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A Milwaukee County prosecutor is examining allegations that abortion opponents offered rewards for volunteers who signed up sympathetic voters in Wisconsin's high-stakes Senate recall elections. According to an email obtained by the Journal Sentinel, the Wisconsin Right to Life and Family Action coalition offered gift cards ranging from $25 to $75 to volunteers who hit targets for persuading voters to fill out absentee ballot applications in the July recall primary elections. State law prohibits offering voters anything of value to vote. Six Republican state senators face recall elections Aug. 9 against Democratic opponents chosen in primaries July 12. Recall elections are set Aug. 16 for two Democratic senators, after GOP primaries July 19. One Democratic senator has already survived a July 19 recall vote. The recall elections will determine whether Republicans hold their edge in the Senate, now at 19-14, or whether Democrats regain control. The email, dated July 1, says the elections "put a pro-family, pro-life state Senate at stake." It then offers "rewards for volunteers who make an impact over the weekend by educating and encouraging family and friends to vote by absentee ballot," including: A "$25 gift card or gas card reward for any volunteer who can get at least 15 pro-life/pro-family voters (and family and friends) to complete an absentee ballot application" by July 5. A "$75 gift card or gas card reward for the volunteer in each Senate district who gets the most absentee ballot applications completed" by July 5. Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf, who prosecutes election law violations, said he had been "advised by the Milwaukee County Election Commission and the (city) clerk of Glendale that Wisconsin Right to Life may have been offering things of value in exchange for signing up pro-life people to vote by absentee ballot in the Alberta Darling recall election." Landgraf said he was reviewing the issue. Darling, a River Hills Republican, is defending her 8th Senate District seat against state Rep. Sandy Pasch (D-Whitefish Bay), on Aug. 9. A Wisconsin Right to Life leader did not return repeated calls seeking comment. Meanwhile, the state Republican Party and Media Trackers, a conservative group, have filed complaints with the state's Government Accountability Board and the district attorney's office over get-out-the-vote "block parties" sponsored by a liberal jobs group, Wisconsin Jobs Now. Over the past two weeks, the jobs group has held five such parties on Milwaukee's northwest side, offering voters free food, drawings for prizes and free shuttles to Milwaukee City Hall, where they could cast absentee ballots. Jobs Now Executive Director Mike Lauer said his organization followed the law, because nobody was required to vote in order to get the food. But an accountability board spokesman has said free food and transportation to the polls shouldn't be part of the same event. Landgraf said he is looking into that complaint as well. On Wednesday, the jobs organization lashed back, accusing the GOP of trying to suppress minority votes. Jobs Now has said it held the block parties in various neighborhoods to encourage minorities to vote.In other recall developments Wednesday: In Madison, conservatives renewed their criticisms of Pasch for her involvement with Wisconsin Citizen Action, a group that backs her recall bid. Pasch sits on the board of Citizens Action but said this week she has had no contact with the group on political matters since she entered the race May 6. On Wednesday, she called the charge a "baseless accusation." Media Trackers released emails that showed Pasch's office had been in touch with Citizens Action since she became a candidate. However, the emails do not include discussions of campaign issues. Both Media Trackers and the GOP have filed complaints with the accountability board, asking election officials to look into whether Pasch illegally coordinated her Senate campaign with Citizen Action. Media Trackers acquired the emails through the state's open records law. They include emails from Jennifer Epps of Citizen Action to Pasch's office, asking her to film a video stating her opposition to cuts to the Wisconsin Shares child care program. Epps also encouraged her to call into a WMCS-AM (1290) radio show on the issue. The video was eventually filmed, as were ones by seven other elected officials, said Robert Kraig, executive director of Citizen Action. Darling was also asked to shoot a video, but her office declined because of her schedule, according to emails Kraig released to the Journal Sentinel on Wednesday. He said the communication with Pasch's office were appropriate because it had to do with a policy issue, rather than campaign strategy. In Menomonee Falls, Darling told reporters that she had sent One Wisconsin Now records sought in the second of two open records requests. The group had sued to force her to turn over emails. Darling said the first request was complied with promptly, but not the second. She said it was done unintentionally, adding that she planned to speak to her office staff about why the request was not addressed as soon as possible. One Wisconsin Now posted one of the emails on its website, which showed contact in May between Darling's office and the American Federation for Children. The federation works on voucher schools legislation and later ran ads in support of Darling. Don Walker of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report. |
Laura calls out a new radical feminist conference for excluding trans women and promoting transphobia. Like many of you who have been discussing the issue on Twitter and Facebook today, I was angered to learn that a new UK conference for radical feminists, RadFem2012, is not only playing host to a well-known transphobe, but is actively excluding trans women from attending. The conference is open only to “women born women living as women”. Now, I personally support and fully appreciate the value of women-only space, but that space has to be open to all self-defining women. Excluding trans women from an event that aims to build an “anti-oppressive movement for the liberation of all women from patriarchal oppression” is bitterly ironic. Trans women suffer horrifying levels of violence, abuse and discrimination, fuelled not only by the fact that they are women, but by the refusal of the vast majority of the cis population to acknowledge and respect their identities. The organisers of RadFem2012 have actively chosen to align themselves with this majority, and in so doing are complicit in trans women’s oppression. Radical? Feminism? I think not. Then there’s Sheila Jeffreys, who thinks that “transgenderism” is: …a practice in which persons who do not adhere to the correctly gendered practices that have been placed upon the biological sex are considered to have something called Gender Identity Disorder and they’re expected to cross over into the other sex. Not criticize the gendered system as it exists, because that’s unthinkable but to make some kind of “journey” by mutilating their bodies and taking dangerous drugs for the rest of their lives in order to supposedly represent the opposite sex. The same Sheila Jeffreys who has been invited to speak at a conference where discussion will be “rooted in the realities of women’s lives”. Are we sure this isn’t Irony2012? Because if Jeffreys and the conference organisers could bring themselves to listen to trans people’s stories, to try and understand or empathise with the realities of their lives, they would realise quite how ridiculously facile and patronising the above argument is. See, when I was little, I didn’t like girlie things. I thought I would rather be a boy. But do you know what I did? I ignored or worked through the girlie things and got on with my life on my terms. Which is far, far, far easier than going through what trans people go through and putting up with the shit they have to put up with to enable them to live their lives as the people they know they are. Clearly there’s something much more significant at play here than not wanting to adhere to “correctly gendered practices”, otherwise why choose the hard path? Personally, I don’t care what that something is. The fact that some people know they are male or female regardless of the sex they were assigned at birth is enough for me, because I respect other people’s lived experiences. I don’t want to sit around “critiquing” trans people’s identity because – aside from the fact that this basically boils down to a disgusting debate on whether people have the right to exist – as a cis person I’m in absolutely no position to understand. And, quite frankly, it’s none of my business. What is my business, as a feminist, is standing in solidarity with my trans sisters and fighting the system that oppresses all of us. A system of which the term “women born women” is very much a part. Boycott RadFem2012. Further reading: You can’t smash patriarchy with transphobia Trans Feminism: There’s No Conundrum About It Rethinking Sexism: How Trans Women Challenge Feminism Responding To The Feminist Anti-Transsexual Arguments Where did we go wrong? Feminism and trans theory – two teams on the same side? |
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Starting running back Ahmad Bradshaw intends to return from a four-game absence when the New York Giants play host to the unbeaten Green Bay Packers on Sunday. "I feel good," Bradshaw said Wednesday. "I plan on playing." Bradshaw broke a bone in his foot on Oct. 30. The Giants (6-5) averaged just 76.5 rushing yards per game, on 3.15 yards per carry, in November. They have lost three consecutive games. Bradshaw isn't likely to practice this week. "I don't want to," he said. "I wanna be as healthy as I can on Sunday. "Maybe I'll try to run a little bit this week and see how it feels. Then Friday, if I can get out there and practice a little bit, maybe so. I just wanna be healthy toward the end of the week, so when Sunday comes there's not a lot of pain and I can rest the bone." During a blowout loss in New Orleans on Monday night, Brandon Jacobs gained 46 yards on 13 carries, and D.J. Ware rushed five times for 23 yards. Mike Mazzeo contributed to this report. |
The password manager Dashlane, which competes with the likes of LastPass and 1Password, just gained a new trick. Through the acquisition of a New York-based startup called PassOmatic, Dashlane is now able to offer an automated password-changing feature. Password Changer does what it says on the box. Like most password managers, Dashlane’s software already included a password generator — now, users can automatically change passwords for chosen services with a single click, making it less likely that they’ll use the same password for long periods of time. The firm is touting this as a good counter-measure against security disasters like Heartbleed, where passwords have found their way into the wrong hands. Advertisement During the beta phase that launched on Tuesday, Password Changer requires a small amount of manual intervention, but in future it will gain the ability to automatically change passwords at set intervals. It’s already compatible with sites such as [company]Amazon[/company], [company]Facebook[/company], [company]Google[/company], [company]eBay[/company] and [company]PayPal[/company]. Like some other password managers, Dashlane’s service sees users store their passwords on the company’s servers, to enable cross-device syncing (for which Dashlane charges $39.99 per year.) The files are encrypted in the user’s client beforehand, though, and Dashlane maintains that it cannot read anything without the user’s master password, which it does not have. Asked whether law enforcement or intelligence agencies would be able to access anything, Dashlane CEO Emmanuel Schalit told me via email that agencies could only get encrypted files from the firm if it were subpoenaed, and the password would need to come from the user “as the grade of encryption used by Dashlane makes these encrypted documents very hard to attack.” Some rivals such as 1Password don’t store any user data on their servers, and do make it possible (with some effort) to synchronize data between devices without the need for a cloud-based service. However, Dropbox remains the most flexible way to synchronize 1Password data, and that service is itself probably approachable by agencies. It all really comes down to how much you trust the encryption, and whether you count your main threat as agencies or — far more likely — criminals. For general protection, everyone should be using a password manager, and the automated nature of what Dashlane is now offering does seem attractive. This applies to anything that makes it easier for people to adopt plausible security measures. New York and France-based Dashlane raised a $22 million Series B round back in May and, while the PassOmatic acquisition didn’t come with any announced numbers, this is how Dashlane is using its cash. PassOmatic CEO Chana Kalai, who has now joined Dashlane along with two colleagues, said in a statement that it was “obvious to us that the solution made even more sense when combined with a password manager, and we clearly saw Dashlane as the leading and most innovative company in that field today.” |
When asked about the origins of Star Wars at a Sundance panel earlier this year, George Lucas didn’t describe a mystical story some muse had moved him to tell. Nor did he frame his films as an epic family soap opera he was inspired to get on celluloid. Neither did he delve into the many filmic influences behind the movie, from westerns and WW2 dogfighting films, to samurai flicks. Instead, his answer was about the ownership structure of the movie and how he financed it in a deal with 20th Century Fox to keep the licensing rights. He then shifted into how he only started to realize the franchise’s potential after the film’s release, when he discovered that “the big money was in toys.” Lucas had nothing to say on the deeper significance of Star Wars outside of the film’s commoditization as an entertainment product. Star Wars is far less Calvin and Hobbes and far more Garfield That’s not to begrudge any meaning that others derive from the fiction—witness the religious fervor swirling around “The Force Awakens”—but for me, Lucas’ explanation made sense. Star Wars has always been, above all else, something to buy, buy, and keep buying. Through the purchase of books and toys and videogames and cards, I’ve long come to accept—despite the pseudo-moralistic preachings of many of the film’s characters—that Star Wars is far less Calvin and Hobbes and far more Garfield. In fact, my most salient, lasting Star Wars memory is opening packs of trading cards as a kid and hoping I would get lucky and score a coveted rare card. Be these purely collectible cards, as printed by Topps; or the fantastically complex collectible card game created in the mid-90s by Decipher Inc. to compete with Magic: The Gathering. Star Wars: Card Trader, a digital card collecting app from Topps released in March 2015, is the epitome of the Star Wars object obsession that began when Lucasfilm first struck deals with toymakers back in 1977. In the app, you buy packs of digital cards using “credits,” which can be purchased with real money; or you can earn credits by watching advertisements or downloading ultra-spammy apps. Like all self-respecting addict-feeders, Topps gives you 25,000 credits a day, or the equivalent of five free base packs. Whatever way you get them, the object is to build up a nest egg of credits to spend on a variety of packs that are offered on a rotating basis, each promising a shot at different variants of cards or “inserts”—special rare cards, packaged in sets (“Blueprints” or “Film Quotes”, for example), that are limited in their distribution and feverishly coveted by the community for about two weeks until everyone moves onto the next shiny thing. The app is oriented exclusively toward consumption. Your peers are fellow hyper-nerds whom you communicate with in a code of arcane abbreviations via an in-app messaging system. No matter how much cash you drop, at the end of the day, you will need to trade with these people for what you want. This is both the main hook of the game, and its curse, because these interactions combine all of the pleasures of condescending Comic-Con jerks with the anonymity of a comments thread. All you can do now is admire your jpegs But in the end—once you have waded through enough ads and put up with enough obnoxious trade offers, or just straight up dropped enough money—you will have amassed a collection of often-beautiful (but sometimes ugly) digital Star Wars cards. And what do you get for all of your hard work? Nothing. All you can do now is admire your jpegs. There is nothing more to it than that; and the app pretends at nothing more. Now you understand the Star Wars game. The app started out with a rabid niche community that has since gotten a bit out of control, spawning a vigorous after-market. It hit its fever pitch in August when iO9 ran an article about how a “Vintage” Han digital card sold for $225 on eBay. (Yes, to clarify: a buyer paid $225 for a promise from an eBay seller that he would transfer a Star Wars jpeg from his phone to the buyer’s phone.) Since then, the app has seen an influx of new users, and Topps has been struggling to find a way to gain control of the after-market and profit from it. The company has started, like Senator Palpatine, to corrupt its own magical ecosystem with increasingly gouging ways to monetize the user base. Through incessant notifications, you are pushed at every opportunity toward purchasing credits to chase down that “rare” jpeg. Most recently, Topps has offered up the option to outright purchase cards—removing the thrill of opening packs, hoping for a “good pull”—a move that has infuriated longtime users, prompting many a declaration that the community is now dead. Enraged proclamations notwithstanding, I logged in to the app today and saw plenty of those purchase-only cards up for trade. This is, after all, the Star Wars franchise—the bench of consumers is deep; and the forgiveness is infinite. Star Wars: Card Trader serves up a distilled shot of the lifeblood of the Star Wars franchise. It is a perpetual, compulsive reason to look at and purchase Star Wars objects every day. We’ve had action figure bobbleheads, Blu-Rays, digitally remastered downloads, Lego sets, trading cards, and now digital trading cards.This latest iteration is the ultimate collector’s toy, frozen forever in packaging, there only be looked at, to be had just to have it, but to never be played with. They are only more minarets for the onanistic cathedral of Star Wars and yet serve as synecdoche for the entire franchise. |
Celebrities depicted in Kanye West's controversial "Famous" visual are beginning to weigh in on his use of their likeness. Taylor Swift has yet to make a public statement about the controversial film, but according to a source close to Swift who spoke to HollywoodLife, "Taylor is livid and horrified. She didn't know what to do when she heard about what Kanye did. She is bewildered, feels betrayed, and is beyond frustrated with Kanye. It is like a complete nightmare." Swift and West were already at odds over whether she had approved his use of the lyric, "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that bitch famous." Swift says she didn't, West says she did, and recently, West's wife Kim Kardashian took the pop singer to task in a recent GQ profile for lying. Other notable celebrities have chimed in to confirm that they weren't a part of West's visual. According to Variety, representatives for presumptive presidential Republican nominee Donald Trump "denied the GOP candidate’s involvement in the shoot." A spokesperson for former President Bush reportedly told TMZ, "In case there was any doubt ... that is not President Bush." The representative added, "He [Bush] is in much better shape." POST CONTINUES BELOW West and Bush have a sordid history, which began in 2005 when the College Dropout rapper went on live television and stated, "George Bush doesn't care about black people." It was a moment that caught both Mike Myers, who was standing next to Kanye during the broadcast, as well as viewers off guard. In his autobiography Decision Points, Bush called the incident the "low point of my presidency." Kanye debuted "Famous" in front of thousands of people at the L.A. Forum on Friday night while simultaneously live streaming the event on Tidal. The visuals to the Life of Pablo single depict a number of some of the most famous people in the world, Kanye himself, his wife Kim Kardashian, his former lover Amber Rose, and her former love Ray J, along with Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Caitlyn Jenner, Anna Wintour, Bill Cosby, Donald Trump, and former President George W. Bush. Other celebrities whose likeness is featured in the visual have yet to officially weigh in. Chris Brown proved to be an exception when he took to Instagram to decry his visible "plumber's butt," adding that Kanye is "talented, but crazy." Why I gotta have the plumbers butt/ crack showing WAX figure?😂😂😂😂. This nigga KANYE CRAZY, talented, but crazy 😭😭😭🏆 A photo posted by 1 (@chrisbrownofficial) on Jun 24, 2016 at 10:34pm PDT Representatives for Swift did not immediately return Complex's request for comment. |
WELCOME TO HOLLAND by Emily Perl Kingsley. c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this...... When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting. After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland." "Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy." But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place. So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned." And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss. But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland. |
RTÉ will show 78 live SSE Airtricity League Premier Division and FAI Ford Cup games as part of a new agreement with the Football Association of Ireland, which runs from now until November 2018. In addition, RTÉ will broadcast all of the Republic of Ireland’s qualification matches in the UEFA EURO 2016 qualification campaign, which kicks off on Sunday, 7 September against Georgia in Tbilisi, and highlights of all home international friendly matches. Soccer Republic will also continue to cover domestic and international football on Monday evenings. Commenting on the news, FAI chief executive John Delaney said: “I want to thank RTÉ for their continued support of Irish football, both in the SSE Airtricity League and our international matches. "With an exciting league season under way and as we head into a highly anticipated EURO 2016 qualification campaign, television exposure is important for the development and promotion of the game and helps the association continue the work it does across all strands of the game in every part of Ireland.” Acting Group Head of RTÉ Sport Clíona O’Leary added: “We are delighted to extend our partnership with the FAI, bringing Irish viewers live free-to-air coverage across the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division and FAI Ford Cup. “This comprehensive coverage, combined with Soccer Republic, an exciting series covering all aspects of the game with a particular focus on football in Ireland, underlines our strong commitment to the domestic game. "And, as RTÉ has already secured live broadcast rights for all of Ireland’s Euro 2016 qualifying games, we really have the most comprehensive offering for fans, all free-to-air.” |
Virginia’s 13 electoral votes went to President Obama for the second straight election, and the proprietor of a store in the south central city of Bedford is not hiding his dismay. Lyons Jewelers hung up multiple signs on the windows of the shop indicating the shop would not be open for business Wednesday, including one saying the store was closed to “mourn the loss of the America that our forefathers endowed to us,” WDBJ reported. SEE RELATED: “Lyons will reopen tomorrow to continue the fight against a president who seeks my demise” and “Shame on VA & USA” read two other signs. Another played off a remark Mr. Obama made while campaigning in Roanoke earlier this year about businesses and government assistance that Republicans latched onto as a campaign theme: “I know I didn’t build this — God did.” One customer did hang up a sign as a response of sorts: “I am sorry you feel this way!!! I do bussiness (sic) I guess I will take it somewhere else!!” With nearly 100 percent of precincts reporting, Republican Mitt Romney won Bedford City, 54 percent to 44 percent, as well as Bedford County, 71 percent to 27 percent. Mr. Obama carried the state with 50.7 percent of the vote to Mr. Romney’s 47.7 percent, according to unofficial results — a difference of about 110,000 votes out of approximately 3.7 million cast. |
There's a PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale themed sale going on at PlayStation Store today with discounts on several games that feature characters also included in the upcoming brawler. So if you're still missing out on games like inFamous, God of War, Sly Cooper, Ratchet & Clank or Twisted Metal, you should check out the sale which will go live when the store update is done. There's also DLC for ModNation Racers and LittleBigPlanet if that's your thing. The sale ends on November 14. The massive list of games and DLC on sale (via the European PS Blog): Full games: inFamous (not available in Poland): Was €14.99/£10.99 Now €7.99/£6.49 Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune: Was €14.99/£10.99 Now €7.99/£6.49 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves: Was €19.99/£14.99 Now €9.99/£9.99 Jak and Daxter Trilogy: Was €29.99/£19.99 Now €14.99/£10.99 Jak 3 (not available in Bulgaria/Hungary/Qatar): Was €14.99/£11.99 Now €6.99/£5.49 Ape Escape: Was €12.99/£10.99 Now €6.99/£5.49 Ape Escape (PSP): Was €7.99/£6.99 Now €3.99/£3.19 Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One: Was €19.99/£15.99 Now €9.99/£9.99 Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty (not available in Bulgaria/Hungary/Qatar): Was €9.99/£7.99 Now €4.99/£3.99 Medievil: Was €4.99/£3.99 Now €2.49/£1.99 MediEvil: Resurrection Essentials [PSP] (not available in Bulgaria/Hungary/Qatar): Was €7.99/£6.99 Now €3.99/£3.19 MediEvil: Resurrection Platinum (PSP go) (not available in Bulgaria/Hungary/Qatar): Was €19.99/£14.99 Now €9.99/£9.99 MediEvil: Resurrection Platinum [PSP] (only available in Australia/Israel/Kuwait/New Zealand/Portugal/Spain): Was €19.99 Now €9.99 God of War HD: Was €17.99/£13.99 Now €13.99/£10.99 God of War II HD: Was €17.99/£13.99 Now €13.99/£10.99 God of War Collection: Was €29.99/£19.99 Now €22.99/£15.99 God of War Collection II: Was €29.99/£19.99 Now €22.99/£15.99 God of War – Chains of Olympus (not available in Bulgaria/Hungary/Qatar): Was €17.99/£13.99 Now €13.99/£10.99 God of War – Ghost of Sparta: Was €17.99/£13.99 Now €13.99/£10.99 The Sly Trilogy: Was €19.99/£14.99 Now €9.99/£9.99 Sly Raccoon: Was €9.99/£7.99 Now €4.99/£3.99 Sly 2: Band of Thieves: Was €9.99/£7.99 Now €4.99/£3.99 Sly 3: Honour Among Thieves: Was €9.99/£7.99 Now €4.99/£3.99 Fat Princess: Was €9.99/£7.99 Now €4.99/£3.99 Fat Princess (PSP) (not available in Australia/Austria/Belgium/Bulgaria/Czech Republic/Denmark/Finland/France/Germany/Greece/Hungary/Netherlands/Luxembourg/Norway/Poland/Qatar/Sweden): Was €29.99/£24.99 Now €3.99/£3.19 Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake (only available in Australia/Austria/Belgium/Czech Republic/Denmark/Finland/France/Germany/Greece/Luxembourg/Netherlands/Norway/Poland/Sweden/UK): Was €7.99/£6.99 Now €3.99/£3.19 Fat Princess: Supersize Anniversary Bundle: Was €14.99/£11.99 Now €7.99/£6.49 Twisted Metal: Was €29.99/£23.99 Now €19.99/£15.99 Twisted Metal (PS1): Was €4.99/£3.99 Now €2.99/£2.39 DLC |
MAITLAND, Fla. - Maitland police arrested a man they say raped a 15-year-old girl in a neighborhood park for more than three hours Friday evening. Police arrested 19-year-old Rufus Harvin for lewd activity, sexual assault and kidnapping charges after an assault at Bellamy Park. Police were called to a home on Rogers Avenue after a juvenile reported the attack at the park. Police said the girl told them she was at the park when Harvin approached while smoking pot. The girl told police Harvin stated he wanted to have sex with her, but she felt uncomfortable and tried to get away. That's when Harvin grabbed the victim and violently held her down while raping her, police said. The victim said she was held for about three hours against his will. Police said the victim was battered and taken to the hospital where her injuries showed bruises on her body from being assaulted on a picnic table for about three hours. Maitland officers were doing patrols in the area when they found Harvin still hanging around the park around 11 p.m., officials said. Harvin was taken to the Orange County Jail where he faced a judge Saturday morning, police said. Stay with Local 6 for more on this story. Copyright 2014 by ClickOrlando.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
Some NBA players announce they’ve signed a contract through Twitter; some just let their agent spread the word; some take to Sports Illustrated. Marcin Gortat channels his inner Walter Kronkite. “Center Marcin Gortat has signed a contract extension to stay in Washington,” the Wizards center reported on NBC 4 News in DC in mid-July. The ordinary is passé for the 30-year-old from Poland. He’s established a niche around the league and in the nation’s capital for living his extraordinarily strange life in the public eye of Twitter and Instagram. The 6-foot-11 big man uploads images, often without explanation or context, and it’s hard not to appreciate their sheer ludicrous and random nature. Marcin Gortat with a pig? Marcin Gortat with a pig: The seven-year pro most recently made headlines on Saturday, when he didn’t think twice about asking a Twitter follower’s advice — ergo, the world’s — about whether a subscription to a porn site was a worthy purchase. @WSOBto8 I don’t have one yet…is it good? — Marcin Gortat (@MGortat) August 3, 2014 That kind of unbridled curiosity from a man who just signed a $60 million extension has its own charm, regardless of the topic. The center kicked off his not-so-private offseason by arriving in style to a basketball camp he runs in Poland. Military-style, to be exact: atop a Humvee, manning an enormous turret. Again, there is no indication why he felt the need to terrify the campers, but the lack of detail is part of the appeal. Weird? A bit. But shocking? Not from someone who wants in-game fighting in basketball. In an ESPN interview, Gortat expressed some envy of his NHL breathren, who can settle disputes with fewer whistles and more punches. “During the game. Quick, 15-20 seconds, throw few punches, then referees jump in and break this thing up,” Gortat said, explaining his ideal NBA. “I think the game … these two guys, they resolved their problem. They’re both suspended and they’re leaving. But end of the day, they fix the problem between each other, fans are super excited, and I think that would be a pretty cool idea.” At the very least, Gortat keeps things interesting for the Wizards. Which is key in case those Kevin-Durant-coming-home narratives don’t come to fruition. |
Left Behind Authors Speak Out on McCain Ad 'The One' Contact: Beverly Rykerd, 719-481-0537, Beverly@rykerd.com CAROL STREAM, Ill., Aug. 8 /Christian Newswire/ -- John McCain's campaign ad "The One" has generated a lot of buzz regarding the "Left Behind Series." Political commentators are comparing McCain's portrayal of competitor Barack Obama with the blockbuster apocalyptic series' depiction of the antichrist. But even the series authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins don't think Obama is the antichrist. What may have been created as a farce has generated a firestorm of controversy on the internet. LaHaye and Jenkins take a literal interpretation of prophecies found in the Book of Revelation. They believe the antichrist will surface on the world stage at some point, but neither see Obama in that role. "I've gotten a lot of questions the last few weeks asking if Obama is the antichrist," says novelist Jenkins. "I tell everyone that I don't think the antichrist will come out of politics, especially American politics." "I can see by the language he uses why people think he could be the antichrist," adds LaHaye, "but from my reading of scripture, he doesn't meet the criteria. There is no indication in the Bible that the antichrist will be an American." Jenkins and LaHaye don't take McCain's commercial or the antichrist speculation over Obama too seriously. Pundits have pointed out that there are similarities between the "Left Behind Series" character Nicolae Carpathia and Obama. Other than some vocabulary and charisma, Carpathia, a young Romanian politician who eventually oversees a one-world government, and Obama don't have much in common. "If even the people who created the character Nicolae Carpathia don't see the comparisons as warranted, then perhaps this is overblown," says Jenkins. "Left Behind" is a series of 16 apocalyptic novels (1995-2007/Tyndale House Publishers) using end time prophecies in Revelation as a framework. All sixteen books reached the "New York Times" bestseller list with seven reaching the #1 spot. Overall more than 63 million copies have sold in the "Left Behind" product line. For more information on the "Left Behind Series," visit www.leftbehind.com. Press contact: Beverly Rykerd at Beverly@rykerd.com or (719) 481-0537. Share Tweet |
Through 14 games, the Jacksonville Jaguars may be the best team in the NFL. Jacksonville ranks first by an enormous margin in pass defense, which is the main driver of the team’s success. The Jaguars are 0.90 ANY/A better than the second-ranked pass defense (Baltimore), and 1.37 ANY/A better than the third-ranked pass defense (Chargers). Jacksonville’s rush defense on a per-carry basis ranks just 29th, but the Jaguars are still the best defense in the NFL. To measure defenses on per play basis, I took a weighted average of a defense’s yards per rush allowed (40%) and adjusted net yards per attempt allowed (60%). The Jaguars allow 3.87 yards per play, the best in the league by a good margin, followed by the Ravens, Vikings, and Eagles. We can do the same thing for offense. Jacksonville ranks 8th in yards per carry and 12th in ANY/A, which may surprise folks, but Blake Bortles has been white hot the last three weeks. The best offense belongs to the Saints, who rank 1st in ANY/A (by a razor thin margin of the Patriots) and 2nd in YPC (by a razor thin margin behind the Chiefs). The Saints have the best offense in the NFL on a per-play basis (using the same 40%/60% split) and the 11th-best defense, good enough for New Orleans to rank as the 3rd best team overall. But Jacksonville ranks 9th in offense, and with that pass defense, that’s enough to put the team in first place on a per-play basis overall. Take a look: Rk Tm YPC Off ANY/A Off Adj Y/P Off Off Rk YPC Def ANY/A Def Adj Y/P Def Def Rk Y/P Diff 1 Jacksonville Jaguars 4.39 6.65 5.75 9 4.54 3.43 3.87 1 1.88 2 Philadelphia Eagles 4.53 7.41 6.26 5 3.68 5.2 4.59 4 1.67 3 New Orleans Saints 4.89 7.75 6.61 1 4.5 5.31 4.99 11 1.62 4 Minnesota Vikings 3.93 7.17 5.87 7 3.67 4.88 4.39 3 1.48 5 Los Angeles Rams 4.32 7.59 6.28 4 4.68 4.94 4.84 8 1.44 6 Los Angeles Chargers 3.87 7.16 5.85 8 4.76 4.8 4.78 6 1.06 7 Kansas City Chiefs 4.91 7.41 6.41 2 4.32 6.09 5.38 20 1.03 8 Pittsburgh Steelers 3.78 6.9 5.65 10 4.29 5.26 4.87 9 0.78 9 Atlanta Falcons 4.35 7.06 5.98 6 4.28 5.94 5.28 17 0.70 10 New England Patriots 4.16 7.75 6.32 3 4.93 6.41 5.82 27 0.50 11 Seattle Seahawks 4.07 6.39 5.46 12 4.06 5.61 4.99 12 0.47 12 Washington Redskins 3.65 6.73 5.5 11 4.33 5.86 5.25 16 0.25 13 Baltimore Ravens 4.07 4.73 4.46 27 4.04 4.33 4.22 2 0.25 14 Detroit Lions 3.41 6.81 5.45 13 4.19 6.05 5.31 19 0.14 15 Dallas Cowboys 4.58 6.01 5.44 14 4.28 6.21 5.44 21 0.00 16 Carolina Panthers 4.37 5.63 5.12 17 4.23 5.83 5.19 15 -0.07 17 Buffalo Bills 4.19 5.02 4.69 26 4.21 5.16 4.78 5 -0.09 18 Tennessee Titans 4.29 5.02 4.73 23 3.51 5.96 4.98 10 -0.25 19 Cincinnati Bengals 3.44 5.67 4.78 21 4.17 5.67 5.07 14 -0.29 20 Arizona Cardinals 3.43 5.13 4.45 28 3.54 5.65 4.81 7 -0.36 21 Chicago Bears 4.42 4.93 4.73 24 4.01 6.14 5.29 18 -0.56 22 New York Jets 3.88 5.68 4.96 19 4.15 6.6 5.62 23 -0.66 23 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3.73 6.38 5.32 16 4.23 7.2 6.01 28 -0.69 24 Oakland Raiders 4.18 6.11 5.34 15 4.06 7.37 6.05 31 -0.71 25 Denver Broncos 3.98 4.47 4.28 31 3.31 6.24 5.07 13 -0.79 26 Green Bay Packers 4.5 5.11 4.87 20 4 6.89 5.73 25 -0.87 27 San Francisco 49ers 3.97 5.25 4.74 22 3.81 7.04 5.75 26 -1.01 28 Houston Texans 4.02 5.61 4.98 18 3.98 7.37 6.01 29 -1.04 29 Miami Dolphins 3.84 4.58 4.28 30 4.22 6.55 5.62 24 -1.34 30 Indianapolis Colts 3.64 4.99 4.45 29 4.07 7.34 6.03 30 -1.58 31 New York Giants 3.78 5.3 4.69 25 4.27 7.68 6.32 32 -1.63 32 Cleveland Browns 4.56 3.47 3.91 32 3.3 7.12 5.59 22 -1.69 This doesn’t adjust for strength of schedule, and Jacksonville has certainly played an easy one (which we expected before the season even started). But the Jaguars, Eagles, Saints, Vikings, and Rams are the top five teams in the NFL by this metric. Also of note: while the Browns are the 32nd-ranked team by this metric, and Giants and Colts are not too far behind. |
0 Shares 0 0 0 0 “The country is a monarchy with a legal system based on Islamic law (Shari'a). Islam is the official religion, and the law requires that all citizens be Muslims. The Government does not provide legal protection for freedom of religion, and such protection does not exist in practice. The public practice of non-Muslim religions is prohibited. The Government recognizes the right of non-Muslims to worship in private; however, it does not always respect this right in practice and does not define this right in law.” That is a quote not from a writer opposing Saudi Arabia’s horrendous actions against their own people, but rather the first paragraph of an article describing Saudi Arabia in the website of the United States Department of State. No I am not joking. Saudi Arabia has committed numerous violations of international humanitarian law not only in neighboring countries like Iraq, Yemen and Bahrain but inside its own territories as well. Saudi Arabia continued to repress pro-reform activists and peaceful dissidents. In 2016 over a dozen prominent activists convicted on charges arising from their peaceful activities were serving long prison sentences. Prominent activist Waleed Abu al-Khair continued to serve a 15-year sentence imposed by Saudi Arabia’s terrorism court that convicted him in 2014 on charges stemming solely from his peaceful criticism in media interviews and on social media of human rights abuses. Prominent blogger Raif Badawi served the fourth year of his 10-year sentence, but authorities did not flog him in 2016, as they previously did in January 2015. Unfortunately, that would be the highlight of his 10 year sentence. On January 2, 2016, Saudi Arabia carried out a mass execution of 47 men for “terrorism offenses.” 43 were associated with Al-Qaeda attacks in the 2000s, and four were Shia allegedly involved in protest-related “crimes” in 2011 and 2012. It was Saudi Arabia’s largest mass execution since 1980. Basically they crackdown on peaceful protestors and decided they were “terrorists” for daring to say NO to the Saudi “fair and just” ruling and therefore killed them. Among those executed were Ali Saeed Al Ribh, whose trial judgment indicates that he was under 18 when he allegedly committed some of the crimes for which he was sentenced to death, and Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shia cleric sentenced to death in 2014 after a Saudi court convicted him on a host of ambiguous charges, apparently based largely on his peaceful criticism of Saudi officials. According to its own Interior Ministry statements, Saudi Arabia executed 144 persons between January and mid-November, mostly for murder and “terrorism-related” offenses. 22 of those executed were convicted for non-violent drug crimes. Most executions are carried out by beheading, most of the time in public, because how else would you terrorize your own citizens into bowing to your orders without a question. As of September, Ali al-Nimr, Dawoud al-Marhoun, and Abdullah al-Zaher remained on death row for allegedly committing protest-related crimes while they were just young children in 2011 and 2012. Saudi judges based the capital convictions primarily on confessions that the three defendants retracted in court and said had been coerced, and the courts did not investigate the allegations that the confessions were obtained by torture. Ali , Daoud and Abdullah might be executed at any moment without any fair trial or chance of having a lawyer defend their cases. Saudi Arabia also continues to discriminate against women and girls. Saudi Arabia’s discriminatory male guardianship system remains intact despite government pledges to “abolish” it. Under this system, adult women must obtain permission from a male guardian, usually a husband, father, brother, or son, to travel, marry, or exit prison (!) They may be required to provide guardian consent in order to work or access healthcare (!) Women regularly face difficulty conducting a range of transactions without a male relative, from renting an apartment to filing legal claims. All women remain banned from driving cars in Saudi Arabia. Domestic workers, predominantly women, faced a range of abuses including overwork, forced confinement, non-payment of wages, food deprivation, and psychological, physical, and sexual abuse without the authorities holding their employers to account. Workers who attempted to report employer abuses sometimes faced prosecution based on counterclaims of theft, “black magic,” or “sorcery.” Two crimes in the KSA punishable by death (!) Shia citizens face systematic and pervasive official and legal discrimination, including in education, employment, the military, housing, political representation, the judiciary, religious practice, and media. Primary reasons include the widely-held view that Shia are polytheists and that they commit apostasy by practicing some of their worship activities, historical Sunni-Shia animosity, and “suspicion” of Iranian influence on their actions. The monarchs of Saudi Arabia are so bad in geography, they accuse Iran, which is 1,841.3 km away and which has no possible access to the kingdom, of influencing the actions of civilians demanding their basic rights. Starting May 10, 2017, the Saudi government forces have been continuously bombing, shelling, firing and bulldozing houses in their own eastern province of Qatif in the Awamiyah town. The operation remains ongoing and is being carried out by a large number of armored military vehicles accompanied by demolition vehicles whose purpose is the destruction of the historic Mosawara neighborhood, despite UN Rapporteur calls to halt the demolition. According to the European-Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR), Saudi authorities say the narrow streets of the historic Mosawara neighborhood, which is slated for “redevelopment”, have allegedly become a hideout for Shia militants to carry out attacks on Saudi security forces. This is not the first military action Saudi authorities have undertaken in Awamiyah and the neighboring town of Qatif. Awamiyah, which was the home of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, is known as a center for opposition. When the Arab Spring swept through the region, residents of Qatif and Awamiyah protested against the government. Police met the demonstrators with live ammunition that injured 24 men and three women. In 2015, authorities clashed with residents in Awamiyah and street battles reportedly continued for several hours. This animosity dates back to the late 70s. Since Al-Hasa and Qatif provinces were conquered and annexed into the Emirate of Riyadh in 1913 by Ibn Saud, Shia in the region have experienced state oppression. Unlike most of Saudi Arabia, Qatif and much of the eastern province has a Shia majority. The region is also of key importance to the Saudi government due to it both possessing the bulk of Saudi oil reserves, as well as the main Saudi refinery and export terminal of Ras Tanura, which is situated close to Qatif. This will continue to happen. Saudi Arabia will continue to be a rogue power clamping down on anyone who would dare rise against its tyranny and bigotry. Saudi monarchs believe that with petrodollar they can erase all the human rights violations they have been committing ever since they were appointed in power in the Arabian Peninsula by the British colonials. Indeed, they did lately buy the US President Donald Trump with a 400 billion dollars arms deal, but they still are not able to erase their true color and history from the US state department’s official website, nor will they be able to erase the hatred and repressions from the hearts and minds of all humans who have suffered, still suffer and will suffer because of their blind hunger for control and chauvinism. |
0 SHARES Share Tweet The GTX 750 Ti isn’t the fastest card on the block with its kh/s rate, but it offers a very competitive price-performance ratio. The AMD Radeon R9 290X has been a sellout success, but not necessarily because of enthusiasm from gamers. Because of the way AMD designs its shaders — more simple shaders that run at a low frequency clock versus Nvidia’s layout of preferring less but more complex shaders — the card’s architecture is better geared towards cracking the SCRYPT algorithm used by Litecoin. But while AMD isn’t in much danger of losing the pure-performance Litecoin mining throne anytime soon, Nvidia’s new Maxwell-based cards may present a threat to AMD’s market hegemony based upon their price-performance ratio. According to tests done by various publications across the web, the Maxwell-powered 750 Ti can mine at 242 KH/s and this number jumps to 263 KH/s when the latest version of CUDAminer is used. This doesn’t come close to the Radeon R9 290X’s 1002 KH/s, or the Quadro K6000’s 485 KH/s but consider this: a 750 Ti comes in with an average price of $140 and a power draw of 60W. In comparison, the undisputed king of the mining world — the R9 290X — comes in at around $700 and can require up to a 600W power supply. A performance king, but at a sizeable cost. A mining rig with six 750 Tis should have a respectable hash rate of around 1578 kh/s, but will consume much less power leading to a better price-performance ratio considering the six cards would only cost $900 (slightly more than one R9 290X). Keep in mind that Nvidia’s high-end Maxwell cards, which will likely occupy the 800-series, are coming in a few weeks and will likely be Nvidia’s answer to the R9 290X as far as mining goes. But this is all dependent on Litecoin remaining profitable, and the exchange market liquid. Bitcoin is too mature a cryptocurrency to be profitable for miners without the use of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and no other cryptocurrency (yet) comes close to matching the exchange liquidity of Litecoin. But Litecoin hasn’t had its “Mt. Gox moment” yet, and it is questionable as to whether it will be as resilient as Bitcoin when that moment comes. |
Pin 1K Shares (ZHE) While Warren Buffett did best of all the richest people in 2016, he was far from alone. The biggest fortunes on the planet whipsawed through $4.8 trillion of daily net worth gyrations in 2016. The volatility — triggered by disappointing economic data from China at the start of the year, the U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union in the middle and the election of billionaire Donald Trump at the end — didn’t prevent the richest from getting richer. Their fortunes rose 5.7 percent for the year at the close of trading on Dec. 27, or some $237 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This article (Here’s How Much Money the World’s 10 Richest People Made in 2016) by Tyler Durden originally appeared on ZeroHedge.com and was used with permission. Tune in! Anti-Media Radio airs Monday through Friday @ 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. Help us fix our typos: edits@theantimedia.org. Pin 1K Shares |
Two of the most famous names in racing are uniting. NHRA driver Courtney Force announced her engagement to IndyCar driver Graham Rahal on Twitter with a photo of the couple and her ring. The two were engaged Thursday in Venice, Italy, according to Force’s post. The 26-year-old Force is a race-winning Funny Car driver and the youngest daughter of John Force, the most successful drag racer in history. Her May victory at the Kansas Nationals was the milestone 100th win by a female driver in NHRA history. Article continues below ... The 25-year-old Rahal is the son of 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal. He is entering his second season driving for his father’s IndyCar team, Rahal Letterman Lanigan. It will be Rahal’s ninth season in IndyCar. The two began dating late last year. We're engaged!! So lucky to have an incredible man by my side. Looking forward to our future! I love you @grahamrahal pic.twitter.com/IJgKwdsT8c — Courtney Force (@courtneyforce) November 27, 2014 |
Just when you thought you’ve learned everything there is to know about beer, here we come in with countries that export the most beer in the world. Beers from these countries are a part of every supermarket’s beer shelves and bar’s counters. Every day we find out something interesting about beer. In ancient Egypt beer was even a currency, since Egyptian pyramid workers were paid in beer. Also did you know that beer can go bad? Now you will say that “no one is crazy enough to let their beer go to waste”, but stranger things have happened. Beer can endure lots of things without going bad, but the light isn’t one of them. It isn’t all great and perfect when it comes to beer. People tend to forget that beer is made for moderate and occasional use, so they drink it more than recommendable (two 12 ounces glasses per day). This way, without noticing at first, people are causing themselves major problems, since exaggeration in beer can slow down the central nervous system, increase blood pressure, trigger asthma and etc. Have these things in mind when you are about to order your 4th or 5th round. Now that we are done with some dark sides of beer, let’s go back to celebrating it. Beer is not just one of the most popular drinks in the world, but also a very lucrative business with estimated $13.4 billion worth of beer is exported every year. To determine 10 countries that export the most beer in the world, we used data collected by International Trade Center, the only source that had information on beer exports on an annual basis. The latest data is from the year 2014 and shows the countries that exported the highest value of beer. We took 10 countries that had the largest beer exported value in USD and formed our list. Of course, be sure to check our other beer related lists like one about countries that make the best beer in the world. 10. Portugal Exported Value: $297 million Beer made in Portugal is especially popular in Angola, a country where two-thirds of Portugal’s exported beer ends up. Beer export made by Portugal had 5% annual growth from 2010 to 2014. Most popular beer brands from Portugal are Super Bock, Sagres, and Coral. 9. Ireland Exported Value: $305,6 million Ireland exports the most of its beer to the United Kingdom, with the value of export in 2014 being $144 million. Ireland, unlike the majority of other countries, recorded a decline of 4% in export value. The most popular beer brands from Ireland are Harp, Murphy’s and Guinness. 8. Denmark Exported Value: $343,6 million Denmark primarily bases its beer export to Western Europe, with Germany being the top destination for Denmark’s beer. The most popular beer brands from this country who dominate the export and the domestic market are Tuborg and Carlsberg. 7. France Exported Value: $468 million France had a large increase in its export value by 11% from 2010 to 2014. Almost half of beer brewed in France ends up in Spain. The most popular beer brands from France are Jenlain, Kronenbourg, and Pelforth. 6. United States Exported Value: $541,8 million Although the United States are world’s second largest beer producer in the world, the majority of its beer ends up on the domestic market. The major consumers of American beer outside the United States are Canada and Mexico who are a destination for more than a half of all exported beer. The most popular beer brands from the United States are Bud Light, Budweiser, and Coors Light. 5. United Kingdom Exported Value: $813,5 million The UK obviously likes to drink their beer, rather than exporting it. The country has even had a decline of 1% in export value. Top export destinations for the UK’s beer are the United State, Ireland, and France. The most popular country’s beer brands are Newcastle Brown Ale, Stones Bitter, and Mackeson Stout. 4. Belgium Exported Value: $1,4 billion If you followed our previous lists, you may have noticed that Belgium’s beers are always in the top part of lists, so it isn’t strange that there is a large demand for their beers in other countries. France, the United States and the Netherlands are among the countries that appreciate Belgian beers the most. Most popular beer brands from Belgium are Duvel, Chimay, and Leffe. 3. Germany Exported Value: $1,42 billion It is strange for Germans to ship such large amounts of their beer to other countries; you would think there isn’t even enough of it for their own domestic demand. Germany exports its beer mostly to European neighbors, but also to China and the United States. The most popular beer brands from Germany are Oettinger, Krombacher, and Bitburger. 2. Netherlands Exported Value: $2,1 billion Heineken from the Netherlands is world’s third largest brewery, so we understand why this country is one of the leaders in export. Almost two-thirds of all exported beer from the Netherlands ends up in the United States. Besides Heineken, other top brands are Grolsch and Bavaria. 1. Mexico Exported Value: $2,4 billion I bet you didn’t expect this kind of twist on our list of 10 countries that export the most beer in the world. Well, Mexican breweries found out that there is a larger demand in the United States than in any other country, so they decided to fill the gap. The astonishing fact is that Mexico’s export to the United States is reported to be around $2 billion. Mexico’s beer other destinations are Canada and Australia. The most popular beer brands in Mexico are Corona, Dos Equis, and Tecate. |
Feria report, the overpurchasing granny cart edition Sometimes you will go to the market when you haven’t gone in a while. I was in La Serena last weekend and running around the weekend before, so I didn’t get the chance. But I made up for it this week. The phenomenon that followed harkens back to the mistaken action of going to the supermarket when you are hungry. What took place was this: (in my defense, I usually go to the feria with my panniers, but my bike had a flat, so I went with my granny cart. Lesson learned. Granny cart holds much more than panniers. As I was saying, to wit: The goods include (but are not limited to): iceberg lettuce 600 CLP= $1.26 two lemons 300 CLP= $.63 two oranges 300 CLP= $.63 ginger 150 CLP= $.31 beets 600 CLP= $1.26 extra beet greens (free!) a passion fruit 400 CLP= $.86 2 ears of corn 500 CLP= $1.05 2 kilos of apples 800 CLP= $1.68 a head of broccoli 600 CLP= $1.26 1 head of garlic 150 CLP= $.31 3 onions 400 CLP= $.84 1 giant box of arugula 1,000 CLP= $2.10 1 kilo of tomatoes 500 CLP= $1.05 squash 500 CLP= $1.05 giant bunch of pastilla grapes, which are going out of season (not pictured) 800 CLP= $1.68 Total= 7,000 CLP= about fifteen dollars Oh, and in the spirit of that overdone American Express commercial takeoff, I leave you with the following: The look on my face when the property company sees the color I have painted the living room= priceless I had to estimate the prices of the oranges, lemons and garlic, as I bought them in tandem with other stuff, and I was high on vegetable fumes so I don’t exactly remember how much they cost. There are still berries on sale, which it seems late for, and my beloved pomegranates are coming in. Brussels sprouts are just showing up, and tomatoes are fading in color, but the squash is deepening its hue. Oh hey, Reddit people. You like veggies? We’ve got veggies. Various feria reports, by month for your veggie-gawking pleasure. January 2013 (spent $11.66) September 2012, spent $14 February, 2012 spent $10 More available, explore away. |
You must enter the characters with black color that stand out from the other characters — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Greg Brannon is scheduled to defend himself in a civil court case next week against allegations he misled a pair of investors in a technology start-up, according to court documents. Brannon, a Cary ob-gyn, has been endorsed by both regional North Carolina tea party groups as well as tea party conservatives such as U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and Ann Coulter. Although he trails state House Speaker Thom Tillis in the money chase, he is one of the strongest challengers to the GOP front-runner. The winner of the May Republican primary will challenge incumbent Democrat Kay Hagan in the fall general election. According to documents filed in Wake County Superior Court, in early 2010 Brannon was on the board of directors of a technology start-up called Neogence, a company that promised to produce an "augmented reality" application called Mirascape for smart phones. In a description of the application posted in the Google Play online store in 2011, the company says the application will help users "explore the world around you and connect with people, places, and things. Mirascape is the Android 'app for everywhere.' Earthmarks™ aggregate things happening near you into a single 'supervenue.'" Brannon helped recruit investors for the company, including Lawrence Piazza and Salvatore Lampuri, the plaintiffs in the case. Among the things that Brannon told the two men, the court filings say, is that John Cummings, Neogence's sales officer, met with an executive for tech giant Verizon. According to the court file, Brannon told the potential investors that Verizon would consider including Mirascape as part of the standard set of software included on a broad category of the company's smartphones if the company could get up and running quickly. That purported interest, the court files say, came during a meeting Cummings had in New York. "What my clients later learned ... is there was never any discussion whatsoever that this application, Mirascape, could be placed as original equipment on Verizon smartphones," said Steven Epstein, a lawyer for Piazza and Lampuri. Instead, he said, what was discussed was a potential advertising deal. According to lawyers involved with the case, Brannon says that he was passing on information from Cummings and did not intend to mislead investors. Brannon also makes that case in his response to the lawsuit, which also alleges that Piazza had a "pattern of demanding accountability for every penny spent" that was "so burdensome that the executives did not have time to lead the company but instate only (had) time to attempt to satisfy Piazza's unrelenting demands." Brannon's filing also seeks to have the court dismiss the suit. "I'm looking forward to my day in court. I'm confident it will be resolved," Brannon said in an emailed statement when asked about the case. Pressed for more on his side of the story, a spokesman for Brannon emailed back a one-line statement, "I'm confident it will be resolved." Brannon's lawyer, Michael Frazier, did not immediately return calls seeking comment. Brannon, along with Robert Rice, Neogence's CEO, are defendants in the case. The civil suit would have likely gotten little notice except for Brannon's U.S. Senate run. According to documents on file with the North Carolina Secretary of State's office, Neogence's permission to do business in North Carolina has been revoked because the company failed to file its annual reports. Filing for the U.S. Senate campaign opens on Feb. 10, the same day the Mirascape case is scheduled for trial. The timing is less than ideal for Brannon, who will both have to take time away from campaign and deal with allegations that he misled investors. Brannon has campaigned as fiscal conservative who will stick to his principals once he reaches Congress. A spokesman for the Tillis campaign declined to comment on the case. In an affidavit that is part of the court file, Lampuri says that Brannon first approached him about investing in the company on May 25, 2010, "while visiting his medical office for my wife's obstetrical checkup." Sometime around Sept. 24, after he said he was told repeatedly of Verizon's purported interest, Lampuri invested $100,000. Piazza said in a affidavit that he first invested $50,000 in the company in February 2010. In April 2010, Piazza recounted getting an email from Brannon emphasizing the good outcome from the Verizon meeting. "I know all of you are busy!!! I need you to give a few minutes to look at this potential. THANK YOU for your TRUST!! Greg," the email read. Piazza said he invested another $150,000 in the company. Both men were issued "convertible promissory notes," which give investors the option of reclaiming their investments plus interest or converting their interest into stock. Under North Carolina law, such notes are "securities," and selling such instruments by giving out false information violates the state's securities fraud law. Both Piazza and Lampuri say the company shut down before they could recoup their investments. The suit seeks to recoup their money directly from Brannon and Rice. The lawsuit filed by Lampuri and Piazza in October 2012 is a civil, not criminal, matter. Epstein said he did not believe that Brannon or his business partners had been reported to criminal authorities. To defend himself against the claims, Brannon will have to show that he had no way of reasonably knowing that the information he was passing on was false. |
Former Conservative minister believes members of the public do not view foreign students as immigrants Michael Heseltine, the former Conservative deputy prime minister, has backed calls for foreign students to be excluded from the government's target to cut net migration. He said that while he supported rigorous immigration controls, members of the public did not view students as immigrants and having foreign students in the UK brought considerable benefits. Lord Heseltine spoke out following the publication of polling suggesting 59% of people think the government should not reduce the number of international students, even if that makes reducing immigration numbers harder. Among Conservative supporters, the figure was even higher, at 66%. The poll, part of a report by the British Future thinktank and Universities UK, the body representing universities, also found that only 22% of people regard foreign students coming to the UK to study as immigrants. When people are told that students do count as immigrants for the purposes of the government's target, "the most common reaction is surprise and even bafflement that international students are classified as immigrants at all", the report found. The Home Office said foreign students were included in the figures because they had "an impact on our communities and on our public services" and because this was the practice followed by Britain's competitors and by the UN. But Heseltine told the BBC: "The public do not see students who come and go as part of the immigration problem." He said that students contributed to the prestige of British universities and played an ambassadorial role when they left, promoting British higher education abroad. They also brought "huge financial stability" to universities, he said, "enabling them to maintain their standards of excellence". Heseltine's comments bring him into line with Labour, which also favours excluding students from immigration targets. The Home Office said: "While our reforms are cracking down on the abuse of student visas, which was allowed to continue for too long, we have seen applications to study at UK universities go up by 7% last year, and by even more for our world-leading Russell Group universities." David Cameron wants to get annual net migration below 100,000 by 2015, although it is widely accepted in government that this target will be missed. The Tory MP Mark Field, chairman of a group called Conservatives for Managed Migration, also backed the findings of the British Future/Universities UK report. "Politicians are rightly expected to engage with public concerns about immigration, and the government has done so admirably, but it is time politicians recognised that there are different types of immigration," he said. "This report shows that the public already makes those distinctions and in fact has a pragmatic and nuanced view about the kinds of migration that best reflect our nation's interests and values. It demonstrates there is a broad public consensus that international students are good for Britain." Migration Watch UK's chairman, Sir Andrew Green, said: "Nobody is against genuine students who return home but Lord Heseltine has not realised that only one third of non-EU students actually do so. "The student route has become a massive hole in our immigration system. That is why the Government must stick to their guns on this matter." |
SEATTLE, WA – Dec 5, 2013 – Seattle Reign FC announced Thursday the club has traded forward Liz Bogus to FC Kansas City in return for the No. 15 overall selection in the 2014 National Women’s Soccer League College Draft. In addition, Seattle has swapped the No. 17 overall pick in the 2014 NWSL College Draft for FCKC’s third-round pick in the 2015 draft. Seattle acquired Bogus on Feb. 7 with the No. 26 overall pick in the 2013 NWSL Supplemental Draft. Bogus played in 20 matches last season, picking up one goal and two assists in 1,008 minutes. “Liz was a huge part of our group last season and she will be missed,” Reign FC coach and general manager Laura Harvey said. “But when we looked at the upcoming season in the context of the changes we have planned, we feared her playing time could be limited. As a result, we felt the trade with Kansas City would be best for all involved.” Reign FC now owns the Nos. 9, 15, and 26 selections in the 2014 NWSL College Draft, which will be held Friday, Jan. 17 at 10 a.m. ET at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. Season tickets for the 2014 Seattle Reign FC season are now available for purchase at http://www.ReignFC.com. Early-bird season ticket pricing ends Dec. 17, 2013. Purchase online by that date and receive a printable greeting card with a custom video greeting from a Reign FC player. goalWA.net Local Soccer News is sponsored by Pro Roofing Northwest, Kirkland, Bellevue, Seattle, Redmond, Woodinville, Federal Way, Everett, Snohomish, Issaquah, Renton, Kent, Bothell, Edmonds Washington roofing company. Advertisements |
In video games, the best things rarely come in small packages. That’s why it’s no surprise that the game lineup for Apple’s iPhone has been so boring. Small American developers have preferred to focus on trying to get rich quick with 99-cent applications that — they hope — just happen to catch a wave of buzz for a week or two. The result has been little more than a parade of shlockware: uninspired knockoffs of the same small set of formulas, like defending your tower from invading enemies (be they spaceships, dragons or zombies) or matching colored items, à la Bejeweled. Which is all by way of explaining how dumbfounded, flabbergasted and just plain impressed I have been with Chaos Rings, the sprawling new role-playing game for the iPhone and iPod Touch from Square Enix of Japan. (According to the company’s representatives, the game will also run on Apple’s iPad, but does not include any additional features or graphics for it.) Chaos Rings is the most technically advanced, visually captivating and extensively designed and written game yet made for the iPhone. Frankly, given the meager competition, it would almost be damning Chaos Rings with faint praise to call it an “iPhone game” at all. Rather, Chaos Rings is a solid, legitimate, Japanese-style single-player role-playing game that happens to run on the iPhone. Chaos Rings is the vanguard of what Nintendo, the maker of the fabulously popular DS handheld console, and Sony, the maker of the PlayStation Portable, should have been fearing the last several years: that eventually major developers and publishers like Square Enix would start making iPhone-exclusive titles every bit as professional and polished as the games for their own systems. Chaos Rings costs $12.99 at Apple’s App Store — expensive for an iPhone game — but this product would easily find buyers at $29.99 on the DS or PlayStation Portable. Advertisement Continue reading the main story I’ll go even further. As an overall entertainment and design experience, Chaos Rings is more successful and ultimately more enjoyable than Final Fantasy XIII, the big-budget, high-definition home console blockbuster that Square Enix released in North America last month. Photo Chaos Rings doesn’t say “Final Fantasy” on it, but it is a Final Fantasy game nonetheless. In Chaos Rings, as in all Final Fantasy titles, you will spend hours in tactical battles against all manner of incredible creatures as you try to unravel the back stories of the game’s various characters. |
During the initial dustup over “fake news,” Google and its parent company Alphabet got less flack for spreading hoaxes than social media platforms like Facebook and Reddit. This week, the search giant is taking its lumps. First: BuzzFeed explained how Alphabet-owned YouTube became the “engine” of false conspiracy theories like Pizzagate. Strike one. Second: SearchEngineLand editor Danny Sullivan noticed that Google was passing off right-wing paranoia as the promoted answer to questions like, “Is Obama planning a coup?” and, “Is Obama planning martial law?” Strike two. If you're wondering if Obama is planning a coup, Google's "one true answer" is yes. FFS. pic.twitter.com/pFr7omJttU — Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) March 5, 2017 (For those not in the loop, “FFS” isn’t a technical term. It stands for “for fuck’s sake.”) Those bogus search results are also served up as fact on Google’s virtual assistant, Google Home. Unlike a normal page of search results, Google Home doesn’t tell you where its answer came from or give you the option to see other answers. Here’s a video of BBC tech correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones getting the same ludicrous answer out of his Google Home: And here's what happens if you ask Google Home "is Obama planning a coup?" pic.twitter.com/MzmZqGOOal — Rory Cellan-Jones (@ruskin147) March 5, 2017 Steeerrrrrike three! I asked my Amazon Echo Dot, “Alexa, is Obama planning a coup?” “Hmm,” Alexa said. “I can’t find the answer to the question I heard.” Update: Reached by email, a Google spokesperson sent the following statement to Recode: Featured Snippets in Search provide an automatic and algorithmic match to a given search query, and the content comes from third-party sites. Unfortunately, there are instances when we feature a site with inappropriate or misleading content. When we are alerted to a Featured Snippet that violates our policies, we work quickly to remove them, which we have done in this instance. We apologize for any offense this may have caused. |
Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF The US Olympics Committee has gone off the deep end, when it comes to intellectual property. It’s willing to sue anyone to protect their trademarks, even when the use is no real threat. But the committee’s latest claim is an entirely new level of absurdity. What’s getting the US Olympics Committee in a tizzy this time? Tweets. Specifically any company that tweets about the Olympic Games and isn’t a sponsor. ESPN obtained a letter from the US Olympic Committee chief marketing officer Lisa Baird who outlines the absurd demands. Advertisement “Commercial entities may not post about the Trials or Games on their corporate social media accounts,” Baird writes, apparently in earnest. “This restriction includes the use of USOC’s trademarks in hashtags such as #Rio2016 or #TeamUSA.” And according to ESPN, it gets even more absurd. Apparently the letter says that any company whose primary mission isn’t media—I guess that excludes us—is forbidden from using any pictures taken at the Olympics, sharing, and even reposting anything from the official Olympics account. Does that mean that a non-sponsor can’t retweet the official Olympics Twitter account without facing some kind of legal action? I guess there’s only one way to find out. Who’s going to be the first company to try? Advertisement [ESPN via Mediaite] |
Zoologger is our weekly column highlighting extraordinary animals – and occasionally other organisms – from around the world (Image: David Tipling/Getty) Species: Opisthocomus hoazin Habitat: in trees along rivers and swamps in the Amazon and Orinoco basins of South America Loud and colourful, it is about the size of a pheasant and sports wiry head feathers that resemble a punk’s hair spikes. With oddly primitive-looking features and no close relatives, the hoatzin is an evolutionary enigma. Everything about it is weird. Unlike the majority of birds, it gets most of its food from leaves, which it ferments in its foregut, much like a cow. Also unlike other modern birds, young hoatzins have claws on their wings that they use to climb trees – relics of their dinosaur ancestry. Advertisement Now fossil evidence suggests they did not evolve in South America as once thought, or even in its former neighbour Africa, but in western Europe. These punk pheasants, it seems, are French. Feathered cows in trees The hoatzin – pronounced “wot-seen” – lives in trees, where leaves account for more than 80 per cent of its diet, supplemented by flowers and fruit. The bird ferments this mixture in its foregut, which is adapted from the common avian crop and oesophagus. There, bacteria break down the cellulose and toxins that deter other animals from eating the leaves, making a rich mix absorbed in the bird’s intestine. The process is similar to digestion in cows, and hoatzins have a distinctive cow-like stink. The few other birds that eat foliage digest it differently. The foregut helps hoatzins thrive in their environment, but it comes at a cost. “It takes such a large volume that their breast muscles are reduced and shifted backwards,” says Gerald Mayr of the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt, Germany. This limits the birds to flying only a few hundred metres: just enough to reach nearby trees. That’s not the only oddity: baby hoatzins have a pair of claws on each wing. The birds nest during the rainy season, and chicks jump out of their nest into the water beneath to escape predators, then use their claws to climb back up the tree. Other bird species have tiny residual spurs, but those of young hoatzins are quite well developed. The combination of wing claws and poor flight made hoatzins look primitive and like extinct bird-relative Archaeopteryx, which lived 150 million years ago, but Mayr says that is misleading. “Many Archaeopteryx reconstructions were inspired by hoatzins,” he says. Actually, hoatzins belong to a group containing almost all modern birds called “neoaves“. Quest for relatives The relationships of hoatzins to other species are “the most enigmatic among birds”, says Marcel van Tuinen of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. They don’t seem to fit anywhere. In the early 1900s, ornithologists grouped hoatzins with the similar-looking galliformes: heavy ground birds like chickens and pheasants – virtually the only birds which aren’t neoaves. Early genetic studies in the 1980s and 1990s suggested cuckoos were their closest relatives, but later studies failed to confirm this. Whole genome studies have also failed to find a match. “There is nothing else like it,” says van Tuinen. The most recent genomic analysis says the birds are part of an ancient lineage with no close relatives (PLoS One, doi.org/mq2). Hoatzins appear to have split from other birds during the rapid diversification after the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs. Native American? For many years palaeontologists thought that hoatzins evolved in South America. Many odd South American animals evolved there because it was isolated for tens of millions of years, until the Panama land bridge formed, connecting it to North America. However, Mayr has now found hoatzins from the Old World. In 2011, he studied fossils of the 17-million-year-old Namibian bird Namibiavis, and realised it was a hoatzin (Naturwissenschaften, doi.org/fnjzkc). It was the first example from outside South America. Mayr also identified the oldest unquestioned hoatzin on record. Hoazinavis lacustris lived in Brazil 22 to 24 million years ago. Globe-trotters Now Mayr has found an even older example, which lived 34 million years ago in what is now France. Protoazin parisiensis is more closely related to the modern hoatzin than the ancient Namibiavis. Together with another African fossil discovered in 2012, the find suggests hoatzins evolved in the Old World. Later, one line spread to America and the rest became extinct in Europe and Africa. That means South American hoatzins are a relict of a widespread group, not a native group that evolved locally. Mayr says there are other birds that now live only in tropical America, but which once also lived in the Old World, including hummingbirds, seriemas and the frankly ridiculous potoos – which one bird guide described as “little more than a flying mouth and eyes”. Old World hoatzins may have been wiped out when tree-climbing mammalian predators spread to Africa and Europe. How did these birds cross the Atlantic when they are such poor flyers? The similarity between the European hoatzin and the modern South American form suggests a northern route. But, so far, no hoatzin fossils have been found in North America. A 52-million-year-old bird called Foro panarium from Wyoming has been called a hoatzin, but Mayr is not convinced because it lacks many of their characteristic features. Alternatively, Mayr says the birds may have hitched a ride from Africa to South America on a floating raft of vegetation tens of metres across. Primates and rodents are thought to have followed the same route. Journal reference: Naturwissenschaften, DOI: 10.1007/s00114-014-1144-8 |
NEW DELHI: Even as his meeting with 26/11 attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed created a furore in Parliament and outside, journalist and Baba Ramdev associate Ved Prakash Vaidik said he had consented to meet the Jamaat-ud-Dawa boss purely at the behest of a journalist friend from Pakistan.“When I was in Pakistan, the media criticism of Hafiz Saeed in India came up for discussion. It was then that a Pakistani journalist asked me if I would like to meet Saeed in person. I agreed and a call was immediately made to fix the meeting,” he told TOI, denying any other motive to his appointment with the most-wanted terrorist.Refuting allegations that he had met Saeed as an envoy of the Narendra Modi government, Vaidik told TOI that his interface with the Jamaat-ud-Dawa boss was driven only by journalistic considerations. “I would like to tell Congress , which is alleging that I met him on behalf of the government, to attack the Modi regime directly rather than train its guns from my shoulders”.“I am a known name in Pakistan. My writings and articles are translated and reproduced in Pakistani media. In my 55 years of journalistic career, I have not declined to meet anyone. I have met Maoist leaders and LTTE leaders including Prabhakaran,” said Vaidik. “I wanted to analyse Saeed’s mind and know why he committed heinous crimes against India,” he added.He denied being part of the Vivekananda International Foundation, with which IB chief Ajit Kumar Doval was earlier associated. This has been alleged as the reason why he was chosen to play the government’s ‘envoy’ to reach Saeed. “I have never been associated with the government and do not look at such association in the future. I am an independent journalist who is free to meet anyone,” he told TOI.“I have met enemies of the country in the past … my experience says resolution of conflict is possible not through the gun but talks,” he said.However, asked if he was advocating talks with Saeed, Vaidik said, “I am neither the prime minister not the government’s representative…. It is for the government, Army chief , police and the courts to discharge their responsibilities in this regard,” he underlined.The issue led to two adjournments in the Rajya Sabha. Though the government said it had nothing to do with the meeting and that there was no ‘Track-2 or Track-3’ diplomacy involved, opposition members led by Congress sought to link Vaidik’s controversial enterprise with the BJP and highlighted Ramdev’s support for Modi’s prime ministerial bid.There was uproar in Lok Sabha too with members seeking response over the “purpose and motive” behind the meeting from the home minister or external affairs minister.Leader of the upper House and finance minister Arun Jaitley said for India, Saeed was a terrorist and indeed involved in terrorism against India. Government had nothing to do with “directly, indirectly or even remotely” with any journalist meeting Saeed.As the controversy refused to die down, minister of state for parliamentary affairs and environment Prakash Javadekar said, “I want to clarify that we don't approve any such activity (meeting with Saeed)”.Even as Vaidik termed his meeting with Saeed as a journalistic call, the latter tweeted: “Row in Indian Parliament over a journalist’s meeting with us shows the extremism, narrow-mindedness of their (Indian) politicians…utterly shameful”.“We meet everyone with an open heart, whoever wants to meet; regardless of nation, belief or religion…Sadly, so-called ‘secular’ India is unable to bear an informal meeting of her journalist, Mr Vaidik, another eg (example) of Indian narrow-mindedness,” Saeed tweeted through his official Twitter handle.Giving a peek into what transpired during the interview, Saeed said, “We discussed how all 26/11 evidences provided by India have been rejected and (I) asked Mr Vaidik why India does not respect Pakistani courts. Vaidik asked if we would protest Modi’s visit to Pakistan, on which I replied, ‘We don’t participate in such politics and protests’.” |
The national pro-life movement has experienced multiple successes in 2016. Ten of the major highlights of the past year are especially noteworthy. Four additional states – Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and West Virginia – banned dismemberment abortion, a second trimester procedure during which an unborn baby’s limbs are torn from his or her body. Live Action’s medical animation video shows the procedure: “These laws not only protect unborn babies but serve to educate the public about the brutality of abortion,” says National Right to Life about the bans on dismemberment abortions. Three additional states – Ohio, South Carolina, and South Dakota – passed the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a measure that bans abortions past the fifth month of pregnancy. Altogether, 15 states have passed the Pain-Capable bill. Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton painted a sharp contrast between herself and Republican nominee Donald Trump when she was forced to defend her position that babies can be aborted up until their due date when Fox News debate host Chris Wallace questioned her on the issue. “In a moment that was even cringe worthy for Democrats, Clinton reaffirmed her support for the partial-birth abortion method and abortions throughout all nine months of pregnancy,” observed National Right to Life. “By contrast, Trump said, ‘I am pro-life, and I will be appointing pro-life judges.'” Pro-life candidates had a winning year in the 2016 congressional elections. National Right to Life notes that it realized ten victories in the U.S. Senate, with only two losses, and 39 wins in the U.S. House, with only eight losses. All in all, the national pro-life group boasts an 83 percent success rate in congressional elections. The nation’s largest abortion chain Planned Parenthood spent at least $30 million attempting to elect pro-abortion Democrats. The organization was unable to win the White House, even with a head start after endorsing Hillary Clinton in the primary – the first time the organization ever did so. The U.S. House and Senate sent a reconciliation bill to President Obama that would have defunded Planned Parenthood. As expected, Obama vetoed the measure, but its approval by Congress set a precedent for advancing the legislation with a new pro-life president in the White House. Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, said, despite Obama’s veto, Congress’ use of the reconciliation process to redirect funds from Planned Parenthood – “a likely criminal organization” – to other healthcare facilities is “historic.” “This veto – only one of eight bills that Obama has vetoed and the very first pro-life one – underscores the need for the nation to elect a pro-life president in 2016,” she added, “one who does the will of the people instead of pandering to a corrupt and deceitful organization that betrays women and sells them, and their preborn babies, out for the bottom line.” The U.S. Senate holds off its vote on President Obama’s appointment of pro-abortion Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court to fill the seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia. President-elect Trump has promised to appoint only pro-life justices to the nation’s high court. North Carolina U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers was defeated in the GOP primary. Ellmers came to Congress in the 2010 Tea Party wave, but abandoned her conservative principles after her election. She led a charge to shelve the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act in 2015 on the eve of the March for Life, and justified her opposition by saying the measure would negatively affect the GOP with women and millennial voters. “There is no member of Congress in recent memory who did greater harm to a major piece of pro-life legislation, while claiming to be pro-life, than Renee Ellmers,” said Douglas Johnson, director of federal legislation for National Right to Life. The Senate Judiciary Committee referred Planned Parenthood to both the FBI and the Justice Department for investigation and possible criminal prosecution following allegations the abortion chain and its partners in biomedical procurement have been harvesting the body parts of aborted babies and selling them for a profit. |
Dec. 27, 2013 MADISON, Wis. – The No. 14 Wisconsin men’s hockey team showed few signs of rust in its first game back from the holiday bye week, surging past Alabama Huntsville, 5-0, on Friday night at the Kohl Center. The win pushed Wisconsin’s (9-5-1, 2-2-0-0 B1G) home record to 8-0-1, which matches the 2003-04 squad for the best Kohl Center record to start the season. The Badgers set the tone for the game with a dominating display in a first period, thanks to an equal-opportunity offense and stifling defense. Wisconsin held UAH (1-18-0, 1-11-0 WCHA) without a shot on goal while tallying a pair of goals from Keegan Meuer (Madison, Wis.) and Morgan Zulinick (Kamloops, British Columbia). Fast Facts • Morgan Zulinick scored his first collegiate goal • Badgers outshot the Chargers 55-9 • Wisconsin held UAH without a shot on goal during the first period Meuer put Wisconsin on the board 6:14 into the game after a loose puck struck the side of the net and caromed right to the senior. Meuer gained control and beat UAH goalie Matt Larose on the short side. Zulinick followed suit at the 11:40 mark, when he netted his first goal as a Badger off a Sean Little (Fond du Lac, Wis.) feed from behind the net. The score would stay that way until the third period, as the Chargers hung around despite only tallying three SOGs through two periods. But the Badgers finally laid any UAH comeback hopes to rest with a three-goal third period. The goals came off the sticks of three different players, with Grant Besse (Plymouth, Minn.) finding the net 1:39 into the period, Tyler Barnes (Egan, Minn.) lighting the lamp at the 8:40 mark and Michael Mersch (Park Ridge, Ill.) putting the finishing touches on the effort with 5:43 to play. Mersch’s goal, coming with UW shorthanded, extended his goal-scoring streak to six games, while also giving the Badgers goals from five different players on the night. In addition to sharp play on both the offensive and defensive ends, the Badgers managed to go the entire first and second periods without committing a penalty. Those two periods—combined with a penalty-free effort against Colorado College on Dec. 14—gave the Badgers five-plus periods in a row without a penalty before they were finally whistled in the third stanza. All told, the Badgers outshot UAH 55-9, with the nine Charger shots on goal tying a Wisconsin school record for fewest SOGs allowed. Joel Rumpel (Swift Current, Saskatchewan) made the most of a quiet night in the net, turning away all nine of the shots he faced while improving to 7-1-0 for the year. Larose made 23 saves on 25 attempts for the Chargers before ceding the net to Carmine Guerriero in the second period. Guerriero finished his night with 27 saves on 30 shots faced. Neither team cashed in on special teams, with UAH finishing 0-2 and the Badgers coming up empty in five chances. The Badgers return to the ice at 8 p.m. on Saturday looking for their third-straight series sweep at home. The game will be televised on FoxSports Wisconsin alternate. |
'Teen Wolf' Season 6 Updates: Theo Back For Redemption; Love Triangle Involving Stiles And Lydia Close It has been confirmed since the San Diego Comic Con that Teen Wolf season 6 will be the series finale. Now, more details have been revealed as to what is in store for the series, Theo to Come Back for Redemption As it can be recalled, Theo Raeken of Teen Wolf, portrayed by actor Cody Christian, was literally dragged down to hell after killing his sister to take her heart. In irony, his sister was also the one who dragged him to hell. In the upcoming season 6, he will be back brought back to the land of the living and will allegedly be fighting alongside Scott this time around as reported by Vine Report. Although he is still portraying a bad guy, it will be in a different scenario and angle from the previous seasons. Dylan O'Brien Confirmed To Be Back As Stiles After accident There have been reports saying that Dylan is allegedly causing the cancellation of the show, led by his accident from shooting the movie Maze Runner. However, since he is already confirmed to be coming back to Teen Wolf fully for the entire season, it seems unlikely that he is causing the series to end. Stiles And Lydia's Relationship Since season 6 will be the last of the series, Teen Wolf showrunners decided to tackle the characters' relationships in the show. A love triangle will occur with Stiles, Lydia and Malia. It has already been revealed that Stiles will have a chance to work on his feelings, and will finally have a chance at a love story with Lydia according to Headlines and Global News. However, this may create a conflict between Lydia and her friend, Milia. During the San Diego Comic-Con, Shelley Hennig who portrays Malia, said that she will be having a lot of fun scenes with the actress portraying the role of Lydia. Fans believe that Henning's comment refers to fight scenes the two girls fight have over the heart and love of Stiles, played by Dylan O'Brien. Sign Up for the ITECHPOST Newsletter Get the Most Popular iTechPost Stories in a Weekly Newsletter © 2019 ITECHPOST, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. |
Muhammad Ali did not simply choose to be a cultural icon. He was also chosen. Elevated by unsurpassed boxing skills and athletic prowess to become heavyweight champion of the world, Ali transcended sports through radical political activism that has, with the passage of time, been largely smoothed of its rough edges. He broke the mold introducing a new brand of masculinity, more humorous and more vulnerable than anything the world had seen before. Political friendships with Malcolm X and membership in the Nation of Islam announced the newly crowned boxing champ as a provocateur, one whose Cheshire cat smirk hid rivers of simmering anger, pain and barely contained rage. For a time boxing offered an outlet to the rage Ali felt about the unceasing racial humiliations of Jim Crow and the violence meted out against civil rights demonstrators across the country. But by 1967 Ali had seen enough. The most visible Nation of Islam member in the aftermath of Malcolm X’s 1965 assassination, Ali’s resistance to the draft and friendship with civil rights leader Stokely Carmichael made him perhaps the most visible Black Power activist of his generation. In doing so, Ali bridged the worlds between sports, popular culture, politics and activism in unimaginably profound ways. While contemporaries such as Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown and Boston Celtics star Bill Russell were outspoken civil rights activists, none matched Ali’s youth, charisma and global appeal. Accounts of Ali’s political courage during the 1960s tend to play up his anti-war exploits at the expense of his Black Power activism. In truth, the Black Power organization offered the earliest and most sustained resistance against the Vietnam War. Black Power activists made anti-war protests a core element of their political program, with a diverse range of groups including the Black Panthers staunchly opposing America’s involvement in Vietnam and efforts by the U.S. military to ratchet up the number of African Americans fighting on the front lines. Ali’s now legendary statement that “no Viet Cong ever called me a nigger” took place against a historical and political landscape that framed American foreign policy in Southeast Asia as a part of imperial wars of aggression against nonwhite peoples of the world. The sound bite remains a revolutionary act of political defiance precisely because Ali distilled lessons taught by Black Power revolutionaries with an economy of language that was the Nation of Islam’s and Malcolm X’s credo — make it plain. Throughout the late 1960s Ali became a cultural touchstone for black America. He dazzled militant students with lectures on black history, his own political travails, and the need for principled resistance. An entire generation of black athletes, most notably Olympic sprinters John Carlos and Tommie Smith, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar worshipped Ali as the pinnacle of athletic achievement. As time passed, Ali helped make Black Power into a global political brand. His love for Africa, rage against political inequality and thirst for social justice made him a human rights ambassador. Ali’s public persona, while lacking the sharp edges of others, outraged America’s politicians and pundits, who branded him a traitor. For many whites, Ali’s political alliance with black radicals made him a frightening role model for restless youths with a penchant for mayhem that could be seen in urban riots cascading across the country. Ali’s reclamation of his boxing title in 1974 coincided with a transformed American landscape. The man hadn’t changed, but the times had, recognizing his political defiance to participate in a now unpopular war as the principled choice of a true maverick. By the 1990s America embraced the once dangerous and reviled anti-war protester as a national treasure, one whose gait and sharp tongue had been considerably slowed by Parkinson’s disease. Lost in neoliberalism’s warm embrace of Ali’s image via global marketing and branding deals is how this universally recognized icon for human rights found his political métier in the maelstrom of the Black Power era. Just as contemporary Black Lives Matter activists have identified the criminal justice system as a gateway to racial oppression, Ali and his Black Power generation marked the Vietnam War as a multifaceted nightmare that linked race, war and poverty in ways that impacted not just America, but the world. Peniel Joseph is the Barbara Jordan Chair in Ethics and Political Values and director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and professor of history at The University of Texas at Austin. A version of this op-ed appeared in the Contra Costa Times and Austin American Statesman. To view more op-eds from Texas Perspectives, click here. Like us on Facebook. |
I’ve always been a lover of cheese… every kind of cheese. From the stinky stuff in French restaurants to the most mild mozzarella. I found this recipe recently to make cheese at home and knew I had to try it. I didn’t even know you could make cheese at home with such simple ingredients. All you need for this recipe is buttermilk, milk and salt, no chemicals, rennet or anything else. I used organic whole milk, but you can also make it with 1% or 2%. So easy and amazingly delicious. To fancy it up, I browned the cheese in a dry non-stick pan and it made a perfect appetizer. It is also just as yummy eaten plain. The recipe said salt was an optional item , but I think it is really necessary. I only added a generous pinch of fleur de sel and it was extremely bland before brining. It was fine after brining, but the exterior is definitely saltier than the interior when you brine. The texture is similar to Queso Blanco. It has a nice bite and mild flavor. Next time I’m going to experiment with some smoked sea salt and maybe even herbs. It was so easy, I see myself making fresh cheese at home on a regular basis. |
Oregon standoff in Harney CountyHarney County Judge Steve Grasty In an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive on January 25, 2016, Harney County Judge Steve Grasty spoke about the reasons he had cancelled a community meeting originally scheduled for later that night at the Harney County Senior Center. He also touched on other issues he and the county face as a result of the ongoing Ammon Bundy-lead occupation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Grasty cancelled the meeting due to concerns about possible demonstrations and blocking of the center's entrance by armed protesters ahead of the meeting. Dave Killen/Staff UPDATE: Recall petition against Harney County Judge Steve Grasty validated A recall petition has been filed against Harney County commissioner Steve Grasty in the aftermath of the 41-day takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge by armed militants earlier this year. Petitioners say they gathered 566 signatures, the Oregon Secretary of State's Office reported Thursday. The valid signatures of 444 active registered Harney County voters are needed to force a recall election or compel his resignation. Grasty is the County Court judge -- not a judge in the traditional sense, but essentially chairman of the county commission. If the petition is validated, Grasty will have to resign or submit a "statement of justification" that would be printed on the ballot. If Grasty chooses the latter, a recall election would be held within 35 days of the end of the resignation period. But Grasty has no plans to step down. "People elected me to a six-year term, and that's what I'll do unless they decide it should become less," he said late Thursday. "I love this place," Grasty said. "I love these people. I'm humbled to serve them, and it's my intention to do it for the length of the term." Grasty announced before the occupation that he didn't plan to seek re-election. He's served three terms, entering office in January 1999. His current term lasts until the end of the year. Officials are working to verify the signatures, said Laura Terrill, chief of staff for the secretary of state. Kim Rollins of Burns submitted the paperwork to launch the recall drive, according to the state agency. Rollins, who had been critical of Grasty in an Oregon Public Broadcasting report, declined to comment Thursday night. Grasty had been adamant that Ammon Bundy and his supporters leave Harney County after they took over the refuge outside of Burns on Jan. 2 to protest federal land-use policies and the imprisonment of local ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr. and his son, Steven Hammond. "Many of us are frustrated by state and federal regulation of land use. Some here are mightily angry about our economy which we cannot control," Grasty said in a statement in January when the occupation was about three weeks old. "Most of all, many of us are appalled by those who were neither invited nor welcomed, but who purport to speak for our county's residents." The standoff ended with the arrests of Bundy and more than two dozen others and the death of occupation spokesman Robert "LaVoy'' Finicum, who was shot by Oregon State Police during a confrontation at a roadblock between Burns and John Day. -- Jim Ryan jryan@oregonian.com 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015 |
When Hugh Jackman asked his six million Twitter followers in July 2015 about what they would like to see in The Wolverine 3, the Australian actor received an avalanche of suggestions. Amongst the many repeated requests were for Jackman’s Logan to go “berserk” in the sequel, to fight Sabretooth one last time, and most especially for The Wolverine 3 to be rated R and based on the comic book story, “Old Man Logan.” We can now confirm that at least those last two items on Wolverine fans’ bucket list are about to come to fruition. After a sea of optimism and ambiguity swept the internet earlier this week over the possibility that The Wolverine 3 might indeed be heading for an R-rating, we have since had multiple sources close to the film confirm that, yes, The Wolverine 3 is expected to be rated R, and that it is based (probably loosely) on the beloved “Old Man Logan” saga, something that has been hinted at a number of times over the last few months. According to separate reliable contacts, The Wolverine 3 has been targeting an R-rating since long before Deadpool’s stunning box office bow this past weekend. While that other X-Men spin-off movie grossing $132 million in three days is undoubtedly another great incentive to maintain the tone for The Wolverine 3, the filmmakers behind the mutant superhero film, including director James Mangold, have been planning for years to make a more violent farewell to Jackman’s beloved alter-ego due to the content of the “Old Man Logan” source material. While the MPAA of course makes the final determination of a film’s rating, the plan has always been to aim for an R. Indeed, the “Old Man Logan” story by writer Mark Millar and artist Steve McNiven made waves due to its extreme nature when Marvel Comics published it between June 2008 and September 2009. Appearing in the pages of Wolverine #66-72 and Wolverine Giant-Size Old Man Logan, the grim tale takes place in an alternate universe and well into a distant, post-apocalyptic future. Within this dystopia, the United States has been taken over and divided by supervillains (and the Hulk). Magneto, Dr. Doom, and the Red Skull have split America amongst themselves after the mysterious end of the X-Men. And to make matters worse, now that Logan has a wife and two children, he refuses to unleash his claws or become “the Wolverine” again. The comic book story is incredibly violent, featuring decapitations, brutal murders, and a hero who suffers from sudden bursts of bloodlust. It also showcases characters that are unlikely to appear in a 20th Century Fox film, such as the Hulk and Hawkeye. Nonetheless, Wolverine and the already announced return of Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier should be big enough news for X-Men movie fans. The Wolverine 3 will likely undergo a title change before its released on March 3, 2017. In addition to marking Hugh Jackman’s final bow in his most iconic role, the film also features the return of Mangold to the director’s chair. Mangold has previously directed such memorable films as 3:10 to Yuma, Walk the Line, and Girl, Interrupted. Yet, superhero fans likely know him best as the helmer of 2013’s The Wolverine, the well received second attempt at a Wolverine movie that saw Jackman’s protagonist fly to Japan (and a fan-pleasing “Unrated Cut” on Blu-ray). Michael Green, who wrote for NBC’s Heroes and is also working on Alien: Covenant, Blade Runner 2, and the American Gods TV series, is handling the scripting duties. The film is being produced by Lauren Shuler Donner (X-Men: Days of Future Past, Deadpool) and Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Martian). Filming begins next month. |
Screenshot of the actual real estate listing on rumahdijual.com When a listing for a house in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, appeared on a real estate website with the headline “RUMAH DIJUAL: Beli Rumah Bisa Ajak Pemiliknya Menikah” (HOUSE FOR SALE: Buy the house and you may marry the owner”) many people assumed it was a joke. But the house’s current owner says the above ad, which is featured on property website rumahdijual.com, is completely serious. Below the listing price of the house (Rp 999 million or about US$76,500), the ad reads: “Offer of the century!!! Buy the house and you may marry the owner (terms & conditions apply). Only for serious buyers and without negotiation.” Soon after it was posted, the listing went viral across Indonesian social media, especially after the house’s current owner, Wina Lia, told several reporters that she was quite serious about the marriage part of the deal. “Yes, it’s true, I really am looking for a partner,” Wina said today as quoted by MetroTV. The 40-year-old widow and salon owner said she has had trouble finding a suitable man, having already tried to date a few times since her husband’s passing in 2000, but without success. After mentioning her romantic troubles to her real estate agent, Wina says the agent suggested that she include the marriage offer in her ad. Wina said she did not have any specific “terms & conditions” for her new husband/home owner, just that he be a responsible man. “My goal is that this house be sold. But if I meet another partner, it is important that he be single, whether a bachelor or a widower, responsible and mature,” Wina told Kompas. She also said she hoped her potential mate would be a good father to her children and a religious man who would not object if she wore a headscarf. Wina said she was surprised by all of the attention her ad has gotten but hoped it would also lead her to find somebody she could share her life with. “Every night I pray and ask God to give me a good husband, and that the house be sold. I cannot bear this burden alone,” she said. Aww. Well with all of the attention her ad is getting, we hope that Wina will be able to find a proper house hunting husband soon enough. Hey, while you’re here you might also wanna check out: |
Finding a dearth of opportunities for young local singers to hone their craft, Suzanne Oberdorfer and Kathryn Kelly founded the Tidewater Opera Initiative, a collaborative arts organization which seeks to highlight the vast and rich operatic talent the Hampton Roads area has to offer. In conjunction with the Governor’s School for the Arts, TOI is working on their first production, Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte, performed in English, scheduled for this summer. Cosi is one of Mozart’s finest comic operas; its charming melodies and engaging story make it a perfect reprieve from the stifling heat of a Virginia summer. The main characters will be performed by some of the area’s finest young voices. The chorus will feature students from the Governor’s School’s vocal music program, giving them the opportunity to observe the production process from beginning to end. We thank you for your support of the Tidewater Opera Initiative and the gift of music you are giving with your contribution! |
Arbeloa ruled out for eight weeks The Real Madrid defender is now likely to miss his club's end-of-season run-in, meaning his participation in this summer's World Cup is also in doubt EXCLUSIVE By Jorge Martin Real Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa has been ruled out for at least eight weeks with an injury to his right knee and is unlikely to play again this season as a result. The former Liverpool right-back had initially hoped to be missing for three to four weeks with the problem, but has confirmed the news is worse than expected. Arbeloa last played in the 2-2 derby draw against Atletico Madrid on March 3 and was left out of the Spain squad to face Italy the following week. Following a medical review of his injury on Thursday, Arbeloa told Goal: "I will be out for a minimum of eight weeks. In the end the injury has proven to be much more serious than it first looked." The injury comes at the worst possible time for the 31-year-old, who is fighting for his future at both club and international level. Arbeloa has started just 13 La Liga matches this season after coming under pressure from Dani Carvajal, while Chelsea's Cesar Azpilicueta and Atletico defender Juanfran are his selection rivals for Spain. Madrid's league season ends in nine weeks when they play Espanyol at the Bernabeu on May 17, giving Arbeloa virtually no chance to build-up form and fitness in time to play a meaningful part in what could be a decisive fixture. Spain have a World Cup warm-up match against Bolivia on May 29 which may be a more realistic fitness target, but his participation will depend on whether coach Vicente del Bosque is prepared to select him after his fitness-enforced absence. |
A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that the Kremlin is "concerned" about the possibility of expanded U.S. sanctions on Russia. "We don’t want to be in a situation where our bilateral relations, which are already in a rather pitiful state, could face even bigger and possibly unbearable risks and dangers," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, according to Bloomberg. "We have concerns about sanctions, but we don’t know what they will be, since it’s all still discussions that aren’t based on any official information," he added. ADVERTISEMENT The Trump administration sent a list to Congress in late October of Russian-connected figures and companies it planned to use in determining new sanctions — sanctions meant as a rebuke for Russia's actions in eastern Europe and during the 2016 presidential election. The administration indicated it would target its actions at those in the U.S. and elsewhere who do "significant" business with Russian-linked entities, with potential sanctions coming as early as Jan. 29 for those companies that have continued to do business with Russian entities. Putin on Monday called for Russian businesses to be allowed to bring money back into the country without facing a certain tax, and has also approved a special bonds program to encourage money to come back into the country as Washington pursues tougher sanctions. |
A poll released last week by The Washington Poll, a quarterly, nonpartisan effort by the University of Washington, shows that Washington State residents support an initiative that would legalize the possession and use of marijuana. According to the poll of 1,252 registered voters conducted last month, 52% in Washington State support “removing state civil and criminal penalties for possession or use of marijuana,” with only 35% opposed. The poll’s release did not indicate the position of the other 13%. The language of the poll question is identical similarly phrased as the wording that would appear on the ballot. You can see the full findings of the statewide poll, in which the marijuana question was included, at the bottom of this post. (Updated at bottom.) Unlike California, where marijuana legalization will definitely be on the November ballot, it’s less certain Washington’s initiative will make the cut. Sensible Washington is the group organizing ballot signatures for the measure (officially known as I-1068). The group, independently financed and run by a tight group of organizers, is on its way to qualifying for the ballot. Prohibition proponents are doing their best to keep legalization off the ballot in the state. We reported last week that federally funded drug agents disobeyed a standing order from Attorney General Eric Holder and raided a legitimate medical marijuana dispensary. In the course of that raid, agents pointed a gun at the head of a 14-year-old child and confiscated Sensible Washington’s petitions to put legalization on the ballot. Then the federal agents photocopied the petitions, keeping the names and addresses of Washington residents who support legalization. This was a clear act of intimidation designed to scare potential supporters of legalization from signing on to petitions. Knowing that police with have information of supporters is more than enough to suppress people from exercising their democratic rights. If you want to help Sensible Washington get legalization on the ballot, head over to their site and use the Firedoglake-powered event tool to find volunteer information and petition gathering events across the state using the tool on the right side of their site. If you’re not in Washington, sign our petition for federally-funded drug agents to release Sensible Washington’s petitions and to destroy all photocopies. (Update note from above: While not identical language, both the poll and initiative use the phrase “remove state civil and criminal penalties.” The poll ended that phrase with “for use or possession of marijuana,” while the initiative itself elaborates: “for persons eighteen years or older who cultivate, possess, transport, sell, or use marijuana. Marijuana would no longer be defined as a ‘controlled substance.”) The Washington Poll Survey Results 1,252 respondents, 2.8% MOE. May 2010. |
Texas Sen. [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore] told Fox News host Sean Hannity Wednesday that if Donald Trump is elected president, he will continue the “cronyism and bailouts” that has characterized the Obama administration. “Donald has promised he will go to Washington. He’ll cut deals,” explained Cruz. “He’ll go along to get along.” Furthermore, Cruz noted that “the problem with Washington is not that we haven’t had enough Republicans willing to cut deals with the Democrats. The problem is the Republican leadership cuts deals with the Democrats everyday.” “I think Super Tuesday is going to be a great day for our campaign,” he said later, “where conservatives say we don’t want someone who will view the role of president as ‘Let’s expand the role of Washington. Let’s cut deals with [crscore]Harry Reid[/crscore] and [crscore]Nancy Pelosi[/crscore]. Let’s have more cronyism and bailouts.’ And we’re seeing real distinctions on the issues.” WATCH: Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com Follow Datoc on Twitter and Facebook |
Louis van Gaal admits Manchester United would have a better chance of scoring goals if they could call on the likes of Sergio Aguero and Luis Suarez to lead the line. United once again drew a blank on Saturday, with fans inside Old Trafford leading chants of 'attack, attack, attack' as they were held to a goalless draw by West Ham. The hosts managed just one shot on target throughout the 90, but had 63 per cent possession and Van Gaal feels his side created enough chances for the likes of Suarez and Aguero to put away. Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal looks dejected at the end of yet another draw for his squad Anthony Martial failed to provide the difference in attack once again as Manchester United were frustrated Van Gaal feels Barcelona striker Luis Suarez would have put Manchester United's chances away on Saturday Rival Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero would also have finished United's chances, claims Van Gaal VAN GAAL COMING UP SHORT Louis van Gaal has drawn 13.2 per cent of his Premier League games in charge of Manchester United 0-0 - the highest percentage of any United boss to have managed at least 50 league matches. 'The question is would Luis Suarez or Sergio Aguero score if they were here?' Van Gaal said to BBC Radio Manchester following yet another draw. 'That is a question mark and you never know. I think they would, though. We have created enough chances to score, so that was not the problem.' United's draw, their fourth in six Premier League games, has seen them drop to fourth in the Premier League - three points adrift of Leicester who surprisingly lead the table after 15 matches. United captain Wayne Rooney (right) cut a frustrated figure from the stands after being ruled out injured United goalkeeper David de Gea trudges off after they were held to their fifth goalless draw at home HOW UNITED'S ATTACK COMPARES Luis Suarez: Appearances in all competitions: 21 Goals in all competitions: 19 Sergio Aguero: Appearances in all competitions: 14 Goals in all competitions: 9 Wayne Rooney: Appearances in all competitions: 20 Goals in all competitions: 7 Anthony Martial: Appearances in all competitions: 17 Goals in all competitions: 5 Despite winning just two of their last six games, United are keen for Van Gaal to remain in charge throughout next season despite the fans' discontent. Supporters booed Van Gaal's expensive squad off the pitch and will be hoping for a lot more from the players when they face Wolfsburg in the Champions League on Tuesday night. But the United faithful shouldn't get too carried away even if they do secure that much-needed win in Germany - with Van Gaal claiming his side just aren't good enough to go all the way. ‘I don’t think that we are able to win the Champions League now. Maybe next year when we strengthen our selection again. ‘We have to go as far as possible but normally we are not good enough to win the Champions League. When we are there, we shall try to do everything. But you have to be realistic also.’ United have already spent £250million on players since Van Gaal took over in 2015, topped by £60m for Angel di Maria, who has since left, from Real Madrid and Anthony Martial, who cost £36m. United played out another draw, much to the frustration of the fans, who chanted 'Attack, attack, attack!' |
A senior Serbian government official warned that another war may break out in the Balkans if Albania tries to establish a union with the breakaway region of Kosovo, urging the West to denounce the plan. Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said that the mooted unification between Albania and Kosovo “will remain only wishful thinking,” and called on the EU to react. “If I said that all Serbs should live in one state, I would be hanged from a flagpole in Brussels,” Vucic added. Earlier this week, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said an interview with Politico he cannot rule out a union between Albania and the breakaway province of Kosovo – formerly part of Yugoslavia – if the country’s EU membership bid is off the agenda. Read more Such an alliance with Kosovo was not his own wish “but a possible alternative to the closed door of the European Union,” Rama said. “There is a lack of understanding, or a lack of vision in not realizing that this region needs Europe, but Europe needs this region too,” the prime minister said. Responding to Rama’s remarks, Aleksandar Vulin, a Serbian government minister, said he expects the EU and NATO to dismiss such statements, otherwise another war in the Balkans may break out. Vulin said that a new war in the turbulent Balkans would also involve Macedonia and Montenegro – countries with sizeable ethnic-Albanian diasporas. Serbia remains wary of a union between Kosovo and Albania, fearing it would trigger a new upheaval in the region which slid into bloody ethnic war in the 1990s as Yugoslavia was torn apart. In 1999, NATO bombed Yugoslavia in response to what the alliance said was ethnic cleansing of the Muslim population of Kosovo. The province seceded from Serbia in 2008, but its political status and the formal declaration of independence remain questionable under international law. Most EU member states welcome the secession of Kosovo, but Russia reacted with condemnation, saying the unilateral action creates upheaval in the Balkans. Serbia, for its part, does not recognize Kosovo as an independent entity as well. Kosovo is now split into seven administrative districts and 38 municipalities, following the 2013 Brussels Agreement which sought to form new Serb-populated municipalities. The Albanian-controlled government sits in Pristina, with the Serbian minority occupying Mitrovica and adjacent municipalities. |
The CW has set its midseason premiere dates for new drama Riverdale, the returns of The 100, iZombie, Reign, and The Originals, as well as the series finale date for The Vampire Diaries. Archie drama Riverdale will debut Thursday, Jan. 26 at 9 p.m. ET, pushing Supernatural to Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET. DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, meanwhile, will move to Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET starting Jan. 24. Once Legends of Tomorrow airs its season finale on March 28, iZombie will debut with a two-hour premiere on Tuesday, April 4 at 8 p.m. ET before moving to its regular time period at 9 p.m following new episodes of The Flash. The 100 will return on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 9 p.m. ET following Arrow, while Reign returns for its fourth season on Friday, Feb. 10 at 9 p.m. ET. The Vampire Diaries series finale will air Friday, March 10, with The Originals returning the following week on Friday, March 17 at 8 p.m. ET. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend will wrap its second season on Friday, Feb. 3 at 9 p.m. The season finale of No Tomorrow will air Tuesday, Jan. 17 at 9 p.m. ET, with the season finale of Frequency slated for Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 9 p.m. CW declined to order additional episodes for both freshman dramas, but no decisions have yet been made about their futures. |
According to a report released by Google (PDF) this month, the company's self-driving cars were involved in two human-error accidents in the month of June. In addition, Google's funny little prototype self-driving bubble cars hit the streets of Mountain View for the first time. The company says that so far, the two prototypes logging hours on public streets have not been involved in any accidents. Google received some pressure from an advocacy group called Consumer Watchdog as well as the Associated Press in May, notably after the AP reported that there had been at least three collisions involving Google's self-driving cars in the previous six months. More detail could not be obtained because of the DMV's privacy rules surrounding accident reports, but Google vowed it would release a monthly report detailing any accidents involving the company's self driving cars from then on. The most recent report says that Google self-driving cars have only been involved in 14 accidents since they began roaming the streets in 2009. Ars covered the 13th accident earlier this month, when a Lexus outfitted with Google's autonomous vehicle sensors was rear-ended by another, human-operated car. Both cars were going less than 1 mph. The 14th accident was a bit more involved. Google writes that on June 18: A Google Lexus model autonomous vehicle (“Google AV”) was traveling northbound on California St. in Mountain View in autonomous mode and was stopped at a red light in the straight-only lane at the intersection of California St. and Bryant St. The lane to the left of the Google AV was a left-turn-only lane. The vehicle waiting immediately behind the Google AV in the straight-only lane began to move forward when the green arrow left turn signal appeared (despite the signal for the straight-only lane remaining red) and collided with the rear bumper of the Google AV. The Google AV had been stopped for about 11 seconds at the time of impact. The other vehicle was traveling about 5 mph at the time of impact. There were no injuries reported at the scene by either party. The Google AV sustained minor damage (scrapes) to its rear bumper. The other vehicle sustained minor damage (scrapes) to its front bumper. One incident that does not appear in Google's report is an incident claimed by a Delphi executive in mid-June. Delphi later corrected its statement to say there was no close call at all, but at first the company said that a Google autonomous vehicle suddenly “cut off” the Delphi autonomous vehicle. Both companies stated to the press that no collision happened, and both cars operated as they were programmed to. Finally, the June report notes that Google put two of its 25 licensed prototype bubble vehicles on the public road. The cars always contain human operators during testing, but they come with a removable steering wheel. For now, their speed is capped at 25 mph. Although there's little information about how the early tests have gone, neither of those two prototypes were involved in any accidents, Google reported. |
Toronto FC has to move Matias Laba soon thanks to their surplus of Designated Players. The young Argentine can play, and TFC is hoping to put him on loan somewhere else in Major League Soccer. So, they’ve been looking at their options and apparently one was Trillium Cup rival Columbus. The Crew didn’t have much interest, which is fine and happens all the time in the world of trade offers. What wasn’t fine was head coach Gregg Berhalter going public with their lack of interest, saying Laba’s season wasn’t great and his contract was too expensive. And it’s got a number of people in an uproar, including Portland owner Merritt Paulson. If coach thumps his chest to media about specific trades he has rejected, he ain’t getting more trade offers. Amazing that happens. #newguy — Merritt Paulson (@MerrittPaulson) February 12, 2014 In an exchange with another Twitter user who replied to his Tweet, Paulson said Berhalter’s public response was “such a breach of code.” It’s hard to side with Paulson and fellow critics of Berhalter’s actions. What was the Columbus coach’s purpose? Was he trying to play antagonist to Toronto? Was he being critical of his own club’s budget? Either of those are uncool for a variety of reasons. Berhalter made waves for American coaches with his gig at Hammarby, but the waves he’s making in America, in this instance, aren’t going to be welcomed. Follow @nicholasmendola |
Jerusalem area Arabs once again stone Israeli Magen David ambulances trying to help neighbors. Jerusalem area Arabs once again have stoned two Israeli Magen David ambulances trying to help neighbors. This time, the medical rescue vehicles were trying to save an Arab boy who fell five floors from his home in El Azaria, a village between the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of French Hill and nearby Maaleh Adumim. Magen David medics were resuscitating the youth when attackers began to pummel them with rocks from all directions, breaking the windshield. Last week, a group of students and a visiting Australian narrowly escaped death when they made a wrong turn and entered an Arab village, where they were ambushed by local Arabs. One of the villagers tricked the students into driving further, where a blockade trapped the vehicle as Arab rioters attacked the car with rocks and metal pipes. The driver was able to maneuver his car through a narrow opening and escaped the mob. |
How many plumbers does it take to fix a toilet? (file photo) In what's described as the first incident of its kind in India, a woman has been injured after a football-sized mass of human waste fell out of the sky and crashed onto her. Rajrani Gaud, from the village of Aamkhoh in India's Sagar district, was going about her usual chores when a "monster" chunk of ice smashed through her roof, reported the Times of India. She sustained shoulder injuries. Aviation experts suspect the giant ice block was a ball of frozen poo and urine that fell from the toilet of a passing commercial plane. Witnesses from the woman's village told reporters she narrowly escaped death. READ MORE: * 'Poo transplant saved my life' * 'Smelly poo' forces British Airways flight to return * Robber dies after after condom machine explodes * Reporter stabbed while testing stab-proof vest "I was only 25 feet away from the spot where the monster came crashing down. Children and villagers witnessed the fall and then heard screams. We ran towards Rajrani's house and referred her to hospital," said a schoolteacher to the Times of India. "The ice ball hit the roof first. Otherwise, it would have smashed her skull," he said. According to an aviation expert, waste that leaks out of an aircraft toilet escapes in a liquid state, but will freeze upon contact of outside air. However, the chances of such a chunk of ice, known as "blue ice", reaching the ground unmelted is extremely rare. If investigations confirm the substance to be blue ice, the incident will be logged as an aircraft accident and the victim will be entitled to compensation, reported the Times of India. |
It is a well known phenomenon among scholarship, both Muslim and non-Muslim, that the Qur’an today contains several well recognized variants in the text itself. For example, in Surah Baqarah, Ayah 85, we see a difference in the last word between the “Qaloon” reading and the “Khalaf” reading [1]. There are many more examples to be found if we compare the well known readings of the Qur’an. These readings are known as the “Qira’at“. The Qira’at are divinely inspired differences in the possible readings of the Qur’an. The historical development of these readings is not the subject of this article, though perhaps a future article will be written to cover that topic, as more knowledge of this will help one get a better grasp over the contention being refuted here. For now, it is sufficient to know that the Prophet Muhammad (ص) had, through the command of God (س), read the Qur’an to different companions with minor word variations between them, in order to better facilitate the dispersion of the Holy Book between the arab tribes, to avoid any difficulties in recitation because of the fact that their dialect of arabic differed from that of the Quraysh [2]. For a Qira’at of the Qur’an to be accepted, in must fulfill the following criteria [3]: The Qira’at must not be narrated from a single authority, but through a multitude (enough in fact to eliminate the danger of mistakes seeping through), going back to the Prophet and thereby advocating recreational authenticity and certainty. The text of the recitation must conform to what is found in the ‘Uthmani Mushaf. The pronunciation must agree with the proper Arabic grammar. The ten “mutawaatir” readings of the Qur’an are the most well known of the Qira’at, and by consensus of the Muslim community, each are valid and each represent the Qur’anic text. The differences between the Qira’at encompass from pronunciations of certain words to the usage of different words with different roots altogether in the verse. Sometimes, the differences are meaningful, and change the apparent meaning of the verse that contains such a variant. Now, as we’ve gotten the required information out of the way, let’s tackle a common contention against the Qur’an. It is a well known fact that the early Qur’ans were not dotted nor were they voweled (see picture below). That means there was no way to differentiate between letters with the same skeleton (rasm), and even if dotted, there were different ways a word could be read to have a different meaning. To illustrate, the letters ت (ta) and ب (ba) have the same rasm but are different letters. Keeping this in mind, it becomes obvious that the early Qur’ans, including the Uthmani Mushaf, were extremely difficult to read- infact, impossible, unless someone knew the text beforehand. A contention that has been raised by some Orientalist scholars such as Jeffery and Goldziher, as well as some recent polemicists such as Keith Small (though his opinions are not exactly the same), is that the variant Qira’at were generated by defects in the Uthmani script, as the reader simply sat down and read the script any way he liked provided he had some foreknowledge of the topic of the text. I believe this simply stems from an ignorance of the history and nature of the Qira’at. All the 10 mutawaatir readings are well based in historical fact. As ‘Azami had pointed out earlier, a reading is only accepted if it traces back to the Prophet through multiple channels. Zayd b. Thabit, the head of the committee compiling the Uthmani Mushaf, said “The Qira’at is a sunna that is strictly adhered to”[6]. For someone to reject this fact, they need to show that these channels are somehow defective. Nevertheless, there are more arguments that force us to concede the feebleness of this contention[7]. 1. There are extremely few differences between the extant Qira’at. The skeletal text of the Qur’an contains hundreds of thousands of possible readings, many of which fit the context well. Yet all the reciters are unanimous in reciting most ayahs exactly the same way, even though other words could be used that fit the skeleton of the text just as well. An example of this phenomenon can be found in the following table[5]: Note how in all of these cases, it could have been recited either “Rashada” or “Rushda” and both words would make sense. Yet all these reciters either recite “Rashada” for one verse, and “Rushda” for another, with only two exceptions. This is true for the majority of the Qur’an. Why do the readings unanimously corroborate each other almost all the time? How is it possible that the number of variants are so little (the famous Qira’at scholar Ibn Mujahid counted roughly a thousand) yet so many different readings are possible? Should we not expect the variants to run into the reaching even the millions? 2. There is absolutely zero historical evidence of such a phenomenon. If the variants of the Qur’an were simply created at the whim of the reader, why aren’t there any schools or orders or even a single book written during the literary period that tells us that the early Muslims were deciphering the Uthmani Mushaf? All Muslims have held all the mutaawatir Qira’at as valid since the time of the Prophet and the companions. On the contrary, we have historical data (hadith and qira’at literature) that tells us exactly the opposite. Why is this being ignored? 3. The readings sometimes differ from the Mushaf of Uthman unanimously. An example of this is that the text spells words such as As-Salaat and Az-Zakaat with a waw (و ), but all the readings do not pronounce the waw (otherwise As-Salaat and Az-Zakaat would be As-Salawt and Al-Zakawt respectively). This is a hint that people are not simply sitting down and deciphering the Mushaf as it is- they are relying on an oral tradition that already exists to shape their pronunciation of the word. 4. It is not even possible to read an undotted, unvowelled script. Anyone with any knowledge of arabic would know this. If the contention we are refuting is true, then the reader must have memorized the ayah atleast down to the roots. But then the question arises again: why aren’t there more variants? We are back to point 1. Conclusion. The evidence provided here is by no means exhaustive. However, I think it is sufficient enough to dispel the notion that the Qira’at could somehow be generated by a defective arabic script, rather than inherited by the oral tradition we already know to exist. Further Reading History of the Qur’anic Text by M.M. ‘Azami Hunting for the Word of God by Sami Ameri Variant Readings of the Qur’an by Ahmad Ali Al-Imam Bibliography [1] Image adapted from nquran.com [2] Sahih Muslim 820a. Can be read here: http://sunnah.com/muslim/6/332 [3] History of the Qur’anic Text. M.M. ‘Azami. UK Islamic Academy. Pg. 203. [4] This is a part of a manuscript held by Tuebingen university. It can be accessed here. ‘ [5] History of the Qur’anic Text. M.M. ‘Azami. UK Islamic Academy. Pg. 157 [6] Al-Itqan. As-Suyuti. i:211 [7] Credit for these arguments primarily goes to both ‘Azami and Ameri whose books I have included in the relevant readings below. Advertisements |
Former Florida Gators offensive lineman Mo Collins, a three-year starter and a member of the Gators’ 1996 National Championship team, passed away Sunday morning. He was 38. According to the Charlotte Observer, Collins “had been receiving dialysis treatments for kidney failure.” Collins spent the last year as head coach of West Charlotte High School, his alma mater. He originally joined the program as an offensive line coach in 2013 and took over head coaching duties this season after the team went winless last year. At the time of his passing, West Charlotte had a 4-5 record, posting its most victories since 2010. While at Florida, Collins won two SEC Championships (1995-96) and played in two national title games (1995-96) with the Gators. Following his redshirt junior season, Collins decided to become a professional and was selected with the No. 23 overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders. He spent his whole six-year career with the Raiders, starting 64 of the 71 regular-season games in which he appeared and playing in Super Bowl XXXVII. OnlyGators.com sends our condolences and best wishes to the Collins family. |
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