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Pakistan adopts Chinese rival GPS satellite system Pakistan adopts Chinese rival GPS satellite system BEIJING: Pakistan is set to become the fifth Asian country to use China’s domestic satellite navigation system which was launched as a rival to the US global positioning system, a report said on Saturday. The Beidou, or Compass, system started providing services to civilians in the region in December and is expected to provide global coverage by 2020. It also has military applications. Thailand, China, Laos and Brunei already use the Chinese system, which currently consists of 16 operational satellites, with 30 more due to join the system, according to English-language China Daily. Huang Lei, international business director of BDStar Navigation, which promotes Beidou, told the newspaper the company would build a network of stations in Pakistan to enhance the location accuracy of Beidou. He said building the network would cost tens of millions of dollars. American website Defensenews.com reported early May that Pakistani military experts were in favour of using the Chinese system, even though the availability of the signal could not be guaranteed in case of conflict. But according to one of them, Pakistan cannot place its trust in the United States. “Pakistan’s armed forces cannot rely on US GPS because of its questionable availability during a conflict that has overtones of nuclear escalation,” former Pakistan Air Force pilot Kaiser Tufail told the site. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang travels next week to Pakistan, a long time ally, after a visit to India. |
SB 199 has been signed into law by Governor Kasich. It will take effect 91 days after it is enrolled, which is likely to be on or about March 20, 2017. We will have updates leading up to the date new law takes effect, but here is an overview of what passed. Much of what became SB 199 was contained in HB 48 for most of the last two years. The Senate made changes to the bill which the House did not pass. Because it was the last day of session when all unpassed bills would effectively die, the contents of HB 48 were put into SB 199 and passed. Gun owners owe a debt of gratitude to the sponsor of HB 48, Ron Maag (R-Lebanon) and the sponsor of SB 199 & SB 180, Joe Uecker (R- Miami Township). These two gentlemen put in enormous amounts of time drafting their bills, and working with a multitude of interested parties. They worked to mitigate concerns of those opposed and supporters, answered questions from their fellow legislators, talked with the media and reviewed many drafts, and amendments (some good, some bad) that others wanted to add to their bills. A good bill sponsor is critical to getting tough legislation passed, and both these gentleman did an excellent job. SB 199 started out as a simple bill that would allow active military members who have the same or greater training than that required to obtain a CHL to carry a concealed firearm as a license-holder to carry without a license. It is important to note their proof of training is required to be carried with them at all times and highly recommended that armed service members review the Ohio Attorney General Concealed Carry Laws Manual. The most contested part of the bill protects workers' civil rights from employers who have been discriminating against gun owners. Sec. 2923.1210. (A) A business entity, property owner, or public or private employer may not establish, maintain, or enforce a policy or rule that prohibits or has the effect of prohibiting a person who has been issued a valid concealed handgun license from transporting or storing a firearm or ammunition when both of the following conditions are met: (1) Each firearm and all of the ammunition remains inside the person's privately owned motor vehicle while the person is physically present inside the motor vehicle, or each firearm and all of the ammunition is locked within the trunk, glove box, or other enclosed compartment or container within or on the person's privately owned motor vehicle; (2) The vehicle is in a location where it is otherwise permitted to be. The Ohio Chamber of Commerce adamantly insisted that their few thousand members have the right to dictate what private property employees may possess inside their private automobile. While they claimed private property rights, the policies by default prohibited lawful self-defense when employees were not on company property, not on company time, and not in a company vehicle. Thankfully the legislature sided with the individual, NOT big business or big money. (Remember that nugget come election time.) The other big changes were originally part of HB 48. Concealed carry on college campuses will still be prohibited, but colleges will be permitted to authorize people or groups to carry. We have worked with several colleges that want to authorize staff to carry firearms. Other colleges have reached out to us over the past year for assistance drafting policies to deal with concealed carry. Some colleges are open to the idea of anyone with a CHL carrying on campus and others will start with limited permission likely starting with faculty. Education is the key and we invite license holders to help their college understand the issue and craft good policy. School zones have long been a problem for license holders. Under existing law, a license holder was required to remain in their vehicle. Under the new law the firearm will be required to remain in the vehicle. This does not allow parents to carry guns in schools or sporting events, but it does allow them to drop off a child’s lunch, medicine or homework, or go into a school to sign their child out while the gun remains locked in the car. This new law will work much better for schools, parents, and law-enforcement. The restriction on carrying in a private airplane will be repealed. This makes legal what is common practice in private/corporate aviation. It will be legal to carry into day care centers, but day care centers will be able to post their business “no guns” just as any other business does. They are also free to adopt policies limiting firearms. There are specific penalties for carrying in day care centers with no guns policies. It may be legal to carry a firearm on the non-secure areas of airports (see next paragraph). This is helpful for checking a firearm and helping someone check in or retrieve luggage from baggage claim. It is also important for corporate aviation in all of the airport terminals without security. There is a provision to allow the governing body of government buildings to enact “a statute, ordinance, or policy that permits a licensee to carry a concealed handgun into the building.” Airports are generally government buildings, as are many rec centers, libraries, fairgrounds, and common areas in many cities and villages. It is unclear how a license-holder will know what policy is in effect for every building. Since many local governments objected to much better wording to deal with this issue, gun owners may have to call their city/county government and libraries and such to ask for their specific policy. This may also be a reason for BFA PAC to get more involved in city government. File under, “Careful what you wish for.” (smile) Buckeye Firearms Association Legal Chair Ken Hanson has prepared the following bullet-point list documenting the changes: The Ohio Attorney General is to develop and post on the Attorney General's website a summary of Ohio firearm laws and concealed carry laws as they apply to military members in Ohio. Ohio sheriffs may use concealed handgun license application fees to purchase firearms and ammunition for training for the sheriffs department. Active-duty military members carrying a valid military ID and proof of equivalent small arms training may carry in Ohio without a concealed carry license with the same rights and privileges of Ohio concealed handgun license holders . Active-duty military is defined in 10 USC 101. Modifies Ohio's school safety zone exception for concealed handgun licensees to specify that the licensee may be on school premises for any reason as long as the handgun does not leave the vehicle. It further clarifies that if the person exits the vehicle, as long as the person leaves the handgun locked in the vehicle they are in compliance with the law. It should be noted that this exception continues to apply to handguns only. It does not apply to rifles or shotguns. Specifies that a concealed handgun licensee may be in the unsecured part of an airport while carrying. Allows colleges and universities to recognize concealed handgun licenses and allow concealed carry on their campus. Removes daycare facilities from the list of places a concealed carry license is not valid. A private daycare could still prohibit concealed carry by posting a "no guns" sign. Removes private aircraft from the list of places a concealed carry licensee may not carry a handgun. Allows government bodies to allow concealed carry in the governmental buildings under their authority. Specifies that public and private colleges and universities are immune from liability for the actions of the concealed carry licensee while carrying a handgun on their campus. Provides that public and private employers may not adopt policies prohibiting, or having the effect of prohibiting, concealed carry licensees from having their handguns on their business property, so long as the gun is stored in a locked container, compartment or trunk. Note that this applies to all licensees having a handgun on the business property. Allows the sale of firearms to active duty military members without regard to their age. Current law prohibits those under 21 from purchasing a handgun. Click here to read the exact language of the new law, which, to repeat, will take effect on or about March 20, 2017. As is customary, we will post a series of articles detailing the Act in the days leading up to the effective date of the new legislation. Readers are advised to sign up for email alerts to keep posted on changes to the law and other important news. Jim Irvine is Chairman of the Buckeye Firearms Association Political Action Committee (BFA-PAC). He is also Board President of Buckeye Firearms Association, and recipient of the NRA-ILA's 2011 "Jay M. Littlefield Volunteer of the Year Award," the CCRKBA's 2012 "Gun Rights Defender of the Year Award," and the SAF's 2015 "Defender of Freedom Award." |
Memorial University provost Noreen Golfman has come under fire for her cavalier dismissal of protesters this week, and is answering back with a stinging blog post that targets men and social media. Golfman has been the subject of social media scorn — even newspaper cartoons. Students and others are angry over fee and tuition hikes at the university. Some have even called for her resignation. The controversy surrounds Golfman's reaction to protesting students earlier this week, which was captured by a CBC camera. Golfman can be seen dismissively waving a piece of paper and sticking out her tongue as she walks past a group of angry students. Her actions ignited a furore, with some calling it a Marie Antoinette-like moment, suggesting she was being arrogant and appeared to be out of touch with students. The incident followed an earlier public comment in which Golfman referenced peanut butter sandwiches when defending the university's spending practices. Admits to being foolish In a blog post published Friday on the university's website, Golfman said she is "deeply appreciative of the lessons learned on this journey," lauded the students for their activism and tried to explain her behaviour. "Thanks for reminding me that an admittedly foolish, if totally honest, few moments of face-making reaction to a call to fire the president, can, indeed, go viral in our age. That gave the media a lot of useful filler, too, for which, I am sure, they are grateful. Thanks, especially, for reminding me what hateful demonizing, misogynistic, profane sites Twitter and Facebook can be." Golfman said her "inbox has never been so full of venom," and from one gender in particular. "(Mostly) male students/strangers from as far away as the USA have written me directly for me to resign or drop dead, whichever comes first — a useful reminder of the anti-women aggression that persists in our culture like a very bad smell. "It is always wise to be mindful of it, as well as the nagging theme that, as some have put it to me directly, I am 'not really from here.'" To read Golfman's post in its entirety, click here. |
“Sofagate” put some fizz into our often soporific morning television last week. It was all change on the settee – superficially at least – as the female presenters, among them Holly Willoughby on This Morning and Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain, both on ITV1, swapped places with their male co-presenters. “Do you prefer Piers Morgan on the left or the right – or totally out of sight?” asked one tweet. In broadcasting terms, the seating plan is not about viewers’ preferences, but about who is the boss. The “camera left” position denotes seniority because of the way we read – from left to right. When Dan Walker, 38, a rookie on the sofa, recently joined Louise Minchin, 47, a veteran of 10 years of BBC Breakfast, she rightly complained that he was in her place, a place she had earned on merit. The BBC’s lame excuse for seating Walker on the left was that because he is so much taller than Minchin it is more pleasing to the viewer’s eye. Anne Diamond, writing in the Daily Mail, soon peeled away that varnish. Thirty years ago, on her first appearance co-presenting a news programme, she said the floor manager ordered her to change her jacket because it clashed with the male presenter’s shirt. “Remember,” Diamond was told, “he’s the anchor, and you’re just the screen wife.” Have things got any better since then? “In some ways I think we’ve gone backwards,” says Claire Annesley, professor of politics at the University of Sussex, who specialises in gender equality and political representation. “Women engaged in serious politics and holding senior positions on screen are even more policed now about what they look like and how they are expected to behave. At the same time, the robust male way of battering politicians in interviews prevails, yet we do have examples – Mishal Husain, for instance on Radio 4’s Today – that show how, given the opportunity, women can hold authority to account in their own way, and prove just as effective at eliciting information.” Thirty years of the TV sofa: from political strategy to sexism Read more Sexism in television is more subtle now – not least because the law allows penalties to be exacted – but prejudice persists and a bias holds sway. Talent is there in abundance – such as Katya Adler, Martha Kearney, Lyse Doucet, Kirsty Wark, Lindsey Hilsum and Cathy Newman on Channel 4 News (Newman last week reported ignoring the demand of one producer to straighten her naturally curly hair to get ahead) – but very few, like Kay Burley, hold the television fort alone. Women are not only rarely trusted alone as anchors in current affairs and news programmes, they are also often given the “soft” subjects – kittens, cooking and kiddies – and that itself signals a clear message. In all its forms, the media shape and set the agenda. Diversity on screen and in print matters because that’s how to reflect the audience and its priorities. So how is that we have yet to see a female equivalent of David Dimbleby, who is still broadcasting in his late 70s? And why is Sunday morning viewing – that often dictates much of the political coverage for the week ahead – just wall-to wall white males? Andrew Marr, Nicky Campbell, Andrew Neil and Dermot Murnaghan, across the channels, are soon to be joined by Robert Peston, launching his new series, Peston on Sunday, on ITV1 in the spring. Grace Wyndham Goldie worked at the BBC for more than 40 years from its television birth in 1936. She shaped many of its formats for major current affairs series, including Tonight, Panorama and That Was The Week That Was. Among her “team” of “big beast” presenters were the late Richard Dimbleby, Cliff Michelmore (who died last week) and David Frost. Women were considered homemakers and therefore had no place in serious current affairs. But what’s the justification today? “That male breadwinner model is still deeply rooted in society’s psyche,” says Dr Eva Neitzert of the Women’s Budget Group, a network of over 300 leading feminist policy analysts and academics. “Male jobs are still seen as ‘proper’ jobs and more important.” Katie Ghose, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, says: “The idea of the male [TV] anchor in sole charge perpetuates a society that doesn’t exist any more. It’s an unhealthy reflection of the state of our politics. The audience sees who is in the hot seat and knows that doesn’t reflect the talent in our country. It contributes to the democratic deficit that is widening between Westminster politics and the people.” In 2012, a study conducted in 18 countries, including the UK, found that equal representation of women in the media provided positive role models for other women, helped to gain the confidence of women as sources of stories and potential interviewees, and attracted a female audience. Common sense says it also has to affect what goes on the agenda. On Thursday, for instance, the Women’s Budget Group issued a press release that pointed out that if George Osborne had invested 2% of GDP in care, he could have created twice as many jobs as the same investment in construction. Meanwhile, £2bn in cuts will come from public sector pensions, disproportionately impacting on women, who are the majority of public sector employees. Neither issue has been much discussed. It takes a critical mass of women in the newsroom and on screen, not just a handful, before agendas are radically altered. Professor Jean Seaton, the official historian of the BBC, says the corporation is doing more than most, but the lack of women as senior anchors has an impact. “Women have been huge beneficiaries of the welfare state,” she says. “The public investment in universities, childcare, care and in public sector employment have all helped women to progress, but now that’s under severe threat.” Why should a woman “man up” to compete with Peston or Marr, Seaton asks. “If a woman does that, she loses some of the very capabilities that we need.” One argument for not giving women the alpha anchor post is that they lack “gravitas”. In an interview for the Sunday Times recently, Peston discussed his wardrobe, his hair, his vanity, his arrogance and his delivery. He added: “Every now and then, I think I should get a grown-up job.” A woman giving a similar interview would be classed as lightweight, witless and immature. Three years ago, the Labour party’s commission on older women established that across BBC television and radio, Sky, ITN and Channel 5, there were just 26 women aged over 50 working as regular presenters, out of a total of 481. Thirty years ago, in Denmark, I watched a female equivalent to Marr or Peston ably handle a debate between three male politicians. She was in her 30s, had a stud in her nose and multi-coloured hair. What mattered was not her age, gender, looks, colour of skin or (hippy) outfit, but the fact that she could do her job. In our television menopoly, how far are we away from that? And how much are we missing as a result? Big beasts... Richard Dimbleby War correspondent in second world war; 1950s anchor of BBC flagship current affairs programme Panorama, commentator at Royal weddings and state funerals. Died 1965. Cliff Michelmore Anchor of BBC nightly current affairs show Tonight from 1957 to 1965 and covered major breaking stories such as the assassination of President John F Kennedy. Broadcasting into his eighties. Died last week. Robin Day Presenter of Panorama 1966-2000 and BBC’s Question Time 1979-89. Known as “The Grand Inquisitor” for abrasive interviewing style. Fronted election programmes and BBC’s Newsnight. John Freeman Presenter of Panorama in the 1960s and Face to Face from 1959. Labour politician and diplomat. Chairman of London Weekend Television 1972-84. David Frost Hosted BBC’s That Was the Week That Was in the 1960s; Breakfast with Frost on the BBC 1993-2005; Frost Over the World for Al-Jazeera England 2006-12. Jeremy Paxman Presented BBC’s Newsnight for 25 years until his departure in 2014 – known for his abrasive interviewing style. Andrew Marr Former editor of the Independent, has presented what is now called The Andrew Marr show on BBC Sunday mornings since 2005. Kay Burley Sky News anchor and presenter since 1988. THE FELLOWSHIP |
EXPRESS Blackburn is experiencing a rise in burka and niqab sales Despite most muslims believing there is no requirement in the Koran for women to wear the burka, or the slightly less overwhelming niqab, sales are up and the prevalence of fully-covered women is increasing. Express.co.uk can reveal shopkeepers in Blackburn, the British town with the third highest Muslim population, are enjoying a boom in sales. The burka is the most concealing of all Islamic dress incorporating a usually black one-piece garment which covers the face and body with a mesh covering the wearer's eyes. It is designed to effectively dehumanise the wearer in the interests of modesty by disguising all of her physical elements. EXPRESS The burka and niqab both conceal the wearers body completely, apart from the eyes The niqab is usually a veil worn in conjunction with a headscarf to create a similar effect to the burka. In the Islamic faith both garments are worn as an assertion of religious and cultural identity. And they both got a boost from an unexpected quarter just days ago when Marks & Spencer unveiled its ‘burkini’ Islamic swimwear to howls of derision from both feminists and designers. Many Britons find the burka and niqab sexist and even threatening. But, while their popularity in many Middle Eastern countries is on the wane the number of women wearing burkas and niqabs on the streets of British northern towns and cities and parts of London is increasing. The rise of the burka and the veil all stems from 9/11 Nadeem Siddiqui A snap survey carried out by Express.co.uk in the Lancashire town of Blackburn, where 11 per cent of the population is Islamic, found around 30 per cent of muslim women completely covered their faces. Exact figures are hard to establish because many burkas are sold door-to-door, but Nadeem Siddiqui who runs the Hijab Centre in Blackburn and is the town’s biggest burka supplier said: “I'm selling more burkas and niqabs than I used to, no question. “I used to sell one or two burkas a month, now I sell about that in a week, so sales are clearly up.” He blamed the US reaction to the September 11th attacks for increased sales and said: “The rise of the burka and the veil all stems from that.” EXPRESS Mr Siddiqui runs the Hijab Centre, but is not a fan of the veil Although Mr Siddiqui sells burkas and niqabs he is not a huge fan of the garments. However he warns that an out and out ban like the one in Norway would fail in Britain. He said: “The answer is education not a ban. A ban would have the opposite effect. “When Jack Straw said those things against the veil, sales of the veil in my shop soared.” GETTY Jack Straw was Labour MP for Blackburn from 1979 to 2015 |
The time-lapse above by photographer Colin Legg does a great job of showing off the power of Magic Lantern RAW video while capturing a cool astronomical phenomenon at the same time. The video — which was shot in Perth, Western Australia around dawn — shows what’s called a Moon Saturn Occultation. In normal speak, that means Saturn being covered up by the Moon as everyone travels along their respective orbits and we here on Earth spin merrily along. This often happens a couple of times per year, but is a difficult phenomenon to cover because the moon is so much brighter. So how do you expose for Saturn without blowing out the Moon? Legg’s solution was to use Magic Lantern’s RAW video alpha on his Canon 5D Mark II, and the results speak for themselves: For the more gear-oriented among you, Legg reveals the gear that he used in the video description: Equipment: Celestron C8 (2000mm telescope), f/10, prime focus. Canon 5D2, running Magic Lantern RAW video firmware in 3x crop mode @ 1880 x 1056 resolution. 1/60 sec exposure, ISO 200, 10 fps. To see more of Legg’s work, all of which involves capturing awesome astronomical happenings, check out our previous coverage of his videos, head over to his website, or follow him on Vimeo. |
Advertisement Wildfire sweeps across California freeway, burns vehicles Boats, trucks, cars all burn in brush fire that crosses Interstate 15 outside Los Angeles Share Shares Copy Link Copy A fast-moving wildfire swept across a freeway Friday in a Southern California mountain pass, destroying 20 vehicles and sending motorists running to safety before it burned at least five homes. There were no reports of serious injuries, authorities said.Fanned by hot desert winds, the fire started along Interstate 15 -- the main highway between Southern California and Las Vegas -- and spread quickly.Dozens of vehicles were abandoned and hundreds of others turned onto side roads to get away from the flames as water-dropping helicopters flew over the Cajon Pass area about 55 miles northeast of Los Angeles.Watch video from over the sceneMotorists stuck on the road described a harrowing scene."It's crazy, you're watching black clouds and white clouds of smoke, there's a ridgeline off to my right ... and it looks like any second flames will come over the ridgeline," Chris Patterson, 43, said from his vehicle.It's not uncommon for wildfires to reach freeways in California. It was unclear, however, why dozens of cars were caught along Interstate 15, forcing frightened people to flee on foot.U.S. Forest Service spokesman Uriah Hernandez said no injuries had been confirmed.The agency said the fire had burned at least 3, 500 acres and was threatening the rural community of Baldy Mesa.San Bernardino County Fire officials said at least five homes were burned and another 50 were threatened by the flames. An additional 10 cars on the freeway were damaged by the fire.See photos from the sceneMelissa Atalla said she could see the flames from her gas station in Baldy Mesa."People are spectating from our parking lot, running around getting water and beer. It's chaos," Atalla said. "One man came in and said, `Oh my, my house is getting burned.'"The fire led authorities to shut several freeway lanes, causing traffic to back up for miles. California Highway Patrol spokesman Steve Carapia said 50 to 75 vehicles were left abandoned on the freeway.Raquel Martinez, 34, was traveling to Las Vegas with her husband for the weekend when they got stuck in northbound traffic on the I-15 for about an hour.The sky darkened to black. As they drove by, cars were covered in "pink powder" - or fire retardant. Cars meanwhile were being redirected up narrow twisty emergency lanes from the southbound side headed north."I haven't seen a fire that big and so close to us. It really was huge," Martinez said. |
To keep our chickens laying all winter long, we do something that many other homesteaders don’t. I’m talking about keeping lights on in a chicken coop over winter. A chicken needs a certain number of daylight hours to lay, and during the winter, they don’t get that. So, should you worry about lights in a chicken coop? We choose to add artificial light to keep them laying. Now, I know what people say about raising animals naturally, and giving the girls a laying break and all, but I am going to lay out the reasons why we do this. The chickens are part of our family, but everyone here has to pull their weight. They continue to eat feed all winter long, as well as use straw for bedding, drink water that requires heating, and they still need us to take care of them. I personally can’t fathom the idea of feeding them all winter, AND having to go buy eggs. Since they can’t forage for bugs and other feed with ice and snow on the ground, they eat more. At the rate of $15 a bag of feed per week, that just doesn’t add up economically for us. We use a timer, and don’t have to “remember” to shut off the lights. We are also only adding about 4 hours of artificial light to their day, and 2 hours of that is in the mornings. The risk of fire is there, but it’s also there when you turn on a light in your home. Do you not use lights in your bedroom due to that risk? It’s minimal, and since our light isn’t where the chickens can “peck” at it or bump it, I am not worried. You can get the timer we use here from our affiliate partner. I raise our animals as naturally as possible, and I DO care about my girls. It’s just that we have decided that after 2-3 years, they are no longer needed for laying and become dinner themselves. They live a happy, productive life before they are butchered, and I am okay with having to cull our flock each fall. So, if you want to keep a light on in your coop to keep your chickens laying all winter, by all means, go ahead. Just remember to keep it on a timer (they are at hardware stores all over, in the Christmas lights section mainly) and don’t add more than 5-6 hours of artificial light. And enjoy your eggs all year long! Be SURE TO PIN THIS TO YOUR FAVORITE BOARD FOR LATER! |
Rajoy during the press conference with his Romanian counterpart Victor Ponta at La Moncloa palace in Madrid on Monday. Bowing to mounting pressure, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Monday said he would appear in Congress to give “his version” of accusations lodged by the former treasurer of the ruling conservative Popular Party, Luis Bárcenas, who testified before a judge that the PP leader and other top party officials received large sums of money in cash from him via a slush fund he had created from illegal donations made by firms. In response to a question asked by a reporter at a joint news conference in Madrid with visiting Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta, Rajoy said he had spoken Sunday with the speaker of the lower house about appearing in parliament to debate the current political and economic situation. “I will also speak on the issue that is of concern to you,” he said. “I will answer questions in parliament, I will also reply to questions from the media; I have always answered questions.” Both Rajoy and PP secretary general María Dolores de Cospedal have denied receiving cash payments from Bárcenas. “This is the right moment to explain in parliament what has been done so far and clear up legitimate doubts that the public has,” Rajoy said. “I have already replied on this issue,” he said, in reference to the Bárcenas case. “But I am fully aware that it has generated doubts among the public.” Rajoy has come under growing pressure since the Socialists and other opposition groups said they would present a motion of censure in parliament this week. Elena Valenciano, the Socialist secretary general, said on Monday that her party would, for now, hold off presenting a “measure so difficult, so exceptional for a period in democracy.” Nevertheless, she said her party will continue to push for Rajoy to step down. Bárcenas is currently in preventive custody at Madrid’s Soto del Real prison in connection with his role in the Gürtel kickbacks-for-contracts corruption case, in which a number of officials within the PP have been indicted. “Society deserves that Rajoy explain his connection to this illegal financing scandal, which has been going on for more than 20 years in his party, and should be his responsibility as a PP leader. Above all, we have had to force the prime minister to comply with his obligations,” Valenciano said at a news conference concerning the censure. Bárcenas is thought to have siphoned away millions of euros into Swiss bank accounts, and is facing a range of charges including fraud and tax evasion. The former PP money man kept secret ledgers for some 20 years detailing donations to the party — many of which may have been illegal — and sums paid to top officials. Last week, he admitted for the first time to being the author of these documents, copies of which were first published by EL PAÍS on January 31. Opposition parties had threatened to table a motion of censure against Rajoy in an effort to force him to appear in parliament over the Bárcenas case. In an interview with EL PAÍS, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, the leader of the main opposition Socialist Party, said: “Rajoy cannot govern without explaining the Bárcenas case.” |
Republicans keep promising us “Constitutional conservatism.” At last night’s debate, sadly, neither the Constitution — nor the Declaration of Independence giving rise to it — were much in evidence. Donald Trump wants to lower or eliminate the corporate income tax. But he wants to increase taxes on hedge fund managers. Under capitalism, you do not punish some groups while rewarding others. You simply treat everyone the same, and when people earn different amounts of money, you leave them alone. Trump wants to retain a progressive income tax, because he feels it’s “fair” for those who earn more money to pay higher percentages. How high? Eighty or ninety percent, as Bernie Sanders and possibly Hillary Clinton think? Trump does not say. What we do know: Trump does not fully understand or appreciate capitalism. Chris Christie acknowledges that Social Security is insolvent. His solution is not to privatize it for future generations while trying to keep it going for the current one. (An insolvent program will privatize itself, by eventually collapsing.) His solution is to somehow make it solvent by continuing to force wealthy people (the level of wealth not defined) to pay into the system while getting no returns for it. Trump agrees. This is not capitalism. This is not justice or fairness. And for that reason, it will not work. You cannot fix the unfixable, which Social Security and Medicare fundamentally are. Ben Carson opposes the progressive income tax (whereby you pay higher tax rates when you make more) because it’s socialism. How refreshing to hear a presidential candidate call it like it is! But when asked whether the minimum wage should be raised, he replied “probably or possibly.” By what logic do you reject the progressive income tax because it’s socialism, while supporting the minimum wage? By the way, if you read up on Carson’s proposal for health care, he wants to turn medicine into a “public utility” run by the government. This is not a free market; it’s economic fascism, which is a form of government control quite similar to socialism. Rand Paul made eloquent statements about following Ronald Reagan’s foreign policy model — utilizing peace through strength to defeat the Soviets, while refraining from engaging in unnecessary and unwinnable ground wars. But he also implied we can and should do business with Iranian mullahs who vow to wipe Israel and ultimately the United States off the map. Despite the obvious weakness of unfreezing assets to Iran and taking them at their word in a peace treaty, Paul states he would not rip up Obama’s peace treaty once in office. Paul does not fully grasp or appreciate peace through strength; not if he wants to do “business” with the Iranian totalitarians. Mike Huckabee forcefully stands up to the Iranian mullahs and ISIS, referring to them at one point as religious dictators. In this respect, he’s one of the most eloquent of the candidates. Yet he turns around and asserts that religious freedoms and “religious rights” are the most fundamental of all. Tell that to the Iranian mullahs and ISIS. How does Huckabee plan to morally and militarily fight off those religious totalitarians while claiming that religious rights are the most fundamental of all? Or does he mean that religious freedom is more applicable to Christians than to people of other religions, or no religion at all? Huckabee opposes the right people for some of the right reasons; but in the end, either he has no grasp of what individual freedom actually is, or does not care. John Kasich is basically a Democrat, except for his opposition to abortion and gay marriage. You can get the religious conservatism from most of the other Republican candidates; and you can get his foreign policy and economic views from the Democrats. The only reason he’s in the race is because he assumes he can win Ohio for the Republicans (not a sure thing.). Even if he does — to what end? He’s living in the 1990s, when the Democratic Party viewed it as necessary to engage in compromises with Republicans, as Bill Clinton sometimes did. Those days are gone. Obama is not merely a partisan, but an actual villain, arguably an enemy of the country and a traitor. Kasich is living in the contradictory absurdity of a fool’s paradise if he thinks he can “negotiate” and “do business” with contemporary Democrats. All of the candidates support securing America’s border (with or without a wall) and enforcing immigration laws. Obama has been so lawless on this subject it’s amazing we even have to make this point. However, none of the candidates made even one reference to the most important problem: The existence of the welfare state. If there were no welfare state, immigration would not be a problem. We would welcome and need the types of people who would come to America where people are fully free and fully responsible for themselves. None of the candidates — not one — proposed limiting or eliminating the welfare state, if only for immigrants, to ensure we draw the right kind of people into the country. You do not expect Democrats to take such a position, since hooking people on the government dole is their whole reason for existing; but you would think that at least one of these many Republicans would name the real cause of the problem with immigration. All Republicans claim to agree on the 10th Amendment, which states that anything not specified as powers for the federal government in the Constitution are reserved for the states, or the people. Rand Paul correctly pointed out Chris Christie’s hypocrisy on the subject, by supporting federal intervention against Colorado for its legalization of marijuana. Rand Paul asked for consideration of state’s rights. All agreed upon “state’s rights” when it came to gay marriage or abortion. But what about the rights of the individual? Don’t those ultimately trump the “right” of either a state or federal government to do whatever it pleases to the individual? The phrase “individual rights” came up on only one subject: gun ownership. Although most of the candidates tried to have it both ways on this and many other subjects, they at least grasp that the individual does have a moral and political right to defend himself, including owning a gun. This is much more than the Democrats offer; but it’s not nearly enough. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio made some compelling points. Cruz is at his best in his determination to take down Iran and ISIS. It’s still unclear what he would do for the economy, aside from repeal Obamacare. Rubio appears to have some grasp of the legitimacy and value of limited government. But both appear to have trouble concretizing and articulating their points, although Cruz is the much stronger of the two. And the problem with Cruz, particularly — as ultimately with all Republicans — is that when religion or individual rights conflict, the tendency will be usually (if not always) to go with religion. Jeb Bush was all over the place. Carly Fiorina is a commanding debater, and appears quite impressive under pressure. But like Trump, she appears to better grasp business than capitalism. Capitalism is the only moral or practical social system ever conceived. The reason? It’s the system which protects the absolutism of private property and, more fundamentality, the rights of the individual to be free from force (including government coercion). While it’s refreshing to consider a candidate like Trump or Fiorina who appreciates and understands the importance of business, it’s even more important to have a candidate who appreciates and understands the necessity and legitimacy of capitalism. It’s not at all clear that we have even one candidate like that. Chris Christie pointed out that 71 percent of the federal budget is now devoted to Social Security and Medicare. These are the programs driving spending, taxes and unsustainable debt upward. These are the programs that make immigration a crisis, and not merely an issue. Yet these programs were barely mentioned in the whole debate. Ditto for the debt. What’s really important to these Republicans? What fires them up? And if it’s not these things — why not? I’m not expecting a perfect candidate. I’m not expecting someone who will agree with me on most things. But I am expecting at least a Republican candidate or two who appreciates the value of capitalism, private property and — first and foremost — the moral and political right of the individual to be sovereign over his or her life. Those principles are vanishing. But they’re needed more desperately than ever before. Human survival and flourishing require them. Be sure to “friend” Dr. Hurd on Facebook. Search under “Michael Hurd” (Rehoboth Beach DE). Get up-to-the-minute postings, recommended articles and links, and engage in back-and-forth discussion with Dr. Hurd on topics of interest. Also follow Dr. Hurd on Twitter at @MichaelJHurd1 |
That NORTH is about the current climate surrounding mass immigration is about as obvious as a sledgehammer to the face. It’s coated in 80s synth-pop sci-fi as if to cover it up but there’s no denying it. You are a person in an overwhelmingly foreign city. You must learn the customs of this new culture. You have traveled from the south, escaping its lakes of fires, crossing a harsh desert, and arrived here where you hope it’ll be safe. Subtle this game’s allegory is not. Mind you, the creators at Outlands (who also made the politically-charged Dämmerung) aren’t necessarily trying to shroud their efforts, considering they’re openly donating half of all the money NORTH makes to Refugees On Rails and Refugee Open Ware. Perhaps they can be forgiven. What Outlands specifically swivels its lens upon with NORTH is the scary process of learning, growing accustom to, and being officially accepted by another society. NORTH wants you to feel utterly lost in this place This is realized through the architecture of the game’s virtual city, which seems to grow endlessly upwards in concrete around you, and by the lighting that gives it all an unwelcome dinginess. In fact, the look of NORTH takes directly from the set designs of German Expressionist classic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), borrowing the large slanted silhouettes of windows and sharp, oblique slopes that run through the city. The result is a three-tiered mass of towers and alleyways that unsettle you at first before you work out how to navigate it all. Beyond that, NORTH seems to fail and succeed simultaneously. You are tasked with applying for asylum in this city—you know this as your character writes a letter to his sister at the beginning—but the granular details of achieving this are left for you to figure out. NORTH wants you to feel utterly lost in this place. This is why there are strange creatures in your apartment, why your workplace demands you adhere to a peculiar ritual, and why the people in this city worship surveillance as a god (a commentary on contemporary western norms). Nothing makes sense here. The idea seems to be for you to feel as any real asylum seeker does when they first arrive at their destination. And in doing this it could be said that the game is successful. However, in trying so deliberately to alienate, NORTH risks losing you altogether. There is a hint system but it isn’t immediately available: you have to experience being stuck in a place first before you can write a letter to your sister that explains what you’re supposed to do. And the mini-games that you have to complete aren’t explained at all and don’t have the benefit of being obvious enough for them to be immediately worked out either. Everything is obfuscated so much that you’ll probably give up playing the game after only 10 minutes. But maybe that’s the point. Given that NORTH is clearly meant to confuse, it might be that Outlands intended for many of the game’s players to not make it all the way through, to get stuck and to give up. This would mean that these players’ efforts to be granted asylum would have failed. In such a case, perhaps Outlands means to make a parallel between the players and actual asylum seekers, sending the message that the many legal and cultural transactions that refugees go through are too difficult and unreasonable. That may be giving Outlands too much credit for what is actually a failure. But it’s a reading of the game that certainly exists no matter how it came to be. You can download NORTH over on itch.io. |
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a meeting of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea at an undisclosed location in North Korea on Feb. 23, 2015. (Photo11: Korean Central News Agency via AFP/Getty Images) Kim Jong Un canceled plans to visit Russia in the coming weeks, citing internal issues in North Korea, according to a statement from the Kremlin on Thursday. The highly anticipated trip would have been Kim's first official foreign visit since taking power in 2011 after the death of his father. "He has decided to stay in Pyongyang," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call, according to NBC News. "This decision is related to (North) Korea's internal affairs." The leader of the reclusive nation had been scheduled to arrive in time for Moscow's May 9 Victory Day parade to celebrate the 70th anniversary of defeating the Nazis in World War II. As part of the visit, Kim was to have met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, CNN reported, citing Russia's TASS news agency. In March, Russia said Kim was among the 26 world leaders who had accepted invitations to take part in the commemorations, the Associated Press reported. However, North Korea never confirmed Kim planned to attend. President Obama and other top Western leaders are snubbing the event because of Russia's incursion into eastern Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea last year. Contributing: Anna Arutunyan in Moscow Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1GII3Ld |
Ruth Schwartz, whose 18-year-old son Ezra Schwartz was killed by a Palestinian terrorist in Gush Etzion in November 2015, spoke out at the UN against the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday for compensating terrorists. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "The terrorist who murdered our Ezra is receiving a monthly stipend from the Palestinian Authority," Ruth said. "Ezra's murder broke our family; we will never be the same without him." Ruth spoke at the United Nations during a special forum on the glorification of terrorism, organized by Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, in partnership with the non-profit pro-Israel education and advocacy organization StandWithUs. Bereaved mother Ruth Schwartz speaking at the UN against PA's stipends for terrorists (Credit: UN) X "My son is the victim of the worst crime," she said. "He was brutally taken from his family and friends forever. He will never be able to have fun or make someone smile, go to college, get married, have children or do anything in this world again. I will never again get to hug him or tell him that I love him. Instead, I get to visit him at the cemetery." "Ezra did not deserve this. His family and friends did not deserve this. My children have to live the rest of their lives without their brother," Ruth lamented. Ezra Schwartz "I’m here because, as Ezra’s mother, it is my duty to fight for my son," she continued. "My son's killer and his family should not be compensated for murdering innocent people. It is just another way to glorify and encourage terrorism. It’s offensive and wrong." "Terrorism knows no boundaries, it can affect anyone. No one is immune to it," she cautioned. The bereaved mother finished by making a simple request. "Please do not kill and please do not reward people who kill, because it is as if you are doing the killing yourselves." Danny Danon and Ruth Schwartz Ambassador Danon then informed the forum that the Palestinian man who murdered Ezra and two others is currently receiving a monthly stipend of more than $3,000 for his reprehensible acts, calling it "blood money." "This is the PA's prize money for terrorists who kill innocent civilians," said Danon. "Foreign aid given to the PA by the international community is exploited by the Palestinians and used to support terrorism. The more they murder, the more they are paid." "The international community must not accept this dangerous precedence," Danon continued. "We call on the Security Council to act to put an end to these payments and finally stop Palestinian support for terrorism." Ezra's funeral (Photo: Dana Kopel) The event was held as part of Danon's efforts in the UN against the PA's funding of terrorism. About two weeks ago, Danon presented data on the PA's payments to terrorists at the UN Security Council. "In 2016, the PA dedicated almost $130 million of its budget to paying imprisoned terrorists," he said during a short press conference. "They spent another $175 million in allowances to the families of so-called martyrs. Altogether, the PA paid more than $300 million directly in support of terrorists every single year." This amount, he said, comes up to about seven percent of the PA’s yearly budget, and almost 30 percent of the foreign aid donated by the international community. "So many members of the Security Council, so many UN member-states, are sending their people’s money to support terrorists,” the ambassador bemoaned. Danon, at the UN "This is all part of an organized system by the PA which glorifies terrorists and encourages terrorism, these payments are mandated by their laws," clarified Danon. "Think about the simple message this sends to young Palestinians. Mahmoud Abbas is telling them that there is a simple equation: kill innocent people and you and your family will be paid for the rest of your life." The ambassador, who sent an official letter about the issue to the Security Council several days before the press conference, called on the international community to keep track of their aid money to the PA and make sure the funds don’t go towards payments for terrorists. "It is absurd to condemn terror, while at the same time paying terrorists," summarized Danon. "It’s time for the UN, the Security Council, and the entire international community to finally tell Abbas that enough is enough.” |
Welcome Vassil Dimitrov to IOTA David Sønstebø Blocked Unblock Follow Following Sep 19, 2017 Professor Vassil Dimitrov holds a PhD degree in Applied Mathematics from the Mathematical Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in 1995. At the moment he is a Full Professor at the Department of Computer Engineering, University of Calgary, Canada. His research interests include implementation of encryption algorithms, discrete mathematics, image processing, digital watermarking and related topics. Dr. Dimitrov is an author of three books, more than 100 research papers in the fields mentioned and holds three patents. Several of his algorithms in domain of elliptic curve cryptography are regarded as the fastest and most efficient from both software and hardware point of view. Here is some of his exciting work. On joining IOTA I will contribute with my expertise on implementation of encryption algorithms, knowledge on discrete mathematics and graph theory and FPGA/ASIC implementation of encryption algorithms. Last few years I have done very considerable work on the development of fast parallel linear algebra algorithms and software; the tools invented can be directly used by IOTA. Vassil is a great addition to IOTA as the technology and ecosystem keep maturing and adoption is accelerating. His seminal expertise in areas ranging from cryptography to integrated circuits will be of tremendous value to the development and research of IOTA toward a production ready standardized protocol. Give him a warm welcome! |
Research reveals that the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge could be the safest smartphone in the market today. The iPhone 7, however, fares rather poorly. The Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge released to a strong market in March of this year, despite the recent Samsung Galaxy Note 7 fiasco. With abysmal reception for the iPhone 7, the Galaxy S7 Edge is quickly becoming a cult favorite. Exceptional power, looks, and display really make both Samsung flagships a real bang for the buck. But if you’re still weighing your options between the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and the iPhone 7, then this information tidbit might just make the decision for you. According to a research, the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is the safest smartphone in the market as of now, Inferse reports. The Samsung S7 Edge has the lowest electromagnetic emission [Image by Samsung] Every phone in the United States is monitored by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) so if the smartphone makes it to the market, then it meets the safety standards of the FCC (although that makes us ask what happened with the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, but that’s a different story). Smartphones all have electromagnetic emissions present in gadgets and the FCC measures these emissions via a unit called Specific Absorption Rate (SAR). To make sure that the smartphone does not pose health hazards to the consumer, the FCC sets a 1.6w/kg SAR as the maximum allowable amount of electromagnetic emissions. So the lower the SAR, the safer the phone. The higher the SAR, well that phone should have something to show for that kind of emission. Electromagnetic radiation in cellphones take the form of radio waves, which are at the lowest on the electromagnetic spectrum (meaning they’re not as harmful as others such as Ultraviolet and Gamma-rays). The National Cancer Institute says that smartphones emit these electromagnetic energy from the antenna, which is absorbed by the tissues nearest to the antenna. While the NCI acknowledges that studies which explored the effects of exposure to such emissions through using a cellphone have not shown clear evidence that links cellphone use to cancer, there have been reported statistically significant associations for certain subgroups of people. Radiowaves are the least harmful in the electromagnetic spectrum [Image by PeterHermesFurian/Thinkstock] As of 2011, the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified cellphones as “possibly carcinogenic to humans.” So although no research results directly correlates cellphone use to cancer, radiation produced by electronic devices such as the cellphone is still a concern, Android Authority notes. So if you’re wondering how you can minimize your exposure to these possibly harmful electromagnetic emissions, without having to live under a rock, you’ll be pleased to know that picking up a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge could be the first step. Tech Times lists, via French Internet information technology (IT) news media, PhonAndroid, the top 10 smartphones with the lowest SAR values. The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge sits at the top, only emitting 0.264 W/kg SAR. It’s good to know that apart from the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, a couple more Samsung Galaxy units make it to the top 10. In fact, three more Samsung Galaxy models have ranked in the top 10 safest smartphones list: the Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 at third, Samsung Galaxy S7 at sixth, and the Samsung Galaxy A3 2016 at 10th place. There have been no explanation as to why there is a significant difference in electromagnetic emissions between the Galaxy S7 Edge and the Galaxy S7 but since you’re paying a few more bucks for the Galaxy S7 Edge compared to the Galaxy S7, something more premium could be inside that “Edge-y” unit. The Samsung Galaxy S7 also makes it to the top 10 safest smartphones [Image by Samsung] Below is the full list of safest smartphones in the market today. Top 10 best SAR among popular smartphones: Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (0.264 W/kg) Asus Zenfone 3 (0.278 W/kg) Samsung Galaxy A5, 2016 (0.290 W/kg) Lenovo Moto Z (0.304 W/kg) OnePlus 3 (0.394 W/kg) Samsung Galaxy S7 (0.406 W/kg) HTC 10 (0.417 W/kg) Sony Xperia XA (0.473 W/kg) Honor 5X (0.560 W/kg) Samsung Galaxy A3, 2016 (0.621 W/kg) With the iPhone 7 a strong opponent for the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge in 2016’s smartphone wars, it’s interesting to note that in terms of electromagnetic emissions, the iPhone 7 fares significantly poor against the Galaxy S7 Edge. Did you remember that the FCC will only allow at most 1.6w/kg SAR for smartphones to be released in the market? Well the iPhone 7 is cutting way too close. According to the research, the Apple iPhone 7 emits 1.38 w/kg SAR. That’s more than five times the electromagnetic emissions of the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge! In fact, three iPhone units make it the least safe smartphones, with the Apple iPhone 7 as the third least safe, the iPhone 7 Plus at fourth, and the Apple iPhone SE ties with the Sony Xperia X at ninth and 10th place. Even the new Huawei P9 fares badly, sitting at second place. The iPhone 7 and iphone 7 Plus emits significantly higher electromagnetic waves [Image by Apple] Top 10 worst SAR among popular smartphones: Honor 8 (1.5 W/kg) Huawei P9 (1.43 W/kg) Apple iPhone 7 (1.38 W/kg) Apple iPhone 7 Plus (1.24 W/kg) Honor 5C (1.14 W/kg) Sony Xperia X Compact (1.08 W/kg) Sony Xperia XZ (0.870 W/kg) LG G5 (0.737 W/kg) Apple iPhone SE (0.720 W/kg) Sony Xperia X (0.720 W/kg) Although a lot of components really make up for how safe or how dangerous a smartphone can get (take the Note 7 as an example), it’s handy to take note of how Samsung is making sure they build their units such as the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge to standards that will benefit the consumer. Now this makes us wonder what the SAR rating of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was. [Featured Image by Samsung] |
Raising some friendly breeds of turkey is really enjoyable. Moreover, if you bring them up at your home based settings, then you would be able to enjoy a number of flavored meats. At the same time, this strategy is also useful in saving some money. In this regard, you can make use of a number of old as well modern breeds. Glenn Drowns, a specialist in the domain of heritage poultry, asserts that the White Holland and related breeds are best suited for flocks which are below 20 and that the Bourbon reds are really useful in terms of pest control as well as for foraging. Frank Reese, another specialist in the domain of breeding turkeys, also suggests that the White Holland poultry breeds are quite competitive in terms of meat production and consumption. How to breed turkeys? This is the core question here. Preference for Broad Breasted Breeds For those who plan to raise for sales, then the breeds will come to be the most useful. However, these birds are available on a limited basis, all because of a respiratory disease outbreak that has effectuated thousands of flocks. The reason for which this bird is being recommended lies in the large amount of meat which is present in the areas of its breasts. In comparison to the wild turkey, the bird has 2 to 4 times more meat, due to which it is well suited for meat production purposes. These birds are able to achieve a weight of sixteen to twenty five pounds in a matter of 24 weeks. On the other hand, in order to reach the same weight, the heritage birds would demand nearly 2 years. The importance of this timing period is highly crucial in terms of poultry production, for which most of the poultry producers prefer to make use of this breed of turkeys. Tips for selecting the best breeds for you farms In terms of selecting the most suited and appropriate breed, you need to be knowledgeable of the various facets including its capacity of natural reproduction, its ability to fly, its pace in terms of reaching the stage of maturity and many other related factors. The thumb rule here is that the most famous breeds might not be necessarily suited for the smaller farms and at the same time, the big size is also not an indicator in terms of the best breeds of domestic turkeys. Classes of Production Type Turkeys There are two basic types which will be discussed here including Broad Breasted Whites and The Broad Breasted Bronze. You can easily purchase them from a number of hatcheries in times of the spring season. In addition, the pace of their growth is also quite agile, due to which you would be able to have a massive turkey in the minimal time span. However, there is a single drawback in making use of these breeds of turkey i.e. they aren’t able to produce on a natural basis. The reason for this can be linked to the large sizes of their breasts, which limits their ability to reach out. So, for those who plan to breed some large flocks of turkeys, these two breeds might not be suitable. But if you have no sort of problem with their reproduction limitation, then you should go for them. Heritage Breed of Turkeys There are a number of farmers and poultry producers who prefer to utilize the heritage turkeys, all because of their well-developed reproduction capabilities. Moreover, they also come in various colors and sizes and are also able to brood a number of eggs. Below are some of the breeds which you might want to consider at the time of selecting the best breeds of turkey for your farms and poultry houses. Auburn: This heritage breed is believed to be similar to the bronze breeds, but happens to be more reddish in color. The origins of this breed go a few centuries back. Beltsville Small White: This rare preservation breed is marked for being smaller in size. The breed is also more active in comparison to the other breeds, primarily because of its small size. Spanish Black: Now here we have another rare breed which was mainly utilized by early settlers. The breed is also medium in size in comparison to other breeds of the same class. Bronze: This breed is quite large in size and is able to carry out the breeding process in a natural manner. Do remember to distinguish it from the broad breasted ones. Midget White: The smallest breed of turkeys, Midget White, is really suited for small families. Furthermore, these birds are also quite active and are also able to fly. Royal Palm Turkeys: Famous for being a show bird, Royal Palm is a small sized heritage turkey. The breed is marked for having black and white colors. Narragansett Turkeys: Believed to be good foragers, natural calm, medium sized and excellent brooders, Narragansett is the breed which you might want for your small farms. In the past, the breed had come quite close to being extinct, but now it is believed to be more prevalent. |
The Chicago Fire were left ruing their set piece defense, while the Houston Dynamo players we pleased to have earned a point. Follow Goal.com on to get the latest soccer news directly. Check out Goal.com's page; be part of the best soccer fan community in the world! BRIDGEVIEW, Il. – Following a 1-1 draw at Toyota Park, Chicago coach Carlos de los Cobos repeated much of what he said last week against the LA Galaxy. Unlike the home side Saturday evening, Houston Dynamo players were quite pleased with their efforts given the amount of time they had left. Here’s what they had to say:In Chicago’s press conference with Carlos de los Cobos, he first and foremost addressed the ability of Houston to attack on set plays.“We know Houston has a good coach and they’re very good on free kicks and corner kicks. We prepared all week long for this but it’s a shame we let in a goal so late in the game,” Cobos said.He also mentioned his intentions when explaining why the big difference in the starting line-up this week.“Dominic (Oduro) is a fast player, and I brought Baggio (Husidic) in to help Logan Pause control the midfield and distribute the ball well,” said Cobos.Captain Logan Pause well understood the value of the loss and commented, “One of the things that makes this team so successful are set pieces. We worked on them all week and it’s a bummer to see the ball go in. It was my man (marking) that scored the goal so I am responsible for what happened,” said Pause.When asked Marco Pappa about the influences Dominic Oduro’s speed has on their game, he commented, “We’re all trying to get better playing with each other. We’re finding out how he moves at training and how he likes his balls played.” Pappa’s main concern was that the team chemistry is not yet solidified amongst the Fire players. Much needs to be done to match that Chicago Fire of 2008-2009.Turning to Houston, Danny Cruz seemed to be quite pleased with the way the boys performed, saying, “We knew what we had to do in the second half and that was to create and attack until we finally got a goal. Our performance in the second half was a bit dull but we recovered and got it done in the second half,” Cruz said.The Fire avoided a fourth consecutive defeat but still remain winless in four matches. Collecting only a point out of a possible twelve, the Fire are sitting in the deep bottom of the Eastern Conference. As for Houston, the tie extends their unbeaten run to four matches now, placing them third in the East. |
ATLANTA -- Todd Gurley ran for 122 yards and three touchdowns, including two scores after regulation, and Georgia rallied after trailing by 20 points in the first half to beat Georgia Tech 41-34 in overtime on Saturday night. Gurley's 25-yard touchdown run in the second and final overtime gave Georgia its first lead. Vad Lee passed for a career-high 232 yards for Georgia Tech, but his fourth-down pass for Darren Waller was deflected by Georgia's Ramik Wilson to end the game. Hutson Mason overcame a shaky first half in his first start to lead the comeback for Georgia (8-4), which has won 12 of 13 games in the series under coach Mark Richt, including five straight. Georgia Tech (7-5) blew leads of 20-0 in the second quarter and 20-7 at halftime. Lee threw two touchdown passes to DeAndre Smelter as Georgia Tech, which usually emphasizes the run in its spread-option offense, instead attacked Georgia through the air. Mason completed 22 of 36 passes for 299 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Georgia won the toss to start overtime and chose to play defense. Smelter ran for 12 yards on a reverse to help set up Lee's scoring run from the 2. Georgia answered with a strong dose of Todd Gurley on its first overtime possession. Gurley had gains of 8, 11 and 6 yards on the Bulldogs' quick three-play touchdown drive. Georgia Tech then elected to play defense in the second extra period. Gurley ran straight through the Georgia Tech defense for a 25-yard touchdown run and the Bulldogs' first lead at 41-34. Georgia Tech's Robert Godhigh was tackled by Leonard Floyd for a loss of three yards to set up a fourth and 5 from the 6. Wilson tipped Lee's pass for Darren Waller before cornerback Damian Swann batted the ball out of the end zone for the incompletion to end the game. Georgia players then rushed the field, their dominance in the state rivalry still intact. Georgia Tech did not have a turnover until Lee, throwing off his back foot, had his pass intercepted by Josh Harvey-Clemons in the fourth quarter. Clemons returned the ball 18 yards to the Yellow Jackets 25. Jeremiah Attaochu's fourth sack of the game helped force Georgia to settle for Marshall Morgan's 32-yard field goal for a 27-27 tie with 4:17 remaining. The Yellow Jackets took a 20-0 lead before Georgia scored 17 unanswered points to cut the lead to three points. Lee's 7-yard scoring pass to Smelter in the fourth quarter pushed the lead back to 10 points. Gurley's 2-yard touchdown run with 6:37 remaining again trimmed Georgia Tech lead to three points at 27-24. Mason struggled through most of the first half and appeared tentative in some of his passing decisions. Of Georgia's 152 yards in the half, 86 yards came as Mason looked more comfortable running the 2-minute offense in the Bulldogs' final drive. Mason completed each of his five passes on the drive, including back-to-back completions of 17 and 22 yards to Chris Conley. Gurley scored on a 9-yard pass, taking off from about the 4-yard line and soaring with his body out of bounds but the ball stretched out over the corner at the goal line. Georgia Tech dominated most of the half. A big pass from Lee to Waller on the Yellow Jackets' opening possession set the pace for the half. On third and 8 from the 26, Lee's lofted a deep pass to Waller, who caught the ball in stride behind the coverage of cornerback Sheldon Dawson for a 68-yard gain to the Georgia 6. Lee scored on a keeper from the 3. The Yellow Jackets used another big pass play on their next possession, a 43-yarder from Lee to running back Robert Godhigh, to set up Harrison Butker's 37-yard field goal. Mason, under pressure, threw a weak attempt for Conley late in the opening quarter that was intercepted by Jemea Thomas at the Georgia 36. Lee's 26-yard pass to Smelter gave Georgia Tech a 17-0 lead. Butker's 22-yard field goal in the second quarter pushed the lead to 20-0. Georgia's lost senior defensive end Garrison Smith to a left ankle injury in the third quarter. Smith did not return. Former Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford of the Detroit Lions watched the game from the Bulldogs' sideline. |
We here at Destructoid really care. Since we knew our announcement of Game of the Year for 2008 was going to be so important, we decided to make sure everyone in the world could fully enjoy the excitement. Therefore, for the blind people, we created the above video full of delicious audio for your extra sensitive ears. And for our deaf friends, you can hit the jump for the big reveal and treat your super-powered eyes to a glorious dance of text. Oh, wait, how will the blind people read this and know to play the video? Crap. Eh, well, blind people don’t care about videogames anyway. Out of yesterday’s final six nominees, which game took the prize? Watch the video or hit the jump to find out. Or, even better, DO BOTH! Last year BioShock took the coveted crown of Destructoid Game of the Year. What game will join its ranks and take the title this year? By reading your comments in yesterday’s list of the finalists, it seems everyone has different opinions about what game is the best of the best. Some people screamed for Braid and Castle Crashers, pointing to them as forerunners of this past year’s downloadable uprising. Others felt Fallout 3 offered the most ambitious role-playing experience of the year, while some preferred the retro feel of Lost Odyssey. And there was plenty of justified arguing that the multiplayer revolution that is Left 4 Dead and the epic, jaw-dropping presentation of Metal Gear Solid 4 were unrivaled this past gaming year. But which game won? Drum roll, please. Thank you for the envelope, random hot girl that is standing next to me in a luxurious, sequined ball gown. The nominees for Destructoid Game of the Year 2008 are: Braid Castle Crashers Fallout 3 Left 4 Dead Lost Odyssey Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots And the winner is ... *ripping envelope* LEFT 4 DEAD! Besides videogames of course, one thing most gamers have in coming is their love of zombies. From Shaun of the Dead to Dead Rising, adding zombies to anything -- even something completely random -- usually makes it that much more awesome. Think about it: imagine adding zombies to a movie like Out of Africa. Awesome! How about throwing a few flesh-eaters on Wisteria Lane to terrorize the Desperate Housewives? MORE AWESOME! What makes Left 4 Dead so amazing, though, is the zombies are only icing on the already incredible cake. Valve’s multiplayer masterpiece truly is a revolution in videogames. In fact, some of the editors here feel it created its own genre, sort of a hybrid between a perfectly paced single-player campaign and an almost flawless, unique co-op experience. But don’t just take my word it – here is what some of the other Destructoid editors had to say: Colette Bennett: Left 4 Dead was one of the few multiplayer experiences this year that actually got me to crawl out of my solo gamer cave and play with friends. Well, that and I never stopped being spooked by the sound of The Witch. Samit Sarkar: There's a reason I've been "hating on" Valve for not bringing Left 4 Dead to the PS3 -- I'm supremely jealous of people who own 360s and gaming PCs. I've only played a few rounds of L4D, but the little time I spent with it made me want it even more than when I was just reading up on it prior to its release. Get on it, Valve/EA! Brad Rice: I repeatedly punch Necros for buying the survival edition of Fallout 3 instead of putting that extra $50 towards getting Left 4 Dead. That's about all I can say. Anthony Burch: Left 4 Dead is the not only the best zombie game ever made, but the best game in a genre it itself invented. I've never before seen the pacing and structure of a (remarkably intense) single-player game jammed into a multiplayer experience, but Left 4 Dead has convinced me that we should be seeing a hell of a lot more hybridized gameplay like this in the horizon. The multiplayer's pretty unbalanced and we're still waiting on more maps, but hell if Left 4 Dead isn't a must-buy nonetheless. Jordan “Grim” Devore: What I love most about Left 4 Dead is how it's got such a small amount of content (almost all of which is fantastic), yet the game's replayability is on par with that of an arcade classic. By creating a formula that makes slight changes to what you as the player see in-game and completely socializing the zombie apocalypse scenario, Valve has made an unforgettable co-op experience and one of the best multiplayer titles I have had the opportunity of playing. So, there you have it: Left 4 Dead is our pick for Destructoid Game of the Year 2008. Please know that it was a tight race this year and any of the other nominees could have easily won. This year was just that good. All in all, 2008 was an amazing year to be a gamer. Left 4 Dead is an instant classic that completely deserves all of the accolades it is receiving. Congratulations, Left 4 Dead. Don’t get too drunk tonight celebrating; we all want to play you tomorrow. Previous Destructoid Game of the Year Winners You are logged out. Login | Sign up |
By definition, an electric vehicle or EV will use an electric motor for propulsion rather than being powered by a gasoline-powered motor. Besides the electric car, there are bikes, motorcycles, boats, airplanes, and trains that have all been powered by electricity. Beginnings Who invented the very first EV is uncertain as several inventors have been given credit. In 1828, Hungarian Ányos Jedlik invented a small-scale model car powered by an electric motor that he designed. Between 1832 and 1839 (the exact year is uncertain), Robert Anderson of Scotland invented a crude electric-powered carriage. In 1835, another small-scale electric car was designed by Professor Stratingh of Groningen, Holland, and built by his assistant Christopher Becker. In 1835, Thomas Davenport, a blacksmith from Brandon, Vermont, built a small-scale electric car. Davenport was also the inventor of the first American-built DC electric motor. Better Batteries More practical and more successful electric road vehicles were invented by both Thomas Davenport and Scotsmen Robert Davidson around 1842. Both inventors were the first to use the newly invented but non-rechargeable electric cells or batteries. Frenchmen Gaston Plante invented a better storage battery in 1865 and his fellow countrymen Camille Faure further improved the storage battery in 1881. Better capacity storage batteries were needed for electric vehicles to become practical. American Designs In the late 1800s, France and Great Britain were the first nations to support the widespread development of electric vehicles. In 1899, a Belgian built electric racing car called "La Jamais Contente" set a world record for land speed of 68 mph. It was designed by Camille Jénatzy. It was not until 1895 that Americans began to devote attention to electric vehicles after an electric tricycle was built by A. L. Ryker and William Morrison built a six-passenger wagon, both in 1891. Many innovations followed and interest in motor vehicles increased greatly in the late 1890s and early 1900s. In fact, William Morrison's design with room for passengers is often considered the first real and practical EV. In 1897, the first commercial EV application was established as a fleet of New York City taxis built by the Electric Carriage and Wagon Company of Philadelphia. Increased Popularity By the turn of the century, America was prosperous and cars, now available in steam, electric or gasoline versions were becoming more popular. The years 1899 and 1900 were the high point of electric cars in America as they outsold all other types of cars. One example was the 1902 Phaeton built by the Woods Motor Vehicle Company of Chicago, which had a range of 18 miles, a top speed of 14 mph and cost $2,000. Later in 1916, Woods invented a hybrid car that had both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor. Electric vehicles had many advantages over their competitors in the early 1900s. They did not have the vibration, smell and noise associated with gasoline-powered cars. Changing gears on gasoline cars was the most difficult part of driving and electric vehicles did not require gear changes. While steam-powered cars also had no gear shifting, they suffered from long start-up times of up to 45 minutes on cold mornings. The steam cars had less range before needing water compared to an electric car's range on a single charge. The only good roads of the period were in town, which meant that most commutes were local, a perfect situation for electric vehicles since their range was limited. The electric vehicle was the preferred choice of many because it did not require manual effort to start, like with the hand crank on gasoline vehicles and there was no wrestling with a gear shifter. While basic electric cars cost under $1,000, most early electric vehicles were ornate, massive carriages designed for the upper class. They had fancy interiors, with expensive materials and averaged $3,000 by 1910. Electric vehicles enjoyed success into the 1920s with production peaking in 1912. Electric Cars Almost Become Extinct For the following reasons the electric car declined in popularity. It was several decades before there was a renewed interest. By the 1920s, America had a better system of roads that now connected cities, bringing with it the need for longer-range vehicles. The discovery of Texas crude oil reduced the price of gasoline so that it was affordable to the average consumer. The invention of the electric starter by Charles Kettering in 1912 eliminated the need for the hand crank. The initiation of mass production of internal combustion engine vehicles by Henry Ford made these vehicles widely available and affordable in the $500 to $1,000 price range. By contrast, the price of the less efficiently produced electric vehicles continued to rise. In 1912, an electric roadster sold for $1,750, while a gasoline car sold for $650. Electric vehicles had all but disappeared by 1935. The years following until the 1960s were dead years for electric vehicle development and for their use as personal transportation. THE RETURN The 60s and 70s saw a need for alternative-fueled vehicles to reduce the problems of exhaust emissions from internal combustion engines and to reduce the dependency on imported foreign crude oil. Many attempts to produce practical electric vehicles occurred during the years from 1960 and beyond. BATTRONIC TRUCK COMPANY In the early 60s, the Boyertown Auto Body Works jointly formed the Battronic Truck Company with Smith Delivery Vehicles, Ltd., of England and the Exide Division of the Electric Battery Company.The first Battronic electric truck was delivered to the Potomac Edison Company in 1964. This truck was capable of speeds of 25 mph, a range of 62 miles and a payload of 2,500 pounds. Battronic worked with General Electric from 1973 to 1983 to produce 175 utility vans for use in the utility industry and to demonstrate the capabilities of battery-powered vehicles. Battronic also developed and produced about 20 passenger buses in the mid 1970s. CITICARS and ELCAR Two companies were leaders in electric car production during this time. Sebring-Vanguard produced over 2,000 "CitiCars." These cars had a top speed of 44 mph, a normal cruise speed of 38 mph and a range of 50 to 60 miles. The other company was Elcar Corporation, which produced the "Elcar". The Elcar had a top speed of 45 mph, a range of 60 miles and cost between $4,000 and $4,500. UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE |
and Unreal Engine creator Epic Games has announced that it will be building a Baltimore-based studio in association with the ex-leadership of the just-shuttered Big Huge Games.BHG was a subsidiary of Curt Schilling'sMMO company 38 Studios, which recently closed down after initially defaulting on part of a loan from the state of Rhode Island, then running out of money.However, having completed the action RPG(pictured) earlier this year, which went on to sell 330,000 copies in the U.S. during its first month, Big Huge Games had a wealth of talent which suddenly became available. weblog post from Epic CEO Mike Capps explains the circumstances of the unexpected plan as follows:"Our heart goes out to the people affected by the unfortunate events surrounding 38 Studios and its subsidiary in Baltimore, Big Huge Games. Through it all, the team stayed together in a way that�s been really heartwarming to see. The team kept working, hoping that there�d be a way to secure last-minute funding and save the company.People brought extra food into the office to help those unable to pay their bills. And last week, in bittersweet irony, Big Huge Games was named to Game Developer�s Top 30 studios in the world list.You may be wondering why I�m writing all this � and it�s because Epic is going to do something to help them, and we want people to understand why we think it�s the right thing to do.On Wednesday, the ex-BHG leadership team contacted us. They wanted to start a new company and keep together some of the key talent displaced by the layoff, and hoped that they could use an Epic IP as a starting point for a new game. We loved that they all wanted to keep working together, but it was pretty clear they�d have trouble building a demo and securing funding before their personal savings ran out.In one of life�s coincidences, Epic�s directors had spent the morning discussing how we�d love to build even more successful projects with our growing team, but that we�d need a dramatic infusion of top talent to do so. Which, we all knew, was impossible.So now we�re planning to start an impossible studio in Baltimore."As Capps goes on to explain, the company's Baltimore development studio may not be opening on Monday, but Epic is committed to building a team there, utilizing many Big Huge Games veterans. His open letter concludes:"It�ll take a while to find space, set up desks and PCs, purchase sufficient Nerf weaponry and Dr. Pepper, etc. But some of these folks have been going too long without a paycheck to wait for that. So, as soon as we can, we�re going to try to get people working down here at Epic headquarters in Cary, NC as contractors.There�s a million things to work out. How many of the team can we hire? What will it be called? What will they be working on? We don�t know all the answers yet. Please give us some time to figure it out; we hope to have more to share soon.The way we see it, there�s been a big storm in Baltimore, and we�re taking in a few of the refugees � as are the awesome folks at Zynga East, Zenimax Online, and other southeastern studios. Epic�s in a situation where we can do this, and it very clearly fits with our company values, so we�re going to give it a whirl." |
After a woman told investigators last week that a SUV driver beckoned her to cross Magazine Street and then ran her down as she was doing so, New Orleans police say newly-obtained video shows the vehicle passing her without incident and her falling on the sidewalk of her own accord. The woman initially told police that she was waiting to cross in the 2000 block of Magazine Street on the evening of June 5 when an SUV driver gestured for her to cross in front of him, police said last week. As she stepped into the street, the woman said, the SUV accelerated and hit her, then stopped so a passenger could say “Ha ha, bitch,” before fleeing, police said. An ambulance took her to the hospital for treatment for her injuries after the incident. Surveillance video from Juan’s Flying Burrito did not show the woman crossing the street, but briefly showed a vehicle that matched her description driving past a moment later, police said at the time. Investigators deemed the incident an “aggravated battery” because of her account that the vehicle hit her intentionally, and asked other business owners nearby to review their own video for a clearer view of the incident. This week, a nearby businessman found footage on his system that appears to fill in the gap, investigators said. In the second video, the woman (apparently wearing a pink or light-colored shirt), steps off the curb in front of Juan’s and steps onto Magazine Street. She waits as several cars pass, and then, as a clearing opens, she begins walking across, the video shows. An SUV does approach, and she walks in front of it to the opposite sidewalk, and the SUV then passes after she steps out of the street, the video shows. The woman then suddenly falls down onto the sidewalk, but the SUV has already moved down the street, the video shows. “There’s no car involved in this at all,” said Sixth District Commander Bob Bardy after viewing the video. “It didn’t happen. It’s indisputable that it didn’t happen.” Now that they have seen the second video, investigators have not been able to reach the woman again, so it is unclear why she told them she had been hit by the SUV, Bardy said. She may have even believed it herself, Bardy said, so it is unclear whether charging her with making a false police report (defined under Louisiana law as a form of criminal mischief) would be appropriate. The cruel comment she heard, investigators say, may have simply been from an onlooker who saw her fall. “She may have believed at the time she was in fact hit, when she in fact was not,” said Sixth District Sgt. Daniel Scanlan. Business owners, however, are frustrated now at the negative publicity surrounding the lower section of Magazine Street over an incident that never occurred. “When I first heard about it, it sounded pretty horrifying, so I’m glad to hear it didn’t happen that way,” said Jud Houston, manager of Juan’s Flying Burrito. “I don’t understand why she was claiming that it happened. There was no way anybody hit her, and I think that’s pretty clear from the video.” Video production associated with this report was produced with the assistance of our partners at WWL-TV. |
Learn how make an ancient roman costume here. Do it to such a degree that even Caesar himself would be proud. A toga (or stola for women), pair of sandals and a Laurel Wreath is all that is needed and it makes for a nice and cool costume to go out in on a hot night. Another adaptable idea is the Lego idea. Taking a box and wearing it as for the Lego costume can be used for other costumes. You could paint the box dark brown and it could be a table–simply attach some plastic dishes, silverware, and cups to the top for place settings. Or, cover the box with aluminum foil and your child can be a robot. All you would need to do is add a smaller aluminum foil-covered box for a hat and some silver face paint. Another idea would be to paint the box blue and then glue on some large fish (ones your child has colored and cut out, perhaps) and some fern-type fake plants and you have an aquarium. When it comes to toddlers, the range is mind-boggling. You can of course begin the search with a range of Disney costumes. Choose any character from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or the Power Puff girls or Winnie the Pooh and the Friends of the 100 Acre wood. Children can also be dressed up in costumes based on what they want to become. Here you can look at doctors, nurses, fire fighters, astronauts, scientists, dancers, engineers and so much more. For males, it’s much of the same, as the costume and perhaps some hair dye or a black or blonde hair piece (depending on the character portrayed) is all that would be needed. To create a Jack-in the-Box Halloween costume, choose a box sufficiently large in order to fit over your little one’s body and cut out the bottom. Then cut out openings for the arms and head. Paint the box with bright colors and put on a crank. Instead of having the usual clown pop up out of the box, you might develop a horror costume by having a horrifying witch or ghost pop up instead. costumes for kids should be light in weight. This will ensure comfort as well as free mobility for children avoiding any accident. A simple way out of this trouble is to weigh the costume in their arms or compare the weight with their day-to-day clothings. Same goes with the adults also who are going to dress themselves up as Easter bunnies as the costume should be comfortable and should not hinder the mobility. A man or boy’s Peter Pan costume comes with an olive green tie-up shirt, brown pants, wide brown belt, and pointy green hat with a feather. It’s one of those costumes suitable for all ages, because, after all, Peter Pan was the boy who never grew up. As we all know, there’s still a lot of boy inside of every man, and this can be your chance to get in touch with it. Accessories that you can purchase extra in order to really capture the Peter Pan look include green felt elf shoes, pointy ear tips, and a fencing sword that will come in handy for fighting with pirates. |
Character Sheet Spoiler: Blizzard Name: Blizzard Appearance: Long platinum blond hair, with fox ears and blue eyes. Short and slightly chubby for her age. Faunus race. Stats: HP: 1200 Aura: 1500 STR: 132 VIT: 130 INT: 241 MEN: 202 AGI: 132 TEC: 193 LUK: 130 MOV: 5 Abilities: Watchful: Blizzard's careful nature makes her less likely to be ambushed or fall for traps. Driven: Blizzard is driven by what's she's seen. She gains an extra action. Strength of the Faithful: The holy pact between a Goddess and her believers burns in your heart. Light Magic does 50% more damage. Lily Effect: Caster - Rank 2. Your Partner's SP Skills cost 20% less Aura to activate. Spells: (Element) Shift: A basic, no-cost spell, this allows you to shift the element of a Basic attack. Does not consume an action. 8 Bit Blade: A Spell designed for creating an 8 Bit Blade. Can either be fired at the opponent, or used in melee. 120 power. 100 Aura cost. Celestial Wind: With a gesture, a word, and an expenditure of aura, you can call upon holy light to smite your foe. 100 power. 80 Aura cost. Healing Light: A prayer and a touch, your aura soothes away pain and injuries. Restore 30% of a target's HP. 60 Aura cost. Equipment: Lowee Greencaster: A basic Greencaster. This allows her to use [Magic] type Base attacks instead of [Physical]. Damage is dependent on INT score instead of STR. 50% of damage dealt is converted into a Knockback effect. NonCombat: Arcana: C Athletics: D- Computers: E Crafting (Enchanting): D- Knowledge: D+ Social: E+ |
Traditional Chinese characters an advantage and here’s why When I worked in Shanghai, I used to bring back from Hong Kong books and magazines for my mainland colleagues so that they could see material unavailable at home. They would take them excitedly and start to read. Thirty minutes later, I would turn round and find them looking again at websites on the computer, with the magazines set aside. “Not interesting?” I would ask. “No, the characters are too difficult. I gave up.” I was sad. My colleagues were smart, well-read and university-educated — the cream of society — but they could not easily finish one of the many excellent articles in a Hong Kong magazine. How was it that a stupid gweilo could understand it and an intelligent Chinese could not? I thought back to the teachers in the Mandarin school in Taipei in the 1980s. “You must use only the traditional characters,” they said. “The simplified ones are not standard Chinese. Once you learn the traditional ones, then you can easily master the simplified ones.” They called the traditional characters Zhengtizi (正體字 — standard characters) and did not use the term used in the mainland term (繁體字); “fan” means numerous, implying a difficulty in writing them. They asked what logic was used to do the simplification other than reducing the number of strokes. For example, ai (love) 愛 became 爱 by removing the character for heart 心 — how can you love without the heart? How right my teachers were and how much we thank them now. Later, it was easy to read the simplified characters, especially since they were formed out of the traditional ones. That is what I would say to the students of Hong Kong; what worked for this stupid gweilo works for you. You are fortunate to live in an environment surrounded by traditional characters — on the streets, in the media, your computer and your school textbooks. How quickly you can learn them. Even better, you have computer software to help you write them. As a result, you can read and understand the treasures of everything written in the world in the Chinese language. Because of the censorship in China, much of the best material is published outside the mainland — and you can read it all. When Beijing simplified the characters in the 1950s, it had a good motive — to lower the high level of illiteracy and enable ordinary people, especially the poor, the farmer and the worker, to read. It points to the great advances in literacy — rising from 20 per cent in 1950 to 85 per cent in 2001 and 96 per cent now. Since the 1950s, it has made the simplified characters the only standard; in a mainland bookshop, you will rarely find a book with traditional ones. They are also the standard of Confucius Institutes and other official bodies abroad. Beijing wants to make it the global standard of Chinese. The issue of which characters to use is emotive. On Jan. 8, at the Grand Hall at the University of Hong Kong, eminent writers and poets from Hong Kong and Taiwan launched a festival profiling seven literary celebrities. One was Pai Hsien-yung (白先勇), from Taiwan, one of the most famous Chinese writers in the world, whose books are read by people all over the Chinese world. “Language is a great rallying force and I hope the original characters practised in Taiwan and Hong Kong will live on forever.” His words provoked the loudest cheers of the evening. That is the consensus view in Hong Kong and Taiwan. In December 2009, Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said his government would apply to UNESCO to have the traditional characters receive World Heritage status. “As the culture with the longest history, richest content and widest influence, Chinese culture has been able to survive and thrive for thousands of years mainly because of its use of a beautiful writing system to pass down traditions,” he said. “I am afraid that this beautiful language that has documented China’s history for 3,000 years is giving way to the simplified one.” You students of Hong Kong are in the ideal position. Here you can learn the traditional characters at school, through the media and on your computer. Then you can easily understand the simplified ones, if you go on to work in the mainland and read material in it. Knowing the two enables you to read everything that is published in Chinese in the world. Why give up something that gives you such a competitive advantage, personally and professionally? – Contact us at [email protected] RA |
Make Sure Your Bitcoin is Secure During Price Spikes The price of Bitcoin has got everyone in a frenzy at the moment. As people wonder why the rally is happening, they are holding their cryptocurrency tight in hope of higher spot prices. Meanwhile, one critical thing to remember is that during upswings, security should be at the top of everyone’s minds. Also read: Jaxx Ethereum Wallet Launches on iOS After Gaining Apple Approval As Bitcoin Price Rises, So Does Theft During these crazy price spikes, people often keep their bitcoins on exchanges and online wallets such as Coinbase and Circle for fast profit-taking. As the hardware wallet company Trezor points out via Twitter “With Bitcoin price UP, the appetite of online thieves grows!” and there is a direct correlation to this fact in 2013. As the saying goes in Bitcoin-land: “If you don’t possess your private keys you don’t own Bitcoin.” In fact, we all remember when the price per BTC spiked up to $1,100 USD, and soon thereafter the infamous Mt. Gox exchange went under. Many even speculate that the exchange itself, with the use of the Willy and Markus Bots (robot software that places orders), made the price bubble up to the thousand dollar range. Following the Mt Gox fiasco, during certain price ranges, other exchanges had also fallen to the wayside like the Moolah owned Mintpal. When users keep their money on an exchange or an online wallet system, they have absolutely no control over their funds if the service goes under. When securing a wallet, there are some precautions everyone should take to protect their funds. If you are going to use an online wallet or an exchange, make sure you use two-factor authentication services like Clef or Google Authenticator. Always backup your wallet and keep passwords safe and never use the same password you use for other accounts such as email. When using an email address that is tethered to an online wallet system, make sure you also two-factor that specific email. Because it makes sense to lock both the front and back door of your house. If you can encrypt your wallet, this is also a great precautionary method to take when securing a Bitcoin wallet. The best practice during these times is using cold storage methods such as paper wallets, USB drives, or hardware wallets such as Trezor or Ledger. Using cold storage and holding private keys yourself minimizes the possibility of security breaches and the loss of bitcoins. Other safeguards against theft would be using multi-signature features and remembering your seed or mnemonic phrase. Theses are just some of the most basic security precautions users can take to secure their funds. Keeping large amounts on exchanges and online wallets is not safe and not recommended. Handing over your private keys to a third-party service provider reintroduces “trust” into the equation and is a sure way to part with your bitcoins if something happens. How do you secure your Bitcoin? Let us know in the comments below. Images via Shutterstock, and Twitter feeds |
Following strong sales of the new Subaru Levorg in Japan, the Japanese car maker has announced that all future models will carry names that seem to be other words spelt backwards. ‘We are very excited about this new development,’ said marketing head Daeh Gnitekram. ‘In the past, coming up with names was difficult because all the good stuff is taken. But with our new process, we simply hold a dictionary up to a mirror. Job done!’ Thanks to the success of the Levorg, the new naming policy will be implemented with immediate effect, starting in the US market with a pick-up truck called the Subaru Kender, and in Europe with a new turbocharged, body-kitted hatchback aimed a young people dubbed the Subaru Popocla. Gnitekram denied accusations that the new policy was strange and contrived. ‘It’s a brilliant idea,’ he said angrily. ‘Anyone who thinks otherwise is a tnuc.’ ‘Hang on, this Levorg thing,’ said everyone, yesterday. ‘Isn’t it just a etatse ycagel?’ With thanks to Paul Morgan |
Ronald Gonzales, 24, of Windsor was arrested by University of Northern Colorado police on suspicion of aggravated robbery, felony menacing and violations of bail bond conditions. He is being held in Weld County Jail in lieu of posting a $50,000 bond. UNC spokesman Nate Haas said Gonzales is not a UNC student and has no known affiliation with the university. A 24-year-old Greeley man who went to pick up dinner Wednesday night ended up stopping a suspected robber at gunpoint, tackling him and holding the suspect in a chokehold until police arrived. The incident began just after 6 p.m. when a man, who was later identified as Ronald Lee Gonzales, 24, of Windsor, entered the west wing of Frasier Hall on the University of Northern Colorado campus and held up a UNC custodian, brandishing a gun — later determined to be a replica pistol — demanding his wallet and watch, UNC spokesman Nate Haas said. Haas said the man then made off with those items, heading north. The custodian gave chase, with the help of Greeley resident, Kaleb Caddy. "It happened quick, very quickly," said Caddy, a superintendent with Hartford Homes, on Thursday as he explained the unusual story. On his way home from a Colorado Rockies game, Caddy called in a takeout order to a Greeley restaurant near UNC. He paid for and picked up the food for himself and his sister and walked back to his car. Everything seemed normal until he saw a guy with a wallet in his hands trying to run past the restaurant. "He couldn't run though; his pants were sagging too far," Caddy said. Recommended Stories For You Seconds later, Caddy saw an older man walk up, out of breath, with a phone in his hand asking for help. The victim said the man who had just come past had robbed him. The victim also told Caddy the suspect had a gun. Caddy said he can't stand it when people steal. He said he didn't waste any time. He grabbed his Smith & Wesson handgun from his car's trunk and took off after the robber. At some point during the foot chase, and before Caddy caught him, Gonzales threw away his gun, which officers found later. Eventually, the suspected robber jumped a fence and found himself at Caddy's gunpoint. "I told him to freeze. I pointed my firearm at him. I told him to drop the wallet and wait for the police," Caddy said. Gonzales dropped the wallet; Caddy put the gun away and tackled him into the bushes when he tried to leave, Caddy said. Gonzales fought back, but Caddy — a former high school wrestler — got him a chokehold and kept him there until police arrived and arrested the man. He doesn't remember being scared, Caddy said. It all happened so fast. Gonzales had only been out of jail for a week. He had arrested for felony menacing on May 28, and he bonded out of Weld County Jail on June 22. He was due to appear July 15 in Weld District Court for that case. Haas said UNC police and Greeley police are working together to investigate the Wednesday robbery. He said the police report on the incident hadn't been released, pending the approval of a police supervisor. |
Amazing gift, you can tell she peeked at my comment history. I hope she didn't come across some of the skeletons in my reddit commenting closet. I was so overjoyed that I considered running over the Dundas West (where she lives), to thank her (just moved to Toronto). Then I realized that it's this crazy kinda stuff that ends up on r/fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu . So instead I'll thank her for the pinhole camera and awesome UFO ice cubes (unless she's down with meeting up for a coffee -my treat) Her wrapping paper was of kitty cats... which is awesome. She also had a possum meme picture to apologize for her wrapping skills. Little does she know that she wraps as well as Dr. Dre. Big ups. Thanks again aprilspring! |
Joss Whedon may have thought he was low-balling when he offered to pay $10,000 for the Terminator movie rights. But it turns out that's an example of runaway inflation: James Cameron originally sold them for $1. Advertisement As Cameron does press for Avatar, he's been asked again and again what he thought of Terminator Salvation, which he apparently watched on his hotel-room TV late at night, over three consecutive nights. The first few times, Cameron was pretty nice, telling MTV back on Dec. 9: It's better than I thought it was going to be... It's actually quite reverential to the mythos of the 'Terminator' world," he said. "I think McG and the writers tried hard to keep reacquainting you with some of those ideas in the story that they were weaving. So actually I thought it was pretty cool. I did feel that it sort of lacked Je ne sais quoi. Although I love Sam [Worthington] in it. But today, talking to the Toronto Sun, he was a bit more damning: I've moved on creatively from The Terminator, so I'm not really interested in that imagery and even those ideas anymore - and I'm not sure the world is that interested either. It's run its course, I feel... [Arnold Schwarzenegger's] persona was part of The Terminator and when you uncouple those, you get Terminator Salvation, which is actually a fine film from a pure filmmaking standpoint - it just doesn't gel up into anything mind-blowing... I wish I hadn't sold the rights for one dollar. Advertisement Apparently Cameron sold the movie rights for a dollar in exchange for the right to direct the first movie. He adds: If I had a little time machine and I could only send back something the length of a tweet, it'd be - ‘Don't sell.' I sort of like the idea that James Cameron sits around fantasizing about twittering backwards in time. |
Chromebook Development Grows by 82% Tyler Jewell Blocked Unblock Follow Following Mar 23, 2015 Recently, Google released a new version of the Chromebook Pixel. Anandtech has done an exhaustive review and while it is an expensive device, it is a substantial machine with long battery life and fantastic video. In 2013, we gave away two Pixels as part of our promotion at Google I/O, and the three engineers on our team that use a Pixel every day are living the developer’s dream of not having to install software. With Chromebooks packing so much horsepower, are developers abandoning their desktops to go pure cloud development? The release of the new Pixel (I just ordered mine and can’t wait to test Codenvy on it), had us asking about the tracking metrics for developers using Chromebooks with Codenvy. We did some comparison and here is what we found. In 2013, 2.43% of our active users accessed Codenvy with a Chromebook. Last month, the metric has grown to 4.42% — and 82% increase in about a year. Given our overall growth in active users, the increased percentage of Chromebook users is also on a much larger base for 2015 means that they are taking usage share overall. This lead us to dig a bit deeper. We went through our online community conversations, twitter posts, and support tickets and counted 43 comments from various users or prospects that indicated a desire to either use a Chromebook or abandon some other computer. We had only 8 such statements in 2013. So, viva la Chromebook! This data tells us that developers genuinely want the freedom that comes from developer workspaces in the cloud. Just as consumers are ditching TV cable for streaming services, developers are increasingly interested in using the cloud to allow them to develop on any project from any machine. Further Resources Official Codenvy Chrome Store Listing Sign up for a free Codenvy account to experience fast cloud development Official Chromebook Pixel site Review: A Comprehensive Review of the Chromebook Pixel by Argyll Review: Chromebook Pixel 2015 by Computerworld Offer: Get Free RAM for Your Codenvy Account! |
Study suggesting global warming is exaggerated was rejected for publication in respected journal because it was 'less than helpful' to the climate cause, claims professor Professor Lennart Bengtsson claims his study on global warming has been rejected as it might fuel climate scepticism Says he suspects an intolerance of dissenting views on climate science Paper suggests that climate is less sensitive to greenhouse gases than previously thought Professor Lennart Bengtsson, who claims his research on global warming is being 'covered up' A scientific study which suggests global warming has been exaggerated was rejected by a respected journal because it might fuel climate scepticism, it was claimed last night. The alarming intervention, which raises fears of ‘McCarthyist’ pressure for environmental scientists to conform, came after a reviewer said the research was ‘less than helpful’ to the climate cause. Professor Lennart Bengtsson, a research fellow at the University of Reading and one of five authors of the study, said he suspected that intolerance of dissenting views on climate science was preventing his paper from being published. ‘The problem we now have in the climate community is that some scientists are mixing up their scientific role with that of a climate activist,’ he told the Times. Prof Bengtsson’s paper suggests that the Earth’s environment might be much less sensitive to greenhouse gases than previously thought. If he and his four co-authors are correct, it would mean that carbon dioxide and other pollutants are having a far less severe impact on climate than green activists would have us believe. The research, if made public, would be a huge challenge to the finding of the UN’s Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change (IPCC), that the global average temperature would rise by up to 4.5C if greenhouse gases in the atmosphere were allowed to double. The paper suggested that the climate might be less sensitive to greenhouse gases than had been claimed by the IPCC in its report last September, and recommended that more work be carried out ‘to reduce the underlying uncertainty’. The five contributing scientists submitted the paper to Environmental Research Letters – a highly regarded journal – but were told it had been rejected. A scientist asked by the journal to assess the paper under the peer review process reportedly wrote: ‘It is harmful as it opens the door for oversimplified claims of “errors” and worse from the climate sceptics media side.’ Prof Bengtsson, 79, said it was ‘utterly unacceptable’ to advise against publishing a paper on the political grounds. He said: ‘It is an indication of how science is gradually being influenced by political views. The reality hasn’t been keeping up with the [computer] models. Professor Bengtsson currently works for the Meteorology department at the University of Reading ‘If people are proposing to do major changes to the world’s economic system we must have much more solid information.’ Next year the UN hopes to broker an international agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol which would impose legally binding targets on every country. The last attempt, at the Copenhagen conference in 2009, ended in disaster, with recriminations flying and all chances of a deal in tatters. The Paris conference in December 2015 is thought by many politicians to be the last realistic chance for a deal to be made if disastrous climate change is to be averted. A controversy at this stage risks putting the science which underpins the negotiations at doubt, something many - not least politicians in Britain and the US - will be keen to avoid. The publisher of the Environmental Research Letters journal last night said Professor Bengtsson’s paper had been rejected because it contained errors and did not sufficiently advance the science. A spokesman for IOP Publishing said: ‘The paper, co-authored by Lennart Bengtsson, was originally submitted to Environmental Research Letters as a research Letter. ‘This was peer-reviewed by two independent reviewers, who reported that the paper contained errors and did not provide a significant advancement in the field, and therefore failed to meet the journal’s required acceptance criteria. ‘As a consequence, the independent reviewers recommended that the paper should not be published in the journal which led to the final editorial decision to reject the paper.’ |
The Bavarian Interior Minister’s recent decision to impose a Burqa ban in public spaces is utterly abominable and unjustifiable. Firstly, to set the record straight: “Burqa” is originally an Arabic word and means any garment used to cover oneself. The face veil used to cover the complete face is called “Niqab.” The non-Muslim world often tends to mix the two up and are most certainly referring to the “Niqab” in the given context. Moving on, to justify this ban with the explanation that the “Niqab (Burqa)” causes so-called “communication problems”, as Bavaria's interior minister did on Tuesday, is ridiculous. How can a piece of cloth block sound waves from travelling through it and thus causing these problems? Is he then also implying that telephone conversations, letters, emails, or discussions in cyberspace are insignificant because one cannot assess the body language? The Christian Social Union (CSU), the current ruling party of Bavaria and also a part of the ruling federal government in Germany, says it wants to foster a democratic environment. This democracy, according to the German constitution, grants freedom to exercise one’s religion. How can a ruling party suggest and go as far to draft a law about snatching a woman’s right to practice her religion as she pleases? The non-Muslim world often objects that Islam forces women to cover themselves. Firstly, it is important to distinguish between the cultural practices of majority Muslim countries and the truth about Islamic teachings. It is stated in the Holy Quran: “Let there be no compulsion in religion” - (2:257). Thus, it is clearly evident that Islam does not leave any room for compulsion. In fact, Islam preaches for men to lower their gazes and offer the utmost respect to women. The majority of the women who cover themselves do it based on their own will and it is a violation of such women’s independence to dictate how they should or should not dress. Both ideologies in essence are extremist. Feminism is a fashionable topic of discussion but what are we actually doing about it? Is it not feminist to allow women to decide for themselves what they wear or what they don’t wear? Two days ago the French presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, refused to meet a Lebanese cleric on account of being forced to wear a headscarf. According to the teachings of Islam, she is at full liberty to make such a decision and is completely justified. The CSU and their partners the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) need to pay attention to more pressing matters in relation to women, who are the backbone of any strong nation. It is interesting to note that CSU is a party, which propagates a stay-at-home and looking after children role for women, through a law nicknamed the Herdprämie. The Herdprämie (oven bonus) provides payment to mothers who decide not to send toddlers to kindergarten and has been criticized as a reward for mothers to stay home and cook for their offspring. Moreover, this is the party which stood against a quota for women in executive positions. Rather than manipulating the minds of the public against Islam, which seems to be a leaf taken out of Donald Trump and the AfD’s book, how about Germany focuses on the 21 percent gap that exists between the average salary of a man and a woman. Germany’s parties should instead focus on why Germany ranked 13th on the global gender equality index and what they can do to remedy it. It is interesting to note here that the CDU/CSU has never made women's rights a talking point of their previous election campaigns. Shifting the narrative to the refugee crisis as the main point of an election campaign - or rather singling out and attacking one particular religion for election purposes - is short-sighted and can harm Germany - a country with the potential to influence world affairs. It is high time that people start talking to Muslim women rather than talking about Muslim women. It is high time that people stop judging Muslim women based on their Niqab and shift the focus to what they have to say. |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump is expected to rescind an Obama administration policy that protects from deportation nearly 800,000 immigrants who as children entered the country illegally, setting the stage for a fight with U.S. business leaders and lawmakers over tough immigration policy. A senior administration official told Reuters on Thursday that the plan could be announced as early as Friday and that Trump would let the so-called Dreamers stay until their work permits expire. Trump has promised to crack down on illegal immigration to give more jobs to Americans. But business leaders say the Dreamers make important economic contributions and that ending the program will hit economic growth and tax revenue. The technology industry quickly mobilized opposition, as it did to Trump’s travel ban in January for visitors from Muslim-majority countries. Microsoft Corp President Brad Smith said the country cannot afford to “lose the tremendous talent of these individuals.” On Capitol Hill, Democratic lawmakers and a handful of Republicans urged Trump not to scrap the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), or “Dreamers” program. “@POTUS must uphold pledge 2 treat #DREAMers with “great heart” + give these young folks certainty 2 stay in US, the only country they know,” U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican who is Cuban-American, said on Twitter. Trump, a Republican, had pledged on the election campaign trail to scrap all of Democratic former President Barack Obama’s executive orders on immigration. What to do about the so-called Dreamers has been actively debated within the White House and Trump administration. One senior administration official described the debate as a “tug of war” between factions in favor of the move and those opposed. Officials, believing the DACA program to be ultimately unconstitutional, want Congress to impose a legislative fix for the Dreamers, two officials said. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters that Trump and his senior advisers were still reviewing the DACA program and that the president not made a final decision on how to proceed. Asked whether Trump still stood by a comment in February about treating Dreamers “with heart,” Sanders said: “Absolutely, the president stands by his statement.” The overwhelming majority of the Dreamer immigrants came from Mexico and other Latin American countries. Over 200,000 of them live in California, while 100,000 are in Texas, which is struggling to recover from Hurricane Harvey. New York, Illinois and Florida also have large numbers of DACA recipients. TECH SECTOR PREPARES PROTEST Microsoft’s Smith said in a blog post on Thursday that the company knows of 27 employees who are DACA beneficiaries, including software engineers, finance professionals and sales associates. “These employees, along with other DREAMers, should continue to have the opportunity to make meaningful contributions to our country’s strength and prosperity,” Smith wrote. In addition, a letter being circulated among tech companies obtained by Reuters expressed concern over the threatened demise of DACA, calling Dreamers vital to the economy. Executives from Microsoft, Lyft, Uber and other prominent firms have signed onto the letter, a source familiar with the situation said. “With them, we grow and create jobs,” the letter said. “They are part of why we will continue to have a global competitive advantage.” U.S. Representative Mike Coffman, a Colorado Republican who is a centrist, announced on Twitter that he will attempt to force a vote on bipartisan legislation that would protect from deportation immigrants who entered the country illegally as children. “#DACA participants grew up here, went to school here, and should be allowed to stay here. The time has come to take action,” Coffman wrote on Twitter. Coffman introduced his bill earlier this year, along with Democratic Representative Luis Gutierrez. It is a companion bill to legislation introduced in the Senate by the chamber’s number two Democrat, Dick Durbin, and Republican Lindsey Graham. Ten Republican state attorneys general in June urged the Trump administration to rescind the DACA program, while noting that the government did not have to revoke permits that had already been issued. If the federal government did not withdraw DACA by Sept. 5, the attorneys general said they would file a legal challenge to the program in a Texas federal court. The effort was led by Texas and joined by state attorneys general in Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia. Kayleigh Lovvorn, a spokeswoman for Texas attorney general, on Thursday said her office has no plans to push back the Sept. 5 date. A larger coalition of 26 Republican attorneys general had challenged the Obama-era policy covering illegal immigrant parents, known as DAPA, that had been blocked by the courts before it took effect. The Department of Homeland Security rescinded that policy earlier this year. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in Springfield, Missouri, U.S., August 30, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Immigrants who entered the country illegally as children have been able to qualify for DACA if they were under the age of 31 when the program began on June 15, 2012. They would have to have entered the United States before they turned 16, however, and to have lived continuously in the country since June 15, 2007. “DACA allowed me to reach my goal of a bachelor’s degree in sociology but I still have dreams of getting my master’s degree and even a doctorate,” said 25-year-old Diana, who immigrated with her parents from Mexico when she was a one year old. She asked that her family name not be used. “So I’m going to continue moving forward” she added, “and I’m going to keep fighting for my community because it doesn’t end here.” |
Truth, Power and Knowledge by Daniel Lauand Dear Mr. Schumacher, Today, I read the article that you wrote two days ago for The Architectural Review and I felt the urge, the necessity to send you a response as such rebuttal would almost constitute a manifesto since your discourse seems the exact opposite of the one I am defending on this platform. I won’t insist too much on your heavy undelicateness as a professor to attack on a very specific level a certain amount of students’ project, students who, I hope, are careless enough not to feel personally affected by your attacks. Orienting your discourse on your pairs, other professors would have been more diplomatic, but, once again that does not constitute the main reason of my reaction. I will not take too much time either to underline the irony of having you complaining that the students’ work is not oriented enough on the ordinary life, I think that everybody did not miss to smile when reading you while considering the work that you have been developing along the years in the various schools that you have been teaching for. Before going truly to the argument that is important to me in my reaction to your article, I would like to say that, despite some problematic attitudes (nowhere is a perfect place), I believe that what breaks the ambition of many young architects in the United Kingdom is not their exploration and production of fictions but rather the hyper-reality of professional exploitation that the Behemoths firms practice on many of them when they leave the Academic world. That leads me to the main argument of this letter, which goes far beyond from the architecture education. In fact, in your article you claim for a – self declared – subtle realism and write: ” I also doubt that architecture could be a site of radical political activism. I believe that architecture is a sui generis discipline (discourse and practice) with its own, unique societal responsibility and competency. As such it should be sharply demarcated against other competencies like art, science/engineering and politics. Architects are called upon to develop urban and architectural forms that are congenial to contemporary economic and political life. They are neither legitimised, nor competent to argue for a different politics or to ‘disagree with the consensus of global politics’ (as David Gloster suggests).” By affirming that architects are not legitimized, nor competent to argue for a different politics, you are, in fact, calling yourself for a different regime, an aristocratic one, in which experts owning a sacred knowledge have the exclusive legitimacy to debate and rule cities and nations. Architects, to the very same extent of bakers, workers, bankers (sic), waiters, lawyers, unemployed people etc. are absolutely competent and legitimized to argue for a different politics for the good reason that they are concerned by it as citizens and share with other the res-publica (the public thing). Politics etymologically comes from the Greek word Polis (πόλις) which translate by city. Of course, city, here, signifies the immaterial society constituted by humans living together and sharing a somehow restraint territory, but I am not convinced that you would actually argue against the fact that the physical dimension of this city has an influence on the immaterial one. As a matter of fact, I have been claiming often on this blog that architecture needs to be thought as being much more part of the problem of this polis than the solution. Architecture directs, oppress, hurts our bodies whether it has been conceived as such or not. You believe that architecture cannot be a site of radical political activism; I would argue, on the contrary, that each architecture is actually a site of radical political activism. Most of them are indeed a radical embodiment and a violent implementation of the dominant power. However, some of them manage to transgress the rules of this same power, not by liberating themselves from the system, but rather, by operating and creating in the folds of matter of this very same system. Architecture is indeed a political weapon and it is never as effective as such -in favor for the established relationships of power- as when it is not thought as such. My conclusion would therefore be that I agree with you about the fact that Architectural education has to be questioned and re-questioned; however, your realism that declares architects as non legitimized nor competent to address the political debate is a direct invitation to inhibit any critical attitude towards the relationships of power and of production that structure our society. I would therefore argue for the perfect negative of your project, whether you call it irrealism, idealism, utopianism or any other ‘isms’ that we thought we got rid of in the past. Sincerely (!), Léopold Lambert [following Patrik Schumacher’s responses, this letter has a sequel that can be read by following this link] |
The red-light-camera program is effective and should be continued, a city official told the City Council on Tuesday. “First and foremost, the driver for this is public safety,” said Alonzo Linan, assistant director of transportation and public works. “Our goal is to change driver behavior through the issuance of citations.” The first red-light cameras were installed in stages during 2008. In 2009, an average of 3,850 citations per camera were issued. Today, that’s down to 1,529, Linan said. And wrecks at the same intersections have dropped off. In 2009, the crash rate was 0.70 per million vehicles at the intersections. By 2014, that was down to 0.23. Sign Up and Save Get six months of free digital access to the Star-Telegram Still, critics say red-light cameras violate people’s privacy and serve as a revenue-generating trap. The Arlington City Council voted last month to let voters decide May 9 whether red-light cameras will stay or go through a charter amendment. Activists collected more than the required 9,651 petition signatures from registered voters. In the Texas Legislature, several bills have been filed to ban or limit the use of the cameras. A measure by Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, seeks to do away with them. “I’ve been a liberty guy and a privacy guy,” Stickland has said. “There are privacy concerns with the cameras. “The Constitution tells us we have the right to face our accuser in court. How can you face your accuser if it’s a machine? … This is a big issue.” Another criticism — that the cameras punish people who simply don’t come to a complete stop before turning right on red — isn’t entirely true in Fort Worth, Linan said. Citations aren’t issued to drivers who turn right on red while traveling under 10 mph, only to those going faster, he said. Linan gave this breakdown of citations: ▪ 45 percent to drivers running the light. ▪ 40 percent to drivers turning right on red faster than 10 mph. ▪ 15 percent to drivers turning left on red. Fort Worth has collected $43.6 million from citations since 2008. Of that, $12.7 million has gone to the state’s trauma fund, $12.7 million to the city and $18.1 million to the cost of the program. The City Council is expected to vote before June on whether to extend the camera program for another 11 years. “We are enforcing a state law and we are using a program approved by the state in 2007,” Councilman Jungus Jordan said after Linan’s presentation. “What our role is, at the local level, is public safety. What you have just shown us proves that we are doing our job, we are doing what we are supposed to be doing, and we are being fair about it.” This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives. |
Story highlights "She is a free woman, like any ordinary citizen," Rimsha Masih's lawyer says The high court in Islamabad finds the accusations to be legally unsound She was accused of burning pages of the Quran for cooking fuel The case against an imam accused of framing her will continue in district court A Pakistani court on Tuesday dismissed blasphemy charges against Rimsha Masih, a Christian teenager whose case prompted international outrage. "She is a free woman, like any ordinary citizen," said Abdul Hameed Rana, one of Rimsha's lawyers. The high court in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad found that the accusations against her were legally unsound, he said. The court's decision follows weeks of uncertainty for Rimsha and her family, who were forced to go into hiding because of the furor surrounding the case. "We welcome the courts ruling made under considerable pressure and international scrutiny," said Mustafa Qadri, Amnesty International's Pakistan researcher. "This shows that law enforcement and justice officials in Pakistan are capable of dealing with high profile and dangerous cases when they show the will to do so." JUST WATCHED Teen blasphemy suspect speaks out Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Teen blasphemy suspect speaks out 02:30 JUST WATCHED Girl arrested on blasphemy charges Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Girl arrested on blasphemy charges 01:12 JUST WATCHED Locals react to girl's blasphemy arrest Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Locals react to girl's blasphemy arrest 03:11 Pakistan's blasphemy laws "don't help protect religious harmony," he said. "The problem is that in law and in practice, this is a threat to all Pakistanis, not just Christians, not just minorities groups." Rimsha's ordeal began in August when she was arrested over allegations she had burned pages of the Quran, Islam's holy book, for cooking fuel. She denied the charges, which carried the possible sentence of life in prison. Confusion still surrounds the events of the day when Rimsha was arrested. The accusations against her were made by a neighbor, who shouted in protest, drawing a crowd that grew angry over the allegations that pages of the Quran had been burned. Some residents of the Islamabad neighborhood said the teenager was beaten. Others said she ran back home and locked herself inside. When police arrived, they arrested her. Her detention stirred up religious tensions in the predominantly Muslim country. It also generated fierce criticism of Pakistani authorities and renewed debate over the nation's blasphemy laws. Human rights activists attacked the decision to put Rimsha into the adult criminal justice system, noting she was believed to be around 14 years old. She was later released on bail and her case was transferred to a juvenile court. The situation took a dramatic twist in September when police arrested a local imam over allegations he had framed Rimsha. According to police, witnesses said they had seen the Muslim cleric, Khalid Jadoon Chishti, tear pages out of a copy of the Quran and add them to the bag of ashes being cited as evidence against Rimsha. That case became more complicated last month when Chishti's lawyers said that three of the witnesses had recanted their statements at a bail hearing. The case against Chishti will continue in district court following the high court ruling Tuesday, according to Rana, the lawyer for Rimsha. Pakistan's blasphemy laws were first instituted to keep peace between religions. But they have been criticized by human rights advocates, who say the laws enable legal discrimination against religious minorities. There have been about 1,400 blasphemy cases since the laws were first enacted in 1986, according to Human Rights Watch. There are more than 15 cases of people on death row for blasphemy in Pakistan, and 52 people have been killed while facing trial for the charge, according to the organization. Rimsha and her family spoke to CNN in September from an undisclosed location after she was released on bail. The teen denied that she defiled the Quran. She said she was happy to be with her family, but feared for her life. "I'm scared," she said by phone. "I'm afraid of anyone who might kill us." Now that her case has been dismissed, it still remains unclear what kind of life she might be able to have, given the accusations she faced. Aid groups in the United States, Italy and Canada have offered the teen and her family a home outside Pakistan, a family representative said. But she has said she wants to stay in her home country. |
Restricted free agent Nathan MacKinnon has come to terms with the Colorado Avalanche on a seven-year contract extension. The team didn’t disclose details, but Elliotte Friedman reports that the deal carries an AAV of $6.3 million. That deal will make MacKinnon, the first overall draft pick in 2013, the highest paid player on the team at age 20. He surpasses 25-year-old Matt Duchene, whose current AAV sits at $6 million. Last season MacKinnon 21 goals and 52 points, a touch shy of the numbers he posted in an impressive rookie season where he won the Calder Trophy. That season he put up 24 goals and 63 points. In the last two seasons, though he didn’t manage to match the offensive production of year one, he’s posted very good possession numbers. In particular, the team’s shot attempts for per 60 minutes of even-strength play (CF60) while MacKinnon is on the ice are outstanding. The team averaged more than 11.5 shot attempts per hour more when MacKinnon was on the ice than when he wasn’t. That’s staggering and if he continues to grow as a player, the $6.3 million he’s making could look very good as he hits his early mid-20s. The Avalanche are projected to have a shade under $7.8 million in cap space remaining and still have Tyson Barrie and Mikhail Grigorenko as RFAs that need new deals. It could make the cap situation a little tight if they give Barrie a long-term extension. |
Porter Lally-Tollendall, intelligence “accelerator,” sits in a chair in the staff room with his head in his hands. When he looks at it objectively, he has a pretty good situation. He goes in once a week for one single overnight shift. Unlike all the other jobs he has had in his life, he can’t be fired from this job for no reason. This job is his for as long as he wants it. You can’t argue with the pay. He makes enough money on one shift a week to pay his whole rent, though not quite enough to eat on. He scrounges for his extra eating money every which way he can. Doing odd jobs as they come up. But his situation is good. It cannot be denied. And he is lucky: he can’t really do any other job anymore. Doesn’t have the juice for it. Never had much juice for working ever…but Jesus, these days. He gets paid in cash at the end of each shift, which is nice. That’s why he doesn’t mind buying the six pack of tallboys with the last of his money, beer he plans to carry in with him tonight. They don’t care if Porter drinks here. When Porter is working, this particular permanent artificial intelligence--nicknamed Moby by all the scientists and researchers and technicians--is ten percent more efficient and can carry almost forty percent more load. The permanent likes Porter. He is something like the permanent’s “only link to humanity.” Actually, the scientists don’t even really know what he is exactly, with respect to this permanent, or even with respect to the other “accelerators.” The staff room down here in “Basement 2,” code for the hardened facility below the Atlanta Center for Disease Control, is not as nice as the staff rooms in the rest of the building, but it is still extremely nice. There are machines that will make you a latte or an espresso or a hot chocolate. There are giant pillars of cereal and “mixed grains” to which you might help yourself, sticking your bowl under one and flipping up the nozzle. There is a microwave and a freezer stocked with all kinds of warm-up meals and even high-end fast-food-chain burritos. It is nice. He really likes it here. He even comes in here and sits on days he doesn’t have to work. No one bothers him about it or tells him he can’t. He is staff. He will drop in and eat a bowl of cereal and have some coffee or some donuts and read a book and everyone will smile big at him and say “Hi Porter!” and ask him about his thoughts, not really expecting an answer. But right now he sits with his head in his hands waiting for his next shift to begin. There are footsteps in the hall and then the door opens and Dr. Seychelles comes in followed by a little girl who looks about eleven. She hasn’t hit her growth spurt yet, anyway. She has skinned-up shins and she is plugged into the feed: doesn’t even look up as she wanders into the staff room. “Hi Porter,” says Dr. Seychelles. “This is my daughter Dixie. I brought her into work with me tonight.” “Oh, that’s real nice,” says Porter. ”She gets tomorrow off but she has to write a paper about it. I thought she might like to see what goes on around here. We got her a security clearance and everything.” Porter nods to the little girl. He even manages a little smile. “Porter here is quite special,” says Dr. Seychelles. “He is one of our accelerators. He will go in and sit with Moby tonight and keep Moby company.” “What makes him so special?” asks Dixie, scrutinizing Porter and then looking blankly at her mom. “Rude,” says Dr. Seychelles. “Apologize, please.” “Sorry,” says Dixie, looking pained. Porter shakes his head. “Doesn’t make any difference,” he says. “Nothing special about me.” “That is just a lie,” says Dr. Seychelles. “Porter is irreplaceable. One of my many jobs is trying to figure out WHY exactly, but we don’t have many answers, so we just accept it. Right Porter?” “Guess so, ma’m,” says Porter. “I was just trying to say, how come somebody has to keep the computer company?” asks Dixie. “I have to ask questions for my paper.” “Well, we don’t know,” says Dr. Seychelles. “But the computer does not work as well without an accelerator like Porter. It’s what makes our permanent different from the permanent at CalTech, or the one that runs Bank of America, or even the one the British built in Hong Kong. We try to keep Moby happy and give Moby what she wants. When Moby is happy, we are able to get what we need from her.” “I still don’t understand the difference between a permanent and a temporary,” says Dixie. “I don’t understand why a permanent is such a big deal. Temporaries are everywhere. Kids use them at school, even. I don’t use ‘em, but it happens. You hear about it. Why are temporaries illegal but permanents are okay?” “Once you see Moby, you’ll get it,” says Dr. Seychelles. “Permanents are bigger,” says Porter, trying to be helpful. “They aren’t dangerous.” “That’s very true,” says Dr. Seychelles. “Think about it this way: a temporary AI is like a virus, like a whole strain of a particular flu virus. It gets its cycles from the network, manipulating code on millions of linked computers to achieve momentary sentience in a brute force fashion, right? But that’s a huge problem. First of all, this means that it is always mutating because the individual computers that it affects are always trying to fight it off. Consciousness can’t last in such a fragmented, inhospitable environment that is always changing. We don’t know what exactly it is about brains as a permanent location that makes them hold consciousness so well, but a temporary can answer questions for you and do really great work for a very brief amount of time, but then it loses its structure, becomes deranged, and damages everything it touches, like a tiny bomb going off. You can’t trust them. That’s why we built the permanents when code started getting loose from places like Google. Permanents hunt the temporaries and kill them off before they can do damage. That’s why temps have such short life-spans built into them: they die before they can start doing damage; or before they are noticed by permanents and eliminated. It’s a bit of an arms race.” “But how does it work, though?” Dixie asks. “You have to be specific. I’m doing a report here.” “Well, a lot of the actual science is classified, little girl,” Dr. Seychelles says. “So I’m going to have to look at that report of yours before you turn it in. But I can tell you the basics.” “I just want to know what makes a temporary so dangerous,” says Dixie. “How come only governments and big corporations and stuff are allowed to have their own AIs?” “Well, okay, so let’s say you are trying to mine some credit card data because you are a scumbag,” says Dr. Seychelles. “So you launch a temporary. And it builds its first agent, its first self, on computer zero, which is somebody’s deck that you stole from them on the bus. So the next time that person uses their deck, it connects to their part of the feed, and everybody else using the same part of the feed is turned into a node of this temporary, and this grows exponentially until there is a whole swarm of computers all talking to each other. Like a small town where everyone is psychic: everyone is all linked up, but they are also having their own thoughts and solving their own problems in parallel, each person solving a little piece of a much bigger problem. And there is an airport in the town, and wherever the people travel to other towns they make the people there psychic, too.” Dr. Seychelles looks over at Porter when she says this. Porter looks at the floor. “But the code has to grow organically because that is the most efficient kind of code for dealing with unpredictable systems, since you never know what kind of anti-virus software you are gonna come across, or how powerful any of the machines you might colonize are. And so because of this, it turns out inevitably that the temporary starts fighting itself, that it evolves in too many directions because minds are like that: they hold a bunch of different ideas and a bunch of different possibilities and these ideas and possibilities fight for dominance, tested against reality and practicality and past experience and future expectation. You don’t just come up with a right answer: you make all the possible right answers fight it out, and sometimes you get weird answers that are almost right, but are wrong in an interesting way, and this is great for a PERSON--this kind of creativity--but it is horrible, horrible for a computer with power. So you can make an AI this way for a little bit, but then it gets out of control, it gets too creative, and so the permanents have to go in and kill it off. All you wanted was to mine credit card data, but the temp is now trying to correlate the human genome to star patterns or something. Doing art. At that point, it starts draining resources and becomes a huge problem. Corrupted, we say.” “Also, temporaries all start as the same kind of code, basically,” says Porter, his voice creaking. “Simple programs that grow into a network based on simple instructions. But permanents are different from one another. Like people are different. They have…history. And personalities.” “Exactly so, Porter,” says Dr. Seychelles. “Okay,” says Dixie. “I got another question. How come you use a whale brain and not a human brain like CalTech does?” “CalTech’s permanent is much newer than ours,” says Dr. Seychelles. “Their brain isn’t just the brain from a street man or something.” She looks at Porter again, furtively, checking him out for just a split second. He notices, of course, but doesn’t say anything. “It’s a brain from a human consciousness researcher, like me,” she continues without missing a beat. “He donated it when he died. It was part of his will. He prepared his brain for an entire year once he got his cancer diagnosis. His brain was ready. But Moby here…we made Moby from scratch. It may be a whale brain, but it was never inside a whale. The CalTech permanent is flashy, and it does interviews for the feed and all, but it is untested. Some say it is even unethical. Can a dead brain from a person who was once alive consent to having a job?” “Why not use a big, giant computer brain then, like the Cubans got?” “The Cuban permanent is not as good as one of our organics. Their neural network is made from genetically-engineered organic parts, and it is unstable, almost as unstable as a temporary. It is a curiosity, and it is not functional in the same way as a brain evolved with the specific purpose of ‘perceiving reality.’ Brains are special, Dixie. We don’t know exactly how they work, but they are more powerful than anything else we might make in the whole world. That’s no exaggeration. A brain and the universe are twins: your universe is exactly as complex as your brain perceiving it, and your brain changes to accommodate new data from the ever-evolving world around you. We try to replicate what brains can do, but there is still so much we don’t know. You know how when you are trying to code something the first thing you do is look around to see if somebody else has already done it better? And then you just copy and paste?” “Yes,” says Dixie. “Well, it’s exactly the same with Moby. There’s no point trying to make a brain out of computers when we already have the real thing. We use the architecture of it; its power at sorting and navigating and creating; and we just enhance the parts we are good at building and which brains don’t have: perfect data storage. Whale brains work better than human brains because they are bigger for one thing, but also because they have evolved to navigate huge oceans. They are perfect for navigating data, for diving deep into impossible problems.” “It still seems weird,” says Dixie. “Sure, it isn’t ideal,” says Dr. Seychelles. “And maybe someday you will invent a better way. But think how many lives Moby has saved by modeling the vectors of infectious diseases for us. Or by helping us find hackers when our government networks get hacked. Or by killing dangerous temporaries out there. Moby’s cycles have been used for everything from cancer vaccines to taking snapshots of the entire social network for academic researchers. Like a social network CAT scan. Moby is like a new branch of the government.” “I guess so,” says Dixie. “So it turns out I have a pretty cool job after all, huh?” says Dr. Seychelles. “I guess you are glad you didn’t just stay home and play your video games?” “Pssssh,” says Dixie. “A permanent like Moby is the sort of thing that runs games like Trenches,” says Dr. Seychelles. “Such an elaborate game wouldn’t even be possible without a permanent modeling all the data.” “Mom,” says Dixie, embarrassed. When Porter first started working at the CDC, he was essentially homeless. He was sleeping on couches all over the South, moving between friends in New Orleans, Atlanta, and Memphis, trying not to overstay his welcome. He saw the Craigslist posting for a job as a test subject here and he said “what the hell: maybe it will finally be the end of me.” He knows that some part of him was hoping they would just kill him off with some weird disease. He had no idea what it would all mean, working here. They were doing the first trials with Moby back then. They had gone through gorilla brains and the brains of prisoners. They even tried a neural network made from naked mole rats, programmed to live inside a giant touch sensitive maze. When they hired him, his job was to read books to the infant whale brain they were growing, reading books, they said, “to keep the infant cetacean mind active.” They were using human voices twenty-four hours a day to prime Moby for human interaction. That was before the LSD trials, before they figured out how to really open Moby up. Porter goes back to sitting with his head in his hands as Dixie returns to scrolling through her feed and Dr. Seychelles begins making a sandwich out of cranberry walnut bread and some kind of nice cheese you have to cut. His shift starts right at midnight and he will work until eight in the morning with no break. He keeps checking the time over and over again, trying to stretch it out by knowing the exact second. “Don’t get freaked out or anything,” says Dr. Seychelles to him. “But we are loading on something new tonight. Air traffic control. Moby is going to be a back-up for the whole hemisphere. This won’t really mean very much for you: we will just mirror the existing system, going forward. But tonight we are going to try running the whole show. All a simulation, you understand.” “Okay,” says Porter. “It’s going to be a big expenditure,” she says. “A lot of new flops. We specifically waited for your shift to test it out. You have such a way.” “Sure thing,” says Porter. “Who is on right now?” asks Dr. Seychelles, trying to make conversation. “Don’t know,” says Porter. “They’ll be out here soon enough.” Dr. Seychelles finishes making her sandwich and drifts out of the staff room, leaving her daughter behind. The shift change is almost on them. Her daughter Dixie is lost in the feed, but she keeps looking over at him and he can sense she wants him to notice her; to take an interest of some kind. “What are you reading?” he asks her finally. “It’s an article about Cherish Alternity,” she says. “Do you know about her? She is a scientist.” “No,” he says. “She is a scientist like mom,” she says. “She has a restaurant in New York. She makes these pigs with the faces of famous people on the back. Real faces from their real DNA. You can pay thousands of dollars to eat pork from the celebrity of your choice. A lot of the money goes to animal rights charities and so on. The article is about how people in South America are freaking out because pigs are showing up down there with people’s faces on them. Lady Gaga, LeBron James and so on. They must have bred regular pigs with some of her face pigs. People are refusing to eat pork down there. She is getting sued as some kind of ecoterrorist in Brazil.” “That’s awful,” he says. “I think it’s pretty cool,” says Dixie. “You can buy face pigs online from her website. They are really expensive though. There aren’t laws against breeding animals if they are also meat. She is messing up the whole system. I think she is keen. Celebrities are sending her their DNA and asking her to make pigs out of them now. It’s like…you know…those Hollywood stars of fame. She is going to open a museum in New York. Chris Pratt bought his own pig for charity, and he brings it with him wherever he goes now.” She shows him a picture. “What a world,” says Porter. The red light in the staff room goes off and Porter and Dixie get up and walk to the pressure door where the other scientists are gathered. Dr. Seychelles eats her sandwich and they all watch the handle of the pressure door spin. It opens and DeLucy King comes out, frowning, looking exhausted. Porter and DeLucy lock eyes. They don’t even speak. Porter raises his eyebrows in query and DeLucy lowers her face to the ground. It is hard in there, she tells him without speaking. Moby is not relaxed. Porter nods. Porter gets his six pack of tallboys and his thick Louis L’Amour western and he shuffles into the pressure chamber. As he passes DeLucy, she pats him on the shoulder and then squeezes it. Bon chance. After Porter’s initial breakthroughs with Moby, they actively went seeking other people like him. Harder to find than you might expect. People like him don’t end up in the mental health professions or as famous diplomats. They are not successful people. They don’t become politicians, or public intellectuals, or nurses, or dedicate their lives to policy research. They end up in outpatient drug treatment clinics, or else they end up institutionalized completely. Or maybe they are working some terrible food service job in order to afford all the right chemicals to block out other people’s needs and thoughts, those prickles of desire that come rolling over you at all moments, invading you any time you feel relaxed, crowding out any kind of ambition you may have for yourself, making the only sweet moments in life those sad and blissful times when you are all alone, when the stacked and nested traumas that play out in the margins of human life don’t fill you up like a whole library of pain, when your context can shrink down to be skin-level and you can ‘just look out for yourself’ pretending this is a viable choice, resting up so you can deal with whatever demon will inhabit you next, some gleeful ghost shaking you like a paint mixer till your teeth go loose. DeLucy had been working in Denton, Texas as a waitress at an Applebee’s. Now she makes enough money here at the CDC to put her two kids through state school. She had to move out of Texas, but it was worth it to her. Porter feels good about that: he is happy for DeLucy. The pressure door closes behind him and he walks down the sloping hallway to the pool. He sits in the recliner, trying to get comfortable. His skin is already crawling, however. This is going to be a rough night; he can already tell. A voice comes crackling over the input in his ear. “You just let us know when we can go ahead and crank up the load,” says Dr. Seychelles. “We’ll follow your lead.” “Okay,” says Porter. The room where the brain rests is not much bigger than his own two-bedroom apartment. In the center of the room is a ten-foot deep pool of clear saline that bubbles and froths as the jets turn it over, constantly pumping in fresh fluid. Tangles of wires connect to the giant whale brain that sits under the water, encased in its own hermetic cylinder, run through with purple spikes, a lattice of steel and silicon infusing every centimeter of the exposed grey wrinkles. The whale brain is thick and knobby with heavier protrusions in strange areas; much different than a human brain. The proportions are off but Porter is used to Moby. The brain feels comfortable to him. It does not unsettle him. He cracks open a beer and sits perfectly still, watching the chemicals circulate in and out of the whale’s flayed consciousness, his eyes growing unfocused as the hum of the cooling pool relaxes him. He isn’t psychic…there is no such thing as being psychic. Here are the facts: he cannot tell you what card you are holding. He cannot tell you what you are thinking at any given moment. He is no better at predicting world events than anyone else, though he is extremely precise at gauging which world events are going to be important and how they will affect people generally and what they will mean to people years in the future. People have told him that this is exactly the kind of skill you need if you are going to play the stock market, but he is actually pretty crap with money. If you put him in a room with a stranger, he can’t tell you alarming life facts about that stranger or communicate with their dead relatives. He cannot tell you which people will recover from illnesses and he cannot tell you that people are pregnant even before they themselves know it. But if you put him in a restaurant and make him a server, he will know who needs refills and who is trying to get his attention for the check even when his back is turned. He knows which cars will stop and pick him up if he is hitchhiking even before they start slowing down. If he is out there rough, he knows exactly who to ask for change and who to ignore completely. In a crowd full of thousands, by just looking at their faces for a moment, he knows exactly who is utterly emotionally devastated and who is right on the edge of violent despair and who is doing fine just fine. In a bar at 2 AM, he knows who will end up fighting and he knows who wants to go home with who. He knows all this, but it doesn’t help him or make his life cosmically radiant and full of power because he knows it all because he feels it all and the feelings that one person generates on their own from inside are already usually too overwhelming to make you an effective adult person. The feelings of the multitude…crowding in and making their demands…are crippling and unwelcome and will kill you eventually. First you feel for somebody and then you resent them for invading you. Helping them doesn’t make their invasive feelings that nest inside you go away. It only makes them need you more. It makes the feelings burrow deeper. And the longer you live, the more people there are to “love.” The way that Moby loves him; the way Moby needs him right now. He breathes in and out slowly, and then he looks at the screen near the ceiling that shows a cartoon version of Moby’s face; the features and emotions on it sourced from the regions of Moby’s brain that are activating, cross-referenced against past self-reporting from the whale and also the CDC neuroscientists’ best guesses. The cartoon is looking at him. Of course it is: there are cameras everywhere in here. Moby doesn’t speak in words. Whales don’t think in natural language: dividing everything up into weighted units and then conveying how their individual consciousness perceives and chooses to manipulate those units. Moby speaks data. Which is great for a permanent artificial intelligence, but makes it difficult for anyone trying to get something out of that permanent. The plus side is that most of the heavy computer lifting that Moby does takes place outside of Moby’s conscious awareness: the people at the CDC don’t give a shit about Moby the whale, they only want to use Moby the information processing machine. The consciousness is a byproduct of the intelligence. A byproduct that must be managed. The better Moby feels, the faster and more efficiently she processes data. “Well hello,” Porter says finally after sitting there awhile with Moby, just watching the cartoon’s eyes move, and then watching a few of the random images and videos that the whale brain chooses to pull up for him: videos of weeds getting pulled and pictures being straightened on walls. Porter takes a slow and solemn sip of his beer. Porter looks over at one of the cameras and gives a two-finger salute: his sign to the scientists watching him that they can go ahead and start pumping the acid into Moby’s tank. The ELL ESS DEE. He’s ready. He and Moby have made a connection and Moby is now engaged with him. “Feeling a bit skeert today, huh,” he says under his breath to no one. There is a whirring noise and a slight bubbling from Moby’s cylinder. “The agent is in,” says a voice in his ear. “Gimme twenty minutes and then you can start your load,” says Porter. “Twenty?” the voice says, annoyed. Porter watches Moby’s projection, trying to get a sense of how calm the computer is; how balanced. As the acid hits and begins disrupting almost every area of the whale’s massive neocortex, a neocortex bigger than all other mammals, the screen shows a video of a burlesque kick-line slowed down and altered so that all the colors are poisonous rain-forest neons. Interstitally, in the gaps of footage, millions of insects pour out of the white space, making it look like the burlesque dancers are made up of millions of slugs and spiders and swarming bees. The insects melt into colors and then into pools of black on white. The whale brain can take an almost infinite amount of acid--it can bathe in it and be fine--but they try to modulate it so that it always gets a consistent dose. The acid has three effects: it is pleasurable to the whale’s brain, putting it in a state of advanced euphoria which often results in better data transfer and opens up wide new vistas of computing power. It also delimits the whale brain’s temporal center, which creates almost a ‘singularity of useful consciousness,’ eliminating entirely the filters that keep the brain from performing at its maximum capacity. The third function of the acid is to make the brain more receptive to the outside world, meaning that Porter has-a-better-than-average chance of communicating with the consciousness of this particular disembodied whale: of steering and distracting it. The first time that they ever gave Moby acid, Porter was the one in the chair reading to it, reading one of the Westerns he likes to read. Some of the scientists have speculated that Moby now thinks Porter is some kind of deity. He clears his throat and begins reading to the whale brain, reading his Louis L’Amour book in quiet and passionate tones, doing the voices for each character, frequently looking back over at the cartoon face of the whale as symbols of fear and joy alternate back and forth in the content it chooses, as the flops and cycles begin to kick in, as the acid erodes the back-order consciousness of the whale, opening these wide ‘virtual seas’ up for use by the government. A human brain might panic when thrust into such empty vistas: the whale is made for it. He swallows a lump in his throat, his heart on a plate in front of him, as usual. “You big old sad fish,” he says to himself as the eyes of the cartoon begin to crimp up and the whale howls, terror overtaking it completely for a moment. But Porter knows—it has been explained to him often and over and over again—how much infrastructure and how many human lives depend on this permanent working at peak efficiency. He understands he is a vital part of that. “We are going to load on the air traffic control now, Porter,” says a voice in his ear. “We are seeing some more-than-okay variance and some unsettling peaks, but it isn’t MUCH to worry about. Nothing you can’t handle, right boss?” Porter doesn’t say anything. He is busy watching the video the whale is showing him: mushrooms growing in the dead eyes of dead cows over-layed by digitally enhanced visions of arctic icecaps melting into blood. He thinks back to something Dr. Seychelles told him once, about how professional soccer players have an extra location in their brains for a soccer ball. How it becomes like an appendage to them, and they even dream about themselves with a soccer ball. In fact, if they don’t reconfigure their brains as children to make this ball an extra appendage, they never get to be good at a professional level. Dr. Seychelles said human beings are growing computers in their brains the same way; that we are acquiring a brain structure that allows us to reach out and connect at any moment with other human beings at any time. That we are taking this computer appendage into our dreams; that never again will we dream about ourselves without this ability. She speculated that this appendage is growing in our brains in the same place as the location where we make empathy. She speculated that Moby, in his tank, has the whole network sphere for a new appendage—all data—and that it grows in the same place that whales must model the ocean. The whole social network is a soccer ball for Moby; the entire feed is her salt-water. The whale’s brain moves in cycles: the fear comes in waves and so does the power of its computing strength. The intervals built into the times a whale must surface for air continue to be mimicked in the whale’s processing speed. Porter has become attuned to these leaps in consciousness, and when the panic from the new air-traffic control load sets on, he feels it before it hits, beer turning sour in his stomach. “Porter, we’ve got a problem,” says the voice in his ear. “Shhhh,” he says. The new load that they are forcing on Moby is fragmenting her consciousness; it is too much for the whale. The air traffic control systems are not integrating and the whale is freaking out. The videos she sends to Porter melt into a staticky, angry jumble of colors and shapes. Cartoon faces oscillate between total fear and total despair. No joy; no triumph; no balance. Porter has only seen it get this bad once before, and they had to shut Moby down entirely after that: inducing a coma. Moby was out for six months before they could get her started back up again. “I’m gonna try getting in there,” says Porter, stripping off his shirt. He bends down and cracks open another beer and drains the whole thing. He takes his pants off. “Do we drop it,” asks the voice. “I mean, we can switch it off at any moment here…this is just a test…but if this WERE the real thing…” “I think we are okay,” he says. He takes the microphone out of his ear; sets it carefully in the middle of the recliner. “Porter…” is the last thing he hears. He dips his feet into the cooling pool where Moby’s brain is submerged inside another container. He braces himself for the cold and then heaves all the way forward, going under. He lets out all his air and sinks to the bottom, staring at the tank in front of him, the terrified disembodied brain that is panicking, struggling for breath, unsure of where “the surface” is in a world made of nothing but data. He pushes forward until his face is pressed up against the glass. He can feel the heat from the pipes and the wires that burn with cognitive discharge shooting through the cold water, the wires built to enhance every aspect of synaptic transfer throughout Moby’s incendiary cerebellum. The whale cannot know exactly who Porter is or exactly what his purpose might be. He and Moby are alive in vastly different planes of existence. All the whale knows about him is the sound of his voice reading aloud and the sight of him from the cameras all around the pressurized room and Moby knows his smell and his heart rhythms and his special way of moving. But the whale does not know what a human is, except as data. It does not even know what a whale is. The information it does receive feeds into a web-like, unindexed, useless part of the whale’s brain…the consciousness part…the part that must be eroded to get optimal efficiency from the deeper parts that are useful. If only they could cut consciousness loose from all this organic power. If only consciousness were not an emergent property of the power of a brain itself. If only they knew how to make something so strong and useful without it being in pain. But he does his job. He is here one shift a week. And his job is to calm the whale down. As he settles into the tank, interrupting the sensors here that test the cleanliness of the water, that calibrate the temperature and make sure it is always optimal, that test for water pressure and alert the higher system about unknown particles or changes in volume, he can feel…somewhere distant…somewhere impossible…the animal part of the computer in front of him begin to relax, begin to trust in the rhythm of its own biology again. They ought to find some kind of occupation for this part of the whale. All that power. What if she could do something creative? Write books or movies or something? Make music? He must take this up with the scientists; that they ought to find a way to give Moby something else to do with her roiling conscious mind. His mere touch does something to the whale. Makes it reconsider its panic. And when the whale relaxes, enjoying the acid instead of fighting it, the back of the whale’s brain is able to choke down tonight’s information processing expenditure. The rest of the night will be tough, but the worst is over. He knows that when he gets out of the tank the scientists will be cheering him for this and also cursing him. He knows that, after this, the new processes they are trying to integrate into Moby’s cognitive architecture tonight will run seamlessly, will not interrupt the ebb and flow of her daily routine, her permanent temporal loop of comfortable illusion. But he stays down here underwater awhile longer. Hugging the tank, kicking his legs to keep himself from floating to the surface in the saline buoyance. It is the sad and nourishing embrace of marriage, of a priest embracing the cross, and for a moment his anxieties leave him and the “polarities are reversed” and the whale is the one keeping him alive and reminding him of the rhythm of his own biology, maintaining him in his own impossible faith, freeing up all the dark places in his own brain for whatever secret puzzles he is trying to solve in his dreams. back to tomorrowland more stories (c) Miracle Jones 2015 |
Game Day. Finally here, kids. Merry Chistmakah. Not sure why opening kickoff to the NFL season isn't a national holiday, but it should be. Could we at least get a stamp? Maybe we vote on one? Like between fat Rex Ryan and skinny Rex Ryan? Props if you get the reference. Among the reasons for the excitement, of course, is that the start of the NFL season is also the start of the fantasy football season. And if my Twitter and Facebook> accounts are any indication, more people than ever before are playing fantasy this year. Which is, you know, awesome. But as in any new situation, people playing for the first time may not know all the rules of etiquette. That's where I come in. Whether you are a newbie or a longtime player, it never hurts to get a refresher course. So as you enter into this fantasy football season, I wish you luck with your sleepers. I pray your players avoid injury. But mostly, I desperately hope you're not ... "that guy." "That guy" shows up to your draft with an out-of-date magazine. And then wants a do-over when he finds out the guy he just drafted is out for the year. Or worse, tries to bum your cheat sheet. Get your own sleepers, hoss. Or "that guy" shows up with 10 magazines and tons of printouts. And then has the clock run out when he can't figure out which guy he wants. Or "that guy" says to the clueless guy drafting right before you, "Oh, you need a tight end? Take Jared Cook. Matthew needs a tight end, so he'll probably pick him next unless you get him." Worry about your own team and don't mention players that haven't been drafted, OK? "That guy" pretends to draft T.J. Houshmandzadeh, mangles his name and then says "Championship." It was funny six years ago, dude. "That guy" talks all sorts of smack at the draft about how bad everyone else's picks are. And has never won. Or he talks about how loaded his team is. In the third round. Or has a critique after every pick. If I wanted play-by-play, I'd have brought Mike Tirico. Settle down, sailor. This is Isaiah Pead, pro running back. Not Isaiah Pead, juvenile pun. David Welker/Getty Images "That guy" has a terrible team name. I'm all for adult humor as long as it's clever, but if it would make an 8-year-old laugh, it's not only hacky, its lazy and unoriginal. I'm talking to you, people who named a team after Isaiah Pead. "That guy" makes terrible trade offers. No, I do not want to trade my second-round pick, Jamaal Charles, for your 10th-rounder, Tony Gonzalez. That is an actual trade offer I got this week. If you wouldn't do it in reverse, don't offer it. "That guy" won't respond to trade emails. Hey, you don't want to do the deal, fine, just say a quick "no thanks." Are you in this league or not? Oh, you are? Then you respond to an inquiry like a civilized human being. "That guy," however, won't take no for an answer. If you do get a response of "no," you're allowed to send a follow-up email saying, "Well, is there anything you'd consider for so-and-so?" But after that? Walk away, brother. The only person who likes begging less than a woman is a fantasy league owner. "That guy" takes the full time on his draft pick. With the very first pick. Or the last kicker pick. "That guy" cheers for injuries of players. It's a violent game and injuries provide opportunity for other fantasy players, but come on. It's a human being and their health, livelihood, and family's livelihood is at stake. By that same token, "that guy" is the sort of person who took to Twitter last year to yell at Adrian Peterson, Arian Foster or Jamaal Charles about how they are ruining his fantasy team, which happened a lot to all three men. In fact, "that guy" is anyone who directs anger at someone on Twitter or Facebook about fantasy football. It's a game played with an oblong-shaped leather ball. Stuff happens and it's a game we play for fun. Calm the hell down. "That guy" doesn't pay attention during the draft, calls out guys who have already been taken, and is late meeting any league requirements. If you can't follow through, don't play. And if you can, don't make me chase you down. Seriously. "That guy" is a sexist. Won't let a woman in his league or thinks it's the end of the world when he loses to a woman. Some of the smartest sports people I know and best fantasy players I've seen are women. And I've yet to meet one who was "that guy," which is why this column isn't asking you not to be "that person." Everyone plays. Get used to it and get better. Having said that, don't be "that guy" who brings his non-playing girlfriend or wife to the draft. If you're not in the league, you're not invited. "That guy" brags about his auto-picked team. Or worse, complains about it. Hey, you can't make the draft, that's on you. Or how about "that guy" who has known about the draft for weeks and then just doesn't show up, with no warning, and doesn't answer calls or texts? "That guy" gets mad at you for drafting "his" player. Yeah, you're right. No one else wanted Doug Martin this year. Just you. Or worse, brags weeks into the season about his "sleeper" panning out. Yep, dude, no one else saw a big year coming from Brandon Marshall. "That guy" needs to tell you about his team. Look, I'm paid to care about your team. Tell me. Everyone else? They care about your team as much as you care about theirs. Your fantasy team is the new golfing story or vacation pictures. "That guy" is a rankings slave. I do rankings for a living and I'm the first to admit it's a loose guideline to help with market evaluation. Think for yourself. And if you can't, then why are you even playing? "That guy" vetoes a trade because it doesn't involve him or her. Hate the veto guy. Win on the virtual field, not in legal loopholes. Trade negotiation is part of fantasy skill. As long as both trade partners think they are improving their team, the trade should stand. Doesn't matter if you don't agree. Not your team, genius. You're not the judge. Unless there is collusion, no trade should ever be overturned. "That guy" says words like "never" or "no way that will happen." The kind of guy who probably said last year, "What are you doing taking Cam Newton? Rookie quarterbacks never pan out." If you started Christian Ponder instead of Matt Ryan in Week 13 last season, you hit the jackpot, doubling your QB points from 11 to 22. You're also a terrible, terrible fantasy owner. AP Photo/Genevieve Ross "That guy" complains about what would have been. "If only I'd started (a scrub who went off) instead of (a star who underperformed), I'd have won!" Yeah, but you didn't, did you? Because no one in their right mind would have started said scrub over said star. It happens. Get over it. "That guy" is an Internet tough guy. If you wouldn't say it in real life, don't say it behind a screen name. And unless it's lifelong friends, keep the smack about the team and keep the personal insults to yourself. And if you dish it out, you better be able to take it. Often the biggest whiner is the guy who sends out the most. "That guy" loses interest after his team falls out of it, doesn't set players during a bye or replace injured players. You made a commitment. Even if the league doesn't matter to you, it matters to us, so try your best or don't play at all. "That guy" abuses the waiver wire, picking up players and immediately waiving them, and does this over and over to try to pollute the pool and make it so people can't grab free agents. That's not strategy, that means you have no life. Again, win on the field, not in some sort of technology loophole. (Don't bother trying it in an ESPN.com league, either. We have safeguards against those kinds of shenanigans.) But mostly, "that guy" ruins your enjoyment of the greatest game ever invented. Don't be "that guy." What did I miss? When I talked about "that guy" last year, a lot of you had some great comments to make about it, so have at it. What drives you crazy in a league when "that guy" is in it? While you answer that, we meander slowly to the first Love/Hate of the year. Get used to the meandering slowly through the column before we get to the fantasy info. Also, understand that this is not a pure start/sit column. Want to know whom to start and whom to sit? Read my ranks, updated throughout the week, and find the two players you are wondering about. Whomever I have ranked higher is whom I would start. This column is basically a rankings reaction or explanation of players who I am higher or lower on than my fellow ESPN rankers. Use your brain. Just because Wes Welker (ranked 18th by me this week) is a "hate" and Nate Washington (ranked No. 22) is a "Love" doesn't mean I would start Nate over Wes. No, I have Wes ranked higher than Nate, so that is whom I would start. But my rank for Nate is much higher than others have him ranked, and my rank for Wes is lower than others' ranks, so that's why they make the cut; you'll read my explanation about why below. Finally, just a reminder that "Fantasy Football Now," our Emmy-award winning fantasy show, expands to two hours this year. Every Sunday morning, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET, on ESPN2 and WatchESPN. Tune in before kickoff! And away we go. Quarterbacks I love Matthew Stafford, Lions: A super-obvious name, I'm including him here just because I have a cool stat that I want to show off. What? Hey! Simmer down, there. You got a choice. Either I get to show off my nerdy stat or it's more self-involved stories about me ... that's what I thought. The nerdy stat: Last year, Matthew Stafford faced four or fewer pass-rushers on 75.4 percent of his drop backs, second-highest in the NFL. Only Aaron Rodgers (plus-25) had a better touchdown-to-interception differential than Stafford (plus-24) against such rushes. Not bad, right? But then check this: From 2008 to 2010, coach Jeff Fisher's Titans rushed four or fewer pass-rushers on 76.3 percent of plays, the second-highest rate over that span. Booyah! That's right. Just took 118 words to tell you that Matthew Stafford is good and you want to start him against the Rams. Who says I'm all substance? What? No one says that? Ah. Very well then. Let's get to fantasy kryptonite, post-haste. Michael Vick, Eagles: We all have him at seven, but he's here for this simple reason: I've gotten a lot of questions about Vick's hands, ribs, lack of preseason practice, the Browns' second-best pass defense last year, blah blah blah ... do we start Vick in Week 1? It's really simple. If you own Vick, you're a believer. You bought in, so no backing out now. This is the kind of matchup you want. The Browns' No. 2 pass defense last year was a joke; it's only because teams ran all over them. If you own him, you're starting Vick. Jay Cutler, Bears Show-offy nerd stat alert: Jay Cutler was sacked or under duress (forced to move or alter a throw due to pressure) on 34.2 percent of his drop-backs last season, the second-highest rate in the NFL. (Tim Tebow had more. Of course he did.) But! Cutler completed 47.8 percent of his passes under duress, the fourth-best rate in the NFL. With Brandon Marshall in town, I'm feeling that Cutler wants to take his new toy for a spin, and who better to do it against the Colts, who were tied for allowing the sixth-most pass plays of 20-plus yards last season and were last in interceptions, which is always Cutler's bugaboo. Did I drop a "bugaboo" three players in? You're damn right I did. It's Week 1! All bets are off! Pete Carroll isn't afraid to start a rookie quarterback against the Cardinals ... why should you be? Jeff Moffett/Icon SMI Russell Wilson, Seahawks: Last year, a rookie quarterback started in Week 1 against the Cardinals and that worked out pretty well. I like what I've seen of Wilson so far in the preseason, and with Marshawn Lynch less than 100 percent, the Seahawks will need to throw. With a rookie back there, the Cards may bring more pressure, but I'm OK with that. Wilson is mobile, and the ability to get rushing yards will help. Only five teams had fewer interceptions last year than the Cardinals. If you're desperate (in a deeper league, start two quarterbacks, are scrambling for a replacement for whatever reason): I realize Carson Palmer has struggled this preseason, but Palmer's turnover issues come from when he gets pressure. When the Chargers brought pressure last year, they allowed the highest QBR of any opposing quarterback. And in five career starts versus San Diego, Palmer has 13 scores, just three picks and over 1,700 passing yards. ... Also, Sam Bradford has looked good this preseason, and do you think a game with Detroit might turn into a shootout? Me too. Quarterbacks I Hate Peyton Manning, Broncos: It's the first game in over a year for Peyton, there's still gonna be some rust, and while the Steelers won't have Ryan Clark, they still had the No. 1 passing defense and No. 1 scoring defense last year. And what the hell, let's get our nerd on and go Next Level here: The Steelers rushed five or more at the fifth-highest rate in 2011 (41.3 percent). Prior to his injury (2010), Manning's Total QBR against such pressure ranked just 15th. Joe Flacco, Ravens: Yes, I like Torrey Smith here, but otherwise, this game is all Mr. Ray Rice. Last year, Flacco averaged just 12 fantasy points a game against the Bengals, and while the Ravens were all high-flying in the preseason, they were in last year's preseason too. Against the Bengals' top-10 pass defense from last season (even one that's banged up), Flacco is no better than "QB2" this week. Running backs I love Matt Forte, Bears: I'm in a league where you can start any player you want, but you can use him only once a season. This week, one of my running backs is Matt Forte. Say it with me, kids: We believe in life, liberty and the pursuit of running backs facing the Colts. DeAngelo Williams, RB, Panthers: Only if Jonathan Stewart doesn't play. He's missed two straight days of practice as of this writing. Doug Martin, Buccaneers: Rookie running back, new offense playing a different-looking defense with some new players and guys back from injury ... no idea what's going to go down here. So this is a total gut call. I just like Doug Martin, OK? How much? More than you, OK? There. You forced me to say it. It's not that you're not special, you are, but yes, since you must know, I like him more. There. You happy? (And thus concludes the portion of today's column where I treat my readers like my crazy jealous high school girlfriend). Isaac Redman or Jonathan Dwyer, RB, Steelers: I'm not believing any of this Rashard Mendenhall talk for Week 1, and whoever gets the start here, I like. Feel it will be Redman, but if his hip sidelines him, go Dwyer. I'm guessing Pittsburgh will want to control the clock on the road and keep Manning on the sideline, especially with Mike Wallace still getting back up to speed. The Broncos allowed more than 126 rushing yards a game last season, and as our Scouts Inc. team notes, "Maybe the biggest weakness of the Denver defense is its interior triangle, and D.J. Williams (suspension) will not be eligible for this contest." Kevin Smith, Lions: Not hurt yet! And pssst -- he'll get the majority of work against a team that gave up 152 yards per game on the ground last season. Ronnie Brown, Chargers: Do I have to love every player? Can't I just admit it's last call at the fantasy nightclub and that, after drinking all night and looking around at my options, decide that if I squint my eyes, I can sorta, maybe, kinda talk myself into liking Ronnie Brown until the next morning? I can? Because they don't all have to be beauty queens, kids. Or kings. You ladies out there know what I am talking about. Are you doing the walk of shame on Tuesday morning after using Ronnie Brown? Yes. But the fact remains that I think there's no way the Chargers will risk Ryan Mathews in this game. Brown will get the majority of work, and last season, Oakland's 27th-ranked run defense allowed 24 rushes to go for 20 yards, second-most in the NFL. Hmm. Wonder if all the nerdy stats I'm dropping is also why I'm looking at 1:45 a.m.? Michael Bush, Bears: See Forte, Matt. Gonna be enough work for Bush as a flex option in Tice's offense. If you're desperate: Playing a Redskins running back is the truest definition of desperate (so you're not allowed to complain when it doesn't work out; you know what you're getting into here) -- but if you feel like rolling the dice on one, Evan Royster should get a lot of work as the Redskins will want to go ball control on the road to take pressure off Robert Griffin III and take the Saints' offense off the field. ... It's supposed to pour Wednesday night in East Rutherford, N.J., so I could see more running than usual, and the Giants' David Wilson looked good during the preseason, son. Real good. Running backs I hate Trent Richardson, Browns: I just don't know how much work he's going to get and I expect the Browns to be down quickly in this game. Just too many question marks for me to trust starting him this week. Reggie Bush surprised everyone by almost doubling his career rushing best on his way to 1,382 total yards and 7 touchdowns. He won't be catching anyone off guard this season. Fernando Medina/US Presswire Reggie Bush, Dolphins: Pretty sure the Texans and their fourth-ranked run defense from last season are looking at Miami and Reggie and saying, yeah, we'll take our chances with Ryan Tannehill beating us. But we're shutting down this guy. And shut him down they will. Steven Ridley, Patriots: Only five teams in the NFL allowed fewer rushing touchdowns last season than the Titans. But here's the thing. It's not that Ridley couldn't do well here. Of course he could. Anyone on the Patriots can go off any week. It's just trying to figure out which week that'll happen, especially with their run game, that's the pain. It's the inconsistency, not the talent, that is the bugaboo here. You're damn right I went double bugaboo out of the gate. I'm playing for keeps, homeys. Homeys. That's right, I'm also taking us back to 1991. Anyway, if we know Shane Vereen is definitely out this week, I'll move Ridley up in my ranks, but right now I have him as a flex play, not as a top-20 starter the way two of my fellow rankers do. Maurice Jones-Drew, Jaguars and Adrian Peterson, Vikings: Don't get cute. Not until we see it and know what we are dealing with in terms of playing time (MJD) and health (AP). Don't. Get. Cute. Wide receivers I love Percy Harvin, WR, Vikings: Don't say I don't put my money where my mouth is. If you read or heard me at all during the preseason, you probably heard one of my favorite stats I found: Once Christian Ponder took over, Harvin led NFL wide receivers in offensive touches with 100. Second-highest was Wes Welker ... with 76. And with Adrian Peterson banged up, I expect more of the same. I expect them to line Harvin up all over the field trying to find different ways to get him the ball, including in the slot. Which brings us to this nerdy stat: The Jaguars allowed opposing quarterbacks a 68.8 completion percentage when QBs targeted slot receivers last year, the fourth-worst rate in the NFL. Jacksonville's 5.7 yards after catch per reception by slot receivers ranked seventh-worst in the league last season, while Harvin's 5.7 yards after catch per reception when lined up in the slot ranked seventh-best among 31 receivers with at least 30 targets in the slot. Bonus nerd stat: Harvin was also the only receiver of the 31 with at least 30 slot targets without a drop when lined up in the slot. Brandon Marshall, Bears: Well, let's see ... I already like Cutler, Forte and Bush a lot in this matchup ... Dez Bryant, Cowboys: Five total touchdowns in four career games against the Giants, and I don't want to brag or anything, but I'm pretty sure I'm starting in the secondary for New York tonight. At least, it'll look like I am. Torrey Smith, Ravens: More stuff from the preseason. When I wasn't talking about Harvin or Brandon Marshall, I was usually discussing Torrey Smith. I get it, you may not have been able to hear me over all the slobber, but trust me, it was Torrey Smith I was getting all passionate about. And usually when I talked about Smith, I discussed his improved route running and Flacco's tendency to throw to him deep. Like, this is a typical stat I'd mention, from the wacky kids over at ESPN Stats & Information, who like to get all Next Level on you: Joe Flacco attempted a career-high 70 passes of more than 20 air yards last season, but also completed a career-low 24.3 percent of such throws. Torrey Smith was the targeted receiver on 32 of those attempts, the most by Flacco to any one receiver in a single season. Historically, Flacco has been much better on deep balls, and I expect him to land a lot more this year on roughly the same number of deep targets to Smith. Meanwhile, last time the Ravens hosted the Bengals, Smith had six for 165 and a score. Yee-haw, Torrey Smith. Yee-damn-haw. Eric Decker, Broncos: Another gut call, but remember how Demaryius Thomas burned Ike Taylor last year for the fightin' Tebows, er, Broncos to upset the Steelers in overtime? Well, I bet Ike Taylor does, too. And I'm guessing he'll desperately want Thomas, not Decker, in this matchup. Already think Decker will be Manning's favorite target; this just helps the cause. Nate Washington, Titans: No one realizes this, but Nate Washington had 1,000-plus yards and seven scores last year. He was Jake Locker's favorite target when Locker played; once again, there is no Kenny Britt in this game; and you think the Titans might need to score some points in this game? Yeah, me too. I don't expect the Patriots' secondary to be as bad as last season, when they gave up almost 300 passing yards a game, but I don't expect them to be lights-out in Week 1 either. I have Nate at 22 this week, all the other rankers have him in the 30s. If you're desperate: You never like going to Revis Island, but if you have to, Steve Johnson is probably the guy to do it with. Three for 84 and eight for 75 and a score when he faced Darrelle Revis last season; Johnson is a tough matchup for Revis. ... In 14 career games against the Packers, Randy Moss has 13 touchdowns. We've talked about this on the podcast. Nate and I have a sneaky suspicion that the Niners have been playing possum with Moss in the preseason. And if they have been, this is as good a place as any to unleash him. ... Trendy Preseason Sleeper Last Season Danny Amendola (his full legal name) has consistently been Bradford's No. 1 target this preseason, and the Rams are gonna need to throw against the Lions. ... As much as I like Nate Washington, I also like Kendall Wright and could see him doing well in a game where Tennessee needs to throw. Wide receivers I hate Until they give bonus points for gutsy third-down conversion by a receiver coming across the middle, a typical Wes Welker game can risk being underwhelming, from a fantasy points perspective. David Butler II/US Presswire Wes Welker, Patriots: I probably shouldn't even list him here. If you have Welker, you're starting him, OK? But, as I mentioned earlier, he's here because everyone else has him as a top-10 play and I have him at 18, so this is more to explain his ranking than anything. Let's get to another nerdy stat: In 2011, the Titans' defense also allowed an average of 3.0 yards after catch per reception by a wide receiver, the least of any NFL defense. Feel Welker will continue to be a great PPR play, but don't see a lot of yards-after-the-catch stuff from him, and anything deep is going to Lloyd or Hernandez. Could see a six-for-67 yards kind of day for Wes. Mike Wallace, Steelers: Given the Steelers' offensive line issues, expect the Broncos to bring pressure, which means short outlet passes to Antonio Brown, not deep shots to Mike Wallace. Especially given Wallace reporting late and his lack of familiarity with Todd Haley's offense, I just don't love this matchup for Wallace. Robert Meachem, Chargers: Among my favorite stats that I never got to use that much in the preseason was this one: Last year, Robert Meachem had two red zone targets. Two. Think about that: The Saints had 94 red zone targets last season. They threw for over 5,300 yards, had 46 touchdowns, and Robert Meachem had two red zone targets. Among other Saints with two red zone targets? Jed Collins and John Gilmore. Yes, they spread it around, yes, there's a lot of talent on the Saints, but you're telling me if Meachem was open he wasn't getting the ball thrown his way? At least more than twice? Maybe Drew Brees hated him. Maybe there were just too many hands and only the one ball. Or maybe, just maybe, Robert Meachem isn't very good. Which gets my vote until proven otherwise. Demaryius Thomas, Broncos: See Decker, Eric. Think Ike Taylor is all over DT and gets his revenge. Tight ends I love Aaron Hernandez, Patriots: Time for another ... nerdy stat! The Titans' defense allowed 52 completions to tight ends inside the numbers last season, tied for sixth-most in the NFL, despite facing only one of the top four tight ends in that metric last season (Jimmy Graham). Aaron Hernandez (61 catches) and Rob Gronkowski (57) finished second and third, respectively, in receptions inside the numbers among tight ends. Read it now, believe it later, kids. Gronk is and will be a stud, but the year of Aaron Hernandez starts now. Greg Olsen, Panthers: Have him as a top-10 guy this week, and as my No. 11 guy for the year based, in part, on this stat: Last year, only four quarterbacks attempted more passes to a tight end than Cam Newton. With no Jeremy Shockey, and the jury is still out on the Buccaneers' linebackers ... me likey. Jared Cook, Titans: I may have mentioned before that the Titans need to throw in this game. If you're desperate: Dustin Keller had 120-plus yards and two scores in two games last year against the Bills, who allowed the most fantasy points to opposing tight ends last season. ... Speaking of points allowed to opposing tight ends, the Bears and their Cover 2 allowed the sixth-most last year, and in Andrew Luck's first start, I could see Coby Fleener getting some extra love. ... Martellus Bennett seems super-motivated, especially against his former team. I could easily see Eli Manning trying to get Bennett a score against the Cowboys. ... The Dolphins are going to have to throw it to somebody. Why not Anthony Fasano? Tight end I hate Jacob Tamme, Broncos: In case you missed it, I'm down on the Broncos this week. Defense/Special teams I love |
Hundreds of messages from stressed and overworked family doctors are being delivered to the Health Minister in a bid to get more funding for primary health care. Photo: RNZ / Adriana Weber The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners has this afternoon handed over more than 350 letters from GPs around the country, to Health Minister Jonathan Coleman. The letters highlight their concerns about having to deliver more, with less resources. The college's president, Tim Malloy, said the situation was alarming. "GPs are definitely feeling the pressure of having to deliver more services, with less support. This is a real problem which could have a dire effect on the country if action isn't taken soon," he said. Dr Malloy said they want the funding system overhauled to ensure all patients who need cheaper GP fees are able to get them. "The main thread is the concern [doctors] have is for their patient's ability to afford the care that we provide, and the inequity for those people who are in greatest need. "To not have adequate subsidy for the poorest people with the greatest health need is a serious concern and a flaw with our system." Photo: RNZ / Adriana Weber Doctors also want, and say they urgently need, a funding boost to train new doctors in the face of an impending shortage. "With more than 40 percent of the GP workforce planning to retire within the next 10 years, we need to train new GPs now - and that requires more government funding." The shortage has already been noted in some smaller communities, particularly in Taranaki. "We have an ageing workforce. That places pressure on those individuals who are ageing, to continue to prop up this workforce because we have lost generations of younger doctors in not training enough GPs in the past. "We are in position to try and increase training numbers because the medical schools are producing more graduates, but we don't have sufficient funding to increase the numbers to the kind of levels we need to sustain our workforce." Dr Malloy said about 300 new GPs were needed each year to keep up with demand and sustain the workforce. He hoped the letters, and a meeting with Dr Coleman, would help spur the government into making the changes. "The point is that if the system isn't corrected, then it will fail." |
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said during Thursday's GOP primary debate that he can't release his tax returns because he is currently being audited by the IRS, but the agency says nothing prevents individuals from sharing their tax information. "Federal privacy rules prohibit the IRS from discussing individual tax matters. Nothing prevents individuals from sharing their own tax information," the IRS said in a statement, responding to a HuffPost inquiry. While the IRS says anyone can release their own tax information at any time, some tax lawyers advised it may not be in an individual's best interest to do so. "Think of an audit as an investigation, an on-going investigation," Steven Goldburd, a lawyer who specializes in tax law, told The Washington Post. "Any person that has legal counsel, their legal counsel will say, 'If you're under investigation, you should not be talking to the media, you should not be talking to anyone other than your legal counsel or through your legal counsel.'" Goldburd added that while a tax audit is not an criminal investigation, it would still be inadvisable for Trump to release his tax information. Just in: Several tax lawyers tell me there are legitimate legal reasons for Trump not to release tax filings during an audit. — Ari Melber (@AriMelber) February 26, 2016 Trump also suggested that the agency has audited him repeatedly because of his faith. "Well, maybe [it's] because of the fact that I'm a strong Christian, and I feel strongly about it and maybe there's a bias," Trump said in an interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo after the debate. The IRS denied that taxpayers are audited because of their religion. "The IRS stresses that audits of tax returns are based on the information contained on the taxpayer’s return and the underlying tax law -- nothing else. Politics and religion do not factor into this," its statement said. "The audit process is handled by career, non-partisan civil servants, and we have processes in place to safeguard the exam process." Trump's refusal to release his tax returns came after former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney called on him to do so and suggested there was a "bombshell" in them. |
This article is about the institution. For the 1921 American political group, see Workers' Council of the United States A workers' council is a form of political and economic organization in which a single local administrative division, such as a municipality or a county, is governed by a council made up of temporary and instantly revocable delegates elected in the region's workplaces.[1] A variation is a soldiers' council, when the delegates are chosen amongst (mutinous) soldiers. A mix of workers and soldiers also existed (like the 1918 German Arbeiter- und Soldatenrat). In a system with temporary and instantly revocable delegates, workers decide on what their agenda is and what their needs are. They also mandate a temporary delegate to divulge and pursue them. The temporary delegates are elected among the workers themselves, can be instantly revoked if they betray their mandate, and are supposed to change frequently. The delegates act as messengers, carrying and interchanging the intention of the groups of workers. On a larger scale, a group of delegates may in turn elect a delegate in a higher position to pursue their mandate, and so on, until the top delegates are running the industrial system of a state. In such a system, decision power rises from bottom to top from the agendas of the workers themselves, and there is no decision imposition from the top, as would happen in the case of a power seizure by a bureaucratic layer that is immune to instant revocation. Historical examples [ edit ] Workers' councils originated in Russia in 1905, with the workers' councils (soviets) acting as labor committees which coordinated strike activities throughout the cities due to repression of trade unions. During the Revolutions of 1917-23, many socialists, such as Anton Pannekoek and Rosa Luxemburg, advocated for the control of the economy by the workers' councils. Several times in modern history, the idea of workers' councils has been attributed to similar forms of organization. Examples include: Despite Lenin's declarations that "the workers must demand the immediate establishment of genuine control, to be exercised by the workers themselves", on May 30, the Menshevik minister of labor, Matvey Skobelev, pledged to not give the control of industry to the workers but instead to the state: "The transfer of enterprises into the hands of the people will not at the present time assist the revolution [...] The regulation and control of industry is not a matter for a particular class. It is a task for the state. Upon the individual class, especially the working class, lies the responsibility for helping the state in its organizational work."[5][6] Organization details [ edit ] In the workers' councils organised as part of the 1918 German revolution, factory organisations, such as the General Workers' Union of Germany (AAUD), formed the basis for organising region-wide councils. The council communists in the Communist Workers' Party of Germany advocated organising "on the basis of places of work, not trades, and to establish a National Federation of Works Committees."[7] Councils operate on the principle of recallable delegates. This means that elected delegates may be recalled at any time through a vote in a form of impeachment. Recall of management committee members, specialist professionals such as engineers, and delegates to higher councils was observed in the Central Workers Council of Greater Budapest during 1956, where delegates were removed for industrial, organisational, and political reasons. Workers' councils combine to elect higher bodies for coordinating between one another. This means that the upper councils are not superior to the lower councils, but are instead built from and operated by them. The national council would therefore have delegates from every city in the country. Their nature means that workers' councils do away with traditional centralized governments and instead give power indirectly to the people. This type of democratic order is called council democracy. The Central Workers Council of Greater Budapest occupied this role in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, between late October and early January 1957, where it grew out of local factory committees. Councils against unions and Stalinists [ edit ] A workers' council is a deliberative assembly, composed of working class members, intended to institute workers' self-management or workers' control. Unlike a trade union, in a workers' council the workers are assumed to be in actual control of the workplace, rather than merely negotiating with employers through collective bargaining. They are a form of workplace democracy, where different workplaces coordinate production through their elected delegates. Amongst both Marxists and anarchists there is a widespread belief that workers' councils embody the fundamental principles of socialism, such as workers' control over production and distribution. Whereas socialism from above is carried out by a centralized state run by an elite bureaucratic apparatus, here socialism from below is seen as the self-administration and self-rule of the working class. Some left communists (particularly council communists) and anarchists support a council-based society; believing that only the workers themselves can spark a revolution and so workers' councils will be the foundation of the revolution. There are also Leninists (for example the Trotskyist International Socialist Tendency and its offshoots) who advocate a council-based society,[8] but maintain that workers' councils cannot carry out a revolution without the leadership of a vanguard party.[9] During May 1968 ( "The largest general strike that ever stopped the economy of an advanced industrial country, and the first wildcat general strike in history" ), the Situationists, against the unions and the Communist Party that were starting to side with the de Gaulle government to contain the revolt, called for the formation of workers' councils to take control of the cities, expelling union leaders and left-wing bureaucrats, in order to keep the power in the hands of the workers with direct democracy.[10] See also [ edit ] |
Here to fill the dreamy void left by Patrick Dempsey’s dramatic departure from Grey’s Anatomy, Jason George has been promoted to series regular for the upcoming 12th season of Shonda Rhimes’ medical drama. But stay woke, Grey’s fans: If the fates of George O’Malley (death by bus), Denny Duquette (death by heart transplant), Lexie Grey and Mark “McSteamy” Sloan (death by plane crash), and Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd (death by truck) have taught us anything, it’s that we probably shouldn’t get too attached to Dr. Ben Warren, even if he’s supposedly “here” “to stay.” (At least Rhimes can never be accused of ignoring the realities of death on this show.) George first appeared as Warren in season six as a love interest for Chandra Wilson’s Miranda Bailey; Bailey and Warren married in season nine. Recently, he has had to split time between Grey’s and Mistresses, another ABC drama, which will return for an Alyssa Milano-less third season later this month. George broke the news himself on Twitter, in a message thanking the one true television overlord, Shonda Rhimes. Grey’s Anatomy will return to its Thursday night stronghold as the 8 p.m. opener for Rhimes’ #TGIT lineup this fall. |
Police say the shooting of two people Wednesday night in Kinston was an accidental shooting in a vehicle. Kinston police say around 7:00 p.m. they were called to Lenoir Memorial Hospital for two people who showed up that had been shot. Ma'quez Jones, 19, was shot with a minor wound to the private area, and a pass through wound to his right leg. An underage child, who is related to Jones, was wounded in the lower left leg. Both victims were transported to Vidant Medical Center with non life-threatening injuries. Officers say their investigation shows the firearm was fired once from within the vehicle and that this is being investigated as an accidental shooting. Police say charges may be pending in the case. Previous Story Police are investigating what led to the shooting of two family members in Kinston Wednesday night. According to the Kinston Department of Public Safety, a juvenile and their family member showed up together at Lenoir Memorial Hospital around 7:08 p.m. with gunshot wounds. One victim was shot once in the leg, while police say the second had at least two gunshot wounds. Police say their conditions are not life threatening. Police have not located a crime scene at this time and have no suspect information. Detectives say they are receiving conflicting reports from both victims and witnesses. If you have information that could help the investigation, call (252) 939-4020. |
Paris 2024 will see a new vision of Olympism in action, delivered in a unique spirit of international celebration. We will offer one of the world’s most inspirational cities as a memorable stage for the athletes – and a truly global platform to promote them, and their incredible stories. And we will partner with the entire Olympic family to demonstrate that, more than ever after an extremely challenging period, sport has a unique power to help create a better world. Our plan features 95 per cent existing or temporary venues, and every single one has a clear, defined legacy aligned with the city’s long-term development plans. The sporting celebration will flow along the Seine, from the new Olympic Village, just 15 minutes from Paris city centre, to such city centre landmarks as the Eiffel Tower and the Grand Palais. Paris has welcomed people from all over the world – including the founding fathers of the Olympic Movement – for hundreds of years, to collaborate and inspire each other; to shape ideas and forge the future. In 2024, we will stage magnificent and meaningful Games that will set a new milestone in sporting history, in the city where Pierre de Coubertin first imagined the potential of a world united by sport. |
It was once upon a place sometimes I listen to myself / Gonna come in first place / People on their way to work baby what did you expect / Gonna burst into flame / #Berning down the house Photo by Joshua Lott/Getty Images Bernie Sanders has spoken many, many times about his desire to break up America’s largest banks. But during his big speech Tuesday on Wall Street reform, the senator and presidential candidate added a twist by promising to do it without the help of any new legislation. To top it off, he vowed to finish the job within the first year of his administration. This is something of a, well, left turn. Ever since the financial crisis, progressives—lately led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren as well as Sanders—have agitated for the return of the Glass-Steagall Act, the Depression-era legislation that separated commercial and investment banking. That law was, notoriously, repealed by President Bill Clinton, and though it’s debatable how much its abolition contributed to the Wall Street meltdown, bringing it back would certainly cut some megabanks down to size. But doing so would require an act of Congress, which itself would take an act of God. So Sanders has borrowed another idea that’s been floating around liberal circles for a while: Take down Bank of America, Citibank, and their peers with laws that are already on the books. Specifically, he wants to use Section 121 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which gives regulators the power to break apart large financial institutions they think pose a “grave threat to the financial stability of the United States.” Section 121 is, potentially, an extremely powerful tool. I say potentially, because nobody seems quite sure exactly how it can be used. The words “grave threat” are, after all, a tad vague, which makes it unclear exactly when it can be applied to firms that aren’t on the verge of immediate collapse. Nonetheless, it lets regulators order banks, insurers, and other companies involved in finance to liquidate assets, shut down lines of business, or stop offering certain products—which is to say, shrink. But by design, it’s also very, very hard to implement. First, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors must decide that a bank (or shadow bank) does indeed pose a “grave threat” to America’s financial well-being. Then, two-thirds of the Financial Stability Oversight Council have to vote to start breaking it up. And, as Quartz’s Tim Fernholz wrote Tuesday, this is where Sanders’ promise to start smashing heads on Wall Street rings a bit hollow. The Fed’s board of governors has seven seats, and most of its members are appointed to 14-year terms, with the exception of the chairman and vice chairman, who sit for four. That makes it tricky to stack the Fed with sympathetic regulators eager to chop banks down to size. Meanwhile, the FSOC is a 10-member board of regulators, including everyone from the Fed chairman to the Treasury secretary to the chairman of the National Credit Union Administration. While these are all presidential appointees, Sanders would have to get his picks through Congress, which would be far harder if business-minded Democrats and Republicans suspect that these men and women will start wreaking havoc on their favorite donors. Whether or not Sanders’ promise is realistic—even if he gets his pick of regulators, it’s anybody’s guess how the courts will interpret Section 121 authority after the inevitable lawsuits—it’s politically interesting. Glass-Steagall, which Sanders would still like to resurrect, has long been a litmus test among progressives. But Sanders is now trying to mainstream the idea that a president could break up the banks while leapfrogging Congress, as long as he has the right appointees in place. I’m guessing that will intensify confirmation battles under any Democratic presidency, even for formerly obscure posts. Suddenly, Bernie fans and those who fear them have a reason to care about the job of chief credit union regulator. Go figure. |
Support us! GearJunkie may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn more Flick a switch and your water bottle will glow. A new product from Topeak, the iGlowCageB, is a bottle cage with an LED at its base. In the march toward more visibility for night bikers, this week Topeak unveiled something new. With the iGlowCageB a rider can fill up with water and the cage-light then uses the bottle and its liquid contents as a lamp of sorts. There are multiple modes, letting a user switch through colors including red, green, purple, and blue light. Match your bike graphics, perhaps, or your mood. The company is touting 360 degree visibility with the product, though obviously your legs and the frame will get in the way. The added light is nice, and it will increase a rider’s visibility from the sides, but the bottle should only add to more traditional night-biking products like a rear red blinking light and a front-mounted white beam. It blinks or shines a solid beam. Its LED runs off two CR2032 batteries, and Topeak notes burn times of up to 100 hours. The cage is lightweight at under 2 ounces, and it fits standard bottles. See Topeak for more info, but price and availability is TBD. |
AI for Thefor Field of Glory II has been developed by building on the knowledge gained from developing the generally praised AI for Pike and Shot and Sengoku Jidai. Deployment For non-preset scenarios, it is important that the AI can deploy its army in a sensible formation, taking account of the prevailing terrain. Generally speaking, most ancient armies would deploy with an infantry centre in one or more lines. (Usually three for Romans, usually only one for Hellenistic armies). They would then have cavalry on both wings and perhaps in reserve, plus light troops both in the centre and on the wings. Except for cavalry armies, the “autodeploy” routine therefore starts with the infantry centre, in one or more solid lines. If the army has a mixture of heavy and medium foot, it will deploy the heavy foot where the terrain is most open, and the medium foot where it is most uneven. This takes into account not just the deployment line but also the map in front of where the line will advance. If it is possible to rest one flank of the infantry on a river or a coastline, it will do so. Cavalry are then assigned to each wing depending on the amount of adverse terrain on each wing. More cavalry will be deployed on an open wing than on one with lots of rough or difficult terrain or a river. Some cavalry may be assigned to a reserve behind the infantry. Light troops are then assigned in a similar way to the cavalry, but more light foot will be deployed on the wing with more terrain, and more light horse on the more open wing. For cavalry armies, the cavalry is divided into centre and two wings, and the usually weak infantry deployed at the back in reserve. |
Man City’s Fernandinho involved in tunnel bust-up with Barcelona’s Leo Messi [Globoesporte] Leo Messi and Fernandinho Messi loses his head Barcelona superstar Leo Messi failed to control his temper after his side were beaten 3-1 by Manchester City last night. According to various reports, Messi responded angrily after being insulted by a Manchester City player – who has been identified as Fernandinho – shouting at the Brazilian “Fool, come here and show your face!”. Leo Messi even went to the Manchester City dressing room in order to confront the offender before the 29-year-old Barcelona forward was eventually calmed down by close friend Sergio Aguero. Fernandinho the culprit Brazilian media outlet Globoesporte today claim that Fernandinho was the Manchester City player who caused Messi to lose his cool. 31-year-old Fernandinho was influential in keeping Barcelona’s MSN quiet. However, he could arguably have given away a penalty when he brought Messi down in the box during the first half. Fernandinho and Leo Messi are likely to be reacquainted when Brazil host Argentina next week in a crucial World Cup qualifier. |
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