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EU Referendum: the Express parodies itself 12/02/2015 Follow @eureferendum In what is a classic parody of itself, the This is based on the phrasing of a letter to "Tory backbenchers", where Mr Cameron says that, "The sooner I can deliver on our commitment of renegotiation and a referendum, the better" – essentially a reiteration of his comment in And on that slender basis – and solely on that basis - we get the front-page headline: "New plan for an early EU vote". The rest of the article is pure, distilled boilerplate, an example of the black art of fabricating a story out of absolutely nothing. This extends even to the point of publishing as weak a rebuttal as they can get away with, having: "Downing Street insiders deny there is any specific plan to hasten the referendum time table to ensure that the poll would be held next year". Worryingly, thought, they get a comment from Luke Stanley, of "the cross-party Eurosceptic campaign group" Get Britain Out saying: "Britain deserves a say on our continued membership of the European Union as soon as possible", then adding: "We all know Cameron's reform agenda is a joke, and we shouldn't have to wait around until December 2017 to hear how bad the punchline is". This does nothing more than demonstrate a disturbing lack of situational awareness, typical of certain quarters of the "eurosceptic" community, which seem to take great pride in keeping themselves ill-informed – almost parading their own ignorance as a badge of honour. The point, of course, is that Mr Cameron is the man who sold a non-existent treaty veto to the media. He can be expected to dress up a "renegotiation" deal in the very finest of Brussels taffeta, and with the prospect of a new treaty on the cards, there is every reason to believe that his offering will be, at the very least, plausible. And this is the trouble with much of our own side, who seem determined to obsess about irrelevant trivia, failing lamentably to keep their eyes on the ball, drifting into a contest which for which they will end up completely unprepared. With the comprehensive failure of the Business for Britain who still hold that we should wait to see what Mr Cameron comes up with before we decide to vote whether to stay in or leave. Should we do that - with the likes of the Express and others muddying the waters and Ukip (perhaps fortunately) having In what is a classic parody of itself, the Express has written a comedy script for its front page, announcing that the Prime Minister has "privately told Tory MPs" that he would be "delighted" to trigger an EU referendum earlier than the end of 2017.This is based on the phrasing of a letter to "Tory backbenchers", where Mr Cameron says that, "The sooner I can deliver on our commitment of renegotiation and a referendum, the better" – essentially a reiteration of his comment in early January on the Andrew Marr show.And on that slender basis – and solely on that basis - we get the front-page headline: "New plan for an early EU vote".The rest of the article is pure, distilled boilerplate, an example of the black art of fabricating a story out of absolutely nothing. This extends even to the point of publishing as weak a rebuttal as they can get away with, having: "Downing Street insiders deny there is any specific plan to hasten the referendum time table to ensure that the poll would be held next year".Worryingly, thought, they get a comment from Luke Stanley, of "the cross-party Eurosceptic campaign group"saying: "Britain deserves a say on our continued membership of the European Union as soon as possible", then adding: "We all know Cameron's reform agenda is a joke, and we shouldn't have to wait around until December 2017 to hear how bad the punchline is".This does nothing more than demonstrate a disturbing lack of situational awareness, typical of certain quarters of the "eurosceptic" community, which seem to take great pride in keeping themselves ill-informed – almost parading their own ignorance as a badge of honour.The point, of course, is that Mr Cameron is the man who sold a non-existent treaty veto to the media. He can be expected to dress up a "renegotiation" deal in the very finest of Brussels taffeta, and with the prospect of a new treaty on the cards, there is every reason to believe that his offering will be, at the very least, plausible.And this is the trouble with much of our own side, who seem determined to obsess about irrelevant trivia, failing lamentably to keep their eyes on the ball, drifting into a contest which for which they will end up completely unprepared.With the comprehensive failure of the media correctly to read the runes (sometimes, I think, deliberately), the media face of the eurosceptic argument is left to the charlatans ofwho still hold that we should wait to see what Mr Cameron comes up with before we decide to vote whether to stay in or leave.Should we do that - with the likes of theand others muddying the waters and Ukip (perhaps fortunately) having vacated the field – it would be too late to come up with a credible alternative. Fortunately, though, we are nearly there |
St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher said Monday that the New York Giants should "look themselves in the mirror" while they are complaining about the events that led to the brawl between the two teams during Sunday's game. "To buy into all of our friskiness or all this stuff that they're referring to, I think it would be good if they look themselves in the mirror," Fisher said. "They beat us physically in a number of instances, but I don't think we had a lot to do with those things on the sideline other than the attempt to break things up." Fisher went so far as to tell the St. Louis Post Dispatch he "would be very surprised if we had anybody that was fined" for their role in the brawl. So, let's review. The Rams, who apparently entered the game already unhappy with Beckham, took exception to his first-quarter end zone celebration and began trying to rough him up after the whistle. T.J. McDonald gets flagged for taunting Beckham out of bounds. Ogletree starts the brawl. William Hayes of St. Louis gets ejected, along with Damontre Moore and Preston Parker of the Giants. And Fisher expects no fines? What fantasy land is he living in? The Giants have been vocal in their thoughts about the Rams since the end of Sunday's game. The Post Dispatch offered this summary of comments from various Giants: After the game, several Giants were critical of the Rams' style of play, particularly as it applied to Beckham. "It was very dirty," defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul said. "They were going over and beyond when it came to Odell," Giants safety Antrel Rolle said, according to the New York Post. "I don't know if their plan was to bait him or hurt him or whatever it was. But we're going to protect him." The strongest words came from Giants linebacker Jameel McClain. "That dirty (stuff) don't make them tough," McClain said, according to NJ.com. "That is a dirty (bleep) organization. They suck as an organization." Fisher tried to say Beckham dragged Ogletree out of bounds by the face mask, a claim that watching the replay simply does not support. Fisher, incidentally, also thought Giants' placekicker Josh Brown should have been ejected for his kick of Cody Davis. |
Have you ever thought to yourself that you really love “Munchkin” but don’t think it has enough drinking for your tastes? If so, fear not, my friends, because “Drunk Quest” is for you!! This card game mixes the ease and fun of Munchkin but will harken back to your college days of binge drinking in a frat basement…wait okay scratch that last part. In any case, there is no way you will be walking away disappointed with this game…or actually walking if you play it right. So let’s sip our way into the rules, shall we? You can play “Drunk Quest” with 3-6 of your closest liquor imbibing friends. Game play generally takes 30-60 mins to play, depending on how “hard core” you play (but more on that in a minute). The basis of the game is that you have 1 hero card, 5 treasure cards, and 1 realm card. Your hero card gives you 2 types of abilities that you can use on your turn based on your class, whereas your realm card gives you a bonus based on the whole round. The treasure cards are, well, just like they sound, treasures that you can use to combat the monsters, gain permanent items (if you have them) or increase/decrease the drinking level of the encounter. On each player’s turn they can use their hero ability, draw cards, or put down a treasure card to boost/augment the monster being played. Once each player has had their turn, it returns back to the original player whose monster you are fighting. When this has happened you add up all the boosts to the monster’s level and any negatives that might have been played. This number will give you a total for how much you have to drink. It isn’t uncommon to have the number of drinks you have to take be over 20 (I want to say the highest I have personally taken was around 40 which is almost the equivalent of two beers..so yeah). Like I mentioned earlier, it is really easy to get really drunk while playing. If you want to use house rules for some things to save your livers and your stomachs, that is totally understandable. Overall, why should you play “Drunk Quest”? For one, if you have never played any sort of card game like this (ie. “Munchkin”) or have always wanted to dabble in RPGs, this is a great way to get started. The rules are really easy and by the end of the game you might not even remember not liking it..if you don’t, that is. So order the game here and check out the new expansion, “The 90 Proof Seas.” This is the card game your liver will hate you for…but I promise it is worth it. |
During our last article about Types of Graphic Designers, we saw that one of the fields that people recognize the most is packaging design. At the time of visiting the supermarket, we get bombarded by lots of different products of similar characteristics and prices, so one of the things that can influence in our decision is how attractive is a product being presented to us. What if a honey-based product is shown in a honeycomb-like package?, on this post we have gathered some of the most beautiful, functional and attractive examples of packaging design to help you find some inspiration for your next work, enjoy!. Related Posts Graphic Design resume examples Sometime ago we wrote a nice article about the graphic designer resume, best tips and… Brilliant graphic design work by Chela Marcela Sánchez or Chela as many people know her, is a graphic designer from Colombia… Photo Color Fix in Adobe Photoshop Hi guys, on today's videotutorial we're going to show you how to easily fix a… |
By Rob Moseley Editor, GoDucks.com Assessing where things stand for the Oregon football team entering the start of preseason camp Aug. 10. WIDE RECEIVER/TIGHT END Who's back: Like the running back spot, Oregon's receiving corps features talented headliners, backups who easily could be starters, and also intriguing newcomers champing at the bit to crack the rotation. Two years removed from rushing for over 1,000 yards, Byron Marshall enters his senior season on the watch list for the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's best receiver. He cracked the 1,000-yard mark to lead UO receivers last season, making a position switch in the absence of Bralon Addison, who is back healthy entering this fall. Also back is big junior Dwayne Stanford, an underrated target and physical blocker. The Ducks have two more experienced vets capable of starting in Devon Allen and Darren Carrington, though they're questions marks at the moment due to injury and possible suspension, respectively . At tight end, Pharaoh Brown also remains a major question mark as the season dawns, following the serious leg injury he suffered at Utah last season. Following the injury, Evan Baylis stepped up with 14 catches for 133 yards and a touchdown over the final five games of the year. Both he and Johnny Mundt worked to find the mix of both blocking and receiving that Brown brings at his best. At both tight end and receiver, there are also a bunch of hard-working practice players who will make the occasional cameo in games, including Zac Schuller, Chris Tewhill, Jeff Bieber, Casey Eugenio, Chayce Maday, Koa Ka'ai, Jake McCreath and Taylor Stinson. Their contributions Monday through Friday pay big dividends come Saturday. Who's new : Coming off his redshirt season, Jalen Brown brings arguably the most dependable hands on the roster into 2015. He was among the most consistent guys at the position in the spring, getting ample time with the first-string. Following in his footsteps was early enrollee Alex Ofodile, who spent spring beginning the adjustment to college. He was joined over the summer by dynamic classmates Kirk Merritt and Malik Lovette, just two more electric, versatile weapons for a UO offense packed with them. ESPN's take: Great shape: “Based on the Ducks' returning perimeter talent, the man who wins their quarterback job may be thrust into a "just don't screw it up" situation.” ROB'S TAKE Projected depth chart WR: Dwayne Stanford, Jr.; Jalen Brown, RFr.; Alex Ofodile, Fr.; Chris Tewhill, Jr.; Chayce Maday, RFr. WR: Byron Marshall, Sr.; Devon Allen, So.; Kirk Merritt, Fr.; Zac Schuller, Sr.; Casey Eugenio, RFr. WR: Bralon Addison, RJr.; Darren Carrington, So.; Malik Lovette, Fr.; Jeff Bieber, RFr. TE: Evan Baylis, Jr.; Johnny Mundt, Jr.; Pharaoh Brown, Sr.; Koa Ka'ai, Sr.; Jacob Breeland, Fr.; Jake McCreath, Jr.; Taylor Stinson, RFr. |
On the heels of calls by Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee to ban federal funding for NPR in the wake of Juan Williams' dismissal, I'd like to propose a ban on federal funding for Fox News. Yes, I know that my proposal is absurd on its face. Fox News doesn't receive any direct funding from the federal government. But neither does NPR. Yes, you read that right: NPR gets absolutely no direct federal funding. Zilch, nada, zippo. Despite that fact, Palin and Huckabee can try to hang their hat on this indirect source of federal funding: NPR receives dues payments from member stations. Collectively, those member stations have revenue of about one billion dollars, including roughly ninety million dollars from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which in turn receives federal funding. In all, these indirect sources account for about two percent of NPR's budget. And if they really want to stretch, in any given year NPR may receive competitive grants from entities which receive federal funding, but those grants are available to anyone who competes for them that account for perhaps four percent of NPR's budget. But the bottom-line is that NPR receives no direct federal funding. In other words, when Huckabee and Palin call for eliminating direct federal funding of NPR, they are howling at the moon. It makes as much sense as my proposal to ban federal funding for Fox News. Which, for the record, was a proposal made in jest. I really don't care if federal funding for Fox is banned. Because there isn't any. |
As we reported earlier this month, CBS are planning the release of a special feature-length edit of “The Best of Both Worlds” on Blu-Ray to coincide with the release of Season 3 of Star Trek: The Next Generation. We’ve got our hands on some high-resolution cover art for the special disc which features a stark image of Locutus of Borg locked in a soulless stare. The special release will come with its very own exclusive set of Borg-themed special features, including a featurette, all new audio commentary and gag reel. These features are set to be exclusive to this disc, and because of the feature-length nature of the edit, the audio commentary won’t be split over the Season 3 and 4 sets. We expect CBS to release a special trailer for the disc within the next month along with a fully detailed press release – so stay tuned for that all that information! Fans in the US & Canada should expect a release date of April 30 for this disc (the same day Season 3 is set to hit shelves). Fans in the UK can get their copy one day early, as Paramount Home Entertainment (UK) have nominated April 29 as their release date. UK fans can already pre-order their copy for the ridiculously cheap price of just £10.49 now at Amazon.co.uk! We’ll bring you pre-order information for the U.S. as soon as we get it. In the meantime, a few updates from Season 3. The latest cover art we’ve received presents a slightly different shade of green to the lemon yellow/lime green mockup we brought you last year. Here’s a higher resolution copy: The cover features images of Captain Picard, Geordi La Forge and Beverly Crusher (albeit from a Season 6 publicity shot by the looks of it, with her later-season hairstyle). The third season set contains another epic array of extras, with a wonderful array of new audio commentaries (including fan favorite episodes “Yesterday’s Enterprise” and “Sins of the Father“), the continuation of the ever-growing TNG documentary with another three-part bonanza entitled “Resistance is Futile”, a special tribute to Michael Piller, a brand new gag reel and of course the much anticipated “In the Writer’s Room” feature, showcasing Brannon Braga, Ronald D. Moore, René Echevarria and Naren Shankar geeking out for over an hour under the supervision of Trekkie extraordinaire Seth MacFarlane. UK fans can pre-order the set now at Amazon.co.uk, again for a delivery date of April 29. We’ll have all the latest developments, including official press releases from CBS, as and when they are issued! In the meantime, if you’re in the UK – lock in your pre-orders for Season 3 and “The Best of Both Worlds” below! Resistance is indeed Futile! |
Former anti-terror czar: 'Someone should have to pay' for Bush administration lies David Edwards and Muriel Kane Published: Friday June 6, 2008 | Print This Email This The Senate Intelligence Committee has released the long-delayed final phase of its report on prewar intelligence, highlighting the Bush administration's misuse of that intelligence to lead us into war in Iraq. Richard Clarke, former counterterrorism advisor to both the Clinton and Bush administrations, appeared on Countdown with Keith Olbermann to discuss the implications of the report. Clarke stated unequivocally that figures in the administration lied then and that Senator John McCain is not telling the truth now when he defends them. "Someone should have to pay in some way," Clarke emphasized. "I just don't think we can let these people back into polite society." "The report does not use the word 'lie,' Olbermann began. "Are there lies?" "There certainly are," Clarke replied. "This is a big report, but what it says is 'statements by the president were not substantiated by intelligence ... statements by the president were contradicted by available intelligence. In other words, they made things up ... that people in the intelligence community at the time knew were not true. ... To say that this is only something we could have known years later is just not true." "What are we to make now of Senator McCain's ... remarkable claim that every intel assessment of the time was screaming 'WMD'?" asked Olbermann. "Senator McCain's statements are contradicted by the facts, too," Clarke replied firmly. "He's also now justifying the intelligence statements of the president. ... We have the proof, four years too late, that those statements were flat out wrong." "Prominent Democrats said today that impeachment was not a remedy to this," Olbermann continued. "Is there some other kind of remedy?" "There may be some sort of truth and reconciliation commission process," Clarke said, referring to the system used in South Africa to expose and resolve the atrocities of the apartheid era. "If you come forward and admit that you were in error ... then you are forgiven. Otherwise, you are censured in some way." "I just don't think we can let these people back into polite society," continued Clarke, "and give them seats on university boards and corporate boards and just pretend that nothing ever happened, when there are 4000 American dead and 25,000 Americans grievously wounded. ... Someone should have to pay in some way for the decisions that they made to mislead the American people." Clarke concluded by pointing out that even former White House press secretary Scott McClellan is now expressing remorse for his role in the administration's deceptions. "He asked me to forgive him, and I think we do have to forgive people who ask for forgiveness," Clarke stated. "But first they have to admit they lied." This video is from MSNBC's Countdown, broadcast June 5, 2008. Download video |
Abrupt APTA resignation causes public transit stir With help from Jennifer Scholtes, Heather Caygle and Lauren Gardner IMPLOSION AT APTA: The public transit industry is reeling after news spread on Monday about the abrupt resignation of Michael Melaniphy, the American Public Transportation Association’s president and CEO. The announcement came just a couple weeks after New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced plans to dump APTA (and nix their $400,000 annual payment), laying out their criticisms in a seven-page breakup letter outlining the group’s shortcomings and criticizing the leadership team’s “deep divisions,” snubbing of legacy transit agencies, and expensive executive salaries, among other issues. Story Continued Below From inside the agency: Melaniphy, who’s had APTA’s top job since 2011, has reportedly experienced increasingly fraught relations with the organization’s executive committee over the years. A person knowledgeable about internal dynamics at APTA told POLITICO that Melaniphy had a difficult working relationship with the committee, particularly its chair, Valarie J. McCall. RailwayAge quoted a critic complaining about his “over-the-top showboating at conferences as well as excessive compensation, given APTA is a public-sector organization.” And several people with knowledge of the agency’s goings-on suggested that Melaniphy’s severance will be a number approximating his annual salary — a total that hovers around $900,000, according to the organization’s recent filings with the IRS. In a statement on Monday night, APTA Vice President Rosemary Sheridan declined to comment on Melaniphy’s severance or his relationship with the executive committee, but she said the criticisms raised by the MTA would not go ignored, and the organization was checking in on its other members. “The APTA Board and APTA staff leadership are very focused on showing the value of APTA membership to all of our members, including MTA. We are listening to our members’ concerns and are taking them very seriously,” she wrote. As for that damning letter April 8 letter, the concerns laid out by the MTA were wide-ranging, but excerpts offer a sense of APTA’s increasing difficulties balancing the interests of members in the public versus private sectors. The highlights: “To have no voting Executive Committee member from either a legacy property or from a commuter rail carrier is unconscionable. … Other organizations have emerged, providing the same services in a more effective and efficient manner. … Based upon APTA's lack of responsiveness over the past five years in addressing the serious issues outlined above, we have grave concerns that you will address any of them in a meaningful way if your contract is renewed for another five years.” TODAY’S THE DAY: The National Transportation Safety Board today will release new details about the cause of last year’s Washington Metro L’Enfant Plaza smoke incident, as well as recommendations on how to prevent similar incidents in the future. WAMU’s Martin Di Caro has some early details: The recommendations will go beyond WMATA and also extend to agencies including D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services, the D.C. mayor’s office and the Federal Transit Administration. Ill-equipped: “Among the recommendations, the NTSB will urge the District to address how its 911 call center unnecessarily delayed the response to the trapped train, sources said," Di Caro writes. "An on-scene emergency response professional also was not trained and failed to adequately integrate Metro personnel into the incident response, sources said. Moreover, the NTSB will reiterate its stance that the FTA is not equipped to handle direct safety oversight of WMATA.” IT’S TUESDAY: Good morning and thanks for tuning into POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on all things trains, planes, automobiles and ports. Just a reminder: T-minus five days 'til Mother's Day! Don't be like MT and leave your gift-purchasing or bouquet-ordering until the last minute. (Sorry, Mom!) Send tips: mpowers@politico.com or @martinepowers. “Fishing boats sail past the shore / No singing Mayday any more.” (h/t Maggie Chan) BUSINESS IS A-BOOMIN’: Airline profits increased more than 300 percent in 2015 — a jump from $7.5 billion for the nation's 25 scheduled passenger carriers in 2014 to $25.6 billion in 2015. As our Jennifer Scholtes writes, “of those airlines' net income last year, $6.8 billion came from fees for baggageand reservation changes. Fees for other items and services — like upgraded seating assignments and food sales — are reported to the department within airlines' overall totals rather than broken out like the other two ancillary fees.” Get more on the stats here — but as Jen points out, “these record profits come as the Justice Department investigates allegations that several major U.S. carriers have been colluding to keep ticket prices high.” What’s good for the goose: From A4A’s Vaughn Jennings: “Airlines are putting every dollar to work for customers, employees and investors. … Along with enhancing the customer experience and boosting staffing, airlines retired $8 billion of expensive debt in 2015 and returned $10.5 billion to shareholders through stock buybacks and dividends and offered domestic flyers the largest number of seats since the Great Recession.” Show me the money: The American Association of Airport Executives took the statistics as an opportunity to call on airlines to drop their opposition against increasing the cap on airport passenger facility charges — which has not been increased since 2000 — making the argument that airlines haven’t done their fair share to support investment and growth at the airports that serve their customers. “For far too long, policymakers have ignored the staggering disconnect from the airline industry,” said AAAE President and CEO Todd Hauptli, “which is all-too-happy to collect billions in airline-imposed fees destined for their bottom line but fights with all of its political might to oppose local fees that pay to build airport infrastructure and serve the traveling public.” PUTTING THOSE TAX DOLLARS TO GOOD USE: POLITICO’s Burgess Everett and Seung Min Kim have an update on the Senate’s progress so far this year, and the not-so-accurate claims that the upper chamber is working harder than ever. Though the Senate lauds the number of bills passed in recent months — the FAST Act and the FAA reauthorization bill among them — Seung Min and Burgess explain that the numbers don’t support this notion that the Senate’s current stop-at-nothing industriousness: “The chamber is on pace to work the fewest days in 60 years, the party continues to insist it won't act on President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nomination, and Republicans' ballyhooed strategy to shepherd all dozen spending bills through the chamber is in serious trouble,” they write. “The level of productivity isn't just about bragging rights: Senate Republicans are staking their push to maintain control of the chamber in November on a message that a do-nothing Senate is a thing of the past. Successfully prosecuting that case could become even more critical if Donald Trump, who many believe will be a drag on the GOP ticket, wins the nomination.” Now that’s what we call a grind: “But the GOP has opened itself to attack after criticizing Democrats for developing a shortened Monday through Thursday schedule that McConnell has largely preserved. ‘The first thing I need to do is to get the Senate back to normal. That means working more. I don't think we've had any votes on Friday in anybody's memory,’ McConnell said immediately after winning reelection and the Senate majority in November 2014. The Senate still comes in on Monday evening and leaves early Thursday afternoon in a typical week. There’s not been a single Friday vote this year.” PUTTING THE BRAKES ON RIDERS: The New York Times editorial board is weighing in on the 73-hour trucking rest rule that has sparked concerns about the THUD appropriations process. In an editorial published Monday, the Times called this and other budgetary riders “stealth attacks” and “dangerous amendments aimed at satisfying ideological causes and benefiting special interests.” “The rider bars the administration from reinstating the rule unless it can show that it produced a ‘statistically significant’ improvement in safety and driver health during the brief time it was in place. That is a ridiculously high burden to meet. If the provision becomes law, it will be impossible for the government to issue basic regulations to make sure companies are not putting dangerously tired drivers on the road.” NOT TO WORRY, SCHUMER SAYS: Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is insistent that the current plans to build new rail tunnels underneath the Hudson River won’t be — wait for it — derailed by political intervention, but infrastructure advocates in New York are wary. POLITICO New York’s Dana Rubinstein has a dispatch from a Monday breakfast where Schumer was asked point-blank whether the so-called Gateway project could get killed off by a single elected official, “such as Gov. [Chris] Christie did a few years ago.” No butts about it: “My guess is, if you looked inside him, he regrets that decision now, because he got walloped on it,” Schumer said, referring to Christie. “Politically, the person whose butt is most on the line on this is Christie, because if this tunnel isn't built and 300,000, 400,000 New Jerseyans can't get to work, except by ferry waiting on the long lines, this governor or any future governor will have a lot to pay.” (Christie’s flack responded that the previous project is "nothing like" the current one.) NORTON REMAINS CONCERNED ABOUT CSX DERAILMENT: D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton plans to meet with Federal Railroad Administration officials on Wednesday to talk about the freight derailment and hazardous material spill that occurred in northeast Washington on Sunday morning. “This derailment is a wakeup call that should teach us about preventing future hazmat rail car derailments,” Norton said in a statement, after she visited the site on Monday. “Although this derailment happened in an open-space area of the tracks, I am particularly concerned if such a derailment had occurred in a tunnel, such as the CSX Virginia Avenue tunnel, where construction continues.” Updates from the derailment site: According to the FRA, crews on Monday successfully re-railed all but one of the derailed cars; the last car will be removed by a truck trailer. Because of 750 gallons of sodium hydroxide leaked into the ground, crews will excavate soil at that site and lay down new tracks. “Customers with freight traveling through the area can expect delays between 8 and 24 hours,” the FRA said. IT'S NOT OVER 'TIL IT'S OVER … And now, it's over. Six days after the Pennsylvania primary and 1,000 votes short of a win, Art Halvorson finally conceded to House Transportation Chairman Bill Shuster on Monday night. THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ): — "Cruise Ship From Miami Docks in Havana, Ending Decades-Old Freeze." The New York Times. — Christopher Elliott, in HuffPo: “There’s no scenario under which blocking Norwegian would make the airline industry more competitive. Not one.” — "Metro late-night track work puts wide gap between trains." The Washington Post. — The Case of the Missing Storage Crates: "RFID tags help keep track of inventories across sprawling auto-parts supply chain." The Wall Street Journal. — "The Plan to 'Textalyze' Distracted Drivers' Phones Is Doomed. Wired. — In retrospect, maybe “Mobile Detonation Device” was an unfortunate name for an airborne Wi-Fi hotspot. The Daily Dot. THE COUNTDOWN: DOT appropriations run out in 152 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 74 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 190 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 1,614 days. |
I received my package yesterday (after some bungling by Canada Post). It was small, and light. About the size of 2-3 paperback books stacked. I shook it a little on the drive home and tried to guess what might lie inside. Since I had previous contact with my Secret Santa I had a vague idea of what might be inside. I had requested 'something Swiss' since I know he was in Switzerland. I figured he would send some chocolate or something. Boy was I wrong! Inside the box I was a ton of styrofoam packing peanuts. I dug through them and found the male-equivalent of a small pale blue box (Tiffany's... for the single men out there)! A small grey box! My secret Santa knew we were both techies so he sent me this super awesome Swiss Army knife! A regular Swiss Army knife would be sweet, but this is the Cyber Tool! It has stuff only a geek would love, like a miniature screw driver set and torx bits! Upon closer inspection, it appears to be genuine Valerian steel too! w00t! This will definitely be replacing the two small mini-tools in my computer bag! Well some Secret Santa! |
Why do we feel good about giving to charity when there is no direct benefit to ourselves, and feel bad about cheating the system? Mathematicians may have found an answer to the longstanding puzzle as to why we have evolved to cooperate. An international team of researchers, publishing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has found that altruism is favoured by random fluctuations in nature, offering an explanation to the mystery as to why this seemingly disadvantageous trait has evolved. The researchers, from the Universities of Bath, Manchester and Princeton (USA), developed a mathematical model to predict the path of evolution when altruistic “cooperators” live alongside “cheats” who use up resources but do not themselves contribute. Cooperators vs. cheats Humans are not the only organisms to cooperate with one another. The scientists used the example of Brewer’s yeast, which can produce an enzyme called invertase that breaks down complex sugars in the environment, creating more food for all. However, those that make this enzyme use energy that could instead have been used for reproduction, meaning that a mutant "cheating" strain that waits for others to do the hard work would be able to breed faster as a result. Darwinian evolution suggests that their ability to breed faster will allow the cheats (and their cheating offspring) to proliferate and eventually take over the whole population. This problem is common to all altruistic populations, raising the difficult question of how cooperation evolved. Dr Tim Rogers, Royal Society University Research Fellow at the University of Bath, said: “Scientists have been puzzled by this for a long time. One dominant theory was that we act more favourably towards genetic relatives than strangers, summed up by J. S. Haldane’s famous claim that he would jump into a river to save two brothers or eight cousins. “What we are lacking is an explanation of how these behaviours could have evolved in organisms as basic as yeast. Our research proposes a simple answer – it turns out that cooperation is favoured by chance." Cooperation favoured by chance The key insight is that the total size of population that can be supported depends on the proportion of cooperators: more cooperation means more food for all and a larger population. If, due to chance, there is a random increase in the number of cheats then there is not enough food to go around and total population size will decrease. Conversely, a random decrease in the number of cheats will allow the population to grow to a larger size, disproportionally benefitting the cooperators. In this way, the cooperators are favoured by chance, and are more likely to win in the long term. Dr George Constable, soon to join the University of Bath from Princeton, uses the analogy of flipping a coin, where heads wins £20 but tails loses £10: “Although the odds winning or losing are the same, winning is more good than losing is bad. Random fluctuations in cheat numbers are exploited by the cooperators, who benefit more then they lose out.” 88 per cent of mathematical sciences research from the University of Bath was judged to be internationally excellent by the in the recent independently-assessed Research Excellence Framework 2014. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you liked this article you may also be interested in: Scientists discover how two-tone cats get their patches Locusts interact with several neighbours to swarm together Research demonstrates how crows have water-cooler moments Bath Institute for Mathematical Innovation turns data into good decisions |
Mauro Ranallo lays supine in a white gown, on white sheets, in a white sterile room, and yet he feels the darkness creeping up on the edges of his face. His heart beats its way up his throat, as his heavy eyelids blink at the ceiling and he wonders if it is strong enough to hold him. The extreme tells his mind to slow down, to ease up and breathe, and a chill overwhelms him. The cursing echoes, thankfully, have been heard: “You’re a real son of a bitch, a coward, for taking the easy way out. How can you do that to your family?” And he pulls back from that brink, curls up and cries. Ranallo, the acclaimed Showtime boxing broadcaster whose lengthy career behind the mic includes MMA and now one of the prominent voices of WWE, as its lead “SmackDown” announcer, thought about killing himself many times, just like he did that terrible night in a Toronto hospital while pushing back his inner demons. He has visualized his death a number of times, seeing the passing funeral procession of cars and people paying tribute in a surreal celebration of who he was and what he had done. He has wept often during the war he’s waged and won not that long ago against an opponent he always sees though will never defeat – himself. “I never attempted suicide, but I have had suicidal thoughts. The biggest challenge is there are many days I feel like a fraud. I’ll be honest. Then I think I helped myself get to this point in my career. Everything I thought of came to fruition." Behind the booming voice that comes through your TV each time you watch Showtime Championship Boxing is a purity and honesty that is almost childlike. Ranallo is gritty, real and so full of fear that he is actually courageous for the way he keeps getting up. He suffers from an illness from which he does not hide. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Ranallo has not let that define nor deter him from fulfilling a dream and making the transition from being an MMA broadcaster to being “the voice” of some of the biggest fights in the last five years. The 45-year-old is also something else: an inspiration. “I think mental health issues have to be more and more prominent; that’s who I am,” Ranallo said. “I know there is a stigma, and we’re still not comfortable talking about it in our society. You even asked me if I was OK talking about it for this story. I’ve been very open about this for many, many years. I firmly believe that’s who I am and we’re still not comfortable with talking about it in society, but I want to be an advocate. I want to make it easier for people to talk about. I hope that one day we’re still alive when people don’t have to ask and there is no stigma attached to mental illness.” The Mayo Clinic defines bipolar disorder, formerly called manic depression, as a mental illness that “causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression). When you become depressed, you may feel sad or hopeless and lose interest or pleasure in most activities. When your mood shifts in the other direction, you may feel euphoric and full of energy. Mood shifts may occur only a few times a year or as often as several times a week. Although bipolar disorder is a disruptive, long-term condition, you can keep your moods in check by following a treatment plan. In most cases, bipolar disorder can be controlled with medications and psychological counseling (psychotherapy).” The mind is powerful, and when it races uncontrollably it becomes even more powerful. The fear is real. You become hypersensitive to everything, from the sound of a swirling dryer to the faint buzz of a machine. Everything irritates you, like a million tiny needles prickling your skin at once. Ranallo, a near-genius who can memorize a script at a glance, would often retreat into a different world. He would literally scream death threats at his family and threaten to kill himself. He says he would turn into “The Hulk.” It was out-of-control behavior, where he would go to his room and not come out for days. He would not eat or shower. Overnight, he would turn into a hobo. “I would go through these unbelievable mood swings,” Ranallo said. “I would come into the house with a smile and ask how everyone is doing and then close my bedroom door and suddenly, ‘I’m going to [expletive] kill you.’ It would scare everybody. I think every person on earth is impacted by mental health issues. People think it’s a label, an excuse. It’s not. It’s very real, but it can be dealt with and I’m living proof people can lead functional lives and be bipolar. I first heard the term ‘bipolar’ in 1989 when I was first diagnosed. I was sitting there at 19 and they called me crazy. I was like, ‘[Expletive] you, you’re crazy,’ I told the doctor. I’m not crazy. Then I started seeing things. I wasn’t getting out of bed. I wouldn’t shower. You see the patterns, and these things become apparent. Then you realize that there is something wrong with you. You let it take you over, and sometimes I did. “I never attempted suicide, but I have had suicidal thoughts,” he added. “The biggest challenge is there are many days I feel like a fraud. I’ll be honest. Then I think I helped myself get to this point in my career. Everything I thought of came to fruition. What I’m doing now is what I always thought I would do as a child. I still can’t look at myself and see positives. I will say that I like myself more now than I ever have. I have my alter ego with my closest friends. Thankfully, those who pay my bills love the way I am; my drama, my high energy level. I love who I am. I may be over the top, but this is my voice and if you’re committed and love what you do, you’ll live a good life. I do look back and shake my head, though, about how I even got here.” The beginning Ranallo is a bit of an anachronism. He was born in 1969, though one look at his background and it hints at someone produced from the 1920s. He was raised on a six-acre chicken farm on a dead-end street in Abbotsford, British Columbia. His parents, Elio and Duilia Ranallo, had left Italy for more opportunity in North America. Mauro’s passion for broadcasting came early, through listening to Vancouver Canucks’ hall of fame broadcaster Jim Robson and watching Saturday morning pro wrestling. However, Elio was old-school and hard-edged, and he could not comprehend his son’s craving. Mauro was expected to do what his father did. Go get your hands dirty, Elio urged. No, his oldest was more content sitting on the couch occupying his Saturdays by taking notes on wrestling matches. They clashed often, and it led to some tension. Mauro would steal away to his room, and his fertile imagination would take him to faraway places where he was the king of his small universe, playing the intrepid reporter with the ever-ready mic in hand. He remained persistent toward his path, though he was not exactly encouraged at home. At W.J. Mouat Secondary School, in Abbotsford, he was the school’s public address announcer and did all of the sports; and when Al Tomko’s “All-Star Wrestling” showed up at W.J. Mouat, there was Mauro, with his buddy, Michael Janzen, ribbing the veteran carny. “You could tell we were getting under Tomko’s skin a little,” Mauro said with a laugh. “Halfway through the show, Tomko asked if anyone ever used a microphone, because he had to do something backstage.” Ranallo jumped at the chance -- and did the rest of the show. “I did the ring announcing, and I noticed that Tomko’s not coming back,” Mauro said. “I knew who everybody was and I got into it. I started announcing their towns and weights. At the end of the show, everyone was raving that I did a fantastic job. Tomko was smiling ear-to-ear and told me, ‘Kid, I may have some work for you.’ He asked for my name and number, and I was like, ‘Wow!’ I was 16 in 1986. I wanted to get into the business, and this guy was giving me my chance.” Two weeks later, Tomko called W.J. Mouat looking for the teenaged Mauro for a television broadcast that had been viewed across Canada for over 30 years. That was it. That is what launched Mauro, the kid who once ran around a farm with a toilet paper roll interviewing chickens to play a bombastic, over-the-top character for three years, catapulting him to other stages. Something, though, was eating away at him, and he could not quite figure out what it was. Unfortunately, the darkness did not creep in until a personal tragedy forever altered him: the sudden death of Janzen, who died of a heart attack at 19. “We were inseparable, but he was more like a brother than a friend,” said Mauro, who still has a tough time talking about Janzen. “Every Sept. 27, which was Mike’s birthday, and every July 6, which is the day he died, I call his parents regardless of where I am. It hits me every time I talk about him. His whole family and I have forged a unique bond. They have, in a sense, adopted me. I can remember his father taking the time to visit me in the hospital. It could be five or 10 minutes, but he was always there, and he always made sure I was OK. “That’s what brought it out,” he added. “I was probably showing signs as a performer when I was a kid on TV. Everyone couldn’t believe that the same debilitatingly shy kid was this loud-mouthed, obnoxious wrestling character on TV who was screaming and yelling and yet had this vast vocabulary. I was literally on fire.” The signs began manifesting themselves then. “The unique part of my diagnosis, and a lot of mentally ill people with the label, it feeds your creativity, yet it takes away other things,” Mauro said. “It’s a gift at first, in its simplest forms. When my friend passed away, I grieved. You go through that process, and it was hard, because it’s the first time death had hit me so close, but it wouldn’t go away. That began the rollercoaster ride. I was deejaying at a night club, and I had a breakdown. My girlfriend at the time rushed me to the hospital, and they thought I was on drugs. My father thought I was on drugs, that I was partying too much and it was taking a toll on me. The ER doctor asked if I was drugged. We’re talking 1989, and that’s when they said I was manic depressive. I refused to believe it.” Still, the jobs came tumbling in: local radio, a TV weatherman assignment, news updates for local access TV. By 1999, Mauro’s brand landed him another super gig, as the commentator for Stu Hart’s Stampede Wrestling in Calgary, where he was paired with Allen James Coage (Bad News Brown in World Wrestling Entertainment). Every two weeks Mauro would do TV tapings and then fly back home, still trying to deal with his medical issues. “There was always that price to pay, that rollercoaster ride where I would do the tapings and take whatever it was out on my loved ones,” he said. “I got into radio again, and I still wasn’t committed to my meds; the anger would come out. I was falling, and I didn’t realize it.” That is when the bottom scraped another reef. On Sunday, July 13, 2003, Mauro had another breakdown. He was put on a plane from Calgary, and upon landing in British Columbia immediately rushed to the ER. It looked like his career was over. After arriving home, his mother was reluctant to bring up a message on the family answering machine from a man with an accent. The Ranallos wanted to relieve any additional stress on Mauro, but he had to know who it was. So he listened. “It killed me; it really killed me to hear it,” Mauro said, his voice trembling. The message was from the legendary Bas Rutten, who Mauro had met in 1999 while playing the announce team for a low-budget movie that was never released. Rutten and Mauro hit it off immediately, and Rutten liked his style and energy. He asked Mauro for his contact information, if anything else came up in the future, and Mauro thought very little of it -- until the day Rutten left the message that Pride Fighting Championships was looking for someone. Mauro collapsed to the floor in tears. “I was 33 years old and I was dead … I was dead. I wanted to commit suicide. I wanted to end my family’s pain. I wanted to end my own pain,” he said. “Forget it, that was it; it was the lowest I ever was in my life. The rollercoaster had to stop. I had great opportunities and my illness manifesting itself kept knocking me off the tracks. Everyone around me was so tired. No one knew what to do with me. I was sitting in a black hole that was expanding. I didn’t see a way out. I went back to the hospital, and thanks to Dr. Pieter Strauss, everything changed. He was the first psychiatrist I ever came across that treated me like a human being. I wasn’t a sample or someone to experiment on. Dr. Strauss literally saved my life. It was due to my connection with Dr. Strauss that I began to understand what I was dealing with. “I began reading everything I could get my hands on about bipolar behavior, and it opened up a whole new world for me,” Mauro added. “That was me; that was my story. I became the biggest student of bipolar behavior that anyone could imagine. I could be writing these books word-for-word.” It was Strauss who told Mauro about other creative people throughout history that may have had mental issues, like Leonardo da Vinci and John F. Kennedy. On Oct. 5, 2003, Mauro made his debut as the play-by-play announcer for Pride alongside Rutten. Just two weeks before getting on a plane to Japan, he was in a hospital staring at no future. The resurrection When they first met, Rutten was quickly taken by Mauro. So was Frank Shamrock. So is pretty much everyone that comes in contact with him. Though he is highly self-critical, Mauro has an innate ability to laugh at himself. That is what struck Rutten. “Mauro is a lot like a fighter,” he said. “Mauro doesn’t use a prompter. He can do anything off the top of his head. My job is easy. I’m talking about something I have been doing my whole life, and that’s fighting. The play-by-play guy has to know everything, and Mauro can lose his notes and he still knows everything; and he has this illness that he fights constantly. It’s why I say he’s one of the most courageous people I’ve ever met. “When we first met on the movie set, they gave us a six-page script,” Rutten added. “Mauro memorized it in minutes. They wanted us to do some ad-libs and were going to film the scene around what we said, which didn’t make any sense to me; but Mauro got it. We had everyone laughing by the end. I asked him for his number to see if we could work again. The thing with Mauro is once you meet him and talk to him, there’s no way you can’t not like him.” Rutten came across a few manic episodes while working with Mauro. He said he shoots off into “Mauro world.” One time in Japan around 2003, when Mauro forgot his medication, he was yelling at cars passing by. “We were on our way to lunch, and he began acting strange,” Rutten said. “Mauro began doing somersaults on the street for about 30 yards -- I’m not joking -- and he disappeared around the corner. The Pride people were nervous, wondering if Mauro was going to be OK, but the one thing with Mauro is he can be in a totally different world, but as soon as the lights go on, he’s brought right back. “I always had an ability to get into people’s heads when I was fighting,” he added. “I grabbed his face in my hands and told him to focus. He has a photographic memory, and he’s a talent that makes you feel very safe when you’re on the air with him. The lights go on, and Mauro goes on. We’re going to be doing podcasts together. People that listen will love him instantly. Everybody does when they know the real Mauro.” It was happening again, however. Mauro loved MMA. It introduced his style to a whole new audience. He got a chance to work with Rutten, who Mauro considers a dear friend. After Rutten left Pride, Mauro did not feel right. “I didn’t like the direction Pride was heading in terms of its American production,” Mauro said. “I saw the writing on the wall. I’m not in it for the fame or the fortune, but I didn’t need to be somewhere that I wasn’t happy. I love broadcasting. I know I shocked a lot of people when I left Pride, but at the same time, I began working at The Fight Network in Toronto.” The Fight Network’s dreams, however, were bigger than its capabilities. Mauro learned that quickly, so in 2009, he moved over to The Score, also a Toronto-based sports network, and hosted “The MMA Show” for two years. In 2012, Mauro was out there again job hunting, though on a health note, he had gone without a breakdown since July 2003. In the meantime, his relationship was blossoming with Shamrock, who goes back with Mauro to the inaugural Strikeforce event on Showtime. There, he fought Renzo Gracie on Feb. 10, 2007 at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Miss. During the talent meeting leading up to the event, Shamrock noticed a sullen figure in the corner of the interview room. “The broadcasters interview the talent -- and I distributed my storyline to Showtime -- and you interact with dumb and boring questions,” Shamrock said. “I was trying to spin a bunch of other stuff, and this guy asks me the most pointed question of anyone. I thought to myself, ‘Who is this guy [expletive] up my story and my presentation?’ I could tell he was very connected to the moment, unlike anyone else I ever met. Mauro cut through all of the smoke and mirrors that I wanted everyone to follow. He knew. He knew the truth.” Shamrock lost to Gracie by disqualification. Later in the evening, well after the event was over, he came across the shadowy figure again in the lobby of the hotel where those associated with the fight promotion were staying. “I couldn’t help myself. I started screaming, ‘You know Mauro, you know! No one [expletive] knew, but somehow, you knew!’” Shamrock said. “I screamed at him for a few minutes, and ironically, five months later, we were working together. I was doing a tryout for Showtime, we started working together and I fell in love with the guy. He’s totally nuts -- in a good way. He has to pull back on this thing that’s captured him. I recognized his honesty and talent. I thought he was a guy I wanted to be friends with. After about a year, I could tell no one was really helping him get past what his talent is worth. That’s when we struck up a business relationship.” Shamrock went on to become Mauro’s agent and moved him out to California, where they live about 15 minutes apart. The move had to be made after Mauro suffered another breakdown in October 2012 in Toronto. “I’ve seen him at his worst, and what I realized with Mauro ... because I know what happens, mental illness runs in my family. I had a brother who lived on the street,” Shamrock said. “I could tell Mauro was burning the candle on both ends. He needed to be cared for, and I stepped up and did that. I’m his friend. I wasn’t going to let him down. My biggest fear was that he wasn’t going to make it. “Rock bottom for him was flying to Canada, sitting with him holding his hand [and] telling him, ‘This has to change; we have to make a change.’ He had a tremendous amount of fear and hesitation,” he added. “It was the only step that he could make. When I fought, no one was going to stop me. Mauro is the same way. He has such intensity and commitment. I never in my entire life came across someone as talented as Mauro -- ever. What a waste it would be if we lost him.” Each morning, Mauro takes medication that agrees with him. He gives thanks to his Showtime boxing family -- David Dinkins, Gordon Hall, Stephen Espinoza, Al Bernstein, Paulie Malignaggi and Steve Farhood -- and his MMA family, Rutten and Shamrock. He continues battling the bipolar paralysis that sometimes grips him. “They stayed with me and supported me through the good times and the bad,” Mauro said. “All of us have some kind of mental health issue, but there is a huge difference from having a bad day and being clinically depressed. You can’t move. You’re stuck in bed. You don’t want to eat. You don’t shower. You turn into a real bum. People see me and think I’m living the life, but I am sick. I have to take my pills when I’m at my sickest. I would not wish on my worst enemy what we go through at our lowest points.” And the highest point? On a Saturday night in May, Shamrock sat down on his living room couch to watch the biggest combat sports event in history -- the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao boxing match on May 2. The first thing he heard was Mauro, and a tear streaked down his face. “I cried when I heard him do the opening voiceover that night for Mayweather-Pacquiao. It’s the pride you get when your child is doing what he always wanted,” Shamrock said. “It’s probably why it instantly overwhelmed me. The more you get to know Mauro, the more you hang around him, the more you know what’s behind that voice, his voice, and what it took to arrive there at the top. There is such realness there that hasn’t been crushed. There’s something beautiful about that. It’s why he’s just a beautiful human being.” Joseph Santoliquito is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. This article first appeared on Sherdog.com. It is reprinted with permission. |
Nonprofits in Southeast, Thumb regions of state contribute $17.8 billion in annual impact New Independent Sector study finds nonprofits in those areas employ more than 240,000 Detroit data is first of national economic study focused on key congressional districts due next year The nonprofit sector in Southeast Michigan and the state's Thumb area contributes about $17.8 billion in economic activity annually, according to new economic data released Thursday morning by Washington, D.C.-based Independent Sector. It's the first data from a national study due out next year. Independent Sector released the the data, collected with assistance from North Carolina-based Implan Group, during its annual conference jointly hosted with the Michigan Nonprofit Association and the Council of Michigan Foundations taking place in Detroit through Friday. According to the study, there are 3,500 501(c)(3) nonprofits in six congressional districts across the region. They employ more than 240,000 people, according to the report, the first part of a national study Independent Sector plans to release next year on the nonprofit sector's economic impact across the country. Recognized as tax exempt by the Internal Revenue Service, 501(c)3 nonprofits include public charities, private foundations or private operating foundations. Charities with the designation are created for a range of purposes, including religious, educational, charitable, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering of national or international amateur sports and prevention of cruelty to animals and children. The metro Detroit numbers released as part of the study include congressional districts 9-14, an area covering parts of Wayne (including Detroit), Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties and all of Huron, Lapeer, St. Clair and Sanilac counties in the state's Thumb area. Nonprofits in congressional district 9, which covers much of Detroit, account for 30,403 of the sector's jobs in those six districts, according to the study. But district 14, which includes an eastern part of Detroit plus Grosse Pointe, Harper Woods, Hamtramck, Farmington Hills, West Bloomfield and Pontiac, has more than any other congressional district, with 65,171 nonprofit jobs, according to the newly released data. The economic impact figures include employee compensation, proprietor income, tax on production and imports, payroll taxes and the value of volunteer time. The total tax revenue generated by charitable nonprofits in those congressional districts each year is an estimated $947.7 million for the state and nearly $3.1 billion for the federal government, Independent Sector said. "This data is proof that charitable organizations make a powerful and substantial economic contribution to their communities,"Independent Sector President and CEO Daniel Cardinali said in a release. Understanding and using the data "is absolutely critical to the social sector making its case to policymakers, donors and the public," he said. Independent Sector is a national organization with nonprofits, foundations and corporations among its members, working to advance the common good. |
In addition to voting for President yesterday, Massachusetts residents overwhelmingly approved Question 3, implementing one of the country’s most comprehensive legal protections for farm animals. The state law requires that hens, pigs and calves raised in Massachusetts have room to turn around and extend their legs or wings. It also requires that pork, egg and veal products sold in the state come from farms that meet this welfare standard. The significant legal victory represents more than a year’s worth of work by a coalition that included the ASPCA, the Humane Society of the United States, the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and other animal welfare, food safety and worker’s rights groups. It was also endorsed by hundreds of Massachusetts farmers, veterinarians, businesses, local celebrities, and lawmakers. Thousands of dedicated Bay State citizens also contributed countless hours to gather signatures and make direct appeals for the campaign. This broad commitment is a striking illustration of society’s contemporary concern for the welfare of animals raised for food, and research confirms this interest. In a recent ASPCA poll, approximately three-quarters of consumers surveyed were concerned about the welfare of animals raised for food and are paying more attention than they were five years ago to food labels indicating how those animals were raised. The survey also revealed that 67 percent of consumers were likely to buy meat, eggs and dairy products bearing a welfare certification label with meaningful standards – even if it meant paying a higher price for those products – and 75 percent would like stores to carry a greater variety of welfare-certified meat, eggs, and dairy. What’s truly gratifying is that this wave of support is moving major food industries to do the right thing. In the past year alone, over 100 companies ― including the largest grocery retailer in the U.S. ― have pledged to convert their egg suppliers to cage-free systems. Companies are also addressing the unique suffering of broiler chickens, and adopting more meaningful welfare certifications including “Animal Welfare Approved,” “Certified Humane,” and “Global Animal Partnership” (Step 2 and above). The general public is also demanding more respect and better conditions for farm animals, advocating passionately for more humane laws and opposing dangerous and misleading “ag-gag” and “Right to Farm” amendments. You can add your own voice to this vital chorus and stay current on your own state’s farm animal legislation by signing up for our advocacy brigade. Consumers can make a difference with their purchasing power at the grocery store. The array of tools in our “Shop with Your Heart” campaign can show you what labels and products to look for, where to find them, and how to influence your supermarkets and grocery stores to carry those items. More and more, welfare-certified meat, eggs, dairy and plant-based alternatives are becoming accessible to all. In voting “Yes” on Question 3, Massachusetts voters joined farmers, veterinarians, advocates, consumers, and many major industries in declaring that cruel farm animal confinement is barbaric and at odds with contemporary values. The victory is meaningful for all of the animals whose lives it will improve, but also for what it represents: that the public’s will to protect animals from suffering is stronger than ever. |
Steven Soderbergh is continuing ties with HBO with a never-before-seen sort of project, Variety has learned. The mastermind director behind “The Knick,” “Traffic,” “Magic Mike” and the “Ocean’s Eleven” franchise is bringing an entirely new movie project to TV, titled “Mosaic,” in which the audience has a say in the storyline. Insiders tell Variety that Sharon Stone is set to star, and Garrett Hedlund is being eyed for the cast as well. Though plot details are under wraps and no details are being confirmed, “Mosaic” is described as a “choose your own adventure” project, which is highly interactive with the audience. The script will encompass multiple scenarios and the production will shoot many variations, filming multiple iterations of material so that viewers have the option of seeing the story play out in different ways, possibly via an app. In the vein of “Clue,” there will be different outcomes — and viewers can watch different scenes of their choosing to see what happens next. “I believe the good people at HBO are genuinely enthusiastic about ‘Mosaic’ for two reasons: first, it represents a fresh way of experiencing a story and sharing that experience with others; second, it will require a new Emmy category, and we will be the only eligible nominee,” Soderbergh said in a statement. In addition to “Mosaic,” Soderbergh is knee-deep in TV as of late, with “The Knick” entering its second season this fall on HBO, plus Amazon’s coming-of-age ’80s comedy “Red Oaks” and the upcoming Starz adaptation of “The Girlfriend Experience,” starring Riley Keough. Soderbergh has long been a fan of filmmaking experiments: his 2006 feature “Bubble” was one of the first films ever to debut simultaneously in theaters and on cable TV through Magnolia and HDNet. |
The president’s new tax bill jettisons his old proposals to boost domestic production. It's Official: How the Koch Brothers Killed Trump’s Job Plan This post originally appeared at Alternet. As the 100-day mark of Donald Trump’s embattled presidency approaches, it’s official: the self-proclaimed champion of America’s forgotten workers has no jobs plan. In announcing his new tax plan, President Trump quietly abandoned his biggest legislative initiative aimed at creating American jobs, and postponed again his ambitious but vague trillion-dollar infrastructure jobs program. Trump’s problem is translating his rhetoric into reality. While most news organizations are focusing on Trump’s proposed tax cuts, the bigger story may be Trump’s disappearing jobs agenda. While Trump’s presidency is deeply unpopular, his focus on American jobs is the rare issue where he commands wide support. One recent poll found 73 percent of respondents approved of his performance on jobs. Trump’s problem is translating his rhetoric into reality. Just two months ago, Trump endorsed a “border adjustment tax” designed to favor domestic manufacturers and thus create American jobs. “I certainly support a form of tax on the border,” the president told Reuters. “What is going to happen is companies are going to come back here, they’re going to build their factories and they’re going to create a lot of jobs and there’s no tax.” Trump also hinted he would send Congress legislation enacting a trillion-dollar infrastructure jobs program. Another right-wing rebellion on Capitol Hill suffocated his plans. The border adjustment tax (BAT) was opposed by the Koch brothers’ conservative advocacy network and the domestic retail industry, led by Walmart and other firms that sell imported goods. With no interest in or understanding of the legislation, and a nonexistent congressional relations operation, Trump had no ability to secure approval of the idea. Eight weeks ago, I asked, “Who Wins? Trump vs. Koch Brothers on Jobs.” Three weeks ago, I suggested Trump was facing humiliation. Official Failure Today, the Koch brothers’ victory is complete, and Trump’s failure is official. Facing certain defeat on the BAT, Trump abandoned his attempt to create American jobs. About Trump’s new proposal, The New York Times notes: As of late Tuesday, the plan did not include Mr. Trump’s promised $1 trillion infrastructure program, two of the people said, and it jettisoned a House Republican proposal to impose a substantial tax on imports, known as a border adjustment tax, which would have raised billions of dollars to help offset the cost of the [tax] cuts. Trump got rolled by the combined lobbying machine of the Koch brothers and the retail industry. What happened? Trump got rolled by the combined lobbying machine of the Koch brothers and the retail industry. Americans for Prosperity, the Kochs’ political action organization, ran TV ads denouncing the BAT as a $1.2 trillion tax increase on seniors and the working poor. Another Koch-funded group defined the measure as a tax increase on millennials. The head of the Retail Industry Leaders Association declared, “The border adjustment tax is harmful, untested and would put American retail jobs at risk and force consumers to pay as much as 20 percent more for family essentials.” Against this Washington juggernaut, the disorganized and disengaged president didn’t stand a chance. As The Times more gently put it, “Mr. Trump acceded to pressure from retailers and conservative advocacy groups.” Other Priorities Trump’s retreat clarifies his governing priorities. During the 2016 campaign, candidate Trump promised to pass a massive jobs program in his first 100 days. In office, President Trump put repeal of Obamacare first. That failed. He pivoted to tax reform designed to stimulate job creation. That too has failed. “The border adjustment tax may be revisited later, but was considered too controversial to include now,” The Times reported. The story of the day is Trump’s proposal for tax cuts that will increase the deficit. The story behind the story: After 100 days, Trump has not only failed to pass a program to create American jobs, he has failed to offer one. |
Christian culture, along with the spiritual leaders, churches, institutions, communities, and other entities it consists of, are supposed to make our faith stronger. But in many cases the opposite happens, and it actually causes our faith to die. In religious environments often surrounded by cynicism, hypocrisy, hurtfulness, and disappointment, it’s easy to give up on Christianity. Here’s how to prevent spiritual burnout: 1) Avoid Legalism Historically, Christianity has always struggled with legalism, where churches often forced beliefs and practices on people with domineering power. Legalistic groups thrive on strict rules, ruthlessness, enforced doctrines, and authoritarian judgment. Various agendas — that are valued more than the loving gospel of Christ — are promoted and pushed onto people. And it wasn’t that long ago (in fact, it still exists) that American believers were expected to be anti-gay, conservative, pro-choice, anti-evolution fundamentalists. If fear, condemnation, and shame are used as spiritual weapons to gain power, influence, and control — run! 2) Embrace Discovery Christianity is a lifelong journey of learning. Are we really expected to know everything there is to know about God by the time we’re in high school, or college, or by the time we become adults (whenever that is), or grandparents? Your beliefs and theology should change, and when they do, that’s OK. Life experiences, new information, and changing relationships (along with hundreds of other factors) are constantly shaping our faith and forcing us to ask new questions, look at old ideas differently, and inspiring us to mature in our spirituality. God created us to discover. When religious leaders promote certainty, refuse to allow questioning, and shame those who experience doubt, they are being unbiblical. So go meet new people, travel, learn from different cultures, listen to new worship, read the latest books, educate yourself, and stay relevant. Jesus was constantly challenging the Pharisees (who confidently thought they knew everything) and rebuking those who were the most certain about their beliefs. He used parables and teachings to help people — including his disciples — to think in completely new and different ways. Be open to the idea that Jesus might also cause you to rethink your presuppositions. 3) Expect Change Discovery lends itself to change. New doesn’t automatically mean better, and it’s not always right to make changes, but don’t expect to remain safely entombed within a Christian “bubble” for the rest of your life. The changes will be big and small, both good and bad — but they are inevitable. Yes, there will come a day when your favorite pastor retires, your preferred worship band moves on, the service times get moved, the church building is remodeled, and the youth pastor starts promoting radical new ideas. The Christian faith isn’t static. It’s a journey, a Pilgrim’s Progress, so expect change — and don’t freak out when it happens. 4) Join a Community People often abandon their faith because they feel alone, rejected, ignored, or simply out of place. Oftentimes, they find acceptance — and a more loving community — somewhere else, outside of Christianity. Fostering community isn’t easy, and it doesn’t just happen. Community demands vulnerability, time, energy, relational commitment, emotional investment, and risk. Conflict will occur — but it’s worth it. If you aren’t experiencing spiritual community on an intimate level, find it (or work on it) as soon as possible! 5) Have Fun There’s a season for everything, and while our faith is often full of serious and deep moments, it’s also meant to be freeing and uplifting. If you associate Christianity with sadness, depression, guilt, boredom, and mundane routine — something’s wrong. Obviously, Christianity isn’t all fun and games, and it shouldn’t be used as a source of superficial distractions meant to fill us with constant cheer and laughter — but you should occasionally have fun. Christians often associate the term ‘holiness’ with liturgical communions, ornamental ceremonies, reverent sermons, and prayer meetings. We assume God doesn’t exist outside of certain religious venues. But God iseverywhere, and God’s glory can be experienced anywhere: while we’re hanging out with friends, playing with our kids, participating in sports, attending music concerts, and just enjoying life. Sometimes these carefree moments are when we feel God’s presence the most — and they are holy moments. 6) Forgive Unfortunately, Christians can hurt each other, and eventually, you’ll be the victim. Maybe they will hate your theology, gossip about you, slander your family, lie, steal, cheat, or betray you — but it will happen. Prepare yourself. Regrettably, many people reject Christianity not because of Christ, but because of those who representChrist: a pastor, a church member, or a Christian that did something horrible. When you are sinned against by a fellow believer, God empathizes with you, feels your pain, and will ultimately bring about justice, but God also calls us to forgive, and your capacity to enjoy life — and your faith— is directly related with your ability to do so. 7) Be Positive There are two types of Christians: those who are positive, and those who are negative — the optimists and the pessimists. Some live out their faith motivated by fear, guilt and shame. They believe that almost everyone is going to Hell, God is constantly waiting to strike people with a bolt of lightning, the world is increasingly getting worse and worse (“Just look at today’s youth!”), and impending doom is just around the corner. Then there are those whose faith is motivated by hope, inspiration, and love. They see God as redeeming humanity, bringing about goodness, healing, and restoration, and view the Gospel as good news! Imagine that! Which type of Christian are you? 8) Love Jesus Essentially, it all comes down to loving God. But too often, we make the mistake of identifying Christianity as Christ, and we idolize the religion instead of focusing on the relationship. When this happens, we either love or hate Christianity — not Christ. In the end, when we inevitably get let down by Christianity, we assume that God let us down, when all along we were following a false misrepresentation. This is our constant challenge as believers, to love and follow Christ — not “Christianity.” Stephen Mattson has contributed for Relevant Magazine and the Burnside Writer's Collective, and studied Youth Ministry at the Moody Bible Institute. He is now on staff at Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minn. Follow him on Twitter @mikta. Image: Christian rock band performing in Ukraine, Nadiia Gerbish / Shutterstock.com |
The U.S. Postal Service is moving forward with plans to relocate retail services from the historic downtown post office, the first step in the potential sale of the Fort Worth landmark. Relocation of the services to a new site in the same ZIP code is the first step in the process, said Sam Bolen, spokesman for the Postal Service. A sale of the building could come after the relocation. “We have to get the building vacant before we can talk about selling it,” Bolen said. John Roberts, chairman of Historic Fort Worth Inc. and a local architect, said there could be some concern for the safety of the building in the case of a sale, because the post office has the lowest historical designation and protection from the city. Sign Up and Save Get six months of free digital access to the Star-Telegram Completed in 1933, the building is designated as delayed demolition, according to the city’s zoning map, which means if the owner of the building applies for a demolition permit, the city can only delay the demolition for 180 days. “Hopefully, in that time someone could be brought in that could find a way to save the building if possible, but from my experience as chair of Historic Fort Worth, we lose most of them,” Roberts said. However, Roberts said he is optimistic that the downtown building could serve several new purposes, saying it has potential as new a new city hall or could even serve as private office space. In addition, he said it would be fairly easy to obtain a greater historical designation for the building. Judy Borkes, a Fort Worth resident, said though she does not use the post office often, it would be disappointing if it closed. “It is an amazing building,” Borkes said. “I think it would be a shame if they do move the post office, but I would understand if they need to.” Residents have until Jan. 30 to protest the decision to relocate the post office. Potential city hall The post office building has been considered as a new city hall since 2004, with the city spending $200,000 in 2009 to study the idea and even entering negotiations with the Postal Service. Price said the city manager’s office has renewed looking at “the numbers,” including analyzing the space the city needs to rent now, since the main City Hall building is too small. Price, who recalls coming and going from the post office as a child, said the building is valuable to Fort Worth. “Everyone went in and out of those grand staircases and mailed their packages and letters there,” Price remembered. “It has been around for forever and it is just a beautiful building.” Still, Price said the numbers “have to work.” The Tarrant County Appraisal District valued the land at $3.53 million and the building at $2.65 million, for a total of $6.1 million in 2013. Sandra Rybicki, a real estate specialist for the U.S. Postal Service, briefed the council and citizens on the process for a relocation of retail services on Dec. 3, giving residents 15 days to comment on the possible relocation. In that meeting, Councilman Jungus Jordan asked Rybicki if the Postal Service would offer a discount to a governmental entity if the building is sold. Rybicki, however, replied that the building would be competitively bid on the open market if sold. “For us in Fort Worth who grew up here, that is a pretty historic building,” Jungus told Rybicki. History of the building Borkes said converting the building to a city hall could be a solution for keeping it open. “The thing is, it is so beautiful, inside and out,” Borkes said, looking up at the limestone exterior of the building that was cut from a quarry near Austin. The post office was designed by local architect Wyatt C. Hedrick, who also designed the neighboring passenger terminal and warehouse as well as the Will Rogers Memorial Center and Amon G. Carter Stadium. Unlike most post offices across the nation, the architecture of the beaux-arts/classical revival building is very detailed. The lobby has six glass writing tables with bronze lion-head supports. Outside, 16 classical limestone columns face Lancaster, and the cornice features lion’s heads encircling the building. Murals in the building, by Dwight C. Holmes and former Star-Telegram illustrator William H. Baker, depict the history of the post office from an oxen-drawn mail wagon all the way to air mail. Trouble at the Postal Service The historic federal building was listed with 3,700 other post offices being studied for closure more than two years ago because of “excess capacity” and falling revenue at the Postal Service. The Postal Service ended the 2013 fiscal year with a net loss of $5 billion, which marks seven consecutive years that the agency has posted losses, according to a Nov. 15 news release. Roland Johnson, a resident of downtown, said he understands the need for the Postal Service to trim excess, since they lose so much money, but he wants another post office to be identified for downtown. The Postal Service is being threatened by “onerous mandates in existing law and continued First-Class Mail volume declines,” according to the news release. First-class mail, the most profitable product, fell by 2.8 billion pieces from 2012. A five-year business plan put forth by the Postal Service makes several recommendations for legislative changes, including restructuring the Postal Service employee health plan, adjusting delivery frequency to six-day packages and five-day mail service and changing workers’ pay and benefits. This report includes information from Star-Telegram archives. |
When we opened Cork Wine Bar in 2008, there were very few restaurants on 14th Street in Northwest Washington. Since then, the area has exploded, becoming a dining destination with more than 25 restaurants just within a few square blocks of us. Despite the tremendous number of options open to Washington diners, Cork has done exceedingly well. We have consistently won awards and praise for our wines, food and our hospitality for the hosting of events. Our patrons include elected officials, White House and congressional staffers, lobbyists, nonprofits, foreign officials, and Embassy staff. We’re no strangers to competition. But there’s one business in DC that is not playing fairly: the Trump International Hotel and its dining establishments. Last week, we filed a lawsuit arguing that President Trump Donald John TrumpHouse committee believes it has evidence Trump requested putting ally in charge of Cohen probe: report Vietnamese airline takes steps to open flights to US on sidelines of Trump-Kim summit Manafort's attorneys say he should get less than 10 years in prison MORE’s ownership of the hotel and restaurants, mere blocks from the White House, is unfair competition for us and other Washington-area restaurants. Here’s why we’re asking the courts to make things right. ADVERTISEMENT Washington is a company town. Many, if not most, people in DC rely on business that is somehow related to the federal government, whether they’re an elected official, a lobbyist, a government contractor, or with a foreign entity. You have a choice of where to dine, host an event, or stay for the night. Why wouldn’t you choose the venue that would most please the president of the United States? Why wouldn’t you choose his restaurants, which he is known to frequent, and maybe have the opportunity to talk with him directly? Why wouldn’t you take advantage of the opportunity to curry favor in this way, especially when we get daily reminders that this president is known to demand and reward loyalty, while punishing those who have crossed or not supported him? Of course, every time a new restaurant opens in town, it has the potential of taking business away from us and other existing establishments. That was true when we opened, and it is equally true today in DC’s thriving and diverse dining scene. That’s part of the free enterprise system which we wholeheartedly embrace. But competition from the Trump hotel is something different. The president’s name, well-known ownership and presence give the Trump International Hotel a big leg up in winning the competition of attracting diners and tourists, and hosting lucrative events where many people gather to drink and dine or even more intimate political dinners. How do we know the Trump hotel competition is something different? The lease that Donald Trump signed with the federal government for the hotel clearly spells it out. The lease specifically forbids any elected official, including the president, from having an ownership interest in the hotel where he or she receives benefits while in elective office. Because Trump has been president since Jan. 20, and since he owns 100 percent of the beneficial interest in the hotel, he is in violation of the lease. When this issue was first raised, people assumed, as we did, that the provision was there to prevent the president from interfering with the General Services Administration (GSA), whose head he can fire at will, and favoring the hotel instead of the United States. Our lawyers then told us that this ban applies not just to the president and members of Congress, but also to any elected official of the District of Columbia and even our non-voting delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton. Because none of them has any power over GSA, the provision of the lease has a much broader purpose: prohibiting an elected official from exploiting public office for private gain at the expense of competitors like us who are not backed by elected officials. In other words, the lease prevents elected officials from unfairly funneling business to the hotel and its restaurants, while taking business away from competitors like us. We’re not asking for any money. We’re simply asking the court to stop this unfair competition, as the Trump Hotel’s own lease requires. We leave it to the court and the defendants to decide the best means of leveling the playing field, whether that be selling or closing the hotel until the end of Donald Trump’s presidency. If they do, all of Washington will benefit — not just the current occupant of the White House. Diane Gross and Khalid Pitts are the owners of Cork Wine Bar and Cork Market & Tasting Room in Washington, DC. The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill. |
After nearly two years in the making, a charity auction orchestrated by Jony Ive, Bono, and designer Marc Newson is set to begin this Saturday. While Apple has worked with Bono's Product Red charity in the past, Saturday's auction takes Ive's involvement much further: working with Newson, the two curated and customized over 40 different items, from chairs, to cars, to Apple products, all of which will go up for sale. The auction is being run by Sotheby's, and is expected to raise over $2 million toward battling AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. "Red is making a difference in the lives of millions of people and we're humbled to make this contribution to such an important and worthy cause," Ive says in a statement. In fact, we actually ran into Ive at the exhibit. He didn't share the secrets behind curating such an eclectic, yet coherent collection, but he did say "It took a long time. It was hard work." Every item up for auction has either been selected by the duo of designers, customized by them, or completely created by them. The final category includes a stunning Leica camera that's been completely remade with a freckled aluminum design that screams of Ive's touch. The pair created an incredibly sleek and slim metal desk as well, which is marked by stonelike imprints along its top. "Each piece represents the value of thoughtful design," Ive says. The collection of items is certainly eclectic, ranging from lamps to a cosmonaut suit, but Ive suggests that there's a coherency to looking at it as a whole: "What we create for each other is not only a comment on our culture, but of course in many ways defines it." Nearly all of the products are now on exhibition at Sotheby's in New York, where they can be viewed until 5PM today and between 10AM and 1PM tomorrow. Below, you can see some of the most stunning, most intriguing, and most exciting objects that'll be up for auction Saturday night. Grid View Don't expect gold EarPods to match your gold iPhone anytime soon: these redesigned headphones are marked as one of a kind. Then again, they're also made of 18k rose gold. Designed by Ive and Newson, the one-of-a kind Red Desk is meant to look like it was made from a single, flowing piece of aluminum. It's over 8 feet long, but it has an incredibly thin and stylish profile. Jony Ive says he spent nine months and used 55 engineers to create this custom Le You won't want to wear this Stormtrooper mask around: aside from eyepieces that look fairly opaque, it's signed right across the forehead by George Lucas. You can probably guess how Ive and Newson customized this table and its matching chairs. Sotheby's has the entire set displayed as though it were out of an IKEA showroom, though you're far from encouraged to lounge. A variation on one of Ive's existing designs, this glossy red Mac Pro is hard to look away from — even if it does barely take up any space. This Zvezda Cosmonaut suit from 1990 is no replica: it was actually worn on a mission into space. A stylish Olivetti Valentine typewriter from 1969, including its original box and matching red carrying case. This Braun hi-fi unit might look just a little bit familiar: it was created by Dieter Rams and inspired the look of Apple's old Podcast app. A red-and-white dress by Azzedine Alaïa flows down into a long stream of ruffles. Nearly three dozen Louis Vuitton handbags and probably quite a few trinkets of jewelry can be stored inside the Marilyn Trunk. Though its multicolored patterns may be uncommon among the auction items, its white exterior and red interior make it fit in perfectly. Ive and Newson didn't touch this one. It's just a gorgeous, bright-red Fiat 600 Jolly from 1959. This bizarre-looking creation is no statue: it's a thermal window meant for the US Space Shuttle, which Ive and Newson have created a custom stand for. |
TV Reviews All of our TV reviews in one convenient place. “Our Man Bashir” (season 4, episode 9; originally aired 11/27/1995) In which the world is not enough, but tomorrow never dies, so Bashir and Garak get a quantum of solace from Russia with love, for your eyes only… Advertisement Well, this is also cute. And thankfully, a bit better paced than “Little Green Men”; comic episodes only work if they’ve got some momentum behind them, and cutting between Bashir and Garak in the holosuite, and Eddington, Odo, Quark, and Rom in the station, keeps things moving nicely. Plus, there’s a clear sense of danger, and a very obvious structure, drawn from the Bond films that Bashir’s program looks to emulate/parody. The jokes are obvious, but enough of them are funny that it doesn’t really matter, and besides, it’s not like the source material was all that subtle to begin with. (Dr. Honey Bear might be over the line, but I’m surprised Mona Luvsitt wasn’t a character in Diamonds Are Forever. It’s a damn sight better than “Plenty O’Toole.”) And once again, we can see the benefit of DS9’s stationary location and on-going continuity. “Our Man Bashir” only gets heavy for about a scene, but it’s a very good scene, and it works based off of what we know about the episode’s two leads. Plus, there are small touches throughout to make sure we can connect what we’re seeing to the larger narrative. It’s a great way to handle serialization: not every story has to advance the main plot, but the more we feel like it’s all connected, the more invested we become. On the whole, DS9 has avoided holo-centric premises, which is for the best. While Star Trek: The Next Generation had some fun with the idea of a magic room which generated new realities with the push of a button, but it’s a pretty ridiculous concept which the series was never all that interested in exploring to its logical conclusions. Such a device would be even more out of place on DS9. Quark has his holosuites, they’re routinely referenced, but they’re rarely, if ever, plot-relevant. Out of sight, out of mind. But here comes “Our Man Bashir,” with what looks like the platonic ideal of the holo-story. The good doctor is engaging in some pre-work shenanigans, fighting a bad guy and wooing a blonde in a low cut dress, when Garak wanders in, applauding the theatrics. An argument ensues, and we learn the fascinating tidbit that it’s actually illegal to interrupt someone else’s holo-program without their explicit permission. But Bashir finally accepts Garak won’t be put off; the tailor wants to know just what’s been keeping Bashir so busy lately, and, when he discovers Julian is pretending to be a spy, you can imagine the reaction. The two of them go for a team-up, just as a horrific shuttlecraft accident strands Sisko, Kira, Dax, O’Brien, and Worf in the station’s computers. And who do you think pops up in Bashir’s program? Guess. The funniest part of all holodeck/suite stories is that they always have to go out of their way to eliminate what would be the device’s biggest appeal: namely, the ability to engage in action and adventure without having to worry about consequences. I’d love to be able to pretend I was Indiana Jones for a couple hours, but if “pretending” meant the very real chance that I’d get shot, chopped up, drowned, stabbed, or crushed, I wouldn’t be nearly as interested. So holo-programs come with safety protocols built in, but somehow, because this is all crazy computer stuff (again: magic), the bad guys Bashir faces off against could theoretically hurt him, which means that if the safety protocols are removed, he’s in for a world of hurt. And yes, the safety protocols are removed in this episode. It happens every damn time, or nearly. It’s like having a really amazing TV in your house, only if there’s a glitch, or the batteries in the remote go dead, the TV will murder you. Everyone in the Trek-verse accepts this as a matter of course, but while I’m sure a holodeck experience would be remarkable, I don’t think I’d be so cavalier using the device if I knew there was a one in five chance I set myself on fire. I’m not saying they shouldn’t exist, because it’s amazing technology. But they put safety bars on the roller coaster for a reason, y’know? Advertisement In a shocking twist, Bashir’s crewmembers start popping into his fantasy life; first Kira, as his sexy Russian friend (yes, Nana Visitor is good at this), then O’Brien as Falcon, Bashir’s eye-patched nemesis, and so on. It’s a bit like a twist on Barclay’s first TNG episode, only here, instead of Barclay using the holodeck to enact his fantasies with people he can’t bear to deal with in real life, Bashir is forced to keep his made up world going if he wants to save the lives of his friends. There’s some tech speak going on—buffers and what not. When the shuttle exploded, the computer stored the physical patterns of the crew inside Bashir’s holosuite, while using the entirety of the rest of the station to store their substantially larger neural patterns. Which, okay, I’ll buy it, and it gives us some fun moments with Eddington having to team up with Rom to find a work around to reconnect everybody. (I especially liked the reveal that Rom has had to MacGyver up the holosuite circuit boards because Quark won’t put down any money for upgraded equipment.) As always with premises like this, what matters is if the ends (ie, Bashir and Garak playing spy on Earth of the late ‘60s) justify the means. I’d say they do, although it depends on your fondness for Bond riffs. Most of the gags are relegated to the immediate shock of seeing familiar faces in unfamiliar roles, and anyone looking for a cutting satire of Bond’s Imperialist masculine bullshit shouldn’t get their hopes up; the darkest this gets is a silly moment near the end when Bashir saves himself and Garak by telling Dax she’d look prettier without her glasses and with her hair down. But it is undeniably nifty to watch Kira bust out a Russian accent, or Worf playing the heavy in a tux. As for who comes off the best, I have a hard time picking, but it’s hard to deny Avery Brooks utter awesomeness as the world-destroying arch-villain Dr. Noah. (Get it? Get it?) Brooks has always had a taste for scenery, and he indulges himself at the episode’s climax to great effect, SHOUTING and whispering in ways that make him seem threatening, brilliant, and almost certainly psychotic. “Our Man Bashir” also gets some mileage out of Garak’s astonishment at this particular brand of espionage, although not as much as I was expecting. He throws out a few one liners, and they’re all good ones, but it turns out his real reason for appearing in the episode was to give the writers yet another chance to take a look at the weird edges that exist between the ex-member of the Obsidian Order, and our noble doctor. Once Garak realizes that they’re playing for keeps, he starts encouraging Bashir to be more ruthless in his work; yes, Julian wants to save everyone, but sometimes you just can’t do that, and to Garak, that means cutting costs and running as soon as the odds are slightly less than favorable. Bashir resists, which builds to a confrontation where the doctor draws a gun on Garak, who’s threatening to shut down the program and escape. (Shutting down the program has a good chance of killing Sisko and the others outright.) Garak doesn’t believe Bashir has the guts to pull the trigger, but when he calls for the doors, Bashir fires, injuring the tailor and defusing the situation. Advertisement It’s the only time in the whole hour when the light-hearted tone trembles. (Well, it’s not like Eddington and Odo are yukking it up, but I can’t imagine watching this and being all that concerned about the fate of the crew.) Later, at the conclusion of the spy program, Julian quotes some of Garak’s words to Dr. Noah, stalling for time by giving up being the good guy and helping to destroy the world. Which is amusing, but not particularly subversive; Bashir has already demonstrated his willingness to put his friends above all other considerations, and if that means killing imaginary billions, so be it. That earlier scene, though, is telling. It doesn’t exactly reveal anything we don’t already well know—Bashir is an idealist, Garak is a pragmatist—but it does reinforce once more the the courage of the doctor’s convictions, and the strength those convictions give him. Garak may well mock Bashir’s naivete, but Bashir saves the day, (sort of) gets the girl, and blows up the world. All Garak gets is a neck wound. Stray observations: “If I were in your shoes, I would grab a bottle of champagne and shoot me.” -Garak So, does Bashir ever actually have sex with any of the ladies in this program? I wonder if you’re required to clean the suite before you leave. This is a small point, but the reason Bashir won’t kill Sisko or the others is that apparently the program will delete their file if they die. That can’t be standard practice, can it? Holo-programs have to be designed for multiple uses. “I think I joined the wrong intelligence program.” -Garak I love how Bashir and Garak change out of their tuxedos for a single scene, and then put the tuxedos back on. “I must say, doctor, this is more than I ever wanted to know about your fantasy life.” -Garak “You’re a man who dreams of being a hero, because you know, deep down, you’re not.” -Garak, just before he’s proven wrong. (God, I could write a paper about that guy. His need to believe everyone else is as cowardly as he is, combined with the fact that there is just enough decency in him to make him miserable, is endlessly fascinating.) Advertisement “Homefront” (season 4, episode 10; originally aired 1/1/1996) In which Sisko and Odo keep watching the skies… There’s something horrible about the way Odo talks about his fellow Changelings. The show doesn’t make a huge effort to underline this, and I’m not even sure how intentional it is; but whenever he’s discussing strategy with Sisko, or with other Starfleet officers, his comments on how “my people” largely serve to remind us of how alone he is. Sure, he’s on the same side as the rest of the show’s ensemble, which makes him a hero. Sure, trying to stop the Founders from murdering humans and kicking off any number of inter-stellar wars fits most acceptable definitions of doing the right thing. But Odo’s actions made him a traitor even before he became the first Changeling to harm (and kill) one of his own kind. Viewed in a different light, he’s a Judas, a monster first pitied, then despised. While we’ve had glimpses of Odo’s true feelings about the situation (most notably in “The Die Is Cast”), he doesn’t reveal himself willingly, so all we get is the occasional pained look, and the “my” he always adds to “people.” He’s made his choice, but Odo being Odo, he can’t let go of his guilt. “Homefront” gives us our first glimpse of the fallout from the Changeling death in "The Adversary," and the signs aren’t promising. It’s a short scene: after an apparent Changeling attack leaves 27 Federation diplomats dead, Sisko, Jake, and Odo head to Earth to help advise Starfleet on how to buff up security and deal with the potential threat. Midway through the episode, Odo runs into a pair of officers he’s met before; everything seems fine, but one of the officers (Admiral Leyton, a friend of Sisko’s played by Robert Foxworth) starts throwing some shade. Odo, realizing something is up, grab’s “Leyton”’s arm, only to find a shapeshifter, who mocks him and quickly escapes. Recounting the incident, Odo mentions the hostility, but leaves the more obvious, shocking fact unspoken: the Changeling’s hatred for Odo was so intense he couldn’t mask it long enough to keep up his cover. Given how good the shapeshifters have been at hiding themselves before now, that’s a whole lot of rage. Advertisement That ability to move around hidden in plain sight is one of the driving fears of the episode, a growing paranoia that starts off sensible enough (higher security precautions, phaser sweeps, renewed vigilance) before slowly spinning out of control. Well, not quite out of control; one of the episode’s smarter choices is that each decision Sisko makes seems reasonable, even prudent. It’s hard to pick out any one moment where he and the others cross the line, but one minute, they’re checking the rooms of government personnel for duplicitous desk lamps, and the next, Sisko is yelling at his father for refusing a blood test. Then the power goes out, and it’s time to declare martial law. (Well, not exactly martial law, but close enough.) Given the time we’ve spent getting to know Sisko, we’re well aware he’s not a man prone to rash decisions, and certainly not a proto-fascist looking for his chance to shine. As well, Leyton and Commander Erika Benteen (Sisko’s other contact person, played by Geordi’s former flame Susan Gibney) seem like reasonable adults. Leyton maybe not so much; when we get to part two next week, I won’t be unduly surprised if he’s got some ulterior motives. But so far, no one has stepped over any obvious lines. The problem with a lot of parables about the horrors of paranoia, and the way war and xenophobia can crush the human spirit, is that they’re rarely subtle. Something like “The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street” gets its power by showing seemingly normal humans react poorly in extraordinary circumstances, with those circumstances ostensibly demonstrating some archetypal weakness in us all. And sure, that’s a great episode of television, and the lack of subtlety can, if well-handled, generate powerful drama. But it’s always so easy to watch the situation from the outside and tell ourselves, “I would never go that far.” “Homefront” doesn’t allow us that comfort. It’s not a grim hour by any stretch of the imagination, and at no point does someone say, “Makes you wonder who the real monsters are.” (Although Sisko comes close.) Theoretically, the conclusion to the story (which we’ll cover next week) could completely justify all of Sisko and Leyton’s precautions. But if it doesn’t, the road we’ve travelled to get to that point is one that’s lacked obvious signposts. It’s a bad moment when Sisko realizes he was beginning to doubt his dad’s humanity, but it’s also one in which the combination of Joseph Sisko’s actions and the potential Changeling threat made it impossible to not have certain suspicions. The ideal of a free world where everyone is judged by their actions, where no one is the enemy until he proves himself so, is a beautiful one. But it’s not easy to come by, and the episode never makes the mistake of simplifying its morality. It also finds time to deal with some fairly meaty family drama. Dealing with a parent who refuses to acknowledge his age and limitations is a common theme for TV drama, but watching Sisko struggle to understand his fathers is decent stuff even before it dovetails with the Changeling hunt. Joseph Sisko (the always welcome Brock Peters) is big-hearted, cheerful, and very stubborn, and his failing health is the closest the episode comes to a sub-plot. Both Benjamin and Jake are worried about him, and from what we see, they have cause for concern; the old man still works long hours, pushing food on his customers, regaling the room with stories and patter, and staying on his feet until he’s close to collapse. In a way, he’s being short-sighted and childish, refusing to accept and adjust to his age, but he argues that this is his decision, and one he has every right to make. It’s easy to be annoyed with him when he’s batting off his son and grandson’s concern, but the episode (and Peters) do a good job making sure he isn’t a caricature or a fool. And while the character can be off-putting, that works to make the eventual confrontation between him and Sisko all the more powerful. Joe’s refusal to take a blood test, combined with his lack of appetite and unwillingness to see a doctor, make him suspicious; and yet all this is consistent with the character of someone who is trying to face old age on his own terms. And while requiring blood tests for all high level personnel and their families doesn’t seem unreasonable in the face of the shapeshifter threat, it’s still invading someone’s rights without anything approaching justifiable cause. There’s no easy answer here, and that ambiguity makes the situation all the more intense; it’s hard to tell yourself you’d do the right thing when you don’t know what the right thing is. Advertisement Of course, it’s not all doom and slippery slopes. “Homefront” demonstrates once again had adept DS9 has gotten at managing the time requirements of two-part storylines, using padding to reinforce and develop the main ensemble. There’s a cute bit at the beginning about Dax pranking Odo; apparently she’s been breaking into his quarters while he’s in his liquid state and moving his furniture around. In another context, this could’ve come off as mean-spirited, especially given how much importance Odo places in his version of feng shui, but Dax’s behavior instead reminds us of how relaxed everyone on the station has become with one another. Setting Jadzia, who’s life experiences have made her more relaxed, adventurous, and friendly, against Odo’s stone-faced sincerity, works to both their advantages, enough so that I’d love to see the two of them team-up for a story or two at some point. There’s also a frankly adorable scene where we learn that Bashir and O’Brien have taken to running aviator programs in the holosuites to deal with their stress over events on Earth; as they’re both stuck on the station, all they can really do is watch the news as it comes in, and on their off hours, dress up like flying aces and defend Britain from the evil Germans. O’Brien’s accent is hilarious, and their grief over the loss of one of their fellow pilots is nearly as funny, especially when set against Quark’s confusion. Good comic sequences are valuable in their own right, but this one also manages to once again demonstrate the awesomeness that is the Bashir and O’Brien friendship, as well as giving us a quick glimpse into just how shocking the attack on the home planet is. That shock is important; along with everything else discussed above, it helps to justify the episode’s finale, in which Leyton and Sisko urge (demand, really) that the Federation President declare a state of emergency. The power goes out, apparently over the entire world (which is impressive), and Sisko is worried a fleet of Jem’Hadar ships might be on their way to Earth. There’s no definitive proof that he’s right, just as no one has any idea what the Changelings’ real plans are. But in the dark, when you can’t tell friend from foe, and the night stretches on forever, it’s hard to see what lines you’re crossing when you’re rushing to bar the door. Advertisement Stray observations: Forgot to mention: the wormhole has been opening at seemingly random intervals, with no obvious sign of any ships coming through. Some Bajorans (including Kira) believe it’s a message from the prophets, but Sisko and Leyton use it as yet more potential proof of the invasion threat. The Jem’Hadar could have a cloaking device, after all. Next week: We see what happens next in the optimistically titled “Paradise Lost,” and try not to get caught in the “Crossfire.” |
The Book of Mormon, the much-applauded musical from the creators of South Park, officially opened in London last week – and like the grinning, clean-cut missionaries whose story it relates, it's been getting some baffled reactions from the locals. Well, the ones who work as professional theatre critics, anyway. I saw it on Broadway last spring, and can't recall a more purely hilarious and heart-warming evening in years. But the Telegraph's Charles Spencer found it "hard to warm to", "decadent" and "self-indulgent". My colleague Michael Billington, though deeming it "perfectly pleasant", also called it "essentially a safe, conservative show for middle America", awarding three stars out of five. Quentin Letts, of the Mail, called it "cowardly, coarse, cynical" and "worth avoiding"; in the Times, Libby Purves found it "morally null" and even "pretty racist". Not every British critic was so negative: if you want to know my feelings about the musical, just read Euan Ferguson's Observer review, its ink practically smudged from tears of laughter. Even so, this is a show that won nine Tony awards, and which the New York Times – leading the near-unanimous praise from US critics – called "something like a miracle". What in the name of Joseph Smith is going on? The first strange thing about this difference of opinion: you'd have thought it might have been the other way around. Surely, it's the Brits who'd be belly-laughing at the idea of two deluded Yanks leaving their Salt Lake City comfort zone to impose their preposterous religion on sceptical rural Ugandans? And oughtn't it to be the prudish, super-religious Americans pursing their lips at the show's song-and-dance centrepiece, a parody of The Lion King, with its multiple obscene references about what the embattled Ugandan villagers would like to do to God? The second curiosity is how much the unimpressed Brits disagree with each other. Is The Book of Mormon conservative, as Billington argues, because it allows that there might be some upsides to religious belief? (The show's missionaries are deluded and emotionally repressed, but by the end, you can't help liking them.) Or does it consist of vicious "liberal … sneers" against Mormons, as Letts claims? (Mormons themselves disagree, actually, but never mind.) Letts even trots out that laziest of criticisms, never far away whenever Christians are being satirised: "If you want to attack a religious group, why not militant Islam?" Ah, yes: Trey Parker and Matt Stone, dogmatic line-toeing liberals, who'd never risk offending the PC left. Quentin Letts, please take the rest of the week off, and spend it catching up on South Park and Team America: World Police. But all of this points towards the great value of Parker and Stone's comedy, which elevates "take no prisoners" to the status of an ethical principle. Just as you're getting comfortable laughing at others from the safe haven of your smugness, you look down to find nothing but air. Their special talent is to do this without succumbing to hollow nihilism, thanks mainly to the sincerity with which they appreciate old-fashioned showtunes and scatological humour. You come away from The Book of Mormon – if you're more like me than Letts, anyhow – with the sense that religious people can be ridiculous, but not in ways to which the non-religious are necessarily immune. And that, besides, even ridiculous people can have non-ridiculous qualities; they need not provoke only our monotone disdain. If you'll allow a vast cultural generalisation from the perspective of a British person living in the United States: comfort with this kind of complexity, I suspect, is something at which Americans are peculiarly good. Perhaps this explains the transatlantic disagreement. You can't really function in America – you can't even turn on the television – without a high tolerance threshold for people with absurd beliefs. Many of them deserve condemnation, of course; this isn't an argument for passively tolerating bigotry. But if you can't countenance the idea that even these people might have some redeeming features as humans, too, you'll find yourself ceaselessly embattled, enraged and exhausted. Far better, The Book of Mormon seems to say, to locate that vantage-point from which you can laugh at others' absurdities; laugh at your own; engage in pointed, angry satire when you need to; make running jokes about scrotums; and still maintain a certain cracked and off-kilter faith in humanity. "You can't be Swift and Pollyanna at the same time," Billington argues in his review. But I'd respectfully disagree: sometimes, it's the only way to stay sane. |
A straight Texas sports commentator made a must-see segment about Mack Beggs, the transgender boy who was told to wrestle on the girls’ team and then won the state championship last week. Dale Hansen at WFAA-TV News 8 in Dallas said that Beggs should be allowed to compete as a boy and stressed that Beggs is not the problem. Beggs began the process of transitioning two years ago and asked to compete on the boys’ wrestling team. The state’s high school athletics oversight board told him he had to compete as the gender listed on his birth certificate. He ended up qualifying for the state tournament with a 52-0 season record and won the state championship in the 110-pound girls classification, amid jeering from other parents and students. Hansen said he doesn’t know at what point a transgender teen should be allowed to compete with their gender identity, but that “somebody has to find a better answer than what we’re being given now.” Towards the end of the segment, Hansen showed a pretty profound understanding of the nature of privilege for a TV journalist: The problems that Mack Beggs is facing and dealing with now remind me again that I don’t have any problems. He needs our support, and he does not need a group of old men in Austin telling him who to wrestle because of a genetic mix-up at birth. "I don't understand his world…but I do understand he is a part of mine."HANSEN UNPLUGGED: http://on.wfaa.com/2lODg8p Posted by WFAA-TV on Monday, February 27, 2017 This Story Filed Under |
Honduras soccer captain Arnold Peralta shot dead in hometown Updated Authorities in Honduras say the captain of the national soccer team has been shot dead in a shopping centre parking lot in a city on the country's Caribbean coast. Arnold Peralta was killed by an unidentified gunman on a motorcycle in his hometown of La Ceiba on Thursday. His father, Carlos Peralta, confirmed the death at a news conference. The 26-year-old midfielder joined Club Deportivo Olimpia in the Honduran national soccer league this year. Olimpia was eliminated from the league's semi-final last weekend. Peralta previously played for the Rangers Football Club in Scotland and Club Deportivo Vida in Honduras. Peralta was scheduled to play in the national team's friendly match against Cuba next week. Honduras is plagued by gang violence and has one of the world's highest homicide rates. AP Topics: soccer, sport, honduras First posted |
Senior Pentagon officials are making no secret of the fact that despite the apparent stepped-up drumbeat to war with Iran, they believe a strike on the country is “not prudent” right now. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, put this view – held by many in the Department of Defense – in perhaps the strongest terms yet this week. True, Israel could bomb Iran and delay the country’s ability to create nuclear weapons “probably for a couple of years,” General Dempsey told CNN Sunday. The problem is that many of the Iranian targets – buried deeply underground – would be “beyond the reach” of the Israeli military, in what Dempsey called a “zone of immunity.” What’s more, Iran would likely retaliate by closing the Strait of Hormuz using mines and swarming boats. It might also activate proxy cells to attack not just Israel, but possibly US interests in Iraq or US troops in Afghanistan. RELATED – What would happen if Iran had the bomb? Precisely how Iran would chose to respond to a strike is “the question with which we all wrestle,” Dempsey said, “and the reason we think that it’s not prudent at this point to decide to attack Iran.” Equally important, senior defense officials emphasize, while it’s clear that Iran aspires to nuclear technology, it is far from certain whether the country is intent on actually weaponizing this technology, This was the finding of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI)’s recent assessment on security threats facing the United States. Right now, Iran is “more than capable of producing enough highly-enriched uranium for a weapon if it’s political leaders – specifically the supreme leader himself – chooses to do so,” DNI head James Clapper told the Senate Armed Services Committee February 16. Yet so far they do not appear to have made that choice, Lt. General Ronald Burgess, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told lawmakers in the same hearing. “The agency assesses Iran as unlikely to initiate or intentionally provoke a conflict,” he said, concluding that though the possibility of Iran building a nuclear weapon is “technically feasible,” it is “practically not likely.” If attacked, however, Iran could “attempt to employ terrorist surrogates worldwide,” close the Straits of Hormuz “at least temporarily,” and “may launch missiles against US forces [in Iraq or Afghanistan] and our allies in the region,” General Burgess said. For these reasons, both Mr. Clapper and Burgess told lawmakers that it is their opinion that Israel has not yet decided to strike Iran, either. The urging of the United States to hold off on strikes may also have something to do with this decision, Dempsey conceded. “I’m confident that they understand our concerns that a strike at this time would be destabilizing and wouldn’t achieve their long-term objectives,” he told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria. Indeed, the hype surrounding Iran’s nuclear ambitions belies a considerable degree of rationality, Dempsey said, adding that Iran does not appear to be a highly irrational or unpredictable actor on the world stage. “We are of the opinion that the Iranian regime is a rational actor.” At the same time, while international pressure in the form of sanctions has continued to increase, Tehran is “not close to agreeing to abandoning its nuclear program,” Burgess added. Dempsey for his part urged continued international sanctions, but said the Pentagon would continue its planning, making “options available should the nation decide to do something in Iran.” Get the Monitor Stories you care about delivered to your inbox. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Whether or not that will come to pass, Dempsey declined to hazard a guess. “Fortunately,” he said, “I’m not a betting man.” RELATED – What would happen if Iran had the bomb? |
As Mexican authorities continue to crack down on drug smugglers, criminals continue to aim high in a bid to evade them. Last week, Mexican authorities seized a jury-rigged bazooka and nearly one ton of marijuana in the border town of Agua Prieta in Sonora state, the Mexican Attorney General said in a statement. The bazooka had been "adapted" to use a compressor for launching drugs into the United States. The Mexican daily El Universal reports the device was inside a van with a sliding roof, allowing the bazooka to shoot the drugs from the cover of the vehicle. Agua Prieta lies directly across the border from Douglas, Ariz. Last year, Mexican federal authorities found yet another "homemade bazooka" in the town, this one measuring nearly 10 feet long, alongside an air compressor inside a modified panel van with no license plate. Officials say it was apparently used for launching projectiles, possibly drugs, across the border. |
Get the biggest Manchester United FC stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Zlatan Ibrahimovic has enjoyed an excellent weekend. Two goals, man of the match, a first major domestic honour in English football. Throw in the post-match showmanship and the Manchester United striker has got the world on a string. Heck, Phil Neville's already calling him Eric Cantona, a guy who joined a side without a league title in 25 years and promptly won four of the next five. (Image: PA) But Ibracadebra's tournament heroics seemingly weren't good enough for the people in charge of the EFL Cup. Because the veteran Swede has been left out of their team of the tournament, despite his showings during the competition. And for those United fans who reckon it is downright favouritism, because he's been left out for a Chelsea youth and a Liverpool reserve, well maybe you're right. Because Zlatan's place in the lineup belongs to Daniel Sturridge and Tammy Abraham. Yep, seriously! (Image: AFP/Getty) (Image: Paul Gilham/Getty Images) Conversely, it could be looked upon as a 19-year-old playing for a club in the second tier who scored three successive winners (Abraham), keeping him out. And a man with the best goals-to-game ratio in the tournament this year (Sturridge), having netted four in four. When the team was chosen - about three hours prior to the final - Zlatan had managed two in four (who was to know that, waiting, might work out better!) Maybe the selector's figured 'we'll get this out now and be damned if he does the business'. Which, erm, he did. (Image: Getty) (Image: Getty Images) Why couldn't they wait until AFTER the final? Seriously, how hard would that have been? On the plus side, one United star has been included: Ander Herrera. The Spaniard played all 540 minutes of United's success and has, in truth, been a major success for them this season. (Image: Man Utd via Getty Images) Additionally, there's another Liverpool man - youngster Trent Alexander-Arnold - in the lineup, while Southampton are represented by both Maya Yoshida and Sofiane Boufal. Claude Puel also took the manager's award after his side's run to the final, pipping Jose Mourinho. Team of the Tournament: Marco Silvestri (Leeds); Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Harry Maguire (Hull), Maya Yoshida (Southampton), Matty Pearson (Accrington Stanley); Sofiane Boufal (Southampton), Ander Herrera (Manchester United), Mohamed Diame (Newcastle United), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Tammy Abraham (Bristol City), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool) Manager: Claude Puel (Southampton) |
The European Union has effectively threatened to cut funding to countries like Britain unless they agree to take more refugees. Officials from Austria and Germany said they were considering a plan whereby EU grant spending would be focussed on countries that take in most migrants, something that would put pressure on Britain and Eastern European nations that have so far refused to take part in migrant quota schemes. Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said yesterday he was in favour of a scheme that would “reduce EU funding” to countries that took fewer migrants. He also indicated he could torpedo David Cameron’s EU renegotiation package unless Britain showed greater “solidarity” by accepting more migrants. “When I think of the British, who have their own catalogue of demands, why should we do anything for them? Because, you have to say, solidarity is not a one-way street,” he told Austrian television. German MEP Elmar Brok also told Tagesspiegel: “As a last resort, one could consider that there is more money from the EU Structural Funds for those member states that respond adequately to the situation of refugees.” Although EU states already receive €6,000 for every migrant they take from Greece or Italy, but this plan could also see budgets for other projects boosted in countries that take the most migrants. EU Commission spokeswomen Natasha Betraud said she could not rule out such scheme: “The Commission is open to all constructive ideas which would contribute to creating European solidarity and incentivise the states to take more refugees.” The Telegraph reports that the EU has already opened 32 legal cases against countries over “substandard” asylum laws. UKIP MEP Jonathan Arnott last night called the plan “outrageous”. He told the Daily Mail: “This is gun-to-the-head politics from the EU and many of us don’t like it.” |
I recently moved cross country to work on what was supposed to be a fairly nice, new stack. I love my new city but the job is killing me. Its legacy code dating back more than 20 years. I'm afraid that my skills will rot if I stay too long. The code quality is also horrible and its making me hate coding. The company talks about how we're just around the corner transitioning to newer stuff. After talking to some veterans, apparently it's been "right around the corner" for years. I was hired for my React and Typescript skills/interest and it's been months with no signs of being able to use them. I'm not good with their current stack but I have no interest in learning it because its so obsolete. I'm beginning to think that they mislead new employees because otherwise they would ask for a lot more money or walk away. I'm torn about my best course of action. I'm not good at my job because I don't know their tech. I'm not good with their tech because I hate it and I'm bitter that I was lied to. I can't mentally force myself to learn this ancient shit. On the other hand, they're paying me, so I owe them something right? The best solution for me is definitely to just get a job somewhere else, but I've only been at my current job for a few months. Should I just stick it out and hope I don't get fired for underperforming? |
Studying at New York University has become so prohibitively expensive that the historic Manhattan school is introducing a scheme to help students save money by lodging in elderly people’s spare bedrooms. Andrew Hamilton, NYU’s new president, has approved a pilot scheme to pair up students with low-income older people struggling to make ends meet. The scheme – dubbed “Grandma’s spare room” – may sound like the premise of an intergenerational sitcom but it will begin in fall 2017, and university officials said initial demand had been so strong that it could be extended to hundreds of students and perhaps other schools in New York and other expensive cities across the country. Hamilton, a noted British chemist and former vice-chancellor of Oxford University, has made tackling the high cost of attending NYU a key priority of his tenure. “The plain fact is that tuition at NYU places an unacceptable financial strain on too many students,” he said in his inaugural address at the start of the semester. “NYU is not unique in that regard by any means, but we have been among the most conspicuous … [and] we cannot be content with the status quo.” The students happy to pay £1,000 a week to rent a flat in central London Read more The intergenerational homestay idea was generated by NYU’s affordability steering committee, which Hamilton introduced as a “taskforce” to “make a difference in the trajectory of college costs at NYU”. The full average cost [not taking into account scholarships and financial aid] of attending NYU including tuition, fees, room and board is about $66,000 per year – one of the most expensive in the country. Hamilton increased tuition fees by 2.7% this year, less than a typical annual increase of 3.5%-3.9%. Ellen Schall, the chair of the affordability steering committee, said the cost of attending NYU was higher than Ivy League schools because of the prohibitive cost of accommodation in New York. “This is a creative way of tackling that issue,” she said. “It occurred to us that there are lots of New York City families whose children have grown up and moved away and they’ve got an extra bedroom and maybe they are struggling financially. We hope this will be a way of helping the needs of two very different populations.” Schall said she expected that students involved in the scheme would pay annual rent of about $5,000 – half of the cost of a shared room in NYU’s cheapest dorm. She made clear that students would not be required to work for their elderly landlords in return for cheap rent. “You’re not a nurse, you’re not an aide, you’re not cleaning, you might help out with some technology or something,” she said. “You might make a deal that you would make with any roommate – ‘If you take the trash out, I’ll order us a pizza.’” Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘This is an opportunity to help low- or fixed-income seniors, and help address the wider housing affordability crisis in New York City,’ said Eric Weingartner, who is working with NYU on the scheme. Photograph: Erik M/ Pacific/ Barcroft Images NYU is working with University Settlement, a not-for-profit group that helps low-income families on the Lower East Side, to bring the project to life. Eric Weingartner, the chief executive of University Settlement, said the plan was to identify apartment buildings near NYU that had a high proportion of older people so that several students could be accommodated in different families’ apartments, but near each other to retain some of the feeling of living in a dorm. “This is an opportunity to help low- or fixed-income seniors, and help address the wider housing affordability crisis in New York City,” he said. “There are people live in apartments with massive amounts of room no one really lives in, while other people struggle to afford anywhere to live.” Schall and Weingartner said both student and senior communities were excited about the project and had already approached the organisations to try and sign up to the scheme, which hasn’t launched yet. However, some students suggested that NYU could use its $3.5bn endowment to cut the costs faced by students. Schall said NYU raised $147m for financial aid in the last academic year, and its endowment per student was much lower than Ivy League schools. While many students in New York struggle to pay rent for dorms or rooms in shared houses in neighborhoods like Bushwick and Bedford-Stuyvesant, the city also attracts the children of the world’s billionaires, presidents and oligarchs who live in some of the most expensive property on the planet wile they’re studying. The daughter of the Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev spent $88m on a penthouse at 15 Central Park West, arguably the most grandiose address in the city, as her base while studying at an undisclosed US university. Ekaterina Rybolovlev’s 6,744 sq ft apartment, which was listed for sale earlier this year after she finished her studies, features 10 rooms and a terrace overlooking Central Park. In the line for coffee in Starbucks on the corner of Washington Square Park, Alexandra Bloshenko said she would definitely apply to live with a grandma. “I can barely afford to study here. I get half of my costs tuition paid for by scholarship, otherwise there is no way in hell I could go to this school,” she said. “I also think it’s important to mix with other generations, we can learn a lot from each other.” Bloshenko, 22, who is from upstate New York and studying to become a 7th-12th grade biology teacher, said: “I feel there are a lot of kids at NYU who could benefit from some real life experiences. There are so many kids here with tons of money but no experience of the real world.” • This article was amended on 29 November 2016. An earlier version incorrectly described NYU as an Ivy League school. |
The Government’s July budget announced a raft of measures to reduce the welfare budget by £12 billion by 2019/20 and, more surprisingly, the introduction of a ‘National Living Wage’. But will these changes lift the living standards of the millions that fall below what the public views to be an acceptable standard of living in contemporary Britain? Joanna Mack discusses the findings of the latest ESRC-funded research into Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK and argues that far more fundamental changes are needed to tackle the sharp increase in the numbers of those in-work falling into poverty. The challenges facing the Government in reforming welfare and work are huge. Over the last thirty years, there has been a sharp rise in the numbers falling below a publicly-defined minimum standard from around one-in-six in 1983 to just under one-in-three today. Through four large scale surveys – the ‘Breadline Britain’ surveys of 1983 and 1990 and the subsequent ‘Poverty and Social Exclusion’ surveys of 1999 and 2012 – levels of poverty and deprivation can be measured using the public’s views on what is an unacceptable standard in contemporary Britain. In these surveys respondents are asked which of a long list of items and social activities, from a basic diet and minimum housing decency to a number of personal and household goods and leisure and social activities, they consider to be essential for living in Britain today. This method establishes a minimum standard based on what the majority of people think are the necessities of life, which everyone should be able to afford and no-one should have to do without. This is the nearest we have to a democratic definition of poverty. Importantly, there is near unanimous agreement across different groups in society – if a majority of men think an item is a necessity so, in the vast majority of cases, will a majority of women (and similarly for all other groupings such as age, class, education level and, significantly, political affiliation). There has been a sharp rise in the numbers of people who cannot afford (as opposed to do not want) some of the most basic of these publicly-defined necessities. One-in-ten households live in a damp home, up from just 2 per cent in the 1990s. Those who cannot afford to heat their home adequately has trebled since the 1990s to 9 per cent of households, while overcrowding is also on the rise with the numbers of children over ten having to share a bedroom up from 3 per cent in 1999 to 11 per cent. Not only are many missing out on the most basic of contemporary needs but many lack the educational and social opportunities that most take for granted – for example, 4 million children (one-in-three) miss out on at least one or other of the family activities of holidays, day trips, and celebrations on special occasions. 600,000 children (8 per cent) are unable to go on school trips each term because their parents can’t afford to pay. Moreover, the percentage of households who cannot afford each of the items and activities seen as necessities in 2012 and 1999 has, in nearly all cases, risen or stayed the same. For some, the increase has been large: for example those unable to afford to ‘replace or repair broken electrical goods’ has gone up from 12 to 26 per cent. These material and social deprivations are closely associated with a range of other disadvantages, in particular financial and health – which have risen sharply. The proportion of households in arrears on at least one of their household bills – rent and mortgage payments, gas, electricity charges, council tax and loan repayments – has risen from 15 to 21 per cent since 1983. The numbers losing sleep because of worry has risen since 1999 from 19 to 31 per cent. Accompanying this overall rise in poverty has been a sea change in the groups most at risk of poverty. The most striking shift has been the rise of poverty among those in work. In 1983 just over a third of those in deprivation poverty (lacking three or more necessities) were in a household where the ‘head’ was in full or part-time work. Today, the equivalent figure is just above 60 per cent. The government claims that work is a route out of poverty – increasingly it is not. Britain is now a leading low-pay economy, with the proportion of the workforce on low wages almost doubling over the last thirty years. It now stands at 21 per cent, up from 12 per cent in the early 1980s, taking the UK to second place – behind the US – in the global low-paid league table for rich nations. In this context, the introduction of a ‘National Living Wage’ is helpful – but nowhere near sufficient and accompanied, as it is, by cuts to tax and universal credits, millions in work will nevertheless be worse off. The gross increase in employment income from the higher minimum wage is estimated to be about £4 billion by 2020 while welfare spending as a whole is due to fall by £12 billion. There will clearly be more losers than gainers. It is a slight of hand to suggest, as the Chancellor George Osborne has in his justifications for cutting benefit levels, that lower welfare can be exchanged for an increase in minimum wages. The policies simply have different purposes. Tax credits support those with low annual family incomes (some of whose members, but a relatively small proportion, will be on the minimum wage) while minimum wages support those with low hourly wages, many of whom have higher family incomes. The ‘National Living Wage’ is more accurately seen as a rebranding of the National Minimum Wage. It is not a ‘living wage’ at all – any such calculations depend on benefit levels. Furthermore, the Low Pay Commission sets the National Minimum Wage (NMW) by market conditions not by needs. Based on the Retail Price Index, the real value of the NMW in October 2012 was less than it was in October 2004. To lift people out of poverty through work requires much bigger changes – ones intimately linked with the erosion of labour’s collective bargaining power. Firstly, it requires a substantial boost to the share of national income going to wages. This has fallen since the 1980s to such an extent that the workforce would receive around £90 billion more in wages if the wage share returned to its post-war average. Secondly, it requires a narrowing of the yawning pay gap between top and bottom. The real gross earnings for those at the top grew almost four times as fast as those at the bottom over the last thirty or so years. Thirdly, there needs to be a closing of the gender pay gap. In 2013 (despite thirty-five years of the Equal Pay Act),this stood at nearly 20 per cent for median hourly earnings (excluding overtime). And finally, the rise in insecurity at work – particularly at the bottom end – must be tackled. This has made it more difficult for families to build the reserves and resilience necessary to cope with harder times, making even those whose current earnings are above the poverty threshold more vulnerable to slipping below it. These changes would leave the benefits system with less work to do, allowing a return it to its founding purpose of a universal system that supports people according to their needs not a means-tested system supporting inadequate incomes. But such a shift in economic power is not on the agenda. Quite the reverse. About the Author Joanna Mack is co-author (with Stewart Lansley) of Breadline Britain, The Rise of Mass Poverty, Oneworld, 2015, £9.99. She was the Open University’s lead on the 2012 Poverty and Social Exclusion study and set up the academic poverty resource www.poverty.ac.uk. (Featured image credit: κύριαsity CC BY 2.0) |
Sketches of the man the McCanns believe may have abducted Madeleine Images unveiled An artist drew two likenesses of the man from a witness statement made by a holidaymaker who stayed in the same Portuguese resort as the McCanns. Madeleine vanished on 3 May 2007, while on holiday on the Algarve. One picture shows a man with long hair, bushy eyebrows and a moustache. Another image shows him walking in a light jacket and blue trousers. We want to know who he is and we want to know where he is Clarence Mitchell, McCanns' spokesman Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the description came from British holidaymaker Gail Cooper, who was staying with her family 600 yards from the McCann's apartment in Praia da Luz at the same time. He said she rang Portuguese police when she saw Madeleine, of Rothley, Leicestershire, was missing and gave a statement reporting a "creepy man" she had seen in the area. Mr Mitchell said: "We want to know who he is and we want to know where he is. We want to know that as soon as we can. We are asking for people's help today. The McCann family spokesman appealed for more information "If he isn't connected with Madeleine's abduction, at the very least he now needs to come forward himself so that he can be eliminated from both the police and the private investigations that are under way into Madeleine's disappearance." Mr Mitchell said the sketches made by an FBI-accredited police artist had only recently been commissioned from the McCann's private investigation into the disappearance of their daughter. He said Mrs Cooper, from Newark, Nottinghamshire, "of course gave this information about the man and his activities to the police back in May. "That information has been with the police since then, however, no sketch of the man has actually been commissioned or done until now." 'Nervous' Ms Cooper said she saw the man walking by himself in heavy rain on the beach near the resort on 20 April last year. She said he drew attention to himself because he was the only man on "the otherwise deserted beach". She said later that afternoon she believed the same man visited Ms Cooper at the resort while her eight-year-old granddaughter was playing near the pool. She described the man as "agitated, nervous" and that he may have been of North African descent. The man claimed he was collecting for an orphanage at a nearby village. He flashed some sort of ID which she believed was fake, Mr Mitchell said, and she told him to leave. Mr Mitchell said there were "similarities" between the images released on Sunday and other artist's sketches released last year. These showed a man with dark, greasy collar-length hair and wearing a purple or maroon top with beige trousers, carrying a child, which were made after a testimony from Jane Tanner, a friend of the McCanns. Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate McCann remain official suspects in the case, but have always denied any involvement in her disappearance. Briton Robert Murat is also a suspect in the case. A judge is considering whether to extend the period of judicial secrecy covering police evidence against Mr Murat, who also denies any involvement. |
More than two years after the province created an online registry in hopes of increasing the number of organ donors, only eight per cent of adult Albertans have registered with the program, says Alberta Health. People are six times more likely to need transplants than they are to become donors, the health authority said. At present, more than 600 Albertans are waiting for organ transplants, and thousands more are in need of tissue transplants. Before the online registry was launched in 2014, there was no way for Alberta Health to properly track how many people had chosen to be donate their organs, said AHS spokesperson Carolyn Ziegler. "We don't know how many people indicated their consent by signing the back of their health card," Ziegler said in a statement. "That was one of the reasons the registry was created." More than 250,000 Albertans over the age of 18 have registered to become organ donors. About 93 per cent of them signed up at registry offices. Only seven per cent used the online system. David Hartell is the executive director of the Canadian National Transplant Research Program, which works to increase organ and tissue donation in Canada. "Alberta is certainly one of the lower performers in the country," Hartell said. Ontario, which has had an online registry since 2011, has 29 per cent of people registered. British Columbia, which created Canada's first online registry in 2008, registered its millionth donor in June. Hartell says to get numbers like that, there needs to be more awareness. "What is really missing in Alberta is a coordinated system that will actually help move all of this forward," he said. "Having an online registry is one thing, but you need resources to promote it, you need resources to manage it. "You need resources to really manage that whole organ transplant and patient system in Alberta, and Alberta doesn't have that." Hartell said people often consider themselves to be organ donors, but have never officially registered. "That is the best way to make sure that your wishes are respected. You've taken the time to go through that process." "Being an organ donor can have a huge impact on other people who are really waiting for a second chance at life. These organs aren't going to do any good to people being buried in the ground." |
Toronto-Dominion (TD) Bank, Canada’s largest lender by assets, has become the latest global financial services group to choose Ireland as its post-Brexit European hub. The Dublin expansion, which will also see the group establish a bond-trading unit, is part of the bank’s growth strategy in Europe, and the bank said it would allow it the flexibility “to meet the evolving needs of clients and respond to the changing business environment as a result of Brexit”. The announcement came during Taoiseach Leo Varadker’s visit to Canada. Peter Walker, vice-chair and regional head for Europe and Asia-Pacific, TD Securities, said the expansion of its Dublin office would “position us well for all outcomes of Brexit negotiations”. “TD Securities has a long-standing history in Ireland, and our fully-licensed broker-dealer will continue to benefit from Ireland’s commitment to economic growth.” TD, which has more than 3,800 people in 13 offices around the world, already has an operation in Dublin, TD Global Finance, which first opened in 1998, and is located in the IFSC. A small operation, it trades international equity, interest rate and credit product, as well as engages in structured finance activities for customers of the TD network.* TD currently employs about 290 employees in its capital markets TD Securities business based mainly in London. The decision has been broadly welcomed by the IDA Ireland, which has been working closely with the group over the past year in the wake of the Brexit referendum . The IDA still hopes to capture significant new business from financial services companies looking for a European hub post-Brexit. Citigroup and JP Morgan have already announced plans to expand in Dublin as a result of Brexit, with Bank of America Merrill Lynch also set to apply for a broker-dealer licence as it moves certain activities from London. * This article was edited on Tuesday, September 5th |
The Sunrise Calendar app will be sunsetting on August 31, the team behind it announced in a blog post Wednesday. In the next few days, the app will no longer be available from the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. Users will have a few months to keep using it without support, before the company switches off the service at the end of August. This is happening because Microsoft acquired the company behind Sunrise last year and put its team to work on improving Outlook instead. According to the blog post, working on Outlook means the Sunrise team doesn’t have time to support the app they created. They’ve been integrating popular features from Sunrise into different versions of Outlook, including a recently-released Calendar Apps feature on iOS and Android that lets users bring information from outside services into their Outlook calendar. Sunrise users who want many of the features offered in the app can follow the Sunrise team over to Outlook, but its current capabilities aren’t a perfect match for the app that’s being shut down. The Sunrise team says that they’re hard at work bringing loved features from the app over to Microsoft’s. For Microsoft watchers, none of this comes as a surprise. The company said last year that it planned to shut down Sunrise. It’s a reminder that software delivered as a service can be shut down at any time, more easily than an app you’ve installed on your own computer. But that’s the way software is heading so we’d better get used to it. |
INSCMagazine: Get Social! In most years, fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are treated to two new films. But 2017 is the start of a new chapter. Starting this year, there will be three MCU films hitting theaters! We open with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 on May 5th. Then on July 7th, Tom Holland swings into theaters as everyone’s favorite neighborhood spider in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Then the year concludes with Thor: Ragnarok on November 3rd. Now there is plenty of reason to be excited for all three of these films. Especially as a fan of Marvel, each film has plenty to offer. Guardians will feature the shenanigans of Star-Lord, Rocket, Baby Groot and the gang. Spidey will be the first full film for our newest take on the iconic hero. [Kenny] But as exciting as those two films are going to be, it is the third Thor film that fans should be looking forward to the most this year. And here are three reasons why. Gladiator Thor and Hulk When the first batch of official photos were released, the God of Thunder was looking a bit different. He was sporting a short haircut as opposed to his trademark long locks. He was wielding two swords as opposed to his mighty hammer Mjolnir. Finally, he was sporting some facepaint. When you pair all of that up with the film’s description, it is pretty clear we are going to be seeing a fierce warrior version of Thor this time around. He will be battling for his life, and it is going to come in a gladiator type of setting. And if the idea of seeing the son of Odin facing off in a head to head battle in a stadium is not enough to get you excited, add in the fact that one of his opponents will be none other than the Hulk! With that, it is clear we are entering Planet Hulk territory. While we will not be getting an entire film dedicated to the beloved storyline, the fact that we are getting the small piece of it is still exciting. So Thor won’t be the only Avenger suiting up in some gladiator armor in this one. Things Are Going To Get Strange If you stayed for the credits during Doctor Strange, you know we already have a connection between the Sorceror Supreme and Chris Hemsworth’s character. Anytime we get another member of the universe to pop into another character’s film it is a reason for excitement. Based on what we know, it appears as if Strange will be used in an effort to help find Odin in New York. So his screen time will likely be on the shorter side, but there is plenty of reason to believe it will be a fun couple of minutes. Strange has a high ego. Thor still does not understand everything about Earth and how things operate. So putting those two together will lead to plenty of laughs. Speaking of laughs, then add in Loki. We already know Strange does not like Loki. Something tells me Loki is not going to like Mister Doctor either. These interactions will be worth the price of admission alone. The Lead Into Avengers: Infinity War The road to Infinity War continues. And of the three films this year, this is the one that will have the greatest link to the blockbuster set to hit theaters in 2018. The last we saw Thor, he was very interested in researching Infinity Stones. So you can bet they will play a key role in this movie. With the Soul Stone still out there, it is entirely possible that we learn Heimdall is in possession of it. The revealation of the sixth and final stone would certainly be a big deal. Add in the fact that Asgard is already home to the Space Stone, and things could certainly get interesting. While Thor will have his hands full with Hela, the thought of Stones playing a role also adds another layer to the film. Could we see the big purple baddie Thanos? Marvel’s top brass has already teased how this film will help lead into the next Avengers film. So what better way to do that then have Thanos wreak havoc towards the end of the film? So there you have it. While the first two MCU films of the year are poised to be fun, it is the third that should be the most anticipated. The third chapter of the Thor franchise has plenty of reason for excitement. So which 2017 MCU film are you most looking to? Tell us in the comments! Share this: Facebook Tumblr Twitter LinkedIn Email Pinterest Reddit Pocket Print Telegram WhatsApp Skype Like this: Like Loading... |
Pace University’s new dormitory at 33 Beekman Street has rapidly risen, enhancing a formerly barren corner of the Financial District. The project’s developer is The Naftali Group, and the architect of record is Gene Kaufman. The building’s scope has seen a slight increase, with permits now indicating the structure will stand 34 stories and 340 feet tall. With the extra floor, the number of dwelling units have been increased to 385, up from 378 as of the previous update. Construction has made quick progress, and the structure appears to be closing in on topping-out. Glass is now being installed near street level, though the actual facade is missing. With the 870-foot Beekman Tower directly across the street, the additional density will go unnoticed on the skyline, though the impact of 33 Beekman on the street-level will be beneficial, given it will house students. Several under-utilized sites are nearby, and while the scope of 33 Beekman is relatively minor, the tower will hopefully provide an impetus for additional nearby development. A partial stop-work order has been placed on the property, but construction should resume shortly, and 33 Beekman Street is expected to be completed in 2015. Subscribe to the YIMBY email newsletter and receive the latest new development news in your inbox. Follow the YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews For any questions, comments, or feedback, email [email protected] |
David Cameron’s government committed an act of gross negligence and deepened the uncertainty surrounding the impact of Brexit by instructing Whitehall not to make any contingency plans for a vote to leave the EU, parliament’s foreign affairs select committee has said. The former Cabinet Office minister, Oliver Letwin, told the committee that no plans for Brexit were ordered because it was possible they would leak and then be seen as unwarranted interference in the referendum campaign. The committee’s report says Cameron’s “considered view not to instruct key departments including the Foreign Office (FCO) to plan for the possibility that the electorate would vote to leave the EU amounted to gross negligence”. “It has exacerbated post-referendum uncertainty both within the UK and amongst key international partners, and made the task now facing the new government substantially more difficult,” the report adds. What's the best Brexit Theresa May could get for Britain? Read more The select committee also said that Brexit means the FCO will need extra resources and personnel, and a clear understanding with the other new Whitehall departments about responsibilities on the Brexit process. It warned against a raid on Foreign Office staff by the new departments set up to deal with Brexit. Pointing out that the entire annual FCO budget “is only twice the sum spent every year on aid to Ethiopia alone”, the report says the FCO needs a substantial increase in resources. “Any raid on Whitehall personnel by the new Department for Exiting the European Union,” the committee’s report says, “is likely to include a particularly large proportion of officials from the FCO, including from its Europe directorate and from UKRep in Brussels.” The report adds that the former foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, had warned last year the FCO is already “pretty close to the irreducible minimum of UK-based staff on the network”. It says: “While it is essential that the Whitehall officials with relevant expertise are identified and put at the centre of managing the exit process, this cannot come at the expense of an already-overstretched FCO.” Ministers are understood to be bidding for extra staff in key embassies outside the EU, claiming that the Treasury’s decision to drop the aim of a budget surplus by the end of the parliament has signalled a relaxation of the purse strings. The report says: “This is also about the UK’s international reputation. We want to see the Foreign Office working effectively with the new Department for International Trade and the Department for Exiting the European Union. Our security, prosperity, values and democracy will depend on the strength of these key departments and their working relationships.” In a sign that relationships in Whitehall have not yet bedded down, George Bridges, a junior minister at the Department for Exiting the EU, was forced to return to the Lords to explain why he had not told peers that the government was planning to abandon its planned presidency of the EU. The announcement was made by Downing Street in the evening on Tuesday, only hours after Lord Bridges assured peers no such decision was imminent. Faced by warnings that peers would lose trust in him if he continued to be cavalier and failed to be open with parliament, Bridges refused to say when he had been informed of the Downing Street decision. He said abandoning the presidency scheduled for the second half of 2017 would save the UK anywhere between €35m (£29m) and €170m. |
Macomb Community College has agreed to drop controversial speech policies that were challenged by a lawsuit filed on behalf of a conservative student group on campus. The legal battle with the college was triggered by an incident in April, during which police officers confronted three members of the school’s Turning Point USA chapter who were raising awareness about the benefits of fossil fuels on campus. "Students at a public college shouldn’t have to request permission to exercise their First Amendment freedoms." [RELATED: T-Rex no match for campus censors at Michigan college] The students were told that they could not speak to other students and that their presence alone could constitute trespassing since they never filed a formal request for their activity from the administration. Months later, however, the college has agreed to a legal settlement with the TPUSA chapter, which was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom. “Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys have secured an agreement from officials at Macomb Community College to drop unconstitutional restrictions that banned students from engaging in expressive activity on campus unless they were granted a permit from the dean or vice president,” ADF said in a press release. “In practice, even approved speech was limited to a small zone comprising less than .001 percent of the college’s metro Detroit campus.” [RELATED: Conservative students ARRESTED for handing out Constitutions] According to The Washington Post, the school announced that it was changing the policy on Wednesday, claiming to be a “a strong proponent of free speech” and the First Amendment. “The new policy will no longer require students, in most cases, to seek prior approval for engaging in expressive activity on the college’s campuses,” Macomb Community College spokeswoman said in an email, as reported by The Post. “Macomb Community College is a strong proponent of free speech, committed to balancing the First Amendment rights of individuals with the safety and security of students, staff, and visitors.” ADF Legal Counsel Caleb Dalton praised the settlement on Wednesday, lauding the college for eliminating its “unconstitutional speech restrictions.” “Students at a public college shouldn’t have to request permission to exercise their First Amendment freedoms,” he said in a statement. “We commend the college for acting quickly to suspend these unconstitutional speech restrictions and vote on policies that ensure every student will be able to speak freely and peacefully, regardless of their viewpoint, without fear of being punished.” Follow this author on Facebook: Nikita Vladimirov |
Some of you may not realize that, in addition to my Not A Blog, I also have an actual homepage / website. You can find it here: http://www.georgerrmartin.com/ Check it out, if you have not visited before. There's lots and lots of content there, all sorts of things to explore.I must confess, though, I don't update it as often as I should. What can I say? I'm busy.But today we uploaded a couple of new items that some of you may be interested in: new samples from two forthcoming books.For all the Wild Cards fans out there, we've got a taste of HIGH STAKES, due out this August. HIGH STAKES is the twenty-third volume in the overall series, and the third and concluding part of the 'Fort Freak' triad. The sample is from the pen of the talented Ian Tregillis, and features Mollie Steunenberg, aka Tesseract. You'll find it at: http://www.georgerrmartin.com/wild-cards-excerpt/ ((Readers with weak stomachs be warned, HIGH STAKES is our Lovecraftian horror book, and things do get graphic and bloody and... well... horrible. Althought not so much in the sample)).And... because I know how much bitching I'd get if I offered a new sample from Wild Cards without also doing one from A SONG OF ICE & FIRE... we've also changed the WINDS OF WINTER sample on my wesbite, replacing the Alayne chapter that's been there for the past year with one featuring Arianne Martell. (Some of you may have heard me read this one at cons).Have a read at: http://www.georgerrmartin.com/excerpt-from-the-winds-of-winter/ You want to know what the Sand Snakes, Prince Doran, Areo Hotah, Ellaria Sand, Darkstar, and the rest will be up to in WINDS OF WINTER? Quite a lot, actually. The sample will give you a taste. For the rest, you will need to wait.And no, just to spike any bullshit rumors, changing the sample chapter doesmean I am done. See the icon up above? Monkey is still on my back... but he's growing, he is, and one day... |
A Fox News guest compared the symbolism of the LGBTQ pride flag with the Confederate flag on Tuesday’s “Fox & Friends.” Republican commentator and author Star Parker appeared on Tuesday morning’s episode, during which co-host Steve Doocy asked her about Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s statement Monday, which called on President Donald Trump to fire chief strategist Steve Bannon. The remarks came in response to the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend. “What do you think about [Pelosi], who made this statement yesterday: ‘It shouldn’t take the president of the United States two days to summon the basic decency to condemn murder and violence by Nazis and white supremacists,’” Doocy asked. “That is not what happened,” Parker replied. “Nancy Pelosi is exploiting an opportunity that they think will play to their side. On Saturday, there were two sides that were in an American city that were ― then it was escalating very rapidly. No, the question became then, well, do you denounce the one part of it?” Nick Oxford / Reuters Trevor Jackson displays a Confederate flag during a rally held by Sons of Confederate Veterans in Shawnee, Oklahoma, U.S. March 4, 2017. Parker said anger over the display of the Confederate flag is, actually, ironic. “But you know what’s really interesting and really incredible irony here is the same people that are demanding that the Confederate flag comes down are the same people that are insisting that the rainbow flag goes up,” she added. “These two flags represent the exact same thing. That certain people groups are not welcome here. So if Nancy Pelosi wants to say that we’re going to start shutting down First Amendment rights of a certain group of people, then what happens the next time that the homosexuals want to walk through an American city and protest and counter protesters come out?” Elijah Nouvelage / Reuters The pride flag was designed by artist Gilbert Baker, who was inspired in part by the reclaiming of the pink triangle ― a symbol used by the Nazis to designate gays ― to design the rainbow flag, whose colors represent everything from healing to harmony. Iterations of Confederate flags, however, have divisive symbolism. Some claim it represents southern pride, but others contend it only represents slavery, oppression and white nationalism. Matthew Guterl, a professor of Africana and American studies at Brown University who studies race post-Civil War, said it’s impossible to separate any positive from the negative. |
The Obsolete Man was an episode of the Twilight Zone that first aired in June 1961. In the episode, we see an authoritarian government that has absolute rule over its citizenry. A complete suppression of free speech, free thought and a complete devaluation of literature, arts and religion. A dystopian atheistic regime purportedly based on logic and reason, but is based on coercion of thought backed up by the crushing power of the state. In this world, a librarian is brought before a tribunal that determines the value of its citizens. The librarian, Romney Wordsworth, engages in a heated debate with the Chancellor. The Chancellor determines that since the state has banned books, a librarian is inherently obsolete. The librarian reveals he believes in God, a belief that has been banned by the state. The arrogant Chancellor, in his smug self-possession, agrees to have Romney appointed a personal assassin who will not divulge Romney’s preferred way to die. Further, the Chancellor agrees to have Romney’s “liquidation” televised for the nation to watch. Romney knew he had gotten under the Chancellor’s skin, so he invites the Chancellor to come to his room an hour before his liquidation. In his authoritarian bluster, the Chancellor sweeps in and lectures Romney about the supreme importance of the state and how people’s value is determined by authority figures in government, not from the value that people bring to their fellow man. The Chancellor falls for Romney’s plot, as the room is locked, so when the Chancellor tries to leave after asserting the state’s superiority over a lowly librarian, he finds he will die with the low-status librarian. The Chancellor is immediately distraught, not just at his imminent demise, but also because he will die with a low-status person because the state fundamentally values nobody – not even a high-ranking Chancellor. The Chancellor eventually breaks, exclaiming “Oh, God!” and starts beating on the door right before the explosion. Romney looks at him calmly as he reads from his Bible as the Chancellor escapes at the last second before Romney himself is killed by the blast. The Chancellor, having survived, realizes the horrible truth that the state values you only has long as you bring value to the state. Since he devalued and made a mockery of the state by begging for his life on live television, he is deemed obsolete by a new chancellor. In his trademark brilliance, Serling orates: The chancellor, the late chancellor, was only partly correct. He *was* obsolete. But so is the State, the entity he worshiped. Any state, any entity, any ideology that fails to recognize the worth, the dignity, the rights of man, that state is obsolete. A potential interpretation of this episode is that the state has no business in determining what people should be able to engage in their professions. In a free market, if people find a librarian provides a valuable service they will pay for, then it is legitimate. The state should not be calling the shots on who gets to be deemed to be relevant and those who would executed as obsolete. Imagine protesters agitating against a policy or law being considered in Congress. Abortion rights activists: Hands off my body you sexist males! Gun rights supporters: Let us have our guns back! Gay marriage advocates: Please let have equality with heterosexuals and have our marriages subsidized and recognized by you! As TLP pointed out, see the problem developing here? The problem isn’t whether the government should do X, Y or Z, it is that we inherently accede to the framework the state is all-powerful and we need to petition the government for rights. Instead of wondering, “Why does the government decide who is or isn’t married?,” we demand equality in the sense that all of our relationships are judged by the state. It is a victory if you are a fan of narcissistic authoritarianism. What the government gets wrong, we ignore everything it does that we agree with. In The Obsolete Man, would you have been upset if the Chancellor deemed a doctor relevant because he was an expert at heart surgery? You wouldn’t even blink an eye probably. That is the problem, we have been taught to ignore authoritarianism when we agree with or if it suits our needs. We only get angry and agitate for superficial change we it does not. The episode is purportedly about the failures and dangers of a totalitarian state, seemingly with no ideology but an incredibly strong dose of moral puritanism. Moral puritanism is a personality disorder that was initially embodied by the aptly named Puritans who settled in colonial New England after the Glorious Revolution. Their untoward psychology reverberates to this day still, most clearly embodied by mainstream political correctness and feminism. As always, the AV Club isn’t one to disappoint their liberal readership and I knew they would not like this episode, pretending to be put off by the religiosity of Romney. The reviewer gives the episode a B+, mostly for Burgress Meredith’s masterful portrayal of Romney. The comments are interesting and revealing, as they so the discomfit with an atheist state being against logic and reason – betraying their narcissistic authoritarianism. While a few commenters get the message that any ideology has the ability to fall in the depths of rank authoritarianism, many commenters are uneasy about that sentiment. Many are quick to nail Republicans, Christians and Mitt Romney to the wall as far more likely to enact an oppressive Christian theocracy. Apparently, they took The Handmaiden’s Tale as plausible in modern America. Anyway, this comment captures the narcissism: Totalitarian theocracies are much more plausible than a government of atheist “anti-free-thinkers.” Notice how atheist authoritarians are put in quotes, while theocracies are not. The commenter has a real difficult time handling that atheistic regimes are capable of suppressing thought. Plentiful historical examples aside, just in America, political atheists are a lock-step group. Conservative atheists, such as SE Cupp, are shunned in greater atheistic circles. What this commenter fails to realize is that authoritarian impulses may arise from religion, their root is in untoward psychology. You can’t just will away religion and suddenly free-thought will reign supreme. Loading... That is the sleigh of hand, though. This commenter would agree with that and then start talking about hegemonic modes of oppression based on the dominant group’s desire to cleave the in’s and the out’s neatly. More dialogue about the real and invidious nature of hatred in society, as embodied by racism, misogyny and homophobia. In this entirely predictable approach, it would be revealed that they weren’t against religion—or moral puritanism—-they just wanted an approach that reflected their indoctrination. One of the greatest delusions somebody can have is that they are free-thinker when they are not. Many people mindlessly tune into MSNBC, Fox News, Daily Kos, The Blaze and are told that by tuning in, they are becoming free, becoming educated and empowering themselves. No, said person or people are just doing what they are taught in society – to conform to the views of authority figures, in whatever form they come in. That is the liberal agitation here that is tellingly revealed by mainstream liberals absolute hatred of Fox News. They don’t hate Fox News per se, they hate what it represents – the wrong authority figure. The anger is not over ignorance, it is not over hatred – it is the fact that one news outlet has broken from the lockstep of other media Toutlets and peddles lukewarm right-wing liberal fare. Before I go on, understand I am not critiquing liberalism as an ideology (even though I often do), I am critiquing how liberalism is expressed in society and why the underpinnings are so rotten. Fox News represents what authority figures should not be: not liberal. The intense anger over the Bush administration, Fox News, and conservatives on the Supreme Court aren’t about the actual policies so much as it is about the fact that authoritarianism has one fatal flaw: the mask may be lifted off and it is revealed there is no God. As TLP says, there is nothing worse than an unreliable God. You could think, “Well, I don’t believe in God, so I am cool.” Supremely doubtful. Everybody has faith in something and, in America, there is a great change you value it in a puritanical way. Reconsider Fox News. The consternation over the alleged false reporting, distortion of facts may or may not be true. The reason it causes great consternation is those who need to believe there will always be a reliable authority figure out there. Unemployed? Turn on the TV, hear about the green shoots in the economy. Gay and suicidal? Turn on the “It Gets Better” project. Upset over pro-life advocates? Turn on Rachel Maddow and hear how it is all about misogyny and male ignorance. As usual, I am not so interested in the intent of the people engaging the acts, but why people pay attention. Remember, if you are watching it, it is for you. The existence of Fox News suggests that liberal authority figures could wrong. It simply isn’t just the fact that Fox News is doing what they shouldn’t be doing as an authority figure, it is that they are undermining liberal authority figures. If MSNBC is unreliable because Fox News reveals serious inconsistencies in MSNBC’s reporting, that isn’t a problem—it will become the problem. Fox News will have to be discredited, as holding up MSNBC as the gold standard for worship takes precedence over all else. You could fairly wonder why some liberals would get so mad over one news outlet producing allegedly bad, ideological news. That is a fair point, but it is dead wrong about moral puritanism. One key facet about puritanism is that they desperately seek converts to their psychology. Puritanism is about repressing anti-social impulses, so any deviation has the potential to cause great exasperation in the afflicted puritan. Fox News represents that. Many liberals desperately want to openly censor, distort and engage in outright hatred. Their narcissistic self-image prevents them understanding they already engage in that. I recall a liberal columnist waxing about how Republicans win elections because they will do whatever it takes to win, unlike the honorable Democrats who have values about honesty, integrity and commitment to truth. A bunch of hogwash. Liberals engage in great levels of censorship and distortion of the truth, as their puritanism necessitates that. Their narcissism prevents them from seeing themselves as being what they are supposedly against. Sure, Republicans do that as well, but Democrats and Republicans are often two sides of the same coin. Considering The Obsolete Man, in this context, it shows why some liberals are uncomfortable with the episode. Expansive, muscular government is vigorously trumpeted by them, so when they see a work that depicts that any ideology, when given enough power, will slip in jack-booted authoritarianism it can be disconcerting. When the all-powerful worshiped entity is shown to be inherently fallible, there has to be a greater entity to fall back on. I can imagine the reactions: “Oh, the Supreme Court will save us!” or “The voters will toss those bums next election!,” or, “Even if all those fail us, the arc of human history is toward justice and human rights, so we will always progress.” These are all excuses invented in order to not face the fact that “God,” or all-powerful authority figures, cannot save you from yourself. Legalizing gay marriage won’t solve your own inability to come to terms with your homosexuality or adding more regulations on X industry won’t solve the fact that you mindlessly trust the system so much you don’t do a little research on product X you are trying out. The system doesn’t want you thinking for yourself, going your own way, much less asking questions that cut to the heart of the issues that America faces. The system wants your fattening ass parked in the front TV at night and firmly in your cubicle in your mindless corporate job during the day. You exist to consume and produce for the state. If you do not do that, you have no value – you are obsolete. You don’t exist for yourself, you exist to maintain the state. The fact we have to petition for rights is the wrong question, the right question is why does the government limit our actions in the first place? I am not advancing a libertarian argument, but fundamentally questioning why we accept authoritarianism so willingly. Serling was only partly correct in his final oration—what he failed to note is that the state is already obsolete. Read Next: The Peak Of Democracy And The Death Of Feminism |
"They say that everything is bigger in Texas, and apparently that includes credit card debt burden," said Matt Schulz, senior industry analyst for CreditCards.com. The report assumed that borrowers would pay off 15 percent of their balances each month—a benchmark used by credit card debt counselors. Even with that steep payment, it would take a San Antonio resident with average debt and income 16 months to pay off his or her balance. Read MoreBest credit cards for college students and grads Overall, the average balance doesn't differ much between cities—there is only about a $900 gap between the most indebted and least indebted metros. But median earnings vary by $18,000. So on average, citizens in all cities take on about the same amount of debt, but some have to pay it off over a longer period. Over time, the average San Antonio debt will accrue nearly $450 in interest even if it is paid off at that optimistic 15 percent timeline. The average card holder in San Francisco will pay only $234 in interest and pay off his or her debt in nine months. "Job No. 1 for anybody with a credit card is to pay that balance off at the end of every month, but if you can't do that you've got to make sure you're paying the minimum," said Schulz. "Otherwise the debt can get out of control in a hurry." Schulz said he isn't sure why cities in Texas have higher debt burdens, but he noted that San Antonio has a large military presence. Service members are more likely to carry balances on their credit cards and have higher monthly debt expenses, he said. San Diego, another major military city, also came in high on the list of debt-burdened cities. "If it was easy to boost our incomes in a big way we'd all be doing it, but there are lots of little things you can do to help knock down debt," said Schulz, including transferring balances to a card with a lower rate or simply calling the bank and asking for a reduced rate. "People might be surprised about how often that works." |
Since it’s release in October 2011, the cryptocurrency: Litecoin ( thanks to its developer Charlie Lee) is revolutionizing the digital market with innovation and difference. Five short years later (2017), Litecoin has become a serious force to be reckoned with. According to analysts, Litecoin is currently competing with the best names on the market when taking into account potential growth and prospects for investors. Over the course of the last few months, Litecoin like many other cryptocurrencies has experienced fluctuation in its value. Non the less, in the mits of this fluctuation Litecoin has gradually increased its individual currency with 17.28%- surpassing its value of $78 per token. Reasons to invest in Litecoin today The following is an attempt to systematize the benefits of investing, trading or mining with Litecoin in comparison with other competing cryptocurrencies on the digital market. HARDWARE Litecoin utilizes a superior algorithm called; “the script algorithm” which is more effective and reliable than the common ‘SHA256 proof of work algorithm”. The script algorithm hardware uses its memory format to prevent attacks from possible susceptible treats. Other advantages Litecoin also has larger blocks which allow for more transactions per block and in addition, keeps standard network costs at a minimum. Not to mention great confirmation time and quicker access to blocks (every 2.5 minutes). Lite coin in the news In may of this year (2017), Litecoin has Introduced yet another addition;”SegWit Witness” to its network. This gives way to new features such as “smart contracts” which gives the user more control regarding payment preferences. This innovation allows for credible service delivery and security for the user. HOW SEGWIT WORKS “Segwit” combines two new and complex scripts (“smart crypt vault” and MAST- merkelized abstract syntax trees) to offer more control regarding how coins are spent and also conditions of payment which can be personalized or altered to satisfy a diverse range of users. In a nutshell, “SegWit” is the way to go if you’re looking for credible means to transfer currency on the digital market. In light of this new integration, Litecoin has also improved their network speed to compensate for the implementation of “SegWit”. What Litecoin holds for future investors In retrospect, Litecoin is one the most reliable cryptocurrencies to invest in this year (2017). With a range of new game-changing features, It is becoming a growing threat to well-known cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Etherum. Though not as popular as the above top-ranked cryptocurrencies, its growth within 2017 and preceding years is both astonishing and inevitable. Bitcoin being the top-ranked cryptocurrency on the market holds similar features as Litecoin making the eventuality even more possible as developers of Litecoin are striving to not only compete but to overtake the Digital Market. Throughout the course of the last few months, Litecoin has shown an impressive amount of potential for growth despite a vast competition. This is mainly because Bitcoin investors have now started investing in Litecoin. Reason being, it is no longer necessary to purchase Bitecoin before starting with Litecoin. More great news for future investors Analysts have concluded that by 2018 the value of Litecoin will grow to $300 or even $400 if Litecoin continues on its current path. Though this is far from the current value of Bitcoin, Litecoin has the potential to out-grow Etherum if this trend of innovation and investing continues. So, if you’re looking to make money on the digital market- opt for the safer, faster, more reliable and cost-efficient cryptocurrency. opt for Litecoin. Ads by Cointraffic |
After an almost year-long investigation, three people have been charged in the murder of Michael Smith, a security guard killed the day he was expected to testify in a criminal case.Smith was shot in front of his home in January. His wife was inside and heard the shots. Police said the gunman, 25-year-old Jermaine Douglas, followed Smith to Brookfield after Smith appeared in court intending to testify against Douglas' friend in another case."The victim Michael Smith parked in front of his Brookfield residence before exiting his car, Douglas pulled up and fired multiple shots at Michael Smith at point-blank range," said Chief James Episcopo of the Brookfield Police Department.Smith was working security at Shrine Nightclub in Chicago's South Loop several months earlier when he called police to arrest Comfort Robinson. Robinson was charged with several felonies.Police said they believe that was Robinson's motive to kill Smith.Brookfield police arrested and charged Robinson, Douglas, and 29-year-old Dejuyon Johnson. All three are charged with first degree murder."Michael Smith was a good man, a model citizen, a hardworking family man, who was killed in the prime of his life for doing his job," said Episcopo.Police had a warrant for Douglas' arrest last week, which led to a chase and a crash at West 87th Street and South Ashland Avenue on Chicago's South Side. Police said they found a loaded 50 caliber handgun on the scene.Police said Smith's grateful widow and mother sent a gift basket to them Monday after the suspects appeared in court."It hurt for a long time and I know everybody will be happy that we came to a conclusion on it," said Episcopo.Two of the suspects are being held on $250,000 bond, the third is held on no bond. All three are due in court next week. |
A controversial law on state treason that critics fear could be used to stamp out political dissent came into force in Russia on Wednesday, two days after President Vladimir Putin told human rights workers he was ready to “review” it. MOSCOW, November 14 (Marc Bennetts, RIA Novosti) – A controversial law on state treason that critics fear could be used to stamp out political dissent came into force in Russia on Wednesday, two days after President Vladimir Putin told human rights workers he was ready to “review” it. The law, initiated by the Federal Security Service (FSB), and signed by Putin on Tuesday, broadens the definition of treason in Russia’s Criminal Code to include activities that endanger Russia’s “constitutional order, sovereignty and territorial and state integrity.” While supporters argue that the law is meant to eliminate any potential for arbitrary interpretation, critics allege its wording is so vague it could be used against almost anyone in contact with foreigners. The law targets those offering consultation or financial services to foreign individuals and organizations engaged in “activities directed against Russia’s security.” The law makes the illegal possession of state secrets punishable by up to eight years in jail and/or fines of around $10,000. The maximum sentence for high treason remains 20 years, as in the previous version of the law. Putin appeared to respond to criticism of the law on Monday when he told a meeting of Kremlin’s state council on human rights that he would “take a more attentive look” at it. “Putin didn’t make any concrete promises,” Kremlin human rights council member Liliya Shibanova told RIA Novosti on Wednesday. “He said, ‘well, yes, maybe we should look at the format again’, but it was very vague. The media just presented it as ‘Putin promises to review treason bill.’” “But I believe this law is very dangerous,” added Shibanova, who is also head of the independent election monitoring group Golos, frequently the target of Kremlin ire. “If, for example, I pass on information about alleged poll violations to a foreign journalist, this could be considered espionage.” Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, confirmed on Wednesday the president was prepared to introduce amendments to the law if “there appear problem areas or certain aspects limiting the rights and freedoms of citizens.” Public Chamber member and pro-Kremlin analyst Sergei Markov told RIA Novosti last month that the new legislation was necessary to prevent the sort of violence that marred the eve of Putin’s May 7 inauguration for a third presidential term. “Russian officials have to react, meaning that if somebody violates the law it’s easier to stop him in the beginning than to wait until the situation becomes more dangerous,” he said. The treason law is part of a slew of legislation that critics say are aimed at curtailing the kind of anti-Putin protests that broke out after last December’s disputed parliamentary polls. Putin told the Kremlin rights council on Monday that controversial laws on protests, foreign-funded NGOs and internet controls were aimed at making Russia “effective and stable.” "Everything that is taking place here is being done for a sole purpose – to make our country stable. Effective and stable," Putin said. "It cannot be more stable if it is only based on the power of law enforcement and repressive agencies. It will be more stable if society is more collective, effective, responsible, if a bond is established between society, the citizen and the state," he added. |
On paper, Vince Gilligan sounds like one sick bastard. Even in an age of ultra-violent TV shows, the creator of Breaking Bad still stands out for his ability to conjure up some of the most gruesome scenes seen on screen: a bathtub full of corroded human guts; an ATM crushing a man’s skull; a throat slashed with a box-cutter; and a merry sequence where someone’s face is so thoroughly blown up we can see the charred remains of his brain. Even more diabolical is how Gilligan managed to rope millions of people into watching the story of an ordinary man – Walter White, high school chemistry teacher turned meth kingpin – die a slow death, both physically and morally, over five seasons. It’d almost be sadistic if not for the fact that Breaking Bad is so goddamn good. This isn’t even personal opinion any more. Ten Emmys and a Guinness World Record – for the most positively-reviewed TV show in history – speak for themselves. When I meet Vince Gilligan at Sydney Town Hall before interviewing him onstage, he comes across as a charming Southern gent: six feet tall, broad-shouldered, schmick in a grey suit and all charm and manners. This is Gilligan’s first visit to Australia, and by the end of tonight, he'll have addressed 3,000 people in two consecutive sold-out events for the Sydney Writers' Festival. They’re a surprisingly diverse lot. Outside Town Hall, fanboy Gen Y die-hards stand shoulder-to-shoulder with senior citizens who wouldn’t look out of place lining up for church, rather than listening to a man discuss murder and methamphetamines. Gilligan is surprised by the mix. After all, he says, the concept of Breaking Bad isn’t exactly a crowd-pleasing sell. Years ago, when Gilligan first started pitching the program, the CEO of Sony America told him it was the single worst idea for a television show he’d heard in his whole life. “To start with, [it’s a show about] a 50-year-old guy,” Gilligan says later. “A 50-year-old anybody is strike one in a lot of TV executives’ minds. Strike two: dying of cancer! Strike three: meth! And you’re out.” As festival director Jemma Birrell introduces Gilligan on stage, she mentions Australia has a special relationship with Breaking Bad. Though the show’s finale attracted over 10 million viewers in the US alone, over 500,000 people illegally downloaded the episode soon after. Australia accounted for 18% of those downloads, officially making us the world’s worst pirates of Breaking Bad. Town Hall’s audience gasps, appalled, before laughing and breaking out into self-congratulatory applause. Backstage, I shoot Gilligan an apologetic, sheepish grin on behalf of my country. Gilligan smiles and shrugs, as if to say, “Eh, what are you going to do?” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Gilligan poses with the Sydney garbage van emblazoned with his words. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP On stage, we survey the audience, asking how many people watched Breaking Bad on pay TV. Several hands go up. “And how many of you streamed or downloaded it,” I ask, as hands shoot up, “by legal means?” Hands quickly go down. Gilligan chuckles. Is it flattering to have a show in such demand or are we just a nation of thieves? “Well … no, you’re nice people,” he says carefully. “What can be said? You hope to get paid for your work. On the other hand, I truly am flattered people want to watch it, no matter how they get it.” Part of the responsibility, he adds diplomatically, is also on distributors. Film studios have to counter illegal downloads with simultaneous releases across territories and platforms, so “it behooves the television industry how to figure out how to do that as well”. Last year, the US Writers Guild of America ranked Breaking Bad as the 13th best-written TV series of all time, but Gilligan admits some episodes drove the writers utterly insane. When trying to resolve some of the series’ trickier plot points – what Walt was going to do with a machine gun planted in season five’s flash-forward; how Walt and Jesse were supposed to escape an RV with Walt’s DEA agent brother-in-law outside – Gilligan would get up to literally bang his head against the wall. “It’s something I later discovered distressed one of my female co-writers,” he says. A problem that would take a Breaking Bad character minutes to unlock often took a team of writers the best part of a week to work out. For a long time, being so occupied with creating the show meant Gilligan was also oblivious to the how some viewers responded to Breaking Bad online. Widespread hatred of Skyler White – played by Anna Gunn – particularly caught cast and crew off guard. For Gilligan’s benefit, I bring up some of the tamer Skyler White internet memes circulating – the few that aren’t outright misogynistic – and read them out loud. Horrified, Gilligan blinks, then laughs. “Those are … really funny,” he says. “But in the writers room, we were always very sympathetic to Skyler. She made a lot of mistakes, but not one millionth the number Walt did.” Still, what was the reasoning behind making Skyler give what surely must be the worst hand-job ever portrayed on TV? Where did that come from? For a moment, Gilligan is flummoxed. “Well,” he says, blushing. “From being married for 22 years, I guess.” The crowd roars laughing. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Vince Gilligan meets his public ... and signs them. Photograph: Jamie Williams After Gilligan gets a standing ovation, people rush to the stage, even though they’ve been told he won’t be autographing anything tonight. One woman pleads as Gilligan starts to head backstage: “Vince, pleeeaase.” Gilligan looks at her sympathetically. “Ah, I’m a softie,” he says, taking a step towards her. Dozens more people rush towards him, asking him to sign Breaking Bad mugs, event tickets and even scraps of paper. He signs every single thing handed to him. Although he’s been up for hours, Gilligan is then ushered to a small room at the back of the town hall, where he does a meet and greet with senior members of the Australian Writers Guild. Some of the most towering figures in local film and TV are in this room, but even they are in awe of the Gilligan, and stand around him like respectful high school students getting a visit from a famous politician. As Vince speaks to the writers’ guild, his name spikes in Twitter Australia’s trending topics. In several hours from now, several garbage trucks in Sydney will start their shifts, emblazoned with a quote from Breaking Bad as part of a promotional stunt for the Sydney Writers' Festival. The quote is one of Walter White’s most memorable lines – “I am not in danger, Skyler; I am the danger” – in effect, creating the most sinister-looking garbage trucks ever to service Sydney’s suburbs. Despite the fever around his Australian visit, Gilligan insists he’s just an ordinary dude. “Part of what intrigued me about Walter White is he started off very much like me. He was very a plain, vanilla middle-aged guy, who was kind of boring. You’d walk past him in the street and not look twice. So I’m very much like Walter White,” he says, then pauses. “Prior to him cooking meth.” There’s also the shared moustache, of course. And let’s not forget that both men – the antihero for the 21st century, and the man who created him – make the purest and most addictive products around. |
ST. LOUIS -- Brian Wilson will make his debut as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization Wednesday for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said Monday. Wilson, who underwent Tommy John surgery last April after two early-season appearances with the San Francisco Giants, signed a one-year contract with the Dodgers last week and has not pitched since April 12 of last season. “He’s to the point where he can start throwing in games outside of Arizona,” Mattingly said. “The first seven had to be in Arizona.” The plan for Wilson was to go through a two-week program at the Dodgers' spring training complex in Arizona and continue on to Rancho Cucamonga when he felt ready. “We’re just moving him forward and getting him ready,” Mattingly said. “We’re trying to give him a semi-spring training. We want him to be ready and feel like he’s ready. If we’re seven days from now and he feels like he needs more time, we’re not forced into anything. There’s no hard deadline when he has to be here." When Mattingly was asked when he’d like to have Wilson in the bullpen, he said, “As soon as possible and as soon as he feels like he’s ready. … Sooner rather than later.” |
In this post I am going to: Illustrate a root cause of procrastination Show a simple way to improve your emotional state Stress the importance of action, regardless of inspiration This post doesn’t address all the complexities involved in procrastination, but it does get to the root of one major cause. Tell me if this story sounds familiar to you: You need to work on a project. It could be any project, for school, for a customer, for an employer, for your spouse, or for yourself. Maybe it’s new software, a blog post, negotiating a lease, developing a brand, or getting in shape. Your logical mind knows the project is within your abilities, that working on the project will be interesting and rewarding, and that you’ll find satisfaction upon completing your project. But knowing the above doesn’t matter—you procrastinate anyway. Why do you procrastinate even when you know taking action will be rewarding? You have an emotional hang-up. It feels like a tightness in your chest—like a cross between fear and guilt. It’s an emotional dam in your creative stream. You want to bust that dam and get the stream flowing before you act. So you tell yourself, “I don’t feel like doing this right now.” You aren’t lying to yourself—you feel sick about it, so you blow it off until you feel better. You find a distraction that gives you immediate relief, a video game, a night out, food, television, surfing nonsense on the internet, or even drugs and alcohol. You’re hoped “a little fun” will make you feel better so you can get motivated. But now you’ve taken a night off, and when you face your project, that same ugly feeling returns, only more intense this time, and you escape into another distraction. But you remember working on projects in the past, and it wasn’t bad. In reality, working on the project made you feel great. So why don’t you do it? It comes from years of mental programming. As a child you started saying “I don’t feel like it” to your parents, other kids, and your teachers. You’ve made it a habit to avoid things you don’t feel like doing. You came to believe you had to feel a certain way in order to take action. Somehow your learning process was interrupted. You began to look for stuff “you felt like doing” and did only that. But you got it wrong. You judged the worthiness of an activity based on the feelings you had before you acted. Emotional health is developed by acting and thinking in a way that is likely to result in a positive emotional state despite your feelings at the moment. How you feel right now doesn’t matter. If you want to feel happy and free… All that matters is the likely result of the next action you take. I am not asking, “Is it likely to make you feel good for the next five minutes?” I am asking, “Is the next action you take likely to result in confidence, pride, esteem, and happiness in the long term?” Live in the now. It is the only place you can live. But use your thoughts and actions to build a better tomorrow. You were born to create tomorrow. Don’t leave it to chance. One more time… If you feel unmotivated and uninspired, act anyway. Get moving and motivation and inspiration will follow. |
Looking for news you can trust? Subscribe to our free newsletters. This story first appeared on the TomDispatch website. Before September 11, 2001, more than half the border crossings between the United States and Canada were left unguarded at night, with only rubber cones separating the two countries. Since then, that 4,000 mile “point of pride,” as Toronto’s Globe and Mail once dubbed it, has increasingly been replaced by a US homeland security lockdown, although it’s possible that, like Egyptian-American Abdallah Matthews, you haven’t noticed. The first time he experiences this newly hardened US-Canada border, it takes him by surprise. It’s a freezing late December day and Matthews, a lawyer (who asked me to change his name), is on the passenger side of a car as he and three friends cross the Blue Water Bridge from Sarnia, Ontario, to the old industrial town of Port Huron, Michigan. They are returning from the Reviving the Islamic Spirit conference in Toronto, chatting and happy to be almost home when the car pulls up to the booth, where a blue-uniformed US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent stands. The 60,000-strong CBP is the border enforcement arm of the Department of Homeland Security and includes both customs and US Border Patrol agents. What is about to happen is the furthest thing from Matthews’s mind. He’s from Port Huron and has crossed this border “a million times before.” After scanning their passports and looking at a computer screen in the booth, the agent says to the driver, as Matthews tells the story: “Sir, turn off the vehicle, hand me the key, and step out of the car.” He hears the snap of handcuffs going around his friend’s wrists. Disoriented, he turns around and sees uniformed men kneeling behind their car, firearms drawn. “To my disbelief, situated behind us are agents, pointing their guns.” The CBP officer asks Matthews and the remaining passengers to get out of the car and escorts them to a waiting room. Thirty minutes later, he, too, is handcuffed and in a cell. Forty-five minutes after that another homeland security agent brings him into a room with no chairs. The agent tells him that he can sit down, but all he sees is a countertop. “Can I just stand?” he asks. And he does so for what seems like an eternity with the door wide open, attempting to smile at the agents who pass by. “I’m trying to be nice,” is how he put it. Finally, in a third room, the interrogation begins. Although they question Matthews about his religious beliefs and various Islamic issues, the two agents are “nice.” They ask him: Where’d you go? What kind of law do you practice? He tells them that a former law professor was presenting a paper at the annual conference, whose purpose is to revive “Islamic traditions of education, tolerance, and introspection.” They ask if he’s received military training abroad. This, he tells me, “stood out as one of their more bizarre questions.” When the CBP lets him and his friends go, he still thinks it was a mistake. However, Lena Masri of the Council of American Islamic Relations-Michigan (CAIR-MI) reports that Matthews’s experience is becoming “chillingly” commonplace for Michigan’s Arab and Muslim community at border crossings. In 2012, CAIR-MI was receiving five to seven complaints about similar stops per week. The detainees are all Arab, all male, all questioned at length. They are asked about religion, if they spend time at the mosque, and who their Imam is. According to CAIR-MI accounts, CBP agents repeatedly handcuff these border-crossers, often brandish weapons, conduct invasive, often sexually humiliating body searches, and detain people for from two to 12 hours. Because of this, some of the detainees have lost job opportunities or jobs, or given up on educational opportunities in Canada. Many are now afraid to cross the border to see their families who live in Canada. (CAIR-MI has filed a lawsuit against the CBP and other governmental agencies.) Months later, thinking there is no way this can happen again, Matthews travels to Canada and crosses the border, this time alone, on the Blue Water Bridge to Port Huron. Matthews still hadn’t grasped the seismic changes in Washington’s attitude toward our northern border since 9/11. Port Huron, his small hometown, where a protest group, Students for a Democratic Society, first famously declared themselves against racism and alienation in 1962, is now part of the “frontline” in defense of the “homeland.” As a result, Matthews finds himself a casualty of a new war, one that its architects and proponents see as a permanent bulwark not only against non-citizens generally, but also people like Matthews from “undesirable” ethno-religious groups or communities in the United States. While a militarized enforcement regime has long existed in the U.S-Mexico borderlands, its far more intense post-9/11 version is also proving geographically expansive. Now, the entire US perimeter has become part of a Fortress USA mentality and a lockdown reality. Unlike on our southern border, there is still no wall to our north on what was once dubbed the “longest undefended border in the world.” But don’t let that fool you. The US-Canadian border is increasingly a national security hotspot watched over by drones, surveillance towers, and agents of the Department of Homeland Security. The Canadian Threat Bert Tussing, US Army War College Homeland Defense and Security Director, realizes that when people think of border security, what immediately comes to mind is the US-Mexico border. After all, he is speaking in El Paso, Texas, where in the early 1990s the massive transformation and expansion of the border enforcement apparatus was born. Operation Blockade (later renamed Operation Hold-the-Line) became the Clinton administration’s blueprint for the walls, double-fencing, cameras, sensors, stadium-lighting, and concentration of Border Patrol agents now seen in urbanized areas—and some rural ones as well—from Brownsville, Texas, to San Diego, California. Tussing believes that this sort of intense surveillance, which has literally deformed communities throughout the southwest, should be brought to the northern border as well. A former Marine with close-cropped brown hair, Tussing has a Napoleonic stature and despises being stuck behind a podium. “I kind of like moving around,” he quips before starting “The Changing Role of the Military in Border Security Operations,” his talk at last October’s Border Management Conference and Technology Expo. Perhaps Tussing realizes that his audience holds a new breed of border-security entrepreneur when his initial Army-Marine joke falls flat. Behind the small audience are booths from 74 companies selling their border-security wares. These nomadic malls of the surveillance state are popping up in ever more places each year. Hanging from the high ceiling is a white surveillance aerostat made by an Israeli company. Latched onto the bottom of this billowing balloon are cameras that, even 150 feet away, can zoom in on the comments I’m scrawling in my notebook. Nearby sits a mannequin in a beige body suit, equipped with a gas mask. It’s all part of the equipment and technology that the developing industry has in mind for our southern border, and increasingly the northern one as well. Tussing homes in on a 2010 statistic: 59,000 people (“illegals if you will”) tried to enter the United States from countries “other than Mexico, the euphemistic OTMs.” Six hundred and sixty-three of these “OTMs” were from countries Tussing calls “special-interest nations” such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya, and Somalia, and also from countries the US has identified as state-sponsors of terrorism like Cuba, Iran, Sudan, and Syria. Next, he turns to the U.S-Canada divide, mentioning the 1999 case of Ahmed Ressam who would have become “the millennium bomber,” if not for an astute US Customs agent in Washington state. Here, as Tussing sees it, is the crux of the problem: “We found over time that he was able to do what he was to do because of the comparatively liberal immigration and asylum laws that exist today in Canada, which allowed him a safe haven. Which allowed him a planning area. Which allowed him an opportunity to build bombs. Which allowed him an opportunity to arrange his logistics.” He pauses. “This is not to say that Canada’s laws are wrong, but they are different from ours.” A Government Accountablity Office report, he adds, claims that “the risk of terrorist activity is high along the northern border.” Of that 4,000-mile border between the two countries, he adds, “only 32 of those miles are categorized as what we say are acceptable levels of control.” As what Tussing calls the “coup de grâce” to his argument for reinforcements of every sort along that border, he quotes Alan Bersin, former director of Customs and Border Protection: “In terms of the terrorist threat, it’s more commonly accepted that the most significant threat comes from the north,” not the south. A Constitution-Free Zone In 2012, the US government spent more on the Homeland Security agencies responsible for border security than all of its other principal federal law enforcement agencies combined. The $18 billion allocated to Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement significantly exceeds the $14.4 billion that makes up the combined budgets of the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Secret Service, the US Marshal Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. In the years since 9/11, more than $100 billion has been spent on border security. Much of that went to the southern border, but now an ever larger chunk is heading north. On that northern border, things have come a long way since North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan in 2001 held up an orange cone and said, “This is America’s security at our border crossing… America can’t effectively combat terrorism if it doesn’t control its borders.” Now Predator B drones, sometimes in the air for 20 hours at a stretch, are doing surveillance work from Grand Forks, North Dakota, to Spokane, Washington. Expensive surveillance towers equipped with night-vision cameras and sophisticated radar have been erected along the St. Clair and Niagara Rivers in Michigan and western New York state. Homeland Security built a $30 million border security “war room” at Michigan’s Selfridge Air National Guard Base, which, with its “video wall,” is worthy of a Hollywood action flick. This “gold standard” for border protection, as the CBP dubs it, is now one of many places where agents continuously observe those rivers of the north. As at Selfridge, so many resources and so much money has been poured into the frontlines of “homeland security,” and just upstream from cash-starved, post-industrial Detroit, the poorest city of its size in the United States. In addition, the CBP’s Office of Air and Marine—essentially Homeland Security’s air force and navy—has established eight US bases along the border from Plattsburgh, New York, to Bellingham, Washington. While such bases are commonplace on the southern border, they are new on the Canadian frontier. In addition, new state-of-the art Border Patrol stations are popping up in places like Pembina, North Dakota (at the cost of $13 million), International Falls, Minnesota ($6.8 million), and other places. This advance of the homeland security state in the north, funded and supported by Congress, seems both uncontroversial and unstoppable. Don’t think that the eternal bolstering of “border security” is just a matter of fortifying the boundary line, either. Last November, the CBP ordered an additional 14 unmanned aerial vehicles. (They are, however, still waiting for Congress to appropriate the funding for this five-year plan.) With this doubling of its fleet, there will undoubtedly be more surveillance drones flying over major US urban areas like Detroit, Buffalo, Syracuse, Bangor, and Seattle, places the ACLU has classified as in a “Constitution-free zone.” That zone—up to 100 miles from any external US border—is the area that the Supreme Court has deemed a “reasonable distance” in which to engage in border security operations, including warrantless searches. As in the Southwest, expect more interior checkpoints where federal agents will ask people about their citizenship, as they did to Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy in 2008. In the zone, you have the developing blueprint for a country not only in perpetual lockdown, but also under increasing surveillance. According to the ACLU, if you were to include the southern border, the northern border, and coastal areas in this zone, it would contain 200 million people, a potential “border” jurisdiction encompassing two-thirds of the US population. It’s October 2007 when I get my first glimpse of this developing Constitution-free zone in action at a Greyhound bus station in Buffalo, New York. I’m with Miguel Angel Vasquez de la Rosa, a Mexican lawyer who is brown-skinned and speaks only Spanish. As we enter the station, we spot two beefy Border Patrol agents in their dark-green uniforms patrolling the waiting area. I have to blink to make sure I’m not seeing things, to remember where I am. I’m originally from this area, but have lived for years along the US-Mexican border where I’ve grown used to seeing the “men in green.” I can’t remember ever seeing them here. Before 9/11, Border Patrol agents on the southern border used to joke that they went north to “go fishing.” Not anymore. The 2001 USA Patriot Act mandated a 300% increase in Border Patrol personnel on the northern border, as well as the emplacement of more surveillance technology there. Further legislation in 2004 required that 20% of the agency’s new recruits be stationed on the Canadian divide. The number of US Border Patrol agents on the northern border went from 340 in 2001 to 1,008 in 2005 to 2,263 in 2010. Now, the number is approaching 3,000. That’s still small compared to the almost 19,000 on the southern border, but significant once you add in the “force multipliers,” since Border Patrol works ever more closely with local police and other agencies. For example, according to immigration lawyer Jose Perez, New York State troopers call the Border Patrol from Interstate-90 outside of Syracuse about a suspected undocumented person about 10 times a day on average. “And we aren’t even in Arizona.” On that day in Buffalo, the two agents made a beeline for Miguel to check his visa. A moment later, the hulking agents are standing over another brown-skinned man who is rifling through a blue duffle bag, desperately searching for his documents. Not long after, handcuffed, he is walked to the ticket counter with the agents on either side. Somehow, cuffed, the agents expect him to retrieve his ticket from the bag, now on the counter. There are so many people watching that it seems like a ritual of humiliation. Since 2007, this sort of moment has become ever more usual across the northern border region in bus and train stations, as “homeland security” gains ever more traction and an ever wider definition. The Border Patrol are, for instance, staking out Latino community centers in Detroit, and working closely with the police on the Olympic peninsula in Washington state, leading to a much wider enforcement dragnet, which looks an awful lot like round-ups of the usual suspects. After 9/11, the Border Patrol’s number one mission became stopping terrorists and weapons of mass destruction from coming into the country between the ports of entry. The Border Patrol, however, is “an agency that doesn’t have limitations,” says Joanne Macri, director of the Criminal Defense Immigration Project of the New York State Defender Association. “With police officers, people have more due process protection.” Since 9/11, she adds, they have become “the national security police.” And from what we know of their arrest records, it’s possible to grasp their definition of national security. Just in Rochester, New York, between 2005 and 2009, the CBP classified 2,776 arrests during what it terms “transportation raids” by skin complexion. The results: 71.2% of medium complexion and 12.9% black. Only 0.9% of their arrests were of “fair” complexion. And agents have had incentives to increase the numbers of people they sweep up, including Home Depot gift certificates, cash bonuses, and vacation time. Macri tells me that it is now ever more common for armed national security police to pull people “who don’t belong” off buses and trains in the name of national security. In 2011, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement director John Morton, there were more than 47,000 deportations of undocumented people along the northern border. Too Close to Home The next time Abdallah Matthews crosses the international border, a familiar face asks him the normal questions: Where did you go in Canada? What was the purpose of your trip? Matthews is already in the same CBP waiting area, has already been handcuffed, and can’t believe it’s happening again. The CBP agent suddenly stops. “Do you remember me?” Matthews peers at him, and finally says, “Yes, I played soccer with you.” They haven’t seen each other since high school. They briefly reminisce, two men who grew up together along the St. Clair River before all those expensive surveillance towers with infrared cameras and radar went up. Although Matthews and the CBP agent were once friendly, although they lived in the same small town, there is now a boundary between them. Matthews struggles against this divide. He pleads: “You know who I am. I grew up here. I’ve been over this border a million times.” This is, of course, only one of thousands of related stories happening along US borders, north and south, in a universe in which, as anthropologist Josiah Heyman puts it, there are increasingly only two kinds of people: “the watchers and the watched.” And keep in mind that, with only “32 miles” under operational control, this is just the beginning. The US border enforcement apparatus is only starting its migration north. Matthews’s former high-school acquaintance guides him to the now-familiar room with the counter where three interrogators are waiting for him. They tell him to spread his legs. Then they order him to take off his shoes. It’s hard to take them off, however, when your hands are cuffed behind your back. The two interrogators in front are already shouting questions at him. (“What were you doing in Canada?”) The one behind him kicks his shoes. Hard. Then, after Matthews finally manages to get them off, the agent searches under his waistband. When they are done, Matthews asks the agents what they would do if he were to circle around, reenter Canada, and cross the border again. The agents assure him that they would have to do the same exact thing—handcuff, detain, and interrogate him as if his previous times had never happened. Todd Miller has researched and written about US-Mexican border issues for more than 10 years. He has worked on both sides of the border for BorderLinks in Tucson, Arizona, and Witness for Peace in Oaxaca, Mexico. He now writes on border and immigration issues for NACLA Report on the Americas and its blog “Border Wars,” among other places. He is at work on his first book, Border Patrol Nation, for the Open Media Series of City Lights Books. Follow TomDispatch on Twitter @TomDispatch and join us on Facebook. Check out the newest Dispatch book, Nick Turse’s The Changing Face of Empire: Special Ops, Drones, Proxy Fighters, Secret Bases, and Cyberwarfare. To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from TomDispatch.com here. |
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