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Source: Yıldız Tar, “Constitutional Court of Turkey: Referring to gays as “perverts” is hate speech”, 17 July 2014, http://kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=17105 For the first time, hate speech on the ground of sexual orientation is among rulings of the Constitutional Court. The Court acknowledged that calling gays “perverts” is hate speech. The decision can be seen here in Turkish. Attorney Sinem Hun’s application to the Constitutional Court of Turkey about a news article that appeared on the website Habervaktim.com, which involved hate speech referring both to her and to the Kaos GL Association, has come to a conclusion. The Constitutional Court declared that the article stating, “Sinem Hun who is registered with the Ankara Bar Association and is the lawyer of the association of the perverts called Kaos GL” on Habervaktim.com is indeed hate speech on the ground of sexual orientation but ruled that it actually takes aim at the association and not at the applicant. Hereby, this is the first time hate speech on the ground of sexual orientation has been acknowledged by the Constitutional Court. Not an assault on honor and dignity! The Court, in order to protect the material and moral rights of Sinem Hun, decided that it is acceptable that Hun’s right to protect her honor and dignity has been violated but that her right to respect for her honor and dignity has not been broken. The Constitutional Court supported its decision by claiming that “Unless there is a call for violence or hate speech that might damage pluralistic democracy and might even destroy it, punishment which limits individuals’ freedom should be avoided”. As the Court investigates Habervaktim.com’s article named “Zionist Servants Again Attack with Terror” they concluded that it did not include any hate speech regarding Sinem Hun. Hun claimed that the expression “lawyer of the perverts” is hate speech, that there is an assault on her honor and that Habervaktim.com continuously assaults gays with its articles and hate speech. Court admitted calling people “perverts” is hate speech The Ankara Public Prosecutor’s Office asserted that there is no room for prosecution and also added that the hate speech on the website is aimed at the Kaos GL Association, not at the attorney, Sinem Hun. It has been acknowledged that the expression “perverts’ association” directly pointed to the association and “a specific category” of people. Thus, for the first time it has been legally confirmed that referring to LGBTI people as perverse is hate speech and makes them a target. First time in Turkish courts: Hate speech on the ground of sexual orientation Examining the decision of the Office of the Chief Prosecutor, the Constitutional Court admitted that hate speech regarding sexual tendencies are as serious as hate speech on the grounds of “race, ethnicity or color”. This decision is also a first in the Supreme Court cases on hate speech. An objection from a member of the Constitutional Court Osman Alifeyyaz Paksut, who is a member of the Constitutional Court, objected to the rejection. He said that “The applicant, having sued the website before because of their anti-Jewish and discriminatory attitudes represented in an advertisement with Hitler and insulted women, has become a target”. “Calling people ‘perverts’ is not freedom of expression!” Paksut argued that the expression “the lawyer of the association of the perverts called Kaos GL” cannot be evaluated under the idea of freedom of expression. He said that “It is a government’s utmost duty to prevent discrimination, exclusion and hate aimed at people with different sexual orientation”. By recalling decisions of the ECtHR, Paksut asserted that hate speech against gays should be punished by law. Paksut added that there is an effort to damage Hun’s reputation through LGBTI people whom she willingly defends and represents. He claimed that “Hun should be protected by the law against hate speech, which she has no obligation to tolerate and endure.” Attorney Hayriye Kara: Hate speech on the ground of sexual orientation Att. Hayriye Kara who is a lawyer at the Kaos GL Association, also examined the court decision and claimed that “It is a very important ruling”. “This court decision is the first time the Constitutional Court has regarded hate speech as a crime and therefore it is also the first time hate speech has been regarded as a judicial issue. As the Constitutional Court examines the issue in terms of its acceptability, they claimed that there is both judicial and punitive sanctions to the violations of the right to honor and dignity. Although the Constitutional Court stated that in order to apply to the Constitutional Court personally, all judicial paths be extinguished; they accepted an application to the criminal court as an adequate basis to take up the case. This is certainly a significant decision. The decision also clarifies that hate speech should have penal sanction. Moreover the judgment also shows the Court’s stance regarding hate speech. It is very important that the Court stands against hate speech against different sexual orientations. “The expression takes aim at Att. Sinem Hun” “Although the expression is accepted as hate speech, it is also claimed to be aimed only at the association, not at Att. Hun. As contrary votes also suggest, the hate speech is not only targeted to LGBTIs but also at Att. Sinem Hun. Hate speech can also take aim at LGBTI people’s families, supporters and rights defenders and such speech can be regarded as crimes committed against to these people, too. That’s why it cannot be said that ‘the lawyer of the perverse’ does not offend Att.Hun’s rights.” What had happened? Att. Hun sued Biota Medication and Cosmetics Laboratory and Advertising Campaign, claiming insult to women and the Jews in “Hitler of a shampoo” ad for ‘Biomen’. She argued that the advertisement insults women and the Jewish identity and insisted that the crimes of praising a criminal and insulting a group of people had been committed. After this case was issued, Habervaktim.com published an article named “Zionist Servant Attacks with Terror”, targeting both the Kaos GL Association and Att. Sinem Hun. As well as being discriminative and against Jewish people, the news also showed homophobic hate. Hun’s official complaint regarding this issue was declined by the Office of Chief Prosecutor because there was no need to prosecute and that’s why Att. Hun applied to the Constitutional Court.

At midnight, staff at Cardon Children’s Medical Center checked on 5-year-old Helious Griffith and his mother, who was staying with him at the hospital in Mesa, Arizona. Helious and Tami Griffith appeared well. But just two hours later, in the early hours of Saturday, during the next check, they were found dead, police said. Mesa police spokesman Steve Berry called the nightmarish scene an apparent murder-suicide. The mother, who was in her 20s, apparently shot herself. Berry did not say how Helious died. Police on Saturday evening said there was no clear motive. The child had been in the 206-bed children’s hospital, which sits alongside Banner Desert Medical Center some 15 miles east of Phoenix, for “about a week,” Berry said. He was in “a regular room,” the police spokesman added. The Arizona Department of Child Safety was contacted about the situation as recently as Thursday, according to the police spokesman, who did not say why. Tami Griffith last month apparently started an appeal on the YouCaring website. The author said she had a special-needs son and they needed $1,800 for a used car. The page features a 2014 photo of a smiling boy and a woman dressed in Halloween costumes. “My son’s name is Helious (like the Greek Sun God Helios) and he has cerebral palsy with dystonia, he has sensitivities to audio, odor, and touch,” Griffith purportedly wrote. “He also suffers from separation anxiety when I’m out of his line of sight where he cries and cannot self-calm. He has been traumatized by doctors where now he expresses extreme anxiety and downright terror when he smells rubbing alcohol and/or see someone in scrubs or lab coat.” CNN was unable to verify who posted the page. Neither law enforcement officials nor hospital personnel would comment on Helious’ diagnosis or condition. Isolated incident David Lozano — a spokesman for Banner Health, the company that runs Cardon Children’s Medical Center — said that “at no time were others impacted” by what he also called the “apparent murder-suicide.” “The safety of our patients, associates and visitors is paramount to us and is our top priority at this time,” Lozano added. It’s not clear how the child’s mother got a gun into the hospital. Banner Health has a policy — which is posted at entrances — against carrying firearms and weapons into its facilities, Lozano said. Berry told CNN affiliate KXNV in Phoenix that the hospital is “cooperating in any way possible” with the investigation. “They will provide our investigators with information on the child, the family, … any treatment, anything that may assist us, if you can — if there’s any way to understand — what led to this.”

Solving Open Source Discovery Andrew Nesbitt Blocked Unblock Follow Following Mar 16, 2015 Today I’m launching Libraries.io, a project that I’ve been working on for the past couple of months. The intention is to help developers find new open source libraries, modules and frameworks and keep track of ones they depend upon. The world of open source software depends on a lot of open source libraries. We are standing on the shoulders of giants, which helps us to reach further than we could otherwise. The problem with platforms like Rubygems and NPM is there are so many libraries, with hundreds of new ones added every day. Trying to find the right library can be overwhelming. How do you find libraries that help you solve problems? How do you then know which of those libraries are worth using? GitHub Explore and Search are the best tools we have at the moment, but stars often turn searches into a popularity contest, telling you which projects people currently admire, rather than the ones they are actually using and depending on. The search approach I’ve been working on within Libraries.io attempts to solve this, taking a leaf out of Google’s book.

The death of legendary mixed martial arts head coach Robert Follis has been ruled a suicide by the Clark County (Nev.) Coroner, a spokesperson from the coroner’s office told MMA Fighting on Monday. Follis, the former coach at Xtreme Couture and a founding member of Team Quest, died Friday of a gunshot wound to the head, the spokesperson said. The place of death was Nevada State Route 160. Follis was 48 years old. News of Follis’ unexpected death surfaced Sunday and with it came an outpouring of emotion from the MMA community. Dozens of Follis’ friends, colleagues and fighters took to social media to remember his life and mourn his death. Follis’ girlfriend Myra Fukuno wrote Sunday on Facebook that the Follis family would need “considerable” time for privacy. But she shared an email address where people can send memories, stories and photos of Follis: robertfollismemorial@gmail.com “If you have a story about him or pictures you would like to share, please do so here so that all of us can may visit different parts of his life,” Fukuno wrote. “If you would like to share something more privately, I’ve set up an email address that some family members will be able to access. Stories, photos, etc are welcome. We may not be able to respond, but please know that we will sort through them as part of our healing process. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Memorial service information will follow at a later time.” Follis was the head coach at Xtreme Couture for the last four years, guiding the likes of UFC fighters Miesha Tate and Kevin Lee, among others. He departed the gym earlier this month, with plans to open his own facility. Follis was a co-owner of the legendary Team Quest, along with Randy Couture and Matt Lindland. He spent 10 years at the Gresham, Ore., powerhouse gym.

…as their default operating system, though it still has its uses. The overwhelming majority of you say you use a 64-bit version of Ubuntu as your primary OS. In a poll result that will surprise precisely no one asking it this side of the decade, a mammoth 92% of you say you use some shade of Ubuntu 64-bit. Six Years Is a Long Time in Tech Six years ago we asked the same question and got a very different answer: just 52% of you said you were using 64-bit Ubuntu. That was a milestone in a trend. It appears that the 64-bit version of Ubuntu is now the standard. This makes sense given that it’s the version Ubuntu recommends by default, the prevalence of 64-bit capable hardware, and so on. Unfair! Bias! A few of you complained that the poll was unfair as it didn’t allow you to vote for every device you own. Possibly. But the poll was clear that it was asking about the architecture of Ubuntu that you use on your primary device, i.e., the one you use most often. Had I factored in everything and the kitchen sink, from hobbyist projects using the Raspberry Pi to wheezy old G4 PowerMacs that are turned on once a year, the results wouldn’t have been as elective. Discussion Plenty of lively discussion took place in the comments section, including some insightful tutorage on the benefits of 64-bit CPUs: Though the common consensus is that the era of 32-bit computing is pretty much…over: A few of you even said that you run everything but 32-bit! It’s not all gloom for the antiquated architecture, though. While the overwhelming majority of you say you no longer use it as your primary OS, a great many of you said you still have use for it on the peripheries of practicality: And not everyone who’s made the jump is thrilled by it: But, at the end of the day, when all is said in done, when clichés fade into cliché and the takeaway from this pulse of the Ubuntu nation is stated without beating around the bush…it’s just a poll. Don’t sweat the results.

Perhaps the most fundamental confusion in the evolution of financial services regulation is the equation of financial stability with the survival of established institutions. If I had a million pounds for every time I have heard a possible reform opposed because “it wouldn’t have prevented Northern Rock or Lehman Brothers going bust”, I might now have enough money to bail out a bank. The objective of reform is not to prevent Northern Rock or Lehman going bust. It is highly desirable that organisations such as Northern Rock or Lehman should go bust. Northern Rock had overambitious expansion plans and a business strategy that proved flawed (although many people thought at the time, with reason, that reliance on wholesale funding was a strength rather than a weakness). Lehman was run (badly) for the benefit of its senior employees rather than customers or shareholders. In a market economy, such organisations fail while rivals with better business models and management structures gain at their expense. That process of selection is the reason market economies have an impressive record of promoting efficiency and innovation. The problem revealed by the 2007-08 crisis was not that some financial services companies collapsed, but that there was no means of handling their failure without endangering the entire global financial system. Still, would it not be better if proper supervision ensured that no financial institution could ever get into a mess like Northern Rock or Lehman – or Royal Bank of Scotland or Citigroup or AIG? No, it would not. Just replace “financial institution” with “fast-food outlet” or “supermarket” or “carmaker” in that sentence to see how peculiar is the suggestion. Begin with practicality. It is hard enough to find people capable of running financial conglomerates – the fading reputation of Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase chief executive, confirms my suspicion that managing these businesses is beyond the capacity of anyone. The search for a cadre of people employed on public-sector salaries to second guess executive decisions is a dream that could not survive even the briefest acquaintance with those who actually perform day-to-day supervisory tasks in regulatory agencies. They tick boxes because that is what they can do, and regulatory structures that are likely to be successful are structures that can be implemented by box tickers. We have experience of structures in which management or regulatory committees in Moscow or Washington take the place of the market in determining the criteria by which a well-run organisation should be judged, and that experience is not encouraging. The truth is that in a constantly changing environment nobody really knows how organisations should best be run, and it is through trial and error that we find out. Financial stability is best promoted by designing a system that is robust and resilient in the face of failure, which is why effective and implementable mechanisms of resolution are the key to meaningful financial reform. Some progress has been made, but overall very little; living wills too complex to implement at all, far less within hours, are no solution to the problem of too complex to fail. The bungled Cyprus bailout showed how far the EU is from the goal of an established resolution programme. The Cypriot parliament understood, even if supposedly more sophisticated policy makers did not, that deposit protection is the primary purpose of banking supervision. What people in the streets, correctly, understand by financial stability is confidence that their savings are safe. Now we have an equally dotty, and essentially similar, proposal to fund the bailout of failed derivatives exchanges using customers’ collateral. The explicit rationale is that it is more important to keep the institution intact than to protect the interests of its customers. But the reverse is the case. The services may go on (or not: the commonest reason commercial organisations fail is that people do not want their product). But the failed organisation that provided such services need, and should, not. This applies to fast-food outlets and supermarkets and car plants – and also to utilities such as electricity, water, and the payment system. Financial services differ only because the lobbying power of incumbent companies is so great.

Over the last few years my Lulzbot AO-100 has been good to me, and has served as my workhorse. Unfortunately, as with every machine, heavy use equates to wear and tear. At just over 3-years old my AO-100 is starting to show its age, and its tolerances are not as tight as they once were. This morning I took about an hour to work on re-calibrating the printer with the main focus on proper Z-axis layer-height. I have been noticing the decline in print quality for some time now, but chose to ignore it as I have not had the time to properly service the printer in several months. Early this morning, I began a print for a friend that had elements in it that needed to be within a millimeter or so of its specified dimension. I know my AO-100 prints about 0.5mm over the sliced dimension, so I chose to print the part in ABS, assuming that its shrinkage would account for the overage, or at least most of it. I use Voltivo Excelfil ABS almost exclusively due to its consistency in diameter, its high quality composition, and its rich pigmentation. I also find that my ABS prints tend to shrink less with Excelfil, over cheaper Ebay / Amazon specials. I haven’t printed ABS in almost 6 months, and have slowly tweaked the printer to print PLA fairly well, but I had not accounted for how different PLA and ABS print on an aging printer. I used my PLA slic3r settings to slice the print, only adjusting for the print temperature, raising the extruder from 200c to 225c, while the heated bed rose from 65c to 105c. I left the layer height set at 0.20mm, with the first layer being 65% of the normal layer height. The speed was set at 60mm/sec for almost everything except for small radii which was set at 40mm/sec. Likewise the first layers speed was set to 65% of the normal layer speed. As you can see from the image above, these settings worked great with PLA on my slightly worn (closing in on 200lbs of filament now) AO-100, but unfortunately that did not turn out to be the case with ABS. I do not have any photos I can share of the failed print due to NDA’s and such, but I did snap some photos of the calibration prints I ran to get things adjusted to spec for ABS. As you can tell from the image below, the first calibration print (we’ll call it baseline) did not resemble anything remotely like the Nickel Calibration print that it should have. I witnessed the extruder’s nozzle actually dragging through the previous layer. This helped me understand where I should begin my troubleshooting. The first thing I wanted to look at was my bed’s Zero Height to the extruder’s nozzle tip. After letting the tip heat up (The nozzle expands, so you should always check the zero with a hot nozzle.) I checked the zero with a piece of paper. This showed me that the nozzle to print bed height was just a little too low, and I adjusted my z axis height to fix the issue. To set the height I like to fold a piece of common printer paper in half, and the thickness of the two sheets is what I set the z-axis height to. With that fixed I moved on to changing some settings in slic3r. I felt that 0.20mm was too small for my aging printer and ABS, so I raised the layer height to 0.35mm. I then ran a test print. As you can see from the image below, the print actually looks a lot better, but it still has a long way to go. I made a note in my notebook about the previous adjustments, and adjusted the first layer flow rate from 150% to 200%.I mainly did this because I noticed that the first layer was not sticking to the bed very well anymore. When the extrusion did stick, it was the right height, and had a sort of “squished tube” look, which is what I was looking for. With the flow rate adjusted, I ran another test print. The results were again positive, and as you can see in the image below, I was inching ever closer to an acceptable print result. There was some blobbing, and the layers were not as squished as I would have liked them to be, so I opened slicer again and made some adjustments. The first thing I did was change the layer height to 0.30mm, and set the extruder’s temperature to 220c. This would hopefully help get the layer adhesion where I wanted it to be as well as reduce the blobs. After running a test print, you can see that this worked well, and the print was within what I deemed to be an acceptable quality range. I knew I could still tweak out a little more performance and quality, so I set to work on trying to tighten the printers tolerances up a little more. The first thing I did was tighten both the X and Y axis belts, and then I took a few minutes to clean and lubricate the smooth rods that these axis ride on. Finally I added a drop of silicone oil to each of the idler bearings that the belts rotate on. This made the printer move a lot more freely, and reduced almost all of the noise that the printer had been making. As you can see from the printer above, this did make a difference in the print quality, and I was happy with the result. I did go back into slicer and bump the extruder temperature to 223c as I seemed like the printer was having a hard time keeping up with the thermal mass that was passing through its extruder. I would see the nozzel drop to 218c from time to time during the print. Raising it to 223c ensured that it stayed at or above 220c at all times. The image below shows the final result. While it is still not perfect, I am calling it close enough until I get the time to replace the ball-joint bearings with proper LM8LUU liner bearings. The image below shows the different prints, from the first to the last, and as you can tell, the end result is quite nice for a 3-year old printer with almost 200lbs of plastic ran through it. When it was all said and done, I had maybe 30-45 minutes into tweaking the printer, and I am confident that it will keep this calibration for several months.

Contents show] History Look out, world--Stephen Colbert's back in action! -- Stephen Colbert Stephen Colbert was a candidate for President of the United States who ran as a third party candidate. After departing from a campaign event with a poor turnout, he saw Spider-Man battling Grizzly. He tried to help Spider-Man in his duel, but Spider-Man insisted that it was not Colbert's fight to be had, and took him to a nearby building. As Spider-Man continued his fight, Stephen Colbert pushed a statue off of the building and it hit Grizzly on the head. Spider-Man thanked him for his help, and gave him a ride home. In the end, Colbert won the popular vote, but lost to Barack Obama in electoral votes.[1] Powers and Abilities Weaknesses Arctophobia: Stephen Colbert is afraid of bears.[citation needed] Trivia This character is based off the real-life The Colbert Report host, Stephen Colbert. On the real life Comedy Central's late-night show The Colbert Report, Colbert has interviewed Joe Quesada on numerous occasions. On one of them he received the original Captain America Shield, which has been hanging on the wall since then. Discover and Discuss Search this site for:

Barclays: 'Blockchain Could Be the Most Significant Innovation to Impact Africa in 100 years' Africa has been “late to the fintech party,” according to a report by African news service Quartz. However, peer-to-peer payment processors like M-Pesa and digital currencies such as Bitcoin are providing greater accessibility to banking services on the continent — a trend that legacy banks such as Barclays are starting to not only acknowledge, but also take part in. Also read: Chainalysis Raises $1.6M, Partners with Europol Following Hospital Ransom Fiasco Blockchain could be the most significant social and political innovation to impact Africa in 100 years — Arian Lewis, Head of Open Innovation at Barclays Barclays: ‘Are We Actually a Tech Company?’ Quartz Africa, a news website with an African team based in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, released a new report on February 19th revealing a stark contrast to the Motherboard Vice article back in January that says Bitcoin in Africa is a “myth.” The report first details the opinion of Vinny Lingham, a South African entrepreneur and creator of the blockchain startup Civic, who believes traditional finance institutions should be worried. “I think the banking sector in Africa is going to be disrupted faster than anywhere else in the world,” said Lingham. “What you have with bitcoin and blockchain is a trustless method of operating. You don’t need third parties like banks operating as trust brokers anymore. It’s all built into the code. The way mobile leapfrogged fixed lines communications in Africa; blockchain will leapfrog a lot of the financial infrastructure that exists today.” In fact, there’s quite a bit of action happening on the continent when it comes to financial technology including a few programs involving legacy institutions. One such bank that’s looking to get ahead within the African financial tech landscape is Barclays. “People in Africa do banking on their mobile phones, but our talent base is all built on bricks and mortar banking,” Head of Open Innovation at Barclays, Arian Lewis, said, continuing: So we’re thinking, are we actually a tech company? To make that shift, you have to approach talent that sits at the front end of that change curve. To this end, Barclays is helping a blockchain startup based in Cape Town called Consent. The concept of the platform uses digital ledger protocol to record medical records that are often mismanaged or lost in the region. The startup had won funding from Barclays and a contract to develop its proof-of-concept. Consent co-founder Shaun Conway believes the finance company is steering towards becoming a tech company. “Barclays is trying to define what they become in the future, Conway tells Quartz. “It’s like they’re going through a midlife crisis.” Blockchain Startups in Africa The continent has many people believing in the potential of fintech in Aftica as startups have been popping up left and right. The idea of making remittances cheaper than ever before and the evolution of the global market structure has created quite a bit of enthusiasm for financial technology investors in Africa. Payment processor startups like BitPesa have entered the region to give better solutions to African citizens sending and receiving money abroad. Meanwhile, other startups such as Naira Exchange are also joining the ranks with local bitcoin startups by offering “fast Bitcoin and other e-currencies account funding in Nigeria and Naira payment into all banks and their payment into all banks and their branches in Nigeria.” Bitcoin platform startup BitX is another business making moves in Africa. Founded by Marcus Swanepoel, and Timothy Stranex, the business has raised close to $9 million USD in funding from investors like the African-based Naspers Group, Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group and more. Additionally, a blockchain conference has been announced for February 25th alongside the creation of the Bitcoin Academy in Cape Town. The emergence of open platforms, digital ecosystems, and interest from legacy banks are demonstrating the huge potential for fintech and Bitcoin growth on the continent. With the developing region eager to receiving banking services and increasing mobile connectivity, businesses and banking firms in the region have a reason to be optimistic when it comes to these emerging technologies. What do you think about fintech and Bitcoin gaining steam in Africa? Let us know in the comments below. Images courtesy of Pixbay, and Wiki Commons

A group of American spring break revelers reportedly chanted “Build that wall!” during a family show on an evening cruise in Cancun, SF Gate reported. The Daily Mail reports that the group was aboard the Captain Hook Pirate Ship dinner cruise with other revelers when they broke out into the chants, shocking other tourists on board. Anaximandro Amable Burga, a Peruvian tourist, was on board with his Mexican wife Suly when he witnessed the scene. “Today I was with Suly, my wife (who is a native of Mexico), watching an entertainment show off the coast of Cancun aboard a boat, and at the end of the show, a flock of Americans (maybe under the influence of alcohol, or maybe not), began to sing the infamous ‘Build that wall’ chant louder and louder,'” he wrote on Facebook. Mexican tourists aboard the ship reportedly complained about the chants, but the spring breakers did not stop. The Yucatan Times denounced the chanting in an editorial Friday saying it was an act of “xenophobia and discrimination against Mexicans within their own country.” The paper also added that the “racist hymn” was “far from being an isolated incident” that has drawn the ire of tourism sector workers who say that the spring breakers’ actions were offensive and rude towards the Mexican people. This is not the only time chants of “build a wall” have been deemed racist by others. CNN called a video of children chanting “build a wall” at a Michigan middle school that went viral in December an example of “racism.” Photo: file

The Myth of the Objective A young but earnest Zen student approached his teacher, and asked the Zen Master: “If I work very hard and diligent how long will it take for me to find Zen.” The Master thought about this, then replied, “Ten years.” The student then said, “But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast – How long then ?” Replied the Master, “Well, twenty years.” “But, if I really, really work at it. How long then ?” asked the student. “Thirty years,” replied the Master. “But, I do not understand,” said the disappointed student. “At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that ?” Replied the Master,” When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path.” – Zen Parable In a world obsessed with objectives, what can we learn from not having any? Much more than you think, according AI researcher, Kenneth Stanley. Stanley’s findings come from an online application called Picbreeder. Picbreeder allows users to ‘breed’ an image by branching through variations of it. Each time a new parent gets selected, and the process repeats. Users can publish any interesting images they manage to find. Others in turn may use these as a starting point for further breeding. The experiment has produced a variety of interesting images; a remarkable feat given that the initial image was simple blob. What’s fascinating is how these images get discovered - by not trying to discover them. Almost every interesting image had a parent which in no way resembled the final product. There was no way to tell it would end up producing that final image. You had to ride the goalless path, and see where you’d end up. Many of the interesting images get produced in 70 to 90 generations. Peanuts for a computer to crunch through. Could traditional objective based machine learning reproduce these results? Stanley’s team tried their best. Even after 30000 generations, each time the experiment was a dismal failure. The machine images looked nothing like the remarkable images discovered by humans in a fraction of the attempts. A similar project to Picbreeder, the Living Image Project, relied on voting instead of branching. Users would vote for a the variation that they wanted to be the new parent, and the majority would decide. Yet despite far more activity, the images produced by the Living Image Project were boring in contrast to Picbreeder. Some observations and notes: Objectives can, ironically, be obstacles to innovation and creativity. It’s amazing how rich the discoveries on a goalless path can be. More amazing is that those discoveries wouldn’t have been found if the goal was to find them. One reason for this is deception in search. Sometimes you are on the right path, but it looks like a dead end. Other times it looks like the right path, but it’s actually a dead end. Objective based search is about finding things. Novelty based search, or goalless search, is about collecting stepping stones. A stepping stone is something that has the potential to lead somewhere interesting. Collecting stepping stones amplifies your ability to get anywhere. Objectives are prone to finding local maxima in complex search spaces. If you can see exactly where you need to go, then an objective probably makes sense. If you can’t then you’re probably going to hit a local maxima. Hitting the global maxima needs some adventuring. Diversity in stepping stones are important. Many interesting images got found in Picbreeder by starting with other semi-interesting images. It is important that others are following a different path to you. They might be laying down the stepping stones you need to make your greatest discoveries. The world has an obsession with objectivity, but following a goalless path is subjective. Interesting paths get taken by individuals based on intuition, and other instincts. We need to respect individual autonomy, and let humans do what they are good at - finding interesting stepping stones. Visionaries don’t see many stepping stones ahead to get to their inventions and discoveries. They see the stones that have already been laid, and realise that the next leap forward is merely one jump away. Vacuum tubes were used to make the first computers. If you had told vacuum tube makers in the 1800s, to rather work on the much more interesting problem of building a computer, we’d probably have no vacuum tubes or computers. The vacuum tube was a stepping stone. Consensus and majority based decision making lead to sub optimal results. Diversity is important. As is considering alternative paths. This reminds me of Mark Twain’s quote, “The majority is always wrong, the minority is sometimes right”. Many natural processes don’t appear to be objective based. Natural evolution and human innovation are cases in point. Funny meta point: Picbreeder was rejected by the National Science Foundation, because it was not clear what the project’s objective was. Stanley says the findings from it are his revenge. ;) Stanley’s findings have many general insights applicable to all areas of our world and lives. It has given me plenty to think about in my own. Perhaps this is something that Zen masters have always known and respected.

Illustration by Remie Geoffroi If you spend enough time in San Francisco, you’ll notice sharing economy workers everywhere. While you’re waiting to get some food, look for the most frantic person in the lineup and you can bet they’re working with an app. Some of them are colour-coded: workers in orange T-shirts are with Caviar, a food delivery app; those in green represent Instacart, an app for delivering groceries. The blue jackets riding Razor scooters are with Luxe—if you’re still driving yourself around this city, these app workers will park your car. In the Bay Area, there are thousands of such people running through the aisles, fidgeting in line and racing against the clock. They spend most of their time in cars, where it can be harder to spot them. Oftentimes they’re double-parked in the bike lane, picking up a burrito from inside an adjacent restaurant or waiting for a passenger to come down from the apartment on top. If you look closely, you’ll see a placard in the window that says Uber or a glowing pink moustache indicating they drive around Lyft’s passengers. Last summer, I was one of them. Oh, Canada! I’m writing you from Berkeley, California to warn you about this thing called “the sharing economy.” Since no one is really sharing anything, many of us prefer the term “the exploitation economy,” but due to its prevalence many in the Bay Area simply think of it as “the economy.” Whatever you want to call it, the basic idea is that customers can outsource all the work or chores they don’t want to do to somebody else in their area. You can be chauffeured around the city while somebody picks up and launders your dirty underwear. You can have groceries delivered to your door and your bathroom given that deep clean that you don’t have time to do yourself. The best part is you can do it all on your phone! Sharing economy companies promise their customers all the luxuries of the rich and famous—and they can do that by taking advantage of the system and, in some cases, bending or simply avoiding labour laws. I know this because I spent a month driving, shopping and in other ways serving the users of apps like Uber, Lyft, Postmates and Instacart. I recorded the whole thing for a podcast called Benjamen Walker’s Theory of Everything. Benjamen wanted to see what it was like to work for an app, but he didn’t want to do the work himself. In the spirit of the sharing economy, he convinced me to “partner” with him. There is so much ridiculous stuff I can’t get to in this short space that you should listen to my full adventures online at www.sharingeconomy.fail or by searching for “Instaserfs.” I signed up for as many sharing economy jobs as I could, but they’re not really jobs. I was never an employee; I was a “partner,” or a “hero” or even a “ninja” depending on the app. Sharing economy companies are just middlemen, connecting independent contractors to customers. When I signed up to work with (not for) these apps, I was essentially starting my own ride-sharing/courier business. As a freelance filmmaker, I knew the deal: being your own boss is a big responsibility. In the U.S., we independent contractors have to pay an additional self-employment tax and we have to find our own health insurance. We’re also not guaranteed a minimum wage. As sharing economy workers, we use our own cars, which means paying for our own gas and maintenance costs. We are on our own. We do still have a boss. It just isn’t a person. It’s an algorithm. Becoming a five-star driver It is generally quite easy to become an Uber driver; all you need is a relatively new car and a driver’s license. Unfortunately, my 2012 Scion xB has a few scratches on the passenger side. Uber’s car inspectors told me it wouldn’t have been a problem had the scratches been on the driver’s side, but they would be too visible to customers, so I was rejected! I turned to Lyft—essentially an Uber clone and just as popular in the Bay Area. They didn’t care about the cosmetic damage to my car. After submitting my insurance info, and going for a quick drive around the block with another Lyft driver (to prove the car actually works), I was good to go. I was excited to get started. I like talking to people, and in the movies being a taxi driver always seemed really interesting. Almost everybody I picked up was great, but it is a problem when the passengers aren’t cool, like the group of racist, self-righteous venture capitalist bros who smoked in my car. If I was really running my own business, I could have let them know I thought they were all assholes, but with Lyft, and a lot of other apps, the customers are rating you. And if your average rating falls below 4.7 out of 5 stars you are removed from the platform—fired. Whether it’s Uber, Lyft or any other ride-share app, when you’re in the car, the passengers have the control. The rating system is essential to the sharing economy’s ability to function because the companies aren’t legally allowed to train their independent contractors like they would employees. They test the workers in the field and drop those who get low ratings, which passengers can give for any reason. The venture capitalists, for example, told me they didn’t like drivers who had a hard time with English. Screen capture from Lyft’s website. Defenders of the sharing economy often tell me they’ve talked to a driver who loves it! Many drivers do, but consider that, as a passenger, you’re going to be rating your interview subject, and that anything under five stars will bring the driver one step closer to getting kicked off the platform. That can have some implications as far as how honest drivers are when their passengers ask about how much they like it. Depressing workers don’t get high ratings. Nobody wants to feel guilty about using an app they like. Realistically, people aren’t driving around strangers because they love it. They do it because they need to earn a living and it’s been hard in America since 2008. Workers are grateful for what they can get and here it’s the companies who have all the control. The standard ride-sharing or courier app’s business model looks something like this: When introducing your app into a new city, take heavy losses by over-paying drivers and under-charging customers. Offer drivers cash bonuses to get their friends to sign up. Once you’ve got a steady supply of drivers invested in the app, start lowering their pay. The companies don’t send out an apologetic email letting drivers know a pay cut is on the way. It happens inconspicuously through “upgrades” to the app, which can often change fare and payment rates. Only drivers with enough extra time to carefully analyze their earnings will notice that the new terms don’t work in their favour. After enough pay cuts, some will quit, but many in the workforce buy cars specifically to become a part of the sharing economy and end up stuck, continuing to work for less money or switching to one of the other apps. Independent contractors are allowed to work for as many companies as they want, but Lyft doesn’t want you driving for Uber and vice versa. In January 2015, Uber announced it would guarantee earnings of between $10 and $26 an hour depending on peak hours. But to qualify you have to accept 90% of all ride requests, accept one ride per hour and be online for 50 minutes of each hour worked. Lyft has a similar deal where you can earn a 10% bonus for driving 30 hours in a week, a 20% bonus for working 40 hours a week, and a 30% bonus for driving 50 hours a week. The idea is to reward loyalty and prevent drivers from having Uber and Lyft open at the same time. The thing is, if you’re working 40 or 50 hours a week with one company, that looks a lot less like a gig and a lot more like full-time employment. Connecting to the workforce In Los Angeles, September 2014, a group of Lyft drivers burned their pink mustaches in protest of the pay cuts. These kinds of actions aren’t very common because most of us don’t know our co-workers and there is no physical location to congregate. Lyft doesn’t allow their drivers at the head office. The main place for “sharing economy” workers to connect is through online forums and Facebook groups. All of the apps out there have at least one and my favourite is the Postmates Couriers group. Postmates is a delivery app. As a customer, you can order anything you want and have it delivered to your house within an hour. Most often, people are ordering food, but every once and a while you’ll get an order for Whip-It canisters or an HDMI cable. It seems like a relatively simple job, but it actually can be quite a challenge, which is why it’s important to have a community of drivers that can learn from each other. The official Postmates courier group on Facebook is fairly innocuous, made up mostly of people asking for advice on how to make more money and some posting their earnings with pride. The responses are all optimistic and inspirational, making Postmates seem like a pretty decent gig. So I was surprised when I joined the unofficial Postmates group, which restricts membership to couriers, and the very first thing I saw was this pinned message from the moderator: Be mindful that there are people in this group spying for corporate. Your words in here can lead to your being suspended or banned from the platform. We do our best to keep any corporate employees out but that is a near impossible task. We don’t want to see anyone get banned from the platform over a Facebook post so please give your words thought before hitting post. Yes, people have been kicked off Postmates for complaining. I’ve talked to them. And yes, the official Postmates courier group on Facebook is censored to erase anything that could be perceived as a complaint. But more importantly it’s clear that Postmates is not preparing its workers for the realities of life as an independent contractor. Many are shocked about how much they have to pay in taxes and how little they’re making doing the work. There are plenty of screenshots showing that some are making less than minimum wage. One way to ensure you won’t make a lot of money over a shift is to accept orders for Postmates’ “promotional offers.” One time, I entered a self-serve frozen yogurt shop (for the third time that day) and saw two people frantically looking from their phones to the display of toppings. I started making the frozen yogurt combination listed on my phone when I heard, “you guys don’t have any raspberries?!” He was also a Postmate. When the answer came back (they had run out of raspberries), the three of us realized that we were all in the same boat and took a moment to commiserate. “Postmates?” “Yeah, hold on, I’m gonna call my customer.” Both of their customers asked for a substitute topping. Mine wanted to cancel the order. But I had already started filling a cup with froyo! The cashier was looking at me. What was I supposed to do? I threw on some M&Ms and bought it for myself. I had to run—if you want to make more than minimum wage working for Postmates you have to “stack” orders, which means accepting a new job before you finish the one you’re working on. There was only 45 minutes left before a guy across town needed a burrito in his hand. I ended up having to take on all kinds of little expenses like these. It’s part of the risk of starting your own business. That time, I just had to buy a $3 froyo but it can be a lot worse (parking tickets in San Francisco can be over $80). Oftentimes you have to choose between parking illegally or being late with an order. One Postmates employee suggested I park in driveways because I would be less likely to get a ticket than if I double-parked. When I stopped by the Postmates office to ask if they reimburse tickets (they don’t), they gave me a parking placard that would inform meter monitors I was a Postmate who would be right back to move my car. All the risk falls onto the worker and the company is free of liability—despite the placard being an explicit suggestion that it’s okay to break the law if that’s what you’ve got to do to get the order done on time. True efficiency When you start a shift driving for Uber, the first thing you do is look for hotspots. Drivers and customers have different interfaces on their phones. For drivers, a red area on the map supposedly identifies where the most people are (or will be) requesting rides, so you drive to that area hoping to find a passenger. But since all the available Uber drivers are moving to the same places, the red zones can change before you get to them. Why doesn’t Uber just tell its drivers exactly where rides are needed? Giving direct orders would transform their independent contractors into employees with rights and benefits. The result is a system that is much less efficient (for the drivers) than it should be simply because the ride-share app companies want to avoid the responsibilities of being full-blown employers. Postmates once allowed their drivers to see the details of an order before accepting a job. This was great for couriers because we could estimate how much money we would make on an order. It also meant we could reject bad jobs, which created a situation where it could take a long time—or even be impossible—to find a courier who would accept a low-paying job. Postmates responded by “updating” the app to a “blind system” in which we could still accept or reject jobs, but without enough information to determine whether it would be worth our time or not (e.g., a huge grocery store order). To make sure we accept jobs quickly without analyzing them, the app plays an extremely loud and annoying beeping noise designed specifically to harass couriers into submitting to the algorithm. One of the best companies I worked for is called Washio. I picked up dirty laundry and delivered clean laundry. It was the best paying and least stressful of all the apps I worked with that month because there was no illusion of choice. Washio tells you exactly what to do and you do it. It is simple and honest. But it also betrays the spirit of the independent contractor, and that’s important for a number of reasons. In the United States, as I suspect in Canada, all the worker protections in our legal code are specifically designed to help employees. For example, employers are required to pay a minimum wage, to provide medical insurance, and to supply certain benefits such as sick days. By pretending that their employees are actually self-starting entrepreneurs, sharing economy companies can avoid these obligations and save an enormous amount of money in the process—savings that are both passed on to the customer and pocketed in profits. It sounds great until you ask about things like insurance. True story: an Uber driver hits a six-year-old girl in the crosswalk and kills her. Uber doesn’t take responsibility because the driver wasn’t carrying a passenger at the time and so technically wasn’t working for Uber. His insurance company, on the other hand, doesn’t cover the accident because by working for Uber without a commercial driving insurance policy he was violating the terms of the policy he did have. Uber settled for an undisclosed amount after a year and a half of litigation. Your auto insurance company can terminate your policy if they discover you are driving passengers or cargo for profit. I know this because I called mine to say I was “thinking about” signing up for Uber. They told me not to, since I’d be driving without coverage. Hopefully, they’ll never hear the podcast! Regulators! Mount up. Some simple Google searches led me to a number of articles about Canada’s response to the sharing economy. I can see you’re struggling with Uber in particular, from Vancouver to Halifax, and the word that keeps popping up is “regulation.” I understand that it’s hard not to give in to the lower prices and the convenience of getting whatever you want on demand with an app. It’s kind of awesome, actually! But I would argue that the exploitation economy is just as unhealthy and dehumanizing for the customers as it is for the workers. Postmates couriers are told that it is strictly against the rules to shake a customer’s hand. Like all rules, this didn’t come from nowhere. The truth is that using sharing economy services can breed contempt for the workers. One creepy Uber driver can nurture disdain for all the lowly drivers. You never even have to see the person who is cleaning your house or your clothes. Plenty of people requested that I drop off their food at the door. Customers grow to love apps that make the worker anonymous. That way, you don’t have to feel guilty about having servants. The most common defence of the sharing economy I hear is, “if it’s so bad, why are so many people doing it?” Many do it out of desperation. I’ve talked to a number of drivers who will work over 30 hours every weekend in addition to a full-time job just to have enough money to pay rent and take care of their kids. It can also seem like you’re making a lot more money than you really are if you’re not diligently adding up your expenses, many of which are invisible. For example, taxes aren’t taken out of your paycheck, so when April comes around it can be a shock to discover how much you owe. On the other hand, the sharing economy can be a great thing for some of the workers. If you listen to the third episode of the “Instaserfs” series you will meet Brooklyn, an amazing TaskRabbit worker I hired to help me finish the show. She quit a six-figure salary to pursue her passion (a fashion blog at www.boisclub.com) She can do that and still pay the rent because of the flexibility she enjoys as an independent contractor. But she is legitimately an entrepreneur, not the average sharing economy worker.. There is a place in this world for the sharing economy, and it could be a beautiful thing, but where I live these companies run the show. There are no rules. The apps are breaking the spirit of the law by abusing the independent contractor loophole and actively encourage (e.g., through dubious car placards) actually breaking the law. But it will only ever be the workers, not the companies, who are punished. If you’re going to let the sharing economy into your country, dear Canada, please take control of the situation. Don’t just let the invisible hand lead you wherever it wants you to go. Andrew Callaway is an independent San Francisco-based filmmaker. Mostly he directs, but he’s also a cinematographer and editor, always thinking about the underlying story. He recently started podcasting, producing a multi-part show called Instaserfs, about life as a “sharing economy” worker, on which this article is based. This article was published in the January/February 2016 issue of The Monitor. Click here for more or to download the whole issue.

Thousands of mainly white, Afrikaans-speaking South Africans have taken to the streets to protest the ongoing epidemic of savage farm murders sweeping the country. The October 30th #BlackMonday protests were organised after civil rights group AfriForum released figures claiming the murder rate for South African farmers was 156 per 100,000 — putting it well above the already high national average and making farming in the troubled ex-colony arguably the most dangerous occupation in the world outside a warzone. At the same time, the number of South African farmers, workers, and family members — most of them white — had hit 71, surpassing the estimated death toll for 2016. However, local news outlet Times Live reported another elderly farmer hacked to death on the day of the #BlackMonday protest itself, and another three farmers were killed the following day, increasing the AfriForum total as of October 31st to 74. Read more

By: Luke Easterling \| January 18, 2017 10:40 am ET As the 2017 Senior Bowl draws closer, some of the top invitees are making their decisions to attend or decline. Top names like Clemson’s Deshaun Watson and Alabama’s Jonathan Allen and Reuben Foster have chosen not to attend, while Crimson Tide tight end O.J. Howard will be taking part in the event. Another top prospect, Western Michigan wide receiver Corey Davis, has elected to pass on the opportunity, per Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller: Western Michigan wide receiver Corey Davis will not be attending the senior bowl, per sources. — Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) January 18, 2017 One of the most productive pass-catchers in the country over the last four years, Davis is widely regarded among the top prospects in this year’s receiver class. He has the size and polished skill set to quickly develop into a No. 1 target at the next level. He’s a first-round lock and could end up hearing his name called in the top 15 picks.

Although I have explained this before in various places, I keep getting the same basic question, (what is your program?) and I am going to tackle the question again, hopefully in a more effective way than I have done in the past. Step One: The backbone of our program is 3 main workouts, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoon. These our our 3 heaviest workouts on the snatch and clean and jerk. Friday is always the competitive lifts, while the other two might be some variation, like lifts off a box or from the hang. But whatever variations are done these are definitely the three heaviest workouts, the sessions where we definitely expect lifts over 90 percent to be lifted, the emphasis is usually to get to the heaviest single possible on the lifts we are doing, then do some back-off sets. Exact sets and reps on the two lifts can change depending on the lifter, or the particular needs of a lifter, but we are always going heavy on the competitive lifts or close variations. Step Two: We do a morning workout Monday through Friday. These workouts are normally not as heavy, and normally concentrate more on doubles rather singles. We often do the power versions of the lifts on these workouts, and often go to max. But, max on a power version is usually only 80 to 90 percent of a full lift. And when we do the full lifts or any other variation we will not normally go heavier than what the athlete can do for a power version. We also end these workouts with an overhead strength exercise. Push presses are the most widely used, but based on the individual lifter it could be presses, push presses, power jerks, or jerks. These workouts add a lot of the overall training volume, and the exercises are more variable than in the afternoon, to address the individual needs of particular athletes. Step Three: Now we are talking about squats. Although they are last here, they certainly are not last in importance. Squatting is usually programmed with one thing in mind, what is going to keep the squat moving upwards with the least interference with the rest of training as possible. Often a program like the Texas Method can make this happen, but, we do add one more session to accomplish this. A Saturday session where squatting is prioritized and done first, followed only by overhead strength work like pressing or push pressing, or jerk practice. We do the volume workout on Monday, the “light” workout on Wednesday, and the intensity day on Saturday where we are always trying to make some sort of a PR. The first two squat sessions can be done in either the morning or the afternoon sessions, whichever fits that particular lifter the best. If we get to the point that TM squatting is not increasing the squat, we go to something different, often something that might at least temporarily interfere with the competitive lifts. But the squat has to move up, so then if that needs to happen, so be it. There are a lot of options. The Smolov program is one. It is a 4 day a week program of back squats, and it is high enough in volume that it needs to be done during the Mon, Wed, Fri morning training sessions during the week, then Saturday. Another option is frequent max effort front squats. Find what works to get your squat up. There is no one best way here, just find what works and remember, the squat HAS to move up or you need to find another way. There it is in a nutshell.

‘There are no rules or regulations,’ says senator putting forward one of three bills competing to create a framework for how medical marijuana is grown and sold Nearly 20 years after voters approved the medical use of marijuana in California, the state’s cannabis trade is a wild west of legitimate enterprises, outlaws and erratic enforcement, caused in large part by a patchwork of inconsistent laws covering the $2bn-a-year industry. Legislators are seeking to bring law and order to the business. Three bills – two in the state assembly and one in the senate – are competing to create a framework that would codify how medical marijuana is grown and sold in California, including whether local municipalities or the state itself would have ultimate control and what environmental and health measures should be addressed. “There are no rules or regulations in California,” said Senator Mike McGuire, who represents an area in the northern part of the state where it is estimated that 60% of marijuana in the US is grown. “For two decades now, the Golden State has allowed the cannabis industry to grow unchecked.” Marijuana cultivation in California is sucking streams dry, says new report Read more McGuire has put forward the Medical Marijuana Public Safety and Environmental Protection Act (SB 643), a bill that focuses on the environmental impact of growing. He says illegal grows are deforesting government lands, polluting waterways and affecting the health of those who use medical marijuana. One provision of his bill requires all cannabis to be certified organic by 2022, to eliminate polluted runoff into state waterways and make marijuana safer to use. The bill also addresses the illegal use of water to irrigate cannabis crops. California is stricken by drought and a single marijuana plant requires six gallons of water a day, McGuire said. He estimated that 100,000 such plants are being grown in Humboldt County alone. McGuire’s bill also provides a mix of local and statewide regulation. The bill has no sponsors other than its author. McGuire said this was to allow it to fairly represent all sides of the issue. The two bills currently winding through the assembly, meanwhile, pit growers against law enforcement and city governments. Many growers and sellers, including the California Cannabis Industry Association and the Emerald Growers Association (EGA), a trade group of farmers in northern California, support Assembly Bill 34, written by assembly members Rob Bonta and Reginald Jones-Sawyer. It would create a “strong regulatory regime” that would “help the industry come out of the shadows and increase safety and the quality of the product”, said Bonta, whose team met more than 30 stakeholders during the crafting of the proposal. His bill would give greater power to state agencies including the Alcoholic Beverage Control, the state department of public health and the department of food and agriculture, but would leave room for local ordinances as well. “It’s the single most thoughtful, innovative bill on the subject California has ever seen,” said Hezekiah Allen, executive director of EGA. Competing with that bill is AB 266, authored by assembly member Ken Cooley. Cooley’s plan, sponsored by the California Police Chiefs Association and the League of California Cities, would place power in the hands of local authorities while including some state oversight. “The major component of AB 266 is local control,” said David Bejarano, head of the California Police Chiefs Association. “We understand that some cities currently have bans so we need to respect that local control and authority.” Under AB 266, a single state agency would issue licenses to sellers and growers, though local municipalities would create their own ordinances for cultivation and sale and handle the majority of enforcement. Growers like Allen are against the measure, pointing out that industries such as viniculture and hard alcohol require the regulation of multiple state agencies due to their complexity. “No other multibillion-dollar industry is regulated by one department,” he said. He added that many growers feel AB 266 comes from a “law enforcement, urban perspective” and that “it is fundamentally challenging for [growers], having spent several decades on the other side of the war on drugs, to work with the police chiefs as a bill sponsor”. Cooley, however, said he was open to collaboration. “You’re going to be hard pressed to find a member who is more open to finding a reasonable center than me. I really work to be collaborative,” he said. McGuire’s bill, SB 643, has cleared two senate committees and now moves on to the appropriations committee. Both AB 266 and AB 34 passed the same legislative hurdle this week, clearing the committee on business and professions, and were referred to the appropriations committee. They will be heard in the coming weeks. California is moving closer to considering legalization for recreational use. At least four ballot initiatives have been filed for the 2016 election and one candidate for governor in 2018, Gavin Newsom, has signaled his support. The outcome of the move for legislation on medical marijuana regulation will probably affect how recreational use is handled, if voters pass one of the initiatives. “I do think it will affect how recreational marijuana unfolds,” said Cooley. “I believe that the whole civic conversation would be greatly aided with some measures in place for medical use.” Legislators say laws are needed now to prevent federal interference. The federal government has issued guidelines that pull back on enforcement in states that have adequate protocols in place, but California’s lax laws are problematic. Just this week, an illegal grower was killed in parklands near Sacramento, when state game wardens raided the operation. “The US Justice Department has made it crystal clear to states that allow medical marijuana that you must have a robust system of regulation and enforcement or face federal involvement,” said McGuire. “We’re 20 years late in bringing this legislation forward.”

Men may make more money than women on average, but women earn more college degrees, and have done so since 1982. Even so, the 177 women's centers on American college campuses show no sign of closing. Ostensibly pushing for "gender equity," these centers seem to have achieved their purpose. If they continue to advocate for women over men, that becomes discrimination. According to the Department of Education, women in the Class of 2017 earned 141 college degrees at all levels for every 100 men (up from 139 last year), leaving a 659,000 college degree gap (up from 610,000 last year). But despite this growing degree gap, there are at least 177 women's centers still operating on college campuses across the country, some receiving public funding, with the stated goals of "promoting (or advocating) gender equity" and promoting "women's success." The American Enterprise Institute (AEI)'s Mark Perry broke down the numbers — and the hypocrisy. This May, women earned 164 associates degrees for every 100 degrees men earned (up from 154:100 last year). They also earned 135 bachelor's degrees for every 100 degrees earned by men, 140 master's degrees for every 100 male degrees, and 109 doctoral degrees for every 100 earned by men. Women overtook men step by step over the past 39 years. In 1978, they took the majority of associate's degrees for the first time. The bachelor's degrees majority went female in 1982, with master's degrees following in 1987. Since 2007, women have also earned more doctoral degrees than men. Finally, the gender disparity is only expected to increase. By 2026, women are projected to earn 150 college degrees for every 100 degrees earned by men, and the gap increases for associate's degrees (187 women for every 100 men) and master's degrees (140 women for every 100 men). As Perry noted, men are now the "second sex" in higher education. But it also gets worse. Women aren't just the majority of degree-earners, they also receive special treatment as if they were the struggling minority. The University of Minnesota Women’s Center aims to "advance gender equity," by educating and inspiring "feminist leaders." The University of Virginia Women's Center (founded in 1989 — seven years after women gained the majority of bachelor's degrees for the first time) aims to provide "programs and services that advocate gender equity." The Women's Center at Duke University exists to help "every woman at Duke become self-assured with a kind of streetwise savvy that comes from actively engaging with the world. We welcome men and women alike who are committed to gender equity and social change." What about increasing the number of men who get college degrees? Is that kind of "social change" welcome?

Mr. Mackey, Jr. is the elementary school's counselor at South Park Elementary, best known for saying "m'kay" at the end of most of his sentences. He also serves on the City Council as head of Public Health. His first name is unknown. Contents show] Background Singing Mackey is known to have a talent in singing and has sung the following songs: Appearance Mackey wears a green long-sleeved shirt, blue tie, blue jeans, and blue shoes. His hair is black, and thinning. He wears large, black-rimmed glasses. Mackey is well known for his exaggeratedly large balloon head. It has been implied in "Ike's Wee Wee" that the size of his head is caused by the tightness of his tie. Yet, in "Child Abduction is Not Funny," his parents are shown to have the same condition. However, in "Proper Condom Use," his tie is removed before he and Ms. Choksondik have intercourse, and his head remains the same size. To see images of Mr. Mackey, visit Mr. Mackey/Gallery. Personality Mackey is one of the few relatively sensible and level-headed adults in South Park. He has occasionally taught classes at the school and taught sex education with Ms. Choksondik. After her death, he took over the fourth grade class until Mr. Garrison returned. During a drug-education class, Mackey passes some marijuana around the classroom, and it was stolen (apparently by one of the children, though it is later revealed that the actual thief was Mr. Garrison). For this, Mr. Mackey is fired by the school, and evicted by his landlord, and, feeling depressed, he ends up taking drugs himself. He hates it when the children at the school defecate in the urinals, and has used at least seven different terms for the word "crap", including "mud monkey" and "chocolate corn/hot dog". He also enjoys messing with pranksters and is a prankster himself as seen in "Summer Sucks". He sides with the "Rock n' Roll" side in "I'm a Little Bit Country", but is later seen as a John McCain supporter in "About Last Night...". He isn't very proficient with computers, as seen in "The Ungroundable". In "How to Eat with Your Butt", Mackey suggests to Cartman he should pursue a career writing for the show Friends, showing he's not a fan of the show. It is revealed in " Insheeption ", Mackey is a hoarder as a result of intense psychological trauma as a child. Mackey is shown as a timid fourth grader in 1974 who is bullied by a group of children led by Billy Thompson . It is also revealed that Mackey was a fan of Woodsy Owl , who at the end of the a field trip during his fourth grade year, molested Mackey. His "give a hoot, don't pollute" message stuck in Mackey's mind as he repressed the memory, causing his hoarding tendencies. However over the time of the series he developed a very bad temper. In "Insheeption" he angrily states to Stan Marsh that he will rape him in the mouth if Stan throws anything that he hoarded in his office away. Relationships Mrs. Mackey In "Ike's Wee Wee", after he became an outcast for supposedly giving drugs to the children, Mr. Mackey met up with a young female drug addict, who invited him to her house to fingerpaint. He accepted, and a short while later, at her place, she said they should get married and have their honeymoon in India. He agreed, but then he was rescued by the A-Team who put him into rehab. His wife has never been seen since as she was left in India. A goof is that in "Proper Condom Use", he states that the last time he had sex was 21 years ago (which accounts for his age as he also mentions he was 19 at the time). However, he clearly had sex with Mrs. Mackey. However, this is clearly backed up by the fact that he was high, so he couldn't remember it, like in "Proper Condom Use". Liane Cartman Mr. Mackey is seen flirting with Liane Cartman in "Cat Orgy" at his meteor shower party. When Cartman calls his mother to complain about Shelly Marsh, who is watching him, she appears to not hear him and provides no help. In "Something You Can Do with Your Finger", Cartman finds a tape that was recorded between his mother and Mackey, where he was her sex slave and had to drink out of a cup Liane urinated in. In "Tsst", Mackey had a parent-teacher meeting with Liane, to discuss Cartman's behavior. This led to her bursting into tears, claiming that she's unable control him. After, Mackey suggests calling one of the nanny reality television shows. Ms. Diane Choksondik During her introduction in "Fourth Grade", Mr. Mackey finds Ms. Choksondik, like the other teachers, disgusting, especially her sagging breasts. However, in "Proper Condom Use" Ms. Choksondik taught the girls about sex, and Mr. Mackey taught the boys. The two starting to talk personally with each other, and this ultimately led to the two of them having intercourse. Indeed, after Ms. Choksondik's corpse was studied in "The Simpsons Already Did It", Mr. Mackey's semen was found in her stomach. The news reporter explains that the semen was not what killed her, leaving the audience to presume that Ms Choksondik took some irony to her name and died choking on Mr. Mackey's penis. Principal Victoria He is very often seen with Principal Victoria, even outside of school, but there has never been any concrete evidence that they are in any sort of relationship, other than business, especially since the Principal's husband appeared in "About Last Night...". They do seem to have a friendly, casual relationship, though. In fact, Mackey hangs around Principal Victoria enough to look like not only the counselor but more a vice principal, although in "PC Principal Final Justice", it was revealed that he got Principal Victoria fired due to being used and not being listened to for 18 years. Hot Tub In "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub", at his party, Mr. Mackey shows his guests his backyard hot tub and says he gets a lot of action because of it, jokingly. It was revealed in "Proper Condom Use" that he hadn't had sex in 21 years (besides with his "wife", when he was drugged). Quotes Mr. Mackey: "Why, Clyde? Why did you do it?" Clyde: "I don't know." Mr. Mackey: "You got a whole school here, Clyde! M'kay? You got over three hundred people that need to use the boys' room. Then, you decide you're gonna be a comedian, m'kay, and pinch one off in the urinal, and leave it layin' there for everyone to have to look at! Okay, okay, you think it's funny, but nobody else does! They gotta walk in that bathroom and see your rancid dook propped up against the back of the urinal like a brown rag doll! Principal Victoria: "Mr. Mackey, Clyde's parents are here." Mr. Mackey: "M'kay, that's good! Let's see what your mom and dad have to say about your little poopscapade! Come on in, please. I'm just trying to get your son to explain why... he would drop a dook in the urinal!" ... "M'kay, m'kay." "Why, Clyde? Why did you do it?" "I don't know." "You got a whole school here, Clyde! M'kay? You got over three hundred people that need to use the boys' room. Then, you decide you're gonna be a comedian, m'kay, and pinch one off in the urinal, and leave it layin' there for everyone to have to look at! Okay, okay, you think it's funny, but nobody else does! They gotta walk in that bathroom and see your rancid dook propped up against the back of the urinal like a brown rag doll! "Mr. Mackey, Clyde's parents are here." "M'kay, that's good! Let's see what your mom and dad have to say about your little poopscapade! Come on in, please. I'm just trying to get your son to explain why... he would drop a dook in the urinal!" ... "M'kay, m'kay." Mr. Mackey: "Drugs are bad, m'kay?" Trivia Prominence Mr. Mackey has thus far had a speaking role in multiple episodes in every season, as well as South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and South Park: The Fractured But Whole.

During last night’s GOP presidential debate, Ben Carson flatly denied having any relationship with a nutritional supplement company, Mannatech, that has been accused of deceptive marketing and come under fire for promoting quack treatments for cancer and autism, dismissing the charges as “total propaganda.” “It is absolutely absurd to say that I had any kind of a relationship with them,” he said. Carson has since told reporters that future debates should not include “gotcha questions” like the one about his involvement with Mannatech, stating: “There’s no truth to them. I know people know how to investigate. They can easily go back and find out I don’t have any formal relations with Mannatech. They can easily find out that any videos I did with them were not paid for, were things I truly believed. That would be easy to do. If they had another agenda, they could investigate and say — see, there’s nothing there! But if they have a gotcha agenda, they conveniently ignore all the facts and try to influence public opinion.” Reporters did just that, and found clear evidence of Carson’s relationship with Mannatech. He delivered “four paid speeches at Mannatech gatherings” where he showered praises on the company’s products and filmed a promotional video for the company, which is odd since Carson insisted during the debate that Mannatech had only had used his image “without my permission”: Carson’s campaign, as PolitiFact points out, would prefer it if people did not find out about these ties: “Carson’s campaign requested that Mannatech remove some videos and articles featuring Carson from its website. And since media outlets have started poking around this question, Mannatech has taken down even more, according to reporters at the Wall Street Journal.” Even the conservative National Review, which has reported about Carson’s promotion of Mannatech products on PBS, has called out Carson’s remarks what they are: lies. Jim Geraghty writes:

Although the Hellboy Universe is an expansive series of titles, it has always drawn from a relatively small group of core writers. This year brought Chris Roberson (“iZombie”) into the fold, and now he’s writing “Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.,” “Rise of the Black Flame,” and “Witchfinder.” Over the next few weeks we’ll be talking to him about each series. This week we’re discussing “Witchfinder: City of the Dead” along with artist Ben Stenbeck (“Baltimore,” “Frankenstein Underground”). Chris, you’ve already done some writing for the Hellboy Universe on “Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.” and “B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth,” but “City of the Dead” was your true debut. You wrote this story first, and I believe it was your script for this story that got you the job as an ongoing writer in the Hellboy Universe. Chris Roberson: Well, I had done some work with Scott Allie and Dark Horse that had recently wrapped up (the “Aliens” miniseries with Patric Reynolds that was part of the “Fire and Stone” crossover event), and had such a great experience on the job that I was looking for something else I might be able to do with them. Scott and I met for lunch one day, and he went over a list of various franchises and titles that were available, and when he got to “Witchfinder” I stopped him cold. I’d known Mignola for several years socially, and I was actually the first one to suggest that he approach Kim Newman about writing “Witchfinder,” but I don’t think that either Scott or Mike appreciated just what a rabid fan of the whole Mignolaverse I am. And Sir Edward Grey is probably my favorite character in that entire universe. So I went off and put together a story that drew in so much of what I love about those books, not just the previous “Witchfinder” series, but little bits and pieces from “Hellboy” and “B.P.R.D.” and elsewhere, and sent an insanely detailed outline to Mike and Scott to look over. They liked what I’d come up with, and brought Ben onboard to take care of the art duties, which was a thrill for me, and we were off to the races. Around the time I wrapped up work on the scripts, they let me know that Arcudi had decided to concentrate on his creator-owned stuff, and asked if I’d be interested in taking over “Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.,” and here we are! Ben, you’ve been working with Mike Mignola for a little under a decade now. In fact, “Witchfinder: In the Service of Angels” was one of your first projects. There was even a flashback in this story. How does it feel to be back with Sir Edward Grey again? Ben Stenbeck: It’s strange. I really didn’t think I would end up back on “Witchfinder.” But it’s nice. This series has a few links to that first miniseries and it feels like a continuation of a lot of that stuff. So it seems appropriate that I’m the one to draw it. I’m a big fan of Sir Edward because the character undergoes such radical changes in the course of his lifetime. In his early days as an agent for Queen Victoria, Sir Edward is a rather stuffy character, quick to dismiss the paranormal or regard it with distaste. By the time he shows up in “Hellboy in Hell” he’s an immortal sorcerer. What drew you both to the character, and what do you find interesting about him in 1882? Chris: I’ve always been a big fan of Victorian London as a setting, and Victorian occult detectives in particular. (In fact, one of the main plot lines in one of my prose novels, “End of the Century,” is about just such a character.) I think one of the things I like most about Sir Edward Grey as a character is the fact that he’s somewhat stuffy at this point in his life, as you say. He’s no nonsense and matter-of-fact, even when dealing with the mind-bogglingly strange. And many of my favorite moments in the series are seeing him interact with hapless characters who perhaps aren’t so unflappable in the face of the supernatural, such as the doctors at Saint John of the Cross Police Hospital. Continued below Yes, his interactions with those doctors were among my favorite moments in this issue. Plus, there’s something interesting about Sir Edward’s I’ve-seen-it-all attitude, especially knowing that he really hasn’t, he’s just a twenty-five-year-old that thinks he has. Ben: I’ve always thought of Grey as an outsider. England’s wacky class system was at its worst in Victorian London and my read on Grey has always been that he doesn’t fit into the class structure―the lower classes see him as a posh toff and the upper classes see him as Working class at best. Ed doesn’t really care about any of those distinctions because he’s had experience with both sides and can see what nonsense those ideas are. But I think it’s the thing that isolates him a bit from the people around him. They all have their place but he’s got his own path. In the first three volumes of “Witchfinder,” Sir Edward has been rather solitary. Any companions he has with him on these adventures are gone by the end. However, “City of the Dead” appears to be investing in its supporting cast. Mr. Silk, Miss Goad, Dr. Lewis, and Dr. Manley had all been background characters in prior stories, but this time around they’re much more involved―especially the two doctors. This gives the series a sense of what Sir Edward’s everyday life is like, and gives him colleagues to bounce off of. Chris: That was motivated by several factors. First and foremost is that it’s always useful for the hero to have someone that he can talk to as the action unfolds, so that we can let the reader know what he’s thinking. But beyond that, I felt like the characters that Mike and Ben had introduced in “In The Service of Angels” just had so much potential that it would be a shame not to revisit them. And there were these little quirks in the way they were presented originally that I thought leant themselves nicely to various personality traits (such as the fact that Mr. Silk always seemed to be eating cake whenever Sir Edward stopped by, so I decided that would be a running thing). Ben: I always like that old gag of the person in the morgue who’s seen it all and is quite comfortable eating around autopsies. In my head those are expensive slices of cake he eats. He stops off every morning at some boutique cake shop. That guy loves fancy cake. I liked the way you used humor to cement the identities of the supporting cast. For example, Sir Edward’s butler, Bailey, didn’t appear much in this first issue, but it was enough that I immediately got a sense of him and the relationship between him and Sir Edward, especially that moment with the shotgun. Chris: That bit of business was actually Ben’s suggestion, if I recall correctly. Ben: Yeah, that panel wasn’t in the script, but that page was introducing Grey’s house and there wasn’t anything to say it was his house. This way we get to see where he is and it’s a cute little character bit. The “Witchfinder” stories tend to stand apart from the rest of the Hellboy Universe, functioning like a standalone series, and yet they’ve always found interesting ways to tap into the universe’s broader mythology. This certainly seems to be an element at play in “City of the Dead.” In fact, this may be the most mythology-heavy “Witchfinder” tale to date. The Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra is back (along with August Swain), there are references to Hyperborea and the Black Goddess, and there’s even hints of Mohlomi from “Hellboy: Strange Places.” Only one issue in, and I can already see why the outline of this story could be described as ‘insanely detailed.’ Chris: Yeah, as I’ve said, I’m a rabid fan of all of the Mignolaverse stuff, and one of my favorite things to do when playing in established worlds is to find new ways to connect up disparate elements, or find gaps in the backstory or the map that could be filled with interesting stuff. Continued below Ben: This book definitely feels like a companion to “In the Service of Angels,” and a few other books, but I don’t want to spoil anything. What I love about the way Chris has written this series is that it really feels like a Victorian detective story, Grey is following leads from one place to another leading to a huge finale. I just like the way everything slowly unfolds. Ben, I love what you’ve done with your art in this series. The digital washes make the artwork Sir Edward’s London look older than ever. Ben: I’m doing my pages the same as I always have―penciling digitally, printing the pencils out in a light blue and then inking traditionally―but with this series I’m adding a layer of grey tone with digital watercolour brushes. It’s something I’ve always wanted to try out. It’s letting me do more interesting things with light and atmosphere, stuff I couldn’t really do with just black ink. Did John Severin and Tyler Crook’s work on “Witchfinder” affect the way you approached the series? Ben: Well, the fact that Tyler did his “Witchfinder” series with ink wash made me think if they let Tyler do that they can let me do it too. I probably wouldn’t have tried it otherwise. Michelle Madsen is doing the colors on this book. To my eye she appears to building on the color palettes Dave Stewart introduced in “The Mysteries of Unland.” It beautifully compliments the ink washes and gives “Witchfinder” its own identity while still remaining recognisably a part of the Hellboy Universe. Ben: She’s great. Dave Stewart was the first person I talked to about working in graytone because I wanted to make sure he would be happy colouring it. Then things got changed around and I didn’t find out Michelle was coloring it until the colours for issue #1 turned up. But michelle is on my very short list of other colourists I’d like to work with and she’s really doing a great job. Yes, I like what I’m seeing of your collaboration so far. In the opening pages, there’s that sequence with the workers finding the underground ruins, and I love the way the graytone captures the drop-off of the light until all is black shadows. Michelle did this thing where the light gets grayer too, like the cold is seeping in with the shadows. Even the lantern itself is sort of feebly warm at best. It makes for excellent atmosphere. Ben: This stuff really works best with a simple gradient to the colour. There were a few panels in the first issue that Michelle had added flat colour to, relying on just what I’d done, but we got her to do a little more gradient with the colour and it makes it work really well. I know you’ve got another project in the pipeline, though it’s too soon to talk about yet. I am curious if you’re planning on using graytone in your next project now, or was this something you felt was specifically suited to “Witchfinder”? Ben: It’s something I’ve been playing with for a long time, specifically for a personal project I’ve been chipping away at for years. I think this is something I’d keep for “Witchfinder.” There’s been talk of me drawing a “Witchfinder” one-shot at some point and I would definitely use this technique again for that. I’d love to see that! “Witchfinder” has been almost completely longer arcs, but I’d love to see some shorter stories with him. They have a different rhythm that I think would work well for the character. Ben: I just remembered we did “Beware the Ape” after you said something on Twitter about wanting to see us do a “Witchfinder” story again. But yeah, I love Mike’s shorter stories. They have a really fun energy to them. Chris: The current plan is that one of the future arcs would actually be structured almost like an anthology series, so definitely expect more “Witchfinder” shorts. As I said before, Sir Edward is a favorite of mine. Chris, given your own passion for the character, I hope we’ll be seeing a lot more of him in future. Continued below Chris: When I wrapped up work on “City of the Dead,” I had a lot of conversations with Scott and Mike about what Sir Edward was up to between this point in his career and his final adventure in Chicago that we’ve seen referenced in “Hellboy In Hell,” and then went off and came up with an overview of how we could present those stories. So definitely, we’ve got a lot more “Witchfinder” planned (and in the first issue of “Rise of the Black Flame” readers will actually get a little glimpse into what some of those stories will be about). Excellent news! I look forward to reading the rest of the series. I’ve seen a little already, and I must say I’m very pleased with it. You can follow Chris Roberson and Ben Stenbeck on Twitter. “Witchfinder: City of the Dead” #2 comes out September 28.

… a more fundamental proposition [is] that any large change in commodity prices – irrespective of whether it is in favour or against the primary producers – tends to have a dampening effect on industrial activity; it retards industrial growth in both cases, instead of retarding it in the one case and stimulating it in the other. There are, as I shall now show, two reasons for this. It is partly a consequence of the fact that whilst a fall in commodity prices tends to be an effective instrument in moving the terms of trade against the primary producers, a rise in commodity prices is not likely to be nearly as effective in moving the terms of trade in their favour. It is partly also a consequence of an asymmetry in the behavioural consequences as between a gain and a loss of real income, the result of which is that any sudden shift in the distribution of world income, caused by a change in the terms of trade, is likely to have an adverse effect on industrial demand (in real terms). The important cause of the first asymmetry is that while commodity prices are demand-determined, industrial prices are cost-determined, and because of that the rise in commodity prices has a very powerful inflationary effect operating on the cost side. The rise in the price of basic materials and fuels is passed through the various stages of production into the final price with an exaggerated effect – it gets ” blown up ” on the way by a succession of percentage additions to prime costs which mean, in effect, an increase in cash margins at each stage. This causes (initially) a rise in the share of profits in the value added by manufacturing which in itself is a powerful factor (in countries where trade union power is strong) in causing pressure for wage increases. Added to this is the price-induced rise in wages caused by what Sir John Hicks called “Real Wage Resistance” – the reluctance of workers to accept a cut in their standard of living (which is not paralleled by similar reluctance to accept a rise). For these reasons a swing in the terms of trade in favour of the primary producers is not likely to last for long. The industrial sector with its superior market power, resists any compression of its real income by countering the rise in commodity prices through a cost-induced inflation of industrial prices. Moreover – and here we come to the second reason mentioned above – the inflation itself has a deflationary effect on the effective demand for industrial goods in real terms, partly because the rise in the profits of producers in the primary sector is not matched by a rise in their expenditure – this was particularly marked on the present occasion through the vast accumulation of financial assets by the oil producers – and partly because the governments of most, if not all, of the industrial countries are likely to react to their domestic inflation by fiscal and monetary measures which reduce consumer demand and put a brake on industrial investment. Thus the rise in commodity prices may well result in a wage/price spiral-type of inflation in the industrial sectors which in turn causes industrial activity to be restricted. The latter tends to eliminate the shortages and thereby reverse the trend in commodity prices. A good example of this has been the U.S. inflation of I972-3, which was clearly cost induced but not wage-induced; it was caused by the rise in commodity prices (with wage rises trailing behind the rise in living costs) and which led to strongly restrictionist monetary policies in order to counter the inflation, which in turn brought about a considerable economic recession. (Somewhat later similar restrictionist policies were adopted by governments of other leading countries, such as Germany and Japan.) If the above analysis is correct, the market mechanism is a highly inefficient regulator for securing continuing adjustment between the growth of availabilities and the growth in requirements for primary products in a manner conducive to the harmonious development of the world economy. The emergence of commodity surpluses which should, in principle, lead to accelerated industrialisation may have a perverse effect by diminishing effective demand for industrial products. Similarly the emergence of shortages which should accelerate the growth of availabilities of primary products through improvements in the terms of trade may lead instead to an inflation of manufacturers’ prices which tends to offset the improvement in the terms of trade, and by its dampening effect on industrial activity, worsens the climate for new investment in both the primary sector and the industrial sector. – Kaldor, Nicholas. 1976. “Inflation and Recession in the World Economy”. The Economic Journal 86 (344). [Royal Economic Society, Wiley]: 703–14. doi:10.2307/2231447. Link

New evidence adds strength to arguments that doctors should be extremely cautious about using a procedure performed on about 50,000 women a year during surgery to remove the uterus because of the risk that it may spread cancer. The procedure, power morcellation, uses a device to cut uterine tissue into pieces before removal through small incisions made during minimally invasive surgery. It is also used to remove fibroid tumors. Recent reports indicate that some women have been harmed when the device, a morcellator, sliced into tumors they and their doctors did not know existed and spread cancer cells through the abdomen. Now, a new study, published Tuesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association, found that undetected tumors in women having hysterectomies are more common than many experts had thought, a conclusion that is likely to fuel calls to limit or eliminate the procedure.

Mike Millikin, the uber-editor of Green Car Congress , played professor and handed out grades to 12 battery and ultracapacitor companies in an article published by EnergyTechStocks . Because the article was written for a financial site, we can assume that part of the criteria used to rate the companies has to do with commercial potential, but that's not necessarily a bad thing since to make an environmental difference, these companies need to get huge and stay profitable. The 12 companies that got report cards are: A123 Systems, Altair Nanotechnologies, Compact Power, EEStor, Ener1, Hitachi, Johnson Controls, Lithium Technology, Maxwell Technologies, Automotive Energy Supply, Panasonic EV, Valence Technology. Notable omissions are BYD and NEC (maybe he doesn't like three-letter acronyms?). See below for a few highlights. On EEStor, the company that is always mentioned with the adjective "secretive": The mystery man in Millikin's class once again got an "incomplete." While most professors wouldn't allow a student to have back-to-back incompletes, Millikin said, "What they're trying to do is difficult." He actually gave EEStor credit for keeping its mouth shut instead of issuing glowing press releases about itself. Being silent makes Millikin think, "They're making a serious effort." According to press reports, EEStor is working on a new method for making ultracapacitors, which are battery-like devices that may wind up in electric vehicles instead of, or in combination with, lithium-ion batteries. On Maxwell Technologies, another make of Ultracapacitors: This small public California-based company again got an "A" for its work with ultracapacitors, which are battery-like devices that ultimately may be used in combination with, or instead of, lithium-ion batteries. Millikin reiterated what he said seven months ago that Maxwell "clearly is a leader in ultracpacitors." But he also sounded a warning. He said Maxwell must drive down the cost of its ultracapacitor pack. Asked whether he thinks the company will be successful, Millikin said only, "Maybe," thus implying that Maxwell's "A" could be in jeopardy the next time around. For more about the potential of ultracapacitors, check out this piece about some research done by MIT. On Hitachi: This is the first of Millikin's new class members and it starts out with an "A" based upon the recently-announced deal between Hitachi Vehicle Energy Ltd., a subsidiary, and General Motors. The deal calls for Hitachi to supply the lithium-ion battery system for a second-generation version of the GM Hybrid System that GM plans to put into production. Millikin emphasized that with this deal for a mild hybrid, Hitachi achieves production volume still not evident in others' plug-in battery development. We still need to wait and see just how fuel efficient GM's second-generation hybrid system will be, but it at least this deal has the benefit of giving Hitachi large scale production possibilities, something that not many other battery makers can match so far. ::New Report Card Grades for the 12 Leading Lithium-ion Battery and Ultracapacitor Development Companies in the World

House Democrats try to strike positive tone ahead of health care repeal vote By Felicia Sonmez Hours ahead of a planned vote on a bill that would repeal the national health care overhaul, House Democratic leaders and Obama administration officials tried to strike a positive tone, seeking to depict health care reform as a nonpartisan issue and largely avoiding the heated rhetoric that has animated the debate in the past. "America builds, and that's what this Congress should be about: building things and making things in America," Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) said Wednesday morning at a Capitol news conference. "We're here to say we're ready to build some more and make things better. We're not interested in tearing down or repealing or destroying. We're interested in building." Becerra addressed reporters along with Democratic Reps. John Larson (Conn.), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) and Rob Andrews (N.J.) ahead of a closed-door House Democratic caucus meeting. Several administration officials also spoke out in defense of the health care overhaul, including Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Small Business Administrator Karen Mills. In keeping with the mostly collegial tone of Tuesday's floor debate, the Democrats speaking on Wednesday morning focused on patients' stories and the benefits of health care reform, with Vilsack and Mills touching specifically on the benefits for rural families and small businesses. "I believe that whether you're a member of the tea party, whether you're a rock-ribbed Republican or whether or not you're a plain, ordinary American without labels, you cannot be indifferent to the concerns addressed in these very poignant stories that we've heard over the last year and over the last several days," Larson said. "That's what this vote will be about today." One Democrat, Wasserman Schultz, invoked the Tucson shooting rampage earlier this month that killed six and wounded 13, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). Wasserman Schultz, who visited in Tucson in the wake of the tragedy, related a conversation she had with Patricia Maisch, the 61-year-old woman who knocked away the magazine cartridge from alleged gunman Jared Loughner. She said that Maisch told her that she was concerned about the effect health care repeal would have on her and her husband's small business and that even before the shooting, she was hopeful that lawmakers would "choose our words more carefully." "This has been job-creating, life-affirming legislation, and I know that that's what Pat wanted to share with Gabby, but she didn't have the chance, and I'm really pleased to be able to do that on her behalf today," Wasserman Schultz said.

Before an operation, surgeons have to obtain the most precise image possible of the anatomical structures of the part of the body undergoing surgery. University of Basel researchers have now developed a technology that uses computed tomography data to generate a three-dimensional image in real time for use in a virtual environment. The planning of a surgical procedure is an essential part of successful treatment. To determine how best to carry out procedures and where to make an incision, surgeons need to obtain as realistic an image as possible of anatomical structures such as bones, blood vessels, and tissues. Researchers from the University and University Hospital of Basel's Department of Biomedical Engineering have now succeeded in taking two-dimensional cross-sections from computer tomography and converting them for use in a virtual environment without a time lag. Using sophisticated programming and the latest graphics cards, the team led by Professor Philippe C. Cattin succeeded in speeding up the volume rendering to reach the necessary frame rate. In addition, the SpectoVive system can perform fluid shadow rendering, which is important for creating a realistic impression of depth. For example, doctors can use the latest generation of virtual reality glasses to interact in a three-dimensional space with a hip bone that requires surgery, zooming in on the bone, viewing it from any desired angle, adjusting the lighting angle, and switching between the 3D view and regular CT images. Professor Cattin explains the overall benefits: "Virtual reality offers the doctor a very intuitive way to obtain a visual overview and understand what is possible." "This brand-new technology smoothly blurs the boundary between the physical world and computer simulation. As a doctor, I am no longer restricted to looking at my patient's images from a bird's eye view. Instead, I become part of the image and can move around in digital worlds to prepare myself, as a surgeon, for an operation in detail never seen before," says ophthalmologist Dr. Peter Maloca. "I have found that these new environments continue to guide me and have helped rewire my senses, ultimately making me a better doctor. Those who stand to gain the most here are doctors, their patients, and students - all of whom can share in this new information," adds Maloca, who works at University Hospital Basel's OCTlab and at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. Improved volume rendering The ability to convert CT images into a 3D on-screen representation is nothing new. Until now, however, commonly available hardware could not generate these three-dimensional volumes in real time for use in virtual spaces. One particularly challenging aspect was that smooth playback in a virtual environment requires at least 180 images a second - 90 images each for the left and right eyes; otherwise, the viewer may experience nausea or dizziness. Widespread interest in innovation This achievement was aided by developments in the computer games industry and new generations of powerful standard hardware, providing medical practitioners with access to three-dimensional test environments. At present, the Basel-based researchers are conducting regular demonstrations of SpectoVive to physicians in order to highlight the system's potential and, at the same time, to gain a better understanding of doctors' requirements. Some museums have also expressed interest in the technology, seeing SpectoVive as an opportunity to allow visitors to discover the world inside exhibits, such as mummies, in an intuitive and nondestructive manner. However, Philippe Cattin, Professor for Image-Guided Therapy at the Faculty of Medicine, sees the greatest potential in the areas of diagnostics, surgical planning, and medical training. SpectoVive - part of the MIRACLE project This innovation is part of the MIRACLE project underway at the Department of Biomedical Engineering. The project is receiving CHF 15.2 million in funding from the Werner Siemens-Foundation. Its aim is to allow the minimally invasive treatment of bones using laser beams. One day, it is expected that SpectoVive technology will be used in the planning of surgical procedures and for the navigation of the robot-guided laser system. ###

The FOG Team is proud to announce the immediate availability of FOG 1.3.5. With this release the FOG Client is now updated to 0.11.1. This release adds a few new features and fixes numerous bugs found within 1.3.4's release. FOG Client BUG Fixes Stop race condition when shutting down a computer FOG BUG Fixes Fix snapin task issue on hosts without any snapins associate. Fix inventory passing potential non-integer for math. Fix excess/extra output in iPXE boot menu. Fix donate tasking not having functions sourced. Fix missed variable for FOG Scheduler service. Fix alter user to happen on both localhost and 127.0.0.1 Fix PDODB Class issues where object doesn't exist. Fix Multicast rdv in inits as it was being used improperly. Clean up Ubuntu warning message to be more proper. Saying it would break immediately is not true anymore. Fix reference issues introduced. Fix issue as described: https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/9277/host-registration-service-deactivation-has-no-effect Fix xss and exploitable code issues. Fix fixed size partition code to accurately update the file as needed. Fix typo left in linux resize Fix version= problem on kernel update by removing it entirely. Fix IP address elements in fog settings to define as empty strings instead of 0. Fix mistake in interpreting legacy client and new client during fix for host registration fixes. Fixes legacy servicemodule-active checks (legacy client) failing every check as disabled globally. Fix missed debug correction. Fix issue with sanitization looping around improperly. No more recursive calls in sanitize_items function. Fix all snapin taskings. Fix legacy client snapin and dir cleaner issue. Fix older new client reports that still used servicemodule-active calls. Fix group deploy tasking displaying array instead of real message. Fix fresh install EFI Exit type to default to use rEFInd. Fix MBR capture to actually pull the proper data instead of 63 * 512 as it was doing. Fix string decoding problems added accidentally. Ensure globalSettings table only has unique elements. Ensure initrd=memtest.bin is passed for all memtest elements. Fix init registration issues. Fix host not having object for RegisterClient. Fix imgFormat to send and integer. Fix zstd to use zstdmt for multiple threading. (PZstd but standard binaries rather than having to build PZstd separately). Fixes Capone processing issues. Fixes GPT/MBR Resizing issues. (Needs heavy testing to validate for sure). Fixes MBR Extended partitions to resize based on the extended space while allowing the extended partition to be expanded as well. Fixes replication issues where a file that didn't exist on a remote would not be replicated over. Fixes replication so files are not constantly being read to check for hashes. This is addressed by scanning the first and last 10 megabytes of the file (if it is at least that large) to get the hash. Fixes a couple of textual errors in the inits. Fixes transfer logging to write to a log FOG can control size of to ensure a server disk/partition doesn't get full from a single source of logging. Fixes kernel updater. Fix chunk size adjustments making incorrect passes to the main system potentially from 4k disks. Fix uuid setting improperly by using the originating partitions sfdisk dump file. Fix multicast session joining when using an unregistered host. Fix extended partitioning to use similar logic to main disk resizing elements making the extended partition more suitably resizable. Fix boottype=usb issues on gathering host information. Fix client 0.11.9 in the binaries file. Fix missing -v argument to awk caller. Fix permissions on storage locations to always set fog as owner to ensure ftp can operate properly. Fix delayed group tasks from not creating snapin taskings when the task is to be performed. Fixes issue in some cases where resize could reach outside size of disk boundaries. Fixes sprintf error in LDAP plugin. Try more accurate method to get IP's within inits. Fix types in partition file getting. Features

This is the thirteenth entry of an ongoing series exploring Jewish feminism. I am a Jewish feminist because my mom decided to put on a tallit and tefillin when I was 10. I remember that she asked my younger brother and me if we were okay with this decision. After all, she was also our teacher at Jewish day school, and worried that the other kids might make fun of us. But we were supportive — and it seemed to make sense, given my mother’s deep connection to prayer and Jewish ritual. Why should she be denied the same opportunity as the males in the family? My parents are my religious role models, and they managed to create a home in which no one sacrificed any amount of passion or authenticity by embracing egalitarian values in a religious context. In our house, Jewish feminism wasn’t a rebellion against tradition — it was the logical application of it. Today, too many people feel the need to make a choice: embrace equal opportunities for men and women or embrace a deep religious practice with Torah and mitzvot at the center. As a co-founder of an egalitarian minyan and an egalitarian yeshiva, I have tried to normalize the world in which my parents created at home. It is a vision of that world that animates all the work I do. Rabbi Elie Kaunfer is co-founder and executive director of Mechon Hadar. He is the author of “Empowered Judaism: What Independent Minyanim Can Teach Us about Building Vibrant Jewish Communities.” This story "Authentically Egalitarian" was written by Elie Kaunfer.

The Montreal Alouettes announced Wednesday that the club has signed import quarterback Troy Smith to a two-year deal. Smith won the Heisman Trophy with Ohio State in 2006, leading the Buckeyes to the BCS National Championship game, where they lost to Florida 41-14. In three seasons as the Buckeyes' quarterback, Smith completed 420 of 670 passes for 5,720 yards and 54 TDs. "We've been in discussions for well over three months and have been patiently waiting for Troy to finish his commitments at Ohio State," explained Alouettes general manager Jim Popp. "We'll have to fast track Troy in order to get him over the learning curve of the CFL and caught up to speed over the next several weeks. Story continues below advertisement "He's here to learn and grasp the game for future competition." Smith, 29, was drafted in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL draft by the Baltimore Ravens. In three seasons with the Ravens, he completed 48 of 89 passes for 558 yards in 14 games. He signed with the San Francisco 49ers the following year, starting five games and winning three. In 2011, he played for Omaha of the UFL before signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers the following off-season.

An Early (Very Early) Look at the 2014 Astros by Ray Kuhn Yesterday, Harris County residents voted to reject Proposition 2, which called for a $217 Million renovation to the Astrodome. This decision spells almost certain doom for the iconic Houston stadium. Your politics aside, I think we can all agree that Houston is losing something special in the Astrodome. The Astrodome broke ground in 1962 and opened its one-of-a-kind doors on April 9, 1965. It was the first ever domed sports stadium and was dubbed by Billy Graham as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” The Astros played 34 seasons there until John Rocker struck out Ken Caminiti in Game 4 of the 1999 NLDS, which was the last professional pitch thrown inside the Dome. If you are reading this, I assume that you have as many great memories of the Dome as I do. On twitter, the hashtag “AstrodomeMemories” was started as a public forum to voice your own reflections. I’ve picked out some of my favorites so we can all reminisce together. my very first Astros game. the 1986 Mike Scott no-hitter. i was 2 months old & wearing a Cabbage Path doll Astros uniform #AstrodomeMemories — Kyle Mays (@KMays10) November 6, 2013 Never forget ear-deafening roar when Olajuwon was introduced in Rockets championship rally in Dome in 1994. #AstrodomeMemories — Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) November 6, 2013 I remember a game at the Dome where 4 generations of my family sat together for my great grandfather’s birthday. #AstrodomeMemories — CollectinTex (@CollectinTex) November 6, 2013 We saw Brook and Dunn EVERY year at the rodeo when I was little, my sister and I always danced to My Maria in the aisles. #AstrodomeMemories — Randi Nicole (@get_randi) November 6, 2013 I was there Darryl Kile’s first of his two career home runs. #AstrodomeMemories — Alexandra Ellis (@AlexandraInTX) November 6, 2013 Seeing Darryl Strawberry hit a speaker in center field during HR contest in 1986 All-Star weekend #AstrodomeMemories — Danny Isom (@dannyisom) November 6, 2013 There are many, many more great memories and I would encourage you get on Twitter and read them for yourself. I was born in 1992, so my memories are shaped differently than a lot of others who can remember more of the Dome. Don’t let that fool you though, I have a bevy of amazing memories of the Astrodome. I shared a few this morning. I remember hearing “Alooooouuuu” and getting really nervous because I thought we were booing someone. I didn’t like that. #AstrodomeMemories — Jeff Blogwell (@JeffBlogwell) November 6, 2013 I caught a home run ball hit by some member of the Expos at the Dome. I’ve still never touched a HR, or even a foul ball, anywhere else. — Jeff Blogwell (@JeffBlogwell) November 6, 2013 I have videos of me from “Kids Run The Bases.” It was running to first that I knew this game, and team, were for me. #AstrodomeMemories — Jeff Blogwell (@JeffBlogwell) November 6, 2013 Honestly, the Astrodome hasn’t been that relevant to me or anyone else for the last 10 years. I didn’t expect to feel this much emotion at the news of its impending demise. But thinking back on all of the great things I saw growing up really stirred emotions in me. I remember one of my biggest struggles every year was deciding if I wanted to wear 5 or 7 in Little League. Ultimately, I found a perfect balance by playing First Base and having long pants like Baggy, and kicking my leg up at the plate and wearing 7 like Bidge. There was 1998, when the Astros Front Office bet the farm on Randy Johnson. There was 1986. So many great players came through Houston under the shadow of the Dome. I don’t know what the ultimate outcome of the Astrodome will be. Maybe some rich guys will get together to save it. Maybe it gets blown up next week. All I know is how special that place is to Houston. It is the one defining piece of skyline easily recognized by people outside of our town. It was revolutionary. If this is goodbye, allow me to play you out in the only way that is appropriate.

Star Wars fans want to know more about the Big Bad in the Sequel Trilogy, Supreme Leader Snoke, but it sounds like they may be waiting a long time to find out what they want. Vanity Fair is doing an AmA on Reddit, and they explained that we probably won’t get much about Snoke in Episode VIII: “I asked Rian Johnson about Snoke—Who/what is he?—and Rian was fairly up front in saying that Snoke is not a character he particularly gets into in TLJ. Hmmm.” Lucasfilm has been dropping big hints about Snoke in the novels recently. As of right now the best money is that he’s someone The First Order encounters when the Empire flees into the Unknown Regions following the events of the Aftermath trilogy. Thrawn explains that there is some kind of threat in the Unknown Regions, and all signs are pointing to Snoke being related to that.

Dan Siegel, long-time Oakland civil rights attorney, partner in the Oakland law firm Siegel & Yee, and long-time friend, and former legal adviser, to Oakland Mayor Jean Quan , is running for Mayor of Oakland. Siegel joins an already very strong list of people running for Mayor of Oakland in 2014: Bryan Parker, Joe Tuman, Oakland Councilmember Libby Schaaf, Patrick McCullough, and the incumbent Mayor Quan. And as an update, Siegel says he’s willing to consider a the assistance of any of the other candidates who would say that he’s their second choice in Oakland’s Rank Choice Voting system election. This blogger just got off the phone with Siegel, who explained that the impetus for his decision to run for Mayor of Oakland was the recent poll commissioned by the Oakland Chamber of Commerce, and which reported that Quan was very unpopular with those polled. It should be noted that was the same poll that fueled Libby Schaaf’s decision to run, so the Oakland Chamber of Commerce poll did a lot of damage to Mayor Quan’s political future. (Interestingly, another poll, just released by the Oakland Jobs and Housing Coalition reports that Quan is the leading preferred candidate, but I’ve not seen the raw data from that exercise. And it should be noted that a source within Oakland City Hall tipped me off that the poll was politically engineered. For example, certain politicos knew that Oakland At Large Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan was going to be presented as a candidate for Mayor in the poll before it was executed.) Dan Siegel says his platform will be public safety and jobs. “The development proposals in the works are good,” he said, “but they need to be evaluated for the kind of jobs they produce.” Siegel pointedly expressed concern about people of color losing jobs in Oakland. The decision to run for Mayor is a high point in Siegel’s long career of using the law to fight the good fight. It goes back to his days as a student activist at the Boalt Hall School of Law at U.C. Berkeley (1970) and when he got involved in the fight to maintain People’s Park, a battle that was called “Bloody Thursday.” It continues to recent years and his opposition to the City of Oakland’s Gang Injunction Program. I didn’t agree with Dan’s position then, but I did agree with his intent. As long as I’ve known Dan he’s always expressed concern for labor and the poor in Oakland – for the plight of the common Oaklander. So, it’s no surprise that he called on “less a committee than a group of individuals” who pushed him to run, and are helping him. Siegel named long-time Oakland criminal defense lawyer Walter Riley, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice head (and former neighbor of mine) George Galvis, former Berkeley Mayor Gus Newport, and Paul and Gay Cobb as those who comprised his main support base. But one friend, going back to 1968, is not a supporter and will, undoubtedly, find this bit of news troubling, and that’s Mayor Quan. (Quan has to wonder if there’s another former appointee who’s planning to run for Mayor of Oakland against her now that there’s two: Siegel and Bryan Parker. Remember that Mr. Parker is Quan’s appointee to the Board of Commissioners of The Port Of Oakland.) If you pay some attention to Oakland Politics, or at least enough to associate Quan with her nemesis Occupy Oakland, then you certainly remember that Siegel was Quan’s legal advisor at that time in October of 2011, and that he quit one month later in protest over her handling of the Occupy Oakland protests. Here’s my five-minute talk with Siegel, where he expressed his dislike for the now-famous Quan-directed Oakland and Bay Area Law Enforcement raid on the Occupy Oakland encampment: And for those of you who didn’t see what happened, or forgot, here’s a video reminder of that raid, which includes the scene where Marine Iraq War Veteran Scott Olsen was just shot in the face with a rubber bullet, courtesy of the law enforcement brigade that was active at the time: The resulting police brutality lawsuits cost the City of Oakland $1 million. So here comes Dan Siegel today, gearing up to run against his friend Mayor Quan, and in the process bring back to center stage focus the one giant blemish on her term as Mayor that Jean Quan hoped everyone had forgotten. Stay tuned.

Houston to see scattered showers through weekend Scattered showers expected in Houston through weekend Muggy heat and a chance of rain are on tap today and through the weekend as thunderstorms move toward the Houston region from the east. The showers will be scattered and some of the thunderstorms could be strong with gusty winds and small hail, according to the National Weather Service. Areas in the southern portion of southeast Texas have the best chance for heavy rainfall. High temperatures will be in the mid to upper 90s while lows will be in the upper 70s. The heat index will range between about 102 and 105. Today in the Houston area, the high will be about 96 degrees under partly sunny skies. The low will about 78. A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms are possible, especially after about 7 a.m. Forecasters said the best chances for rainfall are long Interstate 10 and southward. The heat index—how hot the air feels when temperature and humidity combine—will be about 105. Southwest winds will be between about 5 mph and 10 mph as moist air flows inland from the Gulf of Mexico. A 50 percent chance of thunderstorms is likely Saturday, when the high will top out at about 94 degrees under partly sunny skies. The low will be near 79. The heat index will be near 102. South winds will be between 5 mph and 10 mph. Rain chances decrease to about 30 percent Sunday. The high will be near 95 under mostly sunny skies. The low will about 80. South winds will be between 5 mph and 20 mph. dale.lezon@chron.com

Safar-Zee Fundraising Update! Following our Safar-Zee fundraising efforts we wanted to update you all on where some of the donations are going! We changed up our donation process this time around and instead of donating one lump sum to a single organization we have been making smaller donations to various animal and wildlife organizations worldwide. In addition to In-Sync Exotics and our pal Mystery, below are some of the organizations members of our staff have chosen to receive donations on behalf of our players. Thank you again for your awesome support for animals worldwide- we couldn’t do this without you! Munzee on! Wildlife Warriors Worldwide https://wildlifewarriors.org.au/ Chosen by Rob Vardeman, CZeeO “Established by Crocodile Hunters Steve and Terri Irwin in 2002, the Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors strive to be the most effective wildlife conservation organization in the world through the delivery of outstanding outcome-based programs and projects, inclusive of humanity.” Animal Angels Sanctuary www.animalangelstexas.org Chosen by Cecie Newman, EVP of Operations “My son and his family couldn’t keep 2 of their dogs. They were heartbroken until they came across this organization that is a 38 acre haven for abused animals and pets that can no longer be taken care of properly. They promise that 100% of every donation goes directly to animal benefit, paying no salaries for Staff or Board of Directors.” Cat Matchers http://www.catmatchers.org Chosen by Teraca Grim – Director of HR and Operations “I am a huge cat lover. I know all the hard work that Cat Matchers does to help unwanted or lost cats. I have reached out to them and know what nice people they are and how much they need donations. ” North Texas Rabbit Sanctuary http://www.ntrs.org/ Chosen by Scott Foster, VP of Technology “My 6 year old daughter begs my wife and I everyday that she wants a rabbit as a pet. This donation will help explain to the public ( and my daughter ) how to take care of rabbits, what equipment is needed, and what food they need.” The Beagle Freedom Project https://bfp.org/ Chosen by Dylan Derryberry, Director of Creative Operations “Beagle Freedom Project negotiates with laboratories across the world to secure the release of dogs and other animals and give them a chance at a normal home life after everything they have endured for vanity and scientific curiosity. The organization uses the rescues to draw public attention to the plight of animals languishing in labs and to promote cruelty-free lifestyle choices everyone can make. The beagles act as ambassadors who give faces to animal testing victims and remind the public that these animals are not just furry test-tubes, but dogs no different from their pets. BFP has rescued hundreds of animals, including beagles, mixed-breed hounds, cats, rabbits, ponies, pigs, goats, guinea pigs, ferrets, rats, and even goldfish from laboratories, in cities and countries spanning the globe.” Sea Turtle, Inc. http://www.seaturtleinc.org Chosen by Matt McCann, Director of Media and Player Relations “Growing up by the ocean, wildlife preservation and restoration was a focal point of my community. Sea Turtle, Inc. was a large part of that. They rescue, rehabilitate, and release injured sea turtles as well as educate the public and assist with conservation efforts. I’m proud to donate to such a great cause that I grew up being able to help first hand..” Tiggywinkles http://www.sttiggywinkles.org.uk/ Chosen by Louise Gibson, Events Queen “Tiggywinkles is a wonderful place, it’s a specialist hospital dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating all species of British wildlife. All casualties brought to the hospital are treated completely free of charge and are released through a controlled programme, back to the wild, when they are fully fit. Every casualty is given a chance and any animal or bird unable to be released back to the wild is maintained at the hospital, in as natural conditions as possible. Tiggywinkles survives on a solid base of membership and relies on donations from the general public and sponsors to thrive. It receives no state funding of any kind and no financial assistance from conservation groups. Our money would really make a difference. We could adopt Al Pacino the Fox, Susie the Hedgehog and Roxy the Raven to name a few or make a one off donation. I love the story of how and why the hospital was created by Les Stocker and everything he and his family have done to keep the place going. Sadly Les died last year but we can help his legacy live on: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/07/19/les-stocker-st-tiggywinkles-founder–obituary/” Tierschutzverein Chemnitz und Umgebung e.V. http://www.tierschutz-chemnitz.de Chosen by Daniel Fischer, Backend Developer “The “Tierschutzverein Chemnitz e.V.” is a non-profit society running the local animal shelter in Chemnitz/Germany. They take care of 800 to 900 animals per year who suffer hardship. Beside hosting and caregiving found or stray animals, they also try to raise awareness about animal protection and acting responsibly towards also pets and wildlife. The society receives municipal subsidization, but is highly dependent on additional donations.” Adams County SPCA http://www.adamscountyspca.org Chosen by Daniel Hammock, Player Support “Adams county SPCA throws events to help raise funds for the animals. Plus they have a network of helpers who drive long distances to rescue other dogs from shelters and adopt them out through their shelter.” Texas Little Cuties Rescue http://www.texaslittlecuties.org/ Chosen by Donovan Carreno, Mobile App Developer “We have adopted from them, and we like to support our local shelters..” Animal Welfare Institute http://www.awionline.org/ Chosen by Dan Parker, Mobile App Developer “This organization spends over 90% of donated funds on its programs. It is rare that a charitable organization spends over 90% of donations on what they claim to do because there are administrative costs to running any organization. This high percentage of funds allocated to purpose shows the company’s commitment to their cause. I respect that.” Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center http://www.rogerswildlife.org Chosen by Judy Nguyen, Front End Developer “I like birds.” Denton Animal Support Foundation http://www.dentonasf.com/ Chosen by Delana Adams, Eventzee Customer Service “This is the organization that helped keep my current fur babies in the shelter for as long as they did (they’re older dogs), so they hold a special place in my heart. Without DASF we might not have found them. This organization helps with the adoption subsidy of older and harder to adopt animals, and helps find homes for animals uprooted from their homes.” National Wildlife Refuge Association http://refugeassociation.org/about/donate/ Chosen by Trish Vandehey, Graphic Illustrator “I grew up in the forests of the Pacific Northwest wandering through nature with friends and family, and my best memories of childhood are all closely related to this. Even now, it plays a strong role in my adult life. When I am not working you will often find me exploring the woods or lakes, taking long hikes and watching wildlife with my children and grandchild. Preserving wildlife and spaces for them to flourish for future generations is paramount. Because of their focus in the conservation of wildlife and habitat in North America I have chosen to donate to the National Wildlife Refuge.” Lovebugs Rescue http://www.lovebugsrescue.org/ Chosen by Robbie McGuire, WallaBee Director “Kelsey and I have two dogs, both of which are from rescues. Tessa was rescued from a shelter here in Texas, but Rollie was adopted from Lovebugs Rescue in CA. Lovebugs is a non-profit animal rescue organization that works with local Southern California shelters to lower the number of euthanized animals. For more information, check out their website.” ASPCA https://www.aspca.org/ Chosen by John Rogeles, Graphic Artist “I want to give back to the people who have given me so much through my dog.” Saint Francis Wolf Sanctuary https://saintfranciswolfsanctuary.org/ Chosen by Sheryl Marusic, Queen Of All Trades “This is a charity for wolves, who are dear to my heart. Saint Francis Wolf Sanctuary is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity in Montgomery, Texas, whose mission is to rescue and provide a loving, exceptional home to non-releasable wolves and wolfdogs, and to educate the public about these animals.”

We recently saw an update to the Mail and Calendar apps for Windows 10 go into testing with Insiders, bringing along fresh Fluent Design flourishes. That update now appears to be making its way to everyone on the release version of Windows 10. The refreshed design adds a cleaner look to both Mail and Calendar with some subtle changes. The most prominent effects on display are the Acrylic and Reveal effects found in the hamburger menu on the left. As you hover over each option, you'll now see a touch of light follow your mouse cursor, a hallmark of Microsoft's Fluent Design System. The light effect even casts slightly onto surrounding options, giving you a hint to the borders around each option. This update also brings a new "borderless" UI, which means the content extends to the very top of the app window. It's a pretty modern look that makes surrounding apps without a borderless window look dated by comparison. A closer look at Microsoft's updated Mail and Calendar apps with Fluent Design According to the release notes for the latest version, you'll have a new photo to use as an app background as well. Here's a look at what's new:

Palestinian terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip on Monday fired a major barrage of 10 test rockets out to sea from the ruins of a former Israeli village in the evacuated Gush Katif area, apparently in order to test range and accuracy, Israel’s Channel 2 News reported. It was unclear whether Hamas personnel or members of another group actually carried out the test firing, according to the report. While such experiments have been increasingly common since last summer’s Operation Protective Edge – itself meant to thwart such fire aimed at Israel – the latest volley is the greatest number fired in one salvo. Due to a tight IDF naval blockade on the coastal enclave, and Egyptian destruction of smuggling tunnels from Sinai, Palestinian terror groups are unable to smuggle in sufficient rocket supplies, and so produce their own explosives, which may also account for the numerous tests. About a month ago, a red alert was sounded in several towns in the western Negev bordering Gaza, when a rocket fired from Gaza exploded near a regional council, although the projectile caused no physical casualties or damage. The IDF, from land, sea, and air, contends that it can keep close electronic and visual tabs on the new tests and immediately detect any shooting carried out by the terror organization. “We’re aware of Hamas’ training, and the tests they perform with various rockets,” according to an official who spoke with Channel 2. In early December, army sources said Hamas had aggressively increased its rocket and mortar firing tests into the Mediterranean Sea, in preparation for more fighting with Israel. “We follow every movement of Hamas. The organization is trying to rebuild its status and condition after getting hit hard during Protective Edge,” a military source said at the time. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has said that the army and air force destroyed some 80 percent of Hamas’ arsenal of long-range M-75, mid-range Grad, and short-range Kassam rockets and mortars in the 51-day conflict. However, area council chief Haim Yellin slammed what he viewed as the government’s lax conduct in response to such test flights. “Anyone who thought the IDF’s deterrence over the ‘Gaza envelope’ was a recipe for quiet, does not understand that wars are not decided by politicians, but rather by the courage to bring peace and security,” Yellin said. “After Protective Edge, the State had an extraordinary opportunity to bring about a long-term arrangement,” he added. “Instead, we find ourselves with the clock ticking towards escalation and the next war.”

Facebook is well-known for home grown efforts in building its own data and IT infrastructures, but the social network is getting a little security help from a new friend. The world's largest social network has just announced a new partnership with IT security vendor ESET. The goal of the alliance is to prevent malicious links from populating user News Feeds and Facebook Messages. To achieve this, Facebook will be baking in ESET’s security software onto its platform. For end users, there might actually be a state of more heightened awareness. The ESET integration entails that if a device being used to access Facebook services starts behaving suspiciously with signs of possible malware infection, a message will appear offering an anti-malware scan. Users can opt to run the scan, see results, and disable the software. In the spirit of the Facebook Connect single sign-on protocol, users can do all of this without ever logging out of Facebook. Chetan Gowda, a software engineer on Facebook's Site Integrity team, explained further in a blog post on Wednesday that this approach makes security "seamless and easy to clean up an infected device." "With the potential to remain undetected on devices for months, malicious code can collect personal information and even spread to other computers in some cases," Gowda wrote. "Compounding the challenges for defense, most people lack basic anti-malware programs that could protect their devices or clean up infections more quickly." The method will be similar to integrations established with F-Secure and Trend Micro over the last few years -- both of which consisted of free versions of their respective products. In 2011, security software maker F-Secure launched a Facebook app called ShareSafe to protect Facebook users while also wooing them towards other F-Secure products. In 2013, Trend Micro focused on Facebook's most heavily followed revenue stream: mobile. "A larger number of providers increases the chances that malware will get caught and cleaned up, which will help people on Facebook keep their information more secure," Gowda asserted.

The Mariners and Indians have announced a deal that sends righty Shawn Armstrong to Seattle. Coming back in return is $500K in international bonus pool money, Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer tweets. Armstrong, 27, worked to a 4.38 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in his 24 2/3 MLB innings in the 2017 season. That said, he has averaged around 94 mph with his fastball in the majors and has a lifetime 11.3% swinging-strike rate in 43 1/3 total innings at the game’s highest level. There’s a broader minor-league sample to consider as well. Armstrong posted better numbers in 2017 at Triple-A, where he racked up 11.1 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9 over 29 1/3 frames of 3.07 ERA ball. And he had set down 152 batters on strikes in 98 2/3 innings at Triple-A across two prior campaigns.

Lower house approves ban on clothing that covers faces, including burqa and niqab, in official buildings, schools and hospitals The lower house of the Dutch parliament has approved a limited ban on “face-covering clothing”, including the burqa and niqab. The legislation, approved on Tuesday by a large majority in the 150-seat house of representatives, must be approved by the upper house of parliament before it can be signed into law. In a text to Associated Press, the anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders called the limited ban “a step in the right direction” and said he will push for the burqa to be outlawed entirely if his rightwing Freedom party wins the general election in March. Studies suggest that only a few hundred women in the Netherlands wear niqabs or full-face burqas, but successive governments have attempted to ban them, following the example of France and Belgium. The Dutch proposal, described by the government as “religion-neutral”, does not go as far as the complete bans introduced in those countries. It applies on public transport and in educational institutions, health institutions such as hospitals, and government buildings. In a debate last week that paved the way for the vote, the interior minister, Ronald Plasterk, acknowledged that the furore about the burqa had played a major role in the ban’s approval. But Plasterk, from the Labour party, said people should be allowed to appear in public with their faces covered if they wanted to, but in government buildings, schools and hospitals, it was essential to be able to look each other in the face. The maximum fine for breaching the ban, which also covers ski masks and full-face helmets, is just over €400 (£340).

Some big guys come through wearing normal clothes. They don't look like guards, they look like ordinary people, but the way they respond to Sumiko's orders gives them away as guards. They grab Hanako by the arms. She vainly struggles a little, reminding me of a cat that doesn't want to be picked up. She looks understandably betrayed and confused. The atmosphere in the room is tense and a scene that no one wanted to see is forming. Hanako: "B-but Kana Sama...w-why?! I didn't d-do anything wr-wrong! Please l-let me go! W-what's the meaning of th-this?! W-what did I do?!" Sumiko: "YOU DARE RAISE YOUR VOICE WITH ME?! THAT'S IT! BEAT HER!" Wow, I've never seen her this mad. It's frightening and blood freezing. She commands the guards to beat her, which even the guards are hesitant to perform. You can see it in the way the look at her then each other. Sumiko: "Do it...." Her hiss sounds like a viper. The guards reluctantly perform her task. One puts Hanako's hands behind her back, taking full responsibility of restraining her. The other gets in front, looking very uncomfortable with this. Sumiko gives him a glare, and he reaches back. He forms a fist and weakly throws it at Hanako's gut. She makes a sound mixed between a squeak and a shriek. It honestly looked soft as he was probably holding back. Sumiko: "Harder. Or you'll be beaten too." The guard punches Hanako's gut again. This time her noise was a mix between moan and grunt. He punches her again this time in her chest. She coughs and sobs at the same time. He pulls back his fist and launches it at Hanako. She makes a short shriek in pain followed by more sobbing coughing. Hanako: "Kana...Sama.....please..." She's weakly trying to convince her mom to give her mercy. Her tears a visibly being held back. Sumiko snaps her fingers, and the guard punches her, this time across her face. I catch a glimpse of her face. Her hair messy, and skin bloody, and a look of defeat in her eyes. He continues to repeatedly batter Hanako, each time she sobs and moans. A Blood curdling scene. Hanako: "Please...Sama.......mom" Sumiko gives a glare that could turn people into statues. She really seems to be angry at what Hanako said. Sumiko: "Oh, now you're lying too. You dare compare yourself to my daughter?! You dare?! Your are nothing! I would not have a pathetic, pill popping, piece of garbage as a daughter! Put her down!" The guards throw Hanako to the ground. Sumiko reaches into her pocket. She pulls out a button. The button. She presses it and points it at Hanako. Hanako gets into a fetal position and shrieks. Her sounds of anguish pierces our eardrums. It's painful just looking at it. She holds her head and continues her cries while she rolls around on the ground. This goes on for a few seconds as Hanako's body jerks around to the pain. The Sama finally releases the button and shows mercy as Hanako's tiredly lays there. Guards drag her exhausted body up her stairs. It's heartbreaking and nostalgic at the same time. Damn. The thought that Hanako's own mom did this makes my blood boil. That was her daughter, and her daughter was happier than ever. And she beat her infront of everyone. I want to say something, but she's angry. I've seen what she's capable of, even to her daughter, and it's not smart to say something. Also, she leaves before I can say anything, so even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to without running after her. I take a look at Misha. She has the same look I have. The one that says 'holy shit did you see what just happened'. Except hers has a little more guilt, as she in a way, got what she wished for in an exaggerated way. Misha: "W-why did she do that to poor Hanachan?" Hisao: "I'm just as confused...." Misha: "I wanted to go to the city, but not like this...." Hisao: "Yeah....and why did she suddenly decide you should go instead of Hanako?" Misha: "Is it because of what I said?" Hisao: "No. Nothing you said could make someone betray their daughter like that...." Misha: "Did you say daughter???" Hisao: "Uh...yeah. It's a story." Misha: "That explains a lot. But why did she suddenly do this?" Hisao: "I honestly have no idea." Misha: "Do you think.....we could...talk to her?" Hisao: "I dunno, she might give us the button." Misha: "But if we don't, we would be avoiding the truth out of fear. And that's cowardly." Hisao: "Well...alright. Let's both go." Misha and I make our way to the Sama's office. Hopefully, we can get some answers without any trouble. We get to her office and hear her conversation. Misha reaches for the door but I stop her. I want to hear the conversation. Sumiko: "Lock the doors to the 4th floor." Gaurds: "Alright ma'm." Sumiko: "Oh, and lock Hisao up there before too. I think he'll try to get her out of there. Send Misha off tonight." She's planning to get rid of me now. I'm not going back up there. No way in hell. I have to leave. Misha pulls me aside before I get too deep in my thoughts. Misha: "Hichan, What are you going to do?" Hisao: "I-I don't know." Misha: "You can't stay here." Hisao: "I know. I'm going to have to come with you." Misha: "They're sending me off. How are they not going to see you?" Hisao: "I'll have to leave now." Later: After quickly grabbing essentials from my room, I sprinted out of there. I ran towards the forest, hoping no one would spot me. I tried to remember the way back to the dome. Sure enough my memory is still good and I got on the familiar trail. I don't go to far though. Misha might want to see the Dome. It would be good for her in fact to take refuge. I wait an hour before heading back to see if Misha was in the forest. It was a vain attempt at first, but I eventually found her by the stream. She was with a couple of others. Shit. Change of plans. I need to get out of here. Those are likely Sama's guards to escort her. Thankfully, they're backs are turned. I try to sneak away, but something catches my attention. Misha is looking at a vision again. Her guards go to the stream too to see visions. I get closer, telling myself I'm only eavesdropping out of curiosity. That I'll leave to the Dome after I spy a little. I know it's shameful, but I've done it before. And frankly, I'm done trying to be good and decent. I can't see clearly in the vision, but I can make out there's a short haired girl on the roof. Misha: "Shichan, I wish you could hear me. I hope you don't suffer so much now that I'm gone. I should of have thought about you. What I did was selfish. I didn't mean to cause the person I love so much, so much grief. I-I regret what I did. I did what I did to get away from you....because I couldn't stand being just friends with you. But now I can't be friends or in love with you. I got what I wanted....." She looks real sad, I'm assuming she's trying not to cry which is why she doesn't finish the sentence. Wait, did she say love? I knew the two were always together, but love?

Senators Say Binding Arbitration Helps AT&T Dodge Accountability AT&T was a pioneer in using fine print to try and ban their customers from suing them via class action, instead forcing users into binding arbitration where corporations win more often than not. Despite the fact that many lower courts repeatedly declared such activity violated user rights and was "unconscionable," the Supreme Court narrowly ruled in AT&T's favor back in 2011, opening the flood gates for every corporation to do the same thing. So thanks in large part to AT&T lawyers, most companies now include some variant of this language, restricting your legal rights and forcing you to use a binding arbitration process where the arbitrator more often than not finds in favor of his or her corporate employer (tip: that's not you). This week AT&T took some heat from a handful of Senators claiming that AT&T uses this process to dodge accountability for bad behavior. In a letter sent to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson (pdf), Senators Al Franken, Richard Blumenthal, Ron Wyden, Patrick Leahy, and Edward Markey argued that the standard AT&T helped establish "strips consumers of the right to band together with other consumers to challenge a provider's widespread wrongdoing." "Forced arbitration provisions in telecommunications contracts erode Americans' ability to seek justice in the courts by forcing them into a privatized system that is inherently biased in favor of providers and which offers virtually no way to challenge a biased outcome," the senators wrote in a letter yesterday to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson. "Forced arbitration requires consumers to sign away their constitutional right to hold providers accountable in court just to access modern-day essentials like mobile phone, Internet, and pay-TV services." And while class action lawsuits certainly have their own problems, critics of binding arbitration say it's a "solution" that's actually worse than the problem it professes to cure. In this case, the Senators say they are "particularly concerned about AT&T's treatment of customer complaints alleging that the company charged a higher rate for services than initially offered in a deal or promotion." That's a problem that That's a problem that runs rampant in a sector that uses hidden fees to covertly jack up the advertised price post sale. And it's a problem that's not going to get much attention from the current administration, which has made removal of many consumer protections a top priority. News Jump Tuesday Morning Links Monday Morning Links TGI Friday Morning Links Thursday Morning Links Wednesday Morning Links Tuesday Morning Links Friday Morning Links Thursday Morning Links - Valentines Edition Wednesday Morning Links Tuesday Morning Links ---------------------- this week last week most discussed Most recommended from 13 comments IowaCowboy Iowa native Premium Member join:2010-10-16 Springfield, MA ARRIS SB6183 Netgear R8000 18 recommendations IowaCowboy Premium Member Arbitration agreements should be banned Arbitration agreements should be banned, especially in nursing home agreements. The nursing home industry is one of the sleaziest industries out there. Several of the facilities that my Grandmother was in during her final days makes Comcast, AT&T and Verizon look like ethical customer friendly companies. A bad picture on your TV or a no service indicator on your cell phone is different than the lethal bed sores that ended up killing my grandma. GroovyPhoenx Premium Member join:2006-05-22 Gloucester, ON 5 recommendations GroovyPhoenx Premium Member Arbitration "maybe" unfair?!?! ROFL! It's always been the case really. Arbitration was invented so that companies could profit from their mistakes and not have to pay out. To me, unless its signed in blood it should never be "arbitrated" unless BOTH parties agree to the moderator, and then get a TRULY independent arbitrator NOT someone picked by the company, it doesn't take a genius to figure out the company will pick the arbitrators that rule in their favor over someone who would protect the consumer. And the arbitrator knows who butters his bread so in turn unless they grow a conscious there is no way they will not side with the company period. Anon00144 @qwest.net 2 recommendations Anon00144 Anon Yup, it happened to me Yup, it happened to me. Canceled service. Everything good with you folks? Do I owe you anymore money? Thank you. Goodbye. Six months later they tell me that I owe them about $200. I say, check the call record. Can't do that. I try contacting their legal department. Nothing. Arguing for months. No progress. I do some research and find out this has been a pattern. Hundreds? Thousands? People getting screwed over. The exact same pattern. Yup, this is standard business practices for them. I contact the state attorney general and state communications board. I move forward to start a class action against them. I contact consumer-friendly lawyers. I have lots of long conversations. Perfect case for class action. Too bad we can't do. Binding Arbitration. Eventually I get a call from a collection agency. They say that they will settle if I pay 50%. I pay it because, you know. Anyhoo, I suggest waiting until the unpaid invoice goes to collections and you'll you pay half the amount.

Ironically, as Americans commemorate how Native Americans helped save the Pilgrims in 1621, Indian-rights activists are under attack today in defense of land that a 1868 treaty guaranteed as theirs, observes Nat Parry. By Nat Parry @natparry Making official a quintessential American tradition dating back to the 1621 feast between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe, President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 declared the last Thursday of November to be the national day of Thanksgiving – a vain attempt to unite the North and South at the height of the Civil War. Five years later, continuing a closely paralleled American tradition, the U.S. government signed the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, which established the Great Sioux Reservation west of the Missouri River and promised no more white settlement in a huge, 18-million acre swath of land. Over the next two decades, as Civil War Reconstruction was completed and a nationwide Thanksgiving date was finally agreed upon by Northern and Southern states, the U.S. continuously reneged on the Fort Laramie Treaty, eventually breaking the Great Sioux Reservation up into five smaller reservations: Cheyenne River Reservation, Lower Brule Indian Reservation, Rosebud Indian Reservation, Pine Ridge Reservation, and Standing Rock Reservation. More than a century later, in 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the government had illegally taken this land, and awarded $120.5 million to the Sioux Nation, based on the market value of the land in 1877, plus interest. For nearly four decades, however, the Lakota Sioux have refused to accept payment and instead continued to demand that the United States return the territory. Today, the Sioux people are continuing to take a stand on these principles – the flashpoint now being the Dakota Access Pipeline, which, upon its completion is expected to transport some 470,000 barrels of crude oil a day across several states. Sioux tribe members and their allies have protested this pipeline for months, raising concerns about the threat it poses to their water supply, the effects that the fracked oil will have on the climate, and the process by which the project was approved, saying that it failed to take into account Native rights. “We live with so many broken promises, there’s no reason for it,” said Dave Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. “We understand what lands we own, and what lands were illegally taken from us.” The government, of course, is responding the way it always has to Native American resistance – through brute force. Over the past few months, police and private security forces have viciously suppressed the water protectors, siccing dogs on them and arresting them for “trespassing.” The repression, which a group of United Nations experts called “excessive” and “increasingly militarized,” culminated Sunday night in some of worst violence against Native people seen since the 1973 siege of nearby Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Police fired tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray and water at hundreds of protesters in the subfreezing North Dakota weather late Sunday night and early Monday morning, following an attempt by protesters to remove burned vehicles blocking Backwater Bridge in order to enable emergency vehicles and local traffic to move freely. The police assault led to several reported cases of life-threatening hypothermia. “It is below freezing right now and the Morton County Sheriff’s Department is using a water cannon on our people – that is an excessive and potentially deadly use of force,” said activist Dallas Goldtooth. Every aspect of this appears to violate the letter and spirit of the 1868 Laramie Treaty, in which the federal government not only promised to respect Sioux land rights, but also to come to the aid of Native people if they are wronged by outside forces. “If bad men among the whites, or among other people subject to the authority of the United States, shall commit any wrong upon the person or property of the Indians, the United States will … proceed at once to cause the offender to be arrested and punished according to the laws of the United States, and also re-imburse the injured person for the loss sustained,” the treaty reads . At this time of Thanksgiving, it would only be appropriate for President Barack Obama to insist that the “bad men” who are committing wrongs “upon the person or property of the Indians” stand down immediately, as well as to halt the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline and reimburse the Sioux for losses already sustained. Then, perhaps, the shameful tradition of breaking treaties while giving thanks might itself be broken, and Americans might be able to enjoy their turkey dinners and family reunions without a cloud of hypocrisy hanging over their heads.

Cindy Crawford is officially saying goodbye to the modeling world. The legendary supermodel, who will turn 50 on Feb. 20, told United Airlines’ Rhapsody magazine that she plans to retire once she hits her sixth decade. The Brief Newsletter Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. View Sample Sign Up Now “I’m sure I’ll have my picture taken for 10 more years, but not as a model anymore,” Crawford says in the magazine’s February issue. “And that’s okay. I’ve done it. I’ve worked with all these incredible photographers.” “What else do I need to do? I can’t keep reinventing myself,” she added. “I shouldn’t have to keep proving myself. I don’t want to.” Crawford certainly can retire knowing she’s had a full career — and life. Aside from being one of the iconic supermodels of the ’90s, the 5-foot-9-inch beauty is also mother to two children — Kaia Jordan Gerber and Presely Walker Gerber, both models-on-the-rise in their own right — and is married to Rande Gerber. This article originally appeared on People.com Contact us at editors@time.com.

Twitter’s live video streaming app Periscope is out with a big update today adding a key promised feature. Periscope for iPhone version 1.1 now lets you find live streams around the world based on location using a new map view from the global tab. This lets you jump into streams going on around you or watch something interesting happening on the other side of the world. In addition to adding the new maps view, Periscope has been localized in 29 more languages: English, Japanese, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Korean, Russian, Turkish, Portuguese, Dutch, Indonesian, Simplified Chinese, Danish, Finnish, Polish, Norwegian, Swedish, Thai, Arabic, Czech, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Malay, Romanian, Traditional Chinese, Ukrainian, Vietnamese. Periscope 1.1 also allows you to instantly replay streams after they end. Previously, broadcasters had to wait for videos to upload to allow replays, a process that could cause issues on spotty cellular connections. Twitter has enabled the ability to tweet out broadcasts you’re watching to your followers in the latest version as well. Sharing was previously limited to your friends within Periscope so this should increase discoverability among your friends and followers. Periscope 1.1 for iPhone available now on the App Store. The live streaming app recently debuted on Android officially as well.

Social Media Information: BGN Facebook Page: BGN Twitter: Follow @BleedingGreen BGN Store: Buy a BGN T-shirt Manager: Brandon Lee Gowton Follow @BrandonGowton Click here to follow the entire BGN crew on Twitter. *Buy the Eagles Almanac 2014* PDF: $10 Paperback: $25 PRE-ORDER SPECIAL: $40 Let's get to the links... LeSean McCoy walking over to do interview with Michael Irvin, turned back to some fans and said, "I own Dallas." — Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) July 31, 2014 Eagles training camp practice notes, July 31: Cary Williams wins the day - Philly.com On one play early in practice, undrafted rookie free agent Kadron Boone caught a pass near the sideline, when he casually tried to step out of bounds. Williams came barreling in and de-cleated him. "I just wanted to send a message early," said Williams, "so that people know we're going to be out here and stay physical, be aggressive, and just play football. It's part of the game. We have pads on. I didn't hurt him. You have to expect that if a guy has a great angle on you in a game, that's what's going to happen." Practice Roundup – D Shows Up - Iggles Blitz Training Camp is always good news/bad news. The dynamic goes something like this…for the first few days, the QBs were looking really good. No INTs. But the defense was struggling. Now the defense looks good as they come up with INTs, but the QBs are struggling. Obviously that’s an oversimplification of things, but you get the general idea. On any given play, something good and bad is happening to the team. The key here is that you don’t want one side winning all the time. That’s when you’ve got a problem. When things go back and forth, you’re good to go. Brandon is kind of a fan of what he’s seen from Jordan Matthews. See if you agree with my assessment. Camp Notes: Irvin Talks Jordan Matthews - Birds 24/7 "He can be a combination of a few guys. You watch a big guy play the slot like a Marques Colston, he has that ability but he's faster than Marques Colston. So now he gets outside he can probably do more things than a Colston can do. I look at him as a combination of a lot of good receivers in this league with an ability to be great." Jordan Matthews WILL produce for Eagles in 2014 - The700Level If you ask me, you should totally buy into the hype on Jordan Mattews. There is nothing to dislike about the kid. Size, strength, speed, intelligence, work ethic, production—Matthews has it all. He even makes Mark Sanchez look good. That’s not to say Matthews is going to waltz right into a conversation as one of the NFL’s leading receivers, either. Could he become a focal point of the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense as a rookie, though? Absolutely. Ertz's improvement bolsters solid tight-end corps - Inquirer A betting man may be inclined to wager on the tight ends, specifically Zach Ertz, when trying to decipher who will benefit from the departures of wide receivers DeSean Jackson and Avant, who played 89 percent and 71 percent of the offense's plays, respectively, in 2013. "I'm so confident this year in my abilities," Ertz said this week. "Last year, I was a wide-eyed rookie. I wasn't even here for OTAs. It's a completely different situation. I have confidence in myself and I think the coaches do, as well." So just how many touches will LeSean McCoy get? - CBS When Darren Sproles was acquired by the Eagles, the immediate thought was that he'd supplant LeSean McCoy in many passing situations and be used for what he's done best over his career: catch passes and make plays. That would put a damper on McCoy's reception total, which was at 52 grabs last year (not a career-high). Sproles has averaged 77.3 catches per year over the last three seasons. But Eagles coach Chip Kelly told SiriusXM NFL Radio that there isn't a set number on McCoy for touches this season, suggesting that so long as McCoy can handle the workload, he'll use him. Patriots, Cowboys, Lions lead the list of best offensive lines - SI.com 10. Philadelphia Eagles -- Second-year right tackle Lane Johnson will miss the first four games of the 2014 season after violating the league's policies on performance-enhancing substances, and Johnson really could have used the work. He appeared overmatched for the most part in pass protection, though he improved as the season progressed. He'll most likely be replace by Allen Barbre in the short term. Left tackle Jason Peters didn't have his best season, but held up well in a scheme that tests linemen to their limits with zone concepts and wide splits. The superstar here is left guard Evan Mathis, who adapted perfectly to the complications inherent in Chip Kelly's offensive structures. Center Jason Kelce and right guard Todd Herremans filled out a line that stayed on the field all the way through the regular season and into the playoffs. If they can do that again, and can further integrate their talents into what Kelly does, this entire offense could be ridiculously good. Undervalued fantasy WRs - ESPN In$ider Before the 2013 season, DeSean Jackson had never posted more than 62 receptions, 1,156 receiving yards or nine touchdowns in a season. Chip Kelly's offense changed that, as Jackson posted new highs in receptions (82) and receiving yards (1,332) and tied for his single-season high in touchdowns (9) last year. That bodes well for Maclin to post career highs now that he is taking Jackson's place as the top vertical threat in the Philadelphia offense. Particularly telling for Maclin is that in the 2012 season he outpaced Jackson in nearly every vertical pass category. Maclin had a higher VYPA (14.8 for Maclin, 11.4 for Jackson) and SVYPA (17.8 for Maclin, 10.0 for Jackson) and did so on similar or higher target volumes (45 vertical/22 stretch-vertical targets for Maclin, 38 vertical/23 stretch-vertical targets for Jackson). Celebrity Wife Swap: Just let Plaxico Burress watch TV in peace - SB Nation Look at him. He's a man at peace. Why can't you leave him alone, TV producers?

Hank Aaron watches his 715th career home run leave the yard on April 8, 1974. (Photo: Herb Scharfman, Getty Images/Sports Imagery) Today is Hank Aaron Day. Or at least it should be. It was on this date, April 8, in 1974 that Aaron broke Babe Ruth's home run record. In a sport like baseball with so many historical moments, this is one of the most important. Aaron lived through months of tormenting letters filled with racist threats leading up to the record. So when he hit it, for him it was a sense of relief. For baseball, it was a turning point. Aaron began playing baseball in the Negro Leagues, just a few years after the MLB had desegregated. So Aaron breaking one of the most sacred of records became an extremely important accomplishment. In honor of Aaron's feat, we'll give our ranking for the top 5 most memorable home runs. No. 1 — Aaron's 715th Nobody was more famous or bigger than life in sports than Babe Ruth, and his 714 home runs was believed to be an unbreakable record until Aaron got close. Because time in history, it wasn't as significant an event as when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947, but it was a big moment. Aaron would go on to finish with 755 home runs in his career and was the career-leader for 31 years before Barry Bonds passed him. Still, because Bonds was suspected of using steroids during the run up to breaking Aaron's mark, many old-time baseball fans still consider Aaron the home run king. No. 2 — Bill Mazeroski to win Game 7 of the 1960 World Series for the Pittsburgh Pirates Major league baseball has played the World Series 111 times since 1903 and Mazeroski's blast in the bottom of the ninth inning against the New York Yankees is the only time a player ended a series in the ninth inning of Game 7 with a homer. It might also be the only time a home run got a player into the Hall of Fame. Mazeroski hit .260 lifetime with 138 homers. He had a 17-year career largely because he was one of the better fielding second basemen in the game. No. 3 — Babe Ruth's called shot The best part is that nobody really knows if Ruth actually called it. During the 1932 World Series between the New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs, Ruth was being heckled by Cubs players. During an at-bat, Ruth made a pointing gesture and on the next pitch, he hit a home run to centerfield. Ruth claimed he called the home run. Other accounts have him pointing to Cubs pitcher Charlie Root. Still others say he was pointing at the Cubs bench. While we'll never know for sure, it's still one of the great baseball moments. It was also the last postseason home run Ruth ever hit. No. 4 — "The Giants win the pennant" After trailing the Dodgers in the National League standings for most of the season, the New York Giants made a furious push at the end of the season to force a three-game playoff. In the third game, the Dodgers were leading 4-1 going into the bottom of the ninth inning. Alvin Dark and Don Mueller singled and Dark scored on a Whitney Lockman double, putting runners at second and third. Bobby Thompson then hit a home run that became known as the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" to give the Giants the win. As Thompson is rounding the bases, radio broadcaster Russ Hodges uttered his famous call "The Giants win the pennant, the Giants win the pennant, the Giants win the pennant". No. 5 — Mark McGwire hits 62 Yes, McGwire's feat of breaking Roger Maris' record for most home runs in a season is tainted because McGwire admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs. But the 1998 season, with McGwire and Sammy Sosa chasing Maris all season brought excitement to the baseball regular season with record-breaking attendance and TV ratings. This season and this chase seemed to be a peak for the sport. A large audience watched on TV as McGwire hit the homer against the Cubs and was congratulated by Cubs players all around the bases, then hugging the Maris family in the stands.

It has been suggested here by a local government official that cities need to spend money to make money. Will it work? "Don't know" was the answer, which is true. Public officials at the local level rarely, if ever, even bother to measure whether or not something is working before they proceed confidently to the next big thing. This mentality has infected local governments across the country, where gambling with other people's money is seen as good stewardship, particularly if it is being done in service of the "right thing to do". This often pits different factions of society into arguments over what the "right thing to do is"—is it another highway lane or perhaps a streetcar line or maybe a subsidy to a new business or an emissions reduction program—without any objective understanding of what is actually working or what the trajectory of the public balance sheet actually is. I've promised to describe how a local government can have growth without risk—can experience the upside of growth without the downside—and opt out of the gambling, Ponzi scheme approach. Before I do that, we need a common understanding of how to know whether or not a local government investment is "actually working". We've developed three short videos that explain how this would be done: REAL Return on Investment The first is called the REAL Return on Investment and it explains the difference, as measured by a local unit of government, between investing in economic activity and investing in a project that pays an actual return for the taxpayer.

Mourinho... in his own words: Read the FULL transcript from his Chelsea unveiling Jose Mourinho was paraded at Chelsea on Monday lunchtime after signing a four-year deal to return to Stamford Bridge. Here is the full transcript from his fascinating press conference... Look who's back: Jose Mourinho was paraded at Stamford Bridge on his return to Chelsea Scroll down for video We all remember your first press conference. Are you still a special one? ‘I’m the happy one. Time wise, it looks like it was a couple of days ago, but it was nine years ago. Since then, a lot of things have happened in my professional life and I have the same nature. I'm the same person. I have the same heart and the same kind of emotions related to my passion for football and my job. But I’m of course a different person. In this moment, if I have to describe myself, I describe myself as a very happy person. You know, it’s the first time I arrive in a club where I already love the club because, before, I was arriving and I had to do the emotional relation. I only came to love the club in time. This is a new feeling, arriving at a club where I love it already.’ You won five major trophies in three seasons here. Can you do better this time? ‘In football you never know, but I want to believe it’s possible. I always trust my work. In this case, I know many of the people that belong to the club, and I know the kind of mentality and ambition people have. My career was built and based on success, and I was able to reach success and to win trophies, and to leave different kinds of legacies. So I have to believe in that. That's a normal message I want to go with my players, which is work hard, work with quality. The club is much more important than ourselves. We are nobody compared to the club. Working well, success normally arrives.’ You fell out with Roman Abramovich. How did the relationship get patched up? ‘That’s not true, as a start. That’s not true. I read and I kept listening I was fired, I was sacked, we had a complete break of relationships. That was not true. Many people didn’t believe in that, but it was mutual agreement. At the time we thought it was best for both of us, me and the club. It was a sad moment. Of course it was a sad moment, but I don’t regret that decision. I went to Inter where I had probably the best moment of my career. After that I went to Madrid where we had, still, the record of the best team in Spanish history. For Chelsea, things went well too. After that, Chelsea was for the first time European champions. So it was a difficult decision at that time for both of us, but a decision made by mutual agreement. Only because there was never a break of a relation, it’s possible I’m here today. It wouldn’t be possible being here if we’d had real problems, no relations. I’m back because we feel we are in a moment of my professional life – and in the case of the owner also a moment of his career as an owner – where we are probably in the best moment of our careers, and ready to work together again and with much better conditions this time to succeed and have what this club wants: which is stability.’ ‘Ready to marry again,’ you said. What signs are there from Abramovich that love will be sweeter? ‘I think one of the points for me is that, and probably you are not so happy with that, is that my relation with the owner has to be private. What we discuss has to be private. Not just with him, also with the board. I think that privacy is crucial. The point is we all want the same. We are in the same direction. It’s a moment where I think maturity, very good feelings, the same perspective for the future of the club. My area is the sports area, the football area, but more and more you have to be deeply connected with other areas in the club. I think we have the same kind of vision. I’m more than happy to follow this philosophy that we want for the team, and I’m more than happy to be back. I’m very calm, very relaxed, but at the same time there’s something I want very clear: I didn’t choose for my career a comfortable position because I’m returning to a house where I was happy and successful and where the fans love me. No. I’m coming with exactly the opposite perspective. I have more responsibility because of that. The expectations are higher because people know what I can deliver. I want to give you that message. I know this club has a special fan base. We are a special club exactly because people never forget the professionals that gave the maximum for this club in the past. I want to be respected for what I did in the past for this club, but I want to be loved for what I can do from now. The club knows my mentality, my nature, and the fans can be sure I come here to give my best and to try and reach success.’ Have you been affected by what happened in Spain? ‘If I have to choose a nickname for this period, I’d choose ‘the happy one’ because I’m very happy. Time flies. I was two years at Inter, three years at Madrid, five years in a managerial career is a long, long time. Football is an industry that demands a lot from yourself, and you learn a lot every day. Back in 2000 when I was managing for the first time, I thought I knew everything. After 13 years, you realise you knew nothing and you have to learn every day. My adventure around Europe was fantastic for me. England, Italy and Spain, different cultures, mentalities, players, leagues, tactics, media, different everything. It was a fantastic period for me. At 50, I think I’m still very young as a manager and I think it was like the beginning of a new period. Do I have a different personality? For sure, no. But will I have a different approach and way of looking at things? Again, I repeat. I’m the same personality, same nature, but a different perspective.” It sounds like you are more mellow, calmer? ‘Calmer? I believe so. I believe so. You have to learn with experiences. Sometimes people speak about older people in a negative way. I didn't arrive yet there, but experience in life is something very, very important, especially if you visit in the right way. In football, I analyse myself every day as a manager, as a leader, as a member of a club. I try to learn and try to improve. So I'm the same, but nine years is a big difference. When I arrived here in 2004 you pushed me a lot in that first press conference to have a strong approach, and in this moment the situation is different. You know me. You know my history in the British game, and the European game, so I don't think I need that approach. I just want to be calm and to be working every day to do the best I can. I think I'm in the best moment of my career in terms of knowledge and experience. I feel very calm and comfortable. I'm just so sorry that pre-season doesn't start tomorrow.’ Do you enjoy this (the media conferences)? ‘I don't love this, but it's part of my job. I have to try and do it. I try to give what you want, but I can't always give you a good line. I try to be honest and try and give you what you're expecting from me at this moment. But what I really want to do is work. Many of the questions I believe you have for me will be based on this. So please let’s do it fast and let me go.’ Do you want more stability? ‘Yes, and now I'm prepared for that. Before I wasn't. I had always this kind of mentality. Today's June 10, Portuguese Day, a day of Portugal. I am Portuguese. I always love adventure, like Portuguese ones in the past. I was always a bit of a navigator, but I did always what I wanted to do. I needed a special family, which I have. They gave me the stability to go around Europe, to live in Italy, Spain, England, Portugal, to change, to pack, to change again, to do what I was doing as a professional. I wanted to do that in the three most important leagues and clubs. I wanted the experience. People who don't do that have other good things, but the culture in football is very important for a manager. I wanted to experience that. For seven or eight months, I wanted to go where I really like it very, very much. And I was in a position to say which one was the league, the club, the mentality I prefer. I can't say which press I prefer, but you're not the worst. Now it's up to me to show I deserve to be here for a long time. I have a contract for four years. I hope to go the last day of that contract. If the club then wants me to stay, I'll be more than happy.’ When did you decided to come back to Chelsea? ‘To Chelsea, not a long time ago. First of all I decided I was going to leave my previous club. That was the trigger. I had to make that decision. After that, it was a question of analysing the situation, the possibilities, and making a decision that was the best for my happiness. So when the Chelsea situation appeared really, and strongly: decision made.’ Some old faces in the dressing room you know well, do you want to add new ones in next few weeks? ‘No. Of course, there are still a few boys from my time, which is always good to go back and see these people who gave absolutely everything to me when I was here. But it's important to tell you – not them, because they know – that no privilege for them. They know my nature. They don't have an advantage in relation to the other people. After that, Chelsea did very well to get these young boys with great potential, great ability and a great future, and I look forward to trying to improve them. We have ambitions to add a couple of new players to improve the squad, increase the competitiveness, but my biggest job at the moment is the round improvement of the boys. Big potential. I have ambitions as a manager and as a leader to improve the boys. I'm more than happy to help them.’ Is it a new Premier League you return to? ‘I’m still a bit disappointed to be back and going to Old Trafford and Sir Alex isn’t there. As a manager, I’m a bit disappointed. But David has experience and protection by the club to do his job and do it well. Wenger is there and I’m happy he is. And the three boys – not boys any more, but when I say boys I say in the right way, with the right feeling – Brendan, Steven and Andre, I'm more than happy not to play against them – Chelsea plays against Liverpool, Tottenham and West Brom, but I'm more than happy to be in the same league as them and to wish them all the best. Pellegrini is also a manager with great experience, many years in the same league. It's the first time he moves here, but he has maturity and experience to do a good job. I look forward to what the Premier League is. I was, in the last three years, playing in a two-horse race. Now I move to a league where you lose more times, lose more points, but the competition is open. It's not just the two.’ It’s a four-year contract. Does that equal stability? ‘Of course we look for stability. I look, the club looks. I had desires for new challenges in the past, but in this moment I'm in a completely another direction. When you see the profile of the squad: if you want the best education for 22-25-year-old players, they need stability. The club is stable. It has a fantastic structure. I find a much better club in many areas, but they also need stability in football areas: game principles, [missed bit in here], and the only way to build success again is with stability. I know the personality and the profile of the other people, the Lampards, Terrys, Cechs who worked with me previously, and they have great quality in football terms. They are very important for the balance and the development of the younger players. We are pulling in the same direction, the owner, the board, me, and the players will be happy if we can give them that stability. It's what I need in this moment of my career.’ Which competition is the priority? ‘Chelsea have to focus in every competition. We cannot say this one is more important than another. Everything is important. By having, I think, 108 Champions League matches and so many consecutive seasons in Champions League competition, I learned that not just the details make the difference, but also that sometimes it's not when you're team is in the best moment that you win. Sometimes you win and you don't know really why you do, and sometimes you play well and you lose and don't know why. Champions League cannot be an obsession for me. I've won it twice, and would be happy to win it again, but Chelsea have won it too. So it's not an obsession. Let's work, with quality and work hard, and we'll be there fighting for that objective. One day it will happen. Sooner than later is better. The Premier League is different, a competition the best team wins. Let's try to be the best, but you know that another five teams also want to be the best.’ You had a high-profile fallout with Iker Casillas, what have you learnt from that experience? ‘What happened last season? I'm sorry, I play the players I think are the best for the team. Of course I want good relations with everybody, but the most important is having good relations with myself. As a manager, I have to be honest with myself. If I think somebody deserves to play, he has to play. If someone has big stature, profile and career, I cannot give him a privilege. It was simply a pure footballing decision. I decided for one player and not the other, and it's up for the players to accept it or not, and the media and supporters to accept it or not. But, as a manager, all my decisions are based on meritocracy. Is that an English word? I try to do it from the Portuguese. After that, I can sleep well.’ John Terry is captain, but he was sidelined by Benitez. What did you think of that? ‘One of my good qualities – I have some bad ones – is that I don't speak about a club when I leave it, and when I arrive at one I don't like to comment on what happened before me. For me, not one word about Benitez's decisions, either on John or another player. What I can say is about the future, and the future is to meet John in the first week of July, try to get the best out of him. I know what he can give. I try to get the best, let's try to make him again a very important player that he couldn't be last season. But Benitez's decisions are Benitez's decisions.’ You sound more humble. But will it be easier to win the title this season? ‘I'm humble. Sometimes it doesn't look like I am, but I am. In 2004, Arsenal were the power. They'd won the league without losing and were an absolutely fantastic team, and us and United were trying to go there. Now the picture is different. United are the champions. Man City were the champions before – they were not a team able to do that in my time here before. Now you have Arsenal and Tottenham coming up, Liverpool with Brendan will be there for sure. So this competition starts with everyone trying to finish top four, then top three which is better than top four, then to try and win it. We go step by step. The first objective will be top four. The second top three, then to be champions.’ Were your feelings hurt that you weren't offered a job by United or City? (Smiles) ‘I am where I want to be. I wouldn't change it for anything. Is this a better job than City or United? ‘It's my job. The job I want. It's a job I was offered and I accepted immediately.’ Andres Iniesta said you've damaged Spanish football? Do you have any regrets? ‘I damaged Spanish football by being the manager that broke Barcelona dominance. They were dominant, and dominant, and dominant, and it looked like a dominance without an end. Real Madrid won a cup final against Barcelona, Real Madrid won the Super Cup against Barcelona, Real Madrid won in Barcelona, and Real Madrid won the championship, which is the historic championship of 100 points and 121 goals. I hurt them, I hurt them. It was a fantastic time for me, reaching what I wanted to reach: the three domestic titles I didn't have in my career. We couldn't get the CL, which was our ambition, but it's very difficult to do that. You never know when you can do that. It was so difficult at Madrid: when I arrived they'd not even been to a quarter-final for six years, but we got into the semis. We couldn't win it. Other teams did. I'm happy Chelsea and Bayern did it. And I can say, with pride, that I managed a big club like Real.’ Did Roman make a mistake when you left? ‘We decided together. We had a fantastic period, made history, made Chelsea champions which was fantastic for the owner. He bought the club in 2003 and we were champions in 2004/05, so it was the best thing that could happen to a recent owner. The fans had been waiting for that for 50 years. For me, a young manager arriving in a football country like England, to win it in the first season was fantastic. We had a mutual decision, no regrets, so it was a fair decision for both.’ Arsene Wenger is only remaining manager from last time and you said you were pleased he is still here. But how close can Arsenal push you in title race? ‘I'm happy he's there, of course I am. It's because he wants to be and the club wants him to be. If the players and fans stick together, it's fantastic. By not winning a major trophy in the last years, it shows even better how connected they are. I'm more than happy with that. It's a great example for a football club. I'm more than happy.’ Paulo Ferreira gone. No Portuguese members of the side? ‘Paulo is finishing his contract. He's been here since 2004 and it's maybe time for him to think about something else. We'll see what happens. I'd not thought about that, but I don't think it's something I need to dwell on.’ Are you pleased to be here? ‘I’m happy to be back in this club, in this league and this city. I can control my emotions better now, whether that is in victory or in defeat.’ What are the futures of Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku? ‘First of all I want to meet them. I think it's fair that the players are the first ones to know about their future, and to know about their future by their manager, by their club, and not by the media. I'm not just speaking in relation to Kevin or Romelu. I'm speaking generally. I've had the chance to speak with some of them. Others I didn't. I need to speak with them, meet them, we need to feel and make a decision that's the best for me as a manager, the players, and most importantly for Chelsea. Chelsea are more important than me and the players. But, as you are Belgian and I don't want you to go home without a little answer, they are the type of players Chelsea have invested a lot into in the past, and it's my work to extract the best from those investments. Both of them are ready to come and be ready for my squad.’ What qualities have made Chelsea winners? What needs to be done to get back to winning major titles? ‘I think I came in two different periods. When I came, Chelsea needed that. Chelsea needed the last push in the direction of the trophies, in the direction of success. A new owner, big investment, the age of the players was perfect for that jump of quality, and I felt in my first approach that the squad and the club needed that direction. And I think we did it well by winning. Probably, I don't know as I'm not the best person to judge, even after my departure that base stayed in the club and probably helped them to reach more success in the future. If that happened, I'm more than happy. It's the job of the manager not just to focus on what you do when you're here, but on the legacy and contribution you leave for the future. This time I arrive and victory and silverware is nothing new in the club. The club is a Champions League winner. The club won the Premier League again after my time, won more FA Cups. The club was in the top and getting trophies. In this moment, it's a moment for a different approach. Not losing my nature, which is the nature of the club too – trying to win is not just my nature, but that of the club too – and Mr Abramovich too. I think we are all prepared for a different era with a different profile of team. As I was saying, I'm more than happy. My fingerprint has to be... a football team without the fingerprint of its manager is never a football team, even if it looks like it is. We want an identity even more present.’ Which areas need improvement? Attack, defence, bigger squad? ‘I have to start working with them. Even the players I've already worked with, the ones I think I know in every aspect, even these ones are not the same. Time changes people, changes players, changes qualities: improving some, losing others. Even that group of five or six boys from my time here, I need to meet them again. Imagine the others. I think I know them, because I watch them on tv maybe 20 times every season minimum, but I don't know them. I'll only know them when I meet them and work with them. That's the first part of the job. It's not to arrive here and say: “Mr Abramovich, members of the board, I need some money with a lot of zeros, I need to change half the team, move this one and buy this one.” We have 60 players because there are 20 new buys in the media already. No, I need to work with the players, not commit injustice, give them a chance, be fair with them. After that, we'll have time to make decisions. A couple of signings is normal, correct practice in every club.’ What are your weaknesses?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch on Tuesday pledged independence from President Donald Trump, bristled at his criticism of the judiciary and said not even the president is above the law amid Democratic concerns he would be beholden to the man who selected him. Answering questions from senators during a more than 11-hour session on the second day of his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Gorsuch said Trump never asked him to overturn the 1973 Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion nationwide, saying if the Republican president had done so, “I would have walked out the door.” Trump promised during last year’s presidential campaign to appoint an anti-abortion justice who would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, which many conservatives want reversed. If confirmed by the Senate as expected to fill a 13-month-old vacancy, Gorsuch would restore the nine-seat court's conservative majority at a time when Republicans control Congress and the White House. But the conservative federal appeals court judge from Colorado repeatedly said he was beyond politics. (GRAPHIC - Confirming Gorsuch: How it works tmsnrt.rs/2mB9WPR) “When I became a judge, they gave me a gavel not a rubber stamp,” Gorsuch said. “I am my own man,” he added. Trump has assailed the judiciary both as a candidate and since taking office on Jan. 20. He condemned federal judges who put on hold his two executive orders to ban the entry into the United States of people from several Muslim-majority countries, calling one a “so-called judge” and suggesting that blame for a future terrorist attack should go to the courts. “When anyone criticizes the honesty or integrity or the motives of a federal judge, well I find that disheartening, I find that demoralizing, because I know the truth,” Gorsuch said. When Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal asked if that included Trump, Gorsuch said, “Anyone is anyone.” Gorsuch previously made similar remarks in private to senators including Blumenthal, but Trump at the time accused Blumenthal of misrepresenting Gorsuch’s comments. Trump indicated in a speech on Tuesday night that his approach was unlikely to change. “The courts are not helping us, to be honest, it’s ridiculous. Somebody said I should not criticize judges, OK, I’ll criticize judges,” he said. MARATHON SESSION Gorsuch’s steady, measured performance during the marathon session, marked by a few moments of indignation under Democratic questioning, indicated he was on track for confirmation. Democrats probed Gorsuch on whether he would be willing to hold Trump accountable. Asked by Senator Patrick Leahy whether a president has the power to violate a law on surveillance of Americans, Gorsuch said, “Nobody is above the law in this country, and that includes the president of the United States.” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said if Trump resumes the use of waterboarding, a prohibited form of simulated drowning, on detainees, he “may get impeached.” Gorsuch said he would not speculate on whether Trump could be prosecuted if he authorized waterboarding, but repeated, “No man is above the law.” Republicans have praised Gorsuch, 49, as highly qualified for a lifetime appointment as a justice. Democrats, who have slim chances of blocking his nomination, have questioned his suitability, with some portraying him as favoring corporate interests and insufficiently independent from Trump. Chuck Grassley, the panel’s Republican chairman, asked Gorsuch “whether you’d have any trouble ruling against a president who appointed you.” “That’s a softball, Mr. Chairman,” Gorsuch said. “I have no difficulty ruling against or for any party, other than based on what the law and facts in the particular case require. And I’m heartened by the support I have received from people who recognize that there’s no such thing as a Republican judge or a Democratic judge. We just have judges in this country.” “I have offered no promises on how I’d rule in any case to anyone. And I don’t think it’s appropriate for a judge to do so, no matter who’s doing the asking,” Gorsuch added. U.S. Supreme Court nominee judge Neil Gorsuch testifies during the second day of his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts Gorsuch refused to offer his opinion of Trump’s travel ban, saying it was an ongoing case. When Leahy brought up a Republican lawmaker’s suggestion that Gorsuch would uphold Trump’s ban, the nominee said, “A lot of people say a lot of silly things” and that lawmaker “has no idea how I’d rule.” Gorsuch said rulings should be based on the law and not politics, adding, “A good judge doesn’t give a whit about politics or the political implications of his or her decision.” ANONYMOUS FINANCIAL BACKERS Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse pressed Gorsuch to call for the anonymous financial backers behind the Judicial Crisis Network conservative legal advocacy group’s $10 million campaign supporting his nomination to identify themselves, but the nominee refused, saying he would not engage in politics. But Gorsuch added, “Nobody speaks for me.” The seat Gorsuch was nominated to fill has been vacant since the February 2016 death of conservative justice Antonin Scalia. Some Democrats have said Republicans “stole” a Supreme Court seat last year when the Senate refused to consider former Democratic President Barack Obama’s nominee to replace Scalia, appellate judge Merrick Garland. Questioned by Leahy, Gorsuch called Garland an “outstanding judge,” but refused to answer whether Obama’s nominee had been treated fairly by Senate Republicans. Gorsuch said Supreme Court precedents deserve respect, even as he sidestepped answering whether he thought a series of contentious cases from the past had been decided correctly, including Roe v. Wade and cases on gun rights, political spending, religious rights and the ruling tipping the 2000 presidential election to Republican George W. Bush. Gorsuch did say that the issue of gay marriage, which the Supreme Court legalized in 2015, was “absolutely settled law.” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told reporters Gorsuch looked like “he’s playing dodge ball,” saying the nominee “has bent over backwards to avoid revealing anything.” Slideshow (14 Images) The confirmation hearing resumes on Wednesday morning and is scheduled to last through Thursday. Grassley has said the committee is likely to vote on Gorsuch’s nomination on April 3. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the full Senate would vote on confirming Gorsuch before lawmakers’ mid-April recess.

.- Racism is not going away. Catholics can’t pretend that it will just disappear, the chair of the U.S. bishops’ new anti-racism committee said on Monday. “The problems of racism are deep and widespread, and will take time to heal,” Bishop George Murry, S.J. of Youngstown, chair of the U.S. bishops’ new Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, told CNA on Monday. That doesn’t mean Catholics can simply do nothing, he said. “Racism has been around for a long time. The result of racism is discrimination,” he said. People of all ages and races “have been prevented from a number of opportunities,” he said, like “housing, schooling, job opportunities.” “Young people are understandably frustrated. We don’t do them a service by not talking about this, by hoping it’ll go away,” Murry said. “We need to turn to them and say instead of throwing rocks, instead of destroying buildings, and instead of setting cars on fire, let’s sit down and talk about what concrete steps can we take to overcome this problem.” “Sometimes a person will have problem, a physical problem, a psychological problem, and they ignore it. And they think that 'well, if I don’t do anything about it, it’ll eventually go away'. I think that’s what we have in many of the social situations in our country,” he said. Murry spoke with CNA at an Oct. 2 gathering of Christian leaders at the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The leaders, including Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, invoked King’s 1957 essay “Non-Violence and Social Justice” to call for a peaceful response to injustice in society. Murry explained that the bishops’ new anti-racism committee will promote human dignity, which he hoped would channel social frustrations towards peaceful solutions. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, announced the establishment of the committee in August after white supremacists and neo-Nazis rallied in Charlottesville, Va., and a 20 year-old man drove a car into the counter-protest killing one and injuring 19. The bishop members of the committee, Murry told CNA, are Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta, Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit, and Bishop Martin Holley of Memphis. Bishop consultants to the committee include Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago; Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore; Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice; and Bishop Joe Vasquez of Austin. Lay consultants to the committee will be announced later this week, Murry said. The Charlottesville violence came after months of heightened racial tensions in the United States, and demonstrations across the country. The committee was formed to respond to this developing social tension, the USCCB noted The committee will explore ways the Church can address the root causes of contemporary manifestations of racism, the conference said. The bishops will also hold public conversations about racism and race-related problems. The committee will collaborate with the Knights of Columbus to combat racism and violence, he added. The Knights, he said, “have been a consistent voice for racial equality since they were created.” The goal of collaboration is “to try to help people to experience a change of heart, and to recognize every human being is created in the image and likeness of God.” Although some protests in recent years turned violent – like riots in Baltimore in 2015 after the death of Freddie Gray – many demonstrations have been non-violent, and many parishes have worked admirably to address the problem of racism, Murry said. He pointed to St. Peter Claver Parish in West Baltimore, Md., St. Katharine Drexel Parish in Springfield, Ill., and Holy Trinity Parish in Dallas, Tex. as examples of Catholics “coming together to address these issues frankly and to find solutions in a non-violent way.”

TILLSONBURG, Ont. - Hundreds of people will be losing their jobs in Tillsonburg, Ont., after a major international company announced the closure of a factory manufacturing wind turbine blades. Siemens Wind Power Ltd. has announced the factory that employed 340 workers is not large enough to build the sorts of bigger turbine blades the company needs to stay competitive in an increasingly challenging market. Although the factory won't be fully closed until early 2018, the majority of staff will feel the effects right away Siemens says 206 staff are out of work effective immediately, with the rest being phased out over the rest of the year. The company says it will provide career counselling and job placement support for all employees. Siemens described the decision as a difficult one, but said the plant was simply not viable given drastic shifts in the demands and profitability of the industry.

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