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How do you learn to love, when you’ve been raised to show no emotions? Let me back up to the beginning. I was born and raised in the south, near Atlanta, Ga. In a culture where men are men, they show no emotions, they drink heavily and they know how to handle themselves in a fight. As a boy my father constantly made sure to remind me and my brother, “boys don’t cry”, “toughen up”, “act like a man”. How do you eventually grow up and share yourself with anyone, when you are told your whole life that emotions are a bad thing? A woman’s thing. I can’t tell you the last time my Dad told me he loves me. Its not that I don’t think he does, I know that he loves me, but it’s just that inability for either of us to say it. Now that I’m a 32 year old “man” I feel like that lesson to always be the alpha male has really hindered me in finding a real relationship. No grown woman wants the guy who has to out drink everyone, take every dare and be the first person to jump up and fight someone. They especially don’t want the man who never lets them in, never opens up and never lets his guard down. You know what woman finds that attractive? A 16 year old little girl. Maybe it’s just me, my younger brother is married with a small child and loves them both. I cant help but feel like I’m not alone in this though, that men are conditioned to close themselves off from women emotionally and even from each other. I can count on one hand the male friends that I can actually sit down and have a conversation about something that’s really bothering me. Of that handful, only one that I feel I can tell anything to without any judgment. Even as I type this I’m contemplating whether or not to post this article to my Facebook wall in fear of what my friends would think of my sensitivity. I guess I’ll post it, you have to start somewhere right? So, men, lets tear down these walls. Let’s take a chance and share our feelings with the women and men in our life. Let’s realize that the tougher and ultimately manlier thing to do, is to show those emotions. Hopefully, I’ll eventually learn to love. Advertisements |
Tokyo university’s ‘Beautiful Girls’ encyclopedia a huge hit The annual “May Festival” at highly esteemed University of Tokyo, is a chance for the various student clubs and societies of the highly esteemed institution of learning to present a more playful side through various performances, games and food stalls. At last year’s event, all 300 copies of the “The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Beautiful Girls of the University of Tokyo” put up for sale by the club Stems UT were sold. The book, whose intent, as implied in the title, is to provide an introduction to some of the more attractive women on the campus, proved to be a hit once again at a similar festival in the fall, only this time it was 1,000 copies. The third printing of the title will be available for this year’s May Festival, and weekly tabloid Flash (May 5) takes a look at its production. The book, which began as a project undertaken by five students two years ago, includes a collection of photographs and articles. “With the exception of the printing, everything — the photography, interviews, layout and design and editing — is done by members of the club,” says fourth-year legal student Hirotaka Sato. The popularity of the “The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Beautiful Girls of the University of Tokyo” has not been limited to the university — or even Japan for that matter. According to Sato, China’s People’s Daily ran a feature on the book. “I am surprised at the ripple effect it has had; it was more than a I had imagined was possible,” says Sato. On an unspecified afternoon, a reporter for Flash travels with the club on a shoot. In front of the university’s Red Gate, a photo session commences with three girls. But before the scribe knows it the crew is packing up and heading off to the next location. The club uses the train system to scout locations across the metropolis, from Fuchu to Toyoshu. Perhaps surprisingly to Flash’s readership (and that of The Tokyo Reporter, for that matter), the setting and arrangement of the photographs are very wholesome. The book’s Twitter feed (@UTsweetheart) has in recent weeks provided a number of different images, including a girl strumming a shamisen and others featuring students posing beneath cherry blossoms. 今日ご紹介する東大美女は、この春理学部化学科に進学されたこの方！ 「実験が始まってまだ一ヶ月ですが、ガラス細工が今のところ一番印象に残っています。意外とうまくできました！」 三味線サークルの部長としても活躍しています(^o^) pic.twitter.com/Vn60CICpII — 東大美女図鑑 (@UTsweetheart) April 29, 2015 As to the models, they appear pleased with the results. One girl tells Flash that she initially had an issue with the title “The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Beautiful Girls of the University of Tokyo” but that was quickly smoothed over once the shooting started. Though a fourth-year engineering student admitted to being a tad embarrassed when the book was included a report by a television station, another happily presented the book to her family. “I showed it to my Grandmother with pleasure,” says a fourth-year literature student. This year’s “May Festival” will be held on May 16 and 17. (A.T.) Source: “Ninki futto no shashin-shu ‘Todai bijo zukan’ satsuei genba ni mitchaku,” Flash (May 5) |
Two Fairfax County Public Schools employees -- including a middle school principal -- are accused of embezzling thousands of dollars from the school district. Authorities say the women may have cheated the school system out of more than $100,000. Sonya Swansbrough, 46, principal of Poe Middle School Annandale, Va., and Bethany Speed, 38, an administrative employee at Jeb Stuart High School in Falls Church, were arrested and charged with embezzlement and money laundering Tuesday morning. The women allegedly falsified timesheets for personal financial gain, beginning as early as May 2010, said Fairfax County Police. Speed had previously worked for Swansbrough as a finance technician. An investigation began after "internal processes brought these issues to light," wrote Assistant Superintendent Douglas Tyson in a message to Poe Middle School parents Tuesday. Swansbrough has been temporarily relieved of her duties as the investigation continues, he said. Swansbrough's 20-year-old son, Brenton Rusnak, is also facing charges. Authorities say he received stolen property in connection with the case. Anyone with information on this case is asked to call police at 1-866-411-TIPS. |
Let me first say that Robertson has a constitutionally protected right to voice his opinion and A&E has a corporate right to decide if his views are consistent with its corporate ethos. No one has a constitutional right to a reality show. I have no opinion on the suspension. That’s A&E’s call. In fact, I don’t want to focus on the employment repercussions of what Robertson said, but on the content of it. In particular, I want to focus on a passage on race from the interview, in which Robertson says: “I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once. Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I’m with the blacks, because we’re white trash. We’re going across the field. ...They’re singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person, say, ‘I tell you what: These doggone white people’ — not a word! ...Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues.” Image While this is possible, it is highly improbable. Robertson is 67 years old, born into the Jim Crow South. Only a man blind and naïve to the suffering of others could have existed there and not recognized that there was a rampant culture of violence against blacks, with incidents and signs large and small, at every turn, on full display. Whether he personally saw interpersonal mistreatment of them is irrelevant. Louisiana helped to establish the architecture for Jim Crow. First, there were the Black Codes that sought to control interactions between blacks and whites and constrain black freedom. The Jim Crow Encyclopedia even points out that in one Louisiana town, Opelousas, “freedmen needed the permission of their employers to enter town.” Then, in 1890, the State Legislature passed the Separate Car Act, which stipulated that all railway companies in the state “shall provide equal but separate accommodations for the white, and colored races” in their coaches. The landmark Plessy v. Ferguson case was a Louisiana case challenging that law. The United States Supreme Court upheld the law, a ruling that provided the underpinning for state-sponsored racial segregation, and Jim Crow laws spread. |
When we re-launched Surveillance Self-Defense (SSD) last year to tackle the growing threat of online spying, we knew our greatest challenge was reaching everyone who urgently needed its advice. Technical knowledge about what to do, and what not to do, to protect your privacy online, is only truly useful if it can be understood by those who need that information the most. We're delighted to note a few important steps in increasing the reach of SSD. Six months ago we launched the site in English, Spanish, and Arabic. Now our amazing network of translators have expanded SSD's coverage to include French, Thai, Vietnamese, and Urdu. Adding around 230 million native speakers to our potential audience is great news. It's even better when someone takes our suggestions and turns it into a form that makes it easier for anyone to understand. Al Jazeera Plus is a digital news service with a track record of taking complex topics and transforming them into short informative animated explainers. Today, they've launched four great animations based on SSD's advice, that cover creating and managing strong passwords, how mass surveillance works (and can be defeated) online, and how to keep your computer safer from spyware. It's often a challenge to make these topics approachable, but we've found in our informal studies that it helps if the explanation includes a bow-tied octopus with a mustache. Tips to Avoid Online Surveillance: how mass surveillance got so cheap, and how to make it more expensive. How to Make a Super-Secure Password: using dice to select a strong password. Using Password Managers To Stay Safe Online: don't re-use passwords! Don't get 0wned: what malware is, how it's used, and some simple steps to protect yourself. Each of the videos works as a standalone guide to privacy protection, so feel free to share them with your friends (they're CC-BY licensed, and we'll be putting up downloadable versions on the SSD main site soon). You might want to watch them yourself, too— there's some nuggets buried in these three minute videos that we think even experts will appreciate. |
A 15-year-old Muslim boy studying in a south Bengaluru school has retreated into a shell and needs counselling. And it is all because of a prayer. Naushad Kashimji's (name changed) school adopted a few Sanskrit shlokas as its official prayer for the morning assembly this academic year. Last week, when Kashimji's principal caught him and a few other Muslim students for not singing the prayer, they were punished for it. "I was humiliated in front of 1,200 students and my constitutional right was violated. She made us go on stage and forced us to sing the prayer in front of everybody. She scolded me in front of everyone on the mike when I mispronounced a few Sanskrit words," said the remarkably articulate Kashimji. Outraged by the incident, his mother along with activists of the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) approached the school and tried to lodge a complaint with the principal. "The principal acted like she didn't understand what the fuss was all about. She kept saying that prayer was important to instil values and discipline in students. She just didn't understand when we tried to explain that we belong to a different faith," Kashimji's mother told the Hindustan Times. Read | A Muslim journalist's battle against the Mullahs' fatwa "What disturbed us most is that the principal suggested that the boy was turning into a fundamentalist Muslim. She also made snide remarks about the fact he was from Bhatkal (a Muslim dominated town in coastal Karnataka)," said R Khaleemullah of the APCR. The only thing they managed to achieve was an exemption for Kashimji who can now sit in his class while the assembly is on. "But that is not good enough. Why can't they go back to the old prayer which had no religion in it? Fourteen of the 32 students in my class are Muslims. There are people from other religions too. At least 30% of the school is Muslim. Why should I sit separately?" he asked. Kashimji, who is also the head boy of his school, said the incident has "hurt his pride". "I am on the school debate team and was elected as the head boy unanimously. I have studied here since I was in kindergarten. The teachers love me and my classmates respect me. I felt like all that was lost when I refused to sing the prayer that day," he said. "I feel a little awkward now to discipline other students. They look at me as though I don't have the right anymore. Being the head boy makes me uncomfortable now." But, Kashimji's 'head boy' badge was confiscated by the school authorities and has not been returned, his mother told Hindustan Times. He, however, added that he is happy with the fact that many of his Hindu friends have been by his side since the July 27 incident. Kashimji's parents say he has started keeping to himself after the incident and instead of staying back for games in the school grounds, he comes home and sits by himself on his computer. His parents are now planning to take him for counselling for depression. One of the prayers is a selection from Guru Gita from Skanda Purana's Uttarakhand section and the other is an invocation to Hindu god Ganesha, who is considered the remover of obstructions. Speaking to HT, principal Padmaja Menon said the one of the prayers, which invokes Hindu gods Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh, has a universal message. "But Brahma is the creator of the universe. What is wrong in invoking his name?" Menon asked. Jessy Joseph, the former principal of the school, says the development is "very sad". She also said that students were never forced to sing Hindu prayers when she was in-charge. Other teachers in the school refused to comment on the incident. Larger picture Activists and members promoting communal harmony say while the principal's actions and the comments are questionable, they also point out that Kashimji's case is not a one-off incident indicating towards the so-called saffronisation attempts made by ruling dispensations in the state as well as across the country. Ramdas Rao, executive committee member of the Karnataka Communal Harmony Forum, tried to place the incident involving Kashimji in a larger context. "Most government schools in the state also impose Hindu prayers on students. We are also fighting against the saffronisation of state government textbooks that was done during the previous BJP regime." However, he is quick to point out that the Hindutva project is not the preserve of the Bharatiya Janata Party or the Sangh parivar alone. "Hindu prayers were being imposed in government schools in Karnataka long before the BJP came to power. This type of soft-Hindutva has become all pervasive and cuts across political parties," said Rao. Meanwhile, Kashimji's family is preparing to take their fight further. "My two older children were also the students of the same school. It is a very good school and our family has been associated with it for the last 15 years. I am not going to let them get away with this divisive new policy," said Kashimji's mother. "There is a reason we did not send our children to madrassas. We wanted them to get a secular education." First Published: Aug 04, 2015 19:27 IST |
Posted by Darren Urban on February 25, 2016 – 7:57 am It’s been headed this way for a while, but Bruce Arians confirmed it: Deone Bucannon, drafted as a safety out of Washington State in 2014 only to move to “dollar” linebacker as a rookie, isn’t going back to safety. “Right now, he is so good at what he is doing, we’ll leave him right there,” Arians said. “He is such a unique player at that position, to be able to play linebacker at his size, he just gives us such an advantage. We’re in nickel defense all the time and he gives us such a fast blitzer, fast player to the football, and he can cover tight ends. So yeah, we’ll probably leave him there.” Bucannon led the Cardinals with 127 total tackles, adding three sacks, an interception (which he returned for a touchdown), four passes defensed, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. At a listed 208 pounds — I’m guessing he’s a little bigger than that these days — Bucannon isn’t quite linebacker-sized. But as Arians notes, in this day and age of sub-packages most of the time, Bucannon has held up most of the time. More and more teams are putting smaller, more rangy guys at linebacker. When the Cardinals talk about adding players this offseason, safety is a position that has been brought up. Inside linebacker not as much, as the Cards develop Bucannon there. Tags: Deone Bucannon Posted in Blog |
Ten years ago on Tuesday, a gutsy Kenyan company launched a mobile money initiative that would change the lives of millions. Its name is M-Pesa, with "pesa" meaning money in Swahili. Think mobile money and your mind will probably jump to NFC-powered payment services from Apple, Samsung and Google. M-Pesa predates all of those and launched before the smartphones they rely on. Four months before Apple's first-generation iPhone went on sale in 2007, Kenyan carrier Safaricom enabled person-to-person mobile payments in the country via M-Pesa. M-Pesa allows people to store money in a secure digital account and transfer it using their phones, even letting them pay bills and send funds abroad. Authorized agents will swap cash for electronic money and can do the same in reverse. The service is primarily powered by text messages, although an app is also now available for the small number of smartphone users. A decade after its launch, M-Pesa has expanded to 10 countries, boasts 29.5 million active users and processes up to 614 million transactions per month. The Western world is catching up, but we're taking our sweet time. Mobile payments in the US and Europe still aren't mainstream, with most people preferring physical charge cards or paper money. But this is set to change, according to research firm Forrester. By 2021 mobile payments will have tripled in the US to $282.9 billion and will grow 23 percent in Europe too. Vodafone M-Pesa, meanwhile, is already used in 96 percent of households in Kenya. That's the kind of market penetration most tech companies can only dream of. It has made M-Pesa the de facto example people use when suggesting Africa can "leapfrog" iterative tech development and put itself at the front of the pack. "We needed to be revolutionary in order to be successful," said Michael Joseph, founding CEO of Safaricom and now the director of mobile money for Vodafone, in an interview. "If we applied western standards to all of the things we do, we would probably still be in the dark ages in Africa." Helping the unbanked As impressive as those stats and milestones are, it's the way M-Pesa has transformed people's lives and created a startup ecosystem in Kenya that cemented the service's reputation. It's also what Joseph is most proud of. For many M-Pesa users, the service isn't just a debit card equivalent, it's their bank. Not long ago, banks and savings accounts were only for wealthy and middle-class Kenyans. In 2009, M-Pesa savings accounts were introduced and within three months 14 million accounts were set up. An MIT study published last year estimated that M-Pesa is responsible for lifting two percent of households in Kenya out of poverty. That's equivalent to 194,000 families who now no longer live below the poverty threshold on less than $1.25 per day. Running alongside M-Pesa are nonprofit campaigns, including a number around women's health. In Kenya, for example, expectant mothers are encouraged to save a small amount for health insurance in a dedicated M-Pesa account, which allows them to give birth in a clinic rather than at home. These projects vary region by region, as well as by country, depending on the given needs of the local people. From Kenya to India Key to launching in different markets, said Joseph, was learning how M-Pesa could most benefit local customers and operate within each countries' financial regulations. In Kenya, for example, the initial six-month trial period was supposed to establish the appetite for microfinancing businesses. Instead, it helped Safaricom uncover what Kenyans wanted most from mobile money: an easy way to send funds home from urban to rural areas. When the service launched in Mozambique, it was the ability to pay utility bills that drove adoption among consumers. It's India that is proving most tricky, said Joseph. Just like Kenya, people want to be able to send money home to their families. But instead of embracing tech, many people still prefer to physically pass money between family members as they have done for hundreds of years. M-Pesa is the market leader in India, but faces stiff competition from a number of other companies. Gaining trust and viral success This tailored approach requires the kind of patience that big multinational tech companies don't often exhibit, said Joseph, who has spent time analyzing the global mobile payments market as a World Bank Fellow. "In Africa we tend to be much more innovative because we need to be, and we're kind of far from everywhere," said Joseph. "Nobody comes there to look and see what you're doing." As such, Safaricom could spend three to four years turning M-Pesa into a profitable business -- something Joseph hadn't even considered when he first set the project up. TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images "When we launched it, this was another innovation. It wasn't going to be an invention that would change the world," he said. "Nobody knew how successful it would become, and how it would change people's lives. But it has taken off and gotten a life of its own." It's not just patience, though. Joseph attributes the success of M-Pesa to many different factors -- the culture of innovation within Safaricom, the Kenyan banking regulators and the country's spirit of entrepreneurialism, to name a few. There is also trust. Joseph said this is gained by ensuring M-Pesa's tech is the best, no money is ever lost and that the customer is always protected. " I always say to the team, you can't have a dropped call with mobile money," he said. Joseph recognizes that global competitors like Apple, Google and Samsung are on their way, but he doesn't seem too worried at this point. "I still think that we know what we're doing at the base of the pyramid," he said, referring to M-Pesa's wide customer base. "We offer financial services to the poor, not just payments. We are trusted which is really, really important. And people like the penetration of M-Pesa. Everybody uses it. It's a viral success." Life, disrupted: In Europe, millions of refugees are still searching for a safe place to settle. Tech should be part of the solution. But is it? Tech Enabled: CNET chronicles tech's role in providing new kinds of accessibility. |
BEIJING -- The United States and China sparred Wednesday on how to deal with North Korea's latest nuclear weapons test and ease rising tensions over territorial disputes in the South China Sea. After meeting for more than four hours in Beijing in what they both termed "constructive" and "candid" discussions, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi nonetheless presented sharply opposing positions on the two issues at a news conference. Kerry acknowledged that "our differences will continue to test us" but stressed that when the United States and China are able to work together, including on the Iran nuclear deal and climate change, the world benefits. U.S. had no warning of North Korea bomb test On North Korea, Kerry said the United States wanted new U.N. Security Council action that would impose "significant new measures" to punish Pyongyang for its latest test earlier this month and boost pressure on it to return to disarmament talks. Wang said China agreed on the need for a new resolution, but suggested that Beijing would not support new sanctions. "Sanctions are not an end in themselves," he said. "The new resolution should not provoke new tension in the situation, still less destabilize the Korean peninsula," Wang said. Kerry noted that sanctions had brought Iran to the nuclear negotiating table. "With all due respect," he said. "More significant and impactful sanctions were put in place against Iran, which did not have a nuclear weapon than against North Korea, which does." "All nations, particularly those who seek a global leadership role, or have a global leadership role, have a responsibility to deal with this threat," he said, referring to China. For his part, Wang also took umbrage at U.S. complaints that China is not doing as much as it can with the leverage it has on North Korea to stop the destabilizing behavior. He noted that China's position has been consistent in opposing North Korea's nuclear weapons program and supporting a diplomatic resolution to the matter. "For many years China has been working hard to implement these," he said. "We have delivered on our obligation." Wang said China's position is "clear cut" and "responsible." "We reject all groundless speculation or distortion of China's position," he said. Kerry, though, pressed ahead, saying that China is North Korea's main link to the outside world, and that it could do more to limit cross-border transactions that benefit North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his government. Kim Jong Un's actions in testing the latest device was "reckless and dangerous," Kerry said, vowing that the U.S. would take whatever steps it needed to protect itself and its allies. Kerry, who after meeting with Wang was set to see State Councilor Yang Jiechi and President Xi Jinping, also called on China to halt land reclamation and construction of airstrips in disputed areas of the South China Sea, steps that have alarmed its smaller neighbors. Wang, though denied that China has was doing anything other than protecting its territorial sovereignty. And, he rejected accusations from the United States and others that China was not interested in peaceful resolutions to the disputes or militarizing the areas. "We cannot accept the allegation that China's words are not being matched by actions." Kerry arrived in China from stops in Laos and Cambodia, where he called on the two members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to present a united front in dealing with increasing Chinese assertiveness over the South China Sea claims. His visits to Vientiane and Phnom Penh come ahead of a summit with the leaders of all 10 ASEAN nations that President Barack Obama will host next month in California. China, which claims sovereignty of much of the territory in the South China Sea, rejects claims from countries like the Philippines and Vietnam and has bristled at U.S. warnings that its activities threaten the freedom of navigation in some of the world's busiest commercial shipping lanes. Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the strategically vital sea, through which around $5 trillion in world trade passes each year. The U.S. says it takes no position on the claims but says developments in the South China Sea are a national security interest. It has urged that the disputes be settled peacefully and that a binding code of conduct be established for the area. Tensions have been especially high since Beijing transformed seven disputed reefs into islands, where it is now constructing runways and facilities that rival claimants say can be used militarily. China has said it built the islands primarily to foster safe civilian sea travel and fishing. In response, the U.S. sent a guided-missile destroyer close to one of the Chinese-built islands, called Subi Reef, in October in a challenge to Beijing's territorial claims, sparking warnings from China. U.S. officials vowed to continue maneuvers to protect freedom of navigation and overflight. Recent developments, including China's movement of an oil rig into a zone disputed with Vietnam and warnings against Philippines overflight of what it claims to be its territory, have raised those levels of concern. China dismisses the warnings as unwarranted, but has harshly criticized a U.S.-Philippines defense pact that allows American forces, warships and planes to be based temporarily in local military camps. China says that will "escalate tensions and undermine peace and stability in the region," echoing language the United States uses to criticize China's actions. |
Ed Gillespie masterminded the devastating 2010 GOP strategy to retake Washington by winning crucial state and local elections that brought the power to redistrict the U.S. House. His plan, aptly dubbed REDMAP, worked so well that Republicans captured almost 700 state legislature seats in an epic rebuke of Barack Obama and Democrats nationwide. The true spoils of that victory came the following year. New GOP majorities in Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania reinvented the gerrymander as a blunt-force partisan weapon. It took Democrats many years to realize how long-lasting the consequences of 2010 would be. Now—just as the Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments in Gill v Whitford, a landmark case that could create the first-ever constitutional standard to define when a partisan gerrymander goes too far—Democrats have realized that the future of their party will be determined down-ballot. Gillespie, the godfather of the GOP gerrymander and the Republican nominee for governor of Virginia, is their most crucial target. A Gillespie win, combined with well-cemented Republican majorities in the state assembly and senate, would lock in GOP control when new legislative districts for statewide and congressional races are drawn in 2021. A victory by Democratic lieutenant governor Ralph Northam, meanwhile, would give Democrats a seat at the table when the new lines are drawn—something the party lacked in those blue and purple states nationwide in 2011, thanks to REDMAP. As a result, in 2012, the first election held under these new maps, Democratic House candidates won 1.4 million more votes, but Republicans retained a 234-201 majority. Republicans commanded huge edges in states where Democrats won a majority of votes, like North Carolina (9-4), Pennsylvania (13-5) and Michigan (9-5), and drew lines that handed themselves 75 percent of Ohio’s 16 seats with just over 50 percent of the vote. Not a single congressional seat has swung blue in any of those swing states this decade. Earlier this month, the National Democratic Redistricting Committee—the brainchild of Obama, who has named redistricting as his top post-presidential priority, and led by former attorney general Eric Holder—announced its first major contribution. They poured $500,000 into Northam’s campaign, boosting him to a $3 million cash-on-hand advantage over Gillespie, a well-connected operative, as this crucial race enters its final weeks. That’s a big deal—but also a testament to how many pages Democrats have stolen from Gillespie’s playbook. The NDRC exists because Democrats needed to play catch-up after Gillespie’s Republican State Leadership Committee invested $30 million downballot in 2010, catching snoozing Democrats by surprise and capturing key state legislative chambers on the eve of redistricting. Republicans won the right to unilaterally draw 193 of 435 U.S. House seats; Democrats controlled just 44. Now the arms race has been engaged. Democrats will spend mega-millions in Virginia before Election Day. The billionaire Democratic investor Tom Steyer has already committed millions to an aggressive get-out-the-vote campaign aimed at delivering immigrants, college students, and supporters of abortion rights to the polls. Unions, environmental groups, and the Democratic Governors Association are also in for well over seven figures each. On the GOP side, the Republican Governors Association has announced that it is all-in for Gillespie, as are various spending committees aligned with the Koch brothers and the National Rifle Association. “ Democrats, awakened from their slumber, appear attuned to the importance of winning locally—rather than just focusing resources on the White House. ” Democrats, awakened from their slumber, appear attuned to the importance of winning locally— rather than just focusing resources on the White House every four years. They’ve flipped eight state legislative seats blue already, even in surprising places like Oklahoma and Florida, sometimes reversing double-digit GOP advantages last fall. It was not clear that Democrats understood this as recently as June, when $30 million flowed into one special congressional race in Georgia’s sixth. Jon Ossoff lost, and every squandered dollar went up in flames. What’s not clear is whether Democrats realize just how uphill the party’s struggle will be in 2018. Many Democrats remain focused on taking back the U.S. House, despite the fact that the surgically crafted REDMAP lines have drastically reduced the number of swing seats and given the Republicans a baked-in structural advantage likely to withstand even a blue wave. Democrats, according to the most knowledgeable estimates, will likely need to win the total U.S. House vote by double digits in order to have even a 50/50 chance of taking a majority of seats. That’s a steep path in these polarized times. Democrats need a long-term strategy to win back state legislatures, and a short-term strategy aimed at electing governors who can veto tilted maps. Any comeback must begin in Virginia, then pivot to governor’s races in Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Florida. This will not be easy. Republicans have a deeper bench (another gerrymandered advantage) and may begin as the favorites everywhere. If Democrats lose? They won’t have say over most state legislative or congressional maps until 2031. Republicans have done such a masterful job at drawing local legislative lines in these states, for example, that the GOP commands a 66-33 state house majority in Ohio, a 121-81 advantage in Pennsylvania, and has kept control of the Michigan house in 2012, 2014 and 2016—all years when Democrats won more votes. Given enduring, computer-driven majorities in these all-important states, Democrats need to win these key governor’s races or face GOP majorities in Congress for another decade. After all, the technology that made these unbeatable lines possible in 2011 has only gotten more precise and powerful. While the NDRC’s Virginia investment suggests Democrats have learned their lesson, Republicans have hardly lost focus. The Republican Governors Association has outraised the Democratic Governors Association this year, $36 million to $21 million. Just this week, Republicans also announced they’d budget $35 million toward the National Republican Redistricting Trust, to counter the Obama/Holder group. That’s three times what the NDRC has announced raising in 2017. Democrats find themselves adrift because they focused on the sexy race for the White House and neglected essential, but duller, down-ballot battles. If they compound this error by prioritizing the U.S. House, and don’t focus on winning those six governors’ races, they will face a generation in the wilderness. The time is now: There will be no hope for Democrats to reshape the battle lines for the 2020s after Election Night 2018. David Daley is the author of Ratf**ked: Why Your Vote Doesn’t Count and the former editor in chief of Salon. |
About This Game Key Features Gather and examine documents, projection slides, and audio logs, to escape with and expose shocking cover-ups. Play defensive or evasive. Find in-the-moment improvised weapons in the hopes of thwarting off or stalling enemies in the case of an encounter, or go stealth and make an attempt to avoid confrontation with the brutal beings. Professional sound design, all created from scratch from some of the best foley artists and sound engineers to-date. Play through multiple endings (upon release of all episodes) based on decisions made at critical moments of the story. The year is 1979. A secret, final lunar mission has retrieved hundreds of moon rocks, carried out by order of high-level overseers at the Aether Research Facility. The more we begin to understand about our universe, the more deadly it becomes. Overtaken by curiosity, researchers delve deeper and deeper into the unknown, only to find what we think we understand about the cosmos, is terribly incorrect. The research and experiments reach a tipping point, specimens begin to escape, and researchers scramble to leave the secret base. Most leave unscathed, while others lose their lives in an attempt to flee from the deadly forces that lie within.In the panic, fear, and confusion of countless emergency distress signal codes, help is requested.The distress signal is unintentionally received by the government's haz-mat cleanup division. A small team of three is sent to carry out what they believe to be a simple routine clean-up. They are sorely mistaken.What lies within the facility becomes increasingly darker the deeper one pursues the truth. |
With the recent news that Amazon has partnered with ATSG ( Air Transport Services Group) and will lease 20 Boeing 767s, I decided to whip up a concept of what i think an Amazon aircraft would look like. Amazon Logistics Inc. is the official logistics company they formed for their drones, but that name would not look good on the side of an aircraft. Also the tail number is based off a current tail number reserved by Amazon Logistics Inc. I used the website as a reference point for the dark blue of the nose and played up the orange-yellow of the a to z arrow as detail stripes as well as top and bottom fins. Stuck another arrow on the engine for good measure. I made the White tail version first then wanted to see what it would look like if i flipped the nose design and plopped it on the tail. I ended up liking both so both got put up for you (the viewer) to decide which you like best. amazon, the arrow and the a logo are registered trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. Boeing is a registered trademark of The Boeing Company I am not affiliated with Amazon.com, Inc. or The Boeing Company Template for the Boeing 767-300F was purchased from www.shopnorebbo.com |
My 40 day quest to print Elf has ended in triumph, thanks to all of your great support. I am honored and overjoyed!! I have stated in the article in BleedingCool.com that should the campaign succeed, I would cut a watermelon with my sword. So, here it is! :D You'll need an HTML5 capable browser to see this content. Play Replay with sound Play with sound 00:00 00:00 To show my appreciation for my most gracious backers and my dear readers who have encouraged me all these years... Here's a little number that'll lift the spirits and tickle the ears! :D You'll need an HTML5 capable browser to see this content. Play Replay with sound Play with sound 00:00 00:00 UPDATE #5: The Field of The Fallen To give my backers a more satisfying reading experience, I am planning on expanding the book-exclusive chapter to more epic proportions. ;) UPDATE #3: To reward my backers and to entice new backers... Elf Playing Cards! They're FREE with pledges of $30 or more! This professional quality deck of 54 cards comes in a custom tin box! :) Elf is a fantasy web comic that I started in 2012 as a fun project that I could develop little by little, uploading just one page a week. It began as a series of short vignettes centered around an archetypical Tolkienesque elf character and her talking wombat sidekick, Clarence. A rather strange fellow named Pieter would soon join them. Clarence is no ordinary wombat. He's really of a subspecies I like to call... the Greater Wombat! The initial strips were conceived with very little planning. I wanted to poke fun at and pay homage to the high fantasy genre as represented in countless books, films, video games, and my own experiences playing table top RPGs in the days of my youth. Elf is often loose and experimental in structure. And it's evolving to contain longer and longer story arcs as the world inhabited by the central characters start to slowly open up. In a nutshell, Elf is a story about a warrior called Blackfeather, who just wants to hang out with her pals, help others, and have adventures. This simple goal comes with many obstacles as deadly perils as well as the elf's own past crash into her path. Part of the challenge of crafting this comic was balancing the immediate payoff of the one page gag with propelling the story & character development forward. Elf often digresses from the main narrative and becomes quite silly. My goal is to tell a story that is true to its classic high fantasy roots while it explores mature and unorthodox themes. Elf is at once comedic and tragic. Ultimately, I want these stories to make a strong statement about the importance of imagination, friendship, courage, and decency. The Book Elf Book One will collect all of the comic pages from the web series and the rest of the current chapter, or story arc. Backers will be able to read the entire story to its end, even before it becomes available online. In addition to 170 comic pages, the book will feature roughly 50 pages of pin-up and concept art galleries, including some that are entirely new or never before published. And there are more great incentive for readers of the web series to pick up the book: Extended fight sequences. Action sequences that span many pages are not ideal for a page a week web comic but not so for a book. New and exclusive short chapter that will take you back to the events that led to the elf's first encounter with Clarence, the wombat! The printed book will be produced with the highest possible quality in mind. Though most of the pages will be black & white with gray tones, the entire book will be printed using the 4-color process. It will be a thing of beauty! :D Recommended for mature readers. T-shirts You could also request that nothing is printed on the back of the shirt of your choice. For those who don't like text on their T-shirts. ;) UPDATE #1: FREE Bonus Comic: Blanche the Baby Killer #0 To sweeten the deal further... every pledge reward (excluding the $1 pledge) will include a free hard copy of my Xeric Grant Award winning 72 page graphic novel, Blanche the Baby Killer #0 for the first 1000 backers! It's a story about a young factory worker who lives in a bizarre and nightmarish dystopian world. Battered and marginalized by the brutal system she lives under, Blanche takes a drastic course to change her life. A course that will pit her against a horrifying and powerful demonic baby! Recommended for mature readers. You can read the preview pages here: http://blanche0.webcomic.ws/comics/1 UPDATE #2: Elf Book One just got a little bigger! Many of my readers have often remarked that they really enjoy seeing the rough pencil sketches and other fun digressions. The art gallery sections have now been increased by at least 20 pages for a total page count of 220+ pages! 18th Century Elf 24th Century Elf Fast Shooting Technique Vintage Cigarette Ad Kneeflayer Budget Breakdown For $31,529 Goal: Book Printing = $14,550 T-shirt Printing = $4,000 Custom Cards = $3,250 Silkscreen Prints = $430 Shipping Postage = $3,550 Shipping Supplies = $1,020 10% Kickstarter & Amazon Fees = $3,153 5% MISC Costs, Taxes, etc. (wiggle room) = $1,576 Delivery Time If this campaign is successful, my next phase will be to take a few months to focus on finishing the current story arc and the bonus chapter. By July, the book & extras should go to press and by September, the goodies will be on their way to you! :D Check out Elf on the sites listed below and if it looks like your cup of tea, become a backer! Thanks for reading! Songgu Kwon Elf on Comic Fury (comic plus lots of extra art in between) Elf on Tapastic (mostly just the comic) My Blog Crap. How am I going to fit this one in the book??? |
Tiny-care-terminal is a dashboard that wants to make sure you’re looking after yourself. Have you had any water today? How’s your posture? These gentle reminders are delivered by a supportive Party Parrot, who hangs out just to the right of your work. Google developer Monica Dinculescu created the free dashboard, which pulls messages from Twitter bots focused on self-care. The dashboard updates every 20 minutes. For people who stare at a computer all day, it’s a gentle nudge to de-stress and practice healthy behaviors. “I think people are finally coming around to the idea that ‘crushing code and Red Bulls’ non-stop kind of sucks, and that taking breaks is actually really nice — and downright good for your health,” Dinculescu tells The Verge. Dinculescu got the idea from @tinycarebot, @5minselfcare, and @aloebud, accounts that regularly tweet affirmations to their followers. “It’s totally fine if you need to take a break!” @tinycarebot says one day. “You will be okay,” reassures @5minselfcare. “When you're having a terrible day at work, you just want someone to validate your feelings, human or bot,” Dinculescu says. “Maybe we'll all just be happier, hydrated people with good posture” The bots offer good advice, but Dinculescu points to a major pitfall: They assume you’ll be on Twitter in the first place to spot them. “I miss these reminders, forget to drink water, get super-grumpy because I'm sitting like a pretzel and my back hurts, and end up feeling bad about myself,” she says. “Instead of Twitter, though, I stare at a terminal for seven hours, and I know my coworkers do too, so I thought maybe I should bring the bots to the terminal instead. Maybe we'll all just be happier, hydrated people with good posture.” Dinculescu chose to draw tweets from @tinycarebot, @selfcare_bot, and @magicrealismbot, but users can add more if they like. “If you're not into my kind of whimsy, you can substitute some of them for other ones that work for you,” she says. Tiny-care-terminal is available to download on GitHub, and Dinculescu will keep tweaking the dashboard. Her next step is to add a bunny mascot, for those who don’t want to party with a parrot. |
Eruv Poles Explained Once again, the issue of an “eruv” being built (or extended) in a community has brought about much ugliness. Along with the countless articles being written and posted that describes, or attempts to describe, the legal and social issues that come into play, a common misperception of the purpose of the “eruv,” or at least the physical aspect of the “eruv” (meaning its poles and wires), has been repeatedly repeated. I will therefore try to correct this misunderstanding about what the poles at the center of the legal issues are intended to accomplish. There are 39 categories of activity that are prohibited on the Sabbath, with one of them being “carrying,” i.e. transporting an item from one place to another. Not all “carrying” is prohibited; I can carry anything (as long as its use is permitted on the Sabbath) from my kitchen to my dining room, or from anyplace in my house to another place in the house, even from ne end to the other, or from the basement to the attic and vise versa. As a matter of fact, the size of my house is irrelevant; if, for some reason, I would (and could afford to) purchase a house (or building) that was miles long, and I used it for living purposes (as opposed to, say, a place to grow plants indoors), I could carry from one end all the way to the other, despite it being miles away. So the first thing that needs to be clarified is when and where carrying on the Sabbath is prohibited. These laws are very complex, with an entire tractate of the Talmud dedicated primarily to it (not to mention numerous lengthy discussions on the subject in other tractates of the Talmud). I will limit this discussion to only deal with things that impact the community eruv, specifically the physical boundary that the poles and wire are designed to create. Biblically, the prohibition against carrying applies to transferring an item from a public area to a private area (and vice versa) and carrying something a distance of four cubits within a public area. However, not all “areas” fall into the category of being “private” or “public.” Without getting into a complicated discussion of what characteristics an area needs to have in order to be considered “public,” suffice it to say that, pertaining to an eruv making a difference, it would be a town square in a very large city (and the streets that connect to it), or a public thoroughfare that goes from end-to-end in a very large city or metropolis (and the streets that connect to it). If a city is not extremely large (or have a vast amount of people traveling through it on a daily basis), it does not qualify as being a “public” domain. According to the opinion that most rely on (especially if they carry with an area enclosed by an eruv), there are very few cities or communities that qualify as being a “public” domain. What about those areas that aren’t private, nor qualify as being “public”? Such an area, referred to in the Talmud as a “karmalis,” has no biblical prohibitions of carrying, neither transferring an item from a public or private domain to or from it, nor carrying an item within it (even more than four cubits). However, because of the similarity between a “public” area and a “karmalis,” and a concern that carrying to/from/within it could easily be confused with doing so to/from/with a “public” area, a rabbinic prohibition was placed on carrying to/from/within a “karmalis” as well. Which brings about a very serious consequence; not being able to carry anything outside the home (or any “private” area, such as a synagogue or hotel). Some things could be easily managed. For example, anything needed in synagogue could be brought there before the Sabbath. Others, though, would be a major inconvenience, such as parents not being able to leave the home the entire Sabbath until their youngest child can walk to the place the parent wants to go, or worse (i.e, those who use the synagogue’s Succah couldn’t carry their food to it on the Sabbath). So in order to accomplish what was intended by the rabbinical prohibition without making observing the Sabbath too burdensome, the concept of an “eruv” was introduced, enabling the “karmalis” to have the same status as a private domain, within which things can be carried on the Sabbath. Because the eruv cannot impact a “public” domain (as it can only be used where carrying is only rabbinically prohibited), and the area/boundaries of the eruv, within which one can carry, (and its formation and upkeep, including communicating when it is “down,” such as in severe weather, and can not be relied on, or is still “up” despite severe weather) is made known, there is much less of a concern that anyone will violate the biblical prohibitions associated with a “public” domain, while, at the same time, the impact of extending the prohibition to a “karmalis” does not severely impact the communal or private life of Sabbath observers. This concept is attributed to none other than King Solomon, and is an example of how his extreme wisdom was used to solve several issues (in this case, protecting the sanctity of the Sabbath while not impeding the ability to appreciate and enjoy it). It is important to note that an eruv does not make anything that was biblically prohibited permissible; it only impacts the ability to carry something when it would have otherwise been rabbinically prohibited. “They” said carrying to/from/within a “karmalis” is problematic, and “they” also said that this prohibition can be avoided. In order to transform a “karmalis” into an area with the same characteristics as a private home, thereby allowing carrying to/from/within it as if it were one big private property, one of the things that has to happen is that it be physically enclosed. There are numerous ways to enclose an area to make it eligible to be able to carry within it. Obviously, a gated community doesn’t need any additional structure in order to be considered “enclosed.” A sea wall, or a cliff, qualifies, and nothing further needs to be done on that part of the “enclosure.” Many community eruvim (“eruvim” is the plural form of “eruv”) have, as part of its boundary, an area where there is already a physical fence or wall, so no further structure is needed there. Usually, though, a large portion of the boundary of the area to be enclosed has no physical structure, which is where the poles and wires come in. Just as one can carry within his or her home even when the door is open, as the doorway itself is considered a part of the structure/enclosure, a community eruv can be considered a valid enclosure if part (or, according to most, even if all) of the enclosure is a “doorway,” or a series of “doorways.” A “doorway”consists of the frame of the door; the floor, the top, and two sides. In an eruv, the poles are the sides of the doorway, and (usually) wire is used for the top. (It cannot be too wide of an opening, or it loses its status as being a “doorway,” and there is no enclosure.) That is all the poles (and wires) are used for – making a “doorway” to complete the enclosure. Nothing more, and nothing less. Very often, the poles that form the sides of the frame of the “doorway” are attached to an already existing pole, such as a utility pole, in order to minimize the obtrusiveness of the poles. (The reason the utility poles themselves can’t be used is because the top of the doorway is not attached to the sides of the sides of the frame, but is on top of them. Attaching a wire to the sides of the utility poles does not form a “doorway,” while running a wire on top of two vertical poles does.) By creating a series of “doorways,” as unobtrusively as possible, an area can be enclosed, making it eligible to bypass the rabbinic aspects of the prohibition against carrying on the Sabbath. Advertisements |
Based on the logic behind the Irving County Police Department’s recent arrest of Ahmed Mohamed for bringing a homemade clock to school, every science fair should be investigated as a potential jihadi training ground. That’s right, smart kids, hide your I.Q. (and if you’re brown, don’t even THINK about excelling at STEM). This incident makes us want to mess with Texas—and racial-profiling in law enforcement, and Islamophobia on a national level. Seems like while cops are busy handcuffing wunderkinds for their brilliance, there are some different looking kids bringing guns to school on the reg. Maybe investigate them? I don’t know, just spitballing. Either way, #IStandWithAhmed, and for not jumping to conclusions and handcuffing a bright, innocent kid. Subscribe to Fusion on YouTube for more episodes of This Shouldn’t Be News |
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The Portuguese Football Federation has denied that Raul Meireles made an inappropriate gesture at the referee after Pepe’s sending-off in the 4-0 defeat to Germany. Cameras appeared to capture the Portugal midfielder giving Milorad Mazic the finger after the Serbian official had produced the controversial red card. However, the federation said on Tuesday that Meireles was simply issuing tactical instructions to his team-mate Bruno Alves. benny berger (@benny_berger) Mehr Raúl Meirelles wagen! Viel viel mehr! pic.twitter.com/gUwBrR7qm3 Its statement said: “The FPF, contrary to what was conveyed in the media and on social networks, flatly denies the athlete Raul Meireles has done any incorrect gesture following Pepe’s red card. “The FPF clarifies that the gesture was misunderstood. Meireles headed to his colleague Bruno Alves and only conveyed the instructions of the coach Paulo Bento following the card. “Raul Meireles just explained that he was moving back into central defence to play on the right side of the defensive axis.” It is unlikely Fifa will take any action, especially as closer inspection reveals Meireles was holding up the index fingers of each hand rather than the middle ones. Portugal’s coach Paulo Bento may not be so lucky though, after he accused the referee of showing bias towards Germany in his side’s heavy defeat. “There were two occasions when the referee showed bias, first with the penalty and then with the sending off,” said Bento. “I am not saying it was only the referee’s fault. We also made mistakes but the circumstances of what happened in the first half made the rest of the game difficult for us.” |
Hello everyone! I hope you had a as great week(end) as I did. I’ve done a lot of progress on all sides of the development and I’m closer and closer to the demo, trailer and kickstarter. Let me start with the cool stuff! Creepy foggy fog I’ve made this simple fog which looks really nice in the game or at least that’s what I want to believe. Thoughts? Behind the scene for the devs: I simply render two fog sprites (one is flipped horizontal) with inverse alpha value factor which I’m changing up and down. This gives you a feeling that fog is changing it’s shape. Add movement to it, place more instances and you’ll have nice simply fog in your game smile Screenshot I wish I could tell you more about this but I can’t. Let it serve as a teaser ok? I just wanted to let you know there is more in to game than walking and shooting urns at the mummies. Another thing I was working on – boat! This was in the plan for a long time and it’s in the game now. You can control it and before you ask – yes, it will get really fast at some points. Teasery-trailer in development I’m a bit late but it’s in development. As you can see from the image above, plan is done amd some scenes are ready for recording. I still need more footage to make it cool. I’m really exciting about this for I’ll be showing Courier of the Crypts in action on the video for the first time. It will be short and more of a teaser than trailer but it will be awesome. Programming Further FMOD implementation: do you remember when I’ve decided to use FMOD? I started implementing it to work with FMOD Studio but left it behind since there is a lot of documentation to read. I’ll do that after the demo release & kickstarter campaign. For now I did basic implementation for it and it works great. I added more sounds to the game and it feels great playing it even more now. do you remember when I’ve decided to use FMOD? I started implementing it to work with FMOD Studio but left it behind since there is a lot of documentation to read. I’ll do that after the demo release & kickstarter campaign. For now I did basic implementation for it and it works great. I added more sounds to the game and it feels great playing it even more now. Memory leaks: Why do you have to leak??? For joke I’ve decided to take a look at the memory consumption and memory was stacking…alarm! I’ve used like two hours to fix all the leaks and it’s fine now. I was afraid there will be more complications. All good! Why do you have to leak??? For joke I’ve decided to take a look at the memory consumption and memory was stacking…alarm! I’ve used like two hours to fix all the leaks and it’s fine now. I was afraid there will be more complications. All good! Custom resolution: My framework supported only one screen resolution with fullscreen mode (one picked at the start). I also had a problem on the widescreen monitors where screen got stretched and it looked like courier weighted 100 pounds more. I never did this before so it took me quite some time to implement custom resolution support and it works like a charm. I was postponing this “basic” feature implementation for more than a year but I’m over with it now. <Resolution champion achievement earned> My framework supported only one screen resolution with fullscreen mode (one picked at the start). I also had a problem on the widescreen monitors where screen got stretched and it looked like courier weighted 100 pounds more. I never did this before so it took me quite some time to implement custom resolution support and it works like a charm. I was postponing this “basic” feature implementation for more than a year but I’m over with it now. <Resolution champion achievement earned> I did some more programming on various parts – more components for the map editor, new objects in the game, fixing old stuff and more. Publicity Latest screenshot (one with the binded courier) was featured on the Warp Door: “Below, we present you the most intriguing ones we’ve found during the last feverish 24 hours of screenshot sharing.” I’m glad that mine is one of them. Check all of them out wink That’s it for the week. I’m going back to work – teasery trailer needs to be done. Have a nice week and let me know what you think. I appreciate every comment and critic. |
Downstate Brewers Coming To Town For Craft Beer Week By Paul Schneider in Food on Apr 28, 2012 7:30PM Chicago craft beer drinkers know and love local craft breweries like Haymarket, Revolution, Half Acre, and Three Floyds. But how about Six Row? Bent River? Rolling Meadows? Big Muddy? These downstate brewers have been flying under the radar here in Chicago, but that will change when they share their brews under the bright lights of Chicago Craft Beer Week. Guys Drinking Beer, the blogging team that provides top-notch coverage of Illinois beer legislation and politics, is calling on its downstate connections to put on "South of 80: A Celebration of Downstate Brewers," a showcase of some of Illinois' (and St. Louis in the case of Six Row) most under-appreciated yeast wranglers. Reps from each brewery will be pouring beers that rarely or never make it to Chicagoland at The Green Lady on Tuesday, May 22 from 7-10 p.m. |
Sell your possessions and give to the poor. (Luke 12:33) You cannot serve God and Money. (Matthew 6:24) Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. (Matthew 6:19) No believer claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. There were no needy persons among them. (Acts 4:32, 34) It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. (Luke 18:25) If you’re a Biblical literalist in possession of one more penny than you strictly need, then you’re not doing it right. But let us go out on a limb, and guess that you’ll find these words of the Bible open for interpretation. (Either that, or—dare we imagine it?—we’ve finally found a way to replace the usual Bible-spouting fundie protestations with the blessed sound of crickets.) I’m the author of UNFAIR: Christians and the LGBT Question: Paperback. Kindle. NookBook. Signed and inscribed by me according to your direction. |
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Prime Minister John Key (left) says the security services act in the interests of New Zealand New Zealand is conducting mass surveillance over its Pacific neighbours, reports citing documents leaked by US whistleblower Edward Snowden say. Calls, emails and social media messages were being collected from Pacific nations, the New Zealand Herald said. The data was shared with other members of the "Five Eyes" network - the US, Australia, Britain and Canada. Mr Snowden leaked a large cache of classified NSA documents in 2013. The documents published on Thursday reveal that New Zealand's Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) used its Waihopai base in the South Island to spy on allies in the region. Targets included Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Nauru, Samoa, Vanuatu, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Tonga and French Polynesia. Image copyright The Weinstein Company Image caption The files were among those leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden 'Full take' According to US website The Intercept, which published the documents in conjunction with the New Zealand Herald, the base was running "full take" interceptions, meaning it was retaining content and metadata of all communications rather than just of specific targets. The data collected was then available to be accessed by analysts from the US's National Security Agency (NSA) via the agency's controversial XKeyscore computer program, revealed during the original leak in 2013, the Herald reported. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said the reports contained errors and false assumptions, but did not elaborate. He said the GCSB gathered "foreign intelligence that is in the best interests of New Zealand and protecting New Zealanders". "If I was a New Zealander and the New Zealand prime minister got up and told me we had a foreign intelligence service that wasn't gathering some foreign intelligence, I'd ask him 'what the hell are we paying the money for? And what the hell are you doing?'" New Zealand's Stuff website quoted him as saying. Andrew Little, leader of New Zealand's opposition Labour party, said that he accepted the need for security agencies to protect the country but was "stunned at the breadth of the information that's been collected". Speaking to Radio New Zealand, Mr Little said GCSB seemed to be "hoovering" up information and "supplying it to the United States". |
Archival photo of Subhash Chandra Bose Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's grandnephew Sugata Bose has criticised the reports that the freedom fighter's name is being considered by the Narendra Modi government for Bharat Ratna, country's highest civilian honour."Keep Netaji out of partisan politics, his stature is bigger than Bharat Ratna. How can Netaji be given Bharat Ratna after Rajiv Gandhi? Anyone with a sense of history will agree with me," he told NDTV."Mr Vajpayee had a sense of history and he never put forward Netaji's name," added Mr Bose, who is also Netaji's biographer.Though the government has not officially announced it, sources say that several names are under consideration for the nation's most prestigious award. Apart from Netaji, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, founder of the Benaras Hindu University Madan Mohan Malviya, Dalit leader and founder of Bahujan Samaj Party Kanshi Ram and legendary hockey player Dhyanchand, who was overlooked by the previous UPA government for cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, are among them.The BJP has long demanded that the Bharat Ratna be conferred on Mr Vajpayee, who had led the first NDA government at the Centre between 1998 and 2004.Mr Vajpayee's family is rejoicing at the reports."Atal Bihari Vajpayee is not only a leader. He has a place in heart of Indian people," said Mr Vajpayee's niece Karuna Shukla.The Opposition is, however, cautiously reacting to these reports. "Let the government decide first. All the names are such that none is objectionable," said CPI leader D Raja.The Home Ministry has asked the Reserve Bank of India to keep five Bharat Ratna medallions ready, said sources, adding that the number of medallions may not necessarily be the same as the number of recipients. The official announcement could possibly be made before Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivers his first Independence Day speech. |
What the developers have to say: Why Early Access? Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access? How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version? What is the current state of the Early Access version? Draw your character, objects, weapons, spells, items, construction parts and creatures (to enable this, the game features built-in doodling editor and guides) Build structures and fortifications Fight enemies, survive deadly traps and anomalies Explore the world and get quests Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access? How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process? “Sketch Tales is developed by an experienced, yet very small team. Launching on Steam is a possibility to receive the players’ support, owing to which we’ll be able to expand the team and do what has been planned. Support us and we’ll make a game like you have never seen before.A new important stage of coming out to public access begins for Sketch Tales. We do it only for you and your feedback is very important to us.”“We expect 9-12 months of further development and polishing of the game before it's ready for the release. There is still a ton of features to add, polish and tweak before the game meets our vision and your expectations.”“First, it's going to be a better quality and polished product. Secondly, we will add Multiplayer, possibility to modify landscape, work out the Sketch Tales story and... yet undisclosed features.Last but not least, a Cloud server to host all players' creations that can be integrated into the game.”“The story brings you to an island, inhabited by 3 types of living beings: monsters, sketchmen and animals. They live their own life, look for food, goodies & shelter, hunt & fight, and even build relationships with you. It’s basic AI Simulation which we plan to expand drastically in future updates. On the gameplay side, Sketch Tales in Early Access offers all necessary basics for both adventurers and creative minds:“The full release version will be priced higher than the Early Access one.”“We're really counting on the community's feedback to move the game forward.We plan multiple contests and activities to inspire the players' creativity.” |
Colombia's government is planning to legalize the cultivation and sale of cannabis or marijuana for medicinal and scientific purposes. The country's officials announced the news on Thursday, The Washington Post reported. The plan is set to become an executive decree that Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos will eventually sign into law. Justice Minister Yesid Reyes said that the decree will regulate licensing for pot growers, as well as the eventual export of products made from marijuana. The decree was signed by Reyes along with the Minister of Health and Minister of Agriculture, according to MarketWatch. New Colombia Resources' subsidiary, Sannabis SAS, was invited last week to the Ministry of Justice to inform them of the nation's recent decree regarding the drug. New Colombia is a U.S. company responsible for specialty metallurgical coal, medical marijuana, and hemp assets. MarketWatch wrote that Sannabis is "proud to become the pilot for this new industry." The company has been utilizing the techniques and protocols instituted in the decree's articles. Sannabis also has the support of regulatory agencies. "We were the first ones to introduce the concept of legalizing medical marijuana in Colombia, and with thousands of plants in production and hundreds of patients, we couldn't be happier with today's developments. Our phones are ringing off the hook as we get ready for the next chapter of making Sannabis the best brand of medical marijuana products on the market," said John Campo, President of New Colombia, as quoted by the news outlet. Sannabis has been cultivating medical marijuana and producing first-rate products for more than 2 years in Colombia, MarketWatch noted. The company aspires to lead the manufacturing of medical marijuana products in the country. Colombia's new policy is now in line with the changes in Mexico, Uruguay, and Chile, countries that legalized and decriminalized some drug use in an effort to fight its menacing presence in Latin America, The Washington Post reported. Colombia's drug-related violence has dropped over the past 15 years thanks to the no-tolerance policy instituted by the U.S. Sen. Juan Manuel Galan said that 400,000 Colombians suffering from epilepsy and other ailments could benefit from the clearer regulatory framework to be presented by the decree. For two decades, the people have been permitted to acquire small amounts of any narcotic for personal use due to a series of Constitutional Court rulings guaranteeing the "free development of one's personality," the news outlet added. Colombian officials, however, stressed out on Thursday that the recent decree doesn't mean that the country will further liberalize recreational use of marijuana, The Washington Post noted. The decree will only apply to scientific and medicinal usage of the drug. © 2015 Latin One. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. |
Rep. Elijah Cummings walks past a photograph of President Donald Trump and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on May 17 in Washington, D.C. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Confronted by the glare of Thursday’s dazzling Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing, we all focused on the bright shiny object that was and is former FBI Director James Comey. His dramatic testimony struck more than one observer as part recitation, part theatrical performance. In today’s political discourse, good television counts almost as much as good substance, all but guaranteeing Comey’s eclipse of everything else in the Washington universe. However, for all of the revelations in Thursday’s hearing, it failed to shine light on the most important set of questions relating to Russian activities and the extent to which Russia has degraded U.S. national security through its espionage, influence, and cyberwarfare campaigns over the past two years. Even while Comey performed before the Senate, Russia’s schemes continued to unfold, undermining U.S. national security in myriad ways and places around the world. It may be the case that Trump lied; it may even be the case that he criminally obstructed justice and should be impeached. And yet we cannot let those important political questions consume all our attention, lest Russia do more harm while we are distracted. L’affaire Russe began during the 2016 election campaign with investigations into alleged ties between Trump campaign officials, Ukraine separatists, and potentially the Russian government. These investigations focused on former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and policy adviser Carter Page, as well as their commercial affiliates. Since then, we have learned of a series of high-level meetings between close Trump associates and the Russian government. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reportedly met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak on three separate occasions during the campaign and transition. Deposed Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn met and talked repeatedly with senior Russian officials and also worked for myriad foreign interests during the campaign, actions that have now put him in considerable legal jeopardy. Trump aide and son-in-law Jared Kushner also met with senior Russian officials during this period, as well as prominent Russian bankers connected to Vladimir Putin and known for being agents of Russian influence abroad. Kushner reportedly went a step further, seeking to hide these communications at the time from U.S. intelligence agencies by asking to use Russian diplomatic facilities and secure communications channels. Of course, on the day after firing Comey, Trump met personally with Kislyak and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the Oval Office, reportedly revealing highly classified intelligence to the Russians regarding ISIS and the situation in Syria. Any one of these encounters would raise serious questions about the intent of the meeting, and its outcomes, whether a private deal or foreign policy quid pro quo. Together, they signal something much more significant: a deliberate change of U.S. policy toward Russia, with these meetings serving as public acts of consummation for the new relationship between the two countries. Judging by Russia’s string of foreign policy triumphs since last November, Putin appears to have the upper hand in his new relationship with Trump and the U.S. Since the election, Trump feuded with his own security agencies, which he and his advisers alternately accused of acting as a “deep state” to oppose Trump’s agenda and orchestrating leaks to humiliate and undermine Trump personally. Trump’s ill-considered words—including his obstinate refusal to affirm America’s commitment to collective self-defense—and amateurish diplomacy have sprained the NATO alliance, with the possibly of a fracture growing by the day. White House discussions of Afghanistan, Syria, and other national security subjects have stalled as Trump has been consumed by other priorities, including responding to self-inflicted crises like the Comey firing. Trump’s nine-day foreign trip made for a few good television moments like his sword dance in Saudi Arabia—but appears to have left a trail of wreckage, including a massive dispute between the Gulf states and statements by European leaders and erstwhile allies that they could no longer rely on the U.S. and must instead “fight for our own future and our fate ourselves as Europeans.” And, in perhaps the most clear quid pro quos reported yet, Trump officials allegedly pushed in the earliest days of his administration to roll back sanctions on Russia—sanctions imposed over the Russian intervention in Ukraine and Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election. No one of these triumphs resulted directly from Putin pushing a button and having Trump act. They reflect a more subtle success, borne of Russian influence upstream in the Washington ecosystem. Russian intelligence agencies successfully interfered with and influenced the U.S. election, according to a consensus position of the U.S. intelligence community. By subtly influencing the election outcome, cultivating relationships with top Trump officials, and creating distrust of core U.S. national security institutions like the CIA—including among the president himself—Russia set in motion a complex chain reaction that is now paying off for the Russian regime. Whether they actively colluded with the Trump campaign or not, the Russians got what they wanted: a president who was more friendly to their interests, and more pliable in their hands too. Leaders have used spectacle for centuries to entertain and distract their people. As a reality television star who used spectacle to rebrand himself and seize the presidency, Trump understands that power. Trump wins by refocusing public attention on Comey and his status as a “leaker” and reframing l’affaire Russe as l’affaire Comey. This public relations campaign against Comey may be shortsighted if and when the president comes under legal scrutiny by special counsel Robert Mueller. But for now, every day the media cycle churns over Comey’s leaks is a day the public debate isn’t focusing on Trump’s substantive actions—or failures—at home and abroad. This provides the cover Trump needs to continue his “deconstruction of the administrative state” and the darkness he needs to avoid scrutiny for his blunders too. Trump’s response—and the response of his longtime lawyer Marc Kasowitz—illustrates how well Trump is playing this drama for his advantage. As the special counsel’s inquiry unfolds and reaches into the White House, touching close associates and family members, Trump understands the risk. As his agenda stalls, approval ratings sink, and his administration swirls in turmoil, Trump must know by this point he needs to act lest his presidency sink into the swamp. Although the possibility of impeachment for obstruction of justice looms, Trump appears to discount this threat. He probably doesn’t believe Speaker Paul Ryan would bring impeachment proceedings, let alone that Republicans would actually vote to remove him from office. And so a spectacle over alleged obstruction of justice—including direct comparisons of Trump’s word with that of Comey—is preferable to a spectacle over Trump’s myriad policy and governance failures. Just as he did on the campaign, quite successfully, Trump is using spectacle to distract the masses and divert attention from substance. For members of Congress, and the rest of us, the only way to win is not to play Trump’s game; to remain focused on the broader threats posed to U.S. national security, rather than the narrow, petty political intrigues peddled by Trump and his henchmen. If Comey is telling an accurate story, then Trump likely acted to obstruct a Justice Department criminal investigation into Michael Flynn and possibly a broader inquiry into the Trump administration’s Russia ties too. That in and of itself is a huge matter. But it is dwarfed by the national security significance of the Russia ties themselves and the broader damage caused so far by the Russian government and its proxies. We cannot afford the luxury of being entertained by Trump’s spectacle while our national security crumbles in the background. |
Get the biggest politics stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Jeremy Corbyn today urges protestors to turn out in force when Donald Trump visits the UK next year. In an exclusive podcast for the Mirror , the Labour leader issues a stinging rebuke to the US president for giving publicity to the far right British First and pulling out of a global climate change agreement. Mr Trump is due to make a flying visit to London in February to open the new US embassy. Mr Corbyn says people should turn out to send the president “a clear message.” “My message to Donald Trump is this you represent a country that has been through some amazing social transformation, from the growth of the civil rights movement, the way in which Martin Luther King stood up for the rights of black people and was assassinated for it. (Image: Reuters) “And then you retweet stuff that is unbelievable and racist such as the stuff from Britain First. Please think of the people you have the honour to represent before you do that,” he says on the podcast. He adds: “And I would also say you might have some disagreement with the Paris Climate Change Accord but you know what, you and I live on the same planet, you and I breathe the same air, you and I both rely on the same oceans. “If you a very powerful world leader and support the climate change agreement and pursue an agenda of ending the pollution you will serve future generations well. But if you deregulate and allow it to get worse future generations will suffer and, you know, you might as well.” (Image: Reuters) Mr Corbyn also said Trump’s Muslim travel ban and the construction of the wall on the Mexican border were “quite awful.” In a lengthy conversation at the end of a tumultuous political year, the Labour leader also reflects on his general election success. He said he first became aware of his appeal when he visited Warrington at the beginning of the campaign. “I was asked to start a canvassing session and they gave us the address which was for a semi detached house on an estate. And driving down the road there was a huge crowd in the garden and I thought that can’t be it. There must be a wedding on. But it was indeed the house and there were 200 or 230 people ready to go campaigning and they hadn’t even selected the candidate,” he recalls. The Labour leader also believes there could still be another general election next year. (Image: Reuters) “I hope there will be one, I think there could be one. It depends very much on what happens in the tory party and how their strange relationship with the DUP develops,” he says. On Brexit , he leaves open whether Labour will end up calling for the UK to stay in the customs union. Keep option of staying in customs union on table? “What we want and I think we have argued for fairly successfully is a transition period which keeps us fully in the customs union and single market “We want something of equivalence of that and I have made that very clear to the many EU negotiators we have met. “I don’t want us losing jobs, I recognize the will of the referendum and we don’t want this country going in the direction of some kind of low corporate tax environment on the shores of Europe which would undermine European economies as well as damage living standards here,” he says. |
The Iraqi army have used the Russian anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system Kornet for the first time, destroying five Islamic State (IS)armored vehicles in the central province of Diyala, Alsumaria TV channel reported on Monday. BAGHDAD, September 22 (RIA Novosti) – The Iraqi army have used the Russian anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system Kornet for the first time, destroying five Islamic State (IS) armored vehicles in the central province of Diyala, Alsumaria TV channel reported on Monday. “The Russian anti-tank system was first used by the Iraqi army … in the province of Diyala [50 kilometers east of the city of Baqubah], where five armored vehicles with gunmen were destroyed," an unnamed representative of the Iraqi security forces told the channel. According to him, three squadrons of the Iraqi army have been trained to use the Russian anti-tank system. "The Russian Kornet weapon has demonstrated very high precision in destroying targets," the Iraqi military man said. According to the channel, the Russian ATGM system, Kornet was ordered by the Iraqi government to improve the efficiency of the army in the fight against extremist armed groups. The IS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, it launched an offensive in Iraq seizing territories in both countries, proclaiming an Islamic caliphate over its conquered land. The jihadist group has killed thousands of Shiites, Christians, and Yazidis, and forced thousands of people to flee territories under their control. |
Rep. Duncan Hunter speaks during a news conference held by House Republicans at the Capitol on May 29, 2014, in Washington, D.C. | Getty Top Trump ally on Capitol Hill: He snubbed us One of Donald Trump's top allies in Congress slammed the presumptive GOP nominee after he failed to meet with rank-and-file lawmakers backing his campaign during his ballyhooed trip to Capitol Hill on Thursday. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) told POLITICO that Trump refused multiple requests to meet with members of Congress working to round up support for him in Washington. Story Continued Below “I think it would have been good of him" to meet with "the first endorsers," Hunter said, as well as those who've gotten on board more recently, Hunter said. “There is no reason not to have as many people on your side as you can … and he missed a real opportunity here.” Trump met with House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and several others in leadership during a series of meetings on Thursday morning. His most ardent congressional backers, however, asked his campaign several times for a few minutes with the candidate, too. They thought it would energize the team running traps to whip support for him in Washington. They also wanted Trump to meet with a core group of committee chairs they thought would make for powerful future allies. Hunter said the complaint isn't about his ego, contending that face time with rank-and-file lawmakers would actually have helped Trump in the long run by making it easier for them to vouch for the candidate with voters in their districts. “If they endorse him, then go back to their districts to say they’ve met him and he’s not crazy, it goes a long way,” Hunter said. “It helps if you can say, 'I met the guy' ... and can be beneficial for Trump, too.” An aide to another Republican lawmaker backing Trump, however, called Hunter's criticism a bit much. "These concerns about access are overblown. The early endorsers have had a number of opportunities to meet and talk with Donald Trump. Today’s meetings with Speaker Ryan and the House Leadership are direct outgrowth of those discussions," the aide said. "It is expected that Mr. Trump will be in Washington a great deal in the weeks ahead, providing new opportunities for members to continue their dialogue." |
Abstract: My name is Ran Jiang. I am from the Platforms Global Escalation Services team in China. Storage is the slowest component of most computer systems. As such, storage is often a performance bottleneck. Today I want to discuss the disk performance kernel provider, partition manager. By understanding how the disk performance provider works we can understand how disk performance is tracked internally in Windows and how disk related counters are calculated, which will be helpful for diagnosing storage performance issues. Disk Performance Architecture There are two sets of public interfaces to query performance counter data – PDH (Performance Data Helper) or the registry interface. The registry interface to the performance data is older than the PDH interface and has more extensive functionality. However, the PDH interface is easier to use for most performance data collection tasks. The PDH interface is essentially a higher-level abstraction of the functionality that the registry interface provides. Windows performance monitor leverages the PDH interface to get performance data. The performance data helper (PDH) interface calls the registry interface. Perflib is one key component integrated in the registry interface, which is responsible for translating the request from the application and calling the collect procedure exported by a performance extension DLL. The extension DLL does the real work of data collection and returns a standard data format to perflib. Extension DLLs should expose Open, Collect, and Close functions to be called by perflib. We can find these functions’ name by checking the registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\<Service Name>\Performance Value Name: Close, Collect, Open Here is a user mode call stack when an application uses the registry API RegQueryValueEx() to collect performance data: 0017f7ec 004e0000 perfdisk!CollectDiskObjectData+0xf8 0017f964 7702eaa9 advapi32!QueryExtensibleData+0x577 0017fd48 7702e962 advapi32!PerfRegQueryValue+0x5d8 0017fe38 770576f5 advapi32!LocalBaseRegQueryValue+0x313 0017fe9c 004011fc advapi32!RegQueryValueExW+0xa2 0017fec8 00401153 getperfdata!GetPerformanceData+0x3c 0017ff38 0040322a getperfdata!wmain+0x93 0017ff88 773deccb getperfdata!__tmainCRTStartup+0x15e 0017ff94 7798d24d kernel32!BaseThreadInitThunk+0xe 0017ffd4 7798d45f ntdll!__RtlUserThreadStart+0x23 0017ffec 00000000 ntdll!_RtlUserThreadStart+0x1b Disk performance kernel device stack Figure 2 shows the I/O manager stack to gather disk performance statistics. The volume manager underneath the file system driver gathers Logical Disk statistics. On Windows 2008 or above, volmgr.sys handles Logical Disk statistics for both dynamic and basic disks. The partition manager, partmgr.sys, gathers physical disk statistics. These statistics are measured and collected for each request that passes through the I/O manager stack. Physical Disk Statistics Partition manager (partmgr.sys) saves performance information in the device extension’s counter context. Logical Disk statistics Volume manager (volmgr.sys) also saves performance metrics in its device extension. How to track disk performance? Performance information is tracked in the read and write dispatch routines and in the IO completion routines. There are 5 kinds of counter data tracked by partition manager: 1. Queue depth - Total concurrent IOs still in process and not yet completed. 2. Total counts of read and write requests. 3. Total read and write time for all IO requests. For example: There are total 2 write IOs completed since disk counter is enabled, one takes 1 sec and the other takes 2 sec. Then, this write counter will be 1 sec + 2 sec = 3 sec. 4. Total Idle time. 5. Total split IO (fragmented IO). Let’s talk about them separately. Queue depth: When a new IRP is sent to partition manager it will increment the queue depth. Partition manager will decrement the queue depth when completing an IRP. Therefore, the value indicates how many concurrent IOs are still in process. Total read and write count: When any read or write IO has been completed the partition manager IRP completion routine will get called. Then the read or write counter will be incremented. Note we only track completed IOs here. Total read and write time for IOs: When any read or write IO starts, partition manager’s dispatch routine will record the current time stamp in the IO stack location of the IRP. When an IRP is completed the completion routine will use this time stamp and the current system time to calculate the time taken to complete this IO. Partition manager will then add this value to the appropriate counter in the device extension. Total Idle time: When completing an IRP and decrementing the queue depth partition manager will check if the queue depth reaches 0. If yes, it indicates the disk state has been transitioned from busy to idle. Then it will save the time stamp to Last Idle Clock in the counter context. When a new IRP is sent to partition manager it will increment the queue depth and will check if queue depth reaches 1. If yes, it indicates the disk state has been transitioned from idle to busy. Then Idle time counter will be increased by (current time stamp – Last Idle Clock). Total split IO (fragmented IO): When completing an IRP, partition manager will check if the IRP is marked as IRP_ASSOCIATED_IRP. This flag is usually set by the file system driver when a large IO is split into multiple smaller IOs. Typically, when an IO contains several runs and each run will contain continuous block of data, NTFS will create an associated IRP for each run and send this IRP to the lower level driver. Therefore, this counter usually can be used to track fragmented IOs. Note: Disk performance statistics are saved to an array whose index corresponds to each processor. Most of the counters are saved to the index corresponding to the processor the IRP was completed on. How to convert to performance counter? Now we understand how the kernel keeps tracking of these metrics. We need to map those metrics in kernel to the performance counter as shown in performance monitor. The counters visible in performance monitor are calculated based on the metrics from kernel. Each counter has a counter type and each counter type has a different calculation. The counter type determines how the counter data is calculated, averaged, and displayed. For example, Avg. Disk sec/Transfer has counter type of PERF_AVERAGE_TIMER. The formula of PERF_AVERAGE_TIMER is: ((N 1 - N 0 ) / F) / (D 1 - D 0 ), where the numerator (N) represents the number of ticks counted during the last sample interval, F represents the frequency of the ticks, and the denominator (D) represents the number of reads and writes completed during the last sample interval. N 1 - N 0 are returned from kernel as ReadTime + WriteTime in ticks. D 1 and D 0 are returned from partition manager or volume manager as read counts + write counts. Avg. Disk Transfer/sec: Counter type: PERF_COUNTER_COUNTER Formula: (N 1 - N 0 ) / ( (D 1 -D 0 ) / F), where N 1 - N 0 are returned from partition manager or volume manager as read counts + write counts. D 1 -D 0 are the number of ticks counted during the last sample interval. F represents the frequency of the ticks. Avg. Disk Queue Length: Counter type: PERF_COUNTER_LARGE_QUEUELEN_TYPE Formula: (N 1 - N 0 ) / (D 1 - D 0 ), where the numerator (N) represents queue depth and the denominator (D) represents the time elapsed during the sample interval. Current Disk Queue Length: Counter type: PERF_COUNTER_RAWCOUNT Formula: None. Shows raw data as collected. It’s Instantaneous value of queue depth. Disk Bytes/sec: Counter type: PERF_COUNTER_BULK_COUNT Formula: (N 1 - N 0 ) / ( (D 1 - D 0 ) / F, where the numerator (N) represents the total ReadBytes + WriteBytes, the denominator (D) represents the number of ticks elapsed during the last sample interval, and F is the frequency of the ticks. % Idle Time Counter type: PERF_PRECISION_100NS_TIMER Formula: N X – N 0 / D 1 – D 0 , where the numerator (N) represents the Total IdleTime and the denominator (D) is the value of the private timer. The private timer has the same frequency as the 100 ns timer. Note: Programmers should avoid calculating counters manually and should instead use pdh.dll. An example of what can go wrong when calculating this data manually is described in Performance Monitor Averages, the Right Way and the Wrong Way. How to measure disk performance? In this section we are going to discuss which counters are the key to measuring disk performance. Generally we have 4 counters used for performance measurement: Disk Bytes/sec, % Idle Time, Disk sec/Transfer and Avg. Disk Queue Length. Disk Bytes/sec From the formula, Disk Bytes/sec is actually how many bytes have been completed in every second. There are two things could impact this counter value: 1. How much stress is generated to the disk or volume? Let’s assume if there are no problems with disk performance and stress has not reached the storage bottleneck. Then, this counter value will be determined the stress IO load generated by the application such as a stress tool. 2. Disk performance If the IO load has exceeded the storage bottleneck, this counter value will not be able to be increased with load increasing. Conclusion: Since this counter value could be affected by IO load from an application we cannot use it as the key to determine disk performance. % Idle Time This counter value indicates how long the disk is in idle status without outstanding IO. It can help to determine how busy the disk is. However, even if the disk is busy with 0% Idle Time, we cannot say it suffers from a performance issue as it may still be able to complete all IOs in time. Avg. Disk Queue Length This counter indicates on average how many IOs are outstanding. If the disk can always complete IO immediately, the value should be 0. Therefore, it’s also a value to determine how busy the storage is. But it does not impact the application directly as the application does not care how many total IOs are outstanding. The application is concerned with how fast every IO can be completed. In practice, if we see the queue depth is more than 10 we may say the storage is busy and could delay the IO in the queue. However if every IO can be completed fast there will be no impact to the application, which means the delay is still acceptable. Disk sec/Transfer This counter indicates how fast the IO is completed on average. This is one of the keys to an application’s performance as discussed above. Dynamic counter loading feature On Windows 2008 or above the disk counter in the kernel provider can be dynamically enabled or disabled. If there is no one open handle to HKEY_PERFORMANCE_DATA the kernel provider will disable IO performance trace by setting a flag in the device extension. Here is the Call stack when the counter is being dynamically disabled: 8f14d970 volmgr!VmWmiFunctionControl 8f14d9e0 WMILIB!WmiSystemControl+0x3b9 8f14da00 volmgr!VmWmi+0x8d 8f14da18 nt!IofCallDriver+0x63 8f14da20 volsnap!VolSnapDefaultDispatch+0x2b 8f14da38 nt!IofCallDriver+0x63 8f14da60 nt!WmipForwardWmiIrp+0x18b 8f14da8c nt!WmipSendWmiIrp+0x56 8f14dabc nt!WmipDeliverWnodeToDS+0x22 8f14dc28 nt!WmipSendEnableDisableRequest+0x10e 8f14dc4c nt!WmipDoDisableRequest+0x26 8f14dc64 nt!WmipDisableCollectOrEvent+0x35 8f14dc8c nt!WmipDeleteMethod+0x25 8f14dca8 nt!ObpRemoveObjectRoutine+0x13d 8f14dcd0 nt!ObfDereferenceObject+0xa1 8f14dd14 nt!ObpCloseHandleTableEntry+0x24e 8f14dd44 nt!ObpCloseHandle+0x73 8f14dd58 nt!NtClose+0x20 8f14dd58 nt!KiFastCallEntry+0x12a 0012fda4 ntdll!KiFastSystemCallRet 0012fda8 ntdll!NtClose+0xc 0012fde0 ADVAPI32!WmiCloseBlock+0x33 0012fe58 ADVAPI32!PerfRegCloseKey+0x175 0012fe68 ADVAPI32!BaseRegCloseKeyInternal+0x81 0012fe7c ADVAPI32!ClosePredefinedHandle+0x7c 0012feb8 ADVAPI32!RegCloseKey+0x67 0012fed0 ReadTest!GetPerformanceData+0xe5 0012ff38 ReadTest!wmain+0xae 0012ff88 ReadTest!__tmainCRTStartup+0x15e 0012ff94 kernel32!BaseThreadInitThunk+0xe 0012ffd4 ntdll!__RtlUserThreadStart+0x23 0012ffec ntdll!_RtlUserThreadStart+0x1b Since the sample app from MSDN tries to close the handle every time after calling RegQueryValueEx(), it will disable and enable the disk counter intermittently. The impact to any app using registry API will be that some IO is started with counter disabled with no time stamp recorded and later completed with counter enabled, then generate a huge time difference for such an IO and charge to sec/transfer. KB 2470949 was released to address this issue on Windows 2008 R2. Resources Disk Subsystem Performance Analysis for Windows http://download.microsoft.com/download/e/b/a/eba1050f-a31d-436b-9281-92cdfeae4b45/subsys_perf.doc How to Calculate Your Disk I/O Requirements http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb125019(EXCHG.65).aspx Disk Partition Alignment Best Practices for SQL Server http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd758814(SQL.100).aspx Counter Types http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc785636(v=WS.10).aspx |
South Korea boosted its arms sales by more than 20 percent last year and has ambitions to become a major weapons exporter, according to a new study. It comes amid frequent ballistic missile tests by arch-rival North Korea. Research by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), released Monday, studied the sales of arms and military services of the world’s largest arms-producing and military service companies in 2016. It found that South Korea dominated the "emerging producers” category. "The trend in this category for 2016 is dominated by the 20.6 percent overall increase in the arms sales of South Korean companies, with total sales amounting to 8.4 billion," SIPRI wrote in a release. Other members of that category were Brazil, India, and Turkey. Read more SIPRI Senior Researcher Siemon Wezeman noted that “continuing and rising threat perceptions” are driving Seoul to acquire more military equipment. Another senior researcher, Pieter D. Wezeman, told AFP the "increasingly nuclear weapons capability in North Korea" has led to "major investments" in the South. Siemon Wezeman said South Korea is "increasingly turning to its own arms industry to supply its demand for weapons" and is "aiming to realize its goal of becoming a major arms exporter." South Korean arms exports reached $2.5 billion in 2016, compared to $253 million in 2006, according to official data. Seven South Korean arms manufacturers rank among SIPRI’s top 100 global arms producers, including Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). The firm has developed a supersonic training hunter, the T-50 Golden Eagle, alongside American arms giant, Lockheed Martin. South Korea's missiles, howitzers, submarines, and warplanes are particularly popular across Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and South America. Read more The study comes amid heightened regional unease over North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. In its latest test, Pyongyang launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) which it says is capable of hitting the US mainland. Seoul responded Monday by adding several North Korean banks, companies, groups, and individuals to its sanctions list. The South also persists with joint military drills with the US, with the two allies taking part in the annual Vigilant Ace exercise last week. The “war games” predictably angered Pyongyang, which previously ruled out negotiations with Washington over the joint exercises and America's "hostile policy." Speaking to Reuters last month, Pyongyang's ambassador to the UN, Han Tae Song, said "as long as there are continued war games on our doorstep, then there will not be negotiations." Moscow has also spoken out against joint military maneuvers between the US and South Korea. Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, said, following North Korea's latest launch, that joint exercises in the region and Washington's rhetoric towards the North had resulted in "provoking Pyongyang into taking some rash action" after months of restraint. |
This video is no longer available This video was hosted on Vidme, which is no longer in operation. However, you might find this video at one of these links: Video title: NECRO - SCHIZOPHRENIA Upload date: November 11 2017 Uploaded by: culturelles Video description: Death Rap Bellevue Mental Illness Hospital Patient Psychosis Let me loosen you up with drugs! [Verse 1] Many are suffering from schizophrenia Plenty are destroyed mentally Really anyone of you can pretend that you are Atrocious pigs diagnosing wigs I diagnose you too disgusting for society, catch ferocious jigs Taking the body count cancer took Cats that would have Manson shook Studied the bible & ate half the book Your fucking grill's a million bucks With skin peeling off your flesh You're so appealing, fresh, the real as fuck Stay in the streets with your shank But for now we'll fill up your blood bank with crank You skank, nurses to thank Neuralgin, Wall Street, college students Accountants losing their minds & they haven't found them Psychology 101, you've become what you studied once Now you're the patient of psychologists, son Put on a good show cause the doctors are mocking you Clocking you, peeping you, watching you, ready to lock you, dook You cats bite me while everything that you sing is soft You cats can't write raps, might as well bite your fingers off [Hook] It's Schizophrenia! Clozaril, Haldol, Thorazine, Risperdal, Olanzapine Luvox, Lithium, Depakote, Anafranil, Tegretol It's Schizophrenia! [Verse 2] You're a psycho, screaming like Joan of Arc burning Rocking a fucking mullet You're keeping it gully, white trash vermin Tattooed up & screwed up, crack viled up & restrained Some Annie shit, cause the pain remains You're vulgar with a mustache You're also female, delusional genius Complex like a laptop with e-mail Like Uncle Howie shooting up when you're 12 Now you're 45 & your life is diamonds in hell You're on some Bundy shit, black decks & a hunchback A matrix brain in the face like a corroded nut sack Mustached out like Janet, schizophrenic cadavers Hyper-active & paranoid, panic a Joni Mitchell addict Bags under the eyes of a hag A blonde grimace, nose picking, hysterical dirt bag I don't like … Total views: 272 |
POP-alicious… POP-tacular… POP-abulous… These are just a few of the words that popped into my head as I was scarfing my way through bags of popchips as I sat on a plane in San Francisco preparing to fly cross country back to my safe haven of suburbia. I had just attended BlogHer Food 2010 and was in no way prepared for the multitude of fantastic people, phenomenal food, plethora of information and bags of swag that I would be encountering. I mean, wow. I hadn’t slept in over 24 hours, I had enough adrenaline pumping through my veins to fuel the plane in which I sat and I had just been forced to walk about 5 miles (most of which was outside AND it was 4:00 a.m. AND pitch black) just to get to my correct terminal. Which reminds me that I need to fire my secretary a.s.a.p. Needless to say, by the time my fanny hit the seat in that plane I was ready to have a meltdown. I knew that I’d feel much better after some breakfast and a little nap. I patiently waited for breakfast to be served and then quickly realized that, um there would be no breakfast. And I was facing about 10 hours of travel, 2 plane changes, one time change and I had packed all of my swag on my bag that was now so nicely stowed beneath the plane. Through a blur of sweat and tears, I frantically dug in my bag to find, something, anything, a piece of gum, a lone lifesaver specked with mystery fuzz. I didn’t care. I needed some nourishment and I needed it now. It was then that I saw them, tucked neatly and placed to the side of my bag as to not get crushed, 3 bags of popchips <insert angelic music with parting clouds here>. Now I remember…I had decided to put the popchips in my bag because they were light and would be a perfect snack. Note to self, don’t fire my secretary. I guess that I’m o.k. after all. If I had a video of the glee and elation that I experienced while eating all three of those delicious bags of popchips while on that plane… well, I probably couldn’t share it with you because it would be too embarrassing but let’s just say I was mighty happy. Once I got home the nice people of popchips asked me if I’d like to do a review & a giveaway. Are you kidding me? OF COURSE! These light & crunchy, packed with flavor, low fat little rounds of heaven needed to be passed on to my readers. Not to mention, my poor family with whom I had already shared my life and death story and then sheepishly had to admit that no, they couldn’t sample these incredible chips that had saved my life because they were…all gone. The minute I received this oh-so-fun-box and POPPED it open, I knew just what I had to do. I had to make a meal out of these little yummies for my whole family to enjoy. And boy did they. Now you can too. Without further adieu, I give popchip-alicious encrusted BBQ chicken to you. These would be the supporting characters…flour, BBQ seasoning, an egg, and chicken breasts. And but of course, the star of the show…BBQ popchips. The first thing you’ll want to do is pour your bag of popchips into a zip lock bag, seal it, and roll the popchips with a rolling pin. Now make sure to smush them up into small pieces, small enough to easily stick to the chicken without turning into mush. Now it’s time to put your assembly line together. Pour about 1 cup of flour onto a plate and add about 1/4 cup of BBQ seasonings and mix well with a fork. Next grab a second plate (preferably with a lip) for the egg that’s been lightly beaten and then a third plate for your smushed popchips. This is what your assembly line should look like… Now the fun begins. Grab your chicken breast and cover it with the flour mixture, don’t forget to cover the other side. Next, pop I mean, plop the chicken ever so gently, into the egg, on both sides… then joyfully smather the chicken with the popchips. Make sure to get plenty of the crunchy yummy little pieces all over the chicken until the chicken is literally popping with popchips. Cheesy I know, but I couldn’t resist. Next place the popchip-alicious encrusted chicken breasts onto a baking sheet… and POP them into the oven… and then into your mouth. Repeat as necessary. Wishing you popchip-alicious days and POP-tacular nights, Wenderly Here’s the recipe…and be sure not to miss the GIVEAWAY below! Popchip-alicious Encrusted BBQ Chicken serves 4 Here’s what you’ll need: four chicken breasts 1 cup flour 1 bag popchips 1 egg 1/4 cup BBQ seasoning 1 large zip lock bag Here’s what you’ll do: Preheat the oven to 375º. Next, pat your chicken breasts with a paper towel until dry, set aside. Pour your bag of BBQ popchips into a large zip lock bag and roll over popchips with rolling pin until smashed into small pieces. Then on a small plate, mix 1 cup of flour with 1/4 of BBQ seasonings, on a second small plate beat your egg and lastly on a third plate, pour the smashed popchips that will become the delicious crust. You are ready to begin the assembly process. First, cover both side a chicken breast with the flour mixture, then dip in egg and finally cover generously in the smashed popchips. Repeat the process until you’ve covered each chicken breast. Bake the encrusted chicken on a baking sheet for 30-45 minutes depending on thickness of chicken and until chicken is cooked through. Enjoy! **************Popchips Giveaway!******************** O.k. now here’s your chance to win a POP-tacular case of assorted popchips for yourself! You get 2, yes I said TWO chances to win! 1. Leave me a comment below telling me what you would do with a case of popchips if YOU win! Would you share them? Hide them for yourself? Create your own recipe? 2. Go to popchips facebook page and “like” them and then post a comment on their wall telling them about this giveaway here at Wenderly.com and then come back here and tell me that you did. Giveaway begins today Friday December 3, 2010 and ends Friday December 10, 2010 at Midnight EST. 1 winner will be randomly selected and announced in the morning on Saturday December 11, 2010. Happy Snacking all and good luck! I would like to thank the POP-tabulous people at popchips for sending me the oh-so-fun case of popchips and for supplying another one for one of YOU lucky readers! I must mention that this contest is only open to U.S. residents. Sorry to my Canadian friends. ****************WE HAVE A WINNER******************* The time has come to announce the winner of the popchips case! We have one lucky winner…. Are you ready? The winner is….. Rachel who said, “I would scarf the whole box down because I love PopChips that much! No really – I’d love to try encrusting them in tofu, similar to your technique for a unique way of flavoring!!” Rachel I will be contacting you about your prize details via email! A BIG thanks to all who participated in The popchips giveaway this week! Happy Snacking! Wenderly |
News Releases from Region 08 EPA awards Utah $2.3M to reduce diesel emissions along the Wasatch Front Truck and bus replacement project to reduce particulate matter and other air pollutants Contact Information: Richard Mylott (mylott.richard@epa.gov) 303-312-6654 DENVER - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (Utah DEQ) a $2.3M grant under the National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program to reduce diesel emissions from heavy-duty trucks and school buses based in several counties along the Wasatch Front, an area challenged by levels of particulate matter that exceed federal air quality standards. “EPA’s clean diesel grants support local and regional efforts to secure healthier air in our communities,” said EPA Regional Administrator, Doug Benevento. "Over the past decade, the state of Utah has established exemplary partnerships with local governments and businesses to prioritize clean diesel investments and retrofit and replace high-emitting vehicles. EPA will continue to support our partners as they address air quality challenges along the Wasatch Front.” “In addition to the air quality benefits that result from these projects, DEQ appreciates the opportunity to collaborate with different organizations to upgrade their fleets,” said DEQ Executive Director, Alan Matheson. “This funding assistance is a win-win for Utah businesses and the local airshed.” Utah DEQ will use the EPA clean diesel grant to replace short and long-haul diesel trucks with current model year vehicles that have the most stringent emissions standards available at the time of replacement. In addition, several diesel school buses will be replaced with current model year school buses powered by clean diesel, low-NOx, compressed natural gas engines or propane. The majority of these vehicles will operate in Davis, Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah and Weber counties, all designated nonattainment for particulate matter. EPA’s grant will result in the reduction of approximately 335 tons of nitrogen oxides; 25 tons of particulate matter; 42 tons of hydrocarbons; and 130 tons of carbon monoxide. It will also save an estimated 595,137 gallons of fuel. Utah DEQ established the Utah Clean Diesel Program to promote diesel emission reduction strategies. Since 2008, over $12 million in state and federal grants have helped public and private fleet owners in Utah reduce emissions from their diesel vehicles and equipment. Investments in clean-diesel technologies save money and reduce premature deaths, asthma attacks, respiratory ailments, lost work days, and many other health impacts that affect the region every year. For information on Utah’s Clean Diesel Program visit: https://deq.utah.gov/ProgramsServices/programs/air/cleandiesel/ For information about EPA’s clean diesel initiatives, visit: https://www.epa.gov/cleandiesel. |
Mattel has been tight-lipped about their Man of Steel San Diego Comic Con exclusive in the past. They previously revealed a single tiny image of the box, but now they've unveiled the figures inside as well. Although fans were able to preorder it weeks ago, until today no one has been able to peek inside the Man of Steel mystery box. For all the hoopla and secrecy, I'm more than a little disappointed by the mild figures inside. Have a look for yourself with the new images and descriptions revealed earlier on USA Today. Every year, Mattel has one of the largest toy presences at Comic-Con, and they're again bringing a host of cool exclusives, including a special 'Man of Steel' box set ($50). They're battling it out on the big screen, but Superman and General Zod bring their fight home in the two-pack. (And Zod comes packing with a steel girder! Look out, Supes!) Superman looks intense usually but when he really needs to take charge ... ...he breaks out the heat vision. Push a button on the back of his figure and his eyes light up to add drama to a fiery situation. This set is heavily inspired by Mattel's Movie Masters lineup for Man of Steel, but has a few distinct differences of note. First and foremost is that Superman's torso and head have been replaced by single piece containing electronics and lights that will allow his eyes to glow. He also features a cloth cape which is attached via a strange plastic cape piece on the shoulders. We haven't seen the back of the figure, but I bet it looks awfully strange where the cloth meets the plastic cape topper. General Zod looks exactly the same as his Movie Masters figure, from what I can tell. So let me tally this set up for you. You get a Superman with severely-reduced articulation and a weak action feature gimmick. You get an a General Zod figure you might already have, but he does include a bonus steel girder. The one thing this set has going for it is the nifty box, and even that's not especially amazing. This two-pack really only makes sense to people who absolutely adore the movie and haven't already been collecting the Movie Masters line. I can't see it being a big hit with devoted action figure collectors, because I don't think a poorly articulated Superman with glowing eyes and a steel girder is worth $50. But I could be wrong, and I'd love to hear if anyone out there can't wait to get their hands on this set. I always want toys to be successful, but I fear Mattel made a few too many missteps here. |
I used to think tornadoes were the most destructive things in Kansas, then I got a good view of their state legislature. The Kansas House on Wednesday advanced legislation that would allow a religious defense to discriminate against gays. Yes, you read that properly. The Kansas House, charged with maintaining equality for its citizenry, just passed legislation enabling, not prohibiting, discrimination. State Rep. Lance Kinzer, R-Olathe, defended his bill, saying it was meant to make sure government could not infringe on an individual’s religious beliefs. “Free exercise of religion is at the core of who we are as a people,” Kinzer said. Davis asked Kinzer if under Kinzer’s bill an apartment owner could cite his religious beliefs to fight a complaint if he refused to rent to a same-sex couple. “That is generally correct,” Kinzer said. Listen here: when religious liberty to you means arguing for carte blanche to mistreat others, you are not a religion of love or compassion. These people have just canonized hatred as a protected virtue and attempted to hand a certain sect of the population the power to bully others as a right – and you bet your ass a lot of them will use it. Kinzer thinks this privilege of faith should supersede justice. This is apparently a privilege earned by being gullible enough to think someone rose from the dead 2,000 years ago. Fucking Christ, this is why we atheists loath power in the hands religion, particularly a religion with a history saturated with divinely ordained prejudice. State Rep. Charlie Roth, R-Salina, said that Kinzer’s legislation was “homophobic” and that it will hurt Kansas’ image. “It sends the message that Kansas is not welcoming. Kansas will become known as the land of the pure as defined by the few,” Roth said. But Kinzer said local units of government should not be allowed to engage in religious discrimination against its citizens. In arguing for the right to discriminate against gays, Kinzer has the gall to whine about how horrible it is to be discriminated against. That’s fucking rich. He also somehow imagines that if such license isn’t granted that the Christians are somehow being victimized by the government. And it’s not just him. The bill passed the Kansas House, and not by a small margin. The bill was approved 89-27. Ballard, Davis and state Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, voted against it. State Reps. Anthony Brown, R-Eudora, and TerriLois Gregory, R-Baldwin City, voted for it. Sadly, you don’t get that many morally demented people in government without a largely morally demented population to vote them in. 89-27? 89 to fucking 27!? Seriously? To all you believers, remember this the next time you want to tell atheist activists that we’re taking extremists as representative of the whole. NO! It doesn’t matter what you believe. You do not get to discriminate against blacks because of your religion. You do not get to discriminate against women because of your religion. You do not get to discriminate in deed against people with earrings, Hispanics, people with brown eyes, or any other American because of your fucking religion. In America, the leeway to discriminate by action is not a right you get. It is not a right any American gets! It’s not a right any good person should even want. But here we have a sterling example of how religion positively sucks at making good people. Indeed, if anything, it empowers the evil. It doesn’t matter how fervently you believe, it doesn’t matter how sure you are that god hates all the same people you do, that does not confer upon you an open door to infringe on the happiness of others. And when you true, true believers dig up the temerity to get all huffy wondering why atheists disrespect you, this is fucking why! It’s because you have failed to demonstrate the elementary cognitive capacity required to realize that people don’t rise from the dead and/or that gays are people just like you. The idea that being religious sanctions the abuse of others should make any decent person want to retch, yet it is the people who imagine they occupy the moral high ground who will be most likely to embrace it. It cannot be said any louder than the religious say it for us with legislation like this: religion is bad for humanity. I want to make a joke about how Flying Spaghetti Monsterism arose because of religious people in Kansas doing amazingly thoughtless, maladaptive things, and how maybe we could use our own religion to discriminate somehow. But I don’t want to discriminate. I have no desire, even in jest, to argue for the opportunity. The thought is just so awful to me. Perhaps with a little prayer to Jesus I could find the thought less morally repulsive. And to the believers who will email me, and they will, suggesting that I’m discriminating against religious people by calling out their bullshit, you listen up too: criticism is not discrimination. Refusing to rent a house to someone, that’s discrimination. Refusing them service in your restaurant, that’s discrimination. Separate water fountains, being told you can’t marry who you love for some arbitrary, irrelevant standard belonging to someone else, that’s discrimination. Don’t you dare to compare your privileged asses to the victims of this measure in Kansas by suggesting that somehow Christians are persecuted, especially when all you and your religion is getting on this blog is well-deserved criticism. People like Kinzer and the people drooling over the chance to make the lives of gays miserable without fear of consequence are not the victims of persecution if they don’t get their way, and those of us with a moral barometer tuned in to the 21st century should be calling them out on not only their callousness, but also on their martyr complex. And I’m just too fucking mad that after countless battles toward the end of discrimination in this country that we have to keep doing this shit. I’m furious at religion for providing a shield for behavior that would otherwise be unseemly even in the surrounding camouflage of the most hicktastic episode of Jerry Springer. Seriously, how else would this shit fly if gaggles of people weren’t convinced through faith that it’s god’s will? Religion makes monsters of people while making them feel moral. It’s revolting. It’s evil. It has no place in a civilized world. The institution of religion, especially Christianity in the United States, should be opposed and disrespected at every opportunity for exactly the monument to archaic ignorance and immorality that it is. Here’s the Kansas Senate roster: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2011_12/chamber/senate/roster/ Here’s the House roster: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2011_12/chamber/house/roster/ Go yell at them. |
Know Ruby: Enumerable grep 2015.04.01 @ 01:28 AM UTC Most of us are familiar with the grep program. If you work on a *nix system you’ve almost certainly used it or one of its newer kin. These programs allow for globally searching files with a regular expression and printing the results. It’s so common we use it as a verb. “Did you grep the code base before making that change?” Are you familiar with its Ruby counterpart? Ruby plays a bit fast and loose with the name but the underlying concept is similar. Let’s see what grep can do. What is a pattern? According to the documentation, grep takes a “pattern” argument and an optional block. If you’re like me that doesn’t mean much. Thankfully the documentation provides a helpful nugget of information. It says that it checks the argument against each element with === . You might have heard the triple equals referred to as “case equality”. That’s because === is the check case statements use against their when clauses. Now that we have some idea of what we’re working with let’s break down our options. Regexp Legally speaking, I don’t think you can call a method grep if it doesn’t support regular expressions. Given a list of first names let’s get all the names that start with a “j”. > %w[bob amber john jane aaron michael nikki] . grep ( /\Aj/ ) # => ["john", "jane"] The equivalent select statement would be: > %w[bob amber john jane aaron michael nikki] . select { | n | n [ /\Aj/ ] } # => ["john", "jane"] I like the brevity provided by grep in this case. We’ve confirmed that the grep name isn’t completely misused for this method. What other things can it do? Exact Match Finding exact matches couldn’t be simpler. > [ 1 , 1 , 0 , 0 , 1 ]. grep ( 1 ) # => [1, 1, 1] Of course, it’s also not too useful. Grouping items by values? Useful. Counting items by values? Useful. Culling a list to a single value? Dubious. How often does that really come up? Either way, there it is. Class/Module We can also find elements that match a specific class. > [ 1 , 1.2 , 'a' , 2 ]. grep ( Integer ) # => [1, 2] > [ 1 , 1.2 , 'a' , 2 ]. grep ( Numeric ) # => [1, 1.2, 2] We can even find elements that include a particular module. > [ 1 , [], {}, 'a' ]. grep ( Enumerable ) # => [[], {}] Range Want to find all of the B’s in a list of test scores? > Array . new ( 50 ) { rand ( 100 ) }. grep ( 80 .. 89 ) # => [83, 87, 81, 84, 82, 81] It’s worth noting that under hood === uses include? rather than cover? . That’s usually not a concern but it’s certainly something to be aware of. If you’re not familiar with the differences I would recommend checking out this Stack Overflow question about it. Custom Of course, defining our own meaning for === is an option. Let’s say we have value objects that represent various grades. class B < Grade def self . === ( other_or_grade ) self == other_or_grade || ( 80 .. 89 ). include? ( other_or_grade ) end end > Array . new ( 50 ) { rand ( 100 ) }. grep ( B ) # => [87, 86, 88, 83, 88] Proc/Lambda Sometimes we’ll have a complicated check and nothing above will help. At that point proc (or lambda ) steps in to save the day. Using === on a proc actually calls it. The value on the other side of the === is passed in as an argument. > EVEN = -> ( n ) { n . even? } # => # [email protected] (pry):21 (lambda)> > EVEN === 1 # => false > EVEN === 2 # => true That’s just crazy. It should go without saying that under normal circumstances you should never do this. It’s only there for situations like this: > ( 1 .. 10 ). grep ( EVEN ) # => [2, 4, 6, 8, 10] At this point are we better off switching to select ? Probably. If we use select we can call even? without the proc . > ( 1 .. 10 ). select ( & :even? ) # => [2, 4, 6, 8, 10] Using the shorthand &:even? syntax is one thing grep can’t do. There’s a reason for that. Remember earlier when we talked about the arguments grep takes? It takes a pattern and a block. What about the block? Every element that makes it past the pattern filter gets sent to the block. It’s like doing a select and a map all at once. > ( 1 .. 10 ). select ( & :even? ). map { | n | n * 2 } # => [4, 8, 12, 16, 20] Becomes: > ( 1 .. 10 ). grep ( EVEN ) { | n | n * 2 } # => [4, 8, 12, 16, 20] Instinctually, I thought the grep version would be faster. It’s only looping over the elements once. This is why we test our assumptions. It turns out that sometimes grep is faster than select . Sometimes it’s the other way around. It really depends on what you’re doing. Adding map to the mix, especially with a small number of elements, didn’t change that outcome. Conclusion Most of us will reach for select without giving it a second thought. Next time you do take a second and consider grep . It might be just the thing you need. If you enjoyed this dive into grep , check out other posts in the Know Ruby series. |
MUMBAI: Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of airport customs arrested four carrier from Tanda tehsil of Rampur district in Uttar Pradesh (UP) at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport on Friday after they arrived from Jeddah with 927 gram gold worth Rs 29 lakh which they concealed in their belt, cap, tooth brush and other stuff.It is the 3rd case in last one month where people from same tehsil found involved in the gold smuggling case. Officials stated that smugglers become more organized in the district and they lure unemployed and poor youth into smuggling activities after promising them easy money. Last month, AIU has arrested 21 people from same tehsil after they arrived from Jeddah concealing 6 kg of gold in their bottle caps. Last week one more person from same area has been booked for carrying small quantity of gold in date(dryfruit).On Friday AIU official intercepted four frequent flyers, Mohammad Rehan, Mohammad Ishtiyak, Mohammad Israr and Fakhruk Islam on suspicion after they arrived from Jeddah. The four denied carrying gold, but officials are confident about their involvement in gold smuggling and decided to check their belonging thoroughly. They recovered small gold pieces in belt, strings of his pyjama, in fountain pen, inside datoon and in kurta's pocket. One of them concealed two gold pieces in his mouth and was comfortably communicating with officials. Official seized all the gold pieces weighting 927 grams worth Rs 29 lakh and arrested them in the case. Officials said that the accused were part of the group but they were walking separately to divert custom's attention at the airport to pretend that they are not known to each other.Accused confesses that they have committed the crime for monitory consideration, and their handle is located at Rampur district. Handler pays between Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 to carriers involved in smuggling. |
A Kickstarter project aiming to bring a commercially available 3D printer costing US$200 to consumers broke its target tenfold after only one day on the crowdfunding website. Known as The Micro, the small 3D printer had set a target of US$50,000 to raise within 30 days of going online but, at the time of writing, has attracted more than US$830,000. In what could be the launchpad for the 3D printing future that many have predicted, the printer’s co-founders David Jones and Michael Armani of M3D see The Micro as a starting model to bigger things. In terms of scale, The Micro is an apt name, given its cube shape of only 185mm on each side and weight of 1kg. Given its size, the types of objects the team expects consumers to print are household items, such as cups, or a variety of shapes using software on a computer – as long as the 3D-printed objects measure 4.6 inches in height, maximum. Up until now, most 3D printers have been costly and limited to labs. For example, one 3D printer highlighted as being able to print furniture, such as tables, cost thousands of dollars. Usable across all operating systems, The Micro also promised to be able to print with ABS, PLA, nylon and more, according to its information. Between August 2014 and March 2015, M3D aims to see The Micro roll off production lines for consumers and given its current rate of crowdsourcing, could have the funds to launch the product on a significant scale. |
Paul Johnson on Clemson: "how can the expectation be to beat them?" CLEMSON -- Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson spoke to reporters on Tuesday and talked about his team's 35-21 loss to #10 Miami and then got a little touchy but brutally honest on the subject of his team's expectations with new athletic director Todd Stansbury. “No matter what you do — and this is like I tell our team about playing — commitment has to meet expectations,” Johnson said. “You can’t have expectations without commitment. It won’t work. No matter what you do. So if you say you want to be on this level, then you have to be committed to be on that level, and you have to do what those people are doing. Simple as that.” “I don’t know that anybody gets that. You can ask that about anybody,” Johnson said. “But what I’m saying, you guys look, you don’t have to ask me — Do you think we’ve got the same thing Clemson does?” Clemson has some of the nicest facilities in college football with their beautiful stadium Death Valley, the added amenities in the West Endzone, and the state of the art Football Operations Facility which is near completion. “Then how can the expectation be to beat them [Clemson]?” Johnson said. The Yellow Jackets lost to the Tigers 26-7 two weeks ago in which Clemson's defense manhandled their offense and made them appear comparable to a simple high school wishbone offense. Johnson continued to plea for his administration to give him the resources to be successful in the newer and tougher ACC conference. “This is not the old ACC,” Johnson said. “It's like 10, 15, 20 years ago; there might be one ranked team. And now you have six. I mean Every week there’s pretty good teams. People have committed, for whatever reason the other schools have committed to it. To have a good program.” What Paul Johnson won't admit is the only reason a big school would ever employ him is because it doesn't have a level playing field — Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) October 4, 2016 If Georgia Tech had the same fan base, facilities and financial support as Clemson the one thing it wouldn’t be doing is the triple option — Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) October 4, 2016 |
A piece of land in Woodley could soon be converted into a parkour area or skateboarding park but the council wants young people to put forward their own suggestions. Woodley Town Council and Wokingham Borough Council are offering up a piece of land called Loddon Mead and an area next to it which is under the A3290 and by the River Loddon. Representatives from groups which work with young people have formed The Community Youth Partnership which is exploring ideas on what the land could be used for. Woodley Town Council clerk Deborah Mander said: "We are looking for all ideas and suggestions for the Loddon Mead area and the area underneath the A3290. "We want to know what young people think, particularly young people in Years 6 and 7. They are the one who will grow and use it. "We welcome all ideas and suggestions." poll loading What should the Loddon Mead space be used for? 0+ VOTES SO FAR Parkour area Skateboarding park BMX park The area is around 60 by 70 metres but the space is split up by large concrete pillars. No buildings can be constructed and access to the A3290 must be maintained. On Friday, April 8 staff from the Lower Earley branch of McDonald's in Chalfont Way helped clear weeds and other debris from the area. It is also home to two impressive Star Wars murals. |
On 129 occasions Ross Lyon has let "the cobblers do the cobbling" Ross Lyon will coach his 130th game for Fremantle when the team runs out against Collingwood on Sunday at Domain Stadium. The game will see Lyon become Fremantle’s longest standing coach ahead of Chris Connolly, who coached Fremantle for 129 games from 2001 to 2007. Here are some interesting numbers from Ross Lyon’s career. 250 – Lyon’s total number of games coached in the AFL. Lyon is the fourth most experienced current coach in the league behind Rodney Eade (370), John Worsfold (313) and Alastair Clarkson (293). 157 – Fremantle’s highest score under Lyon, coming against GWS at Subiaco Oval in round 20 of the 2013 season. 129 – The number of games Lyon played for Fitzroy and Brisbane from 1985 to 1995. After Sunday, he will have coached more games for Fremantle than games he played in the VFL/AFL. 113 – Lyon’s highest winning margin as a coach, also coming against GWS in round 20 of the 2013 season. 84.7 – Fremantle’s average score per game under Lyon. 78 – Fremantle’s average conceded score per game under Lyon. Known for his defensive style of coaching, Freo’s average points conceded per game dropped dramatically under Lyon. Fremantle conceded on average 98.7 points per game prior to his appointment. 61.25 – Fremantle’s win percentage under Lyon. This win percentage would place him 14th all time for coaches who have coached 100 or more AFL/VFL games. 33.33 – Lyon’s win percentage over 129 games as a player for Fitzroy/Brisbane from 1985 to 1995. 29 – Lyon’s number when he played for Fitzroy. No wonder he had an affinity with a certain Freo player… 13 – The number of times he has coached against John Worsfold, his most regular opponent. Lyon’s side has won 10 of these contests to three for Worsfold’s side. 9 – Finals games played by Fremantle under Lyon during five seasons. Prior to his appointment, Fremantle played four finals during 17 seasons. 2 – The number of times on average that Lyon holds a media conference each week during the season. Over 129 games, that’s 258 media engagements at approximately 10 minutes per conference – equating to 43 hours of speaking. That’s a lot of "letting the cobblers do the cobbling”. Well done Ross! |
Medieval Trial by Ordeal This page is under construction! Where did the medieval idea of trial by ordeal originate? Some components probably originated in the pagan practices of Germanic tribes--though surviving records are sparse. One kernal for this medieval idea, however, comes from the Bible. In the Hebrew Bible's book of Numbers 5:11-22, trial by ordeal was the prescribed method for testing a wife's fidelity to her husband. The following excerpt comes from the NIV translation: Then the Lord said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'If a man's wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him by sleeping with another man, and this is hidden from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act), and if feelings of jealousy come over the husband and he suspects his wife and she is impure--or even if he is jealous and suspects her even though she is not impure--then he is to take his wife to the priest. . . . The priest shall bring her and have her stand before the Lord. Then he shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water. After the priest has had the woman stand before the Lord, he shall loosen her hair and place in her hands the reminder offering, the grain offering for jealousy, while he himself holds the bitter water that brings a curse. Then the priest shall put the woman under oath and say to her, "If no other man has slept with you and you have not gone astray and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse not harm you. But if you have gone astray while married to your husband and you have defiled yourself by sleeping with a man other than your husband"--here the priest is to put the woman under this curse of the oath--"may the Lord cause your people to curse and denounce you when he causes your thigh to waste away and your abdomen to swell. May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells and your thigh wastes away."' (Numbers 5:11-22) In the presence of the temple priests, the woman would be required to drink water mixed with the dirt from the tabernacle floor after calling upon God to strike her with sickness if she were guilty of adultery. If she grew ill from drinking this contaminant, and her womb swelled or she later lost muscle tissue in her thigh, this was considered clear evidence of her guilt, and she would then be stoned to death. (No similar method existed for testing adulterous husbands in Old Testament accounts, however, though in the proto-Evangelium of James, both Joseph and Mary under a similar test when Mary is pregnant out of wedlock.*) Given this sanction in scripture, many medieval courts developed a number of similar methods for invoking supernatural aid in determining an individual's guilt. These techniques--which often endangered the lives of participants--are called "trials by ordeal" as opposed to other methods such as trial by combat or compurgation. P. J. Helm describes some of these techniques common to the Christianized Anglo-Saxons in the biography, Alfred the Great (London: Robert Hale Limited, 1965), but much more elaborate accounts can be found in the now dated book, Superstition and Force, compiled by Henry Charles Lee in 1870. The accused would normally be required to fast, then confess to a priest and prepare to have the Mass. The priest or judge would so lemnly charge him by the Trinity, by his faith, by the cross, by the Gospel, and by whatever relics were stored in the church where the trial took place, that he should not take the Sacrament if he were guilty. The plaintiff could choose one of three possible trials by ordeal for a lay defendant: (1) Trial by Cold Water. The defendant would take a sip of holy water and then be thrown into a pool of water. If the water "accepted" her as pure (i.e., if she sank to the bottom), she was considered innocent of the charges. If she floated to the surface, she was considered guilty. (This technique has lead to the modern myth about if the defendant drowned she was considered innocent--but the surviving records suggest that court officials did not normally allow those who sank actually to drown.) (2) Trial by Hot Iron. The defendant would be required to pick up and carry a measure of iron weighing one pound after it had been heated over a fire. He would have to carry this nine feet, as measured by the length of his own foot. (Thus, short adolescents would have to carry the heated metal less distance than a long-legged adult, and so on.) If the case involved a serious crime such as murder or betrayal of one's lord, the weight of the iron would be three pounds rather than one. (3) Trial by Hot Water. Court officials would heat a laundry cauldron to the boiling point, then throw a stone into the bottom. The plaintiff must pluck out the stone to prove his innocence. In serious cases, she must plunge in her arm up to the elbow. If the defendant was a priest, however, he faced a special category of trial by ordeal--"Trial by the Host." (4) Trial by the Host. A priest could prove his innocence by going before the altar and praying aloud that God would choke him if he were not telling the truth. He would then take a piece of the host and swallow it. If he swallowed it easily with no visible sign of discomfort, this was felt to be supernatural proof of his innocence. However, if he choked or had difficulty swallowing, this was thought to be supernatural proof of his guilt or deceit. P. J. Helm has speculated that this techinque might be more effective than modern readers would initially think. He proposed that a psychosomatic component might actually cause a guilt-plagued priest to choke--though to most modern thinkers the method seems like a dubious one. *Special thanks to Mary Grace Weir for pointing out for pointing out the New Testament contrast. |
Airbnb Has No Tolerance For Homophobic Hosts, Removes User For Evicting Gay Couple Two men claim they were evicted from their Airbnb rental after the property owner learned they were gay. Jonathan Wang and his partner Brent (pictured) were in Galveston, TX for a wedding. They booked a two-night stay at the properly for $140 per night. “This home was very gorgeous,” Wang told ABC13 News. Their host, however, was anything but. After unpacking their bags and settling in, the couple headed off to the wedding reception. When they returned later that evening, they ran into the property owner, Heather. “Heather asked me where my wife was. Who is this person?” Wang recounted to ABC13 News. “I said it was my significant other, Brent.” The host replied by saying she thought he was bringing his wife. “I didn’t say that specifically,” Wang reminded her. And that’s when she told the men to get out, saying they made her “uncomfortable” and that it was “not OK.” Related: B&B Owners Who Denied Gay Couple A Room Lose Yet Again When the couple tried finding another place to stay, every hotel in the area was booked. “Everyone was full for the weekend,” he said. After a long and stressful search, they were finally able to locate a room for themselves. Afterwards, Wang went back to look at the Airbnb listing. That’s when he discovered a tiny mention towards the bottom of the page that read: “BTW FYI we are ‘straight friendly’ hosts.” In a phone interview, Heather told ABC13: “I’m completely of my legal realms and morals.” When asked if she discriminates against gay people, she replied, “That’s none of your business. That’s my private home.” And that’s when Airbnb stepped in. The company immediately removed Heather’s listing from its website, then issued the following statement: “We have a zero tolerance policy for discrimination on Airbnb. The host in question has been removed from the site. Airbnb has clear guidelines that a host or a guest may not promote hate or bigotry.” Airbnb also issued Wang a complete refund and paid for the one night hotel stay he was forced to book at the last minute. As for Heather, we’re sure it’s only a matter of time before she launches her inevitable GoFundMe campaign. Related: Sorry, Christians, GoFundMe Is Cracking Down On Your Hate Campaigns |
The 32 men in the Player’s Choice Open included Bastian Trinker, an Austrian ranked 287th, and eight players with no ATP singles ranking at all. Those eight all had the opportunity to play for a point: the reward for winning the first round in one of the hundreds of Futures events staged worldwide and sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation. For many, that point is the symbol that they are genuine touring professionals. The week of Birmingham, there were 2,252 players with ATP rankings; 497 of them had only 1 point. “For a lot of guys, it’s a milestone,” said David Littlefield, the tournament supervisor in Birmingham, who has long worked at the Futures level. “Sometimes I’m aware of it, and I’ll congratulate them, and there’s a big smile on their face like, ‘The monkey is finally off my back.’ Sometimes they continue on week after week, and they never get a point. After a while they will finally disappear and maybe go get a teaching job at a nice club, and if they’ve got a college degree, maybe fall back on their college degree. But eventually they give it up.” John Valenti, a well-known American figure on the circuit nicknamed Johnny Blaze who traveled in a converted school bus and strung rackets to supplement his income, chased a point for many years and never got one in singles. “I had a friend who traveled to Egypt right after the civil war thing, which is very dangerous for a guy to do, and he was just trying to get a point,” said Patrick Daciek, a 25-year-old American ranked 1,196th. “He went to Africa, Asia, all over the place. He didn’t get it, and he ran out of money.” That is a frequent lament at this level, even if one does not opt for long-haul travel. First-round losers in Birmingham earned $104; second-round losers, $172. |
Eugen Systems released an heir to World In Conflict with their Real Time Strategy “Wargame” series. Their most recent edition, Red Dragon, occurs in Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, and coastal Russian Far East. The reason we were intruiged is that this new version included naval battles. Now, turns out the naval battles are by no means anything you’d expect for 80’s warships… think more WWII with helicopters, F-18’s, and CIWS… but some of your dear CIMSEC editors and members played and had a pretty good time. It’s hard to argue naval realism when in ground combat you get to pick from several hundred units from 17 countries. Hell, one of the single player campaigns is you defending Hong Kong when Thatcher decides to push continued British presence. Capital! As the last part of CIMSEC’s Wargames week, we decided that amongst our discussion of exercises and gaming that hone nations for war and war-fighters for survival, we would ask some question to the folks who build games and exercises for fun. The Eugen System team was kind enough to have a chat with us: Q: What games inspired your team? A: Our main inspiration for the Wargame series are old strategy games many of us at the studio used to play while younger: the Close Combat & Steel Panther series. One is real-time, the other turn-based, and our goal was to do as good a simulation and “easy to handle, hard to master” as the former, with the latter’s technical database, wide array of nations, huge number of scenarios, … Q: Unlike many RTS games, Wargame has hundreds of different units–all asymmetric and unique. Through modeling and developing these, has your team come to any conclusions? A: Well, by modeling so many units, we are highlighting the trend and doctrine of every nation: France’s “speed over armor” attitude, resulting from its tradition of military interventions in Africa ; Britain’s emphasis on armor and range, due to its Cold War allocated battlefield, the North German Plains … Some of those are well-known to us from the start, but for some less known armies, such doctrine are only revealed after some time, while they are starting to build in our armory. Q: What did you learn from your last game, Air Land Battle (ALB), that you applied to Red Dragon? A: ALB’s main influence on RD can be found in map design. There had been some criticisms in the previous installment about maps that were considered too small or too “bottlenecked”. In RD, we have made sure to address this by making bigger and more open maps. Added to that the fact that river or sea and mountain are no longer impassable terrain, and you will see that RD’s maps are much more maneuver-friendly. We have also taken into consideration many of the UI request to make the armory easier to use, and help new players and non-military buffs more at ease browsing among 1400+ units. Artillery and air-defense balance were also deeply reworked using ALB’s lessons. Q: Outside of Naval Warfare, what is the greatest difference between ALB and Red Dragon? A: Maps. As said above, the new amphibious ability for many vehicles and the fact that mountain are no longer purely impassable gives the game a new feeling. You can maneuver on large scale, always try to outflank your opponent. No bottleneck will make a part of the battlefield secure because you’ve left a defensive force there. RD’s battlefields are much more open that ALB’s were. Q: After Red Dragon, does the team have the desire to develop an expansion that really fleshes out more urban warfare? A: We’re not there yet … Q: What other conflicts have your team considered? A: Wold War 2 of course … But WW2 was already covered by many other games, including our own RUSE when we started thinking about Wargame, so we decided to go for something more original, less exploited. Hence why we chose “Cold War gone hot”, which offered the opportunity for many plausible scenarios and provided us with tons of combat vehicles to model and use in-game. As for other possible Cold War conflicts, after European Escalation, we had considered several battlefields for the next installment: the two most logical were the Northern Front (Scandinavia, which we ended up covering in ALB) and the Southern Front (Mediterranean). We chose the former because Sweden offered a unique roaster of indigenous vehicles, bringing alone more new vehicles than the whole Mediterranean countries together would. Q: What is your biggest regret with the games? A: To have left some nations aside, although they could have been included in our previous installment. To make a nation viable, we have to model some 60-80 units, so we can’t add that many nations at a time. In EE, Dutch and Belgian units had to be left aside, and Finland in ALB. That is not without regret that we have left those nations aside … Q: What’s your biggest pride with the games? A: Our biggest pride is when former (or even active!) military servicemen, especially those whom had served during the Cold War, are telling us they are playing our games and are enjoying the realistic feel of it. Then, we allow ourselves to think Wargame lives to what we wanted it to be when we stated the series. Q: What’s your favorite unit? A: Personally speaking, I’m fond of wheeled vehicles. I favor speed over armor. Call it national bias, but I think my very favorite one has to be found among the light wheeled tanks/tank destroyers, like the AMX-10 RC, the BTR-70 Z halo or the ERC-90 Sagaie. Had I to choose one, the latter one might be my favorite, for it emphasizes everything I like: speed, stealth, decent firepower, … and looks cool! Q: What is the most interesting thing you learned from studying the historical background to the game? A: ABLE ARCHER exercises, in November 1983. Cold War is often taught or learned at school through different crisis (Cuban Missile Crisis, European Missile Crisis …) and “proxy wars” (Vietnam, Afghanistan, …) but never had we ever heard of how close the year 1983, and especially ABLE ARCHER, had brought us on the verge of WW3. This was completely new to us, and became the nucleus of Wargame: European Escalation’s “alternative scenarios” concept. Share this: Email Tumblr Print Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Reddit Pinterest Like this: Like Loading... |
WEST HARTFORD>> After 15 years at Northwest Catholic, an era is coming to an end. It’s actually closer to 50 years, but that makes retiring football coach Mike Tyler feel old. The Tyler family has been a part of Northwest Catholic since 1966 when Mike’s sister first attended the school. Mike graduated with the Class of 1973 and played football while his father, Grant was an assistant coach. In the late 1970s, Mike came back as an assistant before taking a coaching job at Southern Connecticut State for a few years during the early 80s. After a short stint at UConn, he got out of coaching to start a family. All four of his children have since attended Northwest Catholic and all played football for him. Nathan and Lucas Tyler, the eldest son’s, both went on to play at Southern Connecticut as linebackers and his daughter Jessica played for four years in high school as a linebacker and wide receiver. Owen, the youngest, is a senior and will be leaving Northwest Catholic with his dad after this season. “It’s been great,” Mike Tyler said. “My children have always been hard workers on the field and off the field, so it was a joy to coach them. They’re very coachable. They listen.” Owen and the Indians have put together a pretty good season. They are 10-1 heading into the Class S-Small playoffs following a victory over Rocky Hill on Thanksgiving Week. 2014 CIAC STATE PLAYOFF SCHEDULE Over the last 15 years, Mike Tyler has amassed 105 wins, nine playoff appearances, four Nutmeg League championships and, this year, a CCC Division III West title. He was named Coach of the Year in 2005 and has coached 32 all-state players, including his son Nathan. But the one achievement that eludes him is a state championship. The closest he ever got was in 2009 when the Indians lost to Hyde in the finals, 21-0. It remains Northwest Catholic’s only state championship game appearance. “He really knows what he’s doing,” Owen Tyler said. “He listens to everybody, he’s been around everybody, he’s knows guys in the NFL and big time college programs. So he knows what he’s doing and this is his last season. This is all I wanted my whole life, this is all the team wants is to get a state championship for him.” He has one last chance to win a state championship. Northwest Catholic is the No. 1 seed in the Class S-Small tournament. It faces No. 4 seed North Branford in the state semifinals Saturday at Simsbury High School, 2 p.m. “We’ll see what happens this year,” Mike Tyler said. “The kids are working hard, we’re determined and we want to win a state championship.” Mike Tyler got back into coaching in 1997 with then-coach Jack Cochran at Bloomfield, the year eventual NFL all-pro defensive end Dwight Freeney was a senior. The next two years he spent at South Windsor before he got the call from Northwest Catholic, once again. “It was the perfect timing,” Mike Tyler said. “The coach [of] a couple of years was moving on and I’m a licensed social worker and they had an opening in both spots as a coach and in the guidance department, so it worked out perfectly. I knew everybody here, they called me and said, ‘Hey, we got something,’ and I said, ‘I’m in.’ “I love it. It’s great.” Over the past two seasons, Nathan and Lucas have joined their father on the sidelines to make things even more of a family affair. Not much has changed, it’s just that dad listens more to the boys’ coaching ideas. “I think going over game-plans and stuff is a little bit different,” Nathan Tyler said. “Obviously from being a player and being a coach with him, the way we talk about games and stuff like that [is different]. But it’s just been fun and I love football and we’re a football family, so it’s been enjoyable.” The first love for the entire family has always been football. “It’s pretty much what we do 24/7/365,” Lucas Tyler said. “We’re always talking football, we’re always watching football games, college, NFL. it’s just what we do.” Nathan, in his second year as an assistant, said it felt right coming back to coach his youngest brother with his dad. “He was my coach growing up,” Nathan said. “All the little leagues and stuff, my dad would always be on the sidelines helping out. I’ve always been kind of used to a being a coaches son ever since I was little, but it was fun. We’d watch film at home together and stuff like that, talk about the games — it just made it more fun. I always enjoyed it, that’s why I wanted to come back and help coach Owen, because I knew I always enjoyed it.” The team is an extended family for the Tylers. “All of [Owen’s] friends I’ve know since they were younger guys at the summer camp and stuff while growing up,” Nathan Tyler said. “So I’ve know a lot of these guys for a long time and it’s been fun to coach them.” As these last few weeks of the season wind down, the seniors will be playing in their last game, they will be together for the last time and Nathan keeps telling the players to cherish this opportunity, because that’s what they will remember. “We always talk about, ‘Remember this time in practice, remember this time in a game. This happened and that happened.’ Those are the most important things,” Nathan said. “Not the wins and losses, but the things that happened in the locker room or out on the practice field and stuff like that.” Mike will be coaching his final game with his three sons all on the same football field with him. “I love Northwest,” Mike Tyler said. “It was good to me. It was good to my family and it’s a place where people really look out for each other.” Northwest Catholic will be without a Tyler for some time, but Owen is sure this isn’t the end. “I don’t think the Tyler’s are done at Northwest yet,” he said. |
Universal Music have announced a new four disc special edition of Rick Wakeman’s seminal live concert ‘Journey to The Centre Of The Earth’ originally released on A&M Records. The new, extended edition will be released on May 6th and will feature four renditions of the pioneering symphonic rock phenomenon that have not been widely available previously. The new package includes the original album version featuring an additional previously unheard bonus track ‘The Pearl and Dean Piano Concerto’ (Royal Festival Hall 1974), as well as performances of ‘Journey’ Live from Boston (1974), Live In Buenos Aires (1993) and a DVD featuring a spectacular quad surround sound mix. The stunning new edition comes beautifully packaged complete with new, original artwork from legendary artist Roger Dean. The first 100 ordered via the Universal store will receive a limited edition signed replica promotional poster. Based on the novel by Jules Verne, Journey To the Centre Of The Earth is one of the rock era’s landmark achievements – a UK #1 record that sold 15 million copies and rewrote the rules for many artists to come. Rick Wakeman says: “ The wonderful thing about live recordings is that they are a true time capsule of the music of the moment. Recording it was fraught with problems and so when the finished album was finally mixed, with, I hasten to add, no corrections as firstly there was no separation in the tracks and also I didn’t want to get everybody back into the studio as for me, in spite of the mistakes there was so much energy, life and spine tingling moments that would have been lost had we tried to “repair” certain areas. Mastering was also at a pretty basic stage back in 1974 compare to now and the new mastering that has been done is quite magnificent and is chalk and cheese compared to the original which is such a giant step forward.” Few albums maintain such an enduring appeal and longevity as Rick Wakeman’s Journey To The Centre Of The Earth. Nor have they woven their way through such a roller-coaster of a life story that takes in sequels and reworkings as this wonderful album has. In a way synonymous with Wakeman’s own career, which is flying high as musician, broadcaster, TV pundit, magazine columnist and beyond. |
NEW DELHI: North Indian states are likely to incur a loss of Rs 34,000 crore to the economic activity due to Jat agitation, PHD Chamber has said, observing, prices of essential commodities may rise due to supply constraints."There is a huge loss of the economic activity not only in the state of Haryana but across the Northern states of India. As supply of the essential items has been severely impacted, we cannot rule out the impact on inflation."Based on inputs received from various industry stakeholders, we estimate that these states may face Rs 34,000 crore loss of economic activity due to Jat agitation during the last few days," PHD Chamber President Mahesh Gupta said.Disruption in transportation modes including railways, roads, passenger vehicles, goods vehicles, drop down in tourists arrivals, loss in financial services, hit to the industrial sector including manufacturing, electricity, and construction may result in a huge loss in the GSDP of states for the last quarter of FY15-16, said Gupta.The industry chamber pegged the loss to services activities including tourism services, transportation services majorly rails and roadways and financial services at Rs 18,000 crore. It estimated the loss to industrial and agri business activities including manufacturing, electricity, construction activities, damage to food articles at Rs 12,000 crore.Moreover, it said, the damage to infrastructure including damage to roads, restaurants, bus stands, railway stations, among others may result in Rs 4,000 crore, leading to overall loss of Rs 34,000 crore.The anticipated loss has been calculated for the northern states including Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Chandigarh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.All these states contribute around 32 per cent towards India's Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP)."We believe northern states would take measures for the smooth functioning of the economic activity and restore essential services in their respective territories," he said. |
Dear Reader, As you can imagine, more people are reading The Jerusalem Post than ever before. Nevertheless, traditional business models are no longer sustainable and high-quality publications, like ours, are being forced to look for new ways to keep going. Unlike many other news organizations, we have not put up a paywall. We want to keep our journalism open and accessible and be able to keep providing you with news and analysis from the frontlines of Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World. In an extraordinary move, the Jordanian parliament, known for making anti-Israeli resolutions, has authorized Israeli companies to take part in governmental projects run by the Jordanian Investment Fund. The Jordanian MPs gathered on Sunday to pass the Jordanian Investment Fund Law for 2016. The law relates to the companies that are authorized to participate in national projects administered by the fund. In the parliament's morning session, a majority of MPs voted against the participation of Israeli companies in the fund, thereby banning them from taking part in the fund’s bids.However, in the evening session, the parliament voted again on a new version of the law that authorized Israeli firms to participate in the investment fund. This amended version won a majority of votes, prompting the parliament's about-face on the controversial resolution.Ironically, one of the ardent supporters of the new resolution was a member of the Parliamentary Committee for Palestine, who announced proudly that she "raised her two hands in support for the inclusion of Israeli companies in the investment fund."The parliament's move aroused mayhem on Jordanian social media networks, where local anti-Israel activists launched a campaign against the resolution under the hashtag "A Jordanian opposing Israeli investments."One of the activists suggested: "Apparently, we must forgo the "people's representatives" and move to direct democracy." Another Jordanian citizen, named Khaled al-Ansari wrote: "We can call these investments "occupation checks."Lamis Andoni, a well-known Jordanian author, commented on the resolution on her Facebook page: "While Western researchers, academics and artists are participating in the BDS movement, the Jordanian parliament renounces its decision not to allow Israeli participation in the Jordanian Investment Fund."It happens on the week when we commemorate our independence day, while people are talking about national sovereignty," Adoni added.The political activists and MPs who voted against the amended resolution took photos with Ahmad Dawabshe, the 5-year old Palestinian who survived the Duma arson attack that took place in July 2015, who attended the parliamentary session. Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>> |
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