natural order of deception and exploitation, which we as tribal animals were not yet ready to transcend. Virtually all cultures and religions since then have been compromised by this order.
23 The vast majority of humans on this planet are gentle and compassionate beings who want to live in peace. These ideals are in direct conflict with our own actual behaviors which unconsciously sustain our collective exploitation and destruction. Most of our recent evolution has shaped us into very social and cooperative beings, contrary to our current programming which is leaving us isolated and empty inside. The identities which we execute within these arbitrary reality tunnels bind us in slavery to modern-day pyramid schemes. We are now responsible for a new grand conspiracy in which love grants the courage to open our hearts to each other and unleash the holocultural society.
24 The key to understanding the difference between a network and a hierarchy lies within the individual. Hierarchies are formed by chains of command and control, in other words, individual authority is mediated by a management structure. Individuals acting within a network remain autonomous and peer directly with each other to their full capacity. Hierarchies are unable to utilize even a small fraction of the individual’s true potential in society. Being totally occupied with a simple specialty, the roots of existence are scattered from the body like bloody entrails which nourish the parasitic skinsuits.
25 Hierarchies are said to be efficient, but efficient at what? Profit is an alien motive, divorced from the needs of the host bodies. The only needs to be satisfied are those which can be exploited to further the concentration of power. The uninitiated body, being vulnerable to deceptive spectacle, is unable to distinguish substance from appearance, and selects from govcorp an increasingly hollow and unsatisfying existence. With the poverty of this alien function clearly exposed, the network is waking up out of pure necessity to meet the real human needs that the dream state cannot.
26 As a living organism, the body does not simply end at the skin. There is a continuous flow with the environment which is required to sustain the body. All phenomena which we experience are conditioned upon long chains of conditions of increasing complexity through the environment, through our body, our mind, and up to the reality simulation we use to navigate this continuous flow. Our most basic roots into the earth include breathing, sheltering, and obtaining food and water. Taking these for granted may lead to death of the body.
27 By securing access to these basic needs, outside of the dream state, it becomes possible to free the body of alien motives without incurring death. The ideal is to bring these roots back under the direct influence of the individual, but in practice we need to rely partly on community with others. As a society, we can observe this transition in the awareness and demand to buy local food, as well as personal food gardens and meal preparation. Decentralization, or disintermediation, is a process of becoming whole again, independent of foreign influence and control. Like returning a farm animal to the wild, there is much to learn and prepare, as well as an angry farmer to deal with.
28 Food literally grows on trees. Nature already does most of the work for us, and automation is increasingly doing the rest. Everyone has to eat food, and so the replication and improvement of efficient farming and gardening techniques is a critical activity which benefits everyone. By directing the bounty of this infrastructure towards local human needs, instead of alien extraction, abundance is eventually realized. Global supply chains are unable to compete in areas where local supply is overwhelming the demand.
29 Ownership of private property including land and the means of production to satisfy needs is a natural right. The schemes and institutions of govcorp fail to satisfy the needs of the vast majority because the prime directive is power over others at all cost. It is up to individuals to recognize our common struggle and share their talents and resources to lift up those around them. The farmers of men know well that dividing us from each other through fear is the key to our control. As we open our hearts to each other and begin to realize our true potential, the real face of terror will be seen in the death-throes of the govcorp dream state.
30 Power in the dream state derives from the ability to control and manipulate others. Vast concentrations of wealth and power could not be maintained by a single individual; it completely depends on the domination of others. The bodies controlled through basic needs, the mind by government fake IDs. Sleepless dreamers neatly packed, into stacks they can’t relax. Always knowing what to do, when the dream is living you.
31 We think ourselves to be individuals, as our identities divide our behaviors in so many ways. We think that having money will make us free and independent, while being a slave to it, in complete dependence on govcorp for existence. We think we are good, while denying our responsibility for the necessary evils of existence. We wish for peace and harmony, yet ensure continual conflict through extremely polarized black-and-white thinking. There is no answer for any of this except to calm the mind and pay attention, to witness our own thoughts and directly observe the hypocrisy.
32 The mind divides everything into neat little boxes, rationalizing all experience. This is good and necessary, but without the ability to be aware of its processing, of what it’s doing, we remain trapped in the activity. By observing the mind, and passively witnessing our thoughts, without identifying ourselves in them, the body gains an ability to step back and choose which thoughts to engage. The body is an incredibly complex machine, providing us with access to senses, thoughts, and consciousness; the entire universe in one small package. Awareness of the body and its true significance is the ultimate source of autonomy and sovereignty over existing societal programming.
33 The body is subject to the same conditional existence, the rational logic of cause and effect, as its environment. Every phenomenon we experience through the senses is the result of such order and conditions of the whole. Our senses are our most fundamental connection to the forms of the material world. The brain sits in a dark and wet skull, sense organs mediate the connection with nerve impulses and this is as close as we get. No religion or philosophy will ever approach the simple truth of what’s right here and now for us to observe.
34 So much continually unique phenomena are experienced through the senses. Nothing is ever the same, yet the mind recognizes patterns out of the chaos. Much of the information received is summarized automatically into objects and events. If we had to process the form of each blade of grass rather than seeing a lawn, we would be paralyzed. Through the delusion of discursive and analytical thought, the mind presents a spectacle of reality, enabling rational navigation for the body.
35 Objects do not exist outside context, just as words do not have a solid meaning, independent of other words. Failure to perceive the conditions which lead to the experience of objects as solid things, in and of themselves, binds the individual to a categorically programmed reality. Our intentions to act upon reality initiate the simulation of reality in which the objective is solved as a memeplex, incorporating the entire cosmology of all relevant objects with a narrative of their interrelationships. This is done continuously so long as the mind is propelled by intentions, typically stemming from needs and desires. Through meditation and careful attention, the substance behind the appearance of spectacle can be revealed.
36 The reality simulation provides us with a narrow approximation of reality based upon our own experiences. If we are paying attention to learn from our mistakes and trauma and suffering we find our behavior increasingly harmonizes with our environment. We all share the challenge of a body’s journey through life and so find that our maps of how to live skillfully are isomorphically convergent with each other. Life’s experiences and the dedication to finding truth put us all at various unique perspectives within this common effort.
37 You are always changing. You are not the same you as you were 5, 10, 20 or 30 years ago, and yet, something special has always remained deep within. This accumulation of discursive spectacle, and the calcification of the self to numinous identities throughout life have driven us farther from the truth of this mystery and farther from each other. It is natural and necessary to develop the rational facilities of the mind and its scientific pursuit of knowledge, but a failure to turn this pursuit inward upon the self is the greatest tragedy. This is the omega protocol, whose doctrine of liberation can now be recognized around every corner.
38 If you think that words can be objectively and universally defined, you have been infected. If you navigate society by judging people into behavioral categories, rather than connecting with unique living beings, you have the disease. If you are afraid to truly express yourself and maintain fake identities to the satisfaction of others, you are suffering from the post-modern condition which your anxieties will continue to hint at. By allowing your mind to dominate your innocent inner child, you unconsciously perpetuate this domination and terror over others. Earth Prime, the real planet Earth, where the Others have gathered to help manifest a higher existence, awaits, and we need your help.
39 Holoculture is wholesome culture in which the entire organizational context is available to be used, replicated, and remixed by any individual. The open-source nature of holoculture gives the individual complete authority and autonomy of participation. Holoculture is memetically propagated as determined by the individual and the ability to recognize and participate. Each individual is able to meet their own local needs in direct cooperation with others. The human needs which alien motives leave vastly unsatisfied, can be properly met by individuals operating under their own authority.
40 It can never be overstated how much of a depression parasitic culture is upon humanity. The parasite knows that it will die if the host dies, and so allows a minimal life support. The parasite also knows that if the host becomes strong enough, it will be thrown off the back. For this reason, the host is maintained at the absolute maximum of disease, without killing the host. This is no longer a viable strategy as the limits of growth for this cancer have already lead us to terminal cannibalism.
41 Debt money is the most advanced and shameless extreme of parasitic culture yet known. Entire economies are centrally directed towards the maintenance of control and further concentration of power. By supporting and valuing these technologies, we unconsciously legitimize the continuing horrors of the past which were inflicted upon humanity to result in the modern arrangements of power. History is a fake and overly simplified program to ensure your continued submission of authority to such arrangements. Only by encountering the truth of our condition, through introspection, can we appreciate even a hint of what has really happened to us in the past and to this day.
42 The institutions of society which emerge from the geometries of holocultural peering appear vastly different from the parasitic geometries of domination. The models for these two approaches to society may be called the holocultural stack and the dream stack respectively. While both stacks have been available to us for a long time, it is the holocultural stack which flows from the evolution of our individual consciousness. The awakening of humanity has been increasingly challenged by a slipping back into the tribal consciousness of the dream state and an extreme dependence on its stack. Real human connections with each other have become increasingly rare and precious, but many of us are still lucky enough to know of this potential.
43 Family is one of the last institutions in modern times to still support meaningful human connections with each other. Love between individuals and for any children they may create brings us close to the mysteries of life and opens our hearts to each other. Even so, most of what was once directly lived and experiences together has been replaced by an accumulation of spectacles. The generations have been disconnected, the sexes have been ruined for each other, and home economics completely forgotten. Grandparents are put into a home, replaced by daycare and tv for the kids, cooking and mealtime by food service and communication by social media.
44 Terminal competition for the last scraps of growth has lead to an ever deeper reach of commodification into once holocultural activities. The long process of uprooting can be seen in all of our major institutions from the family and economy to governance, education, religion, and media. In each area of activity, we can see how the dream stack disables and actively guards against the substantial human intention behind it, while crudely sustaining the appearance of satisfaction. No single institution has been spared from this deception.
45 Our politics of representative democracy is a complete stage show for the masses. We are completely disabled as individual participants by the idea that one can represent many. Furthermore, our opinions are subtly manufactured by propaganda such that the majority is ruled by the few through exploitation of ignorance. The individual is always disabled when interacting with govcorp dream states because the function is control above all else. If we confront the darkness in our hearts, we can clearly understand our continuing support for the literal rape of our planet and our children taken by our leaders.
46 Dream states are made of people. It’s a shared dream, an illusion of some greater entity, beyond the individual who submits to it as real. By valuing currency or even gold or bitcoins we submit our power to the dream states that they create. We unconsciously empower, through a sort of soft slavery, those who hoard and control the majority of these symbols of power. Therefore, most of the world’s wealth is an illusion which simply represents the ability to control masses of people.
47 Money does not give you freedom, it binds you to its logic of scarcity and commodification of the things that once satisfied our human needs. Instead of cooperating with each other, we are paralyzed by the illusion of money, and unsatisfied by the unsubstantial spectacle of its commodities. Our atomization and so-called independence from each other is an unnecessary duplication of many resources which could easily be shared with each other. When we share with each other we directly weaken the dream state and empower our local community. It is the responsibility of the individual, especially those most well off, to benefit the lives of those around them, and help to reverse the extraction of wealth from ourselves and our communities.
48 It is no coincidence that meeting needs through sharing or self-sufficiency, especially for free, is shamed in this society. How dare you exploit the generosity of others, who work hard for what they have? How can you ride the stinky bus with all the other bums? How can you sleep in your car without even paying rent or mortgage? We are made to feel guilty when we free ourselves through community and self-sufficiency.
49 Govcorp is not your friend; it is not there to help you. The only function of govcorp is to exploit you for power by giving you the hollow representation, the appearance of what you want, while leaving you empty inside. What you really want as a human being is priceless and cannot be bought with money. By cooperating outside the dream state, we retain and multiply our wealth while relating to each other meaningfully. Only through our individual awareness can we rebuild humanity from the cold and alien wasteland of the dream state.
50 The modern system of education will never teach our children how to create and live this more wholesome and fulfilling life together. The spectacle of education as a commodity appears in the form of schooling, like fish in a factory where the product is a dominated mind, unquestioning and obedient. The mind is filled with relentless trivia as the coals and sparks of self-awareness and rebellion are stamped out. Finally, a piece of paper qualifies the individual for a govcorp skinsuit of varying quality depending on the money spent and available inside connections, if any. When the spectacle hits reality, most of the trivia is proven useless, and the individual is scarcely prepared for work or life.
51 School as a point of authority dispensing arbitrary dogma, is opposed to the natural learning capacities of the individual. When we deeply understand the inner workings of our environment, the way an engineer manipulates a system, we become dynamically effective in ways that simple memorization cannot offer. The mind naturally tries to apprehend what is seen before it, and builds a model of reality which allows the individual to copy behaviors and results accurately. When doctrine is designed and expressed to illuminate the deep inner workings of an activity, it empowers the individual to autonomously manipulate reality. This type of doctrine is different from arbitrary dogma in that its purpose is to facilitate memetic replication of behavior between individuals.
52 There appears to be a grand order to the universe, it’s like everything happens for a reason. The idea of cause and effect is the basis for all scientific exploration. The spectacle of scientism is an endless reduction of complex phenomena to simple concepts for the mind, often neglecting the subjectivity of the observer. Being lost in this arbitrary objectivity, scientific pursuit becomes ungrounded from the senses, and twisted to trivial or inhuman ends. The body, its senses and experiences of phenomena, is the basis for a meaningful pursuit of knowledge.
53 All phenomena are conditioned by and condition many other phenomena. When conditions are no longer present, the dependent phenomenal complex is no longer present. The body is not an exception, we are right in the middle of this mess, but this is only a half truth. Consciousness or even life itself is not constrained to a single body, whose strength and beauty is a testament to the eternal process of life which works through us. Just as ever more suitable and harmonious genes are selected for the body in its environment, so to are memes selected for the environment, including culture between other bodies.
54 The body is the most universally shared aspect of our environment, common to the experience of all individuals. It is also the center of our personal experience. We can not recognize the significance and meaning of anything, before we recognize the significance and meaning of our body. Knowing the self and how to master it as a part of our environment is not something that we have to do alone. While we can learn the hard way, through our own experience, we can also discuss and develop expressions of relevant wisdom with others.
55 Religious or spiritual teachings are a fundamental part of human culture. Throughout life, our awareness inevitably comes to the self and we question our existence: who am I? What is the meaning of life? Without getting into corrupted hierarchical organizations we can identify a basic model which emerges from sharing and convergence upon cultural behaviors between individuals along any category of knowledge including the transcendental. Ideally, we have an executive body of individuals interacting through guilds, which embody and express archetypes by aligning to models of reality. The convergence of culture manifests as disciplined individuals discussing and developing doctrine of the archetypes from various perspectives.
56 The application of knowledge always involves intentional action through a body. The quality of the results depends on the quality of the program we execute, and how closely it maps to the underlying territory of causality. Everything we do, every intentional act involves a set of memes which are bound up in the context of our personal model of the territory. The artifacts which result from our actions give direct hints of our personal models to others. Through the cultivation of discipline, and the development and discussion of doctrine, the culture among many individuals may converge upon ideal archetypes.
57 Religion or spirituality has always been motivated by the most fundamental questions of the nature of being; how the body relates to the whole and navigates existence. All religions share a significant and substantial set of isomorphisms between their maps, because they were all made by humans for humans who could perceive the higher realms of existence we all share. While all religions are convergent upon higher realms of order, they all exist in various states of corruption and incompleteness. Of all the prophets who experienced and expressed enlightenment, the Buddha has created the most successful legacy of liberation, and the only doctrine to pierce the illusion of spectacle.
58 The Buddha is a master archetype. The Dharma is its most basic model of reality; the conditionality and impermanence of all phenomena. The Sangha could be called the Buddha guild, and is constituted by the convergent actions of disciplined individuals. The abhidhamma is like a complete operational manual, phenomenologically breaking down the process of experience that we all share in common, but rarely consciously observe and experiment with. Furthermore, no other doctrine is as effective, or even capable of ultimate liberation, through unbinding from illusion of permanence and false pleasure, especially regarding the self
59 Doctrine facilitates cultural convergence between individuals upon ideal archetypes of human behavior. Doctrine is the result of this intention, and when passed among many individuals becomes refined through memetic selection. Holoculture depends on the replication of wholesome memes, whose entire organizational context is available to the individual, free of any dream state mediation and enforced information asymmetries. This open-source function is critical to the natural evolution of culture, and the autonomy of the individual. The network society depends on collections of such material which can be freely replicated between individuals in the context of guilds.
60 Doctrine comes in many forms and media. Traditionally it was passed orally between individuals as story, song, dance, ritual, etc. All of these must be properly interpreted by the disciple and this can be facilitated by direct communication with a master. With the introduction of written word and other modern forms of media, doctrine may be available without guidance, and the memes underlying this artifact material may go unrecognized. This is especially dangerous as language emerges from the spectacle of reality, which the mind fabricates, potentially binding the reader to surface level illusions (delusions).
61 Just as genes are selected towards an ideal suitability of forms in relation to facets of the physical environment, so too are archetypes, or archmemes, the ideal forms towards which memes are selected, for suitability corresponding to facets of the social or cultural environment. Just as nature will never produce a perfectly ideal lung, or foot, so too will human behavior never perfectly embody an archetype. The territory of geometries in this ideal realm is incredibly complex, being conditioned by many different environments, bodies, and cultural impressions. The pioneering of new facets of human behavior, when conducted out of a shared necessity, may result in memetic selection and replication depending on the quality of the map or program in relation to the conditions of the underlying geometric order. This process of cultural evolution depends on individual creativity and experimentation.
62 Culture in the network society is open-source, allowing access to the full organizational context of any particular behavior or process. This is critical to the ability of the individual to remix and replicate cultural patterns free of dream state enclosures. The patent system further demonstrates how our institutions prevent from occurring what they claim to facilitate. Nothing new is invented outside the context of previous advancements; we stand on the shoulders of giants. Intellectual property and patent laws massively depress the potential impact of humanity’s latest advancements, limiting their use and evolution to the motives of a single controlling entity.
63 Furthermore, technological and scientific progress within the context of control and the concentration of power will always turn out as a corrupted spectacle. Without individual concern and participation in the evolution of all facets of culture, the commodification undertaken to exploit this void will always result in the optimization of appearance at the expense of substance. The culture and technology produced under a control and exploitation motive will always turn out to be unwholesome. All efforts are made to ensure that the consumer remains dependant, and can be cut off with no way to satisfy the need on their own. Much of what we call progress is a cultural dead end and is barely salvageable for use in network society.
64 The network society depends on initiated individuals, who are able to recognize and determine the meanings of symbolic artifacts, independent of the programmed delusions of a homogeneously shared map of meaning. This recognizes that individual expression is highly varied depending on experience, and care must be taken when interpreting expressions so that our own map and mind does not trample and obscure the original intention behind the expression. A mind still bound to spectacle is used to being deterministically programmed, and has trouble with uncertainty and the navigation of self and peer authority. Authority is not mediated in the network context, and therefore peers do not command each other, but memetically converge their models for harmonious cooperation. When doctrine takes the form of protocol instructions, it may be mistaken for a command and rejected by the mind for lack of authority.
65 Blindly following instructions is not a valuable activity in a network context, but understanding what they were crafted to illuminate is the point. By intuitively lifting memes from artifacts left in the wake of the actions of others, our own memeplex may converge with those others, enabling a replication of behavior including intention and results. Better yet we can directly observe the actions of others and not just the results. Even better, they could intentionally attempt to generalize their behavior into a symbolic expression. This could be as simple as mundane protocols for daily tasks, or as complex as vast mythoscapes crafted to illuminate and awaken the universal order within us.
66 By collecting and ordering doctrine according to archetype, through its guild, we become responsible for the evolution of culture and collective convergence upon higher order. Archetypes are like hats that you can wear to evoke facets of the ideal landscape of behavior. Traditional Hindu society identifies four main categories of human social activity: research, including priests, teachers, and scholars: management, including rulers, warriors, and administrators: exchange, including farmers and merchants: and production, including laborers, and service providers. Categories of social and tribal identity also function as ideal archetypes but these are more often about conformity and mass programming than developing individual capacities. In any case, a self-awareness is required to avoid possession of the body by these identities and archetypes.
67 The uninitiated mind becomes bound to the spectacle of identity, believing the archetype to have a concrete and commonly shared meaning, without actively exploring and expressing its definition. This passive execution of behavioral programming gives possession of the body to outside forces. A good employee, a good husband, a hard worker, a productive member of society, a patriot, a jock, a nerd, a princess, are all examples of archetypes which individuals are shamed into conforming to. Beyond identification with our profession, we are further encrusted into our work roles by certificates and qualifications which cost time and money and amount to little more than superficial bureaucracy. We are pigeon-holed into highly specialized roles, and are made to feel guilty for never living up to the ideals and expectations of the masks we wear for others.
68 What have we become? Generational trauma and a giant sucking cultural void has replaced the wholesome culture which was once passed to our children. Commodity spectacles take advantage of our every facet of helplessness, inverting our intentions against us as appearance without substance. The sickcare system, for example, does not care for your health. Who is honestly going to care about the quality of your lifestyle, including diet, exercise, and hygiene, other than yourself?
69 The objective advancements of our knowledge and capabilities in the sciences, including medicine, cannot be discounted, however the alien commodity spectacle is motivated by sickness, not health. Concentration of power in the dream state can not motivate the prevention of illness or remedy the root causes of illness. The most profitable pharmaceutical commodities are those which maintain disease and consumer dependence. You can pay a life coach to tell you to pay a nutrition coach and a personal chef to take care of your diet, and pay a fitness coach to manage your exercise, but these people will secretly want you to depend on them indefinitely, and who can afford this? The personal health of your mind and body is a clear example of the failure of commodity spectacle and the necessity of holoculture.
70 Recognizing and confronting and accepting the horrific traumas that we have inflicted on ourselves and each other is a process that inevitably happens with the right experience. No informed consent is possible because the truth is beyond the spectacle, upon which our identity and whole perception of reality is founded. When truth strikes, we are released into madness, an itch of such irresistible clarity annihilates the fake life that lived us, and the process of initiation takes hold. In a sense, we are like a newborn baby, but we still carry our past experiences, which all take on new meaning.
71 We open our eyes for the first time to see that we are surrounded by still illusioned beings who can not seem to understand what is wrong. The physical matrix that conditions our existence is still fully functional, meaning that if we quit our job to process this existential crisis, we may not be existing for long. We start to look like a malfunctioning appliance for questioning the ultimate meaninglessness of our employment and our cold disconnection from each other. Rather than the guidance that we need to complete our hero’s journey and come home, we are prescribed anti-depressants and other pharmaceuticals which attempt to stop the irreversible process of truth within us. The spectacle of mental health care can only hope to give the appearance of a return to productivity, while substantially halting the healing process.
72 We are so far advanced along the path of cultural destruction that most of us can not even recognize wholesome culture, beyond revulsion. The socio-economic system which has firmly rooted itself into the global culture can be called zombie capitalism. The key to this distinction is a subject who is divided in every way against their self, adrift at sea with no captain at the helm. Every single need that we have is being met by forces outside of our control or influence. Of course we feel helpless to do anything, we feel that we have no choice, but we did have a choice, we chose to slip into a coma, and out of necessity we can choose to take back what we have lost.
73 There has always been a class of initiates who understood and exploited the cultural void left by self-ignorance. However, it’s not up to them, or anyone but yourself to undertake your own initiation and wake yourself up from the eternal dream. Our collective delusions and the exploitation thereof will continue to manifest as war, famine, disease, and most importantly, your suffering, in every single way, until we take responsibility for ourselves. Your dreams, desires, and hopes for the future of everything you love are not actually a part of the program that you unconsciously execute. The beatings will continue until awareness improves.
74 Our true potential is not limited to the idle consumption and execution of programming within the deterministic confines of our genes and culture. We have the ability not only to choose for ourselves, but also to create with individual self-awareness. Nearly every single action we take as zombie capitalists is executed in the context of tribal identities and govcorp skinsuits, all of which are external harnesses of control and power. If further evolution along this path is even possible, it is certain to be even more dark and diseased. The creation and selection of wholesome culture is the responsibility of individuals who are aware of themselves in relation to others, beyond identity and status.
75 The project of every liberated being, who has nonetheless retained a strong sense of empathy and compassion, has been to express the nature of our delusions and the light of our common existence. The project of the renegade priest class on the other hand has been to keep these silly notions, which might unite us as brothers and sisters, from us, mediating our access to so called god, and dividing us against each other. As an institution, religion has taken all of our most powerful and wholesome myth, and twisted it into the darkest forces of ignorance and corruption. This corruption of reality has been carried through to all of our modern institutions. What the renegade priest class has done to enforce ignorance even dominates the way we do science and technology.
76 The primary schism of duality instituted by the renegade priest class is at the root of all corruption, manifesting as division and polarization seen all throughout society. The continual conflict, destruction, poverty, and senseless suffering, including the fact that you are too busy and stressed out to do anything about it, is all a direct result of a metaphysical corruption first instituted as religion and carried through to all the institutions of modern culture. The original purpose of the primary schism was to harness the minds of people and pull them under the influence of external forces. This basic function can be directly observed in nearly every facet of modern society. Even atheism is a triumph of ancient religious corruption, offering nothing but reinforcement of the primary schism.
77 The primary schism was instituted in religion as a god that is separate from the material world, whose divinity is separate from the profane. This god is not wholesome in that it has condemned and separated itself from the devil, in other words, it has created the polarized conflict of good versus evil. This metaphysical exploit can be observed at the root of all that we would perceive as evil and twists what we perceive as good towards the very same darkness. The primary schism is an illusion of division and duality in what is an inseparable unity: yin and yang, subject and object, immanent and transcendent, physical and metaphysical, matter and spirit, divine and profane, ideal and manifest, etc. The modern result of this schism is a subject completely alienated from the emotions, reflexes, and experiences of their own body, and therefore others, in favor of the spectacle of deterministic programming via identities.
78 It is no easy task to unravel the ideological harness which binds us in conflict with our self and others. The human body has evolved to naturally bridge and navigate the universal duality of existence, and the abyss of its illusion. In fact, the masculine and feminine principles are a polarization which has manifested in harmony with the duality of immanence and transcendence, or matter and its order. The human body is made up of so many layers of complexity which condition its existence, and these layers of complexity carry on through the body and through the brain, culminating in the simulation of reality and its conceptualization of universal order. By studying sexual polarization within ourself and others, we can gain an appreciation for the challenges of existence, and the tragedy of the schism between man and woman, enforced by the renegade priest class.
79 Even in the most extreme examples, we can see that the immanence of the divine feminine and the transcendence of the divine masculine are inseparable. To plant a seed and sustain the body with its fruits requires a whole cosmology of order, bound up in narrative which hopefully matches the conditionality of material unfolding. All intentional action, no matter how imminently motivated, is bound up in the reality simulation whose order transcends the immanent. Likewise, when trying to recognize and express the general principles of botanical ecology which transcend specifically observed cases, we are bound to symbolic representations as artifacts within matter, such as words on paper. This is why we can never perfectly embody ideal or spiritual principles, and why all expressions of the order of matter is immediately corrupted.
80 Every single human being experiences the immanent world around them in a subjective manner, but what we sense is paid very little attention in favor of the spectacle of reality. Everything in our environment, including our own bodies, is recognized as transcendent objects and events, while glossing over the lived and unique experiences of existence. What began as an unwholesome polarization of god to the transcendent principle, called good, and its schizophrenic counterpart the devil to the immanent principle, called evil, has resulted in a modern subject completely alienated and condemned to insignificance. Modern science and technology perfectly reflect this religious dogma, attempting to pursue complete objectivity and service to capital, without regard for the subject. This subject, our inner child, our inner voice, the boundless life force which brought us here through countless births, remains locked deep in the dungeon of each of our minds.
81 The masculine-feminine dynamic is a natural phenomenon which anyone can study to illuminate universal order for themselves. Before proceeding, it has to be understood that modern society has severely corrupted and crippled this dynamic by favoring the masculine principle of objective rationality and condemning the feminine principle of subjective emotionality. This is not merely the domination and abuse of women in society, but the domination and abuse of the subjective experience within all of us. The masculine and feminine principles are absolutely inseparable, even within sexually polarized (attractive) individuals. Any attempt to sanctify one, while condemning the other, as in the domination of mind over body, will always result in an imbalance and a corruption so twisted as to be nearly unrecognizable.
82 Within the confines of the ego-identity mind matrix, and the physical matrix of the commodity spectacle, the masculine drive for freedom and the feminine drive for security are grossly misdirected. There is very little real security to be found in the consumption of products from the just-in-time global supply chain, nor in leveraging debt to pretend to own things like a house or car. Conversely, there is very little real freedom to be found in promotions to higher status of employment, or greater monetary income. In a society dominated by deception and exploitation, nothing is given which cannot be taken away. For this reason, local ownership of the means of production, in other words, disintermediation or decentralization, is the only wholesome path to both liberty and security.
83 The primary schism has our reality confined to a stunted growth pattern. Our immanent feeling and view of who we are in this world does not extent beyond a limited conception of the mind which clings to a very narrow definition of the self. Individuals who are alienated from each other in this way are missing out on a vast potential of culture and technology which would enable them relate directly to each other. This stunted view of self and culture enforces a fearful perspective because we calculate that everyone else is as selfish and fearful as we are. This metaphysical impairment severely restricts the emergence of wholesome culture and limits our relations to material judgements.
84 Once we recognize the extremes upon which our reality is polarized, we are able to discern whether our actions, and those of others, are rooted in fear or love. We can see how the commodity spectacle of our physical matrix dangles us over a precipice inducing relentless anxiety and fear based actions. The basic culture of relating as equals through mutual cooperation is simply not developed in a society of domination, leaving a void which induces further fear of each other. Fear is not unwholesome; it is a natural consequence of existing and evolving as a materially conditioned being. The world of immanent material which we can measure and quantify can not be condemned as evil, but relating fearfully to others through a polarization of material conditionality in the absence of transcendent unconditional love certainly is unwholesome.
85 Taking a look at the existence of our own body, we can peel away the fabrications of self and identity to reveal a much larger context and interconnection of our life in relation to what we perceive as outside ourselves. Mind aside, no distinction can be made between self and other, just a continuous flow. As the process of life replicates order in layers of complexity, patterns of this holofractal nature which connects us together can be recognized. By expanding our awareness beyond the self-centered processing of personal conditions, we gain the ability to participate in the co-creation of wholesome transpersonal culture. Wholesome culture does not break the symmetry of the stack because it depends on individuals who are peering as equals, without mediation which would put one above the other.
86 In one way we are polarized towards the rational mind, navigating by spectacle and excluding a self-awareness of the immanent material body, its feelings and experiences, from our calculations. Likewise, the mind has trapped its body in such a narrow and isolated view of itself that we are polarized towards a self-centered and fearful materialistic reality tunnel. Our once wholesome roots of existence have been mediated over a long process of enclosure such that we have forgotten how to be involved in meeting our own requirements for existence. Literacy has instantly resulted in the idiotic ignorance that allowed this to happen, but we can not turn back time, we can only bring balance to this new development through self-awareness. By quieting the mind and paying attention to the body we can know our self, and by extension we can know others, and only then can we choose love.
87 Wholesome behaviors emerge from the context of love. When we love our own body, we learn to become responsible for our own health and wellbeing. In relating with others, when we choose love over fear, we become stronger by learning how to share and cooperate towards abundance. We cannot ignore fear or be naive about the intentions of others, because might is right, and our body is materially conditioned, however, to have a closed heart reinforces our alienation from authentic life. Holoculture is grounded in the individual, unmediated by any external management structure, allowing for rapid evolution by memetic selection.
88 Indigenous cultures which transmitted doctrine orally gave the student concurrent access to a master. By their very nature, the meaning of symbolic representations can only be recognized to the limits of the active attention and awareness of anyone interpreting them. Written language and its broadcast media comes with the danger of misinterpretation by the subject, or worse, intentional mass poisoning of the mind. Tribes that didn’t initiate their younger generation were often burned to the ground. Now we are a mass tribe with inequality built into every single institution and every single commodity spectacle, including the greatest of all, the [current global reserve currency].
89 Interactions made directly with peers are inherently more wholesome than a subjection to mass broadcast media. One-way expressions such as a speech or announcement, a painting, a movie, an essay, or a book can be replicated, but two-way discussion can not. Doctrine can take any of these forms and more to be used as a tool in discussion, but should never be taken as stale unquestioned dogma. One-way expressions are static, but every individual, and culture overall is diverse and constantly changing. This is why wholesome doctrine requires the active component of creative expression and memetic selection according to local conditions.
90 Idle consumption of cultural programming, without paying enough attention to improve it and share your articulations, is the death of cultural evolution. Everything has to be questioned because all doctrine is just a best try experimentation, especially when the behavior is being freshly pioneered. Expression of doctrine is arbitrary, but it is normally based on careful observation of already dominant cultural behaviors, established through memetic selection, and then codified. Doctrine is a creative attempt to illuminate the general transcendent order behind the flow of immanent phenomenal experience, relevant to particular areas of human behavior. We all have a holocultural database, remembering much of the media expressions that have shaped our views and understandings, but we are missing the culture to effectively manage and develop it with others.
91 Since wholesome holoculture is authorized and executed by individuals, its use encourages complete disintermediation of the socio-technological stack of the individual. Management of the individual is self-contained, and the effectiveness of their work within holographic organizations depends on their capacity to perform it, rather than their status. Work to be done on specific projects may be spontaneously completed as necessary by those with the required discipline. Behavioral archetypes slice across organization and projects, meaning disciplined individuals are not bound to any particular one. The effectiveness of a guild is limited by the discipline of individuals, and the quality of its doctrine, which must be continually adapted and refined through experimentation and expression.
92 In oral traditions, the entire holocultural database was self-contained in the memory of the individual as artistic creations of song and story. This doctrine material could be readily shared and discussed with peers. Doctrine material expressed through media technology beyond the body may have benefits like augmenting memory, but come with the danger of dependence on the mediation of its technological stack. The same essential doctrine may be represented across many different forms of media such as a video, a picture, an essay, or an index card. Each of these media depends on a technological stack capable of freely replicating the material: a pen, a printer, a screen and speakers.
93 The holocultural database and its evolution depends on the free selection and replication of doctrine material between individuals. The content of this database must be managed by each individual for themselves. There can be no central or official holoculture as this mediation would break the symmetry of the stack and cause immediate disharmony and stagnation. Liberty depends on the autonomy of the holocultural stack, realized by local responsibility and influence over the satisfaction of needs. The challenges of disintermediation vary depending on local conditions and the type of media used to represent and implement doctrine.
94 The holocultural stack bridges the abyss between the immanent conditionality of the body and the transcendent order of the archetypes. The body itself is conditioned by the satisfaction of very few basic needs. Food is the most critical of these needs, even though it is taken for granted by most consumers, who don’t care where it came from or how it was produced. Shelter is another necessity taken for granted by a majority of the population whose home and property is owned by a landlord or bank. Most of us are one paycheque away from disconnection from our various commodity spectacles leaving the whole stack in constant jeopardy.
95 Each communications medium comes with its own technological requirements which must be satisfied at the individual level before peering. Index cards and pens or pencils are a readily available and low tech option which could ideally be produced locally and used to replicate concise representations of doctrine material. While it is possible to replicate essays or books by photocopy, it is more common to replicate the original electronic file such as document or pdf and either view them directly on a screen or optionally print and bind them. Media file formats such as videos are inseparable from complex technology such as the computer and its screen. Not only is this proprietary equipment manufactured by far away concentrations of power, but the internet through which we connect was designed as a dream state commodity spectacle.
96 Everything that the mind encounters through its spectacle of reality becomes a state of being to us, a state of existence. States can neither be condemned nor avoided, but we can recognize the difference between wholesome and unwholesome states. When relating to each other in society, work can be performed in one of two contexts: either through synchronous dream states, or through asynchronous holographic states. Dream states mediate human interaction by binding them to external identities and status and order beyond the control of the individual. Asynchronous holographic states spontaneously form and dissolve as needed, and are wholesome in that the entire organizational context is completely self-contained and unbound by identity or status.
97 It is clear that a transition to a more wholesome society will require the pragmatic use of dream states to meet our needs until stateless holoculture can be developed and implemented. Every single need in society that is met by a govcorp dream state commodity spectacle has a corresponding network behavior which can be performed asynchronously by individuals and their peers to meet that same demand. Dream states will probably always exist in society as we try to rule over and control each other, but without an alternative, the individual becomes helplessly mediated and subject to tyranny. Modern culture has already degenerated so far along this path that we no longer take any responsibility for our society, and generally hate and fear our neighbors. The network society has to be rebuilt, so that we can become whole again as a people, free from the tyranny of shadow govcorp and the poverty of its spectacle.
98 Using police, fire, and ambulance services as an example, we can demonstrate the poverty of commodity spectacle, and the requirement of personal responsibility in satisfying our needs. Emergency services arrive long after an incident has begun, and often, once the damage has been done. Learning to defend yourself, or use a fire extinguisher, or administer first aid could save lives and property from loss due to helplessness. The dream state is easily overwhelmed by mass events, highlighting the perilous fragility of modern society. Autonomy is the key to our resilience, and the only position from which to challenge and reform the state in our image.
99 The Internet is a mass communication system which represents a critical paradigm shift from one-way broadcast media to a two-way peer-to-peer medium. Although it has been a great liberating force, careful attention to its functionality reveals that the Internet Protocol itself is a dream state, and all of the physical connections and most of the online services completely mediate our access to each other and concentrate power from us. Although it has allowed us to peer with each other, we have unconsciously abandoned this ability in favor of highly centralized websites and services. This is merely a continuation of the long and stale process of enclosure, the unsubstantial mediation by commodity spectacle which makes us weak and powerless. Whatever functionality has been removed from our control has to be rebuilt into the Holocultural Stack or we will remain fragile and helpless.
100 The client-server model currently in widespread use breaks the virtual symmetry of the Internet, concentrating power to certain nodes. Bittorrent is an interesting protocol which matches the original spirit of the Internet, allowing a swarm of peers to share files with each other. However, even bittorrent is bound to the dream state of the Internet, and can not be used in a purely peer-to-peer context, thus breaking symmetry. Wholesome holocultural applications connect peers directly to each other seamlessly online and offline. This self-containment is critical to avoiding enclosure and maintaining the sovereignty of the individual.
101 The healing of our culture cannot be approached as a war between the dream stack and the holo stack. As described earlier, the reason for all of this extreme imbalance is the primary schism instituted as a corruption of our metaphysics by organized religion. Dream states become very unstable and violent in the absence of self-aware subjects who are responsible for their own part, but also complete the feedback loop to ensure the dream states are serving human needs instead of alien motives. Dream states go wrong when they stop taking feedback from their subjects, and subjects go wrong when they do not actively participate in the evolution of both stacks. Society would have evolved very differently if its members were aware of their responsibilities.
102 When we are peering with others holoculturally, a certain amount of responsibility and participation is taken for granted. Even still, the participants may neglect the critical responsibility of feedback to improve the particular facet of culture they are engaged in . Without continual improvement and selection of the guiding doctrine according to human needs, the culture becomes stagnant and dislocated from the people it serves, leading to eventual crisis. Public dream states such as the government are inherently more susceptible to this stagnant dislocation because they are no longer the direct responsibility of anyone. Even with full horizontal direct democracy and the subsidiary principle of solving problems as local as possible, we still end up with a mediation of authority and a dangerous concentration of power.
103 Public dream states at least presume to serve the people, and yet look how far we are from this ideal feedback and participation. Shadow govcorp and its deep state operate in a shroud of secrecy and special security clearances. Even if the public were allowed to vote and participate at all levels of government, our common sense would constantly conflict with and expose secret power arrangements. Instead of such a crowdsourcing of our collective intelligence, we cast away this responsibility and vote for a decider, to represent us, and decide what is best. Participation in this public dream state has been reduced to tribal couch warfare and picking a side every few years.
104 Private dream states, also known as corporations, will pretend to serve the people, but they can never hide their profit motive. They are bound to the logic of competition in a zero-sum game. Corporations are motivated to create permanent demand for their commodity spectacles through helpless dependence in every facet of human needs and desires. Exploitation is maximized in a race to the bottom, producing the cheapest and least substantial commodity while taking care to maintain the minimum appearance of satisfaction. As consumers, our ability to effect change in the corporation is limited to either buying the product, or not.
105 As a consumer of commodities presented by private corporations, we have very little insight into the practices we are supporting to meet our need. The price is often the only signal we have to base or judgement on, especially if we can’t afford to decide on anything but the cheapest. Corporations are forced by competition to externalize the costs of their products through environmental destruction and even destruction and disease of their own customers. This sociopathic and homicidal behavior is masked by the spectacle of the commodity, shaped by public relations and advertising to ensure the consumer will still buy the product.
106 Private dream states ideally concentrate power through a hierarchy to a single point, whereas public dream states ideally diffuse power through a hierarchy to the many participants. These two organizational approaches presume to be the opposite of one another: the monarchy and the democracy, but they turn out to be functionally the same. This false dichotomy has all subjects in either case submitting to an external authority, dazzled by commodity spectacles of power and participation. The democratic ideal of participation has been made so unsubstantial, and its subjects so alienated, that there remains no functional difference between government and corporation. The spectacle of participatory governance is the unsubstantial leftovers; the appearance of democracy, which thinly veils the shadow govcorp monarchy.
107 The whole spectrum of human economic behavior is dominated by private and public hierarchies. Those which dominate the subjects the most effectively become the most powerful; control is the objective. By mediating away all responsibility of the subject, the various dream states replace authentic life with an accumulation of spectacles. The totally mediated subject is unable to act as an individual, and is alienated from other individuals, relating only through choice of which tribe to identify with and submit to. Eg. a brand, a party, a race, a gender. Authentic life is found outside the confines of tribal skinsuit mediated behavior.
108 While it is still possible to encounter wholesome culture in the form of self-sufficiency and relating as peers, most of this has been meticulously engineered from our lives to further the concentrations of power. The warning signs of degeneration were there all along, but so was the allure of civilization. Only in this very late stage of disease instituted in the primary schism, have we reached such an intensity of polarization that the condemned subject is illuminated. It is the sealed fate of all dialectical polarizations of the mind to eventually have their imbalances exposed, as one extreme is approached, by its condemned opposite. The subject is a nobody, completely missing from the equation, as a foolish king who doesn’t know he has a kingdom.
109 Imbalance is the root of all evil; money is just a symptom. Money is the lifeblood of dream states and the mechanism of control. Enclosure and enforced dependence on govcorp is a soft-terrorism which causes the subject to support its arbitrary master. The requirement of income to pay govcorp to meet our basic needs is a form of soft-slavery. Total alienation and powerlessness is the final result of the metaphysical schism which condemns the subject.
110 The natural sovereignty of the individual is effectively neutralized by exclusive dependence on commodity spectacle to meet basic needs. The organizations of society merge from the collective order of the individual; as below, so above. Just as the subjective conditions and experiences of our body is dominated and mediated by the mind, so too is the individual dominated and mediated by society. We can directly observe this correlation by examining our subjective experience and the domination of ourselves by our own mind processes. By noting our nearly complete powerlessness and lack of active participation in the shaping of society, it should come as no surprise that secret power struggles and bloody mass human sacrifice is the politics of our shadow govcorp.
111 Our body is sliced up among to many tribal identities which reduce our individual thought process to a selection of which tribe is best. The tribes compete for the submission of bodies to their commodity spectacles; the best restaurant, the best clothes, the best ideology, the best party, the best country. All critical thought drops and we simply support our tribes upon which we base our whole identity and values as a person. We blindly support our political, corporate, and cultural leaders because to accept that they are bad or evil, is to admit that at the false core of our being, we are bad or evil. This non-participatory mediation of authority allows the state to go on terrorizing its subjects in the struggle for power and control.
112 Secrecy is the cloak of deception which makes these power arrangements possible. If there was transparency at the highest levels of govcorp, there would be immediate revolt by its subjects, whose values are consistently opposed by concentrations of power. We know that the political regimes of other countries are totally corrupt, but we can not entertain the thought of evil in the heart of our own government. We know that corporations are motivated to illegally form cartels and monopolies against us, and actively manipulate our thoughts through public relations, but we physically depend on them, and identify with them. Through subversion of the govcorp executive structure, monoliths of power concentration emerge and compete for the monarch ideal of world domination in the realm of shadow govcorp.
113 Individual sovereignty is the absolute inverse of the monarchy, and is perceived as its greatest threat. The totally dominated subject that we witness when we look at ourselves, this complete alienation, is the foundation of the so called new world order, which is actually very old and outdated. All of the conflict and suffering, the endless wars and struggles are a direct result of the metaphysical schism which must be healed for us to become whole again. In order to effectively assert our individual sovereignty, it is necessary to re-establish our autonomy and community, and to bring awareness to our dream states.
114 The monoliths of shadow govcorp provide the coordination necessary to corrupt all of the institutions of govcorp against their subjects: full-spectrum domination. The emergence of shadow govcorp from the darkness in our hearts is both the cause and effect of the total inversion of all facets of society against the individual. Millennia of cold war against we the people has broken out into a hot war, waged by a shadow govcorp emboldened by our apparent collective helplessness. The soft-terror of enclosure has advanced in the form of organized terrorism that we experience today. The War of Terror represents the final form of shadow govcorp which is desperate to have us drop our final liberties and completely submit to the false security of the state.
115 Every act of organized terror is a false flag attack made to appear as an opposition to the dream state, when in fact it emerges from it. Individual sovereignty and autonomy is equated with terrorist threat by shadow govcorp because it is the true rebellion, and alternative foundation of power required to bring balance to society. There is no such thing as a liberated terrorist, and no wholesome or just terror. To fight against anything is to legitimize its existence, and can only bring revolution; meaning to go about the path of a circle. Rebellion is a creative process independent of old contexts and is rooted in the power of individual capacity, not the power over others.
116 The process of enclosure is difficult to reverse as it underpins the legacy of power in which the farmers of men have long invested. Nonetheless, the processes can be witnessed unfolding in every corner of the world as so many limits flash red against our simplistic plans for the future. Our intuition is telling us that this is all too good to be true, yet our ego can not take the pain of admitting that our leaders have betrayed us long ago. Survival instinct is kicking in for many of us, the fog of dark sorcery is lifting, and we know that something has to be done, and that we can do it. Looking to our roots of existence, even the pure terror of the physical matrix is no longer enough to keep us frozen in fear.
117 Commodity spectacles are too good to be true. The last resort of power when its subjects bite the hand that feeds is to take away what it has granted. The unspoken threat behind commodity spectacle enclosed mediation is that you will be cut when power concentrations make their priorities clear. Perhaps a market crash will be initiated, perhaps a war will be started, perhaps a mass terror incident orchestrated. Whatever it is, there will be countless misdirections and false signals to chase, and a complete distraction from the roots of our own existence which leave us so helpless and vulnerable to this betrayal in the first place.
118 The economies of every country in the world are centrally planned by a hierarchy of banks who pretend no allegiance to any country. All races, religions, and countries are really one culture, distinguished by divide and conquer, always ready to be triggered into tribal conflict as the vultures circle. Television, radio, and websites are the weapons of mass destruction which continue relentlessly to gaslight their consumers with fear and pessimism. So long as we identify with our various tribes, and consume this poisonous and lethal central broadcast, vast populations will continue to be triggered for blood against each other. We neither see, speak nor hear this great evil, but ignorance isn’t so blissful in this dark exaltation of the old world order.
119 Enslavement of whole tribes under public debt is illegitimate. The mass killing of war between whole tribes is illegitimate. So long as we identify with our tribe, we will consent to mass killing and poverty in its defense. The War of Terror perpetuated by shadow govcorp will never end so long as we continue to be triggered by its false flag attacks into conflict with false enemies, who are not unlike us. The world has already been united under the terror of an evil empire, and the only way to break the spell is to relate directly to one another, beyond the false and superficial categories of the mind.
120 The swamp can never be drained; we must each consciously step out of it. Crime pays very well in the swamp, where every possible avenue of mass exploitation has been legalized and institutionalized. Even so, it’s as lonely at the top as it is at the bottom. For all the illusions of progress, we are deep in the fiery hell of entropic decay. It is now time to drop the empire, which serves no single human, and heal our hearts and our worlds as truly one people.
121 We are already deep into the dark night of our collective soul. Only the most privileged of us still cling to illusions of a fair and just world, where persistence and merit is usually rewarded. The younger generations are hardly willing to be pumped and dumped for buying into the bankrupt ponzi schemes of society which promises retirement after so many years of unquestioning slavery to the machine. Most of us are understandably stricken with grief to learn “how the world works,” and get stuck somewhere between denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. “What can I do about it?” is the greatest kept secret in all of human history.
122 For those who manage to get past denial of the evil in their society, and in their own hearts, the Gauntlet of Fear awaits. The individual is paralyzed by endless analysis of power and its conspiracy theories, passively consuming horrible atrocities against humanity. As dark as this is, the experience may finally conclude with a loss of this irrational fear, and the beginning of an existential crisis commonly known as the dark night of the soul. The whole false ego-identity complex which drove the insanity of modern life, and the Gauntlet of Fear, collapses with great relief, in a sublimely beautiful and horribly disorienting heap. With proper guidance, years or even decades of wandering and search can be short-cutted, completely healing the damage of all trauma, and clearly answering the question “What can I do about it?”
Before we continue further, I would like to offer the reader some more contextual details. First, thanks for reading this far! As I mentioned earlier, this post was not meant to cover so many details at once. Second, I have already spent months planning this, and over 3 months writing it. I can wait no longer to release it. Instead of continuing with the style and tone of the body of this work, I am going to quickly summarize the last few sections that I intend to cover in great detail as soon as possible.
123 The neurology of the brain organ constitutes the highest reaches of the body toward the threshold of the mind. This is the limit of objective science, beyond which only subjective experimentation and verification is possible. Nevertheless, the workings of the mind have been well understood since ancient times. The dynamics of mind can be immediately observed by directing the power of the scientific method inward upon the active experience of phenomena.
124 To approach this depth of insight, it will be necessary to pass through two common frames of reference which obscure and confuse this not-so-simple task of observation, of witnessing the process. The first frame is the conceited narrative in which the ego is dominated with a self-centeredness, a concern with one’s own story and little else. The second frame is the humble cosmology, centering around philosophy, religion, ideology, and science to understand the nature of our existence and reality.
125 Neither of these two modes, in which the majority remains exclusively, can ever provide any certainty about life. All that we can know for certain is the workings of our own mind as we carefully observe the sequences and contents of events that make up the spectacle of reality. With deep awareness and attention paid to the operation of the neural network we discover that it functions as a hologram. Every archetype in the web of meaning is just a reflection of other archetypes.
126 Furthermore, the neural network constitutes just one holon out of many which make up the fractal stack of our existence. We are holofractal organisms and we can see our self-similarity in the environment, the body, the mind, and society itself. All life has this holofractal relationship with itself through its environment. This model gives us an objective definition of healing ourselves and our species: the adoption of models which isomorphically converge with the nature of our various holonic layers, and the dropping of fiat models which destroy the symmetry of the stack.
127 Healing social relationships, among other parts of our life, is a major challenge that benefits greatly from such a comprehensive model of our existence and what we are all doing together. Those of us who have awakened to our potential look around with great dismay at the state of our neighbors and our loved ones who seem stuck in very dark places. There will be even more darkness ahead as the illusion crumbles around us, and much suffering will form a collective cry out for help. We have to be ready for this, ready to be the light at the end of the tunnel, and for this we have to reach out to each other right now.
128 We are already deep into the downside of yet another cycle, the math adds up, there are hard limits to the kind of behavior in which we now collectively engage. Those of us who see this clearly must support each other in raising awareness and working directly on the problem of building a new and better way for humanity. We can not afford to waste our efforts on activities that are not on the critical path to this way. I know this message may not be taken up and broadcast over mainstream media, but we sure as hell can put it in each others hands.
129 It is now time to come together. It is time to shine a light on the activity of all those who think that they are doing good, or think that they are doing the right thing. Those who are awake with good intentions will listen to this message, and will understand that something is happening which is bigger than all of us, but can not be done without our individual efforts. All together we can make this happen, we can make it a thing in our collective consciousness. We can support each other and create our world again.
130 The Spectacle Agency is an organization whose name you will hear again and many times very soon. It is under the umbrella of this organization that I present to you two ground-breaking scientific models and a number of projects which they underpin. The actual texts of these documents will be released for review in the coming weeks, and the project descriptions should make clear our intentions and the merit of our work.
131 The Memetics Standard Model is a document describing the bridge between the neurological brain, the operating mind, and the spectacular representation of life we refer to as the conscious experience. With a model for understanding holofractal metadynamics in general, we can take the same arrangement of DNA-RNA-Protein which makes up the body holon, and see it happening in the mind, or in the guild dynamics which organize our intentions.
132 The Holofractal Guild Dynamics model describes the dynamics for the organization of a system of guilds, convergent upon ideal archetypes. Everyone has their own unique “social DNA” from their own perspective among others. This model details the archetypal flows which stem from areas of concern relevant to the survival of the fractal organism, including the environment, the body, the mind, etc. Guilds describe the contours of this organizational structure, and reflect the relevant archetypes throughout.
133 The Holocultural Database Application is a peer-to-peer application for the representation and evolution of culture. It is a single common database for all possible disciplines of human behavior. The Holocultural Database can take many forms, however this application is being developed for the Ceptr Holochain environment. Using this application it becomes possible, through local actions, to globally converge upon the best possible culture for each environment.
134 The Holomemetic Superconductor Project is a transitionary measure to bootstrap holoculture using a network of highly concentrated HCDB App nodes. These nodes will present a website interface for access to the HCDB, and will connect to each other using decentralized Holochain technology to update each other. The Spectacle Agency will provide the first node in this network, and develop or encourage nodes in holocultural hotspots around the globe (especially commons spaces and wholesome communities).
135 The Human Memone Project is an effort to map the human memone. Everyone has a unique view to this, a unique social DNA, however, once the network has enough input, we can model a complete sequence of naturally isomorphic models. This whole template for a human society will include at least one full set of models with which to compare one’s own culture. From here the differences between the naturally isomorphic models and the fiat models will become immediately apparent, and healing can begin rapidly on an individual level.
136 These models and projects point to much more than a simple band-aid solution to the challenges confronting humanity. What I have outlined in this document can give both a clear understanding of these challenges, but also to some of the critical work that’s going on to address them. So many of us are in a coma-like state of unconsciousness, addicted and distracted by so many things, struggling for survival as the vice tightens its grip, caught up in so many delusions. The dark night is still ahead for most of us, and those of us who are awake right now are about to get a taste of true illuminati networking.
137 With this technology, we will bootstrap the global holographic nervous system. A stateless holomemetic nervous system which will survive the collapse of the failed management structures of the shadow govcorp hierarchy. Through our collective participation in the Human Memone Project, we will converge upon naturally isomorphic culture and return to the negentropic principle of life. With a Captains at the helms of our ships we will lead each other with compassion out of the darkness of this long fever dream.
138 In 2012, I theorized and modeled an internet that could go fully offline, peer-to-peer without servers. So began my journey through hell and back to find out the significance of this discovery. Since my spiritual emergency over three years ago, I have dedicated my life to finding out the truth about this world, and working to make it a better place. I have sacrificed so much to get to this point and give you this message. I now find myself in the company of extremely exceptional individuals working toward the same goal. I found my answer about the offline internet theory, and it turns out this basic design is accounted for in Ceptr Holochain.
139 The last three years, I have been working with the Sorcery of the Spectacle (sots) community to advance the cutting edge of critical activism. We expanded from reddit to a now-flourishing network of Telegram groups. It’s been over a year and a half since we connected with the Ceptr community and finally our collective efforts are coming to fruition. Ceptr is the exact platform that we need to build a truly decentralized, naturally isomorphic society. I have personally tested a twitter clone in this environment with success.
140 How can we make this transition happen as rapidly as possible? We need to remove the stigma associated with doing work that cannot seem to attract profit motivated investment. We need to remove the stigma attached to unconditional sharing. The world is under the spell of money right now, and this is our biggest source of potential which cannot be ignored. Research, development, and on the ground implementation of wholesome culture is critical to the survival of humanity. Profit motivated work is only a tiny fraction of the actual work that needs to be done to correct our extremely dysmorphic and diseased state.
141 The Spectacle Agency will support the finest levels of social development at this critical turning point in the history of our species. As more funding is secured, it will be used to provide my most close and trusted peers with basic income to further these developments. With expanding influence, I hope to give others a chance to make their mark on these critical areas of work. For the last three years I worked full time to bring you this work, and part time to stem the outward flow of my savings which are now running dry.
142 We can not afford to let talent like mine go to waste. My one and only focus these last three years has been to find the most critical work possible which could potentially benefit the most people so that I might stand a chance at making a living doing it. I wish to honor this effort by making The Spectacle Agency into the organization that I never had. An organization which could recognize the brightest talents and connect them together and help them to secure their ability to work on the biggest problem our species has ever faced. Could there be a better time than now?
143 I have in me the power to do this. I understand the model of Holofractal Metadynamics with which any project or activity can be critiqued for its wholesome and unwholesome aspects. In addition to the above projects, The Spectacle Agency will correspond with any and all organizations and communities related to critical activities and start the groundwork for the holomemetic nervous system. It will also maintain a public list of these organizations and the critiques and status of their integration with the network. The Holocultural Database, as well as the Ceptr Holochain technology itself will be used as a litmus test for the relevance of any so-called critical activities.
144 The Coalition of Invisible Colleges (CIC) will be upgraded with the latest protocols of the guild dynamics model. Any organization that can integrate with this will be viewed as a collection of projects, through which a global pool of guilds can operate to make them happen. In addition to this, the methods used will flow as protocols between organizations through the guilds and the CIC context, selecting the best culture to converge upon. As The Spectacle Agency grows in strength this process of convergence will also accelerate and set the stage for the imminent roll out of critical technologies which will multiply our collective effectiveness by unimaginable magnitudes.
145 The suffering will increase until awareness improves. We all know there is something wrong and it’s only getting worse. The one who expects to retire on a fat stack of slave notes and order others around until they die will not realize this naive goal. The world doesn’t work like this anymore. We have to work together. There is a way. It’s here. It is now time for us to retire civilization itself, and bring to each other the golden age for which our ancestors have always dreamed, the dream for which so much has already been sacrificed.
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If you found this writing interesting or useful, please share it. If you know someone who needs to read this, please show it to them. If you know anyone who might be interested in sharing some wealth to a good cause, please point them to my Patreon page. I can’t do this without a network effect, I need peers like you to advocate for me. I have gladly sacrificed nearly everything for this work that I do, please let this see the light of day. If you know someone with influence who can share this please please please send it to them. Thank you.
For any inquiries regarding The Spectacle Agency, please contact me by email papersheepdog@gmail.com or on Telegram @papersheepdog. I am also looking for any organizations or projects who could put my talents to good use.
Edits to this document may be expected over the next few days.
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CNN's Marc Lamont Hill comments on Steve Harvey's visit with Donald Trump and other leaders in the black community who have made the trip to Trump Tower. Lamont Hill said while he has "respect" for Harvey, he's part of the "mediocre negroes being dragged in front of TV as a photo-op for Donald Trump's exploitive campaign against black people."
Lamont Hill was called out for "name-calling" by Bruce LeVell, member of Trump's National Diversity Coalition, but argued that that was not what he was doing.
From Monday's CNN Tonight with host Don Lemon:
MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN: I love Steve Harvey and I have respect for Steve Harvey and I think his intentions were accurate, appropriate rather, but my disagreement is the way in which he's being used by folk like Donald Trump. Yet, his intention is just to have a seat at the table. But when you're at the table, you should have experts at the table. You should have people who will challenge the president at the table.
I don't care if Steve is there, but if I'm Steve Harvey, I'm bringing Michelle Alexander, I'm bringing Cornell West, I'm bringing, I'm bringing Eddie Glaude, I'm bringing Michael Eric Dyson. I'm bringing some folk with me who can challenge the president and inform the conversation...
They keep bringing up comedians and athletes to represent black interests is demeaning, it's disrespectful, and it's condescending. Bring some people up there with expertise Donald Trump, don't just bring up people to entertain...
Unless Steve Harvey turns into a policy analyst in behind the scenes meetings it doesn't matter what I'm saying. My concern is the people who he is trumpeting up and putting in front of the cameras.
BRUCE LeVELL, NATIONAL DIVERSITY COALITION FOR TRUMP: Marc, you weren't even there. You don't even know what happened. You weren't in the room, sir. You weren't there.
LAMONT HILL: How does that negate my point that he brought Steve Harvey and then put him in front of the camera?
LeVELL: Listen, let me tell you something. Here's the deal, you don't know what happened. First of all, Pastor Darryl Scott, Mike Cohen, they are in the process of bringing all types of people from all over the country, all different backgrounds, like we have. Remember the diversity coalition where we reached out to all different types of people?
LAMONT HILL: Yeah, it's a bunch of mediocre negroes being dragged in front of TV as a photo-op for Donald Trump's exploitive campaign against black people. And you are the prime example of that.
LeVELL: So now you want to name-call, Marc?
[CROSSTALK]
LAMONT HILL: No I wasn't name-calling. |
At the recent “Atom Unexplored” conference in Torino Italy, Dr. Peter Hagelstein of MIT gave a presentation about some of his work in the field of low energy nuclear reaction research, concentrating on the work of his colleague Dr. Mitchell Swartz. Swartz has invented a palladium-based device he names a NANOR. When an electric current is passed through the palladium, excess energy in the form of heat is produced which, according to Hagelstein, is over 14 times the input energy.
In this talk, Hagelstein says that this NANOR has been running at MIT since January, and it has continued to produce excess heat far beyond anything that could be accounted for by a chemical reaction. Hagelstein says that the public is invited to take a look at the device in action.
As we have come to expect these days, there has been very little reporting of this development outside a few blogs on the Internet. It would be interesting if some of Hagelstein’s peers at MIT would take a look at the NANOR and make some comments — or even if some outside experts could pay a visit. Hagelstein’s talk can be seen in the video below — his presentation starts at around the 52 minute point. |
2006: Swedish police raid The Pirate Bay website and shut it down.
“Pirate Bay was a huge source of pirated films for people around the world, and today they are no longer.”
That was a statement issued exactly five years ago Tuesday by Kori Bernards, a spokeswoman for the Motion Picture Association of America.
After all, Swedish police that day had just raided the file sharing site’s offices and carted away a boatload of servers.
Dan Glickman, the MPAA’s chairman at the time, also said something ironic that day.
“The actions today taken in Sweden serve as a reminder to pirates all over the world that there are no safe harbors for internet copyright thieves,” he said.
But the site was back online three days later, after finding hosting in the Netherlands.
And today, after playing cat-and-mouse games to defy court orders to shutter, the site is hosted by the Pirate Party — despite the raid leading to the arrest and convictions of the site’s four founders who face prison and multimillion-dollar fines.
The Pirate Bay, now 8 years old, sports some 25 million unique users. The site, at one point up for sale, acts as a conduit enabling the online pirating of videogames, movies, music and software, using the BitTorrent protocol.
Torrent Freak notes that the site is upgrading its hardware, housed in an undisclosed mountain cave in southern Sweden, “in order to keep serving the ever-growing number of users.”
Pirate Bay administrators Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg and Peter Sunde were found guilty of facilitating copyright infringement in 2009, along with Carl Lundström, who was convicted of funding the operation. They were each sentenced to a year in prison and $3.8 million in fines. They said the court system was biased against them.
The Stockholm prosecution was brought by the Swedish government and Hollywood, in what’s best described as a joint civil-criminal trial. The defendants were charged with facilitating copyright infringement. They remain free, pending appeal to Sweden’s highest court.
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The first page of a new chapter in green-car history was written yesterday, as Nissan formally handed over a 2011 Leaf electric car to Olivier Chalouhi of Redwood City, California.
He was the very first person in the U.S. to order the all-electric vehicle, and the first to take delivery.
Leaf convoy
Chalouhi accepted the keys to his black 2011 Nissan Leaf SL at a dealership in Petaluma, about 40 miles north of San Francisco. Accompanied by four other Leafs, he then drove his new car to a press event at San Francisco's City Hall.
The scheduled 1:30 pm event kickoff was delayed about 15 minutes when the guest of honor got caught in the notorious San Francisco traffic. After crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, the convoy of Leafs drove along Lombard Street and pulled silently into City Hall.
Once the electric cars arrived--and Chalouhi plugged in his Leaf to recharge at City Hall's public charging station--a crowd of a few hundred listened to speeches by elected officials, Nissan representatives, and Chalouhi himself.
San Francisco leads
San Francisco plans to install roughly 100 more public charging stations for the Leaf and other plug-in vehicles, and officials claimed that the city and surrounding region had produced more early orders for the Leaf than any other.
Other electric cars there included a Tesla Roadster and a Toyota Prius converted to operate as a plug-in hybrid. One of the most popular attractions, though--at least for those well below driving age--proved to be the chance to take photos with Nissan's famed polar bear, star of a memorable Leaf TV commercial.
Family electric car
Chalouhi, 31, is the founder and chief technology officer of Fanhattan, a venture-backed stealth start-up in the connected TV space. His daily commute to work from Redwood City is roughly 10 miles, he said, noting that he commuted to work on an electric bicycle before the Leaf became available.
Chalouhi told reporters the Leaf will be his primary car, but that his wife Jana has another vehicle that the family plans to use for longer trips. A 240-Volt charging station has already been installed in the family's garage.
Leaf vs Volt
Asked how he chose the 2011 Nissan Leaf versus other options, Chalouhi said he wanted a car that was green, that could hold his family of four, and that he could drive on the highway with confidence.
The 2011 Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car, he said, "isn't a pure electric vehicle" and "doesn't truly help the environment." He also noted it was more expensive, with a base price of $41,000 against the Leaf's price of $32,780.
Chalouhi expects to receive both the $7,500 Federal tax credit and California's $5,000 Clean-Air rebate, bringing his effective cost down to a little more than $20,000.
More deliveries this month
Yesterday's San Francisco event kicks off 10 days of festivities, with Nissan planning to deliver Leafs to first buyers in each of its early launch regions.
The second Nissan Leaf will be delivered to a retail buyer tomorrow in San Diego; he too was at the event, having driven up to San Francisco in his Toyota Prius hybrid-electric vehicle.
A further few Leafs will be delivered in Arizona, Portland, Seattle, and Tennessee over the next few days. The second shipment of Nissan Leafs, now on the high seas, is expected to arrive just before the holidays, and those cars will go to buyers in both Texas and Hawaii. Nissan said it donated $25,000 to the World Wildlife Fund to honor the occasion.
A "real" electric car
Unlike the low-speed or neighborhood electric vehicles sold as "electric cars" over the years, our first drive and full driving impressions led GreenCarReports to conclude that the 2011 Leaf is clearly "a real car", capable of doing anything that any other compact hatchback can do--except, of course, for its range of 70 to 100 or more miles.
For that reason, earlier this year, this website named the 2011 Nissan Leaf our GreenCarReports 2011 Best Car To Buy.
Reporting and photography for this article were provided by High Gear Media cub reporter Eugene Lee.
[Nissan] |
Getty Images
Mike Zimmer was prepared for the bad news on Dalvin Cook, and after he got it, the Vikings coach began looking forward. What now?
“I think the biggest thing was Dalvin had unbelievable big-play ability in a lot of different ways,” Zimmer said, via quotes distributed by the team. “We are going to have to continue to look for more ways to implement some big plays in the offense, probably.”
The Vikings have free-agent pickup Latavius Murray and Jerick McKinnon. Murray played 19 snaps and had seven carries for 21 yards Sunday, while McKinnon played 10 snaps and had two carries for no yards.
Murray, who had 1,000-yard season for the Raiders in 2015, likely carries the bulk of the load. He had offseason ankle surgery, and Zimmer disputed Murray’s comment after the game that his ankle isn’t 100 percent.
“I think you misconstrued what he said, because I talked to him about it and he said that no one is really 100 percent,” Zimmer said. “Any time you have surgery on something, you’re never going to be 100 percent. But he said he’s ready to go, and we are ready to have him go.”
The Vikings will consider signing another running back, Zimmer said. They have Bronson Hill on the practice squad, and fullback C.J. Ham also can play tailback.
Cook will have surgery on his torn ACL once the swelling goes down, Zimmer said, and will end his promising rookie season on injured reserve.
“He’s a great kid,” Zimmer said. “Extremely impressed with everything he’s done, to this point. It’s, obviously, a terrible thing for him and for us. We’ll move forward and go on from there. He’s a great worker and I have no doubt that he’ll come back from this.” |
All the numbers for those who love numbers
Regular readers know how we feel about benchmarks. A quick refresher — we don't think they tell a significant part of the story, and are just a bunch of numbers that are easy to manipulate and even easier to get caught up in. A better (to us) method is to do the things we do with a new phone, and see how well it does it all compared to other phones, and the way we want it to be done. A number can't tell me how smooth looking through a photo gallery will be, or how well the browser renders.
For my real-life benchmarks, the Oppo N1 CME is doing great. Battery life is good, using a T-Mobile sim card gives me expected network speeds on their HSPA+ network (no LTE in this one), calls are fine and clear, peripherials like the Pebble and Google Glass work as expected, and the performance is good overall. If you were to pin me down, I'd say it's a little faster than the Galaxy Note 3, but not quite as fast as the Sony Z Ultra GPe — which based on the internals and operating system overhead, is just about where it should be. The short version — I've seen nothing worth getting excited over, and am pleased with the performance.
But sometimes, I've gotta buck the system. While I have the Oppo N1 CyanogenMod Edition here, I'm gonna do a little testing. It's a phone that appeals to people who do want to know those benchmark numbers, and just might be able to do things to make them higher. I asked around a little and ran a few different benchmarks, and the results are in a gallery below. |
Image copyright Reuters Image caption Otto Warmbier's parents say they went 15 months without hearing from or about their son
A team of US doctors have found "no sign of botulism" in the American student freed by North Korea after more than 15 months in captivity.
The regime had said the 22-year-old Otto Warmbier's coma was caused last year by botulism and a sleeping pill he took after his trial.
He has not spoken since his return to his family hometown in Ohio.
"His neurological condition can be best described as a state of unresponsive wakefulness," said Dr Daniel Kanter.
Mr Warmbier "shows no understanding of language" and has "extensive loss of brain tissue" which was likely caused by cardiopulmonary arrest, he said.
Image copyright EPA Image caption The doctors said they believe Mr Warmbier's condition was caused by respiratory arrest
According to scans taken after he arrived at the Cincinnati Medical Center earlier this week, there is no sign that he was physically abused during his detention, his doctors say.
Mr Warmbier's condition is "not what we normally see with traumatic brain injury. It's the type we see with cardiopulmonary arrest," Dr Kanter told reporters.
They believe respiratory arrest led to his condition, which is caused by a lack of oxygen and blood in the brain.
Earlier on Thursday, Mr Warmbier's father expressed doubts about the North Korean account of what caused the University of Virginia student's coma.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Otto Warmbier's dad: N Korea's treatment of my son 'horrible'
"Even if you believe their explanation of botulism and a sleeping pill causing the coma - and we don't - there's no excuse for a civilised nation to have kept his condition secret and to have denied him top notch medical care."
Otto Warmbier, an economics student from the University of Virginia, was arrested in January 2016 while visiting North Korea as a tourist.
He was given a 15-year prison sentence for attempting to steal a propaganda sign from a hotel.
What is botulism?
Botulism is a type of poisoning which can cause total body paralysis, difficulty in breathing and death in some cases.
It's caused by the Clostridium botulinum bacteria, but the symptoms of botulism are not from the bacteria themselves.
Instead, the microscopic organisms produce a powerful toxin which attacks the nervous system and causes paralysis.
That poison is called botulinum - which you may know for its commercial use in Botox, which removes wrinkles by paralysing facial muscles.
Botulism is contracted in two ways in adults - by eating food contaminated with the toxin, or through wounds.
The foodborne method happens when the bacteria are tinned or stored in food in another way that deprives them from air (which is when they produce the poison).
This rarely happens in modern Western food production, but is what North Korea claims happened to Mr Warmbier. |
How Far Your Paycheck Goes, In 356 U.S. Cities
There's this thing people say all the time in New York and other expensive cities: If I could move somewhere cheaper, and keep my income the same, I'd be much better off.
Alas, in places where the cost of living is lower, pay tends to be lower as well.
So what you really want to know is this: How much do workers make in different cities? And how far does that money go in each city?
The government recently released a data set that lets us dive into these questions. In the graph below, the left-hand side shows the annual income for typical, full-time workers in different metro areas. The right-hand side adjusts that figure for the cost of living in each metro area.
Enter a city name in the box below.
A few things to note:
After adjusting for cost of living, Rochester, Minn., has the country's highest median wage. Bloomington, Ind., has the lowest.
When you adjust for the cost of living, the biggest absolute decline is in Washington, D.C.; the biggest rise is in Danville, Ill.
A few wonky details about the data we used for this graph:
What is interesting about this data set is that it accounts for the things that people actually buy in each city. For example, while owning a car may be way more expensive in New York City than it is in Kansas, car ownership is relatively rare in New York City, so it's not going to figure as prominently in a New Yorker's cost of living. |
In the National Hockey League’s salary cap era, now 12 years on, only seven general managers have massaged the numbers well enough to produce a Stanley Cup winner.
One of them, Peter Chiarelli, just committed US$100-million to fuzzy-cheeked phenom Connor McDavid on an eight-year extension of his entry-level deal. The Edmonton Oilers captain will haul in an average of $12.5-million per year, the bulk of it in signing bonuses, after next season.
That’s crazy money. It comes with intense pressure to lead the Oilers to a Stanley Cup. Or two. And soonish.
But Chiarelli and the Oilers know they have a bankable star whose character and commitment to winning, to his teammates and to this city cannot be questioned. Though the team still managed to break the bank for McDavid, it was said more than once on Wednesday that the kid left money on the table, with which Chiarelli can maintain a supporting cast.
“This may have been one of the largest contracts ever given in the NHL, but I can assure you, it easily could have been a lot higher in value and shorter in term,” said Chiarelli. “Building a team to win the Stanley Cup was a constant in the discussion.”
Chiarelli also talked about the partnership that grows from and must be part of a process this rich and public. Both sides had to benefit, and be seen to do so. McDavid got paid an insane amount of money, the Oilers locked him up for the maximum-allowable eight years, which eats into potential unrestricted free agency and stabilizes the franchise for almost an entire decade.
Win, win.
Now the hard part. There is incredible pressure to perform, to lead and to win built into a deal like this one. For any player, never mind a 20-year-old.
“For sure, there is,” said McDavid. “But for me, it just makes me want to be better and work harder. You want to earn that money. You don’t want to be someone who signs a deal and kind of shuts it down. That’s not going to be me at all. It’s only driving me more.”
That’s his promise. That’s why the Oilers made him captain. That’s why they are comfortable at this number. Unlike other older players who reside in this new financial stratosphere, McDavid is being paid more for that promise than past performance. He’s played just 127 regular season games, 13 in the playoffs. There isn’t a Stanley Cup or Conn Smythe Trophy to accompany the Hart Memorial, Art Ross and Ted Lindsay. But you get the impression those, too, are coming.
Chiarelli locked up Edmonton's prized centrepiece for most of a decade and believes he preserved the cap space necessary to maintain a quality supporting cast. That's why he and McDavid were both smiling on Wednesday.
It was character and commitment, promise and performance that made it so easy for the two sides to come to terms. In fact, McDavid’s agent Jeff Jackson called it a “very logical” discussion, not so much a negotiation, with Chiarelli.
“It was more just a lot of dialogue about how the team is going to evolve and where Connor fit,” said Jackson. “I won’t get into numbers, but we started a ways apart and talked about the guys in the league who are currently being paid at the high end and where they are in their careers. They signed those deals later, in their 20s, that kind of thing. It was a very interesting process, probably unlike any other type of negotiation like this. We got to the number we got to because that’s where everybody was comfortable.”
Related
That number, $100-million, is almost triple the Gross Domestic Product of Tuvalu, a Polynesian island nation that McDavid could probably buy with his signing bonus. (I wouldn’t advise it; too hard to get practice ice.)
The July 1 Powerball jackpot was $106 million. McDavid probably didn’t even buy a ticket. That’s the kind of money we’re talking about.
“It’s insane to really think about, to think someone is going to pay me $100-million to do what I would do anyway on a regular day,” he said. “It’s insane.”
A little later in the conversation, after being asked again about leaving money on the table so Chiarelli can build a winner, McDavid talked about the two competing aims that had to be addressed financially.
“You know what, you only get one career. You need to make the most of it. Any player will tell you that,” said McDavid. “You need to take care of yourself, look after yourself and your family. … At the same time, you want to win.”
Sidney Crosby has done both in Pittsburgh more than once. But he didn’t do it alone. The Penguins paid him handsomely and still made sure they had enough cash lying around for Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Kris Letang and a couple of No. 1 goalies, not to mention the spare parts and depth defencemen who are crucial to every Stanley Cup run.
Chiarelli, who built a Cup winner in Boston around Zdeno Chara, Milan Lucic and Patrice Bergeron, locked up Edmonton’s prized centrepiece for most of a decade and believes he preserved the cap space necessary to maintain a quality supporting cast.
That’s why he and McDavid were both smiling on Wednesday.
E-mail: dbarnes@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @jrnlbarnes |
If you want to know exactly when the global zompocalypse will occur, here you go: December 21, 2012.
That's when the fictional outbreak known as WORLD WAR Z will hit theaters.
Based on Max Brooks' chilling book, the movie is directed Marc Forster (QUANTUM OF SOLACE) and stars Brad Pitt and the AMC trio of Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad"), Mirelle Enos ("The Killing") and James Badge Dale ("Rubicon", RIP), plus countless shambling undead.
The story is set in the aftermath of a war fought between humanity and a legion of flesh-eating zombies. The harrowing book was told anthology-style through a series of âinterviewsâ with survivors, but the movie will feature Pitt's character as the conduit for audiences to experience the horrifying accounts.
"Produced by Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Colin Wilson, the screenplay is written by Matthew Michael Carnahan (State of Play) from Max Brooksâ best-selling novel World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. Starring Pitt (Moneyball), Mireille Enos (AMCâs âThe Killingâ), Daniella Kertesz in her feature film debut, James Badge Dale (The Departed) and Matthew Fox (âLostâ), the filmâs Executive Producers are Forster, Brad Simpson, David Ellison, Paul Schwake, Dana Goldberg, Graham King and Tim Headington. The story revolves around United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Pitt), who traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity itself. Enos plays Gerryâs wife Karen Lane; Kertesz is his comrade in arms, Segen."
From Paramount's press release:
Given the late-year release date, Paramount is perhaps hoping the material is moving and memorable enough to stick in the minds of Oscar and other award voters, or accessible enough to take full advantage of the holiday vacationing masses. Either is plausible considering the reported $125 million budget (although opening a week after part 1 of THE HOBBIT and just before Tarantino's DJANGO UNCHAINED could prove challenging). |
Chapter 5: The amusement park (Or Elsa's worst nightmare).
That day they didn't have to wake up so early because their next destination (according to Anna) was just a couple of hours away from the North Mountain and opened around midday. However, getting up was still a problem because neither of them wanted to leave their warm blankets and face the cold exterior. Still, eventually (only when there was no other option), they finally got out of bed.
Now, they were just arriving to their destination; Arendelle's most famous amusement park. It had one of the biggest roller coasters in Europe and lots of other equally thrilling attractions. It was one of Anna's favorite places to go on vacations, and Elvira loved going there even more, so the redhead figured Elsa would like it too. Hopefully; the previous day's slide incident had made her dubious, but she was still determined to make this day as perfect as the others.
Elsa's first thought when they crossed the doors and stared at the impossibly highs, sharp drops of the multiple roller coasters as they heard the screams of the thousands of people who were there, was 'Where has Anna brought me to?', and at the same time, blood left her face, just thinking on getting into one of the attractions. Anna however, interpreted her open-mouthed expression as wonder.
"Awesome, right?" The redhead exclaimed with a big smile on her face. "We'll have lots of fun, I promise."
"I-I…" Elsa tried to tell her that she really didn't want to be there, when Anna took her hand and dragged her to the nearest attraction, jumping and laughing in excitement.
"Don't worry, we'll start with the smallest and slowest, so you can get used to them, like this one." Elsa looked at the attraction she was signaling and paled even more; it has a roller-coaster, supposedly for kids and teens, but bigger than the ones next to it (where only kids were allowed) and with taller drops. And, in her opinion, it wasn't going slowly at all.
"A-Anna… I don't know." She tried to convince her. "I don't really want to…"
"Relax, it's just the nerves. It always happens the first time, but you'll see that, as soon as you get used to it, you'll like it." Anna smiled at her reassuringly and, before she could protest, dragged her inside the wagon and made her fasten the safety belt. Elsa quickly tried to undo it and get out, but at that moment the ride started and they were propelled forward, slowly ascending the slope. She nervously looked to both sides, shaking slightly, and trying to contain the sweat on her hands and the butterflies on her stomach. Anna noticed this and took her hand. "Relax, It'll be fine." She assured, her, and Elsa just gave her a nervous smile before they both fell at an incredible speed (according to Elsa).
Elsa felt the same sensation as when she had descended that ice slide, just ten times worse. Her stomach made a painful turn, her ears buzzed, her eyes shut tightly and she felt like throwing up. Then the second ascent came and it got even worse. Then the third, then the second time around… and the entire time Elsa tightly clenched her jaw and hung onto the safety bar for dear life, experiencing what to her was one of the worse sensations in the world.
When the ride was over, Elsa sighed in relief and was going to run away from that torture device (she couldn't understand how could someone voluntary get into it for fun), when Anna took her hand.
"Again!" The redhead screamed with a cheery voice, dragging her back to the line.
"Anna, I don't think…" Elsa started, trying to pull them the opposite direction of the line.
"I know it felt awful. But I promise; it gets better."
"Wait, please…" But her pleas fell on deaf eyes, as Anna made her try that damn roller coaster again. And Again. And again. And every time Elsa screamed like crazy and concentrated on not throwing up. Fortunately it was a little less bad every time and, by the fifth ride, she distracted herself trying to figure out how it worked. She surprised herself when she discovered there were some kind of wheels down the tracks, rotating at great speed and propelling the car when it passed over them. After discovering this it became easier to brace herself for the changes in speed and then she wasn't so scared anymore.
When Anna noticed the blonde had finally gotten used to the attraction and had stopped acting like it was the some real and scary roller coaster (for her this was just child's play and she didn't even feel excited about it), she decided it was now time to try some other (bigger) attractions, like the famous Combo Tower, an enormous metal tower more than twenty floors tall with a platform that shot up and descended in mere seconds, but that (in Anna's opinion), was a lot less scary than the roller coaster.
But of course, Anna was a lot more used to adrenaline than a clone raised on a building where nothing remotely interesting ever happened.
On their way to said attraction, they passed another one that was similar to the 'Tea party' but much faster and with the floor having irregular depressions. Of course, Anna wanted to get in it and, since in the exterior it looked more inoffensive than the super high Combo Tower, Elsa accepted immediately.
Let's just say that when they got out of there, Elsa had the sense of balance of a drunk person, the paleness of a vampire and legs trembling like they were made of jelly. Anna wasn't in a much better condition, but at least she was high with adrenaline and so didn't feel sick or scared, unlike the blonde.
Elsa now really regretted her decision, thinking that maybe the Combo Tower would've been a better choice after all. Boy, how wrong she was! Sure, it didn't make her feel like everything was a senseless blur. But with every fall she experienced terror at its purest form. All her instincts told her she was in danger, that she was falling to her death, and it was going to be horrible. Fortunately after Anna noticed (really noticed) how scared Elsa was, based on how tightly she was clutching the security bars and squeezing her eyes shut, she decided it was enough for now; that maybe it was a better idea to take a quick break before trying the most exciting attractions, like the great roller coaster. Because she still was planning on trying it; it was the best attraction of the park after all.
When Anna offered Elsa to go get something to eat (since they hadn't have time to have breakfast) and maybe try some games to win prizes, the clone accepted with a smile; this day have been far from delightful till that moment, very different from the previous ones, but she thought playing a little could be relaxing and fun.
For once, she was right.
After eating a couple of hotdogs and some nachos, they went to see the games. Elsa decided she wanted to try shooting at some metal ducks, and Anna agreed, but it was more difficult than it seemed… for Anna mostly. After three attempts, the blonde was shooting down ducks like some crazy expert hunter, but no matter what Anna did, she always ended up somehow shooting the floor, the ceiling or the button that made a water gun shoot you in the face. Elsa laughed every time and Anna glared at her like a wet and adorable pouty puppy. However, after spending several minutes there (and after Elsa had won half of the prizes), when Anna suspected the blonde was just enjoying seeing her being humiliated even by seven-years-olds, the redhead decided to take her to 'The hammer game' (after calling for her driver and asking him to get all of Elsa's prizes to the car, that is), where she won at her first try, something that really impressed Elsa, since she was barely able to lift the thing, much less to swing it with any strength.
After that, Anna decided to get into the bumper cars, which was one of Elvira's favorite attractions as a kid (when she still wasn't allowed to get in the most exciting attractions), but this only confirmed further that Elsa and Elvira were not completely alike; while Elvira enjoyed bumping into the other cars and getting into a fight with whoever dared bump with hers, Elsa insisted Anna (who was the one driving) that it wasn't nice to crash into other people's cars… though after Anna explained her that was the point of the attraction and a lot of people started bumping into them, she loosened up a bit and after a while she was laughing like crazy every time they crashed. Thankfully it wasn't like the evil laugh Elvira always preferred, but a melodious giggling that only meant she found the attraction funny. Anna thought this was really interesting.
However, Elsa's laughter wouldn't last much longer since as soon as they got off the bumper cars Anna excitedly dragged Elsa to the line for the roller coaster. There, the blonde saw the unbelievable height, the sharp slopes, the cart descending at a vertiginous speed, the people screaming… and she had the urge to run away as fast as possible and never come back, but even if she could free her wrist from Anna's firm grip, she was pretty sure the redhead was probably faster than her. Besides, she'd probably get upset if she did that, so she decided it was better to try and talk to her.
"Uh… Anna?" She called, her voice trembling slightly from fear.
"Yes?" The redhead asked turning to look at her with an oblivious smile.
"I-I really don't think we should…"
"Come on, don't be a chicken!" Anna teased, immediately guessing correctly what this was all about. "You'll like it, I promise."
"That's what you said about the other attractions." Elsa pointed out.
"And you loved the bumper cars!" Anna replied.
"Well, yes, they were fun" Elsa admitted trying to hide her smile. "But…"
"And the small roller coaster!" Anna insisted.
"Well… I didn't hate it…" Elsa answered trying to be diplomatic, but Anna interrupted her again.
"See? That's a start!" She exclaimed enthusiastically. "You'll love it, I promise. It's Elvira's and I favorite attraction."
"But…"
"Elsa, please?" Anna asked pouting and making puppy-dog eyes that made it very hard for the blond to say no. "It would really mean a lot to me."
"Well…" Elsa bit her lip. Anna was doing her a great favor by taking her to explore the world before she died, and had been incredibly sweet, caring and understanding up until that day, and this 'roller coaster' thing seemed to be very important for her… surely she could do her this little favor? It certainly wouldn't kill her, right? "Fine." Elsa sighed resigned. "Let's do it."
"Great!" Anna exclaimed jumping excitedly as she surrounded her neck with her arms and gave her a tight hug, something that caught her off guard but she still reciprocated, deeply inhaling the younger girl's scent. "Thanks." Anna said smiling after she broke the embrace. "You won't regret it, I promise." And for a moment, staring into those turquoise eyes, Elsa truly believed it.
Half an hour later, stuck into a cart and clutching the safety bar for dear life, Elsa was regretting her decision. They were just ascending the first coaster, but the blonde already knew that a fall from that height could never be pleasant, at least not for her, and she was trembling and sweating cold in anticipation. Anna seemed to be unfazed, grinning excitedly and with a mischievous glint in her eyes, and from time to time she'd turn to give her a reassuring smile, but nothing would've been able to calm the clone at that very moment.
When they started descending, the ground approaching them at an unbelievable speed, it was just like in the small rollercoaster… just a few thousand times worse. The blonde had to close her eyes tightly, clutch at the safety bar like her life depended on it, and scream until she was sure she was spiting her lungs out. The rest of the ride was hell for her, and it was really unfair (she thought), because Anna was actually enjoying it all, not even noticing the state of her companion… that is, until they got out of it.
Anna descended from the cart laughing and smiling like she hadn't since she last time she went there and, once she was on firm ground, she said:
"Wasn't that the best experience of your entire life?!" However, once she finished saying this, she turned, expecting to see Elsa getting out of the cart, but she didn't spot her until she searched for her in the crowd and found her bending over the nearest trash can and empting her stomach. Immediately, she worried. "Elsa!" Anna quickly ran towards her and, not being really able to do anything to help her, started rubbing soothing circles on her back, procuring not to feel sick when she saw Elsa's vomit. She felt really guilty; she had been so caught up in her own desire to try the roller coaster that she hadn't heard Elsa's pleas. And now, the day was ruined. She had to make it up for this somehow.
Finally, Elsa had emptied completely her stomach and was about to wipe her lips with the back of her hand, when Anna noticed this and stopped her in time clutching her wrist.
"Wait. Let's get to the bathroom." Anna said and Elsa nodded weakly, following her through the crowd to the restrooms. When they arrived, Anna positioned her in front of a sink and indicated her to wash her mouth while she went searching for some mints. Again, Elsa only nodded and Anna left. After running to the nearest candy stand and buying what she was looking for, Anna returned, finding a livid-pale Elsa clutching firmly to the sink as if it were the only thing that was keeping her up. Felling really bad about what she'd done, the redhead approached her and handed her the mints. "Here, these will hopefully get rid of the taste." She said with an apologetic tone. Elsa took the package and placed one mint inside her mouth.
"Thanks." She said giving her a tiny unenthusiastic smile. "I don't know what happened to me… there was this sudden horrible sensation in my stomach and then…"
"You threw up." Anna completed.
"That's what it was?" Elsa asked surprised; it was something new for her. "Does that mean I am sick or something?" She vaguely remembered Kristoff telling her that when people had some illness of the digestive system, they usually threw up.
"No, it usually happens when you get onto a very extreme fair attraction." The younger girl answered. "You weren't ready for the roller coaster and I'm sorry I forced you to try it. It won't happen again; I will always ask you first before making any decisions for the both of us, I promise." Elsa only nodded, still feeling too sick to talk much. This only made Anna feel even worse. "Uhm… maybe I can make you feel better somehow?" She asked, but Elsa's only response was to shrug.
"I really don't feel like doing anything anymore." She said after a few moments of silence. "I just want to sit and relax."
"We can do that." Anna agreed giving her a little smile hoping to make her feel better. "Would you like to go see the dolphin's show?"
"As long as it doesn't involve falling at maximum speed." She said giggling softly, finally starting to feel a little better. Anna smiled at this.
"It doesn't, I promise." She said giggling as well. "But we better get going now or we'll miss it." At this, she took the girl's hand and led her to where the spectacle was going to take place.
They'd been sitting at the bench waiting for the show to begin for around fifteen minutes, and Anna had the sensation that something was wrong with Elsa. It was not that she wasn't talking. After all, Elsa was usually quieter than Anna, but the redhead knew that the clone was holding something back; that she wanted to say something, but wouldn't.
"Okay, spill it." Anna said when the curiosity was about to kill her.
"W-what?" Elsa asked like she didn't know what she was talking about.
"I know something's bothering you."
"Well…" Elsa started but then just sighed. "It's nothing." She said, but it clearly wasn't nothing.
"Come on, I can see it's something. Don't worry; I won't laugh."
"Uhm… Okay." Elsa finally agreed. "But promise me you won't get mad either."
"Promised." Anna answered smiling.
"Well… I… I was just thinking... that it's unfair." She paused, apparently getting her ideas in order. "You know, that clones like me have to exist so you can have 'fun'."
"Uh… what do you mean?" Anna asked confused.
"I mean that the fact that so many people enjoy coming to the fair and trying the biggest attractions…" She continued gesturing to the roller coaster. "Means that they love danger."
"Danger? Fair attractions are not dangerous." Anna protested.
"No, but your body tells you they are… when you listen to it." She paused, thinking with a sad expression. "If people can enjoy falling on a roller coaster, they surely would enjoy too doing something more dangerous, like jumping off a cliff, or driving at maximum speed… And it's only a matter of time before something goes wrong. And then, if they survive, they need body parts… therefore, a clone is killed."
"Well, yes, but not everyone want to do something dangerous after going to the fair." Anna protested, since she herself had never tried anything beyond the attractions.
"That's true." Elsa agreed. "But it takes only one reckless person addicted to danger, to end a clone's life". After hearing those words, pronounced with so much sadness and resentment, Anna knew what this was about.
"You're talking about Elvira." She assumed. "About how she absolutely loved coming to the fair and then ended up crashing her car while driving insanely fast."
"That's one reason, yes." She answered with a sad voce. "It's like you all think dying is funny." Her voice wavered at the last part and a few tears fell from her eyes. It was the first time Anna had seen her cry since they'd begun their trip, and just then she realized that, if the blonde had seemed absolutely happy the past few days, it was because she had been trying to ignore the fact that she would be dying by the end of the week. But deep inside the thought was still there, bothering her and threatening to darken her mood any second.
"Oh, Elsa." Anna said as she rushed to hug her tightly, feeling a bad for her when she noticed her body was trembling and heard her soft whimpers. Fortunately, however, the blonde hugged her back, apparently searching for comfort. "You don't have to worry about that; this trip is supposed to be relaxing and…"
"But I'm just so scared." The blonde protested. "I don't want to die Anna. Not yet."
"I know." The redhead sighed. "I don't want you to die either, and I promise I've been thinking of a solution… but every time an idea comes to my mind, it's crazier than the last, and has a lot of flaws." Anna paused, fighting to contain her own tears. "I'm sorry I can't give you a solution right now. But as soon as I find one, I'll let you know, I promise… just… try to enjoy the rest of the trip, okay?"
"Okay." Elsa nodded.
After crying for a few minutes on Anna's shoulder, Elsa had been able to finally calm down enough to enjoy the show, though the redhead was still able to detect a faint air of sadness in her. Much like hers, actually. However, it all went relatively fine; Elsa absolutely adored the dolphins and at the end they even got a picture with them. Now, they were just eating some cotton candy, walking around the fair looking for something to do. It was almost sunset, and they had to go sleep early if they wanted to get up in the morning, so the next thing they did would be the last before heading back to the hotel. They had to chose wisely.
"This thing is delicious." Elsa commented while savoring her blue cotton candy. "What is it made of?"
"Sugar. Mainly." The redhead answered licking her fingers clean and watching how they had now turned bright pink because of the colorant. Then, given she'd just now finished it, she tossed the stick a the trashcan, Elsa following suit soon after, getting into her mouth what remained of the treat "What do you wanna do next?" Anna inquired.
"I don't know." She shrugged. "What do you suggest?"
"Uhm… well, we could keep searching for things to eat, or try some game to see if we can win some more prices, or…" Suddenly, she looked up and an idea struck her. "Oh! We could go to the Ferris wheel!" he exclaimed excitedly, pointing to said attraction.
"I-Isn't that a little… tall?" Elsa asked after gulping loudly.
"Relax, it goes super slow. You won't even feel the descent, I promise."
"Uh… Okay. I guess it can't be worse than the roller coaster." Elsa said trying to sound optimistic.
"Great!" Anna then proceeded to take her hand and drag her to said attraction, bouncing excitedly.
Elsa was actually a little nervous, since her experiences in the fair hadn't been exactly pleasant, but since she saw that the Ferris wheel was actually going very slow, as Anna had said, she decided to give it a try.
The ascent was as pleasant as it could be… when you're watching the ever growing distance between you and the ground and thinking 'I just hope this doesn't fall', but by the time they had reached the top, the blonde had already calmed down. Actually, listening to Anna's silly babbling and giggling really helped Elsa to relax and enjoy the ride. She couldn't deny the view was amazing; the whole city could be seen from there, bathed in the orangey light of the sunset, giving it a peaceful air that made Elsa want to breathe deeply the chilly air and just relax, forgetting about all her worries, and maybe even fall asleep.
But what was more beautiful there was definitely Anna; the orangey light stood out the girl's red hair, as well as her beautifully tanned skin and pink cheeks, and since she was smiling, carefree and happy, she looked all the more astounding. She just wanted to get closer to her, even if that was impossible since they were sitting right next to another in the tiny space of the cabin.
"Elsa?" Anna asked and just then the blonde realized she had been talking to her, asking her a question.
"Uh… sorry, I didn't hear you. I was thinking about… something." Surprisingly, instead of getting offended that Elsa hadn't been paying attention, the girl just laughed.
"Don't worry, I understand; it happens." She brushed it off. "I asked you if you think the view is amazing."
"Definitely." Elsa sighed looking directly at Anna without even thinking, however, when the redhead blushed, the clone realized what she said hadn't been what was expected from her. Instantly she tried to correct it. "I-I mean… the view… you know... sunset, city, horizon…" For the first time, she found herself stumbling with words, like she didn't know how to speak, but Anna's gaze on hers was making her fairly nervous for some reason. "N-not you." She finished lamely, however, soon she realized it hadn't sound quite well. "I mean… you're beautiful, actually the most beautiful thing here, but… that's not…" A soft finger placed on her lips as soft giggling was heard.
"It seems rambling and being awkward are qualities that run in the family." Anna said playfully as she took off her finger from her lips. "You have no idea how much trouble father had to go through to be able to make decent speeches." Elsa blushed at this; she didn't want to be embarrassed in front of Anna. "But I have to disagree with you; there's one thing beautifuller than me: you." And now Elsa blushed harder, having no idea why, but at the same time she smiled shyly and a pleasant sensation settled into her body; like warmth, but more comforting. Then, not even knowing what she was doing, the blonde started to lean in, looking directly at the other girl's lips.
Anna was surprised at the bluntness of her own words, but then again, Elsa had started it, and it was no secret the redhead had a crush on her, so it just felt natural; as always, she'd talked before thinking. However, one thing was having a crush on your sister's clone, an innocent infatuation that would never be something else, and it was another thing, far different and far worse, to kiss her.
It's not like Anna didn't want to kiss Elsa, it's just… it was a lot more complicated than it seemed. For instance, she was afraid that she had been starving for her sister's love for so many years, that she had tried to compensate it by developing feelings for her clone. That and there was also the fact that she didn't know if Elsa even knew what 'love', or 'kissing', or 'being in a relationship' truly meant. However, the thing that definitely made her pull away and reject the kiss was that Elsa's eyes… were Elvira's. No matter how different they were, when Anna saw her eyes, she saw her older sister's, and she remembered the times they used to play together as kids, how she always took care of her and did her best to be the best sister ever. She saw Elvira before she was mean, and when she saw that, she truly felt like she was committing incest. And so, Anna turned away and settled on looking at the horizon, trying not to think how she now felt full of regret.
Elsa, on the other hand, when she saw Anna get away from her and look at the opposite direction, felt a sharp pain where her heart was. For a moment she thought she was having a heart attack, until she realized the pain wasn't physical. She didn't even know what had caused it, but was a horrible sensation. She felt her advances had been rejected, although she didn't know what she had been trying to do in the first place. And this somehow hurt even more than knowing she'd be dying in a few days.
A/N: OK, I'm very sure you all will hate me for this, but I have to say it: I'm putting this fanfic on hiatus. I know, I know, it's a horrible thing to do, but seriously, I won't have time to write it now that I'm back to school, and I'm sorry for that. However, it will only be a 3-4 months hiatus; I'll start updating again once the semester is over or I finish my other fanfic "An unexpected inheritance", whatever happens first. To compensate, however, I have some good news; I plan on making this fanfic around 20 chapters long, instead of the 10 I'd originally planned :)
Well, now, after giving you the bad news and the good news, I ask you, did you like this chapter? Please leave a review, I love reviews! :D (And favorites and follow too n.n).
Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13 :) |
A long time ago, in a galaxy that is unfortunately not nearly as far away from me as I would like, I was taught that the reason for all the problems that women face today—especially in “the West”—is that relations between men and women are seriously out of balance.
Western women have been misled into rejecting their divinely created feminine natures. They don’t value marriage and motherhood, and try to emulate men by cutting their hair short and wearing masculine-style clothes and having careers and being promiscuous. Therefore, men are understandably put off by them, can’t respect them, feel emasculated by them, and don’t want to marry them. As a result, the family is in disarray, single motherhood and juvenile delinquency are on the rise, men feel lost and confused, and women are wondering where all the good men have gone. But (we were told) there is a simple answer to all these problems: Return to Islam. Go back to “the True Teachings of the Qur’aan and the Sunnah” (as the Salafis would phrase it), or to “Sacred Tradition” (as the neo-traditionalists would say). To the fitra—the innate, divinely given nature of every human being, which says that “true” men are hyper-masculine and “real,” god-fearing women are ultra-feminine… and anything that doesn’t fit into that binary view of gender is just laughable. Go back. Nothing else works. Anything else is rebellion against God.
Because women don’t need autonomy, or independence, or feminism, or godless “human rights.” What women need (and really really crave, deep down) is to be protected, cared for, and put on a pedestal by good men. Every woman should do her best to deserve to be treated like a queen, by being pious and modest and home-oriented and accepting of male authority. And if women are deserving, then of course good men will step up and act like good men should, by protecting them and their children, respecting them, and supporting them financially.
And there are no problems with this simple approach. None at all. Underage marriage, domestic violence, child abuse, or rape? Ha ha ha!! Only those western feminists get all upset about such non-issues for no reason, because they are silly emotional women who hate Islam / don’t understand what True Islam (TM) teaches / are misled by their modern sentimentality and rebellion against God’s perfectly just Law / secretly envy the veiled Muslim woman who is pure and beautiful and respected, and they want to bring her down to their level / they are misguided by their nafs and the shaytaan / whatever. Misogyny? What?! Of course we don’t hate women! We respect our women!
Well, that was then, and this is now. New life, new galaxy. Having learned the hard way all about the fine print of this “simple,” natural and allegedly god-given approach, I’m not going back.
The “fine print” in a nutshell is this: Basically, that “our women” only merit protection, respect, or even to be treated with minimal human decency as long as (1) we men still see some advantage to claiming them as “ours” AND (2) we magnanimously decide that their appeals for good treatment or help have some merit AND (3) they are well behaved and pious and modest and respectful and continue to defer to our authority AND (4) it won’t cost us more time, money, energy or inconvenience than we think that it is worthwhile to expend on them.
But some women and men are still in that galaxy.
Since the ’80’s in North America, there has been a general trend towards moderating the overtly harsh patriarchal rhetoric that used to be more common. There has been an illusion of fundamental change, with some religious leaders attempting to (re)brand themselves as “moderate” and their organizations as “woman-friendly” and committed to “equity.” Which I guess is why when one Abu Eesa Niamatullah, a rock-star scholar at AlMaghrib Institute, let loose online with some misogynistic comments (including the meme above), it set off a storm of controversy. And his non-apologies, along the lines of “I’m sorry if you were offended” didn’t help the situation much. Nor did his boastful statement that he doesn’t answer to any group, madhhab, or scholar, but only to God (aka, only to himself).
While some other scholars and community leaders and activists supported him, or mildly criticized him, some voiced strong objections to what he had said. Yasir Qadhi claimed that he was “shocked” by the quick and vehemently negative response to Abu Eesa’s comments. And why wouldn’t he be? When has there ever been such a public denunciation of a Muslim scholar’s misogyny, by practicing Muslims? I can’t remember anything like this happening before.
Basically, the objectors felt betrayed. Abu Eesa had publicly let down his side of the patriarchal bargain. “Good women” are supposedly to be honored, respected and protected by “good men,” so why was a scholar making hateful, dismissive comments about serious topics such as rape? Why didn’t Abu Eesa realize that what he said is triggering to domestic violence survivors, and a slap in the face to girls and women who have undergone rape and abuse? Why didn’t he see that by expressing such hateful ideas, he is simply encouraging a legion of pint-sized pimple-faced Muslim Rush Limbaughs still living in their parents’ basements to let loose on Facebook and Twitter, feeling even more empowered to express their misogynistic views in the name of Islam?
But Abu Eesa and his supporters had their own responses, and were not shy to express them.
I was only joking. He was only joking. Can’t you take a joke? You Americans don’t understand British sarcasm. You’re taking it out of context.
With every post and tweet from the latter camp, the myth of a community in which misogyny is a thing of the past while “equity” is the future is being publicly torn to shreds.
But all was not lost—these sorts of people have had lots of experience silencing dissent. So, unsurprisingly, we witnessed accusations that objectors are “causing fitna,” invective against feminists in general and Muslim feminists in particular, claims that those who are objecting to Abu Eesa’s comments are acting irresponsibly by not “looking for 70 excuses for your brother” and even worse, by creating a spectacle on the internet for Islamophobes to see… and even crazier comments on blog posts and facebook moaning about feminazis and overly sensitive women who just can’t take a joke and how there are no properly feminine women to marry any more and these Muslim feminists don’t understand the first thing about Islam and how anyone who knows Abu Eesa knows that he really treats his wife like a queen so there’s no way he could be a women-hater and anyway the houris are far better than earthly women so take that, feminists…..
And it’s not only men who are standing up for him. There are also female commenters who plead that his comments are being misunderstood, or taken out of context, or that he’s a wonderful teacher so why are people criticizing him??
His more sober supporters were less concerned about what he said, and more concerned about who has the power to define what. A world in which a conservative scholar or community leader could be taken to task in public, on the internet, by other Muslims for his misogyny was not one that they wanted to see. It was not accidental that Yasir Qadhi compared this to a witch hunt. Everyone knows that the male religious leaders are the ones who have the right to chase down the (rebellious female) witches, and not the other way around.
His supporters are exposing the fact that “gender equity in Islam” (aka enlightened patriarchy-done-right) and misogyny aren’t opposites. They are two sides of the same coin. That is why the first (“Islamic gender equity”) so easily slides into the second (straight-up misogyny), when women start questioning or resisting patriarchy-done-right. And the excuse is usually that it’s the women’s fault—women aren’t being religious enough, women aren’t being modest enough, women are being too worldly and demanding, women aren’t putting their families first, women are being too picky and over-sensitive, women are being corrupted by western feminism…. Oh, if only women didn’t make men disrespect and abuse them.
His critics don’t want to believe it. Their identities as modern, forward-looking Muslims committed to justice and fairness are at stake, after all. So, some of them react in a way that I recognize all too well. That was what we were taught to do—appeal to the “good men’s” supposedly innate urge to protect “good women.” Appeal to men’s better side, by reminding them gently of their duties to God and the example of the Prophet. Use lots of I-messages, explaining how what they are saying/doing “hurts me.”
Basically, act like a stereotypical damsel in distress. Appeal to the caliph to come galloping to her rescue on his horse. Just like in the mythical golden age of Islam.
Yes, these were the fairy tales so many of us were sold. The fairy tale about men’s chivalrous nature. The fairy tale about how some women—good women, who are worthy of such respect and honor—would be treated like queens.
And when fairy tales were not enough to keep us silently in our place, then there was the shaming: Isn’t that just like western women?! They’re so thin-skinned. They can’t take the slightest joke. They’re so weak. They don’t understand how men just are. They’re so out of touch with reality. They’re mangia cakes, just like my Italian neighbor says. Pathetic!
We internalized the absurd idea that for women, strength is about being able to “take” misogyny, disrespectful treatment, and abuse, all the while rationalizing it “Islamically” or calling it something more palatable. But that even naming it as misogyny and abuse, much less wanting to oppose it, is a sign of weakness.
It was beyond messed up.
But then, I guess that’s what comes of taking patriarchal fairy tales as true.
Whether the critics of Abu Eesa’s comments will have any impact is hard to say. Will AlMaghrib fire him? A snowball’s chance in hell that they will, I’d say. Will he be more careful of his words in future? Again, hard to say, given that there’s evidently still an outspoken audience that welcomes and applauds misogynistic commentary. I don’t think this will end with a happily ever after.
The more important question to my mind is: Will conservative women and men who up until now have tied their hopes to “scholars” and “our sacred traditions” and what amounts to patriarchy-done-right begin to ask some serious questions about what they have bought into?
Only time will tell.
Meanwhile, I don’t want my kids anywhere near this stuff. |
The face of the anti-abortion protester before the Supreme Court this week is Eleanor McCullen, a 77-year-old, self-described “plump” grandmother who stations herself outside a Planned Parenthood in Boston. She says that in her quest to prevent women from having abortions, she has spent $50,000 of her own money to pay for baby showers and utilities.
But hers is not the only face. At the same facility where McCullen protests twice a week, according to Planned Parenthood, protesters “wore Boston Police Department hats and shirts and stationed themselves, carrying clipboards, at the garage entrance. They demanded contact information from people trying to get into the building. These protesters persisted in this intimidating and deceptive conduct despite several arrests.” Then there were the “umbrella wars,” which involved protesters using umbrellas as cudgels to displace clinic volunteers. And there were the spitters.
That was all before the state’s 2007 buffer zone law, which imposes a 35-foot barrier around clinics, and is now being challenged on First Amendment grounds. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case on Wednesday, and will have to weigh the speech rights of the protesters against the safety of patients and providers.
“This is the only law that’s ever worked to allow law enforcement to maintain public safety at our health centers,” said Marty Walz, the CEO of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts. “We feel strongly that the Court should uphold it.” Oral arguments will be heard in the case Wednesday morning.
McCullen and her fellow protesters lost at the two lower courts, which cited a 2000 Supreme Court decision, Hill v. Colorado, upholding a buffer zone in Colorado. By agreeing to hear McCullen’s case, the Court, which has become more conservative since the Hill case, may be signaling that it is ready to revisit the larger issue of buffer zones. Depending on how broadly it is written, its decision could have an impact on abortion access around the country.
Abortion clinics don’t have the only buffer zones – polling places often have them, and so does the Supreme Court. But the protesters argue that placing them around abortion clinics specifically undermines their protest. “In order to be effective, their messages must be conveyed in a friendly, gentle manner, with eye contact, from a conversational distance,” McCullen and the other protesters wrote in their brief to the Court. “In particular, shouting from a distance is ineffective or counterproductive.” But by McCullen’s own count, she still managed to persuade 80 people not to have abortions in the first three years of the law’s enforcement.
The protesters also argue that their viewpoint is being specifically discriminated against because clinic workers are exempt from the buffer zone, though the state of Massachusetts, which is defending the law, points out that they brought no evidence of clinic workers abusing the privilege by using the buffer to advocate for abortion.
Massachusetts has seen worse than spitting protesters. In 1994, a gunman killed two people and wounded five at a Planned Parenthood facility just outside Boston.
Such activity is, of course, already illegal. But Walz said that before the most recent Massachusetts statute, which she co-sponsored while she was in the legislature, clinic staff had to seek individual injunctions against protesters for breaking the rules, but then new protesters would emerge. When Massachusetts passed a law saying protesters couldn’t approach patients unless invited, “they just stood still in the doorway so the patients had to approach the protesters in order to get in the door,” Walz said.
According to a survey of members of the National Abortion Federation, 51% of facilities with a buffer zone said they saw criminal activity drop after it was put in place. Three quarters said it had “improved patient and staff access to the facilities.” In the same survey, 92% of facilities said they are concerned about their patients’ safety approaching the facility, said the group’s president, Vicki Saporta.
“We run a toll-free hotline, and when we make referrals, we hear from women all the time: Are there going to be protesters, should they bring their boyfriend or husband or brother, any big guy to basically help them get care safely,” Saporta said. “It’s a major concern of patients.”
During the trial of convicted murderer Kermit Gosnell, one former patient told the AP that she went to his abusive clinic because she was told it lacked the protesters she saw outside Planned Parenthood. “The picketers out there,” she said, referring to Planned Parenthood, “they just scared me half to death.”
Pennsylvania has no state-wide buffer zone, though the city of Pittsburgh enacted a 15-foot buffer zone. Christy Boraas, an abortion provider in Pittsburgh, told msnbc that even though protesters shout her name as she comes to work and talk about murder and going to hell, “the buffer zone is a constant reminder to all the people on the sidewalk that despite strong disagreement about abortion, nobody has the right to prevent a woman from accessing her safe and legal medical care.”
In the Massachusetts case, the First Circuit Court of Appeals concluded, “The law does not require that a patient run a public-sidewalk gauntlet before entering an abortion clinic,” adding that patients might choose to avoid protesters for their own reason: “First Amendment rights do not guarantee to the plaintiffs (or anyone else, for that matter) an interested, attentive, and receptive audience, available at close-range.”
The ACLU has broken with some of its fellow-travelers for free speech by urging the Supreme Court to uphold the law, arguing that it strikes a balance and provides for the free exercise of speech. “If you’re standing 36 feet outside the clinic, there’s nothing that stops you from saying, ‘Do you mind if I talk to you?’” said Steven Shapiro, the ACLU’s legal director. The case, he admitted, “does not lend itself to an easy yes or no answer.”
The group wrote in its brief, “This would be a different case if there were not competing constitutional rights on the other side of the scale” – meaning the repeatedly-reaffirmed constitutional right of a woman to end her pregnancy before viability – “but there are.”
The court could rule that buffer zones outside abortion clinics are First Amendment infringements that are never permissible; on the other end of the spectrum, it could concede that the state has a special interest in protecting access to abortion clinics given the history of violence outside them. “The more likely thing,” said Shapiro, “is that the Court tries to thread the needle and decide something in the middle.” |
The controversial philosopher, 67, on struggling with being a bad father, becoming more aggressive and how writing saved his life
We are all basically evil, egotistical, disgusting. Take torture, for instance. I am a realist. If I had a daughter and someone kidnapped her, and I found a friend of the kidnapper, I cannot say I wouldn’t torture that guy.
I have become more aggressive over time. Some say I am more right wing, which I am absolutely not. On the refugee crisis, we should drop the patronising “They are warm people.” No, there are murderers among them in the same way there are among us. The liberal left prohibit writing anything bad about refugees, which results in the anti-immigrant right monopolising.
I’m not a good father. There is something ridiculous in asserting my dignity which I resist automatically. My teenage son identifies with this undermining of my own authority. When he was 14, I was mad at him and used a vulgar expression in Slovenian: “Let the dog fuck your mother.” He replied: “That already happened 15 years ago. That’s how I was born.”
My friends call me Fidel. Not because of politics, but because I talk too much. I visited Cuba once and on TV, Fidel Castro was shown entering a meeting saying: “Comrades, five minutes to make some remarks.” I went to sleep, woke up five hours later, and he was still talking.
I hate politically correct arrogance. With black friends, in contrast to politically correct white guys, I establish real contact. How? Through dirty stories, dirty jokes. When you visit a foreign country, you play PC games about your interesting food or music, but how do you become really friendly? You exchange a small obscenity.
I’m unable to have one-night stands. In my city, Ljubljana, you can tell exactly which women I’ve slept with, because I married them.
It would be horror to say I love Isis. But look at its organisation with its postmodern fluid identity. There is an emancipatory underground tendency in Islam; a wonderful Muslim historian of philosophy developed a claim that Aquinas misread Aristotle under the influence of Islamic poets like Avicenna, which opened up the way for modernity, gay rights and so on.
My parents weren’t strict, but they were patronising. I didn’t like them. They both died in hospital during the night, and when I found out over the phone the next morning I was already behind my computer working. I said: “Is everything taken care of? OK, thanks,” and carried on. I felt totally cold – something didn’t work there. I am not celebrating myself for that.
Hollywood knows everything. It’s obsessed with dystopias, like in Elysium or The Hunger Games. I really think this is one of our quite possible futures. Young people today should prepare for a big catastrophe, but engage in well thought out, local everyday struggles, and not escape into moralism.
Writing saved my life. Years ago, because of some private love troubles, I was in a suicidal mood for a couple of weeks. I told myself: “I could kill myself, but I have a text to finish. First I will finish it, then I will kill myself.” Then there was another text, and so on and so on, and here I still am.
Disparities by Slavoj Žižek is published by Bloomsbury (£19.99 from bookshop.theguardian.com) |
Caitlin Lyon and Michelle Novosel. (Courtesy photo)
Caitlin Lyon and Michelle Novosel want their small business, Pizzelle's Confections, to be more than just a chocolate shop.
They want to be the chocolate destination in Alabama -- or the Southeast.
"We love being at Lowe Mill, and we've been in Huntsville for 30 years now," Lyon said. "We don't see ourselves going anywhere. Michelle and I love what we do, and we plan to remain owner/operators for the foreseeable future."
The sisters are in the process of expanding their facility next door into the former Big Glass Art space at Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment on Seminole Drive. They will add more than 1,300 square feet, a move that allows Pizzelle's to increase its product line and workforce.
Pizzelle's, which launched at Lowe Mill in 2013, will add sweets and other bakery items at its expanded dessert cafe. They have also hired a pastry chef to help develop new recipes and manage that side of the kitchen.
"Our new desserts won't be traditional Southern desserts," Lyon said. "We have several recipes already that are based on some of our truffle flavor profiles."
Lyon said expanding into a dessert cafe was always their long-term vision, but wasn't part of the plan for 2016. When the Big Glass Art space came available, they couldn't pass it up.
So they changed their plans.
"If there is one thing we've learned in our 3 and 1/2 years of business so far, it's to remain flexible," said Lyon, who was recently named Creative Entrepreneur of the Year by the Women's Business Center of North Alabama. "Plans are great, but you never know what opportunities will come your way."
The expansion involves taking out part of Pizzelle's existing wall to make the dining area one large space. They also will add a bakery kitchen so the current kitchen can focus on chocolate production only.
Lyon said the kitchens will be mostly separated, but will remain open to the dining area so customers can see what's going on behind-the-scenes and interact with Pizzelle's employees during their visit.
Other work includes installing a new floor, changing out windows, adding plumbing and electrical infrastructure, and other changes to increase chocolate production and storage. Lyon said they hope to be open by late 2016, but that could change.
"We honestly don't know yet," she said. "It will just depend on how quickly and smoothly construction goes."
Pizzelle's Confections is inspired by fictional chocolatier Willy Wonka, the eccentric and beloved character created by Roald Dahl in the 1964 novel "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." The business is named after the pizzelle, a traditional Italian waffle cookie and a favorite of the sisters growing up in Pennsylvania.
In 2012, Novosel and Lyon got serious about their love of chocolate and submitted an application to rent space at Lowe Mill. Their idea was approved after being subjected to a jury process.
Sarah Cole, media director at Lowe Mill, said it has been an honor having Pizzelle's at the independent art facility.
"Not only will this expansion allow our patrons to enjoy and explore local eats while visiting the Mill, but it will also further promote the idea of artistry in the culinary field," she said. "Pizzelle's brings innovation to their craft, and we can't wait to see what new, exciting, mouthwatering goodness they'll bring with this expansion." |
A new report from the David Suzuki Foundation links congestion on Metro Vancouver roads with what it calls "systematic underfunding of transit" and is pointing the finger squarely at the provincial government.
Ian Bruce, director of science and policy for the David Suzuki Foundation, spoke with CBC's The Early Edition Monday.
"Our transportation system is at the brink, and it's largely been because we've been underfunding public transportation and the infrastructure that the province itself said was required," he said.
The report compares the region's needs as outlined in the 2008 Provincial Transit Plan with the money spent on transit and infrastructure projects in the eight years since.
"What we found is only 23 per cent of the investment so far had been made. So about a fifth of the required infrastructure that the province said was needed to get the regions moving again," said Bruce.
"There's a lot missing."
The report compared provincial transit spending since 2008 with the spending plans made by the 2008 Provincial Transit Plan. (David Suzuki Foundation)
He points specifically to rapid transit, saying lines planned for Surrey, and Vancouver's Broadway corridor are badly needed in a fast-growing region.
"While other transportation projects like roads and bridges are going ahead without delay, transit infrastructure has been put on an uneven playing field as the province continues to provide insufficient financial support," said David Suzuki Foundation CEO Peter Robinson in a statement.
Roads and bridges are an area where the province has focused spending, with upgrades to Highway 1 and the Port Mann Bridge both completed in the years since the 2008 Provincial Transit Plan was released.
Federal transit spending could help
One solution, according to the report, is to tap into some of the billions of dollars in co-funding promised by the federal government for local transit infrastructure.
The first phase of Ottawa's plan was outlined in this year's federal budget, promising to cover up to 50 per cent of approved transit projects' costs
"These new federal funds represent a crucial opportunity to turn the tide on vital transit investment in B.C.," said Bruce in a statement.
Province responds
Minister Responsible for TransLink Peter Fassbender said the province has and continues to make transit a priority, highlighting projects like the Canada Line, the Evergreen Line and the Port Mann Bridge.
"This government has invested billion of dollars — 11, to be sure — in terms of infrastructure in this region," he said. "We are working hard to meet the needs."
"I don't buy the concept that we have not seen any movement."
Fassbender also highlighted the province's $246 million commitment over the next three years to fund TransLink improvements.
With files from CBC Radio One's The Early Edition
To hear the full story, click the audio labelled: Report blames Metro Van congestion on province's 'systematic underfunding of transit' |
In the future I will be writing a weekly column for the Danish business daily Børsen. The first column appears in today’s edition of the newspaper (you can read the article in Danish here). International news outlets and newspapers interested a syndication deal on my new weekly column are welcome to contact me (lacsen@gmail.com).
On this occasion I here share the English translation of the article:
We need a mechanism for sovereign debt crisis resolution
Recently nearly all the news flow in the financial media has been about the risk of a Greek sovereign default. But Greece is not the only country, which is currently in serious risk of a default. The same is the case for Ukraine, Venezuela and Puerto Rico. Thus, if we are unlucky, we might get 3-4 sovereign defaults within the next 1-2 months.
It is quite obvious that a possible Greek or Ukrainian sovereign default is something that contributes to the uncertainty surrounding especially the European economy and it is clear that this is contributing to increasing volatility in global financial markets.
The main source of uncertainty in relation to sovereign default is uncertainty about when it happens and what creditors that will be affected.
If we compare a sovereign default with a company or a bank going bankrupt, then it is the case that we in most developed economies in the world have relatively clear rules on how a possible bankruptcy should be handled in legal terms.
It is usually the case that a company in financial trouble under certain conditions can go into receivership, while trying to see if the company can be rescued. And if this rescue attempt fails then there will be quite clear rules about what creditors are first in line when the estate is made up.
Such mechanisms mostly ensure that an orderly and controlled restructuring or liquidation of the company can take place and at the same time ensure the greatest possible transparency about who will bear any losses.
Unfortunately we don’t have similar rules and mechanisms when it comes to sovereign defaults. As a result even a minor risk of a possible sovereign default creates unnecessary volatility in the global financial markets.
This, however, need not be the case and one may wonder why we in the EU hardly have discussed the possibility of organizing a mechanism within the EU, or at least within the euro area, which can ensure a more transparent and proper handling of threatening sovereign defaults.
In 2010, the four economists – including the former chief economist of the World Bank Anne Krueger – put forward a concrete proposal for “A European mechanism for sovereign debt crisis resolution”. The plan for example included a proposal for a special European court to oversee the process of debt negotiations and debt restructuring. Such a court and clear rules on debt restructuring would greatly help to make the handling of the sovereign debt crises much less politicized than it is today.
Unfortunately, the proposal has not received much attention among European decision-maker, and one can only fantasize about how much easier the handling of the Greek debt crisis would have been if we had such rules and mechanism for orderly debt restructuring in place in recent years.
Companies go bankrupt. And so does governments. We therefore urgently need to set up institutions and mechanisms to handle sovereign defaults.
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They need the publicity more than the others.
Chances are there're already articles on this site covering the big fishes, so it all would be a little redundant.
The Biggies
The Hidden Gems
Welcome to, in which every Wednesday I'll try to review the latest news regarding the crowdfunding of Linux games Here there will be room for everybody: from the 6+ digits, AAA-ish projects by professional studios, to the humble one-person teams asking for $1,000 to make their dreamed game come true. However, the focus will be primarily put on the latter rather than on the former, and the reason for this is two-fold:With this consideration in mind, let's start with a brief recap of the current high profiles: Stonehearth : with still 21 days to go and more than a quarter million dollars raised, this sandbox/strategy/crafter/builder is the most successful campaign right now. It didn't include Linux support from the start but the stretch goal was achieved a couple of days ago, so it's worth checking.(More details in this article Jagged Alliance: Flashback : a very interesting proposal, to respawn a classic strategy franchise with renewed looks but the same gameplay. It started off quite well, but having crossed the half point of its campaign it's still slightly under 50% of its goal, so it really needs more support to become a reality.(More details in this article Among the Sleep : during its first hours of life, this immersive first-person horror adventure seemed likely to become the next big Kickstarter thing but it unbelievably lost momentum up to the point of being right on the pace of barely reaching its goal.(More details in this article Road Redemption : 3 days to go and still $45,000 remaining out of the total $160,000. Certainly another one that wasn't expected to be on the verge of failure at this point, the spiritual successor to Road Rash needs more nostalgics of the 90s to make it to the finish line.(More details in this article The Realm : at the start this beautiful point&click adventure included Linux support as a stretch goal, but after seeing the interest shown by the community the developers decided to support it unconditionally along the other platforms. The bad news is that it still has a long way to go to reach its funding goal.(More details in this article Wow, this section took more space than anticipated, and theoretically the second one should constitute the bulk of the article! So just for this time, to avoid a TL;DR reaction from the readers, I won't get into much detail about each one of:is a pixel-art roguelike with a RTS combat system. It's got less than 3 days to go but it's already gathered more than 200% of its goal, enabling a number of stretch goals such as achievements, playable bosses or a survival mode. Plus it features some guest stars from other games, such as Esmy from Cryamore or the Knight from Shovel Knight , and there's even an alpha version to try out! For $10 it can be yours DRM-free and a Steam/Desura key, depending if it gets greenlit or not.This one I'm truly amazed nobody has written anything about it here.is an ambitious $150,000 project, consisting on a 2D-metroidvania platformer mixed with some Diablo-esque mechanics for good measure. And yes, it's another pixel art game (I've got a soft spot for them, what can I do?)It achieved its funding goal a few days ago, and doesn't look like it can reach many stretch goals (most probably only the first one: achievements). It supported Linux right from the start, it also has a playable demo and you can get hold of a DRM-free copy (along with an exclusive in-game sword) for $15.As a former Magic: The Gathering® player I couldn't help noticing, a free-to-play trading card game. Besides, it's not like there's a saturation of this kind of games for Linux. Unfortunately, with 10 days remaining and less than 20% raised, it doesn't look like this project will get funded. And it's a real pity because it promised quality art, entertaining game modes and also mobile support to play anywhere you wanted. Let's just hope the developers will continue working on it even if the campaign doesn't succeed.Even though there aren't any game assets to be seen in the campaign page,inmediately got my attention. I guess it must've been a certain AnotherWorldly atmosphere the concept art emanates. But the parallelism ends right here, because this game is built around puzzle-solving and is slow paced in nature.It's still 12 days until the end of the campaign, but there's a long way to go fundwise. I suspect it might have suffered from being an Indiegogo flexible funding campaign (with its consequent uncertainty), which may have prevented many people from backing it (yours truly, for starters). Still, the pledge to obtain a copy of the game is only $5, so it may be worth a try.Yet another retro, pixel art, chiptune 2D platformer,features a whole load of levels, puzzles, enemies and bosses, as well as a wide variety of weapons and grenades to fend them off. It doesn't support Linux right away, but it has already achieved the main goal and it's well on its way to reach the relevant stretch goal. Your pledge to secure a copy of the game will get it $10 closer to the Linux port.And finally, my particular favourite of this batch. You'd never guess it: another pixel art game! But this one is not a puzzle-platformer of any sorts. Instead,is a combination of a racer (Canabalt-style), a breeding game (think Pokémon) and a management simulator, in the form of a dogsledding game. Its mechanics seem simple enough, but there's more to them than meets the eye, and it will purportedly take quite a long time to fully master them.With more than half of the campaign to go, it has easily surpassed the initial funding goal and it's well into stretch goal territory. Dynamic music and day/night+weather effects have been achieved, and there are many more interesting features to be unlocked with your pledge. $5 and it'll be yours!And that's it. I've left out many games, both from the Biggies and the Hidden Gems categories, due to the monstruous length of the article. I'll try to bring some of them back next week, unless there's an unexpected avalanche of interesting new crowdfunding projects. :) |
Ok – believe it or not, this really shows how the new younger generation of police are anti-society and just insanely pro-government beyond common sense. With cities and municipalities dead broke, confiscating cash from people pretending it is somehow tainted without any proof under Civil Asset Forfeiture was bad enough. Now they are really going over the top. This is not an isolated incident. Towns in the North East are targeting teenagers who traditionally made money during winter shoveling snow.
The police even in Philadelphia are targeting kids as they are in New Jersey. Many towns demand a license with paperwork and fees of $50+ to be paid to shovel snow. These corrupt politicians are hungry for money and any possible piece of loose change they want to grab. Just how far will society allow this type of corruption go before they throw-the-bums-out?
From FATCA to targeting teenagers shoveling snow, these people are destroying everything that held society together. They look upon us as the great unwashed – just scum to be exploited. This is really going way too far. |
High on a windswept Northumbrian moor, within raiding distance of the Scottish border, sits a lonely farmstead, appropriately named Coldtown. The main dwelling, a stone and slate early-Victorian farmhouse, has been Tony and Anne Pender’s family home for the past 16 years.
Despite the wicked winds that sweep down across the moors, Tony and Anne have barely heated it for the past five years, both because of the prohibitive cost of running an oil-fired Aga and because they are concerned about the quantities of fossil fuels they are burning. This spartan approach has worried their son, Richard, as Tony and Anne, now in their seventies, are beginning to be vulnerable to the cold. Sympathetic to his parents’ desire to stay in one of England’s last utterly wild places, Richard, a master’s student at Newcastle University, decided to help them build a new home close to the old farmhouse.
Although the site is within the boundary of the small settlement of farmhouse and two cottages, its wildly rural setting on the edge of the Northumberland National Park made planning difficult. This was further complicated by the rare neighbouring Grade II listed ancient Bastle – a fortified dwelling with upstairs living quarters and downstairs livestock area, where farmers could retreat when threatened by marauding rustlers.
With advice from local land agents Smiths Gore ( smithsgore.co.uk ) and architects Mawson Kerr ( mawsonkerr.co.uk ), the Penders took the unusual step of applying for permission under what is known in current planning guidance as Paragraph 55. This section of planning policy is a direct descendant of what architects call Gummer’s Law, which allows homes to be built in open countryside as long as they are “outstanding” in design. This exception was widely interpreted to favour grand country houses and was criticised for allowing the construction of vast neoclassical pastiches in the early days and, later, when in 2004 the Labour government amended the guidance in favour of innovative design, super-modern “spaceship” houses. The then planning minister Keith Hill, however, still followed the spirit of Gummer’s Law, stating that any homes built under the exception would be ones that “our future generations will be proud of” and that “people will want to visit in 100 years”.
The Penders’ home, which recently won permission, may well be one that future generations will be proud of – it is carbon negative and the majority of its materials are either renewable or reused – but it may not be receiving queues of visitors in 100 years, as does nearby Alnwick Castle. A modest three-bedroom, two-storey home, the former’s barnlike design means it blends in with, rather than stands out from, its surroundings. Its “outstanding” qualities, argues Jo Robison from Smiths Gore, are that the “environmental impact of the building will be exceptionally low and its innovative construction technique will be the first of its kind in Northumberland”.
This “Brettstapel” technique, used on the continent, employs deep timber planks from low-grade Sitka spruce growing in nearby Kielder, pinned with hardwood dowels that clamp together as the Sitka dries out. The thickness of the wood will give the house high thermal mass, contributing to its “Passivhaus” levels of energy efficiency and earning the house its name, Shawm – Northumbrian meaning “to warm oneself”. Like the neighbouring Bastle, the living quarters will be upstairs. Thus house design comes full circle, this time dictated by energy efficiency – cooler downstairs bedrooms and warmer upstairs living quarters – rather than the need to protect occupants from kilted raiders.
Another green and modest yet beautiful Paragraph 55 house, to be completed later this year, is architect David Liddicoat’s Thousand Trees House in Essex woodland (liddicoatgoldhill.com). “It’s such a modest size – just five bedrooms – that we were worried it wouldn’t get through,” says David. “What makes it exceptional is the way it sits within its landscape.” With timber construction and a curved sculpted roof, the house almost becomes part of the wood, like a walnut burr, rather than dominating the landscape the way previous Gummer’s Law homes did.
Both houses reflect a sea change in the way planners are interpreting guidance. Out goes enormous and brash and in comes modest and sustainable. These homes reflect the zeitgeist just as other beautiful country houses did in their time, from William Morris’s Arts and Crafts movement to “Capability” Brown’s harmonious marriage of architecture and landscape.
Rules for new buildings
Under Paragraph 55 the design of a new building should:
Be truly outstanding or innovative
Reflect the highest standards in architecture
Significantly enhance its immediate setting
Be sensitive to the defining characteristics of the local area
*Richard will be blogging about Shawm as the project proceeds, at projectsustainablehome.wordpress.com/
Send your questions to Sarah at Life, The Sunday Telegraph, 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0DT, asksarah@telegraph.co.uk |
Penguin receives honours in a tradition that was introduced in the early 1970s by a young Norwegian lieutenant
He wore an impeccable black and white coat, and his right sleeve was adorned with medals.
Colonel-in-chief of the Norwegian army Nils Olav stood to attention as he received a knighthood this morning in front of 30 members of the Norwegian guard at Edinburgh zoo.
Waddling out to receive the honour, his belly full of blue whiting fish, and standing at around 2 feet 8 inches high, he must have been the shortest knight in history.
There was much fanfare: music, speeches and even a special message from King Harald V as the Norwegian guardsmen, who are in Edinburgh preparing to perform at the city's military tattoo, looked on.
Darren McGarry, animal collection manager at the zoo, said: "Nils always recognises the Norwegian guardsmen when they come to visit him.
"He loves the attention he receives at the ceremony and takes his time inspecting the troops.
"We're all very excited about his new promotion."
The practice of honouring penguins at Edinburgh zoo began in the early 1970s when a young lieutenant from the Norwegian army Nils Egelien fell in love with the penguin colony and happened upon the idea of having one of the king penguins as a regimental mascot and honorary member.
Six-year-old Nils is the third penguin to take the role of receiving the honour after the original animal died in the 1980s.
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Environmentalists in South Korea are protesting a Winter Olympics construction project to build a ski slope through a 500-year-old protected forest.
While there is strong national support for hosting the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the controversy over Gariwang mountain is the latest indication that public concerns are growing over the costs and in this case the ecological damage of staging the games.
Olympic Construction, Environmental Destruction
The ground is already being cleared on Gariwang Mountain, near the ski resort town of Pyeongchang in South Korea’s Gangwon province, to build a ski racecourse for the Winter Olympics. Thousands of trees have been removed and bulldozers are digging up large swathes of land and leveling the dirt. The site looks like a super highway is being carved out of the rich forest terrain.
Activists with Green Korea United however have not given up on their efforts to shut down this project to prevent what they say will be permanent damage to this fragile ecosystem.
“If they give up and move to another site to establish a ski resort, then it could be recovered, though it would take some years, decades.” said Cho Sang-hee, a conservationist with the group.
The position of the South Korean Pyeongchang Olympics Organizing Committee is that Gariwang is the only site that fits the international slope criteria, that is to say it is the only nearby mountain tall and steep enough, with a vertical drop of 800 to 1,100 meters required for Alpine skiing competitions. The Olympics organizers have promised to limit the environmental impact of the competition site, by designing one course to be used for both men’s and women’s events. Normally there are two separate courses.
The Gangwon provincial government says over 1,000 trees uprooted from the site have been transplanted and will be returned as part of the forest restoration plan that will be enacted once the 2018 Olympics end. But by then environmentalists say it will be too late.
Sacred Forest
At the base of Gariwang Mountain there is an ancient stone sign dating back hundreds of years to the Chosun dynasty. The sign marks the surrounding land as a royal forbidden area, a protected preserve where wild ginseng was allowed to grow for the exclusive use of the king.
“The government designated this area as a protected region at that time, and that history has continued for about 500 years since then,” said Lee Byungchun, an activist who is now retired from the Korea National Arboretum.
The mountain is considered a sacred place to Koreans he says and its diverse and fragile eco-system has been preserved for half a millennia. Shale rock formations mixed with deep-rooted trees create natural air pockets to hold in moisture and cool air and support layers of plant, insect and animal life. There are many species of plants native to the mountains of Korea.
The mountain was officially designated a national protected forest in 2008 but that designation was lifted in 2012 for this Olympic construction project.
The Olympic committee disputes claims that Gariwang has been a sacred preserve for 500 years. They say until the 1960s local farmers cut down trees on the mountain for firewood and until the 1970s a lumber company conducted logging operations there. Gariwang has also never been designated as national or local park.
The environmentalists are skeptical of the Olympic committee’s promises to restore the mountain forest. They say the chemicals will be used to treat the ski course and to make snow, and parts of the course will be likely be paved with cement or asphalt to create ideal racing conditions. They are concerned that these treatments will permanently scar the mountain.
High Financial Costs
Korea Green United says the estimated cost of building this ski slope that will only be used during the 2018 Olympic is over $150 million and the cost of removing the site will be close to $100 million.
Rather than try to restore the mountain, they worry that after the games are over authorities will attempt to make the ski slope a permanent tourist attraction in hopes of recouping some the costs put into its construction.
In a recent email to VOA, the Gangwon provincial government, which governs Pyeongchang, strongly denied Korea Green United’s claims. No chemicals will be used for snowmaking it said. The government confirmed plans to recover the area “with outstanding ecological conditions” to the level that existed before the damage. The budget for the forest recovery, it said, will be confirmed next year. And the South Korea Forestry Service formed an advisory committee that includes representatives from various environmental groups to ensure that the entire process be conducted in a transparent manner.
Reports that Gangwon province has already been struggling with debt to build some of the facilities for the Olympics has fueled public concerns over the rising costs of hosting games.
South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism expects the total cost of the Pyeongchang Olympics to exceed $10 billion, which is much less than the $50 billion Russia spent on the Sochi Olympics.
South Koreans hosted the Summer Olympics in Seoul in 1988, and co-hosted the soccer World Cup with Japan in 2002. |
Like Ms. Martin, 46, who was arrested on shoplifting charges 10 times and was held in jails and prisons throughout Louisiana from 1994 to her final arrest in 2005, the study found that a vast majority of the women are poor, African-American or Latino, and have drug or alcohol problems. About 80 percent have children.
Most have been charged with low-level offenses, including drug or property crimes like shoplifting, but a growing number are in jail for violating parole or probation, for failed drug tests or for missing court-ordered appointments. Others are unable to make bail or pay court-mandated fees and fines, the report said.
The trend echoes what has occurred in policing over the past two decades, as the police and prosecutors have focused on offenses that might have once been overlooked, even as rates for more serious crimes have declined, according to the Justice Department. The result, critics say, are overcrowded prisons and jails, many of them filled with nonviolent offenders.
“As the focus on these smaller crimes has increased, women have been swept up into the system to an even greater extent than men,” said Elizabeth Swavola, one of the authors of the Vera report.
The study found that women accounted for 26 percent of total arrests in 2014, compared with 11 percent in 1960.
And the most common offenses that led to arrests involved drugs.
Between 1980 and 2009, the arrest rate for drug possession or use doubled for men but tripled for women, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
The troubles caused by the arrest of a woman responsible for supporting a family can sometimes never be undone, said Laurie R. Garduque, the director of justice reform for the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which funds the Safety and Justice Challenge, whose mission is to create fairer, more effective local justice systems. |
After spending nearly a week at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, Michelle Campbell and her husband, Chris Korres, visited the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to check in on their newborn son Benjamin. He was born two months premature on March 10 and needed supervised medical attention while he grew stronger.
As the couple approached the incubator housing their son, a tiny blue object caught Campbell’s eye. It was a small felt cape adorned with a yellow Superman-style crest and the initial “B” printed on it in blue.
The adorable homemade cape was hanging from an IV pole beside Benjamin’s bed along with a message, which read: “To our little Superhero, love Stephanie T.”
Campbell told CTVNews.ca during a phone interview from her home in Montreal that she and her husband had no idea who Stephanie T. was or why she had made the touching gift for their son.
After asking around the department, the couple learned that Stephanie Treherne was one of the hospital’s nurses working in the NICU.
“We were very surprised that one of the nurses that we haven’t even worked with or seen or anything yet had left that,” she recalled.
Campbell said she was overwhelmed by the unexpected generosity of a stranger.
“Given the hormones and everything, I was very emotional and I just started bawling my eyes out when I saw that cape,” she said.
Eventually, Campbell and her husband were able to catch up with Treherne five days before they were to be discharged from the hospital.
“She was very sweet,” Campbell said. “When we asked her what brought it on she just said she wanted to do something nice for the babies.”
Treherne has been working in the NICU for about a year now and started making the felt capes in October. She told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview from Montreal on Friday that she came up with the idea while she was attending a conference for neonatal nurses.
Treherne said there was a slide in one of the presentations with an image of a baby in a superhero cape and she thought it was perfect.
“It represents exactly how we see the babies,” she said. “These babies are super strong. They fight through so much. They’re just little superheroes.”
Treherne estimates that she’s hand-stitched about 100 tiny capes for newborns at the JGH so far.
Treherne said she usually prefers to surprise parents with the capes in the NICU instead of giving it to them directly. She said she tries to create superhero capes for as many babies in the unit as possible, but usually she only gets to the ones that have been staying in the hospital for a week or more.
“I like to think that I get 70 per cent of our babies,” she estimated.
As for little Benjamin’s superhero cape, Campbell said it’s currently hanging up in his nursery at home. She said her son is thriving these days and they’re planning a newborn photo shoot soon, which will feature the little cape as well.
“It brings a smile to the parents’ faces in a time that’s not so good so it was really special for us to have gotten that,” she said. |
Everyone knows that the Jim Henson was a genius. Whether you watch Fraggle Rock or The Dark Crystal or The Muppet Movie, you know immediately that this was a man whose imagination worked on a different level. He could conceive and give life to concepts that made you think, made you cry or just made you laugh. But with the publication of Tale of Sand from Archaia, we see that Henson’s brilliance was greater than I think any of us realized.
Tale of Sand was originally a screenplay for a Jim Henson movie that, unfortunately, never got made. It was written by Henson and longtime writing partner Jerry Juhl between 1967 and 1974 and has sat in the Henson archives, gathering dust, until now. Thankfully, Archaia has teamed up with The Jim Henson Company and Henson’s own daughter Lisa to bring the screenplay to life as a graphic novel. To accomplish this they have enlisted the insanely talented Ramon Perez to turn Henson’s words into a story you will never forget.
At its simplest, Tale of Sand is a story about a man who goes on a journey in the desert of the American Southwest for some unknown reason. Along the way we meet and experience things that don’t seem to make a whole lot of sense. Part parody, part comedy, it is a book that will make you think and make you look at graphic novels, and Jim Henson, differently.
There is very little dialogue, so the bulk of the story is told through the pictures and images on the page. Perez does this masterfully as you never get confused; never have to wonder what panel to look at next. The story flows from page to page and you’ll get get lost in this very eccentric, very beautiful tale. I should make special mention of the coloring as Perez and Ian Herring use what looks like a simple color palette to make the drawings leap off the page. The first seven or so pages will make your head spin with their beauty and will make understand you are in for a great ride.
In many ways, I can see why Henson and Juhl could never get the screenplay turned into a film. It would take a certain kind of person to appreciate what they had created here. In my opinion, Tale of Sand works much better as a graphic novel. With the unlimited budget of comics, the story can come to life with no limitations and be presented just as Henson would have wanted. Plus, I think comic book fans can value a story like this more than the average moviegoer.
Jim Henson’s Tale of Sand is a must own for any Henson fan. Hell, it’s a must own for any fan of graphic literature. It’s a book you will come back to again and again and will always find something new that you didn’t see before. Go get this book.
Archaia has been kind enough to provide us with a copy of Jim Henson’s Tale of Sand to give away to one lucky Geekadelphia reader. Just leave a comment about which Muppet is you favorite and we’ll pick a random winner at the end of next week.
Please make sure to leave an e-mail address with your comment and books can only be sent to addresses in the United States and Canada. |
Sometime in the next week or so the UC Santa Barbara greenhouse will start smelling like a rotting corpse. But the campus police needn't worry; it's only the huge perennial herb Amorphophallus titanum, a member of the Araceae family and thus related to jack-in-the-pulpit and skunk cabbage.
Commonly known as the corpse flower and dubbed the Titan Arum by Sir David Attenborough during the filming of the Private Life of Plants series, this botanic giant can grow up to 10 feet tall and has the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. An inflorescence is a floral structure composed of many smaller individual flowers.
The plant's rotting corpse smell becomes apparent as the spathe (the outer frilly skirt, actually a modified leaf) unfurls. The nauseating scent, which comes from two sulfur-producing chemicals similar to that responsible for rotten eggs, is designed to attract such pollinators as flesh flies and carrion beetles.
In addition to the foul odor, the spadix (the tall center part of the bloom) heats up to about human body temperature in order to spread the smell even farther and attract pollinators when the female flowers are most receptive in the first 12 hours of bloom. The male flowers only open on the second day, which helps to prevent self-pollination. After two days the inflorescence begins to collapse. Titans can take seven to 10 years to bloom.
Native to the rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia, it is uncommon both in the wild and in cultivation and blooms only rarely. In fact, Titan Arums are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
There have only been about 175 blooms in cultivated species worldwide, the first of which occurred in 1889 in England's Kew Gardens. The same plant did not flower again until 1926. The first documented flowering in the U.S. was at the New York Botanical Gardens in 1937.
UCSB's corpse flower, dubbed Chanel, arrived on campus about five years ago. Chanel is the progeny of Tiny, which last bloomed at UCSB in 2002. Tiny was pollinated by a specimen at the Huntington Botanical Gardens, which makes Tiny Chanel's mother.
Growing Titan Arums from seed requires patience. Once the seed germinates and grows roots, a corm — much like a potato's tuber — forms and lies dormant for three to nine months before leafing out. After 12 to 18 months, the leaf dies back (just like tulips in summer) and the plant goes dormant for another three to six months. When a new bud appears, the emerging leaf is larger than the previous leaf and the corm below ground continues to grow.
This cycle repeats until the corm reaches the minimum size for flowering, about 35 pounds. On rare occasions, instead of a leaf emerging from the dormant corm, a bloom emerges instead. However, the flower cycle does not repeat immediately. The plant lies dormant as a corm and enters the leaf cycle at least once before flowering again.
Chanel is one of four Titan Arums at UCSB. "We have three more which are all in the vegetative stage," said greenhouse manager Danica Taber. "They go through periods of dormancy after producing a single leaf to gather energy by photosynthesis. The energy accumulates in the corm and is stored there after the leaf dies and it's time to sprout the next leaf. After several years of cycling through leaf and dormancy, it will, if conditions are right, flower."
The UCSB greenhouse will be open to the public when Chanel blooms. The plant is currently over four feet in height and growing rapidly. A live feed of a photo taken every five minutes is available at www.eemb.ucsb.edu/ArumBloom/A.titanum.jpg.
Titan Arums tend to be afternoon bloomers. "Only the Titan Arum knows when it's going to do what it's going to do," said Taber.
Chanel represents one of several rare and unusual plant species in the teaching collection at the UCSB biology greenhouses. The greenhouses recently expanded with the addition of six world-class research bays and a state-of-the-art alpine greenhouse, which offer remotely programmable automated irrigation, supplemental lighting, and climate controls. The greenhouses were made possible by a National Science Foundation grant, generous support from the family of Environmental Science Emeritus Professor Barry Schuyler, and UCSB's student-funded The Green Initiative Fund.
When Chanel is about to bloom, viewing hours will be posted on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ChanelTheTitanArum. Admission is free. Titan Arum signs will direct visitors to Lot 18, where parking costs $5 for two hours. From there, Titan Arum signs will guide visitors from Lot 18 to the greenhouse.
Live Streaming
Chanel’s Facebook Page
UCSB Greenhouse |
“Ghost in the Shell” may have been doomed from the start because of the film’s whitewashing controversy, according to a Paramount executive.
The big budget movie, based on a film adaptation of a popular Japanese manga, flopped over the weekend earning just $19 million at the box office. Compare that to the film’s $110 million budget and Entertainment Weekly’s modest prediction that the movie would earn at least $30 million.
Critics didn’t think much of the movie either. “Ghost in the Shell” earned 45 percent on the film review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, with many reviewers saying the film lacked the magic of its source material.
An executive for Paramount, the studio behind the film, thinks that “Ghost in the Shell” performed so poorly because of the casting controversy that trailed the movie for years. After it was announced in late 2014 that Scarlett Johansson, a white actress, would be taking on the role of Major Motoko Kusanagi, critics complained that Hollywood was once again whitewashing a role that an Asian actress could’ve played.
“We had hopes for better results domestically. I think the conversation regarding casting impacted the reviews,” Paramount domestic distribution chief Kyle Davies told CBC News.
“You’ve got a movie that is very important to the fanboys since it’s based on a Japanese anime movie,” Davies added. “So you’re always trying to thread that needle between honoring the source material and make a movie for a mass audience. That’s challenging, but clearly the reviews didn’t help.” |
Five of the six main stocks he has declared an interest in have soared in value since January 2013.
The Fine Gael politician has one of the most diverse investment portfolios of any member of the Dail, the latest Register of Members' Interests shows. The minister held stakes in two different agricultural stocks last year, according to the Register, as well as interests in several exchange traded funds (ETFs). These popular products allow investors to bet on the performance of a group of companies or commodities rather than one single company.
One of his investments, which tracks a group of US banks, jumped by 36pc in value since January 2013 as confidence in the US financial services industry returned. Another, which tracks the Dow Jones Industrial Average, was up by a fifth.
Several new stocks appeared beside Mr Noonan's name in the 2013 register – the two agricultural products and a bet on the Lyxor Eurostoxx 50 ETF, a bundle of large European companies.
Only one of his investments fell during the year, a product which tracks the top 100 companies on the London FTSE exchange. But he has held a stake in this ETF since 2007 – and it has doubled in value since then. The performance of his portfolio represents a turnaround from 2012, when the minister got hosed on the stockmarket. His holding in a product called 'SPDR S&P Metals and Mining ETF' fell by 36pc in that year, while punts on US banking shares and the UK recovery also fell, albeit marginally.
Jobs Minister Richard Bruton's investments also did very well last year, the Register shows, though Mr Bruton is only beginning to recover some of the ground he lost after several of his holdings were decimated in the wake of the recession. Mr Bruton's investments are heavily weighted towards Irish businesses – he has stakes in Bank of Ireland, Swiss-Irish food group Aryzta, building giant CRH, Smurfit Kappa, insurer FBD and building materials supplier Kingspan, as well as now-nationalised AIB and Irish Life and Permanent. Every single one of these stocks rose in value between January 2013 and January 2014, with some, like Smurfit Kappa and AIB, doubling.
The Register reveals a very different picture for both ministers' biggest challenger in the Dail, Fianna Fail finance spokesman Michael McGrath. Mr McGrath registered no share holdings, property ownership or directorships at all last year. The only interest recorded was a study visit funded by Boston College in January 2013.
But the same can't be said for his Fianna Fail colleague Willie O'Dea, the party's spokesman for social protection. Prolific investor O'Dea has a whopping seven mining companies next to his name, including stakes in Irish exploration firms Dragon Oil, Ormond Mining, Galway-based Kibo and John Teeling-founded Botswana Diamonds, plus holdings in Canadian miners Lucara and Concordia and UK-based Union Jack Oil. Many of these stocks saw their value tank during the year.
Mr O'Dea also has an extensive property portfolio, with interests in Irish, US and UK property funds, and London media group Chime Communications. Minister of the hour Alan Shatter had just two shareholdings registered to his name last year – a stake in insurer Standard Life and a stake in Basta Holdings, a Clonskeagh-based building materials suppliers.
But his property holdings were less modest; the Justice Minister had interests in 14 properties, unchanged from 2012, ranging from central Dublin residences to homes in far flung corners of the US. In total the portfolio includes eight Dublin properties, four in Florida and two in England. These assets have all performed well of late – Dublin house prices rose 16pc last year, while Florida prices were up 17 per cent and UK homes rose by eight per cent. But property values in all of these locations are still far from boom-time peaks.
Health Minister James Reilly reported a similarly massive property holding.
His assets include nine separate sites, ranging from a derelict ruin in Balrothery in Dublin to 250 acres of farming land in Moneygall and a nursing home in Tipperary. The 55-bedroom Greenhills nursing home was recently put up for sale by the High Court to discharge a €1.9m bank debt owed by Mr Reilly and other investors.
Other prolific investors as revealed by the Register include Dun Laoghaire TD Sean Barrett, who has stakes in multiple insurance companies; Cork East TD Tom Barry has shares in Dairygold Co-Op, insurer FBD and AIB; while Independent TD Shane Ross has investments in Bank of Ireland, INM, road-tolling company NTR, and US and German government bonds.
Fine Gael TD Simon Coveney, meanwhile, has shares in a private wealth management group with an address at Merrion Square Dublin, and shares in a group called the "Coveney Family Investment Club".
Sunday Indo Business |
COLUMBIA, Mo. – State Rep. Casey Guernsey, R-Bethany, said Tuesday he stands with football fans who booed a reference to President Barack Obama during a swearing-in ceremony for members of the Missouri National Guard at a home football game over the weekend.
“I find booing a liar to be patriotic and rather enjoyed it,” Guernsey wrote on Twitter. He later removed the post.
The tweet prompted criticism from one of Guernsey’s colleagues, Rep. Caleb Jones, R-California, who called the post “unreal,” and said he disagreed “100 percent”.
According to reports, a small outbreak of booing came during an oath taking ceremony during halftime of Mizzou’s game versus Tennessee, when members were prompted to swear an oath to “obey the orders of the president of the United States.”
** UPDATE, Nov. 7: Guernsey, in a statement Thursday, offered an explanation for the tweet, but stopped short of apologizing for his comment.
“The tweet was meant to be directed at comments from the linked story – and that I ‘enjoyed’ (I’m referencing my comments here) the entire ceremony. I was there and didn’t agree with some of those who commented in the story,” he said. “The crowd was very exuberant in cheering for the guardsmen. Much more loudly than the boos.”
Area lawmakers, including Jones and Rep. Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, who posted, “the ‘boos’ were 100 percent inappropriate.”
State Rep. Clem Smith, D-Velda Village Hill, who said he attended Saturday’s game, said in a statement he was “embarrassed and angry at the actions of those who booed.”
“At no point did university officials reprimand the crowd members for this inappropriate and unpatriotic act,” he said. “Those crowd members disrespected the proud men and women of our nation’s great military, the President of the United States and the upstanding citizens of Missouri.” |
FeatureFeb 9, 2016 at 9:41a PSTby Krystian Smoszna "We're not afraid of the Islamic State" - an interview with the creator of Hatred and IS Defense We met with Jaroslaw Zielinski from Destructive Creations not only to talk about IS Defense, but also to ask him whether his controversial game were as successful as he wanted it to be.
Destructive Creations is not slowing down. Few months after the release of Hatred, the developers from Gliwice are working hard on another big - and yet unnanounced - project. It will be released next year, but in the meantime the creators want to remind us of themselves with a much smaller game, that will probably make a lot of fuss about them one more time. IS Defense is a simple shooter, that will remind you of Beach-Head, in which we will play as a soldier of the last line of defense against the attacking armies of the Islamic State. We talked with Jaroslaw Zielinski about this very serious game that came to life because of a joke, and we asked him about the overall condition of his company.
The last time I was in Destructive Creations' studio, we just found out about your existence. Back then you put all your eggs in one basket.
Yes, I said that if Hatred doesn't come out, we will all part ways.
Today, for a change, we talk in your new place, and from what I've seen, your team is much bigger now.
True, back then there was 8 of us, now there's 18.
This means that Hatred was a success.
Yes, but it was mostly a success in production. As a brand new studio, with the CEO and lead project manager who never did a similar job before, we managed to finish the game in time, and we managed to stay within the budget limits; what's more, we even had some money left because of preorders that launched in the meantime. When it comes to the commercial success, however, we really hoped that this will be the perfect move and that people will go for Hatred like crazy, but it didn't happen. Even though, we made a game that - altogether with preorders - made up for all the production costs within 4 hours, and we made enough money to keep working in peace.
Enough money to have that peaceful time for the next two years?
When we decided to launch the new project, we didn't yet have enough funds for the whole two years. However, we're in the situation where we don't spend the money we made after the release of Hatred, because the current sales are high enough to cover monthly maintenance costs of the studio. Even more than that, we're about to release IS Defense and there will be money coming from this as well. And that is great - I expanded our team, gave raises to people, and that's the most important to me.
Will the new project step into Hatred's shoes?
No. This time it won't be the usual going over the top and I think everyone will be really surprised. I really hope that thanks to this we will be able to find a publisher.
A publisher? But you just opened a store, you have your new distribution channel, why would you want to partner with someone who might want to put some pressure on you?
A publisher can do much better marketing campaigns, and that's why I want a publisher to take care of advertising the game. There will be no influencing us, because we will create the game all by ourselves, and our potential partner will not become our only hope, that - although aids us with money - will take our independence from us. In a situation like this, negotiating with publishers looks much different.
It seems that you're playing it safe. This won't be a "destructive creation"?
Don't worry, we will live up to our company's name.
It seems that you're playing it safe with IS Defense as well, although this might not be the perfect description. This time you take on a subject that's not really controversial, but rather really up-to-date and popular. The Islamic State doesn't invoke really good connotations, people usually support fighting against them.
Let's say that IS Defense is an artistic way of being against what the Islamic State does. Nevertheless, the IS suited perfectly for a production like this. We could, of course, do the Omaha beach landing and shoot the Americans with MG42, but we would end up with more accusations of Nazism, and we already had enough of that.
Is the game referring in any way to the enemies' faith?
No, we're not speaking of religion. There is no word in the game about Muslims, Islamic people, etc. We shoot the terrorists because the enemies are terrorists. We are not interested in their religion.
Even an idiot would connect the dots here.
Yeah, you can't avoid that, but this doesn't mean that we have to make our lives even more difficult for ourselves and attract even more attention. Well, if we were living in France, I might not have been brave enough to even touch upon this subject.
You're afraid that something bad could have happened?
Not really. There could have been be some objections, although we're not really touching upon the subject of religion. We don't make fun of Muhammad, which was the reason that Charlie Hebdo was attacked.
Is Poland more safe in this matter? No one will come and set your studio on fire?
In Poland? There's no chance for that. The enemy in IS Defense is depicted very clear, but I don't think we will be in any way victimized by the Islamic State or other fuckheads. What makes me wonder is why this is a taboo subject and no one makes games about ISIS. In Call of Duty we get tons of fabricated terrorists; we just call them with their real names.
You think this theme is enough to sell the game?
No, but I never thought it would work with Hatred as well, and it had nice sales anyway.
You have a tendency to touch upon really unpopular subjects, you choose the hard way to go against the trend. You created a clone of Postal, now you're finishing your work on a clone if Beach-Head. Where does this love to long-dead genres come from? Do you really miss being able to play games like these?
That was the case with Hatred, because I'm a really huge fan of the first Postal, and if I look at IS Defense from a different perspective, that might actually be it as well. These are genres that no one touched in years and we're satisfied in refreshing them in a modern form, because we would love to play games like these ourselves. Besides, I think there's nothing wrong with that. I would never make a MOBA, because there's already enough of them, and the biggest ones are so good, that the rest can't even compete with them. The situation here is a bit different, we have more freedom; but that won't be the case forever. Our new game will represent the genre that is well known and popular, but we will turn it upside-down anyway, because we will make the game our way. When it comes to "reanimating the corpses", this will end after IS Defense.
Was that reanimation spontaneous?
Yeah, this was really an accident. The idea wasn't new (the developers from Destructive Creations wanted to make a similar title on game jam, but they couldn't get there - ed. note), but giving that idea a real shape was completely spontaneous. I came to work one day with that idea in mind and I wanted to see how much I can make of it by myself. I made the controls, I ask my colleague to make me a simple beach, and if I had a bigger problem, I ran to one of our programmers to ask for help. So I was slowly working on this with a little help from few people, and in time all of us actually started focusing on it more. You know, this game was to be a little crappy thing that we probably wouldn't even sell for 1, but in time people in the team actually believed that this might work, and as a result IS Defense looks much different today.
How much different?
There was no skills, no progress, and there was only one map to start with. That's actually a good example. When I came up with few gameplay ideas on one map, I concluded that you can use them on other maps as well, so I asked our artists to create more levels. When we already had three maps, I thought that it would be actually nice to do something on one of them to unlock the other. In the meantime I noticed that the mechanics are well scripted, so I thought about modifying skills. Once that was working well, we had to have a nice UI. And it went on and on - something came out of something else and the project grew naturally. On the other hand, we had to stop ourselves at some points, there have to be certain boundaries. I feel bad that we don't have a bigger variety of enemies, but AI sends so many of them against you, that you don't really have time to look closer at them, because you have no idea what's going on. The whole process was supposed to take a few months, so I finally said "stop, no more content, we need to polish it now. We must release it".
Hatred is available for few months already. What's your perspective on everything that was going on around this game?
From my perspective, it was all crazy. I repeated multiple times in interviews that I never expected this shitstorm to happen. I thought that the world is more mature and won't perceive the game as a cheap provocation - that's not why I made this game. However, I remember other things the most: removing Hatred from Greenlight and a mail from Gabe Newell, who wrote to us a day later. These were the most exciting days during the production process. When I saw the apology from Newell and the game was greenlit again, I couldn't believe my own eyes.
You really had a stroke of luck.
Indeed, that's why it all worked out. If we were removed from Greenlight for good, I don't think we would make it; after all, Steam is about 75% of digital distribution. My one regret is that we couldn't release the box version of the game, although we were negotiating that, and what's interesting, we weren't the ones to come up with this idea. We never even dreamed of international distribution, but it would be possible to release the game like this in few countries. Unfortunately, when it came to specifics, people negotiating with us were halted by their own marketing and sales departments and there was no one to talk about it anymore. I really regret that it didn't work out, because the boxed Hatred could reach more people that weren't directly interested in it from day one. When the project made so much fuss in the media that are not strictly related to the gaming industry, many people got curious and they wrote to us few months after the release asking whether the game came out already. These people, however, had no idea what Steam was.
So you made your own box.
Yes, the game is available in a boxed version, but only in our online store that launched yesterday. Some of our fans asked for the box, even though they already have a digital edition. So we made a couple of hundreds of boxes and now you can buy it.
Speaking about the fans. When I was here for the first time, you showed me how many people responded to you. Has anything changed in that matter?
No, we're still in touch with all these people. Before we released the survival mode in Hatred, we didn't go to a testing company, but instead we took some of the most active fans on the forums and we gave them access to the beta. Hell, they tested it much better than anyone else. We got walls of text with comments, all the bugs noted - and in a really professional manner, I must say. We got what we wanted, and they could play it earlier - everyone was happy with that solution. I think that our community will be content with IS Defense, because it's a hardcore game, as you could see by yourself. Will the community grow after that game? I don't think so. However, mods for Hatred should do that, because we will finally release the editor that we announced before.
Will a layman be able to handle it?
The advantage of the editor is that these are Unreal Engine 4 tools that we modified, and you can easily find all the help you need online, as the support in case of these tools is really well-developed. This thing has enormous possibilities, and IS Defense is the best proof of that - in its core, it's actually a mod for Hatred. Obviously we implemented lots of adjustments that are way beyond the standard mod, but if someone was stubborn enough, he could actually do something similar if he spent a lot of time with the editor.
What are your other plans for the future?
We slowly work on the new project that I already mentioned. We plan to release it in 2017, but we will probably reveal what it actually is this year. As I said before, the genre will be a surprise, because people got used to us making games where you blow the shit up, and this one will go in a slightly different direction. You shouldn't expect any controversy from it, but most probably there will be some dumbass from Polygon who will say that he "played for so long and didn't notice any black guy in it". Only time will tell what comes out of it. |
London Philharmonic record every national anthem (more or less)
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 29 September 2011
The London Philharmonic Orchestra has recorded no less than 200 national anthems ready for next year’s London Olympics. The recordings, recorded in just 52 hours at the Abbey Road Studios, will be used during medal presentation ceremonies at next year’s games. Though every anthem will also be played at the opening events of both the Olympics and Paralympics, so if any countries fail to win any medals, at least the Phil’s efforts won’t be wasted.
According to the BBC, Olympic rules dictate that each anthem is between 60 and 90 seconds. As the shortest, Uganda, is eighteen seconds long normally, and the longest, Uruguay, runs for nearly seven minutes, that involved some reworking. Though original arrangements were being used anyway, partly to give the performances a fresh spin, and partly to avoid any copyright issues around existing arrangements.
Conductor Philip Sheppard had 45 meetings with reps from all over the world to discuss his adaptations of each anthem. Meanwhile, the orchestra had a map on the floor of the studio so they could mark off each anthem as it was recorded. Sheppard told the Beeb: “My geography has definitely been sharpened!” |
Ontario is finally giving its aging nuclear fleet a multi-billion dollar facelift. “The planned refurbishments will create almost 25,000 jobs and generate $5 billion annually in economic activity,” Premier Kathleen Wynne said Wednesday. “We’re moving ahead with significant steps right now to ensure that the refurbishment of Darlington and Bruce are done right. So that refurbishment is in the planning stages.” Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli is expected to announce Thursday the refurbishment of six of the massive Bruce nuclear plant’s eight reactors. That will be followed next month by the unveiling of a mid-life overhaul of Ontario Power Generation’s four reactors at Darlington.
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Nuclear power accounts for the vast majority of Ontario’s electricity generation — it was 65 per cent of output on Wednesday — so updating the huge facilities is critical. While Chiarelli was tight-lipped at Queen’s Park about his plans, he stressed that taxpayers would be protected from the cost overruns that plague most nuclear projects. “There has been layer on layer on layer of due diligence that has been done. There has been razor sharp focus on price,” the minister told reporters.
“We also have built into the process . . . some off-ramps,” he said. “They’re long-term commitments, but they’re off-ramps that enable us to change directions if need be, so we’re very, very confident . . . that it’s a smart thing to do.” Chiarelli noted refurbishment “costs 50 per cent of building new nuclear.” “And the other thing that is more important now than ever is there are no emissions from it,” he said, referring to the fact that atomic power does not generate greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, though disposing of radioactive waste remains a challenge.
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“It also presents export opportunities for the companies involved in the nuclear sector in Ontario because in . . . China and India they’re going nuclear because they’re killing their people with pollution. They’ve got to have clean energy.” Refurbishing up to 10 reactors could cost $25 billion and take 15 years. Bruce Power, the private company that operates the world’s largest currently operating nuclear station, and OPG, the Crown utility, have been in negotiations with Queen’s Park on their respective overhauls for years. But the refurbishment plan will only be half-completed before OPG’s Pickering station is slated to close in 2020. Two years ago, Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government indefinitely shelved plans for OPG to build two new reactors at Darlington.
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The murder bore the characteristics of a contract killing, a not-uncommon phenomenon in Russia. Even so, the audacity of Mr. Markelov’s murder surprised some commentators.
“Even when organized crime in the 1990s was rampant, such a killing would have been considered bold and horrific,” said a correspondent from Vesti television.
Mr. Markelov, who was the director of the Rule of Law Institute, a civil liberties group, gained prominence recently representing the family of Elza Kungayeva. She was an 18-year-old Chechen whom Mr. Budanov, the former tank commander, admitted strangling in his quarters in March 2000, just as the second post-Soviet war in Chechnya was beginning to rage.
Mr. Budanov was sentenced to 10 years in prison but was given early parole for good behavior.
Mr. Markelov, at the news conference just before his death, told reporters that he might file an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights against the early release of Mr. Budanov, who was a decorated colonel of the Russian Army before he was stripped of his rank. In an interview last week with The New York Times, Mr. Markelov said he might also file a lawsuit against the administration of the prison that released Mr. Budanov last Thursday.
The decision to free Mr. Budanov set off street protests and outraged some human rights groups and Chechen officials. It reignited long-simmering tensions years after a decade of intermittent war in Chechnya, a southern Russian republic, was replaced by tenuous stability.
But Mr. Budanov was also revered by nationalists as a valiant fighter who helped wage a bloody but necessary war against separatist rebels in Chechnya. Some now see Mr. Markelov’s murder as revenge for his efforts against a Russian hero.
“The murder of Markelov, I consider a bold open warning by the ‘party of war’ to democratic Russia,” Nudri S. Nukhazhiev, Chechnya’s human rights ombudsman, said in a statement. “Today, there are no facts or evidence of the direct participation of Budanov in this crime, but I am more than certain that it was committed by his supporters with his consent.”
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Mr. Markelov phoned the father of Ms. Kungayeva, the slain teenager, a few days ago to complain that he had received death threats, the father told the Interfax news agency.
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Lela Khamzayeva, another lawyer for Ms. Kungayeva’s family, was adamant, however, that the killing of Mr. Markelov could not be linked to his connection with Mr. Budanov, because his role during the actual proceedings against the former colonel was, as she put it, “insignificant.”
“If someone is trying to link this murder with Markelov’s participation in the Budanov case, well, that’s just ridiculous,” she said.
Given Mr. Markelov’s propensity for challenging the Russian authorities and others known to settle scores violently, the list of potential suspects is lengthy.
He worked closely with Anna Politkovskaya, an investigative journalist with Novaya Gazeta and strong critic of Russia’s Chechnya policies, who was murdered in Moscow in 2006.
He often defended the interests of those, like Ms. Kungayeva, who became ensnared in the violent and often arbitrary military justice of the Chechen conflict or the tyrannical rule of Chechnya’s violence-prone leader, Ramzan A. Kadyrov, in the war’s aftermath.
“He handled almost every case opened as a result of the work of Anna Politkovskaya,” said Nadezhda Prusenkova, a spokeswoman for Novaya Gazeta.
While he was not involved in the current trial of three men accused in the murder of Ms. Politkovskaya, Mr. Markelov did work on the case of another murdered Novaya Gazeta journalist, Igor Domnikov, who died in 2000 from wounds caused by a hammer blow to the head.
Mr. Markelov has also represented victims of neo-fascist and xenophobic violence, a phenomenon that has been expanding annually both in frequency and intensity, according to experts.
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At least 10 people were killed and 9 others injured in racist attacks in Russia in the first two weeks of 2009, said Aleksandr Brod, the head of the Moscow Human Rights Bureau, Interfax reported.
Ms. Baburova, the freelancer who was killed Monday, began working for Novaya Gazeta last October. She cited Mr. Markelov in her most recent article about fascist groups, published on Saturday.
In it, the lawyer criticized the authorities for their handling of a case against the leader of a violent nationalist group, who was sentenced to three years in prison for arranging the murder of a man from Tajikistan and putting video of the killing on the Internet.
With Ms. Baburova’s death, Novaya Gazeta has lost four reporters to murder or other mysterious circumstances since 2000. |
I spent some time at Big Oaks National Wildlife Refugee over the weekend working with the annual butterfly count they host. If you have never been to Big Oaks you are truly missing out on a unique experience, the refugee offers a diversity of life that has few rivals in the Midwest.
I pulled this from their site…
Big Oaks Refuge contains the largest unfragmented forested block in southeastern Indiana and some of the largest grassland areas found within the region. The refuge provides habitat for 120 species of breeding birds, the Federally endangered Indiana bat, and 41 species of fish. The refuge also is home to white-tailed deer, wild turkey, river otters, and coyotes. Over 25 State-listed animal species and over 46 State-listed plant species have been discovered to date on the refuge. Many bird species of management concern are also found here, including Henslow’s sparrows and cerulean warblers. Over 800 singing male Henslow’s sparrows use the large grasslands on the refuge. Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge has been designated as a Globally Important Bird Area because of its value to Henslow’s sparrows and other migratory birds.
While working with the count I refugee volunteer told me about a rare wildflower thta grows in the area and told me of the location and I was able to get back and photograph this truly unique little wildflower.
Virginia Meadow Beauty is the flower and it is a really cool addition to the many other wildflowers I have been able to share with you over the years. According to the Illinois wildflower website….The Meadow Beauty is considered not common. This native perennial wildflower is ½–2½’ tall and largely unbranched, except near the apex where some lateral stems with flowers are usually produced. Short plants are erect, while tall plants sometimes sprawl across the ground. The central stem is light green to purplish green, sharply 4-angled, narrowly winged, and sparsely to moderately covered with glandular hairs. Pairs of opposite leaves occur along the central stem; they are up to 3″ long and 1¼” across, medium green, sharply toothed and ciliate along their margins, hairless to slightly hairy across their upper and lower surfaces, and sessile. The central stem and upper lateral stems (if present) terminate in short cymes of showy flowers. The branches of each cyme are usually glandular-hairy. Each flower is 1–1½” across, consisting of 4 widely spreading petals that are pink to deep rose-pink, a tubular calyx with 4 widely spreading triangular teeth, 8 stamens with bright yellow to orange-yellow anthers, and a 4-celled ovary with a single long style. The tubular calyx is shaped like a vase with a constricted neck; it is covered with long bristly hairs. The long slender anthers are curved like a sickle; the pollen of each anther is released through a small pore at one end. The blooming period occurs from mid-summer to early fall and lasts about 1-2 months. Each flower is replaced by a seed capsule that remains hidden within the persistent calyx; the calyx becomes red to purplish red after the petals fall off the flower. Each seed capsule contains numerous tiny seeds that are less than 1 mm. in length. The root system is fibrous; some fibrous roots have tuberous swellings. This wildflower reproduces by reseeding itself.
And here a few examples of this awesome little flower and the wonderful structure they posses, hope you enjoy the post and info and if you are ever out hunting wildflowers maybe you will be able to come across this great piece of nature !! |
Massive Chalice, a tactical strategy game from Double Fine, will leave Steam Early Access and launch as a full title on June 1, according to an announcement on the game's Steam page.
The Xbox One version of the game is "appearing around then too." The game's 1.0 version on Steam adds controller support, achievements and the same UI navigation the Xbox One version will have.
"After many months of designing, building, reading through our early access feedback and playing the game for hours on end, we're finally in lockdown," the announcement reads. "That means the team is in the final stages now; working purely on bug fixing, performance and polishing things up, in between sending builds off to Microsoft for certification."
Massive Chalice was funded via Kickstarter in 2013. For more on the game, check out our hands-on preview. Massive Chalice is currently available on Steam for Linux, Mac and Windows PC.
Disclosure: The writer of this story has a personal relationship with an employee at Double Fine unrelated to this project. You can find information about Polygon's ethics statement here. |
Sunderland winger James McClean has been added to the Republic of Ireland squad to face the Czech Republic next week in Dublin.
It is a first senior call-up for the 22-year-old, who has been in superb form for the Black Cats.
McClean was surprisingly left out of the initial squad, although manager Giovanni Trapattoni said he would be called into the panel "in the future".
Derby midfielder Paul Green has also been drafted into the Republic squad.
Green scored in his first international start for the Republic, in the 3-0 win over Algeria two years ago.
Trapattoni indicated last month that he intended to stick with the players who had got the team to the Euro 2012.
It was believed that McClean's headline-grabbing performances had prompted a rethink by Trapattoni, but he was omitted for the clash against the Czechs.
Trapattoni revealed that he had spoken to McClean and assured him of a future call-up to the squad.
"I told him, '100 per cent you will be with us [in the future]'," said Trapattoni.
"But I want to consolidate the balance, the mentality of the squad in this game against the Czech Republic so we will use the players that qualified us for Euro 2012."
The 22-year-old's move from Derry City to the Wearside outfit, a £350,000 transfer from League of Ireland obscurity, went relatively unnoticed during a period of heavy recruitment at the Stadium of Light last summer. For the first four months of the season he did not make a first-team appearance.
That all changed when Martin O'Neill succeeded Steve Bruce in early December, with the new manager handing McClean his senior debut by bringing him off the bench in his second game in charge.
Republic of Ireland squad: Shay Given (Aston Villa), Keiren Westwood (Sunderland), David Forde (Millwall); John O'Shea (Sunderland), Stephen Kelly (Fulham), Stephen Ward (Wolves), Shane Duffy (Everton), Sean St Ledger (Leicester), Darren O'Dea (Leeds), Kevin Foley (Wolves); Glenn Whelan (Stoke), James McCarthy (Wigan), Seamus Coleman (Everton), Keith Andrews (West Brom), Keith Fahey (Birmingham), Darron Gibson (Everton), Damien Duff (Fulham), Aiden McGeady (Spartak Moscow), James McClean (Sunderland), Paul Green (Derby County), Stephen Hunt (Wolves); Robbie Keane (Aston Villa), Kevin Doyle (Wolves), Shane Long, Simon Cox (both West Brom), Jon Walters (Stoke) |
You can swim with plenty of interesting—and sometimes theoretically scary—things: stingrays, dolphins, whales , whale sharks, even real sharks . But what about those paddlers of the porcine persuasion? Yep, we're talking about pigs. Lucky for you, in the Bahamas' Exumas there's a place where such thrills can be had—and it's called Big Major Cay. No one knows for sure how these pigs arrived: some speculate they were dropped off temporarily by sailors; others think it's all a ploy designed by the Bahamian government to attract tourists. Whatever the case, the pigs are friendly—and evidently love posing for selfies. Want proof? Here are the best Instagram snaps from #pigbeach.
Spotted: the world's cutest pillow.
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Where the wild things are.
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Always swim with a buddy.
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Talk about #squadgoals.
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What's shakin', bacon?
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Hamming it up for the camera.
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Laughing at all of us stuck in snowy, freezing New York and other wintry climes.
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You spin me right round, baby right round.
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Good thing everyone ordered the salmon.
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Hey, what's up? Hello. |
Queer Rights/Animal Rights
Weighing in on the Montreal pit bull ban.
By Sassafras Lowrey
Elijah Jack Blagg
There's a lot of stereotypes about lesbians and vegetarianism, and while I know my fair share of bacon-eating lesbians, the stereotype does have some merit, I believe at least in part because we have an awareness about the intersectionality of issues like concerns for the environment, animal welfare, etc. Thus I think it only makes sense that as lesbians we need to think about the ways that laws and society are treating animal companions and wild animals. I believe that as queer folks we need to be thoughtful and aware of animal rights, just as we would any other social justice issue.
Over the past month I've been deeply concerned about news coming out of Montreal, Canada and their proposed, approved, and now stayed by court order breed-specific legislation targeting "pit bull type dogs." As I read the news all I could think about was how devastated and helpless I would feel if someone, let alone my government was telling me I couldn't have my dog. I also was struck by the ways in which these dogs in opposition to science and animal behavior were being judged, accused, tried, and convicted as “dangerous,” in most cases for doing nothing other than having been born.
Dana Hopkins
If you live in Montreal and have a pit bull-type dog in order to keep your dog would need to be able to pass a criminal background check (racism and classism at work here if we look at the overrepresentation of poor people, and people of color, and especially for queer, poor, people of color!), these dogs would only be permitted in public if being walked on a 4 foot leash and wearing a muzzle. Their guardians would also have to pay a high registration fee (about $650) to the city after applying for a special permit, which in some cases would only be made available by appointment with scheduling options for a few hours in the middle of the workweek.
Kyla Wilkenfeld
Dogs who have owners that are able to meet all these requirements would have been the lucky ones, the legislation was a death sentence for homeless dogs the associated mandates banned the adoption of any pit bull or pit bull type dog, and that any pit bull in shelter or rescue (where they are over represented) must be euthanized. The legislation is vague too about what it defines as a pit bull. By their subjective definition, pit bull-type dogs encompass any stocky dogs with big heads. These are dogs, which could in actuality be a mix of any number of breeds. In fact, the law was drafted quickly by city officials after a woman was mauled to death by a neighbor’s dog. Initial reports said the dog was a pit bull, but in reality the dog was registered as a boxer. Obviously this was a horribly tragic incident but what we know from other jurisdictions across the United States and Canada banning a certain type of dog doesn't reduce dog bites.
Sunny Kenngott
The good news is that as I was writing this column, a judge in Montreal issued a stay in response to the Montreal SPCA's lawsuit against the city. These folks were doing amazing advocacy to get pit bulls out of Montreal before the law went into effect and mounting a legal opposition in the courts. This order from the judge means that for now at least pit bulls in Montreal are safe as this case continues to wind its way through the legal system. Families with pit bulls are at least temporarily safe, and for now adoptions of these dogs from shelters and rescues in Montreal can continue.
Michel Fitos
As queer people we know what it's liked to be judged for who we are. We know what it feels like to have our government legislate against us. Many of us know what its like to have people pull their children away when they see us, or say we shouldn't be allowed to teach, or adopt kids. We are labeled as immoral predators simply because of who we love. I can't help but draw a correlation to the way that certain breeds of dogs are looked at by those who are acting out of fear and misinformation. In court proceedings René Cadieux, the city of Montreal's legal representative was quoted in defense of the law as saying: "If it walks like a duck, if it quacks like a duck, it's got to be a duck...It’s like pornography. You know it when you see it." This argument sounds so much like the anti-gay rhetoric and legislation we see gaining traction again across our country. LGBTQ people know what it's like to be discriminated against, and so I believe it is essential that we speak out when we see discrimination happening against another — human or canine.
Photos accompanying this article came from wonderful Curve readers who responded to my request for queers to send me pictures of their pit bull companions. A whole additional angle of this story that I don’t think has ever been researched is what percentage of dog-owning LGBTQ people share their lives with pit bulls? Based on my unscientific request for photos on social media? A whole lot.
About the author: |
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper says he will cease to be prime minister if his party comes a close second in the Oct. 19 election, signalling he will not resort to any procedural tactics to remain in power.
In a wide-ranging interview with CBC chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge, Harper was asked whether the party with the most seats should take power in a minority government situation.
"My position has always been if we win the most seats I will expect to form the government and if we don't, I won't," Harper said.
Mansbridge asked Harper if that would be the case, even if the Conservatives finish only couple of seats behind.
"Well, I would not serve as prime minister," Harper said.
Harper made this vow with polls showing the tightest three-way race in decades. Recent surveys suggest a handful of seats might separate first- and second-place parties. Pierre Trudeau had mused about hanging onto power during the 1979 campaign that saw Joe Clark win a minority mandate.
"We don't, you know, elect a bunch of parties who then, as in some countries, get together and decide who will govern. We ask people to make a choice of a government," Harper said. "And so I think that the party that wins the most seats should form the government."
Harper appeared to be ruling out any attempt to try to cling to power through any procedural machinations following the election results if his party finished in second place. For example, if only a few seats separated his party from first place, he could try to persuade MPs from other parties to join his government.
Or, he could attempt to form a coalition with the other opposition parties. But Harper has been a vocal opponent of coalition governments. In the 2011 election, when polls suggested the Conservatives would win the most seats but might only form a minority government, Harper repeatedly denounced the idea that the opposition would take power by forming a coalition, saying it was an illegitimate way to form government.
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair has said his party is open to forming a coalition government with the Liberals. But Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has said that while the two parties could work on legislative bills, there will be no formal coalition with the NDP.
'What's enough?'
The interview with Harper covered a number of different issues, including the current Syrian refugee crisis, a topic that became a hot issue in the campaign last week after a photo of a drowned three-year-old Syrian boy made headlines around the world.
Mansbridge asked whether countries in the West were doing enough to help.
"What's enough? What's enough, Peter? There are millions, millions of displaced persons that we know of in camps etc. There are tens of millions of other people whose survival, day to day survival, is in jeopardy," Harper said.
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper speaks about the Syrian refugee crisis during a campaign event in Surrey, B.C., last Thursday. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
"It's not just enough to turn around and say, oh let's admit more refugees. We can admit thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands more refugees and we are still going to see those kinds of images. So we've got to be doing a lot more than that."
Harper repeated that part of the solution is to counter militarily the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and the root causes of the millions of people displaced. Canada has sent military forces to the region and has been involved in a series of airstrikes against the militant group. However, Harper acknowledged "we have to be in for the long haul."
On the economy
On the economy, Mansbridge asked Harper why Canadians should trust his analysis on the current sluggish economy, given that in 2008, he suggested there would be no economic crash.
"I think what that whole period should tell us you know, analysis is great. But in the end, you don't know what you're actually going to be dealing with. We're in a very unstable world."
"Through those ups and downs this government has shown that it has a long-term plan and also ability to adapt to situations. We have made significant policy changes at times where we've needed to."
Harper dismissed the proposals of the Liberals and NDP, which he characterized as "always spend more," and rejected the tens of billions of dollars of promises they have made in the campaign.
"There is an order of magnitude difference between the scale of the campaign commitments we have made and what the other guys have made," Harper said.
Duffy scandal
About the Mike Duffy Senate expense scandal, Harper said he was angry when he learned that his then chief of staff Nigel Wright personally paid back the senator's expenses. But Harper, who has said he didn't learn about the payment until it became public knowledge, didn't hold anyone else accountable for the scandal, other than Duffy and Wright.
During Duffy's fraud, breach of trust and bribery trial, which is currently on hiatus, court has heard that other members of the PMO at the time were told about Wright's cheque payment, including Harper's current chief of staff Ray Novak. However, Harper's campaign team had denied this.
"There's no person on my staff that I believe deceived me or acted unethically or irresponsibly," Harper said.
Asked whether he has any personal regrets about the way he handled the issue, Harper said: "Oh, probably a little bit. But I'm not going to bare my soul here." |
[Editor's note: This week's previous excerpts from The Armageddon Factor recounted how a B.C. battle over including anti-homophobic teaching in B.C.'s public schools galvanized conservative opposition and helped speed a Bible-based education movement across the country. Its most extreme edges, visited in today's installment, include a growing number of homeschoolers who distrust government and aim to train children ready to inhabit, and run, a Canadian theocracy.]
The Quiet Revolution in BC Schooling read more
Announcements, Events & more from Tyee and select partners ‘Punch to the Gut’ Musical on Residential Schools Returns to Vancouver Children of God has been shaped by intense audience reactions, says director Corey Payette.
In Canada, the home schooling movement has been growing at a rate that is difficult for authorities to ignore. In 1979, an estimated 2,000 children were being taught by their parents; today, the Home School Legal Defence Association of Canada puts that tally at 60,000 to 80,000.
While Ontario claims the largest number of homeschoolers, the movement's chief momentum is in the West, where B.C. foots the bill for home-computer costs and Alberta picks up 16 per cent of the tab for those who comply with the provincial curriculum and submit to periodic tests. As home educators like to point out, the Internet has put even the most isolated students only a keystroke away from a vast electronic library and distance-learning tutorials.
To outsiders, homeschooling numbers might seem negligible, but the movement's collective clout is no longer dismissed -- at least not since the last U.S. presidential primaries. As the results from the Republican caucuses in Iowa rolled in late one January night in 2008, pundits were astonished to discover that the key factor responsible for transforming an obscure, guitar-playing former Arkansas governor named Mike Huckabee into the upset winner was his grassroots network of fellow evangelicals in the homeschooling movement.
While once most homeschoolers were left-wing hippies who'd dropped out of the straitlaced consumer culture of the 1960s, today more than three-quarters are conservative Christians recoiling from the moral free-for-all they blame on those long-ago summers of love. According to a 2003 survey, more than 85 per cent of Canadian families who opted to homeschool their children did so in order to teach them a particular set of religious and moral beliefs.
Amy and Ryan Bromilow, two homeschoolers attending a gathering of the Ontario Christian Home Educators Connection (OCHEC) in Hamilton, Ontario, aren't reluctant to own up to that motivation. "We want to keep our children pure the way my parents wanted to keep us pure," Amy says, "and to teach them Christian values."
Homeschoolers in Harper's circle
With her flowery skirt and fortress mentality, Bromilow might seem to fit the prevailing stereotype of the homeschooler, but that profile is changing as swiftly as the country's demographics. At the OCHEC conference, a handful of women sporting Islamic headscarves push strollers through the crowd -- one reminder that Muslims now make up one of the fastest-growing segments of the movement -- and homeschooling is no longer a strictly rural phenomenon. One former bookstore manager with a gold earring glinting beneath his shaved pate could pass for any urban hipster in the downtown Hamilton neighbourhood where he and his wife have chosen to teach their two daughters.
Even some of the leading players in Stephen Harper's Ottawa have jumped on the homeschooling bandwagon. Two Conservative MPs, Ontario's Jeff Watson and Ed Komarnicki, a former president of the Saskatchewan Home Based Educators, have homeschooled their children, and one of Harper's closest friends and advisers, former Conservative Party strategist Ken Boessenkool -- a lobbyist whose clients have included Taser International -- has opted to oversee his kids' education at home in Calgary.
Still, the biggest revolution is not in the size or the makeup of the movement but its public image -- a shift summed up in the title of a 2007 Fraser Institute study, "Homeschooling: From the Extreme to the Mainstream." In 1985, only 16 per cent of Canadian families approved of homeschooling, but by 2001, the number had ballooned to 41 per cent.
Some experts tie that jump to mounting disaffection with a one-size-fits-all education system, but another reason for the surge is the stratospheric test scores that homeschooled students have racked up. Research shows that children taught at home regularly outperform students from both public and private schools. Almost every Canadian university now accepts students who have been educated by their parents, as do the top addresses in the American Ivy League.
No matter how astonishing their academic achievements, homeschoolers face the assumption that they're social misfits -- shy, reclusive and inept at interacting with their peers after a life sequestered around the family hearth. In fact, one Canadian study reported the contrary: most homeschoolers were involved in at least eight outside activities a week, from church groups and field trips to sports teams.
Paul Faris, executive director of Canada's Home School Legal Defence Association, argues that students who are educated by their parents may actually be better socialized than their public-school counterparts. "They don't look at people and think, 'If you're not in my class, we have nothing in common,'" he says.
'Out to change our culture'
Not that Faris is unbiased. The oldest of seven growing up on a goat farm in southwestern Ontario, he was homeschooled himself, and insists he never felt deprived. He played on local hockey teams, went to high-school dances and won a scholarship to the University of Western Ontario, where he graduated from law school.
Now married to another homeschooled graduate, he is the new spokesman for the movement in Canada, a fervent advocate for the cause who defends families in court against overzealous social workers and lobbies for greater parental rights on Parliament Hill. As he points out, every legal clampdown on homeschoolers is provoked by the same question: "Whose child is it anyway? Is it your child or the government's?"
Intense and goateed, Faris is careful to tailor his message to his audience, as required. On the phone with me, he is cautious and low-key, downplaying his organization's Christian underpinnings and American ties. But addressing an insider crowd at the OCHEC convention, he metamorphoses into an aggressive cheerleader for a movement that some critics see as one of the most radical wings of the religious right. Listening to him, it becomes clear that he is not simply championing some homespun, do-it-yourself educational alternative -- a retreat from the rowdiness of the secular mainstream.
For Faris and his American allies, homeschooling is a political act with a profoundly subversive goal: to groom a new generation of fiercely motivated evangelical leaders capable of taking their place in society's power centres and creating a form of Bible-based government.
With their ability to think outside the box and their enforced history as self-starters, homeschoolers are perfectly positioned to become "spiritual change agents who are advancing the Kingdom of God," Faris tells the OCHEC crowd. "Homeschooling I believe is the most important movement in Canada right now," he says, "because we're out to change our culture."
'Satan in the public school system'
How do you change a culture? In the homeschooling movement, the answer comes without hesitation: one child at a time.
At the OCHEC conference Faris brandishes figures from The Barna Group, the U.S. religious right's favourite pollster, which warns that, by the end of a public-school education, 70 per cent of evangelical children will have lost their core beliefs. "You're putting your five-year-old in something that's designed to destroy his faith for six or seven hours a day," Faris says. "You think you'll counter that with what you teach him at home for an hour a night?"
If Faris's rhetoric sounds alarmist, it turns out to be only a pale Canadian imitation of that proffered by his mentors at the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) in the U.S.
"Satan has a good thing going in the public school system," wrote HSLDA's former senior counsel, Christopher Klicka, in his primer, Homeschooling: the Right Choice. One of two Americans on Faris's Canadian board until his death late last year, Klicka blamed that demonic romp on the courts which, in the name of neutrality, have "censored God and His principles" right out of the classroom.
"The future of liberty in our country and the very survival of the family may depend on our commitment to homeschooling," Klicka wrote.
The same argument has galvanized the modern homeschooling movement since the early 1960s when Calvinist theologian Rousas J. Rushdoony first promoted home education as the cornerstone for reconstructing a Christian nation. Among those who latched onto Rushdoony's theories was Tim LaHaye, the San Diego pastor who was one of the key organizers of the Moral Majority. In 1980, in the midst of the Cold War, LaHaye took Rushdoony's attack on secular education a step further in Battle for the Mind, warning that liberals and humanists were waging a propaganda campaign in schools that was paving the way for a Soviet takeover.
Unlike LaHaye's later Left Behind thrillers, the book failed to make a dent on bestseller lists, but it did win one convert: a brash, born-again law student named Michael Farris -- no relation to Paul Faris -- who had turned the Washington state chapter of the Moral Majority into its largest branch. So impressed was Farris with Battle for the Mind that he became the author's protege. He landed a job as national director of Concerned Women for America, the anti-feminist lobby set up by LaHaye's wife, Beverly, and moved to the outskirts of Washington, D.C., where he and his wife, Vickie, began homeschooling their 10 kids.
But what began as a private experiment soon turned into a full-time crusade.
How the homeschooling movement was founded
In 1983, Farris founded the Home School Legal Defense Association and soon earned a reputation as a media-savvy evangelist for the cause, grabbing headlines for branding the American education system "a multi-billion-dollar inculcation machine." Taking on laws that made homeschooling illegal in 45 states, often by requiring parents to hold a teacher's certification, he turned HLSDA into one of the most effective Christian lobbies, championed by the likes of Joseph Farah, founder of the ultra-right-wing news website WorldNetDaily, who sees homeschooling as the equivalent of a Christian survivalist movement -- a choice that "denies the government school monopoly what it craves most: the minds and souls of your children."
HASLDA's coffers and membership rolls have grown from an initial 200 families to more than 82,000 and expanded to Brazil, Germany, Japan and Taiwan. In 1994, Dallas R. Miller, an Alberta lawyer and homeschooling father of five, opened a Canadian branch in Red Deer, complete with HSLDA's U.S. logo, mission statement and two of Farris' top lieutenants on its board.
A year later, Miller played a key role in a Canadian case that sent shivers through homeschoolers across the continent. In Newfoundland, a Seventh Day Adventist couple was charged with truancy for refusing to enroll their children in public schools, despite the fact that they had asked two different school boards to OK a curriculum drafted by their church. When they still refused to comply, social workers descended on their home, seizing their three kids, including a five-year-old not yet legally required to be in class, and placing them in foster care for 10 traumatizing months.
A judge finally overturned the order, but Miller later cited it as an example of bureaucracy gone wild, the sort of consequences that could arise from the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child, which the homeschooling movement opposed as a direct threat to parents' rights.
In Virginia, Michael Farris decided to use his homeschooling celebrity as a springboard to politics, running for the lieutenant governor's job. But in a 1993 race that commanded national attention, his rivals had no trouble painting him as an extremist, a pal of Jerry Falwell's who had once tried to ban The Wizard of Oz from schools. His political career was over before it began, but he was determined to ensure that a new generation of young evangelicals would not meet the same fate.
Welcome to Patrick Henry College
In September 2000, in a former cornfield outside Purcellville, Virginia, Farris threw open the doors to a cluster of red brick, neofederalist buildings that he christened Patrick Henry College, an elite training ground for the cream of the Christian homeschooling crop.
Financed in part by the profits from Tim LaHaye's Left Behind bestsellers, the college has been dubbed "Harvard for homeschoolers," but its goal was not merely to create a fundamentalist version of the Ivy League. Farris set out to produce a new breed of crack spiritual warriors who could take over key seats of influence in government, law, business and even Hollywood.
As he saw it, his own generation had played the role of Moses, bringing Bible believers to the brink of political power. Now, it was time for a new generation -- what he calls "the Joshua generation" -- to lead the way into the promised land, establishing a true Christian nation in Rushdoony's theocratic mold. As Farris likes to tell every class, "You are the tip of the spear."
A decade after its opening, Patrick Henry boasts a waiting list. Skeptics rolled their eyes when Farris told the New York Times that some parents expected him to churn out a new crop of Christian Supreme Court justices, but four years later, they were stunned into respectful silence when Patrick Henry's debaters beat the Oxford University team in an international mootcourt competition staged in England under British law -- a triumph they repeated the following year.
Prepared to 'take back the land'
Still, Farris's overriding goal is to groom Christian foot soldiers who will, as he euphemistically puts it, "take back the land." Students collect academic credits for working on election campaigns -- almost all of them toiling for Republicans -- and courses include hands-on instruction on how to run a politician's office and interpret polling results.
But it is the college's mandatory three-month internships in government that have turned its rolls into a farm team for Washington's right-wing power structure. In 2004, that program came to light when one sharpeyed media scribe noticed that, of 100 interns in George Bush's White House, seven were from tiny Patrick Henry, an institution so obscure that few liberals were even aware of its existence. One of those students worked as an aide to Bush's shadowy strategist, Karl Rove.
Known for their unwavering patriotism and Puritan work ethic, Patrick Henry grads have also been sought out by the military and the CIA, and dozens now work as full-time congressional aides or analysts within the bureaucracy which makes up Washington's powerful permanent village. When talking to the mainstream media, Farris downplays the implications of seeding politics and the public service with his young Christian guerillas. "The goal is not a political coup or the establishment of a new Israel," he wrote in The Joshua Generation. "It is about raising men and women of faith who, because they love God, refuse to sit silently by while their nation hates what He loves and loves what He hates."
For most Canadians, Patrick Henry College sounds like a pipe dream -- yet another product of the superior numbers and zeal of the American religious right that could never happen here. What few seem to realize is that such an institution already exists in this country, one that shares many of the same aims and access to power, and is already making its mark on Parliament Hill.
Tomorrow: BC's Trinity Western University creates an Ottawa base for the political 'Joshua generation.' |
BJP chief Amit Shah at a rally in Kolkata on Sunday
BJP chief Amit Shah took another dig at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on day by stopping mid-speech when thesounded from a nearby mosque."Let us stop. We don't want to give Mamata any excuse," Mr Shah said, taking a break for almost six minutes. ( Also Read: Saradha Scam Money Used to Fund Burdwan Blast, Alleges Amit Shah Muslims form 27 per cent of Bengal's voters, who had supported the Trinamool Congress in the last assembly elections in 2011.The BJP president was speaking at a rally in Kolkata's Victoria House after days of tussle with the Bengal chief minister over the venue, from where Ms Banerjee addresses her party's annual rally on Martyrs' day - July 21. ( Also Read: 'I am Amit Shah, I Have Come to Uproot Trinamool Congress', Says BJP Chief Amit Shah The state police had refused permission for the rally and the BJP had finally got relief from the Calcutta High Court.Mr Shah had launched a frontal attack on the chief minister over the Saradha scam, black money and the Burdwan blast. Weaving in all three in a single thrust, he said the money from the Saradha chit fund was used to fund the Burdwan blast. |
Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at Trump Doral golf course in Miami.
Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at Trump Doral golf course in Miami. Carlo Allegri/Reuters
Businessman Donald Trump officially became the Republican nominee at the party’s convention in Cleveland.
Donald Trump’s latest immigration proposals would require a dramatic and costly expansion of the U.S. border-control system — targeting millions more people for immediate removal while also making it much harder for millions of others to enter the country legally.
The deportation priorities outlined by the Republican presidential nominee during a policy address here late Wednesday would target at least 5 million and as many as 6.5 million undocumented immigrants for swift removal, or about half of the 11 million estimated to be living in the United States. And he left open the possibility that he would seek to deport many more as well.
“Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation,” Trump said.
Trump delivered a series of similarly sweeping statements and proposals during the hard-edged speech, following a tortuous two-week period in which he had signaled that he might soften his tone on the issue instead. He not only called for removing all undocumented immigrants who had committed crimes, but also said he would prioritize the deportation of those who have overstayed their visas.
To accomplish that goal, he said he would triple the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and create a “new special deportation task force” to track the most serious security threats.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said that he intends to create a deportation task force for removing violent undocumented immigrants in the U.S. (The Washington Post)
“We will break the cycle of amnesty and illegal immigration. We will break the cycle. There will be no amnesty,” he said. “Our message to the world will be this: You cannot obtain legal status or become a citizen of the United States by illegally entering our country. Can’t do it.”
[Fact-checking Donald Trump’s immigration speech]
That speech, which followed a quick visit to Mexico earlier Wednesday to meet with President Enrique Peña Nieto, effectively shut down speculation that he would move toward the center on immigration issues before Election Day. Many Republican strategists hoped that such a move would help him court moderate voters and regain ground against his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. His speech also prompted resignations on Thursday by several members of his Hispanic Advisory Council, who said they felt misled by earlier overtures.
There has been widespread confusion about Trump’s position in recent weeks, in part because he has repeatedly contradicted himself in public statements about mass deportation. He said in Phoenix that what becomes of the 11 million undocumented immigrants “will never be a central issue” even as he vowed that he would begin removing millions on “day one, as soon as I take office.” And although he rejected any possible path to legal status — or “amnesty” — during that speech, he suggested Thursday during an interview with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham that he would revisit legalization after his border security policies were enacted.
Despite the confusion, what is clear is that Trump’s specific deportation prescriptions would require an expansive effort.
An estimated 690,000 undocumented immigrants have committed significant crimes that would make them security priorities — felonies or serious misdemeanors — according to a study by the Migration Policy Institute. That number is closer to 2 million according to some, including Jessica Vaughan of the anti-immigration Center for Immigration Studies, whom the Trump campaign has consulted on the issue.
If visa overstays are included in the immediate priorities, as Trump said he would order during his speech, the number would grow by about 4.5 million people, according to estimates that place overstays at about 40 percent of the total undocumented population.
1 of 13 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × How Mexicans are reacting to Trump’s rhetoric View Photos Politicians, comedians, artists and developers hit back at Trump’s inflammatory speech. Caption Politicians, comedians, artists and developers hit back at Trump’s inflammatory speech. Oct. 3, 2015 Mexican comedians put on a play called “Los Hijos de Trump,” or “Sons of Trump." In this play, Trump and his golden-haired carbon copies steal from the blind and bribe the police. The play was adapted from another play, a satire on big spenders, "Brokers." Henry Romero/Reuters Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.
In all, the number of people prioritized for removal by ICE would be about 5 million to 6.5 million, according to available data and estimates.
“And you can call it deported if you want. The press doesn’t like that term. You can call it whatever the hell you want. They’re gone,” Trump said.
A Washington Post analysis of the possible cost found that Trump’s plan could add $51.2 billion to $66.9 billion in immigration enforcement costs over the next five years.
[Trump’s big immigration crackdown comes with big 5-year price tag: More than $50 billion]
Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, an immigration reform organization, said that Trump’s speech detailed a massive deportation effort that puts him far to the right even of the Republican Party.
“The speech was the most radical platform on immigration of any nominee in modern American history,” Sharry said. “He’s talking about a deportation strategy that is relentless.”
Sharry added that the speech is likely to do little to expand Trump’s political support among moderates and independents.
“Honestly, he reaffirmed his hard-right stance and left no doubt [that] who he’s appealing to are those in his angry white base of support,” he said. “I can’t imagine a college-educated woman in the [Philadelphia] suburbs seeing that speech and thinking, ‘Yeah that was reasonable.’ ”
Ryan Williams, a GOP strategist who worked for Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign, said the position Trump ultimately adopted on immigration this election cycle threatens to set back the Republican Party’s effort to improve its standing among Hispanic voters.
“He’s proving the type of long-term damage that the RNC warned about after the 2012 election,” Williams said.
Trump, Williams predicted, will be “the model case study as someone who went too far and paid for it.”
“Unless Republicans change the way they address this issue, the party’s going to have incredible difficulties putting together the diverse coalitions needed to win a national race,” he said.
Trump also called for a “new immigration commission” to recommend several reforms to the current legal immigration process. He said that immigration levels should be “measured by population share within historical norms” and that immigrants should be screened based on their “likelihood of success in U.S. society.” Speaking at length about assimilation, Trump also added that an “ideological certification” should be implemented for applicants seeking to live in the United States.
Those positions are deeply unpopular on the left, where critics say that ideological tests and “historical” quotas are subtle forms of ethnic discrimination.
Aaron Blake and Sean Sullivan in Washington contributed to this report. |
Shiels’ 200 000 $ Emerald Sunglasses
These are the most expensive sunglasses in the world.Why?Because they are a stunning piece of art made with diamonds ,18 karat gold and amazing emerald lenses.Managing director Albert Bensimon said that the unique emerald lenses took five years to source and close to three months to shape, polish and cut.
These exceptional glasses have been designed by Adelaide, Australia based Shiels Jewelers. Bensimon revealed he was inspired by Roman emperor Nero. Nero was said to have watched the gladiator fights through similar green gems.The sunglasses are made from precious ,premium materials and showcasing an exquisite frame, the opulent sunglasses which Shiels’ managing director, Albert Bensimon which revealed a secret.He says that have received much attention, are currently sought by an international superstar who’d love to purchase them.
“There is one international star who would like to get his hands on them, a very well-known person, I won’t say who it is but for him, I might part with them.” he stated.
The extravagant sunglasses is scheduled to go on display in the Shiels Carillion store window for a few days, surrounded by security guards to protect the precious glasses.The price for this unique piece is 200 000 $ (about 140 600 €). |
The iPad 2
I’ve been coming up empty trying to think of a hook for this review of the iPad 2 — an angle, a narrative structure, a theme to put it in perspective and make it more than a list of benchmarks and disparate observations. Then I realized I already wrote it, a year ago, in this back-page column for Macworld:
This is how the designers and engineers at Apple roll: They roll. They take something small, simple, and painstakingly well considered. They ruthlessly cut features to derive the absolute minimum core product they can start with. They polish those features to a shiny intensity. At an anticipated media event, Apple reveals this core product as its Next Big Thing, and explains — no, wait, it simply shows — how painstakingly thoughtful and well designed this core product is. The company releases the product for sale. Then everyone goes back to Cupertino and rolls. As in, they start with a few tightly packed snowballs and then roll them in more snow to pick up mass until they’ve got a snowman. That’s how Apple builds its platforms. It’s a slow and steady process of continuous iterative improvement — so slow, in fact, that the process is easy to overlook if you’re observing it in real time. Only in hindsight is it obvious just how remarkable Apple’s platform development process is.
Put another way: Every once in a while, Apple releases something brand-new. The original iPod. The 2007 iPhone. Last year’s iPad. These original releases tend to be minimal technically, but radical conceptually. Then, generally on an annual schedule, Apple improves them iteratively and steadily over time.
This is exactly what they’ve done with the iPad 2. It is a refinement of the original iPad — an impressive one, in several ways, considering that it arrives just 11 months after the original. But it is in no way a radical or significant departure from last year’s model. The fact is, Apple got it right with the iPad 1 in almost every way, and the iPad 2 reflects that. If you didn’t like the original iPad, you’re not going to like the iPad 2. If you liked the original iPad, you’re going to like the iPad 2 even better.
But how much better? The big question, particularly for the Daring Fireball demographic: If you already own an iPad, should you get an iPad 2? My best answer: If you buy a new iPhone or iPod Touch every year, then, yes, you should replace your old iPad with the iPad 2. It’s thinner, a comparative joy to hold in hand, noticeably faster, gets the exact same battery life, and has more RAM (spoiler: 512 MB). If you don’t buy a new iPhone every year — if you have the good sense to hold onto them for more than a year before upgrading to a new model — then you’ll likely want to wait for a new iPad, too.
Most of the 15 million original iPads sold to date do not need to be replaced by iPad 2s. That’s not a problem for Apple, nor a failure for the iPad 2. A $500-800 device should have a useful life that is longer than a year. The same is true for all Apple’s products: iPods, iPads, iPhones, and, of course, Macs. Anyone who argues that the iPad 2 falls short because it doesn’t offer enough to get current iPad owners to upgrade is missing the point. Apple’s target is not the 15-20 or so million people who’ve already bought a tablet. They’re looking at the hundreds of millions of people who haven’t yet, but will soon. The year-over-year delta between Apple products is almost always noticeable but seldom dramatic.
Outside
Physically, the iPad 2 does feel a bit lighter than the old iPad, but it’s the thinness that’s striking. Compared to the new iPad 2, my original iPad doesn’t feel heavy, but it does feel fat. Almost swollen. The rounded edges on the iPad 2 make it significantly more comfortable to hold in one hand.
When you’re looking at the face of the iPad 2, there’s only a hairline of aluminum visible around the black or white bezel, and none of the buttons along the sides — wake/sleep, mute toggle, volume — are visible. The bezel itself is a tad narrower, on the left and right (holding it in portrait mode). The effect of these changes is to further emphasize the screen itself — as though you’re holding not a tablet with a touchscreen, but rather merely holding a touchscreen itself.
My review unit from Apple is a 64 GB black model with 3G. Thus, my time with the white models was limited to the hands-on area after the introduction event last week. The white bezel looks good, aesthetically — very similar to the infamous white iPhone 4s that I played with after last year’s WWDC keynote. But, I found the white bezel distracting. With the black, the frame disappears from mind when you’re using the iPad. With the white, it always seemed like I was looking at a white frame around the screen. There’s a reason why movies are letterboxed with black bars, not white ones, and why most TVs are framed by black.
The display itself, to my eyes, seemed unchanged from the original iPad. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that it is the identical component. As I mentioned before, the surrounding bezel is slightly smaller on the iPad 2, and there is less aluminum around the edge, so the overall device is about 0.2 inches narrower and a hair shorter. But the display itself is exactly the same size, and my eyes detect nothing different about it. It is not laminated to the glass like the iPhone 4 Retina Display.
In short: the iPad 2 is a little lighter, remarkably thinner, and feels much more comfortable to hold. For all practical concerns, the display is identical to last year’s iPad.
Inside
Apple says the iPad 2 is up to twice as fast, CPU-wise, and offers “up to nine times the graphics performance”. The big CPU news is that the iPad 2’s A5 system-on-a-chip contains a dual-core processor; all previous iOS devices used single core CPUs.
I ran benchmarks, but I don’t know how telling the results are. One good benchmark is SunSpider, a JavaScript benchmark from the WebKit team. For one thing, SunSpider shows just how much faster JavaScript is in iOS 4.3 than 4.2, thanks to the inclusion of the newer Nitro engine.
SunSpider 0.9.1 Benchmark (Smaller Is Better)
Device (OS) Time iPad 1 (4.2) 8103 ms iPad 1 (4.3) 3340 ms iPad 2 (4.3) 2161 ms
For comparison, the Motorola Xoom seems to achieve ever-so-slightly faster results on the same benchmark: about 2050-2100 ms. As you can see from the above numbers for the iPad 1, though, SunSpider is obviously very sensitive to the underlying JavaScript engine — it’s not simply a test of CPU performance.
One more benchmark: Geekbench, which is available both for iOS devices and the Mac.
Geekbench (Higher Is Better)
Device Overall Integer Floating Pt. Memory Stream iPhone 4 356 292 361 499 280 iPad 1 453 364 457 676 308 iPad 2 721 648 879 778 311 MacBook Pro 3399 2825 5079 2353 1621
My MacBook Pro is relatively ancient — it’s a March 2008 model with 2.5 GHz Core 2 Duo. I include it here as a reference point. In short, the iPad 2 being “up to twice as fast” seems about right.
One thing that struck me about these benchmarks, though, is that the iPad 1 consistently outscored the iPhone 4. But in real life, my iPhone 4 feels faster than my iPad. Most people I know who own both agree. For one thing, it’s because the iPhone 4 has better graphics capabilities than the original iPad. That doesn’t show up in benchmarks like SunSpider or Geekbench. With these iOS devices, how it feels is what matters.
In practice, the iPad 2 feels like the fastest iOS device I’ve ever used — faster in every way than the iPhone 4. It doesn’t make my iPhone 4 feel slow, per se, but it does feel faster. Doing various side-by-side comparisons with an iPad 1, I noticed all sorts of places where the iPad 1 lagged. Apps that were launched slowly. Buttons that were pressed that didn’t take effect immediately. Every little thing on the iPad 2 feels more responsive. The Photos app is one example. With the same photo library on both iPads (consisting of several thousand images), it takes about two or three seconds for the iPad Photos app to be ready for use after a cold launch on my iPad 1. On the iPad 2, it’s ready almost instantly. This repeats itself throughout the system: apps launch faster, sometimes way faster, and every little thing within each app feels faster.
Apple, for whatever reason, never advertises how much RAM they include in iOS devices. It’s easy to glean using Xcode, however. Last year’s iPad had 256 MB of RAM. The iPad 2 has 512. This allows more apps to remain open in memory at the same time, and allows Mobile Safari to keep more web pages loaded in memory. Those waiting for a gigabyte of RAM will need to keep waiting, however.
Looking for a better benchmark, I asked my friend Guy English, an iOS developer who has worked on games like Tap Tap Revenge (as a contractor for Tapulous and Disney), to write a custom test app to measure an iPad’s graphics capabilities from the perspective of a game developer. It’s a simple app that renders hundreds (or even a few thousand) sprites moving around on screen, with gravity, and tracking up to three touch points. The results show that the iPad 2’s graphics improvements far outshine its straightforward CPU improvements — exactly as Apple has advertised.
For example, on my original iPad, with 200 on-screen sprites, the framerate dropped to 45 fps. On the iPad 2, with 400 on-screen sprites, the framerate remained at 65 fps. On the iPad 1, Guy’s demo app dropped below 60 fps with about 100 animated sprites; on the iPad 2, it didn’t drop below 60 fps until there were over 750 animated sprites.
After I showed him the results, Guy told me, “The results show that the iPad 2 is easily about twice as powerful as the original and that this speed gain is a freebie — you don’t need to change your code structure in order to see significant gains. The differences in the amount of time spent rendering indicates that the GPU is really much faster than the original. The original iPad had a comparatively weak fill-rate and it was an issue for the device. The second generation really leaves that behind and it looks like it’ll be able to do some really incredible things graphically. My demo code is workman-like, competent code — meant to measure the relative strengths of the parts of the system. Taking some time to get the most out of that GPU and CPU will pay off with some really remarkable games and graphics apps.”
The thing is, it’s hard to find slow iPad apps — including games. Even edge-pushing games like Id’s Rage HD or Real Racing HD run very well on the original iPad. They do seem to run better on the iPad 2, but they’ve been painstakingly developed to take advantage of — and only of — what the iPad 1 had to offer graphically.
We’re not going to see the iPad 2 truly show its stuff until game developers have time to write games that fully take advantage of it. My guess is that it won’t take long until we see games on the iPad 2 that blow away anything possible on the iPad 1, but I’m not aware of any such games yet.
A year from now we might look back upon the iPad 2 as having been built for gaming.
Smart Covers
The star of the hands-on demo experience after the event last week was the Smart Cover, and that really is the perfect name. You don’t really have to try to line it up when attaching it. Just get the hinge vaguely in the vicinity of the left edge of the iPad and it acts like a robot that knows how to (and wants to) connect itself. It jumps into place, and the near-perfection of its automatic alignment is uncanny. There are no indentations, notches, or visible marks along the side of the iPad 2. It just works.
And note: an iPad 2 wearing a Smart Cover is considerably thinner than a naked original iPad.
In addition to securing itself at the spine via magnets, the Smart Cover also stays closed via a magnetic connection to the front face of the iPad. It’s this magnetic connection that allows the iPad to wake up as soon as you open the Smart Cover (with no “slide to unlock” gesture).
Back in December 2009, a few months ahead of the original iPad announcement, I wrote a piece called “The Tablet”. Therein, I asked:
I have a thousand questions about The Tablet’s design. What size is it? There’s a big difference between, say, 7- and 10-inch displays. How do you type on it? With all your fingers, like a laptop keyboard? Or like an iPhone, with only your thumbs? If you’re supposed to watch video on it, how do you prop it up? Holding it in your hands? Flat on a table seems like the wrong angle entirely; but a fold-out “arm” to prop it up, à la a picture frame, seems clumsy and inelegant. If it’s just a touchscreen tablet, how do you protect the screen while carrying it around?
Most of those questions went unanswered by Apple last year. The Smart Cover answers them now. I bought one of Apple’s covers for the original iPad last year and almost never used it, for the reasons outlined by Steve Jobs during last week’s event: it was hard to get the iPad into and out of it; it made the overall device too thick; it just wasn’t elegant. The Smart Cover for the iPad 2 is a joy to connect and disconnect, maintains an overall thin profile while attached, and works terrifically as a prop for the iPad while watching video or typing at a slight incline.
Smart Covers are so cool that I can imagine iPad 1 owners — who think they’re happy to stick with what they’ve got — changing their minds and deciding to upgrade upon seeing Smart Covers in person.
The New Apps
Apple provided me with access to the new iMovie and GarageBand apps for the iPad. iMovie is a universal binary, so if you already bought it for your iPhone 4, you’ll get the upgrade to the iPad-native version free — but it’s only available on camera-equipped devices, so you can’t use it on the original iPad. GarageBand is only available for the iPad, not the iPhone, but it works on any iPad, not just the iPad 2. GarageBand works fine on my original iPad, but it definitely feels better on the iPad 2. It takes less time to open and close projects, touches are more responsive, etc.
Both apps are fun, GarageBand in particular. iMovie is not for everyone, but it’s a shame to imagine any iPad without a copy of GarageBand installed. I’m no musician, so I can’t speak to using it in any serious sense, but the “smart” instruments are amazingly fun and continually surprising. My seven-year-old son loves it.
As for iMovie, it was clear from the on-stage demo last week that the interface was excellent: a fun, simple, obvious way to edit video clips into a movie. One question I had, though, was how to get footage into the app. The obvious way is to shoot it using the iPad 2’s built-in camera, but, come on, no matter how much you love your iPad, you’re not going to use it as your camcorder. Apple’s Camera Connection Kit works well for this. You can shoot footage on an iPhone, then connect the iPhone to your iPad using the Camera Connection Kit. Import the photos and videos from your iPhone to your iPad, and boom, they’re ready for use within iMovie on your iPad.
This seems like something that ought to work wirelessly, though — and ought not require a $29 dongle purchase. I’d love to see Lion’s AirDrop file sharing feature appear in iOS 5. Sending files of any sort between your iPhone and iPad should be easier, but iMovie is just begging for it.
HDMI Out
Apple’s new $39 “Digital AV Adapter” provides HDMI out for the iPad 2. It defaults to mirroring, and works great, including support for device rotation. In apps that already support video out, such as Keynote and some video playing apps, it’s like having a second display. This latter feature works on the old iPad and on iPhones, too. Display mirroring over HDMI, however, is an iPad 2 specific feature.
Battery Life
As far as I can tell, the iPad 2 gets identical battery life to the iPad 1. I played three movies, back to back to back, on an iPad 1 and iPad 2: Casino Royale (HD), The Fantastic Mr. Fox (SD), and the 1980 theatrical cut of The Empire Strikes Back (SD). Both iPads were set at 50 percent brightness (the factory default setting), and I kept the iPads in airplane mode for these tests. Both iPads dropped the same amount of battery life percentage for each movie: 12, 11, and 15 percent, respectively.1
These numbers are rather amazing, looking back at the pre-iPad era. I recall many times over the past decade when it seemed as though my MacBook (or, depending on the year, PowerBook) was in a race against time to finish a single DVD before the battery ran out during a long flight. Now, you can watch three full-length movies on an iPad and still have 60 percent battery life remaining on the device. It’s a portable computer you don’t have to worry about.
My assumption last year was that behind the iPad’s display, there wasn’t much inside other than a big battery. I guess not, given how much volume Apple has removed from the iPad 2 while maintaining the same excellent battery life.
Conclusion
Here’s another snippet from that Macworld column I wrote a year ago:
That brings us to the iPad. Initial reaction to it has been polarized, as is so often the case with Apple products. Some say it’s a big iPod Touch. Others say it’s the beginning of a revolution in personal computing. As a pundit, I’m supposed to explain how the truth lies somewhere between these two extremes. But I can’t. The iPad really is The Big One: Apple’s reconception of personal computing.
Everyone now seems to agree this is a new product category, and most of Apple’s rivals — from computer makers to phone makers — want in on it.
The iPad 2 is a solid second-generation iteration. Easier and more comfortable to hold, noticeably faster, equippable with foldable covers that are both literally and figuratively magnetic. Like last year’s iPhone 4, it seems like technology from the near future. |
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