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A New Mexico county tea party leader has sparked controversy by tweeting a meme Wednesday that strongly suggests blacks use the dark legacy of slavery in America for "bitching and moaning about how the world owes them a living." On the 148th anniversary of the end of slavery, Glynis Racine of the Lincoln County Tea Party Patriots tweeted the following and deleted it shortly thereafter: The tweet seems to reference Irish enslavement in the 17th and 18th centuries, claiming they were "treated worse than any other race" and seemingly attempting to delegitimize the experience of African-Americans. Unsurprisingly, others shot back with both outraged and tongue-in-cheek tweets: @LCNMTP I'm sure the Irish bitch about it all the time. But, they're usually so loaded you can't understand what they're saying. — David Fagin (@nikchapman) December 18, 2013 ProgressNow also slammed the tweet in a press release. "In an apparent attempt to contribute to our modern understanding of American history, the tea party leader reminds followers that early American slavery included African and non-African people alike," wrote the group. "But her quest for 'facts' includes her own assertion that all African-Americans are 'bitching and moaning' about how the world owes them a living.” “Glynis is exactly the type of fear mongering leader Fox News and the conservative movement push to the front of their movement," said Patrick Davis of Progress Now New Mexico. "They shouldn’t be surprised they are having a hard time recruiting blacks, Hispanics or reasonable people of any color to their side.” Though she deleted the tweet, Racine defended herself, saying it was time to "move on" from slavery. @YeaYouRite @LEBassett Actually they were. Slavery is a black mark on American history, but it's time to move on.http://t.co/VKvDlACpCa — Just me (@LCNMTP) December 18, 2013 The Lincoln County Tea Party Patriots and representatives for TeaParty.org, a national tea party site, did not immediately return requests for comment from The Huffington Post. The tweet comes at a particularly bad time for conservative groups, which were thrust into the unflattering national spotlight during last week's budget deal negotiations. In a press conference about the budget deal, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) slammed the Republican Party's more conservative sects, calling their unwillingness to compromise with Democrats "ridiculous," and accusing them of "misleading their followers." |
User Info: tearast tearast 2 years ago #1 Anyone that has looked at the OW cast will have immediately noticed that half the cast is females (with a lot of them being the SJW fantasy of "strong independent woman that don't need no man") or non-white people. Honestly, I feel a bit uncomfortable that Blizzard is trying to shove their political beliefs down our throat while we do something as innocent as playing a video game. User Info: Pokenub Pokenub 2 years ago #2 The cat goes meow, the pig goes oink, the dog goes Eeedddwaaarrddd.. Don't like, don't buy. To be honest, SJW games don't bother me. When SJW's try and change existing games to fit their political agenda, then I have a problem (Ie, DOOM is too violent, Mario is misogynistic, ect.) But from the start Overwatch was SJWish, so I'm fine with letting it be its own thing. User Info: WaffIeElite WaffIeElite 2 years ago #3 I have a signature. Apparently this is important, but I still don't have my secret cool kid decoder ring yet. No because they did it by creating new, interesting characters instead of bulls*** like making Iron Man a black girl. User Info: Nephid Nephid 2 years ago #4 Steam/PSN Name-Nephid | XBL-N3ph1d i7-6700k w/Kraken X61 | Asus Maximus VIII Formula | 16GB RAM | 850w PSU | Enthoo Luxe Case | Dual 1080 Strix SLI coming soon Ya. It's probably because they're trying to make everyone happy, you saw what happened with the tracer pose. User Info: praetor fenix praetor fenix 2 years ago #5 [S]olitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. - Leviathan Nyar How dare they. User Info: Pokenub Pokenub 2 years ago #6 WaffIeElite posted... No because they did it by creating new, interesting characters instead of bulls*** like making Iron Man a black girl. Or Mary Jane, always portrayed as a white ginger is now a brown/black haired ethnic woman. The cat goes meow, the pig goes oink, the dog goes Eeedddwaaarrddd.. Or Mary Jane, always portrayed as a white ginger is now a brown/black haired ethnic woman. User Info: Jair Jair 2 years ago #7 Whenever I think of the 90's/2000's era, I have this picture of a bald, angry white guy who may or may not be a marine of some kind. Frankly, it's nice to see some variety. User Info: premature tyrant premature tyrant 2 years ago #8 I DEMAND A REFUND https://pcpartpicker.com/user/pandaforest/saved/ - BEST possible gaming PC builds for the $$$ - OMG this game has girls and brown people?????I DEMAND A REFUND User Info: Orestes417 Orestes417 2 years ago #9 I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it. Can't say as I give a f***. They're glorified targets. Now when they start stopping mid game to give a long soliloquy about how hard it is to be a transvestite robot with a hamster fetish in todays world, then I might give a damn. |
More than 24 hours after news broke that a ransomware attack had effectively disabled the world’s largest advertising company, WPP has yet to fully recover. Several hours ago, the company issued a statement acknowledging that the incident is ongoing. According to multiple WPP employees who spoke to Adweek, staff at various offices left work early yesterday due to an inability to access their networks. And while Macs were unaffected, all who use the Windows operating system continued to experience server issues today. Sorrell reassures staff as rivals debate next steps “Many of you will have experienced significant disruption to your work. However, contrary to some press reports, WPP and its companies are still very much open for business,” read last night’s internal memo attributed to chairman Martin Sorrell. “We are a group packed full of highly creative, ingenious and dedicated people. I urge you all to put those qualities to use in making sure that what our clients experience in the hours and days ahead is as close to business as usual as we can possibly manage.” "Marketing and security are going to have to converge in some meaningful way, because these things affect customer experiences." Steven Wolfe Pereira, Neustar Meanwhile, observers around the industry speculated about the implications of what appeared to be a chance encounter between WPP and a group of still-unknown hackers seeking to indiscriminately cripple businesses in the interest of short-term monetary gains. Spokespeople for WPP’s chief competitors Omnicom, Publicis Groupe and IPG declined to comment on the news. But privately, many wondered whether the security systems that these huge networks currently have in place could have prevented such an incident—and how they should proceed in addressing a long-simmering threat that became very real this week. “Over the last 24 hours, my inbox has been blowing up with messages from recruiters,” said Tom Pageler, chief risk officer and chief information security officer at Neustar, a company that specializes in risk management and related services. He added that one “very large” company had reached out regarding what it called an “urgent position” managing data security. “The industry realizes that they’re really not where they need to be,” he said. “When you see recruiting efforts pick up, you know it’s really bad.” An industry caught unprepared Experts have now determined that the attack was a variation on May’s WannaCry, which also targeted Windows systems and demanded payment in bitcoin form. Despite a series of “patches” developed by Microsoft in March, both that attack and the one that hit this week did significant damage to a number of businesses and government organizations. “Enterprises are clearly not prioritizing patches effectively,” said Forrester senior analyst Josh Zelonis in summing up his key takeaway. “While some organizations may have situations where they are unable to patch, that excuse doesn’t scale when you get a worm causing damage on this level.” “WPP got hit because they’re so large and they have a presence in Ukraine,” said Pageler, who formerly led cyber security and fraud initiatives at JPMorgan Chase. “Ransomware is definitely here to stay,” he added, citing a dramatic growth in such attacks over the past two years. “There’s no way to anticipate what the next attack is going to be. Marketing and security are going to have to converge in some meaningful way, because these things affect customer experiences,” said Neustar chief marketing and communications officer Steven Wolfe Pereira. Time for marketers to step up Agencies are not unaware of this fact. In recent years, many of the largest networks have built internal security teams equipped to deploy their own patches and hired third-party firms to test their systems by sending fake scam emails in an attempt to better gauge internal readiness. But Pageler said such wide-scale defensive measures can prove difficult within organizations as large and widespread as WPP, and other holding company sources agree that there is simply no way to know whether their own systems could have prevented what happened this week. One particularly frightening aspect of the WannaCry virus model is that it can affect fully patched systems once it gains access to the larger network. |
LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Seemingly non-stop suggestions regarding the viability of defensive end Shea McClellin as a potential successor to Brian Urlacher reached crescendo when the middle linebacker suffered a hamstring injury Sunday against that might end his season. As usual, the club shrugged off the possibility and reinforced -- once again -- that McClellin's place on the roster is as a defensive end. Asked about the possibility of moving McClellin to linebacker if the group continues to suffer attrition through injuries, defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli said, “it's so far away, it's not even (a possibility)." "It's hard to even explain it to you," Marinelli said. “But it would be like night and day, totally. Guys have got to grow up, (go through an) offseason, all those things. We've got our guys and we've just got to go with them right now." Linebacker Lance Briggs also struck down the notion, saying “no, we're not a 3-4," but acknowledged he possesses the necessary skill set to make the transition from defensive end to NFL linebacker. The 19th overall pick in the 2012 draft, McClellin played defensive end at Boise State, outside linebacker and also lined up at middle linebacker on occasion. Through the first 12 games, he's contributed six tackles and three sacks to go with 12 quarterback pressures. "We're using him the right way," Briggs said. “Our game plan and the way we run our defense is effective enough. You don't have to go out and do a bunch of extra things. If we just go out and play our solid defense, we'll be fine." |
Warning. This video is really hard to watch. See how far you can make it. This is a series of highlights from the IGN reality show Game Boss. For those of you who didn’t watch, here is the gist: This is a reality show where a bunch of college-age kids (a female or two is shown in the intro, but in the rest of the presentation it’s all males) are offered free office space and tools. They’re given the chance to compete against each other for a prize which is never mentioned or explained. In this segment, their teams are tasked with coming up with a concept for a boss fight. The cameras are rolling in their brainstorming sessions and we see them say a lot of crude, sexist, or obnoxious things, interspersed with some of their painfully juvenile gameplay ideas. This culminates with a group of kids who pitch a game based around the “feminist apocalypse”, where men have been lured into prison camps with promises of beer and sex and are ruled by their angry feminist overlords. The boss fight is against a woman in menopause. There’s more to it than that, but you’ll have to watch it yourself if you want to get the full picture. You have to hear them pitch this idea with a complete lack of self-awareness and without a hint of irony before you can begin to map out the awfulness. Now, keep in mind we’re looking at this through multiple layers of editing. IGN cut this to make their show, but then this YouTube user came along and did a certain degree of editorializing through editing. They looped moments where people laughed at awful, cringe-inducing misogyny. They no doubt left out moments that undercut their point. Still, I think the tone is unambiguous enough that we can make some broad statements about the show. When I first saw this clip, I was initially horrified at the kids who came up with these ideas. But as I’ve thought about it more, I’ve come to suspect that the real rage needs to be directed at IGN. Game Boss devoutly follows the techniques passed down by the most lazy, trashy reality shows. From the auditioning pool, be sure to select contestants who are loud, opinionated, arrogant, crude, impulsive, emotional, melodramatic, self-absorbed, or exceptionally ignorant. Arrange these groups to maximize friction and get these personalities to bounce off of each other as much as possible. Place the contestants in situations to maximize stress, resentment, and interpersonal conflict. Agitate them with leading questions and situations, encouraging them to assign blame, be defensive, avoid reconciliation, and harbor grudges. Record everything they say. Then edit those hours of footage down to the twenty-odd minutes that show these defective people at their worst. Highlight conflict and offense, thus turning the show into an inter-personal cockfight. The home viewer can laugh at the apparent stupidity of the contestants, or enjoy the schadenfreude of seeing these “lesser” people subjected to misery and scorn. It’s a manufactured tale of gossip and half-truths, and it’s disgusting and unhealthy for both the participants and the viewers. Reality shows don’t HAVE to be made this way, of course. Some shows take the high road. But IGN’s reality show seems set on doing for games what MTV’s shows did for music: Depict its own fans and culture as worthless and grotesque. This could have been a wonderful chance to find the next Johnathan Blow, Markus Persson, 2D Boy, Eric Chahi, or Nuclear Monkey. They could have looked for some idealist or innovator and given them a bit of money and fame to launch their career. Instead they chose to round up a bunch of man-children and have us laugh at them. Sure, the guys deserve blame for coming up with this stuff, but let the record show that IGN claimed the “feminist apocalypse” was the best idea. Shouldn’t the adults know better? EDIT: According to someone who watched the original, the feminist apocalypse did NOT win. We were led to believe this through misleading editing. Shame on the person who put this together. This stuff is bad enough without needing to fabricate more awfulness. Note at the beginning that they were going to make a boss fight in a “hybrid game genre” picked at random, yet in this clip we’re never shown what they picked. How much of this juvenile tone was set by the people behind the cameras? Were the guys encouraged by IGN to go after “edgy” topics? Did these kids leap off the cliff on their own, or did IGN instruct them to stand on the edge and do a dance? I won’t defend what these kids said, but I will say I’m glad nobody was standing around, recording everything that came out of my mouth when I was twenty. IGN has long been a source of poison to the industry. It’s a vapid, grating display of advertisements wrapped around a rotten core of review-score prostitution. I know it’s easy to dismiss this latest affront to our hobby simply because only a fool would expect IGN to behave differently. Perhaps that’s true. But I still think it’s worth noting when a new low is attained. |
Last week, Abbas Raza of 3 Quarks Daily posed a list of logic problems to the site’s readers. I’d seen some of these problems before and I didn’t have the time to work through the unfamiliar ones, but my favorite was the very first question: You are given two ropes and a lighter. This is the only equipment you can use. You are told that each of the two ropes has the following property: if you light one end of the rope, it will take exactly one hour to burn all the way to the other end. But it doesn’t have to burn at a uniform rate. In other words, half the rope may burn in the first five minutes, and then the other half would take 55 minutes. The rate at which the two ropes burn is not necessarily the same, so the second rope will also take an hour to burn from one end to the other, but may do it at some varying rate, which is not necessarily the same as the one for the first rope. Now you are asked to measure a period of 45 minutes. How will you do it? For those in the US, this is a little something to keep the conversation at the holiday dinner table interesting. I’ll post the answer here this weekend…good luck. Update: Alright, here’s the answer. Light both ends of rope A and one end of rope B. After 30 minutes, rope A will be completely burned up and there will be 30 minutes of rope B left. Light the other end of rope B; it will burn up in 15 minutes. Total time elapsed since starting the ropes on fire: 45 minutes. |
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council on Thursday condemned recent ballistic missile launches by North Korea, describing the three rounds of Scud short-range missiles fired in June and July as a violation of council demands on Pyongyang. “The members of the Security Council condemned these launches ... and urged the DPRK (North Korea) to fully comply with the relevant Security Council resolutions,” said Rwandan U.N. Ambassador Eugene Gasana, council president for July. North Korea is under an array of United Nations, U.S. and other national sanctions for repeated nuclear and ballistic missile tests since 2006 in defiance of international demands to stop. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon deplored the continued missile launches by North Korea. “The Secretary-General urges the DPRK instead to work towards building confidence and mutual trust with its neighbors,” Ban’s press office said in a statement. |
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez recently announced a sweeping, statewide energy plan aimed at embracing a wide array of energy sources, including oil and gas — which already accounts for more than $1 billion in yearly state revenues — solar, wind and new technologies. The far-reaching energy policy and implementation plan, entitled “Seizing our Energy Potential: Creating a More Diverse Economy in New Mexico,” is the state’s “first comprehensive energy policy and plan since 1991, nearly 25 years ago,” Michael Lonergan, Martinez’s press secretary, told Ripon Advance. The plan put forth by Martinez, who is the nation’s first female Hispanic governor, calls for “an ‘all-of-the-above’ approach to energy development that promotes production from all sources” in order to create jobs, diversify a key sector of New Mexico’s economy and support the nation’s efforts to achieve energy independence, among other goals, Lonergan said this week. Lonergan told Ripon Advance that the key components and initiatives of the plan include: improving New Mexico’s energy infrastructure; promoting greater production of all sources of energy; improving energy workforce training in the state’s higher education system; reducing freshwater consumption in production; streamlining regulatory processes; and exploring and potentially seizing on new energy opportunities. Improving the state’s energy infrastructure, for example, will include new rail lines to improved electric transmission that will allow New Mexico to better move its energy and its products to markets in the Southwest and Southeast United States, as well as into Mexico and other markets. In particular, rail from the Four Corners region to Interstate 40 would reduce the cost of transporting coal, crude oil and agricultural and other non-energy products from northwest New Mexico to markets throughout the state and beyond. Such improvements also would allow materials for energy production to be brought into New Mexico at a lower cost to producers. In a statement unveiling her statewide energy plan earlier this month, Martinez called New Mexico “one of the most energy-rich and energy-diverse states in the nation.” Such traits, the governor said, provide “an excellent opportunity to utilize this position to grow our economy and create more jobs.” Additionally, Martinez said that improving the state’s energy infrastructure, responsibly developing and producing all types of energy, and better preparing the workforce for the energy sector “are all critical components not only of a strong economic future, but of helping lead America to energy independence.” The 2015 New Mexico Energy Plan is the result of more than a year’s worth of work that included several public listening sessions held throughout the state with community leaders, energy stakeholders and citizens. Moving forward, the plan will be updated at regular intervals with opportunities for public input each time, Lonergan said. The entire 2015 New Mexico Energy Plan is available online at: www.emnrd.state.nm.us. |
Courtesy UM CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The reigning conference champion University of Miami men's basketball team has been predicted by the media to finish 12th out of 15 teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season, as announced by the league during Operation ACC Basketball in Charlotte, N.C., Wednesday. Duke (50 first-place votes) was picked to win the league, followed by Syracuse (3) and North Carolina (1). One year ago, Miami was selected fourth by the coaches and fifth by the media in preseason ACC polls, but finished the year as the regular season and tournament champion. At that same Operation Basketball, zero Hurricanes were selected for preseason All-ACC teams. At the end of the championship season, Jim Larrañaga was Coach of the Year, Shane Larkin was Player of the Year (coaches), and Durand Scott was Defensive Player of the Year. Miami is the only ACC team with zero returning starters. Additionally, Miami lost its six top players, who started 174 combined games. Rion Brown is the only Hurricane to start any games (6) last season, so the Canes return 6-of-180 starts, which is 3.3 percent. Miami returns 13.3 percent of points scored (9.3 ppg), 14.2 percent of rebounds (5.1 rpg) and 1.0 percent of assists (1.1 per game), all the lowest in the ACC. Ten scholarship players will be available for the 2013-14 campaign, as two players will redshirt after transferring from Division I schools. Miami has six seniors this season, following last year’s class of five, who all earned their academic degree. Two transfers join the Canes this season in James Kelly, who averaged 17.9 ppg and 10.0 rpg in two JC seasons and Donnavan Kirk, who played 54 games for DePaul the past two seasons, leading the team in blocked shots. Miami’s freshman class includes: Deandre Burnett - third in the nation in scoring as a senior with 37 ppg; Manu Lecomte - Belgium second division player; and Davon Reed - 2,000 point scorer who averaged 24 ppg as a senior. Miami's all-time preseason poll breakdowns (votes) and finishes are as follows: 2013-14 - 12th (224) – TBA 2012-13 - 5th (436) – 1st 2011-12 - 5th (455) – t-4th 2010-11 - 8th (305) – 9th 2009-10 - 10th (135) – 12th 2008-09 - 4th (344) – t-7th 2007-08 - 12th (153) – t-5th 2006-07 - 11th (173) – 12th 2005-06 - 7th (540) – t-7th 2004-05 - 11th (146) – t-6th Miami opens the season on Oct. 30 with an exhibition game against Florida Tech, then the regular season begins Nov. 8 against St. Francis (N.Y.) at 10 p.m. |
No. 3 Stanford women’s soccer (14-1-1, 7-1 Pac-12) advanced its Pac-12 win streak to four games with a 2-0 shutout victory against Utah (10-3-3, 5-1-1) on Sunday. The Senior Day match was the Cardinal’s last regular season home game, and featured a pregame ceremony honoring the team’s seniors. All five active seniors started the game in front of a record-breaking homecoming weekend crowd, made up of family, fans and alumni. The senior class, made up of six players, has a career winning record of 68-11-7 and has claimed three conference championships so far. “The seniors are so important to our team,” sophomore Jordan DiBiasi, the Cardinal’s leading goal scorer, said. “They have created a culture that I feel so lucky to be a part of. They challenge us to be the best versions of ourselves. They are leaders on our team and will be greatly missed next year.” While the senior class was honored, the sophomore class carried the game. Stanford’s two goals were scored by Kyra Carusa (a redshirt sophomore) and Michelle Xiao, while Averie Collins and Tegan McGrady combined for three assists. With four saves in the game, senior goalkeeper Jane Campbell is now just three shy of breaking the program record of 35 saves, held by Nicole Barnhart ’04. Campbell’s 33 career shutouts are good enough for third-most in program history, and with just two more, she can tie the program record. Stanford started off the game with a dominant first half, outshooting Utah 7-2. The Cardinal were quick to attack, forcing the Utes to sit back on defense to protect their own net. After 20 minutes of play, in which Stanford dominated possession, Stanford put in its first goal. McGrady, one of the Cardinal’s foremost attackers, kicked a left-footed cross to her teammate, Collins, who was running towards the far post of the net. Collins then headed the ball over her defender’s head and back towards the post, where Carusa finished the play with a header to the top left corner of the net for her third goal of the season. “We connected our passes and finished the ball,” said DiBiasi regarding her team’s performance during the first half of play. Less than 10 minutes after the first Stanford strike, the Cardinal fired in their second and final goal of the game. With continued offensive speed and pressure, Collins was able to beat her defender on a fast-break up the right side of the field. Having created space between herself and her defender, Collins crossed the ball to the center of the box to Xiao, who ran in for the final touch. Collins recorded her second assist of the game and 13th point in the past eight games. Collins and her fellow sophomores, McGrady, Carusa, Xiao and DiBiasi, have all put up strong numbers in each of Stanford’s Pac-12 games so far, proving themselves to be some of the team’s most promising players. For the rest of the match, the Utes tried to gain some momentum. However, with Campbell back in net after spending last week training with the U.S. Women’s National Team, Utah’s scoring attempts were unsuccessful. In the 83rd minute of play, one of the Utah forwards had a one-on-one opportunity with Campbell. However, Campbell challenged the shot by coming far out of the net and narrowing the angle, allowing the Utes no chance to score. Next week, Stanford heads back on the road to continue its Pac-12 play against Arizona and Arizona State. Contact Sydney Shaw at sshaw17 ‘at’ stanford.edu |
A clip of SISTAR‘s music video for “Touch My Body” and a parody of HyunA‘s “Bubble Pop” were seen on national TV in the US through the hit animated series, “Family Guy.” In the episode that aired today, January 3, Peter and his friends travel to South Korea after finding out that Quagmire starred in a Korean soap opera called Winter Summer (an obvious title parody to “Winter Sonata.”) SISTAR is featured first when a TV is turned on to “Touch My Body.” After seeing the clip, Peter says, “What is this, and how can I make the rest of my life about it?” Later, a musical parody of HyunA’s “Bubble Pop” is seen as Peter and his friends are trying to convince Quagmire to come back home. (For those not familiar with the show, it is a comedy program that can be very offensive at times. ) Other things spotted: This background set looks like this one from KARA‘s “Step” with U-KISS‘ outfits. A little later in the parody, the background from f(x)‘s “Hot Summer” is seen. It seems like they did a lot of research on this. They are doing Crayon Pop’s “Bar Bar Bar” dance here. EXO’s “Growl” Outfits Being a nationally televised program, this definitely gives K-pop more exposure to people in the US. What did you think about the clips? |
Yesterday, billionaire Carl Icahn, who has made his fortune as a ruthless corporate raider, issued a clear demand to Congress: cut corporate tax rates or face a whirlwind of outside spending from his new $150 million super PAC. “I believe the time has come to also hold Senators and Congressmen accountable for the current gridlock in Congress that prevents important legislation from being passed,” Icahn wrote. “This is why I’m currently preparing to form a Super PAC with an initial commitment of $150 million from me personally.” As Paul Blumenthal reports for The Huffington Post, Icahn wants Congress to pass legislation that would allow corporations to bring home at a huge tax discount the $2 trillion that’s currently being stashed in tax havens. Not coincidentally, Icahn is one of the biggest investors in Apple, which most notoriously keeps nearly $200 billion in profits abroad. The billionaire argues that new policy framework advanced by Senators Rob Portman and Chuck Schumer would discourage the controversial practice of “corporate inversions,” in which a company acquires a foreign entity and then transfers its central business operations to that entity—thus avoiding domestic corporate taxes. However, Blumenthal notes that their proposal would allow corporations to funnel money back into the country at an obscenely low one-time tax rate, and that there are several other ways—such as a proposal from Senator Dick Durbin—to avoid such corporate inversions. In order to twist the arm of Congress members who can fast-track the legislation, Icahn has brazenly threatened to dump millions to unseat them in their next elections. Obviously, this has angered good-government advocates. “As surely as billionaires like to own sports teams as a form of conspicuous consumption,” Public Citizen President Robert Weissman said, “we can expect them increasingly to fund personal super PACs as a form of self-aggrandizement—as well as to drive forward policies on everything from taxation to gambling to advance their own bottom lines.” That Icahn even has the ability to dole out such a threat is a clear testament to the erosion of campaign-finance law in the wake of Citizens United. And if Icahn’s strategy works, it’ll be the starkest rebuttal of Justice Anthony Kennedy’s deciding opinion from that case, in which he boldly wrote, “We now conclude that independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.” |
As YAPC ... TPC::NA draws to a close, there was one final hurrah. About 25 (+/- a few) brave souls partook in the Wednesday Night Pull Request Challenge. There were: 28 pull requests issued pull requests issued 4 modules release modules release many more "person hours" spent coding, rewriting, and debugging 50 peoples worth of food eaten peoples worth of food eaten 1 budding cross-continental collaboration (App::DBCritic) budding cross-continental collaboration (App::DBCritic) a metric ton of community enjoyments had all around Thank you to craigslist for sponsoring the event. And thank you to both the hard working YAPC organizers and PRC participants for coming together for something that I hope will become continued in the future. I would be remiss if I did not greatly encourage anyone (no matter your skill level) to get involved in the monthly CPAN PRC Challenge run by Neil Bowers. It is his effort that gave me my first real opportunity to contribute to the Perl community through pull requests; but moreover it inspired me to take a role in introducing the fun to attendees of YAPC::NA::2016. Please keep this going by participating in the next iteration of this glorious event at The Perl Conference 2017 and by trying your hand at the monthly CPAN PRC Challenge. It really is an amazing gateway to involvement in the Perl Community. Finally, I issue a challenge to anyone attending YAPC::EU - let's see keep this PRC thing going! TacocaT out! estrabd ps: please check out the monthly CPAN PRC Challenge. Like the jelly of the month club, it's the gift that keeps on giving all year long. |
Rob Ford has been praised and eulogized in the days since his death. But political opponents of the former Toronto mayor and city councillor say he did damage to his old ward, was an example of how not to govern and has left a community in much need of improvement. Andray Domise, 2014 candidate Andray Domise, who ran against Rob Ford for a council seat in Ward 2 in October 2014, called Rob Ford's legacy 'terrible.' (Christin Alyssa Reckley) Andray Domise, 35, who ran unsuccessfully against Ford for a city council seat in Ward 2 Etobicoke North in October 2014, said Ford failed to bring jobs to the corner of the city that he represented before and after he was mayor. "I'm trying to be nice, and I'm afraid I can't," Domise said. "He left a terrible legacy. Rob Ford didn't want our neighbourhood to have anything that he didn't give to the area himself. "When someone passes away, you canonize them. He doesn't need someone else to affix a halo to his head. He did a lot of damage to the neighbourhood." Domise, a financial planner, put his name on the ballot before Ford dropped out of the mayoralty race to run for council, following his cancer diagnosis. Domise said he ran to bring attention to issues such as jobs and poverty in Rexdale, a neighbourhood in Ward 2, access to transit and opportunities for youth. He pushed for the Finch West light rail transit project to be connected to Humber College. "People still say it's easier to get a gun in Rexdale than a job," he said. Domise said he wanted to create a program called Techsdale, a kind of recreation centre where young people could learn about technology, and he is continuing to raise money through a crowdfunding campaign to launch it. Heavy manufacturing used to provide jobs in Ward 2, but he said most of the jobs now are in education and retail, with the biggest employers being Humber College and Woodbine Centre shopping mall. "You have to leave the neighbourhood to get a good job," he said. Domise said it's important that the city not gloss over the negative aspects of the Ford years. "We don't accept that someone we like could be a bad person, racist or homophobe. But as a mature society, we have to do it. I don't understand why we have to be nice. I refuse to," he said. Richard Feren, satirist Richard Feren, who tweeted about Rob Ford through a parody account, says Toronto shouldn't 'whitewash' what the former mayor did. Ford wasn't a 'great guy,' he says. (Guntar Kravis) Richard Feren, 48, a composer and sound designer for theatre and film, penned a parody Twitter account of Ford under the handle @TOMayorFrod. Twitter suspended the account for a day in February 2014, but reinstated it when Feren made changes to make it look less like the official Rob Ford account. He wrote his last tweet for the account on the day Ford died and included a link to a eulogy he wrote. RIP Rob Ford. Sincerely.<br>Thanks for following, everyone.<br>A eulogy from the author of this account: <a href="https://t.co/9kaaO2dV0Q">https://t.co/9kaaO2dV0Q</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TOpoli?src=hash">#TOpoli</a> —@TOMayorFrod Feren said Ford should be remembered as a habitual liar and a divisive figure who pitted one area of the city against another. He said Ford, despite all the claims that he represented regular folks, was an anti-intellectual politician who routinely voted against measures that would help people, including community programs in low-income neighbourhoods, supervised injection sites and funding for arts and cultural activities. "We need to remember the kind of discourse he encouraged and try to avoid it," he said. "He never researched anything he was trying to promote or oppose. It reminds us of how important it is to learn the details of things." Feren said facts didn't really matter to Ford, who believed what he believed whether it was true or not. For example, he said, Ford opposed light rail lines in Toronto without knowing the exact routes they would run on, and falsely claimed that roads would be torn up for the lines. "I'm angry that his legacy is being whitewashed," he said. "He's being held up as a hero, which he wasn't. He wasn't a great guy." But not all political opponents offered criticism. Munira Abukar, council candidate Munira Abukar, who ran against Rob Ford for a council seat in October 2014, says she and Ford never agreed on anything. Munira Abukar, 23, a community activist who also ran unsuccessfully against Ford in Ward 2 in 2014, said at the time that she felt the community had been abandoned by Ford and his brother Doug. She said she had seen firsthand the violence that has plagued some of the ward. During the campaign, she said the area needed a community centre. But now, Abukar says the Ford family needs a grace period in which to mourn the loss of a father, husband, brother and son. "Regardless of where you go in our community, there are always stories about Rob Ford. That is what we should cherish about him," she said. "We never really agreed on issues. We differed on how the community should look and the services that are needed." She said Ford should be remembered for his tenacity, and she was reluctant to criticize him now that he is dead. "There's no time for him to make amends. Let his family have some time alone and some peace." Domise and Abukar said they are not sure if they are going to run again and will decide once council makes a decision about how to fill the vacancy. A new councillor could be elected through a byelection or council could appoint a replacement representative. |
SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook on Tuesday (Jul 11) said that advertisements will begin popping up on Messenger home screens globally after promising tests with users in Australia and Thailand. "Messenger ads are going global," the Facebook-owned mobile messaging service said in an online post. "People will see Messenger ads in the home tab of their Messenger mobile app." Advertisement Facebook enticed businesses to take advantage of a new tool for creating ads for Messenger, which it said is used by more than 1.2 billion people monthly. The move promised Facebook an even larger bite of the digital advertising revenue pie. Facebook quarterly profit in the first three months of this year surged as its ranks of monthly users swelled, but the firm warned of rising expenses and slowing revenue growth. Facebook revenue growth was expected to throttle back "significantly" this year as the social network runs out of room to post ads, chief financial officer David Wehner said during an earnings call with analysts. Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, expenses are expected to surge 40 per cent to 50 per cent compared with last year as Facebook invests in data centers, research and more, he said. The world's biggest social network and a powerhouse in online advertising, Facebook has been working to diversify its revenue base as it expands into new areas. But advertising still accounts for the vast majority of revenues, with most of that money made from people connecting to the social network on smartphones or tablets. Facebook's family includes the fast-growing social network Instagram and messaging applications WhatsApp and Messenger, and Oculus, which makes virtual reality gear. |
George Osborne will come under new pressure to tackle the scourge of low pay, as a former senior adviser to David Cameron calls for all employers to be forced to pay the living wage as a way to combat poverty and boost the economy. Before his first all-Tory budget on Wednesday, in which he will spell out how to cut £12bn from the social security bill, the chancellor is expected to sweeten the pill by offering help to low earners through the tax system, and by pressuring or incentivising employers to pay higher wages. But writing in the Observer, Rohan Silva, who worked with Cameron at No 10 from 2010-13, says the time has come to tell all employers to pay the living wage – an hourly rate well above the minimum wage. The living wage, paid by 1,600 UK employers, is £9.15 an hour in London and £7.85 elsewhere, whereas the national minimum wage is £6.50. If London is so wretched, why do so many of us want to live here? | Rohan Silva Read more Silva, now running his own small business in London, says the capital is thriving but is threatened by two problems that afflict the economy: a chronic shortage of housing, and poverty. “There is one simple thing we can do: make the living wage a requirement for London jobs, as well as across the UK,” he writes. “At a stroke, this would boost salaries, support families and improve the quality of life for millions of people.” He says it is “ridiculous” that some organisations claim they cannot afford to pay the living wage. “If a small business like mine can do it, there’s no excuse for the multinationals and public sector behemoths.” Osborne is expected to use the budget to cut tax credits and housing benefit, two of the costliest elements of the social security budget apart from pensions, which the prime minister has promised to protect. Inside No 10 and the Treasury, as well at the Department for Work and Pensions, headed by Iain Duncan Smith, there is a desire to end a system whereby employers are in effect subsidised, via the tax credit system, for employing people on low wages. Instead, the aim is that companies should boost wages. Silva said the system was absurd. “What we should be doing is cutting tax credits and spending the money on lowering the tax burden on companies so they can pay more to their employees.” Gavin Kelly, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation thinktank, said that moves to boost pay, while welcome, would not be enough to offset the massive anticipated cuts to support for working families. “The government is right to talk about boosting pay and productivity, and any policy action in the budget is eagerly anticipated. But this will not be enough to counterbalance the £12bn of welfare cuts also planned,” he said. “Reductions in tax credits and other benefits will be heavily concentrated on low-income working families, while the gains from stronger wage growth, even if it were to arise, would be widely spread. Given the scale of the expected cuts, it would take heroic pay rises for low-income families to earn their way back to their current position any time soon.” Frank Field, the former Labour welfare minister and new chairman of the Commons work and pensions select committee, said the government should cut national insurance contributions for companies that agreed to pay the living wage. He also called for the Low Pay Commission to be given a greater role in advising ministers on which sectors in the economy could afford to pay their employees the higher rate. “Just as schools are not being allowed to coast, employers should not be allowed to coast either,” he said. The chancellor will also use the budget to stop higher earners from claiming taxpayer-funded subsidies for their social housing rent. He will say that, from 2017-18, those on incomes above £40,000 in London and £30,000 in the rest of England who live in housing association and local authority properties – representing 9% of all social tenants in England – will be charged a market rent. Higher-income social tenants benefit, on average, by over £3,500 per household from reduced rent. This includes more than 40,000 social rented tenants with household incomes over £50,000 a year; and a further 300,000 with incomes above £30,000 a year. This so-called Pay to Stay policy will raise up to £250m a year in 2018-19. Osborne will set out the planned path for total public spending over the next five years as he seeks to meet his pledge to move the public finances back into surplus, though the detailed breakdown of which departments will face cuts will not emerge until the autumn spending review. As Britain’s weak productivity continues to put the brakes on recovery, the Treasury has also been working on ways of boosting output, including through infrastructure projects, and what Osborne calls his “northern powerhouse” scheme, to devolve decision-making powers to cities outside London. He will raise the inheritance threshold to £1m to allow married couples to pass on their family home, clamp down on tax avoidance, and is expected to lift more minimum-wage earners out of income tax. |
The qualifying-offer system has created considerable discussion this offseason. After Dexter Fowler took smaller deal than expected and Ian Desmond ended up receiving only about half the qualifying-offer amount, there has been talk about changing the system in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement. Dave Cameron discussed a sensible solution that could help the system. The issue has been around in the past, but the CBA discussions combined with the sheer number of qualifying offers extended have increased the exposure this year. While it’s pretty well acknowledged that the QO system is designed to dampen free-agent prices, it’s important to recognize what the system is not: a reward for drafting and developing young talent. A record 20 players were extended qualifying offers this offseason — this after, 34 offers total were made over the first three years of the system. If nothing else, the sheer quantity of offers led to three acceptances — by Colby Rasmus, Matt Wieters, and Brett Anderson — the first year in which any player had accepted an offer. In a dreamy view of Major League Baseball, the qualifying offer helps those teams which have experienced success both drafting and developing players, but which also lack the requisite funds to prevent homegrown players from departing by way of free agency. A benevolent qualifying-offer system gifts those teams with draft picks so that they can further develop talent to help their club. Looking at the 54 players to whom qualifying offers have been made over the last four seasons, however, fails to reinforce the illusion above. By asking a series of questions, we can break through any myths about what the qualifying offer system is or is not. Teams to Benefit from the Qualifying Offer Teams Offers Extended Cardinals, Dodgers, Red Sox, and Yankees 19 Bottom Half of Forbes list 15 Everyone Else 20 Of the 54 qualifying offers made over the past four years, only 15 came from teams in the bottom half of Forbes’ franchise value list. If the idea is to reward smaller markets and less valuable franchises, then the qualifying offer has failed to do so, as four of the top-six most valuable franchises account for more than one-third of the qualifying offers extended since the system was implemented. So it doesn’t seem that small-market teams are benefiting. But that’s not the only way the qualifying-offer system could help. It could also allow clubs simply to receive some sort of compensation for losing players who’ve been developed in their system. Is the QO helping in this way, at all? Players with Original Teams Receiving Qualifying Offer Number % With Original Team 13 24.1% With Different Team 41 75.6% Of the 54 players receiving qualifying offer, just 13 players were with the team that acquired the player originally. Even moving the date forward, to the team with which the player made his major-league debut, doesn’t change the numbers at all. While players might not be with their original team, it’s possible that they have played for the same team for quite some time, leaving an organizational hole if the player left. Years With the Team for Players Receiving Qualifying Offers Years Number % 1 19 35.2% 2 11 20.4% 3+ 24 44.4% Doesn’t appear to be the case. More than one-third of the players receiving the qualifying offer were with their current team for just one year. One-half of the players had been with their current team for two seasons or less. An argument could be made that the previous teams extracted some value out of the qualifying offer if they traded the player with just one year. Certainly, the acquiring team has factored in the ability to make a qualifying offer when considering the value of the trade. That said, of those 19 one-year players, just seven achieved free agency at six years, meaning that the teams had already extracted extra value on the rest of the players by receiving some years of free agency or that they had already been free agents previously. Of those seven players, five had already moved at least twice before free agency, leading to the next question. How Many Organizations for Players Receiving Qualifying Offers Orgs Number % 1 13 24.1% 2 13 24.1% 3 18 33.3% 4+ 10 18.5% More than half of the players receiving qualifying offers had been been employed by at least three organizations prior to hitting free agency — i.e. twice the number of players who who’d played for just one team before hitting free agency. If these players have been in multiple organizations, it is possible these players are not even that young to begin with. Service Time for Players Receiving Qualifying Offers Years Number % 6 21 38.9% 7-8 17 31.5% 9+ 12 22.2% Asian FA 4 7.4% Not even 50% of the players receiving qualifying offers were even taking their first crack at free agency — or at least not without having received some sort of contract extension from their own team, which is a considerable benefit to the team already. We have 21 players who are six-year free agents and 13 players employed by the organization that developed them and gave them a shot in the majors. How often did those paths intersect for the ideal player for compensation? One-Team Players Heading to Free Agency Year Player Team 2015 Pablo Sandoval Giants 2016 Daniel Murphy Mets 2016 Jordan Zimmermann Nationals 2016 Ian Desmond Nationals 2016 Matt Wieters Orioles 2013 B.J. Upton Rays 2014 Jacoby Ellsbury Red Sox 2015 David Robertson Yankees Out of 54 players, just eight were originally acquired by the team that extended the qualifying offer without an extension at some point beforehand. Of these players, Matt Wieters actually accepted the qualifying offer, Ian Desmond should have and neither Murphy’s not Robertson’s contracts were too onerous for their teams to re-sign them. Not making this list, Alex Gordon, Brian McCann, and Robinson Cano headed to free agency after eight years with the Royals, Braves, and Yankees, respectively, and the Braves traded Jason Heyward one year from free agency. If we add in the stipulation that the team should be from a small market, we end up with just a single contract that meets the dream scenario of the qualifying offer system. Just once has the situation worked out so that a small-market team received compensation for a player it developed. Melvin Upton Jr. was drafted by the Rays and spent the first six years of his career with them before leaving in free agency. If the qualifying-offer system had been designed to compensate small-market teams for drafting and developing players who they wanted to keep but could not due to free agency, then the system has been an absolute disaster, successful just once out 54 uses. Of course, if the qualifying-offer system has been designed to lessen free-agent prices, then it has been quite successful. |
Wreckage is seen from a collision in Wilmington in the 300 block of Pacific Coast Highway on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015. A brother and sister were killed and two others were injured in a violent crash in Wilmington Thursday afternoon. Investigators believe that street racing may have been involved."We're prepared to say that speed was a factor," Los Angeles Police Sgt. Dana Adams said.The accident was reported in the 300 block of W. Pacific Coast Highway at 3:16 p.m. Los Angeles police said a red Honda Civic carrying four Banning High School students was driving westbound in an eastbound lane when it crashed into a van. Another vehicle, described as a dark-colored pick-up truck, was also driving against traffic, but was able to drive away. LAPD officials are searching for that driver to ask questions about the incident.The siblings Elias and Elexis Garcia, 16 and 18 respectively, were declared dead at the scene. One person who was injured in the crash underwent surgery at a nearby hospital and the other person was released. Authorities said all four people were Banning High School students.The driver of the van was also hospitalized, but was expected to recover.Community members mourned the loss of the students Thursday night."When they were younger, they were my neighbors for a little bit. They were good kids, good kids. This is hard," said Martha Yanez, a parent at Banning High School.Pacific Coast Highway was temporarily closed in the area due to the investigation. |
About Skullduggery is moving! We've changed our funding goal and reward tiers, so we need to launch a new project to reflect these changes. Check out the new project here: http://www.lvl99games.com/Skullduggery You want to be a mastermind. Perhaps you have a glorious vision of world domination, the inspiration to being a strange new religion, or the simple desire to fulfill some deranged psychopathic drive. You begin the game with some grand design and some supernatural powers and connections. How you will accomplish this goal, who you will use, what you will need, and where it will all come together are dependent on your actions. Skullduggery is a dark, pulp-fiction style game that revolves around a secret competition where the stakes are high and the players will go to any lengths to win. There are no allies in the world of Skullduggery, only pawns that have not yet outlived their usefulness. The other players are interlopers, intruding on your great ascension to power. Crush them, and prove yourself master of all. Download the Preview Game - Click Here! Skullduggery is a new kind of storytelling game, a Competitive Narrative Game. In the game, you will take on the role of a supernatural mastermind with a villainous plot to execute. The first to put all the pieces of his secret plot into place can declare himself the winner! Skullduggery is not a Traditional Storytelling Game. You will not act out your character's actions, you will not need to adhere to any in-game moral code or class restrictions, and you will not need to keep your out-of-game knowledge separate from your in-game knowledge. Instead, the game plays out much like a larger and more organized 'Who would win?' battle of supervillains, much like the arguments you may have had with friends over lunch or during game night. Skullduggery captures the core of the contest--context, powers, and decisions, and tempers them into a fast-paced, lively battle of wits mixed with a downward spiral of morality. On your turns, simply dictate your actions, and they come to pass. Utilize secret actions, your supernatural powers, the resources of your vast agency, and superior planning to gain an advantage and be the first to complete your objective. Skullduggery is underhanded, unrestricted supervillainy in a free-form, open environment. We like to think of it as "the Grand Theft Auto of Storytelling Games". How does it work? Check this update for an overview of the resolution mechanics of the game. Here's a look at some of the villains you'll have at your disposal... We've combined a bunch of cool stuff into the Skullduggery boxed set, and we have even more to offer if we hit some stretch goals. So here's what we have in mind to create the Skullduggery Experience: Carrying Case - The game comes in a box, with a plastic tray and space for everything you need to play. Game Book - The game book will be about 100 pages, with a black and white interior and tough square binding. It will give detailed rules for the game, a quick rules overview, and an index with all the characters and scenarios in the game. All in all, the book is about 40 pages of rules and gameplay and 60 pages of bonus content, illustrations, and scenarios, including: Over 5 different 'core scenarios' including a chase for a top secret briefcase, a haunted Shrunken Head that possesses it's holder, and a cursed amulet that kills anyone who comes into contact with it. including a chase for a top secret briefcase, a haunted Shrunken Head that possesses it's holder, and a cursed amulet that kills anyone who comes into contact with it. Multi-stage plots that require you to lay careful long-term plans. that require you to lay careful long-term plans. Variants that put you on secret teams with other players, cooperating in plots you only know half of. that put you on secret teams with other players, cooperating in plots you only know half of. Multiple "outside scenarios" including a Zombie Outbreak, a Superhero Team, and (hilariously enough) managing a mini-mall as your rivals try to sabotage your business. Cards - The game will come with a deck of large tarot-sized cards that contain locations, common elements, supernatural roles, and more. We'll also include cards with blank backs for taking secret actions and writing your secret goals. All cards will be printed on plastic, so that you can use Dry Erase markers to write on them safely, and then wash them off when you are finished. You can see previews of our current card designs in the preview game. Extras - We want to include player pawns, dry erase markers, custom dice, and extra cards into the game box, but these will require us to hit some of our stretch goals. Read on below to find out about those! The Supplier If you are a Game Store Owner, we want Skullduggery on the shelf of your store! We will match any MIMIC level pledge you make and double the amount we send you when the campaign ends, giving you an effective 50% retailer discount on stock for your shelves. To claim this bonus, you must have a physical retailer address in the USA. (Store Flyers and materials will be here soon to help you let your local community know about Skullduggery!) $25,000 - Supervillains... FROM SPACE! - We'll include six new Supernatural roles, based on classic movie monsters like Dracula, the Mummy, Jekyll & Hyde, and more! $30,000 - The Plot Thickens - John has mentioned he has bigger plans for Skullduggery. We'll lock him comfortably in a dark basement room until he breaks down and writes three more scenarios for Skullduggery. $40,000 - Know your Role - We'll politely ask John to include rules for creating new supernatural roles, and include some blank Supernatural Role cards in the game and as downloadable templates. $50,000 - The Infernal Engine - We'll release the core engine of Skullduggery for all to use. Create your own Skullduggery-style Competitive Narrative Game, or even publish an expansion of your own design! ... and more to be announced soon! Share Skullduggery Show your support for Skullduggery with banners and avatars! Facebook Banner: KS / Facebook / Twitter Avatars: |
FERGUSON, Mo. - Violence broke out again in Ferguson, Mo., a community still reeling from the effects of an unarmed teen gunned down by a white police officer last month. A group smashed up the windows of a beauty supply store, and gunshots could be heard nearby, according to witnesses. No police on scene yet. Young people breaking into Beauty Town. "Burn it down!" one yells. — Antonio French (@AntonioFrench) September 24, 2014 The St. Louis County Police Department told CBS St. Louis affiliate KMOV-TV officers arrived on the scene after a crowd began to gather around 9:00 p.m. County police were assisting the Ferguson Police Department. Crowd moves into the street towards police. https://t.co/hoTFZGM9JE — Antonio French (@AntonioFrench) September 24, 2014 A crowd gathered near Beauty Town, the store smashed up Tuesday evening, after police arrived. Witnesses said police tried to disburse the group, which was chanting slogans related to the killing of the teen. The owner of Beauty Town told a KMOV reporter, "This is the third time we've been hit." He said more than $100,000 in merchandise had been stolen. Authorities told KMOV there had been seven arrests, adding that four officers were hit with rocks and two police cruisers were damaged. Earlier Tuesday, officials announced they were canceling the annual Ferguson Music Festival amid safety concerns, reports KMOV. Before the announcement, a makeshift memorial to Michael Brown, the 18-year-old killed last month, was burned down under still unclear circumstances. A fire burns Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014 at a memorial in Ferguson, Mo., on the site where a Missouri police officer fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown. Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson says the cause is under investigation. He says the first officer to arrive tried to extinguish the blaze but couldn't. The Fire Department eventually put it out. AP Photo/Jacob Crawford Ferguson resident Meldon Moffitt said the fire started around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday on Canfield Drive, the street where Brown was fatally shot Aug. 9 by Ferguson police office Darren Wilson. About two dozen residents gathered at the site Tuesday morning, many of them angry. One man said it was like a grave being desecrated. Many were not willing to believe some reports that candles making up part of the display were responsible for the fire, and told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch they smelled gasoline. "Not one candle can put all the stuff that was up there on fire," one woman told CBS St. Louis. "Come on now. It's too moist out here." Ferguson police spokesman Devin James says the cause of the fire is under investigation. Brown's death led to several days of protests and unrest in Ferguson, a St. Louis suburb. Investigations into the shooting by a state grand jury and the U.S. Department of Justice are ongoing. |
Hundreds of thousands protest for fifth straight week against South Korean President Updated Huge rallies have been held in Seoul for a fifth straight week to protest against President Park Geun-hye, in the largest ongoing series of demonstrations in the country since the 1987 movement to democratise South Korea. Key points: Opposition parties canvas support to impeach Ms Park Organisers expect 1.5 million at rally President's friend and a former aide have been charged Ms Park's presidency has been rocked by allegations that a close friend used her ties to the leader to meddle in state affairs and wield improper influence. Prosecutors have indicted her friend, Choi Soon-sil, and are seeking to question the President about her role in the scandal. Organisers said 800,000 people had gathered early on Saturday evening and expected a total of 1.5 million people to join by the end of the night. Police declined to give an estimate of the crowd size but said 25,000 personnel had been dispatched to police the protest. The protests have remained peaceful, and were marked by huge candle-lit rallies where activists and rock bands have entertained a diverse crowd of students, office workers, and young families. "I was watching the news and thought this cannot go on — people really want her to step down but she hasn't," said 45-year-old Kwak Bo-youn, one of the protesters. "This is the second time for me to the protests, but the first time for my husband and kids." Earlier in the day, a large group of demonstrators marched to within 200 metres of the presidential palace, where Ms Park lives, but a court appeal to allow protesters to remain there after dark was rejected. Opposition seeks impeachment motion The country's largest opposition party said it would seek to propose an impeachment motion for vote as early as Friday and no later than December 9. Some members of Ms Park's conservative party have vowed to support the impeachment attempt. Choi and a former aide to Ms Park have been indicted on charges of colluding with the President to pressure big business to contribute funds to two foundations controlled by Choi. Ms Park, whose five-year term ends in February 2018, has apologised twice over the affair, but is resisting calls to resign. Her approval ratings slipped one percentage point on Friday, after hovering at just 5 per cent for three consecutive weeks. Her disapproval rating rose three percentage points to 93 per cent, according to a poll by Gallup Korea, which is not affiliated with the US-based Gallup, Inc. Reuters/AP Topics: world-politics, corruption, korea-republic-of First posted |
Dear Movoto Real Estate Web site: I was disappointed to learn that you have ranked Washington, D.C., as the second snobbiest city in America, behind only San Francisco. As a Washington resident, I find this extremely offensive. We’re a lot snobbier than San Francisco. I’m sure you used advanced metrics to arrive at your rankings, but believe me, statistics alone cannot adequately measure snobbery. Sure, both cities are going to rank pretty high in, say, the number of dog psychiatrists per capita or the percentage of coffeehouses that offer foam-infused espresso made from Kona beans excreted by Namibian marmosets, but I contend you have to be prepared to drill down deeper. Literally. Washington invented the term “drill down deeper,” which is part of the pretentious lingua franca of Sunday morning TV talk shows, a means of entertainment we also invented because we in Washington simply take it for granted that the entire country hungers to watch sexy, A-list D.C. celebrities like Timothy Geithner and Janet Yellen earnestly debate exogenous horizontal equity integration. (As Marilyn Monroe eclipsed Lana Turner in Hollywood, so it is with Washington heartthrobs, where Tim Geithner has become the new Alan Greenspan.) Much has been written about lanyards, those dangling government IDs that people leave on at after-hours wine gatherings (cabernet, not Merlot) in order to enable furtive status checks. This is, indeed, a blatantly egotistical convention that is tacitly accepted by everyone because it helps fuel the universal impression that mid-level government functionaries are so vital to the operation of the government that they might have to be recalled to work at any minute. But the more important point is that we’ve actually moved past Lanyard Envy in Washington — nowadays, that sort of jejune thing is just so San Francisco. Lanyard Envy has been surpassed by Clearance Envy, a far snobbier Freudian affliction. It reflects the competition to attain higher levels of secrecy to which one’s job makes one privy. Top Secret doesn’t cut it anymore — some mere administrative assistants have Top Secret clearance. Hell, some janitors have Top Secret clearance. (These are, however, very snobby janitors.) To be traveling with the cool kids today, you have to have TS/SCI, a classification so secret that its true meaning is said to be known only by persons with TS/SCI clearance, who, incidentally, seem to number in the tens of thousands. Washington’s snobbery is complex and nuanced. You have no doubt heard of Over-the-Shoulder Orbital Reconnaissance, whereby in any public social setting the federal Washingtonian has one eye focused on the important person in whose orbit he is revolving, and the other scanning the azimuth, in case a person with higher gravitational pull has entered the room. When such a thing occurs, an entire hierarchy of maneuvers is deployed to diplomatically achieve escape velocity and jump orbit. (Ex.: Drain drink, look thirstily around.) In Washington, status supplants money as the ultimate coin of the realm, meaning that there is perpetual runaway inflation on job titles, creating dozens of positions like this one, which actually exists: “secretary to the First Assistant to the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense.” In Washington, an added “principal” to one’s title is sometimes preferable to a raise, the way some Japanese companies dispense the right to wear white gloves. Finally, there is an understood rule in Washington — the ultimate concession to snobbery — that a person is to be addressed always by the highest title he or she ever had, regardless of his actual current occupation. Henry Kissinger, for example, will always be “Mr. Secretary,” even though his last year in a Cabinet position was the year the comic strip “Cathy” debuted. The honorific-for-life rule is so necessary to maintaining the Washington narcissocracy that it is inviolable. A former United States senator will be universally addressed as “senator” even if he is, at the current time, incarcerated for operating a meth lab. For stories, features such as Date Lab, @Work Advice and more, visit WP Magazine. Follow the Magazine on Twitter. Like us on Facebook. E-mail us at wpmagazine@washpost.com. |
I wanted to get in this last Bikini top review before Summer’s dusk begins to fall upon us. This review is not a very happy review, however. The Body Glove absolutely did not work for me! The Body Glove Smoothies bikini top is an underwired tie bikini top that is actually very popular. There are loads of positive reviews on Amazon, and the rating is 4.5 out of 5. Hmm. Perhaps the bikini top works better in smaller sizes? The top has an annoying sizing system – it is in terms of cup size, but not band size. Silly, because cup size is meaningless without a band size. So when I’m ordering the F cup, am I ordering the volume of a 30F? A 36F? Who knows. Gotta try it on to find out, I guess (upon trying it out, it seems like the cup volume of a 32 or 34 in UK sizing, or a 34 or 36 for US sizing). The band is an adjustable string, so it can probably work for 26 to at least 38 backs. Here’s what the back situation looks like: The straps can be in either cross back position, like this, or a normal shoulder straps position. I ordered the F cup, and here’s what it does on my breasts: Yikes! It spreads my boobs out to the sides in a kind of east-west formation, and is not allowing for inner or upper fullness. The cups are also very shallow. Take a look at the side view to see the quad boob and the astonishingly wide wires: So much empty space on the sides. I usually don’t mind wider wires, but this just looks odd – especially since I don’t have enough room near the center! One more thing worthy of note: the tie back is absolutely not supportive enough for larger breasts, even if you tie it super tight. You can see that the back is actually riding up in the photo above. I am hoping that cup sizes below an F cup (the largest size they offer) are constructed better, and do not have as wide wires. That may explain the many positive reviews of this bikini top! I’ll happily stick with my ASOS and Miss Mandalay bikini tops this summer (and will definitely be looking forward to trying a Comexim bikini top next summer!). – Little Lucie |
Smog settling over a New York City on a summer day. Lucas Jackson For travelers with the gleam of the Big Apple in their eye, nothing seems better than New York City in the summertime. Restaurants have outdoor seating, there are festivals all over town, and you don't have to worry about bringing your jacket to Top of the Rock. But long-time city dwellers know the horror behind the mystique: those awful smells that dominate every daily commute to and from the office. Here's why it's hard to escape the stench of the city in the heat of summer. New York City has the highest population density in the US, and with 8,550,405 people roaming the nation's melting pot, it's bound to get smelly. A census conducted in July 2015 showed that the city had a population density of over 27,000 people per square mile. To put that into perspective, the US, on average, holds only 80 people per square mile. That much combined body odor alone could be enough to scare anyone away. With such an insanely huge number of people living in just one city, it should come as no surprise that there is also an insanely huge amount of garbage produced. Although residents of the city produce 12,000 tons of waste every day, New York City doesn't have any of its own landfills or incinerators. Garbage piles up in dumpsters until it can all be taken across the Hudson River to be incinerated in New Jersey, or, if possible, recycled locally and overseas. But even after most of this waste has been incinerated across the river, strong winds can still carry the stench back over to the city on a hot day. The sheer amount of garbage isn't the only problem. There also has to be a way to get all of it out of the city. Diesel trucks carry garbage out of Manhattan 7.8 million times each year. Let this sink in: That's the same as driving around the earth 312 times, and that's just for one city. A food truck in Manhattan. Carlo Allegri All this driving only adds to pollution and the greenhouse effect, causing the city to become warmer and smellier as time continues. You may also be wondering why those subway vents on every block smell so much more putrid on a steamy summer day. Or how it is possible to smell a food cart from all the way down the street. It turns out the combination of heat and humidity allow bacteria to grow faster and smells to travel further. Increasing temps mean molecules move faster, resulting in enzymes speeding up metabolism and cells quickly increasing in size. Heat is bacteria's best friend. So when you get stuck with one those incredibly humid days, smells become only more potent. The water in the air causes these odors to dissolve, trapping them longer than if it were a dry day outside. To many, New York is the city of dreams, but you have to be willing to accept it for the good, the bad, and the smelly. |
In a move that’s tantamount to saying getting shot in the heart is dangerous because it can give you lead poisoning, longtime smoker Eddie Van Halen is saying holding metal guitar picks in his mouth gave him tongue cancer. That assertion comes from a fairly provocative interview the rocker did with Billboard, during which he both says he never listens to music and dishes on all of Van Halen’s myriad lead singers, from Gary Cherone to David Lee Roth. In the interview, Van Halen says that holding “brass and copper” guitar picks in his mouth “in a recording studio that’s filled with electromagnetic energy” gave him cancer in the early 2000s. He’s since been declared cancer free, but it’s also worth noting that he also admits that, around the same time he was diagnosed, he was “smoking and doing a lot of drugs and everything.” He also says that the whole “guitar picks and magnets gave me cancer” thing is “just [his] own theory,” but that doctors have told him “it’s possible.” Your move, MythBusters. |
We drank a lot of beer this year. Like, a lot-a lot. Much of it was made right here, either within the limits of New York City or just beyond them, and so we can now say without any hesitation that there is an astounding number of really, truly great beers being made all around us, and that it’s high time this place starts getting the credit it deserves as a premier beer town. Below, a list of the best new beers we tried this year—we had to set some parameters, lest this become just another opportunity for us to carry endlessly on about Sorachi Ace. Be sure to check back next week when a bunch of prominent folks on the local beer scene will tell us their favorites of the year. 10. Third Rail Brewing Bodega Pale Ale I was impressed by Third Rail’s other launch, Field 2 Farmhouse Ale, but I was really impressed by Bodega, a well-executed interpretation of the APA style (not the citation guidelines, silly!). It has a lively hop aroma without harsh bitterness on the mouth and a perfect presence of malt character (no sweetness). It’s also insanely gulpable. While a shit-ton of breweries attempted to craft a “session” IPA, which is somewhat similar to the APA, most tasted like hop-flavored water (Hopade?). I’d rather drink Bodega. Niko Krommydas (Find at Beer Menus) 9. Grimm Artisanal Ales Action Adventure I’m not a smoked beer fan by any means. I’ll pass on the tobacco-porter, the retro Rauchbier, even the smoky spiced Saison, but Grimm’s Action/Adventure defies every rule my tastebuds have ever known. This 5% ABV smoky sour ale is Grimm’s take on an age-old German lichtenhainer, a refreshingly tart, complex yet sublimely drinkable all-day sipper. Like a thirst-quenching lemonade with a delicate hint of BBQ smoke, this one is all summer. Meredith Heil (Find at Beer Menus) 8. Finback Replicator Replicator didn’t seem to get a whole lot of attention from the local craft community this year, but it was a home run nonetheless: a black rye IPA that clocks in at a reasonable 5.5% ABV and yet manages to bring a tremendous amount of flavor. There’s an initial blast of pine and citrus, plus substantial roastiness and a hint of spice from the rye malts. It’s like a sessionable version of Firestone Walker’s unimpeachable Wookey Jack, which is way boozier, way more expensive, and very difficult to find fresh. Mike Conklin (Find at Beer Menus) 7. Greenpoint Beer & Ale Tupelo Double IPA Greenpoint Beer & Ale Tupelo Double IPA, served on draft at Greenpoint’s Dirck the Norseman brewpub, is a shining example of this beloved style. It pours a vibrant orange, with a nice balance between its soft melon and floral aroma, smooth piney bitterness and sweet, earthy finish that leaves you reaching for another sip. Brewed with a heaping dose of real Tupelo honey, this easy-drinking IPA is truly an angel in the first degree. MH (Find at Beer Menus) 6. Finback Brewing BQE Imperial Stout I love any beer with a story, but since I was raised in Queens and now live in Brooklyn, when Finback crafted this between-borough stout using the specialties of Native Coffee Roasters (Queens) and Mast Brothers Chocolate (Brooklyn), I also felt personally connected. That’s a win-win. Though I’ve lost many years of my life idling on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, I would gladly sit in brain-atrophying traffic for a pour of BQE, which is noticeably sweeter than most examples of the style. I just got two bottles of the bourbon barrel-aged version, which was released last Sunday. NK (Find at Beer Menus) 5. Singlecut Beersmiths Kim Hibiscus Sour Lagrrr! Between Finback and Singlecut, it was a banner year for brewing in Queens, and one of the biggest successes to come from our biggest borough is this pinkish Berliner Weiss made with hibiscus and black currants. Lightly sour, with a subtle sweetness to balance it out, you could drink it pretty much all day. MC (Find at Beer Menus) 4. Peekskill Brewing Yeah Jeets As a diehard Mets fan, I was hesitant to sample Peekskill’s horrifically named India Pale Lager. Yet, once I let go of my allegiances, there was no turning back–this beer rules. This 7.2% ABV cold-fermented brew is dry-hopped to perfection, with a bright citrusy, grassy nose and just enough biscuity malt to warrant its lager classification. I love this beer almost as much as I hate the Yankees, which is saying a lot. MH (Find at Beer Menus) 3. Sixpoint Barrel-Aged Otis In its most basic form, Otis is an extremely well made oatmeal stout, boasting a wonderfully creamy texture and lots of coffee, chocolate, caramel and, unexpectedly, even some bright, piney hops. After some time in a barrel, it’s all those things and so much more: vanilla comes into play, as does coconut and just a bit more sweetness in general, which is then balanced out by the just the right amount of alcohol burn. Can’t wait till this starts popping up again. MC (Find at Beer Menus) 2. Grimm Artisanal Ales Double Negative Imperial Stout My love for Grimm’s Double Negative is as secret as my love for the stegosaurus, and I have a tattoo of the plate-backed, spike-tailed dinosaur on my left thigh (while Gretta Johnson’s labels depict lovely scenes, don’t ever expect a cloak-hooded monk to descend a staircase to any part of my lower anatomy). The first batch of this rich, roasty, and rambunctious stout won a silver medal at this year’s Great American Beer Festival. I have a bottle of the newest, which was just released, and I can’t wait to drink it. NK (Find at Beer Menus) 1. Other Half All Green Everything Other Half knows hops, and their All Green Everything Imperial IPA is case and point. The word “juicy” doesn’t quite do it justice — it’s more like riding an enormous wave of fresh tropical fruit into a hazy golden shore of dank, palate-soaking bitterness. This bad boy knows no bounds and at 10.2% ABV, you soon won’t either. This is hop nation, pledge your allegiance. MH (Find at Beer Menus) Follow these folks on Twitter: Niko Krommydas, Meredith Heil, and Mike Conklin. |
New Member Posts: 0 Joined: Feb 2013 Group: NewbiePosts: 0Joined: Feb 2013 Beverly Hills City Hall - city passed resolution condemning Brunei and asks its government to divest all its properties in the city The city's mayor, Lili Bosse, said she made a "personal decision" not to return to the hotel as long as it is owned by the Sultan, and called the planned laws in Brunei "shocking and inhumane," claiming that they must be met with a strong statement of support for the human rights of the people of Brunei. "We are standing for human rights, we are standing for dignity and we are standing for those who don't have a voice," said Bosse, who is the daughter of Holocaust survivors. The City Council meeting was marked by strong emotions. Robert Tanenbaum, the trial attorney and novelist, called on a stronger resolution that declared a boycott, saying the millions that the city collects in bed taxes and other taxes blood money. "You cannot bifurcate the asset that gives money back to Brunei, that continues its horrendous and inhumane policies," he said. Jimmy Delshad, former mayor of the city, called on a stronger statement, saying that it is "important to make bigger noise than just that", suggesting for a citywide boycott. Just last week alone, the hotel seen US$1.5 million in lost bookings, spurred by the boycott movement. Protests in the city against Brunei and its presence there In the past 24 hours, another 2 big-name clients, Clive Davis and Jeffrey Katzenberg, have cancelled their businesses with the hotel. Outraged stars include Ellen DeGeneres, Sharon Osbourne and Stephen Fry. The Global Women's Rights Awards is off, the Courage in Journalism Awards ceremony has been pulled, the Hollywood Reporter's annual Women in Entertainment breakfast will no longer be with the hotel, and for the first time in more than a decade, the prestigious Night Before the Oscars charity event is not being held in the Beverly Hills hotel. Media tycoon Haim Saban, the Egyptian-born American Jewish billionaire, has announced that he is boycotting hotels owned by the state of Brunei, the second billionaire to do so after Virgin chief executive Richard Branson. Saban has excellent relationship with the Democratic Party, especially Bill and Hillary Clinton, and the media industry. The billionaire however, said he would be willing to take over both the embattled Beverly Hills Hotel and the Hotel Bel-Air if he could purchase the properties at a fair price, claiming that the Sultan's investment is a stain in the city. The city for rich and famous regards the Sultan's presence as a 'stain' "We are boycotting," said Saban. "And, yes, we would be interested to buy both the Beverly Hills Hotel as well as the Hotel Bel-Air, but we won't pay a stupid price, nevertheless it won't necessary be me, if someone else buys it and the ownership change from the Sultan of Brunei to others, we will lift the boycott and still be enjoying the Polo Lounge and the Wolfgang Puck restaurant at the Bel Air." The Beverly Hills Hotel has been a haven for Hollywood's elite since 1912, but now the stars are rushing for exits over the hotels' current owner, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, who has decided to enact Sharia law - targeting gays - in his home country of Brunei. Beverly Hills is a city in Los Angeles County, California. Originally a rural farming town, today it is a city for the rich and famous, a playground for the wealthy identified by its palmtree-lined streets, sunshine and attrocious property values. The zip code of Beverly Hills, 90210, is among the most expensive zip code in America, usually associated with the symbol of wealth and fame. Even with only around 35,000 inhabitants, the city has an incredible concentration of luxury boutiques. Rove Drive for instance, is well known internationally as an epicenter of luxury, with its reputation for outrageously expensive shops catering to outrageously expensive and unique people. The Beverly Hills Hotel owned by the Sultan of Brunei SOS: http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=...eles&id=9529969 https://variety.com/2014/biz/news/beverly-h...tel-1201173821/ http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/06/showbiz/...protest-brunei/ http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-l...0506-story.html This post has been edited by rivost: May 7 2014, 02:48 PM The Beverly Hills City Council on Tuesday night passed a resolution condemning the Sharia laws targeting gays and women in the Southeast Asian Sultanate of Brunei, and also put forward a divestment notice against its government. The resolution, approved in a 5-0 vote, calls for Brunei to divest ownership of the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel property if it does not drop plans for the draconian laws, which include punishment like stoning to death for gay and lesbian relationships. It also calls on the country to drop investments of any other properties it owns in Beverly Hills, one of the most affluent city in the world.The city's mayor, Lili Bosse, said she made a "personal decision" not to return to the hotel as long as it is owned by the Sultan, and called the planned laws in Brunei "shocking and inhumane," claiming that they must be met with a strong statement of support for the human rights of the people of Brunei. "We are standing for human rights, we are standing for dignity and we are standing for those who don't have a voice," said Bosse, who is the daughter of Holocaust survivors.The City Council meeting was marked by strong emotions. Robert Tanenbaum, the trial attorney and novelist, called on a stronger resolution that declared a boycott, saying the millions that the city collects in bed taxes and other taxes blood money. "You cannot bifurcate the asset that gives money back to Brunei, that continues its horrendous and inhumane policies," he said. Jimmy Delshad, former mayor of the city, called on a stronger statement, saying that it is "important to make bigger noise than just that", suggesting for a citywide boycott. Just last week alone, the hotel seen US$1.5 million in lost bookings, spurred by the boycott movement.In the past 24 hours, another 2 big-name clients, Clive Davis and Jeffrey Katzenberg, have cancelled their businesses with the hotel. Outraged stars include Ellen DeGeneres, Sharon Osbourne and Stephen Fry. The Global Women's Rights Awards is off, the Courage in Journalism Awards ceremony has been pulled, the Hollywood Reporter's annual Women in Entertainment breakfast will no longer be with the hotel, and for the first time in more than a decade, the prestigious Night Before the Oscars charity event is not being held in the Beverly Hills hotel.Media tycoon Haim Saban, the Egyptian-born American Jewish billionaire, has announced that he is boycotting hotels owned by the state of Brunei, the second billionaire to do so after Virgin chief executive Richard Branson. Saban has excellent relationship with the Democratic Party, especially Bill and Hillary Clinton, and the media industry. The billionaire however, said he would be willing to take over both the embattled Beverly Hills Hotel and the Hotel Bel-Air if he could purchase the properties at a fair price, claiming that the Sultan's investment is a stain in the city."We are boycotting," said Saban. "And, yes, we would be interested to buy both the Beverly Hills Hotel as well as the Hotel Bel-Air, but we won't pay a stupid price, nevertheless it won't necessary be me, if someone else buys it and the ownership change from the Sultan of Brunei to others, we will lift the boycott and still be enjoying the Polo Lounge and the Wolfgang Puck restaurant at the Bel Air." The Beverly Hills Hotel has been a haven for Hollywood's elite since 1912, but now the stars are rushing for exits over the hotels' current owner, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, who has decided to enact Sharia law - targeting gays - in his home country of Brunei.Beverly Hills is a city in Los Angeles County, California. Originally a rural farming town, today it is a city for the rich and famous, a playground for the wealthy identified by its palmtree-lined streets, sunshine and attrocious property values. The zip code of Beverly Hills, 90210, is among the most expensive zip code in America, usually associated with the symbol of wealth and fame. Even with only around 35,000 inhabitants, the city has an incredible concentration of luxury boutiques. Rove Drive for instance, is well known internationally as an epicenter of luxury, with its reputation for outrageously expensive shops catering to outrageously expensive and unique people.SOS: |
“I’d like to thank the Migos—not for being on the show, but for making ‘Bad and Boujee.’” Donald Glover thanking Migos for “Bad and Boujee” during his Golden Globe’s acceptance speech became a pop-cultural moment: a nod from one of the new standard-bearers to another. Glover was accepting the award for Best Television Series – Comedy or Musical for his hit FX show Atlanta. The TV showrunner and hip-hop group both represent the latest wave of Atlanta-based creatives who are reshaping American popular culture through their own unique lens. And that lens is born of their hometown. Glover’s Atlanta was the big winner at the Globes, and he took the opportunity after the awards show to continue showering praise on Offset, Takeoff, and Quavo. “I think that they’re the Beatles of this generation and they don’t get a lot of respect, I think, outside of Atlanta,” Glover said backstage. “Not that they don’t get respect, but there’s a generation, sort of like the YouTube generation that I kind of came up with. There’s a generation of kids that are growing up on something that’s completely separate from a whole group of people.” “Honestly, that song is just fly. There’s no better song to have sex to,” he added. Migos, like Glover, fought their way up the mountaintop. The success of “Bad and Boujee” was a major accomplishment, but they worked themselves into that position. “We took it one step at a time,” Quavo told FADER. “We had the buzz from our hood and Atlanta, then the state of Georgia and the states around us. We was trying to take over our state, and trying to take over the United States. New York started fucking with us real heavy. It got to the fact that research said New York was on us more than Georgia and more than the South even. But we never got discouraged about any of the projects we put out because it was all a warm up. It was all leading to this.” The unexpected Migos shout-out at the Golden Globes came at an amazing time for all things Atlanta. As Donald Glover was winning his award for his TV show, “Bad and Boujee” was racing to the No. 1 spot in the country (supplanting another Atlanta artist, Rae Sremmurd’s “Black Beatles”) and two weeks later, the Atlanta Falcons defeated the Green Bay Packers to head to Super Bowl LI. It’s a good time to be an ATLien. But this isn’t new for The A. Atlanta’s been a hub for all things cool for a while now—even if it typically has to toot its own horn. Hell, Atlanta has been giving us dope shit since the ‘90s—particularly in music, with luminaries such as OutKast, TLC, Usher, Toni Braxton, Ludacris, CeeLo Green, and T.I. all topping the charts, and labels like LaFace, So So Def, and Grand Hustle all operating with ATL as their home base. The current dominance of artists like Young Thug, Future, Metro Boomin, 2 Chainz, Gucci Mane, Rae Sremmurd, Lil Yachty, and Migos is part of that direct lineage, but Atlanta’s current swing isn’t just music-centric. Over the past decade, more and more film productions have taken place in Atlanta. Everything from The Blind Side to The Hunger Games to Captain America: Civil War and Hidden Figures filmed in the city, while TV shows like Vampire Diaries, The Walking Dead and Greenleaf all shoot in Atlanta. There’s still a horde of transplants moving to the Atlanta metro area, with the city of Atlanta projected to double its population over the next two decades. It’s been gratifying watching Atlanta continuously reinvent itself, even since it’s surge. It’s a city that was always a lot harder to define than outsiders seemed willing to admit; a southern city with East and West coast transplants influencing the culture, but with its own idiosyncrasies born of its specific history. Even the rise of Migos came with its own set of uniquely-Atlantan challenges for the trio. Where they are based, Lawrenceville, Georgia, is a distant suburb of the city of Atlanta, about 25 minutes up I-85, and not exactly a part of Atlanta that’s birthed a ton of rap stars. “The Nawf, that’s the Northside. It’s outskirts, it’s secluded,” Quavo explained to FADER. “If we came out of there, we wanted to make sure we screamed that to the fullest and put it on the map. It’s not like a part of Atlanta, but we made it a part of Atlanta.” The fact that Atlanta’s hip-hop stars aren’t just coming from SWATS and Decatur anymore speaks volumes about the surfeit of talent and opportunities. And, as tends to be the case with so much in The A, that current boom has one foot in the city’s grassroots culture and another in its cosmopolitan aspirations. Atlanta has always been an ambitious town—sometimes to its own detriment. Atlanta culture writer Rodney Carmichael brilliantly examined this duality. “For two decades Atlanta’s been mired in an overblown identity crisis, while constantly chipping away at the very qualities, and subcultures, that have given this city definition,” he wrote in 2016. “It puts a whole new spin on the notion of ATLiens. For Atlanta, OutKast’s 1996 sophomore album has always been bigger than rap. But now it carries a special burden. To be an ATLien in 2016 means being simultaneously fetishized and stigmatized in much the same way America outwardly loves black culture but inwardly loathes black life.” Nothing illustrates this better than the ascendance of Glover. As Childish Gambino, he carved out a strange and fascinating musical niche that somehow continuously changed, from nerd-rap outsider to neo-funk critical darling. His acclaimed FX series served as both a loving ode to The A and an oft-surreal rumination on contemporary Black life. He’s turned Atlanta into an allegory for so many peoples’ experience—highlighting the city’s culture and atmosphere as a window to something more universal. He’s drawn a ton of mainstream praise by presenting his own specifically Black perspective during a time when Black culture is once again both fashionable and feared. Atlanta has been the best example of America’s conflicted relationship with Black culture for a while now. Trap music emerged from street tales about drug dealing to survive; now it’s the foundation for everything from dance music to country songs. Migos makes music that springs from first wave trap’s influence, but they connect well beyond that culture’s audience—something that surprised them. “’Bad and Boujee’ connects with everybody,” said Offset in the FADER interview. “It struck so fast. And it meant so much to me, because I recorded that song myself at home, in my basement. I was home alone and I recorded it myself.” The Atlanta Falcons are headed to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1998. A show about a slacker from Decatur, Georgia, just won Best Television Series at the Golden Globes, and three guys from Lawrenceville just hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts. I left Atlanta in 2012 after living there for 10 years, and having lived in Georgia my entire life. It feels good every time The A gets a win—and right now, The A is winning. But as has been the case ever since the 1995 Atlanta Braves, the 1996 Olympics, The Dirty Bird, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below and every major moment in the last 25 years, I hope that Atlanta doesn’t lose itself in the successes. Because Atlanta—the Atlanta of Hosea Williams and Edgewood and The Blue Flame and Apache Café and Kilo Ali and LaFace Records and Ghetto Mafia—that Atlanta is an awesome place. I hope it never forgets that. |
Select a date Select month July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 Select a category Agriculture Bihar Votes For Its (and India’s) Future BUDGET 2014 Budget 2015: Modi’s Moment of Reckoning Budget 2016: The stories behind the numbers Chart of the Day Climate Change Cover Story Currency Chaos Development Education Elections 2014 Employment Fact Check Governance Newsletter Health homepage video Hunger India’s Great Challenge: Health & Sanitation IndiaSpend In The News IndiaSpend Interviews Industry Investigations Central State Latest Headlines Latest Reports Making Sense of Breaking News Modi’s Message: India’s States Reply Modi’s Report Card Mumbai Special Mumbai Special: The Revival Agenda Opinion – Videos Opinions Pollution Poverty Prime Time: India’s Grand Challenges Resources Central State Sectors Agriculture Defence Economy & Policy Education Health Infrastructure Snapshots States Central India Chattisgarh Madhya Pradesh EAST Bihar Jharkhand Orissa West Bengal NORTH Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu & Kashmir New Delhi Punjab Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand NORTH EAST Arunachal Pradesh Assam Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Sikkim Tripura SOUTH Andhra Pradesh Karnataka Kerala Tamil Nadu WEST Goa Gujarat Maharashtra Story In A Minute The Air We #Breathe The Road To Delhi: Elections 2015 The Transition: 2015-2016 Uncategorized Viznomics: A Quick Glance At Big Issues Welfare Women Women@Work Search with Google India will need to generate 280 million jobs between now and 2050, the year when the working-age population (15 to 64) will peak, according to a new report, amid indicators that the country’s demographic dividend could be at the cusp of disaster. Over 22 years of unprecedented economic growth (1991 to 2013), less than half the Indians who sought jobs got them, 140 million of 300 million, according to a new United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report. “In China, the number of jobs grew from 628 million to 772 million between 1991 and 2013, an increase of 144 million, but the working-age population increased by 241 million,” the report said. “A wider gap in India than China suggests a more limited capacity to generate employment—a serious challenge given the continued expansion of the workforce in India over the next 35 years.” With fears that India is experiencing jobless growth and skepticism abounding that the country’s ability to cash in on its “demographic bonus”, the world’s largest working-age population—1033 million by 2030—because of limited progress on health, education and job skills, we identified six warning signs: In 2015, India added the fewest organised-sector jobs—in large companies and factories—in seven years across eight important industries. The proportion of jobs in the unorganised sector—without formal monthly payment or social security benefits—is set to rise to 93% in 2017. Rural wages are at a decadal low, as agriculture—which accounts for 47% of jobs—contracted 0.2% in 2014-15, growing 1% in 2015-16. As many as 60% of those with jobs do not find employment for the entire year, indicating widespread ‘under-employment’ and temporary jobs. The formation of companies has slowed to 2009 levels, and existing companies are growing at 2%, the lowest in five years. With large corporations and public-sector banks financially stressed, the average size of companies in India is reducing, at a time when well-organised large companies are central to creating jobs. The erosion of jobs is like climate change. It happens slowly & so makes no news but its impact can be devastating. https://t.co/6w7ssfoTdB — Kaushik Basu (@kaushikcbasu) April 28, 2016 With a million jobs required every month—the UNDP report says eight million are required every year until 2050—dominant castes across various regions are reacting violently to unfulfilled aspirations, as IndiaSpend reported in February 2016. 1. Organised sector, offering 10% of employment and steadiest jobs, slows Employment shrank over two quarters of four in 2015, the first time since the 2008 global financial crisis, according to the latest data from the Labour Bureau’s Quarterly Employment Survey. Source: Quarterly Report on Changes in Employment in Selected Sectors, Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment.Note: 2008 data only for October to December The first quarter, January to March 2015, added 64,000 jobs, while the third quarter, July to September, added 134,000 jobs in eight sectors that the Bureau surveys on “changes in employment” (not existing jobs): Textiles (apparels), leather, metals, automobile, gems and jewellery, transport, IT/BPO and handloom/power loom. Source: Quarterly Report on Changes in Employment in Selected Sectors, Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment However, in the second quarter, April to June, 2015, 43,000 jobs were lost, and in the last quarter of the year, October to December, 20,000 jobs were lost. These jobs were to be in industries that comprise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India programme, a manufacturing expansion meant to offer jobs to the millions moving out of agriculture. The employment generated per quarter slowed since after the relatively short-lived 2008 financial crisis, indicating that the current global slowdown is steadier, as IndiaSpend reported earlier. Recent Reserve Bank of India data on “Assessment and Expectations for Employment Outlook” indicates India’s jobs gloom. “The survey indicated moderate increase in optimism for production, financial situation and salary for fourth quarter (January to March 2016) of 2015-16 as compared with previous quarter. However sentiments on other indicators, viz. exports, imports, employments, profit margin and overall business situation, deteriorated,” the RBI quarterly industrial outlook report said. 2. Up to 93% of jobs in unorganised, insecure informal sector by 2017 The informal sector accounted for 90% of jobs through the period 2004-05 to 2011-12, said the Economic Survey 2015-16. This is going to increase marginally to 92-93% in 2017, according to a report by the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS). The accelerated growth of the Indian economy over the past two decades is accompanied by increasing informalisation, notes the Report of the Committee on Unorganised Sector Statistics by the National Statistical Commission. The proportion of ‘own account establishments’, such as carpenters and street-kiosk owners, has jumped from 64% of all establishments in 2005 to 72% in 2013, according to the Sixth Economic Census. The proportion of larger companies—which range from accountancy firms, IT services companies to a Tata Motors—reduced from 35.6% in 2005 to 28.3% in 2013. In China and Southeast Asia—regions of high literacy—farmers moving off the land found factory jobs. With illiteracy widespread in India, farm labour appears to be the main option. Those who get a better education and move to cities find that construction labour, maids and security guards are most in demand, as IndiaSpend had reported in 2014. 3. As farming recedes, menial rural labour grows 34%; agriculture stays India’s largest employer From 2001 to 2011, the number of farmers fell 7%, from 127.6 million to 118.6 million. Over the same period, agricultural labourers increased 34%, from 107.5 million to 144.3 million, as IndiaSpend reported. Agricultural growth nosedived over the last two years, with three, and possibly four (the data for January to March 2016 are not yet out), quarters registering a contraction. Source: Key Economic Indicators, Office of Economic Advisor, Department of Industry Rural wages are growing at a much slower pace compared to the initial years of India’s rural jobs programme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA), the wages of which were down at 2005 levels in 2015, as IndiaSpend reported. “In 2009-10, the previous (nationwide) drought year, MGNREGA was able to increase rural wages,” former chief statistician of India Pronab Sen was quoted in Business Standard. “We are not seeing that trend now.” The construction sector—building roads, bridges and ports—is rapidly becoming India’s fastest-growing employment destination. More specialised sectors of the economy cannot absorb those leaving farms because they do not possess the skills needed. Modi’s Skill India initiative aims to train 400 million Indians over the next six years—that’s a million every week. In 2014, as we reported, no more than seven million were trained; fewer than 5% of Indians have ever received formal skills training. 4. Under-employment: 40% working people can’t find a steady job Many Indians who report themselves as ‘employed’ do not get year-round work, or may have jobs lagging their abilities and expectations, said the Fourth Annual Report on Employment and Unemployment 2014. Only 60.5% of the working population (above 15 years) was able to find work through the year. Source: Volume I, Employment and Unemployment Survey 2013-14, Ministry of Labour and Employment Underemployment affects youth the most. Of 100 persons aged above 30, only two persons report being fully unemployed, while in the 18-29 age group, 13 in 100 are unemployed, noted the survey. Education only appears to increase the prospect of unemployment. Source: Volume II, Employment and Unemployment Survey 2013-14, Ministry of Labour and Employment This could be because educated young people prefer to remain unemployed than work in jobs they consider below their qualifications or dignity. Job options in the sectors they desire are receding. 5. As industrial growth slows, company jobs recede, jobs per company fall The growth of eight core industries—coal, oil, oil products, gas, electricity, fertiliser, steel and cement—is now the lowest it has been over the last ten years. Source: Key Economic Indicators report, Industrial Handbook 2008-09, Office of Economic Advisor; Annual Report 2015-16, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.Note: 2015-16: April to January period over April-January 2014-15. Industrial growth of the last decade (represented here by the year-on-year growth in the Index of Industrial Production) shows a slump during the 2008 crisis; it recovers and again goes south till 2015-16. Source: Office of the Economic Advisor, Department of Industry The number of companies registered every year is—after a peak in 2012—down to 2008 levels, an indication of business uncertainty. In 2014, as many as 70,043 companies were registered in India, marginally less than 70,513 in 2008. Source: Ministry of Corporate Affairs Fewer than 2,000 companies were registered in April 2016, the first month of the new financial year, 2016-17, according to ministry data. In comparison, 6,000 companies were registered monthly, on an average, during the last decade. Indian companies are also hiring fewer employees: The average number of employees employed in an establishment reduced from 2.41 to 2.24, according to the Sixth Economic Census. “It’s well known that the small size of Indian firms is a major reason for their abysmal levels of productivity,” columnist Manas Chakravarty wrote in Mint earlier this month. Employment in companies employing more than 10 workers declined from 37.1% in 1990 to 21.15% in 2013. Large corporations are important to India’s economy, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said in February, but many are struggling to repay loans and grow, potentially sparking a circle of low growth, low bank credit, job cuts, low output and low growth. So, a paradox unfolds, with many young Indians, many with substandard education, unable to find jobs commensurate with their education, while industry endures a shortage of skilled labour. The story has been updated to reflect the correct working-age population and the year in which India will have the world’s largest working-age population. The correct year is 2030 and not 2020, when India will have over a billion working-age people. (Waghmare is an analyst with IndiaSpend.) We welcome feedback. Please write to respond@indiaspend.org. We reserve the right to edit responses for language and grammar. __________________________________________________________________ “Liked this story? Indiaspend.org is a non-profit, and we depend on readers like you to drive our public-interest journalism efforts. Donate Rs 500; Rs 1,000, Rs 2,000.” |
ROME (Reuters) - The world could face a food crisis of the kind seen in 2007/08 if countries restrict exports on concerns about a drought-fuelled grain price rally, the U.N.’s food agency warned on Thursday, after reporting a surge in global food prices in July. A man looks at food at Khartoum's central food market July 18, 2012. REUTERS/ Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah A mix of high oil prices, growing use of biofuels, bad weather, soaring grain futures markets and restrictive export policies pushed up prices of food in 2007/08, sparking violent protests in countries including Egypt, Cameroon and Haiti. Concern about extreme hot and dry weather in the U.S. Midwest sent corn and soybean prices to record highs last month, driving overall food prices higher again and reversing the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s forecast for declines this year. “There is potential for a situation to develop like we had back in 2007/08,” the FAO’s senior economist and grain analyst Abdolreza Abbassian told Reuters. “There is an expectation that this time around we will not pursue bad policies and intervene in the market by restrictions, and if that doesn’t happen we will not see such a serious situation as 2007/08. But if those policies get repeated, anything is possible.” A number of major producers imposed various restrictions on exports in an attempt to control domestic prices in the 2007/08 crisis, including outright bans as well as quotas or higher tariffs on exports of foods including rice, corn and wheat. The restrictions reduced supply on international markets, helping to drive prices even higher. Grain markets have been boosted recently by speculation that Black Sea grain producers, particularly Russia, might impose export restrictions after a drought there hit crops. Markets drew a little comfort from official Russian comments on Wednesday that the country saw no grounds to ban grain exports this year but did not rule out protective export tariffs after the end of the 2012 calendar year. The FAO Food Price Index, which measures monthly price changes for a food basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, averaged 213 points in July, up 6 percent from 201 points in June, the FAO said in its monthly index update. The rise, which followed three months of declines, was driven mainly by a surge in grain and sugar prices, while meat and dairy prices were little changed, the FAO said. HUNGER RISK It said the U.S. drought, which is the worst to hit the Midwest in 56 years, had pushed up corn prices by almost 23 percent in July, and international wheat prices had followed, rising about 19 percent amid worsening output prospects. Although below a peak of 238 points in February 2011, when high food prices helped drive the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, the index is still higher now than during the food price crisis in 2007/08. Higher food prices mean higher import bills for the poorest countries, which do not produce enough food domestically, and a strong dollar would deepen that impact. “The very strong appreciation of the dollar, and the surge in prices, is basically a double blow which is going to be quite stressful for some of the more fragile countries,” Abbassian said. Charity Oxfam said that the surge in prices could drag millions of people around the world into conditions of hunger and malnourishment, in addition to nearly one billion who are already too poor to feed themselves. “These price hikes are being driven by more than just a drought in the US corn-belt and problem harvests elsewhere. Our food system should be more resilient than this,” Oxfam spokesman Colin Roche said in a statement. Roche said governments needed to invest more in small-holder farmers, reconsider biofuel policies and make more effort to tackle climate change. The FAO’s Abbassian said the situation was still quite different from 2007/08, when crude oil prices were at record levels, adding to farmers’ costs. Related Coverage Attempts to avoid food crisis may worsen problem Abundant supplies of rice and sluggish economic growth should also ease the upward pressure on prices, but a lot will depend on how the weather develops for U.S. crops and how demand develops in coming months, he said. “We will have to see how the high price will ration demand, and to what extent, be it lesser exports or lesser use for biofuels,” Abbassian said. “What is quite certain is that it is not going to be a season where prices fall below the previous year, which is what we had anticipated. It is going to be another season of very high prices.” |
Special to Crime Magazine An excerpt from The Case of the Drowning Men: Investigating the Smiley Face Serial Murder Theory by Eponymous Rox. The police are calling them accidents. They say young men are simply drinking too much and meeting a tragic end in icy lakes and rivers. But, with sinister graffiti frequently found near where the victims died, the public thinks something else has been going on in America's northland since 1997. They're calling the sudden disappearances of hundreds of college-age men mysterious. They're calling the drownings murder. by Eponymous Rox Chapter 1: Dead Certain Since the mid 1990’s, in the northernmost district of the United States where Interstates 90 and 94 merge to cut a scenic route toward the west, crossing nearly a dozen states along the way and skirting the border with Canada, scores of young men are vanishing every year without a trace. Only to turn up days, weeks, or months later in nearby bodies of water, dead. Occurring mainly between the months of September to April, it’s the same story repeating itself every time, with little variation: A young man goes out for the evening with his friends, gets separated from them some time after midnight, and, despite massive search efforts by his loved ones to find out what became of him, is never seen alive again. For local law enforcement officials the hunt for lost men over the past 15 years has become an all too familiar tale of woe as well, not the least because it’s costly and disruptive. But as far as police are concerned, even before they launch an investigation, even before a body’s been recovered from the water and an autopsy performed, it’s always a cut-and-dry case: “No signs of foul play.” Young people are simply drinking too much, the authorities claim. Young people will do crazy and stupid things when they’re inebriated. They’ll even throw themselves into an icy river or lake and drown. Seems a reasonable enough explanation on its face, if only one or two fatalities occurring every once in awhile, and a scenario that’s not totally impossible to imagine either. But by the hundreds? And why only males then? All matching the same description? Washing up in places thoroughly searched before…? I first stumbled upon the case of the drowning men in early 2012, and quite by accident. Indeed, whatever it was I’d originally been researching at the moment, it was undoubtedly not related to death or dying, and I’m also positive it had nothing to do with H 2 0 and its cold-weather hazards. But the brain is an efficient machine and though its focus may be directed to one particular matter it’s still constantly processing everything else on the periphery; sorting, analyzing and connecting all the data-bytes it comes across. Like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Like dots on a map. Scientists say one of the things the human brain is very quick to detect is a pattern. If so, that must be the reason why, when I glanced at the February article concerning yet another youth who had wandered away from his buddies and whose corpse was found shortly thereafter floating in the Mississippi, I blurted aloud, “What, not again,” and clicked on the news link. Before that day, before I began to consciously pay attention to this issue, I can honestly say I’d never known of anyone, young or old, male or female, to drink and drown in autumn, winter or spring. Not in all the time I’ve lived in this, the affected area. Like my fellow citizens who are also lifelong residents of the Great Lakes region—growing up here, going to school, working, vacationing, socializing—I can attest that these two things, drinking and drowning in cold weather, have never been synonymous with each other. Drowning after a night out on the town with your friends during the chilly months of September through April, with nobody else around to help, with no witnesses, just isn’t as inevitable as the police would have us all suddenly believe it is. It’s not, regardless of what age you are or your close proximity to the water, an ordinary way to perish. This is probably because in these parts, even when people are drunk out of their minds, they don’t usually drown outdoors unless they’re in the act of swimming, or else involved in some other form of water recreation like waterskiing or boating. Activities which, because of our cold, northern climate, are only safely executed in rivers, lakes and ponds approximately three months out of the calendar year, in June, July, and August. The rest of the time the water’s simply too cold to go in, and most everybody (native and transplant alike) understands that if water is at or below 65 degrees Fahrenheit, it’s not only brutally uncomfortable, it can kill you—a body cools in water twice as fast as it does in air, losing an approximate rate of five degrees per hour. Death from hypothermia only takes about three hours in 40 to 60 degree water; less than two hours at 35 to 40 degrees; and less than three-quarters of an hour at temperatures below 35 degrees. Those deadly equations are fairly easy to master and, in the land of lakes and rivers and ponds and streams and brooks, youngsters are taught them early on. As for the rare and reckless few who fail to grasp the math, to be perfectly candid, they don’t usually make it to their early teens, let alone full adulthood. The average age of the males who go missing and are later found drowned in the Interstate 90 and 94 Corridor is between 19 and 23 years. In the entire grouping perhaps a handful have been only 17 and a few others as old as 30, although it must be said, in the case of the more mature victims, they didn’t look anywhere near their true age in posters or photographs. Grown men drowning in cold weather on their way home at night. That’s become a strange new fact of life and the weird new math those who reside in the northern corridor have now had to learn, based upon figures which have been accumulating for nearly the past two decades. We’re fond of and rely on facts and numbers to inform us here in the northland because, overall, we’re an educated people. Our extensive waterways, highways, railways, large cities, major industries and fertile farmlands have contributed to make the region one of the most affluent in the country. As a result, many of the world’s finest universities can be found in this region as well, and an overwhelming majority of us have attended them. We’re a schooled and highly trained bunch of skeptics we are, and even a bit conservative leaning. Which is to say, we tend to mull things over long before we act. We don’t jump to conclusions… In 2004 the April drowning of yet another popular, athletic, and bright 21-year-old male of medium build, at the University of Wisconsin in La Crosse, provided the tipping point for that community’s stoical tolerance of the matter. In terms of these events La Crosse is one of the hotspots, and by that year there’d been way too many of the same type of men dying under identical circumstances for the public to view it anymore as coincidence. With the inexplicable disappearance of honor student Jared Dion the city was up in arms, and when his body was eventually discovered downriver, the once-whispered suspicions of murder instantly morphed into full blown allegations of a serial killer or a gang of serial killers stalking college-age men in the area, not to mention accusations of police involvement and a cover up. There were roughly 51,000 people living in La Crosse in 2004, according to the U.S. Census, and, to be sure, they weren’t all hapless students; city officials and the police department were late to acknowledge a crisis at hand, and, when they did finally react to it, the town-hall meetings they commandeered to dismiss the public’s fears as unfounded did little or nothing to calm things down again. Every public debate concerning the river deaths was jam-packed and rapidly descended into a shouting match. It was probably in a last ditch effort to restore the peace as well as to mitigate harm to the university’s reputation that an open letter from faculty members at the University of Wisconsin in La Crosse was penned and then distributed to the student body. Co-authored by the chairs of the Psychology and Sociology departments and titled “Why we are 99.9% sure it is NOT a serial killer” - a data based explanation, this urgent communiqué implored students to use their “critical thinking skills” to evaluate what was really going on in their town. A levelheaded analysis would prove these were only drownings, not murders, the professors assured them. A string of terribly tragic and utterly preventable accidents: Students are drinking too much and incapacitating themselves, a condition which drives some to seek out the river to refresh themselves, during which they slip and fall in. Only men are drowning as a result of intoxication because women are more savvy these days and don’t wander around alone at night, especially not if they’ve been partying. Annually, almost 10 times as many males die during water recreational activities and in other types of accidents than females do. Alcohol plays a role in a number of these cases. There are no drowning deaths at nearby universities like Madison because their campuses are beside lakes. Whereas La Crosse’s campus is situated right on the river’s edge, and rivers, being suddenly deep and fast flowing, are far more dangerous. The similarities between the victims constitute “illusory correlations” which can readily be explained through other qualifying factors. Stepping into the middle of a community’s fray and trying to mediate it was highly unusual for a university, and, in light of the dire subject matter of their “data based explanation” and the negative impact advertising it might have had on future enrollment, a rather risky PR move, too. But the professors’ treatise was also an intelligent, compassionate, and methodical approach to debunking the serial-murderer theory before it could take root—the first of many—so the gamble was well worth it. Moreover, this strategy appears to have been quite successful. At least for awhile. But in 2005, 2006 and 2007, drunk and sober young men continued to go missing along the interstates, sometimes two or more in the very same time span. Their corpses eventually to be retrieved from such rivers as the Calumet, the Hudson, the Charles, the Mississippi, the Milwaukee, the Wabash and the Wisconsin, as well as a number of area lakes, including Great Lake Michigan, Lake LaVerne, and the University at Madison’s nearby Lake Mendota. These latter deaths occurring in seeming defiance of the UW-L professors’ sweeping assertion that a lake doesn’t pose the same risk for drowning because “it becomes gradually deeper and is not moving swiftly.” Smiley Faces Also helping to rekindle the flames of conflict between believers and nonbelievers of a serial killer, new information had begun trickling in from reliable outside investigators which suggested that dozens of the questionable drownings could be linked now not only by an identifiable victimology and a distinct manner of death, but also through cryptic symbols like smiley faces and other taunting messages left at the scenes of a some of the suspected murders. A subsequent inspection throughout the region confirmed that there was in fact sinister-looking graffiti of this sort at many a river’s edge or lakefront, and, as with the ruckus at La Crosse Wisconsin just a few years prior, a large percent of the student populations in these locations, together with their families and the local citizenry, became understandably very worked up about these findings. Terrified. It was investigative reporter Kristi Piehl from KSTP-TV out of Minnesota who first broke the story in 2008 of serial killers drowning men along Interstate 90 and 94, and of the doggedly determined pair of retired NYPD detectives in hot pursuit of them. The segment ultimately earning her an Emmy but apparently costing her a job. From that special report, the concept of a “Smiley Face Killer Gang” was born and went instantly viral, not just on websites and in chat rooms, but also in the major media outlets. ABC, MSNBC, CNN and the Associated Press, among others, picked up the local news item and carried it nationwide, in so doing, widely broadcasting the seeds of what would become one of the most hotly-contested conspiracy theories of our time. Once again, pandemonium broke out as anxious citizens began mobilizing and actively trying to bypass their own police departments’ authority, demanding instead that federal assistance be provided in order to apprehend a fiendish network of elusive serial murderers stalking, abducting and drowning specific types of young males across the northland. Experts in criminology and forensic pathology studied the various case profiles as well, and, noting the telltale spikes in certain localities, they also began expressing similar opinions. "The probability is virtually zero that five intoxicated students just happened to walk similar or even different routes and end up on the riverbank." Dr. Maurice Godwin, criminal investigative psychologist, commenting on the La Crosse Wisconsin cluster "They could have been murdered but the person was just so good at doing it that they didn't leave any physical evidence… [they] could sedate and drown him in a tub or something like that and then throw him in the river." John Kelly, psychotherapist and profiler “The statistics are so stacked against this number of men, young men, Caucasian males, found in bodies of water in that cluster of states, within that period of time.” Dr. Cyril Wecht, forensic pathologist “If you actually look at the statistics on drownings, most drownings occur during the summer and they're related to water activities like boating and water skiing and things like that. Very few drownings actually occur during the winter.” Lee Gilbertson, Professor of Criminal Justice at St. Cloud University The supporting evidence for those conclusions was so compelling, in fact, that two high-level state representatives joined in the furor. Senator Jim Sensenbrenner from Wisconsin and U.S. Congressman Michael McNulty from New York both submitted requests directly to the FBI urging the Bureau to formally investigate the serial murders being perpetrated in their states and to take swift actions to end them. “Yes, there’s a serial murderer—alcohol,” La Crosse’s flustered chief of police, Edward Kondracki, retorted when confronted with these latest developments. But, “a rogue cop…or national smiley face gang…there is no serial killer!” In this growing war of words, rival local-news networks that had failed to show any real interest in the story before felt obliged now to weigh in, some seeking to ridicule the award-winning reporter who had intrepidly launched the Smiley Face Murder Theory into the national spotlight. Veteran columnist Steve Perry from the Minnesota Monitor unabashedly said of her, "Let the record show that Kristi Piehl of KSTP has done her part to bring the yarn to the huddled masses yearning to breathe the vapors of another massive conspiracy.” And reporter Brian Lambert at Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine angrily proclaimed that a story depicting serial drownings as actual serial slayings in disguise going on to earn a coveted journalism award was “ludicrous,” and that the very idea of a serial murderer being responsible for the spate of area deaths, "boggles every rational instinct." But because a homegrown rumor, many years in the creation, had suddenly spiraled into a legend overnight, it would now require much more than scorn and carefully constructed editorial pieces to slam the lid back on the can of worms it had opened. The American public’s imagination and its keen interest in the case had been ignited, and it would take a multi-pronged effort to fully squelch the serial killer theory this time. In that process, a number of reputations would necessarily have to be sullied, a few investigations closed, and taxpayers’ monies liberally spent in order to increase security, and a sense of security, in communities close to water. Fences, river patrols, safe buses, surveillance cameras, targeted campaigns of every variety aimed at damage control― these costly measures could be justified because public officials knew that, to govern properly, people couldn’t be living in fear day and night, and they couldn’t be distrustful of their law enforcement officers, either. Most importantly, university towns couldn’t expect students to continue flocking to them in droves, as many in this region have been accustomed to for over a century, if they’re suddenly afraid they’ll end up victims of violent crimes there. When it comes to social strife and chaos, in the end the end always does justify the means employed, and, as can be seen today, these strenuous attempts to solve “the problem” have been effective in crushing the ugly stories and criticisms that were running rampart not so long ago. All throughout the northern corridor now, a truce appears to be in place and holding, and, for the most part, it’s been pretty quiet these past couple of years. But then there is that plaguing issue of a steadily rising body count. Chapter 2: Anatomy of a Drowning For those who think that drowning is a pleasant way to go, think again. Drowning is a violent assault on the body during which the frightened victim fiercely, albeit briefly, battles to survive. Death follows exhaustion within only two or three minutes. Technically, it is true that a person can drown in as little as a cup of water. A cup, a puddle, a ditch, a bathtub—anytime liquid enters the air passages and lungs, even if someone doesn’t die immediately, it can still turn fatal because there are a host of medical complications which arise that are always life-threatening, such as pneumonia and renal failure. These types of delayed fatalities are known as “secondary drownings” and, although their symptoms may develop over the course of several days, or even longer for some patients, they’re usually triggered within only a few hours of the initial incident. But most victims drown fully submerged in water when the nose and mouth inadvertently become covered. Sometimes, when there is an instantaneous glottal spasm blocking off oxygen, or a preexisting medical condition, death can be automatic without any signs of a struggle. In the majority of drownings, however, this is not the case. Struggling is one of the key stages leading to unconsciousness and death. In fact, so intense can this final fight for life be that, in more than 10 percent of drowning fatalities, an autopsy will actually reveal bruised and ruptured muscles, particularly in the shoulders, chest and neck. Evidence of injuries of this nature suggest to a medical examiner the strong likelihood that a victim was alive in the water at the time of their demise and not placed there already dead. The stages of a full-immersion drowning event are fairly quick and, because the victim’s airways are being blocked, either by water and/or the epiglottis, it’s often completely soundless. There will be panicked thrashing as the victim desperately attempts to get air and to grab onto nearby objects for security, and then, when they can no longer hold their breath, they’ll begin to inhale water in large quantities, gulping it into their stomach as well. This action also rapidly circulates water throughout their other systems and bloodstream with differing biochemical reactions depending on whether they’re in saltwater or in fresh. This last stage of drowning ends with coughing, vomiting, convulsions, loss of consciousness, death, and rigor mortis. Very shortly after the victim dies their body will start to sink. If retrieved soon thereafter, their arms and hands may display cadaveric spasm, a posture in death borne out of extreme mental anguish and which reveals the person’s final thoughts and movements as they frantically fought to stay alive. If a victim is not promptly retrieved at death, then, without exception and no matter how deep or how swift the water may be, the corpse will continue to drift downward until it reaches the bottom. This is where it will remain in a somewhat fetal position until gases from putrefaction cause it to rise to the surface once more. A semi-fetal posture is the norm for all drown victims, so if divers do locate such a body before it ascends, but it isn’t in this pose and/or the head is seen to be tilted to one side, they must include these observations in their police recovery report, as it reveals the victim died on land and was put in the water post-rigor mortis. Typically, once the body does emerge on its own, it will surface in the general vicinity of where the victim originally went under. From this location the water may then carry the corpse along for quite a distance, depending on the strength of the currents or if it becomes ensnared and is thereby prevented. Refloat largely varies on the water’s depth and temperature, taking only a matter of hours to occur if extremely warm and up to two weeks or longer if at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or less. The timetable, therefore, is not fixed but is loosely as follows: at 40 degrees Fahrenheit it takes approximately 14 to 20 days for a drown victim’s corpse to resurface; at 50 degrees 10 to 14 days; at 60 degrees seven to 10 days; at 70 degrees three to seven days; and at 80+ degrees one to two days or sooner. In very cold and very deep bodies of water, like certain oceans or the Great Lakes of North America, it’s not unusual at all for a drown victim to never resurface, lying on the bottom in a state of suspended decomposition until the body eventually disintegrates or is otherwise destroyed. But in temperate oceans, rivers, lakes, ponds, pools, reservoirs, quarries, or the like, a corpse will inevitably rise again, sooner or later, occasionally exploding to the surface if it was deliberately anchored. And when it does reappear, if the person did genuinely die from drowning, then the corpse will always be discovered floating face down in the water, with the head drooping forward and lower than the rest of the body. Lividity, the pooling of blood and fluids, will then have permanently settled into the under regions of the corpse by then, weighting it from beneath and essentially acting as a ballast so that, even when disturbed, say by a collision with a boat, it will return to this original position. If one can stomach a physical inspection of the body and knows what to look for, at this point it becomes relatively easy to determine the length of time a victim’s actually been submerged. However, because a previously sunken body could have been slowly dragged along the water’s bed by currents and thereby further damaged against rocks and similar objects, or even partially eaten by marine animals, it may be difficult for the layperson to ascertain if any visible injuries happened in life or were obtained postmortem. Damaged or not, though, if a body has been in the water for at least one to 48 hours, wrinkling of the skin will be present already, particularly on the palms of the hands and fingertips and on the soles and toes of the feet. Noticeable blanching and bloating of the epidermis may also be underway too, with pronounced blotches and discolorations ranging in hue from pink to dark red distributed unevenly across the body. In excess of the above time period, the victim’s epidermis may look a greenish bronze and will have begun pimpling and even pre-peeling as fat deposits just beneath it slowly transform into a soapy material and loosen the skin. This is especially true of the flesh on the hands and feet which will slip off on their own―or when tugged on―just like gloves, a process of decay aptly named “degloving.” If signs of degloving are already evident on such a corpse, special care must be taken in recovering the body from the water, as additional harm can easily be inflicted when physically grappling with it or maneuvering it about with hooks and mechanical devices. Once it has been successfully recovered, a waterlogged body will rapidly deteriorate when fully exposed to air, therefore an autopsy must be performed immediately in order to help determine the exact cause of death and the manner. This may seem superfluous, but the fact is death by drowning is not wholly assumed by medical experts and law enforcement, especially where there have been no witnesses to unequivocally substantiate it. In forensic terms, there is nothing whatsoever deemed “classic” about any drowning, no one particular physical characteristic manifesting in a corpse that would aid in expediting such a ruling. Because of this, the methodology for reaching a determination that it was a water death and accidental is one that is chiefly focused on excluding foul play. This places a great deal of importance on the initial investigative role of police personnel who could inform or misinform a medical examiner with their onsite reports and early conclusions. Even the autopsy is insufficient on its own for definitively pinpointing the victim’s cause of death as an accidental drowning, but the line of inquiry a medical examiner follows during this phase of the inquest is to review the circumstances of how the deceased person reportedly first entered the water and to try to judge if the body they’re viewing matches up to that version of events. If so, and the death indeed appears benign, the medical examiner will then proceed to determine whether the drowning was a result of the individual’s own failure to stay afloat or the byproduct of some underlying ailment. For this reason, there are educated assumptions which may safely be arrived at when the victim in question is young and healthy, whereas it’s not impossible in older people that they may have died in the water as a result of a heart attack or emphysema, or some other serious medical problem. That makes prompt identification of the body vital to a postmortem medical exam, but, of course, a corpse will always be more deeply probed in those cases where the victim’s identity is still not known or the fatality somehow looks and sounds suspicious. Lying on the examiner’s slab and before taking a scalpel to flesh, there are visual clues that can provide a few preliminary answers about the death. For instance, drowning produces a thin foam in and around the victim’s mouth which usually lingers there for several days before washing away. The presence or absence of this transient substance, on the other hand, is not conclusive because drug overdoses, electrocutions and strangulations also have the same foaming effect, and because up to 20 percent of drownings are actually “dry drownings” where the victim took no water into the airways but died instantly, or else suffocated very quickly from a sudden throat-closing reflex. To see if this telltale foam did once exist, though, placing a hand firmly on the victim’s chest and gently compressing it should bring the substance back up once more, perhaps even with pebbles and sand in it. Alternately, when a corpse has begun to decay a darkish, foul-smelling fluid might fill the mouth instead, but this is standard to all types of deaths where putrefaction has set in and is therefore of little diagnostic value. It is the existence of a pair of oversaturated lungs, ideally with debris in them, that will most strongly point to death by drowning. But, again, this by itself is not proof positive either, since a dead body can slowly draw water into its air passages even if only placed in the water after having died elsewhere. Also, the victim’s hands can, and often do, reveal important evidence to a medical examiner. A drowning person grasps at everything within arm’s reach to prevent going under, so the victim may still be clutching a variety of foreign objects. These can be anything the drowning person managed to grab hold of before losing consciousness, such as nearby plants, twigs and other artifacts. In fact, this phenomenon is so common, that in some cases it can be considered suspicious if the hands are empty. For example, if the victim’s body was entangled in a densely weeded aquatic environment it is reasonable to expect to find the victim clutching fistfuls of such weeds. Similarly, victims holding things that aren’t natural to the settings they drowned in will also be indicative of foul play. And, finally, in very rocky locations, a victim’s hands might even be slightly mangled with a missing fingernail or two from scraping against stone to stay afloat. In death as in life, a person’s eyes can tell a story, too. If the victim still has eyeballs in the sockets and these are wide open and glistening, as is usual for bodies found face down in the water, then there is a high probability that the victim drowned, although this alone won’t yet prove whether it was on purpose or by accident. If, instead, a horizontal demarcation “line” is perceptible on each of the eyes (showing distinct cloudy and un-cloudy zones created by postmortem exposure to the air) then the victim expired, or was killed, someplace on dry land. Opening the corpse comes next. If the victim truly died in the water then, regardless if it was a dry or wet drowning event, there will always be a considerable volume of watery fluid in the stomach with yet more debris in this mixture, because a person cannot help but to drink water in the final act of drowning. A thorough analysis of the stomach contents is required then and these fluids must be found consistent with a sample of the water the victim allegedly succumbed in. If they are not, this will be determined to be just as suspicious as not finding any such fluid present. The rapid ingestion and aspiration of large quantities of freshwater and its swift circulation throughout the body will, as well as diluting the victim’s blood by as much as 50% percent dilute whatever fluids they might have consumed ante-mortem (prior to the agonal event). Thus, a postmortem toxicology test to determine if any of those might have been intoxicants, and alcohol thereby a culprit in the death, will obviously be thwarted—a blood/alcohol reading from a drowning victim can be drastically lower than what it would have been if measured when the person presumed to be drunk was still alive. Additionally, taking an accurate BAC from a drown victim is further rendered futile in cases where decomposition has already begun, since alcohol is naturally manufactured in the body through the process of decaying. Consequently, a BAC level in these types of deaths, which on the average requires another month for a lab to process, is not very informative to an experienced and astute medical examiner, especially one who isn’t totally convinced that drinking was what caused the individual’s drowning. Signs of trauma to the body, if any, can be equally as perplexing at a glance. While bloody wounds the victim may have received when still living will leach from prolonged soaking and no longer be as noticeable to the naked eye, postmortem injuries a corpse derived from impacts as it traveled along may be much more prominent and deceptively appear as intentional. That’s because those latter injuries tend to occur on the more vulnerable parts of the deceased, like the face where a lot of excess blood has collected, and a puncture or tear to these sensitive areas can cause them to ooze profusely. So too, the whole head of a rotting corpse might totally blacken from all the blood that’s shifted to it and congealed, and to the unfamiliar observer this shocking appearance can be mistaken for evidence of having been burnt. Because all of the foregoing demonstrates that a drowning is never medically clear cut and, often enough, can be simulated to disguise a murder, and because a drowned person may even falsely resemble a murder victim on some occasions, it does demand 100 percent certainty to officially rule it as the cause of death and an accident. This means any lingering doubts a medical examiner still has should and must be disposed of in a more comprehensive autopsy. There are any number of additional tests which, when performed, can begin to reduce overarching concerns, but a Diatom Test has proved the most decisive in an inquest where the truth of a drowning death still remains shrouded in some mystery. A diatom, that bountiful microscopic organism found in every single environment on Earth, creates a hard, crusty exterior casing which is virtually indestructible even to decay. Identifying the specific diatoms native to the waters the victim allegedly drowned in and then finding the presence of those diatom breeds in the tissue samples of the victim’s organs and in their blood makes it all the more certain that this is the place where the person ultimately died. It also proves the individual did in fact drown and was not placed in that locale after death, since, even if a pre-dead body did take water into the stomach and lungs, there is no way for the dead to circulate water (and that water’s microorganisms) throughout all the rest of the body’s system. Only a living person—or rather a person who is dying—could achieve this, during the process of drowning. After that comparative analysis and matchup is made, if drowning is judged to be the actual cause of death, but the manner itself still cannot confidently be listed as accidental, the death certificate issued will reflect this finding, citing the manner as unknown or undetermined, and the case will then be turned over to the police once again, pending further investigation. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Eponymous Rox researches and writes about cops, curs, and killers. His next work in this special true-crime investigative series is titled KILLING KILLERS: How the World’s Wickedest Got Whacked. Also fully-illustrated, KILLING KILLERS is slated to premier in winter of 2012. COMPLETE DIGITAL EDITIONS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM: Amazon.USA @ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0089HD4A4 Amazon.UK @ http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0089HD4A4 and http://www.barnesandnoble.co/w/the-case-of-the-drowning-men-eponymous-rox/1111472284?ean=2940014775946 and http://www.kobobooks.com/eboo/THE-CASE-OF-THE-DROWNING/book-qKs8qyUbE0eP-Nkbu7ub3Q/page1.html?s=nuz79uK-LEKJF7zIn66QXA&r=2 (more retailers coming soon) FULL-COLOR, LARGE PRINT EDITION AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY FROM: Amazon USA, and stocked at any of its international retail sites – view @: http://www.amazon.com/The-Case-Drowning-Men-Investigating/dp/1438223803/ref=la_B004SXLULI_1_2_title_0_main?ie=UTF8&qid=1340571061&sr=1-2 |
Labour has suffered losses in Wales during the council elections but the Conservatives have failed to make as many gains as expected. Labour was hit with three major blows after losing control of Blaenau Gwent and Bridgend, as well as its council leader in Merthyr Tydfil. But it held seven councils including Cardiff, Swansea and Newport. In Monmouthshire, however, the Tories won control outright and Plaid Cymru kept its majority in Gwynedd. With all 22 Welsh council results declared: Labour has clung on to key councils despite inroads from the Tories and Plaid Cymru 10 councils now have no one party in overall control The Liberal Democrats have failed to make gains UKIP have not won any seats The Green Party gained its first Welsh seat of the election in Powys Independents took many seats across Wales and now control Blaenau Gwent council Labour has long dominated local government in Wales but its Welsh leader and First Minister Carwyn Jones admitted that it had been a mixed night for the party. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption How a Gwynedd seat was decided after a dead heat He added: "The Tories had been briefing that they'd be walking into power right across Wales this morning - that simply has not happened." Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn congratulated the Welsh party for "defying the pundits". But Welsh Conservatives Leader Andrew RT Davies insisted it had been a "good night" for the Tories. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies says the party's hard work has paid off "We've gained overall control of Monmouth, made huge strides in the Vale of Glamorgan, doubled our representation in Wrexham, and reached double digits right in the backyard of the first minister [in Bridgend]," he said. Meanwhile, Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood said the party had "broken new ground". But Welsh Liberal Democrats party leader Mark Williams admitted the "process of rebuilding our party will take time". Gains for the Tories in Wales have been more limited than across the border in England. The Conservatives had targeted the Vale of Glamorgan but the council remains with no party in overall control, although the Tories are the largest group. In Denbighshire, they also became the largest party, with 16 seats, overtaking Labour - but no party gained an overall majority. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood said the party had broken new ground in different parts of Wales Analysis from Nick Servini, BBC Wales political editor Labour behind the scenes are delighted but to admit as much would be to reveal how low expectations were approaching this council vote. "This could have been a lot worse," as one senior figure told me this morning. That said, to have two of Wales' most economically deprived areas, Blaenau Gwent and Merthyr Tydfil, looking to independents to improve matters at council-level, rather than Labour, is a serious problem. Welsh Labour can clearly insulate itself from its UK-wide problems at assembly and council election level but the key question is how it can do that in a Westminster campaign. The Conservatives, and Plaid Cymru, did what it said on the tin; they made gains in places they were expected to without landing any spectacular blows. They know the general election will be dramatically different in turnout and in the dominance of Brexit as an issue. They will also hope that will make the result very different as well. For Labour, the loss of overall control in Bridgend will hurt as it is the assembly seat held by Carwyn Jones. Bridgend had been targeted by the Tories for the general election and Prime Minister Theresa May visited the area recently. They picked up 10 seats on the council, taking their total to 11. There was better news in Swansea for Labour where the council remains in the party's hands, taking 48 out of the 72 seats. Labour also held Cardiff, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Caerphilly, Torfaen and Neath Port Talbot - the latter of which saw Plaid Cymru gain seven seats. On a good night for the independents, they re-claimed Blaenau Gwent after losing control to Labour five years ago. Independents won the majority of seats in Pembrokeshire, however, it seems no party will have overall control of the council. Independents are leading in Merthyr, however, three seats have yet to be decided in Cyfarthfa following the death of a candidate. People there will vote on 8 June. Merthyr independent councillor Kevin O'Neill said: "The words have been used that it's time for change." Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The Wales Labour Party's election coordinator Wayne David said the party was stressing its Welsh record In Gwynedd, Plaid Cymru increased its majority, while in Powys, no party had overall control after independents failed to keep a majority. There is also no party in overall control in Carmarthenshire but Plaid Cymru, with the largest number of seats, announced it would continue running the council in coalition with independents. Anglesey remains a council with no party in overall control, although Plaid Cymru overtook independents to be the largest group in the authority. Conwy will also remain an authority with no party in overall control, with 20 independents holding the most seats. Flintshire council, which was the first to return all results, had Labour winning the most seats but was short of a majority. In Wrexham, independents had the most seats but not a majority while Labour's presence on the council has been halved to 11. Image caption Independent winners in Blaenau Gwent Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Labour's Brendan Toomey spoke to BBC Radio 4 about his loss in Merthyr Image copyright Getty Images Overnight counts Merthyr Tydfil - Independents lead Labour (three seat to be declared on 8 June) Blaenau Gwent - Independents take from Labour Flintshire - Labour still holds most seats, but no overall control Wrexham - Independents still hold most seats, but no overall control Monmouthshire - Conservatives gain full majority Bridgend - Labour still holds most seats, but loses overall control Neath Port Talbot - Labour holds Swansea - Labour holds Ceredigion - Plaid Cymru hold most seats but no overall control Torfaen - Labour hold Newport - Labour hold Cardiff - Labour hold Vale of Glamorgan - Conservatives hold most seats but no overall majority Friday counts Caerphilly - Labour holds Denbighshire - Conservatives hold most seats but no overall majority Conwy - No party in overall control but independents hold most seats Carmarthenshire - No party in overall control, Plaid Cymru largest party Rhondda Cynon Taf - Labour holds Powys - No party in overall control but independents hold most seats Isle of Anglesey - No party in overall control, Plaid Cymru largest party Pembrokeshire - Independents hold Gwynedd - Plaid Cymru holds |
One of the new powers coming to the Scottish Parliament as a result of the 2014 referendum and the Smith Commission gives us the ability to abolish the hated Bedroom Tax. The Scottish Government already provides funding to make sure that no one in Scotland has to pay the Bedroom Tax – but we want to abolish it completely. It shouldn’t be on the statute book at all. It’s worth reminding ourselves of the harm the Bedroom Tax would do if tenants in Scotland did have to pay it. More than 70,000 households – 80 per cent of them with a disabled adult – would have to pay it. Councils in England – where tenants do have to pay – have already reported a rise in rent arrears, and a University of Newcastle study into the health effects of the Bedroom Tax found higher levers of hunger, poor diet, anxiety and depression. DWP statistics out just last week showed the average charge across GB was £15.22 a week. Avoiding those outcomes is why we ensure no-one in Scotland pays it now and also why I want to abolish it as soon as possible. I’m delighted that there’s support across the Scottish Parliament to do that. However, there is a potential problem. Despite previous commitments, we don’t yet have confirmation from the UK government that when we abolish the Bedroom Tax, they won’t apply the benefit cap to those who benefit. The danger is that they will treat our removal of the Bedroom Tax as additional benefit income that the affected households would have. That would result in an utterly ridiculous situation – the help that the Scottish Government would be providing by removal of the Bedroom Tax would be clawed back by the UK Government cutting other benefits! Let me be clear, time and again, up to now, everyone including the Tories agreed that the benefit cap wouldn’t affect social security decisions taken by the Scottish Government. The cross-party Smith Commission agreed and the Secretary of State for Scotland confirmed it in the House of Commons – under pressure from SNP and Labour MPs. And the financial arrangements for the Scotland Act put it in black and white. That rule is fundamental to our delivery of a Social Security system in Scotland and we need absolute clarity from the UK government that they won’t take funds off the very people we are trying to help. We’ve seen the callous and uncaring approach taken by the UK Government to the welfare system. We don’t want to see that continued in Scotland in those areas – still far too limited – where we have the power to make a difference. So today – when ministers from the Scottish Government meet with the DWP in London – it’s essential that we get absolutely clarity that there will be no claw back of social security when we abolish the Bedroom Tax. That’s not what the Scottish Parliament signed up to. The Westminster Tories might think they can do what they want to Scotland and get away with it – but we cannot let that happen here. I hope all parties in the parliament will agree with me and be clear that we cannot let the Tories go back on their promise. -This article originally appeared in the Daily Record |
Will Doctors Soon Be Prescribing Video Games For Mental Health? Enlarge this image Lorenzo Gritti for NPR Lorenzo Gritti for NPR Developers of a new video game for your brain say theirs is more than just another get-smarter-quick scheme. Akili, a Northern California startup, insists on taking the game through a full battery of clinical trials so it can get approval from the Food and Drug Administration — a process that will take lots of money and several years. So why would a game designer go to all that trouble when there's already a robust market of consumers ready to buy games that claim to make you smarter and improve your memory? Think about all the ads you've heard for brain games. Maybe you've even passed a store selling them. There's one at the mall in downtown San Francisco — just past the cream puff stand and across from Jamba Juice — staffed on my visit by a guy named Dominic Firpo. "I'm a brain coach here at Marbles: The Brain Store," he says. Brain coach? "Sounds better than salesperson," Firpo explains. "We have to learn all 200 games in here and become great salespeople so we can help enrich peoples' minds." He heads to the "Word and Memory" section of the store and points to one product that says it will improve your focus and reduce stress in just three minutes a day. "We sold out of it within the first month of when we got it," Firpo says. The market for these "brain fitness" games is worth about $1 billion and is expected to grow to $6 billion in the next five years. Game makers appeal to both the young and the older with the common claim that if you exercise your memory, you'll be able to think faster and be less forgetful. Maybe bump up your IQ a few points. Enlarge this image toggle caption April Dembosky/KQED April Dembosky/KQED "That's absurd," says psychology professor Randall Engle from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Engle says intelligence is largely a function of neurotransmitters — the dopamine system specifically. "We're really talking about a biological system," Engle says. "The idea that you can do some little computer game for half an hour a day for 10 days and change that system is ludicrous on the face of it." Engle is one of many skeptics who say the only thing these games make you better at is the game itself. "There's very little research that's done right that suggests that these things work," he says. Studies done by the companies that sell the games tend to be really small or have no real control group — two key clues that the research may not be reliable. Engle has done numerous tests himself to see if the games improve cognitive performance. "Over and over and over again, we just don't see any substantial benefit for these games," he says. Engle is one of 75 scientists who signed a letter addressed to the brain training industry, criticizing companies for exaggerating claims and preying on the anxieties of elderly customers trying to stave off memory decline. Engle says the commercialization of these games has harmed brain research. "Unfortunately, an awful lot of people are more interested in business than in finding the science," he says. Neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley is interested in both. In his lab at the University of California, San Francisco, he's working on something much more complicated than a brain exercise. It's a fully immersive video game focused on multitasking. While you guide a horse through the Aztec desert, you have to tap green carrots that flash at the top of the screen, but not tap the yellow carrots or the radishes. Gazzaley thinks this kind of challenge will have a positive effect on executive brain function. The notion, he says, is "if we created this — what we call a high-interference environment, with multitasking going on and lots of distraction ... if we put pressure in that environment, we would see benefits in other aspects of cognitive control." Think of how a race car works. To get around the track, you've got the accelerator, the gearshift and the steering wheel. If one of them isn't working right, you'll never win the race. It's like that with the brain, Gazzaley says. The networks that control the three classes of cognitive ability — working memory, attention and goal management — all overlap. "If you have a problem with any of them, it's going to propagate," he says. "You'll have a problem with memory; you'll have a problem with school or work or relationships or safety in driving." On the flip side, Gazzaley believes, if you can improve one of those cognitive skills, you might be able to improve all of them. "If you can apply selective pressure to one of them, using the video game mechanics, you will be able to see benefits across domains," he says. Gazzaley is well aware of the skeptics. Remember that letter from Randall Engle of Georgia Tech and other critics? The one urging caution around the weak scientific claims of brain games? Adam Gazzaley was one of the people who signed it. And he's the first to admit that his hypothesis needs to be thoroughly tested. "I am cautiously optimistic about this," he says. He decided the best proof he could get would come from taking one of his games, called Neuroracer, through the FDA approval process for medical devices. "Can we go then through a very rigorous validation clinical trial, just like people would expect from a drug," he says, "to then show how it works, how it doesn't work, how it could work better — all those things?" Gazzaley sees great potential to use these games for a range of psychiatric disorders: post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, Alzheimer's disease. He's hoping there will come a day when, instead of a pill, a video game might be prescribed to treat a kid with ADHD. "Most of our drugs are pretty blunt instruments," Gazzaley says, whereas the game, if it works, could be used to target the affected brain networks more precisely. By monitoring the data of each patient playing the game, doctors or psychologists could tailor the treatment on an individual basis. "Instead of having a patient come in, receiving a therapeutic, like a pill, going home, and having them subjectively monitor the impact and come back months later and report that," he says, "here we have the ability to track in real time what the impact of this therapeutic is." That is a pretty appealing prospect to psychiatrist Dr. Petra Steinbuchel. She works with kids and adolescents with ADHD at the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital in Oakland. Parents are always asking her if there's something she can do for their children other than prescribe drugs. "Nobody wants to give their child a medication, and many people have a lot of hangups about that," she says. Existing drugs treat only symptoms, and usually wear off before the end of the day. Some children suffer side effects like low appetite, weight loss or sleep problems. "If we can avoid that," Steinbuchel says, "and avoid anything that you put into your body, and just make use of something that you're using as a tool — to help improve for the long term — that would be great." Still, medications for ADHD are 75 to 90 percent effective. Until a game matches that standard, Steinbuchel says, it could be just one part of treatment. "I think it's part of a bigger picture of looking at sleep, diet, exercise, home environment and school systems, as a part of a comprehensive treatment plan," she says. Adam Gazzaley is betting on his vision of the future. If his first game is approved by the FDA, he has another four in development that he hopes are good candidates for approval, too. |
Not working at the moment? Or maybe you are, but those bills are piling up. Or possibly you're the type who just hates to spend money on new parts when you've got stuff laying around that may get the job done. After all, why throw away good money on a better Jeep when a dark corner of your garage or shed may hold stuff almost as good as new, fancy aftermarket parts? When the exhaust fumes got so thick driving with the rear window rolled up that it started to make our eyes water, we tore a page out of the Cheapskate Almanac and did a little no-buck tuning on our '89 YJ using only parts we had laying around. Sure, you can substitute fancy aftermarket parts, but sometimes you just can't afford (or find) hop-up parts for your hooptie ride. Here's how we added air and spark for no pennies on the dollar. 1. The formula for a healthy engine is the proper proportion of air, fuel, and spark. Our Wrangler's '89 2.5L appeared to be lacking some air and spark as indicated by the thick, toxic exhaust that routinely made its way into the cabin. To get more air into the engine, we ditched the restrictive factory air box and paper filter element. Nobody makes a complete cold-air intake for a TBI four-cylinder, so we simply cut a piece of 2.5-inch exhaust tubing from our local autoparts store and clamped an ancient K&N open air filter that came on our '68 J2000's 232 inline-six. 2. The homemade filter setup helped the Jeep pull grades slightly better in Fifth gear and the exhaust didn't make our eyes water as badly, indicating that the increased airflow had helped lean the mixture. We were still spewing a lot of unburned hydrocarbons out the tailpipe, so we turned our attention to the ignition, starting with the plugs. We had a set of Autolite 985s on the shelf from a 4.0L build, so we tossed 'em in. The 985s are a heat range D11, which is pretty hot; ideally, we would've chosen an even hotter 3926 or 3927 plug with the same 0.750-inch reach and 14mm thread. But that would have been more expensive, so the 985s got the nod. 3. With a little more air and working plugs gapped at 0.035-inch, we then addressed the plug wires since we already had a fresh cap and rotor. After busting out the multi-meter, we tested the resistance in Ohms of each wire. Most stock resistance-type wires will run in the neighborhood of 10,000-15,000 ohms/foot resistance. Any more than that and the wire is bad. To get the correct value, measure your plug wires and do the math. 4. We found a bad plug wire on the number two plug and a bad coil-to-distributor wire. Digging through a box in the shed we found one stock replacement-type resistor wire and a Performance Distributor's coil wire, which we installed. Then, we turned our attention to the factory TBI coil/ignition module assembly. Remove the two retaining bolts; the coil can then be pulled free of the ignition control module on the firewall. 5. The positive and negative posts on the factory coil simply clip into these female connectors on the ignition control module. Naturally, our connections were grimy and corroded, so we hit 'em with a wire brush, cleaned them with carb cleaner, and put some dielectric grease on them. Although it's a pain to find the right bullet terminals, you can install an aftermarket coil mounted remotely if you build a couple of jumper wires. Since we wouldn't trust the bullet connectors, we thought about using some spade-type connectors crimped onto the brass ICM terminals. Be careful not to break off the fragile brass connectors, or you'll spend real money on a new ignition module. 6. Before we tried the aftermarket coil route, we cleaned up the male connectors of our stock coil and applied some dielectric grease to see if our coil was indeed weak. We reinstalled it and the engine started more easily and revved a little smoother. Now the toxic cloud out the back isn't so bad and our clothes no longer smell of exhaust after driving down the street. 7. For now we're sorta happy, but we did find this MSD Blaster coil in the shed we ran on an old Dodge Ramcharger project vehicle. Our cheap hop-up has made the exhaust less noxious, so for now we'll stave off adding the coil and opening the plug gap out to 0.045-inches or more. Besides, if we get the 2.5L running too well, we'll keep putting off those plans for that LS3 swap. |
Bitcoin is already recovering from Chinese ICO ban announcements after falling as low as $4,008 Monday. Data from Bitcointicker.co and elsewhere shows an early correction to almost $4,400 followed by a drop to $4,008 during the 24 hours to press time. Later Tuesday a second sustained correction got underway, with prices currently circling $4,270. Altcoin markets remain mixed, with some top-20 assets also showing signs of reversing losses as Bitcoin climbs, while others continue to hold lower. NEO, which reacted particularly strongly to China’s ICO ban due to the market being its principal use case, has also come off its intermediate lows to rise around 10 percent Tuesday. A complete Chinese ban now appears to be priced into the market as the People’s Bank of China’s latest statement calls for immediate “ceasing” of all digital token activities under its jurisdiction. South Korea had followed with stark warnings about unauthorized funds gathering, while Hong Kong appeared to take an approach more like the US Securities and Exchanges Commission, reporting today that tokens may or may not constitute securities. For traders, the pressure will meanwhile be on developers of exposed projects such as NEO to “adapt,” as commentator Chris Burniske wrote on Twitter Monday, to the post-China environment. |
''Probably the Great Veeck knew a lousy singing voice when he heard it,'' Mr. Caray said in his autobiography, ''Holy Cow!,'' written with Bob Verdi. Mr. Caray was born Harry Christopher Carabina in St. Louis. His father left the family early, and his mother died when he was 8. He was raised by an aunt. He grew up with a passion for baseball , and a desire to be a broadcaster. He sensed the thrill of watching a game at Sportsman's Park, the Cardinals' home, but felt the radio broadcasts were, he wrote, ''dull and boring as the morning crop reports.'' While still a salesman for a company that made basketball backboards, he audaciously demanded an audition at KMOX-AM in St. Louis. Impressed more by Mr. Caray's gumption than his talent, the general manager recommended him for an announcer's job at a Joliet, Ill., station. After a stint at a radio station in Kalamazoo, Mich., he was hired by WIL-AM, in St. Louis, which was seeking a big-name announcer to call Cardinals games. Possessed of a big mouth, but not a big name, the 25-year-old Mr. Caray made a brash case for his talents as a salesman of baseball and Griesedick Brothers beer, which sponsored Cardinals radio broadcasts. Nearly a decade later, Mr. Caray moved to KMOX-AM when Anheuser-Busch acquired the Cardinals, and he started a long partnership with Jack Buck. Mr. Caray insisted that his on-air manner -- which favored the home team but featured withering criticism of player miscues -- stemmed from his identification with fans. (He once called a Cubs game from the Wrigley Field bleachers.) He dismissed criticism that he was a homer, insisting that he was often at odds with those on the home team he scorned, by word or by inflection. Advertisement Continue reading the main story ''When I'm at the ball park broadcasting a game, I'm the eyes and ears for that fan at home,'' he wrote. ''If I'm such a homer, why hasn't there been any other announcer in America whose job has been on the line so often?'' After years of idolatry in St. Louis, Mr. Caray was fired in 1969 -- the news was delivered to him by phone while he was in a saloon. He spent a year calling Oakland A's games for the maverick Charles Finley, then began an 11-season stint with the White Sox. Midway through his tenure there, John Allyn, the team's owner at the time, vowed to fire him for being critical of his players. But by the next season, Mr. Veeck owned the team, and Mr. Caray's reputation as the hard-partying ''Mayor of Rush Street'' -- a nightclub district -- grew unabated. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content , updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. Despite his popularity with the White Sox -- and a salary that rose as team attendance increased -- he left for the Cubs in 1982. Caray wrote that he moved crosstown because of differences with Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn, then the new team owners. He was unhappy over what he felt was their shabby treatment of Jimmy Piersall, his broadcast partner, concerning a ribald remark, and their plan to show the team's games on pay television. He called the Cubs and made the deal to move to the South Side. Mr. Caray's popularity, once intensely regional, blossomed on WGN-TV, a Chicago station picked up by cable systems nationally. Devoted fans nationwide -- many unborn when Mr. Caray started 42 years before -- inundated him with cards and letters after his stroke. President Ronald Reagan called him on the air during Mr. Caray's first game back. ''It was never the same without the real voice of the Chicago Cubs,'' Mr. Reagan said. Mr. Caray thanked him, then quickly said, ''And in the excitement, Bob Dernier beat out a bunt down the third-base line.'' ''In Chicago, Harry was a larger-than-life symbol of baseball, and like all Chicagoans, I valued him not only for his contributions to the game but also his love and zest for life,'' said Hillary Rodham Clinton. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Said the Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully, ''People in the bleachers, as well as the man in the box seat, knew they shared their love of baseball with a true fan.'' And the Cardinal Hall of Famer Stan Musial added: ''The Cubs fans loved him, the White Sox fans loved him, the Cardinals fans loved him. He was always the life of the party, the life of baseball.'' In 1989, Mr. Caray was awarded entry into the broadcasters' wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame. ''I always tried, in each and every broadcast, to serve the fans to the best of my ability,'' he said in his acceptance speech. ''In my mind, they are the unsung heroes of our great game.'' Through the years, Mr. Caray's partners included Gabby Street, Gus Mancuso, Jack Buck, Joe Garagiola, Lou Boudreau, Piersall and Steve Stone. But his favorite partners worked with him on a Cubs-Atlanta Braves game in 1991: his son, Skip, the voice of the Braves, and his grandson Chip, who was then a Braves announcer. ''This is the biggest thrill I could have,'' he said then. Chip Caray, a studio host for baseball coverage on Fox Sports, recently joined WGN, where he was to have teamed up with his grandfather for Cubs home games. In addition to his wife and two sons, Mr. Caray is survived by three daughters, Pat, Elizabeth and Michelle; three stepsons, Mark, Roger and Donald; two stepdaughters, Gloria and Elizabeth; 14 grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. |
The 2001 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2001 season. The 97th edition of the World Series,[1][1] it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Arizona Diamondbacks and the three-time defending World Series champions and American League (AL) champion New York Yankees. The Diamondbacks defeated the Yankees, four games to three to win the series. Considered one of the greatest World Series of all time,[2] memorable aspects included two extra-inning games and three late-inning comebacks. Diamondbacks pitchers Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling were both named World Series Most Valuable Players. The Yankees advanced to the World Series by defeating the Oakland Athletics, three games to two, in the AL Division Series, and then the Seattle Mariners in the AL Championship Series, four games to one. It was the Yankees' fourth consecutive World Series appearance, after winning championships in 1998, 1999, and 2000. The Diamondbacks advanced to the World Series by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals, three games to two, in the NL Division Series, and then the Atlanta Braves in the NL Championship Series, four games to one. It was the franchise's first appearance in a World Series. The Series began later than usual as a result of a delay in the regular season after the September 11 attacks and was the first to extend into November. The Diamondbacks won the first two games at home, limiting the Yankees to just one run. The Yankees responded with a close win in game 3, at which US President George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch. In games 4 and 5, the Yankees won in comeback fashion, hitting game-tying home runs off Diamondbacks closer Byung-hyun Kim with one out remaining in consecutive games, before winning in extra innings. The Diamondbacks won game 6 in blowout, forcing a decisive game 7. In the final game, the Yankees led in the ninth inning before the Diamondbacks staged a comeback against closer Mariano Rivera, capped off by a walk-off, bases-loaded bloop single by Luis Gonzalez to clinch Arizona's championship victory. This was the third World Series to end in a bases-loaded, walk-off hit, following 1991 and 1997. Among several firsts, the 2001 World Series was: the first World Series championship for the Diamondbacks; the first World Series ever played in the state of Arizona and the Mountain Time Zone; the first championship for a Far West state other than California; the first major professional sports team from the state of Arizona to win a championship; and the earliest an MLB franchise had ever won a World Series (the Diamondbacks had only existed for four years). The home team won every game in the Series, which had only happened twice before, in 1987 and 1991. The Diamondbacks outscored the Yankees, 37–14, as a result of large margins of victory achieved by Arizona at Bank One Ballpark relative to the one-run margins the Yankees achieved at Yankee Stadium. Arizona's pitching held powerhouse New York to a .183 batting average, the lowest in a seven-game World Series. This and the 2002 World Series were the last two consecutive World Series to have game sevens until the World Series of 2016 and 2017.[3] The 2001 World Series was the subject of an HBO documentary, Nine Innings from Ground Zero, in 2004. Background [ edit ] Arizona Diamondbacks [ edit ] The Arizona Diamondbacks began play in 1998, along with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, as the youngest expansion team in Major League Baseball (MLB).[4] After a mediocre debut season, the Diamondbacks finished the following year first in the National League (NL) West with a 100–62 record, but lost to the New York Mets in the NL Division series.[5] With several All-Star players like Randy Johnson and Matt Williams, the Diamondbacks had high expectations for the 2000 season, but finished third in the NL West with an 85–77 record.[6] During the offseason, team manager Buck Showalter was fired, and replaced by sportscaster and former player Bob Brenly.[6] The Diamondbacks acquired several notable free agent players during the offseason, including Miguel Batista, Mark Grace, and Reggie Sanders.[7] Most of the Diamondbacks players were above the age of thirty, and had already played on a number of teams prior to the 2001 season.[8] In fact, the Diamondbacks starting lineup for the World Series did not include a player under the age of thirty-one, making them the oldest team by player age in World Series history.[8] With several players nearing the age of retirement, Luis Gonzalez noted that the overall team mentality was "there's too many good guys in here to let this opportunity slip away".[9] Although the Diamondbacks were only one game above .500 by the end of April,[10] Gonzalez had a particularly memorable start to the season, in which he tied the MLB record with thirteen home runs during the month of April.[9] The Diamondbacks found greater success in May and June, and at one point at a six-game lead in the NL West. During this span, the team won nine consecutive games, and Johnson tied the MLB record with twenty strikeouts in a nine inning game.[9][10] The six game lead did not last long however, and by the end of July, the Diamondbacks were a half game behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the West.[10] A resurgent August pushed the team back into first place, a spot they maintained for the rest of the season.[10] By the end of the season, several Diamondbacks players had put up exceptional statistics: Curt Schilling had the most wins of any pitcher in MLB that year with twenty-two, while Johnson nearly broke the single season strikeout record with 372.[9][11] Johnson and Schilling also had the two lowest earned run averages (ERA) in the NL, with 2.49 and 2.98 respectively.[11] Gonzalez ended the season with a .325 batting average and fifty-seven home runs, and finished third in voting for the NL Most Valuable Player Award.[12] The Diamondbacks were also one of the best defensive teams in MLB that year, second in least errors committed, and tied with the Seattle Mariners for the best fielding percentage.[13] The Diamondbacks played the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Division Series.[11] Schilling threw a shutout in Game 1 to give the Diamondbacks an early series lead,[9] but the Cardinals won Game 2 thanks to a two-run home run from Albert Pujols.[14] Craig Counsell hit a three-run home run late in Game 3 to give the Diamondbacks a 2-1 series lead,[9] but the Cardinals won Game 4 with strong pitching performances from Bud Smith and their relief pitchers.[15] The Diamondbacks clinched the series in Game 5, when Tony Womack hit a game winning single that scored Danny Bautista.[9] They then faced the Atlanta Braves in the NL Championship Series.[11] Johnson also threw a shutout in Game 1,[9] while the Braves hit three home runs in Game 2 to tie the series at one game apiece.[16] Schilling threw a complete game in Game 3,[17] and the Diamondbacks scored eleven runs in a Game 4 victory to take a 3-1 series lead.[18] The Diamondbacks clinched the series in Game 5 with another strong performance from Johnson.[11] With the win, they became the fastest expansion team to reach the World Series, in just their fourth year of play.[9] New York Yankees [ edit ] The Yankees finished the 2001 season in first place in the AL East with a win-loss record of 95–65 (a winning percentage of .594), 13 1/2 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees then defeated the Oakland Athletics 3 games to 2 in the AL Division Series, and the Seattle Mariners 4 games to 1 in the AL Championship Series to advance to their fourth consecutive World Series, and fifth in six years. Derek Jeter and Tino Martinez led the Yankees offensively during the 2001 season. Jeter batted .311 with 21 home runs and 74 RBI in 150 games, while Martinez batted .280 with 34 home runs and 113 RBI in 154 games. Roger Clemens and Mike Mussina were the leaders of the Yankees' pitching staff. Clemens finished with a win-loss record of 20–3, an earned-run average (ERA) of 3.51, and struck out 213 batters in 220.1 innings pitched. Mussina finished with a win-loss record of 17–11, an ERA of 3.15, and struck out 214 batters in 228.2 innings pitched. September 11 and the month of November [ edit ] After MLB games were postponed as a result of the September 11 attacks, the World Series began on Saturday, October 27, 2001[citation needed], the latest start date ever for a World Series until the 2009 World Series, which started on October 28. The last three games were the first major-league games (other than exhibitions) played in the month of November.[citation needed] This was just the fourth time that no World Series champion was decided within the traditional month of October.[citation needed] The previous three occurrences were in 1904 (no series), 1918 (series held in September because of World War I), and 1994 (series cancelled by the players' strike).[citation needed] Additionally, the Series took place in New York City only seven weeks after the attacks, representing a remarkable boost in morale for the fatigued city.[citation needed] Along with this President George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch in Game 3 at Yankee Stadium, sporting a FDNY jacket.[citation needed] Summary [ edit ] NL Arizona Diamondbacks (4) vs. AL New York Yankees (3) Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 1 October 27 New York Yankees – 1, Arizona Diamondbacks – 9 Bank One Ballpark 2:44 49,646[19] 2 October 28 New York Yankees – 0, Arizona Diamondbacks – 4 Bank One Ballpark 2:35 49,646[20] 3 October 30 Arizona Diamondbacks – 1, New York Yankees – 2 Yankee Stadium (I) 3:26 55,820[21] 4 October 31 Arizona Diamondbacks – 3, New York Yankees – 4 (10 innings) Yankee Stadium (I) 3:31 55,863[22] 5 November 1 Arizona Diamondbacks – 2, New York Yankees – 3 (12 innings) Yankee Stadium (I) 4:15 56,018[23] 6 November 3 New York Yankees – 2, Arizona Diamondbacks – 15 Bank One Ballpark 3:33 49,707[24] 7 November 4 New York Yankees – 2, Arizona Diamondbacks – 3 Bank One Ballpark 3:20 49,589[25] Matchups [ edit ] Game 1 [ edit ] The Series commenced on October 27, which was the latest a World Series had ever started, beating the previous record by 4 days (1999 World Series, October 23). The Yankees struck first in Game 1 when Derek Jeter was hit by a pitch with one out in the first and scored on Bernie Williams's double two batters later. However, Arizona's Curt Schilling and two relievers held the Yankees scoreless afterward. They managed to get only two walks and two hits for the rest of the game, Scott Brosius's double in the second and Jorge Posada's single in the fourth, both with two outs. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks tied the game on Craig Counsell's one-out home run in the first off of Mike Mussina. After a scoreless second, Mussina led off the third by hitting Tony Womack with a pitch. He moved to second on Counsell's sacrifice bunt before Luis Gonzalez's home run put the Diamondbacks up 3-1. A single and right fielder David Justice's error put runners on second and third before Matt Williams's sacrifice fly put Arizona up 4-1. After Mark Grace was intentionally walked, Damian Miller's RBI double gave Arizona a 5-1 lead. Next inning, Gonzalez hit a two-out double off of Randy Choate. Reggie Sanders was intentionally walked before Gonzalez scored on Steve Finley's single. An error by third baseman Brosius scored Sanders, put Finley at third, and Williams at second. Both men scored on Mark Grace's double, putting Arizona up 9-1. Though the Diamondbacks got just one more hit for the rest of the game off of Sterling Hitchcock and Mike Stanton (Williams's leadoff single in the seventh), they went up 1-0 in the series. Game 2 [ edit ] Sunday, October 28, 2001 5:59 pm (MST) at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix, Arizona Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E New York 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 Arizona 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 X 4 5 0 WP: Randy Johnson (1–0) LP: Andy Pettitte (0–1) Home runs: NYY: None ARI: Matt Williams (1) Arizona continued to take control of the Series with the strong pitching performance of Randy Johnson. The Big Unit pitched a complete game shutout, allowing only four baserunners and three hits while striking out eleven Yankees. Andy Pettitte meanwhile nearly matched him, retiring Arizona in order in five of the seven innings he pitched. In the second, he allowed a leadoff single to Reggie Sanders, who scored on Danny Bautista's double. Bautista was the only Arizona runner stranded for the entire game. In the seventh, Pettitte hit Luis Gonzalez with a pitch before Sanders grounded into a forceout. After Bautista singled, Matt Williams's three-run home run put Arizona up 4-0. They won the game with that score and led the series two games to none as it moved to New York City. Game 3 [ edit ] Donning an FDNY fleece, with a bulletproof vest underneath, President Bush tosses out the ceremonial first pitch. The game was opened in New York by President George W. Bush, who threw the ceremonial first pitch, a strike to Yankees backup catcher Todd Greene. Bush became the first incumbent U.S. president to throw a World Series first pitch since Jimmy Carter in 1979. He also threw the baseball from the mound where the pitcher would be set (unlike most ceremonial first pitches which are from in front of the mound) and threw it for a strike. Chants of "U-S-A, U-S-A" rang throughout Yankee Stadium. Yankees starter Roger Clemens allowed only three hits and struck out nine in seven innings of work. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera pitched two innings for the save. Jorge Posada's leadoff home run off of Brian Anderson in the second put the Yankees up 1-0. The Diamondbacks loaded the bases in the fourth on two walks and one hit before Matt Williams's sacrifice fly tied the game. Bernie Williams hit a leadoff single in the sixth and moved to second on a wild pitch one out later before Posada walked. Mike Morgan relieved Anderson and struck out David Justice before Scott Brosius broke the tie with an RBI single. The Yankees cut Arizona's series lead to 2-1 with the win. Game 4 [ edit ] Game 4 saw the Yankees send Orlando Hernández to the mound while the Diamondbacks elected to bring back Curt Schilling on three days' rest. Both pitchers gave up home runs, with Schilling doing so to Shane Spencer in the third inning and Hernandez doing so to Mark Grace in the fourth. Hernandez pitched 6 1⁄ 3 solid innings, giving up four hits while Schilling went seven innings and gave up three. With the game still tied entering the eighth, Arizona struck. After Mike Stanton recorded the first out of the inning, Luis Gonzalez singled and Erubiel Durazo hit a double to bring him in. Matt Williams followed by grounding into a fielder's choice off of Ramiro Mendoza, which scored pinch runner Midre Cummings and gave the team a 3-1 lead. With his team on the verge of taking a commanding 3-1 series lead, Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly elected to bring in closer Byung-hyun Kim in the bottom of the eighth for a two-inning save. Kim, at 22, became the first Korean-born player ever to play in the MLB World Series. Kim struck out the side in the eighth, but ran into trouble in the ninth. Derek Jeter led off by trying to bunt for a hit but was thrown out by Williams. Paul O'Neill then lined a single in front of Gonzalez. After Bernie Williams struck out, Kim seemed to be out of trouble with Tino Martinez coming to the plate. However, Martinez drove the first pitch he saw from Kim into the right-center field bleachers, tying the score at 3-3. The Yankees were not done, as Jorge Posada walked and David Justice moved him into scoring position with a single. Kim struck Spencer out to end the threat. When the scoreboard clock in Yankee Stadium passed midnight, World Series play in November began, with the message on the scoreboard "Welcome to November Baseball". Mariano Rivera took the hill for the Yankees in the tenth and retired the Diamondbacks in order. Kim went out for a third inning of work and retired Scott Brosius and Alfonso Soriano, but Jeter hit an opposite field home run on a 3–2 pitch count from Kim. This home run gave the Yankees a 4–3 victory and tied the Series at two games apiece, making Jeter the first player to hit a November home run and earning him the tongue-in-cheek nickname of "Mr. November". Game 5 [ edit ] Game 5 saw the Yankees return to Mike Mussina for the start while the Diamondbacks sent Miguel Batista, who had not pitched in twelve days, to the mound. Batista pitched a strong 7 2⁄ 3 scoreless innings, striking out six. Mussina bounced back from his poor Game 1 start, recording ten strikeouts, but allowed home runs to Steve Finley and Rod Barajas in the fifth. With the Diamondbacks leading 2–0 in the ninth, Byung-hyun Kim was called upon for the save despite having thrown three innings the night before. Jorge Posada doubled to open the inning, but Kim got Shane Spencer to ground out and then struck out Chuck Knoblauch. As had happened the previous night, Kim could not hold the lead as Scott Brosius hit a 1–0 pitch over the left field wall, the second straight game tying home run in the bottom of the ninth for the Yankees. Kim was pulled from the game in favor of Mike Morgan who recorded the final out. Morgan retired the Yankees in order in the tenth and eleventh innings, while the Diamondbacks got to Mariano Rivera in the eleventh. Danny Bautista and Erubiel Durazo opened the inning with hits and Matt Williams advanced them into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Rivera then intentionally walked Steve Finley to load the bases, then got Reggie Sanders to line out and Mark Grace grounded out to end the inning. Arizona went to Albie Lopez in the twelfth, and in his first at bat he gave up a single to Knoblauch. Brosius moved him over with a bunt, and then Alfonso Soriano ended the game with an RBI single to give the Yankees a 3-2 victory and a 3-2 lead in the series. Game 6 [ edit ] Saturday, November 3, 2001 5:53 pm (MST) at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix, Arizona Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E New York 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 7 1 Arizona 1 3 8 3 0 0 0 0 X 15 22 0 WP: Randy Johnson (2–0) LP: Andy Pettitte (0–2) With Arizona in a must-win situation, Randy Johnson pitched seven innings and struck out seven, giving up just two runs. The Diamondbacks struck first when Tony Womack hit a leadoff double off of Andy Pettitte and scored on Danny Bautista's single in the first. Next inning, Womack's bases-loaded single scored two and Bautista's single scored another. The Yankees loaded the bases in the third on a single and two walks, but Johnson struck out Jorge Posada to end the inning. The Diamondbacks broke the game open with eight runs in the bottom half. Pettitte allowed a leadoff walk to Greg Colbrunn and subsequent double to Matt Williams before being relieved by Jay Witasick, who allowed four straight singles to Reggie Sanders, Jay Bell, Damian Miller, and Johnson that scored three runs. After Womack struck out, Bautista's single scored two more runs and Luis Gonzalez's double scored another, with Bautista being thrown out at home. Colbrunn's single and Williams's double scored a run each before Sanders struck out to end the inning. In the fourth, Bell reached first on a strike-three wild pitch before scoring on Miller's double. Johnson struck out before Womack singled to knock Witasick out of the game. With Randy Choate pitching, Yankees second baseman Alfonso Soriano's error on Bautista's ground ball allowed Miller to score and put runners on first and second before Gonzalez's single scored the Diamondbacks' final run. Choate and Mike Stanton kept them scoreless for the rest of the game. Pettitte was charged with six runs in two innings while Witasick was charged with nine runs in 1 1/3 innings. The Yankees scored their only runs in the sixth on back-to-back one-out singles by Shane Spencer and Luis Sojo with runners on second and third. The Diamondbacks hit six doubles and Danny Bautista batted 3-for-4 with five RBIs. The team set a World Series record with 22 hits and defeated the New York Yankees in its most lopsided postseason loss in 293 postseason games, since surpassed by a 16-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox in 2018.[26] The 15–2 win evened the series at three games apiece and set up a Game 7 for the ages between Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling, again pitching on three days' rest. Game 7 [ edit ] Sunday, November 4, 2001 5:55 pm (MST) at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix, Arizona Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E New York 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 6 3 Arizona 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 3 11 0 WP: Randy Johnson (3–0) LP: Mariano Rivera (1–1) Home runs: NYY: Alfonso Soriano (1) ARI: None It was a matchup of two twenty-game winners in the Series finale that would crown a new champion. Roger Clemens, at 39 years old, became the oldest Game 7 starter ever. Curt Schilling had already started two games of the Series and pitched his 300th inning of the season on just three days' rest. The two aces matched each other inning by inning and after seven full innings, the game was tied at 1–1. The Diamondbacks scored first in the sixth inning with a Steve Finley single and a Danny Bautista double (Bautista would be called out at third base). The Yankees responded with an RBI single from Tino Martinez, which drove in Derek Jeter. Brenly stayed with Schilling into the eighth, and the move backfired as Alfonso Soriano hit a home run on an 0–2 pitch. After Schilling struck out Scott Brosius, he gave up a single to David Justice, and he left the game trailing 2–1. Brenly brought in Miguel Batista to get Jeter out and then in an unconventional move, brought in the previous night's starter Randy Johnson, who had thrown 104 pitches, in relief to keep it a one-run game. It proved to be a smart move, as Johnson retired pinch hitter Chuck Knoblauch (who batted for the left handed Paul O'Neill) on a fly out to Bautista in right field, then Johnson returned to the mound for the top of the ninth where he got Bernie Williams to fly out to Steve Finley in center field, Martinez to ground out to Tony Womack at shortstop and he then struck out catcher Jorge Posada to send the game to the bottom of the ninth inning. With the Yankees ahead 2–1 in the bottom of the eighth, manager Joe Torre turned the game over to his ace closer Mariano Rivera for a two-inning save. Rivera struck out the side in the eighth, including Arizona's Luis Gonzalez, Matt Williams, and Bautista, lowering his postseason ERA to a Major League-best 0.70.[27][citation needed] Although he was effective in the eighth, this game would end in the third ninth-inning comeback of the Series. Mark Grace led off the inning with a single to center on a 1–0 pitch. Rivera's errant throw to second base on a bunt attempt by Damian Miller on an 0–1 pitch put runners on first and second. Jeter tried to reach for the ball, but got tangled in the legs of pinch-runner David Dellucci, who was sliding in an attempt to break up the double play. During the next at bat, Rivera appeared to regain control when he fielded Jay Bell's bunt and threw out Dellucci at third base, but third baseman Brosius decided to hold onto the baseball instead of throwing to first to complete the double play. Midre Cummings was sent in to pinch-run for Damian Miller. With Cummings at second and Bell at first, the next batter, Womack, hit a double down the right-field line on a 2–2 pitch that tied the game and earned Rivera a blown save. Bell advanced to third and the Yankees pulled the infield and outfield in as the potential winning run stood at third with fewer than two outs. After Rivera hit Craig Counsell with an 0–1 pitch, the bases were loaded. On an 0–1 pitch, Gonzalez lofted a soft single over the drawn-in Jeter that barely reached the outfield grass, plating Jay Bell with the winning run. This ended New York's bid for a fourth consecutive title and brought Arizona its first championship in its fourth year of existence, making the Diamondbacks the fastest expansion team to win a World Series. It was also the first, and remains the only, major professional sports championship for the state of Arizona. To this date, this was the last World Series game in which both the winning and losing pitcher were later inducted into the Hall of Fame. In 2009, Game 7 of the 2001 World Series was chosen by Sports Illustrated as the Best Postseason Game of the Decade (2000–2009).[28] Composite box [ edit ] 2001 World Series (4–3): Arizona Diamondbacks (N.L.) over New York Yankees (A.L.) Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R H E Arizona Diamondbacks 2 4 12 9 2 1 3 2 2 0 0 0 37 65 3 New York Yankees 1 1 1 0 0 3 1 1 4 1 0 1 14 42 8 Total attendance: 366,289 Average attendance: 52,327 Winning player's share: $279,260 Losing player's share: $201,014[29] $201,014 Media coverage [ edit ] For the second consecutive year, Fox carried the World Series over its network with its top broadcast team, Joe Buck and Tim McCarver (himself a Yankees broadcaster). This was the first year of Fox's exclusive rights to the World Series (in the previous contract, Fox only broadcast the World Series in even numbered years while NBC broadcast it in odd numbered years), which it has held ever since (this particular contract also had given Fox exclusive rights to the entire baseball postseason, which aired over its family of networks; the contract was modified following Disney's purchase of Fox Family Channel shortly after the World Series ended, as ESPN regained their postseason rights following a year of postseason games on ABC Family, Fox Family's successor). ESPN Radio provided national radio coverage for the fourth consecutive year, with Jon Miller and Joe Morgan calling the action. Locally, the Series was broadcast by KTAR-AM in Phoenix with Thom Brennaman, Greg Schulte, Rod Allen and Jim Traber, and by WABC-AM in New York City with John Sterling and Michael Kay. This would be Sterling and Kay's last World Series working together, and Game 7 would be the last Yankee broadcast on WABC. Kay moved to television and the new YES Network the following season and WCBS picked up radio rights to the Yankees. It was Kay who announced Derek Jeter's game-winning home run in Game 4 of the series and subsequently anointed him as "Mr. November". Aftermath [ edit ] After the Yankees lost the World Series, several players moved onto other teams or retired, the most notable changes being the signing of Jason Giambi to replace Martinez and the retirements of Brosius and O'Neill. Martinez would later finish his career with the Yankees in 2005 after spending the previous three years in St. Louis and Tampa Bay. After winning the NL West again in 2002 the Diamondbacks were swept 3–0 by St. Louis in the NLDS. From here they declined, losing 111 games in 2004 as Bob Brenly was fired during that season. Arizona would not win another NL West title until 2007. Schilling was traded to the Boston Red Sox after the 2003 season and in 2004 helped lead them to their first world championship since 1918. He helped them win another championship in 2007 and retired after four years with Boston, missing the entire 2008 season with a shoulder injury. Johnson was traded to the Yankees after the 2004 season, a season that saw him throw a perfect game against the Atlanta Braves, though he would be traded back to the Diamondbacks two years later and finish his career with the San Francisco Giants in 2009. The last player from the 2001 Diamondbacks roster, Lyle Overbay, retired following the 2014 season with the Milwaukee Brewers while the last player from the 2001 Yankees, Randy Choate, retired on February 16, 2017.[30] From 2002 through 2007, the Yankees' misfortune in the postseason continued, with the team losing the ALDS to the Anaheim Angels in 2002, the World Series to the Florida Marlins in 2003, the ALCS to the Boston Red Sox (in the process becoming the first ever team in postseason history to blow a 3-0 series lead) in 2004, the ALDS again to the Angels in 2005, the ALDS to Detroit in 2006, and the ALDS to Cleveland in 2007. Joe Torre's contract was allowed to expire and he was replaced by Joe Girardi in 2008, a season in which the Yankees would miss the playoffs for the first time since 1993. The Yankees won their 27th World Series championship in 2009, defeating the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies in six games. Buster Olney, who covered the Yankees for The New York Times before joining ESPN, would write a book titled The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty. The book is a play by play account of Game 7 in addition to stories about key players, executives, and moments from the 1996–2001 dynasty. In a 2005 reprinting, Olney included a new epilogue covering the aftermath of the 2001 World Series up to the Boston Red Sox epic comeback from down 3–0 in the 2004 ALCS. As of 2018 , this is the state of Arizona's only world championship among the four major professional sports. DVD [ edit ] On October 11, 2005, A&E Home Video released the New York Yankees Fall Classic Collectors Edition (1996–2001) DVD set. Game 4 of the 2001 World Series is included in the set. On April 29, 2008, The Arizona Diamondbacks 2001 World Series DVD set was released. All seven games are included on this set. Quotes from the Series [ edit ] All quotes are from Joe Buck unless otherwise noted. One on, two out. Martinez hits one to deep right-center field, at the wall...tie game! — calling Tino Martinez's game-tying two-run homer in Game 4 Jeter hits it into right. Back at the wall, GAME OVER! Yankees win and the series is tied! — calling Derek Jeter's "Mr. November" home run Tying run at the plate, runner at second, two out, 2-0 Arizona here in Game 5. Brosius hits one into left! Back at the wall, the Yankees have tied it again! — calling Scott Brosius's clutch two-run home run in the 9th inning of Game 5 Yankees lead in Game 7 2-1 in the ninth. Two on, one out AND WOMACK! INTO RIGHT FIELD A HIT! Here comes Cummings, it's tied! Going to third is Bell! Tony Womack delivers, it's 2-2! — calling Tony Womack's game-tying RBI double in the 9th inning of Game 7 Floater...CENTER FIELD! The Diamondbacks are world champions! — calling Luis Gonzalez's Series-winning hit Gonzalez digs in at the plate. And the 0-1 delivery. And a little blooper...BASE HIT! DIAMONDBACKS WIN! THEY'RE THE WORLD CHAMPIONS! GONZALEZ DID IT! Arizona Diamondbacks radio play-by-play man Greg Schulte calling Gonzalez's Series-winning hit Notes [ edit ] See also [ edit ] References [ edit ] |
Apparently, there is evidence of a large settlement on the far side of the moon allegedly gathered by one of China’s lunar orbiters, and it looks to be quite large. The photos were taken during the second Chinese lunar orbiter mission dubbed the “Chang E-2”, but the images used to perpetrate the existence of a structure on the moon that would confirm extra-terrestrial lunar settlement are NASA’s. This leads some to believe this is yet another hoax, but others are more adamant than ever that this is real, and there is an alien settlement right next door to Earth. Alien Base On The Moon Karl Wolf of the NSA states that mysterious structure has been discovered on the far side of the moon as early as 1969. Apparently, NASA has known for these structures ever since they first mapped the surface of the moon. Wolf and many others openly state that NASA’s photos are routinely edited and manipulated to exclude evidence of other-worldly structures. There are many others that feel this way as well. Ken Johnston and Donna Hare, according to Earthfiles, states that NASA has been manipulating thousands of images for decades now. Johnston is a longtime whistleblower with years of research to his credit, and people are starting to listen. Several Canadians are calling these structures Military Industrial Extraterrestrial Complexes, or MIEC’s, and they too are alleging that the claims of these structures and extra-terrestrial existence are real. The Canadians also feel that these bases are launch points for an assimilation of Earth and these are remote operating bases for such operations. However, on the other end of the spectrum, some feel that this just another hoax and that the evidence is just too insubstantial. If we give cadence to these flimsy bits of evidence like this; it just discredits any actual evidence that may be out there. Either way, watch the attached video and decide for yourself. |
A day after the federal government declared that Florida's oyster harvesting region was a disaster area, Gov. Rick Scott announced the state will file a lawsuit against the state of Georgia for the excessive consumption of water that has harmed the ecosystem and economy of Apalachicola Bay. The lawsuit, to be in the U.S. Supreme Court in September, challenges Georgia's "unchecked and growing consumption of water, which is threatening the economic future of Apalachicola,'' Scott said in a statement after a hearing on the controverial issue in Franklin County on Tuesday. Conducting the hearing was U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio. "You have an entire industry that is on the verge of being extinct because of governmental inaction,'' Rubio said after the tour. Scott noted that he and the Legislature put $4.7 million into the region to retrain workers hurt by the ailing economy. "Georgia has taken our water,'' he said after the tour. "We've had meetings. No progress has happened in those meetings." He called it "a bold, historic legal action for our state." |
Thailand’s Junta (Respectfully) Wants the Monarchy To Know Who’s Boss King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s presence once offered Thai citizens a comforting continuity through seven decades of putsches, riots, and chaos. But with the king’s death at the age of 88 in October, Thailand is caught in an unstable interregnum where a junta-led military is enforcing an arch-royalist order. The king’s heir apparent, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, has requested a delay “to mourn” before he takes the throne, leaving the future of both the monarchy and military unclear. The military has long been loyal to the king, sticking with the crown through six decades and eight putsches. The alliance between military and monarchy dates back to 1957-1958, when twin coups eviscerated the country’s young democracy, and they have since dominated the nation together, with the monarchy as junior partner. But the junta that rules Thailand today, on a scale not seen for four decades, faces severe challenges to its rule — which is why the military may soon insist that the monarchy’s quiet subordination become more explicit. A reassertion of the military’s role as palace guardian would permanently solidify its prerogatives and legitimacy. After the May 2014 military coup, the palace was the only part of Thai society the military didn’t claim control over. Section 44 of the post-coup constitution grants the junta leader a legal carte blanche for any deed necessary to ensure “reform in any field and … national peace and harmony” and to suppress anything harmful to security, the monarchy, the economy, or the government. This section, which enshrines the junta’s right to dictatorship, does, however, implicitly exclude the monarchy from military control. The media is crammed with propaganda heralding the return of happiness under the junta’s leadership. A new constitution (which would replace the post-coup 2014 one), set to be enacted before Thailand’s return to formal electoral rule, predictably passed on Aug. 7 by referendum after the military squelched any sign of opposition. The draft charter enshrines a whole set of new powers for the military, most notably immunity to civilian oversight of its personnel and budget and a 20-year plan impervious to later government intervention. The next general elections are scheduled to take place in late 2017 or 2018. But despite all the junta’s attempts to keep power, it faces an array of potential threats to its longevity. Indeed, it’s easy to imagine the scenarios that keep the generals up at night. The political turbulence following the 2014 coup has contributed to the distancing of investors from Thailand, slowing growth. The death of the king, followed by the crown prince’s decision not to immediately take the throne, could extend this uncertainty to a point where the economy plummets — along with public confidence in the generals. Tourism is a Thai economic mainstay, but if resort destinations are bombed again, as happened in August — with the most likely culprits being Malay Muslim insurgents — tourists may flee. If the economy goes, support from the junta’s mostly urban base could evaporate with it. But the interregnum offers the armed forces the chance to cement their power through reinforcing their symbolic and practical ties to the monarchy. Gen. Prem Tinsulanonda, now regent, has been the monarchy’s front man since 1980, first as prime minister and then as a top royal advisor. As regent, Prem serves as the “acting” monarch and in this capacity can exert enormous influence over the armed forces, since the ruling monarch must endorse all military reshuffles. The junta has sought to follow Prem’s example of connecting to the palace, symbolically linking itself to the monarchy’s past by building Rajabhakti Park (literally translated as “loyalty to the monarchy” park) — where giant statues of seven past kings look down on adoring tourists — on army land. Similarly, the recent “Bike for Mom” and “Bike for Dad” royal events, besides being tributes to the queen and king, were spearheaded by junta leaders. The armed forces are regular and major contributors to “royal projects” throughout the country. And Prem’s ascent to chair the king’s Privy Council, and his promotion of several top generals to sit alongside him, has militarized the king’s closest advisory body. With Prem already 96, junta leaders anticipate assuming his mantle as palace proxy upon his death, when they will also dominate the new king’s Privy Council. Yet close military-monarchy relations could be turned against the armed forces if the new king asserts his own authority. That depends, though, on how closely the junta sticks together, the monarchy’s legal authority and ability to skillfully wield historical and cultural legacies, and how popular the new king proves to be. A strong monarch can control the army, while a weak one must comply. Where potentially strong monarchs are slow to assume power or exercise it, their ambivalence only facilitates more militarization. The third scenario may be closest to Thailand’s current situation. Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn lacks the widespread popularity enjoyed by King Bhumibol, is often outside of Thailand, and is perceived by some as a profligate whose abilities cannot match those of his father. Whether he would even resist a continuing military dictatorship seems questionable. Even with a weak monarch, internal squabbles could also cause the implosion of the regime. The junta, under Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and his deputy, Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan, appears to dominate the security forces. But the two enjoy only frictional amity with the aging regent Prem and are competing between each other to promote their own loyalists into positions of power. On a broader scale, Prayuth and Prawit represent a military faction known as the “Eastern Tigers,” a challenger to both the traditionally dominant “Divine Progeny” — centered on the King’s Guard — and the special forces backed by regent Prem. These factions aren’t ideological but represent powerful patronage networks. Although the Eastern Tigers hold the top positions right now, the new army commander, Gen. Chalermchai Sittisart, comes from the special forces, and the most critical strategic post, the commander of the forces stationed around Bangkok, is in Divine Progeny hands. Of all the country’s political institutions, the military possesses the greatest capacity and unity to most ably stand upon the political stage, especially at a time of transition for the monarchy. At the onset of the new reign, the armed forces will be tasked with both protecting the palace and acting as its representative. But as a new monarch comes to depend more on the military to prop up his own legitimacy, the power of the armed forces will only increase. Assuming it lasts, there are several possibilities for the junta’s future. First, it could persist as a direct dictatorship. Second, a military prime minister could be selected by a half-elected parliament — either as a party nominee or as an unelected leader without party connections. Finally, the military could decide to work behind the facade of a weak, albeit elected, prime minister. All these forms of control have been tried and tested in Thailand in the past. The form of military control that emerges could well depend on the extent of leverage that Prem and later the ascendant sovereign decide to apply upon the military. Thailand is in a dark tunnel, with no light in view amid burgeoning uncertainty and continuing junta oppression. Should he choose to do so, Prem, in his role as regent, could offer the strongest potential resistance to the junta’s tyranny. In fact, on some occasions over the last two years, Prem has squabbled with Prayuth and Prawit, and he played no role in the 2014 coup. But the near-centenarian is also a military man. Sadly, it seems that the only opponents of the junta with the ability to force it from power are other soldiers who can’t be counted on to divert Thailand from an authoritarian future. Photo credit: MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP/Getty Images |
As Egyptian armed forces engaged in a brutal crackdown on anti-coup protesters, Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul excoriated his Senate peers for their earlier votes to keep billions in U.S. military aid flowing. “This is something that those who voted in Congress are going to have to live with,” he told Foreign Policy. “The question is: How does their conscience feel now as they see photographs of tanks rolling over Egyptian civilians?” At least 638 people were killed on Wednesday when Egyptian military and police forces moved to clear two Muslim Brotherhood protest camps in Cairo. Thousands more were injured. Clashes between protesters and security forces continued Thursday and Friday, resulting in additional deaths. The military government declared a state of emergency and authorized the use of live ammunition against any additional protests. In late July, Paul proposed a Senate amendment to halt the $1.5 billion in promised U.S. aid to Egypt until the military renounces power and allows new elections. He argued that the Foreign Assistance Act barred the transfer of American aid to “any country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by a military coup or decree.” Paul’s proposal failed dramatically; only 13 senators supported the measure. But with the Egyptian military now massacring protesters in the streets, the senator took his peers to task for their earlier claims that aid must continue for the United States to remain “engaged.” “This mindset that if you don’t give people money and weapons, then you’re not engaged is bizarre,” he said. “I want to engage with the world, I just don’t want to be engaged in battle.” “When you’re protesting in the streets and you’re run over by an American tank, you’re not going to be appreciative of American engagement,” he continued. After the Senate defeated an earlier version of his amendment last year, Paul ran ads against swing state Democrats who voted to continue aid to Egypt. President Obama briefly interrupted his vacation in Martha’s Vineyard on Thursday to condemn the violence and announce that the United States was cancelling a scheduled military exercise with Egypt. “While we want to sustain our relationship with Egypt, our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual when civilians are being killed in the streets and rights are being rolled back,” Obama said. But he also signaled no intention of ceasing aid to the Egyptian military, which relies on U.S. support to fund around 20 percent of its operations. Paul called the decision to cancel the military exercise “too little too late” and said Obama is “skirting” the law by refusing to label the events in Egypt a military coup. “If he wants to send a message to the military, tell them they’re not getting any more planes,” he said. “Tell them they’re not getting any more tanks.” Many Middle Eastern powers, including Israel and Saudi Arabia, have urged the United States to keep Egypt aid intact. “If the aid gets cut, you can be sure that Putin will arrive in Cairo in two or three months,” a senior Arab official told The New York Times. “And he will give aid with no strings attached.” During the vote on Paul’s Egypt amendment, Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker opposed cutting off foreign assistance. “We need to deal with our laws in such a way that allow us to continue to be that instrument of stability in the region,” he said on the Senate floor. But Paul rejects that argument, contending that by ignoring human rights violations and U.S. law the government diminishes American stature abroad. “Congress is way out of touch on this issue,” he said. “These people who believe in projecting American power, really believe in projecting American weakness. They don’t want us to respond to words with actions or obey our own laws.” Follow Brendan on Twitter Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@ dailycallernewsfoundation.org. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org. |
Image caption Non-native earthworms are said to alter an area's ecology, with a direct impact on other species Invasive earthworms can alter the carbon and nitrogen cycles in woodland, as well as undermining native plant species, a study suggests. US researchers found that the presence of non-native worms also accelerated the breakdown of forest litter, increasing the risk of soil erosion. The worms are spread to new areas by horticulture and land disturbance, they add, as well as on vehicles' tyres. The findings have been published in the journal Human Ecology. "The presence of earthworms in temperate hardwood forests may accelerate decomposition of forest litter, which potentially reduces habitat for forest-floor animals, (increases) soil erosion... and affects carbon and nitrogen cycles," the researchers from Colgate University, New York, wrote. Quoting a previous study, the scientists said that invasive earthworms could reduce the amount of carbon stored in soil by up to 28% as a result of the animals eating fallen leaves, which had a knock-on effect on the temperature of the forest floor. Dark soil absorbed more solar energy than lighter leaf litter, causing the soil to dry out more quickly. As well as altering the chemical composition of soil, the worms also had an biological impact because the thinner layer of litter reduced populations of a number of forest-dwelling flora and fauna, such as small mammals, ground-nesting birds and some threatened fern species. The team, whose study focused on the forests of north America, suggested that there were a number of factors behind the dispersal of non-native worms across the landscape. Image caption A study of casts produced by worms in rainforests found that they enhanced soil quality These were primarily the result of human activity, because after being wiped out in the region during the last period of glaciation, earthworms would have made a very, very slow advance northward, covering just a few hundred kilometres over the past 10,000 years. The shipping and transplantation of soil in the horticulture industry is believed to be one factor. The researchers also said that previous research had shown a strong correlation between the presence of roads and the number of worms found in the area, probably the result of the combination of soil disturbance and worms being dispersed by vehicles. As well as the unintentional spread, the team indentified a number of "intentional" vectors. One was the use of Lumbricus rubellus (red earthworm) in community compost heaps. But the biggest problem came from the disposal of fishing bait, which the researchers described as "the most important vector for widespread and scattered exotic earthworm introduction in remote areas". Although Lumbricus terrestris (common earthworm) is native to temperate regions of Europe, it is considered to be an invasive species in North America as it thrives in agricultural marginal land and is deemed to inhibit the growth of native flora in these areas. Yet within parts of Europe, the common earthworm itself is struggling to compete against flatworms that were introduced from Australasia. Carbon casts However, a study published earlier this year that examined the role of worms in the carbon cycle of tropical forests found the creatures had a net benefit in terms of locking carbon into the soil. Within an area of rainforest in Vietnam, the researchers found that casts (excretions of digested organic matter) produced by a species of worm had higher concentrations of carbon, and were able to withstand about twice as much rainfall, than surrounding "control" soil samples. As a result, the team concluded that the presence of worms enhanced the transition of organic material into soil aggregates. Soils with many aggregates (clumps of soil particles and a mixture of organic and fungal matter) are considered to be more stable and less prone to erosion. |
? The chairmen of the Kansas House Education Committee and the State Board of Education are urging local school districts to teach financial literacy. Republican state Rep. Ron Highland of Wamego and GOP state board member Jim McNiece of Wichita signed a joint letter Wednesday to local school board presidents and superintendents. Their letter said financial literacy is an essential part of a sound education. The House Education Committee had hearing earlier this year on a bill to require students to pass a financial literacy course in 11th or 12th grade to graduate from high school. But Highland and McNiece said in their letter that they’re urging districts to teach financial literacy instead of seeking a mandate. They said the state board and the House committee would monitor districts’ efforts. |
"What's that you say, staff-thing? It's time for murder and ice-cream?" Demonic possession of inanimate objects is a sadly overlooked epidemic of the modern era. And yet, many of us are affected by it every day, unaware of the infernal machinations at work. It doesn't have to be a perpetually flaming screaming skull, either. Whether it's your misbehaving car, laptop, or an X-Box that begs for you to marry it and take it away from all this, most of us have at least one trinket of the damned. The things to watch for: Does it ask you to feed it? Does it refer to itself as the "Nigh-Omnipotent Devourer of Light, Condemner of All Things, Hammer of Decay?" Does it occasionally cough up a small animal's remains? (Stuffed animals count.) Or, the sure-fire giveaway, does it have the universal symbol of the diabolic? (Looks like an apple with a bite mark.) For Legends of Norrath. Copyright Sony Online Entertainment. Art directed by Roger Chamberlain and Derek Herring. Contact lenses by "Creative Recycled Radioactive Byproducts, LLC." |
Many infants born with heart defects have to undergo repeated surgeries as they grow. Replacing the sutures and staples used in surgery today with fast-acting, biodegradable glues could help make these cardiac procedures faster and safer. Researchers at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston have developed a surgical glue with promising properties: it doesn’t dissolve in blood, and it’s rubbery enough to hold a seal inside a beating heart. The cardiac adhesive has been tested in mice and pigs and is being developed as a commercial product by French startup Gecko Biomedical. The Paris-based company, founded by biomaterials researchers in the Boston area, has $11 million in series-A funding, and the company plans to bring the surgical adhesive to patients in Europe in one to two years. The cardiac adhesive is described in a paper published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Sutures and staples have major drawbacks, says Jeffrey Karp, a biomaterials researcher at Brigham and Women’s and one of Gecko Biomedical’s founders. Staples, which work by piercing tissue, can cause damage, and putting in sutures is time consuming. Replacing these tools with rubbery, fast-acting adhesives could help make surgeries faster and less invasive, and potentially prevent complications. The cardiac adhesive project started when Karp was approached by Boston Children’s Hospital cardiac surgeon Pedro del Nido, who asked him to develop new materials for repairing congenital heart defects. Del Nido had a list of stringent criteria: the material had to not only be very sticky, but biodegradable, able to work in the presence of blood, which can interfere with the action of some glues, and elastic enough to move with the heart. This is not an easy problem, says Phillip Messersmith, a professor at Northwestern who is not associated with the company or Karp’s research. “Most adhesives that work well under dry conditions are far less effective in the presence of water,” he says. There are medical-grade superglues, but because they contain toxins, they are mainly only used on the skin. In 2005, Karp developed a stretchy sticky rubber made out of two biomolecules, glycerol and sebacic acid. This material can be applied in a liquid form, and then solidified after a few seconds of exposure to UV light. In its liquid state, it’s viscous and hydrophobic, so it won’t wash away. Karp had previously used this material to make gecko-inspired adhesive tape, hence the company’s name (in 2008 he was named one of MIT Technology Review’s 35 innovators under 35 for this work). Karp has now tuned the polymer’s chemistry to further maximize its underwater adhesiveness. He calls the new glue HLAA, for hydrophobic light-activated adhesive. Karp worked with del Nido to test the adhesive in animals. HLAA is applied as a liquid goo, then, after about five seconds of exposure to UV light, it hardens into an elastic rubber. Del Nido’s group used HLAA to create a watertight seal repairing heart-wall defects in mice, and to attach patches—used as a surrogate for medical devices that might be attached to the heart—to pigs’ hearts. When the pigs were given adrenaline to increase the heart rate, the patch stayed on. The researchers also used to glue to repair arteries. Unlike glues that work through a chemical reaction, HLAA works by a physical mechanism. Microscopy studies show that the polymer becomes physically entangled with collagen and other proteins on the tissue surface. Eric Beckman, a chemical engineer at the University of Pittsburgh, says other companies have tried the UV-light-curing approach in the past, but they had problems. These materials tended to swell up with water and lose strength, becoming like Jell-O. Beckman says Karp’s material is well designed and doesn’t have this problem. Beckman’s company, Cohera Medical of Pittsburgh, has a product on the market in Europe designed to seal large areas of tissue after mastectomies and tummy tucks, eliminating the need to implant painful drains. Cohera’s glue, which is in the final stages of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval process, cures when exposed to water. There won’t be a one-size-fits-all surgical adhesive, says Beckman. When you go to the hardware store, you find superglue, wood glue, sealants meant for pipes, and many different kinds of adhesives. Beckman expects that once companies get through the expensive medical device approval process, the options for surgeons will be similarly varied. Pending the approval of the European Medical Association, the company hopes to begin clinical tests soon. |
Facebook to launch 'Patreon killer' that grabs 30% of fan money vs. Patreon’s 5% / Boing Boing Fans of things everywhere: love what you love, support the art you support, but for F’s sake do not do it through the gatekeeper of Facebook: No platform is perfect for us content-by-subscription. But I feel comfortable saying FB » ueno.land Ueno is putting on a “conference” and you should come. Uenoland is coming to Brooklyn this May. Grab yourself a very limited time early bird ticket » link.medium.com/dxRtvvMZBU Seeking a Community Manager for @thecodingtrain! » politico.com/f/?id=00000169-2d31-dc75-affd-bfb99a790001 Oh shit Cohen's statement tomorrow » Poll: How does the public think journalism happens? - Columbia Journalism Review SIXTY PERCENT of people in a recent poll (and 70 percent of Republicans) think journalists get paid by our sources. I don't even know what to think when I see stats like that. via @cjr » STAR WARS: ALWAYS - YouTube This Star Wars video edit by... *checks notes* @TopherGrace? Is great. Like, really really great. » Donut.js February 2019 Live - YouTube We are STREAMING LIVE tonight thanks to the efforts of @aaronpk and the support of @okta. Tune in! » POKÉMON Detective Pikachu - Official Trailer 2 - YouTube Oh my god, the new #DetectivePikachu trailer has me so hyped! The story looks good! The CG looks amazing! That Ludicolo! MEWTWO! » Portland, Oregon, is expanding a highway, says it will be good for the environment. Disappointing to see that the Portland wants to spend $500m on expanding freeway stating it will lower emissions by improving traffic flow. Research shows it will just increase the amount of drivers on the road and more emissions. » int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/636-michael-cohens-congressional-t/3a1530b333230e775df5/optimized/full.pdf#page=1 Michael Cohen’s opening statement is a MONSTER, before a single question is even asked of him » The secret lives of Facebook moderators in America - The Verge "Miguel is also allotted nine minutes per day of “wellness time,” which he is supposed to use if he feels traumatized and needs to step away from his desk." » If we’re heading for a hard Brexit then we’re heading for a united Ireland | Patrick Kielty | Opinion | The Guardian "When Conservatives say they care about Northern Ireland, they actually just mean the freehold. Like a stable block with planning permission, they know the extra square footage adds value but they’ve no intention of actually developing it." » Racism in the knitting community is finally being talked about - Vox A fantastic look at racism in the knitting and craft community by the fantastic @jayasax. » |
SpaceX has set its sights on launching two private citizens on a flight around the moon in 2018, which could be the farthest manned mission into space since the Apollo program. It would also be a dramatic expansion of space tourism. The two people already have “paid a significant deposit” for the mission, said SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk on Monday. The plan is to launch from Florida, using the historic Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, which was used in the Apollo missions. SpaceX has launched regularly from Florida for years but hasn’t carried people. Space tourism so far has been limited to a trickle of paid passengers, mostly on Russian rockets. NASA’s plans for carrying more private citizens to space were interrupted by the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters. Musk did not reveal the identities of his customers, but said they would have “extensive training” to prepare for the launch, which he said could come near the end of next year. The moon mission could open a new revenue stream for the company, Musk said. This weekend's scheduled SpaceX rocket launch will be the first on NASA property in five years. This weekend's scheduled SpaceX rocket launch will be the first on NASA property in five years. SEE MORE VIDEOS Robert Salonen, Florida Institute of Technology’s director of global business development, said the would-be space passengers can help prove the viability of the emerging commercial space industry. “It’s an exciting time for those that are interested in spaceflight and those just being exposed to it for the first time,” Salonen said. Musk said he hopes the planned mission will get the world excited about “sending people into deep space again.” He estimated the mission would take a week, with the spacecraft traveling in a “long loop around the moon,” into deep space then back to Earth. He said NASA would be closely involved in the mission’s planning. SpaceX and United Launch Alliance have been working with NASA on their commercial crew program, which launches satellites and payloads to the International Space Station among other things. Musk said that program would still get first priority. “NASA always has the right to first priority,” Musk said. “If NASA decides to have the first mission of this nature be an astronaut, of course NASA would take priority.” Florida’s space officials welcomed the new plan. “We are clearly on the edge of humankind’s reach into space in a more-democratized way,” said Frank DiBello, president and CEO of Space Florida, the state’s space marketing and economic development group. “It is beyond just the domain of a few operating under a government program. I think you’ll eventually begin to see companies conduct business on and around the lunar surface and, eventually, beyond that.” But there are some who worry about the bold nature of the new mission. Ray Lugo, director of UCF’s Space Institute, said SpaceX has not had the sustained success necessary to show it can safely launch humans. “It seems to me to be a risky move,” said Lugo, whose father worked in the space industry during the Apollo missions. “SpaceX is a private company, so it’s hard to know how far along they are. But it doesn’t seem like they have done enough yet to demonstrate the capability to launch someone to the moon.” SpaceX plans to test a new rocket configuration, the Falcon Heavy, and will also be testing a new version of its Dragon space capsule, the Crew Dragon (Dragon Version 2), which is the capsule that would carry the space tourists. The Crew Dragon test flight will be part of the commercial crew program, on a mission to the International Space Station, in automatic mode, without people on board. Carrying several tons of supplies and scientific experiments, the unpiloted SpaceX Dragon cargo craft arrived at the International Space Station Feb. 22 following its launch atop the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Feb. 19 from the refurbished Launch Pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center. Carrying several tons of supplies and scientific experiments, the unpiloted SpaceX Dragon cargo craft arrived at the International Space Station Feb. 22 following its launch atop the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Feb. 19 from the refurbished Launch Pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center. SEE MORE VIDEOS SpaceX is currently contracted to perform an average of four Dragon 2 missions to the ISS per year, three carrying cargo and one carrying crew. The company said flying privately-crewed missions, which NASA has encouraged, will lower long-term costs to the government and provide flight reliability history. Musk said the two who signed up for the mission understand the risks involved with rocket launches. He did not say how much the mission will cost. “They are entering this with eyes wide open, knowing there is some risk here,” he said of the customers. “They are certainly not naïve. We do what we can to minimize risk, but it’s not zero.” The company still has work to do to make sure its vehicle can be used for the mission. Some modifications must be made to the Dragon 2 spacecraft, including upgrades that will allow communication from deep space. In addition, the FAA still has to evaluate the capsule as a manned vehicle, Musk said. The goal is to send a Dragon 2 to the International Space Station without astronauts before the end of this year. Musk said that could be followed about six months later with a manned launch. The moon orbit mission would then follow six months after that, he said. Launch Complex 39A recently hosted its first launch since the U.S. shuttle program ended in 2011, an unmanned SpaceX cargo mission. Reporter Paul Brinkmann contributed to this story. Contact reporter Marco Santana at msantana@orlandosentinel.com. |
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — The Afghanistan Campaign Medal, normally awarded to personnel serving for a period of 30 consecutive days within the borders of Afghanistan, will soon be awarded to Marines of the 1st Intelligence Battalion for serving within the borders of their air-conditioned Sensitive Compartmentalized Information Facility on Camp Pendleton. “Over in Afghanistan, they’re working around the clock to produce accurate, quality intelligence reporting,” asserts Private First Class Caleb Pogston, an 0231 Intelligence Analyst. “Unfortunately, the volume of products they need to produce over in the ‘Stan far surpasses the amount they can complete, so they rely on us to take up the slack and fulfill their reporting requirements.” Reach-back support is a relatively new concept in the U.S. military. In the intelligence community, it allows forward-deployed units to utilize their garrison counterparts to augment their intelligence gathering and reporting, resulting in a higher product output than just what the forward unit would yield. Because their role in garrison is nearly the same as the role of their analytical counterparts in a combat zone more than 10,000 miles away, Headquarters Marine Corps decided to award the Afghanistan Campaign Medal to any Marine within the 1st Intelligence Battalion’s Reach-Back Element for their role in Operation Enduring Freedom. “We’re essentially forward deployed. That’s why our company first sergeant makes us wear our desert utilities to work every day, sleeves down,” Pogston told Duffel Blog, momentarily pausing to take a sip from his lukewarm Coors Lite. “To get us into that combat mindset.” Some Marines from the Battalion feel that the medal is completely unwarranted, while others feel it is completely justified. “We’re pretty much just like the Marines that are in Afghanistan right now, OK?” insists Staff Sgt. Barney Township, who is overjoyed to finally get an in-grade deployment to make him competitive for selection and promotion, while also earning his third ribbon. “We work 12 hour shifts four days a week, we only analyze Afghanistan products, and we can’t consume alcohol after work — only during our three day weekends.” Unfortunately, a loud knock on Township’s door cut the interview short. “Sorry, the interview’s over, that’s my Domino’s Pizza.” At press time, Headquarters Marine Corps was also considering awarding the Reach-Back Element the NATO-ISAF medal, for occasionally logging in to their CENTRIX accounts. |
Spinal implants have suffered similar problems as those in the brain—they tend to abrade tissue, causing inflammation and ultimately rejection by the body. Now an interdisciplinary research collaboration based in Switzerland has made a stretchable implant that appears to solve this problem. Like Lieber's new brain implant, it matches the physical qualities of the tissue where it is embedded. The “e-dura” implant is made from a silicone rubber that has the same elasticity as dura mater, the protective skin that surrounds the spinal cord and brain, explains Stéphanie Lacour, a professor at the school of engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. This feature allows the implant to mimic the movement of the surrounding tissues. Embedded in the e-dura are electrodes for stimulation and microchannels for drug therapy. Ultrathin gold wires are made with microscopic cracks that allow them to stretch. Also, the electrodes are coated with a special platinum-silicone mixture that is stretchable. In an experiment that lasted two months, the scientists found that healthy rats with an e-dura spinal implant could walk across a ladder as well as a control group with no implant. Yet rats with a traditional plastic implant (which is flexible but not stretchable) started stumbling and missing rungs a few weeks after surgery. The researchers removed the implants and found that rats with a traditional implant had flattened, damaged spinal cords—but the e-dura implants had left spinal cords intact. Cellular testing also showed a strong immune response to the traditional implant, which was minimal in rats with the e-dura implant. Finally, the researchers implanted the device directly on the spinal cord of paralyzed rats. With a combination of drug therapy and electrical stimulation administered via the e-dura, the rats were able to walk again. Researchers envision the e-dura being used in people with spinal cord injuries, as a brain implant and even to correct nerve damage in other parts of the body. |
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