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Since his debut down in NXT, Kevin Owens has been one of the malicious superstars in WWE. The long-time veteran in the business has received quite a push in the early going on the main cards, and that push should lead to an Intercontinental Championship match victory on Sunday against Ryback. Back in December, Kevin Owens made his long-awaited debut in NXT and destroyed CJ Parker, a current member of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Ever since then, Owens has mauled anyone and everyone in his path. Along the way, Owens won the NXT Championship from the injured Sami Zayn, while also defeating John Cena in his WWE pay-per-view debut back in May. Here’s a legitimate question: What from Kevin Owens’ work haven’t you liked? Owens draws good heat as a heel for his arrogant, non-caring attitude. On top of his solid work on the microphone, Owens’s in-ring work rivals anyone — and I mean anyone — on any roster in the business. He’s a tremendous worker and has earned every bit of this push to the main roster. ALSO ON DAILY DDT: 10 Best Matches in Night of Champions History After Owens moved on from the Cena feud, his matches with Cesaro (specifically at SummerSlam in August) were all top-notch bouts and really showed not only how good Cesaro is, but how good Owens is for any aspect of a feud. His latest feud with Intercontinental Champion Ryback has been no different, despite simply being just thrown together in the past couple weeks. This past Monday on Raw, Owens argued with The Big Guy about a book called The Secret that sincerely changed Ryback’s life out of the ring. That has “white-hot heel” written all over it. So, when Sunday night in Houston rolls around, there will be an Intercontinental Championship match and the winner of that match and new Intercontinental Champion should be Kevin Owens. Owens winning the Intercontinental gold would not only be “best for business”, it would show that WWE is committed to their up-and-coming stars (LIKE THEY SHOULD BE). Kevin Owens is one of many potential superstars in WWE, and by winning his first title on the main roster four months after his debut, shows that the higher-ups are wanting to set up their next Cena and Randy Ortons. Granted, Ryback should be commended for his improvement in and out of the ring (his mic work was atrocious before), but Owens has been stellar since December. He not only embraces the role of the egotistic heel, his work for a 270-pound man who is also 31 years old is fantastic. Kenny Herzog of Rolling Stone Magazine went as far as calling Kevin Owens the wrestler of the year in WWE back in July. Personally, my choice would’ve been Seth Rollins for that distinction, but Herzog made a compelling case for Owens. Here’s Herzog’s opening paragraph: Forget Seth Rollins’ cowardly connivances or Bray Wyatt’s boogeyman shtick: You want to see some real heel heat? Tune in to Raw whenever Kevin Owens’ music hits and he moseys down the ramp to cut a promo or powerbomb your hero off the ring apron. Since his high-profile debut in NXT late last year, KO has become a phenomenon, jumping to the big leagues and turning the clock back to a pre-Attitude Era by committing himself to being a great, straight bad guy – with no chaser or chance of confusing him for an anti-hero. The part of Herzog’s case for Owens being the top guy since his debut I agree with most is, not only does Owens have ability to connect with fans in terms of drawing heat, he has that nostalgic feel of the golden days of wrestling. Owens makes you despise him, but he’s such a powerhouse and such a dominant force, you pretty much have no choice but to like the guy. Will Kevin Owens win his first title on the main roster this Sunday? For storyline purposes, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Owens fell to Ryback in Houston. This match was basically thrown together in a matter of two exchanges between the two men, so there’s probably a program in the works for the two combatants. But, with all signs points to John Cena winning back the United States title and Charlotte officially winning her first Divas title on Sunday night, I would totally be for restarting the Kevin Owens-Cesaro feud with the Intercontinental title on the line this time. |
A lot of New Orleans Saints fans (including myself) are wondering "just what will the 2012 season will have in store for us?" Our franchise QB is still not signed to a long term deal yet, two of our defensive captains have been handed down suspensions (one for the entire season) and in addition to suspensions to other coaches and our GM , we are currently without our head coach/mastermind Sean Payton until the end of next year's Super Bowl. But no one ever said we couldn't use his hologram :) According to the Canal Street Chronicles , the Saints will use the same technology that we all saw at Coachella when Tupac dazzled the crowd (and later, the internet) with a 'live performance' 15 years after his death. That's right, the New Orleans Saints will have all the presence of their elite head coach on the sideline, without him actually being in the building at all, which totally stays within the rules. Sort of. There is nothing in the lengthy terms of Sean Payton's suspension that restricts his holographic likeness (seen in the photo above thanks to the photoshop genius of the Canal St. Chronicles ) from participating on the sidelines or in the day to day affairs as head coach of the New Orleans Saints . NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell seems to be reluctantly on board, but is none too happy about being outsmarted by the Saints organization. We're in uncharted territory here. Obviously, league rules don't specifically state anything about holograms, or any other likeness for that matter. And since it wouldn't really be Sean out there, I feel I've got to allow it. Even though it's against my better judgement and I hate the [edited] Saints. [via Canal St. Chronicles ] The part that bums me out, is that the holographic Sean Payton - aka Holo-Coach - won't actually be able to react to any type of real time situation, and his speaking capabilities will be limited to all the pre-recorded data compiled from previous film and audio recordings. So why even waste time going through all the trouble, if it's just going to piss Roger Goodell off even more? Why waste the money? Shouldn't we just use the money to get Drew signed to the long term deal that he's looking for? Saints' General Manager Mickey Loomis explains why the Saints are going to such great lengths and offers a time table of when we will actually get to see the Sean Payton hologram in the full story from the Canal Street Chronicles. ;) Oh, and before you do that, I would highly suggest you looking up the definition to the word 'satire.' |
SRINAGAR: Are films just glamorized prostitution? Is the best gift on Teacher’s Day from a Muslim to a non-Muslim giving him the help to overcome the “moral dirt in his natural environment”? Was 9/11 attack an excuse to restart the Crusades? Or was it an attack by Freemasons using black magic to signify the destruction of the Kaaba and prepare grounds for the return of the anti-Christ to kill Muslims?Welcome to the world of English mainstream media in Kashmir . Starting from September 3 until September 11, readers of English dailies here have been offered a feast of bigotry and conspiracy theories In the first week of September, one of Kashmir’s premier news websites published an article by one of its reporters which soon went viral. Cinema, it said, was nothing but glamorized prostitution, a “nanga naach” where actors’ roles promote adultery, nudity and worse.“How does one define an actress who was caressed by an actor years later plays the role of a mother to the same actor? Isn’t that incest?” It would be funny if it weren’t very serious.When Teacher’s Day came two days later on September 5, one of Kashmir’s largest English newspapers listed on its edit page the various challenges before a teacher today, foremost being the anti-Islam component of the curriculum. Then came unveiled female teachers. And the gateway to all evil: co-education, “an evil that creates a mansion of evils like dancing, immodesty and sex scandals”.The author is generous towards non-Muslim students who, he says, should be protected from secularism because “only Islam can provide them with the spiritual protection from the moral dirt they have acquired in their own environments”.This piece of advice so impressed the Delhi-educated owner of yet another English daily in Srinagar that it was republished two days later. Not to be left behind, two other newspapers squared up accounts on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The piece on the edit page was pretty straightforward. Titled ‘9/11: A Muslim Tragedy’, it first laid up the normal conspiracy theory that the American establishment itself was behind the attacks. Why? To re-launch the Crusades. “The United States of America got the mother of all excuses to wage a war against Muslims. It was, in fact, a war of terror, a war on Islam and Muslims.”Another English newspaper took to exposing the secret sect, the Illuminati (which features in Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’) based on the “Jewish black magic Kabala”. The author then educates readers on how number 11 is the number of Satan. From the date 9/11 to the flight number of the first aircraft to hit the north tower (Flight 11) to the fact that “New York is the 11th city added to the Union”, the article works up a grand finale: “The architect who planned the trade towers said he was deeply influenced by the architecture of the Kaaba, so 9/11 should act as a hint to all Muslims that they are planning to destruct (sic) the Muslim holy places”.These aren’t the rants of anonymous bloggers nor the work of mad pamphleteers. These have been written by educated and respectable members of society, and published in the Valley’s largest circulating newspapers, edited by respected journalists.And they aren’t talking to deaf ears. A cross section of society in Kashmir believes a lot of these theories. From Arshad, a shopkeeper who believes that 9/11 was a CIA-Mossad joint operation, to the Kashmir University students who block music shows because they are “haraam”; from Hina, the housewife who believes that the Mumbai attacks were a handiwork of RAW to silence police officer Hemant Karkare, to the doctor who believes that al-Qaida is a CIA front.It’s a strange cocktail of defensiveness and victimhood, where any story, no matter how outlandish, finds an audience if it helps deflect any soul searching. There are many in Kashmir who reject these theories, but only in private, leaving the stage to those who espouse them. So, in a couple of schools in Srinagar, male teachers and some students staged a walkout in a dance performance by 10-year-old girls. In the same Kashmir, where everyone is addicted to films, cinema halls haven’t got a hope in hell of opening.The ones who don’t believe in conspiracy theories are frightened into silence. They listen quietly when someone describes Lashkar supremo Hafiz Saeed as a social worker. They read their morning paper and shake their heads, making a mental note to pull their children out of Kashmir. |
FOXBOROUGH, MA — There's a new gang in town trying to claim their turf, but they're a bit smaller and substantially less human than expected. In recent days, Foxborough has experienced a problem with aggressive wild turkeys, with many residents detailing their experience on the Foxborough Discussion group. Meg Nelson wrote on Aug. 24 that the turkeys almost attacked a jogger near her home and nearly came into her residence when she gave the jogger safe refuge. Debra Sabourin told NECN that a group of three followed her before attacking her legs. A neighbor helped fend off the group by throwing boots. Animal Control Officer Sue Thibedeau said she's received about three dozen calls about the birds and has a feeling that someone is feeding the animals, making them less afraid of humans. It's illegal to transfer wildlife but if the birds become dangerous enough, the town could choose to kill the trouble-making turkeys. Here are some tips from state wildlife officials on dealing with turkeys: Don't feed turkeys —Keep wild things wild! Feeding, whether direct or indirect, can cause turkeys to act tame and may lead to bold or aggressive behavior, especially in the breeding season. —Keep wild things wild! Feeding, whether direct or indirect, can cause turkeys to act tame and may lead to bold or aggressive behavior, especially in the breeding season. Keep bird feeder areas clean —Use feeders designed to keep seed off the ground, as the seed attracts turkeys and other wild animals. Clean up spilled seed from other types of feeders daily. Remove feeders in the spring, as there is plenty of natural food available for all birds. —Use feeders designed to keep seed off the ground, as the seed attracts turkeys and other wild animals. Clean up spilled seed from other types of feeders daily. Remove feeders in the spring, as there is plenty of natural food available for all birds. Don't let turkeys intimidate you —Don't hesitate to scare or threaten a bold, aggressive turkey with loud noises, swatting with a broom or water sprayed from a hose. A dog on a leash is also an effective deterrent. —Don't hesitate to scare or threaten a bold, aggressive turkey with loud noises, swatting with a broom or water sprayed from a hose. A dog on a leash is also an effective deterrent. Cover windows or other reflective objects —If a turkey is pecking at a shiny object such as a vehicle or window, cover or otherwise disguise the object. Harass the bird by chasing it, squirting with a hose or other means of aggression. —If a turkey is pecking at a shiny object such as a vehicle or window, cover or otherwise disguise the object. Harass the bird by chasing it, squirting with a hose or other means of aggression. Protect your gardens and crops —You can harass turkeys searching for food in your gardens. Dogs tethered on a run can also be effective in scaring turkeys away from gardens. Netting is another option to employ. In agricultural situations, some scare devices are effective. —You can harass turkeys searching for food in your gardens. Dogs tethered on a run can also be effective in scaring turkeys away from gardens. Netting is another option to employ. In agricultural situations, some scare devices are effective. Educate your neighbors—Pass this information along: Your efforts will be futile if neighbors are providing food for turkeys or neglecting to act boldly towards the birds. It requires the efforts of the entire neighborhood to help keep wild turkeys wild. Image Credit: Jerry Pajotte |
President Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House on Oct. 25. (Al Drago/Bloomberg) President Trump jumped into Virginia governor's race again Thursday, with two tweets praising Republican Ed Gillespie as being tough on crime and protective of Confederate statues and "heritage." "Ed Gillespie will turn the really bad Virginia economy #'s around, and fast. Strong on crime, he might even save our great statues/heritage!" Trump tweeted at 10:07 a.m., an apparent reference to new Gillespie ads that call for preservation of the state's Confederate monuments. The president is a native of New York. Gillespie grew up in New Jersey. Four minutes later, Trump added, "Ed Gillespie will be a great Governor of Virginia. His opponent doesn't even show up to meetings/work, and will be VERY weak on crime!" Gillespie's Democratic opponent, Ralph Northam, is a former Army doctor and pediatric neurologist who grew up on Virginia's Eastern Shore. He responded to the president's tweet with his own: "I served 8 years in the Army, took care of sick kids, and am running to build a more inclusive Virginia. Don't talk to me about showing up." [The lure of the steady physician] Northam later shared a video of him treating patients at a free clinic in Southwest Virginia, adding: "While I was treating patients at the RAM clinic, Donald Trump was golfing in Sterling. You tell me who doesn't show up for Virginians." With the election just 12 days away, speculation has mounted about whether Trump would hit the campaign trail for the Republican in the nation's only competitive governor's race this year. Gillespie has repeatedly declined to answer questions about whether he would welcome the president to a state where Trump is deeply unpopular. Virginia was the only Southern state to vote for Hillary Clinton last year. Vice President Pence, a longtime friend of Gillespie's, appeared in Virginia this month for a rally and was the featured guest Wednesday at a private Gillespie fundraiser in Fairfax County. The candidate has struggled to find the right posture toward Trump. He needs support from Trump voters without turning off moderate Republicans and independents. [Can an establishment Republican win in the Trump era?] Trump first tweeted on the race earlier this month, endorsing Gillespie and falsely claiming Northam fights for violent gangs. Gillespie was slow to acknowledge that endorsement and did not comment until reporters asked him about it the next day. On Thursday, Gillespie quickly retweeted Trump's praise. In doing so, they elevated the issue of Confederate monuments — one of the most emotionally charged topics in the neck-and-neck governor's race. White nationalists rallied in Charlottesville in support of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, leading to violent clashes in August that stunned the country and left three people dead. Trump blamed both sides for violence and lamented the "history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments." While Gillespie condemned the white nationalists, he said the statues should remain in place with additional historical context. [Interested in Virginia’s governor’s race? Join our Facebook group] Northam initially responded to the Charlottesville unrest by vowing to be a "vocal advocate" to move the statutes to museums. He has since backpedaled, saying the decision should be made by local jurisdictions. Virginia, once the capital of the Confederacy, has more monuments to the losing side of the Civil War than any other state. Polls have shown majorities of Virginians want the statues to remain, with Democrats split on the issue and Republicans united. Other references in Trump's tweets Thursday echo claims made in Gillespie's campaign commercials. Trump's reference to Northam failing to show up to work echoes a common Republican attack line blasting the Democrat for missing meetings of various boards and commissions he sits on as lieutenant governor. Virginia's overall economy was hit hard during the recession because of its dependence on federal government spending and regional ties to dying industries, such as coal, textiles and tobacco. Unemployment is now at 3.7 percent, one of the lowest in the nation, and even Republicans have credited Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) with being an enthusiastic recruiter of new businesses. [Virginia’s unemployment rate is only 3.7 percent, so why is the economy a big issue in the governor’s race?] Still, the low unemployment rate masks an uneven recovery, with urban areas such as Northern Virginia and Richmond doing well while rural areas suffer. McAuliffe, who is barred from seeking consecutive terms under the state Constitution, responded to Trump by defending the state's economy under his stewardship. "Virginia unemployment is 3.7%. National unemployment is 4.2%. Stop tweeting and get to work," he tweeted. Gregory S. Schneider contributed to this report. |
A Kiva robot moves a rack of merchandise at an Amazon fulfilment center on 20 January2015 in Tracy, California. Getty Remember Kiva Systems? It's the company Amazon bought for $775 million in 2012. Kiva makes robots that automate the whole picking and packing process at large warehouses. Amazon began using Kiva robots only last year, and by the end of 2014, said it had 15,000 bots working across 10 of its warehouses. Now it looks like Amazon's using the Kiva robots a lot more widely, according to its earnings call that just ended now. "We are up to 30,000 bots at the end of Q3, and in the 13th fulfillment center," Phil Hardin, Amazon's director of investor relations said during the call. "Our intent is to use that more widely, so stay tuned." When Amazon acquired Kiva, it was expected that the robots would significantly improve Amazon's packing and shipping efficiency. Hardin said the wider use of robots at fulfillment centers had a direct impact on its productivity. "It's a bit of an investment that has implications for a lot of elements of our cost structure, but we're happy with Kiva," Hardin continued. "It has been a great innovation for us, and we think it makes the warehouse jobs better, and we think it makes our warehouses more productive." In case you haven't seen the Kiva robot, it's a square-shaped, yellow machine that runs on wheels. They're about 16 inches tall and weighs almost 320 pounds. They can run at a steady 5 mph and haul packages weighing up to 700 pounds. The video below gives a good look at how it works at Amazon's warehouse facilities: |
Investigators on Friday identified the 40-year-old San Antonio mother who died Thursday when she and her two daughters fell about 25 feet from a chairlift at Ski Granby Ranch. Kelly Huber was pronounced dead at Middle Park Medical Center in Granby at about 10:45 a.m., where she was taken after the 9:30 a.m. fall. A ruling on her cause and manner of death is pending an autopsy scheduled for Saturday. Grand County officials have yet to provide further details on how the Texas mother and her two young girls fell from the lift. Authorities say the case remains under investigation. Huber’s 9-year-old daughter was taken to Middle Park before being flown by Flight for Life to Children’s Hospital Colorado. Her other daughter, who is 12, was treated at Middle Park and released. An update on the younger girl’s condition was not available on Friday, said Schelly Olson, a spokeswoman for the incident command. Huber was vacationing in Colorado with her daughters and other family members, authorities say. It remained unclear Friday what prompted the fall, causing the first chairlift fall death in Colorado in 14 years. Olson said Huber and her daughters were the only ones on the chair when they fell somewhere between the lift’s loading area and summit. The chair remained attached to the line. Olson also said there were many witnesses: “People on the chairs in front. People on the chairs in back. People on the hill.” Huber was a long-time employee of the health insurance provider Aetna, the company said. “She was a loved and respected Aetna employee,” company spokeswoman Anjanette Coplin said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with all those affected by this tragedy.” Chairlift deaths from malfunctions or falls are exceedingly rare in the United States, according to the National Ski Areas Association. Deaths from malfunctions have totaled just 12 from 1973 through October, and there were three deaths from falls between 2004 and October, the NSAA reports. Rod Kessler, a ski area spokesman, said Thursday the three fell from the Quick Draw Express lift. The lift — a detachable quad, which is often called a “high-speed” lift — was shut down on Thursday “just to make sure everything is in order,” Kessler said. The lift remained closed on Friday. The Grand County Sheriff’s Office and Granby Police Department are investigating, as is the Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board. The board said Friday the lift “will remain closed until deemed safe for public operation,” but did not give an estimated timeline for when that process will be complete. Ski Granby Ranch is about 20 miles west of Winter Park. The small, 400-acre family-oriented resort is known for being a spot for beginner skiers and snowboarders. It has just four chairlifts. “All of us at Granby Ranch are deeply saddened by yesterday’s tragic incident at our resort,” the resort said in a Friday statement. “We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family of our guests. Our focus right now is on supporting those affected by this tragedy. … Granby Ranch is working cooperatively with authorities to determine the cause of the incident.” The last chairlift fall death in Colorado is believed to have occurred in 2002. According to an October report by the NSAA, the last death on a chairlift attributed to a malfunction was in 1993. As of the 2015-16 ski season, the annual fatality rate per 100 million miles traveled on ski lifts was 0.14. In 1976, two cars from Vail’s 7-year-old gondola – each carrying six skiers – plummeted 125 feet, killing four people in one of the most deadly lift incidents in the United States. In 1985, a bullwheel at Keystone Resort failed, sending waves down the line that threw 60 people off the Teller Lift, two of whom later died from their injuries. In April 2009, a Rhode Island man with no significant medical history died after losing consciousness on a chairlift in Breckenridge. Attempts to revive him at the top of the lift were unsuccessful. In January, a skier pushed a snowboarder off an Aspen Highlands chairlift. Thomas Proesel, who was accused of first-degree assault in the case, was found not guilty by reason of insanity. The snowboarder was not seriously hurt. |
At the NBC-owned black website TheGrio.com, Lincoln A. Blades suggested he has a “police officer friend,” as in “some of my best friends are cops,” but he was “sick to his stomach” over a simple “Blue Lives Matter” billboard as “racist b—s—“ “propagating white supremacy.” The headline was “Blue Lives Matter billboards don’t honor fallen officers, they discredit black humanity.” It is beyond incredible that folks can be so damn against the idea of unarmed African-Americans not being extrajudicially murdered. Somehow, these same people feel that a movement aimed at highlighting police killings of black citizens and empowering our country to address it needs to be discredited. Specifically using the words “Blue Lives Matter” as a counterpoint to “Black Lives Matter,” the ridiculous and anti-intellectual creators of this campaign have firmly decided that propagating their white supremacy will be best masked under the guise of mourning men and women who died in the line of duty. As someone who loves his police officer friend and who also believes that black people shouldn’t be killed in the streets for frivolous reasons, I’m beyond pissed at idiots who aim to conflate these two concepts as dueling ideologies. If you think this is anything other than a pointed anti-black campaign, you’re simply not paying enough attention to what’s going on. “Black Lives Matter” is a movement, and any attempt to replace the “Black” in the slogan is apparently one of “a multitude of anti-Black movements that are aimed at discrediting African-Americans’ fight for their lives.” Blades argued: #AllLivesMatter, a hashtag that never existed before black people actively declared agency over the preciousness of their bodies, popped up to redirect the conversation away from the brutalization of black bodies at the hands of police officers, security guards and vigilantes. And now, #BlueLivesMatter has taken the baton of distraction and decided to run with it head on to fight against an imaginary war on cops. Blades claimed cops are much, much safer than black people: We’re on pace to have 35 police officers murdered this year — and well over a 1,000 [sic] people killed by police. That’s not a war — that’s a slaughter. Before one would ask for footnotes, we can say that the number of law enforcement officers in America is about 40 times less the number of blacks. It’s almost amusing that Blades would be infuriated by an “imaginary war on cops,” but can’t imagine that cops would be equally dismissive of an “imaginary war on blacks.” [HT: Jarrett] |
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way. "Saponaceous" is a New Latin borrowing by scientists that is based on "sapo," the Latin word for "soap." It describes natural substances, like aloe gel or some plant roots, used in making soap or having the properties of soap. It also describes things that feel or appear soapy-for example, some shales and clays, mica, and certain chemical preparations. In the 19th century, "saponaceous" began to be used for people having a slippery, evasive, or elusive character. One famous example is the elocutionist Bishop Wilberforce mentioned in our second example sentence, whom British politician Benjamin Disraeli described as "unctuous, oleaginous, saponaceous." In The Devil's Dictionary, author Ambrose Bierce uses Disraeli's quote to illustrate the word "oleaginous," noting that "the good prelate was ever afterward known as Soapy Sam." : resembling or having the qualities of soap Examples "When boiled or bruised in water, the leaves turn saponaceous, and the resulting lather cuts through grease." - From an article in Mountain Xpress (Asheville, North Carolina), March 16, 2005 - March 22, 2005 "Wilberforce's smooth and slippery manner had led a contemporary to call him saponaceous, after the adjective from soap." - From an award acceptance speech by British writer Philip Pulman, printed in The Humanist, July 1, 2008 |
Press Listen to hear the radio version of this report Gringos like me don’t forget their first hallaca. Mine was lying on a simple white plate, in the coastal town of Lecherías, Venezuela, on the patio of my future in-laws’ home. It was a soft Caribbean Christmas Eve in 1985. The tawny tamal was swaddled in smoked banana leaves that reminded me of the lush, exotic foliage of an Henri Rousseau painting. I unwrapped it, cut into it, took a bite – and rediscovered Christmas. Non-Venezuelans always seem to have that experience, and increasingly here in Miami. “I see Americans in the restaurant, and it’s like, ‘Wow, what is this? How come I never had this before?’” says Lorenzo Di Stefano Jr., who is vice president of his family’s local chain of restaurants, El Arepazo Dos, one of a number of Venezuelan eateries from Doral to Weston that serve hallacas at the holidays. The hallaca – pronounced ah-YAH-kah – is a tropical Yuletide epiphany for the taste buds. I know that other Latin American countries make their versions of tamales this time of year. And I admit I may be biased because my wife is Venezuelan. But the hallaca tastes unique. It seems the richest gastronomic rendering of that piñata-like festiveness you feel at a Caribbean Christmas. “Venezuelans are described to be the most party people in the world,” Di Stefano points out. “The hallaca combines a bunch of flavors, [just as] when Christmas comes we combine all that [party] energy.” RELATED: How Venezuelans In South Florida Are Shopping For Toilet Paper In Caracas Venezuelans, thanks unfortunately to their country’s mounting economic problems – which this year have made it harder to find hallaca ingredients there – are one of South Florida’s fastest-growing communities. Which means the Venezuelan Christmas is likely to become a familiar fixture here, alongside other Latin American traditions like the Cuban caja china for roast pig. The hallaca is as much New World statement as it is Navidad fare. Among Venezuela’s holiday customs are gaita music, a merry and muscular rhythm that erupts across the country each December, and pan de jamón, a sweet ham bread. But hallacas are the sine qua non of the Venezuelan Christmas – a cornucopia of European, African and indigenous Latin American food that’s as much New World statement as it is Navidad fare. “A Christmas without hallacas would make us very sad,” says Caracas-born Carmen León de Castro, “above all when we’re very far from Venezuela.” Carmen was the matriarch this month when her family hosted a traditional hallaca-making party in Palmetto Bay. Those gatherings are part culinary assembly line, part drinking marathon, and most of all communal Christmas bonding. Over the years, Carmen has refined her own recipe for what is the soul of any hallaca: the guiso, or meat stew. It’s a Caribbean swirl of ingredients ranging from pork leg to leeks, from capers to annatto seeds. Along with the soul comes the body: the hallaca shell. It's formed from masa, which is made with the same cornmeal used for another Venezuelan favorite, the arepa. Mixing the masa to just the right consistency for hallacas is an art, which is why Carmen and her daughter Mariela prepare it almost as carefully as they do the guiso. A LONG, JOVIAL TABLE Then the fun part starts: combining the masa, guiso and myriad other fillers such as raisins, olives, eggs and spices. It’s all hands on deck at a long, jovial table where the smell of red peppers and pimentos wafts in the air with the aroma of rum and Venezuela’s other national drink – Scotch – as well as the sounds of music like gaita. If you’ve got a political argument to vent or a good ribald joke to tell or a piece of gossip to share or a warm-hearted toast to make, this is the moment. Once our hallacas are prepared, they're handed to me and other gringos like Mariela’s husband Chris for the most important job: tying the banana leaves around them with string before they go to the steaming pot. At least they tell us that’s the most important job. Every year they tell us that. There are a number of different versions of the hallaca’s origins. One holds that slaves and servants invented it centuries ago using the assorted table scraps of wealthy colonial Spaniards. What matters to Venezuelan-Americans like my wife and Mariela is how it keeps them and their own children connected to their criollo roots. “It’s a big production,” says Mariela. “And when we do it here in the United States it’s fun because as more and more expatriates come, it’s not just family, it’s friends and the families you make.” Di Stefano believes the hallaca, like the arepa, will do more than bring Venezuelans together in the U.S. It will, he predicts, bring together Venezuelans and the U.S. In the meantime, there are worse things than doing a bit of your Christmas like, as the man said, the best party people in the world. Tim Padgett is WLRN's Americas editor. You can read more of his coverage here. |
PHOENIX -- It’s easy to portray the brilliant seasons Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw are having in tandem as some kind of intra-staff rivalry, with Greinke competing like crazy to show he’s just as good as Kershaw, who by most accounts has been the greatest pitcher on earth for the last four or five years. Only both pitchers reject the narrative and there has never been much evidence for it. But Greinke is a sit-back-and-think sort and he admits he wanted to do something Kershaw was doing with regularity the last two seasons. He wanted to learn how to pitch a shutout. “I would always find a way to give up one and I was watching Kersh and he did it all the time, where he’d give up none,” Greinke said. “I thought that was just how it was always going to be.” It wasn’t. Greinke shut out the Arizona Diamondbacks for eight innings Sunday and his Los Angeles Dodgers held on for a 4-3 win at Chase Field. Greinke has allowed zero runs in 11 of his 29 outings this season. He has allowed zero earned runs in 12. He has allowed zero runs or one run in 20 of his 29 starts. He learned the lesson, but how is he doing it? Zack Greinke has allowed zero earned runs in 12 of his 29 starts this season. Darin Wallentine/Getty Images “Probably just pitching a little bit better this year and a little bit lucky,” he said. But generally you make your own luck in professional sports, where the competition tends to weed out people getting by on good fortune as time goes on. There is no level of competition for Greinke higher than facing Paul Goldschmidt, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ best player, who came into Sunday with a .985 OPS and would be a bona fide MVP contender again if his team were better. And there’s no better indication of Greinke’s confidence this season than the way he attacked Goldschmidt, a player with power to all fields and as discerning an eye as there is in the game. Greinke pumped first-pitch fastballs to Goldschmidt in all three at-bats against him and got ahead in all three at-bats, each of which ended in a strikeout. Goldschmidt foul-tipped a 94-mph fastball to strike out in the first inning. He swung through an 87-mph slider in the third and he missed a 94-mph fastball that flirted with the outside edge of the strike zone in the sixth. What hitters are seeing with Greinke right now is a rare combination of effective weapons and effective marksmanship. His stuff is dynamic without being quite as dominant as Kershaw’s, but his command is lethal. After the game, Goldschmidt -- perhaps the biggest Dodger killer in all the land -- was upset he didn’t do more damage with those first-pitch fastballs. He’s not alone. Bryce Harper, the presumptive NL MVP, talked about Greinke being hittable when the Dodgers were in Washington after the All-Star break. And that was after Greinke’s best outing of the season. “When he makes a mistake, you’ve got to find a way to put them in play and get a hit because he doesn’t make many of them,” Goldschmidt said. Greinke (17-3) lowered his major league-leading ERA to 1.61 and made another strong case for the Cy Young award. He leads Jake Arrieta by 0.38 runs for the major-league ERA title and Kershaw is another 0.16 runs behind that. Greinke said he has seen “a bunch of articles being written” about the Cy Young race but he said he never clicks on them. “It seems like it’s a little too early, for one, to be talking about. It started like two or three weeks ago,” Greinke said. “And it’s just not interesting to me to read it.” |
NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter put itself into a precautionary standby status early Friday, June 8, Universal Time (Thursday evening, Pacific Time), when the spacecraft detected unexpected characteristics in movement of one of its reaction wheels. The spacecraft uses three of these wheels as the primary method for adjusting and maintaining its orientation. It carries a spare reaction wheel. Odyssey's flight team is in communication with the spacecraft while planning actions in response to Odyssey entering the standby status, which is called safe mode. "The spacecraft is safe, and information we've received from it indicates the problem is limited to a single reaction wheel," said Odyssey Mission Manager Chris Potts of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "The path forward is evaluating the health of the reaction wheel and our options for proceeding." Because the trigger for the incident was limited to a reaction wheel, the spacecraft did not need to completely reboot its computer, as it had in some earlier safing incidents during its record-setting decade of service at Mars. The flight team will be developing a recovery timeline in coming days. NASA launched the Mars Odyssey spacecraft on April 7, 2001. Odyssey arrived at Mars Oct. 24, 2001. After arrival, the spacecraft spent several months using a technique called aerobraking, which involved dipping into the Martian atmosphere to adjust its orbit. In February 2002, science operations began. Odyssey has worked at Mars longer than any other mission in history. Besides conducting its own scientific observations, it serves as a communication relay for robots on the surface of Mars. NASA plans to use Odyssey and the newer Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as communication relays for the Mars Science Laboratory mission during the landing and Mars-surface operations of that mission's Curiosity rover. Odyssey is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver built the spacecraft. JPL and Lockheed Martin collaborate on operating the spacecraft. For more about the Mars Odyssey mission, visit: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey . |
Camping, hiking, biking, and playing tennis: these are all sun kissed, preteen memories I associate with Grandma Tien’s homemade Eatmore bars. Starting when I was about ten years old, my parents brought me and my cousins to the Rocky Mountains – usually Kananaskis Country – every summer to run wild in the wilderness, climb mountains, and terrorize other campers with our vocal renditions of Aqua songs. It was literally the best. Our main source of fuel for all of these activities were – you guessed it – Grandma’s homemade Eatmore bars. Loaded with protein and sugar, they really are made of pure energy. As an only child, I really looked forward to these camping trips where I would get to hang out with my cousins 24/7, and our grandma always made sure the trailer was fully stocked and loaded with Eatmore bars. Wrapped in their aluminium foil packages, they were almost treated like currency in our campsite. Wash the dishes, get an Eatmore bar. Walk two kilometres, get an Eatmore bar. They could be traded and broken in half for sharing, too. Plus, even though my grandma wasn’t technically there with us, it kind of felt like she was because her Eatmore bars were there. In 2013, my parents and I visited our old campground in Kananaskis and, even though I hadn’t had one in years, I couldn’t stop thinking about those homemade Eatmore bars. I don’t get to camp as often as I would like anymore. After living in the city for over six years, I sometimes forget about my outdoorsy childhood and let myself get intimidated by nature, but these Eatmore bars remind me of my roots and, most importantly, of a time before I was afraid of bears! I love chocolate, so in some ways it’s no surprise that my childhood camping reminiscences are filtered by this distinct food memory. We weren’t the type of family to have many chocolate bars lying around the house, so these homemade Eatmore bars were as close as I could get to the real thing in my pre-allowance days. The Eatmore bars are a favourite of my mom’s as well because they are naturally gluten free. As a lot of our grandma’s baking involves wheat flour, these were one of the few things my mom and my grandma could connect over in the kitchen. In the opening scenes of Michael Pollan’s new Netflix documentary Cooked, he investigates the rise of cooking shows in contemporary society alongside the decrease in actual cooking that we do in our homes. He points out that, though we’ve learned to outsource lots of activities, including cooking, cooking is the only thing we’ve invented a whole genre of TV for. Why? The answer for him lies in the strong connections between food and memory and family, basically what our blog is about! We all have powerful memories of being cooked for by our moms, by our dads, by our grandparents…That act of generosity and love I think is still in there for many of us and is very powerful. It goes really deep. These homemade Eatmore bars go really deep. Yesterday, as I bit into one for the first time in over ten years, I was reminded of how much love I was surrounded with when I was growing up, and how my family was that main source of love. Never miss a new family recipe! Email Address: First Name: Homemade Eatmore Bars 2016-02-23 00:05:56 Yields 15 Write a review Save Recipe Print Ingredients 1 cup chocolate chips 1 cup peanut butter 1 cup corn syrup 1 cup brown sugar 3 cups Organic Crispy Rice Cereal 1 cup unsalted peanuts 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds 1/3 cup sesame seeds Instructions In a sauce pan over low heat, melt the chocolate chips, corn syrup, brown sugar, and peanut butter, stirring frequently until smooth. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. When melted, pour chocolate mixture over the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until fully combined. Line a 9"x13" pan with parchment paper (or grease it well). Spread mixture into pan evenly. Chill for at least two hours in the refrigerator. Cut into bars (I do three rows with five bars each) and wrap individually in aluminium foil. Store in the refrigerator. Notes Bars can be frozen to increase longevity, but remember to let them thaw before you take a bite, or else you may loose a tooth! If you want to make these bars a little healthier, you can cut the brown sugar down to half a cup, sub the corn syrup with brown rice syrup, use dark chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate chips, and sub the regular rice crispies with an organic brown crispy rice cereal. You Can Eat Now http://www.youcaneatnow.com/ You can eat now! Did you make this recipe? We want to know how it turned out! Share a photo on Instagram and use the hashtag #youcaneatnow! |
Tired of drunk people peeing on the bushes and walls, the City of San Francisco decided to take a lesson from the French. Meet one of the only Pissoir (pronounced Piss WAH) in America. Never hold your pee in again This public urinal was installed by the City of San Francisco in Mission Dolores Park in 2016 as part of a 20 million dollar renovation of the park (that also put in traditional public bathrooms). This public urinal has caused a lot of debate on both sides of the aisle, with some saying it promotes a bad image of the park and encourages bad odors, to others saying it discriminates against women and handicapped people who can't pee standing up. It's right next to a train track! Whatever the case, when TopBuzz stumbled on this little treasure, we definitely saw stains indicating that this public urinal has wide use during the wee hours of the morning (pun unintended). At least the flowers help cover up the sights So what do you readers think? Would you ever publicly pee in this, knowing that people could see you from those houses behind you (and the trains coming by every few minutes)? Will this encourage people to pee responsibly? Please let us know in the comments! |
Earthquakes are becoming more frequent and more intense in the US, including "man-made" earthquakes in areas not near a fault line, according to two studies released this week. The new earthquake hazard map from researchers at the US Geological Survey points out 17 typically dormant areas where wastewater injections from hydraulic fracturing operations might be the root cause of high seismic activity. Oklahoma is leading the way, registering more quakes of magnitude 3 or higher than California last year, according to the report released earlier this week. The state's seismicity rate was 70 times greater than the background seismicity rate observed prior to 2008, according to state officials. Moreover, Oklahoma's sharp rise in quakes is "very unlikely to represent a naturally occurring process," since the quakes are occurring over the same area that saw a big jump in wastewater injections over the last several years, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Oklahoma Geological Survey. "These earthquakes are occurring at a higher rate than ever before, and pose a much greater risk and threat to people living nearby," said Mark Petersen, chief of the USGS's National Seismic Hazard Modeling Project and lead author of the report, in a statement with Thursday's release. One such event in 2011 near Prague, Okla., where workers had been injecting wastewater underground for 18 years, triggered a magnitude 5.6 quake strong enough to buckle a highway and destroy 14 homes, slightly injuring two people. The USGS study investigated 50 years of earthquake activity in 17 "induced seismicity zones" across eight states. While the study found areas without much history of seismic activity experiencing more earthquakes, it also identified several areas that don't seem to be unduly affected by the presence of injection wells. Other regions found to be vulnerable to man-made quakes include the Raton Basin in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, which saw a big jump in earthquakes since 2001, two years after the pace of oil extraction increased in the region. Areas in Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, and Ohio also have all experienced more frequent quakes in the last year, according to the report. The study, however, found no evidence of seismic activity in popular drilling sites like the Los Angeles Basin and the Bakken Shale in North Dakota. By studying regions where wastewater injections have not caused an increase in seismic activity, researchers say they hope to find ways to continue drilling safely without disturbing seismic faults and not putting lives or property at risk. Differences in local geology and drilling methods could be some of the reasons why some areas experience less seismic activity despite lots of drilling in the region. Drillers in Oklahoma have to break through dense shale rock to reach oil and gas deposits. Improved seismic sensors in the ground can also help scientists detect smaller earthquakes, according to researchers. One factor widely agreed upon among scientists is that small earthquakes are the canaries in the coal mine for larger earthquakes down the road. "If you're disposing the water, and you get no earthquakes, you're fine. But if you start getting a few small earthquakes, you should probably stop," said Egill Hauksson, a seismologist at the California Institute of Technology who was not involved in the USGS report, "because if you keep going, you might get another big earthquake." Another study released this week by a multi-agency team of researchers found that half the US population is more vulnerable to earthquakes than ever before. According to the study, 143 million Americans live in earthquake-prone areas in the lower 48 states. This is up from 75 million Americans in 35 states, according to a 1991 report from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Improved data collection and computing power has allowed scientists to get more accurate readings on when and where earthquakes may occur, and how strong they'll be. A recent study from the USGS predicted that the next megaquake in California may come earlier than expected. The research team – including scientists from the USGS, FEMA, and the California Geological Society – also calculated the potential financial impacts of earthquakes with the help of 2010 Census data and the 2012 replacement-cost values for buildings. The average cost of earthquake damage in the lower 48 states was $4.5 billion. Get the Monitor Stories you care about delivered to your inbox. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy More than 6,000 fire stations, 800 hospitals, and almost 20,000 public and private schools are built on shaky ground, according to the study. "The bottom line is that there are a significant number of structures located amongst higher-hazard levels," said lead researcher Kishor Jaiswal, a USGS contractor, according to Live Science. |
A close call for a New Jersey State Trooper was caught on camera. A speeding car clipped his vehicle and nearly struck him while he was conducting a traffic stop on I-95. NBC10's Ted Greenberg has the video and the story. (Published Monday, Oct. 20, 2014) Officials are searching for a driver who sideswiped a state police vehicle as troopers conducted a traffic stop. The close call was captured on dashcam video back on October 11 around 10:30 p.m. Two New Jersey state troopers from the Hamilton station pulled over a car for a minor traffic violation along I-95 in Upper Freehold Township. As the troopers stood on the passenger side, a speeding vehicle suddenly clipped the stopped car as well as the state police cruiser. Fortunately no one was hurt during the incident. “It was a very close call,” said New Jersey State Police Sergeant Jeff Flynn. “If the trooper was getting out of his vehicle and that vehicle had struck at that time, it would have been a tragedy.” The speeding vehicle flattened the tire of the police cruiser and the troopers were unable to pursue. The vehicle is described as a white or silver Jeep Wrangler with damage to the passenger side. “We want to find that individual and we’d like to talk to him to find out what happened that night,” Sergeant Flynn said. A similar, though much more tragic incident occurred on I-95 back in 2010. State Trooper Marc Castellano was struck and killed by a passing vehicle while conducting an investigation. “All it takes is one split second for that 2000 or 3000-pound vehicle to strike somebody and kill them,” said Nick Castellano, the trooper’s brother. Castellano’s family is featured in a video promoting New Jersey’s “Move Over Law” which is aimed at protecting first responders. The law was enacted a year before Castellano’s death. According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 136 officers have been struck and killed by vehicles across the country over the past decade. If you have any information on the October 11 incident, please contact New Jersey State police at (609) 584-5015. |
Not one signing made by these teams would get in Chelsea's first XI The total outlay from these four clubs at the moment is over £250million Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham have spent big this summer in an attempt to close the gap to Chelsea £252.2million: That’s how much Arsenal, the Manchester clubs, Tottenham and Liverpool have spent trying to close the gap on Chelsea this summer... The spree has clearly irritated Jose Mourinho but he should relax: not one of the players who his rivals have bought would get in Chelsea’s starting line-up. It doesn’t matter whether you are talking about Bastian Schweinsteiger, Raheem Sterling, Petr Cech or Christian Benteke; none of them are at a level where they would waltz into Stamford Bridge and take the place of those who helped Chelsea become champions last season. Scroll down for video Jose Mourinho has watched his rivals spend big in an attempt to close the gap to his Chelsea side The Chelsea manager attended a press conference on Friday ahead of the start of the new season Schweinsteiger was a World Cup winner 13 months ago and arrives in England with an outstanding c.v. but he is now 31 and fitness problems have become an issue. He is not a 26-year-old approaching his peak and Mourinho would not select him ahead of Nemanja Matic or Cesc Fabregas. Cech has been the signing of the summer for Arsenal but, in Mourinho’s eyes, he can’t be a better keeper than Thibaut Courtois or he would have been between the posts today; Liverpool, searching for goals, have caught the eye with their business but is Benteke at Diego Costa’s level yet? No. Sterling, perhaps, is the only one who would be knocking on the door to get in to Chelsea’s team but his competition would be Eden Hazard and given a choice between the two, Mourinho would not look any further than a man he thinks can reach the levels of Cristiano Ronaldo. Raheem Sterling's £49million move from Liverpool to Manchester City was the story of the summer I’ve been watching the action in the window unfold and I am yet to see a signing that has made me think ‘wow’; for all the money that our clubs now have, we cannot say they have bought someone from the elite. Look at Manchester City, for example. Sterling is a very good player and will take the place of Samir Nasri or Jesus Navas but is that enough to carry them back to first place? What happens if Sergio Aguero gets an injury, as history suggests he will? Does Wilfried Bony give them that fear? City’s two biggest problems last year were central defence and centre midfield. They have the financial power to rattle Chelsea, so I can’t understand why they haven’t gone for Atletico Madrid’s Diego Godin to partner Vincent Kompany, who remains an outstanding defender but is maybe reaching the stage where he has to concentrate on his own game. Manchester City also brought in English midfielder Fabian Delph (centre) from Aston Villa Liverpool used the money raised from the Sterling deal to sign Christian Benteke from Aston Villa for £32.5m Fabian Delph is a good player and adds energy that they lacked, but Paul Pogba was the one to go for as Yaya Toure’s long-term replacement. Toure has driven City to two titles, but he’s 32 now and I don’t see him having the energy to do that once again. Across town, Louis van Gaal has spent more than £200million since he arrived at Old Trafford. That outlay has got them nearer to first place but they are still short, particularly up front and at the back, especially now with the situation surrounding David de Gea. He was the reason they reached the top four last season but van Gaal thinks he is not in the right frame of mind to face Tottenham. The situation can only be a huge concern. Van Gaal’s remit last year was to get back into the top four. This year United’s fans will want the title but they won’t achieve that. Why? If I write down United’s strongest starting line-up to see which players Mourinho would pick for Chelsea, the only decision I think he has is over Wayne Rooney and Costa. Benteke is a proven striker but still not in the class of Chelsea's Diego Costa Liverpool also brought in Roberto Firmino (left) for £29m and signed James Milner (right) on a free We can all reel off Chelsea’s best XI without thinking twice and assuming they all play together for the vast majority of the new campaign, the only outcome I can see is Mourinho winning the Barclays Premier League for the fourth time. He is not a manager who chops and changes. When Mourinho has the right formula, he sticks with it and it speaks volumes that 10 of his players made more than 40 appearances in all competitions last year. Chelsea’s inactivity, however, is right to cause Mourinho some anxiety. Not buying players to improve their first team isn’t an issue. Not buying players to improve the strength of the squad, on the other hand, is a problem. Having such a well-known team could lead to complacency. Over the past year, the depth of their squad has diminished. I wasn’t a huge fan of Andre Schurrle, but he would pop up with a goal or key contribution. Juan Cuadrado, his replacement, has so far been an expensive mistake and given nothing. How much will Radamel Falcao offer? I never saw any sign during his season at Old Trafford of the player who terrorised Chelsea in the European Super Cup final and if Costa’s hamstring issues persist, does Falcao have it in him to score 10-15 goals? I’m not sure. Petr Cech left Chelsea to move to Arsenal after being made second choice behind Thibaut Courtois Asmir Begovic has left Stoke to become Courtois’ deputy but is inferior to Cech. Mourinho needs a left back but he won’t find anyone with pedigree like Filipe Luis — who 12 months ago arrived having played in a Champions League final — to provide back up for Cesar Azpilicueta. You can even factor David Luiz and Juan Mata into this. Mourinho sold them for huge amounts and that funded the title campaign but, whatever he thought about them, he no longer has the quality either would provide from the bench. Of course Chelsea could not refuse £50million for Luiz from Paris Saint- Germain, and I’m not pretending for a minute I was his biggest admirer, but he was still capable of making decisive contributions. Manchester United signed a new midfield duo in Bastian Schweinsteiger (left) and Morgan Schneiderlin (right) Memphis Depay also joined Manchester United from PSV Eindhoven over the summer Wayne Rooney is the only member of Manchester United's side who may get into Chelsea's first team Mourinho has said ‘the transfer window is over’ but I can’t see how he will get to September 1 without adding the cover he needs in central defence or left back. He won’t allow anything to compromise his ambition to win trophy after trophy. His influence always gives Chelsea an edge and, deep down, he will know his rivals have not made a signing to rattle his best team. He will also know the biggest threat to Chelsea’s supremacy does not come from the outside. Given his back up options, the threat lies within. Stones should ignore the noise and stay put It has been a summer to make John Stones’ head spin: two rejected bids for his services from Chelsea, Manchester City watching developments and advice that Manchester United is the best place for him to play football. Everton manager Roberto Martinez admitted on Thursday the speculation had affected the 21-year-old and, with so many people talking about his situation, it could not have failed to get to him. He should ignore the noise, though, and stay right where is. The best place for him for the next two years is Goodison Park, working with Martinez. Everton defender John Stones has been the subject of transfer bids from champions Chelsea this summer Why? For starters, it is the style of play Martinez implements. Stones is a great reader of the game, composed in possession and starts attacks from the back. Martinez will encourage him to develop those skills. There will be mistakes along the way, playing in that fashion, but Martinez would be more tolerant of them. I wouldn’t expect that to be the case with Jose Mourinho, who doesn’t accept mistakes or learning on the job from those in his team. Will Stones play every week at Chelsea? No. He would have more of a chance at City or United but even then there would be no guarantee. The problem with playing as a centre back is that defenders don’t tend to get rotated — rightly so — and that could mean long periods out of the team. The 21-year-old centre back Stones has also been watched by Manchester City and Manchester United It’s also hard for young defenders to get established at top clubs. I wasn’t a regular at the centre of Liverpool’s back four when I was 21. You are still learning at that age and, similar to a goalkeeper, when mistakes happen it is much more costly in that area of the field. When Stones moves to a club that is competing for honours, it has to be when he is guaranteed to go straight into the team. That time will come but hasn’t arrived yet and there are still elements to his game that he needs to improve. Any slip-ups along the way will be dealt with more leniently at Everton, rather than in the glare of supporters and the media talking about a £30million player. That is why the best place for his development is Goodison Park. Man of the week - Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain He was excellent in the Community Shield win over Chelsea and scored a fine goal — was his performance at Wembley a sign of things to come for the new season? There has always been a buzz around Oxlade-Chamberlain and when he was leaving Southampton, Liverpool were one of the clubs in the bidding. His dad, Mark, visited Melwood and Steven Gerrard and I both spoke with him in the hope he would make a big move north. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored the winner in the Community Shield as Arsenal beat Chelsea Oxlade-Chamberlain in training at Arsenal's London Colney headquarters ahead of the new season Liverpool’s loss was Arsenal’s gain. He has done reasonably well at the Emirates but this is a big year for Oxlade-Chamberlain. He’s a player with plenty of attributes — he’s quick, strong and has an eye for goal —but what would you say his best position is? |
We all know Goldman Sachs is the very embodiment of evil…or do we? What is Goldman Sachs? What does it do? Where did it come from and where is it going, and is there anything that can be done to stop it? Buckle in for this edition of The Corbett Report where James dares to take on the vampire squid itself. For those with limited bandwidth, CLICK HERE to download a smaller, lower file size version of this episode. For those interested in audio quality, CLICK HERE for the highest-quality version of this episode (WARNING: very large download). SHOW NOTES Max Keiser takes offense to Goldman Sachs story Time Reference: 01:01 The Great American Bubble Machine Time Reference: 03:09 Goldman Sachs Helped Greece Mask Real Debt Time Reference: 10:03 Goldman Sachs CNBC Documentary Time Reference: 11:36 How Goldman Sachs killed Penn Central Time Reference: 19:22 How Goldman gambled on starvation Time Reference: 19:34 Obama Appoints Goldman Sachs Lobbyist to Top Treasury Time Reference: 38:31 Geithner Grilled on Goldman Sachs Time Reference: 38:47 Obama Working for Goldman Sachs Time Reference: 39:42 The revolving door between politics and private sector Time Reference: 41:05 Trump Hits Cruz With Goldman Sachs Time Reference: 45:23 Trump announces 5th high profile hire from Goldman Sachs Time Reference: 46:10 Trump announces 5th high profile hire from Goldman Sachs Time Reference: 46:57 Filed in: Podcasts |
Getty Images In the span of about 23 months, Lions wide receiver Ryan Broyles suffered three serious leg injuries: a left ACL tear in November 2011 at Oklahoma, a right ACL tear in December 2012 and a left Achilles tendon tear in 2013. The Lions’ second-round pick in 2012, Broyles told Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com that he feels pressure to perform but also wants to be prudent in his rehabilitation from the Achilles injury. “I know the deal with the Lions right now and you feel like you have a deadline because there’s guys counting on you, especially coming in from the second round. I feel like I have to go in there and prove something and maybe I did that a little bit before my body was ready (last year),” Broyles told the club’s website for a story published Sunday. “This time around I have to just focus on my future. I’m 25 years old right [now]. I just have to be smart from this point on.” Broyles told DetroitLions.com that his knees are now healed, but his left calf needs to be strengthened. “Last year I didn’t hit the ground running like I wanted to, but I wasn’t as strong as I needed to be last year. This year my knees are healthy right now,” Broyles told the club’s website. “I feel my glutes, back, hamstrings and quads are back. Now I just have to work on my left calf. “I’m excited for that day to go out there and just be able to cut where I want to cut and jump when I want to cut. I’m going to work as hard as I can and it’s going to fall in my favor sometime soon.” The Lions seem one of the more likely teams to add at wide receiver either in free agency and/or the draft. The club’s recent attempts to bring in capable wideouts opposite of Calvin Johnson have mostly fallen short, though in the case of Broyles, terrible luck is as much to blame as anything else. Nevertheless, the Lions are going to have to try again to find targets who attract attention opposite of Johnson, who draws no shortage of focus from opposing defenses. |
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), September 13, 2016 - Pre-orders of iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus at Sprint (NYSE: S) are up more than 375 percent in the first three days over last year. Since Sprint began accepting pre-orders on Sept. 9, new and existing customers have been placing orders for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus at a rate nearly four times greater than this time last year. “It’s clear that Sprint customers want to get the most out of the incredible iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus and know there’s no better place for this than Sprint,” said Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure. “No other carrier can match the value Sprint offers iPhone customers. With Unlimited Freedom and also 50% Off, as well as innovative programs such as iPhone Forever, we can meet any customer’s needs. Our network has never performed better, and we’re pleased to deliver the hottest smartphone of the year to our loyal customers and we welcome many more who are giving us a try.” Sprint is giving customers unprecedented value and simplicity with the launch of Unlimited Freedom: two lines of unlimited talk, text and data for the incredible price of $100 a month. Unlimited Freedom includes unlimited mobile-optimized streaming videos, gaming and music, and unlimited 4G LTE data for most everything else. Simple and straightforward with no access charges or hidden fees. (Excludes taxes and surcharges.)1 Coupled with Sprint’s reliable network, customers get the best price among all carriers and can enjoy as much data – worry-free – as they want. Customers can switch to Sprint and save 50% off the price of most Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile standard rate plans. Customers who switch get 50% off most current competitor rate plan prices, with savings until May 31, 2018.2 Sprint will pay switching fees up to $650 per line via Visa® Rewards Card after phone trade-in and online registration.3 With Sprint’s 30-Day Total Satisfaction Guarantee, you can return your phone and we’ll refund device costs, qualifying service costs and related fees if you’re not satisfied.4 About Sprint Sprint (NYSE: S) is a communications services company that creates more and better ways to connect its customers to the things they care about most. Sprint served more than 59.4 million connections as of June 30, 2016, and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; leading no-contract brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Sprint has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) North America for the past five years. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint. 1All while on the Sprint network. Includes unlimited mobile optimized streaming videos, gaming and music. And, unlimited 4G LTE data for most everything else. Mobile optimized: video streams at up to 480p+ resolution, music at up to 500kbps, streaming cloud gaming at up to 2mbps. Premium Data deprioritization applies during times of congestion. Reqs ebill. Price with autopay. Other monthly charges apply. 2Discount applies to base monthly service plan only. Discount does not include competitor promotional or sale price. Carriers’ features differ. Plans exclude unlimited music and video streaming, data carryover, tethering and cloud options that other carrier plans may offer. Available on non-discounted phones. Activation fee of up to $30/line applies. Applies to Verizon Plan 2, 4, 8, 16, 24, 30, 40, and 50GBs; AT&T Mobile Share Value 1, 3, 6, 10, 16, 25, 30, 40, and 50GBs; and T-Mobile Simple Choice 2, 6 and 10GBs rate plans. Savings until 5/31/18. Other monthly charges apply. 3Via Prepaid Rewards Card (less phone trade-in credit provided) after online registration and new phone activation. 4 Valid for a limited time. If a new customer or an existing customer adds a line of service (phone, tablet or MBB) and deactivates within 30 days, Sprint will credit all device charges (Installment Billing, Lease, or Early Termination Fee, when device is returned) and reimburse the customer for the device purchase price or down payment, activation fee, Monthly Recurring Charge, and all associated taxes and fees. The following charges will not reimbursed: Premium content, third party billing, any international charges View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160913005948/en/ |
Once the Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 and iPhone X were launched on the same day, all manufacturers began designing and launching their own full-screen smartphones one after another. The only company remaining quiet was Sony. But today a couple of new photos have leaked on the net showing the actual look of the first Sony full-screen smartphones. Earlier we have seen a rendering of the upcoming Sony smartphone that should sport a full-screen. But today it leaked in photos. Moreover, there are two models with such a design. One of them uses a glass body, while the second model comes with a metal housing. The latter comes with rounded corners for better ergonomics, while the former one looks like a regular Sony phone with a more square-shaped design. Apart from this, both models sport a dual-camera, but their layouts differ a lot. They look different not only in comparison to each other but also to other brand smartphones. As for the key features, the Sony full-screen phones come with ultra-narrow bezels and 5.7-inch 18:9 screens with a 4K resolution. Thanks to them the phones look astonishing. Moreover, the metal housing model comes with a fingerprint scanner placed on the back, while it’s said the glass body model comes with an under-glass fingerprint identification. These phones are going to be among the first Snapdragon 845 models. The chip is also paired with a 6GB of RAM. These Sony phones run on Android 8.0 and have USB Type-C for faster and safer data transfer. The supposed price is $950. |
Following the July 7, 2016 shooting of several police officers in Dallas, DPD Police Chief David Brown has been thrust into the national spotlight, and understandably so. Chief Brown not only has a remarkably tragic personal story—in 2010 his 27-year-old son was shot by Dallas police on Father’s Day seven weeks after he became chief of the DPD—the reforms he has advanced during his tenure as head of the Dallas police have been praised by the likes of Radley Balko as a “national model for community policing.” How will passing more laws that make potential criminals out of more Americans ease the tension between police and citizenry? So, whether Chief David Brown likes it or not, he has become the face of law enforcement in the on-going debate over police brutality. And yesterday, he flipped the script of the debate in a way not often suggested by police unions or civil rights activists, saying, “We’re asking cops to do too much in this country. We are. We’re just asking us to do too much. Every societal failure, we put it off on the cops to solve.” Brown went on to say since there is not enough “funding” for mental health or drug addiction, the cops are expected to solve the issue. Failing schools and broken homes are supposed to be remedied by the cops too, Brown suggested, as he called for “other parts of our democracy” to help and “not put that burden all on law enforcement.” I welcome Chief Brown’s suggestion with a qualifier. Indeed, the police are doing “too much” in this country. Yet, I worry Brown along with many civil right activists are caught in a catch-22. The more they call on our democracy to “do something” and pass more laws, the more the burden will necessarily fall upon the police to enforce such laws. For instance, when the Congressional Black Caucus called for gun control after the shootings in Louisiana, Minnesota, and Dallas, did they somehow think their calls for Congressional action would lead to fewer intrusive actions by the police? How will passing more laws that make potential criminals out of more Americans ease the tension between police and citizenry? How will stripping Americans of more of their freedoms and wealth to fund government programs lead to greater freedom for the people? More Laws, More Violence Thus, though the police may be the face of law and order, behind their blue eyes rest the marching orders of politicians riddled with this presumption—that the law is the best tool for bringing order to a society facing complex problems. Let’s not give the politicians too much credit though. They, of course, are elected by “the people” to presume as much. As Mencken wrote, “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard,” and though I do not think the common people deserve to be victims of police brutality, I am not surprised they have become the victims of their “representative” government. Indifferent to freedom, the people have forged their own chains and have given “themselves” the reins by empowering their government and its agents. They have forgotten that the law is always backed by the threat of force. That said, I’d like to amend Chief Brown’s statement about the cops being asked to do too much and solve every societal problem. More than relying on the cops, we are relying too much on politics to solve our problems. Every societal failure, real or merely perceived, is expected to be remedied by some new law or political program. Whether on the issue of drugs, health, education, broken families, or broken windows, the American people seem unwilling to voluntarily solve such societal problems themselves when they are more than capable of doing so. They would rather rely on political action and new laws leading to more enforcement. They are in no mood to spare the populace the proverbial rod of authority, yet we seem spoiled all the same. Somehow the people have forgotten the law is not some benign tool or harmless guideline for the social engineering of society. They have forgotten that the law is always backed by the threat of force, and when a person understandably resists the law, even an unjust law, that person will most likely suffer and potentially die for upsetting “the will of the people” as carried out by law enforcement. An Over-Politicized Society I contend if we continue to drift in this direction, becoming more and more obsessed with finding political solutions to our societal failures, the less and less moral, prosperous, and free our society will be. Morality, prosperity, and liberty cannot be fostered at the point of a gun draped in democratic demands. Such things can only come from within the hearts and minds of real, flesh-and-blood individuals on the ground, acting to build family, fellowship, and community based upon enthusiastic individual consent. Let’s remove the burden from the police by repealing all laws that do not explicitly defend life and property. Once family, fellowship, and community come to be represented by the government then what is sure to follow is the folly of state power: a permission-based society full of entitled masters and passive serfs where what is true, just, and beautiful takes a back seat to the trappings of state power and those who wield it. In such a society, consent is not enthusiastic and individual but passive and general to the point where violence becomes institutionalized, opaque, and ultimately self-destructive for the vast majority of the population such violence is supposedly meant to defend. In taking up our causes, the state transforms our personal, explicit, and voluntary responsibilities to one another into general, vague, and outright coercive duties, hammering our natural "plowshares" into swords to be wielded by those with state power. This is no petty point, for when we regard serving our fellow man as a personal responsibility, we posit a society of born-free individuals who are equal under the law and must help one another through voluntary aid and association. On the contrary, when we see our obligation to serve our fellow man as coercive state duty, we posit a society of rulers and subjects—rulers who need to instill in their subjects a "sense of virtue" by violently imposing whatever duties the state, as demanded by the people, deems desirable. And in such a society, the cops will certainly be asked to do too much. Positive and progressive change will not come from passively consenting at the ballot box or raucously marching to the sound of demagogues' marching orders and laments. Change must come from within, person to person, day by day, helping to build the beautiful mosaic of community piece by piece. So let’s remove the burden from the police and the impositions on the populace at the same time by repealing all laws that do not explicitly defend life and property. After that, there will still be many problems to solve, but at least we will then know most, if not all, societal failures are for us as individuals to solve and not the province of the state. |
Sir Tim Berners-Lee was hired to work on the project last June Web founder Sir Tim Berners-Lee has unveiled his latest venture for the UK government, which offers the public better access to official data. A new website, data.gov.uk, will offer reams of public sector data, ranging from traffic statistics to crime figures, for private or commercial use. The target is to kickstart a new wave of services that find novel ways to make use of the information. Sir Tim was hired by PM Gordon Brown in June 2009 to oversee the project. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Developers have already built a site that displays the location of schools according to the rating assigned to them by education watchdog Ofsted. "It's such an untapped resource," Sir Tim told BBC News. "Government data is something we have already spent the money on... and when it is sitting there on a disk in somebody's office it is wasted." Road hazards A beta, or test, version of the site has been running since September, with more than 2,400 developers registering to test the site and provide feedback. The site also shows the possible uses of the data, such as PlanningAlerts, a free service that combs local authority planning websites looking for planning applications. It then automatically e-mails details of applications in the local area to anyone who has signed up for the service. Another site, FillThatHole, allows people to report potholes and other road hazards across the UK. It uses location data from the Office for National Statistics. Prepare for a blizzard of new ways of manipulating public data Rory Cellan-Jones Technology correspodent Read Rory's thoughts in full Send us your comments "A lot of this is about changing assumptions," said Professor Nigel Shadbolt of Southampton University, who helped develop the website. "If [the data] can be published under an FOI (Freedom of Information) request why not publish it online?" The site currently contains 2,500 data sets but the pair hope it will continue to grow. "It is a job that is never going to be entirely finished," said Prof Shadbolt. "Government is always collecting data." One of the key data sets they are trying to include is geographical location from the Ordnance Survey (OS). "That will make a real difference to the way that people make sense of the information," Prof Shadbolt said. He said they were "currently in discussion" with the OS and were hopeful that the data would be available on 1 April. In November, the government announced that most Ordnance Survey map data would be freely available online in 2010. Currently, it is only available free of charge to small-scale developers. 'Grow the economy' Prof Shadbolt is also trying to extend the project to cover local government information. The site is part of a growing trend amongst governments to be more transparent with their data. In the US, the Obama administration launched data.gov, which offers feeds from various departments including the US defence department and Nasa. London Mayor Boris Johnson has also announced the city's authorities will open an online data warehouse on 29 January with more than 200 data sets relevant to life in the capital. "This is a tremendous opportunity for UK firms to secure better value for money in service delivery and to develop innovative services which will help to grow the economy," said Stephen Timms, Minister for Digital Britain. Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable version |
Quoine, a Singapore-based bitcoin exchange, has announced new features to its platform that includes the launch of a new mobile application and a trading dashboard, offering new functionalities to both professional and casual traders. According to the announcement, the new dashboard platform retains all advanced features, charting tools and trade options, at the same time making it much easier to use with a clearer format. “Our team has been working tirelessly to bring these exciting updates to our continually growing customer base, and it shows in these new releases. I can’t wait for our users to experience them first hand, and I’m sure our users will use our platform more as a direct result,” Mike Kayamori, CEO of Quoine said. The Quoine mobile app follows similar design sues as the new dashboard. The mobile app is fully featured, easy-to-use and allows users to trade from their mobile devices on the go. It is now available for iOS and Android platforms on Apple App Store and Google Play Store respectively. “Releasing our app allows a whole new audience to enjoy our zero trading fees since smartphones are becoming the primary device for so many people nowadays,” he added. The digital currency exchange platform recently in June announced that it has raised $20 million in a funding round led by venture capitalists and strategic investors. The latest funding follows a series A round that was completed in December 2014, in which the startup raised $2 million. |
As many have heard by now, the leaders of the so-called BRICS nations – Brazil, India, China, Russia and South Africa – used the occasion of the 6th BRICS Summit in Brasilia, Brazil to announce the creation of the long-awaited BRICS Development Bank. Formally the “New Development Bank,” it will be based in Shanghai and capitalized with an initial $10 billion in cash ($2 billion from each of the five founding members) and $40 billion in guarantees, to be built up to a total of $100 billion. Immediately, the press began touting the new bank as a potential rival to the current IMF / World Bank system of infrastructure development and poverty reduction in the third world. “BRICS Development Bank Could Challenge World Bank and IMF” touts US News & World Report. “BRICS Ink $50 Billion Lender in World Bank, IMF Challenge” asserts Bloomberg. The World Bank, for its part, is downplaying the rivalry, with World Bank President Jim Young Kim openly welcoming the bank at a recent meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The only competition we have is with poverty,” he told reporters at the meeting. But all of this talk about a potential rival to the IMF and World Bank have exposed the general public’s ignorance about what exactly these institutions are and what they do. While most are familiar with the IMF and its predatory lending practices (and those who aren’t are encouraged to acquaint themselves with the “IMF riot” strategy that was developed in the third world and is now being imported to Europe), the World Bank is less scrutinized and less well understood. What is it, what does it do, and why is it important for the BRICS to challenge its hegemony in the development and poverty reduction arenas? For the answer to that, we’ll need to examine the World Bank’s history, both the official history that it touts to the outside world and the real history of its part in plundering the developing world that it is supposedly there to help. The Official Story The World Bank was born along with the IMF at the 1944 Bretton Woods conference that decided on the financial architecture of the post-WWII world, only at that time it was known as the “International Bank for Reconstruction and Development” and was concerned primarily with post-war reconstruction of Europe. After the implementation of the Marshall Plan in 1947, however, its focus shifted to the non-European world where it provided development loans targeted at helping developing countries create income-generating infrastructure (power plants, seaports, highways, etc.). From the very beginning there has been question about the overlap of the IMF and World Bank’s respective roles. Both are committed, according to the IMF website, to “raising living standards in their member countries,” but the IMF is financial in nature, concentrating on short and medium-term loans to help countries meet balance of payment needs , while the World Bank is fundamentally a development institution, focusing on technical and financial support for specific projects or sectoral reforms. Part of the confusion is linguistic; at the first ever meeting meeting of the IMF the “father” of Bretton Woods, John Maynard Keynes (who else?), confessed he thought the Fund should be called a bank and the Bank should be called a fund. Nevertheless, the monikers have stuck and the World Bank and IMF continue to talk the talk of global infrastructure development and poverty reduction. Since the World Bank pivoted away from Europe to concentrate on the developing world in the late 1940s, it has lent more than $330 billion on infrastructure development projects. It currently boasts $232.8 billion in total subscribed capital, overseeing $358.9 billion in total assets. The World Bank concentrates its lending on creditworthy governments of developing nations, and splits its lending activities between the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). The IBRD generally provides 12-15 year loans at slightly above market rates to countries with per capita GDPs above $1305. The IDA, meanwhile, provides interest-free 35 to 40 year loans to countries with per capita GDPs below the $1305 mark. Unlike the IMF, which is funded by quota subscriptions from member countries, the World Bank finances its lending by borrowing on the international bond market. As a result, for the first decades of its existence the World Bank was concerned with building up its reputation as a lender and establishing its own creditworthiness. Until 1968, the Bank was a relatively small institution with less than 1000 employees concentrated in Washington that concerned itself almost exclusively with loans designed to finance transportation and energy infrastructure projects. When JFK/LBJ Secretary of Defense and unconvicted war criminal Robert McNamara took over as president in 1968, however, he began a radical repositioning of the Bank and transformation of its aim, scope and practices. Over his 12 years at the helm of the Bank, McNamara greatly expanded its lending activities, shifting the aim of that lending toward agricultural reform and literacy initiatives, as well as the building of schools and hospitals. During this period the Bank’s treasurer, Eugene Rotberg, increased the Bank’s capital by going beyond the established developed world banks that had been its primary funding source and tapping into the global bond market. In the 1980s the bank began to press so-called “Structural Adjustment Policies” on loan recipients, including mandates to devalue currencies or reduce government spending in various areas, as pre-conditions for lending. The Bank also began providing lending to help governments service the debts they had racked up in previous rounds of lending. After the Bank came under increasing scrutiny (and protest) in the 1990s and early 2000s, it has adjusted its policies and practices to address its critics. It now touts environmental responsibility in the infrastructure projects it provides loans for and places greater emphasis on the goal of promoting economic engagement by the poorest people in its target countries. As a result, the World Bank now claims to focus on the eradication of hunger, gender equality, environmental sustainability, maternal health and child mortality, communicable disease prevention, and universal primary education in its target countries. The Real Story As readers of these pages will no doubt be aware, there is of course more to the story than that glossy, PR-friendly official story would have us believe. The period of McNamara’s stewardship from 1968-1980 was instrumental in shaping the institution that we know (or should know) today: a tool of the Washington power players that is used as a way of transferring the productive wealth of the third world back to the first world. The larger capital that was raised during his tenure was used to expand the bank’s lending activities, and those expanded loans kicked off the era of the third world debt crisis, including a period from 1976 to 1980 where developing world debt rose on average 20% per year. As journalist John Pilger noted in his powerful documentary, “War By Other Means,” released back in 1991: “Remember Live Aid in 1985, that symbol of concern and generosity? Did you know that during that year, the hungriest countries in Africa gave twice as much money to us in the developed world as we gave to them? There was another famine last year. Perhaps you are one of those who took part in Red Nose Day. Did you know that before that day was over, the equivalent of all the money that comic relief had raised in Britain, about 12 million pounds, had come back to the rich countries? For every day this amount is given by the poorest to the rich on interest payments on loans that most of them never asked for or knew existed. In other words, contrary to a myth long popular in the West, it has been the poor of the world who have financed the rich, not the other way around.” The process by which these loans are made and the funds distributed to their recipients has long been rife with waste, corruption and fraud. Even in the best circumstances, the types of projects that the Bank concerned itself with in its early days, infrastructure projects focusing on energy and transportation, served to primarily enrich those who were already the richest in the target countries, the friends and cronies of the corrupt rulers whose business interests could make use of such innovations. At its worst, the Bank has been used to underpin the rule of corrupt and tyrannical leaders and force entire nations into debt slavery. This process was described most famously by former insider and self-described “economic hitman” John Perkins, who wrote his “Confessions of an Economic Hitman” to shed light on the means by which the seemingly benevolent IMF/World Bank system is used to oppress and plunder the very populations it is designed to enrich. According to Perkins: “So how does the system work? We economic hitmen have many vehicles to make this happen, but perhaps the most common one is that we will identify a country—usually a developing country—that has resources our corporations covet, like oil, and then we arrange a huge loan to that country from the World Bank or one of its sister organizations. “Now most everybody in our country believes that loan is going to help poor people. It isn’t. Most of the money never goes to the country. In fact it goes to our own corporations. It goes to the Bechtels and the Halliburtons and the ones we all hear about, usually led by engineering firms, but a lot of other companies are brought in and they make fortunes off building the infrastructure projects in that country. Power plants, industrial parks, ports, those types of things. Things that don’t benefit the poor people at all; they’re not connected to the electrical grid, they don’t get the jobs in the industrial parks because they’re not educated enough. But they as a class are left holding a huge debt. The country goes deep into debt in order to make this happen, and a few of its wealthy people get very rich in the process. They own the big industries that do benefit from the ports and the highways and the industrial parks and the electricity. “The country is left holding this huge debt that it can’t possibly repay, so at some point we economic hitmen go back in and we say, ‘You know, you can’t pay your debts. You owe us a pound of flesh, you owe us a big favor. So sell your oil real cheap to our oil companies, or vote with us on the next critical United Nations vote, or send troops in support of our to some place in the world like Iraq.’ And so we use this whole process as, first of all, a means for getting their money (money we loan them) to enrich our own corporations, and then to use the debt to enslave them.” In his book, “The Globalization of Poverty and the New World Order,” Professor Michel Chossudovsky of the University of Ottawa provides extensive documentation of precisely how this process has functioned over the years through the Structural Adjustment Loan and Sector Adjustment Loan programs at the World Bank’s disposal. This documentation includes details of the Bank’s oversight of the build-up of Rwanda’s military budget in the run-up to its bloody internal war of 1994, the Bank’s own admission of how its loan-dictated deregulation of Vietnam’s grain market led to widespread child malnutrition in the country, and the World Bank’s contribution (in conjunction with the IMF) to the unprecedented plundering of Russia that took place in the wake of the Soviet collapse. The World Bank, despite its friendly exterior and the lofty platitudes its proponents spout in its defense, continues to undergird a system of exploitation and debt enslavement of developing countries. For half a century, the Bank has been responsible for the furtherance of a Pax Americana built not upon peace, prosperity and free trade but violence, debt and enforced servitude. The Rest of the Story …But now along comes the New Development Bank promising an alternative to the World Bank hegemony. Unlike the Structural Adjustment Loan regime of the World Bank, the NDB is promising to provide loans with no strings attached; the BRICS have no interest in telling loan recipients how to run their country. Is this a fundamental challenge to the system as it exists? Is the NDB likely to live up to the lofty expectations that have been placed on it? In what time frame can we expect to see the changes to the international order take place? The answer to these questions constitute what Paul Harvey would call in his trademark drawl, “the rest of the story…” and we will explore that story here next week. |
In a letter to the editor, professor Robert McAndrews (Salem State U.) wants to know what is stopping Obama from flinging open the gates to America for Syrians. I would like to know that too (not that I want it! McAndrews obviously does), because in the face of lobbying pressure we haven’t seen on the refugee front since they beat George Bush into submission on Iraqi refugees, Obama hasn’t made a move that we know of. McAndrews even points out that the deadline for Syrians in the US to sign up for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) has come and gone some months ago. Readers, they should take the word “temporary” out of TPS because how it works is that any Syrian in here for any reason when the turmoil began in Syria can apply for TPS and frankly stay forever! TPS is not supposed to be available for anyone sneaking in now. Here is McAndrews’ letter (Hat tip: ‘pungentpeppers’). We have been reporting on the media campaign to bring thousands of Syrians to the US this year, but something. or someone, is thankfully, so far, blocking the way. From the Boston Globe: The United Nations reports that there are more than 1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon and more than 600,000 in Jordan (“One million Syrian refugees flooding Lebanon,” April 4). The Assad regime has terrorized its citizens, killing more than 100,000 people and displacing 6.5 million of its citizens. The United States has generously provided nearly $2 billion in aid for humanitarian assistance for the refugees and displaced families. However, according to Human Rights First, the US government has provided only 121 refugee visas for Syrians to enter the United States. This is unconscionable. The message is: We will donate money to relief agencies, but we will not open our border to provide a safe haven for the refugees. In addition, Citizenship and Immigration Services, the US agency responsible for the administration of granting temporary protected status for Syrians who are already here on a temporary visa, essentially closed the registration for initial filings in December. Does this make any sense? The other option for Syrians in the United States is to apply for asylum, and thousands living here have done so. This can be a yearslong and legally arduous option, leaving asylum seekers in limbo and often without work authorization. Syrian refugees need our help now, and the Obama administration must wake up to the moral urgency of this crisis. LOL! Back in the Bush years, the last line of the letter wouldn’t say ‘Bush administration,’ it would have thrown the blame completely on George W. Bush personally! |
The first volume of Ukyō Kodachi and Mikie Ikemoto's Boruto manga ranked at #2 on on Nielsen BookScan's Top 20 list for April. This month's list included 13 manga volumes. Additionally, the 12th, first, and 11th volumes of Sui Ishida's Tokyo Ghoul manga ranked at #3, #11, and #18, respectively. The first volume of Akira Himekawa's The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess ranked at #6. The third volume of Himekawa's The Legend Of Zelda: Legendary Edition , which covers The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, ranked at #8; the first volume, which covers The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, ranked at #16; and the second volume, which covers The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons, ranked at #19. The 21st volume of Hajime Isayama's Attack on Titan ranked at #9. The 11th volume of Okayado's Monster Musume manga ranked at #10. The 11th and first volumes of ONE and Yuusuke Murata's One-Punch Man ranked at #12 and #14, respectively. The first volume of Shin Yoshida and Naohito Miyoshi Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V ranked at #17. Last month, the 11th volume of One-Punch Man ranked at #2, the first volume of One-Punch Man ranked at #18, the first volume of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess ranked at #3, the third volume of The Legend Of Zelda: Legendary Edition ranked at #4, the first volume of The Legend Of Zelda: Legendary Edition ranked at #9, the second volume of The Legend Of Zelda: Legendary Edition ranked at #12, the 11th volume of Tokyo Ghoul ranked at #6, the first volume of Tokyo Ghoul ranked at #10, and Shin Towada and Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto: Sasuke's Story: Sunrise novel ranked at #14. The BookScan rankings represent sales at Barnes & Noble and other book chains, independent bookshops, and online purchases — but not sales at comic book stores, Walmart.com, and some other venues. Source: ICv2 |
New video shows the chaotic moments after a large tree fell on top of wedding party in Whittier. Kate Larsen reports for the NBC4 News at 11 on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016. (Published Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016) New Video Shows Moments After Tree Fell on Wedding Party One person was killed and five others were injured after a large tree fell on top of a wedding party at a Southern California park on Saturday afternoon, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Multiple people were trapped after a tree toppled over around 4:30 p.m. in Whittier's Penn Park, fire officials said. "I heard the crackling and I'm looking up and it was just an odd sound," witness Mary Escarga told NBC4. A wedding party was taking pictures after the ceremony when a 100-foot tall eucalyptus tree fell, trapping up to 20 people, the fire department said. Chainsaws were used to remove those who were trapped underneath the tree's branches. Bride's Mother Killed After Tree Falls on Wedding Party The mother of the bride was killed when a tree fell on a wedding party in Whittier. Kate Larsen reports for the NBC4 News at 9 on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016. (Published Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016) One person was killed and five people, including a young girl, were injured. The five people who were injured suffered minor and moderate injuries and were taken to a hospital for treatment. They are expected to recover. 2 trees fell during a wedding at Penn Park, multiple people injured... pic.twitter.com/zuVf9h60TN — pat (@ChiefPat_) December 18, 2016 "The scene was very chaotic," said Sgt. Jason Zuhlke of the Whittier Police Department. Rene Zaldivar, who was at the park for a quinceañera, said he saw the bride during the chaos. "She was limping a little bit, but she was screaming about her mom – they couldn’t wake her up." A search dog was brought in to search for additional victims who could still be trapped. "Fortunately, there weren't more people injured by the tree collapse," John Tripp, a Los Angeles County Fire Department deputy chief, said at a news conference. "It could have been a lot worse." Police Guard Park After Tree Falls on Wedding Party, Killing 1 Police were on guard the morning after a tree crashed down on a wedding, killing one person and injuring five others. Marin Austin reports for Today in LA Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016. (Published Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016) The wedding party was taken to a nearby senior center where mental health counselors were made available to them. Officials could not confirm that the heavy rains reported Friday evening played a factor in the tree collapse. Arborists are expected to investigate why the tree fell. The identity of the person who was killed has not yet been released. NBC4's Kate Larsen contributed to this report. |
The Eastern League announced on Thursday that Binghamton Mets’ shortstop Gavin Cecchini had been selected as July’s player of the month. In July, the former first round draft pick hit for a .387 average, with 48 hits in 124 at bats. Cecchini hit six doubles, three triples, two home runs, and knocked in 18 runs. He also scored 21 runs, held a .453 OBP, and slugged .532 in 29 July games. He began the month on another hot streak, by reaching base in each of the first 17 games of the month. Furthermore, the 21-year-old Lake Charles, Louisiana native reached base in 26 total games in July. And adding to the impressive hot streak, he also had 11 multi-hit games, including a career-high five hits in an 11-3 win at Richmond on the 30th. Cecchini, who stands 6’2″ and weighs in at 200 lbs, was the overall batting leader in the Eastern League in July, and was part of the 2015 Eastern League All-Star Game in Portland, Oregon on July 15th. He was 0 for 1 with a walk as a member of the Eastern Division team. On the year, Cecchini is a .312 hitter, with 22 doubles, four triples, seven homers, 49 RBIs, and 49 RBIs in 97 games. He is second in the Eastern League in batting average, hits (122), and his total bases (173). The fifth-best prospect in the organization according to MLBPipeline.com was the 12th overall selection in 2012 out of Barbe High School in Lake Charles, La. |
Image: NIHCD/Flickr As far as pets go, the zebrafish has more than earned its stripes. An aquarium staple, it is also used by scientists around the world, who can watch, second by second, what happens inside its see-through body to shed light on why some people are more prone to tuberculosis, for example, or end up with a painfully curved spine. Canadian researchers are contending with severe restrictions on zebrafish import to this country, and they say it's hurting their research. As a result, some have had to put certain studies on hold, including those involving Alzheimer's, blindness, heart disease and arthritis. "The import ban has no solid scientific basis, and is not emulated by all other countries who have zebrafish importation. The whole thing just does not make sense," said Vincent Tropepe, Chair of Cell and Systems Biology at the University of Toronto. This zebrafish embryo has its nerve cells labeled in technicolor. Image: Albert Pan and Alex Schier The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) imposed the embargo in 2013 in a bid to protect its waters from disease outbreak, on the grounds that zebrafish could be susceptible to a carp virus and might cause it to spread. Although the virus poses no threat to people, it causes nasty internal bleeding in fish, killing about a third of them during outbreaks. The decision has left many in the research community scratching their heads: there's no evidence that zebrafish can spread the virus. The virus is also widespread globally, including in Canada, yet this is one of the few countries with such an embargo in place. (The others include Australia, Israel, South Korea, Malaysia and Bermuda.) As a result, Canadian researchers have trouble accessing some cutting-edge zebrafish strains. In the last two decades, scientists have created more than 20,000 genetically modified zebrafish strains—lacking certain genes, or whose cells and organs light up with fluorescent proteins—to be used as research tools. These are kept in central stocks in Germany and the US and are openly shared across the world. While many strains already exist in Canada, there's a limit to how many fish tanks a lab can keep due to space constraints, and new strains are imported as needed, although that's proving to be difficult under the existing embargo. This zebrafish embryo with a glowing heart is helping scientists understand why some people are born with heart damage Video: Ian Scott/YouTube In his lab at the University of Alberta, Ted Allison uses zebrafish to study mad cow disease, a condition caused by sticky proteins that gunk up, and eventually kill, brain cells. When a colleague in the US created a fish whose brains glow green when hit by the disease, Allison wanted to use the strain to search for drugs that can switch off the green in the brain and make it healthy again. Before the embargo, Allison would have just asked the colleague to mail the fish to Canada. Or, if that was not possible, he would have ordered the strain from a central stock. But now, instead of buying an off-the-shelf ready fish for a few hundred dollars, the Canadian scientists have to make it from scratch, which takes at least a year and could tally up to $20,000. Allison had a researcher in his lab recreate the mad cow zebrafish, calling the year and half it took "wasted time". The resentment is echoed by other researchers, who also had to divert their taxpayer-funded grants to recreate the existing strains so they can actually do the science they got funded for in the first place. They're worried they'll be left eating the dust as their international competitors take advantage of all strains available outside Canada. Read More: Scientists Are Creating Mutant Fish With Curvy Spines to Study Scoliosis The CFIA said in an e-mail that import restrictions were a result of zebrafish being listed as susceptible to virus by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), which sets global standards for animal health and trade for its 180 state members, including Canada. But the OIE's decision did not call for an embargo, which is warranted only when the fish are a natural host for a virus and can spread it in the waters. Neither is true for zebrafish. In fact, the only way to get the virus into a zebrafish is to inject it, and even then the fish aren't contagious. Besides that, scientists take all kinds of precautions to make sure that viruses aren't being swapped among lab animals, which could wipe out their research, sending years of work and lots of funding dollars down the drain. "We are not working with these fish casually and there's already in place a very structured containment program for these animals. We've been working with them for decades and I am yet to hear about any disease outbreaks," said Daniel Dragon, a biosafety officer at the University of Alberta. To get around the embargo, research facilities are required to boost the existing quarantine measures for new fish arrivals—an onerous task that only the largest facilities can meet, leaving smaller labs no choice but to continue to recreate the strains. The CFIA is aware of the researchers' concerns, but shows no sign of loosening restrictions. Get six of our favorite Motherboard stories every day by signing up for our newsletter. |
Timothy McDonald reported this story on Monday, February 4, 2013 18:26:00 TIM PALMER: For years opponents of wind farms have claimed wind turbines produce inaudible sound that affects the health of people who live close to them. But now a report by South Australia's Environmental Protection Agency says there is no link because there is no extra noise. The Clean Energy Council says the study is more evidence that the supposed link between wind farms and health problems is a myth. But as Timothy McDonald reports, it seems unlikely the study it will put an end to the issue. TIMOTHY MCDONALD: Various groups opposed to wind farms have long argued that what you can't hear, can hurt you. They're concerned about infrasound, which operates at frequencies below those that the human ear can usually detect. This latest study says people who live near wind farms aren't subjected to more of it than anyone else. The Clean Energy Council's policy director is Russell Marsh. RUSSELL MARSH: It's certainly more evidence to back up the case that we've been making for a long time that it is not infrasound that is responsible for any of the health claims that people are making near wind farms. And we hope that this puts the issue to bed as you say. Another study that's measured infrasound from wind turbines specifically, I think you should note, you know, that this study also included measuring infrasound at times when the wind farm was turned on and off and found no discernible difference at those two times. And we think that it should really put the issue to bed that wind turbines do not add to the levels of infrasound in people's homes. And, you know, it certainly doesn't - it certainly can't be responsible for any of the health claims that people are making. TIMOTHY MCDONALD: The study found that infrasound generated by wind farms isn't any worse than what comes from air-conditioners or traffic, for example. Still, some people have their doubts. Dr Sarah Laurie is the CEO of the Waubra Foundation. She says the organisation isn't opposed to wind farms on principle, but worries about their health impacts and believes there needs to be more research into their health effects. She says the EPA's study doesn't look at the right areas. SARA LAURIE: The report itself, the authors only measured down to 10 hertz by using what we call the G-weighting. They ignored the frequencies between 0 and 10 hertz. And they're the frequencies that many of us believe are the problem frequencies. So they didn't actually measure those.* TIMOTHY MCDONALD: But Russell Marsh says there's other research underway that will look at those areas, and he's confident the results will be very similar. RUSSELL MARSH: Whenever a study is done someone always finds a reason to say that it hasn't gone far enough or done enough analysis. We know that there are, obviously there are, a whole range of other noise issues that people are raising. And I think we do - we understand that actually the EPA are about to do some more studies on other issues around low-level noise in particular. We have no doubt that they will actually show the same thing - that the levels of noise that come from a wind turbine wouldn't be harmful to people's health. TIMOTHY MCDONALD: Dr Sarah Laurie says she still has her doubts about the independence of the research. SARAH LAURIE: I think there's interests from all sectors of politics that would rather this problem was not addressed. And in the meantime country people are being seriously harmed. TIMOTHY MCDONALD: And what do you base that on? SARAH LAURIE: Ahh… TIMOTHY MCDONALD: I mean I though the issue was that there was a lack of research? SARAH LAURIE: There is a lack of research, that's what we've been pushing for. It needs to be done properly. The data collection needs to be done independently of those who have an interest either way, OK. So it needs to be done with the very best researchers who've got the technical expertise and the knowledge in this area… TIMOTHY MCDONALD: But I guess - you just made the claim that country people are being harmed by these wind farms, but at the same time you're saying that the research isn't there to show one way or the other. I'm just trying to reconcile those two points. SARAH LAURIE: Well they're reporting serious harm to their doctors. Their doctors are reporting harm, their psychologists are reporting harm. The individuals are reporting harm to a series of Senate inquiries and nothing is being done. The fact that it's not getting in the peer reviewed published journals doesn't mean the harm isn't happening. TIMOTHY MCDONALD: But Russell Marsh says that if it is happening, infrasound is almost certainly not to blame. He says many bodies - scientific, legal and parliamentary have looked at the issue in detail, and they consistently return the same result. RUSSELL MARSH: Seventeen international reviews that have looked at the science behind this and they've all concluded that there isn't a link between wind farms and health. The courts have looked at the evidence, I mean the courts they've kind of rejected the health claims made by some of the opponents. And, you know, it's been through at least two parliamentary inquiries and they've both concluded there isn't the evidence out there to support the claims that the antis make around wind farms that, you know, that it's causing people's health. But there is plenty of evidence to show that whatever it is that the people are feeling it isn't caused by anything the wind turbines are producing. TIM PALMER: Russell Marsh from the Clean Energy Council. EDITOR'S NOTE (10 February 2013): The report states that frequencies between 0.25Hz and 315Hz reflect human perception of infrasonic noise levels, and were used throughout the study to characterise the level of infrasound. |
Sharon Recently, Dmitry Orlov offered a selection of possible topics for a talk he was giving, and several of them dealt with the ubiquity of permaculture as the articulated solution to our present crisis. Orlov’s point was that a consensus seems to be emerging that permaculture strategies – particularly the Transition movement – have emerged as the de facto solution to our collective crisis without a lot of public conversation or questioning. I didn’t get to hear Dmitry’s commentary on this subject (although I can guess what some of it would be), but it pushed me to begin a subject I’ve been gently avoiding for a while. Now I am commonly described as a permaculturist, and I’ve no objection, in fact it rather pleases me - I generally don’t worry much about how people describe me, and this is one of the nicer ways. Officially, I’m not sure I qualify – I’ve never taken a full design course myself, and am mostly self-taught. I’ve taught in a few design classes, but have never sought certification for one reason – I don’t think of myself primarily as a designer, at least in a classical sense. That may seem strange, since a lot of what I do is design work – I teach garden design, Adapting in Place (ie, designing your life to work with less money and energy), etc… But permaculture design is formal design of a particular kind – deeply visual, deeply concerned with maps and images. I’m not a terribly visual person – my own strengths have to do with the translation of the world into words, not images. There are too many pictures in permaculture design for me . Moreover, I tend not to sign up quickly for membership in “ists” or “isms” – even ones that I approve of deeply. The only club I officially belong to is the order of agrarians, and only because I want to meet Wendell Berry someday . Despite my lack of official signing up (I have the same issues with joining the Kantians ) I do approve of permaculture in a broad sense. I like many of the things it has brought to our society as a whole, and I like many permaculturists. I can think of far worse principles from which to build a new society. Moreover, I give enormous credit to Rob Hopkins and Transition practitioners, who have essentially created the only viable, large scale alternate model for dealing with a coming crisis – that’s quite an accomplishment. One of the reasons I have not written this post before is that I really don’t want to criticize or undermine permaculture and transition, which have been fairly successful – Transition astonishing successful in a short time – in energizing a lot of people with a new idea and vision. Given our shortage of good solutions for responding, and the need for coherent solutions, I don’t want to seem as though I’m sniping at something I admire and value. That said, however, I admit to some doubts about the political viability of permaculture as a solution for our collective crisis, doubts I’m going to articulate here, in the interest of promoting a larger discussion about permaculture, and about the possibility of movements in general as a strategy of mitigation. I do want to be clear that I am not trying to undermine the enormous efforts made by people involved in permaculture and Transition, nor do I want to see them discontinue their efforts. But I do feel that there are questions to be discussed and answered. I should be absolutely clear here – all of my concerns about permaculture are about elements of permaculture’s presentation and emphasis – not about the overall goals of Transition or the permaculture movement. That is, even if I don’t qualify as an official permaculturist, even if I critique them, there is no question I want to work with permaculturists – their emphasis on scale, on integrating food production and local economies, their emphasis on appropriate technology – all of these things are, I think, absolutely right. The question is not whether permaculture is bad – I would deny that outright. The question for me is whether permaculture and its offshoots, as they are presented and emphasized now, can do what they would like to do – make a smooth (or smoother) transition than any other method through tough times. The first one is a philosophical one – can permaculture as a movement actually attract enough mainstream people to really and truly make a difference? This to me is a sincere and serious question, and perhaps the deepest issue to be addressed. When I have given talks at permaculture classes, attended group meetings, or given talks to permaculturist audiences, I’ve noticed a pervasive consistency among the attendees. While there are exceptions, and I can’t speak for permaculturist gatherings outside the US, the ones I’ve attended (and I’ve attended quite a few in different areas of the country) have had some common denominators. The attendees tend to be white and middle class, or if they are not middle class, they are very young, and immersed in alternative culture. I don’t mean to stereotype, but most of the people who attend these groups tend to visually signal their attachment to historical leftist or alternative communities. There are plenty of exceptions, but the predominance is of grey pony tails, yoga mats, priuses, flowered skirts and lefty bumperstickers. These are not bad things – I grew up in precisely this culture and am quite fond of it. But the absence of trucks with gun racks, right wing bumper stickers, non-white people and other signifiers of ideological is somewhat disheartening, if you are looking for a universal movement. At the Albany permaculture gathering, I was discussing with one of the other participants how pleased I was that the demographic involved more younger people, only to be mocked by the speaker, Larry Santoyo, for praising the diversity of the nearly all-white group. And he was right – my standards have just been lowered over time . I realize that permaculture has a somewhat wider audience in the UK and Australia, and that these may be primarily American objections. The US, for example, has never gotten permaculture into any soap opera . I also recognize that both are comparatively new here in the US, and that the early adopters don’t necessarily describe who will come to the fold in the long term. Both are meant to be deeply flexible and adaptive to local conditions, and it is possible that they will become so. There is a case to be made that some elements of leftist culture – universal therapy, yoga and tofu, for example, have permeated into the mainstream of American culture quite gracefully. There is a case to be made, however, on the other side, that other elements have not. My claim is not that permaculture as an idea is ideologically leftist, or particularly hippyish, but that its practice has been, at least in the US. And this, I think is, quite frankly, a bad thing if the goal is the creation of a mass movement. Frankly, having grown up the child of baby boomers, my own tastes don’t run that way. I find myself in sympathy with people who aren’t attracted to the Transition Training’s emphasis on visualizing, community building activities, etc… My own entry into visualization exercises and trust-building dates back to summer camps as a child, and the whole thing makes me a bit queasy. When the words “get in a circle” are uttered, I tend to start wandering off. I recognize this may be my own personal design flaw, but I have no interest in ever building a Web of Resilience, and I think it extremely unlikely that many of my neighbors would be interested as well, or would take time off work and home life for it. I’m sure some of them would, but the emphasis of many permaculturists on the language of popular therapy and summer-camp style activities designed to create consensus, build trust and visualize the sustainable future are, well a turn off for whole classes of people. They will speak to other groups – but the question of who you are speaking to is, of course, the essential one. Even the language of “acknowledging one’s sense of loss and grief” is one that is tough for a lot of people to swallow, despite the pervasiveness of Oprah and Dr. Phil. I think there is a real question about how much public discussion of one’s feelings is going to be attractive in different populations and communities. A friend of mine recently attended Transition Training in his town, and said to me “there was good stuff, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was about to join a cult.” This is not the impression one wants to cultivate . I make no claim that his experience was universal, but I’ve heard more than few people express similar sentiments from different parts of the US and different countries. There are countries in the world and a few regions of the US in which a movement that uses tools that primarily appeal to the crunchy left will be successful. Speaking as an American, for America as a whole, however, I do not think the entire US is one of them, nor are most regions. I think it is important to recognize that while permaculture itself is not a leftist movement philosophically, an extended diet of bearded and ponytailed permaculture teachers and enthusiasts ;-) making comments about the Republicans will tend to associate the movement with the politics of its public faces. The painful reality of American politics for us leftists is that at no time as the American public cast open its arms and said “we were just waiting for you to invite us to join with you” . Associate permaculture to closely with the American left, and the reality is that many people won’t join. Is there a solution that problem? I suspect so, perhaps some attention to the design of permaculture’s PR image. Many (not all) of the people who embraced permaculture were mostly on the left, at least to a degree (thank G-d for Bill Mollison and Larry Santoyo, who offer a cheerful confirmation that permaculture really isn’t politically associated with one side or another, and provide hard drinking, reality pushing, capitalist (in Larry’s case, anyway), versions of the things itself – I may not be a capitalist and I’ve long since lost any tolerance for hard drinking, but I find them refreshing and funny, which is helpful), and they certainly know things we need to know. And most of the permaculturists I know are more complex than that – Larry Santoyo was a California Cop, Toby Hemenway a scientist…. that is, they aren’t what they are widely perceived to be. But perceptions matter more than reality in some cases, and polling people who are not part of the club, the widespread perception I find is that permaculture is another hippie thing, to go with the “liberal left behind movement” reputation of peak oil. Whether it is fair or not, it matters. At a minimum, I’d be careful about the language associations and techniques one adapts – I don’t think that evoking meditation or trust building is a really good idea, say, for Transition Mississippi, or even Transition rural upstate NY if the goal is critical mass. My main suggestion would be that at least in the US, Transition movements begin engaging religious communities on a serious level. I give a lot of talks at churches and synagogues and other religious communities. Many of those communities are already engaging in the nuts and bolts work of responding to an *existing* Long Emergency – they are doing the marrying and burying, the preaching of moralities, both productive and not. They run the food pantries, the battered women’s shelters, the emergency funds. They find clothing for the naked, food for the hungry and offer sanctuary and public appeals when violence breaks out. This is the nitty gritty work of responding to the crisis as it unfolds, and it must be done simultaneously with the building of the “better model.” I would argue that some of (not all) the best people to make the case for Transition to are the people who are already on teh ground in our cities and towns doing the work that desperately needs more hands. My other suggestion is that permaculture groups seek out people who are *already* doing the work of sustainability, but don’t get any credit for it, because they are poor. Some do this, but the fact that these groups tend to be mostly made up of middle class white folks suggest to me that that asking the people who are already living in the city with no electricity, because the bill gets cut off every April, and the people who are already dumpster diving and making their livings of the waste of the city, and the people who are already stretching every resource because they have no choice, or urban farming because that’s just what you do where they come from ought to be invested in the local permaculture community. And it will not do to go among them as missionaries and teach them – let them teach you. You may have done the food stamp budget challenge one month – they’ve been doing it for years, and can tell you how to keep eating when the money runs out. I do not want to see something so valuable become the territory only of an affluent middle class who can afford to pay a few thousand bucks and take two weeks off work to take a design seminar. The second question/critique I’d offer is this – is it possible to imagine permaculture responding successfully in situations not of peaceful exigency, of gentle shifts, but of violent ones? I think there is little doubt that some places will experience violent shifts – by this I mean war, civil or otherwise, rioting, vast increases in criminal activity and violence, and civic disruption. Some of those places may not be in the US . Recently Rob Hopkins and Richard Heinberg made public their correspondence about whether Transition should incorporate emergency preparedness into its training and work – it was an excellent conversation, and long overdue, but it inadvertantly exposed some real limitations to Transition’s planning - Hopkins’s conclusion was that perhaps it could begin to do so, and his first thought was that it could include camping and wilderness survival skills. As useful as these might be to many people, and as good a thought as that is, it struck me as a measure of how far off from dealing with a truly disastrous situation we are – it is true some people may retreat into woods as refugees, but far more likely to be needed are plans for quelling local violence, building emergency shelters and providing emergency medical services, and urban survival. Hopkins noted that he saw little way to address preparedness measures because they were traditional “top down” applications – ie, provided by the state. But if Transition’s bottom-up structures are overridden the moment there is a major crisis by existing top-down structures, then we can assume that we will no longer be living in a society governed by permaculture. I realize that the long term goal is for permaculture models to replace existing structures, smoothly and gradually. The problem is lack of time – historically institutions that have done very well in tough times have been those that had something to offer people in exigency – that took up the work of dealing with the crisis. If a crisis comes before the town council or the local government is replaced by loving permaculturists, permaculturist movements must offer a compelling case that they can handle a rough transition better than existing infrastructure – that means heavy emphasis on preparedness. Religious institutions have known this – think how powerful the relief institutions and madresses of Islam, or Catholic social welfare structures have been in influencing local relationships to religious communities. Permaculture is not a religion, but it is perhaps, a faith at this stage – a faith that it has something to offer. But if tough times come rapidly and it has nothing to offer those already experiencing exigency, if its message is “wait, we’ve go the right technique, it just takes a while…” I think that permaculture will be rapidly pushed aside. Naomi Klein’s superb _The Shock Doctrine_ observes the degree to which people cling to the familiar in tough times – and they cling even harder to those they believe were there for them. If we had a decade or more before the Long Emergency was thrust upon us, or if we could assure a smooth shift, and if the language of permaculture can be shifted (and I think it can be) to one that is more encompassing, that works as well in the US as it has elsewhere, I would be less uncertain about the value of some of the work being done now. But for most of us, our time to transition is measured in months or a couple of years at most – for a host of reasons. The economic crisis is on us now, and we know that the energy crisis is coming rather quickly alongside it. We have less than 5 years left from James Hansen’s deadline to begin making “radical and draconian” changes on the climate. We have so much to do and so little time. I admire enormously much of the work of permaculture and permaculturists, and every time someone calls me one, I’m pleased and proud to be associated with that community. There is no group out there that does not have issues that need consideration and critique – and permaculture has more that I will attend to in my next post on this matter – the issue of how we will address the larger questions of feeding cities and whole populations, and the question of what degree of actual success Transition is having at this point are, I think, important questions to ask. I find myself wanting permaculture to succeed – there are plenty of things to like about it, particularly as an economic model. And if Transition or Permaculture can’t do enough fast enough, I’m honestly dubious that they will succeed at all. If we had world enough and time, that would be great. But the models that will help us most are the ones that can work under circumstances of enormous disruption and difficulty as well as during a smooth shift. Sharon |
No. 7 Florida scores twice late to beat ULL 27-20 Florida linebacker Jelani Jenkins (3) runs for a touchdown after picking up a blocked punt during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Louisiana-Lafayette in Gainesville, Fla., Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012. Florida won 27-20. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin) GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida players jumped around on the sideline, then rushed the field in celebration. It was more like a collective sigh of relief. The seventh-ranked Gators staved off the biggest upset in school history Saturday, but couldn't get the help needed to win the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division. Scroll to continue with content Ad Jelani Jenkins returned a blocked punt 36 yards for a touchdown with 2 seconds remaining, capping the comeback and giving Florida a 27-20 victory against Louisiana-Lafayette. ''I'm speechless,'' said Florida cornerback Loucheiz Purifoy, who blocked the kick. ''I've never seen a game end like that. We overcome adversity. That's what we do.'' The Gators (9-1) needed Auburn to upset Georgia later in the day, but the Bulldogs won 38-0 and clinched a spot in the league title game. No one, though, was thinking about that game late in this one. Florida did little on offense most of the day and looked to be in serious trouble when quarterback Jeff Driskel left the game with a sprained right ankle. The Rajin' Cajuns (5-4) led 17-13 in the third quarter after Alonzo Harris' 2-yard run and a blocked punt for a touchdown on the ensuing drive. Brett Baer's 22-yard field goal - a huge stand for Florida's defense - made it 20-13 early in the fourth. But Florida backup Jacoby Brissett rallied the Gators. After a shaky start that included two sacks and a near interception in his first four throws, Brissett found tight end Jordan Reed down the middle for a 39-yard gain and then hit Quinton Dunbar for 3-yard score with 1:42 remaining. ''It's difficult to come in during the middle of a series for a quarterback,'' Florida coach Will Muschamp said. ''I think he did a fantastic job.'' ULL was content to run out the clock and play for overtime. Story continues Purifoy had other thoughts. One of Florida's fastest players, Purifoy sprinted off the edge and got his right hand on Baer's punt as the final few seconds ticked off the clock. Jenkins picked up the deflection and went untouched the other way. Florida players and coaches erupted on the sideline, knowing the significance of the situation. ''Anytime you see the seventh-ranked team in the country storm the field like they won the Super Bowl to beat you, you know you're doing some good things,'' ULL coach Mark Hudspeth said. But players questioned Hudspeth's late-game decisions. With the game tied at 20 and 1:40 remaining, the Rajin' Cajuns ran three times before the fateful punt. ''There is a lot of pain in the locker room because we knew that we had that game in our hands and we let it slip away,'' ULL receiver Bradley Brown said. ''The thing that we didn't understand was why we didn't go for it with a minute and 40 seconds left on the clock because we are a two-minute team.'' The Gators were coming off eight consecutive games against SEC foes and were supposed to get a break against a middle-of-the-pack team from the Sun Belt Conference. Louisiana-Lafayette was a 27-point underdog, was paid $950,000 to be Florida's homecoming opponent and hadn't beaten a ranked team in 16 years. That didn't matter at Florida Field, where the Rajin' Cajuns played smart and waited for the Gators to self-destruct. Florida was flagged 10 times for 79 yards, including two costly ones on ULL's lone touchdown drive. Lerentee McCray was penalized for being off side on a third-down play that likely would have forced a punt, and Purifoy was called pass interference on another third-down pass. ''As a player you've got to look in the mirror and realize you've got to be smarter than that,'' Muschamp said. Those came on the heels on Clay Burton's dropped pass in the end zone early in the third. Reed got the ball on an end around and floated it to the sideline, but Burton couldn't haul it in, and Florida settled for a field goal and a 13-3 lead. The lead seemed safe considering it was about how Florida has played all season. The Gators had 158 yards and nine first downs at halftime, and most of those came on a late drive just before the break. Driskel found Trey Burton all alone for a 2-yard score with 7 seconds left, capping an 85-yard drive. Driskel completed 13 of 16 passes for 98 yards and a touchdown. He added 76 yards rushing and was sacked three times. Brissett was 6 of 8 passing for 64 yards, with a TD. He was sacked twice. ''That's what you dream about, no matter who it's against,'' Brissett said. ''I had to make sure when I got my chance that I didn't make a fool of myself. I came out and did what I had to do.'' Mike Gillislee had with 45 yards rushing, his fifth consecutive game of less than 80. The Gators finished with 311 yards against the 89th-ranked defense in the county, a unit that allowed 65 points against Oklahoma State in September. But this game will be remembered for Purifoy's block and Jenkins' return. ''To win the game in that fashion certainly is credited to our character and our kids,'' Muschamp said. |
Vogue staffers are famous for their clacking stilettos, but when a male intern for the famed mag showed up in heels, he says he got the boot. “There were people who evidently didn’t like that I was overstepping my bounds as an intern,” R.J. Hernández tells Alexa. “I essentially got pulled aside two months into my internship and told I couldn’t come back the next day. People were offended with the liberties I was taking in my personal expression.” The 27-year-old author of “An Innocent Fashion” (crowned the next “Devil Wears Prada”) toiled at the fashion bible in the summer of 2011, all while sporting “fanciful” suits and hobnobbing alongside André Leon Talley. “The [shoes] I wore the most often were a chunky 4-inch-heel, pointy-toe boot — they were not subtle whatsoever,” he admits. “I realized too late that at Vogue … the people who could be wildly expressive were people at the top of the masthead who could do no wrong. Everyone else was to act and dress as was appropriate for their role.” A spokeswoman for the magazine tells Alexa: “At Vogue we’ve never met a shoe we didn’t love.” |
On June 2, 1989, two days before the military crackdown on Tiananmen Square that would change the course of Chinese history, nine of the country's top leaders sat down to decide what to do about the weeks-long protests. The vast majority of Chinese citizens are today unaware of the meeting, much less the crackdown it produced. But that meeting may have been among the most significant in contemporary China's history, shaping that history beyond even beyond Tiananmen and its bloody conclusion. Chaos made many things possible during the weeks of the student-led protests, which were also a moment of uncertainty and debate within the Communist Party. Voices within the Party called for political opening or for political tightening; for economic liberalization or a return to state-dominated socialism. The June 2 Politburo Standing Committee meeting, and particularly the words of leader Deng Xiaoping, helped set China on the course of not just that week but of the 25 years that following, in many ways shaping the politically authoritarian but economically open China that we know today. Deng argued that force would end the unrest but only economic reform could prevent it in the future, an idea that was unpopular then but has since shaped china as it is today Two debates about China's future converged on June 2, and Deng won both of them: what to do about the student protesters and whether or not to continue his program of economic liberalization. Many of Deng's political antagonists among Party hard-liners opposed his liberalization, blaming it in part for the unrest. While the now-famous June 4 military crackdown was almost certain by June 2, the survival of Deng's economic reforms was not. The June 2 meeting ensured that China's economy would continue to open, and that China would go from a very poor country to the economic giant it is today. But Deng's arguments also linked that opening to the Tiananmen crackdown, combining liberal-minded economics with at-all-costs authoritarianism in a way that remains central to China's political system today. Two days earlier, on May 31, Deng had met with senior Communist Party leaders who were pushing for the crackdown, urging them to maintain his trademark economic reforms despite hard-liners pushing to end the reforms as catalysts for the protests. Deng argued that continued economic reform would be the only thing to prevent future unrest once the square has been cleared — an idea that was treated with hostility at the time but has since become Communist Party orthodoxy. The next day, on June 1, the Beijing Party Committee sent every member of the Politburo a report called "On the True Nature of the Turmoil." The report was ostensibly an investigation into the protesters at Tiananmen and elsewhere, which it alleged were Western-backed terrorists aiming to seize power by force, but in fact it was designed to build a legal and political case for a military assault against the peaceful demonstrations. "we could benefit from this incident" On the morning of June 2, six "Party Elders" — senior officials who wielded enormous power in their own right — met with the only three remaining members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the paramount decision-making body in China's government. This was China's top leadership and it was in crisis. The meeting's formal subject was on how "to put a quick end to the turmoil and restore order in the capital" and its conclusion was foregone; the previous day's report had made military force all but inevitable. What was actually up for debate was how these nine Chinese leaders would justify the military crackdown and what this would mean for another weighty and not-quite-separate question: whether to continue or kill Deng's campaign for economic reform and opening-up. Deng wanted to push for the crackdown, but he rightly worried that the protesting students would become associated with economic liberalization — something the protests had indeed called for — and that the crackdown would be seen within the Party as a vindication of anti-reform hard-liners. To get what he wanted, to maintain the economic reforms has saw as so essential to his nation's future, Deng needed to come out for violence in Tiananmen, as the hard-liners wanted, in a way that simultaneously argued for the economic reforms those same hard-liners opposed. It was not easy. Li Peng, China's premier, spoke first. He presented the June 1 report in detail, especially its arguments the the protesters were foreign-backed agents seeking to sow chaos and overturn the Communist Party. That this was wrong was beside the point; Li was presenting the case for treating the peaceful protesters as if they were armed rebels, and of using military force to disperse them. "no one can keep china's reform and opening from going forward" Two other spoke up to concur with Peng. One of them, former president and party elder Li Xiannian linked the protests to economic liberalization, arguing that both must be destroyed as the same enemy. "China will lose all hope if we let turmoil have its way and open the door to capitalism," he said. "The nature of this turmoil is extremely clear: its bottom line is death to our Party and state." Then Deng spoke. While he at first presented himself as agreeing with Xiannian's case against economic reform, and made an explicitly hard-line case for cracking down, it was clear that he hoped to save reform as well. He got both of them, and reading his speech now may be one of the best documents for understanding how China became what it is today and how the Tiananmen crackdown that followed two days later shaped the country's course for at least the next 25 years. Here, from Deng's personal papers and collected in the 2002 primary source history The Tiananmen Papers, is his fateful speech in full: Comrade Xiannian is correct. The causes of this incident have to do with the global context. The Western world, especially the United States, has thrown its entire propaganda machine into agitation work and has given a lot of encouragement and assistance to the so-called democrats or opposition in China — people who are in fact are the scum of the Chinese nation. This is the root of the chaotic situation we face today. When the West stirs up turmoil in other countries, in fact it is playing power politics — hegemonism — and is only trying to control those other countries, to pull into its power sphere countries that were previously beyond its control. Once we're clear on this point, it's easier to see the essential nature of this issue and to sum up certain lessons. This turmoil has taught us a lesson the hard way, but at least we now understand better than before that the sovereignty and security of the state must always be the top priority. Some Western countries use things like "human rights," or like saying the socialist system is irrational or illegal, to criticize us, but what they're really after is our sovereignty. ... Two conditions are indispensable for our development goals: a stable environment at home and a peaceful environment abroad. We don't care what others say about us. The only thing we really care about is a good environment for developing ourselves. So long as history eventually proves the superiority of the Chinese socialist system, that's enough. We can't bother about the social systems of other countries. Imagine for a moment what could happen if China falls into turmoil. If it happens now, it'd be far worse than the Cultural Revolution. Back then the prestige of leaders like Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou [Enlai] still loomed. We talked about "full-scale civil war," but actually no large-scale fighting took place, no true civil war ever happened. Now it's different, though. If the turmoil keeps going, it could continue until Party and state authority are worn away. Then there would be civil war, one faction controlling parts of the army and another faction controlling others. If the so-called democracy fighters were in power, they'd fight among themselves. Once civil war got started, blood would flow like a river, and where would human rights be then? ... On the topic of mistakes, we indeed have made them. I said two years ago that our biggest mistake was in education. we haven't educated our kids and students enough. A lot of thought work has been neglected, and a lot of things have not been made clear. Some people, like [former Chinese premier who visited the protests] Zhao Ziyang, have even joined the side of the turmoil, which makes it even more our own faults that people misunderstood. We must cast a sober and critical eye upon ourselves, review the past while looking to the future, and try to learn from experience as we examine current problems. If we do this, it's possible a bad thing could turn into a good one. We could benefit from this incident. A majority of the people will sober up, too. After we put down the turmoil, we'll have to work hard to make up all those missed lessons in education, and this won't be easy. It'll take years, not months, for the people who demonstrated and petitioned to change their minds. We can't blame the people who joined the hunger strike, demonstrated, or petitioned. We should target only those who had bad intentions or who took the lead in breaking the law. Education should be our main approach to the student, including the students who joined the hunger strike. This principle must not change. We should set the majority of the students free from worry. We should be forgiving toward all the students who joined marches, demonstrations, or petitions and not hold them responsible. We will mete out precise and necessary punishments only to the minority of adventurers who attempted to subvert the People's Republic of China. We cannot tolerate turmoil. We will impose martial law again if turmoil appears again. Our purpose is to maintain stability so that we can work on construction, and our logic is simple: with so many people and so few resources, China can accomplish nothing without peace and units in politics and a stable social order. Stability must take precedence over everything. ... No one can keep China's reform and opening from going forward. Why is that? It's simple: without reform and opening our development stops and our economy slides downhill. Living standards decline if we turn back. The momentum of reform cannot be stopped. We must insist on this point at all times. Some people say we allow only economic reform and not political reform, but that's not true. We do allow political reform, but one condition: that the Four Basic Principles [of Marxist ideology and Communist Party rule] are upheld. We can't handle chaos while we're busy with contradiction. If today we have a big demonstration and tomorrow we have a great airing of views and a bunch of wall posts, we won't have any energy left to get anything done. That's why we have to insist on clearing the square. Several others at the meeting expressed their agreement with Deng, for military action to end the protests and for his plan to restore long-term order nationally through firm state control, ideological indoctrination, and apparent contradictions be damned, economic reforms. While former President Yang Shangkun tried to argue that the square could be emptied bloodlessly, Deng's argument for a forceful and final military operation won out. "we cannot tolerate turmoil" Deng closed the meeting by asking President Yang Shankun to order the military declare martial law that night and to "finish it within two days." The meeting ended and, within 48 hours, the military had killed an estimated 2,600 of China's citizens in emptying Tiananmen of the protests once and for all. Deng was politically bruised and weakened from the internal fight, though, particularly among hard-liners. It was not until three years later, when anti-reform party elder Li Xiannian died, that Deng was able to cultivate the case for economic reforms he had so carefully built into the decision to crack down. He made his famous "southern tour" that fall, in cities such as Shenzhen and Shanghai, which he argued should be made in special, economically liberalized zones. Deng got his economic opening, first in the south and then elsewhere, greatly enriching China's economy in ways that have transformed it. But, true to his June 2 speech intertwining economic reforms with harshly enforced public order, China never surrendering its tight-fisted controls on public discourse and assembly and dissent that defined China on June 4, 1989, and that still define it today. |
West Ham are set to table a deal worth £25million for Swansea defender Alfie Mawson. The England hopeful has been a rare bright spot for the Swans during a hugely disappointing campaign. The Hammers want to add the 23-year-old to their squad when the January window reopens next month and are making early moves to ensure a deal can be completed early. West Ham are set to launch a bid worth £25million for Swansea centre back Alfie Mawson Swansea have already rejected an £18million offer from West Ham, telling the east London club they would only consider a deal worth £25million. And Sportsmail understands the Hammers are ready to meet Swansea’s demands by tabling an improved offer worth a guaranteed £20million plus a further £5million in add ons. It remains to be seen whether the offer will be enough to tempt Swansea into selling Mawson. But any money from Mawson’s departure could be used to offer their next manager additional funds in the transfer market. It is understood 15 percent of any fee for Mawson will go to Barnsley as part of the deal that took him to the Liberty Stadium in August 2016. |
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee accused the FBI on Monday of not cooperating with the Department of Justice’s top watchdog in the investigation of the Fast and Furious gunrunning scandal, among others, endangering Congress’s ability to be a check on the administration’s actions. “One of the tools we have created to help the government identify and correct its mistakes is being obstructed. I refer to the vital work of Inspectors General,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican, in a speech on the Senate floor Monday. “We must stay vigilant and insist that all government agencies, including the FBI, work with Inspectors General — not against them.” In investigating the Fast and the Furious case, the Justice Department’s IG was told by the FBI that grand jury testimony could not be shared with the Inspector General. According to Mr. Grassley, the FBI claimed it had the right to refuse to provide the IG information in over a dozen other categories as well. “Remember – the law says the Inspector General shall have access to all records, documents and other materials they deem necessary to conduct their investigations,” said Mr. Grassley, “And yet the FBI says its attorneys will review material first and decide what it would and would not release to the Inspector General.” The FBI claimed the inspector general needed to get approval from the attorney general or the deputy attorney general to provide information to the Inspector General, an action Mr. Grassley called “exactly upside down!” “Under the law, an inspector general must be independent. Agencies cannot be trusted to investigate themselves,” said Mr. Grassley. “If an inspector general had to ask for permission from senior leadership, he would not be truly independent.” Other agencies who have avoided inspector general inquires through legal loopholes are the Environmental Protection Agency and the Peace Corps, Mr. Grassley said. Last year, a group of 47 inspector generals wrote a letter to Congress warning of these problems across the government. Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission. |
Ad Age surveyed seven firms tracking fraud about the activity they're seeing. What is the most prominent type of ad fraud? Bots account for 90% of all fraud, says Integral. According to DoubleVerify, 30% of all programmatic buys could be fraudulent. What is the most costly type of ad fraud? Forensiq, Integral and Vindico agree that bots are the most costly. But Telemetry, White Ops and ComScore say it's video fraud. What is the hardest type of ad fraud to get rid of? Again, Integral and Vindico say bots, but Telemetry claims vendor tricks, such as mixing suboptimal traffic into a legitimate campaign are the hardest. Can you put a dollar figure on the amount of fraudulent ads you've witnessed? $120 million in 2014, according to Vindico, though DoubleVerify puts the figure at more than $1 million per day. What portion of total digital ad spend is fraudulent? Forensiq and Integral place the figure at 10% to 15%. WhiteOps' 2015 estimate is $6.3 billion. |
The seemingly sweet-natured English cocker spaniel may be the world's most aggressive dog breed, according to a new study published in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior. For the study, researchers at Spain's School of Veterinary Medicine at the Autonomous University of Barcelona crunched data related to more than 1,000 dog aggression cases logged at an area veterinary teaching hospital during the period of 1998-2006. Of those cases, English cockers ranked the worst, followed by Rottweilers, boxers, Yorkshire terriers and German shepherd dogs. Discovery News has the details: Probing the data further, [the study's lead author, Marta Amat] and her team discovered that English cocker spaniels were more likely than other dogs to act aggressively toward their owners as well as unfamiliar people. In contrast, dogs with reported behavior problems from other breeds tended to act aggressively toward other dogs. Among the English cocker spaniels, golden varieties and males were found to be the most hostile. ... In terms of coat color, Amat explained that the coat pigment melanin shares a common biochemical pathway with dopamine and other brain chemicals involved in the control of aggressive behavior. The results of the study mirror the findings of an earlier research team, also from Spain, conducted by scientists at the University of Cordoba. That study also found that male and golden-colored English cockers had a higher incidence of aggressive behavior than females or English cockers with other coat colors. |
Locking out a Deadlift Lots of people talk about deadlifting, but youve got to examine the source that youre listening to. I see people speaking about all sorts of things they have no authority on and the deadlift in particular is something that irritates me. Its mostly because the deadlift is something I do have authority to speak on! Ive deadlifted 850 pounds myself while in the 275 pound weight class. But its not just what Ive done Ive coached literally hundreds of lifters to personal bests, which includes a variety of national and world records in a variety of different countries. These are legitimate records, too; not the flavor-of-the-month-federations that tend to come and go each year. Lots of people struggle to pull a deadlift through to the lockout and many lifters are perfectly capable of self-identifying this lockout weakness. The trouble I have seen is that the lockout is a pretty massive range of motion. Anything from the knees up is generally considered lockout in the deadlift. But consider that the bar starts 8 inches off the floor. Thats nearly mid-shin for lots of guys. So if you put it in this context, from the floor to the knees comprises about 1/3 of the range of motion for most guys. That leaves about 2/3 being from the knees up. Yes, thats a large range of motion to consider lockout and not all of these lockout weaknesses will be the same. Setup Most of you guys will want to skip over this section because its about technique. If I could, Id grab you by your skinny little traps and have you re-read this. Its important. Nearly every case of weak lockout can be traced back to your starting position. If you start with a rounded back, you will almost certainly have trouble at the lockout. In a rounded position, your hips are closer to a vertical line with the bar. It gives you a mechanical advantage in moving the weight off the floor. But once the bar passes knee level, your knees will be mostly locked and even your hips will be largely complete with their range of motion. But your back will still be rounded, which means you have to extend your spine while you are in this mechanically difficult position. Contrast that with a person who pulls with a flat back at the start. In their bottom position, the spine is already extended, but it pushes the hips further back further out of line with the bar path. This means it will be comparatively difficult to get the weight moving off the floor, but once the bar passes knee level, your leverages in the hip and knee improve dramatically. And since your spine is already in a locked out position, completing the lift is much easier. In the flat back position, the action of your spinal erectors is mostly isometric. One easy way to improve your lockout is to stop pulling with a rounded back. Of course this is a double edged sword, because while that will improve your lockout, it will make pulling from the floor more difficult. The only way to tell if this will be a net gain or net loss for your deadlift poundages is to try it out and see which results in a heavier pull. Figuring out whats weak If you pull with a rounded back and youre happy that way, or if youre one of those rare cases of a person who has a crappy lockout despite the awesome leverages afforded by a flat back, then you still need to get the weak parts of the lift stronger. The first step is to evaluate your weaknesses. Lots of people will try to narrow a weakness down to a particular muscle group. Not only is this exceedingly difficult in a great many cases, its unnecessary. I seriously doubt that anybody can accurately diagnose a weak muscle group with high reliability in the context of powerlifting. I say that because the lifts are complex and at all points rely on the interplay of many muscle groups working together. If you feel your spinal erectors straining in the deadlift, does that mean theyre weak or does it mean that some other muscle is weak and the spinal erectors are working overtime? Turns out it doesnt matter. Strength is specific to movements, not muscles. So dump the idea of doing extra back raises to help your weak lockout. Chances are the back raise isnt whats helping. But before we can tell what IS helping, we have to figure out whats weak. The weak RoM is where bar speed drops off the most. Not where its the slowest, but where it decelerates the most. If you can figure out which range of motion is weakest, then you can better target them. Weak from knee level If you start dropping bar speed right around knee level, then your weak range of motion is really in the mid-range, not necessarily what I would term as lockout. But thats still something that needs to be trained and corrected. Ive made it no secret over the years that I am a fan of paused lifts. In the case of the pause deadlift, you will pull the bar up to knee level, pause for a count (usually a 2 or 3 count pause), then complete the lift by pulling to the lockout. So its really a deadlift with a stop at knee level. This exercise will increase the time you spend under tension at the weakest joint angle. Do this exercise for 2-3 rep sets and err on the light side. Youll find that this is a very difficult exercise. Rack pulls can possibly help here as well, but youll have to be careful to make sure you are in a similar starting position to your deadlift. Dont let ego drive this lift, you have to be able to look at it objectively. Bands and chains have utility for the knee level weakness, but maybe not in the way that you think. They wont increase tension at the weak range of motion. Theyll actually decrease it depending on how much accommodation is used and how its loaded. Generally, bands and chains will emphasize tension in the higher ranges of motion. If you have a knee level weak area, this can still be useful as it can provide an overload stimulus and help increase strength in the entire range of motion. Weak from low-to-mid-thigh This is a much more rare weakness to see. This range of motion often sees bar speed dropping off anyway because the lifter is nearing the lockout. But if there is an actual weak range of motion on the thighs, this is the only situation I can think of where I wouldnt recommend pause deadlifts. If this is your weak range of motion, I recommend focusing on rack pulls as well as band and chain deadlifts. Band and chain deadlifts will be effective for precisely the same reason they are less effective for knee level weaknesses. Stick to loading bands from the floor and only use reverse bands if you have no other options. If you do have to use reverse bands, use no more than 15% band tension off the floor. That means if you can deadlift 500 pounds, set up your reverse bands so it takes off no more than 75 pounds off the floor. Fifty pounds would be better still. Most people use far too much tension on reverse band deadlifts. Dont forget Dont forget to continue doing regular deadlifts as well. If you have a weak range of motion in any lift, continuing to perform that lift will allow you to train that weakness in the most specific way possible. Special exercises are meant to be used in conjunction with the main lift to build your weaknesses and also emphasize your strengths. Thats the best way to develop a lift in the larger picture. Building a big deadlift is about a lot of hard work. There arent any short cuts. Doing things like kettlebell swings, good mornings, back raises, and so on can be helpful, but thats NOT what is going to build an awesome pull. If you want to deadlift a lot, you have to deadlift a lot. |
Target Keto - The Targeted Ketogenic Diet for Low Carb Athletes to Burn Fat Fast, Build Lean Muscle Mass and Increase Performance Target Keto gives you A simple plan to start the targeted ketogenic diet for beginners. Everything you need to know about the keto diet and low carb eating. Information how to use both carbs and fat for fuel. Target Keto can be used to: •Lose body fat and get shredded without depriving your body. •Build lean muscle and size while not getting fat. •Get stronger, faster and more powerful as an athlete. •Battle diabetes and reverse other medical conditions. •Improve mental focus and attain Jedi-like concentration. •Protect yourself against cancer, tumors and coronary heart disease. •Increase your longevity and insulin sensitivity. •Become fat adapted and start using fat for fuel. •Experience mental clarity and feel amazing. •Have access to abundant energy all of the time. •Reduce your hunger and lose sugar cravings for good. •Eat mouthwatering and delicious meals that leave you satiated for longer, including carbs. If you're more than the average weekend warrior, then Target Keto is just for you. The targeted ketogenic diet is a great tool to eat low carb while still performing at your best physically as well as mentally. The author Siim Land is a modern day reneissance man and a hunter-gatherer. A holistic health practitioner, fitness expert and an author. Having practiced the ketogenic diet for several years, he has managed to improve his health, performance and longevity. You can do the same and start practising the targeted ketogenic diet. If you're a low carb athlete wanting to burn fat, build lean muscle and increase performance, then Target Keto is what you need. Have you heard about the ketogenic diet? It's proven to be great for rapid weight loss and fat burning. In addition to that, it's can be used to reverse diabetes and other medical conditions.It is most commonly used by low carb athletes to increase performance while burning fat for fuel. Also by bodybuilders to build muscle without gaining fat.TKD is for the serious athlete who trains like a beast and eats low carb. It's an ESSENTIAL tool for anyone wanting to increase their performance on a ketogenic diet.Whatever your reason or condition, you will most definitely benefit from this.It will teach you everything you need to know about low carb performance, rapid weight loss, and nutritional ketosis. It's written in a way that everyone can understand and start practising the TKD approach. |
CW: I thought you knew you wanted to do this since you were like, five! TR: No, I mean TV was still just TV and I was looking at it like, I could probably do something with that... But at least I was vaguely aware of this kind of stuff. I taught a couple of classes where they got some inner city kids together at the ADC and when I told them I was in advertising, they were like, "What?" I’d have to say, "I actually make the ads you see on TV." And they were like, "Wow!" I think a lot of people assume that the people who work at the actual company make the ads, you know? So then I start asking, "What are your favorite ads?" And then I gave them a brief and they went off into teams so they could present their ideas. By the end of the day, some of them were like, "I didn’t even know this existed. This is amazing!" It’s fucking fun to get them when they’re that young and to stretch their ideas of what jobs might be out there for them. CW: It’s sort of ironic that a medium like TV ads is so accessible - yet the industry isn't. TR: You can see their heads go like this [widens his eyes.] I told them that every single thing you see was a choice made by somebody behind it who was working on a problem. Like, go to a gas station and look at the gas station sign. Someone designed that! That was a choice. Everything is a choice! And that started getting them going, whatever I like or see, I could be the person who does that. CW: That’s very empowering. TR: It’s weird. People haven’t said it to them, so they just don’t know. CW: Final question (and admittedly self-serving). Besides our flasks, what do you like about Working Not Working? TR: I love the flasks, I love Justin and now I love you! I like the fact that you’ve created something that’s incredibly accessible that also has a very high standard. I love that people have to earn their way into it and that it’s not just a cattle call. You’ve built a relationship platform that I think is really responsive and quick and something we’ve really come to rely on. There are still headhunters out there I like very much and whose opinion I respect. I think the two can co-exist. I’m just very happy this tool exists to give us a shorthand in solving problems in a way that’s not just LinkedIn. What the fuck is LinkedIn? I get LinkedIn requests from people - how do you even know me? It’s just a weird, meat market thing. Working Not Working: you guys understand the business, very much so. You understand what’s important to agencies in finding talent. That references are everything, that having a certain standard is everything. Time is huge, so valuable. I hate that sometimes we’re strapped and we grab whatever warm body floats in front of us. But we’re not above that - it happens too much probably. So that deep understanding of what and how we operate is really, really important and very beneficial. I think it’s also just a smart fucking idea because now you can do it across any industry. The potential for it is enormous. You’re going to get the whole airplane design industry. Architects. I don’t know who freelances as much as we do but the possibilities are sick. CW: That means a lot because it has been three years of purposefully keeping the community tight, painstakingly going through each portfolio. We don’t automate any of that. And when you have big vision and ultimately want to expand, it requires a lot of patience to grow thoughtfully. TR: That’s what I mean about understanding. This is a relationship industry. There’s so much bullshit, there’s mountains of it; to understand how to get around that and to make that one of your highest goals is extraordinarily patient and extraordinarily understanding of what we value. |
Dungeons & Dragons has two massively multiplayer online roleplaying games, an upcoming mobile game, and a huge back catalog of old-school computer roleplaying games and brawlers. But MMORPGs don't scratch the roleplaying itch for many gamers, or at least not always in the same way that single-player games do. Wizards of the Coast should capitalize on the D&D brand's long tradition of single-player RPGs, especially now that technology and video game innovation could lead to some of the best D&D video games ever. Here are three games that the D&D license should take advantage of: An XCOM-style D&D turn-based, tactical game. I want this game so badly. Imagine XCOM: Enemy Unknown but with D&D 4th Edition rules and classes. The game would be turn-based, utilize cover, and pit your "squad" or "party" of adventurers against hordes of evil minions. The 4th edition (and 3rd/3.5 edition) rules of D&D are already well-suited for a game based on a grid, so porting this over to a PC (or game console) would be a walk in the park. I'm not sure how to implement something similar to the XCOM base where research and engineering occur. Maybe a "camp" of some sort, where you could study magic, forge weapons, and level up your characters. To be honest, this seems like a game just begging to be made. Toss in the depth of character development and customization found in D&D and you'd have a really tremendous game. There could be a PvP multiplayer mode, too, with one player taking on the Dungeon Master role. A serious single-player, story-driven "pause-and-play" style CRPG. There hasn't been a D&D video game campaign outside of MMOs since Neverwinter Nights 2 and its expansions. Since then we've seen the rise of Dragon Age and The Witcher but the world's most popular tabletop roleplaying game remains mysteriously silent. I keep expecting to hear about a Pathfinder alternative. Why Paizo hasn't teamed up with Obsidian on this is a mystery to me. They've opted for an MMORPG instead, which I think is a bad first step into the video game space, especially given how hungry I think gamers are for a single-player game. Wizards of the Coast still has an opportunity to capitalize on the general dearth of single-player RPGs on the market (at least in comparison to MMOs.) They could revive Neverwinter Nights but I think it would be much more interesting to release a Greyhawk or Dark Sun game, or even create a new D&D realm. Wizards has a bunch of writers at its disposal for such a game, and could very well tap into its current stable of talent to help flesh out what could be a truly incredible game. Give it the new "5th Edition" rules, and off we go. A "shared world" style fantasy co-op game. Grand Theft Auto Online has worlds filled with just 16 players. Destiny will pair you with your friends or the occasional non-friend player who happens to fit the right level and class criteria. Star Citizen utilizes a similar method of "shared world" multiplayer. Dark Souls and Demon's Souls created a sense of community with one of the sparsest and unique styles of multiplayer I've ever seen. Journey thrust players into an adventure with other players without ever letting slip that these digital companions were actually real people. In other words, the concept of multiplayer is being tinkered with. The "massively" in MMO no longer always applies. But even as far back as Neverwinter Nights 2 co-op was a part of the experience---an integral part of the experience, actually. I imagine a big open world similar to Skyrim inhabited by no more than 16 players---players who could adventure, fulfill quests, team up, or turn on one another as they gain fame, fortune and power. Let players build up their own kingdoms through war and intrigue, or simply delve into deep pits in search of glorious loot. A living world, in other words, but not filled with hordes of MMO toons. Each player would actually matter. (This is basically where I think Elder Scrolls should have gone rather than full-blown MMO.) So that's it. These are the Dungeons & Dragons games I think should be made. The first one, in particular, feels like a good fit for D&D. The other two could be any generic fantasy game, though I really do think some of the old D&D settings like Greyhawk or Dark Sun could make for fascinating settings. Thoughts? Your own wishlist? Sound off in the comments. Follow me on Twitter or Facebook. Read my Forbes blog here. |
Jonas Knudsen has two caps for Denmark at senior level New Ipswich Town signing Jonas Knudsen says he is known as "the new Rory Delap" by some in his native Denmark because of his long throw-in ability. Left-back Knudsen, 22, joined Town from Esbjerg on a three-year deal on Friday. Former Stoke City midfielder Delap was famed for his long throws. "My dad also did it when he played," he said. "When you're a kid you look up to your dad. I see him make the throw ins, and as a little kid I did it and now it's one of my good things." Former Everton and Manchester United boss David Moyes once labelled Delap as "the human sling" Knudsen, who has been capped twice by Denmark, added that former Ipswich defender Thomas Gaardsoe was a big influence on his decision to move to England. "He's a very good friend," he said. "When I was a young kid he was an older man, he took me under his arm and said I had to go to the Championship or England to play one day. "And now I'm standing here, it's so fantastic." Meanwhile, Ipswich have offered contracts to former Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Giles Coke, 29, and 31-year-old Guinea forward Larsen Toure. Famous long throwers Delap: The former Republic of Ireland international helped Stoke stay up in their first Premier League season in 2008-09, assisting goals that saw the Potters defeat teams including Aston Villa, Sunderland and Arsenal. Former Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari said of Delap's throws: "I think he puts the ball in better with his hands than his foot - it's fantastic." Andy Legg: Legg, who played for teams such as Ipswich, Swansea and Cardiff, once held the world record for his throw-in of 44.6m. Dave Challinor: Ex-Tranmere defender Challinor broke Legg's world record with a throw of 46.34m at Prenton Park in 1998, and helped Rovers to the 2000 League Cup final with his sideline deliveries. He is now manager of National League South side AFC Fylde. Ian Hutchinson: Often called "Windmill Arms" because of the distinctive way his arms rotated after throwing the ball. Hutchinson's ability was put to good use in Chelsea's 1970 FA Cup Final replay against Leeds, when his throw was headed in by David Webb in extra-time to help the Blues win the trophy for the first time. Thomas Gronnemark: Knudsen's fellow Dane is the current world record holder for the longest throw-in, with a staggering attempt of 51.33m registered in Horsens, Denmark, in 2010. |
Public higher education has never been more challenged. Join Inside Higher Ed for IHE NOW, July 8-10, 2019, in Baltimore, MD, as we examine issues such as the eroding business models of many state colleges and universities and the impact of partisanship on academe. This three-day summit, “The Future of Public Higher Ed,” will feature experts from every sector of public higher education, as well as political and corporate leaders. We will ask questions and explore thorny issues that often get short shrift at other conferences, and push for unflinching discussion among participants. General education is one of the most debated topics in higher education -- and getting gen ed right is important for every kind of college, even if doing so may look very different at colleges with different missions. Overhauling gen ed can bring a college together ... or leave a college divided. This event will explore some issues that cross sector boundaries: Do students understand gen ed requirements? Does it matter if they don't? How can colleges best evaluate their gen ed requirements? Are gen ed requirements too extensive or lacking in rigor? Demographic and enrollment patterns threaten the viability of many liberal arts and other institutions. Join us on August 16 in San Francisco, CA to explore the challenges and possible strategies. |
TALKING ABOUT DEATH AND DYING - Why don’t we talk about death and dying? We can choose so many of our life experiences, but it seems we can have no say in whether we die in pain or at peace. Today we look at the Australian government’s efforts to suppress discussion of euthanasia. There’s plenty of information available on how to kill yourself violently, so why does the Australian government so vigorously censor information on peaceful methods? Voluntary euthanasia societies have long been pushing to legalise death with dignity. According to opinion polls, a strong majority of Australians support legalisation, yet Australian governments have been unreceptive. When the Northern Territory government legalised euthanasia in 1996, the federal parliament overruled the law less than a year later. Philip Nitschke, despairing of the legal route, set up Exit International to enable people to learn how to obtain a peaceful death through their own initiative. Exit publications provide information about obtaining pentobarbital, commonly known as Nembutal, the drug of choice everywhere that death with dignity is legal. Censorship and response The Australian government has responded with amazingly draconian censorship. No other government has taken such extreme measures to prevent access to information on peaceful death. Exit had an information phone line. The government passed a law making it illegal to convey information over the telephone about ending one’s life. Exit responded by putting its phone line in New Zealand. hagit_ Exit has a website. The government banned Australian Internet service providers hosting websites with end-of-life information. Exit hosted its website overseas. For some years, the government has been pushing for a web filter, ostensibly to block material on paedophilia and violent pornography. The government kept secret its list of websites to be blocked but the list was revealed on WikiLeaks - and it contained euthanasia websites. Exit responded by providing information about using proxy servers to get around the filter. Philip Nitschke and Fiona Stewart wrote a book, The Peaceful Pill Handbook, with detailed information about peaceful ways to end your life. The book is freely available in most of the world, but the Australian government banned it. This was only the third book banned in Australia in a third of a century. Exit makes it easy to obtain the book, in hard copy or electronic form, from its websites. Exit produced a short advertisement with the mild message that being able to choose how to die might be a good idea. Prior to filming, it was approved by the regulatory body Commercials Advice. Afterwards, just before screening, Commercials Advice withdrew its approval. Exit put it on YouTube, where it was free to view, and some Australian media ran the story of how it had been censored: Exit has also encountered legal threats, last-minute refusals to use hired venues and attempts to block its billboard advertisements. Many people are keen to obtain the information provided by Exit. Nearly all of those who attend Exit’s meetings are old - the minimum age to attend the members-only segments is 50. Some are seriously ill. They are looking for information on how they can end their lives peacefully, when pain, indignity and suffering become too great. The government is doing its utmost to prevent this. Violent death However, the government seems quite complacent about the availability of information about killing yourself violently. Licensed handguns are legal in Australia, and you can take a course in how to use them. Shooting is one of the common ways men commit suicide. There are plenty of films and television shows with graphic portrayals of suicide by firearm. The most common method for suicide in Australia is hanging. The technology - rope and something to tie it to - is readily available. Again, there are many media portrayals. For example, The Shawshank Redemption, a film rated very highly by audiences, includes an informative sequence of suicide by hanging. le Liz/Flickr It does not require much imagination to figure out how to kill yourself by jumping off a building, drowning or crashing a car, or you can look up suicide methods on Wikipedia. Shooting, hanging and other violent methods are not nice ways to die. They are unreliable: you might survive and end up permanently disabled. They are painful, often agonising. And they are highly distressing for family and friends. The government is trying to prevent people suffering from terminal illnesses from finding out how to die peacefully. The result is that many of them choose violent methods instead, such as hanging. Yet the government is doing little or nothing to prevent access to information about violent suicide options. Rationales It might be argued that the government can’t prevent access to information about means for violent death – that would be censorship. But of course it has shown itself quite willing to censor information about methods for peaceful death. Another argument is that people shouldn’t be able to choose a peaceful death, because that would make it too attractive. The evidence shows, on the contrary, that having the means to die peacefully frequently enables people to live longer. Nor is there much risk of accidentally dying with the means described by Exit. Nembutal is extremely bitter, so no one is going to swig down a bottle by mistake. Another option, making an exit bag, requires considerable advanced planning and preparation. It is not a spur-of-the-moment suicide option. shieldkitten The standard explanation is that the government is pandering to the religious lobby, which apparently is more concerned about stopping dying with dignity than stopping violent suicides. The irony is that while physician-assisted suicide remains illegal, there is increased interest in Exit’s approach. So far, Exit has found a way around every censorship technique introduced by the government. In some cases, the censorship has simply created more visibility for and interest in Exit’s activities. The government seems to have accomplished an unlikely double: appeasing the religious lobby while stimulating the development of ever better information and technology for do-it-yourself death with dignity. Acknowledgements: I thank Paula Arvela, Trent Brown, Rae Campbell, Philip Nitschke, Russel Ogden and Fiona Stewart for helpful comments. What do you think of the government’s actions in relation to Exit International? Leave your comments below This is the first part of Talking about death and dying. To read the other instalments, click on the links below: Part Two: End of the care conveyor belt: death in intensive are units Part Three: Caring or curing: the importance of being honest Part Four: Death and despair or peace and contentment: why families need to talk about end-fo-life options Part Five: Body or soul: why we don’t talk about death and dying Part Six: Planning your endgame: Advance Care Directives Part Seven: A challenge to our leaders – why don’t we legalise euthanasia? Part Eight: A personal account of life with terminal cancer |
The wait is finally over. Earlier tonight, Evo organizer Joey “Mr. Wizard” Cuellar went live with Twitch’s Mike Ross from the Red Bull eSports Studio in Santa Monica, California to announce this year’s lineup. You all have waited long enough, so let’s just get right into it. Here’s the full lineup: Evo 2016 is scheduled for July 15-17 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Sunday finals, featuring Street Fighter V, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mortal Kombat X, Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR, and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, will take place at the Mandalay Bay sports arena. Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino will act as the event’s official hotel. If you’re sweating the costs of this trip already, you may be able to win a trip for two to Las Vegas. All you have to do is enter for a chance to win over at Kernel. The winner will have all their expenses (flight, hotel, tickets for every day, etc.) covered, so don’t waste any time throwing your name in! More Evo 2016 details can be found on the official website. Feel free to let us know what you think in the comments, and check out our interview with Cuellar for a bit more insight on the choices they made. |
The Seattle Seahawks have lost receiver B.J. Daniels, who was signed off the team's practice squad Monday to the 53-man roster of the Houston Texans. B.J. Daniels, a receiver who has also played quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks during his career, has been signed off Seattle’s practice squad and to the active roster of the Houston Texans. The Texans announced the move Monday afternoon. Houston needs depth at quarterback with Brian Hoyer in the concussion protocol and backup T.J. Yates injured in Sunday’s game and now out for the season. Houston has started four QBs already this season. Daniels has been a fairly constant presence on either Seattle’s active roster or practice squad since being claimed off waivers from the 49ers in Oct. 2013. He has served as both a third-team quarterback and a receiver and special teams player this year. Wilson reports that the Seahawks were “unhappy” to lose Daniels. Daniels was waived off the active roster again last week when the Seahawks made a flurry of moves that included adding running backs Bryce Brown and Christine Michael. Daniels was on Seattle’s 53-man roster for 10 games this season but was also waived and then re-signed back to the practice squad three times. Daniels played in six games this year, making two catches for 18 yards and also one tackle on special teams. Daniels won a spot on the team’s initial 53-man roster this season in part due to his versatility, which included the ability to be an emergency quarterback, if needed, behind Russell Wilson and Tarvaris Jackson. He was moved to receiver in the off-season and that was his primary position this year. Daniels was a quarterback at South Florida, where he started for four years and finished third in Big East history in total yards with 8,433 passing and 2,068 rushing. As of last week, Seattle had two other WRs on its practice squad in Kasen Williams and Douglas McNeil III. Seattle has just four WRs on its active roster currently — Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse, Tyler Lockett and Kevin Smith. Players can be signed off a team’s practice squad to another team’s 53-man roster at any time but must remain on that team’s active roster for at least three weeks. |
The scarab beetle may make its living by rolling balls of dung, but it's looking at the stars The humble dung beetle is the first insect known to navigate by the stars. Like sailors of old and Saharan nomads, it can orientate itself by watching the sky. On clear nights, a myriad of stars shine over the deserts and savannahs of Africa where the dung beetle, or scarab, makes its home. While the beetle's compound eyes are probably too weak to see individual stars, it uses the light of the Milky Way to keep it on a straight course, scientists have found. The beetles feed on animal dung, which they fashion into a ball and roll to a safe spot where it is less likely to be stolen. Rolling the ball in a straight line ensures they do not circle back to the dungheap, where other scarabs might have gathered. Scientists wondered how they were able to do this in the dark. "Even on clear, moonless nights, many dung beetles still manage to orientate along straight paths," said Dr Marie Dacke from Lund University in Sweden. "This led us to suspect that the beetles exploit the starry sky for orientation - a feat that had, to our knowledge, never before been demonstrated in an insect." Field experiments on a South African game reserve showed that the beetles were able to roll their dung balls along straight paths under starlit skies, but not in overcast conditions. For the tests, the beetles were fitted with tiny cardboard caps to alter their field of vision. They were placed in a circular arena surrounded by a metre-high black cloth, making it impossible for them to see landmarks. On moonless nights, it took much less time for the beetles to roll a dung ball from the centre of the arena to the edge when they were able to see the sky. When they could not see the sky above them, however, the time taken increased from 40 seconds to 124 seconds as they wandered aimlessly around. The experiment was repeated in a Johannesburg planetarium, with similar results. The beetles performed just as well when only the glow of the Milky Way was visible as they did under a full sky of stars. Most stars would be too dim for the beetles' tiny compound eyes to see, said the researchers. While unable to pick out constellations, the scarabs could detect the light of the Milky Way arcing over their heads. "This finding represents the first convincing demonstration for the use of the starry sky for orientation in insects and provides the first documented use of the Milky Way for orientation in the animal kingdom," the researchers wrote in the journal Current Biology. Previously, only birds, seals and humans were known to navigate by the stars. "Although this is the first description of an insect using the Milky Way for their orientation, this ability might turn out to be widespread in the animal kingdom," the scientists said. Dung beetles also use the sun and moon as compass cues. |
Image caption The Mal'ta boy was buried with a variety of artefacts, including a Venus figurine Scientists have mapped the genome of a four-year-old boy who died in south-central Siberia 24,000 years ago. It is the oldest modern human genome sequenced to date, researchers report in the journal Nature. The results provide a window into the origins of Native Americans, whose ancestors crossed from Siberia into the New World during the last Ice Age. They suggest about a third of Native American ancestry came from an ancient population related to Europeans. Analysing the genes of present-day populations can only tell us so much about the past because traces of ancient movements have been overwritten many times. So studying the DNA from ancient remains is becoming a powerful tool for disentangling the numerous waves of migration that produced the genetic patterns seen in people today. The burial of an Upper Palaeolithic Siberian boy was discovered along with numerous artefacts in the 1920s by Russian archaeologists near the village of Mal'ta, along the Belaya river. Native Americans are composed of the meeting of two populations - an East Asian group and these Mal'ta west Eurasian populations Eske Willerslev, University of Copenhagen "With these remains of a young kid were all sorts of cultural items, one of which was a Venus figurine," lead researcher Eske Willerslev, from the University of Copenhagen, told the Nature podcast. "These Venus figurines are found all the way west of this area into Europe." Dr Willerslev and a colleague obtained a sample from the boy's arm bone, extracted DNA and compared it with that of present-day populations. Image caption DNA was extracted from the boy's arm bone "When we sequenced this genome, something strange appeared," he explained. "Parts of the genome you find today in western Eurasians, other parts of the genome you find today in Native Americans - and are unique today to Native Americans." DNA from the boy's Y chromosome and from the mitochondria (the cell's batteries) were of types found today in a region encompassing Europe, West and South Asia and North Africa, but rare or absent in Central Asia, East Asia and the Americas. The researchers estimate that 14-38% of the ancestry of Native Americans traces to a population like the one living at Mal'ta 24,000 years ago. But the most puzzling part of this finding was that the boy showed no clear affinities with East Asian populations such as the Chinese, Koreans or Japanese. Today's Native Americans are most closely related to East Asians, so the scientists had to work out how the Mal'ta boy could be related to indigenous Americans, but not to East Asians. The most likely scenario, they argue, is that a population like the one living in Siberia 24,000 years ago mixed with the ancestors of East Asians at some point after the boy died. "Native Americans are composed of the meeting of two populations - an East Asian group and these Mal'ta west Eurasian populations," said Dr Willerslev. However, it remains unclear where this mixing took place. Image caption Mal'ta is located near Lake Baikal in Central Siberia "It could have happened in the Old World, somewhere in Siberia obviously. Or, in principle, it could also have happened in the New World," he explained. "The most direct way to address this question would be to genome sequence some of the early skeletons from the Americas. If they already have the mixture of East Asians and the Mal'ta then we know it happened before that." The research could help explain some long-standing anomalies in the study of Native American origins. For example, some early American skeletons - such as the 9,000-year-old Kennewick Man from Washington State - bear physical features that, according to some, are typical of Europeans, and unlike those of modern Native American groups or East Asians. |
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