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Tony Hsieh, CEO and cultlike leader of Zappos. Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images Zappos, the online clothing retailer and Amazon subsidiary, has spent the past year and a half conducting a peculiar experiment. It’s called holacracy, and it’s the somewhat radical notion that the employees of some companies—like Zappos—would function better without managers in the mix. At Zappos, the project began in late 2013, when chief executive Tony Hsieh announced that the company would eliminate all titles and managers and transition to a holacratic structure. In theory, holacracy has a certain appeal. Who hasn’t, at some point, wished for a world without bosses, or that a manager would just disappear for a while? At Zappos, though, it seems like the ideal of self-governance has stumbled in practice. In late March, Hsieh said in a companywide memo that Zappos would accelerate its transition to holacracy with a “rip the bandaid” approach. “As previously stated, self-management and self-organization is not for everyone, and not everyone will necessarily want to move forward in the direction of the Best Customers Strategy and the strategy statements that were recently rolled out,” Hsieh wrote. He offered dissatisfied employees at least three months severance if they quit; 210 of them—or roughly 14 percent of the company’s workforce—took it. There’s nothing especially odd about the severance deal itself. Zappos has long offered employees money to leave if they don’t feel the job is a good fit. New hires who feel out of place in the company’s offbeat culture are promised one month’s pay should they choose to move on. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos has adopted this management strategy at his company’s warehouses. Amazon’s “Pay to Quit” program offers workers a chance to quit once a year, with the bid starting at $2,000 and increasing by $1,000 a year until it reaches $5,000. “In the long run, an employee staying somewhere they don’t want to be isn’t healthy for the employee or the company,” Bezos wrote in last year’s letter to shareholders. What’s troubling is that 14 percent of all employees accepted. Historically, just 1 to 3 percent of new hires have taken Zappos’ severance deal. Amazon said last year that only “a small percentage” of its employees end up doing the same. The Zappos exodus suggests that employees aren’t buying into holacracy, the language of which wavers between manifesto-esque and outright cultish. (See again Hsieh’s March memo: “The people management aspects of the manager role are valuable in what the book refers to as Orange and Green organizations, but do not make sense in a self-organized and self-managing Teal organization.” And: “The right question is not: how can everyone have equal power? It is rather: how can everyone be powerful?”) Back when Zappos first announced its holacracy initiative, I spoke with Jan Klein, a lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management and expert on self-management. Klein was skeptical that Zappos would be able to pull off the shift. Holacratic systems have a history of failing for one reason or another, and are notoriously difficult to scale. There’s also plenty of reason to question Hsieh’s pseudo-utopian approach to management and business. The Downtown Project, Hsieh’s multimillion dollar attempt to revitalize Las Vegas with startups and a happiness manifesto, has faced unsettling accusations: nepotistic hiring, juvenile management, and three suicides that were largely kept quiet. Last September, as many of these reports were coming out, Hsieh abruptly stepped down as the project’s leader. John Bunch, the Zappos employee heading up the move to holacracy, told the Wall Street Journal that he’s not concerned by the 210 departures. “Whatever the number of people who took the offer was the right number as they made the decision that was right for them and right for Zappos,” he said. Presumably Bunch has to say that. But no matter how you spin it, 210 people is a lot of employees to lose at once, and an even more formidable number to consider replacing. |
Gillian Laub for TIME Before every show, Stephen visits the green room and tells that evening's guest the same thing: "My character's an idiot. Your job is to set him straight." Easier said than done, especially since the first part's a lie. Stephen's character may ask idiotic questions, but they're so unexpected and diabolically entangling that watching his guests fight their way toward daylight is unalloyed pleasure. On The Colbert Report, every day is Opposite Day. Because of how his humor works, the audience finds meaning through sustained inference, which is a lot more fun than it sounds. Colbert's riffs are so ingeniously convoluted and deeply weird that the post-reason wingers have no response to him. They just have to absorb the punishment, night after night. I'd like to add here that Stephen and I are old friends, but I can't. I barely know the man. But like millions of others, I revere him as the class clown I never knew the one without a trace of mean. How he can be so devastating and endearing at the same time I cannot say, but it sure wears well. Look for him to hold down this spot on TIME's list for years to come. Trudeau is an American cartoonist and creator of the comic strip Doonesbury Next Kim Jong Un |
(CBS) Bears rookie Mitchell Trubisky’s time has come. After watching Mike Glennon have another awful performance in a four-turnover debacle in a 35-14 loss to the Packers last Thursday night and reviewing film in the ensuing days, the Bears have promoted the 23-year-old Trubisky to their starting quarterback spot, the team announced Monday. He will start when the Bears host the Vikings next Monday night at Soldier Field. The Bears traded up one spot to select Trubisky at No. 2 overall in the draft in April. He impressed in the preseason and has continually drawn high praise from teammates and coaches alike, but the Bears maintained that Glennon — signed in March to a three-year, $45-million deal with $18.5 million guaranteed — gave them their best chance to win. It’s clear that wasn’t the case. Glennon has thrown five interceptions and fumbled five times, losing three, as the Bears have started 1-3. His passer rating is 76.9, and his total QBR is an abysmal 26.3, which is fourth-to-last in the NFL among qualified passers. |
Hugh Syme got his first sleeve commission from Rush in 1975, after the group’s record label noticed a cover he’d designed for the Ian Thomas Band. That first job, on 1975’s Caress Of Steel started a friendship between Syme and the band that saw the designer inducted into the line-up as keyboard player on the following year’s 2112 album. Indeed it is Syme who plays piano on Different Strings on Permanent Waves, although his defining contribution to Rush’s breakthrough album remains the cover he devised with drummer Neil Peart. “We spoke all evening about Rush growing up, and how we were going to do these ECG [electrocardiogram] readers of each member as they were recording. So Permanent Waves was going to be a technical statement. And we were going to treat that with red and gold foil and do a nice study in design, as opposed to a photographic thing.” “I walked out,” he continues, “and in the doorway said: ‘Wait, let’s try something with a [model] walking out of a tidal wave situation. Neil gave me this blank look and said: ‘Get out of here’. But the following day, he asked me to consider doing just that, because he’d discussed it with the band and they’d all thought it was more likely for a cover than the serious approach.” Alongside its central image of a knicker-flashing glamourpuss in the path of a tidal wave, the resulting cover was awash with reference points. ‘Peart’, ‘Lee’ and ‘Lifeson’ [nods to the drummer, frontman Geddy and guitarist Alex] are just visible on signposts in the distances. The waves, both in the model’s hair and the tsunami – were obvious visual allusions to the album title. “Coca-Cola asked that we strip out their billboard,” recalls Syme of one visual reference that didn’t make the cut, “because it was too close to a cotton-clad mons pubis.” Another bone of contention was the Chicago Daily Tribune newspaper in the foreground of the sleeve. Originally showing the infamous front page from 1948 (when the paper wrongly reported the result of the US presidential election as ‘Dewey Defeats Truman’), the threat of legal action resulted in the headline being obscured on all but the earliest pressings of the album. |
The "Pulp Fiction" scribe will write and direct the action-adventure film for Panorama Media and producer Samuel Hadida. Roger Avary is bringing the video game Castle Wolfenstein to the big screen for Panorama Media and producer Samuel Hadida. Avary will write and direct the action-adventure film, which centers on a young U.S. Army captain and a British special agent on a top-secret mission to Castle Wolfenstein, where Hitler will be for the unveiling of a new secret weapon. After reaching the Castle, the heroes are confronted with Himmler's SS Paranormal Division and must fight, not only for their survival, but for a mission that could alter the course of the war. Hadida will produce through his Davis Films Prods., Panorama’s Marc Butan and Kimberly Fox are handling global sales at the American Film Market. Talks with U.S. distributors are also underway. “With Roger at the helm, we expect everyone will join us for a wild and fun cinematic ride that will grab contemporary film audiences with the same irreverent, hip, over-the-top approach that Roger brought to Pulp Fiction and the other films he has either written or directed," Hadida said. "It is a big action adventure but also strongly character driven and based on a very solid story.” Added Fox, "We have known Samuel for years as a distributor and as a producer who knows the pulse of the marketplace, from his productions of True Romance through the Resident Evil pictures, and including Roger’s Killing Zoe and Rules of Attraction. Both Samuel and Roger bring a really fun sensibility to the screen, and Wolfenstein gives them the perfect opportunity.” Avary says he has been playing the Wolfenstein games since childhood and feels that "their outlandish sensibility has deeply influenced my own writing and directing throughout my career." Castle Wolfenstein was an early stealth-based action-adventure shooter arcade game developed by Muse Software for the Apple II. It was first released in 1981. |
The almond (Prunus dulcis, syn. Prunus amygdalus) is a species of tree native to Mediterranean climate regions of the Middle East and Southern Asia.[3] Almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus Prunus, it is classified with the peach in the subgenus Amygdalus, distinguished from the other subgenera by corrugations on the shell (endocarp) surrounding the seed. The fruit of the almond is a drupe, consisting of an outer hull and a hard shell with the seed, which is not a true nut, inside. Shelling almonds refers to removing the shell to reveal the seed. Almonds are sold shelled or unshelled. Blanched almonds are shelled almonds that have been treated with hot water to soften the seedcoat, which is then removed to reveal the white embryo. Description [ edit ] Tree [ edit ] The almond is a deciduous tree, growing 4–10 m (13–33 ft) in height, with a trunk of up to 30 cm (12 in) in diameter. The young twigs are green at first, becoming purplish where exposed to sunlight, then grey in their second year. The leaves are 8–13 cm (3–5 in) long,[4] with a serrated margin and a 2.5 cm (1 in) petiole. The flowers are white to pale pink, 3–5 cm (1–2 in) diameter with five petals, produced singly or in pairs and appearing before the leaves in early spring.[5][6] Almond grows best in Mediterranean climates with warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. The optimal temperature for their growth is between 15 and 30 °C (59 and 86 °F) and the tree buds have a chilling requirement of 300 to 600 hours below 7.2 °C (45.0 °F) to break dormancy.[7] Almonds begin bearing an economic crop in the third year after planting. Trees reach full bearing five to six years after planting. The fruit matures in the autumn, 7–8 months after flowering.[6][8] Drupe [ edit ] Almonds arranged on a plate The almond fruit measures 3.5–6 cm (1 3⁄ 8 –2 3⁄ 8 in) long. In botanical terms, it is not a nut but a drupe. The outer covering or exocarp, fleshy in other members of Prunus such as the plum and cherry, is instead a thick, leathery, grey-green coat (with a downy exterior), called the hull. Inside the hull is a reticulated, hard, woody shell (like the outside of a peach pit) called the endocarp. Inside the shell is the edible seed, commonly called a nut. Generally, one seed is present, but occasionally two occur. After the fruit matures, the hull splits and separates from the shell, and an abscission layer forms between the stem and the fruit so that the fruit can fall from the tree.[9] Green almonds Almond in shell and shelled Blanched almonds Shelled Almond Almond confections Origin and history [ edit ] The almond is native to the Mediterranean climate region of the Middle East, from Syria, Turkey, Iran and eastward to Pakistan.[3] It was spread by humans in ancient times along the shores of the Mediterranean into northern Africa and southern Europe, and more recently transported to other parts of the world, notably California, United States.[3] The wild form of domesticated almond grows in parts of the Levant.[11] Selection of the sweet type from the many bitter types in the wild marked the beginning of almond domestication.[12] It is unclear as to which wild ancestor of the almond created the domesticated species. The species Prunus fenzliana may be the most likely wild ancestor of the almond in part because it is native of Armenia and western Azerbaijan where it was apparently domesticated. Wild almond species were grown by early farmers, "at first unintentionally in the garbage heaps, and later intentionally in their orchards".[13] Almonds were one of the earliest domesticated fruit trees due to "the ability of the grower to raise attractive almonds from seed. Thus, in spite of the fact that this plant does not lend itself to propagation from suckers or from cuttings, it could have been domesticated even before the introduction of grafting".[11] Domesticated almonds appear in the Early Bronze Age (3000–2000 BC) such as the archaeological sites of Numeria (Jordan),[12] or possibly earlier. Another well-known archaeological example of the almond is the fruit found in Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt (c. 1325 BC), probably imported from the Levant.[11] Of the European countries that the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh reported as cultivating almonds, Germany[14] is the northernmost, though the domesticated form can be found as far north as Iceland.[15] Etymology and names [ edit ] The word "almond" comes from Old French almande or alemande, Late Latin *amandula, derived through a form amygdala from the Greek ἀμυγδάλη (amygdálē) (cf. amygdala), an almond.[16] The al- in English, for the a- used in other languages may be due a confusion with the Arabic article al, the word having first dropped the a- as in the Italian form mandorla; the British pronunciation ah-mond and the modern Catalan ametlla and modern French amande show a form of the word closer to the original. Other related names of almond include mandel or knackmandel (German), mandorlo (Italian for the tree), mandorla (Italian for the fruit), amêndoa (Portuguese), and almendra (Spanish).[17] The adjective "amygdaloid" (literally "like an almond") is used to describe objects which are roughly almond-shaped, particularly a shape which is part way between a triangle and an ellipse. See, for example, the brain structure amygdala, which uses a direct borrowing of the Greek term amygdalē.[18] Cultivation [ edit ] Pollination [ edit ] The pollination of California's almonds is the largest annual managed pollination event in the world, with close to one million hives (nearly half of all beehives in the US) being trucked in February to the almond groves. Much of the pollination is managed by pollination brokers, who contract with migratory beekeepers from at least 49 states for the event. This business has been heavily affected by colony collapse disorder, causing nationwide shortages of honey bees and increasing the price of insect pollination. To partially protect almond growers from the rising cost of insect pollination, researchers at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have developed a new line of self-pollinating almond trees.[19] Self-pollinating almond trees, such as the 'Tuono', have been around for a while, but their harvest is not as desirable as the insect-pollinated California 'Nonpareil' almond tree. The 'Nonpareil' tree produces large, smooth almonds and offers 60–65% edible kernel per nut. The Tuono has thicker, hairier shells and offers only 32% of edible kernel per nut, but having a thick shell has advantages. The Tuono's shell protects the nut from threatening pests such as the navel orangeworm. ARS researchers have managed to crossbreed the pest-resistant Tuono tree with the 'Nonpareil, resulting in hybridized cultivars of almond trees that are self-pollinated and maintain a high nut quality.[19] The new, self-pollinating hybrids possess quality skin color, flavor, and oil content, and reduce almond growers' dependency on insect pollination.[19] A grove of almond trees in central California Almond blossoms in Iran Young almond fruit Mature almond fruit Diseases [ edit ] Almond trees can be attacked by an array of damaging organisms, including insects, fungal pathogens, plant viruses, and bacteria.[20] Production [ edit ] An almond shaker before and during a harvest of a tree In 2016, world production of almonds was 3.2 million tonnes, with United States providing 63% of the total.[21] As other leading producers, Spain, Iran, and Morocco combined contributed 14% of the world total (table). United States [ edit ] In the United States, production is concentrated in California where 1,000,000 acres (400,000 ha) and six different almond varieties were under cultivation in 2017, with a yield of 2.25 billion lb (1.02 billion kg) of shelled almonds.[22] California production is marked by a period of intense pollination during late winter by rented commercial bees transported by truck across the United States to almond groves, requiring more than half of the total US honeybee population.[23] The value of total US exports of shelled almonds in 2016 was $3.2 billion.[24] Spain [ edit ] Spain has diverse commercial cultivars of almonds grown in Catalonia, Valencia, Murcia, Andalusia, and Aragón regions, and the Balearic Islands.[25] Production in 2016 declined 2% nationally compared to 2015 production data.[25] Australia [ edit ] Australia is the largest almond production region in the Southern Hemisphere. Most of the almond orchards are located along the Murray River corridor in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia.[26][27] Sweet and bitter almonds [ edit ] Flowering (sweet) almond tree Blossoming of bitter almond tree The seeds of Prunus dulcis var. dulcis are predominantly sweet[28][29] but some individual trees produce seeds that are somewhat more bitter. The genetic basis for bitterness involves a single gene, the bitter flavor furthermore being recessive,[30][31] both aspects making this trait easier to domesticate. The fruits from Prunus dulcis var. amara are always bitter, as are the kernels from other species of genus Prunus, such as peach and cherry (although to a lesser extent). The bitter almond is slightly broader and shorter than the sweet almond and contains about 50% of the fixed oil that occurs in sweet almonds. It also contains the enzyme emulsin which, in the presence of water, acts on the two soluble glucosides amygdalin and prunasin[32] yielding glucose, cyanide and the essential oil of bitter almonds, which is nearly pure benzaldehyde, the chemical causing the bitter flavor. Bitter almonds may yield 4–9 mg of hydrogen cyanide per almond[33] and contain 42 times higher amounts of cyanide than the trace levels found in sweet almonds.[34] The origin of cyanide content in bitter almonds is via the enzymatic hydrolysis of amygdalin.[34] Extract of bitter almond was once used medicinally but even in small doses, effects are severe or lethal, especially in children; the cyanide must be removed before consumption.[34] The acute oral lethal dose of cyanide for adult humans is reported to be 0.5–3.5 mg/kg (0.2–1.6 mg/lb) of body weight (approximately 50 bitter almonds), whereas for children, consuming 5–10 bitter almonds may be fatal.[34] All commercially grown almonds sold as food in the United States are sweet cultivars. The US Food and Drug Administration reported in 2010 that some fractions of imported sweet almonds were contaminated with bitter almonds. Eating such almonds could result in vertigo and other typical bitter almond (cyanide) poisoning effects.[35] Culinary uses [ edit ] Smoked and salted almonds Raw and blanched almonds Marzipan foods artistically formed into festive designs While the almond is often eaten on its own, raw or toasted, it is also a component of various dishes. Almonds are available in many forms, such as whole, sliced (flaked, slivered), and as flour. Almond pieces around 2–3 mm in size, called "nibs", are used for special purposes such as decoration.[36] Almonds yield almond oil and can also be made into almond butter or almond milk. These products can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes. Along with other nuts, almonds can be sprinkled over breakfasts and desserts, particularly muesli or ice cream-based dishes. Almonds are used in marzipan, nougat, many pastries (including jesuites), cookies (including French macarons, macaroons), and cakes (including financiers), noghl, and other sweets and desserts. They are also used to make almond butter, a spread similar to peanut butter, popular with peanut allergy sufferers and for its naturally sweeter taste. The young, developing fruit of the almond tree can be eaten whole (green almonds) when they are still green and fleshy on the outside and the inner shell has not yet hardened. The fruit is somewhat sour, but is a popular snack in parts of the Middle East, eaten dipped in salt to balance the sour taste. Also in the Middle East they are often eaten with dates. They are available only from mid-April to mid-June in the Northern Hemisphere; pickling or brining extends the fruit's shelf life. Almond cookies, Chinese almond biscuits, and Italian ricciarelli are made with almonds. In Greece, ground blanched almonds are used as the base material in a great variety of desserts, usually called amygdalota (αμυγδαλωτά). Because of their white color, most are traditionally considered wedding sweets and are served at wedding banquets. In addition, a soft drink known as soumada is made from almonds in various regions. (αμυγδαλωτά). Because of their white color, most are traditionally considered wedding sweets and are served at wedding banquets. In addition, a soft drink known as is made from almonds in various regions. In Hejaz, a region of Saudi Arabia, ground almonds are used by adding them with cold milk to a hot coffee cup in addition to cinnamon powder and corn starch to make Almond Coffee Gahwat Al-lōz (قهوة اللوز). (قهوة اللوز). In Iran, green almonds are dipped in sea salt and eaten as snacks on street markets; they are called chaqale bâdam . Also sweet almonds are used to prepare a special food for babies, named harire badam . Almonds are added to some foods, cookies, and desserts, or are used to decorate foods. People in Iran consume roasted nuts for special events, for example, during New Year (Nowruz) parties. . Also sweet almonds are used to prepare a special food for babies, named . Almonds are added to some foods, cookies, and desserts, or are used to decorate foods. People in Iran consume roasted nuts for special events, for example, during New Year (Nowruz) parties. In Italy, bitter almonds are the traditional base for amaretti [37] [38] (almond macaroons), a common dessert. Traditionally, a low percentage of bitter almonds (10–20%) is added to the ingredients, which gives the cookies their bitter taste (commercially, apricot kernels are used as a substitute for bitter almonds). Almonds are also a common choice as the nuts to include in torrone . In Apulia and Sicily, pasta di mandorle (almond paste) is used to make small soft cakes, often decorated with jam, pistachio, or chocolate. In Sicily, almond milk is a popular refreshing beverage in summer. (almond macaroons), a common dessert. Traditionally, a low percentage of bitter almonds (10–20%) is added to the ingredients, which gives the cookies their bitter taste (commercially, apricot kernels are used as a substitute for bitter almonds). Almonds are also a common choice as the nuts to include in . In Apulia and Sicily, (almond paste) is used to make small soft cakes, often decorated with jam, pistachio, or chocolate. In Sicily, almond milk is a popular refreshing beverage in summer. In Morocco, almonds in the form of sweet almond paste are the main ingredient in pastry fillings, and several other desserts. Fried blanched whole almonds are also used to decorate sweet tajines such as lamb with prunes. A drink made from almonds mixed with milk is served in important ceremonies such as weddings and can also be ordered in some cafes. Southwestern Berber regions of Essaouira and Souss are also known for amlou , a spread made of almond paste, argan oil, and honey. Almond paste is also mixed with toasted flour and among others, honey, olive oil or butter, anise, fennel, sesame seeds, and cinnamon to make sellou (also called zamita in Meknes or slilou in Marrakech), a sweet snack known for its long shelf life and high nutritive value. such as lamb with prunes. A drink made from almonds mixed with milk is served in important ceremonies such as weddings and can also be ordered in some cafes. Southwestern Berber regions of Essaouira and Souss are also known for , a spread made of almond paste, argan oil, and honey. Almond paste is also mixed with toasted flour and among others, honey, olive oil or butter, anise, fennel, sesame seeds, and cinnamon to make (also called in Meknes or in Marrakech), a sweet snack known for its long shelf life and high nutritive value. In Indian cuisine, almonds are the base ingredients of pasanda -style and Mughlai curries. Badam halva is a sweet made from almonds with added coloring. Almond flakes are added to many sweets (such as sohan barfi ), and are usually visible sticking to the outer surface. Almonds form the base of various drinks which are supposed to have cooling properties. Almond sherbet or sherbet-e-badaam , is a popular summer drink. Almonds are also sold as a snack with added salt. -style and Mughlai curries. is a sweet made from almonds with added coloring. Almond flakes are added to many sweets (such as ), and are usually visible sticking to the outer surface. Almonds form the base of various drinks which are supposed to have cooling properties. Almond sherbet or , is a popular summer drink. Almonds are also sold as a snack with added salt. In Israel almonds are topping tahini cookie or eaten as a snack. The 'Marcona' almond cultivar is recognizably different from other almonds and is marketed by name.[39] The kernel is short, round, relatively sweet, and delicate in texture. Its origin is unknown and has been grown in Spain for a long time; the tree is very productive, and the shell of the nut is very hard.[39] 'Marcona' almonds are traditionally served after being lightly fried in oil, and are used by Spanish confectioners to prepare a sweet called turrón. Certain natural food stores sell "bitter almonds" or "apricot kernels" labeled as such, requiring significant caution by consumers for how to prepare and eat these products.[40] Almond milk [ edit ] Almonds can be processed into a milk substitute called almond milk; the nut's soft texture, mild flavor, and light coloring (when skinned) make for an efficient analog to dairy, and a soy-free choice for lactose intolerant people and vegans. Raw, blanched, and lightly toasted almonds work well for different production techniques, some of which are similar to that of soymilk and some of which use no heat, resulting in "raw milk" (see raw foodism). Almond flour and skins [ edit ] Almond flour or ground almond meal combined with sugar or honey as marzipan is often used as a gluten-free alternative to wheat flour in cooking and baking.[41] Almonds contain polyphenols in their skins consisting of flavonols, flavan-3-ols, hydroxybenzoic acids and flavanones[42] analogous to those of certain fruits and vegetables. These phenolic compounds and almond skin prebiotic dietary fiber have commercial interest as food additives or dietary supplements.[42][43] Almond syrup [ edit ] Historically, almond syrup was an emulsion of sweet and bitter almonds, usually made with barley syrup (orgeat syrup) or in a syrup of orange flower water and sugar, often flavored with a synthetic aroma of almonds.[34] Due to the cyanide found in bitter almonds, modern syrups generally are produced only from sweet almonds. Such syrup products do not contain significant levels of hydrocyanic acid, so are generally considered safe for human consumption.[34] Nutrition [ edit ] Almonds are 4% water, 22% carbohydrates, 21% protein, and 50% fat (table). In a 100 gram reference amount, almonds supply 579 calories. The almond is a nutritionally dense food (table), providing a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of the B vitamins riboflavin and niacin, vitamin E, and the essential minerals calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, and zinc. Almonds are a moderate source (10–19% DV) of the B vitamins thiamine, vitamin B 6 , and folate, choline, and the essential mineral potassium. They also contain substantial dietary fiber, the monounsaturated fat, oleic acid, and the polyunsaturated fat, linoleic acid. Typical of nuts and seeds, almonds are a source of phytosterols such as beta-sitosterol, stigmasterol, campesterol, sitostanol, and campestanol.[44] Potential allergy [ edit ] Almonds may cause allergy or intolerance. Cross-reactivity is common with peach allergens (lipid transfer proteins) and tree nut allergens. Symptoms range from local signs and symptoms (e.g., oral allergy syndrome, contact urticaria) to systemic signs and symptoms including anaphylaxis (e.g., urticaria, angioedema, gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms).[45] Oils [ edit ] Almonds are a rich source of oil, with 50% of kernel dry mass as fat (whole almond nutrition table). In relation to total dry mass of the kernel, almond oil contains 32% monounsaturated oleic acid (an omega-9 fatty acid), 13% linoleic acid (a polyunsaturated omega-6 essential fatty acid), and 10% saturated fatty acid (mainly as palmitic acid, USDA link in table). Linolenic acid, a polyunsaturated omega-3 fat, is not present (table). Almond oil is a rich source of vitamin E, providing 261% of the Daily Value per 100 ml (table). When almond oil is analyzed separately and expressed per 100 grams as a reference mass, the oil provides 884 calories, 8 grams of saturated fat (81% of which is palmitic acid), 70 grams of oleic acid, and 17 grams of linoleic acid (oil table). Oleum amygdalae, the fixed oil, is prepared from either sweet or bitter almonds, and is a glyceryl oleate with a slight odour and a nutty taste. It is almost insoluble in alcohol but readily soluble in chloroform or ether. Almond oil is obtained from the dried kernel of almonds.[46] Aflatoxins [ edit ] Almonds are susceptible to aflatoxin-producing molds.[47] Aflatoxins are potent carcinogenic chemicals produced by molds such as Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. The mold contamination may occur from soil, previously infested almonds, and almond pests such as navel-orange worm. High levels of mold growth typically appear as gray to black filament like growth. It is unsafe to eat mold infected tree nuts. Some countries have strict limits on allowable levels of aflatoxin contamination of almonds and require adequate testing before the nuts can be marketed to their citizens. The European Union, for example, introduced a requirement since 2007 that all almond shipments to EU be tested for aflatoxin. If aflatoxin does not meet the strict safety regulations, the entire consignment may be reprocessed to eliminate the aflatoxin or it must be destroyed.[48][49] Mandatory pasteurization in California [ edit ] The USDA approved a proposal by the Almond Board of California to pasteurize almonds sold to the public, after tracing cases of salmonellosis to almonds. The almond pasteurization program became mandatory for California companies in 2007.[50] Raw, untreated California almonds have not been available in the U.S. since then. California almonds labeled "raw" must be steam-pasteurized or chemically treated with propylene oxide (PPO). This does not apply to imported almonds[51] or almonds sold from the grower directly to the consumer in small quantities.[52] The treatment also is not required for raw almonds sold for export outside of North America. The Almond Board of California states: “PPO residue dissipates after treatment.” The U.S. EPA has reported: “Propylene oxide has been detected in fumigated food products; consumption of contaminated food is another possible route of exposure.” PPO is classified as Group 2B ("possibly carcinogenic to humans").[53] The USDA-approved marketing order was challenged in court by organic farmers organized by the Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based farm policy research group. According to the Cornucopia Institute, this almond marketing order has imposed significant financial burdens on small-scale and organic growers and damaged domestic almond markets. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in the spring of 2009 on procedural grounds. In August 2010, a federal appeals court ruled that the farmers have a right to appeal the USDA regulation. In March 2013, the court vacated the suit on the basis that the objections should have been raised in 2007 when the regulation was first proposed.[54] Cultural aspects [ edit ] The almond is highly revered in some cultures. The tree originated in the Middle East,[55] and is mentioned numerous times in the Bible. In the Hebrew Bible, the almond was a symbol of watchfulness and promise due to its early flowering. In the Bible the almond is mentioned ten times, beginning with Book of Genesis 43:11, where it is described as "among the best of fruits". In Numbers 17 Levi is chosen from the other tribes of Israel by Aaron's rod, which brought forth almond flowers. According to tradition, the rod of Aaron bore sweet almonds on one side and bitter on the other; if the Israelites followed the Lord, the sweet almonds would be ripe and edible, but if they were to forsake the path of the Lord, the bitter almonds would predominate. The almond blossom supplied a model for the menorah which stood in the Holy Temple, "Three cups, shaped like almond blossoms, were on one branch, with a knob and a flower; and three cups, shaped like almond blossoms, were on the other...on the candlestick itself were four cups, shaped like almond blossoms, with its knobs and flowers" (Exodus 25:33–34; 37:19–20). Similarly, Christian symbolism often uses almond branches as a symbol of the Virgin Birth of Jesus; paintings and icons often include almond-shaped haloes encircling the Christ Child and as a symbol of Mary. The word "Luz", which appears in Genesis 30:37, sometimes translated as "hazel", may actually be derived from the Aramaic name for almond (Luz), and is translated as such in some Bible versions such as the NIV.[56] The Arabic name for almond is لوز "lauz" or "lūz". In some parts of the Levant and North Africa it is pronounced "loz", which is very close to its Aramaic origin. La entrada de la flor is an event celebrated on 1 February in Torrent, Spain, in which the clavarios and members of the Confrerie of the Mother of God deliver a branch of the first-blooming almond-tree to the Virgin.[57] See also [ edit ] |
The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athletic Department has been searching for a new director of athletics ever since Terrance Tumey’s departure for Division I Fresno State in June 2018, and the search process is likely reaching its end. “The search is progressing on time and we are hoping to have finalists on campus later this spring semester and ultimately have the new director of athletic, physical education and recreation on board by this summer,” said Sharon Basso, Claremont McKenna College’s vice president of student affairs and chair of the search committee. The search for a new AD has been an interactive process involving members of the administration, current athletes and staff. CMS hired Odgers Berndtson, a consulting group specializing in sports leadership in higher education, to head the search. Berndtson held three open meetings on campus in October to converse and build a candidate profile for the position. Basso also reached out to students at CMC, Harvey Mudd College and Scripps College and encouraged them to share their input with the firm through an email survey. Berndtson took the information gathered from students and staff during the fall meetings to create an extensive position brief explaining the AD position, CMS values and the application process. The hiring team has been in recruiting mode since January. Last week, the team gathered to review applicants and narrow the field for the first round of interviews. The finalists for the position will be forwarded to CMC President Hiram Chodosh, who will make the final hiring decision in consultation with the presidents of HMC and Scripps. Advertisements Ellery Koelker-Wolfe CM ’19, a guard on the CMS women’s basketball team, and the current president of Student Athlete Advisory Committee, attended one of the meetings to share her thoughts on what a good candidate would look like. “Students were essentially there to tell the firm about what it is like to be an athlete here,” Koelker-Wolfe said. “[Berndtson] wanted to get an understanding of the three-college dynamic, what we value here and how athletes are really here to compete and win.” Even though she is a senior and won’t personally see the changes the new AD might make, it was important to Koelker-Wolfe to have her voice heard throughout the hiring process. “I’ve seen CMS through a couple of transitions, and I’ve also seen CMS take off with a string of national championships last year, and I take a lot of pride in this program and want to see the success continue,” Koelker-Wolfe said. One of the senior’s suggestions to the firm was to look into female candidates for the position. She also shared her input on the alumni network within the CMS community and the ways that a new AD might strengthen the network for athletes. Most of all, she wants a candidate who embraces Division III athletics. “Mainly, I’d like to see a new hire who understands Division III and wants to be in Division III, instead of using Division III as a platform to get to a Division I school,” Koelker-Wolfe said. Advertisements |
******Note: You do not have to be a current or former WWU student to sign this petition. We appreciate all support ******** First, it is paramount to acknowledge that the campus of Western Washington University is occupying Nooksack and Lummi land. As we work, we must continuously think about the legacy of colonialism upon which we stand. We are the Student Assembly for Power and Liberation. We are a growing group of students from a multitude of communities and disciplines around campus combatting the systemic oppression embedded within our society that is inevitably upheld through this institution, as it was created to uphold white supremacy at its core. OUR DEMANDS : 1.) In order to meet the growing needs and demands for educational opportunities that emerge from and contribute to movements for social justice, especially those that reflect the histories and experiences of marginalized peoples, we call for the creation and full implementation of the College of Power and Liberation. In addition to creating a community that can more effectively resist the type of events of last quarter, a College of Power and Liberation (CPL) will make Western Washington University a national leader in the development of academic programs that are committed to social justice. This is essential for realizing Western’s mission of creating “active minds, changing lives”. The following points are the base-line requirements of implementing the college. These demands force us to confront the question: Whose minds? Whose lives? A College of Power and Liberation will serve all students by bringing the study of histories and communities that continue to be mis- and underrepresented into the mainstream curriculum at Western. If Western’s administration wants to claim that they care about social justice, they need to give resources and power to those who are impacted by violent injustices and design the kind of education that will meet our needs and give us the tools to transform unjust social relationships. In order to give the college, the resources it needs to be successful we demand a cluster hire of ten tenure track faculty to teach at the college. Until those searches are approved and complete, we demand faculty buy-outs to fulfill CPL class needs that will continue as part of the CPL budget once the cluster hire searches are completed. The Student Assembly for Power and Liberation will have direct input and decision-making power over the hiring of faculty for the College. These hiring committees that search for and hire new faculty must have students with significant voting power on them. Requiring a hiring structure that assures accountability to student voices through student participation in hiring procedures, including student forums, student voting, and student interview sessions with candidates because for this college to serve students, students must have power in deciding what subject areas and professors can teach at the college. In order to provide the appropriate services, the new College would require, a relocation of physical space to allow the College of Power and Liberation to be housed in its own building. Acceptable spaces that could act as a temporary location for the College of Power and Liberation would be one in close proximity to campus such similar to the WWU Alumni House. While these options fulfill the needs of the College immediately, we also call for a commitment to acquiring funding for a brand new academic building on campus that will make the College visible and accessible. Acquiring such funding is the responsibility of the administration, whose accountability to students should be expressed through their fervent advocacy for students’ needs at both the local and state levels. In order to support the academic programming of the new College, we demand that the university provides real material resources that are sustainable and concomitant with the growing interest in the field both among the student body and nationally. This includes funding a staffed interdisciplinary library that reflects the critical inquiries of the College and its students, so that students have support in accessing academic material directly related to their fields of study. This additional support must also include funded staff positions, including an archivist and a counselor, who would serve students of the College and students at Western interested in these topics in general. In addition, we demand a yearly Student Emergency Fund to be included in the College's annual budget. This funding will support underrepresented students from the College who encounter financial emergencies during their time at Western, and will be awarded at the discretion of a committee composed of faculty, staff, and students in the College. This funding is necessary for retaining those excellent students from underrepresented communities who are unable to remain at Western due to financial hardship. In order to confront this same reality for underrepresented students, we also demand work study positions for at least 20% of students enrolled in the College so that they are supported in the important work that students perform, which so often goes unpaid and unrecognized. This will ensure that students in the most precarious positions have the opportunity to pursue their academic interests while being supported with material resources. Lastly, we call for a minimum of $50,000 from the University to put on an opening event that will introduce the College and its mission. This event will be structured as a symposium, bringing together eminent scholars from the interdisciplinary fields that have grown out of social just movements, marking the beginning of the momentous history of the College of Power and Liberation and the reemergence of a serious commitment to Ethnic and Gender studies on Western’s campus. The next set of demands focus on the broader University community and are designed to hold the university accountable. No individual student should have to take on the task of monitoring and challenging injustices within the university. The College of Power and Liberation will provide and support students who are trained and educated in recognizing and addressing these injustices. The following demands require new methods of valuing work and making sure that this work has real rather than symbolic consequences. This demand is to be fully funded and have a detailed course of action that is to be created in collaboration with students by Spring 2016. 2.) Though many students, staff and faculty members are committed to doing the important yet difficult work of confronting racism, misogyny, trans- and homo-phobia on this campus, the reality is that students have continuously been expected to live in and address these systems of disempowerment while simultaneously being exploited in order to uphold this image of an “active mind changing lives”. This work is often done without recognition or compensation for labor, time, and effort. The College of Power and Liberation demands an annually dedicated revenue of $45,000 for compensation of students and faculty doing de-colonial work on campus. When this work is used for WWU promotion the student’s/faculty members must be contacted in order to give consent. If consent is not given, then the institution must respect such wishes. Any de- colonial work done by faculty must also go toward their annual review. Some of what the Student Assembly for Power and Liberation is referring to as de-colonial work is including but not limited to; providing space and resources to learn alternate histories, supporting student's non academic work, emotional and intellectual labor that is not about publishing or service to the institution, providing often unrecognized trainings, workshops, and/or interventions on behalf of students. This demand is to be fully funded and implemented by Spring 2016. 3.) We demand the creation and implementation of a 15 persxn paid student committee, The Office for Social Transformation, to monitor, document, and archive all racist, anti- black, transphobic, cissexist, misogynistic, ablest, homophobic, islamophobic, xenophobic, anti-semitism, and otherwise oppressive behavior on campus. Often times this is found in faculty curriculum and interactions with administration, police, and/or students. These are not isolated incidents; these are embedded in the structure of this university. The purpose of this committee is to field concerns and document incidents experienced by students on campus, and offer space, guidance, and advocacy in moving forward. The committee will do this work in a way that is accountable to students, rather than to the university. The dean of the College of Power and Liberation (CPL) and a panel of students will facilitate the application process. The 15 persxn committee will serve with staggered appointments throughout Spring Quarter, in which the new application process will take place. The incumbent committee will facilitate the application process, and upon classes beginning Fall Quarter, will transition the committee roles to the incoming committee members. To aid in the first-year creation and subsequent transitions, there will be paid mentoring and trainings for students that will take place on campus. These trainings will include, but is not limited to, skill acquisition for documentation of incidents and safety in navigating faculty/admin and curriculum, campus police, campus housing, health centers and medical care, especially in regards to marginalized identities. Necessary trainings are subject to change and expand as the committee learns what is needed on this campus. This committee will be formed by student representatives from the Associated Students Offices (AS) and from colleges and departments on campus. Students will be nominated by fellow students and faculty from each office, college, or department. Nominated students will then apply to join the committee. Departments and colleges represented will be CPL, Education and Social Justice (ESJ), American Cultural Studies (ACS), Law, Diversity, and Justice (LDJ), Human Services (HS), and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS). All ROP offices are welcome to apply, but AS offices that will specifically be represented are the Queer Resource Center (QRC), Social Issues Resource Center (SIRC), Ethnic Student Center (ESC), or future organizations that represent the interests of underrepresented students at Western. The committee will employ a three-strike disciplinary system that corresponds to citations that are processed. A collaboration between the student(s) involved, the faculty, and the committee must take place in order to appropriately address the offense. All faculty is subject, with justification, to disciplinary action, including non- tenure track faculty, tenure track faculty, tenured faculty, and everyone in a teaching position within the University. In accordance with Appendix B and section 19 Disciplinary Action/Discharge of Collective Bargaining Agreement between Western Washington University and United Faculty of Western Washington University, “19.1 No faculty member shall be disciplined or discharged without just cause. Historical guidelines commonly used by arbitrators can be found in Appendix B. 19.2 The University shall employ, where appropriate, progressive discipline, including but not limited to the following steps: verbal warning, written warning, suspension without pay, and discharge. The University shall tailor discipline to respond to the nature and severity of the offense, and will not be required to apply progressive discipline where the University reasonably believes that the severity of the alleged offense calls for the imposition of discipline at an advanced step.” We demand the recognition of an unsafe classroom environment due to the oppressive behaviors articulated above as a severe offense and a justifiable cause for an investigation of tenured faculty that could lead to discharge. All faculty, staff, and administration that work with students, specifically Campus Police, Campus Housing, the Health Center, DisAbility Resources, and the Counseling Center are subject to a three-strike disciplinary system. A collaboration between all parties and the committee must take place in order to appropriately address the offense. The committee will accommodate students in whatever capacity necessary. Some examples might include; accompanying students to Campus Police interviews and Health Center appointments, aid in housing grievances, and support in garnering appropriate resources from the DisAbility Resources for students. While these are some of the more common examples of failure on to students, we recognize that the University is a political institution with many settings in which institutional violence actively harms campus community members. The institution will be held accountable no matter where these grievances originate. Funding will be transferred to the Committee for Social Transformation since it will not only be addressing institutional barriers (Equity), lack of representation (Inclusion), and persistent issues continuously diluted by the passive rhetoric of “Diversity” which results in violence that becomes legitimized through the University’s own mechanisms. As we’ve witnessed these themes echo those of the President’s Task Force on Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity. The President’s Task Force simply facilitates conversation; this committee is dedicated to specific, campus wide action that centers the voices of marginalized and underrepresented communities, something that is yet to be produced by the President’s Task Force. This committee will also “review campus climate, recruitment and retention practices, curriculum, and community outreach efforts” in a more effective way. This demand is to be fully implemented by the end of Spring 2016. 4.) All students at Western come seeking an education that includes actively engaging with the community and to leave with a better understanding about how they can affect positive change in the world, which includes understanding ourselves and our histories. Therefore, it is in direct contradiction to Western’s mission statement, which stresses the importance of being an international leader in critical thinking and societal problem solving, to deny and silence the voices and experiences of Western community members, especially those whose experiences and histories continue to be marginalized and silenced in national conversations, in the curriculum at Western, and in Western’s day-to-day operations. In order to promote and achieve a campus climate and culture which offers all community members the basic right to safety, comfort, and success, there needs to be concrete action that works toward accountability. This requires: A mandatory online survey that will be conducted by all faculty/administration in the classroom and work place to ask questions that allow Western Washington University community members to confidentially express concerns of discrimination and safety. The results that are collected will be used for reviews of all people in teaching positions. The results will be added to their periodic review to help foster a collaborative effort to ensure a positive campus climate. The CPL, in conjunction with, but also not limited to the “Enrollment and Student Services” (Admissions Office) unit of our administration, will hold a quarterly forum that provides a platform for all students to express concerns and solutions regarding the campus climate. This demand is to be fully implemented by the beginning of Spring 2016. 5.) We demand the establishment of multicultural residence building to celebrate student’s different identities and to give us a chance to live together in order to build a community and connections. Students must apply to this housing situation to receive admission and applications must be received, reviewed, and decided by the Committee for Social Transformation. Applications would include a personal essay about why that applicant wants to be live on those floors/halls and how they would positively contribute to the community. In addition, we demand that there will be a mentorship program that prioritizes the mentoring and support for students of color living in residence halls. There will be one mentor for every residence hall community. The mentors will go through rigorous and critical cultural trainings to qualify for this position. In addition to being a support to the residents, this mentor will serve as a liaison between the halls and different offices on campus that focus on support for marginalized students. The mentor will be an advisor to the RAs when it comes to developing programs and events centered on issues of diversity and social justice. This will be a paid position or the mentor will be provided with room and board within the multicultural community. There will be a retreat coordinated and led by the College of Power and Liberation for marginalized first year student before the start of the academic school year to help build community and give student connections. This demand is to be fully funded and have a detailed course of action that is to be created in collaboration with students by Spring 2016. 6.) We demand that any Western Washington University student who has been targeted by, harassed by, or has experienced excruciating acts of violence that was racialized, sexualized, gendered, based on ability, employment status, citizenship and/or mental health from the University, either through its policies or institutional agents, must be compensated by the University. We are asking for compensation in the form of tuition reimbursements for students who have experienced such institutional and administrative violence. This demand is to be implemented by Spring 2016. We leave you with this: The Administration of our University now has a choice to make about whether they wish to truly support movements for justice through deed or whether they will continue to do so through word only. As students who are a part of the Student Assembly for Power and Liberation, our demands address the multiple platforms of violence that students experience on Western’s campus. This should be of grave concern to university administrators, who should trust those of us most knowledgeable about these experiences and their solutions. We recognize that these demands are not the only ones that students on this campus will be making, as they don’t encompass the needs of every single student. We will openly support the demands of other groups organizing on this campus that work towards true social justice. We also recognize that the institution had been steadfast in its commitment to maintaining dominant narratives and structures of power. Because of this, these demands are the beginning of a transformation rather than a Band-Aid solution to the problems that persist here and across the country. These demands contain the basic necessities of what we need to provide students so that they can thrive not just survive on this campus in a truly accountable way. As has become increasingly obvious to us since we arrive at Western, we cannot count on the University to follow through for hxtorically oppressed students. These demands come out of a long hxstory of oppression played out at all levels of schooling, and just like the events of last quarter, these demands do not come out of nowhere. Rather, they come from careful consideration of what students need. We build these demands and this sense of ‘need’ on the understanding that all of these forms of oppression are racialized and are built on the continued expropriation of Native land and life, the enslavement of bodies, and the forced exploitation of people across the world. In 1968, Black students at Western Washington University were openly fighting and resisting the same structures of power we are today. We continue the important work that they started. We honor their words, their spirits, and their strength by leaving you again with this quote: “When Western begins to make phony excuses and resist needed changes, we will be forced to look at Western as an enemy to Black and non-white people and, act accordingly. In short, there will be political consequences for political mistakes.” This movement is not limited to Western, but is connected to other universities nationwide where students are demanding that they have power over their own lives, bodies, and histories. As Chrystos so beautifully reminds us, this movement is decades old and we walk in the history of those who came before us. We recognize all forms of oppression have been resisted since their inception. We are in solidarity with the students on college campuses across the nation actively resisting and protesting their institutions’ lack of accountability and failure to adequately serve all students. As Hopi elders, June Jordan, Grace Lee Boggs, and Alice Walker continue to remind us: We are the ones we have been waiting for. We expect to receive a response from the university on March 1st, 2016 at 5pm agreeing with these demands and a proposed date to meet collectively. For further info contact the The Student Assembly for Power and Liberation at PowerandLiberation@gmail.com or on Facebook at The Student Assembly for Power and Liberation!!! |
It’s been busy week for Dark Matter. More reviews, reactions, and interviews! Tomorrow, we role into my behind-the-scenes insights into “Episode 17: We Were Family”! Never forget that Dark Matter doesn’t forget it’s clues and sub-plots from last season, everything connects and everything will be made known in its due time. We’re almost half-way done and I still feel like we’re just getting warmed up… by Sahurai at Blade of the Sashurai We should definitely be thanking our neighbors to the north for more than a few things; but one of the biggest could be its being the savior of North American Sci-Fi on TV. One in particular that I have watched and very highly recommend is Dark Matter… by Dave Ward Nerd Nation Magazine AfterBuzz’s Yael Tygiel gets Dark Matter’s Alex Mallari Jr. and Anthony Lemke in bed… Alex Mallari Jr. and Jodelle Ferland talk to TV Equals: Melissa O’Neil and Anthony Lemke talk to TV Equals: Melissa Liburd and Executive Producer Jay Firestone talk to TV Equals: A group interview: Alex Mallari Jr. and Anthony Lemke talk to Seat 42F: Jodelle Ferland and Melissa O’Neil talk to Seat 42F: A little something for the Stargate, Dark Matter, and science-minded. Meet the Physicist Behind the Science of Stargate by Jacqueline Ronson at Inverse profiles former Stargate science advisor Mika McKinnon who, incidentally, helped me out by offering me her expert input on a facet of “Stuff To Steal; People To Kill”, the eighth episode of Dark Matter’s second season. Share this: Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print More Tumblr WhatsApp Pocket LinkedIn Reddit Like this: Like Loading... |
Late night comedy hosts found themselves surprised by the news that President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday. Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Trevor Noah had to swiftly respond to the breaking news. For Colbert and "The Late Show," the news broke during the afternoon taping of the CBS broadcast. "That shows no gratitude at all," Colbert said of the firing in his opening monologue. "Did Trump forget about the Hillary emails that Comey talked about?" Then, in his best Trump voice, Colbert said, "Thanks for the presidency, Jimmy," and added, "Don't let the door hit 'ya where the Electoral College split 'ya." Tonight! Stephen reacts to the day's big surprise: the firing of James Comey by President Trump. #LSSC pic.twitter.com/axuUmFLtSd — The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) May 10, 2017 Related: Stephen Colbert nabs big ratings win amid '#FireColbert' backlash On "The Daily Show," Trevor Noah expressed a mixture of shock and confusion over the dismissal of Comey, the man who was responsible for the FBI's investigation into whether members of Trump's campaign colluded with Russia in last year's election. "Wow, Trump fired the FBI director! Like, you can't just fire the FBI director," Noah said. "I mean if he's gone, who's going to investigate Russia's ties to -- Ohhhhhhhhhhh." As for Kimmel, he opened his ABC show, "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" trying to figure out the reasoning behind the firing. "He fired James Comey, the director of the FBI, which is kind of like O.J. [Simpson] firing Judge Ito halfway through the trial," Kimmel said at the top of the show Tuesday night. Kimmel continued with his disbelief, but then jokingly came up with a possible explanation. "This is the kind of thing reality TV hosts do. They fire someone every week. Maybe that's what happened. He thinks he's still on 'The Celebrity Apprentice,'" the host said. "It was between James Comey and Meatloaf, and well, the Loaf won again." Related: Jimmy Kimmel returns to talk health care, his son and reaction to his speech Kimmel also told his audience that he would now start selling "Comey Is My Homey" t-shirts to fight back against Trump's decision. "If you are one of the millions of Americans who are angry about this shameful and disgraceful move, send me $29.99 and I will use some of that money to send a very nasty letter directly to the Oval Office," he said. |
The Palestinian bid for statehood at the UN has Israel especially worried about one implication from the move – Israeli conduct on Palestinian territory becoming subject to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. By Noam Wiener Tomorrow is November 29, a day that in my childhood memories is associated with a static recording reading: “Afghanistan, no; Argentina, abstain; Australia, yes” and with black and white photos of people dancing in circles in the streets of Tel Aviv following the approval of the Partition Plan for Palestine. But children today will have a different memory. Obviously many Israeli opinion makers do not like to be reminded that the state they live in was conceived alongside what was meant to be a state on land Israel has been occupying for the past 45 years. But the Palestinian Authority’s request from the UN General Assembly to recognize it as a non-member state creates further concerns for the Israeli political and media establishment on this special date. This piece will be limited to one of the key issues relating to the Palestinian bid for statehood – its ability, should the bid be accepted, to join the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC was created in 1998 as a court with the authority to try individuals – as opposed to states – who commit international crimes (including the crime of aggression, genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes). Most international institutions do not have universal authority and can only exercise power over individuals from member states who chose to join the organization. The ICC is different. The ICC has jurisdiction over crimes committed by individuals, be they citizens of member states or otherwise, if these crimes were committed in the territory of a member state. This means, for example, that if a citizen of the United States (not an ICC member), commits an international crime on French soil (an ICC member), the ICC will have jurisdiction over that individual even though the U.S. never consented to ICC jurisdiction. This seemingly imperial power over a non-member state does not seem so unusual, however, when we remember that if a U.S. citizen commits any sort of crime in France, French courts have authority to try that individual by virtue of France’s territorial sovereignty. Thus, the ICC only follows the territorial jurisdiction of the member states. Israeli officials find the ICC’s jurisdiction worrisome in relation to the Palestinian bid for recognition as a state. As long as Palestine is not a state, it cannot become a member of the ICC, and Israeli conduct on Palestinian territory is not subject to ICC jurisdiction (unless the UN Security Council refers the matter to the to the ICC, or Israel joins the ICC – both unlikely events in the foreseeable future). Palestine’s “non-state” status is the reason the Palestinian bid for ICC investigation in 2009 was rejected last April by the ICC Prosecutor. But if Palestine gains recognition as a state from the members of the UN, it could then ask to join the ICC, and then international crimes committed in its territory could be subject to ICC jurisdiction. Notably, this does not mean that we will be seeing Israeli generals and politicians hauled off to The Hague on November 30. The ICC gains jurisdiction only prospectively, so alleged crimes committed before the new member joined are not subject to ICC investigation. Second, the ICC would only have jurisdiction over crimes committed on Palestinian sovereign territory, but where that territory starts and ends is entirely unclear and will doubtlessly be subject to prolonged legal wrangling. Third, even if alleged crimes have been committed (and this needs to be investigated on a case by case basis), because of the ICC complementarity regime (on which I have already commented in +972), the Prosecutor will only investigate cases that Israel has itself neglected to investigate. Finally, the Prosecutor will only apply his or her very limited resources to those cases considered to be the most grievous violations of international law. As inhumane as the occupation of Palestine is, even if the Prosecutor is convinced that specific crimes have been committed in the occupied territories, it is unclear whether he or she will also think that these crimes are grave enough to warrant her attention in light of other instances of international crimes committed around the world. Despite these four caveats, Israel’s leaders are right to be worried about potential ICC investigations into Israeli conduct in the occupied territories. The mere launch of an investigation against Israeli leaders could turn them into diplomatic pariahs. But the best means to avoid this is, of course, to refrain from committing crimes, rather than to avoid being investigated for them. And more important still, to acknowledge the Palestinian right to statehood, so that November 29 can be celebrated as the day the right of both Palestinians and Israelis – to live as free and sovereign peoples – was recognized. Noam Wiener is an Israeli doctoral candidate at the University of Michigan Law School. His research focuses on international criminal law. |
Image copyright Getty Images The risks to public health from fracking for shale gas are low, according to a new official report. Any problems publicised so far - such as in the US - are the result of operational failure or poor regulation. The study, by Public Health England, an agency of the Department of Health, reviewed the latest research. It focused on the risks of emissions of the chemicals used in fracking and radioactive material released with the gas. The central conclusion is that "potential risks to public health from exposure to the emissions associated with shale gas extraction are low if the operations are properly run and regulated". The report recommends environmental monitoring through the lifetime of any project and public disclosure of chemicals used in the fracking fluid. The findings have been welcomed by the government which is pressing for the development of shale gas in the UK. Environmental campaigners opposed to fracking say the study highlights the risks and the lack of oversight. So far exploratory fracking has been limited to one site in Lancashire but the British Geological Survey (BGS) estimates UK shale could yield 150 billion cubic metres of gas, so commercial interest is growing. US example The report draws on American research to conclude that though pollutants can enter the air from gas flaring or leaks, "these emissions are relatively small, intermittent and certainly not unique to shale gas extraction…" One quoted study - from the Barnett Shale in Texas in 2010 - found 70 individual volatile organic compounds including ethane, propane, butane and pentanes close to shale gas activity but observed these to be "localised" and significantly diminished downwind. But the authors recognise that there is relatively little evidence to go on - the only detailed peer reviewed study of the impact of air emissions was published last year by the Colorado School of Public Health. That work found that people living within half-a-mile of gas wells had an elevated risk of health conditions including neurological and respiratory effects. However the Colorado study was criticised for having a small sample size and the Public Health England report says local weather and topography may mean that similar results may not be likely in Britain. The PHE report acknowledges that extracting shale gas could produce residues containing naturally-occurring radioactive materials - but it argues that these risks would be similar to those in the existing oil and gas industry. On the dangers of groundwater being contaminated, the study quotes a 2011 paper by MIT researchers who found that nearly half of 43 pollution incidents were related to drilling operations - mainly because of faulty sealing of wells. Homework marks According to the PHE study, American experience points to surface spills of chemicals being the most likely to affect water sources. However it points out that 99% of drinking water in England comes from heavily-regulated water companies so the risk is "considered minimal". The remainder who get their water from private wells are "particularly vulnerable" - but "high quality well integrity" should protect water sources. Another risk examined is from the chemicals used in the fracking process. An American study found 75% of them could affect skin, eyes and breathing while 25% are carcinogenic. For that reason, the PHE study calls for full disclosure of the chemicals used and strict enforcement of chemicals handling and of well design. Overall, the study concludes that the well-publicised problems experienced in the US may not be replicated in the UK because of differences in geology, operation and regulation. The energy minister Michael Fallon welcomed the findings. "The UK has the most robust regulatory regime in the world for shale gas and companies will only be granted permission to frack for shale if their operations are safe," he said. However Greenpeace campaigner Leila Deen said the report was a "timely reminder" of the risks of fracking and the potential long-term health impacts. "The government has so far responded to these risks by cutting the budget of the environmental regulator and effectively allowing companies to mark their own homework when it comes to monitoring." |
SHOPS 1ST TRY is an on snow test event exclusively for snowboard retailers. We were lucky enough to take part and test some 2016/17 products for you. The whole event is based on the initiative of the leading snowboard brands, the EUROSIMA Snow Division (European Surf Industry Manufactures Association) and the board sport business magazine SOURCE. And behold … more than 50 brands got together to provide for full range testing at the gathering of the SHOPS 1ST TRY league. The event SHOPS 1ST TRY took place at Skijuwel Alpbachtal – Wildschönau in Austria from 17-19 of January. And the gods of snow were good to us and we got some proper amount of powder to test all powder boards there are. Just check the happy faces on the photos bellow. Event area What else can we wish for? Oh yeah, coffee and waffles! Dakine took care of that for us too. Free coffee, waffles and free gloves! All you had to do is bring them your old pair, awesome right? So our energy was on maximum, belly´s full and hands dry and warm. Time to hit the slopes and test some boards for you! CAPITA BIRDS OF A FEATHER The board we couldn´t wait to try was NEW Capita Birds of a feather board (size 148cm) and Union Milan bindings (L size). TEST SUBJECT Name: Mateja, snowboarding for cca. 13 years Height: 171cm Weight: 60 kg Boot size: 39,5 EU Style: Park / Slopes / Powder Current set up: Nitro Fate 147cm + Nitro Lynx bindings + 32 boots Capita´s Birds of a Feather is One of the most popular Women’s series in the industry, the do-anything, go-anywhere Birds of a Feather is here to change your riding forever. This hybrid-camber, all-terrain destroyer inspired Jess Kimura’s Pro Model designs, as well as won the 2016 Transworld Good Wood and Snow Board Mag Platinum Pick awards. PROFILE New Capita Birds of a Feather comes in Hybrid FK shape. What does that mean? This all new freestyle camber configuration zeros out a traditional camber approach 4cm before the end of the sidecut. The small zero camber sections provide a more controlled ride while retaining the response and power of a cambered board. RIDING STYLE The Birds of a feather is designed for intermediate to expert riders to fly over and through every terrain whilst progressing their snowboarding. Due to its versatile profile it can also handle park riding very well and is a safe choice from jumps to rails. SHAPE True twin, a switch ollie into the pow or cab 360, everything is possible because this board rides switch just as good as normal. FLEX The soft-medium flex will provide a playfull ride that invites for freestyle oriented riding over the whole mountain. Loaded with key upgrades for 2016/17, the Birds of a Feather series features a DS Select reforestation-certified sustainable wood core and all-new Fortress™ Kevlar Bound Sidewalls for extra durability. Combined with a fast Wax Infused Sintered Base and 30mm Carbon Fiber Beams, the Birds of a Feather is ready to take your snowboarding to new heights. We tested the board on hard slopes and soft deep powder and the board loved it both. Unfortunately, we couldn´t take it to the park, but we will take Jess Kimura´s word, that this is one of the best park boards out there. FINAL SCORE 4.5/5 for fun, quality, control & pop 3/5 for design, Ignore the flowery bindings it will look much better with simple one-color bindings. If you are anything close to being as badass as Jess Kimura, some flowers won´t kill your buzz. Price is expected to be above average, around 450€ so Medium-High**** Board comes in lengths 140 , 142, 144, 146, 148, 150, 152 and 154 cm We love CAPITA also for their eco-friendly factory of all factories The Mothership. UNION MILAN BINDINGS Designed especially for the ladies – the Milan is a softer flexing, anatomically correct binding that provides incredible comfort all season long. Featuring an all-new baseplate design, the Milan represents dedication towards product progression throughout the collection. Ideal for riders using a wide stance, Canted Gas Pedals on the Milan supply extra leverage for ollie power. They’ve taken their women’s Multizone philosophy and tweaked it towards the outside for boosted lateral support and control when pressing, buttering and spinning off jumps. Milan bindings usually come in S and M size, but this black version is available also in L size and although our bindings were supposed to be M and you can see how big they are on this 148cm board, so we think we might got L size. There were also big on my EU 39.5 boots. M size should fit boots from size 37-41 EU. If you have any experience with this binding we would love to hear your experience. They will be available in Violet, White and this Black version. FINAL SCORE 5/5 for flex/quality/control 3/5 for Design of the binding is great and easy to use, but when we talk about the color and print, that we have to say we would prefer to have them in Violet or just pure black Price is going to be around 185,0€ so pretty Low *** for such a good binding Stiffness is Soft 2/5 and Lightness 4/5 (so very light). “New canted baseplates and the wildly successful Asym S2 highback combine to create comfort and cushioning, so you get to focus on just having fun.” -Claudia Mezzera, Union Binging Co. Next time we will show you our test of GNU B-Pro and GNU Klassy board with Roxy Team bindings. Stay tuned! |
Category: Interviews Created on Thursday, 02 April 2015 Written by Steve Conducted by Leighton Connor This is the continuation of my interview with Carter Newton about his new novel Suicide’s Run: A Tale of the Hobomancers (on sale now!) In the first part, which you can read here, Carter and I talked about how Carter went about translating an RPG setting into a novel and turning character sheets into real characters. In Part Two we talk more about the characters, and the particular challenges Carter faced as a white male trying to write a convincing black female character. Leighton Connor: One of the things I really enjoy about the book is the way you make the hobomancer characters so mysterious--since the book is from Suicide’s point of view, we only gradually learn about them as he gets to know them better, and we never learn all their secrets. Without getting into too much detail, which of the hobomancer characters was the most fun to write? Carter Newton: That’s hard! You basically just asked me to pick my favorite child. All of the hobos were fun in different places and for different reasons. Nugget was fun, because there’s some real fun in writing a curmudgeon. Scoreboard has a couple of very subtle jokes that I hope somebody catches and says, “Hey, you know...” I think Montana Handle ended up being the most like how I envisioned in the beginning. His WWPHITM was Christian Kane in Leverage. With a dash of Aragorn. Even the bad guys are fun to write. Particularly as they start posturing and jockeying for position. Okay, fine, it’s George Porter. She’s my favorite. LC: George Porter is an African American female, and you’re a white guy. When you were writing her, were you concerned that she would come across as . . . well, as a white guy’s flawed perspective on being a black woman in the 1930’s? CN: Concerned? Are you kidding? I was terrified. There’s a section in the Hobomancer rulebook that says, essentially, it was bad to be a hobo, it was worse to be a female hobo, it was even worse to be a hobo person of color, and to be a hobo woman of color was unspeakable. So in a moment of unbelievable hubris I said, “Okay, the leader of this crew of hobomancers is a woman of color.” And then I started writing, and after about ten pages or so, I realized what I’d done and that I needed to stop and read a lot to avoid some of the really bad traps in fiction. LC: Like what? CN: There’s a particular trope in fiction in which a person of color exists to do something magical for the main - usually white - character. Think Bagger Vance or Uncle Remus. And after I’d started re-reading what I’d done with George Porter, I realized that by definition I’d done exactly that. And then I kicked myself for about a week and a half. And after that I realized that it was important to keep George Porter, but also to make sure she went beyond the trope. I spent a lot of time on explicitly feminist websites reading about modern feminist theory and intersectionality. And then I thought about it a lot. Like about five months a lot. I spent a lot of time with my mouth shut reading about the experiences of women in disenfranchised groups, and letting those stories inform how I approached George Porter. I owe writers and commenters at websites like Jezebel and Shakesville an enormous debt of gratitude. Basically, what I had to do was to make sure that George Porter had her own story, and that it reflected both the reality and the possibilities of the time, and that it wasn’t about Suicide. There’s a professional interaction very early in the book that sort of sums up this sort of institutional underestimation of the capabilities of people of color. And it occurred to me that kind of day-in and day-out aggression by white people would lead to so much resentment, but if George Porter acts any of that resentment out...well, look at the statistics on lynching in America in the 20th century. Let’s be clear, it was hard for me to face this history of racism and sexism and responses to them to write George Porter as well as she deserved to be written, but it’s nowhere near as hard as it is for disenfranchised people to actually live it. I hope I’ve represented the experiences of those who educated me in a way that makes them feel heard. LC: Well, I thought you did a good job, but I’m another white dude, so I’m probably not the best person to ask. You mention that you did a lot of reading for your portrayal of George Porter. One thing that struck me, when I was reading the book, was how much you seemed to know about the 1930’s in general. I know that if I were writing a novel set in that time period I wouldn’t have been able to come up with nearly that level of detail. How much research did you do, and how much did you already know going in? CN: Approximately one thousand years ago I got a BA in history, but the 1930s in America was neither my region or my time period! I still really enjoy history, and an uncomfortable amount of my pleasure reading seems to be about US history between, say, the end of the Civil War and World War II. You know, the really happy, uplifting parts. The first half of the 20th Century in American history I find really interesting, because it feels a lot like the country trying to figure out how to be a nation and taking these grudging half steps towards being better at fulfilling the promise that all men and women are treated equally before the law and have equal access to the tools to achieve their potentials. Something else we’ve totally got covered now. The history of those faltering steps is largely a tale told against the backdrop of disaster and tragedy which sort of forces the hands of the powerful. John M. Barry’s book Rising Tide is one of those great books which takes the story of this natural event, the Great Flood of 1927 along the Mississippi River, and breaks down all of the economic impacts of the disaster, and what flood control means for the maturation of the Federal Government’s role in state issues, and the social implications for the people who live through it. I mean, you have this huge African-American diaspora from the Mississippi Delta to the industrial cities of the north, and from that you get things like Otis Spann, the piano blues player - without whom you’d have no Little Richard, and no Rock and Roll, and you have Detroit, which prospers partially because of this sudden influx of labor, and you also get Motown, without which you and I live in a very boring world! Also Wikipedia. Everybody should give them five bucks, at least once a year. I can’t tell you how many bizarre questions I typed into Google only to discover that, why yes, someone has written an article on Wikipedia about urban planning in Hoovervilles in the industrial North East. Wikipedia is the modern Library of Alexandria. Go give them some money. And, with that call to action, we draw to a close again. Be sure to check in tomorrow to see Carter and me talk about Good Jungle, the aftermath of disaster, and the real-life plot to overthrow FDR in a fascist coup. |
Mayor Karl Dean has reached an agreement with the state, the Nashville Sounds and a private developer to allow for a new minor league baseball stadium at Sulphur Dell. Dean's office announced the agreement in a release Friday afternoon. More details, including the financing plan, will be revealed Monday at two information sessions with members of the Nashville Sports Authority and Metro Council. Metro officials and project architects revealed information about what the project would look like at a community meeting last month. Per the Dean administration release: "The plan includes agreements with the State of Tennessee, which owns property at the proposed location; the Nashville Sounds, which would lease the ballpark from Metro; and Embrey Development Corp., a multi-family developer that has agreed to swap property at the proposed location with Metro." The proposed $40 million ball park would sit between Third and Fifth avenues north, and hold 10,000 people. The project also includes a new 1,000-space parking lot and a greenway. “The proposed ballpark's location in north Nashville would greatly enhance the Bicentennial Mall area and future plans for state projects there," said Gov. Bill Haslam. “This state, local and private partnership is good news for our capital city.” Sounds co-owner, Frank Ward, was similarly pleased. “We love being a part of the Nashville community and thank Mayor Dean and Gov. Haslam for providing leadership on this exciting ballpark proposal,” said Ward. “Greer Stadium has far outlived its useful life, and we can’t wait to give Nashvillians a top-notch experience at Sulphur Dell. Our investments, plus those of all our partners, will truly transform this area of North Nashville, and we are thankful for this opportunity. Let’s play ball!” With hopes for the stadium to open in time for the 2015 season, Metro hopes to finalize property and financing agreements before the end of the year. |
Earth Hour? We’ve all heard of Earth Day as it’s been around for about 40 years. But now, there is Earth Hour. This is brought to you by the WWF. Before you go looking for a picture of Hulk Hogan carrying the earth on his shoulders like Atlas, it’s not the World Wrestling Federation. Remember a few years ago the wrestlers were sued and so they had to change their name to World Wrestling Entertainment aka WWE. This would be the World Wildlife Fund and they are encouraging people from around the world to “…come together to make a bold statement about their concern for climate change…” They claim that millions of people will participate and illustrate their concern by turning off the lights for one hour. The time is to be March 27, 2010 at 8:30pm local time. That means that if everyone did it, an observer from space would see the lights go off sequentially from east to west around the globe. While it is a global effort, for some reason the United States is singled out and the Yanks are encouraged to show the way toward a “cleaner, more secure nation and prosperous America.” This is not the first Earth Hour though as it was launched 3 years ago. The WWF claims that last year over 1 billion people participated in 87 countries from 7 continents involving over 4100 cities including 80 million Americans in 318 cities. This year, National Geographic is claiming 121 countries will participate. On the one hand, it is called a “simple” gesture because all one has to do is to hit the light switch. Yet, the WWF does direct you to a “tool kit” to elaborate on how to participate. This reminds of an Aggie Joke: How many Aggies does it take to turn off a light? What would be an event that is supposed to bring global civic awareness without having a promotional edge? You can buy “Earth Hour Gear” if you want to express yourself by more than just turning off the lights. I’m not sure if profit is the main motive behind this global effort but, like all good intentions, there can be unintended consequences. Think about cigarettes. State governments across America are raising cigarette taxes under the notion that it will discourage smoking with higher prices. But, state budgets have become so reliant on revenue from the cigarette tax, if they were successful in their official motivation and everyone stopped smoking, then state government deficits would be such that sovereign state bankruptcy might be a real issue. In the case of Earth Hour, if everyone participates, there might be steep consequences. An official Earth Hour event in Thailand was cancelled due to safety concerns. A big crowd of people at night whom the bad guys know would be shrouded in darkness? Sounds pretty enticing or even inviting. But it apparently was a concern about “Red Shirt” demonstrators. Then there are technical issues. When you have a power grid designed for certain power load and their is a sudden change, that can tax the capability of that system. We normally think of power surges or excessive usage in a heat waver or something that disrupts the system. In this case, Earth Hour can cause complications from a sudden power drop off such that utlities have to take precautions to prevent the dark hour from becoming a dark night. But, in some parts of the states, it seems to me that the biggest obstacle may be the NCAA. Those guys went and scheduled the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament during Earth Hour! They should have checked the schedule. I can promise that, in Kentucky, when the University of Kentucky is playing in prime time for a shot at the Final Four, no one will turn off their TV and I doubt if any UK fans will be watching the game in the dark….after all…you need to make it safe for trips to the refrigerator or bathroom. Weather Bottom Line: Snow White and I took advantage of the fact that the clouds were chased away ahead of my schedule and so we went and fed the ducks at Cave Hill Cemetery. It was such a nice day, Lee Squires left early and who can blame him? Several geese and swans are sitting on their eggs which may be hatched for Easter, but we didn’t see any mallards on their nest. I think that it’s because the mallards are too smart to put their nests where just anyone can find them. We did have a couple of errant snow reports early this morning but, as I had warned, it was not consequential. One thing that I did fail to mention was the howling wind overnight. At one point, I thought that it was raining hard but instead it was just a pressure equalization occuring in rapid fashion. It will be cool overnight and Saturday still looks to be outstanding with highs back in the mid to upper 60’s. With that kind of turn around, a cold front must be on the way…and it is. Our timing will work out well again as during the heat of day, the storm system will be to our west. And, like the last system, this one will pass South. So, if there are stronger or frequent thunderstorms, they will be west and south of the area. Since this guy is coming through in the evening and with no sun (or lights for Earth Hour) then it will be very difficult to get sufficient lift to either form storms or keep them going. So, perhaps some rumbles of thunder Saturday night followed by clouds and rain on Sunday. The sun returns with mild but not too terrible conditions for the first part of the new week. |
It’s becoming more and more difficult to find juries that will produce a guilty verdict in marijuana cases, according to a judge in Missoula County, Montana. “I think it’s going to become increasingly difficult to seat a jury in marijuana cases, at least the ones involving a small amount,” District Judge Dusty Deschamps said Friday after potential jurors refused to convict a Montana man for having a 1/16 of an ounce of Marijuana. An April 23 search of Touray Cornell’s home found several used marijuana joints, a pipe, and some residue. He’s is also charged with the criminal distribution of dangerous drugs. Cornell’s neighbors had called the police because they thought he was selling drugs. The defendant admitted in an affidavit that he had distributed small amounts of marijuana. One potential juror after another told the court that they would not convict the man for possessing a 1/16 of an ounce. Deputy Missoula County Attorney Andrew Paul told the Associated Press that the jurors staged “a mutiny.” “District Judge Dusty Deschamps took a quick poll as to who might agree,” the Missoulian reported. “Of the 27 potential jurors before him, maybe five raised their hands. A couple of others had already been excused because of their philosophical objections.” “I thought, ‘Geez, I don’t know if we can seat a jury,” Deschamps said. Paul and Cornell’s attorney, Martin Elison, worked out a plea deal during recess. Public opinion “is not supportive of the state’s marijuana law and appeared to prevent any conviction from being obtained simply because an unbiased jury did not appear available under any circumstances,” Elison wrote in the plea agreement. Cornell entered an Alford plea Friday, not admitting guilt, but acknowledging there was enough evidence to convict him. The judge sentenced Cornell to 20 years with 19 of them suspended, to be served concurrently with his sentence in a theft case. Cornell was given credit for the 200 days already served. “I think it’s going to become increasingly difficult to seat a jury in marijuana cases, at least the ones involving a small amount,” the judge said. “It’s kind of a reflection of society as a whole on the issue,” he added. “If more potential jurors start turning down nonviolent drug cases, our drug laws will change,” Jason Kuznicki wrote for the blog The League of Ordinary Gentlemen. Jury nullification often happens when a law is perceived to be unjust. During alcohol prohibition, nearly 60 percent of trials were nullified by jurors. Nullification was also often used in cases involving the Alien and Sedition and Fugitive Slave Acts. In a more recent case, George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf suspected that jury nullification was used to spare former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. |
[1.622] Blueprint spawner shows correct resources cost [1.622] Warhead arming time saved [1.622] [ and ] zoom in and out on the map now [1.622] Flare module added to missile modules- can stick to enemy vehicles and attract your missiles to specific points on the vehicle, as well as protecting from IR missiles [1.622] Laser designated missiles will not seek to a laser that has hit a smoke cloud [1.622] Laser beam riders will not work beyond a smoke cloud [1.622] Heat viewer item available for characters [1.622] Missiles select target based on total temperatures of target [1.622] Laser warner can now trigger on missile lasers- toggle option in the Q GUI of the laser warner to activate this [1.622] ACBs can be triggered by the input of 'missile below X range' [1.622] ACBs can now trigger weapons to fire [1.622] Helispinners cannot be put into rotate and reverse rotate modes- which they do not suppport [1.622] Player death is an option in the map editor [1.622] You can control enemy AI in the vehicle designer [1.622] You can delete enemy vehicles from the vehicle designer [1.622] You can control propulsion blocks from the ACB and set their drive fraction (power scalar) [1.622] Vertical mirroring works for sloped blocks now [1.622] EMP missile warheads and EMP mechanics added to the game [1.622] EMP susceptibility shown in the inventory now [1.622] Damage display shown on the HUD [1.622] Surge protector component added to protect against EMP warheads [1.622] Many built in designs updated [1.622] White Flayer faction overhauled |
LONDON (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper group said on Friday one of its titles had hacked the computer of a former intelligence officer, an admission which critics said showed why his takeover of European broadcaster Sky should be blocked. Rupert Murdoch, Executive Chairman News Corp and Chairman and CEO 21st Century Fox speaks at the WSJD Live conference in Laguna Beach, California October 29, 2014. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo In a hearing at London’s High Court, Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers admitted “vicarious liability” for the hacking of computers belonging to Ian Hurst, who worked for British military intelligence. The case comes a month after Britain’s media minister said regulators should scrutinize Murdoch’s planned $15 billion takeover of Sky over concerns about broadcasting standards and its impact on media plurality. Hurst’s lawyer Jeremy Reed said in a court statement the Irish edition of the News of the World newspaper had hired a private investigator to intercept his client’s emails in 2006. Hurst had served in Northern Ireland and later wrote a book about his experiences, including details of Britain’s top spy in the Irish Republican Army (IRA), Alfredo Scappaticci, known by the codename “Stakeknife”. Reed said it was likely he was targeted because an employee of the newspaper wanted to trace Scappaticci. “I confirm that News Group Newspapers ... accepts vicarious liability for the wrongful acts of computer interception,” said Anthony Hudson, the lawyer for the newspaper group, adding it had paid “substantial” damages to Hurst and his family. “News Group Newspapers accepts that such activity happened, accepts that it should never have happened, and has undertaken to the court that it will never happen again.” Opponents of Murdoch’s takeover said the case was evidence the deal should not be allowed to go through and they would send a dossier to the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) which is examining the proposed deal. “It’s vital that the CMA is able to take this new evidence of criminality and corporate failure into account as it assesses the Murdochs’ bid to take over Sky,” said Tom Watson, deputy leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party. Murdoch shut the News of the World in 2011 after its journalists were found to have been involved in widespread phone-hacking. His original attempt to buy full control of Sky was ditched in the wake of the scandal. Since then the company has been split in two, separating the newspapers from entertainment assets to help to smooth the deal’s passage. Last month Murdoch’s son James said he was confident regulators would assess the deal on its merits and not be swayed by those with grievances against his father’s newspapers, saying the company had dealt effectively with past problems. |
This is the mail archive of the binutils@sourceware.org mailing list for the binutils project. Commit: Remove ARM NOREAD section support from GAS From: Nick Clifton <nickc at redhat dot com> To: binutils at sourceware dot org Date: Thu, 04 Feb 2016 11:57:30 +0000 Subject: Commit: Remove ARM NOREAD section support from GAS Authentication-results: sourceware.org; auth=none Hi Guys, I am applying the patch below to remove support for ARM's NOREAD section attribute from the assembler. I am not sure what I was thinking when I approved the patch, but it certainly was not about the spirit of the FSF and what it is trying to achieve. Supporting a feature which is deliberately about hiding code from the user is definitely not something that the FSF wants to promote. I am leaving in the code to detect and report this section attribute via readelf and objdump, but that is all. Thanks to Alan Modra for calling me up on this, and my apologise to all FSF supporters for my lack of judgement in originally approving the NOREAD patch. Cheers Nick gas/ChangeLog 2016-02-04 Nick Clifton <nickc@redhat.com> * config/obj-elf.c (obj_elf_change_section): Remove support for ARM NOREAD sections. * config/tc-arm.c (arm_elf_section_letter): Delete. * config/tc-arm.h (md_elf_section_letter): Delete. * doc/c-arm.texi (ARM Section Attribute): Delete section. * testsuite/gas/arm/section-execute-only.d: Delete. * testsuite/gas/arm/section-execute-only.s: Delete. ld/ChangeLog 2016-02-04 Nick Clifton <nickc@redhat.com> * testsuite/ld-arm/arm-elf.exp: Remove ARM NOREAD section tests. * testsuite/ld-arm/thumb1-input-section-flag-match.d: Delete. * testsuite/ld-arm/thumb1-input-section-flag-match.s: Delete. * testsuite/ld-arm/thumb1-noread-not-present-mixing-two-section.d: Delete. * testsuite/ld-arm/thumb1-noread-not-present-mixing-two-section.s: Delete. * testsuite/ld-arm/thumb1-noread-present-one-section.d: Delete. * testsuite/ld-arm/thumb1-noread-present-one-section.s: Delete. * testsuite/ld-arm/thumb1-noread-present-two-section.d: Delete. * testsuite/ld-arm/thumb1-noread-present-two-section.s: Delete. diff --git a/gas/config/obj-elf.c b/gas/config/obj-elf.c index 6d6d5f3..f4726ff 100644 --- a/gas/config/obj-elf.c +++ b/gas/config/obj-elf.c @@ -64,10 +64,6 @@ #include "elf/nios2.h" #endif -#ifdef TC_ARM -#include "elf/arm.h" -#endif - static void obj_elf_line (int); static void obj_elf_size (int); static void obj_elf_type (int); @@ -678,11 +674,6 @@ obj_elf_change_section (const char *name, /* RX init/fini arrays can and should have the "awx" attributes set. */ ; #endif -#ifdef TC_ARM - else if (attr == (SHF_EXECINSTR | SHF_ARM_NOREAD | SHF_ALLOC)) - /* ARM can have code section with SHF_ARM_NOREAD attribute. */ - ; -#endif else { if (group_name == NULL) diff --git a/gas/config/tc-arm.c b/gas/config/tc-arm.c index 055e525..be6436e 100644 --- a/gas/config/tc-arm.c +++ b/gas/config/tc-arm.c @@ -24094,16 +24094,6 @@ arm_fix_adjustable (fixS * fixP) #endif /* defined (OBJ_ELF) || defined (OBJ_COFF) */ #ifdef OBJ_ELF -bfd_vma -arm_elf_section_letter (int letter, char **ptrmsg) -{ - if (letter == 'y') - return SHF_ARM_NOREAD; - - *ptrmsg = _("unrecognized .section attribute: want a,e,w,x,y,M,S,G,T"); - return -1; -} - const char * elf32_arm_target_format (void) { diff --git a/gas/config/tc-arm.h b/gas/config/tc-arm.h index 749629c..319b2c2 100644 --- a/gas/config/tc-arm.h +++ b/gas/config/tc-arm.h @@ -114,9 +114,6 @@ extern bfd_boolean tc_start_label_without_colon (void); #define tc_frob_fake_label(S) arm_frob_label (S) #ifdef OBJ_ELF -#define md_elf_section_letter arm_elf_section_letter -extern bfd_vma arm_elf_section_letter (int, char **); - #define md_end arm_md_end extern void arm_md_end (void); bfd_boolean arm_is_eabi (void); diff --git a/gas/doc/c-arm.texi b/gas/doc/c-arm.texi index 886b024..8679424 100644 --- a/gas/doc/c-arm.texi +++ b/gas/doc/c-arm.texi @@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ * ARM Opcodes:: Opcodes * ARM Mapping Symbols:: Mapping Symbols * ARM Unwinding Tutorial:: Unwinding -* ARM Section Attribute:: Section Attribute @end menu @node ARM Options @@ -1239,14 +1238,3 @@ know more about the object-file format used to represent unwind information, you may consult the @cite{Exception Handling ABI for the ARM Architecture} available from @uref{http://infocenter.arm.com}. -@node ARM Section Attribute -@section Section Attribute - -@cindex ARM section attribute -@table @code -@item y -This letter specifies a text section with NOREAD attribute for -hardware that supports execute-only memory region. If not supported -by hardware a section with this attribute will be treated as normal -text section. -@end table diff --git a/ld/testsuite/ld-arm/arm-elf.exp b/ld/testsuite/ld-arm/arm-elf.exp index 258a3ea..a2082a8 100644 --- a/ld/testsuite/ld-arm/arm-elf.exp +++ b/ld/testsuite/ld-arm/arm-elf.exp @@ -312,18 +312,6 @@ set armelftests_nonacl { {"TLS shared library gdesc local" "--no-fix-arm1176 -shared -T arm-dyn.ld" "" "" {tls-lib-loc.s} {{objdump -fdw tls-lib-loc.d} {objdump -Rw tls-lib-loc.r}} "tls-lib-loc.so"} - {"PF_R not present when one noread section" "-static -T arm.ld" "" "" {thumb1-noread-present-one-section.s} - {{readelf -l thumb1-noread-present-one-section.d}} - "thumb1-noread-present-one-section"} - {"PF_R not present when two noread sections" "-static -T arm.ld" "" "" {thumb1-noread-present-two-section.s} - {{readelf -l thumb1-noread-present-two-section.d}} - "thumb1-noread-present-two-section"} - {"PF_R present when mixing noread section with read section" "-static -T arm.ld" "" "" {thumb1-noread-not-present-mixing-two-section.s} - {{readelf -l thumb1-noread-not-present-mixing-two-section.d}} - "thumb1-noread-not-present-mixing-two-section"} - {"Match SHF_ARM_NOREAD with INPUT_SECTION_FLAGS directive" "-static -T arm_noread.ld" "" "" {thumb1-input-section-flag-match.s} - {{readelf -l thumb1-input-section-flag-match.d}} - "thumb1-noread-not-present-mixing-two-section"} } if { ![istarget "arm*-*-nacl*"] } { |
Interact with this mysterious man from Olvia at night time to engage in some smuggling in BDO Overview [ edit ] Smuggling is a form of trading in Black Desert Online. It is highly profitable, but is considered illegal trading by the guards, and flags you for open PvP, making it the riskiest form of trading in the game. Black Rat League NPCs [ edit ] The NPCs that engage in this form of trading are labeled <Black Rat League> Mysterious Man These NPCs only appear at night (after 10:00PM) and disappear at morning. See below for the Mysterious Man locations. Secret Shops [ edit ] When you interact with the mysterious man and select "Smuggle", you will be presented with the secret store: The smuggler will present his trade stalls which contain exotic yet contraband items such as "Glishnomicon", "Heathen's Torture Device", "Heathen Amulet": Black Rat League Locations [ edit ] See below for screenshots and maps of the location of the Black Rat League NPC in each town. Click on an image to enlarge. (Credit for most images goes to /u/coldsource from /r/blackdesertonline on reddit) Glish Glish Map Keplan Keplan Map Olvia Olvia Map Velia Velia Map Altinova Altinova Map Calpheon Calpheon Map Heidel Heidel Map Tarif Tarif Map Strategy Guide/Tips [ edit ] |
A news report plays on a television as President Trump speaks to reporters in the press cabin aboard Air Force One on Sept. 14, 2017. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) Over the weekend, as Air Force One made its way to Vietnam, President Trump was questioned about Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore. Wasn’t it time, Trump was asked, for the president to cut his support of Moore, given a spate of allegations about his behavior with teenage girls several decades ago? “Well, again,” Trump replied, “I’ve been with you folks, so I haven’t gotten to see too much. And believe it or not, even when I’m in Washington and New York, I do not watch much television. I know they like to say — people that don’t know me — they like to say I watch television. People with fake sources — you know, fake reporters, fake sources. But I don’t get to watch much television, primarily because of documents. I’m reading documents a lot, and different things.” Trump continued, saying: “I actually read much more — I read you people much more than I watch television. But anyway, but so I have not seen very much about him, about it.” There are a lot of contradictions in that response. The Washington Post’s story about the allegations ran on Nov. 9; Trump was speaking two days later. There were more than 100 stories about the allegations in newspapers and on wire services on Nov. 9 and Nov. 10, according to Nexis — plus whatever coverage was on television. The National Republican Senatorial Committee had already pulled its funding from the race, though Trump claimed not to be familiar with the issue. Notice, though, that his response reveals how he takes in news: by seeing it. He doesn’t say, “I haven’t gotten to read too much.” And in case you think he’s using “see” in the broader sense of seeing things on TV or online, he quickly explains that he’s talking about television. Which he says does not watch much. After he left Vietnam, he traveled to the Philippines for a summit. While there, he was subjected to a horrifying experience: Being “forced” to watch CNN. While in the Philippines I was forced to watch @CNN, which I have not done in months, and again realized how bad, and FAKE, it is. Loser! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2017 There are multiple levels of weirdness here. Who did the forcing? Couldn’t he have chosen to not watch any television at all? Isn’t feeling compelled to watch television an odd thing to cop to days after insisting that you don’t watch a lot of television? That was one of two television-related tweets on Wednesday morning. The other: .@foxandfriends will be showing much of our successful trip to Asia, and the friendships & benefits that will endure for years to come! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2017 “Fox and Friends” is Trump’s favorite television show and he watches it regularly. We know this because he tweets about and at it all the time. Since his inauguration he’s mentioned “Fox and Friends” 86 times on Twitter, including seven times in the last month. Thank you @foxandfriends. Really great job and show! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 27, 2017 There are multiple articles linking Trump’s tweets to things airing on the show. One morning in May, he spent hours watching the show. When the “fake news” says Trump watches a lot of TV, it’s generally this show that’s offered as evidence. Trump is also apparently aware of what’s coming up on the show. Not “‘Fox and Friends’ showed much of my trip,” but “will be showing.” One reason Trump watches “Fox and Friends” is that it is blatantly and explicitly pro-Trump. Before running for president, he had a standing weekly interview segment on the show. After, he’s repeatedly praised and promoted it. How he came to be aware of what the show plans to air isn’t clear (media outlets covering a subject invariably tip off those subjects at some point), but that it is planning to promote his trip isn’t particularly shocking. The statement “I do not watch much television” is certainly relative to context. Trump may not watch much television relative to his pre-politics days, and he certainly spends more time reading briefing documents than he did two years ago. But Trump clearly watches more television than most presidents, relies on it as a primary news source and prefers to watch deferential coverage. It’s similar to how he uses Twitter. That’s not the image Trump would like to convey, as his comments on Air Force One make clear. The “fake sources” that say he watches a lot of television, though, center on a source very close to the president: his Twitter feed. |
Many people think Trump’s a bad president, and a dangerous one when he tweets. Yet, ironically, they can’t manage to look away. We’ve already heard that President Donald Trump is a cable news guy. He loves watching Fox and other television news shows, gets frustrated with bad news coverage from the “lamestream media,” and is prone to copious TV-watching at night, according to White House sources. We’ve also heard that Donald Trump has a rather short attention span. He’s long been notorious for his distractibility. According to Foreign Policy, NATO officials asked heads of state to keep their remarks under four minutes for the U.S. president’s sake during its discussions last month. Now, following a storm of controversial @realDonaldTrump tweets throughout the last week, we’re talking about the president’s use of Twitter and his social media engagement. He tweets things that contradict or disregard official White House statements, making for questionable PR practice. He occasionally makes foreign policy or national security statements that the media obsesses over, and the White House quickly contradicts. Obviously, Trump’s Twitter can be a headache for his staff. For the rest of us, it’s at times confusing, amusing, or alarming, depending on the tweet. But how accusatory can we actually be? In demonstrating his addiction to social media and cable news, it’s become increasingly clear that Trump is just like us. Yes, we need more from our president—more professionality, decorum, dignity. But do we deserve more? Do we even want more? The Plank In Our Collective Eye The funny thing is, Trump’s Twitter activity has always been greeted with a sort of glee on both left and right, from the earliest days of his presidential campaign until now. Yes, there’s also horror, occasionally: from folks who fear his tweets undermine diplomacy or national security, from the White House team whom his candor contradicts. But Trump’s enemies seize upon every tweet as a sign of increasing decay and corruption. Those tweets feed their mantra of doom. They make for good headlines, and welcome both snark and ire. And more often than not, one must admit, Trump’s tweets help legitimize their furor—he’s not a deliberate or thoughtful tweeter. He’s a reactionary one, whose tweets often seize upon emotional grandstanding rather than diplomatic messaging. Trump’s supporters, on the other hand, delight in his ability to smash the status quo and the polished façade of establishment politics. They like his contradictory, contrarian nature. The tweets he posts fit this profile perfectly: they capture the unpredictability, the outrage, the reactionary grandeur of Trump. He won’t be put in a box, even when he limits himself to 140 characters. Our Society’s Obsessed With Social Media But Trump’s tweets and TV-watching habits reveal more about our society than this. Our president mirrors our own technological activity, across generational divides. Trump’s part of a generation that often gravitates to cable news, as well as to talk show radio. Many Baby Boomers utilize Facebook and Twitter for familial connection, but social media has also increasingly become a political tool—one they use to embrace their political and cultural bubbles. Younger generations may watch less cable, but we’ve replaced it with Hulu, YouTube, and Netflix. We spend more, not less, time online. Our Facebook and Twitter feeds are often prey to the same insular—and vehemently political—habits that Trump’s are. We tend to engage in as much grandstanding, albeit from a different political bias or angle. According to recent studies, our collective attention span is shorter than that of a goldfish—we can focus on something for an average of about eight seconds. We ought to be able to demand more from our president and leaders, sure. But this is another instance in which Trump, while he may not be the president we need, is surely the one we deserve. We increasingly live in a Neil Postman society—in which we jump from sensational headline to sensational headline, in which we are quite happy “amusing ourselves to death.” In this society, the antics and sensationalism of Donald Trump fit the presidency all too well. He knows the entertainment machine, and he knows how to feed it. He’s been a reality TV star. For all his inexperience in the realms of politics and policy, Trump is not inexperienced when it comes to entertaining and/or horrifying us. We follow Trump on Twitter, and latch upon every gaffe and incendiary comment, either to make “nasty woman” and “bad hombre” T-shirts, or to add #covfefe to every single thing we post on Instagram and Twitter. We’re outraged with Trump’s lack of professionality, his diversion from the dignified presidential stereotype we hold near and dear. Yet we can’t stop talking or tweeting about what Trump says and tweets. People need to make up their minds: do they hate Trump’s Twitter, or love it? We Just Can’t Look Away So long as Trump gets our attention, he’ll keep tweeting. Here, too, he’s just like the rest of us: eager for accolades and attention, fueled by likes. Can we really get angry at someone who’s much like a funhouse mirror, showing us a distorted—yet still truthful—depiction of ourselves? Lately, whenever I think of Trump’s Twitter, I think of Lemony Snicket’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events.” His books always began with a warning not to keep reading. In Netflix’s new rendition of the series, starring Neil Patrick Harris, each episode started with the song “Look Away.” The gist and irony of that song, and of the books, is this: we like the drama and the tragedy. Even if we know things aren’t going to turn out well, we can’t look away. Even if it wrecks “your evening, your home life, and your day.” Many people out there think Trump’s a bad president, and a dangerous one when he tweets. Yet, ironically, they can’t manage to look away. That’s because all of us, if we would, must admit that we are just as obsessed as he is. |
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Claire Heald tries out one of London's cycle superhighways when it was introduced in 2010 Cycle lanes have become a familiar feature of city streets in the UK but from Monday, London is raising its game - opening bright blue "superhighways" for those putting toe to pedal. But is this a shade of things to come, or just a route to nowhere? Colliers Wood, on the jam-packed A24 and near a huge supermarket saver-centre, seems an improbable place to start a revolution. But just across from the Tube entrance, on the opposite side of the road, a 1.5m-wide painted blue lane has appeared. It is labelled "CS7" in white paint and stretches for 8.5 miles along a busy commuter route from this south London suburb into the city centre. It's one of two new superhighways to open this summer. The other goes between Barking, east London, and Tower Gateway, which is near Tower Bridge. Twelve such routes are planned in all, with details and maps available on the Transport for London website. Along with a forthcoming city-wide bike hire scheme, a new cycling police unit, 66,000 extra bike parking spaces before 2012 and better strategic planning, the hope of Mayor Boris Johnson is that they will spark what he calls a "cycling revolution". Image copyright bbc Image caption Superhighways - designed for cyclists... His transport adviser Kulveer Ranger says: "People think 'cycling revolution' and think of the hire scheme, superhighways... but it's a lot more than that. "Boris wants to see the culture around cycling evolving - we have to look at the infrastructure, securing bikes, cyclists' safety and embed cycling in transport policy." Schemes like the London cycling network - a range of routes across the city - were good, he says, but they didn't look strategically at where people needed to go. The London Cycling Campaign (LCC) estimates there are 550,000 cycle journeys in London daily. Transport for London (TfL) says that is an increase from around 250,000 in 2000 and it wants to increase it further, to help reduce pollution and relieve over-crowding on public transport and road congestion. The city's transport body wants to make the roads safer - there were 13 cyclist fatalities in 2009 in the capital. Its aim is to attract those put off by accident statistics and direct them towards continuous, well-marked and maintained, straight-forward commuting routes. Swarm of traffic So what are the new lanes like to cycle and can they fulfil their aims? An inauspicious start at 8am on a rush-hour morning signals a "no". Before you can answer the question: "Can you cycle easily along the superhighway?" you need to negotiate another: "Can you even pull out into it?" Image copyright bbc Image caption ...used by all With congestion at its height, there are lorries, buses, cars, vans and motorbikes everywhere, across both lanes of this main road, blocking the flash new textured surface on the left hand side. The traffic swarms under the leaden skies of an ugly summer's day. It's raining persistently and the wind gusts. Average British cycling conditions perhaps, but not the best for tempting would-be converts to the cause. But once the traffic blockade is negotiated, and the road begins to widen out a mile further north, it's actually quite a fast route, if you wriggle round the manhole covers. Often cyclists seek out quieter back roads for their journey, avoiding the heavy traffic and its dangers but adding "long-cuts". This, however feels like a direct A to B. With the adrenaline pumping and that ET cycle-sequence feeling of bikers all around, it's easy to get carried away with enthusiasm. But, hold the handlebars, isn't this just a glorified cycle lane? Perhaps, but it is a precious thing in the UK's towns and cities - a glorified cycle lane of considerable length, in a purposeful direction, stripped of street furniture and not finishing abruptly without explanation. Dream or disaster? At the frequent stops for traffic lights, what do the cyclists think of it? Image copyright bbc It gives inexperienced cyclists a false sense of security Tony Dann, Cyclist Liza Houghton is a bold woman - cycling her one-year-old son in a child seat to his childminder via quieter roads before commuting to work on the superhighway. "They're absolutely brilliant, anything that helps cyclists and makes it safer has to be a good thing," she says. "Cars are being forced to become more aware of cyclists. It's not that safe, you have to be really careful - the close shaves I've had have been with people on their mobile phones." She draws comparisons with London's European capital cousins. The UK still compares negatively with the cycling "dream" of Berlin or Amsterdam, but is better than "disastrous" Paris. Others carry their cyclists' insouciance well. Many of those gathered in the bike box at junctions - that space marked with a bike symbol that cars and vans creep into - say they notice little difference and question the benefits. Tony Dann, a former cycle courier with 14 years' experience riding in London, "can't really see the point". "They're on the main roads, the traffic's exactly the same as it always has been, there's nothing to stop cars from going in the lanes. I think it gives inexperienced cyclists a false sense of security." The £23m spent to research the scheme and set up the first of the 12 lanes is "a waste of money" he believes. But, he admits, he has no better plan. Bigger beasts To the right, some taxi drivers say they find the extra road markings confusing, especially when they fall in a bus lane - how much room should they give? There is no verdict from the van drivers whose windows are wound up against the pelting rain. The blurb from TfL about the lanes makes much of the fact they continue through junctions - but that does nothing to stop some trucks and vans repeatedly turning left and cutting across the cyclists. Cyclist fatalities in Greater London 2009 - 13 killed 2008 - 15 killed 2007 - 15 killed It's here that the LCC would like to see more investment, they want the city's massive one way junctions returned to two-way traffic and speed limits reduced. "We're disappointed it's not doing more, but investment has to continue," says spokesman Tom Bogdanowicz. At Southwark Bridge, after 45 minutes of cycling, some success lies in crossing the River Thames into the City still in one piece. Not without becoming lost, however - at one of London's most intimidating junctions, Elephant and Castle, the route takes a swing through the back roads but this cyclist missed the cues. Could these routes encourage beginners? Perhaps. The lanes look wide, but they are advisory, not enforced, and shared with the lorries, buses, more experienced cyclists - many can be unforgiving of mistakes. What cyclists hope they may provide is a highlighted and publicised route where they can come together in a critical mass - that could one day grant them equal reckoning with the bigger beasts of the road. |
India is ripe for a legal action that challenges mass surveillance of personal user data: not just that within the country, but also the collection of data of Indian citizens by US companies. A ruling today from the European Court of Justice has struck down the Safe Harbor mechanism (notes on how it worked below) which facilitates the transfer of personal data from the EU to servers hosted in the US, which essentially means that user data generated in the EU will have to be hosted in the EU, and be governed by EU laws for data protection. Quite simply, the court has said that the data held in US servers isn’t secure enough for EU data, given that the NSA’s ‘PRISM’ program gives the US government “unrestricted access to data stored on servers in the United States owned or controlled by a range of companies active in the internet and technology field, such as Facebook USA.” The Lowdown on the judgment 1. How this began: The ruling comes following a complaint from Maximillian Schrems in 2013, in which he said that the law and practices of the United States offer no real protection of the data kept in the United States against State surveillance, following the revelations by Edward Snowden in May 2013. The complaint was filed with the Data Protection Authority in Ireland, since the terms for Facebook in the EU are applicable to Ireland. Facebook Ireland keeps its subscriber data in servers in the United States. MediaNama’s take: Readers should note that the US National Security Agency is believed to be accessing servers of companies like Facebook, Google and Microsoft, which also store data of Indian citizens, apart from snooping via other means. Firstly, there is cause for someone to approach the Supreme Court of India, in the interest of protecting the rights of Indian citizens, to ensure that data belonging to and generated by Indian users isn’t accessible to the NSA, and companies like Facebook and Google are prevented from sending Indian data to servers in the US. Secondly, there is a need to push for a Privacy and Data Protection law in India, to ensure that rights of Indian citizens are protected. 2. The weakness of the safe harbour scheme: In its ruling, the court points that the safe harbor scheme is weak, given that it relies on self-certification and self-assessment by private organisations and some intervention by the public authorities. Categorically, the court points out that the safe harbour scheme, “does not contain appropriate guarantees for preventing mass and generalised access to the transferred data.” MediaNama’s take: Does data get transferred outside India under any particular law? We’re not sure, but it’s pretty clear that Indian citizens should not be subjected to mass surveillance by the US government, and India needs to take steps to ensure this. It’s the only way of ensuring that the data of Indian users is governed by the country where that data originates from, and not of the country in which it is stored 3. States must protect right to privacy and data protection: The court ruled that, referring to the NSA surveillance, that “where systemic deficiencies are found in the third country to which the personal data is transferred, the Member (EU) States must be able to take the measures necessary to safeguard the fundamental rights protected by Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter (of FundamentalRights of the European Union)”. Note that Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (link) includes: Article 7: Respect for private and family life ; Everyone has the right to respect for his or her private and family life, home and communications. Article 8: Protection of personal data 1. Everyone has the right to the protection of personal data concerning him or her. 2. Such data must be processed fairly for specified purposes and on the basis of the consent of the person concerned or some other legitimate basis laid down by law. Everyone has the right of access to data which has been collected concerning him or her, and the right to have it rectified. 3. Compliance with these rules shall be subject to control by an independent authority. The court points out that “Such mass, indiscriminate surveillance is inherently disproportionate and constitutes an unwarranted interference with the rights guaranteed by Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter”, and that “the continuing transfer would create an imminent risk of grave harm to data subjects“. MediaNama’s take: India doesn’t believe that the right to privacy is fundamental. To quote Mukul Rohatgi, the Attorney General of India, representing the Indian state: “The invasion of privacy is of no consequence because privacy is not a fundamental right and has no meaning under Article 21. The right to privacy is not a guaranteed under the constitution, because privacy is not a fundamental right.” 4. Rights of EU citizens and the usage of the data: The court pointed out that: – “…citizens of the (European) Union have no effective right to be heard on the question of the surveillance and interception of their data by the NSA and other United States security agencies.” – An additional factor is that the citizens of the (European) Union who are Facebook users are not informed that their personal data will be generally accessible to the United States security agencies.” – The United States rules on the protection of privacy may be applied differently to United States citizens and to foreign citizens. – Neither the US FTC nor private dispute resolution bodies have the power to monitor possible breaches of principles for the protection of personal data by public actors such as the United States security agencies. – “…transfers of personal data to third countries should not be given a lower level of protection than processing within the European Union.”…”The protection against surveillance by government services provided for in section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 applies only to United States citizens and to foreign citizens legally resident on a permanent basis in the United States.” – “…there are no opportunities for citizens of the Union to obtain access to or rectification or erasure of data, or administrative or judicial redress with regard to collection and further processing of their personal data taking place under the United States surveillance programmes.” MediaNama’s Take:What will it take our for the Indian government to protect data belonging to Indian users?India doesn’t have a data protection authority. In fact, we don’t even have significant enough protection for data collected within India, leave alone ensuring that our data is protected in other countries. Secondly, do citizens in India have a right to be heard regarding surveillance? Given the mass surveillance programs in India, from the Centralised Monitoring System, NETRA, linking of all user data to Aadhar, collating databases using NATGRID, and the secrecy that all of this is cloaked under, rules and regulations are enforced so that either this data cannot be collected, or that accessing it is subject to judicial oversight, independent of the executive branch of the government. * Also note that MediaNama has contacted Facebook India for responses to the following questions: 1. Where does Facebook store data from its Indian users? 2. Where does Facebook store data from its Internet.org users? 3. Does Facebook store any Indian user data within India? 4. Does Facebook provide data to the US’ National Security Agency (NSA), as revealed by Edward Snowden (and acknowledged by the EU court) under the PRISM program? Readers should note that Facebook hasn’t responded to our questions in the past six-eight months, and we’re not sure if they’ll respond now. * What does the Safe Harbor for user data provide for? – Users need to be informed about: the purpose for which data is collected, used, and on how to contact the organisation with any inquiries or complaints, the types of third parties to which it discloses the information, and the choices and means the organisation offers individuals for limiting its use and disclosure. A notice must be provided when individuals are first asked to provide personal information to the organisation or as soon thereafter, as is practicable, but in any event before the organisation uses such information for a purpose other than that for which it was originally collected or processed by the transferring organisation or discloses it for the first time to a third party’. – A choice to users: about “whether their personal information is to be disclosed to a third party or to be used for a purpose that is incompatible with the purpose or purposes for which it was originally collected or subsequently authorised by the individual. As regards sensitive information, an individual ‘must be given affirmative or explicit (opt in) choice if the information is to be disclosed to a third party or used for a purpose other than those for which it was originally collected or subsequently authorised by the individual through the exercise of opt in choice’” – Rules on the onward transfer of data. Thus, ‘to disclose information to a third party, organisations must apply the Notice and Choice Principles’; – Organizations need to take reasonable precautions to ensure that the data is protected from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration and destruction. – Data integrity: to ‘take reasonable steps to ensure that data is reliable for its intended use, accurate, complete and current’ – Users must be allowed to make changes: a person whose personal information is held by an organisation must, in principle, ‘have access to [that] information … and be able to correct, amend, or delete it where it is inaccurate’ – Users should be able to take action in case of non-compliance: “an obligation to make provision for ‘mechanisms for assuring compliance with the Principles, recourse for individuals to whom the data relate affected by non-compliance with the Principles, and consequences for the organisation when the Principles are not followed’.” |
With the help of the government, citizens, and the corporate sector, an NGO named ‘I am Gurgaon’ has managed to revive a forest on 350 acres of land — right in the middle of the city of Gurgaon. It would seem improbable now, but once upon a time Gurgaon was just a small town adjacent to the national capital. Today, it has changed into a magnificent millennium city. This transformation has been rapid and awe-inspiring, serving as an example of how cities evolve rapidly in a feat to achieve the millennium status of development and modernity and while doing so, have to bid farewell to fresh air, open spaces and clean environment. “The way the city has lost its greenery is worrisome. I have been living in Gurgaon for the past 20 years and am bothered at the way development has taken place,” says Latika Thukral, a resident. It is this concern that drove her to establish ‘I am Gurgaon’ — an NGO started with the aim of improving the quality of living in Gurgaon through collaborative efforts. The former Senior Vice President of Citi Bank, Latika founded I am Gurgaon nine years ago with architect Swanzal Kak Kapoor and Ambika Agarwal. “We are a ‘by the citizen, for the citizen’ initiative that has taken up the responsibility to make Gurgaon a better place to live in. The empowered citizens can contribute to the betterment of the city. We simply provide a platform where people can connect with other inspired people and all of us work together to make a difference,” she says. The NGO has managed to rejuvenate an entire forest in the city in the last nine years. Working hand-in-hand with the municipal corporation of Gurgaon, the NGO took up a mission to revive the Aravalli Biodiversity Park located in the Aravalli Range near Delhi border. Today, these 350 acres owned by the municipal corporation are home to thousands of trees of native variety and over 183 different species of birds. The area, which had become a mining and ‘malba’ dumping site in the past, has become one of the greenest spots in the city. Also read: Two Environmentalists Are Trying to Rekindle the Lost Bond between the Locals & the Forest at Panna The NGO has also taken up an initiative titled ‘Million Trees Gurgaon’ and has vowed to plant 10,00,000 saplings across the city. So far, the organisation has successfully planted about 1 lakh saplings, out of which 65,000 saplings have been planted at the Aravali Biodiversity Park. The organisation actively maintains the park by organising planting drives, nature walks, cleaning drives, leaf composting as well as cultural events. The collaboration has worked well — while the NGO has given support in terms of maintenance, plantation, and organisation, the municipal corporation provided land and infrastructure like an amphitheatre, parking space, cycling tracks and walking trails. “Aravalli Biodiversity Park has been a challenging project for us. Getting the municipal corporation on board and getting all the required permissions was really difficult. But it has been equally rewarding. We were very insistent on how we wanted to develop the park. We decided to plant only native species and created two large nurseries, Aranya and Vanaja in the year 2012. There we have over 250 native species of plants like Boswellia serrata (Salai), Sterculia urens (Kullu), Anogessius pendula (Dhau), Wrightia tinctoria (Khirni), and Commiphora wightii (Guggul). The park has also seen a growth in its bird population. With over 183 species of birds, it has become the favourite spot for local birders,” says Latika. The core team of the NGO consists of 11 committee members, all of whom work voluntarily for the organisation. But every project is completed only with the support of the public — school children, senior citizens, and others. “We have been actively working with Gurgaon civic bodies and resident welfare associations (RWAs) for the betterment of Gurgaon. We bring together citizens, RWAs, corporate organisations, schools, the state administration, and other stakeholders in a collaborative partnership to effect the transformation of Gurgaon into a true millennium city. We believe in long-term projects, which have a lasting impact,” says Latika. Also read: This Pune Organization Converts Plastic Waste into Poly-Fuel with No Damage to the Environment To know more about I am Gurgaon, visit their official website by clicking here. Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter. NEW: Click here to get positive news on WhatsApp! |
The Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) launched another powerful assault on the defensive barriers of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra (Tadmur), attempting to infiltrate past the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) frontline defenses at the northern, southern, and western flanks on Sunday morning. On Saturday morning, ISIS militants attacked the Syrian Armed Forces defensive barriers at the Palmyra National Hospital, where they attempted to break-through the 18th Tank Battalion’s fortifications after they took control of the strategic Al-‘Amuriyah Housing District to the north of this city in the eastern part of the Homs Governorate. In addition to their attack on the Palmyra National Hospital, ISIS was able to briefly infiltrate into the northern sector of the city, capturing three residential building blocks after fierce clashes with the SAA’s 18th Battalion at the outskirts of Palmyra around 10 A.M. Damascus Time. However, the SAA’s 18th Battalion – in coordination with the National Defense Forces (NDF) and Liwaa Suqour Al-Sahra (Desert Falcons Brigade) – launched a counter-assault on the militants from ISIS at Mount Qassoun located east of the city, resulting in the recapture of the strategic Radio and Television Communication Hill, along with the Palmyra Castle after killing over 40 enemy combatants. Following their recapture of Mount Qassoun, the Syrian Armed Forces attacked the combatants from ISIS at the ancient aqueducts, where they were able to take full control of this area, including the Palmyra Dam to the west, forcing the militants to withdrawal from the western flank. According to a military source from Liwaa Suqour Al-Sahra, the Syrian Armed Forces successfully forced ISIS to pull out of the northern sector of Palmyra; this has allowed for the SAA’s 18th Battalion to secure all defensive barriers around this ancient city. Fierce firefights were also reported at the Al-Hayl and Al-Arak Oil Fields, as the Syrian Armed Forces and ISIS exchange rounds of gunfire and mortar shells for control of this area. Advertisements |
Opera 25 brought back bookmarks in a whole new way, adding preview images to help you find your way back to the websites you love. Now, in Opera 26 for computers, you can share your bookmarks with your friends. Share bookmarks the way you like Select a few links or an entire bookmark folder and click Share. Then, copy the link and paste it to email, chat, or the social network of your choice. It’s as simple as that. Take a look: Import bookmarks from other browsers If you’re switching to Opera for the first time, you can import your bookmarks (and other data) from your old browsers: Select to Settings from the main menu (Preferences if you’re on Mac). Click Import bookmarks and settings… Select what data to import and from where. Then, click Import. Get a stable Opera for Linux There’s more good news! Opera for Linux moved to stable stream in today’s release. If you’re using Linux and you haven’t tried Opera yet, get it today. You can read more about Opera for Linux here. Download Opera 26: Opera 26 for Windows Opera 26 for Mac Opera 26 for Linux Take a look at the Opera 26 changelog. |
digmouse Profile Blog Joined November 2010 China 5165 Posts #1 WCS China Runner-Up Toodming + Show Spoiler + You lost in the finals of WCS China. Are you satisified with your performance? Mostly satisified, not able to be the champion mean I'm not good enough yet. It must be a lot of pressure dropping into Loser's Bracket, how do you see the double elimination rules? Indeed a lot of pressure going on, but it's a good trial for me, I almost played all the very best players lately. Double elimination is good, but depends on how many players are in, 32 player double elimination is way too fierce, I think 4 player group with double elimination is better. I just lost one more game, and I have to play so many more BO3s, even played Jim twice before the final, I don't think that is reasonable. But anyway I was thinking of losing to Jim before I came here, we are good friends. You are still teamless for now, any team in particular you want to join? Yeah, no team for now, personally I want to join Team Liquid. That is an unexpected answer, it's curious that why? Are you a fan of TL community or because of the salary and foreign tournament chances? TeamLiquid.net is also a big community in BW, I know them a long time ago and feel they are so dedicated in this, providing very good community and coverage for Starcraft fans, I love them for that. Liquid is the first foreign team I know about, besides of more stable salary, there will be more chances in big tournaments, but those are my personal opinion for sure. How will you prepare for the upcoming WCS Asian Championship and G-League finals? Since the Korean line-up for WCS Asia hasn't been decided I can't say for that. But I will get prepared for G-League.(T/N: Toodming will play in G-League 2012 Season 1 finals.) Any last words? Thanks to all the fans supporting me, I will do my best, and let the G-League champion stay in China! Mostly satisified, not able to be the champion mean I'm not good enough yet.Indeed a lot of pressure going on, but it's a good trial for me, I almost played all the very best players lately.Double elimination is good, but depends on how many players are in, 32 player double elimination is way too fierce, I think 4 player group with double elimination is better.I just lost one more game, and I have to play so many more BO3s, even played Jim twice before the final, I don't think that is reasonable.But anyway I was thinking of losing to Jim before I came here, we are good friends.Yeah, no team for now, personally I want to join Team Liquid.TeamLiquid.net is also a big community in BW, I know them a long time ago and feel they are so dedicated in this, providing very good community and coverage for Starcraft fans, I love them for that.Liquid is the first foreign team I know about, besides of more stable salary, there will be more chances in big tournaments, but those are my personal opinion for sure.Since the Korean line-up for WCS Asia hasn't been decided I can't say for that. But I will get prepared for G-League.(T/N: Toodming will play MvPTails in G-League 2012 Season 1 finals.)Thanks to all the fans supporting me, I will do my best, and let the G-League champion stay in China! Translator If you want to ask anything about Chinese esports, send me a PM or follow me @nerddigmouse. digmouse Profile Blog Joined November 2010 China 5165 Posts #2 Liquid`Toodming? Make it happen Nazgul! Translator If you want to ask anything about Chinese esports, send me a PM or follow me @nerddigmouse. SilSol Profile Joined April 2012 Sweden 2736 Posts #3 aww toodming want's to join Liquid! Well i can't really blame him! ;] http://fragbite.se/user/117868/silsol since 2006 http://www.reddit.com/u/silsol77 opterown Profile Blog Joined August 2011 Australia 42225 Posts #4 LOL nice Moderator Retired LR Bonjwa MrMercuG Profile Joined March 2011 Netherlands 2021 Posts #5 Liquid does need another zerg.... ZAiNs Profile Joined July 2010 United Kingdom 6503 Posts #6 I want to join TeamLiquid too! Testuser Profile Blog Joined June 2011 3676 Posts #7 Haha, well, he didn't want to beat around the bush I guess https://soundcloud.com/papercranesdk SpiZe Profile Joined December 2010 Canada 2532 Posts #8 On July 17 2012 23:37 ZAiNs wrote: I want to join TeamLiquid too! Yeah I was thinking the same thing ! Yeah I was thinking the same thing ! Lumi Profile Blog Joined August 2009 United States 1610 Posts Last Edited: 2012-07-17 15:27:53 #9 After seeing toodming's play a few days ago in this event, I'd say he definitely has the playskill. I hadn't really seen him in SC2 yet except for maybe one event that didn't leave an impression on me, as I don't remember how he seemed then. But the other night this guy was in some pretty good form. I want to see more toodming outside of Chinese events for SURE! This guy is definitely one of the absolute best (if not the) Chinese zergs. As much as eSports seems to be growing for China, it also seems like a bit of a blackhole that the rest of the global community doesn't get much exposure to. twitter.com/lumigaming - DongRaeGu is the One True Dong - /r/onetruedong Nekovivie Profile Joined October 2011 United Kingdom 2593 Posts #10 who doesn't want to join TL? :p If you are not supporting K-Pop you are hurting E-Sports. Mario1209 Profile Joined September 2010 United States 1076 Posts #11 come on TL! pick him up!! Co-Manager of Soviet Gaming * http://twitter.com/#!/sGMarioo * http://www.facebook.com/SovietGamingfanpage * https://twitter.com/#!/SovietGaming Eee Profile Joined August 2011 Sweden 2709 Posts #12 On July 17 2012 23:40 Lumi wrote: After seeing toodming's play a few days ago in this event, I'd say he definitely has the playskill. I hadn't really seen him in SC2 yet except for maybe one event that didn't leave an impression on me, as I don't remember how he seemed then. But the other night this guy was in some pretty good form. I want to see more toodming outside of Chinese events for SURE! This guy is definitely one of the absolute best (if not the) Chinese zergs. As much as eSports seems to be growing for China, it also seems like a bit of a blackhole that the rest of the global community doesn't get much exposure to. Sen used to be a pretty active part of our scene.. and now.. we hardly ever hear from Sen after his move to the Gamania Bears. Sen is from Taiwan, not China. Sen is from Taiwan, not China. nayuki Profile Joined September 2010 China 16 Posts Last Edited: 2012-07-17 17:59:18 #13 I'm S.163.COM's editor. This Interview's author. I really like ToodMing and I think he is one of the Best Chinese SC2 players. In kongfu Cup, a Chinese weekly tournament, ToodMing 4:2 Noblesse; ToodMing 2:1 MarineKing Win Noblesse‘s VOD: Win MarineKing's VOD: and now, in kongfu Cup, ToodMing is the only Chinese SC2 players win Korean. In Blizzcon 2011, ToodMing 2:0 Ret, 1:2 Mvp to Loser's bracket, 2:1 JazBas and 0:2 DIMAGA (a ZvZ master), But ToodMing lose WCS China champion, so that he must join Asian champion to get the ticket to BWC. I really hope ToodMing can stand on the BWC's stage, I think he will bring a surprise to sc2 fans. Thanks for digmouse translate.I'm S.163.COM's editor. This Interview's author. http://s.163.com/12/0717/22/86L8UU2K00314D0E.html I really like ToodMing and I think he is one of the Best Chinese SC2 players.In kongfu Cup, a Chinese weekly tournament, ToodMing 4:2 Noblesse; ToodMing 2:1 MarineKingWin Noblesse‘s VOD: http://s.163.com/12/0623/00/84L3MBV400314D0E.html(Chinese) Win MarineKing's VOD: http://s.163.com/12/0705/09/85KUR4JJ00314D09.html(Chinese) and now, in kongfu Cup, ToodMing is the only Chinese SC2 players win Korean.In Blizzcon 2011, ToodMing 2:0 Ret, 1:2 Mvp to Loser's bracket, 2:1 JazBas and 0:2 DIMAGA (a ZvZ master),But ToodMing lose WCS China champion, so that he must join Asian champion to get the ticket to BWC.I really hope ToodMing can stand on the BWC's stage, I think he will bring a surprise to sc2 fans. dellesh1ruH Profile Joined August 2009 Denmark 463 Posts #14 Nice interview! Good luck to you in the near future! Pain is temporary, Glory is forever! Yonnua Profile Blog Joined October 2011 United Kingdom 2225 Posts #15 Nah, he just means he wants to get an account on the forums. LRSL 2014 Finalist! PartinG | Mvp | Bomber | Creator | NaNiwa | herO Lumi Profile Blog Joined August 2009 United States 1610 Posts #16 On July 18 2012 00:12 Eee wrote: Show nested quote + On July 17 2012 23:40 Lumi wrote: After seeing toodming's play a few days ago in this event, I'd say he definitely has the playskill. I hadn't really seen him in SC2 yet except for maybe one event that didn't leave an impression on me, as I don't remember how he seemed then. But the other night this guy was in some pretty good form. I want to see more toodming outside of Chinese events for SURE! This guy is definitely one of the absolute best (if not the) Chinese zergs. As much as eSports seems to be growing for China, it also seems like a bit of a blackhole that the rest of the global community doesn't get much exposure to. Sen used to be a pretty active part of our scene.. and now.. we hardly ever hear from Sen after his move to the Gamania Bears. Sen is from Taiwan, not China. Sen is from Taiwan, not China. Aashdjfsdf! Thanks, and sorry. I thought that the Gama Bears were in a Chinese l eague.. but it's all Taiwanese. I appreciate this! Aashdjfsdf! Thanks, and sorry. I thought that the Gama Bears were in a Chinese l eague.. but it's all Taiwanese. I appreciate this! twitter.com/lumigaming - DongRaeGu is the One True Dong - /r/onetruedong RPR_Tempest Profile Blog Joined February 2011 Australia 7627 Posts #17 It'd be nice to see TL pick up a foreigner for the first time in about a year. Soundwave, Zerg player from Canberra, Australia. @SoundwaveSC EAGER-beaver Profile Joined March 2004 Canada 2790 Posts #18 Get this man a contract!!! Simon and Garfunkel rock my face off digmouse Profile Blog Joined November 2010 China 5165 Posts #19 But yeah personally I think it will be a long way to go. Translator If you want to ask anything about Chinese esports, send me a PM or follow me @nerddigmouse. Alopex Profile Joined July 2011 Australia 32 Posts #20 Would love to see liquid picking up a Chinese player! 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next All |
A few days back, I was sitting with an old man, a sage whose wisdom about politics was legendary. I was talking to him about the dismal nature of politics, about the mess the BJP creates around demonetisation and GST, about the lack of Opposition, about the failure of Tamil parties to offer a counterpoint. I ranted and raved as my wish list for politics increased and he listened silently, sipping coffee and nibbling his ration of biscuits. After half an hour, I paused more out of tiredness and the old man smiled. "The resistance has begun," he said. "AR Rahman has just composed a piece against demonetisation." Sceptical I gawked and said, "Are you serious?" and he laughed wickedly. Rahman is showing you the way. Think laterally and the BJP will start disappearing. He was referring to the fact that the BJP had acquired an enormity in my eyes which he seemed skeptical about. The BJP is a mediocre idea, kept alive by a majority afraid of new ideas, a world refusing to see the need for alternatives. He said think beyond caste and your standard electoral portfolios. The BJP is an idea of success built around all the inferiority complexes of the middle class, our fear of failure, our pride in a civilisation we don't understand, our pomposity and our prickliness about our status which we call nationalism. "Here is a party that does not even have great leaders and is so bereft that it tries to steal Bhagat Singh, Gandhi and Patel." He added that once you understand BJP as a Rorschach, a psychological projection of fears, you can beat it. It is like overcoming the paranoid part of yourself. I was wondering whether he was getting old and out of touch. I said, "What about the RSS and Amit Shah?", and he laughed and said, "A shakha is a lumpenisation of mediocrity." It is ideology at its worst. He said, "Forget caste, forget electoralism, imagine you are a revamped Rahul, looking at the great Congress party in tatters. How will you revive it? You cannot begin with the current Congressman as you have it, the Sachin Pilots, the Tharoors. They will last five minutes against Adityanath or an Amit Shah. They are better off at India International Centre than in the maidans of politics. You need a different breed speaking a different language." The BJP is an idea of success built around all the inferiority complexes of the middle class. Photo: PTI "Begin with a list of all those who feel the BJP policy has alienated, betrayed or ignored but use a different set of categories. The answer to Hindutva plus OBC plus Development cannot be a mirror image of it. Break loose, break free," he said. I began the exercise slowly and the old man was in no hurry. He sipped his fourth cup of coffee as if it was elixir. "Remap India in a different way. Begin with the immediacy of demonetisation and economics." I realised that one could create a different opposition. The first tragedy of the BJP was its alienation from agriculture. Here is a party that loves the cow, hails the river, but hates agriculture. The decline of agriculture, the slow break down of a whole way of life, the enclosure movement against agriculture is the first new constituency. Agriculture This regime has little sense of farm or farming and thinks technology is the solution to agricultural suicides. One has to return to agriculture as an imagination, as a way of life. Farmers all across India realise that this regime has no sense of the coming break down of agriculture, the sheer attempt to destroy the small farmer. He survives on faith because this regime, the old man hinted, had made agriculture unviable. Its indifference to the suicides was warning enough. I suddenly realised that the BJP was destroying a social fabric in its pursuit of an idiot modernity. Demonetisation was an attempt to break the informal economy of daily wage workers, migrants, the dhaba walas, the craft economy, all the little economies whose very transparency and scale required the immediacy of cash. The informal economy is the second great victim of the BJP and the myth of catering to the chai wala, its greatest fiction. Modi does not know or care that the plantation economies which provide tea are declining. There are people and constituencies which no one cares for. The third economy is youth, not the aspirational youth sitting for an IIT exam, ready to grab his green card as the first sign of nationalism, but the boy who makes it to school, gets a degree and finds his degree worthless. Unemployment is something the BJP has no grasp of. This regime has little sense of farm or farming and thinks technology is the solution to agricultural suicides. Photo: Reuters/File It uses the Bajrang Dal as lumens to threaten dissent, lives of the violence off unemployment but has no idea of how to create jobs. This is one regime that does not allow dissent because it is afraid of alternatives. Alternatives multiply diversity and opportunity and this regime is afraid of both. "Remember, youth cannot be consumers till they get jobs." Minorities I was intrigued by this time. The old man was creating a different scenario. It was not just social groups that he was sketching out but alternative imaginations. He claimed that the word minority had been reified to blind us to the epidemic of minorities, large continents of people whose livelihoods are being destroyed, tribes, crafts, etc. He added that the BJP destroyed civil society by thinking that the RSS and the shakhas would be a substitute for it. Civil society has to bounce back not as extension counters for development but as the site for alternative imagination. For the BJP, to belong to civil society is to be anti-national. They want citizens to be extension counters of the state. He stopped. "Add it up," he said. "Agriculture plus informal economy plus unemployed youth plus university plus civil society and you have the core of a new Congress. Think in terms of new categories because India must realise that BJP is a commitment to the outdated. India is being out thought and out fought and the biggest tragedy will be the destruction of livelihoods, imaginations, the new intrusion of violence in many forms. The old man was asleep over his coffee. (Courtesy of Mail Today) Also read: Why Modi government desperately wants you to link your mobile phone number with Aadhaar |
The “Phantom Nugget Thief” and his son front a new campaign to promote this intriguing “parent-and-child” sauce set. McDonald’s has been catering to the local market in Japan with a number of exclusive menu items over the years, with customers lining up for limited-edition delights like Full Moon Cheese Tsukimi Burgers and sakura cherry blossom-flavoured McFlurries. Last year, McDonald’s even offered up an 18-karat gold nugget prize to Chicken McNugget customers and introduced a yellow-suited character called the “Phantom Nugget Thief” as part of the campaign. This year. the Nugget Thief is back again, and now he’s brought his son along for the festivities, with the two joining forces to promote a new “parent-and-child” sauce set featuring the traditional Japanese flavours of wasabi and teriyaki. Check out the “Phantom Nugget Thief” and his son, “Tiny Phantom Nugget Thief” promoting the new sauce set below: The Otona Wasabi Mayo (Adult Wasabi Mayo) sauce is said to contain the invigorating taste of Japanese horseradish, mellowed out with a slight sweetness thanks to the addition of mayonnaise. While there’s a slight kick to the sauce that adults will love, it’s mild enough to be enjoyed by children too. The Wanpaku Teriyaki Mayo (Naughty Teriyaki Mayo) sauce is a combination of creamy mayonnaise and rich, sweet teriyaki flavours. It’s said to be a familiar taste for local customers, as Japanese dishes like shogayaki (grilled pork and ginger) are often served with a mix of soy sauce and mayonnaise toppings. The new sauce set will be available with any Chicken McNugget purchase during the campaign period, but as an extra special treat, McDonald’s will be selling 15-piece boxes with the two sauces for 390 yen (US$3.57), which is 30 percent cheaper than the usual retail price of 570 yen. The two new sauces will only be available for a short time, from 26 April to 16 May, which also covers the Golden Week holiday period in Japan; a prime time for parents and children to be enjoying meals together while out and about on short trips around the country. Source, images: McDonald’s Japan |
This post provides an overview of some lessons I learned while bulding non-trivial REST APIs. Last year I spent a good deal of the year designing and implementing a handful of non-trivial REST APIs for a customer of mine. During that process, I learned some small lessons about the design of RESTful systems that I haven't seen described elsewhere, and I want to share these lessons with you. In order to learn the concepts and philosphy behind REST, I think that REST in Practice is a great resource (pun intended), but when it comes to practical guidance, I find the RESTful Web Services Cookbook invaluable. It's full of useful and concrete tips and tricks for building RESTful APIs, but I don't remember reading about the following lessons, that I had to learn the hard way. There's so much hype and misrepresentation about REST that I have to point out that when I'm talking about REST, I mean full-on, level 3 REST, with resources, verbs, hypermedia controls and the works. Each of these lessons deserves a small article of its own, but here's an overview: I hope you find these tips useful. |
What blissful days these must be for the alt-right. Their preferred candidate for president is transitioning into the White House. Their champion, Steve Bannon, formerly CEO of the most mainstream media platform for alt-right voices on the internet, Breitbart.com, has secured a place in the West Wing at elbow's length from the new president. And the conventional media seem to be stumbling around trying to decide whether to explain the alt-right, ignore it, censor it or refuse to even speak its name. Josh Marshall, at Talking Points Memo, fears the very term "alt-right" is a sinister "branding move" to give cover to racists. Instead, he suggests journalists should use phrases such as "the alt-right, a white nationalist, anti-Semitic movement." Folks, "Alt-Right" is a branding move for White Nationalists, Racists and Anti-Semites, neo-Nazis. I've used it. But we shouldn't use it. —@joshtpm The alt-right abbreviation refers to the alternative right, a term most often attributed to Richard Spencer. You may have seen his name recently. He's a white nationalist about whom much has been written since Twitter suspended his and other supposed alt-right accounts on Tuesday in a crackdown on what it considers hate speech. Was blocking a blunder? There has been much discussion about whether that was a smart move and, indeed, so far it looks like a blunder. The only payoff seems to be for the alt-right who, predictably, is delighted to accuse Twitter of censorship. Spencer's thoughts can still be found all over social media, YouTube and even the established media. But now, we should presume he's also happily reveling in his new status as a victim of what he calls "corporate Stalinism." "There is a great purge going on, and they are purging people based on their views," he says in a video posted after the Twitter ousting. It's no coincidence this has happened in the wake of Trump's election. The alt-right is skilled at social media; social media had a role in Trump's victory, so some of its owners see Trump's success as their failure. But to members of the alt-right, Twitter's attack on their voices only proves the argument that big corporate media always act to stifle dissent. When media move in a different direction and try to unpack what the alt-right means — to understand and explain it — the result can be just as unsatisfying. This week, NPR invited Breitbart.com senior editor Joel Pollak onto its morning program to share some of his insights about his former boss. When the host asked why Bannon made Breitbart.com, in Bannon's own words "the platform for the alt-right," Pollak seemed to deny the premise. "The only alt-right article we have is a single article out of tens of thousands of articles, which is a journalistic article about the alt-right," he said. "[The article] basically went into this movement and tried to figure out what it was about. That's not racist. That's journalism." Bannon has acknowledged that the alt-right may attract some racists, homophobes and anti-Semites, but says he does not share those opinions. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters) That answer is disingenuous in every respect. The journalistic article he refers to, An establishment conservative's guide to the alt-right, is a smug and flattering defence of the movement — and a worthwhile read. In a self-aggrandizing way (co-author Milo Yiannopoulos is one of the alt-right movement's most prominent proponents), the piece shines light on what it calls a "dangerously bright" and "fearsomely intelligent" mix of renegades, mostly white males, who object to "the established political consensus in some form or another." Juvenile pranksters? It's worth reading to understand why the alt-right can't be ignored and what the terms of engaging in battle with it are. Its authors concede there are Nazi elements to the alt-right, but they argue Nazis are an unpopular minority in an amorphous group and aren't taken seriously by the vast majority of the movement. What should be taken seriously, they say, are the intellectual arguments behind the alt-right that are a pushback against decades of what they consider to be the left's smothering of legitimate conversations about race, immigration and gender. Some of those ideas come from familiar oldsters (H.L. Mencken, Pat Buchanan), but most of the alt-right seems to be youngsters. The alt-right includes a loose collection of juvenile pranksters out for a lark online, Yiannopoulos and his co-author, Allum Bokhari, argue. The little scamps like to provoke, and when they see boundaries around social and political taboos, their instinct is to cross those boundaries and strike a blow against political correctness. They might make jokes about the Holocaust, for instance. Probably the article's most chilling insight is that the young people of the alt-right are not sincerely racist but they do think racism can be fun. Yes, fun. "Millennials aren't old enough to remember the Second World War or the horrors of the Holocaust," the authors write. "They are barely old enough to remember Rwanda or 9/11. Racism for them is a monster under the bed, a story told by their parents to frighten them into being good little children." Can that really be true? If it is, then those who fear the alt-right is a slippery slope back to the worst horrors of the 20th century are only fooling themselves if they believe naming the threat makes any difference. It can't be censored, ignored or wished away. |
Kathleen Goodman and John Mueller are two academics that kind of fly under the radar in the atheist community. In 2009 they published a study in the Chronicle of Higher Education titled Atheist Students on Campus: From Misconceptions to Inclusion. That paper influenced my life greatly and I used it repeatedly when I was high school organizer with the SSA. They’ve each published new papers that I’m currently reading and thought I’d pass along to you. The first, by Mueller, is Understanding the Atheist College Student: A Qualitative Examination. It was recently published in the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice. The purpose of this study was to examine and understand atheist college students’ views on faith and how they experience the college campus as a result. I conducted interviews with 16 undergraduate and graduate self-identified atheist college students. Students discussed losing faith and transitioning to atheism; making meaning of life, death, and morality; and experiencing campus life as an atheist. Theoretical considerations as well as implications for practice and research are presented. Drawing upon semi-structured interviews with 10 self-identified atheist men in the American Midwest, this qualitative study explored their perspectives regarding atheism, gender, and feminism. The data was analyzed using consensual qualitative research methodology (Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997). Results indicated these men had a proclivity for freethought—a commitment to questioning things and prioritizing reason over all else. They believed gender differences were primarily due to cultural and social influence in society. Gender inequality was highlighted as a problem within the U.S. and throughout the world, however this belief did not necessarily lead to being feminist-identified. There appeared to be a pathway linking their intellectual orientation, atheism, and belief in gender equality. The other , by Goodman, is Do Atheism and Feminism Go Hand-In-Hand?: A Qualitative Investigation of Atheist Men’s Perspectives About Gender Equality. Check ’em out. |
Getting on a train always involves a certain amount of guesswork. You don’t know where the train will stop on the platform or where you should stand to get a seat. One car might be full, another nearly empty. Inevitably, you’re stuck boarding the former (or running madly for the latter). In the Netherlands, a new system designed to reduce shuffling on the platform tells riders exactly where to stand to get an open seat. It’s a 590-foot-long LED screen that hangs above the train platform and uses intuitive color-coding and symbols to show exactly where to stand to make boarding easier once the train arrives. “People have no idea they can walk farther to find free seats,” says Joost Holthuis, an Amsterdam-based creative director of the design agency Edenspiekermann (founded by German typographer Erik Spiekermann). “That was our main business case for our project.” Long, illuminated blocks of blue span the length of each car, marking the space where the cars will pull in (and where the gaps between cars will be). Using information from infrared sensors in the train doors, the sign notes where seats are available–a block of green means that part of the train is empty, orange means semi-crowded, and red means that section is full. A white block with a perpendicular arrow indicates where the door will be once the train stops. Large numbers reveal whether each car is for first or second class, and symbols near the door signs–like a man with his finger to his lips–show where to stand for the quiet car, where you can board with a bike and which entrances are handicap-accessible. ProRail, the organization that maintains platforms and stations on the national rail network, initially hired Edenspiekermann to come up with a way to speed up the transfer process at rush hour. That way, ProRail would be able to increase the capacity of trains the station could handle each hour. Holthuis* and his team spent three years researching the problem, working to get Dutch Railways (NS)–the state-owned rail service–involved, and coming up with concepts. The only complaint about the service was that it wasn’t implemented in more stations. “A lot of passengers are quite confused on the platform,” explains Holthuis. “You can’t predict where the train will stop, where it’s busy. It’s very crowded on the platform.” Jostling crowds can be dangerous on a narrow platform, and the signage also reduces the amount of moving around people do, making it a little safer. A four-month pilot test in 2013 using the system in the Den Bosch railway station in the southern Netherlands proved successful in improving customer satisfaction, according to Dutch Railways. “We saw the people behave just as we wish they do,” Holthuis says. “They waited in line at the place they could expect the doors. There was almost no movement on the platform.” The only complaint about the service was that it wasn’t implemented in more stations, he says. |
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor chastised a federal prosecutor for invoking racial profiling while questioning a witness in a drug conspiracy trial. CNN reported on Monday that Sotomayor and fellow Justice Stephen Breyer criticized the attorney while denying the defendant’s appeal in the case, calling it “deeply disappointing to see a representative of the United States resort to this basic tactic more than a decade into the 21st century. We expect the government to seek justice, not fan the flames of fear and prejudice.” The prosecutor, who was not identified, allegedly asked the defendant, Bongani Charles Calhoun, during cross-examination, “You’ve got African-Americans, you’ve got Hispanics, you’ve got a bag full of money. Does that tell you–a light bulb doesn’t go off in your head and say, This is a drug deal?” According to SCOTUS Blog, Calhoun contended that he did not know what was going on when a friend brought the money to him in a hotel room. Sotomayor agreed with the court’s majority opinion that the appeal be rejected because Calhoun and his lawyer did not pursue arguments they could have made in lower courts and in their petition to the Supreme Court. She also chided U.S. Justice Department officials for dismissing the attorney’s remarks as “impolitic,” as well as Calhoun’s defense attorney for failing to object to that line of questioning. “I hope never to see a case like this again,” she said. [Image via Wikipedia] |
This article is about self-photographs. For other uses, see Selfie (disambiguation) Selfie with a cellphone camera and DSLR camera combined. Selfie from a radio host A selfie ()[1] is a self-portrait type image, typically taken with a smartphone which may be held in the hand or supported by a selfie stick. Selfies are often shared on social networking services such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram. They are often casual in nature (or made to appear casual). "Selfie" typically refers to self-portrait photos taken with the camera held at arm's length, as opposed to those taken by using a self-timer or remote. A selfie, however, may include multiple subjects. As long as the photo is being taken by one of the subjects featured, it is considered a selfie. History [ edit ] In 1839, Robert Cornelius, an American pioneer in photography, produced a daguerreotype of himself which ended up as one of the first photographs of a person. Because the process was slow he was able to uncover the lens, run into the shot for a minute or more, and then replace the lens cap.[2] He recorded on the back "The first light picture ever taken. 1839."[2][3] A copy of his "first selfie" graces his tombstone at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1900, the debut of the portable Kodak Brownie box camera led to photographic self-portraiture becoming a more widespread technique. The method was usually by mirror and stabilizing the camera either on a nearby object or on a tripod while framing via a viewfinder at the top of the box.[4] Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, at the age of 13, was one of the first teenagers to take her own picture using a mirror to send to a friend in 1914. In the letter that accompanied the photograph, she wrote, "I took this picture of myself looking at the mirror. It was very hard as my hands were trembling."[5] During the 1970s, photographic self-portraiture flourished when affordable instant cameras birthed a new medium of self-expression, capturing uncharacteristically personal insight into otherwise conservative individuals[6] and allowing amateurs to learn photography with immediate results.[7] This practice transitioned naturally across to digital cameras as they supplanted film cameras around the turn of the millennium. On 13 September 2002, the first known use of the word selfie in any paper or electronic medium appeared in an Australian internet forum – Karl Kruszelnicki's 'Dr Karl Self-Serve Science Forum' – in a post by Nathan Hope.[8][9] Although Hope later dismissed the notion that he coined the term, describing it as "something that was just common slang at the time, used to describe a picture of yourself", he wrote the following:[12] "Um, drunk at a mates 21st, I tripped ofer (sic) and landed lip first (with front teeth coming a very close second) on a set of steps. I had a hole about 1cm long right through my bottom lip. And sorry about the focus, it was a selfie." The concept of uploading group self-taken photographs to the internet, although with a disposable camera and not a smartphone, dates to a webpage created by Australians in September 2001, including photos taken in the late 1990s (captured by the Internet Archive in April 2004).[10][11][12] The Sony Ericsson Z1010 mobile phone, released in late 2003, introduced the concept of a front-facing camera which could be used for selfies and video calls.[13] These cameras became common on mobile devices, such as the iPhone 4 (2010).[14] In 2011, the Instagram photo-sharing and social networking service introduced auto filters, allowing users to easily alter their photos.[14] In 2013, the word selfie was added to the Oxford English Dictionary.[14] Popularity [ edit ] Although the widespread use of the term is fairly new, photos in the selfie genre have existed for much longer. In the early 2000s, before Facebook became the dominant online social network, self-taken photographs were particularly common on MySpace. However, writer Kate Losse recounts that between 2006 and 2009 (when Facebook became more popular than MySpace), the "MySpace pic" (typically "an amateurish, flash-blinded self-portrait, often taken in front of a bathroom mirror") became an indication of bad taste for users of the newer Facebook social network. In 2009 in the image hosting and video hosting website Flickr, Flickr users used 'selfies' to describe seemingly endless self-portraits posted by teenagers.[15] According to Losse, improvements in design—especially the front-facing camera of the iPhone 4 (2010), mobile photo apps such as Instagram and Snapchat led to the resurgence of selfies in the early 2010s.[16] Social media apps like Instagram and Snapchat encourage people to take selfies with features like Geofilters, hashtag linking of related topics, and picture stories. Geofilters allow people to take selfies with overlays that can be comedic, altering your selfie image with the ability to show where you are located. In September 2017, Instagram boasted 500 million daily active users of its self-promotion, selfie-sharing app and 800 million monthly active users.[17][18] Snapchat reports 178 million daily active users of its service. As of July 2017, in order of popularity, the four most popular social networking services are Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and Snapchat.[19] Initially popular with young people, selfies gained wider popularity over time.[20][21] Life and business coach Jennifer Lee, in January 2011, was the first person to coin it as a hashtag on Instagram.[22][23] By the end of 2012, Time magazine considered selfie one of the "top 10 buzzwords" of that year; although selfies had existed long before, it was in 2012 that the term "really hit the big time".[24] According to a 2013 survey, two-thirds of Australian women age 18–35 take selfies—the most common purpose for which is posting on Facebook.[21] A poll commissioned by smartphone and camera maker Samsung found that selfies make up 30% of the photos taken by people aged 18–24.[25] By 2013, the word "selfie" had become commonplace enough to be monitored for inclusion in the online version of the Oxford English Dictionary.[28] In November 2013, the word "selfie" was announced as being the "word of the year" by the Oxford English Dictionary, which gave the word itself an Australian origin.[29] In August 2014, selfie was officially accepted for use in the word game Scrabble.[30][31] Selfies have also been taken beyond Earth. Selfies taken in space include those by astronauts,[32] an image by NASA's Curiosity rover of itself on Mars,[33] and images created by an indirect method, where a self-portrait photograph taken on Earth is displayed on a screen on a satellite, and captured by a camera.[34] In 2011, a crested black macaque pressed a trigger on a wildlife photographer's camera, set up in an Indonesian jungle for that specific purpose; when the camera was later recovered it was found to contain hundreds of selfies, including one of a grinning female macaque. This incident set off an unusual debate about copyright.[35] In 2016, a federal judge ruled that the monkey cannot own the copyright to the images.[36] In October 2013, Imagist Labs released an iOS app called Selfie, which allows users to upload photos only from their front-facing smartphone camera.[37] The app shows a feed of public photos of everyone's selfies and from the people they follow. The app does not allow users to comment and users can only respond with selfies. The app soon gained popularity among teenagers. In describing the popularity of the "foot selfie", a photograph taken of one's feet while sunbathing at exotic locations, The Hollywood Reporter said that it could be "2014's social media pose to beat".[38] In January 2014, during the Sochi Winter Olympics, a "Selfie Olympics" meme was popular on Twitter, where users took self-portraits in unusual situations.[39] The spread of the meme took place with the usage of the hashtags #selfiegame and #selfieolympics.[40] In April 2014, the advertising agency iStrategyLabs produced a two-way mirror capable of automatically posting selfies to Twitter, using facial recognition software.[41] Selfies have been popular on social media.[42] Instagram has over 53 million photos tagged with the hashtag #selfie. The word "selfie" was mentioned in Facebook status updates over 368,000 times during a one-week period in October 2013. During the same period on Twitter, the hashtag #selfie was used in more than 150,000 tweets. The pop-up museum called The Museum of Selfies is scheduled to open its doors to all selfie lovers in the year 2018 in Glendale, a suburb of Los Angeles County, California.[43] Sociology [ edit ] Taking selfies is common at wedding ceremonies. Diagonal selfie taken on a camping trip. The appeal of selfies comes from how easy they are to create and share, and the control they give people over how they present themselves. Many selfies are intended to present a flattering image of the person, especially to friends whom the photographer expects to be supportive.[20][21] Those selfies would be taken on trips, during activities that are considered interesting or as a group selfie with interesting or attractive people. However, a 2013 study of Facebook users found that posting photos of oneself correlates with lower levels of social support from and intimacy with Facebook friends (except for those marked as Close Friends).[44] The lead author of the study suggests that "those who frequently post photographs on Facebook risk damaging real-life relationships."[45] The photo messaging application Snapchat is also largely used to send selfies. Some users of Snapchat choose to send intentionally-unattractive selfies to their friends for comedic purposes. Posting intentionally unattractive selfies has also become common in the early 2010s—in part for their humor value, but in some cases also to explore issues of body image or as a reaction against the perceived narcissism or over-sexualization of typical selfies.[46] The practice of taking selfies has been criticised not only for being narcissistic, preventing assessment and appreciation of what is happening in the present, but also for being mindlessly conformist behaviour, when everyone does what everyone else is doing, "like that scene in The Life of Brian – where the crowd gathers outside Brian's window and enthusiastically chants in unison: 'Yes, we're all individuals! ... Yes, we are all different!'"[47] However, this has been disproved by more nuanced and detailed analyses of the genre.[48] Gender roles, sexuality, and privacy [ edit ] Selfies are popular among both genders; however, sociologist Ben Agger describes the trend of selfies as "the male gaze gone viral", and sociologist and women's studies professor Gail Dines links it to the rise of "porn culture" and the idea that sexual attractiveness is the only way in which a woman can make herself visible.[49] Feminist writer Megan Murphy has pointed out that posting images publicly or sharing them with others who do so may have a dramatic effect in the case of revenge porn, where ex-lovers post sexually explicit photographs or nude selfies to exact revenge or humiliate their former lovers.[49] Nonetheless, some feminists view selfies as a subversive form of self-expression that narrates one's own view of desirability. In this sense, selfies can be positive and offer a way of actively asserting agency.[50] In 2013 in the blog Jezebel, author Erin Gloria Ryan criticized selfies, believing that the images they often portray, as well as the fact that they are usually posted to social media with the intent of getting positive comments and "likes", reinforce the "notion that the most valuable thing [a young woman] has to offer the world is her looks."[51] The Jezebel post provoked commentary on Twitter from users arguing that selfies could be positive for women by promoting different standards of beauty.[52] Media critic Jennifer Pozner saw selfies as particularly powerful for women and girls who did not see themselves portrayed in mainstream media.[53] Research shows that there is a particular difference between perspectives of youngsters and adults. "While not all representative of all young people's experiences of digital picture-sharing cultures, these discussions point to a significant gap between young people's own interpretations of their ordinary or everyday digital practices and adults’ interpretations of these practices."[54] Celebrity selfies [ edit ] Many celebrities – especially sex symbols – post selfies for their followers on social media, and provocative or otherwise interesting celebrity selfies are the subject of regular press coverage. Some commentators, such as Emma Barnett of The Telegraph, have argued that sexy celebrity selfies (and sexy non-celebrity selfies) can be empowering to the selfie-takers but harmful to women in general as they promote viewing women as sex objects.[55] Actor and avid selfie poster James Franco wrote an op-ed for The New York Times defending this frequent use of selfies on his Instagram page.[56] Franco defends the self-portrait stating they should not be seen as an egocentric act, but instead a journalistic moment as the selfie "quickly and easily shows, not tells, how you're feeling, where you are, what you're doing" in a way that a text communication might fail to convey.[56] A selfie orchestrated during the 86th Academy Awards by host Ellen DeGeneres was, at one point, the most retweeted tweet ever.[57][58] DeGeneres said she wanted to pay homage to Meryl Streep's record 18 Oscar nominations by setting a new record with her, and invited twelve other Oscar celebrities to join them, which included Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Channing Tatum, Bradley Cooper, Kevin Spacey, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Lupita Nyong'o, Jared Leto and Jennifer Lawrence. The resulting photo of the celebrities broke the previous retweet record within forty minutes, and was retweeted over 1.8 million times in the first hour.[59][60][61] By the end of the ceremony it had been retweeted over 2 million times, less than 24 hours later, it had been retweeted over 2.8 million times.[58][59] It beat the previous record, 778,801, which was held by Barack Obama, following his victory in the 2012 presidential election.[61][62][63] Politician selfies [ edit ] U.S. President Barack Obama made news headlines during Nelson Mandela's memorial celebration at Johannesburg's FNB Stadium with various world leaders, as he was snapped taking a selfie and sharing smiles with Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, and later with British Prime Minister David Cameron, as they gathered to pay tribute to Mandela.[64] The decision to take the selfies was considered to be in poor taste, as British political columnist Iain Martin critiqued the behaviour as "clowning around like muppets".[64] The photos also depict the First Lady Michelle Obama sitting next to them looking "furious and mortified".[64] Despite the criticism, Roberto Schmidt, the photographer who captured the photos taken at the celebration, reported to the Today show it was taken at "a jovial, celebratory portion of the service".[65] In India, BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi posted a selfie on Twitter after voting in Gandhinagar, India. The post became a major trending item on the micro-blogging platform.[66] In July 2014, the Swiss government became the first to take and post a picture of an entire national government (the picture was taken by one of the seven members of the government, Alain Berset).[67] Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi taking a selfie with a supporter in Bologna The Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is known to pose for several selfies in public appearances, once even claiming to have posed for "over 1500 selfies" in three days, during which he estimated to have greeted about four thousand people – the social media phenomenon has coined the term "Marcelfie" to refer to these.[68] Most notably, the President posed for a selfie with Prime Minister António Costa in the Paris City Hall, during the Portugal Day ceremonies there on 10 June 2016.[69] Group selfies [ edit ] In January 2014, Business Insider published a story referring to selfies of groups as usies.[70] A photograph of Pope Francis with visitors to the Vatican was called an usie by The Daily Dot,[71][72] and TMZ has used the term to describe a selfie taken of celebrity couple Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez.[70][73] The term "groufie" has been trademarked by Chinese phone manufacturer Huawei Technologies in China, France, Germany, Russia, and the U.S.[74][75] The word was introduced during the launch of its Ascend P7 smartphone in 2014.[76] Huawei defines the groufie as a panoramic selfie involving multiple subjects, as well as background scenery, captured using the front facing, 8-megapixel camera and panorama capabilities of its phones.[77][78][79] Another term for a group selfie is "wefie", originally trademarked by Samsung in the U.S. to promote the wide-angle lens of its NX series of cameras.[75][80][81][82] Accessories [ edit ] Devices for holding smartphones or compact cameras called selfie sticks are often used when taking group selfies, as they allow a wider, more panoramic image capture. Another option for taking selfies from a distance beyond one's arm is a drone. Selfies made with a drone are also called dronies. The concept of taking a dronie first entered the mainstream in 2014 and coincided with a relatively sudden increase in the availability of relatively cheap, camera bearing multicopter drones.[83] In 2014, the Nixie drone was designed to serve as a "personal photographer".[84] Psychology and neuroscience [ edit ] First, Farace, van Laer, de Ruyter, and Wetzels[85] describe three photography techniques with which people are more likely to engage: first-person perspective; action and person rather than 'just' selfies; adaptation into artfulness. According to a study performed by Nicola Bruno and Marco Bertamini at the University of Parma, selfies by non-professional photographers show a slight bias for showing the left cheek of the selfie-taker.[86] This is similar to observations of portraits by professional painters from many historical periods and styles,[87] indicating that the left cheek bias may be rooted in asymmetries of brain lateralization that are well documented within cognitive neuroscience. In a second study, the same group tested if selfie takers without training in photography spontaneously adhere to widely prescribed rules of photographic composition, such as the rule of thirds. It seems that they do not, suggesting that these rules may be conventional rather than hardwired in the brain's perceptual preferences.[88] A 2016 study examining the relationship between personality and selfie-posting behaviors suggests that extroversion and social exhibitionism positively predict frequency of selfie posting, whereas self-esteem is generally unrelated to selfie-posting behaviors.[89] Selfitis is a condition described as the obsessive taking of selfies,[90] although it is currently not listed as a mental disorder in the DSM-5.[91] Obsessive taking of selfies and posting to social media has been found to be linked to many symptoms common to mental disorders. These include narcissism, low self-esteem, loneliness, self-centeredness, and attention-seeking behaviors.[92] Injuries while taking photos [ edit ] The first known selfie-related death occurred 15 March 2014, when a man electrocuted himself on top of a train.[93] 2014, 'The Year of the Selfie', was also the year Makati and Pasig, 'Selfie Capital of the World', saw their first selfie-related death when a 14-year-old girl fell from the 3rd floor staircase landing to the 2nd.[94][95][96][97] In 2015 it was reported that more people had been killed taking selfies that year than by shark attacks.[98] Other publications have debated that analysis.[99][100][101] Takers of selfie photographs have fallen to their deaths while losing their balance in a precarious position,[102][103] and others have been wounded or killed while posing with handguns which have accidentally fired.[104][105] Concerned about the increasing number of incidents in Russia where attempts to set up a unique selfie had led to injuries and deaths, the Russian Ministry of the Interior released a "Selfie Safety Guide" in 2015 that warned selfie enthusiasts about some common dangerous behaviors.[106][107] Moscow, Russia's most active selfie-taking city, is estimated to have 8 selfie-takers per 100,000 people, and ranks 301st among cities worldwide.[94] A 2015 study showed that 20% of young Britons had taken selfies while driving a car.[108] Manchester has the highest amount of selfie-takers per capita in Great Britain with 114 per 100,000 people, and ranks 7th internationally.[94] The Italian chief of state police expressed concern over the same phenomenon in Italy on the occasion of the launch of a short film with the title "Selfie".[109][110] Milan is the 8th most active selfie-taking city in the world with 108 selfie-takers per 100,000 people.[94] According to Professor Amanda du Preez, there are least three types of selfie pictures documenting death, selfies unknowingly taken before death, where the taker's death is almost witnessed, or where the taker stands by while someone else dies.[111] In 2019 a teen left an imprint on the ground where he landed after falling more than four stories while attempting to take a selfie with his friends on a bridge in Dallas, TX. He had multiple serious injuries, but he survived.[112] Facial distortion effect [ edit ] Because they are typically taken much closer to the subject's face than a conventional photograph, phone selfies tend to distort the subject's face. When conventional photographers take head shots, they typically use a narrower lens (or zoom in) and stand at a normal distance, instead of getting physically closer to the subject's face. Front-facing cell phone cameras, on the other hand, feature wide-angle lenses and are held closer to the face, since the human arm is only so long. This results in extension distortion, where objects closer to the camera appear much larger than they actually are. Though this distortion has a slimming effect, it also exaggerates the auto-photographer's nose and chin, since those parts are closer to the camera than the rest of the face. A study published by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery has found that selfies have altered people's perception of their faces to the point where they increased the demand for rhinoplasties (nose jobs). Forty-two percent of surgeons surveyed have noticed that patients are seeking surgeries to improve their appearance in photographs, especially selfies taken at close distance.[113] Another study found that selfies taken at a distance of 12 inches (30 cm) can exaggerate nasal size by as much as 30%, and recommends that people take pictures from a standard distance of 5 feet (1.5 meters) to minimize perspective distortion.[114] See also [ edit ] References [ edit ] |
A mystery explosion in a town close to the Libyan capital Tripoli has killed at least 25 people, apparently after a dispute at a shop escalated. The blast took place in Garabulli after clashes between locals and militia fighters from the city of Misrata. Officials initially said a munitions store had exploded but one resident told the BBC a lorry loaded with fireworks had exploded. In fighting further east, in Sirte, at least 30 pro-government fighters died. They were killed in fighting with militants from the so-called Islamic State group. Coastal road blocked Garabulli is about 50km (30 miles) east of Tripoli and 140km west of Misrata. A BBC producer close to the scene in Garabulli said the coastal road was completely blocked and he could hear sounds of gunfire from a distance. A mix of armed civilians and local militias from the coastal town were manning checkpoints on the edge of the town along the coastal road. Cars trying to pass through were being searched but it was not clear for what. The situation is very tense, says Rana Jawad, the BBC's North Africa correspondent. The Garabulli resident who spoke to the BBC said the entire affair had started after a fighter from a Misrata militia purchased items at a grocery store and allegedly refused to pay for them. The owner of the shop allegedly shot and killed him and then there was a retaliatory attack against the store by the militia. The shop was burnt down and so was the owner's family home nearby. Armed residents protested over the attack and the presence of the militia in the town. It was then that a store nearby that had some depot, or lorry laden with fireworks for sale, exploded. The resident's account could not be independently verified or backed by a second source in Garabulli. "The number of casualties is rising and we are working hard to transfer them to nearest hospitals," Mohamed Assayed, a local official, was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency. |
Otto Putland, 23, pictured outside Cardiff Crown Court today, was accused of getting into bed with the 19-year-old woman A jury was discharged today after failing to reach a verdict on a top swimmer accused of raping a young woman after she had sex with a fellow athlete from the Team GB Olympic squad. Commonwealth Games swimmer Otto Putland, 23, was accused of getting into bed with the 19-year-old woman after she had consensual sex with his best friend Ieuan Lloyd after a night out. The student said she slept with Mr Lloyd, a two-time Olympian who swam at London 2012 and Rio 2016, after bumping into him at a nightclub. But she said he then 'abandoned' her and welcomed friend Putland into his bedroom, before switching off the light and closing the door behind him. Cardiff Crown Court heard the woman - who cannot be named - said: 'Otto and Ieuan were both having a conversation outside the room with the door open. 'Otto asked if I was the girl from the club earlier. Otto came in and started taking his shoes off. So I text my friend for help because I thought something might happen. I told him: 'What are you doing - you can't just pass me around'. 'He said: "We're not passing you around." I told him I didn't want to have sex with him and he kept trying to kiss me. 'Then he took off his boxers. He asked: "Do you want me to put a condom on?" I was crying and turning my head away from him.' Putland (left) had been accused of jumping into bed with a woman after she had consensual sex with Ieuan Lloyd (right) The woman had told police that after having sex with Mr Lloyd, Putland came into the bedroom and sat on the bed. Pictured, Putland competing in the 100m backstroke in 2014 She said Putland suggested they just kiss, so she removed her hand which she was using to cover her genitals. But she alleged Putland forced her to have sex and told her: 'Don't worry.' She said she ran to the bathroom to text her friend for help. The court heard that she texted: 'Help, I think something might happen.' But she then blacked out. She said the next thing she remembered was being woken by her friend ringing back, only to find herself back in the bed with Putland having sex with her. Putland in action in the men's backstroke during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow The woman had gone back to the home of Mr Lloyd (pictured), a two-time Olympian who competed at London 2012 and Rio 2016 Timothy Evans, defending, pointed out that no text sent by the girl to a friend asking for help had ever been found. Mr Evans said: 'There's nothing consistent at all in the evidence from the witnesses. Putland does not know why she's made this up.' Putland, of Dinedor, Hereford, denied two counts of rape. The jury cleared him of one charge but failed to reach a verdict on the other charge after more than four hours of deliberation. A decision will be made later about a possible re-trial. |
Introduction Ted Latusek has black lung disease. For almost two decades, his breathing has been so bad he’s been considered totally disabled. Even his former employer, the coal giant Consol Energy, does not dispute those points. Nineteen years after he first filed for federal black lung benefits, however, his case remains unresolved. What’s really causing his impairment, doctors testifying for Consol contend, is a completely different and unrelated disease. To win his case, the former miner must show that his disability is caused by black lung. Ted Latusek (left, with helmet) on his last day at work in April 1994 Courtesy of Ted Latusek Though parts of his lungs show the dark nodules typical of the classic form of black lung, all doctors agree that his biggest problem is elsewhere, in the parts of his lungs that show severe scarring with a different pattern. His case file, spread in piles, covers a conference table, but all of the medical reports, depositions, hearings, briefs and rulings center on one question: What caused the abnormal scarring that has consumed large portions of his lungs? The fight over the answer to that question goes to the heart of the newest battle in a longstanding war between companies and miners. Latusek’s legal tussle is the signal case in the latest effort by the coal industry to deny emerging scientific evidence and contain its liabilities, a strategy that has played out repeatedly over more than a century and locked multitudes of miners out of the benefits system, the Center for Public Integrity found as part of the yearlong investigation, “Breathless and Burdened.” Consol has hired radiologists, pathologists, pulmonologists and a statistician to examine Latusek, write piles of reports and attack a growing body of medical literature. His disease, they maintain, is a rare illness that appears in the general population and causes lung damage with the appearance seen in Latusek. The cause is unknown, but, they say, it definitely isn’t coal mine dust. Yet medical evidence increasingly has shown his pattern of scarring to be a previously unrecognized form of black lung. Broad recognition of the illness’ connection to coal mine dust could have significant financial implications for coal companies. The Center identified more than 380 benefits cases decided since 2000 in which the miner had evidence of this atypical presentation, and studies have shown the disease pattern to be present in at least 15 percent of some groups of miners examined. Since Latusek first filed his claim in 1994, research increasingly has shown that coal and silica — the toxic mineral in much of the rock in mines — can cause the pattern of scarring he has. Government researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as other independent doctors, have linked the pattern to coal mining. “It’s certainly related to their work,” said David Weissman, head of NIOSH’s division of respiratory disease studies. “We’re confident of that.” Yet, while other variants of black lung are defined explicitly in Labor Department regulations, Latusek’s form is not, and doctors paid by the coal industry continue to testify that there is no evidence of any connection between mining and this form of disease. This leaves the complex medical issue to be argued case by case in the benefits system, which is often ill-equipped to address emerging science and typically favors coal companies and the well-paid consulting doctors they enlist. A Labor Department spokesman said the agency doesn’t think a regulation formally recognizing the form of disease as a type of black lung is necessary. Current rules, the spokesman noted, allow miners to attempt to prove a relationship between their work and this variety of illness. Experts interviewed by the Center, however, argued that explicitly stating such a relationship would lessen miners’ burden, pointing to a previous rulemaking as a model. In hundreds of cases reviewed by the Center, miners with a disease pattern like Latusek’s have faced particular challenges in proving their cases. Latusek, a coal miner’s son who grew up in an area of northern West Virginia dominated by Consol, has won four times before an administrative law judge, but appeals courts have vacated or reversed the decision each time. Consol did not respond to requests for comment. While courts have grappled with the complexities his case presents, Latusek’s health has deteriorated. He has gone on oxygen and endured a lung transplant. The doctor who originally treated him on referral from Consol has testified against him twice, and many of the industry’s go-to consultants have weighed in. Yet he and his lawyer — the daughter of a coal miner who has toiled more than half her career on Latusek’s case despite rules barring her from collecting a cent in fees until the case closes — press on. “I know my case is going to set a precedent,” Latusek said. “There is nothing in mining that makes it insanitary, and any insanitary conditions which may exist are doubtless closely related to the rum shop.” John Fulton, engineer and coal industry representative, 1901 “Black lung” is not just one disease. Rather, it is a blanket term for a variety of lung diseases caused by breathing coal dust. As science has implicated coal dust as the cause of an increasing array of medical problems during the past century, coal companies have resisted, knowing broader recognition of the true effects of mining coal could place them on the hook for compensating more sick miners. The coal industry’s reaction to the potential expansion of its liabilities has followed a familiar pattern. For more than a century, the industry has sought to keep a narrow definition of black lung. In the early 20th century, coal companies and sympathetic doctors argued that coal dust was harmless and actually protected miners’ lungs from tuberculosis. Since then, scientific advances have shown that breathing coal dust can harm different people in different ways. One miner might develop the black nodules characteristic of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, the classic form of black lung. Another might find the air sacs in his lungs destroyed — emphysema — or the lining of his airways irritated and blocked — chronic bronchitis. As the effects of coal dust have gained broader recognition, the industry in each instance eventually has had to accept the evidence. But, while these fights about classification have played out, sick miners have found it difficult, if not impossible, to win benefits. Today, miners again are facing this strategy of denial and containment, this time over the pattern of scarring seen in the lungs of Latusek and hundreds of other miners with cases decided since 2000. In virtually all of the more than 380 cases identified by the Center, a doctor testifying for the coal company — or, in many cases, multiple doctors — blamed some variant of the disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, known as IPF, or a similar illness. This is the same scarring of unknown cause that Consol’s doctors say Latusek has. Miners lost more than 60 percent of these cases. Even when judges awarded benefits, the decision often hinged on an issue other than recognition of the abnormal disease appearance as black lung. Numbers on the success rate of miners at this level in all cases were not available for comparison. In many cases, judges credited coal company experts and reached medical conclusions that flatly contradict the views of NIOSH and NIH. Judges must rely on whatever evidence a miner can produce, and finding doctors who can rebut the vehement assertions of the company’s experts can be a challenge. The particulars of Latusek’s case offer a rare and nearly ideal opportunity to isolate the key question that could affect the claims of many other miners: Does coal mine dust cause his form of disease? Latusek never smoked. He doesn’t have an autoimmune disease. He never underwent radiation treatment or took certain toxic drugs. He has no family history of the disease. In other words, doctors can’t blame his illness on these other potential causes. What he does have is a history of intense exposure to the potent mixture of dust generated by the most powerful machinery of modern mining. Army photo of Ted Latusek taken in December 1970. Courtesy of Ted Latusek A longwall mining machine operator watches as the massive device cuts through a coal seam in a mine near Cameron, W.Va. Dale Sparks/AP “There are no healthier men anywhere than in the mining industry.” — Coal Age, trade journal, 1915 Latusek’s path to the mines was undeterred by the warnings of his father, who worked underground. “He never wanted me to go to the mines,” Latusek said. “He knew how dirty and dusty and dangerous it was.” Aside from mining, though, there weren’t many well-paying jobs in the area of northern West Virginia, near the town of Fairview, where Latusek and his older sister grew up. Consol’s mines dotted the landscape, tapping the rich Pittsburgh coal seam; the company remains one of the nation’s top five coal producers today. Ted Latusek examines the hydraulic roof support — designed to prevent a cave-in on a longwall section — at a plant in England in 1993. Courtesy of Ted Latusek Latusek worked from the time he was 13, shedding his boyhood shyness as he carried out groceries from the local market and chatted up customers. He breezed through high school, but found himself unprepared for the more rigorous workload at nearby Fairmont State University, especially with the two jobs he was working. After two years, he dropped out and went full time for a utility company that dug ditches and installed the power lines feeding into Consol’s mines. When he was laid off, he applied to work for Consol. In September 1970, he went underground, handling a variety of jobs. “I worked there about three months, and then Uncle Sam said it was my time to go,” he recalled Drafted into the Army, he received training in electronics and ended up stationed as a technician at a satellite communication site in New Jersey. He narrowly missed being sent to Vietnam. In July 1971, he married Donna, whom he’d met while at Fairmont State, and, six years later, they would have a daughter, Jennifer. In December 1972, he returned to the mines. He quickly ascended the ranks, becoming a maintenance foreman and eventually longwall coordinator. This meant that, at 29, he was in charge of a crew running the massive moneymaking machine. A longwall’s spinning shearer can hollow out mountains in little time. Consol made sure everyone knew the value of production, Latusek said: Every minute the machine wasn’t running cost the company $12,000. He took pride in motivating his crew, keeping his own logs of production and comparing them with those of other shifts. “We actually outmined the other crews two to one,” he said. Before long, he was promoted again; the company placed him in charge of all the longwalls at two mines. He sometimes would travel to Great Britain to see the factories that manufactured the machines, and he was always on call, once working 78 straight days. Another time, he spent virtually an entire week underground, coming up for a couple of hours a day to shower, eat and sleep. At times, he lived in clouds of dust, he recalled. The roof would cave in, and his crew would have to cut through rock for days on end. Or the exit would be blocked by falling rock, rendering any attempt at ventilation pointless. “A lot of times, you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face,” he recalled. Latusek’s health problems first began to surface in 1989. He was short of breath, and he coughed constantly. A company physical turned up “one area of concern,” as Consol’s doctor put it, in 1990. The company referred him to a specialist, Dr. Joseph Renn III. Latusek didn’t know it at the time, but Renn frequently testified for coal companies defending black lung claims. He would later abandon his private practice and start a consulting firm, working almost exclusively for companies defending claims of occupational lung disease. Renn diagnosed IPF. The reasoning behind the diagnosis is one that Renn and other doctors have repeated in case after case: Black lung causes round scars concentrated in the upper lungs. Latusek had irregularly shaped scars concentrated in his lower lungs, a pattern characteristic of IPF and related diseases. This conclusion absolved Consol of responsibility for his serious lung problems. Though Latusek continued to work, the amount of oxygen in his blood continued to drop; his lungs couldn’t transfer what he breathed in to his bloodstream. He struggled with any exertion and wheezed, especially when he was around dust. While visiting a mine in Scotland in 1993, he had a moment of panic. He had to crawl 1,000 feet in an opening about four-and-a-half feet high. Halfway across, he lost his breath. “It felt like somebody had put a bag over my face,” he recalled. When he got back to West Virginia, he had another episode while walking the steep stairs exiting the mine. Latusek, in an interview and in court testimony, recalled a conversation with Renn in which the doctor said there wasn’t much else he could do and he would likely die in a few years. Renn said privacy rules barred him from discussing Latusek’s case, but he added that it is standard practice for him to discuss potential outcomes with patients. In a legal filing, Consol’s lawyer challenged Latusek’s recollection, saying there was no mention of a prognosis in Renn’s reports. Not ready to give up, Latusek asked if there was anyone who could help him. Renn referred him to National Jewish Health in Denver, widely regarded as one of the nation’s top centers on lung disease. Latusek began flying to see Drs. Constance Jennings and Cecile Rose. Jennings had studied IPF and similar diseases while at NIH, and, when she first examined Latusek, she wasn’t sure that she actually was looking at a case of the disease. It was 1993, and there had been little work on the potential connection to coal dust, but she had her suspicions. In the report on her initial examination of Latusek in October, she noted that he had evidence of both classic black lung and IPF, then posed the question that would reshape his case: “Are the two processes related?” “Someone could say peanut butter causes pneumonia,” Dr. Gregory Fino said in a February 1997 deposition. “Well, show me in the literature that there is a statistically increased incidence of that occurring, and then I will not prescribe peanut butter to anybody.” Peanut butter was, in his analogy, coal dust, and pneumonia was the pattern of scarring in Latusek’s lungs. Fino was adamant that the medical literature showed no connection between the two. “I can’t tell you what caused the idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis,” he testified. “I can tell you what hasn’t caused it: coal mine dust employment and coal mine dust inhalation.” “We are not informed of any occupational diseases in the mining industry.” Ralph Crews, coal industry lawyer, before a federal panel, 1920 In recent decades, Fino has been perhaps the most high-profile among the cadre of doctors who testify regularly for coal companies. When a miner files a claim, he is entitled to an exam by a doctor from an approved list paid for by the Labor Department, but he also must submit to an exam by a doctor of the company’s choosing. Consol chose Fino to examine Latusek. Fino was the industry’s go-to doctor in the most recent battle over the definition of black lung. When the Labor Department proposed rules in 1997 to expand the list of illnesses potentially caused by breathing coal dust to include such diseases as emphysema and chronic bronchitis, the National Mining Association enlisted Fino. Along with a biostatistician, he wrote a lengthy critique of the studies relied on by the Labor Department and said, “There is much bad science or loose terminology in these proposed regulations.” In 2000, the agency finalized the rules, rebutting Fino’s arguments in detail. Fino and other doctors had testified regularly that smoking, not coal dust, caused these diseases that obstructed miners’ airways. The approach by Fino and other doctors in Latusek’s case was much the same — attack the science linking the disease to coal dust, identify an alternative cause. Renn, for example, said of black lung and IPF, “There’s no literature that relates the two.” Dr. W.K.C. Morgan, a veteran of previous battles over the definition of black lung dating to the 1960s, testified, “I think this is just wishful thinking.” Consol’s lawyers hired a statistician to poke holes in the studies introduced into evidence by Latusek’s lawyer, Sue Anne Howard. Unlike many miners, however, Latusek had a tenacious lawyer and doctors with impressive credentials on his side, too. Howard has represented sick miners since she began practicing law in 1982. The first black lung case she handled was her father’s. She won, then watched him “die of black lung by inches,” she recalled. As the hours spent on Latusek’s case have amassed — time for which she’s been barred from collecting any fees — she’s tried to support her practice with other cases. Jennings and Rose from National Jewish had become convinced that Latusek’s disease was caused by his job. They acknowledged that the science was still emerging but laid out a rationale for their conclusion. The way his disease struck early, then smoldered for years, was very abnormal for IPF, they said, and a tissue sample showed tiny mineral particles in the area of his scarring. Consol’s pathologists disputed this assessment of the biopsy evidence. In a June 1997 decision, Administrative Law Judge Daniel Leland awarded benefits to Latusek. Consol’s lawyers appealed, and, though the Benefits Review Board upheld Leland’s decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated the award in a divided opinion in 1999. Referencing the studies introduced by Howard, the majority wrote, “At best, the articles offered tepid support for Dr. Jennings’s, Dr. Rose’s, and the [administrative law judge’s] conclusion.” The judges noted that Consol had more doctors on its side, and wrote, “Although we do not advocate counting the votes of various medical experts to reach a conclusion … [w]e believe that such a disparity of opinion merits attention.” The dissenting judge chastised his colleagues for overstepping their authority and substituting their views of the medical evidence for those of the administrative law judge. “All we have here,” he wrote, “is a situation where two or three more experts on one side dispute the findings of two or three fewer experts on the opposing side.” A 2002 law review article by Washington and Lee University Professor Brian Murchison singled out the decision as a “particularly disturbing” example of “judicial intrusion.” The ruling sent the case back to the same administrative law judge for reconsideration. The case dragged on, with the judge awarding benefits twice more, before it again arrived at the Fourth Circuit. Again, the majority questioned the medical evidence, this time reversing the award. And again, the dissenting judge — not the same one as in the prior ruling — blasted his colleagues for overreaching. Nonetheless, the 2004 decision ended Latusek’s first claim. Latusek was devastated. “My goal in life was to outlive Consol, to live long enough to know that I beat them in this case,” he said recently. “I thought that I had. I was on cloud nine. And then it goes to the Fourth Circuit Court, and they take it all away from me.” “It doesn’t matter what the damn thing is called. The man can’t work, he’s disabled.” Dr. I. E. Buff, cardiologist and advocate for miners, 1969 If Consol’s doctors were right, Latusek should have been dead before his case even reached the appeals court. Studies have shown patients with IPF typically die within five years of the onset of the disease. Latusek had first shown signs in 1989. Consol’s experts acknowledged this was unusual but said it wasn’t unheard of for some people to survive longer. Ted Latusek on his 40th birthday at the mine office in Fairmont, W.Va., in September 1990. By this time, signs of disease already had appeared — a very early onset if he had the illness that doctors testifying for his employer diagnosed. Courtesy of Ted Latusek His age also raised questions. IPF rarely strikes people younger than 50. Latusek was 39 when his disease appeared. Both of these characteristics — earlier onset and longer survival — were not unique to Latusek, as it turns out. Though this presentation would be abnormal for IPF in the general population, there is evidence that it is not unusual for certain people: miners. As Latusek’s case progressed, scientific interest in IPF grew. “Few lung disorders have seen a renewed investigative focus like IPF,” according to a 2003 report prepared by a group of doctors for the American Thoracic Society. The lungs have a limited number of ways to respond when they come under attack. One response is the pattern of scarring in the lower lungs that often is diagnosed as IPF. But there are many diseases that cause essentially the same pattern and have a defined cause. Increasingly, research has identified more causes of this pattern. Thus, people with a disease that previously would have been classified as IPF now are diagnosed with a more specific illness. One prominent cause that has emerged in recent research: occupational dust exposure. Studies have linked the IPF pattern of scarring to breathing fine particles of everything from metal and cotton to coal and silica. The phenomenon does not appear to be new. A 2012 study by NIOSH epidemiologist Scott Laney and former NIOSH official Lee Petsonk noted that research showing an IPF pattern in miners dated to 1974 but had been largely overlooked. Addressing the often-repeated view about the typical appearance of black lung — one that would exclude an IPF pattern — they wrote, “the scientific foundation for this expectation is unclear.” X-ray showing the classic form of black lung: This film shows round scars in the upper portions of the lungs — the pattern widely acknowledged as typical for black lung. Over time, however, science has shown that breathing coal mine dust can affect a miner’s lungs in ways that don’t produce this classic appearance. NIOSH Analyzing 30 years of X-rays from the agency’s surveillance program, roughly half had a discernible pattern affecting only certain areas of the lungs in certain ways, they found. Of these, a striking 30 percent showed a pattern similar to Latusek’s. As researchers have looked more closely, they’ve seen that evidence of the disease’s connection to coal mining — like the disease itself — appears to have been there all along. Studies in the 1970s and 1980s noted the pattern on X-ray and in tissue samples of coal miners. A 1988 study found the pattern on autopsies of between 15 percent and 18 percent of miners in South Wales and West Virginia and noted that the miners’ disease had struck earlier and progressed more slowly than IPF. The most recent edition of a key medical textbook on lung diseases, released in 2005, describes the appearance of the pattern in miners and says, “It is important to be aware of this entity as many cases are inadvertently diagnosed as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.” Earlier this year, a group of doctors described the pattern as a recognized form of black lung in a paper for an American Thoracic Society journal. “The spectrum of lung disease associated with coal mine dust exposure is broader than generally recognized,” the physicians wrote. Doctors testifying for coal companies counter that this body of research is far from conclusive, saying it fails to show a direct causal relationship. And, they say, the studies failed to control for other potential causes, including smoking, or were skewed because participants were not randomly selected. Some of the same doctors made similar arguments in the 1990s about evidence connecting coal mine dust to diseases such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis. “There’s no doubt that we need to learn more,” NIOSH’s Weissman said, “but the excess burden that you see in coal miners is much above what you would see in the general population. Even if we don’t know all of the exact details about how coal miners get that, I think it’s pretty clear that it’s associated with the unique exposures that they have.” Former NIOSH official and current West Virginia University professor Petsonk said the evidence of the connection is becoming overwhelming. “It’s coming to the point where it will just not be controversial,” he said. “The current norm is the contest of physician’s reports. If this exercise ever had a fresh, truth-seeking outlook, it has long since faded.” Circuit Judge K. K. Hall, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, dissenting opinion, Grizzle v. Picklands Mather & Co./Chisolm Mines, 1993 A different story, however, is playing out in the benefits system. Just in cases decided since 2000, miners showing this pattern of disease have lost at least 236 times, a Center review of hundreds of cases found. The administrative law judges who decide cases can find themselves in a difficult situation when a miner with a disease pattern like Latusek’s files a claim. A miner may not have access to a doctor who can argue persuasively — or who even knows — that the pattern can be caused by coal mine dust. Coal companies, on the other hand, have no shortage of doctors who argue emphatically and in great detail that there is no connection. In several cases reviewed by the Center, the doctor who examined the miner on behalf of the Labor Department noted the IPF pattern but apparently didn’t consider the possibility it was caused by his work. In other cases, doctors offered equivocal opinions that, while perhaps scientifically responsible, were overwhelmed by the certainty expressed by company doctors. In a pair of cases, for example, Dr. Donald Rasmussen, who typically testifies for miners, expressed basically the same view: The patient had evidence of an IPF pattern, which has many possible causes but is much more common in coal miners. This, combined with his breathing impairment and exposure history, made it likely that dust was the cause of his scarring. One judge considered Rasmussen’s opinion “logical” and “well documented” and awarded the miner benefits. The other judge found it “not persuasive” and “not sufficient evidence of causation,” denying the miner benefits. Coal company doctors, on the other hand, often provide categorical statements. In a case decided in 2004, Dr. Lawrence Repsher attacked the miner’s doctor, saying, according to the judge’s paraphrase, “Dr. James made up a heretofore nonexistent disease that apparently only Dr. James recognizes.” In a case decided in 2007, Dr. George Zaldivar testified, “[Black lung] never has been linked with this kind of impairment and abnormality.” Dr. Kirk Hippensteel testified in a case decided in 2008, “It is a disease of the general public that isn’t precipitated by some … exposure to something like coal dust, silica dust.” Each time, the miner lost. Read such statements by coal company doctors, NIOSH’s Weissman responded, “Well, goodness, that would be a surprise to me.” Former administrative law judge Edward Terhune Miller said he handled some cases in which a doctor testifying for the company called the miner’s disease IPF. “I don’t like it,” he said. “When the doctor says, ‘I don’t know what it is, but it’s definitely not X,’ and he’s coming from a known direction, I confess I take it with a grain of salt. Now, whether or not in a written decision I can deal with it in some effective way is another question entirely because I’m not allowed to say, ‘That’s not a reasoned analysis.’ ” Indeed, judges are barred from substituting their medical opinions for those of witnesses. They need the miner to present evidence to overcome the company doctors’ statements — a steep climb in a system where claimants are typically overmatched. Before the Labor Department issued regulations in 2000 explicitly stating that diseases such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis can be caused by coal mine dust, company doctors frequently testified that these illnesses were never attributable to work in the mines. Since 2000, most have changed their views. If they stick to their previous dogmatic assertions, a judge can give the opinion no weight. Doctors still can argue that smoking is a more likely cause in a particular case, but they cannot say coal dust is never a possible cause. Miners’ lawyers say this has made it easier to win some cases, and numerous doctors interviewed by the Center said the Labor Department should issue rules to recognize explicitly that an IPF pattern can be caused by coal mine dust. A Labor Department spokesman said such a regulation would be unnecessary because miners already can try to prove a link between the pattern and their dust exposure. Nonetheless, experts interviewed by the Center argued that formal recognition would set ground rules and help miners who didn’t have access to highly qualified experts who could attempt to draw such a connection. “The law favors standards,” said Howard, Latusek’s lawyer. “Right now, with respect to [this form of disease], we have no standards. … It just becomes, unfortunately, many times a matter of which doctor writes a better report, not which doctor offers the right opinion.” Ted Latusek and his wife, Donna, on their 25th wedding anniversary in July 1996 Courtesy of Ted Latusek Ted Latusek with his wife, Donna, and daughter, Jennifer, in 2006Courtesy of Ted Latusek Ted Latusek shows the scar from his lung transplant in 2006. Courtesy of Ted Latusek “Experts hired exclusively by either party tend to obfuscate rather than facilitate a true evaluation of a claimant’s case.” — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Woodward v. Director, OWCP, 1993 Latusek was unconscious for the entirety of his 35th wedding anniversary. He awoke the next day, July 4, 2006, with a tube in his throat. He was confused, panicked. He tried to pull the tube out, but his arms were strapped down. For two days, machines aided his breathing. When doctors removed the tube, they told him to take a deep breath. “It was magic,” Latusek recalled. “I’d never felt air go in so easy. It was a beautiful feeling. I could actually breathe in deep. For years, I couldn’t do that.” He had a new lung, thanks to an organ donor in Connecticut and a team that battled a malfunctioning airplane and torrential storm to get it to him. The past few days had been frenzied. Latusek and his wife were in Pittsburgh to celebrate their anniversary. They were in bed at a hotel when someone from the hospital called at 12:15 a.m. — a lung had become available. Throughout the morning and into the next day, nurses and doctors prepared him as they waited for the lung to arrive. At 7:30 p.m., they wheeled him into the operating room. The lung, however, wasn’t there. It was supposed to be coming by plane, but the aircraft’s door wouldn’t close. It was moved to a helicopter, which was grounded en route by bad weather. An ambulance finally got the lung to Pittsburgh, and doctors worked throughout the night. Latusek still had one bad lung, but he could breathe on his own again. For about a year, he’d needed an oxygen tank. Tests showed his lung function continued to decline. His deteriorating health had put his pursuit of benefits on hold. On his behalf, Howard had filed a petition to modify the previous denial in January 2005, but, as his transplant grew imminent, progress had slowed. As he recovered from the surgery, his case began to inch forward again. This time, Howard was armed with advances in scientific knowledge thanks to renewed interest in IPF. Jennings had left National Jewish, so Latusek began to see Dr. James Dauber at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He was director of a hospital unit that specialized in treating diseases such as IPF. Yet he, too, became convinced that Latusek’s scarring was caused by dust in the mines. “In the last ten years, our thinking about [IPF and similar diseases] has undergone a tremendous transformation,” he testified in 2011. Rose noted in a deposition a few months later, “There’s a huge body of science that has emerged since 1995.” Consol had no trouble finding experts who maintained the studies were preliminary and flawed. Renn again insisted his former patient had a disease of unknown cause. By now, he was doing only consulting work and, according to his testimony five years earlier, charging $700 an hour. Asked during a deposition if Latusek’s scarring was related to breathing coal mine dust, Renn testified, “There is absolutely no scientific literature that would support that statement.” He has given similar opinions in at least 30 cases decided since 2000, a Center analysis found. In an interview, Renn, who is winding down his consulting work and preparing to retire, said he now believes it is possible for coal mine dust to cause a pattern like that seen in IPF. He said he has made such a diagnosis, though he wasn’t sure when or how many times. The Center was unable to find any of these diagnoses in court records. In the past decade, Dr. David Rosenberg has emerged as a primary consultant for coal companies and one of its staunchest debunkers of science related to the connection of coal mine dust and IPF. Rosenberg is an assistant clinical professor at Case Western Reserve University and is affiliated with the University Hospitals system in Cleveland. In a 2012 deposition, Rosenberg described the volume of his work for coal companies, and conservative estimates of his fees approached $1 million a year. He testified he didn’t know how much he earned from the industry, but that it was “obviously a significant amount.” In Latusek’s case, as in others reviewed by the Center, Rosenberg went study by study, critiquing each. One failed to control for smoking, he said. Others weren’t designed properly. Overall, the studies raised hypotheses but offered no proof of a causal relationship. His conclusions went further. “We know that coal mine dust exposure doesn’t cause this condition,” he testified. Rosenberg has offered a similar opinion in more than 60 cases decided since 2000, the Center found. In these cases, the miner lost about 60 percent of the time. Rosenberg did not respond to calls and emails requesting an interview. Fino, who examined Latusek some 15 years earlier, was not involved in his second claim. In a recent interview, he said he didn’t recall the case but now believes it is possible that a disease pattern like Latusek’s could be caused by coal mine dust. “I did change my opinion,” Fino said. “I go by what the medical literature says.” He said he has made this diagnosis in some cases. The Center’s review of hundreds of court decisions did not identify any such cases, but did find about 100 decided since 2000 in which he diagnosed IPF or a similar disease. In May 2012, Administrative Law Judge Thomas Burke awarded benefits, crediting Latusek’s doctors and the studies supporting their claims. This August, however, the Benefits Review Board delivered another setback. It upheld most of Burke’s decision but remanded the case, saying he needed to offer a better explanation of why he didn’t credit the opinions of two of Consol’s doctors. Ted Latusek with his wife, Donna, and daughter, Jennifer, in 2000 Courtesy of Ted Latusek “The first priority and concern of all in the coal mining industry must be the health and safety of its most precious resource — the miner.” — First sentence of the 1969 Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act Latusek has endured countless complications and indignities during his two-decade fight for benefits. Some drugs made his hair fall out or caused rectal bleeding. Others have caused severe depression and destroyed his kidneys, which will require a transplant in a few years. A devout Methodist, he sees possible meaning in his suffering. What he can’t shake is a deep sense of betrayal. For Consol, he put in 60- or 70-hour weeks regularly, sometimes more. The team he supervised in the 1980s brought out, on average, about $70,000 worth of coal per shift, he estimated. He’s undergone three knee operations and had two fingers reattached after machinery sliced them almost completely off. He still has the article from a company publication highlighting a cost-saving discovery he’d made and pictures of him examining machinery for Consol in England or posing with fellow members of a mine rescue team. His email address still begins “Longwall.” “I was loyal to the company,” he said, “but the loyalty wasn’t there for me.” In 1994, after the company received a letter from Latusek’s doctors saying he needed to be moved to an above-ground job because of his health, his managers offered him a personnel job. It would have meant a longer drive and 40-percent pay cut, he recalled. “I felt like somebody just put a knife in my gut,” he said. “I told my wife: ‘I can take the lung disease because a lot of that’s my problem. I went in that mine and ate that dust and knew better. I should have known better, but I thought I was invincible. But I always thought Consol would take care of me.’ ” Now, his case is before an administrative law judge once more, likely to return to the Fourth Circuit court — a trip that could take years. “If I live long enough to win this case and others that deserve it are awarded benefits because of it,” he said, “the suffering I went through would be all for the good.” |
SYNOPSIS Sonia is a neurotic jingle writer who’s always dreamt of a big and exciting life. Surprised by a sudden proposal and subsequent ultimatum from her easy-going boyfriend, Chris, Sonia has to decide whether she’ll join the ranks of her married friends or take a leap and pursue her fantasies. A whimsical romantic comedy that’s raunchy and yet gentle, IT HAD TO BE YOU explores the choices women face today while satirizing cultural expectations of gender and romance. DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT IT HAD TO BE YOU is a very personal film. When my husband proposed (or tried to), rather than seeing hearts and hearing violins, I was filled with a panic and terror reserved for climactic horror movie scenes. I yelled, waved my arms in the air like a lunatic attempting to indicate that he should stop, and pretty soon was unable to see or hear as adrenaline took over my body. And keep in mind – this was a man I loved very much. I must admit, this was not the first time in my life that my reaction to or an experience of an event greatly lashed with cultural expectations or norms. It was often anxiety-provoking and confusing, but thankfully it was also usually very funny. At least in retrospect. As I got a little older I encountered a lot of women – friends and colleagues of all ages – who described a similar dissonance between expectation and reality. My proposal debacle was the pinnacle of that dissonance for me and so I decided to make a film about it. And as I started working on this film, I had countless women confess to me that when their husbands popped the question, the feelings and thoughts that they experienced were also quite complicated and far from the pure bliss that was expected of them. It was both great fun and a relief to learn that I wasn’t alone in my fears and I loved hearing the stories of others’ bumpy journeys to “I do”. And lastly, I wanted to make this movie because I’m a rom com junkie and I wasn’t seeing the kind of movies that I wanted to see anymore in the theaters. I wanted to see a movie that had a flawed, funny, searching protagonist that was a woman and not a man. I wanted to see a movie that echoed the older romantic comedies (”Annie Hall”, “When Harry Met Sally”) and was truly character and not set-piece driven, but that was dressed with the modern trappings of today’s frank/carnal humor. I wanted to portray a relationship in all its flawed everyday beauty and I wanted to do so through my particular female lens. More than anything, I wanted to create a film that was current in its humor, but timeless in its heart. |
Protecting Hillary Clinton from Further Embarrassment, Washington Post-ABC News Poll Writes Bernie Sanders Out of Its Narrative on GOP Head-to-Head Match-ups Carrie Miller Blocked Unblock Follow Following Mar 9, 2016 Could the cheerleading of the Washington Post and ABC News for Hillary Clinton get any more flagrant than today’s publication of a poll that pitted the former Secretary of State against the three leading candidates on the GOP side: Trump, Cruz and Rubio. “Poll: Clinton Leads Trump, Aided by Obama Coalition,” the headline read. I have become accustomed to having any good news about Bernie Sanders hidden 10 graphs down, so I went looking for what I knew would be an even better result for Sanders versus the Republicans, as PolitiFact recently confirmed has consistently been the case. But I was astonished to learn that rather than merely bury the good news about Sanders, without any type of explanation or excuse, ABC and the Washington Post had decided to bury his candidacy altogether. Perhaps this glaring omission owes to when the poll was taken: March 3–6, as the Clinton campaign and her corporate media apologists, armed with their 30-point lead in the Michigan polls, were preparing to turn the corner together towards the general election, tossing Senator Sanders out of the back seat as they did so. Given Tuesday’s results, I think these news organizations would have been better served by quietly eating whatever costs they put into this polling and paying for a do-over, acknowledging, as they must today, that the political obituary they keep trying to write continues to be premature. |
FR Doc E8-2142 [Federal Register: February 6, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 25)] [Rules and Regulations] [Page 6843-6851] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr06fe08-6] DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Drug Enforcement Administration 21 CFR Part 1312 [Docket No. DEA-282F] RIN 1117-AB03 Authorized Sources of Narcotic Raw Materials AGENCY: Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Department of Justice. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is amending the list of non-traditional countries authorized to export narcotic raw materials (NRM) to the United States by removing Yugoslavia and adding Spain. This rule provides DEA registered importers with another potential source from which to purchase NRM that are used in the production of controlled substances for medical purposes in the United States. DATES: Effective Date: This rule is effective March 7, 2008. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christine A. Sannerud, PhD, Chief, Drug and Chemical Evaluation Section, Office of Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration, Washington, DC 20537, telephone (202) 307- 7183. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background and Legal Authority DEA enforces the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, often referred to as the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 801, et seq.), as amended. DEA regulations implementing these statutes are published in Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Parts 1300 to 1316. These regulations are designed to ensure that there is a sufficient supply of controlled substances for legitimate medical, scientific, research, and industrial purposes and to deter the diversion of controlled substances to illegal purposes. The CSA and its implementing regulations are consistent with United States treaty obligations that, among other things, address the production, import, and export of controlled substances. Controlled Substances Controlled substances are drugs that have a potential for abuse and psychological and physical dependence, including opiates, stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens, anabolic steroids, and drugs that are immediate precursors of these classes of substances. DEA lists controlled substances in 21 CFR Part 1308. The substances are divided into five schedules. Schedule I substances have a high potential for abuse and have no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. These substances may only be used for research, chemical analysis, or manufacture of other drugs. Substances listed in schedules II--V have accepted medical uses but also have potential for abuse and psychological and physical dependence. Narcotic raw materials (opium, poppy straw, and concentrate of poppy straw (CPS)) are in schedule II and are the materials from which morphine, codeine, thebaine and oripavine are extracted for purposes of manufacturing a number of schedule II and III controlled substances. Sources of Narcotic Raw Materials In May 1979, the United Nations' Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) adopted Resolution 471, which called on importing countries such as the United States to support traditional suppliers of NRM and to limit imports from non-traditional supplying countries. The resolution, which was reaffirmed by ECOSOC in 1981, was [[Page 6844]] adopted to limit overproduction of NRM, to restore a balance between supply and demand, and to prevent diversion to illicit channels. The United States, based on long-standing policy, does not cultivate or produce NRM, but relies solely on opium, poppy straw, and CPS produced in other countries for the NRM necessary to meet the legitimate medical needs of the United States. In response to Resolution 471, on August 18, 1981, DEA published a final rule specifying certain source countries of NRM (46 FR 41775); the rule is frequently referred to as the 80/20 rule. Under the final rule, currently codified at 21 CFR 1312.13(f) and (g), NRM can be imported from only seven countries. Traditional suppliers India and Turkey must be the source of at least 80 percent of the United States' requirement for NRM. Five non- traditional supplier countries--France, Poland, Hungary, Australia, and Yugoslavia--may be the source of not more than 20 percent. The 80/20 rule is calculated based on the amount of morphine alkaloid contained in the NRM. The United States continues to reaffirm its support of the original resolution by supporting similar resolutions each year at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. Just as with DEA's 1979 Federal Register publication first proposing the 80/20 rule (44 FR 33695), it is important to recite here some of the central principles of Resolution 471, which remain crucial today: Noting that in recent years there has been considerable stepping up of morphine producing capacity for export, leading to a situation of substantial overproduction of opiates, * * * * * Recognizing that it is essential to bring about a proper balance between the global supply and demand, Taking note of the continued reliance placed by the world community on countries constituting the traditional sources of supply for its medical needs of opiate raw materials and the positive response of these countries in meeting the world requirements and their contribution in the maintenance of effective control systems; Bearing in mind that the treaties which establish this system are based on the concept that the number of producers of narcotic materials for export should be limited in order to facilitate effective control; * * * In view of these principles underlying Resolution 471, DEA stated in proposing the 80/20 rule in 1979: The United States is a significant importer of narcotic raw materials. Its manufacturers account for one-third of the world morphine manufacturing capacity, most of which is consumed within the United States in the form of codeine.\1\ The worldwide over- production of narcotic raw materials and [Resolution 471] make it necessary for the United States to reevaluate past and present narcotic policies. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \1\ Today, the United States remains a significant importer of narcotic raw material. Its manufacturers currently account for one- fourth of the world morphine manufacturing capacity, with roughly two-thirds being utilized for the production of codeine, which is consumed as either codeine or hydrocodone. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Historically, the United States has relied exclusively upon imports of opium gum to manufacture our narcotic medical supplies instead of cultivating opium poppies in the United States. The rationale behind this 57-year-old policy, which foregoes [sic] U.S. self-sufficiency, was to set an example to the world community to refrain from overproduction and to limit the number of opium- producing nations to a minimum. [44 FR 33696, June 12, 1979] The foregoing principles remain central to United States drug control policy and this final rule amending the 80/20 rule. Of the countries included in the 80/20 rule, India is the only country that cultivates poppies for production of opium. All other exporting countries use the CPS method of NRM production, a method that allows the plant to go to seed; portions of the plant are then processed into a concentrate. It is generally believed that CPS is less divertible than opium. CPS may be rich in morphine (CPS-M), rich in thebaine (CPS-T), or rich in oripavine (CPS-O). The United States imports the majority of its CPS-M from Turkey, with Australia supplying the vast majority of the balance. The vast majority of CPS-T and all CPS-O are imported from Australia. The 80/20 rule was established based on traditional import amounts and on the United Nations resolution calling on member nations to support traditional sources that have been reliable suppliers and to take measures that curtail diversion. The United States allowed a limited number of non-traditional suppliers to have access to the United States market based on past commercial relationships and on the desirability of preserving alternative sources. This approach was consistent with the United Nations Resolution because it supported India and Turkey and ensured an adequate and uninterrupted supply of NRM while limiting the number of supplying countries. Over the last ten years, pursuant to the 80/20 rule, DEA registered importers of NRM have imported 90 percent of United States NRM requirements from traditional suppliers India and Turkey. DEA continues its support of the intent of the 80/20 rule. On June 6, 2005, the Kingdom of Spain (hereinafter referred to as Spain) petitioned DEA seeking to be added to the list of non- traditional suppliers. Spain stated four reasons that granting its petition would be consistent with United States interests: The change would be consistent with the 80/20 rule because it maintains India and Turkey as the two traditional supplier countries, that is, Spain does not seek to be added to the list of traditional suppliers. The change would ensure adequate supplies of NRM. The change would not result in diversion because Spain maintains strict control and oversight over the cultivation and distribution of NRM. The change would allow DEA to monitor diversion and maintain cost-effective supplies. In its petition, Spain explained that in the early 1970s, Spanish pharmaceutical firms sought authorization to cultivate opium poppies to produce NRM. In 1973, the Government of Spain authorized a single firm, Alcaliber, S.A., to cultivate, harvest, store, and prepare extracts from the opium poppy. Spain is now the fifth largest cultivator of opium poppies; Spain is the fourth largest producer of CPS and the third largest exporter of CPS-M.\2\ Spain has ratified international agreements to control production and commerce in opium products. As stated in its petition, Spain has implemented a comprehensive regulatory regime for controlling the cultivation, production, and export of NRM in accordance with international treaty requirements. The petition stated that this control ensures that NRM produced in Spain are not diverted to illicit uses. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \2\ "Narcotic Drugs: Estimated World Requirements for 2005-- Statistics for 2003", Tables II and XIII; International Narcotics Control Board (E/INCB/2004/2). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- After review of the petition, DEA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register on October 4, 2006 (71 FR 58569) to amend the list of non-traditional countries authorized to export NRM to the United States. Specifically, the proposed rule sought to revise the list of non-traditional suppliers by removing Yugoslavia and replacing it with Spain. At that time, DEA had determined that the successor states to Yugoslavia no longer produced NRM for export beyond Yugoslavia's prior border (e.g., Serbia and Montenegro reported exports to the Republic of Macedonia (hereinafter referred to as Macedonia) only). Therefore, DEA concluded that [[Page 6845]] replacing Yugoslavia with Spain would continue to limit the number of non-traditional suppliers to the United States while ensuring the availability of an adequate number of sources of NRM for United States manufacturers. The proposed change would not otherwise affect the implementation of the 80/20 rule. Comments Received Following publication of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on October 4, 2006, DEA received a request for a 60-day extension to the comment period. On December 1, 2006, DEA extended the comment period of the proposed rule to January 3, 2007 (71 FR 69504). During the comment period, DEA received 14 comments from 13 interested parties. Five comments were received from the following countries: Australia, Spain, Macedonia, and Turkey. One of the comments received from a foreign Government was a joint comment with a foreign control board. Three comments were received from three DEA-registered importers of NRM; one comment was received from a DEA-registered opiate manufacturer; one comment was received from a non-DEA registered firm; two comments were received from two foreign NRM manufacturers; and two comments were received from one individual. As part of the above-listed comments, DEA also received a request to extend the comment period, and four requests for a hearing. After the comment period had ended, DEA received an additional comment from a foreign NRM manufacturer. This prompted two additional late comments, one from the foreign control board which previously commented on the NPRM and the other from the foreign government associated with that foreign control board. Specifically, both commenters sought clarification from DEA on the status of the late comment, which DEA had administratively added to the docket. The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) does not address the issue of late comments, and the United States courts generally defer to federal agencies in their handling of late comments. It is the policy of the DEA that comments not properly filed, e.g., comments postmarked after the close of a comment period, will not be considered by the agency in its deliberative process. Accordingly, the late comment from the foreign NRM manufacturer was not considered by DEA in this Final Rule. All comments received during the comment period are summarized here and discussed further below. Comments in Support of DEA's NPRM Four of the commenters supported the proposed rule. These commenters included the Government of Spain, a DEA registered NRM importer, one foreign NRM manufacturer, and a DEA-registered opiate manufacturer. One of the DEA registrants commented that the need to ensure an adequate number of sources of NRM for DEA-registered NRM importers is "most keenly felt in CPS-T and CPS-O, for which the U.S. demand is rapidly growing and in which global supply sources to the U.S. are currently quite limited." Comments Raising Concerns to DEA's NPRM Nine of the commenters raised various concerns regarding the NPRM. These commenters included the Government of Australia, the Government of Macedonia, and the Government of Turkey; a foreign NRM control board; two DEA-registered importers of NRM; one non-DEA-registered firm; one foreign NRM manufacturer; and one individual. Four commenters claimed that the proposed rule would exacerbate current global oversupplies of NRM and therefore disrupt the balance between the supply of and demand for NRM. Three commenters claimed that the proposed rule was not consistent with the intent of the 80/20 rule or international resolutions. Three commenters claimed that the proposed rule was not necessary to assist the United States in maintaining cost effective supplies of NRM. Three commenters questioned DEA's decision to replace Yugoslavia with Spain. The following additional concerns were raised. One commenter believed that the addition of Spain to the list of non-traditional NRM producing countries would lead to a proliferation of NRM-producing countries. The commenter, however, did not provide further information as to how this rulemaking would specifically lead to a proliferation of NRM-producing countries. Additionally, one commenter claimed that Spain has diversion occurring within its borders and that it could not be proven that the addition of Spain to the list of non-traditional countries would not lead to an increase in diversion within Spain. While the commenter provided a general statement regarding the diversion of controlled substances, the commenter did not provide any specific evidence regarding the diversion of narcotic raw material specifically cultivated for lawful purposes in Spain. Due to the lack of substantiation for the claims discussed above, these comments are not addressed further in this rulemaking. Request for Hearing Four commenters requested that DEA hold an administrative hearing in this matter. Two of these commenters requested a hearing prior to the issuance of the final rule. One of these commenters stated that a hearing was appropriate "given the gravity and complexity of the issues involved." The other commenter stated that a hearing would "provide interested parties with the fullest opportunity to make their views known and have their positions considered." These commenters did not proffer any specific information beyond that submitted in the written comments, however, that would be brought to light if their requests for a hearing were granted. DEA has determined that an oral hearing prior to the issuance of this rule is unnecessary. The amendment of the 80/20 rule to substitute one non-traditional country for another that no longer exists in the form it did at the time of the promulgation of the original rule does not represent a major change in DEA policy or procedure. Moreover, DEA has carefully considered all of the comments received in connection with the proposal, and finds that the comments fully set forth the issues relevant to this rulemaking. Based on information provided in the comments, information provided in technical reports by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), and information provided by U.S. importers of NRM pursuant to DEA regulations, DEA has been able fully to address the relevant issues set forth in the comments and has determined that conducting a hearing would not materially add to the administrative record. DEA has concluded, therefore, that such a hearing would be unnecessary. Two other commenters requested a hearing following the issuance of the final rule, if it is issued. Such a request does not conform procedurally with traditional rulemaking procedures under the APA, under which--if an agency holds a hearing in connection with a proposed rule--it is held prior to the issuance of the final rule. Moreover, neither the CSA nor DEA regulations provide for an administrative hearing to "appeal" the promulgation of a final rule. Pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 877, exclusive jurisdiction for appeals of DEA final decisions such as this rule rests with the United States Courts of Appeals. Accordingly, the requests for a hearing if the final rule is issued are denied. [[Page 6846]] Other Comments Received One of the commenters wrote that if the proposal sought to change the method by which the 80/20 rule was calculated, then the commenter would object to the proposed rule. As noted previously, the 80/20 rule is calculated based on the amount of morphine alkaloid contained in the NRM. Since DEA's proposed rule and this rulemaking do not affect how the 80/20 rule is calculated, this matter is not addressed further in this rulemaking. One commenter submitted two comments. One of these comments stated, "So we are deciding who to allow to do the exporting of substances that are used to make heroin? We allow this? And then kick down the doors of terminally ill patients who smoke marijuana just to ease their pain. * * *" The other comment promoted the use of hallucinogens. NRM imported into the United States pursuant to this rule are used to make legitimate medicines that are used to treat pain, not to manufacture heroin. Heroin production and the use of marijuana and hallucinogens are not the subject of this rulemaking; these matters are therefore not addressed further in this rulemaking. Support for DEA's NPRM Adequate Supply of NRM Three commenters addressed the need to ensure adequate supplies of NRM for United States markets. One commenter noted that the need to ensure an adequate number of sources of NRM for DEA registered NRM importers was "most keenly felt in CPS-T and CPS-O, for which the U.S. demand is rapidly growing and in which global supply sources to the U.S. are currently quite limited." DEA Response: DEA agrees that United States sources of NRM are limited based on data it collects quarterly from DEA registered importers pursuant to 21 CFR 1304.31. The data collected in these reports include the relative amounts of morphine, codeine, thebaine and oripavine contained in each individual NRM import to the United States as reported by each of the five DEA registered NRM importers. In response to this comment, DEA conducted an analysis of the source of each of the primary alkaloids available in current NRM: morphine, thebaine and oripavine. DEA notes that, in 2006, imports of NRM had as their source, four of the seven countries authorized to export NRM to the United States, specifically India, Turkey, Australia and France. United States importers have not imported NRM from Poland or Yugoslavia since at least 1985, and imports from Hungary were minimal in the mid to late 1990s and have ceased altogether since 2002. No imports from Poland, Yugoslavia, or Hungary are anticipated in 2007. Since NRM contain a mixture of these alkaloids, DEA's review of the NRM import situation (below) is expressed in terms of the amount of morphine, thebaine, and oripavine contained in imported NRM. Morphine: Morphine is the principal alkaloid in Indian opium and Turkish CPS-M and has historically been the principal alkaloid extracted from NRM in the United States. Morphine continues to be utilized in the United States for the manufacture of morphine-based pharmaceutical products; the manufacture of codeine, which is utilized to manufacture codeine-based pharmaceutical preparations and hydrocodone; and the manufacture of hydromorphone. Based on an analysis of information received for 2006, imports of NRM totaled 124,000 kg of morphine (124.0 metric tons (MT)), having the following countries as its source: Turkey (59.9 MT morphine; 48.3 percent), India (43.9 MT morphine; 35.4 percent), and Australia (20.4 MT morphine; 16.5 percent).\3\ When reviewing imports of morphine over the last 10 years (1997-2006), United States importers obtained commercial quantities of morphine from India, Turkey, and Australia, with lesser amounts obtained from France and Hungary. DEA concludes as a result that the United States has at least three geographically distinct countries from which morphine is obtained, each with large production capacity on which the United States could rely if any of those countries were to experience a hardship (i.e., crop failure, labor strife, etc.). Adding Spain would provide DEA registered importers with a fourth country from which to purchase NRM. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \3\ Percentages may not add to 100 percent due to rounding. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thebaine: Thebaine is the principal alkaloid in CPS-T. CPS-T is available to the United States market from Australia and France. Thebaine is also present in Indian opium at approximately one sixth the level of morphine, thus the amount of thebaine obtained from India is directly related to the amount of morphine that United States importers import from India. In the United States, thebaine is utilized for the manufacture of oxycodone, a schedule II controlled substance. More recently, oxycodone has been utilized for the manufacture of oxymorphone, another schedule II controlled substance. Oxycodone use in the United States has increased tremendously over the last 10 years. For example, the aggregate production quota for oxycodone, which represents the maximum amount that may be manufactured in the United States to meet the estimated medical, industrial, scientific, and research needs of the United States; for lawful export requirements; and the maintenance of reserve stocks, has increased over the last decade from 5,275 kg in 1997 to 49,200 kg in 2006. The large increase in oxycodone use in the United States followed the approval and marketing in 1995 of a high dose, single-entity, extended-release drug formulation known as OxyContin. Although DEA remains concerned over the diversion and abuse of OxyContin and other formulations that contain high doses of potent schedule II controlled substances, the Food and Drug Administration continues to advise DEA of double-digit growth in the oxycodone market through 2008. This provides evidence that the demand for thebaine-rich NRM that must be imported into the United States for this purpose will also continue to increase. When the same 2006 quarterly statistical import data was reviewed for thebaine, DEA noted that 78.2 MT of thebaine was imported into the United States in 2006, having as its source the following countries: Australia (66.8 MT of thebaine; 85.4 percent), India (7.1 MT of thebaine; (9.1 percent), and France (4.1 MT of thebaine; 5.2 percent).\4\ Thus, Australia was the source of 85 percent of United States thebaine requirements in 2006.\5\ For comparison, in 2005, 73 percent of the 65.4 MT of thebaine imported into the United States had Australia as it source, and, in 2004, 75 percent of the 66.8 MT were imported from Australia. In 2007, United States importers have reported their plans to import 92 percent of their thebaine requirements from Australia; they planned to import the remaining 8 percent solely from India. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \4\ Ibid. \5\ As discussed previously, The 80/20 rule is calculated based on the amount of morphine alkaloid contained in the NRM. As this discussion relates to the amount of thebaine alkaloid in the NRM, not morphine, the 85 percent obtained by the United States from Australia does not violate principles of the 80/20 rule. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- DEA notes that Australia has a stellar record in providing thebaine-rich NRM to the United States, with little (if any) record of diversion. DEA further notes that the United States and Australia have excellent relations in this area, and contrary to comments made by some commenters to this NPRM, DEA's proposed rule and this final rule in no [[Page 6847]] way suggest that Australia has "not ensured an adequate and uninterrupted supply" of NRM to the United States. DEA remains mindful, however, of the potential impact of a hardship (i.e., crop failure, labor strife, etc.) in Australia that could lead to a temporary lack of availability of thebaine to the United States market. In this circumstance, the United States would be required to obtain much larger volumes of NRM from either India or France in order to meet thebaine demand. Although France has demonstrated the capability of exporting up to 16 MT of thebaine in a single year to the United States, India's capacity to export thebaine, as mentioned above, is directly related to the amount of morphine that importers wish to import from India consistent with the 80/20 rule. Therefore, importing vast quantities of Indian opium to meet United States thebaine demands would be impractical because it would result in the importation into the United States of excessive amounts of morphine, which could then be the subject of diversion and abuse. Thus, the amount of thebaine that could be derived from India, consistent with United States requirements for morphine contained in Indian opium, is likely to be 6-8 MT annually. DEA concludes that the United States has limited sources from which to obtain thebaine derived from NRM. The United States relies on three countries for thebaine, but two of these countries have a limited capacity to support the increasing size of the United States' market for thebaine. DEA notes that, in 2004, the Government of Spain reported for the first time commercial production of CPS-T, so Spain would represent a fourth country from which CPS-T could be imported. As a result, this rule will provide DEA registered importers with another source from which to purchase CPS-T for the production of medicines. Oripavine: Oripavine, a schedule II controlled substance, is the principal alkaloid found in Australian CPS-O and is a minor constituent in French CPS-T. Oripavine is becoming an increasingly important intermediate in the United States for the manufacture of buprenorphine, a schedule III controlled substance, oxymorphone, and a number of controlled and non-controlled substances referred to generally as "opiate antagonists" (naltrexone for example, and its derivatives). Using the same import data, DEA notes that, in 2006, 9.7 MT of oripavine was imported into the United States having Australia as its source, virtually 100 percent of the United States' oripavine requirements. In 2005, 4.1 MT were imported from Australia and in 2004, 9.4 MT were imported with roughly 86 percent imported from Australia. United States importers have reported their plans to import 100 percent of the 9.7 MT of oripavine from Australia in 2007. DEA therefore concludes that the United States has limited sources from which to obtain oripavine derived from NRM. Objections to DEA's NPRM Global Oversupply of Narcotic Raw Materials The Government of Australia's primary concern regarding DEA's proposed rule is that this rule would "exacerbate global oversupply" of NRM. In its comment, the Government of Australia pointed to statistical data published by the INCB in its report, "Narcotic Drugs: Estimated World Requirements for 2006--Statistics for 2004," which the Government of Australia characterized as demonstrating that global production of both morphine-rich and thebaine-rich NRM have been in excess of global utilization since at least 2001. As a result of overproduction, the Government of Australia argued, global supplies have increased. The DEA-registered NRM importer stated that "Alcaliber [the sole Spanish poppy cultivator] made a significant investment in capacity, dramatically increased production contributing significantly to global overproduction and excess stocks, and now wants access to the U.S. market to allow it to increase production further to help recover its investment." The importer further stated that the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking sent the message that "If a country adds production capacity, uses it aggressively and thereby contributes to the world's build up of excess stocks, the U.S. will accommodate this behavior and reward it with access to the U.S. market. The U.S. will simply delete a smaller producer from the list." This commenter also stated that "Spain was arguably the primary source of this build up in excess morphine stocks." Finally, the foreign opiate manufacturer stated that "Spain's rapid expansion of its domestic industry, its aggressive approach to building export markets, its building of clearly excessive stockpiles and capacity, and supply into a market already in over-supply is not * * * broadly in accordance with the obligations under the Single Convention, or the Resolutions." DEA Response: DEA disagrees that Spain is the "primary" source of any build-up of global excesses in morphine stocks. Instead, DEA concludes that all countries that produce NRM contribute to the current global excess of NRM. Among many of the requirements of NRM-producing countries, in accordance with the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, is a requirement to provide annual statistics to the INCB, including estimated amounts of NRM to be cultivated and the amount of NRM to be produced therefrom. The INCB utilizes these estimates along with other statistical data it collects, in accordance with the Single Convention, to monitor and analyze the global supply of and demand for NRM. The results of this analysis are published in a technical report series, which in 2004 was entitled, "Narcotic Drugs: Estimated World Requirements for 2006; Statistics for 2003." The analysis conducted by the INCB and the statistical reports published continue to be an excellent resource for governments of consumer countries such as the United States. A review of this report series for 2004 and 2005 was conducted with relevant statistical data provided in Tables 1 and 2. Analysis for Morphine-Rich Poppies Table 1.--"Global Cultivation of Morphine-Rich Poppies (Hectares) for Licit Purposes Other Than Production of Opium" Country 2003 (ha.) 2004 (ha) 2005 (ha-est.) 2006 (ha-est.) Australia 9,811 6,644 6,700 4,900 People's Republic of China 1,250 1,000 1,300 1,200 Czech Republic 21,045 16,030 25,000 38,000 France 7,919 8,312 8,500 9,100 Hungary 2,937 7,084 14,000 12,000 Slovakia 332 326 550 ........... Spain 5,732 5,986 7,002 6,002 Republic of Macedonia 51 91 1,500 1,500 Turkey 99,430 30,343 70,000 70,000 United Kingdom 1,534 1,534 1,500 ........... Total 150,041 77,350 136,052 142,702 Neither DEA, nor any commenter, identified a single instance in these reports in which the INCB raised concerns over Spain's purported role in the global excess of production and the resulting oversupply of NRM presently on hand. According to this publication, Spain was one of eleven countries that cultivated morphine-rich poppies in 2003 for licit pharmaceutical purposes (i.e. non-culinary use). Spain planted 5,732 hectares of poppies and produced roughly 4.7 percent of the world's morphine-rich poppy straw. Spain's share of world production of poppy straw increased in 2004 to 10.7 percent; the increase was attributed to both an increase in 2004 acreage sown in Spain and a large decrease in acreage sown by the primary cultivator of poppies for this purpose, Turkey. Estimates for the "area to be cultivated" for 2005 and 2006 suggest that Spain will be responsible for 5.1 percent of the area under cultivation and had plans to decrease its area under cultivation in 2006 to 4.2 percent. Although Spain remains one of the five largest cultivators of morphine-rich poppies in the world, DEA concludes that Spain, like all other producer and consumer countries, contributes to what the INCB qualifies as a "high" level of stocks of raw materials rich in morphine. Analysis of Thebaine-Rich Poppies Table 2.--"Global Cultivation of Thebaine-Rich Poppies (Hectares) for Licit Purposes Other Than Production of Opium" Country 2003 (ha) 2004 (ha) 2005 (ha-est.) 2006 (ha-est.) Australia 7,637 5,578 6,500 5,300 People's Republic of China 34 ........... 40 50 France 1,499 1,007 1,100 1,000 Spain ........... 996 500 1,000 Total 9,170 7,581 8,140 7,350 Australia is the principal cultivator of thebaine-rich poppies and is responsible for the vast majority of thebaine-rich CPS that is produced and imported into the United States. Although the INCB notes that production of thebaine-rich NRM exceeded demand substantially until 2002, DEA notes that the primary cultivators, Australia and France, began decreasing areas under cultivation in 2003 and have made significant decreases since that time in order to bring production in line with utilization. Although Spain noted cultivation of thebaine- rich poppies for the first time in 2004, it is not responsible for excess production that resulted in excess supplies before then. Consistency With the 80/20 Rule and International Resolutions As stated in DEA's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the 80/20 rule was promulgated following a resolution adopted by the United Nations' Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 1979. In response to the resolution in 1979, DEA published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (44 FR 33695, June 12, 1979) and then a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (45 FR 9289, February 12, 1980). The comments resulting from the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking led to an administrative hearing. On August 18, 1981, DEA published a final rule promulgating the 80/20 rule (46 FR 41775). Objections to the current Notice of Proposed Rulemaking pointed to specific comments in the 1979 resolution, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the transcript of the administrative hearing, and considerations made by then-Acting Administrator Francis Mullen, Jr., in DEA's 1981 Final Rule. The foreign opiate manufacturer stated that the 1979 ECOSOC resolution called on "importing countries to * * * take effective steps to support their traditional supplier countries" and urged "major producing and manufacturing countries to which have set up [sic] additional capacity in recent years to take effective measures to restrict substantially their production levels to assure a lasting balance between supply and demand and to prevent drug diversion to illicit channels." The commenter believed that "[a]llowing Spain to now enter the market directly contradicts and undermines the objective of the Current 80/20 Rule, and rewards a country for engaging in the very conduct the Current 80/20 Rule, and the Resolutions, were intended to discourage or stop." The DEA-registered NRM importer who filed objections to the NPRM provided a summary of the determinations of fact made by Francis Young, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) who presided over the hearing in 1980; these findings were adopted by then-Acting Administrator Mullen when the final rule was promulgated. The DEA-registered importer provided the following summary of ALJ Young's determinations of fact: "(1) DEA could lawfully promulgate the regulatory amendments limiting the importation of narcotic raw materials; (2) the Administrator of DEA could lawfully [[Page 6849]] require that a major portion of the [NRM] imported into the United States be produced in India and Turkey while permitting the remainder of the U.S. needs to be imported from other countries which maintain adequate control; (3) such allocation would be in harmony with U.S. trade agreements and would not be inconsistent with Resolution 471 and 497; and (4) DEA staff should determine an allocation ratio based upon world market shares during a recent representative period." This commenter further noted that the 1981 final rule "established clearly stated criteria for selecting the other countries that could supply the United States market with NRM: (a) France, Hungary, Poland, and Yugoslavia 'provided the United States with [NRM] during the period 1975 through 1979 and present alternate sources' and Australia 'was the source of material for which import permits had been requested during the time period' and (b) Each country did 'impose adequate controls over their production of narcotic raw materials in adherence to their obligations under the Single Convention'." DEA Response: DEA disagrees with the commenters' assessments that this rule is inconsistent with the intent of the 80/20 rule and international resolutions. DEA finds that the proposed rule is consistent with both the 1979 resolution and the 80/20 rule. Consistency with 1979 Resolution: The text of the 1979 resolution contained separate and distinct operative language for Governments of importing countries (i.e., the United States) and Governments of producer countries. The operative paragraph for importing countries: "Urge[d] the Governments of the importing countries that have not already done so to take effective steps to support the traditional supplier countries and to give those countries all the practical assistance they can in order to prevent the proliferation of sources of production of narcotic raw materials for export[.]" \6\ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \6\ Resolution 1979/8 of the Economic and Social Council. "Maintenance of a world-wide balance between the supply of narcotic drugs and the legitimate demand for those drugs for medical and scientific purposes." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neither DEA nor the commenters disagree that the United States meets the first prong of this operative paragraph, i.e., the support of "traditional supply countries," by providing India and Turkey with access to at least 80 percent of the United States market for morphine contained in NRM. As has been stated throughout this rule, DEA remains committed to this obligation through its continued support of the 80/20 rule. The commenter's objections would, therefore, fall under United States' obligations under the second prong of this operative paragraph, namely to give all practical assistance in preventing the proliferation of producing countries. Since it is not refuted that the Government of Spain has been engaged in the production of NRM since 1974, prior to international calls to prevent proliferation, DEA concludes that the Government of Spain is not a new or emerging participant in the global production of NRM. The addition of Spain to the 80/20 rule will not result in a proliferation of producer countries. DEA therefore concludes that this action is consistent with the 1979 resolution. Consistency with the 80/20 rule: As stated in the proposed rulemaking and reaffirmed in this final rule, DEA concludes that adding Spain to the list of countries authorized to export NRM to the United States is consistent with the 80/20 rule. Specifically, adding Spain is consistent with the criteria established by then-Acting Administrator Mullen when establishing Yugoslavia, France, Poland, Hungary, and Australia as the list of non-traditional suppliers in 1981. In the 1981 Final Rule, then-Acting Administrator Mullen stated: However, in view of the past commercial relations with certain other countries as sources of narcotic raw material supply and the desirability of preserving alternate sources of narcotic raw materials, it is appropriate to allow certain specific countries to compete for the U.S. narcotic raw materials market on a limited basis. These countries, France, Poland, Hungary and Yugoslavia have provided the United States with supplies of narcotic raw materials during the period 1975 and 1979 and represent appropriate alternate sources. Australia is included as well since it was the source of material for which import permits had been requested during that time period. In addition, we are presently persuaded that the nations mentioned above impose adequate controls over their production of narcotic raw materials in adherence to their obligations under the Single Convention. (46 FR 41775). Then-Acting Administrator Mullen reaffirmed DEA's obligations to preserve alternate sources of NRM for the United States market. In an effort to determine the sources from which NRM could be derived, he established the following two criteria in designating the list of alternate sources: (1) The country had to have supplied the United States with NRM for a period of five years prior to the resolution's passage in 1979 and (2) the country had to have imposed adequate controls over the production of NRM consistent with its obligations under the Single Convention. In his decision, then-Acting Administrator Mullen created an exception to the first criterion; this exception allowed the Government of Australia to be added to the list of non- traditional suppliers. Specifically, then-Acting Administrator Mullen found that, if a country was not the source of imports during the period 1975-1979, then the country had to be a source from which DEA- registered importers of NRM had requested authority to import. Although Australia did not export NRM to the United States during the period 1975-1979, it was added because DEA-registered NRM importers had expressed interest in importing from Australia and had submitted to DEA the required "Application for Permit to Import Controlled Substances for Domestic and/or Scientific Purposes" (DEA-357) from Australia. Based on this exception, one could conclude that Spain, despite not having been a source of NRM to the United States from 1975-1979, could qualify consistent with the 80/20 rule if a DEA-registered importer had expressed its interest in importing from Spain by filing a DEA-357, requesting authorization to do so. DEA notes, however, that the filing of such an application by a DEA-registered importer at present would be inconsistent with DEA regulations, specifically the 80/20 rule, and would therefore be impractical. Instead, interest in importing NRM from Spain arose through this rulemaking; DEA notes that one DEA-registered NRM importer expressed its interest in importing NRM from Spain during the comment period. DEA also notes that, during routine annual discussions with its five DEA-registered NRM importers before the receipt of the petition from the Government of Spain, the majority expressed some degree of interest in importing from Spain. Neither the commenters nor DEA disagree with the statements of fact made by the Government of Spain that it has implemented a system of domestic controls for the handling of NRM that are consistent with the Single Convention; DEA concludes, as a result, that the second criterion has been satisfied. DEA finds that adding Spain to the list of non-traditional suppliers is consistent with the criteria established in 1981 by then- Acting Administrator Mullen and is therefore consistent with the 80/20 rule. Cost of Narcotic Raw Materials One DEA-registered importer of NRM stated that DEA's Notice of Proposed [[Page 6850]] Rulemaking "will do little or nothing to improve adequacy of supply or the cost of NRMs for the U.S." The Government of Australia, in its comments to the DEA's proposed rule stated that "Spain's petition presents no evidence to justify a need for change on the basis of adequacy of supply nor the cost effectiveness of that supply" and that "there is no real issue with cost." Finally, the foreign opiate manufacturer stated that there is no evidence that the proposed rule would maintain cost-effective supplies and that there is "no suggestion that current supplies are not cost effective." DEA Response: DEA agrees that there is no evidence provided in the petition from Spain that the addition of Spain to the 80/20 rule would lead to more cost-effective supplies of NRM. This remains an open question. DEA does not routinely collect information relating to the cost of NRM or the opiates manufactured therefrom. Some of the commenters, however, provided data that demonstrate that the costs of NRM have steadily declined over the last five years and are presently at "record lows." For example, the DEA-registered importer of NRM that objected to the NPRM stated that the price of CPS-M from Turkey was $660 per kilogram in 2001 and will be $300 per kilogram in 2007. The same commenter noted that CPS-T was $825 per kilogram in 2001 and will be $500 per kilogram in 2007. The foreign opiate manufacturer stated that, "taking the United States supply price in 2001 as a benchmark, the 2006 average price of Thebaine to the United States has declined over 20%." Given the increasing demand for thebaine, the foreign opiate manufacturer contends that a decrease in price suggests a "robust competitive environment." DEA disagrees with the implication made by the Government of Australia, however, in its statement that "Spain's assertion that its inclusion would further an underlying policy objective of the 80/20 Rule by ensuring an adequate and reliable supply at a stable price is based on a premise that prices of NRM have not been stable." DEA concludes instead that the prices of NRM are directly related to the global stocks of these materials, which for more than the last 5 years have been in excess of global demand. For example, in the 2005 INCB publication, "Narcotic Drugs: Estimated World Requirements for 2006-- Statistics for 2004," the INCB reported that "global production of opiate raw materials rich in morphine exceeded global demand considerably during the period 2002-2004." For opiate raw materials rich in thebaine, the INCB reported that "the total supply (production and stocks) continued to be above global demand also for thebaine-rich raw materials * * * and that the balance between supply and demand will continue to be positive." DEA therefore concludes that the decrease in price noted by the commenters is more a function of excess supply rather than evidence of "robust competition," for, as noted, Australia supplies the vast majority of the United States' demand for thebaine. DEA further concludes that maintaining cost-effective supplies of NRM to the United States equates to striking a global balance between supply of and demand for NRM. For producer countries such as India, Turkey, Australia, France and Spain, this means reducing areas of cultivation in times when global supplies are in excess and increasing production (to the extent possible) if and when hardship arises in a producer country that results in global demand being in excess of supply. For consumer countries, such as the United States, this equates to: (1) Ensuring that there are an adequate number of sources from which to procure NRM during times in which supplies are not in excess, (2) communicating accurate estimates of United States requirements for NRM to authorized exporting countries, and (3) working with the international community, including the INCB, to ensure a global balance between supply and demand. Replacing Yugoslavia With Spain The Republic of Macedonia (Macedonia) forwarded a letter prepared by the only company licensed in Macedonia to purchase poppy straw and manufacture opiate alkaloids. The company raised concerns regarding DEA's comment in the NPRM that "the successor states to the former Yugoslavia no longer produce NRM for export." The company disagreed with this observation, stating that Macedonia has been "enjoying the rights arising out of the 80/20 rule for more than 25 years." The company therefore insisted that "Yugoslavia can only be replaced on the list with its legitimate successor state Macedonia." A second commenter stated that DEA's proposed rule sought to "replace Macedonia with Spain." Finally, a third commenter stated that DEA ignored "the position of its [Yugoslavia's] clear successor state, namely Macedonia." DEA Response: DEA disagrees with those commenters that suggest that Macedonia is the de facto successor to Yugoslavia for purposes of the 80/20 rule. Macedonia became a sovereign country only after the dissolution of Yugoslavia. As a new country, Macedonia cannot automatically replace Yugoslavia in the 80/20 rule. Macedonia is but one of five countries that were created after the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. Any one of the five countries would be required to petition DEA if it wished to be added to the list of countries authorized to export NRM. DEA would then be required to review the merits of any such petition in a manner consistent with DEA's review of the petition filed by Spain. DEA also disagrees with Macedonia's assessment that its manufacturers have "enjoyed" the rights arising from the 80/20 rule for the last 25 years. The company did not provide any statistical data to demonstrate previous sales to the United States or anticipated sales to the United States. In this regard, DEA conducted a review of import permits issued for NRM over the last five years and did not identify an occasion in which a United States importer requested authority to import NRM from Macedonia. Instead, according to the most recent statistics available from the INCB (statistics for 2004), Macedonia did not export opium, poppy straw, or concentrate of poppy straw from 2002 through 2004. Instead, Macedonia reported the exportation of small quantities of morphine and codeine, schedule II controlled substances whose importation into the United States is generally regarded as being prohibited by DEA regulations unless specifically requested in limited quantities for use exclusively in scientific research (21 CFR 1312.13). Conclusion Based on the comments received, statistical data on imports of NRM collected and analyzed by DEA pursuant to the Code of Federal Regulations, and reports from the INCB, DEA concludes that in order to continue to ensure an adequate supply of NRM necessary to meet the estimated medical, industrial, scientific, and research needs of the United States, for lawful export requirements, and for the maintenance of adequate stocks, it is appropriate to add Spain to the list of non- traditional countries permitted to export NRM to the United States. Regulatory Certifications Regulatory Flexibility Act The Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Diversion Control, hereby certifies that this rulemaking has been drafted in accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601-612), that he has reviewed this regulation, and by approving it certifies [[Page 6851]] that this regulation will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small business entities. This rule imposes no new costs or burden on small entities. Rather, this rule adds Spain to the list of non-traditional countries permitted to export NRM to the United States, helping to ensure that United States importers and manufacturers will have access to, and be able to procure, supplies of NRM to meet legitimate United States medical, scientific, research, and industrial needs, to ensure maintenance of adequate reserve stocks, and to meet lawful export requirements. Additionally, this rule provides DEA registered importers with another source from which to purchase NRM which are utilized for the production of controlled substances used in the United States for medical purposes. Executive Order 12866 The Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Diversion Control, further certifies that this rulemaking has been drafted in accordance with the principles in Executive Order 12866 Section 1(b). It has been determined that this is a significant regulatory action. Therefore, this action has been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget. Executive Order 12988 This rule meets the applicable standards set forth in Sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of Executive Order 12988. Executive Order 13132 This rule does not preempt or modify any provision of State law; nor does it impose enforcement responsibilities on any State; nor does it diminish the power of any State to enforce its own laws. Accordingly, this rulemaking does not have federalism implications warranting the application of Executive Order 13132. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 This rule will not result in the expenditure by State, local, and tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector, of $120,000,000 or more (adjusted for inflation) in any one year, and will not significantly or uniquely affect small governments. Therefore, no actions were deemed necessary under the provisions of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995. Congressional Review Act This rule is not a major rule as defined by Section 804 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (Congressional Review Act). This rule will not result in an annual effect on the economy of $100,000,000 or more; a major increase in costs or prices; or significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or on the ability of United States-based companies to compete with foreign-based companies in domestic and export markets. List of Subjects in 21 CFR Part 1312 Administrative practice and procedure, Drug traffic control, Exports, Imports, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements. For the reasons set out above, 21 CFR part 1312 is amended as follows: PART 1312--IMPORTATION AND EXPORTATION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES 1. The authority citation for part 1312 continues to read as follows: Authority: 21 U.S.C. 952, 953, 954, 957, 958. 2. Section 1312.13 is amended by revising paragraphs (f) and (g) to read as follows: Sec. 1312.13 Issuance of import permit. * * * * * (f) Notwithstanding paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) of this section, the Administrator shall permit, pursuant to section 1002(a)(1) or 1002(a)(2)(A) of the Act (21 U.S.C. 952(a)(1) or (a)(2)(A)), the importation of approved narcotic raw material (opium, poppy straw and concentrate of poppy straw) having as its source: (1) Turkey, (2) India, (3) Spain, (4) France, (5) Poland, (6) Hungary, and (7) Australia. (g) At least eighty (80) percent of the narcotic raw material imported into the United States shall have as its original source Turkey and India. Except under conditions of insufficient supplies of narcotic raw materials, not more than twenty (20) percent of the narcotic raw material imported into the United States annually shall have as its source Spain, France, Poland, Hungary and Australia. Dated: January 30, 2008. Joseph T. Rannazzisi, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Diversion Control. [FR Doc. E8-2142 Filed 2-5-08; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4410-09-P NOTICE: This is an unofficial version. An official version of this publication may be obtained directly from the Government Publishing Office (GPO). |
Penguin Books recently announced that their planned publication of Morrissey's autobiography had been abandoned at the last minute, due to a difference of opinion with the author over the content. It is unclear what led to the contretemps, which has meant that no review copies of the long-awaited volume were printed. However, it seems that one sample copy was printed up for Morrissey's final inspection. It was thought to have been lost forever. However, Quietus contributor David Stubbs, while out cycling in the capital, caught side of a volume bearing the image of the former Smiths frontman, protruding from a skip next to Penguin HQ. Stubbs says he was struck by way the volume had clearly been “flung into the skip in a state of high dudgeon”, and immediately realised that this was Morrissey's own, discarded copy. We are proud, therefore, to bring you extracts from what might otherwise have been a lost scroll in the world of pop letters – the Morrissey autobiography they did not want you to read ONE: CHILDHOOD Contrary to others my age in the gaudy 1960s, I did not have a childhood. I was born interesting and intense. I actually recall the excitement of my parents as I struggled, at nine months old, to utter my first word. “M – m – m...” “E's about to say it!” exclaimed father, with an affecting coarseness typical of the humble and the narrow. “M – m – m – Morrissey,” I blurted. I sensed some disappointment. So I had another go. “M - m - m -” “Go on, Stephen, say it!” “M – m... mother.” I said. It doesn't do to be impolite. As other children played in the streets with their false plastic hoops or danced to dreadful, here-today, gone tomorrow songs by Tamla and the Motowns or whatever they were called, I sat alone in my bedroom, practising waving a tulip in anticipation of the day that it would be my turn to shine. I had my own valve television set on which I would watch kitchen sink dramas like The Angry Intenseness Of Loneliness, Love In A Damp Ginnel, Ada's Apron and Saturday Night Hand Jiving At The Abbatoir. My parents abandoned me at an early age, every Friday night to go the bingo hall for a morsel of fun, leaving me in the charge of my Grandma. She would sit me in front of the two-bar fire and slip me the odd rich tea biscuit which I'd hide in my grey shorts for later mastication in a quiet place. “There you go, Stephen Patrick Morrissey.” Like all people who understood my genius, she would call me Stephen Patrick Morrissey. I recall one weekend, when I was aged 11. “I've cooked you your usual treat,” said the old and grey lady. “Done just as you like it, nice and crispy.” And so she had – a bacon sandwich with Hovis white bread, delivered by the local boy on the pushbike. As she returned to the kitchen, I got up and went to the umbrella stand in the hallway, where the telephone sat. I dialled the number. “Hello?” I said. “Is that the desk sergeant? I wish to report a murder.” The next morning, I went out and buried that sandwich somewhere on the moors. All life, be it pig or human, is of equal value. TWO: NOT YET A SMITH, ALREADY A WORDSMITH “All that I have learned of life, I have learned from listening to an old lady talking to herself on the bottom deck of the number 63 bus to Gipton.” - Alan Bennett. A few years later, in my teens, I had my first letter published in The New Musical Express. “Dear Sir, Madam or Miss,” I began. “I have just sat down and watched the worst thing I have ever seen in what is already a quite sad and miserable life already thank you so much, and thought I would undertake correspondence with your kind selves, via a letter, to wit, this one. My letter concerns the Brotherhood Of Man and their Song Contest-winning song 'Save All Your Kisses For Me'. If superficial ditties like these are what it takes to dupe the common masses in the Eurovision Union, then I could almost, though of course not quite, wish myself Asian. Their coy, come-hither dance routines and invitations to a mass orgy of lip-sex may be enough to distract the ordinary mass man in the street but not a personage such as myself, who has stared long and hard at his poster of Elsie Tanner and knows that the path to love is an intensely unhappy one, full of grief and cobblestones. I bid you good day. Your humble and salubrious servant, Stephen Patrick Morrissey.” The letter was printed under the heading “A 37 Year Old Virgin Writes”. I had been crossed by the NME, not for the last time. THREE: A LONE BATTLE AGAINST THE DISCO SHEEP It was 1982. A once-proud and grey England had been turned into a gaudy hell of discotheques and plastic enjoyment that said nothing about me or my bedroom. Diana Ross and reggae had taken over the country, just as Mrs Thatcher wanted, swamping the charts. Me and my friend, Linder Ludus, would go to the discotheques and watch as a generation gyrated and wallowed in the manufactured superficiality of the black music conspiracy. The sound of our tut-tutting was drowned out by the inane banalities of some disc jockey shouting things like, "C'mon, everybody, it's Friday night, let's have a good time!" But we were there to think, and to be seen thinking. We were completely intense and totally against mindlessness. What did these shallow morons "strutting their funky rub-a-dub" know of the sadness of Martha Longhurst, who died alone in the snug of the Rovers Return in Coronation Street as she nursed her milk stout? With her died England, I feel. Later, a little man called Johnny Marr came knocking at my door asking if I'd like to form a group. I decided to nickname him "Rubber Johnny" for amusement. The self-appointed critics often miss my humour. "Fancy forming a group?" he asked. "Someone said you're always hanging around the discos, obviously desperate to be some sort of pop star." "Will I have to skank? You know it's illegal not to be in a reggae band nowadays, or might as well be, thanks to the Queen." "No, it's guitars. Got any songs?" I showed him two ditties I had penned that morning - 'Shoot Disco Tex And The Sex-O-Lettes In A Barrel' and 'Hello, Little Asian Fellow'. They seemed to go over his guitary head. "Well, er - yeah. Or something, anyway. Rehearsals are tomorrow afternoon. You in?" "I don't think so, you silly, tedious little man," I said, with a frown like Myra Hindley's. The next week, we were on Top Of The Pops. We had conquered the world and already I was bored. FOUR: SUCCESS AND SEXUALITY “The purpose of great writing is not to open one's heart but to open one's shirt” - Oscar Wilde The years that followed saw The Smiths achieve smash hit after smash hit. There was 'Shenanigans In A Back Alley' (no. 17), 'Dennis Nilsen's Biscuit Barrel' (no. 17), 'The Excellence Of Me, The Tedium Of You' (no. 17), 'A Bangladeshi Trouser Faux Pas' (no, 17), 'Curtseying With Clarence' (no. 17) and 'Killing Kool And The Gang Is Not Murder' (no. 17). Inevitably, as I became a permanent fixture in the living rooms of ordinary people, there was some speculation as to my sexuality. What was it? Where did I keep it? I can say now that the whole idea is obscene, as a devout vegetarian. I would not have sexual intercourse with a pig or a chicken. Why, then, should I wish to do so with a man or a woman, since human beings and animals are equal? It should be nothing, or all. Those people who have sex to each other but refuse to offer the same pleasure to a farm animal are guilty of the foulest hypocrisy, to my mind. Much as I loathe the Monarchy and feel that “Her Majesty”'s throne should be converted to an electric chair with immediate effect and forthwith, there is one thing that gives me an uncontrollable erection and that is the Union Jack flag. As a teenager, such were the colours of my duvet cover. I remember my mother complaining about it as she fished it from the laundry basket and smelt it all over. “Have you been gluing model aeroplanes together again, Stephen? All this sticky mess, I'll need two cups of Persil.” When supporting Madness in 1992 I'd intended the whole thing to be my grand “coming out” moment. Yes, I was in love with the British flag, be proud and get used to it, and we were going to get married and adopt babies, little brown ones perhaps. Instead, the hateful, so-called mass-media ignored the raging, tumescent bulge in my trouser area as I draped myself in that flag and thought I was making some sort of National Frontist statement. But I am no mindless, right wing patriot - unless it is “fascist” for a man to be sexually attracted to the flag of his country? FIVE: LOS ANGELES AND DISILLUSION “Ooh, 'eck” - Rita Tushingham, Clodagh's Cough Mixture, 1964 Hounded out of my own country as “deviant and truculent”, I went to the only place a man can go who despises the fake and the shallow, the garish, a place where a man can dream of Golden Syrup for tea, mother in the kitchen rotating undershorts in the mangler and the sounds of the Rex Humphries Serenaders on the radiogram on a Sunday afternoon mingling with the tap-tap of raindrops on the window pane – Los Angeles. Returning for a brief visit, I saw at a glance what had become of England for want of my influence. I decided to check if the New Musical Express was still being published, and wrote a letter to the editor of the letters column. “Dear Sir, Madam, Miss or “Ms”, or Miscellaneous,” I wrote. “On visiting England recently, I was disappointed to find that everything was in colour. This is a terrible mistake. I have nothing against colour – some of my best friends are in colour, including the little lady who does for me of a Tuesday and a Thursday though she doesn't always do behind the settee if the truth be known. I do feel though, it would be better if everything was in black and white, the way it was in my childhood, when England was England, Vivian Nicholson was spend, spend, spending, the Kray Twins only killed their own and packets of crisps came with a bag of salt in a sash rather than all this chicken korma flavour nonsense you read about. I blame the Queen, Margaret Thatcher and The dreadful Pointer Sisters. What are you going to do about? Nothing, I suppose. I hate you all. Your humble and truculent servant, Stephen Patrick Morrissey." The letter was printed under the headline, “A 13 Year Old Idiot Writes”. And so the wheel, which brings us back to ourselves, like the one of the pushbike of the Hovis boy, had come full circle. |
Vive is kicking off a huge presence at CES 2017, by introducing two new accessories and new services that will lay the foundation of the VR ecosystem for years to come. If you’re a current or future VR owner, there are a lot of things to be thankful for this New Year. Available in Q2 2017, the Vive Tracker and Vive Deluxe Audio Strap are all new accessories that will greatly enhance your Vive experience, and we’re expecting wireless accessories to be available in 2017. In addition, Viveport will be launching a subscription service as well as app stores for arcade and enterprise customers in early 2017, ensuring you’ll have many options to access the best content on Vive that matters to you. Let’s start off with the hardware news: The Vive Tracker, available in Q2 this year, enables motion tracking for entirely new form factors within the VR world. It is the the foundation for building a new accessories ecosystem for Vive. In fact, there are many partners in our space at CES showing off their Vive Tracker integrations including multiple rifles built for VR shooters, a baseball bat, a firehose and haptic gloves for a truly immersive VR experience. We’ll be showing you a sneak peek at some of these apps and products during our Live Stream happening both Thursday and Friday from 12-2pm PST. At its core, the Vive Tracker will integrate with any number of future VR accessories via a simple connection, ensuring developers and consumers will have a single accessory to unlock thousands of new experiences . The Tracker weighs just under three ounces (90g) and is 99.65mm (Diameter) x 42.27mm (Height). The Vive Deluxe Audio Strap is designed with adjustable headphones, allowing you to enjoy even more comfort and convenience. The headstrap features integrated headphones and a new customizable sizing dial for quickly adjusting the fit of the headstrap, ensuring a tighter and more comfortable fit. The Deluxe Audio Strap will also be available in Q2. Pricing for both the Tracker and Deluxe Audio Strap will be announced soon. Wireless and VR -We showcased a product many of you may have heard about recently from TPCast, a wireless adaptor which was incubated through the Vive X accelerator program. It includes a one and a half hour battery, and latency as low as 2ms. TPCast will be shipping in Q2 2017 and will retail for $249 USD. Now that you have this great hardware, what are you going to do with it? We’ve got you covered with some exciting things coming up from Viveport as well amazing content from Vive Studios and more than 30 partners showcasing content in our CES space. In early 2017, Viveport will be launching a subscription service to help you navigate and find the best VR apps in the world, as well as introduce a new channel through which VR developers can monetize their content. There are currently thousands of apps available on Vive globally. Viveport’s subscription service will help people navigate this growing marketplace and discover new apps, providing access to an ever-growing library of content for a low monthly fee. More details will be announced soon. Viveport also announced at CES that it is expanding services for enterprise VR customers and arcade operators by launching dedicated VR app stores for professionals in 2017. Viveport is evolving the Viveport Arcade platform announced last November to create a digital storefront that can distribute VR content to businesses globally. The app store is designed for arcades, cinemas, amusement parks and other location-based entertainment centers eager to introduce their customers to VR. The rapid expansion of VR into arcades is creating an important touch point for people to experience high-end VR for the first time. Lastly, Viveport’s dedicated enterprise app store will target a different set of customers. Some of the biggest industrial sectors are quickly adopting VR, led by major categories such as healthcare, engineering, real estate and retail. Viveport’s enterprise app store will both curate content for enterprise customers and support developers leveraging the immersion of VR to create apps and tools for professionals in areas such as medicine, architecture, design, 3D modeling and workforce training. VR fans and existing Viveport customers can sign-up today to be the first to get invited to a free trial of the subscription service when it launches at http://www.viveport.com. 2017 will be a great year for VR. At Vive, we’re laying a strong foundation for how VR will grow for years to come. Keep an eye out on this blog and our Facebook and Twitter channels for more great news this week. |
But is it really? Image: Getty “Yeah, you’re going to need to go to the emergency room with that.” In a healthcare drop-in centre in Brooklyn, I’m paying a man in a white coat $130 to prod my puffy red hand. I last set foot in an A&E when I swallowed a piece of Lego, aged three. An emergency room, though? It has that “let’s not fuck about with unnecessary words” sense of American urgency to it. An emergency room is where you go when you’ve been shot seven times in the spleen. It’s where humans reduced to bloody slabs of gristle are careered about on trollies, and doctors need amounts of things, “stat”. It started with a mosquito. For unknown reasons, a small bite on my finger ballooned and left me with a buoyant ham where my left hand used to be. Despite having been told by a dead-eyed pharmacist, “It’s fine. Take Benadryl”, there was no way (as a formidable hypochondriac) I wasn’t going to get it checked out. My sister lives in New York, so I’ve spent a lot of time in the States, visiting her. But this is my first time navigating my way through the USA’s Kafkaesque healthcare system. First comes the paperwork, a War And Peace-thick pile of it, on which I write my name so many times that the words “Eleanor” and “Margolis” become hilariously absurd. Good thing I’m right-handed. I’ve been an American patient for fifteen minutes and I’m already starting to sweat. I bought health insurance at home, but I’m convinced that the company will play dirty; trying every trick in their sputum-dripping book not to cover me. While my hand is getting bigger and redder right before my eyes, I envisage a bill for a mighty stack of dollars. This is met with a peel of laughter by my insurance company, because I forgot to specify on their forms that I have one tit bigger than the other. “I’m sorry,” they’ll say, “We only cover the evenly-breasted. Enjoy prison.” As the US government shutdown draws to some kind of close, maybe, I find myself lost within the system that started the whole thing. I’m in a hospital bed, on an antibiotic drip. Some kick-ass painkillers have started to take effect, and I feel like human cheese on toast. I’m sharing my room with an elderly Hispanic lady called Carmen. Carmen is motherly and flatulent. Worried that I might catch a chill, she covers me in a blanket, then retreats behind her curtain and loudly farts. My attempts to get to sleep are intermittently interrupted by the nearby calls of a nurse with a thick Brooklyn accent. “Mary!” she says, again and again. I hazard a guess at Mary being a difficult patient. Day two. I’m woken by a man’s voice. “Miss Margolis?” Medicated and soporific, I murmur something. “Uh,” I say, perhaps. The owner of the voice draws back my curtain and, to my drowsy horror, I’m met not by one person, but a crowd. I’m sprawled out in a star shape and half my face is coated in dried-up saliva. The man (a doctor) has brought along an eager troupe of young med students, to ogle my freak hand. A few pretty blonde girls in white coats jot down notes as the doctor points to bits of me and says sciencey things. Blood rushes to my cheeks. “I am not a monster!” I want to say. The doctor ushers the students away, and I go back to sleep. I’m next woken by the Food Bringer. “Breakfast,” she says as she drops down a tray containing something that might be egg. I pick at whatever it is and endure a rush of overwhelming sadness. I can’t clear my mind of the fact that I’m in a place where a lot of people come to die. In another room, someone is hacking up a lung. Unable to concentrate on even the trashiest of American TV, I spend what seems like an hour poking holes in a polystyrene cup with a pencil. “Mary, don’t touch that!” My brother-in-law arrives with coffee. Having just been doped up with more painkillers, I gaze blankly at the ceiling while he speaks gibberish over the phone to my insurance company. Kind and attentive as the hospital staff may be, it’s hard to appreciate that you’re recovering when you have that constant, underlying fear of a giant bill. “I know you’re in there, Mary!” Carmen is arguing with a nurse in Spanish. I make out the words “Medicare” and “Medicaid” – America’s vestiges of socialised healthcare. Poor Carmen. I hope she’s covered. Somewhere nearby, I can hear a nurse talking about the government shutdown. “They just have to have their ObamaCare,” she says, her words oozing contempt. I begin to wonder how the Republicans have managed to convince even those in the very midst of a system that punishes the poor, that the slightest implementation of state-funded healthcare is an evil, communist conspiracy. Day three. A good-natured Polish nurse has just hooked me up to a drip and given me an injection of blood-thinner in the stomach. Carmen is leaving. “Get better, darling,” she says, “And remember – if you need anything – money talks.” She chuckles and exits my life. With her final words to me, Carmen may have been joking – but she’s neatly summed up the bare-faced callousness of the American healthcare system. This isn’t a hospital; it’s the Wild West. As a foreigner with travel insurance, I’m lucky enough to observe American healthcare from a safe distance. But to someone fully enmeshed, like Carmen, ObamaCare is a tiny drop in the murkiest of quagmires. |
Capital punishment has come a long way as far as our styles of execution. In most civilized countries, we have humanitarian ways to put criminals to death. Even in third world or semi civilized countries and kingdoms, beheading is pretty much the worst of it. We also hear of torture and humiliation techniques that we believe to be inhumane and downright barbaric. Folks, what happens in today’s world are child’s play as compared to how we used to carry out punishments just a few hundred years ago. In fact, humankind has become downright gentlemen about capital punishment. Read on as you discover the horrible and painful ways in which brutal executions were carried out in our Top Ten List of Historic Brutal Executions. 10. Saint Andrew Bobola 1657 Saint Andrew was an advisor, preacher, and teacher of the Jesuits. He was well respected, loved, and died at age 65 in the year 1657. This was not a great period in which to be a Christian as they were tortured and martyred for their belief in Jesus and their refusal to deny Him. His death was neither quick nor peaceful. The terrible torture that Saint Andrew endured inspired many people as to his faith in the Lord and his willingness to give his life to prove his faith. During his torture, he prayed continuously for his tormentors as they tore off his Holy Habit, tied him to a tree, and scourged him. To “scourge” is to whip with a lash or cat o’ nine tails with pieces of bone or metal tied to the end allowing it to rip the flesh from the bone. They forced a crown of thorns on his head, ripped out one of his eyes, and burned his flesh repeatedly by jabbing him with torches. Terribly, they were just getting warmed up. One of his captors used his dagger to trace a chasuble, a type of vest worn by priests of the time, into his bare back and then peeled the skin out of the trace. They also tore the skin from his fingers where he had been given the unction or, blessed with drops of oil. Then they drove needles under his fingernails. Finally tiring of his constant prayers for them as they tortured him, they tore out his tongue and crushed his skull. The most amazing part of this is that two hundred years later, when the body was exhumed (part of the canonization process) from the crypt for identification; it had not decayed at all. His corpse was in nearly perfect condition. 9. Isaiah 740 BC Many religious historians believe that Isaiah was executed by sawing, a type of capital punishment used in that period. It is one of the most brutal and painful ways in which a man can die. A favorite execution method of the Roman Emperor Caligula, it involved sawing a man in half, lengthwise. The person being executed is hung upside down with each leg tied to a pole so that the legs are spread. The executioner then saws him in half with a huge saw, starting at the groin. The person, screaming in agony, lives much longer then they would like to as the brain is being supplied with blood continuously via gravity and no major arteries are severed until the saw reaches the mid-abdomen. It will also give you a splitting headache. (Sorry, I just could not resist.) 8. Li Si 208 BC Leave it to the Chinese to invent an execution so hideous that it makes their “Water Torture” and “Death by a Thousand Cuts” seem like something we do at our children’s birthday parties. The Five Pains death also has an incredible irony attached to it as the sick asshole who invented this insidious style of lethal punishment (Qin Shi Huangdi, chief advisor to the emperor) was executed with it, giving him first hand knowledge of his work. It begins with cutting off the condemned one’s nose. Then they chop off a hand. After he has suffered a while with no nose and only one hand to pick it with if he had, they lob off a foot. If that does not make your sphincter pucker, men, grab your balls. The fourth pain is castration, followed by what I hope they do before the fourth pain, should I ever do something to deserve this, (which I will not) they saw you in half at the midsection. Talk about your emperor with little or no sense of humor and absolutely no mercy, this is one death that would be hard to swallow. 7. Mithridates 401 BC Scaphism is a form of extended or drawn out death that is so insidious I am ashamed to be a part of a species that would invent it. Mithridates, pronounced Myth ri date eez, was just a poor slob in the wrong place at the wrong time. During a battle, Mithridates stuck a dart in the temple of Cyrus the Younger, accidentally mistaking him for the enemy. His punishment was death by bug. Scaphism is the taking of two small boats or hollowed out trunks and the accused lays down in one while the other is placed over him. The only thing sticking out of this little prison is his head, hands, and feet. They force him to drink a huge, bloating amount of honey and milk, causing severe diarrhea. They rub even more honey all over the body of the poor, confused, dead man walking. (or in this case, dead man crapping) Once Mithridates was locked in, they set him in the water and anchored him so that his face was in constant sunshine, possibly on a scum filled, stagnant pond. From this point forward, nature takes over. Covered in feces and his own excrement, bugs are soon swarming him. From the flies, maggots, and beetles that eat decaying flesh to wasps and hornets attracted by the sweet nectar, his body is stung and eaten away. He was given no food or water but the force-feeding most likely continued to occur daily to ensure fresh feces for the hungry insects. He became a floating buffet. Hungry, dehydrated, and delirious, poor Mithridates lasted an astonishing 17 days and he suffered miserably every minute of it. 6. Saint Catherine of Alexandria 307 Saint Catherine was a martyr and a noted scholar. She converted from pagan to Christianity in her teens and was a powerful speaker and converter of souls. She took it upon herself to visit one of the worst persecutors of Christians, the Roman Emperor Maximinus, to convince him to stop. While Maximinus resisted her, she did succeed in converting his wife and many of his advisors. The emperor sent several of his pagan philosophers to convert her but they returned to Rome as Christians. He was compelled to imprison her only to have all that visited her leave converted so he sentenced her to death on the breaking wheel. The wheel, according to legend, broke at her slightest touch so he had her beheaded. Legend has it that angels came and flew her body away. (Visited 14,197 times, 1 visits today) |
From the comments, Stephen Williamson quotes/writes: “…but it’s not nearly a close enough engagement with the evidence, which does pretty clearly show some short-run effects [from QE] are still operating, even if those effects are diminishing with time.” I’d be curious to know what “evidence” it is that “clearly” shows this. My guess is you’re making this up. In the first part he is quoting me, the “I’d be curious” paragraph is his own words. Overall, I would say here that the word “guess” is an accurate, albeit unfortunate description of how he is assessing the relevant evidence. The background story is that Steve is arguing that QE should be deflationary rather than expansionary. What does the evidence say? Here are Krishnamurthy and Vissing-Jorgensen on the United States (pdf): …evidence from inflation swap rates and TIPS show that expected inflation increased due to both QE1 and QE2… On Japan, here are Girardin and Moussa: …we propose new empirical evidence supporting the ability of quantitative easing to provide stimulation to both output and prices. Or try Joyce, Miles, Scott, and Vayanos, from The Economic Journal: …a growing literature has begun to provide estimates of the macroeconomic effects. In one of the first studies of this nature, Baumeister and Benati (2010) estimate a time-varying parameter structural VAR to investigate the macroeconomic impact of lower long-term bond spreads during the 2007–09 recession period. In all, the countries they analyse – the US, Euro area, Japan and the UK – they find a compression in the long-term yield spread exerts a powerful effect on both output growth and inflation and their counterfactual simulations indicate that unconventional monetary policy actions in the US and UK averted significant risks both of deflation and of output collapses. p.F285 of that paper discusses some other literature in detail, again indicating that QE increases the rate of price inflation. This piece is also useful for showing how empirical studies of QE provide decent evidence for asset segmentation and “preferred habitat” theories of bond markets (which responds to another of Steve’s points). Or try Chung, et.al. from the Fed (since published in the JMCB): …we find that the asset purchases have probably prevented the U.S. economy from falling into deflation. This is all consistent with the observation from Scott Sumner: For God’s sake the dollar fell by 6 cents against the euro on the day QE1 was announced! Does anyone seriously think a 6 cent depreciation in the dollar is deflationary? There is plenty of (justified) debate as to how strong these effects are, and we all know the difficulties of doing proper empirical work in macroeconomics, and on top of that the time to produce research means these papers are not analyzing the very latest data. But I cannot find a serious — or for that matter non-serious — empirical study suggesting that QE is deflationary in its impact. Addendum: David Glasner makes a very good point: “…if Williamson’s analysis is correct, the immediate once and for all changes should have been reflected in increased measured rates of inflation even though inflation expectations were falling. So it seems to me that the empirical fact of observed declines in the rate of inflation that motivates Williamson’s analysis turns out to be inconsistent with the implications of his analysis.” |
Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill agree on something: The Russian government’s interference in the presidential election needs an investigation. The agreement ends there. The parties are pushing very different approaches for how to investigate. Democrats are calling for the most aggressive option — a special bipartisan committee somewhat similar to the 9/11 commission that would act independent of the normal course of congressional business and give them subpoena powers they’d otherwise lack. Sen. Mitch McConnell and other Republicans think that goes too far. Instead, they want to go a standard route, deferring investigations to existing committees. The process here matters. The commission would be tasked solely to investigate one issue and likely release a public report at the end. Party-controlled committees operate with other issues at play, politics and policy included. The extent they’ll investigate Russian interference and release its findings is more of an open question. The early jockeying foreshadows the kind of relationship congressional Republicans plan to have with the new Trump administration. To liberals, the possibility of Russian meddling looks like an obviously important issue demanding the maximum bipartisan response. McConnell’s weaker push suggests he’s not in the market to as aggressively take on Donald Trump, who has dismissed the questions of Russian interference as a partisan attempt to delegitimize his presidency and made unusually public attacks on the CIA. The multiple investigations taking shape into Russian meddling Democrats want to move fast, hoping to grab the momentum. “There’s a fear that if we don’t do anything now, this will become permissive and normalized — and we would be willingly watching our democracy really evaporate,” Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell said in an interview. He’s introduced a bill that would commission a panel of 12 investigators, six from each party, exclusively devoted to getting to the bottom of what exactly occurred. “That’s why I’m urging people to act now — because the concrete has been poured, and once it’s hardened there’s no going back.” All of these investigations will deal with similar evidence, involve the same federal agencies, and cover a lot of the same ground. But it’s crucial to distinguish between which investigation is being discussed, because they’ll each correspond with different investigators and different goals, means, and powers. “There are three big questions that need to be asked: One, who was responsible for the hacking (of the Democratic National Committee)? Two, was the party responsible doing so because they had a preferred candidate? And, three, was the party working with that preferred candidate’s campaign?” Swalwell says. The administration’s own investigation. On Friday, President Barack Obama’s administration ordered the federal intelligence agencies to conduct a “full review” of Russian meddling and release it to a “range of stakeholders,” including Congress, before Trump’s inauguration. This is the presidential investigation, and Obama has ordered it to conclude before he leaves office. It’s unclear the extent to which the president will make its results public, but it won’t entail the high-profile committee hearings that could put witnesses under the spotlight. “The presidential inquiry will probably be done quietly, and then some report will be issued that may or may not get a ton of attention,” says Eric Schickler, a political scientist at Berkeley. “Whereas in a congressional investigation, they can force people to testify in front of cameras and publicize what's going on in this case. It can be a much more powerful tool.” How Republicans want to approach the issue: part of regular Senate work, and behind closed doors. On Sunday, Republican Sen. John McCain got behind a congressional investigation spearheaded through existing Senate committees. (McConnell and Speaker Paul Ryan have also backed the committees as the right vehicle for exploring the Russian interference question.) That effort would be spearheaded by the Senate Intelligence Committee or the Armed Services Committee, or some combination of the two. One fear for Democrats here is that this will allow the investigation to get bogged down in other committee work. Traditionally, investigative work done through the existing committee structures are also less likely to be disclosed. On Sunday, Republican Sen. John McCain got behind a congressional investigation spearheaded through existing Senate committees. (McConnell and Speaker Paul Ryan have also backed the committees as the right vehicle for exploring the Russian interference question.) That effort would be spearheaded by the Senate Intelligence Committee or the Armed Services Committee, or some combination of the two. One fear for Democrats here is that this will allow the investigation to get bogged down in other committee work. Traditionally, investigative work done through the existing committee structures are also less likely to be disclosed. But Democrats want a big, bipartisan committee dedicated only to this. In the House, Swalwell wants to probe Russia’s role in election interference through the formation of a new bipartisan “select committee” that would be formed with the entire purpose of investigating Russia’s role in the election and release an extensive report of its findings within 18 months. Similarly, three Democratic senators are calling for a similarly independent committee composed of experts that would have subpoena powers and produce a public report. The Senate proposal is explicit that the members of the committee would not be members of Congress, but instead outside independent investigators chosen by leadership of both parties. That would make it more like the 9/11 commission (which was composed of nonpartisan officials) than the Benghazi committees, which were led by congressional Republicans. Meanwhile, the House proposal only specifies that the members of the commission be chosen by the leadership of both parties. Still, for now at least, these also looks like the least likely to come to fruition. The debate over what kind of committee should investigate Russian interference McConnell and Speaker Paul Ryan have so far rejected the calls for a bipartisan select committee. They’ve instead said that the already existing Senate committees are equipped to probe Russia’s role in election-related hacking. At a press conference yesterday, for instance, McConnell said the Senate Intelligence Committee “is more than capable of conducting a complete review of this matter.” The objection to an open, bipartisan investigation might be frustrating to those who saw how a select committee was formed to investigate Benghazi, but it’s not particularly surprising. Over the past several decades, there’s been a growing trend of congressional oversight of presidential administrations to be riven almost entirely along partisan lines. That suggests there will be little appetite for congressional Republicans to probe their president-elect over this matter. “If Republicans want to investigate their own president, there's very little precedent for that,” says Michele Swers, a Georgetown political scientist who specializes in studying Congress. “What's happening here is what’s known as ‘fire alarm oversight’ — and in the past that’s been very political.” Moreover, it’s not as if Republicans have no response here. The Senate Armed Services Committee may be controlled by the GOP, but it is chaired by Sen. John McCain, who is as hawkish as they come on Russia and foreign policy. Even incoming Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has publicly backed McCain and said the committee is well-equipped to investigate the scandal. A Schumer spokesperson says in an email that he hasn’t expressed a preference for a select committee, suggesting a potential divide between House and Senate Democratic leadership over whether a select committee is necessary. “It's a very good committee and works in a bipartisan way,” Schumer said on Meet the Press. “It should be bipartisan and John McCain leading it. I have a lot of faith in him.” Such an investigation would have broad powers, but also significant limitations. The Senate investigations would have subpoena power, the ability to force witnesses to testify in public, and could release lengthy public reports that may finger Russia’s role in the election and embarrass Trump. Crucially, however, those powers would be held exclusively by Republicans; Democrats would have no ability to issue subpoenas of their own or decide on which witnesses to compel to testify. For now, Republicans are maintaining that establishing a separate select committee would merely be duplicative — and “do not see any benefit in opening further investigations,” as House Intelligence Chair Devin Nunes said in a statement. Why Democrats want a select committee investigation Still, many Democrats think the Republicans are giving Trump cover by refusing to back the select committee investigation. The biggest reason why is simply time and resources — Swalwell’s bill calls for a full staff of 12 people who would make the investigation their priority, whereas the Senate committee members would simply be investigating in addition to their other responsibilities. (The Democrats’ bill in the Senate — sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Democratic Sens. Ben Cardin and Patrick Leahy — similarly frees up staff to focus exclusively on this investigation.) “This is an important enough committee to solely focus on this one issue,” says Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan in an interview. “If it’s just led by the Armed Services Committee, they have a lot of other things going on — the day to day where they’ll be dealing with Syria and Aleppo and Turkey. [The select committee] would move it out of that atmosphere.” Another part of what happens here is that once members of Congress are designated to focus on the issue, they become invested in the project in a way a committee simply isn’t. Moreover, it’s not clear that the current Senate committees are particularly interested in freeing up resources to make their work possible. (Senate Intelligence Chair Richard Burr told Politico in a statement that he is not “launching any kind of new wide-ranging probe” and his own committee remains “concerned about Russia’s actions.”) Is partisan fighting inevitable here? Some Democrats on Capitol Hill have also voiced the fear that a committee investigation led by a Republicans will not have the credibility with the public that one written by a bipartisan team might. There’s certainly a degree of self-interest at work here — if a report shows that Russia helped Trump win, Democrats will almost certainly use it to cast doubt on the legitimacy of his election. Being able to cite a report signed off on by members of both parties will give them cover to turn it into a cudgel against the president-elect. Democrats also worry, with some justification, that a committee report from a Republican-led panel might never be made public or could be released with key findings redacted. Those bad feelings come from their experience with the high-profile investigation into the CIA’s torture program, which was conducted by the Senate Intelligence Committee. Feinstein, then the head of the panel, wanted to make public the entire 7,000-page report, which found that the CIA’s use of torture hadn’t produced any major intelligence coups and was far more brutal than previously known. Sen. Richard Burr, then the ranking member of the committee, pushed to keep the entire report private; ultimately just 528 pages were released in 2014. Breaking with tradition on the normally nonpartisan panel, Burr and his fellow Republicans refused to sign off on the report’s findings, deriding it as a partisan exercise that could harm US national security by sparking renewed anti-American feelings in Muslim and Arab countries. “Top Republicans described the report as a politically charged Democratic document that distorted events, contending that the intelligence obtained through the harsh tactics had helped in the disruption of terrorism plots and in the search for Osama bin Laden,” wrote the New York Times at the time. “Ms. Feinstein believed the compromise was worthwhile if it meant being able to release the report before the Republicans took control of Congress.” A select committee appointed along bipartisan lines could help erase that fear. There’s no guarantee that the select committee would be weighted equally between the parties, as Swalwell’s bill calls for — the Benghazi select committee, for instance, had more Republicans than Democrats and broke along partisan lines when it came time to issue its findings. Traditionally, though, independent panels like the 9/11 commission give both Democrats and Republicans the same numbers of members and allow both sides to issue subpoenas and call witnesses. But Democrats say it’s worth trying. “Any talk of elections or partisan outcomes will take away the impact of what the investigation may come up with,” Ryan says. “I think it’s important that we not come to any conclusion saying this cost the election to the Democrats or any of that — that puts it into the political realm. Which is exactly where this needs not to be.” |
The International Organization of Migration announced Monday that the number of migrants and refugees to enter Europe through "irregular" means this year has crossed 1 million, a 400-percent increase over 2014. War, poverty, persecution, and rules in Middle Eastern countries against refugees holding legitimate jobs have prompted many to leave their homes in countries from Ukraine to Senegal and even camps built to house those fleeing war in Syria. More than 800,000 of those entering Europe came through Greece, mostly via a route from Turkey to the island of Lesbos. Others crossed by sea into Italy and Spain, by land from Turkey to Bulgaria, and even by bicycle from Russia to Norway. FULL COVERAGE: The Global Refugee Crisis Meanwhile, German police have warned Chancellor Angela Merkel that the inability to properly fingerprint so many crossing into the country, and otherwise control the border, means they have "no idea who enters the country, under what name, and for what reason," reports global news site Worldcrunch. Jörg Radek of the Police Trade Union wrote in a letter to Merkel that federal police are "not capable of exercising their duty of danger prevention and law enforcement at the German-Austrian borders the way they are legally bound to." An article last week in the German newspaper Die Welt described how the self-proclaimed Islamic State now controls passport offices in parts of Iraq and Syria, leading Fabrice Leggeri, who heads the European Union's border control agency Frontex, to tell Die Welt that "the validity of refugee passports from our view is very limited." Leggeri said it would be "wrong" to "impose a general suspicion" that refugees may be dangerous but that under current conditions in Syria there is no guarantee that passports "were actually issued by an official authority [are] really carried by the rightful owner." Fake documents are relatively easy to spot. The problem is with genuine Syrian passports that have been issued by ISIS. Worldcrunch reported that an unidentifed source at the German Interior Ministry said, "Considering the large number of immigrants, it can't be ruled out that among them could be criminals [or] members of militant groups or terrorist organizations." Refugees and migrants have been entering Europe in greater numbers since around the turn of the millenium. As Frontex increased security measures along some routes, such as West Africa to the Canary Islands, those fleeing poverty, war, or persecution at home began to exploit instability in Libya after its 2011 revolution and left on boats from Tripoli. In the summer of 2013, hundreds of passengers aboard such boats, many from Eritrea, drowned in the crossing, particularly around Malta and the Italian island of Lampedusa. With the danger of the longer crossing apparent and the war in Syria growing worse, the route shifted north to Turkey. Nonetheless, more than 3,300 had drowned trying to get to Lesbos as of the end of October. President Obama has pledged to receive 10,000 refugees from Syria, while the House of Representatives passed a bill to ban any from coming to the U.S., citing the threat of terrorism. Many Syrians are themselves fleeing ISIS. Refugees entering the U.S. must undergo a complex and comprehensive screening process that can last two years or longer. That and the country's geographic isolation make it substantially less vulnerable to such a threat—which, one official source told Worldcrunch, has existed for decades in Europe because of an open border within E.U. nations. While Europe's share of migrants and refugees is now more than 1.25 million, the majority remain in the Middle East—refugees are now about 20 percent of the population of Lebanon, 2.2 million live in Turkey, and more than 600,000 are in Jordan, including 80,000 at a single camp, Zataari. Worldwide, there are now more than 60 million people displaced from their homes, an all-time high. "I don't understand why people are insisting that this is a European problem," Michael Moller, director of the U.N. office in Geneva, said at a news conference Tuesday. "This is a global issue." Related stories on TakePart: • Now What? • To Repel Migrants, European Border Patrol Turns Bloody Original article from TakePart |
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