Split (1)

train · 1M rows

text stringlengths 316 100k
There was an interesting article posted last night on the GHC blog on the matter of concurrency and parallelism. Several commenters seem to have taken issue with the definitions of concurrency and parallelism used in the article. I think they are absolutely fine (and standard), and I found little in the article to disagree with. One thing I do disagree with is the idea that “if all we want to do is make programs run faster on a multicore, concurrency should be a last resort” — I aim in this blog to show that concurrent programming can be straightforward and elegant. Concurrency is not something to be afraid of. On similar lines of disagreement, I also think that concurrency is useful for more than the applications listed there. My boids example does not seem to fit the applications for concurrency mentioned in the article, but I think that reasoning about the boids (or indeed, any simultation agents) as self-contained stateful processes with an outside interface is easier than thinking about them in an iterative-functional way (e.g. as a list of boid states that need an update function applied to them). Your opinion may differ. Regardless of such disagreements, the article also made a good point about types which I would like to expand on, and relate to CHP. One of the great advantages of Haskell is its type system. The difference between a -> IO a and a -> a is huge and vital. A large part of Haskell’s strength comes from showing this difference in the type, using the type-system to reason about it — which allows type-checker to prevent mis-uses. The article’s author points out that pure functions run in parallel are guaranteed to be deterministic — which means they retain their pure type. So bigExpensiveComputation has the type a -> a , regardless of whether it’s calculated sequentially or in parallel (this difference becomes a run-time detail). So the determinism of the algorithm involved has remained captured at the type-level, if you use parallel annotations. So how does this relate to CHP? With semi-explicit parallelism annotations (par, pseq, strategies and the rest), you can create a parMap function, with the same type as map, that does all the evaluations in parallel (say, to RNF using the NFData type-class): parMap:: NFData b => (a -> b) -> [a] -> [b] Anything that can be evaluated in parallel using Haskell’s parallelism can also be evaluated in parallel using Haskell’s concurrency. Here’s a complete CHP implementation of parMap: parMap :: NFData b => (a -> b) -> [a] -> CHP [b] parMap f xs = do cs <- replicateM (length xs) oneToOneChannel liftM snd $ (runParallel $ map (uncurry writeChannelStrict) (zip (writers cs) (map f xs))) <\|\|> mapM readChannel (readers cs) It may have slightly higher run-time overheads, but semantically and operationally the effect is exactly as you’d expect (map, but in parallel) and it is just as deterministic as the deterministic parallel version based on strategies (if there are no bottoms involved). So what’s different? The type. My version acts in the CHP monad, whereas the original was pure. They are both deterministic but the CHP version no longer reveals that in the type — it is indistinguishable from any non-deterministic or deadlocking process that can exist in the full message-passing system of CHP. So it seems that is the real strength of Haskell’s parallelism over concurrency: the type system knows/shows that the parallel annotations produce deterministic code, whereas the concurrent version does not share that advantage. And without a model checker in the type system (!), I suspect it may not be possible to fix that. Advertisements
As part of the promotional blog tour for the book The Lyre Thief (The Hythrun Chronicles) , Jennifer Fallon was nice enough to write a guest blog post for MightyThorJRS today. I would like to thank Jennifer and Tor books for the opportunity to host this guest blog. I would also like to apologize for this post being a little late! Life has been crazy and I have not been blogging for a while. I wanted to make sure this awesome Guest Blog got posted, even if it is late! Thanks again Jennifer and Tor books! Make sure you check out The Lyre Thief (The Hythrun Chronicles) by Jennifer Fallon and Tor Books. OUT NOW! ———— Why I believe there is no such thing as a bad review by Jennifer Fallon A couple of years ago, someone posted a 1 star review on Amazon for The Lion of Senet with the following dire (and wildly inaccurate) warning: “Sex orgies, consensual sex, drug induced sex, prostitution, paedophilia, basically all kinds of sex and perversions pervade the text but it is not an erotic book. There are no explicit or arousing scenes. And then the drugs, euphoric drugs, sex drugs etc… Do not buy this book unless you enjoy reading about perverted sex as a state religion.” To which I felt like responding: Hey, dude, wanna be my publicist? The old adage “there is no such thing as bad publicity” is the truest the thing I have ever heard, particularly when it comes to books. Think I’m exaggerating? 50 Shades of Grey has almost 10,000 1 star reviews! The highest sales ranking I have ever scored on Amazon happened the day someone posted a review with the accusation that I was a “militant atheist”. My favorite “bad” review of all time started with the line “I would rather host a telethon than read the rest of this book… ” I still crack up every time I think of that line, partly because I’m not exactly sure what it means. Whatever the case, I first read that line a few years ago, and it still makes me laugh. I should probably hire him as my assistant publicist. At the very least, he has a creative turn of phrase. The bottom line is nobody takes as much notice of reviews as authors do, anyway, and there are people out there who actively reject them. Amazon are the first to admit that books with pages and pages of 5 star reviews don’t do nearly as well as those with a mixture of positive and negative feedback. One looks like you’ve co-opted all your relatives to give you a plug, the other looks more like a balanced commentary from a wide cross-section of people. The same applies to reviews in the media. I defy anybody to tell me what they read in a review six months ago. What you remember is you’ve seen the name somewhere, and when you’re standing in a bookshop 6 months later, wondering what to buy, you’re not thinking: ah, I remember, someone on Amazon said that author writes books “full of sex orgies, consensual sex, drug induced sex, prostitution, and basically all kinds of sex and perversions…” You’re thinking “hmm.. I’ve heard of that author. Maybe I’ll give her a try”. (On the other hand, you might remember someone wrote this author writes books “full of sex orgies, consensual sex, drug induced sex, prostitution, pedophilia, basically all kinds of sex and perversions… ” and be thinking “well, since I’ve finished 50 Shades… ”) When I read a review (about my work or anybody else’s) that says “the best book I’ve ever read” I worry this might be the only book they’ve ever read, just as I sometimes I look at a review and scratch my head, wondering if they’re really talking about the book I wrote because I don’t remember there being anything about a prophecy, or the multiple rape scenes (huh?) or the Loch Ness monster (OK, so I now I’m exaggerating), that they claim they didn’t like about my books. If good reviews were the only way to sell something, E.L. James would be a pauper, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest would have sunk without a trace after its first weekend and nobody would ever have heard of the Wayans brothers. Bad reviews don’t stop you selling books. They just help keep your feet on the ground 🙂 ———– About the author: JENNIFER FALLON is the author of The Hythrun Chronicles, and one of Australia’s bestselling fantasy authors. She lives in New Zealand. You can find her online at: JenniferFallon.com facebook.com/Jennifer.Fallon.writer @JenniferFallon ———— About the book: BUY HERE: The Lyre Thief (The Hythrun Chronicles) by Jennifer Fallon Series: The Hythrun Chronicles The Hythrun Chronicles Hardcover: 448 pages 448 pages Publisher: Tor Books ( March 8, 2016 ) Tor Books ( ) Language: English English ISBN-10: 076538079X 076538079X ISBN-13: 978-0765380791 Her Serene Highness, Rakaia, Princess of Fardohnya, is off to Hythria, where her eldest sister is now the High Princess, to find herself a husband, and escape the inevitable bloodbath in the harem when her brother takes the throne. Rakaia is not interested in marrying anyone, least of all some brute of a Hythrun Warlord she’s never met, but she has a plan to save herself from that, too. If she can just convince her baseborn sister, Charisee, to play along, she might actually get away with it. But there is trouble brewing across the continent. High Prince of Hythria, Damin Wolfblade, must head north to save the peace negotiated a decade ago between the Harshini, Hythria, Fardohnya, Medalon and Karien. He must leave behind an even more dangerous conflict brewing between his wife and his powerful mother, Princess Marla. …And in far off Medalon, someone has stolen the music. Their quest for the tiny stolen lyre containing the essence of the God of Music will eventually touch all their lives, threaten everything they hold dear and prove to be far more personal than any of them can imagine. ———– Advertisements
This is weird and tragic rolled up in one. Watch as, at the 20-second mark, a young boy in red starts galloping alongside an ambulance that also happens to be accelerating. And then watch, at the 24-second mark, as the ambulance judders to a stop. This next part is slightly disturbing: the young boy is dragged from out underneath the vehicle, which apparently ran him over. Nearly a minute later, the ambulance driver turns on the sirens and speeds away with the injured boy. This happened on Sunday in a Wenzhou, Zhejiang province residential neighborhood, according to microblogger @路人大猛羽, via Xinhua. The boy was pronounced dead that afternoon. A reporter later learned that the boy’s grandmother is apparently a janitor who works inside the residential compound. She was locking up when her grandson ran off, according to an eyewitness surnamed Xu. Tragedy then struck. According to another witness, the boy may have dropped his toy in front of the ambulance’s right wheel. Authorities are currently investigating the incident.
Written by Larry E. Ball \| Sunday, June 28, 2015 +1 Share 50 Shares Although there is considerable doubt in my mind about the need to forgive apart from contrition, one thing that is clear in the Bible is that we are to love our enemies. Maybe this is what these families are trying to do in a round-about way? Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” (Mt 5:44-45). This is proof that we are the children of God. The response of the families of the victims in the recent tragedy in Charleston, South Carolina, is commendable. I have nothing but admiration for them and for the city as a whole. Their reaction has been praised by both Christian and secular wings of society. I certainly admire these people who want to do the right thing before God. They have responded in the best way they know how. However, this calamity reawakens an old theological issue that has bothered me for years. Are Christians always obligated to forgive every debt or every transgression against them? What does the Bible teach about forgiveness? Let me mention a few texts that push me to rethink the whole issue of forgiveness. One passage that constantly stares me in the face is Luke 17:3 where Jesus says, “If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.” Forgiveness here is not automatic but conditioned upon repentance. The Jews who were responsible for the crucifixion of Christ were told that their forgiveness was conditioned upon repentance and baptism (Acts 2:38). God forgives us because another has paid our penalty. Christ was our substitute. A substitute payment is required. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Someone has to pay. Here again, forgiveness is conditioned upon our debt being paid. “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph 1:7). In one kingdom parable there is forgiveness of a debtor by a king after a plea that the king “have patience with me and I will repay you everything” (Mt. 18:26). The king in essence absorbed the debt as he had compassion on the debtor. Again, there is no such thing as a free lunch. As the forgiven debtor failed to show the same compassion for his own debtor after a similar plea, Jesus condemned him for his unforgiving spirit. The relevant point here is that in both cases there is sorrow and contrition on the part of the debtors. Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles “so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins” (Acts 26:18). John tells us that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). God only forgives us when we first confess our sins in humility. When Jesus was on the cross he said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). It is interesting to note that Jesus had the power to forgive sins, but here he does not forgive them, but rather pleads for the Father to forgive them. It may be that many of these Jews were forgiven as they repented on the day of Pentecost. When Stephen was put to death he did not say that he forgave his executors, but rather he pleaded for God’s mercy upon them and said, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” (Acts 7:60). Again, I think the assumption was that Stephen hoped they would repent and God would forgive them. The Bible is clear that the granting of forgiveness is dependent upon either an act of repentance or contrition in the heart of the debtor. My question is this: If God does not forgive apart from repentance on the part of the sinner, then are we obligated to do more than God? I think not! The fearful warnings in the Bible about a non-forgiving spirit assume first that there has been a spirit of repentance and contrition on the part of the transgressor. When that condition of repentance has been satisfied, then may God have mercy on our souls if we refuse to forgive! “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions” (Mt 6:15). If we fail to forgive, our claim to salvation is demonstrated to be spurious. So why is this need so prominent in modern America to forgive murderers who have not repented of their sins? What are we to make of it? Is there a spiritual need for it? Does it fulfill some therapeutic necessity? First, I think it may be a result of a poor theology that has been taught in the church. It may be the result of the thinking that Jesus died on the cross for everyone and therefore everyone has been forgiven. We just need to accept it. That’s what faith means in many circles. Maybe it is being confused with a real need to rid ourselves of bitterness when someone takes the lives of our loved ones or transgresses against us. “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice” (Eph. 4:31). We cannot live with bitterness. It will destroy us. The families must rid themselves of bitterness and resign themselves to the will of God; and then wait on the civil magistrate to carry out the proper punishment. Although there is considerable doubt in my mind about the need to forgive apart from contrition, one thing that is clear in the Bible is that we are to love our enemies. Maybe this is what these families are trying to do in a round-about way? Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” (Mt 5:44-45). This is proof that we are the children of God. Lastly, it should be remembered that punishment in the matter of a capital offense is a judicial act to be carried out in the name of God by the civil magistrate. Technically, individuals, families or clans have no power to forgive and therefore must not usurp the power of the state to carry out justice in the case of a criminal offense. The civil magistrate must carry out the will of God. The offense is not only against those murdered and their families, but it is a threat to the very fabric of society itself. It endangers the security and peace of the social order. This is another reason why the civil magistrate must execute justice. There is a need for vengeance in the heart of man because we are made in the image of God. These families have not sought their own revenge, but are leaving vengeance to God. Maybe this is what they are really doing by declaring their forgiveness? Both the families of the victims of those murdered and the City of Charleston have exhibited admirable character. Whether their theology of forgiveness is right or not, I must let the Bible be the judge of that. We all have to deal with transgressions against us, and we need to know how to respond in a way that honors Christ. This is where the rubber meets the road for every Christian. Larry E. Ball is a Honorably Retired Minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is now a CPA. He lives in Kingsport, Tennessee.
Brazil produces so many players, who end up making a living in so many countries, it is inevitable that some end up representing other national teams. It has never been a problem. Until now. The Diego Costa case breaks the mould. The Atletico Madrid striker is at the centre of a tug of war between the national teams of Spain and Brazil - making this the first time, at least in my recollection, that a Brazilian with real possibilities of playing for the land of his birth is seriously tempted to defect. This changes the whole tone. Until now, when Brazilians have represented other countries there has even been a quiet sense of pride back home. It is proof of the depth of their own footballing culture if they can produce players for the likes of Croatia, Poland, Tunisia and Portugal. It helped, of course, that none of these players were remotely in contention for a place in the Brazil squad. One who got away, perhaps, was Deco, whose range of midfield passing might have added plenty to Brazil sides of the previous decade. But he had already been snapped up by Portugal before most in Brazil had realised just how good he was; not the case in the row with Spain over Diego Costa. This time, Brazil got there first. Diego Costa factfile Full name: Diego da Silva Costa Date of birth: 7 October 1988 Born: Lagarto, Brazil Position: Striker Current club: Atletico Madrid The Atletico Madrid man made his international debut in matches against Italy and Russia back in March. But they were friendlies. A definitive choice is only made when a player takes part in a competitive match. And Diego Costa seems inclined to throw in his lot with the Spanish. This is highly unusual. Normally, the chance to represent the national team is the highest honour to which a Brazilian footballer can aspire. Listening to the national anthem is a magical moment, and often one of complex emotions. There is huge pride in representing the people of his nation. But there can be some vengeance mixed in; as the camera pans down the line the player might be reflecting on the schoolteacher who wrote him off, or the girl who once snubbed him because he had no money. Left-back Branco played for Brazil in three World Cups. Going in to the last of them, he was being singled out for harsh criticism. I once asked him how he coped with it. He shrugged it off. "It was proof that I was important," he said. And yet Diego Costa appears prepared to reject this status and instead play for Spain, a country where he has been based for little more than six years. He may well feel a special affinity for his adopted land, have adapted well and speak the language. But he surely cannot have the same depth of connection with Spain that he has with Brazil. So why the temptation to trade the yellow shirt for a red one? It could be that Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has miscalculated. Back in March, he brought on Diego Costa for the last 23 minutes against Italy, and the final 13 versus the Russians. Then he cast him aside. A cynical interpretation would be that Scolari had little intention of including the player on a long-term basis, and his main concern was to ensure the Spaniards could not have him. Diego Costa (right) is yet to declare if he wants to play for Brazil or Spain But, as we have seen, the fact these matches were only friendlies means the door is not yet closed on Costa's chances of representing another nation. There is, as the Brazilian press have pointed out, a gross inconsistency here; friendlies are included in the calculations for the Fifa rankings, which will be key to this year's World Cup draw. And yet they are not considered sufficiently important to determine a player's sporting nationality. And so, when the Confederations Cup squad was named and he was not included, Diego Costa may have been feeling more Spanish by the minute. Brazil had discarded him without giving him a chance to show what he could do. Perhaps Spain would treat him better. And so the tug of war begins. Spain want him, and now Brazil want him back. Come the World Cup, it is easy to see him being useful to either national team. He offers more than the Spanish striking options - and the same is probably true of Brazil. Centre-forwards Fred and Jo have been banging in the goals this year for Scolari's side. But Fred is injury prone (he is currently out long-term), and while Jo is a far better player than the out-of-sorts striker who flopped with Manchester City and Everton, his name does not strike great fear into the world's top defenders. One time great hope Alexandre Pato continues to flatter to deceive; he was especially disappointing in last Tuesday's match against Zambia, when Scolari withdrew him at the interval. An attacker with the strength, skill and will to win of Diego Costa would be a useful addition to the squad. "When I saw him in training, I wanted to die," says Diego Simeone, his club coach at Atletico Madrid and a former Argentina midfielder. "He was unstoppable. Diego Costa transmits a strength which has a contagious effect on the rest of the group. He gives everything, but he has to learn to control himself. People say he plays at the limit - curiously, they also said that about me. He gets better every day. I love watching the diagonal runs he makes and his directness towards the opposing goal." Simeone has asked the player to forget about the fuss surrounding his national team future. That might be because - for the moment at least - there is no chance of Diego Costa playing for Argentina. Leave your comments in the space provided. Send questions on South American football to vickerycolumn@hotmail.com and I'll pick out a couple for next week. From last week's postbag; Q) As a Southampton fan, I'm curious to know what you think of Gaston Ramirez. He came to the club with a huge price tag and, while he's shown some great sparks of magic, he's never really caught alight. He makes passes that other players simply wouldn't see but then sometimes his decision-making is very poor and he wastes possession. He's also struggled for fitness a great deal and wasn't ready for the start of the Premier League season. Are these symptoms of his relative youth or not settling into Mauricio Pochettino's system? Did Southampton pay over the odds for a player with plenty of potential but little product? How has he performed on the international stage? Lucy Bell A) The problems you mention have not come as a surprise at all. The talent in that left foot is obvious, and he is a player always likely to come up with the occasional great moment. But his difficulties adapting to the intensity of the English game were also very predictable - he even seemed off the pace in the Olympics. For Uruguay he is now an impact sub, someone they will turn to in the second half when space opens up. The last time he was a genuine first choice was their Confederations Cup opener against Spain, when he was taken off at half-time after not getting a kick. Q) You mentioned in a recent blog that Ecuador have not managed to replace centre-back Ivan Hurtado (and his partnership with Giovanny Espinoza) very effectively yet... but I was wondering if you know of any particularly gifted youngsters in the pipeline who have the potential to step up? Nate Aspray A) There have been a couple of false dawns. I had high hopes of Deison Mendez, from the side that won the 2007 Pan-American gold medal, but he has never really made the breakthrough at senior level. I also thought Dennys Quinonez was really impressive in the 2009 South American Under-20s, and though he has played for Ecuador at senior level, he is now a defensive midfielder and has never looked as convincing. There's an 18-year-old defender who has recently been promoted to the senior squad, Gabriel Corozo of Liga de Quito. He's a full-back at the moment - seems to prefer the left, although he's right-footed. He looks promising, and could move infield, though he might not be tall enough to be a top central defender.
Posted by OrdainWomen on Oct 26, 2016 in Blog \| Mark Barnes serves on the Ordain Women Executive Committee as Treasurer and chair of the Male Allies committee. Like most people, I have been shocked and appalled by Donald Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women. The Billy Bush video made me sick to my stomach. As the political polls in Utah swing away from Trump, I have even felt a twinge of pride in this reddest of red states. But, deep down inside, I am uneasy. I fear that my pride is not deserved. I worry that Utah’s rejection of Trump is based on it own form of misogyny, rather than an enlighten view of female equality. Whether it is the bordello or the pedestal, whether it is Trump or Mormon patriarchy, the bottom line is that women are seen as things, property, mere objects to be acted on by men. Women are not treated as fully human. Today’s Mormonism puts women on a pedestal. Mormon’s believe in a Mother in Heaven, but she is placed beyond our reach. We are told we should not speak of her. We are told that She is so pure, that She cannot enter our world and interact with us. She is so sacred that we cannot know her in any meaningful way. Unlike male deity, She neither acts nor is acted upon. Unlike our personified Father in Heaven, She is objectified and placed on a heavenly pedestal, forever beyond relationship with us. Likewise, Mormon culture strips women of their humanity. We promote a purity doctrine that imagines that some state of a female body matters more than the actual human being, who occupies that body. Trump’s crude view of women as objects that exist for his gratification, and modern Mormon purity doctrine both find a woman’s value in her sexuality. But given our history, this should not surprise us. When I heard Trump’s sick bus ride claims of conquest, my mind quickly went to the acts of another powerful man in the 1840s, who used his celebrity, position and power to abuse women. Joseph Smith used claims of divine command to assemble a personal harem of dozens of women, including girls as young as 14 years old, to satisfy his personal desires. Using his claim that polygamy was the divine order of heaven, Smith set up a destructive legacy that injured millions. By placing maleness at the center of church power, he perpetually sentenced women to be lesser than. Trump’s crude view of woman and Mormon patriarchy are two sides of the same coin. While Trump’s lewd acts and crude language repel Utah voters, like Trump the Mormon pedestalization of women also values women as sexual objects for the benefit of men. The antidote to this sick state of affairs is equality. It is time for Mormons to discard our doctrine of male supremacy and insist on full female power and equality both in and out of the church.
Regarding the Jan. 26 front-page article “How Petraeus avoided felony charges over leak”: Retired Gen. David H. Petraeus pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information. He also admitted that his statements to the FBI “were false.” He was sentenced to two years probation and a $100,000 fine. The article reported that the Justice Department contemplated felony charges, including lying to the FBI and violating the Espionage Act. Apparently, Mr. Petraeus admitted during the investigation that he improperly removed and retained highly sensitive information that could have caused “exceptionally grave damage” to national security. Some people convicted of similar offenses are serving long prison terms. Mr. Petraeus’s lawyers convinced the Justice Department that it could not be proved that Mr. Petraeus intended to do damage by his actions, an element of proof required under the Espionage Act. They also claimed that some of the information was already in the public domain. National security policy is that previous disclosure of classified information does not declassify it or make its disclosure any less damaging. The Justice Department’s rationale for not pursuing more serious charges in this case is not clear. Former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr. said only that there were factors that made the resolution appropriate. Based on previous actions against people who engaged in much less serious conduct involving the disclosure, compromise and mishandling of classified information, the outcome of this case is incomprehensible. Maynard C. Anderson, Alexandria The writer was acting deputy undersecretary of defense for security policy from 1993 to 1994.
Get it? Here’s the explainer from How-to-Geek: What is the Difference Between TCP and UDP? UDP stands for User Datagram Protocol — a datagram is the same thing as a packet of information. The UDP protocol works similarly to TCP, but it throws all the error-checking stuff out. All the back-and-forth communication and deliverability guarantees slow things down. When using UDP, packets are just sent to the recipient. The sender won’t wait to make sure the recipient received the packet — it will just continue sending the next packets. If you’re the recipient and you miss some UDP packets, too bad — you can’t ask for those packets again. There’s no guarantee you’re getting all the packets and there’s no way to ask for a packet again if you miss it, but losing all this overhead means the computers can communicate more quickly.
On November 2, 1917, British Foreign Secretary Alfred Balfour delivered a treacherous stab in the back to the Palestinian Arab people, through a letter sent to Lord Lionel Rothschild, expressing the support of the British state for the establishment of a “Jewish national home” in Palestine. This promise marked the stamp of approval on the Zionist project in Palestine and its work to impel the migration of Jews from various countries of the world in order to constitute Zionist military forces, supported with various types of modern weapons, who proceeded to commit massacres as a prelude to the establishment of the Israeli state on the ruins of our homes and lands and the displacement of our people in the region and around the world in 1948. This historic crime, in which the British colonial state gave away what it was not its to give, continues to be a stain on the British state and global imperialism. The Palestinian people will not forget and will not forgive, over successive generations, the great crime committed against them. The Palestinian people swiftly rejected this declaration on a popular level. Immmediately upon its announcement, Palestinians engaged in fierce clashes with the British occupation and the Zionists, refusing the dismantlement and destruction of their homeland, Palestine, and giving their lives in order to prevent the dispossession of Palestinian land and giving it to the Zionists. The Palestinian people took action from the outset, boldly acting with a firm commitment to the justice of their cause and the right to defend their land from this scheme. The magnitude of the crimes committed were severe and massive, leading to the establishment of the Zionist entity and the escalation of the conflict that continues until this moment. We in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, after 97 years of this treacherous colonialist promise, are confident in the ability of the Palestinian people to continue their resistance in order to undo the effects of this heinous crime and defeat the Zionist project in Palestine, no matter how long the struggle continues. We emphasize the following points: 1. Britain bears direct responsibility for this heinous crime committed against the Palestinian people. The imperialist British state is firmly in the camp that is hostile to the Palestinian people, and must not only apologize to the Palestinian people for this crime but atone for it by ensuring the return of the Palestinian people to their land, and the return of the Palestinian land and rights to their rightful owners. 2. There is growing global solidarity with the Palestinian cause, especially in Britain, which is evidenced in the recent vote of the British House of Commons in response to the pressure of the movement. The solidarity movement must escalate the pressure on the British state in order to end the historical injustice against our people and stop supporting the Zionist entity on all levels. 3. The battle with the Zionist criminal enemy and with global imperialism requires a struggle against racism and colonialism on the Arab level. Once again, we reaffirm that this entity is a Zionist-Arab conflict and should not be limited to our people, fighting in isolation from their Arab sisters and brothers. 4. The escalation of the Zionist attacks on the Palestinian people, especially in Gaza, in the occupied city of Jerusalem, and on our prisoners in Israeli jails, cannot terrorize our people, and will not kill the Palestinian will of steadfastness and resistance. The resistance will continue in various forms until the achievement of its objectives. 5. There is a need to build national unity and reconciliation, and expedite the call for the provisional Palestinian leadership to meet and carry out their responsibilities and to rebuild the Palestinian institutions on the basis of proportional representation and a national vision with the participation of all forces in democratic elections, and the formulation of a national strategy based on adhering to constants and unity in order to confront the racist Zionist entity. 6. We draw lessons from the experience of 21 years of abhorrent, absurd negotiations, which have only proven clear failure, and the alternative of going to the United Nations for the implementation of all of the rights of our people without negotiations. It is important to join all national organizations and it is particularly imperative to join the International Criminal Court without further delay to prosecute the occupation for its crimes against the Palestinian people. 7. We must escalate the pressure to end the suffering of our people, who confront siege and aggression, as a national collective responsibility. We reaffirm that our first priority to mitigate the Zionist aggression on the Gaza Strip in the reconstruction is lifting the siege and opening all crossings immediately, and we call for a national committee to monitor the subject of reconstruction to protect it from Zionist involvement and intervention. Finally, after 97 years of this racist declaration, we reaffirm that the Zionist entity remains an illegitimate and false entity, and we hold our firm conviction that it will be defeated, uprooted and dismantled. This requires us to strengthen our militant role, support the steadfastness of our people, and harness all of our energies to confront the Zionist entity. We promise our people to remain on the road of struggle until the defeat of the occupation on every inch of our land.
For a lot of American women, the idea of an uncircumcised penis is repulsive. (Sorry, guys!) It’s not that we’re against a penis that rocks a turtleneck, but it’s just something we’re not accustomed to. You can’t be mad at us if we recoil in fear and confusion during sex when face-to-face with an uncut member! It’s not our fault, we’re American! In fact, a study from adult store Adam And Eve says 54 percent of women prefer circumcised penises — and 33 percent have no preference. In most of the world circumcision, aside from religious purposes, is not a common practice. But, for many American women and gay men, the uncircumcised penis wasn’t something we even knew existed until we did a semester abroad and happened to hook up with some hot foreigner. Then we’re all, “What is this? Why do you have all this extra skin down here?” (At least that was my experience, the first time I saw one.) But because it is something that a lot of us don’t see that often, opinions on circumcised versus uncircumcised vary. As my friend Spencer said, “I equate it to stick shift and automatic: One is easier to use, but once you learn the other, it’s more fun to drive and you have more control over the vehicle.” No truer words have ever been uttered when it comes to the foreskin debate. So, how do women really feel about uncircumcised penises? They’re not so easy on the eyes, but they make giving handjobs a piece of cake. “My longtime ex was uncircumcised, and it was fine (although his penis was on the small side, so I imagine a bigger uncircumcised one would be even more fine.) Pros: They are easier to jerk off. Cons: There was definitely an odor and if you’re used to circumcised, they look … different. But I was okay with both. It’s not a bad look or bad smell, just more … animalistic? That can be sexy right?” asks Amanda, 25. “Uglier to look at, easier to give fumbly morning handjobs to, so it’s hard to say. However a pretty penis can triumph over all,” says Dale, 21. “My first run in with an uncircumcised penis made me realize I never wanted to jerk off a circumcised one again,” says Patricia, 35. Behold! The mystery of it all! “I’ve only experienced cut. Uncircumcised is intriguing; I like driving manual. But I’ve never had the opportunity. Guess I’ll keep on plugging until I find one?” says Jen, 36. “Never been intimate with one, but have heard from MANY friends that dudes with their foreskin still in tact are better in bed, because they feel EVERYTHING 10 times as much! I don’t know if there’s any scientific basis in that though. It might be only three times as much,” says Bets, 30. Whatever. It’s fine. “My first husband was uncut. He was also my first sexual partner so for the first seven years of my sexual history it was the only thing I knew. I really don’t have a preference either way, but having been with a number of guys who wish they had never been circumcised as babies, I think if I ever had a son I would leave him uncut,” says Colleen, 30. “First time I saw one, it was weird — why is it wearing a turtleneck? It takes some getting used to — different texture, smell, etc. Now I’m more or less indifferent. I wanted to get over it, since I don’t want to be judged on the natural state of my vagina,” says Becky, 29. They’re better in bed. “I’ve done a fair amount of research (FOR SCIENCE!) with about equal ratio of cut to uncut men. My results conclude that uncut men are better in the sack,” says Sarah, 36. So, uncut men of the world, do you agree that you’re better lovers? And as for those of you who are circumcised, are you one of the many who want your foreskin back? If so, there’s a Facebook page for that, but then again, there’s a Facebook page for everything.
Image caption The monocled moon-gazer Patrick Moore was the monocled surveyor of the sky who awakened in millions of people an interest in galactic goings on. His love of astronomy began at the age of six and that childhood curiosity developed into a lifelong passion. It was a passion he shared through his programme, The Sky at Night, which he presented for more than 50 years. Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore was born at Pinner, Middlesex on 4 Mar 1923. Heart problems meant he spent much of his childhood being educated at home and he became an avid reader. His mother gave him a copy of GF Chambers' book, The Story of the Solar System, and this sparked his lifelong passion for astronomy. He was soon publishing papers about the moon's surface, based on observations made with his first three-inch telescope. Mapping the moon When war came he turned down a place at Cambridge and lied about his age to join the RAF, serving as a navigator with Bomber Command and rising to the rank of Flight Lieutenant. His RAF experiences, which included a visit to the Dachau concentration camp, left him a bitter opponent of war. The war also brought a personal tragedy. His fiancee, Lorna, was killed when an ambulance she was driving was hit by a bomb. He never married. Image caption He presented The Sky At Night for five decades "That was it," he said. "There was no one else for me. Second best is no good for me. I would have liked a wife and family, but it was not to be." After the war he taught for a time at a prep school but his interest in astronomy came to dominate his life. He built his own telescope in the garden of his Sussex home and began to observe the moon. The detailed maps of the moon's surface that he produced during this time were used by Nasa as part of the preparations for the moon landing. A growing interest in extra-terrestrial matters persuaded the BBC to launch a new programme explaining the mysteries of space and Moore was chosen to present it. At a time when pulsars, quasars and black holes were unknown, the show, initially called Starmap, was scheduled to run for three months. Idiosyncratic style The first edition of The Sky at Night was broadcast on 24th April 1957, six months before the launch of Sputnik, the world's first artificial earth orbiting satellite, began the modern space age. "I thought The Sky At Night would last only a few months," he once said. "It's nobody's enemy. It's cheap and non-controversial. It is no skill on my part." But astronomical developments came thick and fast, The Sky at Night became a television institution and Moore stayed with it for more than four decades. During that time he missed just one episode, when he was struck down by food poisoning in July 2004. In 1965 he became the director of a new planetarium at Armagh, in Northern Ireland, a post he held for three years. Image caption Moore had his own telescope at home in Selsey In 1969 he was part of the BBC commentary team which described the moon landings. His appearance was as distinctive as his passion for the stars. At six foot three, Moore carried an air of permanent "donnish dishevelment". With his raised eyebrow and monocled glare, he could have been mistaken for an incommunicative academic. Talented musician But his enthusiasm was contagious and unstoppable. Unfathomable images became exciting lunar postcards through Moore's interpretation and at his most fervent, he would speak at 300 words a minute. Despite his expertise on our solar system, Moore never had any formal training and described himself as an amateur astronomer. But his reputation as a ground-breaking ambassador of science was recognised when he was knighted in 2001. Away from his telescope, Moore's great loves included cricket, taking part in television panel games and the xylophone, which he played often in public, despite never taking a lesson. Image caption Multi-faceted: Moore performs on the xylophone Characteristically, he taught himself to compose music at the age of nine, and wrote a number of pieces over the years, some of which were recorded. He once managed to combine his interest in music with his passion for science. In an historic encounter, he played piano, while his musical partner on the violin was Albert Einstein. His other TV credits include the role of Gamesmaster in the 1990s computer games show of the same name. He was a noted opponent of fox hunting and had a passion for cats, many of which, over the years sprawled happily across the papers on his desk while he worked. His wartime experiences left him with a strong antipathy to the European ideal and he became an enthusiastic member of the UK Independence party. Hobby He was also, briefly, the finance minister for the Monster Raving Loony Party, of whom he said "They had an advantage over all the other parties, in that they knew they were loonies." He wrote more than 70 books during his lifetime, most of the manuscripts banged out on a 1908 manual typewriter. The space enthusiast had an abhorrence of new technology. With his boundless energy and many interests, Patrick Moore could have made a fortune, but he said his astronomy would have suffered. He called it his hobby, not his work. But many renowned professionals were first inspired by his infectious enthusiasm. Buzz Aldrin, the pilot on the Apollo 11 moon landing, paid him this tribute in a BBC interview in 2009. "Astronomy has grown in leaps and bounds and it's people like Patrick who have been able to put it into perspective so that ordinary people understand the enormity of the universe."
A large meeting in London leads to an organizing push akin to the one IATSE has been pursuing in the U.S. and Canada. A London-based union similar to IATSE is beginning a campaign to organize U.K. visual effects workers after what the union called an “overwhelming” vote at a meeting of more than 300 VFX workers Wednesday. The Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union also called on VFX employers to set up their own organization to promote improvements in working conditions. The BECTU meeting comes just three weeks after a large Los Angeles meeting at which panelists including IATSE representatives called for the same thing: a union and an employer association. An employer association would not only give the union a single bargaining partner rather than having to organize on an employer-by-employer basis, it also is viewed as a way for VFX employers to push back against their employers, the studios, whose practices they say have put the VFX business in dire straits – leading, among other things, to the bankruptcy sale of venerable house Rhythm & Hues. Meanwhile, in the U.K., “VFX workers are joining BECTU because staff are tired of working long hours, often for no money at all,” BECTU organizer Gus Baker tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Skilled and talented artists are leaving the VFX industry because they can’t continue working unpaid overtime and raise a family at the same time.” A union website describing the meeting cited “a powerful consensus which states that working conditions have to improve.” Issues cited on the web page as having been raised at the meeting included long hours, unpaid overtime, poor scheduling, little work/life balance and scant treatment of interns. The concerns aren’t limited to Los Angeles and London. Indeed, the March 14 L.A. meeting was set up as a video conference via a Google hangout to the San Francisco Bay Area, Vancouver, Austin and Wellington, N.Z. About 350 people participated. IATSE has been working for on the unionization effort for more than a year, but it appears to be an uphill battle. Key locals involved are Local 839 (The Animation Guild) and the Vancouver-based Local 891. BECTU general secretary Gerry Morrissey said, “The issues in VFX are pressing, and I am confident that with strong membership we can make real progress with the employers.” Baker tells THR: “We want to see a healthy, vibrant VFX industry in the U.K. where everyone is able to achieve their potential and no one is exploited and overworked.” Bookmark The Hollywood Reporter’s Labor Page for the most in-depth coverage of entertainment unions and guilds. Email: jhandel99 at gmail dot com Twitter: @jhandel
ADAM Goodes isn't the first AFL player to open himself up to criticism after a post-goal celebration. Unlike football where a match can be completed without a score even being put on the board, goals aren't such a novelty in Aussie rules, therefore the excitement levels can often be low. There are, of course, exceptions, such as in tight, hard-fought clashes etc. MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 5: Mark Williams #6 for the Hawks celebrates a goal during the round eleven AFL match between The Hawthorn Hawks and the The Essendon Bombers at the M.C.G. on June 5, 2004 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images) Ryan Pierse Mark Williams (Haw) and his 'Shotgun' triggered much criticism, before coach Al Clarkson outlawed it. ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - MAY 8: Warren Tredrea #16 of Port Adelaide celebrates kicking a goal during the AFL Round 7 match between the Port Adelaide Power and the Kangaroos at AAMI stadium May 8, 2005 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by James Knowler/Getty Images) Getty Images Warren Tredrea (Port) put his reputation on the line when he borrowed 'Answering the Phone' from Arsenal striker Thierry Henry. PERTH - JULY 20: Jeff Farmer of the Dockers celebrates after kicking the winning goal against the Crows during the AFL round 16 game July 20, 2003 between the Fremantle Dockers and Adelaide Crows at Subiaco Oval in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Jon Buckle/Getty Images) Jon Buckle Jeff Farmer (Frem) was The Wiz but became known as the 'Purple Jesus' after continually raising his arms up and looking to the heavens. MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 14: Dustin Martin of the Tigers celebrates kicking a goal during the round three AFL match between the Richmond Tigers and the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on April 14, 2013 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images) Quinn Rooney Michael Gardiner (WC), Andrew Krakouer (Coll) and Dustin Martin (Rich) all got rapped across the knuckles for their crossed-wrist 'Jailhouse Salute'. Allen Jakovich, of Melbourne, kisses brother Glenn Jakovich, of the West Coast, during a game in 1993. Photo: Channel Seven Allen Jakovich (Melb) planted a big kiss on the cheek of his brother Glenn Jakovich ... who was playing for West Coast, in 1993. James Hird, of Essendon, celebrates his match-winning goal against West Coast in 2004. Photo: Channel 10 Terry Mallinder James Hird (Ess) ran up to an Essendon supporter in the crowd and gave him a big hug after a match-winning major in 2004. BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 17: Daniel Merrett of the Lions celebrates a goal with team mates (L) Dayne Zorko and (R) Ashley McGrath during the round 21 AFL match between the Brisbane Lions and the Greater Western Sydney Giants at The Gabba on August 17, 2013 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images) Chris Hyde Dayne Zorko (Bris) chose the formal handshake over high-fives as a "bit of fun" during a game in 2013. PERTH, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 09: Michael O'Loughlin of the Swans screams at the Eagles supporters after kicking the winning goal during the AFL First Qualifying Final between the West Coast Eagles and the Sydney Swans at Subiaco Oval September 9, 2006 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images) Adam Pretty Michael O'Loughlin (Syd) got up in the face of a burley Eagles supporter, who was later branded a "wuss" by a nanna in the carpark, in 2006. AND Mark Jackson, of Melbourne, celebrates kicking his first goal in a game against Hawthorn in 1981. Photo: Channel 7. Terry Mallinder
Lady Gaga is an American singer, songwriter, and actress who has received many awards and nominations for her contributions to the music industry. She rose to prominence with the release of her debut album The Fame in 2008. The album won several awards and was nominated for six Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. The album and its single "Poker Face" won Best Electronic/Dance Album and Best Dance Recording, respectively, at the 52nd Grammy Awards. The album also won International Album at the 2010 BRIT Awards. A follow-up EP, titled The Fame Monster, was released in 2009, and included the singles "Bad Romance" and "Telephone". The music videos of the songs won eight accolades from thirteen nominations at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards (VMA), making Gaga the most nominated artist in VMA history for a single year and the first female artist to receive two nominations for Video of the Year in one single night.[1] In 2011, Gaga was nominated for six Grammy Awards, and won three—Best Pop Vocal Album for The Fame Monster, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Short Form Music Video for "Bad Romance". Born This Way (2011), Gaga's second studio album, accrued three nominations at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, including her third consecutive nomination for Album of the Year. It won the People's Choice Awards for Album of the Year the following year, and the music video for the title track won two VMAs, including Best Female Video. Her third album, Artpop (2013), won the award for World's Best Album by a Female at the 2014 World Music Awards. In other musical ventures, Gaga released a collaborative jazz album with Tony Bennett, titled Cheek to Cheek (2014), which received the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. In 2015, Gaga released a song "Til It Happens to You", for the documentary film, The Hunting Ground. The song won a Satellite Award for Best Original Song, while nominated for an Academy Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Song, and a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media. In the same year she was named Woman of the Year by Billboard. She also became the first woman to receive the Digital Diamond Award from RIAA,[2] and the first artist to win the Songwriters Hall of Fame's Contemporary Icon Award for "attaining an iconic status in pop culture". Gaga received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and nominations at the 42nd People's Choice Awards and 20th Satellite Awards for her role in the fifth season of American Horror Story, entitled Hotel. She received two nominations at the Emmy Awards for her concerts television specials Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden and Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga: Cheek to Cheek Live!. In addition to music awards, Gaga has earned several awards and nominations for her artistic and philanthropic efforts to society, such as a Do Something! Award. In 2013, she finished second on Time's readers' poll about the most influential people of the past ten years.[3] In 2018, Gaga starred in the remake of A Star Is Born. Her performance garnered critical acclaim and won her the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress, and nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama, the Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role. She also contributed to the film's soundtrack, and for its lead single "Shallow", won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Song, Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, and four nominations at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Song Written for Visual Media, winning the latter two categories. With the wins for the song and the film, Gaga became the first person to win an Academy Award, Grammy, BAFTA and Golden Globe in one year.[4] AACTA Awards [ edit ] The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Gaga has received one nomination. Academy Awards [ edit ] The Academy Awards, or Oscars, is an annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry, and is organised by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).[6] Gaga has won one award out of three nominations, in which "Til It Happens to You" became the fifth song from a documentary in history to receive an Academy Award nomination.[7] ADL Awards [ edit ] The Anti-Defamation League is an international Jewish not-for-profit organization based in the United States.[10] Gaga has been awarded once. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2015 Lady Gaga Making a Difference Award Won [11] Alliance of Women Film Journalists [ edit ] The Alliance of Women Film Journalists is a non-profit organization founded in 2006. It is based in New York City and is dedicated to supporting work by and about women in the film industry.[12] Gaga has received one nomination. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2018 A Star Is Born Best Actress Nominated [13] American Music Awards [ edit ] Created by Dick Clark in 1973, the American Music Awards is an annual music awards ceremony and a major annual music awards shows.[14] Gaga has received two awards from ten nominations. ARIA Music Awards [ edit ] The ARIA Music Awards are presented annually by the Australian Recording Industry Association to recognize achievements in the Australian music industry.[19] Gaga has been nominated twice. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2010 Lady Gaga Most Popular International Artist Nominated [20] 2011 Nominated [21] Bambi Awards [ edit ] The Bambi Awards is a German awards ceremony that recognizes excellence in international media and television "with vision and creativity who affected and inspired the German public that year", both domestic and foreign.[22] Gaga has received one award. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2011 Lady Gaga International Pop Artist Won [23] BET Awards [ edit ] The BET Awards were established in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate African Americans and other minorities in music, acting, sports, and other fields of entertainment.[24] Gaga has won one award from three nominations. Billboard Awards [ edit ] Billboard Japan Music Awards [ edit ] The Billboard Japan Music Awards are held annually in Japan. The artists are eligible for the prize by topping one of the Billboard Japan charts.[27] Gaga has won two awards. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2011 "Born This Way" Billboard Japan Adult Contemporary of the Year Won [28] Billboard Japan Digital and Overseas Airplay of the Year Won Billboard Latin Music Awards [ edit ] The Billboard Latin Music Awards is the Latin version of the Billboard Music Awards.[29] Gaga has been nominated four times and has won once. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2010 Lady Gaga Crossover Artist of the Year (Solo) Won [30] Crossover Artist of the Year Nominated 2011 Nominated [31] [32] Hot Latin Songs — Female Artist of the Year Nominated Billboard.com Mid-Year Music Awards [ edit ] Voted online in the Billboard's official site, the Billboard.com Mid-Year Music Awards honor artists for their achievements in the first half of the year.[33] Gaga has won six times out of seventeen nominations. Billboard Music Awards [ edit ] The Billboard Music Awards honor artists for commercial performance in the U.S., based on record charts published by Billboard.[39] The awards are based on sales data by Nielsen SoundScan and radio information by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems.[40] The award ceremony was held from 1990 to 2007, until its reintroduction in 2011.[41] Gaga has received seven awards from thirty four nominations. Billboard Touring Awards [ edit ] Established in 2004, the Billboard Touring Award is an annual meeting sponsored by Billboard magazine which also honors the top international live entertainment industry artists and professionals. Many of the awards are based on Billboard's Boxscore chart.[48] Gaga has won three times. Billboard Women in Music [ edit ] Established in 2007, Billboard Women in Music recognizes influential female artists and music executives who have made significant contributions to the business and who, through their work and continued success, inspire generations of women to take on increasing responsibilities within the field.[53] Gaga has been honored twice. BMI Awards [ edit ] Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed.[56] Gaga has received 21 awards for 13 of her songs and her songwriting. Brit Awards [ edit ] The Brit Awards are British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards.[64] Gaga has been nominated five times and has won three awards. British Academy Film Awards [ edit ] The British Academy Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. Gaga has been nominated twice and received one award. Lady Gaga is the first and only woman in history to win this honour for Excellence in film music. British LGBT Awards [ edit ] The British LGBT Awards celebrate the UK's most loved LGBT personalities, innovators and companies, dubbed the "Gay Oscars" by the press.[69] Gaga has received one nomination. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2017 Lady Gaga LGBT+ Celebrities Nominated [70] BT Digital Music Awards [ edit ] The BT Digital Music Award was a British music award ceremony held annually for 10 years from 2002, up to its last ceremony in 2011.[71] Gaga has received one award. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2010 Lady Gaga Best International Artist Won [72] [73] Canadian Fragrance Awards [ edit ] Promoted by Cosmetics magazine, the Canadian Fragrance Awards honor the year's best fragrance launches, as chosen by expert voting panel of industry insiders, beauty advisors and media judges.[74] Gaga has won once. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2013 Fame Customers Choice Won [75] Capri Hollywood International Film Festival [ edit ] The Capri Hollywood International Film Festival is an annual international film festival held in every late December/early January in Capri, Italy. Gaga has received one award. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2019 "Shallow" Best Original Song Won [76] CFDA Fashion Awards [ edit ] The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), often called "the Oscars of fashion", is an annual award ceremony, which honors excellence in fashion design.[77] Gaga received the Fashion Icon Award in 2011. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2011 Lady Gaga Fashion Icon Award Won [78] Channel [V] Thailand Music Video Awards [ edit ] The Channel [V] Thailand Music Video Awards was established in 2002 by Channel [V] Thailand.[79] Gaga has received two awards from three nominations. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2009 Lady Gaga International Artist Won [80] International New Artist Nominated "Poker Face" International Music Video Won Chicago Film Critics Association [ edit ] The Chicago Film Critics Association is an association of professional film critics, who work in print, broadcast and online media, based in Chicago, Illinois. Gaga has received two nominations. Clio Awards [ edit ] The Clio Awards is an annual award program that recognizes innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design and communication, as judged by an international panel of advertising professionals.[82] Time magazine described the event as the world's most recognizable international advertising awards. Gaga has received nine awards from twelve nominations. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2012 Lady Gaga Short List (Music-Licensed) Nominated [83] 2014 Gagadoll Bronze Winner (Experiential) Won [84] Short List (Ambient) Nominated [85] 2016 The Lady Gaga + Intel Performance Gold Winner (Innovation) Won [86] Gold Winner (Partnerships) Won [87] Silver Winner (Stage Design) Won [88] Bronze Winner (Innovation Medium) Won [89] Short List (Events/Experiential) Nominated [90] 2017 Intel Drones x Super Bowl Halftime Show With Lady Gaga Gold Winner (Partnerships & Collaborations) Won [91] Sliver Winner (Event/Experiential) Won [92] Bronze Winner (Brand Partnerships & Collaborations) Won [93] "John Wayne" Silver Winner (Music Videos) Won [94] Columbus Citizens Foundation [ edit ] The Columbus Citizens Foundation sponsors the annual Columbus Day Celebration that honors the spirit of exploration and courage that inspired Christopher Columbus’s 1492 expedition and the important contributions Italian-Americans have made to the United States. Gaga received the Humanitarian Award during the 71st Columbus Day Parade for her work in the Born This Way Foundation.[95] Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2015 Lady Gaga and Cynthia Germanotta Humanitarian Award Won [96] Critics' Choice Movie Awards [ edit ] The Critics' Choice Movie Awards is presented annually since 1995 by the Broadcast Film Critics Association for outstanding achievements in the film industry.[97] Gaga has won two awards out of four nominations. Detroit Film Critics Society [ edit ] Founded in 2007, the Detroit Film Critics Society is a film critic organization based in Detroit, Michigan.[101] Gaga has received two nominations. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2018 A Star Is Born Best Actress Nominated [102] Breakthrough Performance Nominated Do Something! Awards [ edit ] Inaugurated in 1996 by Do Something, a nonprofit organization that encourages young people to help out in their communities, the Do Something! Awards honors athletes, music artists and actors that have portrayed a social issue. It is promoted by VH1 since 2010.[103] Gaga received one award and has been nominated five times. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2010 Lady Gaga Best Music Artist Nominated [104] 2011 Nominated [105] Do Something Facebook Won "Born This Way" Best Charity Song Nominated 2012 Lady Gaga Do Something Twitter Nominated [106] Dorian Awards [ edit ] The Dorian Awards are organized by the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (GALECA).[107] Gaga has won once from seven nominations. Dublin Film Critics' Circle [ edit ] The Dublin Film Critics' Circle is an Irish film critic association. Gaga has received one award. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2018 A Star Is Born Best Actress Won [113] ECHO Awards [ edit ] The ECHO Award is a German music award granted every year by the Deutsche Phono-Akademie, an association of recording companies.[114] Gaga has won three times from five nominations. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2010 Lady Gaga International Newcomer Won [115] [116] International Female Artist Won The Fame International/National Album of the Year Nominated "Poker Face" International/National Song of the Year Won 2012 Lady Gaga International Female Artist Nominated [117] Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee [ edit ] The Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee (Eleanor's Legacy) aims to build a generation of pro-choice Democratic women candidates, informed voters, and political activists throughout New York. The organization is inspired by the legacy of Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the most influential figures of the 20th century.[118] The Legacy Award was given to Lady Gaga, to her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, and to Born This Way Foundation, for their works to suppress and prevent campus sexual assault. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2015 Lady Gaga, Cynthia Germanotta, and Born This Way Foundation Eleanor's Legacy Award Won [119] Emma-gaala (Emma Awards) is hosted annually by Musiikkituottajat, a major Finnish music industry federation, to recognize achievements in Finnish music industry. The Award for Foreign Artist of the Year was introduced in 2009 and Gaga was nominated in 2010 and in 2012.[120] Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2010 Lady Gaga Foreign Artist of the Year Nominated [121] 2012 Won [122] Emmy Awards [ edit ] The Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, recognizes excellence in the television industry, and corresponds to the Academy Award (for film), the Tony Award (for theatre), and the Grammy Award (for music).[123] Gaga's first special received five nominations and won one. Editors Bill DeRonde, Michael Polito, Kevin O'Dea, and Katie Hetland were the recipients of this award.[124] Gaga has been nominated three times. ESKA Music Awards [ edit ] The ESKA Music Awards were established by the Polish radio station ESKA and are held annually in Poland.[128] Gaga has received two awards. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2009 Lady Gaga Best New Artist Won [129] 2011 Best International Artist Won [130] Fangoria Chainsaw Awards [ edit ] Established in 1992, the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards is an award ceremony that awards movies, TV, filmmakers and actors in the horror genre.[131] Gaga has received one nomination. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2016 American Horror Story: Hotel Best TV Actress Nominated [132] Fashion Los Angeles Awards [ edit ] Created in 2015, the Fashion Los Angeles Awards honors the best in fashion in Hollywood.[133] Gaga has received one award. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2016 V Magazine Editor of the Year Won [134] FiFi Awards [ edit ] The FiFi Awards is an annual event sponsored by The Fragrance Foundation which honors the fragrance industry's creative achievements.[135] Gaga has one nomination. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2013 Fame Best New Celebrity Fragrance Nominated [136] Fryderyk [ edit ] The Fryderyk is an annual award ceremony in Poland, presented by the Związek Producentów Audio Video, the IFPI Poland, since 1994. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2019 A Star Is Born (with Bradley Cooper) Best Foreign Album Pending [137] GAFFA Awards [ edit ] Danish GAFFA Awards [ edit ] The GAFFA Awards are a Danish music award created by the music magazine Gaffa, given annually since 1991. Gaga has received one award out of six nominations. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2009 Lady Gaga International Female Artist of the Year Won [138] New International Artist of the Year Nominated "Paparazzi" International Hit of the Year Nominated 2011 Lady Gaga International Female Artist of the Year Nominated [139] "Born This Way" International Video of the Year Nominated 2016 Lady Gaga International Female Artist of the Year Nominated [140] Norwegian GAFFA Awards [ edit ] The GAFFA Awards are a Norwegian music award created by the music magazine Gaffa, given annually since 2012. Gaga has received one nomination. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2018 "Shallow" (with Bradley Cooper) International Hit of the Year Nominated [141] Swedish GAFFA Awards [ edit ] The GAFFA Awards are a Swedish music award created by the music magazine Gaffa, given annually since 2010. Gaga has received one nomination. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2019 "Shallow" (with Bradley Cooper) International Hit of the Year Pending [142] Georgia Film Critics Association [ edit ] Founded in 2011, the Georgia Film Critics Association (GAFCA) is an organization of professional film critics from Georgia. Gaga has won one award out of four nominations. GLAAD Media Awards [ edit ] The GLAAD Media Awards were created in 1990 by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to "recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBT community and the issues that affect their lives.""[145] Gaga has won two awards out of four nominations. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2010 Lady Gaga Outstanding Music Artist Won [146] [147] 2012 Won [148] 2014 Nominated [149] 2017 Nominated [150] Glamour Awards [ edit ] The Glamour Awards are given by the English magazine Glamour.[151] Gaga has won once from two nominations. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2013 Lady Gaga Woman of the Year Award Won [152] 2014 International Musician/Solo Artist Nominated [153] Global Awards [ edit ] The Global Awards celebrate the stars of music, news & entertainment across genres from around the world. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2019 Lady Gaga Best Female Pending [154] Mass Appeal Award Pending "Shallow" (with Bradley Cooper) Best Song Pending Gold Derby Awards [ edit ] The Gold Derby Awards (or Gold Derby TV and Film Awards) are awards given by the website Goldderby.com (Gold Derby) for television and film.[155] Gaga has won one award out of four nominations. Golden Globe Awards [ edit ] The Golden Globe Awards is an American accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which recognizes excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign.[158] Gaga has won two awards from four nominations. In 2018, she became the first music artist to be nominated in film, television and music categories. Golden Raspberry Awards [ edit ] The Golden Raspberry Awards or the Razzies are awarded in recognition of the worst in film.[162] Gaga has been nominated once. Gracie Awards [ edit ] The Gracie Awards honor programming by, for and about women, as well as individuals who have made exemplary contributions to develop the industry.[164] Gaga has won once. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2012 Lady Gaga: Inside the Outside Outstanding Documentary Won [165] Grammy Awards [ edit ] The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry. Often considered the highest music honor, the awards were established in 1958.[166] Lady Gaga has won nine awards out of twenty-four nominations. She, Beyoncé and Mariah Carey are the only female artists to have lost the Grammy Award for Album of the Year three times, and they all hold the record for second-most Album of the Year nominations (three) for a female artist after Barbra Streisand.[167] Guinness World Records [ edit ] The Guinness World Records is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records.[176] Gaga currently holds twelve records. Hollywood Music in Media Awards [ edit ] The Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA) recognizes and honors the music of visual mediums (films, TV, movie trailers, video games, commercials, etc.).[186] Gaga has received two awards out of four nominations. Houston Film Critics Society [ edit ] The Houston Film Critics Society awards are based on critics from Houston film circle. Gaga has received one award out of two nominations. iHeartRadio Music Awards [ edit ] The iHeartRadio Music Award was founded by iHeartRadio in 2014. The event is broadcast live on NBC.[191] Gaga has received seven nominations, with one win. International Dance Music Awards [ edit ] The International Dance Music Award was established in 1985. It is a part of the Winter Music Conference, a weeklong electronic music event held annually.[196] Gaga has won six awards from fifteen nominations. Jane Ortner Education Award [ edit ] The Jane Ortner Education Award was created by The Grammy Museum in partnership with Charles B. Ortner; prominent entertainment attorney, Museum Board member and husband to the late The Jane. The Ortner Artist Award recognizes an artist who embodies the Museum's educational mission and shows passion and dedication to education through the arts.[202] Lady Gaga has been honored once. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2016 Lady Gaga Jane Ortner Artist Award Won [203] Japan Gold Disc Awards [ edit ] The Japan Gold Disc Award is an annual ceremony hosted in Japan. The winners are based by sales provided by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ).[204] Gaga has won ten times from ten nominations. Juno Awards [ edit ] The Juno Awards is a Canadian awards to recognize outstanding achievements in record industry.[211] Gaga has been nominated once. LennonOno Grant for Peace [ edit ] The LennonOno Grant for Peace is an award presented by artist and peace activist Yoko Ono.[213] Gaga was awarded in 2011. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2012 Lady Gaga Lennon Ono Grant for Peace Award Won [214] Little Kids Rock Awards [ edit ] The Little Kids Rock is presented annually to "a musical luminary who is passionate about and dedicated to helping Little Kids Rock provide music education to schoolchildren who may otherwise not have access to it."[215] Gaga was honored once in 2011. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2011 Lady Gaga Big Man of the Year Won [216] Los Angeles Italia Film, Fashion and Art Fest [ edit ] The Los Angeles Italia Film, Fashion and Art Fest honors the best of Italian and Italian-American culture every year, during the pre-Oscar week. At the 11th edition, Gaga was honored along with Diane Warren.[217] Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2016 "Til It Happens to You" Song of the Year Won [217] Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society [ edit ] Founded in 2016, the Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society (LAOFCS) is a film critic organization from Los Angeles, California. Gaga has received one award out of three nominations. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2018 A Star Is Born Best Actress Nominated [218] [219] Best Breakthrough Performance Nominated "Shallow" Best Original Song Won Los Premios 40 Principales [ edit ] The Los Premios 40 Principales is an award presented by the musical radio station Los 40 Principales. It was created in 2006 to celebrate their fortieth anniversary.[220] Gaga has won two times from three nominations. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2009 "Poker Face" Best International Song Nominated [221] 2010 "Bad Romance" Won [222] Lady Gaga Best International Artist Won Meteor Music Awards [ edit ] Launched in 2001, the Meteor Music Awards are awarded for achievements in the Irish and international record industry.[223] Gaga has received one award from two nominations. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2010 Lady Gaga Best International Female Won [224] The Fame Monster Best International Album Nominated Miss Gay America [ edit ] The Miss Gay America is a national pageant for female impersonators. Established in 1972, the pageant is based on the Miss America contest and follows a similar format.[225] Owners Michael Dutzer and Rob Mansman presented Gaga with her very own crown and a $5,000 check to the Born This Way Foundation for her hard work championing for LGBT rights.[226] Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2017 Lady Gaga The Honorary Miss Gay America Won [226] MOBO Awards [ edit ] The MOBO Awards (an acronym for Music of Black Origin) were established in 1996 by Kanya King. They are held annually in the United Kingdom to recognize artists of any race or nationality performing music of black origin.[227] Gaga has been nominated once. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2009 Lady Gaga Best International Act Nominated [228] MTV Awards [ edit ] Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica [ edit ] The Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica is the Latin American version of the MTV Video Music Awards. It was established in 2002 to celebrate the top music videos of the year in Latin America and the world.[229] Gaga has been nominated four times and has received two awards. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2009 Lady Gaga Best Pop Artist International Nominated [230] Best New Artist International Won "Poker Face" Song of the Year Won Best Ringtone Nominated MTV Australia Awards [ edit ] The MTV Australia Awards were established in 2005 by MTV Australia.[231] Gaga has been nominated twice. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2009 Lady Gaga Breakthrough Artist Nominated [232] [233] "Poker Face" Best Video Nominated MTV Europe Music Awards [ edit ] The MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA) were established in 1994 by MTV Networks Europe to celebrate the most popular music videos in Europe.[234] Gaga has received ten awards from twenty eight nominations. MTV Italian Music Awards [ edit ] The MTV Italian Music Awards, also known as TRL (Total Request Live) Awards, are hosted annually in Italy by MTV. They award the best video, performers, and artists of the year.[242] Gaga has been nominated fourteen times and has won twice. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2010 Lady Gaga My First Lady Award Nominated [243] TRL Award for Best Look Nominated 2011 Wonder Woman Award Won [244] Best Look Nominated Too Much Award Nominated 2012 Wonder Woman Award Nominated [245] Best Look Nominated 2015 Best Fan Nominated [246] [247] MTV Awards Star Won 2016 Artist Saga Nominated [248] [249] [250] Best Look Nominated MTV Awards Star Nominated 2017 Best International Female Nominated [251] [252] Artist Saga Nominated MTV Millennial Awards [ edit ] The MTV Millennial Awards, held annually in Latin America, were established in 2013 by MTV Latino to award music artists.[253] Gaga has won twice. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2017 "Perfect Illusion" International Hit of the Year Won [254] Lady Gaga Agente de Cambio Won [255] MTV Movie & TV Awards [ edit ] The MTV Movie & TV Awards is a film and television awards show presented annually on MTV. The nominees are decided by producers and executives at MTV. Winners are decided online by the general public.[256] Gaga has been nominated twice and has won one award. MTV Video Music Awards [ edit ] The MTV Video Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as VMA, were established in 1984 by MTV to celebrate the top music videos of the year.[259] In 2010, Gaga broke the record for most nominations in a single year with thirteen awards for her songs "Bad Romance" and "Telephone". She also became the first female solo artist to receive two nominations for Video of the Year in the same ceremony.[260] Altogether, she is the third biggest winner of all time,[261] being nominated for twenty six awards with thirteen wins. MTV Video Music Awards Japan [ edit ] The MTV Video Music Awards Japan is the Japanese version of the MTV Video Music Awards. Initially, Japan was part of the MTV Asia Awards, which were part all Asian countries, but because of the musical variety existent in Japan, a factor that neighboring countries have not, in May 2002 they began to hold their own awards independently.[266] Gaga has won five awards out of thirteen nominations. MTV Video Music Brazil [ edit ] The MTV Video Music Brazil, commonly known as VMB, was MTV Brazil's annual award ceremony, established in 1995. In 2013, due to the devolution of the brand MTV to Viacom, and with the reformulation of the channel, the ceremony was discontinued.[272] Gaga has received three nominations and won one of them. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2009 Lady Gaga Best International Artist Nominated [273] 2010 Nominated [274] 2011 Won [275] MuchMusic Video Awards [ edit ] The MuchMusic Video Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the Canadian music video channel MuchMusic.[276] Gaga has won three awards from nine nominations. MYX Music Awards [ edit ] The MYX Music Awards is an annual awards show in the Philippines that honors the year's both Filipino and International music.[282] Gaga was nominated twice. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2011 "Telephone" (featuring Beyoncé) Favorite International Video Nominated [283] 2012 "Born This Way" Nominated [284] National Arts Awards [ edit ] The National Arts Awards is presented by Americans for the Arts, a nonprofit organization whose primary focus is advancing the arts in the United States. In 2015, Gaga received the Young Artist Award, which honors individuals who have achieved incredible accomplishments and exemplary leadership while still early in their career.[285] Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2015 Lady Gaga Young Artist Award Won [286] National Board of Review Awards [ edit ] The National Board of Review Awards is an organization in the United States dedicated to discussing and selecting what its members regard as the best film works of each year. In 2018, Gaga received the Best Actress award for playing Ally in A Star Is Born.[287] National Magazine Awards [ edit ] The National Magazine Awards are a series of American awards that honor excellence in the magazine industry. They are sponsored by the American Society of Magazine Editors and administered by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. The awards have been presented annually since 1966.[288] Gaga has won once. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2015 Harper's Bazaar, March 2014, Lady Gaga Fashion and Beauty Won [289] NewNowNext Awards [ edit ] The NewNowNext Award is an annual awards show, held by the gay and lesbian-themed network Logo.[290] Gaga has received two awards. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2011 Lady Gaga Always Next, Forever Now Award Won [291] 2013 Born This Way Foundation Most Innovative Charity of the Year Won [292] Nickelodeon Choice Awards [ edit ] Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards [ edit ] The Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards honor entertainers with a blimp trophy, as voted by children.[293] Gaga has been nominated twice. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2010 "Telephone" (featuring Beyoncé) Favorite Song Nominated [294] 2011 Lady Gaga Favorite Female Singer Nominated [295] Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards [ edit ] The Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards is an annual awards show, that honors the year's biggest television, movie, and music acts, as voted by kids.[293] Gaga has been nominated five times. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2010 Lady Gaga Favorite Female Singer Nominated [296] "Paparazzi" Favorite Song Nominated 2012 Lady Gaga Favorite Female Singer Nominated [297] "Born This Way" Favorite Song Nominated 2014 Lady Gaga Favorite Female Singer Nominated [298] NME Awards [ edit ] The NME Awards are annual music awards show founded by the music magazine NME.[299] Gaga has won five positive awards and one negative award from eleven over-all nominations. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2010 Lady Gaga Best Dressed Won [300] Worst Dressed Won Solo Artist Nominated "Poker Face" Best Dancefloor Filler Nominated 2011 Lady Gaga Most Stylish Nominated [301] Hero of the Year Won Hottest Woman Won 2012 Best Band Blog or Twitter Won [302] 2017 Best International Female Nominated [303] [304] 2018 Lady Gaga at the Super Bowl Musical Moment of the Year Nominated [305] [306] Gaga: Five Foot Two Best Music Film Won NRJ Music Awards [ edit ] The NRJ Music Awards were created in 2000 by the radio station NRJ in partnership with the television network TF1.[307] Gaga has been nominated eleven times and has received three awards. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2010 Lady Gaga International Breakthrough of the Year Won [308] The Fame International Album of the Year Nominated "Poker Face" International Song of the Year Nominated 2011 Lady Gaga International Female Artist of the Year Nominated [309] Live Act of the Year Nominated "Bad Romance" International Song of the Year Nominated "Telephone" (featuring Beyoncé) International Band/Collaboration/Company of the Year Nominated Music Video of the Year Won 2012 "Born This Way" Nominated [310] 2016 Lady Gaga International Female Artist of the Year Nominated [311] NRJ Radio Artist Award Won O Music Awards [ edit ] The O Music Awards is one of the major annual awards established by MTV to honor the art, creativity, personality and technology of music into the digital space.[312] Gaga has won two awards from four nomination. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2011 Lady Gaga Innovative Artist Won [313] [314] Must Follow Artist on Twitter Won Favorite Animated GIF Nominated Fan Army FTW Nominated Online Film Critics Society [ edit ] The Online Film Critics Society is an international professional association of online film journalists, historians and scholars who publish their work on the World Wide Web. Gaga has received one nomination. Patron of the Artists Awards [ edit ] The Patron of the Artists Awards were created by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation to honor entertainment industry leaders who have played major roles in supporting the careers of performing artists. Lady Gaga has been honored once with the Artists Inspiration Award for using her platform to advance humanitarian and philanthropic causes. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2018 Lady Gaga Artists Inspiration Award Won [316] People's Choice Awards [ edit ] The People's Choice Awards recognize the people and the work of popular culture.[317] Gaga has won three out of fourteen nominations. Pollstar Awards [ edit ] The Pollstar Concert Industry Awards aim to reward the best in the business of shows and concerts.[324] Gaga has received one award from seven nominations. Premios Oye! [ edit ] The Premios Oye! is presented annually by the Academia Nacional de la Música en México for outstanding achievements in Mexican record industry.[330] Gaga has received four awards from seven nominations. Q Awards [ edit ] The Q Award is a United Kingdom's annual music awards run by the music magazine Q to honor musical excellence. Winners are voted by readers of Q online, with others decided by a judging panel.[334] Gaga has received one award from six nominations. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2009 Lady Gaga Breakthrough Artist Nominated [335] "Just Dance" (featuring Colby O'Donis) Best Video Won 2010 Lady Gaga Best Female Nominated [336] Best Live Act Nominated 2011 "Judas" Best Video Nominated [337] 2012 Lady Gaga Best Act In The World Today Nominated [338] Radio Disney Music Awards [ edit ] First established in 2002, the Radio Disney Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony held by Radio Disney.[339] Gaga has received one nomination. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2017 Lady Gaga Best Female Artist Nominated [340] Rockbjörnen [ edit ] Rockbjörnen is a music prize in Sweden, divided into several categories, which is awarded annually by the newspaper Aftonbladet. Gaga has won one award from five nominations. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2010 Lady Gaga Concert of the Year Nominated [341] "Bad Romance" Foreign Song of the Year Nominated "Telephone" (featuring Beyoncé) Nominated "Alejandro" Nominated 2011 "Born This Way" Won [342] San Diego Film Critics Society [ edit ] The San Diego Film Critics Society is an organization of film reviewers from San Diego-based publications. Gaga has received one nomination. San Francisco Film Critics Circle [ edit ] The San Francisco Film Critics Circle was founded in 2002 as an organization of film journalists and critics from San Francisco, California based publications. Gaga has received one nomination. Satellite Awards [ edit ] Voted for by the International Press Academy, the Satellite Awards are held annually and honor achievements in television and film.[345] Gaga has received two awards out of five nominations. Screen Actors Guild Awards [ edit ] The Screen Actors Guild Awards are organized by the Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. First awarded in 1995, the awards aim to recognize excellent achievements in film and television.[349] Gaga has received two nominations. Seattle Film Critics Society [ edit ] The Seattle Film Critics Society is a film critic organization of 25 print, radio/TV and internet journalists from Seattle-based publications Gaga has received one nomination. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2018 A Star Is Born Best Actress Nominated [351] Servicemembers Legal Defense Network [ edit ] The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network was founded as a nonprofit legal services, watchdog, and policy organization founded in the United States in 1993. The organization was dedicated to ending discrimination and harassment of gay and lesbian U.S. military personnel.[352] Lady Gaga received the Randy Shilts Visibility Award in 2011, for raising the "Don't Ask, Don’t Tell" campaign to the public and for actively supporting the repealing of the law in 2010. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2011 Lady Gaga Randy Shilts Visibility Award Won [353] Shorty Awards [ edit ] The Shorty Awards, also known as the Shortys, is an annual awards show recognizing the people and organizations that produce real-time short form content across Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube, Instagram and the rest of the social web. Gaga has received four nominations. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2014 Lady Gaga Green – Global Issues Nominated [354] Art – Arts & Design Nominated 2017 Celebrity - Entertainment Nominated [355] 2019 Innovator of the Year – Tech & Innovation Pending [356] Songwriters Hall of Fame [ edit ] The Songwriters Hall of Fame honors the legacy of the great songwriters whose work has enriched the world's culture.[357] Gaga was the first artist to win the Contemporary Icon Award, which celebrates a songwriter-artist who has attained an iconic status in pop culture, at the 46th Annual Induction and Awards Dinner. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2015 Lady Gaga Contemporary Icon Award Won [358] Space Shower Music Video Awards [ edit ] The Space Shower Music Video Awards are an annual set of music awards sponsored by Space Shower TV in Japan. Gaga has won one award from two nominations. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2010 "Paparazzi" Best International Video Won [359] 2011 "Telephone" (featuring Beyoncé) Nominated [360] St. Louis Film Critics Association [ edit ] Founded in 2004, the St. Louis Film Critics Association (StLFCA) is an organization of professional film critics operating in St. Louis area and adjoining areas of Missouri and Illinois.[361] Gaga has received three nominations, becoming runner-up once. Stonewall Awards [ edit ] The Stonewall Awards are held annually to celebrate people who have had a positive impact on the lives of British LGBT people.[364] Gaga has been nominated once. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2011 Lady Gaga Hero of the Year Nominated [365] Swiss Music Awards [ edit ] The Swiss Music Awards, the most important music awards in Switzerland, were created to promote national music scene and at the same time present its cultural diversity.[366] Gaga has received one award. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2010 "Poker Face" Best International Song Won [367] TEC Awards [ edit ] The TEC Awards are an annual program recognizing the achievements of audio professionals. The winners are announced and the awards presented at a ceremony held at the NAMM Show. Gaga has been nominated three times in the Outstanding Creative Achievement area. Teen Choice Awards [ edit ] The Teen Choice Awards were established in 1999 to honor the year's biggest achievements in music, movies, sports and television, being voted by young people aged between 13 and 19.[371] Gaga has won three awards from twenty three nominations. Telehit Awards [ edit ] The Telehit Awards are annual award show. Gaga has received three awards. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2009 "Poker Face" Song of the Year Won [379] 2010 "Telephone" Video of the Year Won [380] The Fame Monster International Album of the Year Won The Record of the Year [ edit ] The Record of the Year was an award voted by the UK public. The award began in 1998, and was televised on ITV before being dropped in 2006 after disagreements over the phone voting element. Since then it has been an online poll, administered through the Record of the Year website. In 2013, it was axed, signaling the end of the award.[381] Gaga won two awards from three nominations. The Trevor Project Awards [ edit ] The Trevor Project is an American nonprofit organization. It is the leading national organization focused on suicide prevention efforts among LGBTQ youth.[384] Gaga has won once. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2011 Lady Gaga Trevor Hero Award Won [385] TMF Awards [ edit ] The TMF Awards were an annual television awards show broadcast live on TMF (The Music Factory). Gaga has won three times. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2009 Lady Gaga Best New Artist – International Won [386] Best Female Artist – International Won Best Pop – International Won UK Music Video Awards [ edit ] The UK Music Video Awards is an annual award ceremony founded in 2008 to recognise creativity, technical excellence and innovation in music videos and moving images for music.[387] Gaga has received two awards from three nominations. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2009 "Paparazzi" Best International Video Won [388] 2010 "Bad Romance" Won [389] "Telephone" (featuring Beyoncé) Nominated Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association [ edit ] The Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association is a group of film critics in Washington, founded in 2002.[390] Gaga has won once from one nomination. Webby Awards [ edit ] The Webby Award is an award for excellence on the Internet presented annually by International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Categories include websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile.[392] Gaga has received seven awards from nine nominations. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2013 Gaga's Workshop Celebrity/Fan Won [393] 2016 Leo Side-eye GIF of the Year Nominated [394] 2017 The Lady Gaga + Intel Performance Live Experiences (Branded) in Film & Video Won [395] Integrated Campaign (Film & Video) Won Branded Content (Advertising, Media & PR) Won Bud Light × Lady Gaga Dive Bar Tour Best Use of Social Media Nominated 2018 Gaga: Five Foot Two Music (Film and Video) Won [396] [397] Best Editing (Film and Video) Won Intel × Super Bowl Halftime Show Best Event Activation (Advertising, Marketing & PR) Won Women Film Critics Circle [ edit ] The Women Film Critics Circle is an association of 75 women film critics and scholars, practicing nationally or internationally, who are involved in the print, radio, television and online media. Gaga has received one nomination. World Music Awards [ edit ] The World Music Award is an international awards show founded in 1989 that annually honors recording artists based on worldwide sales figures provided by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).[399] Gaga has received nine awards from twenty nominations. YouTube Music Awards [ edit ] The YouTube Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as YTMA) are presented annually by YouTube to honor the best in the music videos.[402] Gaga has received one award from two nominations. Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref. 2013 "Applause" Video of the Year Nominated [403] 2015 Lady Gaga 50 Artists to Watch Won [404] Notes [ edit ] ^ Awards in certain categories do not have prior nominations and only winners are announced by the jury. For simplification and to avoid errors, each award in this list has been presumed to have had a prior nomination. ^ The Wife. Tied with Glenn Close for
Please enable Javascript to watch this video ST. LOUIS, Mo. _Two firefighters and an employee were injured during a five-alarm warehouse fire in south St. Louis. It started around 10:30 a.m. in the basement of Park Warehouse Services located at 3937 Park Avenue, near St. Louis University Hospital. According to Garon Mosby, Public Information Officer for the St. Louis Fire Department, about 12-15 people were inside of the one-story building at the time. One employee was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation and two firefighters suffered non-life threatening injuries. A wall also collapsed, damaging a fire engine. There were initial reports of magnesium in the basement, however, Mosby says that is not the case. "The smoke has increased and this tells us the fire will get bigger. We will be here for a long time." Although the building is fully engulfed, Mosby says the fire is not going outside of the Botanical Heights business. According to a tweet from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, motorists should expect traffic delays in the area, as multiple intersections are blocked. Between 80 and 100 firefighters were on the scene battling the blaze. Related story: Photos of massive five-alarm fire in Botanical Heights 2nd Alarm Warehouse Fire - 3900blk of Park https://t.co/tdAnOGUlgN — St. Louis Fire Dept (@STLFireDept) November 15, 2017 3rd Alarm Warehouse Fire - 3900blk of Park (2) https://t.co/LVBWjjFLiG — St. Louis Fire Dept (@STLFireDept) November 15, 2017 View from Chouteau of smoke at warehouse fire in Midtown. @FOX2now @KPLR11. I'm on the scene. pic.twitter.com/Eal8J7s4wh — Mike Colombo (@Mike_Colombo) November 15, 2017 3900blk of Park - 5 Alarm Warehouse #Fire; Operations ongoing. One civilian; one Firefighter transported minor non-life threatening injuries. #STLCity pic.twitter.com/iOip6yDlz4 — St. Louis Fire Dept (@STLFireDept) November 15, 2017
Irish companies seem incredibly eager to set debt collectors on people despite having absolutely no business doing so and even when the amounts in question are minuscule. Take this story from Barbara from Mayo, who has been having a ridiculously frustrating time with Eir. It all started in early March, when one of the phone company’s salesmen arrived at her door two weeks after she had given birth. Barbara told him she had just had a baby and was not really keen on hearing his patter – but he persisted. “We were having our breakfast, but he somehow wangled himself in the door and sat on the couch while I continued to eat in my dressing gown in front of him. We said that, yes, we were interested in their full package of TV, sports, broadband and phone, and he assured us that high-speed fibre broadband had been rolled out in the Mayo town where we live and that we would be able to have it installed within a week, so long as we signed up there and then.” Barbara explained that she didn’t like making such decisions without thinking about them and that right now, with the baby in arms – and the breakfast bowl in hand – she was not in a position to decide immediately. The Eir man was having none of it. “He told us that he would not be back in the area again and we would miss out. We called him later that day to check a detail of the package again and told him we would think about it and contact him if and when we wanted to go ahead.” I rushed down the stairs from a screaming baby and answered the door. I told him the baby was crying and that we had not yet made a decision Despite what he said he was soon back. In fact he arrived at the door the following week, one lunchtime. “I rushed down the stairs from a screaming baby and answered the door. I told him the baby was crying and that we had not yet made a decision. He said he would call again later in the afternoon but that after that he would not be back this way.” Eventually she convinced him she did not want him to call back that day. “He said, ‘Right,’ and stomped off out the gate – charming, friendly salesperson persona well and truly dropped.” A few weeks later Barbara decided that she would go with the Eir package but contact the company directly. “They said that they would have to reconnect the landline to make sure we had a fast-enough line speed to be able to have the TV part of the package. To do this they would send an engineer out to connect the line and test it, and they assured us there would be no charge. They did, however, say that we had to open an account with them for the phone and set up a direct debit in order to allow them to perform the checks, again with no cost due unless we went ahead with the full package. We did this. They connected and tested the line, but our speed was not enough to support the TV part of the package.” Barbara told the agent over the phone that she would cancel the account and asked for confirmation by email, which she got in April. That was when the real farce began. “Emails and texts for monthly bills from them; a payment taken from my account which I was told they could not refund to me and that I would have to go into the bank and apply to have returned; overdue payment reminders; five phone calls from me to various agents asking them to please cancel the account and being assured every time that this had now been done and that all charges had been removed.” She decided to ignore the calls and texts, as Eir was not taking any money from her account for the bills. After asking for all my personal details, which I refused to give, they finally identified themselves as working on behalf of Eir to collect the debt I owed of €14.49 “The straw which broke the camel’s back came last Friday, at 9am, when I got a text from a company I had never heard of asking me to call them urgently. With my father in hospital and very ill, and with a new baby who had been part of a testing programme for various syndromes, I was sure this company must be contacting me with bad news. I searched for the name on the internet. It was a ‘financial solutions’ company with vague, difficult-to-decipher services. I decided I had better call – and after asking for all my personal details, which I refused to give them, they finally identified themselves as working on behalf of Eir to collect the debt that I owed of €14.49.” She says the company did not ask if this was correct, just whether Barbara would be paying by debit or credit card. “I was so angry. I really felt like I was being harassed, and I honestly did not know how I was going to make it stop.” She tried Eir’s webchat, asking for a manager to call her. That was not possible, she was told. She sent a webmail via its contact form, again asking for someone to call her back. Again she was told this was not possible. “At this stage I was ready to scream, so I had to stop or it would have ruined my day.” A few days later, when she felt less stressed, Barbara found a number on her phone for Eir’s sales team. “I got a very nice girl on the line and said to her that I did not want to speak to her but to a manager. She said that was not possible, as she had to try and resolve the problem first. She then assured me, like all the others, that she had removed the charge and closed the account.” Two days later she got a letter from the debt collector telling her that she had better pay or “further measures would have to be taken”. Will I end up in court, trying to defend myself, with my word a lone voice against the much louder one of Eir and its debt collectors? “Will this ever end?” she asks. “Will I end up in court, trying to defend myself, with my word a lone voice against the much louder one of Eir and its debt collectors?” No, is the short answer. We got in touch with the company this week. “We are extremely sorry for the distressing experience that [Barbara] had when dealing with the company,” a spokeswoman said. “A senior member of our customer-care team has spoken with her, to apologise for the poor sales and overall customer-service experience and to assure her that we have taken her feedback on board. We have also provided her with a point of contact in Eir should she have any further issues going forward.”
Hello everyone! This week we’ll be talking about the three major deckbuilding strategies players have when tuning decks, and going in-depth about when and how to use them. I frequently see players decrying one deck or another as “built wrong”, simply because they deck uses a different deckbuilding strategy that what is commonly seen. This doesn’t automatically mean the deck is built correctly, either – simply that different trade offs are being made in terms of strengths and weaknesses. Let’s start with the first two strategies, which are polar opposites: maximizing your strengths and covering your weaknesses. Both options can be applied to the same decks, and can actually be mixed together – some card slots can be dedicated to maximizing your strengths, while other can focus on covering your weaknesses. While most decks do actually use a combination of these, a sliding scale is somewhat overkill and we’ll just be talking about the absolute extremes of these methods for illustration. Finally, these are simply deckbuilding strategies for ladder games – decks with sideboards should be built differently. Maximizing Your Strengths At the extreme, this is a deck that complete focused on doing what its best at. Beyond its core Strategy cards, most or all of its cards are focused on enabling the means. Tech cards are usually not included, or included only to enable the deck to function optimally. When optimized in this way, decks usually have one or more crippling weaknesses – cards or archetypes they simply can’t beat. For the min/maxing deckbuilder, that’s an acceptable tradeoff – when they get a good matchup, it’s usually a VERY good matchup. Clever deckbuilders emphasize this strategy when their bad matchups are unpopular – you may never be able to beat Shimmerpack, but that doesn’t matter if you only face it once out of every twenty games. Strengths Maximized decks are usually very, very good at what they do. Since these decks don’t sacrifice any card slots for tech cards, they generally have an abundance of redundant effects and are very consistent at pulling off their core strategy. If that strategy is powerful and effective in the metagame, these decks can be incredibly difficult to beat if they’re not facing a direct counter. Additionally, they are less likely to run out of gas or get stuck with a weak hand because they don’t run any situational cards that could get stuck in their hand. Weaknesses The main weakness of the deck is the opposite of the strength: if the main gameplan isn’t good, or is countered, you’re dead in the water. A heavily maximized deck rarely if ever has a backup plan, so if you get stonewalled, you’re done. This can be a very frustrating feeling for players, knowing that they have absolutely no outs in a game. Conclusion Maximizing your strengths is a high-risk, high-reward strategy that emphasizes good matchups and totally sacrifices bad ones. Fully maximizing your deck is not recommended unless you have plenty of good matchups in the metagame, and the mental fortitude to handle occasionally running into unwinnable matchups. Covering Your Weaknesses Most decks feature some degree of covering for its weaknesses, be it a tech card to improve a poor matchup, a removal spell to deal with a problem unit, or simply a powerful late game card to bail them out if the game goes long. Taken to an extreme, players can end up with a toolbox style deck with a number of silver bullets to deal with any situation. This doesn’t usually work, because if you’re tutoring for a removal spell, you’re just overpaying for it and the flexibility doesn’t help (especially if you’re tutoring for something unconditional like Harsh Rule or Deathstrike). For this section we’ll be talking about a deck that has a minimal amount of cards dedicated to its core strategy and means, and uses the rest of its card to cover its weaknesses. Strengths The deck is good at dealing with cards that are traditionally problematic for it. A void recursion deck may have some weaknesses to cards like Steward of the Past and Statuary Maiden, but throw enough Suffocates, Treacheries and Steward of Prophecy at them and they’re much less of an issue. An aggressive deck may have trouble with Harsh Rules – enough Sabotages and Backlashes or Stand Togethers cover that angle. Have trouble grinding out obelisk decks? Furnace Mages galore! This kind of deck is always ready for its traditional counters/weaknesses, so opponents will need to be one step ahead to beat it! Weaknesses The core strategy of the deck suffers because so many cards are being dedicated to covering your weaknesses. When you’re running fewer enabler cards, you’re less likely to draw them in the correct sequence to actually get the ball rolling with your deck. You’re also in danger of drawing the wrong tech card at the wrong time – those Sabotages won’t do anything against units or an empty hand. Finally, this style of deck can overload on reactive answers, which is very weak against an opponent who doesn’t really care what you’re doing – if they have no real need to kill your units, holding 4xProtect doesn’t really get you anywhere. Conclusion Most decks should have some element of covering their weaknesses, to ensure that they have some game against their traditional counters. However, going super deep on this strategy can sometimes weaken a deck’s core gameplan to the point where it’s no longer a powerful strategy. This strategy is effective in two primary situations. Firstly, when everyone is leaning on a single card or card package that is difficult for you to beat, so including plenty of counters to that popular card will improve all your matchups. Secondly, when you’re trying to play a deck in a metagame that’s completely hostile to that deck. In theory (and often practice) you just shouldn’t play the countered deck, but occasionally completely rebuilding the deck to turn its traditional weaknesses into strengths can work out in your favor (Unearthly tried to do this at the Season Three Invitational, with his anti-Combrei Rakano). Going All In Sometimes, there is a deck that doesn’t let you make many deckbuilding choices because all or almost all of the cards are dedicated to the core strategy and means. Example decks include old Jito decks or the Rakito list – both require a huge number of one drops and supporting cards to function, so there’s not a lot of room to maneuver. When you entire deck is focused on executing a gameplan, and that’s all that it’s doing, you will win or lose based on whether that gameplan works. This is less a deckbuilding choice and more a nature of the deck – Rakito could never beat Lightning Storm but there simply wasn’t any way to build the deck to avoid that and keep the gameplan together. This shares most of the strengths and weaknesses of Maximizing Your Strengths, but with one key difference. When you’re Maximizing Your Strengths, you’re choosing to spend your free card slots on cards that emphasize and enable your core strategy. When you’re Going All In, you don’t have a choice – you don’t have any cards slots free since your gameplan requires your entire deck. Closing Thoughts All three of the gameplans can be effective strategies, depending on the deck they are applied to and the metagame. As with everything in card games, things are contextual and what works for one player may not work for another. The optimal strategy for deckbuilding is striking a balance between maximizing your strengths and minimizing your weaknesses, which leads to the most powerful decks. However, it is important to be aware that there are times when focusing heavily on one or the other can be an effective strategy. Additionally, it is important to be able to identify when a deck has focused heavily on one or the other, in order to allow you to adapt it for other metagames. Share this: Twitter Facebook
With a referendum hill to climb, some SNP members are talking about a new sort of independence, but what does that really mean? AT THE Scottish Parliament on Wednesday last week, the white roses were everywhere. The party's 69 new MSPs had all arrived with the flowers in their buttonholes. Dotted here and there were Labour members, who had come bedecked with red roses to mark the swearing-in ceremony which each new parliamentarian must perform. But never before had Scotland's Nationalist party so visibly displayed its dominance of Scotland's political landscape. The Nationalists know the dangers of hubris now that they are the first party ever to govern with a parliamentary majority. Pressing flesh with his new colleagues, one minister noted: "We've said that we should continue governing as if we're a minority party. Our view is that it would be much better to win votes with 80, 90 votes." For the Nationalists know that, despite their stunning victory two weeks ago, they cannot simply sit back and lord it over their opponents for the next five years. The victory is merely the start of what is likely to be a three-year campaign to persuade all the MSPs around them, and the public at large, to back the plan for independence. This week the scenes of celebration will continue when Alex Salmond's election as First Minister is formally confirmed. He will then hand out ministerial jobs to the lucky few among the massed ranks of MSPs behind him. And while the day-to-day grind of office will recommence as soon as he does so, with the small matter of an unaffordable public sector to handle, the majority the party won has now ensured that the referendum on independence, likely to take place some time in 2014, has come front and centre. Salmond's team is keen to point out they are focusing on the present, and in particular on winning further powers through the UK government's Scotland Bill proposals. But, as one senior SNP thinker notes, the Scotland Bill is now yesterday's news. It is the referendum which is where the real business is. Independence is "inevitable", Salmond said last week. And the campaign has begun with what may at first seem a strange question but which has now assumed increasing importance. What exactly does independence mean these days? What form of independence does the SNP hope to persuade us to accept? The question came to the fore last week after Professor James Mitchell of Strathclyde University released conclusions from a major new book, due out soon, based on exhaustive interviews with 70 senior Nationalists, and questionnaires with a total of 7,000 SNP activists - making it by far the biggest survey of Scottish Nationalist opinion.Professor Mitchell, who is close to most of the key figures in the party, concluded that what these SNP figures consider to be independence may be somewhat different from the popular view. Yes, a vote for independence would bring about a new sovereign state of Scotland, separate to what remains of the UK (known for now as rUK, or rest of the UK). But, Prof Mitchell's study notes, the SNP figures believe that this new state would remain tightly bound to the rUK. In this "confederal" system, Scotland could for example choose to buy into a UK-wide armed forces, a UK-wide monetary system and a UK-wide foreign service. According to this analysis, all claims by opponents of millions being blown on new Scottish embassies and Salmond's face being minted on a new Scottish pound are way off the mark. "I would describe what they are thinking about as being much more of a confederal arrangement within these islands rather than the traditional concept of independence," said Prof Mitchell. Prof Mitchell's book noting the SNP's support for a confederal approach was described as revealing a "rethink" in SNP philosophy last week. But, more accurately, it can be better described as the evolution of Nationalist thinking going back 40 years which, over that time span, has moved gradually from heresy to orthodoxy. Two SNP intellectuals - the late Neil MacCormick and former presiding officer George Reid - have carried the mantle for this mode of thinking. Both came to the view early in their careers that Scotland was never going to follow an Irish-style route to independence. Instead, they championed the gradualist route of first supporting a devolved parliament and then supporting Scottish independence within Europe. With the hoary gradualist vs fundamentalist feud raging, this was deeply controversial at the time. In the mid-1970s, Reid, then an SNP MP, is said to have been castigated by his fellow Nationalist MP Donald Stewart simply for attending a Westminster meeting on the European cause. Meanwhile, in a recent interview, Salmond noted that, back in the day, the SNP would have tortuous debates on whether, if devolution was to be delivered, the party should put up MSPs. The big change in this fundamentalist view on independence came at the party's 1988 conference, says Mitchell, when the SNP agreed on a policy of independence within Europe. Others attribute the change to 1999 when the SNP's backing for the Scottish Parliament and the advent of devolution saw the party playing a key role in the new system. So the party's understanding of independence changed: to a separate nation linked into other power networks both within the British Isles and on the European continent. As for the idea that a "confederal" arrangement is new, the history books show otherwise. In 1996, Reid used the party's annual Donaldson lecture to declare that, in a post-imperial age, the identities of England and Scotland should return to "separate, national roots".He said: "That is not to deny several hundred years of common history. There is absolutely no reason why Scots, English, Irish and Welsh should not - as with the Danes, Finns, Norwegians and Swedes in the Nordic Union - continue their specific relationship in some form of Anglo-Celtic confederation." Two years ago, Angus Robertson, the party's defence spokesman, noted how this relationship might operate in practice, declaring how an independent Scotland could continue to share Scottish bases with rUK. "On the basis of mutual interest, it is perfectly possible to envisage circumstances in which we share basing, procurement and training facilities with the rest of the present UK - our foremost friend and ally under all constitutional arrangements - in exactly the same way as defence co-operation exists across Scandinavia." Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill also noted recently how an independent Scotland might continue to use services such as the DVLA, based in Swansea. The SNP's point is that not everything in an independent Scotland has to have the word "Scottish" emblazoned all over it. Salmond's aides say there is no question that, despite all these links, they are still 100 per cent committed to independence and a new sovereign nation set apart from the rUK. But, they go on to note, those links mean that what they are not proposing is "separatism". Voters may be somewhat confused by all these fine distinctions, mostly engineered by Nationalist strategists to avoid negative linguistic connotations. There is a fear, say other Nationalists, about getting out and trying to explain their position for fear of misrepresentation and focusing attention on something which continues to be opposed by the majority of Scots. "Part of the problem," says one SNP figure, "is that the SNP doesn't have the words yet to say what they mean." A "confederation" is too clunky. Another term, "sovereigntist-association", associated with Quebec nationalism, is even worse. Is it "indy-lite"? How about "opt in-dependence"? Or what about "easy independence", where Scotland buys itself a no-frills independence model and then decides whether to pay extra for troops, diplomats and Mervyn King? With the SNP's plans now likely to come under proper scrutiny, there will inevitably be questions over whether the model stands up in practice. First, constitutional experts doubt whether such a confederal deal would really constitute independence. Professor Robert Hazell, director of UCL's Constitution Unit, notes: "My main comment is on the potential fuzziness. Defence, macro-economic policy and foreign affairs are key features of statehood. Does the SNP want Scotland to be independent or not?" Second, such a confederation implies a deal: England, Wales and Northern Ireland would have to agree to share. Defenders of the Union are already noting that, post-independence, the key leverage which Scotland has over London - the threat of secession - would no longer apply. Wouldn't England just tell Scotland to go swing? Might the English simply tell the Scots, for example, that they were taking their troops and going home? Mitchell insists this wouldn't happen and that the two newly separated nations would seek to co-operate. "I don't know a state in the world that wouldn't want to do that, especially with Scotland being so strategic. On military bases, when you have already got an infrastructure, the costs of relocating are so significant." SNP sources acknowledge, however, that those rUK bases which did remain would not be allowed to be the base for aggressive action if the new Scottish Government opposed it (like over Iraq). Scotland Office minister David Mundell claims: "It is an attempt to have your cake and eat it. I have never subscribed to the view that Scotland couldn't be independent because of economic issues. It could be independent. But you can't then have a pick and mix approach to what you keep and what you discard. The point is that the SNP can't deliver any of these things because they will have to be negotiated by all parts of the United Kingdom." The pressure is now on from opponents and his own side for Salmond to explain matters clearly. SNP figures talk of a "new fundamentalism", whereby the government places more focus on how the powers of independence would transform the country, and less on simply proving the party's competence. Might Salmond's 69 grow impatient on the backbenches if progress is not seen to be made? All the signs, however, are that the First Minister's team will take their time and stick to the plan. A referendum in 2014; perhaps a multi-option choice, with quasi-federalism on the ballot paper alongside independence, giving Salmond two chances to make transformational change. And then, with Labour going nowhere, a third term after that to seal the deal. Prof Mitchell adds: "My take on this is that we are moving towards an ever looser Union. It is quite vague but it gives a sense of direction. There will always be a Union in some shape or form. Quite what shape or form it takes, though, is very different."
MINNEAPOLIS -- As the Minnesota Vikings combed through their quarterback options in a painstaking search before the 2014 draft, they visited Fresno State senior Derek Carr at his pro day and spent some time with the quarterback afterward. "I thought he was a great kid," Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. "I actually talked to his brother some, too. I thought he was a great kid; smart, competitor, very confident, good quick release, good arm strength." The Vikings, though, liked Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater more, and they traded back into the first round to draft him 32nd overall. Carr, meanwhile, went to the Oakland Raiders four picks later. The two quarterbacks have arguably been the most successful in the Class of 2014, while Johnny Manziel has floundered and Blake Bortles has behind a leaky offensive line as a rookie. They got to know each other during the draft process and keep in touch through occasional text messages. Now they'll meet for the first time as professionals Sunday in Oakland, as both try to help their surprising teams' playoff chances. Before they do, we thought it'd be a good time to compare their careers to this point. Completion percentage: Bridgewater 64.4 percent, Carr 59.9 percent Bridgewater finished last season with the third-highest completion percentage by a rookie in NFL history (64.4 percent), and he has connected on 64.2 percent of his passes this season. Carr is throwing the ball an average of six times a game more than Bridgewater, and he is throwing downfield a little more often (he attempts 12.2 passes per game of 10 yards or more, compared to 9.6 for Bridgewater). He's also nearly caught up to Bridgewater this season, completing 63.7 percent of his passes while averaging half a yard more per attempt. But over the course of their first season and a half, Bridgewater has the overall edge in this category. A strong offensive line has allowed Derek Carr the chance to blossom in his second season with the Raiders. Harry How/Getty Images Touchdown-to-interception ratio: Carr 2.5:1; Bridgewater 1.11; 1 Here's where Carr's numbers really outshine Bridgewater's. He's been especially impressive this season, tossing 19 touchdowns against just four interceptions, while Bridgewater has thrown six TDs and six interceptions. Coach Mike Zimmer had an interesting observation on Bridgewater on Wednesday, essentially saying he wants the quarterback to carry his mentality during late-game situations -- Bridgewater already has five fourth-quarter comebacks -- throughout the entire game. "Sometimes he’s cautious with the ball because he doesn’t want to give the other team a chance," Zimmer said. "I think he sees us playing fairly good defense at times, but I do have [a] belief, like when we get behind in games he doesn’t play that way. He kind of lets it loose and just plays football. I want him to be more like that throughout the course of the ballgame." It's the second week in a row that Zimmer has hinted Bridgewater needs to be better at capitalizing on big plays when they're there, and it's the main reason Carr's stats look better than Bridgewater's this season. Bridgewater could have his opportunities Sunday against the Raiders' 32nd-ranked pass defense. Pressure rate: Bridgewater 30.2 percent of dropbacks; Carr 22.7. If you're looking to make a case for why Carr has been the more prolific passer this season, this would be the place to start: According to ESPN Stats and Information, he's been pressured on fewer dropbacks than any quarterback in the NFL this season. Bridgewater, on the other hand, is 26th. Part of that could be on the quarterback -- Bridgewater is holding the ball longer than any quarterback in the league, while Carr is unloading it quicker than all but five. Carr has often been praised for his quick release, but the Raiders are doing a solid job of giving him quick places to throw the ball while protecting him well enough that he can make plays. When Bridgewater has spent as much time running for his life, it's tough to expect him to make plays consistently. Win-loss record: Bridgewater 12-8; Carr 7-17 We should start here by pointing out that Bridgewater has had the same coach for his first two seasons in the NFL, while Carr was playing for a team that played poorly enough to merit a coaching change before his second season. But one of the things that attracted the Vikings to Bridgewater, in the end, was the fact he'd won just about everywhere he'd ever played. And even though Carr has the shinier numbers this season, Bridgewater's team has the better record. The Vikings owe plenty of that to a stout defense, but they've also praised Bridgewater's ability to run the offense at the line of scrimmage and keep their offense out of negative plays. With a win in Oakland on Sunday, the Vikings would be 7-2 and could put themselves on the short list of NFC playoff contenders. It's tough to find a stat that's more important than that.
From the first Morning Jolt of the week: Texans Need Help. Let’s Show Them They Can Count on Us. If you know someone in Texas, the chances are good you know someone who’s facing some hard times from Hurricane Harvey. I’m doing my best to not text, direct message and ping them on Facebook every hour on the hour. Everyone in that region, know that everybody outside of your neck of the woods is praying, thinking of you, and looking for ways to help. National Voluntary Organizations in Active Disasters, an association of organizations that mitigate and alleviate the impact of disasters, is asking for volunteers and donations. Through their site you can find every charity of every stripe: The Red Cross, Billy Graham Rapid Response Team, Catholic Charities, the Salvation Army, the United way, etcetera. A friend of mine is helping coordinate donations for the Texas Diaper Bank. A lot of disaster relief organizations think of and prep for everything except a lack of diapers, so the San Antonio-based Texas Diaper Bank focuses on this basic necessity for families with young children. They’re restarting their operations of collecting and distributing diapers at 8 a.m. Monday morning local time. For the Red Cross, you can donate here, or pick up your phone, text REDCROSS to 90999. You’ll instantly send $10 to the organization, with the fee on your next cell phone bill. FEMA expects that more than 30,000 people will need temporary shelters when the rain ends and 450,000 people will register as disaster victims. Houston’s airport received a little more than sixteen inches of rain yesterday. The previous daily record was a bit more than eight inches. Don’t Let Anyone Tell You the Decision to Evacuate Houston Is An Easy Call. It’s a little early for finger-pointing in the preparations for Hurricane Harvey; most cities and municipalities are prepared for a big storm but not necessarily a once-in-a-century or once-in-a-millennium flooding. One commentator on the morning shows half-jokingly said that if they had to build Houston all over again, they might have picked a different spot than a broad, flat plane next to a gulf coast that experiences hurricanes. On Friday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott more or less strongly urged those in the Houston area to get out: “Even if an evacuation order hasn’t been issued by your local official, if you’re in an area between Corpus Christi and Houston, you need to strongly consider evacuating,” Abbott said. “What you don’t know, and what nobody else knows right now, is the magnitude of flooding that will be coming. You don’t want to put yourself in a situation where you could be subject to a search and rescue.”
Two former Blackwater contractors have been convicted of involuntary manslaughter for the shooting death of an Afghan civilian two years ago. But in what the Associated Press calls an apparent compromise verdict, the federal jury in Norfolk, Va., acquitted the defendants, Christopher Drotleff of Virginia Beach and Justine Cannon of Corpus Christi, Texas, of murder, assault and weapons charges. They were found guilty of one count each of involuntary manslaughter for the killing a passenger in a car they fired on at a Kabul intersection the night of May 5, 2009. But the jurors exonerated them of murder or manslaughter for shooting to death a pedestrian who was walking a dog nearby, and also cleared them of assault for wounding the car's driver. Cannon's lawyer called that "puzzling." Prosecutors argued the men shot at the vehicle out of anger and frustration, while the defense said they shot in self-defense. Neither man testified. Blackwater Worldwide, which changed its name to Xe Services, is a private contractor that has provided security to the U.S. military and State Department. It's headquarters is in Moyock, N.C.
Dynamic type languages such as Perl, Ruby, PHP, and Python free you as the developer from managing memory in your application. However, it isn’t a fool proof solution that you won’t have memory leaks in your application. You as the developer should be aware of how the underlying garbage collector of your preferred language works to accommodate for the inadequacies of its garbage collection algorithm. Currently there are two ways of doing garbage collection; mark and sweep and reference counting. The Perl interpreter uses the latter. Reference counting is a fairly simple garbage collection technique. Each time you declare an instance, the reference count increments by one. When your program reaches the end of scope, objects with a reference of one get collected. However, if your object has a reference count of two it is kept. The one main draw back of reference counting is the fact it can’t deal with circular references. This is when both objects point to each other and they never get garbage collected. On the other hand, Ruby and Java use the mark and sweep garbage collector. I personally have mixed feelings about it, since I don’t know exactly when my objects will be collected. The way mark and sweep garbage collection works, is it does not collect anything for a period of time. At intervals when the heap gets full, it runs its garbage collection. The downside to this is you don’t know exactly know when this happens and if there are lots of objects to be collected this leads to “stutters” and unresponsiveness of the application. If you have ever used a Java swing application you might have noticed these stutters, this is when garbage collection is taking place. However, it’s not as gloomy as I set the pretense to be with the mark and sweep garbage collection. Mark and sweep garbage collection can handle cyclic references unlike with reference counting, which is a huge boon to its usefulness. There has been much work done on mark and sweep garbage collection, specifically with generational mark and sweep collectors that try to fix the unresponsiveness issue. Java currently uses a generation GC, and Ruby hopes to obtain a generational GC for the Ruby 2.0 interpreter. Ideally a generational garbage collector would be the preferred GC for a long-standing process. With that little garbage collection background out of the way, lets look at the life cycle of a instance in reference counting garbage collector. Here is an example of how reference counting works ideally: foreach (1..5) { my $i = 5; $i + 5; print $i . ‘n'; } # $i should be garbage collected when it goes out of scope. Unlike mark and sweep garbage collection with reference counting, you know exactly when your instance gets collected. Here is a very simple problematic case for reference counting: foreach (1..5) { my $a; my $b; $a->{b} = $b; $b->{a} = $a; } # since both are pointing to each other they will never get collected. This is a fairly simple case of where reference counting falls right on its face. Usually this isn’t a problem since most Perl scripting revolves around short-lived scripts. However, with frameworks such as Catalyst that are long running perl scripts this becomes an issue quickly. Thankfully, with Perl it is extremely easily to nail memory leaks, more so than with Ruby or Java. Enter Devel::Cycle and Devel::Peek, both of these modules can be installed from cpan. Both Devel::Cycle and Devel::Peek can assist you in tracking down the memory leak in a relatively short time. use Devel::Cycle; use Devel::Peek; foreach (1) { my $parent = {name => 'victor' }; my $child = {name => 'victor jr' }; $parent->{child} = $child; $child->{parent} = $parent; find_cycle($parent); # find_cycle belongs to Devel::Cycle # which prints out the # circular reference to STDOUT Dump($parent); # Dump belongs to Devel::Peek , its extra verbose # which prints out the reference count to STDOUT } # Sample output # ibook:~/Desktop victori$ perl blah.pl # Cycle (1): {'child'} => %B # $B->{'parent'} => %A # # SV = RV(0x1817898) at 0x1800ec8 # REFCNT = 1 # FLAGS = (PADBUSY,PADMY,ROK) # RV = 0x18006dc # SV = PVHV(0x1830980) at 0x18006dc # REFCNT = 2 So how do we fix this? Quite simple, all we do is weaken the reference count using weaken(). Here is a proper way of patching up the memory leak we introduced in our program. use Devel::Cycle; use Devel::Peek; use Scalar::Util qw/weaken/; foreach (1) { my $parent = {name => 'victor' }; my $child = {name => 'victor jr' }; weaken($parent->{child} = $child); # we weaken the reference at the parent and all is well. $child->{parent} = $parent; find_cycle($parent); # find_cycle belongs to Devel::Cycle which prints out the # circular reference to STDOUT Dump($parent); # Dump belongs to Devel::Peek , its extra verbose # which prints out the reference count to STDOUT } We weaken the reference at the parent level to set it back to a reference count of 1, so when it reaches the end of scope it will be collected and the memory leak will be no more. Hopefully this is a good primer for other Perl coders out there who are facing memory leaks in their running long running perl scripts.
Marcus Deon Vick (born March 20, 1984)[1] is a former American football player who briefly appeared in one game for the Miami Dolphins in 2006. He is the younger brother of former NFL quarterback Michael Vick. Both Marcus and Michael played high school football in Newport News Public Schools. Vick accepted a football scholarship to Virginia Tech, playing quarterback, however he was suspended for the entire 2004 season due to numerous criminal convictions.[2][3] Vick then declared himself eligible for the NFL spring draft in 2006, but went undrafted.[4] He was later signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent but was released on May 1, 2007. Vick's legal troubles continued after leaving Virginia Tech, and include a charge of brandishing a firearm against a group of people, a civil lawsuit involving a juvenile girl[5] who claimed that she was 15 years old (below the legal age of consent in Virginia) when forced into a sexual situation with Vick, who was 20 years old,[4][6][7] and additional traffic incidents and arrests in January 2007, February 2008, and June 2008 in the Hampton Roads area. After the June incident in Norfolk, he was convicted of DUI, misdemeanor eluding police, and driving on the wrong side of the road, and on October 20, 2008, received a 12-month suspended jail sentence and $530 in fines, and his privilege to operate motor vehicles in Virginia was suspended for a year.[8] In November 2012, after the Eagles loss to the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football, Vick made controversial tweets criticizing the Eagles offensive line for troubling Vick's brother Michael, and requesting for him to be traded. The tweets have since been deleted.[9] He was arrested in Georgia on December 30, 2013 on charges of driving under the influence of drugs, driving without a license and driving with an expired registration, according to a Forsyth County, Georgia Sheriff’s report.[10] On October 8, 2016, he was arrested for felony drug possession. Early years [ edit ] Marcus Deon Vick was born to Brenda Vick and Michael Boddie on March 20, 1984, in Newport News, Virginia. His parents married approximately two years later, by which time they had four children, Christina (Marcus' older sister), Michael (Marcus' older brother), Courtney, and Marcus. Although their parents had wed, the children decided to continue using their mother's surname. Vick grew up in Ridley Circle, a public housing project in the crime-ridden East End neighborhood of Newport News. During his younger years, his father traveled for work a lot[citation needed] and his mother worked relatively low wage service jobs, including driving a school bus and working at K-Mart.[citation needed] Vick attended Warwick High School. At Warwick, he was coached by Tommy Reamon, a former collegiate and professional football player who had been instrumental in the development of future NFL quarterbacks Aaron Brooks (his older cousin) and Marcus' brother, Michael. College career [ edit ] Recruitment to Virginia Tech [ edit ] Heading into his senior year of high school, Marcus Vick was one of the country's top quarterback prospects.[11] Although his brother had taken Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia within one game of a national championship and despite Michael's close relationship with Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, Marcus did not seem sold on attending Tech.[citation needed] North Carolina State, Virginia, Tennessee, and Miami all had scholarship offers on the table. Marcus was seriously considering NC State and Virginia Tech.[citation needed] By September, it was clear that Marcus was considering several schools, mostly because of concerns about the Hokies' scheme and its ability to prepare him for the NFL.[citation needed] While Vick arrived at Tech with great fanfare,[citation needed] he did not play as a true freshman. Beamer redshirted him, and he was a member of the dress squad for every game. During his freshman year, he ran a forty during spring max testing. Vick threw five touchdown (TD) passes during spring scrimmages and added another in the Maroon-White game. He was 6-for-7 passing for 95 yards and one touchdown during one scrimmage, and turned in a 57-yard run in another scrimmage. He hit 10-of-15 passes for 92 yards and a touchdown in the Maroon-White game. For performances such as these, he was awarded the Paul Torgersen Award for the top offensive newcomer. In 2003, Vick played in seven games, splitting time with Bryan Randall. The highlight of Vick's season came during a 31–7 upset win over #2 Miami. Despite completing only one pass, Vick's exceptional running ability and the outstanding play of Tech's defense contributed to one of the biggest wins in the history of Virginia Tech football. In Virginia Tech's loss in the Insight Bowl to the California Golden Bears, Vick racked up 82 receiving yards, including one touchdown reception.[1] 2004 [ edit ] Prior to the 2004 collegiate season, Vick had several run-ins with the law which resulted in misdemeanor convictions. According to an article in the Washington Post, the convictions triggered a review by Virginia Tech Athletic Director Jim Weaver under the school's Comprehensive Action Plan, which was put in place in 1997 after 22 arrests involving 19 football players during a 15-month period.[12] Following an incident which occurred on January 27, 2004, he was arrested and accused of having sexual relations with a 15-year-old girl. The age of consent in Virginia is 18. With the others, he was also charged with unlawfully providing alcohol to three underage girls who "claimed" to be college students. An eight-hour-long trial was held in Montgomery County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. According to a report in the Washington Post, "one of the girls wept as she recounted how she and two friends met the players at a Tech women's basketball game Jan. 27 and, after sneaking out of a house during a slumber party, went in Vick's sport utility vehicle to the apartment Vick and Hill share." The newspaper also reported "another girl testified that she told the players she was 18, three years older than her actual age." [12] Although Vick had confessed to police that he had consensual sex with one of the girls that night,[13] during the hearing, the girl refused to answer questions from defense lawyers, invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Juvenile and Domestic Judge Robert C. Viar Jr. dismissed the sex charge against Vick. However, he was convicted of all three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, sentenced to 30 days in jail and fined $2,150. On the same day, two of Vick's teammates also were convicted of three counts each of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Hokies tailback Mike Imoh, 19, was sentenced to 10 days in jail and fined $750. Wide receiver Brenden Hill, 19, was sentenced to 20 days in jail and fined $1,500.[14] Vick appealed the lower court decision to Montgomery County Circuit Court. However, on September 13, he entered into a plea agreement which was accepted by the circuit court. The terms were a "no contest" plea to a single misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a suspended 30-day jail sentence, a fine of $100, and he was ordered to perform 24 hours of community service. Montgomery County Circuit Judge Robert Turk also prohibited Vick from contacting the teenage girls who were at the party. (After planning to appeal, Hill also settled on a similar plea agreement that erased two of the three misdemeanor counts. He pleaded "no contest" to the same charge and received the same penalty as Vick).[15] In the summer of 2004, Vick was charged with reckless driving and possession of marijuana in New Kent County, Virginia. As part of a plea agreement in that case, Vick was placed in a drug offender program that required him to perform 24 hours of community service, undergo drug counseling and random drug tests, and give up his Virginia driver's license for six months.[15] As a result of the incidents, Virginia Tech suspended him from school for the fall semester of 2004. School officials also said that he would lose that year of eligibility.[16][17] Marcus Vick was reinstated to the school and the football team under specific guidelines that warranted immediate dismissal from the team for further transgressions. 2005 [ edit ] Vick (far right) passes against Duke in 2005 Beamer initially announced that Vick would enter the 2005 season as the team's third-string quarterback, but he quickly won the starting role after impressive spring practices and scrimmages. 2005 was Vick's most successful season, which saw the Hokies contending for a national championship and culminating in an 11–2 record, an ACC Coastal Division title, an appearance in the inaugural ACC Championship Game, and a win in the 2006 Gator Bowl. The 2005 season, however, saw more controversy surrounding Vick. On October 1, 2005, Vick angered fans in Morgantown, West Virginia with a display of his middle finger to the crowd during the game at West Virginia University. Vick later apologized. During the 2006 Gator Bowl on January 2, Vick stomped on the leg of University of Louisville defensive end Elvis Dumervil. Dumervil was in a defenseless position trying to get back up after a play. Vick claimed the incident was accidental and asserted he apologized to Dumervil after the game; Dumervil said that no apology was made.[18] Virginia Tech Athletic Director Jim Weaver issued a statement from the university on the incident: “ The unsportsmanlike conduct of quarterback Marcus Vick in yesterday's Gator Bowl game against Louisville is unacceptable behavior and contrary to the Hokies Respect Campaign. Such on-field action is not reflective of Virginia Tech football nor of the values we hold at Virginia Tech. I and my colleagues in central administration are embarrassed and this athletic administration will not condone such acts of unsportsmanlike conduct. We will review and assess this incident further and deal with it accordingly. ” The referee working the game apologized for missing Vick's stomp, saying he would have thrown Vick out of the game if he had seen it.[19] Vick lost his privilege to drive a motor vehicle in Virginia as the result of traffic convictions, including reckless driving. On December 17, 2005, he was charged in Hampton, Virginia with speeding, and for the second time, with the more serious misdemeanor charge of driving on a suspended or revoked license.[16] These offenses brought the total of his traffic arrests to nine in Virginia while he was enrolled at Virginia Tech.[2] Dismissal from Virginia Tech [ edit ] In 24 career games at Virginia Tech, Vick threw for 2,868 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions while also running 184 times for 492 yards and six touchdowns. However, during the same period, he was charged with nine traffic offenses, as well as convictions for possession of marijuana and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.[20] On January 6, 2006, Virginia Tech announced his permanent dismissal from its football program "due to a cumulative effect of legal infractions and unsportsmanlike play".[21] In response to being thrown off the team, Vick has been quoted as saying, "It's not a big deal. I'll just move on to the next level, baby."[22] Passing Rushing YEAR CMP ATT CMP% YDS TD INT ATT YDS AVG TD 2002 Redshirt 2003 30 57 52.6 475 2 5 37 102 2.8 0 2004 — — — — — — — — — — 2005 177 289 61.3 2,393 17 10 147 380 2.6 6 Totals 207 346 59.8 2,868 19 15 184 482 2.6 6 Professional career [ edit ] Vick declared his eligibility for the NFL draft on January 7, 2006. After the 2006 NFL Draft, he told ESPN's Michael Smith that he considered himself a better quarterback than Matt Leinart and Jay Cutler.[23] Pre-draft measureables Wt 40y 20ss 3-cone Vert BP Wonderlic 200 lb* 4.47s* 2.26s* 6.95s* 36"* NA* 11* [24] (* represents NFL Combine) Despite pre-draft speculation that Vick could go as high as the third round, he went undrafted, becoming an unrestricted free agent who could sign a contract with any team. Many of the NFL's scouts questioned his attitude and his ability to avoid future troubles on and off the field. Vick attended a Miami Dolphins rookie free agent minicamp after the draft[25] and was subsequently signed by the Dolphins to a free agent contract for league minimum pay as a "wide receiver/quarterback/return specialist".[26] The Dolphins released him on September 2, 2006 to reach the regular season roster limit but re-signed Vick two days later, assigning him to the practice squad. On October 17, 2006 the Dolphins signed him as a wide receiver/kick returner/quarterback. He was moved from the practice squad to the active roster for the team's Week 7 game versus the Green Bay Packers. He was listed as the No. 3 "emergency" quarterback on the depth chart. His first action in the NFL was a regular season game against the New York Jets on December 25, 2006. He played the wide receiver position for the 4th quarter but had no recorded receptions. After the season, his contract expired and the Dolphins opted not to re-sign him. Legal troubles after Virginia Tech [ edit ] On January 9, 2006, Vick was charged with three counts of brandishing a firearm, a Class One misdemeanor,[27][28] in Suffolk, Virginia. A police report alleged that he pointed a gun at a 17-year-old in the parking lot of a McDonald's in Suffolk after Vick's girlfriend had an argument with three people.[29] Vick claimed that the gun in question was a BlackBerry cell phone and that his accusers were trying to blackmail him.[30] On December 14, 2006, a 17-year-old girl from Montgomery County, Virginia, filed a civil lawsuit against Vick accusing him of molestation of a minor, fraud, and additional charges. In the lawsuit, seeking $6.3 million,[5] the girl claimed that when she was 15 (below the legal age of consent in Virginia), she was forced into a sexual situation with Vick, who was 20 years old, over a nearly two-year-long period. She also alleged that Vick offered to provide her alcohol and marijuana and forced her to have sex with other men.[6] On September 15, 2008, the parties agreed to a settlement in the lawsuit.[7] On June 13, 2008, a bicycle officer in Norfolk approached a couple arguing in a car. When asked for identification, Vick allegedly took off, driving the car at high speed. When another officer spotted the car and stopped it, Vick failed a sobriety test. He was charged with DUI, misdemeanor eluding police, driving on the wrong side of a street, reckless driving, driving on a suspended license, and was taken into custody.[31] Vick was living at the time in his brother Michael's riverfront mansion in Suffolk and Michael's condominium in the South Beach section of Miami Beach.[32] He was released on bond later Friday morning.[33][34][35] On October 20, Vick pleaded guilty to DUI. He was sentenced to 12 months in jail, which the judge suspended, a fine of $250, and his Virginia driving license was suspended for a year. He was also convicted of eluding a police officer and driving on the wrong side of the road, and fined $280 on those charges.[8] In August 2009, a judge ordered him to jail for probation violations including failure to complete an alcohol education program, testing positive for marijuana, missed appointments, and failure to pay court costs and fines. Vick was freed on a $25,000 bond and appealed the decision.[36] In January 2013, a judge sentenced Vick to five days in jail for failing to produce adequate documentation about his financial status by a court-ordered deadline. On December 30, Vick was arrested in Forsyth County for a second DUI, driving without a license, and driving with an expired car registration.[37] On April 5, 2016, Vick was charged with assaulting a police officer who was arresting him on a contempt charge in Virginia.[38] On July 11, Vick pleaded guilty in Newport News, Virginia to the resisting arrest charge and was ordered to serve one month in jail.[39] On October 8, 2016, Vick was again arrested on drug possession charges. An officer reportedly detected an odor of marijuana coming from an apartment as they approached it. This odor became stronger after the door was opened by a man inside, who was later identified as Vick.[40] In September 2017, Vick accepted a plea deal and received one year of supervised probation and five years of good behavior.[41] On March 20, 2017, Vick was arrested in Norfolk, VA. In July 2017, Vick pled guilty to a felony drug possession count in connection with this arrest and was sentenced to two years in jail with the full sentence suspended. Vick was also sentenced to three years of supervised probation.[42]
Why Dysfunctional Families Stay That Way by Marie Hartwell-Walker, Ed.D. I�ve been asked time and again why dysfunctional families stay that way. You�d think with all the talk shows, magazine and newspaper articles, and even what is now presented on prime time TV sitcoms, that people would know what normal is and would want to bring up their children normally. How is it that alcoholism, abuse and neglect can continue in the information age? There are, of course, all manner of factors that keep dysfunction going: social, political, economic, etc. As a psychologist, what I know best is the piece that lies within the family. Bear with me while I use a story to take the long way around to explain why dysfunctional families find it so hard to give it up. Do you remember the story of "The Emperor�s New Clothes"? The emperor was persuaded by a couple of con-men tailors that they made magical clothes so fine and beautiful that only a truly honest man could see them. When they presented him with his new robes, the emperor saw nothing but, not wanting to be seen as a dishonest man, he commended them on their wonderful workmanship, paid them handsomely and made the motions of putting the clothes on. The king�s courtiers, who were dishonest men, understood that they would not see anything, but not wanting to be found out, made the requisite fuss about the robes. Honest men, fearing the king and wanting to keep their positions, pretended that they could see magnificent colors and wonderful designs. So it was that the king paraded in his underwear throughout the town, his courtiers following behind him. The populace, like the courtiers, also shouted complements to the king. This foolishness would have continued indefinitely had it not been for a small boy in the crowd who, not yet sufficiently worried about what other people might think of him, called out, "But the emperor has no clothes." His shout broke the spell and everyone saw how it really was. The people laughed, the king and his courtiers were embarrassed, and we are all supposed to be impressed with a moral about the importance of telling it how it is. What the story doesn�t tell you is that, in real life, no one likes that kid and that no one wants to pay attention to his message. You see, the king can�t be embarrassed like that and still be a powerful king. The dishonest courtiers will need to reconstruct the charade to continue their mischief. The good people will still participate in the folly because they don�t want to embarrass anyone or because they lack the courage or resources to get another job or perhaps because they don�t want to show themselves as having made foolish choices. The child�s perception, though accurate, will be overwhelmed by the agendas of all the adults. Usually, the situation will be reconstructed and the folly will go on. To survive, the child will either have to find a way to become part of it or he will have to leave�and that isn�t an easy thing for any child to do. Where can he go? Will there ever be a place for him at home if he continues to hold onto an idea that upsets and embarrasses all the adults around him? Because they don�t know what normal is, a dysfunctional family is participating in the pretense that they are a normal family bringing up children within the range of what is normal. Because we live in a culture that respects family privacy, someone usually has to get badly hurt before the illusion is questioned by anyone outside its ranks. Usually it isn�t until the teen years, when kids have spent a considerable amount of time with the families of friends, that they begin to understand that things can be different than what they have experienced in their own families. by that time, they have spent all of their formative years in an abnormal situation, developing abnormal ideas about love, loyalty, interdependence, functioning and roles. If they somehow have the courage to call it like it is, the family will do its best to bring them back into line. All this is at least part of the reason that, in the face of so much information, dysfunction persists. To deal with a dysfunctional family is not only to deal with whatever they say the problem is (e.g., father�s drinking, mother�s temper, the child�s truancy, etc.), but also to deal with an intricate system of illusions and myths that the family relies on to keep it whole. It takes enormous motivation, courage, and perseverance for a family to work itself out of its unhealthy state and to take the leap of faith into something new that will work better for everyone. My job as a counselor (and the job of anyone who want to help rather than merely criticize) is to help these families fully appreciate what is required, to support them as best we can, and to direct them to the resources (internal and external) that will make change possible . In summary, to start to move your family out of dysfunctional behavior: Don�t criticize. Analyze. If you think your family is dysfunctional, take a step back and try to identify the forces that keep it that way. To make change, stop the old behaviors and find new ways to be together as a family that will support the change. Know that it is difficult to change this kind of situation from the inside. You are probably too much a part of the system to really see it. There�s lots of help out in the world. Be willing to take advantage of some of it. -Adapted, with permission, from www.parentadvisor.net This article, in a slightly different form, originally appeared in the Amherst Bulletin, January 28, 1994.
It seems a couple of rogue commuters in Italy have taken matters into their own hands. The rationale behind speed cameras is to catch offending speeders when there are no police to catch them. But when the speed limit is placed far below what is usually the safe and normal speed of traffic, speeding cameras can become a lucrative source of income for the local authorities. According to alVolante on their report earlier yesterday (Oct. 22, 2015) rogue Milanese citizens took matters into their own hands against the offending traffic camera placed at the entrance of a tunnel and blew it up with a bomb. Placed at the site of the explosion were a couple of leaflets that read, “Motorists are tired of cameras that serve only to make money. It’s just the beginning, the next time We’ll blow up the town.” While their actions are technically illegal and subject to a prison sentence, when your local citizens resort to blowing up cameras with military grade weaponry, it may be a good time to reconsider what brought them up to that point. According to the mayor of Pantigliate (the city where the speed camera is located) “It is not the first time we received threats. But once again, we reiterate that the municipality does not have anything to do with the control system: speed cameras have been installed and are controlled by the provincial police. What has happened is an unspeakable and incomprehensible gesture “ The province the mayor is referring to is Milan so suffice to say, anger has been directed at the wrong ruling body. Nonetheless, we’d like to think that this extreme act of protest has gotten the attention of the Milan police. The speed limit inside the tunnel is 90 KMH ( or about 55 MPH) which commuters think is to slow for the conditions of a two lane tunnel. Fines for speeding can cost upwards of €150 or $170. Apparently this is a trend all around the world. In Argentina one man simply pushed over a speeding camera out of frustration. Citizens in France recently set fire to one. And elsewhere in the UK one speeder knoced one out with his car. Unwanton speeding well above normal road conditions is indeed dangerous and without speeding cameras, many of the offending motorists wouldn’t be caught. To not be caught speeding, a car must travel exactly at or below the posted speeds. Simple enough until motorists to your right and left are clearly traveling above those speeds and you following the rules has put you in a precarious position. Perhaps a study should be conducted to raise the speed limit based on hard evidence from the proper authorites so these cameras are justified. Without any hard facts, its hard to argue a case for them. Different stretches of road have different conditions. If the roads are well maintained and traffic flows smoothly, 55 MPH just might indeed be to slow.
Get the biggest daily stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email The remains of 10 people, including six children, buried in a graveyard in South Wales will have to be moved to a nearby cemetery to make way for roadworks. Works to widen the A465 Heads of the Valleys Road between Gilwern in Abergavenny and Brynmawr means the Lion Terrace Chapel will have to be demolished. Construction firm Costain Ltd said it is eager to hear from relatives of the 10 people buried in the church graveyard. The South Wales Argus reports that all of the children buried at the graveyard were under 14 years old when they died. Read more: Building of dual carriageway on Heads of the Valleys reaches new heights with slip road 471 metres above sea level The youngest was Thomas Watkins who died on March 1, 1847 aged 10 months. The Heads of the Valleys Road scheme will see the demolition of a total of eight buildings as part of it is made into a dual carriageway. Related: Questions asked over £800m Heads of the Valleys upgrade The remains buried at Lion Terrace Chapel will be removed before works start and will be reinterred at Llanelly Cemetery on Church Road within two years. The construction company will cover the costs and will have to comply with conditions set by the Welsh Secretary of State, including screening the area from the public and placing any items buried with the deceased in containers. Read more: Big projects will create 5,000 new construction jobs over next five years, says report A list of names of those buried at the graveyard will be available at Clydach Village Hall until August 27. Notice should be given in writing to Costain Ltd by this date from relatives or representatives specifying any wishes to arrange removal and re-interment themselves. The names on the memorials at the Lion Terrace Chapel: Alice Watkins, who died aged two years and three months on October 6, 1864. Benjamin Watkins, who died aged one year and two months on October 14, 1870. Richard Oakley, who died aged four years on January 14, 1859. Ellen Oakley, who died aged 14 on May 10, 1862. Thomas Watkins, who died aged ten months on March 1, 1847. MaryAnn Watkins, who died aged 58, on October 23, 1851. Thomas Watkins, who died aged 59 on October 27, 1875. John Watkins, who died aged 27, on August 16, 1878. John Walbey, who died aged 17, on April 6, 1846. Jane Tizah Williams, who died aged 13, in April 1862.
The Bix Beiderbecke Story The Bix Beiderbecke Story is a 3-LP set by Columbia documenting the life and work of legendary cornetist Leon Bismark “Bix” Beiderbecke. It includes excellent biographical notes by acclaimed producer George Avakian. The series splits Bix’s career into “Bix and his Gang”, “Bix and Tram”, and “Whiteman Days” (referring to his time with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra). The first two volumes blow the third out of the water, in my opinion, but I’m glad they’re presented together for a complete picture. Altogether, this set includes some of the very best recordings in the idiom. Bix balanced refinement and raw creativity in a way few soloists could touch (I have to add that Frankie “Tram” Trumbauer gives him a run for his money). These exemplify the sound of the late 20’s, leaving the raw dixieland and Chicago styles behind for a more composed, larger-ensemble structure, but before the sweet “big band” sound became popular in the 30s. As you’ll read in the notes, Bix’s career was cut tragically short by his alcoholism. He died in Queens, New York in 1931 at the age of 28. Download Vol. 1 (48.4 MB) Download Vol. 2 (49.1 MB) Download Vol. 3 (50.2 MB) Catalog number Columbia CL 844 - 846. I think it was first published in 1950, but these are from a 1963 edition of surprisingly high fidelity.
Posted by Eric Anderton , April 6, 2015 Email Eric Anderton Twitter @EricAnderton_ Read this on your iPhone/iPad or Android device This whole process of being a football fan is incredibly fun, but countless little things make the best of us bitter. Transfers, team selections and substitutions are debated without exception, while misplaced passes prompt: “He should’ve shot!”, and vice versa. Beyond all the debated points on the pitch, everybody loves to hate football marketing. I can’t help but be uncomfortable with the way football can be perverted by flashing advertising boards and limitless commercial opportunities. At times, I wish I could just ignore it all and enjoy the simplicity of the sport. Toronto FC doesn’t help its own cause, with marketing moves such as the “Band of Allegiance” coming off as a caricature of the commodification of modern football. Last year we all learned the color “onyx”. This year, the SSH scarf has swapped the club logo for the phrase “Come On You Reds”, notably the name of the official club podcast, as well as the long form of #COYR, which is being pushed via social media. Inevitably, Toronto FC’s marketing is going to get lambasted by the folks who appreciate football’s more traditional roots. It is easy to get caught up in protests that happen almost by default to every marketing opportunity or media stunt the club embraces. For some, a cynical response to every new Tweet or Facebook post is part of the TFC supporter experience. All things considered, I think it is worth putting into perspective that this is an issue that affects football worldwide. I am far from advocating support for the intertwining of business and football. Rather, if some of the sport’s most historic and famous clubs can’t get it right, then MLS sides won’t either. Indulge with me in a quick trip back to 1992. If you follow English football, you may already know the story. The First Division got rebranded as the Premier League, Sky Sports invested many millions of pounds into television broadcasting deals, and the age of increasingly ridiculous player wages was about to explode into life. Considered by many as the birth of “modern football”, 1992 also brought us this wonderful bit of advertising. Now, fast forward to the present again, and quick because that was painful! While some of England’s elite clubs have benefitted financially during the Premier League era, it is the opinion of many that modern football has diluted the atmosphere at some grounds. Go a bit further down the Premier League table however, and the local faithful at “smaller” clubs such as Crystal Palace have made a name for themselves for creating impressive atmospheres. On the back of that, I now present you with this next video of the Crystal Palace cheerleaders. Maybe there is a hint of self-deprecation in that whole ordeal, so let’s move on to another point of contention for Toronto FC supporters: mascots. I’m sure most of us have watched Green Street. West Ham fans and the streets surrounding Upton Park are portrayed as being gritty and rough. As their team takes to the pitch though, a grown man dressed as a Hammer bounces around on the grass. Here is “Hammerhead”, alongside a number of his mascot buddies from the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United, observing the moment of silence at various fixtures. Of course, football marketing isn’t restricted to match day. Players oftentimes become celebrities, and what is a celebrity without a guest-spot in a television commercial? Have you seen former Toronto FC coach Ryan Nelsen eat Venky’s chicken with his Blackburn teammates? To all you vegans out there, you need not worry! A chicken staged a pitch invasion to raise awareness for the unjust death of his late brothers and sisters. The unfortunate fact is that every sport has become monetized. NASCAR vehicles have more sponsors than horsepower; advertisements in the NHL have begun to migrate from the boards up to the glass as well. Soon enough we may see the score of 180 in Premier League Darts brought to you by McDonald’s 180-calorie menu. Promotional photos and videos, catch phrases and slogans, hashtags and contests; marketing is an inevitability in contemporary football. All of the above is designed to sell tickets and merchandise to those who aren’t already habitually engaged in supporting the club. Why do the more “traditional” supporters not like all of this? Commercial portrayals of football clubs will advertise a sanitized version of the supporter experience. This is the representation that is most accessible for casual supporters. Participation in this culture is not the prioritized message. Rather, most ads for football focus on experiencing the culture. Purchase a ticket, a jersey, a scarf, and food from the concession stands. Now: TFC! Clap, Clap, Clap! TFC! Clap, Clap, Clap! The ever-increasing cost of football is pricing out the working class demographic that made terrace choirs famous decades ago. Even though every aspect right down to the pitch the game is played on has become branded, the financial rewards have not offset the inflating cost of a Saturday afternoon. We may not be happy about it, but perhaps there is at least some comfort to be taken in the vein of a support group. As football fans, we are all in the same boat. Clubs with 100-year-old tradition are becoming billboards, while music videos are made for teams before a ball is even kicked in their inaugural season. We can complain until we go blue in the face, or just let Adidas do it for us. If all else fails, at least your not Dunkin Donuts replacing the Hillsborough eternal flames in Liverpool’s club crest with a pair of iced coffees. Leave a comment below or tweet me (@EricAnderton_).
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Neuropsychiatric disorders 6 3 5 4 13 21 25 33 53 67 "Multiple Pathologies" 9 11 6 10 12 18 16 23 57 109 Of the patients euthanized, 75% of them were between 60 and 89 years , and there is an increasing proportion of euthanasia in nursing homes and / or care. In 4% of cases (73 euthanasia), the report does not indicate the diagnosis justifying euthanasia. While in most cases, the physical pain is present, however, there were 68 cases where the patient did not express (figures 2013). The report notes again, as in previous years, the strange disparity between the high number of declarations on euthanasia filled in Dutch-speaking Belgium (1454 2013, or 80% of the acts) next to the smaller number of returns filed in French-speaking Belgium (353 in 2013, representing 20% of total), but no study has yet been taken to account for this discrepancy. Regarding the statements of euthanasia, arguing duty to die, the Commission asked for comments or clarification from the reporting physician, "confidentially" in 14% of the cases. But just like the previous 12 years, the Commission has not sent any suspected case to justice, as well as stating that it believes everything is completely under control, at least for the cases that were reported by respondents. "No representation with elements raising doubts about compliance with the essential requirements of the law, no case has been forwarded to the courts." About the forward declaration at the end of life (living will), several members of the Commission have lamented the complexity (writing, recording and renewal) of the process. They said that they would make it "more effective." About the obstacles and difficulties emerged in some nursing homes and care when there was a request for euthanasia, it seems that "everything has been settled." The report did not give details. The Evaluation Committee considered it within its jurisdiction and its powers to endorse the practice of assisted suicide, arguing that the law "does not impose how the euthanasia should be practiced," provided it is under medical supervision. This is clearly at odds with the legislative history of the law decriminalizing euthanasia. Parliamentarians, in fact, reserved decriminalizing the act homicide made by the physician, not the patient. Concerning the training of doctors, the Commission considers that the curriculum of medical studies should cover the practice of palliative care but also "the proper implementation of euthanasia." "Likewise, the various postgraduate education and recycling business cycles (for general practitioners) should be encouraged to include such training." In Annex 4 (Brochure for the medical profession), the report insisted the concept of independence in respect of the patient and the attending physician, the consultant called to verify the correct application of the legal requirements for the planned euthanasia. There can be no domestic relationship or hierarchical relationship of subordination between the consultant and the treating physician. However, it is not specified that they can not belong to the same organization or association. So nothing prevents two doctors who belong to the same association - EOL (End of Life) or LEIF (Life End Information Forum), for example, one and the other sponsored by the Association for the Right to Die in dignity - to cooperate, as an attending physician and consulting physician, euthanasia of a patient. Reaffirming that only the patient can judge the unbearable and insatiable nature of his suffering, but he has the right to refuse any treatment would alleviate this suffering, the Commission takes the example of the case of this 54 year old man suffering from multiple sclerosis: unrelieved suffering is rooted in the fact that "He does not want to depend on others." Note also that the patient must remain master of the treatment he receives, it is not a question of imposing palliative care, even though they have precisely the effect of reducing suffering. As for products necessary to euthanasia, the Commission recommends to facilitate the availability of public pharmacy. But it was silent about the current lack of control from the same pharmacies. Some members of the Commission believe that the last notion of irreversible unconsciousness is interpreted by physicians in a limited way (coma). They argue for a less restrictive interpretation, allowing a wider practice of euthanasia. Finally, we note that the Belgian Euthanasia Control and Evaluation Commission, established by the legislature to monitor closely the implementation of the law, increasinglyassumes the role of an interpreter of the law, broadening its applicability. So much so that one can legitimately ask whether it does not tend to become over the years a promoter of euthanasia.
When I started being a content creator in the Crypto Space over 3 years ago, all my articles were being published on CoinTelegraph (besides this website) and I decided to do a different kind of analysis on August 31st, 2014. The Article was titled “Intro to Time” and it had one of my favorite art covers to date: The article also featured the table above with key dates in the life-cycle of Bitcoin and while I myself did not take the Mid June 2015 date seriously, I do not plan to make the same mistake again Mid August 2017. Background: I have been a fan of Martin Armstrong’s work for a long time and even attended several WEC conferences over the last few years. I give him lots of credit for helping me understand Global Economics, Capital Flows and the concept of time being Cyclical and NOT linear. So just as a thought experiment, I decided to apply the most basic idea from Martin’s writing to Bitcoin. this concept that since time is cyclical we can represent the number Pi in terms of days (or years) and apply it to get some useful dates to keep an eye on in the future. The Math: In it’s most basic form, taking the number Pi = 3.1416 and giving it a multiplier of 1000 = 3,141.6 days. Converting this number to years by dividing it by 365.25 = 8.6012 years. NOTE: I used 8.61 years in the original article as I divided by 365 instead So at this point 8.6 years represents one full cycle and the most critical day for Bitcoin going forward (more on this later). We can also consider multiples of this day as slightly less significant, which is why in the 2014 article I was looking at half and quarter cycles to find dates of significance to keep an eye on (more on this later as well) This cycle needs to be applied from some starting point. While several options were available like Publication of the Bitcoin White Paper and the first popular financial transaction giving Bitcoin a price, the most logical one seemed to be the generation of the Genesis Block on January 3rd 19:05:05 UTC Time. NOTE: At this point I would like to thank Mark B for providing a Python script in order to remove all rounding errors when determining the date. The code will be at the bottom of the articles for those interested in running it on your own. Using this code we are provided with a a key date August 11th, 2017 which is exactly 8.6012 years from the Genesis Block. This was the date I was referencing as “Something Big” on 2017.62 in the Original Article back in 2014. Significance: Back in August 2014 the price of bitcoin was around $500 coming down from the $1200 all time high but rising from the low in the $300’s it made 3 month’s prior. It was impossible to tell if the next 3/4 cycle due to arrive on June 16th 2015 was going to coincide with a price low or a high. As the year 2015 began, it was much more clear that it was going to be a low. That January I did an interview with Jeff Berwick of Anarchast Podcast and I explained how the price point of $160 that Bitcoin fell to just a few weeks prior met my bearish target, but it came 6 months too early and I was hopping to see that price in the summer time instead to meet the June 16 key date. In that video I also talked about how Europe will be the driving force to put Bitcoin back in the spotlight with their Bank closures. While I knew that Greece was the one in big financial trouble, and I focused on Greece a month later when presenting at Jeff Berwick’s Anarchapulco Conference, during the interview I talked about Italy as the example. To this day I credit the change in Bitcoin price trend from an 18 month Bear Market to a Bull Market to have taken place in June 2015. Here is a June 16th Reuters headline “Bitcoin surges as Grexit worries mount” before the inevitable banking shutdown on Sunday June 28th 2015. I never took the June 16th, 2015 date seriously at the time and after I missed my perfect entry to load up on Bitcoin in the $100-250 price range, I swore I would not ignore the next critical date (now 1 month away at time of writing) and this date is set to be way more significant as it’s a full cycle vs quarter cycle like the last one. After the June 2015 period was clearly a low, I spent the last two years talking about how Bitcoin should reach its price high in August 2017. But just like in 2015 where the low came a few months early we potentially had the high come a few months early as well as bitcoin has now pulled back almost 25% from its all time high of just under $3,000 first week of June. Bitcoin moves quickly and with the SegWit2x vs UASF resolutions, there is still plenty of unknowns between now and inevitable dates in August that will shape the Bitcoin ecosystem for years to come: Possible Outcomes: So assuming that this date is actually significant, what are some of the things to expect from knowing it. At this point it must be pointed out that while this type of time analysis has occasionally been able to identify price highs or low to the day (Feb 27th, 2007), it does not necessarily have to coincide with a price reversal. In fact, if it always coincided with a price reversal (assuming these dates are even useful), everyone would have been a billionaire trader long ago. A. Market becomes very optimistic on Bitcoin scaling into Aug 11th: This outcome is starting to seem unlikely. When the price was rising between April & June it looked like there was nothing stopping it and SegWit activation via UASF was going to be a sell event from the $3,000-$4,000 price range making August 11th (or near there) a price high. B. Market becomes very pessimistic on Bitcoin scaling into Aug 11th: This outcome is starting to become more likely. If SegWit2x continues to be a clown show shacking market confidence, we could see continued price drops into uncertainty and a potential price low as SegWit Activates 1st week of August bringing back set confidence. In this case price could reverse around Aug 11th from a range of $1,200 – $1,800 setting off a new Bull Run to the next key cycle date in 2.15 years (or at least till the Hard Fork drums of SegWit2x start beating) C. Price is NOT trending into first week of August and remains choppy: In this case we will be looking for this date to correspond to some kind of resolution on SegWit. It may be when the Ecosystem realizes UASF has succeeded or the day people like me admit defeat of the movement. It might be a day on which SegWit2x causes an accidental Hard Fork making Bitcoin Unusable, the day UASF side of the Chain Split gets a PoW change, or some other critical event. In either case, events on or around this date will shape the future trend of Bitcoin (from adoption to price in either direction) just like the Greek Banking Shutdown did around the last key date. D. This is all nonsense and completely irrelevant: Yes, I am fully aware that this sounds like an Astrological reading of the Bitcoin horoscope. Errors: At this time I would like knowledge the fact that this is completely speculative and i’m not really using Martin Armstrong’s supper computer for date generations. The math could be very different when done by a professional. In addition, the dates in questions would have been different if way we used the publication of the White Paper Instead…. I wonder if it would have fell on August 1st :). Here is the python code thanks to a loyal followers of my content, enjoy: ———————————————————————————————– import time import datetime from math import pi genesis_datetime = ‘2009-01-03 19:15:05’ date_fmt = ‘%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S’ seconds_in_a_day = 60 * 60 * 24 cyclic_period_seconds = 1000 * pi * seconds_in_a_day def date2epoch(date_str): return time.mktime(datetime.datetime.strptime(date_str, date_fmt).timetuple()) def epoch2date(epoch_time): return time.strftime(date_fmt, time.localtime(epoch_time)) genesis_timestamp = date2epoch(genesis_datetime) print(‘Cyclic period (days): %s’ % (cyclic_period_seconds / seconds_in_a_day)) print(‘Genesis: %s’ % epoch2date(genesis_timestamp)) print(‘One cyclic period after genesis: %s’ % epoch2date(genesis_timestamp + cyclic_period_seconds)) print(‘Two cyclic periods after genesis: %s’ % epoch2date(genesis_timestamp + 2 * cyclic_period_seconds)) print(“—-“) for i in range(0, 41): frac = i / 4.0 # break down into quarter cycles print(“[%s + %s cycles]: %s” % (epoch2date(genesis_timestamp), frac, epoch2date(genesis_timestamp + frac * cyclic_period_seconds))) PS: my comments on this website are disable due to my inability to deal with spam on this medium. 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Artist: The Rosenshoul Album: Darkly I Listen Release date: 14 August 2017 Label: Self-released Tracklist: 01. Violence My Heart 02. In Her Blood 03. Revenge And A Black Dog The Australian musician, Duncan Ritchie, will be best known to our readers from his other dark ambient project Flowers For Bodysnatchers. While he started creating dark ambient initially as The Rosenshoul, he had several highly acclaimed albums as Flowers For Bodysnatchers before he was brought into the Cryo Chamber family. Aside from Atrium Carceri, Flowers for Bodysnatchers has become one of the most successful and recognizable artists on Cryo Chamber, that is, if we are to gauge success by album sales and Facebook followers. The Rosenshoul has been on hold since the 2014 release of Hidden Field. With all the output coming from the Flowers for Bodysnatchers project, I was a bit surprised to see this new album by The Rosenshoul show up on Bandcamp. Surprised, but also delighted. The difference between the two projects can often be quite minuscule. The most noticeable difference between the two project can be seen in track lengths. While Flowers for Bodysnatchers tracks usually run between four and seven minutes length, The Rosenshoul always delivers long-form tracks. Often as long as twenty minutes in length and usually roughly three tracks per album. This long-form style of dark ambient makes for a more intimate and uniform approach to the music. The Rosenshoul tracks have a chance to slowly develop and they can often gently slide from one emotion or energy level to another within the same track. Flowers For Bodysnatchers takes on a cinematic dark ambient style which incorporates the cinema into the tracks, building a story within itself. The Rosenshoul also has a cinematic approach, but it is less in the active sense; it leans more toward providing the role of a soundtrack. There is no shortage of field recordings, and there are stories being told, but these stories are much more subtle, allowing the listener to take a more imaginative approach to their interpretation. Darkly I Listen is full of energy, emotion and intrigue. The album comes with a companion poem, which is helpful in conveying a full understanding of the material to the listener. Darkly I Listen through the raven. Darkly I Listen through the trees and through the walls and the windows. Darkly I Listen into your violent heart. Now I will come to you. Come to you as decay and death. Come to you slowly. Like the black dog in the blackest night. And from the bloodiest of shadows I shall show you the hell you brought unto me. The only other descriptor we are given to understand the album is this sentence: “Darkly I Listen explores a Victorian era tale of murder and otherworldly revenge.” There is no point in me attempting to tell my personal interpretations of these tracks or how they fit together as a whole. The process should be personal to each listener, and Ritchie has clearly intended for that process to be an integral part of the experience listeners have with his album. From a technical standpoint the music is a bit more musical than many other dark ambient artists, though this can also be said about Flowers For Bodysnatchers. Flowers for Bodysnatchers most often incorporates piano sections as the direct musical addition to the soundscapes. The musical elements of The Rosenshoul, specifically on this new album, seem to come in the form of string instruments. In all honesty, I’m not sure if these sections are synthesizer created or if they are the actual instruments being played, but my guess would lean more toward the former. The drone-work is quite active, with swiftly evolving drones coming in and out of the soundscapes, changing note and pattern frequently. The real foundation of this album lies in the field recordings. They have a constant presence throughout the album. They are best described as industrial, not the genre, but as in field recordings collected in an industrial district of a city. A picture comes to mind of a scene from Eraserhead, Henry (Jack Nance) wandering through a dark, rainy, gloomy atmosphere in the heart of the industrial district of some nondescript metropolis. This image fits nicely with the descriptor for the album, which describes this as taking place during the Victorian era, which was also centered amidst the industrial revolution of western civilization. Darkly I Listen is the most ambitious effort yet from The Rosenshoul. This is the first album to be released under that moniker in the physical format. Darkly I Listen has been self-released by Duncan Ritchie and he’s taken the bold step of creating a digipak CD that appears to be quite professionally executed. The cover-art is beautifully dark, evoking just the right sort of imagery for sounds such as these. The gamble seems to have already paid off, as there are only 8 copies remaining for sale through his Bandcamp page as I write this review. So if you are thinking about purchasing a physical copy, you’d best move fast! I would highly recommend this album to just about any dark ambient fan. It should have no trouble with impressing fans of Duncan’s other project Flowers For Bodysnatchers. It is also a real treat for those fans that prefer the long-form style over short, concise tracks. In short, Darkly I Listen should be a welcome addition to the collection of any discerning dark ambient listener! Written by: Michael Barnett Share this: Facebook Twitter Tumblr Google Reddit Like this: Like Loading...
Posted in Oklahoma by Ashley These 10 Hiking Spots In Oklahoma Are Out Of This World Take a break from the hustle and bustle of life and enjoy a hike at one of Oklahoma’s top hiking destinations. With an adventurous spirit, some bug spray and a map in hand, you are sure to enjoy your outdoor experience. 1.) Rough Horsetail Nature Trail- Red Rock Canyon State Park: Hinton, OK flickr/granger meador This moderately easy ,short trail is only 0.6 miles long and winds the canyon's rim. Be sure to look for rappellers against the red canyon walls. 2.) Black Mesa Summit Trail- Black Mesa State Park: Kenton, OK flickr/jimmy emerson Located in the Panhandle and boasting the highest point in Oklahoma at 4,973 ft., Black Mesa is a 4.2 mile hike each way. Observe the different landscape that you will not find in other parts of the state. 3.) Turkey Mountain Yellow Trail- Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness-: Tulsa, OK facebook/turkeymountain Tulsa's Urban Wilderness is a treasure to the city. It offers several hiking options for all levels. The yellow path is a 5 mile trail offering views of the Arkansas river and is rated as moderate. 4.) Creek Loop Trail-Osage Hills State Park: Pawhuska, OK flickr/granger meador Set out on a 1.5 mile loop trail that takes you through heavy woods and rocky bluffs. Take a break at the scenic outlook and enjoy the calm surroundings. 5.) Narrows Trail- Wichita Mountains: S.W. Oklahoma flickr/h.l.i.t. Lets say this one is more for the physically fit. The 2.5 mile hike might feel more like a climb. The view is worth the effort and hopping over boulders is quite an adventure. 6.) Canyon Trail- Robbers Cave State Park: Wilburton, OK flickr/oakleyoriginals For those seeking a moderate trail, try this 2.9 mile loop that will swing you by Lost Lake and close to Cave Trail to visit the parks famous caves. 7.) Beaver Lodge Nature Trail- Beavers Bend State Park: Broken Bow, OK flickr/trishzatx This easy trek is 2 miles out and back and is great for most skill levels. The scenery is breathtaking and follows a river with several cascades. If you visit it in the fall, you get an extra bonus with all the colorful foliage. 8.) Elk Mountain Trail-Wichita Mountains: S.W. OK flickr/amy Once you reach the summit, you will see why the 1.2 mile hike was worth it. Take in the spectacular view and enjoy walking the large boulder before heading back down. This trail is rated moderate due to some uneven terrain. 9.) Dripping Springs Trail-Natural Falls State Park: Colcord, Ok flickr/granger meador The main attraction of this trail is the 77 ft. waterfall that this hidden back in it. The hike is 1.3 miles long and is a great outing for a family picnic. 10.) Roman Nose Trail-Roman Nose State Park: Watonga, OK flickr/granger meador These diverse trails will take you on a 7 mile loop along some ice-cold natural springs and lots of cacti. Make sure you stop by Inspiration Point and enjoy the eye catching views. Now go out and get adventurous and enjoy all Oklahoma has to offer. Post some pictures below of your favorite hiking spot.
The company, which has seen up-and-down box office numbers of late, would be valued at $3.4 billion, a source tells THR Japanese conglomerate SoftBank is in talks to acquire DreamWorks Animation in a deal that would value the company at $3.4 billion, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. DWA founder and CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg would sign a five-year contract to remain with the company, according to the source, who says the DWA board held an emergency meeting Thursday to consider the offer. SoftBank is said to have offered $32 a share. DWA stock closed at $22 per share on Friday. A DWA spokesperson said, "We don't comment on rumors and speculation." Former Google executive Nikesh Arora, who joined SoftBank in July, is said to have been a liaison between DWA and his new firm. Arora is the head of a newly formed unit, SoftBank Internet and Media Inc. Read more Jeffrey Katzenberg's Earnings Jump to $13.5 Million for 2013 Katzenberg has long sought a buyer for his company, which began as the animation division of DreamWorks Studios and was spun off as a public company in 2004. DWA currently releases its movies through 20th Century Fox. DWA has been on a roller-coaster ride in the stock market as it moves from one release to the next. The issue in a prospective sale has always been valuation. The company's 2014 releases include the underperforming Mr. Peabody & Sherman, which grossed $273 million worldwide, and the more successful How to Train Your Dragon 2, which pulled in $611 million this summer. SoftBank has been in the news lately because of its $20 million investment in Chinese Internet giant Alibaba, a stake now worth a minimum of $60 billion. The sprawling company is considered undervalued and on Sept. 25, Jefferies Group LLC rated SoftBank as "a compelling buy opportunity." DWA is represented by the law firms Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Munger, Tolles & Olson. Read more DreamWorks Animation Falls Short of Earnings Expectations and Shares Sink
Cable Television costs have increased to the point where many subscribers are starting to look for alternatives. It felt really good dropping my TV service, and pulling those cable boxes out for good. Here is a simply cut the cable guide. The time spent watch TV is now much more content oriented, and not mindless channel surfing, or endless commercial breaks. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the average cable TV subscriber pays $78 a month TV programming alone (not including internet). When add that up for a full year, it is $936 per year (12 months x $78 per month). If you have a fast internet connection, you will probably find that most of the content coming from Cable TV can be found from an online source. Currently live sports broadcasts are usually the biggest road block to overcome when ditching cable TV. If you can get over a dependence on cable sports, you can save a lot of money. Most local sports teams should be available with an over the air (OTA) antenna. You will have to miss some sports that is only on ESPN, or the NFL network; you have to ask yourself is it worth around $1,000 per year to watch a handful of sporting events? After about a full month of researching antenna’s, amplifiers, wiring, cables, and everything that goes with mounting an antenna, I spent $150 on everything needed to put a quality antenna on my roof. The antenna cost $78, per-amplifier cost $30, the mounting bracket was $16, and another $18 to have it shipped. A few hours of time on a Saturday morning, and it was installed. I am on the outer edge of the reception range of many stations, so the reception isn’t totally perfect all the time, but it works well enough for our needs, and we get about 15 channels consistently. Over the air TV is actually rarely even used in our house, it is mostly Netflix, followed by Amazon prime. We also bought a yearly subscription to the Hallmark channel. All of these are available on the Xbox 360. The Xbox is the main device used to watch content. I also have a Plex server setup which streams any other content to any TV or device inside the house. If we didn’t already have the Xbox 360 with the Live Gold membership I would go with the Roku steaming player, which offers a ton of content, and ranges from $49 for the base model, and $100 for the top of the line model. Many online stories talk about how much it “costs” to cut the cable, but chances are you have almost everything you need. If you live near a major metro area, you can use a simple indoor antenna and probably get all your network channels that way, then spend $100 on a Roku device, and you are all set. In summary, we spend about $20 a month now on all our streaming services, and I do not miss cable TV one bit. We probably rent a few more movies via Amazon now, but it’s still well worth it to get rid of a fixed monthly cable bill. The end of commercials (mostly), and the end of mindless channel surfing are some great added benefits. Cutting cord is also about changing habits, instead of plopping down in front of the TV with the remote and looking for something to watch, it is more of active process, of knowing what you want to watch, and knowing what online service it is available on. So what are you waiting for? Cut the cable!
Cases of bottakuri rip-offs at bars and nightclubs in Tokyo’s Kabukicho entertainment district have been on the decline thanks to a police crackdown that started in May. In a typical bottakuri, a promise of a fun night out with drinks and hostesses for just a small fee leads to a tab totaling several hundred thousand yen or even ¥1 million — accompanied with a threat. Typically, bar staffers will call on prospective customers on the street, telling them that it will cost ¥5,000 for drinking at the bar for an hour. But when customers are about to leave, they are often told to pay an unfairly expensive amount — in some cases, more than ¥500,000. If they cannot pay up, bar staffers sometimes take them to an ATM or even resort to violence. Recent targets include foreign tourists, especially those from Asia, who tend to eventually give in to the demands of persistent bar staff. According to the latest Metropolitan Police Department data, the number of calls to police complaining of such rip-offs came to 45 in July, compared with 341 in April. In addition, the MPD says it has prompted the closure of 28 bottakuri bars since the beginning of this year, the data show. That may be due to the impact of the police crackdown that began in May. The police have arrested 41 people since then at 14 bars and clubs in Kabukicho in connection with extortion and other charges. Lawyers are also providing support to the victims who got into trouble and were forced to pay. The Tokyo Bar Association has opened a hotline to provide consultation to such people. The MPD plans to deploy officers versed in bottakuri cases at Shinjuku Police Station. “It’s important to ignore their touting. Don’t trust their words,” said a police official. “We won’t let up in our efforts to eradicate bottakuri.”
English Early Origins of the Doom family [1] CITATION [CLOSE] Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print. Early History of the Doom family Another 329 words (24 lines of text) covering the years 1270, 1226, 1066, 1350, 1327, 1379, 1407, 1445, 1779, 1810, 1619, 1805, 1549, 1628, 1609, 1666, 1712 and are included under the topic Early Doom History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Doom research. Doom Spelling Variations The English language only became standardized in the last few centuries; therefore, spelling variations are common among early Anglo-Saxon names. As the form of the English language changed, even the spelling of literate people's names evolved. Doom has been recorded under many different variations, including Down, Downe, Downer, Doune, Douner, Dounner, Downner and many more. Early Notables of the Doom family (pre 1700) Another 32 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Doom Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Distinguished members of the family include Andrew Downes, also known as Dounaeus, (c. 1549-1628), English classical scholar, one of the seven translators of the Apocrypha for the King James Version of the Bible... Migration of the Doom family to Ireland Another 50 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Some of the Doom family moved to Ireland , but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. Migration of the Doom family to the New World and Oceana Doom Settlers in United States in the 19th Century John B Doom, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1850 [2] CITATION [CLOSE] Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8) For many English families, the political and religious disarray that shrouded England made the far away New World an attractive prospect. On cramped disease-ridden ships, thousands migrated to those British colonies that would eventually become Canada and the United States. Those hardy settlers that survived the journey often went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Doom or a variant listed above: Doom Family Crest Products See Also Citations ^ Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print. ^ Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8) The Anglo-Saxon name Doom comes from when the family resided in an area that was described by a downward slope. The surname was originally derived from the Anglo-Saxon wordwhich means a hill.The surname Doom was first found in Sussex . Another branch was located at Roosdown in Devon . "This place, which was formerly a parish, was anciently called Ralphdown, from its owner, Ralph de Downe, in the reign of Henry II."
There was much excitement yesterday at the news that internet restrictions would be dropped in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, leading to a (in the words of one of my colleagues) ‘Facebook Concession’. Unfortunately, that potential concession is not to be, Xinhua reports. The management measures over the Internet at the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone will be consistent with the rest of the country’s, official sources were quoted by the news portal people.com.cn as saying on Wednesday. This was in response to a Tuesday report by the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post which said that the upcoming Shanghai pilot zone will bypass the Great Firewall and see uncontrolled access to some banned websites including Facebook, Twitter and the New York Times. The Great Firewall has been lowered within China in the past, most notably at the University of Macau’s Guangdong campus, which is governed by the laws of the Special Administrative Zone despite being on the mainland. Attendees of the Fortune Global Forum in Chengdu in June were also given full, uncensored access to the wider web. [Image credit: Jonathan Kos Read]
We’re thrilled to announce Oculus Connect, a developer conference that brings together engineers, designers, and creatives from around the world to share and collaborate in the interest of creating the best virtual reality experiences possible. In the last two years, we’ve seen more virtual reality content built than in the last two decades, and that’s a direct result of incredible work by the community. With virtual reality’s momentum at an all-time high, this is a unique moment for the developer community to come together to take the virtual reality to the next level. Oculus Connect 2014 takes place Sept 19 – 20 at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles, CA. Attendee applications will be available on the Oculus Connect website, www1.oculus.com/connect, starting on July 10th and attendance confirmations will go out the following week. We’ve reserved a block of discounted rooms at the Loews for registered guests. Attendees will be the first to learn about upcoming Oculus technology, with sessions and workshops led by Oculus engineers and industry pioneers. Developers at the event will also have opportunities to receive design and engineering feedback directly from the Oculus team in hands-on labs. Oculus Connect will also feature keynotes from Brendan Iribe (CEO), Palmer Luckey (Founder), John Carmack (CTO) and Michael Abrash (Chief Scientist) on Oculus, virtual reality, and the future of the medium. The full session list will be announced as we draw closer to the show. You can get the full details on the official Oculus Connect website, www1.oculus.com/connect. While the conference is open to the public, be aware this is a developer-centric event. Attendance is limited, but we’ll be livestreaming the keynotes for developers around the world who can’t make it to the show. If you’re an Oculus developer interested in helping to build the future, we’re looking forward to meeting you in person Sept 19th! Oculus Acquires & Open Sources RakNet We’re pleased to announce that we’ve acquired RakNet, one of the leading networking middleware systems in the games industry. We open-sourced it starting today under a modified BSD license (the same license Facebook uses for its open source projects) from the Oculus GitHub repo: https://github.com/OculusVR/RakNet. For those unfamiliar with RakNet, it is a comprehensive C++ game networking engine designed for ease of use and performance. The tech is tuned for cross-platform, high-performance applications that operate across a wide variety of network types. Key features include object replication, remote procedure calls, patching, secure connections, voice chat, and real-time SQL logging. The technology has been licensed by thousands of indie developers, as well as companies like Unity, Havok, Mojang, Maxis and Sony Online Entertainment. We’ve known Kevin Jenkins, founder of Jenkins Software and lead engineer on RakNet, for years, and we’ve used RakNet internally at Oculus for various networked systems and tools. After working with Kevin for a few months, we were all excited by the idea of open-sourcing RakNet to the community. If you’re interested in checking out (or forking) RakNet, head over to the Oculus GitHub repo at https://github.com/OculusVR/RakNet. We’re looking forward to seeing where the community takes the project next! Rift Wins Best Hardware at E3 2014! The Rift won the Game Critics Awards’ ‘Best Hardware at E3’ for the second year in a row! This is the official awards for the show, made up of game critics and journalists from across the industry. We were thrilled to see the Rift nominated among such an incredible group of games, products, and hardware, and we’re humbled to have it win the ‘Best Hardware’ category. We couldn’t have done it without the development community delivering a peek at the next-generation of VR gaming. Thank you again for all your support! — The Oculus Team
On the current Lakers roster, this professionalism is a standout value. After acquiring him, GM Rob Pelinka called Lopez a “phenomenal human being,” raving about his professionalism before his play. Pelinka hopes Lopez, the team’s only all-star outside of strapped-to-the-bench Luol Deng, can be a positive influence on his young core, eager to be all-stars themselves. When Julius Randle has to adapt his game for a supersized sixth man role, Brook can say, “I’ve been there.” Pelinka isn’t shy about how valuable he thinks this could be: We feel very strongly that [Brook is] worth every dollar he’s negotiated to play this season... I think he backs it with his actions. A lot of guys that are max players take their time getting ready for camp. To his credit, he was here very quickly in the gym working out with young players, sweating… That’s a very, very exceptional quality that doesn’t exist with some of the guys that get a max contract, [who just want to] do things on their own time or their own terms. On a team of young millionaires growing tired of losing and with it one another, Lopez can be an invaluable example. “We’re not going to the playoffs,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson noted last year, “but I don’t notice any difference in him. You say that’s just being a professional, but it’s beyond being professional because he could be looking out for his body. Instead, he’s always pushing me for more minutes, more games. That’s helping our young guys, helping our culture.” The Nets eventually shut Lopez down, but he continued to find ways to positively affect the culture. “I don’t really know what I’m doing, but I’m just trying to be out there helping the guys out. One thing I can still do is work on being more of a leader each and every game, being out there for them, being vocal. Being a little bit of a coach.” In the second quarter of Friday’s game against the Nets – a game Lopez wanted to play in so badly that he punched the floor in a rage when foul trouble limited his minutes – when Walton opted for a switchier lineup with Randle at center, Lopez didn’t sulk. He was one of two Lakers (along with Corey Brewer) on their feet, shouting defensive instructions. Unfortunately, his defensive effect might be most impactful in that capacity. For all of his strengths, intangible or otherwise, Lopez struggles on defense, conceding painfully easy clutch buckets to a long and sad list of players that includes guys like Alan Crabbe. But it’s not for lack of work ethic. “The man works hard as hell, both during and after practice,” former teammate Reggie Evans insisted. For Evans, an elite gets-after-it guy in his prime, this is high praise. Pelinka and Coach Luke Walton can count on their highest-paid player to be a relentless worker, to set the bar for the young guys in practice. For a franchise eager to establish a culture, that’s a big win. But when the team is looking for an actual win in crunch time – they might have to look elsewhere, at least on the defensive end. In the modern game, Lopez is limited. He’d be the first to tell you. “I’m not the quickest guy in the world…” Despite his blocks and his thirty-four points, Lopez nearly sunk the Lakers down the stretch of Friday’s game, when Crabbe, Russell, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson were able to score on him at will in switches. This is a problem, and not only because Lopez will be switched onto elite guards every night. When Lopez costs the Lakers because he can’t hang with Damian Lillard, it’s to be expected – but when Hollis-Jefferson, a troubled offensive player, beats Lopez for several short jumpers, the problem seems much more stark. This major shortcoming is palatable for the Lakers, who this season need to showcase their developing young talent and little else. They view Lopez, on the last year of his deal, as a placeholder – the star keeping the shots warm until the superstars arrive. And besides, it’s not all bad on the court with Lopez, the first player in NBA history to record eight blocks and six three pointers in a game. A star is a star, and the Lakers are understandably excited to explore his perks. Chief among them: his scoring.
Christus vincit, regnat, imperat: ab omni malo plemem suam defendat. (Christ conquers, He reigns, He commands; may He defend His people from all evil.) Pope Sixtus V had these words engraved on the obelisk which stands in the centre of Saint Peter’s Square at Rome. These magnificent words are in the present tense, and not in the past, to indicate that Christ’s triumph is always actual, and that it is brought about in the Eucharist and by the Eucharist. Meditation by St. Peter Julian Eymard: The Real Presence: “CHRISTUS vincit. Christ conquers. Our Lord has fought; He has won control of the field of battle, on which He has planted His flag and pitched His tent: the Sacred Host and the Eucharistic tabernacle. He conquered the Jew and his temple, and He has a tabernacle on Calvary where all the nations come to adore Him beneath the sacramental Species. He conquered paganism and has chosen Rome, the city of the Caesars, for His capital. He conquered the false wisdom of the sages; the divine Eucharist rose on the world and shed its: rays over the whole earth, darkness withdrew like the shades of night at the coming of day. The idols have been knocked down and the sacrifices abolished. Jesus Eucharistic is a conqueror Who never halts but ever marches onward; He wants to subject the universe to His gentle sway. Every time He takes possession of a country, He pitches therein His Eucharistic royal tent. The erection of a tabernacle is His official occupation of a country. In our own day He still goes out to uncivilised nations; and wherever the Eucharist is brought, the people are converted to Christianity. That is the secret of the triumph of our Catholic missionaries and of the failure of the Protestant preachers. In the latter case, man is battling alone, in the former, Jesus is battling, and He is sure to triumph. CHRISTUS regnat. Christ reigns. Jesus does not rule over earthly territories but over souls, and He does so through the Eucharist. A king must rule through his laws and through the love of his subjects for Him. The Eucharist is the law of the Christian: a law of charity and of love, which was promulgated in the Cenacle in the admirable discourse after the Supper: “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. If you love Me, keep My commandments.” This law is revealed in Communion; the eyes of the Christian are opened in Holy Communion as were those of the disciples of Emmaus, and he understands the fullness of the law. The “breaking of bread” is what made the first Christians so brave in the face of persecution and so faithful in practicing the law of Jesus Christ. Christ’s law is one, holy, universal, and eternal. . It will never change or be impaired in any way; Jesus Christ Himself, its divine Author, is defending it. He engraves it on our hearts through His love; the Legislator Himself promulgates His divine law to each of our souls. His is a law of love. How many kings rule by love? Jesus is about the only one Whose yoke is not imposed by force; His rule is gentleness itself. His true subjects are devoted to Him in life and death; they would rather die than be disloyal to Him. CHRISTUS imperat. Christ commands. No king has command over the whole universe; there are other kings equal to him in power. But God the Father has said to Jesus Christ: “I will give Thee all the nations for Thy inheritance.” And our Lord told His lieutenants when He sent them; throughout the world: “All power is given to Me in heaven and in earth. Go and teach ye all nations, teaching them to keep all that I have commanded you.” He issued His commands from the Cenacle. The Eucharistic tabernacle, which is a prolongation or replica of the Cenacle, is the headquarters of the King of kings. All those who fight the good fight receive their orders from there. In the presence of Jesus Eucharistic all men are subjects, all must obey, from the Pope, the Vicar of Jesus Christ, down to the least of the faithful. CHRISTUS ab omni malo plebem suam defendat. May Christ defend His people from all evil. The Eucharist is the divine lightning-rod that wards off the thunderbolts of divine justice. As a tender and devoted mother presses her child to her bosom, puts her arms around it, and shields it with her body to save it from the wrath of an angry father, so Jesus multiplies His presence everywhere, covers the world and envelops it with His merciful presence. Divine Justice does not know then where to strike; it dares not. And what a protection against the devil! The blood of Jesus which purples our lips makes us a terror to Satan; we are sprinkled with the blood of the true Lamb, and the exterminating angel will not enter. The Eucharist protects the sinner until time for repentance is given him. Ah! Were it not for the Eucharist, for this perpetual Calvary, how often would not the wrath of God have come down upon us! And how unhappy are the nations that no longer possess the Eucharist! What darkness! What a confusion in the minds! What a chill in the hearts! Satan alone rules supreme, and with him all the evil passions. As for us, the Eucharist delivers us from all evil. Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Chris us imperat; ab omni malo plebem suam defendat!” Advertisements
Nearly a year to the day after we heard that WiFi trials were beginning on some of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit trains, WiFi Rail has announced a deal that'll last a score and provide high-speed WiFi "throughout the BART transit system and on all BART commuter trains." Reportedly, the network has successfully been tested to handle loads and provide speeds in excess of 15Mbps on trains moving 81 miles-per-hour. As it stands, four downtown San Francisco stations and some segments of the tunnels are already fully functional, but it'll take until the end of 2010 before the entire network is complete. There's no mention of what the price table will end up looking like, though we are told that subscriptions will be available by day, month or year. Now, if only this would filter out to every other mass transit entity in America, we'd be just jolly.
Strong demand as Fairfax sells Trade Me ROBERT KIDD, FIONA ROTHERHAM AND WILLIAM MACE Relevant offers Fairfax has completed the sale of its 51 per cent share of Trade Me. Trade Me chairman David Kirk said shares had been placed with a broad range of institutions and that demand had been strong. Fairfax Media's share price rose 3 per cent in trading today on the ASX after chief executive Greg Hywood reaffirmed the company's commitment to digital media following the sell down of the stake in Trade Me. Hywood said the deal will deliver A$616m ($768m) and will further strengthen Fairfax's balance sheet as some of the funds will be used to pay down bank debt. The AFR later reported that management had confirmed Fairfax would deconsolidate Trade Me's balance sheet which carried NZ$166m in debt. That mean its likely Fairfax's net debt would fall to as low as A$100m as it also had a further US$80m from the recent sale of Fairfax's US agricultural publications. ''Following the sale, Fairfax Media will have one of the strongest balance sheets in the media sector,'' Hywood told staff. He said Fairfax will look for new acquisitions in the digital space, but they were likely to be small scale. ''As we look to the future, we'll be focused on continuing the growth of our digital assets. They are central to Fairfax's strategy.'' Kirk said the sell down of Fairfax's controlling stake was a ''good thing'' for the New Zealand online company. ''It's difficult for me to comment on Fairfax's strategy or approach but I can see their reasons for doing it, that's understandable. Furthermore it provides us with a much larger free float, more liquidity in the stock and some new high quality stakeholders which is good for us." 'When asked if he thought Trade Me was now vulnerable to takeover given it will no longer have a cornerstone shareholder, Kirk said any company is vulnerable and the most vulnerable time was when a 51 per cent stakeholder was wanting to sell down. He said the key for existing shareholders was for Trade Me to manage and run the business as well as it could so it was fairly priced in the market. He rejected suggestions Fairfax could become a competitor to Trade Me in New Zealand where it was so dominant, but wouldn't rule out Trade Me expanding into Australia. ''We obviously have a long term plan for the growth of Trade Me. The most promising opportunity for the business is continuing in the e-commerce space in New Zealand and in the New Zealand classified businesses there are lots of opportunities for growth. We have looked at geographic diversification and Australia is clearly one of those markets we would look at but it's certainly not a priority.'' Trade Me CEO Jon Macdonald said that at an operational level it was “business as usual for Trade Me” and that the sell-down would have no material impact on revenue or costs. Hywood resigned from Trade Me's board to concentrate on his Fairfax duties. Gail Hambly and Sam Morgan, the other Fairfax nominated directors, offered to resign but the existing independent directors asked them to remain on the board. Shares in Trade Me are expected to resume trading tomorrow. WHERE TO NOW FOR FAIRFAX? Fairfax Media's sale of the remaining 51 per cent of stock in Trade Me has sparked speculation over more potential changes at New Zealand's biggest media companies. Options could include a New Zealand sharemarket float if Fairfax decides to detach its New Zealand operations from those in Australia. New Zealand media, including the Dominion Post, The Press, the Sunday Star-Times and Stuff.co.nz, contributed 13.2 per cent of Fairfax's overall earnings in the year to June 2012 while Australian metropolitan and regional media contributed 59 per cent. Trade Me contributed almost A$82 million - a fifth of Fairfax's overall earnings in 2012 - and avoided the goodwill impairments which saw more than A$3 billion wiped off the value of the company. The stated intention of the Trade Me sale is to help Fairfax put itself on even financial footing by paying down debt, from about A$914 million at last balance date to potentially around A$100m depending on how much is retained for investing in new online companies. Fairfax and other trans-Tasman media companies such as APN News & Media have been anxious to cut costs and pay off debt as advertising revenues have dried up as their funders patience has dwindled. Lower consumer confidence and spending has dented advertising revenue for media companies globally and a traditional main source of income for newspapers - classified advertising - has moved online. APN has been running a strategic review of its New Zealand businesses, including the New Zealand Herald, for most of the year and has indicated it will sell the Christchurch Star, the Oamaru Mail and Wellington's Capital Community Newspaper group. If the market trends continue and the boards of both Fairfax and APN decide to further unencumber their companies of costs, debts and logistical difficulties, a public listing may be the way forward, said Forsyth Barr managing director Neil Paviour-Smith. ''You'd sell it as a mature, high-yielding type operation,'' said Paviour-Smith.''The New Zealand assets of Fairfax have actually traded reasonably well, it's in Australia you've still got high legacy cost structures, probably typical of a lot of the Australian industry that haven't made changes of the scale that's happened in New Zealand over the years. ''Milford Asset Management principal Brian Gaynor said the time to do that was now well past with few buyers interested in print businesses. But Forsyth Barr's head of research Rob Mercer has predicted high demand for the likes of the New Zealand Herald given a realistic price.'' Because of the maturity and the risks, it would have to be quite an attractive price and well-supported by a conservatively structured balance sheet and a solid yield. ''Paviour-Smith agreed a listing was an option but said the Herald could also be a target for a private buyer.'' It may be that the Herald is of interest to a private equity type outfit that likes the cashflow, brand, market position and so on. It could probably be refloated in its own right, almost back to [the Herald's former listed holding company] Wilson & Horton style,'' he said. Sydney-based Fat Prophets media market analyst Greg Fraser said sharebrokers would be keen to talk-up a sharemarket float, but the underlying problems facing media companies could not be solved with new ownership or capital structures. ''You have to think about why they're selling assets - it's just about paying down debt or getting rid of businesses that aren't paying their way,'' said Fraser. ''It signals the distress that these companies are experiencing... in the short term they've got no choice, but until they can sell some of these assets they're going to have to continue to cut costs.'' * Fairfax Media owns Stuff.co.nz - Stuff Comments
Dear Allergy Shot Lady, You have changed my life. Not just the part once a week where you pinch my arm and stab me with a needle (or two) filled with the things that make me itch the most, but every part. You have changed the way I SLEEP. I don’t have to lean my head back in hopes I won’t wake up in the middle of the night grasping for a tissue. In the morning, my mouth is no longer comparable to the Sahara. You have changed the way I DRINK. It used to feel like drowning. Like the water couldn’t figure out whether to go up my throat or down it. Every gulp was a decision to trade a moment of being able to breathe in order to quench my thirst. Sometimes it wasn’t worth the trade. You have changed the way I EAT. Leaving the table to do jumping jacks in the bathroom so that I can come back and maybe, just maybe, be able to taste the food on my plate for one minute before my nasal passages shut is now a the thing of a past. I can enjoy a flight of beer with my dad and make comments on the taste rather than the color. I can smell EVERYTHING. Who knew I’d be so happy to know why the person in the stall next to me is refusing to make a sound until everyone else exits the bathroom? I drink so much water. I roll from my side to my stomach in bed. Worry-free. I don’t sound (as) funny when I speak. I don’t secretly crave a close-call when I’m driving so that the rush of adrenaline will clear my airways. Did I mention I don’t have to do jumping jacks in the bathroom anymore?! I will never take another breath for granted. And I will see you next week. Sincerely, Ex-Mouth Breather Advertisements
NEWARK — Two more weeks and a lecture. That’s what a federal judge in Newark gave singer Lauryn Hill today. Hill, the South Orange resident who blazed a trail for female hip-hop singers 15 years ago, was in federal court today, facing the music for her admitted turn as a tax scofflaw. The 37-year-old mother of six was due to be sentenced on three misdemeanor counts of failing to file three years of tax returns, accounting for $1.8 million in income. She pleaded guilty last summer to the charges, and could face up to 30 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, her attorney said. But U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Madeline Cox Arleo decided to postpone sentencing until May 6, in part to give Hill more time to satisfy her criminal tax liability. It now stands at about $504,000. 17 Gallery: Celebrities and their tax problems Arleo did so even after it became clear that Hill had paid just a fraction of the nearly $1 million total she owes the federal and state government, despite declarations to do otherwise. The only payment Hill had made was $50,000 late last year, according to her attorney, Nathan Hochman of Bingham McCutchen. Arleo was incredulous, noting Hill’s “substantial assets.” These include a stream of royalties from Hill’s back catalog, which includes her 1998 solo album, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” which went on to win five Grammy Awards. “This is not someone who stands before the court penniless,” she said. Hill, who was sitting at the time, was dressed in a dark-striped trench coat over a billowy white blouse and dark pants. At her side, a designer clutch handbag sat. She did not speak during the hearing, nor with reporters afterward. Arleo gave Hill until the Friday before May 6 to pay off her criminal tax liability. The judge also declared she will not postpone the hearing again, absent extraordinary circumstances. “Actions speak louder than words,” she said before she postponed the sentencing. Hochman said that Hill plans to pay off the tax debt through a $650,000 loan she is securing against two properties she owns. The judge’s deadline does not apply to the civil tax liability that Hill faces, which includes interest, penalties and unpaid state taxes. Altogether, the singer owes a total of $968,000 to tax collectors, Hochman said. Based on that amount, federal sentencing guidelines call for prison sentences of 24 to 30 months, he said, adding that he is hopeful that Hill will be given probation instead. CONNECT WITH US On mobile or desktop: • Like Star-Ledger Business on Facebook • Follow @ledgerbiz on Twitter And check out our redesigned mobile site by visiting NJ.com from any mobile browser. Today’s proceeding also revealed that Hill, whose last album was released in 2002, has plans to release new music. Last summer, Hill signed a new recording contract, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Moser said. Under the terms of the deal, Hill was to receive $1 million for recording five songs, plus additional money if she completed a new album of music, she told Arleo. But Hill has yet to complete the initial five songs, and a tour she embarked upon late last year did not generate as much revenue as anticipated, Moser said. After the hearing, a Hill representative said the singer has signed a deal with Sony Music, but he declined to discuss the terms. He also disputed reports that said she is behind on her rent for a South Orange house, though he acknowledged the singer is facing a lawsuit by the town that alleges she uses the mansion on Irving Avenue for rehearsals and to house visiting musicians, a violation of zoning ordinances. RELATED COVERAGE • Lauryn Hill reportedly faces eviction; tax evasion sentencing Monday • Lauryn Hill, homeless? Not quite, but singer faces two lawsuits • Singer Lauryn Hill pleads guilty to tax evasion charges • Grammy winner, N.J. native Lauryn Hill charged with failing to file taxes on $1.8M in income
Last week, The Salvation Army released a statement expressing concern that sex robots could increase demand for sex work and sex trafficking. This particular moral panic seems a little premature; according to Nature, “just four companies, all located in the United States, currently produce [extremely basic] sex robots.” But this hasn’t stopped some social conservatives and feminists uniting in opposition to the potential spread of this emerging technology. Unsurprisingly, rigorous academic studies into the effects of sex robots are extremely hard to come by. But the battle lines have already been drawn—anyone familiar with other debates relating to the sex industry (e.g. sex work and pornography) knows that this research area is plagued by motivated reasoning, blind speculation, and emotive anecdotes. Sadly, I do not think that the coming debate on sex robots will be any different. British opposition to sex robots is led by the Campaign Against Sex Robots, spearheaded by robotics researcher Dr. Kathleen Richardson. In the position paper that launched the campaign, Dr. Richardson wrote that: “The arguments that sex robots will provide artificial sexual substitutes and reduce the purchase of sex by buyers is not borne out by evidence. There are numerous sexual artificial substitutes already available, RealDolls, vibrators, blow-up dolls etc., If an artificial substitute reduced the need to buy sex, there would be a reduction in prostitution but no such correlation is found.” But if there is no correlation between the availability of artificial sex substitutes and the amount of sex purchased, then this also rules out the possibility that sex robots will increase demand for the purchase of sex! For the moment, the arguments on both sides are speculative. Richardson states that “new technology supports and contributes to the expansion of the sex industry,” citing the growth of the sex industry spurred by the expansion of internet. To me, this seems like a very weak argument; there is an obvious, meaningful difference between the internet’s effects on human sexual commerce and sex robots’ potential effects on human sexual commerce. My prediction is that, like sexual violence and pornography, the substitution effect will dominate. I also predict that this substitution effect will be larger for sex buyers who aren’t as interested in the mutuality aspect of commercial sex: arguably a more problematic group of sex buyers. Let’s say I’m wrong, and that sex robots turn out to be a complement to buying sex. Would an increase in demand for sex work brought about by sex robots necessarily be a net harm to society? The whole ‘End Demand’ approach to sex work is fundamentally flawed, and any potential harms must also be weighed against potential benefits such as using sex robots to alleviate loneliness and assist in sexual therapy. It’s also worth noting that whilst men are almost certainly going to be the primary market for sex robots, they aren’t the only group involved. Dr. Richardson briefly highlights this in her position paper: “But the development of sex robots is not confined to adult females, adult males are also a potential market for homosexual males.” Women of all sexualities are also likely to comprise a non-trivial proportion of sex robot owners. In the few surveys conducted into attitudes towards sex robots, women “answered positively about half as often” as men. The idea that some women may purchase sex robots as they become more widely available is not that farfetched. In the coming years, the debate over the legal and societal approaches we should take towards sex robots will become more prominent. That conversation must include voices that emphasize their potential positive impacts and call out evidence-free scaremongering.
Contents show] Welcome to the Reddit Island Wiki! Edit The wiki of the Reddit Island project. Propose and collaborate on ideas. Develop the project and help get it off the ground. Contribute whatever you can! The Reddit Island Mission Edit The Reddit Island project has the ambitious goal of purchasing an island and developing it as a cross between a small self-sustaining community and a tourism spot. This is not an attempt to create an independent island operating outside the law, nor is it going to be a Pirate Bay Sealand spin-off. This is about the internet as a community, coming together through social media sites, and investing a small amount of time and energy across thousands of people to create something real and tangible. Because we are a group of many with many ideas and the idea is growing and changing every day we are using social media technologies to share, learn and collaborate with each other on realizing this dream. You can participate by editing this wiki to share your thoughts, ideas, proposals and more. You can can also participate in the full community by visiting the other sites below: Island Feed Edit Loading RSS data...
No longer happy working in media and advertising, Mea Trenor gave it all up to go back to school for zoology. Now she’s racing to save an endangered frog from extinction – if only she can find it first. Last December, Mea Trenor found herself at dusk in South Africa’s Natal highlands picking through undergrowth desperately trying to find a frog. Not just any frog, but a cryptic, endangered amphibian that pretty much no one has ever heard of: the mistbelt chirping frog. Trenor, and her team of “froggers,” had located the frog’s general location by listening for its telltale song, but now they had to find a lone male no bigger than a fingernail in the fading light. “We knew the frog was right there, within the square meter in front of us,” Trenor wrote in a blog for the the Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (Edge) programme, which is funding her work. “Yet it took three experienced froggers almost 20 minutes’ of triangulation, on our knees, digging through pine needles and grass to finally see it. It was a beautiful moment.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Mea Trenor with the mistbelt chirping frog. Photograph: Mea Trenor Beautiful, because this was Trenor’s first – and to date only – encounter with her endangered research subject. Trenor didn’t begin her professional career as a frog conservationist. Far from it. For seven years she worked in the advertising and magazine industry, first as a fashion editor for Atoll Media and then as editor of Saltwater Girl, a consumer magazine for teenage girls in South Africa. While this might be a dream job for some young women, it took its toll on Trenor. “I felt despondent and like I wasn’t contributing anything to saving our beautiful planet,” she said. “Nothing quite like being immersed in a world where consumerism is shoved down your throat to leave you feeling empty and in need of a new perspective, right?” So, she quit her job and went back to school for zoology. Six years later, she became a fellow for the Edge Programme focused on an obscure little amphibian called the chirping mistbelt frog (Anhydrophryne ngongoniensis). “I never chose frogs, they kind of chose me,” said Trenor, who is currently a master’s student at North-West University and a member of the African Amphibian Conservation Research Group. “I understand that all species are important in the web of life, we can’t just want to save the ones that are cute or impressive to the masses.” It was this philosophy that attracted Trenor to the Edge programme, which she said “aims to protect our evolutionary heritage.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Grassland landscapes where the mistbelt chirping frog lives. In the background are tree plantations. Photograph: Mea Trenor Edge is arguably the world’s most unusual conservation initiative. Instead of focusing on species that are “charismatic” and likely to bring in big funders, ZSL conservationists wanted a more scientific way of picking their targets. They developed a mathematical formula to combine how endangered a species is – based on the IUCN Red List – and how bizarre it is or, scientifically speaking, evolutionarily distinct. “These are species which are unique in the way they look, live and behave, have few or no close relatives on the tree of life, and are on the brink of extinction,” explained Nisha Owen, the programme manager at ZSL’s Edge. Since 2007, the Edge programme has crafted lists of the top 100 Edge species in various animals groups, including mammals, amphibians and birds. The mistbelt chirping frog just made the amphibian list, coming in at number 100. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Researchers set up audio survey equipment at one of the grassland sites. They surveyed the frogs through the songs of males. Photograph: Mea Trenor Only found in the high-altitude grasslands of South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, the mistbelt chirping frog is distinct for a number of reasons. For one thing this species skips the tadpole stage, so its eggs produce fully-formed froglets, even tinier dopplegangers of the adults. Although an amphibian, these frogs spend none of their lifecycle in water. Moreover, the species belongs to a family of amphibians, the Pyxicephalidae, that split off from other amphibians 70 million years ago. To put this in perspective, Owen noted that “whales are more closely related to pigs than these frogs are to any other amphibian.” And like so many amphibians today, the mistbelt chirping frog is facing down extinction. Conservationists believe only 3,000 or so survive in a few populations in a range spreading over 1,500 sq km – about the area of greater London. But many of the populations are thought to be unconnected and the frog is believed to actually inhabit only 0.6% of its range. “The frog is found in small patches of grassland and indigenous forest that are surrounded by enormous agricultural forestry plantations,” explained Trenor. “This limits the movement of the frogs [and] we believe it could affect populations on a genetic level. But a lot more research is needed.” Trenor, whose project is also supported by the Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund and the Endangered Wildlife Trust South Africa, is now working with the plantations to create better management practices in order to safeguard the frogs, such as clearing invasive species, improving burning regimes and minimising cattle grazing. I’m not necessarily changing the world but I do believe in what I do, and that changed my world. Mea Trenor “If I had my way, every little piece of nature left on this planet would be a reserve. But if we can get the land owners to manage their land in a way that would benefit the frog, then we’re already winning,” she said, noting that the companies in question “seem to be totally on board the conservation train.” Only discovered in 1993, the mistbelt chirping frog is actually quite fortunate to have a conservationist paying any attention to it. The vast majority of the world’s uncharismatic, little species are left out in the cold by conservation groups. “I love the big charismatic animals as much as everyone else ... but, wow, it’s scary to see how imbalanced funding for conservation is when it comes to less iconic species,” said Trenor. This is the tide the Edge programme is trying to swim against – to save obscure, little-loved and sometimes patently ugly (from a human perspective) species from extinction. “Overlooked by the conservation agenda, when [these species] are gone there will be nothing like them left on Earth,” said Owen. “Many of them are receiving little or no conservation attention, and would be lost forever without ZSL’s work and the work of our Edge Fellows.” For Trenor, she’s happy about the decision she has made. Not only is she working to save species from extinction, but she’s also still using her media savvy to make wildlife films. “I’m not necessarily changing the world but I do believe in what I do, and that changed my world,” she said. If Trenor’s work on the mistbelt chirping frog succeeds, she will also be changing the circumstances for one of the planets millions – literally millions – of innocuous species.
Everyone knows what it feels like to have consciousness: it's that self-evident sense of personal awareness, which gives us a feeling of ownership and control over the thoughts, emotions and experiences that we have every day. Most experts think that consciousness can be divided into two parts: the experience of consciousness (or personal awareness), and the contents of consciousness, which include things such as thoughts, beliefs, sensations, perceptions, intentions, memories and emotions. It's easy to assume that these contents of consciousness are somehow chosen, caused or controlled by our personal awareness – after all, thoughts don't exist until until we think them. But in a new research paper in Frontiers of Psychology, we argue that this is a mistake. We suggest that our personal awareness does not create, cause or choose our beliefs, feelings or perceptions. Instead, the contents of consciousness are generated "behind the scenes" by fast, efficient, non-conscious systems in our brains. All this happens without any interference from our personal awareness, which sits passively in the passenger seat while these processes occur. Put simply, we don't consciously choose our thoughts or our feelings – we become aware of them. Not just a suggestion If this sounds strange, consider how effortlessly we regain consciousness each morning after losing it the night before; how thoughts and emotions – welcome or otherwise – arrive already formed in our minds; how the colours and shapes we see are constructed into meaningful objects or memorable faces without any effort or input from our conscious mind. Consider that all the neuropsychological processes responsible for moving your body or using words to form sentences take place without involving your personal awareness. We believe that the processes responsible for generating the contents of consciousness do the same. Our thinking has been influenced by research into neuropsychological and neuropsychiatric disorders, as well as more recent cognitive neuroscience studies using hypnosis. The studies using hypnosis show that a person's mood, thoughts and perceptions can be profoundly altered by suggestion. In such studies, participants go through a hypnosis induction procedure, to help them to enter a mentally focused and absorbed state. Then, suggestions are made to change their perceptions and experiences. For example, in one study, researchers recorded the brain activity of participants when they raised their arm intentionally, when it was lifted by a pulley, and when it moved in response to a hypnotic suggestion that it was being lifted by a pulley. Similar areas of the brain were active during the involuntary and the suggested "alien" movement, while brain activity for the intentional action was different. So, hypnotic suggestion can be seen as a means of communicating an idea or belief that, when accepted, has the power to alter a person's perceptions or behaviour. The personal narrative All this may leave one wondering where our thoughts, emotions and perceptions actually come from. We argue that the contents of consciousness are a subset of the experiences, emotions, thoughts and beliefs that are generated by non-conscious processes within our brains. This subset takes the form of a personal narrative, which is constantly being updated. The personal narrative exists in parallel with our personal awareness, but the latter has no influence over the former. The personal narrative is important because it provides information to be stored in your autobiographical memory (the story you tell yourself, about yourself), and gives human beings a way of communicating the things we have perceived and experienced to others. This, in turn, allows us to generate survival strategies; for example, by learning to predict other people's behaviour. Interpersonal skills like this underpin the development of social and cultural structures, which have promoted the survival of human kind for millennia. So, we argue that it is the ability to communicate the contents of one's personal narrative - and not personal awareness – that gives humans their unique evolutionary advantage. What's the point? If the experience of consciousness does not confer any particular advantage, it's not clear what it's purpose is. But as a passive accompaniment to non-conscious processes, we don't think that the phenomena of personal awareness has a purpose, in much the same way that rainbows do not. Rainbows simply result from the reflection, refraction and dispersion of sunlight through water droplets – none of which serves any particular purpose. Our conclusions also raise questions about the notions of free will and personal responsibility. If our personal awareness does not control the contents of the personal narrative which reflects our thoughts, feelings, emotions, actions and decisions, then perhaps we should not be held responsible for them. In response to this, we argue that free will and personal responsibility are notions that have been constructed by society. As such, they are built into the way we see and understand ourselves as individuals, and as a species. Because of this, they are represented within the non-conscious processes that create our personal narratives, and in the way we communicate those narratives to others. Just because consciousness has been placed in the passenger seat, does not mean we need to dispense with important everyday notions such as free will and personal responsibility. In fact, they are embedded in the workings of our non-conscious brain systems. They have a powerful purpose in society and have a deep impact on the way we understand ourselves. David A Oakley, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, UCL and Peter Halligan, Hon Professor of Neuropsychology, Cardiff University. This article was originally published by The Conversation. Read the original article.
UPDATED: The Gill Action fund moved conference locations after learning that the owner of the hotel, and leader of the wealthy Southeast Asian nation, will institute a policy that calls for gays to be stoned to death. The Beverly Hills Hotel is the subject of a boycott by an LGBT advocacy group over an anti-gay policy instituted by the owner of the hotel chain, the Sultan of Brunei. The Gill Action Fund -- a national political organization founded by entrepreneur and activist Tim Gill -- was scheduled to hold a conference for political donors at the Beverly Hills Hotel on May 1-4, according to The Washington Blade. (A spokesperson for the Beverly Hills Hotel declined to comment on the the details of the conference.) The executive director of the fund, Kirk Fordham, disclosed to the Blade that it was moving locations due to the government of Brunei's new penal code. “In light of the horrific anti-gay policy approved by the government of Brunei, Gill Action made the decision earlier today to relocate its conference from the Beverly Hills Hotel to another property,” Fordam told the paper. STORY: Why Hollywood Moved In to Beverly Hills The Southeast Asian nation of Brunei will institute a revised penal code on April 22 that includes "stoning to death" for a broad range of sexual offenses, according to a United Nations news release on April 11. The country's leader, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, had announced plans last October to implement the code, which applies only to Muslims, The Associated Press reported at the time. Bolkiah controls Brunei Investment Agency, which counts the Dorchester Group as a subsidiary. The Dorchester Group owns The Dorchester Collection, which owns The Beverly Hills Hotel. Other hotels in the Dorchester Collection include The Hotel Bel-Air in L.A., 45 Park Lane in London and Le Meurice in Paris. Many A-list industry events are held at the Beverly Hills Hotel, including The Hollywood Reporter's annual Women in Entertainment gala, hosted on Dec. 11 of last year. "[W]e do not tolerate any form of discrimination of any kind," read a statement issued by the Beverly Hills Hotel to THR. "We are also against any law in any other country around the world that punishes people for their religious beliefs, ethnicity, race or sexual orientation. The laws and policies that govern how we run our hotel have nothing to do with the laws that exist in any other country outside of the United States. We do not tolerate any form of discrimination and strongly value people and cultural diversity amongst our guests and employees." Correction: This story originally stated that the Crosby Street Hotel in New York is part of the Dorchester Collection. In fact, the Crosby is not affiliated with the group. The hotel is owned by the Firmdale Group.
News > ESPORT > DreamHack Winter CS:GO broadcast talent DreamHack Winter is now only days away from opening the doors and hosting the $250,000 FACEIT CS:GO League Season Finale at DreamHack Winter, with eight top teams competing. Today we present you with the broadcast talent for the event. Majority of the information surrounding next week’s event has already been announced, but one of the final pieces in the puzzle is the broadcast talent who will bring you all the action from Jönköping, Sweden. Broadcast talent The group of people we have assembled for this event represents both DreamHack and FACEIT regulars. The last DreamHack event in 2015 to feature will obviously include the premiere CS:GO casting duo Anders and Semmler and to wrap up the FACEIT season, ddk and James Bardolph will also represent. The full list of talent for the event consists of 12 individuals and they are: Panel host – Richard Lewis Interviewer – Pala “Mantrousse” Gilroy Sen Commentator – Anders Blume Commentator – Auguste “Semmler” Massonnat Commentator – Daniel “ddk” Kapadia Commentator – James Bardolph Commentator – Stuart “Tosspot” Saw Commentator – Robin “Fifflaren” Johansson Expert – Duncan “Thorin” Shields Analyst – Janko “YNk” Paunović Analyst – Halvor “vENdetta” Gulestøl Analyst – Mathieu “Maniac” Quiquerez We welcome Maniac and vENdetta as they will have their debut as talent at a DreamHack event, and a pleasant return to YNk as well as Tosspot. ATTEND THE EVENT Interested in attending the event? You can get tickets for this spectacular event. For the three days of CS:GO action in Jönköping, Sweden. Fans wanting to come can do so by purchasing tickets by going here. More information about travel and accommodation for the event can be found by going here.
San Francisco voters will have a chance to repeal a new ban on flavored tobacco including menthol cigarettes next June. After spending nearly $700,000, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company succeeded in collecting enough signatures to place a referendum on the ballot to overturn San Francisco’s ban on flavored tobacco. But before it reaches the voters, the Board of Supervisors had a chance Tuesday to reconsider its vote and repeal the law. The board did not reconsider it and unanimously voted not to repeal the law. “No cowering to R.J. Reynolds,” said Supervisor Malia Cohen, who had introduced the flavored tobacco ban. “It’s offensive that a company that kills people for a living is singularly bankrolling a campaign that they claim is about freedom of choice,” Cohen said. “Their campaign is all about protecting their products and cultivating new smokers and getting them hooked.” She added, “They are not just getting anyone hooked. They are systematically targeting our children.” The campaign against the flavored tobacco ban is called “Let’s Be Real, San Francisco — Coalition to Qualify Referendum on Flavored Tobacco Sales Ban,” funded by R.J. Reynolds. But it’s more than just “Big Tobacco” against the ban. Miriam Zouzounis, a board member with the Arab American Grocers Association and a member of the San Francisco Small Business Commission, warned the ban will have an adverse impact on corner store businesses. “You can’t expect someone to build a business entirely anew when you’ve cut the legs off from underneath them and decide to criminalize a business they’ve been operating,” Zouzounis said. Starchild, vice chair of the Libertarian Party in San Francisco, said that “banning flavored tobacco products or any other substance people might want to put into their bodies is absolutely the wrong way to go.” “Look at the history of the war on drugs. Banning stuff … does not work,” Starchild said. “All you do is create a black market and that creates more opportunities for police officers to target people in these marginalized communities.” Click here or scroll down to comment
How Did This Get Made? #92 Welcome back to the finale of the 1st ANNUAL HOWDIES!!! Paul, June, and Jason saved some of the best categories for last as they unveil the Most Awkward Paul/June Introduction, Jason’s single proper usage of “LITERALLY!”, Best Impression By A Host, June’s Most Upsetting, and much more, including new supercuts! Los Angeles: Get your tickets now for a LIVE HDTGM at Largo on Saturday, September 20th at 10pm over at www.largo-la.com! Make sure to check out The Hotwives of Orlando now over at www.hulu.com! Also, you can now check out Paul in “Jason Nash is Married” available on iTunes, Jason Mantzoukas in “They Came Together” in theaters & VOD, June Diane Raphael & Casey Wilson in ASS BACKWARDS for free on Netflix & HULU & Paul in OJ: The Musical available on VOD & iTunes! Don’t forget to grab yourself a brand new HDTGM Daredevil T-shirt over at the Earwolf store and a copy of Paul’s comic book Aliens Vs. Parker now available at www.amazon.com!
Yankeedom: Founded on the shores of Massachusetts Bay by radical Calvinists as a new Zion, this region since the outset has emphasized perfecting earthly society through social engineering, individual self-denial for the common good, and the aggressive assimilation of outsiders. It has prized education, intellectual achievement, community (rather than individual) empowerment, and broad citizen participation in politics and government, the latter seen as the public's shield against the machinations of grasping aristocrats, corporations, and other tyrannies. Today it is closely allied with the Left Coast and New Netherland. New Netherland: Established by the Dutch at a time when the Netherlands was the most sophisticated society in the western world, it has displayed its salient characteristics throughout its history: a global commercial trading culture—multi-ethnic, multireligious, materialistic—with a profound tolerance for diversity and an unflinching commitment to the freedom of inquiry and conscience. Like 17th-century Amsterdam, it emerged as a leading global center of publishing, trade, and finance, a magnet for immigrants, and a refuge for those persecuted by other regional cultures. Midlands: America's great swing region was founded by English Quakers, who believed in humanity's inherent goodness and welcomed people of many nations and creeds to their utopian colonies on the shores of Delaware Bay. Pluralistic and organized around the middle class, the Midlands spawned the culture of the heartland, where ethnic and ideological purity have never been a priority, government has been seen as an unwelcome intrusion, and political opinion has been moderate, even apathetic. An ethnic mosaic from the start—it had a German, rather than British majority, at the time of the Revolution—the region shares the Yankee belief that society should be organized to benefit ordinary people, but it rejects top-down government intervention. Advertisement Tidewater: Built by the younger sons of southern English gentry, it was meant to reproduce the semifeudal manorial society of the countryside they'd left behind, where economic, political, and social affairs were run by and for landed aristocrats. Tidewater has always been fundamentally conservative, with great value placed on respect for authority and tradition, and very little on equality or public participation in politics. The most powerful region in the 17th and 18th centuries, today it is in decline, having been boxed out of westward expansion by its boisterous Appalachian neighbors and, more recently, eaten away by the expanding Midlands. Greater Appalachia: It was founded in the early 18th century by wave upon wave of rough, bellicose settlers from the war-ravaged borderlands of Northern Ireland, northern England, and the Scottish lowlands, whose culture included a warrior ethic and deep commitments to personal sovereignty and individual liberty. Intensely suspicious of lowland aristocrats and Yankee social engineers alike, Appalachia has shifted alliances on the basis of whoever appeared to be the greatest threat to its freedom; since Reconstruction it has been in alliance with the Deep South in an effort to undo the federal government's ability to overrule local preferences. Deep South: Established by slave lords from Barbados as a West Indies-style slave society, this region has been a bastion of white supremacy, aristocratic privilege, and a version of classical Republicanism modeled on the slave states of the ancient world, where democracy was the privilege of the few and enslavement the natural lot of the many. Its slave and caste systems smashed by outside intervention, it continues to fight for rollbacks of federal power, cuts in taxes on capital and the wealthy, and weakened environmental, labor, and consumer-safety protections. El Norte: Most Americans are aware that the Spanish-founded borderlands are a place apart, where Hispanic language, culture, and societal norms dominate; few realize that among Mexicans, norteños have a reputation for being more independent, self-sufficient, adaptable, and work-centered than their central and southern countrymen. Long a hotbed of democratic reform and revolutionary settlement, various parts of the region have tried to secede from Mexico to form independent buffer states. Today the region resembles Germany during the cold war: two peoples with a common culture separated from each other by a large wall. Left Coast: Originally colonized by two groups: on the one hand, merchants, missionaries, and woodsmen from New England (who arrived by sea and dominated the towns), and on the other, farmers, prospectors, and fur traders from Greater Appalachia (who generally arrived by wagon and controlled the countryside.), the Left Coast is a hybrid of Yankee idealism, faith in good government and social reform, and the Appalachian commitment to individual self-expression and exploration. The staunchest ally of Yankeedom and greatest champion of environmentalism, it battles constantly against Far Western sections in the interior of its home states. Far West: It's the one part of the continent where environmental factors have trumped ethnographic ones. High, dry, and remote, the Far West stopped the eastern regions in their tracks and, with minor exceptions, was colonized only via the deployment of vast industrial resources by distant corporations and the federal government. Exploited as an internal colony for the benefit of the seaboard regions, the Far West has oscillated between anticorporate populism and antigovernment conservatism. Two other nations—Inuit-dominated First Nation, in the far North, and Quebec-centered New France—are located primarily in Canada, although they control parts of Alaska and Louisiana, respectively.
In response to those who took exception with his claims that the Ukrainian crisis involved “outside agitators,” Oliver Stone took to social media to advance his argument, saying that Ukrainians are the victims of a US strategy akin to Cold War 2.0. This week, Stone stirred a political firestorm with his views on what he believed sparked the Ukrainian crisis, following a private interview with Viktor Yanukovich, the former Ukrainian president who was ousted in the February 2014 coup. "It seems clear that the so-called ‘shooters’ who killed 14 policemen, wounded some 85 and killed 45 protesting civilians, were outside, third-party agitators,” Stone said, following his four-hour conversation with Yanukovich in Moscow. “Many witnesses, including Yanukovich and police officials, believe these foreign elements were introduced by pro-Western factions – with CIA fingerprints on it.” According to the American-born filmmaker and writer, Ukraine is just the latest country in a long list to fall prey to “America’s soft power technique called ‘Regime Change 101.’” Stone’s comments reverberated like an earthquake on both sides of the Ukrainian divide, prompting him to elaborate on his original statement. Stone’s follow-up post began with him explaining that he has no particular sympathy for Yanukovich. “For those of you angry with my analysis of Ukraine yesterday, please try to understand the bigger picture I’m offering,” he wrote on his Facebook page. “I have no brief for Viktor Yanukovich, he may well be the most corrupt president Ukraine’s ever had. Ukraine has a dramatic history of corruption. That is not my point.” Whether they know it or not, the Ukrainian civilian population in the middle has suffered greatly from this ideological crusade. — Oliver Stone (@TheOliverStone) December 31, 2014 However, he went on to argue that there is “ample evidence of pro-Western, third-party interference” in Ukraine, specifically mentioning Victoria Nuland and John McCain, two high-ranking American officials who appeared on the streets of central Kiev at the height of the Maidan showdown between police and protesters. He also mentioned specific US government organizations, such as USAID, which has been operating in Ukraine since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the National Endowment for Democracy, which he remarked“apparently organize very well on Facebook and Twitter,”suggesting a possible method of organizing the protesters for an anti-government rally. READ MORE: ‘CIA fingerprints’ all over Kiev massacre – Oliver Stone Stone asked the question why so many Ukrainian policemen were killed and wounded during the occasionally violent rallies, “Yet no one has investigated this in the new government?” Indeed, there has been much speculation that the so-called Maidan snipers were working in the pay of those who were trying to orchestrate the protests, and it was their aim to shoot members from both sides to trigger deeper social unrest. To emphasize his point that the US has been playing games in Ukraine for a long time, Stone made a historical reference to 1949, when Defense Secretary James Forrestal, together with the cooperation of the CIA, created a guerrilla force codenamed ‘Nightingale’ that was comprised of ultra-nationalist Ukrainians. US involvement w/ Ukraine goes back to 1949 when CIA created a guerrilla army codenamed Nightingale, made up of ultra-nationalist Ukrainians — Oliver Stone (@TheOliverStone) December 31, 2014 For five years, according to Stone, the CIA was parachuting Ukrainian infiltrators into the country. Stone implored his audience to see the “big picture,” which is that the United States “has never given up on using Ukraine as a launching pad to the underbelly of the Soviet Union, now a reduced Russia.” “This Cold War 2.0 policy continues in a most deadly fashion, and whether they know it or not, the Ukrainian civilian population in the middle has suffered greatly from this ideological crusade,” Stone said.
The Fish and Game Council wants Conservation Minister Nick Smith to resign, accusing him of threatening its future if it continues to question irrigation projects and intensive farming. The council is an independent body with statutory authority to protect rivers, lakes and streams and the sole agency for issuing hunting and fishing licences. Photo: RNZ Nick Smith has rejected accusations that he told Fish and Game members at a tense meeting on 18 July in Wellington to essentially pull back on campaigning or risk the council being stripped of its statutory powers. But notes obtained by Radio New Zealand News from the meeting where Dr Smith is accused of making the comments quote him saying its "perks of being a statutory body could go" if it continues to behave like a "rabid NGO." "I'm a fan of Fish and Game" however the legislation "requires a tweak," the notes say. The notes say Dr Smith referred to billboards erected by Fish and Game in Canterbury asking: "Irrigation - how much is too much?" as a "problem politically." The notes say Dr Smith told council members "not to be noisy" and "when you cause trouble you burn goodwill." Five people who attended the 18 July meeting have told Radio New Zealand News that Dr Smith gave councillors a dressing down for their stance on trying to protect water quality in lakes and rivers. Fish and Game chairperson Lindsay Lyons told Radio New Zealand's Checkpoint programme on Monday that Nick Smith should resign because his behaviour at the meeting was unbecoming of a minister. He said 12 council members plus others at the meeting heard Dr Smith. "When the minister left we looked at each other and said wow." On Monday, Dr Smith denied that he threatened Fish and Game with restructuring because of its advocacy for fresh water and released notes taken by one of his staff at the meeting. "Big issue - F & G need to work out what they want to be: a statutory body - legislation and a relationship with Government or an NGO?? Statutory monopoly!!," the notes say. Read Nick Smith's notes (PDF file) Fish and Game chief executive Bryce Johnson says Dr Smith was hostile towards the organisation at the Wellington meeting and implied that he would restructure the council if it did not tone down its stance on water quality in the comment about tweaking. He said council members were "shocked" and "disgusted" at his attack on its statutory role. But Dr Smith said on Monday that he was talking about allowing people to buy fishing licences online. "I do want to make amendments to the Fish and Game licence scheme so that, for instance, there can be internet sales. That is totally out of context of any debate about water quality. It's actually about protecting and improving our Fish and Game system," he said. Photo: SUPPLIED Public entity Fish and Game is a public entity set up under the Conservation Act and overseen by the minister, but is by law independent of the Government of the day and is instead answerable to Parliament. Its statutory role is to advocate to maintain and enhance the quality of lakes and rivers. That has brought it into conflict with the National Party's economic growth agenda to subsidise massive irrigation dams to intensify agriculture and boost the economy. Scientists agree that intensive agriculture is polluting our lakes and rivers at an increasing rate, and that more intensive agriculture will only create more polluted waterways. Water issues Fish and Game has taken a lead role in advocating for water quality over issues such as the Ruataniwha Dam in Hawke's Bay and put up billboards throughout Canterbury over irrigation. Association of Freshwater Anglers president David Haynes said there was no doubt this activity has angered the Conservation Minister, and at the 18 July meeting said Nick Smith made it clear he wanted Fish and Game to shut up, stop carrying out its statutory function to advocate for clean rivers, and do as it was told. Mr Haynes said the minister indicated he wanted to "tweak" Fish and Game because its advocacy for clean rivers was standing in the way of economic growth. "Very clearly they were being castigated and that the idea of this tweaking was a threat - a threat to pull your neck in. I was also surprised to hear him say 'Fish and Game sometimes behaves like a rabid NGO, worse than Forest and Bird' - which is very insulting." Dr Smith has said he is thinking of taking legal action against Mr Haynes over his comments about the meeting, but Prime Minister John Key said on Monday that would be a step too far. Mr Key said he has not discussed Dr Smith's threat of legal action with the minister. Last year, Dr Smith was accused of politically interfering with a Department of Conservation submission on the Ruataniwha Dam on water quality issues, which was gutted from 30 pages to two paragraphs. The minister vigourously denied this. Two powerful lobby groups opposed to Fish and Game's lobbying on behalf of water quality, Irrigation New Zealand and Federated Farmers, have called on the Government to remove compulsory licenses for trout fishing and hunting, which would effectively be the end of Fish and Game. Political reaction Political opposition is mounting against any moves to change Fish and Game's mandate. United Future leader Peter Dunne said it was important that the organisation's voice was heard because it had an important advocacy function. "I want to make it clear that United Future opposes any moves to tweak, limit or restrict the advocacy powers of Fish and Game." Labour's conservation spokesperson Ruth Dyson said on Monday that the Conservation Minister is being intimidating and clearly trying to bully Fish and Game into abandoning its advocacy role. "Nick Smith has a bit of a reputation for closing down voices that speak against things that he's trying to promote. But when he does that to an independent organisation like Fish and Game, whose mandate is to promote the quality of our freshwater, he's really overstepped the mark." Green Party conservation spokesperson Eugenie Sage said she did not trust any moves by Dr Smith to tweak the legislation. Suppressing advocacy for water quality showed the Government's agenda was more pollution, rather than rivers clean enough to swim in, she said.
Jeremy Corbyn writes to his MPs saying he cannot support action, but many shadow cabinet members are said to be considering backing extended airstrikes Jeremy Corbyn and the shadow foreign secretary, Hilary Benn, have adopted sharply opposing views on UK military action against Islamic State, hours after David Cameron argued it was time to extend bombing to Syria. The Labour leader faced dissent in the shadow cabinet on Friday, with reports that most of the party’s front bench were considering supporting the prime minister when the House of Commons votes on airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria. Corbyn wrote to his MPs on Thursday saying Cameron had failed earlier in the day to explain how an aerial campaign would protect UK security, setting up an intense debate in the party before an expected Commons vote next week to broaden RAF airstrikes from Iraq to Syria. I know Isis fighters. Western bombs falling on Raqqa will fill them with joy \| Jürgen Todenhöfer Read more “I do not believe the prime minister’s current proposal for airstrikes in Syria will protect our security and therefore cannot support it,” Corbyn wrote. The letter was met with surprise among the most senior Labour MPs, who were believed to have agreed to spend the weekend sounding out constituents on the issue before presenting their position next week. Emily Thornberry, shadow employment minister, said there was a “brutally honest” debate within the party and accepted that there would be a rebellion if a whip against airstrikes were imposed. “I think that we have all agreed on a process, and the process is that there was a shadow cabinet meeting yesterday, we are then to go back to our constituents and ask them what they think,” Thornberry told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday. “We have an open debate, and a brutally honest debate, going on within the Labour party,” the shadow employment minister added. “I think there will always be divisions within the political parties – the Conservatives will have their divisions too. “When it comes to an issue of war, it is something that people think very profoundly about. We do usually act collectively, but I think on issues like this there are times when people cannot stick to a whip which is imposed.” Corbyn’s letter set the leader at odds with Benn, who had earlier told a meeting of the shadow cabinet that the arguments in favour of extending the airstrikes were “compelling”. The shadow foreign secretary, who believes that the prime minister has fulfilled the conditions laid down in a motion passed at the Labour conference on Syria, also contradicted Corbyn in public. The Syria debate shows MPs have learned the lessons of war \| Martin Kettle Read more Benn told the BBC: “We have heard compelling arguments both because of the threat to the United Kingdom and also because we are right to have been taking the action that we have in Iraq to support the Iraqi government in trying to repel the invasion from Isil [Isis].” This weekend, Corbyn will seek to win the approval of the shadow cabinet to oppose an extension of the airstrikes. He is drawing up plans to reach over the heads of his frontbench with an appeal to a parliamentary Labour party meeting on Monday night, after winning the support of just four members of his shadow cabinet at a meeting on Thursday afternoon. The Labour leader has pulled out of a planned visit on Friday to campaign in the Oldham West byelection in order to be in London to focus on building support for his position. A spokeswoman for the Labour leader said: “Regrettably Jeremy Corbyn is not now visiting Oldham because matters to do with Syria mean he must return to London.” The early skirmishes between Corbyn’s supporters and the once mainstream former ministers in the shadow cabinet came after the prime minister set out the case for an extension of the airstrikes. In a lengthy statement, Cameron said the UK was already facing the threat of mass casualties from Isis and argued that Britain could not outsource its security to allies. The prime minister, who was formally responding to a report by the commons foreign affairs select committee, which had opposed the airstrikes, told MPs: “We have to hit these terrorists in their heartlands right now: and we must not shirk our responsibility for security, or hand it to others. Throughout our history, the United Kingdom has stood up to defend our values and our way of life. We can, and we must, do so again.” Downing Street is planning to table a vote in the commons next week amid signs that the prime minister is assembling a majority. In a sign that a Tory rebellion will be smaller than expected, the chairman of the foreign affairs select committee, Crispin Blunt, who rebelled in a vote on military action in August 2013, signalled his support for the airstrikes. No 10 remains nervous about Labour’s position but believes that enough MPs will defy Corbyn to neutralise any remaining Tory rebellion. The French government took the unusual step of expressing the hope that the Royal Air Force “will soon be working side by side with their French counterparts” in taking military action in Syria. In a sometimes emotional appeal, the French defence minister writes in the Guardian that UK military capabilities would “put additional and extreme pressure on the Isis terror network”. Jean-Yves Le Drian said he wanted the RAF “to take the fight to the very heart of Isis, defeating it and making our countries and peoples safer”. French diplomats have been in touch with Labour frontbenchers to supplement this argument in private. The statement by the French is unlikely to move Corbyn, who unequivocally rejected the appeal by Cameron. In his letter, Corbyn said: “In my view, the prime minister has been unable to explain the contribution of additional UK bombing to a comprehensive negotiated political settlement of the Syrian civil war, or its likely impact on the threat of terrorist attacks in the UK.” The Labour leader released his letter after he found himself in a minority at a meeting of the shadow cabinet, where he won the support of four shadow ministers. Corbyn was supported by Diane Abbott, Jon Trickett and Nia Griffith. John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, did not speak but he supports the leader. Steve Bell on UK involvement in Syrian airstrikes – cartoon Read more Corbyn’s supporters said he was not isolated because many shadow ministers said they were conflicted over the airstrikes. But Benn was supported at the shadow cabinet meeting by Tom Watson, the deputy leader, the shadow lord chancellor Charles Falconer, Michael Dugher and Lucy Powell. A number of shadow ministers believe that the shadow cabinet should impose a three-line whip in favour of military action. But Corbyn is likely to appeal to the PLP if, as expected, he fails to win consensus behind his position at a meeting of the shadow cabinet. The leader’s camp are also hoping that pressure from the Momentum group – the social movement which grew out of Corbyn’s election – will persuade Labour MPs to back Corbyn on Syria at the meeting of the PLP. Corbyn believes that he enjoys greater support proportionally in the PLP than he does in the shadow cabinet. If the two sides fail to reach agreement, there is a growing expectation that Corbyn will eventually agree to allow Labour MPs to have a free vote. A three-line whip to oppose military action would split the shadow cabinet and lead to resignations. Ken Livingstone, the former London mayor who is close to Corbyn, suggested that there would be a free vote for Labour MPs. He told Question Time on BBC1: “You can’t force people to vote to kill other people or not to vote to kill them. This must be a matter in which people have the freedom to express their own view. I suspect it will be [a free vote].” Livingstone outlined Corbyn’s strategy in the run-up to the vote, saying: “I don’t think Labour is going to fall apart. We have got to decide whether we have a line or whether we allow a free vote. “The simple fact is that although the shadow cabinet has quite strong support for bombing, I suspect the parliamentary Labour party is much more divided on that. Over this weekend MPs are going to go back to their constituents; they will be listening to what people say and they will find there is a lot less support out there among the public for simply bombing than there might be in parliament. There’ll be a shadow cabinet meeting on Monday to decide what to do.” Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary, rallied behind Corbyn. He said: “I believe that no Labour MP should be conned or browbeaten into supporting this incoherent plan, which threatens to involve Britain in its fourth war this century.”
The YouTube account with the handle TheParodyQueen is dedicated to Christian parodies of popular songs. As the Queen describes herself, she’s “a wacky blonde who loves writing parodies of all genres with Christian lyrics.” In fairness, the covers aren’t bad at all and she certainly doesn’t seem very censorious or forbidding about any of it. It’s evident that the Parody Queen and her guitarist know David Bowie’s “Fame” inside and out and even seem to be grooving to it. Here’s a sample of the lyrics: Shame Keeps a man from the mirror Shame Steals hope from tomorrow Shame Makes you weep and brings you sorrow Shame A ball and chain through your veins is entertained by bringing you ... Pain -snip- Is it any wonder It infects and hurts? Shame Is it any wonder How Jesus took the curse? Shame The curious are welcome to peruse the account, which has Christian parodies of songs by Led Zeppelin, the Bee Gees, Gloria Gaynor, CCR, and so on. via Christian Nightmares Previously on Dangerous Minds: ‘Star Tract’: Demented Christian ‘Star Trek’ parody
Jiminy Cricket, the gloves are off now. Pinocchio is more honest than Rob Ford, Mayor John Tory said Wednesday. Tory’s trash talk comes a day after Councillor Ford slammed his mayoral successor for failing to deliver on his campaign promise to contract out trash collection east of Yonge St. The ex-mayor accused Tory of lying to voters and vowed to give him a “drumming” in the next election. Tory fired right back with a comparison to the puppet-turned-boy whose nose grew every time he told a lie. “If it came to my having a chat with somebody about honesty and I had a choice between Pinocchio and Mr. Ford, I’d pick Pinocchio,” Tory said. “With respect to the election to come, I don’t transfix myself — unlike others — with elections to come. I’m here to actually try and administer the affairs of the city in the best way that I know how, to make decisions carefully based on facts and evidence. “When the election comes, people will have to decide whether they want to see a re-run of a horror movie that they’ve been through or not. I don’t think they will.” Ford’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
It’s one of those feel-good stories everyone loves reading. An eighth grader at the Riverside School in Lyndonville, Vermont, interested in the history of her state, wrote to her senator requesting that the state consider adopting a new official state motto — Stella quarta decima fulgeat. The phrase, which means “May the fourteenth star shine bright,” references a motto that was printed on old Vermont coins, as well as the pride Vermont has as the 14th state admitted into the union. Unfortunately, when local television station WCAX covered the story, using the headline “Should Vermont Have an Official Latin Motto?” their Facebook commenters lashed out, seemingly interpreting “Latin Motto” to mean “Latino Motto,” and decrying the proposal as another step in the immigrant takeover of our great nation. (See the original Facebook post here.) Charles Topher at If Only You News captured some of the reactions, which pretty much speak for themselves. “We are AMERICANS, not Latins!” It should also be noted that Vermont has an English motto, “Freedom and Unity,” and that the bill proposing the Latin motto would be separate. But that subtlety is probably lost on someone who says “I thought Vermont was American not Latin?” “Go back to your Latin country.” Big shout out to the lady complaining about having to press 1 for English instead of considering the 37 million Americans who speak Spanish for which a second automated language menu might be helpful. “What next Arab motto??” “I thought this was USA why are they trying to maker Americans aliens” sounds suspiciously like the plot of a Steven Spielberg movie. It’s like the old saying goes: when in Rome, do as the Italians do. When in America, speak English. And when in Vermont, just hang out on Facebook all day. [h/t WCAX; imgs via If You Only News]
Bucks Blog The Journal Sentinel sports staff brings Milwaukee Bucks fans the latest news, notes and analysis SHARE By of the The Bucks are trading center Andrew Bogut and veteran guard Stephen Jackson to Golden State in exchange for Monta Ellis, Ekpe Udoh and the expiring contract of Kwame Brown, according to league sources. It's the first big deal prior to Thursday's trading deadline. The 7-foot Bogut is moving on after spending his first six-plus seasons with Milwaukee, after being taken No. 1 overall in the 2005 draft by the Bucks. Milwaukee gets a shooting guard to pair with point guard Brandon Jennings, giving the team a potentially dynamic starting backcourt. Ellis has two years left on his contract totaling $22 million but he has an opt-out after next season. Bogut played in just 12 games this season before fracturing his left ankle in a game played in Houston on Jan. 25. It's uncertain if he will be able to return this season. The 27-year-old Bogut was a third-team all-NBA selection after the 2009-'10 season, but he was injured near the end of that season when he suffered a massive fall to the Bradley Center floor after a dunk. He had surgery on his right hand and right elbow but still wasn't healed fully at the start of last season. Bogut had another surgery on his right elbow in April 2011. Jackson arrived in a June 2011 trade but had problems from the start with the Bucks. He reported to training camp out of shape and eventually lost his place in the starting lineup, after oversleeping and missing a shoot-around on Jan. 20 in New York. Jackson had not played the last nine games while seeking to be traded. He is owed $10 million for next season. Ellis was in his seventh season with Golden State and in the last two years had been the team's franchise player. He has career averages of 19.6 points and 4.4 assists. The 6-foot-3 Ellis is averaging 21.9 points and 6.0 assists in 37 starts this season for the Warriors. He recently was named the Western Conference player of the week as he averaged 20.5 points and 7.5 assists while leading the team to a 3-1 record, including victories over Dallas and the Los Angeles Clippers. He ranks ninth in the NBA in scoring, 16th in assists and 16th in steals. Udoh is a 6-10 forward-center from Baylor and is averaging 5.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 38 games with Golden State this season, including six starts. Udoh was the sixth overall pick in the 2010 draft after he had a breakout junior year at Baylor, averaging 13.9 points and 9.8 rebounds. Brown was acquired due to his $7 million expiring contract, helping the numbers match in the deal. Ellis will make $11 million next season and has a player option worth $11 million for the 2013-'14 season. It became clear last week that Bogut was hoping to be traded before the deadline - although he did not make a formal trade request - and the Bucks also had interest in making a deal. Bogut was seeking a fresh start in the hopes of putting his injury-plagued run in Milwaukee behind him. Ellis had said earlier Tuesday he was getting tired of the trade talk surrounding him. He had been rumored in several deals, including a possible trade to Orlando. The Warriors played in Sacramento on Tuesday night. "It's not a bad thing," Ellis told the Contra Costa Times after he learned of the trade to the Bucks and before he left the arena in Sacramento. "Not a bad thing at all." It was unclear when Ellis would join the Bucks and when he would be available to play. The Bucks play the Warriors in Oakland on Friday night. Udoh is a strong shot blocker and is expected to combine with Drew Gooden and Larry Sanders on the interior for the Bucks, along with power forward Ersan Ilyasova. Jennings thought Jackson would be the strong shooting guard to pair with him in the backcourt, but it never worked out. Ellis has played with a high-scoring point guard in Stephen Curry since the 2009-'10 season, so working with Jennings should not be a major adjustment for him. And Ellis' acquistion should take some scoring burden off Jennings, the Bucks' leading scorer at 19.1 points per game. Now the Bucks will have Ellis, Carlos Delfino and Mike Dunleavy Jr. to fill the shooting guard and small forward spots, with Shaun Livingston and Beno Udrih as backup help in the backcourt.
I was reading through the 2014 (last year’s) Berkshire Hathaway annual report and 10-K looking for a few things, and happened to reread Buffett’s letter from last year. I wrote a post a couple weeks ago concerning buybacks and Outerwall, and how a company that is buying back stock of a dying business is not a good use of capital. I noticed a passage in last year’s letter that is relevant to the topic—Buffett himself was attracted to buybacks on a dying business—Berkshire Hathaway in the early 1960’s. Berkshire was a Ben Graham cigar butt—it was trading at around $7 and had net working capital of $10, and book value of $20. Berkshire was a classic “net net”—a stock trading for less than the value of its cash, receivables, and inventory less all liabilities. Buffett liked the fact that Berkshire was a) trading at a cheap price relative to liquidation value, and b) using proceeds from the sale of plants to buy back shares—effectively liquidating the company through share repurchases. Here is what Buffett was looking at when he originally bought shares in this company in the early 1960’s: Like Outerwall, Berkshire’s business was in secular decline. In fact, it had been dying a long time, as the meeting notes from a 1954 Berkshire board meeting stated: “The textile industry in New England started going out of business forty years ago“. Also like Outerwall, Berkshire was buying back stock. One difference (among many of course) between Berkshire then and Outerwall now is that Berkshire was closing plants and using proceeds to buy back shares. From the 1964 Berkshire report (which can be found on page 130): “Our policy of closing plants which could not be operated profitabily was continued, and, as a result, the Berkshire King Philip Plants A and E in Fall River, Mass. were permanently closed during the year. The land and buildings of Plant A have been sold and those of Pant E offered for sale…. Berkshire Hathaway has maintained its strong financial positiona nd it would seem constructive to authorize the Directors, at their discretion, to purchase additional shares for retirement.” Outerwall, on the other hand, is producing huge amounts of cash flow from its operations, not from the sale of fixed assets. Liquidation vs. Leveraged Buyout Another difference is that Berkshire was in liquidation mode and was buying out shareholders (through buybacks and tender offers) from cash proceeds it received from selling off plants. Outerwall hasn’t been liquidating itself through buybacks—instead it has leveraged the balance sheet by issuing large amounts of debt, using the proceeds to buy back stock, which has reduced the share count, but not the size of the balance sheet or the amount of capital employed. Outerwall had total assets of around $1.3 billion five years ago, roughly the same as it does now (goodwill however has doubled due to acquisitions). These assets were financed in part by $400 million of debt and $400 million of equity in 2010. Today, the company’s assets are financed by roughly $900 million of debt, and shareholder equity is now negative. Outerwall has historically produced high returns on capital, and it’s a business that doesn’t need much tangible capital to produce huge amounts of cash flow (an attractive business), but it has been run similar to companies that get purchased by private equity firms—leverage up the balance sheet, issue a dividend (or buyout some shareholders), thus keeping very little equity “at risk”. It’s a gamble with other people’s money, and sometimes it results in a home run (sometimes, of course, it doesn’t). So Berkshire in the 1960’s was more of a slow liquidation. Outerwall is basically a publicly traded leveraged buyout. In the case of BRK, shareholders who purchased at $7 were rewarded with a tender offer of just over $11 a few years later. But that’s the nature of cigar butt investing—sometimes at the right price, there is a puff or two left that allows you to reap an outstanding IRR on your investment—in Buffett’s case, had he taken the tender offer from Seabury Stanton, his IRR on the BRK cigar butt investment would have been around 40%. He didn’t though, and the rest is history. It’s interesting to note another mistake that he points out in last year’s letter, one that I think is rarely mentioned but was very costly. Instead of putting National Indemnity in his partnership, which would have meant it was 100% owned by Buffett and his partners, he put it into Berkshire Hathaway, which meant that he and his partners only got 61% interest in it (the size of the stake that Buffett had in BRK at the time). I think this could have been Buffett’s way of doubling down on Berkshire (then, a dying business with terrible returns on capital). He thought he could save it (not the textile mills, but the entity itself) by adding a good business with solid cash flow and attractive returns to a bad business that was destroying capital. Obviously, as Buffett points out, he should have shut down the textile mills sooner, and just used National Indemnity to build what is now the company we know as Berkshire Hathaway. Two Mistakes to Avoid Two takeaways from this, which in Buffett’s own words were two of his greatest mistakes: It’s usually not a good idea to buy into bad businesses, even at a price that looks attractive If you are in a bad business, it probably doesn’t make sense to “double down”—for most of us, this could mean averaging down and buying more shares. In Buffett’s case, it was already a 25% position in his portfolio and he “doubled down” by throwing good money after bad (putting National Indemnity—a good business—inside a textile manufacturer instead of just a wholly owned company inside of Buffett’s partnership. The good news—things have worked out just fine for Buffett and for Berkshire. Although the textile mills unfortunately had to finally shut down for good, National Indemnity has come a long way since Buffett purchased it for $8.6 million in 1967 (see the original 2-page purchase contract here, no big Wall Street M&A fees on this deal). National Indemnity now has over $80 billion of float, and over $110 billion of net worth, making it the most valuable insurance company in the world. The insurance business that started with National Indemnity paid dividends to Berkshire last year of $6.4 billion and holds a massive portfolio of stocks, bonds, and cash worth $193 billion at year end. Buffett estimated his decision to put National Indemnity inside of Berkshire instead of in his partnership ended up costing Berkshire around $100 billion. It’s refreshing when the world’s best investor humbly lays out two of his largest mistakes, his original thesis, and the thought processes he subsequently had in regards to those investments. It’s also nice to note that despite two large mistakes, things worked out okay. I own shares in Berkshire, purchased for the first time ever just recently, and I’ll write a post with a few comments on the recent 10-K and annual report soon. Have a great week, John ——— John Huber is the portfolio manager of Saber Capital Management, LLC, an investment firm that manages separate accounts for clients. Saber employs a value investing strategy with a primary goal of patiently compounding capital for the long-term. I established Saber as a personal investment vehicle that would allow me to manage outside investor capital alongside my own. I also write about investing at the blog Base Hit Investing. I can be reached at john@sabercapitalmgt.com.
Mark Knopfler, Modest Mouse, Rebecca Ferguson, Damien Leith, Sleeping with Sirens, Marina & the Diamonds, Troy Cassar-Daley, Lee Kernaghan and Xavier Rudd lead the week’s new music releases. New Releases for week commencing Friday 13th of March, 2015 (unless otherwise noted below) Albums: Strangers to Ourselves – Modest Mouse (Sony) (DL/CD/Vinyl) Lady Sings the Blues – Rebecca Ferguson (Sony) (DL/CD) The Very Best of – Celtic Thunder (Sony) (DL/CD) Defenders of the Faith (30th Anniversary Edition) – Judas Priest (Sony) (DL/CD) The Moon & Antarctica (10th Anniversary Edition) – Modest Mouse (Sony) (CD) Songs from Ireland – Damien Leith (Sony) (DL/CD) Chain of Days – Silje Nergaard (Sony) (DL/CD) Madness – Sleeping with Sirens (Epitaph/Warner) (DL/CD/Vinyl) Lesser Oceans – Fences (Atlantis US/Warner) (DL.CD) Froot – Marina & the Diamonds (Warner) (DL) Heartwood – Karl S. Williams (Warner) (Vinyl) A Better Tomorrow – Wu-Tang Clan (Warner US) (Vinyl) Tracker – Mark Knopfler (Mercury UK/UMA) (DL/CD/2CD) Spring Break… Checkin’ Out – Luke Bryan (Capitol Nashville/UMA) (DL/CD) Sandy – Oh Mercy (EMI Australia/UMA) (DL/CD) The Music of the Night: Ultimate Collection – Michael Crawford (Ambition/UMA) (DL/CD) Marcio & Douglas – Marcio & Douglas (Universal) (CD) Voodoo Child – Brick + Mortar (Universal) (CD) Metalkutte – Romano (Universal) (DL/CD) Death is Not Dead – The Crown (Century Media/UMA) (DL/CD/Box Set) In Times – Enslaved (Nuclear Blast/UMA) (DL/CD/2xVinyl) Live at the Heart of Helsinki – Soilwork (Nuclear Blast/UMA) (DL/ CD+DVD/CD+BR) Liz Longley – Liz Longley (Universal) (DL/CD) If I Kill This Thing we’re Going to Eat for a Week – Lieutenant (Dine Alone/UMA) (DL/CD/Vinyl) X – Extince (Universal) (2CD) Nothing Touches Me – British India (Liberation/UMA) (CD) Searching for Zero – Cancer Bats (Cooking Vinyl/UMA) (DL/Deluxe) Black Label Deluxe – Jon English (Ambition/UMA) (DL) The Chemical Sea – Jape (Caroline/UMA) (DL) The Best of–All for You (Ltd. Ed. Repackge) – Cold Chisel (Cold Chisel/UMA) (DL) Modern Nature – The Charlatans (Cooking Vinyl/UMA) (DL) Just Enough Hip to Be Woman – BRONCHO (Dine Alone/UMA) (DL/Vinyl) Aerial Love (EP) – Daniel Johns (Eleven/UMA) (DL) Happy Anniversary Tour – Nana Mouskouri (Decca/UMA) (DL) Freedom Ride – Troy Cassar-Daley (Liberation/UMA) (DL/Deluxe) Spirit of the Anzacs – Lee Kernaghan (ABC Counrty/UMA) (DL) Nanna – Xavier Rudd feat The United Nations (Salt X/UMA) (DL) Stitches – Shawn Mendes (Def Jam/UMA) (DL) (17th March) The Remixes – Britt Nicole (Universal) (DL) (17th March) Inanimate Sensation – Death Grips (Universal) (CD) (17th March) Science Fiction – Jonathan Thulin (Universal) (CD) (17th March) Kimito – Hazzie (DL/CD+DVD) (18th March) Fiend (EP) – Coffin Carousel (Coffin Carousel Records) (DL/CD) The Heartache State – The Heartache State (Plus One) (DL/CD) Mother Crab – Hightime (Pee Records) (DL/CD) Machine Made the Animal – Jericco (Indie/MGM) (DL/CD) This Here’s the Hard Part – Local Resident Failure (Pee Records) (DL/CD/Vinyl) Microwave Jenny & the Six Song EP – Microwave Jenny (Indie/MGM) (DL/CD) Coupe de Grace – Red Jezebel (Walking Horse) (DL/CD/Vinyl) FM – The Skints (Easy Star) (DL/CD/Vinyl) Lapsis Sky – Lapsis Sky (MGM) (DL) Seagulls (EP) – Smaal Cats (MGM) (DL) Cheers – Holy Moses Heartache (MGM) (DL) Control – Fyfe (Kartel/Shock) (CD) Abnocto – Monarchy (Kartel/Shock) (CD) DJ Yoda Presents: Breakfast of Champions – DJ Yoda (Kartel/Shock) (CD) Compilations: Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (EP) – Soundtrack (Sony) (CD) The Sound of Music – 50th Anniversary – Soundtrack (Sony) (DL/CD) Suite Francaise – Soundtrack by Rael Jones (Sony) (DL/CD) Memories, Not Just Music – Various (Sony) (DL/2CD) Ultra Music Festival 2015 – Various (Sony) (DL/CD) A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble (Exploding in Your Mind) – The Wizards of Oz – Various (Festival/Warner) (DL/2CD) TEN – Various (MGM) (DL) Ministry of Sound 80’s Mix – Various (M.O.S./UMA) (DL/2CD) Neighbours: 30 Years – Various (Liberation/UMA) (CD) All tracks/singles below are Downloads (DL) unless otherwise stated: March 12th: Want to Want Me – Jason DeRulo (Warner) Better off Dead – Sleeping with Sirens (Epitaph/Warner) Face This on My Own – Deez Nuts (UNFD/Warner) March 13th: Gambling Man – Mike Waters (Mike Waters Music/Warner) Rebel Love – Nattali Rize & Notis feat Zuggu Dan (MGM) Shakespeare Hotel / Square Ruled Page – Halfway (MGM) Hopeless Together – Day Break (MGM) Sound the Bell – Lily Duvall (MGM) Shooting Helicopters (Sapele Remix) – Benny Benassi feat Serj Tankian (Sony) Only Human – Delta Goodrem (Sony) Poison Drum – Gang of Youths (Sony) Restraint & Release – Gang of Youths (Sony) Radio Face – Gang of Youths (Sony) R U A Cop – The Meeting Tree feat Adamio Hyde (Sony) Habbi Love (I Need Your Love) – Shaggy feat Mohombi, Faydee & Costi (Sony) Empire: Music from “The Devil Quotes Scripture” (EP) – Empire Cast (Sony) 2M2H (EP) – Great Fine Good OK (Sony) Too Much to Handle (Remixes) – Great Fine Good OK (Sony) The Day Before I Met You (Acoustic) – Jessica Mauboy (Sony) The Greatest (+Remixes) – Raleigh Ritchie (Sony) (+VS) Completement Fou (Remixes) – Yelle (Sony) Little Red Wagon – Miranda Lambert (Sony) (VS only) Man on a Wire – The Script (Sony) (VS only) Mirror Man – Ella Henderson (Sony) (VS only) No Pier Pressure – Brian Wilson (Universal) Midnight Walking – Simple Minds (Universal) The Answer is Love – Lulu (Universal) BLTR – Uberjak’d feat Reece Low (M.O.S./UMA) Oye – Vico-C feat Funky (Universal) Making Today a Perfect Day – Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell & the cast of ‘Frozen’ (Disney/UMA) Nirvana – Tuka (EMI Australia/UMA) Feathers – Thomas Enhco (Universal) (+VS/RT) One Night Only – Krystal Klear feat Yasmin (Universal) The Rhythm – MNEK (Virgin UK/UMA) Russle – Min&Mal feat Delayz (Universal) (VS only) So Freakin’ Tight – Tough Love (Universal) (VS only) Energy – Drake (Universal) (VS only) Rock Paper Scissors Love – Miss Cherry (Universal) (VS only) Got it – Marian Hill (Universal) (VS only) Same Trailer Different Park – Kacey Musgraves (Mercury Nashville/UMA) (VS only) All Over the World – Above & Beyond feat Alex Vargas (Central Station/UMA) (RT only) Efil4zaggin – N.W.A. (Universal) (RT only) Towards the Sun (from ‘Home’) – Rihanna (Universal) (CDS/12” only) March 15th: Entropy – Grimes & Bleaches (Sony) R E A L (Remixes Part 2) – Le Youth (Sony) Waiting for Your Lover – Citizens! (Sony) (VS only) C.U.B.A. – Calvin Harris (Sony) Night Girl – Laura Doggett feat Alice Jemima (Sony) Into the Glass – Laura Doggett (Sony) (+VS) The One (Acoustic) – Kodaline (Sony) (VS only) Addict – 3010 feat Pesoa (Universal) Digital World – Amaranthe (Universal) Electronic Battle Weapon – The Chemical Brothers (Universal) Wanna Be Your Man – Pokey LaFarge (Universal) Something in the Water – Pokey LaFarge (Universal) Fighting 4 Love – Sergio T & DJ Spy feat Dim Gerrard (Universal) You Shook Me All Night Long – Steve N’ Seagulls (Universal) March 17th: Imagination (EP) – Gorgon City feat Katy Meditta(Universal) Never Gave Nobody Trouble (Live 2013) – Leonard Cohen (Sony) Bethlehem Steel – Delta Rae (Warner) Babylon – The Interrupters (Epitaph/Warner) Civilizations – William Elliott Whitmore (Epitaph/Warner) March 18th: My House – Flo Rida (Atlantic/Warner) Forever (Pt II) – Snakeships feat Kaleem Taylor (Sony) (VS only) Gravity Storm (Live in L.A.) – Steve Vai (Sony) (VS only) Runaway Dancer – Brian Wilson feat Sebu (Capitol/UMA) Move Together – James Bay (Universal USA) Legend: DL = Download CD = Compact Disc CDS = CD Singles 2CD = Double CD Deluxe = Deluxe edition of CD Vinyl = Vinyl edition VS = Video Single VL = Video Longform RT = Ringtone DVD = DVD disc BR = Blu-Ray disc 7”/12” = Vinyl single Cass = Cassette Compiled by Gavin Ryan With information supplied by Universal, Warner Brothers, Sony, Shock, Inertia and MGM/Green/Planet —————————————————————————————————————————————— Never miss a story! 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SPEAKER Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez has ordered the recall of all the plates of district and party-list representatives in light of reports that cars bearing the special plate “8” were seen in indecent places or being used by crime gangs. ADVERTISEMENT In a memorandum dated Aug. 24 issued by Secretary General Cesar Pareja, lawmakers using the special plate were ordered to turn over the plates to the Office of the Secretary General. “We have received reports that certain vehicles with Protocol Plate No. 8 have been spotted in indecent places or figured in crime-related activities,” the memorandum read. “In view of this development, the Honorable Speaker has given instructions for the immediate recall of all protocol plates issued during the 16th Congress and earlier,” it added. It was Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco who posted a photo of the memorandum in his Instagram account. Tiangco questioned why the memorandum only pertains to plates distributed during the 16th Congress and earlier. He pushed for his bill seeking to criminalize the use of special plates by representatives. “Dapat pati 17th Congress. Hindi naman namin kailangan ng 8 na plaka para magserbisyo sa ating mga kababayan,” Tiangco said. “At kung talagang seryoso tungkol dito, ipasa ang panukalang batas ko na nagbabawal sa 8 na plaka, para may parusa sa mga gagamit nito,” he added. Alvarez issued the order following a report that four vehicles – a Ford Expedition, a Hyundai Starex, a Jaguar, and a Toyota Avanza – with the special plates “8” were intercepted by National Bureau of Investigation agents conducting an operation at suspected cybersex den in Pasay City on Aug. 15. ADVERTISEMENT Read Next LATEST STORIES MOST READ
Customers of the Three Ireland mobile network in Dublin are set to face considerable disruption after An Bord Pleanála ruled that one of the network’s ‘vital’ masts in Glasnevin must be taken down. The decision ordered by An Bord Pleanála is likely to see either outages or a considerable limitation of access to mobile data, with the mast operated by Three Ireland, with additional service to Meteor customers, currently facilitating up to 4G speeds. The areas it facilitates includes not only the northwest of Dublin, but some of Louth and Meath, too. The 45m-high tower, located in the Dublin Industrial Estate, has been the subject of much debate among local residents and, according to The Irish Times, it has been described as “visually obtrusive” and a “considerable eyesore”, and now the authorities have ruled residents’ favour. An Bord Pleanála received 38 submissions in total from residents, as well as submissions from former local councillors and TDs, including Fine Gael’s Paschal Donohoe and Labour’s Joe Costello, who also called for its removal. ‘A vital transmission hub’ Their joint argument questioned why Three Ireland could not move its antennae to a similar-sized mast also located in the industrial estate, which is currently operated by Vodafone. Now, following these submissions, Three Ireland has been ordered to follow the recommendations of residents and remove the mast in its entirety. Prior to the mast’s erection in 2003, there was much debate over planning permission for it as, despite Dublin City Council refusing to grant permission on two occasions, An Bord Pleanála renewed the structure’s planning permission in 2010 for a further five years. Three Ireland has said the ruling will have a major impact on its customers across three counties, describing the mast as a “vital transmission hub”, and that its removal would “result in an immediate and negative impact of coverage levels”. Additionally, Three Ireland argued, the mast’s removal would affect a number of other commercial operators using the antennae, including the Mater Hospital. Update 09:32 Three Ireland has since issued a formal statement with regard to potential disruption for its customers. Three is disappointed with the decision by An Bórd Pleanála to refuse permission to retain this site. There will be no immediate impact on customers while the site remains, and Three is exploring all options to ensure that there continues to be no impact on customers. GSM antenna image via Bokstaz/Shutterstock
WWE commentating legend Jim Ross has predicted that Brock Lesnar will return to the UFC amid recent talk of a potential superfight with Jon Jones. Ahead of his light heavyweight title fight with Daniel Cormier at UFC 214, rumours started flying about Jones possibly facing Lesnar in a heavyweight bout. The two former champions were both asked about it recently and were receptive to the idea, even if UFC president Dana White has no clue where the idea behind this fight stemmed from. Ross discussed the prospect of a potential heavyweight superfight and predicted that it could generate more than 1m pay-per-view buys. "Interesting sound bytes from Brock Lesnar and Jon Jones regarding the potential of a UFC fight between the two perhaps some day in the future," Ross wrote on his blog. "Both men were accomplished amateur grapplers from their college days and both are bad**s alpha males...there is no doubt that a Lesnar-Jones fight would generate north of 1m PPV buys quite easily, I'm thinking." A figure of even just 1m pay-per-view buys is short of the UFC record of 1.65m, however, the company could desperately use a number like that as they have struggled to sell pay-per-views this year following a star-studded end to 2016. While Lesnar would still have to serve the remaining months of his one-year suspension from USADA in order to compete in the octagon, Ross believes the current WWE Universal champion will fight in the UFC again. "Yes, I do think that Brock Lesnar will again fight in the UFC because he can generate a giant, payday(s) for his family," he added. "And, I assume, would still maintain a positive relationship with WWE. Seems like this matter of Lesnar return to UFC is inevitable and should be a win/win for all involved as it relates to the cash." "Winning or losing a UFC fight won't hamper Lesnar's value to WWE in the least to my way of thinking. Based on what I know, I see no reason that a Lesnar return to UFC would cease Brock's WWE paydays over the long haul."
Japanese culture is both fascinating and frustrating, all depending on your experiences in this vastly modernized yet strangely conservative nation. The cultural differences vary in magnitude based on your own country of origin, but nonetheless are still pretty interesting to know. Here is a small collection of facts worth knowing whether you're planning a visit, or simply need more random tidbits of information to entertain your friends with. All of these were acquired through my own personal experiences living in Tokyo. BATHING RITUAL: If you are a guest at a Japanese family's house for the night, you are expected to take a bath. The traditional house usually has a room with a separate bathtub and shower, and the tub is filled with hot water each evening for all of the family members to bathe in. Yes, it's true, everyone uses the same bath water throughout the night. As a guest, you are offered to be the first to bathe, and even politely trying to refuse this offer will seem like an insult. There is a very strict procedure to follow as well, as you can't just jump into the water and muck it up for everyone else. Before you get into the tub, you are required to shower with the separate shower head located near the tub. Once you're done shampooing and washing off you can finally take a soak in the tub. Not too long though, the water needs to be hot enough for the next person. DRINKING RULES: LOSING OR FINDING SOMETHING: The rule for finding things in Japan is simple, you are required to report it to a local Police box [Koban] and provide the officers with your name, address, and number. If within six months the item isn't claimed, it becomes your property. I once found a digital camera on top of a pay phone in Shibuya and spent ten minutes trying to figure out where I was staying on a map so I could provide them with an address. The police officer even called a special translator hotline to help me out. CELLPHONES: HAVING TO GO: Thankfully, not only is finding a restroom in Japan easy, with virtually every coffee shop or restaurant freely available, but you are free to pee in public as long as you do it discreetly. There is no law barring you from using that nice looking bush on the side of the road as a makeshift urinal. In fact, it's not unusual to walk through small alleys or steets at night and see taxi drivers letting loose on some poor tree. It sounds disgusting, and it is, but at least you know that when you really have to go there isn't a law stopping you from it. LINING UP FOR A DRINK: BICYCLES: SLEEPING ON THE STREET: ULTRA HIGH-TECH TOILET SEATS: Also worth noting is the slipper situation. You are usually provided with a pair of house slippers when you enter a home as wearing shoes inside is rude. When you enter a bathroom, there should be another pair of slippers near the door that should be changed into when entering.
Al Jazeera is making a big bet on cable TV news tomorrow when it launches a new, 24-hour network. Maybe it will find a large audience, and maybe it won't, but one thing you can bet is that it will be very difficult to attract young eyeballs, as television has fallen behind the Internet as twentysomethings' main source of news, according to a recent Pew report. Here are five things Pew tells us about young people and the small screen: 1. Young people are watching much less TV news than they did a decade ago. In 2001, 72 percent of people aged 18 to 29 picked TV as one of their top two sources for news; in 2013, that number dropped to 55 percent. The Internet is now the main source of news for everyone under 50, and it's not just Millennials driving traffic to the web. 2013 was the first time that 30- to 49-year-olds said that they got just as much news from the Internet as they did from TV. From the Pew Center for the People and the Press July 2013 Political Survey. 2. They don't sit still for hour-long news binges. Close to 80 percent of people aged 18-29 said they like to check the news in spurts throughout the day instead of tuning in at a regular time, like for the five o'clock news. The people who most regularly sit down to watch long news shows are older. This is especially true for cable news -- half of people over 65 said they watch regularly, compared to less than a quarter of people under 30. From the Pew Research Center's "Trends in News Consumption: 1991 to 2012" report.
I assume I was aware of this when the new playoff formats were announced, but if so I totally forgot about it. From Buster Olney: The wild-card games will be conducted under circumstances we’ve never seen before in the postseason. The participating teams will set 25-man rosters for this one-game, winner-take-all extravaganza — rosters that don’t have to carry over to the Division series matchup. So the Braves and the other wild-card entrants don’t have to carry multiple starting pitchers. Just more distortion from a setup that already distorts all that is important in baseball: depth, stamina and the ability to win a majority of games as opposed to EVERY GAME MATTERING like it does in other sports. It’s quite possible that we’ll have a wild card games with starters going three innings, followed by seven relievers used over the course of the next six innings with every quasi-critical situation leading to some matchup-optimizing pitching change. All of the anti-excitement of an All-Star Game except the outcome matters way more. Why on earth are the rules this way? If the wild card game is the playoffs, why aren’t teams required to use their postseason rosters? This makes zero sense to me and just underscores how contrived the play-in game is.
Poll after poll says that most Americans want to raise taxes on the rich. In one recent survey, more than two-thirds of respondents -- and even a majority of Republicans! -- favored higher taxes on households making more than $250,000 per year. Why are people who want to be elected president proposing the exact opposite of what the people want? The most charitable answer is that they think lower taxes are good for the country. Reducing taxes on the rich would make them work harder, save more, and promote economic growth. This is the theory George H.W. Bush once called "voodoo economics," and 30 years later, it's still voodoo. TAXES AND GROWTH: THE NON-RELATIONSHIP There is no historical relationship between marginal income tax rates and economic growth. In the 40 years after World War II ended, the top rate ranged from 50 percent to 91 percent. Meanwhile, the economy averaged 3.5 percent growth. In the last 20 years, when the top rate ranged from 28 percent to 44 percent, GDP growth averaged 2.6 percent. Even after excluding the recent recession, growth averaged 3.0 percent. This shouldn't be surprising. Marginal tax rates do not impact people's propensity to work that much. Empirical studies show that, for most workers, the effect of income tax rates on labor supply is small or nil. Lower taxes do seem to increase workforce participation for married women--but that effect is unlikely to apply to the super-rich favored by Cain and Perry. Higher income tax rates do produce modest decreases in taxable income, but mainly because higher-income taxpayers work harder to avoid taxes, which is welfare-destroying. (See Saez, Slemrod, and Giertz 2010, forthcoming in the JEL.) What about taxes on investment income, which George W. Bush reduced to 15 percent and Cain and Perry want to reduce to zero? Again, it's not clear these taxes have any impact on economic growth. Since 1947, GDP growth has averaged 3.0 percent in high-tax years (top capital gains rate over 25 percent) and 2.7 percent in low-tax years (top capital gains below 25 percent). This shouldn't be surprising, either. In theory, lower capital gains taxes encourage people to save more. More savings means more capital available for businesses to invest. In practice, though, cutting taxes on investment income just increases the federal budget deficit, which means the government is saving less, and reduced government saving more than cancels out any increase in private saving. As a result, total national saving--the only thing that matters--goes down. Cain and Perry's claim that huge tax breaks drive economic growth has been disproved by just about every aspect of recent history. Then again, Cain and Perry aren't looking for history to endorse them. They're looking for deep pockets. A TAX PLAN FOR WHOM? There are other possible explanations for their tax plans.
465 SHARES Linkedin Buffer Reddit VK Google+ Pinterest StumbleUpon email Print Project Loon, initiated by Alphabet CEO Larry Page along with Alphabet Cofounder Sergey Brin and team aims to provide the internet for 100 million Indonesian Citizens. It is equipped with balloons, which will work as an internet provider by floating at a distance of 20 Km above earth’s surface. The parent company of Google, Alphabet announced on Thursday that top three Indonesian mobile network operators, Telkomsel, XL Axiata, and Indosat have agreed to partner in order to test the LTE Internet connectivity powered by balloon over the next year in Indonesia. Executed in June 2013, Project Loon aims to utilize a structure of balloons flying over space edge to connect people in remote and rural areas. This project will partner with local mobile network operator companies to distribute cellular spectrum, and according to the project website, balloons will transmit wireless traffic from cellular mobile phones and various other devices using superfast links to the internet. By synchronizing with wind movement, balloons can be organized to form a single huge communication network, which helps mobile operators expand their respective networks. Project Loon is particularly applicable in Indonesia to pack the coverage gaps where conventional internet connectivity is not reachable, as Indonesia is an archipelago with more than 17,000 islands having mountains and dense forests. Project Loon VP Mike Cassidy wrote in a blog that this project helps in overcoming entire troubles experienced during expansion of broadband provider equipment across the various islands by providing internet connection to the most remote parts of the islands. The new tests indicate a crucial step towards the beginning of connecting the entire Indonesia with the internet, he further explained. Currently, in the region merely one out of three people are connected to the internet. Alphabet CEO Larry Page along with Alphabet Cofounder Sergey Brin and team hopes to supply superfast LTE internet connectivity in association with local network providers within the reach of over 100 million people, who currently have no access to the internet. The project has been successfully trialed in Australia, Latin America, and New Zealand with their respective network providers. Technowize reported that, the parent company of Google, Alphabet, is running this project through its very own independent research lab called as Google X. The research lab is responsible for incubating latest initiatives like drone delivery project Wing. Technology companies have successfully established their major goal, which is connecting populations who are not connected to the internet because these people can potentially turn out as a huge market for broadband services. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday, during Facebook Town Hall Q&A in Delhi, discussed his aim to connect 1 billion people who currently have no access towards internet at all. Facebook CEO wants to provide connectionless people with perks of internet connectivity like opportunities of health information, better lifestyle, and education along with other benefits by providing them internet connectivity in their region.
The public is ready, the business sector is behind us - now is the time for a total sale and possession ban on shark fin in Hong Kong. Sharks help maintain marine habitats such as coral reefs and help maintain ocean health. Globally, governments, corporations and individuals are responding to this threat to our oceans. Since 2009, many countries have created shark sanctuaries that ban the commercial fishing of sharks and prohibit the sale, trade and possession of shark products. In March of this year, proposals to list five species of sharks were adopted by the Convention on the International trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Over the past two years, 60% of Hong Kong’s top hotels have either banned shark fin soup or taken it off their menus, providing it on request only. Companies have committed to end serving shark at their functions, and several leading airlines have said they will no longer transport shark fin. Even the Government of Hong Kong has pledged to ban shark fin from official functions - if the Government recognizes that shark fin has no place at its functions, banning the unsustainable trade from Hong Kong is the next logical step. Banning shark fin from Hong Kong will be a crucial step towards protecting the health of our oceans - please sign. This petition is endorsed by: + Shark Rescue + MyOcean + WildAid + Mission Blue + ACE Foundation + The Po & Helen Chung Foundation + The Hong Kong Shark Foundation
Looking for news you can trust? Subscribe to our free newsletters. When he was governor of Florida, Jeb Bush vetoed state funding for Planned Parenthood. He thinks the next president should do the same—at the federal level. That’s what Bush said Tuesday at the Send North America conference, one of America’s largest evangelical gatherings. He wasn’t done talking about women’s health care, though: You could take dollar for dollar—although I’m not sure we need half a billion dollars—for women’s health issues, but if you took dollar for dollar, there are many extraordinarily fine community health organizations that exist to provide quality care for women on a wide variety of health issues. But abortion should not be funded by the government. Reminder: This is what happens when Planned Parenthood is defunded. UPDATE, Tuesday, August 4, 3:30 p.m. PT (Becca Andrews): Bush later issued a statement that he “misspoke.” It reads: “There are countless community health centers, rural clinics, and other women’s health organizations that need to be fully funded. They provide critical services to all, but particularly low-income women who don’t have the access they need.” He goes on to say that the “half a billion dollars” line only referred to Planned Parenthood.
Massachusetts is on track to have the highest state minimum wage in the nation. Lawmakers in the Bay State gave final approval on Thursday to legislation that will gradually raise the minimum to $11 an hour by 2017, up from $8 today. Governor Deval Patrick received the bill Thursday evening, said Jesse Mermell, a spokeswoman. He is expected to sign it into law soon. While Massachusetts is taking the lead among states, the city of Seattle, which recently approved an increase to $15 an hour, still will offer the highest minimum anywhere in the country. President Obama, who supports a nationwide increase to $10.10, applauded the move, saying Massachusetts "joins a growing coalition of states, cities and counties that are doing (their) part to make sure no American working full-time has to support a family in poverty." The Massachusetts bill also raised the subminimum base wage for tipped workers to $3.75 from $2.63 currently. While advocates for a higher minimum wage applaud Massachusetts move, they say the increase for tipped workers is subpar. Compared to other states, which have set higher wage bases for tipped workers, "Massachusetts is a real outlier," said Paul Sonn, general counsel for the National Employment Law Project. If a tipped worker doesn't earn the equivalent of the full minimum wage, after counting both the subminimum base plus tips, employers are supposed to make up the difference. But, Sonn said, "there' s a lot of room for evasion." Related: What's the minimum wage in your state? Raising the minimum wage has become a bit of a trend at the state level. Michigan lawmakers also recently approved a phased-in increase to $9.25 by 2018. Vermont approved a bill last month that raises its minimum wage to $10.50 by 2018 as well, as did Maryland lawmakers, who chose to raise that state's minimum to $10.10. Lawmakers in Minnesota, Delaware, West Virginia, Connecticut, New York, California and Hawaii have also approved minimum wage hikes this year or last. At the federal level, however, lawmakers have reached stall speed on the minimum wage issue. Senate Democrats have put forth a proposal to raise the federal minimum to $10.10 an hour, up from $7.25 currently. Even if it passes the Senate, it faces an uphill battle in the House. CNNMoney's American Dream Poll earlier this month found that 71% of people surveyed favor a hike in the federal minimum wage. And of those, 36% said it should be increased to $10.10 an hour, while 16% said it should be even higher. --CNN's Kevin Conlon contributed to this report
Distortion pedals have become an important part of a musician armory. They are as important as oregano and spice in a pizza, you can eat your pizza without them, but they add spice to your food. Similarly, distortion pedal adds spice in your tone. They come in a variety of tastes and flavors to make your tone better. Distortion pedal was discovered because of an accident when tube amps were turned up too loud. At first, they were disliked by many but slowly gained its popularity over the years, and today they became one of the most desired pedals. Most distortion pedals have few basic controls like volume, tone knobs, gain boost. There is an endless combination of distortion pedals which can produce rich, creamy, soft, and melodious sustain to rough, jagged, and piercing breakup tones. Sometimes they are even combined with other pedals such as overdrive and compression. Below are few of the best distortion pedals which we have highlighted in a sea of pedals.
Spanish police officer filmed ‘karate kicking’ handcuffed suspect in newly released video BelfastTelegraph.co.uk Video shows the shocking moment a police officer in Spain karate kicked a handcuffed suspected drunk driver in the head while in custody. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/spanish-police-officer-filmed-karate-kicking-handcuffed-suspect-in-newly-released-video-31245112.html https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/incoming/article31245110.ece/5c54b/AUTOCROP/h342/Police-officer-kicks-suspect.jpg Email Video shows the shocking moment a police officer in Spain karate kicked a handcuffed suspected drunk driver in the head while in custody. The footage, which was taken in 2011 but only emerged this week, shows the 41-year-old officer kick the man twice as at least four officers stand by and watch at a police station in Majorca. The video was released on Wednesday after the officer, who is an expert in martial arts, admitted to carrying out the heinous attack. The victim had been detained for drink driving after failing a breathalyser test following a road accident on the Spanish island. The policeman said that he had lost his nerve and only reacted like he did when the suspect “threatened to slice up his daughter”. The defendant denied that he had been abusive and claimed that he had been hit several more times while in the police station, a claim that the police reject. Speaking at court, he said: "It wasn't the right behaviour. It wasn't the sort of behaviour a policeman should display." He also apologised to the victim and said that he was aware that he was being filmed when he carried out the attack. He now faces up to four years in prison for torture and wounding. Three officers that witnessed the attack but didn’t do anything could be detained for one year if found guilty. One policeman was also accused of moving the camera after the attack but he denied the claim saying that he knocked it over when he was pulling out his extendable baton. Local media reports that the accused men have all been working as officers since the attack took place. The case will resume on the 27 May. Source: Independent Independent News Service
Ireland was never bailed out. But it was the ECB's middle man, saving Europe from banking contagion. Guess how we were rewarded, says Stephen Donnelly Ireland was never bailed out. But it was the ECB's middle man, saving Europe from banking contagion. Guess how we were rewarded, says Stephen Donnelly LAST week the president of the European Parliament was invited to speak to the Dail. I took the opportunity to ask him to take one message back to the mainland: Ireland did not get a bailout, and we are not looking for a bailout -- but we do need our €64bn back. Martin Schulz is hardly a household name. He's a former bookshop owner from Rhine Westphalia in Germany. As well as holding the presidency, he is the leader of the Socialists in the European Parliament. And if the speech he gave on Thursday is anything to go by, he is on our side. In his address, he showed an understanding of Ireland's economic plight. He spoke with passion of a Europe based on solidarity. Of the recent announcement by the finance ministers of Germany, Finland and Holland, he asked the following: How can we operate a European Union in which the word of the heads of government is meaningless? He also advocated a break between banking and sovereign debt in Ireland, adding that any attempt to stall the deal could prove disastrous for the EU as a whole. We listened, we applauded (most of us anyway), and then we responded. There was much sensible talk of the need for a deal on the bank debt. But we need to go further. We need to fundamentally reframe the conversation in Europe about any such deal. Here's how. The perceived wisdom among Europe's creditor countries is that Ireland mismanaged its affairs, was bailed out by them, and is now looking to be let off some of its obligations. There are moral overtones to this. A few months back our finance committee met with a delegation of the German finance committee. The tone was unmistakable -- you got yourselves into this, now stop whining and pay your debts. The Germans have no tolerance for debt, with 'schuld', the German word for debt, also meaning guilt. We did make mistakes -- of that there is little doubt. And we are paying a very high price to correct those mistakes. But the bank debt is not one of them. Here, the numbers tell a very clear story. Ireland is borrowing €67.5bn from the Troika. To date, we have given €64.1bn to the banks. The banks have in turn passed this on to the bondholders. At the time of the bank guarantee, Irish banks held €124bn in senior debt. All of this is being paid out in full. Had the market been allowed to work, the banks would have been declared insolvent, and a creditors meeting would have been called. At this, an agreement to pay out less than the face value of the bonds would have been reached. It is impossible to know what haircut would have been applied to the senior bondholders, but we do know this -- many of them sold on their bonds at a 50 per cent discount. In other words, they took a voluntary haircut of 50 per cent. It is not unreasonable therefore to suggest that a haircut of 50 per cent could have been agreed. In this case, the senior bondholders have been overpaid by €62bn. So let's join the dots. First, €67bn goes from the Troika to the Irish Government, then €64bn (so far) goes from the Irish Government to the banks, and then €62bn in unnecessary payments goes from the banks to the senior bondholders. Give or take a few billion, the Troika money essentially went straight from the troika to the bondholders. It was not used to run the country, to pay for teachers and nurses. And it was not used to keep the banks open, or to keep "money in the ATMs". The Irish banks could have restructured their debts while continuing banking operations for individuals and businesses. In fact, this is exactly what they did with the junior bondholders, and the ATMs worked just fine. So if the Troika money was of absolutely no benefit to the Irish people, who actually gained from it? Europe as a whole gained, by avoiding the possibility of contagion within the European banking system. But we're on the hook for it. We have temporarily surrendered our sovereignty over it, something a group of Irish men and women sacrificed everything to regain for us not so long ago. Virtually nobody I speak to in the creditor countries understands this. It is not reflected in their mainstream media. They believe they have loaned us their hard-earned money to keep the lights on in Ireland, and that we are showing our gratitude by asking them for even more. This can be tackled in two ways. First, our political leaders need to stop making public statements like people went "mad with borrowing" in "a system that spawned greed". Instead, they need to start explaining to the citizens of the creditor countries that the troika money went straight to international financial institutions. Angela Merkel is up for re-election next year -- what her voters think about this issue matters a great deal. Second, we should look for the return of the €64bn, not from the ESM, but from the ECB. The problem with looking for it from the ESM is that this is a fund of real money from the creditor countries. So any mechanism which uses the ESM to refund our €64bn really would end up costing German citizens money. This would not be right -- they are no more responsible for the socialisation of financial sector losses than we are. The ECB, on the other hand, is. We are told by the Government that it is the ECB which continues to insist senior bondholders are paid in full. A certain letter from Jean-Claude Trichet to Brian Lenihan may even provide documented proof that they forced us into the troika programme. And as luck would have it, the Irish banks still have in excess of €64bn of the ECB's cash on their balance sheets. Were that amount to be written down by €64bn, the Irish State could then extract the same amount from the banks, leaving the balance sheets of the banks, well, balanced. And, usefully, smaller. For very good reasons, central banks do not go around printing money and then writing it off. But in exceptional circumstances they do. The ECB forcing the Irish people to provide €62bn of free cash to international investors in order to avoid contagion of the European banking system is just such a circumstance. In other words, if the ECB wants to cover the losses of professional investors, let it do it with its own money (and critically, at zero cost to any European citizen). 'If the ECB wants to cover the losses of professional investors, then let it do so with its own money...' So this was my message to President Schulz: Ireland was not bailed out, nor is Ireland looking for a bailout. We do not seek charity, or benevolence from our European partners. But we do want our €64bn back. In fact, we need it back. If we don't get it, our debt to GNP ratio of 150 per cent means that we will inevitably, unwillingly, default on our sovereign debt. That would be very bad news for Ireland -- and for Europe. If we do get it back, then as a country with a modern, hi-tech, efficient, export-oriented economy, we can contribute to the recovery of Europe. Simple really. Sunday Independent
MirageOS is a library operating system. An application written for MirageOS is compiled to an operating system kernel that only contains the specific functionality required by the application - a unikernel. The MirageOS unikernels can be compiled for different targets, including standalone VMs that run under Xen. The Xen unikernels can be deployed directly to common cloud services such as Amazon EC2 and Linode. I have done a lot of MirageOS development for Xen lately and it can be inconvenient to have to rely on an external server or service to be able to run and debug the unikernel. As an alternative I have set up a VM in Virtualbox with a Xen server. The MirageOS unikernels then run as VMs in Xen, which itself runs in a VM in Virtualbox. With the "Host-only networking" feature in Virtualbox the unikernels are accessible from the host operating system, which can be very useful for testing client/server applications. A unikernel that hosts a web page can for example be tested in a web browser in the host OS. I am hoping that this setup may be useful to others so I am documenting it in this blog post. My current VM is based on Ubuntu Server 14.04 LTS with Xen hypervisor 4.4 installed. The steps described in this post should be transferrable to other distributions if they support newer versions of the Xen hypervisor (4.4+). I have also included a list of alternative development environments for Mirage near the end. Install the Ubuntu VM First, create a new Virtualbox VM with at least 1 GB RAM and 20 GB disk and start the Ubuntu Server installation. How to install Ubuntu in Virtualbox is covered in detail elsewhere, so I will only briefly describe the most relevant steps. To keep the VM lightweight, install as few features as possible. We will use SSH to login to the server so select "OpenSSH Server". You may want to install a desktop environment later, but keep in mind that the graphics support will be limited under two layers of virtualization (Virtualbox + Xen). Give the Linux VM a hostname that is unique on your network as we will use this to access it with SSH later. I use "virtualxen". Add a user you want to use for development, for example "mirage". You may also want to reserve some of the disk space for Mirage if you plan to run applications that use block storage. During guided partitioning in the Ubuntu installer, if you choose to use the entire disk, the next question will allow you to specify a percentage of the disk that you want to use. If you plan to use Xen VMs that need direct disk access you should leave some of it for this purpose, for example 50%. After completing the installation, run apt-get update/upgrade and install the Virtualbox guest utilities, then reboot: sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade sudo apt-get install virtualbox-guest-utils sudo reboot Install the Xen Hypervisor After installing the Ubuntu Server VM, your configuration will be as in the following figure. Ubuntu runs in Virtualbox which runs under the main operating system (OS X in my case). We are now going to install the Xen hypervisor, which will become a thin layer between Virtualbox and the Ubuntu Server installation. The Xen hypervisor will be able to run VMs within the Virtualbox VM and we can use the Ubuntu installation to control Xen. This is the new configuration with Xen: Dom0 is the original Ubuntu Server installation and the DomU's will be our future Mirage applications. To install Xen, log in to Ubuntu and install the Xen hypervisor with the following command. We will also need bridge-utils (for configuring networking), build-essential (development tools) and git (version control): # install hypervisor and other tools sudo apt-get install xen-hypervisor-4.4-amd64 bridge-utils build-essential git After the installation is complete, reboot the Virtualbox VM to start into Xen and the Ubuntu Server installation (which now has become dom0). Xen can be controlled from dom0 with the xl command. To verify that Ubuntu is running under Xen, log in and run sudo xl list to show a list of running domains. The output should look similar to this: $ sudo xl list Name ID Mem VCPUs State Time ( s ) Domain-0 0 1896 1 r----- 31.7 The only Xen domain running at this point should be Dom0. We are now ready to set up networking. Networking Internet access should work out of the box for dom0, but to enable network access from the domU's we have set up a bridge device that they can connect to. We will call this device br0. Since this is a development environment we also want the unikernels to be accessible from the host operating system (so we can test them), but not from the local network. Virtualbox has a feature that allows this called a host-only network. To set up the host-only network in Virtualbox we have to shutdown the VM ( sudo shutdown -h now ). Then go to Preferences in Virtualbox and select the "Network" tab and "Host-only Networks". Create a new network. Make sure that the built-in DHCP server is disabled - I have not managed to get the built-in DHCP server to work with Mirage, so we will install a DHCP server in dom0 instead. If you already have an existing host-only network and you disabled the DHCP server in this step, remember to restart Virtualbox to make sure that the DHCP server is not running. After setting up the host-only network, exit preferences and open the settings for the VM. Under the "Network" tab, go to "Adapter 2", enable it and choose to attach to "Host-only Adapter". Select the name of the network that you just created in Preferences. Under advanced, select "Allow All" for "Promiscuous mode". Exit and save. You can now start the VM with the new network configuration. After booting, edit /etc/network/interfaces to setup up the host-only adapter (eth1) and add it to the bridge (br0). The configuration below is based on the default IP range (192.168.56.x) for host-only networking in Virtualbox - if you have made changes to the default network configuration you may have to update the configuration here as well. # /etc/network/interfaces auto lo iface lo inet loopback auto eth0 iface eth0 inet dhcp auto eth1 iface eth1 inet manual pre-up ifconfig $IFACE up post-down ifconfig $IFACE down auto br0 iface br0 inet static bridge_ports eth1 address 192.168.56.5 broadcast 192.168.56.255 netmask 255.255.255.0 # disable ageing (turn bridge into switch) up /sbin/brctl setageing br0 0 # disable stp up /sbin/brctl stp br0 off Next, we install dnsmasq to setup a DHCP server in dom0. This DHCP server will be responsible for assigning IP addresses to the unikernels that attach to br0. $ sudo apt-get install dnsmasq To enable the DHCP server on br0, edit /etc/dnsmasq.conf and add the following lines: interface = br0 dhcp - range = 192.168.56.150 , 192.168.56.200 , 1 h This configures the DHCP server to run on br0 and to dynamically assign IP addresses in the range 192.168.56.150 to 192.168.56.200 with a lease time of 1 hour. To be able to access dom0 via SSH from the host operating system (outside Virtualbox) we install avahi-daemon. Avahi-daemon enables mDNS, which will allow you to connect to "virtualxen.local" from the host operating system: $ sudo apt-get install avahi-daemon Reboot dom0 to activate the changes ( sudo reboot ). You should now be able to connect to dom0 with SSH from the host OS: $ ssh mirage@virtualxen.local Dom0 can also be accessed from the host by using the IP address for br0 that we set above: 192.168.56.5. Installing MirageOS in dom0 Before we can compile MirageOS unikernels we have to install OCaml. # install ocaml and friends sudo apt-get install ocaml-compiler-libs ocaml-interp ocaml-base-nox ocaml-base ocaml ocaml-nox ocaml-native-compilers camlp4 camlp4-extra m4 We also need the OCaml package manager, opam. A new version of opam was recently release and the version that comes with many Linux distros is outdated. To get the latest version (currently 1.2.x) I use 0install to install opam directly from the installation script provided on the ocaml.org web page. If you don't want to use 0install, a list of other options is available here (including PPA's). # install 0install sudo apt-get install zeroinstall-injector # install opam 0install add opam http://tools.ocaml.org/opam.xml 0install installs applications in ~/bin. To add this directory to your path logout and back in. After installing opam, run opam init and follow the instructions to complete the installation. Note that the opam commands should not be run with sudo, as it installs everything in ~/.opam in your home directory. If you want to run the development version of Mirage, you can add mirage-dev as an opam repository. Keep in mind that this repository contains the latest changes to Mirage, which may not always work. The safest option is to skip this step. # optional - add mirage-dev to opam opam remote add mirage-dev git://github.com/mirage/mirage-dev We can now install Mirage: # install libs required to build many mirage apps sudo apt-get install libssl-dev pkg-config # install mirage opam install mirage -v After Mirage has been installed you should be able to run the Mirage configuration tool mirage . $ mirage --version 2.0.0 If you use emacs or vim I also recommend installing Merlin, which provides tab completion, type lookup and many other useful IDE features for OCaml. Creating a Mirage VM To verify that everything works, we will now download the Mirage examples and compile the static website example. This example will start a web server hosting a "Hello world" page that we should be able to access from the host OS. The IP-address will be assigned with DHCP. First, clone the Mirage examples: # clone mirage-skeleton git clone http://github.com/mirage/mirage-skeleton.git Then go to the mirage-skeleton/static-webpage folder and run env DHCP=true mirage configure --xen . This command will download and install all the required dependencies and then create a Makefile. When the command completes, run make to compile. If make completes successfully, there will be a file called www.xl that contains the Xen DomU configuration file for the unikernel. By default the line that contains the network interface configuration is commented out. Remove the # in front of the line that begins with 'vif = ...' to enable network support. The www.xl file should look similar to this: name = ' www ' kernel = ' / home / mirage / mirage - skeleton / static_website / mir - www . xen ' builder = ' linux ' memory = 256 on_crash = ' preserve ' # You must define the network and block interfaces manually. # The disk configuration is defined here: # http: //xenbits.xen.org/docs/4.3-testing/misc/xl-disk-configuration.txt # An example would look like: # disk = [ '/dev/loop0,,xvda' ] # The network configuration is defined here: # http: //xenbits.xen.org/docs/4.3-testing/misc/xl-network-configuration.html # An example would look like: vif = [ ' mac = c0 : ff : ee : c0 : ff : ee , bridge = br0 ' ] The memory is set to 256 MB by default, but most of the example unikernels require much less than this. The static webserver example runs fine with 16 MB. You should now be able to start the unikernel using the command sudo xl create www.xl -c : $ sudo xl create www . xl - c Parsing config from www . xl Xen Minimal OS ! start_info : 0000000000332000 ( VA ) nr_pages : 0x10000 shared_inf : 0x5457d000 ( MA ) pt_base : 0000000000335000 ( VA ) nr_pt_frames : 0x5 mfn_list : 00000000002 b2000 ( VA ) mod_start : 0x0 ( VA ) mod_len : 0 flags : 0x0 cmd_line : stack : 0000000000291 b40 - 00000000002 b1b40 Mirage : start_kernel MM : Init _text : 0000000000000000 ( VA ) _etext : 000000000015 cc0f ( VA ) _erodata : 0000000000197000 ( VA ) _edata : 0000000000258220 ( VA ) stack start : 0000000000291 b40 ( VA ) _end : 00000000002 b1b40 ( VA ) start_pfn : 33 d max_pfn : 10000 Mapping memory range 0x400000 - 0x10000000 setting 0000000000000000 - 0000000000197000 readonly skipped 1000 MM : Initialise page allocator for 3 bb000 ( 3 bb000 ) - 10000000 ( 10000000 ) MM : done Demand map pfns at 10001000 - 0000002010001000 . Initialising timer interface Initialising console ... done . gnttab_table mapped at 0000000010001000 . xencaml : app_main_thread getenv ( OCAMLRUNPARAM ) -> null getenv ( CAMLRUNPARAM ) -> null Unsupported function lseek called in Mini - OS kernel Unsupported function lseek called in Mini - OS kernel Unsupported function lseek called in Mini - OS kernel getenv ( OCAMLRUNPARAM ) -> null getenv ( CAMLRUNPARAM ) -> null getenv ( TMPDIR ) -> null getenv ( TEMP ) -> null Netif : add resume hook Netif . connect 0 Netfront . create : id = 0 domid = 0 MAC : c0 : ff : ee : c0 : ff : ee Manager : connect Attempt to open ( /dev/urandom)! Manager : configuring DHCP : start discovery Sending DHCP broadcast ( length 552 ) DHCP response : input ciaddr 0.0 . 0.0 yiaddr 192.168 . 56.178 siaddr 192.168 . 56.5 giaddr 0.0 . 0.0 chaddr c0ffeec0ffee00000000000000000000 sname file DHCP : offer received : 192.168 . 56.178 DHCP options : Offer : DNS servers ( 192.168 . 56.5 ), Routers ( 192.168 . 56.5 ), Broadcast ( 192.168 . 56.255 ), Subnet mask ( 255.255 . 255.0 ), Unknown ( 59 [ 4 ] ), Unknown ( 58 [ 4 ] ), Lease time ( 43200 ), Server identifer ( 192.168 . 56.5 ) Sending DHCP broadcast ( length 552 ) DHCP response : input ciaddr 0.0 . 0.0 yiaddr 192.168 . 56.178 siaddr 192.168 . 56.5 giaddr 0.0 . 0.0 chaddr c0ffeec0ffee00000000000000000000 sname file DHCP : offer received IPv4 : 192.168 . 56.178 Netmask : 255.255 . 255.0 Gateways : [ 192.168.56.5 ] sg : true gso_tcpv4 : true rx_copy : true rx_flip : false smart_poll : false ARP : sending gratuitous from 192.168 . 56.178 DHCP offer received and bound to 192.168 . 56.178 nm 255.255 . 255.0 gw [ 192.168.56.5 ] Manager : configuration done The console output shows the IP address that was assigned to the unikernel ("DHCP offer received and bound..."). In the example above the IP is 192.168.56.178. From the host operating system you should now be able to open this IP in a web browser to see the "Hello Mirage World!" message. If you login to dom0 in a new terminal xl list will show the running domains, which now includes "www": $ sudo xl list Name ID Mem VCPUsStateTime ( s ) Domain - 0 0 1355 1 r ----- 6691.4 www 33 256 1 - b ---- 0.2 To stop the unikernel, run sudo xl destroy www . The environment described in this post is my current development environment and is based on a Xen server running in a Virtualbox VM with the latest versions of opam and Mirage. I use a host-only second network adapter to allow access to the Mirage applications from the host running Virtualbox. Mirage applications can also be compiled in Unix mode, which produces an executable that can be executed directly in a Unix-like operating system. Currently OS X seems to be particularly well supported. This mode may often be the easiest way to debug and develop a Mirage application, but not all of Mirage's features are available in this mode and some applications may require low level access to the system - for example to block storage or network interfaces - which may not be available in this mode. Another approach is to use a Cubieboard2 with a prebuilt Mirage/Xen image to set up a low cost, portable Xen server for development. If you want to have long running Mirage services in your local network or host your own web page this may be a good alternative. Note that compilation times can be slow on this platform compared to an x86 based VM. An automated VM setup is being developed based on Debian, Vagrant and Packer here. This can be useful if you don't want to manually perform the setup steps outlined in this post. Currently this setup uses an older version of Debian which comes with Xen 4.1, but it should be possible to upgrade to Debian Jessie or later.
South Australian premier signals possible collaboration on alternative to clean energy target, and urges Turnbull to face down rightwing pressure Jay Weatherill renews warning Labor states could go it alone on energy policy The South Australian premier, Jay Weatherill, has renewed his warning that Labor-led state governments could go it alone on energy policy if the Turnbull government can’t resolve its internal battle over the clean energy target. If we are going to do it ourselves we might as well design the best system Jay Weatherill In an interview with Guardian Australia, Weatherill has also upped the ante by signalling the Labor states might look to collaborate on an alternative policy to the clean energy target recommended by the chief scientist if there is a better mechanism to provide certainty for investors and emissions reduction. Asked whether he was wedded to the chief scientist’s central recommendation in the event the states decided to break away and pursue their own policy, Weatherill said: “No, not really. If we are going to do it ourselves we might as well design the best system.” South Australia has long championed an emissions intensity trading scheme for the electricity sector – a form of carbon trading – but Weatherill fell into line behind Finkel’s clean energy target after the report was published in an effort to achieve national consensus. “For the sake of argument we were prepared to compromise and move away from the emissions intensity scheme to get the clean energy target,” the premier said. “We didn’t want to be bloody-minded about it just because it was something we had been promoting.” But Weatherill said he was concerned the Turnbull government was now intent on watering down the Finkel mechanism to include “clean” coal in the mix, which made him less wedded to the clean energy target proposal. The premier said it was important for the prime minister to stare down the current internal pressure to include coal in the clean energy target, because if Turnbull ceded ground on that point, it would be the first of many concessions. “What the prime minister needs to understand is this: you can’t do business with these people,” the premier said. “If you move away from an emissions intensity scheme to a clean energy target then they’ll want to change that to allow coal in. If you gave them that, the next question would be tear up Paris, and if [he] tore up Paris then they’d ask him to call a press conference and deny that he believes in climate change – they are insatiable. “There is no benefit for the prime minister in trying to placate his right wing, because they are incapable of being placated. South Australia to get $1bn solar farm and world's biggest battery Read more “So what we need to do is just get on with the business of putting in the right energy policy.” Weatherill’s comments, in an interview with Guardian Australia’s politics live podcast, follow a decision by the Labor states and the Australian Capital Territory in July to ask the Australian Energy Markets Commission to conduct work on how they could go it alone in the event the Turnbull government dumped the clean energy target, or pursued a suboptimal policy. The Coalition has greenlit 49 of the 50 recommendations from the Finkel review but not the clean energy target because of internal divisions. The fight over energy policy is expected to return to the federal Coalition party room in September, once the government gets advice it has sought from the Australian Energy Market Operator about how to ensure the dispatchable power requirements of the electricity grid can be met when ageing coal-fired power stations leave the system. Weatherill said the best outcome remained a national approach to determining climate and energy policy, but the “national interest” also demanded a solution to the problem. The premier, who has been in the top job in the state since October 2011, is also facing a state election next March, with network reliability and high power prices a significant local issue. Labor has been office in SA since 2002. Weatherill said the Turnbull government’s decision to have a public spat with South Australia over its high proportion of wind energy had transformed the looming state political contest into a referendum on renewables. “On any view of it, this next state election is going to be seen as a referendum on renewable energy, because the prime minister has conditioned the South Australian experience as being idiocy and ideology and a dangerous experiment,” the premier said. “If we were to fail in the election it would be seen as a referendum and a cross against renewable energy.” Weatherill said Australia’s renewable energy industry was acutely conscious that the political contest in the SA state election was high-stakes. 'They're insatiable': Jay Weatherill on his clash with the Coalition on energy – Australian politics live podcast Read more “I think a lot of people in the renewable energy sector, and people more generally who want to promote policies tackling climate change, understand that. We think that will be an important fulcrum in the state election.” Weatherill was asked whether, given the acute political sensitivity about high power prices, he felt he could prevail if the election was a referendum on the future of low-emissions energy. “Yes, absolutely, because people believe renewable energy is the future. “They also believe, in the long term, renewables put downward pressure on prices and I think they’ve seen the early evidence of that.”
With his 5,800-word manifesto on “Building Global Community,” Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg seems to be easing ever more into his role as benevolent dictator of the media universe. As recently as just after the U.S. elections in November, he attempted to dodge responsibility for Facebook’s role in shaping the outcome. Now, three months later, he is ready to take charge of the security, accuracy and diversity of how the world shares information. And he wants our help. The latter third of the essay centers around a call for Facebook to “explore examples of how community governance might work at scale.” This comes in the context of the declining fortunes of democracy in governments the world over; we may be losing our countries to authoritarians, but at least we will have our Facebook. The proposal seems to amount to a cascading series of online focus groups—of which we may or may not know we are a part—managed by artificial intelligence in order to develop fine-tuned acceptability standards for content across various world cultures. But democracy is not a focus group. Advertisement Democracy is not a focus group. Democracy means ownership and accountability, along with shared governance. That is how you make sure the governance is real, that it matters and that participants will take it seriously. In a country with functioning democracy, citizens vote responsibly because they know they will own the consequences if they don’t. They will be footing the bill. Same with the investors in a corporation or the members of a cooperative business, whether it is a neighborhood food co-op or a national credit union. Offering free input to an unaccountable oligarchy is very different. It is more like feudalism. King Louis XVI offered his subjects focus groups when he initiated the Cahiers de Doléances in early 1789; it was only with the start of the revolution later that year that the process of securing some real democracy began. If Mr. Zuckerberg’s vision for government is anything like Facebook’spast experiments with referenda on its terms of service, users should demand better before the sham-democracy starts. Ownership is also about economics. It is about who benefits. Right now, Facebook is in the process of absorbing huge swaths of the global advertising market, lots of our life-giving communities and now much of politics and media—funnelling the profits mainly to the founders, early investors and other large shareholders. Mr. Zuckerberg has tried to dismiss this concern. “One thing I have been wondering recently is if people misdiagnosed it that the hope for the future is all economic,” hetold Kara Swisher in an interview about the manifesto. “But the things that are happening in our world now are all about the social world not being what people need.” This billionaire’s refusal to recognize the rise of authoritarianism as a symptom of economic inequality and insecurity is startling. He views unrest—as authoritarians tend to—as a problem of faulty management, not of unjust accumulations of power. Mr. Zuckerberg is at least right about one thing: Online platforms like his may be the best hope for democracy in a time of reactionary politics. Mr. Zuckerberg is at least right about one thing: Online platforms like his may be the best hope for democracy in a time of reactionary politics. But not in the fashion he suggests. The growing movement for “platform cooperativism” envisions online platforms truly owned and governed by those who depend on them;experiments around the world are beginning to demonstrate that this kind of democratic internet is possible and competitive. Already Twitter isfacing pressure from shareholders to consider this option for the company’s future. Nobody is better-positioned to jumpstart such democracy than Mark Zuckerberg. Late in 2015, he and his wife announced plans to donate 99 percent of their Facebook stock to their own LLC for charitable purposes—for instance,curing every disease. This is a noble ambition, but perhaps more noble, and certainly more democratic, would be to distribute that stock among the people who made it valuable in the first place: Facebook’s users. Like the British retailer John Lewis Partnership did for its employees, the stock could be held in a trust that users directly control and have the opportunity to benefit from. On the one hand, Mr. Zuckerberg would be demonstrating that he takes democracy seriously—that he really believes in collective wisdom, rightly organized and incentivized, as wiser than any one mind. On the other hand, users might then have at least a seat in the boardroom when decisions are being made about what to do with their valuable, personal data now locked up in the platform. This is not only just; it is sensible. Co-ownership means real accountability. It would prevent fiascos of governance without ownership, like when Reddit users revolted and shut down large swaths of the platform. It would also foster a kind of self-regulation, which might forestall governments from further erecting an onerous patchwork of their own constraints. In the United States, for instance, cooperative electric utilities face far less state regulation than their investor-owned counterparts. Most of all, sharing ownership would be just. If Mr. Zuckerberg is up to the task of forming the new world media order and doing it democratically, let’s at least make that democracy honest.
In my experience, the default libRblas gives horrible performance across all of the platforms that I regularly use (Windows, Mac OS & Linux). The R package that I’m currently developing uses RcppEigen, which is not dependent on an efficient BLAS or LAPACK library. However, many other R packages do have this dependency. Therefore, I would recommend following the instructions in the R Installation and Administration guide to switch over to a more efficient implementation. Avraham Adler, Tony Fischetti and Zachary Mayer have written similar blog posts on this topic. I use the Accelerate Umbrella Framework (vecLib) on OS X and Intel MKL with icc on Linux. The following instructions describe how (and why) to install GotoBLAS for R on Microsoft Windows. As described in pp. 191-192 of “Seamless R and C++ Integration with Rcpp” (DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4614-6868-4), the lmBenchmark script can be used as a rough performance measurement for dense matrix algebra on any system. You need to install the packages RcppEigen and rbenchmark, then run: Rscript -e "source(system.file(\"examples\", \"lmBenchmark.R\", package = \"RcppEigen\"))" The output should look something like this (with default Rblas.dll): lm benchmark for n = 1650 and p = 875: nrep = 20 user system elapsed 2021.83 21.27 2043.75 test relative elapsed user.self sys.self 3 LDLt 1.000 4.70 4.54 0.17 7 QR 1.374 6.46 6.25 0.20 8 LLt 1.436 6.75 6.44 0.32 1 lm.fit 3.853 18.11 18.03 0.03 6 SymmEig 5.700 26.79 26.57 0.22 2 PivQR 9.783 45.98 26.75 19.20 9 arma 19.155 90.03 89.72 0.29 4 GESDD 19.313 90.77 90.53 0.22 5 SVD 184.362 866.50 865.94 0.39 10 GSL 188.672 886.76 886.19 0.21 R version 3.2.3 (2015-12-10) Platform: x86_64-w64-mingw32/x64 (64-bit) Running under: Windows >= 8 x64 (build 9200) These timings are for a 1650 × 875 matrix, rather than the default of 100,000 × 40. The results are highly dependent on the matrix dimensions, so you should use a size that is representative of the data that you are working with. The benchmark was run on a 2GHz Intel Core i7-4750HQ with Windows 10. You can compare these results to Table 12.2 on pg. 191 of Eddelbuettel (2013). I installed OpenBLAS from SourceForge (the usual caveats for downloading binaries from SourceForge notwithstanding). Unfortunately, the usual method of replacing libRblas with libopenblas (or a softlink) is a one-way trip to DLL hell on Windows. If you start getting an error message that libgcc_s_seh-1.dll is missing, switch back to the original Rblas.dll (you did make a backup copy, right?). There are drop-in replacements using SurviveGotoBLAS 3.14 for some CPU architectures available here, but unfortunately not for the 4th generation Haswell with SSE 4.2 and AVX 2.0 instructions. These are the results for the SurviveGotoBLAS binary (Nehalem architecture): lm benchmark for n = 1650 and p = 875: nrep = 20 user system elapsed 2012.86 115.13 2072.31 test relative elapsed user.self sys.self 3 LDLt 1.000 4.71 4.45 0.25 7 QR 1.465 6.90 6.59 0.30 8 LLt 1.643 7.74 7.47 0.27 4 GESDD 4.662 21.96 38.75 5.33 6 SymmEig 6.270 29.53 29.24 0.28 9 arma 6.696 31.54 61.69 11.65 2 PivQR 9.688 45.63 26.45 19.10 1 lm.fit 25.607 120.61 36.31 77.37 5 SVD 190.735 898.36 897.09 0.43 10 GSL 191.970 904.18 903.67 0.13 RcppArmadillo (“arma”) improved from 90s elapsed time to 31.5, almost a 3× speedup. Likewise, GESDD improved from 90.8s to 22. However, lm.fit is slower at 120.6s elapsed. The 77s spent in sys.self is likely due to threading issues. Clearly, this is far from the desired outcome in switching BLAS implementations. There is a workaround for this issue, which is to install the R package RhpcBLASctl. This offers a function blas_set_num_threads(..) that you can use to force BLAS to be single-threaded. Results for single-threaded SurviveGotoBLAS were as follows: lm benchmark for n = 1650 and p = 875: nrep = 20 user system elapsed 1894.76 23.33 1919.85 test relative elapsed user.self sys.self 3 LDLt 1.000 4.67 4.46 0.21 7 QR 1.355 6.33 6.08 0.25 8 LLt 1.422 6.64 6.43 0.22 1 lm.fit 1.623 7.58 7.50 0.08 6 SymmEig 5.728 26.75 26.39 0.33 9 arma 6.503 30.37 29.89 0.40 4 GESDD 7.017 32.77 32.45 0.32 2 PivQR 10.107 47.20 26.33 20.86 5 SVD 186.285 869.95 868.83 0.45 10 GSL 189.852 886.61 885.47 0.19 As described by Avraham Adler, the alternative is to install MSYS2 & MINGW64, then compile both OpenBLAS & R from source. Once again, Windows is the redheaded stepchild of platforms for running R. Note that the Gnu scientific library (GSL) is also available for Windows. If you want to run lmBenchmark for RcppGSL, then you will also need to install it. However, GSL uses its own libgslcblas.dll, so it won’t benefit from installing OpenBLAS as described above. I don’t know why gsl_multifit_linear(..) is so slow, in comparison to all of the other implementations. I’ve observed similar RcppGSL performance when I ran lmBenchmark on Linux and OS X. Advertisements
Jan Hoet (1989) Jan, Knight Hoet (23 June 1936 – 27 February 2014) was the Belgian founder of SMAK (Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst or Municipal Museum for Contemporary Art) in Ghent, Belgium.[1] Biography [ edit ] Jan Hoet (pronounced YAN HOOT)[2] was born in Leuven, Belgium. Throughout his career, he was often referred to in the press as a former boxer (he pursued the sport in college) and several times expressed an admiration for Mike Tyson. His international reputation was first established by "Chambres d'Amis," an innovative exhibition he organized in Ghent in 1986. In that show, about 50 American and European artists were invited to create works for 50 private homes in Ghent, which were then opened to the public for several weeks.[3] Subsequently, he managed several important exhibitions all over the world. Hoet curated Documenta IX in Kassel in 1992, presenting several hundred works by 190 artists from nearly 40 countries.[4] Subsequently, he managed several important exhibitions all over the world. Jan Hoet by the Belgian painter Willy Bosschem Hoet served as the curator of the SMAK from 1975 until his retirement in 2003. As part of the 2000 "Over the Edges" exhibition in Ghent, he let artist Jan Fabre drape columns of a university auditorium in slabs of ham.[5] After retiring, in 2003, he became artistic director for the museum MARTa Herford in Herford (Germany) and collaborated with architect Frank Gehry on its design.[6] The inaugural show in 2005 called “My Private Heroes” was an eclectic mix of works by artists including Marina Abramovic, Chris Burden, Gavin Turk, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Joseph Beuys as well as history paintings, ephemera and a yellow jersey worn by a Tour de France winner.[7] On 17 June 2012 Jan Hoet collapsed at the airport in Hamburg. On 23 June 2012, while being repatriated to Ghent, Hoet suffered from hypercapnia and he was being held in a coma at the hospital of Soltau. Hoet was repatriated to Ghent. In January 2014 Hoet suffered a second heart attack. He died in a hospital in Ghent on 27 February 2014 and was buried in the Cemetery of Campo Santo. Recognition [ edit ] In 1992, a Belgian magazine named Hoet one of the 10 sexiest people in Belgium.[8] At the news of his death, the Belgian prime minister Elio Di Rupo tweeted that the Belgian art world “loses a father”.[9] "He was invaluable," painter Luc Tuymans said of Hoet, who bought his first work and was instrumental in making Tuymans a global name in contemporary painting.[10] Bibliography [ edit ] "Your Own Soul: Ingrid Mwangi" by Ingrid Mwangi, Jan Hoet, and Gislind Nabakowski (Hardcover - 1 September 2003) "Flemish and Dutch Painting: From Van Gogh, Ensor, Magritte, Mondrian to Contemporary Artists" by Rudi Fuchs and Jan Hoet (Hardcover - 15 June 1997) "Bjarne Melgaard: Black Low" by Bjarne Melgaard, Jan Hoet, and Ann Demester (Hardcover - 2 March 2003) "Positions In Art (Reihe Cantz)" by Chris Burden, Kiki Smith, James Turrell, and Jan Hoet (Paperback - 2 July 1995)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: After May 20 tornadoes devastated parts of the Midwest and especially Moore, Okla., killing at least 24 people – some of them school children – we are requesting prayers and gifts to help with The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod’s ongoing relief effort. The tornado swept dozens of homes and buildings off their foundations, shredded cars and trucks, littered streets with debris and power lines, injured at least 145 people in the Oklahoma City suburb and struck two schools and a hospital. Aaron Uphoff, a vicar from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind., is serving at Trinity Lutheran in Norman, Okla. He spent Monday evening in Moore, praying with and comforting those who survived the devastation. “I prayed with as many people as I could,” he said. “I asked Christ for comfort and for the peace that that surpasses all understanding, which is ours by virtue of Good Friday and Easter.” At the same time, there is a great deal of mercy that needs to be shown to the people who have been hurt by this spring’s tornadoes. You can help support your Synod’s disaster response relief effort by contributing today to LCMS Disaster Response. The Rev. John Fale, associate executive director of the LCMS’ Mercy Operations Group,said, “The needs are going to be huge. We don’t know yet the extent of what they will be, but, by the grace of God, we will be there to respond with the love and mercy of Christ to help those affected by the tornado to regain some sense of normality.” When the 6,200 congregations of the Synod respond, together we make an enormous difference by bringing our resources to bear where people are hurting. (Download a letter of encouragement I’ve written for our LCMS members and congregations here.) Now is the time to help. Support those in need by: Making a donation online at http://www.lcms.org/give/disaster. Mailing checks payable to “The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod” (with a memo line or note designating “LCMS Disaster Relief”) to The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, P.O. Box 66861, St. Louis, MO 63166-6861. Calling toll-free 888-930-4438 (8:10 a.m. – 4:10 p.m. CST, Monday through Friday). Pastor Matthew C. Harrison President, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod Additional Resources: Give a gift to help the LCMS provide immediate and ongoing response when disasters happen. Watch LCMS President Matthew C. Harrison’s video message of Christ’s help and hope. Keep up-to-date on the LCMS response to disasters around the globe at www.lcms.org/disaster Download disaster-related worship resources for use this Sunday, including a Bible Study, devotion, hymn suggestions and prayers.
ETSU went into Atlanta today to make a statement after their loss against Villanova Friday night and they did just that. ETSU squeaked by with a 69-68 win against Georgia Tech thanks to a last second 3-point shot by Ge’Lawn Guyn (video of the shot is below). Guyn finished with 24 points, 16 of them in the second half, 7 rebounds and one huge block that came late in the second half and resulted in a transition basket by Deuce Bello. The Bucs led most of the first half and by as many as 7 until Georgia Tech went on a 20-8 run to end the half and leading 32-27. Tech than increased their lead to 8 early in the second half but the Bucs never game up. They slowly worked their way back into the game thanks to some hot shooting, the Bucs shot 57.7 percent from the field in the second half. The win against Georgia Tech gives ETSU their first win over an ACC school since 1991, which is when ETSU defeated NC State in Raleigh. ETSU improved to 3-1 on the year with the win and handed Tech their first loss of the year and dropping them to 3-1 as well. ETSU scored 36 points in the paint, 14 more than Georgia Tech. The Bucs also had 11 points off turnovers and 14 second-chance points. ETSU also shot 57.7 percent from the field in the second half. In addition to Guy’s 24 points T.J. Cromer and A.J. Merriweather also finished in double figures with 12 points a piece. ETSU will finish up this 3 game road trip with a game against Charleston Southern on Tuesday and then will be back in Freedom Hall on Saturday the 28th. Go Bucs!
At a recent Roseville City Council meeting, the city’s chief financial officer Jay Panzica acknowledged a $1.5-million shortfall in sales tax this year. In a discussion at city hall on Tuesday, Panzica, Assistant City Manager Dominick Casey and City Manager Rob Jensen acknowledged another hard truth—a larger shortfall could be looming. Jensen said that heading into the 2017-18 fiscal year, which begins July 1, the city could be $2.5-3 million upside down. “We’re going to have to have some cuts,” Jensen said. At an upcoming council meeting April 19, city staff will present a report that will recommend forming a committee to include residents and discuss what cuts might look like. The question for the committee to consider, Panzica said, will be whether it wants to search for new sources of revenue for Roseville or shrink services. Public safety represents one of the largest discretionary expenses for the city. Jensen said that while the city seemingly has half a billion dollars in its budget, with a $140 million general fund, the council has about $85 million to run the city after subtracting for various restricted funds and revenue sources. Of that remaining amount, approximately $60-70 million goes to public safety. Maintenance of regional parks accounts for $5-6 million annually, with Jensen saying, “If you’re looking at any kind of meaningful cuts that are outside of public safety, that’s really your option.” Some expenses might be sunk. Roseville pays a higher average for government salaries than many other regional governments. Jensen said paying a competitive salary is to the city's advantage. “For me, being able to have a competitive salary that’s going to allow me to recruit people to do the jobs is the No. 1 important thing we do,” he said. He added that there are limits to what the city can pay. “This last go-around in working with the unions, we spent a lot of time talking about what is that market-level that we should be compensating employees for, that’s not putting us at the top but is not putting us significantly below that we’re going to get folks that can’t do the job,” Jensen said. The city has sought to reduce contract costs through negotiations with its various labor groups as it has to begun to repay debts accumulated during the recession. In December, the city reached an agreement with the Local 1592, its fire union, getting members to agree to a lower salary schedule for new hires and lower benefits. Casey said the city will save $250,000 after it fills 10 vacant fire positions, while providing the same level of service. Jensen touted benefits for Roseville as well through the city’s actions during its labor talks. “We saw our revenue flattening out and we saw our expenses continuing to grow, and we had to take as many steps as we could to control that growth,” Jensen said. “With all our labor groups, that was the position we took.” The city grapples with other challenges, with Panzica saying interest rates are going up, which means inflation will increase as well. Tens of millions of dollars in deferred maintenance expenses for city properties loom as well. Meanwhile, some seemingly lucrative sources of income aren’t what they might seem, Jensen said. He estimated the Galleria Mall does $500 million in sales and pays $35 million in sales tax, though the city only receives $5 million of that. The Roseville Automall? $700 million in sales, $49 million in sales tax and $7 million of that for Roseville, by Jensen’s estimate. “People look at, ‘Well gosh, you should be getting tens and tens of millions of dollars off those.’ But we only get a small percentage,” he said. The citizen’s committee will have 15-20 members, meet for six to nine months and be purely advisory, producing a report for the city to consider. The city expects the council to begin recruitment for the committee in April and for it to begin meeting in July or August. “As we go through this request to council to form the committee to look at our service levels, I fully expect that we’re going to have some folks that are going to significantly question why,” Jensen said. “It’s our job to really just open up our jackets and say, ‘This is what it is.’”
Semen performs its most important function reproduction in animals including humans. In addition, they have other beneficial and harmful effects on human health as well. There have been studies that have shown that semen has an antidepressant effect, anti-cancer effects where the semen is found to prevent and fight breast cancer and also prevention of pregnancy related high blood pressure condition called preeclampsia. The exact beneficial role of semen in these diseases is not well known. However, the harmful effects of semen in transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are well known. Semen and transmission of disease Some people think there are only two STIs syphilis and gonorrhoea. In reality, however, there are many other diseases that can be spread through sexual contact. These include: hepatitis B and C herpes chlamydia genital warts vaginitis hepatitis B HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) These diseases need awareness and need to be prevented as without therapy these diseases may lead to infertility, cancer, heart disease, AIDS and even death. Hepatitis B and C Hepatitis B and C affect the liver and may be carried blood, saliva, semen and other body fluids of an infected person. They spread via sexual contact and may lead to liver cancer. HIV/AIDS AIDS is the end result of infection with the virus HIV. HIV virus also is carried in blood, saliva, semen and other body fluids of an infected person. HIV attacks the body’s defence system or immunity and makes common infections life threatening. AIDS has no cure and is usually fatal. Gonorrhea Gonorrhea is caused by bacteria spread from one infected person to another during sex. It can occur in both men and women affecting the penis, vagina the rectum and throat. This leads to burning during urination and pus discharge. Untreated gonorrhea can cause sterility in both women and men. In women, it can lead to Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) that may eventually lead to infertility and miscarriage. Syphilis Syphilis is caused by an organism that enters the body through the skin, the mouth, or the anus during sex. It leads to a sore from where the organism enters the blood. Herpes Herpes is a viral disease and it forms blisterlike sores on the genitals. Chlamydia Chlamydia produces an infection that is very similar to gonorrhea. Untreated chlamydia can cause Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) with pain, fever, miscarriage and infertility in women. Nongonococcal urethritis Nongonococcal Urethritis (NGU) is also an infection that may cause burning upon urination and discharge of pus from the penis. Bacteria involved are Ureaplasma and mycoplasma. Genital warts Genital warts are caused by a virus, Human Papillomavirus (HPV). HPV in most cases resolves by itself but may lead to cervix cancer in some women. Vaginitis Vaginitis is an inflammation of a woman’s vagina passed during sex. Three of the most common types of vaginitis are: Trichomonal vaginitis Yeast vaginitis Bacterial vaginitis Blood in the semen Blood in semen is not uncommon and can appear as either a brownish or red colour in the semen. It is usually painless in most men. It may even be invisible to the naked eye and can be detected only with a microscope. Blood in semen may be caused by inflammation, infection, blockage, or injury anywhere along the male reproductive system. Blood in semen is called haematospermia and can affect men of any age after puberty. It commonly affects men between 30 and 40 years of age and in men over 50 years of age with benign prostate enlargement. The majority of cases go away in time without treatment. Up to 90 per cent of men who have had blood in their semen experience repeated episodes. Semen as an antidepressant There are studies that have shown that semen could act as an antidepressant in women. The study included sexually active college females and found that not only were females who were having sex without condoms less depressed, but depressive symptoms and suicide attempts among females who used condoms were higher. Condom use meant less exposure to semen. Measures of depression were high in women did not use condoms if the time between last sexual intercourse increased. Researchers speculate that the vagina absorbs a number of components of semen that can be detected in the bloodstream and that reduces symptoms of depression. Further Reading
New York’s Democratic governor plans major tax cuts for the wealthy By Philip Guelpa 23 January 2014 On Tuesday, New York State’s Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo, presented his budget proposal for the 2014-15 fiscal year, which begins in April. This followed his “State of the State” address delivered earlier in the month. Both emphasized his determination to continue with the policies of his first three years as governor, which vastly favor the rich while continuing attacks on the working class. In the state which is home to Wall Street, the financial capital of the world, the contrast could not be posed more starkly. Cuomo’s proposed budget projects a surplus of $2 billion by 2016-17. He plans to use this surplus to offset substantial tax reductions, primarily for corporations and wealthy individuals. The surplus is to be generated by holding the state budget to a 2 percent rate of annual increase, barely above the rate of inflation. This means that social programs and most state services, the funding of which has not recovered from the deep cuts made following the 2008 crash, will continue to be starved for resources. The dramatic, indeed unprecedented resurgence in the finance industry since the 2008 crash, in which stock values and executive compensation have reached new heights, has not been matched by recovery in the real economy of the state. The state comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, released a statement following Cuomo’s State of the State address which indicated that the projected surplus was based on questionable, temporary provisions and that the economy, especially in the upstate region, is precarious. The decades-long deindustrialization of the region, which accelerated following 2008, has resulted in a substantial loss of jobs. Many upstate municipalities and public school districts face severe financial difficulties. Despite this, the budget includes no increase in state aid to cities, towns, and villages. In addition to proposed limitations on increases in property taxes, Cuomo’s tax reduction plan includes raising the threshold on estate taxes by more than five times to $5.25 million (estates valued below that amount would pay no tax), while cutting the top rate from 16 to 10 percent; a reduction in annual corporate taxes by cutting the rate from 7.1 to 6.5 percent; a real estate tax reduction for manufacturing businesses; the total elimination of the corporate income tax for manufacturing businesses in the upstate region (i.e., north of the New York City metropolitan area); and a reduction in utility taxes for businesses. There have been many expressions of strong skepticism regarding the likelihood that these tax reductions can be achieved without severe budget cuts. The Citizens Budget Commission projects that the state would have to reduce payroll and operations costs and aid to localities by about $5 billion to achieve a $2 billion surplus in two years. According to the Rockefeller Institute of Government, the recovery in tax revenues in New York and other states has not reached the level that existed prior to the recession. The state comptroller reports that, while tax revenues have increased this fiscal year due to income from sales taxes, overall they are below expectations. This is primarily the result of a lag in revenues from corporate taxes. Thus, although corporate profits have grown significantly, the improved state tax revenue comes disproportionately from ordinary citizens. The new budget proposal includes a mere $807 million, or 3.8 percent, increase in state assistance for public education. The state’s own Board of Regents says that at least $1.3 billion is needed to address pressing needs. School districts, especially those in less affluent areas, were severely impacted by major cutbacks in state aid in the years immediately following the 2008 crash. This has been compounded by a 2 percent property tax cap enacted two years ago by the Cuomo administration. A substantial portion of the funds for public school districts outside the major cities comes from property taxes. The results of a poll recently conducted by the New York State Council of School Superintendents revealed that a third of New York superintendents expect their school districts to reach financial insolvency within four years. Six percent expect to be insolvent in two years. The devastating impact of funding cuts is indicated in part by staff reductions over the last three years – 4.9 percent in 2011-12, 3.9 percent in 2012-13, and 2.3 percent during the current year. According to Billy Easton, executive director of the Alliance for Quality Education, "New York is a national leader in inequality between rich and poor schools and the governor has done nothing to close the gap." Data released by the New York State United Teachers, the state’s largest teachers union, revealed that the wealthiest 10 percent of New York school districts spent 80 percent more per student last year compared to the poorest 10 percent. These disparities in educational spending are reflective of the extreme economic inequalities across the state. In the Utica School District, a small city in upstate New York, the childhood poverty rate is 43.86 percent, the highest in the state. By contrast, in some wealthy suburbs surrounding Albany, the state capital, less than 5 percent of the children are classified as poor. Despite these stark realities, Cuomo denounced calls for increased funding for public education as “propaganda” in a recent radio interview. The budget proposal includes a provision for the institution of universal pre-kindergarten and after school programs across the state. Independent estimates place the cost of a state-wide, full day pre-K alone at $1.4 billion to $2 billion a year, three times what the state currently spends. However, Cuomo’s proposal is for a total of only $1.5 billion over five years and no source of funding is specified. Cuomo’s proposal is being portrayed in the media as a move to counter a similar plan by the new mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio, also a Democrat. The city program would be funded by a small increase in taxes on residents with annual incomes of more than half a million dollars. Such an increase would have to be approved by the state legislature, which is unlikely, making de Blasio’s proposal nothing more than a ploy to gain liberal credentials with little chance of implementation. Both proposals amount to attempts to divert attention from the ongoing destruction of public education. In both the State of the State address and his proposed budget, the governor painted a rosy scenario of New York’s economic condition. The real economy is, however, weak and unemployment remains high. Last November’s state-wide unemployment rate was 7.4 percent and in New York City 8.5 percent. The state-wide labor force participation rate, a more accurate indication of employment conditions, was slightly under 57 percent, roughly 6 percentage points below the national average, indicating a large number of people without jobs. The situation shows no sign of improving. New unemployment claims for the week ending January 4 increased by 28,314, due to layoffs in transportation and warehousing, construction, and education. Most job gains over the last year were in low wage sectors, including private education, health care, and leisure services. Substantial losses occurred in government (13,100) and manufacturing (12,300). Cuomo’s insistence on generating a budget surplus in order to provide tax breaks for the wealthy combined with austerity for social programs is aimed at re-enforcing his credentials as a fiscal conservative who can be trusted to carry out the agenda of the ruling class. He already demonstrated his determination to attack workers when, in 2011, with the collaboration of the unions, he forced major concessions on the state’s public employees by threatening the layoff of nearly 9,000 workers. At the same time, he burnishes his standing among the well-to-do middle class by expressing support for such liberal issues as gay rights, medical marijuana, and gun control. This strategy of giving absolutely no quarter to the working class is now standard fare for Democratic politicians across the country, especially for those, like Cuomo, who have presidential ambitions. The governor’s policies have won substantial approval from the ruling class. Support for Cuomo among the corporate and financial elite is illustrated by his accumulation of a large “war chest” totaling $33.3 million in contributions for his upcoming gubernatorial re-election campaign. Most of this money has come in the form of large donations. A report by the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) indicates that 80 percent came from donors whose contributions total $10,000 or more. The top 242 donors have individually given at least $40,000. Cuomo’s largest single donor, a Manhattan real estate developer, has already contributed $800,000. All this is before the campaign has officially begun. By contrast, less than 1 percent of the total has come from individuals who have contributed under $1,000. In a recent interview for National Public Radio, Cuomo disingenuously claimed that contributions from wealthy donors have no effect on his actions as governor. He declared, "And I don't care if someone gave me a ton of money. It makes no difference." Cuomo’s drive to provide tax breaks for the wealthy while attacking the working class gives the lie to this claim. Cuomo’s right-wing agenda has been so successful in co-opting traditional Republican policies while maintaining a liberal façade that, as the gubernatorial campaign approaches, he faces no credible opponents. The New York Times quoted the leader of the Senate Republicans, Dean Skelos, following the State of the State speech, as praising Cuomo’s focus on cutting taxes and said he sounded like “a good moderate Republican.” The tactic, pioneered by former President Bill Clinton, is known as “triangulation.” It has become standard practice for Democrats across the country, made possible by the active collaboration of the trade unions and their pseudo-left allies. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.
Get the biggest daily news stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email A Danish student who gave up her studies to fight ISIS believes she has a $1million bounty on her head but claims she is being treated as "a terrorist" back home. Joanna Palani, 22, claims to have killed 100 militants during battles in Iraq and Syria as a crackshot sniper. She also says she freed a group of women and children being held as sex slaves by ISIS and then taught them how to become soldiers and fight back. (Image: Instagram) (Image: Instagram) Palani is of Iranian-Kurdish ancestry and her father and grandfather were both Peshmerga fighters. She was born in a UN refugee camp before moving to Copenhagen as a toddler and learned to fire a gun at nine-years-old. But she says life has been a struggle since she returned home from her heroics. (Image: Instagram) (Image: Instagram) She said: "I was willing to give up my life and my freedom to stop ISIS advancing, so that everyone in Europe can be safe. "This was my choice. "But I am seen as a terrorist by my own country." (Image: Instagram) Joanna added: "I live in one of the best countries in the world but I am hungry and homeless and freezing cold in bed at night, even though I am working full time. I don't trust anyone." Speaking about her battles with ISIS, the former student had boasted of her success. "ISIS fighters are very easy to kill," she previously told Vice . "ISIS fighters are very good at sacrificing their own lives, but Assad's soldiers are very well-trained and they are specialist killing machines."
Since it was revealed that Marvel Studios would have input into the next big screen Spider-Man, fans immediately started wondering whether that meant there was a chance that Miles Morales — the "Ultimate Spider-Man" of Marvel's comic book continuity — was about to receive a cinematic spotlight anytime soon. A new message from Marvel's Chief Creative Officer suggests that the answer is "no." On his newly-created Tumblr — set up in part to promote Marvel's Daredevil, which launches on Netflix Apr. 10 — Joe Quesada responded to a fan's question about how to make the best Spider-Man movie in a way that left no doubts as to his allegiance to a particular secret identity. "The trick to making any incarnation of Spider-Man great, whether comics, animation or film is Peter Parker," he wrote. "Get Peter’s character right and the rest falls into place." Emphasizing Parker's character as the foundation of the next film doesn't necessarily close off the possibility that Sony will choose a non-white actor for the next movie Spider-Man, although it does significantly lessen the likelihood that it will happen. One of the reasons fans rallied around the possibility of a Miles Morales movie was that it would increase the diversity of onscreen superheroes, with Morales being half-African American, half-Latino in his comic book incarnation. Of course, just because Quesada feels that Peter Parker is integral to a Spider-Man movie doesn't necessarily mean that Sony will choose that version of the character over Miles Morales — although, given the amount of existing awareness (and merchandise) for the Parker version, it'd be more surprising if a non-Parker Spider-Man was selected. Sorry, Ben Reilly. Sony's next Spider-Man project, reportedly to be written and directed by Drew Goddard, will be released in July 2017, following an appearance in an unspecified Marvel Studios project. Read more 'Spider-Man' Swings to Marvel Studios in Major Sony Partnership
Stephen Harper continues to defy the odds, maintaining a small but significant lead in this week’s poll. While our tracking shows that Canadians are in a pessimistic place these days — about the economy and the nation’s direction overall — the prime minister has re-established a modest edge over Justin Trudeau’s Liberals. A revitalized NDP continues to make this a three-way race and progressive voters are now spread out in a manner that suggests vote-splitting in favour of the Conservatives, who are hovering just north and south of 30 points in a relatively stagnant voter landscape. So what explains the Conservatives’ polling strength, given the depth of Canadians’ stated discontent with the state of the country and the economy, and with their current leadership? None of the current political choices is really lighting it up with a relatively disengaged electorate. Our research suggests that the prime minister is outperforming his rivals when it comes to connecting with voters on values and interests. That’s been keeping his numbers relatively high, notwithstanding the fact that just one Canadian in five thinks he or she is better off since Harper gained his majority, and optimism about Canada’s future is polling at its lowest level in over a decade. The question, of course, is whether Harper’s recent polling strength is sustainable through a campaign. Once the campaign gets properly underway, we can expect to see the focus on security and terrorism fade while the moribund economy becomes the top issue. When combined with the continuing media circus of Mike Duffy’s trial, the twin issues — that average Canadians are losing out while Conservatives and their supporters are lining their pockets — pose the greatest threat to the Conservatives’ current position in the polls. The prime minister’s team has to be pleased with the fact the party is now in a polling position similar to the one it held in the six months before its majority win in 2011. In fact, the Liberals and Conservatives are in positions almost identical to where they were then, while the New Democrats are running seven points higher than they were in late 2010. There are, however, bigger challenges confronting Mr. Harper this time. Due to small sample sizes, polling results for the various regional and demographic groups tend to fluctuate from week to week. But the overall patterns have changed little over the past month. The Liberals continue to dominate Atlantic Canada, while Quebec remains a tight four-way race. The NDP is being squeezed out in Ontario, where the Liberals and Conservatives have been trading the top spot for some time. The Conservatives remain largely unchallenged in the Prairies — except for Manitoba, where the Liberals appear to be a very real force. British Columbia remains a highly fluid race between the Conservatives, Liberals, NDP and Greens, and it would be unwise to make any predictions about where the province is headed at this time. The Conservatives have a very strong lead with men, but can’t seem to make much headway with women voters. The Conservatives continue to enjoy a huge lead with seniors — and the choices of older voters will be critical to deciding the election outcome. New Canadians are moving unpredictably back and forth between the Liberals and Conservatives. Very little appears settled in terms of demographics or regional patterns at this time. Some have been speculating that Harper’s stronger position is based on rising personal numbers and declining scores for his opponents — particularly Justin Trudeau, whose poll numbers have been described as “plummeting”. We find no evidence to support this explanation for Mr. Harper’s lead. The third-place Thomas Mulcair has the best approval ratings and remains in third. Elizabeth May has similarly excellent ratings, but is not a factor in the national race. While Trudeau’s numbers dropped towards the end of 2014, they have been stable for 2015. The prime minister, on the other hand, ranks last among the four leaders tested and a clear majority of Canadians disapprove of the way he does his job. We see no evidence that Trudeau is in decline. He has been ‘polarized’ — with roughly equal percentages of Canadians approving and disapproving of his performance — for some time. In short, the connection between approval ratings and vote intention is weak and confused; the numbers don’t support the conclusion that anyone is plummeting. What the prime minister does have going for him is a clear advantage in terms of who Canadians see best serving their interests — something which we believe is rooted in greater volume, clarity and consistency in his economic messaging. Harper retains an edge in terms of who Canadians see as best reflecting their values, but this advantage has diminished in recent weeks. This is an important number to watch, because ‘values’ are strongly connected to emotional engagement and party choice. Harper is seen by the largest number of Canadians as the leader best able to represent their interests; ‘progressive’ voters have been bouncing between the Liberals and the NDP on this question. This may reflect the advantages of incumbency; the Conservatives have dominated the airwaves with strategic messaging about the budget and ‘values’ issues, while other parties have been struggling to get noticed. This poll takes another look at Canadians’ self-defined ‘class’. Clearly, people with higher incomes and educational attainment are more likely to place themselves in the middle and upper classes. What’s more surprising is the larger percentage of francophones identifying themselves as middle class — which explains why francophone voters express strong support for the concept of restarting middle class progress — and the very high degree of self-defined middle class status among those aged 65 and older. Our past research has show consistently that voters almost unanimously believe that a growing and optimistic middle class is a precondition for societal health and economic progress. Meanwhile, large majorities tend to report a pessimistic outlook for middle class growth. The idea of restarting middle class progress has been a key point in President Barack Obama’s messaging and has figured strongly in the narratives of both Justin Trudeau and Tom Mulcair. The only leader who isn’t really taking about middle class decline is Stephen Harper. This is hardly surprising, since the idea of stalled economic progress undermines his generally rosy depiction of the state of the economy. The key drivers of middle class stagnation are linked to rising income inequality and the decay of public institutions — two things many associate with the policies of austerity, trickle-down economics and tax relief which are central to Harper’s world view. So it might come as a nasty surprise to the Liberals and New Democrats that Stephen Harper’s Conservative party is now seen as the party best positioned to satisfy the interests of the middle class. This phenomenon may be rooted in the continued mantra of Canada’s ‘economic action plan’ and the range of tax goodies coming down in the budget. The challenge for Mulcair and Trudeau is to replace Harper as middle class Canadians’ champion of choice. Frank Graves is founder and president of EKOS Polling. Methodology: This study was conducted using High Definition Interactive Voice Response (HD-IVR™) technology, which allows respondents to enter their preferences by punching the keypad on their phone, rather than telling them to an operator. In an effort to reduce the coverage bias of landline only RDD, we created a dual landline/cell phone RDD sampling frame for this research. As a result, we are able to reach those with a landline and cell phone, as well as cell phone only households and landline only households. The field dates for this survey are April 8-14, 2015. In total, a random sample of 3,399 Canadian adults aged 18 and over responded to the survey. The margin of error associated with the total sample is +/-1.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Please note that the margin of error increases when the results are sub-divided (i.e., error margins for sub-groups such as region, sex, age, education). All the data have been statistically weighted by age, gender, region, and educational attainment to ensure the sample’s composition reflects that of the actual population of Canada according to Census data.
This eviction will live in infamy. The landlord is The Black Veterans for Social Justice and on Jan. 4 they will be in Brooklyn Housing Court before Judge Marsha Sikowitz trying to evict James Blakely, a 98-year-old black U.S. Navy veteran of the Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor—unless he pays rental arrears of $24,130. Blakely lives with his second wife Bonita in a studio apartment on Bergen Street in Bedford Stuyvesant that he claims was given to him rent free six years ago. “In December of 1941 I got bombed by the Japanese,” says Blakely, wearing his USS St. Louis hat in his apartment. “This Christmas I’m facing eviction by the Black Veterans for Social Justice. Boy oh boy, what a difference 76 years makes.” Jingle bells. This might all be because the Black Veterans for Social Justice has signed a memorandum of contract to sell the rent-stabilized building to a white Manhattan developer who specializes in snatching up inner-city properties so that Bed Stuy can have more gentrification, even at the expense of a black American hero who survived Pearl Harbor, and who also served in combat aboard three different battleships in World War II in some of the fiercest battles in the Pacific theater. How did one of the last remaining Pearl Harbor veterans wind up in a war with Black Veterans for Social Justice? This all started six years ago when I was writing a newspaper column for the New York Daily News and I received an email tip from Phil Napoli, a history professor at Brooklyn College, who had written a wonderful book about Brooklyn Vietnam veterans called Bringing it All Back Home . Napoli told me he had received a tip that an African-American Pearl Harbor survivor was living in a trailer with no running water in a junkyard on Buffalo Ave. in Bedford Stuyvesant. I drove straight to the junkyard and walked past the crumpled cars, scrap metal, and old appliances to a rusted trailer in the rear where Rev. James Blakely, 92, invited me inside. A biography of Satchel Paige lay on the pillow of his little cot. Blakely proudly showed me all his military discharge papers, citations from Pearl Harbor, combat medals, and a record of his monthly military pension. Here before me was an American hero living in a junkyard, bathing with cold water from a bucket and a garden hose, reading about Satchel Paige on an avenue named for a symbolic American creature almost as endangered as veterans of Pearl Harbor. Blakely told me the Cliff Notes of his life that day, how he grew up in Arkansas where one day he stepped on a white man’s foot by accident. “It caused such a ruckus that I had two choices: Get lynched or run away and join the Navy,” he said. He joined the Navy on Sept. 26, 1939, and wound up on the USS St. Louis , ending up anchored in Pearl Harbor. “Hawaii was a lot better than Arkansas,” Blakely said, adding that Hawaiian girls didn’t care about the color of his skin even if the US Navy relegated all black sailors to segregated kitchen mess duty. Then on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, Blakely was listening to the Ink Spots on the radio singing “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire,” when sirens wailed and an officer’s command echoed across the ship, “All hands on deck! This is not a drill!” On deck Blakely saw the Japanese planes roar out of the blue Pacific horizon. “Oh, Lord, they were so loud,” Blakely remembers. “Two bombs hit our ship, but the good Lord didn’t let them explode.” But he saw bombs detonate the USS Arizona in front of his ship, fellow sailors screaming and flying through the smoke and flames. Blakely served the rest of the war in fierce action across the Pacific Theater on the St. Louis , Relief and Andrew Jackson , receiving Navy combat stars and commendations in Iwo Jima, Lingayen Gulf, Guadalcanal, Coral Sea, Marshall Islands and Luzon, where his body was scorched and scarred by Japanese “chemical smog.” On Oct. 8, 1945, Blakely received an honorable discharge and a final US Navy paycheck of $87.51. He long-shored on the Brooklyn waterfront, became a janitor at NYU, and bought a house on Green Ave. in Brooklyn with a GI loan, the South Brooklyn Savings Bank holding the $7,000 mortgage for which he paid $51.90 a month. “I lived in that house for fifty-nine-and-a-half years until 2006 when after my wife died. I am ashamed to say my grandson, my own blood, finagled the house from me,” says Blakely. Blakely lived in his 2006 Mitsubishi for five years until muggers dragged him from it, beating the old vet in a carjacking. It was then that a local junkyard owner moved Blakely into the trailer without plumbing where I found him in 2012 reading about Satchel Paige, who was famous for saying, “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.” When I met James Blakely he didn’t look back at the vile Jim Crow horrors of Arkansas, the shameful segregation of the US Navy during WWII, the horrific bombing of Pearl Harbor, the unspeakable carnage of WWII in the Pacific, and the betrayal of his own kin. When I met Rev. James Blakely he was a man with an optimistic smile stenciled to his happy face, an infectious laugh, a lifetime of stories and a soulful of gospel songs, a man who believed in hope and the future and America. I asked him what his hopes were. “I’d love to have a little place of my own with running water and a stove,” said this veteran who survived a day that lives in infamy to wind up homeless in a junkyard. I wrote that column, with photos of a smiling James Blakely. And I was bombarded by readers offering Blakely an RV, an air conditioner, money, invitations to move him into their homes. Some offered affordable apartments. A successful artist offered to auction a painting in his honor. I also received an email from Caryn B. Resnick, Deputy Commissioner, NYC Dept. of the Aging:, “Hi Mr. Hamill: As a result of your story there is a happy ending for Mr. Blakely. Our Case Management team at the Dept for the Aging intervened on his behalf. With the help of one of our contracted Case Management Agencies and the Black Veterans for Justice, he will be moving to Bergen Street, Brooklyn. He will be getting a home-delivered meal starting tomorrow. So far everything is moving very fast for the benefit of this hero.” I visited Blakely when he jingled his new house keys, dancing across the polished floors. A representative from the Black Veterans for Social Justice was there, saying the apartment would be rent free for life for the 92-year-old vet. “Boy, oh, boy, give me a home where the buffalo roam,” Blakely said, laughing. “I took a shower this morning and stayed in a long time, making the water hotter and hotter… I had been washing in a five-gallon bucket warmed by the sun. Sometimes I’d strip and hose myself down with cold water outside the trailer. Now I have a shower, a stove, a fridge, an air conditioner, smoke alarm, carbon monoxide alarm, closets, dresser, new bedding. Keys. Boy, oh, boy, it’s been a long time since I had keys to a place of my own.” It was a beautiful moment, a city and an African American veteran’s organization taking care of a local hero who told me the only other thing he could ever hope for after serving in a segregated navy would be to shake the hand of the first black Commander in Chief, Barack Obama. That never happened. But the Black Veterans for Social Justice had extended its helping black hand to a fellow black vet. I returned to visit Rev. Blakely three years later on his 95th birthday, which he celebrated with his new wife, Bonita, and fellow African-American Pearl Harbor veteran, Clark E. Simmons, 93, who was aboard the USS Utah that terrible December morning. Simmons told me that he and Blakely were two of just five Pearl Harbor survivors left in New York and that they had been united by the Black Veterans for Social Justice. Simmons has since passed on. No one mentioned to me that day a single word about Rev. James Blakely being in arrears on his rent. Three years after he moved in, neither he nor his wife, Bonita, a nurse, had been served with any friendly reminders, lawyer letters, or eviction notices. No landlord ever goes three months, never mind three years, of rent arrears without filing an eviction. So I was shocked when the Blakelys contacted me recently, saying they were facing eviction by their landlord, The Black Veterans for Justice, who after six years wanted back rent of $24, 130 at $635.00 per month. “The first notice actually came in Sept. 2016,” says Coco Jolly, Blakely’s attorney from Brooklyn Legal Services. “We made a motion to dismiss, claiming Mr. Blakely had never signed a lease and was told the apartment was rent free. The case was basically postponed until October of 2017.” In that time attorneys from the law firm of Cohen, Hurkin, Ehrenfeld, Pomerantz and Tennenbaum for Black Veterans for Social Justice submitted a lease to the court which they claim was for $778 a month but which was reduced to $635 because of the change in Blakely’s Veterans Benefits. Jolly disputes the lease’s validity. “First of all Mr. Blakely says he never signed that lease, and the signature does not look anything like his signature on many other documents we have seen,” says Jolly. “But they claim his rent went down when his income changed. But his veteran’s benefits increased after he was married and his wife’s income also made their income higher so it makes no sense that the rent could go lower to $635. We are claiming that the lease was not made contemporaneous with occupation of the apartment.” In addition, Jolly points out that the lease is for one year and there were never any renewals in six years. Looks to me like BVSJ figured the old salt would be pushing up daisies in a year. They sure didn’t expect him to last another six years. But James Blakely is made of tough stuff and now he might be a fly in the ointment of the apartment building sale. It’s up to the judge to determine if the lease passes the smell test. But the judge will certainly be taking into consideration a Memorandum of Contract dated May 31, 2017 concerning the building, in which Black Veterans for Social Justice agrees to sell the 12 apartment building to Michael Khodadadian, of Silver Rock Equities, LLC., which might as well be called Gentrification Equities LLC. The Silver Rock website says Michael Khodadadian is the founder and principal at Silverrock Equities LLC. “He specializes in the acquisition of distressed and under-valued investment properties,” the website says. Silver Rock lists rental apartments such as one on E. 59 St., East Flatbush for $1900, Section 8 ok. A building for sale on Chauncey St, in Bushwick, Jackie Gleason’s old Honeymooners block, for $2.4 million. BANG! ZOOM! If Blakely is evicted, rental for his little apartment on Bergen St. will likewise go to the moon. A call to Khodadadian was not returned. But the head of the black veterans’ group did respond to a request for comment. “When we first put Rev. Blakely into that apartment in 2012 and furnished it for him, it was a one-year rent free lease,” says Wendy McClinton, president and CEO of Black Veterans for Social Justice, herself a military veteran. “After that Mr. Blakely and his wife signed documents agreeing to pay rent. They have not. We submitted those documents to the courts.” I was there the day Blakely moved into the apartment and it was my understanding that it was a rent-free apartment, period. “My husband never signed any documents agreeing to pay rent after that,” says Bonita Blakely. “I certainly never signed anything. If they are saying that, it is just untrue, a lie. Our lawyer showed us the documents they submitted to the court and they do not even come close to matching my husband’s signature. They are fraudulent.“ McClinton also claims that Rev. Blakely has an income of $5,000 a month and is only exploiting his status as a WWII Pearl Harbor veteran to live rent free, adding that other vets of Iraq and Afghanistan including single mothers suffering from PTSD and other ailments do pay rent.When asked if Mr. Blakely’s eviction proceeding filed five years after he moved in had anything to do with the sale of the building to Khodadadian of Silverrock Equities she said, “No, but I can’t comment further on that.” “If the Black Veterans would drop this crazy arrears demand of $30,000 now and made the repairs we have asked for I would agree to pay rent going forward,” says Bonita Blakely. “Right now we can’t cook or drink the water which runs brown from the tap. The toilet is hanging by a thread. There’s a loose board on the floor that my husband fell over already. They refuse to make repairs. What we need is a one-bedroom apartment with working plumbing and a new lease and then we’ll move from the studio they gave to my husband rent-free and agree to pay rent. Otherwise we will see them in court.”
Similar research is going on in the U.S., where the embryos are not being used to produce children. The 46 human chromosomes, where DNA resides and does its work. (Photo11: AP) Story Highlights Method would help prevent passing on genetic diseases Technique focuses on faulty mitochondria Experts: Procedures would be done in about a dozen women a year LONDON (AP) — Britain may allow a controversial technique to create babies using DNA from three people, a move that would help couples avoid passing on rare genetic diseases, the country's top medical officer says. The new techniques help women with faulty mitochondria, the energy source in a cell, from passing on to their babies defects that can result in such diseases as muscular dystrophy, epilepsy, heart problems and mental retardation. About one in 200 children is born every year in Britain with a mitochondrial disorder. For a woman with faulty mitochondria, scientists take only the healthy genetic material from her egg or embryo. They then transfer that into a donor egg or embryo that still has its healthy mitochondria but has had the rest of its key DNA removed. The fertilized embryo is then transferred into the womb of the mother. Some groups oppose artificial reproduction techniques and believe the destruction of eggs or embryos to be immoral. British tabloids jumped on the procedure when it was first announced in 2008 and labeled it the creation of a three-parent baby — the mother, the donor and the father — a charge scientists claim is inaccurate because the amount of DNA from the donor egg is insignificant. "Scientists have developed ground-breaking new procedures which could stop these diseases being passed on," Britain's chief medical officer, Dr. Sally Davies, said in a statement on Friday. "It's only right that we look to introduce this life-saving treatment as soon as we can." Similar research is going on in the U.S., where the embryos are not being used to produce children. Earlier this year, the U.K.'s fertility regulator said it found most people supported the new in vitro fertilization methods after a public consultation that included hearings and written submissions. Critics have previously slammed the methods as unethical and say there are other ways for people with genetic problems to have healthy children, like egg donation or tests to screen out potentially problematic embryos. In a response to the public consultation, the charity Christian Medical Fellowship said the techniques were unethical. "We do not consider that the hunt for 'therapies' that might prevent a small number of disabled children (with mitochondrial disease) being born justifies the destruction of hundreds if not thousands of embryonic human lives," the group said. It also said there were lingering concerns about the safety of the techniques. British law forbids altering a human egg or an embryo before transferring it into a woman, so such treatments are currently only allowed for research. The government says it plans to publish draft guidelines later this year before introducing a final version to be debated in the U.K. Parliament next year. Politicians would need to approve the use of the new techniques before patients could be treated. If British lawmakers agree, the U.K. would become the first country in the world where the technique could be used to create babies. Experts say the procedures would likely only be used in about a dozen women every year. "Many of these (mitochondrial) conditions are so severe that they are lethal in infancy, creating a lasting impact upon the child's family," said Alistair Kent, director of the charity, Genetic Alliance U.K., in a statement. "An added option for families at risk of having a child with such a condition is welcome." Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/12q4wtp
When night falls in Cars Land, all I can say is “get your camera ready!” For years, I’ve had the pleasure of discovering all the different photographs to be had at the Disneyland Resort once the sun goes down, so having the opportunity to explore all the new photo possibilities in Cars Land at night has been a real treat. When you enter Cars Land at night, you’re going to want to walk down Route 66 and take in the spectacular lights and neon signs of Radiator Springs. This photo was taken just outside Radiator Springs Racers. You can really see the shape of the front of a car come into view in the rockwork with the way it is lit at night (the grill to the left, hood ornament on top, and even a wheel well on the right). Be on the look out for more surprises in the rockwork, some things are easy to find and some are a little harder. This photo is one of my favorites so far. The cars are close and you have great view of the mountain range. It was taken just after sunset and I used a slow shutter speed to show motion. Check back soon as I will be sharing more photos from inside Cars Land. I’m thinking of sharing some pictures highlighting some of the amazing (and fun) detail you’ll see throughout Radiator Springs.
Please enable Javascript to watch this video CANTON, Okla. - A hitchhiker is suspected of shooting and killing a woman near Canton after she and another man gave him a ride from Oklahoma City. According to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, a man and a woman were driving from Oklahoma City to Canton when they picked up a hitchhiker. Two miles east of Canton, officials say the hitchhiker shot the woman before getting out of the vehicle. The male driver headed to the Canton Police Department for help. Sadly, 18-year-old Caylee Massey died from her injuries. The population in Canton, Oklahoma, is just over 600. It’s a quiet, family town in Blaine County where a murder is rare, to say the least. “We don’t see this kind of thing happen here,” Angie Broderick said. That’s why Broderick was shocked to see crime scene tape outside her store on Main Street Wednesday morning. “I went to turn the corner, and it was blocked off. I knew right there something was wrong, so yeah, it was real creepy,” Broderick said. OSBI investigators say a man driving a red Ford pickup truck drove to the Canton Police Department with an alarming story. He told them a hitchhiker they picked up in Oklahoma City shot Massey then jumped out of the truck and took off. “Right now, we believe this happened approximately two to three miles east of town, and the person driving came in town seeking help,” Major Todd Doyals said. Police rushed to find the woman, but she was already dead. That was just before 5 a.m. Wednesday. Authorities have been looking for the suspect ever since. They want to talk to a man seen on surveillance video wearing an OSU Cowboys t-shirt at a convenience store in Watonga. He was seen there with the couple sometime overnight. Authorities have since identified him as Christopher Blake Scruggs, who is also wanted for questioning related to a violent attack in Logan County. We know OSBI interviewed the driver Wednesday, trying to get some answers in the horrifying case. It’s a case that makes people who live and work in Canton uneasy and hoping police find the suspect soon. “This kind of stuff doesn’t happen. Break-ins rarely happen, anything really happens here, you don’t lock your doors around here,” Broderick said. Anyone with information on the crime should call the OSBI tipline at 1-800-522-8017.
I have, in my day, been something of an amateur aquarist, but I never thought to provide my fish with a pastime like playing Pokemon. One intrepid Twitch user has done just that, programming an interface that interprets their fish’s swimming habits as button presses on a virtual controller for the original Red/Blue version of Pokemon. The fish is a betta (or ‘Siamese fighting’) fish, the decorative, brightly colored popular pet store variety that actually originates from the Mekong basin and calls standing waters including rice paddies their home. The fish is less than skilled at Pokemon, and despite having logged around 130 hours, he hasn’t done much. But he has actually participated in and won at least one battle, which is impressive given his brain is tiny compared to his body size. Some science trivia reveals that bettas will actually show a preference for self-control in exchange for longer time in front of a mirror, however (opting for a 15 second delay between sessions in exchange for a full 15 seconds of mirror time, vs. immediate gratification in exchange for just 2 seconds of mirror access). Maybe that means this fish, who is named Grayson Hopper, has some dim awareness of his burgeoning Internet celebrity status. In any case, Grayson is a lot more capable than your average Magikarp.
Tales of Zestiria Shares Details On Field Actions And Battles By Sato . July 24, 2014 . 11:02pm In Tales of Zestiria, the terrain will have an affect on your battles, as different areas might change the surroundings of your fights. 4Gamer shares a look at this feature and others. First off, we previously shared some details on Maltran, the “Blue Valkyrie” of the Highland Kingdom. The above shares another look at the female knight, who is an inspirational figure to Alicia and her mentor of sorts. Baltro is like the Secretary of State of the Highland Kingdom, who takes care of internal affairs. In this kingdom, bureaucracy holds the true political powers, where royalty and aristocrats are practically just decorations. Baltro and the other ministers unified out of nowhere, and are considered the actual forces that drive the Kingdom. He is aware of Alicia and the Monk (Doshi) Sorey, and is strongly cautious of their “conspiracy”. The above is a look at some of the map action features, where you can get rid of different obstacles that might get in the way. Certain obstacles might require the right elemental actions, so you’ll be able to move them once you have the right Heavenly Tribe member. There are also a couple other useful map actions. Miclio’s water shield makes enemies notice you less but will slow you down. Dezel’s wind abilities can help you reach areas you normally can’t get to on your own. Tales of Zesteria has a new “Real Map Battles” feature for the first time in the series, you’ll fight in the same area as the battle commences. This means that you might want to consider where you fight, since there will be different obstacles, or maybe you wouldn’t want to fight yourself caught in a narrow hallway. Finally, above are a few images depicting the animated event scenes by ufotable and miscellaneous screenshots below. Tales of Zestiria is currently in development for PlayStation 3.
The official website for the three-part Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel anime film project began streaming on Sunday the second trailer for the first film, titled Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel I. presage flower . The film will premiere in theaters in Japan on October 14. (Note: The linked video on the website is region-locked to Japan.) The film's first trailer debuted in December. Tomonori Sudou ( Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works , Fate/Zero animation director) is directing the films, and ufotable is animating the work. Yuki Kajiura ( Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works , Fate/Zero ) is composing the music. Takahiro Miura is providing the storyboards. Aimer is performing the film's theme song. Note: The summary below reveals spoilers about the Fate/stay night story. Highlight to read. [ The story of the film will revolve around Sakura Matō, the younger sister by blood to Rin Tohsaka, but when she was young, Sakura was sent to the Matō household as an adopted daughter. There, she was given torturous training in order to give her powerful magic powers. Sakura was not supposed to enter the Holy Grail War, but due to her getting into a romantic relationship with Shirō, the passion hidden within herself and her mental restraints go berserk. Sakura becomes a large game-changer in the Holy Grail War, and forces Shirō to walk toward a cruel fate. ] " Heaven's Feel " is a route from the original Fate/stay night visual novel. A manga adaptation of the route launched in May 2015. The TV anime adaptation of Fate/stay night 's ' Unlimited Blade Works ' route premiered in October 2014. The initial Fate/stay night anime premiered in 2005. Thanks to Dennis R. for the embedded video.
It takes more than a green thumb to be a great farmer, super-human vision helps as well. The Institute of Agricultural Machinery at Japan’s National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, along with SI Seiko, has developed a robot that can select and harvest strawberries based on their color. Ripened berries are detected using the robot’s stereoscopic cameras, and analyzed to measure how red they appear. When the fruit is ready to come off the vine, the robot quickly locates it in 3D space and cuts it free. From observation to collection, the harvesting process takes about 9 seconds per berry. Creators estimate that it will be able to cut down harvesting time by 40%. Prototypes are currently being tested in the field with marketable versions expected in the next few years. This artificial agriculturalist was recently recognized by the 4th Annual Robot Award of the Year in Japan. You can see why in the videos below. If we adapt its combination of visual acuity and manual dexterity for other produce, the strawberry harvesting robot could help reshape industrial agriculture. A typical berry field one square kilometer in size takes about 500 hours to harvest. With its speedy evaluation, the strawberry picking robot could cut this down to around 300 hours. Not only that, but every berry would have a quantifiably similar level of ripeness based on color, and would be harvested with a minimum of bruising. Robots will also be able to harvest during the night (as shown in the videos below) allowing for the fruit to reach market closer to optimum freshness. These improvements in speed and quality will likely translate to millions of dollars saved each year for the industry as a whole. Even if we focus on strawberries alone, robots like this one make a lot of sense. Here is raw footage of the robot in action: DigInfo’s coverage has a great interview with an IAM representative from NARO, and shows how the robot views the fruit it picks for harvest: Of course, the real potential of this robot extends far outside harvesting just strawberries. Berries have a relatively high value per fruit, and can be raised in controlled conditions very well, so they are an ideal first test case. Clearly, however, the lessons that NARO is learning with the strawberry robot are going to apply to tomatoes, grapes, and many other plants with similar anatomies. Crop selection based on color would be useful for almost all fruits, as well as many other forms of produce. Stereoscopic vision, which allows the robot to accurately locate the fruit in 3D space and remove it without damage, could help with any agricultural project, and is a big part of the robotics industry as a whole. We’ve seen other projects which highlight the potential of robots in the gardens, fields, and farms of the world. MIT developed prototype bots that could monitor, feed, and harvest tomato plants. Robots have been an important part of dairy farming, and continue to increase in scale and skill. Such machines allow humans to fill management roles and let robots maintain cheaper, healthier, and more valuable crops. The automation of agriculture could prove to be a pivotal development in the early 21st century, akin to the adoption of combustion engines in the early 20th century. Just as horses were eventually replaced by tractors, humans may find themselves replaced by robots in the remaining realms of agricultural labor in which they still hold sway. It will be a few years, however, before NARO’s strawberry robot is threatening anyone’s job. Yes, the sophistication of the bot is wonderful to behold, but the device is still in field tests. Developers will need to finish that research, redesign the robot accordingly, and then market the device. Who knows how long it would take it to hit the global agricultural industry. That’s assuming, of course, that the robot’s costs (for electrical power, maintenance, etc) are low enough not to interfere with the benefits it produces in harvest effeciency and quality. Given enough time, however, it will make economic sense to pick berries with robots rather than humans. The history of industrial agriculture teaches us that if a worker can be replaced by a machine, they will be. Yet despite the obvious disruptions this causes in employment, I think the eventual move towards robotic agriculture is a vital one. We are still fighting global hunger, and anything that can increase our productivity and efficiency in agriculture is likely a valuable step towards solving that grand challenge. The strawberry robot is a relatively small development, but it’s a good one. [source: DigInfo]
RED BUD, Ill. (AP) — The Mega Millions winners — at least three of them — stayed out of sight. The losers, who could number 100 million, had plenty to say Saturday about losing out on the world’s largest-ever lottery jackpot and their dashed dreams of colossal wealth. Journalists descended on convenience stores in Illinois and Maryland, and lottery officials there and in Kansas proudly proclaimed they sold winning tickets in the $640 million world record-breaking Mega Millions jackpot. The winners will earn $213 million before taxes. Three other ticket holders became millionaires. But on the street, online and outside the stores where the winners had purchased their tickets, Americans grumbled about hopes that were raised, and then vanished. And they mused about what they would have done with the money. “What do I do with this useless lottery ticket now?” Laurel Ashton Brooks of Greensboro, N.C., asked on Twitter. As the jackpot got bigger by the hour on Thursday and Friday, Americans had snapped up tickets while dreaming of quitting jobs, paying off debts, building hospitals, buying an island. On Saturday, they took to Twitter and Facebook to bemoan their lost, razor-thin chance at millions. “I knew that when I bought the ticket, that I wouldn’t win. But I did it anyhow,” said Sean Flaherty, a video game tester in New York City. “The whole notion of ‘what if’ still has some currency with me.” Even President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign tapped into the widespread lottery letdown. It sent a fundraising email with the subject “Jackpot” that began: “Yeah, we didn’t either. So we’re still at.” All told, Americans spent nearly $1.5 billion for a chance to hit the jackpot, which amounts to a $462 million lump sum and around $347 million after federal tax withholding. With the jackpot odds at 1 in 176 million, it would cost $176 million to buy up every combination. Under that scenario, the strategy would win $171 million less if your state also withholds taxes. Illinois’ winner used a quick pick — an automatically generated set of digits — to select the winning numbers at a convenience store in the small town of Red Bud, south of St. Louis, Illinois Lottery spokesman Mike Lang said. The winning numbers also were purchased at a 7-Eleven in Milford Mill, Md., north of Baltimore, and somewhere in northeast Kansas. “It’s just unbelievable. Everyone is wanting to know who it is,” said Denise Metzger, manager of the MotoMart where Illinois’ winning ticket was sold. “All day yesterday I was selling tickets and I was hoping someone from Red Bud would win. Never in my wildest dreams did I think this. I’m just tickled pink,” added Metzger, whose store will receive $500,000 for selling the winning ticket, lottery officials said. Paramedic Dan Parrott walked away from the store with $5 in winnings after checking numbers on his $40 worth of tickets. That won’t pay for the new house, new car and the new ambulances he’d decided the jackpot would help him buy in this farming community of 3,700 about 40 miles south of St. Louis. “I’d love to have all that money, but with all of that money comes responsibility,” he said outside the store. “But it’d still be awesome.” James Sitzes emerged from the MotoMart where his check of his six plays flopped. “I bought them at the right place,” he shrugged. “I just didn’t have the right numbers.” “I’ve been thinking for years what I’d do with all that money,” said Sitzes, 70. He’d pay off the house, invest the rest and give away his small plating shop. In Maryland, TV cameras descended upon the 7-Eleven where the state’s winning ticket was purchased. The harried manager repeatedly said “No interviews” to reporters pressing for details as customers pushed through the media crush for their morning coffee. Nyeri Murphy, holding two scratch-off tickets, said she normally plays Powerball but drove to a nearby county to buy $70 worth of Mega Millions tickets this week. “I should have bought them here,” she said. Maryland does not require lottery winners to be identified; the Mega Millions winner can claim the prize anonymously. The store will receive a $100,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket, which was purchased Friday night. The third winning ticket was purchased in northeast Kansas, but no other information would be released by the Kansas Lottery until the winner comes forward, spokeswoman Cara S. Sloan-Ramos said. The Kansas location that sold the ticket will receive $10,000. No winner had contacted the agency by Saturday morning, Kansas Lottery Director Dennis Wilson said. “We sure want to meet the winner, but we want to tell them, sign the back of the ticket and secure it.” Kansas law also allows lottery winners to remain anonymous, though lottery winners in Illinois are identified. The winning numbers in Friday night’s drawing were 02-04-23-38-46, and the Mega Ball 23. Maryland Lottery spokeswoman Carole Everett said the last time a ticket from the state won a major national jackpot was in 2008, when a ticket won for $24 million. “We’re thrilled,” she said. “We’re due and excited.” The holder of the winning ticket in Maryland has 182 days to come forward and claim the prize. Winners in Kansas and Illinois have up to one year; but if the Illinois winner wants to be paid in a lump sum, they have to come forward in 60 days, Lang said. Even though just three tickets matched all the winning numbers, the jackpot made a millionaire of at least three other winners and gave a windfall to more than 100 others. Three ticket-holders won $1 million each, and 158 won $250,000 for matching the first five numbers drawn, said Chuck Strutt, executive director of the Multi-State Lottery Association in Urbandale, Iowa. The estimated jackpot dwarfs the previous $390 million record, which was split in 2007 by two winners who bought tickets in Georgia and New Jersey. For some, the dreams were enough. Katie Kapczynski bought her first-ever lottery ticket with a roommate at a Washington, D.C., gas station. The attendant had to show her how to buy one. “We kind of went more for the experience than the ‘what if’,” she said. On Saturday morning, Kapczynski, a visitor services manager at the Newseum who was in New York on vacation, had left her $6 in tickets behind at home. She still doesn’t know if she won. ___ Associated Press reporters Jeffrey McMurray and Jason Keyser in Chicago, Kasey Jones in Milford Mill, Md., John Hanna in Topeka, Kan., Samantha Gross in New York, Margery Beck in Omaha, Neb., and Ed Donahue in Washington contributed to this report. Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC.
Bernie Sanders speaks to an overflow crowd at a campaign event at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center on April 9 in the Queens borough of New York. Eric Thayer/Getty Images Hillary Clinton posted a 15-point win in New York on Tuesday, a performance that came with victories of both the moral and mathematical variety. Bernie Sanders is promising to fight on—perhaps even all the way to the convention—but a close look at the numbers suggests that the Democratic race is now all over but the shouting. Let’s crunch some numbers. (A note on my methodology: I’m working off estimates from the Associated Press, which has yet to allocate the bulk of Democratic delegates from Washington state, where Bernie beat Hillary by about 45 points last month. That means these numbers may be slightly too kind to Clinton, though the back-of-the-envelope math still paints a very dark picture for Sanders.) Here’s what the overall delegate count (including superdelegates) looks like as of Wednesday morning: Hillary Clinton has 1,930 delegates, or 81 percent of the 2,383 needed to win the nomination Bernie Sanders has 1,189 delegates, or 50 percent of the 2,383 needed to win the nomination There are 1,646 total delegates yet to be allocated: Clinton needs 28 percent of them to reach 2,383 Sanders needs 73 percent of them to reach 2,383 The Sanders campaign continues to believe that the majority of the Clinton-backing superdelegates will eventually change their mind. While I can’t imagine that happening—these delegates, remember, are part of the Democratic establishment by definition—but for the sake of argument, here’s where things stand if you remove those party officials and elected leaders from the equation and just look at pledged delegates won by each candidate to date: Clinton has 1,428 pledged delegates—60 percent of the 2,383 needed to secure the nomination, and 70 percent of the 2,027 needed to claim a majority of all pledged delegates. Sanders has 1,151 pledged delegates—48 percent of the 2,383 needed to secure the nomination, and 57 percent of the 2,027 needed to claim a majority of all pledged delegates. Team Sanders (rather cleverly) is using the very existence of superdelegates to their advantage, arguing that Clinton can’t say 100 percent, beyond-any-shadow-of-a-doubt that she has locked up the nomination unless she wins 2,383 pledged delegates during the primary season. There are currently 1,474 pledged delegates still to be allocated according to the AP, which leaves Hillary with some more work to do to clear that higher bar: Clinton needs to win 65 percent of the outstanding pledged delegates to reach 2,383, and 41 percent to reach 2,027. Sanders needs to win 84 percent of the outstanding pledged delegates to reach 2,383, and 59 percent to reach 2,027. Hillary’s won roughly 55 percent of pledged delegates to date, making that 65 percent target a high bar, and that 41 percent target a relatively low one. (Bernie, meanwhile, would need a serious reversal of fortunes to approach even that 59 percent figure in the remaining contests.) Sanders is promising to take the fight the whole way to the convention, but—barring some catastrophic turn of events for his rival—the math won’t look much better for Bernie once he arrives in Philadelphia. Read more of Slate’s coverage of the 2016 campaign.
We've all read the scary reports and medical studies that tell us how much our high heels are hurting us. (To which we usually respond: Thanks, doctors, our throbbing toes are well aware.) Now we've got a trusty infographic to illustrate, in scary visual detail, just how are vertiginous shoes affect our posture, bones and muscles -- and it's not pretty. The Washington Post's recently published graphic highlights the pressure they put on your joints, the muscle strains they cause in your calves and the dreaded "pump bump" that develops near your ankle: All in all, scary stuff. It's nothing any health-conscious fashionista hasn't heard before, but it makes us think: Maybe with the summer upon us, it's the perfect time to take a break with some sandals or cute flats. Or, if you still can't live without your heels (ahem, these ladies), try foot exercises, stretching or a mineral bath soak to help your feet recover from those daily "heel hangovers." Read more about the perils of heels (if you dare) at WashingtonPost.com. These celebs should take note: PHOTO GALLERY Celebrities Wearing Heels In Places They Shouldn't Want more? Be sure to check out HuffPost Style on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest and Instagram at @HuffPostStyle.

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